RTHK: New South Wales to close border with Victoria Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, will close its border with the state of Victoria on Tuesday to contain the spread of coronavirus cases, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday. Coronavirus cases have been rising in Melbourne, Victoria's capital, over the last several days, forcing authorities to enforce strict social-distancing orders in 30 suburbs and put nine public housing towers into complete lockdown. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The latest findings on the MOSAiC floe The New Siberian Islands were the birthplace of the MOSAiC floe: the sea ice in which the research vessel Polarstern is now drifting through the Arctic was formed off the coast of the archipelago, which separates the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea to the north of Siberia, in December 2018. Sediments, and even small pebbles and bivalves, were incorporated into the ice during the freezing process, which the on-going melting process has brought to light on the surface of the MOSAiC floe. This is an increasingly rare phenomenon as nowadays most of the "dirty ice" melts before it even arrives in the Central Arctic. These are among the main findings of a study that MOSAiC experts have published now in the journal The Cryosphere, and which will provide the basis for numerous upcoming scientific assessments. At first glance, it looks like a group of people with dirty shoes had left tracks all over the snow. But in reality, they are sediments, and even small pebbles and bivalves, which the on-going melting process has brought to light on the surface of the MOSAiC floe. When the sea ice formed, they were frozen inside; accordingly, they hail from the nursery of sea ice along the Siberian Shelf, which the experts have now used a combination of model simulations and satellite data to describe in detail. The MOSAiC floe had already drifted over 1200 nautical miles in a meandering course when the research icebreaker Polarstern moored to it on 4 October 2019, at the coordinates 85 North and 137 East, and began to drift with it through the Arctic Ocean. While the current expedition team is busy taking readings in the Arctic, their colleagues back at home are analysing the data gathered. The precise analysis confirms the first impressions from the beginning of the expedition: "Our assessment shows that the entire region in which the two ships looked for suitable floes was characterised by unusually thin ice," reports Dr Thomas Krumpen, a sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Last autumn, the first author of The Cryosphere study coordinated research activities on the Russian icebreaker Akademik Fedorov, which accompanied the flagship of the MOSAiC expedition, the Polarstern, for the first few weeks. The Akademik Fedorov was also instrumental in deploying monitoring stations at various locations across the MOSAiC floe - collectively referred to as the 'Distributed Network'. "Our study shows that the floe we ultimately chose was formed in the shallow waters of the Russian shelf seas in December 2018," Krumpen explains. Off the coast of Siberia, strong offshore winds drive the young ice out to sea after it forms. In the shallow water, sediments are churned up from the seafloor and become trapped in the ice. Ice formation can also produce pressure ridges, the undersides of which sometimes scrape along the seafloor. As a result, stones can also become embedded in the sea ice. Now that the summertime melting has begun, all of this material is being revealed at the ice's surface: "At several points we've found entire mounds of pebbles measuring several centimetres in diameter, plus a number of bivalves," reports MOSAiC expedition leader Prof Markus Rex directly from the Arctic. Meanwhile, back home in Bremerhaven, Germany, Thomas Krumpen is thrilled to see that the now emerging 'bivalve ice with pebbles', as he has affectionately dubbed it, so clearly confirms the study's findings. The team of authors led by the AWI expert used a combination of satellite imagery, reanalysis data and a newly developed coupled thermodynamics backtracking model to reconstruct the floe's origins. Now Krumpen and his colleagues are devising a strategy for gathering samples of the sediments. The extent to which these 'dirty' and therefore darker patches accelerate melting on the floe is an important question, and answering it could enhance our understanding of the interactions between the ocean, ice and atmosphere, of biogeochemical cycles, and of life in the Arctic in general. In addition to mineral components, the sea ice also transports a range of other biogeochemical substances and gases from the coast to the central Arctic Ocean. They are an important aspect of MOSAiC research on biogeochemical cycles, i.e., on the formation or release of methane and other climate-relevant trace gases throughout the year. However, as a result of the substantial loss of sea ice observed in the Arctic over the past several years, precisely this ice, which comes from the shallow shelves and contains sediments and gases, is now melting more intensively in the summer, causing this material transport flow to break down. In the 1990s, the Polarstern was often in the same waters where the MOSAiC expedition began its drift. Back then the ice was still ca. 1.6 metres thick at the beginning of winter, whereas it had shrunk to ca. 50 centimetres last year - which made the search for a sufficiently thick floe in the autumn of 2019 all the more difficult. "We were fortunate enough to find a floe that had survived the summer and formed in the Russian shelf seas. This allows us to investigate transport processes from the 'old Arctic', which now only partly function, if at all," says Krumpen. Particularly in the higher latitudes, global warming is causing temperatures to climb rapidly: in the summer of 2019, the last summer before the expedition, Russian meteorological stations reported record temperatures. These high temperatures sparked rapid melting and significantly warmed Russia's marginal seas. As a result, many parts of the Northeast Passage were ice-free for a 93-day period (the longest duration since the beginning of satellite observation). The experts predict that if CO2 emissions remain unchecked - as they have in the past several years -the Central Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2030. ### Original Publication: Krumpen, T., Birrien, F., Kauker, F., Rackow, T., von Albedyll, L., Angelopoulos, M., Belter, H. J., Bessonov, V., Damm, E., Dethloff, K., Haapala, J., Haas, C., Harris, C., Hendricks, S., Hoelemann, J., Hoppmann, M., Kaleschke, L., Karcher, M., Kolabutin, N., Lei, R., Lenz, J., Morgenstern, A., Nicolaus, M., Nixdorf, U., Petrovsky, T., Rabe, B., Rabenstein, L., Rex, M., Ricker, R., Rohde, J., Shimanchuk, E., Singha, S., Smolyanitsky, V., Sokolov, V., Stanton, T., Timofeeva, A., Tsamados, M., and Watkins, D.: The MOSAiC ice floe: sediment-laden survivor from the Siberian shelf, The Cryosphere, 14, 2173-2187,https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 5194/ tc-14-2173-2020 Further reading: The faltering Transpolar Drift: https:/ / www. awi. de/ en/ about-us/ service/ press/ press-release/ the-transpolar-drift-is-faltering-and-sea-ice-is-now-melting-before-it-can-leave-the-nursery. html Expected ship drift in next months: https:/ / www. meereisportal. de/ en/ mosaic/ sea-ice-ticker/ Background information on MOSAiC: On the MOSAiC expedition, experts from 20 nations will study the Arctic for an entire year. For this purpose, from autumn 2019 to autumn 2020 the German icebreaker Polarstern will drift across the Arctic Ocean, trapped in the sea ice. MOSAiC is being coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). In order for the unprecedented project to be a success and produce as much valuable data as possible, over 80 scientific institutes are working together in a research consortium. The expedition's total budget is over 140 million euros. For the latest news straight from the Arctic, check the MOSAiC channels on Twitter (@MOSAiCArctic) and Instagram (@mosaic_expedition) using the hashtags #MOSAiCexpedition, #Arctic and #icedrift. For further information on the expedition, visit us at: https:/ / mosaic-expedition. org/ Or you can use the MOSAiC Web App to track Polarstern's drift route and follow events on-site live: https:/ / follow. mosaic-expedition. org/ This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: 12:22 | Tumbes (Tumbes region), Jul. 6. The Head of State warned that the reform bill has been approved without due process as stipulated in the Parliament's regulation, thus altering procedures and invalidating the approval. "What is the objective? Since they want to invalidate it, their strategy is to wait for the approval itself to be without effect and, as a result, parliamentary immunity will remain in force without problems," he told TV Peru. "They have distorted it in such a way that surely someone will ask the Constitutional Court to render it ineffective, and if this occurs, immunity will remain in force. We believe this is a ruse to continue to enjoy parliamentary immunity," the statesman said. Mr. Vizcarra affirmed that he is not afraid to have his immunity lifted to answer any question they may have, adding that he has always acted with honesty in favor of the people. The Peruvian leader expressed concern that the population may get fooled into how Parliament has approved immunity, since this will be invalidated due to the flaws of unconstitutionality that it entails. "Peruvians deserve respect," he said from Tumbes region. Llegamos a #Chiclayo. El presidente @MartinVizcarraC hace entrega ventiladores mecanicos y supervisa el hospital temporal implementado en la I.E. N. 10796 Carlos Augusto Salaverry, por la @AutoridadRCC. pic.twitter.com/Qw9Fs9hnBg A2Zero City council approved an ambitious $1 billion plan to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2030. by Michael Betzold From the July, 2020 issue The A2Zero plan passed unanimously--but only after nixing language that amounted to calling for effectively ending single-family zoning. The plan had envisioned allowing "by right" construction of four-plexes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) anywhere in the city. An amendment by Ward Two rep Kathy Griswold's amendment replaced that with a vague goal to "increase housing opportunities." Griswold says the amendment was based on notes from Missy Stults, the city's sustainability and innovations manager. "It was really a communications problem," Griswold says. "Some of us felt there was inflammatory language. I was just trying to get to yes, because everyone on council supported the goals." Increasing housing density is a key part of the plan, according to Stults, because land use is a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions and the issue came up repeatedly in public engagement sessions. But Stults says Griswold's change caused "no heartburn." The plan still envisions reducing commuting by building more multifamily units. A2Zero has specific emissions reductions targets and estimated price tags spelled out in detail, but it's more of a road map with some uncharted territory than an agenda set in stone. Many parts of A2Zero count on actions the city doesn't control. Most notably, more than a third of projected emissions savings are tied to "community choice aggregation"-which requires state legislation deregulating utilities. That's unlikely in the near term and strongly opposed by DTE-a key partner in A2Zero, particularly in the planned solar array at the former city landfill. Stults says she could embrace "other solutions" that may emerge in a different energy marketplace-but only if they force utility customers to "opt out" of renewable utilities. Because DTE's current alternative-energy plan, "My Green Power," requires customers to opt in, she says it won't produce enough switch-overs to meet the 2030 goal. Also flexible, as it must be, is A2Zero's vision for powering all city buildings, all new construction, and 30 percent of existing homes through renewable energy sources by 2030. That would require ...continued below... a massive switch from natural gas to electricity, which is currently much more expensive in Michigan. The city hopes to do what it can, including launching public-private bulk-buying programs for energy-efficient items, to make it more affordable for homeowners to get renewable energy replacements when an old water heater or other appliance needs to be replaced. Such steps would nudge the market to be ready for a change to renewables and help make it easier for consumers to do the right thing by making energy-efficient replacements more appealing. It's akin to how you get kids to floss their teeth-at least, that's the analogy that comes to mind for Stults, the mother of a five-year-old.The plan also calls for purchasing more than $9 million in "carbon offsets." But "we're not interested," Stults says, in the cheap offsets that are now available in the still-developing carbon trading market. The plan spells out that the city would invest only in new, more expensive projects that actually replace fossil fuels.A2Zero was the result of a council mandate when it declared a climate emergency last November. Stults says her staff originally wanted a more realistic "carbon neutral" target date of 2035, but the city council insisted on 2030. Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are among ninety-four local government units in the United States and one of 1,500 places in thirty countries worldwide--collectively overseeing 820 million people--to declare a climate emergency.[Originally published in July, 2020.] Three Chairs at Twenty Susan Monroe's superpower by Britain Woodman From the July, 2020 issue "I may not remember their name, but I recognize their face, and I know what their living room looks like." This is the superpower of Susan Monroe, owner of Three Chairs Co., currently celebrating twenty years on Ashley St. "It's a tough place for retail," Monroe says, "but somehow we're doing it." Monroe, like all of her sales team, began as an interior designer. Experiences in product development and designing showrooms for Herman Miller stores in Manhattan and Hollywood compelled her to design a store of her own. Three Chairs opened in Holland, Michigan in 1996 and expanded to Ann Arbor four years later. With the Herman Miller chairs in the front window, a passerby might take a glance and assume it's an office furniture firm. Three Chairs has outfitted a few downtown offices, but Monroe says most of their customers are individuals and families as well as other interior designers. She thinks of her team as "problem solvers," often visiting a customer's house and identifying traffic flow before suggesting furniture to improve it. Suppliers include American Leather, Gus* (whose modern pieces can be covered in "vegan leather"), Lee Industries, Copeland Furniture, and Gat Creek. "Kind of our whole drumbeat is quality furniture, good warranties, and you'll be back," Monroe says. Three Chairs Co., 215 S. Ashley, (734) 665-2786. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. threechairs.com [Originally published in July, 2020.] YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. On July 6, at 06:17 local time, the Seismic Protection Survey Seismological Network of the Armenian ministry of emergency situations detected an earthquake at the northern latitude 40.030 and eastern longitude 44.530 geographic coordinates (Armenia, 6km south-east from Marmarashen village of Ararat province) with 2.2 magnitude and 10km depth, the ministry told Armenpress. The tremor measured magnitude 2-3 points at the epicenter area. The earthquake was also felt in Dvin, Marmarashen and Vostan villages with magnitude 2 points. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has sent a congratulatory message to First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on his birthday, the PMs Office told Armenpress. The congratulatory message reads: Dear Nursultan Abishevich, Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on your 80th birth anniversary. Significant progress has been recorded owing to your years-long efforts aimed at promoting Kazakhstans development and mutually beneficial integration processes within the Eurasian space. Valuable is your personal contribution to the strengthening of Armenian-Kazakh relations. I reaffirm my readiness to further expand our multifaceted cooperation to the benefit of the peoples of our countries. I learned with deep regret that you had tested positive for COVID-19. I am convinced that you will be back to your daily activities in the nearest future to complete the planned programs. Dear Nursultan Abishevich, I wish you a speedy recovery, robust health and all the best, as well as peace and prosperity - to the friendly people of Kazakhstan. Over 30 years ago, Gayle Rubin argued in her seminal piece Thinking Sex that sexuality should be treated with special respect in times of great social stress (1984, 143). The COVID-19 pandemic raises new questions about how we engage with one another, with sex becoming a sensitive issue once again. How can one address the issue of sex and intimacy during the coronavirus pandemic, when even a public gathering of a small group has the potential to cause an upheaval? We agree with Rubin that a delicate matter such as sex should be treated with a certain degree of diligence and humbleness. Therefore, instead of speaking the truth about sex in a single voice, we have opted to engage in a dialogue, allowing space for different positions and opinions to challenge, stand alongside and maybe contradict each other. This we is composed of Ursula Probst and Max Schnepf with their manifold similarities and differences. As queer subjects we both found a home in Berlin. As PhD students at Freie Universitat Berlin we share an interest in gender and sexuality within anthropology. Our commonalities made this conversation possible. Yet, what makes it interesting are our differences in terms of personal positionings, theoretical approaches and thematic interests. After investigating sex workers perspectives on health care and support services in Berlin, Ursula became interested in the relations between bodies, mobilities, and the commercialization of sexuality and intimate labor. In her PhD project she is investigating the racialized and sexualized construction of Eastern European bodies in Berlins sex industry and expressions of Europeanness as embodied practices. Max has conducted ethnographic fieldwork at an upmarket hairdressing salon in Berlin, asking how bodies are enacted in intimate encounters within care work settings. In his PhD research, he approaches intimacy as queer affect by investigating how bodies and sexuality are socio-materially transformed through PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), a new drug that provides an effective protection against acquiring HIV. Drawing on our respective personal and academic backgrounds we explore what queer and feminist thinking in anthropology has to offer for an analysis of the current circumstances. How do the heteronormative underpinnings of quarantine affect us in our everyday lives but also in our fantasies and desires? How are sex and physical intimacy moralized, but also creatively reinvented nowadays? And what kind of socialities and imaginations of the future emerge under the present situation? The Sway of the Normal Max: The UK-based Terrence Higgins Trust started a No Hook Ups campaign, stating that unless you have sex with someone within your household, its important to find sexual pleasure in other ways (Brady 2020). In contrast, others like a sexual therapist in a recent interview in the German gay magazine *manner raise the question if sex is in fact a basic need (Knuth 2020). Sex, a bit of sex or no sex at all? seems to become a controversial or even explosive question these days. Ursula: This perfectly illustrates how quickly the debate about sexuality has become dichotomized and charged. On the one hand, some immediately disregard sexuality or practices that go beyond sleeping with a cohabitant partner as frivolous and morally bad. On the other hand, the notion of sex as a basic, not to say biological, need is equally problematic and potentially normalizing, as there is also the opposite tendency of judging those with little to no interest in sexuality as frigid. Additionally, the concept of sex as a basic need also serves to justify and legitimize sexual harassment and (in)famously legalized rape in marriages in Germany until the 1990s, which also highlights the gendered dimensions of this debate. While such essentialist heteronormative understandings of mens sexual urges and womens sexual passivity have long been challenged in academia and beyond, the notion of sexuality as something natural still proves to be pervasive (Rubin 1984, 149). Therefore I am also critical of claims to classify sex work as a job relevant for the system to circumvent the prohibition of sex work and the subsequent loss of income due to the pandemic which is currently in effect in Germany. First of all, as we can clearly observe with nurses, farm workers and others, relevance for the system does not improve working conditions or change the fact that many sex workers are excluded from financial support services, health care and welfare schemes. But neither does punishing sex workers in precarious positions for continuing to work during this pandemic. So instead of asking why sex workers cannot or do not want to stop working, even during a pandemic, and opening up a discussion about the multiple intersections of sexuality, intimacy and economy, this supposed relevance reinscribes the idea of a system in which sexual urges need to be fulfilled at all costs. Max: It would indeed be short-sighted to conceive of sex per se as natural, especially with regard to the negative consequences for already marginalized groups. Instead of telling people what (not) to do and feel, in my opinion it is more important to first try to understand why people do not or cannot adhere to the current advice by public health institutions. Tim Deans (2009) work on barebacking (unprotected anal sex, which can increase the risk of HIV infection) is a good example of such an approach. Taking seriously peoples fantasies, desires and fears in current debates can teach us a lot about social norms, as sex disrupts imaginations of what counts as respectable. Ursula: It is also interesting to note how quickly also in queer communities ideas about monogamy find their way into current debates, by condemning sex that does not happen within the sanctioned space of coupledom. It might not be expressed in a hetero-monogamous language, but the idea of fixed sexual partners or corona buddies reinforces a norm about sexuality and sexual relationships without even addressing the question of what non-monogamous relationships could look like in times of physical distancing. Max: Like public events, non-monogamous sex is cancelled until further notice and projected towards a future where things go back to normal. For example, one can find so many memes on (gay) social media, imagining and dreaming about huge orgies as soon as we are post-crisis. In the words of Lauren Berlant (2011), this hope for a normal future can be described as a form of cruel optimism that restricts our thriving in the here and now for the sake of a better future. But I think we could even go further than just non-monogamous sex, when we think about the reinforcement of certain normativities in the name of a normal future. Recent measures and calls to #StayAtHome unquestioningly treat the home as a safe space. It is true that home might protect you from the coronavirus, but it is far from being a place of mental and physical integrity for each and every one. Not to mention the people who do not have a home and face persecution, because their material conditions simply dont allow them to comply with a curfew. Ursula: Not least, as feminists have pointed out for decades, the home might also be a space of otherwise hidden or invisible inequalities (Young 2005). And the current increase in domestic violence again shows that home does not automatically constitute safety. Also, when we speak of domestic violence, people often think about an abusive husband in a heterosexual marriage, but this goes much further. Relationships between parents and children can likewise be problematic and full of conflict, which might escalate quickly in the current situation. Among others, I am thinking here about queer kids who are suddenly stuck with parents who are not supportive of their children. This not only calls into question the presumed safety of the home, but also that of the family and the idea that home and family are closely intertwined. More generally, this pandemic challenges common understandings of how and with whom we meet and share space (or territory, if one thinks of those stranded at the borders of Europe), what kind of bonds we have with different sets of persons and in what ways the sharing of space does or does not produce safety and mental health. Which brings me back to this idea of going back to normal and the overlooked issue in this imagined future, namely that for many normal was not so amazing to begin with. Doing it Ursula: On the other hand, I am also yet again fascinated by how quickly we can adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. Which also holds certain dangers, because instead of going back to a normal, these restrictions of movement and contact can easily become a new normal. Which again might not be new at all to some people, for example immunocompromised people who are told to practice physical distancing with or without coronavirus (Soncco 2020). Further, restrictions of public gatherings already were and now even more so are a reality under different political regimes. Which serves as a reminder that despite the necessity of critical engagement with current containment measures in Germany we have to equally critically reflect our understandings of limitations and restrictions. Yet, going back to the desire for future orgies: I dont think that there are absolutely no queer orgies in places where queer sexual desires and/or their expression are legally prohibited or repressed (Kjaran and Martino 2019). This is the reason why we do not hear about it as it puts the people involved in more danger than we currently face for not following corona guidelines, but people have found a way to do it (pun intended). In that sense, this projection of the fulfilment of sexual desires into a post-corona future avoids the question of how to engage safely with each other during this crisis, limiting options to flourish now. Max: Thriving in the here and now despite unfavorable conditions requires creative work, as Sara Ahmed reminds us: We would not wait for things to happen. To wait is to eliminate the hap by accepting the inheritance of its elimination. You make happen. Or you create the ground on which things can happen in alternative ways. (2011, 178). And when we look at social media, we can witness how queer people put the hap back into happiness (ibid.). They embrace the hap the uncertain, the chance to find new ways of living intimacy despite physical distancing. For example, a Berlin-based project for gay, bisexual, trans* and queer men organized a Cum Together, a virtual masturbation round on Zoom. I also read a post online where a guy fantasized about being fucked doggy-style, while his anonymous sex partner is wearing a face mask. I find the act of eroticizing current protection measures fascinating, but also the fact that this reduction to plain penetration without kissing or other exchanges of intimacy could be counted as corona-safe. Ursula: Exactly, this challenges certain (normative) understandings of connections between sexuality and intimacy. Suddenly practices like shaking hands, touching or kissing, which are associated with intimacy, became dangerous and a potential source of infection, and an anonymous quickie in certain positions or some BDSM practices that do not require physical touch hold less of a risk of infection although I want to add that I am not a medical doctor or virologist, so this is pure speculation. But its definitely a good time to try out different sex toys! This shows us that intimacy, sexual or otherwise, is more than just physical contact, which begs the question if limiting yourself to certain corona-safe sexual practices does not also express some kind of care and intimacy in the current situation? Max: Maybe we will become kinkier in times of corona I think your example also brings us to a less romanticized, less vanilla definition of intimacy, if intimacy is not presented as the opposite to kink. Instead, I would propose a definition that approaches intimacy as a way of relating care-fully, that is with care for the other actors involved. This is also a question that came up in my initial research about PrEP, where condom-less sex is often assumed to be more intimate. Yet, one could also ask if the use of a condom can also present an act of care for the other person and for oneself. Could, subsequently, a condom even though it creates a physical barrier between two bodies become an object of intimacy by increasing the state of affection, because it materializes safer sex in that moment as a more care-ful engagement? And I think this question of what constitutes intimacy also comes up, as we now talk about sex between partners who are separated not just by a thin layer of latex, but by a distance of kilometers or by a computer screen. I have to admit that Im a bit conflicted here, because I have the hope that this pandemic gives us the opportunity to think about sex and intimacy in new and creative ways. Yet, when I open a dating app and read some moralizing statements about how important it is for all of us to stay home it also makes me angry. The same goes for well-intentioned advice on how to practice virtual or telephone sex during the pandemic. Somehow, Im missing a certain degree of anger or grief vis-a-vis the loss of physical contact. But I think these emotions do not have an acceptable place in the discourse about social responsibility and solidarity, which is why the only manifestation of this rage can be found in the genre of comedy such as Daniel-Ryan Spauldings rant (2020) about the missed Easter-orgies in Berlin (I should be covered in cum right now). And I know very well that there are more pressing issues than forced abstinence for a couple of weeks or months. Ursula: Yes, this crisis draws attention to the fact that intimacy does not necessarily rely on the physical contact between two or more bodies. Yet, I am concerned about what effects this might have for a life beyond the crisis. We are currently drilled to avoid physical contact, which as you mentioned has already turned into moral shaming of some sexual practices that often were not fully accepted by everyone to begin with, like open relationships or anonymous hook-ups. So I am wondering what that might mean for sexual emancipation, as we have seen the rise of conservatism already before the coronavirus lockdown, and now the pandemic has provided an even better excuse to condemn or ban certain practices. And on a more practical level, what will happen to those who just started to explore their sexuality and what physical intimacy can mean for them? I can only imagine that this must be even harder than usual right now. Dis/continuous care Ursula: That being said, finding ways to practice intimacy in isolation is not entirely new to many who see themselves as part of the queer community. Therefore, these communities are also a space to look for ways of resistance and resilience in a world in ruins (Tsing 2015). For example, since the pandemic started to take hold in Berlin, various ad-hoc initiatives and networks by and for queers were among the first to provide organized support systems for marginalized people who could not access governmental aid. Max: I would argue that within the queer scene specifically there is an ethos to look out for one another, especially if you are in a marginalized position and cant always trust in the institutional support of the state. For example, if we take the HIV/AIDS-activism of the 1980s as a starting point for what we might call the queer community we can see that dealing with crises and creating support and solidarity networks has had an influence on the response to new threats (Laufenberg 2014, 32535). Ursula: But what then makes this a moment of crisis for the queer community? Is this truly an extraordinary moment or a continuation of already established practices? Max: We have to keep in mind that the crisis does not always mark a short period in time. Many people here in Germany and elsewhere live under chronically grim conditions and for them to make a living does depend on support from within the community every day. The question of ruptures and continuities also opens up the space for imaginations of the future: Will these initiatives disappear as soon as this pandemic comes to an end or will they leave something more lasting behind? For Jose Esteban Munoz, queerness does not pertain to a community; it is a field of utopian possibilities (2019, 20), something that is not yet here (22), or a forward-dawning futurity (23) that is, an impulse to imagine and desire the future and creating a space for it to become present. This captures what is at stake in many of the support networks that we see popping up in the city: By generating proximities between people they work outside, and sometimes even against, given normative structures. In this way, they let past events and experiences of marginality and exclusion as well as hope for and imaginations of the future bear on the present situation. Ursula: However, not everything that works outside given structures is necessarily against them. Take neoliberalism and the individualization of care, which are built on the idea that individuals can and will organize by themselves as welfare systems are cut down and privatized. The pandemic made the fatal consequences of these policies undeniably clear. Nevertheless, the community efforts to fill in for the lack of universally accessible welfare and health care systems might also be interpreted as a sign of the neoliberal system working and situations like the hoarding of certain products or theft of hospital disinfectant and subsequent shortages remind us that we need to learn to think beyond the interests of particular individuals or groups. The Violence of Solidarity? Max: Your point about the mechanisms of neoliberalism ties in with two concerns I have about the many calls to solidarity nowadays: its objects and subjects. These invocations of solidarity make me feel uncomfortable, because the object of the demanded solidarity is obscure. In other words, who are we now accountable for? Is it the elderly? German society? Europe? And subsequently one also has to ask who these constructed units exclude. That is: who are the non-objects of solidarity? Im thinking of the refugees who are stranded at the European borders and who are denied access to the Solidargemeinschaft, the solidary community. In this shared understanding of solidarity, it has become even harder to voice an anti-normative position and question some of the underlying assumptions of self-sacrifice for the greater good. Here, Im inspired by what has been labelled the antisocial thesis in queer studies. At the center of this debate is the question whether (queer) sexuality constitutes one (if not the) basis for social solidification and relationality or a negative force that has the potential to question and disrupt the fiction of sociality (Wiegman 2017, 220). The point I want to make is that it is not equally easy for everybody to act responsibly according to the official measures. I would like to suggest that this idea of the responsible and solidary subject can be very violent to those people who cannot easily #StayTheFAtHome (or stay at home to f, in this matter). One could polemically ask if this failure to comply with the official regulations performs a politics of negativity of sorts which questions the object of currently proclaimed solidarity, namely the wellbeing of society and the nation with all the (class and racial) inequalities it is built on (Halberstam 2011, 1078). Ursula: This brings me to the connections between queer practices and anarchism (Daring et al. 2013), which is another form of utopian thinking, which also envisions the destruction of society as we know it. It is important to question notions of solidarity that urge people to sacrifice themselves for a society that otherwise rejects them. However, I would not use the term violence in the context of people needing to stay at home, or at least not in such a broad sense. Not because I think the definition of violence should be reduced to physical force, but because it is a very emotionally loaded term that has often been applied so broadly that it similar to the notion of queer has lost its analytical potential. My critical remark here is informed by certain discourses on sex work that regard everything and anything related to it as violent, making it very hard to differentiate between different forms of violence. Rather than simply calling the current discourses about responsibility and solidarity violent, I would ask what does or can make them violent? Who gets to decide what is good or bad behavior, or legitimate contacts? Conclusion Questions about what constitutes the morally good as well as who gets to ask and answer them are situated in a given time and place, as anthropologists have pointed out for decades. It has never been more evident than now that the truth about the virus or certain measures of today might yet be dated tomorrow. This conversation as well as several revisions of it took place in Berlin via video and telephone calls over more or less four weeks in March and April of 2020. It started at around the time, when German chancellor Angela Merkel announced the first decrees to contain the pandemic, and was submitted, when discussions about loosening these measures were already widely discussed. Despite this conversations fast-paced context, it raised issues that reach beyond its particular emplacement. Stressing the continuities in queer community care, we pointed out that one should not only think of the crisis in ruptures, but attend to its chronicity and what it may leave behind. Similarly, some of our questions may endure: What type of harm can seemingly innocent ideas such as solidarity do? How can one level criticism against the normative underpinnings of the home, the family or the future itself? But also, how can one exist and even thrive alongside repressive structures? Sex becomes a controversial topic in times of crisis, as Rubin reminds us. Nevertheless, thinking sex in times of corona not only asks for the topicality of sex right now, but also to envision alternative practices and futures. While the world as we know it seems to go to ruins, intimate encounters form an inventory to capture and make sense of the pandemic. Max Schnepf is a research associate at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universitat Berlin. He has obtained his masters degree at the University of Amsterdam. As part of the program in Social Sciences, he conducted ethnographic fieldwork about bodies in styling practices at an upmarket hairdressing salon in Berlin (see www.anthrobod.net). In his PhD research, he approaches intimacy as queer affect by investigating how bodies and sexuality are socio-materially transformed through PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), a new drug that provides an effective protection against acquiring HIV. Since 2019, Max is co-chair of the working Group Gender & Sexualities | Queer Anthropology within the German Anthropological Association (DGSKA). Twitter: @anthro_bod Ursula Probst is a PhD student and research associate at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universitat Berlin. She has been conducting research on Berlins sex industry since 2012. After investigating sex workers perspectives on support services as part of her MA research she is currently analyzing how intersecting processes of sexualization and racialization of Eastern European bodies affect the realities of migrants from this region who engage in sex work in Berlin. Since 2019, she is a board member of the Association for Sex Work and Prostitution Research, an interdisciplinary network of sex work researchers predominantly based in the German speaking area (www.gspf.info). Twitter: @probursula References Ahmed, S. 2011. Happy Futures, Perhaps. In Queer Times, Queer Becomings, edited by E. L. McCallum and M. Tuhkanen, 15982. Albany: State University of New York Press. Berlant, L. 2011. Cruel optimism. Durham: Duke University Press. Brady, M. 2020. Dont hook up during the COVID-19 lockdown. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.tht.org.uk/news/dont-hook-during-covid-19-lockdown. Daring, C.B., J. Rogue, D. Shannon, and A. Volcano, eds. 2013: Queering Anarchism: Addressing and Undressing Power and Desire. Edinburgh, Oakland, Baltimore: AK Press. Dean, T. 2009. Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press. Halberstam, J. 2011. The Queer Art of Failure. Durham: Duke University Press. Kjaran, J.I., and W. Martino. 2019. In Search of Queer Spaces in Tehran: Heterotopias, Power Geometries and Bodily Orientations in Queer Iranian Mens Lives. Sexualities 22 (4): 587604. Knuth, C. 2020. Grundbedurfnis Sexualitat: Nahe in Zeiten von Corona.Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.maenner.media/body/gesundheit/interview-marco-kammholz-corona-und-sexualitaet/. Laufenberg, M. 2004. Sexualitat und Biomacht: Vom Sicherheitsdispositiv zur Politik der Sorge. Bielefeld: Transcript. Munoz, J.E. 2019 (2009). Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, 10thanniversary edition. New York, London: New York University Press. Rubin, G. 1984. Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality. In Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality, edited by C.S. Vance, 143178. London: Routledge. Soncco, R. 2020. Lessons for self-isolation from chronically ill patients. Somatosphere. http://somatosphere.net/2020/lessons-for-self-isolation-from-chronically-ill-patients.html/. Spaulding, D.R. 2020. Its Berlin: Snax Party! Instagram video, April 12, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-4YJu8F0Ta/. Tsing, A.L. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Wiegman, R. 2017. Sex and Negativity: Or, What Queer Theory Has for You. Cultural Critique 95: 21943. Young, I.M. 2005. House and Home: Feminist Variations on a Theme. In Motherhood and Space, edited by S. Hardy and C. Wiedmer. New York: Palgrave. Share this: Share Email Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr LinkedIn [view academic citations] [hide academic citations] YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 350 citizens have been evacuated by rescuers and police officers from Megamall Armenia in Yerevan after an alarm about bombs placed in the shopping center, the ministry of emergency situations told Armenpress. Search operations for bombs are underway. The National Center for Crisis Management received a call today, at 13:30, that a statement has been spread on internet according to which bombs are placed at the 1st and 2nd floors of Megamall Armenia shopping center in Yerevan which are going to explode at 13:50. Rescuers and operative groups left for the scene. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. The session of the Commandants Office of Artsakh was held today chaired by President Arayik Harutyunyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. Commandant, State Minister of Artsakh Grigori Martirosyan briefly presented the actions taken in the Republic in the past month to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Acting Minister of Healthcare Arayik Baghryan presented a report on the statistics of COVID-19 in the world, in Armenia and Artsakh, as well as the actions taken by the ministry. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan touched upon the recent COVID-19 cases detected in hospitals, urging the responsible officials to take strict measures to rule out new cases or minimize them as much as possible. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Criminal case has been launched over the death of a serviceman of the Russian military base in Armenias Gyumri city, the Investigative Committee told Armenpress. The soldier was found hanged on July 4 in an apartment in Gyumri where he lived. The criminal case has been filed under part 1 Article 110 (causing suicide) of the Criminal Code of Armenia. Investigative operations have been carried out and a note in Russian has been found in the bedroom of the apartment. Investigation continues. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Sydney, Australia, July 6, 2020 - (ABN Newswire) - AUDIO: Nova Minerals Ltd ((ASX:NVA.AX - News) (HAM:QM3.F - News) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) ABN Newswire talks with Chris Gerteisen, the Managing Director about the recent developments at the Estelle Gold project in Alaska. Recent results and an ongoing drilling program will see a new resource definition in the short term. Operations are now full year, and continuous work on the project will be ongoing due to improved access and a fully functional base camp. To listen to the podcast, please visit: https://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/101402/nva About Nova Minerals Ltd: Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA.AX - News) (FRA:QM3.F - News) is an ASX-listed minerals explorer focused on lithium, gold and mineral exploration in Canada, Alaska and Australia. The company plans to create shareholder value through two-pronged strategy: - Capitalise on the growing demand for energy storage and the resulting demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel by fast-tracking exploration and development activities in our North American assets with particular focus on our flagship lithium project and prospective Chip-Loy Nickel Cobalt Sulphides project. - Diversification by gaining exposure to base and precious metals through our farm-in JV at our district scale Estelle gold copper silver project and our Northern Australian gold exploration assets. Contact: Nova Minerals Ltd P: +61-3-9614-0600 F: +61-3-9614-0550 WWW: novaminerals.com.au Source: Nova Minerals Ltd Copyright (C) 2020 ABN Newswire. All rights reserved. DUBAI, UAE, Jul 6, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Verofax Limited, a start-up building innovative Traceability services with the application of blockchain, closed its recent pre-seed investment round with participation from Privity FZ LLE, based in the UAE, acquiring an equity stake. Privity is an independent venture-focused advisory firm, founded in Dubai in 2004, that has backed and invested in more than a dozen portfolio companies since its inception. Wassim Merheby, Verofax CEO, commented, "We are truly thrilled to welcome Privity as a shareholder in Verofax. Traceability plays a key role in upgrading brand owners' business through authenticity validation, advanced product marketing and access to financing and global markets. Traceability is a key enabler of digital transformation to automated and resilient supply chain services. In the markets where Traceability has been deployed such as China, sales increased by over 30% while consumer complaints dropped by 42%. It is just a matter of time for Traceability to become a must for ShopSafe compliance regulations, currently under review in the US for example." Mr. Merheby is leading transformation projects for the Health authorities in UAE in relation to eHealth native digital services, and promoting patient safety through the application of integrated technologies. The world has just been hit by a pandemic which clearly points out that Healthcare could be better managed with contactless processes applying technologies such as IOT devices, drones, blockchain, AI, and augmented reality. The most immediate need is for the safe delivery of eHealth services, where Verofax offers wide applicability for the underlying systems of the Healthcare and supply chain industries. Sleem Hasan, Privity Founder and CEO, said "Privity participated alongside reputed regional investors in the pre-seed round of investment in Verofax. This is also Privity's first portfolio company based in the UAE, and its second HealthTech venture. I am delighted to open Privity's network to Verofax as I find the underlying value proposition of their business idea compelling. COVID-19 has demonstrated the need to transform secure delivery and offer protection to the most vulnerable in our society. Verofax services are perfectly positioned and aligned to secure pharmaceutical deliveries of medication in the region with privacy and safety." Verofax proprietary traceability and delivery solutions powers unique compliance and brand protection services, including serialization, traceability, anti-counterfeit and anti-diversion solutions. The service supports manufacturers of food, pharmaceuticals and other consumer goods, in meeting evolving product traceability regulations and growing consumer demand for product safety, security and authenticity. About Verofax Verofax Limited is a blockchain-enabled, traceability service provider established in Abu Dhabi Global Markets, UAE. Verofax services have been accepted by Oracle, Microsoft and Ant Group for co-selling across their established B2B channels. Verofax has recently set up subsidiary entities in Malaysia and Estonia, to offer Traceability-as-a-service across wider geographies. About Privity Privity FZ LLE was founded in 2004, an independent venture-focused advisory firm that seeks entrepreneurs with interesting and unique ideas and helps them develop and grow. Privity is agnostic to geography and industry vertical; It focuses on the quality of the entrepreneur and the compelling value proposition of the idea. Visit Verofax at https://verofax.com, and Privity FZ LLE at http://www.privitylle.com. Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com Qantas has announced a major sale. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Qantas will release 350,000 discounted fares as part of its bid to boost domestic tourism, the major airline announced today. The cheaper fares will be available on 77 routes with Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide and the Gold Coast among the destinations included in the sale. The Love Australia Sale is designed to prompt Australians to explore our great land for less and have an unforgettable holiday at home. Under the promotion, travellers can change the date of their flights once without copping a change fee, provided flights are booked between 21 May and 27 July, and are for travel between 12 June and 31 October 2020. However, a fare difference may still apply. The sale will continue until Friday morning with some fares discounted as much as 47 per cent. Which are the best fares? Travellers can scoop up flights from Sydney to the Gold Coast for $109, or to Brisbane for $115. South Australians can travel from Adelaide to Brisbane for $169, or Tasmanians can head to Melbourne for $125. And Sydney-siders can get to Hobart for $149. Brisbane to the Fraser Coast will set you back $109 and Sydney to Darwin costs $129. The response we saw to the recent sales exceeded our expectations and showed just how much demand there is for people to get on an aircraft and get away, said Qantas chief customer officer Stephanie Tully. We expect this sale will help stimulate demand even more and encourage Australians to go on holidays and visit family and friends while also helping get more of our people back working again. Virgin Australia last week launched a huge sale with flights as cheap as $69. But Qantas promotion comes as New South Wales officially shuts its borders to Victoria for the first time in 100 years as the southern state battles a rapid increase in coronavirus cases. Qantas inks deal with Afterpay Qantas on Monday also announced a new partnership allowing frequent flyers to earn points by using Afterpay. Qantas Frequent Flyer members will be able to earn up to 5,000 Qantas points when they link their membership to their Afterpay account. Story continues Financial services is one of the most popular ways to earn points in the program, its the quickest and easiest way to build your points balance, Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said. Join the Womens Money Movement on LinkedIn and follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Australian woman Sara Connor will be released from Kerobokan Prison after serving four years for her role in the fatal assault of a policeman on a Bali beach. The mother of two, from Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, was jailed alongside her then boyfriend, British national David Taylor, after they were found guilty of the death of Wayan Sudarsa on Kuta Beach in August 2016. A brief statement from Indonesia's immigration department said Connor would be released in mid-July. No exact date was given. The couple were enjoying a night on the beach when they realised Connor's handbag containing $A300 was missing. They split up and searched the beach and Taylor confronted Sudarsa, believing he might have stolen her bag. Sara Connor of Australia waits in a holding cell before her trial in 2017. Source: Getty Images A fight erupted and Sudarsa was hit with a bottle and a pair of binoculars. Taylor took his identification cards, which the judges were told had been cut up by Connor because "she panicked and felt guilty". Taylor also told her Sudarsa was passed out on the beach and the pair maintained they were acting in self-defence. Connor insisted she only intervened to stop the two men fighting and said she was bitten by Sudarsa during the fight. Prosecutors had sought eight-year terms, alleging gang violence had caused the officer's death. The court also heard Sudarsa had died on the beach several hours after he was abandoned and might have lived had the couple called for help. That argument formed the basis of an appeal against Connor, whose four-year sentence was increased to five. A bench of three judges found there was no intent to kill thus the couple were spared a murder sentence. Connor was handed a five-year sentence. Source: Getty Images Connor, who is in her 40s and whose two children are now teenagers, has told Australian media she has since separated from Taylor, who was jailed for six years. Her mid-July release was expected. The former businesswoman received annual remissions for good behaviour, spending most of her time learning how to paint, crochet, and cut hair. Ketut Arsini, wife of the dead officer, recently told 7NEWS.com.au that human beings should be able to forgive and she had no ill-feeling towards Connor. She did, however, avoid her husband's colleagues because their sight reminded her of painful memories. Story continues Connor was expected to be deported upon release from Bali's overcrowded Kerobokan Prison. However, this could be complicated by disruptions to flights with Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic. 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. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who has long minimized the risks posed by the coronavirus, said Monday he had been tested after showing symptoms including a fever. Bolsonaro told CNN Brazil that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs at a military hospital as a precaution. Local media said the virus test results would come at about midday Tuesday. He also said he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure. Local media said the 65-year-old Bolsonaro had cleared his schedule for the week. "The president is in good health at the moment and is in his residence," his office said in a statement. Since the beginning of the virus outbreak, Bolsonaro has minimized the risks of what he initially called "a little flu" and flouted social distancing rules and containment measures, such as wearing a mask in public. Brazil is the second worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic, with more than 65,000 deaths and at least 1.6 million cases. Bolsonaro had been tested three times previously -- all came back negative. On Monday, the far-right leader made more changes to weaken a law that would require citizens to wear face masks in public. He had already watered down the bill Friday by vetoing several articles, such as requiring employers to supply face masks for their staff and another mandating that public authorities should provide face coverings for "economically vulnerable people." Now Bolsonaro has also vetoed articles requiring masks be worn in prisons and another obliging businesses to provide information on how to wear masks properly. Some states have already made the wearing of face-coverings mandatory, but this was the first such law on a national level. On Saturday, Bolsonaro published photos on social media in which he is not wearing a face mask at a lunch with the US ambassador and several ministers celebrating the July 4th holiday. Since he was in a private residence, he did not break the new law -- but that did not spare him from an avalanche of criticism online for not providing a good example. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has minimized the risks of what he initially called 'a little flu' and flouted social distancing rules Chinese troops were seen removing structures from a Himalayan valley where they fought a deadly battle with Indian soldiers last month, Indian army sources said Monday, after high-level talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Brutal hand-to-hand fighting in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15 left twenty Indian soldiers dead and sent tensions between the countries soaring. China has acknowledged it suffered casualties but has not given figures. The two sides agreed on Sunday to "completely disengage" from the border flashpoint and ensure "a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas," India's foreign ministry said Monday. In a CCTV readout of the meeting, China's representative Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would "effectively defend its territorial sovereignty, while maintaining peace in the border areas". Earlier, an Indian army source told AFP that China's People's Liberation Army soldiers were seen removing tents and structures in the Galwan Valley, and military vehicles were being moved back. "Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting," the source said, adding the Indian army was verifying how far back Chinese forces had withdrawn. There was no comment on whether there was a similar withdrawal by Indian troops. The Galwan Valley incident was the first time in 45 years that soldiers had died in combat on the Asian giants' long-disputed border. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Monday that both sides had made "positive progress... to disengage frontline troops and ease the border situation". "We hope that the Indian side will go with the Chinese side to implement the consensus reached by both sides with practical actions," Zhao added. India and China fought a war over the frontier in 1962. Anti-China sentiment has been growing in India since the high-altitude clash, with the government banning Chinese mobile apps including the wildly popular TikTok. Indian army sources said Chinese soldiers were seen dismantling tents and other structures in the contested Galwan Valley in Ladakh, the scene of deadly hand-to-hand fighting last month NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have joined forces to create the COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard. The web platform combines the collective scientific power of the agencies' Earth-observing satellites to document changes in the environment and society in response to the pandemic. The dashboard is a user-friendly tool to track changes in air and water quality, climate change, economic activity, and agriculture. Air quality changes were among the first noticeable impacts of pandemic-related stay-at-home orders, and the resulting reductions in industrial activity, that could be tracked through satellite observations. Reductions in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels -- primarily related to temporary reductions in the burning of fossil fuels -- show up clearly in satellite data. A preliminary analysis also indicates that planting (farming) activity dropped during the quarantines and lockdowns. For example, the cultivated area of white asparagus in Brandenburg, Germany, has been 20 to 30 percent lower this year, compared to 2019. More information on agricultural productivity changes will be added to the dashboard in the months to come. Recent water quality changes have been reported in a few locations that typically have intense industry and tourism -- activities that have decreased during the pandemic. Data on ship identification, construction activity, and nighttime lights (above) are featured on the dashboard to keep track of some of the economic ramifications of the virus. Together, ESA, JAXA, and NASA will continue to add new observations to the dashboard in the coming months to see how these indicators change. Learn more in the NASA press release, the video below, or by exploring the dashboard. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. An Australian scientist is fronting a group of more than 200 experts around the world as they challenge the World Health Organisation (WHO) on their view on how the coronavirus is spread. Six months into a pandemic that has killed more than half a million people, the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that you have to worry about only two types of transmission. They identify inhaling respiratory droplets from an infected person in your immediate vicinity or less common touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth as the two main sources of infection. A group of scientists believe enclosed spaces like buses are more dangerous than first thought. Source: Getty Images But other experts contend the guidance ignores growing evidence a third pathway also plays a significant role in contagion. They say multiple studies demonstrate particles known as aerosols microscopic versions of standard respiratory droplets can hang in the air for long periods and float for several metres, making poorly ventilated rooms, buses and other confined spaces dangerous even when people stay 1.8 metres from one another. "We are 100 per cent sure about this," Lidia Morawska, a professor of atmospheric sciences and environmental engineering at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, said. She makes the case in an open letter to the WHO accusing the United Nations agency of failing to issue appropriate warnings about the risk. A total of 239 researchers from 32 countries signed the letter, which is set to be published next week in a scientific journal. In interviews, experts said aerosol transmission appeared to be the only way to explain several "super-spreading" events, including the infection of diners at a restaurant in China who sat at separate tables and of choir members in the US state of Washington who took precautions during a rehearsal. WHO expert casts doubt over claims WHO officials have acknowledged the virus can be transmitted through aerosols, but say that occurs only during medical procedures such as intubation that can spew large quantities of the microscopic particles. Story continues Dr Benedetta Allegranzi, a top WHO expert on infection prevention and control, said in responses to questions from the Los Angeles Times that Prof Morawska and her group presented theories based on laboratory experiments rather than evidence from the field. "We value and respect their opinions and contributions to this debate," Dr Allegranzi wrote in an email. But in weekly teleconferences, a large majority of a group of more than 30 international experts advising the WHO has "not judged the existing evidence sufficiently convincing to consider airborne transmission as having an important role in COVID-19 spread". A woman sits on a bus in Sydney wearing a face mask. Source: Getty Images She added such transmission "would have resulted in many more cases and even more rapid spread of the virus". The proponents of aerosol transmission said masks worn correctly would help prevent the escape of exhaled aerosols as well as inhalation of the microscopic particles. But they said the spread could also be reduced by improving ventilation and zapping indoor air with ultraviolet light in ceiling units. Jose Jimenez, a University of Colorado chemist who signed the letter, said the idea of aerosol transmission should not frighten people. "It's not like the virus has changed," he said. "We think the virus has been transmitted this way all along, and knowing about it helps protect us." 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. There's no sign of the usual lunch crowd at Berlin's Zen Kitchen, with just a few scattered diners dotting its terrace despite the sunny weather. Two months after Germany lifted its lockdowns, the small Asian restaurant, like so many others, is struggling to attract customers as coronavirus fears linger. "We've only seen 20 to 30 percent of our clientele back since the reopening," said Zen's owner Vu, whose eatery is located near Berlin's busy Unter den Linden avenue. Having weathered the pandemic better than many of its neighbours so far, Germany was among the first countries to reopen its economy and its progress is being closely watched across the continent. Restaurants, bars and hotels have adapted to the new normal with face masks, physical distancing and by asking customers to share contact information so they can be alerted to any fresh outbreak. But despite the efforts, Germany's hospitality sector has struggled to pick up speed, highlighting the difficulties facing Europe's top economy as it confronts the steepest recession since World War II. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, which has pledged over a trillion euros in stimulus spending to cushion the coronavirus blow, is hoping for an economic rebound in the second half of 2020. "I'm certain that we can halt the downturn in our economy after the summer break and that the German economy will start to grow again by October at the latest," Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told the Bild am Sonntag daily. The unemployment level is expected to keep inching up "before slowly decreasing from November", he added. - 'Afraid to sit inside' - But for now the glass remains half full for many businesses. "The situation is dramatic," the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) summarised, noting that restaurant owners expect June revenues on average to be 60 percent lower than last year. "Sure, customers are coming back but very, very slowly," said Sahin Ciftci, the owner of Zeus pizzeria in Berlin's trendy Friedrichshain district. "People are still afraid to come and sit inside," he sighed, surveying his empty dining room at midday. The lack of punters combined with the extra expenses caused by the new hygiene regulations have left the sector fearing a record wave of bankruptcies. "Without more state support, nearly 70,000 businesses will be on the brink of ruin," according to DEHOGA. Last month, Merkel's government launched a scheme to help hard-hit smaller companies like restaurants cover their fixed costs, offering up to 150,000 euros ($169,000) over a three-month period. Berlin also hopes a six-month reduction in sales tax from July will encourage Germans to hit the high street and open their wallets again. But DEHOGA president Guido Zoellick told AFP more targeted help was needed that is "available to all restaurants". - 'Corona cookies' - Some restaurateurs are banking on the return of foreign tourists to keep them afloat over the summer holidays. Germany recently reopened its borders to most EU members as well as a slew of other countries, with more to follow depending on how the pandemic evolves. Berlin's five-star Adlon hotel, a stone's throw from the iconic Brandenburg Gate, is already creaking back to life with guests thronging its lavish entrance hall. "The recovery has started. It's slow but it's there," said the hotel's director of sales and marketing Sebastian Riewe. In Berlin's historic Nicholas quarter, where cobbled streets are normally packed with shoppers and sightseers, cafe owner Sylke Oehler remains upbeat. "The tourists will come back soon for sure," she told AFP sitting outside her health food cafe Zur Alten Zicke. Until then, the forty-something entrepreneur is working hard to drum up local custom through advertising and by switching up the menu -- even creating vegan, gluten-free "corona cookies". "I call it healthy comfort food," she said. "It's won me some new customers." Restaurants, bars and hotels have adapted to the new normal with face masks, physical distancing and by asking customers to share contact information so they can be alerted to any fresh outbreak British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been brought to New York and is due to make her first appearance in court there on sex trafficking charges related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein this week, officials say. Maxwell -- who was arrested and charged in New Hampshire last week after months of living in seclusion -- is due to be arraigned in a Manhattan federal court on Friday, according to a letter prosecutors submitted to the judge. She faces six counts related to crimes allegedly committed by Epstein, her former boyfriend and a convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison while awaiting trial last summer. They include perjury and conspiracy to entice minors as young as 14 years old to travel in order to engage in illegal sex acts. Maxwell is also accused of taking part in some of the sexual abuse. Prosecutors have requested that Maxwell, the 58-year-old daughter of late newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, be denied bail during Friday's hearing. They say she is an "extreme" flight risk, pointing out that she has passports from the United States, Britain and France. The attorneys also say they have identified 15 bank accounts associated with her in the last four years. The total balance of these accounts has ranged from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $20 million. Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. "In short, Maxwell has three passports, large sums of money, extensive international connections, and absolutely no reason to stay in the United States and face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence," the prosecution said in its detention memo. Maxwell, born in France but raised in Britain, has been transferred to New York following her arrest by FBI agents and New York police last Thursday. She is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison in Brooklyn, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to AFP on Monday. Epstein, 66, hanged himself in Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking minors for sex. He had pleaded not guilty. Two prison guards have been charged with failing to monitor him properly. Maxwell is accused of recruiting girls to perform sexual favors for Epstein between 1994 and 1997. She is also accused of repeatedly lying under oath during a 2016 civil trial. Epstein was a wealthy hedge fund manager who befriended countless celebrities over the years, including Britain's Prince Andrew. The royal, who was introduced to Epstein by Maxwell, vehemently denies claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured by Epstein. Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of paying young girls for massages, but served just 13 months in jail under a secret plea deal struck with the then state prosecutor. While his death was ruled a suicide, it has fueled conspiracy theories, most speculating he was murdered to stop him from revealing compromising information about wealthy acquaintances. Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured in 2003, could face life in prison if found guilty on charges linked to Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes Mexican police have arrested three men over a bloody gun attack on a drug rehabilitation center that left 27 people dead, the local prosecutor's office said Sunday. Gunmen burst into the center in the city of Irapuato in the central Guanajuato state on Wednesday, forcing victims "onto the ground and shot them", authorities said. The suspects were captured in a swoop by special forces, the prosecutor's office said on Twitter, calling the incident a "heinous crime." Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has condemned the attack -- the deadliest of its kind this year in the country. The original death toll was 24, but three of those who were injured have since died. The president called on the Guanajuato government, which is in opposition hands, to investigate whether the violence could be partly due to "conspiracy" between local authorities and criminal gangs. According to local media, the attack was part of an ongoing battle between rival cartels. The presence of large-scale energy infrastructure in Guanajuato has attracted gangs such as the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which deals in stolen fuel and is battling the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel for control of the lucrative trade. On June 21, authorities said they had captured 26 suspected members of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which responded by setting up blockades of burning vehicles in three cities. Several days earlier six members of one family, including a minor, had been murdered in the city of Celaya, one of those where the gang set up roadblocks. Wednesday's attack was the second-most lethal assault since Lopez Obrador came to power in December 2018, after 28 people were killed at a bar in the eastern state of Veracruz last August. Since December 2006 when the then-government launched a military operation against drug trafficking gangs, more than 290,000 people have been murdered, according to official figures. The attack was condemned by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador A young father is fighting for his life after he was struck in the head with a brick as he rode down a suburban Perth street on a dirt bike. Brandon Jackson, 18, was knocked from his bike on Sunday as he rode along Cloverdales Kew Street in the citys east, Nine News reported. Mr Jackson, who wasnt wearing a helmet at the time, suffered critical head injuries and is in a coma at Royal Perth Hospital. Brandon Jackson suffered a fractured skull in the attack. Source: Nine News Police are asking for witnesses to the attack on Kew Street to come forward. Source: Google Maps Western Australia Police are searching for those responsible and are calling for anyone with information regarding the attack to come forward. There have been no arrests made in relation to the incident as of Monday morning, WA Police confirmed to Yahoo News Australia. Neighbours have said there were three bricks thrown in the incident. Friend Chris Marshall told Nine News Mr Jackson was a good kid and the attack was disappointing. One local said the area was regularly frequented by people riding dirt bikes, which had become irritating for those who lived there. Police believe the incident is isolated. Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online. 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. Yahoo News Australia Four members of the family were killed and one remains missing after the group of nine floated down the river on inflatable tubes and went over a dam. NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Siberian fires criss-crossing the landscape and huge clouds of smoke obscuring large portions of the countryside. The Aqua satellite captured the image with its MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on July 01, 2020. The fires, denoted by red dots on the image, cover a large portion of the Siberian wilderness as smoke pours off the fires, rising into the skies. The smoke will eventually rise into the upper atmosphere and catch a ride on the jet stream to other areas of the globe. Siberian fires have been seasonal. However, NASA scientists are now reporting that, "Peat fires are notorious for their potential to over-winter smoldering underground only to reappear in early spring. The term for reappearing fires that are renewed in spring is 'zombie fires'." So perhaps they never did end, they just smoldered underground until the temperatures rose giving rise to the idea that the fires are now year-round, albeit sometimes dormant. These fires also tend to be both large and smoky. Large because of the massive amount of physical area that the fires are able to spread to, much of it inaccessible, and smoky because much of the fuel for Siberian fires is taiga, peat bogs, and tundra all of which tend to smoke more than other types of fuels such as trees and grasses. All three also have higher concentrations of carbon which when burned are released into the atmosphere. Higher carbon emissions cause temperatures to rise, and this year Siberia saw a new temperature record of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degre Siberia is also inaccessible and very lightly populated so fires are allowed to burn unabated. This year (2020) the fires are reacting to historic heatwaves across the region. With the rise in heat, the fires will continue to break out more quickly and spread faster. The region is experiencing stronger winds which is helping the fires progress across the country. The Russia agency for aerial forest fire management, Aviales, is reporting that 3.4 million acres are burning in inaccessible areas. Less than 1.1 million acres were burning last week meaning that the number of acres burning has tripled in one week. NASA's satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars. NASA has a fleet of Earth-observing instruments, many of which contribute to our understanding of fire in the Earth system. Satellites in orbit around the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times per day, whereas satellites in a geostationary orbit provide coarse-resolution imagery of fires, smoke and clouds every five to 15 minutes. For more information visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/missions/index.html NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now." Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb. Larger image Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Opposition candidate Luis Abinader has claimed victory in the Dominican Republic's presidential race after voters on Sunday braved a worsening coronavirus outbreak to cast their ballots for a new leader and legislature. Abinader's rivals and the outgoing president also recognized his win, which ends 16 years of unbroken rule by the Caribbean nation's center-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). "We won, today we win, but we will never forget who we owe this victory to," the 52-year-old businessman said from a platform before dozens of followers at his campaign headquarters in the capital Santo Domingo. "We owe it to you, the Dominican people. That is why tonight we all won." According to data from the central electoral board after around 60 percent of ballots had been counted, Abinader gained around 1.2 million votes -- around 53 percent. The PLD's candidate Gonzalo Castillo came second in a six-man field, with 838,000 votes -- or 37 percent -- according to the incomplete figures. Castillo said the official count "shows that there is an irreversible trend and that from now on we have a president-elect... Our congratulations to Mr. Luis Abinader." Outgoing President Danilo Medina also accepted the businessman's victory, tweeting his "congratulations to the new president-elect @LuisAbinader." Abinader's win was is yet to be formally announced by the electoral board. Gunfire outside a polling station in the capital left one person dead after an argument among opposing party activists turned violent, police said. But elsewhere, voting appeared to progress smoothly, with few disruptions despite the extra virus precautions. "It's pretty fluid and very well organized. The truth is I didn't expect it," said Maribel Roman, a 47-year-old business consultant, as she waited for her turn to vote. The election, which was pushed back from May 17, was held despite the epidemic's explosive spread, with the number of new COVID-19 cases hitting a record high Sunday for a third consecutive day. Medina, who could not seek another term under the country's constitution, was forced to impose a national lockdown, easing it only last week as parties made a final drive for votes. - 'Change is coming' - Abinader had to suspend his campaign after testing positive for the coronavirus, but recovered sufficiently to lead a rally on Wednesday. An observer team from the Organization of American States (OAS) monitored the vote, but its leader, former Chilean president Eduardo Frei, was unable to be present because of travel restrictions. Some 7.5 million Dominicans were eligible to cast ballots in the election. Also up for grabs are 32 senate seats, 190 seats in the lower house and 20 representatives to the Central American parliament. - Corruption an issue - "Change is coming and the PLD is going," Abinader, who is considered a centrist, promised hundreds of his supporters at a closing rally Wednesday. Corruption has been a key issue after protests in recent years over the involvement of local officials in the Latin America-wide Odebrecht graft scandal. The Brazilian construction giant has admitted to doling out $92 million in bribes in the Dominican Republic in exchange for winning public works contracts. The country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, ranks 137th out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index. - Virus fears - Despite health protocols at polling stations, Health Minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas said it would be "practically impossible" not to have fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. The pandemic has already hit polling by the Republic's 600,000 overseas voters -- representing almost eight percent of the electoral roll. Most live in the United States, Spain and Puerto Rico, where polling has been taking place. However, expatriates in Italy and Panama have not been authorized to vote because of coronavirus restrictions there. The Dominican Republic is one of the strongest economies in the region, recording on average 6.3 percent growth a year between 2013 and 2018, according to the World Bank. However, the Bank has warned that it is at risk of being pushed back into poverty because of the pandemic. Luis Abinader (R) claimed victory over closest rival Gonzalo Castillo (L) of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party Voters were affected by measures put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus Supporters of presidential candidate Gonzalo Castillo, whose center-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) has ruled the Caribbean nation for 16 years Health protocols are in place at polling stations, but ministers warn a fresh COVID-19 outbreak is likely The report did not quiet critics of Cuomo and Zucker's handling of nursing homes. State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said there still needs to be an independent investigation into nursing home deaths in New York state. "For months, the Cuomo administration and State Department of Health (DOH) have deflected accountability for the thousands of lives lost to COVID-19 in New Yorks nursing homes. To the surprise of absolutely no one, they have now presented a report that continues to promote their pass-the-buck narrative," he said in a press release Monday. "In no way does this report replace the need for a full, public accounting and independent investigation into what happened in nursing homes and adult care facilities across the state," he added. Cuomo recounted making the visitor ban two weeks after the state's first case, which was on March 1, and said that the state now knows the virus was prevalent in the state well before, in January and through February. Zucker said that the virus already was present in nursing homes prior to the March 25 order, saying that 81% of nursing homes in the state who admitted Covid-positive patients already had had Covid-positive residents. The first time Sydney Fischer saw Willard Memorial Chapel, beams of light were pouring out of its stained glass. LOS ANGELESMore than a month after Germany began to reopen businesses from shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the countrys sex work industry remains banned. Sex work is legal, though heavily regulated, in Germany. Sex workers are entitled to social security, and other benefits enjoyed by workers in ot her German industries. Nonetheless, brothels and similar sex-related businesses have been closed since mid-March due to the pandemic though other close-contact businesses such as nail salons and massage therapy parlors have been permitted to reopen. In response, a group of sex workers in Berlin staged a protest on Friday, wielding an inflatable sex doll outside the Bundesrat, the upper house of Germanys parliament. The protesters also brandished placards with slogans including, "Let us work," "Open the brothels now, and "Our sector is being driven underground. "Hairdressers, massage parlors, beauty salons, fitness studios, tattoo shops, saunas, restaurants and hotels have been allowed to reopen," the Federal Association for Erotic and Sex Services a trade association and lobbying group for the sex industry said in a statement last week, saying that the sex workers "seem to have been forgotten by politicians. The trade group called the continued shutdown of the sex industry "incomprehensible in view of the developments in other sectors. Other western European countries have already allowed sex workers to resume their jobs, including Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The Netherlands had intended to keep sex workers idle until September, but last week announced that the ban on legal sex work would be lifted July 1. In Canada, Amnesty International has taken the call for lifting the pandemic-related ban a step further, calling for the government there to simply stop enforcing all laws against sex work and related activities at least for the duration of the COVD-19 pandemic, according to a report by the CBC. "Government has put them in a position where they won't provide them income supports and yet will criminalize them if they work, said Jackie Hansen, a womens rights campaigner with Amnesty Canada. That just needs to stop." Hansen said that Amnesty aims to make sure the existing laws on the books aren't enforced," and have petitioned Canadas Justice Minister David Lametti to place a moratorium on enforcement of anti-sex work laws. Though sex work itself is decriminalized in Canada, most activities associated with sex work including paying for sexual services remains illegal, effectively outlawing sex work. Photo By Nikolaus Bader / Pixabay LOS ANGELESAs he awaits a judges ruling on whether his bail will be revoked, former Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti has apparently suffered another personal setback, as his law school alma mater has moved under the radar to disassociate itself from him. Avenatti attended George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C., entering as a night student but graduating at the top of his class in 2000. That same year, shortly after his graduation, he began making financial donations to the school, according to a 2010 profile of the lawyer in the schools alumni magazine. In 2010, he donated $250,000 toward an annual scholarship for one student, to be called The Michael J. Avenatti Award for Excellence in Pre-Trial and Trial Advocacy. The scholarship was aimed at night students like Avenatti himself, whom he said face more challenges. They are effectively juggling two jobs their regular day job and law school. The financial aid community sometimes overlooks them because they dont fit the traditional law student profile. About 18 years after graduating, Avenatti suddenly exploded on the media and political landscape, by representing AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump. But a year after that, Avenattis entire career appeared to flame out in a series of scandals and indictments on a variety of financial crime charges and ethics violations. By early this year, Avenatti found himself behind bars, and in February he was convicted of attempting to extort the Nike corporation out of $20 million. he is also charged with embezzlement against Daniels. According to prosecutors, he diverted nearly $300,000 from Daniels 2018 publishers book advance into his own bank account, and used the money to finance his jet-setting lifestyle. With all of the controversy swirling around Avenatti, George Washington University has now changed the name of the Avenatti-funded scholarship, according to a report by The Washington Times. The scholarship is now titled simply the Graduation Award for Excellence in Pre-Trial Advocacy. A GWU spokesperson told The Washington Times that we dont have any additional information at this time, as to why the name was changed. Avenatti was freed from jail in April on a $1 million bond, due to concerns that he could contract COVID-19 while in Manhattans Metropolitan Correctional Center. He is currently confined under house arrest at the home of a friend, Jay Manheimer, in Venice, California. But prosecutors alleged that Avenatti violated the terms of his release by using an internet-connected computer to write his own defense briefs, resulting in what turned into a chaotic conference call in which a U.S. prosecutor deposed Manheimer on June 17. A judges ruling on whether Avenatti must return to jail is expected, possibly as soon as this week. Photo By Showtime "The Circus" / Wikimedia Commons Washington: Jianli Yang, a former Chinese military official and son of a leader in the Chinese Communist Party, made a sensational claim. As per Yang, More than 100 Chinese troops were killed in the dreadful conflict between Indian and Chinese soldiers, on the night of 15th June. But the Chinese regime is hiding this information from the Chinese people. President Xi Jinping is worried that if the information regarding the soldiers, killed in the Galwan Valley, is disclosed, the serving as well as the retired soldiers could revolt. Not only this but also there could be a rebellion within the Communist Party. in his article written for the newspaper, Washington Times, Jianli Yang accused that the Chinese regime is not willing to disclose the information regarding the Galwan Valley conflict Yang reminded that in the last few days, Zhao Lijiang, the spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry has dodged the questions regarding the Chinese casualties, in the Galwan Valley, during various news conferences. Yang made vitriolic criticism saying that China is not willing to openly state the number of casualties in the Galwan Valley conflict. On the other hand, the Indian government honoured if martyrs. Yang presented the plight of the soldiers saying It is better not to think of the state of the retired Chinese army personnel when China does not care for the serving soldiers and martyrs from the Chinese military. The Chinese government frequently treats the retired soldiers, who participated in the 1979 China-Vietnam or the Korean war, with contempt. These soldiers are protesting against the communist government for pension, medical facilities and employment, for the last many years. But the Chinese government is not willing to take cognisance of their demands. There are nearly 57.5 million soldiers retired from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. Every year these soldiers protest for their pension and other demands. Saying that the Jinping government takes action against these soldiers, he has cited the protests held by the retired soldiers against Jinping, in various cities including Beijing. Yang also claimed that moreover, there is anger brewing in these soldiers against Jinping as he closed the other avenues of employment for these soldiers. The Chinese rulers are worried that in this scenario, if it is announced that the number of Chinese soldiers killed is in multiples of the number of Indian soldiers, Jinping will have to face a backlash and the retired soldiers, taking advantage of the situation, will attack the Chinese government. Jinping is well aware that once the retired Chinese soldiers declare a rebellion, even the iron grip of the government cannot control the situation. Therefore, since the last few years, Jinping has been appealing to the Chinese military, to have complete faith in him. A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of Eastern Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming due to conditions that could produce tornadoes, hail as large as apples and scattered wind gusts of up to 75 mph. The watch went into effect at 2:45 p.m. Monday and will remain in effect until 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Billings. The watch covers an area with a population of 307,637 people, including Miles City, Gillette, Wyoming and the South Dakota communities of Spearfish, Rapid City, Hot Springs and Pine Ridge, according to the weather service. Montana counties included in the severe thunderstorm watch include Carter, Powder River, Treasure, Custer, Prairie, Fallon and Rosebud. Speaking at about 3:10 p.m., NWS Billings meteorologist Todd Chambers said that some storms associated with the warning had already developed. "We've already got a severe thunderstorm that's moved out of Musselshell County into Treasure County now that's produced golf ball-sized hail," Chambers said. "And the storm's got a lot of dynamics already associated with it that make it appear that it'll be a long-track storm that will head southeast across Treasure County probably into Rosebud County at least over the next hour or so." Losses in coal country have significant ramifications for the state heightening unemployment and exacerbating revenue shortfalls. One in 10 jobs in the Powder River Basin depends on coal, according to research conducted by University of Wyoming economist Rob Godby in 2015. Last quarter, the coal industry supported some 4,500 jobs. A combined Peabody and Arch venture would likely translate into more stability and certainty for the coal-dependent state, Godby explained. Overcapacity in the basin (or too many coal operators vying for too few customers) has sent some firms off the cliff into bankruptcy. Since 2015, six coal companies with operations in Wyoming have filed for bankruptcy. The Powder River Basin's coal sector has struggled to maintain its dominant position in the electricity generation market in the past decade. Though the basin still pumps out roughly 40 percent of the nation's coal, natural gas and renewable energy sources have started to push coal out of the electricity market. New research reveals privacy risks of home security cameras An international study has used data from a major home Internet Protocol (IP) security camera provider to evaluate potential privacy risks for users. IP home security cameras are Internet-connected security cameras that can be installed in people's homes and remotely monitored via the web. These cameras are growing in popularity and the global market is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2023. For the study, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science and Queen Mary University of London tested if an attacker could infer privacy-compromising information about a camera's owner from simply tracking the uploaded data passively without inspecting any of the video content itself. The findings, published at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (6-9 July 2020), showed that the traffic generated by the cameras could be monitored by attackers and used to predict when a house is occupied or not. The researchers even found that future activity in the house could be predicted based on past traffic generated by the camera, which could leave users more at risk of burglary by discovering when the house it unoccupied. They confirmed that attackers could detect when the camera was uploading motion, and even distinguish between certain types of motion, such as sitting or running. This was done without inspecting the video content itself but, instead, by looking at the rate at which cameras uploaded data via the Internet. Dr Gareth Tyson, Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said: "Once considered a luxury item, these cameras are now commonplace in homes worldwide. As they become more ubiquitous, it is important to continue to study their activities and potential privacy risks. Whilst numerous studies have looked at online video streaming, such as YouTube and Netflix, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which looks in detail at video streaming traffic generated by these cameras and quantifies the risks associated with them. By understanding these risks, we can now look to propose way to minimise the risks and protect user privacy." ### Notes to editors * Research publication: 'Your Privilege Gives Your Privacy Away: An Analysis of a Home Security Camera Service' Jinyang Li, Zhenyu Li, Gareth Tyson, Gaogang Xie. In 39th IEEE Joint Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), Beijing, China (2020). * For more information or a copy of the paper, please contact: Sophie McLachlan Faculty Communications Manager (Science & Engineering) Queen Mary University of London sophie.mclachlan@qmul.ac.uk Tel: 020 7882 3787 About Queen Mary Queen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university that connects minds worldwide. A member of the prestigious Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our world-leading research. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework we were ranked 5th in the country for the proportion of research outputs that were world-leading or internationally excellent. We have over 25,000 students and offer more than 240 degree programmes. Our reputation for excellent teaching was rewarded with silver in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework. Queen Mary has a proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond. Common to each of these institutions - the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew's Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College - was the vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented. Today, Queen Mary University of London remains true to that belief in opening the doors of opportunity for anyone with the potential to succeed and helping to build a future we can all be proud of. This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Boujdour (Refugee Camps), June 17, 2020 (SPS) - The wilaya of Boujdour hosted Wednesday the celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic Zemala Uprising and the National Day of the Disappeared, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, Members of the National Secretariat of the Frente POLISARIO, the Government and many participants. A conference was organised on the occasion highlighting the turning point uprising in the history of the Sahrawi national resistance, with its mass momentum and its prominent role in the break with colonialism, revealing its plans and the impact left by its outstanding leader, Sidi Brahim Basiri, the symbol of peaceful resistance in Western Sahara. The Zemala Uprising was the essence of the beginning of the Sahrawi national dream of the need for an alternative national entity for political nihilism and the beginning of peaceful resistance against Spanish colonization. SPS 125/090/ "The Crow Tribe will no longer accept 'lip service' for the unacceptable lack of law enforcement and public safety concerns," the declaration stated. At the time Not Afraid said that only five BIA officers cover the more than 2 million-acre reservation. Big Horn County, much of which is home to the Crow Indian Reservation, has the highest per capita rate of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the state. Police chief Terrill Bracken said the department intended to train officers dedicated to MMIP cases, and that search-and-rescue efforts would be an important part of what we do. Specifics of what that would look like were still being ironed out, he said. Central to the lawsuit is the allegation the district did not conduct its own investigation, did not respond to repeated instances of bullying and harassment that the victim continued to face as a result of coming forward, and that it did not have the appropriate systems in place to investigate and handle such a serious report, which -- the suit alleges -- also violated federal law. The harassment alleged in the suit includes false reports made against the victim of threats, including that she was a potential school shooter, and that she had attempted to break in to her alleged assailant's home (the suit states that she wasn't even in town during the supposed break in attempt). At one point, the suit alleges, school administrators told the victim that she was the "aggressor" in relation to another student who was harassing her. In another meeting, an administrator gave the victim an order to have no contact with her alleged assailant; the administrator had prepared no such order for the assailant and only agreed to produce one after her mother insisted, the suit alleges. The victim did admit to cutting the laces on her alleged assailant's shoes; she later replaced them. The lawsuit further alleges that administrators had little knowledge of federal law governing sexual harassment, assault and discrimination. Darrels family finally came forward after Darrel says they saw Hart, who was the bishop in Cheyenne at the time, with a young boy at Harts mothers birthday party in the 1990s. When the family asked to talk to someone from the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, they were greeted with a church official and two lawyers. The lawyers asked what they wanted. We felt like what we had experienced so far was significant and that after lots of thought we thought we probably should I think I looked at the vicar (general) and said, I think that our feeling is you will know what to do with this information and you will do the right thing, Darrel said. That was our hope. And he said, Oh, OK, thank you. One of the lawyers said, But youre not asking for money? John, who said Hart had not only abused him but had beaten him and left him bleeding in school hallways, said he came forward in the early 1990s because he was sick of the denials. He, too, went directly to the church, rather than to an attorney or the media. A lawyer for the Kansas City diocese called him and told him they would buy him a truck and pay for some counseling. Their attorney, he called me and said, Were going to give you this truck, but I think youre a fing liar, John remembered. Tanglen has always known she wanted to teach. It was her dream to be an educator and a professor. Like most dreams, hers has an inception point a moment of clarity, a convergence of the dominating themes in her life, packaged with a bow in the form of a research project. While teaching high school at Billings West, she was awarded a grant from the Montana Committee for the Humanities, the earlier name of the organization she now heads. The grant was to facilitate a research project examining the cookbooks of rural Montana women, cookbooks stuffed with family recipes and then sold to raise money for churches or other organizations. Tanglen wanted to know, what impact did these pieces of literature have on the community culturally, socially or historically? The project took her across the state, places like Glendive and Miles City. She even traveled back to Lustre in Valley County, the childhood home of her mother. Along the way, she realized the role these cookbooks played in elevating the voices and influence of those who didnt have much room for input. Because the women created these books, they had a large part in the decision of where the money went. In the process of presenting her research, Tanglen realized she could do the same elevate the voices of those who are no longer, or perhaps never were in the mainstream. HELENA Forty years ago, Farcountry Press/Sweetgrass Books was born as an offshoot of Montana Magazine, the brainchild of Rick Graetz. Originally publishing a few books a year under the Montana Magazine moniker, it would eventually grow into the independent publishing company it is today, publishing an average of 50 titles per year. Current owner Linda Netschert started as a sales representative for the business in 1996 and purchased the company from Lee Enterprises in 2011. Its really cool to be a part of something that has been around for so long, related Netschert (nee St. Clair), a fifth generation Montanan who grew up in East Helena. Its important to keep the company community focused, which is really a team effort, Netschert said, adding that companys mandate is reflected in publishing books that celebrate Montanas heritage, as well as in the family-like atmosphere among staff. When Graetz, who founded Montana Magazine in 1970, started the publishing division 40 years ago and called it Montana Magazine Books. Soon to follow was a sister company, American World Geographic Publishing, which covered subjects outside of the state, some as far away as Vietnam and Puerto Rico. Noem doesn't plan anything similar or to get tested again for the virus, Seidel said. She cast Noem's decision to fly on Air Force One as a demonstration of how to live with the virus. Seidel pointed to comments from the World Health Organization that the spread of the virus is "rare" from asymptomatic people. But that runs counter to guidance from public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that advises people to wear masks when interacting with people outside their household. The CDC says that people with active infections can still test negative, especially if it is early in the infection. The agency recommends that even people who test negative take precautions like avoiding close contact and wearing a mask around others. Asked about Trump's interaction with Noem, the White House noted the frequency with which the president is tested. "The president is tested constantly, has tested negative, and those around him are tested as well," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. Energy Transfer issued a statement earlier in the day calling the ruling an ill-thought-out decision. The company said the judge presiding over the matter has exceeded his authority and that the ruling is not supported by the law or the facts of the case. The company said it is confident that once the law and full record are fully considered Dakota Access Pipeline will not be shut down and that oil will continue to flow. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for the pipeline in 2017 under the direction of President Donald Trump, who just days after taking office in January 2017 green-lighted construction of the pipeline that had become stalled toward the end of the Obama administration. The Corps referred a Tribune request for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is representing the Corps in the lawsuit. The department had no immediate comment on the ruling, spokeswoman Danielle Nichols said. U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette issued a statement saying, "It is disappointing that, once again, an energy infrastructure project that provides thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic revenue has been shut down by the well-funded environmental lobby, using our Nation's court system to further their agenda." Brostrom said employers should report any refusals to return to work to Job Service, which will investigate to see whether the refusal was justified or not and take further action based on the law. Employers can report work refusals or other unemployment fraud by calling Job Service at 701-328-2866, filing an online form at jobsnd.com or by responding to notices of claims that are sent by mail. Shoults said there wasnt really a procedure in place to report refusals to work when he called Job Service. He said he was told to keep track of refusals to work on a spreadsheet with details including the date of the refusal and the method of communication with the employee. And then basically I took that spreadsheet and then signed it and sent it in, Shoults said, adding that hes been up front with employees who refused to return to work, telling them that theres a chance theyll have to pay back some unemployment benefits. I told these guys that you might think youre in the clear, but six months later (the government) might come down and say hey, you didnt qualify for benefits for these six weeks so you need to pay this in or we're going to garnish your wages. I mean, its a very likely possibility, Shoults said. A few days later, a Tesla owner from Hettinger in the southwestern corner of the state invited some of the drivers to his community. We went down for Cruise Night, Mosser said, adding that driving around the town of 1,200 residents that evening were classic cars, motorcycles and a number of Teslas. On the way back, he stopped at one of the Superchargers in Dickinson for 20 minutes until his battery was almost full before continuing home to Mandan. Mosser said he believes Minot and Pembina in northern North Dakota would be good locations for additional Superchagers to ensure Tesla drivers can cross between the United States and Canada without fear of running low on power. As for other electric vehicles, North Dakota still lags behind nearly every state when it comes to installing charging infrastructure. A number of Level 2 chargers that will work with any electric vehicle exist in cities across the state, but it takes about eight hours for them to provide a mostly full charge. Level 3 DC fast chargers will soon be installed in nine cities thanks to grant money North Dakota received through a settlement reached with Volkswagen over an emissions cheating scandal. "If a second (coronavirus) wave hits, we may not even be able to do it for '22. We just don't know," Owen said. The group has a submission deadline of Dec. 16, one year after Jaeger approved the petition. The April 9 COVID-19 death of longtime petitioner Ralph Muecke, of Gladstone, hit home, Owen said. Muecke, 75, was the second person in Stark County reported to have died with the respiratory disease. "When that happened, all of the responsible measure committees kinda met and said, 'Let's stop,'" Owen said. "And we don't want to send our people back on the streets too soon." The Legislature's interim Judiciary Committee is undertaking a study of the impacts of legalizing marijuana, with a report due this fall. A proposed constitutional initiative to eliminate property taxes "never got off the ground," said measure chairman Rick Becker, a Republican state representative from Bismarck. "As of February of this year, things were lined up perfectly for this to be the best thing ever for North Dakota, and then we had COVID and the temporary drop in oil prices, which was going to make it nearly impossible, so you just have to face facts and that's where it's at for now," Becker said. CWALAC Stands with the U.S. Against Forced Abortion and Sterilization in Chinas Religious Minority Populations NEWS PROVIDED BY Concerned Women for America CWA Legal Action Committee (CWALAC) July 6, 2020 WASHINGTON, DC, July 6, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- This week the U.S. learned the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) is using forced abortion, forced sterilization, and coercive family planning against the Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang as part of a campaign to curb the Muslim minority population in China. As natural population growth has drastically decreased in Xinjang, CCP documents from 2019 reveal plans including a mass sterilization of women in two Uyghur counties with a focus on women in rural minorities. Penny Nance (photo), CEO and President, and Dr. Shea Garrison, Vice President of International Affairs, at Concerned Women for America had this to say: We join Secretary Pompeo in calling on the CCP to immediately end this horrific abuse of human rights. A program of mass sterilization and forced abortion in ethnic and religious minority communities is particularly dehumanizing, and the global community cannot stay silent. This past September at the UN General Assembly, Secretary Pompeo called out China as the perpetrator of the worst human rights crisis of our time, as they interned 1 million Uyghurs into so-called training camps to be re-educated and saved from their culture, language, and faith. Reports that the Chinese governments oppression of the Uyghurs now extends to forced depopulation of their community continues to demonstrate an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and the rights and human dignity of ethnic and religious minorities. SOURCE Concerned Women for America CWA Legal Action Committee (CWALAC) CONTACT: Toni DeLancey, Chief Operating Officer, 202-527-3434, tdelancey@cwfa.org. Related Links https://concernedwomen.org/cwalac-stands-with-the-u-s-against-forced-abortion-and-sterilization-in-chinas-religious-minority-populations/ Active cases of coronavirus in the Bismarck region have nearly doubled in the past week amid an increase in testing, according to state Department of Health data released Monday. Active cases of COVID-19 now number 120 in Burleigh County, compared with 65 on June 29. The total represents 29% of the 419 active cases in North Dakota. Gov. Doug Burgum has said that if necessary, the state could establish a task force to focus on combating the spread of the virus in the capital city area, similar to a group working in the Red River Valley. State and local health officials have ramped up testing in Bismarck in recent weeks. The state Department of Health was conducting another mass testing event in the Capitol parking lot on Monday. Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, which has been holding testing on select days in its downtown parking lot, scheduled an event at the Bismarck Event Center on Tuesday. Across the country, images of overcrowded emergency rooms and reports of hospitals lacking resources to treat COVID-19 patients can be seen in urban areas that continue to see virus surges. But for the McKenzie County Healthcare Systems hospital in Watford City, the opposite is true: emergency room volumes and elective operations are down. CEO Dan Kelly said since the pandemic began, the hospital has lost around $4 million in revenue. My real worry is that if this continues to be the case where the public are not coming back to the clinic or the public are not choosing to have surgery, and should this trend of reduced revenue continue it will create a problem for facilities such as mine, Kelly said. Rural areas like McKenzie County have long sustained their hospitals through grant money, Kelly said, working against consistent operating losses. Seeking medical attention at a more urban hospital would take a two to three-hour drive for McKenzie County residents, which Kelly said could be the difference in life or death in cases of emergency. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospitals across the country are seeing a sharp decrease in patients, and outpatient appointments and elective procedures make up as much as 80% of revenue, the Los Angeles Times reported in May. Providing Hyper-Converged Infrastructure to Help Keep the Lights on for Hapbit and McDonald's When Belgian managed service provider Hapbit wanted to offer new services and hardware to its customers, one of which included the self-service kiosks for McDonald's, they turned to Fujitsu and their Integrated System PRIMEFLEX for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI to simplify the necessary infrastructure deployment. Access this case study to learn the 3 key improvements that managed service provider Hapbit realized after implementing Fujitsu Integrated System PRIMEFLEX for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI. Clearly IP continues its rapid growth with yet another acquisition. We broke the news on their launch from this Tony Lewis company in September of last year. As part of their launch they actually acquired all the assets of Cyclix Solutions LLC, a leading information technology and telecom services company with operations based in Gilford, New Hampshire. It is rare companies launch with an acquisition so the company differentiated itself at the start. Then in December, we broke the news they purchased Modulis. Founded in 2006, they provided services to mid-sized and large enterprises with VoIP phone services. Specializing in providing reliable and redundant phone systems on a global scale with its multi-tenant, load-balanced, and failover-enabled CPaaS platform. Modulis services users throughout the United States, Canada, and European markets, offering support availability in both English and French languages. They have now purchased all telecom assets of Vancouver based Telrad Technology Group LTD. Privately-held, Vancouver-based Telrad has decades of experience providing mid-sized and large enterprises with Premium Premise and cloud VoIP phone services. As a result of the acquisition, ClearlyIP will continue to support and maintain Telrads Cloud and voice business solutions. ClearlyIP is also acquiring Telrads entire team, adding an office location in Vancouver, British Columbia, ensuring a seamless transition for customers and channel partners. The acquisition grows ClearlyIPs cloud services business and allows ClearlyIP to focus resources on engineering innovative solutions backed with best in class customer service. Tony Lewis, ClearlyIPs CEO Tony Lewis, ClearlyIPs CEO, said, It has been a busy time here at ClearlyIP, and our team has been working hard to execute the company vision we set last year. We are delivering on our strategy to augment our organic growth with key, targeted acquisitions that further expand our scale and resources to serve our growing customer base. The acquisition of Telrad follows the prior acquisitions of Cyclix Networks and Modulis.ca Inc in late 2019. Collectively, these transactions have extended and strengthened our in-market presence across North America and provided additional technical and customer-facing resources that have allowed us to continue to see growth and momentum despite the industry impacts due to the current global pandemic. President and Chief Executive Officer of Telrad, Breanna Fernie President and Chief Executive Officer of Telrad, Breanna Fernie, noted, My family has owned and operated Telrad in Vancouver for close to 40 years. Speaking on behalf of my Family and Telrad employees, we have worked very hard to establish a legacy as a forward-looking organization dedicated to providing the latest technology to the customers we serve. As we look toward the future of business communications, we believe that ClearlyIPs larger scale and unique combination of technological expertise and customer focus make them the best possible way to provide advanced telecommunications service to our customers while maintaining the personal touch that our customers value. We are excited that all of our employees will be part of the combined Company and will carry-on our rich tradition of being a customer-focused organization. Breanna will be joining the ClearlyIP Executive Team as Chief Marketing Officer. Preston McNair, Chief Revenue Officer of ClearlyIP This is a pivotal time for innovation. Companies can act on what theyve learned about their digital challenges and aspirations and reimagine their businesses and products for a new future. Breanna and her talented team are well-known technology innovators, and we are thrilled to welcome them to ClearlyIP. We are confident this acquisition will bring greater value to our existing customers, partners, and new clients. said Preston McNair, Chief Revenue Officer of ClearlyIP. ClearlyIP will integrate the network and billing systems over the next few months to minimally impact customers while making the changes necessary to enhance service offerings significantly. Customers will receive notifications before any changes to their services. Existing Telrad customers will continue to receive the same services, and all agreements, points of contact, and billings will continue uninterrupted. Nicolet National Bank of Neenah, WI, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Clearly IP Inc in connection with this transaction. Funding was provided by Nicolet, along with ClearlyIP cash reserves. 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. Americanism has a weird obsession with vague notions of "law and order." At its core, there's nothing unique about a society whose existence depends on a collective respect for its own internal rule system indeed, that's basically just a society. But those who buy the narrative of Good Ol' American Jingoism love to toss around their platitudes about being a "nation of laws," without giving much thought to what that actually means, or who is served by that law and order. Whatever the status quo they got used to, that's the way things have always been, and thus, it is right. Consider the US Department of Justice. I've never even given much thought to its founding; I hadn't thought much about the origins of police departments growing out of slave patrols until it was explicitly brought to my attention either. But Smithsonian Magazine has a great new piece about the origins of the DoJ, which began on July 1, 1870 exactly 150 years ago this month. And it turns out, it's a direct extension of Reconstruction-era struggles, and was created specifically to enforce racial equality by fighting voter suppression and the KKK: In 1870, the United States was still working to bind up the nation's wounds torn open by the Civil War. During this period of Reconstruction, the federal government committed itself to guaranteeing full citizenship rights to all Americans, regardless of race. At the forefront of that effort was [Amos T.] Akerman, a former Democrat and enslaver from Georgia, and a former officer in the Confederate Army. [] Akerman's work caught the attention of President Ulysses S. Grant, who promoted the Georgian to Attorney General in June 1870. On July 1 of that year, the Department of Justice, created to handle the onslaught of post-war litigation, became an official government department with Akerman at its helm. The focus of his 18-month tenure as the nation's top law enforcement official was the protection of black voting rights from the systematic violence of the Ku Klux Klan. Akerman's Justice Department prosecuted and chased from Southern states hundreds of Klan members. Historian William McFeely, in his biography of Akerman, wrote, "Perhaps no attorney general since his tenurehas been more vigorous in the prosecution of cases designed to protect the lives and rights of black Americans." This is a fascinatingly complex piece of history, and the article does a great job of tracing the origins of the DoJ all the way through to the founding of its offspring in the FBI (which has certainly not been historically concerned with Black equality). And notice how there's nothing in the core founding of the DoJ that involves acting as a personal fixer for multiple Presidents. If you ask me, these are the kinds of historical details that more of us should learn about, instead of staring at statues of subjugators. Created 150 Years Ago, the Justice Department's First Mission Was to Protect Black Rights [Bryan Greene/ Smithsonian Magazine] Image of Amos Akerman: Public Domain via National Archives / Wikimedia Commons 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. Great food, cocktails and conversationthe inspiration behind Emily Baczynski and Mike Oleks weddingis also what first drew them together. The former coworkers instantly bonded over their many shared interests, soon realizing that we basically shared a soul, as Emily playfully puts it. And theyve only cultivated that list since. The two bought their first house in 2017 on the West Side, and promptly filled it with house plants and parties. Their home proved the ideal incubator for exploring their mutual passions, from testing out new recipes on friends (and each other) to plotting the details of their next vacation. It also fittingly played backdrop to Mikes proposal one October night a few months post move-in. After relishing that moment followed by dinner at Ristorante Lombardo, their next shared mission became their wedding. We love to entertain and throw a good party, so we wanted to host a wedding that would reflect that, says Mike. We also wanted to have as much control over all of the details as possible so that we could really let our personalities and taste come through. Taste of Buffalo will be virtual this year, but thankfully, you still get to eat. Sure, you won't be able to amble between booths in the saunalike heat of Niagara Square, rubbing shoulders with local luminaries "Is Mark Poloncarz really eating more seafood?" and people-watching from the steps of City Hall while munching the crispy skin of freshly grilled Chiavetta's chicken. There's no question the environment is traditionally part of the fun. But festival Chairwoman Erin Collins and her team have a plan that lets Buffalo eaters still explore some of the tastes of Buffalo by encouraging them to order takeout to limit the health risks during the Covid-19 pandemic. July 11 and 12 are the official days of the Taste of Buffalo at Home, with virtual activities on the Taste's Facebook and Instagram pages that include cooking demonstrations with Chef Darian Bryan of the Plating Society, music performances by Ten Cent Howl and Funktional Flow, and even virtual KidZone activities. And while you might not have paper tickets to tear or bite-size morsels of food to sample, the festival remains focused on food just a little differently. The continuing heat wave hitting Western New York this week has brought with it a heat advisory from the National Weather Service. A combination of high heat and humidity led to the advisory, which is for northern Erie County, including Buffalo, as well as Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties from 1 p.m. Tuesday until 8 p.m. Friday. A heat advisory is issued when the heat index a measure of how hot it really feels when humidity is combined with temperature reaches sustained levels. This week high temperatures in the region will be in the 90s, with high humidity expected to push heat index marks into the mid 90s Tuesday and Wednesday and rise to near 100 on Thursday and Friday. "Not only are Wednesday through Friday going to be a little bit warmer we're looking at highs of 93 instead of 90 but also the humidity is going to be higher, and that makes it feel even warmer," said National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Apffel. The highest heat index values, the service said, will be inland from the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario shores. Extraordinary heat wave arrives in Buffalo Niagara "We stand a real probability of having high temperatures exceed 90 degrees for at least six consecutive days, from Sunday through Friday." Today is Monday, July 6, 2020. Let's get caught up. These non-virus headlines are in the news this morning: Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone died at 91; investigators have identified the body of Vanessa Guillen, a soldier who vanished more than two months ago in Texas; and authorities announced a suspected bubonic plague case in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Read on for these stories, other top headlines, celebrity birthdays and more. Top stories Spaghetti Western movie composer Ennio Morricone dies Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and often haunting soundtracks for such classic Hollywood gangster movies as The Untouchables and the epic Once Upon A Time In America, died on Monday. He was 91. What are the global trends for data centers in 2020+? A recent RBC Capital report published in April 2020, according to their first annual Foundations Global Interconnection Survey, >70% of their respondents said that they are connecting or have plans to connect to cloud service providers, and more than 60% are using or have plans to use network-as-as-service platforms within the next 12 months. On-premise infrastructure usage continues to be on the decline with the shift towards Private Cloud, Public Cloud and SaaS. This represents an opportunity for third-party Edge Data Centers that deliver cloud computing resources and cached content with low latency to its customers along with a colocation environment and a multitude of connectivity options. Enterprises hosted inside an Edge Data Center, can not only gain access to multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) via a Cloud Exchange hosted inside the same data center, but also have access to various other multiple network connectivity providers includingInternet Service Providers (ISPs), Carriers, Content Distribution Network (CDNs), Software-Defined Network (SDNs), Internet Exchange Providers (IXPs), and Content Providers. You have introduced a concept called Enterprise Edge Node, Please elaborate. Historically Edge Data Centers were a critical element of a service provider (Cloud, Content, CDN, Telco, and ISPs) IT and network architectures allowing them to interconnect their services and networks with other providers achieving higher resiliency, efficiency, security, and lower latencies. As Enterprises move towards outsourcing their IT to cloud, the edge datacenter now plays an equally critical role for them. Enterprises can now deploy in Edge Data center allowing them to choose from the multiple network and cloud connectivity options available and connect to them via a direct cross-connect owned and run by the company operating the data center. Such network nodes are known as Enterprise Edge Nodes. An Enterprise Edge Node that is hosted in a connectivity-rich and carrier-neutral Edge Data Center typically comprises networking equipment owned and operated by the Enterprise customer in a colocation environment. The customer has 247 access to their infrastructure deployed in that data center, in this case, an Edge Data Center; where their Enterprise Edge Node is co-located. How can enterprises in India benefit from Enterprise Edge Nodes? The value proposition of an Edge Data Center is directly proportionate to the density of networks and cloud service providers present in the data center and can offer a multitude of connectivity and service options to the Enterprise customers. GPX is a highly reliable Edge Data Center that is not only carrier-neutral but also hosts nine of the largest global Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and offers private, secure, low latency connectivity to the CSPs allowing enterprises bypass the public internet which is less secure and has higher latency. This allows Enterprises the unique opportunity to easily build secure and scalable hybrid cloud architectures enabling their migration to the cloud. An Enterprise Edge Node co-located at GPX can connect to one or more carriers and implement a highly reliable, scalable, and a secure network interconnecting their on-prem infrastructure to their infrastructure co-located in GPX. In the same GPX campus, there are nodes of multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), 12 Telcos, and 130+ ISPs. Enterprise Edge Node can establish dedicated private connectivity to cloud providers who offer direct connectivity services (i.e. AWS DirectConnect, Oracle FastConnect, and Google Dedicated Interconnection, Oracle Fast Connect etc.). GPX also offers a cloud exchange, which is a fully GPX managed solution, offering connectivity to multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) hosted inside GPX data center campus. A big differentiator for GPX Open Cloud Exchange is that it is not dependent on any other data center or network carrier as the cloud exchange and the CSPs are in the same data center campus where the Enterprise Edge Node is co-located, offering high reliability and scalability benefits to our Enterprise customers. The Enterprise Edge Node forms the basis of a vital connectivity platform for the enterprise to develop secure, reliable, and scalable private, public, and hybrid cloud architectures. GPX connectivity-rich Interconnection Ecosystem hosts multiple CDNs, ISPs, and Carriers inside the data center campus. Therefore Enterprise Edge Nodes co-located in GPX data center campus have the unique opportunity to build their network architecture utilizing the GPX Ecosystem which includes 4 Internet Exchanges, 12 Telcos, 130+ ISPs, the largest global Content Providers (OTTs), and GPXs Cloud Exchange. This becomes a vital building block of any enterprises IT and business strategy. You launched Cloud Exchange recently, How will cloud exchange transform the digital infrastructure of the nation? If we see the global trends, the number of customers using direct connection to the cloud instead of the internet has been growing. While we are seeing growth in the workload migration to cloud, the recent trend among cloud users in India is to adopt multiple cloud strategies instead of utilizing just one cloud provider. This allows an Enterprise to leverage the varied strengths of each Cloud Service Provider (CSP). This has encouraged us to launch GPX Open Cloud Exchange. GPX Open Cloud Exchange solution is a multi-homing solution which is a fully GPX managed solution, offering connectivity to multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) hosted inside GPX Mumbai data center campus. Enterprise customers network edge nodes (Enterprise Edge Node) co-located at the same GPX Mumbai data center campus can connect to multiple CSPs through a common and neutral switching architecture owned and operated by GPX. The CSPs edge nodes are deployed inside the GPX data center enabling GPX to offer highly reliable, flexible, and scalable ways to connect to CSPs. The GPX Cloud Exchange allows Enterprise customers an easy migration from on-prem computing to the cloud and as an Enterprises cloud usage grows they also have the option of continuing to use the GPX Cloud Exchange or use GPXs cross-connects to directly connect to the CSP routers at GPX data center. Thus GPX provides a clear and unique roadmap for growth in future for enterprises, which other data centers and cloud exchange providers cannot claim. What are the future plans of GPX in terms of expansion and growth? Using charts (there are two versions), the Times report shows that many Western countries are doing relatively well, reporting fewer than 200 new cases a week per 1 million residents. Among them are Canada and even Italy, once Europes ground zero of infection. The United States is more than four times worse, recording more than 900 cases per million residents. Why would anyone want us? Europe certainly doesnt. It relaxed its travel restrictions last week to nonessential travelers from a number of countries, but not the United States, too much of which is either oblivious or indifferent to its disastrous performance. So why would Canada? Its frustrating because New York, with strong leadership, has done well at containing the virus. Too many states havent. Among them are Florida, Texas and Arizona, which reopened hastily and carelessly, instead of heeding the science. In West Texas, the Times reported, some residents are proudly disregarding medicine and science in favor of a corrupt self-interest that arises from an overheated distrust of government. (The pattern repeats the disastrous response to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when farmers rejected the advice of government scientists regarding the need for crop rotation. That helped to prolong the crisis.) All new business ideas are dreams of a sortbut most of them dont start as literal dreams. R Hughes did. In 2010, Ryan Hughes had been toiling away at venerable Atlanta showroom Ainsworth-Noah when inspiration struck in the middle of the night: He had a dream about opening his own showroom. But it wouldnt be in a design centerit would be in a new development on the west side of Atlanta. The fact that Hughes didnt yet have money or vendors to represent was immaterial. I was very determined, Hughes tells host Dennis Scully, on the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast. But I wasnt sure if it would work. It almost didnt. He enlisted his mother, Susan Hughes, to work the showroom while he hustled to get brands to sign with him. Some were attracted to his chutzpah (he signed San Francisco interior and furnishings designer Jiun Ho on a cold call and another vendor in a Home Depot parking lot). Others were attracted to doing business with designers outside of a design center. The business took shape, but it was rough going at first. It was a major struggleI was six months behind in rent by 2011. I didn't lose hope, but there were days I thought it was going to fail, says Hughes. I had sent Barry Dixon a package of things I thought he would like. The next morning, the developer had a meeting with me and he said, Ryan, I hate to tell you this, but this business is not working. Two weeks later, over $100,000 worth of orders came through from Barry Dixons office. I looked at my mom and said, This is happening, were moving forward. This business is going to work. Even after Dixon deus ex machinad R Hughes back to life, there were struggles. Consistently, it was tough to get designers to make the trek to an unorthodox location; the very quality that made it compelling for cutting-edge vendors made it an inconvenience for customers. When Hughes and his business partner (and fellow University of Georgia alum) Steven Leonard signed an agreement to rep fabric house Holland & Sherry, they confronted the inevitable: It was time to move into ADAC. Still, Hughes and Leonard were determined to break the mold and create a different kind of design center showroom. They tapped designer Smith Hanes, who has designed some of Atlantas buzziest restaurants, to create the look. The first thing he suggested? An oldexpensivewooden floor. The reason I love Haness work is that all of his spaces give you an experience, says Hughes. And I thought to myself, Why cant a showroom give you the same experience as your favorite restaurant? It should, in my opinion. That experiential ethos now permeates everything from the showrooms floor to the lighting to the Spotify playlist pumping from its speakers. With the convenience of ADAC, a fresh roster of vendors and a vibey approach, R Hughes hit its stride. Many in the Southeast, even competitors, admit that Hughes and Leonard have created a singular destinationa must-visit multiline showroom at a time when some are questioning the multiline model itself. Of course, other showrooms have wooden floors and cool music. How to explain R Hughess success? Partially, says Hughes, its the partners insistence on putting their own brand firsttaking their own photography, setting up their own displays and creating an allure that exists separate and apart from the strength of any one brand they represent. I think some multiline showrooms might become complacent, allowing the vendors to do all the workto set their floor samples, to do all the marketing, says Hughes. Steven and I have a very heavy hand on the display, the marketing. We dont just take vendor photography and e-blast it out. We try to do our own e-blasts that have our brand involved, try to do our own photo shoots. The best way I can describe it is that I believe we are true partners with our vendors. Its more than just [hiring] a salesperson to sell the line. Hughes and Leonard are also firm believers in a less-is-more approach, keeping their showroom relatively sparse and changing the setup constantlyeven selling pieces off of the floor (most multilines showrooms wont), as it can help designers make tight install timelines and gives the showroom a chance to rejigger the displays. Another secret ingredient? The partners themselves, and their relationships. How many English arm sofas can you get from how many different showrooms in Atlanta? A lot, says Hughes. So you probably are going to buy that sofa from the person that you like the best, he says. People buy from people at the end of the day. They just do. This podcast was sponsored by Henrybuilt and Industry West. Listen to the episode below, and if you like what you heard, subscribe to the podcast (free of charge!) to get a new episode every week. Homepage image: Ryan Hughes and Steven Leonard in their showroom, R Hughes | Courtesy of R Hughes The 50 States Project is a yearlong series of candid conversations with interior designers we admire, state by state. Today, were chatting with Billings, Montanabased Jeremiah Young, who purchased the retail store and design firm Kibler & Kirch in 2010. He talks about transforming legacy businesses, how the landscape fuels his creativity and his uniquely collaborative design method. You bought the Montana design firm Kibler & Kirch in 2010. What was your journey to owning the company? I grew up in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Between my junior and senior years of high school, my family moved to Montana. I subsequently lived in Tennessee again and then in Asheville, North Carolina, but my heart was always in Montana. I have a degree in English literature and then was a librarian for a number of years when I lived in Asheville. During those years, I read every book there was on architecture, interior design and design in general. I was like a sponge. I educated myself about design and interiorsI think that was my college, my interior design program. I dont have a degree in interior design or architecture, but I would argue that doesnt matter. The people I know who are the most successful are always the ones who are the most passionate about what they do. What were some of the books that resonated the most? Its easier to find books on architecture than design in terms of solid text as well as visuals. What comes up off the top of my head are books by a man named Witold Rybczynskihave you ever heard of him? He was a professor at Penn State, such a great writer and so approachable, too. He wrote this book called Home: A Short History of an Idea, which I remember reading early on. I would also say that [New Yorkbased designer] Thomas OBrien is a hero of mineI know him loosely through some mutual friendsand his books are very well-written as well. Those are some highlights. How did you end up back in Montana? My wife is from here. And eventually we just said, we know moving back is ultimately what we want to do, so lets just go ahead and do it. It seems like, on the surface, theres not as many opportunities, certainlywhere theres less people, theres less economic opportunity, right? But that turned out to not be true. What is it about the place that you love? The landscape, of course. I also love the relative lack of people and thelets just call it thinking space. I travel a lot, and every time I step off the plane, Im like, Wow, this is such a peaceful place to live. So I think it has a lot to do with that. Last week, I had to drive to this tiny cabin in a remote part in Wyoming. It takes two and a half hours to get there, but I drive on the Chief Joseph [Scenic Byway], which isits Lord of the Rings beautiful. And Im just like, this my office. Oh darn, I had to drive two and a half hours through the most beautiful place in the world to get to my clients house. This is terrible. A painting by Rob Akey takes center stage in a curated living room. Audrey Hall Once you moved to Montana, how did you get into the design business? I didnt for a little while. I read all of the books while I was in North Carolina, moved back to Montana, and my wife and I started a contemporary clothing boutique. I also worked for my father-in-law, who has a big engineering firm, and I built some buildings for them. I oversaw the construction and design of a few buildings. Whats funny is all those things gave me the toolkit that I needed to be a designerdealing with people [and] staff, honing customer service to a really fine level, that kind of thing. Kibler & Kirch started in 1990. It has always been a design firm, but people have known it in this area because of its storethe most beautiful store in Red Lodge, Montana. I just happened to be going into the store in 2010 right as they were having a retirement sale, and they were going to close the business. Rosina Kastelitz and Erica Hash, who owned the company, were retiring. After [the crash in] 2008, they had a lot of work through 2010, but they were just like, Oh, man, I dont know if we want to weather this storm. My wife was pregnantwe were just about to have our first babyand there was a glider chair there. I said, I love this chair, but can we order it in a different fabric? And they said, No, were closing the store, so were not doing special orders now. And Im standing there thinking, Doesnt somebody want to buy this? And I said that to her: Doesnt somebody want to buy this business? And she said, Well, if you know somebody who does, have them call me. I walked down the street and we started talking about it. I was like, I know what to do with this business. I know exactly what to do with this business. Was it that instantaneous? What was the process to buy the business? It took about 10 minutes? No, but really, it was about a month laterwe had figured it out and I was up to my eyeballs in all the things I didnt know before. What were some of the biggest surprises when you got in there? Managing a team was one of the harder things. Even though I had had employees for quite a few years, inheriting a team and a culture can be both good and bad. Kibler & Kirch [already] had this incredible reputation and level of service thats amazingI always knew the quality that the brand stands for. So that culture that you inherit is both good and bad because there were employees that had worked for Kibler & Kirch for 29 years, 25 years, 18 years, 17 years. These are longstanding employees and you cant just come in and be in a rush to change things. Did it impact how you had to approach the changes you did want to make to the business? Oh, yeah. It added five years to every decisioneven when you know this is the right thing to do with the business. I was probably a little too sensitive to them and to what had always been. What were some of the things you did want to change about the business? First and foremost: People knew us as a store, but 80 percent of the business had always been design work. [They didnt yet have] this mentality of putting design first and putting that out there to the public. If nobody knew it was a design firm, how did new business come in? A couple different ways. One is people who come into the storewe have people coming through town from all over the world, and they would be like, This is the most beautiful store Ive ever seen. I have a very good client right now that came through our store years ago and said, If I ever build a new home, I want these guys to help me. So thats one stream of business; the other is word of mouth. I mean, were as busy as we could possibly be with our team, and its mostly word-of-mouth, and it has been for 30 years. About half of our business is second homesor third or fourth homes. A rustic vignette in the firms Billings design studio. Audrey Hall A cozy corner of a clients cabin Audrey Hall Left: A rustic vignette in the firms Billings design studio. Audrey Hall | Right: A cozy corner of a clients cabin Audrey Hall What does your team look like? There are six of us. At one time, there were 16 of us. Part of that is because weve closed our store to move it to Billings. We also had some folks who retired, and then we lost our business manager, who moved away. It happened fairly quicklyyou have some attrition from retirement, you lose a couple of people. As much as I would like to think everybody stays with you foreverand some people do, some people obviously stayed for 20-some yearsnot everybody does, right? I take that hard because I get so attached to my work family that it hurts when somebody leaves. Is your whole team of six all focused on the design side of the business, or is some of that retail? Its all design. One of my big challenges has been managing people. People are needy, right? I mean, they just are. I think weve found a way to be much more productive with fewer people. I see this as a common thread in this businessand certainly other designers in this series. For the most part, these are not big teams. Its true. I think a lot of designers are finding real joy in staying small. When I first took over Kibler & Kirch, I had these ambitions of growing it into a really giant firm. Now, that couldnt be further from the truthI want maybe a dozen employees at most. [Growing too big] starts to take your focus off the work. How is the work divided up between the six of you? How hands-on are you able to be with each project? Right now, we have 25 to 27 projects. Id say its about half new builds, and then theres the layer of really, really significant remodels. We are always juggling a lot. There are only two projects in all of that where Im not personally the lead or involved, and those are ones [where] maybe a lot of the work has been done and this is follow-up. We work as pairs, so I always have an assistant on a project. We become like peoples doctorswe're their people forever. I mean forever. I will get a phone call or a text from a former client on a Sunday: What kind of light bulb should I put in that light? And I mean, thats awesome, right? Clients are so loyal to us and we try so hard to take care of them. What does that relationship look like once the nuts and bolts of the project are done? You dont bill for that advice on the light bulb, right? No, we dont. Another mistake Kibler & Kirch made in years past was that they didnt bill for their time, they just charged for the product at the end of the project. But we do bill for time now, which was a major changethats something that was a major financial watershed for us. But its not like were attorneys, where we push that little button and record those minutes when we take a phone call. And then its also further complicated because just about every client becomes our friend. These are some of my favorite people in the world! Youre not going to send them a bill for ... For giving them advice on a light bulb. Exactly. So we only bill for time when we have structured meetings or a scope of work thats been defined. What did making that transition to billing for time look like? It was really hardand were still in the midst of it. Well [finish a project], and then five years later the client is building or renovating another home, or now their daughter is building a house. When youve had these clients that you didnt charge time for in the past, and now you do, it can be complicated. I will say, though, its been all our anxiety, not theirs. They have seen the value [of what we do], and outside of the initial discussions about what we charge with a new client, no one has ever balked at the fees. If you bring value, people see that. These are busy peoplepeople who have to charge for their time, too. Their time is super valuable, and they get it. We do some projects that are flagrantly contemporary and others that are so rustic you hear banjos playing in the background, says Young. Audrey Hall When youre talking about billing for time, do you bill for the ordering and procurement? We dont bill for time we spend doing the paperwork and the administrative side of specifying. We build all of that logistics and ordering into our margin on the furniture, so it just doesnt seem fair to bill hourly for itit seems like double-dipping. We bill for our time in meetings, when were really applying our expertise or making selections for people. If were doing research or Im sketching a custom piece. A lot of it is working with subcontractors, too. If we want to have an ironworker build a coat tree, you have to draw it and have all these communications, so we bill for that. But Im really bad at itI had so many years of bad habits, of not billing for my time, that its hard to [keep track]. What are the nuances of focusing so heavily on second homesis there greater freedom there than working on a primary residence? Well, I dont know if theres greater freedom, but thats because of the way we approach it. We have a method thats totally different than any other design firm that I know of. A lot of designers get hired and then they go away to their studio, put together ideas, then come back and present it to the clients. Youd think that would be the way you would do it with second-home owners, especially, because you dont always have them in town. That couldnt be further from the truth for us. I do not present anything. Ever. Maybe in commercial work a little bit, but not really. Our whole thing is we do the design work with the clientliterally, with the client here in the studio. Heres a good example: We have some folks from Houston that are building a home in Hamilton, Montana. They flew up from Texas and stayed two days a couple of times so that we could work intently together on the project. Were working on intimate spaces. These are their homes, and you have to truly get to know them to do good work for them. At the end of a project, the clients feel like they did iteven though, of course, we did, and we steered it heavily. How does that work? We spend a fair amount of time getting into their head. Well say, Look through fabricswithout really any intent in mind. Well do the same while looking at styles of furniture and asking what they like. Some clients cant tell you what they like, they can only tell you what they hate, so maybe thats what we do instead. We start with a furniture plan of the house and establishing what sizes of rugs we need. By doing the furniture plan and really studying the function of the home, you already know, OK, Im going to put a sofa here and Im going to have the side table here, but it can only be 24 inches wide by 36 inches deep because thats all the room you have. And I know that I want a pair of lamps on the far side of the room. Youve got a shopping list, reallyyouve established the things you need, and you also know, for example, that you dont have to look at desks that are more than 60 inches wide, because the office is not big enough. You can eliminate a lot that way. With that roadmap, you start filling in the blanks. We start by saying, Lets look for a bed. Ill show you some things that I love, Ill show you some things that I think work with the architecture, things that are comfortable. We never specify anything that I have not scratched and sniffed, that I havent sat on at High Point, or that I havent used before. Working this way requires you to have a real encyclopedic knowledge of your vendors products. Youre sourcing with an audience! You have to be quick on your feet, its true. We spend a lot of time at High Point Marketwe open it up and we close it down. Were sitting our butts in everything and really studying it. It helps that we have a store. I mean, if youre always ordering that dining chair from Lee Industries that you love so much and youve had it in the store, people have had a chance to see it, the team has had a chance to see it. The store really helps in that regard. A porcelain double sink is centered under a striking antler fixture. Audrey Hall What is the size or scope of most of the projects youre working on? Its a pretty broad rangeeverything from the little old lady whose house we worked on 20 years ago who needs new sofa fabric, to turnkey projects where we design the thing from a clean sheet of paper through putting toilet paper on the roll. Of the work we have now, there are a few really big projects; its actually the little projects that eat your time, but you have to take care of themthe folks whose house you renovated two years ago and theyve come back to do another room. Thats what your business is for, to take care of those peopleto get that repeat businessand you literally have to figure out a way to make time for them. Where do you shop? You have your store, but you dont have a design center nearbyhow do you navigate that? We really dont have anything other than us here, so we procure all the things we need. As a result, we have a huge library. When I do go to design centersIll go to Denver, for example, and when I shop the fabric showrooms, Ill get a memo of every fabric I even remotely like. Ill bet we have at least 200,000 fabrics here in our library. If we were in another place, we might not have to do that, because we could go out and look at it. In addition to High Point, we also go to the other accessory marketsto Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York. But really, in terms of the furniture, its High Point. Im really passionate about things that are made really well, but also made in the United States, and you have to go to High Point for that. Are you a stocking dealer of every line you specify, then? Were stocking dealers on a lot of things because of the store. Its another way of making money: We specialize in these whole homes, and the way we keep our firm going is to take really good care of bigger clients who buy through us. Thats why we need and want a retail store, because a designers discount is not as much as a retailers. But were also accepting all the risk. Were accepting the risk that we have to do X amount of business with this companywe have to order a certain amount from Highland House and Hancock & Moore and all of our other partners each year, and theres huge risk in that. Youve got a million dollars caught up in inventory. So that risk should come with reward too, right? Weve been in business for so long, and we have the luxury of being in Montanathere arent a lot of designers, and theres even less retail. So you have all the best brands. We do. And we have relationships with all the companies that go way back. Do you feel the difference in that? What does that relationship with the furniture companies bring? Because were here, ostensibly in the middle of nowhere, and we have to have all of our resources here, even if I dont, say, sell at wholesale $20,000 worth of a certain brand every year, because weve been with them a long time and were doing our best, they will give us the resources. So we have that ring of leather and samples. Theyll give that to us. This company or that company will give us all their fabrics to shop from. Those relationships are key, because I cant just go down to the design center to look at all of Lees fabrics, for example. I have to have them here. Young commissioned an 8-foot-tall Ben Pease teepee painting to give a traditional-leaning Montana living room a sense of place. Audrey Hall The bedroom of a Wyoming cabin features a bright paint treatment on an antique chest. Audrey Hall Left: Young commissioned an 8-foot-tall Ben Pease teepee painting to give a traditional-leaning Montana living room a sense of place. Audrey Hall | Right: The bedroom of a Wyoming cabin features a bright paint treatment on an antique chest. Audrey Hall Youve been the creative director of Old Hickory Furniture for several years now, as well. How did that come about? Well, as I said, Im kind of nerdy for the way things are made. Wed used Old Hickory in projects and I loved it. I also grew up in the Smoky Mountains, and Old Hickory played a big part in the early national parks and a lot of those great old park properties, like the Old Faithful Lodge and the Yellowstone Lake Lodge, have original Old Hickory pieces in them that have been in service for 120 years. About three years ago, my wifes family reunion was being held in Indianapolis. I knew that Old Hickory was south of Indy, in Shelbyville, and I called up the owner and asked to come see the factory. I went a day early and spent the day with Bob [Morrison, VP of sales and marketing at Old Hickory], going through the factory, getting nerdy on how it was constructed, and I really clicked with him and the product as well. I thought to myself, This company is such a gem, it just needs help being relevant. What was it that you saw as an opportunity? I think, initially, it started out with the idea that I would design furniture for them that would keep them relevant in the marketplace, and weve done some of that. But as it unfolded, I realized that wasnt exactly all they needed. I did their showrooms for a couple of years, and they had the best markets theyve ever had. Amongst all this competitionbrands like Kohler that had a million-dollar budgetswe won two major hospitality design shows, BDNY and HD Expo, with displays that I put together for Old Hickory. So its really a cool thing. Rustic comes and goesstyles come and go, thats just the nature of it. But it needs to be hip again, and Im trying to do that. How do you do that? What is the visual language you wanted to bring to them? Authenticity and attention to detail. People recognize when something is the real deal. Was it about looking ahead or really going into the archives? Both. Ive designed a couple of pieces that were variations on historical pieces that have sold really well. I dont necessarily think the problem with Old Hickory was the product. Yes, every company needs to always have new, good things, but it was more about an edit. And this is what I do with my clients, too. A lot of times, these are people who have great taste and great ideas, but they dont know how to edit them all down into something that makes sense. I put the puzzle together for peopleI do that for Old Hickory, Ive done that for Kibler & Kirch. Whats next in the collaboration? Im taking a little break this yearIm still going to design furniture, but Im stepping away [from designing the showrooms] after two really intense years working for them while still doing all the other things that I do. For this remodel, Young centered the living rooms design around the vibrant hues in the Kira Fercho painting of aspen trees in winter. Renata Haidle You have a gallery, too. How did that come about? We started the gallery about four years ago. Its adjacent to our studio in this lovely old building that we own and renovated, the Stapleton Building. As a design firm, we often use peoples art collections in their homes. But we also sometimes help people amass collections of art. Lets say youre moving to Montanayou may love some Western art, but not know who the artists are to even reach out to. At the same time, people dont want to buy art from a designer or a store, they want to buy art from a gallery. I get that. Plus, Im really passionate about contemporary Western art, and especially about art from Montana. They say there are more working artists living in Montana than in any place per capita. We just have such a rich artistic community in our state. So I said, Why dont we have this sister business thats a gallery, and find and represent some of the best artists in Montana? In the same way that the retail store had a big staff lift, does the gallery have the same challenges? Its an exhibition format, so we take appointments all the time, but were not open in the sense that were waiting for people [to come in]. We have themed exhibits three or four times a yearI set a theme and then the artists interpret that theme how they want to and we put it together. Its a very concentrated effort for us to hang and to put the shows togetherfor that, its Kibler & Kirch staff, and its Abigail [Hornik-Minckler], my partner in the gallery. But its not like every day, day in and day out, because I dont have time for that. Same thing with Old Hickory. I love how full of ideas you are, but also how many of them you have realized. I certainly get overwhelmed. But then I wake up every morning and Im just like, Goddammit, lets do this. What keeps you inspired? What keeps all those ideas coming? I really dont know. I think a lot of creative people are just inspired all over. Everything inspires them. Maybe Im a little restlessmaybe thats why I do all the things that I do. I looked at Old Hickory and was like, Man, this is something I can do. I know what to do here. I just cant help myself. And then theres this artist whose work I love, and Im like, Yes, I can share my love for Ben Pease with the world. Lets do this. And now hes in the gallery. What part of it brings you the most joyis it the process or the results? I think its always about people and taking care of people. To be a good designer, you have to have a great amount of empathyan ability to love your clients, be inspired for them and take this journey with them. Thats what gives me this greatest satisfaction. Of course, I love when a projects done and it looks beautiful. But what I really love is that we say, You know what, we did something that they love. What am I designing for? Im not designing for me, Im designing for them. How do you describe the firms aesthetic? Is there a specific look people are coming to the firm for? Theyre coming for quality and timelessness, but that can happen across every style. Im woefully behind on photographing our work, but we do some projects that are flagrantly contemporary and others that are so rustic you hear banjos playing in the background. And because were in Montana, were called on to do all kinds of things. Its not like Im in Charleston and theres a prototypical architectural look that you can really hone in on. What are the biggest challenges youre facing right now? Whats next? Our next big challenge is moving our retail store from Red Lodge to Billings. Weve got to reimagine and keep the soul of the retail store weve had forever, then translate it into something even more amazing. Old Hickory pieces on a porch Audrey Hall What was the impetus for the move? You start noticing that youre too far away. Red Lodge is this beautiful place at the base of the Beartooth Mountains, one of the gateways to Yellowstone. Its a great tourist place and great for second homes, but its a very small town and youre only going to get so many bodies through the door. Moving to a bigger cityBillings is the biggest city in Montana, so youve got a bigger population base. And then, what I was saying before about the client that comes from Atlanta or Houstonthe trip [to Billings] is so much easier. In order to grow, sometimes you have to make a big change. Whats the timeline on something like that? Do you have the space picked out? Itll be adjacent to our studio and the gallery. Youll get so many hours of your life back! Oh, gosh, yes. Before, lets say we wanted to walk the store to look at some beautiful things with a client, we would have to drive an hourwe would meet our clients at the store an hour away. Thats hard to do. Does that proximity help people make the connection between store and design firm? It will. I mean, we had a design studio in Red Lodge as well, but a lot of the major design work has always come through Billings. I built this beautiful studio here, and its a very inspiring place to work with our clients. If you came to the store, we didnt wear it on our sleevedesign firm, design firm, design firm. But with the new store, itll be so much more apparent. When do you think that the new store will open up? Well, we thought it would be this fall, but that just sounds like a terrible idea. Retail is a tricky business to be in right now. We closed our store in Red Lodge at what was, unbeknownst to us, the most perfect time. If we had had to continue to pay retail staff during this time, [it would have been a challenge]. Meanwhile, the design firm has not missed a beat. If anything, were more busy because of this thing. Everybody wants to come to Montana, I would imagine. Throngs of people are saying Montana looks pretty good right now. They look at that map and see that we have the lowest number of cases. Anecdotally, Im hearing about so many people, especially New Yorkers, moving to Montanajust showing up and buying property, sight unseen. The pop-up lounge and dining room at the 2018 Western Design Conference in Jackson, Wyoming, which featured art from Youngs Stapleton Gallery Audrey Hall As you look ahead, what are you most excited about? I bought this business from a woman named Rosina, and she was some pretty big shoulders to stand on. Even after we bought the business, we worked side by side for six years. She was like my partner. Even though shes much older than I am, we always talk about how, if the stars had lined up and we had been partners early on, we felt like we would have had an empire. Not only is she a great designer, she just takes care of peopleshe takes care of their heart and their soul. I know Ill never be able to do it in the way that she does, but I also have that kind of heart for people. The design, I mean, were both pretty good designers, but thats the easy part. Learning to really take care of people first was so important. I took over this firm thats been going for 30 years now. Its Kibler & Kirch, not Jeremiah Young Designs, like so many designers havetheir namesake, and then when theyre done, theres no end game. Im trying to take this namesake with a great reputation so that it can go beyond me and live for another 30 or 50 or 100 years. There are some grand old design firms, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, but theres really not another company like this in the West. And so thats my hopethat its more than me. Who knows, maybe my little girls take it over one day. How does that shape the day-to-day decisions you make about this business? I think a lot about timelessness. Yesterday, I went to a ladys houseshes probably 85 years old. We helped her with her home 22 years ago, and we walked in there yesterday and yes, some things are dated, but it was so well done and the sense of quality is there. Styles come and go a little bit, but quality really shines through, and if something is really well done, it will last. I looked in her living room, and its just like, Oh, my gosh, its still so beautiful. Is this the lady that needs sofa fabric? Yes, because it wore out! Its not because she didnt love it anymore, but because her husband wore it out. Will that job just be the sofa, or are you going to be doing other things as well? Its funny because we go in there and she says, Well, if you look around and see anything else that needs to change, you let me know. Thats the way it goes. Somebody calls you up and theyre like, I need to paint, but its never really about the paint. Five years later, youre still working on something with them. Is that just because people are more comfortable with a small, finite thing to reach out about? I think so. They know somethings wrong and they cant really put their finger on it, so they find the easiest thing. Theyre like, I need a new sofa or I need a rug or I need to paint. When youre like, Well, have you thought about ... ? people are usually very receptive. Rosina had this, and I do, toothis enthusiasm for what we do that rubs off on people. People want to be a part of it. They do. And then you start having fun and youre all inspired and its good times. To learn more about Jeremiah Young, visit his website or find him on Instagram. In a windswept corner of the Blood Tribe land in southwest Alberta is a pumpjack that towers more than three storeys off the ground and reaches three kilometres deep. It's one of only two new wells to be drilled on the First Nation in the last year, as the downturn in the industry has resulted in reduced drilling across Western Canada. The well was drilled in December and began operating in February, less than one month before oil prices crashed further as the pandemic spread across the globe. Fuel consumption has fallen sharply as countries continue to react to the virus, while oil production remains relatively high around the globe. For First Nations that rely on collecting royalties and rent from oilpatch activity on their reserve land, those funds have quickly dried up. In fact, it's becoming costlier to manage oil and gas production on First Nations land than the amount of money collected from industry. Indian Oil and Gas Canada (IOGC) is the federal agency, fully funded by Ottawa, responsible for overseeing oil and gas production on those lands and has a monthly budget of about $1 million. In May, when the most recent data is available, the agency only collected about $740,000. "It doesn't make sense," said Chief Roy Fox, with the Blood Tribe. "More money is being spent than what we are realizing." Fox is keenly aware of the financial situation in the oilpatch, considering there are about 300 oil and gas wells on Blood Tribe land, and the First Nation has a working interest in some of them. Compared to the beginning of the year, revenue from oil and gas activity is down 75 per cent, according to Fox. WATCH | Chief Roy Fox on the impact of low royalties: Royalties are down as a result of low commodity prices and some companies lowering production levels as some wells become unprofitable to operate. "In March, April, May, we were really hit with this downturn. Things are picking up a bit, but not as fast as what we would like to see," he said. Story continues The First Nation uses the revenue to provide programs for elders and youth, improve housing, offer social programs and invest in other business programs, among other initiatives. "Because of the downturn we won't be able to help as much," he said. Kyle Bakx/CBC The Indian Resource Council, which represents First Nations with oil and gas reserves on their territory, is calling on the federal government to top up the royalties to a minimum of $4 million per month. "These are really troubling times," said Stephen Buffalo, the group's president. "It's very important at this time that our prime minister really look at our communities to see if we can do something extra on the side to offset what has been lost." The council has also asked for a special allotment of the funds earmarked for cleaning up oil oil and gas wells in Western Canada. Revenues for First Nations have fallen by about 80 per cent in the last decade as commodity prices have fallen. The declines "are likely to continue," said Strater Crowfoot, CEO of the IOGC, in an emailed statement. WATCH | Stephen Buffalo on the opportunity to clean up inactive wells: "We have heard how challenging the decline in First Nation oil and gas revenue has been for First Nation communities, businesses, and individuals. The government of Canada is working collaboratively with First Nations and their member organizations to explore initiatives to provide support." In April, the federal government announced $307 million in relief to help Indigenous businesses and $133 million in June toward stimulating the Indigenous economy. How good are you at coding? If you are looking to start a website, you might want to learn a bit of coding. Sure, a CMS like WordPress can make coding nearly non-existent, but if you want your marketing website to stand out, you may want to invest in learning programming languages like HTML and CSS. How do you begin? For one, every website has two parts front-end (which is what the client sees) and backend (the real process through which the client can see on the website). From conceptualizing to deployment, we will take a look at all the programming skills you need to get started. To build an effective marketing website, you need to focus on both. Lets walk you through it. Frontend Development HTML and CSS: To sculpt out the basic skeleton of any website, HTML is your go, as it contains the basic layout and structure of the webpage. To add skin and design to the plain skeleton (HTML), we have another major and useful language, CSS. We can style out the webpage and have proper designs and carousels to make the website attractive to the user or client. The more attractive the website is, the more audience it will attract. CSS supports frameworks such as Bootstrap to make the site more compatible and attractive. JavaScript : Trust me, without JavaScript the internet wouldnt have been as it is its what makes it interactive and gives functionality. Using Javascript and its libraries, we can make the website user-interactive. Using graphical representations and attractive designs often seem as major pros of a website. Backend Development: Now, you have a fully designed website, but its still locally available in your system. With backend development, you can export your local files of the webpage on to a server. No matter where two programmers are be it London or New York the distance will not matter. Using languages and tools like PHP, Django (Python), Node.Js, and Ruby, you can create servers locally first. You can give access to a database for storing all inputs, user info. Later, you can deploy your web application onto a bigger and real server people all over the world can access your website, and your hard work pays off Now, backend involves a lot of work and effort to work properly. Among other things, you need to use APIs, cookies, and sessions properly. Dont forget that you need SEO-friendly coding The internet is huge you have over 2.7 zettabytes of data in the digital universe today. No matter what you search for today, you are sure to see hundreds of results. However, you want your website to feature on the first page of the search results, and there comes the need for an SEO-friendly website. For a marketing website, you need the programming to take into account what search engine crawlers need. From ensuring that the pages are easily crawlable to having fast load times, everything is important. You dont want long coding that translates to slow loading times. A perfect example of that would be sites such as CasinoCaptain . They focus on elements such as speed and a interface that is user friendly and not too heavy. Building a Strong and Reliable Marketing Website Learning some of these languages can take years. You will need to spend countless hours studying the codes, and then compiling it when working. Designing your marketing website takes time. Take it slow. Hire the right developers if you need them. If you design it right, it will make for an experience that both search engines and users love. There is no better feeling than that. Early Coronavirus-Hit States Among Those Experiencing Biggest Transaction Volume Increases since May Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR), the leader in integrated payment processing solutions, has revealed that merchant transaction volume continues to increase across the country despite surging cases of the novel coronavirus. In the third of a series of updates since the pandemic began to impact the United States, the data suggests that businesses are finding ways to drive sales even in the face of difficult economic and social conditions. Shift4s transaction data, posted daily on www.Shift4Cares.com, indicate that 43 states are 10% or more above their transaction volumes from the last week in May, which were already significantly higher than the low point in late March. Among the states experiencing the most rapid growth during this period are those where the coronavirus impact was felt early on; New Jersey has increased 62% since May, Pennsylvania is up 70%, New York is up 67%, and California is up 38%. Texas and Oklahoma are the only two states experiencing transaction declines from the week beginning May 31 when compared with the week beginning June 28. When compared to the low point in March, the rebound is even more dramatic, with all 50 states seeing an increase in transaction volume. Even states that have seen a recent uptick in cases are still well above their "trough" levels in March, with transaction volumes in Texas up 168% since March, Florida up 155%, and Arizona up 128%. "We know there is still a long way to go, but its really encouraging to see such significant payment volume recover across the country," said Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments. "I think it speaks to the resiliency of our economy and I give a lot of credit to small business owners who have clearly adapted to models like take-out, delivery, curbside pickup and contactless payment solutions like our SkyTab and QR Pay products." Story continues As of the week beginning June 21, Shift4 processed over 19.7 million payment transactions, up 164% from the March lows. Shift4s end-to-end payment volume for June was also higher than the same period in 2019. This data suggests that despite the uncertainties associated with the macro environment, merchants have become more creative in how they conduct commerce in order to continue driving revenue during these challenging times. About Shift4 Payments Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR) is a leading provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, delivering a complete ecosystem of solutions that extend beyond payments to include a wide range of value-added services. The companys technologies help power over 350 software providers in numerous industries, including hospitality, retail, F&B, e-commerce, lodging, gaming, and many more. With over 7,000 sales partners, the company securely processed more than 3.5 billion transactions annually for over 200,000 businesses in 2019. For additional information, visit shift4.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005328/en/ Contacts James McCusker Managing Director Solebury Trout jmccusker@soleburytrout.com Nate Hirshberg Vice President, Marketing Shift4 Payments nhirshberg@shift4.com By John Geddie, Fathin Ungku and Aradhana Aravindan SINGAPORE, June 29 (Reuters) - When the brother of Singapore's prime minister joined the opposition to the party their father led through the city-state's independence and rise as a nation, he brought a bitter family squabble into the realm of politics on the eve of a general election. Lee Hsien Yang, younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and son of modern Singapore's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, said last week he was a member of the new Progress Singapore Party (PSP). He said the People's Action Party, which has governed Singapore since independence in 1965, had "lost its way" without his late father. The younger Lee, 62 - described by people close to him as shy, distant from his powerful brother but not afraid to challenge the status quo - has made no policy statements or said whether he will run for office, something candidates for the July 10 election must declare on Tuesday. It is not clear if his move can energise an opposition that holds just six of parliament's 89 seats, and it is not expected to alter prospects for a lopsided ruling party win. But Lee Hsien Yang's dramatic move presents Singaporean voters an inversion of the campaign that the PAP is offering as Prime Minister Lee, 68, prepares to retire in the coming years. The ruling party depicts the government's aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic as this generation's heroic sacrifice, harking back to the "Pioneer Generation," led by Lee Kuan Yew, that forged the tiny island from a dot on Britain's colonial map into a first-world economy. Lee Hsien Yang's rebuke: This is not our father's PAP. "I have never sought the limelight, and most people know that actually I value my own privacy," Lee Hsien Yang told reporters on Sunday at a PSP event at a food court. "I'm here because I think sometimes we need to speak truth to power." Story continues He has criticised the PAP government for calling an election during a pandemic and its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in which thousands of Singapore's migrant workers have been infected. He has also criticised a 2019 "fake news" law that has been used against government opponents and said the PAP suffers from "narrow group-think" and mainly serves the elite in society. The ruling party declined to comment. "NOT UNDER HIS BROTHER'S SHADOW" The Lee brothers were not close but had no major quarrels most of their lives, said a person close to the younger Lee. A business associate said Lee Hsien Yang was mild-mannered but defensive about his parents. He had repeatedly said he was not interested in politics. That changed after his father's death in 2015, when Lee Hsien Yang and his sister alleged their older brother wanted to preserve the family home for political gain despite their father requesting it be demolished in his will. The younger Lee said the lengthy feud did not motivate him to join the opposition. The brothers, who declined to be interviewed for this article, were both army brigadier-generals but their careers have otherwise diverged. Lee Hsien Loong, first elected in 1984, became deputy prime minister aged 38 and has led the PAP for 16 years. Lee Hsien Yang was CEO of telecommunications firm Singtel and chairman of drinks conglomerate F&N. Patriarch Lee Kuan Yew, known as LKY, wrote little in his memoirs about his younger son compared to mentions of the current prime minister but said in a 2011 interview Lee Hsien Yang was a "sensible and practical man" who was "not under his brother's shadow." With an openly gay son, Lee Hsien Yang last year attended a Pride march in the conservative city-state where sex between men is outlawed. Can this iconoclastic scion with the common touch make a difference? Loke Hoe Yeong, author of a history of Singapore's opposition, said Lee Hsien Yang's arrival will energise opposition parties but could also antagonise voters who don't think a family spat over a house should be aired publicly. Former PAP lawmaker Inderjit Singh said Lee Hsien Yang's presence in the opposition could sway some voters, who have always given the ruling party at least 60% of the vote. "When people see LKY's son switching camp to the opposition, this may create doubts...that the PAP of the present is not the same as the PAP of the past," Singh said. (Reporting by John Geddie, Aradhana Aravindan and Fathin Ungku; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga, Jessica Jaganathan and Tom Westbrook; Editing by William Mallard) (Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. is preparing to raise as much as $7.5 billion via mainland Chinas largest stock sale in a decade, a big cash infusion for a chipmaker Beijings counting on to reduce reliance on American technology. Chinas top homegrown chipmaker could sell as much as 53.2 billion yuan of shares, according to a Sunday filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In May, analysts estimated a Shanghai listing could fetch somewhere in the $3 billion range. The offering would be the largest since Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.s 68.5 billion yuan initial public offering in 2010. SMICs Hong Kong stock jumped 21% to a record Monday, racking up its biggest gain since 2009 after mainland bourses surged. Chinas biggest contract manufacturer of chipsets represents a major piece of Beijings vision to create a self-reliant and world-class semiconductor industry, particularly as Washington tightens restrictions on sales of silicon and software to the nation. SMIC plans to use the stock-sale proceeds to develop next-generation chipmaking to try and compete with Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Like TSMC, SMIC is a so-called foundry that helps fabricate chips based on other companies designs, and could prove key to Huawei Technologies Co. if Washington follows through on threats to choke off its pivotal semiconductor business. What Bloomberg Intelligence Says SMIC benefits the most from Chinas push for self sufficiency in semiconductor supply. Rising research expenses to develop next-generation production technology may be the biggest drag on profitability growth. Sales gains could be constrained by delays in acquiring fabrication tools from foreign manufacturers. - Charles Shum, analyst Click here for the research. SMICs shares have more than tripled in Hong Kong since Marchs bottom, while the Hang Seng Index is up just 21%, on bets that trade friction with the U.S. will force Beijing to focus more on homegrown tech and products that replace imports. Chinas state-backed funds pumped $2.25 billion into a SMIC wafer plant in May. Story continues The effort comes at a time the Trump administration is threatening to deny domestic companies like SMIC or Huawei access to crucial components and circuitry. SMICs listing is also a boost for the STAR market, which has struggled to attract major technology companies since its launch last year. The initial institutional offer for the shares was 165 times oversubscribed. China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund will subscribe to 3.52 billion yuan of the offering as a strategic investor while Singapores sovereign fund, GIC Pte., will invest 3.32 billion yuan. (Updates with biggest gain since 2009 in the second 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. The premise was sound: Given the known, albeit distant, connections between kidney disease and gout, would a treatment for the latter have an impact on the former? Three years later, following a clinical study in two countries that enrolled 530 participants with diabetes and kidney disease, investigators had their answer. It didn't. "I think the basis for the theory was actually quite strong," said Peter Senior, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the University of Alberta who was involved in the research. Results of the trial were published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine. "But until you do the proper study, you don't really know." Gout, a form of inflammatory arthritis, is often characterized by a "swollen hot toe" and linked to too much drinking and too much rich food. The medical cause, though, is a buildup of uric acid, Senior said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. Kidney disease can lead to kidney failure, requiring a transplant or dialysis for survival. Senior, a diabetes researcher who works in the university's endocrinology and metabolism division, said diabetes is a big driver for kidney disease, with half or more of Type 1 diabetics eventually developing it. Enter the theory: To see if the development of kidney disease could be slowed by lowering levels of uric acid in diabetics using allopurinol, a gout medication developed in the 1960s. Supplied from Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry The theory had some support in studies that found some populations with lower overall uric acid levels also seemed to have less kidney disease, he said. "There were these different strands of ideas, of what we call epidemiological evidence and that led people to kind of hypothesize that maybe lowering it would make a difference." The three-year, placebo-controlled and double-blind trial did find that allopurinol successfully lowered uric acid levels in participants, but measurements of kidney function for patients in the trial didn't show any change. Story continues A second study from Australia on patients with a variety of chronic kidney diseases, some with diabetes, published alongside the study, showed similar results. Senior said he had mixed emotions about the study's result. "We all want to do the study which moves things forward and pushes things on," he said. "On the other hand, if we clearly answer a question that says 'This treatment strategy or this approach does not work,' then we avoid wasting further time and effort on that." With COVID-19 pushing research even more into the public eye, it's important to remember the role that scientific research plays in determining what works and what will not, he said. "I think the story of science is [that] for every breakthrough, there's been 99 failures," he said. "Actually proving that the treatment or intervention or that pathway is really important, you have to do the studies," he said. "We have been proven wrong in science many times before, where some of it seems to make sense, and should work on paper and doesn't work out in real life. I think it's because real life is more complicated, even more complicated than the complicated scientific models we proposed." As for this particular study, Senior said he deems it a success that they were able to successfully complete the logistically complex clinical trial. He said researchers will continue to explore new ideas for reducing rates of kidney disease which, despite many advances in health care, still remain stubbornly high. "The problem still exists, it still needs to be addressed," he said. "This drug is not the way to go but there may be many other approaches." An Air Force officer is under fire for a Facebook comment regarding missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen. According to court documents, Guillen, who has been missing since late April, was allegedly killed by a fellow soldier on the Texas Army base. PHOTO: Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, 20, has been missing from her unit since April 22, 2020, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. (U.S. Army) In a group called Veteran Humor, Betsy Schoeller, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee lecturer, responded to a post questioning how Guillen was allegedly killed on the base without anyone noticing. Schoeller wrote in a since-deleted comment, "You guys are kidding, right? Sexual harassment is the price of admission for women into the good ole boy club. If you're gonna cry like a snowflake about it, you're gonna pay the price." MORE: Timeline: What to know about missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen The university's students are calling for Schoeller's termination over the comment. A petition calling for her dismissal has over 116,000 signatures, and a "peaceful protest" is planned Wednesday on campus to hold the university accountable. "I speak on behalf of my fellow UWM students, staff, and community partners when I say that we want to see Professor Schoeller terminated from UW-Milwaukee staff," UWM student Emily Cruz wrote in the petition. "As a woman, and a student at UWM I feel unsafe knowing that we have professors who think the sexual assault of women serving in the military is justified. UW-Milwaukee claims to care about the safety of their students, therefore we demand and are holding UWM accountable to take action against Professor Betsy Schoeller." In a statement released on Saturday, UWM called Schoeller's post "repugnant and terribly at odds" with the school's values. "UWM in no way condones Ms. Schoeller's comments, and we understand and empathize with the outrage and concerns we are hearing." The school noted that for legal reasons, it cannot fire Schoeller for her posting, which is protected by the First Amendment. "UWM cannot regulate the private speech of its employees," it said in its statement. Story continues The Wisconsin National Guard said in a statement Saturday that Schoeller's comment is "inconsistent with our values" and "we do not condone them in any way." The statement noted that Schoeller retired from the Wisconsin National Guard in 2017. In a statement released Sunday, Schoeller, a lecturer in UWM's School of Information Studies, said her words were "misinterpreted." "I am shocked and saddened that my original post was interpreted out of context," she said. "The point I was making is that this is what women are facing in a culture of sexual harassment and misogyny." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Schoeller said she was not implying how she felt, but was "giving voice to the messaging that women hear in the culture of sexual harassment: The message we receive from the culture is not only will you suffer from sexual harassment, if you squawk about it, you will suffer even more." The retired colonel went on to say that she has seen attempts to stop harassment culture in the military, such as sensitivity training and focus groups. But "the culture of sexual harassment was still alive and well, despite our best efforts." "I do not believe in or support sexual harassment. Quite the opposite," she continued. "I've seen the toll it takes on individuals and entire units. But I know it's still here. Because SPC Guillen is not here." Guillen, 20, was last seen at Fort Hood, an Army base outside of Killeen, on April 22, according to court documents. Human remains were discovered near the base on June 30, authorities said, and an investigation is underway into whether they belong to Guillen. A suspect tied to Guillen's disappearance, Specialist Aaron David Robinson, died by suicide after being confronted by police officers and federal marshals, officials said. A search of Guillen's cellphone records showed that Robinson was one of the last people she was in contact with, according to court documents. The Guillen family lawyer, Natalie Khawam, said investigators told her that Guillen and Robinson had an argument in the base's armory after she discovered his alleged affair with the estranged wife of a former soldier. The Army has not publicly confirmed that motive. The Guillen family and Khawam have also alleged that a man walked in on and watched Guillen as she showered. Guillen did not report the incident because she feared reprisals, her family said. Military officials have refuted that claimed, saying that they haven't found evidence of sexual harassment. MORE: Unidentified remains found in search for missing soldier Vanessa Guillen A second suspect, Cecily Aguilar, identified by court documents as Robinson's girlfriend, has been arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Aguilar, 22, has allegedly admitted that Robinson told her he bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer, according to court documents. She then allegedly helped him dismember Guillen's body and bury her, according to court documents. Aguilar is expected in federal court in Waco, Texas, for arraignment on Monday. An attorney was not listed for Aguilar among online court records. ABC News' Christina Carrega and Luis Martinez contributed to this report. Air Force officer under fire for Facebook comment on missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Former Ontario premier Bob Rae has been appointed Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, the Prime Minister's Office announced today. Rae, who also served as the interim Liberal Party leader between 2011 and 2013, will succeed Marc-Andre Blanchard as Canada's representative to the body. The ambassadorial shakeup comes less than a month after Canada failed to secure a temporary seat on the Security Council, losing to Norway and Ireland on the first ballot. Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill, Rae said "job No. 1" is to convince Canadians of the continued importance of the UN. He said that with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in some parts of the world, Canada will be central to efforts to "rebuild a successful world order. Nothing short of that will do." He said Canada shouldn't retreat from the world scene just because it lost its bid for a Security Council seat. "I can tell you with certainty neither victory nor defeat are permanent. We always exaggerate the impact of either," Rae said. "The message is we didn't win the vote. We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again. That's the nature of life at the United Nations, as it is in many other aspects of human endeavour." Asked about the past presence of countries with poor human rights records such as China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia on the UN's Human Rights Council, Rae said the flaws in the UN's structure should simply inspire Canada to engage more. "It would only get worse if we left. You don't get a better place by leaving," Rae said. "The answer isn't to pull out. That doesn't make sense to me." "The United Nations is not some intergalactic organization. It represents all of the human frailties that are known to mankind." Rae has called Trump 'unhinged' Since leaving federal politics in 2013, Rae has been outspoken on social media. He has expressed disdain for U.S. President Donald Trump's leadership on more than one occasion. Story continues In an August 2019 post on Twitter, Rae called Trump the most dangerous Western leader to emerge in his lifetime. "The most unhinged, the most unworthy of public office," he said of Trump. "There's no point pretending anything else. Those who choose to apologize for him, or appease him, are making a terrible mistake. And he will not be easily defeated in 2020." Bob Rae/Twitter On another occasion, he called Trump "delusional" and said his presidency is undermining the "premise of the postwar project" by asking countries to reject "globalism" in favour of a more nationalist approach to diplomacy. Rae told CBC News in a statement through Global Affairs that his job as ambassador will be to represent Canada and its interests at the UN and that includes working closely with Canada's allies. "It is no surprise to anyone that I've been prolific in my views over the years. I have a new job representing the government of Canada, and I very much look forward to that," Rae said in the statement. On another difficult file for Canada the relationship with the People's Republic of China Rae said today that, as ambassador, it will be his job to "carry out the policy of the government of Canada." "I will not be inventing policy, and I will not be expressing personal opinions one way or another," he said. Rae calls detention of 2 Michaels 'completely unjustified' Canada has been locked in a diplomatic confrontation with that country since the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport in 2018 and Chinese authorities' subsequent incarceration of the two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Rae said he agrees with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada should not engage in some sort of prisoner swap to secure the release of the two men. He rejected a recent call in a letter signed by some prominent Canadians to release Meng and end her extradition process in order to restart relations with China. Rae said he knows all of the letter writers well but disagrees with their approach, adding that Canada must protect "its values." Rae vowed to work with Trudeau and others "to find a solution to the very, very unfair and completely unjustified and unjustifiable imprisonment of two Canadian citizens." WATCH | Bob Rae is named Canada's ambassador to the UN Blanchard said he is stepping away after four and half years as the head of Canada's permanent mission in New York to spend more time with his family. He said he and his wife spent a lot of time apart while he was living abroad. Blanchard, one of the longest-serving Canadian ambassadors to the UN, said Canada's Security Council bid laid the groundwork for a more active role for the country on the world stage. He said the lobbying campaign improved Canada's bilateral relations with countries that had long been dormant. "I can say that I'm more enthusiastic about the UN, and I'm more convinced that the UN is essential than I even was a few years ago," Blanchard said. "I did everything I could to serve the country as best as I could." He said Canada started its bid for the seat late Norway and Ireland were in the running for the better part of a decade and Canada gave it a valiant try. Trudeau has tapped Rae for other foreign policy-related roles in the past. Rae served as Canada's special envoy on humanitarian and refugee issues during the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh. In an interview with Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language service, Rae said he was "very, very honoured" to be picked by Trudeau for the job. He said his father, Saul Rae, was a career diplomat who also served as Canada's ambassador to the UN in Geneva and New York between 1972 and 1976. "It's in my DNA," Rae said. Rae said Canada will be pushing for reforms to the UN at a time when international institutions have been tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO), in particular, has faced criticism for its handling of the virus. "COVID-19 is a revealer it reveals the weakness and fragility in all our institutions. This will be very much on my mind as we go forward," Rae said. "The well-being of the world really depends on a rebuild and a reconstruction of our international institutions, and I think that's the task ahead for Canada and a great many countries." He said while "authoritarianism and nationalism are making a comeback" in some countries, Canada, as a middle power, must support multilateral institutions like the UN. In his 2009 autobiography, From Protest to Power, Rae recounts growing up the son of a diplomat who worked for the then-fledgling Department of External Affairs. Rae's father joined the department at the start of the Second World War when Canada was trying to be more assertive on the global stage at a time when national interests were still secondary to the country's place in the British Empire. "When my dad joined there were only eight in his entry class," Rae said. "They all shared certain core views about Canada and its place in the world. The British Tory view of Canada as a colony was rejected outright." Rae's father, who served alongside other diplomatic leaders including former prime minister Lester B. Pearson, was posted to Mexico, North Vietnam, the Netherlands and the United States during his time in the foreign service. Rae spent much of his childhood in Washington, D.C., and Geneva during his father's overseas postings. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the lunchtime e-rally on 6 July 2020. (PHOTO: Screenshot/Facebook) SINGAPORE Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he is determined to see through the current COVID-19 pandemic, and hand over Singapore intact and in good working order to the next government team. During a lunchtime e-rally by the ruling Peoples Action Party on Monday (6 July) ahead of the General Election, Lee underlined his deep personal responsibility to make Singapore succeed amid the coronavirus crisis. You have my word: Together with my older colleagues like Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, as well as the 4G ministers, I will see this through. I am determined to hand over Singapore, intact and in good working order, to the next team, he said. I have spent all my adult life serving my country, because I believe in Singapore. That is why I took a scholarship to serve in the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces). That is why when ESM (Emeritus Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong asked me to enter politics, I agreed. All my life, I have felt a deep personal responsibility to do my part to keep Singapore safe, and to make it succeed. Strongest possible PAP team fielded PM Lee said that, more than ever, Singapore needs a capable government at this critical moment, with the full support of a united people. He said that he has worked hard to field the strongest possible PAP team for this GE. The team includes capable ministers as well as seasoned and energetic Members of Parliament. It is also refreshed and reinforced with a younger generation of promising leaders from all walks of life. They will bring new ideas and perspectives on tackling the challenges ahead, he said. I hope younger and first-time voters will identify with them, and see them as candidates who will represent their views and advance their interests. My duty as PM is not just to take good care of Singapore during my time in office. It is also to prepare new generations of leaders who can take over from me and my older colleagues, and lead Singapore into a different future. Story continues The PAP lunchtime e-rally was a throwback to its traditional lunchtime rallies in the downtown Fullerton area during past GEs. PM Lee said that this e-rally was his seventh Fullerton Rally since he entered politics in 1984, and he drew parallels with his first one 36 years ago. That was a watershed election. The PAP fielded 26 new candidates, and its self-renewal took off, he said. Today, I am the only one left from the class of 1984. But the party now has many younger cohorts of leaders, to take the country forward. Full support of Singaporeans needed to take country forward For the current cohort of PAP leaders to take the country forward, PM Lee believes they need the full support of Singaporeans. While he said that he did not expect to meet the overwhelming COVID-19 crisis in the last stretch of his premiership, he counts himself fortunate to have been elected by Singaporeans, and chosen by fellow ministers and MPs, to lead Singapore through this critical time. COVID-19 is the crisis of a generation. It is more complex and more dangerous than any previous crisis. Again, there can be no certainty that things will turn out well, he said. To get through this crisis, I need your help. I cannot do it alone; I need the strongest team we can find, to work with me, and with you. I also need full support from all of you. If we all work together and build well, generation after generation, then another 36 years from now, the Fullerton rally will be held in a vastly transformed Singapore. And future Singaporeans todays young ones can be proud of what they have built. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at t.me/YahooSingapore Follow Yahoo News Singapores GE2020 coverage here. GE2020 stories: GE2020: The top lunchtime rally moments from the last 20 years COMMENT: Voting for an MP or PM-to-be? GE2020: WP stands by Sengkang GRC candidate Raeesah Khan, who apologises for insensitive remarks GE2020: POFMA corrections issued to CNA, others, over report of Paul Tambyah's comments GE2020: WP 'playing with voters' by not saying if it will accept or reject NCMP seats if offered Heng Swee Keat Dr Tan Cheng Bock at Singapore Democratic Alliance's walkabout in Pasir Ris on 6 July, 2020, alongside several SDA members including Desmond Lim (left wearing green vest). (PHOTO: Joseph Nair/Yahoo News Singapore) SINGAPORE Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chief Dr Tan Cheng Bock turned up at an HDB block in the Pasir Ris-Punggol group representation constituency (GRC) on Monday (6 July) in a show of support for the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA). The PSP secretary-general appeared at the start of SDAs walkabout for about 15 minutes to greet its chairman Demond Lim, whom he called a good friend. He then signed a poster to symbolise his friendship with Lim before departing. PSP is not contesting in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, which will see a three-cornered fight between the incumbent Peoples Action Party, Peoples Voice and SDA at the upcoming General Election (GE). The SDA team comprises Lim, Abu Mohamed, Harminder Pal Singh, Kuswadi Atnawi and Kelvin Ong Soon Huat. Dr Tan, who is running in West Coast GRC, was accompanied by fellow member Terence Soon, who is contesting as part of the PSP Tanjong Pagar GRC team. Speaking to the media at a void deck of Block 614 Elias Road, where SDA members and volunteers had gathered, Dr Tan said Lim was the first person to help him before he founded PSP in March last year. I never forget a friend. I never forget him and I know that he is a man who has helped many people, said Dr Tan. When I was in need, when nobody came to help me, he was the one who came to help me, he continued. In life, never forget good friends. In reply to a question on how Lim had helped him, Dr Tan said that he did not know certain aspects of setting up a political party. When asked why he did not join SDA instead, Dr Tan said, As I evolved my party, I realised I (didnt) want to disturb his party. He's got his own constitution and...the whole setup. So, not nice to go and disturb. But I appreciate, because he tells us exactly what you should do, what we shouldn't do. Advice is important because they (SDA) are a much older party, and we are such a young party. Dr Tan joked that his party should honour SDA and pay respect to abang (Malay for older brother). Story continues Progress Singapore Party's Dr Tan Cheng Bock signs a Singapore Democratic Alliance poster on 6 July, 2020. (PHOTO: Joseph Nair/Yahoo News Singapore) On other opposition parties, Dr Tan said his party was very close to SDA, Singapore Democratic Party and the Workers Party (WP). He added that he endorsed all the opposition parties in general. Speaking to the media in a separate doorstop, Lim said he had helped many parties when they did not know how to fill in nomination forms, or could not obtain assentors, proposers, or seconders for Nomination Day. Lim described Dr Tan as a true friend. The fact that he is present here is good enough to show that there's true friendship, he said. SDA has been in the Pasir Ris area caring for residents for 13 years, according to Lim. Lim made his electoral debut in GE2001, contesting in Jalan Besar GRC. He participated in subsequent GEs in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol East single member constituency (SMC), the latter of which he also contested in the 2013 by-election. Asked about his chance for the 10 July GE, Lim rated it as very good, saying that SDA has stepped up providing its community services in the past five years. And people here know us, even with a half mask they can recognise me, he said. We are here for the win, we are not here just to accompany someone for the contest. The fact is that when we go everywhere, you can see it, people are more open. While Lim has helped PSP and others, he said some parties have since forgotten the help they had received from SDA. He declined to reveal the parties names, saying that they know. Follow Yahoo News Singapores GE2020 coverage here. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore General Election stories: GE2020: WP 'playing with voters' by not saying if it will accept or reject NCMP seats if offered Heng Swee Keat NCMP scheme is stabiliser to steer sampan-sized Singapore's political system: Goh Chok Tong GE2020: PSP prepared to debate Chan Chun Sing on opposition's plans to combat pandemic - Tan Cheng Bock SDPs Tambyah 'distorting' facts on MOM advisory on foreign worker COVID-19 testing: Lawrence Wong GE2020: Surge of credible, capable alternative candidates in this election Lee Hsien Yang Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante says her administration is working on a new regulation that would make it mandatory to wear a face covering in enclosed public places. "We must do everything to protect ourselves," she said in a statement published to social media on Monday. Plante said the city is intending on having the new rule in place by July 27, but there will be a grace period before it's enforced. "Over the past few days, we have witnessed the emergence of some outbreaks in the suburbs of Montreal, which could undermine the efforts we have been making since the beginning of this pandemic," Plante said. She said merchants have told her it is challenging to enforce hygiene and distancing rules in their establishments. A resurgence of COVID-19 cases could again lead to the widespread closures seen at the end of March, which would "be a disaster for human lives and for our economy," she said. Plante said the city will draw on the experiences of Canadian cities that have already adopted such a bylaw, or are about to do so. Mask regulations increasingly common Several U.S. states have established similar laws and some communities across Canada have started making masks mandatory on public transit or even in businesses or indoor spaces to curb the spread of COVID-19. Wearing a face covering on public transit in Quebec will soon be mandatory. The province's new regulation goes into effect on July 13. Cote Saint-Luc, a Montreal suburb that had hundreds of confirmed COVID-19 cases and dozens of deaths by the beginning of June, made masks mandatory in indoor public spaces starting July 1. Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press Residents of eastern Ontario, including the City of Ottawa, will be required to wear non-medical masks in indoor public places starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. A group of 27 epidemiologists and other health professionals called on Quebec last month to make wearing masks mandatory across the province. At that time, epidemiologist Nima Machouf said masks and other face coverings are a "low-cost, risk-free" way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and curb a potential second wave this fall. Story continues Montreal officials have been strongly encouraging the wearing of face coverings for months, but until now the city had stopped short of making them mandatory. 'Right decision at the wrong time,' opposition says Lionel Perez, leader of opposition party Ensemble Montreal, says this measure should have been enacted as soon as the economy began reopening. He is concerned that COVID-19 cases are again on the rise because people weren't wearing masks soon enough. "Right decision at the wrong time, but it's better late than never," said Perez. He said the Plante administration rejected a motion from his party in May to make masks mandatory. "We just hope the consequences of their being late won't be manifested in Montrealers catching COVID," Perez said. Nova Scotia Public Health is working to trace the close contacts of a traveller who had recently been in the U.S. who failed to self-isolate after arriving in the province. The person is connected to some new COVID-19 cases on Prince Edward Island. On Sunday, P.E.I. reported two new cases of the virus, bringing their total active cases in the province to five. Both cases are connected to an asymptomatic man in his 20s who travelled to Nova Scotia from P.E.I., where he came in contact with a man who had travelled to the United States between June 26 and 29. Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, told CBC's Maritime Connection on Sunday that the P.E.I. government contacted them Saturday about the situation. The traveller was identified and tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday in Nova Scotia, Strang said. The man came into the country on June 26, and was on his way to join colleagues in Prince Edward Island, Strang said, but he's unsure why he didn't end up there. Strang didn't specify the nationality of the person. Nova Scotia, federal agencies working on case Since the traveller is still within his first 14 days in Canada where he is supposed to be self-isolating, Strang said he falls under federal jurisdiction. "We're working with our federal colleagues now to make sure he's appropriately isolated now that he has been tested positive," Strang said. They are also in the process of tracing his contacts and looking into where he may have been since arriving in Nova Scotia. Since March, anyone coming into Canada for non-essential reasons has had to self-isolate for two weeks, under the Quarantine Act. Anyone who breaks this rule can be fined up to $750,000 or imprisoned for six months. Stronger followup measures needed: Strang Strang said he's recently spoken with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Border Services Agency to understand their various processes. Story continues He said there's more work to be done to make sure that there are "stronger measures to make sure people are actually maintaining their requirement for a 14-day quarantine period" if they come into Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic provinces or the country. As of Friday, residents of the four Atlantic provinces can travel freely without self-isolating in the bubble. While it's important to open up the Atlantic region to travel to help the economy and families, Strang said his key message is to make sure everyone follows public health rules of physical distancing and wearing masks when physical distancing is not possible. MORE TOP STORIES Dell Technologies announces two new VxRail systemsincluding the first ruggedized VxRail model and introduction of AMD EPYC processorsbringing the power and simplicity of HCI to the most challenging and space-constrained edge environments. Amit Luthra, Director and General Manager, Data Center Solution, Dell Technologies, India, said, Organizations are moving their data management infrastructure closer to the edge where most of the data is being generated. However, these organisations face challenges due to the edge location where resilient infrastructure is critical, unlike temperature controlled traditional data center. With the new ruggedized VxRail systems that can stand up to extreme temperatures and can operate at upto 15,000 feet, our customers can increase their efficiency and performance regardless of the location and high temperature extremities. Additionally, our VxRail E Series is powered with AMD EPYC processors, which will enable high performance in a single-socket model, for all our customers. Smallest, toughest VxRail takes HCI to harsh edge environments The new ruggedized VxRail D Series brings VxRails simplicity and lifecycle management capabilities to a compact and durable form factor, designed to withstand remote and harsh environments. The system, featuring 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, is 20 inches deepthe smallest VxRail yet2and can withstand extreme temperatures, sustain up to 40G of operational shock and operate at up to 15,000 feet. It brings IT support to edge locations where resilient infrastructure is critical, such as the implementation of a data center at remote sites, onboard ships at sea or equipped in aircrafts. The VxRail D Series is an ideal solution for manufacturing, industrial, and oil and gas environments where conditions create a technical challenge or space is at a premium. VxRail brings AMD EPYC processors to edge ready, single-socket system For the first time on VxRail, 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors are now available in a new, efficient E Series platform. The VxRail E Series with AMD EPYC processors offers customers a new option, with up to 64 high performance cores and support for PCIe 4, that can be deployed at the edge or in data centers. Coupled with high-efficiency power supply, these compact 1U systems are an ideal option for customers that need high-performance computing power, in a single socket platform for edge environments. The new VxRail E665 systemavailable in NVMe, all-flash, or hybrid storage configurationsoffers high performance in a single-socket model and is an ideal option for database, unstructured data, virtual desktop infrastructure and HPC workloads. VxRail software updates support latest VMware releases and streamline upgrades As the only jointly engineered HCI system with VMware, VxRail delivers a hybrid cloud approach that is simple to deploy and manage, no matter where data and applications reside. As recently announced, Dell Technologies Cloud Platformoffering VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRailnow supports configurations with as few as four compute nodes, enabling customers to start small and grow. Customers, such as Atlantis, The Palm, now can explore their hybrid cloud journey at up to 47% lower cost3, with a smaller footprint, and scale their infrastructure over time. The latest version of VxRail HCI System Software helps streamline updates with the ability to run pre-upgrade health checks on demand and cloud-based management and orchestration, enabling every VxRail cluster to be maintained throughout its lifecycle, regardless of location. Intel Optane persistent memory and NVIDIA GPU options support data-intensive applications With the introduction of new platform enhancements, VxRail can support even more power-demanding applications, such as in-memory databases like SAP HANA and artificial intelligence/machine learning applications. VxRail will now support: Intel Optane Persistent Memory, which maintains improved data integrity with 90% lower latency4. With this addition, VxRail is the first fully integrated VMware-based HCI system to support the full range of Intel Optane technologies for the data center including 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Intel Optane persistent memory and Intel Optane SSDs. NVIDIA Quadro RTX GPUs, which combine with NVIDIA virtual GPU (vGPU) software to bring the power of accelerated rendering, AI, advanced graphics and compute to the data center for a wide range of workflows. With Quadro RTX and NVIDIA vGPU software, customers can deploy VxRail solutions that help end users be more productive and data centers run efficiently. Two men are walking across Saskatchewan in response to the government's denial of a suicide prevention bill. Tristen Durocher and Chris Merasty left Air Ronge on Thursday and they plan to walk 635 kilometres to the Saskatchewan legislature building in Regina. Durocher said he hopes the journey will take 20 days. "We've had Elders joining us from La Ronge for portions of the walk," Durocher, 24, said. "We're listening to our bodies, we're going at the paces of those who come to show their support." Durocher said on Saturday they were 21 kilometres north of Weyakwin, which is 145 kilometers north of Prince Albert. Durocher said unanimous opposition by Saskatchewan Party MLAs in the legislature to a suicide prevention bill sparked his motivation to begin the walk. "Several reserves across Saskatchewan have declared states of emergency in the past and nothing has been done," Durocher said. "They owe it to their residents of this province to provide mental health services and we are residents of this province, not some federal responsibility." The bill put forward by Doyle Vermette, the NDP MLA for Cumberland, would have required the provincial government to recognize suicide as a health and safety priority. If the bill passed, the Saskatchewan government would have had to recognize suicide as a public health issue. "[The bill] was made in consultation with northern communities, leaders, families that had lost loved ones and so I liked that it kind of came from our communities and wouldn't be some southern bureaucratic umbrella solution," Durocher said. When it comes to addressing mental health problems in northern communities, Durocher said different communities have different needs. Kandis Riese/Facebook "Some communities the problem is the gang violence, some communities there's a lot of drugs, some communities we have high rates of lateral violence," Durocher said. "So it can't be umbrella solutions for individual communities whose needs are different, and it needs to be community-based." Story continues In May, the Saskatchewan government introduced the Pillars for Life suicide prevention strategy. It aims to improve specialized supports and training in the province as well as increasing research within the province regarding suicide. "The Pillars [for] Life plan has been criticized by public health experts in Saskatchewan, Canada and beyond as being so vague it's basically meaningless," Durocher said. "Two weeks ago a mother came to me, she had just buried her daughter, she came to our opening ceremony weeks after the burial of her daughter and so did Pillars [for] Life do anything? No." Durocher said he would like to see the provincial government come forward and take accountability for the inaction regarding suicide in the province. "They see us a federal responsibility, although many of us live in their cities, although many of us go to their universities," Durocher said. "We are not a federal burden, we are citizens of this province and we demand every access to any mental health services." The Saskatchewan Coroners Service reported 2,338 people have died by suicide from 2005 to 2019 in the province. Twenty-eight per cent of those people were Indigenous. According to Statistics Canada, in 2016 Indigenous people made up 16.3 per cent of the population in Saskatchewan. Hunger strike once in Regina Kandis Riese/Facebook Durocher said he began playing the fiddle when he was nine years old. Since then, he says he has played at so many funerals, he has lost count. Many of those funerals were for victims of suicide. "As a child I've been in gymnasiums trying to play and console families over the sounds of the echoes of grieving mothers burying their firstborns," Durocher said. "I've seen too many graves for my young life and I've seen too much indifference and political neutrality and kind of just this really disgusting attitude of not our kids not our problem and that is beyond horrifying." Durocher said once they reach the lawn of the legislature building in Regina, he will walk to the front steps and play Amazing Grace on his fiddle. He said he will also begin a hunger strike. "I'm starving in solidarity with our children who are literally some of them are starving and figuratively they're starving for equality," Durocher said. "They're starving for justice, they're starving for belonging, they're starving for their culture and this is my way of saying I love you and I'm starving too." Durocher said he will be fasting until the Saskatchewan government passes meaningful legislation. "If they don't, I'm prepared to let my family bury me because this needs to be shown to Canada, to the world, just the depth of our money-minded politicians' indifference and heartlessness." Questions remain for immunocompromised children and teachers as the new school year inches closer. The provincial government announced Saskatchewan schools would be in-person this fall, with guidelines being developed in school divisions. However, no guidelines are set yet to protect students and teachers who have an impaired immune system and may be more susceptible to contracting the COVID-19 virus. "I can't imagine putting him in a situation where he might get something like COVID-19," Kath Stevenson said about her son Hugo. "I can't see returning to the fall where, you know, he would be at risk of being hospitalized." Hugo, 6, has Down's syndrome and an immunodeficiency. In his short life so far, he's been in the hospital more than 70 times, Stevenson said. Stevenson and her family are currently isolating as much as possible to keep Hugo safe and healthy, she said. Submitted by Kath Stevenson One option Hugo's school was exploring is having an "immuno-attentive classroom" where an immunocompromised teacher would teach the immunocompromised students but the idea fell through, Stevenson said. Another option would be to hire a nanny to watch and teach Hugo and his sister but that would be expensive, plus the nanny may bring it into the home accidentally, she said. I think we need to have some flexible and diverse approaches come fall and not just a one-size-fits-all. - Kath Stevenson, parent to immunocompromised child "I wish the government would step up, actually, and have a bit of a plan," Stevenson said. "I don't know what the right answer is but I feel a bit unsure what to do." Stevenson said she has been talking with other parents who are in a similar situation. Some have been talking about hiring a teacher for the group of them. "I think we need to have some flexible and diverse approaches come fall and not just a one-size-fits-all," Stevenson said. Immunocompromised teachers Story continues Parents aren't the only ones considering different options for the fall. Immunocompromised teachers also need to take their health into account. Jennifer Wallace is a kindergarten teacher in Saskatoon. She has Type 1 diabetes, which means it takes longer for her to get better from illnesses. COVID-19 poses a larger threat to people with Type 1 diabetes than the general public, she said. "Diabetes Canada put out a letter saying we need reasonable accommodations because of the increased risk but I don't know what those accommodations are," Wallace said. Submitted by Jennifer Wallace For kindergarten kids, guidelines say it may be tougher for them to physically distance and instead they should limit physical contact. Wallace said that's not a great option for her classroom. "There's just so many question marks and so many unknowns right now and I'm really hoping that all the people who are planning for the reopening are thinking about us," Wallace said. I think locking down was easier because we knew the rules but this reopening is a lot harder because everyone has different levels of comfort. - Jennifer Wallace Wallace said her employer has been really great in listening to her concerns and advocating to help keep Wallace safe. "The unknown is really the tough part," Wallace said. "I think locking down was easier because we knew the rules but this reopening is a lot harder because everyone has different levels of comfort." The best case this fall would be a vaccine, Wallace said, but other than that an assurance that no children with coughs are coming to class. Wallace said she doesn't want to think about not returning to the classroom at this point and wants to find a way to make it work. A handler in Indonesia has a unique way to summon hundreds of wild apes. The distinctive sound of a buffalo horn blown by the handler named Detim Manik makes hundreds of wild monkeys come out of the forest to take the food he provides. This is Manik's daily life as a monkey handler and tour guide in the Sibaganding Monkey Forest tourist park in the Sibatu Loting forest, Simalungun district, North Sumatra province. According to 44-year-old Manik, there are four types of apes that inhabit this forest, including gibbons, monkeys, macaques and kiak-kiak. Monkeys are fed with bananas and seeds such as corn. Within a day, Manik provides two sacks of bananas and several packages of corn. "They were called here so that they would no longer take to the streets. If they actively took to the streets, they were often run over by cars and electrocuted," Manik added. Increasing population and depletion of food in their habitat in the forest makes monkeys go down the highway to find food. Currently, the source of food from monkeys comes from tourists who come and buy bananas provided by the manager of the tourist sites. The footage was filmed on July 4. An aerial picture taken on July 3, 2020, above the Presena glacier near Pellizzano. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images) Mysterious pink ice in the Alps has sparked fears that it could worsen the effects of climate change, experts have warned. The ice is thought to be caused by the algae, which is similar to plants found in Greenland and at Earths poles. But experts fear the plant could actually accelerate the effects of climate change, Biagio Di Mauro of Italys National Research Council told The Guardian. Di Mauro said, The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles. Read more: Melting snow in Himalayas drives growth of green sea slime visible from space The plant, Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, has been sighted on the Presena glacier. White ice reflects up to 80% of the suns radiation back into the atmosphere, but algae darken the ice, making it absorb more heat and melt faster. The pink snow is due to the presence of colonies of algae of the species Ancylonela nordenskioeldii from Greenland. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images) Di Mauro said: Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation. We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth. Read more: A 1988 warning about climate change was mostly right Many of the glaciers in the Alps are already under threat due to climate change, with experts predicting glaciers will vanish from half of UN-designated World Heritage sites this century unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed. Sites in the Swiss Alps such as the Grosser Aletschgletscher will see ice vanish, the researchers warned. Biagio di Maio points to pink-coloured snow. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images) Researchers plotted glaciers at World Heritage locations identifying a total of some 19,000 over 46 sites and used data modelling to predict ice loss based on how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases the world emits between now and 2100. Nearly half the World Heritage sites 21 out of a total of 46 that have glaciers will lose all their ice by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario, they found. Even under a low-emissions model, eight of the sites will be ice-free by the start of the next century, the report said. Watch the latest from Yahoo UK News videos Meghan Markle and Prince Harry joined young Black leaders and activists to discuss equal justice in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The conversation was through The Queens Commonwealth Trust the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are the President and Vice President. According to the website, the conversation included, "Chrisann Jarrett, QCT Trustee, and co-founder and co-CEO of We Belong; Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas; Mike Omoniyi, founder and CEO of The Common Sense Network; and Abdullahi Alim the leader of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers network of emerging young leaders in Africa and the Middle East." In the conversation, which took place over Zoom, the group spoke about racism and the need for justice. We cant deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently," Prince Harry said. "However, once you start to realize that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to become more aware so that you can help stand up for something that is so wrong and should not be acceptable in our society today. Markle then highlighted how racism is not always blatant and can happen in subtle ways. Its not just in the big moments, its in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, both passively and actively," she explained. After discussing the need for active change through allyship, compassion, and opportunity, Prince Harry added that there also needs to be better recognition of the problems. When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the pastand guess what, everybody benefits, he said. Markle added, Were going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now because its only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships. Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing, which is a fundamental human right. Story continues RELATED: Meghan Markle Said She Felt "Unprotected" by the Royal Family During Her Pregnancy This is not the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken out about Black Lives Matter. In early June, Markle posted an emotional speech about the movement for graduates of the class of 2020. I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing," Markle said. "Because George Floyds life mattered and Breonna Taylors life mattered and Philando Castiles life mattered and Tamir Rices life mattered. The couple is also reportedly supporting anti-hate speech boycotts of Facebook and Instagram. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla appealed to the National Bureau of Investigation to look into supposed cyberbullying against him and other lawmakers amid ongoing deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise. During the 12th hearing of the House joint panel on Monday, Remulla said he filed a complaint with the NBI after he was subjected to attacks on social media. He previously claimed these were being plotted by some ABS-CBN people. Id like to tell the committee that today, after my experience over the past 10 days of being the subject of many organized attacks on social media, I have gone to the NBI to complain about the cyberbullying to my person and to other members of the House, he told the committees on legislative franchises and good government and public accountability. A video that went viral last week showed Remulla taking notes while the Philippine National Anthem Lupang Hinirang was being played before the start of the House deliberation on the broadcast networks franchise. He already apologized for the misdeed, but claimed that people tied to the ABS-CBN were behind the circulation of the video. He did not provide evidence for this accusation. He also reasoned that he only took down notes to prepare last-minute questions before the hearing started. Remulla did not name who were tagged in his complaint but alleged that these individuals employed troll farms to ruin the reputation of the House. He then asked the joint committee to look into the deception of some of the resource persons who testified before the panel. Yung mga nagsinungaling sa ating committee, alam natin dapat parusahan ng contempt kasi lagi nating pinapaalala sa kanila na magsabi ng buong katotohanan, Remulla said. [Translation: Those who lied to our committee should be cited in contempt because weve always reminded them to tell the truth.] After more than a month of discussions on ABS-CBNs franchise following its shutdown, the House panel is set to wrap up its deliberation on the matter this week before voting on whether to grant or deny the broadcast giants bid. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) The trains of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 will stop running on Tuesday, July 7 as more personnel get infected with COVID-19. In a statement, MRT-3 management announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided to halt railway operations "following the increasing number of personnel who tested positive for COVID-19." The Department of Transportation reported early Monday that 186 MRT-3 employees tested positive for the virus, including 11 ticket sellers stationed at North Avenue, Cubao, and Kamuning; two train drivers; two control center personnel; and one nurse from Taft Station. The rest are depot personnel. The MRT-3 shutdown will last until July 11 to allow all of the railway's more than 3,200 workers to undergo RT-PCR testing. Thorough disinfection will be done during this period, including the depot, stations, and trains. In the absence of a contact tracing system, DOTr said it will announce the stations where frontline personnel are based prior to testing positive for the virus. Commuters who visited these areas should take note if they exhibit symptoms and get tested. MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael Capati added upon resumption of rail services, a manual logging of commuters and personnel will be done while they wait for a digital service. He added that station staff will then be told to wear full protective gear while at work to reduce risks of transmission. "The period of the shutdown may be shortened or extended, depending on the pace and results of RT-PCR testing. This also means that operations will resume even if the number of available personnel can only operate a limited number of train sets at the beginning," the statement read. The train line already reduced the number of trains deployed today as more depot workers caught the disease. Contact tracing showed that the infected station personnel never had any contact with depot workers. The train line, which resumed operations at limited capacity last month, needs at least 1,300 personnel to carry out limited operations. The management needs at least 964 more staff members to test negative before daily trips from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City can resume. Those hired by the trains maintenance provider as well as subcontractors will be tested as well, which will be administered by the Philippine Coast Guard assisted by the Philippine Red Cross. DOTr said it will be providing 90 buses that will be dispatched every 3 minutes to cater to commuters, alongside 150 buses that will ply the Monumento and the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange route. As of July 6, the country recorded 46,333 cases of the disease, with more than 12,000 recoveries and around 1,300 deaths. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) There is no room for Bangsamoro leaders in the Anti-Terrorism Council, but they will be consulted in the implementation of the newly-enacted law, President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesperson said on Monday. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque responded to the appeal of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim for their region to have a "representation" in the nine-man council. He said the Anti-Terrorism Council, led by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, are required under the law's provisions to hold consultations with the BARMM leaders. "Hindi nga lang full membership but they are one of the agencies the Anti-Terrorism Council is duty-bound to consult," he said in a media briefing. [Translation: They cannot be given a full membership, but they are one of the agencies that the Anti-Terrorism Council is required to consult.] The council is composed of the national security adviser and the secretaries of foreign affairs, defense, interior, finance, justice, and information and communications technology. They are also joined by the executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. They are set to work on crafting the implementing rules and regulations of the new law. The Anti-Terrorism Council is controversial as critics sound the alarm over expanding the powers of the executive body. It was created by virtue of the Human Security Act of 2007, which the new law repealed. RELATED: Anti-Terrorism Council ready to review new law, craft IRR Esperon Leaders of the BARMM previously appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to veto the Anti-Terrorism Bill. Ebrahim emphasized that the Anti-Terrorism Bill has a very vague definition of terrorism, surveillance of suspects, interception and recording of communications, and detention without a judicial cause of arrest. The stance of BARMM leaders echoes the fears of other Mindanaoan lawmakers that the Muslim community will suffer the most from the implementation of the law. RELATED: Mindanao lawmakers argue: Anti-terrorism bill only gives power to gov't to tag critics as enemies of the state Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) - The head of ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs defended that the broadcasting network always keeps its biases in check and it corrects any errors as needed. Ging Reyes made the remark as the House joint panels on legislative franchises and good governance put the spotlight on the alleged reporting biases of ABS-CBN. As journalists, we strive to keep biases in check and to report on newsworthy events, persons, and issues in an accurate, fair, and balanced manner, she said during the continuation of the inquiry on television giants legislative franchise on Monday. She admitted that the broadcasting network committed mistakes in their reporting, but they also corrected them. Hindi po kami perpekto. Wala pong news organization na perpekto. Sa kabila ng mga pagi-ingat at pagbabantay, inaamin po namin na nagkamali rin po kami. Gayunpaman, agad din po kaming umaaksyon, Reyes added. [Translation: We are not perfect. There is no news organization that is perfect. Despite all the precautions and vigilance we implemented, we admit that we also commit mistakes. Still, we quickly act upon them.] Reyes even assured that ABS-CBN is fair when reporting the inquiry on its franchise. Malawakan po ang naging coverage namin sa franchise hearing. Unang-una, historic po ito, she said. Sinisuguro ko po sa inyo, halos apat ang news teams na nakabantay sa hearing. [Translation: We have a wide coverage on this franchise hearing. First of all, this is historic. We make sure that almost four news teams are monitoring the hearing.] On the other hand, former ABS-CBN journalist Kata Inocencio also defended her former company, saying that journalists of the network were never told to slant their stories to favor anyone. "In the 15 years that I have served ABS-CBN in various capacities, we have never been instructed to play favorites, nor slant stories in favor of anyone nor to play partisan politics, said Inocencio. Dengvaxia Meanwhile, former Health Secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin grilled ABS-CBN's news and current affairs team for its coverage of public health issues, such as the allegation that Dengvaxia caused the death of several children. Garin pointed out that some of the resource persons tapped by the network to speak on public health issues were not even health experts. She cited that officials from the Public Attorneys Office were featured to speak on the issue of Dengvaxia. Halatang halata na ginawa ang inyong broadcast network, lalapit lang sa empleyado niyo para makapasok. Do you look at this as responsible journalism? Ilang autopsy ginawa ni [Dr. Erwin] Erfe bago niyo hininto? If I recall right, hindi niyo hininto hanggat hindi tigil tao makinig, said Garin. [Translation: Its very obvious that someone would just go to your employee in order to have a platform. Do you look at this as responsible journalism? Dr. Erfe already done many surgeries before you stopped your reporting. If I recall right, you did not stop until many people are listening.] READ: TIMELINE: The Dengvaxia controversy In response, Reyes said the network halted the running of stories related to Dengvaxia after receiving feedbacks on the interviewing of non-experts and the stories caused alarm to the public. We tried our best to do our stories in a fair and balanced ways. But I do understand and acknowledge your concern on the use of non-experts. In fact, I myself received feedback that some of our commentators' interviews with non-experts tended to alarm people, said Reyes. She added, As a result, I acted on it immediately and we dealt with the commentator as well. We also put an end on stories on Dengvaxia that tended to cause alarm on the public. 2016 elections ABS-CBN CEO Carlo Katigbak, on the other hand, admitted that the network failed to air political advertisements of some politicians in the previous elections. Katigbak enumerated the campaign advertisements of Senators Francis Tolentino, Francis Pangilinan, Leila De Lima, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Ralph Recto were not broadcasted by the network in some provinces during the 2016 elections. On that same year, ABS-CBN was not able to air as well in some areas the campaigns of then vice presidential candidates former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., now House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, and eventual winner Leni Robredo. He also added that even the campaign advertisement of presidential candidate Mar Roxas was not even aired in some provinces. Katigbak mentioned these after Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. scrutinized the petition paper of the network regarding its apology to President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to air his political advertisement in 2016. Although the broadcasting network already apologized to Duterte early this year, Barzaga asked why it took so long for ABS-CBN to do that. The broadcasting networks executive said that the inquiry at the Senate was the right opportunity for them. Tama po kayo, dapat mas maaga na po kami humingi ng paumanhin sa Presidente. Ayun lang, nakahanap kami ng pagkakataon dahil pinagu-usapan na rin po ang isyu sa refund o ang hindi pag-ere sa ads po, said Katigbak. [Translation: You are right, it would have been better if we apologized to the Presient earlier. But we found an opportunity to do that while the issue on the refund or the failure to air the advertisements was raised then.] The lower chamber is expected to vote on whether to grant the broadcasting network a fresh 25-year legislative franchise this week. It has been two months since ABS-CBN went off air following a cease and desist order by the National Telecommunications Commission. The networks franchise expired last May 4. (CNN) Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia are on high alert after a suspected case of bubonic plague, the disease that caused the Black Death pandemic, was reported Sunday. The case was discovered in the city of Bayannur, located northwest of Beijing, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. A hospital alerted municipal authorities of the patient's case on Saturday. By Sunday, local authorities had issued a citywide Level 3 warning for plague prevention, the second lowest in a four-level system. The warning will stay in place until the end of the year, according to Xinhua. Plague, caused by bacteria and transmitted through flea bites and infected animals, is one of the deadliest bacterial infections in human history. During the Black Death in the Middle Ages, it killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe. Bubonic plague, which is one of plague's three forms, causes painful, swollen lymph nodes, as well as fever, chills, and coughing. Bayannur health authorities are now urging people to take extra precautions to minimize the risk of human-to-human transmission, and to avoid hunting or eating animals that could cause infection. "At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city. The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly," the local health authority said, according to state-run newspaper China Daily. Bayannur authorities warned the public to report findings of dead or sick marmots -- a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in some parts of China and the neighboring country Mongolia, and which have historically caused plague outbreaks in the region. The marmot is believed to have caused the 1911 pneumonic plague epidemic, which killed about 63,000 people in northeast China. It was hunted for its fur, which soared in popularity among international traders. The diseased fur products were traded and transported around the country -- infecting thousands along the way. Though that epidemic was contained within a year, marmot-related plague infections have persisted decades later. Just last week, two cases of bubonic plague were confirmed in Mongolia -- brothers who had both eaten marmot meat, according to Xinhua. Last May, a couple in Mongolia died from bubonic plague after eating the raw kidney of a marmot, thought to be a folk remedy for good health. Two more people got pneumonic plague -- another form of the disease, which infects the lungs -- months later across the border in Inner Mongolia. Why is plague still a thing? The advent of antibiotics, which can treat most infections if they are caught early enough, has helped to contain plague outbreaks, preventing the type of rapid spread witnesses in Europe in the Middle Ages. But while modern medicine can treat the plague, it has not eliminated it entirely -- and it has made a recent comeback, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to categorize it as a re-emerging disease. Anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 people get the plague every year, according to the WHO. But that total is likely too modest an estimate, since it doesn't account for unreported cases. The three most endemic countries -- meaning plague exists there permanently -- are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Peru. In the United States, there have been anywhere from a few to a few dozen cases of plague every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, two people in Colorado died from the plague, and the year before there were eight reported cases in the state. There is currently no effective vaccine against plague, but modern antibiotics can prevent complications and death if given quickly enough. Untreated bubonic plague can turn into pneumonic plague, which causes rapidly developing pneumonia, after bacteria spreads to the lungs. (CNN) A prominent Iraqi expert on jihadi groups in the Middle East, including ISIS, was shot dead by unknown gunmen late Monday in front of his home in central Baghdad, media director of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, Major General Saad Maan, told CNN. Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, appeared frequently on local and foreign media outlets as an analyst, especially during Iraq's battle against ISIS. He was also an expert voice on Iraqi politics and Shiite extremist groups and had served as an adviser to previous Iraqi governments Al-Hashimi died in Ibn Al-Nafees Hospital in Baghdad after he was seriously wounded during the attack, Maan said. The motive behind his assassination is so far unclear, but similar targeted killings were frequent during the height of Iraq's sectarian war. Al-Hashimi was a vocal critic of Iraq's political elite and discussed corruption in the country on his social media accounts. He appeared to have tweeted moments before he was killed, in a post about the sectarian and ethnic divisions in Iraqi politics. News of his death shocked many in the Middle East and beyond. The European Union's Ambassador to Iraq Martin Huth tweeted: "Together with his family and friends, we mourn the death of Dr Husham Al-Hashimi. The perpetrators of this heinous crime must be brought to justice!" The UK's Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey tweeted "Devastated and deeply saddened by the news of the killing of Husham Al Hashimi. Iraq has lost one of its very best- a thoughtful and brave man. These attacks cannot continue. The government -- supported by the international community -- must hold the perpetrators to account." (CNN) In January, 18-year-old Peyton Manker embarked on her journey to make a prom dress entirely out of duct tape for a contest to win a scholarship. After weeks of working on her submission, the Covid-19 outbreak not only canceled her prom but altered the course of her senior year. Manker was not deterred by the fact that she would not get to wear her dress to prom. Instead, she felt inspired to create a dress that "documents a part of history." Her coronavirus-themed dress features multiple images depicting life during the pandemic. Her vision for the dress began with wanting to capture her own experience. She represents her unforgettable senior year with a vibrant scene of students attending virtual graduation. Manker's ideas evolved as the pandemic continued to impact people all over the world. "It wasn't just high schoolers, it wasn't just America, it was the whole world being impacted by the pandemic so I wanted to show that," said Manker. She does so by showing an image of people running away from the giant coronavirus to signify the world trying to avoid catching the disease. Other designs pay tribute to frontline workers and people suffering from mental health issues as a result of the pandemic. The Sparta, Illinois, high school graduate omitted no detail from her dress ensemble. She completed the look with a creative array of accessories including a "flatten the curve" face mask. Manker also crafted jewelry, shoes and a hair piece reading, "separately together." While Manker's favorite creation is her coronavirus-shaped purse, she believes that her anklet displaying the words, "This too shall pass," perfectly encapsulates her message. She wants the people who see her dress to be reminded that "even though it doesn't seem like it right now, the coronavirus pandemic will eventually pass, it will all be okay in the end." Manker also wants to encourage a spirit of positivity with her work. She believes that "we can have some positive things come out of this whole experience and my dress is an example of that." It would be difficult to tell from looking at the pictures of her work, but Manker says this is her debut as a duct tape artist. Her previous experience is from making small duct tape wallets and flowers when she was much younger. Four months and 41 rolls of duct tape later, she managed to make something far more elaborate. As Manker prepares to leave for Southwestern Illinois College in the fall, she says the experience taught her that "you can do a whole lot of things with duct tape." Manker's mother posted the dress to Facebook, where the post has been shared over 254,000 times. Manker says it is "surreal" that her work was able to make an impression on people all over the world who commented on the post. She says that winning the contest, run by duct tape-maker Duck Brand, would be rewarding because "it will mean that people saw all the positivity I was trying to show them." Duck Brand will be awarding $20,000 in cash scholarships to the winners in July. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Teen's coronavirus-themed prom dress made of duct tape is a work of art." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Camarines Sur District 1st Representative Marissa Andaya died on Sunday night, her husband former congressman Rolando Nonoy Andaya confirmed. The love of my life has passed on into eternal life. Her people lost their leader, our children their caring mother, and I my best friend, he said in a statement. Nonoy described his wife as a cancer warrior who battled with the disease for seven years. He said that although immunocompromised, Andaya chose to fulfill her mandate as a public servant and assist her constituents amid the coronavirus pandemic. She reluctantly returned to Manila on the first week of June for her scheduled medical check-up, he wrote. It was there that we learned that her nemesis has returned with a vengeance. Nonoy said Andaya died surrounded by her loved ones. He also asked friends to allow his family space to grieve in private. I am blessed to have spent half of my life twenty five happy years with this wonderful woman with a generous spirit and compassionate heart who was devoted to her family, her faith, her oath, and her fellowmen, the former congressman said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Newly-appointed Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega has been assigned to head a new unit to coordinate with hospitals, amid reports of rising occupancy rates for COVID-19 patients. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday denied reports that hospitals are running at full capacity for coronavirus cases following a meeting of officials of the Department of Health (DOH) with hospital directors on the same day. He clarified that this only meant that hospitals have maximized their currently allotted beds for COVID-19 patients. Vega, who was appointed to the DOH from his stint as medical director of Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao, has since been named as head of a new unit called Hospital One Incident Command. Roque said in his regular briefing that Vega will serve as point person in checking the critical care utilization rate one of the two measures in assessing the risk of infections in a city or province as well as hospital care capacity of the country. RELATED: Crucial weeks ahead: WHO cites slightly higher hospital occupancy rate as PH eases lockdowns Among the hospitals who said they will stop accepting new COVID-19 patients are the Chinese General Hospital in Manila and the Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City in the past two weeks. Hospitals are told to dedicate up to 30 percent of their total beds for COVID-19 patients, Roque added. "Hindi pa po nabi-breach ang 30 percent na ito, kasi marami po lalong-lalo na ang mga pribadong ospital, less than 30 percent ang kanilang ina-allot dahil sa tinatawag na absorptive capacity," he added. "Humingi po ang mga pribadong ospital na kung pupuwede, payagan muna sila hanggang 20 percent at tsaka na po mag-i-increase." [Translation: This 30 percent threshold has not been breached because a lot of private hospitals allotted less than 30 percent due to their absorptive capacity. The private facilities asked that if possible, they will first allot 20 percent of their beds before slowly raising the share.] Roque said this proposal is still being discussed. The DOH data show that 137 facilities have reached danger levels with more than 70 percent of beds occupied. Meanwhile, 148 facilities are between 30-70 percent filled, while 728 others are at the "safe" level. In Metro Manila, Roque said critical care units and equipment in Metro Manila are 63 percent occupied, which he classified as under moderate risk. The region remains under general community quarantine for another week, pending the updated decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and of President Rodrigo Duterte. There are 44,254 COVID-19 cases in the country as of Sunday following a record-high 2,434 new infections in a single day. However, Roque insisted the situation is still manageable as most patients experience mild or no symptoms at all, with just 0.1 percent in critical condition. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Despite the government's Hatid Tulong initiative, the Presidential Management Staff claimed some groups send home locally stranded individuals without proper authority and testing. This could be one of the reasons why coronavirus cases are rising in some provinces, PMS Assistant Secretary Joseph Encabo said Monday. "May ibang organisasyon na hindi nakikipag-ugnayan sa tamang ahensya para bigyan ng sapat na proteksyon ang LSIs habang sila'y papauwi," Encabo said during the Laging Handa virtual briefing. [Translation: There are some organizations which do not coordinate with government agencies to ensure sufficient protection of our LSIs while they are being sent home.] "Naniniwala po ako na ang colorum activities na iyan ang isa sa main na dahilan kung bakit tumataas ang COVID cases sa ibang lugar," he added. [Translation: I believe these unauthorized activities could be one of the main reasons why COVID-19 cases are rising in other areas.] Encabo did not elaborate, but admitted some of the unauthorized travels may have either failed to implement rapid testing or the processing of requirements for select stranded people. "Halimbawa po, may nakuha kaming report na may vans na papasok sa Samar ng LSIs. Nagkaroon nga sila ng rapid tests pero matagal-tagal na at paso na rin ang kanilang travel authority," he recounted. "Iyong sasakyan na ginamit ay hindi rin nakipagcoordinate sa mga ahensya...doon na lang nalaman ng PNP (Philippine National Police) upon checking the requirements." [Translation: For example, we received a report that some vans previously entered Samar with some LSIs. They underwent rapid tests but these were performed a long time ago, and their travel authorities are already expired. Even the vehicle that was used did not coordinate with agencies, the PNP only knew about this when they checked the requirements.] Encabo said a total of 13,000 LSIs still need to be transported to various provinces to date. Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday that LSIs who intend to go back to their respective provinces should be included in the government's expanded testing program to lessen COVID-19 cases in their localities. Robredo said the 10 million RT-PCR test kits recently procured by the Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Management must cover the LSIs, many of whom are stranded overseas Filipino workers. Over 5,000 stranded individuals were sent back to their respective provinces this weekend under the Hatid Tulong program. They only had to undergo rapid tests diagnostic tools that produce quick but possibly inaccurate results. With the RT-PCR tests, swabs of samples taken from the nose and throat are tested to find out whether a person has the coronavirus. It is considered by health experts as the "gold standard" in confirmatory testing. The Philippines recorded 2,434 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest single-day increase in new infections so far. The country currently has 44,254 COVID-19 cases with 11,942 recoveries and 1,297 deaths. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano on Monday said he has suggested for authorities including the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the possible tampering of the CCTV footage of last weeks shooting incident in Jolo, Sulu, which left four Philippine Army officers dead. This comes amid worries that the clip of the actual shooting has been missing from the files. Speaking to CNN Philippines, Ano said he is not dismissing the possibility that the said portion of the CCTV footage had been deleted, given that the clips of other parts of the incident including the aftermath have already been making rounds online. READ: Army admits: Lapses found in crime scene of Sulu shooting Ang tinitingnan natin dito dalawa, either coincidental na tumama sa poste yung view, and number two, merong nagbura ng ibang part ng CCTV, Ano said in an interview with The Source. I suggested to the NBI, identify kung sino ba talaga yung in charge diyan sa pag-manage ng CCTV, identify and determine kung meron bang nagdelete diyan ng portion Hindi matatapos ang investigation kung may mga unanswered questions, he added. [Translation: Were looking at two things either the camera view coincidentally pointed at the post, and number two, someone deleted a part of the CCTV. I suggested to the NBI to identify who was in charge of managing the CCTV, identify and determine if someone indeed deleted that portion. The investigation will not be finished if there are unanswered questions.] The Interior chief, however, remains hopeful that all these inquiries will be cleared once NBIs third party probe wraps up. The four slain Army officersall from the 9th Intelligence Service Unit of the 11th Infantry Division were gunned down by local Jolo cops, who had first claimed self defense. The Philippine National Police later ruled out the "misencounter" angle, saying that based on their analysis of reports on the ground, the soldiers did not fire a single shot at the police. The PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have meanwhile started the operational review of the existing interoperability measures between the two agencies following the incident. PNP chief PGen Archie Gamboa said authorities will look into the strategic and tactical organizational policies especially the coordination measures between the security forces as they seek to prevent a similar incident from happening again in the future. In a bid to reduce the tension between the agencies, President Rodrigo Duterte earlier flew to Zamboanga City to meet with the forces, as he talked to the cops involved in the shooting incident. He likewise appealed to the soldiers to instead direct their attention on the mission to catch bandits and rebels, while investigation is ongoing. RELATED: Duterte appeals to soldiers: Remain calm pending probe on Jolo killing The police personnel who have been disarmed and placed under restrictive custody are meanwhile set to be transported to Camp Crame in the coming days, DILG said. (CNN) Coronavirus can float in air droplets and is likely transmitting that way, a group of experts plans to say in a commentary. They are publishing an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health agencies, asking them to be more forthright in explaining how the virus can transmit in the air. Its not a secret, but agencies seem to be afraid to talk about the airborne nature of the virus, said Donald Milton, a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland who studies how viruses are transmitted. "The airborne transmission word seems to be loaded, Milton, one of two main authors of the letter, told CNN on Sunday. I guess we are hoping that WHO will come around and be more willing to acknowledge the important roles of aerosols, whether they want to call it airborne transmission or not. Milton studies the airborne transmission of viruses. The other main author, Lidia Morawska, is a professor of environmental engineering and an expert in aerosol science at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Milton said they and a group of other, similar experts have been discussing the potential airborne transmission of coronavirus since February. The letter, signed by 239 scientists from around the world, is scheduled to be published Monday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. This is a developing story. (CNN) A man seen in a famous photo of New Yorkers fleeing from the 9/11 collapse of the World Trade Center's south tower has passed away due to Covid-19, his family told CNN. Stephen Cooper was delivering political papers in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, when a police officer told him and others to run, Janet Rashes, his partner of 33 years, told CNN. Cooper is seen on the far left of the photo, wearing glasses and a black shirt, as he and others run from billowing smoke and debris. "He never realized he was photographed until a couple weeks later," Rashes said. "He was looking in a newspaper or magazine and he saw his picture shown." Cooper, 78, passed away in Florida on March 28, Rashes said. "He was very, very proud," Rashes said. "He would keep a picture in his wallet and show people he just met." Suzanne Plunkett, the then-Associated Press photographer who captured the famous image, told CNN that she has stayed in touch with some of the people in the photo but never got to meet Cooper. "He sounded like a really gregarious, warm-hearted man," she said in an email to CNN. "I've been in contact with some of those people in the shot, and we've stayed in touch over the years. I'd always wondered about the ones I'd never connected with, so it was an honor for me to hear that Mr. Cooper was proud of his appearance in the photo." The morning of September 11, Plunkett said she received an emergency page from by her AP editors. After turning on the TV to see smoke billowing from the south tower, she raced downtown to Fulton St. and Broadway, where she managed to snap 13 frames before being ordered by an NYPD officer to run and seek cover, she said. After uploading a few of the photos to her editors in a nearby shop, Plunkett said the photo went on to be published around the world. "I would've loved to talk to Mr. Cooper about that day. It would've been cathartic for me to talk with him and to reflect on what happened to us both in the years that followed," Plunkett said. Cooper is survived by Rashes and their daughter, Jessica. This story was first published on CNN.com 'Man in famous 9/11 photo dies of Covid-19, family says' (CNN) The gulf between reality and President Donald Trump's delusional vision of a waning coronavirus threat was on full display this weekend, as cases soared in key hotspots while he delivered speeches at Mount Rushmore and at the White House, with little physical distancing and few masks, directly contradicting the advice from his public health experts. Playing with fire at a time when public health experts say the spread of the virus appears to be spiraling out of control, Trump continued gaslighting Americans about the threat to their health during a Fourth of July speech from the South Lawn of the White House, where he minimized the dangers of Covid-19 with a baseless statement that 99% of coronavirus cases are "harmless," a claim his Food and Drug Administration chief could not back up Sunday morning. With many Americans flouting public health guidelines during the holiday weekend, Trump's conduct is creating an inflection point for the GOP at a time when his poll numbers have tumbled. With American lives on the line, the question now is whether members of the Republican Party will continue to stand by in silence as the President peddles fiction about a deadly virus, and if so, will they pay a price at the ballot box in November. While Republicans deserted Trump on the issue of facial coverings -- with many urging Americans to wear masks over the past week -- they have been mostly silent about Trump's effort to deceive the public about the risks the virus poses. Trump spent the weekend raging about protecting statues of American heroes with racist pasts while setting an irresponsible example as the virus spreads. This time GOP silence could become complicity, jeopardizing public health and safety, as well as American lives. "I think the President is stepping forward," GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who faces a competitive reelection in November, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday when asked whether she thought Trump had exhibited "failed leadership" on coronavirus, as she criticized former President Barack Obama on Ebola in 2014. The President's falling poll numbers, particularly in swing states in his matchup against former Vice President Joe Biden, are now an area of intense concern for Republicans, and many longtime GOP strategists are puzzled by his dual strategy of ignoring the virus while trying to incite race wars. View Trump and Biden head-to-head polling A majority of Americans do not approve of Trump's handling of the pandemic (or his response to the nation's racial reckoning), which has stirred consternation even in his own campaign as the President banks on an economic revival and good news about a vaccine to restore his political fortunes. But Trump waded even deeper this weekend into his controversial campaign strategy of trying to distract from the virus with race-baiting rhetoric. At Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump described protesters as a left-wing fascist mob that is trying to "end America" by erasing the nation's history and indoctrinating its children. On Saturday night at the White House, he compared his attempt to defeat "the radical left" to the efforts by the United States to eradicate the Nazis. While Friday's and Saturday's speeches marked new heights in terms of inflammatory language from the President, many Republicans have long been uncomfortable with Trump's penchant for falling back on culture war tropes and racially incendiary language that he thinks stirs fealty to him within his base. Late last month as Trump's poll numbers continued to sink over his handling of the protests, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told CNN Trump was "good with his base," noting that the people who will "decide in November are the people in the middle." Afraid to contradict the President on coronavirus The President's view that the US has turned the corner on Covid-19 has also increasingly isolated him from key Republican leaders, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who are pleading with the public to wear masks and stay home. Yet the President's punitive nature -- and the long list of people he has fired or tweeted about negatively after they contradicted him -- still makes GOP elected officials and his own public health experts loathe to criticize or correct him. An example of that dynamic came Sunday when CNN's Dana Bash repeatedly pressed US Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to explain the President's false statement that 99% of coronavirus cases are "totally harmless." "I'm not going to get into who is right and who is wrong," Hahn, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told Bash during CNN's "State of the Union" when she asked him to explain why the President made the claim when his public health experts have said exactly the opposite. "What I'll say is that we have data in the White House task force. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously," the FDA chief said. One exception was the Republican mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, who contradicted the President Sunday as he finds his county in an difficult predicament: "The virus is not harmless. No, absolutely not," Gimenez said Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation." Noting the positivity rate is around 20% in his area, he said that more Floridians need critical care. "When you have more (cases), you obviously will have more hospitalizations, more ICUs, more respirators, and unfortunately, you'll have more fatalities," Gimenez said. Meanwhile, Trump's former Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert tweeted the ominous message Sunday: "We are in trouble.... Once a state is over 1% prevalence, it becomes much harder to extinguish the flare up," Bossert tweeted. "It will take a huge effort to put out these outbreak fires. More than masks alone. We could top 500k US deaths this year if this trend continues." More Trump rallies amid alarming signs of coronavirus spread Though US coronavirus fatalities are down, there are few signs that the virus is going to disappear. The spike in patients overwhelmed some Texas hospitals as concerns grow about shrinking capacity in intensive care units. Florida set an all-time record for the most cases in a single day Saturday, surpassing the previous record set in New York in mid-April. Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" that there's "no clear line of sight on how we're going to get this under control." The political polarization of the virus, driven in no small part by conflicting messages from Trump and his public health experts, was in the spotlight over the holiday weekend. Though coronavirus cases rose in 34 states over the previous week -- and 12 states recorded an increase in cases of more than 50%, according to John Hopkins University data -- beaches in some parts of the country were packed with people, while others were empty. Weekend images emerged of partygoers dancing and shouting with no distancing at an event in Diamond Lake, Michigan, and closely packed crowds at a Wisconsin waterpark. Cases are declining in three states -- Kentucky, Vermont and the swing state of New Hampshire, where the Trump campaign announced that the President will hold a campaign rally Saturday at Portsmouth International Airport, where the crowd will be in a hangar, with the overflow crowd outside. The campaign said that there will be ample access to hand sanitizer and all attendees will be provided a face mask "that they are strongly encouraged to wear." But the concern is that the President's descriptions of an innocuous virus will lead his supporters to let their guard down about the virus. In direct contradiction to Trump's "totally harmless" assertion, the US case fatality rate from coronavirus stood at 4.6% this weekend, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The World Health Organization has said that 20% of all people who are diagnosed with coronavirus are sick enough to need oxygen or hospital care. And while the CDC estimates that a third of coronavirus cases are asymptomatic, that does not make the disease any less dangerous since people with mild or no symptoms can pass the virus on to others. As of Sunday, the death toll in America had surpassed 129,000 American lives. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, a Democrat, told CNN's Boris Sanchez Sunday that the situation in Miami is "going to get much worse," and he said the disconnect between the reality on the ground and the President's message is making it much harder to force Floridians to heed the guidance of health experts. "We're telling people to make sacrifices, to put on masks, to socially distance themselves from people they love, to make sacrifices for others," said Gelber, then "Friday night the President is hosting this huge event where none of those countermeasures were being followed. So how do we tell people to swallow very difficult medicine when the President, by his action and his words, is telling them they don't have to?" A growing number of Americans also do not trust the President's information about the virus. Only 26% of registered voters trusted Trump to give accurate information about the coronavirus, according to last month's New York Times/Siena College poll, while about 77% of registered voters trusted the CDC. It is not yet clear what damage that may inflict on Trump's fellow Republicans with the President on the top of the ticket in November and whether they will continue to stand with him as his message becomes more dangerous. This story was first published on CNN.com, "As Trump gaslights America about coronavirus, Republicans face a critical choice." Although the Fourth of July activities may be fun for the family, theres one family member who may be frightened your pet. The sound of fireworks going off often leads to animals, most likely dogs, getting spooked and running off. This time of year often leads to an increased amount of lost dogs being brought into animal shelters, said Deb Potter, executive director of the Paws and Claws Adoption Center in Columbus. Weve had a revolving door of dogs coming in, Potter said. To help keep dogs, and other pets frightened by loud noises, calm during the holiday, Potter recommends keeping the animal indoors. Dogs, especially, have sensitive hearing which causes them to experience fireworks much more intensely than humans. Also, pet owners should have a TV or radio playing in the background and have curtains/blinds drawn on windows to limit exposure to the loud sounds and bright lights that fireworks create. People need to be really careful if they have company and kids going in and out, Potter said, adding that this increases the chance of a spooked dog slipping out the door. School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm. The plans for the upcoming school year are taking shape by the day, and vary district to district, state to state. The debates have been highly emotional, with tempers flaring among parents and administrators, and have been made all the more vexing by record numbers of COVID-19 cases being reported each day. In Florida, some school districts want students back in the classroom in early August, even though the virus is surging through communities. On average, Florida has reported more than 7,000 new cases each day recently more than seven times what it was reporting a month ago. New Mexico, which has been largely spared major outbreaks, plans a hybrid model of virtual and in-person learning. Parents in New York have demanded schools reopen in the fall. And in Maine, more outdoor learning is planned. Districts nationwide are coming up with various rules for wearing masks. Some want all students to wear them. Others, such as Marion County, Indiana, plan to limit the requirement to older children. The CDC is now working to understand how useful it can be in the U.S. "There is a lot to learn," he said. "We're working on this with urgency." Wastewater surveillance has long been used to look for outbreaks of the polio virus. With the new application to the pandemic virus, scientists are working to refine their techniques as economies reopen and researchers warn of a possible surge of disease this fall. They don't yet have a reliable way to use wastewater to pin down just how many infected people a community has. Biobot provides estimates but its calculation method is still being studied and the estimates should not be taken as hard numbers, Martus said. Researchers in the field are still working at "making sure we've got the science right," said Peter Grevatt, CEO of the Water Research Foundation, which promotes studies of water and wastewater to ensure water quality and service. Among the unknowns experts cite: How does the viral shedding in stools vary by different stages of infection? How can lab results produced by different testing methods be compared? And how are samples affected by the characteristics of different sewage systems, such as the degree of dilution and the time waste spends in transit before being sampled? A man was arrested following a separate pursuit in Ste. Genevieve County Saturday. According to an MSHP probable cause statement, a trooper was notified of a black Dodge Challenger with unknown Tennessee registration headed north on Interstate 55 from Cape Girardeau County. The trooper had been advised that the car was traveling at 144 mph. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The report states that the trooper was parked in the median of Interstate 55, facing south, in Ste. Genevieve County, when he observed the car headed north at 100 mph. The trooper activated emergency equipment and the car pulled onto the shoulder. As the officer approached the drivers side of the car, the report states that he could not see clearly inside the vehicle due to the dark tinted windows, but could see four individuals in the vehicle. He knocked on the rear drivers side and asked them to roll the window down. The driver then reportedly accelerated quickly and fled the traffic stop. The report states that a pursuit began, and the fleeing car reached speeds of more than 150 mph as it passed other traffic on the interstate. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} While MOTPP is administered by DHSS, it is local schools, health departments, and non-profits that implement the program. A social worker, counselor, or teacher from one of the participating school districts will recommend a student to the program if they feel the student would benefit from the curriculum and activities. During the 2019-2020 school year, the St. Francois County Health Center served 40 students with TOP curriculum and activities. These students were a part of four different clubs, each led by program facilitators from the community. Ragsdale explained that community service learning is a major focus of TOP. "Service learning" is a term educators use to describe students' participation in community events, projects or activities that teach them myriad lessons outside classroom studies. The students are required to fulfill 20 hours of community service learning, and these hours are usually done as a group with a facilitator. Vanuatu turns the Corner LETS USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE FUTURE Speaker Gracia Shedrack (centre right) and his lawyer (centre left) Mr. James Tari at the airport yesterday after returning from Malekula. Vanuatus first Minister of Finance, Kalpokor Kalsakau, standing with four of the original staff members of the National Tourism Office which later became the Vanuatu Tourism Office. Meghalaya: Fish farmers are struggling or abandoning fishery from their daily activities July 06,2020 | Source: The Sentinel Assam The Hill Farmers' Union (HFU) from West Garo Hills district has submitted a charter of demands to Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong. The charter highlights the potential of organic farming in the State and also the hardships being faced by farmers in the region. In the memorandum, HFU West Garo Hills district general secretary LK Sangma said that the fertile soil of the Garo Hills is ideal for the natural growth of farm produces, ie., without the use of chemicals or pesticides. "Farmers in Garo Hills need the organic certificate from the Central government in order to justify their products and also promote their livelihood in the marketing sector," he said. Demanding special incentives for the setting up of a warehouse and cashew processing unit in Garo Hills, he highlighted the high quality of cashew nuts grown in Garo Hills. "Cashew from Garo Hills are in high demand and can be exported to other countries. "But the farmers are not keen on maintaining their farms due to the inaccessibility of markets. It is the middlemen who exploit these farmers by buying the fruit at low price but selling the stocks at high price while sending the casew nuts to other States," the HFU leader said. The HFU also demanded the launching of the 'Potato and Onion Mission' in the Garo Hills. "It is the failure of the government that the people of Garo Hills need vegetables from outside. It is also because of the failure of the Agriculture Department to impart awareness about the importance of local organic vegetables and its inability to motivate the farmers to grow such vegetables within the region. Pointing out that potatoes and onions are the part of every household's daily meal, the farmers have urged the government to launch the potato and onion mission at the earliest," the Union demanded. The Union also urged the State government to establish a warehouse and cold storage unit for farmers in the Garo Hills to store the locally produced pineapples, bananas, oranges, Burmese grapes, jackfruits, gingers and a variety of citrus fruits. "These are all enriched with vitamins and organic. Farmers cannot help themselves without having the cold storage unit and warehouse for the long run. They simply dispose of their excess products. In order to help the farmers for the long-run market, setting up a warehouse and cold storage unit is utmost important," he added. Sangma also stressed the need to set up farmers' market in various parts of the Garo Hills. Stating that though produces like ginger, areca nut, and pineapple among others are largely produced all over the Garo Hills, he pointed out that due to shortage of farmers' markets, they fail to get the platform for presenting their products accordingly. Demanding departmental supply of farming items to farmers through the respective blocks, the farmers said that there has been a huge supply of farming items for the farmers almost every year, but the items do not reach the poor farmers. On the other hand, such essential farming equipments are acquired by the wealthy villagers who can afford to buy such items, he alleged. "Therefore the suppliers should be the farmers as they can identify the real beneficiaries and also ensure that the government items reach them," he said. On fisheries, the Union said that though fish farmers constitute about 60% of the total population in the Garo Hills yet only 5% of them are able to earn their livelihood from fish farming. "The rest of the fish farmers are struggling or abandoning fishery from their daily activities because they did not get help from the department in time. "The amount supposed to be released within six months after the training, but it is almost one year or more, the amount has not been released. This has discouraged our fish farmers and they face hardships in earning their livelihood. The government should also complete the construction of hatcheries in all the districts," the Union said. On animal husbandry, Sangma said that many farmers had undergone training on cattle rearing, piggery, poultry etc., but even after receiving the certificate, the department did not sanction the scheme. The HFU also demanded disbursement of all pending relief funds to the farmers affected by natural calamities, development of irrigation system for year-long farming, and identification of real farmers. Kerala: Vigil stepped up in Kozhikode against arrival of fishers from other States July 06,2020 | Source: The Hindu Police and Health Department squads have intensified vigil around fishing harbours in Kozhikode following complaints from local residents that fishers from other States were enjoying unrestricted entry into harbours, derailing safety arrangements taken to fight COVID-19. One such incident, in which a group of fishermen who were reportedly brought to Chaliyam from Tamil Nadu by local boat owners, had been brought to the notice of the authorities. Officials said the labourers who were found staying in a rented building near the Chaliyam fish landing centre had been asked to follow quarantine rules. According to the complainants, there were about 12 such persons and they tried to roam around the place, throwing quarantine rules to the wind. The complainants also alleged that the labourers were from hotspots in Tamil Nadu. However, the Health Department authorities did not disclose the details of the workers. The increasing rush in Koyilandy harbour, which emerged as a main trade point with the closure of many other harbours following the lockdown, too has been brought to the notice of the Health Department and the police. Boat owners from the area said small-scale and large-scale buyers were carelessly gathering at the spot without following physical-distancing norms. There were also people who came to the spot without wearing masks and washing their hands, they said. Meanwhile, the Koyilandy police said they had taken steps to prevent the entry of buyers and sellers from containment zones. They said only people from Koyilandy taluk would be permitted to enter the harbour area. The office of the Fisheries Deputy Director also informed that the entry of fish wholesale and retail traders from other taluks or containment zones to the harbour would not be permitted. Those defy the orders would be booked under the Epidemic Diseases Act, officials said. Denton, TX (76205) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. The call to demonstrate on June 30 against police violence and racism in Cuba managed to convene a significant number and diverse range of civil society actors and organizations. In this sense, it was successful. However, repressive forces managed to largely foil the demonstration, resulting in some 50 detainees and 84 house arrests. Two lessons can be learned from what happened. The first has to do with the logistical aspect. Does it make sense to announce such a protest publicly, on social media, in a country like Cuba? It is true that not doing so entails the possibility of limited turnout. But, if such promotion is opted for, perhaps measures should be considered to mitigate the risk of preventive arrests: leaving homes in advance, or not sleeping at them the night before the event (as one dissident who did make it to Yara did), or sending some activists as decoys to distract the Police, might avert the repeated scenes of people being prevented from leaving their homes, or detained right at their front doors. The second lesson is related to the message of the event. If what you want is to reach the people, it would be a good idea to assess what is really going to rally them, fearful and caught up with concerns related to their daily survival. How can we get Cubans to identify so that they put aside the problems that plague them and join in? Many citizens are outraged by the death of the young Hansel Ernesto Hernandez at the hands of the police. Unfortunately, they do not know about the political prisoner Silverio Portal, or the fate of the more than 100 other political prisoners whose liberation was also demanded at the demonstration. Focusing the message on demanding justice for Hansel's death would not only have made it more effectual, tying the demand to a cause with popular roots, but would have made it possible to invite actors to speak out against the alleged murder; people who, for various reasons, would not back a protest for the freedom of political prisoners. Honing the message better would have made it more effective. As on so many other occasions, the activists who struggled to march demonstrated great courage, and a commitment to human rights in the country. Accompanied by strategic planning, however, their actions would be much more effective. At this point, we know that the Cuban regime remains repressive, hostile to freedom. Beyond condemning that repression, the challenge is to manage to demonstrate against it. The search for media impact is beginning to prove insufficient for the cause of democracy and human rights on the island. What happened in the wake of the march against police violence in the country should serve as a lesson for the future. 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. A Bamboo Airways aircraft prepares to land at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Duc Huy Nguyen. Bamboo Airways plans to launch regular flights to Con Dao Island, a tourism hotspot in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, starting August 1. The airline is waiting for Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) approval to fly to the 16-island archipelago, according to a company spokesperson. It plans to operate flights from the northern and central region using four twin-engine Embraer jets holding up to 120 seats. Currently, Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines, is the only airline operating regular flights to the islands from Ho Chi Minh City and the southern city of Can Tho using the ATR 72 short-haul aircraft that could carry up to 78 passengers. Con Dao Airport has a 3C classification, meaning it can only receive ATR 72 aircraft or equivalent. It functions for 12 hours a day and closes at night, since it has no runway lighting system. Property developer FLC, parent company of Bamboo Airways, earlier proposed to invest in a lighting system so the airport could operate at night. A 4C upgrade is planned for the airport by 2030 so that it could receive Airbus A319 jets carrying up to 156 passengers. Budget airline Vietjet had made a similar request in 2018 to operate flights to Con Dao with the same aircraft model, but is still awaiting approval. Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province received 15.5 million tourists in 2019, up 15.2 percent year-on-year. A total 500,000 were foreigners. Workers of the Taiwanese shoemaker Pouyuen Vietnam Co. Ltd. in HCMC return home after their shifts in early April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa. Over 327,000 HCMC employees have lost their jobs in the first half of 2020 due to the novel coronavirus, the highest tally for the past four years. Le Minh Tan, director of the municipal Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, ascribed the high number of layoffs to diminished business resources and orders as a result of the pandemic. "Around 8,400 businesses that faces shutdown due to Covid-19 had to lay off a large number of staff," he said, adding around 14,000 local companies were affected by the pandemic, citing the municipal Statistics Office. The Hue Phong Leather Shoe Co. Ltd., in Go Vap District laid off 2,222 of its 4,500 workers last month due to its inability to recover production to pre-Covid-19 levels. The citys largest employer, Taiwanese shoemaker Pouyuen Vietnam Co. Ltd in Binh Tan District, also ended contracts with nearly 2,800 of its 60,000 workers last month as the pandemic cut new orders. Ho Chi Minh City's labor department has anticipated two different scenarios in order to prevent further job losses and to support workers for the remainder of 2020. In the first scenario, Vietnam would continue to contain Covid-19, presenting opportunities for production and businesses to flourish, which would eventually attract workers and reduce job loss. However, certain sectors like tourism and the service industry would still be affected by the pandemic. In this scenario, around 4,400 businesses in the city would be impacted, leading to another 100,000-120,000 employees losing their jobs. In the second scenario, whereby the Covid-19 situation worsens in Vietnam, around 4,800-5,000 local businesses operating in the service, construction, food processing and textile industries, would be affected, leading to around 160,000-180,000 layoffs. While the figures are mere predictions, Tan noted the number of those having lost their jobs in 2020 is the highest in four years. This showed the Covid-19 impact on the job market was "very severe," he said. In order to safeguard workers rights, businesses who lay off staff must inform them at least 45 days prior, said Tan. The city would further cooperate with companies to transfer staff to others in the same industry, he said. Those who wish to would be supported by the department to enter vocational training to assist them to switch careers in future. The Vietnamese government in April passed a VND62 trillion ($2.6 billion) financial support package for individuals and businesses after the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the nations economy and peoples livelihood. By the end of June, HCMC had supported over 510,000 out of 542,000 individuals and businesses affected by Covid-19 with VND560 billion ($24.26 million) as per the national financial support package. Recipients include the poor, laid off workers, small businesses and street vendors. The southern metropolis also has its own VND1.8 trillion ($77.8 million) financial support package, announced in late March, to support those who lost their jobs to the Covid-19 pandemic but were not eligible to receive unemployment benefits. But not everyone has been supported yet due to several procedural hurdles, including employers being slow to check with social insurance agencies and workers failure to correctly apply for assistance, said Tan. Around 310,000 employees in HCMC were eligible to file for unemployment benefits due to layoffs within the first five months this year. But around 80,000 were unable to receive benefits due to not having paid enough for 12 months unemployment insurance, Tan said. The P-3C aircraft and its crew at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC, June 2020. Photo courtesy of the Japan Embassy in Vietnam. The Japan Self-Defense Forces expressed its gratitude to Vietnam for helping service and refuel an anti-submarine patrol aircraft the past two months. In a Twitter video last week, the Japan Joint Staff (JJS) of the Japan Self-Defense Forces said on June 26, its P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft with 19 crew members had returned to Japan safely after almost two months at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. "We sincerely appreciate your kindness to offer help when we were facing difficulties. We will never forget our strong ties. Thank you, Vietnam," the JJS said. The aircraft was on its way home following an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden in the Middle East and in dire need of a refueling station to help complete its 10,000 km (over 6,200 miles) journey, intensified since no country would let them enter due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "When we had difficulty in securing transit point due to the spread of the Covid-19, VN readily agreed to received the P-3C at Tan Son Nhat for refueling," it said. On April 29, the aircraft landed at Tan Son Nhat. But after getting the fuel, engine trouble during take-off has grounded the aircraft. "Vietnam admitted the SDF [Self-Defense Forces] personnel into the country and offered a rest space." "It took about two months for the maintenance of the P-3C and accompanying coordination. Vietnam gave us its full support," the JJS said. Vietnam also allowed Japan to send technicians over, bringing along a new engine to replace the broken one. Japan's Embassy in Vietnam said all Japanese technicians had tested negative for Covid-19 before the trip to Vietnam. When landing in HCMC, they were sent to quarantine for 14 days before starting work to repair the plane. The P-3C is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the U.S. Navy. Since 2009, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force had deployed the aircraft on anti-piracy patrols. Five Lao men stand in court in the north-central province of Nghe An, July 6, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Binh. Three Lao men were sentenced to death Monday and two others got 20 years each for trafficking 28 kilograms of heroin and meth. The five Lao men - Do Vang, Da Xia Tu Vang, Vu Chia Xong, Di Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang, all from Bolikhamsai Province in central Laos, were found guilty of drug trafficking by the People's Court in central Vietnam's Nghe An Province. The first three men received death penalties. Da Xia Tu Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang are siblings. Da Xia Tu Vang and Vu Chia Xong, hired by an unknown person to smuggle drugs from Laos to Vietnam, were arrested on December 22 last year in Nghe An. Do Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang were hired to go to Vietnam to receive money from a buyer. Di Vang worked as an interpreter in this transaction. The same night police arrested Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang and his colleagues as they were about to receive payment from the buyers. Twenty-eight kg of heroin and meth were confiscated, but the buyers managed to escape, local reports said. Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar and the world's second largest drug producing area behind the Golden Crescent in South Asia. The repeated seizure of large amounts of narcotics has been happening despite Vietnam having some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or over 2.5 kg of methamphetamine; and those found guilty of production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of any other illegal substance can be sentenced to death. Vietnamese citizens to be repatriated from Bangladesh, July 3, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fourteen people repatriated from Bangladesh and quarantined upon arrival have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the nations active cases to 29. The patients, who had been quarantined upon arrival in Bim Son Town, Thanh Hoa Province, are aged between 26 and 56. Among them, three hail from Ho Chi Minh City, two from Hanoi, two from Thanh Hoa, and the rest from the provinces of Hai Duong, Phu Tho, Quang Tri, Binh Dinh, Gia Lai, Ben Tre and Hau Giang, the Health Ministry stated Monday evening. The Vietjet flight VJ5967 carrying 200 passengers repatriated from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives had landed Friday at the Van Don Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Further details were not available immediately. Tests conducted by the Center for Disease Control in Thanh Hoa found 14 who had returned from Bangladesh infected with the novel coronavirus, and the results were confirmed Monday by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. They patients are currently being treated at Hanoi's National Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The remaining 15 active patients, who are in stable health, are being treated at six different medical facilities. Of these, three have tested negative once, and three others have tested negative twice. There were more than 12,000 people in quarantine as of Monday evening 120 in hospitals, more than 11,000 people in centralized quarantine facilities and the rest being isolated at home or other designated accommodation. As of Monday, Vietnams total Covid-19 tally stood at 369, of whom 340 have been discharged from the hospital after treatment. The country has gone 81 days without community transmission of the novel coronavirus. The Chinese Communist Party has imposed draconian new security legislation on Hong Kong. Under the new legislation, sweeping and vague provisions on secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign countries create new crimes with penalties of up to life in prison. This has already had a chilling effect on the pro-democracy movement. Shortly after the law was passed, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong resigned as secretary general of pro-democracy group, Demosisto, and left the party. Other members, including Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, have done the same, and the party announced it would disband. Under the new regulation, many of Hong Kongs protests that took place last year would be punishable by law. Nevertheless, protesters took to the streets July 1, which marked the 23rd anniversary of the citys handover from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China. By midday, the Hong Kong city police reported their first arrest under the new security law: a man holding a banner that simply read Hong Kong independence. This newly imposed security legislation is clearly a betrayal of the people of Hong Kong as well as a clear disregard of international commitments - by the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a written statement, promised 50 years of freedom to the Hong Kong people [under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN registered document, and the Basic Law] and gave them only 23. The United States is not standing idle while Beijing strips Hong Kong of its economic and political independence and vitality. The U.S. has imposed visa restrictions on CCP officials responsible for undermining Hong Kongs autonomy. In addition, President Donald Trump has determined to eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions. The United States, said Secretary Pompeo, will continue to stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong and respond to Beijings attacks on freedom of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law, all of which have, until now, allowed the territory to flourish. Today, marks a sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China. RTHK: Russians, Saudis, top UK rights sanctions list Britain on Monday identified 49 "notorious" individuals and organisations, 25 of them Russian and 20 Saudis, to be sanctioned under its first post-Brexit targeting of accused human rights violators. The Russians are listed for their alleged involvement in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the Saudis for suspected roles in the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Foreign Office said. One notable name on the list is Saud al-Qahtani, who it is believed oversaw the team that killed Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey in 2018. Individuals from North Korea were also included on the list and all those named will have their UK assets frozen and travel bans imposed. It is the first time Britain has gone it alone and used sanctions to penalise individuals and organisations accused of human rights abuse. Previously, it has followed European Union and United Nations sanctions regimes. The new measures were announced by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in a statement to the House of Commons. He said the government would now have the "power to impose sanctions on those involved in the very worst human rights abuses right around the world. "These sanctions are a forensic tool, they allow us to target perpetrators without punishing the wider people of a country that may be affected." He added: "Today this Government and this House sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchman of dictators will not be free to waltz into this country to buy up property on the King's Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions." Those targeted would be those not just committing human rights abuses but anyone who profited from them, Raab said. Lisa Nandy, the main opposition Labour party's foreign affairs spokeswoman, said the sanctions could not come too soon. Britain had been a "haven" to those who use corruption, torture and murder, she said. The move follows the passage of the 2018 Sanctions Act to set up a post-Brexit sanctions regime. Britain formally left the EU earlier this year following the 2016 referendum vote backing the move. Experts believe the sanctions could help the UK to define its post-Brexit global role. Emil Dall, a senior research fellow with the RUSI think tank, called the list "UK's first independent sanctions", in a briefing with journalists. It was likely that Britain would follow US and Canada sanctions more closely than previously when a member of the EU, he said. The new regime of sanctions would hit London's financial sector, the insurance industry and even UK boarding schools, where some of the individuals had sent their children, he said. Raab paid tribute to Magnitsky who was arrested after detailing an alleged large-scale tax fraud by Russian officials. He died in jail in 2009. His family watched the announcement from Raab's office. Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist based in the United States, whose columns were critical of the Saudi regime. He was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul when he went to an appointment to collect papers he needed for his marriage. Five people were sentenced to death for his killing in Saudi Arabia last year, but Turkey is currently trying 20 other suspects, including two former aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. File photo shows Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a welcome ceremony for Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept 1, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] China will deepen cooperation with Ghana in various fields under the joint construction of the Belt and Road and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. President Xi Jinping made the remark in an exchange of congratulatory messages on Sunday with his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Ghana diplomatic relations. In his message, Xi said he highly values developing bilateral ties and is willing to work with Akufo-Addo to take the 60th anniversary as an opportunity to carry forward traditional friendship in order to benefit the two countries and their peoples and contribute to the building of a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. Over the past six decades, the traditional friendship between China and Ghana has grown stronger with practical cooperation yielding fruitful results, Xi said. Bilateral relations have shown a good momentum for all-round development in recent years, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples, he added. The president noted that China and African countries, including Ghana, have stood by each other in the joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak, which has demonstrated their brotherly friendship. As of Sunday, the pandemic had caused more than 11,800 deaths in Africa with over 463,300 people being infected, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. In his message, Akufo-Addo said that Xi has shown extraordinary leadership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and China has won worldwide acclaim for its anti-epidemic assistance and support to countries around the world, including Ghana. Deepening cooperation Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has also exchanged messages with Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, chairman of the ruling Mongolian People's Party and prime minister of Mongolia, according to a news release published on Saturday. In the message, Xi said that the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the MPP to lead the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership to greater development and contribute to regional peace and prosperity. Recalling that Khurelsukh sent a message to him recently on the occasion of the 99th founding anniversary of the CPC, Xi said it fully demonstrated the great importance Khurelsukh and the MPP attach to relations between the two parties and countries. China is ready to strengthen anti-epidemic exchanges and cooperation with Mongolia and other countries, and jointly build a community of health for all, he said. In a previous letter to Xi, Khurelsukh said that China's fight against COVID-19 has not only safeguarded the health of the Chinese people, but also made great contributions to protecting the health of people around the world, which he deeply admires. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a working visit to Odesa region on Sunday, July 5, met with local veterans, emphasized the importance of returning people and territories to Ukraine and congratulated veterans on Day of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. "Today, we congratulated the sailors [on Day of Naval Forces], but I also congratulate our ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation] participants, Afghan veterans, all veterans who defended our country at any time and will defend in the future," the president said. ATO veteran Oleksandr Holopoteliuk spoke about the problem of unveiling memorials in honor of the fallen heroes in Odesa. "No monument or proper memorial to the veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war has been installed in Odesa during seven years of the war," he said. Zelensky noted that perpetuating the memory of the heroes is very important. The head of state called on the local authorities of Odesa to take part in resolving this issue. Head of Odesa Regional Union of the Disabled Veterans of Afghanistan Afanasiy Radukan raised the issue of benefits for housing and utility services for combat veterans, access to treatment and rehabilitation. "You performed your duty, defended the state. You are asking now. I feel humiliated. Veterans have been humiliated for many years. You have not been heard in many issues, so we need to communicate. We need to speak in person. It is important to hear and solve the problems. We need a result," Zelensky said. Veterans called for the establishment of a psychological rehabilitation center for former servicemen in Odesa region. Svitlana Kyrylova, the head of the Heart of Mothers of Odesa region NGO, whose son was killed in Donbas, raised the issue of fair provision for the families of the fallen heroes. "Our sons went to war in 2014 as volunteers who signed contracts. But the salary of the military at that time was UAH 2,000. I am raising a grandson, the son of the deceased. Pension is UAH 3,200, it is impossible to live on it. We are provided with a minimum pension. Now the salaries of servicemen are completely different, so now parents and children receive a different pension. It's unfair," she said. The president stressed that such a blatant injustice must be corrected. The president noted that the Advisory Council for War Veterans and Families of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine should be involved in solving urgent problems of veterans. "Now we have a council. It seems to me that this is the right tool to bring all the issues to an end. Earlier, in the regions, I was asked important questions not related to the powers of the president. And then many things in the bureaucratic system were forgotten. We have created this council, we write everything down, we tie it to the deadlines, to the management responsible for it," Zelensky said. The president also instructed the deputies elected from Odesa and the head of the local government to address these issues and demonstrate their effective solution. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds talks with Lao counterpart Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith started a visit to Vietnam on July 5 at the invitation of the host PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc. This is the first visit by a foreign high-ranking leader to Vietnam since the start of the COVID-19, proving the Vietnam-Laos special relations. Within the framework of the visit, PM Phuc and his guest held talks on July 5, sharing information and experience in the pandemic fight and discussing measures to intensify bilateral cooperation. Vietnam objects to Chinas military drills in Hoang Sa: FM spokesperson Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA) Chinas military drills in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago have violated Vietnams sovereignty over the archipelago and run counter to the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang has said. The drills have complicated the situation, which is unfavourable for the current negotiations between ASEAN and China over a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) and the maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation on the East Sea, the spokesperson said. CPI rises 0.66% in June, highest in past five years Vietnams Consumer Price Index (CPI) expanded by 0.66% in June compared to the previous month, mainly due to three consecutive increases in petrol prices and soaring pork prices. In June, seven groups of commodities and services saw price increases, including transport, restaurants and catering services, food, household appliances, medicines and healthcare services, education, and other goods and services. Industrial production grows 2.71% in first half of 2020 Manufacturing expanded by 4.96%, the lowest first-half figure of the 2011-2020 period. Vietnams industrial production grew by a modest 2.71% in the first six months of 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus, according to the General Statistics Office. Vietnams GDP expanded by 0.36% in the second quarter, meaning growth in the first half of the year was at just 1.81%. IMF hails Vietnams anti-pandemic model A recent article posted on the website of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spoke highly of Vietnams success in the fight against COVID-19. It said Vietnam completed the assessment of medical risks, publicised guidance against the disease, promulgated the national-level response plan and established the national steering committee at an early date, adding that strict control measures were gradually applied. Vietnams Ha Long bay named among worlds 50 most beautiful natural wonders Ha Long Bay (Photo: thanhnien.vn) Vietnams Ha Long bay, in the northern province of Quang Ninh, has attained a position amongst the 50 most beautiful natural wonders around the world by US-based website Insider. In an article published on July 2, the newspaper said natural wonders come in all shapes and sizes. From China's Tianzi Mountains to the Verdon Gorge in south-eastern France, there are incredible places all over the planet. The article added that Ha Long Bay's natural beauty makes it one of Vietnam's number one tourist sites. The bay is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. In an interview on July 3, Kolotov said it was the first time in the past more than five decades the ASEAN Summit had been held online at a time when Vietnam and ASEAN member states reaped good results in the fight against COVID-19. Vietnam created favourable conditions for discussions among regional nations and outlined a strategy, orientations and vision for the blocs development in the next five years till 2025, he said. Under the chair of Vietnam, the 36th ASEAN Summit achieved outstanding results such as sharing of experience in fighting COVID-19, developing human resources, improving womens role in digital technology era, ensuring gender equality, enhancing youths role and drafting ASEAN development strategy for the future, he added. One of the highlights at the summit is the proposal on an ASEAN strategy till 2025, in which Vietnam spotlights the spirit of solidarity as an extremely important factor to build the ASEAN Community, enhance its role in the future, and lay the foundation to ensure a sustainable and strong bloc both inside and outside. According to him, regional security maintenance is the most important to ensure sustainable development. In such context, the mentioning of the East Sea issue in the ASEAN Leaders Statement has proved Vietnams role as ASEAN Chair 2020. The scholar lauded Vietnam as one of the prestigious nations on international arena because the country always complies with international law and acts responsibly. He said Vietnam always asserts that the East Sea issue could only be handled in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards reaching a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) to ensure stability, security, and freedom of maritime and aviation, which he said, are necessary conditions to develop the grouping amid uncertain developments in the world at present. The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan on Monday denied allowing another country presumably Israel or the United States to use its airspace to carry out attacks on Iran. "Information about Russia's 'Container' radar system detecting unknown planes using Azerbaijan's air space to carry out attacks on Iran is an absolute lie," Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said according to Azerbaijan's International News. The dissemination of such information is aimed at undermining the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations," the Ministry told International News and declared that the allegations of Azerbaijan's involvement were disseminated by "pro-Armenian forces" with the aim of damaging the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also stressed that Azerbaijan has never taken any steps against Iran and will not do so in the future. The source of the news about detection of foreign planes in Azerbaijan's airspace is the lesser-known Avia-Pro news website of Russia. The news website on Monday claimed that the drones that attacked Iran's military and nuclear sites had been detected by the Russian Radar system. In recent days there have been explosions at two of Iran's top security nuclear and military facilities Khojir in the east of Tehran and Natanz in Isfahan province. Iranian authorities said the incident at the first site was caused by the explosion of a gas storage tank but have delayed thee announcement of the cause of the incident at Natanz "for security reasons". It's been widely suggested that Israeli drone or missile attacks were responsible for the explosions. Israel has not commented on the issue but in similar cases, they have neither confirmed nor denied reports of their involvement. Azerbaijan and Armenia which Azerbaijan has accused of slander in this case -- have had a territorial and ethnic conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region for more than three decades. Azerbijan has close military relations with the United States and Israel. Iran's relations with Azerbaijan soured during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but since President Hassan Rouhani took office relations have been cordial and the two countries have cooperated on a number of projects. In August 2014 after the Revolutionary Guard announced that it had downed an Israeli drone that attempted to "infiltrate the nuclear zone of Natanz", the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan refuted the claims that the drone had been launched from its territory. However, a few days after the incident, Brigadier-General Masoud Jazayeri, Deputy of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Staff, told reporters that the Israeli drone had flown in from "a country in the north of Iran" and threatened to disclose the name of the country if that country did not take action to make compensation. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 57 times, Trend reports on July 6 referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 Trend: Azerbaijan became a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 1992 (then the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe). OSCE is the first European organization to which Azerbaijan joined after gaining independence, which shows the importance that Azerbaijan attaches to this organization. The OSCE was considered the most important organization and regional platform in the field of security in the Eurasian area. The organization has three main spheres of activity, namely, political-military, economic-environmental and human rights. Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to the political-military sphere, since 20 percent of its territories have been occupied by Armenia. The Minsk Group and the institution of co-chairs of this group, created within this organization, is directly involved in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, although much time has passed, the OSCE Minsk Group, unfortunately, could not make progress in resolving the conflict. Moreover, the lack of dynamic and effective solutions in the economic and environmental dimension is also regrettable. And finally, a group of countries have turned the sphere of human rights into a tool of political pressure on others. Thus, the OSCE, which must play a central role in ensuring security in the Eurasian area and become a guarantor of peace and security, today cannot defend its principles; it is inefficient, uses double standards and a biased approach. The OSCE has lost its credibility and turned into a feeble organization. As a result of this ineffective activity and the policy of double standards in the European area, there is no progress in the spheres that are under the OSCE mandate. Firstly, there is no progress in resolving the conflicts in the OSCE region; secondly, there is a sharp spread of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and other negative trends in Europe. The OSCE does not address these important challenges. There are a biased attitude and attempts to influence some countries, including Azerbaijan, on the basis of the political orders of a group of countries. Of course, such an approach destroys hopes for this organization and causes regret in Azerbaijan, which attaches great importance to the cooperation with the OSCE and expects its solutions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The process of election to a number of key senior-level positions is currently underway within the OSCE including those of OSCE Secretary General, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. There is a package proposal for the re-election of current officials to these posts. Azerbaijan, pursuing the independent foreign policy and using its sovereign right as a member of the OSCE, has opposed the reappointment of Harlem Desir to the post of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Azerbaijan believes that the activity of Desir is biased and politically motivated. He is not objective in his assessments and demonstrates different approaches towards countries. Desir does not receive information in the field of mass media from bona fide (correct and reliable) sources. All this is the gross violation of the mandate of the representative. Desir voices the anti-Azerbaijani and a pro-Armenian position. An analysis of his statements and tweets shows that Desir is using any minor incident in Azerbaijan to slander and smear the country. Without finding out the essence of the incident, Desir reacts to any such event in Azerbaijan hurriedly, unfairly and unreasonably. Desir deliberately exaggerates and politicizes the problems. At the same time, he makes very few, mainly, neutral statements and comments regarding Armenia. Desir did not respond to the death of politician and journalist Mher Yeghiazaryan as a result of the hunger strike in Armenia, which raises big questions. It seems that Desir determines his attitude to the issues related to human rights based on political geography. Some OSCE countries are conducting deliberate disinformation and a false information campaign against Azerbaijan in the European media, especially in Western Europe. Desir not only did nothing to prevent it, but also directly contributed to this process. The spread of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in media of the OSCE countries has increased. The results of Desirs efforts to combat this are also unsatisfactory. Although the problem of journalists illegal visits to the conflict zones was raised in various media forums, Desir always prevented this, despite the fact that there is a certain code of conduct in this regard. Desir cannot adequately respond to new challenges. For example, no recommendations or initiatives were made regarding the activity of the media institutions of the OSCE countries under the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic and no guidelines were developed on this issue. Furthermore, Desir does not have the necessary knowledge and experience required for his position. How does Desir, who was charged of misuse of state property, conditionally sentenced to 18 months and fined at 30,000 francs in 1998, want to give lessons to Azerbaijan? Azerbaijan is against the activity of Desir and his appointment was justly protested by the country. OSCEs activity no longer corresponds to its mandate while becoming a tool of political orders of certain countries because of such people as Desir. It has lost its effectiveness and importance. Azerbaijans attitude towards Desir is based not on criticism; it is reasoned by the biased attitude towards our country. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights also sometimes criticizes Azerbaijan. However, Azerbaijan is cooperating with this institution, while Desir is simply an inadequate person. Another point to pay attention to is that all four of the abovementioned posts are held by people from Western Europe. How fair is this? Azerbaijan, as an active member of the OSCE, believes that the organization must return to its basic principles and goals, and act objectively, effectively, without bias and within its mandate. For this purpose, the organization must pay special attention to the conflict settlement in the OSCE area and be active in the field of security and economy. At the same time, the organization, within its powers of ensuring human rights, must also act fairly and without bias in accordance with its mandate. Only in this case, the OSCE will be able to restore its important role in the Eurasian area. The OSCE must be the organization of all participating countries, rather than just the US and Western Europe. Trend News Agencys Department of Politics BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 By Samir Ali - Trend: Information about Russia's 'Container' radar system detecting unknown planes using Azerbaijan's air space to carry out attacks on Iran is an absolute lie, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said, answering Trend's request. The ministry said the information was spread by pro-Armenian forces, and it is unreasonable and completely false. The dissemination of such information is aimed at undermining the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations," said the ministry. "The information is apparently disseminated with the aim of damaging good-neighborly relations between the two countries and is nothing but deliberate slander." The ministry also noted that to date there have been no steps taken from Azerbaijan against the neighboring Iran, and won't be taken in the future. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on July 6, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani presidential press-service. The Azerbaijani president congratulated Nazarbayev on his jubilee and wished him the best of health and new success in his activities for the development of Kazakhstan. President Aliyev noted the exceptional role of Nazarbayev in the establishment of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan, emphasizing that thanks to his tireless efforts, Kazakhstan has passed a great path of development, and that great strides have been made in ensuring the welfare of the people and strengthening public and political stability. The Azerbaijani president said that the friendly relations between national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev and Nursultan Nazarbayev played a significant role in building bilateral ties between the two countries. President Aliyev also praised Nazarbayev's contributions to expanding cooperation among the Turkic-speaking states. Nazarbayev thanked the Azerbaijani president for the attention, congratulations and warm words. During the conversation, the sides expressed confidence that friendly Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan relations would continue to develop successfully in all areas. BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 Trend: The meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi was held in the format of a video conference on July 6, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The main topics of the meeting were bilateral partnership between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as Azerbaijans participation in the Eastern Partnership Summit. During the videoconference, Mammadyarov stressed the EUs principled position on supporting the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of the countries. The parties exchanged the views on the Eastern Partnership Summit scheduled for next year. The issues related to the new bilateral agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU were also discussed and the interest of both parties in signing this document was emphasized. The parties agreed to continue the negotiations on the agreement soon and expressed hope for achieving progress in the negotiations. The sides also exchanged views on the Common Aviation Area Agreement, cooperation priorities, Azerbaijans participation in EU programs and visa cancellation issues. Azerbaijani foreign minister and the EU commissioner also discussed big projects in the field of energy and transport as well as prospects for their further development. At the end of the meeting, the parties exchanged views on holding the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council. Both sides emphasized the importance of conducting online discussions during the global pandemic and agreed to organize meetings and have direct communication after the pandemic. The head of the Azerbaijani representative office in the EU and the head of the EU representative office in Azerbaijan also participated in the video conference. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul. 6 Trend: In connection with the appearance of various communications on the sale of air tickets for charter flights, the National Air Carrier of Azerbaijan ("AZAL") once again urges its passengers to rely only on official information provided by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers, the airline or the embassy/consulate. AZAL strongly recommends that all its passengers use the official website of the airline (www.azal.az) when purchasing tickets, not to fall into trap of provocations and false information. Otherwise, passengers risk to lose their time and money. Once again the airline reminds passengers that all information about charter or special flights operated during pandemic is posted on the website of AZAL and in the airlines official social networks accounts. "Azerbaijan Airlines" also reserves the right to appeal to law enforcement agencies to investigate subversive activities, namely the dissemination of knowingly false information. Pakistan is one of handful of countries that does not recognize Armenia due to its occupation of our lands and does not establish diplomatic relations with Armenia - President Aliyev BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend: The initial project of the "Long-term development strategy of the energy sector of Azerbaijan" was reviewed, the structure and individual sections analyzed, Trend reports referring to the countrys Ministry of Energy. According to the ministry, issues related to the development of the project were discussed with the participation of the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov. Necessary points were noted to be reflected in the project. Comparisons were made with the existing strategies of other countries in the relevant field. It was noted that the strategy provides for the long-term development in the energy sector to be based on the supply security, economic efficiency and sustainable development, the ministry said. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy sector, as well as its compliance with strategic documents on the country's economic development should be also taken into account in the long-term strategy of development of the energy sector. The elaboration of this document was assigned to the Ministry of Energy by Azerbaijan's President Order No 1209 dated May 29, 2019 On accelerating reforms in the energy sector of Azerbaijan. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IsmailovaNargis BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul. 6 By Eldar Janashvili - Trend: The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) will continue implementing its country strategy for Azerbaijan adopted for the period until 2022, with necessary adjustments to the COVID-19 pandemic situation and its potential development, a source in the bank told Trend. The bank will focus on manufacturing and agribusiness sectors where Azerbaijan has competitive advantage. According to the source, there are various projects in these sectors that had to be postponed because of the slow-down in the economy due to the pandemic, including food-processing, furniture and glass manufacturing, petro-chemical industry, and production of packaging materials that remain priority areas for BSTDB. The bank will also support projects that put forward the role of Azerbaijan as a transportation hub in the region. Logistics centers, warehouses and port facilities will be among such projects. At the moment, the BSTDBs portfolio in Azerbaijan includes seven operations in the total amount of 122.5 million euro, including two trade finance loans to SOCAR Trading and SOCAR AQS, a loan for Shah Deniz operations and an SME [small and medium-sized enterprises] facility for Azerbaijans Turan Bank, the source said. The BSTDB was established by Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Armenia, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia. The banks authorized capital makes up 3.45 billion euro. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @eldarjanashvili BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6 By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend: The World Health Organization (WHO) mission is expected to arrive in Turkmenistan on July 6 to work with countrys national and local authorities on various aspects of preparedness and response to COVID-19, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO/Europe Catherine Smallwood said, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenportal Information Portal. The WHO mission will spend approximately 10 days in the country, during which mission members will meet with high-level officials and public health experts in order to assess risks and develop the response system which is needed to control COVID-19, said Smallwood. The visit of the WHO representatives was postponed several times due to transport restrictions that occurred during the pandemic. However, with the support of the government of Turkmenistan, it was possible to determine the date of arrival, Smallwood explained. The senior emergency officer noted that the country has taken measures to prevent the virus from entering the country and added that WHO is ready to support Turkmenistan in identifying the most effective measures for non-proliferation of COVID-19. WHO Country Office in Turkmenistan was established in 1995 to support the country in developing health policies, strengthening the health system and public health programs in Turkmenistan. So far, Turkmenistan has reported no coronavirus cases. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva TEHRAN, Iran, July 6 Trend: Iran Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared at a public session of Iran's Parliament to answer the questions of MPs, Trend reports citing Radio Farhang. Iran has been negotiating a 25-year accord with China and the terms will be announced once a deal is struck. Referring to the 25-year agreement, Zarif said there was "nothing secret" about the deal. He went on to say that the draft of the agreement was introduced when the President of China met with the Supreme Leader of Iran. "The nation would be informed "when an accord has been concluded", he said. There is complete transparency in our relationship with China, said Zarif. But we must understand the fact that the source of power in the world is changing, we must accept the new reality of the world, and that does not mean that we have forgotten the slogan neither East nor West. China is also a key market for Iranian crude exports, which have been severely curtailed by the US sanctions. Pointing to the export-oriented economy, Zarif said that to have a leap in production, Iran must increase exports. TEHRAN,Iran, July 6 Trend: The new health measures to fight COVID-19 in Iran should be followed by both officials and regular people, Member of Parliament's health care commission Mohamad Ali Mohseni Bandpay told Trend. "The country's health system requires major changes, it is currently based on treatment, but it should be based on health awareness so the priority should be prevention," he said. "The health system is one of the most costly and expensive organizations. Instead of preventions, we act to treat the illness that imposes heavy costs," he added. "Statistics show more than 100 specialists who battled the coronavirus in Iran have lost their lives, and this was caused by lack of awareness about the virus," he said. "The healthcare system was not very prepared for the virus in the early days, there was lack of sufficient information as well. China was more prepared, even though it was the first country that was infected," he said. "More health warnings and recommendations should have been announced when the first cases of coronavirus infection were diagnosed. The delay in spreading information and not taking the virus seriously had its toll on the society, healthcare system and the economy," he said. "Due to early decline of infections, some got confident and left their homes thinking that the virus has been taken under control and some were in need of money and work since most businesses were closed, following the spread of the disease," he said. "People think if they follow the health instructions they are no longer threatened by the virus but leaving homes for large gathering is still dangerous," he added. "We are still not capable of controlling large gatherings, for example subway is a major place for the coronavirus spread," said Bandpay. Iran has issued new measures that would make wearing masks mandatory in order to curb the rising number of Coronavirus infections. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic of Iran only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. TEHRAN, Iran, July 6 Trend: Iran's online monitoring systems have helped to reduce the possibility of fuel smuggling in the country, said the head of Iran's Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange Ali Moayedi Khoramabadi, Trend reports via IRNA. "The government has made taken strong measures to combat the smuggling goods and foreign currency," he added. "There are various online systems and websites that monitor fuel from production to consumption and prevent smuggling. One of them is run by the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, as it monitors registered orders for fuel and other oil products," he said. "The Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange aim to prevent smuggling, and necessary regulations can limit smuggling, however the current tools at hand had relative success," he said. Iranian government has implemented various measures to curb smuggling fuel that includes rationing gasoline and using smart fuel cards, along with mentioned monitoring websites. The cheap price of gasoline and diesel fuel in Iran has increased smuggling to neighboring countries such as Iraq and Pakistan. TEHRAN, Iran, July 6 Trend: Iran's measures to combat smuggling of mobile phones by launching registration system have been successful, said the head of Iran's Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange. "Due to the government actions regarding registration of mobile phones, all the processes related to import of devices from customs release to sale have been monitored," said Ali Moayedi Khoramabadi, Trend reports citing IRNA. Iran has launched a national scheme to curb the growing market for smuggled mobile phones. Under the scheme, mobile phone users in the country need to register their devices in the countrys telecommunications user database. It has been estimated that 12.5 million mobile phone devices were smuggled into the country in 2018 depriving the government of $350 million in tax revenues. Iran's Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange aims to identify smuggled goods that include other items such as medicines, clothing and home appliances, by online registration. "Another smuggled product is cigarettes, that can be differentiated from registered goods by identification codes. The smuggled cigarettes, medicines and pharmaceutical products will cause more damage to people's health, so the identification codes will help to check the quality," Moayedi Khoramabadi said. "Any imported item should go under health inspections and be approved by the Health Ministry; otherwise, they will be destroyed," he added. Iran has established onshore and offshore underground missile bases along the coasts of the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy said, Trend reports citing Xinhua. "The IRGC Navy, like the IRGC Aerospace Force, has established underground and offshore coast-to-sea missile cities," Ali Reza Tangsiri was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying. The "missile-launching floating cities" would be put on display at the discretion of authorities, Tangsiri added. Besides, the IRGC Navy has formed "naval Basij," or naval volunteer forces, along Iran's 2,200-km southern coasts, which comprise 428 flotillas and more than 23,000 servicemen, he noted. "If the U.S. forces make any mistake, they will be followed as far as the Gulf of Mexico," the Iranian commander warned. The next charter flight from Amsterdam to Georgia has been carried out. The flight brought 136 passengers to Tbilisi, the Ministry of Economy told the First Channel of Georgia, Trend reports. Information on all commercial charter flights agreed with the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency is available on the websites of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency. Any changes in the schedule of commercial charters are quickly reflected on the aforementioned sites the Ministry of Economy reports. Saudi Arabia announced health protocols to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the 2020 Hajj season, banning gatherings and meetings between pilgrims, the state news agency said on Monday, Trend reports citing Reuters. Saudi Arabia decided in June to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending the Hajj to around 1,000 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, after barring Muslims abroad from the rite for the first year in modern times. Touching the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, will be banned during the Hajj this year, and a social distancing space of a meter and a half between each pilgrim during the rituals including mass prayers and while in the Kaaba circling area will be imposed, a statement by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) elaborated. Also, access to holy Hajj sites at Mona, Muzdalifah and Arafat will be limited to those with Hajj permits starting Sunday July 19 till Aug. 2 2020, and wearing masks all the time will be mandatory for both pilgrims and organizers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara spoiled every trap set in its way in the eastern Mediterranean, while voicing trust in the governments energy politics, Trend reports citing Hurriyet Daily News. It is not possible for a country which lacks energy to talk about civilization, development [and] industrialization. We trust ourselves in all matters, from health to economy [and] diplomacy to security, Erdogan said during the inauguration ceremony of hydroelectric plants in the Black Sea province of Tokat. The president attended the ceremony via videoconference. The trust atmosphere has been positively reflected in our energy investments. We tore down the traps set against our country in eastern Mediterranean. We will hopefully start up the first reactor of Akkuyu [nuclear power plant] in 2023, Erdogan said. Erdogan also voiced trust in Turkeys energy politics, underlining that the country has broken a record in the republics history regarding coal production. The president also added that Turkey plans to start up the first reactor of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in 2023 in the southern province of Mersin. As Turkey grows and develops, its energy needs will increase even more. Some 55.4 percent of 68,000 megawatt of capacity we actualized in the last 18 years consist of national resources, he added. I am talking about 52 hydroelectric plants. While we are inaugurating these, we also add new investment in this area, he said. This is clean energy. We will transform the power of water into electricity. According to the figures Erdogan provided, Turkey ranks 13th among the world regarding renewable energy and ranks sixth among European nations. He also added that in 2019 Turkey ranked second in Europe on electricity production. Erdogan also said that Turkeys first indigenous integrated solar panel factory will be opened in August, adding that the government is working intensely to unearth its mines. The president also criticized some circles over attempting to stall Turkeys energy investments, being disguised as having environmentalist concerns. Every point of increase in indigenous and renewable energy helps us in closing the current account deficit, he said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul.6 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkeys export of ready-made clothing to Turkmenistan dropped by 15.53 percent from January through May 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, having amounted to $3.5 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend. In May 2020, the export of ready-made clothing from Turkey to Turkmenistan declined by 4.94 percent compared to the same month of 2019 and amounted to $613,000. Turkeys export of ready-made clothing to international markets dropped by 26.1 percent in the first five months of 2020, compared to the same period in of 2019, making up $5.6 billion. Meanwhile, Turkeys ready-made clothing export amounted to 9.1 percent of the countrys total export. In May 2020, Turkey exported over $840.2 million worth of ready-made clothing to foreign markets, which is 48.2 percent less compared to the same month of 2019. Turkeys ready-made clothing export for May 2020 made up 8.4 percent of the country's total export. From May 2019 through May 2020, Turkey exported the ready-made clothing worth over $15.6 billion. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has announced that it is reopening its Trading Floor and Customer Affairs counters for investors as of July 7, with the strict implementation of precautionary measures for the safety of clients and employees. The DFM Trading Floor and Customer Affairs counters were temporarily closed mid-March 2020. The DFM has maintained its trading activities as usual in spite of the temporary closure of the aforementioned premises. The DFM resumed work from the Trading Floor early June with a gradual return of its employees and brokers to work. As of June 14, all DFM employees returned back to office work. Hassan Al Serkal, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Operations Division of DFM, said: "Following the UAEs remarkable success in containing the pandemic, we are reopening the Trading Floor and Customer Affairs counters under strict precautionary measures to protect public health and safety of clients and employees alike. For instance, the measures include usage of thermal measuring devices at the entrance of the Trading Floor, commitment to safe distance, controlling investors accessibility to Customer Affairs counters and guiding them to submit their applications through the smart devices available on the Trading Floor as well as installing barriers on these counters." "We highly encourage market participants to continue utilising DFMs electronic and smart platform with the same pace witnessed during the past three months. The reopening shouldnt substitute the success achieved in terms of accomplishing transactions through DFM smart platforms developed in line with the leaderships vision on digital transformation and as part of the Smart Bourse strategy. Through these all-inclusive online and smart phone applications, investors can seamlessly accomplish all market services as well as the services of Dubai Clearing, Settlement and Depository (CSD) and Dubai Clear," Al Serkal added. TradeArabia News Service The third and final round of a coronavirus prevalence study has confirmed that 5.2% of residents of Spain have developed antibodies for the virus. But according to the results of the survey, which was presented on Monday by the Spanish Health Ministry, not all sectors of the population have been affected in the same way depending on their occupation. Ten percent of healthcare workers, for example, tested positive for antibodies, while police and fire crews also saw higher than average incidences, with 6.3%. Employees of senior residences which have been a focal point of the pandemic in Spain registered a 7% rate of antibodies. The prevalence study was carried out to determine how many people in Spain have developed antibodies after exposure to the virus. The eight-week study was conducted by the Carlos III public health institute, which took blood samples from nearly 70,000 participants. The North African exclave cities of Ceuta and Murcia, as well as the regions of Asturias, Galicia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, reported prevalence levels equal to or below 2% In the first and second wave of testing, 5% and 5.2% of citizens, respectively, were found to have contracted and overcome Covid-19. According to the results of the third and final round, only four provinces in Spain have prevalence rates above 10%: Soria (14.4%), Segovia (12.4%), Madrid (11.7%) Cuenca (11.4%) and Albacete (10.8%). On the other end of the spectrum, the North African exclave cities of Ceuta and Murcia, as well as the regions of Asturias, Galicia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, reported prevalence levels equal to or below 2%. These numbers indicate how many people have IgG antibodies, which take longer to show up in the body and which mean that the person has been exposed to the virus but does not have an active infection. The serology test also detects IgM antibodies, made earlier by the immune system in response to the virus around six to seven days after the onset of symptoms. The Spanish overall figure of 5% is in line with studies in other European countries that showed a prevalence of 4% to 5%, far below the rate that would provide the population with so-called herd immunity, and which experts place at 60% at the very least. The director of the Carlos III institute, Raquel Yotti, and the general secretary of the Health Ministry, Faustino Blanco, called for the population of Spain to not lower its guard, given that 95% of the population is still vulnerable. We cannot relax, said Yotti, adding that there is still a lot of uncertainty as to the protection that having antibodies offers to someone who has been infected. In fact, the survey revealed that between the first and second wave of testing, 7% of subjects no longer tested positive for antibodies. Between the first and the third, this rate rose to 14%. Cellular immunity Not being able to detect antibodies does not mean that these people are not immunologically protected, explained the director of Spains National Epidemiological Center, Marina Pollan, given that people can also have cellular immunity, something that has not yet been so closely studied in this coronavirus. Serological tests detect the production of antibodies, but not cellular immunity, which could explain why people who have tested positive in a PCR test (which detects an active infection) then later test negative in antibody tests. The results of the final round of testing showed that there was no significant difference in how the coronavirus affects men and women, or people of different nationalities. Children reported the lowest prevalence levels in the first round of testing, but these differences were less evident in the final wave. Education level, disabilities and the number of people in a household were also not found to have any bearing on antibody levels. English version by Melissa Kitson and Simon Hunter. Several areas in Spain have been forced to reintroduce lockdown measures due to new coronavirus outbreaks. In the two weeks since the state of alarm came to an end, nearly 300,000 residents in Lleida province in Catalonia and Lugo province in Galicia have been confined to their comarcas following a spike in infections; another 80,000 people in the northwestern region of Aragon have been moved back to Phase 2 of the governments coronavirus deescalation plan; two buildings one in Santander and another in Albacete have been placed under quarantine; and around 50 coronavirus outbreaks are being monitored across the country. Of Spains 17 regions, only Asturias and La Rioja have not reported a coronavirus outbreak. Now that Spain has entered what has been dubbed the new normality following a prolonged lockdown and deescalation process, it is up to regional authorities not the central government to manage and control Covid-19 outbreaks. Regional governments must decide what measures to take, when to take them and where, working with guidance from the Health Ministry, which it must also inform. The solutions, as evidenced by the measures taken so far, are varied. An area does not need to record a minimum number of coronavirus cases for it to be placed under confinement. Decisions, instead, are based on what public-health experts believe is needed to contain the virus. Detecting these outbreaks shows that the strategic capacity of our healthcare system and the regions for early detection is much better equipped today Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez In the province of Huesca in Aragon, four comarcas a traditional administrative area in parts of Spain were moved back to Phase 2 of the deescalation plan, but no restriction was placed on movement. In A Marina in Lugo and Segria in Lleida, meanwhile, the respective regional authorities chose to confine residents to each comarca, with no one allowed to enter or leave with the exception of those who need to for work. Regional authorities are also responsible for reporting any coronavirus outbreak to the central Health Ministry. An outbreak is defined by the ministry as a group of three or more infections with an epidemiological link, and it is considered active if there has been transmission within the last 14 days. In the case of infections detected in senior centers, one positive case is considered an outbreak, even if the patient is asymptomatic, due to the high level of risk. But while regional governments must report an outbreak, the Health Ministry is not publishing this information. The number of outbreaks in Spain is based on information provided by regional authorities that is published by local media, and the responses of Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts (CCAES) at the governments bi-weekly press conferences. There is no official press release to announce that one has come to an end, which in epidemiological terms occurs when no new cases have been detected after two incubation periods in other words 28 days. This means it is almost impossible to get a clear picture of the coronavirus outbreaks in Spain. Some regional authorities provide comprehensive information about spikes in cases, while others share very little detail. The Madrid regional government, for example, reported on Friday that an outbreak had been detected in a company, but provided no further information about the business or where it was located. In contrast, the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha shared the street address of the building in Albacete that is under quarantine after eight people from two families tested positive for Covid-19. Catalan authorities have provided few details about the outbreak detected in the Segria comarca. The Catalan health chief, Alba Verges, justified the decision to confine the area due to the rising number of cases, but at no point specified how many infections had been detected. The epidemiological figures have led us to believe that the incidence in Segria is much higher than the Catalan average. We have been alert for weeks and we have been following the evolution day by day, said Verges. This makes us think that there is an upward trend and that we have to take measures, she added. Some regional authorities provide comprehensive information about spikes in cases, while others share very little detail It is also unclear whether the outbreak in Segria is linked to the cases detected in the comarcas of Aragon, which were moved back to Phase 2. Given the proximity of the two areas and the fact that the outbreak has affected fruit pickers in both instances, a connection seems likely but has not been confirmed. The Catalan health department also did not respond to questions about why the regional government decided to confine Segria just 24 hours after saying that such a measure was not a possibility. The department tried to avoid the issue, saying that it had been in Lleida until very late at night and had met with several institutions. The central Health Ministry warned that outbreaks would be likely once Spain entered the new normality and that selective quarantines like the ones in the comarcas in Lleida and Lugo would be needed to control them. Health Minister Salvador Illa made this point on more than one occasion: If more robust actions have to be taken, in the sense of more surgical confinements, it will have to be done. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the detection of outbreaks showed that the healthcare system was better prepared a point that has also been repeated by health experts. Now that we are seeing outbreaks, I want to communicate a message of security and calm. Detecting these outbreaks shows that the strategic capacity of our healthcare system and the regions for early detection is much better equipped today than it was in March, when we did not not know how to act and stop the pandemic, he said on Sunday. What health experts do not expect, although it hasnt been ruled out completely, is a return to the nationwide confinement measures that were introduced under the state of alarm. English version by Melissa Kitson. Corinna Larsen, a former friend of Spains emeritus King Juan Carlos I, told the Swiss justice system that the one-time monarch made her a transfer of 64.8 million in 2012 not to dispose of the money, but rather out of gratitude and love and to guarantee her future and that of her children. He still had hopes of getting me back, the businesswoman told the Swiss public prosecutor Yves Bertossa when she was being investigated, according to her statement, to which EL PAIS has had exclusive access. Bertossa is still investigating Larsen, the emeritus kings business manager, Arturo Fasana, and a lawyer named Dante Canonica on allegations of money laundering, an offense that carries up to five years of jail time. The testimony of Larsen was given on December 19, 2018 at the headquarters of the public prosecutors office in Geneva, and she attended accompanied by her two Swiss lawyers. In that country, as in Spain, people who are being investigated in such cases are not obliged to tell the truth. The Spanish justice system has been waiting for this statement for months now, but it is yet to be sent by the Swiss prosecutor on the refusal of Larsen anyone being investigated in Switzerland has the right to appeal the sending of their statements to other countries. While he was still the king of Spain, Juan Carlos I took a briefcase filled with 1.7 million in cash to Geneva in 2010 Larsens statements are essential for the progress of an investigation into the emeritus king by the Spanish Supreme Courts public prosecutor over allegations of money laundering and tax fraud. The top court is investigating an alleged commission paid to the former monarch related to the construction by a consortium of Spanish companies of the AVE high-speed rail link to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. While he was still the king of Spain, Juan Carlos I took a briefcase filled with 1.7 million in cash to Geneva in 2010, handing the money over to his business manager Arturo Fasana. The money had been given to him by the Sultan of Bahrain, EL PAIS revealed in May. Subsequently, in 2012, Juan Carlos transferred 65 million to Larsen. It was Spains chief corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzon, who called on Bertossa to question Larsen and the other two figures being investigated in the Swiss probe. The evidence collected by the corruption prosecutor was passed on to the Supreme Court, given that Juan Carlos continues to enjoy immunity in the lower levels of the justice system under Spanish law. Larson, a businesswoman from Monaco, is being investigated in Switzerland after the head prosecutor in Geneva carried out a search in 2018 of the office of Fasana who has been linked to other corruption cases including the infamous Gurtel kickbacks-for-contracts scheme in Spain and of the lawyer Dante Canonica, and discovered an account in Swiss bank Mirabaud belonging to the eremitus king in the name of the Panamanian foundation Lucum. In this account, which was opened in 2008, a total of 64.8 million was transferred on orders of the Saudi Arabian finance minister. The money was eventually moved by Juan Carlos to an account held by Larsen in the Bahamas. As well as this payment, a sum of $5 million (4.4 million) that Larsen received from the government of Kuwait after the then-king visited that country is also being investigated. Bertossa focused his questioning of Larsen on why she had received the money. It was a gift, she replied. I received a phone call from Canonica [the administrator of the Lucum foundation] informing me that Juan Carlos I wanted to give me a gift. He did not speak to me about a specific amount. He told me he wanted to meet me. I went to his office. He explained that the king wanted to offer my children and I a gift. Juan Carlos I wanted to ensure a good future for my children and I, she said. Spain's emeritus king Juan Carlos I with his son, King Felipe VI, in a file photo from 2019. Paco Campos The Swiss prosecutor pointed out that at the time she already counted on a large fortune. Thats right, she replied. I thought that he was offering me that money out of gratitude and love. He was aware that I had done a lot for him and that I had been there for him when they announced his illness. I think that also he felt a little guilty about what had happened to me in Monaco. In 2012 I was kidnapped by the Spanish secret services in my apartment. This version of events has been denied by the former director of Spains CNI intelligence service, Felix Sanz Roldan. I think that there is one last reason: that he still hoped that he could get me back, she added. The former friend of Juan Carlos I said in her statement that at no time did [the emeritus king] say that he wanted to get rid of the money. I am unaware as to whether he declared those assets to the Spanish tax authorities. I had vaguely heard talk of a fiscal amnesty in Spain, but as I dont live in that country I dont know the details. The government of former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy approved a tax amnesty in 2012 with the aim of uncovering 25 billion of undeclared funds, but the final amount collected was well below that target. The Constitutional Court nullified the amnesty in 2017, but endorsed the declarations that were made by more than 31,000 contributors to regularize the hidden funds. Juan Carlos was very discrete with regard to the state of his finances Corinna Larsen in her statement to the Swiss prosecutor Fasana, Canonica and a representative from the Mirabaud bank were also questioned by the Swiss prosecutor. Canonica corroborated the version offered by Larsen. I remember that Juan Carlos I wanted to irrevocably transfer his assets. I dont believe that I said to Corinna that the king wanted to do so to dispose of his assets, he said. As to the origin of the money, Larsen said that she did not ask Canonica about it. [Later] in the conversations with the [Swiss] bank Gonet or with Canonica they explained to me that it came from a donation made by Saudi King Abdullah to Juan Carlos I. They didnt explain to me the reason for the donation, but that it is a regular practice between kings, specifically in the Middle East. Juan Carlos I had not spoken to me about this previously. He was very discrete with regard to the state of his finances. The former friend of the Spanish emeritus king told the prosecutor about the arrangements she made with the owner of the Swiss bank Gonet & Cie to receive the 64.8 million in one of its branches, in the Bahamas. [Canonica and I] decided to open an account in Gonet Bahamas, she explained in her statement. The decision was taken because I often visit the Bahamas and I appreciate the place. Being a resident of Monaco I can open an account where I like throughout the world with no fiscal consequences. I believe it is preferable not to put all of your assets in the same place. Larsen added that she signed the documentation in the name of her company Solare both in Geneva and in Nassau, in the Bahamas. She said that she met Canonica at a dinner in 2009 with Juan Carlos I, and that the lawyer only offered her his services for the reception of the 64.8 million. Spanish taxpayer Larsen also stated that she was not surprised that the then-head of state would accept the donation from Saudi Arabia, given that his lifestyle is financed by the Spanish taxpayer. She added that after she received the money in the Bahamas she traveled to Spain to give thanks to Juan Carlos I. She added: I was extremely grateful and I made him aware of my gratitude. Larsen has made a number of other statements to the Swiss prosecutor, including one in March. She has presented similar arguments in all of them. When the facts of the case being investigated by the Swiss justice system took place, Juan Carlos I enjoyed total immunity. The investigation in Spain will focus purely on any alleged wrongdoing that could have taken place after June 2014, when the then-king took the world by surprise with his abdication. Earlier this year, Juan Carloss son, King Felipe VI, renounced any inheritance that he could receive in the future from his father after new allegations of financial impropriety surfaced, and also stripped the emeritus king of the stipend he receives. Larsen and Spain The relationship between Corinna Larsen and Spains king emeritus came into the public spotlight as a result of the 2012 accident that Juan Carlos suffered in Botswana, where they were both on a hunting safari. The incident damaged the monarchs reputation and was partially behind his surprise decision to abdicate in 2014. The Monaco-based businesswoman, who continues to use her German ex-husbands aristocratic title, zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, also made headlines in 2018 when a recording emerged in which she claimed she had been used as a front to conceal some of Juan Carlos wealth. The recording was one of many made by a former police commissioner named Jose Manuel Villarejo, who is at the heart of a series of judicial investigations into 20 years worth of wiretaps and other invasions of privacy against scores of politicians, business people, judges and journalists in Spain. English version by Simon Hunter. KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2020 - 22:31 | All, Japan More torrential rain struck Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu on Monday, causing flooding and mudslides in areas other than Kumamoto Prefecture, where at least 49 people have been confirmed dead, with rescuers racing against the clock to save others still missing following the weekend's deluge. The weather agency issued its highest-level heavy rain warning for parts of Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga prefectures, urging people to take all possible measures to protect their lives. More than 1.22 million people in the Kyushu region have been asked to evacuate. The agency said residents in the three prefectures should remain on high alert through Tuesday morning. As of 8 p.m., about 954,000 people from some 440,000 households were advised to evacuate, according to a Kyodo News survey based on information provided by local authorities. Also, about 205,000 residents in Kumamoto, as well as a total of 67,000 others in Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, were instructed to seek refuge. Of the 49 fatalities in flood-ravaged Kumamoto, 14 were from the Senjuen nursing home near the Kuma River, which overran its banks at 11 locations and broke one levee, according to the prefectural government. Eleven people remain missing and one person was feared dead, it added. About 6,100 homes along the river were submerged, and roughly 1,060 hectares of land were estimated to have been flooded, the infrastructure ministry said, adding that 11 bridges had been destroyed. A number of communities were cut off due to severed roads, among other damage, with more than 80 schools closed in Kumamoto Prefecture. Kyushu Electric Power Co. said about 4,000 homes in the prefecture continued to be without electricity as of Monday afternoon. Some 1,500 people had taken shelter at 86 evacuation centers across the prefecture as of Sunday afternoon as the downpour caused mudslides and floods, severing roads and leaving many houses without water or power. "The water level of rivers suddenly rose in the Saturday rain. I am worried because I don't know how the rain is today," said Shoko Matsunaga, 49, who has been staying at an evacuation center in Ashikita since Sunday evening with her 2-year-old grandchild. Given the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading, the evacuation centers have taken precautionary measures to avoid crowding and close contact of people in confined spaces, while readying sanitizers and checking the temperatures of people seeking shelter. "It is important not to let people bring in the novel coronavirus," said Yatsushiro city official Hideki Motomura, 48, who is working at an evacuation center in Yatsushiro, serving more than 100 people. A local fire department said 69 people had turned up at its headquarters located on higher ground, but officials asked some to move to other evacuation centers to avoid crowding. "We had capacity for 60 evacuees here in the past. But considering social distancing, 30 is appropriate at this time, so we had to ask some evacuees to move to another shelter," said Toshihiko Nakamura, an official of the fire department. Some evacuees have opted to stay inside their vehicles for fear of becoming infected with the virus, so they have been told to register with an evacuation center and handed leaflets on how to avoid economy class syndrome, in which people develop blood clots from staying in the same position for a long time. At one evacuation center in Amakusa, a person thought to have the coronavirus was told to go to another evacuation center to self-isolate in a single room. Some 100 evacuation centers opened in the city of Kagoshima, where rooms are periodically ventilated and people are asked to maintain social distancing. The city said the number of people at each center was relatively small as it had notified residents since June to check the safety of their homes and consider evacuating to the homes of relatives or friends in times of disasters to reduce the risk of infection at shelters. Related coverage: 22 die in flood-ravaged southwest Japan as rescue operations continue IN PHOTOS: Rescue op continues in flood-hit southwestern Japan Local gov'ts fret over coronavirus spread at shelters after torrential rain By Ko Shu-ling, KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2020 - 14:41 | World, Feature, All Speaking at the Taipei Water Park this spring, Mayor Ko Wen-je urged audience members to "think about where water comes from when they drink it." Ko's comment came at the premiere of "Tracing Roots," a documentary film on the history of Taipei's water supply, starting from the 19th century, when residents dug their own wells, to the city's current management system that collects, purifies and distributes 2.4 million cubic tons of potable water every day. Most of the film's 25-minute running time focuses on the period of Japanese occupation, the 50 years between 1895 and 1945 when colonial managers helped to transform the city from a small, largely agricultural outpost of the late Qing Dynasty, and setting the stage for the bustling administrative and business capital that would emerge after World War II. To critics of Taiwan's colonial past, Mayor Ko has said, "Like it or not, what occurred in the past is our history and the basis for understanding who we are." A physician by training, Ko is particularly keen to celebrate advances in public health, where the hard-earned successes of history tend to be invisible to later generations. Taipei residents did not always have to be reminded of the value of their drinking water, which many today take for granted. Indeed, a better indication than the film of what water meant to early inhabitants of the city may be the site where it was screened -- a stunning Baroque-style building that once housed pumping equipment for Taipei's first water treatment facility completed in 1908 along the Hsintien River, in today's Gongguan area. Thought to be the work of Japanese architect Matsunosuke Moriyama, who designed many of Taiwan's most important public buildings, including the Presidential Office, the Gongguan pump house features a fan-shaped ventilating terrace fronted by a Greco-Roman colonnade joining two copper-domed entryways at each end. The structure housed large eight iron pumps -- four to draw raw water from the river, and four to send the purified output of the filtration plant to a hilltop distribution reservoir. It is hard to imagine a similar facility today being afforded such impressive surroundings. But in 1908, the Gongguan water treatment plant represented a big step forward in efforts to legitimize the colonization of the island, which China ceded to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese war, through infrastructure investment, including shipping, banking and railway construction, that soon made Taiwan second only to Japan itself in regional development. Aside from a model economy, Japanese planners had a pressing need for improvements in public health as colonists struggled with diseases like malaria, which killed thousands in the first years of the occupation, and cholera, a particular problem in Taiwan's growing urban centers, which had little or no public sanitation. The colonial government responded by expanding modern medical care, opening clinics and teaching hospitals, staffed by personnel trained in Europe, where major progress had been made in the treatment of infectious diseases. Governor General Gentaro Kodama and his right-hand man, Shinpei Goto, also invested heavily in preventative measures, hiring British experts to build sewers and storm drains to reduce sources of contagion in the capital. Well water was still a serious liability, however, and Scottish engineer William K. Burton was engaged to plan the Gongguan treatment plant, which he located several kilometers upstream from Taipei's then city center to avoid runoff contamination and to use the area's higher elevation to drive the gravity-fed distribution system. Burton died in 1899, leaving his student, Yashiro Hamano, to complete the project, which eventually provided 20,000 tons of water daily to 120,000 users, approximately 20 percent of the city's population. Over the next three decades, the colonial government built 123 water treatment plants in cities and towns across the island. The resulting dramatically cleaner water, along with other advances in public health, increased the life expectancy of Taiwanese by over 50 percent. But the population also grew, especially in Taipei, which by 1925 had over 800,000 residents, and with the Gongguan facility operating at capacity, planners were soon looking for new sources. In 1928, engineers, under the direction of renowned Kobe City dam builder Tojiro Sano, began construction of the Tsaoshan waterway, which tapped artesian springs in the mountains north of Taipei, where the area's volcanic soil provided natural filtration that greatly simplified the purifying process. Completed in 1932, Tsaoshan was an engineering marvel, not only boosting the water supply by 30,000 tons a day but producing 500 kilowatts of hydroelectricity from a generating plant located along the 20-kilometer pipeline leading to the city below. When the Japanese left in 1945, 20 percent of Taipei residents enjoyed the benefits of public water, as did a similar number in Taiwan generally. The Tsaoshan system still operates today, providing 2.5 percent of Taipei's fresh water, with the remainder coming from various postwar expansions of the Hsintien River system, including the Feitsui Reservoir, commissioned during a period of severe drought in the 1970s to provide the city with a reserve water supply. About the same time, the Gongguan pump house ceased operations and was converted into a museum set in today's Taipei Water Park with public swimming pools and hiking trails. The Tsaoshan waterway also doubles as a recreational area with trails that follow its arched aqueducts across mountain streams and past historical sites, including a shrine dedicated to those who lost their lives constructing the system. Some of the same challenges faced by early planners and engineers are ongoing. Chu Sheng-shin, a director of the Taipei Water Department, contends daily with problems that stem from growing demand, pollution, drought, system leakage, and sedimentation that clogs reservoirs and clouds tap water. As serious as these difficulties are, Chu, like his boss Mayor Ko, remains enthusiastic and often emphasizes the lighter side of his job. Speaking to Kyodo News, Chu described various projects to promote public awareness, including plans to bottle and sell water from Tsaoshan's volcanic springs, saying trace minerals not only make it healthy but give it a beautiful blue sparkle when light passes through it. Related coverage: Japan to begin talks with Taiwan, Brunei on easing travel curbs China condemns U.S. congratulations to Taiwan as interference Japan city vows to rename disputed isles area, irking China, Taiwan KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2020 - 13:26 | All, Japan Japan on Monday opened in Tokyo a new support center for the country's growing number of foreign residents to give advice on employment, visas, laws and humanitarian issues. The move comes as the Japanese government shifts toward bringing in more foreign workers under a new visa system launched in April last year in response to an acute labor shortage amid population declines. The Foreign Residents Support Center hosts the offices of eight public organizations on one floor of a building located in front of JR Yotsuya Station in the capital's Shinjuku Ward. "By sharing know-how that each organization has acquired, I hope we can provide the most excellent support for foreign residents," said Justice Minister Masako Mori, whose ministry oversees the center. The eight organizations include the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the Foreign Ministry, the Japan Legal Support Center, the Japan External Trade Organization and the Tokyo Labor Bureau. The center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, provides consultation services in English, Chinese and nine other languages, utilizing remote interpreters when necessary through videolink. The center is equipped with private rooms to secure visitors' privacy. In addition to individuals, the center also offers services to municipalities working on helping foreigners and companies that are considering hiring workers from overseas. Under the new visa scheme launched in April last year, foreigners with certain Japanese language and job skills can apply for resident status called Specified Skilled Worker No. 1, which grants working visas in 14 labor-hungry sectors such as construction and farming for up to five years. A record 2.93 million foreign nationals resided in Japan as of December 2019, according to the immigration agency. Related coverage: Tunisian man injured at immigration center when moved from cell Japan scholars urge fair treatment of foreign students over handouts NHK apologizes for clip on U.S. BLM protests after racism accusations New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has pitched for holding dialogue with Pakistan and insisted that artists from both the countries should work in cross border films to strengthen ties between the two nations. Addressing an event to mark 199th birth anniversary of founder of Aligarh Muslim University Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Singh accused the Centre of trying to use provision of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to target a particular community. He, however, said the UCC should not be brought in until there is no consensus. On the issue of triple talaq, Singh said the government has no right to interfere in personal laws of Muslims, but also suggested community members to ensure rights of women through discussions on the issue within themselves. "We can't decide our neighbour. We must accept that Pakistan is our neighbour and work towards improving ties with it. Dialogue is the only way," Singh said. Expressing surprise over opposition to Pakistani actors working in Bollywood film, he sought to know how they could be "troubled" after being issued visa in India. "Artists are like ambassadors. They can help improve ties. There is a need to encourage people-to-people contact to strengthen India-Pakistan tie. War is not the way," he said. Objecting to the NDA government's alleged attempt to link triple talaq with Uniform Civil Code he said it can't be "imposed" without consensus. "Our Muslim brothers too should think about rights of women in connection with triple talaq. But neither the government, nor anyone else should interfere in it. Muslims themselves should solve whatever issues are there through discussions," he said. The event was also attended by former Congress MP Sandip Dixit and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Shehzad Poonawalla. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday made a u-turn towards his patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Instead of splitting the party, as anticipated, Akhilesh Yadav emerged from his meeting with cabinet ministers as party loyalist, vowing to never break away. Soon after making some tough decisions against his uncle and other Amar Singh camp ministers, Akhilesh made a few emotional statements for his father and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Here is a glimpse: (Akhilesh expels Amar Singh aides, says will stand by netaji: Read full story here) 5 emotional statements made by Akhilesh about Mulayam Singh Yadav #Mulayam Singh is and will always be my leader, says Akhilesh Yadav #Will go for rath yatra, but will also attend silver jubilee celebrations, Akhilesh vows not to break party, but to strengthen it #Action against those who are acting against party and netaji (Mulayam), Akhilesh stands with father #Will gift Agra-Lucknow express way before netaji's birthday, says CM Akhilesh #I am heir to Samjwadi Party and I will make all important decision, Akhilesh Yadav displays power in the SP family Akhilesh Yadavs statements come as a surprise especially when Mulayam Singh Yadav had recently told media that the rift between the fatherson duo had become so wide that Akhilesh was not even taking his calls. Feud or not, a show of solidarity by Mulayam and Akhilesh at this point has set the stage of partys strategy for upcoming UP assembly elections. Also read: Know more about Akhilesh Yadav, UP's youngest ever Chief Minister For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Expelled SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav on said that all the allegations made against him are baseless and fake. SP leader said that his son and daughter-in-law are not accused in any CBI case. Ram Gopal said that meeting with other party leaders is a common thing and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also attended Saifai festival on the invitation of Netaji. "I have always helped party workers and poor. I not not upset on removal from party but saddened by the personal attacks. I may be in or out of the party but am always with Akhilesh," said Ram Gopal Yadav. SP leader #RamgopalYadav's letter after being expelled from the #SamajwadiParty for 6 years pic.twitter.com/MtLIFmVzE6 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) October 23, 2016 Earlier, Shivpal Yadav had said that Ram Gopal Yadav betrayed us to save his son and daughter-in-law from a CBI case. Ramgopal Yadav has been suspended from all posts and party for six years. "Ram Gopal's son and daughter-in-law involved in scams," said Shivpal Yadav. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has announced that it has been awarded the prestigious Islamic Bank of the Year UAE 2020 award by the globally renowned Financial Times monthly publication, The Banker. The global award recognises Emirates Islamics leading position among the worlds best Islamic financial institutions. In awarding the title to Emirates Islamic, The Banker stated that Emirates Islamic has been named Islamic Bank of the Year in the UAE for the first time, thanks to its impressive financial performance, improving customer services, and expanded product portfolio. Salah Amin, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Islamic said: At Emirates Islamic, we are extremely pleased to be named Islamic Bank of the Year UAE 2020 by Financial Times The Banker publication. The award by The Banker recognises not only our financial success over the years but also is testimony to our product and service innovations which have been paramount to become a leader in the Islamic banking sector in the UAE. Salah Amin added: Islamic banking has grown consistently over the years, and Emirates Islamic has played a pioneering role to drive the growth in this sector and support the Governments goal of making Dubai the global capital of the Islamic economy. As part of our customer-centric strategy, we have invested heavily in technology and digital banking solutions to provide our customers with a superior customer experience. "We have always embraced innovation as one of our core strategic pillars - we were the first Islamic bank to launch a Mobile Banking app in the UAE, first Islamic bank to launch Apple Pay in the UAE and the first Islamic bank in the world to launch Chat Banking through WhatsApp. Going forward, we will continue to make further strides towards our goal of creating a superior banking experience for our customers and maintaining our position as the nations preferred Islamic Bank. Emirates Islamic delivered a strong set of results in 2019 with net profit of AED1.06 billion, surpassing the one billion dirham mark for the first time. The recognition from The Banker follows a series of local and international accolades received by Emirates Islamic in recent months, in recognition of its strong record of performance and innovation in banking. The Bank was named Best Islamic Financial Institution in UAE 2020 in New York-based Global Finance magazines list of the Worlds Best Islamic Financial Institutions. Emirates Islamic was also recognised as 2019s Best Islamic Bank and the Most Innovative Islamic Bank by the World Finance Magazines global Islamic Finance Awards. The Bank was also awarded the Most Innovative Islamic Bank by Islamic Finance News, a leading global Islamic finance news provider. -- Tradearabia News Service Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed his displeasure over the ongoing rift within the party saying the contribution of senior leaders like Shivpal Yadav should not be overlooked. Mulayam was speaking at a meeting with all the party stakeholders in an attempt to clear the air over the party's next course of action. Mulayam said it is sad that instead of fighting our weakness, we are fighting amongst ourselves. Here are the key takeaways from the Samajwadi Party chief's speech: # I feel really sad because of this rift in our family # I am not a weak person. Don't think that the youth is not with me # Look at PM Modi, he became the PM with dedication and struggle. He comes from a poor family and says that he can't leave his mother # I can't leave Amar Singh and Shivpal Yadav. All of Amar Singh's sins are forgiven # I can't leave Amar Singh or Shivpal Yadav. All of Amar Singh's sins are forgiven: Mulayam Singh Yadav # Shivpal is the leader of the masses. I will never forget the work he has done for me and the party # Drunkards and goons have been added to the party # If you can't face criticism, you can't be a leader # Instead of fighting our weaknesses we are fighting amongst ourselves For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: An Air India plane, carrying 108 passengers and crew members onboard, made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Sunday after its tyre burst while taking off from Udaipur. The aircraft (Airbus 319 operating as flight no AI-472) took off at about 7:20 PM from Udaipur's Maharana Pratap international Airport and just before it took to the skies, a loud bang was heard, officials said. The incident was witnessed by CISF's watch tower unit at Udaipur and immediately, the air traffic control (ATC) tower was intimated, they said. An inspection team was immediately rushed to the tarmac, who found fragments of tyre on the runway following which the pilot of the plane was alerted and also the Delhi airport, for a possible emergency landing. "The flight, however, landed safely and all passengers and crew are safe," an Air India spokesperson said, adding there 108 passengers onboard, besides the crew members. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: All roads lead to 5 Vikramaditya Marg on Monday as Mulayam Singh Yadav, the grand old patriarch of the Yadav Pariwar, prepares to write the political denouement of the on-going family feud that threatens to split the 25-year-old party at on the eve of partys silver jubilee celebrations. Mulayam has convened a crucial meeting of party elders at his residence after a game of sackings and expulsions marked the day for the party on Sunday. Akhilesh was the first to hit the headline by his shock and awe sacking of his uncle Shivpal Yadav from his cabinet. Not to be outwitted, the patriarch struck back by sacking his cousin and long-time confidante Prof Ram Gopal Yadav who had gravitated towards his rebel son Akhilesh. Amidst this rotating strike by son and father speculation flew thick and fast of an imminent split in the party. Will Akhilesh pull off a coup? Regardless of the outcome of todays meeting called by Mulayam, all the political moves on the Pariwar chessboard last few days point to only one fact - that this shall be a fight to the finish. Also read: As party totters on brink of split, Mulayam may take strict action against Akhilesh Mulayam has been resisting taking direct action against his errant son. But how long will the Samajwadi patriarch resist the inevitable? Will he finally sign on the warrant that shall likely seal the split in the party. Or will he take strict action against some of Akhileshs close cabinet associates and make his son fall in line? The answers to all these questions shall cease to be a work of fiction sooner than later as both sides put on their battle-gear, ready to bite the bullet. Akhilesh is narrowing down his options to prove he is the rightful heir to his fathers political legacy and that all the kitchen conspiracies within the pariwar shall not deter him from riding the bicycle into the political sunset of the Samajwadi Party. Though son moved out of his fathers house early this month this was not to be read merely in terms of an ubiquitous government order or a GO. It wasnt a vaastu correction either. Or, maybe it was. The storm was brewing. Everybody knew the storm was brewing. And yet everyone wanted to fake they didnt see it coming. Also read: Who is with whom as party divide deepens? And one fine Sunday morning the storm came knocking on the Pariwar leaving devastation in its wake and threatening to blow up the very foundation of the Samajwadi empire. (read the Yadav family) If the Samajwadi patriarch had been reluctant to stage a showdown with his son it was not because he was being dismissive of his sons capability and ability to stand up to him but because he did not want to be seen as the one who was against the younger generation, who voted the party to a landslide victory in 2012 Vidhan Sabha polls. It was just that Mulayam did not want to be projected villain of the piece by coming down heavily on his son and allowing him the chance to garner public sympathy in case he decided to go his way, in a worst case scenario. Certainly not at a time when the state was gearing up for yet another round of Assembly elections. And if Akhilesh wanted to hunt his prey and eat it cold it was also part of a larger strategy to buy time, prepare his men for the final blow, garner logistical support for launching a new party and wade through a clutch of legal formalities for a new party name and a new party symbol well on time. Because once the split was formal, he will have o rush things through in order to keep his flock together and lead them to the next polls which are round the corner. The Lucknow streets are abuzz with speculations Akhileshs new party name shall bear the Samajwadi stamp, no doubt, but papas manual bicycle shall be outwitted by its speedier clan - a motorbike - ( the generation Xs favourite ride ) as the new election symbol. This much and more to mark the split and the generational shift, to start with. Back in the summer of 2012 the baton had passed rather smoothly - from Mulayam to Akhilesh. It was also symbolic of a generational shift but papa Mulayam had not bargained for this. The transition sat rather uneasy on the course father and son shall adopt as the Akhilesh government proved episode after episode it had a mind of its own and refused to be mere puppets in the hands of papa Mulayam or uncle Shivpal. Also read: As it happened - Ram Gopal Yadav expelled from party; Meeting gets over at Mulayam's residence The five-year marked ceasefire violations from both sides from time to time. Both sides took turns in explaining they were not the first to break the ceasefire. They tried to keep each other in good humour only to hatch conspiracies back stage. The chessboard had been laid out for one final move that shall change the course of the Pariwar for a long, long time. Sunday had all the elements of that challenging game of chess which kept the suspense of the final move hanging in the air. Amidst expulsions and sackings it is clear the pawns were just what they were - mere pawns - and now it is the turn of the kings and the wazirs to cross swords. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Las Vegas: Donald Trump proves himself unfit for presidency "every single day", US President Barack Obama has said as he slammed the Republican leaders for going along with the rhetoric of the party's White House nominee till recently. "For all the progress we've made, if we don't work as hard as we can in these next 16 days, all that progress could be out of the window. Because competing for the job I currently hold, you've got a guy who proves himself unfit for this office every single day, every single way," Obama said at an election rally in Las Vegas, Nevada. "On the other side, you've got somebody who is as qualified as has ever run for the presidency -- Hillary Rodham Clinton," he said amidst applause from the audience. Obama said for years, Republican politicians and the far-right media outlets have pumped up all kinds of crazy stuff about him and about Clinton. "They said I wasn't born here. They said climate change is a hoax. They said that I was going to take everybody's guns away. They said that, when we were doing military exercises that we've been doing forever, suddenly this was a plot to impose martial law. This is what they've been saying for years now. So, people have been hearing it, and they start thinking, well, maybe this is true," he told the audience. "So if the world that they've been seeing is that I'm powerful enough to cause hurricanes on my own, and to steal everybody's guns in the middle of the night, and impose martial law, even though I can't talk without a prompter then is it any wonder that they end up nominating somebody like Donald Trump?" Obama said. The fact is that there are a lot of politicians who knew better, he noted. "But they went along with these stories because they figured, you know what, this will help rile up the base, it will give us an excuse to obstruct what we're trying to do, we won't be able to appoint judges, we'll gum up the works, we'll create gridlock, it will give us a political advantage," Obama said. The US President said the politicians just stood by and said nothing. "And their base began to actually believe this crazy stuff. So Donald Trump did not start this. Donald Trump didn't start it. He just did what he always did, which is slap his name on it, take credit for it, and promote it. That's what he does," Obama said amidst applause. "And so now when suddenly it's not working, and people are saying, wow, this guy is kind of out of line, all of a sudden, these Republican politicians who were okay with all this crazy stuff up to a point, suddenly they're all walking away -- 'Oh, this is too much'," he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Samajwadi Party Uttar Pardesh chief Shivpal Yadav addressed media on Sunday afternoon after being sacked at state cabinet minister by CM Akhilesh Yadav. During his press conference in Lucknow, Shivpal said that 'some people are colluding with BJP to allude CBI'. "I am not worried about being sacked, will go polls under Netaji Mulayam Singh Yadav," he said. Mulayam's brother and party loyalist, Shivpal however expressed disappointment on nephew Akhilesh's work process and said that CM should not have levied direct blame on him without understanding the real conspiracy behind the scenes. Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday purged his cabinet of any supporters of 'outsider' Amar Singh, saying that it can be either him or Singh in SP. (Read live updates here) Also read: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav suspends uncle Shivpal Yadav, 3 others from cabinet Also read: 'I am still alive; If I can make you CM, I can take it away', Mulayam warns Akhilesh For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: Sacked UP minister Shivpal Yadav said on Sunday that his removal from Akhilesh ministry was an attempt by some people to weaken the Samajwadi Party and that he was not worried about being dropped. Further, he asserted that the upcoming Assembly polls would be fought under the leadership of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Hours after he was shown the door, Shivpal spoke to mediapersons after emerging from a meeting with SP chief Mulayam and said his sacking was an attempt by some to weaken the party leadership. In the ongoing power tussle within the ruling party, Shivpal and three other pro-Amar Singh ministers were sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday. Launching a scathing attack on cousin Ramgopal Yadav, Shivpal, who is the SP's state chief, vowed to fight and win the election under Netaji (Mulayam). Asking party men to prepare for the polls, he claimed that the people of the state were with the Samajwadi Party and "in 2017 we will form the government under the leadership of Netaji". In a veiled attack against Ramgopal, he said Sundays developments were triggered by "someone" who was playing in the hands of BJP to escape CBI noose. His reference was towards Ramgopal, who is facing a CBI probe for his alleged involvement in the corruption case of former Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh. Ramgopal has been sacked from the party for six years. Shivpal also said that Akhilesh Yadav must learn to identify "well-wishers". For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: Justifying his intervention in defusing the stand-off over Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Saturday said the issue could be resolved because the producers guild and MNS were on the same lines, expressing solidarity with the Indian Army. I do not think that what (MNS chief) Raj Thackeray was demanding and what the producers guild voluntarily offered was something different. The producers guild had already said that they had wholehearted support for the our army men and wanted to do something for them, Fadnavis said at Manthan, a programme organised by TV channel Aaj Tak. Fadnavis had come under attack from Congress and NCP for brokering a truce between the producers and MNS, with the opposition parties saying the state governments role is to ensure rule of law and it was for the Centre to decide whether Paktisatni artists should be banned or not. ALSO READ:(Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Row: Raj Thackeray asks producers to pay Rs 5 crore as 'penance' for army welfare) Under pressure from political and other outfits, Bollywood film producers have announced that they will not engage with Pakistani artistes, clearing decks for the smooth release of Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil as MNS withdrew its threat to stall the screening. Johar, accompanied by Producers Guild President Mukesh Bhatt, met the Maharashtra Chief Minister at his home Varsha here this morning where Thackeray, whose party MNS has been opposing the release, was also present. Asked why he gave so much importance to call and meet an outfit which forced producers to pay hafta, Fadnavis said, These two stakeholders needed a mediation and thats what I did and came out with an amicable solution. Fadnavis said it was alright if a solution was found through a dialogue otherwise state machinery would have dealt it with iron hand against those who took law in their hands, like in previous cases, it has done. There is something called law and order, through which we have dealt it with accordingly, he said. Earlier in the day, former Mumbai Police commissioner and BJP MP Satyapal Singh said the Chief Minister should not have called a political party to find the solution to such a problem. ALSO READ: (Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil recommended four cuts by censor board for Anushka's kissing scenes) I think the CM could have dealt with this without inviting him (Raj Thackeray). He (Fadnavis) should have dealt this situation firmly, said Singh. In a bid to downplay Singhs remark, Fadnavis said, Satyapal ji has been police commissioner of Mumbai and as a police officer, this was his way to sort out the issues. While being a neta, it was my way to find an amicable solution. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kolkata: Suspicious signals in coded Bengali and Urdu languages along the India-Bangladesh border in past few months have raised suspicion over extremists using this unconventional mode of communication, prompting authorities to deploy Ham radio operators on round-the-clock duty. The incident first came into light in June after amateur Ham radio operators picked suspicious radio signals and unauthorised radio communications in coded Bengali and Urdu in Basirhat and Sunderbans region. Alarmed over the incident, the operators informed the Centre following which they were called to an international monitoring centre (Radio) and asked to track the signals. A team of 23 Ham radio operators are now on round-the-clock duty trying to track the exact location of radio signals. The incident is highly suspicious and threat to security. Because whenever we tried to converse with them, they have stopped talking. Again after certain point of time they start their communication in coded Bengali and Urdu language, said Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of Bengal Amateur Radio Club. Those who were communicating on the radio frequencies had a distinct Bangladeshi accent. I alerted my radio club members and they too received such conversations. This kind of communication started in June and was going on till Durga Puja, he told PTI. Biswas said after the incident came into fore they had written to the Union Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, highlighting the strange signals and the suspicious mode of coded communication. After the letter was sent to the Union ministry, we were called for a meeting by the officials of the international monitoring station in Kolkata, where other senior officials were also present. We submitted details of our findings. We were asked to continue monitoring and try to locate the source of the communication, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is pretty confident that he stands a very good chance of winning the general elections even as the mainstream media and political pundits predicted very little chances of him making it to the White House. Trump's rival Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, leads him by more than seven points in most of the key battleground States but an unfazed Trump, 70, said that he is on his "way to the White House." "We are going to win the November 8 elections. There is no chance for the others to win," Trump said at the Cleveland rally in the presence of over 10,000 people. He was also accompanied by his vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence andformer New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. However, his speech was interrupted by a group of protester whom he alleged to have been paid by Clinton. He asked the protesters to leave who were escorted out of the arena. "The entire purpose of her is to keep the system rigged,"he alleged. "We are not going to have four more years of Obama. She has been there for 30 years and has not fixed anything," hesaid and alleged that Clinton's catastrophic failure has unleashed ISIS in the Middle East. "They are now in 32 countries. Why did she let it start. When will she take responsibility for the all the death anddestruction she caused all over the world he said. "In 17 days, everything is going to change," Trump said. Clinton, he alleged, has taken billions of dollars from companies that ship jobs overseas. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: IPS officers association has demanded pay parity and career benefits which are equivalent to those of their IAS counterparts. The IPS officers association has hinted at the role of IAS officers for delay in getting their legitimate benefits. The association said its officers have a genuine reason to feel concerned when delays in granting the recommended, and sometimes even the entitled, service benefits become too frequent which lead to accentuation of inter service disparities. "When beneficiaries (IAS officers) of such disparities occupy the role of advising the government, apprehensions of conflict of interest are bound to arise unless extra steps are taken to make the process transparent, time bound and objective," it said in a statement issued today. The IPS association resolves to represent to the government for due recognition of their services and regarding delays in resolving the service related issues, the statement said. The issue of pay parity was discussed during Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of Indian Police Service (Central) Association held yesterday. IAS officers presently get a two-year edge over other services for getting empanelled to come on deputation at the Centre. Besides, they also get two additional increments at the rate of 3 per cent over their basic pay at three promotion stages i.e., promotion to the Senior Time Scale (STS), to the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) and to the Non-Functional Selection Grade (NFSG) after putting in about four, eight and 13 years of service, respectively. "Along with issues of professional development, some other issues which included delay in granting inter all India services parity, and delays/denial of the recommended/entitled benefits were discussed," said P V Ramasashtry, secretary of the association. He said quantum of pay is never a consideration for IPS officers, but they expect that their importance to the governance should not get undermined through lower emolument structure compared to others in the civil service. Ramasashtry said the long standing demand for parity among all India services was examined by the seventh pay commission. "After extensive study and stakeholder consultations, in a majority opinion (barring lone dissenting voice of a member who is a retired IAS officer) the Commission acknowledged the importance and challenges of work performed by the IPS officers and recommended parity among services in the matters of pay, empanelment and opportunities to compete for senior positions," he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bahrains Al Waha, which seeks to invest in venture capital funds, has become one of the first Fund of Funds to make a substantial investment in the Bedaya Fund I of UAE-based seed-stage venture capital firm Shorooq Partners. Shorooq Partners, which has supported 23 firms including on-demand truck aggregator Trukker and hybrid robo-advisor Sarwa, plans to enhance its presence in the island Kingdom while working to find, support and enable the next wave of regional founders. The funding injection is the latest announced by Al Waha, which was launched in 2018 to drive greater venture capital investment across the Middle East. Al Waha Fund provides market access for organisations looking to invest in the region, as well as for portfolio companies looking to expand. The addition of Shorooq Partners to Al Wahas portfolio shows that despite the ongoing global pandemic, investors are actively seeking new opportunities to support startups particularly in sectors such as FinTech and HealthTech which have played an increasingly important role during the crisis. Founded by Shane Shin and Mahmoud Adi, Shorooq Partners focuses on early-stage technology startups in FinTech, platforms, software and tech-enabled business services subsectors. Geographically, Shorooq targets the Mena region with a key focus on UAE, Bahrain, KSA, Jordan and Egypt. Major Shorooq Partners portfolio companies include Sarwa, a hybrid robo-advisor wealth management platform; Trukker, a technology enabled, on-demand truck aggregator; Teacherly, a platform built for a global community of educators to improve learning outcomes; and Breadfast, an Egypt-based native e-grocery service. Areije Al Shakar, Fund Director at Al Waha Fund of Funds, said: Startups have a major role to play in accelerating the GCC economy during the ongoing global health crisis, and we are proud to partner with a regional firm that understands the importance of backing new ventures at the earliest of stages. Shorooq Partners has gone from success to success by investing in fast-growth sectors such as FinTech and software, and here at Al Waha we look forward to supporting the next phase of that growth. This partnership also shows that Bahrain is not only an attractive investment option for international venture capitalists, but also for those already based in the Middle East and looking to expand their reach within the region. Shane Shin, Co-Founding Partner at Shorooq Partners, said: Our mission is to support the most promising entrepreneurs in the region who are creating substantial economic value in their home countries and beyond as they grow and expand within the GCC markets. This is aligned with the exponentially evolving startup ecosystem in the GCC that is becoming more intertwined and collaborative as stakeholders including government entities, investors and startups engage and build. Bahrain is taking tangible measures to become a strong hub for businesses and founders wanting to build their presence in the Kingdom and broader GCC market. We are excited to join our partners in Al Waha Fund in fostering this vibrant business ecosystem and support further local and regional development efforts, he added. Bahrain offers an innovative and stable startup ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs to grow their ideas amid an atmosphere of pro-business regulation and strong public-private partnerships. With its unique positioning and connectivity to other Gulf countries, as well as a truly multicultural society that welcomes more than 160 nationalities, the Kingdom is the ideal destination for Eastern and Western businesses to converge. Al Waha Fund of Funds has so far deployed tens of millions of dollars to a range of venture capitalists, including MSA Capital, Lumia Capital, BECO Capital, Middle East Venture Partners, 500 Startups and European fund manager Finch Capital. TradeArabia News Service New Delhi: Shares of state owned firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) went up nearly by 5 per cent after the firm's board decided to consider issuing a bonus share to increase liquidity ahead of government disinvestment. The stock surged 4.61 per cent to end at Rs 292.90 on BSE. During the day, it jumped 5 per cent to Rs 294 - its 52-week high. At NSE, shares of the company went up by 4.48 per cent close at to Rs 292.35. The stock was the biggest gainer among the Sensex and Nifty components. On the volume front, 19.09 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over one crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day. With all of its about Rs 14,000 crore cash committed in future projects and capital expenditure, the company is considering issuing bonus shares rather than cash dividends as a method of providing income to shareholders. On October 27, the board will consider the second quarter financial results as also "consider a proposal for declaration of bonus issue", the company said in a regulatory filing. New Delhi: As the feud in Samajwadi Party seems to have reached a point of no return, Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav may also take strict action against Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his loyalists. With that happening, the Samajwadi party will be headed for possible spilt. Some SP leaders even suggested that a new party named National Samajwadi Party or Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party with motorcycle as its symbol could be launched by the Chief Minister. In the meeting which happened at Mulayams residence late on Sunday, there are reports of Mulayam calling Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Ajit Singh. It prompts towards a bigger alliance if the split happens. Mulayam got emotional in the meeting over the feud happening within the party. Earlier, Ram Gopal Yadav, an Akhileshs loyalist, was suspended from all posts and party for six years. Ram Gopal always plays tricks, he has relations with corrupt people. His son and daughter-in-law are involved in scams. He has always misused name of Netaji. He has been conspiring against me, he has been involved with BJP to save his son. UP CM Akhilesh Yadav must understand who is with him and who is not, said Shivpal Yadav. Expelled SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Sunday said that all the allegations made against him are baseless and fake. SP leader said that his son and daughter-in-law are not accused in any CBI case. Ram Gopal said that meeting with other party leaders is a common thing and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also attended Saifai festival on the invitation of Netaji. "I have always helped party workers and poor. I am not upset on removal from party but saddened by the personal attacks. I may be in or out of the party but am always with Akhilesh," said Ram Gopal Yadav. The series of events unfolded on Sunday morning when deepening the crisis in SP, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked four pro-Amar Singh ministers including his uncle Shivpal Yadav, almost pushing the ruling party to the brink of a split. Akhilesh also gave clear orders to Chief Secy Anita Singh and DGP to not issue any orders without his prior signatures. The trouble in SP hit a new low with the chief minister convening a meeting of party legislators here and recommending to Governor Ram Naik that Shivpal, Narad Rai and Om Prakash Singh (all Cabinet ministers) and Sayeda Shadab Fatima (MoS - Independent charge) be sacked from his ministry. A Raj Bhawan communique said the recommendation was accepted with immediate effect. Following the extreme action against supporters of Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, the Mulayam-camp followers got into a huddle at the residence of the SP supremo at a stone's throw distance from the CM's bungalow to decide the next course of action. The fast-paced developments came a day ahead of a mega meeting of party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and ministers convened by Mulayam where some tough decisions are likely to be taken. Reacting over the tough decisions made by his son Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said, Akhilesh should stay within his boundaries, "I am still alive. If I can make him CM, I can remove him from the post as well," he said. It is for the first time that Mulayam Singh Yadav invited his daughter-in-laws Aparna Yadav and Dimple Yadav for party meeting at his residence, however, if sources are to be believed Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh's wife did not attend the meeting. Meanwhile, Mulayam refused to meet Ramgopal Yadav and Madan Chauhan at his residence. Akhilesh also made a u-turn towards his patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Instead of splitting the party, as anticipated, Akhilesh Yadav emerged from his meeting with cabinet ministers as party loyalist, vowing to never break away. Soon after making some tough decisions against his uncle and other Amar Singh camp ministers, Akhilesh made a few emotional statements for his father and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. "Mulayam Singh is and will always be my leader. Will go for rath yatra, but will also attend silver jubilee celebrations. Action will be taken against those who are acting against party and netaji (Mulayam). Will gift express-way before netaji's birthday. I am heir to Samjwadi Party and I will make all important decision," said Akhilesh Yadav. Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav wrote a letter to his party workers, warning them against creating resistance for UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. Coming out in strong support of Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal said, "Any one protesting against Akhilesh will not set foot inside assembly, as victory follows Akhilesh." He also said that Akhilesh will defeat all those who dare to stand against him. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis plea to the police to make "local boys" who have joined militancy part of the mainstream faced strong resistance from the BJP. The party said on Saturday that militant, whether local or outsider, "cannot be forgiven" and should be dealt with as law of land demands. "A militant, who is responsible for the killing of innocent civilians as well as army and security personnel, besides being involved in picking up the gun against the nation, cannot be forgiven," Jammu and Kashmir BJP unit spokesperson Arun Gupta said. During the Police Commemoration Day function held at Armed Police Complex in Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar on Friday Mehbooba had said, "Those who have taken up arms or those who have not but are missing from their homes and want to join militancy, they are local boys". "I request the police to try to bring them back to their homes. Instead of their being killed in encounters, if it ispossible to bring them back, make them a part of the mainstream, give them bats, balls and good education, instead of guns," she had said. Her remarks came in the wake of a prolonged unrest in the Valley triggered by gunning down of local Hizbul militant Burhan Wani on July 8. Gupta said a local militant or one from a foreign land are indulging in the same activity and the country cannot accept it as a "forgiving mistake". He said no country can accept raising of gun against it and the people involved have to be dealt with as law of land demands. Also Read: J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti urges police to bring youths back to mainstream "BJP is of the firm belief that all nationalist forces need to be respected and those involved in anti-national activities be taught an exemplary lesson," the spokesperson said. Taking on Chief Minister indirectly for her remarks, Gupta said, "Our police and special forces cannot be made to remain quiet and accept these situations, but they be given full authority to deal with these elements as situation warrants". "It is the lacklustre and appeasing policy and attitude of previous governments in the country which have brought things to this level that anybody, if so desires, can talk or work against the nation without any question or action," he said. "BJP cannot and will not accept this under any circumstances and would only work for the development of the state and nation and any force coming in the way to harming the nation would be dealt as strongly as needed," Gupta said. He said the BJP, which is in coalition government with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, wonders as to how a nation can progress when an "indisciplined citizen" is given so much importance over the "law abiding and nationalist" one, and appeasement policy, whether for stone-pelter, separatist or a militant, is always "ready on platter". Gupta said "enough is enough" and no there would not be any more "tolerating of such an activity" which is against the interests of the nation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: Taking exception to the visit by US envoy in India to Arunachal Pradesh which it claims as southern Tibet, China said on Monday any interference by Washington in the Sino-India boundary dispute will make it "more complicated" and "disturb" hard-won peace at the border. Asking the US to desist from interfering in the border dispute, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told media that China is firmly opposed to the visit. Referring to US envoy Richard Verma's October 22 tour to Tawang at the invitation of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, Lu said while replying to a question that the US envoy visited a "disputed region". "We have also noted that the place visited by senior US diplomatic official is a disputed region between China and India. We are firmly opposed to his visit," he said. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and routinely protests visits by Indian leaders, foreign officials as well as the Dalai Lama to the area. "China's position on eastern section of the boundary is very clear and consistent. The two countries are now trying to resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and consultations," he said referring to the Special Representatives mechanism headed by National Security Advisors of both countries to find a solution. Both sides held 19th round of Special Representatives' talks to resolve the disputes over the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. Lu said "any third party with a sense of responsibility should respect efforts made by China and India for peace reconciliation? and tranquility rather than the opposite," he said. The behaviour by the US contrasts the efforts made by China and India, he said. "It will only make the dispute more complicated, disturb the hard-won peace and tranquility of border areas and sabotage peaceful development of the region," Lu said. "We urge the US to stop its interference in the boundary issue between China and India and make more contribution to regional peace and stability," he said. The boundary question between China and India is very complex and sensitive, he said adding that "the interference by a third party will only stir up or heighten tensions". "At the end of the day only the peoples of the two countries will fall victims," he said. "We believe India and China as two major countries have enough wisdom to properly to deal with this issue and safeguard the fundamental interest of the two peoples," Lu said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Cairo: An Egyptian criminal court Saturday confirmed a 20-year prison sentence given to Mohammed Morsi for inciting violence during demonstrations in 2012, in the first final verdict in a case against the former president. Eight other defendants were sentenced to prison terms of up to 20 years in the case. Their appeals were refused too. In April 2015, a Cairo court had sentenced Morsi to 20 years in prison for inciting violence against protesters who had staged a sit-in outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012, when Morsi was still in power. The then opposition protesters had rallied in front of the palace to peacefully protest Morsis decree in which he had ordered that the president shall remain immune from judicial oversight. Clashes erupted outside the palace and 10 people were killed, including journalist el-Husseini Abu Deif, 33. Morsi and other defendants were charged for killing protesters, possessing weapons, and inciting violence during the sit-in near the palace. Defendants include Asad Al-Shikha, Morsis former deputy chief of staff, Ahmed Abdel Atty, former head of presidents office, Mohamed El-Beltagy, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, outspoken Islamic preacher Wagdy Ghoneim and Essam El-Erian, deputy head of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhoods Justice and Freedom Party. Morsi is currently in prison over other cases including on espionage charges, escaping from prison during the January 25 Revolution in 2011, insulting the judiciary and spying and handing documents of national security importance to Qatari intelligence through the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel. The former president has said he does not recongnise the trials he faces. Morsi, who became Egypts president in June 2012 after the first democratic elections in the country, was ousted in a military coup after a year in power following mass protests against his rule. In another case, an Egyptian court today accepted the appeal of the supreme guide of Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and other defendants against a life in prison sentence for taking part in violent acts near Istekama mosque in Giza in which 9 people died last year. The defendants were accused of murder, attempt to murder, resisting authorities and belonging to an outlaw group that aims at disturbing national peace, among other charges. The court has ordered a retrial for the defendants. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Border Security force (BSF) is set to honour its brave martyr Jawan Gurnam Singh, who played a pivotal role in thwarting a major infiltration bid along the International Border in Kathua sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The para military force is set to recommend his name for the highest gallantry award posthumously. 26-year-old Gurnam, who was injured in a sniping attack from across the border on Friday and was undergoing treatment at Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu, succumbed to his injuries late last night. Asked if Gurnam's name would be recommended for the highest gallantry award, Additional Director General (ADG) BSF Western Command, Arun Kumar told reporters, "Absolutely the gallantry award would be a lesser possible award for him as he deserves much more but we will be recommending for that". Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award. "Gurnam was instrumental in foiling a major infiltration bid by the heavily armed terrorists.He was made target the next day. With his supreme sacrifice he has made not only the BSF but the whole nation proud," Kumar said on the sidelines of a wreath laying ceremony. Singh was given an emotional adieu by the BSF today during a wreath laying ceremony held at the BSF frontier headquarters in Jammu, in which several senior officers of the BSF and the local police paid homage. Senior BJP leaders were also present on the occasion. The last rites of the deceased jawan would be held tomorrow as per the wishes of his family. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. lanacion.com Detras de las encuestas que muestran a los jovenes y la clase media esforzada mas lejos del Frente de Todos y mas cerca de Juntos por el Cambio, se entreteje un problema estructural del kirchnerismo, novedoso e inesperado, que se agranda con el paso de las semanas y los meses. Se trata de una doble dificultad creciente. Por un lado, la perdida de capacidad del kirchnerismo para usar el pasado y construir una epica que enamore a su electorado y, con ella, lograr cohesion social y electoral: el ki Drones Lawmakers call on Army to coordinate small-drone defenses To better defend military forces against small weaponized drones, lawmakers introduced legislation calling for the Army to coordinate troop defenses against small unmanned aerial systems for the Department of Defense. Small drones -- including small, easily acquired, commercially made drones -- are an emerging threat to U.S. forces overseas, according to Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who introduced the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act during that committee's consideration of the NDAA. In some countries, small hobbyist quadcopters and other commercial drones have been weaponized by terrorists and guerilla forces who steer them into people or objects or modify them to carry explosives. Hassan and Johnsons amendment would recognize and codify the authority of the secretary of the Army to coordinate DOD's counter-drone efforts. It would also authorize the Army to fast-track an overall strategy by September to fight the evolving drone threat and share the plan with Congress. The danger the remote-controlled unmanned aircraft pose to U.S. military personnel was brought home to Hassan during a visit to Afghanistan. When I traveled to Afghanistan last year, I heard from U.S. military leaders on the ground who were concerned about the emerging threat posed by small drones, Hassan said in a July 2 statement. These small drones can carry deadly bombs, yet they can go undetected by current Defense Department technology. Meanwhile, the Defense Department also is weighing counter-drone technologies. DOD leadership said on June 25 that it had approved assessments of vendors in several classes of drone defense technologies, including fixed/semifixed systems, dismounted/handheld systems and forward-area command and control systems. The technologies, officials said, were initially bought to address urgent and emerging operational needs of deployed forces. Beyond the initial report due in September, the proposed legislation would also provide critical oversight measures such as requiring the secretary of the Army to assess potential roadblocks or barriers to the strategys implementation as well as having the Government Accountability Office judge the effectiveness of its plan. FCW Insider: July 6 GSA awarded spots on Alliant 2 SB to 81 companies in February 2018 but those award were followed by over a year of protests at the Government Accountability Office and at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Customs and Border Protection will expand autonomous border surveillance towers, but says the tech doesn't mean they're hitting pause on the border wall. Data compiled from CISA's Intrusion Detection System highlights the three types of malware attacks most commonly targeted at civilian federal agencies. The House Armed Services Committee unanimously passed its version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act; tech provisions include spectrum sharing restrictions targeting Ligado 5G networks and new artificial intelligence initiatives. The General Services Administration awards data and voice task orders under its $50 billion next generation telecommunications contract. Quick Hits *** Public sector employment ticked up slightly in the July 2 jobs report, with nationwide gains of 33,000 jobs between May and June. Between April and May, state and local government shed 571,000 jobs due to the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall government employment remains 1.5 million below that of February, before public health orders shutdown schools, government offices and other public facilities. ***The House Foreign Affairs Committee postponed a planned July 2 hearing with a top State Department official at his request. Under Secretary for Management Brian Bulatao had been scheduled to testify about President Trump's controversial decision to fire the agency's Inspector General, Steve Linick. In a statement, Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said he agreed to Bulatao's request that the hearing be postponed because the agency had only just received its IG report about the White House's emergency declaration to send Saudi Arabia $8 billion worth of firearms and needed time to review it. Linick had been investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's role in passing the emergency declaration at the time of his firing, which the President said was because he "had lost confidence" in Linick. Engel said that the hearing would be held later in July Out on the Street, its full speed ahead. Despite the chaotic events of 2020, the S&P 500, which is coming off of its best quarter in more than 20 years, is down by only 2% year-to-date. Somewhat remarkably, the market has continued to charge forward as the number of new COVID-19 cases surges. As COVID-19 could be with us in waves for some time, theres plenty of uncertainty going forward into the second half of the year. Consequently, spotting compelling plays can feel like a fools errand, especially given the hefty toll the virus has already taken on companies spanning multiple sectors. Having said that, the Streets pros argue that the pandemic has actually positioned some names as beneficiaries. Looking specifically at the biotech sector, massive amounts of capital have been pumped into a handful of names racing to develop solutions to combat the virus. Bearing this in mind, we used TipRanks database to get more information on three biotech penny stocks, trading for less than $5 per share, that are poised for COVID-related gains. While these tickers are risky in nature, the investing platform revealed that each has earned a Moderate or Strong Buy consensus rating from the analyst community and boasts substantial upside potential. CTI BioPharma Corporation (CTIC) Focused on the development of innovative therapies, CTI BioPharma wants to address the unmet medical needs of patients. Given the potential of its COVID-19 treatment and its $1.18 share price, its no wonder this healthcare name is on Wall Streets radar. CTIC scored major investor attention after it initiated the Phase 3 PRE-VENT study of its pacritinib asset in COVID patients, with the study evaluating whether the therapy can reduce the occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It should be noted that the study will include cancer patients, and initial data is expected by YE:20. Writing for Needham, five-star analyst Chad Messer points out that ARDS, which is caused by an overreaction of the immune system, is the leading cause of mortality in COVID-19 patients. What makes CTICs therapy a stand-out, in Messers opinion, is that unlike ruxolitinib, it doesnt target JAK1. This is important as JAK1 inhibition has been associated with immune-suppression towards infections. Story continues Pacritinib also inhibits CSF-1R which is associated with macrophage activation. Additionally, pacritinib is less thrombocyotpenic than other JAK inhibitors. These features differentiate pacritinib and may make it a potential best in class JAK inhibitor for treatment of severe COVID infection, Messer commented. To this end, Messer continues to give CTIC his stamp of approval. Along with a Buy rating, the top analyst keeps the price target at $3.50. Should the target be met, a twelve-month gain of 195% could be in the cards. (To watch Messers track record, click here) Other analysts also take a bullish approach. CTICs Strong Buy consensus rating breaks down into 3 Buys and zero Holds or Sells. Additionally, the $3.50 average price target matches Messers. (See CTIC stock analysis on TipRanks) PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals (PHAS) When it comes to PhaseBio, its focus lands squarely on the lack of new treatment options for serious cardiovascular diseases. Even though the pandemic has created challenges for the company, several members of the Street believe it can overcome these obstacles, with its $4.39 price tag reflecting an attractive entry point. Five-star analyst Andrew Fein, of H.C. Wainwright, reminds investors that its lead candidate, PB2452, which was designed to reverse ticagrelor antiplatelet effects in major uncontrolled bleeding and urgent emergency surgery events, has entered its pivotal Phase 3 trial. While this is exciting, the analyst doesnt dispute that COVID-19 has spurred headwinds. Expounding on this, Fein stated, Specifically, ERs have focused their attention on treating COVID-19 patients, while surgical sites remain in the process of trying to get back up and running amid shelter-in-place guidance. Therefore, we believe site initiations and patient enrollment are to continue to be site specific for the foreseeable future, based on available site resources and overall quarantine guidelines. That being said, Fein remains optimistic about the PB2452 platform, as it directly addresses the unmet therapeutic need in antiplatelet patients facing major bleeding and urgent surgery circumstances that could otherwise result in death or treatment delay. He added, We point out there are no ticagrelor or antiplatelet reversal agents, and ticagrelor reversibly binds the P2Y12 receptor, making it the only potentially reversible oral antiplatelet therapy. Although enrollment was halted for the Phase 2 PB1046 program, the fact that PB2452 Phase 2a data could potentially be presented during the upcoming European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2020 virtual conference in August 2020 seals the deal for Fein. To this end, Fein maintained a Buy rating on PHAS with an $18 price target, suggesting 298% upside potential from current levels. (To watch Feins track record, click here) Looking at the consensus breakdown, other analysts are on the same page. With 5 Buys and no Holds or Sells, the word on the Street is that PHAS is a Strong Buy. The $13 average price target puts the upside potential at 187%. (See PhaseBio stock analysis on TipRanks) Diffusion Pharmaceuticals (DFFN) As for the final stock on our list, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals develops new treatments for life-threatening medical conditions by improving the bodys ability to deliver oxygen to the areas where it is needed most. Currently going for $0.95 apiece, one analyst thinks that now is the time to snap up shares. Covering DFFN for H.C. Wainwright, analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth is looking forward to the initiation of its COVID-19 study. At the end of May, the company received a response from the FDA regarding its Pre-Investigational New Drug (PIND) meeting request on the proposed clinical development program to assess trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory symptoms and low oxygen levels. The FDA stated the study should be designed as a double-blinded, controlled, randomized trial by including Gileads COVID-19 treatment, remdesivir, as a component of standard of care for hospitalized patients. Additionally, the agency also accepted the proposed safety and oxygenation marker endpoints. If that wasnt enough, Ramakanth highlights the fact that a European COVID-19 study of TSC will be conducted in collaboration with the Romanian National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), which is the largest provider of treatment for COVID-19 patients in Romania. Diffusion expects to enroll the first patient for the European study in June, upon regulatory approval, and report initial data in 3Q20, which we believe could be a catalyst, the analyst said. Its true that the ongoing public health crisis could slow down the enrollment for its Phase 2 PHAST-TSC (Pre-Hospital Administration of Stroke Therapy-TSC) stroke study, designed to evaluate the therapy as an acute stroke treatment. That said, Ramakanth remains unphased by a possible delay. In our view, given that the pandemic is starting to abate and TSC is being studied as acute treatment, Diffusion could be able to get the PHAST-TSC study completed as planned. While reporting the companys 4Q19 earnings, management stated their expectation to complete the study enrollment in 2021 and report topline data in 2022, the analyst explained. Based on all of the above, Ramakanth rates DFFN a Buy along with a $3.50 price target. This target suggests shares could soar 286% in the next twelve months. (To watch Ramakanths track record, click here) To find good ideas for penny stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Oman's Salalah Free Zone has signed an agreement with a UAE investor for the establishment of a Technology City at an investment of around $350 million, reported Oman Observer. Spread over a 500,000-sq-m area, the Tech City will feature a Data Park, technology academy and other support facilities. It is the latest in a string of recent investments that have underscored the Salalah Free Zones robust investment appeal, stated the report, citing a top official. The MoU signed to this effect envisages a Technology City for innovation and fourth-generation technologies, remarked its CEO Ali bin Mohammed Tabouk. "We have inked seven investment agreements during the first half, thus taking the total number of signed projects till date in Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) to 88, representing around RO3.3 billion ($8.7 billion) in total investments, with the potential to create more than 8,000 direct jobs, noted Tabouk. Among the recent signings is a contract for the construction of Phase Two of Al Mazaya Logistics Station, which offers 134,000 sq m of storage area and land for the development of facilities and amenities for tenants in the free zone, he said. Welcoming the free zones role in driving the economic diversification of Dhofar, its Governor Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan al Busaidi said: "It aims to support development efforts in Dhofar and contribute to the diversity of sources of income and the growth of the national economy." "We commend the successes achieved in Salalah Free Zone and its aspirations to become a global and regional center for attracting investments," he stated. Chairman Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mahrazi said Salalah Free Zones success in attracting RO3.3 billion in investments will translate into developmental benefits for the national economy while also spawning business opportunities for national companies and SMEs. "These investments will also support job creation for citizens and drive technology inflows, stated Al Mahrazi, also the Minister of Tourism. "Within this framework we continue to organise promotional campaigns in target markets such as India, Turkey, Iran, South Africa and other markets with a focus on attracting quality investments in logistics, manufacturing, and innovation-based technology," he added. Over the July fourth weekend, the United States registered a whopping 156,000 new coronavirus cases. Even though the spike in cases has slowed down in states like New York, confirmed coronavirus cases have increased across almost 40 U.S. states. Over the past week, new coronavirus cases are up 42% in Florida, followed by 40% in Montana, 37% in Virgin Islands, 33% in Idaho, 32% in Arizona, 30% in South Carolina, 29% in Texas and 21% in California during the same period, per the Washington Post. The paper added that the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases was 48,361, up from 11,740 a week ago. Particularly in Texas, the number of new coronavirus cases jumped by more than 6,000 on Jul 4, taking the total in the state to almost 200,000. Meanwhile, Florida reported 10,059 new cases on Jul 5, after reporting 11,458 new cases on Jul 4. In Florida, there are now nearly 200,111 coronavirus cases and the state has seen a significant rise in hospitalizations of late. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the early reopening of many states, failure to maintain proper social-distancing norms and the authorities lack of effort to trace infected people are mostly responsible for this unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, which many fear to be the second wave. But, from an investment perspective, this spurt in new cases bodes well for certain stocks. Thus, placing your bets on such stocks wont be a bad proposition for now. Take a look Clinical Stage Biotech Player Abbott The coronavirus outbreak has, no doubt, compelled investors to bet on companies working on the treatment and prevention of the virus, specifically clinical stage biotech firms. Notable among them is Abbott Laboratories ABT. In the past few months, the FDA has authorized five of Abbotts coronavirus tests. At the same time, Abbott reached an agreement with the U.K. government to supply its laboratory-based IgG antibody tests, which help in identifying infected people. Story continues Separately, the companys medical device segment has been a strong driver of growth. For instance, Abbotts FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring (CMG) system for diabetes care recorded a sales rise of more than 60% in the first quarter. Going forward, the branded generics and international diabetes businesses should drive growth. Abbott currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 0.4% over the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 8.6%. Shelter-in-Place Stocks Zoom & Amazon With new cases on the rise, people are willing to spend a lot more time at home. The stay-at-home trend is a blessing in disguise for videoconferencing platforms and dominant cloud players. In recent times, Zoom Video Communications, Inc.s ZM paid subscriber growth for the video conferencing service improved, and CEO Eric Yuan said that the Zoom platform has been able to provide an incredibly valuable service to our beloved users amid the coronavirus-induced stay-at-home scenario. Going forward, the companys efforts to eradicate security and privacy flaws are expected to help Zoom Video expand user base. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen more than 100% over the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter and year is 462.5% and 237.1%, respectively. In fact, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) flaunts a Growth Score of A. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. As majority of people are expected to work or learn remotely, most companies need to move a bulk portion of their workload to the cloud. Thus, any consumer-oriented business needs to have a digital presence built on the cloud in order to survive. Hence, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is certainly under the spotlight as it is currently one of the biggest players in the cloud infrastructure market. The Seattle-based company has a solid presence throughout the Internet via Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon, in itself, is benefiting from its Prime program, delivery and logistic system in the e-commerce space. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 1.7% over the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the next quarter is 18.4%. Dominant AI Player NVIDIA The rise in cases may disrupt industries but it can also speed up the adoption of AI. After all, AI has touched almost every sphere, including advertising, healthcare, robotics, retail, video streaming, gaming and urban development. And NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is one of the biggest names when it comes to graphics processing units (GPUs), which are more or less used by all major tech firms to help servers implement machine learning services, which again is an integral part of the broader AI market. NVIDIA currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 4.9% over the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 36.4%. Reflecting the positives, shares of Abbott, Zoom, Amazon and NVIDIA have gained 6.2%, 284.7%, 56.4% and 63.4%, respectively, so far this year. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce ""the world's first trillionaires,"" but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Abbott Laboratories (ABT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Click here to read the full article. UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Qianna Smith-Bruneteau has teamed with a cadre of social media influencers to create the American Influencer Council. The nonprofit membership trade association officially makes its debut today World Social Media Day. Chriselle Lim, Danielle Bernstein and Kat Irlin are among the founding members of the AIC. Their game plan has five key points consumer transparency, standardization and professional ethics, data science and influencer economy, learning and development and public goodwill. The groups creation comes at a time when some are predicting the demise of influencers and the rise of micro-influencers. Before the pandemic struck, brands were expected to spend $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates, based on Mediakix data. More from WWD Consumer transparency efforts will involve lobbying the Federal Trade Commission to adhere to, promote and improve the Endorsement Guides. There are also plans to create market-relevant operating standards to support innovation and ethical conduct. Supporters will also be trying to enhance the cobranded content experience on all social media platforms. In terms of data science and the influencer economy, AIC will foster and analyze research on the digital economy, as well as career influencers contributions to the gross domestic product. There will also be efforts to further digital marketing learning at the university level and to offer mentoring support for the next generation of influencers. Lastly, the group plans to create an innovation lab, public service announcements and to host events to promote the influencer trade. The AIC aims to have influencers recognized by the business world. AIC represents creatives from all backgrounds and content verticals. Fifteen members will be recruited this year. Smith-Bruneteau is the founder and Lim is chairwoman of the by-invitation nonprofit. AIC has three types of members: career influencers, organizations and professional advisers. And just like that, the tides have turned for Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO). Shares of the high-flying biotech dropped last week by 31%, the vast majority of which came after the release of interim data from the early stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800. You could chalk the dip up to a classic case of buy the rumor, sell the news, but this sell-off was slightly more nuanced, with the lack of a clear good/bad story leaving a lot to interpretation. The company said that after giving participants two doses of the vaccine, 94% "demonstrated overall immune responses." What probably concerned investors was the fact that finer immune response details were missing. Specifically, how many patients produced neutralizing antibodies that could prevent a COVID-19 infection. This looks bad when compared to Pfizer/BioNTech, as they published a richly detailed report of their candidates progress on the same day. The full data is expected to be published in a medical journal in the near future. Meanwhile, at investment firm Maxim, analyst Naureen Quibria believes the data was positive. The analyst said, In truth, while we dont know what 'good' immunogenicity data should be, studies suggest that both T cell and antibody immune responses will be important for protection in both mild and serious infections, particularly given that most convalescent plasmas obtained from individuals that have recovered from COVID-19 do not appear to contain high levels of neutralizing activity (e.g., one study, published in Nature). However, reports have also highlighted that the virus-specific T cells found in convalescent patients can control the severity of their COVID-19 disease. As such, the early data for INO-4800 appear to be promising, in our view. However, the analyst cant ignore Inovios lofty valuation, which, along with the murky data, played a part in the sell-off. Even after last weeks drop, shares are still up by 540% since the turn of the year. Therefore, for Quibria, the success of INO-4800 is priced into the shares. Story continues Accordingly, Quibria downgraded Inovio from Buy to Hold, and took the price target off the table. (To watch Quibrias track record, click here) Other analysts appear to be reading from the same page. Based on 2 Buys, 5 Holds and 1 Sell, Inovio has a Hold consensus rating. Theres small upside of 3% in the cards, should the average price target of $22 be met over the next 12 months. (See Inovio 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. LONDON and PARIS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global commodity information service Argus has purchased Agritel, the expert provider of information, consulting and forecasting on agricultural and agro-industrial markets. Argus Media Logo (PRNewsfoto/Argus Media) Agritel was founded nearly 20 years ago by Michel Portier and offers data and analysis tools to to help farmers and agro-industrial companies manage risk in agricultural commodity markets. "We are delighted that Agritel decided to join us," Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. "We have long been an admirer of the way it has developed essential services for the agricultural sector and as we grow our portfolio of services to complement our existing offerings in adjacent sectors of fertilizer and biofuels, we know that their team will be a huge asset in delivering value for clients." "Argus' knowledge and experience in the field of energy and commodities price reporting offer synergies and opportunities for us to implement new solutions in agricultural markets," Agritel directeur general Michel Portier said. "In addition to our complementary areas of business and geographies, we share common values, which was key for us in making the decision to join Argus. A customer-oriented strategy and a commitment to editorial independence are vital, as is the importance of a rigorous and regulatorily compliant methodology." The Agritel team and management will remain in place. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. About Agritel Agritel is an independent consulting firm, expert in the agribusiness markets: the agricultural, agro-food and agro-industrial sectors. Agritel provides the tools, knowledge and know-how that have been used for several decades in the world of finance in terms of risk management and hedging to support agribusinesses. Created in 2001 by Michel Portier, Agritel today offers its expertise in three areas: training, information and advice. It is present in France and Ukraine. Story continues Agritel contact information Relations Presse - For more information, please contact RDN: Fadela Benabadji +33 1 85 09 83 70 +33 6 11 34 22 39 fbenabadji@agence-rdn.com Gregoire de la Roussiere +33 1 85 09 83 71 +33 6 09 49 09 78 gdelaroussiere@agence-rdn.com About Argus Media Argus is an independent media organisation with more than 1,000 staff. It is headquartered in London and has 25 offices in the world's principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets, and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences. Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by employee shareholders, global growth equity firm General Atlantic and Hg, the specialist software and technology services investor. Argus contact information London: Seana Lanigan +44 20 7780 4200 Email Seana Singapore: Tomoko Hashimoto +65 6496 9960 Email Tomoko Moscow: Alexey Komarov +7 495 933 75 71 Email Alexey Houston: Karen Johnson +1 281 732 9489 Email Karen Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/argus-acquires-agricultural-specialist-agritel-301088017.html SOURCE Argus Media Partners Capital Investment Group LLP, the $30 billion global outsourced investment office, has announced that Arjun Raghavan has taken over from Stan Miranda as CEO, as of 1 July 2020. Stan Miranda, founder of Partners Capital, is now Chairman and remains a full time executive. LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the announcement of its succession plan at the end of 2019, Arjun Raghavan has assumed the CEO role of Partners Capital as at 1 July. Stan Miranda transitions into the role of Chairman and remains a full-time executive, retaining his current client responsibilities while supporting Arjun and the other 13 partners on the ongoing development of the firm's global business and investment strategy. Arjun Raghavan New CEO of Partners Capital Arjun Raghavan joined Partners Capital in the London office in 2007 from a Goldman Sachs hedge fund spin-out and was promoted to Partner within three years of joining. Arjun has played a critical role in evolving Partners Capital's investment strategy, known as the Partners Capital Risk Management Endowment Approach (PRMEA), as well as in founding and managing the firm's $4 billion flagship multi-asset class vehicle, The Master Portfolio. In 2013, Arjun relocated to Hong Kong, and subsequently to Singapore, to build the Asian business while carrying on with his global investment responsibilities. In a worldwide company call at the end of June, Arjun spoke to the team of 200 professionals and said, "It is an absolute honour to be given the opportunity to lead such a high calibre team into the next critical phase of our firm's strategic development". He emphasised a continued focus on investment innovation and growing the diverse global talent pool as being critically important to delivering persistent long-term outperformance to clients. Stan commented "In the last few months, Arjun has quickly come to grips with what it takes to lead a dynamic global investment firm and I have no doubt that under Arjun's leadership our investment capabilities will go from strength to strength." Story continues Arjun has already started to expand the senior leadership team across all key geographies. In North America, David Shushan has been appointed as the Head of the Boston office, while Will Fox continues in his role as Head of North America, with oversight of all three US offices (Boston, New York and San Francisco). Targeted senior hiring is also in progress across US, Europe and Asia to deepen the firm's relationships with institutional family offices and further bolster its capabilities in the area of ESG and Impact Investing. Arjun, currently based in Singapore, will be relocating to London at the end of 2020. He will continue to oversee the firm's operations in Asia along with Adam Watson, who will Co-Head the region from Singapore. Adam has been with the firm for almost 11 years and relocated from London in 2013 with Arjun to build the firm's Asia presence. He is supported by Dominik Burckgard, who is a Senior Principal overseeing the firm's Hong Kong office. About Partners Capital Founded in 2001, Partners Capital is a wholly independent Outsourced Investment Office (OCIO) primarily serving sophisticated institutions and senior investment professionals in Europe, North America and Asia. With offices in Boston, New York, London, San Francisco, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong, the firm is one of the few truly global OCIOs, employing 200 people worldwide and covering all major asset classes. The firm oversees assets of $30 billion. Its institutional clients include Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, Eton College, INSEAD Business School, the Research Foundation for the State University of New York, the Royal Academy of Arts, Milton Academy, the Hong Kong Cancer Fund and the Cancer Research Institute. Additional information on Partners Capital may be found at http://www.partners-cap.com Partners Capital Logo Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200230/Arjun_Raghavan.jpg Logo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/11ee4c90bfbc40ea3dc49f432bd4b677 SOURCE Partners Capital Brazilian Political Activist Luiz Philippe Braganca on left-wing activities in the American continents WASHINGTON, July 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pan-American Prosperity Institute (PPI) is a non-profit organization that seeks to foster a closer relationship among countries in the American continent. With this intent, PPI would like to publish a letter from Mr. Luiz Philippe Braganca about the dire conditions Brazil is currently facing. Mr. Braganca is a Brazilian citizen-elected Congressmen to the Brazilian House of Representatives. He holds a master's degree in political science from Stanford University. It is with concern that this letter is published regarding the unprecedented political challenges that many free nations are facing at this moment in history. The forces that seek to subvert the social and political order are the same in every western democratic country. Should anyone doubt this danger, history is unequivocal regarding the certainty of the outcome, from Bolshevik Russia to Chavez's Venezuela, the list is long. But even lesser-known examples, such as Brazil, should serve as a stark reminder of the cloaked threats posed by the modern left, and why educated observers throughout the world quietly pray that America rejects their false narrative. The Brazilian 2018 general elections ushered in a new popular conservative government in opposition to the social, political and economic failure of progressive/socialist policies, and accompanying widespread corruption scandals that dominated Brazil for the previous 30 years. However, the transition to the new political agenda has been challenging. Brazilian government suffers constant overreach from an activist far-left judiciary bent on impeding the advancement of the duly-elected government's agenda. And, unfortunately, unlike in the USA, Brazil's constitution does not protect the executive or legislative branches from this abuse of power. Brazil's current body of judicial ministers is predominantly socialist. Most of them were nominated by past left-wing presidents. Story continues Unchecked, the Brazilian judiciary has abused its power by interpreting laws so broadly as to defy our written constitution. A chilling example of this judicial abuse of power is the recent rash of illegal searches, seizures and arrests conducted by direct order of the judiciary, without cause or due process, against various conservative members of congress, political activists and journalists. The elected government can do little to protect citizens against these actions as the federal police, by law, are required to obey orders from the judiciary even if they have been issued without appropriate checks and balances. Much of what the socialist movement in America demands, we in Brazil have been suffering under for decades. Regardless of the nirvana that is promised, the resulting reality is corruption, high taxes, inefficient public services, restrictions on individual rights, economic instability and the creation of bureaucratic elites that concentrate power and resources, making it almost impossible to rid of their abuse once in power. May this letter heighten the awareness of US citizens as to what is at stake. The United States' Constitution is a blessing to its citizens allowing them to stand free and protected from the tyranny of any sort of government overreach. Americans successfully defending against these challenges will inspire citizens around the world to continue to hope that one day they might achieve the same for themselves. Respectfully, a concerned Brazilian Citizen, Luiz Philippe Braganca Related Files PPI_LPOB_July4_Letter__20200704.pdf Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-attack-against-democracy-in-the-american-continents-301088200.html SOURCE Pan-American Prosperity Institute Last week, automakers unveiled second-quarter 2020 sales reports. Sagging showroom traffic amid the coronavirus rampage resulted in a sharp drop in sales during second-quarter 2020. Lush incentives and easy financing terms failed to beat the coronavirus blues. Fleet sales to rental car companies, corporations and government agencies have been hit hard, and recovery is expected to be slow as corporate customers are resorting to cost cuts. Detroit Big 3 carmakers including General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler reported a year-over-year sales decline of 34%, 33.3% and 39%, respectively, on a volume basis. Japan-based auto bigwigs Toyota, Honda and Nissan recorded a year-over-year plunge of 34.6%, 15.5% and 49.5%, respectively. Vehicle sales of German auto giants including Volkswagen and BMW AG fell 29% and 40%, respectively, during second-quarter 2020. China based-EV maker was a major outlier. NIO delivered 10,331 vehicles in the second quarter that exceeded the firms guidance and increased 191% from a year ago. Red-hot U.S. EV maker Teslas TSLA second-quarter vehicle deliveries handily surpassed analysts estimates. Tesla delivered a total of 90,650 vehicles, which comprised 10,600 Model S/X and 80,050 Model 3/Y vehicles. (Read the Last Auto Stock Roundup here) Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories General Motors GM announced that its subsidiary GM Defense (GMD) has secured a firm-fixed-price contract worth $222.9 million combined to manufacture the firms infantry squad vehicle offering and facilitate initial deliveries of the platform to the U.S. Army. GMD confirmed that the contract is for the first batch of 649 such vehicles, while the total authorized target for the next decade is for 2,065 vehicles. Distribution of the first 649 vehicles will occur over the next five years and 1,070 in the next eight years. Under the first contract, GMD will conduct work through Jun 24, 2028 and the second through Jun 24, 2021. Story continues NIO Inc. NIO announced that its strategic investors have completed the first two installments of cash injections for NIO Anhui. The investor group has pledged a cumulative contribution of 7 billion yuan in five installments, with 3.5 billion yuan to be paid in the first installment, 1.5 billion yuan in the second installment on or before Jun 30, 2020, 1 billion yuan in the third installment on or before Sep 30, 2020, 500 million yuan in the fourth installment on or before Dec 31, 2020, and 500 million yuan in the fifth installment on or before Mar 31, 2021. Ford F is collaborating with Disney to launch Bronco 4x4 SUVs across its media networks on Jul 13, marking the first-ever prime-time product reveal through the latters broadcast, cable, Internet and online platforms including ABC, ESPN, National Geographic and Hulu. Custom three-minute videos are planned for each network and two- and four-door Bronco models, as well as a smaller Crossover named the Bronco Sport will likely debut. Ford originally intended to showcase the all-new Bronco at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in June, which was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Nissan NSANY plans to develop seven new vehicles in Africa in the next two years. In Africa, Nissan will expand the SUV (sports utility vehicles) and cross-over portfolio with seven new models, four of which will be in the SUV category. It plans to make Africa a hub for light commercial vehicles (LCVs), open plants in Ghana and Kenya, as well as increase the production of its popular Navara pick-ups. The investment in Navara is projected to generate 400 new positions at Nissan SA and another 800 at components suppliers. Price Performance The following table shows the price movement of some of the major auto players over the past week and six-month period. In the past week, Tesla has gained the most, while Harley-Davidson has registered the maximum decline. In the past six months, all stocks apart from Tesla and AutoZone have declined. Whats Next in the Auto Space? Watch out for usual news releases and further updates on the COVID-19 pandemics impacts on the auto sector. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report NIO Inc. (NIO) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The works ministry has signed an agreement with Bahrain Polytechnic to develop a training programme for building requirements in the kingdom according to the unified guide to building permits requirements, reported BNA. The deal is aimed at developing the policies that will enhance system development and building permits requirements through cooperation projects and practical training, stated the report citing the Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam bin Abdullah Khalaf. Bahrain Polytechnic Chairman Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa expressed delight on signing the memo with the ministry to provide students with the needed skills for the field. The cooperation with a professional public institution, like the Works Ministry, will groom Bahrain Polytechnic students in that field, it added. Clients of the management and technology consultancy accelerate digitalization and automate processes to respond to the new needs in the new normal Management and technology consultancy BearingPoint announced today that it is helping its government and public sector clients across Europe to deliver critical health and public services during the Covid-19 pandemic through new delivery models, new ways of working, digitalization, and automation. "BearingPoints organization as a single, European-based business has meant we have been able to draw on capabilities, leading practices and learnings from across our government and public sector clients and teams in many different countries. Working remotely and in partnership with our clients, we have quickly mobilized resources to design and deliver solutions to support both the public services needed during Covid-19 and the new ways of working for public servants," said Andrew Montgomery, Partner and Global Leader Government and Public Sector at BearingPoint. New delivery models and services Peoples health and well-being during the Covid-19 crisis have required public services to rapidly scale-up, reconfigure, and deliver their services in different ways. For several of BearingPoints healthcare clients in Ireland, France and Sweden, the need to respond effectively to the pandemic necessitated new and accelerated patient journeys. For example, BearingPoint helped with setting up a temporary Covid-19 hospital in Stockholm for 600 patients, including the planning and managing of patient flow and hospital beds as well as a new organizational system. BearingPoint also enabled a leading tele-health provider to rapidly deploy a home monitoring solution and launch a Corona Virus Insight (CVI) service that uses devices to monitor locations of people with symptoms. In Ireland, BearingPoint supported the government in managing the consular cases for citizens stranded abroad. Operational planning and new ways of working for public servants Story continues The unprecedented changes to the demands for their services have required many public sector organizations to reexamine how they plan and respond to unforeseen events. BearingPoint has supported its clients with the rapid revision of operational plans, including developing dashboards, advanced analytics, and other planning tools. These have helped prioritize work, optimize the use of resources, and maintain service quality. BearingPoint is currently developing a new prototype of the proven Benson model to assist clients in the UK with operational planning of community health services. In Germany and France, BearingPoint has been supporting government clients with the implementation and revision of their business continuity and crisis management plans. With the need to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances on projects, BearingPoint has also supported public sector organizations in the transition to remote and agile project management approaches, new ways of working, and the use of new collaboration tools for staff. Acceleration of digital services The crisis has led to an acceleration of digitalization initiatives as well as the rapid development and introduction of new online and mobile services. BearingPoint has been working with clients across Europe to build and accelerate the transition to digital services in areas such as social services, citizen information, passport and driving license services. In Germany and France, BearingPoint has been supporting education providers in their transition to home schooling and the planning of the next academic year. BearingPoint is also improving their overall digital maturity. For a major provider of public services to vulnerable groups in the UK, BearingPoint is supporting them in assessing how digitally-enabled solutions can better connect and engage their customers. Rapid deployment of process automation solutions Many public sector organizations have quickly implemented new technologies to respond to increased business volumes by automating processes, reorganizing and redeploying their resources, and have introduced enabling technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI). In Ireland, BearingPoint rapidly developed and deployed a new end-to-end solution to support applications for the Pandemic Unemployment Benefit for citizens using a new online service and enabled by RPA technology, making payments to close to 600,000 individuals by the end of April. In Germany, BearingPoint built a prototype for the automated evaluation of applications regarding governmental help for small businesses using RPA and AI. About BearingPoint BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy with European roots and a global reach. The company operates in three business units: The first unit covers the advisory business with a clear focus on five key areas to drive growth across all regions. The second unit provides IP-driven managed services beyond SaaS and offers business critical services to its clients supporting their business success. The third unit provides the software for successful digital transformation and regulatory requirements. It is also designed to explore innovative business models with clients and partners by driving the financing and development of start-ups and leveraging ecosystems. BearingPoints clients include many of the worlds leading companies and government organizations. The firm has a global consulting network with more than 10,000 people and supports clients in over 70 countries, engaging with them to achieve measurable and sustainable success. For more information, please visit: Homepage: www.bearingpoint.com Annual Report: https://www.bearingpoint.com/en/about-us/annualreport/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bearingpoint Twitter: @BearingPoint View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005077/en/ Contacts Press contact Alexander Bock Global Manager Communications Telephone: +49 89 540338029 E-Mail: alexander.bock@bearingpoint.com Pasadena, California--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2020) - Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC PINK: BMIX) (the "Company" or "Brazil Minerals") is pleased to announce that it has received initial positive results from certain preliminary, but key, dry magnetic separation tests performed by an independent laboratory with respect to iron samples from a project which the Company has a signed six-month option to acquire (the "Iron Project"). If further studies confirm a specific cost-effective pathway to concentrate iron based on dry magnetic separation, and if all of the necessary regulatory licensing for operations is eventually obtained, the Iron Project could become a producing iron mine. Iron production in Brazil can enjoy high margins and the Company has been looking to enter this endeavor for some time, and in fact the Iron Project negotiations lasted over one year. Iron is sold locally to the Brazilian steel industry, but is also exported; in 2017, Brazil exported over US$20 billion in iron, its second largest export. The Iron Project is located next to a producing iron mine from an unrelated company. The logistics of its location are excellent with paved roads and potential iron buyers nearby. The cost to Brazil Minerals of its acquisition of 100% of the Iron Project from an unrelated individual is payable in installments over two years for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$1 million at the current exchange rate between the Brazilian real and U.S. dollar. The title to the Iron Project would be transferred to the Company after payment of the first tranche of the purchase price, the funds for which have now been secured by Brazil Minerals. A preliminary estimation of the potential mineralization of the specific portion to be mined indicates approximately 6.2 million tons, and mining would be on an open pit method. The highest concentration of iron to date in geochemical studies of samples collected by independent consultants hired by Brazil Minerals has been 46.9%, and the average iron content has been estimated at 38-40%. If further concentration based on dry magnetic separation is confirmed, preliminary calculations from a local technical expert indicate the potential for a profitable operation, possibly with annual net profit of up to US$1 million and mine life between 10 to 20 years, although these predictions may need to be adjusted as more data becomes available. Photos of recent sample retrieval and a detail of an iron sample from the area are attached below. Story continues To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6706/59165_32166289148aab4e_002full.jpg To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6706/59165_32166289148aab4e_003full.jpg About Brazil Minerals, Inc.: Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC PINK: BMIX) has a business model focused on mining specific areas and advancing projects from its portfolio of high-quality mineral rights for transactions leading to royalties and/or equity positions, such as its stake in Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTC PINK: JUPGF). Brazil Minerals, Inc. has projects in iron, lithium, rare earths, titanium, nickel, and placer diamonds and gold. More information on Brazil Minerals is at www.brazil-minerals.com. Follow us on Twitter: @BMIXstock. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are based upon the current plans, estimates and projections of Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward- looking statements. Such statements include, among others, those concerning market and industry segment growth and demand and acceptance of new and existing products; any projections of production, reserves, sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in Brazil, as well as all assumptions, expectations, predictions, intentions or beliefs about future events. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: business conditions in Brazil, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, availability of capital, Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s ability to maintain its competitive position and dependence on key management. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any 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. We advise U.S. investors that Brazil Minerals' (and its subsidiaries') properties and projects, as of now, are exploratory and do not have measured "reserves" as such term is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Brian W. Bernier Head, Corporate Development and Investor Relations (833) 661-7900 info@brazil-minerals.com www.brazil-minerals.com @BMIXstock To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59165 Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), locally known as CVM, has banned crypto exchange Binance from offering derivative products in the country. In an order published on Monday, CVM said derivative contracts are securities, regardless of the underlying assets, and Binance "does not hold authorization" to act as a securities intermediary in Brazil. The order was first reported by CoinTelegraph. "It remains evident that the company Binance Futures, through the webpage 'www.binance.com,' captures customers residing in Brazil with a public offering of derivative intermediation services...; the aforementioned company does not hold authorization from this Securities and Exchange Commission to act as a securities intermediary," the order reads. A Binance spokesperson declined to comment to The Block when reached. The CVM has ordered Binance to "immediately suspend" the direct and indirect broadcasting of such services, including via its website and social media networks. Failing to do so will result in a daily fine of 1,000 Brazilian reals (~$188), per the order. Notably, the order only mentions derivative offerings. It is not clear whether Binance's spot trading platform has also been suspended in Brazil. The CVM's action appears to be the first one regarding crypto derivatives in the country. 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Profit Growth Builders announced an updated range of business marketing consulting services for companies in San Bernardino, Los Angeles and nationwide. LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Profit Growth Builders, a business marketing consulting group based in Lake Arrowhead, California, announced an updated range of services for businesses in San Bernardino, Los Angeles and nationwide. The company works closely with each business owner to help them implement effective changes for sustainable business growth. More details can be found at https://www.profitgrowthbuilders.com. The latest announcement aims to provide small and medium-sized businesses across sectors with a research-based business growth system. The system focuses on profitability and helps owners double the value of their business every twelve months. Depending on the unique goals of each business client, the California business marketing consultants will help them improve their online marketing strategies, find new ways to attract more clients, form a joint venture, and reach any other growth objectives. The end result is a business that is organized more effectively and optimized to respond to the needs of modern consumers. Combined with the implementation of high-efficiency automated marketing strategies, the business strategies allow the owner to have more free time to invest in strategy research or simply enjoy with their friends and family. To ensure high standards of efficiency and client satisfaction, the company offers complete guidance at every step of the way, as well as progress reports to help owners assess the efficiency of their strategies. Developed over more than a decade of extensive research and optimization, the Profit Growth Builders proprietary system has been implemented successfully by thousands of business owners throughout the world. A satisfied client said: "Gregg Kell represented the title of his company in its entirety. His higher level of understanding your vision and reciprocating points of interest, is undeniably life changing. I recommend using Gregg because he doesn't move to the second step until you master the first. Thank you Gregg for being a friend and believing in me and my vision." Story continues With the latest announcement, Profit Growth Builders continues to invest in the development of high-quality business marketing consulting services for businesses across sectors. Interested parties can find more information by visiting the above-mentioned website, as well as at https://www.profitgrowthbuilders.com/contact. Free business consulting sessions and website analysis are available by contacting company owner Gregg Kell at 909.693.3815. Contact Info: Name: Gregg Kell Email: Send Email Organization: Profit Growth Builders Address: 28738 Bryce Drive, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352, United States Phone: +1-909-744-8985 Website: https://profitgrowthbuilders.com/ SOURCE: Profit Growth Builders View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596343/California-Google-Business-Marketing-Consultant-Profit-Growth-Expert-SEO-Ranking VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Canarc Resource Corp. (CCM.TO)(CRCUF)(Frankfurt:CAN) ("Canarc" or the "Company") announces that the Company has signed a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") dated July 6, 2020 with Minkap Resources Inc. ("MinKap") whereby MinKap (KAP) can acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Lightning Tree property (the "Property") located in Lemhi County, Idaho, USA under a definitive option agreement (the "Agreement") from Canarc. Lightning Tree is one of 11 mineral properties in the American Innovative Minerals ("AIM") USA gold package acquired by Canarc in 2017. It is also the fourth AIM property optioned out to third parties wanting to explore and earn interests in Canarc's Nevada/Idaho portfolio. Canarc continues to receive expressions of interest in the remaining 7 AIM USA properties as well as the Corral Canyon project in Nevada. Canarc is focused on creating shareholder value by advancing its attractive Canadian gold projects and acquiring new gold properties with exciting discovery potential. The Company is fully funded to drill its district scale Windfall Hills and Hard Cash gold exploration projects over the next three months. Scott Eldridge, Canarc's CEO, stated: "I look forward to working with Minkap as they conduct exploration on Lightning Tree and the surrounding properties they have optioned from another party. The consolidation of this low sulfidation epithermal gold system represents an exciting exploration opportunity. Lightning Tree hosts historic high grade mine workings but has not to Canarc's knowledge ever seen systematic exploration or been drilled in modern times." "This transaction allows Canarc to realize value on Lightning Tree while we focus on two upcoming drilling campaigns on our large gold properties in Nunavut and British Columbia over the next couple of months. It also makes room in our portfolio for additional strategic gold property acquisitions." Story continues Terms of the Agreement under the LOI: Under the terms of the LOI, MinKap may enter into the Agreement with the Canarc to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Lightning Tree Property by completing, among other things, the following: Issuing Canarc an aggregate 2,500,000 common shares and 2,500,000 common share purchase warrants over 2 years; Paying Canarc C$137,500 in total, including C$12,500 upon receipt of final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange of the Agreement (the "Approval Date"); C$25,000 due on the first anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the second anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the third anniversary from the Approval Date; Spending an aggregate $2,000,000 in exploration over 3 years, commencing on the date MinKap receives an exploration drill permit for the Property (the "Permit Date") Issuing to Canarc a 2.5% net smelter return royalty ("Canarc NSR") in respect of the Property, subject to MinKap retaining an option to acquire 1% of the Canarc NSR for a cash payment of C$1,000,000; Publicly file a mineral resource estimate in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") on the Property within 3 years of the Permit Date; and Pay a one-time bonus payment of C$1.00 per ounce of gold or gold equivalent, up to a maximum of $1,000,000, upon the filing on SEDAR of a NI 43-101 compliant resource of 1,000,000 ounces of gold or gold equivalent on a pro-rate basis between Canarc and an additional vendor. About the Lightning Tree Property, Idaho The property consists of 4 unpatented claims in section 34 of 08/T20N/R18E, 38 km SW of Salmon in Lemhi County, Idaho. The lands are administered by the US Forest Service. The claims lie along the regional, northeast-trending Trans-Challis structural zone and mineral belt adjoining the south side of the Musgrove gold deposit (~300k oz Au @ 1.22 g/t Au, Bravura Ventures), approximately 25 km southwest of Beartrack deposit (~650k oz Au @ 1.02 g/t Au, 1994-2000 production, Meridian Gold) and 70 km northeast of Grouse Creek deposit (~250k oz Au @ 1.44 g/t, Hecla Mining). The property contains northwest-striking epithermal quartz-adularia veins along the Meadows fault zone separating the Apple Creek Formation siltstones to northeast from the Challis volcanics to the southwest. Historic gold production during the 1930's and 1940's came from one adit and at least three other workings that are located on the property. Rock-chip samples previously collected across the old workings in 2010 returned high-grade gold assay results, including 15 g/t Au over 1.7 m. There is no evidence of historic drilling on the claims. "Scott Eldridge" Scott Eldridge, Chief Executive Officer CANARC RESOURCE CORP. About Canarc - Canarc Resource Corp. is a growth-oriented gold exploration company focused on generating superior shareholder returns by discovering, exploring and developing strategic gold deposits in North America. The Company is currently advancing two core assets, each with substantial gold resources, and has initiated a high impact exploration strategy to acquire and explore new properties that have district-scale gold discovery potential. Canarc shares trade on the TSX: CCM and the OTCQX: CRCUF. For More Information - Please contact: Scott Eldridge, CEO Toll Free: 1-877-684-9700 Tel: (604) 685-9700 Cell: (604) 722-5381 Email: scott@canarc.net Website: www.canarc.net Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements contained in this news release that are not historic facts are forward-looking information that involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the future performance of Canarc, and the Company's plans and exploration programs for its mineral properties, including the timing of such plans and programs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "has proven", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "potential", "appears", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "at least", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the Company's ongoing due diligence review in relation to the Acquisition, risks related to the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources; commodity prices; changes in general economic conditions; market sentiment; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to raise funds through equity financings; risks inherent in mineral exploration; risks related to operations in foreign countries; future prices of metals; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; title disputes or claims; limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could affect the Company and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, do not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Canarc Resource Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596248/Canarc-Resource-Corp-Options-Lightning-Tree-Gold-Property-in-Idaho-to-Minkap-Resources-Inc Several courts in China have reportedly adopted blockchain-based electronic seals to monitor and secure sealed properties. The People's Court in Haidian district (Beijing), and various courts in Jiangsu, Hunan, and Jiangxi provinces have used electronic seals, Global Times reported on Sunday, citing a report from Chinacourt.org. Blockchain-based electronic seals help video-surveillance a property in real-time, per the report. If the property is being damaged, the electronic seal will turn on a surveillance camera and send warnings to plaintiffs and law enforcement staff on their mobile phones. The perpetrator's image will also be captured and sent to a relevant platform. The electronic seal also warns the perpetrator, through an automatic voice message, of the legal consequences of an illegal breach of the seal. Electronic seals appear to be the latest blockchain use case for Chinese courts. They have previously utilized the technology to settle millions of litigation activities. China has made great efforts to deploy blockchain technology in various sectors, including banking and trade finance. Last week, Beijing's government announced a plan to become a blockchain hub. The government will also set up a special fund to invest in blockchain projects and support them to become publicly-listed companies. 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. By Jeff Lewis and Melanie Burton TORONTO/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Growing scrutiny by mineral-rich Australia and Canada may cut short a deal frenzy led by China's state miners and limit Beijing's role in gold sector consolidation, bankers and analysts said. Shandong Gold Mining Co and Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd have driven a wave of acquisitions from the Canadian Arctic to South America to West Africa this year. Canada and Australia have recently tightened restrictions on investment by state-backed firms, fearing economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic will make it easier to buy strategic assets. No specific countries have been named under the revised guidelines. "The concerns are almost entirely (with) China," said Gordon Houlden, a former Canadian diplomat with extensive Chinese experience who heads the University of Alberta's China Institute. The restrictions could also dampen appetite for deals in strategic minerals, bankers and analysts said. Chinese companies' bids for Australian lithium companies are facing regulatory pushback while last month China's Goldsea Group abandoned its pursuit of gold miner Alta Metals after Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) sought more time to review the deal. FIRB's decision is "highly disappointing," Graeme Testar, director of PCF Capital Group in Perth, told Reuters. "This is gold, it's not on the critical minerals list." The agency said last month it will screen all deals in which a foreign investor buys an interest in a "sensitive national security business" regardless of value. In April it blocked two investments by Chinese miners into the critical minerals sector, such as lithium and cobalt used in high-tech areas like renewable energy, electric vehicle batteries, and defence. "Australia's foreign investment framework is open, transparent and welcoming. We welcome investment from any country and in any sector of the economy," a spokeswoman for Australia's Treasury Department said. Story continues HURDLES Some bankers are concerned that FIRB could block China's Tianqi Lithium Corp from selling part of its 51% stake in Australia's Greenbushes, the world's largest lithium mine, to a Chinese buyer. "(Chinese buyers) continue to show interest and are willing to face the increased FIRB hurdle," said Sherif Andrawes, BDO's global head of Natural Resources, speaking about the sector in general. "One view is that the extra hurdle for foreign buyers has helped Australian acquirers," he said. Canada cited amplified risks to economic and national security and said all investments by state-owned firms would face enhanced scrutiny. The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, which oversees foreign investment, declined to comment beyond the government's stated policy when contacted by Reuters. China's miners are scouting for deals due to limits on domestic exploration, David Bo, a former manager at Ivanhoe Mines, said. About 60% of the resource-rich Xilingol League in Chinas Inner Mongolia region is off-limits to miners due to environmental protection measures, adding further impetus for Chinese miners to make deals, a Beijing-based mining executive told Reuters. The executive declined to be identified as his firm was in the process of bidding for an overseas asset. Shandong Gold is awaiting approval for its acquisition of Toronto-listed TMAC Resources, which operates a gold mine in the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. TMAC shareholders approved the deal last month. "It's still our hope that Canada will ... provide a fair, just and nondiscriminatory environment for Chinese companies to invest and operate in Canada," Chinese ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu told Reuters in a June 11 interview. But the Arctic location of TMAC's Hope Bay mine could raise concerns, lawyers and security analysts said. There is "a very high chance" Canada blocks the acquisition, said Jonathan Miller, deputy director and a senior fellow at the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Tensions sparked by the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, escalated after Beijing in June charged two detained Canadian citizens with suspected spying. "From that perspective I think it's going to be very challenging," Miller said. (Reporting by Jeff Lewis in Toronto and Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Tom Daly in Beijing and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis) One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Spark New Zealand Limited (NZSE:SPK). Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity. View our latest analysis for Spark New Zealand How Is ROE Calculated? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Spark New Zealand is: 30% = NZ$423m NZ$1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019). The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every NZ$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated NZ$0.30 in profit. Does Spark New Zealand Have A Good Return On Equity? Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Spark New Zealand has a superior ROE than the average (11%) in the Telecom industry. NZSE:SPK Past Revenue and Net Income July 6th 2020 That is a good sign. However, bear in mind that a high ROE doesnt necessarily indicate efficient profit generation. Aside from changes in net income, a high ROE can also be the outcome of high debt relative to equity, which indicates risk. To know the 2 risks we have identified for Spark New Zealand visit our risks dashboard for free. The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won't affect the total equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking. Story continues Combining Spark New Zealand's Debt And Its 30% Return On Equity Spark New Zealand does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 1.20. Its ROE is pretty impressive but, it would have probably been lower without the use of debt. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it. Summary Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. In our books, the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company. But note: Spark New Zealand may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. 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. The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) said it has signed an agreement with the Emirates Society of Inventors (ESI) to collaborate on initiatives that enhance the business environment in Dubai and support local talent. Under this one-year agreement, the DSOA will provide the ESI with a light industrial unit free of cost for the development of two successful inventions. These inventions will be made available to the DSOA, the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus, Dtec, and the start-ups based in the community. In addition, ESI will benefit from preferential rates to any other DSOA facility, stated Ghanim Al Falasi, Senior VP of People Happiness and Innovation at DSOA, after signing the deal with ESI Chairman Engineer Ahmed Abdullah Majan in the presence of Dr Juma Al Matrooshi, Deputy CEO of the DSOA and other senior officials. Moreover, ESI will conduct a minimum of three open-to-public educational seminars in Dtec, and provide mentoring services to companies, students, and the wider DSO community. Furthermore, ESI will offer students of DSO-based schools and university an internship opportunity within their lab, he added. The society highlights the role of inventors in the community and positions them as role models. It works diligently to scout young innovators, develop a national database, and award inventors from across disciplines, as well as support exclusive training and development programmes for talented inventors. Al Falasi said: "The DSOA is continuously on the lookout for local innovative entities to collaborate with in providing support to our entrepreneurial community. Through this agreement with the ESI, we will extend the collaboration across various industries and educational institutions to develop ground-breaking solutions that will benefit the DSOs wider community and enhance the business environment." Majan said Dubai Silicon Oasis was the entrepreneurial hub for technology companies and start-ups. "Its extensive expertise in piloting concepts and serving as a testbed for innovative solutions is key to our lab within their light industrial unit. We are confident in our talents concepts and determined to leverage the DSOAs field know-how to deliver ground-breaking inventions,," he noted. This MoU follows a series of collaborations and agreements that the DSOA has engaged in recently, to boost the professional network available to the DSO and Dtec-based entrepreneurs. "We look forward to an all-round beneficial collaboration and an industry-pioneering result," he added.-TradeArabia News Service LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Currency.com, the regulated crypto assets platform, has received a new distributed ledger technology licence from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). The licence allows the company to use distributed ledger technology for storing or transmitting value belonging to others in connection with the provision of dealer and custody services. This licence provides yet another hallmark of quality for Currency.com, who is already regulated in Belarus under the country's best-in-class legislation for cryptocurrencies, ICOs and smart contracts. "Our operations in Gibraltar are part of our commitment to expanding across the globe, offering a blockchain-backed, highly regulated and secure service designed to give customers the flexibility they've been looking for. The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission is composed of sharp-minded, informed individuals, who are at the forefront of regulating complicated emerging industries. Gibraltar has been working on financial regulation in this area for many years and has a strict application process for crypto companies. Our Gibraltar licence is an important endorsement for the platform and further confirms our adherence to the most stringent standards, providing the highest level of safety and security for our traders," said Jonathan Squires, Currency.com's CEO. About Currency.com Currency.com is the regulated crypto assets platform. It enables crypto-holders to buy and sell popular cryptos as well as trade real-world assets including leading shares, indices, commodities and FX with tokens that mirror the value of the asset. Currency.com is authorised to provide crypto exchange services by Belarus High Tech Park since 2018. Was awarded GFSC DLT Licence in 2020. Currency.com has offices in London, Minsk (Belarus) and Gibraltar. More info on https://currency.com/. About Gibraltar and Blockchain Gibraltar is one of the few jurisdictions to have a regulatory framework designed specifically for the regulation of blockchain businesses. Story continues Already a regulatory leader in online gambling, the government decided in 2014 that it wanted to regulate the blockchain industry and started to work with the private sector to create a principles-based regulatory framework that would be appropriate, not only for cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet service providers, but also businesses that use distributed ledger (blockchain) technology to store or transmit value belonging to others. For more details please contact: media@currency.com. SOURCE: Currency.com View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596279/CurrencyCom-Awarded-Gibraltar-Licence-for-Its-Groundbreaking-Cryptocurrency-Platform VANCOUVER, BC , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - District Metals Corp. (DMX.V) ("District" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has progressed the compilation of historical drill data, and the Leapfrog 3D geological model of the historic Tomtebo Mine located within District's polymetallic Tomtebo Property in the Bergslagen Mining District of south-central Sweden. In partnership with EMX Royalty Corp. (EMX.V), this work represents an important development for the Tomtebo Property that has never been previously conducted, and has already identified exceptional drill ready targets. Historic drill highlights from the Oscarsgruvan zone at the Tomtebo Mine show significant polymetallic mineralization at shallow depths (within 200 m from surface) that is open along strike and at depth. These historic highlights are from drilling campaigns by Stora AB from 1916 to 1972. Oscarsgruvan Historic Drill Highlights The Oscarsgruvan zone is situated at the north end of the Tomtebo Mine, and is dominated by silver-zinc-lead mineralization with lesser copper-gold mineralization. The holes highlighted below show strong mineralization associated with semi-massive and massive sulphides over a dip extent of 200 m and strike extent of 170 m that remains open. Hole TOMT65001 was drilled from surface and intersected 4.67 m at 1,087.0 g/t AgEq 1 or 28.0% ZnEq 2 (113.90 to 118.57 m ) at the north end of the Tomtebo Mine, which remains open along dip and strike. Hole TOMT65002 was drilled from surface and intersected 4.45 m at 665.3 g/t AgEq 1 or 17.2% ZnEq 2 (116.35 to 120.80 m ) approximately 170 m east of TOMT65001, which remains open along dip and strike. Hole TOMT72005 was drilled upwards from the -200 m level and intersected 2.02 m at 746.3 g/t AgEq 1 or 19.3% ZnEq 2 (31.34 to 33.36 m ), and 8.12 m at 503.3 g/t AgEq 1 or 13.0% ZnEq 2 (35.33 to 43.45 m ) approximately 45 m down-dip from TOMT65001, which remains open along dip and strike. Hole TOMT70016 was drilled horizontally from the -200 m level and intersected 4.76 m at 648.1 g/t AgEq 1 or 16.7% ZnEq 2 (20.70 to 25.46 m ), and 13.30 m at 16.2% ZnEq 2 (30.10 to 43.40 m ) approximately 100 m down-dip from TOMT65001, which remains open along dip and strike. Silver and gold assays in the latter interval of hole TOMT70016 are not available. Hole TOMT43002 was drilled from surface and intersected 6.20 m at 16.3% ZnEq2 (41.70 to 47.90 m ) approximately 100 m up-dip from TOMT65001, which remains open along dip and strike. Silver and gold assays for hole TOMT43002 are not available. The historic polymetallic drill results are reported in AgEq and ZnEq due to the high silver and zinc values that are also common throughout the Bergslagen Mining District. In 2019, reported revenue from the nearby Garpenberg Mine was accounted by silver at 30%, zinc at 40%, lead at 20%, and gold-copper at 10%5. Story continues The highlighted historic drill holes are shown on plan map and long section in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. Figure 3 shows the location of the Tomtebo and Trollberget Properties within the Bergslagen Mining District. Table 1 shows individual assay results for silver, gold, copper, zinc, and lead that comprise the AgEq and ZnEq values above. Table 2 shows the production, mineral reserve, and mineral resource tonnage and grade for some of the past and current operating mines in the Bergslagen Mining District. Garrett Ainsworth , CEO of District, commented: "These historic drill intercepts from the Tomtebo Mine show impressive continuity along strike and dip, where strong polymetallic mineralization remains open in all directions. The significant widths and high grade polymetallic mineralization encountered represent immediate drill targets at the north end of the Tomtebo Mine as infill, and step outs along strike and below the -200 m level. Historic drilling results indicate that the Tomtebo Property has excellent potential to host a large mineralized system. Additional historic drilling data will be reported on as it is interpreted, and we look forward to commencing the first ever deep penetrating airborne electromagnetic survey (SkyTEM312 HP) across the Tomtebo Property in July." Background Mining activity at the Tomtebo Mine began in the mid-seventeenth century until the 1900's with available records only showing historic production of 120,000 tonnes averaging 4.4% copper3. No records have been found on the recovery of gold, silver, zinc, and lead from the polymetallic material that was extracted. In the 1960's state-owned Stora AB (mining and forestry focused company) developed a -200 m level exploration drift used for exploration drilling into the early-1970's. According to records obtained from the Swedish Geological Survey, Stora AB was preparing the Tomtebo Mine for production to commence following the closure of the Falun Mine, which is located 25 km to the northwest. The Swedish Government changed Stora AB's mandate to solely focus on its forestry operations, which left the Tomtebo Mine undeveloped. Since Stora AB's ownership of the Tomtebo Mine, several companies have owned at least part of the current Tomtebo Property, but no significant work was conducted. Mining license records indicate that this is the first time the historic Tomtebo and Lovas Mines have been consolidated into a contiguous land package that now covers a 17 km mineralized trend. Recent Exploration The most notable work was completed between 2006 to 2012, consisting of limited geophysical surveys over the Tomtebo Mine that resulted in drilling of 227 m in just two shallow holes. In 2018, EMX Royalty Corp. assayed eight rock grab samples from the Tomtebo Mine dump piles that ranged from 0.16 to 2.97% Cu, 0.07 to 2.45 g/t Au, 0.09 to 20.1% Zn, 0.04 to 10.8% Pb, and 3.1 to 383.0 g/t Ag4. Rock grab samples are selective samples by nature and as such are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted across the Property. In general, elevated gold values are associated with high grade copper related to volcanic massive sulphide feeder style mineralization, and high grade silver values are associated with high grade zinc and lead related to sedimentary exhalative style mineralization. Historical drill hole data, mine plans and sections, and reports on the Tomtebo Mine were obtained from an archive named Arkivcentrum Dalarna located in the town of Falun , which is located 25 km northwest from the Tomtebo Property. Archived data found for the Tomtebo Mine includes a total of 12,277 m in 139 historic holes that were drilled from surface or the -200 m level exploration drift. Only eight drill holes tested beneath the -200 m level with the deepest hole reaching a vertical depth of 342 m from surface, and all holes encountered mineralization. The drill assay results clearly show that polymetallic mineralization is open at depth and along strike. Partial or full assay data is only available from 84 drill holes at the Tomtebo Mine. Partial drill core of 34 drill holes is stored at the national core archive in Mala, Sweden , which has been examined by personnel from District and EMX Royalty Corp. Polymetallic Mines in the Bergslagen Mining District The Bergslagen Mining District is known for very large polymetallic mineralized systems that exhibit volcanic massive sulphide (VMS), sedimentary exhalative (SedEx), and carbonate replacement (CRD) mineralization types (Figure 3 and Table 2). The precious metal content is significant in the Bergslagen with mineralization being either silver-zinc-lead dominant (distal zone) or gold-copper dominant (feeder zone). The Garpenberg Mine, historic Falun Mine, and Zinkgruvan Mine are examples of large mineralized systems in the Bergslagen that share similar geology, structure, alteration, and mineralization styles as information reviewed to date suggests are found on the Tomtebo Property. Boliden's underground Ag-Zn-Pb-Au-Cu Garpenberg Mine is located 25 km to the southeast of the Tomtebo Property where silver-zinc-lead dominant ore is mined 1400 m below surface, and mineral resources extent to a depth of 1600 m that is open. Several mineralized bodies are mined at Garpenberg along a 4.5 km trend. Since Boliden took over the mine in 1957 a total of 54.4 Mt of ore has been processed at grades of 134 g/t Ag, 4.9% Zn, 2.1% Pb, 0.3 g/t Au, and significant unmined reserves and resources remain. In 2019, Boliden processed 2.86 Mt of ore at grades of 118 g/t Ag, 4.1% Zn, 1.5% Pb, and 0.26 g/t Au as per Boliden's Summary Report on Resources and Reserves for Garpenberg in 2019. Zinc accounted for 40% of the revenue with silver at 30%, lead at 20%, and gold-copper at 10%5. Stora AB operated the historic Au-Cu-Ag-Zn-Pb Falun Mine which is located 25 km to the northwest of the Tomtebo Property where gold-copper dominant ore was mined to at least 600 m below surface with mineralization that remains open. The mine was operated from the 10th Century up until 1992, and subsequently became a museum that was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2001. Records indicate that Falun produced at least 28.1 Mt at 2-4% Cu, 2-4 g/t Au, 4% Zn, 1.5% Pb, 13-25 g/t Ag from a combination of open pit and underground workings6. Lundin Mining's underground Ag-Zn-Pb-Au-Cu Zinkgruvan Mine is located 175 km to the southwest of the Tomtebo Property where silver-zinc-lead dominant ore is mined 1300 m below surface, and mineral resources extent to a depth of 1600 m that is open. In the central part of Zinkgruvan, silver-zinc-lead mineralization is stratigraphically underlain by sub-stratiform copper-gold mineralization that is also being mined. Zinkgruvan is divided into two areas that comprise several mineralized bodies that extend for more than 5 km along strike and to depths of 1,600 m . The orebody thickness ranges from 3 to 40 m . Although continuous production has occurred since 1857, records from 1994 indicate that Zinkgruvan has produced 19.3 Mt at 9.9% Zn, 4.0% Pb, and 84 g/t Ag, and from 2010 has produced 0.9 Mt at 2.0% Cu. Significant unmined resources and reserves remain at Zinkgruvan7. Information on the Garpenberg Mine, historic Falun Mine, and Zinkgruvan Mine has not been verified by District and is not necessarily indicative of the grades or tonnages of mineralization on the Company's Tomtebo Property. Next Steps at Tomtebo Property Historical data from the Tomtebo Mine continues to be digitized, compiled and interpreted, and further results will be released as interpretations are completed. A detailed airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey will commence on the Tomtebo Property in July. Any conductive or magnetic high anomalies from the survey will be followed up as promising targets for high grade polymetallic mineralization. Conductive and magnetic high anomalies will be targeted as part of a broader prospecting, mapping, and sampling program in late-August. Detailed work will focus on the historic Tomtebo and Lovas Mines, and the numerous mineral occurrences on the Tomtebo Property. Dr. Rodney Allen, BSc , PhD, from Volcanic Resources has been retained to review all historical data and available drill core along with ongoing exploration data to assist in prioritizing drill targets. Dr. Allen was Manager, Geology Research and Development for the Boliden Group, in Sweden for ten years. Prior to that position, he studied several polymetallic ore deposits in Sweden . His geological interpretations were instrumental in the discovery of new ore bodies at Garpenberg and Renstrom. Figure 1: Plan View of Tomtebo Mine (CNW Group/District Metals Corp.) Figure 2: Long Section Facing South from North End of Tomtebo Mine (CNW Group/District Metals Corp.) Figure 3: Bergslagen Mining District (CNW Group/District Metals Corp.) Table 1: Oscarsgruvan Zone Historical Drill Results Drill Hole Depths and Interval Historical Assay Results Hole ID Azimuth Dip Hole Type From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Ag (g/t) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Zn (%) Pb (%) AgEq (g/t) ZnEq (%) TOMT65001 127 -60 Surface 113.90 118.57 4.67 199.84 0.88 0.25 13.64 6.93 1,086.93 28.03 TOMT65002 167 -65 Surface 116.35 120.80 4.45 195.11 0.55 0.05 7.80 3.00 665.28 17.16 196.80 206.86 10.06 33.50 0.29 0.56 0.15 0.01 127.28 3.28 TOMT72005 216 58 Underground 31.34 33.36 2.02 183.00 0.40 0.10 9.70 3.90 746.31 19.25 35.33 43.45 8.12 87.86 0.57 0.13 5.82 3.33 503.26 12.98 TOMT70016 293 0 Underground 20.70 25.46 4.76 24.00 0.40 0.02 13.72 1.34 648.12 16.72 Underground 30.10 43.40 13.30 na na 0.06 14.39 1.94 na 16.24 TOMT43002 83 -66 Surface 41.70 47.90 6.20 na na 0.19 11.22 5.16 na 16.25 Notes: Table 2: Bergslagen District Mine Tonnage and Grade Mine Tonnage of Production, Reserve, or Resource with Grades Falun Mine6 28.1 Mt Production at 24% Cu, 2-4 g/t Au, 4% Zn, 1.5% Pb, 1325 g/t Ag Garpenberg Mine5 54.4 Mt Production at 134 g/t Ag, 4.9% Zn, 2.1% Pb, 0.3 g/t Au Garpenberg Mine5 74.8 Mt P&P at 96 g/t Ag, 3.1% Zn, 1.4% Pb, 0.3 g/t Au, 0.05% Cu Garpenberg Mine5 44.3 Mt M&I at 90 g/t Ag, 2.8% Zn, 1.3% Pb, 0.4 g/t Au, 0.05% Cu Garpenberg Mine5 24.1 Mt Inferred at 59 g/t Ag, 2.6% Zn, 1.5% Pb, 0.4 g/t Au, 0.07% Cu Tomtebo Mine3 0.12 Mt Production at 4.4% Cu Lovas Mine8 0.33 Mt Production at 3.5% Zn, 2.5% Pb, 30g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 19.3 Mt Production at 9.9% Zn, 4.0% Pb, 84 g/t Ag 0.9 Mt Production at 2.0% Cu Zinkgruvan Mine7 11.9 Mt P&P at 7.9% Zn, 2.9% Pb, 63 g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 5.2 Mt P&P at 1.8% Cu, 0.2% Zn, 26 g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 15.7 Mt M&I at 9.3% Zn, 3.7% Pb, 84 g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 5.0 Mt M&I at 2.3% Cu, 0.3% Zn, 32 g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 9.4 Mt Inferred at 8.5% Zn, 3.5% Pb, 81 g/t Ag Zinkgruvan Mine7 0.2 Mt Inferred at 2.3% Cu, 0.3% Zn, 25 g/t Ag Sala Mine6 5.0 Mt Production at 150-3000 g/t Ag, 12% Zn, 1.5% Pb Stollberg (Gransgruvan Mine)9 6.7 Mt Production at 7.7% Zn, 2.6% Pb, 60 g/t Ag Stollberg (Tvistbo Mine)10 0.58 Mt Production at 3.3% Zn, 2.6%, 22 g/t Ag Saxberget Mine3 6.43 Mt Production at 42.2 g/t Ag, 0.4 g/t Au, 0.9% Cu, 2.2% Pb, 7.1% Zn Lovisagruvan Mine11 1.15 Mt Production at 9.4% Zn, 5.3% Pb, 10-20 g/t Ag Note: The mines within the Bergslagen District provide geologic context for the Tomtebo Property, but this is not necessarily indicative that the Tomtebo Property hosts similar grades or tonnages of mineralization. Information concerning the Falun, Tomtebo, Lovas, Sala, Stollberg, and Saxberget Mines is historic. District has not undertaken any independent investigation to verify the data. District considers this historical information relevant and reliable for the purposes of geological context and the potentially prospective nature of the Bergslagen District. References 1 AgEq equals = Ag g/t + (Au g/t 110) + (Cu% 98.286) + (Zn% 38.857) + (Pb% 34.286). Metal prices used in USD for metal equivalent calculations were based on $15.00 /oz for Ag, $1650 /oz for Au, $2.15 /lb for Cu, $0.85 /lb for Zn and $0.75 /lb for Pb. 2 ZnEq equals = Zn% + (Ag g/t 0.0257) + (Au g/t x 2.831) + (Cu% 2.529) + (Pb% 0.882). Metal prices used in USD for metal equivalent calculations were based on $15.00 /oz for Ag, $1650 /oz for Au, $2.15 /lb for Cu, $0.85 /lb for Zn and $0.75 /lb for Pb. 3 Ed. Eilu, Pasi, 2012, Geological Survey of Finland , Special Paper 53, Metallogenic areas in Sweden , p. 154. 4 Grab rock samples were recovered from the mine dump piles at the historical Tomtebo and Lovas Mines by EMX Royalites Corp. in 2018. The rock samples were sent to ALS Geochemistry Mala, Sweden for preparation, and subsequently pulps were sent to ALS Geochemistry Ireland (an accredited mineral analysis laboratory) for analysis. Samples were analyzed using forty-one element inductively coupled plasma method ("ME-ICP41"). Over limit sample values were re-assayed for: (1) values of copper >1%; (2) values of zinc >1%; (3) values of lead >1%; and (4) values of silver >100 g/t. Samples were re-assayed using the ME-OG62 (high-grade material ICP-AES) analytical package. Gold determinations by this method are semi-quantitative due to the small sample weight used (0.5g). Certified standards and blanks were inserted into the sample shipment to ensure integrity of the assay process. Selected samples were chosen for duplicate assay from the coarse reject and pulps of the original sample. No QA/QC issues were noted with the results reported. 5 Boliden's Summary Report on Resources and Reserves for Garpenberg in 2019 - https://www.boliden.com/globalassets/operations/exploration/mineral-resources-and-mineral-reserves-pdf/2019/resources_and_reserves_garpenberg_2019-12-31.pdf contains the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the mineral resource and reserve estimates contained herein in respect of the Garpenberg Mine. 6 Allen, R.L., Lundstrom, I., Ripa, M., and Christofferson, H., 1996, Facies analysis of a 1.9 Ga, continental margin, back-arc, felsic caldera province with diverse Zn-Pb-Ag-(Cu-Au) sulfide and Fe oxide deposits, Bergslagen region, Sweden : Economic Geology, v. 91, p. 9791008. 7 Daffern, T., Ellis, R., King , P., Richardson , S., Glucksman, E., Beveridge, A., 2017, Wardell Armstrong International, NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Zinkgruvan Mine, Sweden . 8 Geological Survey of Sweden report grb_097, 1997. 9 Raat, H., Jansson, N.F., and Lundstam, E., 2013, The Gransgruvan Zn-Pb-Ag deposit, an outsider in the Stollberg ore field, Bergslagen, Sweden : Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, Biennial Meeting, 12th, Uppsala, Sweden , August 1215, 2013, Proceedings, p. 1215. 10 Kopparberg Mineral (unpub. annual report, 2012). 11 Jansson, N.F., Sadbom, S, Allen, R.L, Billstrom, K, Spry, P.G., 2018, The Lovisa Stratiform Zn-Pb Deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden : Structure, Stratigraphy, and Ore Genesis: Economic Geology (2018) 113 (3): 699739. Technical Information All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by, or approved by Garrett Ainsworth, PGeo, President and CEO of the Company. Mr. Ainsworth is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Ainsworth has not verified any of the information regarding any of the properties or projects referred to herein other than the Tomtebo and Trollberget Properties. Mineralization on any other properties referred to herein is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Tomtebo and Trollberget Properties. The data disclosed in this news release related to drilling results is historical in nature. District has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. District considers these historical drill results relevant as the Company will use this data as a guide to plan future exploration programs. The Company's future exploration work will include verification of the data through drilling. About District Metals Corp. District Metals Corp. is led by industry professionals with a track record of success in the mining industry. The Company's mandate is to seek out, explore, and develop prospective mineral properties through a disciplined science-based approach to create shareholder value and benefit other stakeholders. The advanced exploration stage Tomtebo Property is located in the Bergslagen Mining District of south-central Sweden is the Company's main focus. Tomtebo comprises 5,144 ha, and is situated between the historic Falun Mine and Boliden's Garpenberg Mine that are located 25 km to the northwest and southeast, respectively. Two historic polymetallic mines and numerous polymetallic showings are located on the Tomtebo Property along an approximate 17 km trend that exhibits similar geology, structure, alteration and VMS/SedEx style mineralization as other significant mines within the district. Mineralization that is open at depth and along strike at the historic mines on the Tomtebo Property has not been followed up on, and modern systematic exploration has never been conducted on the Property. On Behalf of the Board of Directors " Garrett Ainsworth " President and Chief Executive Officer 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. Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information. This news release contains certain statements that may be considered "forward-looking statements" with respect to District Metals Corp. ("District" or the "Company") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, predictions, indications, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. Forward-looking statements relating to District include, among other things, statements relating to District's planned exploration activities. These statements and other forward-looking information are based on opinions, assumptions and estimates made by District in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, as of the date of this news release, including, without limitation, assumptions about the reliability of historical data and the accuracy of publicly reported information regarding past and historic mines in the Bergslagen District ; the Company's ability to raise sufficient capital to fund planned exploration activities, maintain corporate capacity and satisfy the exploration expenditure requirements required by the definitive purchase agreement between the Company and the vendor of the Tomtebo property (the "Definitive Purchase Agreement")by the times specified therein (failing which the Tomtebo Property will be forfeited without any repayment to the Company); and stability in financial and capital markets. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by District as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the following factors; the risk that historic data regarding the Tomtebo property is unreliable, the risk that information concerning production and mineralization at current and historic mines within the Bergslagen District proves to be inaccurate; the risk that the Company will be unable to raise sufficient capital to finance planned exploration (including incurring prescribed exploration expenditures required by the Definitive Purchase Agreement, failing which the Tomtebo Property will be forfeited without any repayment of the purchase price); ; risks related to management and conflicts of interest; fluctuations in demand for, and prices of gold, silver and copper; inherent risks of exploration for mineral deposits, including that commercial quantities or grades of minerals may not be discovered; risks associated with the uncertainty of estimates of mineral resources governmental regulations, particularly those applicable to the mineral exploration and development industry; environmental laws and regulations and associated risks, including climate change legislation; land reclamation requirements; the ability to obtain and maintain necessary rights, concessions and permits; risks of operating in a foreign jurisdiction and through foreign subsidiaries; a dependence on ability to attract and retain qualified management; limitations of insurance and uninsured risks; public social activism against companies undertaking natural resource development; risks associated with First Nations relations; competition; legal proceedings and the enforceability of judgments; anti-corruption and bribery regulations;; market events and general economic conditions globally; and currency exchange rate risks. These factors and assumptions are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors and assumptions that could affect District. These factors and assumptions, however, should be considered carefully. Although the Company has attempted to identify factors that would cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Also, many of such factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information. District Metals Corp. Logo (CNW Group/District Metals Corp.) SOURCE District Metals Corp. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/06/c7565.html Dr. Bonnie Henry officially launches the future Coast Guard vessel CCGS John Cabot at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver Dr. Bonnie Henry officially launches the future Coast Guard vessel CCGS John Cabot at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver Canada NewsWire NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, July 6, 2020 Third Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel built at Seaspan Shipyards enters the water at 97% complete, exceeding international benchmarks for completion at launch and reflecting exceptional and innovative shipbuilding during global pandemic. NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, July 6, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - On Friday, July 3, under strict COVID-19 public health requirements and protocols, Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer, joined a small number of Seaspan Shipyards employees and special guests to break the customary bottle of champagne against the bow of the future CCGS John Cabot, officially launching the third state-of-the-art Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV) for the Canadian Coast Guard. The July launch of the future CCGS John Cabot is a particularly impressive achievement given that construction was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seaspan Shipyards significantly adapted its normal operations to continue building the ship while ensuring the health and well-being of employees, customers, partners and the community. The traditional public celebration was scaled back to a skeleton launch party including Dr. Henry, Tsleil-Waututh elder Margaret George, representatives from the Canadian Coast Guard, and the handful of employees needed to launch the vessel. Dr. Henry, who began her career as a medical officer with the Royal Canadian Navy, was invited by Seaspan to officially launch the vessel in recognition of her exceptional leadership and tireless efforts to keep British Columbians safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and to slow the spread of the virus in Canada. Video of Dr. Henry officially launching the ship, along with special messages from several government representatives and the Canadian Coast Guard, was released today. Story continues More than 1,200 Seaspan Shipyards employees and more than 400 Canadian small and medium-sized companies and their thousands of employees across the country contributed to the construction of this world-class vessel, which entered the water on July 3 at 97% complete, a rare accomplishment and a high-water mark for the best shipbuilders in the world. The CCGS John Cabot, the CCGS Capt Jacques Cartier and the CCGS Sir John Franklin are the first class of ships built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), the Government of Canada's strategy to renew the fleets of the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy. Two ships have been delivered and the third launched from Seaspan's Vancouver shipyard in just 13 months. Consistent with the social and economic objectives of the NSS, Seaspan Shipyards has become a growing economic engine for the domestic marine industry. With more than $1.5 billion contributed to date to Canada's GDP (Source: Deloitte Socio-economic Impact Study, February 2020), Seaspan Shipyards is rebuilding a marine industrial sector on Canada's West Coast and generating economic impact across Canada through job creation and contracts with hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses. As a result of the NSS, Seaspan Shipyards has become one of the most modern shipyards in North America, with a skilled 2,700-person shipbuilding team and the shipyard capacity and purpose-built infrastructure to deliver Canada's non-combat fleet. QUOTES "Congratulations to Seaspan on the launch of the future CCGS John Cabot, the third Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard. Today's launch marks an important milestone in the renewal of our Coast Guard fleet. Together, we're ensuring that Canada has the ships we need to continue to keep mariners safe, protect our marine environment and provide a state-of-the-art platform for critical scientific research." The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard "This is a critical step and milestone in the process of delivering this vessel to the Canadian Coast Guard. The three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels, which were specifically designed and built in British Columbia, will enable Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard to continue conducting and supporting critically important scientific and research work, including gaining more data on the impacts of climate change on our waters and marine environments." The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement "The Seaspan Shipyards team is incredibly proud to launch the future CCGS John Cabot, our third Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel. It is a great honour to have such an exceptional leader as Dr. Bonnie Henry help launch this ship. Her leadership and clarity gave us the confidence, in an unprecedented climate, to continue our operations safely, which led to today's successful launch." Mark Lamarre, Chief Executive Officer, Seaspan Shipyards "It is an honour to be part of the launch of the CCGS John Cabot Canadian Coast Guard vessel, on which important research to protect our oceans will be undertaken for many years to come. For the Seaspan team to complete the construction in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all protective measures in place, is a testament to how British Columbians have done all they can to protect our province, while working to keep many important aspects of our economy going." Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, Province of British Columbia Quick Facts: CCGS John Cabot Measuring 63.4 metres, the CCGS John Cabot will be one of the most advanced and capable ships of its size and type in the world. CCGS John Cabot is the third Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV) built and launched by Seaspan Shipyards under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Her sister ships, the CCGS Sir John Franklin , now stationed in Victoria, British Columbia, and the CCGS Capt Jacques Cartier , stationed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, are already in service. Following sea trials and upon delivery to the Coast Guard, anticipated later this summer, the CCGS John Cabot will be based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The OFSV is fully equipped to support Fisheries and Oceans scientists in the collection and analysis of data on Canada's marine ecosystems and the impacts of climate change. This floating laboratory features a full suite of state-of-the-art systems, including a deployable sensor-laden drop keel, high-tech fishing trawls and four science labs a wet lab, a dry lab, an ocean lab and a control lab. The OFSVs support scientific research through work such as: The OFSVs, although primarily focused on science and research, also have the capability to support search and rescue, and environmental response and operations as required. ASSOCIATED LINKS National Shipbuilding Strategy Seaspan Shipyards Seaspan NSS Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: @MoreThanShips LinkedIn: Seaspan ULC Instagram: @SeaspanULC ABOUT SEASPAN SHIPYARDS Seaspan Shipyards is a leader in Canada's shipbuilding and ship repair industry. With modern facilities and a dedicated workforce of 2,700 in North Vancouver and Victoria, the company has proven itself to be a trusted partner on a range of complex projects for both government and the private sector. Seaspan Shipyards is proud to be Canada's chosen non-combat shipbuilder under the NSS. In this capacity, the company is building state-of-the-art ships in Canada for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy. Through its NSS-related work, Seaspan Shipyards is creating jobs, generating economic benefits and rebuilding Canada's shipbuilding and marine industries. SOURCE Seaspan Shipyards SHORT HILLS, N.J., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. ("Dun & Bradstreet") (NYSE: DNB) today announced the closing of its previously announced initial public offering of 90,047,612 shares of common stock, which includes 11,745,340 shares of common stock issued pursuant to the exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares in full. The offering was priced at $22.00 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of $2,381,047,464 when combined with the $400,000,000 aggregate proceeds from the concurrent private placement and before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet's shares of common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DNB" on July 1, 2020. Following the closing of the offering and concurrent private placement, Dun & Bradstreet used a portion of the net proceeds therefrom to redeem all of its outstanding Series A Preferred Stock and repay a portion of its 10.250% Senior Unsecured Notes outstanding due 2027. Dun & Bradstreet intends to use the remaining net proceeds as set forth in the prospectus relating to the initial public offering. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan and Barclays acted as joint lead book running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets, Wells Fargo Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities, BMO Capital Markets, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and TD Securities also acted as book-running managers for the offering. William Blair, Raymond James, Stephens Inc., Academy Securities and Loop Capital Markets acted as co-managers for the offering. A registration statement relating to the offering was declared effective by the Securities Exchange Commission on June 30, 2020. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from: Story continues Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, via telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or via email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; BofA Securities, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, attention: Prospectus Department, or via email: dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at 866-803-9204, or by email at prospectus-eq_fi@jpmorganchase.com; or Barclays Capital Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (888) 603-5847, or by email at barclaysprospectus@broadridge.com. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved the contents of this press release. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of 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. About Dun & Bradstreet Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, enables companies around the world to improve their business performance. Dun & Bradstreet's Data Cloud fuels solutions and delivers insights that empower customers to accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk, and transform their businesses. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity. Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements concerning the conditions of our industry and our operations, performance and financial condition, including in particular, statements relating to our business, growth strategies, product development efforts and future expenses. All statements regarding the Company other than statements of historical fact or relating to present facts or current conditions included in this Press Release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects" and similar references to future periods, or by the inclusion of forecasts or projections. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements we make regarding the outlook for our future business and financial performance. Forward-looking statements in this Press Release are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include the following: an outbreak of disease, global or localized health pandemic or epidemic, or the fear of such an event (such as the COVID-19 global pandemic), including the global economic uncertainty and measures taken in response; the short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, including the pace of recovery or any future resurgence; our ability to implement and execute our strategic plans to transform the business; our ability to develop or sell solutions in a timely manner or maintain client relationships; competition for our solutions; harm to our brand and reputation; unfavorable global economic conditions; risks associated with operating and expanding internationally; failure to prevent cybersecurity incidents or the perception that confidential information is not secure; failure in the integrity of our data or the systems; experiencing system failures and personnel disruptions, which could delay the delivery of our solutions to our clients; losing access to data sources; failure of our software vendors and network and cloud providers to perform as expected or if our relationship is terminated; loss or diminution of one or more of our key clients, business partners or government contracts; dependence on strategic alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions to grow our business; our ability to protect our intellectual property adequately or cost-effectively; claims for intellectual property infringement; interruptions, delays or outages to subscription or payment processing platforms; risks related to acquiring and integrating businesses and divestitures of existing businesses; ability to retain members of the senior leadership team and attract and retain skilled employees; and compliance with governmental laws and regulations. Additional factors or events that could cause our actual performance to differ from these forward-looking statements may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. These factors include but are not limited to those described under "Risk Factors" in Dun & Bradstreet's registration statement relating to the offering. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, our actual financial condition, results of operations, future performance and business may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this Press Release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. The underwriters and their affiliates (collectively, the "Underwriters") have not conducted any investigation with respect to the information in this Press Release, and the Underwriters and the Company expressly disclaim any and all liability for representations, expressed or implied, contained in, or for omissions from, this Press Release or any other written or oral communication transmitted to any interested party in the course of its evaluation of the Company. Only those particular representations and warranties that may be made by the Company in a definitive written agreement, when and if one is executed, and subject to such limitations and restrictions as may be specified in such agreement, shall have any legal effect. Certain information contained in this Press Release has been obtained from sources outside of the Company. While such information is believed to be reliable for the purposes used herein, neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, directors, officers, members, employees, agents or advisors assume any responsibility for the accuracy of such information. For more information, contact: Media Contact: Lisette Kwong 973-921-6263 KwongL@dnb.com Investor Contact: Debra McCann IR@dnb.com Dun & Bradstreet Logo Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dun--bradstreet-announces-closing-of-its-initial-public-offering-and-exercise-in-full-of-option-to-purchase-additional-shares-301088657.html SOURCE Dun & Bradstreet * Colombian peso at near 1-month high * Chile's peso supported by copper prices * Argentine risk index falls after new bond plan By Ambar Warrick July 6 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies and stocks strengthened on Monday as strong economic data through last week spurred sustained bets on a swift post-coronavirus recovery. Risk appetite was bolstered by a rally in Chinese equities and the yuan, with the latter touching a 3-1/2 month peak amid improving economic readings in the world's second-largest economy. Chile's peso was among the best-performing currencies in the region, as the prices of copper, the country's largest export, surged on the prospect of improving Chinese demand. Copper prices had also risen on concerns over disruptions to Chilean supply by the COVID-19 pandemic. "With LatAm becoming the global epicenter for Covid-19 cases, the supply narrative has grown louder of late, as the market recognizes that multinational miners may continue to enforce social distancing practices that could hamper current or future output until the contagion is clearly remedied," analysts at TD Securities wrote in a note. Chilean stocks rose 2.3% to a four-month high, outperforming regional peers, while the MSCI's index of Latam equities added more than 2%. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday announced a $1.5 billion package of measures to help keep the countrys ailing middle class afloat as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the economy. Economic recovery in China also stands to benefit Latin American markets, given their large agriculture and basic resources exports to the country. Oil-sensitive currencies of Mexico and Colombia extended gains from the prior week, underpinned by recent strength in the crude market. Colombia's peso was near a one-month high, while the Mexican peso scaled a more-than two-week peak. Brazil's real rose 0.2%, while Brazilian stocks added about 2%, touching their highest level since early March. Still, spiking coronavirus cases across Latin America prompted some caution, with the number only set to grow as economies in the region slowly scale back lockdown measures. Argentina's peso was muted. The country's risk index fell after the government unveiled an improved debt restructuring offer to creditors. Argentina set a deadline of August 4 for creditors to accept the new deal, which increases coupons and includes a bond to account for accrued interest on the treasuries covered by the pact. Argentine risk assets had lagged over the past week due to uncertainty surrounding any deal. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1060.69 2.67 MSCI LatAm 1997.88 2.35 Brazil Bovespa 98733.23 2.03 Mexico IPC 38053.51 0.27 Chile IPSA 4297.95 2.28 Argentina MerVal - - Colombia COLCAP 1132.65 0.66 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.3056 0.22 Mexico peso 22.2475 0.65 Chile peso 797.4 0.63 Colombia peso 3625.93 0.50 Peru sol 3.5348 0.11 Argentina peso 70.8100 -0.24 (interbank) (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler) BANGKOK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant impact on people all over the world for an uncertain period. While governments around the world urgently take actions to mitigate various impacts from the pandemic, the increasing gap in education seems to be one of the major issues that is ignored. The inequity education tends to intensify since children and adolescences over 90% across the globe have to be temporarily out of the education system. Equitable Education Conference 2020 The Equitable Education Fund collaborates with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Ministry of Interior, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Bank, Global Partnership for Education, Save the children UNESCO and alliance partners to hold an international conference on equity education: ALL FOR EDUCATION during 10th-11th July 2020 via online channel. According to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), there are around 263 million children out of the school system currently. Meanwhile, the educational reformers and academic researchers around the world assess that the inequality in education will become even more severe after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis as many more millions of children are at risk of dropping out from the education system. The conference is honored by the presence of more than 60 notably reformers and education leaders from 14 countries such as Amartya Sen, the Noble Prize laureate economist; Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), whose organization aims to reduce the inequality in education over 68 developing countries, Andreas Schleicher, the founder and behind-the-scenes operator for the Program using for International Student Assessment or PISA. The conference is also attended by one representative who is the great leader in Asian teacher developments from Singapore as well as one of the world top educators from Finland. All representatives will participate in the conference in order to seek solutions in educational inequality during COVID-19 crisis together. On this occasion, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will graciously preside over the opening ceremony and deliver the keynote speech on "Four Decades of Working in Education and Disadvantage Children Life's Development". Story continues For those who are interested, please register your online attendance for free at https://bit.ly/EquitableEducationConference2020 or http://afe2020.eef.or.th/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200703/2848365-1 SOURCE EEF-Equitable Education Fund Ducab Group, one of the UAEs largest manufacturing businesses, has announced the opening of its new 2MWp (megawatt peak) solar plant at its head office site in Jebel Ali, Dubai. With the official inauguration of the project, developed in partnership with Etihad Energy Service Company (Etihad Esco), Ducab has taken a significant step towards increasing its sustainability, in alignment with the UAEs ambitions to harness the potential of solar power. The opening was attended by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing ditector and CEO of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and Dr Ahmad bin Hassan Al Shaikh, Chairman, Ducab, besides the board members and senior officials from both parties. Comprising both rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV, the combined plant can produce 3.5 GWH (gigawatt hours) annually, which is enough to meet the energy needs of 500 homes, or sufficient enough to run the Ducab PVC plant on site. Energy generated by Ducabs solar plant will lead to savings of approximately 660 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide equivalent to the quantity of carbon dioxide processed by 40,000 trees over 10 years. On the new project, Al Tayer said: "I am pleased to commission Ducabs photovoltaic solar plant. It also underlines Ducabs role as a leading organisation that supports the vision of our wise leadership to reduce carbon emissions, and the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world and provide 75 percent of Dubais total power output from clean energy sources by 2050." "Dewa also encourages individuals and organisations to install solar photovoltaic solar systems in buildings as part of the Shams Dubai initiative, which supports the Smart Dubai initiative to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world," he stated. According to Dr Al Shaikh, Ducab solar plant represents its continued efforts towards making business more sustainable, in line with the vision of the UAEs leadership and its commitment towards the environment. "Both Dewa and Etihad Esco have played a key role in making this project a reality, which will lead to considerable emissions savings, as well as valuable financial savings," he stated. "Designed to last the 25-year design life, over 150 km of Ducabs specialist UL certified SolarBICC range of wires has been supplied for the solar plant, that also includes 300 sq.mm low voltage copper cables which have been an integral part of this power plant construction," he added. The Jebel Ali project utilises the latest smart technology applications including Dewa Smart Metering, remote monitoring of power output using a web or mobile app, and automated self-cleaning solar panels using solar-powered cleaning robots.-TradeArabia News Service (Bloomberg Opinion) -- It doesnt take much imagination to see the Federal Reserve supporting the stock price of Apple Inc. The central banks Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility recently released details about its Broad Market Index, which is a roadmap for which individual bonds it will buy for its portfolio after changing the rules to avoid forcing issuers to certify theyre in compliance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Just looking at the 13 companies with weightings of at least 1%,(2)which collectively make up almost one-fifth of the index, a few things stand out. First, there are six automobile companies, with subsidiaries of Japans Toyota Motor Corp. and Germanys Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG as the three largest issuers overall. In fourth is AT&T Inc., the largest nonfinancial borrower due in no small part to its $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc. Then theres Apple. As a reminder, its the largest U.S. company by market capitalization at $1.57 trillion, edging out Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. Its shares have easily rebounded from the selloff caused by the coronavirus pandemic, rallying 24% so far in 2020. Yes, Apple has about $100 billion of debt outstanding, but its also known for having one of the largest cash piles in the world. Its so big, in fact, that the company could repay all its obligations and still have roughly $83 billion left over. With so much cash, that naturally raises the question: Why does Apple take on debt in the first place? In each of Apples past three dollar-bond sales, in November 2017, September 2019 and May, the company said it would use proceeds at least in part to repurchase common stock and pay dividends under its program to return capital to shareholders. In total, the company has doled out more than $200 billion since the start of 2018. Its easy to see why company leadership would see it as too cheap not to borrow. Apple has the second-highest investment-grade credit ratings from Moodys Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, allowing it to issue $2.5 billion of 30-year bonds in May that yielded just 2.72%. Its $2 billion of three-year debt, within the Feds maturity range, priced to yield less than 0.85%. Story continues Luca Maestri, Apples chief financial officer, said during the last quarters earnings call that the company has more than $90 billion in stock buyback authorization left, adding that it plans to continue the same capital allocation policy going forward. Obviously, cash is mostly fungible for large enterprises, and any number of American companies in recent years surely issued bonds for reasons other than buybacks and also repurchased shares. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated some $700 billion of shares were acquired by U.S. companies in 2019, which would make them the biggest net buyer of equities. Still, Apple openly using debt sales to help finance share repurchases puts the Fed in a somewhat awkward position. Chair Jerome Powell has consistently framed questions about its secondary-market facility in the context of supporting the central banks full employment mandate. Workers are the intended beneficiaries of all of our programs, he said in a hearing last month. Its possible Americans are able to keep their jobs because companies can finance themselves. And yet, the Feds secondary-market facility comes with no strings attached. In fact, as I noted last month, its maneuver to create Broad Market Index Bonds circumvented the CARES Act requirement that any company must have significant operations in and a majority of its employees based in the United States. Rather than focus on the American worker, the stated goal is to support market liquidity for corporate debt, and, by extension, keep borrowing costs down for creditworthy firms. So theres every reason to expect that Apple can and will issue bonds again in the near future, at an even cheaper rate, to fund stock buybacks and dividends. That, in turn, would most likely support share prices. That shouldnt sit well with many people. Even President Donald Trump, who has used the stock market as a barometer of his economic policies, has signaled a preference for capital projects over buybacks. On March 20, just before the S&P 500 Index fell to its lowest level of the Covid-19 selloff, he lamented that companies used the money saved from his 2017 tax cut to repurchase shares rather than build factories. He said at the time that he would support a prohibition on buybacks for companies that receive government aid. When we did a big tax cut and when they took the money and did buybacks, thats not building a hangar, thats not buying aircraft, thats not doing the kind of things that I want them to do, Trump said. We didnt think we would have had to restrict it because we thought they would have known better. But they didnt know better, in some cases. The Feds strategy for buying corporate bonds is passive enough that few would equate it to receiving direct assistance from the federal government. The same cant be said about the central banks Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, which as of last week is open for business. Companies that want to place bonds directly with the Fed must certify that they have not received specific support pursuant to the CARES Act or any subsequent federal legislation and satisfy the conflicts-of-interest requirements of section 4019 of the CARES Act. As my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Matt Levine described in detail last week, theres a huge amount of paperwork for issuers, and the Fed has the right to demand its money back if the forms are wrong and companies use funds for unapproved reasons. In all likelihood, these constraints will turn almost every company away from the Feds primary-market facility. Instead, finance officers will reap the benefits of the central banks broad secondary-market interventions to issue new debt to private investors at rock-bottom rates and with no such rules, as they have for the past three months. And Wall Streeters will be happy with business-as-usual in the credit markets. To put it plainly one more time: The Fed didnt have to loosely interpret the law to create this index of corporate debt. It was already following through on its pledge to buy exchange-traded funds and had a system in place for companies to become eligible for individual purchases. It chose this third route, encouraging headlines like Buying Corporate Bonds Is Almost Easy Money, Strategists Say. What could go wrong? Now that its scooping up individual bonds issued for share buybacks without any stipulations, policy makers should be asked again why this program is the right way to go about supporting the recovery. The truth is likely that corporate America needs low-cost debt to survive. Apple and its shareholders are more than happy to tag along for the ride. (1) The Fed's facility has not yet purchased debt from all the companies in the index, at least according to its disclosure, which only covers the$429 million in bonds it bought on June 16 and 17. Its largest purchases were Comcast Corp., AbbVie Inc. and AT&T Inc. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Brian Chappatta is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering debt markets. He previously covered bonds for Bloomberg News. He is also a CFA charterholder. 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. /NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES WIRE SERVICES/ EDMONTON, AB , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Fire & Flower Inc. (collectively, "FFHC", "Fire & Flower" or the "Company") (FAF.TO) (FFLWF), today announced the openings of its first two cannabis retail stores adjacent to Circle K locations in the province of Alberta . Fire & Flower Logo - (c) 2020 Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (CNW Group/Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.) Through this initiative, Fire & Flower is expected to benefit from high traffic Circle K locations to deliver an unprecedented level of convenience to cannabis customers, maximizing the benefit of the Spark PerksTM program and Spark FastlaneTM online ordering services at conveniently located stores. The two stores in Calgary and Grande Prairie are expected to be the first of additional opportunities to co-locate cannabis retail stores in the future. The co-located stores will be owned and operated by Fire & Flower and are separate from the adjacent Circle K in accordance with all applicable regulations. It is anticipated that the Grande Prairie store will open the week of July 6, 2020 and it is anticipated the Calgary store will open the week of July 13, 2020 . Information on the co-located stores will be available on the Fire & Flower website at www.fireandflower.com/locations/. "As we continue to build our relationship with Alimentation Couche-Tard, Fire & Flower is very pleased to be embarking on this initiative together," shared Trevor Fencott , Chief Executive Officer of Fire & Flower. "We believe that combining convenient pickup locations with digital engagement offered by the Hifyre platform and Spark Perks program presents our customers with a differentiated value proposition in an increasingly competitive cannabis retail market. This approach to innovation in omni-channel and convenience-oriented cannabis retail differentiates Fire & Flower and positions us well to capitalize on both domestic and international opportunities." Story continues About Fire & Flower Fire & Flower is a leading purpose-built, independent adult-use cannabis retailer poised to capture significant Canadian market share. The Company guides consumers through the complex world of cannabis through education-focused, best-in-class retailing while the HifyreTM digital platform and SparkTM program connect cannabis consumers with the latest cannabis products and deliver cutting edge insights into evolving consumer behaviours. The Company's leadership team combines extensive experience in the cannabis industry with strong capabilities in retail operations. Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. owns all issued and outstanding shares in Fire & Flower Inc., a licensed cannabis retailer that owns or has interest in cannabis retail store licences in the provinces of Alberta , Saskatchewan , Manitoba and Ontario and the Yukon territory. Through its strategic investment with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the Company has set its sights on the global expansion as new cannabis markets emerge. More information on Fire & Flower can be found at www.fireandflower.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management of FFHC at the date the statements are made based on information then available to the Company. Various factors and assumptions are applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking statements, including completion of construction and licensing of co-located cannabis retail stores, benefits realized by the Spark PerksTM program and Spark FastlaneTM online ordering service and identification of additional co-location opportunities. Forward-looking statements are subject to and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of FFHC, which may cause FFHC's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, including whether additional co-located stores will be identified, built or licensed. FFHC assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Fire & Flower / Circle K Co-Located Cannabis Stores - (c) 2020 Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (CNW Group/Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.) Fire & Flower / Circle K Co-Located Cannabis Stores - (c) 2020 Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (CNW Group/Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.) SOURCE Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/06/c1800.html First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in South Dakota First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in South Dakota PR Newswire WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 National and state-by-state data available: artbahighwaydashboard.org WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- South Dakota leveraged $282.4 million in federal funds to advance $395 million in highway improvements during fiscal year (FY) 2018, according to an interactive tool that for the first time provides the public and elected officials a clear look at how and where the state invests its transportation tax dollars. Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) "Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment" displays information on more than 204 South Dakota projects that moved forward in FY 2018. Based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, the dashboard provides the same information for all states. The top five projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included: Hutchinson and Turner Counties; Grading, Structures and Surfacing; On the following routes: 018 County of Todd; Shoulder Widening, Spot Grading and Surfacing, On the following routes: 083 County of Deuel; Mill and PCCP Overlay, Pipe Work; Replace Structure (RCBC) and Approach Grading; On the following routes: 212 Lyman County; AC Resurfacing, Structure Rehabilitation; On the following routes: 090 E, 090 County of Minnehaha; Rest Area and Port of Entry Reconstruction "This dashboard helps shift the conversation from how much each state gets to specific outcomes and benefits," ARTBA President Dave Bauer says. "Such transparency and accountability will help residents better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments." The current federal FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. As Congress continues working on a new long-term bill, the dashboard will help members of Congress and their staffs to learn more about projects and how federal funds are being utilized in their respective states, ARTBA says. Story continues In FY 2018, 69 percent of projects costs were for reconstruction or repair work on existing highways, according to the ARTBA analysis. Added capacity (8 percent of funds), planning, design and construction engineering (7 percent) and right of way purchases (2 percent), are among 12 ways the state spent its transportation dollars. Compiled by ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA Highway Dashboard features the top projects dating back to 1950. This data is submitted by states as part of FHWA's Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS). The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation's need for safe and efficient travel. ARTBA also offers value-added programs and services providing its members with a competitive edge. Learn more: artbahighwaydashboard.org. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-of-its-kind-dashboard-highlights-benefits-of-federal-highway-investment-in-south-dakota-301088620.html SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in Colorado First-of-its-Kind Dashboard Highlights Benefits of Federal Highway Investment in Colorado PR Newswire WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 National and state-by-state data available: artbahighwaydashboard.org WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado leveraged $135.7 million in federal funds to advance $1,260.5 million in highway improvements during fiscal year (FY) 2018, according to an interactive tool that for the first time provides the public and elected officials a clear look at how and where the state invests its transportation tax dollars. Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) "Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment" displays information on more than 191 Colorado projects that moved forward in FY 2018. Based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, the dashboard provides the same information for all states. The top five projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included: BOULDER COUNTY-PARTAIL RECONSTRUCTION US 34 BIG THOMPSON CANYON-ROADWAY/RIVER RECONSTRUCTION SH-7 SOUTH OF ESTES PARK-RESURFACING AND ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENTS SH 144 E AND W OF GOODRICH-PERMANENT FLOOD REPAIRS FEDERAL BLVD: 6TH TO HOWARD-RECONSTRUCT AND WIDEN FEDERAL BOULEVARD "This dashboard helps shift the conversation from how much each state gets to specific outcomes and benefits," ARTBA President Dave Bauer says. "Such transparency and accountability will help residents better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments." The current federal FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. As Congress continues working on a new long-term bill, the dashboard will help members of Congress and their staffs to learn more about projects and how federal funds are being utilized in their respective states, ARTBA says. Story continues In FY 2018, 73 percent of projects costs were for added capacity, according to the ARTBA analysis. Reconstruction or repair work on existing highways (20 percent of funds), planning, design and construction engineering (3 percent) and right of way purchases (1 percent), are among 12 ways the state spent its transportation dollars. Compiled by ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA Highway Dashboard features the top projects dating back to 1950. This data is submitted by states as part of FHWA's Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS). The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation's need for safe and efficient travel. ARTBA also offers value-added programs and services providing its members with a competitive edge. Learn more: artbahighwaydashboard.org. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-of-its-kind-dashboard-highlights-benefits-of-federal-highway-investment-in-colorado-301088638.html SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association Florida reported another record-breaking spike in coronavirus cases on Saturday, with 11,458 people confirmed to have been infected with the virus as cases surge nationwide over the July 4 holiday weekend. Floridas daily case record Saturday, which comes after a week of record-breaking spikes in the Sunshine State and across the Sun Belt, is second only to New York states one-day record of 11,571 new positive tests in mid-April . Texas also hit a daily new case record Saturday with 8,258 new cases, according to its health department. More than 2.8 million people in the U.S. have had confirmed coronavirus infections since the pandemic began in January, and nearly 130,000 people have died. The U.S., which leads the world in coronavirus infections, recorded a single-day record in new cases on Friday . Health experts fear coronavirus cases will continue to climb after the July 4 weekend. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said earlier this week he would "not be surprised" if the U.S. eventually began to see 100,000 new cases per day. Governors in other coronavirus hotspots, like California and Texas, scrambled to reimpose restrictions on bars and indoor restaurant seating ahead of the holiday weekend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who had long opposed a statewide mask mandate, ordered people in Texas to wear masks in most public places on Thursday. Popular beaches closed in California and Florida on Saturday as health officials urged Americans to avoid gathering at July 4 parties and fireworks displays. In Arizona, which is seeing a surge in new coronavirus cases, health officials reported Friday that 90 percent of intensive care unit beds were occupied the highest rate since the beginning of the pandemic. Roughly 25 percent of all coronavirus tests in Arizona have come back positive this week, according to Johns Hopkins University . Arizona public health officials reported 2,695 cases on Saturday, far below Wednesdays record 4,878 new cases . President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted the coronavirus surge was connected to increased testing, a theme hes continued to push in recent weeks. On Friday, Kim Guilfoyle, a top Trump campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for coronavirus before the presidents scheduled speech at Mount Rushmore. Guilfoyle is the latest person close to President Donald Trump to test positive for the virus. Brings interoperability to motorists traveling along east coast WILMINGTON, Del., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The E-ZPass Interagency Group announced today that Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and the State Road and Tollway Authority of Georgia (SRTA) will join the E-ZPass network, bringing interoperability to motorists traveling along the east coast in the near future. Florida's Orlando area Central Florida Expressway Authority is currently a member of and interoperable with the E-ZPass Group; however, interoperability with the remaining Florida toll agencies and the State Road and Toll Authority in Georgia had not yet occurred. We are now pleased to announce that these agencies are undertaking steps to bring E-ZPass to their facilities. PJ Wilkins, Executive Director of the E-ZPass Group, said: "This news is very exciting, as interoperability along the east coast has long been sought after by the traveling public. Our industry will also be thrilled that we are another step closer to achieving national interoperability of electronic toll collection systems." Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, operator of the SunPass system in use throughout Florida, is currently upgrading systems and processes in order to bring E-ZPass statewide, with completion expected later this year. "We understand how confusing and frustrating it can be for our toll customers to have to keep track of the different tolling mechanisms across the nation. Under Governor Ron DeSantis' leadership, the Florida Department of Transportation continues to leverage technology to increase convenience and mobility for Florida's toll customers," said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. "By enhancing Florida's SunPass system and partnering with the E-ZPass Interagency Group, our combined customer base will effortlessly travel tollways in 18 states." Nicola Liquori, CEO of Florida's Turnpike Enterprise: "Interoperability with E-ZPass has been a long-standing goal, and now it is a reality. By the end of the year, millions of E-ZPass customers will enjoy the benefits of the SunPass system on 764 miles of roadway from the Panhandle to the Keys. This effort aligns with our goals to improve mobility by promoting electronic tolling and, more importantly, to enhance customer service by increasing payment options." Story continues Georgia's State Road and Tollway Authority also announced that it is joining the E-ZPass system, with interoperability expected next year. "We are excited about our partners in Florida reaching this milestone in becoming interoperable with E-ZPass," stated Chris Tomlinson, Executive Director of Georgia's State Road and Tollway Authority. "Connecting the dots between Georgia's tolling system and the systems of the other states within E-ZPass is one of our highest priorities and we look forward to working with the E-ZPass Group to provide our Peach Pass customers with greater options for them to 'keep moving' in the near future." Today the E-ZPass Program is the largest, and one of the most successful interoperable toll collection programs in the nation, consisting of toll agencies in 18 states, servicing more than 24 million accounts and 43 million tags, with operations stretching from Maine to Florida, and west to Illinois. Learn more about E-ZPass at www.e-zpassiag.com Media Contact: Linda Wiedenmann lwiedenmann@e-zpassiag.com 302-577-1333 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/floridas-turnpike-enterprise-and-the-state-road-and-tollway-authority-of-georgia-to-join-e-zpass-network-301088122.html SOURCE E-ZPass Group Legislation represents a positive step forward for consumer protection in Saskatchewan TORONTO , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - Today FP Canada and Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada , welcomed passage of The Financial Planners and Financial Advisors Act ("the Act") by the Government of Saskatchewan . The passage of the Act represents a significant and positive step forward for consumer protection in Saskatchewan . FP Canada Logo (CNW Group/FP Canada) Saskatchewan Minister of Justice and Attorney General Don Morgan first introduced the Act in December 2019 , following consultations led by the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA). The Act restricts who may legally use the titles "financial planner" and "financial advisor" in Saskatchewan . Only individuals who obtain, and maintain in good standing, an approved credential from an approved credentialing body, may use them. Both FP Canada and Advocis believe the new legislation is particularly important in the current environment, as many Saskatchewanians struggle with the economic challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. "Saskatchewanians need professional financial planning advice now more than ever, as many are dealing with new financial challenges," says Cary List , President and CEO of FP Canada. "This legislation will benefit consumers by providing them with the clarity and protection they need as they seek professional advice to help them rebuild financial confidence." "The restriction of key titles to individuals with qualifying credentials will go a long way in elevating the trust and stature of financial advisors and planners as true professionals," added Greg Pollock , President and CEO of Advocis. "More importantly, it ensures that individuals, families and businesses in Saskatchewan can be confident in whom they choose to trust to provide them with financial advice during these uncertain times, as not just anyone will be permitted to use these titles." With the legislation now passed, the FCAA will be responsible for developing corresponding regulations to flesh out the Act, including definitions of "financial planner" and "financial advisor", criteria for assessing credentialing bodies and credentials, and transition policies for existing practitioners. The Saskatchewan government has indicated it intends to consult with industry as it develops these regulations. Story continues Importantly, the Saskatchewan government has also indicated its desire to ensure consistency with Ontario's recently passed Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019. FP Canada and Advocis applaud this harmonized approach with Ontario , which is an important step towards national harmonization in the interest of all Canadians. FP Canada and Advocis look forward to continuing to provide counsel to the Saskatchewan government and FCAA as corresponding regulations are developed, and as the legislation is implemented. Both organizations also look forward to advocating for harmonized legislation in other provinces, for the benefit of all Canadians. About Advocis Advocis is the largest and oldest voluntary professional membership association of financial advisors in Canada , with 13,000 members in Canada and over 500 in Saskatchewan . Advocis has a code of professional conduct, continuing education requirements, best practices, and a disciplinary process. About FP Canada A national professional body working in the public interest, FP Canada is dedicated to championing better financial wellness for all Canadians by leading the advancement of professional financial planning in Canada . There are approximately 21,000 professional financial planners in Canada , including nearly 800 in Saskatchewan who, through CFP certification and QAFP certification, meet FP Canada's standards. Advocis Logo (CNW Group/FP Canada) SOURCE FP Canada Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/06/c3298.html RTHK: Rain hampers rescue efforts after deadly Japan flood Torrential rain hampered the efforts of tens of thousands of rescue workers in southwestern Japan on Monday as they hunted for survivors from deadly floods and landslides, with more downpours forecast. Around 50 people were feared dead after heavy rain lashed areas of western Japan from early Saturday, causing rivers to burst their banks and flood low-lying regions. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned the weather front was heading across the country, predicting "heavy rain over a wide area" and urging people to "take action to protect their lives." In the worst-affected region of Kumamoto, bad weather was preventing some rescue efforts, local officials said, with at least 13 people still unaccounted for. "Because of the heavy rain, we were forced to cancel some emergency flights of helicopters over the disaster zone," said local disaster management official Tsubasa Miyamoto. Yutaro Hamasaki, another local official, said: "Military personnel and police continued search throughout the night in rain. Firefighters and other officials will joint rescue operations after daybreak." The floods washed away roads and bridges, cutting off many isolated communities. A local firefighter in the western region of Kagoshima said they used boats to rescue 11 people, but conditions were making it hard to reach others stranded. "Calls came from people telling us that they wanted to flee their home but they could not do it on their own," he said. "Some roads are submerged and you cannot drive through them." In one of the hardest-hit areas, residents wrote out the words "rice, water, SOS" on the ground, while others waved towels and called for rescue and relief goods. At a nursing home for the elderly, 14 people were confirmed dead late on Monday, officials said, after water from a nearby river inundated the ground floor, leaving those in wheelchairs unable to reach higher ground. Emergency services, aided by locals in rafts, managed to rescue around 50 residents and staff from the facility, bringing them to safety by boat. Heavy rain is expected to continue through Tuesday afternoon and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a non-compulsory evacuation order for around half a million people in southwestern Japan. "It's such a mess," resident Hirotoshi Nishi told public broadcaster NHK as he swept debris from his mud-strewn front room. "Many pieces of wood came into my house. I don't know what to do." Evacuation efforts are also hampered by fears of spreading the the coronavirus that has killed almost 1,000 people in Japan, from close to 20,000 cases. Partitions have been set up at evacuation centres to keep distances between families, and evacuees are made to wash their hands frequently, sanitise and wear face masks. As night fell, a JMA official told reporters: "In some cases, it can be more dangerous to go to shelters (than to stay at home)." "We ask people to assess their situations, especially when it gets dark outside," he added, referring to the regions of Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga. For some local business owners already battered by the coronavirus, the natural disaster has compounded their problems. Yuji Hashimoto, who runs a tourism bureau in the hot-spring resort in Yatsushiro, one of the flood-hit cities in Kumamoto, said that the "beautiful tourism spot dramatically changed overnight". "The damage was beyond our imagination. It's literally a bolt from the blue... The disaster is a double-whammy as our hot spring resort was struggling to weather the impact of the coronavirus. We don't know what will happen to us next," he said. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that 19 people were confirmed dead from the floods while another six were in a state of "cardio-respiratory arrest" - a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death. Suga said officials were investigating another 24 deaths to confirm a direct link to the floods. He said more than 40,000 personnel from police and fire departments, the coast guard and self-defence units were conducting search and rescue operations throughout the night. Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season which frequently delivers deadly floods and landslides. Climate change is also playing a role because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, increasing the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall. In 2018, more than 200 people died in devastating floods in the same region of Japan. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) board chairman today (July 6) launched the 3D Printing Strategic Alliance, the first initiative of its kind in the world that creates a comprehensive network of government entities, academia and 3D printing companies in the UAE and the world. Aimed at developing the UAE into a leading 3D printing manufacturing hub, the strategic alliance seeks to produce a wide range of supplies, products and services in vital sectors in order to meet market needs and achieve self-sufficiency. The launch ceremony was held at DFFs headquarters in Emirates Towers in the presence of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group; Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, and DFF Vice Chairman and Managing Director; Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, and DFF Deputy Managing besides its CEO Khalfan Juma Belhoul and other officials. The 3D Printing Strategic Alliance includes Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Roads and Transportation Authority, Khalifa University, Higher Colleges of Technology and ten international and local 3D printing technology companies. The 3D Printing Strategic Alliance provides a strategic network to respond to the requirements of various sectors in times of crises through public-private cooperation and by utilising manufacturing capabilities and developing enabling legislation to ensure self-sufficiency. On the new entity, Sheikh Hamdan said: "Our goal is to accelerate the adoption and use of this emerging technology to support all governmental, economic, health and scientific sectors in Dubai and the world." "Through the Alliance and in cooperation with 3D printing companies, we will enhance our industrial capabilities, secure our basic needs and create new production lines based on the employment of future technology. We will also create a strategic virtual network jointly with the private sector in order to ensure immediate response to local needs during crises and achieve self-sufficiency," he stated. The new Dubai Future District will house the largest state-of-the-art warehouse in the region for the storage and distribution of 3D printing materials and products, contributing to strengthening the role and partnership of government and private entities, startups and entrepreneurs in deploying 3D printing technology to develop various economic and future sectors globally and in Dubai. "We want Dubai to be a global reference for 3D printing technology worldwide in the coming years by strengthening public-private partnership," noted Sheikh Hamdan. He stressed that the 3D Printing Strategic Alliance builds on the outcomes of the Dubai 3D Printing Strategy, he added.-TradeArabia News Service We are now at a crossroads in Libya where a military solution is temporarily off the table, as factions and their external allies wrangle over oil revenues--the distribution of which will now decide when the pumps are turned back on and force majeure lifted. For the first time in seven years, there is a light at the end of the Libyan tunnel, but with open and backdoor talks being brokered by various external allies, sorting rumor from fact and wishful thinking is tricky. What we know for sure is this: Its all about leverage, and the Turkish-backed GNA doesnt have nearly enough to call the shots on this one despite recent territorial gains in and around Tripoli against General Haftar. Now, with Egypt stepping up to the plate and drawing a red line in Sirte, the strategic gateway to the Libyan oil facilities, the potential for oil revenue negotiations is emerging. Haftar controls the oil, but not the revenues, and if everyone now has the right balance of leverage for talks to proceed, he could turn the pumps back on in return for a different setup for the distribution of oil revenues. Right now, all the revenues go to the central bank in Tripoli, where Haftar has no access. Depending on the source, talks are going on behind the scenes that would split up these revenues before they hit the central bank in Tripoli. According to the Guardian, proposals in the talks include that the revenues be split between as many as three banks representing different regions, with an agreement not to use them for military purposes. Eastern tribal leaders are being consulted on the plans. This version of events is also being spread about through various other media, and the National Oil Company (NOC)--a neutral source in all of this--takes issue with the scenario as presented. While the NOC confirms that talks are in progress and that it is optimistic that the result will be to turn on the taps and remove the force majeure on exports from the Hariga, Brega, Zueitina, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports, it denies there is any talk of splitting revenues in the manner described above. Story continues Related: Saudi Arabia Eyes Total Dominance In Oil And Gas We categorically deny all the rumours about opening new accounts and distributing those revenues to three regions by percentage. Those rumours are spread by people who are not involved in the negotiations and only reflect their personal points of view. NOC adheres to Libyan laws and procedures, said NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla. The NOC claims that all oil revenues will continue to go to the same accounts of the corporation, but will be preserved for a specific period of time during which two parallel tracks are launched. In other words, the oil revenues will be dealt with differently, but the NOC says they will not be divided up into three regions by percentage. The NOC defines those parallel tracks as one that will ensure financial transparency (which was lacking) and one will focus on the restructuring of security arrangements to protect oil facilities. Our position consists of working to resume production in order to preserve the wealth of the Libyan people and serve its interests, and to avoid war at oil sites. We subscribe to the unity of Libya. We are against anything that would harm its unity and sovereignty and we will not be part of any action against that, the NOC chairman added. But the devil, as always, is in the detail. Both are essentially saying the same thing, but one sounds less controversial. Its similar to the logic of not negotiating with terrorists. If a deal is cut to redistribute oil revenues away from the Tripoli Central Bank and into the hands of a bank controlled by Haftar, then Haftars hijacking of the countrys oil facilities effectively worked--and would work in the future. So any solution concerning oil revenues needs to be structured--and worded--very carefully in order to avoid the NOCs biggest fear: That the oil facilities will continue to be used for political capital, which means they will always be under threat. That notion becomes even clearer with the arrival of Russian mercenaries at the giant Sharara and El-Feel oilfields, on behalf of General Haftar. Thats another move by Haftar to secure his leverage, and is meant to prevent the NOC from restarting production until there is a revenue deal in place--in his favor. The move follows the NOCs brief attempt to resume production at the 300,000bpd field last month--an event that sparked a massively exciting flurry of trading speculation only to be scuttled in a matter of days when it was forced to shut down again and reinstitute force majeure. Major alliances such as NATO and the European Union mean nothing in this conflict. Related: Oil Rallies On Bullish EIA Inventory Data On the sidelines, the European Union is suffering a bit of an existential crisis over Libya. Divided, and picking sides based on oil prospects, the European Union itself is not a player, which means its largely leaving things up to Russia on the Haftar side and Turkey on the GNA side. And Libya is far too close geographically for the EU to so dangerously ignore. NATO allies are also on different sides in this war. And now, France, having gone head-to-head with Turkey over Libya, is pulling out of a NATO security operation in defiance after Turkey was caught violating the arms embargo against Libya. Frances ruffled feathers wont matter much. The only thing that matters here is the oil money, and the kingmakers are clearly Russian and Turkish. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Read this article on OilPrice.com (AMF Autorite des Marches Financiers) Regulatory News: Genkyotex (Paris:GKTX) (Brussels:GKTX): Genkyotex shares ISIN code FR00011790542 Euronext Paris & Brussels Date Number of shares making up the share capital Number of voting rights June 30, 2020 11,548,562 Theoretical number of voting rights(1): 11,548,562 Number of voting rights exercisable at a shareholders meeting(2): 11,537,097 (1) In accordance with Article 223-111 of the AMFs General Regulation, this number of shares is calculated based on all shares carrying the right to vote, including those stripped of voting rights. (2) Less shares stripped of voting rights. 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 II 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 first semester of 2020. This product candidate may also be active in other fibrotic indications. Story continues 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 worlds 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 to www.genkyotex.com or investors@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 Genkyotexs 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 Genkyotexs products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotexs products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotexs 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 30, 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/20200706005207/en/ Contacts Genkyotex GervanoRA Data Services (GDS) is pleased to announce the Strategic Partnering Collaboration Agreement with DelveInsight Business Research Verna, Goa, India, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GervanoRA Data Services (GDS) is pleased to announce the Strategic Partnering Collaboration Agreement with DelveInsight Business Research. DelveInsight is a consulting firm with deep industry expertise in life science vertical with core focus on Pharma and biotech industries. With this partnering, GervanoRA is expecting to utilize expertise resources from DelveInsight to add on existing expertise of GervanoRA to serve our global clientele with quality services at affordable prices. The primary focus of this agreement is to market DelveInsights publications throughout the globe except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to meet ongoing demand from clientele network. GervanoRA Data Services team is excited about our new Strategic Partnering Collaboration Agreement with DelveInsight. said Ramu Jadhav, Founder, CEO and Managing Director of GervanoRA Data Services. This opportunity will enable GervanoRA to deliver world standard quality products to all GervanoRAs global clients GervanoRA hoping to build strong business relations with DelveInsight with expectations to refine opportunities for future collaborations added Ramu Jadhav. Our role as a healthcare consulting and market research firm is to empower our clients to take strategic decisions with DelveInsights analysis. Through this collaboration, DelveInsight will be able to provide insights to GervanoRAs clients helping them to achieve their business goals. We are looking forward to building a long-term synergistic relationship with GervanoRA said Dr. Vishal Agrawal, CEO of DelveInsight Business Research. GervanoRA is a known premier provider of syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, based in Goa, India. GDS aims to deliver a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, aerial views of the competitive framework, and future market trends. We continuously strive to be ahead of our competitors by providing unique competitive analytics like pipeline analysis reports, Epidemiology and epidemiology forecasts, clinical trials database based reports, country insights, market and opportunity assessment reports are few among many other offerings at affordable prices. We assure quality with team work and we collaboratively work with a wide range of organizations (KOLs) to garner valuable key insights. Vast & tailor made databases, healthcare specific global coverage, and expertise making us one of the unique consulting service providers in the world. GervanoRA Data Services LLP L-45, G-6 - Software Technology park complex STP-III Building, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna, Goa 403722 Email: info@gervanora.com * Global Energy Monitor documents financing delays * European Investment Bank endorses report's findings * Concerns growing among investors over stranded asset risk * Industry still enjoys significant state support By Matthew Green LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Prospects for nearly half of the world's projects to build infrastructure for exporting liquefied natural gas have faltered in recent months, amid rising concerns about climate change, public protests and delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report published Tuesday. Out of 45 major LNG export projects in pre-construction development globally, at least 20 representing a capital outlay of some $292 billion are now facing delays to their financing, researchers at Global Energy Monitor found. That marks a stark shift by investors away from what many had considered a promising fuel market, already buffeted by slower growth in demand, rising competition from renewable energy technologies and opposition over the industry's climate-warming emissions. The vice president of the European Investment Bank said the report underlined the unacceptable risk of investing in LNG assets. "Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure like liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals is increasingly an economically unsound decision," Andrew McDowell told Reuters in an email. The bank had announced in November that it would stop financing fossil fuel projects at the end of 2021. The LNG industry has made big bets on a more positive outlook, as many analysts have predicted that demand would outstrip supply sometime in the next decade. Companies committed $160 billion to $170 billion to new LNG export terminal construction around the world in 2019, almost triple the roughly $65 billion committed in 2018, said researchers at the San Francisco-based non-profit research group. In total, companies had announced plans to build $758 billion of projects that are as yet in the pre-construction phase. But with 20 projects now in jeopardy, including nine in the United States, that planned capital outlay could be reduced by $292 billion, or 38%, if the delays persist indefinitely, the researchers told Reuters. Story continues "LNG infrastructure faces the risk of becoming stranded assets and should be avoided," said Erik Fransson, head of the fund department at the Swedish Pensions Agency, which has $12 billion of assets under management. Meanwhile, the pace of LNG terminal development has been pushed back by at least 18 months since the pandemic, the authors said. "The sector is really shut down at the moment in terms of advancing further new projects," report co-author Ted Nace, executive director of Global Energy Monitor, told Reuters. LNG investment has had strong government support in many countries. And oil companies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere still plan to boost LNG exports over the next decade. That has raised worries that resulting emissions of carbon dioxide and methane could make it harder to achieve the temperature goals in the 2015 Paris climate accord. Though burning natural gas emits less planet-warming carbon dioxide than coal per unit of energy produced, climate scientists have warned that the industry's rapid growth as well as leaks of methane a potent greenhouse gas threaten progress in limiting climate change. As for future projects, 12 companies had said at the start of this year that they planned to make final investment decisions in 2020 to build new LNG export plants in North America, according to a Reuters survey. That total is now down to four, and analysts only expect one project to move forward this year. (Reporting by Matthew Green; Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in NEW YORK; Editing by Katy Daigle and Lisa Shumaker) Alphabets GOOGL division Google is making every effort to bolster presence in Southeast Asia by strengthening investments in uncharted territories. Reportedly, Google and Temasek Holdings are in talks to invest in Indonesian e-commerce giant PT Tokopedia. The investment will further expand Googles presence in Indonesia, which is one of the emerging markets of Southeast Asia due to rapid Internet usage penetration. Indonesian E-commerce Space Holds Promise Historically, Southeast Asian countries have attracted investors from across the globe, thanks to solid growth rates, booming populations and good governance on a general basis. In fact, Southeast Asia has started attracting attention due to increasing growth of Internet services. Per a report from Statista, the e-commerce market in Indonesia is expected to generate revenues of $28.6 billion in 2020. Further, the figure is likely to reach $50.7 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 15.4% between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, user penetration is projected at 50.5% and 73.3% for 2020 and 2024, respectively. Google will be able to expand into this market by investing in Tokopedia, the online marketplace, backed by SoftBank Group Corp.s Vision Fund. We believe growing investment activities of Google in Asia are likely to yield good returns in the long run, as the emerging Asian countries hold immense growth potential driven by improving proliferation of smartphones and Internet. The deal will also give a competitive boost to Google. If the investment plans materialize, it will be able to better compete with Facebook FB, Microsoft MSFT and Amazon AMZN that are also making efforts to reap benefits from this promising market. Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote Googles Aggressive Stance E-commerce has been witnessing an unprecedented spike buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially true as lockdown and social distancing have resulted in forced closure of malls and retail stores. Story continues Therefore, just like other biggies, Google has been making strong efforts to reinforce presence in the e-commerce world on the back of advanced technologies. We believe that with this move, Google is looking to strengthen global foothold in the field of e-commerce. Just last month, the company strengthened ties with Carrefour by launching a voice-based grocery shopping service via Google Assistant in France that will bolster the French retailers food e-commerce footprint. In addition, the company is expanding presence in France with innovative shopping apps and services. Google aims at helping retailers improve customer reach with these services. In this regard, it has teamed up with big retailers like Walmart and Target to make its products available online via the app called Google Express. All these efforts have helped Google in reinforcing competitive position against Amazon, which has been the companys biggest rival in almost every sector including home automation, cloud, voice assistants, audiobooks and so on. Zacks Rank Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce ""the world's first trillionaires,"" but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research We are BETTER TOGETHER! HONG KONG, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, announces the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2020. This year Great Place to Work celebrated the 5th Best Workplaces in Hong Kong Awards Ceremony in a unprecedented way due to the current situation of COVID-19. In order to uphold the safety of the colleagues and customers, the Institute made the responsible business decision to change the in-person Awards Ceremony to an online digital event. Earlier this year, Great Place to Work launched a global campaign called BETTER TOGETHER to provide support to its clients and global affiliates. The Best Workplaces in Hong Kong Awards Ceremony continued this by also having the theme of BETTER TOGETHER, reflecting the current situation that some people are working remotely and not being physically connected. The core of this campaign is to provide all kinds of information that can help different organizations and its employees from time to time, such as a COVID-19 survey, webinar and blogs, all of which can be found at the Great Place to Work official website. The event was held virtually via ZOOM and it was a wonderful moment to witness that attendees from all over the world tuned in to participate and connect together. These included not only the awardees, but also other organizations and affiliates around the world who gathered together to celebrate this special moment. The hosting organisation was honoured to have Mr. Ho Kai Ming, Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare HKSAR and Mr. Michael C. Bush, the Global CEO of Great Place to Work, participate in the event as they delivered some inspiring and encouraging speeches. During the event some of the outstanding practices of COVID-19 from the awardees were shared, where many organizations launched a variety of policies and practices that help in continuing to provide support to its employees and their families and even to their extended communities. Story continues Great Place to Work(R) releases its 5th annual list of Best Workplaces in Hong Kong(TM) Furthermore, Great Place to Work presented a special award called LEGENDS, which recognizes organizations that achieved the Best Workplaces recognition in 5 consecutive years. This recognition pays special tribute to those who have been committed in creating a better workplace, by consistently listening to their employees and maintaining high-TRUST workplace cultures over a sustained period of time. Congratulations to DHL Express Hong Kong and Mars Company Hong Kong Limited on achieving this LEGENDS recognition. This is truly a fantastic achievement. Additionally, the event revealed two leading companies: TE connectivity and American Express International, Inc. which received the recognition of Best Workplaces for Women this year. This award recognizes those top organizations that help to provide a great working environment to all employees, and also in creating positive and supportive workplaces for women. Best Workplaces for Women succeed in developing and promoting practices that make sure women in the workplace have a fair and positive work experience, and have the opportunity to contribute to the success of the business while they develop their talents personally and professionally. This year 50 organizations participated in the survey studies, while 16 companies earned the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong recognition. In addition to the excitement of cheering the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2020, the research findings show that TRUST remains the key winning differentiator, and that the award-winning companies are leading the way in creating a great workplace even when facing the most challenging year in recent history. The Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2020 (The list is published in alphabetical order) American Express International, Inc. DHL Express Hong Kong General Mills Hong Kong Limited HAYS Johnson & Johnson (Hong Kong) Limited Mars Company Hong Kong Limited Meijer Trading Ltd. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Hong Kong Limited NVIDIA Rackspace SAP Hong Kong STRYKER CHINA LIMITED Takeda Pharmaceuticals (Hong Kong) Limited Tata Communications Hong Kong Ltd. The Trade Desk Wyeth (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited So as the world continues to change due to the COVID-19, Great Place to Work adapted to the new norm. Mr. Jose Carlos Bezanilla, CEO of Great Place to Work Greater China commented "The "new normal", as we are discovering, is bringing with it many new challenges. But where they may be calls for 'out with the old and in with the new', our findings from our 2020 Best Workplaces Hong Kong evaluations show that a high level of TRUST in the workplace is consistently necessary for continuity, survival, innovation, resilience, keeping the motivation, among many other factors. We will need a different kind of leadership, an outstanding team of human capital/HR personnel, and a strong and resilient culture to survive and thrive. These traits are evident at the Best Workplaces that we are celebrating today at our 5th Hong Kong event." Finally, there were further announcements regarding upcoming events. Next up is the newly launched Best Workplaces in Taiwan 2020 list. It is to be announced in the late summer of this year and the Best Workplaces in Greater China 2020 will be celebrated in December in Shanghai. About the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong List Since 2016, Great Place to Work has identified the top organizations that create great workplaces in Hong Kong regardless of their business scale and industry through the publication of the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong List. The objective of publishing the list is to acknowledge organizations and Great Workplaces from diverse industries and sizes that deliver and establish a great culture and enhance the competitive edge in Hong Kong. To be considered eligible for the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong List, companies must score at least 70% as the overall result of the Trust Index employee survey and score 120 points in Culture Audit assessment and other standard requirements. About Great Place to Work Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures that provides executive advisory and culture consulting services to businesses, non-profits, and government agencies in more than 60 countries across five continents. Through proprietary assessment tools, benchmarks and certification programs, Great Place to Work provides the expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. The Institute works with media throughout the world to select lists of Best Workplaces. In Greater China, the Institute partner with Bloomberg Businessweek/China and South China Morning Post to publish the 'Best Workplaces' list. In the US, the Institute works with Fortune Magazine to publish the '100 Best Companies to Work For' list. About Great Place to Work official website please visit http://www.greatplacetowork.com.hk/ Acknowledgements Official News Distribution Partner: PR Newswire Hong Kong Media Partner: Classified Post Supporting Organizations: Starmarker & Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong *PR Newswire is the official news distribution partner for the Best Workplaces in Hong Kong 2020 Awards Ceremony. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200706/2848853-1 SOURCE Great Place to Work Institute Greater China OKLAHOMA CITY, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulfport Energy Corporation (GPOR) (Gulfport or the Company) today announced that, due to the public health impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, related governmental actions and the importance of safeguarding the health of its stockholders, employees and directors, the Company will hold its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Annual Meeting) solely by means of remote communication (i.e., a virtual-only meeting). Stockholders will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. As previously announced, the Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, July 16, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. Central Time. As described in the proxy materials for the Annual Meeting that were previously distributed, only stockholders of the Company as of the close of business on June 16, 2020, the record date, are entitled to participate in the Annual Meeting. To participate, stockholders must register for the Annual Meeting no later than 9:00 a.m. Central Time on July 15, 2020. Stockholders who are eligible to participate in the Annual Meeting can register for the Annual Meeting by emailing appropriate proof of ownership to GPOR@Proxy-Agent.com. The required proof of ownership will vary depending on whether the stockholder was a stockholder of record or a beneficial owner. A notice regarding the change to a virtual-only meeting (the Notice) has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information regarding the Annual Meeting and stockholder registration for, participation in and voting at the Annual Meeting is provided in the Notice. About Gulfport Gulfport is an independent natural gas and oil company focused on the exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties in North America and is one of the largest producers of natural gas in the contiguous United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Gulfport holds significant acreage positions in the Utica Shale of Eastern Ohio and the SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer plays in Oklahoma. In addition, Gulfport holds non-core assets that include an approximately 22% equity interest in Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. (TUSK) and has a position in the Alberta Oil Sands in Canada through its 25% interest in Grizzly Oil Sands ULC. For more information, please visit www.gulfportenergy.com. Investor Contact: Jessica Antle Director, Investor Relations jantle@gulfportenergy.com 405-252-4550 Institutional investors were buying stocks last week, but hedge funds sold equities for the tenth straight week, according to data from Bank of America. The firm's private clients were also sellers of stocks this past week, although they racked up almost record inflows to equities the previous week. Bank of America analyst Jill Carey Hall and team said both single stocks and exchange-traded funds saw inflows last week as the S&P 500 gained 1.9% BofA Securities clients sold stocks for two weeks but became net buyers last week. Corporate buybacks were down dramatically last week following a nine-week acceleration. Buybacks troughed in early April. The biggest decline in buybacks came in the Financials sector, as financial firms have bought back more shares than companies in any other sector in recent years. Corporate buybacks peaked the week of March 9. Tech and Communication Services have been driving more than 70% of buybacks more recently. Industrials and Tech switch to inflows BofA said clients bought stocks in eight of 11 sectors. Inflows to Consumer Discretionary and Energy drove the stock buying. Materials, Financials and Health Care were the only sectors that saw net selling last week. Industrials and Tech did have the longest selling streaks at six and five weeks, respectively. However, they switched to net buying last week. The sector with the longest selling streak is now Materials at three weeks. Utilities has the longest buying streak at five weeks. The firm said its clients mostly bought large-cap stocks as small-cap stocks saw close to record high outflows since it started tracking data in 2008. Value ETFs continue to see strong inflows Interestingly, the BofA team noted an ongoing shift toward value ETFs as last week marked the fifth straight week of inflows for them. They believe a value rotation could be in the works. They also said almost all of the ETF inflows last week were in fixed income ETFs. Last week marked the second straight week of outflows for equity ETFs. Hedge funds were the only sellers of both fixed income and equity ETFs, while private clients and institutional investors were net buyers. Story continues The biggest ETF inflows were in Financials, which saw the largest inflows since December. Tech ETFs were in second place. The only sectors that recorded outflows last week were Consumer Discretionary and Health Care ETFs. Health Care was the only sector to record selling in both stocks and ETFs. About Michelle Jones Michelle Jones was a television news producer for eight years. She produced the morning news programs for the NBC affiliates in Evansville, Indiana and Huntsville, Alabama and spent a short time at the CBS affiliate in Huntsville. She has experience as a writer and public relations expert for a wide variety of businesses. Michelle has been with ValueWalk since 2012 and is now our editor-in-chief. Email her at Mjones@valuewalk.com. See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua, Head of the Research Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilisation, and Associate Dean (Research) for the School of Science and Technology at Sunway University, went into research so that he can contribute to science and the advancement of knowledge, and develop solutions to address challenges faced by human beings. Professor Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua at the CO2 Capture and Utilisation Research Lab, Sunway University In November 2018, Professor Kheireddine won the IChemE 2018 Global Award in the Water Category. The project, which was carried out in collaboration with Professor Ir. Dr Mohamed Azlan Hussain of University of Malaya, is the "Self-Cleaning Ultrafiltration System Producing Clean Water." The IChemE Water category award recognises the best project or process to demonstrate engineering excellence in water use, clean-up and re-use, with particular emphasis on reducing environmental impact while preserving commercial viability. The innovative self-cleaning system has been used during the severe floods in the state of Kelantan, to produce clean water for flood victims. A few units of the system have been installed in remote villages without access to clean water in Sarawak and Perak. This "Self-Cleaning Ultrafiltration System Producing Clean Water" won Professor Kheireddine, the 2016 University of Malaya's award for outstanding achievement in community engagement. According to Professor Kheireddine, "The system is an automated self-cleaning mobile ultrafiltration system which produces clean water from various sources such as river water, underground water and spring water. Incorporating a self-cleaning smart backwash system which eliminates the use of chemicals, the system is also be driven by solar power and can be easily transported to rural areas whenever needed. This green system with high socio-economic impact addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 6, which is Clean Water and Sanitation. The readily available system has been installed in many remote villages in Malaysia producing clean water at a cost less than RM0.20 per m. The research for the project was focussed on impacting societies and communities deprived of access to clean water." Story continues An article of the Self-Cleaning Ultrafiltration System by Professor Kheireddine Aroua and his collaborator Professor Ir. Dr Mohamed Azlan Hussain appeared in The Chemical Engineer magazine (Issue 942/943 - December 2019/ January 2020) published by IChemE. The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a multi-national institution to advance chemical engineering's contribution for the benefit of society. The annual IChemE Global Awards which celebrate chemical, process and biochemical engineering excellence is widely recognised as the world's most prestigious in chemical engineering. Professor Kheireddine who hails from Tunisia has over 25 years of research and teaching experience. Attached with Sunway University since 2017, Professor Kheireddine has been listed among Highly Cited Researchers in 2018 as well as 2019 in Engineering by Clarivate Analytics. The award recognises world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science. The Web of Science is a premier research platform for information in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Professor Kheireddine joined Sunway University for the excellent research environment and its support for the establishment of the Centre on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilisation which he said is his ultimate dream. His aims for the Centre include; to perform world class research, provide training and consultancy in areas of CO 2 capture and; utilisation and translation of the research into solutions with global economic and social impacts. His area of research and interests are in water security, energy security, and environment and climate change. "I am interested in fundamental and applied separation processes such as CO 2 capture using alkanolamine technology, membrane processes, adsorption, and electrochemical processes using activated carbon and modified activated carbon produced from agriculture waste." He is currently working on developing green solvents for CO 2 capture and advanced electrochemical processes to convert CO 2 to useful chemicals. "The research addresses UNSDG 13, Climate Action as CO 2 is the major contributor to global warming; UNSDG 7, Affordable and Clean Energy since CO 2 is an impurity in natural gas and bio gas, so its removal is mandatory; UNSDG 9, Industry Innovation and Infrastructure as transforming CO 2 to useful chemicals can open up new business opportunities and industry areas", explained Professor Kheireddine. Professor Kheireddine is also active in research related to biodiesel production from various feed stocks such as Jatropha seeds and oil, the development of super-absorbent materials produced from agriculture waste by physical and chemical modifications, CO 2 separation using ionic liquids, transformation of bioglycerol and membrane processes for drinking water supply during disasters and to remote villagers. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200703/2848229-1 SOURCE Sunway University The U.S. Treasury Department released Monday a highly anticipated trove of data identifying every company that has received a loan of more than $150,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) -- a list that includes some of the hottest names in the tech startup world, including Bolt Mobility, Getaround, Luminar, Stackin, TuSimple and Velodyne. The data, which lists the names of companies that received small business loans over $150,000, was the result of a push for greater transparency around the loans. The list also provides the number of jobs that each company said it plans to retain as a result of the funds. The PPP loans became available to help prop up companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted local and state governments to issue stay-at-home orders and close non-essential businesses. The $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, included PPP loans designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. The Small Business Administration, which handles the applications, will forgive loans if all employee retention criteria are met. As illuminating as this dump of data is, it may contain inaccurate information. Both Bird and Index Ventures have issued statements that counter information provided by the federal government. "Bird was erroneously listed as a company that filed for a PPP Loan," according to an emailed statement from Bird. "We did not apply for nor did we receive a PPP Loan. We decided as a company not to file an application as we did not want to divert critical funding from small and local businesses." Bird CEO and founder Travis VanderZanden tweeted Monday that Citi had started an application while it awaited the company's decision on whether to formally apply. Bird told Citi it decided not to apply and the bank told the company the temporary application had been cancelled. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Story continues Index Ventures confirmed it has not applied for or received a loan. Andreessen Horowitz, which was also listed in the PPP data, confirmed that it has not applied for or received a loan in a statement to TechCrunch. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Below is a list of tech startups and companies, including some venture firms that received money, either for themselves or on behalf of portfolio companies, from the program. The story is developing and we're seeking to confirm the loans with companies. We will update throughout the day. $150,000 to $350,000 range Stackin, which connects millennials to fintech startups, got a loan. This loan is notable because the fintech company raised a $12.6 million Series B financing in May, is listed in the loan data. CEO Scott Grimes did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenResearch, formerly named Y Combinator Research, got a loan. The nonprofit company rebranded in May, and announced that it is operating independently from Y Combinator and will no longer be affiliated with the incubator. This renaming announcement came after the nonprofit applied for a PPP grant. $350,000 to $1 million range Bolt Mobility, a city micromobility upstart, plans to retain 18 jobs Pronto.ai, the automated driving technology startup founded by Anthony Lewandowski, plans to save 17 jobs $1 million to $2 million range Kodiak Robotics, the autonomous trucking company, plans to retain 87 jobs SquareFoot, a New york-based office real-estate upstart, got a loan. According to The Information, CEO Jonathan Wasserstrum got $1 million to avoid cutting the staff amid real estate transactions slowing down due to COVID-19. $2 to $5 million range Self-driving trucking company TuSimple plans to save 324 jobs. TechCrunch recently reported that this startup, which gained unicorn status in 2019, has hired Morgan Stanley as it seeks $250 million in new funding. Yeezy LLC, a company owned by Kanye West, is listed and the money will retain 106 jobs. $5 to $10 million loan range Byton North America, a unit of the China-backed EV startup, plans to retain 387 jobs Getaround, a peer-to-peer car sharing service, plans to save 448 jobs. In a statement to TechCrunch, Getaround confirmed the loan and said that the program helped reduce the otherwise severe impact on the health of our organization, due to lockdowns and coronavirus restrictions. Faraday Future, the troubled EV startup, plans to save 237 jobs Luminar, a lidar sensor company, plans to retain 341 jobs Karma Automotive, the EV startup, plans to save 463 jobs Metromile plans to save 75 jobs Nio USA, a unit of Chinese EV automaker Nio, plans to retain 204 jobs Proterra, the electric bus manufacturer, plans to save 500 jobs Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service, does not disclose the number of jobs that will be retained. Velodyne, a lidar sensor company, plans to save 450 jobs. Developing ... Update: A few of the job numbers were entered incorrectly and have since been corrected. Dubai College of Tourism (DCT), an institution established by Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), is adapting to the changing global realities by providing a range of innovative virtual internships to students who have just finished their academic year. With the health and safety of students being the key priority of DCT amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the virtual internships were designed to help successful participants of the colleges year-long Certificate programmes in five core specialisations - Tourism, Events, Hospitality, Retail Business and Culinary Arts prepare for the next stage of their career without any disruption to their studies or affecting their mentorship and training opportunities. Each virtual internship offered across the five key disciplines was one month in duration and all interns received live training and mentoring by experts in their chosen fields. DCT partnered with Hilton in providing the virtual internships to students that completed the Certificate courses in Hospitality and Culinary Arts. These internships, which commenced at the beginning of June, underscore DCTs ability to leverage its strong connections and continuous collaboration with stakeholders to help build a highly-skilled workforce for Dubai's tourism industry and other sectors featuring multiple tourism touch points. Dubai Tourism also supported DCTs students by providing remote internships this year to participants of DCTs Certificate programmes in Tourism, Events and Retail Business. Commenting on the internships, Essa Bin Hadher, General Manager of DCT, said: With the current situation upending our plans to provide conventional industry internships at the end of the academic year, Dubai College of Tourism has nevertheless secured several virtual internships to honour its commitment to students who have completed Certificate courses in the five core specialisations at DCT. We are fortunate to have taken the lead in establishing e-learning platforms long before the onset of Covid-19, paving the way for a smooth and seamless transition to a digital learning environment for these students that would also help safeguard their health while they follow instructions from the safety of their homes. All internships are structured in a way that students are able to take away maximum learning from each session, with the expert team of instructors and mentors on the online programmes maintaining the same high level of dedication and enthusiasm in teaching the interns as they would in an on-the-job training process. The strong spirit of collaboration that exists between DCT and its stakeholders has led to the kind of partnerships that are of immense benefit to our students, such as the significant number of virtual internships provided this year by Hilton, a world leader in the hospitality sector. Working with our industry partners enable us to provide an invaluable experience for those on the course and ensure that successful completion of these internships will serve as a springboard to exciting career opportunities for all candidates, enabling them to enter the tourist-facing workforce with practical experience and valuable industry knowledge. Hospitality internships DCT partnered with Hilton to offer students the opportunity to undergo the hospitality experience through a real world hotel simulation called Cesim featuring an interactive hospitality game, which focuses on running a hotel and a hotel restaurant. The simulation done online from start to finish integrates concepts from various hospitality management related functions including revenue management, sales channels, menu engineering, housekeeping, maintenance, staffing, and procurement. The simulation featured four teams and the winning team was the one that most efficiently ran a hotel from all aspects of hospitality management. The simulation was supervised by a group of key executives from different departments of various Hilton Hotels including Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Hilton Dubai The Walk, and Hilton Dubai Creek. The hotel executives interacted daily with the interns online, mentoring them on all aspects of the hotel business. Culinary Arts internships As part of its partnership with Hilton, the college provided the students with the opportunity to create their own specialty dishes under the guidance of a team of world-class Chefs from Hilton Hotels including Waldorf Astoria DIFC, Hilton Jumeirah and Conrad Dubai. The interns were asked to participate in weekly challenges to create different cuisines using the techniques they had learned during the one-year certificate programme. Each student had to submit a work plan detailing how they prepared the dish and also produce a short How to Make video of their favourite dish to be presented to the Hilton Chefs each week. Jochem-Jan Sleiffer, President, Hilton, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, said: We are delighted to have partnered with the Dubai College of Tourism on their innovative virtual internship programme to support students in both operations and culinary. The future of the hospitality sector relies on bright talent and I am thrilled that weve been able to support with 24 internships over the last few weeks. In recent months, Ive spent time getting to know the DCT team and have no-doubt that the students will build on the strong learning foundation from the college, as well as their industry experience with Hilton, to achieve successful career starts in hospitality. Events internships Students undertaking the Events internship worked with Dubai Tourisms Events team on a new concept for this years edition of the Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC), the citys flagship fitness initiative that is bound to be much different from previous years due to the global pandemic. In conceptualising a new plan for DFC 2020, a much-awaited fixture of Dubais annual Retail Calendar, students were also asked to develop innovative ideas that would address the current situation from a local and global perspective with the aim of creating a buzz about DFC around the world. Tourism and Retail Business internships With Dubai being home to people from over 200 different nationalities, the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) segment makes an important contribution towards the emirates tourism sector. Students undertaking these internships worked with the Project Management Office of Dubai Tourism, under the supervision of top Dubai Tourism professionals to gain an understanding of the strategy designed to promote the VFR segment later this year and into early 2021. Students worked in four different groups in four separate areas, namely, identifying existing platforms for the distribution of VFR offers; target audiences and demographics; communication and messaging; and incentives and rewards to get the Dubai-based expatriate community to encourage friends and family to visit them in Dubai later this year and into the next. - TradeArabia News Service 10 new MSCI index futures contracts have launched today on HKEX First tranche of new HKEX / MSCI licensing agreement for 37 futures and options contracts in Hong Kong HONG KONG, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to today (Monday) welcome the launch of the first futures contracts as part of its new index licensing agreement with MSCI Inc., announced on 27 May 2020. This represents a major step forward in the expansion of HKEX's derivatives product suite and significantly adds to the breadth and depth of the Hong Kong markets. The 10 MSCI index futures contracts, which are denominated in US dollars (USD) and track underlying equities in markets such as Australia, mainland China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, were successfully listed on HKEX's derivatives market earlier today. A total of 10 market makers are providing liquidity in the order book on day one, helping support a deeper pool of liquidity. On 20 July, HKEX will launch the second tranche of contracts, with seven more USD-denominated futures contracts listing on HKEX. "Today's listing marks an exciting new chapter for HKEX and our markets, as we provide even more choice to our customers, and continue to build the breadth, depth and attractiveness of Hong Kong's financial markets as a global trading and investment hub," said HKEX Head of Markets Wilfred Yiu. "Global connectivity is a central premise of our strategy and our business and these derivatives contracts will greatly expand the coverage of underlying assets beyond Hong Kong and Mainland China, to the rest of Asia and beyond. This will bring enhanced liquidity to our markets and greatly complement our existing product suite. We look forward to the rollout of further contracts and continuing to develop our ecosystem to make our markets even more vibrant, connected and attractive to our customers around the world," said Mr Yiu. Story continues In May 2020, HKEX signed a 10-year licensing agreement with MSCI to license a suite of MSCI indexes in Asia and Emerging Markets for the launch of 37 futures and options contracts in Hong Kong. The agreement expands the existing partnership between the two companies, and further anchors HKEX and MSCI's commitment to a long-term product development and innovation programme in the region. Following the introduction of the first batch of contracts in July, HKEX plans to launch the remainder of the contracts later in the year, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions. With the launch of the new derivatives contracts, HKEX has introduced incentive programs for liquidity providers, proprietary traders and block trade participants to support the liquidity development of the contracts. In addition, the Commission Levy charged by the Securities and Futures Commission will be exempted for the first six months of trading. Please see this market circular and the designated webpage on HKEX's website for more detailed product specifications and planned launch dates of the MSCI derivatives contracts. For enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications' Jeffrey Ng (+852-2840-2067 / jeffreyhwng@hkex.com.hk) Wong Sau Ching (+852-2840-3856 / wongsauching@hkex.com.hk) About HKEX Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is one of the world's major exchange groups, and operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets. HKEX is the world's leading IPO market and as Hong Kong's only securities and derivatives exchange and sole operator of its clearing houses, it is uniquely placed to offer regional and international investors access to Asia's most vibrant markets. HKEX is also the global leader in metals trading, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, The London Metal Exchange (LME) and LME Clear Limited. This commodity franchise was further enhanced with the launch of Qianhai Mercantile Exchange (QME), in China, in 2018. HKEX launched the pioneering Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme in 2014, further expanded with the launch of Shenzhen Connect in 2016, and the launch of Bond Connect in 2017. www.hkexgroup.com SOURCE Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) The new Japanese head office is in Ebisu Green Glass building, Ebisu district, south Shibuya. IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, today opened its new Japanese head office in Shibuya District, Tokyo, home to the companys five business units. It also houses a new experience center for displaying IDEMIA technologies that underpin business and government solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200705005033/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) Backed by a strong brand in Japan, the local head office is an ideal venue for customers to view latest products and solutions from IDEMIAs five business units - Financial Institutions, Mobile Operators, Biometric Devices and Automotive, Digital and Public Security & Identity. The new experience center will showcase IDEMIA technologies ranging from contactless biometric readers, facial recognition technology, smart banking cards, video investigation technologies, digital payment solutions and SIM Cards, to its latest 5G demo. IDEMIA Japan has boomed in the last five years and the new larger office will provide space to take on more staff by 2023. This move reaffirms IDEMIAs ongoing commitment to Japan and reflects the companys sharp revenue growth expectations in Japan. It is also testament to the strong customer and supplier relations that IDEMIA has nurtured with big firms across various Japanese industries, many of which have adopted IDEMIAs biometric payment card, digital payment solutions, eSIM service and touchless fingerprint reader technology. In line with IDEMIAs mission to bring customers a frictionless experience, the new Japan head office is fitted out with the MorphoWave Compact, a touchless fingerprint reader for controlling physical access that enables fast, seamless and secure identity checks for IDEMIA employees. By a mere handwave over the biometric reader, employees can enter the office, with no need for keys or ID cards. Fingerprint matching ensures the office has watertight security. Story continues Nobuyoshi Nezu, IDEMIA Japan Representative Director and Vice President Sales, said: "We are excited about opening our new office here in Shibuya, Tokyo. As the global leader in augmented identity, we will strive to upgrade our customer and supplier systems and capabilities so as to bring about safer, more secure and user-friendly communities for everyone. The larger space will give us the wherewithal to double our headcount and foster deeper collaboration and teamwork between staff, customers and suppliers. We will continue to invest in our people and retain talent while looking for new hires over the next three years." About IDEMIA IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space. Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets our identity whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors. With close to 15,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries. For more information, visit www.idemia.com / Follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200705005033/en/ Contacts Media Contact REDHILL Communications Felicia Chiriac Email: felicia.chiriac@redhill.asia Phone: +65 9644 5927 IMC has bolstered the network of pharmacies, distributors and supply partners that are supporting the IMC brand in both Israel and Germany Decriminalization legislation in Israel to significantly increase market potential Formal launch of IMC brand in Germany expected in Q3 2020 Recent warrant exercise 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 , July 6, 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 , is pleased to provide a review of significant milestones achieved in the second quarter of 2020 and a business update. IM Cannabis Corp. (CNW Group/IM Cannabis Corp.) Oren Shuster , Chief Executive Officer of IMC commented, "The second quarter of 2020 was surely the most exciting period for IMC in its history and the milestones we achieved have set the stage for many years of growth for the IMC brand and for shareholders. While the highlights of the past three months were Focus Medical signing multiple sales agreements with the largest pharmacies in Israel for expected revenue of $193.5 million over the next three years at an expected gross margin of 50%, there were many other achievements that place the Company in a strong strategic position. In Israel , we increased our domestic supplier base and imported medical cannabis from both Canada and Spain . Our optimism in Israel has never been higher with the government passing a first reading of legislation that will decriminalize recreational cannabis, which should significantly expand the market for cannabis in Israel . In Europe , we are also steadily increasing our distribution network to blanket the fragmented pharmacy channel and we plan to deliver more firm commitments in that market in the near-term." Israeli Market Update The growth prospects for IMC in Israel have materially improved with government efforts to reform cannabis regulations. On June 21, 2020 , the Ministerial Committee on Legislation in Israel approved a bill for the decriminalization of recreational cannabis. Three readings are required for legislation to become law and there is strong support for decriminalization among voters and the largest political parties. Not only did the Israeli government advance decriminalization efforts in the quarter, but the Israeli Ministry of Economy signed a Free Export Order for medical cannabis products. Under the Free Export Order, successful applicants will be permitted to export medical cannabis to foreign markets such as the European Union. Story continues While we await further developments regarding decriminalization in Israel , Focus Medical Herbs Ltd. ("Focus Medical") has signed six binding sales agreements for the distribution of IMC-branded products with leading pharmacies in Israel that should extend our leadership in the Israeli medical cannabis market. Total consolidated revenue from all binding sales agreements in Israel is expected to be $193.5 million with an expected gross margin of 50% over the next three years. A total of 33,075kg of IMC-branded medical cannabis will be delivered by Focus Medical to Israeli pharmacies under the sales agreements between Q2 2020 and 2023, of which 3,000kg of the medical cannabis is expected to reach pharmacies in 2020 with 482kg having already been delivered in Q2 2020. Supply to fulfil the pharmacy sales agreements is now fully contracted. Focus Medical has signed and announced supply agreements with Cannomed Medical Cannabis Industries Ltd. (CNMD.TA), Intelicanna Ltd. (INTL.TA), Way of Life and Cannation, in addition to exclusive supply from Focus Medical and international supply from Spain and Canada . Diversity of supply is critical to ensuring that the high-quality IMC-branded medical cannabis is available to patients whenever they need it. IMC also continues to find opportunities in the next generation of cannabis products and evidence-based research. We announced a binding term sheet for the exclusive distribution rights of CannEpil in Israel for a period of five years. CannEpil is a phytocannabinoid medicine developed for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Additionally, research performed by the Technion - Israeli Institute of Technology indicated that two strains of IMC-branded medical cannabis were found to be effective in reducing migraine frequency. We continue to develop relationships with leading innovators in medical cannabis and this will be critical to the development of the next generation of evidence-based medicine and global leadership in medical cannabis. German Market Update Our EU-GMP certified subsidiary in Germany , Adjupharm GmbH ("Adjupharm"), has developed a comprehensive marketing plan for the formal launch of IMC-branded products in Q3 2020. The first step in the marketing plan is to deploy a sales team and physician education program to build brand recognition and demand. Adjupharm's facility is prepared for increased international shipments with a certified vault able to store 500kg of medical cannabis and the Company is utilizing its EU-GMP license to package bulk cannabis from import which will enable seamless distribution. We remain well positioned in Germany and have now secured three sales commitments to medical cannabis distributors through Adjupharm. Adjupharm now has binding sales commitments for a total of 825kg of medical cannabis in Germany under the IMC brand, 530kg of which will be delivered in 2020. Medical cannabis sold under the sales commitments will be fulfilled primarily from the Company's EU-GMP certified supply partner in Europe . IMC has an active pipeline of other distributors with which it plans to enter sales commitments to cover Germany's many territories. Ownership of retail pharmacies in Germany is highly fragmented and supplying distributors with consistent volumes of high-quality IMC-branded products is imperative for brand recognition in the German medical community. Corporate Update Most recently, IMC announced that investors exercised 12,350,795 common share purchase warrants and broker compensation options, of which the last tranche was to expire by June 27 , 2020. This amounted to gross proceeds of approximately $6.0 million and represented 92.1% of the warrants and broker compensation options expiring on or prior to June 27, 2020 . 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. About Focus Medical Herbs Ltd. Focus Medical is one of eight original licensed producers of medical cannabis in Israel and has over 10 years of experience growing high quality medical cannabis in the Israeli market. Focus Medical has an exclusive commercial agreement with IMC to distribute its production under the IMC brand. In addition to its own capacity, Focus Medical has supply agreements with five other cultivators for additional supply using its proprietary genetics and for sale under the IMC brand. Financial Outlook The Company and its management believe that the estimated revenues and gross margins contained in this press release are reasonable as of the date hereof and are based on management's current views, strategies, expectations, assumptions and forecasts, and have been calculated using accounting policies that are generally consistent with the Company's current accounting policies. These estimates are considered financial outlooks under applicable securities laws. These estimates and any other financial outlooks or future-oriented financial information included herein have been approved by management of the Company as of the date hereof. Such financial outlooks or future-oriented financial information are provided for the purposes of presenting information about management's current expectations and goals relating to previously announced sales agreements and the future business of the Company. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any future-oriented financial information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. Readers are cautioned that actual results may vary materially as a result of a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. See "Disclaimer for Forward Looking Statements" below. 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, statements relating to the Company's projected revenues and profitability due to previously announced sales agreements of Focus Medical, the expected amount of medical cannabis to be delivered by Focus Medical under its previously announced sales agreements, timing on the sale and distribution of IMC-branded medical cannabis products to Israeli pharmacies under the sales agreements, the ability of Focus Medical to meet its sales commitments, the continued expansion of Focus Medical's Israeli supplier base and import of medical cannabis from Canada and Spain , the nature and timing of any reforms in the Israeli cannabis market based on the joint statement by the Israeli government regarding decriminalization of recreational cannabis, the Company being the exclusive distributor of CannEpil in Israel for the next five years, the characteristics of the next generation of medical cannabis products, the ability to enter into other distribution agreements for innovative products, the ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals to distribute CannEpil in Israel IMC's brand position in the cannabis market in Israel , the continued progress of Adjupharm's comprehensive marketing plan and the timing of its formal launch of IMC-branded products, the reception of brand building efforts including sales and physician education, the expansion of Adjupharm's facilities, the continued maintenance of Adjupharm's EU-GMP license, the expected fulfilment of sales commitments to medical cannabis distributors through Adjupharm, the ability of the Company's certified supply partner in Europe to fulfil its commitments, the Company's ability to enter into additional sales agreements in the retail pharmacy segment in Germany 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 Israeli government deciding to delay or abandon the decriminalization of recreational cannabis; 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/July2020/06/c5929.html McKINNEY, TX / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Independent Bank Group, Inc. (IBTX), the holding company for Independent Bank, will hold a conference call to discuss 2020 second quarter results on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 8:30 am EST. The related press release will be issued Monday, July 27, 2020 at 5:00 pm EST. Conference Call Details The call can be accessed by the webcast link, https://webcasts.eqs.com/indepbankgroup20200728/en or by calling 1-877-407-0989 and by identifying the meeting number 13706219 or by identifying "Independent Bank Group Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call". The conference materials will also be available by accessing the Investor Relations page of our website, www.ibtx.com. A recording of the conference call and the conference materials will be available from July 29, 2020 through August 13, 2020 on our website. About Independent Bank Group Independent Bank Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Bank, provides a wide range of relationship-driven commercial banking products and services tailored to meet the needs of businesses, professionals and individuals. Independent Bank Group operates in four market regions located in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, and Houston areas in Texas and the Colorado Front Range area, including Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. CONTACTS: Analysts/Investors: Paul Langdale Senior Vice President, Director of Corporate Development (972) 562-9004 plangdale@ibtx.com Media: James Tippit Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Responsibility (972) 562-9004 jtippit@ibtx.com SOURCE: Independent Bank Group, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596400/Independent-Bank-Group-Inc-Announces-Q2-2020-Earnings-Call By Rupam Jain and Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI, July 6 (Reuters) - Indian soldiers who died in close combat with Chinese troops last month were unarmed and surrounded by a larger force on a steep ridge, Indian government sources, two soldiers deployed in the area and families of the fallen men said. One of the Indian soldiers had his throat slit with metal nails in the darkness, his father told Reuters, saying he had been told by a fellow soldier who was there. Others fell to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas, relatives have learned from witnesses. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the June 15 clash on the de facto border separating the two armies. The soldiers all belonged to the 16th Bihar Regiment deployed in the Galwan region. No shots were fired, but it was the biggest loss of life in combat between the nuclear-armed neighbours since 1967, when the simmering border dispute flared into deadly battles. Reuters spoke to relatives of 13 of the men who were killed, and in five cases they produced death certificates listing horrific injuries suffered during the six-hour night-time clash at 14,000 ft (4,267 metres) amid remote, barren mountains. Reuters contacted the military hospital in India's Ladakh region where the bodies were brought. The hospital declined to comment on the cause of death and said that the bodies were sent to the families along with the death certificates. Reuters also spoke to two soldiers of the Bihar Regiment deployed in the area, who were among those who accompanied the bodies of fallen colleagues to their homes in the area. They were not directly involved in the melee. The soldiers cannot be named because of military rules and all the families asked for anonymity because they said they were not supposed to speak about military matters. The Indian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the fighting on June 15. In response to a Reuters query, a China foreign ministry spokesperson repeated previous statements blaming the Indian side for crossing the de facto border and provoking the Chinese. Story continues "When Chinese officers and soldiers went there to negotiate, they were suddenly and violently attacked by the Indian troops," the spokesperson said. "The rights and wrongs of the incident are very clear. The responsibility absolutely does not lie with the Chinese." China has not provided evidence of Indian aggression. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. 'ARTERIES RUPTURED' Three of the dead men had their "arteries ruptured in the neck" and two sustained head injuries caused by "sharp or pointed objects", the death certificates seen by Reuters said. There were visible marks on the neck and forehead, all five documents said. "It was a free-for-all, they fought with whatever they could lay their hands on - rods, sticks, and even with their bare hands," said a government official in Delhi briefed on the clash. The Indian government has said that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acted in a premeditated manner, but it has not provided a full account of the clash that stunned the country and stoked popular anger against China. China has dismissed an Indian government minister's claim that China had lost 40 soldiers from the PLA's western theatre command deployed in Galwan. Its envoy to Delhi suggested in remarks to local media and posted on the embassy website that there had been losses on both sides. "The Indian army suddenly and violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went for negotiation, causing fierce physical conflicts and casualties between the two sides," Sun Weidong said. Indian government officials have told Reuters that the conflict began when the commanding officer of the Bihar regiment led a small party to Patrol Point 14 to verify whether the Chinese had made good their promise to withdraw from the disputed site and dismantle structures they had built there. But instead they came under attack by Chinese soldiers using iron rods and wooden clubs with nails studded in them on a narrow ledge barely four metres wide overlooking the Galwan river. BODIES FOUND IN RIVER In recent weeks the world's two most populous countries have mobilised more forces along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the renewed hostilities have triggered a diplomatic and commercial spat that threatens to escalate, experts including former Indian military officers say. The possibility that unarmed Indian soldiers were overrun by a larger force could further fuel resentment against China and raise questions about why Indian soldiers were sent to a tense frontline without being armed. "How dare China kill our unarmed soldiers. Why were our soldiers sent unarmed to martyrdom?" Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party wrote in a tweet, demanding the government provide a full account. A relative of one of the soldiers who accompanied Colonel Santosh Babu, the commanding officer, to the site of two tents erected by the Chinese troops told Reuters that members of the Indian patrol were unarmed. They were confronted by a small group of Chinese soldiers and an argument ensued over the tents and a small observation tower the relative said, on the basis of conversations with two other soldiers who were present. Reuters was unable to establish all of the details of what happened, but government officials in New Delhi briefed on the incident said that at some point Indian troops took down the observation post and the tents because they were on India's side of the LAC. Soon after the Indian side came under attack from a large Chinese force that pelted them with stones and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, according to the families of three dead Indian soldiers, based on conversations they had with survivors. Some soldiers retreated to safety on the ridgeline in the darkness, but when they could not find the commanding officer, they re-emerged and came under fresh attack, four family members said. Babu was among those killed in the fighting, the Indian government said. One of the soldiers deployed in the area that Reuters spoke to said the Indian patrol was outnumbered by the PLA. "The Chinese side overwhelmed our people by sheer numbers," said the soldier, who overheard radio messages seeking reinforcements being sent to regional headquarters in Ladakh. Three of the Indian families said they had been told by soldiers who were commissioned to bring the bodies back to them that some combatants pushed each other into the fast-flowing Galwan river. The government official in Delhi also said bodies of some soldiers were fished out of the river the next morning. Some had succumbed to hypothermia, the official added. (Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian and Tony Munroe in Beijing, Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar, Subrata NagChoudhury in Kolkata, Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar, Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow; Editing by Mike Collett-White) GUILDFORD, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Linde plc (LIN)(LIN) today announced it has changed the location and time of its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, related governmental actions and the importance of safeguarding the health of all Linde plc stakeholders. The company has also added a virtual meeting format. Linde plc will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Monday, July 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM UK time (8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time in the US), as follows: 1. Through a virtual on-line meeting format; and 2. As required by Irish law, through an in-person meeting at the company's principal offices located at The Priestley Centre, 10 Priestly Road, Surrey Research Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XY United Kingdom. However, the Annual General Meeting will be conducted primarily through the virtual meeting format, and no members of the Board of Directors or senior management will be present in Guildford given the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this in-person meeting will be subject to significant attendance restrictions given COVID-19 safety concerns and government regulations in effect in the UK, and shareholders are therefore urged not to attend in person but instead to participate in the virtual meeting format. Full details on how shareholders can participate in the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, including accessing the virtual meeting, are available at https://investors.linde.com/annual-general-meeting-of-shareholders There are no changes to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders items of business. Whether or not shareholders plan to attend the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders virtually or in person, the company urges shareholders to vote and submit their proxy in advance of the meeting, using the instructions in their proxy materials that were previously distributed. Shareholders may continue to use the proxy card or voting instruction form previously distributed. A shareholder who has already submitted or submits a proxy before the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders need take no further action to have his or her shares voted as directed in the proxy at the meeting. Story continues About Linde Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2019 sales of $28 billion (25 billion). We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet. The company serves a variety of end markets including chemicals & refining, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing and primary metals. Linde's industrial gases are used in countless applications, from life-saving oxygen for hospitals to high-purity & specialty gases for electronics manufacturing, hydrogen for clean fuels and much more. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions. For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com. Contacts: Investor Relations Juan Pelaez Phone: +1 203 837 2213 Email: juan.pelaez@linde.com Media Relations Anna Davies Phone: +44 1483 244705 Email: anna.davies@linde.com SOURCE: Linde plc View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596397/Linde-Announces-Changes-to-Annual-General-Meeting-of-Shareholders (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Working remotely has its costs think of new laptops, ergonomic chairs and high-speed internet and its tempting to think of them as potential tax write-offs. Unfortunately for most employees, or anyone who receives a W-2 form, thats a fantasy. The 2017 tax law eliminated the federal write-offs previously allowed for unreimbursed business expenses and home offices, along with most other miscellaneous itemized deductions. The thinking was that a doubling of the standard deduction would help offset the pain of ending or capping itemized deductions, but that was before the coronavirus. A very few lucky employees such as struggling performing artists can still qualify for a business-expense tax break, but it's a narrow group and it seems unlikely that the U.S. Congress will widen it. Some states, including New York, California and Pennsylvania, still allow employees to take deductions for unreimbursed business expenses on their state tax returns. But there may be restrictions on the state deductions the expenses may have to total more than a certain percentage of income, or taxpayers may have to earn below a specific threshold to qualify. Given the tax limitations, the best way for employees to recover what theyve had to spend to work remotely may be to negotiate with their employers. The federal tax code lets employers reimburse employees for costs that are reasonable and necessary for them to do their jobs amid a disaster, and the Internal Revenue Service has said the pandemic qualifies. While the IRS doesn't provide a list of acceptable expenses, reasonable interpretations include home-office and child-care costs. Employees don't have to count the payments as income and employers can deduct them as business expenses. There are a few caveats though, including that the payments have to be in addition to an employee's normal salary or wages. Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, said that few employers are aware of the provision. But he added that some companies, especially larger ones, may prefer to just provide all employees with a one-time set payment to compensate for remote working expenses, rather than negotiate individual personal situations. Story continues There's better news for those who are self-employed: They're still allowed to take deductions for home offices and related business expenses. Even individuals who were self-employed and previously rented office space elsewhere but are now working from home will be able to take advantage of the home-office tax break, which lets them deduct a percentage of some home expenses. But taxpayers have to be cautious about taking the write-off. There must be a designated section of their home that's used exclusively and regularly for work (a dining room table doesnt count). And since the deduction is often a red flag for auditors, it's important to keep meticulous records of work performed at home and even take pictures of the space. Also, married couples who file jointly aren't entitled to a bigger deduction just because one spouse is self-employed. The home-office deduction isn't shared with a spouse like itemized deductions, so the self-employed person can only deduct the home-office expenses attributable to the portion of the home that is used for his or her business, according to Steve Rossman, an accountant at Drucker & Scaccetti in Philadelphia. Finally, working from home has raised some questions about the tax liabilities of those no longer commuting into different cities or states. In some places, nonresidents are on the hook for taxes where they work, but then receive a credit to offset taxes where they live. Most tax authorities are still figuring it out, but rest assured that a state like New York, which is known for being aggressive about tax collections, will be unlikely to leave any revenue on the table amid pandemic-induced budgetary shortfalls. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Alexis Leondis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering personal finance. Previously, she wrote about personal finance, asset management and mortgages, and oversaw tax coverage for Bloomberg News. 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. Residents of Ajman can now avail advanced and complex medical treatment at the nearby Burjeel Specialty Hospital of Sharjah following an agreement signed by Ajman Specialty Hospital with Burjeel. Burjeel will now be taking referral patients from the emirate of Ajman and provide comprehensive and advanced tertiary care services, said a statement. Ajman Specialty Hospital is the first such facility in the region under the Ajman government and a majority of the local population are dependent on the facility for their medical needs. A daycare centre, the medical unit does not have the facilities to accommodate patients, conduct complex surgeries and provide advanced treatment. The partnership between the hospitals will let the authorities refer patients requiring complex and advanced treatment to Burjeel Specialty Hospital in Sharjah. The agreement focuses on three major areas: surgical procedures, advanced treatment, and medical admissions. As per the agreement, the specialist doctors at Ajman Specialty Hospital will perform surgeries of their patients utilising the facility at Burjeel Specialty Hospital. Similarly, patients who require advanced specialist treatments that are unavailable in Ajman can avail it at the Sharjah hospital. Those requiring treatment that requires hospital stay will also benefit from the deal, it said. Hamad Obaid Taryam Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Director of Ajman Medical District, said: We encourage agreements that would contribute to the development of health services provided in accordance with the best medical standards. The real motivation behind the cooperation and partnership is to achieve patient satisfaction, exchange experience, enhancement of capabilities, and raise the efficiency of health workers in the emirate. CEO VPS Healthcare (Dubai and Northern Emirates) Dr Shajir Gaffar said: We believe the partnership will help hundreds of residents in the emirate of Ajman in getting advanced treatment. At Burjeel, we deliver quality and compassionate care at world-class standards. We are extremely happy to serve the people of Ajman and hope our services would be beneficial for them. Burjeel Specialty is a 75-bed multispecialty hospital with advanced treatment facilities. The partnership between the hospitals was signed here by Al Shamsi and Dr Gaffar. - TradeArabia News Service Actor Wahlberg is partnering with veteran dealer Feldman COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Actor, producer and businessman Mark Wahlberg is growing his automotive dealership footprint with the acquisition of two more Columbus dealerships with his business partner, veteran automotive dealer Jay Feldman. The new dealerships will be called Mark Wahlberg Buick GMC and Mark Wahlberg Airstream & RV. In July 2018, the duo opened Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet at 3900 Broad Street in Columbus. The dealerships were formerly Haydocy Buick GMC and Haydocy Airstream & RV and are located right across the street from Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet at 3895 Broad Street. The Buick GMC dealership has been family-owned and operated by the Haydocys since 1954. In addition to being business partners in the three dealerships, Jay and Mark have been friends for several years and are partners in several Wahlburgers restaurants. "Columbus has been so welcoming and it just made sense to grow our automotive platform here," said Wahlberg. "The Haydocy family has been wonderful to work with during this transition and Jay and I are looking forward to doing big things here on the West Side." The three dealerships adds to Wahlberg's portfolio of business interests that includes a movie production company, a health and wellness company, a water line and a Wahlburgers restaurant chain that is currently franchised throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. "The Wahlberg brand is so well respected," said Feldman. "We are anxious to do even more things in the near future together in the Columbus area. Stay tuned." The dealership acquisitions were represented by Tim Lamb at the Tim Lamb Group in Columbus. The three dealerships are hiring for several key sales and service positions in Columbus. For information, visit www.markwahlbergbuickgmc.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Colleen Robar, 313-207-5960, crobar@robarpr.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mark-wahlberg-to-open-two-additional-columbus-auto-dealerships-301088381.html SOURCE Mark Wahlberg Buick GMC The Toronto East community, supported by anti-racism activists and national labour leaders, is holding a rally today at noon at the local police station to protest recent racist violence. WHAT: Say No To Racist Violence: Community Protest. WHEN: Monday, July 6, 2020, 12 noon. WHERE: Toronto Police, 55 Division, 101 Coxwell Ave. (Coxwell and Dundas), Toronto. WHO: Organized by the United Steelworkers Toronto Area Council, the Black Action Defence Committee, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Toronto East Anti-Hate Mobilization. On the morning of Thursday, June 25, Toronto east-end residents Mark Austin and Candace Zinkweg were victims of a brutal racist assault as they walked their dog in Dentonia Park. Candace was pushed to the ground and then kicked in the head by a white assailant. She was knocked unconscious and taken by ambulance to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion. Mark, who is Black, and Recording Secretary of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1998, also was violently assaulted and subjected to racist abuse by the same assailant. The assailant made repeated death threats to Mark, including saying he would shoot Mark the next time he sees him. The police have not laid any charges though the assailant is known to them, saying it is a matter of he said, she said. It came to light that the assailant lives in the same apartment complex as the victims. "We recognize this is not occurring in isolation. There is a growing climate of racist brutality around the globe and systemic racism in our communities and our institutions," said Carolyn Egan, President of the Steelworkers Toronto Area Council and one of the protests organizers. "We are demanding that the Toronto Police immediately lay charges against the assailant," said Egan. "Police across Canada are more than willing to lock up Black lives but when the same Black life needs justice its an uphill battle," said Mark Brown, an executive board member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Canadian chapter. Story continues "Until the Black life is valued as much as the non-Black life, there will be no justice and there can be no peace," Brown said. Labour leaders, including USW National Director Ken Neumann and USW Ontario Director Marty Warren, will be part of todays demonstration. "We wont tolerate members of our community being attacked in this way. There is no place for racist violence in Toronto," Neumann said. "It is our collective responsibility to take on racism and violence against Black, Indigenous and people of colour," said Warren. "Authorities must aggressively investigate and prosecute perpetrators of racially motivated violence in our communities." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005108/en/ Contacts Mark Brown, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Canadian chapter, 416-688-7671, mbrowncupw@gmail.com Carolyn Egan, Steelworkers Toronto Area Council, 416-806-7985, c.egan@sympatico.ca Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial FILE PHOTO: An ampule of Remdesivir is pictured during a news conference at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg BENGALURU (Reuters) - Mylan NV said on Monday it would launch a generic version of Gilead Sciences Inc's COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir in India at 4,800 rupees ($64.31), about 80% below the price tag on the drug for wealthy nations. California-based Gilead has signed licensing deals with several generic drugmakers in an effort to make remdesivir available in 127 developing countries. Last month, two Indian drugmakers, Cipla Ltd and privately-held Hetero Labs Ltd, also launched generic versions of the treatment. Cipla will price its version, Cipremi, at less than 5,000 rupees, while Hetero has priced Covifor at 5,400 rupees. Gilead, last week, priced remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for rich nations and agreed to send nearly all of its supply of the drug to the United States over the next three months. Mylan's price was for 100 mg vials, but it was not immediately clear how many of those vials would be required for a full treatment course. Gilead has said for a five-day treatment course, a patient would need six vials of remdesivir. Remdesivir is in high demand after the intravenously-administered medicine helped to shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial but there has been concerns over its supply. Mylan said it would manufacture remdesivir in India at its injectables facilities and was working toward expanding access for patients in the 127 low- and middle-income countries where it is licensed by Gilead Sciences to do so. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Mylan's remdesivir version, to be called Desrem, for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed severe incidences of COVID-19 in adults and children, the company said in a statement. India is the world's third worst hit nation, with the number of coronavirus cases surging to 697,413 on Monday. (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sweta Singh) Money Metals Exchange has teamed up with a sound money policy group to help students pay for the ever-increasing costs of college CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / A national precious-metals dealer has teamed up with a sound money policy group to help students pay for the ever-increasing costs of college. Money Metals Exchange has joined with the Sound Money Defense League to offer the Sound Money Scholarship - the first gold-backed scholarship of the modern era. Starting in 2016, these organizations have set aside 100 ounces of physical gold (worth about $180,000 based on current gold price) to reward outstanding students who display a thorough understanding of economics, monetary policy, and sound money. For more information, please visit https://www.moneymetals.com/scholarship or email scholarship@moneymetals.com The Sound Money Scholarship is open to high school seniors, undergraduate, and graduate students with an interest in economics, specifically the free-market tradition. Applicants do not have to be economics majors to be eligible to receive this scholarship - and the deadline for applications is September 30, 2020. Money Metals Exchange and the Sound Money Defense League also announced this year's blue-ribbon panel of judges: Dr. Will Anderson is a Fellow of the Mises Institute and professor of economics at Frostburg State University. He earned his MA in economics from Clemson University and his PhD in economics from Auburn University, where he was a Mises Research Fellow. He has been writing about Austrian economics since 1981. In 1982, he won the Olive W. Garvey Economic Essay Contest and presented his paper at the Mont Pelerin Society in the former West Berlin. He has published numerous articles and papers on economics and political economy, including articles in The Independent Review, Reason Magazine, The Free Market, The Freeman, Public Choice, The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, The Journal of Markets and Morality, Regulation, Freedom Daily and others. Story continues Dr. Per Bylund, PhD, is a Fellow of the Mises Institute and Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Records-Johnston Professor of Free Enterprise in the School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, and an Associate Fellow of the Ratio Institute in Stockholm. He has previously held positions at Baylor University and the University of Missouri. Dr. Bylund has published research in top journals in both entrepreneurship and management as well as in both the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and the Review of Austrian Economics. He is the author of two full-length books. Larry Reed is the Foundation for Economic Education's (FEE) President Emeritus and Humphreys Family Senior Fellow. Reed served as president of FEE from 2008-2019 after serving previously as chairman of its board of trustees in the 1990s and both writing and speaking for FEE since the late 1970s. Prior to becoming FEE's president, he served for 21 years as president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. He also taught economics full-time from 1977 to 1984 at Northwood University in Michigan and chaired its department of economics from 1982 to 1984. He holds a B.A. in economics from Grove City College (1975) and an M.A. degree in history from Slippery Rock State University (1978), both in Pennsylvania. He holds two honorary doctorates, one from Central Michigan University (public administration, 1993) and Northwood University (laws, 2008). Michael Maharrey serves as the national communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He hosts his own podcast, Thoughts from Maharrey Head, as well as the Friday Gold Wrap. Michael is the author of four books and several e-books on the US Constitution and nullification. Michael earned a degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Kentucky. He speaks at events across the United States, and frequently appears as a guest on local, national, and international radio shows advancing constitutional history and America's founding principles. In prior years, the Sound Money Scholarship has received entries from students attending more than 180 different schools in 44 states, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., six countries, and three continents. The deadline to submit applications is September 30, 2020. About Sound Money Defense League: Sound Money Defense League is a public policy group working nationally to promote sound money across the U.S. About Money Metals Exchange: Money Metals Exchange-a national precious-metals retailer recently named "Best in the USA" by an independent global-ratings group-buys, sells, and securely stores physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. For more information, please visit https://www.moneymetals.com/. Contact: Jp Cortez jp.cortez@soundmoneydefense.org (800) 800-1865 SOURCE: Money Metals Exchange View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/596277/National-Precious-Metals-Dealer-Offers-Gold-Backed-Sound-Money-Scholarships-to-Deserving-Students Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2020) - NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) (FSE: 26N) (OTCQB: NTTCF) ("NetCents" or the "Company"), a cryptocurrency payments technologies company, is pleased to announce that it is forming a wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany to support its growing European business. It has also set up its first European banking relationship to support its rapidly growing European client base. The Company has been encouraged with the growth of its core merchant base over the course of 2020. It has determined that a local presence is necessary to efficiently manage the large processing clients it has developed in the market. "We will be able to process and pay European merchants with the dedicated infrastructure we are putting in place more efficiently," stated Jenn Lowther, Chief Revenue Officer of NetCents Technology. "These moves will allow us to provide the daily payment capability for our merchants in Euros." NetCents will be forming a subsidiary in support of the businesses that it intends to operate in the European market - these businesses include: Merchant Processing Invoicing for subscription-based businesses Merchant services and Crypto-Banking Stack/Solution as a white-label offering for commercial banks On March 3, 2020, the Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) (the German Banking regulator) has released guidelines and definitions for financial institutions interested in Cryptocurrency products[1]. NetCents has a white-label solution; it can offer these commercial banks interested in allowing their client base to trade in cryptocurrency alongside traditional financial products. "We have created a lot of momentum with our efforts to create business opportunities in the European market," stated Clayton Moore, Founder and CEO of NetCents Technology. "With the recent additions of additional European financial executives to our advisory board, we believe that we will only accelerate momentum from here. With a defined resource on the continent - it will make growth in Europe easier to manage. Our team will be multi-lingual, and this addition to our footprint will make it easier to pay merchants in Euro in a timely and efficient way." Story continues European institutions are more inclined to participate in the crypto markets vs. According to a recent survey published by Bitcoin.com, North American institutions, with 82% of European respondents, favorably favor cryptocurrencies.[2] "A large part of our investor and business base is already in Europe, and the climate towards adoption is much more favorable across many business verticals in the European market. It only makes sense that we invest in initiatives that are already generating success for us as a Company. I look forward to growing our European business aggressively," concluded Mr. Moore. About NetCents NetCents Technology Inc, the transactional hub for all cryptocurrency payments, equips forward-thinking businesses with the technology to seamlessly integrate cryptocurrency processing into their payment model without taking on the risk or volatility of the crypto market. NetCents Technology is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with FINTRAC. For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.net-cents.com To keep up on the latest - make sure to join the telegram channel http://t.me/NetCents On Behalf of the Board of Directors NetCents Technology Inc. "Clayton Moore" Clayton Moore, CEO, Founder and Director NetCents Technology Inc. 1000 - 1021 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, V6E 0C3 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. [1] https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Veroeffentlichungen/DE/Meldung/2020/meldung_2020_03_02_mb_kryptoverwahrgeschaeft.html [2] https://news.bitcoin.com/80-us-european-institutional-investors-cryptocurrency-appealing/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59137 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. WBA is slated to release third-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Jul 9, before market open. In the last reported quarter, the company reported a negative earnings surprise of 4.83%. Over the trailing four quarters, its earnings outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on three occasions and missed in one, the four-quarter average beat being 1.91%. Lets take a look at how things have shaped up prior to this announcement. Factors at Play Through the fiscal third quarter (March 2020 to May 2020), shares of Walgreens declined consistently on the coronavirus-led economic crisis that pushed all traditional bricks-and-mortar retail stores into huge uncertainty. This quarter witnessed intense lockdown and wide implementation of stay-at-home norm across most of the states. This is expected to have resulted in huge sales drop for the company across its Retail Pharmacy USA division. The situation remained graver for the companys international businesses during these months with international trade coming almost to a standstill. The problem has furthered with most of the nations implementing infection control measures which includes closing down of all non-essential retail outlets). Sales within the companys Retail Pharmacy International division are expected to have suffered heavily on these during the third quarter. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Quote In this regard, we note that though thepandemic-impact was immaterial to the companys fiscal second-quarter results, the company expected a severe hit in the rest of the fiscal and accordingly refrained from updating its fiscal 2020 guidance. Walgreens noted that although the situation is temporary, given so many rapidly-changing variables related to the pandemic, it is difficult to gauge the potential positive and negative impacts of the pandemic. Story continues Withinthe Pharmaceutical Wholesale division, the company has been working actively to support the ongoing healthcare crisisby providing medicines and advice to patients and by ensuring seamless operations of the supply chain.Besides, the newly-formed joint venture with McKesson in Germany has already started to augment Walgreens Boots reach and scale in the significant German pharmaceutical wholesale market. This is anticipated to have significantly contributed to the companys fiscal third-quarter performance. In the fiscal third quarter, Walgreens also progressed well with its collaboration with LabCorp LH. The companies sought to open at least 600 LabCorp patient centers across the United States, thereby offering diagnostic lab testing services in the community. Till the last update, LabCorp operated in 109 Walgreen sites across 12 states. Also, the company entered into a multi-year Medicare agreement with UnitedHealthcare, which entails a new co-branded Medicare Advantage plan with Walgreens being the exclusive Retail Pharmacy company. The company opened four of the 14 targeted resource centers. These should have registered sales growth during the third quarter. Nevertheless, over the past few quarters, Walgreens Boots has been hit by an FDA crackdown on its sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes, especially to teenagers. Additionally, Brexit has been posing a huge challenge to Walgreens as sales at its Boots UK stores dropped due to deteriorating consumer scenario in the U.K. These downsides might have weighed on the companys profit margins in the soon-to-be-reported quarter as well. Earnings Whispers Per our proven model, a stock with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) along with a positive Earnings ESP has good chances of beating estimates. This is not the case here as you can see: Earnings ESP: Walgreens Boots has an Earnings ESP of +12.47%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Walgreens Boots currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Stocks Worth a Look Here are two medical stocks worth considering from the same space with the right mix of elements to surpass expectations this earnings season. Quest Diagnostics DGX currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 and has an Earnings ESP of +113.3%. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter 2020 earnings on Jul 28. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO has an Earnings ESP of +7.06% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2, at present. The company is slated to release second-quarter 2020 numbers on Jul 22. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) is looking to expand its mission of accrediting surgery facilities in the UAE to improve patient safety. This is especially after the mandate was passed from the DHA, directing all Day Surgery Centres to get accredited by an internationally recognised accrediting agency The AAAASF has set-up enhanced infrastructure to partner with all the UAE health regulators and to help accommodate more surveys and facilities. It has been 40 years since the AAAASF has been promoting safe healthcare practices. It commenced this mission as a not-for-profit institution in the UAE in 2016, with the first-ever accreditation of Hasan Surgery FZ LLC - a Day Surgery Centre located in Dubai Healthcare City, under the regulation of the Dubai Healthcare City Authority. Having achieved AAAASF accreditation voluntarily in 2016, Hasan Surgery was well equipped to efficiently and responsibly handle the unanticipated challenges with regards to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Hasan Ali, Medical Director and Founder, acknowledges that the AAAASF accreditation has left a positive impact on the facility, its practice and upheld its reputation as a reliable care centre. The centre was ready to resume the activities almost as soon as permitted to open by the government and did not have to implement the new protocols, since most of the newly implemented protocols were already in place due to the focus on patient safety and quality as part of the primary requirements in the accreditation programme by the AAAASF. Hasan Surgery has realised tremendous operational benefit through accreditation and has adopted a culture that focuses on clinical safety. The AAAASF strives for the highest standards in excellence for its facilities by regularly updating its requirements for patient safety and quality of care while requiring facilities to continually self-assess and evolve. The tools and processes that are focused around safety, efficiency and quality allow facilities to identify areas of possible improvement, and set and implement actionable steps to enhance facility performance across the quality measures. The result is better care for patients and a higher standard of healthcare in the city.-- Tradearabia News Service R3 International is now offering stem cell therapy for Alzheimers dementia in Mexico with a new program featuring up to 200 million stem cells. Depending on the patient's condition, treatment may be offered IV, intrathecal or with a combination. SAN DIEGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- R3 International is now offering stem cell therapy for Alzheimers dementia in Mexico with a new program featuring up to 200 million stem cells. Depending on the patient's condition, treatment may be offered IV, intrathecal or with a combination. A third of seniors in the US will die having some form of Alzheimers dementia, and the incidence continues to increase as individuals live longer. There is no cure, and conventional treatments often do not help dramatically. Enter stem cell therapy for Alzheimers in Mexico at R3 International. Several early studies have showed significant benefit for Alzheimers disease with stem cell treatment (Curr Opin Psychiatry, 2019). Stem cells have the potential of altering regeneration of neurons and synapses. Anecdotally, R3 Stem Cell International has seen amazing response with patients suffering from Alzheimers dementia with regards to memory, conversational ability and ability to perform activities of daily living. There are several treatment options in Tijuana with R3 International. Patients may receive a one time treatment with 30 million stem cells for only $2975, or receive 50 million stem cells for $1000 more. The newest program at R3 International involves either a 5 day visit for several treatments, or four visits over a year. Treatment involves up to 200 million stem cells for these treatment options, which is an excellent amount for the Alzheimers treatment. These options start at only $8975. Along with effective stem cell treatment options for Alzheimers, R3 International also offers effective stem cell therapy for stroke, neuropathy, ALS, MS, diabetes, liver/kidney failure, COPD, arthritis, Lupus, Lyme, psoriasis, RA and more. Story continues The process starts with a free phone consultation with one of R3's licensed, experience stem cell doctors. Once treatment is then scheduled, the patient concierge representative will assist with travel logistics. Transportation is offered between San Diego and the clinic, which is only 20 minutes from the SA airport. To discuss stem cell treatment in Mexico options with R3, call (888) 988-0515. SOURCE R3 Stem Cell International Funded by U.S. Department of Defense, Published in Case Report Myomo, Inc. (NYSE American: MYO) ("Myomo" or the "Company"), a wearable medical robotics company that offers increased functionality for those suffering from neurological disorders and upper-limb paralysis, today announced that new published research measuring the benefits of the Companys MyoPro myoelectric orthosis found "Despite long-standing traumatic brain injury, meaningful improvements in motor function were observed." The Case Report in the Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering (RATE), a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal, studied a 42-year-old female, 29.5 years post-traumatic brain injury with diminished motor control/coordination and learned nonuse of the right arm. The research consisted of 9 weeks of in-clinic training followed by 9 weeks of at-home use. It was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense through an award to Dr. Stefania Fatone at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and conducted by a research team at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center led by Dr. Svetlana Pundik. The report can be found here https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055668320921067. The study reports "During in-clinic training, active range of motion, tone, muscle power, Fugl-Meyer, box and blocks test, and Chedoke assessment score improved. During the home-use phase, decrease in tone was maintained and all other outcomes declined but were still better upon study completion than baseline." Lead author Svetlana Pundik, MD, MSc, Brain Plasticity and Neuro Recovery Laboratory, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, said "This individual had a very limited use of her arm before intervention with the device. In addition to the therapeutic benefits we measured, the patients caregivers reported functional improvement in her home setting. It is very heartwarming to see these improvements in a person even this many years after injury. This research is continuing now with a larger population of patients." Story continues Paul R. Gudonis, Myomo CEO, said "MyoPro not only extends the limited therapy time available in the clinic to continue in the home, it may also restore a persons ability to perform activities of daily living such as feeding ones self and performing light household tasks. As a result, users see an improved quality of life, some may return to work, and they may reduce their overall healthcare costs." About Myomo Myomo, Inc. is a wearable medical robotics company that offers improved arm and hand function for those suffering from neurological disorders and upper limb paralysis. Myomo develops and markets the MyoPro product line. MyoPro is a powered upper limb orthosis designed to support the arm and restore function to the weakened or paralyzed arms of patients suffering from CVA stroke, brachial plexus injury, traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, ALS or other neuromuscular disease or injury. It is currently the only marketed device that, sensing a patients own EMG signals through non-invasive sensors on the arm, can restore an individuals ability to perform activities of daily living, including feeding themselves, carrying objects and doing household tasks. Many are able to return to work, live independently and reduce their cost of care. Myomo is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with sales and clinical professionals across the U.S and representatives internationally. For more information, please visit www.myomo.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Companys future business expectations, including the expectations related to publication of research concerning its product, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors. These factors include, among other things: our sales and commercialization efforts; our ability to achieve reimbursement from third-party payers for our products; our dependence upon external sources for the financing of our operations, to the extent that we do not achieve or maintain cash flow breakeven; our ability to effectively execute our business plan and scale up our operations; our expectations as to our development programs; and general market, economic, environmental and social factors, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, that may affect the evaluation, fitting, delivery and sale of our products to patients. More information about these and other factors that potentially could affect our financial results is included in Myomos filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those contained in the risk factors section of the Companys annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Although the forward-looking statements in this release of financial information are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations, taking into account all information currently available to us, we cannot guarantee future transactions, results, performance, achievements or outcomes. No assurance can be made to any investor by anyone that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements will be attained, or that deviations from them will not be material and adverse. The Company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005007/en/ Contacts For Myomo: ir@myomo.com Investor Relations: Kim Sutton Golodetz LHA Investor Relations kgolodetz@lhai.com 212-838-3777 Public Relations: Kate McCann Matter Communications myomo@matternow.com Addition of one of Europes leading Genesys Cloud partners further strengthens Sabios EMEA CX cloud capability Sabio Group has announced the acquisition of Coverage Group, one of Frances leading independent providers of customer experience and communications technology solutions. The acquisition supports Sabios goal of becoming the leading player across the European CX market and will add significant scale to the companys French operations. Formed in 2007, Paris-based Coverage Group is an established Genesys Gold, Avaya Edge, Oracle Gold and Broadsoft technology partner. The company has a proven track record in helping organisations across France to place cloud-based customer experience solutions at the heart of their digital strategy, with customers including ENGIE, BEA, EBP, Emil Frey, Homeserve, NutriXo, Optimind, Pierre Fabre, Pierre & Vacances, Sitel and Teleperformance. "The acquisition is a massively important strategic addition for Sabio Group and our customers in a number of ways it means we have now built a substantial presence and customer base in France, it further strengthens our expertise and our relationship with Genesys and Avaya and most importantly it brings a fantastic team and set of customers into the Sabio Group." said Sabio Groups CEO Jonathan Gale. "The team at Coverage have done an absolutely fantastic job of helping their new and existing customers migrate to the cloud, including the largest deployment of Genesys Pure Cloud in Europe. Its this type of expertise that will help Sabio build on its position as Europes leading full-service provider for Customer Experience, by adding even more depth to our cloud specific skills and knowledge. I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Julien, his exceptional team and his customers to the Sabio Group." "With organisations across France increasingly looking to take advantage of the latest public cloud and AI-powered self-service technology, its a great time for Coverage Group to join with Sabio Group and provide an even stronger proposition," added Coverage Groups CEO, Julien Jardin. "We have always been committed to helping our customers take advantage of the latest CX innovations, and we look forward to doing this at scale as part of Sabio Groups broader EMEA operation." Story continues "Coverage Group has already played an important role in putting Genesys Cloud to work, deploying our public cloud contact centre platform to help organisations across France provide an exceptional experience to their customers," added Claudine Cherfan, VP Genesys France. "As part of Sabio Group, Coverage Group will be even better placed to support the fast adoption of our Genesys Cloud customer experience platform. Coverage Group also provides a comprehensive communications offering, supporting organisations with voice and data links as well as VPN services carried across completely secure layer 2 links all backed by the companys real-time Network Operations Centre. Backed by Horizon Capital, the acquisition continues Sabio Groups growth plan to broaden the companys solutions portfolio and geographic coverage. To date this has included the acquisitions of SaaS solutions provider Rapport in March 2017, DatapointEurope one of Europes leading contact centre technology providers in July 2017, customer insight and contact centre benchmarking experts Bright UK in March 2018, flexAnswer Solutions, the leading Singapore-based provider of innovative Virtual Assistant solutions in December 2018, Spain-based WFO and Speech Analytics specialist Callware in January 2019, Madrid-based CX solutions specialist Team vision in January 2020, and DVELP Twilios leading partner in the UK and EMEA region in March this year. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005080/en/ Contacts Cheryl Billson Tel: +44(0)7791 720460 Cheryl.billson@commacomms.com LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the official announcement of Cannadips launch in Europe by SpectrumLeaf in Q419, the in-mouth CBD pouch brand has since been activated in over 1000 stores across 7 regions including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, the UK and the Netherlands. Cannadips Europe, the original THC-Free CBD infused in-mouth pouches, now activated in 7 markets in Europe "Every European region has their own individuality in regulations and consumer behaviours when it comes to CBD products. This is why it's been crucial that we engage and work closely with experienced local partners to roll out Cannadips accordingly," shares SpectrumLeaf CEO Felix Sundstrom. "We believe transparency and product education are key for a brand like Cannadips due to its unique pouch format and the nature of the industry. This is why we openly share lab results online for every batch and ensure both distributors and consumers have access to information on product usage and FAQs. Consumers in selected European markets that have yet been activated can also purchase Cannadips CBD pouches online at Cannadips.eu, which is now available in English, Swedish, German, Italian and French," says Mr. Sundstrom. While originally inspired by the concept of tobacco Snus, Cannadips CBD pouches are tobacco-free, nicotine-free and THC-free. This allows tobacco Snus users to switch to a healthier substitute without changing their daily pouch-in-mouth habit. Existing CBD enthusiasts can also experience an alternative that is all-natural, vegan, fast-acting and discreet. Such combination of offerings continues to encourage interest from an assortment of retail outlets to carry Cannadips. Current examples range from major chains like K-Kiosk in Switzerland and Circle K in Estonia, to smaller specialty retailers in Prague and Amsterdam. Cannadips' innovation was most recently recognized at the Hemp & CBD Expo in the UK, where the CBD pouches brand was awarded first place for Best Edible and Second place for Best Innovation. Earlier participation at both industry and consumer exhibitions via partners were also well received, with visitors often making numerous on-site purchases. Story continues ABOUT SPECTRUMLEAF SpectrumLeaf is a company dedicated to selecting and sourcing premium CBD products according to customer's collective needs. One of the first products the company has introduced is Cannadips a pouch-in-mouth CBD product that is all natural, discreet and fast acting, made through a proprietary process that preserves the valuable terpene and flavonoid compounds. Photo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/5ee1dc8813e809d0f829bebd831a0512 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spectrumleaf-cannadips-now-activated-in-7-european-regions-301088055.html SOURCE SpectrumLeaf Limited Nearly four in 10 Black and Hispanic households with children are struggling to feed their families during the coronavirus pandemic a dramatic spike that is exacerbating racial inequities and potentially threatening the health of millions of young Americans. The percentage of families who are considered food insecure has surged across all groups and is already much higher than during the depths of the Great Recession, according to new research by economists at Northwestern University based on Census Bureau data. But Black and Hispanic households with children are now nearly twice as likely to be struggling with food as similar white families. The wide racial gaps have persisted week to week throughout the pandemic, according to the analysis, first shared with POLITICO. The gap between Hispanic and white households now also appears to be worsening. The figures are based on weekly surveys conducted by the Census Bureau a little-noticed data tool thats giving a near real-time look at the economic fallout of the pandemic as well as the stark racial disparities emerging. Economists who closely track the numbers have been deeply concerned by the rise in rates. They are particularly dismayed that the figures are so high even after Washington has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on additional unemployment insurance and other forms of aid. This is uncharted territory, said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, an economist and director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Weve never seen food insecurity rates double, or nearly triple and the persistent race gaps are just appalling. The high levels of food insecurity do not appear to be improving even as some states reopen. The report comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill are again trying to get a 15 percent increase in food stamp benefits into the next coronavirus aid package. Republicans, however, have repeatedly refused to include it. When it comes to food insecurity, policymakers tend to pay special attention to households with children. Hunger among children can cause behavioral problems and lowered academic performance, which can lead to lifelong setbacks. Story continues The government defines food insecurity as a household thats either uncertain about or unable to get enough food to feed everyone under their roof at some point during the year because of a lack of money. During the pandemic, the Census Bureau has been asking households about their ability to access food and feed their households during the past seven days. Economists at Northwestern have been analyzing the governments weekly survey data and translating the figures so the findings can be compared to historical trends. Cars line up to receive food during a donation drive in Baltimore. The last time the government formally measured food insecurity nationally was in 2018. At that time, about 25 percent of Black households with children were food insecure. Today, the rate is about 39 percent, according to the latest analysis by the Northwestern economists, which is set to be published this week. For Hispanic households with kids, the rate was nearly 17 percent in 2018. Today, it is nearly 37 percent. The rate for white households with children is significantly lower at 22 percent. Still, that is more than double what it was before the pandemic and much higher than it's been since the government began measuring food insecurity two decades ago. Theres just appalling levels of food insecurity and its clear theres a disproportionate impact, said Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy and early childhood programs, at the Food Research & Action Center, an advocacy group based in Washington. Its infuriating. When the earliest food insecurity estimates for children came out, about six weeks into the pandemic, the numbers were so high that anti-hunger advocates and some economists thought they had to be wrong. But the early numbers have since been backed up by other national surveys. In late April, one large national survey found that more than 17 percent of mothers reported that their children under the age of 12 were not getting enough to eat because the family couldnt afford enough food a 400 percent increase from the governments last estimate in 2018. Asking specifically whether children in the household are getting enough to eat, rather than asking generally about access to food for the household, is an important distinction. Even in food insecure households, adults tend to shield children from going without food by skipping meals themselves or making other sacrifices. That can make it difficult to suss out the direct effects of economic woes on young people. But a few weeks ago, the Census Bureau added a specific question to its weekly survey to ask whether children in the household were not eating enough because the family couldnt afford enough food in the past week. As the results have been released, the numbers are alarmingly consistent: About 16 percent of households with kids were reporting that children were not eating enough in the previous week, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institutions Hamilton Project to be released this week. The racial disparities are stark, with 29 percent of Black households and 24 percent of Hispanic households reporting that children were not eating enough, compared with 9 percent of white households, according to the forthcoming report. For all groups, those levels are extremely high compared with before the pandemic. Before Covid-19 hit, food insecurity rates had been falling across all groups over the past several years, although major racial disparities have persisted for decades. Black households with children have about double the rate of food insecurity compared to white households with children. Rates for Hispanic households have varied somewhat. At some points in the wake of the Great Recession, for example, Hispanic families with children had higher rates of food insecurity than Black households with kids. But as the economy improved, the picture improved much faster for Hispanic families than for Black ones. Across the board, the rates are now higher than the worst period in the aftermath of the previous economic downturn. Even then, it took the better part of a decade for food insecurity rates to fall again. The disparities are long-standing, but what Covid has uncovered is that disparities can widen rapidly, said Sara Bleich, a policy professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. And like we saw in the Great Recession, it takes much longer for lower-income, harder-hit communities to recover. Bleich contends that the statistics show that current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits still known to many as food stamps are not adequate. In previous coronavirus aid packages, Congress has approved additional emergency SNAP payments for millions of families and also launched a new program called Pandemic EBT, giving families with school-aged children a one-time payment to help make up for school meals they qualified for but missed during widespread shutdowns this spring. The boost targeted provides $5.70 more per child per every day of school missed. Its not yet clear whether Congress will consider extending that program. Democrats are calling for SNAP benefits to be increased by 15 percent across the board until unemployment levels come down, an ask thats so far been met with stiff resistance by Republicans who see it as a backdoor way to expand a social program they have long sought to shrink. Last week, however, one Republican, Rep. John Katko, who represents a New York district that leans Democrat, joined with Reps. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to lead a letter to House and Senate leadership, backing the SNAP increase. A third of the House signed on. We believe Congress must take up provisions to strengthen SNAP, bolster vulnerable communities across the country, and give a hand up to millions of people facing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic, they wrote. DALLAS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thompson & Knight LLP is pleased to announce Partner Keith Brandofino, Counsel Maximiliano Rinaldi, and Counsel David V. Mignardi have joined the Firm's New York office in the Real Estate and Banking Group. Together, these real estate litigation attorneys have more than 50 years of expertise on a range of legal matters, including real estate and business finance, real estate capital markets, special servicing, contracts and commercial agreements, distressed debt and workouts, and appellate litigation. "Keith, Max, and David will be invaluable assets to Thompson & Knight and a strong extension of our existing real estate, special servicing and litigation practice. Their expertise across various real estate and banking matters provides clients with a wide array of capabilities to handle complex real estate transactions and disputes," said Managing Partner Mark M. Sloan. "The addition of these prominent attorneys is a great example of our focus on growth both in New York and of our real estate capabilities." Biographical Information Mr. Brandofino joins the Firm as a highly experienced litigation attorney from Kilpatrick Townsend in New York. Throughout his 19 years of practice, Mr. Brandofino has worked on various real estate and banking matters involving loan servicing and commercial mortgage-backed securities. His vast experience includes representing financial institutions and special servicers in distressed real estate loans, the disposition of commercial properties, and representing creditors in matters involving non-performing commercial loans and lenders' interest in loans collateralized by various properties. Mr. Brandofino also represents mezzanine lenders whose interests are secured by pledges of personal property. Mr. Brandofino has won numerous significant cases throughout his career, including representing a lender in the recovery of a $189 million-dollar loan secured by eight hotels in six different states, and representing a foreign bank in the recovery of a $30 million dollar credit facility principally secured by an industrial plant in Brazil. In addition to his legal successes, Mr. Brandofino also served as an adjunct professor at New York University where he taught at the Schack Institute of Real Estate Graduate Program. He has been recognized in Super Lawyers magazine for Creditor/Debtor Rights for the past five consecutive years. He earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and his B.A. from New York University. Story continues Mr. Rinaldi has 28 years of experience as a litigation attorney and has handled numerous matters in real estate, finance and capital markets, distressed debt, title defense, leasing, and commercial litigation. Mr. Rinaldi joins Thompson & Knight from Kilpatrick Townsend in New York, and prior to that, he was a founding partner of a general practice law firm where he worked for more than 14 years. His specific expertise includes representing creditors in matters related to non-performing commercial loans and leases, handling commercial litigation and business transactions, and conducting real estate closings and transactions. Mr. Rinaldi is an adjunct professor at New York University where he teaches at the Schack Institute of Real Estate Graduate Program. Fluent in both Italian and Spanish, Mr. Rinaldi earned his law degree from St. John's University School of Law and his B.S. in Accounting from St. John's University, College of Business Administration. Mr. Mignardi, also from Kilpatrick Townsend in New York, is an accomplished real estate finance and capital markets litigation attorney, with a particular expertise in litigation and loan servicing matters dealing with commercial mortgage-backed securities. He has represented national financial institutions, mortgage servicers, hedge funds, and distressed investors in matters related to non-performing loans and the exercise of remedies such as judicial foreclosures, receiverships, workouts, litigation, and contested bankruptcy matters. He also has considerable appellate experience as well as experience in the regulated consumer finance industry. In his 10 years of practice, Mr. Mignardi was recognized as a New York Metro "Rising Star" in 2019 and the two years immediately preceding in the area of Business Law by Super Lawyers magazine. Mr. Mignardi earned his law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with a concentration in Corporate Law, and his B.S., magna cum laude, in Economics from Manhattan College. About Thompson & Knight Established in 1887, Thompson & Knight is a full-service law firm with approximately 300 attorneys. The Firm provides legal solutions to clients and communities around the world. In the past year Thompson & Knight was ranked by The Legal 500 US among the top firms in the nation and ranked by Chambers USA among the top six firms in Texas for Real Estate; and for the tenth year in a row, was recognized for superior client service in The BTI Client Service A-Team 2020: The Survey of Law Firm Client Service Performance. For additional information: Britney Henry Marketing Manager Britney.Henry@tklaw.com 713.951.5805 (PRNewsfoto/Thompson & Knight LLP) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thompson--knight-expands-in-new-york-with-addition-of-real-estate-and-banking-group-301088478.html SOURCE Thompson & Knight LLP Cybersecurity and compliance challenges are nothing new for the manufacturing industry, but with connected, smart factories becoming the norm, the resulting reliance on technology to drive operations has made the sector a much more lucrative target for cybercriminals in recent years. In fact, according to the 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon, the manufacturing sector reported 922 security incidents, with 381 of those having confirmed data disclosure. While these statistics should be cause for pause, they are even more alarming when you compare it to data from the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon which reported just 352 incidents with 87 having confirmed data disclosure; increases of 161 per cent and 337 per cent respectively. The Internet of Things (IoT) promises great productivity and efficiency gains for manufacturers, but it also increases the risk and vulnerability of data and mission-critical operations if the right defenses are not in place. As more and more processes become automated or underpinned by connected devices, the potential for cyber-risks to infiltrate the network is a very real issue for every manufacturer today. The changing nature of risk Its not just businesses that are reaping the benefits of the smart factory. Cybercriminals are finding ever more sophisticated and manipulative ways of infiltrating company networks, to achieve financial gain or disrupt operations. According to research from F-Secure, cyberattacks on IoT devices surged last year, increasing by a staggering 300 per cent. Given that every new connected device or tech-based process brings an additional point of vulnerability within a network, for cybercriminals to potentially gain access and disrupt production lines, leak confidential data, or worse, manufacturers need to ensure proper safeguarding processes are in place. The impact of any breach or downtimewhether its a process on the factory floor or a back-office systemcan have significant financial and reputational consequences. One such example is Colorado-based manufacturer Visser Precision, which makes parts for companies including Tesla, Boeing, SpaceX, and Lockheed Martin. It publicly suffered a data breach in early 2020, at the hands of a DoppelPaymer ransomware attack, which led to confidential files and customer details being stolen and available for download. With manufacturers increasingly moving away from on-premise solutions and towards leveraging the computing power of the cloud, the issue of data security should be approached differently to what has traditionally been the case. Cloud platforms that are best-in-class will help reduce breach risks, but organizations must be wise not to take it for granted. Breaches could well happen where companies are running their own clouds without the proper controls. Phishing scams also become prominent is cybercriminals can use them to take advantage of email servers that have been deployed on the same networks as business application servers. With intellectual property, as well as confidential company and customer data, travelling across a network and being stored in the cloud, manufacturers must ensure they keep cloud solutions safeguarded from email systems, so that cloud adoption doesnt come at the expense of data security or human error. As well as the risk of unplanned downtime and reputational damage due to a data breach or halt to operations, innovation in manufacturing is also grappling with stricter compliance measures when it comes to personal data security. The introduction of GDPR has seen huge fines being issued to those companies suffering a breach, with similar regulations coming into force more recently around the globe to tighten up data misuse. The people problem In addition to the vulnerabilities associated with smart factory technology and the interconnected nature of manufacturing today, actions of individuals themselves can also be a huge area of risk. Despite phishing attacks and other social engineering methods having been around for a long time, they are still causing a big problem in the industry and continue to threaten the security of mission-critical data and systems. As a case in point, based on findings from the Verizon report I cited earlier, crimeware, web applications and privilege misuse represent 64 per cent of all breaches in the manufacturing sector. Adopting innovation with confidence With so many potential points of vulnerability and much more accountability placed on businesses to keep information secure, it is clear that any innovation adoption needs to have flexibility built in and be secure by design. Security of the smart factory shouldnt be an afterthought or add-on. It is an integral element of the overall transformation. Not only is security a critical risk and cost mitigation measure, but every player in a firms value chainfrom suppliers to customerscare about security and would potentially be impacted by a breach. Therefore, security should also be considered a strategic value-driver that improves organizational competitiveness and market share. Careful planning and an agile approach to tech adoption will play a key role in enabling manufacturers to lead through innovation, remain compliant with data management regulations, and minimize risks as much as possible moving forward. As manufacturers remain a popular target for cybercriminals, risks must be reduced through better education of employees and users. Ongoing training and practical guidance will be key to reducing the role played by insider threats to business operations. Regular education programs for staff, such as employee security awareness training, is an important and effective security measures to take. When it comes to cloud-based technology and services, these can help businesses remain agile and evolve processes quickly, to respond to changing regulatory compliance. However, as with any tech adoption, guidance and expertise can help ease these changes. It is critical to find a trusted partner that can explain a businesss security risks in clear terms and offer potential solutions that will help it achieve its goals. Furthermore, due diligence and resilience assessment will be key, to avoid any single point of failure or potential vulnerability in the connected factory. Indeed, performing regular risk assessments will help manufacturers understand where potential risks lie within the network environment, to mitigate the potential threats posed by existing or new technology. Alongside this, standardized risk policies will help ensure that any new technology adoption goes through stringent measures before becoming part of a smart factory set-up. Technology adoption should be rewarding, not risky. Putting the right processes and safeguards in place now will not only protect your people and data, but also help futureproof business growth and success. About the author Kerrie Jordan is a director of cloud product management at Epicor Software WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that schools must open in the fall, as governors struggle with a steady nationwide increase in coronavirus infections and states reverse and pause attempts to reopen. "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!" Trump said in a Twitter post. It was not immediately clear what actions Trump was considering to force schools to open. Schools are largely under the jurisdiction of state and local governments. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Doina Chiacu) U.S. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend South Dakota's U.S. Independence Day Mount Rushmore fireworks celebrations at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is considering several executive orders targeting China, manufacturing and immigration, his chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters at the White House on Monday, though he offered few details. "It's dealing with a number of executive orders that may go all the way from dealing with some of the immigration issues that we have before us, to some of the manufacturing and jobs issues that are before us, and ultimately dealing with China, in what we need to do there in terms of resetting that balance," Meadows said. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has tried to rescind a program that shields from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States illegally after entering as children - a group often called "Dreamers." The U.S. Supreme Court last month blocked Trumps effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy put in place by former President Barack Obama, which protects roughly 649,000 immigrants from deportation. Earlier on Fox News, Meadows said, "We're going to look at a number of issues as it relates to prescription drug prices, and we're going to get them done when Congress couldn't get them done." It was not clear what any executive order on China or manufacturing would entail. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Catherine Evans and Nick Zieminski) A 3D printed Google logo is placed on the Apple Macbook in this illustration By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - The payments by Alphabet Inc's Google to Apple Inc to be the default search engine on Apple's Safari web browser create "a significant barrier to entry and expansion" for Google's rivals in the search engine market, the UK markets regulator said in a report released on Wednesday. Apple received the "substantial majority" of the 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) that Google paid to be the default search engine on a variety of devices in the United Kingdom in 2019, according to the report. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, in its final report investigating online platforms and digital advertising, said the arrangements between Apple and Google create "a significant barrier to entry and expansion" for Google's rivals in the search engine market. Those rivals include Microsoft Corp's Bing, Verizon Communications Inc-owned Yahoo and independent search engine DuckDuckGo, all of which also make payments to Apple in exchange for being search engine options on its devices, the report said. "Given the impact of preinstallations and defaults on mobile devices and Apples significant market share, it is our view that Apples existing arrangements with Google create a significant barrier to entry and expansion for rivals affecting competition between search engines on mobiles," the regulators wrote in the report. Apple and Google did not immediately return requests for comment. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi earlier this year estimated that Apple generates about $9 billion per year globally from licensing arrangements, revenue with gross margins above 90% and with about 80% of the total coming from Google. Apple reports the revenue in its services segment, which investors are looking to for growth as consumers slow the pace of iPhone upgrades. In the report, the U.K. regulators said enforcement authorities should be given a range of options to address the Apple-Google arrangement, including requiring "choice screens" in which users decide which search engine to set as a default during device setup or restricting Apple's ability to monetize default positions. Apple told the regulators that monetization restrictions would be "very costly," according to the report. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler) Maxime Beland, Ubisofts vice-president of editorial, has resigned following accusations of assault and misconduct that emerged in recent weeks. Kotaku first reported that Beland had stepped down and Ubisoft has confirmed his resignation to Engadget. Both Beland and Tommy Francois, the studios vice president of editorial and creative services, were reportedly placed on disciplinary leave in late June. Ubisoft has since confirmed that Francois is on leave pending the outcome of an investigation, and that it had fired another employee at its Toronto studio for engaging in behaviors that do not align with what is expected of Ubisoft employees. Save for a short stint at Epic Games, Beland had worked for Ubisoft for 20 years. He worked on the original Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist and Far Cry 4, among other games. A dozen current and former Ubisoft Toronto employees spoke with Kotaku, which published a detailed report about alleged misconduct at the studio today. They described an overall workplace culture that undervalues womens contributions, normalizes sexism and harassment, and makes excuses for the worst offenders while complaints about them go unheeded. At one point, Belands wife Rima Brek was reportedly the studios interim head of HR, and the department had a reputation for being unhelpful at best, according to Kotaku. Last week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot published a letter to employees that detailed a plan to overhaul the companys culture. As well as investigations into reports of misconduct, Ubisoft has introduced a way to report harassment, discrimination and other inappropriate behaviors in confidence. In addition, Ubisoft will revamp the Editorial Group (which until recently consisted entirely of white males), reassign an employee to oversee workplace culture and hire a head of diversity and inclusion. Heres the full statement Ubisoft provided to Engadget regarding Belands resignation: The British flag and a smartphone with a Huawei and 5G network logo are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration LONDON (Reuters) - China's Huawei has clear conditions to meet for Britain to continue to allow its involvement in the development of 5G telecoms infrastructure, Britain's health minister said on Sunday, after a report that the firm would be banned from the project. Officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei Technologies equipment in as little as six months, the Sunday Telegraph reported, in a reversal of a decision earlier this year. Asked about the report, health minister Matt Hancock declined to comment on it specifically but said the initial recommendation had always been conditional. "I wouldn't comment on leaks of that kind. What I can say is that when we came out with an interim report on this earlier in the year, there are a number of conditions that needed to be met," he said. "I'm sure that the National Security Council will look at those conditions, and make the right decision on this, to make sure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure... but also that it is secure." Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei a limited role in Britain's 5G network, has faced intense pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds. On Tuesday he toughened his rhetoric on Huawei, warning China he would protect critical infrastructure from "hostile state vendors". Ministers have also cited U.S. sanctions as being likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a 5G provider. The Sunday Telegraph report said that the National Cyber Security Centre had changed its recommendations on Huawei as the sanctions would force the company to use untrusted technology. (Reporting by Alistair Smout;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) AMSTERDAM , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - APG, AustralianSuper, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and PGGM have jointly established the Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP). The platform's standard and artificial-intelligence driven data enables investors to assess companies on their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The product will be available via distribution partner Qontigo. APG, BCI, PGGM and AustralianSuper logos (CNW Group/British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI)) Solving data challenges Global investors increasingly consider the SDGs relevant to their investment strategy, policy, asset allocation, investment decisions and active ownership, according to research by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). However, a lack of quality data to identify contributions to the SDGs has been an impediment for investors, and companies struggle to adapt their disclosures to meet investor needs. By providing a globally consistent SDG measurement framework, the SDI Asset Owner Platform helps investors to imbed the SDGs into their investment processes. Shared understanding of Sustainable Development Investments (SDIs) The SDI AOP allows asset owners and their managers to connect around the shared objective of measuring and understanding their portfolio investments' contributions to the SDGs. These goals, set by the United Nations in 2015, aim for a better, more prosperous world, by addressing urgent global issues such as water scarcity, healthcare access, and protecting the environment. Investments in companies whose products or services contribute to the realization of the SDGs are called Sustainable Development Investments (SDIs). AI-driven actionable insights The SDI Asset Owner Platform provides a common definition, taxonomy, and data source for investments into the SDGs. Powered by AI-technology, data science company Entis generates SDI classifications for 8,000 companies to date. This enables investors to assess their global capital markets' portfolios on their contribution to the SDGs and to report to their clients and external stakeholders transparently and consistently, using a common and auditable standard. The SDI classifications will be commercially available through Qontigo. The SDI definition and taxonomy are public and equally applicable to private market investments. Story continues Asset-owner led platform The SDI AOP is asset owner-led and asset owners make all methodological choices. The platform builds on the direct input and feedback from asset owners and their managers, and feeds the participating asset owners' policy and investment needs into the assessment process. Subscribers and other stakeholders will also be invited to provide feedback. The SDI Asset Owner Platform will host a virtual event in September to provide interested investors with additional insight into the workings of the platform. Commitment to the SDGs The participating asset owners believe it is essential to invest into the SDGs, and to do so at scale. In September 2019 , APG and PGGM, at the behest of their pension fund clients ABP, bpfBOUW and PFZW, announced their cooperation to set up the SDI Asset Owner Platform. These pension funds, among them the two largest in the Netherlands , have set ambitious targets for investing in the SDGs. AustralianSuper and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) have since joined the platform. The SDI AOP welcomes investors across the globe to subscribe, creating a critical mass of investors who together define the meaning of investing in the SDGs. Claudia Kruse , Managing Director Global Responsible Investment & Governance, APG "The SDGs are global and launching this standard with asset owners from three continents shows our commitment to contribute to the SDGs, and we look forward to extending the collaboration. SDGs and AI-based technology are at the forefront of innovation. This investment is part of our commitment to our clients on whose behalf we invest in order to provide affordable pension in a sustainable world." Andrew Gray , Director ESG and Stewardship, AustralianSuper "As a founding member of the SDI AOP, AustralianSuper strongly welcomes the opportunity to jointly establish a global standard for investors to identify sustainable development investments. The platform will progress how we assess and engage with investee companies on their SDG contribution, measurement and reporting. This will promote real world sustainable outcomes which are vital for creating long-term value for beneficiaries." Jennifer Coulson , Vice President ESG, BCI "Standardization of data is one of the biggest challenges facing the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) landscape. For this reason, we are excited to be part of this asset-owner led initiative which sets a global standard on SDG contributions for all investors and brings consistency and comparability to company-level data. This is the type of quality data that BCI relies on when making investment decisions that are required to generate value-added returns for our clients." Eloy Lindeijer , Chief Investment Management, PGGM "For PGGM this platform is an important next step in a process to mobilize ever more institutional capital around the big challenges of our time, as described in the SDGs. By collaborating with asset owners from different continents we hope that this SDI AOP will contribute to being a global standard for investors.'' Sebastian Ceria, Chief Executive Officer, Qontigo "The application of transparent rules-based methodologies, common definitions, taxonomies and strong data are the bedrock elements required for effective sustainable investing. We are proud to be a part of the SDI Asset Owner Platform's efforts to enhance the ability of investors to achieve their commendable goals in sustainable investing." Wim Scheper , Managing Director, Entis "Contributing to the development of a global standard for SDG investments is truly inspiring. It will guide the decision-making by investors and companies towards a more sustainable world." About APG APG is the largest pension delivery organization in the Netherlands ; its approximately 3,000 employees provide executive consultancy, asset management, pension administration, pension communication and employer services. APG performs these services on behalf of (pension) funds and employers in the sectors of education, government, construction, cleaning and window cleaning, housing associations, energy and utility companies, sheltered employment organizations, and medical specialists. APG manages approximately 512 billion/ US$576 billion ( April 2020 ) in pension assets for the pension funds in these sectors. APG works for approximately 21,000 employers, providing the pension for one in five families in the Netherlands (about 4.6 million participants). APG has offices in Amsterdam , Heerlen, Brussels , New York and Hong Kong . APG's largest client, civil service and teachers fund ABP, has set the target to invest 20% of AUM into the SDGs by 2025. More information: www.apg.nl/en About AustralianSuper AustralianSuper is a profit for member pension fund that invests the retirement savings of its 2.2 million members to help them achieve their best possible retirement outcome. AustralianSuper is Australia's largest pension fund, managing 106.7 billion/ US$118.7 billion in assets as at 31 May 2020 . AustralianSuper manages the assets of one in every 10 working Australians, with more than 300,000 businesses making contributions on behalf of employees. More information: www.australiansuper.com About BCI With C$171.3 billion of managed assets as of March 31, 2020 , British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers. BCI generates the investment returns that help their institutional clients build a financially secure future. With a global outlook, BCI seeks investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet their clients' risk/return requirements over time. BCI invests across a range of asset classes: fixed income; mortgages; public and private equity; real estate; infrastructure; and renewable resources. More information: www.bci.ca About PGGM PGGM is a cooperative Dutch pension fund service provider. Institutional clients are offered: asset management, pension fund management, policy advice and management support. On December 31, 2019 PGGM had 252 billion in assets under management and was administrating pensions of 4.4 million participants. Around 750,000 workers in the Dutch healthcare are connected to PGGM&CO, our members organization. Either alone or together with strategic partners, PGGM develops future solutions by linking together pension, care, housing and work. https://www.pggm.nl/en/ About Qontigo Qontigo is a financial intelligence innovator and a leader in the modernization of investment management, from risk to return. The combination of the group's world-class indices and best-of-breed analytics, with its technological expertise and customer-driven innovation, enables its clients to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing marketplace. Qontigo's global client base includes the world's largest financial products issuers, capital owners and asset managers. Created in 2019 through the combination of Axioma, DAX and STOXX, Qontigo is part of Deutsche Borse Group, headquartered in Eschborn with key locations in New York , Zug and London . More information: www.qontigo.com About Entis Entis is a data science company specialized in unstructured text processing to create investable insights for asset managers. Using text documents such as annual reports, company webpages or patents, Entis classifies companies on their contribution to the UN SDGs. Entis furthermore provides services in the area of thematic investing and alpha research. Our service offering is enabled via our scalable data-platform and advanced pattern-recognition technologies. More information: www.entis.ai Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us1-trillion-asset-owner-platform-launches-solution-for-identifying-sdg-investments-301088185.html SOURCE British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/06/c2963.html By Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian airline Vistara is in talks with planemakers and leasing companies to delay taking delivery of some aircraft, the carrier's chief commercial officer said on Monday, as COVID-19 hits demand for air travel. Vistara, owned by India's Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines , placed an order for 13 A320-neo family aircraft from Airbus SE in 2018 and said it would take another 37 Airbus planes from leasing companies - all due for delivery between 2019 and 2023. It also has six Boeing Co 787-9 Dreamliner widebody planes on order, primarily for international flights, due to be delivered in 2020 and 2021. Delivery of some planes have already been pushed back due to logistics issues and production delays at the planemakers, as countries went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer at Vistara told reporters. "We are looking to see how we can push back some of the deliveries not just because of the delays in production but also from a commercial perspective," said Kannan. Vistara, which has a fleet of 41 aircraft, will take delivery of at least one Boeing 787 and two other planes this calendar year, Kannan said, adding a final decision had not been reached on how many deliveries would be deferred. Like airlines around the world, Vistara is battling low demand for air travel due to the pandemic. While India has allowed airlines to fly up to 45% of their total capacity on domestic routes, international flights are still banned. Vistara is operating on domestic routes with a third of its fleet and at a passenger load factor of 50%-60%, Kannan said, adding that the airline is also preparing to fly to international destinations later this year if government-imposed curbs are relaxed and demand returns. India's civil aviation ministry said in June it was in talks with the United States and some countries in Europe to establish travel "bubbles" for international flights. (This story corrects Vistara executive's designation to chief commercial officer, from chief strategy officer, in paragraphs 1 and 4.) (Reporting by Aditi Shah; editing by David Evans) Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently organised an online trade mission to the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, where 58 delegates, mostly businessmen representing UAE trading companies, explored new purchasing opportunities. Held from June 14 to 25, the trade mission facilitated Dubai Chamber member companies participation in the Canton Fair, which was hosted virtually for the first time in its history. Dubai Chambers representative offices in China organised an orientation webinar in cooperation with the China Foreign Trade Centre, the organiser of Canton Fair. The event familiarised UAE delegates with sector-focused events and exhibitors, while members arranged business-to-business meetings with Chinese exhibitors through the online platform. Electronics & Household Electrical Appliances, Office Supplies, Medical Devices and Health Products, Textiles & Garments and Lighting Equipment were identified by the participating delegates as high-potential categories for sourcing products from China to Dubai. Nearly a third of all business delegates said they made at least one purchase at the Canton Fair, while 88% noted that preparing their businesses for a post-Covid-19 recovery was a main objective of their participation. Around 59% of the businessmen surveyed said they found it efficient to source products online compared to offline. In addition, 82% of delegates predicted an increase in Dubai-China trade within the next two to three months, 12% expect this to happen in three to six months, followed by 6% who see this trend emerging in less than one month. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices at Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, explained that the mission falls in line with Dubai Chambers strategy of reaching out to promising markets, and providing its 245,000 members with access to new business opportunities. We believe some aspects of the global economy are moving online permanently. Dubai and its businesses must adapt to new opportunities and technologies that present themselves. As online exhibitions become the norm in China, we are encouraging our members to benefit from such platforms and explore new trade opportunities, said Khan. For her part, Mai Cui Yan, Director - International VIP Service China Foreign Trade Centre, noted that despite the impact on UAE-China trade caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, both countries have taken decisive measures to deal with the situation and promote business exchange. Canton Fair Online could be one of the steps taken by both countries as mutual strategic commitment and towards economic recovery. Although the travel restrictions have disrupted the tourism and education industry, trade with China, especially primary industry and e-commerce has been bouncing back. I am optimistic that as both countries better organize, trends will reverse and will be back to a period of increase again, she said. Chinas Canton Fair is the largest trade exhibition in the world and a premier platform for sourcing made in China goods from large machinery and industrial equipment to consumer electronics and home appliances. TradeArabia News Service NAPANEE, ON , July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - VIVO Cannabis Inc. (VIVO.TO) (VVCIF) ("VIVO" or the "Company"), a leading provider of premium cannabis products and services and holder of licenses under the Cannabis Act through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Canna Farms Limited ("Canna Farms"), ABcann Medicinals Inc. ("ABcann") and Harvest Medicine Inc. ("Harvest Medicine"), is pleased to provide an update on its global medical business, which operates in Canada , Germany and Australia . VIVO Cannabis Inc. Logo (CNW Group/VIVO Cannabis Inc.) "One of our top strategic priorities is to focus on the global medical cannabis market, directly servicing tens of thousands of patients and investing in product development initiatives that prioritize high-quality novel products," said Barry Fishman , CEO of VIVO. "We've recently made significant progress on a number of key initiatives, which will help solidify our market presence as a company that is committed to delivering solutions for patients and healthcare professionals on an international scale." VIVO believes that significant growth in medical cannabis utilization will be driven by several factors including: 1. Accelerating legalization of medicinal cannabis globally 2. Mounting real-world and clinical evidence of therapeutic benefits 3. Increasing clinician adoption of medical cannabis as a viable therapeutic option 4. Growing reimbursement by governments and third-party payors 5. Improving patient and healthcare practitioner awareness, education and access 6. Introducing new medical-grade, precise-dosed, stable formulations 7. Removing the sales tax on medical cannabis in Canada The Company is pleased to announce several initiatives that advance the Company's impact within the global medical cannabis market. Shoppers Drug Mart Partnership VIVO has entered into both a product supply agreement and a clinic services agreement with Medical Cannabis by Shoppers. As previously announced, VIVO's two licensed producers will offer a broad portfolio of Canna Farms and Beacon Medical branded medical cannabis products through the Medical Cannabis by Shoppers online sales platform, including its latest Cannabis 2.0 offerings such as chocolates and extracts making these products accessible to Medical Cannabis by Shoppers patients across Canada . Story continues Under the terms of the clinic services agreement, VIVO's subsidiary, Harvest Medicine, will provide cannabis education services to patients who are appropriate candidates for cannabinoid-based products available from Medical Cannabis by Shoppers and provide consulting services to its Cannabis Care team. Launch of Beacon Medical Oils in Australia VIVO's subsidiary, Beacon Medical Australia, has entered into a supply agreement with MediPharm Labs Australia to purchase pharmaceutical quality (GMP certified) cannabis oils for the Australian market. As previously announced, under the agreement MediPharm Labs Australia will supply its full range of GMP-certified, formulated CBD and THC cannabis oils to Beacon Medical Australia for further distribution under the Beacon Medical branding. The addition of cannabis oils to Beacon's Australian portfolio is an important step towards capturing market share in Australia's growing medical cannabis market. Veterans House Partnership VIVO has entered into a collaboration agreement with Veterans House ("Veterans House"), under which the Company will provide sponsorship and support to joint programs for Canadian Armed Forces veterans. Veterans House is a federally registered non-profit organization that provides veterans suffering from mental illness and operational stress injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder, with access to counseling and peer support programs. "Canna Farms is a long-standing supporter of veterans, providing access to leading medical cannabis products and programs," said Fabian Henry , Senior Director of Operations at Veterans House. "The team at VIVO has shown an ongoing commitment to Canadian veterans and we look forward to working more closely together to serve this community." "We are proud to be associated with Veterans House," said Mr. Fishman. "Our veterans have dedicated their lives to defending the rights and freedoms we have in Canada . We are honoured to play an important role in enhancing the quality of life for our veterans." Medical Product Line Expansion VIVO is pleased to introduce softgel capsules, with several cannabinoid concentrations available, through its Canna Farms on-line medical marketplace in the coming weeks. Softgel capsules provide patients with a convenient format to ingest cannabis in a precisely dosed format. The introduction of softgels follows the successful launch of VIVO's Cannabis 2.0 product offerings (including chocolates and extracts) into the Canadian medical market, increasing choice for the Company's more than 20,000 registered patients. The Canna Farms store now carries six leading medical brands including GTEC, Aqualitis and Pure Sunfarms. "Our web-based medical store continues to be a key point of connection for Canadian patients to conveniently access medical cannabis products," said Daniel Laflamme , President of Canna Farms. "Having a consistent supply of medical products has been an industry-wide concern and we continue to enhance our manufacturing processes and relationships with other established high-quality LP partners, to supply our medical patients with a wide range of product options." Product Development Progress VIVO moved into the next stage of product innovation with partner Pharmascience Inc., a global pharmaceutical company based in Montreal , for the development of a line of specific medical cannabis formulations produced under pharmaceutical quality standards intended to maximize the benefit to patients. "Healthcare professionals and patients are increasingly searching for precisely-controlled, high-quality, standardized dosage forms of medical cannabis. VIVO has invested in several product development projects with proven partners experienced in formulating complex medical products," stated Mr. Fishman. EU-GMP Follow-up Audit Completed A follow-up EU-GMP audit was recently completed at VIVO's ABcann Medicinal facility in Napanee . This is an important step towards EU GMP-certification and is a requirement to export medical cannabis products from Canada for sale in Germany and other European countries. Real-World Evidence Collaboration The Company entered into a partnership with privately held Reformulary Group, an innovative healthcare company dedicated to helping Canadians make sense of medicine (prescription drugs and medical cannabis). VIVO has agreed to provide clinical support, through the Company's Harvest Medicine clinics, to patients who access Reformulary Group's Cannabis Standard platform. Cannabis Standard is an ecosystem of expert recommendations, patient-powered tools, and independent information to help Canadians and healthcare professionals make smarter, more informed decisions about choosing medical cannabis. "Cannabis Standard applies the same formula that we've used so successfully on the prescription medication side. We gathered a panel of independent medical experts, conducted a comprehensive review all of the available evidence globally, and created user-friendly tools to help Canadians navigate the medical cannabis space," said Helen Stevenson , Reformulary Group founder and CEO. "At its core, Cannabis Standard is about helping patients benefit from and contribute to the growing base of medical cannabis research, and we look forward to working closely with the team at VIVO to advance patient outcomes." VIVO has also engaged Strainprint Technologies, a leader in cannabis data and analytics, to examine real-world evidence of its products, linking utilization and efficacy for several of the leading indications treated with medical cannabis from thousands of patients. This evidence is being used by healthcare professionals to assist in determining optimal treatment options and by patients to help navigate their medical cannabis journey. VIVO is the first Canadian LP to provide this valuable information on its products to key stakeholders. Patient Support Under COVID-19 Health Canada recently announced that due to COVID-19, it is temporarily extending the expiry date of registrations by six months for patients who are having difficulty accessing their health care prescriber to obtain a new medical document. Since Harvest Medicine temporarily moved its entire clinic operations to telemedicine in late Q1 2020, the feedback from patients and prescribing clinicians adapting to virtual visits has been overwhelmingly positive. "Not only has there been no lapse in ongoing care for our patients during COVID-19, but our dedicated team was able to scale up to meet increased patient demand for visits on our HMED Connect mobile application platform which have more than tripled during the pandemic," stated Carole Chan , President of Harvest Medicine. "We understand the importance of in-person consultations for certain patient populations, and we will continue to offer this option when clinics re-open in the near future with enhanced protocols to keep patients and staff safe." VIVO is confident that it will benefit from Health Canada's recent announcement and Harvest Medicine's ability to continue to provide high-quality patient services during COVID-19. Product Identification Enhancement VIVO, through its global Beacon Medical brand has simplified its consumer-facing product naming conventions and added Product Identification Numbers (PINs) to its core Canadian offering to better support doctors, pharmacists and patients in navigating medical cannabis. "Introducing PINs will enable Canadian insurers to more easily navigate our products," commented Matt Patterson , Vice President of Medical Strategy. About VIVO Cannabis VIVO Cannabis is recognized for trusted, premium cannabis products and services. It holds production and sales licences from Health Canada and operates world-class indoor and seasonal airhouse cultivation facilities with proprietary plant-growing technology in Hope, British Columbia and Napanee, Ontario . VIVO has a collection of premium brands, each targeting different customer segments, including Canna Farms, Beacon Medical, Fireside, Fireside-X, Lumina and Canadian Bud Collection . The Company is expanding its production capabilities and distribution network. Harvest Medicine, VIVO's patient-centric, scalable network of medical cannabis clinics, has serviced over 100,000 patient visits. VIVO is pursuing several partnership and product development opportunities and is focusing its international efforts on Germany and Australia . The Company has a healthy balance sheet and is well-positioned to accelerate its path to profitability. For more information visit: www.vivocannabis.com Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not purely historical, including statements regarding the beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions of VIVO and its management regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding: that the Company's activities to date are expected to help solidify its market presence in the medical cannabis space; the factors that VIVO believes will drive significant growth in medical cannabis utilization; the expected timing of launch of softgel capsules; that the products generated from the Company's partnership with Pharmascience Inc. are intended to maximize therapeutic benefit to patients; and the expected re-opening of the Harvest Medicine clinics in the near future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including: that the medical cannabis market may not grow to the extent, within the time, or for the reasons expected by the Company; that the COVID-19 pandemic may last longer and have a more significant impact on the Company's operations, the Canadian cannabis industry, or the global economy generally, than currently expected; that the Company may not be able to launch new products in the time expected or at all and that patients may not receive the expected benefits therefrom; that the Company may not be able to achieve competitive margins; that new products, if launched, may not be accepted by the market or may become subject to product liability claims; that the Company may not be able to obtain necessary licences; that demand for the Company's products may not meet management's expectations; that the timing of EU-GMP certification may be delayed, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise; that the Company may be unable to retain its key talent; that the Company may not be able to execute on its strategic partnerships; that the Company may not obtain any other necessary regulatory approvals as required from time to time; that the Company may be unable to protect its intellectual property; and other factors beyond the Company's control. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are urged to consider these factors, and the more extensive risk factors included in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2020 , which is available on SEDAR, carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE VIVO Cannabis Inc. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2020/06/c2885.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2020) - XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (FSE: 4XT) (OTC Pink: XPHYF) ("XPhyto" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its exclusive diagnostic partner, 3a-Diagnostics GmbH ("3a"), has confirmed successful function of its novel and proprietary COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA probes and its universal coronavirus RNA probes in prototype lateral flow assay (the "LFA") testing. Visual confirmation of test results (probe activation) was observed in five to seven minutes. XPhyto and 3a are working to develop and commercialize a real-time, low-cost and easy-to-use oral screening test to concurrently detect COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 coronaviruses. 3a is particularly focused on detection of viruses during the early stages of infection when patients are highly contagious and often asymptomatic. The LFA is designed for use with saliva samples and is also expected to function effectively using test solutions from throat and nasal swabs. Prototype testing has confirmed successful activation of both the COVID-19 specific probes and the universal coronavirus probes at viral RNA levels that are equivalent to those levels that have been clinically documented in saliva samples from infected human patients. Prototype testing was carried out at 3a's laboratory in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Figure 1: Positive Prototype Results for COVID-19 and Universal Coronavirus Probes. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6452/59161_633dd895541e489b_002full.jpg Positive Control 2 demonstrates activation of COVID-19 probes in the presence of COVID-19 specific RNA. Positive Control 1 demonstrates activation of the universal coronavirus probes in the presence of non-COVID-19 coronavirus RNA. Negative Control demonstrates no probe activation in the absence of viral RNA. "We believe that a low-cost, portable and easy to use screening tool that provides rapid on-the-spot results would be a disruptive tool in the fight against pandemic threats," said Hugh Rogers, CEO or XPhyto. "We see an enormous global market opportunity that includes individual households, schools, hospitals, public transportation, airports and border services as well as many private employers." Story continues 3a has designed, engineered and tested RNA-probes to detect specific viral RNA sequences and provide immediate visual confirmation of the reaction in a prototype LFA screening device. Coronaviruses, like many disease-causing viruses, encode their genome using RNA (not DNA). Two viral RNA probes have been developed: 1) a COVID-19 specific RNA sequence, and 2) a universal coronavirus RNA sequence (shared by all known members of the coronavirus family). As per the screening test design and the positive prototype test results, patients infected with COVID-19 are expected to activate the COVID-19 probes and the universal coronavirus probes. Patients infected with an alternate coronavirus strain or a highly mutated form of COVID-19 are expected to activate only the universal coronavirus probes. These patients could be selected for further investigation. The LFA test is based on technology employed in many low-cost, simple, rapid and portable detection devices popular in medicine for home and point-of-care testing. LFAs typically operate by running a liquid test sample across a matrix that contains one or more reactive compounds that provide a visual indication of a positive or negative result (i.e. pregnancy test). Research and development is ongoing and updates on product development will be released periodically as the program advances. The next significant development milestones are the design and manufacture of LFA screening tests for use in clinical evaluation followed by a pilot study using human saliva from healthy and COVID-19 infected patients. 3a expects to begin the pilot study within 30 to 60 days. 3a is a research-based biotechnology company located approximately 50 kilometers Southeast of Stuttgart, Germany, specializing in the development, production and marketing of point-of-care test systems. 3a refers to their approach as "anywhere" (no power or additional equipment required), "anytime" (decentralized and rapidly deployable), and "anyone" (no specialized training required). On April 20, 2020, the Company announced an exclusive definitive development, technology purchase and licence agreement with 3a for the development and commercialization of real-time, low-cost and easy-to-use screening tests using 3a's pathogen specific biosensors and XPhyto's oral dissolvable drug delivery platform (the "Agreement"). On July 2, 2020, 3a and the Company signed an addendum to the Agreement which incorporates 3a's RNA probes (for use in LFA test systems) and related IP into the Agreement. On June 10, 2020, XPhyto announced that 3a and their contract research collaborators received a 254,200 grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research ("BMBF"). Proceeds of the grant are committed to the development and commercialization of enzyme activated biosensors for use in real-time, low-cost and easy-to-use oral screening tests for the rapid detection of influenza A virus and specific variants that are high-risk pandemic threats such as H1N1 (swine flu) and H5N1 (avian flu). All parties will continue to review and pursue additional opportunities for non-dilutive funding for infectious disease screening test development. The Company is not making any express or implied claims that it has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the COVID-19 (or SARS-2 coronavirus) at this time. About XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. XPhyto is a biopharma, diagnostics and cannabis science company focused on formulation, clinical validation, and European imports, distribution and sales. XPhyto's 100% owned subsidiary, Vektor Pharma TF GmbH, a German narcotics manufacturer, importer and researcher has expertise in the design, testing and manufacture of thin film drug delivery systems, particularly transdermal patches and sub-lingual (oral) strips. Vektor also holds a number of narcotics licences issued by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), including import and manufacturing permits, as well as EU GMP lab certification. XPhyto's 100% owned German subsidiary, Bunker Pflanzenextrakte GmbH, has been granted a unique German cannabis cultivation and extraction licence for scientific purposes by BfArM. Bunker has two exclusive R&D collaboration agreements with the Technical University of Munich, Chair of beverage and brewing technology and the Faculty of Chemistry. XPhyto is pursuing additional opportunities in Europe including commercial cannabis cultivation, processing, manufacturing, import, and distribution. In Canada, two exclusive 5-year engagements with the Faculty of Pharmacy at a major Canadian university provide certified extraction, isolation, and formulation facilities, drug research and development expertise, as well as commercial analytical testing capability. XPhyto signed a supply, import and distribution agreement for cannabis oils and isolates with one of the largest, highest quality, and lowest cost cannabis cultivators in the world. For further information, please contact: Hugh Rogers CEO & Director +1.780.818.6422 info@xphyto.com www.xphyto.com Wolfgang Probst Director +49 8331 9948 122 info@bunker-ppd.de www.xphyto.com Forward-looking statements This news release includes statements containing forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "develop", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "propose" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and in this release include the statement regarding the Company's goal of building an industry leading medical cannabis company. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including: that the Company may not succeed in developing any commercial products; that the sale of any products may not be a viable business; that the Company may be unable to scale its business; product liability risks; product regulatory risk; frequent changes to medical regulations in Europe, Canada and elsewhere; general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; currency risks; competition; international risks; and other risks beyond the Company's control. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. 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 news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59161 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2020) - ZEN Graphene's (TSXV: ZEN) CEO, Dr. Francis Dube, is interviewed by Fiona Forbes of InvestmentPitch Media. ZEN is an emerging graphene technology solutions company with a focus on the development of graphene-based nanomaterial products and applications. Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MU3K2IdWCY InvestmentPitch Media has produced and is hosting the interview "video". If this link is not enabled, please visit www.InvestmentPitch.com and enter "ZEN" in the search box. The unique Albany Graphite Project provides the company with a competitive advantage in the potential graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have independently demonstrated that ZEN's Albany Graphite/Naturally PureTM is an ideal precursor material which easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of mechanical, chemical and electrochemical methods. The company is currently raising funds by way of a non-brokered private placement of units priced at $0.60, consisting of one share and one-half of one non-transferable warrant, with each warrant exercisable at $0.80 for 24 months, subject to an acceleration clause. The proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund ongoing work on the Albany Graphite Project including graphene research and scale up, COVID-19 initiatives and other graphene applications development and for general corporate purposes. For more information please visit the company's website www.ZENGraphene.com or contact Dr. Francis Dube, CEO, at 289-821-2820 or by email at drfdube@zengraphene.com. About InvestmentPitch Media Investmentpitch Media leverages the power of video, which together with its extensive distribution, positions a company's story ahead of the 1,000's of companies seeking awareness and funding from the financial community. The company specializes in producing short videos based on significant news releases, research reports and other content of interest to investors. Story continues CONTACT: InvestmentPitch Media Barry Morgan, CFO bmorgan@investmentpitch.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/59191 Pakistan says it has formally invited Afghanistans chief peace negotiator, Abdullah Abdullah, to pay an official visit to Islamabad at mutually convenient dates. The move is the latest in a series of steps the Pakistani government has taken in a bid to improve the country's often tenuous relations with Kabul. Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are moving forward, said Mohammad Sadiq, the Pakistani prime ministers special representative for the neighboring country, while announcing details of the invitation extended to the top Afghan leader. Abdullah heads what is known as the High Council for National Reconciliation, tasked to negotiate peace with the Taliban insurgency to end decades of hostilities plaguing Afghanistan. I thanked him for the official invitation extended to visit Pakistan at an opportune time, Abdullah tweeted after a meeting with the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul. He shared no further details. Border Openings Islamabad has recently reopened three major border crossings at the request of Kabul to ease transit and bilateral trade activities. The outbreak of coronavirus in Pakistan and the ensuing lockdown restrictions had prompted authorities to seal the border with landlocked Afghanistan and other neighboring countries in March to prevent the regional spread of the pandemic. Sadiq said arrangements have also been made to open two more Afghan border crossings July 12 to further enhance the bilateral trade. This is an important step in strengthening bilateral trade between the two countries, said Atif Mashal, the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad. We are certain that the opening of more crossing points will help in the development of bilateral trade between both countries, Mashal said. The Afghan envoy told VOA his government is committed to improving relations with Pakistan and that enhanced trade ties will help both sides in achieving the desired outcome. Political and trade ties between the two countries, separated by a nearly 2,600-kilometer frontier, have long suffered from mutual distrust and acrimony. Mutual Trust 'Very Tenuous' Raoof Hasan, chief executive of Islamabad-based Regional Policy Institute, hailed Pakistans invitation to Abdullah as a good move and another sign of thaw in bilateral strained relations. Hasan cautioned about a traditionally unpredictable nature of the bilateral relationship, however. The bond of mutual trust is very tenuous, he said. Afghan leaders and American military commanders have long accused the Pakistani military of allowing Taliban insurgents to shelter in and use the neighboring country for directing attacks against local and U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan. Islamabad has consistently denied the charges, blaming several million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan for serving as hiding places for insurgents. For their part, Pakistani officials say anti-state fugitive militants use Afghan soil to carry out crossborder terrorist attacks. The United States, however, has lately praised Pakistan for facilitating a landmark Feb. 29 peace-building deal between Washington and the Taliban to end nearly two decades of Afghan war, Americas longest. The deal requires U.S. and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by July 2021. In return the Taliban has committed to engage in peace talks with a team of Afghan negotiators led by Abdullah and agree on a sustainable cease-fire as well as a power-sharing arrangement in post-war Afghanistan. The proposed dialogue is expected to begin later this month at the conclusion of an ongoing prisoner swap between Kabul and the Taliban. 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. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Mostly clear. Low 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. DMCC, the worlds flagship Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, said Lumex, a leading laboratory-grown diamond business, has selected Dubai and DMCC as the base for its regional operations. Welcoming Lumex to the expanding community of lab-grown diamond businesses, DMCC Executive Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Sulayem, said: "Since its inception in 2002, the free zone has attracted, facilitated and promoted diamond trade to, and through Dubai. The emirate is fast becoming the worlds leading diamond trading hub, and DMCC will continue to support the industry through this challenging period." In 2003, just one year after DMCC was established, the annual total trade of rough and cut natural diamonds was worth AED13.2 billion ($3.6 billion). In 2018, this figure rose to AED 91.8 billion ($25 billion), ranking the emirate among the top three natural diamond trading hubs in the world. On its Dubai tieup, Lumex Co-Founder and CEO Vishal Mehta said: "We are proud to be joining DMCC, an entity that has a solid track record of building the natural diamond trade in Dubai. Through their support, we look forward to growing our laboratory-grown diamond operations across the Middle East and beyond." DMCC launched the Dubai Diamond Exchange, DDE, in 2004 which has welcomed over 1,000 companies from across the entire diamond supply chain since. In line with recent shifts to the traditional trade, DMCC has also actively sought to attract laboratory-grown diamonds to Dubai. In May 2019, DMCC held the first ever laboratory-grown diamond tender at the DDE, with over 50,000 carats of laboratory-grown diamonds on offer.-TradeArabia News Service Colorado Politics senior political reporter Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist. Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday activated the state's drought plan for 40 of Colorado's 64 counties, in response to a warmer-than-average spring and far less precipitation than normal. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states can require presidential electors to back their states popular vote winner in the GoDaddy, the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs around the world, has launched a beta version of the new GoDaddy Arabic website. The GoDaddy website experience, marketing, and award-winning customer support will be available in Arabic, to help local small businesses and entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) build an online presence. GoDaddys Arabic website will enable local entrepreneurs to utilise various GoDaddy products and services to help boost their companys online presence and grow their venture. This beta version offers customers the ability to share feedback, which will be used by GoDaddy developers to help further enhance the customer experience across the website. Although Arabic is the fourth most used language on the internet, with more than 273 million Arabic speakers, studies have shown that the Arabic content penetration on the internet is around 5 per cent with low quality. A majority of websites depend on automatic translation for viewing the content in their local languages, as a result Arabic website content is often translated inaccurately. Therefore, many Arabic businesses do not consider creating company websites due to the time-consuming nature of creating content in Arabic language and the struggle to find correct, useful information in their native language. The need to support Arabic businesses comes as the Mena region has observed a significant growth of small businesses. According to research, up to 80 to 90 per cent of businesses in Mena are comprised of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Concurrently, the MSMEs sector in the GCC region presents a potential of 156 per cent growth in the next five years, employing 22 million people, according to a study by Mena Research Partners (MRP). With a vision to support everyday entrepreneurs and small business owners across the Mena region, GoDaddys Arabic website aims to provide them with easier access to useful digital tools, solutions, content, and customer support in the local language, to help meet business needs, and provide guidance to help them in their online journey. Customers can now switch to the Arabic website by clicking on region-language at the footer of the GoDaddy UAE website. Selina Bieber, Senior Regional Director for Turkey, Mena and South Africa, GoDaddy, explained: Across the Middle East and North Africa, we have localised our marketing communications in both Arabic and English to help raise awareness of the GoDaddy brand and benefits of creating an online presence for a business, along with guiding our customers along their online journey. Now we are focused on offering a customer experience for our Arabic speaking customers to easily use our online products and services. We are eager to connect with them and listen to their feedback as we more deeply engage with our Arabic customers in the region. With MSMEs playing a pivotal role in Mena countries, having a professional company website is one of the key strategies today for business expansion and growth. With the new Arabic websites beta version now live, GoDaddy offers both Arabic and English-speaking entrepreneurs and small business owners in the UAE and broader Mena Region, online tools and guidance to create their own digital identities and grow their businesses. - TradeArabia News Service 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. Focus on fundamentals: How Illinois flipped the work-from-home switch State and IT officials in Illinois are reviewing continuity of operations (COOP) and disaster-recovery plans as they assess their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued stay-at-home orders on March 20. Within days, more than 25,000 of the states 50,000 employees were working remotely. Now, however, the state will have to adjust that massive scale-up when more workers return to their offices -- or as job functions move online for the long term. As of mid-June, 21,000 employees were still working remotely. DoIT is prepared to support agencies to continue work for home or transition back to the office, which is expected to vary, Ron Guerrier, Illinois CIO and secretary of innovation and technology, and Lori Sorenson, the states CTO, wrote in an email to GCN. The greatest challenges to remote work were in user training, they said. The work-from-home decision occurred so quickly we didnt have time to distribute user instructions in advance, Sorenson said. During the first several weeks, we were playing catch-up, distributing user guides all while our own staff were making the same transition. Adaptability was also crucial to effectively responding to technology demands as workers headed home. The states COOP plan was designed to address natural disasters -- earthquakes, floods and tornados --- not a pandemic, Guerrier said. The plans called for relocating staff and workload to other offices, he said. The plans did not consider the entire workforce working from home, and the technology needed for employees to be productive but also continue business transactions with the public that typically occurred in person. Still, officials used the COOP strategy as a foundation for their response. For example, the plan outlined the processes for assessing a situation, making decisions and communicating and executing on those decisions. Another challenge was a lack of home broadband access -- a point of contention for state government workers, students, businesses and other Illinois residents, Sorenson said. Within days of announcing the stay-at-home order, so many daily activities shifted to online, she said. Many families found themselves with two, three and four people competing for their home broadband. Families with no home broadband struggled to participate in online learning and access to online services. Schools, libraries and businesses opened their Wi-Fi networks for families and students to access the Internet from the parking lot. To help, the Illinois Broadband Office, State Board of Education and DoIT published a map of parking lots across the state that offer free Wi-Fi. Broadband expansion is also in the works. In 2019, the state appropriated $420 million to expand access as part of the Connect Illinois initiative to improve broadband access, affordability and adoption. The first round of grant applications is under review. A key contributor in our ability to quickly respond to the pandemic at the State of Illinois was the priority we place on the foundational pillars of architecture, service management, data and analytics, program management and information security, Guerrier said. By understanding and focusing on these core areas, we were better able to build solutions to fit our environment and team. Before the stay-at-home order, the state had no enterprise work-from-home policy, less than 30% of workers used laptops and only about 3,000 employees worked remotely -- typically while traveling or doing after-hours work. The news wasnt all bad, though. DoIT provided options for remote work, including Microsoft Office 365, Cisco and NetMotion, virtual-private network access and Citrix Access Gateway. The VPN and Citrix Access Gateway solutions were sized to support less than half the state workforce, based on historic use, Sorenson said. In 2019, the DoIT Infrastructure team completed an upgrade to the Citrix environment including introducing a hybrid cloud solution to enable dynamic scaling. During the weeks leading to the stay at home order, the team began assessing current licensing and compute resources and formulating a plan to quickly increase capacity if needed. DoIT met with Citrix team members on March 11 to discuss the companys remote access solution and found they needed additional licensing and hardware to support 30,000 users. Work started that day, and by March 14, about 2,000 users were working from home, she said. Six days later, 3,500 to 4,000 workers were connected. Specifically, the state is using Citrix Workspace to provide virtual desktops to employees, Steve Nguyen, vice president and general manager of U.S. Public Sector at Citrix, wrote in an email to GCN. DoIT officials had four requirements: enabling employees to work from any device, zero-trust security, support across a hybrid multi-cloud and multi-premise environment and the ability for all that to be up and running within a week. The biggest lesson is really the need for government entities to have a work-from-anywhere policy and technology partners to help drive it, Nguyen said. No one knows what the next normal looks like, but remote work will be a part of it, and employees will need to be equipped with the tools and information they need to do their best work. Over half of the workforce (52%) are nervous to go back to work and be in close proximity with others, as the lockdown restrictions continue to loosen, a study in the UAE has found. SmartCitti who is responsible for the app that helps people navigate their way around Dubais leading shopping malls whilst leaving their happiness feedback on their experiences, has joined forces with WRLD3D to announce the launch of their SmartWorkplace social distancing app SafeDistance. 1,000 workers in the UAE were surveyed to gain valuable insight into what they are most concerned about as organisations start to reopen their doors. The number one concern raised in the study is the level of sanitisation in workplaces and the longevity of newly implemented procedures, for example, will hygiene and safety standards slip over time? Workers are also nervous of the possibility of picking up the infection from an asymptomatic colleague and expressed doubts over whether colleagues would follow social distancing rules in the office especially in compact areas, such as kitchens, meeting rooms and bathrooms. This poses an important question: Should organisations be learning from the Coronavirus pandemic and looking for ways to protect employees from all potential outbreaks, not just Coronavirus? Would they be prepared if this were to happen again? 71% of respondents said they would welcome new technology into the workplace, if it aided a smooth transition back to work and alleviated their concerns around safety for the long term. Many of us havent experienced a global lockdown in our lifetimes, so it naturally raises questions about the future and our ability to adapt. The survey also delved into the emotional needs of workers, revealing that 55% of people care about being able to share their feelings at work. At a time like this, the happiness of employees is pivotal and offering support helps to instil their confidence in the organisation. To offer support to those facing a return to work in the coming weeks, SmartCitti and WRLD3D created SafeDistance. Not only does the app monitor morale and encourage employees to reach out when they need help, it also creates a digital twin of the workplace, senses real-time movement inside a building, and assesses risk this means that employees can feel safe to move around freely, significantly reducing the impact on their anxiety and mental health. Primary features include: *Safe indoor navigation system: GPS tracking and indoor navigation ensures employees and visitors can be guided around a building and shown the safest route to take, including specific alert notifications on potentially dangerous congested areas; *Happy to Help: Allows people to list themselves as a helper or reach out to others for help whether that is a need of emotional support or just a friendly chat. People seeking assistance can locate helpers on the app and reach out via messaging. This feature helps to nurture an important sense of community and well-being within organisations; *Live room occupancy: Live footfall monitoring ensures that room capacity is never exceeded, helping organisations to arrange desks in compliance with the 2-metre social distancing guideline. Regular cleaning checks will be prompted and monitored to maintain safe workspaces; and *Emotional reporting: Users of the app. are regularly encouraged to record how they are feeling, using a simple mood selector. This helps organisations to monitor and boost morale and encourages employees to be mindful of others. SafeDistance also has a car parking allocation feature to further support social distancing and sends push notifications to those looking to use meeting rooms, letting them know when its safe to enter. CEO of WRLD, Faizaan Ghauri said: More and more businesses in the UAE are starting to plan a return to the workplace and SmartTech will allow them to do this in a much safer and more efficient way. Our plan is to take as much stress out of the situation as possible, reassure employers that their employers care about their physical and mental health - and that they have a long-term strategy in place, should there be another wave or a future outbreak. -- Tradearabia News Service 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. CARBONDALE -- Southern Illinois University has laid out a plan that calls for bringing thousands of students back to campus and offering them a mix of traditional face-to-face classes, online and hybrid courses -- while implementing numerous precautions. Chancellor Austin Lane, whose first official day on the job was Wednesday, said the plan emphasizes safety, and also strives to offer returning students some semblance of the campus life they desire. It is the result of hundreds of hours of planning, research and surveys ongoing since March. "We actually polled our students, faculty and staff, and the majority is saying they want to come back," Lane said. "Now, they are saying they want to come back and ensure that safety measures are in place." But for some faculty and graduate students who teach, the idea of returning to face-to-face classes in six weeks is a daunting prospect. Jackson County has relatively successfully suppressed its caseload of late, but large pockets of the nation are losing their grip on the coronavirus pandemic. There is fear the virus may spread more rapidly as students travel to Carbondale for school. "I think that's what we're doing right now, we're rolling the dice -- making that gamble without having really analyzed the bet," said Dave Johnson, president of the SIU Faculty Association that represents tenured and tenure-track faculty. Johnson said SIU's survey missed a key perspective. While a majority of faculty may want to resume face-to-face instruction, the vast majority also believe the decision on what format to hold classes during the pandemic should be theirs alone -- rather than directed by administrators. In many ways, the tension at SIU is reflective of a larger conversation playing out across the country as universities navigate how -- and whether -- to welcome back students to campuses. In Illinois, universities, community colleges and K-12 schools are allowed to open for the fall semester under Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Restore Illinois plan, which the entire state entered on June 26. SIU's plan -- which also includes fallback measures should the state have to revert to Phase 3 -- is generally in step with what the state's other public universities are doing. The friction on display is also not uncommon -- people are nervous, and Lane said he understands that. But there are practical considerations behind the need to return to some semblance of normalcy, he said. If SIU doesn't provide what students want -- and almost every other university in the region does -- "we will miss out," Lane said. Lane said this is not a decision primarily motivated by financial and enrollment targets, though those factors matter for the university's long-term stability. "But we want to make sure we keep our students that want to be Salukis," he said. Survey says ... SIU's plan calls for reducing the size of classes, staggering meeting times and redesigning rooms to promote social distancing -- by moving desks or marking fixed seating that can't be used, thereby forcing students to space out. Masks will be required for students and instructors. Enhanced cleaning protocols will be implemented. Face-to-face classes will be limited to no more than 50 students, and typically be much smaller. After Thanksgiving break, students will not return to campus to minimize the risk associated with students traveling home for the holiday. In a recent university survey, about 58% of responding faculty and graduate assistants said that they either agreed, or strongly agreed, that SIU should have students return to campus this fall if allowed under the state's Restore Illinois plan. About 26% of the 744 respondents said they disagreed, or strongly disagreed, and about 17% responded neutrally. Craig Anz, an associate professor and interim director of School of Architecture, said he believes SIU's plan strikes the right balance. He said Pritzker's aggressive approach to the coronavirus early on has positioned Illinois to move through reopening phases. Welcoming students back "is in tune with that plan," he said. Doing this responsibility means taking extra precautions, especially for high-risk faculty, he said. The first-floor studio in Quigley Hall has been redesigned to maximize distance between students. The desks are labeled with "1"s and "2"s that will be used to direct students where to sit in fragmented morning and afternoon sessions. Cleaning supplies and masks will be made available at the entryway. Contingency plans are in place to allow classes to transition between face-to-face and online if there's a need to suddenly quarantine. And some classes will be offered fully or mostly online. The preparation is challenging, he said, but the crisis has also offered an opportunity to reimagine spaces and teaching practices that will better serve students. "We come from the design field -- we're problem solvers," he said. Tension on campus Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. The university community is far from full accord on the details, however. Last week, the SIUC Faculty Association and Graduate Assistants United, the unions representing faculty and graduate assistants issued a joint statement raising numerous concerns and asking the university to reconsider its approach in several key areas. Namely, they ask SIU "to reconsider the plan to reopen for widespread face-to-face instruction." The default mode of instruction for any class that can be taught online "must be" online instruction, with the ability for teachers to "opt-in" to face-to-face instruction, they argue. No instructor, they say, should be "required, asked or pressured" to teach a face-to-face class. Provost Meera Komarraju said that department heads have been charged with sorting out which courses will be offered online-only, face-to-face or in a hybrid format. Supervisors, she noted, have been advised to take faculty and graduate assistant needs and preferences into consideration when deciding class formats. Further, the university has processes in place for high-risk for students, faculty and staff to request accommodations, added SIU spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith. "We are trying to find that balance so that we are responsive, and we are accommodating of our instructors -- and also we are responsive to the students," Komarraju said. That means the university cannot guarantee that it will be able to meet the preferences of all instructors that do not have a documented medical condition, though efforts will be made to do so, she said. Anna Wilcoxen, president of the union representing graduate assistants on campus, said the union believes the onerous should not fall on people with disabilities or who are otherwise at-risk to severe COVID-19 complications to prove that they should not be teaching face-to-face. Instead, she advocates for SIU to set itself apart by offering a more robust online curriculum for the duration of this crisis. That would allow SIU to prioritize accessibility and demonstrate ethic of care, she said. "This could be a moment for SIU to actually be a leader." Johnson, the faculty union president, said that while the university is very worried about enrollment falling if most classes are mostly offered online, it doesn't seem to be worried enough about how the classroom experience will suffer if everyone needs to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Johnson suggests many classes would work better online than in awkward face-to-face conditions. Nor, he said, is it clear that the university is worried enough about the health risks of inviting 10,000 students back to Carbondale. Sam Pavel, the coordinator for the Aviation Management Program in SIU's Aviation Department, said that despite all the controls administrators put in place to control the spread of the virus on campus, their ability to manage student behavior has its limits. "They are 20. They're not going to stay inside," said Pavel, who suffered a heart attack last year and is considered high risk for COVID-19 complications. "You're going to blame them for being 20-year-olds?" Focus on freshman Komarraju said that in addition to classes that necessitate face-to-face instruction, the university also aims to provide a robust menu of freshman-level courses. While these 101 courses can be -- and routinely are -- taught online, even pre-COVID-19, Komarraju said the university believes it is important that freshmen have the opportunity to take at least some face-to-face classes their first year. Attending classes on campus is an important part of acclimating to college life and developing a sense of belonging on campus, she said. But this has also created a rub, as a lot of introductory courses are taught by graduate assistants. And SIU's survey results showed graduate assistants were far less enthusiastic about returning to face-to-face teaching in the fall. Wilcoxen said that some of the reasons graduate assistants are generally more opposed to the plan is they tend to have larger classes, are more apt to lack access to adequate health care coverage and make far less money compared to tenured and tenure-track faculty, and administrators. "The primary way I can encapsulate my feelings right now is to say I'm terrified of being forced to teach face-to-face in the fall or take classes face-to-face in the fall," said Jesse Snider, a graduate assistant in Communications Studies. Snider says that Communication Studies 101 can easily be offered online, and he believes that it ought to be up to each instructor to determine how they want to teach. He also feels it is irresponsible for the university to increase the risk of COVID-19 spreading to the greater community. Chancellor Lane said he understands that some people are concerned -- and afraid -- about what the fall might bring. "No. 1, it's a valid fear," he said. "We, even as administrators, share the same fear. We're just as human and we have families like all of our employees." He pledged to continue listening and working with individuals with concerns. Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Lane said he believes that SIU can host a successful fall semester for students eager to return to campus. "This plan is unique because safety really is how it starts out," he said. "It's about the health and safety of all of our employees." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 As recent protests against police brutality have highlighted deep divisions over the future of law enforcement in Illinois, a prominent civil rights group and top police officials have come together to promote a joint solution to help address the controversy. To build trust between people of color and law enforcement, the Illinois NAACP State Conference and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police have been promoting a document they call the Ten Shared Principles. The agreement calls for valuing every life, treating everyone with respect, rejecting discrimination, and supporting community policing, diversity and de-escalation training. The two groups agreed on the principles in 2018, well before the current demonstrations, but prompted by many of the same concerns. Since then, nearly 200 police departments and law enforcement organizations across the state, including many in the suburbs but not Chicago, have adopted what its sponsors call a historic agreement. But as nationwide protests continue in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, activists from Black Lives Matter and other groups have called for much stronger measures, such as defunding police. And even some who support the principles warn that the agreement wont work without measures to enforce it. The Shared Principles started in part as a response to protests over the police killing of Michael Brown in suburban Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Further impetus was added with the police killing of Laquan McDonald in Chicago in 2016. Work on the Shared Principles began when the NAACP and the chiefs held joint meetings around the state called World Cafes that attracted scores of community and police leaders to discuss how to go forward. The principles also built on President Barack Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing. About 40 departments and other groups have signed on this year, nearly half of them since the recent protests began. Recent adoptees include the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the South Suburban Association of Chiefs of Police. Though the principles contain no enforcement measures, officials say that many police policies have or will formalize the same ideas with disciplinary provisions. The effort to reach consensus on policing objectives was a recognition that while controversies have often erupted over police killings in big cities, deaths of African Americans at the hands of white police officers have occurred sporadically statewide, including in Chicagos suburbs. In 2011, Darrin Hanna died one week after being beaten and shocked by police in North Chicago. In 2018, Decynthia Clements was shot and killed by police after charging them with knives after a standoff on the I-90 tollway in Elgin. And in 2018, armed security guard Jemel Roberson, who was subduing a shooting suspect outside a bar in Robbins, was shot four times and killed by a Midlothian police officer. Each incident prompted numerous demonstrations and calls for repercussions. The North Chicago case led to one officer being fired and another suspended, the departure of the chief, and a $3 million settlement of a lawsuit over the death. No officers were disciplined in the other cases and no criminal charges were filed. More generally, in 2018, an investigation by WBEZ and the Better Government Association found that of 113 shootings involving suburban police departments since 2005, no officers were charged criminally or even disciplined. In response to such incidents, police and NAACP officials saw their agreement as a starting point for improving relations between the police and residents. Robert Moore, chair of criminal justice for the NAACP in Springfield, has been traveling the state with the chiefs to train departments on following the principles, and he believes it is making a difference. That agreement allows us to come to the table with the chiefs, he said. There are so many reforms that are needed. Were not where we want to fully be, but were so far ahead of other states. The head of the chiefs association, Crystal Lake police Chief James Black, said the agreement reflects that police and residents both want their communities to be safe for everyone. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Its a great document, in my humble opinion, he said. We found police and communities of color want the same thing. Theres a misunderstanding about how we get to where we want to be. Some Black activists describe the Ten Shared Principles as well-intentioned but unenforceable. Regina Brent, founder and president of Unity Partnership in Naperville, regularly works with suburban police departments to resolve issues of race, but was not involved in this effort. We do not support the Ten Shared principles, she said. It says you should treat me like a citizen. It needs to go further. If it had teeth, we wouldnt be out there marching. Instead, she said, reformers should focus on policies that can be changed immediately by any mayor or police chief whos willing. She called for further safeguards against the police use of chokeholds like that used on George Floyd, which generally are illegal in Illinois; comprehensive use of body cameras by police, which remains rare in the suburbs; and detailed statewide data on police misconduct. Some protesters say the historic and ongoing nature of the problem has moved it far beyond the realm of mere agreements. Unlike the NAACP and Unity Partnership, which believe in working with police to bring about reform, some protest leaders say its time to look for radical alternatives to the police. JaMal Green, an activist and former mayoral candidate in Chicago, said its too late for agreements such as the Ten Shared Principles. Just saying theyll commit to a policy doesnt mean anything, he said. Weve given them body cameras, Tasers, use of force policies, but they still use excessive force. Weve got to stop saying lets reform the police -- it keeps pouring money into a system that isnt working, he said. We need to pour money into communities so theyre safe enough that we dont need so much policing. Police chiefs welcomed proposals to increase funding for social services to help improve their communities and handle calls for service, but were alarmed at talk of defunding their departments. In Oak Park, police Chief LaDon Reynolds, whose department has adopted the Ten Shared Principles, said documents such as the Shared Princples are backed up by specific regulations controlling the use of force and other areas of concern. While Oak Park had problems with complaints of biased policing in the past, Reynolds said, it worked to overcome them primarily through community policing, by having officers get to know and work with community members. He noted that his department is reviewing its use-of-force policies, has a civilian advisory committee to oversee discipline, and its racial makeup generally reflects that of its diverse community. While Reynolds called the Floyd incident a horrific murder, he cautioned against painting all police with the same brush, saying most want to serve their communities honorably. There are real issues with policing in America, without a doubt, he said. But that does not take away that there are good men and women in law enforcement of all ethnicities doing good work. Any agreement is only as good as its enforcement, said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois, which is involved in the federal consent decree aimed at reforming Chicago police operations. Recent crises, he said, have shown the need for social service agencies to handle some situations, rather than people with guns trained in the use of force. Police have not been called to task when theyve done wrong, Yohnka said. The real focus needs to be on enforcing accountability. Whats going to happen when somebody breaks the rules? Thats the critical piece here. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Tethys Oil, a Swedish energy company focused on exploration and production of oil, said that it has entered into an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) with the Government of Oman for Block 58 onshore Oman. The block is located in the southern part of the Sultanate adjacent to Tethys Oils operated exploration licence Block 49. Tethys Oil will through its wholly owned subsidiary Tethys Oil Qatbeet be the operator of the block and hold a 100% license interest. The EPSA was signed by Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi, Minister of Oil and Gas on behalf of the Government of Oman and Hussain bin Ahmed Al Lawati, Executive Director of External and Corporate Affairs for Tethys Oil. Block 58 is located in the Dhofar Governorate in the southern part of Oman and covers an area of 4,557 sq km. Block 58 straddles the western flank of the South Oman Salt Basin and the Western Deformation Front. A total of 7,600 km of 2D seismic and 1,100 sq km of 3D seismic data acquired by previous operators has been made available to Tethys Oil as well as raw logs and well reports from two wells drilled within the block boundaries. Both wells encountered hydrocarbon shows. Multiple play concepts are believed to exist within the block boundaries, including plays familiar to Tethys, with several leads identified. The EPSA for Block 58 covers an initial exploration period of three years with an optional extension period of another three years. In case of a commercial oil or gas discovery, the EPSA will be transformed in to a 15 year production license which can be extended for another five years. In case of a commercial discovery, an Oman Government Company has a right to acquire up to a 30% interest in Block 58 against refunding of past expenditure. The initial work commitments during the first period include a 3D seismic campaign and drilling of two exploration wells. We are very happy to have been given the opportunity to explore for hydrocarbons on Block 58. The signing of this EPSA represents another step in Tethys Oils strategy in Sultanate of Oman. I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for this exciting opportunity, said Tethys Managing Director Magnus Nordin. TradeArabia News Service Bloomberg 56 -- Shiliang Tang1.3LedgerPrimeVirtu Financial Inc.Cantor Fitzgerald LPTangTang78%250%Deribit1420201370 As agriculturalists, we are well aware of the impacts COVID-19 has had on farm gate prices. As consumers, we have witnessed empty store shelves where products used to be and limits placed on certain items. Another essential business that has worked tirelessly during this global health pandemic is grocery stores. While many other shops were asked to close their doors, grocery stores remained open to meet the basic needs of consumers. Tim Metcalfe, co-owner of a regional grocer chain called Metcalfes Market, spoke with Charleston|Orwig CEO Mark Gale during a webinar titled Food, farms, and the future. He shared some of the actions his grocery stores have taken to improve safety during the current health situation. Ready for rapid change Early on in the pandemic, Metcalfe said they adopted the model of for right now. This meant that they would make the best decisions they could with the best information they had available today. The direction could change at any time, and they worked with their staff and the organization to be fluid. Metcalfe said one of the main things they have learned from this situation is that businesses must be prepared for continued, rapid change. Metcalfes team closely monitored what was happening in China and Italy when COVID-19 first hit the headlines, and they realized that during all of this, three of the essential businesses were going to be grocery stores, hospitals, and pharmacies. Right out of the chute, they started putting safety measures in place, including extra handwashing and social distancing. Our focus is, first and foremost, the protection and safety of our essential workers, Metcalfe explained. If we protect them, that protects our customers. By doing everything they can to protect their customers, Metcalfe said they are also doing what they can to protect the community. Its a three-level approach, he said. One strategy they put into place at their stores was social distancing by reducing store capacity. At first they went down to 50%, then 25%, and now they allow stores to reach just 16% of their capacity. They have marked the aisles for one-way traffic, assigned a staff member to sanitize carts, and have all employees wear face masks. Guests are encouraged to wear masks as well, but they are not a requirement. Metcalfe said one of their most important actions was to hire an infectious disease consultant so that their decisions were guided by science. It was one of the best things we did, he said. Throughout this process, the grocer has communicated regularly with customers through Facebook to let them know about the changes and safety measures that were in place. Metcalfe commented on their ability to stock shelves and limits that were placed on certain products. He said that many manufacturers have focused on key core items and have cut production on others. While some items have been more difficult to get from national suppliers, Metcalfe said he has been able to find reliable sources of more locally produced goods. There are a lot of changes in a lot of different industries that have caused a disruption, but not serious issues, he said. He gave a shout-out to everyone working in food distribution and production during these unprecedented times. Safety is the new priority What does Metcalfe see as fundamental changes to grocery stores moving forward? He thinks there is going to be a huge change and growth in e-commerce and online grocery shopping. He also believes people will be more contentious about who is touching their food, leading to more individually wrapped items (like produce) and self-checkouts. The plexiglass at checkout lines is going to remain in place, and he believes masks, gloves, and social distancing are here to stay for a while. Price, cleanliness, and variety used to be the attributes people looked for in grocery stores, he explained. Now, high on a customers list is safety. They are going to go where they feel safest. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2020 June 29, 2020 Mumbai, Jul 6 (PTI) Blue Ashva Capital, an investment fund launched by former chief executive of Barclays Private Bank India Satya Bansal, has closed its maiden SME and startups-focused fund, netting investor commitments for Rs 454 crore. Investors who are on board include family offices and high networth individuals, Blue Ashva Capital, which has offices in Singapore and Mumbai, said in a statement on Monday. The fund backs sustainable and profitable businesses across agriculture, decarbonization, circular economy and SMEs and has built a partner ecosystem in Singapore, the US and Israel to bring innovations useful for the country. The investments will be carried out through the Blue Ashva Sampada Fund, managed by Blue Ashva Capital Trust, which is a Sebi-registered category II alternative investment fund. The money raised will be invested in businesses across financial services, technology, healthcare, consumer, manufacturing etc through equity, debt or any combination of all. The fund will also back professional-turn-entrepreneurs apart from partnering with global companies to invest, the statement said. SMEs and startups play a key role in fostering entrepreneurship, and generating livelihood opportunities for millions. But they face problems in fund raising. This fund is committed to nurturing profitable and sustainable SMEs and startups for a better tomorrow, Bansal said. Bansal has spent over three decades in the banking and financial services sector. Prior to founding Blue Ashva in 2019, he was the chief executive of Barclays Private Bank India for more than a decade and played a key role in setting up the British lenders private banking business in the country. He was also a key founding member of the ICICI Direct team. PTI BEN MR MR Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL) has signed definitive agreements with Adani Transmission Limited to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary named Alipurduar Transmission Limited (ATL) for a total enterprise value (EV) of about Rs 1,286 crore. Alipurduar Transmission Limited was set up as a part of an inter-state transmission system for strengthening and transferring of power from new hydroelectric power projects in Bhutan to India. It won this project on build own operate and maintain (BOOM) basis through a competitive bidding process from REC Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL) for a period of 35 years. The project involved designing, financing, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of 325 kms of 400 KV transmission line. In FY20, ATL generated revenue of Rs 90.36 crore, which was 0.7 per cent of KPTLs consolidated revenue. Its net worth stood at Rs 170.20 crore, which is 5.07 per cent of KPTLs total consolidated net worth. The companys management informed that in FY20, KPTL had already completed the sale and transfer of Satpura Transmission asset. It has agreements for the sale and transfer of all of its T&D assets that include ATL, Kohima and Jhajjar transmission assets. It plans to carry out this sale procedure in FY21. It further stated that the sale of T&D assets would accelerate KPTLs growth strategy in the global EPC market and enhance shareholder value. Adani Transmission, which is part of Adani Group, is Indias largest private transmission company with a cumulative transmission network of more than 15,400 circuit kilometers, out of which, more than 12,200 ckt kms is operational. On Monday, the stock of KPTL opened at Rs 240 on BSE. In the early morning session, it surged 4.1 per cent to Rs 243.85 from its previous close of Rs 234.15. Tokyo [Japan], July 5 (ANI): Seven people were killed and four missing due to massive flooding triggered by torrential rain in the southwestern Japanese prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported citing local media. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) raised heavy rain warnings in many parts of the prefectures to the highest level on Saturday morning, the first time it has issued such high alerts for the two prefectures. According to the agency, Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture received record precipitation of 98 mm per hour. About 203,200 residents in the two prefectures were asked to take shelter. In 17 municipalities in Kumamoto, 109 shelters were opened to house at least 871 evacuees. Due to extensive flooding along the Kuma River in Kumamoto, the prefectural government asked for the dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force personnel for disaster relief work. Rescuers struggled to reach the hard-hit areas along the river which broke its banks at several locations on early Saturday. Shinkansen bullet train services in the prefectures have also been suspended, Kyushu Railway Co. said. (ANI) Dubai, Jul 6 (PTI) A total of 8 lakh Indians could be forced to leave Kuwait as its National Assembly committee has approved a draft expat quota bill seeking to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Gulf country, according to media reports. The National Assembly's legal and legislative committee has determined that the expat quota bill is constitutional. According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15 per cent of the population. This could result in 800,000 Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in the country, totalling 1.45 million, the Gulf News reported, citing a Kuwaiti newspaper. The current population of Kuwait is 4.3 million, with Kuwaitis making up 1.3 million of the population, and expats accounting for 3 million. Amid a slump in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a spike in anti-expat rhetoric as lawmakers and government officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait. Last month, Kuwaits Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah proposed reducing the number of expats from 70 per cent to 30 per cent of the population, the report said. Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem told Kuwait TV that he and a group of lawmakers will submit to the Assembly a comprehensive draft law calling for a gradual reduction of expats in Kuwait. Kuwait has a real problem in its population structure, in which 70 per cent are expats, the Speaker said, adding that what is more serious is that 1.3 million of the 3.35 million expats 'are either illiterate or can merely read and write', the people Kuwait does not really need, the Kuwait Times reported. 'I understand that we recruit doctors and skilled manpower and not unskilled laborers. This is an indication that there is a distortion. Visa traders have contributed in increasing this figure, Ghanem said. The Speaker said the draft law they intend to file will propose to impose a cap on the number of expats, whose numbers must decrease gradually by stating that this year expats will be 70 per cent, next year 65 per cent and so on, the report said. Story continues The expat quota bill will now be referred to the concerned committee for consideration. It states that the Indian expatriate community should not exceed 15 per cent of the national population, which means around 800,000 of them might be required to leave Kuwait, the Arab News reported. According to the Indian embassy in Kuwait, there are about 28,000 Indians working for the Kuwaiti Government in various jobs like nurses, engineers in national oil companies and a few as scientists. The majority of Indians (5.23 Lakh) are deployed in private sectors. In addition, there are about 1.16 lakh dependents. Out of these, there are about 60,000 Indian students studying in 23 Indian schools in the country. The bill will now be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created. It proposes similar quotas for other nationalities. Kuwait is a top source of remittances for India. In 2018, India received nearly USD 4.8 billion from Kuwait as remittances. Foreigners have accounted for the majority of Kuwaits COVID-19 cases as the disease spread among migrant workers living in overcrowded housing. According to latest data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 49,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Kuwait. Globally, more than 5 lakh people have died and over 11 million have been infected by COVID-19. PTI MRJ AKJ MRJ Kabul [Afghanistan], July 05 (Sputnik/ANI): The Afghan National Army has killed seven Taliban terrorists and injured four others after they launched attacks on military posts in the central province of Uruzgan, a spokesman for the 205th Atal Corps told Sputnik on Sunday. "Taliban insurgents attacked Afghan National Army posts in the districts of Trinkot, Khas Uruzgan, and Chora in central Uruzgan province last night. Seven insurgents were killed and four others suffered injuries," Sadiq Issa said. The Taliban have yet to comment on the incident. Security forces in Kandahar province killed five Taliban terrorists after the militant organisation launched attacks on checkpoints on the same evening. The Taliban have continued to target civilians and military personnel with armed attacks and bomb blasts despite signing a peace deal with representatives from the United States in February. (Sputnik/ANI) Nepal on Monday reopened one of its key border trade routes with China, six months after it was closed following the coronavirus pandemic, according to Nepalese officials. The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point is one of the two main border points for international trade between Nepal and China. Another border point, Tatopani-Zhangmu, reopened in late March, more than two months after its closure. For the time being only one-way goods transport has been resumed between the two countries. Goods stranded at Kerung of Tibet, have started entering Nepal through the border point from Monday, the officials said. Rasuwagadhi has been opened to facilitate goods coming from China to enter Nepal. No human transport is allowed in the border point for the time being. Two-way operation and human movement will resume after some time, they said. A total of 120 tonnes of goods will be delivered to Nepal everyday from China, the officials said. Chief of Rasuwa Customs Office, Punya Bikram Khadka said four trucks will be allowed to operate in the beginning and the number will be continuously increased as the service improves, MyRepublica newspaper reported. Out of the many goods imported from China, fruits, readymade goods, electronic gadgets, equipment required by telecom and hydropower projects are among the prominently imported ones, the report said. "The goods will enter Nepal according to their turns," Khadka said. The border point has remained closed since January due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal on Sunday reported 293 new coronavirus cases, taking its total count to 15,784, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Till now, 32 people have died due to the disease in the country. The deadly coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city in December. China has reported 83,553 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began. Nepal has submitted the details of 15 drivers and 15 labourers who will be handling the goods and transport them to Nepal. All the labourers and drivers engaged in the process will take care of their works at their designated locations and will work without direct contact, the report added. Story continues "The Chinese side will bring the goods and unload them and the Nepali side will take care of the remaining tasks till it reaches Nepal," Khadka said. The Rasuwagadhi border point that officially came into use from 2015, registers more than 250 vehicles carrying goods for import and export on a daily basis, MyRepblica reported. The number of trade, traders and cargo trucks passing by largely increased in Rasuwagadhi after China officially declared this border point as one of its international borders, it added. The Kerung Valley of Tibet is just 24 kilometers away from this border point. Although the border was closed in January, traders from Kerung were still using this the border to travel back and forth until February. Britain is putting 8.4 million pounds ($10.49 million) into a new study to examine the long-term effects of COVID-19 on patients, the health ministry said on Sunday. The novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 has been observed to cause many health impacts for some patients beyond immediate respiratory issues, but with other infected people asymptomatic, the workings of the virus are not fully understood. "As we continue our fight against this global pandemic, we are learning more and more about the impact the disease can have, not only on immediate health, but longer-term physical and mental health too," health minister Matt Hancock said. The Department of Health said 10,000 people would take part in the study, which is being led by the University of Leicester and hospitals in the city. Lung and blood samples of the patients will be taken and they will also be assessed by advanced imaging, and the findings will be used to develop new forms of personalised treatment. Washington DC [USA], July 6 (ANI): Chinese President Xi Jinping has apparently decided that this is the right time to assert dominance and territorial expansionism when the global economies are reeling with the side-effects of a deadly pandemic outbreak, but instead of just rolling over, a growing number of nations are fighting back, the New York Post reported. New Delhi raising of tariffs on Chinese goods, restricting Chinese investments and banning TikTok as well as 58 other Chinese apps from Indian phones is one of the latest in the bid to demonstrate that India, for one, is clearly not intimidated by China's growing hawk policies. Not only this, but many Indians are also now boycotting "Made in China" products, a task made easier because online retailers like Amazon have been ordered by New Delhi to tell buyers where products are made. The respective developments from the Indian side came in response to China's unprovoked attack against Indian border personnel at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh on June 15, as a result of which the world's largest democracy had moved some 30,000 troops to the Himalayan border to counter any further provocative actions by the Communist Party regime, according to the New York Post. Meanwhile, the people of the Philippines are up in arms over China's expansionism into areas of the South China Sea claimed by Manilla after a Philippine fishing boat sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. When anti-US President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, he initially ignored popular sentiment and announced a "pivot to Beijing" on the promise of USD 24 billion in Chinese investments. Four years later, all that has changed. With the Chinese Navy sailing ever closer to Philippine shores and few Chinese projects in progress, Duterte has reversed his earlier decision to terminate his country's Visiting Forces Agreement with the US. Given a choice between having American or Chinese naval vessels anchored in Subic Bay, the decision was pretty obvious. In addition to this, the world has been a witness to how the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong were beaten by the city's riot police on Beijing's orders after the Asian giant passed the national security law, further restricting the privileged freedom of the semi-autonomous region, the New York Post reported. The sight of the 7.3 million free people of Hong Kong being crushed under the heel of the Chinese Communist Party regime is one the world will not easily forget. It has already prompted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to offer British citizenship to three million Hong Kongers, not to mention take a tougher line toward China itself. Huawei, for example, can kiss its 5G business in the UK goodbye. Now the interesting twist in the tale comes after knowing that China has also taken a toll on Australia, an island continent in the far south and also a part of the Asia Pacific. Australia's farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions after Canberra which suggests that the virus, which came out of China, may have come from there. Also, to counter the recent surge in cyberattacks, Canberra has promised to recruit at least 500 cyberwarriors, bolstering the country's online defences. Meanwhile, an astonishing 94 per cent of Australians say they want to begin decoupling their economy from China's. The same story is being repeated around the globe. From Sweden to Japan to Czechia, more and more nations are coming to understand China's mortal threat to the postwar democratic and capitalist world order. "Xi Jinping and the Communist Party that he leads have so badly overplayed their hand that they have, in a mere six months, accomplished what Donald Trump could not in almost four years: They have unified the world against China. And communist leader Xi has only himself to blame for the brazen move," the report said. On Wednesday, the US Congress unanimously voted to sanction China for its new security law that would effectively nullify Hong Kong's legal system and put Beijing in charge. "But America cannot fight China alone. And now, thanks to Xi's aggressive policies, the United States won't have to fight the war alone," according to the report. (ANI) White dwarfs reveal new insights into the origin of carbon in the universe A new analysis of white dwarf stars supports their role as a key source of carbon, an element crucial to all life, in the Milky Way and other galaxies. Approximately 90 percent of all stars end their lives as white dwarfs, very dense stellar remnants that gradually cool and dim over billions of years. With their final few breaths before they collapse, however, these stars leave an important legacy, spreading their ashes into the surrounding space through stellar winds enriched with chemical elements, including carbon, newly synthesized in the star's deep interior during the last stages before its death. Every carbon atom in the universe was created by stars, through the fusion of three helium nuclei. But astrophysicists still debate which types of stars are the primary source of the carbon in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Some studies favor low-mass stars that blew off their envelopes in stellar winds and became white dwarfs, while others favor massive stars that eventually exploded as supernovae. In the new study, published July 6 in Nature Astronomy, an international team of astronomers discovered and analyzed white dwarfs in open star clusters in the Milky Way, and their findings help shed light on the origin of the carbon in our galaxy. Open star clusters are groups of up to a few thousand stars, formed from the same giant molecular cloud and roughly the same age, and held together by mutual gravitational attraction. The study was based on astronomical observations conducted in 2018 at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and led by coauthor Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. "From the analysis of the observed Keck spectra, it was possible to measure the masses of the white dwarfs. Using the theory of stellar evolution, we were able to trace back to the progenitor stars and derive their masses at birth," Ramirez-Ruiz explained. The relationship between the initial masses of stars and their final masses as white dwarfs is known as the initial-final mass relation, a fundamental diagnostic in astrophysics that integrates information from the entire life cycles of stars, linking birth to death. In general, the more massive the star at birth, the more massive the white dwarf left at its death, and this trend has been supported on both observational and theoretical grounds. But analysis of the newly discovered white dwarfs in old open clusters gave a surprising result: the masses of these white dwarfs were notably larger than expected, putting a "kink" in the initial-final mass relation for stars with initial masses in a certain range. "Our study interprets this kink in the initial-final mass relationship as the signature of the synthesis of carbon made by low-mass stars in the Milky Way," said lead author Paola Marigo at the University of Padua in Italy. In the last phases of their lives, stars twice as massive as our Sun produced new carbon atoms in their hot interiors, transported them to the surface, and finally spread them into the interstellar medium through gentle stellar winds. The team's detailed stellar models indicate that the stripping of the carbon-rich outer mantle occurred slowly enough to allow the central cores of these stars, the future white dwarfs, to grow appreciably in mass. Analyzing the initial-final mass relation around the kink, the researchers concluded that stars bigger than 2 solar masses also contributed to the galactic enrichment of carbon, while stars of less than 1.5 solar masses did not. In other words, 1.5 solar masses represents the minimum mass for a star to spread carbon-enriched ashes upon its death. These findings place stringent constraints on how and when carbon, the element essential to life on Earth, was produced by the stars of our galaxy, eventually ending up trapped in the raw material from which the Sun and its planetary system were formed 4.6 billion years ago. "Now we know that the carbon came from stars with a birth mass of not less than roughly 1.5 solar masses," said Marigo. Coauthor Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay at University of Warwick said, "One of most exciting aspects of this research is that it impacts the age of known white dwarfs, which are essential cosmic probes to understand the formation history of the Milky Way. The initial-to-final mass relation is also what sets the lower mass limit for supernovae, the gigantic explosions seen at large distances and that are really important to understand the nature of the universe." By combining the theories of cosmology and stellar evolution, the researchers concluded that bright carbon-rich stars close to their death, quite similar to the progenitors of the white dwarfs analyzed in this study, are presently contributing to a vast amount of the light emitted by very distant galaxies. This light, carrying the signature of newly produced carbon, is routinely collected by large telescopes to probe the evolution of cosmic structures. A reliable interpretation of this light depends on understanding the synthesis of carbon in stars. ### In addition to Marigo, Tremblay, and Ramirez-Ruiz, the coauthors of the paper include scientists at Johns Hopkins University, American Museum of Natural History in New York, Columbia University, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of Warwick, University of Montreal, University of Uppsala, International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, and the University of Geneva. This research was supported by the European Union through an ERC Consolidator Grant and the DNRF through a Niels Bohr Professorship. This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Dubais IOC Middle East, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, and Ras Al Khaimah-based RR Holdings, the holding company of Beximco LPG of Bangladesh, have signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 joint venture company (JVC) for LPG business in Bangladesh. 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%. The JVC will draw strength from the core competencies of IndianOil and the local expertise of Beximco. As per the business plan, the JVC would begin functioning by acquiring Beximco's existing LPG assets. Dharmedra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, India, said that the agreement is a major milestone in the annals of India-Bangladesh cooperation when a group company of Indian Oil based in Dubai is joining hands with one of the most promising LPG companies in Bangladesh through its holding company in UAE for LPG business in Bangladesh. Salman Fazlur Rahman MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, said: "The JVC 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." "As Bangladesh's middle class is rising with higher purchasing power, the LPG sector has seen an exponential boom over the years and is set to grow further in the coming years. As such, a partnership and investment at this scale between two experienced and major players has every potential to be a true game changer in the industry, said Nasrul Hamid, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh. Sanjiv Singh, Chairman, IndianOil, said: "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 reduction in cost of imports. Reduction in cost of import would help make LPG available at an affordable price to the people of Bangladesh." TradeArabia News Service The coronavirus pandemic has entirely changed the functioning of the world. It is perhaps the only disease to have brought the world to a complete stand still. What is more surprising about this disease is the fact that no doctor, scientist, researcher has been able to find the exact cause of this disease. According to The New York Times, a study has found out that a stretch of DNA linked to Covid-19 has been passed down from Neanderthals over a span of 60,000 years ago. As of now the particular segment is not known to the Scientists. Joshua Akey, a geneticist at Princeton University who was not involved in the new study told the New York Times, "This interbreeding effect that happened 60,000 years ago is still having an impact today." The study has found out that there has been a puzzling human history with respect to this particular genome spans six genes on Chromosome 3. Further, the study has also revealed that 63 percent of the people in Bangladesh carry at least one copy. So far as other parts of the world are concerned, this genome is not found as much. A mere eight percent of Europeans and four percent of East Asians carry it. This particular genome is not present in Africans. It must be noted especially at this point in time that the researchers are at a very initial stage of understanding as to why the lethal novel coronavirus has different impacts on different age groups and gender. They are also trying to understand why there is a bigger threat to the elderly or why men are more at risk as compared to women. Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 6 (ANI): Indian Coast Guard's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Chennai successfully coordinated the rescue operation of six Sri Lankan fishermen on Sunday morning amidst rough seas. A merchant vessel, MV YM Summit undertook the daunting rescue task. "The merchant vessel was on her way to Visakhapatnam when she sighted a capsized fishing boat with six survivors atop, at about 0715 hours on 05 Jul 2020, approximately 170 nautical miles east of Chennai. The master transmitted the information to MRCC, Mumbai which was timely shared with MRCC, Chennai for further coordination. MRCC Chennai coordinated with the vessel for safe rescue of the survivors," an official release said. The six survivors are identified as natives of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. They were reportedly stranded and adrift at sea, braving the vagaries of rough weather for four days. "MRCC, Chennai further, coordinated with the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission, Chennai and MRCC Colombo to verify the credentials and arranging for their safe return to home," the release said. (ANI) Mumbai, Jul 6 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Monday said the Kanpur encounter in which eight policemen were killed has exposed the encounter specialist Uttar Pradesh government and raised questions over claims of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about ending goondaism in the state. Noting Uttar Pradesh is often called as 'Uttam Pradesh', an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the 'Uttam Pradesh' now stands soaked in the blood of policemen, which is a shock for the country. Eight police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were gunned down last week at a village near Kanpur by the henchmen of gangster Vikas Dubey. An accomplice of prime accused Dubey has been arrested, while the gangster is still at large. The Shiv Sena said there are reports of Dubey fleeing to Nepal after the incident. India is not enjoying good relations with Nepal at present, the Marathi publication said, hoping Dubey does not turn out to be Dawood in Nepal for India. It was apparently referring to reports of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim residing in Pakistan after fleeing India. 'The Kanpur police killings has exposed the encounter specialist government in Uttar Pradesh,' the Shiv Sena said. The Kanpur episode revives the memories of killings of policemen by a gang in Uttar Pradeshs Nathuapur four decades ago, it said, wondering what has changed in Adityanaths regime if security personnel are getting killed even after 40 years (of that incident). 'Uttar Pradesh has faced ignominy for decades due to the gangs of goons there and their crimes. Claims have been made several times that goondaism has ended during the regime of present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But the Kanpur police killings have raised a big question mark on these claims, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. During the three-year tenure of the Adityanath government in the state, more than 113 goons have been encountered, it said, asking how come Dubeys name was left out of it. Story continues The Sena said there are more than 60 offences against the gangster, including that of murder and robbery, and wondered how come he got saved for want of evidence. What explanation the Yogi government has if someone alleges that the list of goons to be encountered is prepared as per the convenience of the Uttar Pradesh police and government? the Marathi daily asked. After the Kanpur encounter, the Uttar Pradesh administration razed Dubey's residence, contending it was illegal. Referring to it, the Sena asked, But what about the homes of the martyred policemen? Will the parents (of slain cops) get their sons back and children their fathers back? It was unfortunate that the Uttar Pradesh administration got the 'secret knowledge' of Dubeys residence being illegal only after the killings of the eight policemen, it said. The Shiv Sena, without specifying details, said goondaism in Uttar Pradesh has its effects on the national capital Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai and hence, the Kanpur killings is a serious matter. PTI ENM GK GK SYDNEY, Australia The leader of Australias most populous state says her governments decision to close its border with hard-hit Victoria state marks a new phase in the countrys coronavirus pandemic. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has long been a critic of states that close their borders to her state when its capital Sydney had Australias largest numbers of COVID-19 cases. But she had changed her stance on keeping Australias internal borders open because the situation in the Victorian capital Melbourne was unprecedented. The overwhelming majority of news cases detected in Melbourne in recent weeks were from community transmission. Everywhere else in Australia, the vast majority of cases were infected overseas or had been infected by a returned traveler, Berejiklian said. What is occurring in Victoria has not yet occurred anywhere else in Australia, she said. Its a new part of the pandemic and, as such, it requires a new type of response. New South Wales police will close the Victorian border from late Tuesday. Some flights and trains services would continue for travellers who are given permits and exemptions, Berejiklian said. ___ HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK: Coronavirus pandemic and Floyd's death merge in brutal blow to Black well-being Fewer children will attend summer camp due to the pandemic; some camps won't survive Debates become highly-emotional as schools across the U.S. decide how and if to open Iran mandates masks as public shrugs off resurgent virus Gig workers face shifting roles, competition in coronavirus pandemic Naked men and drunks: England assesses the reopening of pubs ___ Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak ___ HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING: MANILA, Philippines The Philippines has reported its biggest spike in coronavirus infections in recent days as the government eases quarantine restrictions to revive the economy, raising the possibility its crowded capital may be placed back under a strict lockdown. Story continues The Department of Health reported a total of 2,434 cases in recent days, most of them in metropolitan Manila, raising the number of confirmed cases nationwide to more than 44,250, including 1,297 deaths. The infections and deaths are among the highest in Southeast Asia. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said theres a possibility the capital area may revert back to a lockdown if the uptick continues and hospitals get filled to capacity again. At least one major Manila hospital, the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, said its COVID-19 ward was running at full capacity and appealed that new patients be taken elsewhere. President Rodrigo Duterte eased the lockdown in metropolitan Manila, an epicenter of infections, on June 1 to bolster an economy on the brink of recession. One major commercial and tourism region, central Cebu city, was placed back under a strict lockdown in mid-June due to alarming infection spikes. ___ LOS ANGELES -- Californians mostly heeded warnings to stay away from beaches and other public spaces during the long weekend. State officials urged social distancing amid a spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. Many communities canceled July 4 fireworks shows and other annual festivities changes that appeared to successfully keep crowds at bay. However big waves at Southern California beaches proved irresistible to some surfers. California reported 6,500 additional confirmed cases of the virus on Saturday. The actual number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. ___ PHOENIX -- Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is pointing to a crisis involving coronavirus testing shortages in her city due to surging cases in Arizona, which leads the U.S. in new coronavirus cases per capita. Gallego, a Democrat, said some residents over the weekend had to line up for eight hours by car to get tested. Gallego told ABCs This Week on Sunday that Arizona went from zero to 60 by being one of the first states to reopen after it was among the last to implement stay-at-home orders. Arizona health officials reported 3,536 additional coronavirus cases Sunday and four more known deaths. That brings the states documented totals to 98,089 confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases and 1,809 known deaths. ___ CHARLESTON, W.Va. West Virginia has experienced its biggest two-day jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, according to health statistics released Sunday. The Department of Health and Human Resources website showed an increase of 76 positive cases on Sunday and 118 on Saturday. West Virginia has seen a 16% jump in confirmed cases over the past week and a 30% increase in the past two weeks, the statistics showed. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday he would decide by early this week whether he will order that face masks be worn inside buildings and when social distancing isnt possible. The governor had lifted most virus restrictions implemented to prevent the spread of the virus. At least 95 people in West Virginia have died from the virus and more than 3,300 have tested positive since the outbreak began. ___ JACKSON, Miss. Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn says he has tested positive for the coronavirus as state health officials report more than 200 new infections and five deaths linked to the pandemic. Gunn, a Republican, said in a video posted Sunday to Facebook that he got tested because he had been in close proximity to another member of the House who tested positive. I felt like I needed to go get myself tested just because I had been with this person and this morning was informed that I too have tested positive for COVID, Gunn said. I feel very fortunate that I dont really have very many symptoms and feel fine. Gunn said he called everyone that he had been in close proximity to recently to let them know of his diagnosis and planned to self-quarantine. Gunn is the states highest-ranking political figure to publicly disclose a positive test for the coronavirus. He did not say who the other House member was. The Mississippi Department of Health posted its latest coronavirus statistics Sunday. The state recorded 226 new cases through Saturday bringing the total number of confirmed and probable infections to 30,900 across the state. Five more people also died from COVID-19. ___ MADRID Authorities in northwestern Spain have ordered the lockdown of a county with a population of 71,000 for fears of a coronavirus outbreak. Regional authorities in Galicia announced Sunday that movement to and from A Marina county located on Spains northern Atlantic coast will be prohibited starting at midnight. It will run through Friday, two days before the region holds elections. The decision comes one day after regional authorities in northeast Catalonia locked down an area with over 200,000 inhabitants. Both lockdowns only allow people to leave the areas for work and other extenuating circumstances. The small-scale lockdowns come two weeks after Spain ended a national state of emergency that enable the national government to lockdown the entire country and prohibit travel between provinces or certain areas since mid-March. Over 28,000 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in Spain. ___ MEXICO CITY Residents of the town of Sonoyta, across from Lukeville, Arizona, briefly blocked the main road leading south from the U.S. border over the weekend over fears of coronavirus outbreaks. Arizona has seen a major upsurge in infections and there were worries about intensified contagion during the July 4 weekend. Sonoyta Mayor Jose Ramos Arzate issued a statement Saturday inviting U.S. tourists not to visit Mexico. Local residents organized to block the road with their cars on the Mexican side Saturday. Video posted by residents showed several travelers complaining that they had a right to cross because they were Mexican citizens. The road is the quickest route to the seaside resort of Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point. Ramos Arzate wrote that people from the United States should only be allowed in for essential activities, and for that reason, the checkpoint and inspection point a few meters from the Sonoyta-Lukeville AZ crossing will continue operating. ___ DALLAS Leaders in two of Texas biggest cities are calling on the governor to empower local governments to order residents to stay home as the states continued surge in confirmed cases of the coronavirus tests hospital capacity. Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat, told CNNs State of the Union Sunday that he wants Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott to return control to local governments. He says hospitals are facing a crisis and that ICUs could be overrun in 10 days. In the Houston area, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who is also a Democrat, says a stay-at-home order is needed. Texas reported its highest daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday with 8,258. ___ WASHINGTON -- Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says if President Donald Trump were to hold a campaign rally in his Trump-friendly state, people will need to wear masks. Hutchinson says he would expect people to follow his states health guidelines by practicing social distancing or wearing masks if unable to do so. He says he understands the value of having national Fourth of July celebrations such as at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and that there is some virus fatigue, but that people should have been wearing face coverings to set an example. Trump won Arkansas in 2016 with over 60% of the vote. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, says hed like to see a national strategy on the coronavirus, including a mask requirement. He says his state is seeing small spikes in reinfection from residents coming back from Florida, South Carolina and other virus hotspots, and the U.S. is as strong as our weakest link right now. Trump has recently held campaign-style events in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phoenix and Washington D.C. where he and many rally attendees didnt wear masks. Hutchinson and Murphy spoke on NBCs Meet the Press. ___ LJUBLJANA, Slovenia Slovenia says 15 people have been infected with the new coronavirus at a nursing home for the first time in weeks as the country faces a spike in cases. Authorities said Sunday that nine residents and six staff have so far tested positive at the nursing home in the southwestern town of Vipava. The first case was confirmed on Friday. Slovenia says this is the first resurgence of the virus in the countrys nursing homes since May. Most of the countrys 111 fatalities from the new coronavirus have been recorded among elderly nursing home residents. Slovenia has confirmed 1,700 cases of the new coronavirus among the countrys 2 million people. The numbers have started to rise in the past days with 21 new cases confirmed on Sunday. ___ ROME After five straight days of small increases, the number of day-to-day confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy has dipped. According to Health Ministry figures on Sunday, 192 cases were registered in the previous 24 hours, compared to 235 in Saturdays tally. Feeding some of those recent increases, concerned authorities have said, were hotspots of contagion blamed on infected people entering Italy. Among them was a businessman in northeast Italy who took ill after driving back from a trip in Serbia but despite a fever attended a funeral and a birthday party shortly after he returned home. That man is now hospitalized in intensive care. The majority of Italys 20 regions registered a handful or fewer of new cases on Sunday. Italys confirmed coronavirus infections as of Sunday total 241,611. But many with mild symptoms, as well as numerous elderly residents of nursing homes, didnt get tested. Including the seven deaths were registered on Sunday nationwide, 34,861 people with confirmed coronavirus have died in Italy during the pandemic. ___ ATHENS, Greece Greece has banned Serbian travelers because of a spike in COVID-19 cases in that country. The ban will take effect at 6 a.m. Monday and will last until July 15, but can be extended, a government spokeswoman announced Sunday. Greek authorities also announced nine new cases of coronavirus and no fatalities in the past 24 hours Sunday. Seven of the nine cases involved tourists tested upon arrival. Greeces total number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 3,519, with 192 dead. __ PRISTINA, Kosovo The Kosovar government on has reimposed curfew times in the capital and three other cities following a significant spike of the new virus cases. Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said Sunday that in Pristina and three other cities with the highest increasing numbers there ill be again a curfew time from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. (1900-0300 GMT). Public transport also will cut in half the allowed number of passengers in the buses, too. A day earlier Kosovar authorities reported 8 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest daily number in the Western Balkan country since the start of the outbreak in March. New daily cases were 178, also the highest so far. Increased new cases and daily deaths have worried the authorities in the nation of 1.8 million population after the ease of the lockdown measures a month ago. Masks are mandatory in all public places. During the two-month long lockdown the country dealt well in coping with the virus. But following that the daily new cases and deaths have increased significantly, with at least 3,356 confirmed cases and 66 deaths as of Saturday. __ MIAMI Florida health officials say the state has reached a grim milestone: more than 200,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19. State statistics released Sunday show about 10,000 new people tested positive. Saturdays numbers more than 11,400 cases marked a record new single-day high. More than 3,700 people have died. About 43% of the cases are in three counties: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Sunday on ABCs This Week that the high numbers of positive tests both in his county and the state are extremely worrisome. Suarez, who had the virus in March, says its clear the growth is exponential at this point and officials are closely monitoring hospitalizations. Theyre also closely watching the death rate, which give us the impression that much stricter measures have to be taken. Floridas death count is the ninth highest in the country overall and the 27th highest per capita at 17.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 5,323.1, an increase of 184.1%. __ NEW YORK Tattoo parlors and other personal care businesses like nail salons will be allowed to welcome customers in New York City starting Monday, as it enters Phase 3 of reopening. The rest of the states regions have already moved into Phase 3. New York City will still be more limited, as officials decided last week to hold off on allowing indoor dining indefinitely out of concerns that it would cause a spike in new coronavirus cases. Outdoor dining is in effect. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were more than 530 new confirmed cases of the virus reported around the state on Saturday and eight deaths. At the height of New Yorks virus outbreak, new infections reached daily totals of more than 10,000 and deaths topped 700. So far, reopening had been allowed for retail stores and offices. ___ WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration commissioner is declining to back up President Donald Trumps claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are harmless. Dr. Stephen Hahn tells CNN and ABC that hes not going to get into who is right and who is wrong, but that government data clearly show this is a serious problem. He adds that any case is tragic and that to stem the tide of surging cases people should follow government guidance to practice social distancing and wear a mask. In Fourth of July remarks, Trump said the U.S. was testing too much and falsely asserted that by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless. The World Health Organization in fact has said about 20% of those diagnosed with COVID-19 progress to severe disease, including pneumonia and respiratory failure. Those with mild or no symptoms, meanwhile, could spread the virus to others. The mayor of Austin, Texas, where COVID-19 cases are surging, called Trumps remarks dangerous and wrong. Mayor Steve Adler urged people to listen to local officials for public safety guidance rather than the ambiguous message coming out of Washington. __ WASHINGTON Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is pointing to a crisis involving coronavirus testing shortages in her city due to surging cases in Arizona, which leads the U.S. in new coronavirus cases per capita. Gallego, a Democrat, said some residents over the weekend had to line up for eight hours by car to get COVID-19 tests and that the federal government has been slow to help. Gallego tells ABCs This Week on Sunday that Arizona went from zero to 60 by being one of the first states to reopen after it was among the last to implement stay-at-home orders. She says that led to an explosion of cases, citing crowded nightclubs with free champagne and people unwittingly spreading the virus at large family gatherings. She faults mixed public messaging after President Donald Trumps recent visit to Phoenix. Gallego says while she was urging people to stay at home and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, Trump undercut that by holding large events and not wearing a mask.(backslash) Jodhpur, Jul 6 (PTI) When Leelaram (34) set out from home with his family of four in February to visit his ailing mother-in-law in Mirpur Khas in Pakistan, he had no idea that he would have to leave his wife behind. Caught unawares by the coronavirus-induced lockdown in India, the family was stranded in the neighbouring country for months. After India and Pakistan agreed to repatriate such persons stuck on both sides, authorities allowed Leelaram and his three children to return. However, his wife Janta (33), who doesn't have Indian citizenship, wasn't given permission. The family returned home last week without Janta. 'We ran from pillar to post but the Indian embassy in Islamabad did not grant her the permission to return. I had to come back to India with my children, leaving my wife behind,' said Leelaram. He first came to India from Pakistan in 1986 and was eventually granted Indian citizenship. He married Janta 12 years ago. Janta had been living in India on a long-term visa (LTV). She had left to visit her mother on a No Objection to Return to India (NORI) visa for 60 days. After the family's visas expired, the Indian embassy in Islamabad only gave an extension to Leelaram and his children. Leelaram said Janta's application for Indian citizenship is pending with the authorities. 'We have applied for her citizenship as per rules. But despite being eligible, she hasn't yet been granted the citizenship,' he claimed. Seemant Lok Sangthan, an organisation working for the cause of Hindu immigrants from Pakistan, has now decided to take up Janta's case with the government. 'I have heard the matter and have urged the Indian government to extend Janta's visa so that she can reunite with her family,' said Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangthan. A Pakistani national staying in India on LTV is entitled to avail a return visa for a period of three months. If the person does not return within this period, he or she will be required to apply for a fresh visa, he said. Story continues All their previous stays in India will not be counted as part of the time one is required to spend in the country for obtaining Indian citizenship, he added. Sodha demanded that all such persons be allowed to travel back to India on humanitarian grounds. He said the extended stay in Pakistan was not their fault but was caused by the lockdown. PTI CORR DIV DIV Stung by coronavirus woes, auto industry event schedules have been hugely disrupted. In a bid to contain the pandemic spread, social distancing has been advised, which has resulted in the cancelation and postponement of various high-profile events. The latest one to be nixed is the Geneva Motor Show 2021. The auto industry is going through a rough patch and exhibitors need more time to recover from the pandemics consequences. Coronavirus Rampage Puts Brakes on Auto Shows Various big-ticket auto shows have been axed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is endangering lives and adversely impacting the global economy. The noteworthy auto show in Beijing, which was scheduled to begin on Apr 21, was the first to get canceled in view of the virus outbreak. The 2020 Geneva Motor Show, which was supposed to be held in March, was canceled after the Swiss government banned gathering of more than 1,000 people to prevent further spread of the virus. Notably, the expo was last canceled during World War II and its aftermath. New York Auto Show, one of the biggest events in the auto industry's annual event calendar, was initially rescheduled to late August. However, its organizers decided in May to scrap the show for 2020. As of now, the show is likely to take place in April 2021. The Detroit show, officially known as the North American International Auto Show, was canceled in March and is now expected to be held in June 2021. As the majority of exhibitors are unwilling to participate in the event even next year, the 2021 Geneva Motor Show has also been called off lately. In fact, the show is now up for sale. The Foundation of the Geneva International Motor Show intends to sell the rights of the show to Palexpo SA, the exhibition center that hosts the event. The move puts the spotlight on other motor shows planned for 2021 in major cities. Automakers that spend heavily on elaborate car launches at auto shows are now rethinking their strategies as to how and when to launch their products, given cancellation of motor shows. Certainly, the event cancellations have created a backlog of auto debuts. However, if you are wondering that the auto companies have tapped brakes or even scaled down on their plans to launch models, you may be wrong. As the saying goes the show must go on, automakers are aggressively switching from in-person reveals to online events. Story continues Automakers Take Digital Route for Launches Many auto giants including Volkswagen VWAGY, BMW AG BAMXF and Daimler AG DDAIF have launched models on an online basis after the 2020 Geneva Motor Show got scrapped in February. In early March, BMW held a digital press conference to unveil the i4 electric concept car. Volkswagens Porsches new flagship 911 series and Daimlers Mercedes-Benzs new E-Class models were launched in a similar fashion. Volkswagens Audi also unveiled the new A3 Sportback online amid cancellation of the 2020 Geneva show. Recently, BMW released an official teaser of the 2021 M3 series via its official YouTube channel. While BMW currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), Volkswagen and Daimler carry a Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. On Jun 15, Toyota TM Philippines unveiled all-new Wigo digitally via Facebook and YouTube. This marked the first time that the Japan-based auto giant carried out a fully-digital launch of a vehicle in Philippines. Ford F, which has an amazing line-up of upcoming models, is embracing the online route for product launches. Around 10 days back, the U.S. auto biggie digitally unveiled traditional and hybrid versions of the 2021 F-150 pickup, scheduled to arrive at the dealerships this fall. A couple of days back, Ford announced plans to collaborate with Disney to launch Bronco 4x4 SUVs across media networks on Jul 13, marking the first ever, prime-time product reveal through the latters broadcast, cable, internet and online platforms including ABC, ESPN, National Geographic and Hulu. Ford had originally intended to showcase the all-new Bronco at the Detroit Show. The Bentley Bentayga luxury SUV, Nissan NSANY Rogue crossover and Kia K5 sedan, among various other highly-anticipated models, will be revealed online. General Motors GM all-electric Cadillac Lyric will be unveiled during a virtual event on Aug 6. The online launch of Nissans electric crossover called Ariya is likely to be live streamed this month. More and more launches are expected to take place online amid the new normal. Final Thoughts Even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, some automakers had been trying to connect with buyers through online advertising and social media campaigns in an effort to scale down their presence at auto shows. And now, with the virus eruption, various automakers have taken to holding online launches to avoid big gatherings. Digital launches are indeed putting forth a number of questions. Can the coronavirus pandemic completely write-off global motor shows? If the digital unveilings turn out to be successful for carmakers, what would the future hold for annual motor show events? Considering the high costs and logistical efforts associated with auto expos, will there be a fundamental shift toward virtual launch platforms? Only time will tell. While online launches have become the new trend amid the pandemic, they don't necessarily herald the end of motor shows. Motor shows still remain an exciting platform for engaging effectively with both the media and customers. Precisely, being present at the motor shows with like-minded car enthusiasts and exchanging opinions with others, while seeing the cars in person and inspecting their interiors up-close are a more satisfying overall experience for many. This is something that virtual reality robs the car fanatics of. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Daimler AG (DDAIF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BAMXF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Volkswagen AG (VWAGY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Kathmandu [Nepal] July 05 (ANI): Amid political standoff in the ruling party, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday held talks with Nepal's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Purna Chandra Thapa, sources told ANI. Earlier in the day, the meeting between Oli and co-chair of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda ended without any conclusion. The leaders decided to hold the next round of talks on Monday morning, according to The Himalayan Times. After wrapping up the meeting with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in Sheetal Niwas, Prachanda earlier today reached Oli's official residence in Baluwatar to hold further talks in a bid to erase fractures between the top leadership of the ruling party. Amid internal disputes in the ruling NCP, both Oli and Prachanda, the two co-chairs have been striving to mend fences by holding meetings since the prorogation of the ongoing parliamentary session. Oli has faced strong criticism in the standing committee meeting held on June 30, with most of the members demanding his resignation. The Prime Minister has been criticised within and outside the party for the government's "failure" to address a range of issues, particularly after he made a public statement that India is trying to topple him. (ANI) Washington D.C. [USA], July 6 (ANI): Broadway actor Nick Cordero, aged 41, passed away after a long battle with coronavirus. According to Variety, the veteran, known for his roles in 'Rock of Ages,' 'Waitress,' 'Bullets Over Broadway' and 'A Bronx Tale The Musical,' died on Sunday after battling complications due to COVID-19 for several months. His wife, Amanda Kloots, made the sad announcement on her Instagram account on Sunday night. In March 2020, Cordero was hospitalised at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after testing positive for COVID-19. Throughout his stay in the hospital, he was given a temporary pacemaker, underwent a leg amputation and was put into a medically induced coma. He had been in the intensive care unit for more than 90 days and suffered from additional complications, like lung infections and septic shock. Kloots had been giving updates on Cordero's status on her Instagram stories throughout his hospital stay. Most recently she told TV presenter Gayle King that he would likely need a double lung transplant if he survived. Many people showed their support with posts and videos using #WakeUpNick. In 2012, Cordero first hit the Broadway stage for 'Rock of Ages' as Dennis and Record Company Man. In 2014, he earned a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk nomination for his role of Cheech in the musical adaptation of Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway.' He also appeared as Earl in 'Waitress,' leaving to play Sonny in 'A Bronx Tale The Musical,' for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk award. During his television career, he had guest roles in 'Queer as Folk' and 'Lilyhammer,' and had recurring roles as Victor Lugo in 'Blue Bloods' and as Anthony Marino in 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.' Raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Cordero attended Ryerson University but left partway through to sing for the band Lovemethod. After leaving Canada for New York, he originated the role of Toxie off-Broadway in 'The Toxic Avenger.' Cordero is survived by his wife, who was a former Radio City Rockette and dancer, and their son, Elvis. (ANI) More than 380 aircraft by the Lufthansa Group carriers will be used in the upcoming month covering 40 percent of the groups schedule, indicating that half of its fleet is in the air again, 200 aircraft more than in June. The group recently implemented its new summer timetable in the booking systems and booking are valid until October 24, the end of the normal summer season, a company statement said. "Little by little, the borders open again. Demand is increasing, in the short term but also in the long term. We are therefore consistently expanding our flight schedule and our global network and pushing ahead with our restart. I am pleased that we can now offer our guests even more connections to all parts of the world with all Lufthansa Group Airlines via all hubs," said Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. By the end of October, over 90 percent of all originally planned short- and medium-haul destinations and over 70 percent of the Group's long-haul destinations will be served again. Customers who are now planning their summer and autumn holidays will thus have access to an extensive global network for tourism and business connections via all the Group's hubs. Following the successful restart, the ramp-up of Austrian Airlines flight operations continues to proceed according to plan. From July onwards, Austria's home carrier will fly to over 50 destinations. SWISS will continue to extend its services from Zurich and Geneva over the coming weeks and months, adding further new destinations to its network in addition to its existing routes. SWISS will add 12 new European routes from Zurich in July. SWISS will offer 24 new European destinations from Geneva. SWISS will serve a total of 11 long-haul destinations from Zurich in July and 17 in October. Eurowings is also significantly increasing its flight schedules for both business and leisure travellers, intending to return to 80 percent of its network during the course of the summer. Following the lifting of the travel warnings and restrictions, interest in holiday destinations such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia in particular is growing rapidly. This is why Eurowings will be flying 30 to 40 percent of its flight capacity in July. Brussels Airlines expands its offer for both leisure travellers and corporate guests. In September and October the carrier plans to operate 45 percent of its originally planned schedule. TradeArabia News Service Washington, Jul 6 (PTI) The US military 'will continue to stand strong in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, a top White House official said on Monday, after the navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea to boost its presence in the region. 'The message is clear. We're not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it's in that region or over here, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News. And the message is clear. Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it's in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, Meadows said in response to a question. He was told that India banned Chinese apps because Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops last month and asked what's mission of the two aircraft carriers - the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz - and what's America's mission. The troops of India and China are locked in an eight-week standoff in several areas in eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring. The situation deteriorated last month following the Galwan Valley clashes that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. The Chinese military on Monday began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held lengthy talks on Sunday. Doval and Wang are also the special representatives on the India-China boundary talks. The United States has sent two of its aircraft carriers to the South China Sea. Our mission is to make sure that the world knows that we still have the preeminent fighting force on the face of the globe, Meadows said. President Donald Trump has invested more in the US military, more in not only the hardware, but the men and women who serve so sacrificially each and every day, he said. He (Trump) continues to do so, he added. Story continues China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade. China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area. Appearing on the same Fox News on Monday talk show with host Brian Kilmeade, influential Republican Senator Tom Cotton said that the US aircraft carriers are headed to the South China Sea to thwart off any Chinese misadventure against Taiwan or other countries in the region. 'That's one of the reasons why we have those aircraft carrier groups in the South China Sea. I mean, look what China did in the southwest. It's essentially invaded India over the last few weeks and killed Indian soldiers, Cotton said. 'No country on China's periphery, right now, is safe from Chinese aggression. All those countries want a close relationship with the United States. We ought to have one, Cotton said. PTI LKJ ZH AKJ ZH MATTOON The second annual Coles County Truck Convoy benefit for Make-A-Wish of Illinois will roll out from a new venue on Aug. 8 the Coles County Memorial Airport. The convoy had been scheduled to be held at the Coles County Fairgrounds once again, but co-organizer Joy Eggers said the fair board recently opted to err on the side of caution by not hosting this year's benefit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year's convoy drew more than 120 participating big trucks to the fairgrounds. Joy Eggers said she and her husband, co-organizer Sid Eggers, subsequently approached Charleston police Deputy Chief Heath Thornton about finding an alternate location for the convoy, and he connected them with Coles County Memorial Airport Manager Andrew Fearn. She said Fearn then presented the convoy request to the airport board, which gave its approval. "We were sure thrilled. We just couldn't believe it," Joy Eggers said. As a public health precaution, no public events will be held before or after the drivers roll out at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 8 for their convoy from the airport to Charleston and then to Mattoon. Sid Eggers said community members will be invited to line the convoy route to show the their support for all the truckers who have kept hauling essential goods throughout the pandemic. 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 convoy is set to travel east from the airport on Illinois Route 16 to 18th Street/Illinois Route 130 in Charleston, north on Route 130 to Madison Avenue/old Route 316, west on old Route 316 past downtown Charleston to DeWitt Avenue in Mattoon, west on DeWitt to Logan Street, south on Logan to Broadway Avenue, west on Broadway through downtown Mattoon to 19th Street/U.S. Route 45, south on Route 45 to Charleston Avenue/Route 16, and then east on Route 16 to Interstate 57. Eggers said truck eligibility for this year's convoy will be expanded to include light weight and medium business trucks, in addition to the traditional tractor-trailers and other big trucks. Registration is $50 per truck. Convoy co-organizer Peggy Manley said all of the proceeds from the convoy will go directly to Make-A-Wish Illinois. This nonprofit organization grants life-changing wishes, such as family vacations, for children with critical illnesses. Manley said the 2020 convoy will be especially important for Make-A-Wish Illinois because so many of its other fundraisers have been canceled this year due to the pandemic. "Their revenue has just been obliterated this year," Manley said. The pandemic caused the Coles County convoy to be postponed from June 27 to Aug. 8 this year. Drivers can register in advance via www.facebook.com/truckconvoy or on site starting at 7 a.m. Aug. 8. Orders are also being taken on their page for the convoy's fundraising T-shirts and tank tops. The T-shirts feature a tractor-trailer outfitted with a protective mask and hauling a tanker full of sanitizer. PHOTOS: drive-in concert by the Charleston Community Band at the Coles County Fairgrounds. Contact Stroud at (217) 238-6861. 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. CHARLESTON A license for a retail cannabis sales business goes before the Charleston City Council during its meeting Tuesday. The council is also scheduled to vote on acquiring about 2 acres a local business owner wants to donate to the city. Updates to the citys comprehensive plan and engineering contracts are also on the agenda for the meeting. The council will first meet at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday to conduct the required public hearing on a state COVID-19 relief fund grant for Joeys Place restaurant. The vote to support the restaurants grant application will take place during the councils regular meeting, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be conducted remotely because of restrictions in place with the coronavirus outbreak. A video feed of the meeting will be available on the citys website, charlestonillinois.org. Comments and questions for the council can be submitted by email by 5 p.m. Tuesday to cityclerk@coles.il.us. On the cannabis business license, city Planner Steve Pamperin said an application has been submitted to open a retail sales operation at 909 Lincoln Ave., which is also the location of Family Video. The application is from NH Medicinal Dispensaries, which operates cannabis dispensaries in Effingham and other locations. The Charleston dispensary would be one of the companys Zen Leaf stores, company Vice President Chris Fotopoulos said. In a statement, Fotopoulos said the store will create new jobs, generate substantial new tax revenue for the community and provide safe, legal access to regulated cannabis products for adults. The company indicated the store would be scheduled to open Sept. 1. Its hours of operation havent been determined yet, the statement said. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. If the council favors the application, its vote would be to amend the cannabis business ordinance it adopted last month to allow one cannabis dispensary license. Currently, the ordinance lists no license available in any of the business categories state law provides. That allows the council to consider applications on a case-by-case basis. Pamperin said if the council approves the application, city staff would review the business building plan. If those requirements are met, the city would issue a permit, a process that generally takes about a month, he said. On the land acquisition, city Public Works Director Curt Buescher said Tom Porter, owner of Porter Auto Body, wants to donate it to the city. The land is located on the west side of Illinois Route 130, just north of the Madison Avenue-18th Street intersection. Buescher said the site has drainage issues and Porter indicated hes willing to donate it because it has little commercial use. He said the city doesnt have any plans yet for how to use the property, once the site of a trailer park. The drainage issues will be addressed to help prevent flooding at two residences adjacent to the site, he also said. Meanwhile, the vote on the comprehensive plan would update the document for the first time since 2009. The city Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning reviewed the updates and voted last month to recommend that the council adopt them. The proposed engineering agreements are for plans for upcoming work on Douglas Street and Coolidge Avenue and for streets and other work south of Sister City Park. The contract for the Douglas Street engineering would go to the Upchurch Group Inc. of Mattoon, not to exceed $339,439. The contract for the project near the park would go to Consolidated Services Inc. of Charleston, not to exceed $8,500. Photos: Crowds turn out for Mattoon 2020 Independence Day Parade Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dubz, dnata's leading baggage technology and logistics company, has further enhanced its offering to help travellers in Dubai enjoy a safe, seamless and worry-free travel experience. In addition to its home check-in services, the company - in partnership with Mediclinic - now also provides home Covid-19 testing, enabling customers to safely and quickly complete the flight check-in process and obtain a medical certificate within 24 to 48 hours of testing, at home or any location of their choice in Dubai. Customers booking the Covid-19 testing service are visited by a team of highly-trained medical professionals who perform a swab test on all passengers ahead of the home check-in process. The samples are tested in a medical laboratory and the results are shared with customers digitally. All passengers testing negative for Covid-19 receive a medical certificate. The Covid-19 testing services are delivered by Mediclinic, a trusted global healthcare provider. During the convenient home check-in process, the Dubz agents check in travellers for their flights, print their boarding passes, weigh and tag their baggage and ensure that they are delivered to the airport and loaded onto the aircraft. All baggage is treated with disinfectant to remove any germs and provide protection from microbes for up to 72 hours. At the airport, Dubz customers are met by marhaba's meet & greet agents who fast-track them through immigration. Each marhaba agent wears gloves and a mask, and abides by social distancing guidelines while assisting passengers at the airport. Omar Abou Faraj, CEO and Co-Founder of Dubz, said: "We are delighted to join forces with a trusted healthcare provider to offer another innovative service to Dubai travellers. Our partnership with Mediclinic underlines our commitment to ensuring a safe, hassle-free travel experience for customers. We continue to work hard to deliver innovative solutions that make a difference." David Hadley, CEO Mediclinic Middle East, said: "Mediclinic is delighted to partner with Dubz on this new initiative which will enable people to start travelling safely, with peace of mind that they are healthy, and that they have undergone testing with the minimum amount of contact before their flight. Our dedicated Covid-19 testing laboratories also mean that results are available quickly and accurately." The innovative home check-in services of Dubz can be booked 24/7 online, on DUBZ.com from only AED199 ($54). The services are available from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week. Dubz services can also be booked at the Dubz Luggage Concierge, on the ground floor of The Dubai Mall. The Dubz Luggage Concierge is open every day, from 10 am to 10 pm. - TradeArabia News Service In Nebraska, meanwhile, available testing options have irked disability-rights groups for their lack of accessibility, something for which several local Democrats have swiftly criticized the Republican governor. That particular criticism, however, also applies to many of the country's pop-up test sites, which require a car and do not appear to be designed with disabled people in mind. "We've worked very hard to support the state in making sure that those who need and want access to the program can get access to it," Walker said. "Ultimate decisions around how that's done, how that's accomplished, is left up to the state, who is running and directing the program." Indeed, all three states recently decided to renew contracts to continue the programs, with Utah extending through mid-July. The programs have definitively helped widen the scope of testing efforts; governments are still expanding these efforts, too. In May, Iowa was able to nearly double its testing capacity, going from some 1,400 tests per day to a little over 3,000. It's not totally clear how much of that was because of TestIowa, according to the Des Moines Register. Burgos asked for forgiveness. Nielsen said it was up to Zdroiks family, not the court, to forgive him. Two of Zdroiks children, who are both now adults and have children of their own, spoke at the sentencing. They both said they hope they can someday forgive him, but they havent been able to do that yet. I would love to forgive you one day, I really would. But Im not there, one of them said, pushing through sobs. I dont know how you, as a human being, how you can participate and take watch as a terrified, helpless woman got executed in cold blood and drive off and proceed with your life, the other child said. Burgos responded: I cannot begin to imagine your grief Nothing I can say is going to change what happened, but I offer you my apologies from the bottom of my heart. Why did it take 20 years? The break in the case came in January 2017, when investigators learned that a double homicide in Milwaukee, the one that Zdroik witnessed, may have been tied to Zdroiks death. Blood from one of the other victims was found on Zdroiks pants. Madison has been awarded a $1.3 million grant to help administer its elections during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city announced Monday. The city, along with four other Wisconsin cities, will receive a total of $6.3 million in grants from the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life. The other cities receiving the grants are Milwaukee, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine. The award comes after cities across the state dipped into their budgets in order to meet the demands of safely holding a Supreme Court and presidential primary election in April amid a pandemic. The city of Madison alone spent an additional $100,000 to help voters cast ballots, according to The Capital Times, more than 20% higher than originally budgeted. In March, for example, when Perdue went to the strawberry festival in Plant City, in central Floridas Interstate 4 corridor, he talked about the new U.S. trade pact with Mexico and Canada, and spoke of the importance of the farming community. Afterward, the president of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, Kenneth Parker, said he was appreciative of the administrations commitment ... to move forward in helping us in ways to compete. When the EPAs Wheeler was in Michigan and Wisconsin last month, he described the administration as a friend of an initiative to clean up the Great Lakes. Never mind Trumps repeated attempts to kill money for the Obama-era program. GOP lawmakers persuaded Trump, while riding to a Michigan rally last year, to ease up on trying to starve the Great Lakes effort, which is popular across the region, and champion it instead. Lets just say we were happy to see him come around on that, said Laura Rubin, of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which lobbies for the initiative. And so this spring and summer, Wheeler and the EPA boast of millions of dollars the agency has doled out for Great Lakes regional projects such as cleaning up toxic sites and curbing farm nutrient runoff that feeds harmful algae blooms. - Sharon Cuneta posted an emotional vlog about her personal life and issues on her viral YouTube channel - One of the topics Sharon discussed is about her former close friend, Ronald Carballo, who has betrayed her by writing nasty things and accusations against her and her family - The actress revealed that she has chosen to forgive and to not sue Ronald even if he deleted his public apology on Facebook - She explained that she wants to follow Jesus Christs teaching to love her enemies and learn how to forgive PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Sharon Cuneta released an emotional vlog about her personal life and issues on her viral YouTube channel. KAMI learned that one of the topics Sharon discussed is about her former close friend, Ronald Carballo, who has betrayed her by writing nasty things and accusations against her and her family. According to the actress, she has chosen to forgive and to not sue Ronald even if he deleted his public apology on Facebook. The Megastar explained that she wants to follow Jesus Christs teaching to love her enemies and learn how to forgive. She also hopes that her former friend, who claims to be a Christian, will follow Christs teachings as well. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback Ronald Carballo has written so many vile things about me for almost 20 years, 15, 20 years. Thank you for your letter of apology kahit dinelete mo yun. I read it. It was shared so many times. I even shared it. I appreciate that. And thats enough for me. You claimed to be a Christian but you did not act like one. I am a Christian and though its hard for me, I try to obey. Because of that, I forgive you. I will try my best to forget. But one thing I will not do is sue you. Hindi kita idedemanda Ronald. Dahil may pinagsamahan naman tayo. At sana, gawin mo itong pagkakataon para magbago, bumalik sa Panginoon, at gamitin ang talento mo sa pagsulat sa mabuti. Thats all I have to say. Please use this chance and learn from this lesson. That is the Christian way, Sharon said. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Sharon Cuneta is one of the most famous and successful showbiz personalities in the country, known by many as The Megastar. She is married to Senator Kiko Pangilinan, the father of social media star Frankie Pangilinan. Sharon also has a daughter named KC Concepcion with her former husband, Gabby Concepcion. The Megastar has repeatedly made headlines in recent days and weeks due to her social media posts. She defended her daughter Frankie Pangilinan after her physical appearance was bashed by a Duterte supporter. She also called out a Duterte supporter who threatened to commit a heinous crime against Frankie for voicing out her complaints about the Duterte administration. Furthermore, Sharon Cuneta shocked a lot of people when she expressed her desire for Vice President Leni Robredo to become the President of the Philippines once Dutertes term ends. She explained that having Robredo as the President might help make Filipinos more decent. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! Source: Kami.com.ph Killeen, TX (76540) Today A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 68F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%. 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 TCN News Popular Front of India Chairman OMA Salam has condemned UP Police action of attachment of peoples properties across Uttar Pradesh. Support TwoCircles Salam called out the police department of the state, stating that their action is a part of the vicious vendetta launched by the state government against those who protested against CAA and NRC. The statement comes immediately after it was reported that UP Police is attaching peoples properties in the name of the vandalism during the anti-CAA protests, despite the High Courts opinion against it. Popular Front, which has been actively fighting hate speech against Muslims since the anti-CAA countrywide protests, has discussed this in its latest press release, terming this episode as anti-democratic and violent. The Front has also accused Chief Minister of state, Yogi Adityanath of seeking police help to eliminate even the last straw of opposition in the state. It has said that from the very beginning of the passage of the Citizenship Bill, the Yogi Government has dealt through vandalism with people who participated in the anti-CAA and NRC protest, exhibiting extreme force and vengefulness on them. Salam termed this as characteristic to autocratic regimes. In the official statement of the Front, it has also spoken about the Delhi pogrom, suggesting that it is clear evidence that UP joined hands with right-wing Hindu groups and carried out extrajudicial killings, torture and widespread vandalism against innocent people, mostly in Muslim localities and neighbourhoods. In its endnote, the release has accused that police who were supposed to protect peoples lives and properties were acting as mere goons, yet there was no action against any officers or the right-wing goons. Concerning the attachment of properties in UP state, the Front has appealed to all democratic forces in the country to raise voice against the collapse of the criminal justice system under Yogi, and seek justice for the victims of this political vendetta. Spc. Vanessa Guillen timeline 11:30 a.m. April 22 Final text message from Guillen 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 22 Guillen last seen April 23 Guillen reported missing to CID by unit April 24 First news release of Guillens disappearance April 27 Army CID announces reward of up to $15,000 May 4 GoFundMe started by Guillens sister, Mayra May 21 Fort Hood provides details of search for Guillen May 21 Family holds press conference outside of Fort Hood May 22 First protest outside of Fort Hood May 23 Petition to White House started for Guillen May 30 Residents search for Guillen in Belton and Copperas Cove June 10 Fort Hood provides update of search for Guillen June 12 Second protest outside of Fort Hood June 13 Mass of intentions held for Guillen at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Killeen June 13 Houston rapper Baby Bash announces on Facebook he will add $5,000 to the reward June 15 Army CID reward increased to $25,000 June 16 LULAC President Domingo Garcia announced LULAC would match the CID reward bringing the total to $55,000 June 18 3rd Cavalry Regiment begins sexual harassment investigation June 18 Fort Hood provides update to the search for Guillen June 19 Third protest outside of Fort Hood June 20 Fundraiser barbecue held for Guillen family in Killeen June 21 Search for Guillen begins near the Leon River June 23 Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, holds press conference with updates from Fort Hood June 23 LULAC urges Latino families to not let their daughters join the Army June 25 Texas Association Against Sexual Assault issues a statement about its concern over the handling of the Guillen case June 25 Leon River search suspended June 26 Fort Hood provides update to the search for Guillen June 26 Fourth protest outside of Fort Hood June 27 Fort Hood releases FAQs on its website June 27 Texas EquuSearch searches for Guillen in Copperas Cove June 28 LULAC launches #LaQuieroViva (I Want Her Alive) campaign June 29 Secretary of the Army addresses the Guillen case June 30 Searchers return to area near Leon River. Human remains found. July 1 Spc. Aaron Robinson, a suspect in the case, takes his own life after Killeen police confront him. July 1 Guillen family and their lawyer Natalie Khawam hold press conference at Navy memorial in Washington, D.C., demanding a congressional investigation July 1 Petition to shut down Fort Hood started on www.change.org July 2 Press conference at III Corps headquarters with Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, Fort Hood deputy commander, and Damon Phelps, senior special agent of Fort Hood CID July 2 Cecily Anne Aguilar charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence by the U.S. Department of Justice July 3 Candlelight vigil held for Guillen The report says Ochoas eyes were glassy and that police could detect a strong odor of alcohol. Ochoa originally denied driving the vehicle but later said, I was driving I parked car securely without crashing. The report says Ochoa refused a field sobriety test and claimed entrapment because police knew he was coming from a tavern. He also refused a blood test, and police obtained a warrant for a blood draw. He was transported to Tomah Health, where the blood test was conducted, and then taken to the Monroe County Jail. Vincent Edward Butler, 30, Michigan City, Indiana, was referred to the district attorney for possession of marijuana and operating without a license after a June 28 traffic stop. He was pulled over for driving 89 mph in a 70 mph zone on Interstate 90. Police detected the odor of marijuana, and Butler reportedly handed police a pill bottle containing three grams of marijuana. Dwight Fitzgerald Carter, 52, Tomah, was referred to the district attorney for operating after revocation/drunk driving-related, tampering with an ignition interlock device and failing to stop for a police officer. Travel Wisconsin recently asked residents to nominate their favorite brewery on social media in the ultimate Wisconsin Brewdown. With a reach of nearly 124,000 people, and more than 2,500 responses, Driftless Brewing Company of Soldiers Grove ranked among the top 20 in the state. Beer aficionados and novices alike are encouraged to vote for Driftless Brewing Company as often as once per day now through Friday, July 24 at TravelWisconsin.com/Wisconsin-Brewdown and help crown Wisconsins favorite brewery, Top in Hops. We are proud to have Driftless Brewing Company recognized as one of the best breweries in the state, said Cynthia Olmstead, DBC Business Operations Director. This is a real feel-good effort by Travel Wisconsin to put a virtual spotlight on our states breweries, helping them to stay in business and keep people employed. With a mix of mega-breweries that made Wisconsin famous for beer and innovative craft breweries, Wisconsin remains at the center of the beer universe. Driftless Brewing Company is an independent craft brewery that focuses on using 80% or more of its ingredients from local and regional Wisconsin farmers, producers, cooperatives and businesses. 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 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. The recently approved 2020-21 state budget spared community colleges from the direct cuts imposed on the University of California and California State University systems. Together, those systems could see their budgets cuts by $1 billion. But while the community colleges won't lose funding this year, they will still face cost-cutting measures down the line. Under the same plan approved for K-12 schools, community colleges can continue at their current spending levels -- but repayments from the state to cover that spending will be deferred. (Here's a good guide to how that works from the website EdSource.) Being able to continue spending provides a lifeline for community colleges. "I would rather have deferrals than having budget cuts because at least I know the money's going to come at some point," said Keith Curry, president of Compton College. But deferred spending isn't a cure-all. Community college administrators are scrambling to figure out how to keep cash flowing to pay for employees and programs until state funds arrive. Campuses are not run by a central, statewide administration so, in this case, some colleges will be in a better position to weather the deferred payments. 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 Curry said Compton College has a reserve fund amounting to 30% of its budget. Unlike some other community colleges, they won't have to rely on municipal bond debt to fill the gap. "We've been really managing our reserve for the last couple years to ensure that when this time comes, we're ready," Curry said. The goal is to protect services such as counseling and the campus food bank. Curry is trying to increase enrollment by getting the word out that his campus is protecting student services and is affordable. He said enrollment is up this summer and he hopes fall enrollment will be higher than last year's. A LESS OPTIMISTIC PICTURE At Cypress College, administrators' predictions aren't as rosy as Compton's. "We are anticipating to be able to [match] our enrollment from the prior year," said Alexander Porter, vice president of administrative services at Cypress College. It'll be an achievement, he said, to keep that enrollment steady given how much COVID-19 has upended the economy and instruction. Porter said he expects about 8% of state funding for his campus' budget to come later in the year. He said the college hasn't decided how to bridge that gap at the start of the fall semester, but he's confident the campus' requirement to have 5% of its budget in reserve will be enough. A priority is to protect a program called the Student Equity and Achievement Program, which helps lower-income and non-white students with counseling and other support. "We're very proud of the investments that we made there to increase our graduation rates and those success measures associated with getting to a four-year college," Porter said. Stable enrollments lead to stable budgets as state funding follows students, and state and federal financial aid fills campus coffers. So Porter and Curry, along with administrators at other colleges, are busy trying to convince potential students that community college is an affordable higher education option and that, despite the economic crisis and online instruction, it's a good bet for people to reach their career goals. Josue Menjivar graduated from Roybal High School in L.A. and plans to attend Pasadena City College. (Courtesy Josue Menjivar) A STUDENT'S CHOICE Josue Menjivar, who graduated this year from Roybal High School in Los Angeles, said he's put off his plans to enroll at a four-year university and will instead attend Pasadena City College in the fall. "I want to [transfer] to Virginia Tech," he said. "I want to study architecture." He said online instruction will challenge him to stay focused. So will raising money to pay for tuition and living expenses. "I was thinking about applying for economic help... scholarships and stuff like that," Menijar said. But since the state is going through a tough economic time, he doesn't know how much Pasadena City College will be able to help him. The college is taking steps to help students such as Menjivar, said PCC spokesman Alexander Boekelheide. He said the campus recently raised its reserves to 18% and is considering taking out a loan to make up for this years' deferred funding gap. Summer enrollment is up at PCC by more than 2,000 students. 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. I was on KPCC's Take Two news talk show for less than two weeks when I produced my first conversation about race in Los Angeles. It was April 2015: one hell of a time to wade into the debate over race and policing. But it was also the month that I learned what it truly meant to amplify Black voices. On April 5, Walter Scott, a Black man in South Carolina, was shot in the back by Michael Slager, a White police officer; the heinous execution was captured on camera for the world to witness. Less than two weeks later, 25-year-old Freddie Gray died in the custody of Baltimore police after a so-called "rough ride" resulted in injuries to his spinal cord. The uprisings that followed shook Obama's America and reminded even the most naive of us that a racial reckoning was long overdue. How To Participate Since June 2020, we've asked for your stories about how race and ethnicity shape your life and and published as many of these stories as we can. We call this year-long effort Race in LA. Click here for more information and details on how to participate. Enter me: A fill-in producer fresh out of news radio powerhouse KNX1070. Less than a week after I was laid off in a round of budget cuts, I went from a legacy newsroom with 30-year employees and 30-second news holes to a comparatively newer house of journalism with 12-minute segments and more millennials than I could count. I relished the opportunity to help Los Angeles have some much-needed talks about race. But it hasn't been easy. As the third Black person on the team, I had some great mentors in Joanne Griffith and Stephen Hoffman. Each of us carried a unique perspective on the Black experience. But in those first few weeks, I felt that my segments about race were embarrassingly basic. There's no other way to say that. Even when I received kudos from our predominantly White leadership, their idea of a productive conversation often felt very different from my own. Deep down, I knew that the impact of any segment about race was almost entirely determined by the extent of my own knowledge and reflection on the subject. How could I "go there" if I didn't know where "there" was? I started easy: a conversation about the use of the word "thug" when talking about Baltimore protesters with a young Jamelle Bouie. That same show, I produced a roundtable featuring a Black professor and a Black community leader from the city. A journalist, an academic, and a faith leader. How do I say this? Sigh. Austin Cross talks to Congressional candidate Katie Hill. (Courtesy Jeff Bomberger) In times of racial strife, the obvious decision for every outlet should be to "amplify Black voices." The difficult question that invariably follows is: "Which ones?" In the beginning, I, like many journalists, fell into a familiar media trap. I chose to put a microphone in front of the Black community's polished gems, rather than its uncut diamonds. Subconsciously, I thought I was doing my people a favor by presenting its most assimilated voices. This was my takeaway after four years in commercial news. But if truth and accuracy are the foundation of true reconciliation, then accurate representation is non-negotiable. All Black experiences matter. As April wore on, the news industry's dearth of nuanced coverage became increasingly apparent. I realized that I would have to become my own critic and develop a mental rubric for booking guests and writing interview questions that were free from the vestiges of inherent white supremacy. Over the next month, I took listeners along on my personal journey. I produced a discussion about the often-problematic reporting around the Baltimore unrest. UCLA Dean of Social Sciences Darnell Hunt called out the news outlets that focused on the crimes committed during the protests rather than the frustration behind them. The goal was admittedly subversive: I wanted people to understand that those who create the narrative hold the very reins of social change. In retrospect, the conversation was for my own edification as much as anyone else's. The turning point in my production work came in August. Longtime NAACP chairman Julian Bond had died. I was tasked with producing a roundtable discussion about the state of Black leadership in America. It was after nearly a week of production that I reached the limits of my own understanding. So I got on Twitter and just started DMing Black people -- all kinds of Black people. Some days, I did nothing but talk to Black people. I called up activists, asked open-ended questions, and then I sat back and listened. It was commentator Jasmyne Cannick who got me thinking the most during this time. "There is a huge disconnect from the folks who the media calls on as representing Black people and how Black people actually feel about those people who are out there claiming to represent them," Cannick explained on the phone with me and later on the air. In the end, Cannick proved to be the right voice for our radio panel. What resulted was a frank discussion about the past, present, and future of Black leadership. Though the segment existed for just shy of 15 minutes on the air, it gifted me with three lessons that I now use to measure all coverage of the Black experience. Lesson 1: Times change. Black people in Black spaces are having conversations about race that never make it to the mainstream media. They're discussing and dissecting social and economic dynamics that would likely sound foreign to more than half of the country. Failure to stay in the loop inevitably results in shallow coverage -- the journalistic equivalent of AstroTurf. Some listeners can't tell the difference, but Black people can. Lesson 2: Let the story tell you how to tell it. In the world of broadcast news, time is at a premium. The environment rarely lends itself to amplify Black voices. Finding the right voice takes time. Listening to that voice in a non-exploitative way takes time. Rewriting your entire narrative to reflect the fullness of the story takes time. Breaking out of colonial structures and power dynamics takes time. In this way, I believe, a news organization's dedication to Black lives can be accurately measured by the time they allow their journalists to pursue the stories of Black people. Lesson 3: Love Black people. The final lesson incorporates all lessons. I consider it my Golden Rule. Loving Black people doesn't mean giving them special treatment. It means giving their voices the same respect we've historically given to the police. It means respecting Black anger. It means celebrating Black intersectionality. It means recognizing Black individuality. And yes, it means hiring, training, and retaining Black talent. Five years later, I can say that I'm still learning how to amplify Black voices. Mastery will always be just out of reach. But during this time, when the voice of Black America is too loud for any newsroom to ignore, it is my prayer that the practice of journalism will not emerge from this chapter unchanged and that we too will become part of the history we write. Correction: A previous version of this story said Darnell Hunt was a dean at USC. He is a professor and dean of social sciences at UCLA. MORE FROM AUSTIN CROSS: MORE FROM OUR RACE IN LA SERIES Since late May, protesters have taken to streets throughout Lancaster County to fight racial injustice. For days in the beginning of June, hundreds of people camped out across the street from the Lancaster city police station, chanted in front of Lancaster County Prison and kneeled in the center of Penn Square. Protests followed throughout the county, from Lititz to Quarryville. While national protests were spurred by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis, protesters in Lancaster County expressed their own grievances against institutionalized racism and police brutality against Black and brown residents in their community. Interactive posters popped up in the Art Park, located next door to the Lancaster city station at Chestnut and Prince streets. Among other things, demonstrators were able to write what changes they wanted to see on the posters. They also were given opportunities to share their demands with elected officials during a city council town hall and a meeting with Senator Bob Casey. LNP | LancasterOnline collected several of the frequent public demands made within the first two weeks of the protests in Lancaster city and have listed them below, along with steps taken so far -- or those in the works -- to address them. Transparency and accountability A recurring demand throughout Lancaster County protests is transparency. Protesters want police officers to be held accountable for their actions. Jess King, Lancaster citys chief of staff, told LNP | LancasterOnline that even before the protests, this was a request from the community. The community has been asking, Where is there an opportunity for review of force and disciplinary actions, beyond just the police bureau? King said. In June 2018, a Lancaster city police officer used a stun gun on an unarmed city resident, Sean Williams. The incident sparked several calls for change with the police department. A new use-of-force policy -- which had already been in the works -- was implemented. The Community Police Working Group was created to help guide and shape the work of the city to strengthen relations between the police department and the community it serves. King said a frequent, recurring theme addressed by the working group is transparency. The Lancaster NAACP called for a citizen review board, which would hold the police department accountable. The board, which would investigate complaints made by citizens against officers, was shot down by Mayor Danene Sorace and City Council at the time due to concerns it would only damage community relations. In June, Lancaster City Council announced in a virtual town hall that it will create a commission made up entirely of people of color to hold city departments accountable. The commission will be independent of the city administration and the police force, the councilpersons said, and will be made up of people of color who are residents of Lancaster city. Members can be of any age, the council members said. Efforts to reach council for an update on the commission for this story were unsuccessful. Disciplinary records A frequent demand has been access to officerss disciplinary records. During a city council town hall on June 3, protesters asked for the ability to track and follow police infractions. Protesters also said officers with frequent formal complaints (2 or more in a 6-month period or 3 or more in a year) should be terminated. In an attempt to increase transparency, a report including all civilian complaints and all reports of disciplinary actions that have arisen due to use of force by officers will become available to the public in September, city council member Xavier Garcia-Molina announced June 3. The report will also include demographic information of in-person and traffic stops. Police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser provided a disciplinary report to Lancaster City Council in March 2019. Twenty-five reports of policy violations and two formal complaints from individuals were made, Berkihiser reported. One of the formal complaints led to the termination of the officer, Berkihiser said. Berkihisers report didnt detail each of the infractions. It didnt list any names or why the officers were reprimanded aside from policy violations or formal complaints. King and Hopkins said that reporting police infractions to city council is tricky, though Sorace included it as one of her 18 commitments to improving the city and police department during a news conference June 5. The city is currently sorting through what details would remain confidential in the report, such as the names of officers who face disciplinary action, Hopkins said. While disciplinary action is not required to be confidential under Pennsylvania's open record law, Hopkins cited labor agreements and general personnel practice as obstacles which make it difficult to disclose the names of officers and their infractions. Reporting the infractions and names of other city employees to city council would go against typical human resources practices and wouldnt be a public matter, Hopkins said. Personnel decisions are not required to be made public, he added. Additionally, the Lancaster City Council could act as an adjudicatory body for a significant disciplinary action, like a demotion, a very long term suspension or termination, Hopkins said. He said it poses a process issue. Thats some of the layers of legal issues to work through, he added. Body cams Public access to body cam footage was another demand of the protesters. Several protesters told city council members that access would increase transparency in situations involving police brutality. You cant be hiding behind the cameras, a protester said during the city councils town hall. One protester, speaking on behalf of the larger group, requested a free public database that would host the body cam footage. At the end of the day, were funding the police, the protester said. We should be able to see exactly what goes on. Currently, in order to view body cam footage, individuals need to request a file within 60 days of a recorded incident, according to Pennsylvanias Open Records Office. (Lancaster city police hold on to footage for 75 days), Individuals must file a request form to the Agency Open Records Officer for the police department. The request must include information such as when and where the incident happened, why the footage is relevant to the requester, whether or not the incident took place inside a residence and the identities of every person present during the recording. After the form is delivered, the agency has 30 days to respond. Footage requests can be denied for several reasons: If it contains potential evidence in a criminal matter Information pertaining to an investigation or a matter in which a criminal charge has been filed; or Confidential information or victim information; and The reasonable redaction of the recording would not safeguard potential evidence. If the request is granted, individuals are charged reasonable fees, which are not defined in the law, to provide a copy of the recording, Pennsylvanias Open Records Office said. A free and public database of police footage is a far cry from the current process of receiving body cam footage. Redistribution of police funds In Lancaster County, and throughout the rest of the country, protesters have called for police departments to be defunded. The adopted 2020 Lancaster Budget reports that the Lancaster Bureau of Police receives almost 42.8% of the general fund -- or $26,846,397. A graphic circulating on Instagram has called for at least 20% of the Lancaster Bureau of Polices funding to be reallocated to social services including low-income housing, a team of social workers, programs for housing and helping people experiencing homelessness and economic development for Black and POC (people of color) city residents. The graphics encourage Lancaster city residents to demand the reallocation of the funds by emailing the mayor and city council, calling the mayors office, participating in city council meetings and tagging Lancaster city officials on social media. What are you going to do as far as budgeting in regards to cutting and defunding the police department so that we can actually have resources in this community? a protester asked of Councilmembers Bakay and Garcia-Molina during their virtual town hall. Funding social services King told LNP | LancasterOnline reallocating police funds to social services isn't that easy. In Pennsylvania, the city provides public safety, but the county provides social services. County governments are primarily the recipients of federal funding for social services, Hopkins said, though, occasionally cities receive federal dollars. The City of Lancaster receives a Community Development Block Grant -- about $1.5 million a year -- as an entitlement community. Because the city has more than 50,000 residents and a high poverty rate, it is given the yearly grant to provide housing for low- and moderate-income residents. The city also receives Emergency Solutions funding, which is used for homelessness services, Hopkins said. Hopkins said that due to Lancaster Countys 60 municipalities, providing social services through the county is more ideal than each municipality providing their own. That would make it even worse than it is right now, he said. It does make sense that theres a larger entity tasked with providing direct social services. King called the system messy, but said the city is looking to see how it can better provide its residents. Theres so much room for improvement, she said. While the city doesnt provide social services, the Lancaster city police department does have a police social worker, Leilany Tran, who connects city residents with the services necessary. King said that in response to the protests, another police social worker position has been added to the Lancaster city police department. The position was listed on governmentjobs.com June 10. A housing social worker will begin working full-time, as well, King said. The employee was previously working half-time. King said the city is working to work with the county to make sure were collectively delivering the services that residents and taxpayers depend on. Update July 6, 2020 Ephrata police have video of Sunday mornings shooting in Ephrata Township that injured four men. The video, taken from a home across the street from the shooting on Blackberry Lane, shows Mark A. Ivie Sr., 43, standing outside his home near the sidewalk holding a rifle and his son, Mark A. Ivie Jr., 20, holding what appears to be a cellphone, according to court documents. Six men arrive and begin talking with the Ivies. One of them begins fighting with the younger Ivie, who winds up on the ground. The man punches him repeatedly. When Ivie gets up, he gets the rifle from his father and begins shooting at the men, striking four of them, police said the video shows. Five of the men run off and one stays behind, fighting with Ivie Sr. for several seconds, before also leaving, according to police. Several Ephrata officers arrived within several minutes of being dispatched around 1:40 a.m. and came across the six men in a white car near Blackberry and Eastbrooke Drive. One of the men in the car pointed to the Ivies house when asked who shot them, police said. Police went to the Ivies' home, where the father and son were standing outside, along with another resident, and asked who shot the men. Ivie Jr. said he did, police said. While being taken to the police station in a patrol car, Ivie Jr. stated that he had ruined his own life," according to police. Brett Hambright, a spokesman for the Lancaster County District Attorneys office, declined to say what the men had been arguing about before the shooting. One of the six men who had been shot at declined comment when reached by a reporter Monday. Asked whether a self-defense could be a factor, Hambright said, "In review of everything, we found nothing that could legally justify the use of deadly force. None of the six men entered the Ivie home, or took action that would justify use of deadly force by Mark Ivie Jr." Three of the four men were still in the hospital Monday morning, according to the district attorneys office. The office did not provide condition updates. One of the shooting victims, and the man who was in the fight with Ivie Sr., were discharged, the office said. Ivie Jr. is charged with six counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. His father is charged with six counts each of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit those crimes. Ivie Sr. is also charged with a misdemeanor assault for fighting with one of the men, according to charging documents. Both Ivies were being held at Lancaster County Prison on Monday, unable to post $1 million for Ivie Jr. and $750,000 for Ivie Sr. A relative at the Ivies' home said the family was not commenting on the advice of a lawyer, but he did not have the lawyer's name. Preliminary hearings for the Ivies are scheduled for July 17 before Ephrata District Judge Tony Russell. Vice President Mike Pence will be in Lancaster County on Thursday, according to a news release from his office. The release said Pence will participate in a bus tour starting in Lancaster County and ending in Philadelphia, with stops at a Chester County based company and a Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Philadelphia. The release did not say what Pence would be doing in Lancaster County and added that more details would be coming. Kirk Radanovic, chair of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, did not immediately return a call for comment. Pence was most recently in Lancaster County in February when he visited Lyndon City Line Diner. During the 2016 presidential election Pence also visited Lancaster County, including an August campaign stop at the Lancaster Host Resort and Conference center. How about just give it up for how beautiful Lancaster is? Pence said at the time, according to newspaper archives. I grew up in the cornfields in my backyard. I know how sturdy, how important the family farm is to the vitality and the character of this nation. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party issued a statement in response to the announcement that Pence planned to visit the state. "Mike Pence is coming back to Pennsylvania to spin Trumps failed record, but Pennsylvanians know the truth," the statement said. "Donald Trump has broken his promises to our communities and left us behind. The Democrats' criticism of Pence comes after presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Lancaster County last month. Lancaster County voted for President Donald Trump by a margin of 19% in 2016. Florida, California, Texas Continue Leading Surge in New COVID-19 Cases in the U.S. July 5, 2020 (EIRNS)The U.S. national daily total of new COVID-19 cases for Saturday, July 4 (45,283 cases) was down from Fridays record highs (57,000), but there continues to be an out-of-control situation in Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and other large states. This is measured not only in the number of new cases, but also in the high and rising positivity rates of tests in at least 18 states (meaning that the rise in reported cases is not due to increased testing). The WHOs criteria set a 5% positivity rate as the maximum level at which businesses can safely reopen. Eleven states averaged double-digit rates over the past seven daysArizona (26%), Florida (18%), Nevada (16%), South Carolina (15%), Alabama (15%), Texas (14.5%), Mississippi (14%), Georgia (13%), Idaho 11%), Kansas (10%) and Utah (10%). That was up from four states with double-digit rates two weeks ago. Another worrisome indicator is the soaring hospitalizations in many places, which has brought some hospital systems to the point of overload. Many medical and other authorities, including Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, are reminding people that deaths are a lagging indicator (i.e., they tend to rise only after the numbers for new cases and hospitalizations rise), and therefore can be expected to increase significantly in the next 2-3 weeks. Some specifics: Monday, July 6, 2020 Last month I made my first roundtrip, domestic airline flight following 90+ days of lockdown and gradual easing of travel restrictions. I scheduled this quick trip cautiously, for family-related reasons, and with a goal of returning to my Pennsylvania home well in advance of any return to work with students in my law school. I'm not a timid flyer, but I did my best to try to minimize risk factors, including selection of an airline that advertised "vacant" middle seats, masking requirements, and updated standards for cleaning the airplane and social distancing. I am writing here because an individual on the return leg of my flight in my same row (but across the aisle) became seriously ill during the flight. This post is about my growing concern about what it means to respond to the potential for a communicable illness while traveling, especially but not exclusively in the time of COVID-19. When the individual became ill (seeming to lose consciousness and vomiting-- more ill than what I associate with "mere" air sickness), the flight attendants responded to his needs with plastic bags and napkins. On the positive side, they kept everything low key and talked to the individual softly. I think it was another, closer passenger who summoned them and everyone tried to respect the privacy of the individual. Eventually, the ill passenger was moved to the rear of the plane. Shortly after that, all passengers were informed the seatbelt signs had been activated and everyone should stay in their seats for the remainder of the flight. There were no further announcements and nothing said about the ill passenger specifically. When the flight arrived at its regular destination, I did not see the individual leave the plane. What does it mean for any state health department or CDC program official to say they will follow a plan for contact tracing? Each step of the process needs clarity, including that first step of identifying the ill traveler and other potentially affected travelers, right? I received a traditional customer satisfaction "survey" form from the airline the morning of my return via email, asking me to describe the flight. This made me realize that I should be talking directly to the airline about this specific incident. Was the individual in question experiencing a communicable illness, especially COVID-19? I made a short, emailed report to the airline less than 12 hours after the end of the flight, and made a follow up inquiry and a second report by telephone and email. The most I have learned is that the airline is "researching" whether there is any record of the incident or illness on board that flight. Taking a week (or more?) to determine whether the crew made a report is not reassuring. At a minimum, shouldn't there be a record of that plane being taken out of service for some period of time for cleaning? The Pennsylvania governor, for reasons unrelated to my account above, has recently asked all residents returning from the departure state in question (and certain other states experiencing surges in COVID-19) to self-quarantine for 14 days. That makes sense. Even though I had been exceptionally careful during my time out-of-state, the airline incident was a stark reminder that travel, even with the lessons learned during the last several months, involves factors that are completly outside the control of any of the passengers. "Being careful" on an individual basis may not be enough and when something happens that involves risk to others, we need clear lines for any investigation and communication. Everyday we are learning new things about how to deal with communicable illnesses, including ones that may be life-threatening. I think what I'm realizing is that as individuals and consumers, we cannot be passive about these steps. I contacted the CDC and was told there is a process for "contact investigations" by the CDC, but that triggering such an investigation cannot be done easily, at least not if you are a mere passenger. They recommended I contact the health department in the state where my plane landed. Here is what CDC sent me by email: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/contact-investigation.html Weaknesses clearly exist in the protocols. The airline and CDC have been quick to warn me that they cannot give any information about the "patient." I'm not asking to know the patient's identity in any way. But shouldn't any potentially affected traveler be entitled to know: a. Whether there was a report of the illness made by the crew to the airline and/or other authorities. b. The result of any investigation, especially in terms of public health implications. c. Whether a specific, communicable illness or disease was identified. d. Whether there are specific steps that should be taken by passengers in light of the history. Shouldn't the CDC want to know whether others on that plane have experienced similar symptoms? (Thankfully, I have not, but although I was in the line of sight of his seat, there were others between us, and in front and behind him, who were much closer.) I have realized that short of contacting every passenger on the plane, it might be difficult for some airlines to help with "contact" tracing. They may be relying on a manifest rather than a chart for assigned seats. Certainly, no one asked me or other, closer passengers on the flight for contact information. I hope the ill individual has recovered fully and quickly, and that for his sake this was a temporary illness. I'm being calm, even as I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated not just for myself, but for the larger public. The passengers on this plane included all ages, including older individuals. Earlier during my trip, I overheard one older traveler say to another, "I just want to live long enough to see my grandchildren again." https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2020/07/what-does-it-mean-to-do-contact-tracing-for-communicable-diseases-especially-for-air-travelers.html An Afghan man has reopened a long-shut oxygen factory to provide free service to patients suffering from COVID-19. Najibullah Seddiqi says he closed his factory in 2013 because he had difficulty signing deals with hospitals to supply oxygen. But as the coronavirus continued to spread in Afghanistan, he saw a big need for oxygen that his old factory could help fill. I saw a man crying for his wife who died from coronavirus due to lack of oxygen, Seddiqi told The Associated Press. That moment I made the decision to reopen my factory. Now, family members of Afghans suffering with COVID-19 line up at his factory in Kabul to receive free oxygen refills that can keep their loved ones alive. Afghanistan has struggled with shortages of medical oxygen during the coronavirus crisis. It gets its oxygen cylinders from outside the country. Until recently, imports were halted because of border controls. Shortages have caused the price of new oxygen containers to rise sharply to about $250. The price to refill the containers is now $25, five times what it once was. Many people blame the increases on overcharging by retail sellers and government failures to guarantee a supply. Seddiqis free service is a popular solution for many poor people hit by the virus. As word of the free service spreads on social media, vehicles line up with people seeking to refill cylinders. This factory is doing great work offering it for free, Bilal Hamidi told the AP. He said he fills three small cylinders a day for his brother, who was infected with the virus while caring for their mother. Their mother died of COVID-19 in early June. The factory was dusty and the equipment run-down when Seddiqi decided to restart production. But everything still worked. Im happy I didnt sell these machines, Seddiqi said. He hired 12 men to help. He even moved into the factory temporarily so he can react to situations quickly. Im worried that I go home and someone in intense need comes late at night and doesnt find anyone to help them. His factory refills about 200 to 300 small cylinders a day for COVID-19 patients for free. For hospitals and retail sellers, he fills nearly 700 large cylinders a day for about $3.80. He said that is far below the usual rate, but still enough to cover his costs. Retailer sellers deny that they have been overcharging for oxygen. Imports of cylinders from the United Arab Emirates and China stopped for months because of restrictions related to the virus. They recently started again. However, unbalanced supply and demand has caused prices to rise, Khanjan Alkozai told the AP. He is a board member at the countrys Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Afghan media reported last week that several COVID-19 patients died in government hospitals because of a lack of oxygen. The government denied the reports. Lawmaker Fatima Aziz, who was infected with the coronavirus, spoke about the issue in a video from her hospital bed. She was shown receiving oxygen through her nose. In the video, she blamed corruption and government failures for the shortages. People lose their life for two drops of oxygen, she said. The lawmaker denounced mafia groups that she accused of taking over the medical oxygen business. A health ministry spokeswoman told the AP that hospitals were working to reduce oxygen shortages. Seddiqis factory is one of six in Kabul that produce oxygen. But his is the only one giving free refills. My only aim is to save as many lives as I can, he said. When the virus spread ends, then Ill go home. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson 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 cylinder n. a container with circular ends retail v. the activity of selling products to the public in shops and on the internet run something down phr verb. to be reduced in quality or condition over time mafia n. a group of people who are involved in similar activities and help and protect each other, sometimes to the disadvantage of others A doctor in Egypt was arrested after writing a report about the countrys broken health system. A pharmacist there was arrested at work after writing online about a shortage of protective equipment. An editor was taken from his home after questioning official coronavirus numbers. And a pregnant doctor was arrested after a coworker used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case. As Egyptian health officials fight the spread of COVID-19, security agencies are fighting the spread of criticism of the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. At least 10 doctors and six reporters have been arrested since the coronavirus hit Egypt in February, rights groups say. Other health workers say they have been warned by officials to keep quiet -- or face punishment. One foreign reporter fled the country, fearing arrest. Two others have been warned about professional violations. Coronavirus infections are rising in the country of 100 million. As of Monday, the Health Ministry had recorded 76,253 infections, including 3,343 deaths. Egypt has reported the highest number of deaths from the disease in the Arab world. Every day I go to work, I sacrifice myself and my whole family. Then they arrest my colleagues to send us a message, a doctor in Cairo told The Associated Press. He did not want to give his name because he feared government action against him. The same is true for all other doctors who spoke with the AP. In 2013, el-Sissi was Egypts defense minister. He led the militarys removal of Egypts first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. In the years since, el-Sissi has punished anyone who questions him. Many have been arrested. In recent months, those arrested have included doctors who speak out about the lack of protective equipment or question the official infection count. Security forces have also taken action against foreign reporters. In March, Egypt expelled a journalist for The Guardian who made note of a scientific report disputing the official virus count. Egypts state information body has summoned journalists from The Washington Post and New York Times over their critical reporting during the health crisis. A government press official did not answer the APs requests for comment on the arrests of doctors and reporters. El-Sissi has said the spread of COVID-19 was under control. He called critics enemies of the state. In the past weeks, officials have gathered medical supplies to prepare for more patients. The military has set up temporary hospitals with 4,000 beds. The government has provided free face coverings to citizens at metro stops. The government has increased testing within hospitals. It has ordered private companies to make face coverings and other protective equipment for health workers. El-Sissi has also increased the earnings of medical workers. But healthcare works are telling a different story on social media. Doctors say shortages have forced them to buy face coverings with their own money. Families beg for hospital beds. Pharmacists say they are being forced to treat suspected virus patients with little training. The spread has pushed the Egyptian Medical Syndicate into a new position. Usually a non-political group of professionals, it is now the countrys only voice for doctors rights. Last month, the group released a letter to the public prosecutor demanding the release of five doctors who were detained for expressing opinions about the governments ability to control the virus spread. In a televised appearance, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly criticized doctors negligence and mismanagement for the growing number of cases. Angry doctors answered, saying they are untrained, underpaid and dealing with equipment shortages. So far at least 117 doctors, 39 nurses and 32 pharmacists have died from COVID-19, syndicate members say. In its latest statement, the syndicate said the growing number of detentions are causing fear among health workers. These doctors have no history of activism, they were arrested because they offered criticism of their very specific professional circumstances, said Amr Magdi of Human Rights Watch. He confirmed the arrests of eight doctors and two pharmacists. Two have been released, he noted. Last week, Dr. Ahmed Safwat disappeared from his Cairo neighborhood. At first, other doctors where he worked thought he was self-isolating due to possible signs of coronavirus. But his family reported him missing. A lawyer working for the detained doctors confirmed Dr. Safwat's arrest. He has been charged with terrorism for criticizing the government online. Im John Russell. And Im Ashley Thompson. The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words In This Story pharmacist n. a person whose job is to prepare and sell the drugs and medicines that a doctor prescribes for patients colleague n. a co-worker syndicate n. a union of workers prosecutor n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty negligence n. failure to take the care that a responsible person usually takes : lack of normal care or attention isolate - v. to put or keep (someone or something) in a place or situation that is separate from others summon - v. to order (someone) to come to a place journalist - n. a person whose job is collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio Scientists say they have found Australias first underwater archeological areas off the countrys west coast. The sites are believed to be 7,000 years old. The area where they were found was once dry land. Archeologists say study of the hundreds of found objects will increase understanding of the culture and technological development of Australias aboriginal people. The two ancient sites are now underwater in the Dampier Archipelago island group. Divers from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, made the discovery. The area was already well known for its rich ancient history and its rock-art carvings. However, the two sites are the first confirmed underwater places holding evidence of human civilization in Australia and the area around it. Michael OLeary is a marine geoscientist and co-director of the project to study the tools. He told Reuters that his team wants to study the skill, the technology, how they made these tools, to see if they represent a different cultural approach to tool making that we havent yet identified in Australia, Archeologist Jonathan Benjamin also leads the project. He said the scientists have found cutting and grinding tools that are thousands of years old. You can start to recreate what the people were doing and how they were making their life way in their economy, Benjamin said. Information from the discovery is being studied to find out how old the objects are. However, the radiocarbon dating method and study of sea-level changes show the areas are at least 7,000 years old. Benjamin said the majority of objects remain on the seabed. The ones taken have been scanned for further research. They will then be given to the indigenous landowners, the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation. Im Mario Ritter Jr. Paulina Duran and Jill Gralow reported this story for Reuters. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story archeological adj. related to archeology, the study of past human life site n. a place where something was in the past aboriginal adj. related to the native people of Australia carvings n.(pl.) objects that are cut from stone or wood civilization n. a condition in which people have developed effective ways to organize and live as a society approach n. a way of doing things grind v. to make something sharp by rubbing it against a hard surface scan v. to use a machine to make a digital image of something for study or reproduction indigenous adj. native to a particular area For most of the past year, Ron Whitlatch has held two jobs for the City of Lebanon. He has continued to serve as the head of the citys engineering services department while also filling the role of interim city manager. There was hope that the city could identify a new city manager this summer and take that extra pressure off Whitlatch. But after the final round of interviews with two finalists for the city manager position, city councilors determined that the right candidate had not been found and the search must begin again. My opinion is that we are making a huge decision, probably the biggest decision that this city council will make in our respective terms, so its important to not just do it quickly, but do it right, said council president Jason Bolen. I want to make sure that we find the right person for the job, not just the right person for right now. I think its important to expand the search and start again. While the search for a new permanent city manager continues, there was unanimous agreement that it is time to hire an interim city manager so that Whitlatchs double duty could come to an end. Delhi's Covid-19 positivity rate declines from 30 per cent to 10 per cent Trump blames China for 'great damage to the US, world' More than 1 crore Covid-19 tests conducted in India, says govt Final-year exams in universities to be concluded by Sept-end, says HRD ministry Scientists urge WHO to acknowledge Covid-19 can spread in air Workers in protective mask disinfects a waiting hall following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at the Nanjing Railway Station, in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. (Image courtesy: Reuters) The countries across the world continued to reel under Covid-19 crisis as the World Health Organization reported a one-day high in global infections over the weekend, while Mexico, Indonesia and Iran reported their deadliest day yet. In the United States, the number of infections has risen to 2,876,143 while the 129,891 others have succumbed to the disease. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage Meanwhile, in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country is in a state of emergency in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases. Spain ordered a lockdown of a second region amid fears of Covid-19 spread. While, India surpassed Russia in the infections tally and became the country with most infections after US and Brazil. The total number of Covid-19 cases now stands at 697,413 after it recorded 24,248 fresh cases of infection on Monday. There are 14 states in the country which have reported more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases and Maharashtra remained the worst-hit on Sunday. Follow live updates on Covid-19 here: SAN DIEGO Jon Rahm had safely deposited his infant son back in his wifes arms by the time a seemingly unflappable Louis Oosthuizen finally coughed it up on No. 17 at Torrey Pines. He stood, hands on hips, watching on TV as Oosthuizens par putt slid past the hole and it became increasingl CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. Steven J. Heyman (Chicago-Kent College of Law - Illinois Institute of Technology) has posted Reason and Conviction: Natural Rights, Natural Religion, and the Origins of the Free Exercise Clause (University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol 23, No. 1, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: One of the most intense debates in contemporary America involves conflicts between religious liberty and other key values like civil rights. To shed light on such problems, courts and scholars often look to the historical background of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. But this inquiry turns out to be no less controversial. In recent years, a growing number of scholars has challenged the traditional account that focuses on the roles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the movement to protect religious liberty in late eighteenth-century America. These scholars emphasize that most of the political energy behind the movement came from Evangelical Christians. On this revisionist account, we should not understand the Free Exercise Clause and corresponding state provisions in terms of the Enlightenment views of Jefferson and Madison, which these scholars characterize as secular, rationalist, and skeptical if not hostile toward religion. Instead, those protections were intended to promote religion and especially Christianity. In this Article, I offer a different understanding of the intellectual foundations of the Free Exercise Clause. The most basic view that supported religious liberty was neither secular rationalism nor Christian Evangelicalism but what contemporaries called natural religion. This view held that human beings were capable of using reason to discern the basic principles of religion, including the duties they owed to God and one another. Because religion was founded on reason, individuals had an inalienable natural right to develop their own beliefs and to worship in accord with them. At the same time, that right was limited by the law of nature, which required people to respect the rights of others. In this way, the concept of natural religion established both the foundations and the limits of religious liberty. This view enabled people with different religious and philosophical perspectives to find common ground. It provided the basis for a political coalition between Evangelicals, rationalist Christians, and Enlightenment liberals that secured the adoption of state and federal constitutional guarantees for religious freedom. The Article begins by demonstrating that natural religion and its associated ideas of natural law and natural rights were central to the intellectual world of eighteenth-century Americans. Those ideas played a vital part in many areas of thought, including political and moral philosophy, natural jurisprudence, English law, Christian and Deist theology, and even Newtonian natural science intellectual strands that came together in the Radical Whig ideology that animated the American Revolution. Next, I explain how those ideas can enhance our understanding of the religious liberty provisions of the first state declarations of rights; the political controversy that culminated in the passage of Jeffersons Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia; and the debates surrounding the adoption of the Federal Constitution and the Free Exercise Clause itself. Finally, I explore the founders views on the problem of religious exemptions from civil laws, and discuss the implications of this history for our current debates over civil rights and religious liberty a subject that the Supreme Court recently grappled with in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and that it has agreed to revisit next Term in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Highly recommended! Jason Reimer, owner of Facility Pros, said hes also encouraging his clients to consider electrostatic disinfecting a new service the company began offering due to the coronavirus. Electrostatic machines spray out tiny droplets of disinfectant, which are given a charge as they pass through the tip of the sprayer wand. These charged droplets stick better to surfaces such as walls, desks, keyboards and furniture, and can get into small crevices or cracks. Workers using the electrostatic machines can clean a broad surface area more thoroughly and more quickly by spraying the cleaner than they could using conventional methods. At Kleenmark, this service is offered as an urgent response if an employee at a business is suspected of having or confirmed to have COVID-19, Stevenson said. That practice for electrostatic cleaning leads to uncertain schedules, he said. We could go maybe two or three days without a call, then we might have six calls in one day, Stevenson said. The more mRNA you deliver, the more therapeutic effect you get, but the more likely it is that youre going to see toxic effect, too, Murphy said. What we found is when we deliver from the (mineral-coated microparticles), we dont see that toxicity. The microparticles also protect the mRNA from degrading, so more mRNA can be delivered to the intended site, he said. The new study paired mRNA with an immune-system-inhibiting protein, to make sure the target cells didnt pick the mRNA out as a foreign object and destroy or eject it. In the mice, the therapeutic activity kept going for more than 20 days, the study said. The technology behind the microparticles was patented with the help of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and is licensed to Dianomi Therapeutics, a company Murphy co-founded. The researchers are now working on growing bone and cartilage and repairing spinal cord injuries with mRNA delivered by the microparticles. Coronavirus vaccines McGuiness said it normally takes about half a year for Chobani to create a new flavor. I think its a complete record in food making, he said. Two and a half months is pretty remarkable. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The peanut butter and jelly yogurt is nostalgic, McGuinness said. Its never been done before, theres never been peanut butter and jelly in yogurt, he said. It tastes exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich we grew up with. Were super happy about it. This is the third time Chobani has launched a charity flavor. Back in 2018, the company unveiled a mixed berry Hero Batch yogurt which raised money for Operation Homefront, an organization that helps military families with housing, meals and financial assistance. Hero Batch was scheduled to stay in stores for about a year, but is still in stores two years later. The product has raised more than a million dollars for Operation Homefront. A Black Lives Matter group started by two Henry County teens has joined forces with the Martinsville-Henry County NAACP to engage a new generation of activists. Organizers hope to encourage more young people of all backgrounds to join the local NAACP and continue working for racial justice. Their outreach efforts include holding membership drives during Black Lives Matter protests this summer and building a social media page for the NAACP chapter for the first time. The catalyst for the two groups to connect came from a viral video on Facebook. Local NAACP President Naomi Hodge-Muse admits she normally hates Facebook (Zuckerberg is the reason Hillary Clinton did not win, she said), but she logged on one day in early June to view her pastors sermon. While online, she happened upon a video from a protest held June 4 in Henry County. As a group of teenagers stood peacefully holding signs at the intersection of Rives Road and U.S. 220, a man in a truck pulled over and was recorded yelling and cursing at them. I saw this old man stop and curse at these babies, and it broke my heart, Hodge-Muse said. In response, she attended their next protest a few days later and offered the support of the NAACP. Three McDowell residents face charges after going on what authorities called a "mini-crime spree." Detective Van Williams of the McDowell County Sheriffs Office charged 23-year-old Destinee NaTia Campbell, address listed as Chinqapin Trail in Old Fort; 25-year-old Justin Ray Messer, address listed as Lakeview Drive North in Marion; and 30-year-old Zachery Nathaniel Owenby, address listed as Jack Taylor Road in Marion, with second-degree kidnapping, attempted common law robbery and attempted breaking and entering a motor vehicle. Deputy T.J. Madden charged Owenby with resisting a public officer and assault on a government official or employee and Campbell with resisting a public officer. Deputy Jared Cody charged Owenby with damage to real property and damage to personal property. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} On Saturday, June 27, the trio of suspects went on a mini-crime spree. At 6:15 a.m., Campbell and Owenby arrived at the home of an acquaintance on Lillies Drive in Marion and Owenby got into an argument with the homeowner, at which time Owenby broke a window out of the house and then fired two shots into the victims car. With age the frequency of adipose tissue eosinophils decreases gradually. This leads to the production of inflammatory mediators, which promote age-related impairments (e.g. frailty and immunosenescence). Eosinophil cell transfers increase the frequency of these cells in adipose tissue and dampen age-related chronic low-grade inflammation. This results in systemic rejuvenation of the aged organism. Credit: DBMR, University of Bern, D. Brigger Elderly people are more prone to infectious diseases as the function of their immune system continuously declines with progression of age. This becomes especially apparent during seasonal influenza outbreaks or the occurrence of other viral diseases such as COVID-19. As the efficacy of vaccination in the elderly is strongly reduced, this age group is particularly vulnerable to such infectious pathogens and often shows the highest mortality rate. In addition to the age-related immune decline aged individuals are commonly affected by frailty that negatively impacts quality-of-life. Even though the average life-expectancy for humans continuous to rise, living longer is often associated with age-related health issues. Important role of belly fat in aging processes identified Researchers from the Department for BioMedical Reserarch (DBMR) and the Institute of Pathology at the University of Bern as well as the University Hospital Bern (Inselspital) have set out to identify new approaches to improve health-span in a fast-growing aging population. For many years scientists speculated that chronic low-grade inflammation accelerates aging processes and the development of age-related disorders. An international team of researchers under Bernese guidance has now demonstrated that visceral adipose tissue, known as belly fat, crucially contributes to the development of chronic low-grade inflammation. Scientist around Dr. Mario Noti, formerly at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Bern and Dr. Alexander Eggel from the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR) of the Universitat of Bern reported that certain immune cells in the belly fat play and an essential role in regulating chronic low-grade inflammation and downstream aging processes. They could show, that these immune cells may be used to reverse such processes. The findings of this study have been published in the scientific journal Nature Metabolism and were further highlighted by a News and Views editorial article. Detection of Eosinophils in human visceral adipose tissue using two different staining methods. Eosinophils are indicated with an arrowhead. AD: adipocytes, V: blood vessel. Credit: DBMR, Universiy of Bern, D. Brigger Belly fat as a source of chronic inflammation The team around Dr. Noti and Dr. Eggel could demonstrated that a certain kind of immune cells, known as eosinophils, which are predominantly found in the blood circulation, are also present in belly fat of both humans and mice. Although classically known to provide protection from parasite infection and to promote allergic airway disease, eosinophils located in belly fat are responsible to maintain local immune homeostasis. With increasing age the frequency of eosinophils in belly fat declines, while the number of pro-inflammatory macrophages increases. Owing to this immune cell dysbalance, belly fat turns into a source of pro-inflammatory mediators accumulating systemically in old age. Eosinophil cell therapy promotes rejuvenation In a next step, the researchers investigated the possibility to reverse age-related impairments by restoring the immune cell balance in visceral adipose tissue. "In different experimental approaches, we were able to show that transfers of eosinophils from young mice into aged recipients resolved not only local but also systemic low-grade inflammation," says Dr. Eggel. "In these experiments, we observed that transferred eosinophils were selectively homing into adipose tissue," adds Dr. Noti. This approach had a rejuvenating effect on the aged organism. As a consequence, aged animals showed significant improvements in physical fitness as assessed by endurance and grip strength tests. Moreover, the therapy had a rejuvenating effect on the immune system manifesting in improved vaccination responses of aged mice. Translating findings into clinics "Our results indicate that the biological processes of aging and the associated functional impairments are more plastic than previously assumed," states Dr. Noti. Importantly, the observed age-related changes in adipose immune cell distribution in mice were also confirmed in humans. "A future direction of our research will be to now leverage the gained knowledge for the establishment of targeted therapeutic approaches to promote and sustain healthy aging in humans," says Dr. Eggel. Explore further New finding offers possibility for preventing age-related metabolic disease More information: Brigger, D., Riether, C., van Brummelen, R. et al. Eosinophils regulate adipose tissue inflammation and sustain physical and immunological fitness in old age. Nat Metab (2020). Journal information: Nature Metabolism Brigger, D., Riether, C., van Brummelen, R. et al. Eosinophils regulate adipose tissue inflammation and sustain physical and immunological fitness in old age.(2020). doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0228-3 Credit: Dave Guttridge Results from the largest study of artificial intelligence use in the English Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP), have shown that the technology can accurately detect serious eye disease among those with diabetes (retinopathy) and could halve the human workload associated with screening for diabetic eye disease, saving millions of pounds annually. These findings could also pave the way for the technology to be used to reduce the backlog in eye screening appointments following COVID-19 lockdown. Published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the study uses the images from 30,000 patient scans (120,000 images) in the DESP to look for signs of damage using the EyeArt artificial intelligence eye screening technology (Eyenuk, Inc., Los Angeles, U.S.). The results showed that the technology has 95.7% accuracy for detecting damage that would require referral to specialist services, but 100% accuracy for moderate to severe retinopathy or serious disease that could lead to vision loss. The DESP is set up to screen diabetic patients once a year for signs of damage that could potentially lead to sight loss. The researchers found that the use of the EyeArt machine learning technology could potentially save 0.5 million per 100,000 screening episodes. With more than 2.2 million screening episodes per year, the savings could extend to more than 10 million every year in England alone. The researchers from St George's, University of London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL, and Homerton University Hospital, Gloucestershire Hospitals and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trusts hope the research will enable systematic changes in the UK national screening programme. Professor Alicja Rudnicka, senior author on the paper, from St George's, University of London, said: "The national screening programme has been shown to be highly effective at reducing the levels of sight loss due to diabetes. Damage to the eye is easily detectable and we have effective treatments available for those that need it. But there is a very high burden on human graders required to diagnose the thousands of images every daymost of which show no signs of disease and require no further action. "Our study shows that machine learning technology could safely halve the number of images that need to be assessed by humans, freeing up further funds and resources for the NHS. If this technology is rolled out on a national level, it could immediately reduce the backlog of cases created due to the coronavirus pandemic, potentially saving unnecessary vision loss in the diabetic population." As well as having potential implications for the screening programme in the UK, these findings could be promising in other countries without a workforce set up to detect the disease. Global cases of diabetes are expected to rise to 629 million by 2045, and the technology could be used to monitor the diabetic population in many countries, referring people to specialist services if they are found to be at risk of sight loss. If the current UK screening protocol were applied worldwide, machine learning technology could be used to grade over 2 billion retinal images globally in 2030, reducing the risk of vision loss on a wider scale. Professor Adnan Tufail, consultant ophthalmologist from Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL, said: "Most AI software is tested by the developers or companies themselves. What is so important about this pivotal study, is it uses data from across the country, has a large sample size of more than 120,000 images of real-world patients and was run independently. "We have shown that this validated AI software can reduce the burden of humans needing to grade diabetic eye screening images in the UK massively, by more than 5 million images per year. The technology is incredibly fast, does not miss a single case of severe diabetic retinopathy and could contribute to healthcare system recovery post-COVID". Explore further Deep learning model detects diabetic eye diseases accurately More information: Peter Heydon et al. Prospective evaluation of an artificial intelligence-enabled algorithm for automated diabetic retinopathy screening of 30 000 patients, British Journal of Ophthalmology (2020). Journal information: British Journal of Ophthalmology Peter Heydon et al. Prospective evaluation of an artificial intelligence-enabled algorithm for automated diabetic retinopathy screening of 30 000 patients,(2020). DOI: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-316594 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Short, frequent walks in blue spacesareas that prominently feature water, such as beaches, lakes, rivers or fountainsmay have a positive effect on people's well-being and mood, according to a new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation. The study, conducted within the BlueHealth project and published in Environmental Research, used data on 59 adults. Over the course of one week, participants spent 20 minutes each day walking in a blue space. In a different week, they spent 20 minutes each day walking in an urban environment. During yet another week, they spent the same amount of time resting indoors. The blue space route was along a beach in Barcelona, while the urban route was along city streets. Before, during and after each activity, researchers measured the participants' blood pressure and heart rate and used questionnaires to assess their well-being and mood. "We saw a significant improvement in the participants' well-being and mood immediately after they went for a walk in the blue space, compared with walking in an urban environment or resting," commented Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Director of the Urban Planning, Environment and Health Initiative at ISGlobal and coordinator of the study. Specifically, after taking a short walk on the beach in Barcelona, participants reported improvements in their mood, vitality and mental health. The authors did not identify any cardiovascular health benefits, although they believe this may be due to the design of the study. "We assessed the immediate effects of taking a short walk along a blue space," commented ISGlobal researcher Cristina Vert, lead author of the study. "Continuous, long-lasting exposure to these spaces might have positive effects on cardiovascular health that we were not able to observe in this study." The Importance of the Environment on Health "Our results show that the psychological benefits of physical activity vary according to the type of environment where it is carried out, and that blue spaces are better than urban spaces in this regard," commented Vert. Numerous ISGlobal studies have identified health benefits associated with green spaces, including lower risk of obesity, better attention capacities in children and slower physical decline in older adults. The new study provides evidence showing that blue spaces are an environment favorable to mental health. "According to the United Nations, 55% of the global population now lives in cities," explained Nieuwenhuijsen. "It is crucial to identify and enhance elements that improve our healthsuch as blue spacesso that we can create healthier, more sustainable and more liveable cities." Explore further Quality and use of green spaces may determine their health benefits More information: Cristina Vert et al, Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: A randomised crossover study, Environmental Research (2020). Journal information: Environmental Research Cristina Vert et al, Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: A randomised crossover study,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109812 Electron microscopy images show (left) a healthy scar containing collagen type 5, with scar fibers smoothly arranged in parallel, and (right) an unhealthy scar containing no collagen type 5, with a disorganized architecture and disarray of scar fibers. Credit: University of California, Los Angeles New UCLA research conducted in mice could explain why some people suffer more extensive scarring than others after a heart attack. The study, published in the journal Cell, reveals that a protein known as type 5 collagen plays a critical role in regulating the size of scar tissue in the heart. Once formed, heart scar tissue remains for life, reducing the heart's ability to pump blood and adding strain to the remaining heart muscle. People who develop larger scars have a higher risk of heart rhythm problems, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. "Two individuals with the same degree of heart attack can end up with different amounts of scar tissue," said Dr. Arjun Deb, the study's senior author and a member of Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. "Given the clear correlation between scar size and survival rates, we set out to understand why some hearts scar more than others. If we can reduce this scarring, we can greatly improve survival." Following a heart attack, connective tissue cells called fibroblasts secrete a variety of proteins that combine to form scar tissue. The vast majority of these proteins are collagens, of which there are 26 types, all functioning as a kind of glue that holds the body together. Type 1 and 3 collagens are abundant in the uninjured heart and also make up about 97% of scar tissue. Interestingly, Deb's team observed that several collagens not found in the uninjured heart were abundant in scar tissue. Among this group, type 5 collagen stood out. To determine the role this collagen plays in scarring, the researchers genetically engineered a mouse model that was incapable of producing type 5 collagen in scar tissue following a heart injury. The results were surprising. "Normally if you delete a collagen, you would expect the scar tissue size to decrease because collagen forms scar tissue. We found, paradoxically, that the scar size actually increased by 50%," said Deb, who is a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the school's cardiovascular medicine research theme. Digging deeper, Deb and his collaborators from the Geffen School of Medicine, the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and the UCLA Division of Life Sciences found that type 5 collagen was regulating the stiffness of scar tissue. Without it, the scar tissue was less stiff and therefore prone to expansion from the force of the blood within the heart. "Scar tissue without type 5 collagen is compliant like rubber," Deb said. "So when the heart fills with blood, the scar tissue expands in much the same way as a rubber balloon expands when it is filled with air." This expansion, the team observed, was only the beginning. The protein-secreting fibroblasts are alerted to the scar's expansion by their integrins, receptors found within the cell membrane that sense changes to the environment and send signals inward to adjust how the cell is behaving in response. The fibroblasts consequently secrete more proteins in an attempt to reinforce the scar and stop the expansion. But without type 5 collagen, Deb noted, the cycle of expansion and scar growth simply continues. To stop the cycle, Deb tested a drug called Cilengitide that disrupts integrin signaling. Developed as a cancer treatment, the drug was found to be safe for use in humans in a phase 3 clinical trial. The team found that treating the type 5 collagendeficient mice with Cilengitide disrupted this feedback cycle and reduced scar size. Subtle expression differences in type 5 collagen could explain why some heart attack survivors form larger scars than others, said Deb, who is also a professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology. He is now working to develop a test that would identify people whose bodies produce less type 5 collagen. It is possible that such a test could one day be used in a precision medicine approach aimed at people who may be prone to increased scarring from heart attacks and could benefit from drugs such as Cilengitide. Deb's team is also collaborating with physicians and scientists from the division of dermatology at the Geffen School of Medicine to pursue a potential immediate clinical application for people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder characterized by excessive scarring, even from minor injuries, due to mutations in the gene that produces type 5 collagen. The use of Cilengitide has not been tested in humans as a treatment for excessive scarring and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective for this use. The newly identified method for treating dysregulated wound healing is covered by a patent application filed by the UCLA Technology Development Group on behalf of the Regents of the University of California. Explore further Heart attack discovery could give hope to people not able to be treated More information: Tomohiro Yokota et al. Type V Collagen in Scar Tissue Regulates the Size of Scar after Heart Injury, Cell (2020). Journal information: Cell Tomohiro Yokota et al. Type V Collagen in Scar Tissue Regulates the Size of Scar after Heart Injury,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.030 Credit: CC0 Public Domain To comprehend and process the social crisis and upheaval in everyday life that have resulted from the corona pandemic, we need research and new perspectives. Researchers of early childhood education at Abo Akademi University, University of Helsinki, University of Gothenburg, Orebro University and Umea University have studied how children attending day-care or preschool comprehended coronavirus at the time of its initial outbreak. "Earlier research has shown that negative life experiences, such as pandemics, affect children's well-being in the short and long term, and children are especially vulnerable in crises. Thus, it is important to consider how the corona pandemic is being comprehended and expressed by children in their daily environment," explains Mia Heikkila, Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at Abo Akademi University, who is leading the research team. According to Heikkila, children are active, participatory agents capable of contributing to the handling of a crisis with their ideas and actions, if they are given the opportunity to do so. "It is vital to reinforce children's resilience, that is, their capacity to withstand adversities, both during and after a social crisis like the corona pandemic. Previously, it has been shown that supportive relations between adults and children, as well as children's opportunity to participate actively are significant in this respect. Here, early childhood education plays a key role," says Ann-Christin Furu, who works as a researcher at Abo Akademi University, following a period at the University of Helsinki. The present study was conducted as a questionnaire survey among personnel engaged in early childhood education in Finland and Sweden. The results show that children express themselves in multifaceted ways regarding the new, unfamiliar and often heavily changed daily life of the children themselves and of their families, relatives and friends, as well as the day-care or preschool personnel. Children's expression and participation regarding the outbreak of the corona virus are approached through four themes. The first theme concerns health, and it was found that children both have knowledge and wish to know more about the virus itself and how to protect oneself against it. The second theme deals with worry and concern about those close to the child, for example, friends, parents or elderly relatives. The third theme is about how to cope with the changed routines in everyday life. "The fourth theme relates to children's playing, creativity and humor as potential tools to cope with the situation. Children are playing, for example, 'corona tag' and 'being at hospital,' or they come up with corona-related drawings, rhymes or songs of their own," explains Furu. "These expressions can provide the personnel, as well as the parents, with tools to understand what the children are dealing with in the corona situation. It may offer a way to observe one's own group of children, and to create situations where the children can express themselves with regard to the coronavirus," says Furu. "The abundant material we received in a very short time revealed that children have numerous and multifaceted expressions and reflections regarding the corona pandemic. Adults should be aware of this and act accordingly. Also, there are many children who need support in coping with and understanding the situation. Early childhood education should assume a clear role in developing pedagogical approaches that allow room for the various expressions of children, and offer tools to support the children's ability to face challenging situations," says Mia Heikkila. Explore further Child care after the coronavirus pandemic should be more inclusive of children with disabilities More information: Mia Heikkila et al, Barns deltagande i forskole- och daghemskontext under inledningen av coronavirusets utbrott i Finland och Sverige, BARN - Forskning om barn og barndom i Norden (2020). Mia Heikkila et al, Barns deltagande i forskole- och daghemskontext under inledningen av coronavirusets utbrott i Finland och Sverige,(2020). DOI: 10.5324/barn.v38i2.3703 Provided by Abo Akademi University Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Australia must prepare for the "aftershocks" from COVID-19 or risk leaving survivors of the virus struggling to rehabilitate, according to the authors of a Perspective published online today by the Medical Journal of Australia. Associate Professor Steven Faux, Director of Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, and colleagues wrote that rehabilitation needs following COVID-19 were "broad, complex and include cognitive, motor and respiratory sequelae to the infection, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the thromboembolic response. n Wuhan, China, 36% of those with severe COVID-19 had neurological complications such as stroke, critical care neuropathy, and the complications of prolonged bed rest (eg, venous thromboembolism, disseminated intravascular coagulation, acute kidney injury, delirium anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder)," they wrote. "In Italy, rehabilitation physicians have been treating post-extubation dysphagia, impaired mobility, critical care myopathy and neurocognitive losses. n the US, hospitals have had to rapidly transition acute patients to rehabilitation hospitals. In New Orleans, a 1,000-bed post-acute hospital was dedicated to post-COVID-19 disability, with rehabilitation teams treating patients battling persistent hypoxia, stroke, and mental illness. The majority of patients who are ventilated for more than seven days suffer complications that require rehabilitation, 60% are unable to walk, and 17% die within a year," Faux and colleagues wrote. "One-third suffer neurological complications, many require inpatient rehabilitation for over three weeks, and some take over 150 days to regain their capacity to walk independently. Others with stroke or cardiac complications of COVID-19 will require rehabilitation for up to six weeks, with some requiring lifelong support." Australia needed to plan now, not just for survivors in the initial post-acute stage of COVID-19, but also to manage individuals affected in subsequent waves. "Such patients may require rehabilitation, along with those, fearful of infection, who present to hospital late with non-COVID-19 conditions like stroke, and those with deteriorating chronic diseases who have not had access to hospital based services." Faux and colleagues wrote that "many rehabilitation units are not prepared. Inpatient rehabilitation units (public and private) are almost always working to capacity. COVID-19 patients will be expected to be accommodated in addition to usual patients (eg, strokes, spinal injuries, amputations)," they said. Subsequent waves of COVID-19 would strain the rehabilitation sector. "If Australia and New Zealand's success at flattening the curve continues, our existing subacute sector will manage," they wrote. "If not, mobile rehabilitation teams will need to be expanded, systems for patient flow to the private sector will need to be operational, and enhanced tele-rehabilitation services will need to be working. This will require the same vision and leadership that made our acute COVID-19 response world leading, collaborative and publicly supported. In the UK and the US, we see the brutality of this pandemic, with mass burials and the tragic toll on health care workers. Australia and New Zealand have avoided this so far, but it is because we have planned well. We now need to prepare for the recovery phase because surviving may not be the same as living." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Steven G Faux et al. COVID 19: planning for the aftermath to manage the aftershocks, Medical Journal of Australia (2020). Journal information: Medical Journal of Australia Steven G Faux et al. COVID 19: planning for the aftermath to manage the aftershocks,(2020). DOI: 10.5694/mja2.50685 Provided by Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain In a new report, the Imperial College London COVID-19 Response Team found that early implementation and timely adjustment of control measures could be important in containing coronavirus transmission. The researchers say that control measures such as school closures, travel restrictions, and contact tracing, were introduced across provinces early on when few cases were reported, so may have been more effective in limiting and averting transmission. The team also noted that the focus of control strategies shifted, following the first wave of locally driven cases, to compulsory testing and quarantine for all incoming travelers and close monitoring of asymptomatic infections. The researchers say that these strategies could have helped China to maintain a low level of cases over time. The work is presented in the latest report from the WHO Collaborating Center for Infectious Disease Modeling within the MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute (J-IDEA), Imperial College London. Control measures had different impacts The study includes situation reports of the COVID-19 epidemic from mid-January up to 31 March 2020 in 31 provinces or municipalitieswith equivalent levels of administrationof mainland China. The data reveals that school closures, travel restrictions, closed-off management and contact tracing were introduced around the same time in late January but resulted in different impacts across provinces, according to Imperial researchers. Hubei and other provinces in China were the first affected areas of the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to March 2020, these areas experienced first waves of COVID-19 transmission, which were mostly contained following the implementation of several control measures. Compared to Hubei province, the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak, the other five most-affected provinces; Guangdong, Henan, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui, reported a lower case-fatality ratio and proportion of severe hospitalized cases over time. In Hubei, there were fewer contacts traced per case, which might be explained by the reduced contact activity during the lockdown period or the limited capacity of the overwhelmed local health system. Focus of control strategies shifted after first wave From March 2020, the first waves driven by local transmission declined, while the burden of imported cases increased. Focus of control measures was therefore shifted towards testing and quarantine of inbound travelers, to continue the suppression of transmission. The research suggests that early implementation and timely adjustment of control measures could be important in containing transmission and avoiding adverse outcomes of COVID-19. The team are making the collated data publicly available, providing an additional source for research and policy planning in other settings with an ongoing epidemic. Drawing on epidemic progression and response measures in Chinese provinces that were affected by COVID-19 early, the report could provide insights for policy planning in other countries. Since the emergence of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in December 2019, the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team has adopted a policy of immediately sharing research findings on the developing pandemic. Useful data for COVID-19 policymaking Three of the report authors from MRC GIDA and J-IDEA explain their findings: Dr. Han Fu said: "We carried out intensive tasks of data collation for the COVID-19 epidemic across provinces in mainland China. The subsequent analysis shows consistency with the interpretation of the importance of early implementation and proper adjustment of control strategies over the changing epidemic." Xiaoyue Xi said: "By collecting both epidemic data and intervention strategies from provincial health commission in mainland China, our study compares differences in epidemics and level of controls between provinces and provides detailed data to potentially assess the effectiveness of control policies, which might support the response to ongoing global pandemic." Haowei Wang said: "The COVID19 epidemic data in mainland China and an overview of control measures at the subnational level reveal that there is an association between early implementations and containing transmission. These data are made available and should be useful for further researches on epidemic control and policymaking of COVID19." Imperial and China collaboration on coronavirus Earlier this month the leaders of Imperial and Tsinghua University called for global collaboration to tackle coronavirus and other global challenges. A joint symposium organized by the two universities, brought together academics from Imperial and Tsinghua working in economics, vaccine development and diagnostic tools to share their thoughts on the impact of the pandemic and how their research is helping to overcome it. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Fu et al., Report 30: The COVID-19 epidemic trends and control measures in mainland China (2020). Fu et al., Report 30: The COVID-19 epidemic trends and control measures in mainland China (2020). www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global- -19/report-30-china/ Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Fiji's 78-day run without coronavirus is over, with Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama confirming Monday a 66-year-old man tested positive after returning from India. It is the 19th case in the small South Pacific island nation, and more are now expected. "We've confirmed a border case of COVID-19 among a returning citizen while he was securely in the confines of government-funded quarantine," Bainimarama said. All arrivals to Fiji have to undergo 14 days of quarantine. The acting permanent secretary for health, James Fong, said Fiji had deliberately refrained from calling itself 'COVID-free' and was not surprised when the positive test was recorded Sunday. "While Fiji may be free of community-based transmission of COVID-19, this pandemic is still raging beyond our shores," he said. "We don't expect this to be Fiji's last border quarantine case." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP Nations COVID-19 responses, ranked by the UN. Credit: United Nations, Author provided The global Sustainable Development Report 2020, released this week in New York, ranks Australia third among OECD countries for the effectiveness of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, beaten by only South Korea and Latvia. Yet Australia trundled in at 37th in the world on its overall progress in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, which cover a range of economic, social and environmental challengesmany of which will be crucial considerations as we recover from the pandemic. Australia's worst results are in climate action and the environment, where we rate well below most other OECD countries. South Korea tops the list of effective COVID-19 responses, whereas New Zealand (which declared the coronavirus eliminated on June 8, albeit with a few sporadic cases since) is ranked ninth. Meanwhile, the United States, United Kingdom, and several other Western European countries rank at the bottom of the list. South Korea, Latvia, and Australia did well because they not only kept infection and death rates low, but did so with less economic and social disruption than other nations. Rather than having to resort to severe lockdowns, they did this by testing and tracing, encouraging community behavior change, and quarantining people arriving from overseas. Using smartphone data from Google, the report shows that during the severe lockdown in Spain and Italy between March and May this year, mobility within the communityincluding visits to shops and workdeclined by 62% and 60%, respectively. This shows how much these countries were struggling to keep the virus at bay. In contrast, mobility declined by less than 25% in Australia and by only 10% in South Korea. Why has Australia performed well? There are several reasons why Australia's COVID-19 response has been strong, although major challenges remain. National and state governments have followed expert scientific advice from early in the pandemic. The creation of the National Cabinet fostered relatively harmonious decision-making between the Commonwealth and the states. Australia has a strong public health system and the Australian public has a history of successfully embracing behavior change. We have shown admirable adaptability and innovation, for example in the radical expansion of telehealth. We should learn from these successes. The Sustainable Development Goals provide a useful framework for planning to "build back better." The Sustainable Development Goals, agreed by all countries in 2015, encompass a set of 17 goals and 169 targets to be met by 2030. Among the central aims are economic prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. They are arguably even more important than before in considering how best to shape our post-pandemic world. As the report points out, the fallout from COVID-19 is likely to have a highly negative impact on achievement of many of the goals: increased poverty due to job losses (goal 1), disease, death and mental health risks (goal 3), disproportionate economic impacts on women and domestic violence (goal 5), loss of jobs and business closures (goal 8), growing inequality (goal 10), and reduction in use of public transport (goal 11). The impact on the environmental goals is still unclear: the short-term reduction in global greenhouse emissions is accompanied by pressure to reduce environmental safeguards in the name of economic recovery. Australia outperformed the OECD average on COVID-19 reponse. Author provided How do we build back better? The SDGs already give us a roadmap, so really we just need to keep our sights set firmly on the targets agreed for 2030. Before COVID-19, the world was making progress towards achieving the goals. The percentage of people living in extreme poverty fell from 10% in 2015 to 8.6% in 2018. Access to basic transport infrastructure and broadband have been growing rapidly in most parts of the world. Australia's story is less positive, however. On a composite index of performance on 115 indicators covering all 17 goals, the report puts Australia 37th in the world, but well behind most of the countries to which we like to compare ourselves. Sweden, Denmark and Finland top the overall rankings, followed by France and Germany. New Zealand is 16th. It is not surprising, in light of our performance during the pandemic, that Australia's strongest performance is on goal 3: good health. The report rates Australia as on track to achieve all health targets. Australia also performs strongly on education (goal 4), and moderately well on goals relating to water, economic growth, infrastructure and sustainable cities. However, we perform extremely poorly in energy (goal 7), climate change (goal 13) and responsible consumption and production (goal 12), where our reliance on fossil fuels and wasteful business practices puts us near the bottom of the field. On clean energy (goal 7), the share of renewable energy in total primary energy supply (including electricity, transport and industry) is only 6.9%. In Germany it is 14.1%, and in Denmark an impressive 33.4%. Australia rates poorly on goal 12, responsible consumption and production, with 23.6kg of electronic waste per person and high sulfur dioxide and nitrogen emissions. Australia's performance on goal 13, climate action, is a clear fail. Our annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are 14.8 tons per personmuch higher than the 5.5 tons for the average Brit, and 4.3 tons for the typical Swede. And whereas in the Nordic countries the indicators for goal 15biodiversity and life on landare generally improving, the Red List measuring species survival is getting worse in Australia. There are many countries that consider themselves world leaders but now wish they had taken earlier and stronger action against COVID-19. Australia listened to the experts, took prompt action, and can hopefully look back on the pandemic with few regrets. But on current form, there will be plenty to regret about our reluctance to follow scientific advice on climate change and environmental degradation, and our refusal to show anything like the necessary urgency. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Barely three months ago, the anti-malarial drug that President Donald Trump touted seemed like such a sure bet against COVID-19 that Susanna Naggie had a tough time setting up a national clinical trial comparing it to placebo. Colleagues said giving a fake pill would be unethical since the real thing might save lives. Now, hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, has fallen into such disfavor that healthcare workers are leery of Naggie's trial. Called HERO (a loose acronym for HEalth Care Worker pROphylaxis Against COVID-19) it is designed to see if the drug can protect them from infection. "Our original recruitment goal was 15,000," said Naggie, vice dean for clinical research at Duke University School of Medicine. "We are reevaluating that because, with everything that's happened, it has certainly decreased interest among healthcare workers in participating." Of all the hundreds of existing drugs being tested against the coronavirus, it is safe to say HCQ and its cousin chloroquine have been the most contentious. HCQ was rushed into clinical use based mostly on desperation and Trump's endorsement of what he called "a game-changer." So much was diverted that people who use the drug for its proven uses feared shortages and escalating prices. Then rigorous studies showed it didn't help treat or prevent COVID-19. Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization, and warned of potentially deadly side effects. Soon after that, the World Health Organization stopped an international treatment trial of HCQ, and the National Institutes of Health pulled the plug on two big studiesone that appeared to be futile, and another that couldn't recruit enough participants. Yet researchers are not giving up on HCQ. Far from it. Hundreds of studies around the worldincluding dozens in the U.S. and some in Philadelphiaare continuing, according to clinicaltrials.gov, the U.S. government website that lists trials. (The FDA now says the drug shouldn't be prescribed for treating or preventing the coronavirus except in a trial.) Why keep investing in a seeming loser? The most common answers: Studies to date have not been definitive. Results need to be confirmed, or "reproduced," by different research groups. And finding even a glimmer of benefit would be valuable against a virus that is so far unstoppable. But pride, prejudice, and protocols may also be driving hope against hope. The University of Pennsylvania is continuing two trialsat least until the independent board that monitors safety analyzes the latest data. One trial is testing HCQ as a treatment for COVID-19 patients quarantined at home. The other study is testing HCQ to prevent infection in health care workers who are at high risk because of their jobs. "The overall enrollment rate into research studies has decreased primarily because the numbers of COVID cases has decreased" locally, emailed Emma Meagher, chief clinical research officer for Penn's Perelman School of Medicine. "COVID-positive patients and healthcare workers continue to be enrolled in the two trials." HCQ has long been used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis and lupus. In theory, HCQ could curb the coronavirus by reducing inflammation, inhibiting viral replication, and blocking enzymes that the virus uses to break into lung cells. Scientists in China, where the virus emerged in December, found HCQ kept the coronavirus from infecting monkey cells in lab dishes. Circumstantial evidence from small studies of hospitalized patients also hinted at effectiveness. But gold standard studieswhich compare a drug to a placebo or usual care to see whether changes in the test group result from the treatmenthave repeatedly dashed hopes. Last month, British researchers abruptly stopped a large trial of HCQ because it did not help hospitalized patients. After 28 days, 25.7% of patients on the drug had died, compared to 23.5% who received usual carea difference that was not statistically significant, meaning it could be by chance. There was no beneficial effect on length of hospital stay or other outcomes. "Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have been used very widely to treat COVID patients despite the absence of any good evidence," said study leader Peter Horby, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Oxford. "Although it is disappointing that this treatment has been shown to be ineffective, it does allow us to focus care and research on more promising drugs." The potential of HCQ has been dimmed not just by bad results, but suspected fraud. In early June, The Lancet retracted a headline-making study that concluded HCQ might actually increase the risk of death. "We can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources," the journal said. The hope that HCQ might work to prevent disease was undermined by a University of Minnesota study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug or placebo was given to 821 people who had recent close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19. About 12% of those on the drug got sick, compared to 14% on placeboagain, a difference that could have been by chance. However, the study had a big limitation: most people who got sick did not have a diagnostic molecular test to confirm COVID-19. "Testing was in very short supply at that time," explained Radha Rajasingham, an infectious disease specialist and co-leader of the study. The Minnesota trial also could not rule out the possibility that HCQ can decrease the chance of infection if taken before exposure to the virus. Minnesota is now doing a study of "pre-exposure prophylaxsis," or PreP. "I think for something to be used across the country, it would be nice to see a strong reduction in infections50%," said Rajasingham. "If it's something more modest, it would be hard to say whether the side effects are worth it. The drug can cause diarrhea, nausea, drug interactions, and heart arrhythmias." The HERO study, led by Naggie at Duke, is also testing pre-exposure prevention. But Naggie thinks even a 20% reduction in infection risk would be a win. And she stresses that HCQ is generally well tolerated. "As long as there is no evidence of harm and there is potential benefit, we should complete the study to get a definitive answer," Naggie said. "We need definitive answers so we don't continue to rehash these questions." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain US pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson announced Monday an immediate cut in the price of its tuberculosis treatment coursea move NGOs have long been calling for. Bedaquiline, sold under the brand name Sirturo, was approved for medicinal use in the United States in 2012, becoming the first new tuberculosis drug in 40 years to be given the green light. Johnson and Johnson said it would make its bedaquiline tablets available to the Stop TB Partnership in around 135 low- and middle-income countries at $340 instead of $400 for a six-month treatment course. The initiative aims to reach at least 125,000 patients this year and could save national TB programmes up to $16 million, the UN-hosted partnership said in a statement. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) welcomed the news but said the price should come down further, and be extended to more countries. "While we anxiously wait for more affordable generic versions of bedaquiline to become available... today's price reduction is a helpful step," said Lara Dovifat, campaigns and advocacy advisor at MSF's Access Campaign. A bacterial, airborne respiratory disease, TB remains the planet's deadliest infectious killer, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO said 10 million people fell ill with TB in 2018, and 1.5 million died. Incidence and deaths have been declining steadily over the last several years, said the Stop TB Partnership. However, in 2018 there were nearly 500,000 new cases of drug-resistent tuberculosis (DR-TB). "This new agreement is a welcome development and one that will help us move closer to the United Nations High-Level meeting target of treating 1.5 million people with DR-TB by 2022," said Lucica Ditiu, the Stop TB Partnership's executive director. "Even though these days we fight against the new COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot let this new virus stop our progress against TB." Explore further Virus could set back tuberculosis fight by several years 2020 AFP (HealthDay)Three major medical groups are urging Americans to wear face masks, wash their hands and practice social distancing as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the United States. In an open letter to the public released Monday, the groups noted that stay-at-home orders and other social distancing policies curbed the spread of COVID-19 in the spring. "But in the weeks since states began reopening, some of the steps that were critical to the progress we made were too quickly abandoned. And we are now watching in real-time as a dramatic uptick in COVID-19 cases is erasing our hard-won gains," stated the letter from the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, and American Nurses Association. "Hospitals in some states are at or nearing their ICU capacity. Shortages of personal protective equipment and testing supplies continue to pose a dire threat to health care workers and patients alike," the letter said. "And last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress that the U.S. could see 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day if we do not take more precautions. "This is why as physicians, nurses, hospital and health system leaders, researchers and public health experts, we are urging the American public to take the simple steps we know will help stop the spread of the virus: wearing a face mask, maintaining physical distancing, and washing hands," the letter advised. The time to do so is now: The United States set another record for the seven-day rolling average of new cases for the 27th day in a row on Sunday, with 48,000 new infections. More than 2.9 million Americans have now been infected. At the same time, coronavirus-related hospitalizations rose to their highest levels to date in Arizona and Nevada. But Americans "are not powerless in this public health crisis, and we can defeat it in the same way we defeated previous threats to public healthby allowing science and evidence to shape our decisions and inform our actions," the groups said. "But what is certainand what the science and evidence are telling usis that COVID-19 is not behind us and we must resist confusing re-opening with returning to normalcy. Doing so will escalate this crisis and result in more suffering and death," the letter warned. 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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 protection Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain All patients are vulnerable during the immediate post-anesthetic recovery period. The occurrence of functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD) is a rare manifestation during this period. FNSD includes neurological symptoms that are not consistently explained by neurological or medical conditions. This diagnosis should be considered after excluding life-threatening causes and when physical exam signs are inconsistent with an organic cause. The group of researchers from the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S., described the largest case series to date consisting of six patients who developed FNSD in the immediate post-anesthetic period. Additionally, they performed a systematic review of the literature to identify published reports of post-anesthetic FNSD in their paper published in BJBMS. This data may contribute to the presentation, risk factors, management, and treatment outcomes of post-operative FNSD in the context of anesthetic administration, and may also facilitate the stratification of patients who are at high risk for experiencing these episodes. Potential risk factors of FNSD include female sex, history of prior FNSD spell, psychiatric illness and general anesthesia. While no deaths were experienced in patients experiencing post-anesthetic FNSD, many had unanticipated admission to the hospital (53%) or to the intensive care unit (25%). Prompt diagnosis and management of this condition may prevent unnecessary diagnostics, invasive procedures and their associated potential complications, and hospital cost. Explore further Switching from general to regional anaesthesia may cut greenhouse gas emissions More information: Ryan S D'Souza et al. Post-operative functional neurological symptom disorder after anesthesia, Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (2020). Ryan S D'Souza et al. Post-operative functional neurological symptom disorder after anesthesia,(2020). DOI: 10.17305/bjbms.2020.4646 (HealthDay)A majority of toddlers are being screened for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during primary care visits, according to a study published online July 6 in Pediatrics. Paul S. Carbone, M.D., from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues analyzed data from 36,233 children attending 18- and 24-month visits between 2013 and 2016 at 20 clinics within a health care system. The authors sought to identify the characteristics associated with Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) screening completion, as well as the associations between screening and subsequent ASD diagnosis at age 4.75 years. The researchers found that 73 percent of toddlers were screened and 1.4 percent were later diagnosed with ASD. Screening was less likely among Hispanic children (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 0.95), and family physicians were less likely to perform screening (aPR, 0.12). Screen-positive children were more likely to be diagnosed with ASD (aPR, 10.3) and were diagnosed younger (38.5 versus 48.5 months) compared with unscreened children. The sensitivity of the M-CHAT for ASD diagnosis was 33.1 percent, while its positive predictive value was 17.8 percent. M-CHAT follow-up interviews were routinely omitted and referral patterns were uneven. "Performance of the M-CHAT can be improved in real-world health care settings by administering screens with fidelity and facilitating timely ASD evaluations for screen-positive children," the authors write. "Providers should continue to monitor for signs of ASD in screen-negative children." Explore further Revised checklist improves detection of autism in toddlers Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. U of SC: How non-alcoholic fatty liver disease causes Alzheimer's-like neuroinflammation COLUMBIA, SC -- Research from University of South Carolina associate professor Saurabh Chatterjee's laboratory in Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, and led by Ayan Mondal, a postdoctoral researcher from the same lab, has revealed the cause behind the previously established link between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (i.e., NAFLD, recently reclassified as metabolic associated fatty liver disease or MAFLD) and neurological problems. The link they discovered, the unique role of an adipokine (Lipocalin-2) in causing neuroinflammation, may explain the prevalence of neurological Alzheimer's disease-like and Parkinson's disease-like phenotypes among individuals with MAFLD. The investigators, which include members of Chatterjee's Environment Health & Disease Laboratory and researchers from across UofSC*, published their results in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, a pioneering journal in the field. These findings build on years of research conducted by the interdisciplinary team, which has unearthed previously unknown pathways and mechanisms between the liver and the gut microbiome with other parts of the body through their focus on how environmental toxins contribute to liver disease, metabolic syndrome and obesity. MAFLD affects up to 25 percent of Americans and much of the global population - many of whom are unaware of their condition. Yet the effects of this silent disease are far-reaching, possibly leading to cirrhosis, liver cancer/failure and other liver diseases. The findings from the current study not only confirm the strong correlation between MAFLD and neuroinflammation/neurodegeneration that has been established by other recent research, but it explains how this happens. "Lipocalin 2 is one of the important mediators exclusively produced in the liver and circulated throughout the body among those who have nonalcoholic steatohepatitis - or NASH - which is a more advanced form of MAFLD," Chatterjee says. "The research is immensely significant because MAFLD patients have been shown to develop Alzheimer's and Parkinson's-like symptoms as older adults. Scientists can use these results to advance our knowledge in neuroinflammatory complications in MAFLD and develop appropriate treatments." Ninety percent of the obese population and 40 - 70 percent of those with type 2 diabetes appear to have MAFLD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to overweight/obese status and diabetes, other risk factors include high cholesterol and/or triglycerides, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome. These individuals have a higher risk for having diseased livers, which are associated with increased lipocalin 2 - as found in the present study. The lipocalin 2 circulates throughout the body at higher levels, possibly inducing inflammation in the brain. "Chronic neuroinflammation is a critical element in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease," says Prakash Nagarkatti, UofSC Vice President for Research and a member of the research team. "Our study may help design new therapeutic approaches to counter the neuroinflammatory pathology in NASH but also in other related brain pathology associated with chronic inflammatory diseases," adds Chatterjee. ### *Co-authors include Ayan Mondal, Dipro Bose, Punnag Saha, Sutapa Sarkar, Ratanesh Seth, Diana Kimono, Muayad Albadrani, Mitzi Nagarkatti, Prakash Nagaratti. This work has been supported by National Institutes of Health Awards 2-P20-GM-103641-06 (Project 4), 1-P01-ES-028942-01(Tox Core), and P01-AT-003961 (Project 4) to S. Chatterjee; and P01-AT-003961, P20-551 GM-103641, to M. Nagarkatti and P. Nagarkatti. About University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina is a globally recognized, high-impact research university committed to a superior student experience and dedicated to innovation in learning, research and community engagement. Founded in 1801, the university offers more than 350 degree programs and is the state's only top-tier Carnegie Foundation research institution. More than 50,000 students are enrolled at one of 20 locations throughout the state, including the research campus in Columbia. With 56 nationally ranked academic programs including top-ranked programs in international business, the nation's best honors college and distinguished programs in engineering, law, medicine, public health and the arts, the university is helping to build healthier, more educated communities in South Carolina and around the world. This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Are we really all in this together? Vaccine nationalism must be addressed to ensure equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: Pixabay At the end of June, the United States government announced that it had secured the entire supply of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that shortens hospital stays for COVID-19 patients, until September. In March, there were reports that Donald Trump's administration tried to buy a German company working on a COVID-19 vaccine in order to secure the entire supply for the U.S. A group formed by France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands struck a deal in the past few weeks to secure 400 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential vaccine, although other countries are also encouraged to join the group on the same terms. Whether poor countries could afford the terms is another question. It certainly doesn't seem that "we're all in this together"it's looking more and more like a dog-eat-dog world. The group that's most likely to be eaten are those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Gilead, the maker of remdesivir, has license agreements with manufacturers to supply remdesivir in 127 LMICs, but those agreements exclude large middle-income countries such as Brazil, China and Mexico. Vaccine nationalism Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is creating a facility that will enter into advance purchase agreements with pharmaceutical companies guaranteeing the purchase of any eventual vaccines. But this proposal has generated significant global concerns about its impact on equitable access for populations, especially in developing countries. Under the agreement, rich countries will get the first crack at enough vaccine to cover 20 percent of their population, and only then will poorer countries be guaranteed the vaccineand only for their highest priority populations. The Serum Institute of India has entered a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca to acquire one billion doses of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine for LMICs, with a commitment to provide 400 million doses before the end of 2020. But the terms and conditions of the agreement are unknown, including the price and the number of countries eligible for supply. South Africa has started a trial of the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca to try to avoid being left behind in the race to secure a supply. Helen Rees, chairwoman of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, said in a briefing: "That debate about vaccine nationalism now is very criticalThere has to be an equitable distribution of vaccines. It cannot be all for some and none for many others." Costs, supply and control The cost of remdesivir in the U.S. is going to be US$390 per vial, which would amount to US$2,340 per five-day treatment course. It's estimated that remdesivir could be made for under US$1 a dose, less than a quarter of one percent of what Gilead will be charging. At Gilead's price, the company could earn well over US$2 billion in the first year the drug is on sale. The cost will hopefully be much lower in countries that are the recipients of Gilead's licenses, but what about the excluded countries? At this point, no one knows. That includes Canada. Gilead is in the process of submitting an application for approval of remdesivir to Health Canada and, according to Health Canada, the review will be conducted under expedited timelines due to the seriousness of COVID-19. Of course, under the new deal between the U.S. and Gilead, there won't be any remdesivir for Canada to buy until the end of September. Canada could issue a compulsory license to allow generic companies to make remdesivir, but currently that authority expires at the end of September so we may be stuck with Gilead as the only supplier. Gilead controls the supply of remdesivir because it holds the patent on the drug. When Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, was asked if he was going to patent it, his famous response was: "There is no patent, could you patent the sun?" In other words, the vaccine was a public good meant to be used by everyone. Gilead obviously doesn't hold the same view about remdesivir, despite the fact that U.S. taxpayers contributed at least $70.5 million to developing the drug. Canada's role What should Canada be doing about all of this? How is the federal government going to ensure that Canadians have access to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines? Right now, we don't have the capability to manufacture a vaccine in the country. Connaught Laboratories, which was instrumental in helping to develop the polio vaccine, used to be able to make vaccines, but it was sold off by the federal government back in 1989 to a French firm. The federal government should be looking at setting up a Crown corporation to ensure a domestic supply of critical drugs and vaccines at reasonable prices. Until that can be done, the government should extend the compulsory licensing provision in its emergency legislation so that generic companies can be allowed to make future patented therapies at lower costs. But Canada needs to do much more. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was first elected back in 2015, he proclaimed that "Canada is back" in international relations. Despite this promise, Canada has yet to commit to ensuring that any COVID-19 research that is done with Canadian money has to guarantee that products will be available at affordable prices in low- and middle-income countries. Canada has not signed on to the recently established COVID-19 technology access pool being sponsored by the World Health Organization that is designed to help ensure that COVID-19 health technology-related knowledge, intellectual property and data is voluntarily shared. Canada is not back; it's missing in action both domestically and internationally. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. A pupil has his hands sanitized on his return to school in Johannesburg, Monday July 6, 2020, as more of learners were permitted to return to class. Schools were shut down in March prior to a total country lockdown in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus and are now slowly being re-opened. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) Thousands of South African students are returning to school Monday after nearly four months when their classes were closed to combat the spread of the new coronavirus. Students in grades 6 and 11 are starting classes Monday, as the second stage of a phased reopening of schools. The first group of pupils, from grades 7 and 12, returned to classes last month. Returning learners were required to produce indemnity forms signed by their parents granting them permission to resume classes. South Africa's government last week won a legal challenge permitting it to proceed with reopening schools. The lawsuit had said that schools should remain closed because of the danger of the disease spreading among learners and teachers. However, in recent days the government has postponed plans for further grades to return to class amid a quickening speed in the rise of confirmed COVID-19 cases. South Africa has 196,750 cases as of Monday, more than 40% of all the cases reported by Africa's 54 countries. South Africa has recorded 3,199 deaths. At least 2,121 teachers in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, will not be returning to schools as they have underlying illnesses that would put them at higher risk should they become infected. A pupil's hands are sanitised on returning to school in Johannesburg, Monday July 6, 2020, as more learners were permitted to return to class. Schools were shut down in March prior to a total country lockdown in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus and are now slowly being re-opened. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) Since the first phase of the schools reopening last month, 968 schools have had to close due to outbreaks and 2,400 teachers and 1,260 learners have tested positive for COVID-19. Parents who do not feel comfortable sending their children back to school have been encouraged to register them for online schooling provided by the education department. 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. A rendering of B lymphocytes, the white blood cells responsible for producing antibodies to fight infections. Recent research led by Nebraska virologists has found that an overabundance of B lymphocytes infected with the Epstein-Barr virus contributed to the recurrence of multiple sclerosis-like symptoms in mice. Credit: Shutterstock A recent study led by the University of NebraskaLincoln has implicated a leading suspect in two open medical cases: the common recurrence of multiple sclerosis and the fuzzy thread tying MS to mononucleosis. And Nebraska virologist Luwen Zhang believes the team's method of interrogation might just assist the eventual detainment of the culprit. Years of research suggest that getting mononucleosisthe fatigue-inducing "kissing disease" caused by the Epstein-Barr virusmultiplies the risk of later developing multiple sclerosis, the neurological disorder that often impairs movement, vision and speech. The latter develops when the body's own immune system attacks and erodes the protective sheath, or myelin, that coats nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord, slowing or blocking electrical pulses sent via the exposed fibers. Though the causes of the mono-MS link have remained unclear, a promising lead has recently emerged. Both mononucleosis and multiple sclerosis patients exhibit elevated levels of the white blood cells known as B lymphocytes, which crank out the antibodies that help combat viruses and other foreign invaders. That overabundance is fueled by the Epstein-Barr virus, which infects the B lymphocytes and allows them to proliferate unchecked in much the same way that cancerous cells dodrawing the ire of the immune system in the process. To investigate the role of the virus-infected B lymphocytes, Zhang and his colleagues injected mice with virus-laden cells from a human patient with multiple sclerosis. The team then observed the rodents for MS-like symptoms: a limp or paralyzed tail, the partial or complete paralysis of limbs. The mice showed no such effects, suggesting that an overabundance of the infected B lymphocytes is not, by itself, enough to trigger the neurological disease. But Zhang suspected that the B lymphocytes might yet have a part in the process. So the researchers later injected the mice with a protein that normally resides on the surface of the myelin sheath and is an apparent target of the immune system before the onset of multiple sclerosis. The mice began exhibiting paralysis of the tail and limbs; once those symptoms had waned, the team again injected the B lymphocytes alone. This time, the mice showed essentially the same symptoms as they had when exposed to the myelin protein. When the supply of infected B lymphocytes subsided, so too did the symptoms. That waning and waxing of MS-like symptoms resembled the cycle of remission and relapse seen in about 85% of human patients, Zhang said. The similarity suggests that the overabundance of B lymphocytes could be at least partly to blame for those relapses, he said. The fact that infected B lymphocytes from people without multiple sclerosis managed to incite the same symptoms further supported the team's hypothesis. "Nobody knows the exact mechanisms behind these relapses," said Zhang, professor of biological sciences and member of the Nebraska Center for Virology. "This over-proliferation of the B cells seems to be a factor. It's not a causative factor, but it promotes multiple sclerosis formation in our mouse model." Given that the over-proliferation is also seen in the mononucleosis that often precedes multiple sclerosis, Zhang said it represents a worthy subject of interrogation for researchers pursuing MS therapies. Working with a mouse model similar to the one demonstrated by the Nebraska team could be a good start, he said. The team found that it could predict the timing and severity of the MS-like symptoms in its mice by accounting for when the infected B lymphocytes were administered. And that, Zhang said, could assist the early testing of pharmaceutical drugs designed to limit the common relapses. The greater the predictability and control of the MS-like symptoms, the more precisely and confidently researchers can measure the potential effects of a given drug. "That's what I'm thinking is the true importance of this workthat it gives us a way to test different drugs," Zhang said. "It creates more potential for treatment." The team reported its findings in the Journal of Medical Virology. Explore further Slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis More information: Pascal Polepole et al. Epstein Barr virusimmortalized B lymphocytes exacerbate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in xenograft mice, Journal of Medical Virology (2020). Pascal Polepole et al. Epstein Barr virusimmortalized B lymphocytes exacerbate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in xenograft mice,(2020). DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26188 William Hogarth, A Harlot's Progress, Plate 5 (1732). Shows Moll Hackabout dying of syphilis, having come to London as a young woman from the countryside and fallen into prostitution. Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum 250 years ago, over one-fifth of Londoners had contracted syphilis by their 35th birthday, historians have calculated. The same study shows that Georgian Londoners were over twice as likely to be treated for the disease as people living in the much smaller city of Chester at the same time (c.1775), and about 25 times more likely than those living in parts of rural Cheshire and northeast Wales. Following years of painstaking archival research and data analysis, historians Professor Simon Szreter from the University of Cambridge, and Professor Kevin Siena from Canada's Trent University, have just published their disturbing findings in the journal Economic History Review. They may not have surprised James Boswell, the celebrated biographer of Samuel Johnson, who recorded up to 19 episodes of venereal disease in his diary between 1760 and 1786. Boswell left a candid record of his many sexual exploits with prostitutes in London in this period, as well as the pain caused by contracting STIs. Today, however, the revelation could help to transform our understanding of the capital's population structure, sexual habits and wider culture as it became the world's largest metropolis. Cambridge's Simon Szreter said: "It isn't very surprising that London's sexual culture differed from that of rural Britain in this period. But now it's pretty clear that London was in a completely different league to even sizeable provincial cities like Chester." The researchers are confident that one-fifth represents a reliable minimum estimate, consistent with the rigorously conservative methodological assumptions they made at every stage. They also point out that a far greater number of Londoners would have contracted gonorrhea (or, indeed, chlamydia) than contracted syphilis in this period. "The city had an astonishingly high incidence of STIs at that time", Szreter says. "It no longer seems unreasonable to suggest that a majority of those living in London while young adults in this period contracted an STI at some point in their lives." "In an age before prophylaxis or effective treatments, here was a fast-growing city with a continuous influx of young adults, many struggling financially. Georgian London was extremely vulnerable to epidemic STI infection rates on this scale." On experiencing initial signs of discomfort, such as a rash or pain in urination, most people in Georgian England hoped that they only had 'the clap' (gonorrhea) rather than 'the pox' (syphilis), and would have begun by self-medicating with various pills and potions. But for many, the symptoms got worse, leading to debilitating pain and fevers which they couldn't ignore. This care was provided, for free, by London's largest hospitals, at least two specialist hospitals, and many poor law infirmaries, as well as privately for those who could afford it. To maximise the accuracy of their estimates, Szreter and Siena drew on large quantities of data from hospital admission registers and inspection reports, and other sources to make numerous conservative estimates including for bed occupancy rates and duration of hospital stays. Along the way, they excluded many patients to avoid counting the false positives that arise from syphilis's notoriously tricky diagnosis. Of particular value to the researchers were surviving admissions registers from the late 1760s through to the 1780s for St Thomas's and Guy's Hospitals which consistently housed 2030 percent of their patients in 'foul' wards reserved for residential treatment for the pox. But the researchers also drew on evidence for St Bartholomew's hospital; workhouse infirmaries; and two subscription hospitals, the Lock and the Misericordia, which also cared for 'Foul' men and women. Patients in London's foul wards often battled their diseases for six months or more before seeking hospitalization. This helped the researchers, making it highly likely that the majority of patients they were counting in the records were suffering from significant protracted symptoms more characteristic of secondary syphilis than of gonorrhea, soft chancre, or chlamydia. After making careful adjustments, Szreter and Siena reached a final conservative estimate of 2,807 inpatients being treated for pox annually across all institutions c.1775. By dividing this figure by London's population, falling within the catchment area of the hospitals and workhouses studied, they arrived at a crude annual rate of treatment per capita. By then comparing this with existing data for Chesterand making further adjustments to account for demographic and social differences between the two citiesthey converted London's crude rate into a comparable cumulative probability rate. This suggested that while about 8% of Chester's population had been infected by age 35, the figure for London was well over 20%. A major factor is likely to be the increasing movement of people through London in this period, combined with the financial precarity experienced by young adults aged 1534. Young women were particularly well represented among new arrivals to the city, and they were often placed in positions of domestic and economic dependence on mostly male employers. The full 20% chance of infection applies to individuals continuously resident in the capital from age 15 through to age 35. While this applies to most Londoners, among the sizeable mobile minority of the capital's population, who were probably at most risk, some came and went and so spent only part of that most vulnerable period of their lives exposed to this high level of risk. The historians emphasise that STIs were particularly rife among young, impoverished, mostly unmarried women, either using commercial sex to support themselves financially or in situations that rendered them vulnerable to sexual predation and assault like domestic service. They were also rife among two sets of men: poor in-migrant men, many still unmarried and on the margins of London's economy; and, a range of more established men like James Boswell, who were able to pay for hospital or private treatment. "Syphilis and other STIs can have a very significant effect on morbidity and mortality, as well as fertility", Szreter explains. "So infection rates represent a serious gap in our historical knowledge, with significant implications for health, for demography and therefore for economic history. We hope that our work will help to change this." "Understanding infection rates is also a crucial way to access one of the most private, and therefore historically hidden, of human activities, sexual practices and behaviours." Explore further Study calculates 18th century syphilis rates for first time More information: Simon Szreter et al. The pox in Boswell's London: an estimate of the extent of syphilis infection in the metropolis in the 1770s, The Economic History Review (2020). Simon Szreter et al. The pox in Boswell's London: an estimate of the extent of syphilis infection in the metropolis in the 1770s,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13000 Credit: Pixabay Many women believe that once they've had a caesarean, they are not able to give birth vaginally. They may have been told that a previous caesarean adds 'complications' and makes labour 'too risky,' or that it's 'safer' to have another caesarean. But is it? A Western Sydney University study has found that it is possible for women to have a successful VBACand to feel safe, secure and supported in their birth choiceif they engage the services of a midwife. Hazel Keedle, Ph.D. Candidate and Lecturer from the University's School of Nursing and Midwifery, is lead researcher on the 'Women's experiences of planning a vaginal birth after caesarean in different models of maternity care in Australia' study. 490 women who planned to have a VBAC in Australia within the past five years were surveyed, and the results were recently published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. Ms Keedle said the study revealed the rates of VBAC in Australia are significantly influenced by the model of care that the women receive. "In Australia, a majority of women receive standard antenatal care, provided by the public hospital systemin which they have standard, free appointments within the hospital setting, and see a range of health care professionals throughout their pregnancy," said Ms Keedle. "Other women are able to access a 'continuity of care' (CoC) modelwhere they see the same hospital midwife working in a midwifery group practice or a privately practicing midwife or obstetrician for their appointments, and elect to have this health care professional present at the birth of their child in either a public or private hospital, at a birthing centre, or at home." The study aimed to explore the differences in women's experiences under these three common models of care in Australia: standard maternity care; CoC with a doctor; and CoC with a midwife. The results indicate that women who accessed CoC with a midwife were: More likely to have a birth plan (82 percent, compared with 66 percent for CoC with a doctor, and 74 percent with standard maternity care); More likely to feel their health care provider was confident in their ability to have a VBAC (89 percent, compared with 71 percent for CoC with a doctor, and 54 percent with standard maternity care); Less likely to use pain relief (35 percent reported not using pain relief, compared with 13 percent for CoC with a doctor, and 19 percent with standard maternity care); More likely to have an upright birthing position (45 percent, compared with 18 percent for CoC with a doctor, and 34 percent with standard maternity care); More likely to have a water birth (21 percent, compared with 3 percent for CoC with a doctor, and 5 percent with standard maternity care). Ms Keedle said the study revealed stark differences in the models of maternity care available in Australiawith women significantly more likely to report having a positive, affirming experience if they received CoC from a midwife. "In the survey, women were asked about their ability to make decisions, and their feelings of control during their pregnancy and the birth of their babies," said Ms Keedle. "The results indicate that women who had continuity of care with their midwife were more likely to feel safe, secure and supported; more likely to report having a positive birthing experience, where they had more options available to them; and more likely to feel that they were able to make decisions. "In comparison, women who received 'fragmented care' often seeing multiple midwives and doctors throughout their pregnancy and not developing a relationship with their care provideroverall experienced lower autonomy, and were more likely to have experiences of feeling belittled or disrespected during childbirth." Ms Keedle said the study also uncovered significant differences in the length of time taken for antenatal appointments across different models of maternity care. "The majority of women's appointments were between 10-15 minuteswhereas, if they had continuity of care with a midwife, the appointments were between 30-60 minutes," she said. Ms Keedle said ensuring that women have a positive birthing experience is important, as a traumatic childbirth can stay with women for the rest of their lives and have significant psychological, emotional, physical and social impacts. "Developing a caring, supportive relationship with your health care provider is critical for women to be able to effectively communicate their feelings and preferences, and for their choices to be taken into account in the birthing room," she said. "What this study highlights, is that the standard medical care provided in Australian maternity wards is not effective. "When women see multiple midwives and doctors throughout their pregnancy and do not receive continuity of care, they are more likely to have negative experiences during childbirth. "It also shows there is a difference between continuity of care with a midwife and a doctor." More information: Hazel Keedle et al. Women's experiences of planning a vaginal birth after caesarean in different models of maternity care in Australia, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2020). Hazel Keedle et al. Women's experiences of planning a vaginal birth after caesarean in different models of maternity care in Australia,(2020). DOI: 10.1186/s12884-020-03075-8 Finally, a break came in the fall of 1990. A forester for the Bureau of Indian Affairs came across a rusted backpack frame and a pair of World War II-issue binoculars. They were in the North Fork of the Jocko River, on the opposite slope of the Mission Mountains from where most of the searching had taken place and eight air miles from where Prange had left his car. Deputy Dave Ball, head of Missoula County's search and rescue team, had a hunch and obtained the items the next March. "In June, Ball and others found numerous camping items in the vicinity of the backpack discovery, including a sleeping bag zipper and the decayed remains of a blanket Marian Prange had given her son," the Missoulian's Michael Moore reported. Prange came to Montana in September. She said she recognized the blanket as soon as she saw it. She was comforted to know where her son's last resting place was and planned to visit it often. Still questions lingered. Ball said Prange had a custom-made knife, a unique belt buckle and probably a rifle that hadn't been found at the campsite. "I'd sure be glad to hear from somebody who found them," he said. Marian said any information that sheds light on her son's death would provide solace. The Fifth Amendment also states that private property (cannot) be taken for public use, without just compensation, setting up the process we refer to as eminent domain. The Montana Constitution takes this concept a step further, stating, Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use... The concepts that underlie these Constitutional protections are simple. When private property is used for a public purpose, the public (through the local, state or federal government) should compensate the private property owner for the use of that property. In the absence of compensation, that private property owner would be forced to bear the cost of the public purpose. In the case of the coronavirus shutdown, every Montanan has conceivably received a benefit from the government edicts that shut down thousands of businesses. Those regulations flattened the curve, delayed infection for most of us, and prevented our health systems from being overwhelmed. Those regulations have also done immense damage to thousands of businesses. The public that benefited now has an obligation to ensure that those businesses are properly compensated for the damage done to them. The federal relief package was designed to do just that. We just celebrated the founding of this nation in which truly great leaders took up arms against the overwhelming power of the British Empire, fought a bloody war of independence, and at a huge cost in lives, homes and businesses, somehow prevailed. Yet now, in our hour of great peril as a global pandemic wreaks havoc on the nation, the silence from our current batch of politicians is appalling. While their inaction reaps an almost unimaginable toll of disease, suffering and death, our populace is justifiably wondering, where are our political leaders when we really need them? Of course we have come to expect a leadership vacuum from the White House, where a self-absorbed reality TV actor occupies the Oval Office. His record of abject failure hangs like an albatross around his neck as he tries to wish it all away, pretend its not happening, and simply move on to the next episode of The Apprentice President. Disclaimer : The views expressed in the forum are the views of the user writing the post, and not that of moneycontrol.com. You agree, by accessing this forum, that moneycontrol.com bears no liability for any posts on this forum or, any losses suffered by following any advice posted on this forum. moneycontrol.com operates this real time, open, unmoderated, private forum for users to exchange information and to discuss various investing techniques. moneycontrol.com or, its personnel do not post anything, or vet the content posted, on this forum. moneycontrol.com reserves the right to deny service to anyone. You, and not moneycontrol.com, assume the entire cost and risk of any trading you choose to undertake. You are solely responsible for making your own investment decisions. If you choose to engage in such transactions with or without seeking advice from a licensed and qualified financial advisor or entity, then such decision and any consequences flowing therefrom are your sole responsibility. Graduates with honors Among us Morgantonians: J. Gordon Queen In and around the city: We told ya the Fourth of July celebration was going to be good and by crackety, it was. We think it was wonderful. If you had been in the parade you could have seen the multitudes lined up along the streets in the route of the procession. As the old song goes, The crowds were from near and far and pretty girls were everywhere. Thats the way it was here. As we have said before, we must keep this celebration going and with this and our Christmas parade, we will become the city of parades. That would be great and would fit right in with Morganton will grow whether we like it or not. Hats off to all who had a part in fostering or promoting this Fourth of July celebration, with many more to come. A Japanese man has become the first person in the world to hold a master's degree in ninja studies, after completing a graduate course that involved learning basic martial arts and how to stealthily climb mountains. Genichi Mitsuhashi, 45, spent two years studying the history, traditions and fighting techniques of ninjas the mysterious covert agents of feudal Japan at the country's Mie University. Known for their secrecy and high levels of skill, ninjas were masters of espionage, sabotage, assassination and guerrilla warfare dating back to at least the 14th century. Yet Mitsuhashi said ninjas were also independent farmers, and he moved to the mountainous province of Iga, 220 miles from the Japanese capital Tokyo, to better understand how they lived. "Iga is where Ninja used to live. The climate of this area created the very nature of ninja," he said. Mitsuhashi grows his own rice and vegetables in Iga, where he runs a local inn. He also teaches martial arts and ninjutsu the art of the ninja at his own dojo. March 15, 1943-June 23, 2020 Our beloved David Jens Hansen husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend went on to the pure Presence of God on June 23, 2020. David was born in North Bend, Oregon on March 15, 1943 to Dale Henry Hansen and Sylvia Mabel Keizer Hansen in the Keizer Hospital. He was the youngest of three boys; Russell and John were his older brothers. He grew up in Coos Bay, played on the Marshfield High School football team, and worked in his fathers company, Hansen Electric. He enjoyed tuna fishing in the Pacific on his familys boat, fly fishing, bird hunting, waterskiing, and the family dogs. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Army, served in the Air Artillery Unit of the Oregon National Guard and attended the University of Oregon. He graduated with a bachelors degree in Art, with a focus on sculpture. For several years he was a working artist, and participated in sculpture shows in Spokane, Coos Bay, Eugene and Portland. At the University he met Janis Lee Harney who became his beloved life-long partner. ARCHIVED - Escaped Covid positive migrant recaptured in Cartagena The 25 year old, who climbed out of a 4th floor window in the hospital using bedsheets, was found in the Escombreras industrial area Cartagena in the early hours of Sunday morning was recaptured in the evening and returned to the hospital. The Covid-positive illegal migrant who escaped from the fourth floor of the Santa Lucia hospital inCartagena in the early hours of Sunday morning was recaptured in the evening and returned to the hospital. The Algerian arrived in a small boat a week ago, and was part of a block of 108 illegal migrants who were rescued by the coastal vigilance services last weekend. All of the migrants were tested for covid, as increasing numbers have been giving positive tests, right along the Spanish coast. (see article reproduced below) Eight of this batch of arrivals tested positive in total. The positives were all hospitalised and their close contacts quarantined. 5 remain in the Santa Lucia. He had been hospitalized for a week "in a locked room" on the fourth floor of the Santa Lucia Hospital, which has a "remote surveillance system". The health center also has private security. The 25 year old tied several sheets together and escaped from his fourth floor room, jumping about two meters to the center terrace. From there he escaped into the street. This is not the first time one of the group have attempted to escape. On Friday evening another one of the group managed to escape from the hospital, but was detained alongside the access roundabout by police. Last week a 14 year old Covid positive migrant attempted to escape from the hospital in Lorca, but was detained before he reached the main entrance. Migrant transit centres are temporarily closed so the Spanish government has no mechanism by which to repatriate those reaching Spanish soil illegally in small boats During the state of alarm decreed by the coronavirus crisis, at least 2,545 migrants have irregularly entered Spain, of which 2,384 (94%) arrived by sea. Illegal immigrants attempting to enter Spain in pateras or small boats, is a regular occurrence along the Spanish coast, migrants choosing the shorter routes across from the African coast via Morocco arriving in the various provinces of Andalucia, from Algeria and landing in Andalucia, Valencia region and the Murcia Region, or the longer routes from Algeria to the Balearic islands and a fourth across to the Canary Islands. All attempts are made to intercept the boats out at sea by the Spanish coastguard, which undertakes a major vigilance operation to prevent the pateras arriving undetected and their occupants disappearing off into the Spanish countryside. All those intercepted are brought into Spanish ports, their medical condition assessed and the migrants taken to migrant transit centres(CIE) where they are temporarily held whilst attempts are made to repatriate them to their country of origin; 45 days is the maximum time permitted for this process, after which, if they cannot be repatriated, the Spanish government is obliged to release them onto Spanish soil. On average, only 36% of repatriation cases are successful. The migrants are not given residency rights and are not allowed to work legally, which means that some end up being exploited or earning money illegally, and others continue their journey on to other European countries, France or Belgium where there are large established communities of migrants (and some trying to reach the UK) and other destinations. The onset of the Covid crisis initially halted the flow of migrants, as both Algeria and Morocco closed their own external borders, but whilst this has the effect of limiting the number of migrants from entering via the African Continent, it also prevents the Spanish authorities from repatriating migrants who have successfully reached Spain. Irregular migrants are normally held in a migrant transit centre for the 45 day period, but these were all closed during the state of emergency as the authorities could not repatriate the migrants. Algeria and Morocco are still closed off, so the centres in turn, remain closed. But this hasnt stopped the mafias who earn millions transporting irregular travellers across to Spain. In Morocco confinement of the Moroccan population is very strict, so very few boats are reaching the provinces of Cadiz, Malaga or Granada, but boats from Algeria are more numerous, reaching the coast of Almeria, Murcia and the Balearic Islands, their numbers growing as word spreads that the Spanish Authorities cannot hold or repatriate those who reach Spain. There are believed to be thousands of would-be migrants waiting for their chance to make the journey across into Europe, living in hidden encampments, and these have not escaped the Covid crisis which has engulfed the world, so recently, a number of the migrants reaching Spanish soil are testing Covid positive. During the state of alarm decreed by the coronavirus crisis, at least 2,545 migrants have irregularly accessed Spain, of which 2,384 (94%) arrived by sea, according to data from the Interior Ministry. Most of them (1,412) arrived by boat on the shores of the Canary Islands. Although the Covid cases in Spain have been largely brought under control by a strict lockdown, there have recently been a number of outbreaks, some of which are being attributed to illegal immigration, such as that of Navalmoral de la Mata (Caceres), or that of a Red Cross reception center in Malaga. In the case of Navalmoral de la Mata (Caceres) a migrant who had arrived in Almeria on 24th May had been transferred to a Red Cross centre in Caceres along with a larger group of around 50 migrants, none of whom had been tested. Some of the other migrants who arrived in the same boat had been sent to Soria, and it was here that one of them tested positive for Covid. It wasnt until five days after the migrants had been moved that the Caceres authorities were informed that a positive had been found in Soria, and were warned to test all of those distributed amongst six houses for Covid, 20 of whom were found to be positive, having been in close contact with the patient zero. He walked out of the house and into the community and a search warrant had to be issued to track him down and bring him back into quarantine, sparking extreme concern in the local community. In Malaga there were 103 cases at the Red Cross welcome centre, the origin believed to have been an aid worker who caught the virus whilst volunteering in the Canary Islands and who subsequently sparked off a major outbreak amongst staff at the centre in Malaga and many of the migrants the centre was sheltering. The Canary Island of Fuerteventura only had two positives between April 23rd and June 17th, when an inflatable boat arrived from El Aaiun (Western Sahara) with 14 positive cases on board. And four days later, another boat came from the same port with 11 others. And these are not isolated cases, there are many more, including our own in Murcia, which have this week caused a major stand-off between our regional government and the national government with several days of arguing, as well as causing upset amongst local residents in the locations in which they are being housed. On Monday this week 7 Algerians reached Aguilas in a small boat, two of them testing positive for Covid-19. They were put into quarantine and temporarily housed in an encampment alongside the Guardia Civil installation in Aguilas, provided by Cruz Roja. Four cases were also detected amongst 108 migrants who arrived in a dozen small boats at the weekend and were taken into Cartagena, adding to the one case detected earlier in the same week, from a separate boat arrival in Aguilas. In that case, 23 police officers were quarantined after coming in contact with the first individual.On Tuesday it was reported that the 14 year old covid-positive who had arrived in the first boat in Aguilas and was being monitored in the Rafael Mendez hospital in Lorca, had tried to leave the hospital, causing distress for other patients and staff. The patient, who doesnt speak Spanish, was described as having caused damage in the hospital and being in a highly anxious state, and although he didnt succeed in escaping the hospital, staff later expressed their concern about the situation, saying that the hospital is not a jail. Of the 108 migrants who arrived last weekend, the four positives were taken to hospital, whilst the remainder were located in temporary accommodation by the Cruz Roja and the Fundacion Cepaim (which works to help refugees and migrants). Eight people, close contacts of the positive cases were put in quarantine. At this point, the calls to find suitable accommodation intensified, the Mayoress of Cartagena meeting with the Government Delegate to the Region of Murcia (the highest representative of the Spanish state in the region who looks after the interests of the national Government, such as the Guardia Civil, prisons, coast guard and government-run bodies), Jose Velez to insist that the national Government provide more resource to help control the arrival of the pateras and resolve the issue of what happens once migrants reach these shores. The Government Delegate wrote to the Murcian regional government requesting that the region provide accommodation for the migrants as the state-run migrant centre at Santomera (CIE) was closed. He stated in his letter that the same locations that had been used by the regional government to house the homeless during the state of emergency would be perfectly suitable for the purpose, (there were several problems at one of these locations in Mazarron after the residents rioted on two occasions and unsettled locals). However, the regional Minister of Health, Manuel Villegas, responded that the Delegation should have sufficient means for this itself and "if you do not have the capacity, you should ask for help". Han despedido al grito de "perros,maricones,hijos de la gran puta" a unos migrantes a los que han desalojado por su presion.Fueron trasladados a un piso de Los Nietos(Murcia) para pasar la cuarentena tras estar en contacto con 4 positivos por covid. Luego que no hay racismo y tal pic.twitter.com/E5EI0T0pWZ Ibon Perez (@ibonpereztv) July 3, 2020 By this point on Thursday, some of the migrants had endured the unpleasant experience of being heckled by residents of Los Nietos, where six immigrants were temporarily housed in calle Mujol, in a property owned by Caritas. Rumours had spread that these were Covid positives, and there was a risk that locals could be infected. There were even rumours that one of the young men had escaped, and frightened residents gathered in the streets when cars came to transfer them to a Red Cross centre in Murcia on Thursday afternoon, heckling and shouting, as police separated them from the migrants. On Friday afternoon the president of the neighbour's association said that the residents were "not racist" but were "frightened" and criticised the lack of communication and explanations about what was happening for the neighbours. In Murcia city residents in the district of la Fama where nine migrants who are close contacts of those who have tested positive and who had arrived in Cartagena were being housed in a property owned by Cruz Roja were also concerned, upset by the presence of two police cars and guard in the street outside the property in a residential area where the young men were being quarantined. It was stressed that the young men were not being arrested, but simply offered a roof over their heads as they had nowhere else to go until they had completed a quarantine period and had not tested positive. The Government Delegate issued a press statement on Thursday evening explaining that he could only hold any irregular migrants for 72 hours, as the only mechanism by which they can be detained for a further 45 days is the issuing of a judicial order for repatriation, after which they must be sent to the migrant transit centres, which are closed. Finally, on Friday afternoon, it was announced that an agreement had been reached between the regional government, Government Delegate and Cruz Roja to temporarily house migrants who either tested positive or had been in close contact with others who had tested positive for a 14 day quarantine period. Cruz Roja would undertake to house the migrants and the regional government would supply additional accommodation as required, with assistance and vigilance by the Policia Nacional. The regional government stated that although illegal migration was the competence of the national Government, they were extremely concerned at the prospect of outbreaks in the resident population ( should Covid-positive migrants be left to wander freely) and were also concerned that residents not be disturbed (by the migrants being housed in unsuitable accommodation) as had occurred in Los Nietos, we have offered our collaboration to prevent the sacrifice of Murcian residents during the lockdown being wasted, they said. However, this doesnt resolve the problem that as long as the Migrant Transfer Centres remain closed there are no repatriation orders being issued and after 72 hours there is no legal mechanism to prevent illegal migrants who test negative being detained in Spain. The role of the humanitarian charitable organisations who will be looking after the migrants is to give medical assistance, help, advice and information and should those in their installations wish to leave then they can do so at any time; the only route by which they can be prevented is for the health department to obtain a judicial order should it be felt that they represent a health risk to the general public, which would only be done for those testing positive or held in quarantine. Which is itself an added incentive for all those who are desperate to get to Spain to take advantage of this window of opportunity a point being seized on by Vox far-right politicians in other areas of the country. Not all boats are detained. On Thursday Almeria media reported that a woman carrying a baby and child had been found walking along the road close to where an empty boat was later found. Had she arrived alone? Had any of her undetected companions been Covid positive? How many more boats are reaching Spain undetected??????? --> ARCHIVED - Murcia government has paperwork ready to issue confinement notice if necessary This is ready to go and can be implimented within hours Image: Military Emergencies Unit at work On Monday the Murcian regional government held a meeting of the regional Covid Monitoring Committee to analyse the current epidemiological evolution of the covid virus in the region. Following the meeting, regional Minister of Health Manuel Villegas, answered questions from the media, one of which related to the confinement orders issued at the weekend in Catalonia and Lugo, Galicia. When asked about the possibility of making a territorial confinement in the Region as has been done in these two regions, the Minister of Health answered that "there are no magic figures that tell us when to do it", as confinement can apply to a single building (as was the case last week when an apartment block was isolated and locked down) or an entire city and the number of infections, the speed and the transmission of the virus will all be factors which influence how and when that decision is made. He acknowledged that the Bolvian outbreak which has resulted in 38 cases and nearly 300 quarantines in the region "has been complicated" and acknowledged that "perhaps it would have been necessary to consider confinement, but it was impossible if it affected ten municipalities." However, he made it clear that the regional government has prepared the necessary legal documents in case a confinement becomes necessary within the Region and this can be implemented in a matter of hours should the regional government consider it necessary to do so. Last Monday the regional president made it absolutely clear that he would not hesitate to take whatever measures were necessary to protect the population of the region from irresponsible behaviour. On Sunday, Broderson issued a proclamation that all people in public locations in the city were required to wear masks. She said she hoped no citations would have to be issued, but the proclamation included a municipal infraction which can carry a $500 penalty. Barry said his office would not enforce any such citations, because the proclamation was consistent with the state. The supervisors also delayed for a second time voting on whether to approve special funding to the Muscatine County Public Health Department to continue COVID-19 mitigation efforts, saying more information was required before the decision can be made. No date was set for a second work session regarding the departments request for an additional $135,000 for the next quarter. Public Health director Christy Roby Williams requested the funding to address COVID-19 on a quarterly basis so the department can continue its response. She submitted two budgets. One was the worst case scenario with the command structure at full capacity. The other operated at reduced capacity. We need to know where the money will come from," Sorensen said. If this keeps up for any further amount of time the board will have to make difficult decisions. MUSCATINE Mayor Diana Broderson was unable to finish reading a proclamation requiring the use of masks or face coverings Sunday afternoon when a group of about 50 residents gathered in front of Muscatine City Hall to protest the requirement disrupted her speech to the point she had to end it. According to the proclamation, which can be viewed on the City of Muscatine Web page, beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, July 6, masks will be mandatory inside public areas as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19. While the proclamation specifies the police can treat infractions as a municipal infraction which has a penalty beginning at $500, Broderson hopes this would not be needed. She likened it to people in the community shooting off fireworks in the weeks leading up to Independence Day, saying she did not believe any citations were issued to people lighting fireworks, and the police just gave people warnings. Nobody is going to be hauled off to jail, Broderson said after the aborted press conference. This will give our police officers a tool to use as they see fit, but our police officers know what they are doing and they will handle this like they handle every other thing. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of face coverings when people are in public, around people not in their immediate household, and especially when they can't keep six feet of distance from others. Illinois has mandated their use in public, Iowa has not. Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson called a press conference for Sunday, where she plans to mandate wearing face coverings in public, according to a news release from that city. On Thursday, Scott County Health Department Director Ed Rivers said contact tracing showed people who become infected go to work or attend group activities, spreading the virus to others. Some of the confirmed cases said they had been in close contact with 10 to 20 people during the time they would have been infectious. "Recently we have heard reports of shoulder-to-shoulder patrons, without masks, in bars, businesses requiring employees who have tested positive to come into work, large gatherings at parties without deference to social distancing, business gatherings of a large number of people in close quarters without masks: these are not behaviors that will keep the virus from spreading," Rivers said. Please log in to keep reading. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. As U.S. authorities ready the biggest antitrust case of the new century, there are lessons to be learned from Europes attempt to inject more competition into search, one of the most lucrative digital markets. Two years after a record fine and an order to give Europeans more choice, Alphabet Inc.s Google retains a vice-like grip on this business. In May 2018, just before the European Commission acted, Google had 97% of the mobile search market in the region, according to StatCounter. Its share for May this year was even higher. We dont want them to copy the current EU model because its fundamentally flawed, said Gabriel Weinberg, chief executive officer of rival search service DuckDuckGo, referring to the Justice Department and state regulators. The firm spoke recently with those authorities about Googles dominance. How U.S. regulators proceed, and whether they learn from Europes experience, will help determine the fate of what is likely to be the most important antitrust case since the DOJ sued Microsoft Corp. more than two decades ago. With more than $100 billion in cash, and quarterly profit exceeding $6 billion, big fines have little impact on Google. So regulators are increasingly looking to remedies that may change the companys behavior and offer consumers more choice. The DOJ reached out to at least one European company, Ecosia, to discuss versions of Googles remedy in the EU case, the German search engine has said. In 2018, Europes antitrust authorities focused on the subtle but important factors that solidified Googles grip on the regions mobile search market. Getting a service pre-installed on smartphones often leads to big user gains, as does appearing on the home screens of handsets. Google has used deals tied to its popular Android mobile operating system to ensure its search engine gets such prized placements, leaving little room for rivals. The EU ordered Google to stop bundling its search and browser apps with Android. Google reacted by charging phone manufacturers to license Android. It also opted to appease regulators by offering choice to users but only on new Android phones from March 1 and only via a choice screen of three alternative search apps shown once when people switch on the handsets for the first time. Theres a precedent for approaches like this working. In 2017, Russias antitrust watchdog ordered Google to let competing search engines and other apps be pre-installed on Android smartphones in the country. The company also had to create a choice window for devices already in the market, so users could choose their default search engine when they next updated the software on their devices. Since that ruling, Russias Yandex NV has grown its search market share in the country by 20 percentage points to 58%, according to Bernstein Research estimates. Europes choice screen has failed to produce similar results so far. In March and April, rivals DuckDuckGo, Givero and Seznam.cz AS won slots to appear but got no new downloads for their search apps. DuckDuckGo was offered to customers across Europe while Givero bid to appear only in Denmark and Seznam in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In May, Seznam said it got fewer than 1,000 downloads. Two other search providers said the choice screen has brought them no new customers. They asked not to be identified, citing a non-disclosure agreement with Google. Another search app, PrivacyWall, saw no major market share shifts, according to CEO Jonathan Wu. Microsofts Bing, a well-financed and capable challenger to Google, has barely appeared on the choice screen, winning just one slot in the U.K. from May to June. Microsoft and other search companies declined to comment. Bernstein analysts have already concluded that the choice screen is unlikely to be a major disrupter to Google in its current form, according to a June 18 research note. Google declined to give details on how many times the choice screen has been shown to European consumers. Android provides people with unprecedented choice in deciding which applications they install, use and set as default on their devices, the company said. In developing the Choice Screen for Europe, we carefully balanced providing users with yet more choice while ensuring that we can continue to invest in developing and maintaining the open-source Android platform for the long-term. The internet giant may be maintaining its lead in Europe because consumers think it has the best search engine. Google invests billions of dollars a year to provide quick, accurate answers to queries. Wall Street analysts often say users would switch back to Google after using alternatives, and theyve been right before. However, the case of Yandex suggests otherwise. Many Android phone owners in Russia have been using Yandexs search engine for at least a year and the market share data indicate theres been no big switch back to Google. It isnt the European Commissions job to force Google to be smaller or less dominant. Instead, the antitrust authority tries to set up mechanisms to trigger more choice and remove roadblocks. That means even if the choice screen is seen billions of times by consumers in the region, Googles market share could remain at 97%. The European Union probably did the best job they could with the rules that they had, said Aitor Ortiz, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. The problem is maybe the rules were not fit for the purpose. The real reason the European choice screen has flopped so far is that the remedy was designed poorly, according to Google rivals in the region. While Russia ordered Google to show consumers search alternatives on Android phones, the EU merely asked Google to choose how it could remedy alleged bad behavior and a lack of competition. Google mimicked a pop-up menu first used in 2009 by Microsoft to resolve an EU antitrust probe into web browsers. Showing users other browser options even helped Googles Chrome gain ground against Microsofts Internet Explorer. Microsoft didnt charge rivals to appear in this browser choice screen and showed as many as 12 rivals. In contrast, Google is using a paid auction to pick rival apps for each country. The highest bidders appear in three slots on the Android choice screen alongside Google. The company only gets paid when another app is downloaded, but it also gets valuable data on rivals business strategies. The approach lets the fox watch the hens, said Brian Schildt Laursen, owner of Denmark-based Givero. Apps have to tell Google what markets are important to us, and what we are willing to pay to get into these markets. A general misunderstanding was that EU citizens from March 1 had a free choice of search engine on Android, he added. This was not the case. Successful bidders are supposed to get monthly invoices from Google showing how many of their apps have been downloaded. That data should help rivals tweak their bidding strategies. But DuckDuckGos Weinberg said these reports have been pretty useless so far. Weve gotten two that are just flat zero, he said. We have not seen any real activations or any evidence that any real user has seen the preference menu. DuckDuckGo has proposed changes that include scrapping the auction and replacing it with a non-pay-to-play model that includes far more than four search options for consumers. Weinberg and Schildt Laursen also blame another part of the process for delaying new Android phones that come with the choice screen. Unlike the Russian order, which applied to existing handsets, the EU remedy gives consumers a one-time prompt that will only pop up on new phones. Android phone manufacturers must update their software and get Google to sign off on the new versions before shipping the latest devices. This means few smartphones even have the choice screen yet. The Covid-19 pandemic has also curbed purchases of new handsets and disrupted some production, adding to delays. Schildt Laursen said no new Android phones with the choice screen have come out in Denmark. DuckDuckGo and PrivacyWall said the only phone that has been approved and shipped to Europe recently is the Xiaomi Mi 10, which is relatively pricey and not widely available. The problems with the Android auction echo another EU antitrust order for Googles shopping search that critics say enriches Google without delivering much real traffic to competing product search firms. While the EU hasnt weighed in on whether these remedies are effective, it is preparing a legal pathway that would let it demand fast changes to anticompetitive behavior instead of big fines. Margrethe Vestager, the EUs top antitrust official, has voiced frustration about her inability to increase competition in tech markets. During a recent webinar, she blamed the pandemic for the initial poor results of the choice screen remedy, saying very few Android phones have been shipped due to the Covid crisis. More phones and more time may give a clearer picture on whether users will pick another search app when they are given the choice, she argued. For DuckDuckGos Weinberg, though, theres already one clear lesson for the U.S.: Do it differently. A choice screen done right could actually work, he said. MARTINEZ Rachel Deikman on Saturday took her two young children to a real-life civics lesson, helping paint the words Black Lives Matter on the street in front of a Contra Costa County courthouse in downtown Martinez. When asked why they were there on a beautiful sunny morning, 61/2-year-old Dahlia Deikman said emphatically, Because we think Black lives matter! Added her mom, Its important for us to come together as a community. Not everyone in Martinez Saturday was on board with the Black Lives Matter movement, however a point made clear by a man wearing a red Make America Great Again hat and a Four More Years T-shirt, along with a woman who tried to cover up the letters in the word Black using black paint and a roller. On a video, the woman said, This is not happening in my town as she applied the black paint. The two were chased away after a few minutes, and the mural restored a short time later. A witness gave police a photograph of the suspects vehicle which was described as a Nissan pickup truck with the word NICOLE on the right side of the tailgate in silver lettering. The truck has a camper shell and the license plate is 52701B1. What happened yesterday to deface that mural was hostility in an ugly form, City Councilwoman Noralea Gipner said Sunday morning on social media. Permission was given to put that there but permission was not given to deface it. Police said it appeared the couple came to the location with the specific purpose of vandalizing over the mural, noting that The community spent a considerable amount of time painting this mural only to have the suspects destroy it by dumping and rolling paint over part of the message. The community spent a considerable amount of time putting the mural together only to have it painted over in a hateful and senseless manner, Police Chief Manjit Sappal said in an announcement. The City of Martinez values tolerance and the damage to the mural was divisive and hurtful. Please help us identify those that are responsible for this crime, so they can be held accountable for their actions. More than 100 people all wearing masks and almost all showing concern for social distancinghad helped paint the words over a five-hour period Saturday. This public art project was organized by the local group Martizians for Black Lives, which asked the City of Martinezs Recreation Department for permission to do the mural. It is patterned after similar paintings in many cities across the United States, including Oakland and San Jose. Justin Gomez of Martinez, a lead facilitator for Martizians for Black Lives, said the project came together quickly. It was spurred not only by the similar murals in other cities, but by the discovery by two people June 28 of anti-Black Lives Matter fliers about a half-block apart on a residential sidewalk near downtown Martinez. Those fliers ignited a community-wide discussion of how people are treated. People have now seen racism in their community; now we have to confront it, Gomez said as dozens of people used rollers to apply yellow paint to the street in front of the Justice Wakefield Taylor Courthouse a few feet away. Rachel Deikman, a Martinez resident, agreed. Black lives are marginalized, and there needs to be a difference made, she said. And nows the time. It was no accident the big yellow letters Black Lives Matters were applied in front of a courthouse, Gomez said. He said the legal system is a gateway to mass incarceration that has disproportionately made Black people and other people of color victims, and has helped perpetuate institutional racism. The system is made up of millions of little systems, Gomez said. We have to look locally first. He said he has been heartened by the swift denunciation of the racist fliers by local elected and civic leaders. One of those leaders was City Councilman Mark Ross. Our town will not be deterred, and such hateful acts will only coalesce us as the kind and forward leaning community we are, Ross wrote on social media the day after the fliers were reported. Getting the street mural approved so quickly, Gomez said, is further proof the city is committed to addressing the issue. As of early Sunday afternoon, the one block of Court Street was still blocked off, the mural intact, now surrounded by dozens of chalk images. But Gomez said that, at the end of the day, the message on the pavement is simply words, which probably wont last all that long. What were really advertising for, what we really need, is a shift in racist policy, he said. Some people will never listen. But if were not doing things like this, well never have the conversation. Jordan Felix, a Martinez native now living in Austin, Texas, was back in town this weekend visiting friends. He said he was happy to be in front of the courthouse Saturday painting, and happy with Martinezs response to the local and national issue. You dont want to feel that your city doesnt have your back, Felix said. You dont want people to feel theyre being left behind. Kate Rubins, the first Napa native to go to space, is entering the final three months of preparation for her return trip to the International Space Station where she served four years ago. Starting Oct. 14 and continuing for about six months, her schedule will be replete with scientific work 250 miles above the Earth, dealing with materials ranging from supercold gases to stem cells. And unlike during her first stay in 2016, Rubins expects to get to work quickly, without the awkward introduction to moving about in microgravity. As a rookie youre not so good at navigating and flying through the space station, so you tend to crawl hand over hand on the handrails, the biochemist-turned-space traveler quipped during a NASA news conference last week in Houston, while recalling her original 115-day stint aboard the orbiting space platform. It takes a little while to get your space legs; you have to learn how to transport yourself from one end of the space station to the other, how to carry out your activities. The fact that everything floats seems trivial until you get a payload that has 20 different parts and you have to figure out where to put them. Managing something as new and unpredictable as the COVID-19 pandemic is, by its nature, a difficult task. That said, Californians are rightfully confused by the rapid, even erratic, changes of course that Gov. Gavin Newsom has steered in recent weeks after drawing praise for his early and straightforward actions in the first days of the public health crisis. Newsoms regular, although no longer weekly, webcasts on COVID-19 have evolved into repetitive talkathons resembling those annoying public television fundraising breaks. At one, he will boast of the states progress in slowing the infection rate, and at another chastise Californians for not wearing their masks and threaten a crackdown. In March, Newson shut down large segments of the states previously booming economy and soon laid out seemingly firm markers that had to be met before reopening them. +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? But as the economic toll mounted, with millions of suddenly jobless workers, he began to back off even as infections and deaths continued to mount. He gave counties the option to reopen their economies if they met certain criteria, saying localism is determinitive and seemingly shifting the political onus to local officials. By early June, many segments of the economy were opening. But within a couple of weeks, infections and deaths were spiking alarmingly and Newsom was becoming defensive about the wisdom of reopening. When you have people that are struggling and suffering with severe mental health and brain health issues, when people are not attending to their physical and emotional needs, those social determinants of health also must be considered, Newsom said on June 15. We have to recognize you cant be in a permanent state where people are locked away for months and months and months and months on end to see lives and livelihoods completely destroyed, without considering the health impact of those decisions as well. However, from rationalizing the reopening, Newsom has shifted in recent days to admonishing Californians for not being diligent enough in wearing the masks he mandated and avoiding large, virus-spreading congregations. He has hinted that he might have to clamp down on the economy once again and threatened counties that ignore state guidelines with a loss of state aid. +2 Dan Walters: PG&E faces an uncertain future California's 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, columnist Dan Walters says. We give an enormous amount of power, control and authority to local government, but what were now looking for is accountability, Newsom said. If they decide, You know what? Even though the numbers are going up, were done. Weve got this, and were just going to dismiss these new rules and regulations, were going to attach some considerations and consequences to that, he warned. At the end of June, just hours after issuing harsh warnings about noncompliance, he staged still another webcast that was characteristically long-winded, repetitive and full of techno-speak but eschewed admonitions and mostly returned to friendly, even fatherly, reminders about wearing masks. Were still in the first wave of this pandemic, he said. Were not in the second wave. +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. Reporters, confined to brief inquiries via telephone, attempted in vain to elicit more clarity from Newsom about his policies, such as asking whether school children would be required to be masked when they returned to classrooms. He called it a more complicated question than you can imagine and said it would be answered at some indefinite point in the future. OK, managing a pandemic is difficult, but its made more so when the managers messaging is erratic. It undermines the trust thats central to effective crisis management or foundational, to use one of Newsoms favorite, much-repeated buzzwords. 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. 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. When I was in France, I told my mom about drinking rose and loving it. She was like, Cool, Im glad you are having a ball in Europe, but I thought you were working, and I told her, When in Rome, Michele said. But I found out that she [Melinda] loved rose, too, and so when I turned 21 we launched our own brand. Intentional Rose Rose is a type of wine typically made from red-wine grapes produced in a similar manner to red wine but with vastly reduced time fermented with grape skins. This reduced skin contact gives rose its pink hue and results in a lighter flavor than that of red wine. Rose can also be made from saignee (the bleeding off of liquid from the must during winemaking to concentrate a red wine) or by making a white wine and then adding in a dash of color at the end from red wine. Although there are excellent roses made through these other methods, many purists believe they are more of an afterthought or a way to increase cash flow. (Saignee often is just poured down the drain, and because rose wines do not age in oak barrels they are less expensive to produce and can go to market quickly.) CNN reporter Bruna Macedo was attacked by a homeless man live on air in Brazil. The footage of the incident was spread on the Internet. The incident took place on Saturday morning in Sao Paulo, when Macedo and her crew were filming a report on the rise of the water level of the Tiete River due to heavy rains. Unexpectedly, a manwhose face was covered with a hatapproached the reporter and, threatening her with a knife, snatched a mobile phone from them and then fled. According to media reports, Macedo was not injured, and she returned to the TV studio. However, it turned out that the incident had scared the woman a lot. Armenia ruling party member warns pseudo-lawyers 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections and election observation missions Armenia acting PM: Political crisis is resolved and is over Zakharova: Russia hopes to strengthen ties with Armenia based on results of snap parliamentary elections Gunshots heard in Yerevan, city's police chief is at scene of incident Erdogan invites OSCE Minsk Group to Karabakh Armenia President calls on making transition to presidential system again Armenia MFA: Specifics of work with UNSC regarding Azerbaijani invasion of Armenian territory not subject to disclosure Armenia acting minister says he will start using 'steel mandate' tomorrow at 9 am National-Democratic Axis Party issues statement on results of Armenia snap parliamentary elections Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of another 3 servicemen removed from Varanda (Fizuli) region Ukraine heralds free trade zone with Turkey Armenia President receives OSCE/ODIHR Director and OSCE PA Secretary General Child dies from car accident in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province Armenia Izmirlian Medical Center head is charged Karabakh President congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on victory in snap parliamentary elections Russia MOD congratulates Armenian counterpart on snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia Investigative Committee charges citizen and head of campaign headquarters for violating ballot secrecy Iran's President-elect says he has always protected human rights Georgia PM congratulates Armenia's Pashinyan on winning snap parliamentary elections PACE and OSCE PA election observers say they are content with elections in Armenia, in spite of violations India kicks off nationwide free COVID-19 vaccination campaign Azerbaijan, Pakistan agree to conduct military exercises Armenia 1st President's spokesperson on snap parliamentary elections Armenia MP: Azerbaijan is celebrating Nikol Pashinyan's victory, ruling party is holding fireworks display Charles Michel congratulates Pashinyan on winning snap elections OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission in Armenia says it heard allegations of administrative resources use OSCE Secretary General thanks Russia for its work in Minsk Group on Karabakh settlement Lavrov calls to wait for formation of new Armenia government Armenia's Pashinyan garners 197,000 less votes compared with elections in 2018 OSCE/ODIHR: Power outages did not considerably affect Armenia snap elections Garo Paylan congratulates Armenia's Nikol Pashinyan 'Armenia' bloc issues statement on results of snap parliamentary elections Opposition party leader: 'Armenia' bloc doesn't accept results of vote and will apply to Constitutional Court Digest: Armenia snap elections is over, Pashinyans bloc leads with almost 54% OSCE Secretary General: We work within Minsk Group framework to achieve long-term solution to Karabakh conflict Bayramov: Azerbaijan complains about non-fulfillment of points of trilateral statements on Karabakh Azerbaijan FM believes that Armenia authorities will draw right conclusion Pompeo: US should not negotiate with Iran's newly elected President Azerbaijan blackmails, threatens Armenia under guise of cooperation proposal Member of Armenia delegation to PACE: Azerbaijan delegation head said 50% of minefield maps given are fake Armenia freedom fighter is detained, declares hunger strike 9 children killed in accident during storm in US Swedish parliament passes vote of no confidence in PM's country Kremlin is following Armenia post-election situation Artsakh emergency service: Armenian, Azerbaijani sides exchanged bodies from time to time Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office accuses Armenia of deliberate deforestation in Lachin 13 Armenian captives trial starts in Azerbaijan What will happen if Armenia opposition forces do not accept their parliamentary seats? Armenia Central Electoral Commission approves preliminary results of snap parliamentary elections US won't issue threats or ultimatums to China in connection with investigation of pandemic causes CIS, CSTO observers find no considerable irregularities in Armenia snap parliamentary election voting Armenia acting PM visits Yerevan military pantheon Heiko Maas considers new EU sanctions against Belarus inevitable 26 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Civil Contract Party will have constitutional majority in new parliament Reduction of US military assets in Saudi Arabia will not affect its defenses Armenia new National Assembly to have 107 MPs Borrell says mistrust is at core of political crisis in Lebanon 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 More than half a billion US dollars for the reconstruction and upgrade of energy infrastructure. Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote about this on his Facebook page, posting a respective video made by the government. Accordingly, the reconstruction and upgrade of the Ashnak village electricity substation will be completed soon. About $10 million has been invested, and the modernization of the infrastructure in the system will help ensure energy security, reliability, as well as uninterrupted and stable energy supply to consumers in Armenia. According to Tigran Melkonyan, head of the Energy Department, they plan to invest $550-600 million in the infrastructure sector to build power lines for substations. YEREVAN. The Ministry of Health informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about the latest deaths from COVID-19 in Armenia. These patients were aged 72 (female), 64 (male), 71 (male), 72 (male), 87 (male), 78 (male) and 79 (male). Also, all of them had pre-existing chronic diseases. An Egyptian doctor was arrested after the release of an article on the countrys fragile healthcare system. According to Reuters, the pharmacologist was detained after the note regarding the lack of protective equipment. The journalist was arrested after submitting a claim to receive official data regarding the coronavirus. A pregnant woman was arrested after her friend had used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case. During the fight against the coronavirus, security services are trying to repress the criticism against President Sisis cabinet in regard to the solution to the health crisis. YEREVAN. The second motion to arrest Mikael Minasyan, Armenias former Ambassador to the Holy See, was denied. Amram Makinyan, one of Minasyan's attorneys, informed about this on his Facebook page. "We will still have a chance to talk about the mentioned motion. I can only say [for now] is that it was more illegal and unfounded than the previous motion. Are new motions expected to arrest Mikael Minasyan? I'm convinced that, yes. Will they be more illegal and unfounded than the previous motions? I also have no doubt. Will the [state-funded] Public TV company and RFE/RL, which are making videos about Mikael Minasyantogether with the investigative bodies, not cover for the second time in a row the denial of the motion to arrest Mikael Minasyan on the grounds that it is unfounded and illegal? The answer is painfully obvious," Makinyan added. The UK government announced a large package of aid to the country's famous art and cultural institutions. "Britains globally renowned arts, culture and heritage industries will receive a world-leading 1.57 billion rescue package to help weather the impact of coronavirus," the UK government said in a statement. According to Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, 'this package gives our sector a fighting chance of survival.' Some UK art institutions are reopening after quarantine, including The National Gallery in London. The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange said on Monday that it had applied a temporary short-selling ban on six foreign financial institutions because they had failed to notify authorities about short selling transactions last week, Daily Sabah reported. Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse Securities, and Merrill Lynch would be banned from short selling for three months. While Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Wood and Company Financial Services will be banned for one month. Turkish authorities arrested 115 ex-officials for investigating the assets of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ahval reported referring to Hurriyet. The ex-officials of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) face charges of links to the Gulen movement, which Turkey accuses of directing a military coup attempt in 2016. They detained pending trial. Turkish authorities found that some of the suspects used an encrypted messaging app known as Bylock, which is believed to have been used almost exclusively by members of the Gulen movement. After the failed coup attempt, Turkey confiscated assets worth over EUR 10 billion, allegedly owned by the Gulen movement, through various MASAK investigations. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Director General Christophe Deloire has called on Baku to stop blocking Harlem Desirs candidacy again as the OSCE representative on media. "RSF stands in full solidarity with Harlem Desir. His OSCE RFoM [Representative on Freedom of the Media] mandate is crucial to the defence of media freedom across the OSCE region. We call on Azerbaijan to immediately cease efforts to block consensus for the renewal of his mandate," Deloire wrote on his Twitter page. To note, Baku has blocked the renewal of Desir's respective mandate in response to his ongoing criticism of Azerbaijan for violating the freedom of the media and journalists in the country. Eurozone investor spirit improved in July but the recovery could stall, Reuters reported referring to a survey. Sentix Eurozone investor confidence index rose to minus 18.2 points from minus 24.8 in June, not reaching the consensus forecast of analysts polled by Reuters at minus 10.9. The current situation index rose for the second month in a row, rising to minus 49.5 from minus 61.5 in June. However, the expectations index for the bloc fell to 19.5 from 21.8. There is a danger that the upswing could run out of steam as early as the summer, said Sentix managing director Manfred Huebner. Investors expect that only nearly 60% of coronavirus-related economic losses would be recovered within a year in the euro zone. While German investors expect that only nearly 65% of losses will be recovered during the year, despite government economic incentives. The expectations index in Europes largest economy also slightly fell. Sentix interviewed 1.109 investors between July 2-4. STEPANAKERT. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Haroutyunyan on Monday chaired a regular sitting of the Commandants Office, reported the Central Information Department of the Office of the President of Artsakh. Commandant, Minister of State Grigori Martirosyan presented a brief description of the work carried out during the recent month within the framework of prevention of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the republic. The President listened to the report of acting Healthcare Minister Arayik Baghryan as well, which included international, Armenian and Artsakh statistics on coronavirus disease and a brief description of the work carried out by the Ministry of Healthcare. Arayik Baghryan provided details on the causes and consequences of the emergence of new outbreaks in Stepanakert and the regions, and highlighted the work of the polymerase chain reaction laboratory. The republic's President touched upon the recent cases of the disease registered in medical institutions demanding from those responsible to take strict measures to exclude them in the future or to reduce them as much as possible. Arayik Haroutyunyan instructed to show maximum strictness, first of all, towards all the employees involved in the state system and economic entities, who do not properly implement the relevant decisions and instructions of the Commandant. The January 2020meeting in Geneva was complementing our work. Armenias Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stated this in an interview with Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) TV. "Over the past two years, we have been in quite dynamic processes in terms of a peaceful settlement, to work under the auspices of the [OSCE] Minsk Group Co-Chairs and through their mediation, the whole volume, the package of the peace settlement with the Azerbaijani side, on many issues related to the most important and priority issues for us, which stem from the comprehensive, stable, lasting security system and, most importantly, the status of Artsakh, too. At the same time, we have a very important and fundamental issue, which refers to the formation of an appropriate environment in which a peaceful settlement takes place, and which involves both reducing the risks of escalation, human contacts, and preparing people for peace. And finally, the third important, very important direction: The more direct participation of the elected authorities of Artsakh and the people of Artsakh in the peace process. At the same time, it is very important to maintain and strengthen the sense of ownership in Artsakh toward the peaceful settlement in the sense that, in the end, the issue concerns Artsakh, the people of Artsakh, and the settlement first of all concerns them. In all three directions, we have had quite active work with the Co-Chairs and the Azerbaijani side. Our last meeting took place in January 2020 in Geneva, and this meeting was complementing our work in this period and was outlining our next steps, which were to some extent were undermined by this pandemic. However, our constant contact with the Co-Chairs remains uninterrupted, and on the other hand, we were able to hold two videoconferences with both the Co-Chairs and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, and it was very important in that the contact is maintained. We are always in touch, and we work on all the issues that can be addressed now," said the FM of Armenia. To the remark that recently the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan stated that they used the time of calm to strengthen their positions on the frontline and are now ready, Mnatsakanyan said: "This reflects the rhetoric, and we have addressed this issue. The Armenian side, Artsakh is more than determined to protect its security, its right to life, its freedom. Armenia has been and remains the only guarantor of Artsakh's security and freedom. Both Armenia and Artsakh have enough potential to defend, defend themselves, and the language of threats is strongly rejected by the Armenian parties [to the conflict]. The Armenian parties are also ready and are doing their best to strengthen the defense; this is an ongoing and permanent process. Shooting with one hand, negotiating with the other; such a formula is ineffective and unacceptable and is rejected. Asked whether Yerevan's plans to restore Stepanakert's direct participation in the negotiation process have changed, the FM answered: "This is a very important, principled issue for us, and above all, it is a practical issue if we are really focused on an effective peace process, the implementation of this function in terms of ensuring direct efficiency, Artsakh's participation in the process is a practical issue. This in no way diminishes Armenia's responsibility and obligations in this process, but it ensures much clearer effectiveness in ensuring real progress in the peace process. The people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will never be exposed to the dangers that they faced in the 1990s. This is what Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said in an interview with Artsakh Public Television. Lets not forget the situation regarding security in Artsakh in 1992 and 1993. The ongoing threat is expressed in different periods, be it hatred, Armenophobic policy, maximalism, expression of maximalist approaches during peace and more extreme manifestations, like in April 2016. This is an ongoing reminder that the threat is real. Unfortunately, the threat remains an extremely visible factor, and this is one of our priority issues. Alongside this, the right of Artsakh to self-determination and the right to live freely has been and remains one of our priority objectives. Within this scope, we will continue to work within the scope of the peace process and negotiate with the other side under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. There cant be a situation where the security of the people of Artsakh and their rights are at risk, starting from protection of the right to life and ending with expression of the right to collective self-determination, Mnatsakanyan said. Mnatsakanyan also touched upon the parliamentary and presidential elections held in Artsakh and stated that those elections showed that the people of Artsakh are serious about and responsible for exercising and ensuring their right to self-determination. Throughout the past thirty years, Artsakh has more than clearly expressed the commitment and ability to build a system underlying the person with all of his rights and freedoms. This is very essential and further reinforces the major message that Artsakh has earned its right to exercise its right to self-determination. I would like to state how important my meeting with President of Artsakh Arayik Haroutyunyan and our discussions are. What was also very important was my meeting with the newly elected speaker and deputies of the National Assembly, he said. Tomorrow the Constitutional Court of Armenia is scheduled to examine the combined case for determining the compliance of Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia with the Constitution based on the applications of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and Judge Davit Grigoryan of the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction (although Kocharyans attorneys have withdrawn their application from the Constitutional Court, the Constitutional Court hasnt decided to accept or reject the case for proceedings yet). The court hearing might not be held since the quorum of the required number of judges is in jeopardy. Chief of Staff of the Constitutional Court Edgar Ghazaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that a court hearing of the Constitutional Court is considered with quorum, if at least five judges of the Court participate, but at this moment, there are only four judges. Hrayr Tovmasyan, who is no longer President of the Constitutional Court as a result of the disputed amendments to the Constitution adopted by the National Assembly, is on official leave. Members of the Constitutional Court Arevik Petrosyan is also on leave, while Alvina Gyulumyan, Felix Tokhyan and Hrant Nazaryan, whose powers are deemed to be prematurely terminated under the amendments to the Constitution, arent able to show up at the Constitutional Court. On July 3, Hrant Nazaryan tried to enter the Court building, but police officers prohibited his entrance without any legal justification. Currently, there are only four judges performing their duties in the Constitutional Court. The July 7 court hearing may be held only if Hrayr Tovmasyan and Arevik Petrosyan interrupt their leaves and return to participate in the hearing, but Edgar Ghazaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that he doesnt know if those judges intend to do that. The Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia has rendered a decision to uphold the appeal of the Prosecutor Generals Office and has forwarded the criminal case regarding the murder of Poghos Poghosyan at Aragast Cafe (on the night of September 24, 2001) to the first instance court of general jurisdiction for a new examination. The Prosecutor Generals Office reported the following: As reported earlier, the Prosecutors Office of Yerevan had examined the criminal case regarding the murder of Poghos Poghosyan at Aragast Cafe on the night of September 24, 2001 examined by the Yerevan first instance court of general jurisdiction, the application filed by the attorneys of Steven John Newton and the documents attached to the application. As a result, it was established that on September 25, 2001, under the criminal case instituted under the elements of crime provided for by Article 100 of the former Criminal Code, former official (one of the bodyguards of then President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan) Aghamal Harutyunyan was declared guilty of committing careless murder with criminal negligence. The court considered as confirmed the incident that took place at the cafe on September 25, 2001 at 12:30 a.m. By the court decision of February 21, 2002, accused-on-trial Aghamal Harutyunyan was sentenced to two years in prison, but the specified punishment wasnt applied conditionally and a one-year probation period was prescribed. A study of the application addressed by Steven John Newton to the Prosecutor General of Armenia and Newtons statement on the incident (attached to the application) showed that there is essential information about the incident that attest to the commission of intentional murder with hooligan motives by a group of people. Proceedings have been instituted, several actions have been taken, witnesses have been interviewed, and they have confirmed the fact that Poghos Poghosyan was beaten by a group of people. Steven John Newton has also been interviewed and has given a similar testimony. A forensic medicine expert examination has been designated, the results of which are essentially different from the data in the conclusion given under the criminal case in the past. Based on the aforementioned, on January 17, 2020, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Armenia appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeal with the request to review and completely overturn, on the ground of newly emerged circumstances, the verdict reached on February 21, 2002 and forward the case to a relevant lower court for new examination. On July 6, 2020, with its decision, the Criminal Court of Appeal upheld the appeal filed by Deputy Prosecutor General A. Harutyunyan, overturned the verdict of February 21, 2002 and forwarded the case to the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction for new examination. The court also ruled to select signature to not leave the country as a pre-trial measure for Aghamal Harutyunyan. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko today held phone talks with first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and invited him to Minsk to attend the Summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, BELTA reports, citing the press service of the President of Belars. Lukashenko congratulated Nazarbayev on the occasion of his 80th birthday and on recovering from an illness. The two leaders agreed to meet soon. The Summit of the Eurasian Economic Union will take place in October in Minsk. The parties also discussed the situations in Belarus and Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev conveyed his best wishes to the people of Belarus and expressed support to the countrys leadership. President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Arayik Haroutyunyan today convened a working consultation devoted to the public housing projects under implementation in Stepanakert. Representatives of Dominik System, who were attending the consultation, told the President about the course of construction works in the multi-apartment district that the company is laying the foundation for in Stepanakert. Haroutyunyan stated that the construction has to be brought into compliance with the requirements of the draft of the main city plan of Stepanakert, and representatives of the Ministry of Urban Development need to give a relevant professional conclusion before the apartments are obtained by the Artsakh Investment Fund. According to the President, according to the logic of the declared policy, the price for obtaining apartments will be proposed by the government, and if the contractor has a better proposal, he or she will be free to determine the price. The companys representatives thanked President Haroutyunyan for the cooperation and promised that, according to plan, 120 apartments will be ready in 2022, and another 180 will be ready in the course of the next three years. The coronavirus situation in Armenia remains dire. This past weekend, the country reported about 1,000 coronavirus cases, and the healthcare system still has a heavy workload. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated during a briefing held after the session of the Commandants Office today. There is bad news in all countries because those countries have declared the start of a new wave of the coronavirus. On Saturday, I toured a district in Yerevan and distributed face masks, and the main problem that I noticed was that citizens dont believe in the impact that their behavior has on the coronavirus situation. I was surprised to hear several citizens say they dont know anyone with the coronavirus. This means there are still people who havent faced this problem. When the government sees that the healthcare system cant serve citizens anymore, the only way out of the situation will be to declare another lockdown, knowing well that this will deal a major blow to the economy, he said. The government understands that it cant constantly extend the state of emergency, but it is most likely that the state of emergency will be extended again. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated during a briefing held after the session of the Commandants Office today. Well try to improve the legislation on states of emergency in such a way that the government has the tools to lead a certain anti-epidemic policy when the state of emergency is lifted. Yes, the government is also considering the fact that it cant constantly extend the state of emergency since this is a problem, but we must also take into consideration the anti-epidemic situation. We will extend the state of emergency at least one more time, Pashinyan said, noting that even though the situation is relatively stable now, nobody can say what will happen tomorrow. During a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am, deputy of the Bright Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Ani Samsonyan said even though Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had said citizens are not materials to be fined, the increase in fines for not wearing masks proves the opposite. The My Step faction proposes to raise fines for not wearing masks outdoors and indoors. According to the deputy, the authorities are failing in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and are already abusing the publics trust and patience. The deputy assumes that the authorities are doing this because they are compelled to take extreme measures, they have to sell the large amount of face masks in the market or they are intentionally going to the extreme so that they have a reason to extend the state of emergency. Samsonyan added that the increase in fines in the current social conditions is abnormal and is making citizens lose patience. Official alert issued over suspected bubonic plague The bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, and is often fatal. Image: Shutterstock Authorities in an Inner Mongolian city issued a warning on Sunday, one day after a hospital reported a case of suspected bubonic plague. The health committee of the city of Bayan Nur issued the third-level alert, the second lowest in a four-level system. The alert forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague and asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes, and to report any sick or dead marmots. Sunday's warning follows four reported cases of plague in people from Inner Mongolia last November, including two of pneumonic plague, a deadlier variant of plague. The bubonic plague, known as the "Black Death" in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents. Plague cases are not uncommon in China, but outbreaks have become increasingly rare. From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths. (Reuters) France says Huawei will not face blanket ban France's decision over Huawei's equipment is crucial for two of the country's four telecoms operators, Bouygues Telecom and SFR. Photo: Reuters The head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company. "What I can say is that there won't be a total ban," Guillaume Poupard told Les Echos newspaper in an interview. "(But) for operators that are not currently using Huawei, we are inciting them not to go for it." The US government has urged its allies to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West's next-generation communications, saying Beijing could use it for spying. Huawei has denied the charges. Sources told Reuters in March France would not ban Huawei but would seek to keep it out of the core mobile network, which carries higher surveillance risks because it processes sensitive information such as customers' personal data. France's decision over Huawei's equipment is crucial for two of the country's four telecoms operators, Bouygues Telecom and SFR, as about half of their current mobile network is made by the Chinese group. "For those that are already using Huawei, we are delivering authorisations for durations that vary between three and eight years," Poupard said in the interview. State-controlled Orange has already chosen Huawei's European rivals Nokia and Ericsson . Poupard said that from next week, operators which have not received an explicit authorisation to use Huawei equipment for the 5G network can consider a non-response after the legal deadline as a rejection of their requests. Poupard said the choice was made to protect French independence, and not as an act of hostility towards China. "This is not Huawei bashing or anti-Chinese racism," Poupard said. "All we're saying is that the risk is not the same with European suppliers as with non-Europeans." (Reuters) Argentina unveils amended restructuring proposal Argentina's president, Alberto Fernandez, said the offer was the "maximum effort we can make". Photo: Reuters Argentina's government unveiled an amended debt restructuring proposal on Sunday and set a deadline of Aug. 4 for creditors to accept it, adding some key sweeteners as it looks to defuse recent tensions with bondholders and strike a deal. The new proposal, which comes after talks to revamp around US$65 billion in foreign debt stalled last month, would reduce principal haircuts, increase coupons and include a bond to account for accrued interest, the government said in a statement. It said the move to sweeten the deal showed the country's "good faith and willingness to remain engaged with the international financial community", which it added was key to helping Argentina dig out of a deep economic recession. Argentina's centre-left President Alberto Fernandez said in the statement the offer was the "maximum effort we can make". "It is an enormous effort that we have made to fulfil our word," he added. Argentina is racing to revamp the foreign bonds after tumbling into its ninth sovereign default in May. A deal is key to avoiding a messy and protracted legal standoff that would lock the country out of international credit markets. The debt talks had progressed well, helping lift local bond prices, until hitting turbulence in mid-June. Two key bondholder groups have since criticised a lack of engagement with the government and pushed for stronger legal protection in any deal. Argentina's government addressed this concern, saying holders of eligible bonds issued under a 2005 indenture would now be able to exchange for new bonds issued under the same indenture, which give creditors greater protection. It also said the new proposal would include minimum participation thresholds, which had been sought by another of the three major creditor committees involved in the talks. Argentina will formally present the proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, the government said in a separate statement. Argentina's debt restructuring process has been buffeted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, which is pushing the country deeper into recession and driving up poverty. The South American country's economy is expected to contract around 12 percent this year. The grains producing stronghold is also looking to strike a new deal with major backer the International Monetary Fund, to help replace a US$57 billion credit facility agreed in 2018. The government also said on Sunday it will send a bill to Congress in the next few days to restructure its local-law foreign currency debt under "equitable conditions" to the foreign debt revamp. (Reuters) Simon Institute virtual discussion will examine philanthropy by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. The philanthropic communitys response to public health, economic and racial problems in the United States is the subject of a virtual discussion on Tuesday, July 7, hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondales Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. Angelique Power, president of The Field Foundation of Illinois, will be part of a conversation with John T. Shaw, Institute director. The discussion begins at 1 p.m., Tuesday. The free event is open to the public but registration is required and closes when the event starts. Power will discuss the importance of philanthropy along with how philanthropists are, and should, respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic turmoil and racial unrest, Shaw said. The event is part of the Institutes Understanding Our New World series. Angelique Power is one of the most innovative and respected leaders in the philanthropic community in Illinois, Shaw said. She has transformed The Field Foundation into one of the most dynamic forces for positive change in Chicago. The Field Foundation was founded in 1940 by Marshall Field III and is a private, independent foundation with a goal of community empowerment through funding nonprofits working in justice, art, media and storytelling and leadership investment, according to the foundations website. The discussion with Powers is part of the Institutes series with historians, political analysts, and state and national leaders. This is the 10th in the series, which began in late April, and has featured speakers including author and historian David M. Kennedy, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor, U.S. Congressman and White House adviser, and Leon Panetta, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and CIA director. Registration open for Powers conversation Registration for the free ZOOM meeting is available in advance. After completing registration, participants will receive an email confirmation with information about joining the meeting, along with the meeting ID and password. Participants have an opportunity when they register to submit a question to Power by email at paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu or by including it in the Questions and Comments section on the registration form. More information on the Institutes events is available at paulsimoninstitute.siu.edu/event-information/. The police in Martinez, California, are on the lookout for a woman and a man who vandalized a Black Lives Matter mural on Saturday. Screenshot via Kerry Leidich/YouTube A man and a woman were filmed Saturday vandalizing a freshly painted Black Lives Matter mural in Martinez, California. The pair said they were "sick of this narrative" of racism and police brutality, adding, "It's a leftist lie." Justin Gomez, who spearheaded the effort to create the mural, said he decided to do so after flyers promoting white supremacy were spotted in the Bay Area city. "I wasn't surprised that it was vandalized, but I was surprised by how brazen they were," he said. The police are investigating the case, with Chief Manjit Sappal saying "the damage to the mural was divisive and hurtful." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. The police in Northern California are looking for a man and a woman who were captured on camera Saturday defacing a new Black Lives Matter mural. The mural features "Black Lives Matter" painted in yellow capital letters in the middle of the street outside a courthouse in the Bay Area city of Martinez. Footage from the scene showed a woman dumping black paint on the letters B and L and using a roller to cover them. Her companion, a white man clad in a "Make America Great Again" cap and a "Four More Years" T-shirt, had his phone out as he recorded bystanders yelling at them to stop. When an onlooker asked, "What is wrong with you?" the man replied: "We're sick of this narrative, that's what's wrong. The narrative of police brutality, the narrative of oppression, the narrative of racism. It's a lie." As of Monday morning, the widely circulated video had accrued over 2 million views on Twitter and reached more than 168,000 people on YouTube and another 560,000-plus people on Instagram. People filming the incident told the pair that their actions were racist, but the man pointed to the mural itself, saying: "This is racism is what it is. There is no oppression, there is no racism. It's a leftist lie. It's a lie from the media." Story continues The woman yelled out, "Keep this s--- in f---ing New York. This is not happening in my town." She also told the man to get another can of paint, which he grabbed from their white pickup truck. Martinez Police Chief Manjit Sappal released a statement seeking the public's help in identifying the man and the woman, whose relationship is unknown. The police were called to the scene, but the pair was gone by the time officers arrived, the statement said, adding that an investigation was underway. "The community spent a considerable amount of time putting the mural together only to have it painted over in a hateful and senseless manner," Sappal said in the statement. "The city of Martinez values tolerance, and the damage to the mural was divisive and hurtful." The local Black Lives Matter chapter organized the mural in response to a white-supremacist flyer Justin Gomez, the lead organizer for Martizians for Black Lives, told Insider that the idea for the mural was sparked a week ago when the community stumbled across flyers promoting white supremacy. The typo-laden flyers described Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization and included multiple racial slurs while referring to white people as the "chosen people." ABC7 News reported that the Martinez police were investigating the leaflets as a hate crime. On June 29, Gomez contacted Martinez's Parks and Recreation Commission and sought permission to paint the mural on the city's main street. After some back and forth, they agreed on the mural being created outside the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse instead. Gomez said he agreed to the alternative location because it made a "more powerful statement" for the mural to be in front of an institution that had perpetuated racism. Nearly 100 people mobilized at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday, and the mural was done by 2 p.m., with Gomez leaving the site at 2:30 p.m. 'I was surprised by how brazen they were' According to Gomez, Martinez is home to "a lot of multigenerational families" and "conservative ideals" that show up in local politics and in the form of bumper stickers and Confederate flags. As soon as word of the mural got around, Gomez said, he spotted "racist rhetoric in community forums online" in which people threatened to "pressure-wash the mural" because "all lives matter." "So I wasn't surprised that it was vandalized, but I was surprised by how brazen they were," Gomez told Insider, adding that he expected people to damage the painting in the "cover of darkness" but was shocked to see that they felt "emboldened and right enough" to do so in broad daylight in front of people. Gomez, who lives near the courthouse in Martinez, heard about the vandalism at about 3 p.m. So he returned to the scene and with the help of a crowd that had gathered there touched up the mural by 3:30 p.m. The painting was vandalized less than an hour after the group finished it, but it was also fixed less than an hour after the man and the woman attempted to destroy it, he said. The duo wasn't "righting some vandals' wrong," Gomez added. "They defaced a publicly sanctioned piece of artwork." But the tension didn't end there. Black Lives Matter supporters decided to stand guard at the mural to ward off any further destruction. On Sunday, a man yelled "All Lives Matter" and pulled a gun on people who were watching over the site, Gomez told Insider, describing the "All Lives Matter" slogan as a "coded white-supremacist statement." The armed man was arrested, but Gomez said the incident showed that the mural was not only a "space for community discourse" but had also put on display "the worst of some people." "I did not anticipate such overt displays of violence to come from the community," Gomez said. "But this is a direct product of the divisive rhetoric coming from the White House." Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module Read the original article on Insider Click here to read the full article. Samsung has been the global leader in QLED panels since the dawn of the technology a few years ago. Now, the company has announced the next generation of its manufacturing process. According to the Korea Herald, Samsung Display-a subsidiary of Samsung itself announced last week that it will begin mass production of what it calls QD panels in 2021, and has installed the first batch of manufacturing equipment at its facility in South Chungcheong Province in South Korea. "Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our close collaborative ecosystem with global partners enabled us to carry out our QD investments according to plan, Samsung's Choi Joo-sun, chief of large-size display unit, said at the ceremony marking the occasion, per the newspaper. We will strive to produce unparalleled QD displays based on our advanced technology and 20-year-long experience in large-size liquid-crystal displays, he added. Samsungs CEO, Lee Dong-hoon, was also on hand at the event, the newspaper reported. The company had announced plans to invest in the next-generation technology in the fall of 2019. How will the forthcoming QD displays differ from the existing QLED, and other technologies made by Samsung already? According to HD Guru, while Samsung's QLED panels so far have utilized Quantum Dot Enhancement Film, the new process will use "techniques to produce either hybrid quantum dot OLED displays or next generation Quantum Nano Emitting Diodes (QNED) panels based on Blue nanorod LEDs coated with inkjet applied Red and Green quantum dots." The Korea Herald described the shift as "a strategic decision by Samsung Display to tackle the premium TV market in the coming years." As of earlier this year, Samsung held a dominant 85 percent market share of QD panels, with Vizio second and Huawei third. About 12 percent of Samsungs television sales were QLED models, although they are at the higher end of the market. Story continues Samsung and LG, earlier this spring, agreed to a resolution in their long-running dispute over whether Samsung could continue to call its QLED TVs by that name. Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. Click here to read the full article. The recent turnaround in oil market sentiment was to a large extent due to China showing signs of demand recovering back to normalcy. May 2020 witnessed the highest-ever level of crude imports, soaring almost 20% month-on-month to 11.34mbpd. Yet the intense market activity that both Chinas state-owned giants and teapot refiners have demonstrated throughout April-May seems to be fizzling out. Amid tankers piling up in front of Chinese ports buying interest has significantly weakened in June and July, implying that the spring purchase frenzy was primarily driven by unprecedentedly low crude prices and it will take several months until Chinas refineries can fully digest the barrels in stock. Taking a rather straightforward look at main sources of Chinese imports we shall see that a weaker summer buying season seems almost unavoidable. 1. West Africa is Going Down West Africa If one is to look at exports from W-African countries to China in terms of their loading date (see Graph 1), there would be relatively little ground to expect any significant decline. The overall volumes have bounced back to their pre-corona level, moreover Chinese buyers have grown some appetite for Nigerian crudes which were purchased only sporadically before 2020. What is more, this June will hit the highest-ever West African arrivals to China with 58 million barrels coming in across more than 80 cargoes (the sailing time is roughly 40-45 days). Yet future purchases will be substantially complicated by the massive queue of tankers outside Shandong and Tianjin at least 12 WAF-containing vessels are awaiting discharge for several weeks already. 2. Russian Seaborne is Going Down Russia Source: Thomson Reuters. Setting up a new all-time high again, Russian seaborne exports to China have climbed to 1.15mbpd this May, with Chinese refiners taking in vast amounts from Pacific, Mediterranean and even Baltics ports. China-bound vessels from the Baltics have in fact become the top destination in April with roughly 25% of all barrels moving to China. For this to happen, traders like Unipec would charter VLCCs that collect smaller cargoes around the Danish port of Skaw and travel almost 2 months to Shandong and Tianjin. After the purchase frenzy, Urals exports from the Baltics have evaporated (only one cargo in June) and Russias seaborne trade with China went back into its traditional mode of consisting predominantly of ESPO. Story continues 3. North Sea is Going Down North Sea Source: Thomson Reuters. Chinese buyers have grown to like North Sea crudes throughout the first half of this year as the Brent-Dubai EFS has moved into slight discounts compared to multi-dollar per barrel premiums historically. State and private refiners alike continued to buy Atlantic grades when freight rates peaked in February-March and have peaked in April (at 0.56mbpd) with Forties and Johan Sverdrup being the two most coveted grades. This means that in terms of arrivals, June 2020 will be the highest month on record with 19.5 million barrels of crude arriving across a dozen vessels. The Norwegian Johan Sverdrup is a noteworthy addition to the Chinese refining system since almost 60% of the fields output has ended up in the first six months of this year. June loadings from the UK and Norway have dipped almost 25% month-on-month as the Brent-Dubai EFS moved back into premia. 4. Latin America is Going Down Latin America Source: Thomson Reuters. In contrast to all above mentioned categories Chinas imports of Latin American crudes were on par with those of today in terms of overall volumes Chinese refiners bought on average 30-40 million barrels per month, splitting the incoming volumes between Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. As the United States tightened the sanctions screw around the Maduro regime, it became much more difficult for Chinese refiners to buy crude from the Orinoco area (although not impossible) and the overall slate of what China brings in from Latin America has tilted towards Brazil. Thus, when China-destined loadings reached a 13-month high in May at 1.32mbpd, there was no surprise in Brazilian grades such as Lula (a new crude grade being displaced on the Oilprice.com oil prices page) making up more than 80% of the total. Although Brazilian crudes retain a noticeable presence on the Chinese market, aggregate Latin American exports to China have dropped below 1mbpd after May. 5. Southeast Asia is Going Down Southeast Asia Source: Thomson Reuters. For much of the 2010s South East Asian nations played a relatively minor role in Chinas crude supply, the occasional Vietnamese or Malaysian cargoes reached Chinese refiners but their share of the total always stayed firmly in the single digits. But in the last 12 months the importance of South East Asia for the Chinese market increased as Malaysia and Indonesia became prime spots for ship-to-ship transfers. Oftentimes these parcels would have no direct bearing to the South East Asian region a large part of Venezuelan deliveries to China recently went through Malaysia and without a thorough scrutiny might be even perceived as intra-regional. After a peak around March-April 2020, the STS activity in the region of South East Asia seems to abate and the volume of crudes departing for China in June (0.58mbpd) is more than a third lower than the March peak. Wondering about the price differentials between global crude blends? Oilprice.com offers the worlds largest freely accessible crude pricing database. Check it out here. By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Read this article on OilPrice.com Lincoln City police. Lincoln City Police Department/Facebook Police in Lincoln City, Oregon, arrested seven men on Saturday who they say were "highly intoxicated" as they taunted a Black family with racial slurs and Nazi salutes and set off illegal fireworks. The incident happened at a beachside July 4 celebration, and the Black family told police they were intimidated by the men. Six of the arrested men have been identified: Gennadiy Kachankov, 30; Antoliy Kachankov, 28; Andrey Zaytsev, 28; Oleg Saranchuk, 45; Ruslan Tkachenko, 22; and Yuriy Kachankov, 30. The men face a number of charges, including disorderly conduct, interfering with police, and possession of illegal fireworks. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Seven men in Oregon were arrested over the weekend after police said they taunted a Black family at a July 4th celebration by yelling racial slurs and making Nazi salutes. Police in Lincoln City, Oregon, said in a statement on Facebook that the incident happened on Saturday during a beach-side July 4 celebration. According to KOIN, police were called to the scene at around 9:30, and officers were met by a "highly intoxicated" group of people who "began taunting and challenging" officers. A Black family on the beach told police it was the same group who had been harassing them, and that they were intimated by the group's actions. Police said that officers were able to create "a line between the group of white persons and the Black family," which allowed the family to leave the beach and return to the nearby hotel where they were staying. "During this time several in the group of white persons continued to taunt the officers, trying to challenge them to fight. Other members from the group of white persons then began shooting off multiple large illegal aerial fireworks in front of the officers," police said. After more police arrived on the scene, members of the group were placed under arrest. Story continues The men who were arrested were identified by police as Gennadiy Kachankov, 30; Antoliy Kachankov, 28; Andrey Zaytsev, 28; Oleg Saranchuk, 45; Ruslan Tkachenko, 22; and Yuriy Kachankov, 30. A seventh man who was arrested had no ID on him at the time and has not been publicly named. All of the men have been charged with disorderly conduct, interfering with police, possession of illegal fireworks, riot, and harassment. Yuriy Kachankov was also charged with resisting arrest. The men were all released from custody after being cited by police. Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module Read the original article on Insider PHE only updated its infection control guidance advising trusts on how to keep workers socially-distanced on May 18 - Peter Byrne/PA Up to 90 per cent of nurses and doctors who caught coronavirus during the height of the pandemic picked it up in hospitals, research suggests. Modelling by Public Health England (PHE) also suggests one in five patients who got the virus became infected on wards. Scientists have called for a war to be waged on Covid-19 transmission within hospitals, in the same way the NHS has previously successfully battled superbugs such as MRSA. They warned that a lack of physical distancing between staff not just on wards, but also in canteens, offices, and corridors could be fuelling the spread of the virus. A report by the Royal Society's Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics (Delve) group, which provides advice to the Governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), examined a number of studies. Among them is modelling by PHE, dated May 20, which suggests that "approximately 20 per cent of infections in inpatients, and 89 per cent of infections in healthcare workers, were due to nosocomial [hospital-acquired] transmission". Despite widespread advice to the public to practice social distancing, it was not until May 18 that PHE updated itsown infection control guidance advising trusts on how to keep workers apart, and it was not until June that all hospital staff were advised to wear masks. Researchers from Delve said their own estimates, which covered a period after the peak, suggested that in the six weeks from April 26 to June 7 around 10 per cent of all Covid-19 infections in England were among frontline health and care workers. The study also suggests that, during that period, at least one per cent of patients with the virus acquired it in hospital. Dr Guy Harling, from University College London, said: "We can see things like inconsistent use of masks and PPE. We can see a lack of physical distancing between staff, between patients and between staff and patients. So not just on wards or in theatres but also in canteens, and offices in corridors." Story continues Dr Nigel Field, the chairman of the Delve working group, said: "We'd like to see a really ambitious and comprehensive approach to the prevention of Covid transmission in hospitals and care settings of the kind that was really successfully implemented for MRSA." Researchers said shortages of PPE, lack of testing of staff and the failure to advise general mask-wearing may have fuelled the spread , but added that there was a lack of data to show the impact of any particular interventions. They said staff would also have been at greater risk of Covid-19 than the general public because they were more mobile and likely to be using public transport to get to work during lockdown. Professor Dame Anne Johnson, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University College London, said: "In the beginning, we really didn't understand the extent of the asymptomatic issue and the difficulties of staff social distancing. "They were aware they were using PPE once it got going in these very acute settings, but because there was less recognition of infection that was in other parts of the hospital then of course there was transmission going on in those environments." TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The woman thought her young son was sleepwalking when she heard the front door of her Florida house creak open just before midnight. Roused from sleep, she went to investigate downstairs but found her son still asleep on the couch. She went to the kitchen, where a light was on, and found her ex-boyfriend, Aaron Glee Jr., rifling through a suitcase. Just looking, he told her. Glee, who didnt have a key to the house or permission to be inside, turned confrontational during the surprise encounter. She became scared, police noted in their reports. He left, at her insistence. But after waking her son and ushering him upstairs to the safety of his bedroom, she spotted Glee outside the window, still lingering by the front door. She felt very unsafe and called 911, police reports said. Glee disappeared into the darkness that night, a couple of weeks before Christmas 2010. His ex-girlfriend had no idea how close shed come to a man who would confess a decade later in the deaths of two Tallahassee women. Aaron Glee Jr., the suspect in the deaths of Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, and Victoria Sims, 75, was a squatter in this house on Monday Road, where the Tallahassee Police Department spent time investigating Sunday, June 14, 2020. On June 13, Tallahassee police trying to find Victoria Sims, a retired state worker whod gone missing a few days earlier, traced her cellphone to Glees residence tucked off Monday Road. A search of the property and nearby woods turned up the bodies of Sims, 75, and Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, a local student and Black Lives Matter protester whod been missing about a week. Glee, 49, managed to slip out of town before officers arrived, fleeing on a Greyhound bus with blood stains still on his pants. Police caught up with him at a bus station in Orlando, arresting him on murder, kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Experts said Glee, who has a long history of violence against women and soured relationships with girlfriends and wives, may not have stopped killing otherwise. "Glee would have killed again if given the chance and most likely intended to acquire additional victims," said Enzo Yaksic, a renowned serial killer scholar and founder of the Boston-based Atypical Homicide Research Group. Story continues Enzo Yaksic, founder of the Boston-based Atypical Homicide Research Group, a collaborative network of researchers, law enforcement and mental health professionals that collects and shares data on serial killers. Yaksic said Glee demonstrated many of the same behaviors of serial killers, including binding his victims and letting at least one of them die slowly by asphyxiation. "That his assaults occurred over three decades and his victims were usually female shows that Glees hatred toward women, a hallmark of serial homicide, manifested gradually until it culminated in the deaths of Salau and Sims two women who refused to comply with his demands," he said. Jeffrey Rinek, a retired FBI agent and criminal profiler who worked numerous serial murders, said Glee could have cooled off and returned to normal life after the first murder. But he struck again, demonstrating an intent to keep killing. "I think he's a serial killer," Rinek said. A troubled family life and history Glee, who spent much of his life in the area of West Palm Beach, Florida, began getting into trouble at a young age. His run-ins with police followed a tough childhood when he was 3 years old, his young father and uncle died after their car crashed into a palm tree. He was arrested for the first time in 1989, just before his 18th birthday, and quickly graduated to more serious crimes: armed robbery, grand theft auto and drug offenses. In all, his rap sheet shows more than three dozen arrests, numerous stays in county lock-up and six prison stints totaling seven years. He left behind a trail of arrest records, including domestic violence complaints, from Palm Beach County to Tallahassee. Aaron Glee Jr. Glee started a family in the mid-1990s. But after only two years of marriage, he abandoned his wife and four kids, she alleged in divorce filings. Then-Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga, now a Florida Supreme Court justice, signed the divorce order, giving full custody of the kids to their mom and no visitation for Glee. Two more marriages also ended in divorce, each within a year. The woman who found Glee in her kitchen told police they dated for a few months but she ended it because of (his) drinking problem." He assaulted his sister-in-law in the middle of the road on the Fourth of July in 2012 and got into a fight with a different woman the next day. Police found powder cocaine and a crack-laced cigarette inside a stolen truck Glee was driving. In 2013, Glee threw a brick through another ex-girlfriend's window. "(The girlfriend) stated she broke up with Aaron earlier in the day, police reports said. Rejection may have sparked killing He moved to Tallahassee at some point, landing on law enforcements radar last year after police spotted him with cocaine and marijuana outside a local business. He snorted the coke before officers could get to him, according to police reports. Glee told police he was trying to pick girls up. He was cited for misdemeanor possession, but the charge was later dropped. In the days leading up to the murders, Glee had back-to-back run-ins with police. He was cited for battery May 28 after fighting with another man at a bus stop, then arrested the next day for aggravated assault after shoving a woman to the ground and kicking her repeatedly. The victim told police he flew into a rage after she declined a sexual overture. The bodies of Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, and Victoria Sims, 75, were found Saturday on Monday Road in Tallahassee. He bonded out of jail on June 1. Five days later, he happened to meet Salau after she stepped off a bus . He coaxed her back to his house after she confided she had been sexually assaulted earlier in the day and had nowhere to go. He called Sims, a retired state worker and volunteer who'd delivered meals to him before, to take them there. Glee, in a confession to police, said he overpowered Salau after she rejected his advances. He kept her tied up and a prisoner in his house for days, raping her repeatedly before deciding to kill her. Yaksic said throughout life, Glee appeared hyper-focused on securing sex partners. When Salau resisted, he resorted to kidnapping and rape. It could very well be that her resistance to his advances is what triggered him to respond with violence, he said. His second victim was collateral damage given that she had information linking him to the first homicide. 'The easiest pathway to murder' Yaksic said its unlikely Glee killed before given the missteps that led to his capture. He didnt have a vehicle or viable escape plan and picked a victim in Sims who could be linked to him easily. He also left behind a wealth of evidence at the scene. Serial murderers spend an immense amount of time in a state of what we call homicidal ideation or fantasy, Yaksic said. It can take a number of years to work up the courage to kill and even longer to convince themselves they can escape apprehension. Jeffrey Rinek, a retired FBI agent a certified criminal profiler who got serial killer Cary Stayner to confess in 1999 to the murders of four people around Yosemite National Park. Rinek, who also worked on the Unabomber case, is the author of In the Name of the Children, a book about his work on child murder cases and the toll it took on him and his family. Yaksic added, They can be lazy and take the easiest pathway to murder. The tension that builds in them becomes all consuming and is sometimes released at the first opportunity. Rinek said investigators won't know for sure whether Glee was a nascent serial killer until after a thorough interview of the suspect and investigation. "They need to look at the rest of his life with a magnifying glass," he said. "There could be other victims out there that he didnt kill ... that represent the entire continuum from simple assault to rape and murder. Yaksic said two-victim serial killers are just as dangerous as those with higher death counts, though they're often ignored by scholars. He said it's important for researchers to study them and the public to be aware of them. "Discounting them and not studying their behavior patterns may lead to opportunities for future two-victim killers to accrue more victims," he said. "The Glee case is evidence of how vitally important it is for potential victims of serial killers to remain vigilant." Follow Jeff Burlew on Twitter: @JeffBurlew This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Aaron Glee, charged with Florida murders, showed 'serial killer' signs LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., July 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world leader in industrial gases megaproject development, and thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, the world leader in technologies and comprehensive solutions for large-scale electrolysis plants, today announced the signing of a Strategic Cooperation Agreement (SCA). The two companies will collaborate exclusively in key regions, using their complementary technology, engineering and project execution strengths to develop projects supplying green hydrogen. thyssenkrupp will deliver its technology and supply specific engineering, equipment and technical services for water electrolysis plants to be built, owned and operated by Air Products. The collaboration leverages thyssenkrupp's technology supporting Air Products' development of green hydrogen as an energy carrier for sustainable transportation, chemicals and power generation. "The SCA with thyssenkrupp is an important element of our value chain in developing, building, owning and operating world-scale projects and supplying green hydrogen for mobility, energy and industrial applications. We look forward to applying our complementary strengths and delivering substantial sustainability benefits through transformational green hydrogen projects," said Dr. Samir J. Serhan, Chief Operating Officer at Air Products. "We are proud to cooperate with Air Products in making value chains for fuels, chemicals, and industry feedstocks sustainable. Large-scale electrolysis is the key technology to connect renewable power to the different sectors of mobility and industry. As a world market leader in electrolysis we bring in both: technology and production capacity at scale. Already today, we are set to supply one gigawatt for water electrolysis plants per year, and we are prepared to ramp up the capacity in this rapidly evolving market," said Denis Krude, CEO at thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers. Story continues thyssenkrupp has developed high-efficiency alkaline water electrolysis technology. With more than 600 projects and electrochemical plants worldwide with a total rating of over 10 gigawatts realized, thyssenkrupp has extensive in-depth knowledge in the engineering, procurement, and construction of these plants. Matching the need for low-CAPEX, low-OPEX, reliable technology and solid project execution to make world-scale green hydrogen projects feasible, Air Products and thyssenkrupp are committed to deploying economic green hydrogen plants in the gigawatt size. About Air Products Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for nearly 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment, and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world's most significant industrial gas projects, including gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels, and chemicals. The Company had fiscal 2019 sales of $8.9 billion from operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $50 billion. More than 17,000 passionate, talented, and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. About thyssenkrupp thyssenkrupp is a technology group with strengths in materials. Over 162,000 employees in 78 countries work with passion and technological know-how to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes and services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2018/2019 thyssenkrupp generated sales of 42.0 billion. The Chemical & Process Technologies business unit combines unique technological expertise and decades of global experience in the engineering, procurement, construction and service of chemical plants. We develop innovative processes and products for a more sustainable future and thus contribute to the long-term success of our customers in almost all areas of the chemical industry. Our portfolio includes leading technologies for the production of basic chemicals, fertilizers and polymers as well as complete value-chains for green hydrogen and sustainable chemicals. For more information visit: www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-and-thyssenkrupp-sign-exclusive-strategic-cooperation-agreement-for--world-scale-electrolysis-plants-to-generate-green-hydrogen-301088187.html SOURCE Air Products Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need to Remember: As a result of many ships, including the Royal Navy's two brand new aircraft carriers, must rely on their diesel engines while in port for power. The UK's "Royals" haven't always been known for their composure. For every more reserved member of the family, there have been those known for wild exploits. This time however it isn't technically a party boy prince that is upsetting folks, but rather the Royal Navy's latest warship, HMS Prince of Wales (R09) that has found itself in the spotlight for being a bit too loud and brash! The 65,000 ton Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier returned to her homeport at Portsmouth Naval Base, Hants, a month ago and has been running her massive diesel generators instead of being hooked up to a land-based power supply. The aircraft carrier is powered by four Wartsila diesel generators, which each produces a total of 11 Megawatts of power, or enough to sustain a town with a population of 25,000 people. However, the warship's engines are so loud that locals have complained of "incessant noise pollution" that has even kept nearby residents up at night. One local resident, Neil Sutton, told the Mirror newspaper that he and his family had to keep "our heads under our pillows at night." He added, "In this lockdown, why can we not open our windows and enjoy peace and tranquility?" It is Royal Navy policy to provide short power to all vessels alongside whenever possible. The UK's Ministry of Defense spent 200 million on a new shore-based electric power plant designed to support naval vessels at their home base, but it is still undergoing trials. As a result of many ships, including the Royal Navy's two brand new aircraft carriers, must rely on their diesel engines while in port for power. Gosport councilor Dawn Kelly has called on the Royal Navy to look into the noise problem. Story continues "For those living in Clarence Yard the sound must be even louder as it gets reverberated around the square there," Kelly told The Daily Mail. "So I do think the residents have a valid complaint and I have urged them to approach environmental health." The problem has been ongoing since late March when the 3.1billion HMS Prince Of Wales returned home after its sea trials. The warship also had an eight-day stay in Liverpool where more than 20,000 members of the public had a chance to go aboard and meet some of the 700 sailors who are severing on the new carrier. During its month-long trip, the ship also carried out training exercises including a crash on deck scenario as well as fuel replenishment at sea. The Prince of Wales was launched in 2017, and the 919-foot carrier has an air wing that includes 36 fighter planes and four helicopters. The actual Prince of Wales, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla attended an official commissioning ceremony to formally welcome the aircraft carrier into the Royal Navy last December. Charles, 71, was also given a new title, Honorary Commodore-in-Chief, Aircraft Carriers. Prince of Wales and her sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, are the largest and most advanced ships ever to see service in the Royal Navy. HMS Prince of Wales (R09) is the eighth and most recent ship to have borne the name. The previous HMS Prince of Wales (53) was a King George V-class battleship launched in 1939 and sunk off the coast of Malaysia during World War II. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. This article first appeared earlier this year and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. PASS IT ON: Alaia is reopening its Petite Boutique on July 10 with a concept focused on transmission and heritage. Next door to Alaias Grande Boutique, the address at 5 Rue de Moussy will offer past collections as well as pieces donated by friends of the house. Past collections will be curated by fashion archivist Anouschka, known as Paris Queen of Vintage, who was a close friend of the late designer. She presents the garments through a historical lens, and new selections will be presented four to six times per year. The first selection will be built on a white theme. Profits generated from the sale of donated pieces, meanwhile, will go to Imagine, a research institute for genetic diseases attached to Paris childrens hospital Necker-Enfants Malades. Azzedine Alaia himself worked with and supported the institute for nearly 10 years. The Petite Boutique concept debuted in the Eighties, offering the designers past collections at a discount. It closed two years ago to leave room for the bookshop at the Fondation Azzedine Alaia. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I fantasized about my podcast for months. Technically, years. Ever since my live show, The Verastic Show stopped airing, I started thinking of other ways to have those conversations again, but it was the past several months that I really saw my podcast clearly. I knew what I wanted: I wanted to have authentic conversations like the one I had with this openly-gay Nigerian man. I believe in asking the difficult questions, starting the uncomfortable conversations, proposing outside-the-box solutions, and of course, shaking tables. No, breaking tables. Verbatim, these words are in the intro of the I Am African Podcast because they are exactly why I started this podcast. And today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Edafe Okporo about his life as an openly-gay Nigerian man. Make no mistake, Edafe is not a gay rights activist, although he is understandably outspoken on the issue. However, he wants you to know more about him than the person he shares a bed with. For example, Edafe is 61 and 205 pounds, and he describes himself simply as a speaker, an author, and a diversity expert. Before Edafe moved to New York, he was a Pastor in a Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria where he struggled with his sexuality. Eventually, he came out to the church, and while life was difficult then, it became unbearable when Nigeria passed the law against homosexuality. That was when Edafe found himself being attacked several times and had to flee to the United States for refuge. Heres the thing: As Africans, we know ourselves. We know the sin that we like and the one we dont. An article I read stated that 94% of Africans do not approve of homosexuality. There are hindrances in the way of approving homosexuality, I get it like culture, religion, personal preference, etc. This episode is not to convince you to suddenly love homosexuality. This is simply a conversation between two human beings, appealing to your human ears, to treat everybody as a body a human body because whether you agree with Edafe or not, hes still a human being, worthy and deserving of every good thing humans can have. Heres the other thing: As Christians, we miss the mark too many times. Yes, I know not all who listen to this podcast are Christians, but this paragraph is specifically for the Christians. My Pastor always says it best, that our duties as Christians are to, Love God, and love people. Please listen, and be guided. You can connect with Edafe Okporo on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. You can also find out more about him on his website where you can also pre-order his new book coming out in October, called Compassion Is Worth More. Listen to episode 17 of the I Am African Podcast: A Conversation with an Open-Gay Nigerian Man You can also listen at any and all of the following places: online, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Sticher, Google Play Music, Tunein, Spreaker, Blubrry, Digital Podcast, Deezer, Podchaser, and the Sono App (no link). If theres a podcast player you prefer that isnt listed here, let me know and Ill see if I can submit my podcast there. But thats not all! You can also find updates about the I Am African Podcast right here on Verastic. See for yourself. Id love to connect with you on social media: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Please, please, please share and rate the I Am African podcast on Apple Podcast. Help a girl out, please. Rate and Share. Rate and Share. Rate and Share. Thank you!!! Click here to read the full article. On the evening of October 13, 1939, the German submarine surfaced off the Orkney Islands in the North Sea. Lt. Cmdr. Gunther Prien, a promising U-boat commander, pulled himself up on the bridge. He soon discovered that, although weather conditions were near perfect, the Aurora Borealis had made its appearance, illuminating half of the horizon and threatening to make the boats presence known. This was the first command for the 31-year-old Prien, who had been chosen by Rear Admiral Karl Donitz, head of the German submarine force. Prien was to carry out the first special U-boat operation of the war, an attack on the British fleet at its home base of Scapa Flow. On October 8, U-47 had left her mooring in northern Germany bound for the North Sea. After Prien revealed the mission to the crew, the U-47 slipped into Holm Sound, one of the entrances to Scapa Flow. By 12:30 AM, October 14, the boat was inside Scapa Flow. At first Prien was able to make out the shapes of several destroyers, but then he spotted the battleship HMS Royal Oak and the seaplane carrier HMS Pegasus. U-47 was now about 4,000 yards from her intended target and was in position to attack. A Cold Victory The bow torpedo tubes were aimed, and the order to fire was given. Three minutes later, one of the torpedoes exploded harmlessly against either the bow or anchor chain of the Royal Oak. Puzzled, Prien turned his craft around and discharged a stern torpedo, which also missed its mark. Those aboard the Royal Oak thought the torpedo explosion was caused by an internal source, thus giving Prien a second chance. U-47 was again put into position to attack, and the torpedoes were fired. This time the Royal Oak was struck by a torpedo, and the harbor came to life. The Royal Oak soon sank taking 833 of her 1,234 officers and men down with her. The submariners were exultant, but their worst ordeal still lay ahead, which was to escape unscathed. The tide was running against them, and even at full power U-47 moved along at only slightly more than one knot. A searching destroyer was drawing near, her searchlight probing the darkness but failing to locate U-47 as it made its way into Holm Sound. Soon U-47 slipped back into the North Sea. The glow from Scapa Flow is still visible, wrote Prien in his log. Two weeks later, Gunther Prien and his crew were the guests of Adolf Hitler in Berlin. Story continues At the Chancellery, Prien was decorated with the Knights Cross. Winning the German U-Boat Numbers Game According to the terms of the Versailles Treaty, Germany was barred from having submarines. However, when Germany decided it could no longer abide by the treaty, one of the first steps it took was to rebuild its vaunted submarine force. In 1934, the greatest submarine fleet the world had ever known was reestablished. In the end, the defeat of the U-boats really came down to a numbers game. The strategic goal of the German U-boat force was to sink more shipping than the Allies could replace and force surrender through starvation. This was a fight the Germans were sure to lose. In 1943, its U-boats destroyed 6.14 million gross registered tons of Allied shipping. Over the same period, American shipbuilders alone delivered 18 million tons of new merchant ships for the war effort, four million more tons than the Germans sank during the entire war. The gap in tonnage gained versus tonnage lost would continue in 1944 and 1945. Although the U-boats were failing to sink as many Allied merchantmen to sustain the tonnage war, the U-boat crews were perishing in droves. The German goal of isolating Great Britain from the rest of the world, particularly the United States, was bound to fail. Even though the United States was not actually in the war when Germany started sinking merchant shipping, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had no intention of letting Nazi Germany defeat Great Britain. It would have been a disaster of major proportions in that the Allies would have been denied a staging area close to France for the invasion of Fortress Europe and would have, without question, lengthened the war and cost many more lives. This article first appeared at the Warfare History Network. Image: Wikipedia. More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Gordon Bridson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1909, but shortly thereafter his family moved to Auckland, where he attended Auckland Grammar School. Bridson was larger than most children his age, and into adulthood he continued to stand taller than most men. Given the near-religious aura that rugby held in the psyche of many New Zealanders, one would think that Bridson would have gravitated toward that sport. For whatever reason, however, and in spite of his size, he gravitated toward swimming, rising to the top of that sport in New Zealand in the 1920s and early 1930s, consistently winning ribbons and cups in national competitions. In 1930, he even went to the Empire Games in Canada, where he won a silver medal. For reasons never explained or expressed, he showed little interest in swimming after that. In 1927, aged 18 and still an active swimmer, he joined the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNZVR) and received his commission in February 1928 as a probationary sub-lieutenant. Twelve years later, almost a year after World War II started in Europe, he was promoted to lieutenant commander in the RNZVR. A month later, in May 1940, he left with the first draft of volunteers to serve with the Royal Navy in Great Britain, a common practice in those days for New Zealand naval personnel, being British Commonwealth citizens. As was the case in the United States, when war came to England and British Commonwealth countries, they were caught woefully unprepared. They had few ships, and even fewer, once German submarines began to sink them in large numbers. Commercial vessels were therefore appropriated and converted to military use. For example, HMNZS Matai, a former lighthouse tender, was converted to military use as a minesweeper. Once in Britain, Bridson was put in command of HMS Walnut, which was 164 feet long, had a complement of 35 men, and did a whopping 11.5 knots when the engines were in good working order. This was also the estimated top speed of mass-produced American Liberty ships that were being launched in American shipyards at about this time. Bridson commanded Walnut for 14 months, from July 23, 1940 to September 26, 1941, and as the Battle of Britain was fought between July and October 1940, one can only imagine the adventures and sights these men at sea witnessed. Story continues The Walnut was part of a 10-ship flotilla that escorted ships in coastal British waters, and though all the ships in this flotilla were part of the Royal Navy, they were manned for the most part by New Zealand officers and ratings. They were often attacked by German ships and planes, and it was during this time that Bridson was awarded his first of many medals, the Distinguished Service Cross. In October 1941, less than two months before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and pulled the United States into World War II, Bridson took command of the newly built Bird-class minesweeper Kiwi (T102). Compared to Walnut, Kiwi was 168 feet long and was capable of a breathtaking 13 knots. When commissioned, Kiwis armament consisted of one World War I-vintage 4-inch gun, a few machine guns, and 40 depth charges. With depth charge racks and Y launchers, these minesweepers, which were originally ordered as training vessels, were obviously prepared for a multitude of combat-related jobs, including antisubmarine warfare. Once Kiwi and her sister ship Moa were fitted for sea, they set out on their long voyage for the Pacific. However, before becoming involved in the fighting in Pacific waters, Kiwi and Moa first had to get there. That meant surviving a crossing of a North Atlantic infested with U-boats, which at the time looked capable of crippling Britains war effort, as had almost happened a generation earlier during World War I. Kiwi took up the rear of a convoy that was set to leave British waters for Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the closing days of 1941. The thoughts of Lt. Cmdr. Bridson and his crew may have been on the threat of U-boat attacks as they set off, but what really came close to sinking them was one of the worst recorded Atlantic hurricanes of the century. South of Iceland, the weather turned nasty, and Kiwi found herself battling seas of up to 80 feet. The crew was confined below decks, except when one of the depth charges broke loose and a work party had to be sent on deck to secure it. Then, on January 9, Kiwi rode the crest of a monster wave and then was sent airborne by a following sea that almost sank her. The damage was severe with bulkheads crumpled and flooding in various parts of the ship, including the bridge where windows gave way. Abandoning ship in Arctic waters would have spelled doom for any crewmen who attempted it, unless they were picked up almost immediately, and being at the end of the convoy, that was not likely. Thanks to skilled seamanship and perhaps a bit of luck, however, Kiwi survived. A lull in the storm came on January 11, allowing temporary repairs to be made to damaged parts of the ship. Other members of the crew were sent topside to chip away the tons of ice that had accumulated on the rigging and other parts of the ship. With all the damage done to the ship below decks, Kiwi did not need the risk of capsizing from the added weight of accumulated ice topside. On January 16, Kiwi and her crew were in sight of Newfoundland. Escaping attack from patrolling U-boats in the area, Kiwi put into port where the ship spent two weeks in drydock having emergency repairs done. Likewise, the crew relaxed and caught up on much-needed sleep after the many stressful days and nights of fighting the hurricane. On January 30, Kiwi left Newfoundland bound for Boston. She left through U-boat-infested waters but arrived without incident. In Boston, Kiwi spent an additional month in Bethlehem Shipyard undergoing further repairs before she was deemed seaworthy again. She was a lucky ship in more ways than one. Not only had she survived one of the worst hurricanes to hit the North Atlantic that century, but she also evaded the U-boats that dominated Atlantic waters at that time. In January 1942, a total of 46 ships were lost to U-boat attacks, and most of them were lost in the North Atlantic. After a month spent in Boston to repair not only Kiwi but also give her crew a rest, the ship set out again, but this time for warmer waters. Kiwi sailed through the Caribbean and transited the Panama Canal on its long voyage to Auckland before setting off to join the U.S. Pacific Fleet in its struggle to turn the tide against Japan in the waters around the Solomon Islands. Being a small ship that needed regular refueling stops along the way, Kiwi took a circuitous route to New Zealand, sailing up the west coast of Latin America to San Diego, California. She then headed west to Hawaii, then southwest to Fiji before reaching Auckland and what must have been a welcome time at home with friends and family. Bridson and many others in his crew had been away from home for almost two years. Tulagi, a small island off the coast of the larger Florida Island in the Solomons, became the first home port for New Zealands 25th Minesweeping Flotilla in the South Pacific Theater, then under the command of U.S. Admiral William F. Bull Halsey. They may have been a minesweeping flotilla, but in the early days of the Pacific War, there were not enough ships of various types to satisfy the myriad needs of a navy unprepared for a world war. As a result, these New Zealand corvettes served a variety of functions, including antisubmarine patrols. The 25th Minesweeping Flotilla was made up of six ships. Matai, originally commanded by A.D. Holden, was the command ship of the flotilla. Prior to the war, Matai served at various times as a lighthouse tender and a governors yacht before being requisitioned for wartime use. Likewise, HMNZS Gale and Breeze served as coastal cargo vessels and were owned by the Canterbury Steamship Company before being put to military use. Comparatively speaking, only HMNZS Kiwi, Tui, and Moa were what one might refer to as purpose-built, though even they were constructed on trawler hulls. All three were built in the Henry Robb Shipyards in Leith, Scotland. Kiwi and Moa were the first of the New Zealand corvettes to see action in the South Pacific. With little in the way of armament, Kiwi and Moa, literally days before going into combat for the first time, traded several bottles of rum (some say it was gin) for some 20mm Oerlikons. As Leading Signalman J. Slater recalled, The Kiwi mounted one of hers straight in front of her 4-inch gun on the foredeck, and we [aboard the Moa] mounted ours slightly to starboard of the 4-inch. However, Ewan Stevenson, an underwater archaeologist who has explored and photographed the sunken Moa more than once, says it is mounted on the bow forward of the 4-inch gun and on the centerline. Thanks to the success of Allied code breakers, Admiral Halseys command knew that the Japanese were reinforcing and resupplying their troops on Starvation Island, as the Japanese came to call Guadalcanal. This was because they had failed not only to eradicate the Allied presence on Guadalcanal, but had also lost the ability to resupply their forces by conventional means. They were thus forced to pull not only many of their destroyers from their designated task of engaging the enemy but also many of their submarines in an effort to save the situation and avoid defeat. However, what Allied intelligence did not know was that at about this time the Japanese had concluded that the situation on Guadalcanal was not salvageable. The resupply efforts would soon give way to evacuating as many troops as possible, something that was soon to be accomplished at night using destroyers. On the night of January 29, 1943, though, Kiwi and Moa were directed by the commander of Naval Base Cactus to patrol on a line off Kamimbo Bay on the northwest coast of Guadalcanal for a distance of two miles on either side of the bays center line. As Lt. Cmdr. Bridson related in his after-action report, Kiwi proceeded with Moa and commenced patrolling at 6:30 pm. Both Bridson aboard Kiwi and Lt. Cmdr. Peter Phipps (later admiral), skipper of Moa, agreed beforehand to patrol line-abreast with a distance of approximately one mile between them. Less than five hours into their patrol, Able Seaman E. McVinnie, the ASDIC operator aboard Kiwi, made a contact at 9:05 pm at a distance of 300 yards and identified it as a submarine. Soon thereafter, Moa confirmed the contact, and Kiwi then altered course 10 degrees to starboard in order to pass ahead of the submarine. Kiwi then attacked with depth charges, while Moa stood back and directed Kiwi with her sonar. Interestingly enough, the submarine detection gear known as ASDIC, or sonar, was in part the World War I-era invention of a New Zealander: Ernest (later Lord) Rutherford, born near the town of Nelson on New Zealands South Island. Rutherford today is referred to as the father of nuclear physics and won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908. During World War I, he turned his attention to submarine detection, resulting in the development of sonar, and it was this innovation that came to be used by all the navies of the world to detect enemy submarines. It was sonar that allowed Kiwi and Moa to first find and then depth-charge the Japanese submarine I-1. At the time neither Bridson nor Phipps knew that their adversary was the I-1. Nor did they know it was faster than and also twice as big as their two small minesweepers. All they knew was that they had found a submarine and that it was most likely Japanese. Nonetheless, they were committed, and retreat appears not to have been an option. I-1 also had a deck gun that was much larger than anything either Kiwi or Moa had. Still, following the phosphorescent wake of the submerged submarine, Kiwi moved in and dropped six depth charges. The resulting underwater detonations knocked sailors aboard I-1 off their feet, and a leak appeared in one of the aft provision spaces. Kiwi then pulled away to make sonar contact again. At about 400 yards, Kiwi reestablished contact and moved in to drop another pattern of depth charges. Further damage was done to the steering engine and port shaft of I-1. Pumps were disabled, and a high-pressure manifold was ruptured, filling the control room with a watery mist. The main switchboard was damaged as well, and all the lights went out on the sub. She then developed a 45-degree down angle and plunged well below her designed limit to an estimated depth of 590 feet. Leaks then appeared in her forward torpedo room. Her captain, Lt. Cmdr. Sakamoto Eiichi, ordered the forward group of main ballast tanks blown and a full reverse on the remaining drive shaft. As a result, the loss of I-1 was prevented, if only temporarily. I-1 surfaced, but seawater had damaged her batteries. That left only her starboard diesel engine operational, and with Kiwi 2,000 yards away, I-1 made a run for it on the surface at 11 knots. Sakamoto then took the helm and ordered the subs 125mm deck gun manned, as well as its machine guns. Simultaneously, Kiwi opened up with her 4-inch gun, manned by Leading Seaman W.I. Steele, Able Seaman J.W.C. Kroening, and Able Seaman J. Washer. Likewise, Kiwis 20mm Oerlikons opened up while Leading Signalman C. Buchanan illuminated I-1 with Kiwis 10-inch searchlight. Moa lent a hand by firing off star shells that not only illuminated I-1 further but also illuminated Kiwi for the Japanese. The opening barrage of what proved to be a close-in surface battle reminiscent of a bygone era worked to Kiwis advantage. Almost immediately, Lt. Cmdr. Sakamoto and the entire Japanese bridge crew were mowed down, including most of the gun crew. Barges lashed to the sub aft of the conning tower filled with supplies for the stranded and starving Japanese troops on Guadalcanal were set alight. With the bridge crew either dead or wounded, I-1 started to lose speed and drift to starboard. Lieutenant Koreeda Sadayoshi, I-1s torpedo officer, then came topside and took command. (Koreeda survived the sinking of I-1 and commanded a number of other subs later in the war, including RO-115 and RO-63.) With Kiwi close aboard, Koreeda concluded that the enemy was planning to capture the sub. He ordered a reserve gun crew on deck and brought up others with rifles in an attempt to prevent the unthinkable from happening. He even sent the officers to fetch their samurai swords. Sometime during this action, one of the gunners aboard Kiwi testified that he saw somebody in the conning tower of I-1 throw a box overboard that sank immediately. Whether the box contained codebooks or other documents was never ascertained. According to W.J. Holmes in his book Double Edged Secrets, escaping crewmembers of I-1 took current code books and buried them ashore, but left behind call lists, old code books, and charts. Allied divers later salvaged these, and they proved of great value. At 9:20 pm, Kiwi altered course to ram I-1, hitting the sub on the port side abaft the conning tower. Soldiers meant to land on Guadalcanal along with the supply barges were seen jumping overboard at this point. Bridson in his after-action report observed as he backed off I-1 that she was definitely holed. Kiwis 20mm Oerlikons again raked the sub in an attempt to suppress any further return fire. However, I-1 continued to make good speed at an estimated nine knots. Bridson decided to ram her a second and then a third time. The second attempt was a glancing below, and Bridson reported that it was at this time that Kiwi suffered her first and only casualty of the battle. Leading Signalman C. Buchanan, who was manning the 10-inch searchlight, was wounded, but he continued to man his post until relieved at the conclusion of the battle. He died of his wounds two days later and was honored by both the New Zealand and American navies. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, one of only nine non-Americans to be so honored in World War II. Although Bridson was formal in his after-action report of the events that took place on the night of January 29, 1943, another account, this one by Admiral Halsey, gives a livelier picture of the events: The skipper immediately put his helm over and rang up full speed on his telegraph, which so astonished the chief that he yelled up the speaking tube, Whats the matter, you bastard? Have you gone crazy? Shut up! the skipper yelled back. Theres a weekends leave in Auckland dead ahead of us! Give me everything youve got, or Ill come below and kick hell out of you! Then Bridson rams again, this time for a weeks leave. Ramming I-1 for the third time, he is reported as correcting himself in saying, Once more for a fortnight! In addition to Halseys account, another version that added to the reputation, if not the mystique, of Gordon Bridson was shared some years after the war by David Graham, who served on HMNZS Kiwi with Bridson. He described in part the encounter with I-1 as follows: He [Bridson] shouted down the voice tube, Stand by to ram! When the voice replied back from the engine room, What the hell do you do when you ram? he [Bridson] replied, I dont know, Ive never done it before. Also at this time, Lieutenant Sakai Toshimi, I-1s navigator with sword in hand, tried to board Kiwi but fell into the sea as it pulled away. He was later rescued and served out the war on two other subs before going down with RO-114 the following year. Kiwis third ramming of the I-1 punctured one of the subs main ballast tanks, and the minesweepers hull slid up onto the subs after deck. She tilted precariously to one side before sliding off. Her stem was badly damaged, as was her sonar gear. By this time the battle had been going on for almost an hour, and Kiwis guns had overheated, forcing her to withdraw. Moa then took up the chase, firing all she had and making more hits on the sub. At 11:15 pm, I-1 ran aground just inside Fish Reef north of Kamimbo Bay. The after part of the sub filled with water and sank, while the bow rose at a steep angle above the reef. Lieutenant Koreeda, the senior surviving officer aboard I-1, ordered his men to abandon ship. Sixty-six soldiers and sailors aboard the stricken I-1 escaped to shore and were later evacuated to Rabaul. In an interview that appeared in The New Zealand Herald the following March, Bridson reported that aboard Kiwi during this battle, there were two Guadalcanal islanders. No explanation was given for why they were aboard, other than to say that during the battle, they joined in by passing up ammunition for the guns. When Kiwi returned to port, the relatives of the two men came aboard and completely ignoring George and Benny asked me if they had shown fright in front of the Japanese. I assured them they had not, and immediately the pair became centers of attention of an admiring throng. In another interview that same month with The Auckland Star, Bridson expressed thanks to the Americans for always giving them timely warning if anything too big to handle might be coming their way. They didnt waste any time, he said. If they told us to scram, we scrammed. Today, we know that these warnings came as a result of Allied efforts at breaking the various Japanese codes, efforts that went back to World War I when the Japanese diplomatic code was first cracked. If Bridson suspected as much, he never expressed it. At the very least, individuals serving in the Solomon Islands knew about the work of the coast watchers and, of course, Allied submarines and aircraft, many with photoreconnaissance capability, which supplemented what the codebreakers could not always provide. At the same time, the intelligence people and high-ranking military personnel on the receiving end of intelligence made sure that snooper aircraft were spotted by the enemy, making them think that their movements were detected by means other than a compromise of their codes. Although the two minesweepers suffered only one casualty, there easily could have been more. After the battle and damage to both ships was assessed, it was found that one of the 20mm Oerlikons had been hit more than once either by machine-gun bullets or shrapnel. Able Seaman Dalton, who was manning one of them, was therefore one lucky lad. Besides damage to the forward part of Kiwi from ramming I-1, she also suffered damage to her stern, but not from I-1: it resulted from the premature detonation of one of her own depth charges. In addition, bullet holes were found above the waterline on the port bow, the shrouds on the starboard side of the foremast were shot away, windows on the starboard side of the wheelhouse were shattered, and the winch and wheel covers on the foredeck were destroyed. Most of the damage appears to have been on the starboard side of Kiwi, but how much was the result of hostile gunfire or of the ramming action was not made absolutely clear in the report. Moa, on the other hand, came out relatively unscathed, even though she joined in the final stage of the battle after Kiwis guns overheated. The down side for Moa, however, was that she had to remain on station while Kiwi returned home for repairs and a heros welcome for the officers and ratings. The sailors were greeted by large crowds and marched through Auckland in a parade dedicated to them, and this after less than two months in a combat zone. Moa was later sunk off the coast of Tulagi in April 1943 as a result of enemy action. Even before the sinking of I-1, these little New Zealand ships had a reputation in the South Pacific. Part of it stemmed from envy by their American allies, because the New Zealand Navy, being part of the British Commonwealth, was wet (i.e., they allowed liquor aboard their ships), but the U.S. Navy was dry. As a result, American naval officers were more than willing to ingratiate themselves to their counterparts in the Royal New Zealand Navy in order to receive invites to the ships pub when in port. Of course, a couple of bottles of rum had bought 20mm Oerlikons for Kiwi, and another two bought some for Moa, making a big difference in the battle with the Japanese submarine. Likewise, the ratings in both navies engaged in a barter system that was symbiotic. Most New Zealand Pacific War veterans confessed that American chow was head and shoulders above anything they were served in their messes, whether aboard ship or ashore. Additionally, American servicemen were paid more than New Zealand servicemen, moving the enterprising New Zealanders to find a variety of ways to supplement their comparatively low wages. Robert Gordon Dunlop, who served in the Solomon Islands as part of the only New Zealand Army division to serve in the Pacific (the 3rd), related the following in a 2007 oral history interview: We had a camp [on Guadalcanal] that was almost backed on to an American rations store, and a couple of our fellows set up a still. We would go over to the American camp and get a lot of grapefruit juice tins and put it through the stillthe distillerand then sell it back to the Yanks. They gave $30 a bottle for it. It was their own ingredients they gave to us, and then bought it back at $30 a bottle. You could put a match to it and get an almost colorless flamepretty pure spirits, really. Similarly, Charles Laid, who was in a Royal New Zealand Air Force squadron of Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats based near Tulagi, commented, The 505 Seabees were the Americans that did the net and boom [on Tulagi], and they used to come to our base. As you know, the American Navy is dry, but every week the Seabees used to bring a barge-load of booze over to us, and then on Wednesday and Saturday nights, the American servicemen would come over to our base and help us drink it. The incongruity of it occurred to me only after the war. In the case of HMNZS Kiwi, the sailors from New Zealand were well known for another reason. The skipper of Kiwi, Lt. Cmdr. Bridson, was not as stiff and formal as one might expect from a naval officer, especially one brought up in the tradition of the Royal Navy. Talking to his oldest son Nils, one is left with the impression that he was a big man with a big heart, and also had a sense of humor that helped him and his crew through some difficult times a long way from home and loved ones. To relieve some of the tension and perhaps even some of the boredom, Bridson and two of his fellow officers aboard Kiwi took to holding three-man parades while in port. Again, Admiral Halsey in his autobiography relates having been witness to at least one of these parades: Three of the Kiwis officersthe captain, the medical officer, and the chief engineerwere famous from the Solomons to Auckland. Everyone knew them at least by sight. Not only were they the most mastodonic men I ever laid eyes ontheir combined weights were close to 800 poundsbut whenever the Kiwi put into Noumea, these monsters would stage a three-man parade through the town, one of them puffing into a dented trombone, another tooting a jazz whistle, and the third playing a concertina. Admiral Halsey also felt that the actions of Kiwi and Moa on the night of January 29 were important enough to deserve some recognition, not only from the New Zealand Navy, but also the U.S. Navy. He therefore recommended Bridson and Phipps for the Navy Cross. Engineering Officer W. Southward was awarded the Silver Star. Regardless of the honor of being among the few non-Americans to be so awarded in World War II, the three New Zealanders arrived at Admiral Halseys office for the ceremony prelubricated. As Admiral Halsey put it, I had to support them with one hand while I pinned on the crosses with the other. They thanked me, saluted, and rumbled away. The last I saw of them, they picked up the medical officer and their musical instruments, and were forming another parade. Bruce Petty is the author of five books, four of which concern World War II in the Pacific. He is a resident of New Plymouth, New Zealand. This article originally appeared on the Warfare History Network. Image: Wikimedia Click here to read the full article. One of Rocket Lab's six-story Electron launch vehicles lifts off from New Zealand. Trevor Mahlmann/Rocket Lab Rocket Lab, a private spaceflight company that launches smaller payloads from New Zealand, failed to deliver seven satellites to orbit on Saturday. The company's Electron rocket failed when its upper stage was more than 120 miles above Earth. Peter Beck, the CEO of Rocket Lab, publicly apologized for the loss of the vehicle and resolved to fly again soon. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Just minutes after successfully lifting off a launch pad in New Zealand on Saturday, one of Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicles failed to deliver seven satellites to orbit. Rocket Lab, a small-launch company founded by CEO Peter Beck in 2006, had planned to deliver the batch of satellites for three different customers using the 56-foot-tall (17 meter) rocket. However, just over 2 minutes after Electron's large first stage pulled away and its second or upper-stage engine ignited, the company's camera feed for the launch paused during a live broadcast on YouTube. Rocket Lab later said it'd totally lost the space mission, called "Pics Or It Didn't Happen." "An issue was experienced today during Rocket Lab's launch that caused the loss of the vehicle. We are deeply sorry to the customers on board Electron. The issue occurred late in the flight during the 2nd stage burn," the Auckland, New Zealand-based company tweeted after the failure. Beck himself then delivered a public apology for the failure, which occurred during Rocket Lab's 13th orbital launch attempt. "We lost the flight late into the mission. I am incredibly sorry that we failed to deliver our customers satellites today. Rest assured we will find the issue, correct it and be back on the pad soon," Beck tweeted on July 4. The CEO also recorded a 92-second video, which Rocket Lab shared via its Twitter account. "It's fair to say that today was a pretty tough day," Beck said in the clip, which addressed the public and the company's customers. "Believe me, we feel and we share your disappointment. However, we will leave no stone unturned to figure out exactly what happened today so that we can learn from it and get back to the pad safely." Story continues He added that "many Electron launch vehicles in production" and that the company is "ready for a rapid return to flight." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Rocket Lab is one of a growing group of launch companies looking to slash the cost of sending shoe-box-size satellites to low Earth orbit, building smaller rockets and reinventing traditional production lines to meet a growing payload demand. The company is exploring reuse of Electron rockets' boosters to lower costs, similar to how SpaceX lands and reuses its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets' boosters. However, Rocket Lab plans to use a helicopter to catch the returning first-stage rocket as it parachutes back to Earth. The latest Electron rocket mission's altitude peaked at 121 miles (195 kilometers) roughly seven minutes after liftoff before quickly decreasing, according to in-flight telemetry on the company's live video feed. It was aiming to send five tiny Earth imaging satellites from Planet Labs, one microsatellite from Canon Electronics Inc., and a cubesat from British company In-Space Missions into a sun-synchronous orbit 310 miles above Earth. "While it's never the outcome that we hope for, the risk of launch failure is one Planet is always prepared for," Planet Labs said in a statement on Saturday, adding it looked "forward to flying on the Electron again" in the future. Prior to Saturday's failure Rocket Lab's first loss of 12 operational missions thus far (its first mission, a test launch in 2017, did not reach orbit) the company planned to launch its next Electron vehicle from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in August. Although engineers are investigating the cause of the latest mission's second-stage rocket failure, a company spokesperson told Business Insider the event "will likely have a minimal impact on schedule for our upcoming missions" but noted it's "too early to give new timings" for those launches. Reporting from Reuters was contributed by Joey Roulette. This story has been updated with new information. Read the original article on Business Insider Click here to read the full article. Less than three years ago, the Trump administration announced to the world the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition. The administration asserted that the return to an era of great power competition is the central challenge to the future of American prosperity and security. As a nation, we have allowed our competitive advantage to erode. We must reframe our perspective of national security. China and Russia continue to challenge the United States and are exploiting what they perceive as American vulnerabilities. In the past, America has been able to project power and advance our interests globally, and we have been able to do so largely unchecked. Today, that is an ability we can no longer take for granted. In order to maintain our competitive advantage in the era of great power competition, we must modernize our forces. The need to recapitalize and modernize exists across all the services and in all military domains. From nuclear to conventional, and from land to sea, we are relying on legacy platforms and weapons that must be updated to meet current and future threats. Years of continuous combat operations and deferred modernization has created a significant crisis in military readiness in both capability and capacity. Congress has worked diligently over the last several years to provide the funding required for modernization and to stop the downward trend in overall military readiness. We must continue this path forward in order to equip the services with the resources necessary to fight and win in their respective mission areas. If we look at the Army, we can see how a renewed focus on modernization can drive the overall culture. The Army has taken great strides to update, modernize, and reform. However, this has not always been the case. Army modernization funding declined by well over 50% from 2008 through 2018 as a result of the drawdown from two wars and the imposition of budget caps created by the Budget Control Act. Story continues Across all the services, we must modernize key capabilities, recognizing we cannot expect success fighting tomorrows conflicts with yesterdays weapons. Investments in space, cyberspace, missile defense, advanced autonomous systems, next generation air dominance, and hypersonics will provide our troops with what they need to win. This investment in the future must also include funding to maintain a credible and reliable nuclear deterrent force. Our U.S. nuclear triadbombers, submarine-launched missiles, and intercontinental ballistic missilesare critical for our national defense. Together, they offer a flexible, visible, and, most importantly, credible deterrent to Russia and China. The triad must be modernized. Our Ohio-class submarines and air-launched cruise missiles date back to the early 1980s, the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was first deployed in 1973, and our oldest bombers are 1960s platforms. Even our newest component, the B-2 stealth bomber, requires attention. There are only 20 B-2 stealth bombers in our inventory. Congress must continue to support investments into the new B-21 bomber to ensure we have both capability and capacity to deter both nations. While undergoing a complete modernization of all three legs of the triad is expensive, it is a bargain for what we get in return. China and Russia are watching what we are doing with our nuclear deterrent force and are reevaluating their war plans accordingly. For too long, we have asked our military services to do more without providing them with the timely resources they need. Our services need to be able to buy the tools necessary to readily address the evolving security needs of our nation. Take, for example, the F-15 C/D fleet. The health of this fleet is deteriorating at a rapid pace, and is well past its certified service life. The F-15Cs continue to fly despite serious mechanical and electrical issues. The Air Force has had to accept significant risk with this fleet as a result of the decision more than 10 years ago to cap the F-22 procurement at 187 aircraft instead of procuring the required 381. This was a budgetary-driven decision that has had long-term strategic and operational consequences. Fortunately, Congress took steps last year to authorize the start of the F-15EX program to replace the F-15 C/D fleet as quickly as possible. It also provided additional funding to procure more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to help improve our fifth generation fighter inventory. There are members of Congress who have called for cutting defense spending in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no question the pandemic has impacted the health and economic well-being of many Americans. Congress has provided more than $3 trillion to address this pandemic and is looking at future aid packages as our nation continues the road to recovery. However, calls for cutting defense spending are not the answer. It is irresponsible, negligent, and puts the security of all Americans at risk. China and Russia have continued their military activities and have used this pandemic to their advantage. Our enemies get a vote, and if we cut defense spending after barely swimming out of a major military readiness crisis, Congress will be failing its fundamental constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. Gen. John Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command, stated, No service is able to go it alone, and as history has shown, joint teams win, and modernization is no exception. Id say winning matters, but winning together matters most. We should not repeat the mistakes of the past. We must continue the path forward by investing in capabilities needed to ensure a credible deterrent posture now and into the future. Congress, the military, and industry must all work together to make sure our adversaries think twice before attacking, because they know the United States has the strongest military in the world. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo, is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. She also is the ranking member of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. This article by Vicky Hartzler first appeared in The Daily Signal on June 30, 2020. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. A 61-year-old inmate at Federal Correctional Complex at Butner died Sunday from COVID-19, according to federal officials. Jack Edward Talledo, who tested positive for the coronavirus on June 1, had been in custody at Butner since Feb. 11, according to a press release from the federal Bureau of Prisons. He died at a local hospital. The Butner prison complex, which is about 35 miles north of Raleigh, has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the federal prison system. The low security section of the Butner complex houses 1,130 men and as of Sunday had 556 inmates with active coronavirus infections, according to the federal prison bureau. Five staff members in the low security section have active infections. The prison system reported Sunday that 16 inmates and one staff member from low security had died. The prison system counts 116 inmates and 11 staff members from Butner low security as having recovered from coronavirus infections. Talledo was sentenced in the Southern District of Florida to 60 months in prison on charges related to child pornography. He had pre-existing health conditions that made him vulnerable to a more severe case of COVID-19, the prison bureau said. LEAMINGTON, ON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Aphria Inc. ("Aphria") (TSX: APHA and NASDAQ: APHA), a leading global cannabis company, today announced that it has issued 1,658,375 common shares (the "Settlement Shares") to Emblem Cannabis Corporation ("Emblem"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX: AH, OTC: ALEAF) ("Aleafia Health") as part of a settlement agreement entered into between the parties and previously disclosed on June 25, 2020. Aphria Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Aphria Inc.) The Settlement Shares were issued in Canada by way of a prospectus supplement to Aphria's base shelf prospectus dated November 22, 2019 and in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). Copies of the prospectus supplement and base shelf prospectus are available under Aphria's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. This press release is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy the Settlement Shares or any other securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The offer and sale of the Settlement Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act or the securities laws of any state of the United States and, accordingly, may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. About Aphria Aphria Inc. is a leading global cannabis company driven by an unrelenting commitment to our people, the planet, product quality and innovation. Headquartered in Leamington, Ontario the greenhouse capital of Canada Aphria Inc. has been setting the standard for the low-cost production of high-quality cannabis at scale, grown in the most natural conditions possible. Focusing on untapped opportunities and backed by the latest technologies, Aphria Inc. is committed to bringing breakthrough innovation to the global cannabis market. The Company's portfolio of brands is grounded in expertly-researched consumer insights designed to meet the needs of every consumer segment. Rooted in our founders' multi-generational expertise in commercial agriculture, Aphria Inc. drives sustainable long-term shareholder value through a diversified approach to innovation, strategic partnerships and global expansion. Story continues For more information, visit: aphriainc.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aphria-announces-issuance-of-shares-in-respect-of-previously-announced-settlement-of-claim-301088391.html SOURCE Aphria Inc. Ennio Morricone at the 2016 Oscars, where he won the award for best original score ("The Hateful Eight"). (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press) Its hard for me to recall the most vivid moments in Mission to Mars, Brian De Palmas outer-space drama from 2000, without hearing the great music of Ennio Morricone. That probably isnt how you expected this to begin, but then, Morricone had a thing for unusual overtures, so bear with me. At one point in Mission to Mars, the astronaut characters maneuver their way through the vast emptiness of space a moment of visual awe to which Morricone supplies a lyrical counterpoint that is at once weirdly playful and hauntingly spare. He helps transfigure the scene from a purely technical endeavor into a kind of weightless dance, a zero-gravity ballet. And when the adventure reaches its climax, Morricone rises to his own peak of spiritual and emotional extravagance a mighty convergence of strings, celestial voices and insistently brassy melody. Its the music you might expect to hear as your life flashes before your eyes. Critically scorned upon release, Mission to Mars may not be the picture that springs most readily to mind when we think of this great Italian maestro turned Hollywood legend, who died Monday at the age of 91. If we must think of a Mission movie, surely it should be Roland Joffes The Mission (1986), a historical epic perhaps most fondly remembered today for Morricones lush oboe themes, as well as his clever dialectic of classical European and indigenous South American instruments. And if we must invoke one of Morricones signature scores for De Palma, one of his favorite collaborators, surely it should be The Untouchables (1987), which sets an old-timey underworld mood from the outset all those low, sinister five-note progressions, timed to a succession of quick, metronomic pulses. Gary Sinise in the movie "Mission to Mars." (Touchstone Pictures ) You surely have your own well-worn favorites. But Morricone was a dizzyingly prolific and madly inventive artist, and his career, during which he scored more than 500 films, is much more than a compendium of the obvious and the iconic. Any appreciation at this early stage will but scratch the surface of a mighty edifice that spanned nearly 70 years and ran from giallo horror flicks to classic westerns, and which could apply itself, with equal passion, to the most restless experimentation and the most sentimental bathos. The famously outspoken Morricone certainly had his own singular view of what constituted his best and worst work, and was never afraid to fly in the face of public opinion. Story continues He was a notorious outlier on, of all things, Sergio Leones A Fistful of Dollars (1964) the worst film Leone made and the worst score I ever did, he once said of the work that vaulted him to international stardom and made his orchestrations all but synonymous with Clint Eastwoods squint. The consensus description for movies like A Fistful of Dollars and the pictures that followed it, like 1965s For a Few Dollars More and 1966s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is spaghetti westerns, a term that Morricone notably loathed. Id object to it mainly on the grounds that even the tastiest spaghetti seems like too one-note a metaphor for Morricones wild musical fusion cuisine. Whatever your preferred term, to revisit those Leone-Eastwood westerns is to hear an entire film subgenre being defined by the most indelible music imaginable, if also, at times, the most counterintuitive. What was Morricone thinking, you may wonder, when he introduced the whistle of an ocarina, or joined it to the portentous chants of a choir? Did he know, when he wrote that famous wah-WAH-wah for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, that he was composing one of the most intensely evocative and ripe-for-parody flourishes in film music history? (Im pretty sure the first time I ever heard it was in a milk commercial a dairy western.) Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in the movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." (MGM) If he could have told us what he was thinking in so many words, of course, he might not have had to put it into such grand musical terms to begin with. Listen to any Morricone score and accompaniment, a word that critics sometimes default to when writing about film music, starts to feel even less adequate than usual. The effect of his work was not simply to achieve an ideal, harmonious balance of sound and image; he was a far more demonstrative artist than that. More often than not, he seemed all too willing to challenge the image, to draw out the image to languorous extremes, to pummel the image into lyrical submission. Some of the most memorable standoffs in the Leone-Eastwood westerns feel as if they had been dictated by the music rather than vice versa. Thats even truer of Leones other grand trilogy of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Duck, You Sucker! (1971) and especially his studio-butchered magnum opus Once Upon a Time in America (1984), its tragic vision sealed by Morricones magnificently keening pan-flute arias (performed by Georghe Zamfir). Rather than merely layering them over the picture after the fact, Leone notably played those transfixing pieces during shooting, allowing them to seep into the very marrow of the film and shape its rhythms. Again and again, Morricone practiced a kind of musical auteurism, showing that a soundtrack could forge its own independent, uniquely cinematic associations and meanings. Robert De Niro in "Once Upon a Time in America." (Embassy Pictures International) The Morricone signature is present even in his more restrained, less demonstrative scores for pictures like Gillo Pontecorvos The Battle of Algiers (1966). In that masterwork of ripped-from-the-headlines realism, Morricones terse, electrifying percussion seems to merge with the pounding footfalls of soldiers marching up and down the steps of the casbah. But the effect is entirely different when you watch a film like Marco Bellocchios 1965 debut feature, Fists in the Pocket, a startling angry-young-man portrait that finds an exquisite contrast in Morricones crooning, tinkling lullabies. He wrote much of his music for films directed by fellow Italian artists, among them Bellocchio, Bernardo Bertolucci, Lina Wertmuller, Sergio Corbucci, Dario Argento and Pier Paolo Pasolini, whose transgressive magnum opus, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, proved a fascinating if far-from-intuitive fit. At the opposite extreme was perhaps the composers most frequent collaborator, Giuseppe Tornatore, whose Cinema Paradiso, a soft-bellied ode to the magic of movies, might not have been the Oscar-winning art-house favorite it became without Morricones gently treacly imprint. He earned one of his six Academy Award nominations for original score for Tornatores Malena (2000), a choice that is viewed most charitably, in retrospect, as a sign of just how revered Morricone had become in Hollywood. It also revealed how eager the motion picture academy was to recognize him after nominating him for his superior work on Terrence Malicks glorious Days of Heaven (1978), The Mission, The Untouchables and Barry Levinsons Bugsy (1991). A scene from Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers" (1965). (Rialto Pictures / Iconotheque-Bibliotheque du Film [Paris]) He received an honorary Oscar in 2007, placing him in the company of numerous other venerated artists who were given the academy's ultimate consolation prize. But Morricone would triumph on his own terms eight years later, finally earning his first and only scoring Oscar, for Quentin Tarantinos The Hateful Eight (2015) and becoming, at that point, the oldest winner of a competitive award in Academy Awards history. While that particular score may not rank among his best work, there is something undeniably poignant about Morricone getting his successful final boost from Tarantino, who spent much of his career so lovingly and lavishly quoting the maestros greatest hits in movies like "Kill Bill" and "Django Unchained." Tarantino knew that Morricones music was something primal and even physical in its presence, something that seemed to bubble out of the landscape itself. And those landscapes could be as different as a dust-choked Leone desert or the deadly Antarctic tundra of John Carpenters The Thing (1982) or, yes, the vast expanse of De Palmas outer space, one of many cinematic cosmos that Morricone colonized with his own limitless sense of possibility. For the record: 4:57 PM, Jul. 06, 2020: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Morricone received seven Academy award nominations. He was nominated six times, winning once, in addition to being awarded an honorary Oscar. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: She fired three torpedoes. If one had hit, history would remember the Falklands war very differently. The export-only Type 209 submarine was designed in the 1970s as a small, affordable submarine alternative for countries that could not afford, nor had the need, for large and expensive American or Soviet submarine designs. Though the 209 design is quite small when compared to other nuclear-powered submarine designs, it is quite capable and has been widely exported to countries that lack a domestic submarine manufacturing industry. The Type 209 design created by, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Germany, uses a streamlined single-hull design powered by four diesel engines that charge the subs battery cells when surfaced. Submerged, the Type 209 can achieve a respectable 23 knots or about 26 miles per hour. From the periscope, the commander can view the entire length of the submarine, which has a relatively small crew complement of just 36. Type 209 enjoyed considerable success as an export sub on the international submarine market. Five main variants have been developed for 14 different countries, leading to some variation between hulls optimized for different naval requirements. One type 209 was even built as recently as 2008. Though the class is too small to house vertically-launched missiles, its eight torpedo tubes can fire surface-attack missiles modified for torpedo tube launch. Chang Bogo-class The South Korean Type 209 submarine variant, called Chang Bogo-class after a Korean sailor and explorer, is one of the most advanced of the Type 209 variants. The parent Type 209s lead-acid batteries were swapped out for higher capacity lithium-ion batteries which extend the Chang Bogos range and underwater endurance. In addition to standard 21-inch torpedoes, the Chang Bono-class can attack surface targets with American Harpoon missiles. These harpoons are fired from the subs torpedo tubes inside watertight containers that launch the missile into the air once contact with the surface has been made. Besides Germany, South Korea is the only other country that has put their license-built Type 209 variant for sale internationally, a deal that was picked up by the Indonesian Navy in the mid-2000s. Story continues Fire in Anger One of the few times the Type 209 was used in anger was during the Falklands War, when an Argentinian Type 209 fired at a British aircraft carrier. Amazingly the Argentinian submarine got to within 7,000 meters of the British surface fleet without being detected and fired three torpedoes. However, due to faulty gyroscopes and improperly installed guidance wires, the torpedoes veered wildly off course, missing their target. Had they not missed, the course of the Falklands War could potentially have been much different. Dive, Dive Though the class has since been supplanted by other more modern German designs, such as the Type 214 class, the 209 class is nonetheless still a capable platform, especially for countries that cannot manufacture their own submarines and are in need of a moderately capable platform on the cheap. These cost-effective and capable attributes are reflected by the class surprisingly wide export success, particularly in Latin America. Caleb Larson holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy. He lives in Berlin and writes on U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policy, German politics, and culture. This first appeared in May. Image: Submarine ARA Juan in the Naval Dock of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 14 May 2017. Wikimedia/Juan Kulichevsky. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Click here to read the full article. A physician tests a patient for the coronavirus disease in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 17, 2020. Courtney Pedroza/Reuters Arizona healthcare workers told Business Insider they're worried that the public is not taking the coronavirus outbreak in the state seriously. "I think there's a lot of denial," Dr. Sandra Till said, adding that some people don't think it will happen to them, or if does it won't be severe. Dr. Bradley Dreifuss also told Business Insider he thinks the state opened up prematurely, without having proper testing, tracing, and isolation protocols in place. Arizona now has the worst per-capita outbreak in the US, with 49.9 daily new cases per 100,000 people, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Sarah Barr, a physician's assistant in Phoenix, was diagnosed with the coronavirus in late May. It took a week to get her results, and she's still not sure if she caught the virus in the hospital where she works or out in the community. After the state reopened, she went to a restaurant for her 40th birthday. "I'm always wondering like, did I do this because I went out to eat for my birthday?" she told Business Insider. "And our waiter at the restaurant, he was not wearing a mask. It's just, it's scary people aren't taking it seriously." Dr. Sandra Till, a pulmonologist and critical care intensivist at Banner University Medical Center Phoenix, told Business Insider she's seeing patients from their 20s to 90s get intubated because of COVID-19. Then out in the community, she notices people not wearing masks or socially distancing. Related Video: How long will social distancing last? Its complicated. "I think there's a lot of denial," she said, adding that some people don't think it will happen to them, or if does it won't be severe, and some people are even willing to risk death rather than feel confined. Beyond the stress of tending to COVID-19 patients in one of the nation's hotspots, Arizona healthcare workers like Barr and Till told Business Insider they're concerned about catching COVID-19 either at work or from the community and they're worried that the public isn't taking the pandemic seriously. Story continues Arizona closed on April 1 when cases were still low. But the state began to reopen under the slogan "Return stronger" in early May, with the entire stay-at-home order completely lifted on May 15. According to AZCentral, the state reported a 3.9% increase in cases on May 15. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, right, speaks as Vice President Mike Pence, left, watches after the two held a meeting to discuss the surge in coronavirus cases in Arizona Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Phoenix. Ross D. Franklin/AP Images Health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci had advised states not to reopen until they see a steady decrease in cases. The state has since reported more than 101,000 total cases of the coronavirus and at least 1,810 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Health experts say Arizona opened up too soon, and that's why cases are surging Dr. Bradley Dreifuss, director of rural and global emergency medicine programs at the University of Arizona College of Medicine at Tucson, told Business Insider he thinks the state opened up prematurely, without having proper testing, tracing and isolation protocols in place. He also added that the level of infection was far above the standard set by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reopening. NPR reported that health experts have linked Arizona lifting its stay-at-home order with its surge in new cases. The coronavirus was the one to resurge, and now some businesses are on pause again. Last Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey implemented new measures to contain the spread, including pausing the operation of several types of businesses like bars and gyms. According to data analyzed by the Harvard Global Health Institute, Arizona currently has had the highest per-capita rate of daily new COVID-19 infections over the past seven days with 49.9 people in the state testing positive per every 100,000 people in Arizona. Till said she worries about potentially passing the virus to her two young children, but she's even more concerned they may catch it from their childcare or from the community. A client works out at Mountainside Fitness as the facility remains open even as Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has issued an executive order for all gyms to close due to the surge in coronavirus cases in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 2, 2020. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin Healthcare workers told us they were tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. "Then you factor in the fact that [healthcare workers] are emotionally exhausted, and there's compassion fatigue, and that people have family members at home they're now getting sick, whether it be because of our employment or whether it be because of getting sick in the community," Dreifuss said. The father of a healthcare worker is frustrated people aren't wearing masks, and is worried for his daughter's safety Not all Arizonians are taking the virus lightly, however. Maricopa County resident Gary Rowe, whose daughter works in a hospital, told Insider he was frustrated with seeing people in businesses not wearing masks. Rowe said he has approached people in grocery stores and asked them to put on a mask. He said he is usually met with the response that it is none of his businesses or it's their constitutional right not to wear a mask. A sign reminds people to wear a face mask on July 4, 2020 in Morristown, Arizona. Christian Petersen/Getty Images "It's just, they don't have any respect for their fellow neighbor, their fellow shopper," Rowe told Business Insider. He said he gets updates from his daughter, and he's concerned about the cases surging and the impact it's having on healthcare workers, noting that the numbers were down in the state when businesses were shuttered. "And now that they open it up, and they're requiring masks, so they say, people aren't wearing them and look at what's happening," Rowe told Insider. "Hospitals are full, completely full. I mean, those nurses are just, they're fatigued and doctors, you know, I mean it's terrible." Dreifuss and Till both said the community should take more responsibility to limit their exposure and slow the spread of the virus to ease the burden on healthcare workers who are becoming exhausted. "We know the virus is with us, and it's not going to go away," Till said. "What I think everyone feels is that people need to take some responsibility in their daily lives to make an effort, to stop the spread and to slow the spread so that we as doctors and the nurses and respiratory therapists and everyone involved in healthcare is able to do a good job and not completely get mentally burnt out and have, you know, bad consequences after this is over." Read the original article on Business Insider iStock/Tolimir(NEW YORK) -- The Manhattan district attorney has charged Amy Cooper, the white woman who was filmed threatening to call the police on a Black bird watcher in Central Park in May. "Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree," Manhattan DA Cy Vance said in a statement. Vance would not give more details other than Cooper, 40, was issued a desk appearance ticket for an Oct. 14 arraignment on the misdemeanor charge. Defense attorney Robert Barnes, who has previously represented Alex Jones and Wesley Snipes, is representing Amy Cooper. "Once all the facts are known, Amy Cooper will be found not guilty of the single, misdemeanor charge filed in this case, Barnes said in a statement. The rush to judgment by some in the public, in this cancel culture epidemic, will be proven as wrong as cancel culture itself. She lost her job, her home, and her public life. Now some demand she lose her freedom? How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media? Christian Cooper, 57, was bird watching in Central Park on Memorial Day when he asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog as per the park's rules. Amy became angry when he tried to lure her dog away from the area's vegetation with some treats and that's when he began filming. In the now-viral footage, Amy is seen threatening to call the cops and tell them "there's an African American man threatening my life." Officers arrived but didn't make an arrest. The day after the incident, Amy Cooper issued an apology to Chris Cooper and he accepted. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP, the $30 billion global outsourced investment office, has announced that Arjun Raghavan has taken over from Stan Miranda as CEO, as of 1 July 2020. Stan Miranda, founder of Partners Capital, is now Chairman and remains a full time executive. LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the announcement of its succession plan at the end of 2019, Arjun Raghavan has assumed the CEO role of Partners Capital as at 1 July. Stan Miranda transitions into the role of Chairman and remains a full-time executive, retaining his current client responsibilities while supporting Arjun and the other 13 partners on the ongoing development of the firm's global business and investment strategy. Arjun Raghavan New CEO of Partners Capital Arjun Raghavan joined Partners Capital in the London office in 2007 from a Goldman Sachs hedge fund spin-out and was promoted to Partner within three years of joining. Arjun has played a critical role in evolving Partners Capital's investment strategy, known as the Partners Capital Risk Management Endowment Approach (PRMEA), as well as in founding and managing the firm's $4 billion flagship multi-asset class vehicle, The Master Portfolio. In 2013, Arjun relocated to Hong Kong, and subsequently to Singapore, to build the Asian business while carrying on with his global investment responsibilities. In a worldwide company call at the end of June, Arjun spoke to the team of 200 professionals and said, "It is an absolute honour to be given the opportunity to lead such a high calibre team into the next critical phase of our firm's strategic development". He emphasised a continued focus on investment innovation and growing the diverse global talent pool as being critically important to delivering persistent long-term outperformance to clients. Stan commented "In the last few months, Arjun has quickly come to grips with what it takes to lead a dynamic global investment firm and I have no doubt that under Arjun's leadership our investment capabilities will go from strength to strength." Story continues Arjun has already started to expand the senior leadership team across all key geographies. In North America, David Shushan has been appointed as the Head of the Boston office, while Will Fox continues in his role as Head of North America, with oversight of all three US offices (Boston, New York and San Francisco). Targeted senior hiring is also in progress across US, Europe and Asia to deepen the firm's relationships with institutional family offices and further bolster its capabilities in the area of ESG and Impact Investing. Arjun, currently based in Singapore, will be relocating to London at the end of 2020. He will continue to oversee the firm's operations in Asia along with Adam Watson, who will Co-Head the region from Singapore. Adam has been with the firm for almost 11 years and relocated from London in 2013 with Arjun to build the firm's Asia presence. He is supported by Dominik Burckgard, who is a Senior Principal overseeing the firm's Hong Kong office. About Partners Capital Founded in 2001, Partners Capital is a wholly independent Outsourced Investment Office (OCIO) primarily serving sophisticated institutions and senior investment professionals in Europe, North America and Asia. With offices in Boston, New York, London, San Francisco, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong, the firm is one of the few truly global OCIOs, employing 200 people worldwide and covering all major asset classes. The firm oversees assets of $30 billion. Its institutional clients include Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, Eton College, INSEAD Business School, the Research Foundation for the State University of New York, the Royal Academy of Arts, Milton Academy, the Hong Kong Cancer Fund and the Cancer Research Institute. Additional information on Partners Capital may be found at http://www.partners-cap.com Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP Armed rightwing militia groups descended on Gettysburg, Pennsylvania over the weekend, in a bid to protect the historic town from a flag-burning protest that never occurred and was in all likelihood a fake event advertised on social media. Dozens of militia members, some from as far away as Delaware, came to the site of a pivotal civil war battle in 1863, after posts on Facebook claimed anti-fascist groups planned to protest there over the Fourth of July national holiday. The online rumours appeared to originate from posts written by a group named Left Behind USA, which promised an event where attendees would burn flags in protest of thugs and animals in blue, according to now deleted messages reviewed by the Washington Post. The posts also said organisers would be giving away free small flags to children to safely throw into the fire. Local antifa organizers denied any involvement in the event, which they described as a complete fabrication. No antifa groups have planned a rally there that day, a representative for Central PA Antifa told the Evening Sun newspaper, in Pennsylvania. Biographical details provided by a representative from the Left Behind USA group did not match any official documents, according to the Post. Nonetheless, dozens of militia members and far-right protesters descended on the towns national cemetery on Saturday, many heavily armed. One man, Mike Boyer, told local media he had come to prevent violence. We will defend everybodys right to freedom of speech, Boyer told PennLive. We want everybody to have a voice, because we think we all participated in building this nation. [But] everyones lives matter, end of story. Reports indicated that rightwing protesters confronted one man, wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, who had entered the cemetery to pay his respects to an ancestor. The cemetery was created for Union soldiers killed during the 1863 battle. The man, named by the Post as Trent Somes, claimed he was surrounded by 50 militia members who quizzed him about his T-shirt. According to a press statement from the Gettysburg national military park, Somes was later removed from the cemetery by Department of Homeland Security police officers, to protect his own safety. - Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, the KIDScoreD5 system automatically and accurately analyzes and classifies embryos, increasing the probability of gestation - The largest case study in embryology to date demonstrates benefits, potentially revolutionizing embryo selection through automation and using Artificial Intelligence VALENCIA, Spain, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As spectacular and futuristic as it may seem, using Artificial Intelligence to automatically analyze embryos in a standardized way to improve pregnancy rates is already a reality. This is confirmed by an IVIRMA Global study entitled 'A universal algorithm is available in last generation time-lapse incubators: embryo score provided by the KIDScoreD5 is strongly correlated with chromosomal status and clinical outcomes'. IVIRMA Global (PRNewsfoto/IVIRMA Global) IVIRMA Global has already participated in the development of the EmbryoScope (incubator with time-lapse technology) from its beginnings, helping in its evolution and laying the foundations for automatic embryo selection. In its latest development, EmbryoScope presents its newest software system, KIDScoreD5, which automatically performs embryo selection and classification. The study has been carried out over the last three years and has become the most extensive case study in the history of embryology to date (more than 20,000 embryos and more than 3,000 patients have been analyzed). In the study, IVIRMA Global has demonstrated that universal, standardized and automatic embryo selection is a reality for the field of embryology. As the study's principal researcher, Dr. Marcos Meseguer, scientific supervisor of IVI Valencia, comments, "The KIDScoreD5 system automatically classifies embryos using Artificial Intelligence, it detects and evaluates all the steps in the development of the embryo and also classifies its morphology". Dr. Meseguer points out that, "We have seen that the KIDScoreD5 system makes an assessment to distinguish between those embryos that are more likely to be chromosomally normal, called euploid embryos, and those that are not, called aneuploid embryos." Based on the score the system gives each embryo, we know its probability of gestation and the possibility of taking a healthy baby home. Story continues The KIDScoreD5 system analyzes the embryos automatically classifying them from one to ten depending on their quality and morphology. Since automated embryo selection is more accurate than manual selection, the probability of a successful pregnancy is directly linked to the percentage score and, therefore, the patient has a greater chance of success. Main values of the study and the KIDScoreD5 system This is the first time in the field of assisted reproduction that automated embryo analysis has been shown to have clinical utility. The largest case study in embryology to date (more than 20,000 embryos analyzed in more than 3,000 patients) provides encouraging evidence regarding the system's reliability. Having more information about each embryo increases the probability of choosing the best one for transfer. The ability to select and chromosomally categorize the best embryos increases pregnancy rates and also reduces the likelihood of chromosomal abnormalities. It is a completely non-invasive technique that improves current selection methods. About IVIRMA Global IVI was founded in 1990, as the first medical institution in Spain fully dedicated to assisted reproduction. Since then it has helped with the birth of more than 200,000 babies thanks to the application of the latest technologies. In early 2017, IVI merged with RMANJ, becoming the largest assisted reproduction group in the world. It currently has more than 65 clinics in 9 countries and is the leading centre for reproductive medicine. www.ivi.es - www.rmanetwork.com . For more information: IVI Marian Garriga Marian.Garriga@ivirma.com Ricardo Pedros Ricardo.pedros@ivirma.com Equipo Singular Victor Camara victor.camara@equiposingular.com Iciar Picardo iciar.picardo@equiposingular.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artificial-intelligence-in-embryo-selection-a-reality-thanks-to-ivirma-global-301088193.html SOURCE IVIRMA Global The mayor of Atlanta is forcing protesters to clear out of the Wendys where a police officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks last month after a violent night that included a dozen shootings citywide and the death of an 8-year-old girl, the mayor said Sunday. You shot and killed a baby, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference. Enough is enough. Secoriea Turner was shot and killed less than a half mile from the Wendys, which had become a place of memorial and protest since Brookss death on June 12. Three suspects have been arrested on suspicion of arson after protesters set the fast-food joint ablaze the day after Brookss death. Interim police chief Rodney Bryant said the girl was in a car with her mother and an adult friend Saturday night when the driver tried to pull into a liquor store parking lot and was confronted by a group of armed people who had blocked the entrance, NBC News reported. At some point someone in the group opened fire, striking the car multiple times, he said. Police are investigating the incident. No suspects have been identified. Protesters had put up illegal barriers, at times flanked by armed protesters, to keep police out of the area near Wendys. The city reportedly had tried to take down the barriers multiple times in recent weeks. Authorities had been notified of the barriers resurrection less than an hour before the shooting. The Atlanta Police Department told Fox 5 they had planned on checking out the area but were swamped with other 911 calls. Were doing each other more harm than any police officer on this force, said Bottoms, who had allowed protesters to occupy the Wendys for weeks during open discussions. Weve had over 75 shootings in the city over the past several weeks. You cant blame that on APD. Within hours of the mayors announcement three more people were shot, one fatally, when two people exchanged gunfire, Fox 5 reported. They say black lives matter, said the victims father, Secoriya Williamson. You killed your own. You killed your own this time just because of a barrier. They killed my baby because she crossed the barrier and made a U-turn. More from National Review Peter Gratzinger of Pacific Palisades at Santa Monica State Beach which reopened to the public at 5 a.m. Monday. (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times) Beaches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties reopened Monday after officials closed them ahead of the holiday weekend in an effort to contain the spread of the growing coronavirus outbreak. The Los Angeles County order, which went into effect July 3, temporarily closed all public beaches, parking lots and access points as well as piers and beach bike paths. The mandate also prohibited public fireworks shows. Closing the beaches and prohibiting fireworks displays during this important summer holiday weekend was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but its the responsible decision to protect public health and protect our residents from a deadly virus," said Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health for L.A. County, in a statement last week. "The Fourth of July holiday weekend typically means large crowds and gatherings to celebrate, a recipe for increased transmission of COVID-19. No parking signs from the Fourth of July weekend still block spots on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica on Monday. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) All beaches managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors were off-limits over the long weekend, including Marina del Rey harbor. In addition, 25 miles of shoreline along the coast were shuttered, including Malibu and Venice, where some visitors were seen despite the closures. County officials relied on local law enforcement for patrols. A similar closure went into effect Friday in Ventura County beaches, which also reopened its shores Monday. In the absence of other options, large crowds flocked to San Diego beaches, which remained open, and San Clemente Beach, one of the few in Orange County that did not close. Ahead of the holiday weekend, state officials also shut down indoor dining at all restaurants in Los Angeles County, among other locales. A police officer and a lifeguard boat patrol the shoreline in Venice Beach on July 5. Even though the beach was closed over the weekend, a few still made their way to the shore. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) On Sunday, L.A. County officials reported 7,232 new COVID-19 cases among Thursday, Friday and Saturday, after recording a backlog in numbers. Friday marked the highest single-day total of new cases in the county, with 3,187. The number of infections in the county has surpassed 115,000, and the death toll is nearing 3,500. Benefits provider hires John T. Wiesler as head of general agency sales DALLAS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall , the leading provider of next generation broker services, today announces the hiring of John T. Wiesler as the head of general agency sales. BenefitMall (PRNewsFoto/BenefitMall) Prior to joining BenefitMall, Wiesler worked for Humana Inc. as the vice president of sales distribution. Throughout his career at Humana, he also held other positions including vice president of sales, broker and general agency channel leader, vice president-national practice leader, and other sales leadership roles. "John brings more than 30 years of experience in sales and sales leadership roles. We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished benefits professional to our team," said Bob Love, president of the benefits division for BenefitMall. "We look forward to utilizing his fresh perspective to enhance our general agency sales and service model to further support our brokers nationwide." As the head of general agency sales, Wiesler will be responsible for the sales strategy and growth of the general agency business. Additionally, he will work to drive the adoption of BenefitMall's digital technology including Agency Workspace, Client Ready Quote System and Online Enrollment tools. He will also help to establish opportunities for digital interfaces with carrier partners, while spending time with brokers in various markets. "BenefitMall has an excellent reputation in the benefits industry, and I am honored to have been selected for this position," said Wiesler. "I have spent much of my career working to deliver benefits solutions to employers, and I am excited to work for the leading general agency in the U.S. and to make the move to Texas." Wiesler will relocate to Dallas and start his new position on July 6. About BenefitMall Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall partners with a network of 20,000 Brokers to deliver employee benefits to more than 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses. With a dedicated focus on the broker community, BenefitMall leverages innovative technology backed by human expertise to provide the very best in broker services nationwide. Through a network of brokers and carriers, BenefitMall delivers efficient, secure, digital benefits solutions. Story continues Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for health care reform and compliance. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com . Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benefitmall-welcomes-new-sales-leader-301087295.html SOURCE BenefitMall Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B has inked a deal to buy the natural gas transmission and storage assets of utility company Dominion Energy Inc. D. The purchase consideration of $9.7 billion consists of $4 billion in cash and $5.7 billion of assumed debt of the Gas Transmission & Storage segment of Dominion. The acquisition, pending regulatory approvals, is expected to see light in the fourth quarter of 2020. Berkshire Hathaway now has 18% share of all interstate natural gas transmission in the United States. Through this acquisition, Berkshire Hathaway will get more than 7,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines, including about 20.8 billion cubic feet per day of transportation capacity; 900 billion cubic feet of operated natural gas storage with 364 billion cubic feet of company-owned working storage capacity, along with partial ownership of a liquefied natural gas export, import and storage facility. Addition of these assets will ramp up Berkshire Hathaways natural gas transportation businesses, expand its presence in several Eastern and Western states and boosting Berkshire Hathaway Energys market reach and diversity. Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) will have 100% stake of Dominion Energy Transmission, Questar Pipeline, and Carolina Gas Transmission, plus 50% of the Iroquois Gas Transmission System 25% of Cove Point LNG, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export, import and storage facility in Maryland that is one of only six LNG export facilities in the United States. BHE is a global energy company with subsidiaries that generate, transmit, store, distribute and supply energy. Berkshire currently owns 90.9% in BHE. U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates that total U.S. working natural gas in storage at May end was about 2.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), 18% higher than the five-year (201519) average. EIA estimates inventories to increase by 2.1 Tcf from April through October to more than 4.1 Tcf on Oct 31. This acquisition will help BHE capitalize on the opportunity. Berkshire Hathaway boasts a huge cash pile that helps it make prudent buyouts. The conglomerate ended the first quarter of 2020 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments in U.S. Treasury Bills with $137.3 billion, up 7.3% from 2019 end. Shares of Berkshire lost 21% year to date, compared with the industrys decline of 20.9%. Growing Insurance business, solid Manufacturing, Service and Retailing, and Finance and Financial Products segments, strategic acquisitions as well as strong capital position should help shares bounce back. The company carries Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Story continues There have been a host of acquisitions in the insurance space of late, given the significant capital available. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG acquired Barrett, Liner & Buss, LLC to enhance its employee benefit solutions to public entities and healthcare clients and expand its presence in northern Florida while Brown & Brown BRO acquired Loan Protector Insurance Services. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dominion Energy Inc. (D) : Free Stock Analysis Report Arthur J. Gallagher Co. (AJG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Brown Brown, Inc. (BRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Click here to read the full article. IS THIS time for real? Is the United States truly in the throes of decline, as so many suggest? In a hard-hitting Foreign Affairs essay entitled The Self-Destruction of American Power, Fareed Zakaria argues that, yes, U.S. power is waninga consequence of not just the election of Donald Trump, but two decades of foreign policy failures coupled with the inability of the United States to respond to a rising China. The unipolar moment that had existed for the past thirty years has been replaced by the return of great power competition marking the end of Americas dominance of the international system. UC Berkeley economist Brad DeLong agrees, even suggesting that this realization has sparked a superpower panic among Americas leaders, who are fearful that China is closing the gap between the two nations. James Fallows of The Atlantic has even suggested that the fall of the American Empire might not be a bad thing. Many now argue that Trumps failure to organize a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrates the decline of the United States and the emergence of China as not only a rival, but even a replacement. International affairs journals are routinely publishing articles purporting that China is exploiting the coronavirus to prove its ability to lead the international system, though the implications of the pandemic may not be clear for years to come. Nonetheless, the general mood in the United States seems to be one of hopelessness and grim resignation. This is not the firstnor the second, nor even the thirdtime that declinism has so firmly taken root within the minds of the U.S. cognoscenti. Americans have been obsessed about their decline from the very moment the United States became the worlds dominant power following World War II. In fact, one of the first references to Americas dissipating power occurred only months after the wars end, when John Dos Passos toured a ruined Europe for Life magazine to gauge Europes feelings towards their new American protectors. Instead of an appreciation for American sacrifices and an acknowledgement of American assistance, he found a Europe that would look you accusingly in the face and tell you how bitterly they are disappointed in you as an American. After six months of listening to resentful Europeans complaining about Americas failing policies, Dos Passos concluded that [n]ever has American prestige in Europe been loweran astonishing comment given how dismissively the Europeans held the United States in the wake of the Great Depression, which many blamed on the 1929 stock market crash and Americas failed liberal economic model. Story continues Decades later, the late Harvard professor Samuel Huntington observed that in the post-World War II era there had been five occasions when U.S. leaders were convinced the end was nigheach time to be proven wrong, each instance promptly forgotten. The most important episode of American declinism came in 1957, a period now considered the peak of American power, following the launch of the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union. The world back then was legitimately shocked that, despite all of its technological marvels, America had been bested in the race for outer space by the Soviet Union. In a mere twelve years, the ussr had risen from the ashes of World War II to be the first to place a satellite in orbit around the earth. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke best articulated the stunning nature of this achievement by declaring, the United States has become a second-rank power. These were legitimate concerns. If the Soviet Union could put a satellite into orbit, how long before they could launch nuclear-armed missiles at America? Panic gripped the country, since Sputnik meant that the Soviet Union could soon launch a nuclear attack requiring just half an hour to reach the continental United States. But this was not all; further shaking Americas global standing were Soviet claims, deemed legitimate by American economists, that the Soviet economy was growing at a rate three times than that of the United States, and that the ussr would overtake America as the worlds leading economic power by the early 1970s. Coming during the fiercest moments of the Cold War, as both nations hoped to convince the world that their economic model was the right model to follow, the Soviet achievement represented a major blow to the American pretense of superiority. WHY ARE Americans so quick to fear for their own demiseand at periods when, in retrospect, U.S. primacy remained intact? Largely, it is out of fear that other nations wouldand willdo what the United States did to Great Britain: replace it at the apex of world power. The upstart Americans took a page from their venerable British cousins, who would fret about their inevitable decline and fall following their defeat in the American Revolution and throughout the nineteenth centuryeven when British power was unparalleled. British aristocrats considered themselves the heirs to the Romans, and studied the classics in part to learn how to avoid imperial Romes fate. Great Britain would, eventually, go belly-up in the great power sweepstakes. However, Britains decline was of a different sort from that made famous in Edward Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, where Roman power grew weaker and weaker until it collapsed under external pressure from Germanic barbarians in the fifth century. While a remnant of the empire survived until conquered by the Ottomans in the fifteenth century, Enlightenment historians rejected its Roman pretenses and renamed it Byzantine. For them, the Roman Empire had died centuries earlier. Britain, of course, would not just simply die. Nor would it be defeated, having served on the winning side of two world wars. However, it was exhausted by the efforts and would be surpassed by its former colony, providing us with a new conception of decline: relative decline. While Britains economy continued to grow and its military continued to modernize, it could no longer keep pace with the United States. The vast costs of World War II sealed Britains fate, shattering the empire financially and militarily while forcing the United States to fully mobilize its vast economic power and, for the first time in its history, build a truly global military capability. Americans fear that their decline will follow this same relative path, being usurped by a rising power, such as the Soviet Union, Japan, and now China, eventually suffering the same fate as Great Britain: watching a new power take its place at the center of the world. It was Paul Kennedys 1987 international bestseller, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, as well as his jugendwerk, The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery, which best explained the implications of relative decline. Kennedy postulated that relative economic decline combined with imperial overstretchi.e. too many foreign commitments matched against too few resourceshad doomed past great powers. He concluded that the United States had repeated the same mistakes during the Cold War and now faced challenges from other powers, particularly a rising Japan poised to take its place. Kennedy, though, never claimed a U.S. fall inevitable. Ironically, within a few years those concerns gave way to a radically different fear: that the United States had grown so powerful that it had become an unrivaled unipolar powerthe first of its kind since the early days of the Roman Empire. Yet, three decades later, many are pointing to the rise of China and proclaiming that the United States is facing another end of an era moment. However, if Kennedy and others got it wrong then, are we getting it wrong today? The answer is, unequivocally, yes. WHILE KENNEDY might have been right about Britains overextended commitmentslate nineteenth-century British leaders expressed similar concernsAmerican overstretch was, and remains, exaggerated. Kennedy documented that previous great powers spent upwards of 40 percent of their GDP on imperial expansion. Americas own defense spending by the end of the Cold War totaled a mere 6 percent of U.S. GDP. During the early years of the Cold War, defense spending soared to as high as 15 percentstill but a fraction of what previous great powers expended. For the past thirty years, the U.S. defense budget has ranged from three to five percent of GDP. This is a considerable amount, but does not match the gargantuan levels of expenditure by previous great powers. Second, proponents of relative decline focus primarily on diverging rates of GDP growth at the expense of other forms of international power, be it military, commercial, financial, technological, and/or cultural. While other countries may have caught up with British GDP at the turn of the century, Britain was so advanced in other measures of power that rising challengers could hardly exploit their supposed gains. The same is true for the United States today. Economists debate whether the decline of British manufacturing was as great as is often stated or whether Britain had regained its leadership position by the eve of World War I. However, productivity had never been the key pillar of the British Empire. Instead, it was Britains financial system that drove its rise to power. Prior to the nineteenth century, British production totaled only a fraction of its European rivals, particularly compared to France, whose eighteenth-century population totaled nearly three times that of Britains and with twice Britains GDP. Only in the 1830s, with the advent of the industrial revolution, would the British economy surpass France to become the worlds largest economy. It would lose that advantage in the 1870s when it was outstripped by the more populous and rapidly industrializing United States. However, late seventeenth-century Britains advanced banking and taxation system meant that it could afford to build a navy and merchant fleet that would dominate the worlds oceans and provide the financial support to continental allies that would time and again defeat French attempts to dominate Europe. During the nineteenth century, this same financial prowess helped Britain maintain a significant naval advantage over its French, German, and American rivals while its adoption of free trade vastly expanded its commercial activity around the world. By World War I, British merchant ships accounted for half the tonnage of the worlds merchant fleets, four times as much as Germany and ten times that of the United States. To maintain its dominance in global trade, Britain constructed a global network of ports and harbors that the whole world would soon come to depend on, particularly after the switch from sail to coal-burning steam engines. By the turn of the twentieth century, 80 percent of the worlds ships would burn British coal, widely recognized as the best in the world. In the mid-1800s, Britain would also lead a telecommunications revolution as it laid the undersea telegraph cables connecting the world. By World War I, the Earths navies and merchant fleets were powered by British coal supplied by British bases and communicated using British telegraph cables. Ironically, Britain would play a key role in Americas rise; British support was essential for a U.S. victory in the SpanishAmerican War, which marked Americas emergence as a world power. London warned off the French and Germans from entering the conflict in support of Spain, and then allowed the United States to use its imperial network to supply U.S. naval forces. Following the destruction of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, then-Assistant Secretary of Navy Theodore Roosevelt ordered Commodore George Dewey to take the Asiatic Squadron to Hong Kong where it would refuel its reserves with as much British coal as possible. However, when the squadron reached Hong Kong, all of the citys stores of coal had been purchased by European navies concerned that war might break out over China. Low on both coal and ammunition, Dewey needed to contact Washington to arrange for their delivery. The only means possible was through Britains cable network. Though knowing war with Spain was imminent, British authorities ignored neutrality laws and allowed Dewey to contact Washington, which then purchased a British collier to supply Dewey with coal and sent another ship with the needed munitions. Britain, as Japan did, could have closed its harbors to Deweys ships, refused his use of its telegraph lines, and declined to sell the needed coal to power Deweys ships. Dewey would have been stuck in Asia helpless, and the Battle of Manila Bay might never have happened. Whatever relative decline Britains rivals might have enjoyed was tempered by the realization that they traded, deployed their naval power, and communicated across the world only with Britains blessing. It would take far more than uneven economic growth rates to topple Britains global dominance. In fact, it took two world wars to exhaust the nation financially and force the United States to fully mobilize its resources to defeat the Third Reich. Britain began World War II a world power and finished nearly bankrupt, with its survival dependent on American largess in the form of Lend-Lease and later the Marshall Plan. TODAY, AMERICA enjoys even greater military and institutional advantages than did Great Britain a century before. Americas global military networks, power projection capabilities, and financial strengths are far beyond those of any of its current rivals, including China. America also has powerful, decades-long alliances with European and Asian powers that Britain never possessed, nor China can match. Furthermore, the global extent of Americas cultural penetration is unprecedented in history: nearly every corner of the globe is influenced by American social, cultural, and political ideals. These social and cultural networks werent built overnight, but were the result of decades of American efforts begun decades before it could even contemplate supplanting British power. Indeed, when Henry Luce first coined the term American Century in 1941, it was not a statement about Americas future, but a reflection on the growth and spread of American influence over the previous seventy years. With its rapid economic growth and increasing presence around the world, China has elicited concerns in the United States via its many international initiatives, including its Belt and Road Initiative, the promotion of Huaweis 5G cellular system, and an undersea cable program. Nevertheless, given the entrenched power of the United States and the enormous effort required to overthrow a dominant power, it is wholly premature, short of a devastating major event, to claim that we are witnessing the end of Americas global dominance. This is especially true as Chinese growth forecasts are dropping significantly; prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial news service Morningstar predicted a then-unheard-of 3 percent level of growth. Now, after a months-long economic shutdown, many analysts believe Chinas economy to have sunk to depression-era levels. The pandemic only fuels controversy over Chinese statistics making predictions that China will one day control 40 percent of the global economysuch views seem exceedingly far-fetched. As it stands now, U.S. GDP remains significantly ahead of Chinas, even factoring in GDP reductions due to the effects of COVID-19. Clearly, the nation that recovers most effectively from the crisis will have a greater claim to world leadership. That Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan recovered from the Great Depression faster than their democratic rivals convinced nations around the world of the superiority of their model. So far, the Chinese government has failed to exploit what would seem an insurmountable advantage: the incompetence of the Trump administration. Chinas international response to the crisis has mixed contempt (in the form of worthless medical aid) with bullying (as when China threatened Australia and the European Union to halt efforts to study the viruss origin), resulting in growing calls in the United States, Europe, and Asia to decouple from China, defeating what hopes they might have had of replacing the United States as the worlds leader. These failures only compound one of Chinas longstanding foreign policy dilemmas: That it offers no vision of a new global order that appeals to anyone other than corrupt autocrats. In contrast, by the late nineteenth century, Americas political, economic, and cultural ideals had so penetrated the world that many felt the world was becoming Americanized. There can be no doubting that Americas international standing has been undermined by ill-considered wars and the deadly failures of Trumps pandemic response. However, the intrinsic strength of the United States will, like that of Britain a century ago, enable America to retain its dominance. Like Britain, it will require a far more dramatic series of shocks than what it has recently experienced for Washington to lose its central position in the international system. Gregory Mitrovich is a Research Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. His current book project is entitled Uncommon Challenger: The Epic Story of the Rise of the United States from the War of 1812 to the Second World War. Image: Wikipedia. Click here to read the full article. La Paz (AFP) - Bolivian Health Minister Eidy Roca has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the third member of the cabinet to be infected in four days, interim President Jeanine Anez said on Sunday. Anez expressed her support for Roca on Twitter as the country's rapidly worsening outbreak rose to 38,071 cases and 1,378 deaths. The minister of the presidency, Yerko Nunez, has been hospitalized with a fever due to "complications from COVID-19," according to officials. On Saturday, it was also reported that Mining Minister Jorge Fernando Oropeza had tested positive. Roca's health is stable and she is "strictly complying with the safety protocol that includes isolation, medication and care," said a statement from her office. Anez has been largely confined to the presidential residence from where she holds internet meetings. "Most of the time she works from there and only comes (to the government palace) when her physical presence is necessary," deputy communication minister Isabel Fernandez said on Saturday. Since the pandemic began in March, several Bolivian ministers have completed 14-day quarantines due to suspected coronavirus cases in their family or close associates. LOUISVILLE, Ky. Breonna Taylor's shooting was the result of a police department operation to clear out a block that was part of a major gentrification makeover, according to attorneys representing the slain 26-year-old's family. Lawyers for Taylor's family allege in court documents filed Sunday that a police squad named Place-Based Investigations "deliberately misled" narcotics detectives to target a home on Elliott Avenue, leading them to believe they were after some of the city's largest violent crime and drug rings. The complaint which amends a lawsuit filed by Taylor's mother against the three officers who fired their weapons into Taylor's home claims Taylor was caught up in a case that was less about a drug house and more about speeding up the city's multimillion-dollar Vision Russell development plan. #justiceforbreonnataylor: Influencers use Breonna Taylor memes to demand arrest of Louisville police "The execution of this search warrant robbed Breonna of her life and Tamika Palmer of her daughter," Florida-based attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the family, told the Louisville Courier-Journal, part the USA TODAY Network. "Its execution exhibited outrageous recklessness and willful, wanton, unprecedented and unlawful conduct." Renderings included in a court filing by Breonna Taylor's family show Elliott Avenue and a run-down home. Mayor Greg Fischer's top economic development official called the accusations a gross mischaracterization of the project." "The work along Elliott Ave is one small piece of the larger Russell neighborhood revitalization and stabilization work weve been doing for years, including the transformation of Beecher Terrace through Choice neighborhoods grants," Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, Louisville Forward chief said in a statement. Louisville Metro Police did not respond to the Courier-Journal's requests for comment Sunday night. Accusations in lawsuits do not constitute evidence in a court of law and represent only one side of an argument. Story continues Lawyer: Breonna Taylor's death totally avoidable The warrants carried out in the narcotics investigation March 13 were meant to target one of the "primary roadblocks" to the development, a man named Jamarcus Glover, according to the complaint. Glover rented a home in the area of the planned redevelopment. Glover is an ex-boyfriend of Taylor, who maintained a "passive" friendship, according to Sam Aguiar, one of the attorneys. Fact check: Louisville police had a 'no-knock' warrant for Breonna Taylors apartment In the affidavit seeking the no-knock search warrant for Taylor's apartment, Detective Joshua Jaynes wrote that he had seen Glover leave Taylor's apartment in January with a USPS package before driving to a "known drug house." The detective wrote he verified "through a US Postal Inspector" that Glover had received packages at Taylor's address. A U.S. postal inspector in Louisville told WDRB News that LMPD didn't use his office to verify that Glover got packages at Taylor's apartment and that a different agency asked in January to look into whether Taylor's home received suspicious mail. The office concluded it wasn't. Jaynes is on administrative reassignment until questions about "how and why the search warrant was approved" are answered, interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder said last month. It is that tenuous connection to Glover that led police to Taylor's apartment March 13, Aguiar and his co-counsel, Lonita Baker, say in the complaint. "Breonnas home should never have had police there in the first place," the attorneys wrote in the filing. "When the layers are peeled back, the origin of Breonnas home being raided by police starts with a political need to clear out a street for a large real estate development project and finishes with a newly formed, rogue police unit violating all levels of policy, protocol and policing standards. "Breonnas death was the culmination of radical political and police conduct." According to the police department's organization chart, the Place-Based Investigations squad was created to address "systemically violent locations" and help crime deterrence efforts. "PBI focuses on identifying and disrupting crime place networks," the police department's website says. "These networks include crime sites, but also places used by offenders that do not typically come to the attention of police. PBI will collaborate with other government and community partners to identify and eliminate violence facilitators." N arcotics targets were 'n ot violent criminals, ' lawyer says Court records show Jaynes sought five warrants March 12: for Taylor's apartment, a suspected drug house, two vacant homes nearby and a suspected stash house. Glover and a man named Adrian Walker were named on all five search warrants and were among the night's primary targets. "The reality was that the occupants were not anywhere close to Louisvilles versions of Pablo Escobar or Scarface," the court complaint says. "And they were not violent criminals. They were simply a setback to a large real estate development deal, and thus the issue needed to be cleaned up." 'Your conduct demands your termination': Louisville police fire officer Brett Hankison involved in Breonna Taylor shooting Glover was arrested on Elliott Avenue that night for trafficking and firearm offenses. The case remains pending in Circuit Court. Glover, 30, has faced drug charges before and had pending drugs and weapons charges against him at the time of the warrant March 13. Jaynes also requested a warrant for the Elliott Avenue home April 21, listing Glover again as a target. Glover was arrested again April 22 after the warrant was executed, court records show, for additional drug and trafficking charges. The case remains pending. Follow Phillip M. Bailey on Twitter at @phillipmbailey. Follow Tessa Duvall on Twitter @TessaDuvall. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor case tied to Louisville gentrification plan: lawyers The finance industry is hoping that the UKs regulatory regime will be granted so-called 'equivalence' by the EU. Photo: Frank Augstein/AP European banks warned on Monday that the European Union and the UK must come to an agreement on post-Brexit financial access by the end of September if serious disruption is to be avoided, especially in light of the coronavirus crisis. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), a lobby group which represents major banks and other market players, said that the pandemic had the potential to disrupt the post-Brexit planning and preparedness of financial firms who may need to relocate their operations elsewhere once the UK leaves the bloc in January. The finance industry is hoping that the UKs regulatory regime will be granted so-called equivalence by the EU, meaning that investment firms and clearing houses based in the country could avoid having to set up a separate base in the bloc. While equivalence would not cover all financial services firms and would be inferior to the current level of access enjoyed by UK-based institutions it is considered crucial for Londons finance sector. READ MORE: European stocks rise after Asian rally COVID-19 has the potential to disrupt Brexit planning including impacting client readiness, as well as potentially affecting the ability of firms to relocate staff to other jurisdictions, AFME said on Monday. If a deal on equivalence is not reached between the EU and UK by the end of September, AFME said that customers would likely be forced to move their derivatives positions out of London before the end of the Brexit transition period in December. In practical terms, three months may not be sufficient time for the larger clearing members to close out their positions and make alternative arrangements, it said. Even if it were feasible for clients to do so, such a shift would involve significant risks to market and financial stability in Europe, the lobby group warned. READ MORE: Banks could lose up to 10bn on defaulted payments This is particularly important in the context of the fast-evolving legislative agenda in the EU and the UK with a number of significant financial services files being proposed, due to be implemented, or under review in the second half of this year and the first half of 2021, AFME said. Story continues EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier last week criticised the UKs approach to negotiating access for its financial services firms, accusing prime minister Boris Johnsons government of demanding many of the benefits of single market access. The UK and the EU will be two separate markets two jurisdictions, Barnier said. And the EU must ensure that important risks to our financial stability are managed within the framework of our single market. Design and Construction Firm Ranks Among the Top 20 in Seven Service Categories KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustained growth of diversified service offerings helped Burns & McDonnell achieve a broad-based climb for the firm's business divisions in the 2020 Engineering News-Record (ENR) annual rankings of consulting engineering services. The 100% employee-owned design and construction firm ranks among the top 20 in seven service categories: Hazardous Waste, Industrial Process, Manufacturing, Petroleum, Power, Telecommunications, and Sewerage and Solid Waste. The 100% employee-owned design and construction firm achieved a broad-based climb for its business divisions in ENR's 2020 annual rankings. Continued progress in fortifying aging power delivery infrastructure and the ever-advancing transition of power generation assets toward renewable sources of energy propelled the firm's retention of its No. 1 ranking in Power for the fifth consecutive year. Along with remaining No. 1 in electrical Transmission and Distribution, the firm placed among the top five in four other Power sectors. Ranking among the top 10 firms in 18 industry sectors, the firm's continued service specialty diversification grew largely to meet steady demand for major capital infrastructure investment. "Our nation's electrical infrastructure both in power delivery and generation has been a big part of our services for more than a century and the need for that reliability is even greater in these times," says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. "In addition, our diversity of services in all 16 defined critical infrastructure categories helped fuel our growth and help solve our customers' challenges with that diversified set of skills from many industries. Moving forward together, we are committed to designing and building projects that fortify the nation's critical infrastructure that keeps our economy rolling." For the second time in the last three years, Burns & McDonnell ranked No. 9 overall among ENR's Top 500 Design Firms. Based on engineering and architectural design revenue earned in the prior fiscal year, the annual survey of the 500 largest U.S.-based design firms serves as an initial preview of the publication's comprehensive sourcebook rankings. Story continues In tandem with its strong recognition for design, the firm also jumped 12 spots on the 2020 Top 400 Contractors list reflecting the firm's strong strides in construction throughout 2019. Burns & McDonnell now ranks among the top 10% of the U.S.-based construction firms on ENR's list for the first time in the firm's 122-year history. In total, Burns & McDonnell saw rankings climb in 12 sectors within this year's ENR Top Design Firms Sourcebook, including: No. 2 in Wind Power No. 2 in Food and Beverage No. 5 in Chemical Plants No. 6 in Refineries and Petrochemical Plants No. 7 in Data Centers No. 7 in Pipelines No. 8 in Clean Air Compliance No. 9 in Water Treatment No. 11 in Chemical and Soil Remediation No. 11 in Sanitary and Storm Sewers No. 11 in Site Assessment and Compliance No. 12 in Wastewater Treatment For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune's 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all. Contact: Mary Young, Burns & McDonnell 816-822-4369 meyoung@burnsmcd.com Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. Burns & McDonnell (PRNewsfoto/Burns & McDonnell) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/burns--mcdonnell-recognized-with-strong-standing-in-2020-enr-rankings-301088486.html SOURCE Burns & McDonnell People walk along the Venice Beach Boardwalk on July 5, 2020. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The California coronavirus outlook worsened over the holiday weekend, as hospitalizations continued to rise and more counties were added Sunday to Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 watch list, which is now at its highest level since the pandemic began. The rate at which coronavirus tests in California are coming back positive has jumped 42% over the last two weeks, according to data published on the Los Angeles Times California coronavirus tracker . An increasing rate of positive test results is an indication that disease transmission is worsening. The Fourth of July marked the 15th consecutive day that California tallied record hospitalization numbers of confirmed coronavirus patients. On Saturday, the state recorded 5,669 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections in California hospitalsan increase of 62% over the previous two weeks. On June 27, just a week earlier, the state had reported 4,498 hospitalized patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19. On June 20, the number was 3,494. The number of intensive care unit patients statewide with confirmed coronavirus infections is up 63% over the last three weeks. On Saturday, there were 1,711 people with confirmed coronavirus infections in the ICU; on the previous Saturday, there were 1,376; the week before that, there were 1,149; and on June 13, there were 1,049. And Los Angeles County officials said Sunday that the holiday weekend saw the highest single-day count of new cases since the pandemic began. More than 3,200 new cases were reported in the county on Friday. Contra Costa County, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and rural Colusa County, northwest of Sacramento, were added Sunday to the list of regions being monitored for their rising case counts and increasing hospitalizations, bringing the number to 24. Marin, Monterey and San Diego counties joined the list Thursday. People on Ocean Beach in San Francisco on July 5. Californians seemed to mostly heed warnings to stay away from beaches and other public spaces over the long weekend. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press) In many areas, the jump in cases is attributed to more people leaving home to go to work or seek services and a rise in family and community gatherings hallmarks of summer and an increasing restlessness as the pandemic drags on. Marin County, according to the state, has an additional problem; an outbreak raging in San Quentin State Prison has infected nearly a third of the inmates. Story continues On Sunday, Marin County officials announced that indoor restaurant dining rooms would again be required to shut their doors, bringing an end to a short window of sit-down service and hold-in-your-hand menus. Restaurant dining rooms in the area had only been open for a week since the statewide shelter-in-place order was established in mid-March. The current ban will last for at least 21 days. Nationwide, the picture is also grim. The former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday that we're right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak." But Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served for two years during the Trump administration, said there's a big difference now: "We really had one epicenter of spread when New York was going through its hardship. Now we really have four major epicenters of spread: Los Angeles, cities in Texas, cities in Florida, and Arizona. Gottlieb also added that its possible the nation could run short on the supply of remdesivir, a key drug used for the sickest COVID-19 patients. That drug has a long manufacturing cycle," he said. "Were unlikely to be able to ramp up supply between now and the end of the year." And he warned that there is no relief in sight, that autumn will be a "hard" one, that "it's not clear that it's going to get better." "We're going to have epidemics that come and go across the nation in different cities," Gottlieb said. "They'll light up at different times. But we're not going to really be able to crush this virus at this point because there's just so much infection around. Southern California is a case in point. Hospitalizations of patients with confirmed coronavirus infections in Los Angeles County have jumped nearly 50% in the last three weeks. On Saturday, there were 1,921 patients in L.A. County hospitals with confirmed coronavirus infections; seven days earlier, there were 1,710; the week before that, there were 1,453; and the week prior to that, there were 1,285. Customers wait in line to have lunch at the Rose restaurant in Venice. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Just days before the holiday weekend began, L.A. County officials warned about alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalization and projected the possibility of running out of hospital beds in two to three weeks; the number of ICU beds could be exhausted sometime in July. In a memo issued Saturday to local healthcare providers, the L.A. County Department of Public Health warned that, if the trajectory continues, the number of ICU beds our most limited resource is likely to become inadequate in the near future. In an update July 1 on the San Bernardino County website, officials said the county reported 753 new cases on June 30, "the highest number of cases reported on a single day." On the Fourth of July, the county tallied 1,024 new cases. COVID-19-related hospitalizations and use of ICU beds, the county said, have "seen a steady increase since June 17." In Orange County, COVID-19 hospitalizations are up 72% in the last two weeks. On Saturday, there were 624 people hospitalized in Orange County with confirmed coronavirus infections; on the previous Saturday, 492 were hospitalized; and on the Saturday before that 363 were in the hospital. Coronavirus hospitalizations in Ventura County rose 74% in the last two weeks. On Saturday, 82 people were in the hospital with confirmed coronavirus infections; the previous Saturday, there was 65, and the Saturday before that, there were 47. Riverside County has reported a 63% rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past three weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times coronavirus tracker: 485 new cases on July 4; 340 on June 27; 297 on June 20. Brooke Federico, public information officer for Riverside County, said Sunday that the region's licensed intensive care units are 97.4% full, "a high number." But only 71% of the county's licensed hospital beds are currently in use, she said, and only 13% of those beds have confirmed COVID-19 patients in them. "Our hospitals do have surge capacity to treat people at the facilities above and beyond the licensed capacity," she said. "That's what we've been preparing for." Imperial County where there's a serious doctor shortage and a quarter of the population lives in poverty is a different story. During a June 26 news briefing, Newsom singled out Imperial County as the area statewide hit hardest by the coronavirus. For every 100,000 people in the county, which borders Arizona and Mexico, more than 3,800 have been infected with the coronavirus. In the state as a whole, about 650 per 100,000 people have been infected. The only two hospitals in Imperial County El Centro Regional Medical Center and Pioneers Health Center in Brawley have been overrun. In just the last five weeks, Imperial County has transferred more than 500 coronavirus patients to other counties for treatment an average of 15 to 17 people a day, Newsom said. Some of the overflow has been attributed to an unusually high number of hospital admissions linked to cross-border traffic from Mexicali. Newsom said the state is working with Customs and Border [Protection] because of issues relating to the border in Mexicali and Calexico. Hospitals do not disclose where their patients come from, but they do routinely treat cross-border travelers, said Karina Lopez, public affairs liaison at Pioneers Health Center. Imperial Countys population is 85% Latino, and many residents are migrant farmers or recent immigrants. When determining which patients to care for, Lopez said, Pioneers Health Center does not consider a patients residence. But while the hospital has filled only 68 of its 107 acute care beds, it has turned some patients away. The main concern for us was that we do not have enough acute care nurses to care for the patients coming in," Lopez said. "While we do have beds for them, and we do have space for them, we dont have enough staff. A rash of shootings in Chicago and Atlanta marred the Fourth of July weekend and left the families of three children grieving over their deaths. At least 72 people were shot in Chicago since early Friday morning -- 15 fatally -- including a 7-year-old girl who was visiting her grandmother on the holiday, according to police. "When families should be celebrating, having a good time, spending time together, a 7-year-old girl was taken from us," Chief of Detectives Fred Waller of the Chicago Police Department said at a news conference. "A 7-year-old girl who was here visiting her grandmother, visiting her family, and now she's gone." The shooting unfolded around 7 p.m. on Saturday as the girl, identified by authorities as Natalie Wallace, was playing with other children and family in front of her grandmother's house in the Austin neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, Waller said. Several men arrived in a light-colored car, got out and began firing in the direction of Natalie and her relatives, Waller said. The little girl was hit in the forehead by a bullet. She was taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, where she was pronounced dead. PHOTO: A partial view of the Chicago Skyline, Dec. 29, 2019. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images, FILE) "It was a family gathering, so there were many kids," Waller said. "There were kids riding on bicycles enjoying the Fourth of July, as they have should have been, and now this child is gone." No arrests have been made in the killing. "Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote on Twitter Saturday night. Hours later, a 14-year-old boy was among four people shot to death at a large holiday gathering in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of the city, police said. The child, whose name has not been released, was shot in the back and then taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police. Story continues Police said the shooting happened around 11:35 p.m., when four men walked up to the gathering and opened fire. Four other people were wounded in the incident, including an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the leg and ankle and a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the abdomen, according to police. No arrests have been made. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. A 10-year-old girl was also wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago, police said. The girl was standing in a hallway of her apartment building, when just after 1 a.m., a man fired multiple shots from outside and a bullet penetrated a door and grazed the girl's hand, police said. A 48-year-old woman who was with the girl at the time was shot in both legs and taken to a hospital, where she was treated and in serious condition, according to police. Chicago has been in the throes of what Mayor Lightfoot has described as a "gun violence epidemic." The latest carnage in the Windy City came after a 20-month-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were among 14 people shot to death in Chicago last weekend, when 40 more were wounded. More than 100 people were shot, 14 fatally over the Father's Day weekend, and on May 31, Chicago police investigated 18 homicides, the most the city has seen in a single day in 60 years. Meanwhile, an 8-year-old girl was killed in Atlanta on Saturday night when someone opened fire on a car she was riding in with her mother and another adult, police said. PHOTO: A police officer in stock photo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) The Atlanta Police Department said a preliminary investigation found that the shooting happened about 9:50 p.m., when the person driving the car the girl was in attempted to pull into a parking lot and was confronted by a "group of armed individuals" who blocked the entrance. "At some point, someone in that group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child who was inside," police said in a statement. The driver immediately drove to Atlanta Medical Center, where the girl, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead, police said. No arrests have been made in the shooting. MORE: 'Nothing short of alarming': Despite stay-at-home orders, 49 people shot in Chicago in Memorial Day gun violence Atlanta police also said that more than a dozen people were shot during a large street party held to watch a firework display in the northeast part of the city. Around 1 a.m., a vehicle struck a pedestrian near the party and a fight erupted between a number of people, according to police. "The altercation escalated to multiple shots being fired by multiple people," police said in a statement. "At this time, it appears a total of 14 people were struck by gunfire in that area. All victims were taken to area hospitals by private vehicles." Authorities said two of those wounded in the incident were in critical condition, while 12 were in stable condition. MORE: Chicago sees 18 homicides in deadliest day in 60 years "At this time, investigators are working to identify all involved parties and determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting," the police statement reads. An unrelated incident in northeast Atlanta left and man and a woman with gunshot wounds after they confronted a group of people who had been discharging fireworks outside a residence, police said. MORE: Protesters vandalize Georgia Department of Public Safety headquarters in Atlanta At some point during the confrontation, shots were fired and both victims were struck," police said in a statement, adding that both victims were in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital In Atlanta. Police officials said detectives were working Sunday to sort out the circumstances of the shooting and identify suspects. Children ages 7, 8, and 14 killed as gun violence mars holiday weekend in Chicago and Atlanta originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Victoria Atkins announced on Monday that children who see or hear domestic abuse will be treated as victims under law. (Parliamentlive.tv) Children who see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse will be treated as victims under law, the government has said. After pressure from campaigners and cross-party MPs, the government has altered its own Domestic Abuse Bill to cover children living in abusive households. Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins, moving the amendment to the bill, told the House of Commons on Monday that domestic abuse does not just affect adults. It affects the children living in abusive households too, she said. The government has always recognised the devastating impact that domestic abuse has on a child who sees, hears or experiences it. Shadow domestic violence and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips pointed out Labour had originally tabled the amendment, and that the party was eternally grateful to the government for altering the planned legislation. The bill is part of Boris Johnsons 2019 manifesto promise to support all victims of domestic abuse. It was expected to pass its third reading in the Commons the fifth of 11 stages before it can gain Royal Assent and become law on Monday evening. It would then be scrutinised in the House of Lords. Meanwhile, Labour is seeking a further change to the bill to protect children who live with domestic abuse and have had their cases heard in the family courts. Phillips said that between 2006 and last year, at least 21 children were killed during contact with fathers who were perpetrators of domestic abuse. She went on: The governments own report, released last week, states that many mothers explained how they had fled the relationship with the father in order to protect their children, only to find that protection undermined or destroyed by the family court. Labours amendment seeks to change the presumption that parental involvement furthers the childs welfare when there has been domestic abuse. It would also prohibit unsupervised contact for a parent awaiting trial or on bail for domestic abuse allegations. A suspected case of bubonic plague has been reported in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia, China. (Getty Images) A health warning has been issued after China reported a suspected case of bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia. The patient is a herdsman and the case was discovered in the city of Bayannur, state media reported. He is said to be in a stable condition and remains in quarantine. Authorities in the city issued a level 3 warning, the second-lowest in a four-tier alert system. The alert forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry the plague. Read more: Drunk man saved twice from river after pubs reopened It also asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes. The public have also been asked to report any sick or death marmots. In May last year, a couple died in Mongolia from bubonic plague after eating raw marmot. In 2018, a boy in the US contracted the disease. Millions were killed in the Middle Ages as a result of the Black Death. (AP Photo) Bubonic plague, one of the types of plague, causes swollen lymph nodes along with fever and coughing. Read more: NHS workers should be rewarded for coronavirus hardships There were four reported human cases of plague in Inner Mongolia last November. Between 2009 and 2018, China reported 26 cases of plague and 11 deaths. The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death during the Middle Ages, is highly infectious and spread mostly by rodents. The Black Death caused about 50 million deaths in Africa, Asia and Europe during the 14th century. Watch the video below Click here to read the full article. His Holiness the Dalai Lama turns eighty-five today. The atheists in Beijing are eagerly waiting for him to die so that they can pick his successor. They will do almost anything to gain control of Tibetan Buddhismand all religion in China for that matter. Tibetans wear the robes of tragedy. His Holiness fled China-controlled Tibet in 1959, crossing the Himalayas on foot into India just ahead of Chinese soldiers. He and his followers have now settled into the foothills of Dharamshala. In that town and around the world, Tibetans are now celebrating the Year of Gratitude for His Holiness, which began July 1. The famed monk, despite the celebration, sees his work is not yet done. I will also be there for around twenty years, the Dalai Lama said on June 5, while giving the Bodhicitta empowerment, which is intended to cultivate an altruistic, awakened mind. June 5 was an auspicious holy day in the Buddhist calendar for it marked the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha. China is particularly interested in the Dalai Lamas death. When he dies, Tibetans believe he will reincarnate. Beijing has demanded it have the right to pick the successor, who will be the fifteenth of this line. In normal times, the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama recognize each others reincarnations, in other words, choose each others successors. The current Dalai Lama recognized the eleventh Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995. That was too bad for the six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy he chose. China kidnapped him and his family three days after the Dalai Lama selected him. Beijing in May announced Nyima, once called the worlds youngest political prisoner, is a college graduate and has a job, living a normal life as is his disappeared family. He has not been seen in public since his kidnapping, however. In his place, Beijing chose Gyaltsen Norbu, who lives in Beijing and appears at high-profile gatherings the Communist Party arranges. Most Tibetansin China and elsewherereject him as the true Panchen Lama. Story continues So who chooses the next Dalai Lama now? Beijing passed a law in 2007 stating reincarnations are subject to an application for approval. Last year, a Chinese official said reincarnations must comply with Chinese laws and regulations. If that sounds absurd, well, frankly, thats because it is, said Matteo Mecacci, president of the Washington, DC-based International Campaign for Tibet. A ghastly joke with horrible consequences, long-time Tibet activist Maura Moynihan said. Tibet will become only a memory if Beijing succeeds in commandeering the next lifetime of His Holiness, Moynihan told me. They will erase Tibetan culture, Tibetan religion, Tibetan identity. Nothing will remain. Tibet is called, correctly, an internal colony of China. The current Dalai Lama, who retains the devotion of Tibetans, cannot help those inside Chinas borders, but he can prevent Chinese materialists from controlling Tibetan spirituality. His Holiness has indicated his successor need not be from Tibet, need not be a Tibetan, and need not be male. More fundamentally, he has also said he may decide not to reincarnate, suggesting last year that the concept of reincarnation may end forever. In any event, the ultimate decision on reincarnation will be up to the entire Tibetan community, and the public discussion the Dalai Lama started helps prevent China from hijacking the institution of reincarnation. Everyone, not just Tibetans, has a stake in the outcome of the reincarnation debate. Chinas plan to control succession is part of its attempt to eliminate religion in China and reorient the world in its direction. Chinese officials boast of their new model of human rights, economic development, and governance and even hint China should be considered the worlds only sovereign state. Through their global influence campaigns, they are pressuring peoples everywhere. Perhaps thats why Congress is getting in on the act. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) have cosponsored the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, which would, among other things, provide for sanctions on Chinese officials interfering with the succession of the Dalai Lama. For a very long time, both Republican and Democratic administrations have assumed that by giving a pass to the Chinese Communist Party for its repression of its own citizensincluding those in Chinese-occupied Tibetit would work out for U.S. economic interests and those of other democracies, Mecacci told me. But the opposite has proven to be true, and the fallacy of such cynicism is now evident. By passing the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, the U.S. would make clear to China that it will not be allowed to annihilate an entire people, including their cultural and spiritual identity, without consequences. Both Americans and Tibetans have a common foe in China, so, in this case, everyone should heed the words of the late John McCain. To view foreign policy as simply transactional is more dangerous than its proponents realize, he wrote in 2017 op-ed that was published in the New York Times. Depriving the oppressed of a beacon of hope could lose us the world we have built and thrived in. Americas interests and values coincide with the Tibetan Policy and Support Act. This legislation passed the House with overwhelming approval in January and now is now under consideration in the Senate. At stake is not just one bill. Chinas communists demand obedience. They are able to control Tibetans inside their borders today. Tomorrow, with a selection of the next Dalai Lama, they will go after the Tibetans in Dharamshala and elsewhere. And if they succeed with Tibetans, there will be no stopping Chinas neo-colonialist communists. We could, as former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told us, eventually lose the world. Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China. Follow him on Twitter and Parler @GordonGChang. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - China fired back at Canada on Saturday for criticising Beijing's national security law for Hong Kong, the second rebuke in a week that has added to strains of their bilateral ties. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Canada was suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong due to the law and Canada's foreign minister called the legislation "a significant step back" for liberty. China's embassy in Ottawa said in a statement on its website that Canada had "grossly interfered" in Chinese affairs, adding that the new legislation would safeguard security in Hong Kong. "Some western countries including Canada have been meddling in Hong Kong affairs under the pretext of human rights, which seriously violates international law and basic norms of international relations," a spokesperson said in the statement. China imposed the legislation this week despite protests by Hong Kongers and criticism from Western nations, which said the legislation was setting the financial hub on an authoritarian track. Hong Kong officials said on Saturday they were "very disappointed" in Canada's suspension of the extradition treaty. A spokesman in the prime minister's office referred to a Friday statement by the foreign minister that reiterated Canada's "serious concern" with the law. The government had no further comment, he said. Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have been tense since 2018 when Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co [HWT.UL], on a U.S. warrant. After Meng was detained, China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, on charges of espionage. China also rebuked Canada a week ago over Ottawa's criticism about the prosecution of the Canadians. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Edmund Blair and Chizu Nomiyama) New Delhi (AFP) - Chinese troops were seen removing structures from a Himalayan valley where they fought a deadly battle with Indian soldiers last month, Indian army sources said Monday, after high-level talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Brutal hand-to-hand fighting in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15 left twenty Indian soldiers dead and sent tensions between the countries soaring. China has acknowledged it suffered casualties but has not given figures. The two sides agreed on Sunday to "completely disengage" from the border flashpoint and ensure "a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas," India's foreign ministry said Monday. In a CCTV readout of the meeting, China's representative Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would "effectively defend its territorial sovereignty, while maintaining peace in the border areas". Earlier, an Indian army source told AFP that China's People's Liberation Army soldiers were seen removing tents and structures in the Galwan Valley, and military vehicles were being moved back. "Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting," the source said, adding the Indian army was verifying how far back Chinese forces had withdrawn. There was no comment on whether there was a similar withdrawal by Indian troops. The Galwan Valley incident was the first time in 45 years that soldiers had died in combat on the Asian giants' long-disputed border. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Monday that both sides had made "positive progress... to disengage frontline troops and ease the border situation". "We hope that the Indian side will go with the Chinese side to implement the consensus reached by both sides with practical actions," Zhao added. India and China fought a war over the frontier in 1962. Anti-China sentiment has been growing in India since the high-altitude clash, with the government banning Chinese mobile apps including the wildly popular TikTok. London (AFP) - Prince Harry has urged the Commonwealth, which his grandmother heads, to acknowledge its uncomfortable colonial past, in video extracts published on Monday. The 35-year-old royal and his wife, Meghan, joined a video conference call with leaders organised by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust (QCT) from their base in the United States. The sessions were set up in response to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, during a US police arrest. Harry last week outlined his personal commitment to tackling institutional racism, saying it had "no place" in society but was still too widespread. On the July 1 call, posted on the QCT website, he said: "When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past. "So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do. "It's not going to be easy and in some cases it's not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits." Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth, a non-political organisation of 54 countries, most of which have links to the British Empire. It comprises 2.4 billion people -- a quarter of the world's population -- of which 60 percent are aged under 30. The QCT was set up to give younger people from member nations a platform to share ideas and insights. The chief executive of the QCT, Nicola Brentnall, has said the body is studying how the Commonwealth's colonial past and its legacy should shape its future. Harry and Meghan stepped down from frontline royal duties this year and have set up a non-profit organisation focusing on the promoting of mental health, education and well-being. Meghan, a mixed-race US former actress, has previously talked about her own personal experience of racism and unconscious bias. Former army officer Harry has also complained about the "racial undertones" of media coverage of his wife. The couple are president and vice-president respectively of the QCT. A North Carolina community rallied to grant a 12-year-old boy with cancer his wish, after the Make-A-Wish Foundation reportedly rejected his request. Isaac Rodriguez is fighting brain cancer and Steven Johnson Syndrome, a rare type of skin disorder. His family has raised over $4,000 through a GoFundMe campaign started in August 2019. Rodriguez asked for a pontoon boat, which was rejected by the Make-A-Wish foundation. The request was rejected because the foundation would not provide a boat with an engine larger than 25 HP and tried to provide a boat without an engine. After his wish wasnt granted, Todd Willis, owner of Neuse River Bait and Tackle in Grantsboro, organized a GoFundMe page to help Rodriguez achieve his wish. A North Carolina community rallied around a 12-year-old boy with a cancer to provide him with a pontoon boat. (Yahoo News Canada) The fundraiser has raised over $31,000 at the time of this writing and Willis surprised Rodriguez and his family upon raising money for the boat. We were raising money for Isaac to get a pontoon boat. Guess what? Weve been keeping it a secret the whole time, Willis said into the camera aboard the boat. Rodriguez couldnt be happier, sitting on his own seat on the boat, with an unimpeachable smile on his face and revealed to the camera that he had no idea about the surprise. The surprise couldnt have happened at a better time as the summer heats up, and there are few places better than being on the water. Congratulations to Isaac, and heres to happy fishing. MARYLAND Three people have died from the coronavirus in Maryland in the past day, state officials reported Monday, as both the rate of infections and virus-related deaths are slowing. "Marylands key COVID-19 metrics continue to trend in a positive direction," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement Monday morning. Day-to-day increases in the number of confirmed cases of the virus in Maryland have declined, even as more than 200 sites statewide are testing people for the coronavirus. "The state is reporting 272 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19," Hogan reported Monday, which he said was "the lowest number since March 22." On a single day in May, more than 1,700 people tested positive for the virus in Maryland. Now, confirmed daily cases are down more than 1,500 from the state's peak. While the number of positive cases is slowing, so too is the rate at which people are dying from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. From Sunday to Monday, three people lost their lives in Maryland to COVID-19, the lowest increase in the death toll since March 31, according to the governor's office. One month ago on June 6 the day-to-day increase in deaths was 36; and on May 6, there were 48 people who had died in the last 24 hours from the virus, according to state health data. As Maryland works to contain the spread of the virus, officials say testing is critical. Those who know they have the virus will be able to modify their behavior accordingly, such as by staying at home and away from vulnerable populations. The statewide positivity rate is 4.51 percent on a rolling, seven-day average, which Hogan reported Monday was also a new low. For the latest developments on the coronavirus in Maryland, get Patch news alerts. In alignment with national trends, the under-35 age group in Maryland is testing positive at a higher rate than others. The positivity rate among Marylanders under 35 stands at 6.06 percent, according to officials, who said Monday the positivity rate for Marylanders age 35 and older was 3.83 percent. Story continues Maryland has set a desired threshold for each jurisdiction to test 10 percent of its population. As of Monday, Hogan said Baltimore County became the 11th jurisdiction in Maryland to meet that benchmark. Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health. According to the governor, this is how the states most populous jurisdictions rank when it comes to percent of population tested: Baltimore City: 11.6 percent Prince Georges County: 10.2 percent Baltimore County: 10 percent Montgomery County: 9.6 percent Howard County: 9.2 percent See an interactive map of COVID-19 testing sites in Maryland. Coronavirus in Maryland: A Snapshot Here is a look at Maryland's coronavirus numbers as of Monday, July 6: Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health. MD Coronavirus Hospitalizations, Deaths Table by Patch. Source: Maryland Department of Health. Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Jurisdiction Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health. Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Age And Gender Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health. Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Race And Ethnicity Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health. This article originally appeared on the Baltimore Patch Sales across Pret A Manger's UK stores have plummeted by 74% year-on-year. Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images Pret a Manger said on Monday that it would close 30 stores in the UK and begin consultations on job losses, citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a 74% drop-off in sales. Store employees and support teams based at its Victoria office in London will be affected by the job cuts, the company said in a statement. Up to 1,000 jobs are at risk due to the moves, according to the Press Association. The sandwich and coffee chain said that it was experiencing a much slower recovery in the UK compared to the nine other countries it operated in. Pret said that it faced significant operating losses, noting that footfall and sales remained below typical levels across the UK. Sales across its UK stores have plummeted by 74% year-on-year, it said. No final decisions on job losses will be made until consultations with employees have been completed, Pret said. READ MORE: 'Strong rebound' in UK construction but firms slash jobs Its a sad day for the whole Pret family, and Im devastated that we will be losing so many employees, said chief executive Pano Christou. But we must make these changes to adapt to the new retail environment. Our goal now is to bring Pret to more people, through different channels and in new ways, enabling us to grow once more in the medium term, he said. The chains upmarket sandwich offerings have seen it become a global chain with hundreds of outlets, primarily servicing office workers looking for healthy and inexpensive lunch options. Even as the easing of coronavirus restrictions has allowed Pret to reopen many of its stores, it has been dented by the thousands of firms who have instructed their employees to work from home. The company said on Monday that it had begun assessing how it could reshape its business model over the medium-term. Citing its current dependence on office workers, it said it would focus on bringing Pret to more people, through different channels and in new ways. Pret currently employs 8,000 people in the UK across 410 stores. The company said that some 339 of its stores have now reopened. A further 41 will reopen, while 30 will not. Story continues READ MORE: Banks warn of September Brexit deadline to avoid major finance disruption The sandwich chain operates a further 140 stores in nine other countries, including the US, Hong Kong, China, France, Germany, and Denmark. Pret said that it would be making a series of additional changes to its business later this year, including beginning a sale process for the lease on its main support office in Victoria. The company also said that it had hired external consultants to complete a full review of its real estate, noting that it was working collaboratively with its landlords to ensure the viability of as many of its UK stores as possible. Pret, founded in 1984, was sold for 1.5bn ($1.9bn) in 2018 to an investment fund of Germanys billionaire Reimann family. Here are the 30 stores that Pret is planning to close permanently: Greater London: St George University Kiosk 421 Strand Heathrow Terminal 3 109 Fleet Street Strutton Ground, Westminster Centre Point, Tottenham Court Road Warwick Way Byward Street The Cut, Southwark 41 Piccadilly Wood Sreet, Barbican Outside London: Photograph: Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images Two prominent Texas mayors have warned that hospitals in their cities will be overwhelmed by cases of Covid-19 inside two weeks, even as Donald Trump continues to portray the coronavirus resurgence nationwide as the embers of a fire he is steadily extinguishing. Related: They feel invincible: how Californias coronavirus plan went wrong If we dont get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said on Sunday, the last day of a Fourth of July holiday weekend during which experts feared many Americans would disregard public health guidelines. I mean, overwhelmed. Right now we have bed capacity. But let me just tell you, the major problem [is] the staffing. We can always provide additional beds but we need the people, the nurses and everybody else, the medical professionals to staff those beds. Thats the critical point right now. Turners comments, to CBSs Face the Nation, came as hospitalisation and Covid-19 positivity rates climb in his city. Texas, along with Arizona and Florida, has become a hotspot for the infection, recording six straight days of confirmed new cases above 5,000. On Saturday it set a record of 8,258 cases and 7,890 hospitalisations. A month ago, one in 10 people were testing positive, said Turner, a Democrat. Today, its one in four. The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. The number of people in our [intensive care] beds has exponentially increased. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the US has now confirmed nearly 2.9m coronavirus cases, and nearly 130,000 deaths. States which were early hotspots, New York prominent among them, are pausing or proceeding cautiously with reopening plans. At the White House on Saturday, Trump attempted to downplay the resurgence of the virus, claiming without evidence the infection was 99% harmless. Story continues Our strategy is moving along well, he said. It goes out in one area, it rears back its ugly face in another area. But weve learned a lot. Weve learned how to put out the flame. The presidents words angered Steve Adler, the Democratic mayor of Austin. I understand he has a tough job, but it is dangerous not to be sending a clear message to Americans, to folks in my town, he told CNNs State of the Union. We have the Fourth of July weekend and we need everybody wearing masks. And when they start hearing that kind of ambiguous message coming out of Washington, there are more and more people that wont wear masks, that wont social distance, that wont do what it takes to keep a community safe. And thats wrong, and its dangerous. I just have to hope that people arent going to listen to that, and they will stay focused on what theyre hearing here more locally. Hospitals in Austin, Adler said, were facing a nearly identical crisis to those in Houston. The conduct in our city started changing about two weeks ago, he said. If we dont change the trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun. And in our ICUs, I could be 10 days away from that. Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, implemented a statewide mask mandate last week, a move Adler said he welcomed but wished had come sooner. On Sunday, Abbotts office said more than 400 cases of the antiviral drug remdesivir had been distributed to 157 hospitals and 600 medical staff and 16 ventilators had been deployed to areas of greatest need in southern Texas. Elsewhere over the holiday weekend, pressure on hospital space mounted. Florida, where beaches in the populous south-eastern counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach were closed to deter large gatherings, recorded 10,059 new cases on Sunday, edging the state past 200,000 cases only two weeks after it reached 100,000. A deserted beach is seen in Miami Beach, Florida. Photograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images Four of 11 hospitals in Pinellas county had run out of intensive care beds on Sunday, according to the Florida agency for healthcare administration, following weeks of warnings that hospital space across the state was dwindling. Related: US secures world stock of key Covid-19 drug remdesivir In Miami-Dade county, which implemented its own mask requirement after Republican governor Ron DeSantis resisted growing calls for a statewide mandate, more patients (138) were admitted to hospital than discharged (125). The total inpatient count of 1,538 is almost double the 22 June tally of 776. Its clear that the growth is exponential at this point, Francis Suarez, the Republican mayor of Miami, told ABCs This Week. You know weve been breaking record after record after record, all the last couple of weeks. The city of Miami was the last city in the entire state of Florida to open. I was criticised for waiting so long. But theres no doubt that when we reopened people started socialising as if the virus didnt exist. Arizona reported 3,536 new cases on Sunday, an increase of 841 from the day before. We opened way too early in Arizona, Kate Gallego, the Democratic mayor of Phoenix, told ABC. We were one of the last states to go to stay-at-home and one of the first to reemerge. Asia's Leading International B2B Beauty Show Creates Industry Inclusivity HONG KONG, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Joint organisers BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets have decided upon strategies to create more inclusivity for Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia 2020 including a specialty one-time consolidation of both collocated events held under one roof at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 11-13 November. In addition, the team plans to launch a Digital Week of activities held right after the physical event as to offer more companies and professionals the ability to participate virtually. Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia 2020 will be held under one roof Cosmoprof Asia 2020 Logo In recent weeks and months Asia has seen rapidly improving conditions in some countries and regions including several consecutive days and weeks of 0 to near 0 newly reported cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the trajectory of recovery for neighboring countries such as Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia are also improving--indicating the possibility of further future eased travel restrictions. Still, with many countries and regions still not reaching similar levels of stability yet, the organisers have proactively decided to create an atmosphere of global beauty opportunity and inclusivity synonymous with the fair's history and reputation. As a specialty one time move, Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia will be combining the two fairs typically held at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) and AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) all under the roof of HKCEC for 2020. This combination will allow for buyers to maximize time by sourcing from 12 product sectors all in one venue including Cosmoprof Asia's finished products categories of Cosmetics & Toiletries, Beauty Salon, Nails, Natural & Organic, Hair and the new "Clean and Hygiene" as well as Cosmopack Asia which will host suppliers from Ingredients & Lab, Contract Manufacturing, Primary and Secondary Packaging, Prestige Pack & OEM, Print & Label, Machinery & Equipment. Story continues "As the first international professional beauty event to take place in Asia in 2020 the industry is hungry to get back to sourcing, buying, learning, and selling," said Antonio Bruzzone, General Manager, BolognaFiere Group, Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd "Our job is to provide the best experience for as many beauty stakeholders as possible during this week in November." Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia 2020 will also see the first-time debut of a Digital Week held right after the physical event. This initiative is a virtual extension of the event which will enable travel restricted beauty professionals worldwide to participate in Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia 2020. The fair's Digital Week will include virtual presence for select exhibitors, real-time online business matchmaking for sellers and buyers, and a host of content rich recorded and live sessions including seminars and footage from the fair. "Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia 2020 will be an important recovery platform for the international beauty industry," said David Bondi, Senior Vice President - Asia of Informa Markets and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd. "Our decision to move the two fairs into one venue as well as launching a virtual experience apart from the live event is to create an inclusive opportunity. Our Digital Week is also a good experiment to see how we can continuously improve our offerings and services for the future." Finally, with regards to onsite health and safety measures, the team has adopted the highest standards along with following local/federal and global health protocols and working closely with the venue operators to provide an optimally secure and safe environment. To stay up to date with developments on Cosmopack and Cosmoprof Asia's 2020 one venue two fairs initiative as well as Digital Week make sure to bookmark www.cosmoprof-asia.com and follow our social networks. NOTES TO EDITORS: High-resolution images can be downloaded from this link: https://bit.ly/3f7PeTy ABOUT THE ORGANISERS: Cosmoprof Asia is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint-venture company between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets Asia Ltd. ABOUT BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it) BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. For the 2019 edition, Cosmoprof registered more than 265.000 attendees from 150 countries in the world, with an increase by 10% of foreign professionals, and 3,033 exhibitors from 70 countries. The Cosmoprof platform extends throughout the entire world, with its events in Bologna, Las Vegas, Mumbai, and Hong Kong, China (with Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia). Recently the fifth exhibition of the network has been announced: Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, in Thailand, will focus on the cosmetic industry in South-East Asia. In 2020, South China Beauty Expo, a new show in Shenzhen, China, will be scheduled in July. The Cosmoprof platform will reinforce its influence in Europe, thanks to the acquisition of the German group Health and Beauty, in South America, thanks to the collaboration with Beauty Fair -Feira Internacional De Beleza Profissional, and in Asia. ABOUT INFORMA MARKETS (www.informamarkets.com) Informa Markets on Beauty segment has an extensive network powered by B2B events across 11 cities in Asia (Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo), the world's fastest growing markets. By further expanding its strength, the Beauty Portfolio now includes a new B2B event in Miami 2021 serving the East Coast and USA, South America and Caribbean Islands regions. Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio is comprised of more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the world's leading exhibitions organiser, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200706/2848927-1 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200706/2848927-1logo SOURCE Cosmoprof Asia Click here to read the full article. Key Point: Less capability is the price tag for lower shipbuilding costs. The bottom line of a new study on U.S. aircraft carriers: you can't get something for nothing. The Navy can buy smaller, cheaper carriers rather than the $13 billion Ford-class behemoths it is currently constructing, according to a new study by RAND Corporation. But smaller and cheaper means reduced capabilities, and could prevent the Navy from fighting in hostile waters or providing the air support for ground operations. The RAND study is a public version of a classified study conducted in 2016 at the behest of the U.S. Navy, which was ordered by Congress to examine cheaper options than the Ford-class carriers. RAND looked at four options: - The CVN-8X: A slightly stripped-down version of the 100,000-ton Ford-class carriers. It would be powered by forty-year nuclear reactors that couldn't be replaced, rather than the current twenty-five-year reactors on the Fords that can replaced to extend the life of the ship. It would also be equipped with three rather than four catapults. - The CVN LX: A 70,000-ton carrier closer to the old Forrestal-class ships of the 1950s, the Navy's first supercarriers. They would be propelled by hybrid nuclear-conventional engines, with one reactor instead of the two on the Nimitz- and Ford-class ships. It could still carry a large air wing and would still be more capable than the Nimitz carriers, but it would slower and less survivable than the Fords, nor could its air wing generate as many sorties. - The CV LX: A 43,000-ton, conventionally-powered variant of the new America-class amphibious assault ships/helicopter carriers. Lacking catapults, they could only carry twenty-five F-35B and only generate around fifty sorties a day. Without airborne early warning or electronic warfare aircraft, it would "require support from either a legacy carrier or land-based joint assets. It can operate in areas where air defense threats are not significant or in company with a battle force. The CV LX is not the capability of choice as a first on-scene responder because it lacks an integrated air wing and, in particular, lacks AEW and EA [airborne early warning and electronic attack]. Story continues - The CV EX: A small, 20,000-ton baby carrier that would be conventionally powered and could only accommodate six to ten short take-off aircraft, similar to the Italian carrier Cavour. The CV EX would be the cheapest option at $2.5 billion a vessel, but RAND estimates that four CV LX carriers would be needed to generate the same capability as a single Ford-class ship. The CV EX has all the limitations of the CV LX with a much smaller flight deck, fuel, and magazine capacity and would therefore have to be used either as a responder to low-level contingencies or in conjunction with a legacy CVN, RAND concludes. RAND was careful not to endorse a particular option. But the report makes clear that less capability is the price tag for lower shipbuilding costs. For example, to launch conventional fixed-wing aircraft such as the F-35C, a carrier must be large enough to have space for catapults and arresting gear. A smaller carrier could launch short take-off F-35Bs and helicopters, but then it wouldn't be able to launch E-2 radar aircraft or EA-18 electronic warfare planes. In turn, carriers that have less capabilities would affect how the U.S. wages war, such as relying on carrier-based air support when operating far from U.S. airfields and land-based aircraft. Its true that getting whats in the Ford-class capability requires Ford-class investment, Brad Martin, a retired Navy captain and one of the RAND researchers who wrote the study, told TNI. The alternatives are offered as less costly, but we are clear that there is diminishment in capability that Navy would need to evaluate. Some losses of capability might not be criticala lower sortie generation rate for examplebut others might be much more so. Opting for either of the large nuclear carriers described by RAND probably wouldn't result in too drastic a change for the Navy. Not so for the two smaller, conventionally-powered carriers. The conventionally-powered alternatives we looked atthe two smallest variantswould, if selected as replacements for the Nimitz class as these ships reach service life, significantly impact Navy operational concepts, Martin said. This is primarily because they lack the ability to support an integrated air wing. They could generate some portion of the strike and defensive counter air sorties required in campaign plans, but they would have to rely on some off-ship alternative for other capabilities (airborne early warning and C2 in particular) now provided organically. So what's the best option? There isn't one. Either the Navy ends with large carriers that aren't that much different than a Ford, or small carriers with radically less capabilities. Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2017 and is reprinted here due to reader interest. Image: U.S. Navy / Flickr More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: With an even worse fuel and raw-materials situation than Germany, Japan probably would have fared no better. It is a fallacy that Germany was the only nation to develop combat jets in World War II. In truth, while Germany had the most advanced technology, all of the major powers had jet aircraft projects during World War II, including the United States, Britain, Russia, Italy and Japan. The most well-known Japanese jetand the only one that saw combatwas the Okha, a rocket-propelled and human-piloted kamikaze. But another Japanese jet actually flew before the war ended, and would have seen combat had it continued: the Nakajima Kikka. Japanese scientists had actually studied jet engines as far back as the 1930s, despite little government support, and even a turbojet prototype by 1943. Tokyo also knew of German research due to Japanese observers who witnessed early tests of the legendary German Me-262 jet fighter in 1942, But it wasn't until the summer of 1944, when U.S. B-29 bombers began to pound Japan, that the Japanese Navy asked for the Kokoku Heiki No. 2, or Kikka ("orange blossom"). That the Kikka resembled an Me-262 is no coincidencenor was it a matter of simple imitation. Japan's jet program was heavily derived from German research, but the aid was hardly straightforward. In July 1944, Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering ordered that Japan be provided with blueprints for the Me-262, the Junkers Jumo 004 and BMW 003 turbojet engines, and even an actual Me-262 aircraft. Yet the Japanese submarine carrying the plans from Germany to Japan was sunk by U.S. forces, though not before a Japanese envoy got off at Singapore with just a single cutaway drawing of the BMW 003 (arguably just as important as the blueprints for the Me-262, given that early jets were only as good as their unreliable engines). That was enough for Japanese engineers to build the Ne-20 turbojet, an engine that was superior to the homegrown Ne-12 that was originally supposed to power the Kikka. Story continues There were two striking aspects to the Kikka. The most obvious is that it looks like a smaller version of the Me-262, though the similarities were mostly skin-deep. Unlike the German jet, the Kikka had straight instead of swept-back wings, which hampered its performance. The other striking aspect was that it was originally designed as a kamikaze. "In keeping with the shimpu [kamikaze] mission of the aircraft, the initial design had no landing gear and was to be launched from catapult ramps, boosted with RATO [rocket-assisted take off] units," writes aviation historian Edwin Dyer. "The calculated range was a mere 204km (127 miles) due to the designated engine, the Ne 12, which burned fuel at a rapid rate. At sea level the estimated speed was 639km/h (397mph). A single bomb fixed to the aircraft was the only armament. Another feature was the inclusion of folding wings to allow the aircraft to be hidden in caves and tunnels and protected from bombing attacks." By March 1945, the Kikka's mission changed to a tactical bomber, and an interceptor armed with 30mm cannon. Its engine changed from the Ne-12 turbojet to the Ne-20 (though shortages of key metals reduced the Ne-20's efficiency). But design was one thing: building jets in 1945 while Japanese aircraft and engine factories were being pounded by U.S. bombers was another. Nonetheless, on August 7, 1945the day after Hiroshima became the first atomic victimtest pilot Lt. Cdr. Susumu Takaoka made the first (nonkamikaze) flight of a Japanese jet. However, a second flight on August 11, two days after Nagasaki, resulted in a crash landing that damaged the Kikka prototype beyond repair. Not that it mattered. While plans called for producing almost 500 Kikkas by the end of 1945, those plans were dashed by Japan's surrender on August 15. Just one aircraft had been completed by war's end. How did the Kikka compare to the Me-262s that worried the Allied air forces in 194445? The Me-262A1A had a top speed of 540 miles per hour, which left in the dust American pilots flying P-51D Mustangs (maximum speed 437 miles per hour). Plans for the interceptor version of the Kikka called for a maximum speed of 443 miles per hour. In other words, its maximum speed was about the same as a Mustang, and the early jets of World War II were neither known for maneuverability or engine reliability. The most intriguing question, of course, is whether Japanese jets could have changed the outcome of the Pacific War had they been fielded in time. The best answer is to look at what happened to Germany, which actually produced 1,400 Me-262s, some of which saw combat between November 1944 and May 1945. Though quite disturbing to the Allies, the jets didn't save the Third Reich. There were too many Allied aircraft, the Anglo-American air forces mounted standing patrols over airfields to catch the Me-262 during their vulnerable take-off and landing runs, and Nazi Germany was being overrun Allied tanks. With an even worse fuel and raw-materials situation than Germany, Japan probably would have fared no better. The Kikka would have been overwhelmed by the massive U.S. land-based and carrier-based formations that roamed over Japan in the last days of the war. If it had been fielded earlier, perhaps it could have made some difference over battlefields such as the 1944 U.S. invasion of the Philippines. Yet even there, the Kikka's short range would have rendered it unsuitable for the long-distance flying that characterized the Pacific War. The Kikka might have been relegated to a defensive role over the home islands, intercepting daytime B-29 raidsexcept the Americans eventually switched the B-29s from day raids to night, when the radar-less Kikka could not fly. Like its big brother the Me-262, the Kikka was too little, too late. Suggested Reading: Japanese Secret Projects 1: Experimental Aircraft of the IJA & IJN 1939-1945, by Edwin Dyer. Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2018 and is reprinted here due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia Commons More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. A cow rummages through litter left by visitors on 'Super Saturday'. (SWNS) Distressing images show cows grazing on rubbish strewn across meadows at a nature reserve after it was visited by careless revellers on so-called Super Saturday. The animals can be seen rifling through bins overflowing with plastic bottles, empty takeaway boxes and sweet wrappers and gorging on the remnants of food on Sunday morning, at Sheeps Green Nature Reserve in Cambridge. In one image a cow has a plastic food container wrapped around its nose. Locals ventured to the area over the weekend after social distancing rules were relaxed in England following months of closure due to the coronavirus lockdown. Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers reopened for the first time in four months after restrictions were eased at 6am on Saturday morning. A cow eats food left over in a plastic container. (SWNS) Locals ventured to the area to enjoy the outdoors as social distancing rules were relaxed. (SWNS) The litter was left at the beauty spot by revellers on Super Saturday. (SWNS) Sheeps Green is grazed on by cattle and at times horses from April to October. One passerby said they were horrified by the scene. "I get infuriated by it, they said. I was quite horrified. There was stuff strewn all over the grass. Read more: Pubs open in UK for Super Saturday, but COVID-19 could crash the party "People just fill the bins to capacity and then chuck stuff around them. I came across quite a few broken bottles, and even some nitrous oxide canisters. "You can hear the cows going through the glass in the bins. "But I spoke to one woman who also comes here quite a lot. She thinks it could have been much worse. "She said that if it had been good weather it could have been really, really bad." Litter is strewn across a meadow at the reserve in Cambridge. (SWNS) A cow sniffs through an overflowing bin after the festivities at the weekend. (SWNS) A dead pike in the River Cam in Cambridge after a night of revelry celebrating the reopening of bars and pubs across the country. (SWNS) Read more: Boris Johnson tells Britons to behave responsibly as pubs re-open The images reflect the dangers to animals at beauty spots of litter left by visitors. Veterinarians say most cattle owners let their animals graze freely, resulting in them eating waste, including plastics and metals. If not treated, toxins released by the hazardous materials in their stomach can kill them. The images come just a month after a two-year-old cow was found suffocated on Grantchester Meadows just a few miles away after eating a plastic bag. Story continues Rubbish blights the river Cam in Cambridge after a night of revelry celebrating the reopening of bars and pubs across the country. (SWNS) The cows owner said it was obvious the animal had struggled in its last moments and blamed picnickers who left rubbish strewn across the meadows during the hot weather, the Cambridge Independent reported. A postmortem examination showed the animal had died after ingesting a plastic bag that got caught in its lungs and airways. Read more: Coronavirus lockdown rules to stay in place for longer, government says Grantchester parish councillor Maggie Challis said the amount of rubbish left by visitors was horrendous and that the animal was the victim of peoples merrymaking. Keep Britain Tidy warned of a littering epidemic last month as the lockdown restrictions ease and called on picnickers to take their litter home with them and put it in their own bin as local services are still struggling to maintain normal services like bin collection. If you happened to be at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv in May 2019, you may have spotted a few familiar faces lurking around backstage. But Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams werent just on the premises to take in the wildly popular festivities. The actors, along with the crew of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, were exploring for research purposes. And they were amazed by what they saw. We thought it would be a nice theater-size show, production designer Paul Inglis (Blade Runner: 2049) tells Architectural Digest. The sheer amount of staging and video screens and lighting was so big that it takes up half the space of the venue. The scale is breathtaking and its such a high-quality professional show. I was surprised. The high-stakes global singing and songwriting competitionwhich usually attracts an international audience of 200 millionis the centerpiece of the outrageous and surprisingly sweet Netflix comedy, which hit number one on the streaming service just days after its June 26 premiere. Inglis, along with set decorator Naomi Moore and their team, re-created the elaborate setup at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, over the course of four weeks. Among the challenges? Building the stage so it was a one-to-one scale match with the real deal; devising all the images on the giant LED video wall flashing behind each performance; installing all the lighting spectacles; and draping the scaffolding in black so the technical equipment wouldnt be caught on camera. Photo: John Wilson/NETFLIX 2020 The glossy and ultraextravagant production design befits the two main characters, who are small-town friends from Iceland chasing their childhood dreams by competing on the show. Ferrells Lars, obsessed with winning at any cost, sings while spinning in a giant hamster wheel during the pairs semifinals performance. (Spoiler: It goes awry.) Inspired by a real act, we tried to make the performance a flashy spectacle with a very sleek and shiny toy in the middle, Inglis says, adding that Ferrell was game to perch himself inside the wheel. When McAdamss Sigrit frets in the bustling artists area backstage, we wanted her to look like a small person dwarfed by this big environment around her, he notes. Story continues Photo: John Wilson/NETFLIX 2020 Though the show was the result of hard work and movie magic, the cast and crew really did travel to Edinburgh to film in and around the city hosting the fictional version of the competition. (The SSE Hydro arena in Glasgow doubled for the exterior of the venue.) Ferrell and McAdams walk and talk by Edinburghs Ross Fountain and sit on a bench at Calton hill, looking out at the skyline. They also ride Segways on the hilltop. As for those mystical Icelandic elves who curse the movies villains? Their minuscule houses were built and set up in Scotland as well. The houses were so popular that the crew treated them like puppies, he jokes. I think its my crowning glory. Photo: Elizabeth Viggiano/NETFLIX For the two heroes, home is where the heart (and the art) is. Inglis explains, Lars has to understand that real pleasure comes from making musicand what ends up being the most important thing to him is their hometown. Thats what they end up singing about. So we had to make sure that this hometown was a place worth coming back to. After scouting several locations in Iceland, they found what they were looking for in the village of Husavik. Thanks to its gorgeous coastlines and bright sky from the Northern Lights, it felt very genuine and anchored in warmth and represented the essence of the story, he says. Youd rather spend time there than anywhere else. Photo: John Wilson/NETFLIX See the video. These days, Inglis is spending his time at home in England. The cast and crew aimed to premiere Eurovision at the actual Eurovision contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but plans were scuttled because of the pandemic. Still, hes thrilled that fans around the world can get a taste, if not a few original notes, via the movie. At least they had something to watch this year, he says. And people who have never watched it can see this and realize this film is about a subject that gives people a voice and a chance to enjoy themselves and feel celebrated. I think weve captured that. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest Donald Trumps collapsing poll numbers have Democrats thinking bigger than just winning the White House and seizing the Senate theyre imagining a rout that extends all the way down the ballot. Intent on not repeating the mistakes of 2010 under then-President Barack Obama, the party is seizing on a once-in-a-decade opportunity to drive the redistricting process and reverse the built-in advantage Republicans amassed over House district lines after the last census. From Pennsylvania to Texas to Minnesota, cash-flush Democrats are working to win back legislative chambers needed to take control of drawing congressional maps or at least guarantee a seat at the table. If they succeed, it would correct an Obama-era down-ballot shellacking that handed Republicans House control and resulted in the loss of more than 900 Democratic legislative seats. The devastating results for Democrats in 2010 part of a multi-million dollar effort by Republicans and Karl Rove to zero in on winning governors offices and battleground statehouses gave the GOP total control in 19 states and allowed them to draw 213 congressional districts. The new maps were a disaster for Democrats and spawned a bevy of groups and fundraising efforts intent on preventing a repeat in 2020. Most notably, Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder created the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a centralized redistricting hub on the Democratic side to make sure that what the Republicans did last time was not possible again, said John Bisognano, the NDRCs executive director. We werent going to get caught off guard again. But the opportunity in November is even more profound, Democrats say. It represents not only a once-every-20-years occurrence when reapportionment falls in a presidential year, but perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity when an incumbent president appears so weak. Joe Biden has long said he thinks its part of the job as the presumptive nominee to bolster down-ballot races. His campaign is coordinating with local campaigns in battleground states, where building out infrastructure and organization can help drive Democratic control at lower levels of government. Story continues If Trumps dismal polling extends into the fall, Democrats say it's even more likely Bidens campaign will contest territory once unfriendly to the party. We are a campaign aggressively looking to expand the map as we move forward, said senior adviser Anita Dunn. Naming Texas and Georgia as expansion targets, she added, Right now, were not ruling anything out. Simon Rosenberg, who worked as a senior consultant for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018, when the party swamped Republicans en route to the House majority, said the environment is just as ripe this year. The rationale for going big is clear: it can help flip the Senate, create a more powerful mandate for governing, and lock in wins for the coming reapportionment, he said. From a governing and party perspective, there will be a powerful case for going big, and trying to get to 400-plus Electoral College votes. Republicans say Democrats should curb their enthusiasm. The GOP is pursuing its own state legislative fundraising efforts to stave off Democrats. In Texas, Rove has returned to serve as treasurer of Leading Texas Forward PAC, aimed at maintaining a Republican state House. They also paint Democrats as hypocritical, saying the party complained about gerrymandering by Republicans only to take part in it themselves in blue states, like Illinois. Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the financial chair of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, dismissed talk of a Democratic rout. "They were making similar predictions in 2016 while Hillary Clinton ignored Wisconsin after our primary and tried to run up the score in other states," he said. Adam Kincaid, the group's executive director and a veteran of the GOP's 2010 redistricting efforts, said it wont be easy for Democrats to flip legislative chambers in states where they came up short four years ago. If the Biden campaign is talking about winning in Texas and Arizona and Georgia," he said, "they need to go back and read the clips from four years ago." Barack Obama and Joe Biden are seen in 2010. That years midterm elections were a disaster for the Democratic Party, particularly when it came to control of redistricting around the nation. Some Republicans, however, acknowledge the party faces a genuine threat in longtime conservative bastions like Texas. The switch was flipped on in the November 2018 midterm elections. It was, 'Oh boy, this is real, we better get our act together, said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist in Texas. But Im also not sure the party has figured it out. Democrats are far more cognizant of the opportunity and risk of redistricting than they were in 2010. National Democratic groups, including the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association, have separate efforts to help Democrats compete in down-ballot races. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for statehouse Democrats, is on track to raise and spend about five times more than it did during the last redistricting cycle. Democratic donors across the country really understand the significance of legislative races across the country, said DLCC President Jessica Post, who was a junior staffer there during the Republican wave in 2010. National groups are eyeing Texas not only because Biden is polling close to Trump, but because Democrats need to gain control of at least one chamber of the state legislature to have a say in the states congressional map. Texas stands to gain a handful of new congressional seats after the Census. In 2018, Democrats flipped two state Senate seats and 12 in the state House. The nine state House seats Democrats are eyeing to flip the chamber were all carried by former Rep. Beto ORourke when he ran for Senate two years ago. In an interview, ORourke said years of litigation over the states maps and claims those maps have diluted the power of voters of color are motivating Democratic voters. Folks are talking about this and they get that if we have a Democratic majority, not only can we help decide what those new congressional districts look like, we can help to redraw existing state House, state Senate, U.S. Congress districts to include instead of exclude Black and brown voters in this state, ORourke said. ORourke is among the higher-profile Democrats working to direct resources and attention to obscure statehouse races in states like Texas and North Carolina. So, too, is Virginia State Delegate Danica Roem, who in 2017 was the first openly transgender person to be elected to a U.S. statehouse. Roem said shes held Zoom calls to help raise money for candidates or state parties in places like North Carolina and Texas. In some areas, Democrats dont need to win outright to advance their cause. In Kansas, theyre aiming to break the GOPs statehouse supermajority so Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly can wield her veto power over congressional maps. To do that, they need to flip one seat in the state House and two in the state Senate. Democrats are zeroing in on races in states with independent redistricting commissions that have come under fire from Republicans. They include Michigan, where Republican lawmakers have tried to take control of funding for the redistricting commission, and Arizona, where legislators have tried to split a legislative district that is the only majority Native American one in the state. North Carolina is important for another reason. Despite having a Democratic governor, state rules prevent him from vetoing maps crafted by the majority GOP legislature. Several factors make Democrats believe this time will be different. Theyve already made important strides to thwart Republican map-making in 2021, including winning the governorships in Wisconsin and Michigan and reelecting Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. They also forced the redrawing of some old maps that put them in better position in places like North Carolina, and are encouraged by recent turnout in primaries in Wisconsin and Georgia during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, with so much attention focused on the presidential election and control of the Senate, many Democrats still worry that down-ballot races will get short shrift. The question is given the extraordinary and appropriate emphasis on the presidential race and the extraordinary emphasis on winning back the Senate, are we going to miss the third leg of this stool, which is losing control of the states and having this extreme congressional and legislative gerrymandering for another decade, asked Tom Steyer, the billionaire climate activist who ran for president and has spent hundreds of millions to elect Democrats. Steyer said hes encouraged by the grass-roots activity on the ground. Yet taken together, hes still concerned about the broader Republican playbook which he said includes redistricting, voter suppression and preventing vote-by mail expansion if Democrats dont remain vigilant. Dave Abrams, deputy executive director of the Republican State Leadership Committee, predicted that Democrats are going to fail again" at the state level despite their renewed efforts. He said voters would "definitively reject the liberals new radical agenda that dismantles our nation and replaces it with a lawless society. But Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Chris Turner, who lost his state seat to remapping in 2010 and was later reelected, said that recent polls showing Trump and Biden virtually tied in Texas suggests the president is slipping in the suburbs. That alone, he said, is plenty of incentive for national Democrats to play in the Lone Star state. Were very bullish about 2020, he said, pointing to the party's gains in Texas in the 2018 midterms. Its a complete train wreck of an environment for the Republican Party right now. Click here to read the full article. THIS YEAR, the partnership between the United States and the oil-rich Arab monarchies of the Gulf celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary. Launched in a secret meeting between American president Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saudi king Abdulaziz Ibn Saud aboard the USS Quincy on February 14, 1945, this relationship is one of the oldest in the world. In an ever-changing international system where friends often turn into foes and vice versa, this is a remarkable achievement. Even full-fledged military alliances, which typically include collective defense commitments where all members pledge to each others defense against external threats, have an average age of fifteen years. The partnership has endured because it is based on political-strategic understandings (even if some are secret and/or informal), shared security interests, and strong economic ties. It is supported by a large and lasting U.S. military presence on Gulf territory meant to offer protection, and by the regular transfer by Washington of modern and lethal arms to Gulf governments, the size of which is unmatched among any other set of allies and partners in the world. It has survived several crises in its lifetime, the most critical of which is 9/11. Yet for all its resilience, the U.S.-Gulf partnership has underperformed since the second term of the George W. Bush presidency in the critical area of security coordination. During three major crises, each happening under a different U.S. administration, the partnership failed to effectively address the security concerns of the Gulf states. While no partnership is perfect, such major and persistent breakdowns in coordination among longstanding security partners are uncommon, and can be deadly if left unresolved. U.S. domestic politics, shifting American strategic priorities, policy divergences, the nonexistence of a formal U.S. security commitment, and operational considerations all played a role. But on their own, they cannot fully explain why security problems in the partnership have persisted for over a decade. There is another important but overlooked factor: the lack of institutionalization of the partnership, characterized by the absence of norms, mechanisms, and procedures for consultation between Washington and Gulf capitals on vital matters of national security. This normative and bureaucratic deficit is old, and it has contributed to the fraying of the U.S.-Gulf partnership. Story continues IN 2002, President George W. Bush was consumed with preparations for war against Iraq. When he learned during that summer that Iran had been building a clandestine nuclear program, he didnt have the bandwidth to go after Tehran and instead had to settle for economic sanctions against its regime. Even though Bush remained opposed to an attack against Iran throughout his time in office, he became more open to the idea in his second term, in part due to pressure by Israel and senior members of his own cabinet, led by anti-Iran hawks Vice President Dick Cheney and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton. In his memoirs, Bush admits that he, directed the Pentagon to study what would be necessary for a strike. This would be, he added, to stop the bomb clock, at least temporarily. Yet at no point during that tense period did the Bush administration consult with Gulf partners and jointly prepare for war and the day after. Most diplomatically active among the Gulf states at the time were the Emiratis, who were shuttling nonstop between Washington, London, and Brussels, desperately trying to obtain information that could help them interpret Washingtons intentions vis-a-vis Iran. All of the Gulf states, especially the smaller ones that lack strategic depth, are vulnerable to missile attacks by Iranthe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps suspected assault on Saudi Arabias oil facilities on September 14, 2019 is the latest proof of that. As such, any extensive military exchange between the United States and Iran in the region would constitute an existential threat to them should Iran attack them in retaliation, like Saddam Hussein did against Israel and Saudi Arabia during the 199091 Gulf War. Yet despite repeated attempts by Gulf leaders to seek greater transparency from and work together with the Bush administration, U.S. officials kept their Iran cards very close to their chest, which resulted in a crisis of trust in the partnership and fears in the Gulf of a war for which they were ill-prepared. Those concerns continued during the Obama presidency. Not only did Israel threaten to act alone against Iran, but also its decisionmakers, led by Likud party chief and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lobbied Washington hard to bomb Iran. Nevertheless, determined to pursue an entirely different approach toward Tehran that favored negotiations and a broader rapprochement with its leadership, Obama resisted all Israeli pressure tactics and rebuffed their demands for U.S. military action. Obamas diplomatic initiative, coordinated with European allies, culminated in 2015 in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)his signature foreign policy achievement. OBAMA CAME to office with a fundamentally different worldview from Bush, eager to reengage with the world and put an end to his predecessors preventive war doctrine and penchant for unilateralism. In the Middle East, Obama sought a new beginning, as he described it in his speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009one based on mutual interest and mutual respect. His offer of historic reconciliation wasnt limited to old Arab and Muslim friends; it extended to longtime adversaries, including Iran. It was shortly after he was elected president in November 2008 that Obama decided to pursue a path of dialogue with the Iranians. He had a meeting with his most senior intelligence advisors in which they briefed him, among other things, about the status of Irans nuclear program, predicting that Tehran would obtain and test a nuclear device in the period between 2010 and 2015. A few days later, as author Bob Woodward recounts in his book Obamas Wars, Obama confirmed to Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his intention to engage with Iran. Years of intense diplomatic talks between American and Iranian officials ultimately led to an agreement, endorsed by Russia, Germany, China, France, and the United Kingdom, to restrict Irans nuclear program and put in place robust monitoring mechanisms to make sure Tehran wouldnt cheat and race to the bomb. The accord was considered a diplomatic success, having removed the specter of war. But it was limited: it contained Irans nuclear program, though it didnt eliminate it. The JCPOAs imposed restrictions were also set to expire a few years later, some as early as 2025, prompting critics to argue that the deal provided Iran with a patient pathway to possibly acquiring nuclear weapons. For the Gulf states, the problem was not that the American and Iranian sides reached a deal. Rather, it was the fact that Washington had often secretly negotiated with Tehran likely without ever consulting with them. Washington periodically briefed Gulf officials about the status of the nuclear talks, but never coordinated with them or sought their input. That the Gulf states learned after the deal was signed that it didnt even address their number-one concernIrans expansionist and sectarian drive in the regionmade things worse. A deal of such colossal significance naturally had strategic implications for the security interests of the Gulf states and all other U.S. partners in the region. And yet, Obama decided to hold the talks with Iran in confidentiality and limit them strictly to the nuclear issue. Obama tried to repair relations with the Gulf states by holding a summit in Camp David in May 2015 and attending another in Riyadh in April 2016. But the wounds were too deep and the trust was effectively broken. It didnt help that Obama, throughout his presidency, berated the Gulf states for their zero-sum approach toward Iran and lack of societal reformcomments which Iran often exploited. The Gulf states were taken aback by Obamas general aloofness. They also were flabbergasted by his tolerance of Irans aggression in the region and impatience for their complaints about Tehrans behavior. Nevertheless, they believed they could manage all that. But what they couldnt understand nor stomach was how their supposedly closest and oldest partner in the world could tilt toward their top adversary and negotiate away their future while keeping them in the dark. IF BUSHS consideration of bombing Iran in his second term and Obamas nuclear deal with Tehran were problematic for the Gulf states, President Donald Trumps targeted killing on January 4, 2020, of Qassem SoleimaniTehrans de facto viceroy in the region and perhaps the second most important Iranian official after Supreme Leader Ali Khameneiwas even more alarming. To be sure, Gulf leaders will not miss or shed tears over Soleimani. No one had caused more angst and harm to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrainthe trio of Gulf Cooperation Council states who largely see eye-to-eye on matters pertaining to Iranthan the powerful general. It is probably the Bahrainis who are most pleased to see him gone, given his role in coordinating a network of radical Bahraini militants on the island-nation and masterminding a wave of domestic terrorism against the government since 2011. But there are real fears of blowback in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Manamawhich explains why the Gulf states didnt publicly celebrate Soleimanis death and even tried to calm tensions through official statements calling for wisdom and political solutions and restraint to prevent the unbearable consequences of further escalation. Shortly after Tehran retaliated on January 8, 2020, by firing missiles against American troops in Iraq, Irans leadership threatened to strike the Emiratis (and the Israelis) if the Americans responded. That Trump opted to hold fire and declare, All is well! allowed Gulf leaders to breathe a huge sigh of relief. But this halt in violence between Iran and the United States might be temporary. With the two countries seemingly on a collision course, it might be only a matter of time before another military crisis erupts and shots are fired. Whenever that happens, it is likely, if the latest action-reaction cycle by Washington and Tehran is any indication, that a serious conflict would occur in the region. That scenario is precisely what the states in the region dread the most, though it is the most probable for two reasons. First, Iran much prefers to avoid a large-scale military conflict with the United States, given the massive disparity in conventional firepower favoring the American side. Therefore, Iran will probably continue to challenge U.S. interests indirectly and go after Washingtons more vulnerable regional partners as it has done for years and especially in recent months. Second, Trump could not have telegraphed more clearly and repeatedly his intentions toward Iran (although those could always change): he will only use force against Iran if American lives are lost or perceived to be at serious risk. Its worth recalling that it was shortly after Irans Iraqi allies killed an American contractor on December 27, 2019 and tried to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad that Trump decided to act and approve the hit against Soleimani. But as worried as the Gulf states are about the aftermath of Soleimanis death, they also are furious with Washington because they found themselves in an all-too-familiar position: not being consulted about an American decision that could have gone terribly wrong. The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabias de facto ruler [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman], was so alarmed [about the strike] he dispatched his brother to Washington for a meeting with [Trump]. Once again, the Gulf states were kept in the dark, along with European allies, about monumental U.S. plans. WHAT EXPLAINS Washingtons failure to coordinate with its Gulf partners during these three major security crises and possibly others? That these happened under three different administrations suggests that this is more of a trend, and one that has gotten worse over time. Some of the more obvious factors that have contributed to this include U.S. domestic politics, evolving American priorities, policy differences, the absence of a defense pact between Washington and the Gulf states, and operational considerations. Until 9/11, Americas relations with the Gulf states did not elicit much concern among the American people, with a couple of notable exceptions: in June 1967, when Saudi Arabia (along with Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, and Algeria) banned oil shipments to the United States in response to its backing of Israels war that same summer against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria; then again in 1973, when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an oil embargo against the United States in retaliation for its military support of Israels Yom Kippur War; and in 199091, when the United States expelled Saddams forces from Kuwait and defended Saudi Arabia. If the United States could maintain a steady stream of oil imports from the Gulf and Americans could fuel their cars cheaply, the U.S.-Gulf partnership was not a topic of discussion outside the nations capital. But after 9/11, the American publics interest in the Gulf states, and particularly the Saudis, changed dramatically. That many of the new U.S. perspectives were ignorant and Islamophobiclumping all Middle Easterners and Muslims in one basketdidnt matter and couldnt alter the reality that U.S.-Gulf relations would never be the same. These negative public attitudes would worsen over time, forcing U.S. officials and lawmakers to take note. In February 2020, a Gallup poll found that 65 percent of Americans held an unfavorable opinion of Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed didnt do U.S.-Saudi relations or his country any favors by causing a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen; blockading Qatar, a country in which the United States has the biggest military base in the Middle East; and allegedly ordering the grisly murder of Saudi national and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. These domestic views would ultimately find expression in Congress, whose members, from both parties, have sought on multiple occasions to sanction Saudi Arabia and forbid the U.S. government from selling it weapons. This increasingly toxic domestic context has led American decisionmakers and public elites, either consciously or subconsciously, to create some distance from the Gulf states. Contrast this with the case of Israel, for example. Given how deeply rooted Americas relationship with Israel is and how popular it has been consistently among the majority of the American people, U.S. officials have treated that relationship with the utmost care and urgency, which helps to explain why security coordination between the American and Israeli governments has generally been strong. Beyond domestic politics, the United States, at least since the Obama administration, has sought to reduce its military involvement in the Middle East (although regional circumstances have yet to permit that goal). The Trump administration has effectively deprioritized counterterrorism and elevated the objective of competing with China and Russia on the global stage. While Washingtons precise strategy is still a work in progress, the new emphasis on great power competition rests on a remarkably firm bipartisan political consensus. Likewise, it is informed by a lasting mood among most Americans to withdraw U.S. troops from the Middle East. Americas much-reduced reliance on Middle Eastern oil due to a revolution in domestic production and Saudi Arabias latest oil price war with Russia are two other significant factors. On April 2, prompted by a half-dozen Republican senators, Trump threatened to pull out all American soldiers and equipment stationed on Saudi oil (after removing earlier two Patriot missile batteries guarding Saudi facilities) if Crown Prince Mohammed didnt stop waging economic warfare on the United States by massively increasing oil output. The Saudis committed to rebalancing the oil markets, but their priority of market share increase at the expense of U.S. producers will continue to be a point of serious contention in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Yet even if the domestic and strategic environments in the United States were more conducive, the United States had significant disagreements over policy with its Gulf partners during the previously mentioned crises, which might provide clues as to why security coordination fell through the cracks. Bush had a good personal relationship with then Saudi king Abdullah, but dismissed the latters advice to avoid war with Iraq and focus instead on Iran, which the Saudi monarch described as a snake whose head had to be cut off, according to leaked diplomatic cables. Obama believed that relations between Iran and the Gulf states have been strained for so long in part because some Gulf states are internally repressive toward their Shia communities and unwilling to share the neighborhood with Iran, as he told The Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg. The immediate U.S. national interest, as Obama saw it, demanded that he address first and foremost the challenge of a nuclear Iran. If Tehran were to acquire nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the U.S. homeland, which currently it doesnt have, it would represent a clear and present danger. The Gulf states immediate concerns, however, were and remain Irans hostility in the region. That threat perceptions and priorities regarding Iran differed, and that the two sides clashed over the meaning of and responses to the 2011 Arab uprisings, might explain why Obama didnt keep his Gulf partners in the loop on strategic regional affairs. Trump has been both a blessing and a curse for the Gulf states. Unlike Obamas, his administration shares the same diagnosis of the Iran challenge and sees it in its totalityincluding Tehrans nuclear aspirations, ballistic missile development, and political violence across the region. Trumps policy, however, leaves much to be desired. While the Saudis, Emiratis and Bahrainis couldnt be more pleased with Trumps relentless campaign to shut down Irans economy to prevent its Revolutionary Guards from funding their proxy networks and sowing further chaos in the region, they have serious qualms about Trumps sporadic and incoherent overtures toward Tehran that oftentimes omit Gulf security interests. One day he threatens to obliterate Iran and its cultural sites, the next he promises it prosperity and membership in the community of nations. Even when Trump addresses Gulf leaders, he swings from deference and admiration to neglect and disparagement. For instance, on September 15, 2019, shortly after Irans attacks on Saudi Arabias oil infrastructure, Trump said that the United States was ready to respond but [is] waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed! This prompted fury in Washington and accusations by Democrats of the president placing the security interests of Saudi Arabia above those of the United States. A couple of months earlier, Trump gave a strong endorsement of Crown Prince Mohammed, calling him a friend of mine and saying hes done a spectacular job, despite the young leaders reckless behavior at home and abroad. But it was not too long before that, in October 2018, when Trump mentioned in a public speech in Mississippi that Saudi king Salman wouldnt last two weeks in power without U.S. military support. Adding to the list of insults are the numerous instances when Trump publicly boasted of his exploitation of Saudi wealth. On one occasion, he held up charts next to Crown Prince Mohammed in a meeting in the Oval Office, showing Saudi purchases of U.S. military equipment, which must have offended or embarrassed his Saudi guest. With Trump, the Gulf states tend to get lost between these two extremes, often left wondering what the American presidents real views and intentions are. Could he also dump them for a new and not necessarily better deal with Iran? The day after he approved the strike against Soleimani, Trump gave a speech that was music to the ears of his Gulf partners. He said that the Iranian regimes aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors, must end, and it must end now. But if Iran avoids killing more Americans, to what extent can the Gulf states rely on Trump to protect them? If recent U.S. actions are any indication, the answer is not very much. This reality is not lost on the Gulf states. That Trumps casus belli is U.S.-centric is not necessarily unique to his administration, however. Even though the U.S.-Gulf partnership is old, it has never been clear if, when, and how Washington would intervene militarily to protect its Gulf partners from danger. Indeed, theres nothing formal linking the United States to these countries since no defense pact a la NATO exists among them (and even if there were, it still wouldnt guarantee U.S. military action). Every American president since Franklin Roosevelt has committed to ensuring the safety and security of the Gulf states given the impact of their massive oil and gas reserves on the international energy market. Even Obama, who lacked any affinity with them, affirmed that the policy of the United States is to use all elements of our power to secure our core interests in the Gulf region, and to deter and confront external aggression against our allies and our partners. When Iraq invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia in 1991, Washington assembled the most powerful coalition in history to evict Saddams army and protect the House of Saud. But when Iran, for example, allegedly blew up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in a terrorist attack in June 1996, killing nineteen U.S. Air Force personnel and injuring five hundred others, President Bill Clinton came close to retaliating but ultimately pursued a diplomatic rapprochement. In 2011, when it became evident that Iran was supplying arms and money to local saboteurs in Bahrains popular uprising, thus risking the stability of the Al Khalifa monarchy and the security of the Saudis next door, Obama didnt lift a finger. In September 2019, after Iran attacked two of Saudi Arabias oil installations with eighteen drones and three cruise missiles, Trump did nothing, shocking the world and especially the Saudis over the lack of U.S. response. These examples and many others suggest that there is nothing automatic or predictable about Americas approach toward the security of its Gulf partners. Each era in U.S. foreign policy is obviously different, and each administration, while all committed to the U.S. national interest above all else, had different threat perceptions, policies, priorities, and ways to balance risk and reward. But what makes Trumps approach exceptional, and possibly dangerous, is not that he absorbed Irans brazen and unprecedented assault against Saudi Arabia last fall and many other belligerent acts in the waters of the GulfObama could have done the samebut that he has publicly and repeatedly communicated to the adversary what, precisely, would trigger a U.S. military response, leaving no doubt in Tehrans mind what is and is not permissible. It is this Iranian doubt about U.S. intentions, however, that serves U.S. deterrence and is often the difference between war and peace. Last but not least, there could be practical reasons why Washington opted not to coordinate and divulge sensitive information to its Gulf partners during these three crises, although these might be compounded by policy divergences between the two sides. When it comes to high-level negotiations or military operations against high-value targets, it is always of utmost importance to maintain diplomatic and operational secrecy to reduce the chances of leaks and thus increase the chances of success. Washington might have determined that its Gulf partners would have been unable to protect secrets, or worse, they would have deliberately shared them with friends and possibly even with Iran for no other purpose but to help prevent war and more generally safeguard their own security interests. THERE IS something more straightforward, though no less consequential, that has ailed the U.S.-Gulf partnership for a long time and might help explain the lack of security coordination during critical junctures. The partnership is not supported by institutions, thus denying U.S. and Gulf officials at both higher and lower levels the opportunity to more effectively consult on strategic matters. Personal ties between American presidents and Gulf monarchs have been the primary driver of the partnership. These are immensely valuable, but are hardly sufficient. This bureaucratic factor should neither be overstated nor written off. The mere existence of such consultative mechanisms does not guarantee better coordination. It all starts with willingnessand if either side seems averse, for whatever reason, it simply wont work. Additionally, the problems between the two sides might be too large for any institutional apparatus to fix. That said, if these wide-ranging channels of communication do not exist, the parties will have a much harder time managing their differences and finding common ground. Institutions, be they national or international, can be defined as persistent and connected sets of rules (formal and informal) that prescribe behavioral roles, constrain activity, and shape expectations. They provide a platform where officials can regularly interact, and through a process of continuous socialization, shape each others views and preferences in ways that could strengthen the sense of common purpose and prevent problems from emerging in the first place. NATO is an excellent example of an alliance that has various norms, arrangements, and committees that enable a habit for consultation to reach as wide an area of agreement as possible in the formulation of policies. Co-determination of policies, made possible by frequent consultation, is what NATO members often preach and enjoy. Its certainly not perfect, and Americas 2003 Iraq War and killing of Soleimani are two examples of the failure of the consultative process in the transatlantic alliance. But more often than not, NATOs institutions have been instrumental to its success. Its not as if the Gulf states have no joint committees whatsoever with the United States to consult on policy issues. Its that these are too few, too weak, and informal. The Trump administrations own attempt at institutionalizing the U.S.-Gulf partnership is the Middle East Strategic Alliance, or MESA. Created in May 2017, it seeks to collectively counter Iran and other regional threats, though all parties to MESA insist that this is not an anti-Iran initiative. MESA has security, political, and economic/energy pillars and joint committees to tackle various challenges, including maritime security, air and missile defense integration, and violent extremism. Under the Obama administration, American and Gulf officials had joint committees on similar topics as well, all created following the summits of Camp David and Riyadh. That these mechanisms operated under conditions of mistrust (with Obama) and uncertainty (with Trump) at the top level certainly undermined their usefulness. In addition, the Gulf states are anything but united, which limits effective consultation and collective action both amongst themselves and with the United States. But especially damaging is the fact that none of these committees has been formalized or empowered. Top American and Gulf leaders are alone in discussing major issues in summits (much to the chagrin of the American side). Institutions are not just about norms and meeting rooms: theyre about people, and if theyre not empowered to decide and negotiate, it wont make a difference. On a bilateral level, which is the preferred way of the Gulf states of doing business with Washington, the record of institutionalization is slightly better but still lacking. For example, the U.S.-Saudi relationship, considered the most important and influential among the Gulf states, has a noticeable institutional deficit. There are several organizationsincluding the United States Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Army Office of the Program ManagerSaudi Arabian National Guard, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Saudi Arabiathat address defense and security matters, but only tactically. U.S. Central Command also has its own mechanisms of training and cooperation with the Saudi military. But Riyadh and Washington, amazingly, have not had a regular, high-level forum that discusses strategic issues since the G.W. Bush administration due to political turbulence in the relationship. Some of the other Gulf partners, including Qatar and the UAE, do. But these do not get into much necessary policy detail, or have sub-committees that allow its working-level members, at least on the Gulf side, to do just that. Capacity is another huge obstacle in the Gulf. Even if Gulf leaders are able to truly delegate power and permit their lower-level staff to act with a higher degree of authority and flexibility and form institutional bonds with their American counterparts, there simply arent enough diplomats, officers, and advisors in their foreign and defense ministriesand even fewer ones who are competent. MANY INSIST that had Bush been president during the nuclear talks with Iran and were the one to conclude a deal, he would have picked up the phone and called the Saudis well in advance to address their security concerns. Given Bushs affection toward King Abdullah and sensitivity to his countrys interests, that is entirely possible. Critics of the institutionalist argument might also say that it was Obamas cold personality and less than positive views toward the Gulf states that mattered most. They might add that even if there were a robust, NATO-like infrastructure of consultation in the U.S.-Gulf partnership, there was no chance any American president would have shared sensitive information with his partners about an impending war, high-stakes talks, or a high-level killing (even though the Israelis were told about the latter). When it comes to vital security interests, senior partnersin this case, the United Statesare expected to resort to unilateral decisions without paying much attention to the interests of their junior partnershere, the Gulf states. No amount of bureaucratic linkages will change that. While all these counterarguments are reasonable, some cant be proven and some miss the point. Its impossible to know if Bush would have acted differently, and engaging in revisionist history to suit ones conclusions would constitute intellectual malpractice. When numerous variables are at play, as is clearly the case here, its incredibly hard to affirm a causal relationship between the level of institutionalization in the U.S.-Gulf partnership and the success/failure of consultation on war and military operations. But the argument here, which emphasizes process and underscores how it can influence policy, is not that institutions are more important than those other factors in explaining the strength (or weakness) of an international partnership. Rather, it is that those norms of and mechanisms for consultation are often forgotten or undervalued, especially in U.S. relations with partners in the region. The advantages of having institutions may not be readily apparent, given their slow and long-term nature, but the perils of their absence are painfully obvious. Institutions cant magically solve all the problems of the U.S.-Gulf partnership, but they certainly can help manage them. With time, they can even help achieve a higher level of political-security integration and policy co-determination. None of this is academic. Look no further than the example of Turkey, a NATO ally, whose relationship with the United States has suffered greatly over the past few years for reasons that arent limited to matters of policy disagreements. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has caused much harm by robbing his National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of their traditional and critical functions of policy formulation and coordination with U.S. counterparts. In a sense, Erdogan is following the Gulf model, which is based on personal ties with the American president. Contrast this with the examples of Americas relationships with South Korea and Japan. An important reason for the success of the U.S.-Japan alliance is its institutional maturation. Its Security Consultative Committee (SCC), composed of the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense and their Japanese counterparts, paves a strategic path for the alliance. It is supported by two subcommittees: The Security Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Defense Cooperation. The former is an Assistant Secretary-level version of the SCC, while the latter is focused on force and contingency planning. In addition to these committees, Washington and Tokyo have several frameworks for bilateral coordination and cooperation on defense and security matters affecting U.S. interests and the Japanese homeland. The U.S.-South Korea alliance is even more impressive in terms of its institutional development. In 1969, the two countries created a consultative system known as the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), led by the American Secretary of Defense and South Korean Minister of Defense to provide a mechanism for the two parties to issue unified guidance to their militaries. The SCM evolved into a Military Committee Meeting, which created a forum for the defense leaders to consult on how to best implement strategic guidance received via the SCM as well as provide combined recommendations to the SCM and the respective national command authorities. At the tenth SCM in 1977, a Combined Forces Command was formed. It is led by an American general and a Korean deputy of equal rank, and is the most integrated defense command in the world. This was followed by several other combined coordinating structures, all of which have been critical to preserve the security interests of both countries as well as the peace along the Demilitarized Zone. Whether its because of culture, capacity, or willingness, the Gulf states will not be able to replicate what Japan, South Korea, and other treaty allies possess with the United States. But each relationship is unique, and whatever has worked between the United States and South Korea or Japan should not be forced on America and its Gulf partners. Its important for the Gulf states to try to learn the lessons of successful models of consultation. But they should develop their own tailored structures that are responsive to their political, cultural, and strategic environments. Theyre also starting from almost zero, so they shouldnt cause themselves undue worries and assess their progress by making unrealistic comparisons with Seoul and Tokyo. Given how bad things are institutionally, the only way is up for the Gulf states. If and when they develop that institutional commitment, Washington will not only be a cheerleader but also an eager enabler. As tedious as it is, institutionalization can save the U.S.-Gulf partnership and help it navigate present and future storms. Bilal Y. Saab is Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense and Security Program at the Middle East Institute. From August 2018 to September 2019, he served as senior advisor for security cooperation in the Middle East in the Pentagons Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need To Remember: Blended wing body aircraft are potentially quieter than traditional jet airliners. There are also military applications for blended wing body aircraft. The U.S. Air Force expressed interest in the design presumably as a long-range, multi-role bomber. Boeings X-48 is an unmanned aerial vehicle that was jointly developed by NASA and Boeings Phantom Works, a division similar to Lockheed Martins Skunkworks. Though small, the design was intended to explore commercial options for a blended wing-body design. The X-48 project stems from concept studies being conducted by NASAs Environmentally Responsible Aviation project of future potential aircraft designs 20 years from now, and investigated the future of commercial aviation. Both Boeing and NASAs goals were reduced fuel burn, emissions and noise, which would be accomplished via a unique merger of efficient advanced wings and a wide airfoil-shaped body, causing the aircraft to generate lift-to-drag ratios, thereby increasing fuel economy, according to NASA informational releases. There are several theoretical advantages to a blended wing body design. Structurally, the design is stronger, since the wings contact with the fuselage runs virtually the entire length of the plane, rather than only in the center of the aircraft, like in traditional commercial airliners. Due to the large internal volume inherent in a blended wing body, a greater amount of fuel, passengers, and cargo can be stored in the plane, giving the design a capacity advantage. The blended wing body design is also more aerodynamically efficient, potentially lowering carbon emissions and increasing fuel economy. Another potential improvement in the commercial sector is noise. Blended wing body aircraft are potentially quieter than traditional jet airliners. There are also military applications for blended wing body aircraft. The U.S. Air Force expressed interest in the design presumably as a long-range, multi-role bomber. Story continues X-48 The stingray-shaped technology demonstrator flew a total of 122 flights, most of them under an hour long. The X-48 had two slightly different prototypes, the X-48B and X-48C. The X-48B had three compact jet engines, each producing 50 pounds of thrust. Although it did not have a tail, winglets on the swept-back wings effectively acted as wings. The X-48C, on the other hand, had just two slightly larger engines that produced 89 pounds of thrust each. Rather than winglets, the X-48C had a tail assembly with two small control surfaces at the rear. Its wingspan was slightly longer. It weighed around 500 pounds and had a top speed of 140 miles per hour. The maximum altitude was reportedly 10,000 feet, or about 3,000 meters. Potential Problems Still, there are several engineering challenges that would need to be addressed. There would be more passengers, making emergency evacuation difficult, as passengers would be father away from the exits than in a tubular-style fuselage. Some passengers may also not want to sit in the center of the plane, farther away from the windows. Conversely, passengers with window seats may experience more motion sickness during turbulence or normal flight operations as they would be farther from the planes center of gravity. Maybe Later Boeings VP of Product Development and Future Airplane Development detailed one of the important disadvantages of the blended design, saying that cargo planes need to be able to be quickly loaded. Airports today are equipped for traditional airlines, and making the switch to large, high capacity jets, may take some time yet. For now, no blended wings. Caleb Larson holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy. He lives in Berlin and writes on U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policy, German politics, and culture. Image: Wikimedia Click here to read the full article. Nicolas Asfouri/Getty After months of safety trials, large-scale clinical testing is finally getting underway for the leading novel coronavirus vaccine candidates. The Trump administration hopes to approve at least one vaccine for widespread use before the end of the year. However, many experts are skeptical that a vaccine will be ready that quickly. And even when a vaccine is ready, actually deploying it could be easier said than done. With or without a vaccine, America is in for a long, difficult fight against a stubborn and deadly virus that, as of Friday, had infected nearly 2.8 million Americans and killed more than 129,000, according to Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker. There are no fewer than 155 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates in development all over the world, according to The New York Times. Just one, the product of a crash Chinese program, is in limited useand only in the Chinese military. The U.S. government has picked five mainstream vaccine candidates for serious federal support. The feds Operation Warp Speed, as its been dubbed, has tapped Moderna; a consortium of AstraZeneca and Oxford University; Johnson & Johnson; Merck; and Pfizer to receive $13 billion in government funding. To Fight Coronavirus, You Have to Understand How Weird It Is AstraZeneca and Oxford have already begun large-scale, phase three trials in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa. Moderna began phase three trials this week in the United States. Johnson & Johnson plans to begin its own large-scale trials later this month. Several of the leading pharmas have already begun manufacturing doses in the hope of having sizable stockpiles if and when the FDA approves their vaccines. Officially, the goal is to produce 300 million doses of a vaccine by January 2021. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed that the January goal is aspirational, but its certainly do-able. Even then, it could take months to vaccinate a significant portion of the U.S. population, assuming there are no major complications in the manufacturing and distribution of doses and supporting materials such as vials. Story continues There are some major differences between the five federally supported vaccine candidates that could weigh on their trials and, in the event they receive government approval for widespread use, their effectiveness in the public. Modernas vaccine candidate, like Pfizers, is an mRNA vaccine that includes a synthetic version of the messenger-RNA that a virus uses to build its infectious proteins. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca-Oxford consortium are working with so-called live-vector vaccines that include inactive versions of the novel coronavirus. Even if all five vaccine candidates complete development and the Food and Drug Administration approves each for public use, there still could be big differences in their effectiveness. It is not clear where the active immunities resulting from different vaccines will be exactly the same, Dmitry Korkin, a bioinformatics researcher at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, told The Daily Beast. The mRNA vaccine candidates that Moderna and Pfizer are developing are perhaps the riskiest, as theyre also the newest. Theres never been an mRNA vaccine thats been successfully produced and marketed, Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine and public health at UCLA who previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control, told The Daily Beast. Anything new is going to definitely take longer and be rigorously assessed. The mRNA vaccines are novel and only time will tell what the risks will be, Lola Eniola-Adefeso, a University of Michigan bio-engineer, told The Daily Beast. One problem with mRNA vaccines is that scientists arent even sure what to look for in order to judge how effective a vaccine might be in the early stages of a potential infection. Different types of vaccines produce different antibody types and can produce different cellular responses, Klausner explained. In intermediate-phase trials, the kinds of markers of efficacy are well-known for some types of vaccines but less known for newer types. The more old-fashioned candidates, such as the live-vector vaccines that Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca-Oxford consortium are working on, could move more smoothly through development. Neither Moderna nor Johnson & Johnson responded to a request for comment. Where an mRNA vaccine is entirely synthetic, pharmas produce live-vector vaccines using samples of the virus theyve extracted from patients. Lab techs inactivate the virus by exposing it to heat before adding it to the vaccine. This is the same process that the pharmaceutical industry uses for many of the annual flu vaccines. But theres a catch. If development of a novel coronavirus vaccine ends up following the same general model as flu vaccines, it could produce a vaccine that works, but doesnt work perfectlyand doesnt last very long. The flu virus evolves quickly, requiring constant updates to vaccines and annual immunization for the best protection. Americans are counting on a [coronavirus] vaccine that you only have to get once or twice that will provide long-term protection, Jennifer Reich, a University of Colorado sociologist who studies immunization, told The Daily Beast. If the vaccine works more like a flu vaccine, which provides annual protection and may not entirely eliminate the risk of infection but dramatically reduces the risk of death, people will view it differently than other vaccines for which one or two inoculations provides lifetime protection, Reich explained. The more frequently people must get vaccinated and the weaker the protections resulting from any one immunization, the less faith people are likely to have in a particular vaccineand the less likely they are to line up at their local pharmacy for a shot. That could have serious implications as U.S. authorities try to immunize enough people to provide population-wide protection against major outbreaks of COVID-19. Most people think about vaccines as a question of personal benefit and individual risk, Reich said. Yet vaccines are also most effective when high proportions of the population use them. No one knows yet how effective an mRNA vaccine might be or what its deployment strategy might look like. But if an mRNA vaccine confers greater immunity in fewer doses, it could help to solve the problem with vaccines in the vein of todays flu vaccinesweak protection that requires frequent re-immunization. Which is to say, it matters which companies win the race to develop effective novel-coronavirus vaccines. And it might help if they all win, resulting in a wide array of vaccines, each with its own production lines, effectiveness, and duration of immunity. Paul Offit, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Daily Beast he thinks there will be more than one vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. But he cautioned against declaring victory too quickly, even after the first couple vaccines hit the streets. Sometimes the FDA approves vaccines that, while safe, work better in experimental settings than they do in the messy world of the general public, Offit explained. Never breathe a sigh of relief until the first three million doses are out there. 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. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaking at a press conference about the Coronavirus.- Michael Brochstein / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top infectious disease expert, said this week that the US is not headed in a positive direction when it comes to controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus. "I think it's pretty obvious that we are not going in the right direction," Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told JAMA in an interview. He added that new research suggests the virus is now more infectious than it was before but that it does not seem to be making people sicker. The US has seen a resurgence in new cases since multiple states began reopening earlier than recommended. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The nation's top infectious disease expert said Thursday that the US is not headed in a positive direction when it comes to controlling the novel coronavirus pandemic. "I think it's pretty obvious that we are not going in the right direction," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told JAMA in an interview. Fauci then referenced the heated debate taking place between Democrats and Republicans over whether US states need to pause or continue moving forward with reopening plans amid a renewed surge in infections. "There's this feeling of an all or none phenomenon, where you're either on lockdown or you're just going to say ... the devil may care and just let it all go," he said. Fauci also said that research suggests the virus is now more infectious than it was before, but it does not necessarily make people sicker. On Friday, the US reported 51,842 new cases, making it the third consecutive day that the country reported more than 50,000 new infections. The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic in March. The US has reported a total of 2,795,437 cases of the disease and 129,438 deaths. The country saw a gradual decline in new cases after every state imposed some form of social distancing mandate or locked down businesses to curb the rapid spread of the virus. Story continues But the number of new cases began climbing again after multiple states decided to begin reopening earlier than was recommended. White House guidelines said that states should see either a two-week decrease in new cases or a two-week decline in their share of positive coronavirus tests before reopening. But according to The New York Times, 18 out of the 30 states that began reopening as of May 7 were still seeing a daily uptick in new cases, while nine out of the 30 states did not have a decline in their share of positive tests. Six states reopened without meeting any of the criteria: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah, and Iowa. Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California all reported record-high numbers of new cases this week; according to CNN, Florida reported nearly 9,500 new cases on Friday, and Texas reported 7,555 new cases after reporting around 8,000 new cases for two consecutive days. Florida is reporting more new cases per day, on average, than any other state, CNN said, with California and Texas coming in a close second and third, respectively. Multiple states have paused their reopening plans to mitigate the spread of the disease, while others have taken extra precautions to ensure they don't see a resurgence of new cases within their borders. Earlier this week, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut jointly announced that people who come from eight states with high numbers of new cases will be required to quarantine for two weeks. Democratic lawmakers have joined public health officials in calling to once again impose stricter social distancing guidelines to continue curbing the spread of the coronavirus, while many Republicans say that continued lockdown measures will crater the US economy. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has put out mixed messaging on handling the crisis. He touted the US's increased testing capabilities but has also repeatedly said that more testing is "overrated" and makes the country "look bad." Last month, he held indoor rallies in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Phoenix, Arizona at which supporters were not required to wear masks or follow social distancing guidelines. Six staffers in Tulsa tested positive for the virus before Trump even took the stage, and two more staffers tested positive after returning to Washington, DC. According to the Washington Post, dozens of Secret Service agents also had to self-quarantine after the Tulsa rally because two of the six people who tested positive before the rally were part of the agency. Oklahoma also saw an increase in new cases in the days following Trump's Tulsa rally; and Arizona, where Trump addressed the Students for Trump organization at an indoor event in Phoenix, is also a new hotspot for the virus' resurgence. On Friday, the president held an Independence Day fireworks celebration at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who is also Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, tested positive for COVID-19 before the event began and is now self-isolating. The European Union, meanwhile, has barred all travelers from the US as it begins cautiously reopening its borders because EU officials do not believe the country has done an adequate job of controlling the coronavirus outbreak. Travelers from Brazil and Russia will also not be allowed to enter the region. Read the original article on Business Insider WAYNE, Pa., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Renovus Capital Partners, a Philadelphia-area investment firm focused on investing in the Knowledge and Talent sectors, announced today that its portfolio company, EDIC College, a Caguas Puerto Rico based health sciences college has merged with Columbia Central University ("CCU"). The combined institution will operate under the Columbia Central University brand and will continue to serve over 2,000 students from its four physical campuses and online platform. The merger transaction was consummated following the approvals from appropriate regulatory and accrediting bodies including the U.S. Department of Education, the Board of Postsecondary Institutions of Puerto Rico and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. "This merger reaffirms our commitment to higher education in Puerto Rico commitment that we have always maintained with our students, graduates, employees and faculty," said Jose A. Cordova, now CEO of the combined institution. "With this merger and change of ownership, the legacy of Mr. Alex A. De Jorge and his contributions to quality education will continue to be cultivated as they have for the past 54 years," commented Daritza Mulero, president of CCU. "As experienced investors in Puerto Rico and believers in the student value proposition offered by the proprietary schools there, we are delighted to bring two exceptional and complementary institutions under one platform. The combined institution will have the academic resources and infrastructure to offer quality and affordable healthcare programs such as Nursing both on campus and online," commented Atif Gilani, Founding Partner of Renovus Capital Partners. About Columbia Central University Columbia Central University was founded in 1966, as Caguas City College. It is a non-sectarian, proprietary institution of higher education committed to an environment of academic excellence and quality services. CCU is a highly regarded provider of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in health sciences in Puerto Rico and after the merger, will be one of the largest private operators on the island. CCU will serve its diverse student body at 4 campuses located in Caguas, Carolina, Bayamon and Yauco, and online through synchronous and asynchronous offerings. Further details on the merger can be found at https://www.juntedelmomento.com. Story continues About Renovus Capital Partners Founded in 2010, Renovus Capital Partners is a private equity firm specializing in the Knowledge and Talent industries. Renovus, from its base in the Philadelphia area, manages $600 million across several investment vehicles. The firm's current portfolio includes over twenty U.S. based businesses specializing in educational technology and content, higher education, corporate learning and development, healthcare services and technology services. Renovus typically partners with founder led businesses, leveraging its industry expertise and access to debt and equity capital to make operational improvements, pursue tuck-in acquisitions and oversee strategic growth initiatives. More information can be found at www.renovuscapital.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edic-college-a-renovus-company-merges-with-columbia-central-university-301088339.html SOURCE Renovus Capital Partners Talulah Riley and Elon Musk have been married twice. Joshua Roberts/Reuters The actress Talulah Riley published a statement Saturday denying rumors that she was procured as a "child bride" for Elon Musk, now her ex-husband, by Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman accused of trafficking underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein. The FBI arrested Maxwell on Thursday, and social-media users began recirculating a photo on Twitter of Musk standing next to Maxwell at a Vanity Fair party in 2014. Riley said she had seen rumors on Twitter that her relationship with Musk was set up by Maxwell. "I don't know Maxwell," Riley said. "Elon and I met when I was 22 and he was on a business trip to London. It was a chance meeting, engineered by no one." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The British actress Talulah Riley has addressed bizarre rumors that she was procured as a "child bride" for her ex-husband, the Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, by Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Riley published a statement on Twitter on Saturday after a photograph of Musk standing next Maxwell at a Vanity Fair party began to recirculate. The FBI arrested Maxwell on Thursday and charged her with helping Epstein procure underage girls to abuse. Her arrest has fueled speculation of which other high-profile figures might become ensnared in the case. Epstein killed himself in jail in August. "To my knowledge, I have never met Ghislaine Maxwell," Riley said in her statement. The picture of Musk and Maxwell was taken at a 2014 Oscars after-party thrown by Vanity Fair, where Riley said she was present. "It is possible I was briefly introduced to her, but not in any way that I can remember," she said. Riley also addressed rumors she'd seen on Twitter that she had been procured for Musk by Maxwell as a "child bride," in Riley's words. "The other thing I have seen implied is that Maxwell procured me as some kind of child-bride for Elon," she wrote. "Again, I don't know Maxwell. Elon and I met when I was 22 and he was on a business trip to London. It was a chance meeting, engineered by no one. Story continues "I'm distressed by something so truly awful being thrown around this court-of-Twitter. I hope that every victim of Epstein's finds justice and peace, and that any person involved in harming underage girls is punished to the full extent of the law." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Riley told Ashlee Vance, the author of the Musk biography "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," that she met him at a bar in London in 2008. The pair got married in 2010 and divorced in 2012. They then got married again in 2013, and divorced again in 2016. The photo of Musk standing next to Maxwell was brought to light in 2019, and a representative for Musk told Business Insider at the time that Maxwell "simply inserted herself behind him in a photo he was posing for without his knowledge." The photo began recirculating on Twitter after Maxwell's arrest on Thursday. Musk tweeted on Thursday that he did not know her, saying she "photobombed" him. Musk and Ghislaine Maxwell were photographed together in 2014. Kevin Mazur/VF14/Contributor/Getty Images In her statement, Riley said she went together with Musk to Epstein's house once as part of "an itinerary of appointments." Musk told Vanity Fair in July last year that he'd been to Epstein's Manhattan residence with Riley. "Several years ago, I was at his house in Manhattan for about 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon with Talulah, as she was curious about meeting this strange person for a novel she was writing," he said. "We did not see anything inappropriate at all, apart from weird art. He tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined." In January of this year two sources told Business Insider that Jeffrey Epstein set up Musk's brother, Kimbal, with a woman in an attempt to get close to Musk. Epstein and members of his entourage were given a private tour of SpaceX's California facility in 2012, the sources said. Musk denied this on Saturday. "To the best our knowledge, he never toured SpaceX," Musk tweeted. "Don't know where that comes from." Video: Elon Musks rocket could one day take people to moon and Mars Read the original article on Business Insider 16.3M homeowners are missing out on mortgage savings, report says Mortgage rates have fallen to new all-time lows so many times this year that it's almost getting routine. "Really? Again?" But if you're a homeowner, don't let me catch you yawning, or shrugging off these milestones. Because a new record low means there are more old mortgages out there that are worth refinancing at lower interest maybe including your current loan. Thanks to the latest new floor for mortgage rates, more than 16 million mortgage holders are now good refi candidates and are missing out on hundreds of dollars in savings per month, according to a report released Monday by the mortgage data firm Black Knight. Find out whether you're in that group. As rates slide, opportunities open up Andrii Yalanskyi / Shutterstock Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped last week to an all-time-low average of 3.07%, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac, which has been conducting weekly rate surveys since 1971. Mortgage rates have been falling steadily amid the financial turmoil touched off by the coronavirus, and they've now hit new record lows five times since early March. But the latest one has expanded the field of potential refinancers like never before, Black Knight says. A record 16.3 million homeowners now have an incentive to refinance and could cut their mortgage payments by an average $283 a month. And, you might do even better than the average: 4.6 million could save at least $300 per month by refinancing, and 2.6 million would save $400 or more each month, the research says. You're considered a good candidate for a refi if you can shave at least three-quarters of a point 0.75 off your current 30-year mortgage rate. That is, refinance from a mortgage at 3.90% to a loan with a rate of 3.15% or better. You also need to be current on your mortgage, which may be tricky for some borrowers during the pandemic. As U.S. unemployment has soared, millions of Americans have put their mortgage payments on hold by requesting forbearance from their lenders due to financial hardship. Story continues Other important factors before you apply for a refinance mortgage: You'll need a credit score of 720 or higher, and you should have at least 20% equity in your home. Another good reason to refi: Rates under 3% Syda Productions / Shutterstock Lenders have been cutting rates all the way down to 2.5%. You might score unbelievable savings if you're able to land a mortgage rate much lower than the Freddie Mac average of 3.07%. A separate survey of lenders, from Mortgage News Daily, finds the typical 30-year mortgage rate has sunk to just 2.94%, and some borrowers have bagged rates as low as 2.5%. Rates far below 3% are available, but you have to look your best to a lender, says Richard Pisnoy, a principal with Silver Fin Capital, a mortgage broker in Great Neck, New York. "A borrower would need to have excellent credit, provable income that allows them to qualify, equity in a the home, and in a few cases post-closing reserves," Pisnoy says, referring to emergency savings or other accessible cash you could use to make mortgage payments in case of a financial setback, like a layoff. Despite the often insanely low rates that are possible today and the financial benefits for homeowners, refinancing has cooled in recent weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. "It is possible that many borrowers have already refinanced or are waiting for rates to go even lower," says Joel Kan, the trade group's associate vice president of forecasting. But mortgage rates are notoriously impossible to predict, and you could find yourself waiting for lower rates that never come. If they go higher, you'll lose out on an attractive rate and hundreds of dollars in potential savings available right now. So, a good strategy is to research refinance offers from several lenders and pounce when you find something that would work well for you. Shopping around is vital, because different lenders can offer widely different mortgage rates. And don't forget to comparison shop when the time comes to renew your homeowners insurance. You can easily go online, get several home insurance quotes, and find the policy offering the best coverage at the right price. REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. Tracey Gersln was standing on a bench above the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk, surveying the crowd that had gathered out on the sand by noon on Independence Day. A maskless man came huffing up the boardwalk, catching her eye. "Hey, man, where's your mask?" the part-time Rehoboth resident asked. "It is my choice. Don't bother me!" the man snapped as he strolled past. "No, it's not!" Gersln clapped back. On what was expected to be one of the busiest days for Delaware's beach towns, many signs warned visitors of a new change to the town's rules: "Face coverings are required in all public places." Kissing lipstick goodbye: Are face masks wiping away the simple joy of cosmetics? Earlier in the week, the city's government amended its coronavirus pandemic rules to mandate masks be worn not only in businesses, but also on sidewalks, the boardwalk and even out on the sand. Other towns have taken similar measures, adding another layer of different to the holiday. And up and down the boardwalk and on the sidewalks of the popular tourist town, many people were abiding the rules at least to some extent. Some wore masks down on their chins, plenty of noses peeked over the top of the masks. Those making their way from the boardwalk onto the beach were also greeted with signs stating: "Use the beach responsibly, masks required." It didn't quite catch on. Many wore masks on the trek to their beach nests. Lifeguards were also passing some out. But up and down the beach, very few sunbathers kept them on. Barbara Wieder stood out from the crowd sitting feet from the surf reading a local newspaper with her face covered. Why was she covering her face? Face mask requirements: Can stores make you wear a mask? Do kids have to wear masks? Nice Fourth of July weather has brought beach goers to Rehoboth Beach. Masks are required everywhere, whether you're on the beach, walking the boardwalk or riding a bike as COVID-19 cases are back on the rise. Police are reminding people and keeping an eye out on the beach, while lifeguards were handing out masks to those who did not have one. "I'm not ignorant, number one," she said before discussing her career in healthcare and the experiences of her colleagues fighting the virus in New York and New Jersey. Story continues "It is a big disappointment, because it is a microcosm of what is happening elsewhere," said Wieder, who retired last year and lives in Rehoboth, looking out over the mostly crowded beach. Other sunbathers were not as pessimistic. The pandemic had Kaphil Dodson on the fence about whether to get in on a last-minute trip to the beach from Pennsylvania. Then she saw a video of the town's mayor welcoming visitors for the weekend and they "hopped on the Harleys." We tested popular face masks: These are the 10 best She didn't wear a mask on the sand. She said they were important, but also that she felt people were spread far enough apart on the beach for it to be safe. "I feel like as an adult, I can make that decision," she said. The mask requirement and the mixed feelings about it are another ripple in an already-odd beach season and Independence Day holiday. Fireworks up and down the shore were canceled. Bar service is banned and restaurants and other businesses were mandated to operate at 60% capacity. The point of the mask and other restrictions is to try to stem the spread of the virus, which is seeing an uptick in the rate of new cases, state officials say. The beaches have been a particular concern for health officials. "The beach on last Saturday was just really, really full," Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks said earlier in the week. "There was no social distancing." Residents said they've seen the crowds ebb during the pandemic, but most said Saturday's crowd wasn't normal for such a weekend. Coronavirus confrontations: Passenger removed from Spirit Airlines flight for refusing to wear a mask Some small piece of normalcy returned earlier this week with the partial reopening of Funland, the popular family-run amusement park that has operated on the boardwalk for six decades. The business's games were open, but the rides remained closed. Harry Keswani has run Atlantic Jewelry on the boardwalk for some 35 years. He said he's seen the crowds building leading up to Saturday. "People are happy to just be out," he said. But the pandemic is different from other disasters like a storm, which might derail things for a few days or a week, he said. "Business is down," he said. "It is going to be that way for a long time. It is a very big challenge." Restaurant and bar managers say they're concerned about the messages being sent by government officials and that last-minute changes like the pausing of bar service are scaring people away while hospitalizations tied to the virus have decreased in the past week. Others said there has to be a balance and that the concern is real. "People are going to die unnecessarily because of this," Gersln said. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Beachgoers didn't embrace masks while celebrating July 4 in Rehoboth For a good while, it seemed California had skirted past calamity. It was the first US state to order residents to shelter in place in March, and its early, aggressive actions paid off. Despite it being the most populous state and an international hub with the largest number of direct flights to China, where the coronavirus first appeared, Californias death rate remained relatively low. By May, Disneyland announced plans to reopen. The nations top health official Dr Anthony Fauci praised Governor Gavin Newsoms leadership. And as the weather warmed, Californians flooded back to beaches and bars. Related: LA's Covid-19 'explosion': overwhelmed hospitals, struggling workers, shuttered restaurants We had reason to feel confident, said Dr Bob Wachter, who chairs the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. And then, we hit some trouble. A few outbreaks sparked an explosion, with an average of about 6,000 to 7,000 new cases each day over the past week. Los Angeles county began to count more residents sick with Covid-19 cases anywhere else in the nation and Disneyland postponed its reopening. As hospitalizations surged, the death toll climbed past 6,000, and ICU beds in some regions began filling to capacity, Californias governor, Gavin Newsom, ordered bars, restaurant dining rooms, cinemas and other indoor venues in the hardest-hit counties to close back up. Now, health officials and epidemiologists sifting through the rubble are left wondering how the Golden state lost its status as the public health golden child. People began to fixate on individual liberties Looking back, the decision to reopen when we did seemed perfectly reasonable, Wachter said. We were doing pretty well, we had the resources in place to deal with an uptick in cases. Despite some stumbles, Newsom had set and ultimately met fairly ambitious goals to test 60,000 to 80,000 Californians each day, and stock up on protective equipment for healthcare workers. Story continues The Los Angeles Times editorial board wrote that California was lucky to have Newsom as its leader. People are alive today because of Newsoms expeditious action, it asserted. The states death rate was similar to that of Germany, a country widely regarded as a public health success story. People choose not to wear face masks the boardwalk in Huntington Beach on 1 July. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters The Newsom administrations four-phase plan to reopen slowly, while encouraging Californians to remain vigilant about wearing face coverings and maintaining distanceto stop the spread of disease seemed perfectly good and smart, Watchter said. But what I think we didnt get right was the national political scene, he said. California, despite its reputation as a progressive state, wasnt immune to a growing conservative movement that rejects face masks as muzzles on independence and vilifies public health officials as enemies of the people. People began to fixate on individual liberties without understanding that one of the most fundamental civil liberties in the US is the right to health Lee Riley In Orange county, where more than 15,000 people have been infected, health director Nichole Quick resigned in mid-June after being confronted with a banner depicting her as a Nazi, protests outside her house and personal threats. Quick had issued an order requiring residents to wear masks in public, which the county sheriff insisted he wouldnt enforce. After she became the third high-level health official in Orange county to quit, the county quickly reversed Quicks order recommending, but not insisting that residents wear masks. By the Memorial Day holiday Californians thought they were safe to just have parties, go to overcrowded beaches, to get close to other people and take off their masks, said Lee Riley, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. People began to fixate on individual liberties without understanding that one of the most fundamental civil liberties in the US is the right to health the right to stay alive. This isnt a political issue As restaurants, bars, zoos and movie theatres reopened across the state, outbreaks in southern California have been the most worrying, with Bay Area counties seeing more modest rises. Over all, despite its huge caseload, about 6.9% of those tested for coronavirus across the state have gotten a positive result in the past week. Thats higher than the 5% the World Health Organization recommended as the upper bar for reopening and much lower than the 25.2% positive test rate in Florida and 17.7% in Arizona. Scientists are still working out in what context most of the cases are spreading early tracking data in LA county suggests that outbreaks in nursing homes added up with cases traced back to restaurants, workplaces, warehouses and retailers account for just about 15 or 20% of all cases. While the disease may have also spread amid the massive protests against police brutality, epidemiologists arent connecting big outbreaks to the demonstrations. We dont know yet where the majority of cases are spreading, but my suspicion is individual households, Lee said. Demographic data suggests that younger people, between the ages of 18 and 50, are fueling the current wave of infections, accounting for nearly 60% of cases statewide. Maybe they feel invincible, so they go out to bars, they gather in big groups, Riley said. But then they can spread the virus to their grandmas and grandpas, their parents, their buddies with asthma or diabetes, who are more vulnerable. People wait in line to be tested for Covid-19 at a drive-in and walk-up testing site in Los Angeles on 1 July. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA Among the hardest-hit regions are rural counties in the south and the Central Valley, where farmworkers have been toiling through each stage of this pandemic. California is referred to the breadbasket of the world for good reason: it is the worlds fifth largest supplier of food and agricultural commodities. As more Californians emerged from their homes, crowding restaurants and public spaces, it really put our essential workers most at risk, said Ninez Ponce, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The vast majority more than 90% of farmworkers in California are Latinx, working in precariously crowded environments. More than 60% of workers involved in food preparation are Latinx as well. And its those workers, many of whom lack access to healthcare and cant afford to stay home, who have the most to lose as the virus barreled through the state, Ponce said. Latinx, Black and other minority groups are disproportionately infected with and dying of Covid-19, according to a tracking tool designed by UCLA, and early metrics suggest that the states reopening has exacerbated disparities. Devastating outbreaks in Californias prisons and homeless shelters have further fueled inequities. The many complicated factors driving the surge of coronavirus in California have all collided in Imperial county, a rural community along Californias southern border with Mexico and Arizona. Out of every 100,000 people in the country, more than 3,700 have been infected with the coronavirus thats several times higher than the statewide average of 600 infections per 100,000. I want our leaders to all step up and take care of the whole community because right now theyre ending up in the emergency room Luis Olmedo As the regions only two hospitals ran short of beds, concerned residents wrote to Newsom, asking him to intervene as local leaders allowed businesses to continue reopening. The community, which had already been besieged by toxic dust storms, suffering with one of the highest rates of poverty in the state, was ill-prepared to respond to even a small outbreak of cases, let alone what were seeing now, said Luis Olmedo, a community advocate who runs a local advocacy group called the Comite Civico del Valle. And though the local council eventually reined in its optimistic reopening plan, officials remained more concerned with appeasing the loud, privileged few pushing for a hasty return to normal, than protecting minority workers, Olmedo said. I want our leaders to all step up and take care of the whole community, he said, because right now theyre ending up in the emergency room and theyre ending up in body bags. Looking back, Richard Pan, a physician and a state senator, said the state rushed its reopening plan. Initially, officials had set two weeks of declining as a benchmark for advancing through each phase of reopening. We wanted to not only flatten the curve but see a downturn, he said. Then we began seeing the anti-lockdown protests, basically egged on with a wink and a nod from Donald Trump, and the governor faced increasing pressure to move faster. As the number of cases swell, the governors recent orders pausing the Californias reopening, and his statewide mandate requiring residents to wear masks, are laudable, he said. Still, were only successful if people follow the order and right now, theyre not doing it. Pan, who recently introduced legislation to protect health officials against attacks, said that the governors presence at the top of every health briefing, as the face of the pandemic response may have backfired. Governors and mayors across the country probably felt a need to step up, and combat Trumps dramatic, bombastic and counterproductive daily missives, with daily press conferences of their own. But they should have let their public health officials take the podium. he said, They should have let them lead the conversation to show that this isnt a political issue. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: The story of the M4 goes back to the mid-sixties and the early days of the Vietnam War. The U.S. Army is an armed force with a truly global reach. At any given time, Americas premier land power operates on several different continents simultaneously, from hot, dry deserts to humid jungles and sprawling cities. Its infantrymen carry a weapon whose lineage dates back to Vietnam but which has been constantly improved to become the weapon it is today. Rugged, simple and accurate, the M4 carbine is the standard infantry weapon of not just the Army but all of Americas ground forces. The story of the M4 goes back to the mid-sixties and the early days of the Vietnam War. The Pentagon, mulling sending hundreds of thousands of troops to South Vietnam, wanted a small, lightweight service rifle to replace the larger standard-issue M14. The new AR15, or Armalite Rifle-15, was smaller, lighter and fired a smaller 5.56-millimeter bullet. A soldier carrying the AR15, later designed the M16, could carry twice as much ammunition as a soldier carrying the M14. Demographic trends also meant that more and more soldiers were coming from cities and unfamiliar with firearms, and the M16 with less recoil was easier to train soldiers to proficiency. Despite earlier battlefield success, once fielded in large numbers the M16 quickly started racking up complaints. A last-minute change in propellant powder, as well as the erroneous belief that the rifle never needed cleaning, caused many jams on the battlefield. Although the problems were eventually sorted out and an improved version, the M16A1, was fielded in 1967, the weapon developed a reputation as being an unreliable weapon. In the mid 1980s the A1 was replaced with the M16A2, which featured a thicker barrel and three round burst capability. In the early 1990s, the Army purchased a limited number of M4 carbines. The M4 had a collapsible stock and a shorter, 14.5-inch barrel, as opposed to the longer twenty-inch barrel of the M16A2. That made the weapon easier to carry in tight spaces, particularly armored vehicles and helicopters, while also easier to operate on close-quarter battlefields such as cities or jungle. The price for shortening the barrel was slightly decreased muzzle velocity and range, but these were considered acceptable tradeoffs. Story continues The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accelerated adoption of the M4, to the point where it is carried by the majority of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The weapon weighs 7.3 pounds loaded with a thirty-round magazine. Infantry and other combat arms typically carry an M4 with a series of authorized add-ons, including Aimpoint red dot sights, Trijicon ACOG fixed-power rifle scopes, foregrips, laser designators and the M320 underbarrel grenade launcher. This can easily push the weight of the weapon up to nine pounds and beyond. While heavier, this is still short of the World War IIera M1 Garand rifle, which weighed 11.2 pounds. The M4 still has its critics, including a retired major general, who have derided this descendant of the M16 as inadequate for modern ground forces. They point to the direct impingement gas operating system, which siphons off hot gases from burning gunpowder to chamber the next round, as guilty of fouling the inside of the rifle, increasing the likelihood of jams. They also deride the 5.56-millimeter round as having insufficient stopping power and believe the M4s barrel is not thick enough to avoid overheating in sustained fire. All that being said, the troops believe the M4 works. A 2006 CNA Corporation report surveyed U.S. Army combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan for their opinions on modern infantry weapons. 89 percent felt their M4 carbine was reliable in combat, and only 19 percent had experienced a stoppage in battle. 80 percent expressed confidence in their weapon. While these numbers might be good for a garrison army, keep in mind this is from troops that used their weapons in combat in some of the roughest, unforgiving environments on Earth. In the meantime, the Army is working to correct the M4s deficiencies. Earlier bullets were designed to penetrate Soviet body armor and sacrificed lethality for armor penetration. The new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round, aside from being lead-free and green, yaws more quickly when passing through the human body, creating an internal cavity and causing massive damage. The M855A1 is also more adept at penetrating steel plate. The Army is also upgrading its existing M4s to a new M4A1 standard. The upgrade consists of new fire control group that replaces three round burst fire mode to full automatic, along with an improved trigger and a heavier barrel for longer, more sustained fire before overheating. The A1 also has ambidextrous controls, for lefties. New rifles are being delivered to the M4A1 standard, and older rifles are being converted at a rate of approximately three hundred a day. No rifle is an ideal fit for the U.S. Armed Forces, which must expect to fight in all environments and climates. A heavier round, harder-hitting round would reduce the amount of ammunition soldiers could carry and place additional burdens on the logistical system. A longer rifle barrel imparts greater range and velocity but make a weapon unwieldy indoors. Design tradeoffs and compromises are inevitable and must be made with existing and future battlefields in mind. All things considered, the M4 is a very good compromise weapon. 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: A U.S. army soldier from 2-35 Infantry Battalion aims his weapon as he looks for a source of gun fire and rocket propelled grenades fired by the Taliban at a forward firebase fortress in Kunar province, Afghanistan, July 11, 2011. REUTERS/Baz Ratner. Recommended: Uzi: The Israeli Machine Gun That Conquered the World Recommended: The M4: The Gun U.S. Army Loves to Go to War With Recommended: Why Glock Dominates the Handgun Market (And Better than Sig Sauer and Beretta) Click here to read the full article. Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi security forces were Friday interrogating pro-Iran fighters detained for planning a rocket attack in the first such raid in a country caught in the tug-of-war between Tehran and Washington. Since October, nearly three dozen deadly rocket attacks have hit US military and diplomatic installations in Iraq, with the US blaming pro-Tehran faction Kataeb Hezbollah. Infuriated, Washington has demanded Iraq take tougher action to hold the perpetrators accountable and Thursday's unprecedented raid appeared to be a response to this call. Just before midnight Thursday, the elite Counter-Terrorism Service stormed a base in southern Baghdad used by Kataeb Hezbollah, also known as Brigade 45 of the Hashed al-Shaabi force, Iraqi officials and security sources said. They told AFP that more than a dozen Kataeb fighters were arrested, but an official statement from Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) on Friday did not specify which group had been targeted. It said the operation was based on intelligence about a planned attack on the Green Zone, where the US embassy and other foreign missions, government buildings and UN offices are located. "Fourteen people were arrested and evidence of the crime confiscated, including two rocket launchers," the JOC statement said. - 'We lie in wait' - The raid is the boldest act yet against Tehran-backed groups based in Iraq, which has long had to walk a fine line between its two main allies, Iran and the US. Washington is pursuing a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran and sees groups like Kataeb Hezbollah as a dangerous extension of Iran's influence. The US has blamed Kataeb for rockets that have killed several UK, American and Iraqi forces since October. But Kataeb has been nominally integrated into the Iraqi state, and former prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi hesitated to take strong action against the group. Such calculations appear to have changed under new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, seen by Washington as a friendly figure but despised by Kataeb. Story continues The group accuses Kadhemi of complicity in the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Hashed deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January. "This monster called Kadhemi wanted to shuffle the cards to hide his participation in the criminal murder of two martyrs and their comrades, presenting a new token of his collaboration with his American overlords," Kataeb spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari said after Thursday's raid. "We lie in wait," he warned. Following the raid, "government vehicles" had attempted to surround CTS headquarters, according to the JOC statement. - Interrogations begin - The JOC statement also said Iraq's judiciary had issued arrest warrants for Thursday's operation under the counter-terrorism law, which carries the death penalty. But it remains unclear exactly which authority will be responsible for bringing to trial or sentencing the suspects. "They are being interrogated by the Hashed security apparatus and will appear before a Hashed judge," a source from the Hashed's security force told AFP. "They are pressuring us to release them," the source said. There was no comment from Kadhemi's office or from the US, but Iraqi expert Hisham al-Hashemi said Washington and the anti-jihadist alliance it leads in Iraq would be pleased. "The international coalition is happy with this step. Just storming these headquarters is enough for it," he said. He said Kadhemi would also restore some of his public ratings, which had plummeted in reaction to unpopular austerity measures aimed at fighting off the economic collapse triggered by a crash in oil prices. Kataeb Hezbollah first began fighting US troops in 2003 during the American-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein and is the top armed Iraqi ally of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to specialist Michael Knights. The CTS, meanwhile, was set up by US occupation forces following 2003 and is largely seen as a pro-US force. In one of his first acts as premier, Kadhemi reappointed Abdulwahab al-Saadi, also seen as US-friendly, as CTS head. Kadhemi then launched a strategic dialogue with Washington to discuss military, economic and culture issues. As part of the talks, the US pledged to continue reducing the number of US troops in Iraq, based there to lead a global coalition helping fight jihadist sleeper cells. Iraq, meanwhile, promised to hold the perpetrators of the rocket attacks accountable and Kadhemi recently convened his national security council to draw up a plan. The start of the talks coincided with a significant spike in missile attacks, with six incidents targeting American installations over the last two weeks. The escalation shattered the relative calm that had settled in since March, after a period of particularly high tensions between Iran and the US spilt over into Iraq. Following the US strike on Soleimani, Iraq's parliament voted to oust foreign forces, Iran launched ballistic missiles against American troops and the Hashed vowed revenge. Click here to read the full article. Poor Volodymyr Zelensky. In April 2019, the comedian-turned-presidential candidate won Ukraines highest office by a nearly three to one margin before trouncing the countrys established political parties a few months later in the parliamentary elections. His new party won so many seats that Zelensky held a majority in parliament. Now Zelensky faces a political future that is no laughing matter. Zelensky was elected on three promises: to end the war in eastern Ukraine, to make the large Eastern European country of 42 million rich, and to stanch corruption. But after an initial burst of activity on the reform front, he ended up faltering on these pledges. The kettledrum rhetoric about fundamentally changing Ukraine has faded away to a faint pianissimo. Only a year in, he seems languid and defeated. The shift isnt just in tone; its also in substance and personnel. Zelensky sacked his reform-minded prime minister, most of his cabinet, prosecutor general, and many other top officials in March and April, stunning everyone. The timing couldnt have been worse. The global coronavirus pandemic reached Ukraine a few weeks later and may well devour up to 8.2 percent of its GDP. Zelensky has hired flunkeys with little experience and even old Yanukovych cronies. At the same time, he is supporting politically motivated charges against the former president, prosecutor general, former infrastructure minister, and heads of the tax and customs services. In May, the Ministry of Finance terminated the head of the independent supervisory board of the MGU, the independent company that oversees gas transmission. Historically, gas was the prime sector for self-enrichment, but that started to change in 2014. Zelenskys move is a step back toward the bad old days of rampant defalcation, potentially paving the way to sacking the heads of the independent supervisory boards that govern Naftogaz, PrivatBank, and other important state-run companies. Goodbye, corporate governancewe hardly knew ye. Story continues In July, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine resigned after a one-on-one meeting with Zelensky, citing political pressure. Tomas Fiala, the head of Dragon Capital, the top investment firm in Ukraine, said that he would suspend all future investments. This is the last straw. One can only guess what the motives are. It is either complete incompetence or sabotage motivated by Russia, Fiala wrote. What went wrong? Herewith five theories to explain the radical, and often mercurial, shifts of the past year. Servant of an Oligarch: Zelensky is a puppet of Ihor Kolomoisky. Kolomoisky, who owned the largest bank in country, PrivatBank, has been accused of looting the bank to the tune of $6 billion before losing it in 2016. Now hes doing everything he can in multiple courts in multiple countries to get the bank, or at least some of the cash, back. Zelensky and Kolomoisky certainly have a close relationship: Zelenskys television show, in which he goes from country bumpkin history teacher to president after a viral rant about corruption, was broadcast on Kolomoiskys 1+1 television station. The oligarch also boosted Zelensky with positive media coverage well before the presidential election. The BBCs Jonah Fisher asked Zelensky about his relationship with Kolomoisky during the campaign, and Zelensky said the oligarchs own all the major stations and the fact that his show is on Kolomoiskys channel is no biggie. A year later, that statement strains credulity. In his first year in office, Zelensky embraced the oligarchs. In September 2019, the presidential office released a grinning photo of the president, prime minister, chief of staff, and Kolomoisky in the presidents office. A few days later, Kolomoisky strode confidently through Ukraines toniest international conference, the Yalta European Strategy Summit, for the first time ever and gave interviews to all and sundry. Zelensky has done nothing to have Kolomoisky prosecuted, while his recently appointed prosecutor general has opened twenty-four criminal cases against his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. Kolomoisky has about thirty MPs who are loyal to him within the presidents Servant of the People political party, and the oligarch has consistently harassed some of the officials that Zelensky just ousted. Russian puppet: Long held by many members of the Ukrainian diaspora and nationalist types from western Ukraine, this idea rests on animus towards Zelensky. Hes not a native Ukrainian speaker, fails to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin every chance he gets, and shows flexibility on efforts to make peace in eastern Ukraine. The theory has superficial appeal, but lacks supporting evidence beyond the circumstantial and, more importantly, fails to take the sheer incompetence in Kyiv into account. Victim of his own inexperience: Zelensky had a plan and he was defeated. Before 2019, he had never held a large administrative job and never served in government. Luckily for him, his first chief of staff, Andriy Bohdan, knew how to run the presidential administration and could whip parliament like no other. While Bohdan was in place, things worked in Kyiv. After Bohdan, things fell apart. According to sources in Kyiv, Zelensky listens to four friends who serve as chief of staff, senior advisors, and the head of the security services. None has any insight into economics or politics. When this trusted circle disagrees, Zelensky doesnt know what to do. Insiders tell me that the president trusts no one, wants his people on every committee and board, has no ideology, and insists that everything must be done immediately. He cant delegate. He ignores his own cabinet and deals directly with ministers and regional leaders. After the series of indefensible personnel decisions this spring, this theory looks increasingly likely. Victim of his own naivete: Zelensky genuinely meant well and ran for president to fix the country. Before he ran for office, he was rich, famous, and hilarious. In other words, he didnt need the job. He says he ran so that his kids could live in a normal country. According to former Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk, Zelensky changed. He told the Kyiv Post that the person he started working with and Zelensky today are two different people. Of course, Zelensky sacked Honcharuk six months into the job, and the former prime ministers retelling is likely self-serving. He says Zelensky was influenced by pro-Russian narratives that the West and George Soros are intent on destroying Ukraine, and that Zelensky started strong but couldnt deal with the competing interests, the crisis, and the hard policy choices. No match for the system: Its impossible to change Ukraine. Everything is for sale, including parliamentarians. Name your price, and one can adopt a baby during COVID-19, illegally air-freight hundreds of dogs from a puppy mill to Canada, and do just about anything else. Oligarchs appear to have recovered their control over the parliament for a pittance, and all along they controlled the media and all the major industries. As the ruling oligarchs claim in Zelenskys fictional hit series: This bunch was much more affordable than the last one. Until the role of money in Ukraines politics changes, it doesnt matter whos president. Ukraines modern history makes it impossible to summarily dismiss this theory. One thing is clear: the show will go on in Ukraine, but whether Zelensky will be the starring act is another matter. Instead, in Kiev, it increasingly looks like back to the future. Melinda Haring is the deputy director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council. She tweets @melindaharing. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Smartphone manufacturers have done all sorts of unique things with the features and form factors of the devices over the last few years. The next frontier? Rollable phones. While Samsung and other manufacturers are brought out foldable smartphones, TCL earlier this year debuted a concept for a rollable OLED phone which, per Android Authority, "gives the impression that the phone is expanding out of nothing." But that phone was merely a concept which wont be released anytime in the near future and, per that report, TCL's working prototype got stuck in, of all places, Wuhan, China, which prevented its planned shipment to the U.S. Now, another manufacturer says it's not only working on a rollable smartphone device, but plans to release it to the public next year. According to OLED Info, LG's CEO Kwon Bong-seok says the company plans to release a rollable smartphone, as early as the start of 2021. The company is using panels from BOE, rather than from LG Display, according to the report. This would make them the first company ever to actually release such a product. BOE was reportedly set to join the ranks of suppliers for Apple's iPhone screens this year, but reports last week stated that the Chinese company will not in fact be on the supplier list, at least for the original batch of 2020 iPhones, with Apple instead utilizing panels from Samsung and LG Display. LG has already been making rollable OLED TVs, including the 65RX OLED TV, which is priced at around $60,000. LG had introduced its first rollable TV at CES in January of 2019, where it was one of the more acclaimed products to appear. Research firm IHS Markit, released earlier this spring, predicted that 100,000 rollable OLED displays (of all sizes and applications) will ship in 2022, jumping to 1.3 million by 2026, which even then will only represent a small niche of the overall OLED market. Foldable OLEDs, however, will be a larger share. Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. Click here to read the full article. Embargoes and sanctions are key aspects of the U.S. maximum pressure strategy against the Iranian regime. That policy has brought a deluge of criticism on the Trump administration, but it may be the best option for countering Irans aggression. The U.S. has recently announced its goal of extending the arms embargo that is currently set to expire on October 18. Established by the U.N. in 2007, the embargo prohibited the export of arms to Iran, adding to a 2006 embargo on nuclear-weapons technology. The expiration is a term in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)the Iran deal. When the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, it reimposed pre-JCPOA sanctions on entities under its jurisdiction. It now hopes to convince the other signatories to extend the embargo in response to the Islamic Republics aggression in the region, enablement of terrorist groups, and continued escalation of uranium enrichment. Should the signatories reject this proposal, the U.S. could invoke the agreements snapback provision, which allows any of the original signatories to reinstate pre-JCPOA sanctions and pressures. In this case, the U.S. would presumably reinstate the embargo as its official policy, and perhaps hold other countries accountable should they trade arms with Iran. In a representative article, Barbara Slavin of the Atlantic Council offers five criticisms of the administrations approach. First, she notes that Trumps promise to shrink Irans ballistic-missile program and block its regional aggression has not been fulfilled. Second, maximum pressure and threats of a snapback could push Iran to withdraw from the JCPOA and Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)which it has threatened to doand thereby allow it to pursue a nuclear-weapon capacity more freely. Third, the American attitude toward the JCPOA will alienate European allies. Fourth, the Trump administration may weaken the impact of sanctions by overusing them; Slavin cites China as an example, noting that it built parallel international financial mechanisms when faced with American sanctions. Fifth, Slavin believes that maximum pressure emboldens Irans hard-liners and could lead to a more conservative parliament in next years elections. Story continues These criticisms have a measure of truth. Their bottom line is that maximum pressure alienates the U.S. from its allies and burns diplomatic bridges with Iran. Nevertheless, it is the best option to hold the regime accountable, given its bad diplomatic record. Historically, diplomacy has not been successful in dealing with the Islamic Republic. Take the nuclear program. Though Ayatollah Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, says nuclear weapons are haram (forbidden by Islam), Iran has violated the NPT on a number of occasions, and has been condemned for building undeclared nuclear facilities such as the one in Natanz. Iran pursued a nuclear-weapons program until 2003 as well. This lack of transparency led the IAEA to conclude in a 2006 resolution that Iran was guilty of many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its NPT Safeguards Agreement. The resolution went on to note an absence of confidence that Irans nuclear programme was exclusively for peaceful purposes, owing to a history of concealment of Irans nuclear activities. Treaties such as the NPT are clearly not taken seriously by the Islamic Republic, and its past pursuit of nuclear weaponry calls its anti-nuclear statements into question. Whats worse, according to American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar Michael Rubin, the JCPOA offered Iran many goodies despite its restrictions. The agreements lifting of sanctions meant that Iran could more thoroughly fund its proxies and bolster its ballistic-missile program. By focusing too heavily on Irans nuclear program, the deal freed up resources for the regional expansion of power, a key regime goal. Moreover, the JCPOA was weak on nuclear control: Sunset clauses in the agreement left Iran with the ability to restart a nuclear program as early as 2030. Rubin says that, since diplomacy usually fails with Iran, he is in general a fan of maximum pressure. A merit of the policy is its ability to raise the cost of Iranian aggression. Sanctions offer additional steps between war and peace and enable policymakers to have options that avoid worst-possible outcomes, Rubin tells National Review. This allows the U.S. to respond to bad Iranian behavior short of having to engage in military action to do so. An arms embargo can also prevent war by making it harder for Iran to be militarily prepared for a major confrontation. Rubin also notes that maximum pressure forces Tehran to make basic guns-and-butter decisions. If it chooses guns, the Iranian government will have to pay the consequences for those decisions in terms of potential popular unrest. This already seems to be the case: In the last year, Iran has faced massive anti-government protests over the countrys dire economic condition. In 2018, after the implementation of sanctions, Irans GDP shrank 4.8 percent. Rubin thinks that maximum pressure can raise the cost of pursuing a nuclear program to a level that forces the regime to back down: If pursuit of Irans nuclear program becomes so expensive it can imperil the regime, history suggests the regime will reverse course. . . . Thats what happened with the Carter-era American hostages, and thats what also happened with the decision to end the IranIraq War. Rubin and other experts who support maximum pressure do offer some caution, however. While the policy holds Iran accountable and has succeeded in the past, it needs a clearer purpose. You cant have pressure just for the sake of pressure, says Rubin. What does the Trump administration want? Is it regime change? Is it just an end to the nuclear program? Is it a new deal? The answer is unclear. Giselle Donnelly, another AEI scholar, notes an additional weakness in the maximum-pressure strategy, namely its disconnect from Trumps other policies in the Middle East. Maximum pressure would suggest youre pushing ahead on multiple fronts, she says. But the Trump administration has decreased its presence in the Middle East over time for example, by pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan while targeting Iran with maximum pressure. This combination of policies has ignored the ways in which Irans fate is intertwined with that of the region, especially in places such as Syria, where Iran has always tried to exercise its influence. Maximum pressure must be both local and regional: Its great to hold Iran accountable, says Donnelly, but theyre much more interested in exercising regional influence [than in developing nuclear weaponry]. Donnelly also thinks the U.S. has an image problem in the Middle East following the Trump administrations general retreat from the region: The thing that worries me the most is that we have transmitted the message that we dont care. This perceived indifference enhances the way in which, should Iran withstand U.S. pressures, it looks like progress for them. Donnelly and Rubins criticisms amount to a statement of the need for a more coherent total strategy. Overall, however, the Trump administration has at least been willing to confront repeated Iranian transgressions head on, and in so doing has taken a very different approach from that of its predecessor. Going forward, the U.S. should consider strengthening its regional posture and Middle Eastern alliances while closely monitoring regional conflicts involving Iran. Fast-forward to November. The American presidential election may determine the future of the maximum-pressure strategy. Biden has been highly critical of the Trump administrations approach to Iran and is on the record saying he would like the United States to rejoin the JCPOA. Perhaps this would mend diplomatic relationships with U.S. allies and lead to more fruitful conversations with the Iranian government. Experience should make us suspect, however, that this is wishful thinking. Unless held accountable, the Iranian regime is likely to continue its terroristic and destabilizing conduct More from National Review 24 February 2020, Baden-Wurttemberg, Tubingen: A man pipettes a blue liquid in a laboratory of the biopharmaceutical company Curevac. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images German biotech company CureVac has secured a 75m (67.8m, $84.9m) loan from the European Investment Bank, the European Unions prime lender, to fund its development and production of a COVID-19 vaccine. We are very pleased with the EIB financing, said Curevac chief financial office Pierre Kemula. It allows us to further invest in our mRNA technology platform to fight life-threatening diseases. The loan is the second cash boost the Tubingen-based company has received in the space of a month: the German government announced in mid June that it will invest 300m and take a 23% stake in the privately owned company. At the time of the investment announcement, German economy minister Peter Altmaier said: We're sending a clear signal for CureVac here in Germany as a place to do business. He added the Berlin would not look to influence company decisions. CureVac, which has been working on a vaccine since January, began its first human clinical trials last month. The EU money, which will be issued in three tranches of 25m each, will also go towards finishing their fourth production facility in Tubingen. In March this year, a number of media outlets reported that Donald Trumps administration had approached CureVac with a big offer to secure exclusive US rights to its vaccine under development, and reportedly tried to persuade the company to move to the US. The reports prompted a furious reaction from German politicians. CureVac is one of two key German biotech companies working using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The other one is BioNTech (BNTX),which has partnered with with US pharma giant Pfizer (PFE) for the vaccine development. It announced in April that it had received regulatory approval to start trials of a potential vaccine on human volunteers. CureVac has said the first results from the trials could be ready as soon as September or October this year, and the vaccine could potentially be approved by the middle of 2020. Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, then known as Virginia Roberts, along with Ghislaine Maxwell. This photo was included in an affidavit where Giuffre claimed Prince Andrew directed her to have sex with him. Florida Southern District Court Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday in New Hampshire on charges related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. On Saturday, the BBC's Radio 4 Today program featured an interview with Laura Goldman, who says she became friends with Maxwell in the 1990s in New York. Goldman told the BBC that Maxwell had told her that she would "never" speak about Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew stepped away from public royal duties as the Duke of York in November following an interview with "BBC Newsnight" where he spoke about his friendship with Epstein. US prosecutors are urging Prince Andrew to provide information about Epstein and Maxwell. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime girlfriend and confidante of Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday at a New Hampshire mansion. On Saturday, the BBC's Radio 4 Today program featured an interview with Laura Goldman, who identifies as a friend of Maxwell. Goldman, a former investment banker, said that she and Maxwell met in New York in 1990. Goldman told the BBC that she had spoken to Maxwell within the past month, and said that she thinks Maxwell will not speak up about Prince Andrew's reported ties to Epstein. "She's always told me that she would never, ever, say anything about [Prince Andrew]. You know, I think she felt that he was her friend and she was never, ever, going to say anything about him," Goldman told the BBC. "She really felt that in the '90s, when her father died, that Prince Andrew was there for her, in many ways." Goldman added that she thinks Maxwell "knew she was coming to the end of the road." "Initially, she had told me that she had felt that she was going to be fine because of the immunity provision. But I think in recent months she saw the furor hadn't died," Goldman said. "You know, when Jeffrey initially died, she was relieved, she thought it was over. I don't think she understood. And listen, I applaud the victims. They have fought an uphill battle to get her immunity thrown out and I applaud them." Story continues Ghislaine Maxwell speaks at a news conference at the United Nations in New York in 2013. Reuters Prince Andrew has been urged by US prosecutors to cooperate with an investigation In November, Prince Andrew announced that he would step down from his public royal duties. The announcement came four days after he gave an interview on "BBC Newsnight," in which he gave two alibis and claimed that a now-infamous photo taken of him with his hand around the waist of Virginia Roberts Giuffre was fake. Prince Andrew's interview was ridiculed in British news outlets. Critics pointed out the royal's excuses and backtracking, and some called it a "car crash" of a TV appearance. "It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support," Prince Andrew wrote in a statement in November. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. In his November statement, Prince Andrew said that he agreed to cooperate with "any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required." US prosecutors say that Prince Andrew still has yet to speak with them regarding his ties to Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell faces six charges connected to the Epstein case Insider's Haven Orecchio-Egresitz previously reported that a federal indictment out of the Southern District of New York brings six charges against Maxwell. According to the indictment, Maxwell is accused of grooming and helping to entice girls and young women who would then be directed to give Epstein massages and engage in sexual acts. Maxwell has not only been accused of helping to lure in victims who were sexually abused by Epstein, but she also faces accusations of being an abuser herself. On Friday, an unnamed woman told Fox News that Maxwell had raped her more than 20 times when the victim was as young as 14 years old. Representatives for the Office of the Duke of York did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Insider DUBLIN, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Contact Lens Market- Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Research and Markets Logo The global contact lens market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.92% during the forecast period, 2020 to 2025. In order to create awareness about vision care, the government in many countries is focusing on providing efficient products by initiating various programs supporting the management as well as treatment of vision ailments and creating a set of awareness about the precise ways of using contact lenses. Contact lenses not only serve the need to alleviate the use of hard-to-manage and bulky spectacles, but also provide the added benefit of enhancing one's aesthetic appeal. The increasing innovations in the production of contact lenses during the past decade have led to the use of various materials for producing lenses that serve multiple purposes. Key Market Trends Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lenses Segment is Expected to Exhibit the Fastest Growth Rate over the Forecast Period A rigid gas permeable lens is also known as RGP lens or GP lens. It is a rigid contact lens made of oxygen-permeable polymers. They are porous and allow the oxygen to pass through them. These rigid lenses are able to replace the natural shape of the cornea with a new refracting surface. Since their introduction, these lenses have essentially replaced non-porous polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) contact lenses. These lenses often provide sharper vision than soft and silicone hydrogel contacts, especially if someone has astigmatism. It usually takes some time for the eyes to adjust to these lenses, but after this initial adaptation period, most people find that these lenses are as comfortable as hydrogel lenses. Although these lenses have dominated the market earlier, they have lost significant value in the past two decades with the advancement of soft lenses in the market. Hence, they are much more cost-effective and generally last longer when taken care of properly, as long as one does not require a prescription change. This may be a driving factor for the forecast period. North America Captured the Largest Market Share and is Expected to Retain its Dominance North America holds the largest share in the global contact lenses market with the United States being the largest contributor to its revenue. The United States is one of the major countries in the contact lens market, due to the healthcare facilities available in the country and high healthcare conditions. Factors, such as the presence of the geriatric population and the prevalence of eye diseases and injuries, in terms of the contact lens market, are primarily fueling the growth. The National Eye Institute has estimated that over 2.9 million US residents were detected with low vision in 2014. The number is projected to increase further and is expected to reach around 5 million by the year 2030. In addition to this, as per a report by the US Centre of Disease Control and Prevention, about 40.9 million wearers of contact lenses were aged 18 or older, accounting for about 16.7% of the adult population in the United States in 2015. This increase is anticipated to accelerate the growth of contact lenses wearers in the country over the forecast period. Competitive Landscape The global contact lenses market is highly competitive and consists of certain major players, thereby, making the environment to be consolidated. The presence of major market players, such as Essilor International SA, Novartis AG, Bausch Health Companies Inc., Zeiss Group, and The Cooper Companies are, in turn, increasing the overall competitive rivalry of the market. With moderate sustainable competitive advantage through innovative products and low competition between online and offline companies, moderate competitive rivalry is observed in this market. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions & Market Definitions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Drivers 4.2 Market Restraints 4.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 By Product Type 5.1.1 Soft Contact Lens 5.1.2 Hybrid Contact Lens 5.1.3 Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lens 5.1.4 Others 5.2 By Usages 5.2.1 Corrective Contact Lens 5.2.2 Therapeutic Contact Lens 5.2.3 Cosmetic Contact Lens 5.2.4 Prosthetic Contact Lens 5.3 By Distribution Channel 5.3.1 Spectacle Stores 5.3.2 Online Stores 5.3.3 Other channel 5.4 By Geography 5.4.1 North America 5.4.1.1 United States 5.4.1.2 Canada 5.4.1.3 Mexico 5.4.1.4 Rest of North America 5.4.2 Europe 5.4.2.1 United Kingdom 5.4.2.2 Germany 5.4.2.3 France 5.4.2.4 Italy 5.4.2.5 Russia 5.4.2.6 Rest of Europe 5.4.3 Asia-Pacific 5.4.3.1 China 5.4.3.2 Japan 5.4.3.3 India 5.4.3.4 Australia 5.4.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific 5.4.4 South America 5.4.4.1 Brazil 5.4.4.2 Argentina 5.4.4.3 Rest of South America 5.4.5 Middle East and Africa 5.4.5.1 South Africa 5.4.5.2 United Arab Emirates 5.4.5.3 Rest of Middle East and Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Most Active Companies 6.2 Most Adopted Strategies 6.3 Market Position Analysis 6.4 Company Profiles 6.4.1 Novartis AG 6.4.2 Bausch Health Companies Inc. 6.4.3 Zeiss Group 6.4.4 The Cooper Companies 6.4.5 Essilor International S.A. 6.4.6 Hoya Corporation 6.4.7 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d5rxun Story continues 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/global-contact-lens-market-study-2020-2025-featuring-profiles-of-major-players-essilor-intl-novartis-bausch-health-companies-zeiss-group-and-the-cooper-companies-amongst-others-301088305.html SOURCE Research and Markets Click here to read the full article. A historic agreement announced on July 2 will see Israels leading aerospace and defense company Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems develop breakthrough technology with Group42 in the United Arab Emirates. This is the first of its kind deal between Israeli companies and those in the Gulf state and represents more than just an agreement related to the pandemic. It is part of growing ties between Israel and the Gulf, particularly part of an exchange of messages with the UAE. Israel and the UAE were rumored to be working more closely in June and a deal was set to be announced on June 25. Two humanitarian aid flights have arrived from the UAE to Israel in recent months. The June 9 flight had the emblem of Etihad Airways. The UAEs ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba also wrote an op-ed in Israels leading daily Yediot Ahronot on June 11. This has helped pave the way for the current agreement. Israels defense industry has confronted coronavirus crisis by harnessing the technology and expertise of the military and Ministry of Defense. For instance, Israel used techniques usually used to track terrorists to try to trace the virus, a controversial use of counter-terror technology that required parliamentary approval and oversight. In addition, Israels defense industry, which is made up of three major companies and more than 120 smaller companies, mobilized in other sectors. For instance, Rafael focused on protecting medical staff from infection through technological solutions and developing other methods that harnessed the companys ability to map quick solutions to a variety of problems. Rafael, best known for Iron Dome missile defense and the Trophy active defense for tanks, helped work on a robot for nursing activities to minimize contact with coronavirus patients. It also helped with data transfer and thermal imaging via a subsidiary named Opgal. Group 42 has been utilizing its expertise at artificial intelligence and cloud computing to partner with other international firms, such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The UAE has some of the highest testing for coronavirus per capita in the world and is a leader in the Middle East in confronting the pandemic. As such it is a good partner for Israels hi-tech sector. That hi-tech sector in Israel is also often closely linked to some defense companies. As such the IAI, Rafael and Group 42 deal fit well with how Israel has sought to confront the pandemic. Story continues The cooperation agreement was signed with IAIs Elta subsidiary, which makes radars and other technology. Elta is known for making the ELM-2084 radar for Iron Dome, for instance. The agreement foresees using Israels aerospace industry, which has begun to explore various options of assistance needed at the national level in Israel and to offer breakthrough technological solutions, according to an IAI statement. That statement went on to say that Since the coronavirus eruption in Israel, the aerospace industry has been collaborating with health and security agencies as well as a member of the Government Authoritys initiative to understand the evolving needs of the fight. IAI Vice-President and Elta CEO Yoav Tourgeman said: IAI is pleased to sign this cooperation agreement with our partners in Abu Dhabi. Coronavirus disease crosses continents, peoples and religions and we see paramount importance in the cooperation that will deliver breakthrough solutions. The Israeli Air Force recently joined the fight against the Coronavirus on the basis of the technological know-how, capabilities and daring in the aerospace industry since its inception. The UAEs Emirates News Agency noted that this joint initiative will bring together some of the most active players in the regional coronavirus response. This combination of human and technological assets will accelerate the delivery of breakthrough solutions, the UAE report says. The pandemic has major geopolitical implications, causing widespread travel chaos and economic uncertainty in the West and potentially empowering countries such as China, Russia, Iran and Turkey. This has major ramifications for the Middle East because a more aggressive Turkey and Iran tend to be hostile to Israel and the UAE. The United States is involved in a campaign of maximum pressure sanctions on Iran. The Covid-19 crisis has not reduced conflicts in the Middle East but seen new escalation in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq this year. Iran was one of the most affected countries during the pandemic when it came to the region in February. However, now it is trying to move beyond the crisis. The challenge of Iran, and friendly ties to America, both make Israel and the UAE natural partners when it comes to sharing technology like this. That the announcement was made publicly on both sides illustrates a growing openness. The Trump administration has sought to include the Gulf states in its peace plans for Israel and the Palestinians, hosting an event in Bahrain in 2019 and also inviting the UAE and Bahrain envoys to the announcement of the plan in January. The role of IAI and Rafael, two of Israels largest defense companies which are both keys to Israels defensive technical edge, in this agreement points to larger ramifications for the region and also for Israel-UAE ties. Israel is currently in the middle of discussions about annexing part of the West Bank, something the UAE has warned against. This potentially could harm emerging ties with the Gulf and also harm ties with the Kingdom of Jordan. That the deal emerged despite the annexation tensions shows the priority of working on multiple levels, especially during the coronavirus crisis, to link together the unique know-how that the tech-savvy Israelis possess and global networks of trade the Gulf brings to the table. Seth J. Frantzman is a Jerusalem-based journalist who holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis and a writing fellow at Middle East Forum. He is the author of After ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East (Gefen Publishing). Follow him on Twitter at @sfrantzman. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Police in Haiti fired tear gas Monday to disperse a protest over an uptick in violent crime in the capital, sparking alarm from rights groups. "Every day people are killed, either with guns or knives, in broad daylight in the poorer neighborhoods," said Marie-Rosy Auguste Ducena, who works with Haiti's National Network for the Defense of Human Rights. The group logged 54 murders in the capital alone in May and June. "The state authorities, rather than listen to the voice of the people demanding a change to the security situation, prefer to show their readiness to establish a totalitarian state in a country where freedom of speech has no place," she said. Police used large amounts of tear gas and fired shots in the air to disperse the gathering of around 200 people in front of the Justice Ministry, an AFP journalist at the scene confirmed. The police action came a week after protesters tried to establish a sit-in in front of the ministry but were chased off by police officers who tore up their banners. Haiti had been racked by months of protests against the government, which demonstrators accuse of widespread corruption, before the coronavirus hit the country. Monday's demonstrators wore T-shirts reading "We want to live." "These days, you don't live in Haiti," said one demonstrator, Pascale Solages. "You just try not to die, and that is different." By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - People in England appear to have broadly behaved themselves as pubs reopened this weekend, Britain's health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday after the latest step towards a return to normality from the coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of people flocked to pubs, restaurants and bars around England on Saturday as large parts of the hospitality sector reopened for the first time since March. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to "enjoy summer safely" as he bids to tread a narrow path of restoring consumer spending to help battered businesses recover, while avoiding a second wave of COVID-19 infections. "From what I've seen, although there's some pictures to the contrary, very very largely people have acted responsibly," health minister Matt Hancock told Sky News. "Overall, I'm pleased with what happened yesterday. It was really good to see people out and about, and largely socially distancing." Britain has been the European country worst hit by the coronavirus and has an official death toll of 44,198. Johnson and Prince Charles each paid treatment to Britain's National Health Service, 72 years after it was founded, for its sacrifices in tackling the pandemic. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, thanked the public for their support, as well as their restraint on Saturday night. "Pleasingly, we did not see last night the kind of scenes people feared (there) might be" he told BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "The foolish few, but the sensible majority, I think is the story across the country, and long may that continue." Police Federation National Chair John Apter however said it was "crystal clear" that drunk people were unable to practice social distancing. The rule changes apply only to England as the devolved nations in the United Kingdom have been setting their own timetables for easing restrictions, with Wales and Scotland easing restrictions more slowly. Story continues The government has said that it is aiming for local lockdowns rather than national restrictions if needed, such as the one introduced in the city of Leicester last week. Hancock said he was worried about factory conditions in the city. Boohoo last week defended its supply chain practices after criticism from a garment workers' rights group. "There are some quite significant concerns about some of the employment practices in some of the clothing factories in Leicester," he said, adding there was significant enforcement powers available including shutting down businesses. "We're not just asking nicely, we're very clear to businesses that these are their responsibilities." (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) 10 new MSCI index futures contracts have launched today on HKEX First tranche of new HKEX / MSCI licensing agreement for 37 futures and options contracts in Hong Kong HONG KONG, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to today (Monday) welcome the launch of the first futures contracts as part of its new index licensing agreement with MSCI Inc., announced on 27 May 2020. This represents a major step forward in the expansion of HKEX's derivatives product suite and significantly adds to the breadth and depth of the Hong Kong markets. The 10 MSCI index futures contracts, which are denominated in US dollars (USD) and track underlying equities in markets such as Australia, mainland China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, were successfully listed on HKEX's derivatives market earlier today. A total of 10 market makers are providing liquidity in the order book on day one, helping support a deeper pool of liquidity. On 20 July, HKEX will launch the second tranche of contracts, with seven more USD-denominated futures contracts listing on HKEX. "Today's listing marks an exciting new chapter for HKEX and our markets, as we provide even more choice to our customers, and continue to build the breadth, depth and attractiveness of Hong Kong's financial markets as a global trading and investment hub," said HKEX Head of Markets Wilfred Yiu. "Global connectivity is a central premise of our strategy and our business and these derivatives contracts will greatly expand the coverage of underlying assets beyond Hong Kong and Mainland China, to the rest of Asia and beyond. This will bring enhanced liquidity to our markets and greatly complement our existing product suite. We look forward to the rollout of further contracts and continuing to develop our ecosystem to make our markets even more vibrant, connected and attractive to our customers around the world," said Mr Yiu. Story continues In May 2020, HKEX signed a 10-year licensing agreement with MSCI to license a suite of MSCI indexes in Asia and Emerging Markets for the launch of 37 futures and options contracts in Hong Kong. The agreement expands the existing partnership between the two companies, and further anchors HKEX and MSCI's commitment to a long-term product development and innovation programme in the region. Following the introduction of the first batch of contracts in July, HKEX plans to launch the remainder of the contracts later in the year, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions. With the launch of the new derivatives contracts, HKEX has introduced incentive programs for liquidity providers, proprietary traders and block trade participants to support the liquidity development of the contracts. In addition, the Commission Levy charged by the Securities and Futures Commission will be exempted for the first six months of trading. Please see this market circular and the designated webpage on HKEX's website for more detailed product specifications and planned launch dates of the MSCI derivatives contracts. For enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications' Jeffrey Ng (+852-2840-2067 / jeffreyhwng@hkex.com.hk) Wong Sau Ching (+852-2840-3856 / wongsauching@hkex.com.hk) About HKEX Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is one of the world's major exchange groups, and operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets. HKEX is the world's leading IPO market and as Hong Kong's only securities and derivatives exchange and sole operator of its clearing houses, it is uniquely placed to offer regional and international investors access to Asia's most vibrant markets. HKEX is also the global leader in metals trading, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, The London Metal Exchange (LME) and LME Clear Limited. This commodity franchise was further enhanced with the launch of Qianhai Mercantile Exchange (QME), in China, in 2018. HKEX launched the pioneering Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme in 2014, further expanded with the launch of Shenzhen Connect in 2016, and the launch of Bond Connect in 2017. www.hkexgroup.com Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hkex-launches-1st-tranche-of-msci-futures-contracts-301088227.html SOURCE Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) See Full Image Gallery >> Automotive scribe types are known not just for their adoration of station wagons (me included), but their cult-like respect for a brown station wagon (I'm flexible here). Since we're starting with a brown, 2015 Audi Allroad, we're already in the money even though the hauler lacks a manual transmission. It's hard to upgrade from here without components that needed to come stock, like an earlier provenance, or a vinyl roof, or a velvet interior, but northern California resident Gene Pascua has rung the bell with this one. Spotted by Uncrate, Pascua turned his Allroad into an elevated beast that punches its ticket to tackle no roads. He told Motor1 that was never the intent... until it was. He bought the Allroad for its ability to swallow cargo and his two dogs. In 2018, while his friendly neighborhood Audi wagon owners turned their rides into stanced belly scrapers, Pascua decided to go all the way in the other direction. A Google search pulls up a number of lifted Allroads, even some with roof racks and driving lights, so that wouldn't be enough for a mention here. Pascua started with a custom suspension lift aided by CA Tuned Off-Road, perched on a chunky set of Toyo Open Country A/T tires wrapping Rotiform wheels. The rack carries a Thule awning on one side, a set of MaxTrax on the other, jerry cans and a spare tire between them. The custom fabbed rear ladder loaded with a fire extinguisher and rope seems more aesthetic than practical, but we dig the wilderness rescue vibe. Under the hood, an APR Stage 2 tune, new intake and downpipe add heart to the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder. The most attention-getting mod might also be the most useful. Pascua installed a 40-inch, sixteen-light Rigid Industries Adapt light bar on the roof, two rear-facing lights on the Front Runner roof rack that contains its own rear lights, two more lights in the grille, and another illuminated bar that shines through the lower front fascia. A Redarc Electronics dual battery system keeps the electronics juiced, a Switch Pros SP9100 controller turns the Audi into a moving light show, and a Midland Communications Radio puts out the word on the off chance something goes amiss in the hinterlands. Story continues As for that lovely shade of brown, it's a wrap over the original silver body. We don't know how it fares on the trail, but it looks good. Speaking of which, the Allroad has more than 100,000 miles, and Pascua's Facebook and Instragram prove plenty of those miles weren't passed on the pavement. If someone told us the shots in the snow were from a stint as a Monte Carlo Rally support vehicle, we'd never guess otherwise. He keeps good company, too one of the photos shows the Audi partnered up on trail with a 996-series Porsche 911 Carrera 4S sporting a roof rack and awning. Chapeau, Mr. Pascua. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> Hong Kong has charged a man with terrorism and denied him bail under the territorys strict new national-security law, making him the first person to be charged under the controversial law recently imposed by China. Tong Ying-kit, 23, carried a Liberate Hong Kong sign and drove his motorcycle into police, knocking over and injuring several officers, video footage of the incident showed. Ying-kit appeared Friday in court in a wheelchair after suffering injuries during the incident. He remains in custody, and his case has been adjourned until October 6. Under the new law, the phrase Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times is a sign of separatism or subversion, authorities said. Chief Magistrate So Wai-tak cited the new law in his decision not to grant bail, saying it allows bail to be denied to suspects the judge believes will continue to threaten national security. Chinas National Peoples Congress bypassed Hong Kongs legislature and passed the law unanimously last week. Beijing claims that the national-security law is necessary to crack down on separatism, subversion, terrorism, and foreign intervention in Hong Kong. However, 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. The U.S. and Britain have condemned the law as an attempt by Beijing to tighten its grip on Hong Kong. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress in May 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. Meanwhile, British prime minister Boris Johnson said last 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. More from National Review A protester holds up a blank sheet of paper after the introduction of a crackdown on freedom of speech - Bloomberg A Hong Kong judge on Monday denied bail for the first person to be charged under the special territorys new sweeping national security law. Chief magistrate So Wai-tak denied bail for Tong Ying-kit, 23, citing the legislation which threatens life in prison for ill-defined crimes including secession, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Mr Tong was charged with acts of secession and participating in terrorist activities. The alleged crimes took place less than 24 hours after the implementation of the national security law, which was shrouded in secrecy until it came into force. City leaders clarified at that point that that the protest slogan Mr Tong carried Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times would be in violation as it demonstrated subversion and separatism. The popular protest chant appears across Hong Kong on t-shirts, posters, and post-it notes. A prosecutor said Mr Tong, who appeared in court in a wheelchair upon discharge from hospital where he was being treated for leg fractures after his arrest last week, was responsible for injuring at least three police officers. Police previously said Mr Tong hit and injured officers last Wednesday during an illegal protest. A video circulating online showed a motorcyclist ramming into police on the street, later falling over and getting arrested. Prosecutors have yet to clarify where Mr Tong will be tried, whether there will be a jury, and the maximum sentence he faces, his lawyer, Lawrence Lau Wai-chung told the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper. At least ten people have already been arrested for potential violations of the new national security law, which was last week imposed on the former British colony by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. Hundreds more were arrested by police during protests in defiance of the law. Chinese leaders have said the law is necessary to restore order in Hong Kong, which has been roiled by pro-democracy protests since last year. Story continues But protesters, residents, businessmen, lawyers and more fear the law will target crushing dissent and voices for democracy or independence in the city by paving the way for a non-transparent and politically-motivated crackdown. The law also allows for secretive mainland Chinese security agencies to operate in Hong Kong for the first time, and for suspects to be extradited to China to face trial, where the courts have a 99.9 per cent conviction rate. The Hong Kong court adjourned Monday and is expected to resume hearing Mr Tongs case in October. HHC to Host Earnings Call on August 4, 2020 HOUSTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) announced today that it will release 2020 second-quarter earnings on Monday, August 3, 2020, after the market closes and will hold its second-quarter conference call on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company's earnings release will be posted to the Investors section of the Company's website prior to the conference call. (PRNewsfoto/The Howard Hughes Corporation) To participate in The Howard Hughes Corporation's second-quarter earnings conference call, please dial 1-877-883-0383 within the U.S., 1-877-885-0477 within Canada, or 1-412-902-6506 when dialing internationally. All participants should dial in at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time, using 1867353 as the passcode. A live audio webcast will also be available on the Company's website (www.howardhughes.com). In addition to the dial-in options, institutional and retail shareholders can participate by going to app.saytechnologies.com/howardhughes to submit questions to Say prior to the Earnings Call. Shareholders can email hello@saytechnologies.com for any support inquiries. A taped replay of the call can be accessed 24 hours a day through September 4, 2020, by dialing 1-877-344-7529 within the U.S., 1-855-669-9658 within Canada, or 1-412-317-0088 when dialing internationally, using the passcode 10142642. About The Howard Hughes Corporation The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its award-winning assets include the country's preeminent portfolio of master planned cities and communities, as well as operating properties and development opportunities including: the Seaport District in New York; Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills, and Bridgeland in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin, Las Vegas; and Ward Village in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Howard Hughes Corporation's portfolio is strategically positioned to meet and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to innovative place making, the company is recognized for its ongoing commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC. For additional information visit www.howardhughes.com. Story continues Media Contact The Howard Hughes Corporation Cristina Carlson, 646-822-6910 VP, Corporate Communications & Public Relations cristina.carlson@howardhughes.com Investor Relations The Howard Hughes Corporation David M. Striph, 214-741-7744 EVP, Head of Operations & Investor Relations david.striph@howardhughes.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-howard-hughes-corporation-announces-dates-and-times-for-second-quarter-2020-earnings-release-and-conference-call-301088344.html SOURCE The Howard Hughes Corporation CHICAGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, announced today that it has acquired the assets of GBC Benefits, Ltd., d/b/a Gus Bates Insurance & Investments (Gus Bates I&I). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Hub International Logo (PRNewsfoto/Hub International Limited) Located in Fort Worth, Texas, Gus Bates I&I provides a comprehensive range of services, including retirement plan services, employee benefits, property & casualty and personal lines insurance. "We're excited to welcome the Gus Bates I&I team to Hub," said Martin Yung, President of Hub Texas. "With their joining, we will enhance our services to clients by providing them added guidance and resources to help them navigate both the insurance and retirement worlds." Gus Bates, CEO of Gus Bates I&I, and Matt Morris, President of Gus Bates I&I, will join Hub Texas and report to Mr. Yung. "We look forward to joining Hub Texas and are so excited for the opportunity this brings not only for our customers, but for our employees. It is a match made in heaven," said Mr. Bates. "This is a tremendous opportunity to expand our business, drive continued growth and bring additional tools, resources and expertise to our clients." About Hub's M&A Activities Hub International Limited is committed to growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise. For more information on the Hub M&A experience, visit WeAreHub.com. About Hub Retirement and Private Wealth Hub Retirement and Private Wealth offers institutional and retirement services to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and customized private wealth management services to individuals and families. Employees of Hub International offer securities through partner Broker Dealers not affiliated with Hub. Employees of Hub provide advisory services through both affiliated and unaffiliated Registered Investment Advisors (RIA). Global Retirement Partners, LLC, Silverstone Asset Management, LLC, Hub International Investment Advisory Services, Inc., and Sheridan Road Advisors, LLC are wholly owned subsidiaries of Hub International. Learn more about Hub Retirement and Private Wealth. Story continues About Hub International Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International Limited is a leading full-service global insurance broker providing property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services. With more than 12,000 employees in offices located throughout North America, Hub's vast network of specialists provides peace of mind on what matters most by protecting clients through unrelenting advocacy and tailored insurance solutions. For more information, please visit www.hubinternational.com. CONTACT: Media: Marni Gordon Phone: 312-279-4601 Marni.gordon@hubinternational.com M&A: Clark Wormer Phone: 312.279.4848 Clark.wormer@hubinternational.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hub-international-acquires-the-assets-of-texas-based-gbc-benefits-ltd-dba-gus-bates-insurance--investments-301087840.html SOURCE Hub International Limited Ennio Morricone attends the Honorary Degree at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera on February 27, 2019 in Milan (Credit: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images) Ennio Morricone, the prolific Italian composer behind dozens of iconic scores, including movies like The Good The Bad and the Ugly, has died aged 91. According to Italian news agency ANSA, he died in hospital in Rome following a fall in which he'd fractured his hip. Morricone's career spanned 50 years, and an estimated 500 film scores. Read more: Broadway star Nick Cordero dies at 41 of COVID-19 But he made his name for his prolific work with the director Sergio Leone, a former schoolmate, scoring all of his 'spaghetti westerns', in a professional relationship spanning decades. Morricone provided innovative and memorable scores for hits like the Dollars trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood as the brooding gunslinger 'Joe', though better known as 'the man with no name'. Clint Eastwood (Credit: Keystone/Getty Images) Born in Rome, he attended a musical conservatory from the age of 12 studying under composer Goffredo Petrassi, having been taught to read music by his musician father. He began scoring movies after graduating in the mid-1950s, and between 1965 and 1973, wrote a staggering 150 scores making him likely the most prolific composer in modern cinema. As well as working frequently with Leone, Morricone also worked with director Giuseppe Tornatore on all but one of his movies, notably the Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso. Italian composer Ennio Morricone, left, accepts an honorary Oscar for his contributions to the art of film music from presenter Clint Eastwood during the 79th Academy Awards in 2007 (Credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) He worked with greats including Bertolucci on 1900, Brian de Palma on The Untouchables, and Terrence Malick on Days of Heaven, and also with luminaries like Oliver Stone, Mike Nichols, John Carpenter and Barry Levinson. Latterly, he worked with Quentin Tarantino on his western The Hateful Eight, after Tarantino had used obscure Morricone tracks on a host of his other movies, including Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Inglorious Basterds. Morricone's work on The Hateful Eight earned him his only competitive Oscar, after being nominated on six other occasions, including his controversial loss for his work on Roland Joffe's The Mission. Story continues Italian composer Ennio Morricone with director Quentin Tarantino during a ceremony presenting Morricone with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) He won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA, but lost out on the Oscar to Round Midnight in 1986. Morricone later won a honorary Oscar in 2006 for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music. His recorded soundtracks have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. On learning of his death, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte tweeted: We will always remember, with infinite gratitude, the artistic genius of the Maestro #EnnioMorricone. It made us dream, feel excited, reflect, writing memorable notes that will remain indelible in the history of music and cinema. He is survived by wife Maria Travia and their four children. An officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend - Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune A spate of deadly shootings erupted across cities in the US during July 4th celebrations, leaving dozens of people injured and many dead. A shooting at a nightclub in South Carolina in the early hours of Sunday morning left two people dead and eight wounded, a sheriff's official said. Two Greenville County sheriff's deputies noticed a disturbance at Lavish Lounge just before 2 am, and saw a large crowd running out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference. There was "active gunfire from inside the building," Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Sheriff Lewis said all the shots were fired inside. Both Sheriff Lewis and Lt. Bolt initially said 12 people had been wounded, with at least four in critical condition. But Lt. Bolt told The Associated Press that two victims were likely counted twice in the confusion at the hospital. No one was immediately taken into custody. Lt. Bolt told the AP that the sheriff's office was looking for two suspects, but couldn't provide names or descriptions. "We don't really have a person of interest that we can name," Sheriff Lewis said, later adding that authorities were not sure what led to the gunfire. The Lavish Night Club in South Carolina where a Sunday night shooting left two dead and numerous injured - Richard Shiro/AP Lt. Lewis said a "very large crowd" was at the nightclub for "some type of concert." A post on Lavish Lounge's Facebook page advertised a July 4 performance by trap rapper Foogiano. Coronavirus cases in South Carolina have risen swiftly and the state's rate of positive tests is three times the recommended level. Greenville Gov. Henry McMaster reminded South Carolinians last week that he hadn't lifted restrictions on large crowds, and that those operating nightclubs illegally or holding concerts against his orders don't have to be caught in the act to face criminal charges, but instead could be charged weeks later if Covid-19 cases are traced back. Story continues Under restrictions imposed by Gov. McMaster in March to restrict the spread of the coronavirus, gatherings of 50 or more people in a single room are off-limits. Authorities told the Greenville News that investigators determined about 200 were inside the club at the time of the shooting, more than the maximum capacity allowed in the business under the governor's emergency order. The sheriff said at the news conference that he didn't know whether the club had sought an exemption to the governor's order or secured a permit for Saturday night's event, but said it was clear that the club's patrons were not 2 metres apart. "It's certainly not the best situation to stop the spread of this virus," the sheriff said, adding investigators found a lot blood and "a lot of spent rounds" of ammunition as they collected evidence from inside the club. The Lavish Night Club where a shooting early Sunday left numerous dead and at least 8 injured July 5, 2020, - Richard Shiro/AP Of the eight wounded, some had non-life-threatening injuries and others were in critical condition. The Greenville County Coroner's Office identified the dead as 23-year-old Mykala Bell of Greenville and a 51-year-old security guard at the club, Clarence Sterling Johnson of Duncan, according to the Greenville News. Scores of people shot and wounded in Chicago Chicago police officers are investigating the scene of a deadly shooting where a 7-year-old girl and a man were fatally shot in Chicago on Sunday, July 5, 2020. At least a dozen people were killed in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police said. Scores of people were shot and wounded. A Chicago police officer helps a child walk through an area being investigated after two men were shot on Friday, July 3 - Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times President Trump responds to shootings US President Donald Trump responded to the incidents by tweeting that crime in Chicago and New York City is 'way up'. 'Shootings up significantly in NYC where people are demanding that [Gov. Andrew Cuomo] and [Mayor Bill de Blasio] act now,' Trump continued. 'Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked.' This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Girl, 8, fatally shot in Atlanta In Atlanta an 8-year-old girl was shot and killed on the Fourth of July after at least two people in a crowd of armed people opened fire on a car she was riding in near a flash point of recent protests in Atlanta. Police identified the girl as Secoriea Turner, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for justice during an emotional news conference on Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother. The shooting happened near the Wendy's restaurant where an African American man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by an Atlanta police officer on June 12. The fast food outlet was later burned, and the area has since become a site for frequent demonstrations against police brutality. Authorities said the mother had attempted to drive through illegally placed barricades in the area when the vehicle came under fire on Saturday night. "You shot and killed a baby," the mayor said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "And there wasn't just one shooter, there were at least two shooters." In a statement on Sunday, police said the girl was in a car with her mother and a friend of the mother and they were trying to enter a parking lot nearby. They ran into a group of armed individuals who had blocked the entrance. "At some point, someone in that group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child who was inside," the statement read. The driver drove the girl to Atlanta Medical Centre but she did not survive. Police said they are seeking help from the public to identify those involved and released a wanted poster saying a person all dressed in black and another in a white T-shirt were being sought. The mayor said there have been problems with protesters in the area putting up barriers to close off the street. She said she received a message that the barriers were back up less than an hour before she was informed that the 8-year-old girl had died. "An 8-year-old girl was killed last night because her mother was riding down the street," Ms Bottoms said. "If Secoriea was not safe last night, none of us are safe." Prostesters last month outside Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, close to where an 8 year-old was shot dead on July 3, 2020 - Steve Schaefer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution The mayor urged anyone with information about the shooting to come forward. Police said two other people, in addition to the 8-year-old, were killed and more than 20 people were injured in incidents of gunfire and violence during the long holiday weekend. The mayor said the city's 911 system was flooded with calls on Saturday night and pointed to protesters who damaged a Georgia State Patrol headquarters in Atlanta in a separate incident early on Sunday. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need to Remember: In the early 2000s, India went shopping for a new aircraft carrier. What followed was a military-industrial nightmare. Like a lot of countries, India wants the best weapons it can afford. But ideological and financial concerns mean there are a lot of things it wont buy from the United States or Europe. That pretty much leaves, well, Russia. India has been a big buyer of Russian weapons for 50 years. Those havent been easy years for New Delhi. Indias defense contracts with Russia have consistently suffered delays and cost overruns. And the resulting hardware doesnt always work. Of all Indias Russian procurement woes, none speak more to the dysfunctional relationship between the two countries than the saga of INS Vikramaditya. In the early 2000s, India went shopping for a new aircraft carrier. What followed was a military-industrial nightmare. Wantedone new(ish) carrier In 1988, the Soviet Union commissioned the aircraft carrier Baku. She and her four sisters of the Kiev class represented a unique Soviet design. The front third resembled a heavy cruiser, with 12 giant SS-N-12 anti-ship missiles, up to 192 surface-to-air missiles and two 100-millimeter deck guns. The remaining two-thirds of the ship was basically an aircraft carrier, with an angled flight deck and a hangar. Baku briefly served in the Soviet navy until the USSR dissolved in 1991. Russia inherited the vessel, renamed her Admiral Gorshkov and kept her on the rolls of the new Russian navy until 1996. After a boiler room explosion, likely due to a lack of maintenance, Admiral Gorshkov went into mothballs. In the early 2000s, India faced a dilemma. The Indian navys only carrier INS Viraat was set to retire in 2007. Carriers help India assert influence over the Indian Oceannot to mention, theyre status symbols. New Delhi needed to replace Viraat, and fast. Indias options were limited. The only countries building carriers at the timethe United States, France and Italywere building ships too big for Indias checkbook. In 2004, India and Russia struck a deal in which India would receive Admiral Gorshkov. The ship herself would be free, but India would pay $974 million dollars to Russia to upgrade her. Story continues It was an ambitious project. At 44,500 tons, Admiral Gorshkov was a huge ship. Already more than a decade old, she had spent eight years languishing in mothballs. Indifference and Russias harsh winters are unkind to idle ships. Russia would transform the vessel from a helicopter carrier with a partial flight deck to an aircraft carrier with a launch ramp and a flight deck just over 900 feet long. She would be capable of supporting 24 MiG-29K fighters and up to 10 Kamov helicopters. She would have new radars, new boilers for propulsion, new arrester wires for catching landing aircraft and new deck elevators. All 2,700 rooms and compartmentsspread out over 22 deckswould be refurbished and new wiring would be laid throughout the ship. The new carrier would be named Vikramaditya, after an ancient Indian king. A real aircraft carrier for less than a billion dollars sounds almost too good to be true. And it was. Shakedown In 2007, just a year before delivery, it became clear that Russias Sevmash shipyard couldnt meet the ambitious deadline. Even worse, the yard demanded more than twice as much money$2.9 billion in totalto complete the job. The cost of sea trials alone, originally $27 million, ballooned to a fantastic $550 million. A year later, with the project still in disarray, Sevmash estimated the carrier to be only 49-percent complete. Even more galling, one Sevmash executive suggested that India should pay an additional $2 billion, citing a market price of a brand-new carrier at between $3 billion and $4 billion. Sevmash specialized in submarine construction and had never worked on an aircraft carrier before. The ship had been originally built at the Nikolayev Shipyards, which after the breakup of the Soviet Union became part of the Ukraine. The tooling and specialized equipment used to build Admiral Gorshkov was thousands of miles away and now in a foreign country. Like many contractors, defense or otherwise, Sevmash had its unhappy employer over a barrel. With the job halfway done, and having already dropped $974 million, India could not afford to walk away from the deal. Russia knew it, and was blunt about Indias options. If India does not pay up, we will keep the aircraft carrier, one defense ministry official told RIA-Novosti. There will be grave consequences By 2009, the project was deadlocked and word was starting to get around the defense industry. Russian arms exports for 2009 totaled $8 billion, and Sevmashs delays and extortionary tactics werent good for the Russian defense industry as a whole. In July 2009, Russias then-president Dmitri Medvedev made a high-profile visit to the Sevmash shipyard. Indian news reported that the carrier was still half-done, meaning that the yard had done virtually no work on the ship for two years as it held out for more money. Medvedev publicly scolded Sevmash officials. You need to complete [Vikramaditya] and hand it over our partners, the visibly irritated president told Sevmash general director Nikolai Kalistratov. In 2010, the Indian government agreed to more than double the budget for the carrier to $2.2 billion. This was less than the $2.9 billion Sevmash demanded, and much less than Sevmashs suggested market price of $4 billion. Suddenly, Sevmash magically started working harderactually, twice as hardand finished the other half of the upgrades in only three years. Vikramaditya finally entered sea trials in August 2012 and commissioned into the Indian navy in November 2013. At the commissioning ceremony, Indian Defense Minister AK Anthony expressed relief that the ordeal was over, telling the press that there was a time when we thought we would never get her. Enduring woes Now that Vikramaditya is finally in service, Indias problems are over, right? Not by a long shot. Incredibly, India has chosen Sevmash to do out-of-warranty work on the ship for the next 20 years. Keeping Vikramaditya supplied with spare parts will be a major task in itself. Ten Indian contractors helped to build the carrier, but so did more than 200 other contractors in Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Finland, France, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the U.K. Some countries, particularly Japan, were likely unaware they were exporting parts for a foreign weapons system. The ships boilers, which provide Vikramaditya with power and propulsion, are a long-term concern. All eight boilers are new. But yard workers discovered defects in them. During her trip from Russia to India, the flattop suffered a boiler breakdown, which Sevmash chalked up to poor-quality Chinese firebricks. China denied ever exporting the firebricks. Finally, Vikramaditya lacks active air defenses. The ship has chaff and flare systems to lure away anti-ship missiles, but she doesnt have any close-in weapons systems like the American Phalanx. India could install local versions of the Russian AK-630 gun system, but missiles will have to wait until the ship is in drydock againand that could be up to three years from now. In the meantime, Vikramaditya will have to rely on the new Indian air-defense destroyer INS Kolkata for protection from aircraft and missiles. As for Sevmash? After the Vikramaditya fiasco, the yard is strangely upbeat about building more carriers and has identified Brazil as a possible buyer. Sevmash wants to build aircraft carriers, said Sergey Novoselov, the yards deputy general director. This article first appeared last year and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. The company doubles down on senior hires in the region to drive customer growth SINGAPORE, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infoblox Inc., the leader in Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services, today announced the appointment of George Chang as Vice President of Sales for its Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, which follows the appointment of Matthew Hanmer as country manager and regional director for Australia and New Zealand. Based in Singapore, Chang will lead go-to-market strategies that bolster Infoblox's continued growth in APJ. George Chang, Vice President of APJ Sales, Infoblox Chang's hiring demonstrates Infoblox's commitment to expanding its regional footprint. He brings over 30 years of experience in international executive management across the technology and cybersecurity industries. He joins Infoblox after serving as an advisor to the board and senior partner at Axcelerate Consulting Group and as Vice President of Sales at Forcepoint in the Asia-Pacific region. "Financial services, government, telecommunications, and education have fueled our growth in APJ as they embraced digital transformation, which continues to drive demand for our cloud-managed networking and security solutions," said Cherif Sleiman, Senior Vice President of International Business at Infoblox. "George brings decades of experience helping customers in these sectors navigate the challenges of an increasingly complex technology landscape." "Enterprise infrastructure is going hybrid and multi-cloud with more remote devices connecting to the corporate network than ever before," said Chang. "Businesses that seek to take advantage of the benefits of digital transformation will need solutions that work for them now and in the future. I am excited to be joining Infoblox, the leader in next-level networking, to help customers build borderless organizations with enhanced security, reliability, and automation." About Infoblox Infoblox delivers the next level network experience with its Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services. As the pioneer in providing the world's most reliable, secure and automated networks, we are relentless in our pursuit of next level network simplicity. A recognized industry leader, Infoblox has more than 50 percent market share in the DDI networking market and more than 8,000 customers, including 350 of the Fortune 500. Learn more at https://www.infoblox.com . Story continues Media Contact: Lise Feng lise@infoblox.com Photo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/d238d872c3cc3472bf180be55c810860 Logo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/962cb9fddfade2cb0a3a62afc32a33f1 SOURCE Infoblox Inc. It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in The SimplyBiz Group plc (LON:SBIZ). What Is Insider Buying? It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise. See our latest analysis for SimplyBiz Group The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At SimplyBiz Group In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Deputy Chairman Gary Hughes bought UK100k worth of shares at a price of UK1.85 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK1.50. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. While SimplyBiz Group insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! AIM:SBIZ Insider Trading Volume July 6th 2020 SimplyBiz Group is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying. Story continues Insider Ownership Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that SimplyBiz Group insiders own 31% of the company, worth about UK44m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. What Might The Insider Transactions At SimplyBiz Group Tell Us? There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think SimplyBiz Group insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing SimplyBiz Group. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for SimplyBiz Group and we suggest you have a look. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. 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. A new Israeli spy satellite Ofek 16 was launched from a site in central Israel on Monday morning - Reuters Israel launched a new spy satellite on Monday that could help monitor Irans nuclear activity, as Israeli officials remained evasive about recent incidents at Iranian industrial facilities that have raised suspicions of foreign sabotage. Israels defence ministry said the Ofek 16 satellite was transmitting data after successfully launching on Monday morning, joining an array of sequentially named spy satellites Israel has placed into orbit since 1988. The investment of the state of Israel in space technology is considered essential and strategic for intelligence purposes, an Israeli defence official said. The addition of another satellite would improve Israels intelligence gathering speed, said Amnon Harari, the head of the defence ministry's space and satellite programme. Once you have more than one satellite in parallel in the sky, you achieve better visit times over the targets of interest," he said. "Iran is investing a lot into building its space power and programme, he added, referring to Tehran successfully launching its own military satellite in April after months of failures. The effort is there and we should assume that eventually, they will reach a significant level in this area." Israel's launch came the day after Iran acknowledged that an unexplained fire at the underground Natanz nuclear plant last Thursday caused significant damage to its main uranium enrichment facility and could slow its production of advanced centrifuges. The spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Keivan Khosravi said the cause of the accident at the centrifuge assembly plant in central Isfahan province had been identified but did not immediately offer more information due to security considerations. Other Iranian facilities have reported mysterious incidents recently, including a fire at a power station in southwest Iran on Saturday, an explosion at a medical clinic north of Tehran that killed 19 people last Tuesday, and an explosion at a missile facility near Tehran on June 26. Story continues Israel has previously shown itself capable of carrying out operations in Iran, including the brazen theft of half a tonne of secret nuclear documents from a Tehran warehouse in 2018, though Israeli officials do not normally confirm covert activities. When asked about the Natanz fire on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said we take actions that are better left unsaid, and Defence Minister Benny Gantz told Army Radio that not everything that happens in Iran is necessarily related to us. There is a growing sense that this is not all a coincidence, said Holly Dagres, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, calling Mr Gantzs comment more of a non-denial denial. Iranian state news agency IRNA published an article on Thursday addressing what it called the possibility of sabotage by Israel and the United States, although it avoided accusing either directly. So far Iran has tried to prevent intensifying crises and the formation of unpredictable conditions and situations, IRNA said. But the crossing of red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran by hostile countries, especially the Zionist regime and the U.S., means that strategy ... should be revised. Israel is believed to be the regions sole nuclear power and has pledged never to allow its arch-enemy Iran obtain atomic weapons. Iran denies seeking to develop an atomic bomb, saying its nuclear programme is peaceful. However since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, Iran has walked back on a number of commitments it made under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, including enriching uranium beyond levels set by the deal. If Iranian facilities were shown to have been attacked, this is only going to increase the Iranian governments push to take its nuclear programme underground, Ms Dagres said. Christopher McDonald, left, and Aliysa Ellis, were sentenced on Monday. (PA Images/Met Police) A violent offender and a criminologist have been jailed for killing a drug dealer who was battered to death for his Rolex watch. Fitness fan Paul Tong, 54, is thought to have been attacked with a barbell exercise weight in Ealing, west London, in April 2017. His body, found the day after the attack, was partially covered with bedding and jurors at the Old Bailey were told it was left in a contorted and unnatural angle, with his room bare except for an empty Rolex box. Christopher McDonald, who has a first-class degree in psychology, was found guilty of murdering Tong and conspiracy to rob after a retrial and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years. Aliysa Ellis, who has a criminology masters degree, was sentenced to 13 years in jail for manslaughter and conspiracy to rob but has been cleared of murder. A weight the court was told was likely to have been used to kill Tong in Ealing. (Met Police/PA Images) The court was told how father-of-one Tong, known as Yankee, would leave money and drugs lying around in his room and there were rumours he was well-off. He was described as being seen with a flash watch and a former partner told police he kept watches including a Rolex, designer clothes and jewellery at the home he shared with his elderly aunt. An empty Rolex box with Elliss fingerprint was found, the court was told. Prosecutor Jake Hallam QC said in during the trial: The state of the room suggests that Mr Tong was killed by people who were seeking to find and take his money, his drugs and his valuables. He was known to have various expensive-looking watches, for example. Christopher McDonald was convicted of Tong's death. (Met Police/PA Images) Aliysa Ellis, one of two people who have been convicted in connection with Tong's death. (Met Police/PA Images) When the police searched the room after his death, neither money, nor valuables, nor drugs were found. A postmortem concluded Tong, described as being of a muscular build, had suffered cuts and bruises to his head and body, his ribs had been broken and his liver ruptured from blunt impacts. An exercise bar found in the property could have been used in the attack, the court was told. Both McDonald and Ellis had denied being involved. McDonald, 35, of Croydon, who was on life licence after previously being jailed for life for a minimum of six years, said he had never been to Tongs house. Story continues McDonald had admitted an attack on a man involving a bar, Taser and knife in November 2007 and was sentenced the following year. He also conspired to steal 15,000 from a safe at a Matalan shop in Luton in 2007 and was released on licence in 2014. Ellis, 31, from Ealing, said she visited Tong to buy drugs and said McDonald would also go for the same reason. Detective sergeant Lee Tullett, of Scotland Yard, said: Ellis knew that Paul Tong dealt drugs and kept cash and other valuables in his bedroom, and she conspired with McDonald to rob him. Paul was subjected to a violent attack and the pair then callously left him fatally injured in his bedroom before his body was found the next day. I hope todays result can now start to bring some closure to Pauls family so they can move forward. Click here to read the full article. No bitterness. No sense of defeat. Theres just some disappointment and irony in his conversation as Jeffrey Kalinsky discusses the demise of the three Jeffrey designer specialty stores. I dont think the business went south, said Kalinsky. We would have been fine if it werent for the coronavirus. I really think we are a victim of COVID-19. It would have taken quite an investment to get through the next 12 to 24 months, and obviously, we know Nordstrom made the decision not to do that. The business was fine. Its several weeks after Nordstrom Inc.s announcement in mid-May that Jeffrey would close for good, and that Kalinsky, founder of the stores and designer fashion director at Nordstrom, would no longer be part of the Nordstrom team. He seems at peace that a major chapter in his life has ended and ready to move on to the next chapter, and it helps that hes recovered from the coronavirus, and that hes been resting in his Ft. Lauderdale condo by the beach. Its his comfort zone. My favorite thing on this planet is the sun and the beach and the water, Kalinsky said in an exclusive interview. I get that from Charleston, his hometown in South Carolina. The water calms me and the sun and the warmth are really good for my well-being. I am a summer child. I tend to chase summer all year. Florida in the winter and Fire Island on summer weekends. I am right now staring at the ocean from my bedroom window. I have an ocean view from every room, but my bedroom is oceanfront. I am lucky. I do feel so lucky. Jeffrey was one of those rare retail businesses that reverberated through the fashion industry to a degree that belied its size just three stores, in Atlanta, Manhattan and Palo Alto, and $35 million in sales at its peak. With an unwavering focus on luxury, service, and his annual Jeffrey Cares fundraiser for LGBTQ civil rights and education and HIV prevention, Kalinsky created a nexus between fashion and community. The Jeffrey Cares benefit was canceled for 2020 due to COVID-19 and is being planned for 2021. Story continues Kalinsky is part of a small club of trailblazing merchants like Colette Roussaux of Colette in Paris, Gene Pressman of Barneys New York, and the late Martha Philips of Martha Park Avenue. They built innovative, distinct fashion destinations that embodied chic, modern lifestyles. Kalinsky is widely credited with having spurred the rejuvenation of the now trendy Meatpacking District on Manhattans West Side by opening his Jeffrey store there, at 449 West 14th Street, in 1999 when the area was seedy and devoid of any retailing with verve. He was also a key figure in building the designer business at Nordstrom, which he joined in 2005 as director of designer merchandising. He later served as executive vice president of designer merchandising and vice president, introducing designers such as Gucci, Nina Ricci and Comme des Garcons to the offering, and eventually became designer fashion director. The Seattle-based department store bought a majority stake in his retail company in 2005. Serendipity played a big role in launching his New York store and selling his business to Nordstrom. I had been dating someone in Atlanta for eight years and we decided to get married, but gay marriage wasnt legal then, Kalinsky said. During that period a lot of gay guys were having commitment ceremonies. I thought I wont do that. No one is going to tell me that I am not going to get married. We had 200 people invited to the Four Seasons in Atlanta, we booked an orchestra. It was going to be the first gay marriage ceremony in an old prominent synagogue, The Temple in Atlanta. A week before, the wedding got called off. I was devastated. There was a silver lining. The breakup allowed me for the first time to really consider opening a store in New York. Now I had nothing holding me back. My boyfriend had his own career in Atlanta that probably would have kept me in Atlanta. For his 36th birthday on Fire Island, We were having quite a lively celebration and I declared that on my 37th birthday I would open a store in New York. I declared it with no space, no nothing. I just declared it. I had dreamt of having a store in New York since I was a little boy. How many people can say that and make it happen? It was partly because my dad had a store, where Kalinsky worked as a kid. He would take my brother and me on buying trips to New York. We were a shopping family and we would always go to Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales. Stores were just magical to me. It was where dreams could become reality. His bar mitzvah suit was bought at Barneys. In a weird way, I have always been a designer customer, ever since I was a little boy. Lacking enough money to afford an uptown or SoHo location, a real estate agent took Kalinsky to the Meatpacking District. I had never heard that expression before, he said. She led him through the 15th Street side of a building between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, through this long, narrow, dark space. I couldnt see a thing, and in my head I heard my fathers voice telling me, This looks like a bowling alley.' But when the agent opened the doors on the 14th Street side, There were these two flagpoles, these old floors and these old elevators. This building had the perfect bones. In less than a half hour, I told her I wanted it. We went to a restaurant down the street, met with the landlord, and had a handshake deal that day. I wasnt afraid to go off the beaten track. I knew that if from Atlanta we could find Barneys in Chelsea for a bar mitzvah suit in 1975, people would find Jeffrey in 1999 in the Meatpacking District and they did. We proved that the area was viable. It was blood and guts and meat back then, and customers who came looked at me funny, and had to ask, Am I going to be safe? I loved that neighborhood, probably more back then than I do today, said Kalinsky. Its just different now. I loved being down there by myself, ahead of the parade of upscale retail that eventually settled in. I loved Pastis and having lunch there when it first opened. You could walk outside and not see people in the streets. About five years later, as luck would have it, Kalinsky hooked up with the Nordstroms. It was really kind of an accident, he recalled. Around the time Bliss was sold to LVMH for a lot of money, I got it in my head that I wanted to make Jeffrey a big brand. I wanted to sell Jeffrey to someone. I hired Financo. I went on a lot of dog and pony shows and no one bid. No one was interested. The relationship with Financo kind of went dark. Though the Jeffrey stores were doing well, the dream to sell went dormant. Not long after, Kalinsky got a call from a reporter who heard the store was for sale and pressured Kalinsky for a quote. A story ran in September 2004 when Kalinsky was in Milan attending the collections. Waiting for the start of the Dolce & Gabbana show, he saw Sue Patenaude, then a senior merchant at Nordstrom, reporting to Pete Nordstrom. Has your phone been ringing off the hook? she asked, referencing the newspaper article. You should talk to Pete. He might be interested. I didnt think much of it and I knew Sue well enough to say Im not doing anything till I get home from this trip. I went home, called the main number at Nordstrom, asked for Pete Nordstrom, and he picked up the phone. That should have been the first clue about the Nordstrom family and how life works at Nordstrom, at least back then. Subsequently, Pete visited the Jeffrey store in Manhattan. Kalinsky waltzed him through the selling floors and the stockroom, boasting that almost everything got sold at full price and that the operation was lean. They dined at Pastis and got on well. That December, Kalinsky visited Nordstroms Seattle headquarters and met with, among others, the three Nordstrom brothers Pete, Erik and the late Blake; their father, Bruce, and Brooke White, who was in charge of corporate communications. I met everybody. I went on a two-day intensive interview process. For weeks, We basically courted and signed the deal on Aug. 18, 2005. While feeling proud about completing the transaction, It was still a hard day for me. I didnt know what the future held. It felt like I sold my baby. I remember crying hystericaly typical of me. I was in a car by myself. One thing the Nordstroms taught Kalinsky, a self-described control freak and far from the corporate type, was how to better work with groups. He would visit Seattle eight to 10 times a year, meet the Nordstrom team in the markets, and have frequent phone calls. My mission statement at Nordstrom was to change the perception within the designer community and with the consumer, Kalinsky said. It was a very clear mission. They hired me to be a change agent. A natural fit? Not really. I am not a bottom-up guy. I am a top-down guy, Kalinsky acknowledged. If I think something is good, I go after making it happen. Nordstrom was about the reverse pyramid. I think Pete would tell you, a little bit of my top down was what we needed. We got a ton of stuff done. Other than the Seattle store, there was no designer merchandise, sold at any other Nordstrom store. Currently, about a third of Nordstroms locations sell designer across all categories, and the category is gaining ground on Nordstrom.com. I worked so closely with Pete and the Nordstrom family who supported me in that role. Typically a corporate environment and a change agent is kind of a combustible situation, Kalinsky explained. But in a lot of ways they made everything kind of work. I will never be able to tell you enough about what tremendous people the Nordstroms are. They are open and curious, and they made me feel they were the lucky ones, not me. Though owned by a big retail corporation, the Jeffrey stores maintained an independent aura with the point of view of its creative founder, who offered a shopping experience different from bigger rivals like Bergdorf Goodman or Saks Fifth Avenue. Kalinsky kept the sales floor minimal, gallery-like, with white backgrounds allowing for the merchandise to be the star, he said, and without the artwork, mosaic tiling or other trappings seen at uptown stores. Unlike Bergdorf buyers, who would select styles from collections with specific VIP customers in mind, Kalinsky bought what he liked, a tad arrogantly. There was a range of labels classic, contemporary and avant grade including Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, Sacai, Balenciaga, Celine, Dries van Noten and Jil Sander, among others. I knew they would like what I liked, Kalinsky said, speaking of his customers. I knew they would embrace it. The selling floor was where he wanted to be. I was miserable in my office and happy on the floor. I really had to try to step back to not always rule the show. I wanted everything to be a certain way. I am a salesperson essentially because I love to approach and help people. The favorite thing in life for me is to be in a dressing room with a customer. I love dressing women. That was how I gave fashion leadership at my stores. My people always knew what I believed in. They saw me selling it. Not just in the New York store. My guys in the Atlanta and Palo Alto stores knew what I loved. Our customers at Jeffrey were always people like myself, wanting to be constantly stimulated, to be a little provocative, at least at first. Sure, theyll buy a perfect-fitting gray cashmere top, and another in navy and they should have that. But its the thing they never had before that will make their heart skip a beat. I spent my life thinking more about style than trends, and Ive always been really attracted to people who know how to cultivate a personal style. Growing up in Charleston, affected everything, in a good way, Kalinsky said. Charlestons aesthetic, architecturally, is one of the most beautiful in the country. Its very pristine. Even today people dont dress all that different from the time I was growing up in the Sixties and Seventies. The men and women embrace color, print, but the clothing was all very precise and very refined in a way. I like to think the buy at Jeffrey was influenced a lot by where I grew up. We offered a lot of color, a lot of prints and a lot of options that were influenced by my childhood. In school, his focus would sometimes veer from the blackboard to what the teachers wore. I always noted the cut of their blazers, the narrowness of the lapel. I like a narrow lapel and flat front really skinny khaki pants. In winter, I wear a pair of jeans and a T-shirt always with a sweater, and all my T-shirts are vintage T-shirts, expertly altered by Miss Anna Ramos. She was our tailor at Jeffrey. She altered everything for me. I like my T-shirts tight, to accentuate the positive. I always felt I was kind of modern prep. I dont look like I stepped out of a preppie handbook, but Im always attracted to these heritage brands, Kalinsky said, citing Brooks Brothers, Chanel and Sperry Top-Sider. During the eight-year collaboration between Sperry and Jeffrey, Kalinsky sometimes styled up the Top-Sider with pony hair uppers in vivid colors. As a child, Kalinsky learned the ropes of retailing at Bob Ellis, the shoe business founded by his father in Charleston. He had a variety of tasks, from being an assistant on the sales floor to the cashier desk. I grew up in the Morris Kalinsky school of retail. I learned everything from him. After graduating from George Washington University, Kalinsky became a sales manager for shoes at Bonwit Teller in Jenkintown, Pa., an assistant shoe buyer at Bergdorfs, and later the North America agent for Donna Karan footwear on behalf of Pupi dAngieri, an Italian shoe manufacturer that had the Karan shoe license. His next job was at Barneys. I worked directly under Bonnie Pressmen, who in my opinion was incredibly talented and did an amazing job with accessories. I was the ladies shoe buyer from 1987 to 1990. Gene, for my dollar, was one of the most talented retailers ever. Kalinsky is also a huge fan of Daniella Vitale, former chief executive officer of Barneys until it went bankrupt and liquidated, as well as Mark Lee, who preceded Vitale as Barneys ceo. Its a shame, all of the loss our industry is feeling. These are brilliant people. After Barneys, he opened his first store, in Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. I wanted to live in a city where I would be comfortable as a young gay man. Plus, there were no good womens stores in Atlanta. My father reluctantly agreed to be my partner. One day he told his father he would no longer wear a tie on the selling floor. I thought he would die. He just looked at me with the cutest look of dissatisfaction, and said, If you would just dress nice, you would meet a nice guy.' A decade later, he opened the Manhattan store, and two years ago, the Palo Alto one. Each was sizable, in the 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot range. Hes always had a thing for his birthday. He timed the Atlanta and Manhattan store openings to his birthday, though Palo Alto opened a month late. Nordstroms disclosure last month that the Jeffrey stores, along with 16 Nordstrom department stores, would close for good, cited a variety of factors for closing Jeffrey, including the unique needs of the market, the current state of our business and real estate agreements. Nordstrom also indicated that the 57-year-old Kalinsky was retiring. Thats not actually the case. I definitely want to work period, end of subject, Kalinsky stated. I hope I have contributions I could make. Ive done lots of things. Ive worked in wholesale. I ran my own retail store for 30 years. I worked at a big corporation, Nordstrom. I was in charge of their designer business for ten years. I have collaborated with brands. I love product. I would love to be able to work on product. I am not a designer, but I think I am good at creating. I could really be of value to someone as a merchandiser. If somebody calls me tomorrow and its the right opportunity, I am ready to start. I find Target, specifically, to be fascinating. I would absolutely be open to working for a brand like Target. Its not like hes wedded to luxury or believes the sector has been any more impacted by COVID-19 than any other retail sector. Everybody is being challenged. A person who likes luxury, who likes fashion, wont abandon luxury or fashion, Kalinsky said. Just right now with all the uncertainty out there, people have to do whats right for them in the moment. Will they return to fashion and luxury if they go on a hiatus absolutely. In 2020, people care about how they are branding themselves more than ever. I almost think we should leave the pandemic out of a lot of the conversation. The impact it will have is anyones guess. Its just mind boggling. I actually had the coronavirus. I work up the morning of March 13 and was sick for about 17 days. The only time I opened my front door was when someone nice enough made a food drop. I had a mild case, very gastro-intestinal. The worst part was I didnt know the outcome. If I would have known back then what I know today, it wouldnt have been so terrible. But you are literally terrified. I knew a lot of people getting sick and dying around then. I was petrified. Thank god I am all better. Thank god for FaceTime. I had a lot of friends there for me, and I had one kind friend bringing me food everyday. Tylenol and the thermometer were my best friends. JEFFREY ON DESIGNERS I absolutely adore Chanel. Chanel seems to always get me going, I dont know why, it just does. A beautiful really chic Chanel jacket made just beyond perfect, with a fit beyond perfect. Same with the bags. Same with shoes. I do love print fashion, I do seem to have a weak spot for French fashion. I am a Hedi Slimane devotee, I adore that man. For over 20 years, he and I just seemed to always be on the same wavelength. There has not been a moment that he has been working that I have not been beyond a huge disciple. Celine has been very, very important to me as a salesperson, for my customers. I am a huge Phoebe Philo fan. I love Dior. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones are doing an amazing job. I have carried Dries van Noten in my stores since 1996 and he is kind of perfect. I love his approach to the business and to design. That was one of the best collections to buy season after season after season. He knows how to marry the practical with fantasy, he can make an ordinary day seem more worthwhile. I thought of [buying] as kind of making that perfect closet, with something special from Comme des Garcons or Simone Rocha or Michael Halpern, I would fight for some of these young designers. Sometimes the order was so small. I didnt want to live without a Molly Goddard piece. I didnt want to go, without these wildly talented younger designers. Jil Sander does deserve special mention for me. It was just one of the greatest privileges of my life, not just to buy and sell it, but to know her. She maybe was the only major designer I carried that actually was in the showroom talking to her clients, When you go into a showroom, you dont necessarily see that, though you will see it with some of the young designers in their showrooms. But when I was buying Jil Sander, she was one of the biggest brands in the world and there she was in the showroom. She wanted to see how the showroom looked and she wanted to talk to her customers. The fit, the look, the nuance was perfect everything. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Its not a good time to be police unions favorite Democrat. Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus Co-Chair Bill Pascrell has represented the suburbs of northern New Jersey since 1997. He has comfortably coasted to victory nearly every year since, only facing a serious primary challenge in 2012 when the borders of his district were redrawn. But this year, things have changed. Progressive insurgents have knocked out long-time Democratic incumbents in primary elections across the country, including in nearby New York City. And one of Pascrells biggest political assets has become a liability during the ongoing national debate on police brutality. Pascrells opponents are hammering him for taking more police union donations than any other lawmaker, but Pascrell also lost the endorsement of New Jerseys largest police union after voting for a major police reform bill. Progressive challengers Zina Spezakis and Alp Basaran both see an opening, hoping to unseat Pascrell in Tuesdays primary election. Spezakis seems to have gained most momentum; the Bernie Sanders campaign spinoff Our Revolution and the environmentalist Sunrise Movement have both thrown their weight behind her. The National Interest sat down with Spezakis (virtually) to understand her views on foreign policy and national security. Whether or not she wins Tuesdays primary, Spezakis represents the views of a rising generation of Democrats who see climate change, pandemic preparedness, and civil rights as national security issues on par with terrorism and war. Below are excerpts from the conversation. The National Interest has readers all around the country. I know your campaign has tackled some conversation of national importance. I'm wondering if you could just walk my readers through what your victory would mean for Americans outside of the 9th District. That's a good question. I jumped into this race because I work in clean energy, and I've always been an environmentalist. When I read the UN's IPCC report in the fall of 2018, it really scared me. Story continues I looked at my congressperson to try to figure out what his climate record had been. He's a Democrat but he hadn't done pretty much anything. It's an issue, truly a crisis that's not only going to affect people in my district and around the country, but also around the world. The way I see itwe have the majority of the technology that we need to drastically start transitioning our society, our economy, our industry, our energy systems to a hundred percent renewable energy, and really start cutting down emissions. But unfortunately we've lacked the political will for a variety of reasons, which we can talk about, not the least of which is campaign funding. If I wasn't going to now, when was I going to do it? In ten years time, when it was past the point of no return? Quite honestly, Matthew, sometimes it's believed that we may be at the tipping point anyway. So this next election, to me, was critical. And I think it's critical for a lot of Americans, not only with respect to the climate crisis, which is not something you see every day. It's in the back of people's minds, but the problem with that is that the laws of physics don't wait for anybody. This is happening whether we like it or not. And the climate crisis is not only an environmental and ecological issue, but frankly it's a justice issue. There's environmental racism everywhere you look. It's a national security issue. I'm reading a book called All Hell Breaking Loose, which describes the U.S. military's perspective and response to what they seebecause they tend to believe the scientistsof what's going to happen to our national security interests. It's going to be a humanitarian crisis. At this point we're not going to reverse it. We're past that point, unfortunately, but the difference in this election is whether we're going to slow it down enough to give future generations a fighting chance to start reversing it, or do we risk something runaway happening where regardless of what we do, we can't affect it. That's the choice in this election. Climate change, actually, is a good segue into what I wanted to talk about, which is national security issues, and how things we don't really think about as national security problems are deeply related to international politics. What role do you think Congress can play in marshaling an international response to climate change? This is related to a question I get often: "what would be the first thing that you would do when you get to Congress?" It's a surprise to many people that I would actually look at our tax code, for the simple reason that there's a lot of archaic code that allows for subsidies to fossil fuels. According to a recent IMF paper I read, I think the U.S. pays out [several hundred billion] in fossil fuel subsidies Fossil fuel subsidies are bad for a variety of reasons. A, it's not a level playing field from a market perspective, and B, it makes a lot of the fossil fuels that are pulled out of the ground economical. Without these incentives, without these subsidies, a lot of the oil, a lot of the gas would just stay in the ground. It would never come out. The reason I think we have a lot of subsidies still in place, is because there's a lot of oil money, fossil fuel money that gets donated to campaigns. Whether they want to admit it or not, if you're getting millions of dollars from an industry, you're not going to vote against its interests. That's just human nature. From a congressional perspective, Congress makes these laws. Let's start looking at where these incentives are. Whether they're in loan guarantees, or preferential tax treatment, or whatever, let's start dismantling them now. The reason they were there was because of national security issues, back in the day. These were put in place decades ago, before we had renewable technologies that would provide alternatives. The reason that they're there is no longer valid, or is quickly losing their validity. The climate crisis, with respect to national securityI read so much about this and I kind of see what's comingif anybody else was me, they'd be terrified. Here's an example. The entire equatorial region of our planet is quickly desertifying. It's turning into desert. You can't grow food on a desert. You can't dig wells to get clean water in a desert. If you think we have an issue with migration right nowand the U.S. military realizes this is going to happenyou're going to have climate migrants all over the world. With respect to our own hemisphere over hereif I was a betting woman, I would bet they head north rather than south. Yes, we have a very large military, and it can handle a lot of things around the world, but what climate change does to the resources of the U.S. military is that it strains them significantly. We can respond to maybe one, two, three humanitarian crises around the world, but when we have more than that, when we have dozens, and they're happening simultaneously, which is what's going to happen, we can't respond to humanitarian crises, even if you want to take the argument that we need a large military to deal with these humanitarian crises. And they know it, so it's unfortunate that our current administration has put its head in the sand with this. Delaying makes it much worse. Another national security and international relations question with climate change is China, because a lot of people are saying we need to work with them if we need a comprehensive climate solution. They are the second-largest or largest economy in the world,but we are also clashing with China on a variety of issues: trade, but also human rights and labor rights, intellectual property. I'm wondering what your approach to Beijing would be. Yes, they are the largest emitter, but part of the reason they are the largest emitter is because basically we've moved all our manufacturing to China. We're responsible for a lot of those emissions, quite honestly, even though the U.S. is about fifteen percent of the world's emissions. China's a large actor. We definitely need to cooperate with them in order to make any sort of a dent in emissions. That is the truth. China, for its part, and even some of the European countries, are much more active in decarbonizing their economies than we give them credit for I applaud them for their efforts. I condemn them for the way they treat Muslim minorities. But diplomatically, when you approachI don't even want to say opponentwhen you approach another power, I think we have to approach not only China but also the rest of the world from the perspective of, "what do we have in common?" rather than an adversarial or antagonistic approach to it. I believe in the diplomatic route. Those things have to be completely exhausted before we do anything else. We have a lot in common. I would expect any Chinese family would want a clean world for their family. I expect the leadership would want that, too, for the population, in order to avoid unrest. The humanitarian issues areI mean, they're concentration camps [in Xinjiang] and we can't overlook those. But let's start in an area that we agree with, and then work to solve some of those other human rights issues, because adversarial contact is not going to solve any human rights issue. It has not been proven to. I want to jump to another national conversation your campaign has touched on, which is the Black Lives Matter protests There's another angle to this, related to national security, and that's police militarization. Are there reforms that you would support that would make it harder for the President to deploy military force at home, or for local police departments to get military equipment from the Pentagon? I've been doing quite a bit of research on that. There are different things you can do with respect to addressing this issue. You can put body cams on people. You can train them. You can renegotiate contracts. One of the most effective ways of reducing police brutality is to demilitarize, frankly, the police. You have seen probably the same Twitter videos, where the police are walking down the street looking like they're heading into the Middle East, into Afghanistan or something. They don't need the excess equipment from the U.S. government. I don't know what that does, but I've seen a study that [says] you see lower rates of police brutality in police departments that don't have that military equipment. One of the things that really surprised me was the body camera issue. It has a small effect, but not as big of an effect as you would think. I understand that we need to pass something, but I don't know whether all the terms of the policing and justice bill have been well thought-out. I personally feel that we need to start re-allocating some of the resources that go into the police into mental health issues, because a large number of calls that the police get are from people who are suffering from mental health issues. Education, housing, jobs, or infrastructure. I looked at my own town's budget, and I'm still wading through it, but I was really surprised to see the amount of money that the police force gets paid. I live in a sleepy suburbwe need police, but we don't need millions of dollars of police. You mentioned police militarization, and you said oftentimes police walk down the streets looking like they're on the way to Afghanistan. Well, you know, we're still involved in Afghanistan and a lot of Middle Eastern countries. That's the root cause of a lot of police militarizationthe fact that our country is still producing this equipment in large numbers and training people for these conflicts. What would your approach be to the Middle Eastern conflicts, especially as we nearly went to war again in January? We spent almost $7 trillion in the last nineteen years. The reasons we went to war, most reasonable people would agree, were fabricated, a lot of them. We've been doing this for twenty years. Most of my adult life, we've been at war. And we have not managed to make a significantfor the $7 trillion we have spent, we have not managed to become much safer, and we've lost hundreds of thousands of lives. Congress needs towe control the purse. We need to stop funding a lot of this stuff. We need to stop voting for expanded powers to give the President... I'm not sure why Congress sort of relegated or gave away its powers that way, because frankly, that's what they did, but frankly that needs to be reversed, because I think a lot of stuff happens underneath that. We just need to have people who are going to be fearless enough to call this out. I don't understand why more people are not screaming about this. People are dying every day in the Middle East, we're not any safer, we're spending trillions of dollars that could be better used to update our infrastructure here and get ready for climate change. It's a matter of priorities I would support reversing the AUMF [Authorization for the Use of Military Force] Would you return to the Iran deal of 2015? I would return to a deal. The 2015 deal wasn't perfect, but it was something, and it was a start. It was something that engaged the country diplomatically. Completely throwing it out the windowyou're throwing the baby with the bathwater, what Trump didhasn't done anything. Has it made us any safer? Has it made Iran less antagonistic towards our allies or towards us in the Middle East? I don't know. That's a question. I would return to a deal. I would start engaging with them diplomatically. A large part of our tensions with Iranas well as with Cuba, Venezuela, and many other countries around the worldis economic sanctions. Some people say it's a tool of diplomacy, because it lets us pressure bad actors without going to war, but other people say it's another form of war that hurts civilians and actually leads to more tensions. What's your stance on sanctions? It's hard to make a broad statement for every country, but you touched on it. In many of these cases, the powers that be hurt less under a sanctions regime than ordinary people, than families I think the United States, when we're trying to persuadewhether it's China with the Uyghursalthough I don't think China's going to react a lot to sanctions, because they can retaliateor whether it's any other part of the world, I don't think sanctions are as effective as we like to think they are. I, as a mother, always think of the kids who suffer under regimes like that. We've got to find a better way. The last thing I wanted to touch ondo you think the coronavirus pandemic has any lessons for the way we treat national security, both abroad and at home? Yes! First of all, the corona pandemic showed the cracks in our system a lot. It was everything from healthcare to the way we're structured as a republic. It's hard to analyze what's happened herein an ideal world, you want to take out the Trump factor, and the fact that he just ignored the pandemic, which allowed it to balloon the way it has It's a great argument to have close ties [between medical communities], whether they're your "adversaries" or allies, because you find out quicker about a pandemic that might have started in China. If you find out quicker, you respond quicker. That's one thing I would say about that. With respect to our own national securitywhat's it doing to our borders? I'm not sure it's doing much to our borders, but given the fact that we are one of the more infectious countries in the world, I would say other countries don't want to let our citizens in. I looked at travelling into Europe, and I'm like, oh, I can't go in with an American passport, or I have to be quarantined. That's affected at least the perception that we are a superpower One thing I will say, though, with respect to TrumpI think, honestly, if we had started implementing a lot of these progressive policies a decade ago, you wouldn't have had the Trump administration for the simply reason that a lot more people would have been better off, and wouldn't have seen Trump as their last resort, because the Democrats hadn't fulfilled their promises for the working class. Certainly there's a lot of things to discuss in terms of missed opportunities. It seems like a lot of the problems we ignored for the pasthowever many yearsare now hitting us right in the face. Look, we are one world. We are a plane ride away from a pandemic. As far as a pandemic is concerned, there are no borders, regardless of how many walls you try building. We only need one person with a bad germ to get into this country. You can't police that. That's impossible to police. We need to know as soon as possible whether something is happening, and we need to have the political courageand I speak to the executive herewe need to have the political courage to say, we're in trouble guys, all hands on deck, let's get this done. The countries did that, like New Zealand, most of the European countries, even the country where my parents come from, Greece, they're well past the peak. They have flattened the curve and they are reopening their economies. In New Zealand, they haven't had a case in three weeks, and they just allowed mass sporting events again. [Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern] has done a good job down there. She's an empathetic leader, and she wasn't afraid to tell people the truth. But when you're beholden to corporate interests, it's harder to tell people the truth. Matthew Petti is a national security reporter at the National Interest. Follow him on Twitter: @matthew_petti. Click here to read the full article. Logo of the sandwich restaurant chain Jimmy John's in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2016, Jimmy John's fired all employees involved in a now viral video showing employees playing with a noose made out of dough, the company confirmed. A video, posted to Snapchat by user "Riley:))" and subsequently share on other social platforms, shows one employee helping place a noose made out of bread dough around the neck of another worker at a Jimmy John's location in Woodstock, Georgia. "The actions seen in the video are absolutely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John's brand or the local franchise ownership team," Jimmy John's said in a statement on Twitter. "As soon as we were alerted to the video, we notified our franchisee, who quickly investigated and terminated all employees involved." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The video was posted with a filter reading "Happy 4th of July" prompting a backlash on social media, that included the chain's founder James John Liautaud. "The franchisee is also meeting with their team to conduct training to help prevent anything like this from ever happening again," the company's statement said. Liautaud has faced controversy recently over his support of President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and serving on the president's Great American Economic Revival Industry Group for Food and Beverage team. Follow Josh Rivera on Twitter: @Josh1Rivera. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy John's fires all employees involved in noose viral video Kanye West on 28 October 2019 in Chicago, Illinois: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Ralph Lauren Kanye West has declared he will run for US president in 2020, a stranger-than-fiction move backed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The rapper made his announcement on Twitter on 4 July, as millions of Americans were celebrating Independence Day. We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States #2020VISION, he tweeted. Musk replied to Wests tweet and said: You have my full support! Earlier this week, West posted a photo of both men posing in similar outfits the Tesla founders home. Kim Kardashian-West retweeted her husband's announcement with an emoji of the American flag. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. West previously suggested he would run for the White House in 2015, during a speech at the 2015 Video Music Awards, when he said: Its about ideas, people who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could have guessed, I have decided in 2020 to run for president. However, he appeared to postpone his plans to campaign after meeting US president Donald Trump in 2016 at the Oval Office, when he tweeted #2024. West has been a vocal supporter of Trump, sporting a Make America Great Again hat during his meeting with the current president and declared: I love this guy right here. In order to run for president, West would have to do so as an independent candidate and file official paperwork to appear on state election ballots. The deadline to file has already passed in Indiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas. Reactions to the announcement have ranged from bewildered to sceptical, with some endorsing the rapper for president and others questioning what his leadership would look like in light of his support of Trump. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, left, applauds prior to delivering a speech during his visit to a public hospital in Cuernavaca, Mexico, June 19, 2020. Migrants, trade, crime, the border wall: The challenges to the modern U.S.-Mexico relationship have perhaps never been as stark and divisive as they are now, at a critical juncture for both countries. (Fernando Llano/Associated Press) Donald Trump notoriously kicked off his presidential bid in 2015 by disparaging Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, criminals and rapists, adding: And some, I assume, are good people. During his own campaign two years later, future Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assailed the U.S. president's politics of hate and signature border wall project and likened Trump's anti-Mexican tirades to Adolf Hitler's attacks on Jewish people. The two chief executives are scheduled to meet in person for the first time this week in Washington. For Lopez Obrador, it will be his initial foreign trip as head of state since assuming the Mexican presidency in December 2018. Much has changed since the two populists of contrasting political pedigrees Lopez Obrador is a long-time leftist and career politician, Trump a conservative Republican real estate mogul tossed rhetorical Molotov cocktails during their respective campaigns. The two presidents now regularly laud each other as friends, and their governments have collaborated closely on diverse thorny issues, including immigration, cross-border crime and bilateral trade. Their cordial but long-distance dealings to date have contradicted pundits expectations that Lopez Obradors ascension would signal a more polarized era in U.S.-Mexico relations. The stated purpose of this weeks visit is to mark the July 1 launch of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaces the more than quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Trump labels a job killing failure. Trump has argued that NAFTA sent well-paying U.S. employment to low-wage factories in Mexico while critics say the new deal is basically a rebranded NAFTA that won't return those jobs to U.S. soil. But the planned trip initiated by the White House in the midst of Trumps reelection campaign has ignited fierce controversy on both sides of the border. Trump's incendiary language and style have transformed what might normally be a routine confab between neighboring heads of state into a raging political firestorm. Story continues For weeks, political observers here have urged the Mexican president to reject the invitation, viewing it as a stunt designed to help salvage Trumps flagging reelection effort, especially among U.S. Latino voters. There is no argument to deny that a visit by the Mexican president at this moment implies an act of intervention that, albeit indirectly, will end up benefiting the campaign of Donald Trump, wrote columnist Ricardo Raphael in Mexico's Proceso news weekly. The meeting, critics have argued, could also have long-term deleterious consequences should Democrat Joe Biden be elected, possibly souring a new White House on Lopez Obradors leadership. If Biden wins the presidency, his antagonism towards Mexico will be evident in the bilateral policies that he adopts, argued Bernardo Sepulveda, former Mexican ambassador to Washington and ex-foreign secretary, in an open letter published in La Jornada newspaper. In the United States, Democratic lawmakers and party loyalists have denounced the trip as a Trump photo op, in the words of Tom Perez, who chairs the Democratic National Committee. In a video message posted on Twitter, Perez suggested that the Mexican president ask his U.S. counterpart: Does he still think Mexicans are rapists and murderers? Officials here label the visit as an agenda-packed work trip unrelated to U.S. politics, largely designed to improve trade and address other mutual concerns. While Lopez Obrador has received many invitations in Washington, Mexican authorities have not detailed any plan for him to meet with Democratic lawmakers or representatives of the Mexican immigrant community. In a July 4 message to the people of the United States and Mexico, Lopez Obrador who on the campaign trail was a free-trade skeptic lauded the revised trade pact as "a great accord" that "will allow for the reactivation of the economy of our country, and generate jobs, and create well-being for our people." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has yet to commit to a Washington summit, expressing concerns about possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Mexican authorities say they are hopeful the Canadian leader will attend, in part to dilute attention from the Trump-Lopez Obrador connection. Looming over the visit is the specter of Trumps campaign stop in Mexico to meet with Lopez Obradors predecessor, ex-President Enrique Pena Nieto. That 2016 episode is widely viewed here as a catastrophic political blunder that shredded the ruling partys electoral standing and helped propel challenger Lopez Obrador into a landslide electoral victory. Lopez Obrador was himself a harsh critic of the Trump visit. At the time, noted columnist Raphael in Proceso, the magnate [Trump] was a Republican candidate who had constructed his popularity by demonizing Mexico and Mexicans. The U.S.-Mexico relationship has long been a fraught one for Mexican leaders. They must straddle a sometimes fine line between cooperation and not appearing submissive to a neighboring superpower that in the distant past invaded and seized Mexican territory, and more recently has provided an economic escape valve for millions of impoverished Mexicans whose remittances back home have helped prop up the countrys economy. Lopez Obrador does not appear to have pushed for a personal meeting with Trump, who remains a lightning rod for criticism in Mexico. The Mexican president may be a reluctant visitor to Washington, but analysts say turning down a request to celebrate a pact that Trump calls a major foreign policy accomplishment could potentially have risked offending the president, something that Lopez Obrador has gone all-out to avoid. Throughout his tenure in office, the Mexican president has had to fend off allegations of being overly acquiescent to Trump, especially on the provocative issue of immigration. He has studiously sidestepped confrontation with the White House, and hosted Ivanka Trump at his inauguration, while meeting with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, in Mexico City. Last month, Trump said Lopez Obrador was really a great guy. Lopez Obrador, 66, took office vowing to help multitudes of Central American immigrants and other non-Mexicans who routinely traverse Mexican territory en route to the United States. But those promises were quickly tempered as Trump threatened potentially ruinous tariffs on Mexican imports to the United States, long a key engine of the Mexican economy, if Mexico did not move to halt U.S.-bound immigration. Last year, responding to U.S. arm-twisting, Mexico agreed to dispatch troops to help curb illegal immigration, and also acceded to U.S. demands to house tens of thousands of U.S. asylum-seekers on Mexican soil. Lopez Obrador often says that the best foreign policy is based on sound domestic leadership. While his predecessor, Pena Nieto, made more than a dozen foreign trips during his first year in office, Lopez Obrador has insisted that he was too busy with his pledged transformation of Mexico to travel abroad. Still, he has called Mexicos relationship with the United States fundamental, citing the two nations' brisk trade, cultural links and the presence of millions of Mexicans in the United States. Lopez Obrador heads north at a difficult juncture: At home, he is dealing with multiple crises a cratering, coronavirus-ravaged economy; an ever-increasing curve of coronavirus cases and related deaths; and an escalating series of gang-related attacks, including the execution-style killings of 26 young men last week at a drug-rehab center, and the brazen attempted assassination of the capitals security chief. His popularity is down from 80% highs, but Lopez Obrador still maintains a respectable 56% approval rating some 19 months into his six-year term, according to a recent poll from El Financiero newspaper. His frugal lifestyle, denunciations of corruption and folksy manner help maintain his popularity among many Mexicans, despite the countrys struggles. In a signature austerity move, the Mexican president has tried to sell off the plush presidential jet calling it haunted" and always travels on commercial airlines, a practice he says he plans to follow when departing Tuesday for Washington. Since news of the trip surfaced, Lopez Obrador has denied allegations that he is succumbing to U.S. demands that he come to Washington and demonstrate obeisance to Trump at an especially inopportune moment. I have no problems of conscience going to the United States because I have always maintained that Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country, Lopez Obrador said in late June. I want to state clearly: I am not selling out my country. Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez contributed to this report. Fireworks fill the sky over North Hollywood, as seen from Burbank, on July 4. (Los Angeles Times) To the editor: The night of July 4, my usually peaceful Van Nuys neighborhood turned into a scene of terror. ("L.A.'s extreme fireworks bring terrible air quality, increased calls for fire service," July 5) From about 7:30 p.m., large, booming fireworks continuously went off until around midnight. From my upstairs deck, I could easily pinpoint five nearby locations as the sources of the explosions. By 9 p.m. my windows began shaking and I heard what sounded like buckshot bouncing on my solar panels. I called the police, thinking I should at least go on record with my complaint. I waited 45 minutes to reach an operator, who asked me to identify the sources of the fireworks. I told her that I could point them out to anyone who would come to my house, and she said they might send a patrol car. No one came. Last month, I was distressed to see images of police in military gear advancing on peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. Yet, by virtue of police inactivity, fireworks have become a widespread public danger. What I saw on July 4 was more threatening than any protest I have ever attended. Lynne Culp, Van Nuys .. To the editor: Was the Sunday print headline "This Independence Day just didn't have much pop" someone's idea of a joke? Or do the journalists who wrote the article live in soundproof rooms? I have never heard so many "pops" and explosions on any previous holiday or occasion over 30-plus years of living in Los Angeles. The number of illegal fireworks set off all night Saturday to Sunday was insane. When I opened the paper on Sunday, I expected to read some reporting, analysis or even an editorial about this plague rampaging through our city. Instead, there was this contradiction of your readers' own sense of certainty. I understand the realities of print deadlines may have been responsible for this, but anyone who has been living through the nightly barrage of firecrackers for the last months would have known to expect a big escalation for the holiday. Story continues Peggy Kamuf, Los Angeles .. To the editor: In an article on the large increase in the use of illegal fireworks this year, L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer is quoted as saying, "Nobody knows why this year is so bad." I'm just a dumb guy sitting in my living room, and I know why. Countless teenagers and adults (some of whom may have had a beer or two) are sitting at home bored out of their skulls. They are looking for diversion. Large, professional-style fireworks fill that bill. As we have learned from our war on drugs, if someone wants something and there is a profit to be made delivering same, it will be done. Bill Bennett, Huntington Beach .. To the editor: After spending an evening, a night and an early morning in a state of trauma from the nonstop fireworks, I awoke on July 5 to see the South Coast Air Quality Management District's hazardous rating for Los Angeles. The lack of enforcement against private fireworks has to change. In addition to illegal fireworks being a source of annoyance, frustration, anxiety, terror and insomnia (depending on one's age and whether the listener is two- or four-legged), fireworks pose an extreme health hazard. G. Edward OBrien, Los Angeles Click here to read the full article. PARIS The coronavirus crisis has everyone going digital full-throttle including specialists in the realm. This year, following widespread store closures, its been all about bulking up e-commerce services on the double. But next up, the focus will be on artificial intelligence, according to Ian Rogers, chief digital officer at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, who spoke to WWD through Zoom. We talk a lot about data and artificial intelligence, I think youll see us talk more about that if we were at VivaTech this year, our theme would be artificial intelligence, he said, referring to the French technology fair that was canceled this year. The executive normally reveals winners of the annual LVMH Innovation Prize at the VivaTech fair, which is Frances equivalent to the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, drawing industry heavyweights such as Alibaba chairman and cofounder Jack Ma and Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella. But this year, the prize was moved online, with bulked up content that included discussions on the French technology scene. Rogers was after a podcast-like format that would draw interest. Doing it virtually with an audience online, you dont have a captive audience its not like youre trapped in the room and cant leave unless youre rude you can pretty easily click away, he noted. The subject of artificial intelligence less of a focus as everyone scrambled to improve e-commerce systems will return to the spotlight in the coming months, Rogers predicted. With whats going on in the world, its not the moment, but we will probably talk more about that in the back half of the year because its a huge focus for us, the executive said. We were super busy trying to do lots of things that had been, maybe planned for later in a roadmap, sooner, he said, referring to the past months when stores were shut amid coronavirus lockdowns. Whether it was just making the inventory that was in the stores available online or making your products available in countries that they werent previously available were still a bit behind on the e-commerce geographic rollout and so everyones trying to open e-commerce stores and add new countries, and also just add services. Say Apple Pay and PayPal were on your roadmap for later this year you tried to get it done in March, he continued. Story continues Its supply-side basics, in a way, but I would also say its a supply of not just products but also services, a service might be a payment service like buy-now-pay-later, or Apple Pay, but it could also be just the ability for a sales associate to sell really effectively from their phone, he added, ticking off services like notifications at each stage of an online purchase. The focus on artificial intelligence is twofold, he explained. When we talk about data and artificial intelligence, what were really talking about is personalization and operational efficiency, thats the kind of value that youre getting from artificial intelligence youre building personalized experiences for customers, and then your adding efficiency to your back office, he said. This years innovation prize went to Crobox, a start-up that introduces personalization on merchandise displayed on an e-commerce page flagging certain attributes that might nudge a consumer to make a purchase, like most viewed items or ecologically friendly attributes. Were at this moment in time when retailers are going from no personalization to some personalization thats s a big jump, he said. The groups innovation prize serves as a scouting process for it rather than leaving start-up entrepreneurs to reach out to various brands on their own, the prize system serves as an introduction to LVMH labels. We want it to be a real scouting process where its not just the loudest or the best salespeople, or the ones who have a friend on the Comex, you want it to be more of a meritocracy in terms of finding these start-ups, he added. When setting up the prize, he and his team had consulted with LVMH fashion prize organizers, and sought to promote a similar system wherein all finalists benefit from building a relationship with the group. This year, for example, a list of more than 1,000 applicants was whittled down to 30 finalists, a batch that gets introduced to the LVMH group, he noted. The group has other programs in the start-up realm, including its accelerator program at the French tech hub Station F. Theres no impetus from me to say oh you must work with these guys because they were our finalist or part of the Station F program not at all, all we do is say, hey, wait youre trying to do that? We know a company thats trying to solve that problem, would you like to meet them? he said. Thats really kind of it but that is very, very valuable, he continued. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Ella Rose had returned home from church on Sunday, ready to settle in for the afternoon, when her phone rang. It was a friend, Chad Oba, delivering unexpected news: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the proposed multibillion-dollar project that had consumed their lives for the past six years, was no more. It was officially canceled. "My reaction was 'hallelujah,'" Rose, 76, recalled Monday. "I was so elated that I started praising God." After protracted legal conflicts and a wave of delays, the two energy companies partnering on the project, Dominion Energy in Richmond, Virginia, and Duke Energy in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced they were abandoning the joint venture, a natural gas pipeline that was supposed to zigzag about 600 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. It was a surprising twist in a fight that had included intense community opposition, a concession from the two companies that they couldn't overcome the ballooning cost of the project which had nearly doubled to $8 billion from its original estimate of about $4.5 billion and uncertainty surrounding the pipeline's possible completion in early 2022, which would have been an almost three-and-a-half-year delay. The high-stakes plan was formally proposed in 2014, and was expected to benefit from the Trump administration's efforts to roll back federal oversight and speed up the building of major infrastructure projects. The pipeline's demise was followed Monday by a federal judge's decision to temporarily shut down a pipeline in the Dakotas that was the site of large protests in 2016 and 2017 led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. While the Atlantic Coast Pipeline had not drawn the same type of attention, there was still open resistance in some communities along its route, including in rural Buckingham County, Virginia, about 70 miles west of Richmond, the state capital. It was there that a network of environmental activists and longtime African American residents joined forces to stop the building of a natural gas compressor station in Buckingham's historically Black community of Union Hill. Some families of Union Hill can trace their lineage to slave ancestors and freedmen who settled there after the Civil War. Story continues The Friends of Buckingham, a grassroots environmental group that Oba co-founded, mobilized to bring attention to Union Hill. Last year, former Vice President Al Gore and the Rev. William J. Barber II, who have worked together on their respective campaigns on climate change and the poor, came to the community. Rose welcomed the men inside her home and relayed her fears that a compressor station would compromise her and her neighbors' health and threaten the air quality and well water. Rose, a Black retiree whose home on nearly 2 acres would have been among the closest to the proposed compressor station, said she feels "vindicated" after the hours spent attending meetings, speaking at panels across the country and exhibiting a tenacity she didn't know she had. Image: (Matt Eich / for NBC News) "I feel good I can sleep better at night," Rose said. "And now I know I'll be breathing clean air." Rose was the first person Oba called once she learned the pipeline had been scrapped. Oba could barely register what had happened. "I had always told Ella: 'I will be with you through the end. I will never give up on this, and I will be by your side, wherever it may be,'" Oba said. Legal battles against the compressor station and the larger Atlantic Coast Pipeline winded through various courts, impeding its progression. Earlier this year, Oba, Rose and others in Union Hill celebrated a victory when a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond unanimously agreed that Virginia's Air Pollution Control Board had failed to consider how the compressor station project would disproportionately affect residents of the community. The control board had first approved the station's air permit in January 2019. "Environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked," U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote in the ruling. Image: Atlantic Coast Pipeline (Steve Helber / AP file) At the time, Dominion, the lead stakeholder, vowed to resolve the appeals court's concerns and expected construction to resume on the compressor station this summer. In June, the pipeline project got a key boost after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the pipeline to cross underneath the Appalachian Trail, a move that was opposed by environmental groups that argued that ecosystems and endangered species were at risk because of the project. In a statement Sunday, Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II and Duke CEO Lynn J. Good said the natural gas project, if completed, would have delivered "the much-needed infrastructure to our customers and communities." "This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States," they added. "Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country's energy needs will be significantly challenged." Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette blamed the "well-funded, obstructionist environmental lobby" for killing the project, saying in a statement that the pipeline was poised to create thousands of jobs and that the "economic promise of this project is no longer a reality for thousands of Americans in this region." The pipeline had been touted by local leaders and its supporters in Buckingham, a lower-income county in Virginia, for what it would have brought financially: annual tax revenue of $1 million from the compressor station site and the creation of construction jobs. In addition, Dominion offered to give $5.1 million for a proposed community center and other benefits on the condition the pipeline was finished first. Some residents were resigned to the idea that Dominion, a Fortune 500 company, was all but guaranteed to win the permits needed to move ahead with the pipeline and compressor station. That belief created a divide among residents of Union Hill, pitting neighbors against neighbors and family members against one another. The loss of the pipeline is an "economic blow" to Buckingham County, said Harry Bryant, the chairman of the county's Board of Supervisors, adding that the loss of any related revenue now means officials will need to assess the possibility of raising property taxes. He added that despite objections to the pipeline, "the majority of the people in the county wanted it." While proponents of natural gas champion it as a better alternative to coal or oil because it produces lower carbon-dioxide emissions, environmental groups caution that it still holds back investment in other renewable energies. "Virginia and North Carolina have taken important steps towards a clean energy future now the decks are cleared," said Greg Buppert, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, which has represented the Friends of Buckingham. "People all along the route can finally rest." Those opponents have included small farmers whose lands were subject to eminent domain, Native Americans, about 30,000, who live within a mile of the pipeline's proposed route in North Carolina, and residents in Northampton County, North Carolina, where another compressor station for the project was being constructed in a census block where 79 percent of the population is Black. Ryan Emanuel, a professor at North Carolina State University and citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, which organized against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, said this apparent victory comes at an auspicious time in the United States for racial justice and conversations about the disproportionate affect policies can have on communities of color. "This is a really encouraging outcome for the marginalized communities along the pipeline route," said Emanuel, who is working on a research paper and book on environmental justice in North Carolina. But he believes legislation similar to the Clean Water Act of 1972, which set national water quality standards, is necessary to prevent the effects of environmental racism. "Environmental justice, for better or worse, is kind of a buzzword in popular culture and we can construe it in different ways," he added. "Until we tighten up what we mean in ensuring environmental justice and preventing the impact of structural racism on marginalized communities in terms of what infrastructure we build and where, justice won't be for all." When asked if conversations about environmental justice may have factored into the companies' choice to not move ahead with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a Dominion spokesman said "the press release very clearly explains the reasons why we made this decision." No matter the reasons, Oba said, she hopes other communities where residents are fighting projects they perceive as unnecessary and detrimental can look to Union Hill as inspiration. "You can do this, but you have to be committed and persistent and you have to pursue every avenue," Oba said. "Don't think people won't come to help you because they will. There are people in this world who believe in justice." DELRAY BEACH, Fla. You probably never met Stephen Cooper, but chances are youve seen him before. On Sept. 11, 2001, Cooper was photographed fleeing smoke and debris as the south tower of the World Trade Center crumbled just a block away. The picture by an Associated Press photographer was published in newspapers and magazines all over the world and has been seen by many others at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York. He didnt even know the photograph was taken, said Janet Rashes, Coopers partner for 33 years. All of a sudden, hes looking in Time magazine one day, and he sees himself and says, Oh my God. Thats me. He was amazed. Couldnt believe it. Cooper, an electrical engineer from New York who lived part-time in the Delray Beach area, died March 28 at Delray Medical Center from coronavirus. He was 78. Stephen Cooper, who died March 28 in Palm Beach County from the coronavirus, was photographed, at left with an envelope under his arm, fleeing the collapsing south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Rashes said Cooper was on his way to deliver documents near the World Trade Center, unaware of what had taken place that morning, when he heard a police officer yell, You have to run. The photo shows Cooper, 60, with a manila envelope tucked under his left arm, and several other men in a desperate sprint as a massive wall of debris from the collapsing tower races up behind them. Cooper escaped into a nearby subway station. Every year on 9/11, he would go looking for the magazine and say, Look, its here again, said Jessica Rashes, 27, Coopers daughter. He would bring it to family barbecues, parties, anywhere he could show it off. Susan Gould, a longtime friend, said Cooper was proud of the photo, purchasing multiple copies of Time and handing them out like a calling card. She said Cooper shrank a copy of the photo, laminated it and kept it in his wallet. Stephen was a character, Gould said. Stephen Cooper was "a character," a friend said. Suzanne Plunkett, the AP photographer who snapped the shot, wrote that shed been in touch with two of the people in the photo, but Cooper was not among them. It is a shame I was never aware of the identity of Mr. Cooper, Plunkett wrote after his death in an email to The Palm Beach Post. Story continues Though Cooper made the wise decision to flee trouble on 9/11, that was not in his nature, Janet Rashes said. He was a fighter, she said. That spirit was manifested in the politics of Edgemere, New York, a struggling neighborhood in the borough of Queens on the Rockaway peninsula where Cooper owned a home much of his life. Edgemere is mostly Black and Hispanic, and Cooper was one of its few white residents. Rashes said Cooper battled to keep the area from being dumped on, with unwanted projects such as landfills, while he served as president of the Frank Avenue Civic Association, a community group founded in 1926. He didnt get too far very often, Rashes said. Sort of a Don Quixote. But the people really liked him because he was there to speak for them. Stephen Cooper, left, leads a rally in Rockaway, N.Y., in 2012. Cooper, who worked many years for the New York City Transit Authority, was born in the Bronx and based stateside with the Army during the Vietnam War. He met Rashes at a Fourth of July barbecue in 1987 at age 46. Although the couple never married, they remained together until his death in March, placing him among the 138 people who died in Palm Beach County in the first month of the pandemic. In 1993, Cooper and Rashes adopted Jessica from Guatemala. Rashes said Cooper dealt with health issues after a fall last year, needing brain surgery in October. He spent more than two months hospitalized or in a rehabilitation center after surgery. Cooper began having more health issues in early March after joining Rashes at their apartment in the Kings Point community west of Delray Beach. At that point, the coronavirus was being spoken of, but the people at the hospital werent wearing masks, Rashes said. Cooper was originally diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (Paramedics) picked him up on March 23, Rashes said. Thats the last time I saw him. He died five days later. Follow Jorge Milian on Twitter at @caneswatch. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man captured in iconic 9/11 photo dies of coronavirus in Florida Photograph: REX/Shutterstock A tell-all book by Donald Trumps niece will be published two weeks ahead of schedule and will argue that the president suffered child abuse in the early years of his life. Related: Bolton: Trump claim he wasnt told of Russia bounty report is 'not how system works Publisher Simon & Schuster, which last week was released from a temporary restraining order won by the presidents brother, cited high demand and extraordinary interest as it brought publication forward on Monday. The company also released an image of the back cover of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump. Today, the text began, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses or take in and synthesize information. Mary Trump, a trained clinical psychologist, also writes about the presidents upbringing by a mother who was ill and a father, the property developer Fred Trump, who remained committed to his job, to whom love meant nothing and who expected obedience, that was all. Child abuse is, in some sense, a matter of too much or not enough, Mary Trump writes, adding: Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life. In a statement released by the publisher, Mary Trump said: In addition to the first-hand accounts I can give as my fathers daughter and my uncles only niece, I have the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist. Too Much and Never Enough is the story of the most visible and powerful family in the world. And I am the only Trump who is willing to tell it. Mary Trump is still subject to a temporary restraining order imposed by a judge in New York state supreme court. In her appeal, she claims a 2001 non-disclosure agreement arising from litigation over a family will was based on fraudulent financial information. A hearing is scheduled for Friday. The presidents niece has expressed opposition to his political career via social media and was a key source for New York Times reporting on Trump family tax affairs which won a Pulitzer prize. Story continues A supreme court ruling on whether Trump must release tax and financial records is eagerly awaited and expected as soon as this week. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Ted Boutrous, Mary Trumps lawyer, accused Donald Trump of mounting an orchestrated campaign against freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Lawsuits against books are intended to have a chilling effect, he said. The White House sought to block a book by John Bolton, Trumps third national security adviser, but were denied by a federal judge. The Room Where It Happened sold nearly 800,000 copies in its first week in stores. Donald Trumps brother Robert Trump, a businessman, filed the suit against Mary Trump. He is represented by Charles Harder, an attorney who has worked for the president. Harder has said he will seek the maximum remedies available for Mary Trumps truly reprehensible actions. He has also called the New York Times reporting on Trump family tax affairs 100% false, and highly defamatory. In a statement to the New York Times last month, Robert Trump slammed his niece for what he called an attempt to sensationalise and mischaracterise our family relationship for her own financial gain. I and the rest of my entire family, he said, are so proud of my wonderful brother, the president. The presidents other surviving siblings are Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired judge, and Elizabeth Trump Grau, a retired banker. Mary Trumps father was Fred Trump Jr, who died in 1981. Click here to read the full article. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that this security package will provide various means of surveillance, counter-artillery fire, vehicles, medical equipment, cyber security systems and countering Russian propaganda, etc. to our state. Although Ukraine has received assistance in their land war against Russian-backed separatists, including some of Americas powerful Javelin anti-tank missiles, this latest aid package is focused on naval support. Support of the Ukrainian Navy is an important part of the assistance, which should contribute to the establishment of stability and security in the Azov and Black Sea regions, the Ministry stated. Sea of Azov In November of 2018, the Russian FSB violently captured three Ukrainian patrol boats that were transitioning through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov northwest of Russian-occupied Crimea. During that action, twenty-four Ukrainian sailors were detained. Though the soldiers were eventually repatriated to Ukraine, the three Ukrainian shipsone corvette, one minesweeper, and one smaller-sized gunboat were not. Combined with Ukrainian Navy defections to Russia during the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, Ukraines Black Sea fleet is depleted and understrength. Mark VI In June, the State Department approved a $600 million sale of sixteen Mark VI Patrol Boats to Ukraine. These boats would help improve Ukraines capability to meet current and future threats by providing a modern, fast, short-range vessel. Ukraine will utilize the vessels to better defend its territorial waters and protect other maritime interests. The Sea of Azov is relatively shallow, making it difficult for larger blue-water ships to operatebut the Mark VIs are optimized for near-shore operations. The Mark VIs are small, fast littoral boats, designed to operate close to shore where they can conduct maritime patrols, boarding operations and interdictions, or support special operations missions. They have a shallow draft, the measure between the hull bottom and waterline, allowing the quick boats to get close into shore. And these boats are armed to the teeth. Story continues In addition to two .50 caliber machine guns, there are multiple points for other smaller machine guns to be mounted In American service, the Mark VI is armed with a large 30 millimeter cannon, though in Ukrainian service the larger main gun was not approved. Still, the Ukrainian boats have space onboard for two 25 millimeter guns. Island Class In addition to the Mark VIs, the United States sent two Coast Guard Island-class cutters to Ukraine last year. The retired boats are part of a four-boat cutter donation that is intended to beef up Ukraines naval defenses. Last summer, Ukrainian sailors conducted training in Baltimore, Maryland to familiarize themselves with the boats navigation system and bridge controls. These cutters are relatively lightly armed and sport at least two .50 caliber machine guns and a single 25-millimeter chain gun. Postscript Though somewhat symbolic, American naval support affirms the United States commitment to Ukraine. Still, with Russia possibly in violation of the Montreux Convention, a few patrol boats wont tip the balance of power in Ukraines favor. Still, it is the support that Ukraine desperately needs. Caleb Larson is a Defense Writer with The National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. MILWAUKEE As issues of race, racism and structural inequities dominate the national consciousness, Milwaukee Public Schools board members are laying the groundwork for what they hope will be a new push to address hyper segregation in southeastern Wisconsin. The board unanimously passed a resolution last week calling on activists, elected officials and others to develop a regional plan to desegregate schools and reduce inequities among schools in the region. While the plan would initially focus on schools, board members said it must also address the myriad factors that have created and maintained what is a white ring around a predominantly Black and brown city from housing and transportation to job creation and economic development. MPS School Board member Bob Peterson. "The purpose of this resolution is to really raise the ante, to publicly push school districts, municipalities, county boards to address how theyre going to help end Jim Crow in metro Milwaukee the systematic, institutional racism that has been part of this regions history since the first white people came and took the land from Native Americans," said board member Bob Peterson, who proposed the resolution with board member Sequanna Taylor. The resolution passed unanimously. Taylor said it is time for well-meaning leaders and residents in surrounding communities to move beyond protests and proclamations and take actions that show they believe Black lives matter. "For those individuals or organizations or boards who have stated that they stand with Black Lives Matter, or they stand with equity, we would like it to be seen in action, not just in words," said Taylor, who also sits on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. Sequanna Taylor The Milwaukee metropolitan area has for years been considered one of the most racially segregated areas of the country. It regularly lands on or near the top of the list, depending on the study. And, because of the links between segregation and poverty, Milwaukee is considered among the worst cities for Black Americans in terms of economic opportunities, homeownership and a host of other measures. Story continues Those dynamics play out in the schools across the four-county metro area. Schools outside the city of Milwaukee are overwhelmingly white and relatively more affluent. Milwaukee Public Schools, the state's largest district with almost 75,000 students, serves mostly low-income children of color. Even within Milwaukee, because of white flight, open enrollment, school choice and other factors, most Black students attend schools that are considered hypersegregated schools with 90% or more students of color. Despite years of trying to integrate schools, school segregation across southeastern Wisconsin has risen and remains stubbornly high. As of 2018, 70% of Black students in the metro Milwaukee area attended hypersegregated schools, up from 29% in 1995, according to a new report due out in July by Marc V. Levine, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and director of its Center for Economic Development. "Milwaukee now has the highest percentage of Black students attending hypersegregated schools among the nation's largest metropolitan areas," said Levine. Changing that dynamic "would take a comprehensive set of policies and commitment on all levels, which obviously isn't there right now," he said. "Some communities clearly will be more amenable than others. ... Yeah, it's a huge policy agenda. But it has to start somewhere. And this seems like a transformative moment where perhaps some big thinking can emerge." Loading... A 'moral obligation' More than policy, it would require individuals to acknowledge the root causes of the inequities and to accept that they have a "moral obligation" to address them, said James Hall, former president the NAACP in Milwaukee and a civil rights attorney who represented MPS in the 1980s lawsuit to desegregate surrounding suburban schools. "For the first time, certainly in recent years, and maybe the first time historically, there is a kind of reckoning around these issues," Hall said. "Certainly, it requires changes in policy, but it really requires a moral obligation to change them." MPS board members believe that many people across Wisconsin and the country have come to those realizations in the weeks following the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Protesters, including many white citizens, have marched and protested in communities across the state to protest racism and police brutality. Students and alumni of suburban school districts are calling on their leaders to address the concerns of students of color. And school and civic leaders have decried racism and pledged to support equity initiatives. Students are greeted with high-fives. In June, the Wisconsin School Board Association issued a statement saying it would prioritize discussions about racism and inequity and calling on its members to "determine how their policies and practices have a disproportionate impact on students of color." And the MPS board's plan, which will be developed over the next two months, would build on that momentum. Board members acknowledged that they will also have to address the inequities in programming and resources within MPS' own schools. "People know that segregation ... makes it easier to rationalize fewer resources to Black families, Black schools, Black neighborhoods," said Peterson, adding he would like to see a broad coalition of organizations and individuals take part in the discussions. "I hope we'll be able to put this issue on the table," he said. "It's time to call the question." This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Black Lives Matter: Milwaukee pushes to end schools' hyper segregation Natasha and husband Adam with Grace and Ellie. (PA Real Life/Druime Nolan Tender Life Photography) A mum whose daughters breastfed in tandem, with one stopping just before she was five and the other continuing to nurse at four, credits extended breastfeeding for their hardy immune systems. Natasha Keane, 38, a make-up artist, from Galway, Ireland, practises natural stage weaning where a child decides for themselves when to stop breastfeeding. And the mum-of-three, who also works with adults with disabilities, says she believes it has helped both Ellie, six, and Grace, four, build strong immune systems, as only one of them has ever been to the doctors with a bug. Ellie has never been to the doctors for a sickness bug in her life, and never needed antibiotics, and Grace has only been once for a chest infection she couldnt shake, the mum says. I absolutely believe that its breastfeeding that has made their immune systems so strong. Read more: Mum who donated 65 litres of breast milk to other mothers inundated with requests from men wanting to be 'nursed' Natasha tandem-feeding her daughters. (PA Real Life/Collect) Now Keane hopes to be able to highlight the benefits of extended breastfeeding, an umbrella term used to describe women who continue to nurse their children after one year, and is keen to defend a womans right to nurse in public. I try not to let the comments and stares get to me, but I have been made to feel uncomfortable, she says. I find it such a huge double standard. Its okay to put women in bikinis or lingerie on huge advertising billboards, but its not okay to let a mum to subtly feed her child? To me, breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world. Despite now being a breastfeeding advocate, back when she was a first-time mum to son Stephen, now 19, when she was just 19, she had to stop breastfeeding after a few months due to medication. At that time, she believed nursing after a year was creepy. I wanted to do it for longer, but I was only 19 back then and didnt think I could question my doctor, she said. I cried so hard for about a week afterwards. Stephen struggled to take his bottle and it was very stressful. Story continues Read more: Viewers left in hysterics after little girl crashes her mum's live BBC News interview Natasha tandem-feeding Ellie and Grace. (PA Real Life/Collect) When Keane fell pregnant with Ellie she wanted things to be different and joined a local breastfeeding group. I walked into my first meeting, and saw a woman tandem feeding her three-year-old and 18-month-old, with one at each breast, she recalled. My jaw hit the floor. I genuinely had no idea it was possible to feed children past the age of one let alone two at the same time. Instead of judging, I simply asked questions. After finding other similar groups and speaking to several other mums, who all practiced extended breastfeeding, she also read articles on the subject. Combining her findings with information on the NHS website that said babies are passed valuable antibodies to help protect them against infection through their mothers milk, she became increasingly convinced that this was the way forwards. Meanwhile, she discovered that the World Health Organization states that breastfeeding can continue for up to two years and beyond. According to its recommendations made together with Unicef children should start breastfeeding within an hour of being born and be exclusively nursed for six months, going on to be breastfed on demand. From six months onwards, they should begin eating safe and adequate foods while continuing to take their mums milk. Read more: Heartwarming moment nurse was able to hold her two-year-old son after 11 weeks apart Natasha with daughters Grace and Ellie and milk she donated. (PA Real Life/Collect) Buoyed by her findings, Keane became an advocate for natural stage weaning, saying: Theres a saying in the community Dont offer and dont refuse. Putting that into practice with my girls meant that, while I wasnt sitting them down like clockwork, offering them my milk, I wasnt saying no if they asked. Breastfeeding Ellie with no set deadline in mind of when to stop, when Grace arrived two years later, she tandem-nursed them one at each breast together. I tandem-fed for two years, she said. I was a little apprehensive at first about the practicalities of it all, but you find your own groove, and it gets easier the more you do it. As Ellie was a little older by then, I could explain to her to be patient and let Grace latch on and settle in first. Every single night, they would fall asleep without fail, one on each breast, holding hands. Read more: Baby born with amazing head of hair so thick it was spotted on the scan Natasha with her family Grace, Ellie, husband Adam and Stephen. (PA Real Life/Collect) While Ellie stopped wanting to breastfeed just before she turned five, Grace continues to nurse once in the morning and once in the evening. But Keane still deals with negativity, which she blames on peoples miseducation, rather than on deliberate nastiness. People see breastfeeding as fair game something everyone is allowed to have an opinion on and criticise, she said. I never would, as it is every mums choice, but I know if I said something about bottle-feeding, it would be unacceptable. She says shes had to deal with some difficult comments over the years. When Grace was just eight months old, I had somebody say to me that I should be force-feeding her into weaning by that point, she says. I just thought, What would you say if you knew Im also feeding her older sister? But she doesnt believe that people are deliberately trying to shame her, instead attributing the negativity to a lack of education about the subject. We have lactation specialists, but not many of them, and most doctors and nurses arent armed to the teeth with the same level of information. Thats how you end up with mums like I used to be, who dont realise you can feed past a year, or think its wrong to. Natasha, Adam, Grace and Ellie. (PA Real Life/Collect) By sharing her story, Keane, who says her husband Adam, 35, is fully supportive of her feeding journey, hopes to normalise breastfeeding and reassure other mums they do not have to stop before they are ready. Also aware that some mums cannot breastfeed, she wants to encourage them to find their local milk banks, where women can donate their own excess supply. In the past, she has donated six litres, which went on to help 22 different premature babies, as well giving a stash to other mums who could not nurse themselves as they were having chemotherapy but did not want to give their babies formula. Its up to every mum as an individual what they want to do, and I understand that some have tried and tried, but simply cannot breastfeed, she said. Because of the constant flow of oxytocin known as the love hormone breastfeeding is a great mood booster. I had postnatal depression with Stephen and Ellie, so thought itd be written in stone that I would with Grace, but I didnt. Before you make a comment, educate yourself. If a mum ever mentions something to me that I dont understand, I will keep my mouth shut, then go away and look it up. Whether I agree or not is beside the point. Its education thats important. Additional reporting PA Real Life. myKlovr Named Latest ATA Affinity Partner myKlovr Named Latest ATA Affinity Partner PR Newswire ARLINGTON, Va., July 6, 2020 Virtual College and Career Counseling Platform to Aid ATA Members and Families ARLINGTON, Va., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, American Trucking Associations announced it has named myKlovr as the federation's second Affinity Partner, providing discounts and benefits to ATA members. American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight.Trucking Moves America Forward. (PRNewsFoto/American Trucking Associations) "ATA members report that industry recognition and employee resources are essential for attracting and retaining talent whether it is behind the wheel, in the shop or in the office, and having benefits like college and career counseling can be an important piece of that," said ATA Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Traver. "In an industry already facing labor shortages, ATA has partnered exclusively with myKlovr to help its more than 30,000 member companies prepare their families for success and promote the trucking industry and its many advantages to high school students. Now more than ever the country relies on truckers who tirelessly deliver food and medical supplies throughout the nation's pandemic." myKlovr is a virtual college and career counseling service, helping students and families navigate the admissions process and identify the right school for them. "Truckers are driving the essential resources for US families during the COVID-19 crisis. While we cannot pay back the collective efforts of American truckers, we can pay it forward by assisting their families with college and career counseling," said myKlovr CEO Gustavo Dolfino. "54 million students around the country cannot access their schools, classrooms, or teachers, while a high school student's academic life is on hold, their future doesn't have to be." For more information on myKlovr and the ATA Affinity Partner Program, visit www.trucking.org. Simply and affordably, myKlovr puts a dedicated college and career counselor into every student's pocket. The myKlovr platform utilizes the power of AI and predictive analytics to help students navigate their own journey to success learning about student strengths and preferences, offering timely reminders and suggestions, tapping into a wealth of data and resources to help transform a blur of options into a "best-fit" school. https://myklovr.com/ Story continues American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/myklovr-named-latest-ata-affinity-partner-301088688.html SOURCE American Trucking Associations A fire last week at the Natanz nuclear site, Irans main uranium enrichment facility, caused significant damage, the country's nuclear agency said, lifting part of the mystery surrounding the event. It still remains unclear, however, exactly what happened at the site in central Isfahan province. Iranian authorities at first appeared to downplay it, saying only that a fire had broken out early Thursday at an industrial shed. But Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Iran's official IRNA news agency in an interview Sunday that the fire caused significant financial damage but there were no casualties." Specifically, a building that produces advanced centrifuges, used in the enrichment of uranium, was damaged. Measuring equipment and instruments were also destroyed, Kamalvandi said. In the midterm this can lead to a slow down in the organization's task, but we will put all our efforts to overcome this interruption, he told IRNA, adding that Iran would rebuild the damaged building on a bigger plot of land. The region remains on edge more than six months after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad in January, and Tehran launched a retaliatory attack on American forces in Iraq in an escalation of tensions that threatened to tip the region into war. The Natanz fire came after reports of an explosion late last month near a missile facility outside Parchin, southeast of Tehran. Iranian authorities said the blast was caused by a gas tank explosion in a military complex. On Saturday, another fire broke out at a power plant in the southwest. The incidents have prompted rumors of state-sponsored sabotage to spread. Image: Natanz nuclear power plant (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran / AFP - Getty Images file) Kamalvandi said Sunday that the Iranian security bodies know the cause of the incident but do not intend to comment because of security precautions. The series of events at the Iranian sites prompted speculation that Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United States, could be behind the incidents. Story continues Asked Thursday about the incident in Natanz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Clearly, we can't get into that." Israel is widely believed to be the region's only nuclear power and has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain atomic weapons. Many Israelis believe Iran poses an existential threat to the world's only Jewish state. Last month, according to Reuters, Zeev Elkin, an Israeli security cabinet minister, said Iran had tried to mount a cyberattack on Israel's water system in April. An Iranian official at the country's mission to the U.N. denied Tehran had any involvement in the attack, saying "Iran does not take part in any cyberwar," the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. The latest back-and-forth comes as Israel launched a reconnaissance satellite into space Monday. We are not letting up for a moment in our efforts on the security issue," said Netanyahu. "The success of the Ofek 16 satellite very much increases our ability to act against Israels enemies, near and far alike." In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz. Natanz is monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear arms and maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. A state department spokesperson said it was "monitoring reports" of a fire at an Iranian nuclear facility. "This incident serves as another reminder of how the Iranian regime continues to prioritize its misguided nuclear program to the detriment of the Iranian people's needs," the spokesperson said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council last Tuesday that Iran was developing a new centrifuge that would be able to enrich uranium up to 50 times faster than it currently can. Iran, he said, was showing no signs of slowing its destabilizing nuclear escalation and was accumulating dangerous knowledge. Kamalvandi said Sunday that work had begun on the complex to produce advanced centrifuges at the Natanz site in 2013, but that construction had stopped because of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The 2015 deal eased U.S. and United Nations sanctions on Iran in return for limits on its nuclear program. In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement and imposed a wave of economic sanctions on the country's oil and banking industries and other key sectors. Kamalvandi said the complex was inaugurated a month after the U.S. pulled out of the deal, but had not been operating at full capacity because of restrictions imposed by the agreement. Iran is still party to the deal along with the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click here to read the full article. John Connelly, From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020), 968 pp., $35.00. IF ONE had to come up with a single sentence to sum up all of the brutality, folly, tragedy, chaos, villainy, and occasional moments of heroism that John Connelly surveys in his superb study of the emergence of modern Eastern European nation-states, you could boil it all down to this: Too much history and not enough real estate. Put another way, the defining borders of most of todays relatively young Eastern European nations were drawn on very ancient, multi-layered soil. Tilling that soil since antiquity were permanent, deep-rooted peasant populations that remained isolated, illiterate, and bound in servitude for thousands of years. For the most part they were ruled, and sometimes owned, by feudal landownerssome of local origin, others part of repeated waves of outside conquerors incorporating them into empires. Some were short-lived, others long-lasting. In both cases, the native tillers of the earth knew little and cared less about their masters, as long as they were allowed to scrape out a bare subsistence. To cite a single example, Dacia, which later became modern Romania, was once an outlying province of the Roman Empire. While the Roman presence was transient, it lasted long enough to make Romanian a Romance language and to prompt educated Romanians to declare themselves, to this day, a Latin island in a sea of Slavs. By late medieval times, German colonists, generally referred to as Saxons, were building cities and establishing commercial networks in regions like Transylvania that still left the vast majority of local peasantry untouched. Peasants and Saxons were ruled by a small but powerful land-owning class of native boyars and a new layer of Magyar nobility that dominated Transylvania as part of the late medieval Kingdom of Hungary. That kingdom, in its turn, was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. On the fatal field of Mohacs, once called the burial ground of the Hungarian nation, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent wiped out much of Hungarys nobility and clergy and, along the way, added another layer of conquerors to what would ultimately become modern Romania. Story continues Yet another wave of conquest, this time emanating from Austria, would gradually drive back the Turks, acquiring Hungary as part of the Hapsburg dominium, ultimately extending control to Transylvania. Hapsburg dominance would last for two centuries, ending only in the ruins of World War I. The rest of what would become modern Romaniathen called Wallachia and Moldaviaremained tributary to the Ottomans and was governed by wealthy, corrupt Greek Phanariots from Constantinople, who procured their posts through bribery into the first half of the nineteenth century. While the Phanariot masters shared a religion (Eastern Orthodox Christianity) with their Romanian subjects, that was about all they had in common. The Phanariots were there to recover the costs of the bribes they paid to get their posts, squeezing as much additional revenue out of the locals as they could before their own replacement or execution by the Ottoman authorities. When a thin layer of educated nativesand some members of the Phanariot ascendancy that had settled in and went nativelaunched the modern, nationalist cause for a Romanian nation state in the nineteenth century, the vast majority of the population was still mainly comprised of illiterate, impoverished, and oppressed peasants with no political power and almost no political awareness. The very concept of nationhood, or anything beyond a tribal identity and a sense of communal hierarchy ingrained by time, was an alien concept outside of a small circle of educated landowners, city dwellers, and an embryonic intelligentsia. Similar conditions, with obvious local variations on the theme, applied in other soon-to-be Eastern European nation-states like Serbia and Bulgaria, and Slavic territories like Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and, later, Bosnia, all of which became part of the Hapsburg domains (afterwards the Austro-Hungarian Empire) over time. Finally, closer to the heart of Europe, culturally as well as geographically, there were countries like the kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia, which both had long histories as independent powers before being consumed by one or more of the three great European states that dominated modern Europe until World War I: Prussia (which morphed into Bismarcks German Reich), Imperial Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. IN ALL of these Eastern European entities, whether they were former nations or not, tribal, ethnic, and religious identities ran deep. Yet there were always substantial minority populations differing in language, culture, religion and geographical originse.g., Turks, Jews, Saxon Germans, Gypsies, Greeks, and even Armenianswho resided side-by-side (but unassimilated) with the locals for generations, even centuries. This on-the-ground reality was very much at odds with the idealistic visions of early nineteenth-century Pan-Slavic nationalists, like the poet Jan Kollar and the Croatian theologian Ljudevit Gaj, who, had become aware that people from Croatia could understand people living in Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. In fact, there was no border in language going from what we now call Slovenia all the way to the Black Sea. He [Ljudevit Gaj] concluded that the individuals living in this great space were one people, but they had to be awakened to their identity. That became his personal calling. Gaj named his newly imagined nationality Illyrians, later to be known as Yugoslavs. Kollar envisioned a similar linguistic nationhood shared by Slavic speakers in parts of Germany, Slovakia, and Bohemia. He and his followers called them Czecho-Slavs, from which the concept of Czechoslovakia would arise. Gaj and Kollar became friends when they both resided in the old city of Pest, across the river from Buda in Hungary. Referring to Benedict Andersons influential 1991 work, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Connelly strikes a rather poignant note: An influential book [Andersons] tells us that nations are imagined communities. Here we have two men who liked to discuss deep questions on paths in the hills above the Danube in the 1830s, who imagined two nations that politicians in Paris, including Woodrow Wilson, brought to life as states in 1919. We also know that neither state survived the twentieth century. Humans imagine nations, but not all the nations that they imagine have the coherence to stay together. Like unstable chemical compounds, some come apart; occasionally they explode. This brings us back to the problem of too much history and not enough real estate. While Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were both linguistically homogeneous, their linguistic sameness was countered by deep cultural, historical, economic, and sometimes religious differences. Unfortunately, the statesmen and officials responsible for redrawing the map of Europe after World War I were blind to this reality: The East European states fashioned in Paris after World War I had problems that Wilson, a political scientist from Virginia, understood poorly. He and the peacemakers intended Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia to be national states ... but they ended up becoming miniature Habsburg empires, with numerous peoples within their boundaries. Before he arrived in France in December 1918, Wilson imagined that the peoples of Austria-Hungary might be easily separated. But by the time he left, he despaired of the new peoples visiting him every day, demanding the very same real estate. In the case of Czechoslovakia, a common language was just about all the two component groups shared. The Czechs had been part of the western, Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empirean industrial and economic powerhouse with a strong middle class, a skilled labor force, and a rich intellectual and cultural life driven by Prague as well as Vienna. Slovakia was part of the Hungarian half of the Empireeconomically backward, with a poor, rural majority of peasants living in near feudal conditions, governed by Magyar chauvinists whose determined efforts to forcefully replace the Slovakian mother tongue with the Hungarian language were even more heavy-handed than the Austrian efforts to impose the German language on the Czechs. And although Czechs and Slovaks were both Slavic peoples within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they occupied, as it were, separate wings of the same building, run by different ruling classes and formed into different social institutions. IF CZECHOSLOVAKIA suffered from a split personality, Yugoslavia was plagued by multiple personalities. Although almost all of the freshly-minted Yugoslavs spoke essentially the same mother tongue and shared many of the same chromosomes, their histories could not have been more clashing. Because Serbia sided with the winning Allies while Croatia and Slovenia had fought on the side of the Central Powers as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia was, from the start, not so much a country as a Greater Serbian Empire. It was ruled by the reigning Serbian dynasty, the Karageorgeviches, from their capital in Belgrade, with Serbs dominating the bureaucracy, military, and security establishments. This Serbian dominance was all the more galling since, while Serbia was a pitiable agricultural statea nation of pig farmers in the eyes of many of their newly-conscripted fellow citizensand had been ruled by the decaying Ottoman Empire, both Croatia and Slovenia, from the beginning of the eighteenth century onward, had been part of a major, westward-looking European power, albeit on its rather backward fringe. Croats and Slovenes were also Catholic and religiously westward-looking whereas the Serbs were Eastern Orthodox. In addition, ever since the latter half of the eighteenth-century, Slovenians and Croatians had belonged to a sophisticated, modern administrative state that was relatively free of corruption and governed by an established body of laws and authorities. They were also part of a large economic and cultural enterprise, radiating out from Vienna, that offered educational, artistic, and career opportunities on a vast scale, even to its non-Austrian, non-Magyar subject races. All this came to a swift terminus with the death of the Dual Monarchy and the division of spoils at the Paris peace negotiations. While Connelly singles out Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia as case illustrations, he considers the individual paths followed from the eighteenth century to the present day by Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the eastern regions of Bismarckian Germany, which were subsequently lost to a reborn Poland after World War I, regained by the Nazis, and then lost again at the end of World War II, although partially reunited after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Some of his most acuteand amusinganalysis deals with the Soviet-created satellite state of East Germany. If ever there was a caricature of an ideology-driven state riddled with self-contradictions, it was the German Democratic Republic, starting with its very name: democratic it was not, and only a republic by the broadest possible definition. Depending on how you looked at it, East Germany was either the worst-case scenario for post-Nazi German reconstructionkeeping the goosestep and the secret police, but getting rid of prosperity and prestigeor a shining example of how much more efficient a Stalinist police state run by Prussians and Saxons could be than one run by Russians. Compared to Russia, East Germanys senior communist apparatchiks were more catholic than the pope. Erich Honecker and his fellow gerontocrats even kept on towing the militant party line long after Gorbachevs ussr and most other Soviet satellites tried to salvage what they could of a bankrupt system through radical reforms. CONNELLY HAS assembled a remarkable amount of detailed information and analysis on a vast and fascinating subject. His lengthy introduction is particularly well-written and summarizes many of the most important lessons to be gleaned from his tour-de-force study of a part of the world that has played a pivotal role in modern history. He divides his book into five sections: The Emergence of National Movements, The Decline of Empire and the Rise of Modern Politics, Independent Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe as Part of the Nazi and Soviet Empires, and From Communism to Illiberalism. This is followed by a clear, forceful, terminal essay which, along with the introduction, is crisp, concise, and convincing historical writing at its best. In between the introduction and the conclusion, there are a few passages that read as if they were pulled together by graduate student research assistants, sometimes from hastily translated foreign sources. Thus, in one passage, victims of ethnic cleansing atrocities are described as being shot into riverscertainly not an English idiomto cite one of many small examples which, while mildly annoying, do not detract from a generally excellent narrative. From Peoples into Nations is a big book on an even bigger subject, and the author is not exaggerating when he asserts that: [It] is not a simple heroic story of self-assertion: the anti-imperial struggle often made national movements imperialist, and the fight against oblivion involved driving othersduring World War II, the regions Jewsinto oblivion. Nationalism asserted itself beyond innumerable obstacles, from the wars of 1849 to the compromise between the Habsburgs and Hungary in 1867 and the sudden proliferation of new states in 1918. Up to and beyond 1945, it swallowed liberalism whole, sidetracked socialism, begat fascism, colonized Communism, and is currently doing things to democracy for which the word populism may be a weak placeholder waiting for some more chilling descriptor. If the region has produced indelible works of literaturethe writings of Kundera and Milosz are examplesthat have given witness to suffering that is not exclusive to Eastern Europe, it still belongs to an experience that defies the imaginations of people in the West. There are more villains than heroes in this long and winding saga, but there is a heroic leitmotif that rises, fades, and rises again through all the Sturm und Drang of this gripping tale in which even many of the heroes assume varying shades of gray. I myself recall a meeting that a few other writers and I had with Gyula Horn in November of 1989 in Budapest. Hungary was still a communist state at the time, but the handwriting was already on the wall. Horn was then foreign minister, but in our conversation, he laid more stress on internal than diplomatic affairs. A soft-spoken and dignified man, he emphasized the fact that, in Hungary, there really had been a strong, post-1956 tradition of trying to make the best of a very painful, vulnerable position. Figures such as Horn devoted their lives to trying to humanize what, unfortunately for them, was an essentially inhumane system of governmentone based on a distorted view of human nature and a total misreading of the laws of economics. Happily, in Horns case, there was even a final curtain call when he headed a makeshift government dominated by former communists that came to power democratically at a particularly difficult moment in the transition from a Marxist to a market economy. Far from trying to unravel the reforms and restore the bad old days, the Horn government did its best to work within a parliamentary, democratic framework to continue the transition to free institutions while also combating corruption. Polands Wladyslaw Gomulka, and Hungarys Janos Kadar, and, even more so, Czechoslovakias Alexander Dubcek were earlier examples of such gray heroes who did their best to make things livable for their fellow citizens while being forced to work within the failed framework of Marxist-Leninism. But, without a doubt, the brightest heroes were ordinary people like the Polish students and workers who, while still facing the very real danger of Soviet intervention, poured into the streets singing patriotic songs and waving flags, including the powerful image of a red and white banner [Polands historic national colors] besmirched with blood. In the eyes of Western intellectuals of a Marxist bent, that sort of thing was not supposed to happen in a workers paradise. Connelly pokes a bit of well-deserved fun at scholars to whom these workers carrying national flags seemed exotic and were poorly understood: Well-known treatments, even of authors from Central Europelike Ernst Gellner or Eric Hobsbawmwhittle down the specificity of the regions nationalism beyond recognition as they shave off edges to fit it into a global definition of the term. Hobsbawms idea of the nation was to apply to every corner of the earth, but in this book, we have paid attention to what people in one corner meant by this word. In that corner, the coordinates of the global story as told in Gellners Nations and Nationalism are either irrelevant or secondary: for example, John Stuart Millss idea that a national state had to be feasible, or that nationalism required a particular threshold of size before it could be properly launched. Czechs or Slovenes knew nothing of such parameters and made their history without and against them. As for Hobsbawm, his idea that language and history were not decisive criteria would have struck virtually everyone in East Central Europe as nonsensicalthough it may very well apply to the phenomenon of nationalism as observed from a satellite high above the earth. Language alone cannot make a nation, but having a shared one is a highly desirableif not downright necessarycomponent of most smoothly functioning nation states. Words, and the language in which they are spoken, really do matter in the extended social fabric where family is woven into community and community is woven into state. A shared language makes it easier to shape shared laws, articulate a shared sense of the past, and build a shared future. It certainly offers a preferred alternative to the Tower of Babel or an artificially imposed multiculturalism that seeks to replace rather than complement the core values of any nation. ONE OF Connellys strengths as a historian is his ability to recognize both the similarities and dissimilarities of parallel historical developments, rather than trying to totally isolate them or make them all fit into a pet theory. A good example of this is his evaluation of the Prague Spring of 1968, that led to a severe, Russian-imposed crackdown in Czechoslovakia after Alexander Dubceks short-lived attempt at Communism with a Human Face. Was the Prague Spring part of the democratic mobilization that swept across Europe? Like students in Paris and West Berlin, Czechs and Slovaks rose up against multiple alienations of modern society, challenging the presumptions of bureaucrats and administrative machines that controlled their lives. But there was this important difference: ...Czechs and Slovaks also agitated for things the French or West Germans had come to take for granted: the right to form ones views without fear, to read and write books of ones choosing, to travel, and to be able to hold rulers accountable to the laws of their country. Such basic rights, gained by earlier generations under Habsburg rule, had been lost under the Leninist dictatorship of the proletariat imported by Moscow. This was something that Czech intellectuals increasingly recognized and regretted in the 1970s, part of a growing appreciation of civic and human rights, which had been smothered and compromised in a regime that claimed to enforce social rightsthe rights of the working class as the embodiment of Historyabove all others. The triumph of nationalism over collectivist internationalism in Eastern Europe is a messy story, differing in specifics in each of the nations in the region. Plenty of hazards remain, and there are bound to be many more bumps along the road. But the restoration of true national sovereignty and genuinely representative government to so many long-suffering people denied a decent material existence and the right to live their livesand to retain their language, culture, and valuesis perhaps the crowning achievement of the last years of a twentieth century more noteworthy for bloody nightmares than dreams come true. Membership in the European Union has opened up a free flow of goods, opportunities, and ideas that cannot be stoppedand will ultimately mitigateany retrograde measures taken by individual Eastern European nations over-zealously defending their borders, languages, and identities. Imperfect as it still is, this is probably the best of all possible worlds for the people and nations Connelly writes about with such empathy and conviction. Aram Bakshian, Jr. served as an aide to Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, and has written extensively on politics, history, gastronomy, and the arts for American and overseas publications. Image: Wikipedia. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need to Remember: It has been argued that the Luger remained a popular bring back because that is what fathers and uncles had brought back a generation earlier. During both World Wars the American soldier earned a reputation as inveterate souvenir hunters, who at times took home everything that wasnt nailed downunless they had a crowbar to pull out the nails! Amongst the most sought after items for many the Doughboy or GI was the German P08 Luger 9mm. While the pistol, which was named after its Austrian small arms designer Georg Luger, had largely been replaced by the far superior P38 in World War II, it has been argued that the Luger remained a popular bring back because that is what fathers and uncles had brought back a generation earlier. An irony of this insatiable desire for the Luger was that those same soldiers could have been issued it, had the U.S. Army not gone in anotherand perhaps superiordirection. It is impossible to consider that the Army could have adopted anything other than the Colt M1911 .45 pistolwhich was one of John Brownings many weaponsmilitary planners did consider other handguns. That included the Luger. The United States had been using the Colt M1892 .38 Long Colt Revolvernot a Browning designand while it served well in the Spanish-American War, it was found not up for the rigors of jungle warfare during the Philippine-American War or Moro Insurrection. The Moro werent just tough warriors; they actually wore armor with plates made of either black water buffalo horn or brass plates connected with butted brass mail. They also often took drugs to inhibit pain in battle. The .38 round lacked the stopping power the Army needed, and sought a new sidearm. At the same time Luger, who worked closely with arms designers Ferdinand von Mannlicher and Hugo Borchardt, was also looking to find buyers for his new pistol. It was the first semi-automatic service pistol to be adopted by any militarybut that wasnt in his native Austria or even Germany, where the gun would become infamous. It was actually Switzerland. These first Lugers were chambered for Lugers new 7.65 Parabellum cartridgethe name of which came from the Latin Si vis pacem, para bellum or If you seek peace, prepare for war. Story continues When Germany did adopt the weapon, it was in the newly designed 9x19mm Parabellum round also designed by Luger. In the 1907 pistol trials, the Luger was considered alongside designs by Browning, who was working for Colt, and Savage. The U.S. military required that each designer supply 200 examples in .45 ACP. The Army had already purchased some 1,000 7.65 Lugers and a few in the 9mm, but it required the pistols be in .45. Both Savage and Colt manufactured their respective quota, but Luger only made two. He had felt that it was doubtful that his foreign design would be successful over two American contenders and essentially withdrew from the competition. Those two .45-caliber Lugers are quite rare. In the 1987 film Wall Street, nefarious corporate raider Gorden Gekko brags about owning the rarest pistol in the world, but incorrectly states that only six were manufactured. A regular 9mm was reportedly used as a stand in for the extremely rare .45-caliber version. Due to their rarity the pair has long been known as the million dollar Lugers. One of the pair had sold for $1,000,000 in 1989, but when it came up for sale again in 2010 it sold for $494,500making it a half-million dollar Luger. The whereabouts of the other one are unknown. Two of the original DWM Model 1900 American Eagle U.S. Army Test Lugers chambered for the 7.65 Parabellum, with custom case and original 1906 holster sold for $34,500 in 2013but average American Eagle Lugers are priced on par with those that were war trophies brought back all those generations ago. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and website. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. This article first appeared April 15, 2020 and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia Click here to read the full article. Oscar-winning film composer Ennio Morricone, who came to prominence with the Italian western A Fistful of Dollars and went on to write some of the most celebrated movie scores of all time, has died. He was 91. Morricones longtime lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, told the Associated Press that the composer died early Monday in a Rome hospital of complications following a fall, in which he broke a leg. A native of the Italian capital, Morricone composed music for more than 500 films and television shows in a career that spanned more than 50 years. At first he was closely associated with A Fistful of Dollars director Sergio Leone, for whom he scored six films, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in America. Established in his own right, Morricone turned out classic scores for films such as Days of Heaven, Bugsy, Cinema Paradiso, The Untouchables, La Cage aux Folles and Battle of Algiers. A favorite of critics, directors and other composers, Morricones score to the 1986 film The Mission was voted best film score of all time in a 2012 Variety poll. On his sixth nomination, he finally won a competitive Oscar, in 2016, for his score for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had awarded Morricone an honorary Oscar in 2007. He also occasionally did live performances in which he conducted orchestra and choruses in both his film music and concert pieces he composed. It was a 1960s recording made in Rome of the Woody Guthrie song Pastures of Plenty that launched Morricone's international career. The seemingly incongruous mixture of sounds in the orchestration surging violins, the crack of a whip, church bells, an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, chimes and a chanting male chorus so entranced Leone that he ditched his original choice of composer and hired Morricone to score what became 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars." Story continues Morricones music, like the man who wrote it, was never shy. The best film music is music that you can hear, he said in a 1995 BBC documentary about his life and work. Music you cant hear, no matter how good, is bad film music. Although Morricone scored several Hollywood movies, he usually did so from his home city of Rome and seldom traveled to Los Angeles. He never learned more than a handful of phrases in English and even refused an offer from a studio to buy him a house in L.A. His absence didnt diminish his popularity among high-profile U.S. musicians the 2007 tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone featured performers as varied as opera soprano Renee Fleming, rocker Bruce Springsteen, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the heavy metal band Metallica. He has taken so many risks, and his music is not polished whatsoever, said Metallica lead singer James Hetfield in a New York Times interview. The band regularly used a theme from the western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in its concerts. Its very rude and blatant, Hetfield said of Morricones music. All of a sudden a Mexican horn will come blasting through and just take over the melody. Its just so raw, really raw, and it feels real, unpolished. Addressing the more melodic side of Morricone, film music composer and former rock musician Danny Elfman said in a 1999 Los Angeles Times interview, Anyone whos ever written any kind of romantic score has been influenced by him. If there is a common thread to Morricones work, its the mixing of that raw and romantic, expressed with a blend of unlikely instruments to create excitement, suspense, joy and pathos sometimes all in the same film. That was never more true than in The Mission (1986), set in 18th-century South America, in which a tune played on the oboe has a key role in the plot. In the movie, the oboe player is a Jesuit priest who is accepted, in part because of the music he makes, by a native tribe deep in the jungle. The score, which ranges from ominously dissonant to celebratorily tonal, features pan pipes and drums of various types to represent tribal sounds, plus an orchestra, chorus and child singers. As the action culminates near the end of the film, all these sounds can be heard fitting together like a puzzle that suddenly gets solved. These three elements: the oboe, the native music and Western music taught by the Jesuits had to be combined into a whole, Morricone said in an English translation on the BBC program. The union of these elements is very important. In them I see myself, spiritually and technically. Morricone was born Nov. 10, 1928, in a working-class neighborhood in Rome. His father, Mario, was a musician who played trumpet in night clubs and taught his son to play the instrument at an early age. Ennio did his first composing at age 6. I wrote silly bits of music, he said in a 1989 interview with British author Christopher Frayling. They were hunting themes. I destroyed them. He enrolled at age 14 in the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he studied classical music, including works by contemporary composers. But at night he often subbed for his unwell father, playing trumpet in clubs. Graduating from the conservatory in 1954, he went on to compose several serious pieces. He married Maria Travia in 1956 and the following year they had a son. Little by little I realized that I couldnt live on the very meager income from composing contemporary music, Morricone told Frayling. He turned to arranging pop tunes and in just a few years became quite successful, working on songs for television variety shows and for famed stars such as Mario Lanza. The first film score for which he received a credit was for director Luciano Salces 1961 Il Federale (The Fascist). Morricone soon found himself in demand as a film composer. Able to work fast, he picked up several more credits over the next couple years, including for two westerns. Those led to his being considered for the Leone film and when the two men met, Morricone had a surprise for the director. He told him they had met before, more than 30 years ago in third grade and Morricone had the picture to prove it. The class photo, from a school in Rome, showed the two boys sitting just one student apart from each other, although back then they were not close friends. The recording of Pastures of Plenty sealed the deal for Morricone to write the music for Fistful of Dollars, and his unorthodox, upfront score for the film starring Clint Eastwood was credited with helping it become a worldwide success. I think the music of Ennio becomes almost visible, becomes almost a visual element in the film, the late director Bernardo Bertolucci said in the BBC documentary. Morricone and Leone teamed again for two more films in what came to be known as the Dollars trilogy of westerns starring Eastwood: For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), which is likely the composers best known work. In a 2007 tribute to Morricone, Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed called it audacious music. The whistle, the whoop, the 60s rock guitar, the ocarina, the quick-tongued trumpets, the simple harmonies, the catchy melody are a combination never before associated with the American West or anyplace or anything else, Swed said. The working relationship between the director and composer was so close that Leone sometimes had Morricone compose and record the music before the film was shot. Leone would play the music on the set to help set the mood for actors, and at times he would shoot the film to go with the music instead of the usual other way around. In all, they did six films together, ending with Once Upon a Time in America (1984), which had one of Morricones most melodic scores. Leone died in 1989. Among other directors whom Morricone worked with multiple times were Bertolucci, Federico Fellini, Brian De Palma and Roland Joffe. After finishing the 1976 Bertolucci epic 1900, Morricone cut back a bit on film and TV composing to spend more time writing orchestra works. He stopped working on U.S. films entirely, but for a different reason. I was being paid no more than the worst American composers, he said in the BBC documentary. So I decided to stop working for the Americans. English producer David Puttnam broke that logjam by paying him what he wanted for the Warner Bros.-financed The Mission. He doesnt sell himself cheaply, Puttnam said in the BBC documentary, but he does give you everything. The one thing that Morricone did not get out of The Mission was an Oscar, though he was nominated. At the awards ceremony in 1987, the winner, instead, was Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight. Morricone did not hide his disappointment. Despite all the prizes and awards throughout Europe, the thing not fulfilled is the Oscar, he said in a 1999 Los Angeles Times interview. I feel there is a hole in me. I just dont understand it. That hole was partially filled in 2007, when the motion picture academy gave him an honorary Oscar for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music. Although the composer was visibly moved when he received the award from Eastwood, he could not help but remind the academy that it had passed him over for a competitive award. In 2016, at age 87, he finally took home a competitive Oscar, for the score of "The Hateful Eight." In his acceptance speech, he thanked the other nominated composers as a group but gave a special shout-out to John Williams, the "Star Wars" composer, a perennial academy favorite and fellow octogenarian who had been working nearly as long as he had. In his later years, Morricone conducted highly popular performances of his works with large orchestras and choruses massed especially for the occasions. Still, he kept on composing for film and television, with total credits surpassing 520. But taking a stance that was uncharacteristically modest, Morricone said his output was slight compared with at least one classical composer. If you think about it, Bach, for example, used to compose one cantata a week. He had to compose the music in time for it to be performed in church on Sunday, Morricone said in a 2010 interview with the Quietus online arts site. So if you just consider Bach, you will see that Im practically unemployed. Morricone is survived by his wife, Maria Travia, whom he married in 1956, and their four children. Colker is a former Times staff writer. AFP via Getty Images A Mississippi elections official became the subject of social media fury over the weekend when she tweeted that she was "concerned" about an increase in black voters. "I'm concerned about voter registration in Mississippi," Gail Welch, an elections commissioner in Jones County, Mississippi wrote. "The blacks are having lots [of] events for voter registration. People in Mississippi have to get involved, too." The Clarion Ledger reported that Ms Welch wrote the comment on Sunday on Facebook. The comment then went viral across social media. Ms Welch defended her statement claiming it had been intended to be private and that she wasn't trying to be racist, but rather encourage voter turnout. "We've always in the past had whites really participating in registering to vote. So many people don't seem to be concerned about [voting]," Ms Welch said. "I was just trying to strike a match under people and get them to vote - to get everybody to vote. This was not intended to be anything." Senator Juan Barnett, who represents part of Jones County, said that a simple "get out the vote" message didn't need to be racially specific. "Why do we have to refer to Blacks going around to do voter registration? Does it really matter? I mean it's important that everybody gets out and registers to vote," the senator said. Mr Barnett couldn't say whether or not Ms Welch was a racist, but he said he understood why people would draw that conclusion. "I don't know if she is racist or not. But it's the just undertone and stuff of what people say that gives the illusion that that's what you are, based on what was said," Mr Barnett said. Mr Barnett noted that as a result of Ms Welch's statements, the integrity of elections in Jones County under her overview has been called into question. "With people saying that kind of stuff, it makes them question, if this person is over the election, are they really going to run this?" Mr Barnett said. "Are they really going to do what they say they're going to do? It puts that office that you're holding ... now there's some credibility issues with that office. Not necessarily with you, but in that office." Story continues Ms Welch's comments came on the same weekend as the state's legislators' vote to retire the Confederate emblem-emblazoned state flag. Under House Bill 1796, the current flag will be removed and the process to design a new one will begin. The current flag has to be removed within 15 days of the law's passage and the new flag must contain the words "In God We Trust" and cannot include Confederate imagery. The state's current flag was first used in 1894, almost thirty years after the US Civil War. Voters will ultimately decide on the new flag during the November election. If the flag is rejected, the state will restart the design process. Read more Trump 'cares more about Confederate statues than coronavirus' The idea is currently up for debate. (Getty Images) MPs have called for a three-month extension for all new parents caught up in the coronavirus pandemic while on parental leave. The call for an extension has been backed up by warnings over job losses and the difficulty of arranging childcare during this time. A report, following a petition, published on 6 July found that new parents have missed out on vital support during lockdown, leading to some developing severe mental health issues. The lack of support includes cancelled appointments with health professionals as well as lack of access to doctors, dentists and mental health services. Read more: Three-quarters of parents have developed closer bond with children during lockdown A petition encouraging the government to extend parental leave for three months was signed by 226,000 people, prompting the Commons petitions committee to look into the impact COVID-19 has had on new parents. It found that some parents are at risk of losing their jobs because of the coronavirus, while others have no childcare options to support them when they return to work. Without the support of grandparents and with limited childminders and nursery places available because of the uptake from other parents, many people who signed the petition simply said they were unable to return to work because they didnt have any support to do so. The government made an initial suggestion that one parent could be moved on to furlough after their leave ends, but the committee warned this was rarely offered and wouldnt be an option for the majority of those returning to work in the coming weeks and months. Read more: How to help a choking baby, according to experts Tens of thousands of people have been affected by childcare problems as a result of COVID-19, and MPs are urging ministers to extend maternity, shared parental and adoption leave for those impacted. At the moment in the UK, women are able to take a years maternity leave and receive statutory pay for 39 weeks. Parents who choose to use shared leave are entitled to 50 weeks with 37 weeks pay between them. Story continues The report suggests that it would cost the government an additional 966m if all eligible new parents took up the scheme. While it seems like a large number, in comparison to the 60bn estimated cost of the governments furlough scheme, it doesnt seem quite so big. While ministers recently rejected the scheme on the grounds that the parental leave scheme in the UK is already superior to that of other countries, committee chair, Catherine McKinnell, is not happy with the response. This pandemic is having a huge impact on families and it is clear from the evidence we have taken the huge additional challenges this crisis has presented for many people on maternity, parental and adoption leave, she said. The government must urgently provide much needed additional support for new parents to prevent the effects of the pandemic having a lasting and damaging impact for years to come. The conversation is still ongoing. Chinese President Xi Jinping (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press) Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun, one of China's few remaining outspoken critics of President Xi Jinping and the communist government, was taken from his home in Beijing by police on Monday morning. Close friends of Xu's who spoke with his family confirmed that he had been arrested and that they did not know where the police had taken him. About 20 police officers surrounded Xu's home while more than 10 others entered, searched the residence, confiscated his computer and then took Xu away, according to a statement from friends of Xu, which has been widely circulated among Chinese activists. Police did not make any public statement about Xu's arrest or any charges. The Chinese legal expert had taught jurisprudence and constitutional law at Tsinghua, one of China's most prestigious universities, but was suspended in 2019 after publishing a series of essays that criticized Xi's alteration of the Chinese Constitution to remove presidential term limits. Xu's detention is the latest amid a crackdown on dissent and free speech in China that has especially targeted intellectuals and those who stray from the Communist Party narrative of state-led victory over the country's coronavirus outbreak. Room for dissent continues to shrink under Xi's government, as those who voice challenges to the party's authority are silenced one by one. Novelist Fang Fang, whose published diary depicts ordinary people's suffering during lockdown in the city of Wuhan and seeks accountability for government missteps, has become the target of nationalistic attacks with implicit state support. Several professors who wrote essays supporting Fang Fang have been placed under investigation or fired and stripped of their Communist Party membership. Ren Zhiqiang, a real estate tycoon with powerful political connections his father was among the generation of communist revolutionaries who founded the People's Republic also disappeared this year after he wrote an essay calling Xi a "clown" over his handling of COVID-19. The party later announced that Ren was under investigation for "serious violations of law and discipline." Story continues Several citizens who tried to report on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan have also been detained. They include lawyer Chen Qiushi, Wuhan resident Fang Bin and former CCTV employee Li Zehua, who reappeared in April after disappearing for two months. Li gave a video statement in which he said that the police had acted "civilly and legally," demonstrating care for him while he was in detention and quarantine. The others remain missing. This year, human rights lawyer and activist Xu Zhiyong (no relation to Xu Zhangrun) was arrested in southern China after he called for Xi's resignation online. He had been part of a circle of dissidents, lawyers, intellectuals and civil society members who met in the port city of Xiamen in December to discuss how to build citizenship and rule of law in China. More than a dozen attendees of those meetings have been detained or called to court, while others remain in hiding. Others who have been jailed, vanished, put under house arrest or pressured into silence through threats to their families, jobs and lives in recent months include lawyers, poets, petitioners, COVID-19 survivors and their families. Xu Zhangrun had been under pressure since 2018, long before the pandemic, for penning pointed criticisms of China's current political state. His essays are both literary and analytical, at once striking at the heart of party authority and offering policy suggestions for change, all with a poetic flourish. In his first 2018 essay, titled "Our imminent fears and hopes," Xu criticized Xi's erasure of term limits, suppression of intellectuals, overspending on foreign aid while inequality worsened at home, and pulling China back into a period of isolationism and personality cult-led politics. Xu called for officials to disclose their personal assets and for an end to the system that provides access to better healthcare, vacation resorts and safe food for high-level cadres. After that essay, Xu was suspended from teaching, put under multiple periods of house arrest and blocked from leaving China, according to his friends. But he continued to write. In February, at the height of China's coronavirus outbreak, as calls for freedom of speech swept the nation after a whistle-blowing doctor's death, Xu wrote "The angry people are no longer afraid," an essay lambasting Xi and the "ethically bankrupt" Communist Party for prioritizing their power above Chinese citizens' lives. "It is a system that turns every natural disaster into an even greater man-made catastrophe," Xu wrote. "The coronavirus epidemic has revealed the rotten core of Chinese governance." After that essay, Xu was again placed under house arrest and periodically cut off from the internet. He was aware of looming imprisonment: "This may well be the last thing I write," he noted in the essay. "But that is not up to me." He was able to meet with friends and fellow professors for meals occasionally, according to his colleagues. In May, just before the national political meetings in Beijing, Xu wrote a final essay titled "China, a lone ship on the vast ocean of global civilization," lamenting the country's continued slide toward totalitarianism and calling again for accountability, release of detained journalists, free speech, protection of property and transparency. "Enough with this mold-infested god-making movement, this shallow worship of leaders," he wrote. "Enough with these seven years of absurdity and confusion, ... these 70 years of mountains of corpses and oceans of blood...." He signed it: "With outrage, worry and sorrow." Portland police have responded to 17 shootings so far this month, a 240 percent increase when the city saw five in the same timeframe last year, the department announced Monday. One shooting earlier this month injured a man, while another resulted in an infant child putting a spent bullet in her mouth, police revealed. In a statement, Portland police chief Chuck Lovell called the spike alarming. Gun violence negatively impacts everyone in our community and the increase we are seeing is alarming, he said. As a community, we must come together to send a message that shootings in our City are unacceptable. Portland has faced weeks of unrest following the death of George Floyd in May. Over the weekend, police declared a riot after a bronze sculpture honoring Oregons pioneers was set ablaze outside the citys justice center. The Fourth of July marked the citys 38th consecutive day of civil unrest. The head of Portlands police union released his own statement on Monday, calling on officials to take action. As riots continue, it is obvious to everyone that this is no longer about George Floyd, social justice, or police reform, Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner said. This is about a group of individuals intent on causing injury, chaos, and destruction by rioting, looting, starting fires, throwing rocks, bottles, mortars, urine, and feces at peaceful protestors, as well as the police. Last month, protestors attempted to set up an autonomous zone in Portlands Pearl District, near an apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler reportedly lives, but were stymied by police. More from National Review iStock/D-Keine(ATLANTA) -- Gun violence wracked the U.S. over the holiday weekend, with several major cities reporting that children as young as seven died in the spate of shootings. Chicago, Atlanta, as well as Greenville, South Carolina, reported a string of shootings over the July 4 holiday weekend. Over 70 people were shot in Chicago since Friday morning. 15 of those instances were fatal and one of those cases was that of a seven-year-old girl. The young victim was in the city visiting her grandmother, says Chief of Detectives Fred Waller of the Chicago Police Department. The child, identified as Natalie Waller, was outside playing with other children in front of her grandmother's house when a car pulled up and the occupants began firing at the crowd. No arrests have been made. Hours after Waller's death, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the back when four unidentified men approached his family's holiday gathering and opened fire. No arrests have been made in that case, as well. Gun violence also gripped Atlanta over the weekend where an eight-year-old girl was shot and killed when riding in the backseat of her mother's car. Atlanta police say over a dozen people were shot during a street party. No arrests have been made in either case. A shooting also erupted in a Greenville, South Carolina, nightclub -- injuring eight and killing two. The shooting occurred early Sunday morning at the Lavish Lounge. Sheriff Hobart Lewis says two suspects remain at large, where it is believed more people were involved in the deadly exchange. Several hundred people were inside the club, which Lewis says was in direct violation of the governor's executive order regarding concerts and nightclubs. The club was hosting a concert from trap rapper Foogiano. It is believed his band members were allegedly involved in the shooting. Prince Andrew is embroiled in a war of words with US authorities. (Getty Images) Prince Andrew has denied claims that his legal team sought help from a Washington lobbyist with ties to the Trump administration to assist with the fallout of his friendship with a convicted sex offender. The New York Times alleged Andrews lawyers contacted Robert Stryk, who represents people in sensitive diplomatic or legal issues and hired two of Trumps team after the 2016 election. The paper claimed Stryk had expressed discomfort at the idea of representing the Duke of York, who is embroiled in a war of words with US authorities over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. A source close to Andrews team said: This looks like a lobby firm advertising. No engagements have been made or sought. Stryk did not comment to The New York Times. Virginia Giuffre has accused the duke, 60, of having sex with her when she was trafficked by Epstein. On one occasion, she says, she was underage in the US. Read more: Sir Keir Starmer calls for Prince Andrew to cooperate with US authorities Prince Andrew (right) with Donald Trump and his future wife Melania Knauss at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000. (Getty Images) Donald Trump and Melania Knauss with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago club in 2000. (Getty Images) The duke denies all the allegations and pledged in November that he would co-operate with US authorities investigating the charges against Epstein, who died in prison awaiting trial for sex offences. No charges have been filed against Andrew, but the FBI has said it would like a statement from him. That investigation hit a new point on Thursday when former girlfriend and long-term associate of Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and charged with helping to lure underage girls who were then sexually abused by the disgraced financier. Maxwell and Andrew have been friends since their university days, and it is said to be through her that he knew Epstein. In an interview on BBC Newsnight in November, Andrew claimed his association with Epstein was as a plus one of Maxwell. President Donald Trump with Prince Andrew during his state visit in 2019. (Getty Images) Read more: What has Prince Andrew said about his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell? Stryk runs a firm called Sonoran Policy Group (SPG) that carries out global private diplomacy. Little is known about the firm, and its website features only a single webpage with a contact phone number and email address. Story continues Stryks firm has reportedly signed deals to represent the administration of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, as well as Africas richest woman Isabel dos Santos and associates of a jailed Saudi prince who fell out of favour with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Trump administration calls Maduros administration an illegitimate and tyrannical regime intent on destroying democratic institutions, abusing human rights, engaging in rampant corruption. According to Politico, Stryk helped set up a call between Trump and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern in the weeks after the US election. Shortly after, SPG was reportedly hired by the NZ government. Yahoo UK has contacted SPG for a comment. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have said people will feel uncomfortable as racism and unconscious bias is challenged across the Commonwealth in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. The royal couple joined representatives from the Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT), which they are still president and vice president of, despite stepping back as senior royals, to discuss justice and equal rights. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been having conversations with community leaders throughout the US in the wake of the death of George Floyd, which has sparked renewed calls and pressure for equality around the world. On Wednesday, they spoke to some young leaders in the QCT network, in one of the trusts weekly discussions. The couple joined from the home they're staying in in LA. (QCT) The group talked about Floyds death as a turning point, discussing how people can be allies in the quest for greater equality. Meghan said: Were going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because its only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships. Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing which is a fundamental human right. Read more: Meghan's history of campaigning against racism from early acting days to royal court cases The group also talked about the Commonwealths past, with Harry saying: When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past, and guess what, everybody benefits. Meghan said this is a moment of reckoning and called for people to put their hands up and recognise where they may have gone wrong in the past. She also spoke about her personal experience of racism, and said that in peoples complacency, theyre complicit. Harry said institutional and systemic racism stays there because it benefits someone. The duke said: We cant deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently. However, once you start to realise that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to become more aware, so that you can help stand up for something that is so wrong and should not be acceptable in our society today. Story continues The duchess added: Its not just in the big moments, its in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, both passively and actively. Read more: Meghan's make-up artist says Royal Family is 'one-way' establishment Both Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, have addressed racism in speeches in recent weeks, starting with the duchesss message to the graduating class of her former high school in LA, in which she said she was sorry the students were growing up in a world where racial injustice still existed. Last week, Harry used his speech at the Diana Awards to apologise that our generation and the ones before us havent done enough to right the wrongs of the past. The couple are living in Los Angeles and preparing to launch their new non-profit Archewell next year. Its thought the discussions they are having will play into the work the non-profit focuses on. Harry and Meghan heard how the young leaders including Chrisann Jarrett, QCT Trustee and co-founder and co-chief executive of We Belong; Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas; Mike Omoniyi, founder and chief executive of the Common Sense Network; and Abdullahi Alim, who leads the World Economic Forums Global Shapers network of emerging young leaders in Africa and the Middle East are looking at the issues in terms of their own countries history and realities. Read more: Meghan wins diversity award with 'groundbreaking' Vogue cover Omoniyi said: After pressing send online, people need to roll up their sleeves and do the work. Theres a whole host of things that it means to be an ally but the impetus has to be humility, kindness and a willingness to learn new things. Harry praised the Black Lives Matter movement for sweeping the world while working without a single leader. Alim called for people to allow implicated groups to determine what the best course of action is. The duchess said she understood that means people should know when to lead and know when to listen. The couple said the young leaders had the attention of the world and that there was nothing they could not do, but acknowledged the process would be painful. They remained as president and vice president of the QCT after stepping back from royal duties earlier this year, having previously committed to it as one of their main areas of work when they got married. Launched in 2018, the QCT works with young leaders who are working to change the world. The QCT does not necessarily reflect the views of the Royal Family. Officials in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Miami-Dade County, Fla., have acknowledged that anti-police protests and riots may have led to increased spread of the coronavirus, according to a Fox News report. All three cities have experienced an uptick in coronavirus cases after weeks of protesting sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Many Democrats and public-health professionals alike had voiced support of the demonstrations, including Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti. Two days after maintaining that there wasnt any conclusive evidence showing a connection between protests and a surge in cases of the virus, Garcetti did an about-face, saying the countys public-health director does think some of the spread did come from our protests. The county reported a record 3,187 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic, according to health officials on Sunday. Still, Garcetti didnt admonish protestors. Its not the act of protesting thats a great and American thing to do no matter what your opinion is . . . but protesting without maintaining physical distancing, without wearing your mask, without having sanitizer we just have to be smart. Whether youre at a protest or at your home, whether in your workplace or whether youre out shopping, these rules dont change. In Miami-Dade protests were a contributing factor to spiking cases, a spokesperson for the mayor told Fox News. A team of medical experts who advise Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez have told him that based on information in local emergency rooms, the protests were a contributing factor to the spread of the virus, along with our community letting its guard down and not social distancing or wearing masks, as mandated. Graduation parties, house parties and restaurants illegally turning into clubs after midnight all contributed to the spike. Gimenez issued a curfew last week in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus in the county. Story continues Meanwhile, Seattle city health official James Apa told Fox News any impact of protests was marginal: A small percentage of the total number of cases reported going to a protest, which may or may not mean they acquired it there. Protests are not driving our upsurge in cases. In New York, though WNBC reported that over the course of a week the citys percentage of positive coronavirus cases rose for four consecutive days, mayor Bill de Blasios office maintained that the protests had not affected community spread in the city. Based on our health indicators, which measure hospital admissions, number of people in ICU and percentage of New Yorkers testing positive, we have seen no indication of an uptick in cases, Avery Cohen, de Blasios deputy press secretary, told Fox News. While cases in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Miami-Dade are all increasing, cases in New York City have been steadily declining, though it remains unclear if potentially asymptomatic cases among the mostly young crowds are going undetected. Last month, the city drew criticism for its decision not to ask people if they participated in Black Lives Matter protests during contact tracing calls to monitor the spread of coronavirus. Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, told New Yorkers last month, If you were at a protest, go get a test, please. More from National Review At least three pubs have closed their doors just days after reopening because customers tested positive for coronavirus. Bars in England welcomed back drinkers at the weekend for the first time since the hospitality sector went into lockdown in March, reopening as part of so-called Super Saturday. But three establishments have alerted their patrons to say they have to close again after reporting cases of COVID-19. The Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, said a customer had tested positive and it was making its way through a list of people who were in the bar on Saturday. In a statement posted on Facebook, it added: "All our staff are going to be tested and we will reopen when the time is safe to do so." The Lighthouse Inn in Burnham-On-Sea has had to close after one of its customers tested positive for coronavirus. (Google Maps) This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Jess Green, landlady of The Lighthouse Inn, shut the pub and rang at least 90 people who had left their contact details when they had visited at the weekend. She told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: "The main thing that was going through our heads was we had to make sure everyone was safe, that we contacted everyone of our customers. "It took us all day, we finished at about 10 o'clock last night. When asked what the experience was like, she said: Stressful thats probably the only word I can use. The Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire, said it would be closed until further notice after receiving a call from a customer on Monday to say they had tested positive for coronavirus. Posting on its Facebook page, it said all staff had since taken a test and added that the pub will be "fully deep cleaned and when safe to do so we will reopen our doors". The Village Home Pub in Alverstoke, Hampshire, said it had also "had a case of coronavirus in the pub", adding that "some of us are in isolation". Watch the video below Its statement on Facebook said: "The pub is now shut but all being well will open again on Saturday. Anyone who was in the pub over the weekend there is no need to isolate unless you show symptoms or are contacted direct by the trace group. Thank you and hope to see you soon." Story continues According to the Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News, the man who tested positive at the Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery was a customer at Vape Escape, a vape shop and cocktail bar also in Burnham-On-Sea. Leanne Underhill, owner of Vape Escape, said the man who tested positive for COVID-19 also came into her shop at the weekend. Read more: Boris Johnson tells Britons to behave responsibly as pubs re-open Underhill was alerted to the fact that he had tested positive and had to shut her shop. She said that four of her staff members were tested for coronavirus, but all came back negative. Customers enjoying their drinks in Soho during the "Super Saturday" in London. (Getty) Members of the public are seen at a bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter on Saturday. (AP) The shop reopened on Monday, with only one staff member in the premises at one time. Meanwhile in London, Metropolitan Police commander, Bas Javid, said a small number of pubs closed early after advice from officers because of crowding and social distancing issues. Read more: UK's 'Super Saturday' as pubs and restaurants reopen The majority of the public complied with social distancing guidelines and remained vigilant, he said. While some areas were notably busy such as Soho and Portobello Road, we are pleased there were no significant issues or incidents in the capital. Staff at BrewDog Tower Hill prepare to reopen with social distancing measures in place on Friday in London. (Getty) Rafal Liszewski, a store manager on Old Compton Street, said crowds began to arrive from around 1pm on Saturday. By 8 to 9pm it was a proper street party with people dancing and drinking, he said. Barely anyone was wearing masks and nobody respected social distancing. To be honest, with that many people on one street it was physically impossible. Coronavirus: what happened today Read more about COVID-19 How to get a coronavirus test if you have symptoms How easing of lockdown rules affects you In pictures: How UK school classrooms could look in new normal How public transport could look after lockdown How our public spaces will change in the future Help and advice Read the full list of official FAQs here 10 tips from the NHS to help deal with anxiety What to do if you think you have symptoms How to get help if you've been furloughed In 1648, at the negotiating tables of Munster and Osnabruck, a panoply of European diplomats signed a document that would lay down the foundations of the modern world order: the Treaty of Westphalia. Naturally, the signatories did not realize the impact of their contribution to history. Far from a pack of enlightened philosophers in search of perpetual peace, Westphalias architects simply found themselves faced with an uncomfortable reality; after 30 years of uninterrupted war and centuries of religious conflicts, it was time to stop the carnage. Western powers based the Westphalian system of sovereign states on one central proposition: If diplomacy is to accommodate a myriad of religious beliefs, value systems, and cultures, its core must be procedural, not substantive. Rather than engaging in what Samuel P. Huntington would later call a clash of civilizations, competing states would not concern themselves with one anothers spiritual doctrines, symbolic rituals, and local particularisms. Instead, people with deeply antagonistic worldviews would set their differences aside to agree on a set of mutually beneficial partnerships. To establish these neutral working relationships, the fundamental entity of international relations would also have to change. Gone were ancient city-states and civilizations. And enter the Westphalian nation-state, a secular political unit fond of rational deterrents and translational dialogue. The Enlightenment later supplied Westphalias philosophical foundations. After centuries of religious fervor and traditions, Man re-became what Aristotle called a rational animal. In his masterful essay What Is Enlightenment? Immanuel Kant invited his contemporaries to liberate themselves from the lazy and immature grip of superstition. For Kant, Man erected an army of traditions to avoid the need to think about the world and its complexities. At last, the Age of Reason had come, he said, and reason alone would suffice. Story continues From this point onward, progress would take over history. Kant envisioned the fall of tyrants, the rise of republics, the disappearance of national boundaries, the end of customs, and the emergence of cosmopolitan peace. One after the other, peoples would succumb to the magnetic attraction of liberalism and its pacifist promises. To hold the hand of this great enterprise, the international state system would need to push religious and cultural preoccupations to the margins of politics. Fortunately, Westphalia had already begun to turn man into an impressive homo economicus endowed with supposedly infallible rationality. Last Wednesday, by voting in favor of groundbreaking constitutional changes, the Russian people slapped this Westphalian order in the face. Closely monitored by the Kremlin, the referendum proposed, among other things, to allow Vladimir Putin to remain president until 2036 (if reelected), to ban same-sex marriages, to include the notion of belief in God in the Russian constitution, and to emphasize the primacy of Russian law over international norms. In short, the Russian people were offered a choice between embracing modernity or rejecting its foundations, and they chose the latter. A negative vote would have paved the way to the rise of a Russian nation-state, in the Westphalian sense of the term. Putins czarist aspirations could have been frustrated. The last bastion of Western anti-liberalism could have fallen but it did not. Instead, the Russians reaffirmed their status as a civilization-state, a notion long forgotten by Westphalian enthusiasts. Where classical liberals see the nation-state as a guardian of human rights and fundamental liberties, a Rechtsstaat (a rule-of-law state), partisans of the civilization-state view politics first and foremost as an instrument of power, a Machtstaat (a mighty-power state). And this power ought to be used to protect a specific cultural tradition. Naturally, the recent reemergence of civilization-states extends far beyond Russias borders. In India, for example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, a bill fast-tracking citizenship for immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan but not if they are Muslim. The Act symbolizes a certain conception of national identity; while no one needs to become Hindu to be a true Indian, a deep appreciation of (if not reverence for) the Hindu way is required. For Modi, and for Putin, citizenship and culture are one and the same; the state wields power primarily to enforce and preserve traditional norms. But the most interesting and worrying commonality between Modi and Putin lies in the strength of their popular support. In Indias 2019 election, Modis party captured more than 300 additional seats in the lower house of Parliament. As for Putin, while we should by no means minimize the influence of the Kremlin on election results, Russias Central Election Commission declared that 78 percent of votes across the country had supported the constitutional changes. We should neither blame these results on the convincing rhetoric of strongmen nor condescend to the Russian and Indian people by portraying them as naive fools. In both cases, the civilization-state ultimately vanquished the nation-state with overwhelming popular support. While the rise of anti-modern powers need not lead to the fall of the Westphalian system, it should. Granted, the current world order is, in many ways, more liberal than any previous order in history. Free and democratic states continue to possess tremendous influence, market-based systems of private property have gathered almost universal support, and a large array of international institutions advocate liberal values around the world. Yet we need not and should not embrace Francis Fukuyamas optimistic reading of the end of history. The referendum in Russia is not an isolated crisis punctuating an otherwise unstoppable progress toward Enlightenment. It is a symptom within a series of wider malfunctions. From Syria and Libya to Iraq and Afghanistan, Western interventions in North Africa and the Middle East are systematic failures. Outside the West, genuine adherence to democratic principles remains fragile. Within the West, nationalist resurgences repudiate the foundations of internationalism. Ultimately, far from a clear and coherent structure, the liberal world order appears neither liberal nor orderly. For almost three centuries, Western observers have operated under the mistaken assumption that people are naturally drawn to liberal values, that rationality and progress are bound to triumph over tyranny and tradition. But the best way to preserve a liberal world order would be to begin by acknowledging its current shortcomings. First, if liberal norms are to endure, they need to be defended with as much fervor as they are attacked. Second, and most important, post-Westphalian liberalism needs to recognize the crucial role played by religion, traditions, and national identity in the construction of true nation-states; if we abandon all of these values to anti-liberal extremists, we will leave people with an unnecessary dichotomy between culture and fundamental rights and their choice might well displease us. We are not witnessing the end of history and the glorious realization of Kants wildest dreams. To paraphrase Churchill, we are not even witnessing the beginning of the end of history. Instead, we may be experiencing the end of its beginning, the overdue collapse of the conflict between international cooperation and national identity. More from National Review A quadriplegic father of five, 46-year-old Michael Hickson, died last month after he was diagnosed with coronavirus and the Austin hospital treating him concluded he had little quality of life left and halted his treatment. Hickson became a quadriplegic after he went into cardiac arrest in 2017 while he was driving his wife, Melissa Hickson, to work. He received CPR and suffered a brain injury due to loss of oxygen to his brain. Over the past three years, he has been in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities as well as his home. Hickson was residing at Brush Country, a nursing and rehabilitation center in Austin, when Mrs. Hickson was notified on May 15 that her husband had tested positive for coronavirus after being infected by a staff member at Brush Country but was asymptomatic. On May 25, she was informed he had tested negative. However, two weeks later on June 2, Mrs. Hickson was informed that her husband was experiencing coughing, trouble breathing, and a low-grade fever and had been admitted to St. Davids South Austin Medical Center. The next day, Hickson was moved to the hospitals intensive-care unit. Several days later on June 5, Hicksons wife was notified that he was not doing well, and she visited him in the hospital. She was not allowed into her husbands room, but she was permitted to have a FaceTime call with him from hallway. During that call, Hickson was conscious and responsive, puckering his lips when his wife asked, Can I get a kiss? and nodding his head when she asked whether he wanted to pray with her. That same day, the ICU doctor had a conversation with Mrs. Hickson in the hospital hallway that was recorded, during which he informed her that in his assessment, her husband did not have much quality of life left. So as of right now, his quality of life he doesnt have much of one, the doctor said. What do you mean? Because hes paralyzed with a brain injury, he doesnt have quality of life? Mrs. Hickson responded. Story continues Correct, the doctor answered. The next day, Saturday, June 6, Mrs. Hickson was notified that her husband had been moved out of the ICU in stable condition and breathing on his own and that hospice care would be in touch with her. The hospice representative told Mrs. Hickson that her husband would be resuscitated and would receive fluids and nutrition. However, the hospital nurse gave her conflicting information, saying that he would not receive nutrition, hydration, or resuscitation. By this point, Hickson had developed pneumonia. They withdrew food, fluid, and any type of medical treatment to him for six days, Mrs. Hickson said in a video statement about her husbands death, adding that during that period she pleaded with both the hospital and her husbands temporary court-appointed guardian, Family Elder Care, to please, please stop this, but they refused. The last day Mrs. Hickson saw her husband was that Saturday, and she spent the following days until his death on Thursday, June 11 attempting to regain her legal- guardianship rights and schedule FaceTime calls with her husband. She was not able to schedule another call with her husband due to apparent communication issues between her, Family Elder Care, and the hospital. Hickson passed away shortly after 10 p.m. on June 11 and his wife said the hospital did not notify her until 11:30 a.m. the next morning, when hospice care called to ask if she wanted the information of the funeral home where his body had been transported. Mrs. Hickson was originally appointed temporary guardian of her husband, but a probate-court investigator for Travis County asked Mr. Hicksons sister, Renee Hickson, who is a physician, to file for guardianship rights as well, which she did. In the meantime, Probate Court judge Guy Herman appointed Family Eldercare as his temporary guardian. At first, Family Eldercare agreed to his wifes request that he be placed in a brain- and spinal-cord-injury program, rather than a nursing home. Later in March, the facility moved Hickson to Brush Country but assured his wife that the search for a rehabilitation facility for Hickson was ongoing. Mrs. Hickson believes that the court took her guardianship rights away because she refused to place him in a nursing home. After he was hospitalized for coronavirus, Family Elder Care and St. Davids decided together the fate of my husband, Mrs. Hickson said. A statement from the hospital provided by a St. Davids spokesperson read: The loss of life is tragic under any circumstances. In Mr. Hicksons situation, his court-appointed guardian (who was granted decision-making authority in place of his spouse) made the decision in collaboration with the medical team to discontinue invasive care. This is always a difficult decision for all involved. We extend our deepest sympathies to Mr. Hicksons family and loved ones and to all who are grieving his loss. St. Davids chief medical officer, Dr. DeVry Anderson, denied that Hicksons previous condition as a quadriplegic with a brain injury factored into the hospitals decision to halt his treatment. We dont use disability, or gender, or race, or religious background or anything like that to determine if were going to offer care to a patient, Dr. Anderson told KVUE, Austins ABC affiliate. And so in no way did his disability contribute to us not offering him care. In a statement, Family Elder Care offered condolences to Hicksons family and appeared to contradict his wifes account that her husband was denied nutrition for several days before his death. The facility said it consulted with Mr. Hicksons spouse, family, and the medical community on the medical complexity of his case. Mr. Hicksons spouse, family, and the medical community were in agreement with the decision not to intubate Mr. Hickson, the facility said in the statement. As Guardian, and in consultation with Mr. Hicksons family and medical providers, we agreed to the recommendation for hospice care so that Mr. Hickson could receive end-of-life comfort, nutrition and medications, in a caring environment. Brittany Baize, director of Development and Communications at Family Elder Care told National Review that laws governing guardianship and confidentiality prevents the facility from responding directly beyond the public record. Asked about whether Family Elder Care made the decision to remove Hicksons nutrition and hydration in tandem with his doctor, she responded that those are merely allegations. Since the facilitys temporary guardianship has ended, Family Elder Care is in no way preventing Hicksons medical records from being released to his family, Baize added. Regarding the apparent communication difficulties between Family Elder Care, the hospital, and Hicksons wife when Mrs. Hickson was attempting to schedule FaceTime calls with her husband, Baize said, Im sure its being presented that way. Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, a Houston-area brain injury and neurotrauma specialist and professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, weighed in on the case on Twitter, saying she disagrees with the hospitals decision. As a Brain Injury Medicine physician, I have fought for patients like this every day of my career in Physiatry, Verduzco-Gutierrez wrote in a tweet about Hicksons case. Begging doctors who dont know the outcome data or wouldnt want to live that way to give a chance at treatment, rehab, & life. Hickson may have had more quality of life than any of us, she said. A video posted in April 2018 shows Hickson awake and interacting with his family, laughing as someone tells him a story, and singing Happy Birthday. I never had a chance to even say goodbye, Mrs. Hickson said in her video message. His voice, which was me, was ripped away from him. Thats not right. He deserves so much more. And now today, Im a widow, and my children fatherless because someone decided that his life wasnt worth treating, she said. More from National Review - Radiance Holdings is the Newly Formed Parent Company of Sola Salon Studios; New Holding Company to Represent A Collection of Premier Beauty, Wellness and Self-Care Concepts - DENVER, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Since its inception in 2004, Sola Salon Studios has become the world's largest and fastest growing salon studios franchise with more than 500 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Brazil. Today, through the newly formed Radiance Holdings, Sola Salon Studios' leadership announced the acquisition of The Woodhouse Day Spa, the leading brand in its category, which currently has over 60 franchise locations open in 21 states. Radiance Holdings plans to represent a collection of premier brands in the beauty, wellness and self-care sector. Sola Salon Studios (PRNewsfoto/Sola Salon Studios) Founded in Victoria, Texas in 2001, The Woodhouse Day Spa operates as a high-end day spa franchise that brings a resort experience to a neighborhood setting. Woodhouse prides itself on providing its guests with a tranquil and transformational spa experience with well-appointed amenities, luxurious relaxation spaces, high-end retail and several signature services such as its age-defying, award-winning Minkyti Facial; Four-Handed Massage; Hand Retreat manicure; and Seaweed Leaf pedicure. Christina Russell, who has served as Sola Salon Studios' CEO since June 2019, will transition into an expanded role as CEO of Radiance Holdings where she will continue to leverage her extensive senior leadership background in franchising to build strategy and drive execution for each of Radiance's brands. With Russell's transition, Sola's president and COO, Myrle McNeal, will continue to lead day-to-day operations of the franchise brand, including driving performance, as well as developing Sola's team and leading its culture. "Like the rest of the world, we have experienced extraordinary times over the past several months, but we are glad to be emerging strong and ready to greet the opportunities ahead. With the support of our investors, and their resources behind us, we have been able to pursue several important strategic initiatives that are a major step forward and will help to bolster our company and create many new opportunities for our franchisees," said Christina Russell, CEO of Radiance Holdings. "The formation of Radiance and the acquisition of The Woodhouse Day Spa represents an important milestone in the growth of our company. We're thrilled to have Woodhouse and its franchisees join Sola in our collection of premier concepts." Story continues As Radiance Holdings continues to develop its portfolio of brands, CEO Christina Russell is joined by Ben Jones and Nathan Jensen, who have been appointed Radiance's chief development officer (CDO) & chief counsel and chief financial officer, respectively. Prior to their expanded roles with Radiance, Jones and Jensen both held these respective roles with Sola Salon Studios. Jones first joined Sola in 2012 and has been instrumental in the brand's rapid growth, more than doubling its footprint over the past five years. Jensen has overseen Sola's financial health since August 2019 and brings more than a decade of accounting and financial leadership experience to Radiance Holdings. "For the past 19 years, The Woodhouse Day Spa has been my passion and purpose, and I am so proud of the brand, the team, and the family culture we've maintained during our growth," said Jeni Garrett, founder of The Woodhouse Day Spa. "As I enter my next chapter, I am excited to transition the company to Christina and the entire team at Radiance. I'm confident that the Woodhouse franchise partners and team are in the best, most capable hands of industry leaders with several decades of combined experience." ABOUT RADIANCE HOLDINGS Radiance Holdings represents a collection of premier brands in the beauty, wellness and self-care sector. Led by Christina Russell, CEO, Radiance's current brand portfolio includes Sola Salon Studios, the world's largest and fastest growing salon studios franchise, and The Woodhouse Day Spa, the largest premium day spa brand in the U.S. Radiance is committed to investing in its brands, driving innovation, and helping their franchisees and their community of independent beauty professionals grow their businesses and improve their lives. ABOUT SOLA SALON STUDIOS In 2004, Sola Salon Studios was established with the opening of its first location in Denver, Colorado. Now with 519 locations open in the U.S., Canada and Brazil, Sola is proud to offer 15,000+ independent beauty professionals the freedom and benefits of salon ownership without the risk and overhead of opening a traditional salon. Its innovative salon model empowers hairdressers, estheticians, nail techs, massage therapists and other like-minded professionals to take control of their lives and their careers. Sola provides beauty professionals with beautiful, fully-equipped salon studios alongside the support and tools they need to launch their salon business in no time. For more information, please visit www.solasalonstudios.com. ABOUT THE WOODHOUSE DAY SPA Founded in Victoria, Texas in 2001, The Woodhouse Day Spa provides each guest with a tranquil, transformational environment that's both memorable and healthful. From beginning to end, dedicated spa teams ensure that each visit enhances the guest's well-being. Every spa team member is versed in the 99 Elements of the Woodhouse Experience, ensuring guests the same high-quality signature services across more than 65 locations. For more information, please visit www.woodhousespas.com. Contact: Caitlin Willard Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 cwillard@fish-consulting.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/radiance-holdings-acquires-the-woodhouse-day-spa-301088412.html SOURCE Sola Salon Studios Click here to read the full article. MILAN In a move to prove its commitment toward the environment and a socially responsible business model, Biella-based textile firm Reda has received the B Corp certification, WWD has learned. It is the first Italian textile firm to obtain such certification, and among the few companies operating in the same sector worldwide. B Corps community counts more than 3,400 certified firms, 140 of which operate in the apparel and textile sector including Patagonia Inc., Reformation and Eileen Fisher Inc. Reda, as all businesses interested in joining the B Corp movement, has been evaluated by B Labs certification authority through the Business Impact Assessment, a questionnaire that measures the degrees of social and environmental performances according to five categories: governance, people, community, environment and clients. It is fundamental that companies increasingly become places where we can share and promote values, visions and projects, beyond profit, said Ercole Botto Poala, chief executive officer of Reda. Sustainable innovation is the first step toward creating value for the society, which is only possible if people are involved and seen as the true protagonists of change. We are proud that Reda is the first textile company in Italy to adopt the B Corp model, as yet another expression of its concrete commitment toward people and the environment, he added. To this end, the company has been actively upping its sustainable efforts both in terms of products and processes. It recently introduced the Woollness lineup of naturally stretch and breathable fabrics treated in high-temperature environments and washed with natural soaps and a sustainable bi-stretch fabric that employs the Roica V550 polymer, which biodegrades without releasing harmful substances. The textile firm sources its merino wool from SustainaWool and ZQ-certified farms and gained the EMAS certification, guaranteeing full respect of legal standards and constant improvement in environmental performance. In 2019 the company released two Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs, protocols to assess the impact of the mills operations. The Biella complex has been equipped to produce renewable energy via a photovoltaic system, while left over fabrics are usually recycled to produce fillings or carded flannel. Story continues In terms of social corporate responsibility, Reda has implemented a range of welfare initiatives and regularly supports new hires through training programs. As the lockdown was being enforced in Italy, it swiftly offered its employees to work remotely from home and has always supported local associations and charity events. The B Corp seal of approval is issued by B Lab Co., a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit founded in 2006 by Bart Houlahan, Jay Coen Gilbert and Andrew Kassoy. Houlahan and Coen Gilbert, who came from the footwear and apparel company AND1, and Kassoy, who had worked in private equity, have advocated for a more conscious capitalism. To that end, B Lab bestows the certification on companies it deems responsible corporate citizens that consider their impact not just on investors, but on employees, the environment and the communities in which they operate. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Army has identified the remains of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen, her family's lawyer said in a statement Sunday evening. Guillen, 20, was last seen in a parking lot on the Texas Army base on April 22, according to military officials. On June 30, investigators said they found unidentified human remains about 20 miles away from the Killeen, Texas, base. "The Army has confirmed that the bones, hair and other remains found are Vanessa Guillen," attorney Natalie Khawam said Sunday in the statement. "We are at a loss for words." The Army Criminal Investigation Division has yet to independently confirm the identification. ABC News has reached out to Army CID for comment. MORE: Timeline: What to know about missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen One of two suspects in the case died by suicide on July 1 after being confronted by Killeen police officers and federal marshals, investigators said. The suspect, Aaron David Robinson, 20, was a fellow Fort Hood soldier and one of the last people in touch with Guillen based on cellphone records, according to court documents. The second suspect, Cecily Aguilar, 22, has been identified in court documents as Robinson's girlfriend. Aguilar allegedly admitted to CID investigators that Robinson told her he bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer, according to court documents. Aguilar allegedly helped him dispose of the victim's body by dismembering and burying it, according to court records. PHOTO: Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, 20, has been missing from her unit since April 22, 2020, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. (U.S. Army) Aguilar was arrested July 1 and charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. She is expected in federal court in Waco, Texas, for arraignment on Monday. An attorney for her was not listed among online court records. Khawam previously said investigators told her that Guillen and Robinson had an argument in the base's armory after she discovered his alleged affair with the estranged wife of a former soldier. The Army has not publicly confirmed that motive. Story continues The Guillen family and Khawam have also alleged that a man had walked in on Guillen and watched her as she showered. Guillen did not report the incident because she feared reprisals, her family said. Military officials said that they didn't find evidence of sexual harassment to confirm her family's accusations. MORE: Family of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen speaks out, urges no one enlist until 'we get justice' Guillen's family is calling for a congressional investigation into Guillen's death. The family also wants to pass a bill called "I am Vanessa Guillen" to help protect both men and women from sexual harassment. "Our country has lost a beautiful young soldier because the system is broken," Khawam said Sunday. "Congress must pass the #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN Bill immediately!" ABC News' Christina Carrega and Luis Martinez contributed to this report. This report was featured in the Monday, July 6, 2020, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast. "Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts. Remains of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen identified, lawyer says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Betsy Schoeller; Spc. Vanessa Guillen. (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, U.S. Army via The New York Times) A retired Air National Guard colonel and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee instructor says her social media post about slain soldier Specialist Vanessa Guillen's sexual harassment allegation was taken out of context. Betsy Schoeller, a former Wisconsin Air National Guard officer, posted comments on Facebook in response to an article about Guillen's killing, saying sexual harassment is the price of admission for women in the military and "if you're gonna cry like a snowflake about it, you're gonna pay the price." Her comments drew backlash and were condemned by university officials in a statement Saturday as "beyond thoughtless" and "repugnant." "UWM in no way condones Ms. Schoeller's comments, and we understand and empathize with the outrage and concerns we are hearing," the statement said. "There can be no excuse or rationalization for the killing of SPC Guillen and the circumstances surrounding this tragedy." The university also said there were legal reasons it could not fire Schoeller "for her social media postings, as some have demanded" and that it cannot regulate the private speech of its employees. An online petition launched Friday by a UW-Milwaukee student calling for Schoeller to be terminated has more than 133,000 signatures. Schoeller released a statement Sunday through UW-Milwaukee, where she is a senior lecturer at the School of Information Studies, in which she offered her condolences to Guillen's relatives and sympathy to all victims of sexual assault and harassment. Schoeller, 58, said that she did not mean to imply that this is how she feels and that she is sorry her words were misinterpreted. She did not immediately return a request for an interview Monday. "I was giving voice to the messaging that women hear in the culture of sexual harassment: The message we receive from the culture is not only will you suffer from sexual harassment, if you squawk about it, you will suffer even more. "Because it isnat just the sexual harassment. That's just the beginning," the statement said. "Then comes the agonizing decision about reporting. Or not reporting. The pressure applied by friends who know about it and only want to help. Having to ultimately stand up to that culture of sexual harassment on your own." Story continues Schoeller has taught at the university for 23 years, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She retired in 2017 as a colonel in the Wisconsin Air National Guard. The Guard said on its Facebook page Saturday that it was informed of "tasteless and insensitive comments" made by a former member. "That individual's comments and conduct are inconsistent with our values as an organization, and we do not condone them in any way," the Guard said, adding that it "cannot regulate the speech of former members." Guillen, 20, disappeared at Fort Hood on April 22. Partial human remains found last week near the Leon River in Central Texas were confirmed to be those of Guillen, a family lawyer said Sunday. Private Guillen's family has been demanding answers since she disappeared. They have said Guillen told them she was sexually harassed. In June, officials at Fort Hood announced that they had appointed a team to investigate those accusations. Fort Hood officials said Wednesday that because of her time in service, Guillen had been promoted from private to specialist. A suspect in her killing, Specialist Aaron Robinson, fled the base and died by suicide early Wednesday as police tried to make contact with him, officials have said. Robinson's girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, of Killeen, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence and is accused of helping Robinson dispose of Guillen's body. Schoeller said in her statement released Sunday that she has seen the toll sexual harassment takes on individuals and entire military units. "The point I was making is that this is what women are facing in a culture of sexual harassment and misogyny," Schoeller said. "It's not easy to be a woman in the military. Not easy at all. There are some men who have adapted to the idea of working alongside women, but there are just as many who have not." Schoeller said that she has "seen many attempts to squash this harassment culture from the military," such as zero tolerance, reporting procedures, sensitivity training, discussions, focus groups and role playing. "Somehow there was always one more case. Now SPC Guillen was dead," Schoeller said. "And I knew why. Because the culture of sexual harassment was still alive and well, despite our best efforts." Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Fortis Inc. (TSE:FTS). ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders. See our latest analysis for Fortis How To Calculate Return On Equity? ROE can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Fortis is: 8.6% = CA$1.8b CA$21b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020). The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every CA$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CA$0.09 in profit. Does Fortis Have A Good Return On Equity? Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Fortis has a similar ROE to the average in the Electric Utilities industry classification (8.6%). TSX:FTS Past Revenue and Net Income July 6th 2020 That isn't amazing, but it is respectable. Even if the ROE is respectable when compared to the industry, its worth checking if the firm's ROE is being aided by high debt levels. If true, then it is more an indication of risk than the potential. Our risks dashboardshould have the 3 risks we have identified for Fortis. Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same. Story continues Combining Fortis' Debt And Its 8.6% Return On Equity Fortis clearly uses a high amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.15. Its ROE is quite low, even with the use of significant debt; that's not a good result, in our opinion. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time. Summary Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE. Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you'll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So you might want to take a peek at this data-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. 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. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need to Remember: The 320-foot long submarine can reportedly glide through the water with no more noise than a baby dolphin and detect objects from 3,000 nautical miles away. The Royal Navy's Astute-class of nuclear-powered submarines have been described as the "most capable ever built," and with a 1.6billion price tag for each boat, the ships need to live up to the bold promise. Fittingly, the latest has a name that is more than fitting: HMS Audacious. The 320-foot long submarine can reportedly glide through the water with no more noise than a baby dolphin, thanks its state-of-the-art anti-acoustic tiles, while its sonar system can detect objects from 3,000 nautical miles away the distance between the English Channel and New York City. Its nuclear reactor, which has a 25-year life, can be used to recycle air and water, which allows the boat to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing. As with the other Astute-class boats, HMS Audacious can also deploy Special Boat Service teams which operate in a manner similar to U.S. Navy SEALS while submerged. The attack submarine is armed with Spearfish torpedoes to deal with enemy subs and warships, while Tomahawk cruise missiles can target land-based threats up to 1,000 miles away. The boat set sail this month on her maiden voyage from BEA Systems which built the new submarine at Barrow-in-Furness close to her homeport at the Her Magesty's Naval Base Clyde. Welcoming the vessel were members of the Submarine Flotilla, or SUBFLOT, which is based in Clyde. "The departure of HMS Audacious from Barrow is a milestone in the Astute-class programme," said Ian Booth, head of the Submarine Delivery Agency in a statement. "The delivery of our incredibly complex submarine programmes depends on the skilled workforce and close collaboration with our industrial partners to deliver a first-class product for the Royal Navy." Story continues HMS Audacious is the fourth Astute-class sub completed out of a planned seven boats, and its primary role with SUBFLOT will be to assist in combating the increasing threat of Russian incursions in waters near the British Isles. The Astute-class is the replacement for the Trafalgar-class fleet submarines that first entered service in the early 1980s. The first three submarines, HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful are in service, while the final three Astute-class are now at various stages of construction at Barrow. The timetable of the delivery of the final three has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in the UK. "This is an incredibly difficult time for employees, their families and the community but, as is often the case in times of great adversity, it has been truly humbling to see everyone come together to support the government's critical defence programmes and help deliver HMS Audacious," said Cliff Robson, managing director of BAE Systems Submarines. A total of six Royal Navy vessels have been named HMS Audacious, beginning with the 74-gun 3rd rate ship-of-the-line, which was in service from 1785 to 1815. A King George V-class battleship was also named HMS Audacious, and it was sunk by a mine in October 1914 during the early months of the First World War. The HMS Eagle, a post-World War II aircraft carrier, was briefly named Audacious. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. This article first appeared earlier this year and is being republished due to reader interest. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Runway Playa Vista, the residential, retail, restaurant and services property in West Los Angeles Silicon Beach tech epicenter, has revealed a new anchor tenant. Fred Segal is no longer moving in; instead, property manager DJMs chief retail officer Stenn Parton is keeping it in the family by tapping Free Market for the 20,000-square-foot space. Opening in September, Free Market Playa Vista will be a next-gen marketplace combining indie pop-up and permanent shops curated by Stenns brother Raan Parton and his wife, Lindsay Parton, alongside real estate investor Paolo Carini. The first Free Market opened in downtown Denver in May 2019. Free Market Playa Vista will feature the Partons own multibrand retail store Alchemy Works, which stocks clothing and accessories brands Janessa Leone, I Stole My Boyfriends Shirt, Freda Salvador, Lizzie Fortunato and others; County Line Florals, a debut flower shop and subscription service from actress Abigail Spencer; Urbanic Paper Boutique; the Joliet bar from Ben Adams, who launched the popular Know Where Bar in Hollywood; Jenis Splendid Ice Creams, and local L.A. Mexican eatery Loqui. This part of West L.A. hasnt traditionally had a strong retail presence, but retailers trust the Free Market team as merchants, and Free Market has the same opportunity to be a catalyst for retail in West L.A. as it did in downtown Denver, said Stenn Parton of the vision DJM has brought to Runway in its two years as a development partner, during which its re-branded the project with an acre of outdoor public space; more elevated, localized tenants, and flexible leasing options. Free Market Playa Vista is offering leases for five 1,000-square-foot spaces and four pop-ups, with one still left to rent in each category. People will be looking to get stores open and see an increase in revenue any way they can for the balance of the year, he added. Free Market is going to set up really well for that, for retailers to identify a space, get their doors open within 30 days and be selling product and be next to great adjacencies with a great customer base. Story continues We have had to reimagine it two to three times, Raan Parton acknowledged, pointing to the pandemics effect on brand viability, both for the new Free Market and the one in Denver, where the mix of digitally native and regional brands has shifted in recent months (Beautycounter is still a top performer; Jenni Kayne and AYR have moved out; Base Coat and The Refillery are moving in). Retail was fragile prior to COVID-19.Department stores have held our industry hostage. But our mentality is trying to create a Chamber of Commerce with a gallery-neutral identity that shows up regionally, and finding how it can best service and accommodate a community. Raan was a retail pioneer in downtown L.A.s Arts District, where he operated the flagship for the now-defunct Apolis mens wear label and a now-shuttered outpost of Alchemy Works. Although he hopes to return to the Arts District at some point, hes welcoming the chance to enter a more proven market: We have spent enough time in retail where we have a different perspective..I [know] how difficult it is to place-make in L.A., to find that traffic and customer. It takes a long time.Design and culture is easier to fix than traffic and comps. He praised Playa Vista for its proximity to tech companies with corporate housing, and pointed to the high performance of Whole Foods and other food and beverage outlets as indicators of Free Markets potential. There is a hungry audience that lives there, that prefers not to jump in a car, and theres an on-demand daycare called Brella across from our front door, which has a really cool new model thats a great anchor for us, added Lindsay Parton. While much of L.A. retail is still boarded up, and feels very on pause, she is optimistic for recovery of controlled shopping environments, mentioning the positive retail sales Alchemy Works saw for June at its Newport Beach Lido Village location. People like a place thats clean, safe and open with a small village feel. Those will pop back sooner than shopping in downtown L.A. or someplace that feels more busy and commercial. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Trial for Svetlana Prokopyeva lasted for months before the judge handed down the ruling on Monday - Anton Vaganov/Reuters A Russian court has convicted a journalist of justifying terrorism after she wrote an opinion article suggesting a teenage suicide bomber was driven to the act by anger at the repression of law enforcement agencies. Svetlana Prokopyeva was on trial for a year over a 2018 radio piece in which she said the 17-year-old bomber "did not see any other way to express his protest." Prosecutors shocked Russias journalist community on Friday by asking the court to send the woman to prison for six years. The court in the north-western city of Pskov on Monday found Ms Prokopyeva guilty of justifying terrorism and fined her 500,000 rubles (some 5,000). The judge also seized her laptop and phone. Ms Prokopyeva told a crowd of applauding supporters outside the court that their campaigning was crucial in helping her to escape a prison sentence. She denied the charges and said she would appeal. Russian journalists have faced threats and intimidation in recent years, and newsrooms critical of the government have been disbanded under apparent pressure from the Kremlin Yet Ms Prokopyevas case marks a rare attempt to prosecute a journalist over an opinion piece In a column for the Ekho Moskvy radio station in Pskov, Ms Prokopyeva spoke about the political environment that drove Mikhail Zhlobitsky to blow himself up in the lobby of the FSB intelligence agency in the north-western city of Arkhangelsk in October 2018. Just minutes before he committed suicide, the 17-year old student issued a statement on a public messaging app saying that he was protesting against the FSB which trumps up charges and tortures people." In a column that was ordered by the court to have been taken offline, Ms Prokopyeva wrote that a a stern state with a violent law enforcement system that views punishing a criminal as more important than defending rights has bred this new generation of citizens. The boy who was born and grew up in Putins Russia did not see any other way to express his protest against torture and trumped-up charges. She compared the attack to a decade of terrorist bombings in Russia in the late 19th century when young anarchists people to violence in protest heavy handed tactics and repression of the czars government. Click here to read the full article. The Galaxy S20 made a big splash at this years Unpacked event, quickly earning the title of one of the best Android phones of 2020. However, many of Samsungs most loyal fans have their sights set on the upcoming Galaxy Note 20. The Note line has long been an annual showcase of the very best mobile technology that Samsung has to offer, and this years model is shaping up to be no different. From hotly anticipated features to a prospective release date, here is everything we know about the Note 20. In what is perhaps the biggest Note 20 leak to date, an accidental listing by Samsung Russia showed what appears to be a Note 20 Ultra in a striking new Mystic Bronze color. The Note 20 borrows several design principles from the S20 line, including a chunky rear camera bump that houses numerous lenses and sensors. As with the S20, the volume and power keys are both on the right side of the devicea welcome change over the left-sided buttons layout of last years Note 10. In another longstanding design distinction between the Note and Galaxy lines, the Note 20s frame appears more angled and rectangular in comparison to the aggressively rounded corners of the S20. The S-Pen, also shown in the leaked photo, looks the same as its prior iteration on the Note 10. Its very likely, however, that the pen boasts some marginal improvements under the hoodprior leaks by industry insiders suggested an improved response time, making for a smoother writing and drawing experience. If this hefty-looking device is, in fact, a Note 20 Ultra, then the latest leaks all but confirm widespread speculation that the Note 20 will adhere to the same model range structure as the S20: an entry-level Note 20, a mid-range Note 20 Plus, and a top-end Note 20 Ultra. Concrete specifications remain elusive at the time of writing, but quite a lot has been predicted by industry insiders with a track record of accuracy. The excellent 120Hz display of the S20 will be making a return, along with a significant screen size differential between the baseline Note 20 and larger Note 20+/Ultra the former will be around 6.5 inches, while the latter two will likely be slightly downwards of 7. As I mentioned in my hands-on review of the S20, heres hoping that Samsung will improve on perfection by giving Note 20 users the option to enable 120Hz refresh rate and 1440p resolution at the same time. Story continues The Note 20 will receive a significant battery bump from the Note 10, with current rumors suggesting the same battery capacities as the S20 lineup: 4,000 mAh for the baseline model, 4,500 for the Note 20+, and 5,000 for the Ultra. RAM values are rumored to also get a boost, with the baseline entry starting at 12 GB RAM and the top-end Ultra model going all the way up to a whopping 16 GB. In keeping with the S20 line, 5G compatibility is all but guaranteed for every Note 20 model. Preempting Apples iPhone launch event by one or two months has become a core pillar of Samsungs summertime release strategy and, if current insider projections prove correct, we wont have to wait much longer to see what Samsung has in store with the Note 20. Despite ongoing concerns that the Coronavirus pandemic could wreak widespread disruption across the tech industry, Samsung is very likely sticking with its customary late August release schedule for the Note 20. Mark Episkopos is a frequent contributor to The 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. Image: Samsung Click here to read the full article. Addition of Bowersock Capital Partners to its ever-growing network extends Sanctuary's presence into Kansas INDIANAPOLIS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite financial advisors, has extended its Midwestern reach with the addition of the first Kansas partner firm, Bowersock Capital Partners, based in Lawrence. Led by Emily Bowersock Hill and Kaylin Dillon, the entire six-woman team was previously with Morgan Stanley, where they were known as The Hill Group, and managed approximately $500 million in client assets. "Every year we see more and more of the most successful advisor teams being led by women. It's a trend that is reshaping our industry and Bowersock Capital Partners is an outstanding example of that. That they've chosen to join Sanctuary Wealth as a partner firm is humbling, but also a testament to how much our network has to offer entrepreneurial-minded advisors who want the freedom and flexibility to grow their businesses," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "It has been our mission from day one to liberate advisors from the constraints imposed by the wirehouse environment and Bowersock is the just latest high-profile team to choose our partnered independence platform so they can make better choices for their clients and their future." Both of the firm's founders, who both hold CFP credentials, came to financial services from academic backgrounds, where they both developed extensive analytical skills. Although she spent 18 years with Morgan Stanley where her titles included Executive Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Family Wealth Director, Emily Bowersock Hill began her career as an academic. She holds a Ph.D. in History/Political Science from Yale University, where she worked for several years as a Research Associate in International Security Studies while also consulting for the RAND Corporation. "The profession has evolved considerably since I joined in 2002, and advisors today have many more options available for how to best serve their clients. We spent a lot of time investigating different business models and possible alliances, and ultimately concluded that the best choice for our clients was to partner with Sanctuary Wealth," says Emily Bowersock Hill, CFP, Founding Partner, Bowersock Capital Partners. "With Sanctuary, we feel we have the freedom to give our clients truly valuable advice." Story continues "As a Sanctuary partner, we have access to independent research and are able to present clients with a much wider array of investment choices, both public and private, than we could before," adds Kaylin Dillon, Founding Partner, Bowersock Capital Partners. "Another consideration is how much financial technology has evolved in the last few years. As a smaller firm, backed by a partner with extensive resources, we are able to be nimbler and adopt new tools and technology that will benefit our clients as they become available." Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2012, where she was Portfolio Manager and Financial Advisor, Kaylin Dillon was also trained in non-financial academic disciplines. She holds MA and BA degrees in East Asian Studies as well as a BA in French Language and Literature from The University of Kansas and has compared working in the financial world to learning another language. Other key members of the Bowersock team are Director of Operations Amy Clark, Client Operations Specialist Kristine Flynn, Research Analyst Catherine Prestoy and Senior Registered Operations Specialist Kathy Olds. "Bowersock Capital Partners is entirely made up of women, which is unique in our industry, particularly coming from the wirehouse environment. They are the latest example of a larger exodus of the best advisor teams from the biggest financial firms turning to partnered independence," said Vince Fertitta, President, Wealth Management, Sanctuary Wealth. "Coming from such strong academic backgrounds, it's no surprise that Emily and Kaylin did their homework in researching the best partner for their business and the broadest range of solutions for their clients. We're honored that they chose Sanctuary Wealth and look forward to working with them to grow the business they've always envisioned." About Sanctuary Wealth Sanctuary Wealth (sanctuarywealth.com/) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite, top-performing advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices, and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service each client deserves. Creating an ecosystem of partnered independence, Sanctuary provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses all designed to empower each partner firm to achieve their full potential. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network covers 14 states and includes more than 36 partner firms with approximately $10 billion in assets under advisement. The Sanctuary Wealth Group includes the fully owned subsidiaries Sanctuary Advisors, a registered investment adviser, and the broker-dealer Sanctuary Securities, as well as Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Capital Markets, and Sanctuary Global Family Office. CONTACT: Michaela Morales JConnelly 973 224 7152 mmorales@jconnelly.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sanctuary-wealth-adds-500-million-all-female-team-from-morgan-stanley-301088399.html SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth ST HELIER, Jersey, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate services has appointed Brijesh Patel as Global Head of Corporate Services. Brijesh Patel, Global Head of Corporate Services, SANNE With more than 20 years of international financial services experience, Brijesh, joins SANNE from State Street in Singapore where he held the role of Vice President, Relationship Management. As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Brijesh has an impressive background in managing strategic global relationships, leading servicing teams and coordinating service delivery from multiple jurisdictions and business areas to a broad range of clients invested in various asset classes. Based in SANNE's Singapore business, he will work closely with SANNE's Country Heads and Corporate Services business to expand the product offering, providing professional administration and accounting services to a variety of listed clients, global corporates, family offices, entrepreneurial groups and sovereign wealth funds. On the appointment Jason Bingham, Chief Strategy Officer at SANNE commented, "We are delighted to welcome Brijesh to SANNE. His wealth of experience in our industry and his approach with clients will ensure that our global Corporate Services offering is well positioned in an increasingly competitive and consolidated market." "It's an absolute pleasure to be a member of the SANNE team and join an organisation that is a global leader in the fund and corporate servicing industry. I look forward to joining forces with our business leaders and global servicing team as we collectively work to strengthen our product offering and grow our strategic relationships with current and future international clients," added Brijesh Patel, Global Head of Corporate Services. Photo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/7e7a9d172513e4f1d091b6e5917860b1 SOURCE SANNE U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney in San Juan Capistrano. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) After two weeks of national protests over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the top federal judge in Southern California sat for a webinar to discuss the reopening of courthouses. Kiry K. Gray, the top clerk and executive for the courts, missed the webinar, but afterward, several people told her that her name had come up. They told her Chief Judge Cormac J. Carney had praised her as street-smart, a term some viewed as racially insensitive. Gray, the first Black woman to serve in her post, was not offended but accepted an apology from Carney and hoped to move on. Yet as criticism mounted over the comment by others, the judge called her to vent. I did not have to even mention your name during the webinar, Gray recalled Carney saying in the phone call, and it was not like I was the police officer standing on your neck. Kiry K. Gray, clerk of court for the Central District of California. (Joe Barnet) Gray said she was stunned and appalled. Im very sad that you feel this way," she later wrote to the judge in an email memorializing the call. The two have not spoken since. It was this pair of comments by the onetime UCLA wide receiver that set off a chain of events that roiled the courts, even reaching the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Many hoped the firestorm would stay within the walls of the "court family," where judges with lifetime appointments hold sway and expect deference. But by the end of June, Carney announced that he was stepping down from the chief judgeship in an email to several hundred court staff and fellow judges. In his email June 26, he said he considered "street-smart" to be a compliment and chalked up the private comment to her as born out of "anger and frustration." It was directed at my critics, not Ms. Gray, and I said it with no ill will or disrespect toward people of color, Carney wrote in his resignation email. "My statement was an insensitive and graphic overreaction to the criticism that was leveled against me." Story continues Carney declined further comment, as well as an interview request about the circumstances of his departure. Gray at first was reluctant to publicly express her account. But amid a national reckoning over racial justice, she said she felt a need to tell her story and correct the record. She said she was shocked that when news of Carney's resignation went public, some people attacked her for overreacting to the "street-smart" comment while dismissing the judge's remark that followed. Every time I think about it, it gets me upset, she said in an interview. People will understand my story now. ***** United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney in the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The turmoil began June 9, during a lunchtime webinar with Carney that was organized by the L.A. chapter of the Federal Bar Assn. It was nine days into Carneys role as chief judge, a four-year term. Appointed by George W. Bush in 2003 after years on the Orange County Superior Court bench, Carney had long been assigned to the federal courthouse in Santa Ana. He relocated about two years ago to downtown L.A., to prepare for the chief's post. Fortunately for me, we have just a fabulous clerk of the court in Kiry Gray. Shes so street-smart and really knows her job, Carney said during the webinar. Gray never heard the remark, nor has she listened to a recording of the webinar. She said she soon received notes and calls from attorneys and colleagues. Carney, in his resignation note and emails to Gray, acknowledged that lawyers, judges and court staff expressed their displeasure. After a state prosecutor reached out to Carney with her critique of "street-smart," the judge asked Gray if he should respond. I advised him to let it go, Gray said, seeing criticism as a side effect of his new role. I informed him that being a chief judge is not an easy job. On June 10, the day after the webinar, Carney nevertheless replied to the prosecutor and copied Gray. In his reply, the judge said that Gray knows my heart, that the term in no way offended her, and she was touched that I thought so highly of her. Quite frankly, I view [Gray] as my sister, even though she is of color and I am a white man, Carney wrote to the prosecutor. He added that his email could be shared widely. Carney continued to be bothered by the criticism, according to Gray. In a second call with her, Carney made the remark that she found so cutting: that he did not even have to mention her, and that it was not "like I was the police officer standing on your neck." Gray said the comment was a double punch. It made her mind race toward an image of her adult son lying in the street, crying out. She would replay the comment in her mind and wrestle with the implications: she should be grateful he called her name? A foot on my neck? She believed that if she were a white clerk of courts, none of this would have come into play. "All he saw to me was my skin color," Gray said. ***** When Gray was appointed to the clerk of court position in 2015 after a unanimous vote by a panel of judges, Courthouse News noted her incredible rise. To this day, judges single her out with praise. We have the finest district executive and clerk of court, said U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr., who was appointed by President Carter. Born in Flint, Mich., Gray was raised in L.A. by parents who worked for the U.S. Postal Service. She lacks a college degree but often says she received her education through the court. In 1985, Gray started as a temporary worker for the federal courts, coding jury questionnaires at night. She rose through the ranks, serving in nearly every department and earning a reputation for a strong work ethic. Along the way, Gray raised a son and daughter, instructing them on the realities of being Black in America. A longtime resident of the Inland Empire, Gray was clear to her son: no tattoos, no baggy pants, no earrings. She mandated a clean-cut hairstyle. We taught him these things to keep him safe, said Gray of her son, a firefighter who has served in the military. Carney was the third chief judge she had worked with, and in her years on the high-profile job, she knew well what was a central duty: daily, and sometimes hourly, contact with the chief judge. The Central District of California is the nations largest and busiest federal court district, serving nearly 20 million people in seven counties. You are constantly putting out fires, Gray said. She likened the relationship of chief judge and clerk of courts to a marriage: constantly problem-solving and talking daily. One or two times, the dynamic could grow tense, she said, but neither side ever crossed the line. Carney had been chief judge for less than two weeks when the webinar occurred. Their professional relationship, she believed, was in a good place. She shared with him that they would not always see eye-to-eye. "But proper communication is the key to healthy relationships," she said. ***** Gray said she was agonized by the judge's comment alluding to the death of Floyd. She had difficulty sleeping, and when she recounted what he had said on the call, she'd start crying. Still, she continued working. In a June 15 email thread on temporary fencing outside the courthouse, Carney asked her, Are you OK? You sounded a little distant on the phone. Gray replied by confronting him, repeating the quote that specified a police officer kneeling on her neck. Carney replied in an email that he felt misinterpreted and said his use of street-smart was intended as a point of praise. He noted that he used it to describe his wife, his best friend and his son. The negative comments are upsetting to me because I only intended to recognize and compliment you publicly, which I did not have to do. But I wanted people to know that you were special, Carney said. "In fact, you were trying to comfort me and calm me down," he added in a second email. He lamented how some people now view him as racially insensitive and described his longstanding friendships and ties with men of color. I can get past the criticism of others, but I cannot continue as chief if you think this has irreparably damaged our relationship, Carney wrote. The court can afford to lose me as chief, he said. It cannot afford to lose you. Over the following 11 days, a maelstrom gathered over the state of their professional bond, according to sources familiar with the matter. The two did not speak directly. Sidney R. Thomas, chief justice for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, served as a quasi-mediator, several people said. Gray was not the person who complained to or notified the 9th Circuit, she said. On the last Friday in June, Carney sent an email to hundreds of fellow judges and court staff, announcing that he was relinquishing his post. He remains a federal judge. I have apologized to Ms. Gray, but I have concluded that a simple apology will not put this matter to rest, Carney wrote. There will be division in the court, unnecessary, negative and hurtful publicity, and a diversion from the courts essential mission of administering justice if I were to continue serving as the chief district judge. The news caught Gray by surprise, as did his resignation letter. She felt the letter did not give the full context of what had happened and disputed his contention in the letter that she had told him that others wanted him to step down. Still, she hoped to move on. When The Times asked her for a comment about the judges abrupt departure, she declined. It was a decision she soon regretted, feeling few knew her private anguish. "'No comment' meant that his version of the truth is true," Gray said. She soon received messages of vitriol laced with doubt, and she felt like the public zeroed in on the street-smart moniker but dismissed everything else. SHAME on YOU, said a stranger who messaged her on Facebook. Street-smart is not a term used for blacks. It is a compliment. U turned it into something it isnt. Letters to the editor printed by The Times echoed with disbelief. And Earl Ofari Hutchinson, the president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, called for Carney to reconsider stepping down, saying it was absurd to label street-smart as offensive. Hutchinson told The Times he stood by his call, noting that the "street-smart" comment ignited the controversy. But he acknowledged that perhaps the aftermath left no other choice but for the judge to leave his post. "It's always going to be there. That doesn't make for a happy and smooth and efficient working relationship," Hutchinson said. Gray has already met with the newly named chief district judge, Philip S. Gutierrez. "We have a new chief judge now, and I think he's going to be terrific, and we will move on," said Hatter, a veteran federal court judge. I'm a big Laker fan, and they believe in the next Laker up, he added. Our district believes in the next chief up. SBA and Treasury Announce Release of Paycheck Protection Program Loan Data SBA and Treasury Announce Release of Paycheck Protection Program Loan Data PR Newswire WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, today announced it was releasing detailed loan-level data regarding the loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This disclosure covers each of the 4.9 million PPP loans that have been made. SBA LOGO. (PRNewsFoto/U.S. Small Business Administration) (PRNewsFoto/U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINIS...) (PRNewsfoto/U.S. Small Business Administrat) "The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. "We are particularly pleased that 27% of the program's reach in low and moderate income communities which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas. The average loan size is approximately $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses," he continued. "Today's release of loan data strikes the appropriate balance of providing the American people with transparency, while protecting sensitive payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors." "The PPP is an indisputable success for small businesses, especially to the communities in which these employers serve as the main job creators," said Administrator Jovita Carranza. "In three months, this Administration was able to act quickly to get funding into the hands of those who faced enormous obstacles as a result of the pandemic. Today's data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program. The jobs numbers released last week reinforce that PPP is working by keeping employees on payroll and sustaining millions of small businesses through this time." Story continues Today's release includes loan-level data, including business names, addresses, NAICS codes, zip codes, business type, demographic data, non-profit information, name of lender, jobs supported, and loan amount ranges as follows: $150,000-350,000 $350,000-1 million $1-2 million $2-5 million $5-10 million These categories account for nearly 75 percent of the loan dollars approved. For all loans below $150,000, SBA is releasing all of the above information except for business names and addresses. The data release also includes overall statistics regarding dollars lent per state, loan amounts, top lenders, and distribution by industry. The loans have reached diverse communities proportionally, across all income levels and demographics. In addition, the data provides information regarding the sizes of participating lenders and participation by community development financial institutions, minority depository institutions, Farm Credit System institutions, fintechs and other nonbanks, and other types of lenders. It further contains data showing the reach of the program in underserved communities, rural communities, historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones), and participation by religious, grantmaking, civil, professional, and other similar organizations. Click here to view the data. 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: Press_Office@sba.gov, (202) 205-7036 Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Blogs & Instagram Release Number: 20-54 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sba-and-treasury-announce-release-of--paycheck-protection-program-loan-data-301088500.html SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Click here to read the full article. The Komsomolets was floated in 1983, in Severodvinks. She was massive400 feet long, 37 feed high, and 27 feet tall. The Komsomolets had one nuclear reactor. In addition to its nuclear propulsion, the Komsomolets had a titanium hull. Lighter and stronger than steel, the Komsomolets could dive deeper than any other manned submarinebelow 3,000 feet. Fire in the Deep It was April 7th, 1989. At the time of the Komsomolets accident, she was in the Norwegian Sea, at a depth of approximately 1,250 feet, well within her maximum operating depth. According to a fascinating CIA assessment, a high-pressure air line connecting to main ballast tanks allowing the submarine to control its depth bursts its seal in the seventh compartment. Although the events are somewhat confused, it is believed that a spray of oil hits a hot surface there [in the seventh compartment], and a flash fire begins in the high pressure oxygen-rich air. The Komsomolets was equipped with a freon-based fire extinguishing system. Filling a burning compartment with the non-flammable gas would smother the fire. The Komsomolets Chief Engineer Valentin Babenko and Commanding Officer Captain First Rank Yevgeniy Vanin delay filling compartment seven with freon, as a sailor is trapped inside. Eventually they fill number seven, killing the sailor trapped inside. The fire is not extinguished, but spreads to compartment six. The Komsomolets loses power and the propellers stop rotating. In order to prevent the nuclear reactors from melting down, the submarines power is turned off and controls are non-responsive. Almost miraculously, the sub is able to initiate an emergency blow, in which air is forced into ballast tanks to bring the submarine to the surface. With a fire raging inside the submarine, Captain Vanin orders hands topside. The interior of the Komsomolets is so hot, the rubberized sonar-absorbent paneling on the outside of the hull is melting into the sea. At 11:41 Captain Vanins emergency signal is received but somehow the transmission is somewhat garbled. Soviet naval command knows that a Soviet submarine, somewhere, is in some degree of danger, but dont know how much dangeror where. Story continues SOS At 12:19, Captain Vanin disregards Soviet encrypted broadcast procedures, broadcasting an SOS signal and calling for any available help. Due to the Komsomolets locationnearly 1,000 kilometers from the Soviet Unions borderSoviet Naval authorities are faced with a difficult choice. They can send slower rescue helicopters that can land on water, but dont have enough fuel for a round-trip, or send a multi-engine plane that could drop rafts to the Komsomolets but wouldnt be able to land. A four-engine Il-38 is sent. It cant land on water. Under ideal circumstances, preparing the plane for an emergency rescue would take nearly 90 minutes. Flight Capitan Petrogradsky takes off from his runway in just 49 minutes flat. Seeing the Il-38, the crew do not don wetsuits, under the false assumption that their rescue is imminent. But the water is near-freezing, after 15 minutes in the sea, they would perish. After some time the sea becomes choppy, and the fire inside the hull becomes harder to control. Captain Vanin transmits I am preparing 69 people to evacuate. Although the Il-38 dropped rescue rafts, some founder in the sea, and there arent enough for the men, who rapidly lose feeling in their limbs and cannot hold onto the rafts. Some slip away unconscious. Captain Vanin and six others are still inside the Komsomolets, trying to keep the submarine from sinking, though they are fighting a losing battle. As the Komsomolets sinks, Vanin and 5 other jump into the escape capsule, realizing too late that one of their number is still somewhere in the submarine. They also cant release the escape pod. After 1,300 feet an explosion tears through the submarine, releasing their escape pod. At the surface, the rough sea starts flooding the escape pod once the hatch is opened. It rapidly fills, and only one man escapes. Captain Vanin and four others join the Komsomolets at the bottom and forty-two total souls are lost. Aftermath Since the 1990s the Komsomolets has remained on the ocean floor. In addition to its nuclear reactor, it also had a pair of nuclear-tipped torpedoes. In 1992, a team of scientists investigated the wreck, taking radiation measurements. Though the measurements were high, they determined the ocean would sufficiently dilute any leaked radiation, and that attempting to raise the sub would be riskier than leaving it where it lay. The Komsomolets it seems, will stay on the ocean floor for eternity. Caleb Larson is a defense writer for the National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture. This article first appeared earlier this year. Image: Wikipedia. Click here to read the full article. Around 90,000 children and teenagers suffering from underlying conditions such as asthma are currently shielding - Gareth Copley/Getty Images Most children who are shielding will not have to take such precautions in event of a second wave of coronavirus, Government advisers have said. The change of tack raises questions over why almost 100,000 children have been forced to stay at home for months. In total, around 2.2 million people have been advised to stay at home because they are at great risk of severe consequences from Covid-19. They include around 94,000 children and teenagers suffering from underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and kidney disease. On Monday, England's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, said the vast majority of children would not be asked to shield in the event of a second virus wave. Only a small group who receive specialist care in hospitals including those receiving cancer care or those with immunodeficiency are likely to be advised to stay at home. Dr Harries said the advice had changed because understanding of coronavirus had developed, showing that most children and young people are at low risk of serious illness. However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said children who had been given advice to shield should still stay at home until the end of July, when the shielding programme lifts, or until they received specific new advice from their GP. Related: 'More normal lifestyle' ahead for those shielding It comes as shielding rules are relaxed from Monday, meaning those who have been advised to stay at home can meet in groups of five if they are socially distancing, while those who live alone can form a bubble with with other households. DHSC said children would only be removed from the list by their GP or specialist doctor following consultation with the child and their family. Last month, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said many children with conditions such as cerebral palsy and scoliosis should no longer be shielded, adding that the benefits of school outweighed the risk of infection. Story continues Dr Harries said: "I do not underestimate the difficulty of children having to stay indoors and to only have limited contact with family and friends for such a long time. "As our understanding of this novel virus has developed, evidence shows most children and young people are at low risk of serious illness and will no longer be advised to shield after July. "Families who are uncertain about whether shielding is right for their child in the future will want to discuss this with their doctor, who will be best placed to determine the most appropriate care. These discussions will take place over the summer." Dr Mike Linney, registrar at the RCPCH, said: "Lockdown has been tough on children generally, but especially for those who have been shielding. It's been a long haul for thousands of families, and we hope this announcement brings some relief. "Fortunately, children are less affected by Covid-19. This appears to be the case not just in the UK but also worldwide. However, they have suffered from the social effects of lockdown, isolation, and school closures. "We know that many families who have been shielding will have concerns. The important point of this guidance is that paediatricians and specialist doctors now have better information to discuss shielding with patients and their families. "Children under the sole care of a GP are very unlikely to need to continue shielding but, if you are worried, seek reassurance. "Should we face a second wave, this guidance will allow us to make better decisions about who needs to shield. It was right to be cautious when we knew so little about the virus, but we now have a lot of evidence to guide us. "We can be confident that the vast majority of children and young people don't need to shield." Sir Keir Starmer (left) said Prince Andrew should cooperate with US authorities. (Getty Images) Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has piled pressure on Prince Andrew as he called for the royal to cooperate with US authorities over his friendship with a convicted sex offender. Andrew is caught in a war of words with American authorities who claim he has not made good on his offer to help them as they investigate Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison while awaiting trial on sex offence charges. But the Duke of York insists he has offered to speak with investigators on several occasions, even accusing them of seeking headlines instead of help. On Monday morning, Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions for the Crown Prosecution Service, called for Andrew to cooperate. Speaking on LBC, he said: They do approach British authorities all the time, that happened throughout my five-year term as director of public prosecutions and we always cooperated. We strongly cooperate with other countries around the world and we would have cooperated on any issue where they said this is the cooperation we need. Answering specifically on the Duke of Yorks case, he added: Course he should cooperate with the US. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Read more: What has Prince Andrew said about his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell? Pressed on whether he was disappointed with Andrews response, Sir Keir said: He will have to justify his own actions. But it doesnt matter who you are, you cooperate with the law enforcement authorities when they ask you to do so. Sir Keirs comment on US requests comes after Boris Johnson claimed the FBI has not made contact with UK authorities to speak to Andrew. The PM declined to comment on how his government would respond to a request, and said: No such approach has been made and otherwise it really is a matter for the Royal Family. Andrew, 60, has been accused by one of the alleged victims of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre, of having sex with her on three occasions when she was trafficked by the New Yorker. Read more: US prosecutor calls for Prince Andrew to speak to FBI after Ghislaine Maxwell charged Story continues He denies all the allegations against her and says he does not remember meeting her. He has not been charged in the case, but the FBI said it wants to hear from him. Last week, the FBI arrested and charged Ghislaine Maxwell, a former associate of Epstein and his one-time girlfriend. They charged her with helping to groom the teenagers who became his victims. She has appeared in court and is being held in prison awaiting trial. Maxwell, 58, knew Andrew from university and is said to be the link between Andrew and Epstein. Its believed she introduced them in 1999. After the arrest, acting US attorney for the southern district of New York Audrey Strauss said investigators would welcome a statement from Prince Andrew. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need to Remember: Although both are fifth generation fighters, the Su-57 significantly differs in design philosophy from the F-22 Raptor. Russias official designation of the PAK-FA/T-50 jet as the Sukhoi Su-57 is just another reminder that the field of fifth generation fighters is about to get more crowded. The United States, China, Russia, Japan and Korea are all working on their own fifth generation designs, but so far only three planes, the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Chinese J-20 are operational. Increased tensions between the United States and NATO on one side and Russia on the other have people wondering: once the Su-57 does become operational, how will it stack up against the F-22 Raptor? The F-22 Raptor started life as a dedicated air superiority fighter in the same vein as the F-15C Eagle, the aircraft it was originally slated to replace. The aircraft was designed and built by Lockheed Martin, which had early experience building the first operational stealth warplane, the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. In 1990, the prototype YF-22 fighter engaged in a flyoff with the Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II and won the competition, in large extent due to its emphasis on stealth and maneuverability. Stealth was a foundational feature of the F-22, and the planes stealthy profile was in part dictated by simulations done on the Cray supercomputer, an early supercomputer. The F-22 design maximized sensor evasion, with diamond-shaped wings and sharp, faceted surfaces. The speed brake, weapon bay doors and engine exhausts are serrated to minimize the aircrafts radar signature while the large, vertical, canted tails reduce the fighters infrared signature from certain angles. The aircrafts metallic surfaces are also coated with radar-absorbent materials and paint. The use of the Cray supercomputer helped make the F-22 highly maneuverable, especially at high angles of attack. A key F-22 feature is the use of thrust vectoring in the pitch axis, allowing the aircraft to combine engine power with maneuver at high angles of attack to gain an advantage in dogfights. The large bubble canopy was the largest single of piece of polycarbonate made while the F-22 was in production, and gave the pilot excellent visibility. The combination of maneuverability and visibility mean a pilot can detect and react to visual range threats quickly and decisively. Story continues The F-22 is powered by a pair of F119 afterburning turbofan engines that produces a total 70,000 pounds of thrust, forty percent more than the F-15 Eagle. The engines allow the Raptor to supercruise at Mach 1.4 without afterburners, enhancing the aircrafts rangean important consideration for a plane that cant carry external fuel tanks into battle. The aircrafts primary sensor, the AN/APG-77 radar, is designed to out-range enemy threats, detecting and classifying them before they detect the Raptor, allowing the American jet to not only see first, but shoot first. The Raptor has three weapons bays, two of which can accommodate one AIM-9M/X Sidewinder infrared guided missile and a second belly bay that can accommodate six AIM-120 AMRAAM (Slammer) radar-guided missiles with a range of up to sixty-five miles. The center bay can also carry JDAM satellite-guided munitions or up to four 600 gallon fuel tanks. The F-22 has a M61A2 six-barreled, twenty-millimeter Gatling gun buried in the right wing root with enough ammunition for just under five seconds of sustained fire. Much less is known about the Sukhoi Su-57. Despite seven years of test flights, many details about the aircraft remain unknown. What is known is that Sukhoi has struggled to develop the aircraft, particularly key components such as the engine. The first operational aircraft are slated to join the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2019. Although both are fifth generation fighters, the Su-57 significantly differs in design philosophy from the F-22 Raptor. In the key areas of speed, maneuverability and stealth, the Raptor emphasized maneuverability and stealth. The Su-57, on the other hand, places an emphasis on maneuverability and speed, arguably making it similar to the YF-23 Black Widow II. Experts believe the Su-57 is an evolution of the Su-27 Flankers shape, modernized for low radar observability but also even greater maneuverability. Aviation author Piotr Butowski claims that aircrafts high static instability has much more maneuverability at supersonic speeds than any previous fighter. The blended wing design increases internal volume for avionics, fuel and weapons. A major driver of the Su-57s performance are its two engines. The Saturn izdeliye 30 engines are each meant to generate between 24,054 and 35,556 pounds of thrust, with the high end in the same territory as the F-22s F119 engines. These are meant to drive the fighter to speeds of up to Mach 1.5 in supercruise. Unfortunately the izdeliye 30 is undergoing difficulties, and as a result the first twelve of Moscows new jets will be powered by a pair of Saturn AL-41F1 afterburning turbofans producing a combined 65,000 pounds of thrust, the same engines that power the Su-35. The Su-57 will equip with the N056 Byelka (squirrel) radar system and the L402 electronic countermeasures suite. L-band arrays will be the fighters primary means of detecting stealth aircraft, while at shorter ranges the 101KS Atoll electro-optical suite, including an infrared search and track system, will help the pilot track and engage targets with infrared guided missiles. The Su-57 has two large internal weapons bays arranged in tandem, taking up virtually the entire useable length of the aircraft. Each bay can carry up to four K-77M beyond visual range radar-guided missiles. Compared to earlier versions of the K-77 (NATO nickname: AA-12 Archer) the K-77M missile has a larger body and active electronically-scanned array radar seeker, allowing it to engage highly agile targets at ranges of up to 100 miles. The aircraft also stores a pair of K-74M2 short-range infrared guided missiles in underwing fairings. How would the F-22 and Su-57 fare in a head to head engagement? The design priorities of the two aircraft give the two aircraft different advantages at different ranges. The Su-57s priorities and armament lend themselves to detection and elimination of threats at long ranges. Key to this strategy, the Su-57s radar must be able to detect stealth jets at long ranges. The aircrafts emphasis on speed allows it to respond quicklyor back out quickly from fights it cannot win. Once the two opposing fighters close to visual range however the Su-57s combination of maneuverability and infra-red search and track will make it a lethal opponent. The F-22 Raptor, on the other hand, emphasizes stealth and maneuverability. The F-22 can also detect adversaries at long ranges, and provided it can evade enemy radar can act to set up an ambush before the enemy knows it is in the area. Thus the F-22 has more of a likelihood of gaining the initiative early on and winning the battle before the two jets can come within visual range of one another. Key to the Raptors strategy, the F-22s stealth must protect it from the prying eyes of Russian radars. In a dogfight its difficult to know who would prevail, given we dont know how maneuverable the Su-57 is, but the Russian jets infrared search and track systemsomething the American stealth fighter doesnt havewill be a major bonus in combat. The F-22 Raptor is an excellent, world-beating aircraft that sits on the very top of the heap. The Su-57 as a challenger could prove as good, in different ways, and a worthy opponent for the first fifth generation fighter to gain operational status. If the two ever meet it will be a battle for the ages, but our world will be much worse for it. Lets hope all we ever get do is speculate about the meeting. 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 and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the court's opinion in the electoral college case. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) Anxious to avoid chaos in the electoral college just months before the November vote, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that electors who formally select the president can be required by the state they represent to cast their ballot for the candidate who won their state's popular vote. The justices unanimously rejected the claim that electors have a right under the Constitution to defy their states and vote for the candidate of their choice. "Electors are not free agents," Justice Elena Kagan said for the court in Chiafalo vs. Washington. "They are to vote for the candidate whom the states voters have chosen." Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment "give states broad power over electors, and give electors themselves no rights," she said. The electoral college system, created by the Founding Fathers, has been criticized as being outdated and unfair to voters. In two of the past five presidential elections, the winner came in second in the national vote but nonetheless won a combination of states that yielded more electoral votes. The dispute before the high court could have injected an additional element of uncertainty into the presidential race. Last year, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver surprised election officials when it ruled that the Constitution as written in 1787 assumed the state's electors were free to vote for their favored candidate, and if so, the same is true today. Constitutional scholars counter that although electors may have had an independent vote at the time of the nation's founding, they have been required since the early 1800s to vote in line with the wishes of the party whose presidential candidate won the state's vote. In 1804, the 12th Amendment made clear that electors would cast separate ballots for president and vice president, which confirmed "the electoral colleges emergence as a mechanism not for deliberation but for party-line voting," Kagan said. Story continues Ever since, the parties have chosen slates of electors who pledge to cast a ballot for the party's presidential candidate if he or she wins the state's vote. Paul Smith, an election law expert with the Campaign Legal Center, said the decision prevents a potential scramble over wavering electors in November. "Voters should go to the polls with the confidence that their vote will count and that their political system will be free from corruption," he said. "However far from perfect the current system may be, the chaos of an unbound electoral college would have been even worse. In nearly every election, there are a handful of "faithless electors" who ignore their commitment and cast a vote different from their state's voters. But these stray votes have been ignored and never made any difference in the outcome. Most states have laws or rules that require the electors to abide by their pledges and to follow the state's wishes. The Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases on the issue, one from Washington, where the state prevailed, and a second one from Colorado, whose binding rules were overturned. Monday's ruling upholds a $1,000 fine against Peter Chiafalo, one of three Washington state electors who cast their ballots for Colin Powell rather than for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won the state's popular vote. Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig, who represented the electors, said he was not entirely disappointed to lose. "When we launched these cases, we did it because regardless of the outcome, it was critical to resolve this question before it created a constitutional crisis. We have achieved that. Obviously, we dont believe the court has interpreted the Constitution correctly. But we are happy that we have achieved our primary objective this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress." State election officials feared that if the Supreme Court ruled that electors were free to defy the state, it could trigger enough defections to potentially upset the outcome in a very close race. During the argument in May, several justices said they feared it could create "chaos" in November if electors were not bound by their state or its laws. Click here to read the full article. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld state laws requiring Electoral College representatives to support their states popular winner in presidential elections. The unanimous decision comes after faithless electors in Washington and Colorado voted contrary to who they originally promised to support. State election laws evolved to reinforce that development, ensuring that a States electors would vote the same way as its citizens, Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. States listed only presidential candidates on the ballot, on the understanding that electors would do no more than vote for the winner. Kagan continued the courts opinion by saying electors are not free agents. They are to vote for the candidate whom the States voters have chosen. The decision could impact the upcoming presidential election as members of the Electoral College must comply with the popular vote. A handful of Democratic electors attempted to deny Donald Trumps presidency in 2016. Three members in Washington state voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, rather than the former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with hopes that colleagues would join them. The efforts didnt succeed and each elector was fined $1,000, prompting legal arguments about the constitutionality of restricting Electoral College votes. In Colorado, an elector voted for former governor of Ohio John Kasich instead of Clinton. But, rather than receiving a fine, the elector was removed and replaced from office. After being removed from office, he filed suit and won in an appeals court since the state doesnt possess the power to remove electors from office. The Constitutions text and the nations history both support allowing a State to enforce an electors pledge to support his partys nominee - and the state voters choice - for President, Kagan wrote. Thirty-two states, as well as the District of Columbia prohibit Electoral College members to support a candidate contrary to popular vote. However, fifteen states not only require electors to pledge to back the popular votes, but also will be fined or removed from office if the pledge is dishonored. Story continues After hearing the courts opinion, Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law professor familiar with the case, disagreed with the final decision. When we launched these cases, we did it because regardless of the outcome, it was critical to resolve this question before it created a constitutional crisis. We have achieved that. Obviously, we dont believe the Court has interpreted the constitution correctly. But we are happy that we have achieved our primary objective - this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress, Lessig, an open critic about the Electoral College political system, said. Lessig took to Twitter about the decision, tweeting, But I am very happy the question of whether electors are electors is now answered before it creates a crisis. Gratitude to all who helped. Kagan emphasized that electors have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens because that direction accords with the constitution - as well as with the trust of a nation that here, We the People rule. Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest and a former reporter at The Hill. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Daily Record. Follow her on Twitter @BucchinoRachel Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. BORDEAUX, France, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Synapse Medicine has announced that it has raised 8 million dollars, spearheaded by the MACSF, a leading insurance provider for healthcare professionals, and with the support of XAnge, BNP Paribas, BPI, and Nicolas Dessaigne, co-founder of Algolia. The purpose of this move is to continue the development of its leading-edge medication intelligence platform, which is already being used by thousands of healthcare professionals and patients daily. The company has now raised 11 million dollars over a 14-month period and tripled the size of its staff. The leading medication intelligence platform for healthcare professionals and patients. (PRNewsfoto/Synapse Medicine) Making knowledge about correct drug use widely available to prevent hospitalizations and deaths Taking medication comes with certain risks: the recent controversy surrounding hydroxychloroquine has made this clear once again. More generally, drugs are responsible for 130,000 hospitalizations and 30,000 deaths annually in countries such as France. That is the equivalent to the death toll and hospitalization numbers of the COVID-19 epidemic occurring every year in the country. Via its SaaS platform, Synapse Medicine offers healthcare professionals such as doctors and pharmacists an easy way to look up reliable, up-to-date information about medications, to analyze prescriptions in real-time, and to ensure the safety of drug therapies. Key benefits include a guarantee that the information provided is free of fake news, as well as increased safety and time savings for healthcare professionals. The company, which has set itself the mission to provide reliable and up-to-date medical information to everyone who needs it, has also developed a dedicated version of its offering for the general public. This solution has already been directly integrated into other services such as telemedicine platforms. Confirming Synapse Medicine's leadership in prescription aids for telemedicine platforms The telemedicine sector is growing fast. According to a recent study by the consultancy McKinsey & Company, 20% of healthcare services will be provided virtually in the United States in 2020 which is expected to reach 250 billion dollars. These figures show that telemedicine is being widely adopted everywhere in the world, which means that the ability for those stakeholders to warrant the safety of prescriptions has now become essential. Story continues With this new funding round, Synapse Medicine intends to strengthen its leadership position in the field of prescription aids for telemedicine platforms globally. Its solution allows telemedicine companies to enhance their platforms with the integration of a turnkey prescription solution that ensures the safety of prescriptions, thereby helping them to attract and retain both physicians and patients. "As an insurance provider for healthcare professionals, MACSF believes the innovations offered by Synapse Medicine are of the utmost importance in terms of preventing the risks linked to medication intake. Founded by two doctors and supported by a strong multidisciplinary team with international ambitions, with a leadership position and highly innovative technology on the dynamic telemedicine and prescription tool markets, Synapse Medicine has everything it takes to become a global health tech champion in the next few years. That is why MACSF has been very happy to lead this funding round alongside XAnge and BNP Paribas, and to support the further development of this start-up company that uses artificial intelligence to enable better healthcare," said Stanislas Subra, head of venture capital investments at MACSF. "Since the creation of Synapse Medicine, our mission has always been to provide everyone, everywhere in the world, with easy access to reliable and up-to-date medical information. This new funding round will allow us to move faster going forward and to bring Synapse within reach of anyone who needs it. 2020 has been marked by an unprecedented health crisis. However, hundreds of millions of people need our technology not just now, but every year that goes by. Time is of the essence here," commented Dr. Clement Goehrs, CEO and co-founder of Synapse Medicine. About Synapse Medicine: Founded by two medical doctors and an engineer, Synapse Medicine is on a mission to provide everyone who needs it with easy access to reliable and up-to-date medical information. The company, which works together with several major university hospitals, has developed the first medication intelligence platform dedicated to correct drug use. Setting benchmarks in this category, its fully independent solution is currently being used by thousands of healthcare professionals, medical students, and the general public. About MACSF: The leading insurance provider for healthcare professionals, MACSF has for over 80 years been at the service of all healthcare sector workers. It employs 1,500 people and earns an annual revenue of 2 billion euros. True to its calling as an insurance association, MACSF insures over 1 million members and customers against personal and professional risks. About XAnge: Europe's venture capital leader, the company XAnge has offices in Paris and Munich and invests in innovative startups operating in the digital, corporate data, fintech, and deeptech segments. Since our creation in 2003, we have had the privilege of working alongside exceptional teams with strong values who can be credited with initiatives such as Ledger, Lydia, and many more. XAnge belongs to Siparex, an independent private investment fund that manages a portfolio of over 2 billion euros. Logo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/66e4692820f6a6f83ae9d272010a6a5e Contact: press@synapse-medicine.com +33 (0)5 56 35 50 87 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/synapse-medicine-raises--8-million-dollars-to-prevent-drug-related-risks-everywhere-in--the-world-301087318.html SOURCE Synapse Medicine TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan would welcome a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, its foreign ministry said on Monday, a trip that would infuriate Beijing which views him as a dangerous separatist. The Dalai Lama has not visited the Chinese-claimed, democratic island under the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, who first took office in 2016. He last came in 2009. In a birthday message via video link to supporters in Taiwan on Sunday, the Dalai Lama said he would like to visit again. "As the political scenario changes, it may be that I'll be able to visit you in Taiwan again. I hope so. Whatever happens I'll remain with you in spirit," he said on his website. Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the government had not yet received an application for him to travel to the island but would handle it under "relevant rules" if one came. "We will, in accordance with the principle of mutual respect and at a time of convenience for both sides, welcome the Dalai Lama to come to Taiwan again to propagate Buddhist teachings," Ou added. Beijing is deeply suspicious of Taiwan's president, believing she wishes to push for the island's formal independence. Tsai says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. Taipei-Beijing relations have worsened further since Taiwan offered to receive Hong Kong people who wish to leave the city after China passed a new national security law last week, an offer Beijing has condemned. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. China accuses him of being a "splittist", but he says he only wants genuine autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie) A number of Texas cities are warning that the level of hospitalized coronavirus patients they are experiencing could cause hospitals to run out of beds in as little as two weeks. Officials in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth have cautioned that their intensive-care units are on track to be overwhelmed as coronavirus cases continue to rise rapidly across the state. Texas hit a new high on Sunday of 8,181 people hospitalized for the coronavirus. Texas still has more than 13,000 available staffed hospital beds, including more than 1,200 available staffed ICU beds, but some cities are approaching capacity more quickly than other regions. In Houston, coronavirus hospitalizations have risen 44 percent over the past week, and mayor Sylvester Turner said the areas hospital system could be in serious trouble in two weeks if the spread of the virus is not controlled. The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. The number of people in our ICU beds has exponentially increased, Turner said. In fact, if we dont get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble. Austin mayor Steve Adler said the situation is potentially more dire in his city, warning that hospital intensive-care units could be at capacity between the next ten days to two weeks if the current rate of hospitalized patients continues. Hopefully we will see that trajectory slow, and we will know whether or not that happens this week, Adler told the Austin American-Statesman, adding that of Austins 1,500 hospital beds designated for coronavirus patients, 446 were in use Saturday night. Hospitalizations in Austin have risen 34 percent during the last week. Meanwhile, the Dallas-Fort Worth region has seen a 21 percent increase in coronavirus hospitalizations over the past week, and area hospitals are on track to reach capacity in three weeks, health experts warn. Story continues Texas, which reopened most of its economy in recent weeks, has seen cases of the virus rise an additional 45,000 during the last week. Governor Greg Abbot on Thursday signed an executive order requiring most Texas residents to wear a face mask in public and has reversed several of his reopening measures, including ordering bars to shut down again. More from National Review AUSTIN, Texas A Texas woman charged in the disappearance and death of U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood appeared in court Monday morning, federal officials said. Cecily Aguilar, a Killeen, Texas, resident who was charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence last week, appeared virtually in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske, officials said. The hearing was an initial appearance. An arraignment, where Aguilar would be expected to enter a plea, has not been scheduled yet, officials said. Authorities have accused Aguilar of helping 20-year-old Spc. Aaron David Robinson mutilate and dispose of Guillens body after Robinson killed her by hitting her in the head with a hammer. Robinson shot himself last week when authorities had confronted him during the investigation, Killeen police have said. Aguilar was asked during Mondays hearing if she understood the charges against her. Yeah, sure, she replied, according to KCEN-TV. Mellisa Mendoza places flowers at a mural for Vanessa Guillen in Austin, Texas, on July 6, 2020. The hearing comes after an attorney said the Army confirmed to Guillens family over the weekend that remains found last week near the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles east of Fort Hood, were those of Guillen, a 20-year-old Houston native. On Sunday, Guillens sister Mayra Guillen tweeted: Its been confirmed... Over the Fourth of July weekend, videos and photos were posted online, some using the hashtag #JusticeForVanessaGuillen, showing vigils and memorials for Guillen and groups gathering and holding signs for justice in Austin, Houston and San Antonio. In El Paso, more than 100 protesters marched to Fort Bliss on Saturday to protest the Armys handling of the case and demand accountability from authorities. Lawmakers: Case raises 'deep, troubling concerns' about Army Guillen was last seen on April 22 in the parking lot of the Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters where she worked at Fort Hood, a sprawling 334-square mile Army post in Killeen, about an hour north of Austin. Story continues Guillens disappearance gained national attention, with her family and friends searching for her and demanding justice on her behalf for months. Her family said Guillen had been sexually harassed at Fort Hood, once when a man walked in on her while she was showering. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier of California on Friday called for an investigation into Guillens workplace, her disappearance and the Armys response to both. SPC Guillens disappearance raises deep, troubling concerns about the Armys ability to prevent sexual harassment and assault, respond to criminal acts, and provide justice for victims and theirs families, Gillibrand and Speier said in a letter. Army officials last week said no evidence linked sexual harassment to the soldiers disappearance. The criminal complaint filed against Aguilar describes how authorities think Guillen was killed and dismembered after an argument with Robinson. A witness told authorities that Guillen left a weapons room on Fort Hood where she was working to visit one controlled by Robinson, the complaint says. Robinson told investigators on April 22 that he texted Guillen to tell her he was in the arms room. The last outgoing text message from Guillens phone was to Robinson, the complaint says. The document does not say what Guillen and Robinsons relationship was. The complaint says that Robinson said Guillen arrived and read serial numbers for equipment. He gave her paperwork and a serial number for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed to be serviced. Robinson said Guillen left the arms room and he thought she went to the motor pool. Witnesses at the motor pool said Guillen did not arrive with the paperwork. Multiple phone calls between Aguilar and Robinson after Guillen was last seen On April 28, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command officials interviewed Robinson. He said that on April 22, he finished work and went to his off-post home that he shared with his girlfriend, Aguilar. He said he did not leave all night, except at 6:30 p.m. when he went onto Fort Hood to sign into a government computer to enroll in training, the complaint says. Two witnesses on May 18 said they saw Robinson on pulling a large tough box out of the arms room he worked in on April 22. The witnesses said Robinson put the box into his vehicle and drove away. A search of Robinsons phone found that he called Aguilar multiple times the night of April 22, including at 3:30 a.m. on April 23. He also received calls from Aguilar throughout the day. On June 19, Aguilar was interviewed by investigators. She said she was with Robinson all night on April 22. When asked why Robinson would call her after midnight if they were together at home, she said she couldnt find her phone and he called to help her find it, the complaint says. This statement, however, is inconsistent with the lengths of the calls, the complaint says. Calls made after midnight were for greater than one minute. During another interview, Aguilar said she lied and did leave the residence to go on a long drive. She said long drives help her cope. Aguilar said she and Robinson took a long drive to Belton, Texas, to look at the stars on April 22. Belton is about 21 miles east of Fort Hood in Bell County. Phone info led authorities to remains Investigators analyzed Robinsons phone and found that at 1:59 a.m. on April 23, Robinsons cellphone was in the vicinity of FM 436 and West Main Street in Belton around a bridge. His phone tracked along the Leon River going north and was in the area for roughly two hours, the complaint says. Investigators analyzed Aguilars phone as well. It revealed that she and Robinson were near the Leon River together on April 23 and April 26. Based on the phone data, Army investigators searched Leon River on June 21. A burn site with disturbed earth was identified. The burned remains of what appeared to be a plastic tote or tough box were found near the area where Robinsons phone was, but no remains were found. Then on June 30 around 1 p.m., contractors working on a fence adjacent to the Leon River contacted investigators because they found what appeared to be human remains. Robinson ran away from his post the evening of June 30 after hearing reports that human remains had been found. He was later found east of Fort Hood, where he shot himself as Killeen police confronted him early Wednesday. Officials searched the area and found scattered human remains that appeared to have been placed into a concrete-like substance and buried, the complaint says. Aguilar was interviewed again on June 30. She told investigators that Robinson told her he fatally hit a woman soldier in the head with a hammer multiple times in his arms room on Fort Hood on April 22. Between the night of April 22 and early April 23, Robinson picked up Aguilar at a gas station where she worked and took her to Leon River near a bridge. There, Robinson walked Aguilar over to the woods and opened a box that was already there. Aguilar said she saw a body, that she later identified as Guillen, inside the box, the complaint says. Robinson and Aguilar, the complaint says, used a hatchet or ax and a machete-type knife to dismember the body. They attempted to burn the body before putting it in three separate holes and covering up the remains, the complaint says. If convicted, Aguilar faces up to 20 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Supreme Court: Presidential electors can be forced to uphold popular vote Trump book: Mary Trump's family tell-all book publication date moved up to July 14, two weeks early This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Vanessa Guillen case: Cecily Aguilar, tied to killing, shows in court From left: Mohammed Ahmed, Timothy Bodell and Miles Bishop were jailed for a combined 30 years. (Dyfed-Powys) Three men have been jailed after breaking their way into a house and brutally attacking a man with a hammer and knife on New Years Eve. Miles Bishop, Mohammed Ahmed and Timothy Bodell busted their way into a house on Lammas Street, Carmarthen, Wales, and attacked the victim, leaving him bleeding significantly. The court heard that the gang covered their faces with balaclavas and used fake accents and threatened to stab the victims housemates dog. Bishop, 29, Ahmed, 19, and Bodell, 31, fled the scene at around 1am and got into a nearby getaway car but were arrested later that day. It is unclear what the exact reason for the attack was. The three were sentenced to a combined 30 years in prison at Swansea Crown Court on Friday. The gang were sentenced to a combined 30 years in prison at Swansea Crown Court on Friday. (Getty) Dyfed-Powys Police Temporary Detective Sergeant Mathew Nelson said: This was a particularly nasty incident, which saw the victim suffer significant physical injuries and no doubt ongoing trauma. The three men thought up a plan to break into his home while disguised by balaclavas and using fake accents, before threatening to stab his housemates dog and attacking him. Read more: Burglar calls 999 for help after he gets stuck in window while breaking into home The assault was so brutal that in his initial call to police, the victims housemate described there being blood everywhere and feared his dog had been killed. What followed was a fast-moving operation across the Carmarthenshire division to locate and arrest them. An initial response identified a suspect vehicle leaving Carmarthen, and searches were carried out by armed response teams at houses in Burry Port and Llanelli. Bishop, of Parc Pendre in Kidwelly, and Bodell, of Danlan Road in Pembrey, were arrested at a house in Burry Port. Mohammed Ahmed, aged 19, of no fixed address, was arrested in Station Road, Llanelli. Read more: Stoke Newington hero believes knife attack on Jewish man was hate crime Bodell and Ahmed admitted charges of aggravated burglary and were both sentenced to nine years in prison. Bishop denied the offence and was found guilty following a three-day trial at Swansea Crown Court. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Click here to read the full article. ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2019, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe met for the twenty-seventh time at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The long-standing dispute over the Kuril Islands between Russia and Japan continued to be an issue, but the dialogue revealed a few interesting trends. Abe emphasized the strategic importance of strengthening political and economic relations with Russia as well as that of joint projects on the disputed isles, which could eventually help facilitate the conclusion of a peace treaty. Putin, for his part, also stressed the significance of bilateral documents signed during his visit to Japan. He asserted that expanding strategic communication, bilateral trade, and investment cooperation would bring Russian-Japanese relations to a new level. In this atmosphere, it would be possible to find a compromise on the most difficult matters. It appears that both parties hope that building a firm partnership could help solve the problem. The territorial dispute over the islands, referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan, arose when the isles were occupied by Soviet forces following Japans surrender at the end of World War II. The resulting disagreement over the islands sovereignty and the lack of a peace treaty have been a toxic influence on Russian-Japanese bilateral relations ever since. However, negotiations to resolve the dispute never move past the talking stage. What is really holding back progress? THE POPULATIONS of both countries have lost faith in the matter ever reaching a productive resolution. According to recent polls, nearly three-quarters of Japanese do not believe any progress is achievable in negotiations, yet they should be continued in order to either return the territories to Japan (32.9 percent of respondents) or compromise on the transfer of the islands of Kunashir and Iturup immediately with talks over the other two islands in the future (43.5 percent). At the same time, the overwhelming majority of Russians (77 percent) are against even considering the transfer of the territories to Japan. The actual population of the Kuril Islands is itself almost wholly united against the notion (96 percent). Story continues Experts argue that putting an end to disagreements with Russia over the islands would enable Abes government to pursue a more independent foreign policy line. This has been one of his key goals, especially in light of a proposed referendum on Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which could have resulted in a reconsidering of roles and missions for Japans Self-Defense Forces. However, Abes withdrawal from the next election may drastically alter this calculus. Putting aside the possibility that the United States may attempt to intervene in signing a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, as it did in 1956, a strong relationship with one of the regions largest actors would certainly help balance out nearby Chinas growing and worrisome influence. This is something that Tokyo has been particularly concerned about in recent years, especially after China overtook Japan and became the second-largest economy in the world, ending the latters four-decade-long reign in the number two spot. Russia, for its part, could also use another solid partner in Asia to counter accusations that its recent turn to the East is in essence a turn to Beijing. The reality is that both could greatly benefit from this partnership. However, would ending this territorial tug of war necessarily lead to a breakthrough in bilateral relations? The current dynamics between Russia and Japan present a chicken-and-egg dilemma: is it the territorial dispute that holds back the two from strengthening and diversifying their cooperation beyond exploiting natural resources and trading automobiles, or is it the ties themselves that need a major boost and a series of mutual concessions before there can be any progress in the dispute resolution? In this respect, it may be meaningful to draw on a case of another long-standing border issue in the region: the Sino-Soviet and later Sino-Russian dispute. That was successfully settled in two stages formally set forth in three major agreements of ratification: in 1991 for the eastern part of the border from the Pacific shore to Mongolia; in 1994 for the west from Mongolia to Kazakhstan, which was never a disputed territory so no complex negotiations were involved; and in 2004 for the three remaining isles of Bolshoy (Abagaitu) on the Argun River, and Tarabarov (Yinlong) and Bolshoy Ussuriisky (Heixiazi) on the Amur (Heilongjian) River near Khabarovsk. IT MAY be argued that the two territorial disputes are, from the perspective of international law and otherwise, rather different. First, the Russian-Chinese dispute emerged as a part of a long history of bilateral relations, while the Russo-Japanese one is a result of the Second World War, during which China was an ally of the USSR and Japan was its enemy. Second, Japan is a close ally of the United States, and it does not intend to compromise these relations significantly in the near future. China has never been in such a position. Third, the Kurils have a significant Russian population. Finally, since Russia clearly states that the islands are a part of its territory, in case of a compromise settlement it would be hard to claim that it is merely a border delimitation, as was the case with China. Instead, it may look like a transfer of the territories to Japan. On the positive side, although there was a war between the USSR and Japan, there have never been border clashes afterwards, like between the USSR and the Peoples Republic of China in 1969. In more global terms, Sino-Russian border disagreements were, from the very beginning, about clarifying the border demarcation arrangements made in the mid-nineteenth century. The borders between the two were established by the Treaty of Peking concluded in 1860, in which China recognized the Russian Empire as master of lands on the left bank of Amur River and of those between the Ussuri River and the Pacific Ocean. However, as was often the case in the nineteenth century, the river was considered no mans land, and, by extension, the islands located in it. In other words, the status of the islands remained undetermined. The three largest islands, just like most other smaller river islands, were unilaterally incorporated into Soviet territory at the end of 1920s, and given the Russian names of Bolshoy, Tarabarov, and Bolshoy Ussuriisky. After coming to power in 1949, the Communist government of China did not dispute the border, since the Soviet Union was a major partner and friend. But when tensions between Moscow and Beijing started to take their toll, Beijing insisted on border talks. By 1964, the USSR agreed to divide the borders in accordance with the international law based on the thalweg principlenamely to identify them as going through the center of the main channel of any river. That meant that islands between the main channel and the Chinese bank should go to China. Yet the implementation of this decision became impossible when, in July of 1964, Mao Zedong claimed in a meeting with a delegation from the Japanese Socialist Party that About a hundred years ago, the area to the east of [Lake] Baikal became Russian territory, and since then Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Kamchatka, and other areas have been Soviet territory. We have not yet presented our account for this list. This triggered a harsh reaction from Nikita Khrushchev, who ordered the withdrawal of the Soviet delegation from the talks. The two leaders parted ways in pursuit of their respective geopolitical ambitions. 1964, nonetheless, was start of negotiations that would last for over forty years. Uncertainty was followed by open confrontation at the border in 1969, but the following decades demonstrated little progress. The situation finally shifted when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power with his policy of new thinking, which was aimed at reducing the military presence of the Soviet Union in the world. The three major obstacles Beijing saw in the way of normalizing relations with MoscowSoviet troops in Mongolia, their extensive presence on the Sino-Soviet border, and support of Vietnams intervention in Cambodiaconveniently coincided with Gorbachevs priorities. Removing these obstacles, along with the fact that China was then ostracized from the West following the suppression of the Tiananmen Square Protests, secured a smooth transition to a rapprochement between the two states. The first of the three agreements on border demarcation was signed shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union and ratified afterwards in 1992. The situation was complicated by the fact that other former Soviet republics shared the border with China, but the negotiations proceeded between the joint delegations of Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan on the one side, and the Chinese delegation on the other. The islands of Bolshoy, Tarabarov, and Bolshoy Ussuriisky were deliberately left out from these talks, as well as the following phase of the painless negotiations in 1994 regarding the border from Mongolia to Kazakhstan, pushing them to the last phase. It still took ten to fourteen years from that point to finalize the demarcation. The disputed territory was divided approximately fifty-fifty, although a slightly larger territory went to Russia, with entire island of Tarabarov and parts of Bolshoy and Bolshoy Ussuriisky going to China. This successful resolution removed a potential point of contention and secured a decades-long, strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow, which eventually facilitated the latters still-unfolding turn to the East. Neither the treaty nor the dispute resolution created close ties between Moscow and Beijing. Instead, both served as a reflection of progress already achieved, and helped solidify a framework for future proactive cooperation. Over the period from 1991 to 2004, bilateral relations became qualitatively different from what they had been. The normalization grew into a full-blown comprehensive strategic partnership despite certain fears present in the political discourse in the early 1990s: Russia feared the harmful influence of another Communist regime, while China was wary of the uncertainty following the disintegration of the USSR and the chaos it caused in Russia, as well as of the possibility of Moscow making friends with Washington to distance itself from its Communist past. Nevertheless, avenues for mutually beneficial cooperation made the existing differences seem insignificant. A series of important bilateral documents followed. In 1994, a Joint Declaration called Sino-Russian relations truly equal relations of good-neighbourliness, friendship and mutually advantageous cooperation based on the principles of peaceful coexistence. In 1996 and 1997, two agreements on confidence-building in the military field and mutual reduction of military forces along the border areas were signed. Among other measures, Moscow and Beijing agreed to exchange information on the components of the armed forces and border troops deployed near the border; to refrain from military exercises directed against the other party; to limit the scale of military exercises; to reduce armed forces in the 100-kilometer zone on both sides of the border to agreed-upon limits; to not deploy river-going combat vessels from their navies in this zone; to invite observers to military exercises on a reciprocal basis, etc. In June 1997, a special agreement on regular meetings of government leaders established a permanent structure of economic cooperation between Russia and China. The leaders of the two countries, worried about the United States apparent desire to unilaterally dominate the international system, signed a declaration aiming to promote a multipolar world and the establishment of a new international order. It manifested the converging positions of the two, which later became nearly identical. In 2001, the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation firmly recognized the existing border, thus making rival territorial claims impossible. That same year, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established, creating a framework for multilateral cooperation in Central Asia. By 2003, China became Russias fourth-largest trading partner and Russia the eighth-largest partner for China. Bilateral trade quadrupled from $5.8 billion to $21.2 billion. With these developments in the background, negotiations over the isles were bound to be successful by extension of the formally established Sino-Russian partnership. The order was such that the ties had to improve significantly first, diminishing the overall importance of the territorial issue and facilitating its successful settlement. The notion that Russo-Japanese relations will only flourish after the currently disputed territories are finally divided could benefit from deeper historical analysis. Politically speaking, a peace treaty with Russia would most probably not affect Japans generally pro-American foreign policy course. In economic terms, friendship alone would not be able to force Tokyo to increase investment flows into the Russian economy unless the investment climate itself dramatically improves first. If this happened, the investments would follow even in the absence of any treaty. THE FACT that the negotiations were finally brought to a positive conclusion does not imply that they were always necessarily easy or straightforward, or that the societal response following the border issue resolution was inevitably positive. It is often an argument in the case of Russia and Japan that the general public, being rather nationalistic in recent years, would oppose any form of settlement unless it is all or nothing. In this respect, it is worth remembering that both the Chinese and Russian governments were also criticized at the time for buying friendship with territory, giving away land unfairly, losing it to a tricky opponent, or even betraying the motherland. The nationalist Rodina party declined to support the agreement. We do not vote for ceding Russian territory, then-Rodina party leader Dmitry Rogozin told Trud. We cannot understand why Russia should pay for good relations with China by surrendering its territory. Why should we transfer islands to the Chinese? asked the popular Komsomolskaya Pravda. The newspaper quoted Viktor Ishayev, governor of the Khabarovsk region, as saying that the yellow threat could soon become a reality by 2020 when Chinas population is expected to reach 1.5 billion. Chinese criticism of the matter was not publicly visible in the media for obvious reasons, but even some official periodicals admitted that certain circles within the country did not see the necessity of accepting the 1860 border treaty. Others insisted on the return of the whole island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky instead of only a part or continuing the dialogue indefinitely. Social media remarks were even more critical. In other words, the level of public disapproval was, arguably, comparable to that concerning the prospect of dividing or losing the Kuril Islands now by either party. A nationalist resurgence in Japan is indeed the phenomenon addressed more often in the media, and public attitudes to ceding the territories to Japan in Russia are also rather negativejust as attitudes to giving away the territories to China used to be in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nonetheless, when assessed retrospectively, the agreement of 2004 is considered to have been necessary by the government and most experts, and perhaps not so costly for a partnership with such an important actor in the region: It is apparent that in this case Putin made the right call for the state he attempted to secure an alliance with a necessary partner. If we had to sacrifice a small part of river backwaters, we find this expense acceptable. The same might happen if the territorial issue between Russia and Japan is settled: Moscow will enjoy a newly-established partnership in the Asia-Pacific, while Abes government will make a major leap forward in making Japan more confident and independent in the international arena. Of course, the Japanese government is much more dependent on public opinion than the Russian or Chinese governments, which also limits its ability to contain nationalistic sentiments. However, one should not underestimate the role of public opinion in Russia or even in China, where leaders are becoming more sensitive to it as well. With the current general stalemate in bilateral relations between Moscow and Tokyo, a settlement is unlikely to happen very soon. What Japanese border studies expert Iwashita Akihiro argued a decade ago still holds true: territorial disputes seem to be of little interest to ordinary Japanese-Russian relations because, even if a peace treaty or border demarcation agreement were signed, it might not be of much consequence to either side. Russia and Japan had peacefully coexisted for the past forty years even during the Cold War period. They have not been particularly good neighbours, but nor have they been great enemies in the traditional sense. In the post-Cold War period, Russo-Japanese relations have slowly but gradually developed. Neither government feels an acute need to compromise with the other concerning disputed islands. In a paper, Iwashita asks how the vacuum should be filled in bilateral relations and proposes a detailed plan for a fifty-fifty resolution on land and at sea. He also points out that such a resolution may easily turn from a win-win situation to a lose-lose one for both parties. The gap in Russian-Japanese relations may indeed be large, but when both sides consider the objective benefits that would follow once their territorial dispute is resolved, the way forward should be apparent. THE RUSSIAN-Japanese territorial problem certainly has its differences with the Sino-Soviet/Sino-Russian one. Due to the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda, which established the borders between the two empires, Japan officially used to have control over Kunashir, Iturup, Habomai, and Shikotan, while the remaining Kuril Islands went to Russia and the status of the island of Sakhalin remained undetermined. The Treaty of Saint Petersburg in 1875 confirmed that Sakhalin was Russian territory and that all the Kuril Islands, including the now-disputed four, once again belonged to Japan. Over the course of the next few decades, Japanese communities of some seventeen thousand people developed on the isles. The Treaty of Portsmouth at the end of the Russo-Japanese War gave Japan the southern part of Sakhalin as well. After its defeat in World War II, Japan had to renounce all its occupied territories under the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco with the Allies. It also renounced all right, title and claim to the Kuril Islands, as well as over other possessions (that included Sakhalin). The Soviet Union incorporated the Kurils, including the isles of Kunashir, Iturup, Habomai, and Shikotan, into its territory, deporting the existing Japanese population. However, Japan did not recognize these four islands as being part of the Kurils and claimed them back. The diplomatic ties between the two nations were restored by the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. The first clause of the declaration clearly expressed the joint will of both countries to end the war: The state of war between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan shall cease on the date on which this Declaration enters into force and peace, friendship and good-neighbourly relations between them shall be restored. This fact is often conveniently left out when Western media sources provide historical background on the dispute, implying that the state of war between the two countries has not formally finished. Article 9 of the document also expresses the will of the USSR to cede the Habomai Islands and the island of Shikotan, but states that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will only take place after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan. However, the treaty was never signed. The main reason why was the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, which, according to Moscow, changed the strategic situation in the region and made the original pledge null and void. The United States put pressure on Japan and advised against a territorial compromise with Moscow under the threat of terminating economic aid and retaining Okinawa. Another reason was growing nationalism in Japan. The Japanese government is often accused of being inconsistent in denouncing its military past, oftentimes at the expense of healthy relations with its partners in East Asia. Certain anxious episodes of wartime history are understated, glossed over, or simply covered up. As Russian diplomat Vitaly Vorobyov argues, a dominant narrative in Japanese postwar policymaking, including cultural diplomacy, is the victimization of Japan at the hands of the rest of the world. Territorial disputes, including the one with Russia, fit well in this victimization framework and have become a national symbol of unfair treatment by the winners of the war. This explains why Japan thinks that returning all the isles would restore justice in the world order and help the country overcome its defeated country inferiority complexsomething unbefitting of the worlds third-largest economy. For Russia, as a successor to the Soviet Union, ceding the territories would mean the opposite of justice. It would be a revision of the results of World War 2a potentially dangerous practice from the perspective of Moscow. It could lead to serious problems not only with Japan, but also elsewhere in the world. For instance, in Eastern Europe, many parts of current Russian territory (Kaliningrad oblast, which used to be Eastern Prussia, along with some former parts of Estonia, Latvia, and Finland) were added to the Soviet Union and later Russia in line with the postwar arrangements. This is deeply rooted in the minds of both Japanese and Russian leaders, but the concerns become especially apparent during times of mistrust. Such times never become a fertile ground for proactive cooperation, making negotiations last for decades, as happened in the Sino-Soviet case. AT PRESENT, Russia seems to be ready for a compromise. Its official position is to hold a dialogue based on the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. The Sino-Russian model shows that specific border arrangements can be negotiable, depending on the circumstances, but one thing is clear: nobody gets all or nothing. This means that Moscow might agree to the transfer of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan under certain conditions, one of which would be that this transfer would be the final settlement. Japan would then recognize Russias sovereignty over the remainder of the disputed territory without attempting to further negotiate it. Other concerns mentioned by Russiasuch as Japans alliance with the United States, the possibility of a U.S. military base being built on the transferred islands, and Japanese sanctions against Russiaare generally negotiable and can be overcome. Japans position, however, suggests little willingness to compromise: Tokyo demands that Moscow recognizes Japanese sovereignty over all four islands, transfer two to Japan immediately, and continue negotiations on the remaining two. This position has already resulted in failure on several occasions, with the most recent being in December 2016 at the Putin-Abe summit in Yamaguchi, Japan. More recently though it seems that the general approach under Abe has shifted slightly, and his statement in Osaka during a meeting with Putin in June 2019 is another indication of that. Tokyo now seems more inclined to support Moscows approach in calling for broad bilateral cooperation to precede the resolution of the territorial dispute, creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and making the involved parties more amenable to reaching an agreement. This position was clearly formulated by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in December 2019, when he said that any agreements should be supported and accepted by the people and parliaments of Russia and Japan, and that the path to a final settlement lies through efforts to improve relations, bring them to a qualitatively new level, and achieve the comprehensive development of Russian-Japanese ties in all areas, including the economy, investment, the humanitarian economy, security, and international positions. Such an approach also enabled Russia to resolve its territorial issues with China, and according to some experts, might influence other border dispute resolutions in the region, such as the Sino-Indian one. This has already led to significant growth in bilateral trade and broadened political dialogue between Moscow and Tokyo. The two countries leaders meet several times each year to foster political dialogue in all spheres, including security. This is still rather far from the ideal, but the overall trend is encouraging, as is the willingness of the two current leaders to overcome the issue. Russias turn to the East, its interest in Asia and Japan, and its wish to avoid excessive dependency on China as a partner, along with Japans desire for a more independent position on the international arena and its fears of growing China, are some of the new tendencies that could bring the two nations closer together. Olga Puzanova is a lecturer and researcher at the International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. The research for this article was supported by a grant of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 2020. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. The decision to transfer hundreds of inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino, shown, during a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility has been blamed for helping spread the virus to other prisons. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) As COVID-19 infections spread rapidly through California's prisons, authorities on Monday announced the replacement of the state correction system's top medical officer, and Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized an earlier decision to transfer hundreds of inmates from a Chino facility that had been battling an outbreak. The leadership shakeup occurred as corrections officials reported three more deaths over the July 4 weekend among inmates at San Quentin State Prison, where more than one-third of inmates have tested positive. The death toll is now at six. Most of the facility's COVID-19 infections were reported in the last two weeks, more than a month after 121 inmates were transferred there in late May from the California Institution for Men in Chino, where more than 900 inmates have tested positive in the last three months. "They should not have been transferred," Newsom said in his public address. The governor described combating the outbreak at the state's prison system as a top priority for our administration." He said he hoped San Quentin would be able to reduce its inmate count from more than 4,000 on March 1 to 3,082 in the next few weeks. We dont want to just send people out to park benches and homeless shelters," Newsom said. "We have to make sure we responsibly move people out. On Monday, the federal court-appointed receiver overseeing medical care at the state's prisons announced the removal of Dr. R. Steven Tharratt as the prison system's statewide medical director. Tharratt, who was appointed to that post by the receiver in 2010, will now serve as a special healthcare advisor to the receiver. Statewide, at least 28 inmates have died of COVID-related illnesses. More than 2,400 are currently infected. "We are in unprecedented times as we deal with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, said in a statement. In order to meet current response needs while also working toward further delegation of medical care back to state control, it has become evident that a reorganization is necessary for long-term sustainability. Story continues Last week, Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) called for Kelso's removal and described the shifting of inmates without contemporaneous testing as "the worst prison health screw-up in state history." In late May, corrections officials announced that nearly 700 inmates from the Chino prison would be transferred to a dozen other corrections facilities around the state. Those selected for transfer had medical histories that made them especially vulnerable to COVID-19. At the time, the Chino prison had reported more than 600 cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths among its inmates, who are in close quarters in dormitory housing. The 121 inmates who boarded buses for San Quentin on May 30 had all tested negative while at the Chino prison, but few had been tested in the two weeks prior to the move. At San Quentin, where there were no confirmed COVID-positive inmates at the time, the newly arrived prisoners were checked for signs of illness and had their temperatures taken. While kept separate from the rest of the inmate population, the new arrivals used the same showers and ate in the same mess hall as the other prisoners. On June 4, San Quentin reported four positive cases among inmates and immediately halted further transfers. The transfers did alleviate the outbreak in Chino, which on Monday reported 119 active cases and a total of 16 deaths. But the virus spread elsewhere, hitting San Quentin, Californias oldest prison, especially hard. San Quentin now has 1,381 infected inmates, including 920 new cases in the last 14 days, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's COVID-19 tracker. The positive cases translate to more than one-third of the prisons inmate population of about 3,450, which includes 721 inmates on death row. San Quentin also reported 165 confirmed infections among employees, the highest of any of the state's prisons. Last week, Marin County reported that Richard Stitely, 71, a death-row inmate found dead in his cell on June 24, had tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday, the department announced the deaths of death-row inmates Scott Thomas Erskine, 57, and Manuel Machado Alvarez, 59, followed the next day by Dewayne Michael Carey, 59. Authorities have yet to identify two more inmates who died Sunday. All died at an outside hospital from what appear to be complications related to COVID-19, the department said. Local hospitals have been inundated with intensive care patients from the prison, Marin County officials said last week. The transfer of inmates from Chino grew out of a legal agreement involving the California attorney general, the state corrections department and the nonprofit advocacy group Prison Law Office as a way to protect vulnerable inmates. Until late May, California Correctional Health Care Services had opposed such transfers, saying that mass movement of high-risk inmates between institutions without outbreaks is ill-advised and potentially dangerous and noting that it carries significant risk of spreading transmission of the disease between institutions. But according to federal court filings, the prior approach of keeping inmates with underlying health issues in an infected facility had failed to keep them safe. Since [the California corrections department's] current and past measures have failed to stem outbreaks and stop the spread, it is imperative that vulnerable patients receive additional protection immediately, the attorney general and the Prison Law Office argued in a brief. U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar, who is presiding over a federal lawsuit brought on behalf of inmates that seeks to force California to create a detailed plan to change the way prisoners are housed, cited the state's handling of infections Sunday in a court memorandum. "San Quentin provides a signal example of what can happen when an outbreak overwhelms an institution," he said. "The number of inmate infections is undoubtedly even higher, because hundreds of inmates have refused to be tested." At a hearing Monday, he said the prison spread likely will affect surrounding communities' hospital capacities. He said it was his understanding that 20 of 45 COVID-19 patients being treated in Alameda County hospitals are from San Quentin. Tigar indicated that he was likely to order California to set aside sufficient cells and staff to cope with infections at each institution. The judge did not appear to be inclined to order prisoners released or to have a three-judge panel consider such a move, but he asked whether the state could make it happen because there may come a point where there is no other option. "People are dying every day," Tigar said. Public health experts echoed his concerns. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco, said that prisons, especially San Quentin in the Bay Area, will likely have an impact on hospitals in the coming weeks as inmates and staff need greater levels of care. As the inmates start to get sicker and require hospitalization, not only are Bay Area hospitals going to feel it, hospitals across the state are going to feel it, said Chin-Hong, who also worries that stocks of drugs such as Remdesivir will run out. Its really shocking. Its scary," he said. "Its like a California wildfire, and you need to put it out, but putting it out is hard to do, and in the meantime, it's spreading. Times Staff Writers Anita Chabria, Phil Willon and Stuart Leavenworth contributed to this report. Margaret Brennan during Face the Nation on Sunday: (CBS News) CBS News host Margaret Brennan has claimed that the Trump administration has prevented Dr Anthony Fauci from appearing on her show for three months. The moderator of CBS Face the Nation, claimed on the show on Sunday that the administration had not approved an interview with Dr Fauci since 5 April. Dr Fauci, one of the country's top infectious disease experts and part of the US government's coronavirus task force, has appeared on various other networks over the last few months to discuss the coronavirus crisis, according to Newsweek. Speaking at the start of Face the Nation on Sunday, Ms Brennan noted that coronavirus cases in the US had risen above 50,000 in the previous days, and said the show wanted to get Dr Fauci on to discuss the crisis. It may be the most sobering morning after the Fourth of July in Americas history as we wake up to the fourth day in a row of more than 50,000 new reported cases of Covid-19. They are on the rise now in 40 of 50 states, she said. Ms Brennan added that were committed to bringing you the facts about the virus and the most knowledgeable guests that we can. We think its important for our viewers to hear from Dr Anthony Fauci and the Centres for Disease Control (CDC). But we have not been able to get our request for Dr Fauci approved by the Trump administration in the last three months. Ms Brennan said that her show had also not been able to get an interview with a CDC official in that time, and added: We will continue our efforts. Dr Fauci last appeared on Face the Nation on 5 April, when he was interviewed by Ms Brennan, but has not appeared on the network since. Although he has done several television interviews since that date, his last appearance in the US was on CNN on 12 June, when he was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. He and other members of the coronavirus task force, who are leading the response to the crisis, are struggling to get access to go on major television networks to discuss the pandemic, according to CNN. Story continues Dr Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was in the news again last week, but his comments on the pandemic were taken from a webcast with the Journal of the American Medical Association, a Senate committee hearing, and interviews with NPR, and the BBC in the UK. With positive cases rising dramatically across the US, following the easing of lockdown measures in a majority of states, a Trump administration official told CNN that they are concerned by the lack of expert coverage, because, now is the time to be sending a strong public health message. At the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee last Tuesday, Dr Fauci warned that the US could see the number of new cases rise to 100,000 a day. 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, Dr Fauci said. According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 2.8 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 129,947. The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. Read more Dr Fauci says bars opening is really not good amid coronavirus surge The Trump administration will re-up its attempt to end President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program this week after the Supreme Court blocked its latest effort last month, multiple sources told The Hill. One source who briefed The Hill on the latest developments said the White House had initially slated the renewed effort for last week, but pushed it back to this week. Speaking to Fox & Friends on Monday morning, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows signaled action was coming, saying starting this week, youll see executive orders, youll see business that actually goes forward from the Oval Office when Congress doesnt act. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Trump administrations attempt to end DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Acts arbitrary and capricious standard and could not move forward. In response, President Trump said nothing was lost or won in the decision, adding that the court had punted. The program, which was instituted by President Obama in 2012, affects approximately 700,000 illegal aliens brought to the United States as children. Through DACA, participants can apply for renewable deportation deferrals and receive work eligibility, but are not given a path to citizenship. Under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has filed multiple memoranda first in 2017 under then-acting DHS secretary Elaine Duke, and a follow-up in 2018 by former DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen seeking to end the program, arguing that it is unconstitutional and cannot be maintained. Trump has previously said that a deal will be made with Democrats over the status of DACAs participants if his administration was successful in ending the program. Former vice president Joe Biden has been outspoken in his defense of DACA, calling its participants more American than most Americans during a campaign event in January. More from National Review President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch a U.S. military aircraft flyover while hosting a 4th of July "2020 Salute to America" to celebrate the U.S. Independence Day holiday on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. Reuters/Carlos Barria Americans shied away from typical Fourth of July festivities on Saturday amid rising coronavirus concerns, but the White House threw a large event celebrating Independence Day. The "Salute to America" gathering featured a speech from President Donald Trump and a military flyover, and fireworks were scheduled for later in the evening. Photos from Washington, DC, show how the event on Saturday unfolded. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. While much of the country eschewed typical Fourth of July celebrations amid coronavirus fears, President Donald Trump threw a large "Salute to America" gathering at the White House on Saturday that included a speech and a military flyover. The festivities came as COVID-19 cases across the country soared, particularly in new hotspots like Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Nearly 130,000 have died of the disease so far. Many of the attendees who took to the White House's South Lawn on Saturday did not wear masks they were not required, but they were offered, according to The New York Times. The guests included frontline health care workers and military service members. But the Associated Press reported that many revelers appeared to be taking a more cautious approach the crowds on the National Mall were noticeably thinner than in previous Fourth of July celebrations. Saturday's came one day after Trump spoke to a crowd at Mount Rushmore, delivering a combative speech attacking his political opponents and denouncing "left-wing mobs" that he accused of seeking to "defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children." His speech on Saturday contained similar themes, arguing that the country was "now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing." Story continues Here's how the White House's Fourth of July event unfolded: The celebrations featured a performance by the US Army's Golden Knights parachute team, who floated through the air carrying an American flag. Members of the military parachute onto the Ellipse of the White House during the "Salute to America" event held to celebrate Fourth of July Independence Day in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. Reuters/Sarah Silbiger The event also drew a number of protesters, who took to DC's streets to demonstrate against racism and police brutality. Protesters against racial inequality and police violence gesture near Black Lives Matter Plaza, as military aircraft perform a flypast during Fourth of July holiday, in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. Reuters/Leah Millis Attendees who were seated on the White House's South Lawn appeared to be grouped close together and without masks, though public health experts have recommended keeping distance and wearing face coverings to prevent coronavirus transmission. People wave US National flags during the 2020 "Salute to America" event in honor of Independence Day on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, July 4, 2020. AFP/Saul Loeb via Getty Images Trump delivered a speech that addressed the COVID-19 crisis only fleetingly, opting instead to focus on "the radical left," whom he accused of seeking "to lie about the past in order to gain power in the present" and who "want us to be ashamed of who we are." President Donald Trump speaks to attendees with a sheet of bullet proof glass and the Jefferson Memorial in the background as he hosts a 4th of July "2020 Salute to America" to celebrate the U.S. Independence Day holiday at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. Reuters/Carlos Barria His remarks came amid nationwide turmoil both due to the pandemic and to six weeks of civil unrest after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Demonstrators march near the White House ahead of the Fourth of July celebration on July 4, 2020, in Washington, DC. AFP/Jose Luis Magana via Getty Images Trump's speech wrapped up with a military air show that included dozens of fighter jets flying across the sky in formations. United States Air Force Thunderbirds and the United States Navy Blue Angels fly over the White House during the "Salute to America" event hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump to celebrate Fourth of July Independence Day in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. Reuters/Sarah Silbiger Read the original article on Business Insider Editors Note: This piece is adapted from All the Horrors of War: A Jewish Girl, a British Doctor, and the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen, by Bernice Lerner, the daughter of Rachel Genuth. Following a negotiated truce, on April 15, 1945 (three weeks before VE Day), units of the British Second Army entered Bergen-Belsen. Fifteen-year-old Rachel Genuth was among the 55,000 war-ravaged inmates languishing in the camps putrid huts. Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes, deputy director of medical services (DDMS) of the Second Army, was among the liberators. A quick assessment told him that 25,000 of the displaced persons needed immediate hospitalization. Rachel was one of them. Following Rachel, a Jewish teenager from the Hungarian provinces, and Hughes, a decorated British military officer, as they converged in this hell in northwest Germany, affords two vantage points from which to try to fathom the complex liberation of the largest Nazi concentration camp in the spring of 1945. * * * One year earlier, Rachel was in Sighet, an isolated mountain town in the Hungarian provinces, celebrating the Passover holiday with her parents, grandmother, and five siblings. That their family was together seemed a miracle. In April 1943, Rachels father had survived a conflagration and massacre: Hungarian officers set fire to a barn containing more than 600 Jewish slave laborers; they gunned down those who tried to flee the burning building. Moshe Genuth was one of the few escapees. With her father home, Rachel had had a blissful year. But shortly after Passover the unimaginable happened: Hungarian gendarmes ousted the Genuths and all of their Jewish neighbors from their homes. They marched them to the train station and shoved them into cramped cattle wagons destined for Auschwitz-Birkenau. By May 22, Rachels entire family, save her and her older sister Elisabeth, had been murdered. Most of Sighets Jewish population of 11,500 (nearly half the town) met the same tragic fate. Story continues In the shadows of Birkenaus crematoria, Rachel volunteered for hard labor that earned her a piece of bread. She begged privileged prisoners for an iota of any sort of food a few grains of salt might help her survive. During the interminable tzel appel (the counting of prisoners) she stood erect and obeyed orders. During harrowing selections for the gas chamber or for slave labor, she pinched her cheeks and covered her sores in efforts to appear healthy. In midsummer 1944, Rachel and Elisabeth were among 250 able-bodied women sent from Auschwitz to Christianstadt, a labor camp attached to a German munitions factory in Upper Silesia. Their precarious reprieve lasted until they were forced on a death march in the bitter winter of 1945. After a five-week trek and a week in a locked freight car where, starved and parched, the sisters picked fat white lice off of each others clothing and bodies they arrived in Bergen-Belsen. It was mid March the month in which 17,000, including Rachels iconic peer Anne Frank, succumbed to starvation and disease. (Epidemics of typhus and gastroenteritis raged.) Rachel and Elisabeth soon became inured to the sight of skeletal beings shambling, and of dead and dying lying everywhere. Rachel contracted tuberculosis and was herself at deaths door. * * * Upon entering Bergen-Belsen, Glyn Hughes found himself responsible for an unprecedented situation: Nothing had been done to accommodate hordes of inmates, most of whom had long suffered terror and depredations. With no habitable housing, no sanitary facilities, no food and no water, the camp was, in the words of a survivor, the worst of the worst. In his vast experience of war, Hughes had seen nothing to touch it. One year earlier, Hughes, as DDMS of Britains 8 Corps, was preparing for the evacuation and treatment of battle casualties. From Operation Overlord (D- Day) to the fighting in Normandy, to ensuing battles in the Netherlands and finally, in Germany, he oversaw the work of medical units, commandeered hospitals, coordinated with military leaders, and tackled problems including exhaustion, the World War II version of shell shock. Facing Germanys Waffen-SS divisions fighters who would go to the limits of endurance for the Volk, Fuhrer, and Fatherland inexperienced British soldiers met booby traps, surprise attacks, and the enemys powerful, dreaded weapons. Beyond the battlefield, Hughes encountered horrific scenes asylums in Venraij, Holland, where hundreds had been kept in bunkers without any provisions for hygiene; stalag (POW) and oflag (officer) camps in Germany. But nothing would compare to the concentration camp that Heinrich Himmler would defying Hitlers orders formally turn over to the approaching Allied forces, ridding the Germans of a situation that threatened the local population (diseased inmates might escape), that had gotten out of control. On the afternoon of April 15, Hughes conducted a reconnaissance of Bergen-Belsen. He estimated that of the sick and dying, he and his men would be unable to save 14,000. Wondering how to begin the rescue operation, he despaired. Second Army divisions were still engaged in battle; he had few available medical units to call upon. Feeding the starved, disinfecting and evacuating dying patients to a yet-to-be-readied hospital, and burying thousands of dead posed enormous logistical challenges. On April 18, a unit of Britains Royal Artillery arrived and pitched tents near the horror camps huts. When those able to walk moved into the tents, the rescuers would be better able to get food and water to the dying in the dung-filled, overcrowded huts. Rachel shared a tent with four others. Soon, the eldest of them told her she had to leave as she was too weak to perform her duty when it was her turn to pull the flap down, she did not belong in the tent. Rachel crawled back to the hut. There, she tried to reclaim her preferred spot against the wall. Incensed, her compatriots beat her to a bloody pulp. She now lay in the filth, unconscious. She would not know how she was saved. After three weeks hovering between life and death in a makeshift hospital, Rachel was asked by a nurse, Arent you lucky you survived? How lucky am I? she thought. I lost my family, my friends, and my health. She would spend much of the coming decade in tuberculosis sanitaria and rest homes in Sweden. At Bergen-Belsen, Hughes supervised leading aspects of the relief work, communicated with Second Army Headquarters, called for help, and attended to patients. Within weeks of the liberation, he witnessed an extraordinary phenomenon: Survivors whom the British Army would have left for dead began to recover and form a post-war community. He would remain in contact with many of them. Of all his accomplishments and career successes, he would consider his role in saving a remnant of the Jewish people his crowning achievement. Rachel never met Glyn Hughes or any liberator of Bergen-Belsen. * * * Nothing had to happen the way it did, and no one could have predicted the course of events in that last, fateful year of World War II. Hughess meticulous planning contributed to the Allied victory, but it was his ability to lead and to improvise, and his warm heart, that prompted a British military chaplain to call him The Man of Belsen. After the deportation and shock of Auschwitz, Rachel mustered whatever teenage wiles she possessed to survive one trial after another. The greatest test came when she was deathly ill in Bergen-Belsen. She reminded herself of her fathers last words to her: I have confidence you will make it. The journeys of Rachel and Hughes tell a larger story about those in their positions caught in that ruinous war, about courage in the extreme. Defying characterization, the young girl summoned the strength to pull through. And the tough war hero broke down crying. Though forced to institute a triage system, Hughes felt empathy for the dehumanized other. More than many British officials of the time, he displayed compassion. More from National Review Several U.S. social media companies have ceased reviewing requests by Hong Kong authorities to search residents data, following Chinas implementation of a new national security law covering the territory. The new law gives the Chinese government sweeping power to arrest dissidents in Hong Kong or curtail their activities. We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions, Facebook said in a statement on Monday. Facebook-owned messaging app Whatsapp said it had ceased reviews pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human-rights due diligence and consultations with human-rights experts. Google and Twitter both confirmed that they had ceased data reviews immediately after the passage of the national security law last week. The law is set to take effect on Tuesday night and allows authorities to request the publisher or host of an electronic message to remove that message if it endangers national security. Hong Kong has long allowed free use of social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter, which are banned or heavily restricted in mainland China. Hong Kong has maintained a relatively autonomous system of government since British authorities handed China control of the territory in 1997. The passage of the national security law led U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to inform Congress that the State Department could no longer consider Hong Kong an autonomous territory. Meanwhile, British prime minister Boris Johnson has announced that the U.K. will change immigration rules to allow 3 million Hong Kong residents to live and work in the country. More from National Review People protest against new coronavirus restrictions - Cheney Orr/Reuters US mayors warned on Sunday that their cities were in danger of being overwhelmed by a surge in covid-19 cases as they pushed back against governors decisions to re-open states and President Donald Trumps claims that the disease is under control. Across the US, the nationwide rolling seven-day average of new cases hit 48,361 - an increase of 11,740 on the past week. In all 18 states have reported new records, prompting local officials to warn that they are in danger of being overwhelmed. If we dont change this trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun, Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, said on CNNs State of the Union. Judge Lina Hidalgo, the senior official in Harris County, Texas which includes Houston warned: We dont have room to experiment, we dont have room for incrementalism when were seeing these kinds of numbers. Nor should we wait for all the hospital beds to fill and all these people to die before we take drastic action. The warnings came as 239 scientists from 32 countries wrote an open letter to the World Health Organisation accusing it of underplaying the risk of airborne transmission of the disease. The letter, which the researchers plan to publish in a scientific journal this week, outlines evidence that novel coronavirus in smaller particles in the air can infect people and calls for the WHO to revise recommendations, according to the New York Times. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of food and drugs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Over the weekend Mr Trump played down the severity of the crisis, insisting that 99 per cent of cases were totally harmless. According to figures produced by Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, the global authority on the disease, the US fatality rate currently stands at 4.6 per cent. In Florida, the state shattered its record over the weekend with 11,458 cases reported on Saturday. The surge has raised serious concerns over the viability of holding the Republican convention in Jacksonville in late August. Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, voiced doubts over whether it would be safe to do so. "I think it's too early to tell," he said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "We will have to see how this unfolds in Florida and elsewhere around the country." World's largest visa outsourcing and technology services specialists utilize OneTrust platform for global privacy program and regulatory research. LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OneTrust, the largest and most widely used privacy, security and trust software, today announced VFS Global, the world's largest travel visa outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide selected OneTrust to power its privacy program. VFS Global implemented a range of OneTrust modules, including the OneTrust DataGuidance Regulatory Research platform, Assessment Automation, Cookie Consent, Data Mapping, Consumer Rights (DSAR), and Universal Consent and Awareness Training to operationalize their privacy program. OneTrust is the #1 most widely used privacy, security and third-party risk technology platform trusted by more than 3,000 companies to comply with the CCPA, GDPR, ISO27001 and hundreds of the worlds privacy and security laws. (PRNewsfoto/OneTrust) Read the case study: VFS Global's Journey to Implementing a Custom Privacy Program with the Full OneTrust Platform VFS Global is a business to government outsourcing company that provides visa application services to 64 client governments in 144 countries worldwide. Processing millions of visa applications a year, privacy is a core component of VFS Global's business allowing the company to build trust between their client governments as well as the customers applying for a visa. VFS Global operates in multiple jurisdictions, and the privacy team needed a solution that allowed them to quickly source relevant information and updates for the legal requirements of specific territories in which they conduct business. VFS Global chose OneTrust because it is a centralized tool to manage the local requirements of the 144 countries in which they operate, as well as a solution that could cut back on the manual work of assessments, reports and research, while increasing their ability to demonstrate accountability. "OneTrust enables globalization to be managed by a central component, and also allows for the fine detail of local management," said Barry Cook, Privacy and Group Data Protection Officer, VFS Global. "Specifically, OneTrust DataGuidance has made VFS Global's privacy research simpler and faster and allows my team to do deeper research in particular areas, in effect it has given us the equivalent of two extra employees." Story continues "Adding a suite of OneTrust modules to power privacy operations shows how VFS Global is a great example of building trust through data protection practices," said Kabir Barday, OneTrust CEO and Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP). "We're proud to work with VFS Global and other leading companies to build and grow their privacy, security and trust programs." To learn more about how VFS Global powers their privacy program with OneTrust, read the case study. For additional information, or to request a live OneTrust Privacy Management Software demo, visit OneTrust.com or email Info@OneTrust.com About OneTrust OneTrust is the #1 most widely used privacy, security and trust technology. More than 5,000 customers use OneTrust to build integrated programs that comply with the CCPA, GDPR, LGPD, PDPA, ISO27001 and hundreds of the world's privacy and security laws. The OneTrust platform is powered by the OneTrust Athena AI and robotic automation engine, and our offerings include: OneTrust Privacy Management Software OneTrust PreferenceChoice Consent and Preference Management Software OneTrust Vendorpedia Third-Party Risk Management Software and Cyber Risk Exchange OneTrust GRC Integrated Risk Management Software OneTrust Ethics Compliance and Ethics Software OneTrust DataGuidance Regulatory Research Software OneTrust DataDiscovery AI-Powered Discovery and Classification To learn more, visit OneTrust.com or connect on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vfs-global-implements-a-custom-privacy-program-with-onetrust-301087379.html SOURCE OneTrust SAN DIEGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Unified Communications company VOXOX today announced the launch of "The Comeback Small Business Radio Show"a radio show and podcast hosted by veteran corporate communications, business psychology, and marketing strategy expert, and VOXOX EVP of Strategy & Marketing, Staci Wallace. The show, which is broadcast weekly on Saturday at 6 p.m. Pacific Time / 8 p.m. Central Time on THE ANSWER FM 96.1 / AM 1170 , showcases stories from notable business leaders, who discuss their "secret sauce" marketing strategies and how they turned adversity and hardship into an epic comeback story that has empowered them to build a life and business they love. VoxDirect from VOXOX Logo "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, and small business owners are ready and hungry to stage their own epic comeback," said Staci Wallace. "'The Comeback Small Business Radio Show' is a powerful example of how, time and time again, brave entrepreneurs face set-backs only to emerge with a comeback story that causes them to rethink their strategy and hit the reset button on their idea so that greater impact can occur," she said. The goal of the radio show and podcast is to provide a platform for powerful business success stories to inspire and empower other small business owners who are going through their own personal and business challenges while trying to grow their big ideas. The radio show provides actionable tips, advice, and first-hand accounts of the ability to thrive in the midst of adversity in business, relationships, and life. Past guests include Carla Shellis, founder of Bochy's Place, a safe-house dedicated to the restoration of human trafficking victims, who shared her story of how owning, operating, and selling five restaurants prepared her to fulfill a greater life purpose, and Alvin Hope Johnson, President of Hope Housing Foundation (HOPE) and Assertive Management Group, LLC, whose privately owned property management firm has established over 1,300 affordable housing units. "The Comeback Small Business Radio Show" team has a full lineup of inspirational guests for its fall season of shows, sure to inform, impress and inspire listeners. Although "The Comeback Small Business Radio Show" guests all have unique stories, they share one vital thread in common: their setbacks have taught them valuable life-lessonsthat in turn gave them the business acumen needed to run successful, purpose-driven businesses that are making a difference in the world. Story continues To find out more about, listen to, or become a guest on "The Comeback Small Business Radio Show," visit https://comeback.voxdirect.com. About VOXOX VOXOX is an innovator in unified cloud communication solutions for businesses. The foundation of the company's offerings is its award-winning unified communications Platform as a Service, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable white-labeled applications and services. For end-users, VOXOX provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including VoxDirect, SIP Trunking, hosted PBX, and a wide array of wholesale services, such as high-volume SMS. For service provider partners, VOXOX delivers cutting-edge voice and text messaging apps and services, including white-label versions of VoxDirect, a small business solution for global mobile operators. VOXOX is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.voxox.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/voxox-launches-the-comeback-small-business-radio-show-and-podcast-created-as-a-platform-to-showcase-small-business-success-stories-301088175.html SOURCE VOXOX Click here to read the full article. In the latest of many cynical and highly political moves, the House of Representatives last week passed a measure that would transform the District of Columbia and make it the 51st state.D.C., as it is often abbreviated by locals, is already a state. It is a state of corruption, crime, and dysfunction. The only reason Democrats favor the nations capital becoming a state is that it would gain two senators, who would almost certainly be Democrats and its delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, could then vote in the House. Currently she can only participate in committee hearings with the permission of the chairperson.The Founders specifically prohibited the district from becoming a state, but who listens to them anymore as rioters deface and pull down some of their statues and liberal judges rewrite the Constitution to conform to the spirit of the age? As Time magazine has noted: the lack of statehood for the capital is enshrined in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the document reads, The Congress shall have Power To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.'It was James Madison, says Time, who explained the reasoning behind this provision in Federalist 43. The language is stilted, but updated it simply means that the national government is to have exclusive power over lands purchased from the states. These would be the same powers extended over the created federal district, later named the District of Columbia. The House legislation would change the name to the Douglass Commonwealth in honor of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass.No Taxation Without Representation is the slogan imprinted on the citys license plates. It references a cry that fueled the American Revolution when people protested paying taxes to the English king without having a say in the government, or how the money was spent. Story continues If people knew much history these days it might be a powerful argument, but as noted the Constitution forbids what House Democrats are trying to accomplish. The language and intent of the Founders could not be clearer. Additionally, no one is forced to live in the District. Maryland and Virginia border the city, which was created ten miles square from land donated by both states for the specific purpose of establishing a federal capital with provisions for how it would be run. The city has home rule, meaning it can vote for mayor, city council, and school board members, among other positions, which gives residents some control over how their city taxes are spent. Congress, however, can still override any local legislation it does not like as the Constitution provides. Given the recent rioting and property damage in D.C., it is even less likely the Senate will go along with the House measure to make the city a state and even if it did, President Donald Trump would certainly veto it. The prospect of D.C. becoming the 51st state could be added to the presidents and Republicans list of reasons why Democrats should not win the White House, or a Senate majority in the coming election, now just four months away.(C) 2020 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY LLC This article by Cal Thomas first appeared in The Daily Signal on June 30, 2020. Image: Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is surrounded by clergy as she speaks during a vigil as protests continue on the streets near the White House over the death in police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, U.S., June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque. Click here to read the full article. People in line to apply for unemployment benefits in Arkansas. Reuters Congress approved a $600 unemployment bonus on top of state payments as part of its coronavirus relief efforts in March. Those weekly payments are set to expire on July 31, with the last payments coming the week prior, and there's no consensus yet among lawmakers about extending them. Republicans, who oppose extending the bonus at current levels, have floated the idea of a "return to work" bonus instead of extending jobless benefits. The White House has toyed with the idea of $200 and $400 in additional unemployment payments, down from the original $600. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The extra $600 Congress afforded in March to Americans who were laid off as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is set to expire at the end of July, even as many businesses around the country remain unable to open. The weekly payments are in addition to state benefits, which vary based on location and previous wages, averaging a combined $978 per week nationwide. For many workers, the checks have totaled more than their previous income. But with unemployment still at record levels, that could soon change if lawmakers don't act before August. To make matters worse, the final payments will come around July 25 or 26, depending on location. As some businesses re-open, helping dampen the still-high jobless rate, the virus continues to hit new records in the United States. In the first weeks of July, the US continued to report record daily case counts and remains the world's epicenter of the pandemic. Even once the virus subsides, unemployment levels will remain in double digits for the rest of 2020, and average 10% through 2021, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates. That's likely unwelcome news for the more than 11 million Americans out of work as of June. What happens next Congressional Democrats want to extend the $600 supplement. Lawmakers have included the provision in several proposals, including its HEROES Act which recently passed the House, but they're likely to be dead on arrival to the Senate. Story continues Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it "a crazy policy" in a call with House Republicans in May. At least half the labor force is earning more on unemployment than in their old positions. Other options mulled by the Democratic side include connecting the size of unemployment payments to the nation's economic health through automatic stabilizers. In a scenario Rep. Don Beyer proposed, weekly benefit checks would gradually scale back from $600 to $300 as the country's economy recovers. Some Republicans have supported the idea of paying people to return to work. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio unveiled a plan last month to pay $450 a week for workers heading back to their old jobs or new ones. The White House seemed to open the door to more payments of lesser amounts, the Washington Post reported. And other administration members including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have said they're open to the idea of another round of stimulus payments. "I think we're going to seriously look at whether we want to do more direct money to stimulate the economy," Mnuchin said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He didn't offer specifics on amounts. The White House appears to be on board with the idea of more direct payments as well. "I think the president has been very clear that he's supportive of another stimulus check," Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said on earlier in July. "And yet at the same time, we want to make sure we're addressing things in a real systemic way." Read the original article on Business Insider Click here to read the full article. Editor's Note: As the world commemorates the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, the Center for the National Interests Korean Studies team decided to ask dozens of the worlds top experts a simple question: Do you believe that the Korean War will finally come to an end before its next major anniversary in 2025? The below piece is an answer to that question. Please click here to see even more perspectives on this important topic. On June 25th, 1950, the peace across the Korean Peninsula was shattered by North Korean forces invading South Korea. Seventy years later, the Korean peninsula is once again facing growing tensions as North Korea threatens to take measures to make the army advance again into the zones that had been demilitarized under the north-south agreement, turn the front line into a fortress and further heighten the military vigilance against the south. This is the latest step in a consistent pattern by Pyongyang to increase tensions. Kims increasingly powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has issued a military threat as a result of a leaflet-dropping campaign from defectors in the South, stating that before long, a tragic scene of the useless north-south joint liaison office completely collapsed will be seen. In fact, North Korea demolished that building not too long later. Duyeon Kim argues that the latest phase in these tensions are manufactured by Pyongyang to pressure Seoul into further accommodating North Koreas demands, in particular, to ease sanctions, and to split with the United States. It is likely that North Korea will continue to undertake provocations below a level that would justify a U.S. military response. Any actions by Pyongyang will be limited in scope and intensity and designed to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington, D.C. Certainly, there seems little prospect for a return to U.S.-North Korean summit diplomacy in 2020, with Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon ruling out further meetings with President Trump. Kim Jong-un has stated that the priority now is to mass produce nuclear and missile capability. That could imply further testing of long-range missile systems. Resorting to new testseither of long-range missiles or worse, a nuclear test, would violate the Trump Administrations red line, and likely force a tough response from the United States. It would certainly sink any chance to restore the inter-Korean dialogue. Instead wed be back to the dangerous days of fire and fury in 2017. Story continues So, in 2020, all the indicators are flashing red, and events are heading in the wrong direction. Getting the process back on track will be challenging. Is there a chance to end the Korean war by 2025the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of conflict? It really will depend on the ability of key individuals to change course and engage in dialogue in a manner that leads to practical outcomes. But there are more uncertainties about which key actors will guide such a dialogue. In April, there were concerns that Kim Jong-un had disappeared and had, in fact, died. He is clearly still alive but is in poor health. Does Kim Jong-un survive and how stable is his leadership if his health is uncertain? If he dies, does power pass to his sister, Kim Yo-jong? Is she more amenable to dialogue or is she more dangerous than even Kim? Can she hold on to power, or is she and the Kim family Paekdu bloodline, ultimately challenged by opposing forces inside North Korea? Turning to the United States, does a prospective Biden Administration adopt a more nuanced approach to future dialogue with Pyongyang? Or is the likelihood that the regime in North Korea would demand major concessions up frontan end to sanctions, a peace treaty, a withdrawal of U.S. nuclear capable forces on and around the peninsulamake such a dialogue impossible? Would another term of office for President Trump increase, or weaken, the chance for dialogue in a manner that contributes to a verifiable denuclearization of North Korea? The future in relation to the outcome of seventy years of Korean War remains unknowable. Yet given current events and indications, the prospect of peace by 2025 doesnt seem high. What is more likely is that the current tensions will continueor even intensify, especially as North Korea looks set to return to provocations against the South and could undertake additional testing of long-range missile and nuclear capabilities. Dr. Malcolm Davis joined ASPI as a Senior Analyst in Defence Strategy and Capability in January 2016. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: The U.S. can't simply count on technological superiority to win the day. Inexpensive Russian and Chinese weapons, such as cyberwar and antiship missiles, threaten the Wests reliance on expensive arms such as aircraft carriers. China and Russia appear to have focused many (but not all) their efforts on being able to put at risk the key Western assets that are large, few in number and expensive, reads a recent study by the Royal United Services Institute, a British military think tank. Western governments have become acutely aware of the problems of this financial imbalance in the counterinsurgency context, when they found themselves using weapons costing $70,000, sometimes fired from aircraft that cost $30,000 an hour to fly, to destroy a Toyota pick-up vehicle that might be optimistically valued at $10,000, the report went on. Missiles costing (much) less than half a million pounds [$642,000] a unit could at least disable a British aircraft carrier that costs more than 3 billion [$3.9 billion]. Indeed, a salvo of ten such missiles would cost less than $5 million. The British report is in response to Americas Third Offset Strategy, the Pentagons search for ways to maintain U.S. military superiority amid the rise of asymmetric warfare. The ability of a missile or a computer virus to destroy or disable expensive Cold Warera weapons like aircraft carriers or tanks, or the satellites and computer networks that support them, has left U.S. planners grappling with how to devise new capabilities while rendering older weapons less vulnerable. But what makes the RUSI report particularly interesting is the nation that authored it. With one-twelfth the defense budget of the United States, Britain cant afford to lavish money on numerous projects like their cousins across the pond do. So, by necessity, the British study offers a particularly clear-eyed view of the situation. Story continues For example, RUSI points out that the current situation should come as no surprise. The United States fielded stealth aircraft and cruise missiles more than twenty-five years ago. It would be naive to expect that Russia and China are not where leading NATO states were three decades ago. Nor can the West count on technological superiority. American and British armed forces are configured to fight overseas, in expeditionary forces or in support of or allies. In contrast, Russia and China have chosen to focus on fighting near their home borders, such as eastern Europe or the South China Sea. Thus, although the US spends much more on defence technology development than its potential adversaries, its better technology does not necessarily translate to proportionate military advantage in a specific theatre, RUSI notes. The RUSI study suggests that Britainand implicitly the United Statesadopt a four-pronged approach it calls Tolerate, Treat, Transform and Terminate. The first three refer to maintaining the capability of current weapons, upgrading current weapons to meet future threats and developing entirely new technologies. However, the last optionwhat RUSI calls Terminateis the most explosive. It essentially means getting rid of weapons that can no longer perform effectively in combat, yet cant or are too expensive to upgrade. The judgement here will be whether it is the most cost-effective means to deliver that effect, or whether a less sophisticated capability might be more appropriate, RUSI says. Second, while desirable, the capability could be rapidly reconstituted should the need arise. The RUSI report carefully refrains from naming specific weapons that might need to be eliminated. But given the studys conclusion that Russian and Chinese weapons now threaten Western reliance on a small number of sophisticated and irreplaceable platforms, the large aircraft carriers beloved by the U.S. Navy would seem to be at the top of the list. This option is understandably the most difficult, requiring an alignment of stakeholder interests and decisive action, RUSI admits. Its also easier for Britain than the United States: the British are unlikely to confront an adversary such as Russia or China alone, without Western and especially U.S. forces that can provide capabilities that Britain cant. Its the Americans who need to be able to provide the muscle and the lift. Nonetheless, perhaps it takes a former great power like Britain, fading gracefully from center stage in the global arena, to admit reality. Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. This article first appeared in 2017 and is reprinted here due to reader interest. Image: U.S. Navy / Flickr More From The National Interest: Russia Has Missing Nuclear Weapons Sitting on the Ocean Floor How China Could Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Where World War III Could Start This Year Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: Accidents can happen or boats can be poorly maintained. Here is the tragic story of this particular Russian submarine. Russian submarines flirt with disaster. The Kursk suffered a fire in 2000 and sank, killing 118 sailors. In 2008, 20 sailors died of asphyxiation on the Nerpa when an automatic fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated. The Ekaterinburg caught fire in 2011 with nuclear weapons onboard. The Losharik too had an accident onboard, with multiple fatalities. Losharik The Losharik was laid down in the late 1980s just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to financial constraints in Russia following the collapse, the Losharik was not commissioned until 2003. The submarine is reportedly operated by Russian military intelligence, the GRU, rather than the Russian Navy though Navy personnel are presumed to make up the crew. The Loshariks design is quite unique. Inside the streamlined outer hull are seven titanium spheres. The rear two spheres house the subs nuclear reactor and propulsion unit, while the forward five spheres provide space for crew and equipment. The submarine is presumably quite cramped, but these spheres allow the submarine to dive thousands of feet below the surface, to depths that would crush most other submarinessupposedly over 8,000 feet, or about 2,400 meters. The Losharik also has a few features that lend credence to the idea that it is a spy sub. It has four retractable skids that would allow the sub to sit the ocean floor, protecting the propeller and control surfaces from damage, and at least one extendable robotic arm that can manipulate objects outside the submarine. The Losharik had previously taken ocean floor rock samples to bolster Russias claim to wide swaths of the Arctic region. It also can be docked to a larger mothership submarine, a modified Delta IV-class with a hitch underneath that the Losharik can clip into for transport. Story continues Aside from grainy satellite photos, not much photographic evidence of the Losharik was available. In 2014, the Russian version of Top Gear, an automotive program, published photos of an ocean-side SUV test that captured the Losharik in the background. The Losharik was likely going to or coming from the Severodvinsk shipyard. Fire Though propelled by a nuclear reactor, the Losharik also has onboard batteries that can store extra electric power. The fire on the Losharik likely started in one or multiple battery compartments, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Fires onboard submarines are not like a fire inside a house. Submarines are non-combustible by designeven the paint inside subs is nonflammable. Rather than an open flame, a fire would likely be noticed by smoke or smoldering. Due to the especially cramped conditions on the Losharik, battling the blaze was likely made even more difficult. Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper, speculated that the fire may have been caused by replacement batteries that were lithium-ion, rather than the original silver-zink batteries, which could have caused a short circuit or explosion. 14 sailors died as a result of the fire. Four of them were awarded Russias highest honor, Hero of the Russian Federation. A Russian naval aid reinforced the idea of the deceased sailors as heroes, saying that, with their lives, they saved the lives of their colleagues, saved the vessel and prevented a planetary catastrophe, in a possibly hyperbolic gesture. Information Warfare To understand why the Losharik can dive so deeply, one has to consider what lies on the ocean floor at such astounding depthsunderseas fiber-optic cables. An estimate by a UK-based think tank estimated that every day, underseas cables conduct 97% of global communications and $10 trillion in daily financial transactions. A disruption in information transmission could be a crippling economic (or military) blowand Russian submarines are already on patrol or operating in some capacity near these cables. Sailing On The Losharik will likely be repaired and put back to sea, assuming the damage was not catastrophic, though Russian naval repairs are notoriously slow. While the Losharik will be out of commission for some time, the possibility of Russian tampering with undersea cables is not over. Undersea fiber-optic cables remain exposed and unprotected. Caleb Larson holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy. He lives in Berlin and writes on U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policy, German politics, and culture. This first appeared in 2020 and is being reposted due to reader interest. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. The U.S. Pacific Fleet reported that the Nimitz and Ronald Regan Carrier Strike Groups have been conducting dual-carrier operations in the Philippine Seaand warships and aircraft assigned to the CSGs began coordinated operations in the international waters last week. The exercises coincided with similar drills conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy in the region. We aggressively seek out every opportunity to advance and strengthen our capabilities and proficiency at conducting all-domain warfighting operations, said Rear Adm. George Wikoff, commander Carrier Strike Group 5. The U.S. Navy remains mission-ready and globally deployed. Dual carrier operations demonstrate our commitment to regional allies, our ability to rapidly mass combat power in the Indo-Pacific, and our readiness to confront all those who challenge international norms that support regional stability. Last month, USS Nimitz (CVN-68) Carrier Strike Group, CSG-11, which is part of the U.S. Navys 3rd Fleet and coordinates with the U.S. 7th Fleet to conduct missions, began its deployment. At the same time, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) departed from its homeport in Yokosuka, Japan and began a CSG patrol in the regionand embarked with Carrier Air Wing 5 based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. The two CSGs are conducting integrated exercises and operations that maintain responsive, flexible, and enduring commitments to mutual defense agreements with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers have conducted similar dual carrier strike group operations in the Western Pacific, including the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea in recent years. These operations typically occur when strike groups deployed to 7th Fleet from the West Coast of the United States join 7th Fleets forward-deployed carrier strike group in Japan. Only the U.S. Navy can integrate a carrier strike force on this scale and consistently project power to protect freedom of the seas, Rear Adm. James Kirk, commander of the Carrier Strike Group 11, said. With more than ten thousand U.S. Navy Sailors from across the world working together as one cohesive team, these operations are what keep us ready to respond to any contingency. Story continues The dual-carrier operations are a response to the drills that Beijing announced on July 1 that were to occur near the Paracel Islands, which are currently claimed by both Vietnam and China. Vietnam, along with the Philippines, has criticized the planned Chinese drills and warned that the exercises could create tension in the region and impact Beijings relationship with its neighbors, NBC News reported. These are just the latest exercises that the PLAN has conducted in the region. In April, Chinas Liaoning aircraft carrier task force took part in its first major exercise in the South China Sea after suspending drills in March due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Warships from the PLANs 35th Escort Task Group also took part and conducted anti-piracy and live-fire training drills. The region remains a flashpoint, as Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion of trade passes each year. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104), and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114). The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54), and guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89), and is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan and routinely conducts security and stability operations in the Indo-Pacific region. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. A woman fell to her death from a roller coaster at an amusement park in France over the weekend. The woman fell off Parc Saint Paul's Formula One roller coaster "while it was in operation" at about 1:45 p.m. local time Saturday, according a statement from the park shared with NBC News. Park staff immediately responded and outside medics followed, said the statement from the park, which is in Oise, about 50 miles north of Paris. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The crews "tried in vain to revive the victim, who unfortunately died on the spot," the statement said. No one else was injured. The Formula One area of the park was closed, and park teams assisted witnesses. "We are all very saddened by this situation. Our thoughts are with the family of the victim and their close one," said a statement shared in French by Parc Saint Paul on Twitter. "We are collaborating with authorities to understand what happened." Rides were inspected by the security commission on June 15, the statement said. The park reopened after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic on June 6. The Formula 1 Coaster amusement park ride at Parc Saint-Paul in Oise (Patrick Kovarick / AFP via Getty Images) Local media reported that the victim was a 32-year-old woman visiting the park to celebrate her toddler's birthday. Police are investigating. The department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News. Local media also reported that another woman died after being ejected from the same ride, described by the park as "a fabulous race full of 'Air Time' and "accessible to the whole family," in 2009. And malfunctions on the ride led to more than a dozen injuries in 2005. Home | Showtime | Celebrities | Alleged Rape: DBanjs Ex-Manager Shares Own Story A former manager of DBanj, Frank Amudo, has finally spoken up on the alleged rape case against the entertainer. Mr Amudo explained how Ms Seyitan called him to complain that DBanj raped her. According to him, the first question Ms Seyitan asked him was if he knew that DBanj was coming to her room. Mr Amudo was Dbanjs manager from July 2016 to January 11, 2019. Upon my arrival in Accra, Seyitan called, saying that Dbanj gained access into her hotel room at Glee Hotel by 3am and raped her. I was shocked at this allegation because I wondered how Dbanj gained access into this room knowing full well that I did not disclose my room number to him and he was not lodged at the hotel. I called Seyitan back to ask why she was given $100 and why she would claim she was raped by Dbanj and she angrily replied in a series of voice notes reiterating the accusation and that she was told not to tell me because they assumed she was my girlfriend. She said she had left everything in Gods hands and made it clear that she was not interested in taking the matter to the public. I chose not to discuss this matter with Dbanj because he and his wife were also in Accra as this was supposed to be a healing trip to recover from the loss of their son. I thought it was insensitive to discuss such issue on this trip, as Seyitan had even mentioned that she didnt want the matter escalated further, he said. DBanj is currently asking for N1.5 billion in damages s he has continued to deny all allegations against him. JAGUDA reported how he called out e-feminist Kiki Mordi, for not getting her facts right before joining the band to accuse him. He also disclosed what he would do with the money if he wins the case. Watch Ms Amudo narrate his side of the story. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Celebrities Loading... The family of the late Oyo governor, Abiola Ajimobi, said on Sunday that it had no intention to bar the Deputy Governor of the state, Rauf Olaniyan, from the eight-day Fidau prayer organized for the deceased. Ajimobis former media aide, Bolaji Tunji, said this in a statement issued in Ibadan on behalf of the family. The familys reaction followed reports that a delegation of the state government led by the deputy governor was barred from entering the venue of the event. But Tunji, in the statement, said the family was not aware that the deputy governor would attend the event. He added that neither the advance team nor the protocol unit informed the family. The event, he added, was held in compliance with COVID-19 protocols established by NCDC, noting that not more than 30 people were allowed at the venue. Tunji added that the seats were arranged according to the number after which the gate to the premises was shut. He said when the family got the information that the deputy governor had arrived, aides rushed to the gate to usher him into the sitting room only to learn he had gone. The statement said in part: There is the need to clarify the believed presence of the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Mr Rauf Olaniyan, at the 8th-day prayer of HE Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the immediate past governor of Oyo State The Deputy Governor arrived after the prayer had started. The event was strictly a family affair. There was a need to comply with the Covid-19 protocol as established by NCDC- Social distancing, not more than 30 people in a place and seats arranged, accordingly after which the gate was shut. No one was aware that the Deputy Governor was coming as neither the advance team nor the protocol informed us. By the time we got to the gate to usher him into the sitting room, he had left. Everything happened within a spate of 10 minutes. Tunji said efforts were made through a serving senator and a former attorney general to get in touch with the deputy governor. He maintained that the incident was not meant as a slight to the deputy governor as he could sit in a private sitting room provided by the family. Tunji, who described the incident as unfortunate, however, apologized to the deputy governor. 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 candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the September 19 governorship election in Edo State, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has said contrary to reports, he never poured acid on a fellow student when he was an undergraduate at the University of Benin. During the 2016 governorship electioneering, a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, had during campaign alleged that Ize-Iyamu, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in that election, poured acid on a student. But in an online television programme monitored in Benin City on Sunday, Ize-Iyamu said he drew the attention of the then UNIBEN administration to the plight of the student. Ize-Iyamu, who said he ensured the student got first aid treatment, however, said himself and others linked to the incident were rusticated because the identity of the culprit was never known. He said he gained admission into the University of Benin in 1980 to read Political Science, but later changed to law and did not graduate until 1986 because he was rusticated for about two years. He said, When I was in the university, I was a member of the Pyrates Confraternity. At that time, we didnt look at it as a cult arrangement but some people were already coming in with tendencies to create problems. We had this very confrontational group and one evening, somebody reported to us that they beat up a final year student who was also close to us and they mentioned the names of those involved, and we said no, this is bad. Dont also forget too that I was a students union leader, very prominent in the students union congress. So, myself and some persons who heard about this complaint said lets go and see the people concerned and talk to them. We went there and met with the people concerned. They opened the door for us and we were discussing the matter under a very cordial atmosphere only for some people to come in and before we knew it, there was smoke in the whole place and somebody shouted acid and was screaming. It was then I realised that somebody has poured acid on somebody and I quickly rushed to the security post. I brought them in and we took the young man to get first aid treatment. Of course, the school set up an inquiry, and the person that was affected admitted that I was the one who brought security agents and that I was able to take him in for medical attention. I asked who poured it and he said he didnt know. He said he knew the face but didnt know his name and nobody appeared to know the name and the university said since you people dont want to mention the name, we are going to sanction all of you. Before we knew it, they expelled us. The reason they gave was that they expelled us for belonging to a proscribed organisation. But the long and short of it is that we were on it for two years till 1986 when the Senate held a meeting and said these guys have been punished enough, that if you look at the records, they were not the one that committed what happened, so, we were called back, graduated and then went to the Law School. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to investigate allegations of missing N300 billion public funds. The organisation said the funds documented in the 2017 audited report by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) were either mismanaged, diverted or stolen. SERAP gave government 14 days within which to order Malami and the anticorruption agencies to promptly investigate the extent and patterns of widespread and endemic corruption in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) indicted in the audited report. We urge you to take meaningful and effective measures to clean up an apparently entrenched system of corruption in these MDAs. We request that you take the recommended action within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter, failing which SERAP will institute legal proceedings to compel your government to act in the public interest. The letter was copied to Malami; Chairman Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye; Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed. In the letter dated July 4, 2020 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said the 2017 audited report reveals grim allegations of mismanagement, diversion and stealing of public funds, as well as unaccounted-for spending. It said the report suggests a grave violation of the public trust, and that the indicted MDAs and the National Assembly lack effective and credible internal processes to prevent and combat corruption. According to SERAP, Investigating and prosecuting the alleged grand corruption documented by the AGF would improve the chances of success of your governments oft-repeated commitment to fight corruption and end the impunity of perpetrators. It will improve the integrity of MDAs, serve the public interest, as well as improve Nigerians access to public services and goods. Any failure to promptly investigate the allegations and prosecute suspected perpetrators would breach Nigerias anti-corruption legislation, including the Public Procurement Act, the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and the countrys obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. The letter, read in part: It would also mean that Nigeria is failing to fulfil the obligations under the covenant to use its maximum of available resources to progressively realize and achieve basic economic and social rights, including access of Nigerians to public services and goods like quality education, healthcare, clean water and regular electricity supply, as well as the right to honest public services. The organization claimed to have carefully analysed the 2017 audited report by the AGF and our analysis reveals the following grim allegations of mismanagement, diversion and stealing of public funds, as well as unaccounted-for spending. It alleged for instance: The Federal Civil Service Commission spent 25,856,279.00 on behalf of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop online recruitment in April 2014 without any supporting memo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and without due process. Although the project was suspended, the Commission went ahead and paid 25,856,279.00 for contract not executed. The AGF recommended the full recovery of the public funds. The Commission granted cash advances totalling 8,590,000.00 to 25 officials between February and December, 2016 but failed to retire or account for the money. Also, 6,850,000.00 was paid for store items that were never supplied. Another 2,619,210.00 was spent without receipts. The AGF expressed concern that the money may have been misappropriated or stolen, and recommended the full recovery of public funds The former Chairman of the Commission whose tenure of office ended in May 2017 took away with him four vehicles (One Toyota Hilux, one 407 Classic Peugeot, One Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep and One Toyota Corolla) belonging to the Commission, despite the Monetization Policy of Government clearly stating that all vehicles of MDAs belong to the pool, and are not expected to be taken away as part of severance package at the expiration of an officers appointment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to show any receipts for the payment of 4,385,230,763.25 between January and December 2016. The Ministry also had no insurance cover for all its motor-vehicles, despite the budgetary allocation of 11,805,802.00 for insurance premium. The Ministry spent 105,000,000.00 to buy computer consumables, photocopy machine consumables, papers and other store items, contrary to official circular, and without any receipts. The AGF recommended the return of the money to the public treasury. The Ministry also spent 72,000,030.00 to improve power supply to the Ministry but the contract for this was not captured in the 2017 appropriation. Despite the purported spending, power supply to the Ministry has not improved. Also, 7,520,000.00 was spent by 20 officials to visit 8 out-stations of the Ministry without due process and without any receipts. 234,622,718.00 was also spent but remained unretired or unaccounted for. The AGF recommended the full recovery of public funds. The Ministry also paid 83,719,500.00 to a company for the rehabilitation and re-integration of released Chibok girls in August, 2017 without any agreement between the Ministry and the contractor, and without any evidence of purchase of the back-to-school materials, and job completion certificate. The AGF recommended the full recovery of public funds. The Ministry also transferred a take-off grant of 83,317,257.00 for Consulate-General of Nigeria, Guangzhou to the personal account of the Ambassador of Nigeria in Rome in 2013 to be remitted to Guangzhou. But the money was never remitted to Guangzhou and has remained outstanding till date. The AGF expressed concern that the money may have been diverted and misappropriated, and recommended that the Ambassador of Nigeria in Rome whose account was used be asked to account for the money. The Ministry of Justice disbursed 10,460,950,841.00 judgment debt in 2017 without due process. The committee to manage the funds was dissolved after 2013 financial year was not reconstituted as at the time of the 2016 and 2017 appropriations but funds were nonetheless disbursed. Also, 32,353,693.00 was spent between March and September 2017 on international travels without approval or evidence of spending. The AGF recommended the full recovery of public funds. At the National Assembly, the House of Representatives spent 95,212,250.00 without due process and without any receipts. The National Assembly Management Accounts also showed spending of N673,081,242.14 between AprilOctober 2017 without any documents. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been misappropriated and recommended that the Clerk of the National Assembly should fully recover the money and return it to the treasury. The Senate also spent 1,364,816,397.95 to renovate a store at the National Assembly but the AGF was denied access to the store and records, thus expressing concerns that public funds may have been diverted for unappropriated purposes. The AGF recommended that the Clerk of the National Assembly account for the money. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources spent 343,957,350.60 without due process, receipts, and without any evidence of work done or services rendered. Also, 14,993,950.00 granted as cash advances to staff was not accounted for. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may be missing and recommended that the Permanent Secretary is made to account for it. The Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Makurdi misappropriated 42,277,285.50 of contract money for project management. Similarly, the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria paid a contractor 33,425,000.00 in March 2017 for awareness training but there was no evidence that the contract was executed. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been diverted and recommended that the Executive Director should recover and return it to the treasury. The Cross-River Basin Development Authority, Calabar, overpaid a contractor to the tune of 10,387,490.00 for construction of Link Road between Cross River and Ebonyi State without any justification. Also, 30,616,110.00 was spent for construction of erosion control works at Nguzu but remained unaccounted for. The AGF expressed concerns that the contractor may have received money for project not executed, and recommended that the Managing Director should recover the money and return it to the treasury. The Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, Borno State failed to account for 2 Nos. Toyota Prado Jeeps which were purchased in 2013 and 2014 with registration No. 45KOIFG for one Jeep but the second Jeep was not registered, and no reason was given for this. The AGF expressed concerns that the Jeeps may have been diverted to private use, and asked the Executive Director to account for the vehicles. The Federal Capital Territory Administration spent 393,254,000.00 to support security agencies without due process and without receipts. Another 362,481,173.52 was paid for the procurement of stores locally without due process. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may be missing and asked the Permanent Secretary to recover it. The Ecological Funds Office misappropriated 1,257,791,992.86 meant for contract for Canalization and Desilting of OKOKO and Ogbagba Rivers in Osogbo Township, Osun state. There was no evidence that 30,000,000.00 meant for compensation to owners of marked-to-demolish structures and economic trees affected by the project, received any payment. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may be missing and asked the Permanent Secretary to recover it. The Office of The Head of The Civil Service of The Federation paid 301,984,103.00 for projects without accounting for it. 36,641,528.00 was also paid for seminars, conferences and workshops without any receipts. Also, 16,096,712.00 was spent on projects not executed. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been diverted and asked the Permanent Secretary to recover it. The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun spent 830,267,951.23 as Special Presidential Needs Assessment Phases I and II to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Warri for the Construction of Building, Procurement of Laboratory Equipment and Capacity Building/Staff training but the funds were misapplied. 190,495.824.75 was approved for a project to construct and furnish workshop and laboratory but the contractor was paid 199,324,657.10 and without any evidence of request by the contractor. The University also spent 990,621,753.29 to construct and furnish a 3-storey, 4-floor structure Student Residential Building Complex but the contract for the spending was awarded without due process. Also, only a 2-storey, 3-floor building was constructed. Several other infractions are documented in the report. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been diverted and asked the Vice-Chancellor to account for it. The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion spent 2,270,000.00 for a 2-day workshop but without any receipts. The AGF asked the Director-General to recover the money. The Nigerian Railway Corporation failed to remit 122,242,337.63 in taxes to the authorities. The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) paid 20,569,398.20 for supply of Power System Simulator without evidence of supply. It gave 6,187,393.50 as cash advances to 17 officers which remained unaccounted for. The National Health Insurance Scheme paid 4,931,475,094.63 as cash advances to staff without due process. 72,383,000.00 was also supposedly paid for verification exercise but the AGF found no evidence that the verification took place. Another 31,478,400.00 was purportedly paid for accreditation of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) but again the AGF found no evidence of this. The National Information Technology Development Agency paid 28,525,000.00 to a Security company for the production of procurement manuals for the Agency. 300 copies of the manual were produced although only 5 copies were needed and utilized, with a copy of the manual costing 95,083.33. The agency also paid 15,842,970.00 printer tonners. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Madagascar has placed its capital Antananarivo under a fresh lockdown following a new surge in coronavirus infections, two months after the restrictions were eased, the presidency announced Sunday. The Analamanga region (under which the capital is situated) is returning to full lockdown, the presidency said in a statement. No traffic will be allowed in or out of the region starting Monday until July 20. A strict curfew will be imposed on street movement by people. Only one person per household is allowed to go out into the street between 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and 12:00 pm (1000 GMT), said the statement. The measures have been taken because of the spread of the epidemic and the increase of COVID-19 cases, it added. Used to registering dozens of coronavirus cases a day, Madagascar has in recent days seen an exponential rise in daily numbers, jumping to a record 216 cases on Saturday. The latest tally came after 675 people were tested. Nearly 24,000 tests have so far been conducted on the impoverished island. By Sunday the country had a cumulative 2,728 cases, including 29 deaths since the virus was first detected on the Indian Ocean Island on March 20. All government meetings will now be held via video conferencing, while court hearings have been suspended. In April, President Andry Rajoelina launched a local herbal concoction he claimed prevents and cures the novel coronavirus. Rajoelina has been promoting the brew for export, saying it is the countrys green gold which will change history. The potential benefits of Covid-Organics, a tonic derived from artemisia a plant with proven efficacy in malaria treatment and other indigenous herbs have not been validated by any scientific study. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Dogara of the Peoples Democratic Party, who is still a member of the House, said this in reaction to an APC statement, signed by its Deputy Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, which demanded the probe of some PDP leaders, including the immediate past President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; former Vice-President and PDPs 2019 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; and Senator Dino Melaye, among others, over their alleged romance with Hushpuppi. Dogara reacted to the allegation in a statement issued by his media aide, Turaki Hassan, entitled The Fatuous and Infantile Statement by the Smellfungus Called Yekini Nabena. Nabena had in the statement said it was instructive to note that the suspect was arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, which was a destination of choice for PDP leaders ahead of the 2019 general elections. Dogara, through Hassan, however, argued that APC leaders had also taken photographs with another Dubai-based Instagram celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha, aka Mompha, who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is currently prosecuting over alleged fraud, money laundering and running a foreign exchange business without the authorisation of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Hassan said, This smellfungus called Nabena should have known that it is share mindlessness to attempt to execute mischief and blackmail in plain sight before the public some of whom are better informed. Who is that fool that links people to criminal activity simply because they appeared in a group picture at a public event comprising of people from different walks of life? If appearing in a group photograph is what Nabena is now using to establish a link or connection to crimes or alleged criminals, then, why didnt he issue such a statement in the wake of the arrest of a suspected money launderer by name Ismaila Mustapha, aka Mompha, whose pictures with notable personalities including some APC governors are all over the social media? Is Nabena guilty of selective amnesia or share perfidy? Who is Nabena scared of? Who is he trying to fool? He added, For the records, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara has agreed to waive his right to a trial and go to jail if Nabena establishes any form of links or connection between him and the alleged cyber criminal before the event where the picture was taken and after the event until now. For Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, that picture was just another picture among the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of such pictures with Nigerians from all walks of life. If the said Nabena is worth his salt, next time he speaks, he should speak to issues affecting the welfare of our union, which are well known to all discerning Nigerians. Nabena should or ought to know that there is no honour in speaking about group pictures taken at public events when the nation is bleeding and most Nigerian families are struggling and hurting. 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 spokesperson of the state Police Command, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, who confirmed the incident to newsmen on Sunday in Asaba, said that Ofobruku was a victim of armed robbery before he was kidnapped at gunpoint. The incident was a case of armed robbery and abduction. The gunmen were robbing in the street when the labour leader was driving out of his home. They intercepted his car and forcefully abducted him and took him to the nearby bush, Onovwakpoyeya said. The police spokesperson, however, said that the command had dispatched its operatives to comb the bushes and rescue the NLC chairman. Ofobruku was abducted at about 8 pm. on Saturday while driving out of his house behind the Immigration office on the Ibusa/Asaba road. The Secretary of NLC in the state, Mr. Innocent Ofoyade, told journalists on Sunday that Ofobruku was driving in the congresss official Toyota Sienna space bus before he was abducted. The chairman was on his way out that night to get some drugs when the incident occurred. He was intercepted by the hoodlums along his street and taken away. We learned this morning (Sunday) that the abductors have yet to establish contact with the victims family, Ofoyade 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 Director-General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu who disclosed this during a Webair said that the fact that the Federal Government has announced July 8 as resumption date does not mean safety is going to be jeopardised. He warned that without total compliance to given protocols, no stakeholder will be handed a permit to be part of the restart. Nuhu said: All stakeholders must meet the protocols set by the NCAA. If you do not meet, you are not granted a permit to start. Some airlines will be given the approval to start. Not all airlines and airports will start. Meanwhile, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika while also speaking at the event said the federal government is still working on palliatives for the aviation industry. Answering questions during the Webinar coordinated by the NCAA on the status of the industry restart, Sirka reiterated that the provision by the government is being worked on. He said, on the palliative, it is already yes, we are working on it. The Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi who was also present at the event commended the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu on efforts made to get airports ready for the restart. An enquiry into what mechanism to be used in controlling the traffic at the terminal, the NCAA DG, Capt. Musa said the regulatory authority will be employing International Civil Aviation (ICAO) Air Traffic Flow Management instrument. ICAOs Air Traffic Flow Management to control arrivals and departures. In order to properly manage this, we are going to request for airlines schedules to implement the AFTM with the space available to us at the airports, he said. On security at the airports, the FAAN MD, Captain Yadudu said the closed-circuit televisions installed are effective. We have CCTVs across our airports and have proven to be effective, 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 Home | News | General | Breaking: Black Sunday in this northern state of Nigeria as boat capsizes, many feared dead - A boat carrying between 23 and 28 passengers across the River Benue capsized scores whose bodies have not been seen - Most of the victims are said to be Christians heading for an annual convention in a part of the state - The police confirm the incident as rescuers remain busy trying to recover the victims PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! A major tragedy was reported in Benue state, northern Nigeria, in the evening of Sunday, July 7, as a boat said to be carrying scores of people capsized killing many. At the time of this report, the actual figure of the casualties had yet to be known, but the accident had been confirmed by the police authorities in the state. The Nation reports that the boat was carrying about 28 passengers, most of them church members on their way to an annual convention when the accident occurred. Coronavirus: Traders reveal hike in cost of food items as Easter beckons However, the police claimed that the boat had 23 onboard and that the victims were members of ECAN Church Ijaha located in Makurdi local government travelling across the River Benue. According to the report, just one corpse from the incident had been recovered as of late Sunday, July 7 as divers and other rescuers are working hard to get the victims. The police also said its marine personnel were carrying out rescue operations at the scene of the accident. Legit.ng had reported on Thursday, May 21, how reports indicated a gruesome accident on the famous Otedola bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. According to The Nation, the accident which took place at the lane leading to Berger reportedly left many persons dead. Moreover, the tragedy caused serious gridlock that extended to the road linking the Lagos state secretariat in Alausa. Another recent report said seven people lost their lives in a motor accident on their way to a funeral ceremony on the Ogidi-Abatete road in Idemili local government area of Anambra state. Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games According to Vanguard, several other people also sustained injuries in the accident, which happened on Friday, June 12. It was gathered that the accident was confirmed by the sector public education officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Pascal Anigbo. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Lagos govt paid us 5k hazard allowance once - resident doctor | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | 40 years after his death Buhari's minister celebrates only Yoruba monarch who served as Nigerian governor (photos) - 40 years after his demise, the indelible memories of Oba Adesoji Aderemi have been overwhelmingly extolled - Celebrating the late Yoruba monarch, interior minister Rauf Aregbesola described Oba Aderemi as a philosopher and legendary king who touched lives - The late Ooni of Ife was the first and only educated Yoruba monarch to mount the royal stool and also rule as Nigerian governor at the same time PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior and former governor of Osun state, has canonised the memories of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the late Ooni of Ife who also served as the governor of Nigeria's old western region. Writing through his Twitter handle on Sunday, July 5, in celebration of the legendary king who died 40 years ago, Aregbesola showered a flurry of encomiums of the personalities of Aderemi, saying "memory of him has continued to be sweet, melodious and good." Buhari vs Atiku: What international media say about Nigerias main presidential candidates "He was born in 1889 into a unique milieu in history. The Yoruba nation had just emerged from a ruinous civil war and in the throes of colonialism. It was also an era of the spread of Western education. "He was the first educated person to be crowned king in Ife and perhaps the youngest among his contemporaries. "Fate therefore positioned him to play a critical role in the emerging world of transition from the ancient to modernity, not just in Ife, but throughout the West," Aregbesola said. The late Ooni of Ife was the first and only educated Yoruba monarch to mount the royal stool and also rule as Nigerian governor. Credit: Rauf Aregbesola (Twitter). Source: UGC The minister also praised the late monarch for his philosophical wisdom and his enviable academic success. According to him, Oba Aderemi was a knowledgeable king who did not mix political rulership with kingship and that greatly helped him to contribute excessively towards the development of education in Nigeria alongside Cheif Obafemi Awolowo. "Oba Adesoji fitted this bill in all respects. He was a philosopher who became king and a king who ruled like a philosopher. Fact Check: How true is the claim that Oba of Lagos left his throne for Buhari? "One remarkable aspect of his reign was his association with Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Their iron sharpened iron, producing an explosive era of wisdom, maturity and people-centred leadership, not just in Ife but throughout the region and their sphere of influence. "He reigned for 50 years from 1930 till 1980 and left indelible legacies in three areas. The first was in education. He knew the value of education and so personally championed education development in his domain. On account of this, he largely, if not singlehandedly, spearheaded the established of Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife," the minister also added. Oba Aderemi died on July 3, 1980, leaving his footprints on the sands of time. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has commended a Nigerian man based in Japan for presenting a good image of the country abroad. Top facts you have to know about Segun Ogungbe's wives Presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, conveyed the Nigerian leader's good words and warm greetings to Ikenna Nweke in a tweet on Saturday, July 4. According to the tweet, President Buhari is elated that Nweke returned a missing wallet and also turned down a reward from the Japanese authorities. Airport cleaner who returned millions gets new apartment | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Breaking: Tears as another 3 prominent Nigerians die of Covid-19 complication (see their identity) - NCDC supervisor in Zamfara state, J. Shalanga, and two other prominent Nigerians have died of Covid-19 complication on Sunday - The two others are Chief Jide Odekunle, a former LASIMRA boss, and Professor Godwin Achinge of Benue State University - Achinge, until his death, was the vice-chairman of Benue State Action Committee on COVID-19 PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Covid-19 took a fatality swipe at the country as three prominent Nigerians were reported to have died on Sunday, July 5, as a result of coronavirus complications. The three victims are Professor Godwin Achinge, J. Shalanga, and Chief Jide Odekunle who is the immediate past general manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA). According to the Nigerian Tribune, Achinge, who is the vice-chairman of Benue State Action Committee on COVID-19, died on Sunday afternoon at an undisclosed hospital in Jos where he was receiving treatment. Coronavirus: Traders reveal hike in cost of food items as Easter beckons NCDC supervisor in Zamfara state, J. Shalanga, and two other prominent Nigerians have died of Covid-19 complication on Sunday. Credit: Vanguard and Nigerian Tribune. Source: Depositphotos A deputy vice-chancellor of Benue State University, Makurdi, Achinge's Covid-19 status was confirmed by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state hours before his death. Shalanga, on the other hands, is the state supervisor of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Zamfara, supervising the spread and control of the virus in the state. His death was confirmed by Zamfara state commissioner of health, Alhaji Yahaya Kanoma, who said the NCDC supervisor fell sick and was rushed to Yariman Bakura Specialist hospital Gusau for treatment. He died on the way. Meanwhile, Odekunle died on Sunday at the age of 53 at the Onikan isolation centre in Lagos state. He was until his death the Bobagunwa of Egbaland. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a man from California who posted his regret on Facebook after attending a party where he contracted COVID-19 has died of the deadly disease. Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello Thomas Macias attended the party in June, and on June 20, he wrote an impassioned message on Facebook in which he lamented ignoring social distancing. A day after posting his regret on Facebook, Macias succumbed to the deadly disease. Market Survey: Coronavirus cannot kill everyone in Nigeria | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | FG makes U-turn on flight resumption, gives tough conditions airline operators must meet - Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has emphatically stated that not all airlines will resume on July 8 - NCAA DG Captain Musa Nuhu said only airlines who abide by the protocols given by the government will be allowed flight operation - Nuhu made this known days after the federal; government extended the relaxation of lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 crisis PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! As flights prepare to roar back to the sky after months of lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 crisis, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said not all airlines will resume come Tuesday, July 8. Legit.ng recalls that the federal government, as part of the extension to the phase II relaxation of lockdown, lifted the ban on interstate movement, schools for graduating classes and the flight movement. Coronavirus: Engaging activities you can do to avoid boredom following the stay at home order The flights were scheduled to resume back on Tuesday but NCAA said some airlines will not be permitted flight operation. The aviation control body further disclosed that some airlines have not met the protocols contained in the directives of the federal government as suggested by the presidential task force on Covid-19. NCAA DG Captain Musa Nuhu said only airlines who abide by the protocols given by the federal government will be allowed flight operation. Source: Facebook Speaking on the development on Saturday, July 4, NCAA director-general Captain Musa Nuhu made this disclosure, further adding that without total compliance to given protocols, no stakeholder will be handed a permit to be part of the restart. All stakeholders must meet the protocols set by the NCAA. If you do not meet, you are not granted a permit to start. Some airlines will be given approval to start. Not all airlines and airports will start, Nuhu who spoke through a webinar, stressed. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Sanwo-Olu in his directive on Friday, July 3, stated that only students in Primary 6, JSS 3 and SSS3 will resume schools beginning from Monday, August 3. He stated: Tertiary institutions will remain closed. We continue to support online teaching during this period. "However, students in the transitional classes who have mandatory public examinations ahead of them will be permitted to resume for revision classes and examinations. The commencement date for this will be from Monday, August 3rd." COVID-19: Parents speak on allowing their children to return to school | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Edo guber: PDP chieftain Kassim Afegbua endorses Osagie Ize-Iyamu - Prince Kassim Afegbua, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member has reiterated his earlier stance on Governor Obaseki - Afegbua has gone ahead to endorse the APC candidate for the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu - The PDP chieftain lambasted his party for giving Governor Obaseki its governorship ticket PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Prince Kassim Afegbua, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member and former commissioner for information and orientation in Edo state, has reiterated that he will not back Governor Godwin Obasekis re-election bid. Afegbua said due to his stance, he has been inundated with phone calls by party chieftains who felt his recent outburst against Governor Obaseki was unfair. He described Obaseki as a stranger in the PDP, berating the party for gifting the governor its governorship ticket in Edo state. Fact check: How true is the claim that Ogun guber election should be declared inconclusive? Governor Obaseki does not have the support of Kassim Afegbua in the PDP. Photo credit: PDP media Source: UGC Afegbua stated that his current position on the governor is informed by a number of factors. According to him, it is wrong for the party to surrender its privileges and structures to a new entrant in its fold. Within 24 hours, scheduled primary elections were postponed, and all processes leading to the scheduled event were disrupted, he lamented. He said the PDP should have directed Governor Obaseki to join another party, to create a stronger opportunity for the PDP to fly with older, loyal party members. Afegbua noted that Obaseki's exit from the APC will weaken part of the party's internal structure, given the PDP the chance to clinch the governorship seat in Edo. He said compared to Obaseki, the APC candidate, Pastor Ize-Iyamu is diligent, responsible and has a sense of organisation and marksmanship. PAY ATTENTION:Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Elections 2019: 6 things Buhari said at the signing of Peace Accord His words: Governor Obaseki is the opposite of what an ideal democratic situation should be. His politics is destructive, exclusive, and demonising. He acts alone, intoxicated by the sheer banality of being called the leader of the party, and glamourises in the vainglorious euphoria that he owns life and death. This is why Osagie Ize-Iyamu fits my endorsement. Afegbua had declared that he will not support Governor Obaseki's ambition to be re-elected for a second term in office. He disclosed this on Monday, June 29 during an interview with Channels Television. APC disqualifies Obaseki from Edo guber primaries | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | PDP reacts as Yahaya Bello wins at Appeal Court, blows hot as party takes fight to Supreme Court - PDP said it will challenge the victory of Governor Yahaya Bello at the Supreme Court - Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesperson, said the party has overwhelming evidences against Bello's reelection - The party also assured his supporters of justice at the apex court after failing to upturn Governor Bello's victory at the appellate court PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Following its failure to upturn the victory of Governor Yahaya Bello at the Appeal Court on Saturday, June 4, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has revealed the next political move. Legit.ng recalls that the reelection and victory of Governor Bello was confirmed by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Saturday, meaning he was duly elected as the governor of the north-central state. The justices dismissed the appeals filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Action Peoples Party (APP), and the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesperson, said the party has overwhelming evidences against Bello's reelection. Source: Twitter This publication also reported how PDP's Musa Wada was also penalized for wasting the time of the court with his appeal as he was ordered to pay N100,000 each to Governor Bello, the APC and INEC listed as respondents in the appeal. Reacting to the verdict in a statement by its national spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP hinted at the possibility of taking its fight to the Supreme Court. According to Ologbondiyan, the Appeal Court verdict will be a major setback to our democratic process if left unchallenged, but expressed confidence that justice will be served on the merit of the case by the Supreme Court. Ologbodiyan, who picked a hole against the judgement, also stressed that the election that brought the Kogi governor in was ridden by "over-voting, massive thumb printing, voter intimidation, thuggery and other irregularities and malpractices." He said the opposition party has overwhelming evidences against the ruling party which will be presented at the apex court. Presidential election: Mixed reactions trail Atiku's decision to challenge result in court PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Yahaya Bello has described the judgments of the Court of Appeal upholding his election for a second term in office as Kogi state governor as an affirmation of his landmark victory in the polls on last year November. In a statement by Onogwu Muhammed, spokesman to the governor, Governor Bello said the 4 judgments by the court of appeal were validations of the historic mandate given to him by Kogi people, adding that greater impetus has been given to his drive to do even more for the state and her people. Kogi election: Kogi deputy governor reacts to APC victory | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Emmanuel expresses fear as COVID-19 drags on Kindly Share This Story: Refuses to review 8pm to 6am curfew By Chioma Onuegbu Uyo GOVERNOR Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has expressed fears that the deadly COVID-19 pandemic has dragged on longer than expected. Emmanuel who spoke during interactive session with the citizens aired by state-owned television and radio stations over the weekend noted that when the world market collapsed in March 2020, that the expectation was that the deadly virus would recede after three months and the economy starts bouncing back. He explained that the prices of oil which has remained highly volatile since March the world market collapsed, indicates that the economic impact of the pandemic may not bounce back soon. He expressed worries that first world nation like America has remained rattled by the economic impact of the pandemic despite trillions of dollars the country has so far invested to cushion the impact. His words, You know that the world market collapsed terribly on Monday morning of March 9. And when this pandemic started in March we were giving it like three months to recede and then the economy will start bouncing back. But it is dragging beyond the time we expected. And there is a whole lot of interplay of market forces. Everybody has a cause to be afraid. I am not a prophet of doom but it will get to a point where you will not need anybody to tell you that you need to adjust yourself because the economic impact may not go overnight. Everybody has reason to be afraid economically as far as COVID-19 is concerned. Things can never be the same again. Everybody must do something for us to move forward. If we just sit back and think the situation will adjust itself, God did not create the world that way. For God to feed the Five thousand people He had to look for five loaves and two fish. We must do something to get ourselves out of the situation we are in right now The governor explained that his political appointees sacrificed 20per cent of their salaries in order to assist in purchasing drugs and reagents for the treatment and testing of COVID-19 patients respectively, which costs the state huge fund weekly besides payment for other services. He appealed to the citizens to cooperate with government to develop the state instead of using the social media to run their own state down and condemned a recent development where an indigene of the state wrote petition to the Minister of Transportation not to allow the state to go ahead with the Ibom deep seaport over false claims. We are trying to develop the state; we are trying to see how we can push ourselves so that we can create jobs for our people, but it is our people who are attacking what we are doing. So what we are seeing, is where we are trying to pull down what we have. As people continue to write such petitions it doesnt allow us to make progress. There should be a mindset change. And there is something Akwa Ibom people must know, if we dont swim in the same direction we will have ourselves to blame he asserted. On a question that the 8pm to 6am curfew was affecting business in the state, Emmanuel responded, I dont agree with that. I am not going to review that because I took time in the last media chat to explain why I allowed that curfew to run for now. I am a businessman. If I can discipline myself and wake up by 6am and go about my business from 7am to 7pm, that is 12 hours. Any business that I cannot do within 12 hours, it can wait till the next day. Unless you want to tell me that you are hungry to go for night club He, therefore, reminded the residents that the state government has not lifted ban on night club yet. Vanguard News Nigeria Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | AAC suspends Edo exco over role in exclusion of party from guber poll Kindly Share This Story: The African Action Congress (ACC) has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) informing the Commission of the sack of its Edo state chapter chairman, Afiz Lawal. The party in a letter addressed to the INEC chairman said the leadership of the party comprising the National Executive Committee, NEC and Central Working Committee, NWC has dissolved the State Executive in Edo State with immediate effect. The letter was signed by ACC national chairman, Dr. Leonard Nzenwa. He said the decision to sack Afiz from office followed the refusal of the Edo State Chapter of the party to submit details of the primary held on June 24, 2020 at Samual Ogbomudia Stadium to the National Chairman for onward transmission to the INEC thereby frustrating effort of the party to submit a valid candidate for the Edo Gubernatorial Polls billed for September 19, 2020, to the Commission. The letter reads further, For working to stop the party from submitting the name of a valid candidate for the party to INEC and also withholding supporting documents like the affidavit and personal particulars of the candidate that would have helped in the submission process the Afiz Lawal led Executive have clearly shown that he and the Executive do not mean well for the party. This, the party view, as a treacherous act by an official that should not be overlooked as it has not only embarrassed the party and ridiculed her but also undermined efforts of its leadership work to win the Edo Gubernatorial Polls. Pursuant to Section 59 ((h) (l), Mr. Orlando Ogbodo has been appointed as Chairman of the Executive Committee to man affairs of the party in the State pending when a Congress will be held in the State. Afiz Lawal led Executive contravenes several sections of our Constitution including but not limited to Section 92(1)(2), Section 88, Section 80 subsection (2) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) and in addition embarked a campaign of calumny against the party whilst working with another party in the State. Accordingly, a three-member Disciplinary Committee composed of Hammed Lawal, Deputy, National Secretary, Deputy, National Chairman, South-South, Marcel Medewar, National Treasurer, Francis Abayomi will review the grave acts by these officials and recommend further disciplinary action or otherwise that will be taken. Vanguard News Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Akwa Ibom govt approves tax holiday for taxpayers Kindly Share This Story: Akwa Ibom state government has approved a tax holiday for all categories of taxpayers in the state in a bid to cushion the adverse effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on people and businesses. Governor Udom Emmanuel gave the approval on Friday during the State Executive Council meeting, directing the state ministry of finance is to work out modalities for immediate implementation of this decision, according to the governments spokesperson. Briefing government house correspondents at the end of the meeting, Commissioner for Information, Sir Charles Udoh, said the decision was in line with the World Bank requirements for giving out grants and support to state governments as well as a decision taken at the Governors Forum for grants and reward to cushion the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Major decisions were taken today (Friday)/include the approval to commence a process of working out modalities for implementation of tax relief to taxpayers in Akwa Ibom State for 2020 tax year. This is in consideration of the adverse effect of COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the requirement of the World Bank for grants and support to state governments. It is also a decision reached at the Governors Forum for grants and reward to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic . Details of the waiver are being worked out by the Ministry of Finance and will be published in due course, Sir Udoh stated. Udoh disclosed that the council also considered a report on leadership training for senior civil servants to be sponsored by the State Government as well as commissioning of blocks of flats constructed by the state government under the second phase of Barracks Rehabilitation Initiative for the Nigerian Army at the Six Amphibious Battalion, Wellington Bassey Barracks, Ibagwa, Abak, and announced that the blocks of the flat would be due for inauguration in two weeks. The Information Commissioner said the council also received a report of a Memorandum of Understanding signed to settle an age-long boundary dispute between Nung Oku Ekanem and Afaha Obio villages in Onna local government area. On the reopening of schools, the Commissioner said exco directed the incident management committee on to work out protocols and guidelines for the resumption of schools and present same to the council for consideration. Exco also deliberated on school resumption and of course has not arrived at a final conclusion but the Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong and the State COVID-19 Management Committee have been mandated to work out modalities for resumption. If you recall before the partial reopening of churches we had to go through certain processes and protocol, here we are also going through the same process to ensure that no individual is endangered and the lives of our children and even the teachers are not endangered. Vanguard News Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Former Enugu SSG, Samson Ukpabi is dead A former Secretary to Enugu State Government, Prof Samson Ukpabi, is dead. He died at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, in Enugu after a brief illness on Sunday.. A close family source who spoke with newsmen, said the deceased spoke with his family members at about 6:15 am on Sunday before he left for the hospital where he died. It is also reported that he had attended the burial of his nephew on Saturday. Until his demise, Ukpabi was the traditional ruler of Okpanku community in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State. He was the first Provost of Anambra State University of Science and Technology. He was also the Provost of Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu and equally served as Rector, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Buhari gets ultimatum to probe missing N300bn (Detailed Breakdown) Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given President Muhammadu Buhari 14 days to direct the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and anti-corruption agencies, to probe alleged missing N300billion public funds. The body based its demand on the 2017 audited report by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF). The July 4, 2020 letter was signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.. It deplored that shocking revelations of mismanagement, diversion and stealing of public funds, as well as unaccounted-for spending. Copied were Malami; Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance. The rights group charged the President and all officials to act urgently act. SERAP stated that the audit report suggests a grave violation of the public trust, and revealed that indicted Ministeries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)and the National Assembly lack effective and credible internal processes to prevent and combat corruption. It was uncovered that the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) allegedly spent 25,856,279 on behalf of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop online recruitment in April 2014 without any supporting memo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and without due process. Although the project was suspended, the Commission allegedly paid 25,856,279 for contract not executed. The AGF recommended the full recovery of the public funds. The audit report said granted cash advances totalling 8,590,000 to 25 officials between February and December, 2016 but failed to retire or account for the money. 6,850,000 was allegedly paid for store items that were never supplied. Another 2,619,210 was spent without receipts. The AGF expressed concern that the money may have been misappropriated or stolen, and recommended the full recovery of public funds. The report noted that ex-Chairman of the Commission whose tenure of office ended in May 2017, allegedly cornered four vehicles (1 Toyota Hilux, 1 407 Classic Peugeot, 1 Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep and 1 Toyota Corolla), despite the Monetization Policy of Government which states that all vehicles must not be taken away. SERAP cited that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to show any receipts for the payment of 4,385,230,763 between January and December 2016. The Ministry also had no insurance cover for all its motor-vehicles, despite the budgetary allocation of 11,805,802 for insurance premium. The Ministry was found to have spent 105,000,000 to buy computer consumables, photocopy machine consumables, papers and other store items, contrary to official circular, and without any receipts. The AGF recommended the return of the money to the public treasury. It allegedly expended 72,000,030 to improve power supply to the Ministry but the contract for this was not captured in the 2017 appropriation. Despite the purported spending, power supply to the Ministry has not improved. 7,520,000 was spent by 20 officials to visit 8 out-stations of the Ministry without due process and without any receipts. 234,622,718 was also spent but remained unretired or unaccounted for. The AGF recommended the full recovery of the funds. It allegedly paid 83,719,500 to a company for the rehabilitation and re-integration of released Chibok girls in August, 2017 without any agreement between the Ministry and the contractor, and without any evidence of purchase of the back-to-school materials, and job completion certificate. The AGF recommended recovery. Furthermore, the Ministry allegedly transferred a take-off grant of 83,317,257 for Consulate-General of Nigeria, Guangzhou to the personal account of the Ambassador of Nigeria in Rome in 2013 to be remitted to Guangzhou. But the money was never remitted to Guangzhou and has remained outstanding till date. The Auditor-General expressed concern that the money may have been diverted and misappropriated, and recommended that the Ambassador of Nigeria in Rome whose account was used be asked to account for the money. It was discovered that the Ministry of Justice disbursed 10,460,950,841 judgment debt in 2017 without due process. The committee to manage the funds was dissolved after 2013 financial year was not reconstituted as at the time of the 2016 and 2017 appropriations but funds were nonetheless disbursed. 32,353,693 was allegedly spent between March and September 2017 on international travels without approval or evidence of spending. The AGF recommended the full recovery. At the National Assembly, the House of Representatives spent 95,212,250 without due process and without any receipts. The National Assembly Management Accounts also showed spending of N673,081,242 between April-October 2017 without any documents. The Senate allegedly spent 1,364,816,397 to renovate a store at the National Assembly but the AGF was denied access to the store and records, thus expressing concerns that public funds may have been diverted for unappropriated purposes. The AGF recommended that the Clerk of the National Assembly account for the sum. The audit found that the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies misappropriated 67,296,478 as payments were made to unknown persons. The AGF recommended that the Director-General should fully recover the money and return it to the treasury. For the Public Complaint Commission (PCC), 63,826,941 was allegedly spent to renovate State offices in Delta, Kwara, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Borno, Ekiti and Niger States without due process, valuation certificates, and without receipts. The AGF said that the money may have been diverted and recommended the full recovery. Federal Ministry of Water Resources allegedly spent 343,957,350 without due process, receipts, and without any evidence of work done or services rendered. Also, 14,993,950 granted as cash advances to staff was not accounted for. In this case, the AGF recommended that the Permanent Secretary is made to account for it. Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Makurdi allegedly misappropriated 42,277,285 of contract money for project management. National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, allegedly paid a contractor 33,425,000 in March 2017 for awareness training but there was no evidence that the contract was executed. The AGF recommended that the Executive Director recover the money. Cross-River Basin Development Authority, Calabar, allegedly overpaid a contractor to the tune of 10,387,490 for construction of Link Road between Cross River and Ebonyi State without any justification. 30,616,110 was allegedly spent for construction of erosion control works at Nguzu but remained unaccounted for. The AGF expressed concerns that the contractor may have received money for project not executed, and recommended that the Managing Director recover the money. Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, Borno State failed to account for 2 Nos. Toyota Prado Jeeps which were purchased in 2013 and 2014 with registration No. 45KOIFG for one Jeep but the second Jeep was not registered, and no reason was given for this. On this, the AGF expressed concerns that the Jeeps may have been diverted to private use, and asked the Executive Director to account for them. National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, allegedly paid 84,401,940 to a company on 4th May 2017, being 10% payment on the construction of a 2-story building for UNESCO without any existing contract, and without receipts. The AGF recommended recovery of the money. Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Abuja, allegedly paid 24,800,000 into a staff private account for production/prevention of the 2016 annual flood outlook (AFO) and without evidence of services performed. Another 31,439,300 was paid in September 2016 into the account of another staff for sensitization workshops. The AGF asked the Director-General to recover it. HadejiaJamaare River Basin Development Authority, Kano State, allegedly paid 204,893,978 to contractors without any receipts. The Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research, Benin City, Edo State paid 210,921,849 and 30,010,963 without any receipts. Another 15,630,050 cash advances to staff in 2017 was also not accounted for, as at 2018. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been mismanaged and asked the Accounting Officer to recover it. Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) allegedly spent 393,254,000 to support security agencies without due process and without receipts. Another 362,481,173 was paid for the procurement of stores locally without due process. The Auditor General expressed concerns that the money may be missing and asked the Permanent Secretary to recover it. Ecological Funds Office allegedly misappropriated 1,257,791,992 meant for contract for Canalization and Desilting of OKOKO and Ogbagba Rivers in Osogbo Township, Osun state. There was no evidence that 30,000,000 meant for compensation to owners of marked-to-demolish structures and economic trees affected by the project, received any payment. The AGF asked the Permanent Secretary to recover the fund. Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation allegedly paid 301,984,103 for projects without accounting for it. 36,641,528 was also paid for seminars, conferences and workshops without any receipts. It was similarly, discovered that 16,096,712 was spent on projects not executed. The AGF wants the the Permanent Secretary to recover it. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, allegedly spent 830,267,951 as Special Presidential Needs Assessment Phases I and II to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Warri, for the Construction of Building, Procurement of Laboratory Equipment and Capacity Building/Staff training but the funds were misapplied. 190,495.824 was approved for a project to construct and furnish workshop and laboratory but the contractor was paid 199,324,657 and without any evidence of request by the contractor. The University also allegedly spent 990,621,753 to construct and furnish a 3-storey, 4-floor structure Student Residential Building Complex but the contract for the spending was awarded without due process. Only a 2-storey, 3-floor building found constructed. Several other infractions are documented in the report. The AGF expressed concerns that the money may have been diverted and asked the Vice-Chancellor to account for it. National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion allegedly spent 2,270,000 for a 2-day workshop but without any receipts. The AGF asked the Director-General to recover the money. The Nigerian Railway Corporation failed to remit 122,242,337 in taxes to the authorities. National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) allegedly paid 20,569,398 for supply of Power System Simulator without evidence of supply. It gave 6,187,393 as cash advances to 17 officers which remained unaccounted for. Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) allegedly paid 3,604,000 for the services of solicitors without the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation. The report uncovered that another payment of 13,542,822 for the completion of machine tools workshop was made without contract agreement or receipts. In total, 126,533,197 was paid without contract agreement or receipts. The AGF expressed concerns that the funds may have been misappropriated and asked the Managing-Director to recover the money. National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) allagedly paid 4,931,475,094 as cash advances to staff without due process. 72,383,000 was also supposedly paid for verification exercise but the AGF found no evidence that the verification took place. Another 31,478,400 was purportedly paid for accreditation of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) but again the AGF found no evidence of this. National Information Technology Development Agency alllagedly (NITDA) paid 28,525,000 to a Security company for the production of procurement manuals for the Agency. It was revealed how 300 copies of the manual were produced although only 5 copies were needed, with a copy of the manual costing 95,083. The agency also paid 15,842,970 printer tonners. The SERAP letter added that are several other infractions documented in the report, a copy of which can be obtained from the Auditor-Generals office. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Cross River doctors declare indefinite strike, accuse Ayade govt of hiding COVID-19 patients The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Cross River chapter has withdrawn its services from all medical facilities in the state. This was relayed in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, from the state chairman of the association, Agam Ayuk, on Sunday.. Ayuk wondered why the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), was not including Cross River in its daily COVID-19 update. Cross River is the only state in Nigeria where no single case of COVID-19 has been officially confirmed. The association claimed five positive cases had their tests done at an NCDC-approved laboratory, but their results were not been published in the agencys situation report. The Association demands an explanation from NCDC, why the five (5) COVID-19 confirmed cases from UCTH carried out at the NCDC accredited Molecular Laboratory at Alex Ekwueme University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State have not reflected in the daily situation report of NCDC long after results had been transmitted to UCTH since July 1, 2020. Congress demands update of the NCDC situation report as a matter of urgent public health interest, part of the letter read. It added that: The NCDC is put on notice that the Cross River State Government has abdicated her responsibility of contact tracing, treatment and care for the five (5) confirmed cases which may not be unconnected with the delay in publication of the results by NCDC. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | 21 feared dead as boat capsizes in Benue About twenty-one persons were feared dead when a boat on which they were travelling capsized on River Benue Sunday afternoon. It was gathered that the boat had 23 passengers on board when the incident happened.. According to an eyewitness, The persons were all Christian faithful who were going on a journey for their annual convention when the boat on which they were travelling capsized. Immediately, we heard of the incident, we put a call to police who went in search of the drowned persons. The Benue State Police Command confirmed the incident but said two persons were rescued alive. Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, in a statement, said, On 05/07/2020 at about 1430hrs information was received that twenty-three (23) members of ECAN Church Ijaha, Makurdi Local Government boarded a boat to attend a conference across River Benue. At the midstream, the boat sank into the river. Marine Police search party were deployed in the scene where two persons were rescued alive while 21 persons are still missing. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Some Imo Pensioners Earn N330 Million Yearly Governor Uzodimma Cries Out Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has lamented that some pensioners in the state were earning a whopping N330 million yearly as pension. He vowed to publish the names of those involved soon.. The governor also said that he had set in motion the process of integrating Imo pensioners into the National Contributory Pensions Scheme as a way of enhancing good governance. Uzodimma, who spoke in a meeting with the leadership of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) in Owerri, said that out of 13,800 primary school teachers, only 9,000 were found to be real, as over 4,800 were ghost workers. He said: Ill soon publish names of those who earn above N330m per annum as pension for Imo people to know. Government will no more make use of micro finance banks for payments of salaries and pensions because they are no clearing house for BVN holders so that pensioners can be paid directly. He expressed delight that everything concerning pensions and salaries of Imo workers have been automated to make day-to-day running of government easier. The governor added that nobody would be able to defraud the government any longer after the biometric verification. He reiterated his earlier stand that pensions and salaries were not negotiable, insisting that what brought the delay in payment was the discovery of overwhelming fraud, discrepancies and irregularities resulting from salary padding, over bloated and double pensions among other sharp practices. He said some pensioners were receiving monies above their retirement salaries while others get outrageous monies that are not accounted for. Uzodimma said that only primary and secondary school teachers, who have been verified and confirmed to be employees of government, will receive their salaries. The governor advised those playing politics with pensions and salaries to desist from doing so as his sole objective remained to dismantle the cabal that milk the state dry through the pensions and salaries. Government has decided to automate all payments to enable it migrate to the contributory pensions scheme, he stressed. Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Comrade Austin Chilakpu, lauded the efforts so far made by the governor towards payment of salaries and pensions in the State. He, however, appealed to the governor to look into the staggering nature of pensions and illegal deductions and requested that pensioners pay be made a priority. Also speaking, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Imo State, Dr. Josiah B Ugochukwu, requested the governor to pay the pensioners harmoniously so that the leaders will be sure of those who received their pensions and others that were genuinely omitted for proper pension administration Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Chuka is an experienced certified web developer with an extensive background in computer science and 18+ years in web design &development. His previous experience ranges from redesigning existing website to solving complex technical problems with object-oriented programming. Very experienced with Microsoft SQL Server, PHP and advanced JavaScript. He loves to travel and watch movies. Home | News | General | BREAKING: Ondo SSG resigns from Akeredolu's government - The Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, has resigned - Abegunde resigned his appointment on Monday, July 6 - The SSG is yet to reveal why he quitted the important office especially at the time when the governor is still undergoing treatment for COVID-19 PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The administration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has been hit with a key resignation as the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, quits. Abegunde resigned his appointment as the SSG on Monday morning, July 6, according to a report by The Nation. Legit.ng gathers that the SSG who popularly known as Abena is yet to reveal why he quitted the important office especially at the time when his boss, the governor, is still undergoing treatment for COVID-19. Ondo SSG resigns from Akeredolu's government Source: UGC I have left Akeredolus government through a resignation letter effective today, he told The Nation. The newspaper cited some sources as saying that the SSG resigned to contest as a deputy Governor to one of the All Progressives Congress((APC) governorship aspirants in the state, Segun Abraham. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Governor Akeredolu had been urged to hand over the affairs of the state to his deputy, Agboola Ajayi. Akeredolu is in isolation receiving treatment for coronavirus infection and his deputy, with whom he is having a long-running battle, wants to rule in his stead. The governor has said he would not hand over to Ajayi. Ajayi, in his reply to the governor's comment, issued a 21-day ultimatum to Akeredolu to obey the provisions of the constitution as required by his legal profession. Ordinarily, one expects Mr Governor to bring to bear on governance his background as a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN). "But it is rather surprising and worrisome that the Governor has chosen the part of perversion of justice, by allowing his close aides to go astray in a matter of constitutionality," a statement by Ajayi's spokesperson, Allen Sowore read. Legit.ng reported earlier that despite testing positive for coronavirus, Governor Akeredolu vowed not to transmit power to Ajayi, his deputy governor in an acting capacity. Akeredolu, who is in isolation and undergoing treatment at home said there was no reason for him to hand over to the deputy governor Like Obaseki, Like Ambode: 3 Governors who fell out with their political godfather | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | COVID-19: Boss Mustapha sends warning to Christians over disease - Boss Mustapha has raised concerns over the confidence some Christians exhibit in the face of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic - Mustapha said people who have no business going out should stay at home - The PTF chairman urged church leaders to teach their members the dangers posed by COVID-19 Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has said some Christians exhibit reckless confidence in the face of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking during an Interdenominational Church prayer service on Sunday, July 5, Mustapha who serves as the chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said people who have no business going out should stay at home, The Tribune reported. Boss Mustapha says some Christians are reckless about COVID-19 Source: UGC He stated that it is wise to display caution and avoid danger in accordance with scriptural counsel. If you have no business going out, stay at home, it is scriptural and I will undertone this with a quotation for Proverbs 14:16 where the bible says the Wise are cautious and avoid danger, fools plonks ahead with reckless confidence. And I see a lot of Christians exhibiting reckless confidence and the Bible describes them as fools, he said. Coronavirus: Traders reveal hike in cost of food items as Easter beckons He urged church leaders to teach their members the dangers posed by COVID-19 and how they can avoid contracting the disease. Meanwhile, Lagos state has remained the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus in Nigeria with over 11,000 confirmed cases as at Saturday, July 4. Giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in the state, Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, said more than 2000 persons who have been confirmed positive are yet to turn up for admission at isolation centres. According to him, they are avoiding the isolation centre due to either fear of stigmatisation or preference for home care treatments. He said as at July 3, 42,348 COVID-19 tests had been conducted in Lagos, out of which 10,926 turned out positive. Out of that number, 1,695 patients have fully recovered and have since been discharged from Lagos care centres. "6,259 of the cases monitored in communities by #COVID19Lagos response team have either fully recovered or positively responding to treatments," he added. Coronavirus: Engaging activities you can do to avoid boredom following the stay at home order Abayomi disclosed that 365 of the cases are currently under isolation in public and private care centres, adding that the numbers of COVID-19 related deaths in the state have risen to 177. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Covid-19: Fact-checking Lagos state palliatives distribution | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... It is within the purview of our committees to demand an explanation on the process and procedure through which the programme would be implemented. So, our joint committee was right. The committee was right to ask the questions. We are meant to interrogate the processes through which such programmes will be implemented. The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). His arrest comes a few days after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), accused the anti-graft czar of gross infractions. TheCable reports that the EFCC chief travelled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates without the authorisation of the president during the COVID-19 lockdown. And when he was queried, he said he went for an investigation. He is also alleged to be living above his means. Sahara Reporters say he was arrested over allegations that he owns four properties. He is also alleged to have transferred funds abroad through a third party. In 2016, DSS accused the EFCC boss of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore. EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, did not take calls. The DSS report said on December 2010, the Police Service Commission (PSC) found Magu guilty of action prejudicial to state security withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer, and awarded him severe reprimand as punishment. It noted that Magu is currently occupying a residence rented for N40m at N20m per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commissions finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired, a questionable businessman who has subsequently been arrested by the secret service. DSS stated that Magu enlisted the Federal Capital Development Authority to award a contract to Africa Energy, a company owned by the same Mohammed, to furnish the residence at the cost of N43m In one of such trips, the report added that Magu flew to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed with a bank MD who was being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by the immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Furthermore, the EFCC boss has so far maintained a high-profile lifestyle. This is exemplified by his preference for first-class air travels. On 24 June 2016, he flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m. This is in spite of Mr Presidents directive to all public servants to fly economy class. Home | News | General | 28-year-old black lady and successful entrepreneur appointed ambassador by top university in US - The founding CEO of the Caroline Group, Caroline Esinam Adzogble, has been appointed ambassador for Millersville University in the United States - The 28-year-old Ghanaian entrepreneur and educationist will serve as a representative of the university in Africa - Caroline Esinam Adzogble was named ambassador for the university in June PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The founding CEO of the Caroline Group, Caroline Esinam Adzogble, has been appointed ambassador for Millersville University in the United States. As ambassador, she will assist in boosting marketing and recruitment efforts to increase and diversify the multicultural numbers at the university. Esinam Adzogble, 28, is a Ghanaian born inspirational and multi-award winning educationist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The woman is the founding CEO of the Caroline Group, a conglomerate with six subsidiaries including Potters International College and Caroline University. Fascinating details about Idris Elba's wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba - What is she doing? Esinam Adzogbles education conglomerate has affiliates in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, and the USA. Speaking about her recent ambassadorial appointment, Esinam Adzogble indicated that she is super excited to represent Millersville University in Africa because of the student centered programs they have to offer'. Photo credit: Caroline Esinam Adzogble/Facebook.com Source: UGC She reiterated that the university offers great tuition discounts to first time students and that their graduates are 100% employable on a global front. The director for the Office of International Programmes and Services at Millersville University, Patriece N. Campbell Ed.D, said the university is positive that by this appointment Caroline will make our institution a first choice school for many students in Ghana and beyond''. Esinam Adzogble, who is known for redefining education across Africa and mostly recognised as the face of education on the continent, believes that education is the most affordable and accessible commodity on the planet. Another Nigerian man succeeds, makes int'l list of successful people under age 30 in art and style (photos) PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app In other news, an Uganda immigrant identified as Salma Lakhani has become the first Muslim to be appointed lieutenant governor in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, July 6, announced Lakhani as Albertas 19th lieutenant governor According to a biography on the government of Canada website, Lakhanis family was expelled from Uganda in 1972. After moving to Edmonton, Lakhani took on a mentorship role with young students who did not speak English as their first language. Which country would you leave Nigeria for? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Updated: DSS reacts to reported arrest of Ibrahim Magu - The DSS has denied reports that it arrested Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the EFCC - The service made the clarification on Monday, July 6, after reports emerged that Magu was arrested by its operatives - The EFCC also stated that Magu was only invited by a panel for interrogation at the presidential villa PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied reports that it arrested Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Peter Afunanya, the spokesperson for the DSS made the clarification on Monday, July 6, after reports emerged that Magu was arrested by its operatives, PR Nigeria reported. The DSS has denied reports that it arrested Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the EFCC Source: UGC The EFCC also disclosed that Magu was only invited by a panel to Aso Rock questioning. The Nation newspaper had reported that the panel which summoned Magu was probing the activities of the agency. 9 Facts about Forbes under 30 Nigerian Obinwanne Okeke accused of $12m fraud The EFCC boss is said to be undergoing questioning at the villa by the probe panel over allegations that he diverted looted funds. Magu's reported probe comes a few days after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), accused the anti-graft boss of gross misconduct, The Cable reported. The AGF had asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Magu over some allegations, including the diversion of recovered loot. Malami also accused the acting EFCC chairman of insubordination and misconduct. According to The Cable, EFCC boss was said to have travelled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, without the authorisation of the president during the lockdown. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Magu, on Wednesday, July 1 declared that treasury looters in Nigeria were stranded and unable to access looted public funds following intensified anti-graft war waged by the commission. Magu made the comment while receiving the National Association of Barbers and Cosmetology Employers of Nigeria (NABCEAN). Before an officer searches you, search the officer first - Police give 14 tips on arrest The EFCC boss said looters of public funds were stranded and unable to access looted funds as a result of restrictions placed on the accounts containing such funds. He said the gap between the rich and the poor had shrunk as a result of the war against corruption. His words: They are stranded. They have a lot of money but they dont know what to do with it. We will stop them. I will shave them dry. We dont have problem with any looters because we know we will get them. He further said corruption was fiercely fighting back but added that no amount of blackmail will diminish his zeal in the fight against corruption. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app The EFCC stage a walk against corruption | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Breaking: Akeredolu tests negative for coronavirus after 7 days - The governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, announced that he has recovered from coronavirus - The governor on Monday, July 6, said he has tested negative twice for the disease - Akeredolus recovery comes seven days after being treated for coronavirus PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has recovered from COVID-19 after testing negative for the disease seven days after he was confirmed positive. Akeredolu who disclosed this while speaking during a news briefing in Akure on Monday, July 6, confirmed that he received the all-clear after the results of his test came back negative, Nigerian Tribune reports. He said: After a few days in isolation, my samples were taken and tested again in accordance with the treatment protocols of COVID-19, the results came in a few minutes ago. I tested negative. Nigerian striker scores 2 goals to help top European club stretch their unbeaten run to 9 games Governor Akeredolu of Ondo state recovers from coronavirus Source: Depositphotos Recall that Governor Akeredolu announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus infection on Tuesday, June 30, via a video shared on his official and verified Twitter account. Akeredolu said as, at the time of receiving his test result, he is asymptomatic and had already gone into self-isolation. He called for prayers from the people of the state saying "your continued prayers over my well being are most appreciated". PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Earlier, Legit.ng reported that in spite of testing positive for coronavirus, the governor of Ondo state vowed not to transmit power to Agboola Ajayi, his deputy governor in an acting capacity. Akeredolu who was in isolation and undergoing treatment at home said there was no reason for him to hand over to the deputy governor. Nigerian man Prince Louis Adekola overwhelmed with joy after getting UK scholarship (photos) The governor speaking through Donald Ojogo, the state commissioner for information and orientation, described Ajayi as the greatest threat to his administration, adding that the deputy governor since left the APC and governance. Similarly, Ajayi, in his reply to the governor's comment, issued a 21-day ultimatum to Akeredolu to obey the provisions of the constitution as required by his legal profession. Ordinarily, one expects Mr Governor to bring to bear on governance his background as a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN). "But it is rather surprising and worrisome that the Governor has chosen the part of perversi*n of justice, by allowing his close aides to go astray in a matter of constitutionality," a statement by Ajayi's spokesperson, Allen Sowore, read. Slum Chronicles: Even Coronavirus is scared of us - slum dwellers | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Twins celebrate 21st birthday by giving 21 families food that will be enough for a month (photo) - A pair of twins have celebrated their 21st birthday in a particularly unique and caring way - The amazing celebrants gave 21 families a month's worth of groceries each and social media users loved it - The twins shared their story on the Facebook group #ImStaying and users loved the twins' selfless act PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Pweety N Bota posted an inspirational story on the Facebook group #ImStaying. She and her twin brother decided to celebrate their 21st birthday a bit differently than other people. The siblings celebrated the major milestone in their lives by helping others and gifting 21 families a month's worth of groceries each. "To celebrate our 21st birthday. My twin brother and I decided to gift 21 Families with monthly groceries.. #wearestaying " Photo credit: Facebook/Pweety N Bota Source: Facebook Facebook users were thrilled with the twin's selfless act on their birthday: Madzingira Madhlamini: "May your adulthood be blessed beyond measure. The hand of God will always lead you to greater things and blessings because of your good hearts. I speak favour and many more blessed years to you and your twin brother." Primrose Newham: "Happy birthday to you amazing people " Denise Lesar Dalton: "What a special gesture from 2 young guys. That's one reason why I stay." Mellie Barnard: "What an awesome way to spend your birthdays on blessings others with your gift money " Be Blessesd" Sumatra Nolubabalo Lusaseni: "What a blessing u r...U have not only fed these families but u have given them hope & faith that things really do work for good eventually & that is a big deal...At least these families now know that even other calamities they may be facing eventually, somehow they will work out...To God be the glory. May the Lord God Almighty continue to bless u and open great doors of success & prosperity in your lives so that u never lack anything as u r able to share what u have...Please take care of yourselves." PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that proud father identified as Elliot Warley celebrated his sons accomplishment with a car gift in a post on social media. Having successfully completed his high school education, E.J's father decided to recognise his efforts with a special car gift. For E.J, his luxurious graduation car gift has a double blessing as his father indicated the car gift was for his birthday as well. Most Nigerians dream of spending their next birthday abroad | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Remember 9-year-old boy who was adopted by Hope Uzodinma after going viral with melodious voice? The governor has finally met him (photos) - Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state and his adopted son have finally met for the first time - Since he adopted Oluomachi Joseph Opara, the governor met him for the first time on Sunday, July 5 - The governor says the boy, who is nicknamed an amazing sonorous angel by Senator Stella Oduah, reminds him of his life trajectory PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state has finally met Oluomachi Joseph Opara for the first time after adopting him. Legit.ng recalls that the governor adopted Oluomachi after social media went agog with his melodious voice. Governor Uzodinma who met his adopted son in church on Sunday, July 5, said the boy reminds him of his life trajectory, Idowu Sowunmi on LinkedIn reports. Governor Hope Uzodinma and his adopted son. Photo credit: Idowu Sowunmi/LinkedIn Source: UGC After the meeting, the governor wrote: "Today, I was joined in church by my adopted son, Oluomachi Opara. Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello "It is our first physical meeting as Father and Son and I am glad to welcome this newest member of my family. "Oluoma reminds me so much of my life trajectory. At some point in our lives, all we bear in us is just the seed of destiny. How we wake up to the promptings and realization of our dreams remains the greatest miracle of growth only God can explain." Governor Uzodinma urged Oluomachi to always take the path of prayer both for him and his biological parents. The governor also disclosed that the boy has found a space in the Imo state government house choir as a result of his God-given talent. In other news, the United States has announced plans to sponsor Nigerians that can come up with a programme aimed at improving the lives of youths in the south-south geopolitical zone. Election 2019: US pastor prays for Nigeria, says country is too important to fail The disclosure was made by the US embassy in Nigeria, which said interested individuals should submit a proposal detailing how they would organise the programme. The embassy wrote on its official Facebook page: "Consulate General Lagos Public Affairs Section announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from organizations interested in applying for funding to implement a youth-oriented program focused on the South-South region of Nigeria. "Organizations should submit a proposal detailing how they would organize a program involving youth or youth leaders in the region." I have slept in this shop with my five children for 15 years| Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | COVID-19: Civil servants violating restriction order - Head of service cries out - The head of service of the federation has revealed that civil servants are violating restriction order - Folasade Yemi-Esan lamented over the level of non-compliance on measures against COVID-19 by civil servants - Recall that the government directed workers on Grade Level 14 and above to resume work PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed Amid the increase in the spread of COVID-19 cases, the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has criticized civil servants over the level of their non-compliance with directives on measures against the pandemic in government offices. According to Premium Times, the office of HoSF noted that workers are not adhering to the advice in order to curb the spread of the disease. The office added that these include government workers who should not be going to the offices and not keeping to the number of visitors to the barest minimum. Coronavirus: Engaging activities you can do to avoid boredom following the stay at home order It would be recalled that Yemi-Esan had advised heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that directives against COVID-19 are obeyed by members of staff. The head of the civil service of the federation (HOCSF), Folasade Yemi -Esan. Source: UGC However, she went on to say that the attention of the office has been drawn to the fact that these guidelines are not being followed. The head of service revealed that the flow of both staff and visitors to offices is very high which, indicates that the directives are not being complied with. She said other categories of officers should be encouraged to work from home as much as possible. She said that henceforth security personnel stationed at the gate would demand ID cards from staff to ensure that civil servants from GL14 and above are allowed in. The head of service added that those below GL14 offering essential services would be sent to get clearance. Yemi-Esan appealed to permanent secs to reduce the number of physical meetings in the MDAs to the barest minimum and hold virtual meetings. Xenophobia: Nigerians are worse than South Africans - Comedian Hyenana reacts to ongoing protest in Nigeria PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Earlier, Legit.ng reported that as part of measures to ease the COVID-19 lockdown, the federal government directed civil servants on Grade Level 14 and above to resume work as from June 2. The directive was issued by the head of the civil service of the federation in a statement on Tuesday, June 2. She said government workers in the essential services sector should also resume work immediately. The statement explained that the workers would be expected to go to work from Monday through Friday between 9am to 2pm daily. The head of service advised the workers to comply with measures on the prevention of the COVID -19 pandemic. 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 | Fire outbreak: KEDCO power transformer, 15MVA TR1 affected in incident Authorities Kindly Share This Story: By Bashir Bello Authorities of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO says its power transformer, 15MVA TR1 was affected in the fire outbreak that hit its facilities at the DanAgundi substation in Kano State on Monday morning. The KEDCO Head, Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Sani Shawai, confirmed this in a statement made available to Vanguard on Monday. Shawai said, One of KEDCO power transformers, 15MVA TR1 was observed in flames and at the same time the transformer tripped on Over Current All phases affecting three feeders. He, however, said that its team of technicians are currently on ground to assess the cause and damages by the incident just as efforts have also been put in place to restore powers to the affected feeders and areas. In spite of the outbreak, there is no cause for alarm as necessary steps are already being taken to address the challenge. Our teams are now on the ground to assess the cause and damage, while work is currently ongoing to isolate the transformer for a comprehensive test for quick and full-service restoration to the affected feeders. We regret any inconveniences this may cause our teeming customers while calling for their understanding. As a result of the incidence, areas that will be affected include: Kofar Naisa, Kofar Nasarawa, Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Kano city, Yan kifi small scale by zoo Road and Gandun Albasa, Shawai however stated. Vanguard News Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | PDP Is Only Interested In Edo Treasury Ganduje The Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) National Campaign Council for Edo State Governorship Election and Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Gabduje said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is only interested in Edo State treasury, hence the support for Godwin Obaseki. He promised that come September 19, Governor Obaseki will be humiliated and Governor Wike isolated.. Ganduje who spoke with newsmen shortly after his 49-membet campaign council was inaugurated by the National Chairman of the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CEONCPC) Governor Mai Mala Buni at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, vowed to secure victory for APC at the poll. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Chicago Prison Where Hushpuppi Is Being Held (Photos) Nigerian social media star, Hushpuppi is currently being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. The Instagram celebrity who was arrested in Dubai in June, and extradited to the United States of America, appeared in court last Thursday. A months-long investigation by the FBI led to his arrest last month by authorities in the United Arab Emirates, where Abbas was a resident. After which he was extradited to the United States of America. FBI special agents obtained custody of Abbas and took him to Chicago. Hushpuppi is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago, the Federal Bureau of Prisons website says. He will be transferred to Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according the Justice Department. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | World | Africa | Fake ZNA card lands bogus soldier in trouble A bogus soldier was sold by his fake Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) which he produced at a roadblock in Guruve on Wednesday. Costa Taruvinga (37) of Jonga village appeared before Guruve magistrate Geraldine Mutsotso who fined him $3000 for impersonation. The state led by Carson Kundiona told the court that on June 30 Taruvinga who was driving a Honda Fit Registration number ACV 5624 was intercepted by the police and members of ZNA who were manning a roadblock along Guruve-Mvurwi highway. Upon identifications he produced his driver's licence and a fake ZNA card with his pic in army uniform. A ZNA sergeant discovered that the identity card was fake and they arrested him. In nailing him the state said cases of impersonators were rampant and such people deserve a custodial sentence to send an alarm to potential offenders. "Your worship, we have experience an influx of impersonators committing offenses whilst in military fatigues, thereby harming the reputation and image of our army. The manner in which the accused person committed the offence shows careful and complex planning and a custodial sentence is appropriate." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Pressure mounts over killer cop POLICE are yet to identify the officer involved in the fatal shooting of a Bulawayo man with a senior official claiming provisions of the Inquest Act have now been invoked to ensure the case is not swept under the carpet after the family requested an independent probe. Paul Munakopa succumbed to police gunshot injuries upon admission at a local hospital on the night of May 20 following a high-speed vehicle chase in Hillside, Bulawayo. Munakopa's family dispute the police version that the deceased, who was in the company of his girlfriend, ignored orders to stop, forcing officers to open fire. The officer, who shot Munakopa has not been identified or arrested with police only saying investigations are underway. Last month, Munakopa's family wrote to the police demanding the involvement of private investigators to probe the incident that has again drawn sharp focus on the country's human rights violations by state security organs. Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they had invoked provisions of the Inquest Act in investigations to pave way for the prosecution of the accused. "That case, like I said, is being professionally handled," he said. "We want all the documentation to be presented before the court for the normal process to be conducted. "The stance of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has been consistent and the case will not be swept under the carpet, and also, the provisions of the Inquest Act will be followed "We have said that it was an unfortunate incident, which will be duly investigated." An inquest is a judicial inquiry to determine the cause of a person's death. A legal inquiry is held when the cause of death is unknown, violent or unnatural. It is held in public and witnesses are called in to give evidence. Witnesses can also be cross-examined, and these include investigating officers and police officers who attended the scene. Nyathi, however, said the ZRP took offence with the opposition and civic society organisations (CSOs) he claimed were using the fatal shooting of Munakopa to not only tarnish the image of the police force, but to cause despondency within its ranks. "It's unfortunate we have people who are taking advantage of that case and are now trying to cause alarm and despondency within the society and within the security service," he said. "It's really sad that you have some CSOs who are now riding on that case to gain popularity and raise all sorts of allegations. We, however, appeal for calm because that case will definitely be presented before the courts for the appropriate decision to be made by the courts." The opposition MDC Alliance has called on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to institute an inquiry into the fatal shooting. Illos Nyoni, the legislator for Bulawayo East where Munakopa was shot, citing section 48 (1) of the constitution of Zimbabwe, argued "the murder of Munakopa by police operatives is a clear violation of the right to life and a failure to do one's duties." The family's lawyer Nqobani Sithole said they were made to believe investigations into the matter were ongoing. "They have been calling out witnesses and recording statements," Sithole said. "The net effect of it is that investigations are in progress." However, Nyathi said they had not received any official response to their request for an independent probe. Six cops have since been arrested for brutally assaulting two sisters residing in Bulawayo's Cowdray Park suburb for allegedly violating the Covid-19 lockdown measures. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Govt blames Gukurahundi victims documentation delays on Covid-19 The documentation of victims of Gukurahundi has been affected by the current lockdown measures implemented to stop the spread of Covid-19, home Affairs and Cultural heritage minister Kazembe Kazembe has said. Kazembe told journalists in Bulawayo that the government was serious about ensuring access to all forms of documentation for victims of the Fifth Brigade atrocities in Matabeleland and the Midlands. He said there was also need to finalise exhumations of Gukurahundi victims. "I am pleased to highlight a number of steps, which the ministry of home Affairs and Cultural heritage, through the civil registry department, has since been made towards this inalienable constitutional right," Kazembe said. "The civil registry is in the process of ensuring that necessary documentation is availed to those people who did not have access to them for various reasons." He said the government was working with partners to come up with a programme that would assist in the documentation of victims. "Currently we are working with partners to roll out a registration programme which will be launched in due course," Kazembe added. "The requirements for one to be given a birth certificate or national identification card will be relaxed after consultation with relevant stakeholders. "On death certificates, the civil registry department is in consultation with the attorney general and the ministry of Justice working out modalities to avail death certificates to those in need of the documents." "On exhumations, work is already in progress with regard to drafting of the necessary policy framework in consultation with traditional leaders, and other stakeholders will be consulted." The government has been under pressure to bring closure to the 1980s massacre of mainly opposition PF Zapu supporters soon after independence. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has so far resisted calls for him to apologise for his role in the atrocities. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... 'Slave wages' was the reason the Zimbabwe Nurses' Association (ZINA) gave for health workers going on strike in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Slave conditions describes what was behind the pay dispute which saw two Gweru workers shot by their Chinese boss, one of the men five times. The Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers' Association said it was part of systematic and widespread ill treatment of workers by Chinese employers. With the Black Lives Matter campaign in the United States reinforcing demands for a re-examination of history, it is shocking to see that slavery is becoming a reality in Zimbabwe under Zanu-PF. Certainly, the slave-like treatment of nurses is inexcusable. Health workers at Mpilo Central Hospital who contracted coronavirus were quarantined at the Elangeni Training Centre in Bulawayo. ZINA President Enock Dongo described the conditions there as 'inhumane' and said they had been left with no option but to sue the authorities that had failed to provide protective equipment. Meanwhile, nurses at private hospitals cannot afford to be treated at their own workplace, which are charging a deposit of US$5,000 for intensive care well beyond the means of badly paid nurses. The failing economy has caused morale in the army to hit rock bottom according to Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri. She told parliament many soldiers were tempted by hunger to engage in corrupt activities to make end meet, affecting the army's efforts to help the police enforce lockdown regulations, especially as they had not been supplied with enough personal protective equipment. Comrade Muchinguri of course blamed the country's situation on 'illegal sanctions'. But the EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, said the problem was that Zimbabwe was 'still failing to break from her past of corruption, human rights abuses and fiscal indiscipline'. The Ambassador said Zimbabwe had failed to service its debts or pursue economic reforms so he could not support the EU providing budgetary assistance to stabilize its economy. In addition, he said, President Mnangagwa had failed to keep his promise to break from the past history of abductions and gross human rights violations. To solve problems brought by genocidists in a country, the route can never be through the popularly known ballot box but a military intervention, if indeed prosperity becomes the ultimate goal wanted by the suffering masses. In Zimbabwe, to try and solve all problems that were born from Zanu-PF, the only viable solution is for people to get arms and fight the corrupt and murderous regime. When Zimbabwe got independence from Britain back in 1980, the ruling clique led by then Robert Mugabe committed genocide and countless sexual offences which have not been brought to book up to this day. It is, therefore, folly and disingenuous for any level headed person to think that such a regime can be ousted through elections, to face justice for heinous crimes they have committed over the years. Zanu-PF has over perfected the rigging skills and there is no way that they can handover power through elections. Since the birth of strong opposition (1999), made of capable cadres from across ethnic divides, the opposition has never lost elections but it has been arm-twisted to see Zanu remain in power. Reasons for this are known to all who really care and are as follows; All institutions in Zimbabwe are Zanu-PF, the army, police, the courts and to a larger extent, even civil organisations are all Zanu. So there is no room for change because all the mentioned institutions are beneficiaries of the corrupt and murderous government. This is so because leaders in these institutions are hard Zanu liners who continue to benefit even when the economy is on its knees like now. The most expensive car in Zimbabwe is found in Harare driven by Zanu loyalists holding high positions in Zanu-PF establishments that are everywhere in Zimbabwe, from cell level to National. How then can such people work for justice when corruption has made them untouchables. The incumbent President E. D. Mnangagwa was the state security minister at independence when more than 80 000 people were murdered in the worst genocide which remains under wraps until now, where more than 500 000 thousand women of Ndebele origin raped under his watch. When the killings were going on, the present Vice President of Zimbabwe, Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga was the commander of a Shona brigade that was sent to pillage, annihilate and rape Ndebele women. He was called brigadier Chinenge then. He worked in cohorts with the Perence Shiri to kill, maim and rape all those perceived to be anti-Zanu. Now, Perence Shiri, the then operations commander during the genocide, is the minister of Agriculture and lands. This is just to mention but a few that are in the public eye. They all have been rewarded with high posts in the land to conceal their crimes so that they remain immune to prosecutions until they die just like their mentor Robert Mugabe. These are people who are not worried about the sufferings of the Zimbabweans but strive to protect each other and their ill-gotten wealth. How then can a sane person ever think that such thugs can hand over power and face justice? These are people who are prepared to fight by whatever means to remain in power in order to evade justice. In fact, there have never been genocidists ousted through ballots across the globe. The only way to remove them from power and prosecute them is by waging an armed war against them, arrest and try them. Of late, after stealing the 2018 elections, the world saw what these murderers can do when civilians were gunned down in Harare. A commission was set up to probe those wanton killings but where or how far did the recommendations of the commission go? Has there been anything to show for that except to hoodwink the world and the meek to believe that the incumbent and his band of killers have changed and want to be human? Zimbabwe can be one of the most prosperous countries in the world if Zanu-PF is deposed but who can do that because these thugs masquerading as humans have surrounded themselves with other criminals to ensure that they stay in power and run the country as their quasi business to enrich themselves by whatever means. When other democratic countries try to intervene by talking sense of what is happening in the country, the issue of sovereignty is invoked in order to keep such voices at bay. Ironically, the SADC and even the AU uphold the sovereignty mantra when they know the truth of the problems. It then stands to reason that the masses of Zimbabwe have to take it upon themselves, to source arms of war and fight Zanu-PF until it goes out of power and arrests all the thugs posing as presidents, ministers and justices. Afterwards, the country has to start on new dispensation different from that of Zanu whereby there shall be justice and equality for all, land audited as well lifestyles audited too to fish out the rotten apples among the innocent and peace-loving people who are prepared to earn a just living while they also pick up their fellow countrymen who have bruised and brutalised by the unrepentant Zanu-PF system that has brought only misery and dejection to a once-prosperous country. Elections are never the way to democracy in Zimbabwe. They will be manipulated to reflect the predetermined outcomes which the SADC and the AU will quickly endorse as free and fair. That's the only governance vocabulary SADC and AU know. We have seen the flaws of these two clubs (SADC and AU) in Malawi of late. They had shamelessly conspired to subvert the will of the masses as usual. To the people of Zimbabwe and the region as a whole, the credibility of these bodies hangs on a balance, they are out of touch with realities that are awash the region and continent. We appeal to well-wishers to help arm us to fight our oppressors in the form of Zanu-PF with its entire leadership. They are not there to serve the people but to loot and build their own empires which are protected at the expense of the country. We want the power to be returned to the people and not politicians. We want accountability and not murders and intimidations. We want transparency and prosperity and not servitude to thugs who pose as leaders when they are plundering everything for their own use. We don't want fascists anymore but leaders that have the nation at heart. Clearly, Mnangagwa, Chiwenga, Shiri and many within Zanu-PF are no such. They belong to jail. They hijacked the People's struggle and personalised the country such that they now think that without them there is no Zimbabwe. What a weird line of thought. My fellow countrymen. Let's stand up and fight these killers. We can not remove them by way of elections because that is their field of expertise. They are masters of rigging to subvert the will of the people. Elections are a mere waste of time and money in Zimbabwe because the results will be known well before voting takes place. We need another way. Some may say, l am oblivious of the consequences of war, but the truth is what is not death in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is always in a state of war with its own people. There is no one to protect the people and their freedoms and rights, we are just on our own. Suffice to say, since 1980, we have been in an undeclared war and now is time to acknowledge that and fight the war to free ourselves from the jaws of Zanu tyranny. No one will do it for us. Let's not continue to waste time thinking that we can get a fair deal through Zanu-PF managed elections. This remains a real utopia. Let's reclaim our power, our rights and freedoms from Mnangagwas and put them where they belong- behind bars if ever they escape capital punishment which befits their crimes. Elections are not the way in Zimbabwe but the barrel of the gun. Home | World | Africa | ICAC petitions SA President Ramaphosa over calls for massive deportation by political pressure group The International Coalition Against Coronavirus (ICAC) a civic organisation represented in Southern, Eastern and West Africa has petitioned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over the calls made by a South African political pressure group called Mzansi Patriotic Forces government to conduct massive deportation of non South Africans from that country. ICAC's petition was signed by several leaders from various African countries chapters, namely Jeremiah Reggies Mubaiwa -South Africa ICAC first Vice Chairman, Daniel Timana- Mozambique ICAC 1rst Chairman, Francis Mwila Chisanga- Zambia ICAC Chairman, Max Mkandla- ICAC Zimbabwe Chapter President, James Kunene- Eswatini ICAC Chairman, Rakotovao Organes-Madagascar ICAC Chairman, Malebogo Kgomo- President South Africa ICAC chapter and Toure Moussa Zeguen -Chairman of ICAC International Executive Secretariat and sent to Bulawayo 24 by South Africa Chapter first Vice President Chanda Chose. "We are sending the petition to you President objecting to the proposed issues of mass deportations, a proposal from an organisation called "Mzansi Patriotic Forces" in South Africa. Our organisation, the International Coalition Against Coronavirus and other pandemic diseases for the African Development believes in the African Unity and solidarity among us," reads the petition in part. "Furthermore we strongly believe the only way forward for us the establishment of our continental government is the United States of Africa. We believe your government will not allow this as this presents a risk of spreading Covid-19 virus since we are still experiencing global health pandemic. We strongly appeal and condemn the organizers of the demonstrations and we appeal to our African brothers and sisters to refrain from direct confrontation." ICAC said it is a unifier of all sons and daughters of mama Afrika, "As a peace building organization and human rights oriented we advise His Excellence President of South Africa to stop the wishful thinking of citizens of S A to stop harassment of other nationals from other countries. They must reintegrate and identify themselves as true sons and daughters of Mama Afrika. May your office kindly interven before it is late though the statement did not come from the government officials," reads the petition in part. "It is in this respect that we appeal to the government of South Africa to act accordingly. We are aware that there are some minority people with ulterial motives and sponsoring the demonstrations.We therefore stand as Africans not foreigners in our Mama Afrika,we say Afrika is for Afrikaans ,therefore,we urge the government of South Africa to put in place measures to protect every non South African individuals in South Africa against any form of attack." ICAC urged Africans to promote Ubuntu and one Africa,One Afrikaan People one Continent manthra. "We are ready to take part in any initiative decided by your government in order to appease the social and political climate for the strengthening of our people in Africa. Let's unite to kill Coronavirus and liberate our Mother Land Africa," reads the petition. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Zimbabweans siblings die of COVID-19 in SA a day apart Two Zimbabwean sisters based in South Africa reportedly succumbed to Covid-19 a day apart resulting in their three children and two brothers being quarantined. The late siblings, Ms Senzeni Mele Ndlovu (45) and Ms Thabisile Mele Ndlovu (37) are originally from Victoria Falls. Senzeni who is survived by two children and her husband, died last Wednesday at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg while her young sister Thabisile, who leaves behind a child died the following day at the same hospital. Thabisile, a teacher who once taught at Tsholotsho High School, was a principal at Basa Tutorial Institute in Soweto while her sister was doing menial jobs. The two siblings lived with their two brothers and three children in the same house in Naturena suburb, Johannesburg. According to The Chronicle, the family members in Victoria Falls have requested pictures of the deceased not to be published due to their traumatic experience. A family member told the publication that Thabisile, the younger sibling, was the first to be rushed to hospital on June 29 after complaining of chest problems and difficulty in breathing and was only attended to the following day. The elder sibling Senzeni is said to have been rushed to the same hospital around 9 PM on June 30. She was admitted around 11PM and died around 3 AM the following day. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Zimbabwe is in this serious economic mess and political paralysis; having Zanu PF on the one hand and an equally corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless opposition on the other; because, for 40 years and counting, the country been stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. All those who thought the November 2017 military coup would bring about the economic and political changes the nation has been dying for were to be disappointed. Zanu PF has mastered the art of double Dutch, particularly in its use as a smokescreen to hide the obvious in plain sight. "We wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover," announced the sweaty and overexcited Major General Sibusiso Busi Moyo on ZBC TV in the small hours of the morning of 15 November 2017. He was marking the climax of coup that toppled Robert Gabriel Mugabe from office after 37 years in power. Of course, this was a military coup, all the key players in the drama; Commander C Chiwenga, Air Marshall P Shiri, the sweaty S B Moyo, etc. were all to brass military officers; this was a military coup in every respect except those staging it insisted it was not a coup! All double Dutch! What is curious about Zanu PF's "hiding the obvious from plain sight" is that the party clearly believes the have successfully hidden whatever it is and thus proceed with their plan confident it will work. Ever since his appointment as Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has promised to get the IMF, WB, AfDB and all the other international and national financial institutions back on board and bankrolling Zimbabwe's economic recovery. The IMF, WB, etc. cut-back their financial assistance to Zimbabwe back in the late 1990s and Harare had to meet a number of conditions before their resume funding. Ending Zimbabwe's rampant corruption was one such IMF condition. Minister Ncube has not only done nothing to stop the wholesale looting costing the nation "US$ 15 billion in lost diamond revenue", according to the late Robert Mugabe. Worse still, he has not even forced the looters to pay a single dollar in tax on their loot! Yet he has been nagging the IMF and others to restart the financial assistance, confident he had hoodwinked them all! The IMF has not given Zimbabwe any financial assistance since the 1990s. And, following IMF staff visit in February, the institute made it clear that Zimbabwe had not meet any of the conditions and so will get no finance assistance. None! Now we hear Minister Mthuli Ncube wrote to the Paris Club begging for a bailout! "Paris Club members insist on the fact that the government of Zimbabwe's desire to normalise its relations with the international community can only advance following the implementation of substantive and sustainable political and economic reforms, in particular the respect for human rights, especially the freedom of assembly and expression," was Renaud-Basso, Paris Club president's reply to Minister Ncube. "In addition, Paris Club be closely monitoring international financial support to Zimbabwe for Covid-19 assistance programmes which should be implemented transparently, and in full compliance with its goals and rules. Once the country has met these criteria, it can request to enter formal discussions with the Paris Club for debt restructuring." We, the people of Zimbabwe, must demand that Zanu PF steps down so the country can appoint an interim administration that can be trusted to implement the economic and political reforms. Zanu PF will never implement the reforms and the party's double Dutch is fooling no one and costing us, the people, the economic meltdown. And now the price of bad governance has increased considerably; the international community's reluctance to give Zimbabwe financial and material assistance in the fight against corona virus is going to cost the nation dear in human suffering and lost lives! Home | World | Africa | 'There are no angels in Zimbabwe, President!' Kapish Sir, forgive the Chinese, but such erratic, gladiatorial and unhinged exuberance, exuding brute visceral and coming from any one never too shy to publicly comport embedded bats in belfry characteristics dramatizes an appalling connotation already and the two-legged conundrum in question proves to the painful truth...black people just self-hate and that's pizzazz! I am no hood rat to snitch on myself as to how the President got my goat hence a cajole to get down instantly to brass tacks became imperative lest we all become satiated with the great purposeless of such empty bravado which gently belches nerve gases into the next generation. The Chinese are perceived by our ruling class elite as fair-weather friends, never mind the baloney to bamboozle a citizenry from perceiving the mutual gusto between the aforesaid two in protecting both their crushing interests, discussion reserved for another day for this piece seeks to excavate the other deep-seated problem...Black Self Hate from the Big Cheese of our nation, reflective of most black folks' mindsets. Meticulously perusing prominent black activists websites like writer Orville Llyod Douglas' one realizes a lot of self-hate is internalized. Internalized racism is a form. of oppression involving both conscious and unconscious acceptance of a racial hierarchy on which whites and in this latest case, the Chinese are consistently ranked above people of colour. Black people tend to think little of themselves. Why would a Chinese national who shot 2 workers be promised fair trial when soldiers who led the black on black street murder roam free still? What of the 3 MDC girls who were abducted, tortured, raped and incarcerated. Have the perpetrators been found to show fairness to the girls in the least? The number of atrocities against black people by both white and black is astounding. Fair trial for the whites but not for blacks right? This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquillizing drug of gradualism. Black people have become a hybrid identity as Tsitsi Dangarembga terms it. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through the fear of giving offence since we are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth. Western cultural hegemony resulted in the formation of a new hybrid identity in colonized natives and its apparent its teeth are sunk deep in our skin. Our local cultures, economies alongside have either been bastardized or obliterated in cases and a mimicry by disillusionment arose. We imitate dress, behaviour, speech, the lifestyle of the colonizer. Our women would rather rock wigs or weaves than dreadlocks. Some makeup by black women so they fit even looks more hilarious than Doink has come to party and it would be funny if it were not sad. The imperial education has installed a 'standard' version of the metropolitan language as the norm and marginalize all variants as impurities. How we love to speak "through the nose" like either the British or Americans. In itself, English is a disruptive language of education not the language of culture which according to Ngugi, has suggestive power beyond the immediate and lexical meaning. It brings confusion in the community by disrupting that essential element native languages in a culture represented. Rewind to 05.04.19 the President of Zimbabwe mocked his own government's bond notes saying that Trump Donald,US President,had donated REAL money, the USDollar for cyclone relief, "Not maRTGs aaah, No, I mean the real hard currency from their country." This is the same President who instead of resurrecting AVM bus plant in Zimbabwe and create industry and employment buys ZUPCO buses from overseas. Ex Japanese cars are very popular to import in Zimbabwe yet the Willowvale MAZDA motor industry is ruins. He travels in an expensive foreign jet, the treasurer buys new offroad cars for the leaders and drives around in a convoy of cars when the country has no foreign currency for Covid-19 victims. African leaders loot money and invest in businesses and investments overseas when their own countries suffer. They go to foreign hospitals and their children go abroad for education when in their countries, nurses and teachers leave on less than 45 USDollars a month and infrastructure is falling. Kwane Lazarus contends that our sanity will be recovered once we realize that self-determination is the way to go. Thinking that white people are so powerful that any blacks who oppose them will destruct is black hate gone rabid, rampant and rampageous sick so is the belief that blacks ks who do survive the oppression are inevitably traitors. We dutifully need dissecting, critiquing and discussing how we keep embarrassingly demeaning, humiliating, disregarding allowing manipulations and mistreatment of ourselves by whites and other blacks. We sold our brothers in slavery, we kill each other in the projects and neighbourhoods, we misrule our own people, we continually disrupt the certainties of imperial logic. Xenophobia victims have never been white but black brothers.EFF leader, Julius Malema always reminds South Africans that blacks are killing their own brothers and Afrophobia is definitely Black self-hate. This is a hard saying yet true...Black people no longer have a culture to be defined by...South Africans still have a semblance of it through Cultural festivals, the Heritage day and Cultural dressing but like Dambudzo Marechera said, 'The old man died beneath the wheels of twentieth century. There is nothing left but stains, bloodstains and fragments of flesh...and the same thing is happening to our generation. Shall we then gather strength by irresolution and inaction, effectual resistance by lying spindly on our backs and hugging the elusive phantom of hope? Pan Africanist and scholar, Andrew Nkunah had this to say; 1. The colonial system has made us to believe that anything black is less important and less intelligent- hence white weddings instead of traditional ones. 2. Furthermore, they have colonized our minds to almost beyond redemption 3. That made us to have low self-esteem, not to have confidence in ourselves 4. The food that we were eating or our forebears were eating which was not mixed with anything is now despised and looked down upon in this generation. 5. Today we are eating chickens that were nurtured in one week through chemicals 6. Whites have made us think that the language is superior to ours including culture, values and norms 7. When you look at it the African continent is self-sufficient, we just need to do the right thing. 8. African leaders are the ones that put us to the situation we find ourselves in today. A meme allegedly attributed to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, although later dispelled as a hoax once went viral "Africa will never be independent. Africans believe in Europeans, Americans and Chinese more than themselvesthey don't trust themselves at all. A white man will commit a crime in Africa but no action will be taken because Africa authorities view us as semi-gods, far from the truth. A black man can be abducted in Europe, get harassed or even killed but no African authority will question. Africans present themselves as weak people with no hope, especially when dealing with Europeans and Americans. They are their own enemies. They hate each other and that gives their colonial masters power to continue exploiting African resources. " "When an African becomes rich, his bank accounts are in Switzerland. He travels to France for Medical treatment. He invests in Germany. He buys from Dubai. He consumes Chinese. He prays in Rome or Mecca. His children study in Europe. He travels to Canada, USA, Europe for tourism. If he dies, he will be buried in his native country of Africa. Africa is just a cemetery for Africans. How could a cemetery be developed?" Lastly, the "Black is beautiful" movement and other like-minded movements seek to attack the ideology that blackness is ugly and to be successful we last must dig deep and address diverse malignancies so besetting us. Vice-Chairman of the newly formed Zimbabwe Citizen Movement Mr Owen Gundidza had this to say;- 1.Religion.Zimbabwe is a predominantly Christan nation. Cultural practices such as kurova guva, kupira, or other traditional activities are perceived as evil and generally, we are either shy or not comfortable associating ourselves with such. 2. Education system. Our education system has promoted competition like the practice of announcing positions in school. In the process, it kills esteem of some who will grow with such and one who has not gone to school is seen as someone who can't contribute anything. Eg SA education system has not encouraged that competition of saying number one or last hence one can realize even those not academically gifted can confidently express themselves. 3. A culture of debate and expressive arts have contributed to SA youth confidence and esteem, unlike Zimbabweans. Thus, the rights of children in SA are so respected and children are allowed to express themselves unlike in Zim, a student is always wrong and the teacher is right. Whilst it instils discipline it has a challenge of entrenching patronage resulting in passiveness and fear in subjects even at work subordinates will be scared to express selves because they would have grown up within a culture of reverencing authority as something not to be challenged. 4. Brainwashing. We have been mentally made to believe European lifestyle is civil and those poor are outcasts. Hence, we compete to show off, eg in SA it is difficult to differentiate an office worker and a farmworker on a bus. In Zim, you can identify that by the way we dress and present ourselves. 5. In Zim you are on your own in providing for your needs unlike in SA, the government cares for its people through grants. That instil a sense of belonging to a nation and being cared for. 6. Economic challenges have destroyed family systems especially those of extended families. The young are now breadwinners thus making it difficult for adults to correct their children for fear of losing their support 7. Political system that suppressed people for far too long. Many are now emotionally and psychologically bruised such that are no longer that tolerant and warm to each other. 8. Exposure to Technology and the exodus of citizens to different parts of the world has also disrupted the fibre of morality as a nation when citizens tend to adopt new practices and beliefs. 9. Selfishness, greediness and self hate such that some even hide their identities. eg feeling uncomfortable in speaking in own language in public because of fear of xenophobia is common. 10. Lack of trust, pride and belief in our own systems. We sem to feel inferior and I think to those who make it in life want to isolate themselves from those perceived to be poor. "The black man is viewed in the third person, and isn't seen as a three-dimensional human being," says French psychiatrist Frantz Fanon in his book 'Black Skin White Mask.' It is high time the black man stopped internalizing the stereotypical perspectives of white society and its negative thoughts about blackness that affect his psyche. Evangelist Sendekai W.T wellingtontsendekai@gmail.com CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | BREAKING: MDC Alliance official arrested MDC Alliance National youth organiser and ward 4 Masvingo urban councillor Godfrey Kurauone has been arrested today. Masvingo based award-winning human rights lawyer advocate Martin Mureri of Matutu and Mureri law firm accompanied National youth organiser Alert- MDC Alliance Youth National Organizer Detained! 06-07-2020 MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Organizer Clr Godfrey Kurauone has been illegally detained at Masvingo Central Police Station. The state is preferring same charge to one levelled against Macrad Director, Ephraim Mutombeni who languished in prison for more than one week only to be granted today after deafening public outcry from human rights defenders. The courageous Kurauone recently defied Emmerson Mnangagwa's call for Command Fasting by feeding the underprivileged at Mucheke Bus terminus in Masvingo. It is very clear that our National Organizer is being punished for refusing to yield to the dictates of an illegitimate President. It is very clear that the illegitimate Emmerson Mnangagwa is abusing courts through persecution by prosecution of MDC Alliance supporters. The courts have become a new centre of the struggle and we are ready to challenge Mnangagwa's authoritarianism with tenacity anytime anywhere! #KushingaMberi! Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Spokesperson CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Bulawayo Mayor reported to CID homicide and ZACC over Luveve deaths A national pressure group Chapter 2 Movement has officially reported the Mayor of Bulawayo to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the CID Law and Order over the death of 13 people from Luveve who are alleged to have died after consuming Council water. In a letter seen by this publication, the organization said the Mayor as the head of the organization was supposed to be investigated over the deaths. Read the letter below: Chapter 2 Movement is a watchdog of Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe, we seek to safeguard the National Objectives as enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution. Our members in Bulawayo and across the globe have asked that we formally lay a complaint for investigation by your office and CID Homicide, over the death of 13 people who died in Luveve Bulawayo after consuming contaminated water. We kindly request that you investigate the Mayor of Bulawayo as the head of the city. The buck stops with the Mayor therefore he needs to account for the actions of his administration. It has been reported that the City of Bulawayo gave a contract to replace water pipes to an incompetent company or individual which then resulted in the deaths of 13 innocent persons. The Mayor as the head of the city is responsible and should be held to account. Bulawayo water has killed more people than the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe and this is a cause of concern. We ask that you investigate and bring the guilty to book in order to preserve the sanctity of human life. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Chamisa's MDC should rebrand, says Kay Kay has suggested that the opposition party should rebrand and start afresh as it has since lost its glitter because of infighting which has led to several splits. In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, the outspoken politician, who is also former Marondera Central legislator, said the opposition party needed to retrace its roots and be guided by the founding principles as outlined during its formation. "When you are in the bush and you get lost, the best thing to do is to retrace your footsteps and go back where you started from. This is because when you embark on such a journey you know where you want to go, hence starting all over again will be ideal," he said. Kay left the MDC in 2013 after the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost for the third time in a row to the late Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe in the presidential race. After the dismal defeat by Zanu-PF, Kay and his colleague, the late Roy Bennett, called for leadership renewal within the MDC before retiring from active politics. He lost the Marondera Central seat to former Zanu-PF heavyweight Ray Kaukonde in the same year. "When this started, it was MDC. Movement meant going forward and democratic meant democracy. This is why I am saying, there is need to start afresh, going back to the drawing board and be guided by what was agreed on when the movement was formed. "Through the passage of time, we have forgotten the founding principles of the movement and if we fail to recall that we will end up having leaders who are astray. If you read the Bible, it took Moses 40 years to cross over to the promised land, but if you analyse it, it was a short journey that took him so much time. This is the moment in which the MDC has seen itself in," he said. The opposition party is currently embroiled in massive factional fights pitting Nelson Chamisa against Thokozani Khupe with the former leading the MDC Alliance while the latter leads the MDC-T. Following a recent Supreme Court ruling which ruled Chamisa's leadership illegitimate, acting president of the MDC-T Khupe has since responded by recalling most of Chamisa's lieutenants from Parliament and local authorities. Kay said it was best for the warring parties to find common ground and forge a strong alliance. He accused the current crop of politicians of being self-centred. "No one is perfect, you cannot blame anyone, it is better to blame yourself. Khupe is MDC, Chamisa is MDC and when I was there I was MDC. The best thing is for them to come together and go back to the drawing board. They should dialogue. It is not good to ignore each other, this is what has resulted in the MDC being where it is today," he said. "This nation lacks a driver. It is a pity that we have wise people in this country, but we lack the perfect person to steer the ship. Most of the people are joining politics to fatten their pockets and feed their families, that is where we are losing it," he said. While announcing his departure from the opposition politics in 2013, Kay described Tsvangirai as "a rusty bolt that needed to be replaced" and this was after the late former trade unionist failed to dislodge Mugabe for the third consecutive time. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | BCC goes paperless BULAWAYO City Council has gone paperless and will be distributing statements via SMS, with ratepayers who have access to the internet viewing their accounts online. Town clerk Christopher Dube in a notice at the weekend said council would no longer be posting printed statements to ratepayers. "The City of Bulawayo wishes to advise its valued customers that the production of bills/ statements was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. Therefore the City of Bulawayo will not be printing and sending statements for the month of June 2020," notice read. He advised ratepayers to send their credentials to the local authority for them to get the services. "Account holders who have submitted their cellphone numbers will receive their balances via SMS. We encourage all account holders to send the following details in order to receive your account balances and these include account holder's name and surname, identity number, date of birth, BCC account number, physical address number, cellphone address and email address," Dube said. Dube said customers who register with council will view their accounts on the local authority's website. "Customers can also contact the City of Bulawayo to obtain their balances," the notice read. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Republicans say they are ready to end the bitter battle between Rep. Denver Riggleman and Bob Good and picked June 13 for the convention to choose their party nominee. Credit: Sanjay ParikhAsking Alexandria has released an acoustic version of "Antisocialist," a track off the band's latest album, Like a House on Fire. The unplugged performance is streaming alongside a video showing the U.K. rockers playing the tune remotely while quarantining in their respective homes, which you can watch now on YouTube. The original, electric version of "Antisocialist" currently sits in the top 3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart. Asking Alexandria released Like a House on Fire in May. It's the follow-up to 2017's self-titled effort, which marked the return of frontman Danny Worsnop. By Josh Johnson Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. (Video contains uncensored profanity.) If they get all of the permits, great, he said. If they cant, it shouldnt happen. The Virginia Chamber, a prominent voice for business, voiced dismay at the demise of a project it had supported because of the construction jobs it would create and the gas supplies it would offer to companies seeking to build or expand operations in Virginia. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was an invaluable gas infrastructure investment that would spur economic development, Virginia Chamber President and CEO Barry DuVal said Sunday. Unfortunately, todays announcement detrimentally impacts the commonwealths access to affordable, reliable energy, DuVal said. It also demonstrates the significant regulatory burdens businesses must deal with in order to operate. The decision to end the project also didnt sit well with House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, a strong critic of legislation adopted by the new Democratic majorities in the General Assembly this year to move Virginia away from fossil fuels and instead expand use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. I cannot fathom the reasoning behind the governors announcement, Gilbert said. Families have sought this information information they could use to protect their loved ones from a lethal threat for months. Now, after the body count in nursing homes reaches 1,000, the governor has reversed course. An outbreak at Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Henrico County killed 51 in two months. A recent Wall Street Journal analysis found more than 50,000 COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities nationwide accounting for 43% of the 116,700 deaths in the country, even though this demographic accounts for less than 1% of the U.S. population. During a call with the nations governors in May, Vice President Mike Pence recommended every nursing home resident and staff member be tested. Yet it took more than a month for Northam to announce Virginia would spend $246 million (most of it federal money) to test long-term care facility resident and staff member in Virginia by July 15! That means more than three months after he declared a statewide emergency, testing of every resident and staff member at these hotspots still has not occurred. Without testing, theres no way to tell who is contagious, and who needs to be moved to a safer location. Virus precautions such as wearing masks have become politically contentious, with skepticism about the wisdom of masks particularly noticeable among some die-hard fans of Trump. Speaking generally about the effort to contain the virus, Grassley said the federal government could do more to get out a message that emphasizes the best public health recommendations. Even though theres some debate about wearing masks, how valuable it is, we shouldnt be taking any chances and (should) do it anyway, Grassley said. I know it violates some peoples freedom, but they need to do it. Keep your distance, things of that nature. Grassley said those kinds of precautions are how outbreaks have been brought under control in the past. While he wont attend himself, Grassley expressed support for going forward with the convention in Florida with the proper precautions. I think we should have a convention, but I think you should do whatever you can to make it safe as possible, so that would be with face masks and with social distancing, Grassley said. 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. Moving to a new home can be an exciting adventure. Since its a very busy time, there are many tasks to accomplish through every phase of your move. When you add your pet into the mix, considering his needs along with yours can add to your checklist of to dos. However, by following some p LINCOLN - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering a 50/50 match on Nebraska dollars invested in outreach to get more eligible families enrolled in SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps. SAO PAULO (AP) Brazil is testing an experimental coronavirus vaccine, but interim Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello acknowledged Tuesday that the government has yet to strike a deal to get it if it works. Other nations have already secured hundreds of millions of doses of the shot created by Oxford University. The country's pandemic response has faced criticism since March, when President Jair Bolsonaro started defying social distancing recommendations. Hours before Brazil's health minister spoke at congress, a judge ordered Bolsonaro to wear a face mask whenever he is outdoors in the capital of Brasilia. Pazuello, an army general who made his career in logistics, discussed Brazils efforts to buy a vaccine for the virus or acquire the technology to make it. The countrys health regulator, Anvisa, approved human clinical trials for the potential vaccine this month. Pazuello said a decision on a deal for Brazil to acquire the planned vaccine is expected by the end of the week, but will depend on the government's chief of staff. British researchers started testing the experimental shot in May aiming to immunize more than 10,000 people, including older people and children. The vaccine is one of about a dozen in early stages of human testing. Brazil, where coronavirus infections are still on the rise, is the only country other than the United Kingdom testing the Oxford vaccine. The country counts more than 1 million confirmed cases and more than 52,600 fatalities. Clinical trials began in Sao Paulo on Monday and will start in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. The British Embassy says 5,000 health professionals are being vaccinated. We are working directly with the three most promising" vaccines, Pazuello said, naming the Oxford shot, a vaccine under development by American company Moderna and one of the Chinese experiments, which he did not disclose. Vijay Rangarajan, the British ambassador to Brazil, told The Associated Press he hopes Brazil will be one of the first countries to receive the vaccine if it works. Story continues However, that will depend on when the country will sign the agreement," he said by e-mail. "There is already production capacity for the vaccine of 2 billion doses worldwide. But much of the global production is already purchased. On May 21, the United States announced a deal for at least 300 million doses of the Oxford shot, and committed up to $1.2 billion to the effort. On June 13, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca agreed to supply up to 400 million doses of the experimental vaccine to European Union nations. Other negotiations are ongoing with Russia and Japan, among other countries, the companys CEO said this month. The British ambassador also added he wants to ensure Brazilians can benefit from any vaccine, quickly and not for profit. Bolsonaro has been criticized for downplaying his government's response to the pandemic, comparing the disease to a little flu." Prior to vaccine trials, Bolsonaro repeatedly touted the use of chloroquine to treat COVID-19, the disease that can be caused by the coronavirus, even as health experts dismissed its efficacy. The U.S. announced May 31 that it would donate 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, a similar anti-malarial that is considered less toxic, to the South American nation. The U.S. also pledged to donate 1,000 ventilators to Brazil. The first 200 ventilators are expected arrive by the end of this week, U.S. Ambassador Todd Chapman told reporters Tuesday in a video call. Another experimental vaccine in development by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech will be tested in Brazil in July, according to the Sao Paulo state government. Sinovac has a deal with the states Instituto Butantan to produce it. Some 9,000 Brazilians are expected to participate. Earlier Tuesday, a Brazilian federal judge ordered Bolsonaro to comply with local rules to wear a face mask or be fined. In recent weekends, a sometimes unmasked Bolsonaro has joined throngs of people protesting against Brazils Congress and Supreme Court and he has visited bakeries and outdoor food stalls, drawing crowds around him. Since the end of April, Brazil's federal district has required people to wear face masks in public to help control the spread of the new coronavirus. Failure to comply carries a possible daily fine of $390. Judge Renato Coelho Borelli said in his ruling that Bolsonaro has exposed other people to the contagion of a disease that has caused national commotion. The Brazilian president did not immediately comment on the decision. An earlier court ruling required him to publish the results of three COVID-19 tests he took early March, and all were negative for the virus. He has not disclosed any tests since then. Bolsonaro sometimes appears in public events with a mask, unlike some other heads of state, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Argentinas Alberto Fernandez, who has often hugged supporters and taken selfies with them while not wearing a mask, although use of a mask is mandatory in Argentina's capital. - Associated Press writer Mayra Pertossi in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report. In their first joint appearance since lockdown began, Kate Middleton and Prince William nailed their coordinating couple's style all for a good cause, of course. On Sunday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn to mark the 72nd anniversary of the NHS (the United Kingdom's National Health Service) while wearing the organization's key colors. At the engagement, Kate wore a navy patterned shirt dress with a white collar and cuffs, and accessorized with her sapphire engagement ring and a bouncy ponytail. Meanwhile, Will opted for a blue sport coat with a button-down in a lighter shade underneath. He matched Kate's dress with a navy tie and slacks. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "Today we mark the 72nd birthday of the NHS, in a year when it was needed more than ever as the nation responds to COVID-19," Kensington Palace captioned a slideshow of photos from the couple's meeting with hospital workers on Instagram. RELATED: Kate Middleton Just Put an Unexpected Twist on Summer Style The palace continued their statement, writing, "Today, The Duke and Duchess visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn to thank staff for their efforts in helping their community. Whether you are existing staff, former staff members who came out of retirement, volunteers or key workers - we thank you for the resilience, perseverance and hope youve shown our nation." Will and Kate have supported NHS's COVID-19 efforts from early on. In March, they visited the institution's 111 center where staffers field calls about urgent medical problems across the U.K. and shortly after, the entire Cambridge family participated the Clap for Carers campaign. Scientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change. There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant found in Greenland. "The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles," said Di Mauro, who had previously studied the algae at the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland. The plant, known as Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, is present in Greenland's so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting. Normally ice reflects more than 80 percent of the sun's radiation back into the atmosphere, but as algae appear, they darken the ice so that it absorbs the heat and melts more quickly. More algae appear as the ice melts more rapidly, giving them vital water and air and adding red hues to the white ice at the Passo Gavia, altitude 2,618 metres (8,590 feet). "Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation," said Di Mauro. "We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth," said Di Mauro, noting that the presence of hikers and ski lifts could also have an impact on the algae. Tourists at the glacier lament the impact of climate change. "Overheating of the planet is a problem, the last thing we needed was algae," said tourist Marta Durante. "Unfortunately we are doing irreversible damage. We are already at the point of no return, I think." Elisa Pongini from Florence said she felt the Earth was "giving us back everything we have done to it". "2020 is a special year: terrible things have happened," she said. "In my opinion, atmospheric phenomena are worsening. Climate change is increasingly evident." The plant, known asAncylonema nordenskioeldii, is present in Greenland's so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting Washington, PA (15301) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Cooler. High 67F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear. Low around 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Washington, PA (15301) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Cooler. High 68F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear. Low near 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. i love art mysteries Reply Thread Link what are some other good ones? Reply Parent Thread Link The Gardner museum heist Reply Parent Thread Expand Link If it's still on Netflix I highly recommend "Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery." Until he and his wife got caught and went to jail he was incredibly smart. He never reproduced a particular piece of art; he always made new compositions in the same style as the artists he was copying so they could be passed off as not known work. He also used paints that were only used during the period of time the artist was alive, and went to flea markets in Paris to get old paintings of particular time periods (which he would them paint over) so they would pass the authenticity tests most galleries have. Beltracchi finally got caught when he and his wife got a little bit too greedy and he wasn't as precise on getting paints as he once was; he used a type of white paint that was only available in modern day and that's how they caught his ass. It's a subtitled film, but very good as they interview him, his wife, art experts, gallery owners that were fooled, people who bought the art, etc. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Someone posted on another art post I did, about a Chinese band of art thieves funded by the government that specifically steal invaluable Chinese art pieces so they return to their legitimate home country Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah, this sounds like bullshit. Even if the picture is legit the way he got it is sketch as fuck. Why would the "friend" not give it to him after Diego died and instead sold it to someone else? I'm under the mindset that if legit the picture was stolen after the Warsaw exhibition and then sold on the black market. Reply Thread Link According to the article, when the friend arrived to Mexico, Diego was severely ill so the delivery of the painting was going to be after he recovered, since he never did, the friend kept it Reply Parent Thread Link That is so shady (especially if the would-be owner had already paid for the painting, which was common back then). *edit* Okay, I think I got it. It was Diego who told his friend to bring the painting back from Europe but Diego died before he was able to give it to him so he just kept it, later selling it to the person who traded it for property to the father of the current owner. Is that right? Edited at 2020-07-06 03:21 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Shenanigans Reply Thread Link the painting was described as an oil on wood and this new one is on canvas I'm guessing it's fake then. Reply Thread Link This is so cool!! Its on my bucket list to visit the blue house. Reply Thread Link I love la casa azul, the colors are very pretty. When you go, buy tickets online beforehand, since they have priority and the lines to enter are very long Reply Parent Thread Link Last time I was in CDMX I stayed 15 minutes from La Casa Azul and I thought I can go whenever I want, but then I found out about the tickets and everything was sold out before noon the day I decided to go lmao, I spent all day at the Cineteca instead. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I went a couple of years ago and loved it! My local botanical gardens had an exhibit that same year where they recreated the Casa Azul gardens and it was awesome to see that and then go see the real thing. Definitely worth visiting if you go to CDMX. Reply Parent Thread Link My friend went and said it was amazing. If you're a Frieda fan definitely go because there are things in the exhibit you can only see there. Reply Parent Thread Link Me too! I went to the exhibition they had of Frida at the NY Botanical Garden a few years ago and it's been on my bucket list ever since Reply Parent Thread Link same, i want to go so badly. Reply Parent Thread Link I just went last year and loved it! Definitely agree on getting your passes ahead of time, also recommend the audio-visual tour for even more context about all the artifacts and rooms. I went in not knowing a ton about Frida and left obsessed. Reply Parent Thread Link this is nuts and sus today is her 113rd birthday too! Reply Thread Link I'd love for this to be true, but it sounds like it's likely a fake if it's on canvas and the original wasn't on canvas? Reply Thread Link Wild lol. HBD Frida Reply Thread Link I'm intrigued. Is it possible she might have done two different versions of it like Munch's Scream? Reply Parent Thread Link differences!!! the plot thickens! pd. I didnt find any. I know they are there but I have no the patience or the eye. Reply Parent Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link Speaking of Frida, anyone seen Chavela Vargas documentary? I just last night it's on Netflix (latam), I was too tired to watch it but I can't wait. If so, how did you like it? Reply Thread Link Yes, I think so Reply Parent Thread Link the painting was described as an oil on wood and this new one is on canvas If you're going to forge a painting, at least.. try.. Reply Thread Link looks legit! looks legit! Reply Thread Link This is a case for Dan Brown. Reply Thread Link or Dan Brown's ex-wife and researcher Reply Parent Thread Link Or his horse trainer. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lizzo claimed that the landlord mocked her dancing, recorded footage of her and her friends, and threatened to call the police. what the actual fuck Reply Thread Link seriously. I hope AirBnb investigates because this is just bad business. Reply Parent Thread Link I can get some critiques that Lizzo can be extra but the level of vitriol she gets relative to anything she arguably deserves is absurd as are the people who pretend not to see it. Im in awe of her confidence and her ability to thrive regardless. Reply Thread Link Anytime I make the mistake of clicking a thread about her on Twitter Im always horrified. The things people say about her are beyond disgusting Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like a lot of the vehement critiques are just from men who have deemed her unfuckable by their standards and therefore she's categorized as "annoying" "so extra" "obnoxious" etc lbr Reply Parent Thread Link Thats literally it. Extra behavior from thin white women doesnt warrant the same criticisms and vitriol from that crowd and you nailed why. Reply Parent Thread Link She does and its bullshit. Shes constantly criticized for her body and image. She posted a video of her working out and people still gave her crap for it. Reply Parent Thread Link Right?!?! People stay mad because shes not thin, she has dark skin, and she loves herself. They really feel she has no right to happily exist outside of the confines of conventional standards of beauty. The joke is on them because sis is fine as hell and busy and booked. Reply Parent Thread Link But did the landlord really do all that or will they come out with a completely different story like the delivery driver? Reply Thread Link I'm sure that Landlord has a fan or two in hiding somewhere on here. Reply Thread Link I love Lizzo but why was she in a week long rental with friends? Reply Thread Link that's what I wanna know lol Reply Parent Thread Link Seriously, that's what I am wondering. Reply Parent Thread Link She said they all got tested before hand but still IA Reply Parent Thread Link I get it and I'm trash because I really want to make an exception for her. I just wish she would have stayed in her house or one of the friends' house. I just feel like that would be the safer option during all of this. Reply Parent Thread Link oh, rona's over is you just want it to be much like faeries... you gotta believe Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i cant think of one celebrity whos still isolating Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She's better off with a landlord that's not actively stalking their tenants; none of his activities sound legal. Reply Thread Link Thats great and all for her in her case. On the other hand, it is really unsettling with the fuckup shit the scum landlords enforce eviction on the renters and turning away any potential future renters, while their racism and discrimination is so transparent and extreme with the whole rental, approval and a owed year of rent repayment lease process. Its a lot to unpack. Its just fucking horrific and sickening. I cannot even fucking imagine continued living in San Diego, it was bad enough. I am incredibly deeply grateful to be here in LA and maintain a good relationship with my landlord here, they know I aint playin when come to legalities. They know I aint stupid after me coming thru everything in process. It seems there is nothing else we can do to situate due to Covid-19 that we clearly are affected! Other than having to pay back the leftover rental due within a year or something. Im strangely calm about my financial situation but like Id have to brace myself through this. I really hope everything works out with everyone in this similar living situation and going thru the rent strike!!! Like we gotta go in hardcore on these scum landlords and theyd scam you the fuck out of your wallet. Like.... jfc. Reply Thread Link owed year of rent repayment can you explain? I've never heard of this. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah that is just something that I still think worth discussing with my landlord. Though we havent reached an verbal agreement on the lease I happen to take over the sublet. Especially due to our ongoing rent strike in LA. Ive done everything possible there is to keep me staying in my own home here literally everything in legal terms. Fortunately, we both never have any issues with each other and remain communicative. The landlord really like me best and still hold the previous tenant accountable. So we just really dont know how or what itd look for an possible outcome regarding rent payments when the pandemic is situated. We think it might take a year bc we are fucked in terms of economics and it probably take forever to fully recover. So by far I am convinced that I am the one that would have to pay them back $$$ for the per months upon the year lease. Especially the fact Ive been overpaying my rent and those leftover amounts the previous tenant owed them. He was unable to pay off as still in a loan/debt hell and currently lives in a $40,000 RV that he still owe $$$$$ which is creating a huge problem for him. I just wanted this studio be under my name which turned out costing me the extra 1500$ (He had been lyin to me the entire time). So he basically fucked off to San Francisco without any official notice. Im sure he paid the money to get there with my security deposit. I of course paid and cleaned up his mess. Tldr: apparently, if you are in your lease thats for a year, then you will have to pay them back worth a year of rent by the end of the pandemic. Save money they say. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I mean maybe she should have been social distancing and not having a party? I mean for her getting kicked out, not mocking her. That's bullshit. Edited at 2020-07-06 05:13 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link She said on her Instagram I think that they all got tested but ya getting a week long rental for no reason is still not a good idea imo Reply Parent Thread Link Hopefully they are all fine, but yeah, doesn't seem like the best idea atm. Reply Parent Thread Link that sucks please send the album I ordered a year agooooo thanks Reply Thread Link Lauren Jauregui added, LMFAO WHAT A SIMP imagine thinking U arent gonna bring him more business Simp? Reply Thread Link yeah thats not.. how that word should be used lmao Reply Parent Thread Link lauren proving she has worms for brains yet again. these people don't know what words mean anymore Reply Parent Thread Link Doesnt it mean simpleton? I am old so back in my day thats what it meant lol Reply Parent Thread Link I'm also old but afaik now it's used kind of like 'white knight' e.g., a dude who defends or hypes up a woman no matter what because he's attracted to her/hoping she'll notice him Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao i hate white people, always taking black slang and fucking it up and of all words, SIMP? shit that non-shit niggas used YEARS ago? surburbia needs to catch up Reply Parent Thread Link she is BEC levels for me Reply Parent Thread Link shes so embarrassing god Reply Parent Thread Link I want to like her, because I love her singing voice. But every time she speaks, my eyes roll all the eye back into my head Reply Parent Thread Link i wish everyone would stop traveling Reply Thread Link Seriously. Unless it's absolutely necessary, there is no need to be traveling anywhere during this pandemic. Reply Parent Thread Link like i have friends who have been going to local airbnbs to just have a change of scenery and that is one thing imo - you're not seeing anyone you're just moving wfh locations. but flying to tropical places?? idgi Reply Parent Thread Expand Link how did he record the footage like did he have security cameras at his house? i'm.... what in the actual fuck Reply Thread Link men love to get upset when non-skinny black women enjoy themselves men love to get upset when black women enjoy themselves men love to get upset when women enjoy themselves men love to get upset Reply Thread Link If there was anything certain to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that the oil market and its participants are struggling to guesstimate how long overall demand will be depressed and how quickly it will recover in various regions of the world. When the only certain thing is uncertainty, analysts and traders once again realized that they don't have the ultimate data point about real-time or near-real-time demand. They continue to guesstimate while collating data from various sources. And they continue to search for the data point that could become a game-changer in oil market predictions and trading. Analysts are now combining several data points from several sources to see how gasoline demand is recovering after the crash in early April and how quickly inventories outside the U.S. are building or depleting. The coronavirus pandemic was the perfect test lab for new sources of data about people's mobility behavior, including by car, which could have given analysts a glimpse into how much people are out and about, based on their smartphone search for directions. During the lockdowns, Apple launched its mobility trends reports based on iPhone users' search for directions for driving and walking. However, traders and analysts didn't see strong correlation between search information and real use of gasoline because searching for directions is not the same as miles traveled. Traders saw that even if mobility trends were on the rise on Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., data from the EIA a week later showed that gasoline supplied the proxy for gasoline demand in the United Statesdropped by six percent at the start of the summer driving season. The divergence in figures had some traders disregard the data from the mobility index during the pandemic, they told Reuters. Analysts and traders were eager to pinpoint gasoline demand a large chunk of global, as well as U.S., oil demand in real time, but they will have to wait for the ultimate type of measurement, at least for now. Related: Turkeys Latest Geopolitical Gamble Could Result In Catastrophe Meanwhile, they are looking at the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) reports, which are issued retroactively by at least five days, at data from TomTom about traffic in cities worldwide, at the Mobility and Engagement Index of the Dallas Fed measuring the deviation from normal mobility behaviors induced by COVID-19, and at various subscription services measuring activity and oil in storage around the world. RBC Capital Markets, for example, used in the middle of May "a real time data approach with in-house simulation models, geolocation and satellite imaging methods" from its data science team to estimate that China's oil demand was on the mend and was expected to recover by 17 percent in Q3 and by 25 percent in Q4 compared to Q1 this year, Michael Tran, Managing Director, Energy Strategist, Global Research, at RBC Capital Markets said. Now nearly two months later, the threat of a second wave of COVID-19 is once again puzzling forecasters and traders regarding the trend in oil demand recovery, especially in the United States. This year's unprecedented uncertainties highlight the uncertain nature of predictions, even if real-time data were readily available. The uncertainties are also very likely to have analysts and traders continue looking at all kinds of data even when the pandemic is finally under control and a vaccine is on the market. They will be looking for potential lasting changes to consumer behavior, including whether people will continue using more their own cars instead of public transportation, prefer driving to flying for domestic travel, or the real possibility that many people will continue working from home instead of commuting to offices. While the oil industry braces itself for the impact of the coronavirus on long-term demand trends, oil traders and analysts continue to search for the ultimate real-time data that would give them an advantage on the oil market. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Despite the continued bearish sentiment, oil markets saw a bit of support over the past week, resulting from the sharp decline in the crude oil inventories as reported by the EIA. Last Thursday, prices Brent hit its highest level since March at $43.23, closing at $42.78, up by 4.11% w/w, while WTI closed at $40.32, up by 4.54% w/w, with a spread of $2.46 which narrowed by $0.07 w/w. Bullish data from the U.S. oil sector U.S. commercial crude inventories declined by 7.20 million barrels w/w, standing at 533.5 million barrels while the U.S. SPR attracted 1.7 million barrels w/w standing at 655.4 million barrels. Crude input to U.S. refineries rose by 0.193 mbbl/d w/w reaching 14.03 million bbl/d, refinery runs remain 3.26 million bbl/d lower than they were last year in June. U.S. oil production remains unchanged at 11 million bbl/d, due to the drop in drilling activity. On the other hand, the EIA report did show some bearish data as gasoline stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels which counters the usual seasonal demand behaviour in the summer and that added more pressure on prices. Furthermore, the EIA estimates current US oil demand to have risen to more than 18 million bbl/d from less than 14 million bbl/d in April compared with an average of 20.01 million bbl/d last January. Improved macroeconomic data Adding to the bullish news, the euro-zones economic sentiment rose to 75.7 points this month from 67.5 in May, while all key sectors of the economy in the region showed signs of recovery, which is especially observed in retail trade and services. US labor statistics also reflected additional optimism as the rate of unemployment declined 11.1%, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. In China, factory activity has increased to the highest level Since March, as PMI figures rose, by 0.3, to 50.9 compared with forecasts of 50.4. Related: Oil Price Crash Causes Major Recession In Russia In the previous week, the drop in prices was not only driven by resurgence of COVID-19 cases in several countries, but also poor refining margins, the resumption of U.S. oil production, and remaining high inventories compared to their 5-year average levels. Current COVID-19 cases have exceeded 11 million confirmed cases with the U.S., India, and Brazil battling to contain the outbreak of the disease. We expect the war between positive economic data and Covid-19 cases is likely to persist in the next few weeks as the demand picture continues to unfold. Improved signs of compliance from OPEC+ Meanwhile, OPEC+ compliance to its output cut deal is said to have exceeded 100% for the month of June according to data from Energy Intelligence, despite some producers falling behind their targets, mainly Iraq, Nigeria and Angola. The 100% compliance is believed to have been achieved in June due to extra voluntary cuts from Saudi Arabia and other GCC producers. The Iraqi oil minister was quoted for holding negotiations with companies on oil contracts for fields with high operating costs. This will reduce expenses when cutting oil production leading to enhanced compliance. Compliance for Iraq, nonetheless, is said to be at 100% in June according to data from Energy Intelligence. The problem with Iraq is that it pays companies to invest in its oil industry so it needs to compensate investors for cutting production at low oil prices. Currently the West African compliance remains a challenge for the group cohesion. According to data from Energy Intelligence, compliance in June is seen at 68%, for Angola, 15% for Congo, 80% for Nigeria, and 31% for Equatorial Guinea. Angola, in particular, is said to be unable to compensate for its missed targets until Q4 this year. According to OPEC data, Angola has produced 1.28 million bbl/d in May, 100 thousand bbl/d above its target, and it reduced this to 1.24 million bbl/d in June, which is still 60 thousand bbl/d above its target, according to data from Reuters. Saudi Arabia, which achieved a compliance level of 140%, is said to have averaged a production of 7.49 million bbl/d in June, compared with 12 million bbl/d in April, according to a statement by the CEO of Saudi Aramco. Both the UAE and Kuwait have followed Saudi Arabia in compliance levels with 120% for UAE, and 112% for Kuwait, in the month of June. Furthermore, Kazakhstan is said to have achieved its compliance commitment for the month of June with a production of 1.297 million bbl/d according to official sources. Kazakhstan will continue to over-comply to compensate for its missing targets in May by making additional cuts between July-September. Related: Saudi Arabia Hikes Oil Prices For The Third Consecutive Month In the meantime, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait restarted production in the joint neutral zone last week, which has a production capacity of more than 500 thousand bbl/d, 300 thousand in Khafji and 250 thousand bbl/d in Wafra. We expect the resumption of production to be a signal of easing current OPEC+ cuts which is set to ease next August to 7.7. million bbl/d, from a current level of 9.6 million bbl/d. Furthermore, the Libyan National Oil Corporation has indicated that its oil production could return to normal levels following a potential agreement on a new oil revenue distribution mechanism among conflicting armed forces. That may remove the current barriers to restarting production, the security of personnel, which if guaranteed will enable resumption of full production. Libyan crude is of a light sweet type, which historically has been in high demand by Mediterranean refiners which increased their imports from West Africa amid the Libyan blockade of exports. Our data revision and forecast The average monthly price for Brent in June was 40.78, $0.78 above our forecast, while WTI averaged 38.33, $3.33 above our forecast. We continue to see an average price of $43 and $38 for Brent and WTI, respectively, throughout July. Furthermore, our demand forecast for the year 2020 has been raised by 9.76 million bbl/d, to average 90.35 million bbl/d. We see average demand in Q3 standing at 92.33 million bbl/d, compared with an average demand of 79.33 million bbl/d in Q2. This is a 9.99 million bbl/d year-on year reduction. Demand in Q4 is seen to rise to an average of 94.33 million bbl/d, yet down by 6.41 million bbl/d y/y. By Yousef Alshammari for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The recent turnaround in oil market sentiment was to a large extent due to China showing signs of demand recovering back to normalcy. May 2020 witnessed the highest-ever level of crude imports, soaring almost 20% month-on-month to 11.34mbpd. Yet the intense market activity that both Chinas state-owned giants and teapot refiners have demonstrated throughout April-May seems to be fizzling out. Amid tankers piling up in front of Chinese ports buying interest has significantly weakened in June and July, implying that the spring purchase frenzy was primarily driven by unprecedentedly low crude prices and it will take several months until Chinas refineries can fully digest the barrels in stock. Taking a rather straightforward look at main sources of Chinese imports we shall see that a weaker summer buying season seems almost unavoidable. 1. West Africa is Going Down If one is to look at exports from W-African countries to China in terms of their loading date (see Graph 1), there would be relatively little ground to expect any significant decline. The overall volumes have bounced back to their pre-corona level, moreover Chinese buyers have grown some appetite for Nigerian crudes which were purchased only sporadically before 2020. What is more, this June will hit the highest-ever West African arrivals to China with 58 million barrels coming in across more than 80 cargoes (the sailing time is roughly 40-45 days). Yet future purchases will be substantially complicated by the massive queue of tankers outside Shandong and Tianjin at least 12 WAF-containing vessels are awaiting discharge for several weeks already. 2. Russian Seaborne is Going Down Source: Thomson Reuters. Setting up a new all-time high again, Russian seaborne exports to China have climbed to 1.15mbpd this May, with Chinese refiners taking in vast amounts from Pacific, Mediterranean and even Baltics ports. China-bound vessels from the Baltics have in fact become the top destination in April with roughly 25% of all barrels moving to China. For this to happen, traders like Unipec would charter VLCCs that collect smaller cargoes around the Danish port of Skaw and travel almost 2 months to Shandong and Tianjin. After the purchase frenzy, Urals exports from the Baltics have evaporated (only one cargo in June) and Russias seaborne trade with China went back into its traditional mode of consisting predominantly of ESPO. 3. North Sea is Going Down Source: Thomson Reuters. Chinese buyers have grown to like North Sea crudes throughout the first half of this year as the Brent-Dubai EFS has moved into slight discounts compared to multi-dollar per barrel premiums historically. State and private refiners alike continued to buy Atlantic grades when freight rates peaked in February-March and have peaked in April (at 0.56mbpd) with Forties and Johan Sverdrup being the two most coveted grades. This means that in terms of arrivals, June 2020 will be the highest month on record with 19.5 million barrels of crude arriving across a dozen vessels. The Norwegian Johan Sverdrup is a noteworthy addition to the Chinese refining system since almost 60% of the fields output has ended up in the first six months of this year. June loadings from the UK and Norway have dipped almost 25% month-on-month as the Brent-Dubai EFS moved back into premia. 4. Latin America is Going Down Source: Thomson Reuters. In contrast to all above mentioned categories Chinas imports of Latin American crudes were on par with those of today in terms of overall volumes Chinese refiners bought on average 30-40 million barrels per month, splitting the incoming volumes between Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. As the United States tightened the sanctions screw around the Maduro regime, it became much more difficult for Chinese refiners to buy crude from the Orinoco area (although not impossible) and the overall slate of what China brings in from Latin America has tilted towards Brazil. Thus, when China-destined loadings reached a 13-month high in May at 1.32mbpd, there was no surprise in Brazilian grades such as Lula (a new crude grade being displaced on the Oilprice.com oil prices page) making up more than 80% of the total. Although Brazilian crudes retain a noticeable presence on the Chinese market, aggregate Latin American exports to China have dropped below 1mbpd after May. 5. Southeast Asia is Going Down Source: Thomson Reuters. For much of the 2010s South East Asian nations played a relatively minor role in Chinas crude supply, the occasional Vietnamese or Malaysian cargoes reached Chinese refiners but their share of the total always stayed firmly in the single digits. But in the last 12 months the importance of South East Asia for the Chinese market increased as Malaysia and Indonesia became prime spots for ship-to-ship transfers. Oftentimes these parcels would have no direct bearing to the South East Asian region a large part of Venezuelan deliveries to China recently went through Malaysia and without a thorough scrutiny might be even perceived as intra-regional. After a peak around March-April 2020, the STS activity in the region of South East Asia seems to abate and the volume of crudes departing for China in June (0.58mbpd) is more than a third lower than the March peak. Wondering about the price differentials between global crude blends? Oilprice.com offers the worlds largest freely accessible crude pricing database. Check it out here. By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell is not ruling out the possibility of moving its headquarters to the UK, the group's chief executive Ben van Beurden told Dutch business newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad in an interview published over the weekend. The move could offer Shell relief from the Netherlands ' dividend tax, which has now become taxing amid the low oil price environment and the pandemic. Shell is headquartered in The Hague in the Netherlands while it is incorporated in the United Kingdom. It has two classes of shares listed on the London and Amsterdam stock exchanges. Speaking to Het Financieele Dagblad, Shell's chief executive declined to explicitly say that the company would consider moving its headquarters to the UK. "Nothing is permanent and of course we will look at the business climate. But moving your headquarters is not a trivial measure. You cannot think too lightly about that," van Beurden told the newspaper, as carried by Reuters. The dual structure is not an acute problem, but it is a "limiting factor" for the company, Shell's top executive said. Shell is looking at ways to simplify the dual structure, a spokesman told Reuters, confirming van Beurden's comments to the Dutch newspaper. The Netherlands has a dividend tax, against which Shell has been lobbying, seeing it as a hurdle to funding dividend payments, share repurchases, or acquisitions, according to Reuters. Related: Turkeys Latest Geopolitical Gamble Could Result In Catastrophe After the plunge in oil prices in Q1, Shell slashed its dividend by 66 percenta first cut to the company's dividend since World War II to preserve cash and value in a highly uncertain macroeconomic environment. Simplifying the dual corporate structure could save Shell costs down the road, as oil companies look at ways to remain relevant to investors and shareholders in the energy transition. Shell reportedly plans to announce by the end of the year a significant restructuring to reflect its net-zero emissions goal for 2050 and to align itself with a green recovery from the pandemic. "Our current business plans will not get us to where we need to be, and we will have to change those plans over time. And, it won't be easy, and of course there will be obstacles to overcome, but like many others, I believe that society now has a unique opportunity to accelerate towards a cleaner energy future," van Beurden said in a video message last month. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The oil price crash that Russia helped create, along with the coronavirus-driven global recession, will result in Russias economy shrinking this year by the most in 11 years, the World Bank said in its latest economic report on Russia. Russias economy will suffer from the global recession and local efforts to contain the pandemic and the low price of oilRussias largest exportthe World Bank said. The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened the Russian ruble and has resulted in lower fiscal revenues for the country, according to the bank. Heightened global risk aversion on financial markets, further exacerbated by a slump in oil prices, has weakened the ruble by 11 percent since the beginning of 2020, the World Bank said in its Monday report. Due to the plunge in oil prices, Russia is also expected to run deficits between 2020 and 2022, at 7.2 percent of GDP this year, 1.6 percent of GDP in 2021, and 0.5 percent of GDP in 2022. There are immediate impacts of the pandemic-driven recession, such as the steep rise in unemployment, the drop in real wages, reduced fiscal revenues, and a weakened banking sector, Apurva Sanghi, Lead Author of the Study and Lead Economist for the World Bank in Russia, said in a statement. Downside risks to Russias economy include protracted pandemic and containment measures, slow global economic recovery, and of course, another drop in commodity prices, according to the World Bank. Signs have already emerged that Russias economy is suffering from the low oil prices and the OPEC+ agreement under which it has to cut around 2 million barrels per day (bpd) off its oil production to bring it to 8.5 million bpd. Industrial output in Russia fell in May, largely as a result of the production cuts that Russian oil companies had to implement following the April agreement by OPEC+ to remove a combined 9.7 million bpd from the global market. Last week, Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that OPEC+ was not discussing or planning changes to its production cut agreement, which should see the oil producers ease the cuts in August. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In the span of 24 hours, a major natural gas pipeline was cancelled and a judge ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline shut down. Just days after Dominion Energy and Duke Energy prevailed in a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the utilities scrapped the very project that effectively received the go-ahead from the justices. The 600-mile Atlantic Coast pipeline would have carried Marcellus shale gas to consumers in Virginia and North Carolina, opening up yet another market for Appalachian gas. But the years-long permitting issues led to delays and cost blowouts, pushing the cost of the 1.4 billion-cubic-feet-per-day pipeline from $5 to $8 billion. The Supreme Court ruled in the utilities favor just a few weeks ago, upholding permits for the project related to sensitive areas, particularly under the Appalachian Trail. But that did not do away with remaining regulatory hurdles, which create an unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays for [Atlantic Coast Pipeline], Dominion said in a statement. The market is dramatically different than it was when the pipeline was originally proposed. Renewable energy is significantly cheaper than it was years ago, and environmental opposition grows with each passing year. Plus, the Covid-19 pandemic has upended forecasts about future demand. On top of that, a recent court decision scrapping an industry-friendly permitting program done by the Army Corps of Engineers the Nationwide Permit 12 tossed out an avenue to accelerate and streamline pipeline projects. That decision in Montana was related to an entirely separate project Keystone XL, in fact but the decision affected the entire permitting program done by the Corps, which the judge said violated the Endangered Species Act. In other words, the hurdle for new oil and gas pipelines to move forward is a lot higher than it was before. Dominion specifically cited this court decision as pivotal in its decision to scrap the Atlantic Coast pipeline. This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States, Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II and Duke Energy CEO Lynn J. Good said in a joint statement. Related: Oil Price Crash Causes Major Recession In Russia Meanwhile, Dominion also announced that it was selling off its natural gas transmission and storage assets, and a stake in Cove Point LNG, to Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway in a $4 billion deal ($10 billion including debt). Taken together scrapping a massive gas pipeline, and selling off other gas assets Dominion is pivoting back to regulated utility assets and planning for a shift to clean energy. The Virginia-based utility will be required to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 under legislation recently passed by the state. This looks like an energy-transition play, Andrew Gillick, a managing director at RS Energy Group, said in a comment to the FT. With the cancellation of the pipeline as well, it is clear Dominion is planning for net-zero. Dominion put on a brave face, trumpeting it's Atlantic Coast pipeline loss as a way to transition. Over the next 15 years we plan to invest up to $55 billion in emissions reduction technologies including zero-carbon generation and energy storage, gas distribution line replacement, and renewable natural gas, Dominions CEO Thomas Farrell said. In addition, between 2018 and 2025 we expect to retire more than four gigawatts of coal- and oil-fired electric generation. For Berkshire, the deal means that Warren Buffets company will soon account for 18 percent of all natural gas moved across state lines, up from 8 percent currently. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline cancellation alone was bombshell news. Very few pipeline developments could upstage the cancellation of such a massive project, but hours later, even bigger news emerged. Related: Will Argentina's Oil Industry Survive This Crisis? On Monday, a judge vacated the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline, which carries 570,000 barrels of oil per day and was subject to intense protest from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and a coalition of indigenous and environmental groups. In a scathing opinion, the judge said that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it gave a permit to the pipeline to build beneath Lake Oahe. In effect, the Trump administrations effort to rush the job at the start of his term came back to derail the pipeline. Dakota Access now has to shut down and drain the pipeline by August 5. It will then need to undergo a full environmental impact statement, which is expected to take around one year to complete. The seriousness of the Corps deficiencies outweighs the negative effects of halting the oil flow for the thirteen months that the Corps believes the creation of an EIS will take, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote. Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline, Chairman Mike Faith of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said in a statement. This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning. Energy Transfer, the owner of Dakota Access, saw its stock plunge by more than 10 percent on Monday. Investors have lost patience with big infrastructure projects, and the 2020 election poses too much risk for major projects to move forward, Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy LLC, told Bloomberg. For Dakota Access, much now depends on the outcome of the presidential election. If former Vice President Joe Biden prevails, Dakota Access could be doomed. We also expect strong political pressure on the Biden campaign to oppose reissuing permits to Dakota Access upon reelection (given the projects high profile and the success of Native American Tribes to secure the ear of the Obama White House), and therefore we see a strong possibility that the permits may not be reauthorized, ClearView Energy Partners wrote in a note. By Nick Cunningham for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil prices hit a four-month high on Thursday, pushed higher by supply restrictions and a global rebound in demand. However, the accelerating spread of the coronavirus across the United States represents a major red flag, threatening another downturn. Experts had long warned that a second wave might be possible, but the sudden spike of cases across much of the U.S. has caught many state governments off guard. Cases in Texas, Arizona and Florida are nearing apocalyptic levels, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor told CNN. The U.S. is breaking new records, with daily cases now routinely topping 50,000. Its really shocking for the market to see US reported infections hitting new highs by the day. News that Thursday was a day of yet another record sobered up the market today and led prices a bit lower, erasing some of the weeks earlier gains, Rystad Energys oil market analyst, Louise Dickson, said in a statement. If this trend continues, oil demand in the region is at risk. Dickson added: It seems that only new enforced restrictions can restrict the spread of the virus currently in the US and if lockdowns are applied again nationwide the second wave will hit the countrys oil demand hard. The U.S. is not alone. Coronavirus continues to spread like wildfire in Brazil, India and other parts of the globe. Even as forecasts vary, oil market analysts have consistently projected a steady rebound in demand over the course of 2020. Very few factor in a second wave into their baseline forecast. For instance, the International Energy Agency sees demand down by 8.1 million barrels per day (mb/d) for all of 2020, with most of those losses concentrated in the second quarter. Demand collapsed in April, but has come back since then, and the agency sees a swift rebound in the second half of this year. The IEA sees demand rising by 5.7 mb/d in 2021. Related: Moodys Turns Bearish On Oil Demand Growth But a broader second wave presents the possibility of another hit to crude demand, throwing all the scenarios of a steady tightening trajectory out the window. One forecast from Rystad Energy finds that oil demand could plunge to 86.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) for 2020, down another 2.5 mb/d from the firms base-case forecast of 89 mb/d. The second wave scenario from Rystad sees a demand hit in the period of August to October, as the economic impact from the current spread of infections really begins to be felt. All told, by December, oil demand could be 5 mb/d lower in the event of the second wave relative to the base-case, Rystad said. Its important to note that in some ways the second wave is not theoretical, as it is demonstrably unfolding in the United States and elsewhere (or, according to some, we are actually still witnessing the first wave, which never ended). The second wave does not destroy demand in the same way as the first wave did, as most governments refrain from dropping the hammer by imposing strict and far-reaching lockdown measures this time around. Instead, more targeted closures prevent the historic plunge in oil demand seen earlier this year. But because the markets have picked up optimism over the past two months, betting on steady improvement, the second wave poses serious risks. [A]n unexpected dip of any magnitude will send the oil price into a tailspin, whether swift and sharp, or long and painful, Rystad warned. Related: Goldman Sachs: Prepare For A Global Consolidation Of Refineries This presents quite a conundrum for OPEC+. The one-month extension of the production cuts is slated to expire at the end of this month. The group has signaled a desire to ease production cuts, letting the 9.7 mb/d deal loosen to cuts of 7.7 mb/d beginning in August. But adding 2 mb/d back onto the market just as demand suffers another shock would be sub-optimal for crude prices, to say the least. At the same time, producers are itching to unwind production cuts. OPEC will not hold back for ever, and will ramp up its production again from August, Commerzbank said on Friday. In short, while prices had been picking up steam on the expectation of tightened supplies and rising demand, the market could flip in the opposite direction: supply could come back as demand falls all over again. At this point, OPEC+ is the single supply tool to materially tighten the market, but it faces massive storage build-ups as an adversary, Rystad said. And if there is a second wave, that storage headache is going to greatly worsen as implied builds again rise. Without the ability to drain inventories, and with supply rebounding at a time when demand contracts because of the second wave, there is little room for oil prices to rise, the firm added. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) seemed to be considering, by July 2020, whether to risk early military conflict as a means of moving its declining strategic fortunes back from the precipice. Its momentum thus far in challenging the U.S. and the market societies has been based on non-kinetic amorphous warfare. Now, PRC Pres. Xi Jinping was being forced by a range of circumstances a declining economy, the socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, and a range of natural and demographic disasters and trends to take precipitate military action before the final window on the path toward global dominance closed for the PRC. Pres. Xi had moved into a situation similar to, but far more grave than, the 11th-hour desperation which faced Lt.Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, the Argentine military ruler, in 1982. Any delay in a decisive gesture by Xi at this stage would see Taiwans strength continue to rise, the PRCs economy continue to slide, and the PRCs isolation increase still further. The tacit alliance of its adversaries and former dependent trading partners were now gathering against Beijing. The alternative to precipitate action by Pres. Xi could well only be his retirement from office, one way or another, or his transformation of priorities back to domestic control. The PRC economy and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) were, in early July 2020, far from ready to take the kind of external military action which could escalate into a direct and protracted confrontation even with the Republic of China (ROC: Taiwan) main territory, let alone with the U.S. or other Quad partners such as Japan, Australia, or India. ROC Minister of National Defense Yen Tehfa said on May 29, 2020, that Taiwan was preparing for the worst: an invasion in some form by the PRC. On July 3, 2020, he said that the ROC Armed Forces were combat-ready, as the PLA had moved with ships and aircraft to encircle Taiwan. The ROC Armed Forces were preparing, meanwhile, for the 36th annual live-fire Han Kuang military exercise from July 1317, which is specifically designed to counter a PLA attack. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived suddenly on July 3, 2020, in the mountainous area around the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between Indian and PLA forces in Ladakh, Kashmir, to say, essentially, that the Indian Armed Forces were ready to meet the PLA. Significantly, there are indeed vital geopolitical considerations at play in the confrontation between Indian and PRC forces in the Kashmir region, if Beijing was to retain its overland access to the Indian Ocean and, simultaneously, deny India land access to Central Asia. So where does this leave Pres. Xi? Pres. Xi does not wish to risk a full confrontation with India, which would be more logistically difficult for the PLA than for India, because it would be an all-consuming event from a military standpoint. And yet he needed to give India sufficient pause from taking advantage of Beijings dilemma while Xi sought a restoration of his fortunes elsewhere. In the meantime, Prime Minister Modi was aggressively moving to penalize the PRC in the economic sphere. Related: Oil Price Crash Causes Major Recession In Russia Certainly, Pres. Xi had, in May and June 2020, been probing for opportunities to escalate against Vietnam and even Malaysia, while also constantly escalating against Japanese interests in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea. But Pres. Xis precipitate strategic action possibly imminent given the rapidly declining situation in which Pres. Xi finds himself could include highly risky military action against the Republic of China (ROC: Taiwan), perhaps starting with an action to seize one of the ROCs outlying southern island groups, the D?ngsh? Qund?o (Tungsha or, in Western parlance, Pratas islands). Failure to demonstrate decisive authority and the resurgence of his prestige, Pres. Xi, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission CMC) since 2012, could face either his removal from office by the CPC or even the PLA, or could see the grip on power by the CPC significantly challenged by unrest within the Chinese mainland. The acceleration of the unraveling of the CPCs (and Xis) credibility within China and globally has been exacerbated by the reinforcement of the PRCs economic decline and outlook, which is characterized by rising unemployment levels and an upsurge in natural disasters at a time of growing international isolation. Pres. Xi, in other words, must act rapidly to reinforce his control or see either challenges to the CPCs control or action by the CPC against him. The D?ngsh? islands (in fact, one island, two coral reefs and two banks) are located about 170 nautical miles (310km; 200 miles) southeast of Hong Kong, and are administratively part of the Kaohsiung municipality of the ROC, and more than 500km south of the ROC capital, Taipei. The group, consisting only of 174 hectares of land in total, surrounded by coral reefs, is central to the subsea oil deposits in the economic zone under ROC sovereignty. Pratas Island, the only part of the group constantly above water, has an airfield but is not significantly (and certainly not sufficiently) militarized by the ROC. The PLA by mid-May 2020 was discussing imminent military exercises to simulate the takeover of D?ngsh?, and CPC sources indicated that the exercises which would actually be held near Hainan Island (PRC) could be transformed into an actual military operation without warning. Even the CPC English-language newspaper, Global Times, hinted at the action, quoting the Japanese Kyodo News agency as saying: The D?ngsh? Islands are located in the route from PLA naval bases in Hainan Island to [the] Pacific Ocean via the Bashi Channel in the south of Taiwan Island, making it strategically important to the PLA's entry to the Pacific Ocean. Global Times hinted that the ROC had been considering leasing D?ngsh? to the U.S. as a forward base for deploying intelligence-gathering and antisubmarine assets, which would be dangerous to the PLA. The umbrella strategic action which Xi had hoped would extricate him from his position was the distraction of the U.S. and its allies from gaining continued economic and strategic revival during and after the COVID19-related health/economic panic, while the PRC faced decline. Xi considered U.S. resistance as the principal limiting factor in containing Beijings rise, and he considered Pres. Trump the galvanizing factor in this. Related: Saudi Arabia Hikes Oil Prices For The Third Consecutive Month However, it seemed that events were moving too rapidly against Beijing for Pres. Xi to be able to wait until the U.S. elections. Certainly, if at all possible, Beijing had hoped to keep the U.S. internally preoccupied and the Trump White House on the defensive until the U.S. elections. PLA actions before the U.S. elections could prove too alarming to U.S. and international audiences, galvanizing a decisive U.S. and Western response, which would only serve to strengthen the chances for Pres. Trumps reelection. It would galvanize an external threat to the U.S. at a time when the Trump White House was defensively fighting the COVID19 health scare. So what, if anything, could a successful PLA attack achieve by conquering and seizing the D?ngsh? territory? At best, from Beijings standpoint, the seizure of D?ngsh? would show the limitation of U.S. support for Taiwan, and possibly soften Philippine and ASEAN states generally in their resolve to resist the PRC. It would serve as a continuation of a salami strategy one slice at a time of taking land and sea territory away and strategic maneuvering room from the ROC, and pushing the U.S./West away from the Chinese mainland. There are some 13 significant islands and island chains, including Taiwan itself, and D?ngsh?, which comprise the ROC. The next major target for the PLA would be several of the ROC islands close to the Chinese mainland, specifically the highly fortified Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu island groups. There is little doubt that the ROC Armed Forces would defend the Kinmen and Matsu groups, but those island chains are within very close striking range of mainland (PRC) artillery and protected air and amphibious power. And the PRC would make a judgment as to whether, if it was able to succeed against Kinmen and Matsu, it could then isolate Taiwan, the main island, to the point where a de facto surrender or symbolic dominance of the ROC could occur. The question is: what then? What would that achieve for Xi, other than a possible short reprieve for the CPC, given that none of the overarching fundamentals of mainland Chinas strategic decline would have been resolved? The economic decline of the PRC, and its existential food and water challenges, and even its now declining leverage over Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) partner states around the world, would remain unaddressed. A breathing space for Xi and the CPC would be just that. There appeared to be no plans to revitalize the economy in a meaningful and sustainable fashion. The cooption by the CPC of the main private sector pillars of financial success has actually led to their declining utility and capability in the wider world. In other words, should it survive (with or without Xi at the helm), the CPC would be forced to preside over a mainland China (even a China reunified with Taiwan and Hong Kong) which would have to reevaluate for the time being its plans for global hegemony by 2049. It would have to retreat into itself, a la the maoist era, and bide its time. It has, since 2012, already begun the move back to maoist economics. As with Galtieris attempts at his salvation as leader of Argentina by seizing the Falkland Islands from the United Kingdom in 1983, Xis breakout to continue the PRCs momentum toward global hegemony relied on too little strategic energy and on the essential hope that his enemies would surrender or collapse. The nature of his breakout, however, was counterproductive; it ensured that he galvanized his opponents at home and abroad, at a time when he was losing his primary global leverage: ensuring that his trading partners had become totally dependent on the PRC. This tableau still has many aspects to play out before it becomes a setpiece in 21st Century history. The CPC has certainly not abandoned the reality that its non-kinetic and indirect weapons of the new total war must dominate in order to paralyze its adversaries. That Xi could utilize (and he still may not) exercises of a military nature to seize parts or all of the Republic of China (Taiwan and its island chains) would either be a decisive gesture of intimidation or the move which brings the entire maoist experiment decisively down on the CPCs head. Even absent such a denouement, Xis only option would be to see a China and a world of reduced economic capability and growth and, if it could, a world in which the other great powers would be hobbled by their own problems while Beijing somehow regrouped. And yet the world at large would almost certainly see a revival over the coming years: North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) is already reviving despite the continuation of the COVID19-related challenges and politics; the UK and Australasia are also reviving; India, too. Japan, at least, remains stable and economically powerful, and strategically freed from the post-World War II constraints. What then becomes the post-PRC global power framework? India and Russia seem set to emerge into greater prominence, and the galvanizing of the fronts which emerged in 2020 to confront or restrain the PRC would gradually dissolve into new competitions. India under Narendra Modi would see for itself a global role which may find it pushing hard into the Eurasian sphere as well as globally into the maritime competition. And where would that lead? By Gregory Copley via Defense and Foreign Affairs More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Despite a major win on a right-of-way issue at the U.S. Supreme Court last month, the developers of the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline are definitely scrapping the project in view of ongoing delays and major cost overruns. Dominion Energy and Duke Energy on Sunday said they are canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline "due to ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project." Atlantic Coast Pipeline was a project for a 604-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina along a route that crosses 16 miles of land within the George Washington National Forest. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the developers of the project, clearing some of the obstacles to the completion of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline by ruling that the U.S. Forest Service had the authority to grant the right-of-way to the pipeline to pass through the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Despite this favorable ruling, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy scrapped the project as they continue to see many uncertainties and delays in completing it after its costs were expected to nearly double to US$8 billion from the original estimate of US$4.5 to US$5.0 billion. "This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States. Until these issues are resolved,S the ability to satisfy the country's energy needs will be significantly challenged," said Thomas F. Farrell, II, Dominion Energy chairman, president, and chief executive officer, and Lynn J. Good, Duke Energy chair, president, and CEO. Related: Moscow Backs Russia's Fastest Moving Energy Company U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette also commented on the canceled project, saying that "The well-funded, obstructionist environmental lobby has successfully killed the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would have lowered energy costs for consumers in North Carolina and Virginia by providing them with an affordable, abundant, and reliable natural gas supply from the Appalachian region." Environmentalists rejoiced, with Southern Environmental Law Center's Senior Attorney Greg Buppert saying, "This is a great day for the people of Union Hill, for public lands, for landowners in the path, and for all North Carolinians and Virginians, who deserve a clean energy future and are no longer on the hook to pay for this $8 billion pipeline." By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In the second major win for the anti-pipeline movement in the United States on Monday, a district court ruled that the beleaguered Dakota Access Pipeline must shut down by August 5, according to court documents cited by BloombergLaw. The 570,000 bpd Dakota Access pipeline has been transporting oil since 2017, but resistance to the pipeline did not end with the project's approval or with its first crude shipments. Energy Transfer Partners LP, the owner of the oil pipeline project, has struggled for years against Native American tribes to clear hurdle after hurdleeach one a potential death blow for the project. It is the second fossil fuel pipeline project to get the ax on Monday after Dominion Energy and Duke Energy decided to scrap their Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline project after cost overruns and an overall sense that the project would continue to meet significant resistance from the environmental lobby that has vigorously opposed the project for years. Today, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia delivered what is sure to be a significant blow for the DAPL oil pipeline project that was designed to carry oil from Bakken/Three Forks area in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. The court's decision was based in part on the Army Corps Engineers' decision to publish just an Environmental Assessment (EA) and not an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The court is giving the pipeline owner 30 days to shut it down. While the long-term impact could be significant, the tribes bringing the case allege that it will cause little disruption and little if any increases in oil by rail shipments, because many of North Dakota's wells have been idled as a result of the pandemic and low oil prices. "it is clear that at least some immediate harm to the North Dakota oil industry should be expected from a DAPL shutdown, even if its effects are tempered by a decreased demand for oil," the court opinion read in part. Energy Transfer's (NYSE: ET) stock price had fallen by nearly 7% by mid-morning, to $6.56 per share. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Libya is set to export even less crude oil in July than it did in June, while its state oil firm continues negotiations to end the blockade that has been stifling exports since January. According to a preliminary loading program seen by Bloomberg, Libya is expected to export this month just two tankers full of 600,000 barrels of crude each, for a total of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil for the whole month of July. This months exports will be lower than the 1.8 million barrels which Libya shipped for the entire month of June. Currently, oil production in the country is around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). This figure is dramatically down from 1.2 million bpd at the start of the year, just before paramilitary formations affiliated with the Libyan National Army (LNA) of eastern Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar occupied Libyas oil export terminals and oilfields. Early in June, Libyas National Oil Corporation (NOC) resumed production at the 300,000-bpd Sharara oilfield after negotiating the opening of an oilfield valve that had been closed since January. But just a day later, Sharara shuttered again, after an armed force had told the workers in the field to stop working. Russian and other foreign mercenaries entered the Sharara oilfield to prevent the resumption of oil production at the largest Libyan oilfield, NOC said at the end of June. A few days later, NOC confirmed that force majeure continues at the Hariga, Brega, Zueitina, Es Sider, and Ras Lanuf ports, but there are talks on lifting the blockade. NOC has issued instructions to all operating companies on 20 June 2020 to start preparing for the resumption of operations, in light of ongoing negotiations between the GNA, NOC and regional countries who stand behind this blockade, the company said. NOC confirms there have been ongoing negotiations to resume oil production over the past several weeks with the between the GNA, NOC and regional countries, under the supervision of the UN and the US, the company said in a separate statement last week. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Gunmen have recently killed eight workers from a firm subcontracted by Frances Total to work on its $20-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique, the subcontractor company said on Sunday. On Saturday 27th June a vehicle belonging to Fenix Construction, a company that operates in Palma, ...was attacked by five insurgents, approximately four kilometres north of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado (province), the company, Fenix Constructions Service, said in a statement as carried by AFP. Eight of the 14 people in the vehicle were killed, three survived, and three others are still missing, according to the company. Total is developing the Mozambique LNG project, whose final investment decision was taken in 2019. The project is on track to deliver first LNG in 2024, the French oil and gas major says. Total is the operator of the project, which is also expected to generate revenue to help Mozambiques economy. Even though militant attacks continue in the country, Total is not giving up on the project, nor are other companies. In March this year, militants attacked a town in Mozambique close to large LNG projects under development, local police said. Unidentified militants occupied the city of Mocimboa da Praia, which is located 38 miles, or 60 kilometers, south of LNG projects being developed by major oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Total. Last year in February, militants attacked Anadarkos LNG project in what was the first such attack on the local oil and gas industry. Militant attacks are not discouraging operators from looking into opportunities in the LNG market in Mozambique. Japan, for example, is reportedly considering investing some $14 billion (1.5 trillion yen) in liquefied natural gas development in Mozambique, in partnership with the business. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Grand Court of Honor at the 1894 Midwinter Fair Location: California Midwinter International Exposition, Golden Gate Park (centered on what would become the Music Concourse), San Francisco, CA Constructed: 1893-1894 Demolished: by 1896, with the exception of the Memorial Museum, which lasted until 1928 Four of the five Grand Court of Honor buildings constructed for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 were designed only to stand for the few months of the fair. Walls made to look like stone or adobe were really molded plaster and burlap. Fine Arts Building Only the Fine Arts Building, donated by Michael de Young as a museum for Golden Gate Park, wasn't as ephemeral as the fairy tales the fantastic structures seemed made for. Designed by architect C.C. McDougal in the form of an Egyptian temple with sphinxes and hieroglyphic reliefs, the building was still somehow described as simple in form and unpretentious in design, demonstrating how high the bar had been set for garishness. Only 120' by 60' and lacking windows to bring in natural light, the Fine Arts Building was disliked by the artists whose sculptures and paintings it held, but it still ended up being the progenitor of the de Young Museum that stands just to the west of the original site today. Horticulture and Agriculture Hall The fairs Horticulture and Agriculture building stood where the modern de Young is today. Designed by Samuel Newsom and costing $58,000 to build, the exterior gave off an air of California Mission mixed with Romanesque styles. Three domes, the largest one hundred feet across and 99 feet high, let in light for the plants and flowers displayed inside, and were brilliantly illuminated at night. Californias fecundity was on full display in the 400' x 200' hall, with displays and even sculptures made of the states agricultural bounty. Mechanical Arts Building On the opposite side of the court, where the California Academy of Sciences stands today, the Mechanical Arts Building occupied an acre of space (300' x 160') and held inside working dynamos to generate the fairs electricity, locomotives, streetcars, mining machinery, and displays of the latest in mechanical engineering science. The architect was Edward Swain, who created a facade with turrets and balconies that called to mind the Indian subcontinent rather than Northern California. Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building At the east end of the oval the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building by Arthur Page Brown acted as an enormous basilica to commercial goods. Everything from ladies fans to soup spoons were on display, with imports from around the world. The cream-colored hall, with a 130' blue dome in its center and 14,000 square feet of glass in its roof, was 462' by 225' and cost $113,000 to build. It was not only the largest building at the fair, but at the time of its construction, the largest building in California. Administration Building The west end of the Court of Honor, where the Speckels Temple of Music Stand (built in 1904) is today, was the Administration Building, created for the offices of fair department chiefs and general administration of the exposition. Another Arthur Page Brown design, the tower pulled together every world tradition, with Arabic, Byzantine, Gothic and Islamic elements. It looked a lot like a giant confection or dessert, colored pink, gold, cream and white and topped by a 135 high gilt dome. The End At the conclusion of the fair in July 1894, the organizers were supposed to remove the Court of Honor buildings and restore the valley to parkland. This process took much longer than expected, and it was mostly left to park administration and superintendent John McLeran to tear down the structures, sell the lumber, and dig up the concrete foundations. It wasn't until early 1896 that supports for the Electric Tower were dynamited and the structure sold for scrap. Contribute your own stories about the Midwinter Fair! Chinese public health officials urged travellers to the rural areas and grasslands in Inner Mongolia to step up personal protections after a city in the autonomous region reported a case of bubonic plague over the weekend. People should not get close to or eat wild animals, nor camp in the grasslands overnight, said Pang Xinghuo, vice-director of the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, told a news conference on Monday. Anyone who runs a temperature should report his or her travel history to the grasslands or any contact with wild animals to doctors, Pang urged. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. She also reminded doctors and nurses to familiarise themselves with the symptoms of the plague and to strengthen their patient inquiries to trace any travel history for accurate and timely diagnosis and handling. Herds foraging in a pasture in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Health officials have warned travellers to the region to avoid camping overnight in the grasslands. Photo: Xinhua A hospital in the city of Bayannur in Inner Mongolia on Saturday night reported a suspected case of bubonic plague, one of historys deadliest diseases. The case was confirmed on Sunday; the city health commission said that a herdsman was identified as having the bubonic plague but was in stable condition and undergoing treatment in hospital. The city issued a third-level alert, the second lowest in a four-level warning system, which will last to the end of this year. The alert bans hunting, eating or transporting animals that could carry plague. It also asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes, as well as to report any sick or dead marmots. According to the World Health Organisation, bubonic plague, the most common form of plague, is caused by the bite of an flea infected with the Yersinia pestis bacterium; it can be treated with antibiotics. In Inner Mongolia, the hosts are often marmots in rural areas and grasslands. Story continues It is one of the three strains of plague, including pneumonic and septicaemic, which wiped out at least a third of the population of Europe during the Black Death in the 14th century. An outbreak in the 19th century also caused millions of deaths in China and India. Inner Mongolia, a favourite tourist destination in northern China and a popular destination for excursions from Beijing, also reported four cases of plague in November, two bubonic and two pneumonic. The pneumonic cases were transferred to a hospital in Beijing for better treatment. With the novel coronavirus outbreak initially under control in Beijing, the city has gradually loosened traffic and travel controls. There have been occasional outbreaks of plague in remote areas of China despite its near-eradication in most parts of the country. From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths. In 2014, a man died of the plague in northwestern Gansu province, sparking the quarantine of 151 people. Purchase the 100+ page China Internet Report 2020 Pro Edition, brought to you by SCMP Research, and enjoy a 30% discount (original price US$400). The report 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 31 August 2020. To purchase, please click here. More from South China Morning Post: This article After bubonic plague confirmed, Chinese officials urge precautions first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. LUMAD is the title of visual artist Jun Alfons 41st solo show. It was held last March at the ground floor of Ayala Center Cebus The Alcoves. The exhibit showcased the overall theme of Juns works as he aims to show the world that the Philippines has indigenous peoples with their own culture, which he shows through his art with their colorful native attire and beadwork, baskets, fruits and flowers in their part of the world. Jun is the son of Fernando Alfon Sr., one of the movie directors of post-World War II Cebu. Now based in Manila, Jun spent some of his childhood years in Cebu. Art has always been part of his life. In grade school and high school, he always loved to draw. In college, he took up fine arts at the University of Santo Tomas. Afterward, Jun worked as a stage/set designer at the Cultural Center of the Philippines before he seriously went into painting. It was then when he spent some time in Davao, that he saw up close the natives of southern Philippines: The Tbolis, Mandayas, Bagobos, Maranaos, Badjaos. From there, his passion to paint them, to show the world that they exist, began. Juns self-imposed mission for showing the culture of the lumads shows even in the portraits he does of people. It used to be, he said, that he would ask his clients if he could paint them in native attire instead of whatever clothing they would want to pose infor a discount! But these days, anyone who wants a portrait done by him would have to be painted in lumad attire. Jun has shown his lumad paintings in different locations abroad: The United States, Singapore and Hong Kong. Lumad was presented by Cebu Artists Incorporated with Ayala Center Cebu. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has reiterated that Filipino tourists are still prohibited from traveling outside the country due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. BI Commissioner Jaime Morente issued a statement after six Filipinos were recently barred from going to Cambodia via a special chartered flight from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The said Filipinos were reported to be tourists with no essential purpose in leaving the country. We want to emphasize and reiterate that Filipinos are still prohibited from leaving the country unless they are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), holders of study visas or permanent residents in the country of their destination, Morente said. BI Port Operations Acting Chief Grifton Medina said the six passengers were offloaded from their flight last June 29 after they informed the immigration officer that they were going to Phnom Penh merely to attend a business meeting on shrimp farming. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The Bureau also said it will continue to implement existing international travel restrictions until these are lifted or relaxed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). These travel restrictions are only temporary and we should always bear in mind that the government implemented these measures to protect our countrymen against this deadly coronavirus, Medina said. AAC The post Immigration bureau reiterates: Pinoy tourists still cant leave PH due to COVID-19 appeared first on UNTV News. MANILA, Philippines The Office of the Vice President (OVP) will be providing free shuttle service for frontliners and healthcare workers in Cebu City, a statement released on Sunday (July 5) said. The statement read that the OVP Free Shuttle Service for Cebu health workers and frontliners will start Monday, July 6, as part of #BayanihanSugbuanon the Vice Presidents COVID-19 Response Operations in Cebu. Our pilot run will have initial three routes, with two trips each for morning and afternoon. Kindly refer to the individual cards for the full schedule for AM, AM reverse, PM, and PM reverse trips, the statement further read. We are grateful to our partners, UBE Express, Seaoil, and Genergex Petroleum, whose support made this initiative possible, it added. The schedules and routes may be subject to adjustments, based on the needs that will be seen during the pilot run. Meanwhile, the OVP and its partners will also start opening free dormitories for Cebu frontliners. The first dormitory is located at Brgy. Banilad, Cebu City, near the North General Hospital. The statement said that the dorm is open for health workers, medical practitioners, and other frontliners involved in offering essential services amid the COVID-19 crisis on a first come, first served basis. /mbmf The post OVP to provide free shuttle service for Cebu City frontliners appeared first on UNTV News. Opposition candidate Luis Abinader has claimed victory in the Dominican Republic's presidential race after voters on Sunday braved a worsening coronavirus outbreak to cast their ballots for a new leader and legislature. Abinader's rivals and the outgoing president also recognized his win, which ends 16 years of unbroken rule by the Caribbean nation's center-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). "We won, today we win, but we will never forget who we owe this victory to," the 52-year-old businessman said from a platform before dozens of followers at his campaign headquarters in the capital Santo Domingo. "We owe it to you, the Dominican people. That is why tonight we all won." According to data from the central electoral board after around 60 percent of ballots had been counted, Abinader gained around 1.2 million votes -- around 53 percent. The PLD's candidate Gonzalo Castillo came second in a six-man field, with 838,000 votes -- or 37 percent -- according to the incomplete figures. Castillo said the official count "shows that there is an irreversible trend and that from now on we have a president-elect... Our congratulations to Mr. Luis Abinader." Outgoing President Danilo Medina also accepted the businessman's victory, tweeting his "congratulations to the new president-elect @LuisAbinader." Abinader's win was is yet to be formally announced by the electoral board. Gunfire outside a polling station in the capital left one person dead after an argument among opposing party activists turned violent, police said. But elsewhere, voting appeared to progress smoothly, with few disruptions despite the extra virus precautions. "It's pretty fluid and very well organized. The truth is I didn't expect it," said Maribel Roman, a 47-year-old business consultant, as she waited for her turn to vote. The election, which was pushed back from May 17, was held despite the epidemic's explosive spread, with the number of new COVID-19 cases hitting a record high Sunday for a third consecutive day. Medina, who could not seek another term under the country's constitution, was forced to impose a national lockdown, easing it only last week as parties made a final drive for votes. - 'Change is coming' - Abinader had to suspend his campaign after testing positive for the coronavirus, but recovered sufficiently to lead a rally on Wednesday. An observer team from the Organization of American States (OAS) monitored the vote, but its leader, former Chilean president Eduardo Frei, was unable to be present because of travel restrictions. Some 7.5 million Dominicans were eligible to cast ballots in the election. Also up for grabs are 32 senate seats, 190 seats in the lower house and 20 representatives to the Central American parliament. - Corruption an issue - "Change is coming and the PLD is going," Abinader, who is considered a centrist, promised hundreds of his supporters at a closing rally Wednesday. Corruption has been a key issue after protests in recent years over the involvement of local officials in the Latin America-wide Odebrecht graft scandal. The Brazilian construction giant has admitted to doling out $92 million in bribes in the Dominican Republic in exchange for winning public works contracts. The country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, ranks 137th out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index. - Virus fears - Despite health protocols at polling stations, Health Minister Rafael Sanchez Cardenas said it would be "practically impossible" not to have fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. The pandemic has already hit polling by the Republic's 600,000 overseas voters -- representing almost eight percent of the electoral roll. Most live in the United States, Spain and Puerto Rico, where polling has been taking place. However, expatriates in Italy and Panama have not been authorized to vote because of coronavirus restrictions there. The Dominican Republic is one of the strongest economies in the region, recording on average 6.3 percent growth a year between 2013 and 2018, according to the World Bank. However, the Bank has warned that it is at risk of being pushed back into poverty because of the pandemic. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Writing in the leading academic journal, Nature, Cranfield academics are calling for global resilience to be shaped around the 'Five Capitals'natural, human, social, built and financial. The academics believe that too often silos exist within Government and within organizations and businesses that mean risks are not anticipated quickly enough or prepared for well enough. Crucially, connections are not made between different parts of society. A recent example of this was illustrated in when two Permanent Secretaries in the UK Government revealed that previous exercises to tackle pandemics had not included any economic planning. Professor Jim Harris, Professor of Environmental Technology at Cranfield University, and lead author of the published letter in Nature, said: "Too often risks are identified in isolation and opportunities are missed because Government and organizations are too siloed. Take climate change that is not just an environmental issue it effects all parts of society and contains threats to the global economy and our health and wellbeing. A 'Five Capitals' approach to resilience would enable us to examine interconnected risks and their interdependencies." Professor David Denyer, who leads on resilience for Cranfield University, said: "Investment to often made in resilience far too late, usually just at the start of a crisis. If you look at COVID-19, the Government had identified a similar pandemic risk on the national risk register but the resources needed to prepare for the threat across society had not been deployed. "At Cranfield, we are working across academic disciplines to shape an approach to resilience that draws on the expertise of colleagues in management, environmental science and engineering, aviation, defense and security and many other areas of the university. We believe this approach is one that other organizations should draw on as they look to identify future risks and prepare for the future." Explore further A new approach to UK resilience needed More information: Jim A. Harris et al, Time to invest in global resilience, Nature (2020). Journal information: Nature Jim A. Harris et al, Time to invest in global resilience,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/d41586-020-01951-z Megan Niederwerder, assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at Kansas State University. Credit: Kansas State University New research at Kansas State University is demonstrating that the risk of spreading a deadly animal virus through feed can be effectively reduced through the use of different feed additives. African swine fever, or ASF, is a rapidly spreading and emerging transboundary animal disease that threatens pork production and human food security worldwide. Although African swine fever virus does not affect humans, it has reduced pork availability in some countries with afflicted pigs. The K-State research team, headed by Megan Niederwerder, assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, has just published a new study, "Mitigating the risk of African swine fever virus in feed with antiviral chemical additives," in the scientific journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. This study provides the first evidence that feed additives may be effective tools against African swine fever. "Over the last two years, ASF is estimated to be responsible for the death of at least 25% of the world's pig population due to the emergence of the virus within China and subsequent spread to over 10 other Asian countries," Niederwerder said. "In 2019, we published the first report of African swine fever virus, or ASFV, transmission through the natural consumption of plant-based feed. Our subsequent work has focused on mitigation of ASFV in feed through the use of chemical feed additives and heat treatment." Although feed additives have historically been used to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in feed, research thus far has not reported efficacy for the inactivation of African swine fever virus in feed ingredients. Niederwerder said there are currently no commercially available vaccines and no effective treatments that can be administered to pigs for ameliorating disease caused by the virus. Thus, control of African swine fever is focused on biosecurity measures to prevent the introduction of the virus into negative countries or negative farms and regions within a positive country. The other method of containment would involve large-scale culling of infected or high-risk animals to contain the spread of the virus. "Our new research reports novel data evaluating the efficacy of feed additives on inactivating ASFV in an in vitro cell culture model and a feed ingredient transoceanic shipment model," Niederwerder said. "This will provide valuable information to the swine industry with regards to mitigating the risk of potential routes for introduction and transmission of ASFV through feed and ingredients." Niederwerder and her team examined two different classes of liquid feed additives, including a medium-chain fatty acid-based additive and a formaldehyde-based additive, for efficacy against African swine fever virus in cell culture and in feed ingredients. In general, both chemical additives demonstrated evidence of reducing the virus infectivity, with data supporting dose-dependent efficacy. This study was funded by a grant from the Swine Health Information Center and the State of Kansas National Bio and Agro-defense Facility Fund. While the results of the study are promising, Niederwerder emphasized the need for a multifaceted approach to reducing the risk of African swine fever virus in feed, including sourcing ingredients from countries without the virus when possible, applying holding times to high-risk ingredients, and implementing consistent biosecurity protocols at the feed mill. Explore further Researcher studies risk of African swine fever in animal feed More information: Megan C. Niederwerder et al. Mitigating the risk of African swine fever virus in feed with antiviral chemical additives, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases (2020). Megan C. Niederwerder et al. Mitigating the risk of African swine fever virus in feed with antiviral chemical additives,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/tbed.13699 Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19. Credit: Susan Daniel/Cornell University Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, Cornell University and Stanford University, say their device could mimic any cell typebacterial, human or even the tough cells walls of plants. Their research recently pivoted to how COVID-19 attacks human cell membranes and, more importantly, how it can be blocked. The devices have been formed on chips while preserving the orientation and functionality of the cell membrane and have been successfully used to monitor the activity of ion channels, a class of protein in human cells which are the target of more than 60% of approved pharmaceuticals. The results are published in two recent papers in Langmuir and ACS Nano. Cell membranes play a central role in biological signalling, controlling everything from pain relief to infection by a virus, acting as the gatekeeper between a cell and the outside world. The team set out to create a sensor that preserves all of the critical aspects of a cell membranestructure, fluidity, and control over ion movementwithout the time-consuming steps needed to keep a cell alive. The device uses an electronic chip to measure any changes in an overlying membrane extracted from a cell, enabling the scientists to safely and easily understand how the cell interacts with the outside world. The device integrates cell membranes with conducting polymer electrodes and transistors. To generate the on-chip membranes, the Cornell team first optimised a process to produce membranes from live cells and then, working with the Cambridge team, coaxed them onto polymeric electrodes in a way that preserved all of their functionality. The hydrated conducting polymers provide a more 'natural' environment for cell membranes and allows robust monitoring of membrane function. The Stanford team optimised the polymeric electrodes for monitoring changes in the membranes. The device no longer relies on live cells that are often technically challenging to keep alive and require significant attention, and measurements can last over an extended time period. "Because the membranes are produced from human cells, it's like having a biopsy of that cell's surfacewe have all the material that would be present including proteins and lipids, but none of the challenges of using live cells," said Dr. Susan Daniel, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Cornell and senior author of the Langmuir paper. "This type of screening is typically done by the pharmaceutical industry with live cells, but our device provides an easier alternative," said Dr. Roisin Owens from Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and senior author of the ACS Nano paper. "This method is compatible with high-throughput screening and would reduce the number of false positives making it through into the R&D pipeline." "The device can be as small as the size of a human cell and easily fabricated in arrays, which allows us to perform multiple measurements at the same time," said Dr. Anna-Maria Pappa, also from Cambridge and joint first author on both papers. To date, the aim of the research, supported by funding from the United States Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been to demonstrate how viruses such as influenza interact with cells. Now, DARPA has provided additional funding to test the device's effectiveness in screening for potential drug candidates for COVID-19 in a safe and effective way. Given the significant risks involved to researchers working on SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, scientists on the project will focus on making virus membranes and fusing those with the chips. The virus membranes are identical to the SARS-CoV-2 membrane but don't contain the viral nucleic acid. This way new drugs or antibodies to neutralise the virus spikes that are used to gain entry into the host cell can be identified. This work is expected to get underway on 1 August. "With this device, we are not exposed to risky working environments for combating SARS-CoV-2. The device will speed up the screening of drug candidates and provide answers to questions about how this virus works," said Dr. Han-Yuan Liu, Cornell researcher and joint first author on both papers. Future work will focus on scaling up production of the devices at Stanford and automating the integration of the membranes with the chips, leveraging the fluidics expertise from Stanford PI Juan Santiago who will join the team in August. "This project has merged ideas and concepts from laboratories in the UK, California and New York, and shown a device that works reproducibly in all three sites. It is a great example of the power of integrating biology and materials science in addressing global problems," said Stanford lead PI Professor Alberto Salleo. Explore further Seeking COVID cures: Scientists find promising first step in antiviral treatment More information: Han-Yuan Liu et al, Self-Assembly of Mammalian-Cell Membranes on Bioelectronic Devices with Functional Transmembrane Proteins, Langmuir (2020). Han-Yuan Liu et al, Self-Assembly of Mammalian-Cell Membranes on Bioelectronic Devices with Functional Transmembrane Proteins,(2020). DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00804 Anna-Maria Pappa et al. Optical and Electronic Ion Channel Monitoring from Native Human Membranes, ACS Nano (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c01330 Journal information: Langmuir , ACS Nano How much are we willing to pay today to avoid climate impacts 50, 100 or 200 years from now? There are many reasons humanity has failed to rein in climate change despite decades of dire warnings. The inertia of an energy system overwhelmingly powered by oil, gas and coal; half-a-trillion dollars in fossil fuel subsidies every year; leaders too corrupt or feckless to push for systemic change; rich folk reluctant to consume differently, and poor folk eager to consume more - all are huge obstacles to slowing, much less stopping, the global warming juggernaut. Leading scientists and economists, however, say there is another impediment to climate action that merits closer scrutiny: the profoundly influential work of 2018 Nobel economics laureate William J. Nordhaus. Nearly half-a-century ago, while other economists obsessed over resource scarcity, Nordhaus understood that environmental degradation was probably a greater long-term threat to economic growth. He predicted with uncanny accuracy the danger-zone levels of CO2 pollution we see today. "I think of climate change as a menace to our planet and to our future," Nordhaus, an economics professor at Yale since 1974, said in collecting his profession's most coveted prize. His ground-breaking 1991 study weighing the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions evolved into the standard toolbox for calculating the economic damages - now and in the future - of climate change. It also established carbon taxes as a key policy lever for promoting green growth. By the time, however, Nordhaus gave his acceptance speech in Stockholm, his modelsout of sync with both the galloping pace of global warming and new approaches in the field of economics - were probably doing more harm than good, say experts. Exhibit A is Nordhaus' conclusion that the cost - measured in lost economic growthof capping global warming under three degrees Celsius overwhelms the benefits of avoided impacts. "It is simply not aligned with climate science," said Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. "It is an unequivocal finding in the natural sciences that a 3C warming is a disastrous outcome for humanity," Rockstrom told AFP. If climate scientists have long raised red flags about Nordhaus' work, criticism among economists - with a few exceptions, such as the late Martin Weitzman of Harvard, another environmental economist - has been more recent. But no less categorical. Nordhaus' modelknown as DICE, or Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy - "is so badly flawed that it shouldn't be taken seriously," Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz, who won an economics Nobel of his own in 2001, told AFP. Nearly half-a-century ago Nordhaus understood that environmental degradation was probably a greater long-term threat to economic growth "In fact, it's dangerous because we don't have another planet we can go to if we mess this up. The message he's been conveying is foolhardy." For Gernot Wagner, an economist at New York University who has spent much of the last decade forging an alternative approach to the economics of climate change, it is a matter of timing. "If he had won the Nobel Prize 20 years ago, it would have helped climate policy," Wagner told AFP, adding that Nordhaus "absolutely" deserved the award. "But the fact that he won it two years ago is, in many ways, a step back." Social cost of carbon Experts interviewed by AFP outlined two core criticisms of Nordhaus' work, one ethical and the other from the perspective of Earth System scientists such as Rockstrom. Nordhaus declined to "respond individually" to emailed questions detailing these critiques, which he said were "generally half-right". "My main point is thatoutside of the European Unionwe have not taken even small steps to slow climate change in this century," he told AFP. "We need national mechanisms (such as carbon taxes and support for technologies), and international cooperation (such as a carbon compact). That is where my efforts today are directed." If disagreements over Nordhaus' signature accomplishments were no more than ivory tower squabbles, it wouldn't matter if his once pioneering ideas have slipped behind the curve. The discussion, however, is anything but academic. Indeed, the stakes - whether humanity thrives or merely survives - could hardly be higher. "What makes his contributions all the more notable is the deep influence they have had on policy - something that cannot be said for every Nobel laureate," Yale economist Kenneth Gillingham, a Nordhaus co-author, said approvingly. Nowhere is that influence more in evidence than with something called the "social cost of carbon", which quantifies the damages caused by global warming, and points to the policy actions - namely, a price on carbonneeded to curb emissions. "It is an unequivocal finding in the natural sciences that a 3C warming is a disastrous outcome for humanity," says Earth system scientist Johan Rockstrom "If there's a holy grail of climate economic analysis - a single number that attempts to summarise the immense complexities of climate change - it's the 'social cost of carbon'," said Wagner. Nordhaus was the first economist to apply a cost-benefit analysis to global warming by, in his words, "weighing the cost of reducing emissions and slowing climate change, on the one hand, with the reduction in damages, on the other." How much, in other words, are we willing to pay today to avoid climate impacts 50, 100 or 200 years from now? To make that calculation, Nordhaus needed to put a price on something that had never been given a dollar value: a tonne of CO2 pollution. 'Discounting' future generations For Nordhaus, that magic number is about $40 a tonne, and should rise gradually over time as the global economy transitions from brown to green. "It was crucial in determining the US social cost of carbon under Obama. This in turn was used, at least indirectly, as a benchmark for the US commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement and the Clean Power Plan," said Wagner. But while Nordhaus is celebrated, even by his critics, for pioneering the concept, the way he applied it has been found wanting. Determining the price of carbon pollution requires estimating how much damage climate change will do in the future, and to do that economists apply something called a discount rate to the impact of, say, sea level rise or more frequent heat waves 50 or 100 years from now. The reasoning is straight-forward: assuming the global economy continues to grow, societies will be richer in the future and - with better technology and more money - can cope more easily with those impacts than today. Economists using this classic approach commonly discount future damages by four or five percent, compounded annually. But such a high rate, scientists and some economists say, vastly downplays the risk to future generations. Let's say climate damages in 2120 are estimated at $2 trillion, and the annual investment needed today to avoid them is about one percent$860 billionof global GDP, as proposed by British economist Nicholas Stern in his landmark 2006 Stern Review. The climate change crisis will still be with us long after the COVID pandemic, however painful, is in our past If those future impacts are discounted at four to five percent per year, their "value" a century from now drops to $15-$39 billion - 20-30 times less than the cost of avoiding them. But if those same impacts are discounted at 0.5 percent instead, as recommended by Stern and others, the value of those damages a century from now exceed $1 trillion, making one percent of GDP a worthwhile investment. Underestimating the costs of climate change means that "world leaders understand neither the magnitude of the risks to lives and livelihood, nor the urgency of action," Stern commented shortly after the 2018 Nobel were awarded. Ammunition for sceptics For Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, Nordhaus' "heavy social discounting inappropriately down-weights devastating impacts that fall disproportionately on future generations, arguably violating basic ethical considerations". Nordhaus' calculus also challenges a global political consensus that is already fraying at the edges. The 2015 Paris climate treaty calls for holding the rise in temperature to "well below" 2C compared to preindustrial levels, and the UN's climate science panel (IPCC) subsequently concluded in a landmark report - unveiled, ironically, on the same day that Nordhaus was awarded his Nobel - that 1.5 C is a far safer guardrail. His ideas "provide ammunition not only to climate sceptics, but to major actors that feel more comfortable with the status quo," said Rockstrom. "It allows them to say, 'If the optimal temperature for the economy is 3C, well then we can continue burning fossil fuels over the next century without any significant problems'," he added. "I hear this line of argument when confronted with the executive leadership at Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, the car industry and energy utilities." Ultimately, climate economics is all about measuring risk and uncertainty, and this is where Nordhaus' ideas come in for a drubbing from natural scientists and some economists, who confront the same challenge. In the 30 years since Nordhaus' foundational work, tens of thousands of studies - summarised periodically by the UN's climate science panel, the IPCC - have shown that global warming is advancing more quickly than once thought. They have also revealed multiple thresholds in the Earth climate system that, once crossed, would see Nature itself accelerating global warming, either by adding more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (permafrost melting, forest fires) or absorbing more of the Sun's radiative force (melting of the mirror-like Arctic ice cap). Nordhaus' models - which presume that changes will be gradual and linear - fail to recognise the potential and danger of these "tipping points", scientists say. Nor do they adequately allow for low probability impacts that may have catastrophic costs. "I think of climate change as a menace to our planet and to our future," Nordhaus, an economics professor at Yale since 1974, said in collecting the 2018 Nobel Prizew for economics A new model "Extreme events like hurricanes, fires, droughts that have been so clear in recent years - all of those things are really not adequately accounted for in his analysis," Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate, told AFP. Nordhaus recently attempted to rebut these criticisms by evaluating the risks associated with the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which accounted for 40 percent of sea level rise last year and holds enough frozen water to lift oceans seven metres. But scientists dismissed his peer-reviewed study as an exercise in self-justification. "This is a perfect example of where Nordhaus' approach breaks down in the real world," said Mann. "No amount of wealth can rebuild an ice sheet, and the dislocation of hundreds of millions of people will lead to massive unrest and conflict." "It is impossible to accurately put a price tag on that," he added. In the end, the most stinging rebuke to Nordhaus' Nobel may come from within his own tribe, where an alternate school of thought grounded in financial economics risk analysis that looks at emitting CO2 much like it would at other financial decisions - thus treating CO2 as an asset, albeit one with a negative payoff. "It's an asset that might kill us, so we need to evaluate its negative effect," said Wagner, co-author with Robert Litterman, a former top risk manager at Goldman Sachs, of a recent study arguing the case. "Nordhaus' DICE model implicitly assumes that climate damages are worse when we are richer, and that we should start low and increase the price of carbon over time," said Wagner. "But what if climate change makes us poorer every step of the way?" There are by now dozens of economic studies, he pointed out, showing how global warming is already hitting growth rates and productivity. "We don't argue against DICE's conclusions with the force of an ethical argument, we offer a new model that calculates a price of CO2 by taking the financial economic view seriously," Wagner added. "And that price is not the $20, $30 or $40 that Bill comes up with. In our model, we can't get our price below $120 a tonne." Explore further Climate costs lowest if warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius 2020 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain Coconut oil production may be more damaging to the environment than palm oil, researchers say. The issue of tropical forests being cut down for palm oil production is widely known, but the new study says coconut oil threatens more species per ton produced than palm or other vegetable oils. The researchers use this example to highlight the difficulties of "conscientious consumption". They say consumers lack objective guidance on the environmental impacts of crop production, undermining their ability to make informed decisions. "The outcome of our study came as a surprise," said lead author Erik Meijaard, of Borneo Futures in Brunei Darussalam. "Many consumers in the West think of coconut products as both healthy and their production relatively harmless for the environment. "As it turns out, we need to think again about the impacts of coconut." Co-author Dr. Jesse F. Abrams, of the Global Systems Institute and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, both at the University of Exeter, added: "Consumers, especially those striving to be more responsible in their consumption, rely heavily on information that they receive from the media, which is often supplied by those with vested interests. Erik Meijaard talks about the research. Credit: Erik Meijaard "When making decisions about what we buy, we need to be aware of our cultural biases and examine the problem from a lens that is not only based on Western perspectives to avoid dangerous double standards." According to the study, production of coconut oil affects 20 threatened species (including plants and animals) per million tons of oil produced. This is higher than other oil-producing crops, such as palm (3.8 species per million tons), olive (4.1) and soybean (1.3). The study shows that the main reason for the high number of species affected by coconut is that the crop is mostly grown on tropical islands with rich diversity and many unique species. Impact on threatened species is usually measured by the number of species affected per square hectare of land usedand by this measure palm's impact is worse than coconut. Coconut cultivation is thought to have contributed to the extinction of a number of island species, including the Marianne white-eye in the Seychelles and the Solomon Islands' Ontong Java flying fox. Oil levels in bottles represent the number of species threatened by each oil crop per million tons of oil produced. Credit: University of Exeter The Sangihe Tarsier is threatened by deforestation and clearing of ground vegetation for coconut production. Credit: Stenly Pontolawokang Species not yet extinct but threatened by coconut production include the Balabac mouse-deer, which lives on three Philippine islands, and the Sangihe tarsier, a primate living on the Indonesian island of Sangihe. The authors, however, emphasize that the objective of the study is not to add coconut to the growing list of products that consumers should avoid. Indeed, they note that olives and other crops raise also raise concerns. Co-author Professor Douglas Sheil, of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, said: "Consumers need to realize that all our agricultural commodities, and not just tropical crops, have negative environmental impacts. "We need to provide consumers with sound information to guide their choices." The researchers argue for new, transparent information to help consumers. "Informed consumer choices require measures and standards that are equally applicable to producers in Borneo, Belgium and Barbados," they write. "While perfection may be unattainable, improvements over current practices are not." Explore further Palm trees most abundant in American rainforests More information: Erik Meijaard et al, Coconut oil, conservation and the conscientious consumer, Current Biology (2020). Journal information: Current Biology Erik Meijaard et al, Coconut oil, conservation and the conscientious consumer,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.059 What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this "dead water" being understood. A French team has explained this phenomenon for the first time. Credit: Morgane Parisi -StudioBrou.com What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this 'dead water' being understood. An interdisciplinary team from the CNRS and the University of Poitiers has explained this phenomenon for the first time: the speed changes in ships trapped in dead water are due to waves that act like an undulating conveyor belt on which the boats move back and forth. This work was published in PNAS on July 6, 2020. In 1893, the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen experienced a strange phenomenon when he was traveling north of Siberia: his ship was slowed by a mysterious force and he could barely maneuver, let alone pick up normal speed. In 1904, the Swedish physicist and oceanographer Vagn Walfrid Ekman showed in a laboratory that waves formed under the surface at the interface between the salt water and freshwater layers that form the upper portion of this area of the Arctic Ocean interact with the ship, generating drag. This phenomenon, called dead water, is seen in all seas and oceans where waters of different densities (because of salinity or temperature) mix. It denotes two drag phenomena observed by scientists. The first, Nansen wave-making drag, causes a constant, abnormally low speed. The second, Ekman wave-making drag, is characterized by speed oscillations in the trapped boat. The cause of this was unknown. Physicists, fluid mechanics experts, and mathematicians at the CNRS' Institut Prime and the Laboratoire de Mathematiques et Applications (CNRS/Universite de Poitiers) have attempted to solve this mystery. They used a mathematical classification of different internal waves and analysis of experimental images at the sub-pixel scale, a first. View of the experimental set-up By using larger than usual tanks, the scientists showed that the lateral confinement imposed by parameters set too narrowly, or by ports and locks, exacerbates boats' dynamic oscillations. Credit: Pprime (CNRS) & LMA (CNRS/Universite de Poitiers) This work showed that these speed variations are due to the generation of specific waves that act as an undulating conveyor belt on which the ship moves back and forth. The scientists have also reconciled the observations of both Nansen and Ekman. They have shown that the Ekman oscillating regime is only temporary: the ship ends up escaping and reaches the constant Nansen speed. This work is part of a major project investigating why, during the Battle of Actium (31 BC), Cleopatra's large ships lost when they faced Octavian's weaker vessels. Might the Bay of Actium, which has all the characteristics of a fjord, have trapped the Queen of Egypt's fleet in dead water? So now we have another hypothesis to explain this resounding defeat, that in antiquity was attributed to remoras, 'suckerfish' attached to their hulls, as the legend goes. Explore further How do supercharged racing yachts go so fast? An engineer explains More information: Johan Fourdrinoy el al., "The dual nature of the dead-water phenomenology: Nansen versus Ekman wave-making drags," PNAS (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Johan Fourdrinoy el al., "The dual nature of the dead-water phenomenology: Nansen versus Ekman wave-making drags,"(2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1922584117 Credit: CC0 Public Domain We all know terrorism when we see it or so we would hope, although it take many disparate forms. One aspect of the response is the media coverage of such happenings. Writing in the International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, a team from Indonesia discusses the urgency of media coverage of terrorism. Wenly Lolong and Adensi Timomor of the Department of Law at the Universitas Negeri Manado, suggest that the very nature of terrorism feeds on media coverage. However, while people have a right to be informed of what is happening locally and on a global scale, the team suggests that in Indonesia there is a need for regulation to avoid promoting the terrorist cause through discussion in the media. The researchers suggest that media coverage perpetuates terrorism by providing a platform for the perpetrators to share their tragic world view through violence. The greater the media coverage, the more likely a new recruit to the cause might be found whether they act as a so-called "lone wolf" or become part of a large terrorist "organization." Either way, new criminality is generated by the activity of the mass media, the team suggests. In their research, they explore the reasons that the media covers terrorist activity in the first place and how this coverage might be regulated without impeding the public's guarantee of the right to information and press freedom. "The right of information must not be above the right to live safely and peacefully in the country," the team concludes. Explore further Great disparities exist in how news media cover terror attacks More information: Wenly R.J. Lolong et al. The urgency of media coverage arrangements regarding terrorism, International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies (2020). Wenly R.J. Lolong et al. The urgency of media coverage arrangements regarding terrorism,(2020). DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2020.108013 Tequila bat in the Sonoran desert. Credit: Angelica Menchaca Scientists studying the near-threatened tequila bat, best known for its vital role in pollinating the Blue Agave plant from which the drink of the same name is made from, have analyzed its DNA to help inform conservationists on managing their populations. The findings are published in Global Ecology and Conservation. Native to the Americas, the tequila bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) lives in caves in some of the hottest desert areas in Mexico. Given that bats are highly mobile, and that migratory species tend to mix constantly with other bat populations, it is hard for conservationists to know whether they are protecting the best sites for the tequila bats to roost. While known that some tequila bat populations migrate in Mexico's spring months to the Sonoran Desert to give birth to their pups and pollinate a variety of plants iconic to the region, including the economically important Blue Agave plant. Other tequila bat populations inhabit Southern Mexico year-round, forming large breeding colonies in the winter months. This study aimed to help better inform conservationists of the species' breeding and migratory patterns by determining whether the bats inhabiting Southern Mexico year-round have a similar ancestral origin to those that migrate to the Sonoran Desert. DNA analysis was necessary to understand how historical events may have shaped current tequila bat populations. But first, an international team, comprising researchers from the University of Bristol, the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, had to track down the elusive creatures by traveling to remote caves in Mexico to collect DNA skin samples. Tequila bat in the Sonoran desert covered in pollen. Credit: Angelica Menchaca Bat expert Angelica Menchaca (Ph.D.) from Bristol's School of Biological Sciences who led the study, said: "Tequila bats are beautiful, especially after they arrive back from feeding as they return covered in pollen, completely yellow, a sign of how important they are to this ecosystem. They are easy to handle, not like other bat species that can be more aggressive. However, our expedition to the desert was not without hitches and dangers. We were often hiking in temperatures routinely exceeding 40C and encountering desert wildlife such as rattle snakes, scorpions, hares, reptiles and ring-tailed cats along the way. Once we located the bat colony, our aim was to collect DNA skin samples from the bat's wing which heals quickly and doesn't harm them. We would wait until the bats went out to forage at around midnight and then enter the caves that were filled with thousands of baby bats, all packed together in nurseries, waiting for their mums to return." Bats are subject to many threats around the world. Their populations are threatened by habitat loss, their roosts are often disturbed, and people fear them both from myths and as potential disease carriers. Bat-phobia is only increasing in our current climate. However, despite their often-negative press, bats are very valuable to ecosystems and the benefits they bring to our societies including the popular beverage tequila. After analyzing samples, the team was able to identify the bats' mitochondrial DNA and use this to trace the maternal line of the different populations to understand the ancestral descent of the species. Tequila bat pups inside cave in the Sonoran Desert, Mexico. Credit: Angelica Menchaca Explaining the findings, Dr. Menchaca added: "Contrary to current practice, our study demonstrates that the species must be managed as two conservation units (CUs) in Mexico. We have shown that tequila bat populations that establish maternity colonies in the Sonoran Desert in northern Mexico show a distinct migratory behavior, breed during the summer, have specific habitat requirements and belong to a maternal line distinct to their southern counterparts. In the present context of an accelerated rate of habitat loss, increased fear of bats and decreased appreciation as ecosystem service providers, understanding how we can help support this important species survive these threats is even more relevant. We are studying other differences related to their behavior and morphology that will also help us understand how these bats adapt to diverse habitats." Importantly, this research will be used to help inform conservation management strategies, as the tequila bat is considered "Near Threatened" by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Explore further Bat key to tequila trade gets off US endangered species list (Update) More information: Angelica Menchaca et al. Conservation units and historical matrilineal structure in the tequila bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae), Global Ecology and Conservation (2020). Angelica Menchaca et al. Conservation units and historical matrilineal structure in the tequila bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae),(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01164 Credit: CC0 Public Domain What causes African hybrid honey bees (AHB), also known as killer bees, to be highly defensive and aggressive? York University researchers have found it was the mixing of African and European genetics that led to hyper-aggression in this invasive strain of honey bees. AHBs are a genetics experiment gone wrong. Researchers in Brazil imported a honey bee subspecies from South Africa and bred them with European-derived honey bees in the 1950s. The idea was to develop a better subtropical honey bee, but bees escaped and mated with the local bees. "The resulting bees were highly invasive and aggressive, much more than the European honey bees used by North and South American beekeepers at the time," says Associate Professor Amro Zayed of the Faculty of Science, a co-author on the paper led by previous York Ph.D. student Brock Harpur, now an assistant professor at Purdue University. "The genetics causing this hyper defensiveness were not well known, but the prevailing wisdom was that killer bees are aggressive because South African bees are aggressive." The new AHB colonies rapidly reproduced and spread across, not only Brazil, but South America, Central America and, by 1990, the southern United States. Today, they have completely replaced the European-derived honey bee in Brazil and are the most common honey bee from Northern Argentina to the southern United States. The York University research team measures the defense response of 116 Brazilian AHB colonies using the Suede Ball test. A suede ball is gently swung for one minute in front of the colony entrance stimulating a defense response. Credit: Samir Kadri, a former York visiting PhD student The research team measured the defense response of 116 Brazilian AHB colonies using the Suede Ball test (see video by one of the researchers, Samir Kadri, a former York visiting Ph.D. student from Brazil). A suede ball is gently swung for one minute in front of the colony entrance stimulating a defense response in the bees and encouraging additional bees to sting the ball. "We sequenced the genomes of the most aggressive colonies, which would sting the ball 90 times or more per minute, and the least aggressive colonies," says Harpur. "We then compared the genomes of the most and least aggressive colonies to identify mutations that associate with these differences in behavior." "The most defensive colonies in our study were more related to South African honey bees except at several regions of their genome that influence aggression. Here, they were more related to honey bees from Western Europe," says Zayed. "That isit was the mixing of these two honey bee subspecies that led to hyper aggression." How DNA from these two subspecies interacts to influence defense response is an important next question. Explore further Group genomics drive aggression in honey bees More information: Brock A Harpur et al, Defense response in Brazilian honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.) is underpinned by complex patterns of admixture, Genome Biology and Evolution (2020). Brock A Harpur et al, Defense response in Brazilian honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.) is underpinned by complex patterns of admixture,(2020). DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa128 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Our cells are constantly dividing, and as they do, the DNA moleculeour genetic codesometimes gets broken. DNA has twin strands, and a break in both is considered especially dangerous. This kind of double-strand break can lead to genome rearrangements that are hallmarks of cancer cells, said James Daley, Ph.D., of the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Daley is first author of research, published June 18 in the journal Nature Communications, that sheds light on a double-strand break repair process called homologous recombination. Joined by senior authors Patrick Sung, DPhil, and Sandeep Burma, Ph.D., and other collaborators, Dr. Daley found that among an array of mechanisms that initiate homologous recombination, each one is quite different. Homologous recombination is initiated by a process called DNA end resection where one of the two strands of DNA at a break is chewed back by resection enzymes. "What's exciting about this work is that it answers a long-held mystery among scientists," Dr. Daley said. "For a decade we have known that resection enzymes are at the forefront of homologous recombination. What we didn't know is why so many of these enzymes are involved, and why we need three or four different enzymes that seem to accomplish the same task in repairing double-strand breaks." An array of tools, each one finely tuned "On the surface of it, there seems to be quite a bit of redundancy," said Dr. Sung, who holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at UT Health San Antonio. "Our study is significant in showing that the perceived redundancy is really a very naive notion." DNA resection pathways actually are highly specific, the findings show. "It's like an engine mechanic who has a set of tools at his disposal," Dr. Sung said. "The tool he uses depends on the issue that needs to be repaired. In like fashion, each DNA repair tool in our cells is designed to repair a distinctive type of break in our DNA." The research team studied complex breaks that featured double-strand breaks with other kinds of DNA damage nearbysuch complex breaks are more relevant physiologically, Dr. Daley said. Studies in the field of DNA repair usually tend to look at simpler versions of double-strand breaks, he said. Dr. Daley found that each resection enzyme is tailored to deal with a specific type of complex break, which explains why a diverse toolkit of resection enzymes has evolved over millennia. Cancer ramifications Dr. Burma, the Mays Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Oncology at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the fundamental understandings gleaned from this research could one day lead to improved cancer treatments. "The cancer therapeutic implications are immense," Dr. Burma said. "This research by our team is timely because a new type of radiation therapy, called carbon ion therapy, is now being considered in the U.S. While being much more precisely aimed at tumors, this therapy is likely to induce exactly the sort of complex DNA damage that we studied. Understanding how specific enzymes repair complex damage could lead to strategies to dramatically increase the efficacy of cancer therapy." Part of the research is funded by NASA. "These kinds of complex DNA breaks are also induced by space radiation," Dr. Burma said. "Therefore, the research is relevant not just to cancer therapy, but also to cancer risks inherent to space exploration." Explore further How breaks in DNA are repaired More information: James M. Daley et al, Specificity of end resection pathways for double-strand break regions containing ribonucleotides and base lesions, Nature Communications (2020). Journal information: Nature Communications James M. Daley et al, Specificity of end resection pathways for double-strand break regions containing ribonucleotides and base lesions,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16903-4 Researchers studied a unique population of gentle Africanized honey bees in Puerto Rico. Credit: by Manuel A. Giannoni-Guzman Researchers often study the genomes of individual organisms to try to tease out the relationship between genes and behavior. A new study of Africanized honey bees reveals, however, that the genetic inheritance of individual bees has little influence on their propensity for aggression. Instead, the genomic traits of the hive as a whole are strongly associated with how fiercely its soldiers attack. The findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We've always thought that the most significant aspects of an organism's behavior are driven, at least in part, by its own genetic endowment and not the genomics of its society," said Matthew Hudson, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor of bioinformatics who led the research with Gene Robinson, an entomology professor and the director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I. "This is a signal that there may be more to genetics as a whole than we've been thinking about." The researchers focused on a unique population of gentle Africanized honey bees in Puerto Rico, which have evolved to become more docile than Africanized bees anywhere else in the world. "We wanted to know which parts of the genome are responsible for gentle behavior versus aggressive behavior," Hudson said. "And because these are Africanized bees but they're also gentle, they are an ideal population to study. There's quite a bit of variation in aggression among them." Africanized bees are hardier and more resistant to disease than their European predecessors on the island, so scientists are eager to learn more about the genetic underpinnings of the Puerto Rican bees' gentle nature. When a honey bee hive is disturbed, guard bees emit a chemical signal that spurs soldier bees into action. The response depends on the nature of the threat and the aggressiveness of the hive. Whether the soldiers sting their target is another measure of aggression, as soldiers that sting will die as a result. In general, foragers do little to defend the hive. The researchers compared the genomes of soldier and forager bees from each of nine honey bee colonies in Puerto Rico. They also tested how aggressively the soldier bees responded to an assault on the hive. To their surprise, the scientists found no genome-sequence differences between the soldiers and foragers that consistently explained the different responses. But when the researchers conducted a genomewide association study comparing the the most-aggressive and least-aggressive hives, they saw a strong correlation between hive genomics and aggression. The analyses revealed that one region of the genome appeared to play a central role in the hives' relative gentleness or aggression. "Mostly these bees' genomes look like Africanized bees," Hudson said. "But there was one chunk that looked very European. And the frequency of that European chunk in the hive seems to dictate how gentle that hive is going to be to a large extent. "What that tells us is that the individual genetic makeup of the bee doesn't have a strong influence on how aggressive it is," he said. "But the genetic makeup of the society that the bees live inthe colonyhas a very strong impact on how aggressive the bees in that colony are." "Many behavioral traits in animals and humans are known to be strongly affected by inherited differences in genome sequence, but for many behaviors, how an individual acts also is influenced by how others around it are actingnature and nurture, respectively," Robinson said. "We now see that in the beehive, nurture can also have a strong genomic signature." Such behavioral genomic influences may be particularly pronounced in honey bees, which live in an extraordinarily cooperative society where each individual has a defined social and functional role, he said. Hudson also is a professor of crop sciences at Illinois. More information: Arian Avalos el al., "Genomic regions influencing aggressive behavior in honey bees are defined by colony allele frequencies," PNAS (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Arian Avalos el al., "Genomic regions influencing aggressive behavior in honey bees are defined by colony allele frequencies,"(2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1922927117 We report Ba5Er2Al2ZrO13, a hexagonal perovskite-related oxide as a new class of proton conductors exhibiting higher conductivities than 10?3 S cm?1 between 300 and 1200C. A new structure family of proton conductors with the inherently oxygen-deficient h? layer offers a strategy in designing superior proton conductors based on hexagonal perovskite-related oxides. Credit: Tokyo Tech Over the past few years, fuel cells have become a focal point of research in eco-friendly technology because of their superior abilities to store and produce renewable energy and clean fuel. A typical type of fuel cell gaining ground is the proton-conducting fuel cell, which is primarily made of materials through which hydrogen ions (protons: H+), can easily move. Proton-conducting materials provide a number of advantages over commonly used fuel cells that comprise oxide-ion conductors for electrolytes, such as higher conductivity at low and intermediate temperatures, longer lifetimes, and lower costs. However, only a limited number of such materials are known and their application to developing fuel cells has largely remained at the laboratory scale. To truly achieve a sustainable energy economy, new proton conductors with high conductivity need to be discovered that can allow the low-cost and efficient scaling up of these technologies. Scientists from Tokyo Tech and ANSTO set out to address this need, and in a recent study, identified a new proton-conducting material that may be a representative of an entire family of proton conductors. The material in question has the chemical formula Ba 5 Er 2 Al 2 ZrO 13 and is classified as a "hexagonal perovskite-related oxide." Prof Masatomo Yashima, who led the study, explains: "Proton conduction in oxides typically occurs via the hopping of protons between oxide ions. Therefore, the crystal structure and the local environment around oxide ions have a tremendous impact on the possible conducting pathways. This explains why high proton conductivity has been reported in only a limited number of materials." Prof Yashima and his team noted that the structure of Ba 5 Er 2 Al 2 ZrO 13 contains oxygen-deficient layers and its proton conductivity is higher than those of representative proton conductors, which are created by artificially introducing oxygen deficiencies in the crystal structures of certain materials. They realized that this intrinsic oxygen deficiency of Ba 5 Er 2 Al 2 ZrO 13 could give it a remarkable advantage over conventional proton conductors, eliminating a major issue in them: their instability and the difficulty of synthesizing compositionally homogeneous samples. They conducted a series of experiments to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this property. Initial investigations showed that the proton conductivity of Ba5Er2Al2ZrO13 is high at intermediate and low temperatures that are key to potential industrial applications. Upon further experimentation, it turned out that water molecules (H2O) in air can dissolve into the oxygen-deficient layers of the crystal, where the oxygen from the water is separated from hydrogen to produce mobile H+. These H+ then "hop across oxide ions" within the oxygen-deficient layers, allowing for high proton conductivity. This phenomenon is not restricted to this particular material. The team synthesized other materials with similar structures and conducted preliminary tests on their electrical conductivity. They found comparable results to those for Ba 5 Er 2 Al 2 ZrO 13 . Assistant Dr. Taito Murakami, first author of the study, explains: "Our results suggest that the oxygen-deficient layers in hexagonal perovskite-related oxides could be a general structural block that confers high proton conductivity. These layers can be found in a number of oxides besides Ba 5 Er 2 Al 2 ZrO 13 ." This discovery of a whole new range of intrinsically high proton-conducting materials, and the mechanism of their proton conductivity, could take research in this field to new horizons. Dr. James R. Hester from ANSTO, who also participated in the study, remarks: "Our work presents a potential strategy to design superior proton conductors based on the oxygen-deficient layers of some perovskite-related oxides." This work hopefully represents a step toward a cleaner future. Explore further A simple and universal design for fuel cell electrolyte More information: Taito Murakami et al, High Proton Conductivity in Ba5Er2Al2ZrO13, a Hexagonal Perovskite-Related Oxide with Intrinsically Oxygen-Deficient Layers, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2020). Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Taito Murakami et al, High Proton Conductivity in Ba5Er2Al2ZrO13, a Hexagonal Perovskite-Related Oxide with Intrinsically Oxygen-Deficient Layers,(2020). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c02403 The 18O (A), CO 2 concentration (B), dust particle (C) and DFe (D) concentrations over the past 110 kyr B.P.. The red stars represent the ice samples for this study. The data of 18O, dust particle and DFe from NEEM ice core, CO 2 data from Antarctic EDC ice core. Credit: Science China Press To weigh in on the 'iron hypothesis' in the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) ice core, Cunde Xiao and his colleagues firstly reconstructed the bioavailable Fe data in this deep ice core from the northern Hemisphere over the past 110 kyr B.P., which suggested that the dissolved Fe (DFe) records in NEEM ice core were significantly anti-correlated with the carbon oxide (CO 2 ) concentrations during the cold periods. The pattern of Fe concentration was extremely similar to that of the number of dust particles. The results also emphasized that the changes of the Fe fertilization effect could not be explained by a simple linear relationship with the glacial-interglacial changes in the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere. This study focused on the linkages between NEEM ice core and Chinese loess record over the past 110 kyr B.P. The changes of Fe fluxes in the NEEM ice core were in phase with that archived in Chinese loess, where the mineral dust distribution was controlled by the vast Asian deserts and large-scale wind pattern. They suggest that the dust input on a hemispheric scale were most likely driven by the changes in solar radiation during the last glacial-interglacial cycle, as a response to Earth's orbital changes. In the last glacial-interglacial cycle, the ratios between dissolved Fe and total dissolved Fe (DFe/TDFe) were higher during the warm periods (i.e., post-Industrial Revolution, the Holocene and the Last Interglacial period) than during the main cold period (i.e. the Last Glacial Maximum), indicating that the Fe fertilization effect was more complex during the Holocene, due to the presence of different composition of dust associated, with various grain sizes and other factors. Although the burning of biomass has released large amounts of Fe-contained aerosols since the Industrial era, no significant responses were observed in Fe variations during the same time period. Explore further Millions of years of soot deposits reveal wildfire cycles related to climate change More information: Cunde Xiao et al, Iron in the NEEM ice core relative to Asian loess records over the last glacial-interglacial cycle, National Science Review (2020). Cunde Xiao et al, Iron in the NEEM ice core relative to Asian loess records over the last glacial-interglacial cycle,(2020). DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaa144 MOSAiC ice floe during Cruise Leg 4 on June 30, 2020. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Markus Rex, CC-BY 4.0 The New Siberian Islands were the birthplace of the MOSAiC floe: the sea ice in which the research vessel Polarstern is now drifting through the Arctic was formed off the coast of the archipelago, which separates the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea to the north of Siberia, in December 2018. Sediments, and even small pebbles and bivalves, were incorporated into the ice during the freezing process, which the ongoing melting process has brought to light on the surface of the MOSAiC floe. This is an increasingly rare phenomenon as today, most "dirty ice" melts before it even arrives in the Central Arctic. These are among the main findings of a study that MOSAiC experts have published now in the journal The Cryosphere, and which will provide the basis for numerous upcoming scientific assessments. At first glance, it looks like a group of people with dirty shoes left tracks all over the snow. But in reality, dirty ice is the exposure of sediments, and even small pebbles and bivalves, caused by the ongoing melting process of the MOSAiC floe. When the sea ice formed, they were frozen inside; accordingly, they hail from the nursery of sea ice along the Siberian Shelf, which the experts have now used a combination of model simulations and satellite data to describe in detail. The MOSAiC floe had already drifted over 1200 nautical miles in a meandering course when the research icebreaker Polarstern moored to it on 4 October 2019, at the coordinates 85 North and 137 East, and began to drift with it through the Arctic Ocean. While the current expedition team is busy taking readings in the Arctic, their colleagues back at home are analyzing the data gathered. The precise analysis confirms the first impressions from the beginning of the expedition: "Our assessment shows that the entire region in which the two ships looked for suitable floes was characterized by unusually thin ice," reports Dr. Thomas Krumpen, a sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Last autumn, the first author of The Cryosphere study coordinated research activities on the Russian icebreaker Akademik Fedorov, which accompanied the MOSAiC expedition flagship, the Polarstern, for the first few weeks. The Akademik Fedorov was also instrumental in deploying monitoring stations at various locations across the MOSAiC floecollectively referred to as the Distributed Network. Pebbles from old ice appear at the ice surface during the melting period. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Markus Rex, CC-BY 4.0 "Our study shows that the floe we ultimately chose was formed in the shallow waters of the Russian shelf seas in December 2018," Krumpen explains. Off the coast of Siberia, strong offshore winds drive the young ice out to sea after it forms. In the shallow water, sediments are churned up from the seafloor and become trapped in the ice. Ice formation can also produce pressure ridges, the undersides of which sometimes scrape along the seafloor. As a result, stones can also become embedded in the sea ice. Now that the summertime melting has begun, all of this material is being revealed at the surface: "At several points, we've found entire mounds of pebbles measuring several centimeters in diameter, plus a number of bivalves," reports MOSAiC expedition leader Prof. Markus Rex directly from the Arctic. Meanwhile, back home in Bremerhaven, Germany, Thomas Krumpen is thrilled to see that the now emerging 'bivalve ice with pebbles," as he has affectionately dubbed it, so clearly confirms the study's findings. The team of authors led by the AWI expert used a combination of satellite imagery, reanalysis data and a newly developed coupled thermodynamics backtracking model to reconstruct the floe's origins. Now Krumpen and his colleagues are devising a strategy for gathering samples of the sediments. The extent to which these dirty and therefore darker patches accelerate melting on the floe is an important question, and answering it could enhance our understanding of the interactions between the ocean, ice and atmosphere, of biogeochemical cycles, and of life in the Arctic in general. In addition to mineral components, the sea ice also transports a range of other biogeochemical substances and gasses from the coast to the central Arctic Ocean. They are an important aspect of MOSAiC research on biogeochemical cycles, i.e., on the formation or release of methane and other climate-relevant trace gasses throughout the year. However, as a result of the substantial loss of sea ice observed in the Arctic over the past several years, this ice, which comes from the shallow shelves and contains sediments and gasses, is now melting more intensively in the summer, causing this material transport flow to break down. In the 1990s, the Polarstern was often in the same waters where the MOSAiC expedition began its drift. Back then, the ice was still ca. 1.6 meters thick at the beginning of winter, whereas it had shrunk to ca. 50 centimeters last yearwhich made the search for a sufficiently thick floe in the autumn of 2019 all the more difficult. "We were fortunate enough to find a floe that had survived the summer and formed in the Russian shelf seas. This allows us to investigate transport processes from the 'old Arctic," which now only partly function, if at all," says Krumpen. Particularly in the higher latitudes, global warming is causing temperatures to climb rapidly. In the summer of 2019, the last summer before the expedition, Russian meteorological stations reported record temperatures. These high temperatures sparked rapid melting and significantly warmed Russia's marginal seas. As a result, many parts of the Northeast Passage were ice-free for a 93-day period (the longest duration since the beginning of satellite observation). The experts predict that if CO 2 emissions remain unchecked, as they have in the past several years, the Central Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2030. Explore further RV Polarstern returns to the MOSAiC floe More information: Thomas Krumpen et al, The MOSAiC ice floe: sediment-laden survivor from the Siberian shelf, The Cryosphere (2020). Thomas Krumpen et al, The MOSAiC ice floe: sediment-laden survivor from the Siberian shelf,(2020). DOI: 10.5194/tc-14-2173-2020 Fruit fly. Credit: Shutterstock Infertility is one of the most striking effects of aging. The impact of aging on females' fertility is more severe and much better understood, but it also affects males. Male reproductive aging is less researched, but of those studies that do address it, most focus on sperm. However, ejaculate contains more than just sperm. Proteins in the seminal fluid are important for fertility, and in many animals, they have a dramatic effect on female physiology and behavior. Little is currently known about the impact of male aging on these proteins, and whether any changes contribute to poorer ejaculates in older males. To resolve these questions, researchers at the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology conducted experiments in a model organism, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This species typically lives for less than five weeks, which means that researchers can very rapidly measure the impact of age on male fertility, and their sperm and seminal fluid proteins. This species is also highly amenable to genetic studies, which allowed the researchers to genetically manipulate male lifespan, to see how this impacted the decline in fertility with age. Published this week in PNAS are their results which show that both sperm and seminal fluid protein quality and quantity decline with male age, making distinct contributions to declining reproductive performance in older males. However, the relative impacts on sperm and seminal fluid often differ, leading to mismatches between ejaculate components. Despite these differences, experimental extension of male lifespan improved overall ejaculate performance in later life, suggesting that such interventions can delay both male reproductive aging and death. Lead author Dr Irem Sepil, from the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology, says: 'These results highlight that the decline in fertility with male age is not exclusively driven by changes in sperm. The quality and quantity of the seminal fluid proteins also change as males age, and these patterns can differ from the changes seen in sperm, but still impact male reproductive function. However, a manipulation aimed at increasing lifespan also slows down age-related reproductive decline. This means that it is possible that drugs and treatments aimed at promoting healthy aging could be co-opted to slow down male reproductive aging.' Going forward, the researchers want to look into the health of offspring. In humans, children of old fathers are more at risk of certain medical disorders, but the mechanisms driving these changes remain unclear. Also, whilst a lifespan-extending genetic manipulation helped fertility in older males, it is not clear whether less invasive treatments, which might be used in human medicine, would work similarly. There is ongoing research to understand how we can increase the healthspan of individuals. The aim is not to live longer but to age healthily, slowing down the onset of age-related diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and arthritis. It is important to note that the work described here was on a species of fly. While aging mechanisms are often similar across animals, to understand whether the patterns are commonly shared, they will need to be examined in other species. Explore further Lord of the flies: Competition breeds a better ejaculate More information: Irem Sepil et al. Male reproductive aging arises via multifaceted mating-dependent sperm and seminal proteome declines, but is postponable in Drosophila, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Irem Sepil et al. Male reproductive aging arises via multifaceted mating-dependent sperm and seminal proteome declines, but is postponable in Drosophila,(2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2009053117 Credit: CC0 Public Domain In late March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would stop enforcing many anti-pollution laws because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 31, as the Trump administration recently announced, the EPA is ending its lax enforcement approach. But that might be in the eye of the beholder. If there's been a consistent policy coming out of Washington these past three years, it's the White House's desire to deregulate polluters of all types but most notably in the energy sector (and more on that in a moment). To suggest the EPA is a paper tiger is probably an insult to paper. And there is inevitably a price to be paid for this laxity whether it's the official pandemic-related five months extra-hands-off or just years of enforcement stand-down unrelated to the coronavirus. As if to underscore that point, some U.S. Geological Survey scientists have been studying freshwater fish caught in Maryland waters for mercury poisoning, and the results are not good. The study first published in late May in a scientific journal, but reported more broadly by the nonprofit Bay Journal in late June, found nearly half of all samples turned out to have levels of what's known as methylmercury in concentrations so high they were unsafe to eat. Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that attacks the human nervous system and can be especially harmful to pregnant women and their fetuses causing permanent cognitive harm. It's widely prevalent in the environment, and most people have trace amounts in their bodies. But ingesting fish with high levels of methylmercury can have serious adverse health effects. And what species found in Maryland waters turned out to have the highest amounts of this toxin, according to the research? That would be rockfish, or striped bass, the official state fish beloved not only as a worthy opponent by recreational fisherman but for its dinner plate appeal. Like oysters and blue crabs, rockfish are a Maryland tradition that, with all due respect to National Bohemian beer, practically define the Land of Pleasant Living. Alas, it appears the fish are exposed to mercury in their formative years: As an anadramous species, striped bass give birth in freshwater and their offspring live there in rivers for their first two years of life even as most adults return to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. And where is this methylmercury coming from? Researchers aren't certain what accounts for some variation in their samples (results were highest in the Susquehanna and Potomac rivers, for example) but the biggest single source is thought to be power plants that run on fossil fuels, especially coal. The mercury is contained in the fuel, released by combustion into the air where it eventually settles on the ground and then runs off into creeks, streams, lakes and rivers. It enters the food chain from bacteria to insects and then small amounts gradually build up in the fish. Needless to say, Maryland is not the only place where this bioaccumulation of mercury in fish is taking place; it's a worldwide phenomenon and will take many years to potentially undo. Yet here's what is most important. Efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption, to address coal-fired power plants have been thwarted by the Trump EPA. Earlier this year, the EPA took steps to specifically weaken the Obama administration's Mercury and Air Toxic Standards that regulated power plant emissions. And that's on top of rolling back carbon emissions standards (Affordable Clean Energy Rule) the Trump administration believed were causing economic harm to the coal industry. And that's on top of backing off enforcement of multi-state Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. So, it's not as if the EPA was asleep at the switch, it's more like they've been deliberately flipping the switch to the benefit of monied special interests but to the broad detriment of the public including those who like a serving of broiled filet of freshwater fish once in a while. This consistent loosening of pollution standards deserves greater public scrutiny yet in the midst of a global pandemic, an economic recession, widespread protests over police violence and pervasive racism and inequality on top of the day-to-day ineptitude, lies and destructive incivility that's spewed into the firmament by this White House, this can get lost. When you can't safely eat a fish caught from a river, attention must be paid. The question is not so much how did this happen as it's been decades in the making. The question that matters is, what are you going to do about it? Whether on duty or off, the Trump EPA has decided the answer is: Not much. Explore further What the EPA's mercury decision means for public health 2020 The Baltimore Sun Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Tests glow green when they detect a contaminant. Credit: Northwestern University A new platform technology can assess water safety and quality with just a single drop and a few minutes. Likened to a pregnancy test, the handheld platform uses one sample to provide an easy-to-read positive or negative result. When the test detects a contaminant exceeding the EPA's standards, it glows green. Led by researchers at Northwestern University, the tests can sense 17 different contaminants, including toxic metals such as lead and copper, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and cleaning products. The platformwhich is powered by cell-free synthetic biologyis so flexible that researchers can continually update it to sense more pollutants. "Current water tests rely on a centralized laboratory that contains really expensive equipment and requires expertise to operate," said Northwestern's Julius Lucks, who led the study. "Sending in a sample can cost up to $150 and take several weeks to get results. We're offering a technology that enables anyone to directly test their own water and know if they have contamination within minutes. It's so simple to use that we can put it into the hands of the people who need it most." The research will be published on July 6 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Lucks is a professor of chemical and biological engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the Center for Synthetic Biology. Jaeyoung Jung and Khalid Alam, members of Lucks' laboratory, are co-first authors of the paper. Molecular 'taste buds' A major challenge of ensuring water quality is that people typically can't see or taste contaminants. Northwestern's platform uses synthetic biology to sense this unnoticeable contamination, filling in the gaps where human senses fall short. In cell-free synthetic biology, researchers take the molecular machineryincluding DNA, RNA and proteinsout of cells, and then reprogram that machinery to perform new tasks. The idea is akin to opening the hood of the car and removing the engine, which allows researchers to use the engine for different purposes, free from the constraints of the car. In this case, Lucks' team used molecular machinery from bacterial cells. "Nature has already solved this problem," Alam said. "Biology has spent over three billion years evolving an elegant solution to detect contaminants." "We found out how bacteria naturally taste things in their water," Lucks added. "They do so with little molecular-level 'taste buds'. Cell-free synthetic biology allows us to take those little molecular taste buds out and put them into a test tube. We can then 're-wire' them up to produce a visual signal. It glows to let the user quickly and easily see if there's a contaminant in their water." These reprogramed "taste buds" are freeze-dried to become shelf-stable and put into test tubes. Adding a drop of water to the tubeand then flicking itsets off a chemical reaction that causes the freeze-dried pellet to glow in the presence of a contaminant. "The magic is in the tubes," Lucks said. "We compose everything and freeze dry itthe same process as making astronaut ice cream." Inspired by women in science Lucks and his team call this testing platform "RNA output sensors activated by ligand induction." But his team has nicknamed it ROSALIND for short, in honor of famed chemist Rosalind Franklin, who discovered the DNA double helix alongside James Watson and Francis Crick. Franklin's 100th birthday would have been next month (July 25). "Her work essentially eventually enabled us to learn how to reprogram DNA to act in our technology," Lucks said. Professor Julius Lucks explains how to use ROSALIND. Credit: Northwestern University When starting this project, Lucks took inspiration from another woman scientist in his life: his wife, Northwestern anthropologist Sera Young, who studies global food and water security and the role of household water insecurity in societal well-being. "Sera researches how poor water quality impacts people's daily lives," Lucks said. "People tend to go to the most convenient sources to get water. But if they knew that water was contaminated, they might choose to travel farther to find safer water. We want everyone to have the tools they need in order to make informed decisions." ROSALIND in Paradise To test the new platform in the field, Lucks, Jung, Alam and fellow Northwestern professor Jean-Francois Gaillard visited Paradise, California at the end of last year. One year earlier, a string of massive wildfires obliterated the northern California town, destroying nearly 19,000 buildings and displacing most of its population. Gaillard, a professor of environmental engineering, is an expert in the biogeochemical processes that affect metals in the aquatic system. "Wildfires basically melted the town," Lucks said. "They burned down buildings and melted cars that released toxic metals into the environment." Lucks, Gaillard and their teams tested ROSALIND alongside gold-standard water tests and discovered that ROSALIND was able to identify the presence of elevated toxic metals in the water supply. It also provided much faster and less expensive results. Lucks and his team envision that ROSALIND could help recovery efforts like the one in Paradise, in which residents needed to perform tens of thousands of tests in order to know if their community was safe to re-enter. "Laboratory testing doesn't scale," Alam said. "It shouldn't take days to get an answer to the simple question: 'Is my water safe to drink?'" Difficulties of testing at home Disasters, of course, aren't the only causes of unsafe water. Heavy metals, such as copper and lead, that are naturally found in the environment can leech into pipes, contaminating household water taps and school drinking fountains. Personal care products, such as sunscreens and lotions, wash off people's skin and end up in waterways. Unused pharmaceuticals and agricultural herbicides, too, run off into our water and end up in our sinks. But, unless we can directlyand regularlytest for these pollutants, there's no way to maintain a peace of mind. When testing water in their own home in Evanston, Illinois, Lucks and Young noted several difficulties. Consuming high levels of copper over many months or years can lead to liver damage and even death. With this concern, Lucks decided to check the copper levels in their household water. It cost $150 and took a month to receive the results. "This is a one-time test," Lucks said. "It doesn't allow for checking levels from different taps in the house or temporal testing over time." Testing for lead wasn't much easier. Lead-testing kits are available at most hardware stores. But after filling a tube with water, it still must be mailed to a centralized facility. It still costs up to $150 per test and takes weeks for results. And if people want to check their water for other contaminants, such as antibiotics, tests simply do not exist for consumers. "There has been a lot of advances in developing point-of-use diagnostics for monitoring pathogens," Jung said. "But not nearly enough effort for detecting chemical contaminants." "To ensure access to safe and clean drinking water, we need technologies that will allow easy monitoring of water quality," Lucks said. "With a simple, easy-to-use, handheld device like ROSALIND, you can test the water in your home or out in the fieldwhere you would want to use it most." Explore further Researchers create new tools to monitor water quality, measure water insecurity More information: Cell-free biosensors for rapid detection of water contaminants, Nature Biotechnology (2020). www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-0571-7 Journal information: Nature Biotechnology Cell-free biosensors for rapid detection of water contaminants,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41587-020-0571-7 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain As governments around the world begin to reopen their borders, it's clear that efforts to revive the economy are redrawing the lines between who will prosper, who will suffer and who will die. Emerging strategies for restoring economic growth are forcing vulnerable populations to choose between increased exposure to death or economic survival. This is an unacceptable choice that appears natural only because it prioritizes the economy over people already considered marginal or expendable. The management of borders has always been central to capitalist economic growth, and has only intensified with neoliberal reforms of the last several decades. Neoliberal economic growth has increasingly become tied to opening up national borders to the flow of money and the selective entry of low-wage labor with limited access to rights. Nation-state borders regulate this flow, and in so doing, reconstitute the borders between people: those whose lives must be safeguarded and those who are considered disposable. COVID-19 has brought heightened visibility to these border-making practices, with the pandemic intensifying the decisions between economic and social life. Exceptions made for seasonal workers Early in the outbreak, for instance, Canada closed its borders to international travel, but made exceptions for an estimated 60,000 seasonal agricultural workers from Latin America and the Caribbean. Anxious to avert the potential loss of as much as 95 percent of this year's vegetable and fruit production, temporary farm workers were deemed the essential backbone of the agri-food economy. For the health and safety of Canadians and seasonal farm workers, farmers required the farm workers to self-isolate for 14 days in order to prevent the spread of the virus. But the deaths of two farm workers in Windsor, Ont., and serious outbreaks of COVID-19 infections among migrant workers on farms across the country, have revealed systemic forms of racism that reveal the priority given to profit maximization over the health and safety of Black and brown migrant farmers. Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, migrant farmers are not entitled to standard labor rights such as a minimum wage, overtime pay or days off, and federal oversight over housing conditions has been notoriously inadequate. With worker welfare left largely to the discretion of employers, it is not altogether surprising that reports of crowded and unsanitary housing, an inability to socially distance, delays in responding to COVID-19 symptoms and threats of reprisals for speaking out have become rife throughout the agri-food economy. Even as COVID-19 cases soar in Ontario, provincial guidelines make it possible for infected farm workers to continue working if they are asymptomatic. It is a tragic irony that the quest for a better life among migrant workers should be one that demands levels of exposure to abuse, threats, infection and premature death that few citizens are likely to face. Choosing between health and the economy Now, as governments speak of opening borders more widely due to the economic costs of COVID-19, countries are beginning to make new, challenging decisions between public health and economic growth. For example, across the Caribbean, the abrupt closure of international borders decimated the region's tourism industry overnight. Estimating a contraction of the industry of up to 70 percent, Standard & Poor has already predicted that some islands will experience significantly deteriorated credit ratings. For example, with tourism accounting for half of Jamaica's foreign exchange earnings and more than 350,000 jobs, it is not entirely surprising that the tourism minister has justified re-opening as "not just about tourism. It is a matter of economic life or death." It's also not surprising that resort chains like Sandals and airlines alike have been eager to resume business as usual. But assurances that "vacations are back," even as new cases emerge, ring hollow given that most Caribbean countries have long struggled with overburdened health-care systems. And even with new protocols for screening, isolating or restricting the mobility of infected visitors, it is likely that the region's poorer citizensmany of whom are women in front-line hospitality serviceswill bear the brunt of the costs of new infections. Unequal dependencies The dependence of Caribbean and Latin American governments on tourism and remittance dollars, and Canada's dependence on Black and brown people to carry out low-paid essential work, are unequal dependencies that are intimately tied. For the most vulnerable, these dependencies mark the stark overlap between economic life and COVID-19 death. Yet COVID-19 has also presented us with a unique opportunity to rethink the border inequalities that have governed our lives and the primacy of the economy within it. It forces us to ask: Who does "the economy" serve? What types of activities are valued or dismissed when we prioritize economic growth? Whose life is valued, and whose continues to be expendable? Prioritizing the economy over the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable should never be an acceptable fix. Explore further Migrant workers face further social isolation and mental health challenges during coronavirus pandemic This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Illustration of Kongonaphon kely, a newly described reptile near the ancestry of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, in what would have been its natural environment in the Triassic (~237 million years ago). Credit: Alex Boersma Dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs may be known for their remarkable size, but a newly described species from Madagascar that lived around 237 million years ago suggests that they originated from extremely small ancestors. The fossil reptile, named Kongonaphon kely, or "tiny bug slayer," would have stood just 10 centimeters (or about 4 inches) tall. The description and analysis of this fossil and its relatives, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain the origins of flight in pterosaurs, the presence of "fuzz" on the skin of both pterosaurs and dinosaurs, and other questions about these charismatic animals. "There's a general perception of dinosaurs as being giants," said Christian Kammerer, a research curator in paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and a former Gerstner Scholar at the American Museum of Natural History. "But this new animal is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and it's shockingly small." Dinosaurs and pterosaurs both belong to the group Ornithodira. Their origins, however, are poorly known, as few specimens from near the root of this lineage have been found. The fossils of Kongonaphon were discovered in 1998 in Madagascar by a team of researchers led by American Museum of Natural History Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals John Flynn (who worked at The Field Museum at the time) in close collaboration with scientists and students at the University of Antananarivo, and project co-leader Andre Wyss, chair and professor of the University of California-Santa Barbara's Department of Earth Science and an American Museum of Natural History research associate. Life restoration of Kongonaphon kely, a newly described reptile near the ancestry of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, shown to scale with human hands. The fossils of Kongonaphon were found in Triassic (~237 million years ago) rocks in southwestern Madagascar and demonstrate the existence of remarkably small animals along the dinosaurian stem. Credit: Frank Ippolito, American Museum of Natural History "This fossil site in southwestern Madagascar from a poorly known time interval globally has produced some amazing fossils, and this tiny specimen was jumbled in among the hundreds we've collected from the site over the years," Flynn said. "It took some time before we could focus on these bones, but once we did, it was clear we had something unique and worth a closer look. This is a great case for why field discoveriescombined with modern technology to analyze the fossils recoveredis still so important." "Discovery of this tiny relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs emphasizes the importance of Madagascar's fossil record for improving knowledge of vertebrate history during times that are poorly known in other places," said project co-leader Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana, professor and director of the vertebrate paleontology laboratory at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. "Over two decades, our collaborative Madagascar-U.S. teams have trained many Malagasy students in paleontological sciences, and discoveries like this helps people in Madagascar and around the world better appreciate the exceptional record of ancient life preserved in the rocks of our country." Kongonaphon isn't the first small animal known near the root of the ornithodiran family tree, but previously, such specimens were considered "isolated exceptions to the rule," Kammerer noted. In general, the scientific thought was that body size remained similar among the first archosaursthe larger reptile group that includes birds, crocodilians, non-avian dinosaurs, and pterosaursand the earliest ornithodirans, before increasing to gigantic proportions in the dinosaur lineage. Body size comparison between the newly discovered Kongonaphon kely (left) and one of the earliest dinosaurs, Herrerasaurus. Credit: Silhouettes from phylopic.org by Scott Hartman (CC BY 3.0) and AMNH/Frank Ippolito. "Recent discoveries like Kongonaphon have given us a much better understanding of the early evolution of ornithodirans. Analyzing changes in body size throughout archosaur evolution, we found compelling evidence that it decreased sharply early in the history of the dinosaur-pterosaur lineage," Kammerer said. This "miniaturization" event indicates that the dinosaur and pterosaur lineages originated from extremely small ancestors yielding important implications for their paleobiology. For instance, wear on the teeth of Kongonaphon suggests it ate insects. A shift to insectivory, which is associated with small body size, may have helped early ornithodirans survive by occupying a niche different from their mostly meat-eating contemporaneous relatives. The work also suggests that fuzzy skin coverings ranging from simple filaments to feathers, known on both the dinosaur and pterosaur sides of the ornithodiran tree, may have originated for thermoregulation in this small-bodied common ancestor. That's because heat retention in small bodies is difficult, and the mid-late Triassic was a time of climatic extremes, inferred to have sharp shifts in temperature between hot days and cold nights. Explore further Fossil finds give clues about flying reptiles in the Sahara 100 million years ago More information: Christian F. Kammerer el al., "A tiny ornithodiran archosaur from the Triassic of Madagascar and the role of miniaturization in dinosaur and pterosaur ancestry," PNAS (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Christian F. Kammerer el al., "A tiny ornithodiran archosaur from the Triassic of Madagascar and the role of miniaturization in dinosaur and pterosaur ancestry,"(2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1916631117 The tropics are the birthplace of most rosids, a massive group of flowering plants that includes this Sterculia monosperma, a nut-bearing tree native to southern China and Taiwan. But rosids are diversifying faster in temperate zones, a finding that challenges a longstanding hypothesis about evolution in the tropics. Credit: Miao Sun In a surprise twist, a major group of flowering plants is evolving twice as quickly in temperate zones as the tropics. The finding runs counter to a long-held hypothesis that tropical regions, home to the planet's richest biological diversity, outpace their temperate counterparts in producing new species. The tropics are the birthplace of most species of rosids, a group that makes up more than a quarter of flowering plants, ranging from mangroves to roses to oaks. But in an analysis of about 20,000 rosid species, researchers found the speed of tropical rosid evolution lags far behind that of younger communities in temperate habitats. Although rosids originated 93-115 million years ago, the rate at which the group diversified, or formed new species, dramatically increased over the last 15 million years, a period of global cooling and expanding temperate habitats. Today, rosids are diversifying far faster in places such as the southeastern U.S. than in equatorial rainforests, said study co-lead author Ryan Folk, assistant professor of biological sciences and herbarium curator at Mississippi State University. "Everyone knows about the diversity of tropical rainforests. You would assume all the action in evolution is happening in them," said Folk, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "But we found out that it is really the temperate regions of the Earthreally our own backyardswhere a lot of the recent action is taking place." Researchers assembled this rosid phylogeny, a map of the groups evolutionary relationships. In the outer ring, tropical rosid lineages are represented by orange lines while non-tropical rosids are marked in blue. Credit: Sun et al, in Nature Communications Charles Darwin once described the speed with which the earliest flowering plants evolved and spread across the planet as an "abominable mystery." Scientists are still tracing the driving forces behind these plants' runaway evolutionary success, with temperature emerging as a complex factor: Some studies have shown that flower evolution accelerates in warmer regions while others point to cooler climates. Research on higher and lower latitudes' influence on plant diversification produced similarly conflicting findings. A team of evolutionary biologists selected rosids as the candidates for a closer look at the relationship between temperature and plant diversity in the first large-scale assessment of the group's evolution. Comprising an estimated 90,000-120,000 species, rosids live in nearly all land-based habitats, with rosid trees shaping most temperate and many tropical forests, said study co-author Douglas Soltis, Florida Museum curator and University of Florida distinguished professor. "To me that was one of the biggest terrestrial evolutionary eventsthe rise of the rosid-dominated forests," he said. "Other lineages, such as amphibians, insects and ferns, diversified in the shadow of rosids." The team's study shows rosids evolved by leaps and bounds after the Earth's hothouse climate began to cool and dry and as many tropical and subtropical habitats transformed into temperate onesoffering new real estate for evolutionarily enterprising organisms. Rose myrtle, Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, is a rosid species that flourishes in the forests, wetlands and coasts of southern and southeastern Asia. Credit: Miao Sun The diversity of tropical regions, in contrast, is not due to evolutionary mechanisms, but rather stability: Folk said tropical plant communities have "simply failed to go extinct, so to speak." The findings echo a similar pattern the team uncovered in another group of plants known as Saxifragales, but the researchers are cautious about making conjectures on whether the pattern holds true for other plants or animals. "It's difficult to say there is a universal pattern for how life responds to temperature," said study co-lead author Miao Sun, a postdoctoral researcher at Denmark's Aarhus University and a former Florida Museum postdoctoral researcher. "On the other hand, there seems to be a trend forming that, together with our study, shows a lower diversification rate in tropical regions compared with temperate zones. But it's still hard to tell to what extent this pattern is true across the tree of life." If cooling temperature spurred rosid diversification, how might the group fare on a warming planet? The prognosis is not promising, the researchers said. Rosids often play important ecological roles. Mangroves provide a foundation for ecosystems that connect land and ocean. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace Rosids were able to fill cool ecological niches and now may not be able to adapt to a temperature hike, especially at the current rate of change, said study co-author Pamela Soltis, Florida Museum curator and UF distinguished professor. "Warming temperatures will likely slow the rate of diversification, but even worse, we don't expect species currently living in arctic or alpine areas to be able to respond to quickly warming temperatures," she said. "The change is happening too rapidly, and we are already seeing species moving northward in the Northern Hemisphere or up mountains, with many more species facing extinction or already lost." The team used genetic data from GenBank and natural history databases such as iDigBio and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to assemble DNA data for 20,000 species and 3 million plant occurrence recordsone of the largest investigations of this nature to date. "This work would have been impossible without natural history collections data," said study co-lead and senior author Robert Guralnick, Florida Museum curator of bioinformatics. "Rosids are an enormously successful group of flowering plants. Look out your window, and you will see rosids. Those plants are there because of processes occurring over millions of years, and now we know something essential about why." The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications. Explore further Plant lineage points to different evolutionary playbook for temperate species More information: Miao Sun et al, Recent accelerated diversification in rosids occurred outside the tropics, Nature Communications (2020). Journal information: Nature Communications Miao Sun et al, Recent accelerated diversification in rosids occurred outside the tropics,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17116-5 Listen, listen! This is Radio Azatlyk, said Myrat Tachmyrat, announcing Radio Libertys first Turkmen language broadcast on March 1, 1953. Reflecting years later on this message declared to the Turkmen people in their own language, Tachmyrat wrote, It was a historic achievement. Tachmyrat, together with Aman Berdimyrat and Allamyrat Halmyrat ogly, all fervent anti-Communists who fought for the Soviet Army and survived German prisons during World War II, formed the first Turkmen editorial team within what was then Radio Libertys regional Turkestan Service for Central Asia. In Tachmyrats words, as recorded in his memoirs, Radio Azatlyks essential goal was to provide its audiences with the news and information they were deprived of by Soviet authorities, and to free them of the lies they were fed for years by Soviet propaganda. He describes how Azatlyks reports helped listeners envision civil, political, national, and religious freedoms, the freedom of expression and the press, and the right to the free exchange of information as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Soviet constitution. Broadcasts covered atrocities and violence, arrests and executions, lawlessness, and the repression of Turkmen culture and society during the Cult of Personality under Soviet leader Josef Stalin. This information was unavailable to us at home, but it was imperative that the people know, he wrote. The Services bold reports in those early years quickly became popular among its audiences while eliciting a hatred among Communist authorities that did not wane after Stalins death. Indeed for decades, Azatlyk journalists were condemned in official meetings and the press as traitors working against their homeland. The state-run Turkmenfilm studio was even commissioned to produce a propaganda film to vilify them. Looking back in the late 1990s, Takhmyrat wrote that Radio Azatlyks work was not finished, adding that the challenges of building pluralism and free markets remained unfulfilled across the new nations that earlier formed the Soviet Union. In over 32 years of service, Tachmyrat produced almost 2,000 articles and commentaries about Turkmenistan and the greater Turkestan region together with reports on international affairs. He presented most of these reports on air himself. Emerging research suggests that beginning father-child playtime at a very young age may help kids better control their behavior and emotions as they grow up. In the study, investigators from University of Cambridge and the LEGO Foundation reviewed fragmentary evidence from the past 40 years to understand more about how fathers play with their children when they are very young (ages 0 to 3). They found that children whose fathers make time to play with them from a very young age may find it easier to control their behavior and emotions as they grow up. In the study, investigators wanted to find out whether father-child play differs from the way children play with their mothers, and whether the effects of early play with fathers would impact a childrens development. Although there are many similarities between fathers and mothers overall, the findings suggest that fathers engage in more physical play even with the youngest children, opting for activities such as tickling, chasing, and piggy-back rides. This seems to help children learn to control their feelings. It may also make them better at regulating their own behavior later on, as they enter settings where those skills are important, especially school. Dr. Paul Ramchandani, professor of play in education, development and learning at the University of Cambridge, said: Its important not to overstate the impact of father-child play as there are limits to what the research can tell us, but it does seem that children who get a reasonable amount of playtime with their father benefit as a group. Dr. Ciara Laverty, from the LEGO Foundation, said: At a policy level, this suggests we need structures that give fathers, as well as mothers, time and space to play with their children during those critical early years. Even today, its not unusual for fathers who take their child to a parent-toddler group, for example, to find that they are the only father there. A culture shift is beginning to happen, but it needs to happen more. Parent-child play in the first years of life is known to support essential social, cognitive and communication skills, but most research focuses on mothers and infants. Studies which investigate father-child play are often small, or do so incidentally. Our research pulled together everything we could find on the subject, to see if we could draw any lessons, Ramchandani said. The Cambridge review used data from 78 studies, undertaken between 1977 and 2017 most of them in Europe or North America. The researchers analyzed the combined information for patterns about how often fathers and children play together, the nature of that play, and any possible links with childrens development. On average, they found that most fathers play with their child every day. Even with the smallest children, however, father-child play tends to be more physical. With babies, that may simply mean picking them up or helping them to gently raise their limbs and exert their strength; with toddlers, fathers typically opt for boisterous, rough-and-tumble play, like chasing games. In almost all the studies surveyed, there was a consistent correlation between father-child play and childrens subsequent ability to control their feelings. Children who enjoyed high-quality playtime with their fathers were less likely to exhibit hyperactivity, or emotional and behavioral problems. They also appeared to be better at controlling their aggression, and less prone to lash out at other children during disagreements at school. The reason for this may be that the physical play fathers prefer is particularly well-suited for developing these skills. Physical play creates fun, exciting situations in which children have to apply self-regulation, Ramchandani said. You might have to control your strength, learn when things have gone too far or maybe your father steps on your toe by accident and you feel cross! Its a safe environment in which children can practice how to respond. If they react the wrong way, they might get told off, but its not the end of the world and next time they might remember to behave differently. The study also found some evidence that father-child play gradually increases through early childhood, then decreases during middle childhood (ages 6 to 12). This, again, may be because physical play is particularly important for helping younger children to negotiate the challenges they encounter when they start to explore the world beyond their own home, in particular at school. Despite the benefits of father-child play, the authors stress that children who only live with their mother need not be at a disadvantage. One of the things that our research points to time and again is the need to vary the types of play children have access to, and mothers can, of course, support physical play with young children as well, Ramchandani added. Different parents may have slightly different inclinations when it comes to playing with children, but part of being a parent is stepping outside your comfort zone. Children are likely to benefit most if they are given different ways to play and interact. Source: University of Cambridge/EurekAlert India will carry out its disengagement in a step-by step process in which each step will be verified before the next is taken New Delhi: The Indian Army is in the process of verifying whether China has started moving back troops from the flashpoints under the agreement reached between the two sides during the June 30 corps commanders meeting. The movement of Chinese troops from the flashpoints will show whether China is serious about disengagement and bringing down tensions at the Line of Actual Control. Last week, at the corps commanders meeting, both sides agreed they would implement the June 6 agreement to move forces back at Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra Post. In some places, soldiers from both sides are close, which could result in a clash. Moving back soldiers 2-3 km will bring down such a possibility. In later stages, troops are planned to move further back and ultimately out of the depth areas too. The June 6 disengagement plan got derailed after the June 15 clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, including 16 Bihar commanding officer Col. Santosh Babu. Col Babu had gone to tell Chinese soldiers to remove a tent near Patrolling Point 14 in the Galwan Valley. Sources said the new disengagement plan is a step-by step process where each step will be verified by India before it takes the next. This will be a slow process which could take months, even extending into the winter. India and China are involved in a bitter standoff at Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs-Gogra Post, Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie sectors. The sources said each of these standoff points was discussed in detail at the corps commanders meeting. In all sectors, the Chinese side has tried to change the LAC by sending its troops in large numbers. It is reported to have deployed around 20,000 troops at the LAC in Ladakh sector, with another 12,000 troops kept in reserve, which can reach the LAC in 48 hours. India has also done mirror deployment of troops in Ladakh to counter the Chinese forces. During a time when new mothers yearn to share the arrival of their infant with loved ones, many have been left disappointed by the need to distance themselves from others. A new baby comes in the family and the most natural inclination is for everyone to pass that baby around, Morgese said. Its natural to want to let that baby see your face and feel you and hear you. I think its 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 mothers 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. We are doing the best we can to keep people safe and stay within the guidelines of what were allowed to ask, Knobbe. Knobbe said a total of 16 people would be allowed in the public meeting because of social-distancing requirements. The meeting will be in the board room of the countys Administrative Center at 600 W. Fourth St. He asked those who wish to attend the meeting to use the call-in option found at the top of the meetings agenda. That number is 1-408-418-9388 and the access code is 146-994-8970#. We will allow the public to make comment over the phone. We certainly want to hear what the public has to say about this issue, Knobbe said. We ask people to speak about aspects of the topic that havent already been raised in previous comments, and there will be a time limit for comments. But we will do our best to hear from the public," Knobbe said. The debate comes as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise through Scott County. As of 5 p.m. Monday, state officials confirmed 812 COVID-19 cases an increase of 18 cases in a day, and 264 confirmed cases over the past 10 days (June 26). Ten people have died. Statewide, Iowa had 283 additional cases on Monday, for a total of 31,660. Of those, 723 have died. This prompted local officials to hold a news conference ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, sternly urging residents to continue practicing public health measures including social distancing and wearing masks. Its typical for elected officials to talk about this in unprecedented terms, but I think that term has lost its punching power. In the early stages, this was unprecedented. We didnt know how to live with or adapt to COVID-19, said Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers. But now we know, and we can no longer plead ignorance to or ignore the science of what this virus is, how it spreads and the damage it can do to our economy, to our health, to our loved ones and to our childrens education, he continued. What is causing the increase in cases? Some experts indicate that more efficient and widespread testing has played a role in the climbing case count. Reynolds did praise Test Iowa efforts, and with nearly 321,000 individuals tested as of Friday, about 1 in 10 Iowans have been tested. Reynolds said new cases are concentrated among adults aged 18 to 40, as the rate of new cases among that age group has increased from 41 percent to 91 percent since June 14. Shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, a Bettendorf police officer heard two loud bangs when he was in the 800 block of River Drive. He heard more bangs and heard, coming from the bike path, what he believed to be a shotgun action being manipulated. He also heard shotgun shells hitting the pavement on the bike path. The officer heard McAdory walking around in the brush near where the officer heard the gun shots, then saw McAdory leave the area. McAdory approached the officer and said he had had been shooting a newly purchased shotgun. He said when he saw the squad car he put the firearm on the ground and walked out of the brushy area. McAdory said he thought it was OK to discharge the firearm in the area and had shot at some ducks on the bike path. McAdory, who said he bought the gun Friday, has two prior felony convictions in Cook County for robbery and residential burglary. He told the officer he had been arrested previously for burglary but believed the charged had been pled down. He was released on cash bond. His preliminary hearing is set for 2 p.m. July 21 in Scott County Court. DES MOINES In her first television ad of the 2020 campaign, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst warns of too much reliance on China, saying saving America starts with Made in America. At the same time, national interest groups that have endorsed her Democratic challenger released a poll Monday showing a tight race between Ernst and Theresa Greenfield. The poll conducted for End Citizens United and Let America Vote shows Greenfield ahead 49% to 47%, which is within the polls 3.46% margin of error. The groups also say the poll findings show Ernsts support from corporate interest groups will be fertile ground for Greenfield to defeat Ernst. Ernsts ad, All Over, highlights her experience as a battalion commander and military logistics expert who led convoys through Kuwait and Iraq to keep United States troops supplied. We drove our trucks all over Baghdad, through terror cells and IEDs, but we kept the supply chain going because American lives counted on it, the 23-year veteran of the Iowa National Guard and first female combat veteran elected to the Senate says in the ad. Today, the U.S. faces another threat reliance on China for far too much, from technology to medicine, Ernst says. So Im fighting to bring it home ... because saving America starts with Made in America. Top court also expunged adverse remarks of the Delhi High Court against the NIA made in its May 27 order while dealing with the bail plea SC sets aside the Delhi High Court order asking the NIA to produce judicial records on transfer of civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi to Mumbai in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. (PTI Photo) New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday sets aside the Delhi High Court order asking the NIA to produce judicial records on transfer of civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi to Mumbai in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said that the Delhi High Court had no jurisdiction in entertaining Navlakha's bail plea and held that courts in Bombay had the jurisdiction in the case. The top court also expunged adverse remarks of the Delhi High Court against the National Investigation Agency (NIA) made in its May 27 order while dealing with the bail plea. The apex court had earlier stayed the May 27 order of the Delhi High Court by which the NIA was pulled up for acting in haste in taking away Navlakha from Tihar Jail to Mumbai. The Delhi High Court on May 27 had pulled up the NIA for acting in unseemly haste in taking away Navlakha from the national capital to Mumbai even when his interim bail plea was pending here. During the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, said that at the time when Navlakha surrendered in pursuance to top court order, Delhi was under lockdown. He said that NIA later moved the Mumbai trial court and requested for issuance of production warrant as Navlakha was in judicial custody at Tihar Jail. He added that Navlakha was produced before the trial judge in Mumbai based on the production warrant and the Delhi High Court was duly informed about it during the hearing. Mehta pointed out that after the lockdown was lifted, Navlkaha was taken to Mumbai and the observations made by the Delhi High Court were totally uncalled for. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Navlakha said, What the HC has done? It has neither granted any bail nor any relief. High Court simply asked the concerned officer to file an affidavit. However, the bench said that Delhi High Court should not have entertained the matter. How any HC could have interfered in the matter like this? the bench told Sibal, adding, You could have come to us (SC) or go to the concerned NIA court in Mumbai. The top court on June 19, had expressed unhappiness and questioned the Delhi High Court's decision to entertain the bail plea of Navlakha, when it had already dismissed his petition for similar relief and asked him to surrender within a specific date. Navlakha was arrested in August 2018 by the Pune Police from his Delhi residence in connection with the violence at Koregaon Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. Navlakha, Teltumbde and several other activists have been booked by the Pune Police for their alleged Maoist links and several other charges following the violence at Koregaon Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. All the accused have denied the allegations. According to Pune Police, "inflammatory" speeches and "provocative" statements made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 had triggered caste violence at Koregaon Bhima the next day. The police alleged that the conclave was backed by Maoists. FARGO, N.D. | A federal judge on Monday sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and ordered the Dakota Access pipeline to shut down until more environmental review is done. In a 24-page order, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that he was mindful of the disruption" that shutting down a pipeline that has been in operation for three years would cause, but that it must be done within 30 days. His order comes after he said in April that the pipeline remained highly controversial under federal environmental law, and a more extensive review was necessary than the assessment that was done. Clear precedent favoring vacatur during such a remand coupled with the seriousness of the Corps deficiencies outweighs the negative effects of halting the oil flow for the thirteen months that the Corps believes the creation of an EIS will take, Boasberg wrote Monday. Boasberg had ordered both parties to submit briefs on whether the pipeline should continue operating during the new environmental review. The press release said Thom met with a lawyer representing NDN Collective before the protest but did not identify him. Bruce Ellison, whos defending the only protester charged with felonies, told the Journal that hes the lawyer who met with the sheriff. He rejected Thoms characterization of the protest and idea that the agreement had been broken. He also said it was the National Guard that escalated the situation. Ellison told Thom that the protest would be peaceful but that some people may lay in the road and refuse to move, something they know might result in their arrest, the news release says. Ellison also said all resistance would be passive. Ellison said he told Thom that NDN Collective wants a peaceful protest but that there will be civil disobedience. He said they went over potential scenarios, such as how people who lay in the street could be arrested and how cars blocking the road could be towed. I applaud the sheriff for the discussions that were had, he said. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Fury said all VIPs, including South Dakotas congressional delegation, were tested at Mount Rushmore before coming into contact with President Trump. But health officials say one day after exposure may not be enough time for the incubation period the time between exposure to the virus and the onset of symptoms to run its course. The World Health Organization says the average incubation period is five to six days but for some incubation can take up to 14 days, which is why doctors recommend a 14-day self-quarantine after exposure to the coronavirus. Fury didnt say whether Noem would self-quarantine for the recommended 14 days. Dr. Shankar Kurra, vice president of medical affairs at Monument Health, said for those exposed to COVID-19 symptoms typically take three to five days after exposure to appear. If you have no symptoms, testing for COVID-19 probably wont show positive results until three days after exposure, Kurra said. Ty White, director of infection prevention and control at Monument Health, said he would advise against testing someone directly after an exposure. China put the tariffs on Australia. So, theyre super short and have a need for malt barley right now, Marn said. There is potential that open market could have a home. I know several companies have been working to sort that out. What could make Montana malt barley sales to China possible is the phase-one trade deal between China and the United States. Signed by President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in January, the trade deal requires $40 billion in U.S. agricultural goods and other products over the next two years. Theres disagreement in the Trump administration about whether the phase-one deal is still good. Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News late last month that the deal was over, but Trump later insisted on Twitter that the deal is still on. To get U.S. barley moving into China, the United States must first certify a handling facility, which China must also approve, among other things, Marn said. It will take time to work out the details. Its just brand new. Theyre working on it now and hopefully it will be ready by harvest when we have some extra barley, Marn said. Montana was the No. 1 state for barley acres planted at more than 1 million acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures 2020 Plantings Report published Tuesday. The state had twice as many barley acres as North Dakota, the second largest barley state by acreage. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dr. Katrin I. Spinetta, nee Menzel, passed away unexpectedly on June 23, just five days from her 77th birthday. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, the Honorable Judge Peter L. Spinetta, Ret., her three children, Peter, Anita and Lawrence and their eight grandchildren: Nicholas and Mitchell Spinetta; Reid, Katrina, and Case Ostrom; and, Lauryn, Alexis, and Lars Peter Spinetta. She is also survived by her five siblings Barbara Brooks Nutter, Ulli Menzel, Hans Menzel, Elizabeth Cohen and Michael Menzel. The daughter of Hans Georg Menzel and Inge Wittmann Menzel, Katrin was born in Berlin, Germany during WWII. Her remarkable life began with childhood memories of being on one of the last trains out of the city, escaping Soviet occupation. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was six, and she vividly remembered being taunted for her German accent, which made her ultimate mastery of seven languages even more of a testimony to her brilliance, determination and strength. She excelled in school, earning a full scholarship to Wellesley College, the application for which she was proud to have typed on a Smith Corona typewriter that she earned while babysitting for 25 cents per hour. After Wellesley, Katrin won a fellowship to Yale University, where she completed a Master of Philosophy in Latin American Literature. Later, while simultaneously raising three children and working, she earned a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from the University of California, Berkeley. In conjunction with the Lazada 7.7 mid-year sales, Hi HOME is collaborating with Lazada to bring you its first ever, online property expo in Southeast Asia this 7 July 2020 to 9 July 2020. This will be the time when Malaysians will be able to find amazing deals from participating developers such as PR1MA, MRCB Land, and PNB offering discounts up to 30% and more! Why Now Could Be The Best Time To Purchase A Property The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about an unfortunate halt globally, and Malaysia is not excluded where it has affected the local economy across various industries. Unsurprisingly, the property and development industry are not spared too. This has caused developers to be more motivated to sell their properties, offering additional deals to buyers such as extra discounts, free MOT, rebates of up to 15%, 24 months free instalments and more. Furthermore, it was also predicted that property prices in Malaysia will decline by as much as 20% post Covid-19. While many Malaysians are inevitably faced with financial challenges during this time, for those who have not been financially affected by the pandemic this could be the opportunity to purchase the property youve been considering for personal stay, or even as personal investment. This is because despite the prediction of decreasing property prices, more recent news has reported that property prices are increasing, although at a slow pace as we go through the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). So in the future, your property could yield higher value than what youre paying for now. In addition, with the re-introduction of the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) as part of the governments Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), buyers will also get to enjoy a stamp duty exemption on the instruments of transfer and loan agreements for residential homes priced between RM300,000 to RM2.5 million; with terms and conditions apply. And this is where Hi HOME Property Expo and Lazada come in, to bring you various properties offering amazing deals in one online platform. The First Online Property Expo in Southeast Asia As the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, the Hi HOME Property Expo x Lazada will be showcasing over 2000 property units with discounts up to 30% and prices as low as RM110,000. And just like how you would shop for your essentials online, all you need to do is get on Lazada and browse through the full list of properties offered in the comfort of your home. The best part? CIMB has also joined the Hi HOME Property Expo x Lazada collaboration by offering buyers a reduction of monthly instalments by up to 10% for the first 5 years through its FlexiOwn plan. So check out properties from condominiums, serviced residences, terrace linked homes and townhouses at prime locations by some of the biggest property developers such as PR1MA, MRCB Land, PNB and more this 7.7! To make the expo even more exciting, Hi HOME will be also employing LazLive during the expo to give viewers a full tour of all the properties instead of just looking at photos and promotional videos. Book Your Dream Home In 5 Easy Steps Once youve taken a good look at the properties on LazLive and have decided on which property to purchase, Hi HOME lets you conveniently book the property online. All you have to do is select the home of your choice, proceed to purchase a voucher priced at either RM88 or RM100. This voucher acts as your booking voucher which can also be used to redeem free gifts from developers such as savings of up to RM300,000, 24-month free instalments and up to RM30,000 in housing subsidies! So save the date this 7 July 2020 and start booking your dream home at Hi HOME Property Expo on Lazada! 5 1 vote Article Rating SHARE Airline companies have been requested to adjust their flight prices back to pre-movement control order (MCO) levels by senior minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. According to Datuk Ismail, the government is aware of the high airfares for domestic flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak. He explained that the initial increase in ticket prices was justified as airlines were only allowed to fly at 66% passenger capacity due to social distancing. But now we have allowed airline companies to operate at full capacity without social distancing measures, said Datuk Ismail, hence the call for ticket prices to be returned to normal. He added that the Transport Ministry and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) have been tasked to reach out to airline companies regarding this matter. In particular, Datuk Ismail urged for flight prices be adjusted for students, teachers, and higher education institute students who will be resuming their studies. He further called on MAVCOM to negotiate special ticket prices for these groups of travellers. Prior to this, airlines had temporarily grounded their fleets between March to April due to travel restrictions and low demand. Subsequently, the government urged them to resume flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak. Malaysia Airlines was the first to do so in mid-April, and it was subsequently joined by AirAsia and Malindo Air. However, the airlines were subject to regulations and operating procedures, such as carrying only 66% of the passenger capacity (during the extended conditional MCO). (Source: The Star) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE To complete that form, you'll need information such as your Social Security number, driver's license number, and bank account details, assuming you'd like your stimulus cash sent via direct deposit. If that's not the case, or you don't have a bank account, the IRS will send your stimulus payment by mail. Act now Though you have until October to register your information with the IRS, the sooner you take that easy step, the sooner you stand to get your stimulus cash. We don't know if a second stimulus round is in the cards, but either way, it would be a shame to miss out on the first round needlessly. 10 stocks we like better than Walmart When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have an investing tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* CHRISTIANSBURG Terry Wayne Millers bid to set aside a jurys guilty verdict in the Operation Crankdown methamphetamine case ended this week with a judges ruling that a neighborhood group of guys could meet the legal definition of a conspiracy. Miller, 57, of Giles County, was found guilty in October of two counts of conspiring to transport meth into Virginia. Jurors recommended a total sentence of 16 years in prison. Earlier this year, Millers attorney, Aaron Houchens of Salem, asked Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk to set aside the jury verdict. Houchens argued that Millers role in the Crankdown case in which 23 defendants were accused of operating a Georgia-to-Blacksburg meth pipeline did not rise to the level of a criminal conspiracy. But at a Monday hearing, Turk said he disagreed. Witnesses said Miller was present 10 to 15 times in the Blacksburg garage where meth was used and divided for distribution several times per week during 2017 and early 2018, the judge noted. Miller also accompanied Aaron Wayne Hixon, the central figure in the case, on at least two trips to Georgia to get meth, helping pack the vehicle and driving it, according to witnesses, the judge said. Like other speakers, Jones criticized the actions of some including members of the Roanoke City Council who placated to individual groups who did not like the norm. That is where the slippery slope begins, Jones told a crowd gathered at the Roanoke Valley War Memorial, some of them holding signs that read: Why are we Handcuffing our Guardians? and Blue Lives Also Matter. I saw that coming, and I felt the impact of that, said Jones, who had a rocky relationship with some council members amid criticism that his views as a 39-year veteran had not kept up with a changing society. During a discussion with city council about sexual assault data, Jones drew protests after he said young women too often put themselves at risk when alcohol and other factors come into play. And in comments about his frustration with a downtown shooting, he admonished Roanokers that they were better than that, adding in part, This isnt some kind of rap video, a remark that struck some as racially coded. Jones noted the absence Sunday of city council members at the speakers podium or in the audience, which largely consisted of retired police officers, their family members and supporters. Indias apex medical body ICMR had said Friday it aims to launch the worlds first Covid-19 vaccine, the indigenous Covaxin, by August 15 With a record single-day surge of 27,094 coronavirus infections and 676 fatalities, Indias Covid-19 count zoomed past 6.97,358 lakhs, while the death toll rose to 19,963 on Sunday. Recording over 20,000 infections for the third consecutive day, India overtook Russia, which has so far registered 681,251 Covid-19 cases. India is reportedly the third worst-hit nation in terms of pandemic infections after the United States and Brazil, and is the eighth worst-hit in terms of deaths. India now overtakes Russia which was at No.3. According to Worldometer, which compiles the Covid-19 data from around the globe, only the US and Brazil are now ahead of India in terms of total coronavirus infections. Brazil has 15,78,376 infections and the US 29,54,999 cases In a bid to cut the chain of transmission and to minimise the potential of its spread, Kerala became the first state to amend its Epidemic Diseases Ordinance by extending Covid-19 control regulations for the next year. With cases gradually increasing in Kerala, the state government issued new guidelines which will be in force till July 2021, or till further orders. This means people must wear masks, keep social distancing and avoid large gatherings for a year, or else will face penalties under the law. In a significant development on the Covid-19 vaccine, the ministry of science and technology on Sunday edited a press release issued earlier by the Press Information Bureau that a vaccine is unlikely to be ready for mass use before 2021. The release had earlier said that along with two Indian vaccines Covaxin and ZyCov-D 11 of 140 vaccine candidates had entered human trials across the world, but none of them was likely to be ready for mass use before 2021. This phrase was later removed. Indias apex medical body ICMR had said Friday it aims to launch the worlds first Covid-19 vaccine, the indigenous Covaxin, by August 15, and told select medical institutions to fast-track its clinical trials. But experts said such a timeline may not be realistic. As far as the spread of the coronavirus is concerned, Maharashtra crossed the grim milestone of two lakh Covid-19 cases by recording a single-day increase of 7,074 infections. While Tamil Nadu registered 4,280 fresh cases, Delhi, Telan-gana, Karnataka, Assam and Bihar added a total of about 10,000 cases in a day. These seven states have contributed to about 78 per cent of the singe-day spike. Of the total 19,331 deaths reported so far, Maha-rashtra also accounted for the highest 8,671 fatalities. Roanoke County is launching a grant program to help local businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The county is pledging $1 million of its Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding to the program. The CARES Act is intended to assist local and state governments with expenses that arose due to the pandemic and mandated closures. The county must spend the money by Dec. 30. Applications for the small businesses assistance program will be accepted beginning Monday and grants are awarded to eligible businesses on a first-come, first-served basis. The grant awards range from $2,500 to $10,000 and are based on number of employees. A business with 25 or more employees is eligible to receive up to $10,000. To be eligible, businesses must be for-profit and up to date with all taxes, fees and permits. Business owners must hold an active business license in Roanoke County or Vinton and be able to demonstrate that the coronavirus negatively affected its operations. Economic Development Director Jill Loope said businesses could use the funds for operations, payroll, rent, supplies, utilities, deep cleaning services and personal protective equipment. RICHMOND Joyce Barnes has become sick before by caring for someone who was carrying a communicable disease without anyone knowing it a bacterial infection that put her in the hospital last year. The coronavirus pandemic has raised the stakes for Barnes, 61, who cares for Medicaid patients in their homes but does not have health insurance or paid sick leave or hazard pay to care for herself if she contracts COVID-19. Barnes, who lives in Sandston in eastern Henrico County, makes $9.40 an hour as a personal care attendant for people who otherwise would have to go to nursing homes. An elderly man incapacitated by stroke. Another who has lost both legs to diabetes. I love the one-on-one work, but its just sad that with predominantly Black women working in these jobs, we dont get what we deserve, she said. I feel like we are the forgotten ones. Their plight has gotten the attention of Gov. Ralph Northam, who protected a 5% wage increase for personal care attendants in the two-year state budget that took effect on Wednesday. The increase represents an additional 47 cents an hour in the average wage for attendants in Virginia. MVPs transportation capacity has been fully subscribed since the onset of the project and MVP will play a critical role in meeting the growing demand for a reliable, affordable, and clean-burning source of domestic energy in the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, she said. While the two pipelines were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the same day Oct. 13, 2017 Atlantic Coast ran into key problems with legal challenges faster than Mountain Valley. Mountain Valley hopes to resume work on parts of the pipeline as soon as this month. That would give crews enough time to lay the remaining pipe in the ground by fall, it says, leaving the more challenging issue of stream crossings as the last stage of construction. For Atlantic Coast Pipeline opponents, the abandonment of the project represents vindication of grassroots opposition that arose along the pipelines path. Its all about the people, said Nancy Sorrells, who helped form the Augusta County Alliance against the project in 2014 and represents the county in the Alliance of the Shenandoah Valley. They knew it was wrong from start to finish and just never gave up. Its been the best Fourth of July since 1776, Sorrells said. Charlottesville police officers used force to arrest suspects 17 times in 2019; more than half of those instances were against African Americans. The Charlottesville Police Department published its use-of-force report for 2019 in May. The issue has come to a head in recent weeks after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers led to ongoing protests across the country. Reports for the past two years are posted on the citys website, but only the 2019 report lists demographic information about both the officers and suspects. Department spokesman Tyler Hawn said the additional information was championed by Police Chief RaShall Brackney, who came into office in the summer of 2018. The Daily Progress sent a list of questions to Hawn regarding use of force on June 18, including if and how the department focuses on de-escalation, if chokeholds are allowed and if CPD had any plans to revise its use of force policies in the wake of protests locally and nationally. Mining companies operating in Peru are being forced to keep operations suspended and halt new ones as confirmed coronavirus cases in the country surged past 300,000 on Sunday, with several of the new infections happening in the copper sector. Canadas Trevali Mining (TSX: TV) said on Friday that a total of 82 workers had tested positive for covid-19 at its Santander mine, which would remain halted. The company had suspended operations in June after 19 workers tested positive. The number of confirmed cases now comprises nearly 30% of the total workforce of the mine. CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN PERU, THE WORLDS NO. 2 COPPER PRODUCER, SURGED PAST 300,000 ON SUNDAY London-based Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC) halted on Monday operations at its flagship Inmaculada silver mine, after a number of workers there tested positive for coronavirus. The mine will now operate with a reduced workforce running care and maintenance activities at the site. The company expects to resume operations as soon as a safe and healthy workforce can return to the site. Hochschilds Pallancata silver-gold mine in Peru and the San Jose mine in Argentina remain open, it said. Canadian Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) is also suspending operations at its Caylloma mine for two weeks. The decision follows the sudden death of a 34-year-old contractor on July 5. The Vancouver-based miner said the cause of death had not been determined, but the worker had completed a health check, including a covid-19 test, which was negative. Japans Mitsui Mining and Smelting seems to have the situation under control as it said on Monday it had resumed operations at its two zinc mines in Peru last week. The companys Huanzala and Palka mines had been suspended for more than three months to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The death toll from the virus in Peru, the worlds no. 2 copper producer, now stands at 10,589, the 10th-highest in the world, based on data from Johns Hopkins University. For confirmed cases, the Andean country has the fifth-highest in the world. Key week for copper Disruptions related to the pandemic situation in Peru as well as in neighbouring Chile, the worlds largest copper producer, have been propelling prices for the metal in recent weeks. After hitting a five-month high last week, copper was trading close to that milestones again on Monday thanks to growing optimism about demand in top consumer China and concerns about the spread of covid-19 among the worlds largest producers. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded up 1.5% at $6,105 a tonne in official rings. The industrial metal, also needed in the making of electric vehicles, hit $6,120 a tonne last week, the highest since January 22. Analysts believe that copper will extend gains above $6,000 for days, especially after state-owned Codelco suspended expansion work at El Teniente, its largest copper mine. Related: Copper Glut Continues To Grow It means that the worlds largest copper miner is now running parts of its two flagship divisions (Chuquicamata and El Teniente) at reduced levels. Work at all of Codelcos Northern District projects including Gaby, Ministro Hales and Radomiro Tomic have now been temporarily suspended. While Chile managed to maintain output at high levels in May, curtailments and shift-pattern changes have begun to affect the countrys overall output. A clear view into how it fared in June will come on Tuesday, with monthly export data. The risks are clearly mounting and we believe completion timelines on the aforementioned structural projects are set to be further delayed, said Colin Hamilton, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, in a note to investors. There is also important technical action in the charts, with spot copper now trading higher than in the futures market. In addition, the metals 50-day moving average is now fast closing in on its 200-day counterpart and may move above it in the coming days, Bloomberg analysts said on Monday. The pattern, known as golden cross, normally anticipates further gains in an asset. The last time investors watched it unfold for copper was early this year, just before it collapsed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. By Mining.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Crisis often helps to lift the fog of bureaucratic process and shows institutions in their true light. That has been the case with the World Health Organization, the leading arm of the United Nations to fight a global pandemic. The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the weakness not just of the WHO but other institutions. At first glance, the United Nations along with its World Health Organization takes the lead on Covid-19. Regionally, in Europe, that role falls to the European Union and, nationally, to state governments. The pandemic should be a straightforward apolitical challenge. Far from exacerbating antagonism within and between governments, the crisis should encourage unity. But the United Nations has allowed itself to become embroiled in superpower rivalry. The European Union has failed to come up with a cohesive regional strategy and, in many countries, questions on how to handle the pandemic have caused divisions. First, the United Nations. In a March statement, Secretary General Antonio Guterres described Covid-19 as the worlds gravest test since the UNs founding. He warned it could lead to an increase in social unrest and violence against which the engagement of the UN Security Council would be critical. A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time, he said. Far from taking up Guterres advice, the Security Council headed in the opposite direction. Guterres took the step of calling for a resolution on a global ceasefire in the worlds many conflicts to create conditions to deliver aid to those most vulnerable. Over weeks of negotiation, draft resolutions have journeyed through numerous incarnations, but at the time of this writing, none has yet gone to the vote because of US objections. The blocking point is not a dispute over the ceasefire, but over the World Health Organization as the lead international agency on Covid-19. The United States has accused WHO of being manipulated by China and withholding pandemic information. The two governments cannot agree on how to refer to WHO in the resolution text, and US President Donald Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the UN Agency altogether. The result, in the midst of this crisis, is paralysis within the Security Council, which is the highest global authority tasked with maintaining international peace and security. The standoff not only rejects the current secretary generals call for unity and resolve, it also challenges the founding principles of the United Nations itself and is a far cry from the vision set out by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the closing stages of the Second World War. He argued then for an end to international mistrust, suspicion and fear, saying, We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. Second, the European Union. This regional institution was born out of the same momentum that created the United Nations. Its original purpose was to prevent future conflict in Europe and it now comprises 27 sovereign states operating to some extent under shared regulatory structures. Like the United Nations, the European Union described Covid-19 as an unprecedented challenge that it would meet in a spirit of solidarity. That has yet to happen and the consequences for this failure are predicted to be far-reaching and severe. On January 25th, as the international threat of Covid-19 first emerged, the European Centre for Disease Prevention as lead agency announced, European countries have the necessary capacities to prevent and control an outbreak as soon as cases are detected. By March, as the virus struck hard in Italy and Spain, that had been proved wrong. Even then, the European Union issued no cohesive guidelines to stop the spread. Governments hoarded supplies, haphazardly opened and shut borders, and imposed their own restrictions. (Source: Developing an Effective Governance Operating Model, Deloitte and Hague Institute for Global Justice) Sweden refused to implement any lockdown while in Spain citizens needed documentation to even step outside their homes. Yet, both are in Europes Schengen Area, which allows unrestricted passport-free movement among 26 European countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen apologized for letting Italy down in its time of need while French President Emmanuel Macron warned of the collapse of the European Union itself unless there was agreement on an emergency assistance fund to deal with the economic downturn. If we cant do this today, I tell you the populists will win, Macron predicted. As if on cue, Europes foremost populist leader, Viktor Orban of Hungary, suspended parliament to rule by decree, citing Covid-19 as his reason. Orbans move underlines Macrons fear that the pandemics knock-on effect would be the fueling of right-wing nationalism. Founded on unequivocal principles of democratic freedoms, the European Union cannot afford to be a club for dictators. We must be extra vigilant to ensure that the pandemic does not become a temptation for leaders to compromise democratic values under the guise of quashing the disease. Related: Saudi Arabia Is Fighting A War On Two Fronts Third, sovereign states. Some, like New Zealand, have earned high praise in handling the pandemic. Others such as the United States and Britain have fared less well exposing critical weaknesses in their own political systems. In the United States, Trump aggravated the often-sensitive relationship between states and federal government, drawing accusations that he was fomenting domestic rebellion. He backed activists, some openly armed while protesting against their state governments lockdowns, specifically calling for the liberation of Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia, and he claimed absolute power across the country in dealing with Covid-19, but no responsibility, leaving that to the governors. The United Kingdom has faced similar divisions, with Covid-19 leading to fresh debate about the breakup of the country itself. The pandemic and responses remind citizens that the United Kingdom is, in fact, a political construct of four nations, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. When Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a slight lockdown relaxation, it turned out he only had power to impose his measures in England. The other three nations refused, with Scotland refusing to rule out border checks on visitors coming from England as if it were a foreign country. Ultimate responsibility for the protection of citizens lies with national governments. The role of international institutions is to coordinate, inform, advise and, in some cases, enforce, particularly when threats cross borders. On the ground and within science, Covid-19 has led to a unity to eradicate the threat and get the job done. But politically it has uncovered structural flaws that need attention. The European Union and the UN Security Council are two of the worlds most sophisticated institutions. Both have been found wanting over the Covid-19 response, and so far, neither has come close to accomplishing the missions for which they were created. By Humphrey Hawksley via Yale Global Online More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Shanghai (Gasgoo)- JAC Motors inked on June 30 an agreement with Bozhou municipal government to build mid-/high-end MPVs at Anhui Jianghuai Anchi Automobile Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hefei-based automaker. According to the agreement, local government will offer supports of capital, policy and procurement to the construction of the MPV manufacturing base, so as to boost local economic development and increase jobs for local residents. Registered in September 2010, Jianghuai Anchi is a Bozhou-based automaker that mainly produces SUVs, pickups, mini trucks and mini-sized electric cars, according to public records. (Refine M4, photo source: JAC Motors) JAC Motors has quite a few MPV models on sale like the Refine series. By building the new mid-/high-end MPV base, the company attempts to consolidate its advantage in the domestic MPV market. Amid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, JAC Motors made use of online marketing channels to spur its MPV sales after it fully resumed operation and production. In April, the diesel-powered Refine M4 hit the market, which further enriches JAC's MPV lineup. JAC Motors recently attracted a great deal of public attentions by its transaction with Volkswagen Group. On June 11, JAC Motor, Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (VW China for short) and JAC Volkswagen (JV for short), a NEV joint venture between the former two, struck a deal which will see VW China's share in the JV increase to 75% from 50%. After gaining more shares, Volkswagen Group will authorize JAC Volkswagen to produce four or five BEV models, according to another agreement signed between JAC Motors and VW China. Besides, a manufacturing plant that is able to output vehicles at 60 units per hour is set to work at full capacity between 2025 and 2030. CM Uddhav Thackeray appealed to companies not to retrench their workers even if there is a wage cut A decision on reopening hotels and restaurants in Maharashtra will be taken soon. (PTI Photo) Mumbai: A decision on reopening hotels and restaurants in Maharashtra will be taken soon after finalising Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday. Interacting with various associations of hotels and lodges, the CM said the hotel industry played a crucial role in the tourism sector. Addressing another meeting, the CM has appealed to companies not to retrench their workers even if there is a wage cut. SoPs for reopening hotels and restaurants are being finalised. Once that is done, a decision on reopening hotels and restaurants will be taken soon, Mr Thackeray said in an online meeting. A senior officer of Mantralaya told The Asian Age that with certain restrictions, the hotel services would be allowed to reopen within a week. However, the hoteliers need to ensure hygiene, thermal screening of customers and its employees and social distance should be maintained. Urging the hotel industry not to retrench workers as the Mission Begin Again is underway, the CM said reopening would be done carefully with emphasis on health and safety. (Factors like) SoPs, regulation and self regulation, work force strength, health safety measures etc. are very much important, he said. During the virtual interaction, hoteliers suggested that water and electricity be provided at the rate which is applicable to other industries. Representatives of the hotel industry underlined the need to restart their establishments stating that the state government is losing revenue due to the extended shutdown. The hotel and restaurant industry is losing over `6 crore per day due to the lockdown. The representatives also demanded waiver in the tax and permission to use terrace and open areas of the hotels and restaurants in order to maintain social distance while serving the customers. Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar said, We cannot allow operation of 100 per cent hotels in one go. Therefore we are planning to reopen it in phases, considering all the necessary aspects. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close An unexpected sentencing windfall for drunk drivers | Main | A positive, practical consequence of a parole panic October 21, 2007 Punished (twice?!?) for an uncharged murder in federal court A helpful reader sent me this remarkable story about a recent federal sentencing in Nevada. Here are the highlights: A Las Vegas judge found by "clear and convincing evidence" Friday that David Fitch killed his wife eight years ago, although the defendant has never been charged with murder and the woman's body has never been found. The finding allowed U.S. District Judge James Mahan to depart from federal guidelines and sentence Fitch to nearly 22 years in prison for committing bank fraud and other crimes in a case that stems from the September 1999 disappearance of the Fitch's wife, Maria Bozi.... Fitch, 49, recently completed an eight-year prison term for illegally possessing firearms and false identification documents in a related case.... Fitch's court-appointed attorney, Lisa Rasmussen, argued that Bozi's disappearance was considered by U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson at the previous sentencing and that her client should not be required to serve any additional time in the new case, which stemmed from the same "scheme of conduct." Mahan said the record does not support the contention that Dawson considered the murder allegation in sentencing Fitch.... Although federal guidelines suggested a sentence in the range of 41 to 51 months, Mahan chose to impose a 262-month sentence, which amounts to nearly 22 years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Vasquez had requested a 30-year term.... Fitch ... argued that authorities have no evidence showing that he harmed anyone. "I'm not a violent person," he said. Fitch pleaded guilty in July 2000 to multiple felony counts that involved possession of firearms, ammunition and false identification documents. In July 2004, while Fitch was serving his eight-year sentence, he was indicted in the bank fraud case. A jury convicted Fitch earlier this year of multiple felony counts of bank fraud, money laundering and unauthorized possession of a credit card. Bozi was the victim of most of the crimes.... Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he doesn't plan to file a murder charge against Fitch, despite Mahan's comments Friday. Clark County prosecutors will not pursue a murder charge until they have enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, Roger said. In prior posts, I have noted numerous other recent instances in which federal courts have enhanced sentences based on uncharged murder allegations. The great irony is that Justice Scalia's opinion in Blakely expressed grave concerns about allowing judges to "sentence a man for committing murder even if the jury convicted him only of illegally possessing the firearm used to commit it." It seems that, despite Blakely's outcome, this remains a surprisingly common occurrence in federal court. Related posts on uncharged murder sentencing enhancements: October 21, 2007 at 01:57 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e200e54efbc07b8833 Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Punished (twice?!?) for an uncharged murder in federal court: Comments This might be a case that the Supreme Court would ultimately take up. It is the most severe set of facts that has been posted on this site that I have seen. There is the double jeopardy claim-- that he was enhanced at the one sentencing for this conduct and is not enhanced again. I would glibbly call this being twice being put in jeopardy for the same non-offense. The blog often cites Blakely and sometimes Apprendi on these issues of non charged conduct. It seems to me that Souter's majority opinion in Jones v. U.S. 526 U.S. 227 (1999) states the proposition more fully, by including the indictment component. At headnote [1][2] "Much turns on the determination that a fact is an element of an offense rather than a sentencing consideration, given that elements must be charged in the indictment, submitted to a jury, and proven by the Government beyond a reasonable doubt." citing Hamlin and Gaudin. At a later passage footnote 6: "The preceding paragraph in the text expresses that principle plainly enough, and we restate it here: under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the notice and jury trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment, any fact (other than prior conviction) that increases the maximum penalty for a crime must be charged in an indictment, submitted to a jury, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt." Later cases adopt Jones but gloss the indictment requirement. The core problem here is a disconnect from the law of the land proclaimed by the Supreme Court (here the Command of the Sixth Amendment) and the application of that law in District Courts and in the States. Here the State prosecutor states that the man will not be charged with murder until they have proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The District Judge in federal court took care of the problem. He finds by clear and convincing evidence that the bank fraud defendant committed murder in as yet an uncharged crime. For all we know the wife is in Miami living a life of leisure under a new identity. This case is wrong on all fours: no indictment, no jury trial, no proof beyond a reasonable doubt and double jeopardy because the guy already got hosed with the murder in the first go-round. The "Command" of the Sixth Amendment is not getting much respect down in the ranks. Keep us posted on the appeal in this case. Posted by: M. P. Bastian | Oct 22, 2007 7:20:31 AM So, if this guy were to commit bank fraud in the future, the district couldn't use it to enhance his sentence because that would violate double jeopardy? Don't think so. I have little problem with the argument that using uncharged crimes violates the Sixth Amendment (don't agree with it, but it at least makes sense). Why convolute your argument with the double jeopardy nonsense? Posted by: JustClerk | Oct 22, 2007 8:05:36 AM How is this any different than using prior convictions every time someone commits a new crime? Repeat offenders always get an increased punishment. Posted by: | Oct 22, 2007 11:32:55 AM Response to Just Clerk: Double jeopardy attaches here because as the current defense counsel asserts, the initial charge was of the same scheme of conduct. It may convolute the argument but this is not a tidy case. A double jeopardy claim can arise under the Stirone doctrine--where the court constructively amends the charge in an indictment. The govt cannot charge one in an indictment with stealing from the wife and then charge the jury with a jury instruction to find him guilty of murder. Double jeopardy must be considered in tandem with Sixth Amendment Apprendi issues. Response to second post. There was no prior conviction for murder. What facts concerning murder was the jury charged to consider and what facts did they find beyond a reasonable doubt concerning the murder of missing wife? The Jones, Apprendi, Blakely (Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment taken together with the notice and jury trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment) jurisprudence dictates that any fact that any fact that increases a penalty (other than prior conviction) must be charged in an indictment, tried to a jury and found by that jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The Crawford (Confrontation Clause) jurisprudence holds that the court can not consider hearsay evidence-- that the defendant has a right to confront the witnesses against him face to face in open court within the context of a trial. From what witness did the trial court determine that this guy murdered missing wife? It was post jury stage and therefore we must know here that there was no face to face confrontation of any such witness before the defendant and before the jury. The third Sixth Amendment issue is effective assistance of counsel at the first case where he pled guilty on the assurance that he was pleading guilty to the counts charged and not murder. They keep gassing up on this guy. The first cases are in the same scheme of conduct as the bank fraud. The next thing they will do is charge him with child support crimes and enhance his sentence for the (as yet uncharged murder crime) on that offense. This is an insult to the jury that tried the case on bank fraud charges. They go home after their verdict and later read in the paper that the judge gave him 22 years for murder. Posted by: M.P. Bastian | Oct 23, 2007 5:01:26 AM Insulting to the jury? How is this any different than say the 3 strikes law -- the jury isn't told about the guy's priors, they find him guilty of say a minor theft offense and then they learn he's getting 50 years. Jurors have always been kept in the dark as it relates to sentencing because it's an improper consideration during the guilt phase of trial. The fact that this involves uncharged conduct doesn't make it any more "insulting" than any other sentencing factor which cannot and should not be presented to a jury. Posted by: JustClerk | Oct 23, 2007 8:29:27 AM Will somebody shed light on this. I thought enhancement on uncharged conducts was part of the same scheme. So, JustClerk, what you're saying is, that a sentence can be enhanced even if it not part of the same scheme that happened years ago. This seemed definitely an abused of power by the court. Posted by: | Oct 24, 2007 12:50:08 PM Post a comment Lots and lots of notable death penalty headlines and commentary | Main | Ohio board recommends clemency for murderer based on his "deprived history" September 23, 2011 Split Ninth Circuit affirms huge upward departure based on uncharged murder A remarkable case produces today another remarkable reasonableness review outcome via a split Ninth Circuit that affirms a way above guideline sentence based on an uncharged murder. Here is how the majority opinion in US v. Fitch, No. 10-10607 (9th Cir. Sept. 23, 2011) (available here), gets started: David Kent Fitch was convicted by a jury of nine counts of bank fraud, two counts of fraudulent use of an access device, two counts of attempted fraudulent use of an access device, two counts of laundering monetary instruments, and one count of money laundering. The applicable Sentencing Guidelines range was 41-51 months. At sentencing, however, the district judge found by clear and convincing evidence that Fitch had murdered his wife, and that her death was the means he used to commit his crimes. Relying on that finding, he imposed a sentence of 262 months. Fitch appeals his sentence, arguing that the district court committed procedural error and that, in any event, its sentence was substantively unreasonable. Because Fitch has never been charged with his wifes murder, his sentence is a poignant example of a drastic upward departure from the Guidelines range albeit below the statutory maximumbased on uncharged criminal conduct. We have not had occasion to address a scenario quite like this, but are constrained to affirm. Here is how the dissent concludes its opinion: We simply do not know any of the circumstances of Bozis disappearance. We know that she has disappeared and that Fitch immediately exploited her disappearance for his own benefit. While Fitch may indeed have been played a causative, or a concealing, role in Bozis disappearance, the record contains no evidence that sheds light on the manner of his involvement or the degree of his involvement. There is certainly no clear and convincing evidence of premeditated murder. The district courts finding is simply not supported by the record. The substantial departure applied pursuant to 5K2.1 was therefore an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent. September 23, 2011 at 01:34 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2014e8bc659bf970d Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Split Ninth Circuit affirms huge upward departure based on uncharged murder: Comments hmm "At sentencing, however, the district judge found by clear and convincing evidence that Fitch had murdered his wife" damn under our constution i thought that was the JURY'S decision. oh WAIT he's NEVER been charged! let alone faced the constutionally REQUIRED jury of his peers! well seems we have another traitor judge for the removal list! Not to mention his traitor friends on the 9th court as his co-conspiritors! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 23, 2011 1:51:14 PM rodsmith -- Under Apprendi, it almost surely is the jury's decision. You're right about that. The problem is in the remedial portion of Booker. The Court could have required above-the-max sentencing facts to be proved to a jury BRD. Instead, it chose another route. Believing (correctly) that Congress wanted sentencing to be based on a real offense system, it rejected the BRD option and instead let judges continue to decide sentencing facts under the pre-existing, more lenient standard. What the defense got instead was that the Guidelines became optional. The outcome here is a product of precisely those two things: A real offense system and advisory-only guidelines. I'll say again what I've said a zillion times: Require relevant sentencing facts to be proved BRD, and bring back mandatory guidelines -- something that, under Booker's explicit language, Congress is free to do. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 23, 2011 2:43:55 PM Bill, This post is not intended as a gig in any way. I have followed your comments for some time, and I don't recall you ever saying that sentencing facts should be proven BRD (with mandatory sentencing guidelines). I thought you were opposed to BRD for sentencing -- although your desire for mandatory "guidelines" has been clear. As an extra step, should sentencing facts be decided by a petit jury (BRD)? Also, in your view, in the federal system (if it is sentencing facts by petit jury BRD + mandatory sentencing guidelines), do those sentencing facts have to be part of the grand jury's indictment? Thanks for sharing your views. Mark Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 23, 2011 3:21:55 PM This seems to be the perfect situation to raise an as-applied Sixth Amendment challenge: without the finding of a murder, the sentence would have been unreasonable; accordingly, not submitting that essential fact to a jury BRD, as applied in this case, violated the Sixth Amendment. The opinion hints at such an argument in the last paragraph of Section III and first paragraph of Section IV. Does anyone know if an "as applied" challenge was specifically raised? Posted by: DEJ | Sep 23, 2011 4:02:27 PM Mark, I seem to recall Bill stating his preference for the system he outlines with this comment several times in the past, though I'm not going to make the effort of searching for such entries. Not speaking for Bill here, but I would not require such factors to be part of the grand jury charge. Instead the system I would see would put the various sentencing factors, pretty much in their current form, before the same petit jury that decided guilt. Move those findings from the judge to the jury and Booker should be satisfied. The factors should not be part of the grand jury indictment because the grand jury is concerned with setting the upper limit of sentencing exposure, while the petit jury proceeding would be concerned only with fixing the actual sentence to be served. One thing I'm not sure on is whether proof beyond reasonable doubt is actually required in order to make the guidelines mandatory or if merely submitting those questions to the jury would be enough and using either a preponderance or clear and convincing evidence standard. Aprendi requires a jury finding at BRD in order to raise the maximum sentence an offender is exposed to, but that's a different question from making guidelines binding within an existing statutory sentencing range. The point is, I'm not sure whether its BRD or jury that would be required to make the guidelines mandatory. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Sep 23, 2011 5:15:27 PM Mark -- As Soronel correctly notes, I have often stated my preference for mandatory guidelines with a BRD standard for any sentencing facts that would take the sentence above the max (a la' Blakely). Other sentencing facts would not have to be proved BRD, also per Blakely. Those facts that would take the sentence above the max would have to be submitted to a jury, at the defendant's option. No sentencing facts would have to be included in the indictment because, under long established law, an indictment need only charge the elements of the offense. It has never to my knowledge been viewed as a sentencing predicate. That said, the defendant would have to be given reasonable notice post-verdict and pre-sentence of the facts upon which the government plans to obtain a jury determination. And yes, this is something of an on-the-fly mish-mash -- exactly as predicted by Justice Thomas. When the SCOTUS makes things up on its own, which is exactly what it did in the remedial portion of Booker, this is what happens. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 23, 2011 6:04:15 PM Bill, SCOTUS did not make anything up "on its own" in crafting Booker's remedy. Rather, it had the help of the SG and DOJ. The government in Booker argued for advisory guidelines if Blakely was found to apply. It was Defendants Booker and Fanfan, as well as amicus including the NACDL, that advocated for the remedy you now propose. Posted by: DEJ | Sep 23, 2011 6:45:20 PM DEJ -- "Bill, SCOTUS did not make anything up "on its own" in crafting Booker's remedy. Rather, it had the help of the SG and DOJ." It didn't have my help. I was not in the USAO then, and I'm not there now. If the defense bar is so much for mandatory guidelines, I wish they'd join me in fighting for their restoration. Are they doing that? Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 23, 2011 7:38:06 PM You know my point, Bill. You can't blame SCOTUS, or even defendants and their attorneys, for the havoc you (hyperbolically and unjustifiably) proclaim Booker has wrought. That credit should be aimed at your former employer. Posted by: DEJ | Sep 23, 2011 9:41:01 PM DEJ -- I can't "blame" the Supreme Court majority for its own decisions???!!! Amazing! Justice Stevens certainly did in his Booker remedial dissent (joined by, inter alia, Justice Scalia). I'm glad to hear the government gave the Court orders as to how to decide Booker. The Court must have missed the memo, though, since it decided the main question CONTRARY to the Department's position. Did you forget that? While we're at it, since you didn't answer, I'll ask again: Where is the defense bar these days in seeking the restoration of mandatory guidelines? And what have YOU done? I at least wrote an article in the Federal Sentencing Reporter. Where's your contribution? And why has the current Administration -- which I feel confident in guessing you prefer to the last one -- not done one single thing to restore mandatory guidelines? Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 23, 2011 10:43:57 PM The real issue is that the sentencing range is so broad a judge can sentence a man for murder without proof BRD there was a murder. IOW, the range is so broad justice is done for a murder conviction without a murder conviction (and maybe without a murder). Posted by: Anon | Sep 24, 2011 12:42:01 AM the problem bill and soronel is your both missed the BIGGIE! " Because Fitch has never been charged with his wifes murder," THE DAMN guy has NOT EVEN BEEN FRIGGIN CHARGED! nothing! so how the hell is it even being considered! if this bit of CRIMINAL STUPIDITY is now the law in this country....what's next they drag someone off the street and say judge "we think he did X" so judge now issues a legal sentence for "x" absent an arraignment, charges, trial NOTHING! I repeat anyone involved in this travisity is a traitor to the constution and needs to be REMOVED wit PREDIJUCE! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 24, 2011 12:55:13 AM Given that I believe thefts of $50 should carry a near automatic death sentence and that execution does not trouble me until the amount is in the $10 range I have no sympathy for that particular argument. The legislature, in its infinite wisdom, has seen fit to say that the frauds in question here can, in some circumstances carry sentences that would normally be given to murderers. Once guilt has been established beyond reasonable doubt and the range of permissible sentences is thus fixed the actual sentence to be served is arrived at using a preponderance (or in some cases clear and convincing) standard. This particular offender opened himself to the possibility of this sentence via the frauds alone and thus he was on notice. It would serve justice equally well to say that every offender shall serve the maximum possible sentence minus those factors that they can prove to that same standard. Any sentence below the statutory maximum is a boon to the offender, not any sentence above the minimum some additional insult. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Sep 24, 2011 2:08:28 AM Bill, I think I understand your position now. When you say that sentencing facts "above the max" must be found BRD by a jury, you mean above the "guidelines" max. Tell me if I'm wrong, but you don't believe that sentencing facts to ESTABLISH the sentencing range should be found by a jury BRD. You still want the judge to determine the sentencing range himself, based on a preponderance of the evidence. I do not believe Booker's substantive decision supports your view, at least when the "guidelines" are mandatory. In my opinion, if "guidelines" are to be binding, all sentencing facts affecting the binding sentencing range must be found BRD by a petit jury. Moreover, in the federal system, I believe those facts must be charged by a grand jury. In the alternative, we can have an advisory sentencing system. In other words, I believe that the Booker substantive and remedial decisions were right (and that the decision should be expanded to protect the grand jury right as well as the petit jury right). Mark Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 24, 2011 8:51:46 AM Mark -- "...but you don't believe that sentencing facts to ESTABLISH the sentencing range should be found by a jury BRD." That is correct, and my view there is consistent with 200 years of practice in this country, and with current practice. Indeed, to my knowledge, neither the Supreme Court nor any federal court of appeals has held that facts needed merely to establish the sentencing range must be found BRD. "I do not believe Booker's substantive decision supports your view, at least when the 'guidelines' are mandatory." That's the whole reason the Booker remedial majority made them NON-mandatory. "...if 'guidelines' are to be binding, all sentencing facts affecting the binding sentencing range must be found BRD by a petit jury." That is what the logic of Apprendi seems to me to imply, true, but the SCOTUS has never taken it that far. Certainly it did not do so in Blakely or Booker, and has not done so in Booker's progeny, which are now almost seven years old. "Moreover, in the federal system, I believe those facts must be charged by a grand jury." I am not aware of a single case, pre- or post-Booker, so holding. If there is one, I will stand to be corrected. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 24, 2011 10:03:39 AM sorry i still say since he's not even been charged with murder let alone convicted. the moment these traitors brought it up the trial was DONE.....should have been an immediate mistrial with predjuice! this is what in a real Lawyer on EITHER side should have brought them to their feet screaming hearsay! plus you have the clear constutionial violation. He certainly has been denied his RIGHT TO FACE HIS ACCCURSERS on the SO-CALLED murder! since no charges have ever been filed so how could his lawyers possible defend against a CHARGE THAT DIDN'T EXIST but now some idot traitor of a judge is going to consider. i would also demand a complete set of discovery to find out JUST HOW THE HELL HE EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT! and any colusion between him and the DA should bring immediate charges and their arrest! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 24, 2011 12:52:36 PM hmm what no way for the lawyers to white wash my last comment? about what i figured! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 25, 2011 2:18:28 AM I'd also be interested in DEJ's question about whether an as-applied Sixth-Amendment challenge was raised (and if not, why not -- you won't get a clearer case of a judge-found-fact tail wagging the sentencing dog). Posted by: Anon2 | Sep 25, 2011 3:57:10 AM Bill, I don't understand what your view of the substantive holding of Booker is. I believe that the holding of the case is that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was unconstitutional because it violated the Sixth Amendment by establishing binding sentencing "guidelines" where sentencing facts are not determined by a petit jury BRD. What is your understanding of the substantive holding of Booker? Mark P.S. Your view of the law is not helped by asserting that it is consistent with 200 years of American history or law. Neither the United States nor any of the several States have had 200 years of binding sentencing guidelines. The United States never had binding sentencing guidelines prior to 1984, and Booker was the first case in which the Supreme Court ever considered the Sixth Amendment constitutionality of that Act. I understand your desire to hearken back to "history" to bolster your argument about what the law should be, but binding "guidelines" are too recent a phenomenon in American history to get much help from "history." Mark Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 25, 2011 12:27:38 PM hmm "I'd also be interested in DEJ's question about whether an as-applied Sixth-Amendment challenge was raised (and if not, why not -- you won't get a clearer case of a judge-found-fact tail wagging the sentencing dog). Posted by: Anon2 | Sep 25, 2011 3:57:10 AM" There is no question NOTHING needed to be raised! This type of behavior on the part of ANYONE in the INjustice system should be SCREAMING RED FLAGS! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 25, 2011 2:16:16 PM Mark, As I understood it, Bill's comment about 200 years of history was in regard to your assertion that in order for guidelines to be binding the factors would have to be part of the charge as determined by the grand jury. I think he is absolutely right that the weight of history is firmly behind the position that sentencing factors are not part of the charged offense. And I don't see whether guidelines are binding or not having any bearing on that question. Certainly the defendant would need to be apprised before the sentencing proceeding what factors the prosecution intends to prove, but that is a far different matter from saying that the defendant needs to be so apprised before there is even a guilty verdict. Some of the sentencing guidelines encompass conduct that occurs after indictment (such as perjured testimony at trial) so there would be no way for the grand jury to even know about it at the time they formalize the charges. My reading of Booker is that in order to have binding guidelines and apply a guideline that increases an offenders sentencing exposure beyond that which the guilty verdict alone provides the basis for that guideline must be found BRD by a jury. It still says nothing, however, as far as I can see about what level of proof would be required of jury proceeding to create binding sentences within that base range. Take Booker itself, where the jury verdict alone supported a sentencing range somewhere between 10 years and life (I haven't been able to find what the guidelines would require based solely on the verdict, that range is statutory). The problem with Booker was that the guidelines increased the sentencing range to 30 years to life (which I am guessing, though again don't know for sure) is significantly above whatever guideline the verdict alone would have supported. So say that the base range is 10 to 12 years, then say that there is some factor that would raise the range to 11 to 13 years. I believe that factor would only need to be proven at a preponderance level to a jury in order for the guideline to be binding, assuming the government was willing to live with an actual sentence of between 11 and 12 years. In order to exceed the 12 year threshold in this example the prosecution would have to prove the factor BRD. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Sep 25, 2011 6:55:49 PM Mark Pickrell -- "I don't understand what your view of the substantive holding of Booker is. I believe that the holding of the case is that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was unconstitutional because it violated the Sixth Amendment by establishing binding sentencing "guidelines" where sentencing facts are not determined by a petit jury BRD. What is your understanding of the substantive holding of Booker?" Booker has two parts. The first part holds that the then-mandatory Guidelines, which preserved the judge's the authority to decide for himself facts that took the sentence above the guidelines maximum, violated the Sixth Amendment as interpreted in Apprendi and Blakely. There were two possible remedies. One was to require the judge to submit such factual questions to the jury to be decided BRD. The second part of Booker did not choose that remedy, electing instead to preserve the judge's pre-existing authority (under both pre- and post-Guidelines law), but render the Guidelines "advisory only." P.S. I see you are not renewing your claim that the sort of facts I have mentioned must be charged in the indictment, nor -- my invitation notwithstanding -- have you pointed to a single case that adopts your view. P.P.S. Your statement that "the holding of the case is that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was unconstitutional" because of the mandatory character of the Guidelines is grossly wide of the mark. To the contrary, the Court was at pains to say that it was NOT holding the SRA unconstitutional, and that it was going to preserve its validity in all other respects by stripping out the mandatory language but nothing else. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 25, 2011 8:40:36 PM Soronel -- The point you make in your first paragraph is exactly correct. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 25, 2011 8:43:35 PM Bill, Are you saying that you believe the SRA, in its entirety, is constitutional? I also don't understand your basis for asserting that "the Court was at pains to say that it was NOT holding the SRA unconstitutional." Unless the Court was holding that the SRA was unconstitutional, what was the basis of its substantive decision? The Court's own statement for its holding is good enough for me: "Any fact (other than a prior conviction) which is necessary to support a sentence exceeding the maximum authorized by the facts established by a plea of guilty or a jury verdict must be admitted by the defendant or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt." The SRA violated that constitutional requirement. The key reasoning of the Court's substantive decision was that the SRA imposed mandatory sentencing "guidelines," and this conclusion resulted in the Court's holding that the Act violated the Sixth Amendment. Is your disagreement with me over the Court's holding that a defendant may be sentenced based on facts that he's admitted, or is it something else? Obviously, under Booker, a defendant may be sentenced based on facts that he admits in a guilty plea. I was never intending to cover the guilty-plea situation in my comments on this thread. Leaving aside the guilty-plea situation, do you believe a judge may establish a sentencing range based on facts not found by a jury, after Booker? Mark P.S. I agree that application of the Grand Jury right to the SRA requires an extension of existing law. I thought I made that plain in my prior posts. Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 25, 2011 10:22:17 PM Mark -- "Are you saying that you believe the SRA, in its entirety, is constitutional?" I am saying that the SRA with the mandatory nature of the Guidelines excised is constitutional. If you can cite a SCOTUS or federal appellate case holding that some other portion of it is unconstitutional, I am, again, all ears. I'm also saying that the mandatory nature could be restored by Congress, if the Blakely-indicated changes were made. Breyer all but said this in the remedial part of Booker. "Leaving aside the guilty-plea situation, do you believe a judge may establish a sentencing range based on facts not found by a jury, after Booker?" Yes, and it happens all the time. For example, acceptance of responsibility and role in the offense are both key facts in establishing the sentencing range, and neither is or, to my knowledge, ever has been submitted to a jury. Likewise with uncharged conduct, just as in the case that started this thread. Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 25, 2011 11:02:20 PM Bill, It seems you agree that the SRA (which had mandatory "guidelines") was unconstitutional (at least based on the Court's decision in Booker). IMO, the justices in Booker were quite clear that the Court in that case was holding the SRA to be unconstitutional. They chose to remedy Congress' unconstitutional statute by making the Guidelines advisory. I agree with you that, now that the Guidelines are only advisory, juries do not make findings regarding acceptance of responsibility, as well as many other guidelines factors. I believe, however, that should the Guidelines ever be made mandatory, and there is a guideline factor of, for example, "role in the offense," that fact would have to be determined by a jury (or the Supreme Court would have to have overturned Booker). Thanks for engaging, by the way. Mark Mark Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 26, 2011 8:53:43 AM Bill, If your reluctance to say, "the SRA was unconstitutional" is because you want to be clear that the entire Act was not struck down in Booker, I understand your point. I agree (obviously, I hope) that the Court in Booker did not strike down the entire Act. When I say "the SRA was unconstitutional," I intend to point out that, for over twenty years, hundreds of thousands of defendants were sentenced under an unconstitutional system. I recognize that the Court's remedy for Congress' unconstitutional statute was to eliminate certain sections of the Act while permitting the remainder to remain in force. Mark Posted by: Mark Pickrell | Sep 26, 2011 9:03:31 AM I believe, however, that should the Guidelines ever be made mandatory, and there is a guideline factor of, for example, "role in the offense," that fact would have to be determined by a jury (or the Supreme Court would have to have overturned Booker). As my earlier post indicated I would agree with this. Where I think you have gone completely off the deep end is in thinking that the government would first have to submit that factor to a grand jury before being allowed to argue it at the sentencing hearing. The presiding judge would likely perform some gate-keeping role, but what the standard would be before the factor would be presented to the jury I'm not sure. Scintilla of evidence? Prima facia case? I think having to prove by a preponderance to the gatekeeper for sentencing factors before being able to present to the jury is too high, especially if for some items that is the actual standard of proof. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Sep 26, 2011 11:31:58 AM your all doing well to talk all this legal mumbo jumbo. But like most lawyers your missing the TREE becasue of the FOREST in THIS CASE an individual has been found GULTIY for a crime HE HAS NEVER EVEN BEEN CHARGED WITH! this individual HAS BEEN SENTENCED FOR A CRIME HE'S NEVER BEEN CHARGED WITH OR CONVICTED! HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE LEGAL UNDER OUR CONSTUTION! Posted by: rodsmith | Sep 26, 2011 12:49:36 PM Mark -- "Thanks for engaging, by the way." You're welcome. Bill Posted by: Bill Otis | Sep 26, 2011 4:15:05 PM You can be convicted of a crime not charged, I am living proof. I was acquited of all caounts and the bastard of a judge (who by the way was removed from the bench along with the entire court staff who resigned due to this mess, made up a completely new uncharged offense to gain a conviction. I was also sentenced for a crime which I was never charged with, in fact they even just recycled one of the count numbers to use on the sentence form, claiming a conviction on "count II" which had been acquitted on the record. The problem here is we are thinking these persons acting as judges have some concept of what is legal and just, the fact is they are almost all as dumb as the defendants when it comes to the law. The judge is merely a repeat what I heard someone else say kind of guy who fakes his way into making the public believe he is somhow more knowlageable than anyone else. In fact it is the judge who often is the dumbest person in the court, and the person who because of his complete lack of the law make these types of impermissible actions. In short this man has not been convicted and as a mtter of law his sentence is a nullity, as it cannot exist without a conviction by a jury, the sentence is null as there is no conviction or offense upon which to render sentence. The court is without jurisdiction to sentence him to so much as standing in the corner with a dunce hat on. This is impermissible and is a false conviction and false imprisonment, he can and should sue the idiots for damages (as the judge and court acted under color of law with out jurisdiction either subject or personal they are not immune). Maybe a few hundred million bucks out of the pockets of the state will end this type of stupid injustice, I will certainly be doing my fair share to ensure it does in my case. 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A market leader in modern logistics real estate in China and the Asia Pacific region, ESR has built a strong portfolio and development pipeline of logistics properties across China. In China, the total GFA of the portfolio assets held on the group's balance sheet and in the funds and investment vehicles it manages comprised 6.9 million square meters, and the total AUM reached over US$4.8 billion, as of December 31, 2019. About Manulife Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2019, we had more than 35,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of December 31, 2019, we had $1.2 trillion (US$0.9 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $29.7 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. About Manulife Investment Management's Real Estate Platform Manulife Investment Management's comprehensive private markets platform includes Real Estate, Private Equity and Credit, Infrastructure, Timber and Agriculture. Through its Real Estate group, Manulife Investment Management develops and manages commercial real estate for thousands of customers around the globe. 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The ESR platform spans across the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and India. As of 31 December 2019, the fair value of the properties directly held by ESR and the assets under management with respect to the funds and investment vehicles managed by ESR recorded approximately US$22.1 billion, and GFA of properties completed and under development as well as GFA to be built on land held for future development comprised over 17.2 million sqm in total. ESR has been listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited since 1 November 2019. For more information on ESR, please visit www.esr.com. About PGGM PGGM is a cooperative Dutch pension fund service provider. Institutional clients are offered: asset management, pension fund management, policy advice and management support. On December 31, 2019 PGGM had EUR 252 billion in assets under management and was administrating pensions of 4.4 million participants. Around 750,000 workers in the Dutch healthcare are connected to PGGM&CO, our members organization. Either alone or together with strategic partners, PGGM develops future solutions by linking together pension, care, housing and work. www.pggm.nl After a wait of more than ten years, work on TC Energys TRP Keystone XL project a massive pipeline running from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska has finally started. The $8-billion development is aimed at transporting oil sands crude from Canada to a market hub in the U.S. (Nebraska) for eventual delivery to refineries in the Gulf Coast. On Friday, the pipelines Alberta leg got going with crews hitting the site in the small town of Oyen. We are here at long last, kicking off construction of the Alberta spread of the Keystone XL project, said Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, whose government recently took an equity interest of $1.1 billion in the project. In a rare instance of providing funds for an oil pipeline, Alberta's United Conservative government, apart from the investment, also authorized a $4.2-billion loan guarantee to help smooth the path forward for TC Energys much-delayed Keystone XL project. All About the Keystone XL Pipeline While oil production is surging in a country with the worlds third largest reserves, Canada's exploration and production sector has remained out of favor, primarily due to the scarcity of pipelines in part due to the political and legal hurdles. In short, pipeline construction in Canada has failed to keep pace with rising domestic crude volumes the heavier sour variety churned out of the oil sands resulting in infrastructural bottleneck. This has forced producers to give away their products in the United States Canadas major market at a discounted rate. As it is, Canadian heavy crude is inferior to the higher-quality oil extracted from shale formations in the United States and is also more expensive to transport and refine. Even a government-mandated production cut failed to prop up the depressed prices substantially. This makes life harder for Canada-based crude producers. At the prevailing prices, these companies are unlikely to hit cash flow breakeven. As a response to the bearish environment, the Canadian oil fraternity has scaled back drilling activity, suspended buybacks and promised cuts to their capital budgets. The likes of Imperial Oil IMO, Suncor Energy SU, Cenovus Energy CVE, Canadian Natural Resources CNQ, among others, lowered their 2020 capital expenditure target to contend with depleted oil prices. In a nutshell, the requirement for pipelines to ship Canada's surplus production is pretty obvious and this is where the Keystone XL comes in. Designed to carry 830,000 barrels of crude a day from Albertas oil sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, the 1,947-kilometer conduit (260 kilometers of which is to be constructed in Alberta) is TC Energys flagship infrastructure project. When completed, Keystone XL will considerably ease the pipeline shortage plaguing Canadas oil industry. Importantly, TC Energy has been able to secure long-term volume contracts for more than 90% of the pipelines capacity, indicating widespread commercial support for the development. The Projects Tryst with Regulators & Legal Challenges The long-delayed pipeline first announced in 2008 and approved by Canadas National Energy Board in March 2010 has encountered significant regulatory, legal and environmental setbacks over the year. It is strongly opposed by environmentalists and politicians, owing to the risk of emitting greenhouse gases in transporting bitumen and crude to the United States. TC Energy (then TransCanada) filed the first application in January 2012 for a permit to build and operate the massive pipeline that was denied by then-U.S. president Barack Obama, prompting the Canadian firm to put forth a new route plan and application with the U.S. State Department. In November 2015, president Obama again rejected TC Energy's application to construct the Keystone XL pipeline on fears that it would weaken United States position in international climate change negotiations. However, in 2017, the project was cleared by President Trump as he signed an executive order for it to be completed. After facing delays for near about a decade, the pipeline set to transport Canadian oil to refineries and distribution centers in the United States finally received regulatory approval from Nebraska commissioners last year, albeit on an alternative route to the one proposed by the company to bypass an ecologically sensitive area. However, the project was again hit by fresh controversy, as rerouting of the pipeline subjected it to a new legal investigation. Alberta Governments Aid Package There was just too much uncertainty associated with Keystone XL for sponsor TC Energy to commit to the projects development. The future looked bleak and the government says it had to intervene. The investment would take care of most of the construction costs till the end of this year, with the remainder being financed by the company. Once the project come online - expected in 2023 - TC Energy will buy out the Alberta governments portion. Following the Alberta governments newly announced financial support, TC Energy - carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) - promptly declared that it would start work on the Keystone XL pipeline immediately, pushing the long-stymied development closer to fruition. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. While questions have been raised about the use of public funds in the energy business, federal help was cited as necessary to lower the risk for this multibillion-dollar infrastructure project and push it toward completion. Supporters of the deal further point to how Canadas federal government stepped in to purchase the Trans Mountain expansion project from Kinder Morgan KMI in 2018. At the same time, the deal was touted as important in the context of economic development and job creation at a time when the commodity price plunge and the impact of coronavirus have wreaked havoc on the industry through layoffs and oil production cuts. The project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs during construction with thousands of more openings in related sectors. Further, tax and royalty streams over Keystone XLs lifetime is likely to bring in roughly $30 billion in revenues for Alberta. Will the Project Get Finished Now? Expectedly, the capital infusion and now the construction kick off is being cheered by the industry, which believes that the pipeline would significantly improve critical market access and the price realizations for producers once we move past the current economic gloom. No doubt, Albertas Keystone investment has come as a shot in the arm for the provinces struggling energy sector. While governments stimulus and the subsequent start of construction would stop the project from falling off the table, its not enough to guarantee a smooth finish. Of particular concern is U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens vow to stop the project who recently reiterated his stance to revoke Keystone XLs permit. As it is, legal hurdles in the U.S., both at the state and federal levels, still remain, which can further delay construction of the massive project. Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Kenney has pledged his support for the pipeline being built and has even promised to reach out to officials across the border. While admitting his governments investment in the project as a "conscious risk", he exuded confidence in tilting the scales even if Joe Biden is elected as the President of the United States. The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early. See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >> 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 Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Imperial Oil Limited (IMO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE) : Free Stock Analysis Report TC Energy Corporation (TRP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsui Mining and Smelting <5706.T> said on Monday its two zinc mines in Peru resumed operations on July 2 after a closure of more than three months to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The company's Huanzala and Palka mines had been suspended since March 16 after the local government issued a state of emergency. They restarted operations after some economic activities resumed and the local government gave approval, a spokesman at Mitsui Mining said. "The mines' operations have returned to the levels before the quarantine was put in place in March as they have been preparing for the restart since late June," he said without giving an output forecast for the current year. The resumption of operations is being accompanied by measures to prevent infection among workers, the company said. Metals production is essential for Peru's economy, which has been devastated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Barbara Lewis) By Peter Nurse Investing.com - European stock markets posted strong gains Monday amid hopes of a global economic recovery, but concerns remain over the increasing number of new coronavirus cases. At 3:50 AM ET (0750 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 2.1% higher, France's CAC 40 rose 2%, the U.K.'s FTSE index was up 2.2%. Economic data of late has tended to point to a reasonably prompt economic recovery around the world. Earlier Monday, German factory orders jumped 10.4% in May, rebounding after falling by a revised 26.2% the previous month. Allianz (DE:ALVG) senior economist Katherina Utermoehl said via Twitter that the data point to a "much more gradual recovery" than in retail, "due in particular to weak foreign demand." "BUT as deconfinement in key countries only kicked off in May, June should have more oomph," Utermoehl added. This follows on from the U.S. recording the addition of 4.8 million jobs in June, much more than expected, while PMI data in China and throughout Europe have tended to suggest renewed confidence in a brisk pickup in activity. Additionally, the U.S. Congress is set to resume talks on the next stimulus bill later this month. The likely need for additional stimulus grows as the number of Covid-19 cases shows no signs of slowing down. The World Health Organization reported the highest number of cases over a 24-hour period, with both Texas and Florida reporting new one-day records for new infections on Saturday. Turning back to Europe, Boohoo (LON:BOOH) stock slumped 11% following a media report on the working conditions at one of its suppliers. The British online fashion retailer said on Monday it would terminate relationships with any supplier who was found not to be acting within its code of conduct. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) stock rose 2.7% after the British groups CEO, Antonio Horta-Osorio, said he will step down at the end of next year. Rivals banks HSBC (LON:HSBA) rose 6% and Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) 5%, benefitting from their links to Asia given the big equity rally in that part of the world. Story continues Later in the session, the June construction PMI release from the U.K. will be published, as will eurozone retail sales for May. Oil prices pushed higher Monday, although the continued growth of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. resulted in underperformance by the American benchmark, WTI futures. Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased by almost 56,000 on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University. raising concerns that this jump could hit oil demand in the United States. At 3:50 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% higher at $40.98 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.8% to $43.55. Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,785.35/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1297, up 0.4% on the day. Related Articles World shares rally to four-week highs as investors bet on China revival Lloyds Bank CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio to step down in 2021 London Stock Exchange's FTSE Russell joins Libor replacement race Food fight! The battle for the future of food delivery continues to deepen, with yet another merger. Reports over the weekend suggest that Uber will pick up Postmates for a cool $2.65 billion. (Update 8:40AM ET: And now its official.) The deal will push Uber into second place in the food-delivery wars, just behind food-delivery giant DoorDash. Its a consolation prize of sorts for Uber after it failed to acquire GrubHub earlier this year. That might seem like a lot of money, but it gets even more confusing when you take a look at how both companies have fared, shedding cash through the COVID-19 crisis. Uber lost $2.9 billion more than this acquisition costs. The company must have a lot of faith in the future of food delivery. And even more cash to see it through. Mat Chrome update may extend your laptop's battery life by up to 2 hours Tabs might not hog so much energy in the background. Morning After, Engadget Chrome can really ding your battery life. Now, its makers are trying to fix it a bit, with a new experimental feature that would nix unnecessary JavaScript timers and trackers at work in tabs in the background. Reports suggest it could save a substantial chunk of battery life, especially if you use Chrome with a heavy dose of tabs. That is definitely my MO. Continue reading. Two Nigerians face US charges over online fraud worth 'hundreds of millions' They allegedly used email to rip off companies for millions. [IMG] The United Arab Emirates has sent the US two Nigerian nationals, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas and Olakean Jacob Ponle, to face charges relating to large business email compromise scams. Abbas faces charges of money laundering in schemes meant to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Justice Department. This included a plan to launder $14.7 million stolen from a foreign financial institution, taking nearly $923,000 from a New York law firm and involvement in a plot to steal roughly $124 million from an English Premier League club. Story continues Ponle, meanwhile, allegedly participated in several 2019 fraud campaigns worth tens of millions of dollars. One company, alone, sent a total of $15.2 million. Both could serve up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Continue reading. What to expect from the next version of 5G More bandwidth, better battery life. 5G coverage may still be sparse, and the world is still trying to understand how it works or affects us, but the people that define networking standards wont stop working on it. The 3GPP, a group of organizations that develop protocols for mobile telecoms, just announced Phase 2 for 5G, which will expand the use of networks by vehicles and IoT devices and tap into unlicensed spectrum as well. Cherlynn Low outlines what you can expect. Continue reading. Sponsored Content by Stack Commerce Stack Commerce Rocket Lab mission fails shortly after launch The rocket and its payloads were lost. Morning After, Engadget Rocket Labs 13th Electron launch has ended in disaster. The company reported that its Pics Or It Didnt Happen mission failed during the second stage burn about four minutes into the flight, resulting in the loss of both the rocket as well as the seven satellites aboard. Crucially, that includes the payloads from paying customers, most notably Canon. It was supposed to be demonstrating an Earth imaging camera system ahead of plans for mass production. Continue reading. But wait, theres more... Astronomers find the first known exposed core of a gas giant 'Iron Man VR' has moments of brilliance but shows the limits of PSVR Animal Crossing fans get real about the fictional NookPhone Stock markets rallied Monday, with fresh signs of economic recovery resonating with investors more than a surge in coronavirus infections worldwide. The easing of lockdowns is providing hope the global economy will bounce back from an expected recession this year, with England's pubs reopening at the weekend and tourist attractions around Europe now either open or planning to. Better-than-forecast data on US jobs creation and factory activity have also provided a boost to confidence, as have hopes for a vaccine, which observers say is key to kickstarting any recovery. The US services sector grew in June after the coronavirus pandemic caused its steepest-ever contraction the month prior, an industry survey said on Monday. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was more than 350 points higher in the late New York morning, while key European markets posted gains of 1.5 percent or more at the close. Investors on both sides of the Atlantic took their cue from equities in China, "with the world's second largest economy seeing a huge uptick" which saw its main stocks index closing up nearly six percent, noted Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group. Traders have piled back into stocks in recent months -- with the help of vast government and central bank support -- and analysts have suggested the gains are also being helped by a fear of missing out on the rally. - 'Whirligig of positive news' - "The global economic data and positive coverage on potential COVID-19 vaccines and treatments represent a... whirligig of positive news that is overwhelming gnarly headline flows around the daily virus case counts in the US," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes. Shanghai soared to its highest level in more than two years, while Hong Kong finished at levels not seen since early March. But there remains trepidation on trading floors as new infections spike around the world. Some US states are reporting record daily increases, with a number of officials considering reimposing lockdown measures, while Brazil and India are also seeing worryingly large rises. And Australia said it would effectively seal off the state of Victoria from the rest of the country as authorities struggle to control a surge in cases. The outbreak sent Sydney stocks falling. "For now the positive data surprises and huge fiscal and monetary stimulus are the overwhelming forces," National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril said in a note. "But the increase in COVID-19 infections, not just in the US, means that they need to be closely monitored -- the introduction of more severe containment measures has the potential to derail the positive vibes in markets." - Key figures around 1540 GMT - London - FTSE 100: UP 2.1 percent at 6,285.94 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.6 percent at 12,733.45 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.5 percent at 5,081.51 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.7 percent at 3,350.03 New York - Dow: UP 1.5 percent at 26,205.18 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 22,714.44 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 3.8 percent at 26,339.16 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 5.7 percent at 3,332.88 (close) West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $40.83 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.1 percent at $43.29 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1314 from $1.1242 on Friday Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.48 yen from 107.52 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2494 from $1.2469 Euro/pound: UP at 90.55 pence from 90.16 pence burs-jh/jj By Gina Lee Investing.com Asian stocks were up on Monday morning, soaring to highs not seen in almost four months even amid increasing COVID-19 figures. Investors are relying on cheap liquidity and hopes of more stimulus measures from governments to kickstart their economies. But the number of COVID-19 cases shows no signs of slowing down, with over 11.4 million global cases as of July 6 according to Johns Hopkins University data. The World Health Organization reported the highest number of cases over a 24-hour period over the weekend, with many U.S. states reporting a spike in cases over the long holiday weekend. Chinas Shanghai Composite jumped 3.68% by 10:55 PM ET (3:55 AM GMT) and the Shenzhen Component rose 2.40%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was up by 2.34%. Japans Nikkei 225 gained 1.44%, with Yuriko Koike winning around 60% of the vote for a second term as Tokyos governor on Monday. South Koreas KOSPI rose 1.46% and the ASX 200 was up 0.14%. Nomura analysts said in a note, We think there is a case for raising tactical allocation on Asian equities in the context of global equity portfolios... we see a number of catalysts that could drive Asia ex-Japan equities outperformance over U.S. equities in the near term. Better COVID-19 trends and mobility data in economies/markets that dominate the Asia ex-Japan index should translate into faster economic recovery vs the U.S. But other investors remained cautious with the number of U.S. cases approaching 3 million and simmering U.S.-China tensions. It is very clear that the U.S. never got the COVID outbreak under control the way that other countries did. By reopening the economy too soon, we have seen a frightening increase in the pace of new cases. So markets will have to climb a wall of worry in July as economic activity likely softens from the V-shaped recovery seen over recent months. We must remember too that U.S. and China relations are deteriorating noticeably, Robert Rennie, head of financial market strategy at Westpac, told Reuters. Story continues Related Articles Fujitsu to halve office space in three years citing 'new normal' SoftBank governance reforms stop short of Vision Fund: sources Uber, Postmates agree on $2.65 billion all-stock deal: Bloomberg News The reward for the arrest of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the killing of eight police personnel in Uttar Pradesh, has been increased Police personnel during a search operation near the residence of main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, Vikas Dubey, in Kanpur. PTI photo Kanpur: Three police personnel, including two sub-inspectors and a constable, have been suspended on charges of laxity in duty in connection with the death of eight policemen in Kanpur, a senior official said on Monday. "A preliminary inquiry has been initiated against all three policemen, including sub-inspectors Kunwarpal and Krishna Kumar Sharma and constable Rajeev, all posted at the Chaubeypur Police Station," Kanpur SSP Dinesh Kumar P said. They have been suspended for laxity in duty in connection with the death of eight police personnel in Kanpur, a police PRO said. An FIR would also be lodged against the policemen and they would face further action if their involvement is proved during the course of inquiry, the SSP added. Reward for arrest of Vikas Dubey increased to Rs 2.5 lakh The reward for the arrest of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the killing of eight police personnel in Uttar Pradesh, has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh, a senior police official said on Monday. "The cash reward for the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh by UP Director General of Police H C Awasthy," Additional Director General Law and Order Prashant Kumar told PTI. Inspector General Kanpur Range Mohit Agarwal had on Sunday said that the reward for the arrest of Dubey was increased to Rs 1 lakh. Reward for arrest of Vikas Dubey increased to Rs 2.5 lakh The reward for the arrest of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the killing of eight police personnel in Uttar Pradesh, has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh, a senior police official said on Monday. "The cash reward for the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh by UP Director General of Police H C Awasthy," Additional Director General Law and Order Prashant Kumar told PTI. Inspector General Kanpur Range Mohit Agarwal had on Sunday said that the reward for the arrest of Dubey was increased to Rs 1 lakh. Austria to phase out its Saab 105 fighter jets, no decision on successor FILE PHOTO: Two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft fly over the Streif course in Kitzbuehel VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will ground its nearly 50-year-old Saab fighter jets at the end of the year and solely rely on its Eurofighter warplanes from January, the defence ministry said on Monday. The ministry said it would not decide on any successor to the Saab fighter jets until it knows the outcome of a court appeal concerning Eurofighter, triggering sharp criticism from the opposition parties. "The Republic of Austria will continue to pursue all legal means to achieve the goal of withdrawing from the Eurofighter contract and being compensated by Eurofighter," Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner said. "Pending the final court decision, no decisions will be taken with regard to air surveillance that would weaken Austria's position." Austria is involved in a legal dispute with the Eurofighter consortium, which includes Airbus, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo, over its nearly 2 billion euro ($2.3 billion) purchase in 2003. The defence ministry said in 2017 it believed Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium had misled Austria over the purchase price, deliverability and equipment of the jets, accusations the consortium denies. A Vienna court stopped a related investigation in April, which the state appealed. A broader criminal investigation of suspected bribery in the same deal that has been ongoing since 2011 has not been affected by the closure. "From Airbus' perspective, nothing has changed in this matter," the company said, adding it viewed demands for reparation or reversal of the delivery contract as "not founded on any legal basis". Neutral Austria currently operates 12 Saab 105 aircraft alongside its 15 Eurofighter jets. Army representatives have long warned that it is getting harder to guarantee full security as investment decisions have been repeatedly delayed. Opposition parties criticised the defence minister. "With her decision for a single-fleet Eurofighter system, Tanner is making herself fully dependent on the Eurofighter manufacturer Airbus and the NATO," said Robert Laimer, defence spokesman for the Social Democrats. ($1 = 0.8834 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Barbara Lewis and David Evans) (Reuters) - Much-travelled Brazilian striker Vagner Love arrived in Kazakhstan to complete his move to the two-times Kazakh champions Kairat, the club said on Monday. "I hope that we'll quickly finish all the necessary things, a medical, and I'll begin to train," said Love, who rescinded his contract with Brazilian club Corinthians last month. "I also hope that I'll be able to play soon, because I came here to do my best and help achieve our common goals." Kazakhstan's league was suspended on Friday for a second time after the government implemented another 14-day lockdown due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Kairat lead the standings with nine points from four matches, two points ahead of champions Astana who have a game in hand. Love, who was easily recognisable on the pitch with his distinctive coloured braids during most of his career, scored nearly 300 goals in several leagues. The 36-year-old won 14 trophies during two spells at CSKA Moscow, scoring in their win in the 2005 UEFA Cup Final and helping them become the first Russian club to win a European trophy. The forward, who also played in France, Turkey, China and top Brazilian teams Palmeiras and Flamengo, won the Copa America two times with his country. Kairat were the leading Kazakh club during the Soviet period and the only representative of the Kazakh Soviet Republic in the Soviet top league. The Almaty-based side hope that Love's arrival would help them end Astana's domestic domination. Astana have won the league title in the last six years with Kairat finishing second in the last five seasons. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Christian Radnedge) The government explained that Dr Cheongs 2018 lecture was on how the republic can continue to be a highly liveable city in the event Singapores living density increase to 13,700 persons per square kilometre by 2030. The Singapore government has refuted the claims made by several Facebook posts by Singapore Democratic Party, Sin Rak Sin Party and Lim Tean of Peoples Voice as well as The Online Citizen Asias article on its website and Facebook against Dr Cheong Koon Hean. The article and Facebook posts claimed that Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO of the Housing & Development Board (HDB), had confirmed that Singapores population would increase to 10 million by 2030. They cited Dr Cheongs lecture in April 2018 at the IPS-Nathan Lectures. Lim Teans Facebook Live video also claimed that the government plans, or intends, to move towards 10 million population by 2030. These allegations are false. Dr Cheong made no statement suggesting that our population would increase to 10 million by 2030. This is a continuation of falsehoods alleging that the government has a population target of 10 million, which the government has clarified, said the government in a Factually article on 4 July. The government explained that Dr Cheongs 2018 lecture was on how the republic can continue to be a highly liveable city in the event Singapores living density increase to 13,700 persons per square kilometre by 2030. It noted that Dr Cheong referred to living density, which considers only the land available for urban areas while excluding land used for airports, ports and defence, among others. Read also: Singapore GE: A Recap of Noteworthy Housing Policies Over The Past 5 Years As such, it is misleading and inaccurate to extrapolate a 10 million population size by applying the living density figure to Singapores total area. The government also clarified that it has not proposed, planned nor targeted for Singapore to increase its population to 10 million. Story continues In fact, Singapores population plans were laid out in Parliament in March 2018, when the government said that the city-states total population will likely be significantly below 6.9 million by 2030. It also clarified its population plans in two Factually articles on 4 March and 1 July, in a media statement by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) and in another Factually article on 3 July. In its media statement, NPTD said the publication of such falsehoods damages public interest by undermining honest and legitimate discussion. It added that appropriate action may also be taken against any further publication of such falsehoods. Despite the latest clarification, the falsehoods continue to be repeated. Looking for a property in Singapore? Visit PropertyGurus Listings, Project Reviews and Guides. Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg By Sudarshan Varadhan CHENNAI (Reuters) - An investigation into a gas leak that killed 12 people at a plant run by LG Polymers in southern India in May found the company was negligent and warning systems were not working, the local state government said on Monday. Toxic styrene gas leaked from the chemical plant near the Indian city of Visakhapatnam in the early hours of May 7, choking many people who were sleeping, with hundreds having to be taken to hospital and 12 people later died. LG Polymers is owned by South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. "There were no proper preventive mechanisms to avert such incidents and the warning siren facility was also not in order," the Andhra Pradesh state government said in a statement about the findings of the investigating committee, which it set up after the disaster. The government said there had been a lack of adherence to safety protocols and timely emergency response measures at the plant. LG Polymers did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment. After the incident the company apologised and said it would co-operate with authorities to investigate the causes. Multiple witnesses had told Reuters in May that when gas began leaking from the plant, there were no warnings and no alarms. "The Committee in its report mentioned 36 (times) about how the alarm system did not function and the siren did not (sound)," the state government said in its statement. A clogged cooling system was the likely cause of a temperature surge in a storage tank which led to a gas leak at the plant, Reuters reported in May, citing three state government investigators. (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Jan Harvey and Susan Fenton) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's environmental watchdog has asked a power subsidiary of Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) to pay almost 148 billion roubles ($2 billion) in damages over an Arctic fuel spill in Siberia. Rosprirodnadzor said in a statement on Monday that it had sent a request for "voluntary compensation" to the subsidiary, NTEK, after calculating the damage caused by the May 29 fuel spill. Nornickel's Moscow-listed shares fell by 5% after the watchdog's statement. Nornickel said it had not yet received the watchdog's documents and would be able to comment on them only after it has studied them. The spill followed a loss of pressure in a fuel tank, and 21,000 tonnes of diesel was released into rivers and subsoil near the city of Norilsk. Environmental pressure group Greenpeace has compared the incident to the devastating 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska. Rosprirodnadzor said the damages included the cost for nearby water bodies, estimated at 147.05 billion roubles, and for subsoil is, estimated at 738.62 million roubles. "The amount of the damage to Arctic water resources is unprecedented. The sum corresponds to it," Russia's natural resources and environment minister, Dmitry Kobylkin, said in a separate statement. "If one remembers the Exxon Valdez tanker accident off the coast of Alaska, the amount of the damage and charged fines (in that case) was over $5 billion," the minister added. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Polina Devitt; Writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Jan Harvey and Timothy Heritage) Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), Chinas top chip maker, is set to draw heavy subscriptions when it begins offering its 1.686 billion shares to mainland investors on Tuesday, putting the share flotation well on its way to becoming the largest in the A-share market since 2010. The buzz around SMIC has sent its Hong Kong-listed shares soaring. Its shares shot up 21 per cent to HK$40.10 on Monday, marking a fresh all-time high, and they have skyrocketed 236 per cent so far this year. The Hong Kong shares traded at about a 32.8 per cent premium to the A-share offering price. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. Investors believe the stock will rocket once listed in A share market. And with a new round of capital, the company can increase capital expenditures for research and development, Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai, said of SMICs four-day winning streak over which it gained nearly 51 per cent. A potential subscription euphoria surrounding the company, buoyed by an influx of fresh capital, will spark worries about a boom-to-bust cycle in an often-arcane A-share market that frequently leaves small investors to lick their wounds. Hong Kong-listed SMIC said on Sunday evening that it priced its shares at 27.46 yuan (US$3.89) a piece, 109 times its earnings in 2019, after consulting institutions about the pricing. It is expected to raise 46.29 billion yuan (US$6.57 billion) from the share sales, the largest since July 2010 when the Agricultural Bank of China netted 68.7 billion yuan of proceeds on the mainland stock market. SMICs fundraising size could amount to 53.3 billion yuan if an overallotment option were to be exercised. The current strong market sentiment and the ample funds flowing through the stock exchanges will make the offering an easy sale, said Zhou Ling, a fund manager with Shanghai Shiva Investment. Patriotism will be another catalyst to fuel subscriptions to the shares. Story continues SMIC is expected to debut this month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, though the exact date has not been announced. Chinas semiconductor stocks showing some signs of immunity as coronavirus rips through the rest of the worlds tech industry SMIC, a competitor against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) whose price-to-earnings ratio stands at about 21, obtained a speedy approval from the mainland regulators to raise capital last month. It spent just 18 days to secure a nod from the Shanghai Stock Exchange to conduct the share sale and originally targeted proceeds worth 20 billion yuan. Established in 2000, SMIC is mainland Chinas top semiconductor foundry and competes with Taiwan-based TSMC, which has more advanced technology. Beijing is looking to stay ahead in the technology race as the US steps up efforts to curb China's ascendancy in the industry, leading to a long-running spat covering trade, intellectual property and national security. As the US has moved against Huawei and other technology companies, taking steps to cut off their access to American components and networks, Chinas chip industry faces the growing prospect of being strangled by the US government and business community. To try to prevent that, Beijing has been spending massive amounts of capital and rolling out tax incentives to underpin home-grown chip companies. One result of US-China tensions was the creation of the Star Market, which was launched in July 2019 after being ordered into existence by President Xi Jinping as a way to offer fast-track financing to promising technology start-ups. It is that board where SMIC will debut its shares. There are no daily limits on how much a stock can go up or down the first week it trades on the Star board. It is expected SMIC will soar, explaining why its Hong Kong shares are shooting up so quickly ahead of the Shanghai debut. Each A-share bull market has a major theme, said Alan Li, portfolio manager at Atta Capital. One Belt, One Road was the main theme in 2014-15. Investors believe that in the bull market this time, the semiconductor sector will be a core theme supported by policies. Chinas National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, popularly known as the big fund, is investing 3.5 billion yuan in the company, SMIC said. Foreign funds via the QFII and RQFII programmes are allowed to subscribe to the new shares on the Star Market, which is still off-limits to investors trading A shares through the Stock Connect. Chinas yuan-denominated shares have shot up recently amid an increasing fund inflow as initial signs of economic recovery following the Covd-19 pandemic cemented investors belief in an upcoming strong rally. Last week, the Shanghai Composite Index chalked up a gain of 5.8 per cent, and closed at 3,152.81, the highest level since April 24, 2019. Of analysts tracked by Bloomberg, 13 rate SMIC a buy, nine a hold and 10 a sell. It has blown past its consensus target price of HK$19.11. Its 14-day relative strength index is about 85, above the 70 warning level that a stock may be significantly overbought and ready for a correction. Purchase the 100+ page China Internet Report 2020 Pro Edition, brought to you by SCMP Research, and enjoy a 30% discount (original price US$400). The report 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 31 August 2020. To purchase, please click here. More from South China Morning Post: This article SMIC on track to float Chinas largest offering in 10 years as national pride fires up buying interest in chip maker first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. This is the first in a three-part series examining the role of the Roman Catholic Church in China and how the difficult and complex relationship between the Vatican and Beijing has shifted and evolved since the Communist Party broke diplomatic ties in 1951. The first story investigates an agreement signed two years ago that suggested both sides seemed to be showing signs of compromise. What is at stake in this discussion and is there any potential for common ground between Pope Francis and President Xi Jinping? When Beijing and the Vatican reached a provisional agreement in 2018 over who had the authority to appoint Roman Catholic bishops in China, it signalled a possible breakthrough in a troubled relationship stretching back six decades. It seems the signals were wrong. Details of the pact forged after more than three decades of negotiations have never been made public, but the agreement marked the communist states first indication it was ready to share some authority with the Pope over control of Chinas Catholic Church. It was hoped it would help in healing a rift from the 1940s when Beijing kicked the church out of China and later started an autonomous Catholic church, independent of Rome. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. The schism directly affects around 12 million Catholics in China, who are roughly evenly split into a so-called underground church that looks to the Pope for authority, while others attend Sunday mass in state-run churches controlled by Beijings Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. It is understood that Pope Francis has veto power over bishop candidates proposed by Beijing, but this has never been tested. Anthony Yao Shun was installed last August by Chinese authorities as bishop for Jining diocese in Inner Mongolia, but he was a bishop candidate chosen by the Vatican more than six years ago. Story continues No new heads have been chosen for the 52 bishop-less dioceses in the two years since the agreement was signed, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, who declined to be named. Bishop appointments were supposed to be the first obstacle to be resolved under the agreement, but while China and the Vatican have come closer, they are not interacting and conversing on the same bandwidth, said one of the sources. The 2018 provisional agreement expires in September, but Rome is reportedly ready to extend it by another two years, despite being unhappy with what it sees as a failure by Beijing to fulfil its part of the bargain. Sources said the Vatican had waited for a reciprocal gesture from Beijing after Pope Francis accepted eight bishops appointed by Beijing without his approval including one who had passed away in December 2018, three months after the agreement was signed. They said the onus had been on China to respond in kind by recognising the same number of bishops, chosen by Rome, in the unregistered church. But Chinas delay in acting had generated an undercurrent of frustration, the sources said, which had grown while Beijing was preoccupied by its deteriorating ties and trade conflicts with the US, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. Lawrence Reardon, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of New Hampshire, said he was not surprised by the lack of a breakthrough in relations between the Vatican and the Chinese Communist Party. The Vatican is faced with a more dogmatic CCP leadership that feels under siege from internal and external threats, he said. Despite the frustrations, there have been some signs of progress. Last month, Beijing recognised two authorities in the church loyal to the Vatican: Lin Jiashan, the 86-year-old archbishop of Fuzhou diocese in Fujian province, and Li Huiyuan of Fengxiang diocese in Shaanxi province. Another bishop, Jin Lugang of Nanyang diocese in Henan province, was recognised by Beijing in January 2019. But there are still 23 bishops chosen by the Vatican awaiting recognition by Beijing, according to the sources. Beijing requires written approval for the clergy to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, followed by a pledge of loyalty and obedience to the party leadership. This two-step verification is based solely on political reliability but the approved bishop is not authorised to minister to his congregation until a ceremonial public installation, but these processes can take years. The recent moves by China to recognise Vatican-appointed church leaders are expected to help move relations forward when Beijing negotiators meet their Vatican counterparts later this month in Rome to discuss the extension to the agreement, which both sides are understood to be willing to go ahead with, according to the sources. The Vatican press office in Rome and Chinas Foreign Ministry in Beijing didnt immediately respond to an email and fax seeking comment on the status of the agreement and the talks. The South China Morning Post has learned that negotiators from both sides have met only once in the past 12 months, in November, after Beijing postponed discussions citing emergencies. A Beijing-based religious affairs researcher said China was moving slowly because the Cold War mentality still looms large in its strategic thinking but said the Chinese leadership did have an interest in building ties with the Vatican because of its relations with Taiwan. To China, the Vatican is a hot potato. On one hand, China wishes to sever Taiwan's only European ally by building diplomatic ties with the Vatican, but the Vatican is not like Taiwans other allies that will succumb to chequebook diplomacy, said the researcher, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. And yet, Beijing is reluctant to move quickly ahead with the Vatican as it might trigger growth of religious believers, which is not aligned to the interest of the mainland government. Pope Francis has faced criticism within the church including from two of his own cardinals for sharing authority with a communist state. The attacks have included accusations of selling out the Chinese underground clergy, many of whom served jail terms for remaining loyal to Rome. For the Vatican, issues with China are not just bilateral but multilateral. There are lots of forces pulling the Holy See in all directions so things might snap at any given time. Francesco Sisci, Renmin University of China Church followers are still subject to arrest and persecution in China. Underground bishop Augustine Cui Tai, of Xuanhua diocese of Hebei province in northern China, has not been seen since he was arrested last month. Another underground bishop, James Su Zhimin from Baoding diocese, also in Hebei, disappeared more than 20 years ago. Shanghai bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin remains under partial house arrest in the citys Sheshan Seminary. At the same time, Chinese authorities have acted to contain the growth in numbers of religious believers by banning minors from attending church services. Religious symbols over churches as well as mosques have been demolished or removed. A source said the Vatican had adopted a quiet approach to avoid confrontation with China, as it would only trigger a harsher response resulting in more sufferings for mainland Catholics. The Vatican has not forgotten those that face persecution and their names are brought up in talks with Beijing, the source said. Francesco Sisci, an Italian sinologist with Renmin University of China, said global conservatives were also calling on the Pope to stand up to China on other religious and human rights abuses, including the treatment of Muslim Uygur people in Xinjiang province. For the Vatican, issues with China are not just bilateral but multilateral. There are lots of forces pulling the Holy See in all sorts of directions so things might snap at any given time, Sisci said. Beijing should not underestimate the value of friendship with the Vatican, especially in a time like this and should step up its game [by following through with the agreement], he added. In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic disruption, China faces a chorus of international criticism for weaponising its trading clout, ignoring complaints of its Asian neighbours over the building of military facilities on disputed islands in the South China Sea, and for imposing a national security law on Hong Kong to curb dissent. Recognising the internal and external forces influencing Xi, Reardon said the Vatican would continue its low-key approach and avoid publicly criticising Beijing. They are working behind the scenes to limit the party-state's crackdown on the unofficial church, the University of New Hampshire expert said. The Pope allows vocal critics, such as retired Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun from Hong Kong and Myanmar's Cardinal Charles Maung Bo to make the world aware of the pernicious nature of the party-state and exert external pressure on the Chinese party-state, he said. With the power of the Pope, he can stop Zen anytime he wants to, but he hasn't done that because his criticism is important. It serves him [by telling Beijing] you can have Zen or you can have me, who do you want to deal with? I think this is the way the church is trying to tell the official Chinese church that we are one family and we need to work together. Be the first to access our in-demand, all-new China Internet Report 2020 Pro Edition! Click here to qualify for a limited time only, 50% early bird discount and receive deep-dive analysis, trends and case studies across 10 critical sectors shaping the China internet and impacting tech around the world. You will also receive access to 6x webinars led by China tech's most influential C-suite executives. Offer Valid until July 6th 2020. More from South China Morning Post: This article Vatican hits stumbling block on road to rebuilding ties with China first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. Male Tiger named Sayan in Zoo Zurich after the accident in the tiger enclosure where a keeper was killed: EPA/ENNIO LEANZA A zookeeper in Switzerland has died after being fatally mauled by a Siberian tiger. Colleagues rushed to the womans aid shortly before 1:20pm on Saturday after horrified visitors raised the alarm, luring the tiger away from her and attempting to resuscitate her, representatives for Zoo Zurich said in a statement. Despite immediate resuscitation measures, the 55-year-old woman was unfortunately too late to help and died on the spot, the statement said. Visitors and staff members are reportedly receiving counselling after witnessing the attack. An investigation into exactly how the tragic incident happened and why the animal keeper was in the facility at the same time as the tiger is being carried out by the Zurich public prosecutors office, Zurich City Police, the Zurich Forensic Institute and the Institute of Forensic Medicine. In a further statement on Sunday, the zoo said there would be no consequences for the five-year-old tiger, named Irina, as she was in her usual environment. The incident of yesterday Saturday is extremely tragic and Zurich Zoo is deeply affected, the statement said. Nevertheless, the zoo notes that the Amur tiger is a wild animal. A person in their facility is an intruder into their territory. In her reaction, she only followed her natural instincts. The incident therefore has no consequences for the animal. Irina was born in 2015 at a zoo in Odense, Denmark, and was transferred to Zurich a year ago, Zoo Zurich director Severin Dressen told Reuters. After a long period of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the zoo was closed for reasons of piety on Sunday, but will reopen on Monday. The area around the tiger enclosure, which is also home to a four-year-old male called Sayan, will remain closed to the public, the zoo said. National security law threatens to undermine freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and academic freedom. Freedom of religion and belief is also under threat. According to many reports, freedom of religion and belief in mainland China has suffered the most violent attacks since the Cultural Revolution." Rangoon (AsiaNews / EdA) - "Christians of all traditions and all believers in Asia and the world pray for Hong Kong, for China and for its people". This is the appeal launched by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Rangoon and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), at the beginning of July in a letter on the entry into force of the national security law in Hong Kong, "without consultation of the local population". This law, says Card. Bo, weakens the freedoms in Hong Kong and threatens the "high degree of autonomy" promised according to the "one country, two systems" principle. This represents a veritable constitutional change and contradicts the spirit of the agreement to hand over the special administrative region to China in 1997. Hong Kong is one of Asia's jewels, a "Pearl of the East", a crossroads between East and West, a gateway to China and a regional free trade center. So far, Hong Kong has enjoyed a mix of freedom and creativity. A national security law is not bad in itself. Every country has the right to legislate to protect and maintain its security. But this legislation must be balanced by guaranteeing respect for human rights, human dignity and fundamental freedoms. The imposition of this law by the Chinese National Congress clearly weakens the Hong Kong Legislative Council and its autonomy. It radically transforms its identity . I am concerned about the threats this law poses to freedoms and human rights in Hong Kong. This legislation threatens to undermine freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and academic freedom. Freedom of religion and belief is also under threat. According to many reports, freedom of religion and belief in mainland China has suffered the most violent attacks since the Cultural Revolution. Even if freedom of worship in Hong Kong is not directly or immediately affected, the new security law and criminal law it implies (for acts of 'subversion', 'secession' and 'complicity with foreign political forces'), for example, could lead to the control of religious preaching, the penalization of candlelit prayer vigils and harassment in places of worship for the protection or assistance of protesters. I pray that this law will not induce the government to interfere with the internal affairs of religious organizations and with the pastoral services they offer to the public. My brother priests and bishops must be able to prepare their homilies with confidence, as well as members of the Protestant clergy to prepare their sermons, as well as religious leaders from other faiths." The participation of religious organizations in social affairs must not be compromised. Indeed, the Basic Law guarantees freedom of worship. From now on, will religious leaders be prosecuted for defending human dignity, human rights, justice, freedom and truth? We have experienced how, as soon as freedom is threatened as a whole, sooner or later freedom of religion or worship is compromised ". For more than a year, there have been numerous protests in Hong Kong, most of which have been peaceful. However, more than 9,000 demonstrators were arrested and not a single police officer was prosecuted for disproportionate use of force. Everyone, demonstrators and police, must be equal before the law. " This law, concludes the document, "risks increasing tensions rather than providing solutions. For these reasons and in the spirit of the prophets, martyrs and saints of our faith, today I invite you to pray for Hong Kong. Pray for leaders from China and Hong Kong that they may keep their promises to respect fundamental rights and freedoms. I invite all of you to pray for peace." Mongabong will be mentoring participants during this talent competition. (PHOTO: Mongchin Yeoh) SINGAPORE Korean beauty brand The FaceShop, kicks off the #EcoBeautySquad Campaign today (6 July), a nationwide search for a new local star right here in Singapore. The competition aims to find a young personality who embodies the brands ethos of real and natural beauty. Aspiring applicants need not prior modelling experience, as long as they feel confident about their best features. We are advocates for inner and outer beauty that comes from treating our skin and our planet with respect. At TheFaceShop, our products are designed to care for various skin types and needs using natural, plant-based ingredients that are proven to be both gentle and effective, said Mr Steven Jeong, Business Director. With this nationwide search in both Singapore and Malaysia, we seek up-and-coming talents who share our philosophy and relate to the clean, simple and natural approach espoused by TheFaceShop and we hope to build them up to become the next big social media star. The #EcoBeautySquad Singaporean winner stands to receive a comprehensive Grand Prize package worth up to S$15,000 which includes: 12-month contract with TheFaceShop 12-month supply of TheFaceShop products A brand-new DSLR camera, and A full-day pampering session sponsored by TheFaceShop, and learning experiences There will be several rounds of elimination after a shortlist of 100 participants. All of them are required to attend an online introductory session, followed by three thematic workshops, which will be held virtually in Singapore. Social media personality Mong Chin Yeoh will lead the workshops where she will mentor participants on techniques and strategies for success in the digital world. Each workshop will focus on a specific topic, with elimination challenges to identify those who will proceed to the next level. In addition, the top three challenge winners from each workshop will receive exciting prizes. At the end of the workshops, ten (10) finalists will be selected to participate in a full-day finale event that will end with the announcement of the Grand Prize winner. The #EcoBeautySquad Competition is open to all Singapore citizens and residents aged 18 years and above. For more information on TheFaceShop and the #EcoBeautySquad Campaign terms and conditions, visit www.thefaceshop.com.sg Armstrong endured several surgeries that sapped his energy but didn't stop the aggressive cancer. He died of brain cancer on April 9, 2009, a few months prior to his fourth birthday. Zortman's marriage to Lindsay ended a few years after that. For years, he carried guilt. He started running as a way to connect with his son. "Armstrong was a typical 3-year-old," Zortman explained. "He loved to eat, he loved watching Diego from 'Dora the Explorer,' and he loved to run around." "When I started running myself, I felt connected to my son," he said. "I connected with Armstrong in a very spiritual way." In 2017, Zortman began tinkering with the GPS function on his phone. He'd sketch out Armstrong's name on a map, and run each letter until the name of his son was formed. He'd map it and trace it, Etch-a-Sketch-like, ensuring that each letter in "ARMSTRONG" was perfectly formed. "Every day I ran became a tribute to my son," Zortman said. "Over time, my life began to have more meaning and my healing process began." This was certainly the case after his running ritual became known. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} 2. Mental health. Mental health is a problem for many in our society and must be addressed. We need to continue to look outside the box to make the generational changes that make a strong long-term solution for those in need. Why vote for me: I will bring a lifetime of service to the people of Woodbury County. The experience I have gained over the years will be a great asset as we leverage funding for the needs of our county from state and federal funds. I will make sure that budget decisions made will be in the best interest of the taxpayer, while making sure we look to alternative ideas that can generate income for all of the county residents to thrive. Party: Republican Age: 41 Residence: Sioux City Occupation: Sioux City Community School District teacher Electoral experience: First run for elective office Main issues for 2020: by Biju Veticad. The new bishop has been at the Meghalaya mission for 44 years. The States Christians number around 2.5 million, or 74.59 per cent of the total population. Tura (Meghalaya) (AsiaNews) The hilly state of Meghalaya has a new bishop. Jose Chirackal (pictured) was ordained on Saturday; his chosen motto is Become all things to all people" (1 Cor 9:22). The newly-ordained auxiliary bishop of Tura has been at the Meghalaya mission for 44 years. He arrived at the age of 16 from the southern Indian state of Kerala, and had dedicated his whole life to ethnic Garos, Rabhas, Koch, Hajong and Bora present in the Diocese of Tura. The Christian community in Meghalaya numbers around 2.5 million or 74.59 per cent of the States population, making it the third-most Christian state in India after Nagaland and Mizoram (90 per cent). Meghalaya means "the abode of clouds" in Sanskrit, and is one of the seven states of north-eastern of India, famous for its hilly landscape and heavy rains. In the 1920s and 1930s, Italian Salesian missionaries began their mission in and around Tura, whose diocese now has 290,000 members, divided in 44,335 families in 2,199 villages and 44 parishes. Overall, the State has 850,000 Catholics. For the local clergy, the local geography is the main obstacle to pastoral outreach and missionary work. Yet, chance led the new bishop to the Meghalaya mission. As he puts it, Providence comes in unknown ways to each person. Now 60, Bishop Chirackal hails from Karukutty parish in Kerala. Back in1976, after high school, I could not join the diocesan seminary because I was late in sending in my application for admission. Instead, I saw an advertisement in a Catholic magazine regarding recruitment by the minor seminary of the new Diocese of Tura in Meghalaya. So, since the age of 16, I have been in Meghalaya. He was eventually ordained priest in 1987. The zeal of our new bishop is exemplary," said Fr Jose Edavakandam speaking to AsiaNews. The latter has worked with Bishop Chirackal in the Diocese of Tura as a procurator. He describes Bishop Chirackal as a mission-oriented priest since his ordination, someone who dedicated his whole life to the people of Tura and Meghalaya. According to Fr Edavakandam, the choice of the new bishop's motto is intrinsically related to his way of living in relation to various ethnic, religious and economic groups in the Diocese of Tura. Missionary activities vary considerably in the Meghalaya mission and in the dioceses of north-eastern India. Fr Jose Edavakandams own parish, on the border with Bangladesh, is home to about 1,400 Catholic families scattered in 48 villages. Most parishes have only one priest who, like me, can visit the villages only twice a year, mostly because of travel difficulties, especially during the rainy season. Visits occur between October and June. Still, the faithful do gather sporadically in certain regional centres to celebrate the sacraments, hold retreats etc. In every village, catechists celebrate the Word of God every Sunday. Bishop Jose Chirackal, who was parish priest in several villages in the diocese, can help the bishop, Mgr Andrew Raksam Marak, thanks to his knowledge of several local languages, most notably Garo, Rabha, Boro Koch, Hajong, Assamese, Khasi, Bengali and English. VOTE NOW: Do you believe the City of Sioux City should reconsider its fireworks policy? On this weeks episode of Working, Rumaan Alam spoke with Tracy Sherrod, the editorial director of Amistad, the oldest U.S. publisher dedicated to multicultural voices, about her work there. Sherrod shared how she got into publishing, how she came to work at Amistad, who reads books by and about Black people, and the economics of the publishing industry. This partial transcript of their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Rumaan Alam: How did you begin your career? Advertisement Tracy Sherrod: It was time to graduate from college, and my college roommate, who is a judge now, said: What kind of job are you going to have? What are you going to do with your life? I hadnt even thought about that. She said: You always have a book in your hand. Call them up and ask them for a job. I called the Feminist Press, and they said yes. So I moved from Michigan to New York. Advertisement Advertisement When I was on the phone with the Feminist Press, I didnt want to ask how much I would be paid. I didnt want to ask all of these questions that one should ask, because I wanted to make sure I had the job. When I got there, I found out that it was a $50 a week internship, but I would not be deterred. I got a job at Doubleday bookstore at night and worked with the Feminist Press during the day. After six weeks, I was hired permanent, full-time, which was really wonderful. Marie Brown was on the board there, and she helped me to get a job in more mainstream publishing. Advertisement I ended up at Henry Holt & Co., which was a wonderful experience, but I left Henry Holt when I went to my publisher, and I asked her to read Sister Souljahs The Coldest Winter Ever, which was on submission. She told me no, she wouldnt read it, because someone in the house had said that Sister Souljah was racist. I said, In the past 10 years, the only people who have been called racist are people of color. Im really concerned about that, and Im going to resign today. And so I did. Emily Bestler at Simon & Schuster had also been talking to me, so I called her up after my discussion with my publisher to see if the job was still available. She said yes, so I went over to Simon & Schuster and worked there for four years before moving to Amistad. Advertisement Advertisement Working for Amistad had always been a dream of mine, so I feel very grateful to people like Jonathan Burnham, who hired me at Amistad to be the editorial director. It had been a dream of mine, and its materialized, and I love it beyond belief. Before I even started working there, years and years before, I envisioned the kind of books that I would publish. We are interested in a variety of thingswe dont only want to talk about race, thats not all thats going on in our lives. Although unfortunately, it definitely nags at us all day long, keeps chasing us and running us down. Your publisher at Holt declining to read a submission that an editor had brought in seems extraordinary to me. We often talk about microaggressions when we talk about race inside the workplace, but that seems like a regular aggression to me. Advertisement In the early days, there were all kinds of things that would be said, in the 80s and 90s. One being when Barack Obamas book came in: We dont really publish people with nontraditional names. Youre talking about Dreams From My Father. Yes. It came in before he was well known the first time it was published. Advertisement The sad part about all that are the books that never got through. We dont even know what were missing. I know a few very important books that were missing that would contribute to the dialogue, but those are books that no one wanted to buy at the time. And thats the real loss to publishing. Lauren Michele Jackson recently wrote a piece for Vulture, looking at lists of Black texts that pop up whenever theres a galvanizing incident of racial violence. A lot of the magazines and websites will publish a list like, heres what to read to think about race. Jackson wrote. Aside from the contemporary teaching texts, genre appears indiscriminately: essays slide against memoir and folklore, poetry squeezed on either side by sociological tomes. This, maybe ironically but maybe not, reinforces an already pernicious literary divide that books written by or about minorities are for educational purposes, racism and homophobia and stuff, wholly segregated from matters of form and grammar, lyric and scene. Id really like to hear your perspective on this, because you publish books about race, but you publish books about everything. Do you think readers should be looking at books as curative or as medicine for toxicity and racism in this culture? Advertisement In the 1970s, the first period in which Black books and Black authors were really making entryways into the business, boards of education realized that American history textbooks were not right. They didnt want to correct it, because that would have been a big job, I guess. So what they decided to do was have supplemental materials about African American history, about Indian history, etc., etc. Thats how Toni Morrison got into the business, working on those kinds of texts. So initially, people of color literature was for the purpose of educating others, and ourselves too, about history. That has continued. The purpose of all books should be to educate someone about something. I also think books should be for escape; books should be for pleasure. If all Black books were about racism, where would we be able to escape it and get away from it? We need those kinds of books as well. A beautiful world would be where everybody read everythingand I do believe that Black people read everything. So it should be educational, but that is not where it should stop. That is not all it should be. To listen to the full episode of Working, click the player below or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. by Sumon Corraya Videos of their work have gone viral. The country has reported 160,000 cases of infection and 2,000 deaths, including a dozen Christians. Fearing contagion, very few people are willing to touch the bodies of the infected. Catholics are grateful for this service. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Groups of Muslim volunteers are burying Christians who have died from the coronavirus. This is seen as a great example of interfaith harmony, and videos of their work have gone viral in Bangladesh. According to World Health Organisation data, almost 160,000 cases have been reported in Bangladesh with about 2,000 deaths, including a dozen Christians. Fearing contagion, very few people in the country are willing to touch the bodies of infected people, living or dead. Muslim volunteers, who live isolated from their families, have been trained to bury those who die from the respiratory disease. As part of the burial process, they first spray a disinfectant (a mixture of water and alcohol) onto the body of the dead, then bathe it with a solution of soap and water, and rub it with a cloth. Finally, the body is wrapped in a shroud and placed inside a special plastic bag. Sahidul Islam, head of Al-Manahil Foundation, a charity based in Chittagong, notes that the burial of Christians is a new experience for his group. "We received a call from the health authorities and responded immediately, regardless of the faith of the deceased. We have seen many difficult situations, even cases where children refuse to touch their father's body." The Al-Manahil Foundation is funded by private donations and does not ask money for its work. We carried Mary Stela Roy, a Christian woman, from the hospital to the cemetery. Her family has been very grateful to us, "Sahidul told AsiaNews. Another volunteer organisation, Man for Man Force, deals with burials in Dhaka. Recently, it buried Rony Gomes, a Catholic from the parish of Dharenda. Mohammad Rajib, one of the volunteers, said that the pandemic is a global challenge; for this reason, all religions should unite to fight it. Catholics are also trying to get together to ensure a worthy burial for COVID-19 dead. Father Albert Rozario, parish priest in Dharenda, notes however that Catholics have not yet acquired the proper knowledge to bury infected bodies. Hence, he is grateful to Man for Man Force volunteers for their help. (Video by Al-Manahil Foundation) As the conversation around excessive police force has pushed the country to consider novel and drastic reforms in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the widespread protests that followed, there is one area that has yet to gain widespread attention. Given the horrific brutality witnessed in Floyds murder and other cases of Black, brown, and poor people being killed by police officers, its understandable that law enforcements killings of pets has yet to become a major issue. Still, it is worth considering what these killings can teach us and what we might do about them. Ultimately, police killings of pet dogs only further demonstrate the racial disparities in police violence and the need for reform. Advertisement The reality of dog deaths at the hand of police says far more about how humans are overpoliced than about dogs per se. The realities of shootings associated with and at dogs reveals one of the insidious and rarely acknowledged manifestations of state violence enacted in and on vulnerable communities of color. Advertisement Advertisement Moving beyond the sensational media stories and activist accounts of puppycide that put the number of dog killings by cops at more than 10,000 annually, we recently looked at the data on officer-involved shootings obtained from the third and fourth largest police agencies in the country. While we found the percentage of dog-related officer-involved shootings to be extraordinary, the overall numbers of dog shootings were lower than what has been cited in publications ranging from the Atlantic to Police Magazine, numbers based on a gross estimate provided by Laura Mathews, a special assistant with the Department of Justices Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. To be sure, dog deaths at the hands of police do regularly occur, with the online posting of countless graphic videosmany of which include scenes of violence also being directed at humansoffering further evidence of the problem. Advertisement But as our analysis of the data on officer-involved shootings reveals, between 2010 and 2016, Los Angeles Police Department officers were involved in 417 shootings, with dogs being shot in more than a quarter of cases. For the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, whose officers were involved in 406 incidents between 2010 and 2017, dogs were shot 45.6 percent of the time. More alarming than the number of dogs being shot by police is where dogs are being killed by police, as we discuss in a recent study. Advertisement Looking at the location of where dogs have been shot across the city and county of Los Angeles, what emerges is a map of deadly police use of force that is highly concentrated in the regions most impoverished communities of color. In fact, the dog-shooting cluster that we mapped sits within the larger cluster representing where humans are shot by police as well. Advertisement While arguments are often made about police pulling the trigger when feeling in fear for their lives, the data on dog shootings makes it unmistakably clear that more bullets than most of us realized are flying through particular communities. Our data suggest that dog deaths at the hands of police are a reflection of a larger problem with how state violence is enacted on vulnerable communities in myriad ways. To be clear, to suggest that dogs in some neighborhoods pose a greater deadly risk to police officer safety than dogs in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods simply does not add up. In addition to the fact that no police officer has ever been killed by a dog while in the line of duty, public health research reveals that hospital visits for dog bites that occur across the metropolitan region of Los Angeles overwhelmingly consist of a single puncture wound to a hand of a child, with less than 1 percent of the more than 23,000 bite-related hospital visits between 2009 and 2011 requiring hospitalization of any kind. Advertisement Advertisement Rather than a matter of vicious dogs residing in some areas more than in others, or a geography of careless pet owners, we argue that the geography of these dog killings reveals, once again, that police officers are more apt to pull the trigger in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, particularly those with larger proportions of Black and brown residents. Similarly, as research shows, when officers in small to midsize police departments received excess military equipment and training through the 1033 Program, the rate of dog killings increased in their respective jurisdictions. Here too, dogs, not to mention dog behavior, simply cannot be the problem. Rather, dog deaths further demonstrate a crisis of overpolicing of Black and brown communities. In addition to the sheer numbers and geography of dog killings, our data also reveal that upon increased scrutiny of police use of force after the killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent Ferguson protests in 2014, police started shooting dogs but not people less. Before Ferguson, the L.A. County Sheriffs Department shot upward of 2.6 dogs every month. In the post-Ferguson era, that figure dropped to fewer than one dog per month. The same trend is reflected in the LAPD data, with dog shooting declining to 22 percent of all shootings, down from 33 percent in the pre-Ferguson era. Advertisement Advertisement Notwithstanding this drop in dog deaths, the rate of police shootings of humans, Black men in particular, did not drop after Ferguson. What we glean from our analysis of the data, though, is that the share of dog shootings decreased in the wake of increased media scrutiny of police shootings overall. It appears that national attention of police use of force resulted in officers being less likely to pull the trigger on dogs, but not on humans. The number of humans killed by police appears to have remained stable, though it is difficult to say for certain since there still does not exist a national police use-of-force database. As discouraging as these numbers are, the drop in dog shootings does suggest that restraint learned through increased use-of-force training is possible and that scrutiny works, without an increase in loss of life to police officers. In fact, the number of police killed in the line of duty due to nonaccident-related causes has been relatively stable over the past two decades as use-of-force training has increased, with 2013 being the year with the fewest officer deaths since 1959. Furthermore, over the past two decades, officer deaths have been far lower than the all-time highs recorded during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1970s. Of course, there is not one officer death by dog bite, let alone canine attack, represented in these data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Adequate police training has saved lives, and when it comes to dogs, an example of proper training and restraint has been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube. In the video, Idaho police officer David Gomez, who received Defensive Tactics Canine Encounters training, lures two large and agitated dogs into his patrol car without incident. In fact, since the tragic shooting by an officer of two nonaggressive dogs in a Minneapolis backyard received widespread attention three years ago, such training has become commonplace for patrol officers in the state and across the country. Notwithstanding the seemingly endless training that cops receive, the geography of dog shootings by police further reveals disproportionate police violence that can only be ameliorated through a concerted defunding effort. On the most recent episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick welcomed the New Yorkers Jeffrey Toobin and NYU School of Law professor Melissa Murray to discuss last weeks big abortion decision, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, in which Chief Justice John Roberts chose to strike down Louisianas restrictive abortion law. Murray and Toobin debate what this means for Roberts jurisprudence and whether hes moving to the left. Read a portion of their conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, below. Advertisement Dahlia Lithwick: In June Medical, Roberts was not willing to make a judgment about whether Louisianas abortion law was pretextual. His problem with Louisiana was hutzpahthat the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Louisiana were overturning 2016s Whole Womans Health and thats not appropriate, right? Advertisement Advertisement Something is happening in Roberts jurisprudence. Jeffrey Toobin Jeffrey Toobin: John Roberts could have voted either way. When they took June Medical, why would you take the exact same case four years later, other than to reverse it? That was my thinking. So I was surprised by the outcome. John Roberts, for the first time in his 15 years on the Supreme Court, said, State, you cant do this to stop women from having abortions. And that, to me was, mind-blowing. I think of John Roberts as a dedicated pro-life justice, and he didnt vote in the pro-life position. If he wanted to approve regulations on abortion, he could have voted to affirm the 5th Circuit. And he didnt. And that to me was bigger than the terms he used in his opinion. 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. Youre right that you cant separate this from his defection on DACA and his defection on Title VII. Its clear that this is not the chief justice that we saw even this time last year. Toobin: All of us who cover the court are always asked, Well, what do they really think? And whats going on? And the honest answer is, Who the hell knows? I dont know. I have no access to John Roberts inner most life. But here you have three enormously consequential cases. Oftentimes we talk about these cases in abstractions. These three cases have a huge impact on peoples lives. It is now illegal in the entire United States to fire gay people just because theyre gay. Thats wasnt true a month ago. Seven hundred thousand Dreamers, if that case went the other way, would have been subject to deportation today, and theyre not. And now Louisiana will have seven abortion clinics instead of one if that case had gone the other way. Thats just enormous. And John Roberts voted with the liberals on all of them. As I say, I cant explain whats going on in his head, but thats not the John Roberts who wrote Shelby County, killing the Voting Rights Act. Something is happening in his jurisprudence. I dont think hes becoming Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but he does not appear to be the same John Roberts he was two, five, 10 years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Melissa, I want you to react. Mostly because Im watching your face on the Zoom and its so expressive. Melissa Murray: My face has no chill. Thats why I cant play poker. So Lee Epstein at Washington University in St. Louis and Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn have talked about this idea of judicial drift: that over time justices move further to the left. And maybe thats something thats happening here, but I dont think that thats it. I think John Roberts plays a long game. Hes a canny and savvy person, and I think he is playing a long game. And I dont want to take away anything from those victories in the Title VII cases or in DACA, but I want to note that those are not wildly overblown, progressive victories. So in Bostock, the Title VII case, John Roberts joins what is a very straightforward textualist opinion that reaches a progressive result. But the logic of it and the methodology thats deployed are actually quite conservative. We dont get into the heads of legislators. We simply look at the words on the page, and we apply the plain meaning of those words. Thats a very straightforward kind of methodology, even if it yields a progressive outcome. And in DACA, the chief justice is not endorsing DACA; he is not saying that this is a good idea. Hes simply saying that the Trump administration, as in so many other cases, failed to dismantle this program in the way that the law requires. Go back and dismantle it the right way. It just so happens that its unlikely that it will be dismantled because this is an election year. But leaving that to the side, if the Trump administration prevails in November and is back in power in December, DACA will be dismantled in the appropriate way, following the Administrative Procedure Act. Advertisement Advertisement And so here, you have a similar dynamic. And again, I come back to the DACA opinion, because I think theyre both of a piece, right? Go back and do it better. You cant present us with a law that is virtually identical to a law that we struck down only four years ago and nothing has really changed. And its not enough to say that Louisiana is markedly different from Texas. This law, we know, has no medical benefits. Go back and find some better law thats different, thats not squarely on point with the precedent we decided four years ago, and then youll see the John Roberts youve known and loved for generations. And more importantly, a John Roberts who, even as he hands you this partial victory, in the text of this opinion actually strips the 2016 decision of all of its substance. This is just like Casey, which gutted Roe and left a Potemkin village shell of the abortion right in place, stripped it of its substance. Here, Whole Womans Health nominally survives, but the benefit and burdens analysis is all gone. And the precedent that John Roberts is really upholding here is the Casey precedent, which honestly was a victory for abortion opponents because it gave the states wide latitude to legislate abortion out of existence. Advertisement I think John Roberts plays a long game. Hes a canny and savvy person, and I think he is playing a long game. Melissa Murray Toobin: But Melissa, he had a choice in all three of those cases. There were three justices in the Title VII case, and four justices in the DACA case, and four in the abortion case, who said, Its fine the way it is and you dont have to redo it. You dont have to redo DACA and its OK to fire people because theyre gay, because Title VII doesnt say what you say it says. So you give a very persuasive analysis of Roberts opinions, but he had a choice and he went in the liberal direction. And that, to me, is just amazing. Whatever John Roberts is, hes not a Trumpist, right? Here he is, bopping Bill Barrs Justice Department on the nose time and time again, and I think thats interesting to me. That whatever he is, hes not Samuel Alito. Hes not Clarence Thomas. Alito rushes to the Kermit Gosnell place. Heres Neil Gorsuch talking about fetal tissue floating around in clinics, right? None of that. This is not an emotional opinionI hate abortion. Were going to use this fleeting moment we have of Trumpism to roll back everything thats happened since the Warren court. Roberts is not that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Murray: I dont disagree with you, but Im going to propose a provocative counterfactual. What if, in 2005 when John Roberts was nominated to replace Sandra Day OConnor, what if Chief Justice William Rehnquist had not died and John Roberts was not subsequently then proposed to be his replacement as chief justice, and he was instead in the Alito seat as an associate justice? I think you get a very different John Roberts. One who is more willing to live and die by those conservative legal movement principles. In the position of chief justice, John Roberts is a very different animal. One who plays a long game and is a more savvy operator who recognizes that this is an election year. The countrys incredibly polarized. The country looks like its about to just explode with racial division. Advertisement Is this the moment to set off a flare about abortion rights? Probably not. And so I think you get him thinking institutionally about what it means in this moment to uphold this law that looks so much like a law we just struck down, to do so would to be to brand the court as obviously nakedly partisan and politicized, which is something that time and time again, we have seen he does not want. He is the most stalwart protector of the courts institutional integrity. And I think that comes out in this opinion. Toobin: To which I can only respond, Good. Im glad he feels that way. Murray: My uterus breathes a sigh of relief, but its also convulsing, waiting for four years from now when maybe were out of the woods, maybe Donald Trump is still president, maybe there is another vacancy on the court, and you do have a 63 majority, and suddenly you dont have to look like an institutionalist anymore because this doesnt look so fraught. Advertisement Toobin: I share precisely that concern, except that I had less confidence that Roberts would be concerned about keeping the court in the center. One of the things about the Supreme Court that I always think about and that I think is very relevant for Roberts is that his title under the Constitution is not chief justice of the Supreme Court. Its chief justice of the United States. And I think hes very aware of that. He feels an institutional responsibility for the judicial branch of government. And when President Donald Trump said there are Obama judges and there are Trump judges, Roberts jumped in. I actually agree with Trump on that. In most of these provocative cases, of course there are Trump judges and there are Obama judges, and theyre going to see things differently. But Roberts is very concerned about the institutional respect that the court receives. Advertisement Advertisement Frankly, I dont think approving these abortion regulations in Louisiana, had he done so, would have set off a lack of institutional respect for the court, except among those of us who follow the court. The evil genius of these regulations is that they dont look like an outright outlawing of abortion, even though they often have that effect. So I guess I give Roberts a little more credit, maybe thats just because of my testosterone. To hear the rest of their conversation, listen below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Supreme Court declined an invitation to blow up the 2020 presidential election on Monday. The justices ruled unanimously that states may compel electors, the individuals who make up the Electoral College, to vote for the winner of the statewide presidential race by either removing or fining faithless electors. In truth, this decision should not have been necessary: There is no serious constitutional argument that states are powerless to dictate electors votes. But the nation can breathe a sigh of relief that the court did not take the bait to make the upcoming election even more chaotic. Advertisement Mondays decisions in Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado v. Baca ask a question so simple that most Americans likely think it has already been settled: Can a state tell electors that they must vote for the candidate who won their states popular vote? Most states do exactly that, which makes good democratic sense. If electors could vote for whomever they wanted, then presidential elections would be merely advisory; citizens could vote for president, sure, but electors could choose whether to heed or ignore their decisions. Following the 2016 election, a handful of electors violated these laws. Two states took action against their faithless electors: Washington fined them $1,000, while Colorado removed and replaced them. Advertisement Advertisement Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig organized this futile attempt to alter the elections outcome, and after he failed, he helped the faithless electors file suit against their states. Lessig is no fan of the Electoral College: He intended to render the system so wacky and unstable that Americans would feel obliged to abolish it via constitutional amendment. Lessigs scheme would certainly have had pandemonic consequences; it would turn the 2020 vote into a symbolic exercise and then let 538 electorsmostly obscure party loyalistsdecide the election. 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. Wisely, the Supreme Court declined to usher in this bedlam. Writing for the majority, Justice Elena Kagan provided a brief and quippy history of the Electoral College with references to Veep and Hamilton. The Constitution gives each state legislature authority to appoint in the manner it chooses. In the early days, most state legislatures just picked electors. But states quickly shifted toward translating popular preferences into Electoral College ballots, appointing electors who would support the winner of the statewide vote. That practice prevails today: 32 states and the District of Columbia obligate their electors to follow the peoples will. The Constitution is barebones about electors, Kagan wrote, but none of its sparse instructions suggest these laws are illegal. The power to appoint an elector (in any manner), she explained, includes power to condition his appointment upon the duty to support a specific candidate. Advertisement There are snippets of historical evidence that cut against Kagans claim. For instance, Alexander Hamilton famously wrote that electors should be independent men most capable of analyzing the qualities needed for the office, implying that they would exercise their own personal choices. But whether or not most Framers shared Hamiltons vision, they did not reduce their thoughts about electors discretion to the printed page. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, reached the same conclusion through a different route, declaring that the 10th Amendment preserves states authority to control electors votes. Kagan did insert three asides that, in the long run, may prove more important than the actual holding. First, she noted that a state cannot select its electors in a way that violates the Equal Protection Clause, meaning it cannot discriminate against electors on the basis of a protected trait like race or sex. Second, she wrote that states cannot impose new requirements on presidential candidates that conflict with the Presidential Qualifications Clause; in other words, states probably cant force a presidential candidate to release his tax returns in order to appear on the ballot. Third, Kagan clarified that nothing in this opinion should be taken to permit the States to bind electors to a deceased candidate. Thus, if a presidential candidate dies some time between the November election and the December Electoral College vote, electors bound to that candidate may be able to choose someone else. The Electoral College is an anti-democratic abomination devised to protect slave states, and it continues to operate in a racist manner by amplifying the power of white voters. But the Supreme Court cannot solve this problem by making the institution even less democratic and placing each presidential election in the hands of random party operatives. In this moment of turmoil, the court gifted the country by refusing to replace our flawed status quo with something much worse. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. Slate's Who Counts? series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. Over the last two weeks, the federal judiciary has delivered a blunt message to Americans who stand to be disenfranchised in this years election: Youre on your own. In a dizzying succession of rulings, courts are laying the groundwork for a chaotic Election Day. One appeals court allowed Wisconsin to reinstate its dramatic cutback on early voting in a startling opinion that explicitly authorizes lawmakers to manipulate election laws for partisan gain. Another appeals court blocked a lower court decision that protected indigent ex-felons ability to vote in Florida. The Supreme Court also delivered a one-two punch, first allowing Texas to impose discriminatory limits on mail-in voting, then reversing a decision that eased voting restrictions in Alabama due to the pandemic. Taken together, these moves indicate that a growing number of federal judgesand five justices on the Supreme Courthave simply abdicated their responsibility to safeguard voting rights. This election was already a fraught battle over the future of American democracy; now courts are retreating from the fight, leaving voters to fend for themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Start with Wisconsin, the epicenter of the voting wars this election cycle. In April, in an instantly notorious 54 decision, the Supreme Court forced thousands of residents to choose between voting in person during a pandemic and forfeiting their right to vote. On June 29, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals added insult to injury, greenlighting the states sharp curb on early voting. For years, Wisconsins local governments set their own election rules, and some allowed as many as six weeks of early votinguntil Republican legislators set the outer limit at two weeks. A federal judge had repeatedly blocked this cutback, finding that it disproportionately affected racial minorities. After inexplicably sitting on the case for more than three years, the 7th Circuit reversed that decision, letting the cuts take effect. Judge Frank Easterbrooks opinion for the court announced a new constitutional rule: Lawmakers are entitled to consider politics when changing the rules about voting, he declared. In other words, Republican legislators can manipulate election laws to make it more difficult for Democrats to cast a ballot. Easterbrook derived this alleged principle from Rucho v. Common Cause, in which SCOTUS held that federal courts cant stop partisan gerrymandering. But Rucho merely found that federal judges are incapable of determining when political redistricting goes too far; it has nothing to say about other election laws, even if conservative judges desperately wish it did. Advertisement Advertisement The news out of Florida, another swing state infamous for assaults on suffrage, is no better. In May, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle held unconstitutional a Florida scheme that forced ex-felons to pay court-imposed fines and fees before regaining the right to vote. This scheme effectively imposed a poll tax, denying people the ballot unless they had enough money to pay court debt. Moreover, it was totally unworkable: Florida has no idea how much formerly incarcerated people owe and no way to find out. As a result, Hinkle explained, even those ex-felons with the means to pay off court debt could never really be sure they paid in full. And if they miscalculated, they could be prosecuted and imprisoned. Advertisement The Supreme Court believes that making voting easier might somehow confuse voters. Hinkle devised a system wherein formerly incarcerated people could ask the state to reveal how much court debt they owe. If the state could not provide an answer within three weeks, the individual regained the right to vote. Furthermore, no one could be denied the ballot simply because they couldnt afford to pay their court debt, since wealth-based disenfranchisement violates the constitution. On Wednesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Hinkles order, allowing Florida to resume denying registration to people convicted of felonies.And, in a highly unusual move, the court accepted Floridas request to hear the case en banc before a three-judge panel had the opportunity to hear it. There is only one plausible reason the court, which Donald Trump recently flipped, wouldve taken this rather shady step: The conservative majority likely worried that a three-judge panel would include two liberals who would uphold Hinkles order, keeping the Florida scheme on hold through the November election. So they short-circuited the appeals process, handing the state an instant victory by lifting Hinkles injunction and a probable long-term victory by siding with Florida down the road. Advertisement Advertisement These appeals courts appear to be taking their cues from the Supreme Court itself. In June, the court declined to block Texas tight restrictions on mail-in voting, which force most residents under 65 to vote in person while allowing all elderly residents to vote absentee. (Fear of contracting COVID-19 does not provide a valid excuse to vote by mail.) This law plainly discriminates on the basis of age in violation of the 26th Amendment. Yet no justice saw fit to intervene and forbid the state from imposing special burdens on younger voters. Then, on Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked an injunction that eased restrictions on Alabama voting procedures in light of the pandemic, a rash and baffling 54 decision. Alabama law makes it extremely difficult for elderly or immunocompromised people to avoid crowded polls: To vote absentee, they must have a notary or two witnesses sign their ballot, and provide a copy of their photo ID. Some Alabama towns tried to ease this burden by introducing curbside voting, letting voters cast ballots from their cars. But Secretary of State John Merrill banned this practice statewide under dubious legal authority. Advertisement In a fact-laden, 77-page opinion, a federal judge barred Alabama from enforcing these absentee voting limitations against sick, disabled, and elderly voters. He also lifted the ban on curbside voting. A three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit let that decision stand in a thorough, 28-page opinion. Two judges noted that the plaintiffs presented evidence that more than 50 people from Wisconsin who recently worked or voted at polling stations there in the midst of the pandemic tested positive for COVID-19. Nevertheless, five Supreme Court justices decided to jump in and restore Alabamas draconian laws. Advertisement Why? The majority did not deign to explain itself, but it presumably relied on the Purcell principle. This doctrine bars courts from altering voting laws shortly before an election under the theory that last-minute changes might confuse voters. In the hands of a conservative court, the Purcell principle has morphed into a perverse rule that voters always lose. SCOTUS consistently holds that voter suppression laws dont burden the constitutional right to vote. Yet when a court tries to alleviate voter suppression laws, SCOTUS stops itbecause making voting easier might somehow confuse voters. Put simply, this Supreme Court believes that voter suppression laws dont burden the right to vote, but decisions blocking those voter suppression laws do. Advertisement The message of these decisions is clear: Federal courts will not preserve Americans right to vote in a free and fair election. Even as a pandemic sweeps the nation, many of these courts see no problem with election laws that compel citizens to risk coronavirus infection in order to cast a ballot. When voters ask courts to protect the franchise, judges slam shut the federal courthouse doors. When states ask courts to protect disenfranchisement laws, judges are all too eager to step in. The federal judiciary is leaving voters at the mercy of state lawmakers who are hellbent on stopping certain citizens from participating in democracy. This article is part of the Free Speech Project, a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. On the afternoon of June 12, a man carrying a knife took journalist Marina Araujo hostage after breaking into the studios of the Globo Television Network in Rio de Janeiro. After a tense negotiation, which involved the networks all-powerful general director of journalism, Ali Kamel, the man turned himself in. TV Globo released a statement saying that the incident was the work of someone with mental disorders, without any political connotation. Yet the case comes after months of threats and even cases of physical violence against journalists by supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro himself perpetuates anti-press sentiment, with violent, rude, and sexist language demanding that journalists shut up and even threatening a boycott of the countrys largest printed newspaper. He often does this on Facebook and through his Twitter account. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The unidentified assailant in the June 12 attack screamed Globo Lixo, or Globo is garbagethe same expression supporters of the president usually dedicate to the network. Many journalists I spoke to agreed that times are difficult and that the angry speeches of the president and his supporters potentially incited the attack, whatever the assailants mental state may have been. They also agree that such an attack sets dangerous precedent for the future. We know what kind of precedent this sets, in a context in which physical attacks on journalists by Bolsonaro supporters have caused various media to stop covering the presidential press conferences. It was a war that had already been declared, perhaps even before the elections, said journalist Fabio Marton. Advertisement For Sergio Ludtke, a journalist and editor of Comprova, a coalition of 24 media outlets that works to combat fake news, the environment has become dangerous and groups that support Bolsonaro with devotion have attacked journalists recentlyvirtual campaigns against news outlets and patrols of press professionals have been constant on social media. And Bolsonaros and his supporters main battlefield is indeed the internet. Even before he was elected in 2018, a network of his supporters campaigned heavily through social media. In Brazil, a country where most internet access is via mobile phones, misinformation campaigns took (and take) shape and reach most of the population through WhatsApp93 percent of those who access the internet via mobile phones use the application daily. Advertisement Advertisement The tactic adopted by Bolsonaro does not differ much from that of Donald Trumpa bet on social media to the detriment of traditional media, with massive use of fake news and dubious content. And even before Trumps tweets were flagged as misleading, Bolsonaro and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro became the first world leaders to have content deleted from social media for promoting fake news. Through Twitter hashtags, often driven by bots, Bolsonaro tries to guide the public debate and also seeks to attack the press in every way possible. And all coordination is done through the so-called Office of Hatea unofficial structure set up by politicians and supporters of the president, even though they dont admit its existence, to manufacture fake news and campaigns against opponentsheaded by Carlos Bolsonaro, son of the president and councilman of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Its existence can be traced back to the 2018 presidential election, set up with the support of big businesses and the massive and illegal use of WhatsApp. This machinery was eventually consolidated into the Office of Hate. Advertisement This Office of Hate (whose members are being investigated by the Supreme Court and the National Congress for spreading fake news in support of the government) creates strategies and marketing materials that are disseminated by popular websites known for spreading fake news. Advertisement A study conducted by Avaaz, an international network for social mobilization through the internet, shortly after the 2018 presidential elections showed that almost all Bolsonaro voters were exposed to false news during the campaign, and almost 90 percent believed this fake content. But Bolsonaro doesnt only use social media to promote fake news to serve his interests. He also uses it as a conduit of violence, especially toward the press. Much of Bolsonaros message on social media is about discrediting the press. Not surprisingly, even today, a core of supporters that stands firm in defense of the president (about 30 percent of the population) continues to share false news that seeks to attack press professionalsalso incited by the president himself, who has declared that the press is afraid of the truth, misrepresents and lies, and that journalists are a dying breed. Between Bolsonaro and his supporters, press professionals face at least 11,000 daily attacks through social media. And these attacks have spread to face-to-face violence. Advertisement Journalists Patricia Campos Mello (from the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo) and Vera Magalhaes (the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo) were targeted by the pro-Bolsonaro mob with doxing, lies spread against them, harassment (Campos Mellos face was used in a pornographic collage), and even threats of physical violence in recent months. Journalists who cover events supporting Bolsonaro are especially at risk. Photographer Dida Sampaio was assaulted during a demonstration in support of the president in early May, and reporter Clarissa Oliveira, of BandNews TV, was assaulted with a flagpole to the head by a supporter of the president on May 17 during another pro-Bolsonaro demonstration. Advertisement Each of these violent acts gets proudly reported on the social media accounts of the presidents supporters, and the cycle continues. Advertisement For Marcelo Trasel, president of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, the inauguration of Bolsonaro marked a break with the rules of coexistence between journalists and authorities in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. The relationship between the press and politicians has always had its ups and downs, with periods of greater or lesser tension, but the recent attacks are unprecedented. From the outset, Bolsonaro decided to act with hostility against journalists, subjecting professionals to unworthy conditions for interviews, uttering personal offenses, and criticizing the coverage. He went so far as to offending the mother, questioning the sexual orientation, and belittling the physical appearance of reporters, Trasel said. Amid the various attacks on the press, some of the presidents radical supporters have been investigated by the Supreme Court and even arrested in operations targeting fake news and threats to court judges and democracy. However, nothing seems to diminish the violent impetus of the presidents supporters. While press professionals look for ways to ensure their safety, the president continues his turn to the far right, seeking ways to prevent the exercise of press freedom in Brazilboth online and offline, setting a dangerous precedent not only for Brazil, but for the world. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Im sure youve heard someone say that COVID-19 could be the end of the city. This is not the first time that people have made that prediction. Every technology, from the telephone to the automobile to the internet, has threatened to pull cities apart. But even if the pandemic is unlikely to kill off the city for good, clearly American cities are not going to be the same. Even in neighborhoods that dont feel like theyre full of offices, nothings getting back to normal until offices open againif offices open again. Advertisement Since March, Manhattans trademark 9-to-5 pulse, when the population doubles during the day and halves at night, has gone silent, as white-collar work has dissolved into homes across the country. Who in their right mind would want to go back to an office right now? On Fridays episode of What Next: TBD, I talked to someone who would: John Capobianco, a principal at Interior Architects, which develops offices for blue-chip clients like Uber and LinkedIn. Johns designs are open, full of shared spaces and surfaces. I asked him how he and his firm are working around the coronavirus. This transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Henry Grabar: Ive looked at a bunch of your designs, and I feel like bumping into each other is actually kind of the whole thing. Advertisement John Capobianco: Its the whole idea. Do you feel like youre now working against your own philosophy of what an office is supposed to look like? A bit in our office, were eliminating our china temporarily, and if you want a glass, you bring it in yourself and use your own and you take it home at night. Youve mentioned that you guys feel like youre actually working really well from home. Im wondering if you feel some pressure, as someone who is working on behalf of clients to make their offices COVID-proof, to go back into your own office and say, Well, look, were doing it, so can you. There is a bit of pressure there. Were doing this for a living, so we need to be on the forefront of the return. Advertisement Im wondering what, then, your office is going to look like when you come back. What will be the changes that youll see as people come back into the office? Advertisement The big change is that, of an office of about 85 desks and about 75 employees in our New York office, theres only going to be 28 to 30 people in at any one time. Typically what were suggesting is that you go to the office for a few purposes. One is team collaboration, socialization. The second would be to do things in the office that you couldnt do at home, such as use our resource library, et cetera. So how are you all going to coordinate to make sure that you dont go over that 30-person capacity limit youve set for yourselves? Is there going to be some sort of sign-up sheet when its full? Sorry, no more people in the office today. Advertisement Thats exactly it. It really is the first 30 people that hit the sign-up sheets get into the office. We have a population of around 75 people were dividing into two shifts, so we have a Team A and Team B. Team A will be in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then alternating B will be in Tuesday and Thursday and Friday the following week. Advertisement So if Team A and Team B want to meet, they better do it in the park. Yes. Well, we are specifically assigning Team As to actual functional teams, so everybody in Team A will be related to each other. This isnt just an easy way to keep the office from getting crowded. It also helps with contact tracing. You can keep half your team safe from the other half. Hygiene stations are in. Closely spaced chairs, theyre out. Fresh air, thats in. Special machines, out. Advertisement I know you guys work in this older building down on Broadway. Do you have windows? Can you open windows? I assume thats not something that many of your clients have the privilege of doing. No, unfortunately not, especially not in the New York market. I think thats much more familiar to the folks on the West Coast and some more modern office buildings. Our windows do not open. But what we are doing is essentially adjusting our balance of recycled air versus outdoor air. Our mechanical systems will be running with 90 percent outdoor air, which may affect temperature a bit within the office and the humidity levels, but actually a higher humidity level is better. Youre also dealing with a larger question: If people are doing just fine working from home, why go in at all, even when the pandemic subsides? In other words, its about how to adapt offices not just to the coronavirus but to remote work, which might be here to stay. Advertisement How do we attract workers to come in when its optional to come in? How do we create a center of community or the hive that everybody returns back to? I could imagine a landscape based on activity, with the central core being community areas and places for people to get together and do their work and collaborate. It sounds like youre saying that actually the office going forward will put even more of an emphasis on the communal group meeting spaces that seem to be the most threatened by COVID-19. If anything, its the individual workstation that has proven itself obsolete and the group space that seems more essential than ever. One hundred percent. Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to What Next: TBD on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a major federal ban on robocalls to cellphones from 1991 while also striking down an exception to the law that Congress carved out in 2015. The net effect is that robocalls to cellphones without consent are still largely illegal, a ban that now applies to government debt collectors too. If you dont have any government loans, this ruling wont directly affect you. If you do, the ruling should help protect you from unwanted robocalls chasing you down for loan payments. Advertisement The law at the center of the case, Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, is the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a landmark piece of federal legislation that in part imposed a fine of up to $1,500 for any robocall or robo-text made to a cellphone without the recipients consent. Decades later, Congress would amend the TCPA in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, making it legal to place robocalls to cellphones for the purposes of collecting debt owed to the federal government. It was a budgetary move to raise money for the federal government, rather than a considered policy judgement, said George Slover, a senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports who fought against the exception in 2015.* This was arguably the only major exception to the TCPAs ban; the law does allow for robocalls in emergencies and for package delivery, but these provisions are less controversial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plaintiffs in the case were a group of political organizations that wanted the ability to make robocalls in order to fundraise, conduct polling, discuss candidates and issues, and get out the vote. Their lawyers sought to strike down the ban entirely, arguing that the amended TCPA violated the First Amendment because it was unconstitutionally regulating speech based on the content of the message. In other words, the 2015 exception ended up allowing the TCPA to favor government debt collection speech over other kinds of speech. The Trump administration, on the other hand, sought to uphold both the ban and the exception, maintaining that the government has a compelling interest to collect debt. (This is, notoriously, the case in which one of the Supreme Court justices audibly flushed a toilet during the livestreamed oral arguments in May.) Advertisement Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who authored the majority opinion, ended up ruling that the TCPA was indeed inappropriately banning some speech but not others based on content. As he wrote in the opinion, A robocall that says, Please pay your government debt is legal. A robocall that says, Please donate to our political campaign is illegal. That is about as content-based as it gets. His solution, however, was to throw out the bathwater and keep the baby. By simply doing away with the 2015 exception, Kavanaugh ruled that the TCPA could pass constitutional muster. He wrote, Constitutional litigation is not a game of gotcha against Congress, where litigants can ride a discrete constitutional flaw in a statute to take down the whole, otherwise constitutional statute. Advertisement Advertisement Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan wouldve upheld the robocall exception, framing it as typical commercial regulation rather than government censorship. Meanwhile, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas agreed that the exception is unconstitutional but proposed a different fix. Rather than invalidate any part of the robocall law, they would bar the government from enforcing it against the plaintiffs in this case. But Kavanaughs view carried the day, so the debt exception is now effectively dead. Im elated, to put it mildly, Margot Saunders, senior counsel to the National Consumer Law Center, said of the decision. No. 1, we preserved the only federal law that we have that provides meaningful restrictions on unwanted robocalls. No. 2, we get rid of the provision in that law has been the cause of an untold number of unwanted and privacy-invasive calls. Saunders also previously fought against the TCPA exception while Congress was mulling it over in 2015, working with Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and California Rep. Anna Eshoo to get it removed from the budget bill. Those efforts and subsequent attempts to pass new laws doing away with the exception were ultimately unsuccessful. Saunders recalls that it was primarily student debt collectors who were lobbying for the provision at the time, as they were facing a number of robocall-related lawsuits. Once the law was passed, it also allowed for robocalls related to farm loans, veterans loans, business loans, and home mortgages. Advertisement Advertisement Its worth keeping in mind that the courts decision currently only applies to contractors that the government has hired to collect debts on its behalf. The government has long maintained that it is not subject to the TCPA. While it makes sense for the government to, say, put out mass robocalls pertaining to the coronavirus, consumer advocates are still trying to prohibit federal agencies from being able to make automated debt collection calls themselves. There is a difference between the government calling you and a hired gun calling you on behalf of the government, said Slover. They could continue to make calls on their own. That it is something that we have separately sought to address. And, as anyone with a cellphone knows, robocalls do still happen, legal or no. Despite numerous federal efforts to crack down on them, numbers keep risingAmericans received 58.5 billion robocalls last year, a 22-point increase from 2018. Correction, July 6, 2020: This piece originally misspelled Consumer Reports. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Corruption suspect with alleged ties to Kocner was detained, but later released Norbert Bodor has been charged with money laundering in one of the largest corruption schemes in Slovakia. Norbert Bodor arrived to the Specialised Criminal Court on July 5. (Source: TASR) Although the police on the evening of July 3 detained Norbert Bodor, an alleged Smer sponsor who has been in contact with mobster Marian Kocner according to the Threema messages found on the latters phone during the investigation of the Jan Kuciak murder, he did not spend much time behind bars. The Specialised Criminal Court released him on July 5, dismissing the prosecutors proposal to take him into custody. Related article Police raid Nitra security firm with ties to Fico Read more The prosecutor appealed the verdict, and the Supreme Court will discuss the appeal on July 9, the police wrote on Facebook. Money laundering suspicions Norbert Bodor, the son of influential Nitra businessman Miroslav Bodor, who owns Nitra-based security company Bonul, which is known for having earned a lot of money through state orders under Smer governments, was detained after the police raided Bonul on July 3 and brought charges against five people, including him. 6. Jul 2020 at 11:39 | Compiled by Spectator staff Ryanair restores regular flights from Bratislava The renewal of flights will depend on how Slovakia opens borders with other countries. Our paywall policy: The Slovak Spectator has decided to make all the articles on the special measures, statistics and basic information about the coronavirus available to everyone. If you appreciate our work and would like to support good journalism, please buy our subscription. We believe this is an issue where accurate and fact-based information is important for people to cope. The Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair restored its regular flights from the Bratislava airport, nearly four months after the ban was imposed on civilian flights in mid-March to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The first planes to Burgas (Bulgaria) and Paphos (Cyprus) were dispatched on July 4. Another flight to Thessaloniki (Greece) is scheduled for July 6, and to Corfu (Greece) for July 7. While last year it operated 26 regular links, the carrier plans to restore only 12 this year. Four of them are destinations in the UK, which are currently banned, said Jozef Pojedinec, head of the Bratislava airport. Also flights to and from Russia, Ukraine, Dubai, Skopje in North Macedonia, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and others are down for now, the airport informed. Charter season to begin soon First Ryanair flights from Bratislava Paphos (Cyprus): July 4 July 4 Burgas (Bulgaria): July 4 July 4 Thessaloniki (Greece): July 6 July 6 Corfu (Greece): July 7 July 7 Palma de Mallorca, Malaga (Spain): July 7 and 10 July 7 and 10 Dublin (Ireland): July 8 July 8 Alghero (Sardinia): July 11 July 11 Flights to London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester banned for now. Apart from Ryanair, the Bratislava airport restored flights to Sofia (Bulgaria), operated by Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air. Although Bulgaria dropped from the list of less dangerous countries on July 6, flights are still permitted. However, it is necessary to contact the regional branch of the Public Health Authority, stay in home isolation and took the COVID-19 test on the fifth day after the arrival. The airport expects to launch the summer charter holiday season in mid-July. Flights to the Greek islands of Zakynthos, Crete and Rhodos, and Burgas will be added from July 16, and there is a plan to restore flights to Antalya (Turkey) and Hurghada (Egypt). However, their launch will depend on Slovakia opening borders with Turkey or Egypt, which are currently closed, said Imrich Ancin, head of the Bratislava airports air traffic department. The restoration of other regular flights will depend on which countries Slovakia adds to its list of less risky states. Related article Related article How to travel to and from Slovakia post-coronavirus Read more Follow hygienic measures All airports in Slovakia need to follow strict hygienic measures. Passengers are required to cover their faces (except for children younger than three years of age) while at the airport and onboard. They are also required to disinfect their hands when entering the airport building, practice two-metre social distancing on check-in and during a security check. They will also have their body temperature measured after arrival. Also Ryanair applies some hygienic measures: both passengers and crew need to cover their faces; planes are disinfected daily with disinfectants used in for example hospitals, whose effect is 24 hours; the Ryanair fleet is equipped with HEPA filters that removes air-transmissible particles and claims air every 3-4 minutes; hand disinfection for both passengers and crew; contactless payments onboard; some limitations to board services, ie serving only packed food and beverages, offering the in-flight magazine only in the mobile app. Read more about the coronavirus outbreak in Slovakia: 6. Jul 2020 at 17:41 | Compiled by Spectator staff The Betterthancheddar mare Miss You N, given a pocket trip by driver Scott Zeron, gained into a :54.3 last half to catch pacesetter Vorst by a half length while taking a mark of 1:51.2 when winning the $14,000 pacing feature for mares during the Sunday (July 5) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Miss You N was away quickly and stretched Vorst to a :27.2 opener, then yielded and sat in the two-hole as Vorst got a breather to a :56.4 half. Favoured Apple Bottom Jeans made a first-over move to and past a 1:24 three-quarters to challenge, but eventually the race came down to the first two inside horses and Zeron utilized the Pocono Pike to catch the pacesetter. Ross Croghan trains the winner for the partnership of Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC, who saw their mare boost her bankroll to $181,430. The Irish-bred mare Blackwell Ruby IR showed no rust after a near-four month layoff, brushing to the lead in front of the stands and going on to a career-best 1:51.2 mile in a $13,600 distaff pacing class. Jim Marohn Jr. drove the winner of 12 in 16 starts for trainer Bob Cleary and owner Gavin Murdock. Stopping the clock a tick faster than the featured females was the Canadian-shipping Captaintreacherous sophomore colt A Positive Hanover, who was pointed down the road by driver Corey Callahan and kept on rolling to a convincing lifetime-best 1:51.1 victory. Third in a division of the Bluegrass at two, A Positive Hanover looks ready to fulfill his potential now for trainer Blake MacIntosh, co-owner with Steve Heimbecker, Touchstone Farms Inc. and Larry Denley. (PHHA/Pocono) by Tran Hung Vietnam and the United States marked 25 years of diplomatic ties and six years of comprehensive partnership. The COVID-19 crisis has kept celebrations at a minimum, but not diminished cooperation. More than 30,000 Vietnamese are studying in the United States and will be the future "cultural ambassadors" between the two countries. Hanoi (AsiaNews) Strengthening bilateral trade, developing a strategic partnership (also against China), boosting diplomatic relations, as well as greater cooperation in security, defence, science, technology and education are the goals of a closer relationship between Hanoi and Washington. The two countries recently marked 25 years of diplomatic relations (1995-2020), albeit lowkey due to the coronavirus pandemic, after the dark period of the Second Vietnam War (1955-1975). The "problems and issues" in the region and the world are the main factors driving the closer partnership between the United States and Vietnam, never stronger than in the present given the growing regional tensions, in particular in the South China Sea. Through closer collaboration, the two former enemies seek to maintain peace, stability and development, this according to expert opinion. A US diplomatic source notes that the biggest achievement today is the feeling of genuine friendship and partnership that binds the United States to Vietnam, with renewed support for the near future. In addition to trade and business, one of Washington's goals is to overcome the material and moral consequences of the war, and the damage it caused. This includes a US commitment to clean up dioxin contamination caused by aerial and ground bombings, help for people disabled by the war, humanitarian cooperation and the search for missing people from both sides. To mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties and six years of comprehensive partnership", the two countries had planned a series of events and celebrations in both the United States and Vietnam, but the COVID-19 crisis scuttled them. Nevertheless, Hanoi continues to pursue the common goal of closer collaboration and an "independent" foreign policy, especially from China. The objective, according to Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang, is "diversification" and "multilateralism" in international relations. For the US ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink, relations between the two countries are at their best in the last quarter of a century. He pointed out that if 25 years ago the two countries had an almost no trade relations, today total trade turnover between Vietnam and the US has reached US$ 77 billion a year. The relationship goes beyond trade to include education and culture. Some 30,000 Vietnamese are presently studying in the United States; in the future, they will be cultural ambassadors and serve as a bridge to further promote a spirit of cooperation and reconciliation between the two countries. The Grand Circuit will return to Yonkers Raceway this evening (Monday, July 6) with the eliminations for the MGM Springfield Stakes. For many trainers across North America whose stables are heavily invested in two- and three-year-olds, the resumption of stakes racing post-coronavirus lockdowns has been a huge relief. Blake MacIntosh, who will debut a trio of two-year-old colts in the 'Springfield' eliminations, includes himself in that group. For two months there, I was worried. I didnt have any money coming in and we make all of our money over the summer with the stakes races, MacIntosh said. I have 70-something (head) in training and I own at least a quarter of 65 of them, so its nerve-wracking. Youre worried about racing coming up and were lucky enough all the governing bodies let us start racing and to just have money coming in, cash flow coming in. I can sleep again at night. Originally scheduled for July 4 with a final on July 11, the MGM Springfield Stakes (formerly known as the Lawrence B. Sheppard Pace) was minimally displaced by measures to contain the coronavirus, as the eliminations and final were rescheduled to July 6 and July 13, respectively. There were 16 entries to the stakes for two-year-old pacers, which has resulted in a pair of $25,000 eliminations that will both feature full fields. MacIntosh feels his trio is led by Major Makover (Post 3, George Brennan), who is part of a coupled entry in the first elimination. A $25,000 purchase out of the 2019 Harrisburg Sale for MacIntosh, Hutt Racing Stable, and Touchstone Farm, Major Makover shares a stallion with MacIntoshs 2018 Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice and will be the first foal to race for the Cams Card Shark mare Mako Wish. Hes an Art Major. With Courtly being an Art Major, we always look at all the Art Majors, MacIntosh said. He was a very good looking individual. He looked very much like Courtly, I thought. He stood [well] and hes just a nice colt. To drive, he does everything perfect. He does nothing wrong, MacIntosh continued. You can do whatever you want with him. He was really good that way. In the barn, he seems like a nice horse. He was actually right close to my office, so I saw him every day. He didnt do anything wrong, as far as I know, and was pretty easy to handle. All three of MacIntoshs entries sport a pair of qualifiers, which took place on June 12 and 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Although their times may not appear flashy on paper in comparison to the baby racing at venues like the Meadowlands Racetrack, MacIntosh says that is by design. I dont tell the drivers anything when we qualify them. I dont want them rolled is the whole thing, I want to make sure their last quarters are their best quarters, sit them in, try to get away third, fourth and let them pace for home is usually what I like to see, MacIntosh said. The second qualifier, we may let them go a little more, but up here, its not like the Meadowlands where they go fast qualifying. We teach them a little more the first couple times than they do down there. Theres no specific time or anything set for the horse, its just teaching them so they can learn. Major Makover finished second in his first outing, where he clocked a mile in 2:00.2 with a :29.2 final quarter. Major Makover was handled more aggressively in his second qualifier, where he left from the gate and sat the pocket before brushing to the lead upon reaching the backstretch. Major Makover opened up a four and a half-length lead under confident handling by driver James MacDonald on the final turn. MacDonald put the whip on Major Makovers tail straightening away and cracked the sulky shaft once with an eighth of a mile to pace. Major Makover finished with a :27 final panel and posted a 1:56 win. Hes (Major Makover) probably the best of the three, MacIntosh opined. He qualified really well last week, he was under wraps. Hes been very consistent all winter and weve been very happy with him. Just a nice little guy. Ole Joe comprises the other half of the entry in the first elimination. Ole Joe is a Roll With Joe colt that is out of the unraced Western Hanover mare Bandolera Hanover. MacIntosh and partners Hutt Racing Stable and Steve Heimbecker paid $14,000 for Ole Joe at the 2019 Goshen Yearling Sale. Ole Joe was a pretty cheap yearling. We had some luck with Roll With Joe in the past with Groovy Joe and a couple others, MacIntosh said. Hes a nice-looking little guy, wasnt an overly striking horse, but Ive had some luck with them in the past. Hes a nice little horse. Ole Joe finished third in both of his qualifiers and paced a final quarter of :28.3 on each occasion. In his first outing, he paced under the wire in 2:00.1, while he was clocked in 1:57.2 during his latest baby race. Although not charted as a break, Ole Joe was a bit steppy around the first turn in his latest outing. Last time qualifying, he wasnt as good as he should have been, I felt, because training down hes been a lot better than what he showed qualifying, MacIntosh said. I think he got on the big track and got lost. I think hell be more of a half-mile track specialist. Jim Marohn Jr. is scheduled to drive Ole Joe from Post 4. The coupled entry of Major Makover and Ole Joe is 9-5 on the morning line. The first elimination also includes American Courage, one of only two horses in either elimination to make a pari-mutuel start. The Fiddlers Creek Stable homebred son of American Ideal won his debut by six lengths in 1:54.1 in a $10,400 overnight at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs on June 30. Matt Kakaley is scheduled to drive the Travis Alexander trainee. Owned by the same connections as Ole Joe, MacIntoshs Victory Move will start as part of an entry with Erv Millers Carrythetorchman in the second Springfield Stakes elimination. By American Ideal, Victory Move is out of the Powerful Toy mare Ireneonthemove, who is a multiple Delaware-sired stakes winner of the mid-2000s and later a consistent open-type that earned $846,091. Ireneonthemove has produced three winners to date, including 10-time winner and $155,848 earner Carly Girl. MacIntosh and partners paid $65,000 for Victory Move at the 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Victory Move finished second in his first qualifier, and was clocked in 1:59.2 with a :28.3 last quarter. He finished fourth in his second qualifier and was timed in 1:58.1 with a :27.3 final panel despite being charted with broken equipment. Training down, he was in the top set, MacIntosh said. His two qualifiers were as good as we expected out of him. You have to work him a little more. I think being in New York will be a lot better for him than being up here (Ontario) whereas you can get after them a little more, chase them a little more because hes a little lazy. Other than that, hes got a great gait to him and does everything pretty [well]. In the qualifiers up here (Ontario), I wasnt disappointed, but there was one time I thought he was going to blow by them and he sort of waited on them, MacIntosh continued. I know what talent hes got and I think hell be fine. I think Matt (Kakaley) will get the best out of him this week. With travel restrictions in place at the US-Canada border, the trio of Major Makover, Ole Joe, and Victory Move shipped to MacIntoshs New York stable in Middletown, which is headed by Jessica Dowse. We stayed on track with the two-year-olds. The only difference right now is Im not going down to the barn down there. I train them all up here and then send them down. Usually, Id be down every week splitting my time 50-50. This year, I wont be down until they lift the border restrictions because when I come back I have to quarantine 14 days, MacIntosh explained. Jessica Dowse will be running the stable down there full time. She sends me videos and we talk every day; shes a great communicator and were able to talk throughout. Thats the only difference right now, but weve got them hung up the way we want them and our training track is a tight track, so when I send them down, they dont have to change much. With two-year-old racing commencing across North America, MacIntosh already has four freshman winners this season, including two in Woodbine Mohawk Park overnights and two in the stallion series at Harrahs Philadelphia. The trainer hopes his luck will continue in the Springfield Stakes. Its a little nerve-wracking. You work so hard all winter, you hope everything goes well. You hope you have a couple that can make the money and do well for you, MacIntosh said. Were fortunate enough to have had some luck right out of the gate with the two-year-olds. We just hope everything keeps going [well]. We have a big chunk of money out there that we have to make back. If we can win in the first couple and do well and keep going forward and get the bills paid, well be happy. The amended Yonkers Raceway calendar will see live harness racing conducted Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights until July 17. Beginning the week of July 20, the schedule will add Saturday nights as the track returns to its normal five night per week schedule through December 19. First-race post time is at 7:05 p.m. (SOA of NY) As part of the initiative that commenced with Hanover Shoe Farms Executive Vice President Bridgette Jablonskys announcement in April of a $250,000 matching fund grant to promote integrity in harness racing, on Monday (July 6), United States Trotting Association President Russell Williams announced the establishment of the Standardbred Racing Investigative Fund (SRIF). The SRIF will exist as a division of the USTA, but with independent, third-party oversight. After announcing the $250,000 challenge grant, we heard from several industry stakeholders who were concerned about industry participants having the ability to exert influence on or make decisions regarding investigations into possible regulatory or criminal abuses, said Williams, who is president and CEO of Hanover Shoe Farms. These concerns are valid, so we have worked diligently with a leading Pennsylvania law firm to design a structure that would remove funding and investigative decision-making from the USTA and allow for total confidentiality. This difficult task has taken time, but it is almost complete, added Williams. The plan for the SRIF will be presented at an upcoming USTA Board of Directors Executive Committee meeting to be held within the next few weeks in order to gain board approval. If approved, complete details including who will serve on the SRIF Oversight Board, the way that money from donations will be allocated, how investigations will be conducted, and details of the plan for cooperative efforts with state racing commissions and local, state and federal authorities will be announced. To read Dr. Jablonskys original announcement of the $250,000 matching funds grant from Hanover Shoe Farms, click here. (USTA) You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 At the digestive care center, she serves patients with Hepatitis C, getting them started on treatment and educating them. Wilhelm said she also assesses patients who call the office, giving them advice on the phone and deciding whether they need to schedule an appointment with the center or go to the emergency room. Working in a hospital and an office is totally different. Wilhelm said the first winter she started working in the office, it was great to be able to sit at home and watch the snow fall instead of figuring out how to commute in it. Hospitals stay open in inclement weather. The office doesnt. Wilhelm said she drove through Hurricane Hugo in 1989 to get to work. Her responsibilities changes as well. As a director, she was thinking about her job all the time. Wilhelm said she was called into the hospital at 2 a.m. one time when someone got sick. While she isnt constantly on call, Wilhelm said her position as an office nurse isnt strictly 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. She has to make sure all the patients are taken care of and is often in the office after 6 p.m. I am honored and humbled to be selected by the Board of Trustees to follow in Toms footsteps as President and CEO of Mercy Health Services, Maine said in a news release. As a result of [Board of Trustees Chair Sister Helen Amos] and Toms leadership over the years, Mercy is blessed with outstanding physicians, providers, nurses, staff and a strong team of executive leaders all committed to moving Mercy forward for many years to come. Its clear the nation is very divided politically, and while approval ratings dont tell us how good or bad a job the president is doing, it is a small indicator of the mood of the nation as it grapples with a virus and tries to find its way to forming a more perfect union in the midst of a civil rights movement. None of this is to say anything other than the nation clearly doesnt feel as one at the current moment, whatever the particular reasons for that might be. With conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other parts of the world winding down, the general feeling of supporting the troops isnt calling us to wave the flag in the same way we normally would. Most will take a moment today to think about them and hope for their safe return home if theyre station abroad, but it is a different feeling that weve had since 9/11 when troops were more publicly in harms way. Volunteers gathered at the Lowes YMCA field in Mooresville Wednesday morning ready to place 600 American flags for the 2020 Field of Flags presented by BestCo and hosted by the Exchange Club of Mooresville-Lake Norman. After breakfast and a time of prayer for the day, Kim Saragoni, who served as coordinator for this years event, directed the volunteers to the various work stations to begin assembling the flags and preparing the field for the flags, which would fly on the field in honor or memory of a veteran, active military or first responder. At 10 a.m. all work ceased and everyone gathered midfield as a first flag ceremony was conducted with Saragoni welcoming everyone to the special event. She introduced Mooresville Mayor Miles Atkins who likewise thanked the crowd for coming and thanked the local Exchange Club for once again offering this event for the community. Next to share a few words was John Headley, executive director of Welcome Home Veterans Living Military Museum. He noted how thankful he was that the local organization stresses Americanism and how especially grateful he was for the event which honors veterans and the flag. Cotton Ketchie, a member of the Exchange Club, shared the invocation giving thanks for the day and the freedoms that we enjoy. Heavy clashes in Idleb, Turkey deploy drones, another Turkish convoy enters Idleb, a huge Assad-linked drugs bust in Italy and ISIS inflicts heavy losses. Catch up on everything that happened over the weekend. 1. On Thursday, the Syrian Army and Turkish military traded attacks after an intense exchange between the army and militant forces in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. A source from the Syrian army was quoted by Al-Masdar as saying they did not purposely target the Turkish military during their strikes on the jihadist forces in the al-Baraa area; however, following their attack, they were the recipients of a barrage of artillery shells that were fired from a nearby observation posts. 2. Turkish military aircraft, primarily drones, have been stalking the Syrian armys positions in the northwestern governorates of Syria, Al-Masdar reported. Turkish military drones have been flying over the Syrian Armys positions in the Aleppo, Idleb, and Hama governorates. The Turkish drones focused on the armys positions along the frontlines of the Jabal al-Zawiya region (Idleb), al-Ghaab Plains (Hama), and western Aleppo. 3.The Turkish military has sent another convoy through the Kafr Lousen crossing that links the Hatay Province with Idleb, Alsouria Net reported. The Turkish military sent another large convoy to Idleb, deploying several commandos and their armored vehicles to different parts of this governorate in northwestern Syria. 4. A drug haul worth more than 1 billion dollars, seized in the Italian port city of Naples, has been linked to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The German publication Der Spiegel reported the pills were made in an area south of Syrias principal port, Lattakia, in a factory owned by Assads uncle. They were then packaged in Aleppo in a paper plant in the city. The factory has denied any involvement with the shipment found in Italy. A representative said it had opened too recently to become part of a drug smuggling plot. But a promotional video for the plant shows it manufactures the same type of cylinders as those discovered in Naples. 5. Clashes between the forces of Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State (ISIS) have killed more than 40 fighters on the two sides in just 48 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The fighting started on Thursday night with an ISIS assault on regime positions near the town of al-Sukhna, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. ISIS militants have retained a roving presence in Syrias vast Badia desert, despite losing their last shred of territory last year. They regularly carry out attacks there. 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. As rumours circulate regarding a possible outbreak of violence between the opposition and Iranian militias, Russia has deployed forces in the Deir ez-Zor region writes Asharq Al-Awsat. The Russian army on Saturday deployed a huge military convoy to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria amid talks by Syrian opposition members of a potential breakout of clashes with Iran-backed militias near borders with Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkish forces and artillery deployed in northwestern Syria reached 7,675 vehicles and 11,000 soldiers. Deir Ezzor 24 local channel reported on two Russian military convoys entering the city on Friday dawn. The convoys were transferred from the rural areas of Raqqa province. According to the media report, around 60 military vehicles, among which were large trucks, had entered the Talay camp in Deir Ezzor. Another news network, Dorar al-Shamiyyah, reported on a third Russian military convoy composed of around 30 military vehicles also entering the scene in less than 24 hours. It is noteworthy that this is the first time a military convoy of that size enters Deir Ezzor city. Dorar al-Shamiyyah channel pointed out to escalating conflict between militias loyal to Russia and others loyal to Iran in the region. As a result of this conflict, a security officer was killed in clashes that took place last week. Clashes have so far killed four security officers and injured many othersthey also resulted in the destruction of a military checkpoint and the burning down of militia camps. This came after news that Iranian militias took control of Boukamal town in Deir Ezzor. Quds Force commander and successor to Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad earlier this year, Esmail Qaani visited the premise set up by Iran-backed militias in the Boukamal town. According to Deir Ezzor 24, Iran-backed militias has forced Syrian regime troops to remove their roadblocks in Boukamal. More so, they denied the Russian-backed Liwaa al-Quds forces from setting up camp and checkpoints in the town. According to the local channel, this comes within the frame of the Russian-Iranian struggle for power in the region. 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. An armed man opening fire inside a hospital has forced the Syrian Expatriate Medical Association to halt all non-urgent cases until safety can be assured writes Alsouria Net. The Syrian Expatriate Medical Association (SEMA), stopped receiving non-urgent cases in all of its hospitals in the city of al-Bab in the Aleppo countryside for two days, after gunmen attacked one of its facilities. The organization said in a statement that it will stop catering to non-urgent cases in all hospitals and health facilities under its supervision, while they figure out a way to deal with the matter and ensure the safety and security of the staff, so they are able to care for civilians and alleviate their pain. SEMA revealed that one of the patients companions held a member of the nursing staff at gunpoint at dawn on Sunday. The attack took place in one of the hospital rooms of al-Farabi Hospital in al-Bab. The perpetrator fired several bullets inside the hospital, then he went out, aimed his gun at the building, and shot again. No staff, patients or medical auditors were injured. SEMA denounced the act, describing it as, outrageous and potentially harming to medical personnel, patients, and beneficiaries in the hospital. Al-Farabi Hospital is considered one of the best hospitals in the fields of OB-GYN and pediatrics in the region. Twitter users shared a video of the attack. SEMA asked local authorities, the Health Directorate, and local councils in al-Bab to ensure that such incidents do not happen again and that armed individuals do not access medical facilities. Cases of armed attacks linked to factions within the Turkey-supported Syrian National Army have repeatedly occurred in northern Syria over the past years, despite organizations demanding the distancing of medical facilities and cadres from any armed conflict. Security chaos in the Aleppo countryside is resulting in intermittent clashes among faction members, as well as repeated bombings, which the National Army accuses the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit and Islamic State sleeper cells of being responsible for. 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. Abu Rakan al-Ahmar was arrested for allegedly demanding money for citizens and stealing products from local stores reports Sowt Al-Asima. Last week, patrols belonging to the Political Security Directorate arrested one of their own members, who was stationed in the town of Ayn Minin in the Damascus countryside. The arrest came after townspeople complained about said member to the branch head. A Sowt Al-Asima correspondent stressed that the arrest of Abu Rakan al-Ahmar one of the branch members stationed at the central al-Bahra roundabout came at the direct orders of the Political Security head in the city of al-Tall. The complaints against Ahmar said that he imposed royalties on the people of the region, in addition to stealing merchandise from shops located in the proximity of where he was stationed, according to the correspondent. The regimes intelligence apparatus had previously arrested a number of members in the neighboring city of al-Tall in the Damascus countryside. The Military Intelligence Directorate and the Political Security Directorate joined forces in mid-June and arrested two members, in a raid that targeted their homes in the central Wadi Hanonaa region. The arrest coincided with others at the Tayba checkpoint, which is under the supervision of the Political Security Directorate, and is located in the Harnah region at the eastern entrance to al-Tall. Also, Political Security and Military Intelligence carried out raids during which they arrested Haitham al-Sawadi, who is known as al-Bara, a leader of one of the militia families in al-Tall, al-Sawadis brother, Mohammed, called The Bulb, in addition to more than 30 members of his group. The arrest happened during a raid that targeted the road that leads to the Military Hospital in al-Tall. 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. Brigadier General Jihad Zaal was assassinated in Deir ez-Zor, along with a number of other people, but it is unknown who was responsible for the attack reports Baladi News. The head of the Air Force Intelligence in charge of the eastern region of Syria, Brigadier General Jihad Zaal, along with a number of his security apparatus, was killed on Saturday night. The assassination happened under mysterious circumstances. Local sources said that the center of the Deir ez-Zor governorate witnessed major security turbulence after the arrival of the body of Zaal to the city hospital, amid discretion on part of the regime. The same sources suggested that an unidentified aircraft may have been behind the assassination of Zaal, as two unidentified aircraft were flying in the airspace of Deir ez-Zor when the assassination took place. According to the sources, Zaal is from the Quneitra Governorate and has ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In 2011, he assumed the presidency of eastern Syrias Air Force Intelligence, having previously been the head of the Daraa branch in 2011. Furthermore, unknown assailants took the life of the bodyguard of Maher al-Assad, the presidents brother, Colonel Ali Jumblat. Jumblat was the leader of the Forth Armoured Division in the Yafour area of the capital Damascus. 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. Clashes between the Syrian Arab Army and the Islamic State have resulted in losses for both sides, and the Islamic State being forced to retreat reports Al-Masdar. According to a field report from eastern Homs, the Syrian Arab Army was attacked by the Islamic State (ISIS) at a few points in the Badiya al-Sham region on Friday and Saturday, resulting in the heaviest clashes between the two sides in two months. The report said the Syrian army, backed by the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Local Defense Forces (LDF), suffered over ten casualties at the start of the battle; however, once reinforcements poured in, ISIS was unable to score any advances around the roads in this desert region. Furthermore, a source from the Syrian army said the Islamic State terrorists suffered dozens of casualties, along with the destruction of several technical vehicles used by the terrorist group during this attack. ISIS has repeatedly conducted raids in the Badiya al-Sham region that stretches across Damascus, Homs, Suweida, and Deir ez-Zor governorates; however, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the terrorist group has attempted to take advantage of the crisis to increase their attacks against the Syrian army, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Iraqi military. In turn, the Syrian army has increased their coordination with the Iraqi Armed Forces, especially the Popular Mobilization Units, to stop the terrorist groups movements along the border. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Syrian Democratic Forces Commander-in-Chief is not optimistic about the prospects of a political solution, highlighting the infractions by the Turkish military writes Etihad Press. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief, Mazloum Abdi, said there is no political solution to the Syrian crisis looming on the horizon at the moment, and that Turkey is violating international agreements. Abdis comments were made on Saturday while hosting a delegation of important tribal figures from Raqqa, in the city of Hassakeh, to discuss the general situation in the region. Abdi stated that, the repeated shelling of populated villages by the Turkish army and the opposition factions loyal to it, violates ceasefire agreements. He added that, two ceasefire agreements were concluded: the first was facilitated by US Vice President Mike Pence on Oct. 17, 2019, the second took place between the Turkish and Russian presidents in Sochi on Oct. 22, 2019. The latter was not abided by, however, according to Abdi. Regarding the dialogue with the Syrian government, Abdi explained that, the regime requires the SDF to withdraw from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, which we will not accept as the local administration is already in place, by the people of the city, who were the ones who helped liberate it. Abdi added, There are no potential solutions to the Syrian crisis for now, despite the fact that many meetings were held in Geneva, Astana and Sochi, but nothing came to fruition. Abdi indicated that SDF continues to work on two important activities. The first is getting the Kurdish house in order, which will have a positive impact on self-management and on the region. The second is holding meetings and starting a dialogue among all of the regional components, as well as working to develop democratic self-management institutions. Abdi emphasized that the diplomatic and political situation of the self-management agenda and the SDF is good at the present time, given that they have been able to conclude international agreements. Recent reports have indicated that the SDF has begun limiting the influence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northeastern Syria. According to Kurdish sources close to the SDF, Abdi, with American support, expelled a senior PKK official from Syria. According to Hoshink Osei, author and expert on Kurdish groups, Abdi expelled the intelligence and security official, Sabri Ok, from Syria to the Qandil Mountains in eastern Iraq. The reports have not been confirmed by a neutral side. 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. North Redondo Beach will absorb most of the 2,500 new homes over the next eight year. Kiley said a St. Martins fourth grade classroom can typically hold around 20 desks, but with social distancing guidelines in place due to the pandemic, that same classroom will fit only 12 desks, each six feet apart in every direction. This new classroom setup is just one of a number of changes that will be implemented in the weeks leading up to Sept. 8. The company slated to provide portable toilets for the event backed out earlier in the week because of concerns over losing their business license, Wood said. Wood said he had a frustrating discussion with a county health department employee who stopped by Saturday morning and said that vendors are supposed to have bathrooms to operate. A handful of vendors selling popcorn and corn dogs operated under tents, and a sandwich board outside one stand urged people to make donations to support our freedoms. Three food trucks were parked along Kessler Boulevard, where several loud, gurgling pickups sporting Trump banners revved engines and blew smoke while making laps around the park. Josue Hernandez, who parked his Tacos y Tortas food truck along Kessler Boulevard, drove down from Chehalis to participate. He said the health department came by in the morning and told him if he didnt leave he would be would fined and have his business license revoked. I was ready to go home, he said, but he asked God what to do and decided to stay. The day had been busy, he said, and there had been no other sign of the health department or police. One of PlayStation 4's prized exclusives, the action role-playing game 'Horizon Zero Dawn', would be making its way to PC on August 7. According to The Verge, 'Horizon Zero Dawn' will be sold through both Steam and the Epic Games Store for $49.99. The Sony-owned developer behind the hit title, Guerilla Games released a new trailer for the complete edition of 'Horizon Zero Dawn'. The ninety-second trailer lays out a number of features and improvements coming to the PC version, including ultrawide display support, an unlocked framerate, dynamic foliage, deep graphics customization settings, improved reflections, and expanded controller options. ALSO READ: Sony has still not decided on the price of the PS5? Well, looks like it Back in March, Hermen Hulst -- the head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios -- said of 'Horizon''s PC port that "I think it's important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation, and show people maybe what they've been missing out on." Additionally, 'Horizon Zero Dawn' is the first PS4 exclusive that will make the move to a second platform. Last month, during Sony's PS5 event, Guerrilla announced a stunning-looking PS5 sequel to 'Horizon Zero Dawn' called 'Horizon Forbidden West'. However, there is no release window, currently, for the anticipated follow-up. The government recently banned 59 China-based apps in India for posing a threat to the countrys security. The list of the banned apps includes TikTok, which prior to the ban had amassed nearly 200 million users in India. The ban has led to an increase in the popularity of the apps India-based alternative. It has also led to a rise in TikTok-based scams. Scammers are using SMS phishing attacks for luring users into downloading an app called TikTok, which they claim is TikToks new version in India. As per a report by Gadgets Now, scammers are sending messages to innocent smartphone users in India via WhatsApp and SMS wherein they claim that TikTok is available in India as TikTok Pro. Enjoy Tiktok Videos and also make Create Videos again. Now TikTok is only Available in (TikTok pro) So Download from below, the message reads which is followed by a link to download the TikTok Pro APK file. Several Twitter users too have got similar messages on their smartphones. @BlrCityPolice Sir i got a message to download the Pro version of tiktok tr Thru sms(no.9590139662). Thought of a sharing the same with you pic.twitter.com/JHi0KYIdp4 Akhand Bharat (@IndBraveHeart) July 4, 2020 Hi sir this is the link of TikTok pro which is Going to install by any browser in India so that people can Use their old tik tok account.. pic.twitter.com/mC8ngsFvgA Eshwar (@EshwarAchu) July 4, 2020 Dear sir @hydcitypolice @CYBTRAFFIC @cpcybd Some of my friends got some notifications from online about tiktok pro app, in that there is an URL link once we click on that URL that message has been automatically forwarded to all of our phone contact. Kindly find the attachments. pic.twitter.com/nsrNh9tuOs Purushotham gowd (@GowdPurushotham) July 4, 2020 Once users download this, they see an app with an icon resembling the original TikTok app. The app then asks them for various permissions such as camera and mic among others. However, once these permissions are granted, the app doesnt do anything. It just stays on the phone. As it goes, the app isnt available on the Google Play Store and it cannot be downloaded from anywhere else. This coupled with the fact that TikTok hasnt launched any such app indicates that malicious actors are using this opportunity for tricking innocent TikTok users into downloading a malicious app. It is worth noting that the report comes shortly after the French cyber security firm Evina said that 25 malicious apps, which had been downloaded 2.34 million times, on the Google Play Store stole Facebook credentials of Android users. You can check the entire list of apps here. (Source) Based on a statement by gizchina, it seems that Samsung Galaxy M41 smartphone is expected to come equipped with a huge 6800mAh internal battery. This is quite a surprise due to the fact that there were previous reports stating that Samsung may have cancelled the aforementioned device due to display issues. While the device comes with a large battery, it might also support 15W fast charging out of the box. With all that said, do take some of the information with a grain of salt, due to the fact that Samsung has yet to provide an official statement on the leaks. Not only that, but theres also no news on the Malaysia release date, local pricing, and exact tech specs of the Galaxy M41 for now. Would you be interested in getting the device in question as soon as it is available in the local market? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com. Credit: CC0 Public Domain China's ambassador to Britain on Monday warned that London faced a risk to its international reputation if it blocked Huawei from the nation's 5G network. The Financial Times said the government will decide this month to phase out the Chinese technology giant's equipment because of persistent concerns about spying. A UK security investigation, yet to be published, has raised "very, very serious" questions over Huawei's limited 5G role in Britain, the financial daily added. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said separately he had received the National Cyber Security Centre report and there would be a "significant" impact on Huawei's 5G role. But Beijing's top envoy in London, Liu Xiaoming, described Huawei's involvement as a "win-win" for both the company and UK-China relations. "We have tried our best to tell the story of Huawei but we can't control the British government decision," he told a news conference. However he warned that if Huawei was rejected, it could impact Britain's international standing and erode the trust of other existing or potential overseas investors. He suggested it would be an example of Britain succumbing to "foreign pressure", in a clear reference to Washington's position on Huawei. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under intense pressure from the US, and members of his own ruling Conservative Party, to cut ties with Huawei. US officials argue that the company could spy on Western communications or simply shut down the UK network under orders from Beijinga charge the company denies. Huawei's position has been complicated further by Washington's decision to roll out a new wave of sanctions to cripple the company's production of the chips used in 5G. The FT said Johnson was drawing up plans to remove the Huawei technology from Britain's 5G network after warnings that the US sanctions could curtail the company's access to American semiconductors and force it to use riskier supplies. Ambassador Liu rejected claims China was a "hostile country". "We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences," he added. Explore further Huawei makes inroads in Britain with new R&D centre 2020 AFP China urged France to guarantee a "fair and just" environment for its companies after Paris decided to restrict licenses for telecom operators using 5G technology from Huawei China urged France Monday to guarantee a "fair and just" environment for its companies after Paris decided to restrict licenses for telecom operators using 5G technology from Huawei. The United States and Australia have banned Huawei from their 5G networks and the Financial Times reported Monday that Britain could decide this month to phase out the company's equipment from its system. France's National Agency for Security of Computer Systems said Monday, however, that local operators SFR and Bouygues Telecomwhich already use Huawei equipmentwill be issued eight-year licenses to operate 5G technology. China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular briefing Monday that Beijing hoped france "can uphold an objective and fair attitude" and allow the market and enterprises to "make a choice in their own interests". He urged France to take "practical action to provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises of all countries, including Chinese enterprises." Huawei has invested billions of dollars in 5G technology, competing mainly against Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia. But the United States has raised concerns that the company's technology could be used by China as a Trojan horse to spy on other countries. 2020 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain With the U.S. Justice Department nearing a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.'s Google for antitrust violations, a coalition of states that are conducting a parallel investigation are divided over the best strategy for taking on the internet giant, according to people familiar with the matter. While the multistate investigation into Google's dominance of the digital advertising market is in its final stages, some state attorneys general are advocating to take more time to investigate Google's conduct in other markets and potentially bring a broader case against the company, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. The disagreement could affect whether states join a Justice Department complaint about Google. Like the states, federal antitrust enforcers have been investigating whether Google is thwarting competition in the digital advertising market, where it holds a commanding position. The Justice Department, which is coordinating with the states, wants to move quickly, two of the people said, and is on track to file a complaint this summer, another person said, though it wasn't clear what conduct the complaint will ultimately target. The department declined to comment. "While we continue to engage with ongoing investigations, our focus is on creating free products that lower costs for small businesses and help Americans every day," Google said in a statement. State attorneys general can play a pivotal role in enforcement cases against companies when they band together in group investigations. They joined the Justice Department in suing Microsoft Corp. in 1998 for antitrust violations. The case nearly led to the break-up of the company when a judge sided with the government. After an appeals court reversed the ruling, the Justice Department under the George W. Bush administration settled the case. Two people familiar with the states' investigation said the split among the states reflects normal tension about the best litigation strategy. A broad complaint would cover more conduct but would take more time to complete. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the investigation into Google's conduct in the digital advertising market, which was announced in September on the steps of the Supreme Court. Other states, including Utah and Iowa, are focusing on internet search. Google dominates web search in the U.S., and rivals have complained that the company has prioritized its own services, such as travel and restaurant reviews, in results. Texas declined to comment. Representatives from Utah and Iowa didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The digital advertising part of the probe focuses on Google's control of the tools that deliver display ads across the web. Google owns much of the technology used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell advertising space. Google has been accused of using its dominance to siphon advertising dollars from publishers. Texas is in the later stages of its probe in advertising and could join the Justice Department's case with some states, said two of the people. States are still waiting to get a full look into the federal complaint, one of the people said. The investigations are so complex that few among the enforcers have a sense of what the Justice Department and all the states are doing, two of the people said. The investigation into online search is not advanced as far as Texas's probe into the digital ad market, and some states are pushing for more time to investigate, said the people. At one point, states were also looking the company's mobile operating system, Bloomberg reported last year, though it wasn't clear whether that is an active part of the investigation. The chief executive officer of Google search rival DuckDuckGo Inc. said last month that state and federal enforcers have asked detailed questions about how to limit Google's power in the search market as recently as the spring. 2020 Bloomberg News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain An international study has used data from a major home Internet Protocol (IP) security camera provider to evaluate potential privacy risks for users. IP home security cameras are Internet-connected security cameras that can be installed in people's homes and remotely monitored via the web. These cameras are growing in popularity and the global market is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2023. For the study, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science and Queen Mary University of London tested if an attacker could infer privacy-compromising information about a camera's owner from simply tracking the uploaded data passively without inspecting any of the video content itself. The findings, published at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (6-9 July 2020), showed that the traffic generated by the cameras could be monitored by attackers and used to predict when a house is occupied or not. The researchers even found that future activity in the house could be predicted based on past traffic generated by the camera, which could leave users more at risk of burglary by discovering when the house it unoccupied. They confirmed that attackers could detect when the camera was uploading motion, and even distinguish between certain types of motion, such as sitting or running. This was done without inspecting the video content itself but, instead, by looking at the rate at which cameras uploaded data via the Internet. Dr. Gareth Tyson, Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said: "Once considered a luxury item, these cameras are now commonplace in homes worldwide. As they become more ubiquitous, it is important to continue to study their activities and potential privacy risks. Whilst numerous studies have looked at online video streaming, such as YouTube and Netflix, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which looks in detail at video streaming traffic generated by these cameras and quantifies the risks associated with them. By understanding these risks, we can now look to propose way to minimize the risks and protect user privacy." Explore further Student finds privacy flaws in connected security and doorbell cameras More information: Li et al., Your Privilege Gives Your Privacy Away: An Analysis of a Home Security Camera Service (2020). Li et al., Your Privilege Gives Your Privacy Away: An Analysis of a Home Security Camera Service (2020). www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~tysong/files/INFOCOM20.pdf Groups also have called for the city to stop celebrating Christopher Columbus Day in October, asking that it be changed to an Indigenous Peoples Day, a holiday honoring native communities that were displaced and decimated by European voyagers and the settlers who followed. A number of municipalities and cities throughout the country have adopted the change, but Baltimore had not as of last year. Multimedia Reporter Staff writer Harry Funk, a professional journalist for three-plus decades, has been on the staff of The Almanac since 2015. He has a bachelors degree in journalism and master of business administration, both from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The VB 10,000 crane vessel is expected to move back into position over the remains of the shipwrecked Golden Ray in the St. Simons Sound within the next day or two, resuming cutting operations that stopped more than a week ago for maintenance, said U.S. Coast Guardsman Michael Himes, spokesm Looking for in-depth reporting on labor issues? You're in the right place. Subscribe to The Chief and get stories that cover every side of civil service in New York City and beyond. You can sign up in minutes for immediate access. Manhattan, KS (66502) Today Mostly sunny skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. I used to consider 'stopping shopping' to be an essential bit of advice. Of course, it's not something you will read on photography websites very often, including this one, as we all make money encouraging people to shop. We are all what used to be called, in the 1970s, "co-opted." Involved and implicated in the great cultural project, namely, encouraging each other to buy and spend. I don't excuse myself, nor can I pretend I'm above it. Sounds absurd Aaron's comment in the previous post (the fourth Featured Comment) reminded me of the usefulness of stopping shopping. In film photography days, when the firmament was much more stable and progress more staid and incremental, I used to advise students to a.) set a predetermined limit on the period of their shopping, and then b.) set a time period for stopping shopping...a period in which to abstain. This simply acknowledges that eternal, obsessive shopping can become a waste of time. I don't tend to remember numbers, but I believe I used to recommend shopping for a new camera for three months and then using whatever camera you chose for five years. In this regimen you'd set a "no-later-than" date for making a decisionfor deciding what to buyand then resolve not to shop again until a defined future date. (I do that with cars.) For instance, if you were doing this now, you'd say "I'll make my purchase before October 6th and then not shop at all any more until October 6th, 2025." If you get the gearhead urge during that time, just console yourself with the idea that on October 6th, 2025, you get to buy yourself a new camera. And you'll dive into it then. Something to look forward to. Until then, though, no second-guessing yourself, no returning to the shopping phase, no reading reviews, no gear talk, etc. This sounds absurd now, doesn't it? But back then, magazines (and books) were most of what we had, and shopping and gear talk weren't nearly so much a part of the hobby. It was known in the publishing industry that the average car magazine buyer would read magazines for up to two years before a car purchase, and then stop buying and reading magazines after the purchase. In photography that wasn't so clear, but it was somewhat similar. Nobody but photo-writers in magazines cared what brand you allied yourself with, or what format you used. Nobody but photo-writers in magazines concerned themselves with the business problems of cameramaking companies, and "testing" things was considered a sort of eccentric sidelight, a way of diddling around and distracting yourself. People aspired to actually create photographs. At the least, they pretended that they aspired to create photographs. I remember how weird I thought it was when people started making a big deal online about "switching systems." It seemed odd, at first, that people imagined that anyone but themselves would care about such a thing. To the inevitable question "should I buy a Nikon or a Canon?", my answer was: Yes. In other words, sure, buy a Nikon or a Canon. One or the other. Or something else. Whatever. Then get down to work. Let's not get crazy Shopping for three months and "stopping shopping" for five years was probably idealistic, and hence unreasonable. So I resolved to try it. I was big on putting my money where my mouth was and experimenting with taking my own advice. But I gave myself five months to shop and determined to then use whatever I chose for three years. (I mean, let's not be too crazy.) I needn't have been quite so lacking in faith in myself. I settled on a camera (an Olympus OM-4T) in less time than five months, and managed to use it for four and a half years. Almost my original prescription. During that time, I managed to quiet the gearhead shopping urge...sort of. During that whole time I still shopped for lenses, and I was just as obsessive about that as I used to be about cameras. In the digital era, my typical time with a camera has been roughly three years. Not really so unreasonable, given the pace of progress in 20002015. But there have been a number of false starts, when I bought something and just didn't like it once I started to use it. Anyway, the notion that continual shopping might be a distraction and a diversionand thus worth taking a rest fromseems as quaint and old-fashioned as Kodak D-23 or an Eastman 2-D now. It's antithetical to the hobby as it has evolved. For the past twenty years, in the online culture, it's most of what we're on about. Virtuous? There's a thing I've learned about recently called "virtue signaling." Definition: "the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position on a particular issue." I don't mean to suggest that "stopping shopping" is virtuous. For me it's really only a way of calming down my gearhead tendencies, which, as Aaron suggested in his comment, can get in the way of focusing on pictures and lower my Satisfaction/Gratification Index. Because I am, as you know, a nut. Of course, I've personally dealt with that by writing about photography, so now I "need" to try all different kinds of gear because I write about it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But I cannot liethat arrangement is, in part, merely making an advantage out of what is really a weakness. As with almost all photo writers (and vloggers) online, it's to my pecuniary advantage to encourage you to shop and spendI ain't gonna lie. But really, the most important thing is what's best for your own satisfaction and gratification. Sometimes that's new gear, but it just as easily might be giving shopping a rest for a while. Mike (Thanks to Aaron) Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.) Featured Comments from: Dave Stewart: "I like the timing of this post...just as the rumour websites, and their regulars, are getting excited about several new camera and lens announcements coming soon (allegedly)." s.wolters (partial comment): "What also helps is to force yourself to wait three months after you made your choice. In most cases you will change your mind." Mike replies: That is also an essential skill in both eating and with addictions...dealing with things by putting them off. If you get into a ravenous state while eating a meal and you feel impelled to keep going after you've just finished, simply wait twenty minutes first. It works wonders. We often find that the ravenous, craving state of mind will pass. In early sobriety, if you just can't stand the cravings and you make up your mind to drink or use, just tell yourself yes, I'm going to...but tomorrow. Put it off till tomorrow and you'll find that the crisis has passed by then and your resolve is renewed. Sometimes procrastinating tendencies can be turned to advantage. :-) Grants will be awarded to nonprofits and government agencies for projects addressing short-term emergency needs, and to prevent and decrease homelessness. The grants can be used to provide up to three months in subsistence payments or pay security deposits for those whose housing has been directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Opponents also questioned whether there was sufficient need for the gas it would carry and said it would further encourage the use of a fossil fuel at a time when climate change makes a shift to renewable energy imperative. Legal challenges brought by environmental groups prompted the dismissal or suspension of numerous permits and led to an extended delay in construction. The project was years behind schedule and the anticipated cost had ballooned from the original estimate of $4.5 billion to $5 billion. Reaction poured in Sunday from the project's opponents, who lauded the demise of the project. "If anyone still had questions about whether or not the era of fracked gas was over, this should answer them. Today is a historic victory for clean water, the climate, public health, and our communities,'' Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement. The project's supporters said the pipeline would create jobs, help aid the transition away from coal and lower energy costs for consumers. Economic development officials in distressed parts of the three states it would run through had hoped that the greater availability of natural gas would help draw heavy manufacturing companies. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Here 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) South Africa: Condolences to Mary Twala's family President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended his deep condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and fans of veteran actor and esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga, Mary Twala-Mhlongo, who passed away on Saturday. Aged 80, the distinguished thespian was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in 2019 in recognition of the versatility and longevity of her creative career. During her exceptional career, Twala-Mhlongo starred in many television and film productions, including, Sarafina, A Love in Africa and Taxi to Soweto, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Award. She also had leading roles in Soul Buddyz, Yizo-Yizo and Hlala Kwabafileyo, which won her a Best Comedy Performer Award. In 2011, Twala-Mhlongo was nominated as the Best Supporting Actress at the Sixth Africa Movie Academy Awards. Like millions of South Africans, I am saddened by the passing of a great icon of our nations creative community; someone who was a household name and face to all of us and brought home the joys, the struggles and the humour under pressure that characterises our national life. We have lost a unique talent and an endearing human being, whose performances brought to life the meaning of being South African, and appealed to South Africans of all generations. We will miss her dearly, President Ramaphosa said. Also mourning the passing of Twala-Mhlongo, the Presiding Officers of Parliament, led by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo, said South Africa is left poorer without such an accomplished artist, a voice of the voiceless, a defender of women's rights and remarkable patriot. Twala has made a remarkable contribution to South Africa in general and the performing arts in particular. Through the arts, she told a story of South Africa's society and exposed the bad, the good and the ugly of our daily lives through the various phases of our nation's history. Against all odds, Mama Mary persevered and pursued a remarkably successful career, despite the conditions of apartheid brutality and a highly competitive and exploitative sector. As a nation, your undying spirit and energy for the stage will forever be etched in our minds. We will forever be indebted to your love, dedication, sacrifice as well as the hope and determination you inspired, not only in the performing arts sector but in all of us, the Presiding Officers said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's Vehicle Inventory Alert Index (VIA) stood at 56.8% in June, which climbed 2.6 and 6.4 percentage points compared to the previous month and the previous year respectively, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). Both footfall and auto sales of dealerships in June represented growth thanks to the increasing launch of motor shows, the sales promotion offered during the 6.18 mid-year online shopping festival, as well as some preferential policies and incentives rolled out by local governments, automakers and dealers. However, the market demands were somewhat overdrawn, said the association. To fulfill the first-half sales goals set by OEMs, a number of dealers opted to spur deliveries by decreasing prices, so that the unit profit per car slid, leading to fewer incomes to dealers, according to the CADA. The overall market faced a sales slowdown due to the decline in dealer showroom traffic which resulted from the flood disasters led by continuous torrential rainfalls taking place in the late June in such places as Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing and Guizhou. The VIAs of the imported & premium brands and the mainstream joint-venture brands reached 52.7% and 58.9% in June, rising 0.4 and 5.5 percentage points from a month ago. China's self-owned brands posted lower inventory level as their sales were boosted in May by OEMs' policies. Dealers are expected to undertake higher inventory pressure in July by reason of sliding demands for the traditional slack season and increasing wholesales required by OEMs, said the association. The great-great grandson of Douglass and the president of Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, an anti-racist educational nonprofit, Morris was used as a model for both vandalized Rochester statues (the sculptor of both used his face and hands as models). So he said the first incident felt very much like a personal attack. A group representing French-American taxpayers is filing a new lawsuit over US tax and banking rules they say are preventing them from opening online banking accounts in France, their lawyer said Monday. The civil suit aims to prod a Paris court to designate a judge who would pursue an investigation into claims that French citizens are exposed to discrimination because of the far-reaching American rules, Antoine Vey told AFP. The Accidental Americans Association (AAA) are fighting for exemption from a US demand since 2013 that all citizens file extensive details on any foreign bank accounts with their yearly revenue declarations -- even if they have not lived or worked in the United States for years. Many in France and elsewhere say that even if born in the US, they only lived there a few months or years as children, and should not be subject to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Overseas banks face severe penalties if they do not comply with the information requests, and online banks in particular see the compliance costs as too high to justify the risk of taking on French-American clients. Boursorama, an online subsidiary of France's Societe Generale group, "told us that it would cost it too much money", AAA president Fabien Lehagre told AFP. "Yet it spent six million euros ($6.8 million) six months ago to get Brad Pitt for an ad campaign -- even though he can't even open an account with them," he said. Previous lawsuits, including one filed against France with the European Commission last October, have failed to prompt any official inquiries from prosecutors so far. "You can't exclude someone because of their nationality," Vey said. "It's clearly discriminatory." "I feel like the prosecutor's office has not understood the significance of an issue that affects nearly 10,000 people in France," he said. Luxembourg's Minister of Health Paulette Lenert told Paperjam that the ministry had expected infections numbers to rise after the lockdown. The ministry did not expect, however, that new infections would be so clearly due to private parties. In an interview with Paperjam this Monday morning, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert explained that the recent developments are not a reason to panic. She nevertheless conceded that an average of 50 new cases per day is a worrying development. Lenert explained that, in her view, parts of the population may have misunderstood the government's intentions when several restrictions were eased on 10 June. As soon as it became legal to invite more people, some individuals pushed the new freedom to the maximum, seemingly without understanding that the virus is still present in Luxembourg, the minister said. "We may have overestimated individual responsibility," Lenert concluded. The minister added that it was a human reaction, and that, for the ministry, it was not a question of being "disappointed." The recent developments are "alarming" because "something did not go as expected," she said. The ministry had expected new infections to rise when restrictions were eased. It was, however, not expected that the rising infection numbers would be so clearly due to private parties. Lenert concluded that the problem must be addressed, and that it is now important to "readjust." Face masks and physical distance are now mandatory again (rather than merely recommended) for private gatherings of 20 people or more. Opposition parties in Luxembourg City demand that the tax on vacant development land be increased thirtyfold. Luxembourg City opposition parties LSAP, the Left, and the Greens demand that the current tax on empty development land be increased thirtyfold in a bid to battle the city's infamously high rent prices. The parties brought a corresponding motion to the municipal council on Monday afternoon. If the plan receives the green light, the current tax (500%) will be increased to 15,000% as of 1 January. The parties cited statistics from LISER, according to which around 117 hectares of vacant land could immediately be built on. The opposition parties already unveiled details about the motion during a press conference on Monday morning. LSAP, the Greens, and the Left hope that their motion will send a signal to the rest of the country. Greens MP Francois Benoy illustrated the proposition with a concrete example: the owner of a vacant development land of 2 hectares (B6 category) pays around 400 in tax per year. "If we multiply this by 30, which is the rate that we propose, we end up at 13,000 per year," he explained. Benoy added that the increased tax should not be seen as a punitive measure. Instead, the drastic increase is hoped to reduce vacant development lands in Luxembourg City. The measure also only applies to lands that are "immediately available," he said. The goal is to encourage landlords either to sell vacant lands or to build new housing units. Earlier this year, the municipal council of Diekirch similarly decided to increase property tax to 15,000% for certain types of land. According to Benoy, 30 municipalities across the country already have higher taxes of this kind than Luxembourg City. DP and CSV meanwhile showed themselves in favour of introducing a speculation tax. Former DP mayor Paul Helminger unsuccessfully tried to introduce a similar measure. Members of a Canadian sparrow species famous for their jaunty signature song are changing their tune, a curious example of a "viral phenomenon" in the animal kingdom, a study showed Thursday. Bird enthusiasts first recorded the white-throated sparrow's original song, with its distinctive triplet hook, in the 1950s. Canadians even invented lyrics to accompany the ditty: "Oh my sweet, Ca-na-da, Ca-na-da, Ca-na-da." But starting from the late 20th century, biologists began noticing that members of the species in western Canada were innovating. Instead of a triplet, the new song ended in a doublet and a new syncopation pattern. The new ending sounded like "Ca-na, Ca-na, Ca-na." Over the course of the next two decades, this new cadence became a big hit, moving eastward and conquering Alberta, then Ontario. It began entering Quebec last year. It's now the dominant version across more than 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) of territory, in an extremely rare example of the total replacement of historic bird dialect by another. Scientist Ken Otter at the University of Northern British Columbia, and his colleague Scott Ramsay from Wilfrid Laurier University, described the dizzying pace of this transformation in the journal Current Biology. "What we're seeing is like somebody moving from Quebec to Paris, and all the people around them saying, 'Wow, that's a cool accent' and start adopting a Quebec accent," Otter told AFP. Their work was based on 1,785 recordings between 2000 and 2019, the majority made by them but with contributions from citizen-scientists, who posted the files on specialist sites like xeno-canto.org. In the western province of Alberta, about half of the recorded songs ended with the triplet in 2004; ten years later, all the males had adopted the doublet. In 2015, half of western Canada had converted to the doublet version, and by last year, the new song had been well established on the western tip of eastern Quebec province. At this rate, the historic triplet version may soon exist only in tape recordings. - Bird influencers - The males of the species sing to mark their territory, and their songs all share a common structure. Usually, if a variation appears, it remains regional and doesn't make headway in neighboring territories. The study represents the first time scientists have been able to show this kind spread at huge geographic scale, said Otter. So how did it happen? Probably in the same way that children return from summer camp humming new tunes: songbirds from different parts of Canada winter in the same parts of the United States, then return to their own homes in spring. The researchers verified this theory by tagging a few of the birds. So it was that in the plains of Texas and Kansas, the new song's first adopters from western Canada -- avian influencers, if you will -- popularized the trend among their eastern brethren. Previous work has shown that young birds can pick up a foreign song after listening to a recording. But to truly understand why the males were willing to abandon the old song that had once served them well, the scientists have to rely on theories. Otter believes it may be because females were more attracted to the new song, so young males rushed to adopt it. "There seems to be some advantage to adding novel elements into your song that make the song, not necessarily more attractive, but increases people's attention to it," said Otter. Going back to the human example, it would be akin to "if all the French women in Paris thought that a Quebec accent sounded much more interesting than a Parisian accent, and so everybody starts adopting a Quebec accent." The hypothesis remains unverified. The leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was killed this week by French forces in Mali. Although Abdelmalek Droukdel had a low public profile, he was one of the most powerful Islamist warlords in the region and his death is likely to have an impact on jihadist groups there. Here is a round-up of views on Thursday's incident and how it might have an impact on the volatile region. - How was he killed? - Droukdel and other AQIM leaders met in a river valley in northern Mali late on June 3, according to a local source. The remote desert valley, some 20 kilometres from the Algerian border, is often used as a watering hole for animals. French forces moved quickly, first with an air strike that hit a vehicle, then with half a dozen helicopters and ground troops. Droukdel was killed in the fighting along with AQIM's propagandist Toufik Chaib. One jihadist surrendered and was taken into custody, said French Colonel Frederic Barbry. The lawless area where the raid took place is crossroads for truckers, who are sometimes forced to wait for weeks before being allowed to cross the border. The area is also a "hotspot for migrant trafficking", a UN expert in Mali told AFP. - How will his death affect jihadist groups? - The semi-desert Sahel region has been plagued by jihadists since militants seized control of Mali's north in 2012. The conflict has since spread to the centre of the country, and to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed to date. The killing might disrupt the jihadists but it will not resolve the conflict, according to Denis Tull, a West Africa expert with the French government's Institute for Strategic Research. "It's all very well to neutralise certain leaders," he said, "but we've seen in other fields that beheading leaders is never enough." Droukdel was not the region's only powerful jihadist. The leaders of a jihadist alliance linked to Al-Qaeda, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), are still at large. Among them are Mali's two most notorious jihadists -- in the north, veteran Tuareg militant Iyad Ag Ghaly, in central areas, radical Fulani preacher Amadou Koufa. GSIM has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Malian soldiers since 2017. The so-called Islamic State group also has a franchise in the region set up in 2015 by Abou Walid Al-Sahraoui, a former AQIM member. The groups led by Koufa and Al-Sahraoui have been highly active recently, according to Ibrahim Maiga of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). "The insurgent position will be maintained by these groups, even if Droukdel's death shows them that no one is safe," he said. - Could the region become more stable? - Disposing of Droukdel will not solve the region's wider problems, said a French counterterrorism expert who requested anonymity. A variety of difficulties contribute to the region's instability and insecurity, experts argue. The violence is the main problem -- some 30 villagers were killed in central Mali on Friday alone. But national governments are also plagued by political problems. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday. Complaints of government mismanagement and mistreatment of civilians by national armies are also common in region. "All this risks perhaps overshadowing this death," said the ISS's Ibrahim Maiga. When we arrived we had fire showing through the roof, Brown said at the scene, and they called for the fire to be elevated to second-alarm status. Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli must face corruption charges just eight months after he was acquitted of spying on political foes, one of his lawyers said on Wednesday. "They charged him," his lawyer Ronier Ortiz told reporters outside the public prosecutor's office in the capital Panama City. According to local media, Martinelli has been linked to the so-called "New Business" case in which an editorial group was allegedly bought using public money during his 2009-14 term as president. Martinelli is due to be interviewed by prosecutors on Thursday but his lawyers say he cannot be prosecuted because of a law -- the speciality principle -- that says a person cannot be tried for a different crime to the one that provoked their extradition. The former president was extradited from the United States in 2018 -- he fled there in 2015 -- and held in pre-trial detention to face charges of spying and misappropriation of public funds. "My summons is not just a violation of my speciality principle, procedural guarantees and my human rights. Above all it is a smokescreen," Martinelli wrote on Twitter. He said the summons was designed to detract from another corruption investigation against former president Juan Carlos Varela, his former ally but now political enemy. Martinelli has been linked with several other corruption scandals and claims he was the victim of political persecution by his successor Varela's government. Varela, who left office last year, was questioned on Monday by anti-corruption prosecutors over alleged illegal campaign donations from scandal-ridden Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has admitted to paying $59 million in bribes to Panamanian officials between 2010 and 2014, when Martinelli was in power. "We'll fight to the death," insisted Ortiz, adding that "those managing justice are corrupt and dirty." Backing coal The state has long supported Wyomings colossal coal operations. In recent years, lawmakers have also been determined to buoy it. Losses in coal country have significant ramifications for the state heightening unemployment and exacerbating revenue shortfalls. One in 10 jobs in the Powder River Basin depends on coal, according to research conducted by University of Wyoming economist Rob Godby in 2015. Last quarter, the coal industry supported some 4,500 jobs. A combined Peabody and Arch venture would likely translate into more stability and certainty for the coal-dependent state, Godby explained. Overcapacity in the basin (or too many coal operators vying for too few customers) has sent some firms off the cliff into bankruptcy. Since 2015, six coal companies with operations in Wyoming have filed for bankruptcy. The Powder River Basins coal sector has struggled to maintain its dominant position in the electricity generation market in the past decade. Though the basin still pumps out roughly 40 percent of the nations coal, natural gas and renewable energy sources have started to push coal out of the electricity market. As the United States searches for domestic sources of critical and strategic minerals, Wyoming has an opportunity to explore for and potentially develop new resources, Erin Campbell, state geologist and director of the Geological Survey, said in a statement. In 2019, Wyoming's Legislature appropriated $10,000 for this additional research in an effort to expand its grasp of the economic potential of critical elements across Wyoming. Funding from the state legislature has allowed us to further advance our interpretation of the distribution of those elements and minerals across the state," Campbell stated. The team selected 159 samples of the tens of thousands to deeply analyze for elements, like uranium, titanium, vanadium and more. The samples were reanalyzed using modern techniques performed at a single laboratory, allowing for standardized results that can be compared across the dataset, David Lucke, manager of technical analysis and the Geological Survey's data division, said in a statement. The data could be used by the mineral industry and geologists to advance geological exploration and conduct more focused sampling, the report concludes. Staff at the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) have reached their breaking point as they claim they have not been paid for two months. The situation has become so dire, employees said they are struggling just to make ends meet. LET them eat cake. This is a saying that clearly shows what is happening now in Trinidad and Tobago, how the insensitivity to our suffering citizens and clearly the incomprehension of the realities of the life that our population is facing by the lockdown restrictions and the pandemic are totally being mishandled by the Rowley Government at this time. They are out of touch with the common man. Ive been involved in county government and municipalities, said Jones. Ive been with the town of Union Bridge, I started as a council person, then moved up to mayor, I was county commissioner for a four-year term and came back. So I think I understand government, I have a good working relationship with the people. Basically, its just having an ear and being able to work with your colleagues and do whats best not just for my town but for the whole state of Maryland. Operation Pegasus delivers medical and nonmedical supplies to the Navajo Nation. It has moved large shipments of PPE through its partnership with Guardian Air Transport, which has donated crews, aircraft and time to deliver these items. To date, eight flights have delivered more than 1,500 pounds of critical PPE. Another 5.5 tons of donations have been moved via ground. All donations were obtained from local and corporate donors or made by members of the CSSCs COVID-19 Innovation Team. John Amoroso, executive director of the Lovell Foundation, said the partnership with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is helping to create a culture shift in the way we talk about, prepare for and care for ourselves and our loved ones at the end of life in Southern Arizona and beyond. After the Lovell Foundation co-funded an award-winning film, Passing On, about a community that achieved a 95% advance directive completion rate, the foundation began working collaboratively with the Community Foundation to fund a larger initiative aimed at changing the conversation around dying in Pima County. A global pandemic and the exposure of racial inequities in health care, especially end-of-life care, has only heightened the need for this work, said Amoroso in a news release. The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona began supporting end-of-life care in 2010 when the estate of philanthropist Shaaron Kent, who died in 2001, established an endowment fund with the organization. The fund was meant to support Kents work in hospice care issues and the universal experiences of death, dying and grieving. The Sierra Club will have a technical expert review the plan and already wants more energy savings, said Bahr, director of the groups Grand Canyon chapter. But overall, this plan is a step in the right direction for TEP, she said. By comparison, Arizona Public Services new resource plan only calls for 45% renewable energy by 2030, Bahr noted. APS committed to going coal-free by 2031. A Sierra Club proposal that the UA reviewed called for TEP to quit coal by 2027. But TEP analyzed that proposal and concluded it would require $300 million in investments and would reduce the utilitys cumulative emissions by only 2.4 million tons, to 70.2 million tons by 2035, Yockey said. The Sierra Club plan was the most expensive portfolio investigated, Yockey said. The difference is in the timing. We still have a fair amount of value in our coal plants which we need to depreciate, which we do over time, Yockey said. Trying to replace the capacity that coal provides in the near term with storage and solar is very expensive, although those costs are declining. Seniors on fixed incomes could be hurt, advocate says More than 25 artists have been told to move out of the Citizens Warehouse building because construction crews will need the parking lot for equipment and underground access for a new road project called Downtown Links. Getting the boot was not something the group anticipated based on previous discussions with Tucson officials, according to Alec Laughlin, one of the artists at the site at 44 W. Sixth Ave., just west of North Stone Avenue. Weve known about the Downtown Links project for a long time, its been in the works for many years, Laughlin said. Originally, the city told the tenants of Citizens Warehouse that when the construction does finally happen that we would be able to stay and not be evicted. On May 20, the Tucson Real Estate Division sent a letter to the Warehouse Arts Management Organization, or WAMO, which leases the building, stating they were acquiring the space for construction. The artists have until the end of August to get out. The building is owned by the Arizona Department of Transportation. It is leased to the City of Tucson, which subleased it to WAMO. In July 1970, Life at the time a very popular magazine featured an article called Look Down, Look Down, that Loathsome Road, and featured a large color photograph of Speedway at Country Club splashed across the first two pages. The view down The Speedway in Tucson supports the mayors opinion that it is Americas ugliest street, it declared. The mayor by this time was no longer Lew Davis but Jim Corbett, and not having said the phrase, Corbett correctly denied it. That led many to just credit Life magazine as the source of the phrase which Tucsonans and the local media have repeated incorrectly time and time again. Special thanks to Wayne and Leila of the Pima County Public Librarys Ask A Librarian service for research assistance. David Leighton is a historian and author of The History of the Hughes Missile Plant in Tucson, 1947-1960. He has been featured on PBS, ABC, the Travel Channel and various radio shows, and his work has appeared in Arizona Highways. He named two local streets in honor of pioneers Federico and Lupe Ronstadt. If you have a street to suggest or a story to share, email him at azjournalist21@gmail.com Im not prejudiced, nor blind, nor deaf. I listen and heard an arrogant NYC Black Lives Matter leader (on Martha MacCallum) threaten us, saying, If we dont get what we want we will burn down this system and replace it. I saw protesters abuse, spit on, and curse policeman. I saw protesters/rioters acting like the Taliban and ISIS, destroying our history. I saw monuments, memorials and statues of Gen. Grant, abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, Francis Scott Key, Columbus, S.F. Early Days and Spanish Priest Serra, Andrew Jackson, George Washington, etc., defaced, burned, or destroyed, while BLM activists and white anarchists intimidated Democratic mayors and governors to cower before the mob. FARGO, N.D. A federal judge on Monday ordered the Dakota Access pipeline shut down pending a more thorough environmental review, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe three years after the pipeline first began carrying oil following months of protests. In a 24-page order, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that he was mindful of the disruption" that shutting down the pipeline would cause, but that it must be done within 30 days. The order comes after Boesberg said in April that a more extensive review was necessary than what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had already conducted and that he would consider whether the pipeline would have to be shuttered during the new assessment. The Court does not reach its decision with blithe disregard for the lives it will affect, Boasberg wrote Monday. It readily acknowledges that, even with the currently low demand for oil, shutting down the pipeline will cause significant disruption to DAPL, the North Dakota oil industry, and potentially other states. Yet, given the seriousness of the Corps NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) error, the impossibility of a simple fix, the fact that Dakota Access did assume much of its economic risk knowingly, and the potential harm each day the pipeline operates, the Court is forced to conclude that the flow of oil must cease. The legal filing is more than a philosophical dispute between Hobbs and Brnovich. It is the latest in what has become open hostility between the two about which election laws are legal and defensible. And it has political implications. They are the top statewide officeholders within their respective parties other than Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. And with Ducey unable to seek a third term in 2022, that potentially pits each of them against the other in the gubernatorial race. Politics aside, the fight is over two issues related to how elections are conducted in Arizona. The first is that 2016 law, HB 2023, that made it a crime for anyone to retrieve someone elses already voted early ballot for delivery to polling stations. Republicans said it created the potential for fraud. But the 9th Circuit said there was no such evidence. The judges said the law was more likely to affect minority voters who did not have reliable mail service and were more dependent on civic and political groups to get their ballots delivered on time to be counted. The second surrounds the fact that some people show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day. Slavery is a horrible stain on the historical fabric of our Republic. However, those who contributed so much to building our nation should be remembered for all their deeds, good and evil. Memorials to them are historical artifacts and should be preserved to teach lessons about both virtue and vice to all Americans. Those who would erase part of history usually are not satisfied until they erase all of history and replace it with their chosen ideology, and history shows that often leads to the violent erasure of folks that remember history. LA PAZ -- Bolivias Health Minister Maria Eidy Roca has tested positive for COVID-19 though is in stable condition, the ministry said on Sunday, as a sharp rise in cases of the novel coronavirus strain hospitals and cemeteries in the South American country. The landlocked Andean nation of over 11.5 million people has registered some 38,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 1,378 deaths. Its daily burden of cases make Bolivia currently one of the worst affected countries per capita in the world. Latin America has become the epicenter for the virus, with Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru particularly hard hit, while Argentina and Bolivia have seen the number of new cases rise in recent weeks despite early lockdowns. The fight against the virus continues relentlessly and I wish the minister a speedy recovery to rejoin this battle for the health of Bolivians, interim President Jeanine Anez said in a post on Twitter. Bolivias health ministry estimated that the peak of infections would hit between August and September. The country is heading towards a general election on Sept. 6, a delayed re-run of a fraught ballot last year that sparked widespread protests and led to the demise of leftist leader Evo Morales. Three people were killed after a drunk motorcyclist crashed into a woman who was carrying her baby as she crossed a street in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Phuoc on Saturday evening. The accident happened at around 7:30 pm on National Highway No. 14 in Minh Thang Commune, Chon Thanh District, police confirmed on Sunday. According to preliminary information, Pham Minh Tri, 24, was riding his motorcycle with number plate 93P2-581.97 from Chon Thanh District toward Dong Xoai City. Tri then crashed into Doan Thi Hue, 34, who was crossing the road while carrying her two-year-old daughter. Tri, Hue, and the baby girl were all killed following the collision. The investigation later revealed that Tri was riding his vehicle under the influence of alcohol, while Hue did not pay attention to incoming vehicles as she crossed the street. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Health authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have quarantined a Chinese woman to prevent potential COVID-19 transmission after she illegally entered Vietnam from Cambodia. The Chinese woman was taken to a centralized quarantine center when she visited a location in District 10, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) said on Monday. The Chinese citizen arrived in Cambodia from Tianjin, located in northeastern China, on May 2, according to a HCDC report posted on its verified Facebook page. On July 5, she went by road from Cambodia to Ha Tien, a city in southern Vietnams Kien Giang Province. She caught a long-haul bus from Ha Tien to Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. Eyewitnesses reported having seen health workers and police officers escort her from a venue at 336 Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, Ward 4, District 10 into a car and take her away around 3:50 pm on Monday. Ho Chi Minh City authorities detected 14 illegal migrants from Cambodia from May to June 17, according to the HCDC. Six of them were found in residential areas while the remaining eight, who were ordinary patients and their companions, were reported when they came to local hospitals for medical examinations. Vietnam has denied entry to all foreigners, exceptions made upon government approval, since March 22 to prevent the virus from spreading. The country has confirmed 369 coronavirus infections as of Monday night, with 341 recoveries and zero deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. Having gone 81 days without any community spread of the disease, the Southeast Asian nation has reported a total of 229 imported cases who were all isolated upon entry. Vietnam is quarantining 12,291 people who were in close contact with coronavirus patients or entered the country from virus-hit regions at the time of writing. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Japan Self-Defense Forces has thanked Vietnam for aiding the refueling of a military aircraft and offering its crew a place to stay for two months after the plane had an engine trouble. The Joint Staff under the Japan Self-Defense Forces posted a video on its official Twitter account on Friday last week to express its gratitude toward Vietnamese authorities for assisting the P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft. In April, the P-3C was on its way home following an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden in the Middle East, located about 10,000 km from Japan. "When we had difficulty in securing transit points due to the spread of COVID-19, Vietnam readily agreed to receive the P-3C at Tan Son Nhat International Airport for refueling," the Japan Joint Staff said in the video. Following the refueling, the plane was forced to cease take-off due to an engine trouble. "Vietnam admitted the SDF [Self-Defense Forces] personnel left in the hot cabin into the country and offered a rest space." The maintenance of the aircraft took about two months and received full support from Vietnamese authorities. The P-3C and its 19 crew members were able to return to Japan safely on June 26. We sincerely appreciate your kindness to offer help when we were facing difficulties. We will never forget our strong ties. Thank you, Vietnam. The P-3C is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft manufactured in the United States. Since 2009, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has deployed the aircraft for anti-piracy patrols. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nine of 24 people who had come into contact with a four-year-old boy in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai who succumbed to diphtheria on Sunday have tested positive for the disease, raising the national tally to 37 infections with three deaths. The new cases also sent the number of diphtheria patients in Gia Lai to ten, all detected in Bong Hiot Village in Hai Yang Commune of Dak Doa District, as of Sunday, according to Mai Xuan Hai, director of the provincial health department. Previously, a four-year-old boy named V. in Bong Hiot started having a sore throat on June 28, before being hospitalized on July 3 and diagnosed with diphtheria. He died of the disease at 2:30 am on Sunday. His parents and neighbors were among the nine new diphtheria infections confirmed later on the same day. All of the residents of Bong Hiot Village have been placed under quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease, according to Hai. In the immediate future, we will focus on screening and giving preventive antibiotic treatment to all people of Hai Yang Commune, said Hai, adding that epidemiological inspections and zoning cases in close contact with patients or suspected infections for collecting samples will also be conducted. The local health administration is reviewing the history of diphtheria vaccinations of its residents and is planning on giving the vaccine to them, asking for support from the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Central Highlands. Dak Doa Districts chairman Pham Minh Trung said that four checkpoints have been set up outside Bong Hiot to monitor all people entering and leaving the village while all students in Hai Yang Commune have been asked to stay home for a week starting Monday. Prevention [against diphtheria] will be carried out exactly the same as COVID-19, Trung explained. The latest diphtheria outbreak struck the Central Highlands region more than a month ago. It has claimed the lives of three children so far, including two in Dak Nong Province. Dak Nong has recorded 16 cases of diphtheria, the countrys highest to date. Kon Tum Province, also in the Central Highlands region, has reported eight cases. Ho Chi Minh City has confirmed one case, leading to Vietnam's total hitting 37 infections. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Three young men died and one was hospitalized after being swept away by waves while swimming at Thong Nhat Beach in Dien Ban Town, located in the central province of Quang Nam, on Sunday afternoon. Local authorities handed over the bodies of the three victims to their family for funeral services on the evening of the same day. The group of four started to go swimming in Dien Ban at around 5:30 pm on Sunday, according to Dien Ban chairman Tran Uc. A short while later, officers at the Dien Duong border guard station and local people near Thong Nhat Beach heard their cries for help. Border guard officers take the testimony of witnesses to a drowning incident at Thong Nhat Beach in Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, July 5, 2020. Photo: B. D. / Tuoi Tre Due to strong waves, rescuers only managed to take the four men out of the ocean after a long struggle. The men were identified as Phan Van Huan, 21, Vo Sang, 21, Phan Phung Anh Khoa, 18, and Nguyen Phu Hung, 20. People stand near a donation box put up for financial support to the families of the victims in a drowning incident at Thong Nhat Beach in Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, July 5, 2020. Photo: B. D. / Tuoi Tre The former three were dead upon being brought ashore while Hung has been taken to a local hospital for treatment. After the incident, many people, border guard officers, and local authorities donated to financially support the victims families. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Anne Arundel police are investigating two separate homicides less than 15-minutes apart Sunday, one that left a 19-year-old man dead and the other that ended with a Severn woman charged with stabbing her boyfriend to death after he wouldnt leave her home. Vietnam documented 14 imported cases of COVID-19 on Monday, all Vietnamese returnees from abroad. The new patients arrived at Van Don International Airport in northern Quang Ninh Province on July 3, the government said in a post on its verified Facebook account. They returned from Bangladesh and were all quarantined upon arrival. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi confirmed their positive test results on Monday. The fourteen are being treated at the second branch of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the capital. Vietnam has confirmed 369 coronavirus infections as of Monday night, with 341 recoveries and zero deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. The country has reported a total of 229 imported cases who were all isolated upon entry. It has gone 81 days without any community spread of the disease. Vietnam is quarantining 12,291 people who were in close contact with patients or entered the country from virus-hit regions at the time of writing. British pilot no longer suffers COVID-19 A 43-year-old British pilot, who was once Vietnams sickest coronavirus patient, was declared completely free of COVID-19 on Monday evening. He was admitted to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases with damaged lungs on March 18. His conditions deteriorated shortly after that, putting him in a coma and his life in jeopardy a few times. Doctors once thought only a lung transplant would save him from death. But medication and other medical care gradually improved his health in the following weeks. The Scotsman was transferred to the intensive care unit at Cho Ray Hospital on May 22, still comatose and with severely damaged lungs, after being cleared of the coronavirus following his treatment at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. He has waken up from the coma and made a marvelous recovery since, with his lungs nearly restored. The patient was transferred from the intensive care ward to the physical rehabilitation unit of Cho Ray Hospital on June 21. He is still in treatment at Cho Ray Hospital for his mobility functions to prepare for his flight back to Scotland on July 12. Doctors say he can be discharged from the hospital with no quarantine needed. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! This week on Foreign Correspondent the stolen children of Timor return home as adults. Its a way to break a family, break a person, break a society by taking their most loved members. Human rights worker. At the age of 8, Alis Sumiaputra was plucked from the streets of his village in Timor-Leste by an Indonesian soldier and taken to West Java. The soldier adopted the stolen child into his family, converted Alis to Islam and changed his name. Eventually, Alis took over the family farm. His Timorese family was never mentioned. Until, in 2019, a woman called Nina came looking for him. Like Alis, Nina Pinto was stolen from Timor-Leste as a child. She was sexually abused by the soldier who took her and treated like a servant by his family. All I could do was cry. I longed for my family. But I couldnt do anything. I was helpless, says Nina. At age 17, she ran away and later managed to reunite with her Timorese family. Now shes helping people like Alis connect with their birth families. Nina and Alis are among an estimated 4000 Timorese children who were stolen from their homeland after Indonesia occupied Timor-Leste in 1975. In the early chaotic days of the invasion, the soldiers took the children opportunistically. Later, children were taken as part of a state-sponsored mission by Indonesia to educate and civilise. Maybe in the beginning, there was a feeling of trying to save children who were perhaps separated from their families, says Galuh Wandita from the NGO, Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR). Later on, there were religious institutions that were involved. AJAR is now tracking down Timors stolen children and helping reunite them with their birth families. In a powerful and moving journey, Indonesian correspondent Anne Barker follows Alis and a group of Timor-born adults as they return to their country of birth to reunite with their families. For Alis, there is pain, guilt, joy and an awakening. At his parents graveside in his village, Alis, whose birth name is Kalistru, bows his head and weeps. My dear father. My dear mother. When you died, I wasnt here. I am your son, Kalistru Momode, asking for forgiveness. This was one of the most moving stories Ive ever covered. The moment we landed at Dili Airport I had a lump in my throat as I watched the emotion of those stolen children on board who were returning to their homeland for the first time in decades. I only hope that thousands more will have the same chance that Alis and Nina have had. Anne Barker, the ABCs Indonesia correspondent. 8pm on Tuesday 7 July on ABC Related Julia Zemiro took to social media yesterday to draw a line in the sand on commercial breakfast shows which feature Pauline Hanson. Her comments followed controversial comments by Hanson around communities in Melbourne lockdown. On Twitter she said, I have long said no to going on @sunriseon7 to promote anything because they continue to invite Hanson on regularly. @TheTodayShow has been added to the list. She also wrote on Today: Please. You knew exactly what you were doing @TheTodayShow See ya. https://t.co/FbYQEujHpy Julia Zemiro (@julia_zemiro) July 6, 2020 But Sunrise Executive Producer Michael Pell objected to her claim. In 2019, I requested no in studio interviews with Kochie and Mel on sunrise breakfast. There were 2 live crosses from Adelaide 7 with the weather cross on site. As you know, contractually we are obliged to do certain spots. But my request not to be front and centre was heard. Julia Zemiro (@julia_zemiro) July 6, 2020 Julia, with respect, you dont even know who the hosts of @sunriseon7 are. We didnt ask you to come into the studio to promote the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and never would. Plus, Pauline hasnt been a regular for near 18 months. Your stance seems meaningless and just for show. Michael Pell (@MichaelPell) July 6, 2020 But at least there were at least two morning shows she remains happy to chat to including Studio 10 (May 2020) and News Breakfast. It sure does @mjrowland68.@BreakfastNews always give us the time to talk about the show we are contracted to promote, make it interesting by always having done the research, never talk over us so as to make the segment about you, and wonderful crew who go above and beyond. #abc https://t.co/XDeQyRJ2XW Julia Zemiro (@julia_zemiro) July 6, 2020 Updated: Ladies & gents, I give you The Sisterhood in all its glory 2020-style. Also a woman who was happy to take the money of a FTA tv network when it suited her, & host its upfronts. I was happy to stay out of this (factually incorrect) conversation, but this BS is just too much https://t.co/uHuxSlOSrx Samantha Armytage (@sam_armytage) July 7, 2020 Zemiro did get a host name wrong but has not said she would ban Seven appearances. My understanding is both the network and host had a very good relationship for All Together Now. Her comments were around Sunrise and Today. Related SKY News Australia has achieved its best half-yearly results on record as the #1 channel on subscription television for 22 weeks running (26 January 27 June). From 6pm-10pm SKY News is 2.5% up 0.6 share points year-on-year, while the All Day (2am 2am) share is 2.9%, up 0.7 share points year-on-year. Paul Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer, said: Following record ratings during the 2019 election year, we have continued to build our audience, achieving record year-on-year ratings growth for the first half of 2020. Our rolling COVID-19 coverage, exclusive interviews, documentaries and specials, breaking political news and our evening programming have resonated strongly with our audience. As we move into the second half of the year, we have a new line-up with the introduction of Alan Jones four nights a week joining our unbeatable primetime program offering including The Kenny Report, Credlin, The Bolt Report and Paul Murray Live. And, well be providing viewers with unrivalled political coverage of the Federal Budget, Queensland Election and US Presidential Election. The top performing individual programs in H1 were locally produced two-part investigative documentary MH370: The Untold Story (19 & 20 February), the most successful Sky News Australia documentary to date, followed by The Bolt Report: George Pell World First TV Exclusive (14 April) which delivered the program its highest rated episode, and The Death of the Aussie Larrikin? (16 June). Related The number of people visiting salons, cafes and cinemas on Saturday was about half the level of last year across the country. In central London, it was 75% lower. Photo: Getty The number of people visiting UK high streets on Saturday 4 July, when the hospitality sector opened up after months of being in lockdown, was high compared to a week ago but significantly lower when compared to last year. The Guardian, citing figures by Springboard, a company that provides data on customer activity in stores, said the number of people visiting salons, cafes and cinemas on Saturday was about half the level of last year across the country. In central London, it was 75% lower. There could be a number of reasons for this. People may not be comfortable going back due to coronavirus fears, plus some venues chose not to open even though the government has allowed them to. Those that were open had to limit the number of patrons to comply with social distancing rules. READ MORE: Sunak may hand out 500 vouchers to boost spending On the first day that restaurants, cinemas, pubs and salons were allowed to open, footfall increased by just under 10% week on week by late afternoon. After 5pm, it picked up, rising 35.8% compared to a week prior. It was up by 26% in central London and the West End, and by 29.4% in regional city centres, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile police forces reported few arrests after pubs reopened amid a warning from a senior officer that it was crystal clear drinkers could not sick to social distancing. John Apter, the chairman of the Police Federation, said so-called Super Saturday was a predictably busy night that confirmed alcohol and social distancing was not a good combination. The Metropolitan Police have praised the majority who complied with social distancing guidelines and remained vigilant, but said a small number of venues closed early due to crowding concerns. SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesian beauty startup Social Bella, which operates beauty e-commerce platform Sociolla, said on Monday it had raised $58 million from its existing investors, including Singapore state-investor Temasek [TEM.UL]. Social Bella has around 30 million users in Indonesia and also operates six physical stores in the country. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) The coronavirus pandemic has affected almost every business worldwide, resulting in unprecedented market disruptions and dislocations adversely impacting liquidity. While chances of reopening of the economy had raised hopes initially, the recent spike in coronavirus cases across several U.S. states is compelling the governments to reinstate restrictions and adhere to social-distancing norms. Amid this, betting on stocks based on their cash-flow generating efficiency seems more relevant. This is because cash provides vitality and strength to a company. It holds the key to a companys existence, development and success. Moreover, a healthy cash position indicates that profits are being efficiently channelized to the companys reserves, helping it enjoy the flexibility to make decisions, chase potential investments and run its growth engine. The current scenario has proved how cash is the king in times of crisis. Even a profitable business can fail to meet its obligations and succumb to failure if its cash flow is uneven. However, one can sail through any market mayhem if it has the cash shield. To figure out this efficiency, one needs to consider a companys net cash flow. While in any business cash moves in and out, it is net cash flow that explains how much money a company is actually generating. If a company is experiencing a positive cash flow then it denotes an increase in its liquid assets, which gives it the means to meet debt obligations, shell out for expenses, reinvest in business, endure downturns and finally return wealth to shareholders. On the other hand, a negative cash flow indicates a decline in the companys liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves. However, having a positive cash flow merely does not secure a companys future growth. To ride on the growth curve, a company must have its cash flow increasing because that indicates managements efficiency in regulating its cash movements and less dependency on outside financing for running its business. Therefore, keep yourself abreast with the following screen to bet on stocks with rising cash flows. Screening Parameters: To find stocks that have seen increasing cash flow over time, we ran the screen for those whose cash flow in the latest reported quarter was at least equal to or greater than the 5-year average cash flow per common share. This implies a positive trend and increasing cash over a period of time. In addition to this we chose: Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the companys future performance. Current Price greater than or equal to $5: This sieves out low-priced stocks. VGM Score of B or better: This score is also of great assistance in selecting stocks. Importantly, this scoring system helps in picking winning stocks in their individual industry categories. Here are four of the eight stocks that qualified the screening: Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. GLDD offers dredging services in the United States and internationally. It has a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06 for the current-year earnings calls for a 23.3% year-over-year increase. Smurfit Kappa Group Plc SMFKY, a Dublin, Ireland-based company, operates as a paper and paperboard manufacturer and converter. It also engages in the manufacturing, distribution and selling of containerboard, corrugated containers and other paper-based packaging products, such as solid board, graphic board and bag-in-box. The stock has a VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 6.9% over the past 30 days. Perdoceo Education Corporation PRDO provides educational services. The company offers bachelor's, associate and non-degree programs in information technologies, visual communication and design technologies, business studies and culinary arts. At present, the stock has a VGM Score of B. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 for the ongoing years earnings has been revised 4.1% upward over the past 60 days. Tutor Perini Corporation TPC is a construction company providing diversified general contracting, construction management, and design-build services to private customers and public agencies worldwide. The stock has a VGM Score of B. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.10 for this years earnings moved 16.7% north over the past 60 days. Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back-testing software. The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out. Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today. Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Great Lakes Dredge Dock Corporation (GLDD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tutor Perini Corporation (TPC) : Free Stock Analysis Report SMURFIT KAPPA (SMFKY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Career Education Corporation (PRDO) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Detectives wrote in the charging document that officers responded with medics around 3:30 a.m. on July 1 to the home in the 5800 block of Falkirk Road, where Walkers mother-in-law said her daughter was in the basement with Walker trying to calm him down. She said Walker had been hospitalized a week prior for running around the neighborhood naked with a handgun, detectives wrote in charging documents, although The Sun could not confirm that account. A protester has died after being hit by a car that drove through crowds of Black Lives Matter demonstrators marching peacefully in Seattle. Summer Taylor, 24, died on Saturday evening after they were struck by a white Jaguar at 1.40am that morning, police said. Footage from the scene shows people shouting "Car! Car!" as Dawit Kelete drives the vehicle through a roadblock and into Summer and Diaz Love, 32, launching them into the air. :: Listen to Divided States on Apple podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , and Spreaker The 24-year-old was filming the march for a Facebook livestream captioned "Black Femme March takes I-5" before the clip starts to shake and the sound of the crash is heard. Diaz, of Portland, Oregon, is still in a serious condition in intensive care, police spokesman Susan Gregg said. The driver, who like Summer is from Seattle , fled the scene but was chased by a protester who got in their car and managed to block his path so police could arrest him. Kelete asked if the protesters were okay before being booked into the King County Correctional Facility on two counts of vehicular assault, court documents said. He was denied bail. Investigators are looking into how he was able to drive onto the road after it was blocked off for the protests by state patrols more than an hour beforehand. Seattle has seen major unrest since the death of George Floyd in May. A designated Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone was set up in the city centre for two weeks where activists staged demonstrations calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality. It was torn down last week over police claims it was "lawless" after two teenagers died and three other people were injured in late-night shootings there. An online crowdfunding page to help Summer's family has raised $61,000 (49,000). FILE PHOTO: Boeing 737 Max aircraft are parked in a parking lot at Boeing Field in this aerial photo over Seattle By Eric M. Johnson and David Shepardson SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pilots and test crew members from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Co are slated to begin a three-day certification test campaign for the 737 MAX on Monday, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The test is a pivotal moment in Boeing's worst-ever corporate crisis, long since compounded by the novel coronavirus pandemic that has slashed air travel and jet demand. The grounding of the fast-selling 737 MAX in March 2019 after two crashes in five months killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia triggered lawsuits, investigations by Congress and the Department of Justice and cut off a key source of Boeing's cash. The FAA confirmed to U.S. lawmakers on Sunday that an agency board had completed a review of Boeing's safety system assessment for the 737 MAX "clearing the way for flight certification testing to begin. Flights with FAA test pilots could begin as early as tomorrow, evaluating Boeings proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX." After a preflight briefing over several hours, the crew will board a 737 MAX 7 outfitted with test equipment at Boeing Field near Seattle, one of the people said. The crew will run methodically scripted mid-air scenarios such as steep-banking turns, progressing to more extreme maneuvers on a route primarily over Washington state. The plan over at least three days could include touch-and-go landings at the eastern Washington airport in Moses Lake, and a path over the Pacific Ocean coastline, adjusting the flight plan and timing as needed for weather and other factors, one of the people said. Pilots will also intentionally trigger the reprogrammed stall-prevention software known as MCAS faulted in both crashes, and aerodynamic stall conditions, the people said. Boeing declined to comment. The FAA email said the testing will last several days and "will include a wide array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to enable the agency to assess whether the changes meet FAA certification standards." Story continues It added the "FAA has not made a decision on return to service" and has a number of additional steps before it can clear the plane to to do so. The rigors of the test campaign go beyond previous Boeing test flights, completed in a matter of hours on a single day, industry sources say. The tests are meant to ensure new protections Boeing added to MCAS are robust enough to prevent the scenario pilots encountered before both crashes, when they were unable to counteract MCAS and grappled with "stick shaker" column vibrations and other warnings, one of the people said. Boeing's preparation has included hundreds of hours inside a 737 MAX flight simulator at its Longacres facility in Renton, Washington, and hundreds of hours in the air on the same 737 MAX 7 test airplane without FAA officials on board. At least one of those practice flights included the same testing parameters expected on Monday, one of the people said. After the flights, FAA officials in Washington and the Seattle-area will analyze reams of digital and paperwork flight test data to assess the jet's airworthiness. Likely weeks later, after the data is analyzed and training protocols are firmed up, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, a former F-15 fighter pilot who has promised the 737 MAX will not be approved until he has personally signed off on it, will board the same plane to make his assessments, two of the people said. If all goes well, the FAA would then need to approve new pilot training procedures, among other reviews, and would not likely approve the plane's ungrounding until September, the people said. That means the jet is on a path to resume U.S. service before year-end, though the process has been plagued by delays for more than a year. "Based on how many problems have been uncovered, I would be stunned if the flight tests are 'one and done,'" said another person with knowledge of the flight plans. Regulators in Europe and Canada, while working closely with the FAA, will also conduct their own assessments and have pinpointed concerns that go beyond the FAA. They may require additional changes after the 737 MAX is cleared to return to service. "This is new territory," said one industry source with knowledge of prior Boeing tests. "There's a lot more play between regulators, and certainly a lot more pressure and public attention." (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Grant McCool) China has accused the UK of "trampling" on the basic norms of international relations - and said Britain's offer of citizenship for Hong Kongers is a "gross interference in China's internal affairs". Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, claimed Boris Johnson's government "keeps making irresponsible remarks" about Hong Kong . A new national security law makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs. Mr Liu denied China had failed to fulfil its international obligations after the British government accused it of breaching the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was supposed to give Hong Kong almost full autonomy until 2047. In a news conference - five days after being summoned to the Foreign Office in London - Mr Liu said: "China rules Hong Kong by the basic law, not the joint declaration." He said he was holding the news conference to ensure the British public understands the national security law it imposed on Hong Kong last week, claiming the media's coverage was "full of misrepresentations". The ambassador said the new law does not change Hong Kong's "capitalist system", its high degree of autonomy or its legal systems - something critics and protesters dispute. Mr Liu said the security law protects Hong Kong and "will end the chaos and restore order" to the city after months of protests against what demonstrators see as growing encroachment by China. He went on to accuse the UK of failing to fulfil its international obligations of sovereign equality and not interfering in other countries' relations. "The UK side knows well that Hong Kong is no longer under its colonial rule and that Hong Kong has returned to China and is now part of China," he said. "The UK has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of supervision over Hong Kong after the handover. Story continues "However, the UK government keeps making irresponsible comments on Hong Kong affairs, making unwarranted accusations against China." The British government has offered a path to citizenship for nearly three million people in Hong Kong who were eligible for British National Overseas status ahead of the handover back to China in 1997. Reacting to the offer, Mr Liu said: "This move constitutes gross interference in China's internal affairs and openly tramples on the basic norms of international relations "Hong Kong is a part of China, Hong Kong affairs are Chinese internal affairs and there should be no external interference. "One important task is to prevent, suppress and punish collusion with a foreign country which endangers national security. No one should underestimate the firm determination of China to safeguard its security." Mr Liu added that China will decide what its full response is to the UK's offer to Hong Kongers once it has seen details of the plan - adding that he hopes the UK "will reconsider their position". Sky News' foreign affairs editor Deborah Haynes asked the ambassador about controversial Chinese telecoms company Huawei and the British government's concern over using it to implement a 5G network. Mr Liu said: "If you don't want Huawei, it's up to you." But he warned the consequences "might be many" if the UK decides to reject Huawei, saying a move will damage the UK's image as a business-friendly environment and signal it does not have independent foreign policy. A dossier linked to former spy Christopher Steele accuses China of seeking to influence elite figures in British politics, business and academia. The report - compiled for a US-based film producer and human rights activist - also makes allegations of a spying risk to the UK posed by the technology firm Huawei. Mr Steele made global headlines three years ago after he compiled a dossier alleging links between Russia and then presidential candidate Donald Trump. This latest piece of work, which the ex-MI6 officer contributed to, is focused on China's alleged interests in the UK. The content, which has not been made public, has been shown to a small number of parliamentarians and media organisations, including Sky News. The move appears timed to coincide with a debate inside government as Prime Minister Boris Johnson considers reversing a decision to keep Huawei in Britain's next-generation 5G communications network. Such a U-turn would be welcomed by the US and an influential group of Conservative MPs who have been highly critical of Huawei. But it would have serious implications for UK-China relations - and make the rollout of 5G in the UK slower and more expensive. The 86-page report - entitled "China's Elite Capture" - lists what it alleges are Beijing's "main UK objectives", which include: Bob Seely, a Conservative MP opposed to Huawei who has seen the document, said: "We need a new relationship with China, part of that is ensuring that our political and business environment is free from malign or covert influence operations. "We have been too unknowing, and frankly too complacent, for too long." Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, strongly refuted any suggestion of meddling. "I would totally reject any accusation of interference in the UK's internal affairs," he said in response to a question from Sky News at a news conference on Monday. Sky News did not cite from the report, but asked the diplomat to respond to claims by "some people" that China is allegedly conducting subversive activities, trying to influence elements of UK politics, academia and business to further its influence and interest. Story continues Mr Liu said: "I have been ambassador here for more than 10 years. I never come across any incident that would be excused by UK government, by any institutions with hard evidence of China's interference in UK's internal affairs. If you have evidence please show me but do not make disinformation, false accusations against China." He continued: "China has fully committed to norms governing international relations. That has been our consistent policy." A Huawei spokesperson said in a statement: "We categorically refute these unfounded allegations, which do not bear scrutiny and are regrettably the latest in the long-running US campaign against Huawei. "They are designed to deliver maximum reputational damage to our business and have no basis in fact." Film producer Andrew Duncan - who is Scottish-American and is a critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - paid tens of thousands of dollars for the report. He said he wanted to use it to try to inform the debate in the UK on Huawei and the CCP. In particular he said he would like to see the UK government reverse its decision to allow Huawei into its 5G network. He said: "I think they need to lay off this decision and go with vendors who we know are not going to compromise the security and the safety of the people of the United Kingdom and frankly the people of the free world." Among other contributors to the report was Arthur Snell, a former British diplomat, who works at Orbis Business Intelligence, a private intelligence company co-owned by Mr Steele. Another former senior diplomat with deep knowledge on China but who did not wish to be identified was also involved. The report alleged: "Britain's elite have shown naivety regarding China's true intentions, believing in a simplistic trade-focused policy." The term "elite capture" is used to refer to the alleged targeting by China of senior individuals across UK society, from politics and business to think tanks, the media and universities. "Elite capture has a range of characteristics from 'useful idiots' to full-time agents of the CCP," the document said. "All variants are present in the UK context." A section of the report on Huawei contained details of an alleged fake PR campaign apparently designed to benefit the technology company - a claim strongly refuted by Huawei and a British peer and businessmen purportedly targeted. AFP UK When I talk to frontline warriors, when I talk to doctors, they tell me that in the fight against the coronavirus, they used yoga as a protective shield" said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he kicked off another muted International Yoga Day. "When I talk to frontline warriors, when I talk to doctors, they tell me that in the fight against corona, they used yoga as a protective shield, he added. Yoga Day -- proposed by Modi and adopted by the United Nations in 2014 -- is observed mostly in India, but also worldwide on the Northern Hemisphere's longest day. Throughout the pandemic, India's ministry of yoga and ayurveda has touted yoga and herbal medicines -- sales of which have boomed -- to protect and even cure those with the virus. A group of 180 migrants were tested for COVID-19 by Italian authorities before being given the go-ahead on July 5 to disembark in the country from the Ocean Viking vessel on Monday, July 6. SOS Mediterranee, an NGO that seeks to rescue migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean, wrote in its mission report following the tests that there was relief on board as the Ocean Viking was instructed to proceed to Porto Empedocle, Sicily, where the migrants could disembark on July 6. Video released by the organization shows medical staff in full protective gear arrive aboard the Ocean Viking ship to carry out testing on the migrants aboard the vessel. According to the mission summary, the Ocean Viking left Marseille, France, on June 22 and has gathered 180 survivors following four rescue operations two on June 25 and two on June 30. SOS Mediterranee said in its statement that the ship had declared a state of emergency. The mental distress caused by their ordeal in Libya and the current situation is unbearable for many of the migrants, the NGO said, and several had attempted suicide as they waited aboard the ship. Credit: SOS Mediterranee via Storyful Boris Johnson has urged people not to stuff this up after lockdown restrictions were eased in England. The Prime Minister took advantage of the new freedoms by having a haircut barbers had been among the businesses closed under measures to curb the spread of coronavirus and a drink at a pub near his Chequers country retreat. Drinkers flocked to popular areas, including Londons Soho, over the weekend, prompting fears over the lack of social distancing. Mr Johnson said he was not shocked by some of the scenes over the weekend because I understand what human nature is but added that the overwhelming majority had behaved sensibly. There is a risk that some people will not obey the guidelines, thats always going to be there, he said. But the overwhelming majority of people have and so far we think that the measures and the package is working. But we cannot be complacent, we really cant afford to stuff this up, to blow it now. We have got to keep going in the prudent way that we are. Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks through a large bore pipe during a visit to the Siemens Rail factory construction site in Goole (Peter Byrne/PA) He urged people to maintain discipline in order to get back to life as close to normal as possible as fast as possible. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said police forces reported being quieter than expected despite a small number of individual incidents around England. Mr Johnsons new haircut was on show as he visited Goole in East Yorkshire to promote the Governments efforts to protect the economy from the impact of a coronavirus recession. More than 100 million is to be invested in unpaid traineeships for young people. Businesses offering the unpaid placements in England will receive a 1,000 bonus per trainee. (PA Graphics) Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce the move for 18 to 24-year-olds on Wednesday when he unveils an economic strategy to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Story continues Meanwhile, it was also reported that Mr Sunak will exempt the majority of home-buyers from paying stamp duty. The Times reported that the Chancellor would outline plans this week to raise the threshold at which people start paying stamp duty from 125,000 to as high as 500,000. As part of the traineeship initiative, which lasts from six weeks to six months, young people receive maths, English and CV writing training as well as guidance about what to expect in the workplace. The 111 million schemes include unpaid work experience but trainees will continue to be eligible to receive welfare payments during their course. The expanded scheme will be in place in England from September 2020. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. The Government said it will also provide 21 million to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for similar initiatives. Also, work academies are to get a 17 million investment. Funding is being provided for more than 30,000 extra places at sector-based work academies, the Treasury said. In other developments: Englands deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries backed guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) which says that most youngsters with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and kidney disease will not need to continue to shield from the end of the month. Mr Johnson claimed too many care homes didnt really follow the procedures in the way that they could have during the coronavirus crisis. The Greek government said flights from the UK would be allowed from July 15. Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged caution as outdoor hospitality spaces reopened, saying: If you go to a bar or a restaurant outside right now, if it feels totally normal, exactly like it was before this pandemic, then something is wrong. A private Mi-2 helicopter has hard landed in Russias Rostov Region preliminary due to engine failure, the press service for regional Emergency Ministry said, one person died in the incident, while one more was injured. "At 05:20 Moscow time, the main department of the Russian Emergency Ministry for the Rostov Region received information <> that a private Mi-2 helicopter has a hard landing (preliminary reports suggest due to engine failure). The landing saw one people die, one get injured," TASS cited the statement as saying. According to the ministry, 17 people are engaged in mitigating the consequences as well as five hardware units, including 12 people and 3 hardware units from the ministry. Businesses and investors are expected to access new positive changes when the amended Law on Investment and the amended Law on Enterprises take effect from January 1 next year. Vaibhav Saxena and Le Tuan Anh, lawyers at Vietnam International Law Firm, delve into how vital modifications in the new laws can leverage investment inflows in the future. Vaibhav Saxena and Le Tuan Anh, lawyers at Vietnam International Law Firm Vietnams National Assembly (NA) on June 17 passed the amended Law on Investment and the Law on Enterprises. The new laws will replace the current Law on Investment No.67/2014/QH13 and the Law on Enterprises No.68/2014/QH13 issued by the NA in 2014. Law on Investment modifications The new Law on Investment enumerates changes related to the conditions for foreign financiers to invest in Vietnam, the procedures for merger and acquisition (M&A) approval for foreign investors to acquire shares and/or capital contribution in economic organisations, the categories of projects subject to investment policy decisions, and consideration on national defence and security to license investment proposals. The new Law on Investment drops down the foreign ownership threshold from 51 to 50 per cent to determine if an economic organisation with foreign-owned capital must satisfy conditions applicable to overseas investors prior to the investment. These conditions apply to economic organisations with foreign-owned capital establishing economic organisations, contributing capital, acquiring shares or equity, or investing on the basis of a business co-operation contract. This change will invite investors to consider matters related to the competition laws of Vietnam. The new Law on Investment simplifies the procedure for M&A approval by eradicating the need for such approval if the M&A transaction does not result in an increase of the foreign investors ownership ratio in the target company. Such conditions apply even if the target company operates in the business sectors subject to market entry conditions applicable to foreign investors. Further, if any M&A transaction results in an increase of the ownership ratio in the target company and with the overseas investor holding more than 50 per cent of the shares or charter capital in the target company after the M&A transaction, the same shall be subject to M&A approval requirements under the new Law on Investment. This is significant relief provided from an administrative angle and will support businesses to cut short the timeline for M&A transactions. Under the new Law on Investment, commercial arbitration, franchising, and logistics services are no longer considered conditional business lines. New conditional business lines are architectural services, data centre services, electronic identification and authentication services, import press distribution services, fishing vessel registration, and fishing vessel crew training. Further, the new Law on Investment details the list of business lines restricted to foreign investment. It includes business lines for which foreign investment is not permitted or business lines for which it is subject to conditions. The detailed list on such business lines will be formulated by the relevant authorities. The new Law on Investment has touched upon the long-existing issue under the current Law on Investment with respect to conditional business lines. Although, the conditional business lines are listed out under the Appendix 4 of the current Law on Investment but the list is not comprehensive and needs to be refined to avoid conflict with Vietnams international commitments. The new Law on Investment supplements the categories of investment projects which are subject to the prime minister or provincial peoples committee investment policy decisions. The additional projects subject to the investment policy decisions include projects invested by the foreign investors in areas subject to national security concerns and housing and urban area construction projects. The new Law on Investment provides more clarity on the relevant authority for certain investment projects falling in areas as mentioned. It is again a constructive provision and will support investment activities in certain areas. Further, the new Law on Investment states that national defence and security-related matters will be considered while licensing a new project and granting M&A approval, if the project land or the business entity to be acquired has land use right on an island, commune, ward, border district, sea coast, or other areas which could affect national defence and security. It also adds that the project of investors could be terminated if it negatively affects national defence and security. Significant Law on Enterprises changes The new Law on Enterprises introduces modifications to relax the administrative procedures in order to support the ease of doing business in Vietnam. First, minority shareholder rights are protected. The new Law on Enterprises details on the cases and permits a shareholder or a group of shareholders holding at least 5 per cent (it is 10 per cent under the current Law on Enterprises) of the total ordinary shares the right to request the organising of an annual general shareholder meeting and request the board of inspection to investigate issues relating to the management and administration of the company. This is a golden provision inserted under the new Law on Enterprises especially for the minority investors who are usually concerned about their rights in relation to the functioning of the target company. Minority shareholders may have a lower risk appetite sometimes and accordingly are more careful to secure their rights under the shareholders agreement in an M&A transaction. Second is exclusion of corporate seal notifications and management reports. The new Law on Enterprises reduces administrative procedures for enterprises by deleting the notification requirement regarding corporate seal use by the company; and reporting on the changes to personal information of managers of the company in Vietnam.It will increase the index for ease of doing business in Vietnam and the enterprises will be relieved from unnecessary administrative obligations. The new Law on Enterprises also provides that in a single member limited liability company (LLC), an inspector is not required. Single member LLCs are the simplest form of an enterprise in Vietnam and removing the condition to appoint the inspector will benefit such enterprises operating in Vietnam. Overall, the new law on Investment and Enterprises are aimed to make the financing scenario more investor-friendly in Vietnam and to increase the ease of doing business for the enterprises registered in Vietnam. The new laws will be guided further with relevant regulations to be drafted by Vietnamese authorities to ensure smooth implementation. VIR Vaibhav Saxena/Le Tuan Anh Amended investment law to relieve funding burdens With the strategic plan to attract qualified FDI into Vietnam in the light of the Politburos Resolution No.50-NQ/TW, the drafted amendment of the Law on Investment 2014 simplifies licensing procedures for setting up a foreign-invested entity. I hope to be one of those people. Im set to become the executive editor of The Retriever, our campus newspaper, in the fall, and need to be on campus for reporting purposes as well as for one of my classes. This raises another concern. Part of the college experience is found in social gatherings. In fact, many freshman-year courses have remained in person in order to uphold the bonding opportunities for these students. But Im more concerned about the time outside the classroom, when theres no professor around to push mask wearing. The US has decided to conduct an investigation on whether Vietnam is dumping plywood products in the US. The decision could lead to a sharp fall in plywood exports to the market. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) on June 9 said it would examine plywood products from Vietnam, one of the products which saw the sharpest export growth rate to the US in recent years. The decision about the investigation was made based on accusations of trade fraud related to products from Vietnam to the US. Do Xuan Lap, CEO and president of Tien Dat Furniture, said the move will severely affect Vietnams woodwork industry. If the US imposes anti-dumping duties, not only export companies but also forest planters who provide materials to make plywood will suffer. The impact will be extreme, Lao said. Woodwork companies will have a meeting to discuss the issues related to plywood later this month. We will discuss the hiring of a lawyer. " According to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vifores), about 400 companies export plywood, mostly to the US. The export amount is 2 million cubic meters and export turnover is $678 million a year. According to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vifores), about 400 companies export plywood, mostly to the US. The export amount is 2 million cubic meters and export turnover is $678 million a year. Vu Hai Bang, CEO of Woodland, said since late March, after information that the US would conduct an investigation on plywood imports, Woodlands exports to the market dropped by 75 percent. Bang went on to say that the decision would not only affect plywood production companies, but also companies using the product to make wooden furniture for export to the US. This also gives favorable conditions for the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance to sue Vietnams companies. Kitchen cabinets, one of the products exported in large quantities recently, use plywood. According to Vifores, in the first four months of 2020, while office furniture exports decreased by 13 percent, and bedroom furniture by 11 percent compared with the same period last year, other items such as kitchen furniture, furnishings made from other types of wood and furniture parts saw increases of 58 percent, 4 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Our company and other businesses will suffer heavily if kitchen cupboards are also subject to investigation, Bang said. Lap said if the US investigates further, this will affect all of Vietnams wooden furniture exports, worth $2-3 billion. Vifores predicted that woodwork exports may have zero percent or minus growth rate this year bcause of Covid-19. Linh Ha Chinese found counterfeiting Vietnamese origin for woodwork exports Many Chinese wooden furniture manufacturers have been found setting up foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in Vietnam to fabricate Vietnamese origin for their exports to the US. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending companies expect that the sandbox for fintech would eliminate unscrupulous businesses and help the market grow significantly. The peer-to-peer lending market in Viet Nam has high potential for development. Photo ndh.vn A regulatory sandbox is a framework set up by a regulator that allows FinTech startups and other innovators to conduct live experiments in a controlled environment under a regulators supervision. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to develop a regulatory sandbox for P2P lending to help SMEs gain access to loans. The information was welcomed by fintech firms operating in the sector. Nguyen Hoa Binh, chairman of NextTech Group, which is operating vaymuon.vn in the P2P lending sector, told Viet Nam News that the nature of the P2P model was very good. However, due to the absence of a regulatory framework while many Vietnamese start-ups operating in this field have crept up, foreign loan applications have jumped in, hiding under P2P and boosting black credit lending. A lack of a legal framework has made Viet Nam a fertile environment for malicious and disguised P2P models, while genuine P2P companies are overwhelmed. Therefore, having a legal corridor, even a piloted one, is essential to protect both borrowers and the P2P businesses, Binh said. Statistics from the SBV showed that the country now has 40 P2P companies. However, in reality, there are more than 100 apps operating under the P2P model. Of which, 70 per cent are operated by foreign firms. These apps advertise to operate under the P2P model, but are actually offering black credit, like the Cashwagon app that was discovered by police in early June. The potential for development of the P2P market in Viet Nam is huge due to high demand of borrowers. In fact, this model is not new, but has existed for thousands of years in the form of borrowing from relatives and friends. "P2P is just the digitalisation of this relationship. The introduction of this model, if well managed, would promote comprehensive finance, giving people, households and SMEs more opportunities to access financial services at low cost and with less procedures, he added. However, he said each model has its own risks. For P2P, the biggest risk comes to investors or lenders. The sandbox should be soon promulgated to screen the market. P2P companies also need to improve their clients' appraisal and credit rating before transferring that opportunity to investors. P2P businesses with good appraisals would be able to control investors' risks, he added. Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said a lack of a legal corridor is causing turmoil in the P2P market. Many online loan applications impersonate P2P and disruptive activities, causing consequences for this form of lending. It is necessary to introduce a sandbox for the P2P model. However, in my opinion, it should only be tested for one year, instead of extending to two years as in the current draft of the central bank. He added the issuance of the sandbox would help purify the P2P market, provide authorities with the basis to handle dozens of disguised black credit apps and firms impersonating P2P. He also agreed that the P2P market in Viet Nam has big potential because there are many people who do not have access to formal credit. With the advantage of quick disbursement and no mortgage required, P2P is an effective capital channel for low-income people. Economist Can Van Luc said P2P is vital trend of a digital economy and would strongly develop in Viet Nam. P2P is socialising credit services. This was the reason why the sandbox would help better protect investors and borrowers while increasing opportunities to access loans. P2P in Viet Nam still has a lot of room for development, which is necessary to complement credit and financial companies. The banking system would be extended to remote areas thanks to the agent network. However, this system of agents only performs a limited number of operations and cannot replace banks for credit development. In other words, with nearly 100 million people in Viet Nam, the P2P market is still very attractive. VNS Central bank plans to pilot fintech regulatory sandbox The State Bank of Viet Nam is planning to pilot a regulatory sandbox which would allow fintech companies to participate in providing some banking services starting from 2021. The import tariff on European car imports will be decreasing gradually by 7 percent per annum. It will take at least five years to see considerable price decreases. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has released a draft decree on the preferential import tariff within the framework of EVFTA, to be applied in 2020-2022, which shows tariff cuts of 14.2-15.6 percent on cars. Under the draft decree, the tariff on sedans with cylinder capacity of 1,000-1,500 cc, 1,500-1,800cc, and 2,000-2,500 cc would decrease from 70.9 percent to 63.8 percent in 2021 and to 56.7 percent in 2022. As for sedans with cylinder capacity of over 2,500 cc, the tariff would be 60.5 percent and 53.8 percent, respectively, by 2021 and 2022, instead of the current 67.2 percent. The tariffs would be 62.4 percent and 54.6 percent, respectively, for sedans with cylinder capacity of 3,000 cc or more. The import tariff cut will reduce prices of car imports from the EU in upcoming years. A car dealer estimates that a car with cylinder capacity of over 2,500 cc which has the taxable price of VND2 billion would see a price cut of VND150 million a year, once the tariff decreases by 7.8 percent in the next two years. The import tariff on European car imports will be decreasing gradually by 7 percent per annum. It will take at least five years to see considerable price decreases. Besides, the lower tariffs will also help reduce the amounts of taxes that buyers have to pay for luxury tax and VAT. Do Nguyen Vuong, CEO of Volkswagen Vietnam, said European cars have high quality and safety, but they sell slowly because of high prices. If the prices go down under EVFTA, European cars will be in high demand. Customers will choose European imports instead of domestically made cars or ASEAN imports. However, Vietnamese will have to wait a long time to buy European imports at reasonable prices because of the long tariff cut roadmap stipulated by EVFTA. Vuong believes that the 15 percent tariff cut in the first two months of the EVFTA implementation wont have much influence on car prices. The prices will only decrease considerably after five years. Doan Hieu Trung, CEO of Regal, said car imports have many kinds of taxes, including a luxury tax of 35-150 percent, VAT of 10 percent, vehicle registration tax of 10-12 percent and corporate income tax of 22 percent. The taxes, plus the high fee for car number plate registration, drives up prices. The reduction of one kind of tax wont help car prices decrease considerably. Moreover, Trung said, all car importers want to decrease the luxury tax, which has a strong impact on car prices. Kim Chi Car imports skyrocket in 2019 Vietnam imported up to 140,000 cars in 2019 worth a total USD3.16 billion, up 84% on-year, with the majority from Indonesia and Thailand. In order to attract high-quality FDI capital from the US, Vietnam needs to commit to strong reform, analysts say. There are positive signs about investment flow from the US. Ford has decided to increase its production capacity in Vietnam by making additional investment in an assembling factory in Hai Duong, while General Electric has increased capital for a wind turbine plant in Hai Phong. The government of Vietnam has allowed the AES energy group to implement the LNG project in Son My. A representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council said many technology firms in Silicon Valley are considering relocating their electronic appliance manufacturing to Vietnam, either under the mode of FDI, or through third parties. However, the US, though Vietnams largest export market, is still not a large investor in Vietnam. Vietnam-US trade reached $60 billion in 2018, and the US FDI in Vietnam hit the $9 billion threshold. However, the figure is small compared with the $300 billion worth of US annual outward investment capital. Vietnam-US trade reached $60 billion in 2018, and the US FDI in Vietnam hit the $9 billion threshold. However, the figure is small compared with the $300 billion worth of US annual outward investment capital. In 2012, the US committed $224 million worth of FDI in Vietnam, ranking 16th among the biggest foreign investors in Vietnam. According to FIA (Foreign Invetsment Agency), in the first four months of the year, the US had 101 deals making capital contributions or buying into Vietnamese enterprises with total capital of $68.57 million. It had only 37 FDI projects licensed, totaling $25.5 million, during the same time. Tran Du Lich, a respected economist, said Vietnam wont receive much capital flow from the US if it doesnt have a good institutional regime. The institutional and policy incompatibilities between Vietnam and the US are why FDI from the US to Vietnam has been low for many years. Vietnam still needs to entice more capital from the US, or it will miss a great opportunity. It has to compete with other countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, in attracting investment from the US and Europe. Policy Times reported that 27 US companies will relocate their factories from China to Indonesia in the time to come. India has lowered the corporate income tax from 25 percent to 17 percent, one of the lowest tax rates in Asia, to entice FDI to the country. Vo Dai Luoc, an economist, said Vietnam should not give the same investment incentives to all investors, but offer preferences to those investors who will commit to bring high technology to Vietnam and transfer technology. This will allow Vietnam to lure high-quality capital, but the FDI will not affect the development of Vietnamese enterprises. Thanh Lich Vietnam lures US$6 billion FDI into industrial parks Nearly US$6 billion in foreign direct investment was poured into Viet Nams industrial parks (IPs), processing zones and economic zones (Ezs) in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). Vietnam is boosting its diplomatic activities in hope of attracting more investment and expanding its trade in the global market, with many of the countrys major partners about to open their doors to the world again. Vietnam is allowing experts and managers to enter from Japan in order to boost investment projects, Photo: Le Toan Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), told VIR that based on the situation and demands of both sides, Vietnam is now working with a number of nations such as China, South Korea, and Japan to resume investment and trade activities, with the strict obedience of anti-pandemic measures under specific conditions. For the time being, we will facilitate experts and managers from these nations to come to Vietnam to work, and Vietnamese labourers to come to the nations to work, Hang said. One of the reasons behind this move is that these markets have controlled the pandemic well, and are Vietnams major trade partners. Last week, 440 Japanese experts and entrepreneurs came to Vietnam to continue engaging in projects in Vietnam. Vietnam and Japan have agreed that they will gradually loosen the travelling limit between the two countries. Specific measures and procedures will be exchanged via the diplomatic channel, the MoFA said in a statement. Earlier Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had phone-based talks with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, with one focus laid on expanding both nations trade and investment ties, also backed by some bilateral agreements. Two-way trade hit $40 billion last year and $16.2 billion in the first five months, including $8.1 billion earned by Vietnam from exporting to Japan. On June 12, Vietnam agreed to allow 331 experts, managers, and high-skilled labourers from China to enter its territory. The move was made after the Government Office received a diplomatic note from Chinas Embassy to Vietnam asking Vietnam to permit those people to enter the country to implement their projects here. A week ago, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh held telephone talks with Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, discussing various breakthrough solutions to expand bilateral trade and investment ties. Bilateral trade turnover reached $3.6 billion last year and currently both nations are further cementing energy co-operation, focusing on oil and gas. Vietnam wants to boost exports of agricultural products, consumer goods, electronics, garments and textiles, and building materials to Kuwait, where demand for these products are on the rise. Meanwhile, seeking to further consolidate Vietnam-Russian ties, two weeks ago Party General Secretary, State President Nguyen Phu Trong and Russias President Vladimir Putin held phone talks, reaffirming that despite COVID-19 both sides will continue boosting co-operation in defence, security, and energy. They support and encourage both nations oil firms to engage in new projects in Vietnam and Russia. This will help realise the countries goal of reaching $10 billion over the next few years, from nearly $4 billion last year. Also two weeks ago, PM Phuc had a phone call with French counterpart Edouard Philippe to boost both nations trade and investment ties, especially amid the upcoming entry into force of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which will usher in massive trade and investment opportunities for both nations. The EU is now Vietnams third-largest exporting market, which spent $13 billion importing Vietnamese goods in the first five months of 2020, when it also sold $5.8 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, which considers the EU its sixth-largest importing market. Over the past five weeks, newly-established Thai-invested Amuay Textile and Garment Co., Ltd. at Hanois Quang Minh Industrial Park has resumed operations of its three production lines after a month-long halt caused by COVID-19, which locked the company from exporting its products to some European nations. We have recently landed an export order from a Canadian partner, with a total contract value of $1 million. We will boost production to ship goods to Canada, said Vu Thai Hang, vice head of the companys marketing department. Canada is a new market for Amuay, and import tariffs on garments and textiles have begun to decrease in 2020 under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Currently though Canada is still shutting its borders, it is beginning a staggered reopening. Many Canadian businesses are seeking orders online, such as the case with Amuay, and hoping that their government will lift the lockdown soon. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Canada is planning to increase imports of Vietnams key products including garments and textiles, footwear, aquatic products, electronics, and some types of machinery. So as to expand Vietnams exports to Canada, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh recently held a telephone call with Mary Ng, Canadas Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade. He suggested that Canada consider the establishment of an intergovernmental commission on economic and trade co-operation, which will help further amplify both nations investment and trade ties currently spurred on by the CPTPP entering into force in January 2019. VIR Khoi Nguyen EVFTA will broaden skies for aviation across Vietnam Never-before-seen activities in Vietnams aviation sphere are expected to come to EU businesses soon on the back of the landmark EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. A solution for the power industry has been put into discussion: selling entire power plants to investors after they are put into operation. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is consulting with relevant ministries and branches about a draft strategy on the development of EVN (Electricity of Vietnam_ by 2030, with a vision until 2045. The document emphasises the principle of ensuring a healthy financial situation for EVN, preserving and developing the states capital in EVN, and EVNs capital in other enterprises. To reach that end, the compilers believe that it is necessary for the holding company to keep suitable ownership ratios in subsidiaries that generate and retail electricity. This will restructure financial investments and get capital for new power plants. One of the solutions is to gradually divest capital from power generation companies in stable operations, where EVN doesnt need to hold a controlling stake, in order to seek capital to pay debts or develop new investment projects. One of the solutions is to gradually divest capital from power generation companies in stable operations, where EVN doesnt need to hold a controlling stake, in order to seek capital to pay debts or develop new investment projects. Vietnam could sell power plants after they become operational to outside investors to raise funds for new projects. It is also necessary to equitize independent companies where the State doesnt need to hold 100 percent of capital. This leaves more room to invest in power generation, transmission, distribution companies and supporting services. The Party Politburos Resolution No 55 on the national energy development strategy by 2030 released earlier this year mentioned important solutions, including the encouragement and creating of favorable conditions for the private sector to contribute to the power development. Ngo Tri Long, a respected economist, commented that it is reasonable to build an EVN development strategy on the basis of Resolution No 55, which comes in line with the policy on removing the monopoly and gradually privatizing the important energy sector. The moves taken by the government in recent years have been following the strategy. It doesnt act as a guarantor for EVN to borrow money on a large scale, but only to borrow money to develop power transmission projects. It has also been moving ahead with the privatization of the power sector through the deployment of stages in the competitive power generation market. An analyst commented that though private investors have become involved in many power projects, this is the first time a proposal on selling some state-invested power projects to foreign investors has been made officially. Long warned that project valuation will be a complicated issue if the government sells state-invested projects to investors. There must be a professional organization to assess the value of the projects to ensure that the projects can be sold at market prices, Long said. Mai Lan Electricity officials suspended for abnormally high electricity bill Two electricity officials in the central province of Quang Binh have been suspended following a case in which a local family was reported for an abnormally high electricity bill. Vietnamese logistics firms ability to access the EU market will not be easy because rivals in the EU are strong anf clients there require high-quality services. Opportunities Believing that demand for warehouses will increase sharply once EVFTA (EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement) takes effect, the developer of Long Hau Industrial Zone said the company has reserved a large area for a logistics center for Long Hau 3 IZ. Bui Le Anh Hieu, marketing and business director of Long Hau JSC (LHC), said at Partner Day 2020 in Long Hau IZ, many enterprises have built warehouses and the warehouses have been operating well. According to Hieu, investors have high demand for leasing cold storage and warehouses. With EVFTA, he predicted that the warehouse supply may fall short in the future. Not only LHC, but infrastructure development companies in HCM City, Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau, and northern provinces have also been intensifying the development of logistics infrastructure in anticipation of demand rise once EVFTA takes effect. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) estimates that EVFTA would increase Vietnams GDP by 2.18-3.25 percent more in the first five-month period, by 4.57-5.3 percent for the next five years, and 7.07-7.72 percent in the next five years. According to the Import/Export Department, EVFTA will help expand the scale of the import/export market, thus creating high demand for logistics services. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) estimates that EVFTA would increase Vietnams GDP by 2.18-3.25 percent more in the first five-month period, by 4.57-5.3 percent for the next five years, and 7.07-7.72 percent in the next five years. Tobias Gruemmer from A.P. Moller-Maersk said the demand for storage and transportation of goods will increase sharply. The logistics market is expected to become very busy and lucrative for investors. Challenges However, analysts warn that Vietnams logistics firms, which are small and weak, will have to compete with European multinational logistics firms with modern large vessels. In the 2018 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report of the World Bank, Germany ranked first, while EU countries held four out of five positions in the top five (Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium). At present, many large logistics firms from the EU are doing business in Vietnam, though the countrys market opening level under the WTO is still limited. With EVFTA, Vietnams market opening commitments are stronger, so the competition between Vietnamese and foreign logistics firms will be even more fierce. The EU will also have to open its logistics market to Vietnam. However, European countries have better logistics services than Vietnam. Analysts believe that Vietnams logistics firms would find it difficult to get orders, especially when international investors and manufacturers have relations with logistics service providers in the EU. Meanwhile, Vietnams companies also do not use logistics services of Vietnamese firms because they mostly export products under the FOB mode. Thanh Mai EVFTA to come into effect in a month The EVFTA will abolish 65 per cent of the duties on EU exports to its developing partner, with the remainder phased out over a 10-year period. Cambodia, the host of the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM 13), has decided to postpone the meeting, initially scheduled for November 16 17 in Phnom Penh, to mid-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 13th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM 13) is postponed to mid-2021 due to COVID-19. (Photo: Khmer Times) The statement was released on July 4 after the ASEM Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) via videoconference on July 2-3, which was chaired by Sok Siphana, senior advisor of the Cambodian government. Siphana expressed his sincere appreciation for the support that all ASEM partners have extended to help Cambodia host the ASEM 13. He highlighted Cambodias efforts, both logistically and substantively, in ensuring the success of the summit. Due to COVID-19, however, all ASEM SOM participants unanimously expressed their understanding of and support for Cambodias request to postpone the ASEM 13 to mid-2021, he said. Founded in 1996, ASEM is comprised of 53 partners, encompassing 21 Asian countries, 30 European countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, and the European Commission. Collectively, ASEM partners represent 65 percent of the global economy, 60 percent of the world's population, 55 percent of the worlds trade and 75 percent of the worlds tourism./.VNA Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith started a visit to Vietnam on July 5 at the invitation of the host PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith during the Lao PM's visit to Vietnam on July 5. (Photo: VNA) The two-day visit is taking place after the two countries have initially controlled the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first visit by a foreign high-ranking leader to Vietnam since the start of the COVID-19, proving the Vietnam-Laos special relations. Within the framework of the visit, PM Phuc and his guest on July 5 held talks, sharing information and experience in the pandemic fight and discussing measures to intensify bilateral cooperation. The host welcomed the achievements recorded by the Lao party and people and expressed his belief that the country will soon overcome the consequences of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the guest expressed his joy at visiting Vietnam again right after COVID-19 is well controlled, and spoke highly of Vietnams great achievements. The Lao leader thanked Vietnam for providing medical equipment and sending experts to help Laos in the fight. He conveyed regards from Lao Party General Secretary and State President Bounnhang Vorachit and National Assembly President Pany Yathotou to their Vietnamese counterparts Nguyen Phu Trong and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. The two PMs stressed that in the immediate future, efforts should be exerted to push up the trade of goods and services as well as the people-to-people exchanges, consider to reopen air routes at an earliest possible time, resume high-level visits and contacts and those of other levels, and intensify the exchange of information and sharing of experience on socio-economic development of each country. The two sides also agreed to accelerate the effective implementation of the agreements signed and intensify the bilateral cooperation in the fields of defence, security, economy, trade, investment and finance. They exchanged ideas on a number of international and regional issues of mutual concern, and agreed to continue closely coordinating within the framework of various forums. The Lao leader congratulated Vietnam on successfully holding the 36th ASEAN Summit and upholding its role as the ASEAN Chair, and affirmed that Laos will continue supporting Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese PM thanked Laos for its coordination that contributes to the common efforts in building an ASEAN community powerful, cohesive and responsive. The two sides also stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and respect to law, especially the UNCLOS 1982. The Lao leader is scheduled to tour a number of production and service establishments on July 6./.VNA The TraceTogether Token is designed to make an app more effective, but worries privacy campaigners. Image copyrightAndrew Huang Singapore's TraceTogether Tokens are the latest effort to tackle Covid-19 with tech. But they have also reignited a privacy debate. The wearable devices complement the island's existing contact-tracing app, to identify people who might have been infected by those who have tested positive for the virus. All users have to do is carry one, and the battery lasts up to nine months without needing a recharge - something one expert said had "stunned" him. The government agency which developed the devices acknowledges that the Tokens - and technology in general - aren't "a silver bullet", but should augment human contact-tracers' efforts. The first to receive the devices are thousands of vulnerable elderly people who don't own smartphones. To do so, they had to provide their national ID and phone numbers - TraceTogether app users recently had to start doing likewise. If dongle users test positive for the disease, they have to hand their device to the Ministry of Health because - unlike the app - they cannot transmit data over the internet. Human contact-tracers will then use the logs to identify and advise others who might have been infected. "It's very boring in what it does, which is why I think it's a good design," says hardware developer Sean Cross. He was one of four experts invited to inspect one of the devices before they launched. The group was shown all its components but were not allowed to turn it on. "It can correlate who you'd been with, who you've infected and, crucially, who may have infected you," Mr Cross adds. App aid Singapore was the first country to deploy a national coronavirus-tracing app. The local authorities say 2.1 million people have downloaded the software, representing about 35% of the population. It is voluntary for everyone except migrant workers living in dorms, who account for the majority of Singapore's 44,000-plus infections. The government says the app helped it quarantine some people more quickly than would have otherwise been possible. But by its own admission, the tech doesn't work as well as had been hoped. On iPhones, the app has to be running in the foreground for Bluetooth "handshakes" to occur, which means users can't use their handsets for anything else. It's also a huge drain on the battery. Android devices don't face the same problem. Automated contact-tracing can in theory be hugely effective, but only if a large percentage of a population is involved. So, owners of Apple's devices are likely to be among others asked to use the dongles in the near future. Privacy concerns When the Token was first announced in early June, there was a public backlash against the government - something that is a relatively rare occurrence in Singapore. Wilson Low started an online petition calling for it to be ditched. Almost 54,000 people have signed. "All that is stopping the Singapore government from becoming a surveillance state is the advent and mandating the compulsory usage of such a wearable device," the petition stated. "What comes next would be laws that state these devices must not be turned off [and must] remain on a person at all times - thus sealing our fate as a police state." Ministers point out the devices don't log GPS location data or connect to mobile networks, so can't be used for surveillance of a person's movements. Mr Cross agrees that from what he was shown, the dongles cannot be used as location-trackers. But he adds that the scheme is still less privacy-centric than a model promoted by Apple and Google, which is being widely adopted elsewhere. "At the end of the day, the Ministry of Health can go from this cryptic, secret number that only they know, to a phone number - to an individual," he explains. By contrast, apps based on Apple and Google's model alert users if they are at risk, but do not reveal their identities to the authorities. It is up to the individuals to do so when, for example, they register for a test. Dr Michael Veale, a digital rights expert at University College London, warns of the potential for mission creep. He gives an example in which a government struggling against Covid-19 might want to enforce quarantine control. It could do so, he says, by fitting Bluetooth sensors to public spaces to identify dongle users who are out and about when they should be self-isolating at home. "All you have to do is install physical infrastructure in the world and the data that is collecting can be mapped back to Singapore ID numbers," he explains. "The buildability is the worrying part." But the official in charge of the agency responsible for TraceTogether plays down such concerns. "There is a high trust relationship between the government and people, and there is data protection," says Kok Ping Soon, chief executive of GovTech. He adds that he hopes the public recognises that the health authorities need this data to protect them and their loved ones. Another reason Singapore prefers its own scheme over Apple and Google's is that it can provide epidemiologists with greater insight into an outbreak's spread. This was in part why the UK government initially resisted adopting the tech giants' initiative until its own effort to work around Apple's Bluetooth restrictions failed to pass muster. If Singapore's wearables work as hoped, other nations may be tempted to follow. "[With more data], you are able to make policy decisions which very carefully tie restraints or obligations only to high-risk activities. Otherwise you're left with much blunter tools," comments privacy expert Roland Turner, another member of the group invited by Singapore to inspect its hardware. "There is perhaps a paradoxical consequence that greater freedoms are possible." BBC State Dels. Kathy Szeliga and Nino Mangione at a news conference in Little Italy announced that they plan to ask Gov. Hogan and Mayor Young to preserve and protect these monuments. This suggests to us that they do not know Indigenous history and do not value the native and Indigenous constituents in their districts in Baltimore County, Baltimore City and throughout Maryland. They have not attempted to speak with us about these matters even once. These lawmakers would rather align themselves with the most privileged and use their government positions to uphold institutional white supremacy by continuing to marginalize and erase Native Americans and Indigenous peoples, and by prioritizing protecting stone objects over repairing the harm caused by genocide initiated by Christopher Columbus and his men. Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam highlighted the role of digital transformation when he met with leaders from the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Vietnam Computer Association, as well as members of the IT community, at a recent seminar. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam gives a speech at the seminar on digital transformation in Ha Noi on July 3. With no digital transformation, Viet Nam will lose in international competition, said the Deputy Prime Minister. Experts at the seminar said the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the factors to accelerate the digital process in the country as it has shown how the Government and businesses could apply IT effectively to fight the disease. Dam said since the very beginning of the pandemic, Viet Nam has planned to connect 20 hospitals so patients could receive consultations from leading doctors. Dam said: Viet Nam considers digital transformation a national strategic programme. Dam told MIC and the association to identify areas that need work, mentioning the first field of health, followed by education, banking and finance, agriculture, transport, as well as energy and environment. Also attending the seminar, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said: "I have a strong belief that digital transformation will positively contribute to changing the country's rankings and help Viet Nam develop. Again, Hung mentioned the pandemic as a huge opportunity for the IT industry. Hung said local apps designed to fight the pandemic were better than those of other countries. We have many IT businesses, many of which are coding for foreign customers. If there is a market, they will return to develop their own products in Viet Nam, he said. With nearly 100 million people, Hung said: Viet Nam has a large potential to develop its own platforms. He added: Viet Nam could be a place for IT businesses to develop and expand to the world, adding that MIC was launching new digital conversion platforms every week. It will also launch a competition to find solutions for digital transformation in the country. Seeing the strengths of Viet Nam in its dynamic economy and hardworking people, the deputy PM also told the seminar to clarify the weaknesses, which he said were a lack of discipline and cooperation. According to the computer association, on June 3, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the National Digital Transformation Programme. However, many experts believed that the process will face difficulties and challenges due to the intellectual difference between regions of Viet Nam, adding it was more of a challenge to undertake the digital conversion process in rural and mountainous areas. At the same time, they mentioned local infrastructure, platforms and environment for digital transformation were not yet ready, while the number of digital savvy businesses was still low. To end the seminar, the deputy PM noted: "Digital transformation is a long journey that requires us to identify each step in a patient and logical way." According to the MIC's leaders, the approved national digital transformation programme will build a digital Government, digital economy and digital society for Viet Nam in the future. VNS A group of 23 Chinese experts have started work on the long-delayed Cat Linh Ha Dong urban railway line in Hanoi after successfully undergoing a 14-day quarantine period as part of the entry procedures into the country due to measures against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The long-delayed Cat Linh Ha Dong urban railway line, the first of its kind in Hanoi, is scheduled to be put into operation this year The experts originally arrived in Vietnam over two weeks ago where they were immediately placed into quarantine at the projects depot in Ha Dong district. They have since tested negative for the COVID-19 virus and meet the necessary standards to return to work, according to a representative of the Project Management Board. The first task of the specialists will be to carry out all incomplete work and deal with relevant paperwork ahead of the metro line running on a trial basis, said the representative. However, nobody knows exactly when the test-run will be conducted as we have to wait for all Chinese experts and French consultants to come here and examine the project, the representative outlined. We do not know either when exactly they will come because the COVID-19 pandemic is currently evolving in a complex manner in a number of countries. We do hope however that they will return to Vietnam this month. The Cat Linh Ha Dong urban railway line was first granted approval by the Ministry of Transport back in October, 2008, and received a total capitalisation of more than VND12.86 trillion, equivalent to US$552 million. The line runs more than 13km from Cat Linh Station in Dong Da district to Yen Nghia Station southwest of Ha Dong district. The project initially got off the ground in October, 2011, and was initially scheduled for completion in 2013. Construction has been delayed several times due to loan disbursement issues and adjustments. The project saw its investment cost overrun to VND18,000 trillion, equivalent to US$868 million, including US$669.6 million in official development assistance loan from China. Last month Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested that the Ministry of Transport, the Hanoi municipal administration, and general contractors strive to speed up progress on the line to ensure the project, with 99% of its workload complete, will be put into commercial operation this year. VOV Nearly 1,000 Chinese workers to come to Vietnam this month The Chinese workers will be quarantined for 14 days as required by Vietnam's Ministry of Health. Fourteen people in Thanh Hoa province have been suspected of coronavirus infection after their first test and they have all been transferred to Hanoi for further tests and monitoring, according to the provincial Centre for Diseases Control. The suspect cases were among 185 Vietnamese citizens that Military Division 390 had received for concentrated quarantine and medical observation. The citizens were left stranded in Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal due to the COVID-19 epidemic and were recently repatriated safely to Vietnam. Luong Ngoc Truong, director of the Centre for Diseases Control of Thanh Hoa province, said the centre had sent the 14 suspect samples to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation, and it is awaiting the results. The 14 suspect cases had also been transferred to Hanoi-based Hospital of Tropical Diseases for medical surveillance and treatment. Fifty people who had close contact with the suspect cases in the concentrated quarantine centre were tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and their sample were also sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation. Vietnam has gone through 81 days in a row without new locally transmitted infections. Newly-detected cases all came from epidemic hit countries and they were placed in quarantine as soon as their approval. Experts warned about the possible recurrence of the virus in Vietnam as thousands of Vietnamese citizens are returning home from abroad. VOV The National Intellectual Property Office handed over a certificate to the Peoples Committee of Ly Son island district recognising its specialty garlic with a geographical indication (GI) during a ceremony on July 5. The GI certificate is presented to the administration of Ly Son island district on July 5 (Photo: VNA) browser not support iframe. The island, off the coast of the south-central province of Quang Ngai, is renowned as the Kingdom of Garlic in Vietnam where a majority of local people make their living from garlic farming. The GI is expected to provide a legal basis for authorities to protect the specialty garlic grown in Ly Son, which has a distinctive flavor and is in high demand at home and abroad, and fight fake products. It took Ly Son island district about two years to build the geographical indication for its garlic, according to Vice Chairwoman of the Ly Son Peoples Council Pham Thi Huong. The registration of a geographical indication trademark for Ly Son garlic was very complicated and challenging, said Dinh Huu Phi, director of the National Intellectual Property Office, but it would be even more difficult to protect it. This requires the involvement of local authorities and farmers who produce the spice to maintain the prestige of the product on the market, he noted. Ly Son currently grows over 300 hectares of garlic, which generate around 3,000 tonnes per year./.VNA After days of stand-off the passengers, who include children, will be taken into quarantine in Sicily. The decision to allow the group to disembark follows a week of tension on board the ship Italy has given permission for 180 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean to disembark from a charity-run ship. The decision comes after a stand-off that lasted more than a week. The Ocean Viking, operated by rescue group SOS Mediterranee, declared a state of emergency on Friday, citing fears for the safety of both migrants and crew. The migrants are set to be transferred to a government vessel in Sicily on Monday and will quarantine for 14 days. Medics have already tested those on the Ocean Viking for Covid-19. Results are expected on Monday. The migrants are from a range of countries including Pakistan, Eritrea and Nigeria. They had fled the coast of Libya when they were rescued in four separate groups between 25 and 30 June. They include 25 minors, most of whom are unaccompanied by adults and two women, including one who is pregnant. The ship had been awaiting permission to allow the passengers off the vessel in either Italy or Malta. As time went on, those on board had become desperate to reach land - while others, unable to contact friends and family to let them know they were safe, had become distraught, AFP news agency reports. A doctor for SOS Mediterranee said he had noted "enormous psychological discomfort on the ship", where the situation was "almost out of control, for guests and crew". One crew member said there had been a series of fights and threats of suicide. An Italian interior ministry source told AFP that a medical team had been sent to the ship ahead of disembarkation. "We're very happy! We've come a long way, Libya was like hell and now at least we can see the end. I need to tell my family that I'm still alive," said one passenger, 27-year-old Rabiul from Bangladesh. SOS Mediterranee wrote on Twitter that the "unnecessary delay of this disembarkation has put lives at risk". More than 110,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year. More than 1,200 died during the attempt, according to the International Organisation for Migration. It is thought that warmer weather during summer could lead to an increase in the number of attempts. BBC Vietnam safe from COVID-19 over 81 straight days Vietnam has recorded no new coronavirus infections during the past 24 hours, staying clear of the novel coronavirus epidemic in the community for 81 days in a row, according to the Ministry of Health. The countrys total number of COVID-19 infections now stands at 355, of which 340 cases have fully recovered, making up 95.8%. No deaths have been reported so far. The remaining 15 cases are being treated at health facilities across the country, with 7 cases having tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 virus. Health professionals recently detected few coronavirus cases returning from epidemic hit countries. However, these cases could not put the community at risk as they were placed in quarantine upon their arrival at the airport. The British pilot, the most severely ill case in Vietnam, has fully recovered and met all necessary criteria for repatriation to the UK. The patient wished to return to his hometown in Scotland, and according to the British Embassy, he will be repatriated on a Vietnam Airlines flight due to depart from Hanoi on July 12. Thai police to form special task force on COVID-19 The Royal Thai Police is planning the establishment of a special task force to trace tourists infected with the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 as the country is about to reopen its airspace to travellers. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) will be in charge of tracking tourists, according to a source. Thai national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda has assigned commissioner of the CIB Pol Lt Gen Sutin Suppuang to set up a "COVID-19 Investigation Division" to prevent any potential future outbreaks. The division will contain the spread of the virus, which might enter the country by way of foreign tourists or Thai returnees when the airspace is reopened. Pol Lt Gen Sutin confirmed the formation of the special division, adding that he has a blueprint on the operation of the division even though the Thai government has yet to open its airspace to international flights. COVID-19: Only eight positive cases remain Only eight people still test positive for COVID-19 in Vietnam as the country entered the 81st day without cases in the community as of July 6 morning, said the national steering committee on COVID-19 prevention and control. Among the total 355 cases in the country, 215 are imported and quarantined right after their arrival, and 340 have been given all-clear, or 95.8 percent. The remaining 15 are being treated and four of them tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease at least twice, and three others negative once. Currently 12,291 people are being quarantined either at hospitals, concentrated establishments or at home. Hanoi presents donation of medical face masks to Ile-de-France region The Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Thiep has given over 150,000 medical face masks to the Ile-de-France region on behalf of the local Hanoi administration. During a meeting held in Paris, France, on July 3, Valerie Pecresse, President of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France region, expressed sincere gratitude to Hanoi, while outlining her great impression of the Vietnamese fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Whilst the fight against the COVID-19 remains long and difficult, Ile-de-France is one of the French regions to have suffered the most from the breakout of the global pandemic. Indeed, the assistance from the Vietnamese side has served to help the French region in their battle against the virus, Pecresse said. She added that economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period is now considered a top priority. Most notably, the regional administration plans to host forums on the environment modeled after the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and anticipates Hanoi participating in these activities, while hoping the Hanoi administration will share Vietnamese experience regarding economic development following the pandemic. The Ile-de-France region and the Vietnamese capital have enjoyed close co-operation relations for more than 30 years, with ties between the two serving as a model of decentralised co-operation relations. Also on the occasion, the administration of Hanois Dong Da district provided Choisy-le-Roi commune in the Ile-de-France region with 30,000 medical face masks. More than 300 Vietnamese citizens brought home from Malaysia Some 310 Vietnamese citizens were brought home from Malaysia on July 5. Some 310 Vietnamese citizens were brought home from Malaysia on July 5. (Photo: VNA) This was a joint effort of competent Vietnamese agencies, the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and competent Malaysian agencies. The passengers included those under 18 years old, elderly and sick people, workers with expired visas and labour contracts, stranded tourists and students who did not have accommodations due to dormitory closures. The Vietnamese Embassy sent officials to the airport to help the citizens with necessary procedures. Upon their arrival at Can Tho international airport in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, the passengers were kept under quarantine and had medical checks-up in line with regulations. In the coming days, more flights will be arranged to bring back Vietnamese citizens home from other countries depending on the pandemic's developments, quarantine capacity of Vietnamese localities, and demand of Vietnamese citizens living abroad. No new COVID-19 cases reported in Vietnam on July 5 Vietnam recorded no new COVID-19 cases on July 5, meaning the country has gone through 80 consecutive days without community infections, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Among 355 cases confirmed in the country so far, 215 were imported and quarantined upon arrival. Some 11,466 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients and came from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine or medical monitoring. A total of 340 patients have recovered while the remaining 15 are being treated, with three testing negative at least twice for the coronavirus. VNA/VOV The percentage of poor and near-poor households in ethnic minority dominated areas in Vietnam is 3.5 times higher than the countrys average, the latest survey conducted by Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs reveals. An ethnic minority mother and her baby in Pai Lung Commune, Meo Vac District in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. Poor and near-poor households still account for a high percentage of the ethnic minority population in Vietnam. VNS Photo Viet Thanh The 2019 socio-economic status census on Vietnams 53 ethnic minority groups was carried out in October, 2019 over more than 5,400 communes in ethnic minority dominated and mountainous areas of 54 localities. Do Van Chien, the committees chairman, emphasised that the results of this survey would be a legal basis to evaluate ethnic policies in the period of 2015-2020 and the socio-economic development strategy in 2011-2020. The census is comprehensive and practical, covering both political and social issues, said Chien. With the application of IT, the survey processed data rapidly and gave out accurate and reliable results. The survey showed that 97.2 per cent of these communes are connected to the national electric grid, increasing 4.2 per cent compared to 2015. The average distance from these communes to their districts centres is 16.7km; 95.2 per cent of communes have roads leading to districts centres concreted or asphalted, the census reads, meaning people have more opportunities to approach public and healthcare services, according to the census. As much as 99.5 per cent of surveyed localities have medical facilities. On average, more than 3,800 new schools were built in ethnic minority-dominated areas in the past five years, with the total tally standing at 48,100 schools. Of the 525,000 teachers working at these schools, 134,900 of them are ethnic minority people. After a decade, the percentage of school-age ethnic minority children not going to school dropped from 26.4 per cent in 2009 to 15.5 per cent in 2019. As much as 80.9 per cent of ethnic minority people aged from 15 know Vietnamese, rising 1.7 per cent compared to 2015, showing not much improvement in illiteracy elimination. People in ethnic minority groups have witnessed a switch in occupation, following a drop of workforce in agriculture, forestry and fishery along with a slight increase in industry, construction and services. Poor and near-poor households, however, still account for a high percentage of the ethnic minority population, at 35.5 per cent, focusing mostly in border areas. As of April 1, 2019, Vietnams population was 96.2 million people in which 14.1 million people belonging to 53 ethnic minority groups, accounting for 14.7 per cent. Six groups have a population of more than one million people including Tay, Thai, Muong, Mong, Khmer and Nung. Meanwhile, five others have less than 1,000 people each. They are O Du, Brau, Ro Mam, Pu Peo and Sila. VNS NA adopts plan on socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas The National Assembly on Monday adopted the Resolution on the master plan of socio-economic development in ethnic minority and disadvantaged regions in the country with near 90 per cent approval. Nguyen Dinh Duc, a professor from Vietnam National University, speaks about the implementation of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework and the difficulties training institutes will face when applying the new framework. Nguyen Dinh Duc, professor and science doctor from Vietnam National University. Photo dantri.com.vn How will the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework help solve problems in higher education? First of all, we need to say that Vietnam's National Qualifications Framework is necessary. On October 18, 2016, the Government approved the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework with eight levels from Elementary to PhD. It was designed to lay a foundation for higher education institutions to prepare appropriate training programmes and help Vietnamese labourers get more opportunities to seek jobs. There are five targets of the National Qualifications Framework. Firstly, it helps to classify and standardise learning capacity as well as diplomas and certificates suitable to vocational education and higher education in Vietnam. Secondly, it establishes an effective connection mechanism between the requirements of employers and the system of training qualifications. Thirdly, it acts as a basis for educational institution planning and training programme output standards for professions at all levels. It develops policies to improve the effectiveness of human resources training. In addition, it establishes relationships between the national qualification frameworks of regional countries and those of the world as a basis for mutual recognition of qualifications among countries. Finally, it creates a mechanism for connecting levels of training and building lifelong learning habits. With these goals, I think if the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework is implemented methodically, seriously and in the right direction, it will contribute to overcoming shortcomings of higher education training and improving the integration of Vietnamese higher education in the region and the world. Some experts are concerned that the implementation of the new framework will bring few positive impacts compared to the previous programme and might cause difficulties for schools in their autonomy. What do you think? The quality of training depends on many factors, such as learning facilities, quality of teachers and learners, the training programmes, training management and output standards. The implementation of the new framework is vital for its success. With the trend of increasing autonomy of universities and the strong impact of Industry 4.0, training programmes are becoming more interdisciplinary and erasing boundaries between industries in the same field. The organisation and management of training activities are becoming more and more individualised, so it is recommended to set basic and minimum output standards. It is advisable for educational institutions to be flexible in developing training programmes appropriate to their capabilities and strengths, as long as they can meet output standards stipulated in the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework. Also, the number of undergraduate training programmes is very large and constantly changing. With my experience, I believe it would be feasible to develop and issue standard programmes for certain industries or sectors. The standards of training programmes can be prioritised in information technology, medicine, law, engineering etc. and industries where workers are allowed to move around within ASEAN countries. It is possible to set the most common output standards for a number of industries such as philosophy and anthropology like other countries apply. Each training institution will have its own characteristics and identities. Therefore, it is not easy to develop a standard programme to implement at different training institutions. The Vietnamese Qualifications Framework will issue standards for training programmes based on output standards. How will such regulations affect higher education institutes? This is an advanced and scientific approach in developing training programmes. A school announces its outcome standards based on its training programmes, which must have content or modules to help learners achieve such output standards. The promulgation of standards of training programmes according to output standards will create a framework for certain industries and help to eliminate the chaos of training programme development. It will improve the quality of Vietnam's human resources, help training institutes save time and money in developing training programmes, and be an effective tool for State management agencies to control the quality of training products. What measures are needed to ensure the success of output standards? The most important factor in all success is human. Representatives of those involved such as the State, schools, experts, employers, teachers and lecturers, and learners should participate in the development of the programme's output standards. We also need a complete and scientific implementation process. In the construction process, it is necessary to refer to the output standards of corresponding training programmes in the world and pay special attention to the opinions of those involved. The output standards will be unrealistic if they are built based on the ideas of only some people. The output standards must be associated with researching, learning with practice and the requirements of employers in Vietnam and abroad. They must forecast the requirements of future human resources as well. They need to be updated regularly to avoid being out of date compared with the development of science and technology and labour market requirements. VNS/giaoduc The UK government has moved to exempt arriving passengers from undergoing a 14-day period of self-isolation from 59 countries and territories, including Vietnam, when entering Britain as of July 10. The UK government has moved to exempt arriving passengers from undergoing a 14-day period of self-isolation from 59 countries and territories, including Vietnam, when entering Britain as of July 10. Passengers queue to take flights from Stansted airport in Essex. Now, arrivals coming from local European countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Greece have been named among those who are exempt from undergoing quarantine restrictions. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA According to the latest announcement by the UK government on July 3, From July 10, 2020, unless they have visited or stopped in any other country or territory in the preceding 14 days, passengers arriving from the list of 54 countries and territories will not be required to self-isolate on arrival. The list published by officials in the UK also includes Asian countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong (China) and Vietnam. In the announcement, the UK government states that arrivals will not have to self-isolate on arrival providing that these are the only places passengers have been to or stopped in during the previous 14 days. Moreover, travelers from the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man will be exempt under the policy as they are part of a common travel area. Furthermore, arrivals from 14 British Overseas Territories will also be exempt. It is anticipated that the list may grow over the coming days following further discussions between the UK and its international partners, with updates posted to www.go.uk. VOV What I want to know is why? Why are many Catholics loyal to this president, a man who is so transparently not Christ-like? He lies, he cheats and he foments racism. He would do anything to support his own selfish interests. While Jesus preached love, forgiveness, humility and acceptance, President Trump is the essence of selfishness, narcissism, hate and divisiveness. He could hardly be a worse example of Christian values. What makes this particularly puzzling is that Mr. Trumps prospective opponent in the 2020 election is a lifelong Catholic, whereas Mr. Trump is known to be nonreligious. A group of students from Vietnams Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) have become one of 10 winning teams at Googles Developer Student Clubs Solution Challenge 2020. The winning team consisted of Vo Ngoc Khanh Linh, Tran Lam Bao Khang (2nd-year students at the Faculty of Industrial Management), Nguyen Dang Huy (a 3rd-year student at the Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering), and Nguyen Thanh Nhan (2nd-year student at the Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering). The Vietnamese team have become one of 10 winning teams at Googles Developer Student Clubs Solution Challenge 2020 The four Vietnamese students surpassed over 800 groups of contestants from 60 countries in the competition to be the winners. Other teams in the top ten include those from the US, Germany, South Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe India and Ghana. Launched by Google Developer Student Clubs, the Solution Challenge is an annual contest that invites university students from all over the world to devise solutions for everyday problems. Every solution is graded on the scale of 100 based on 3 criteria: impact (50%), Technology (40%), and Room for Improvement (10%). The Vietnamese team presented their Shareapy product which is an application which brings people together who share similar problems regardless of their age, gender, religion, financial status, etc. In addition, it is a one-way interactive community where people can release their emotion and stress either privately and publicly without the fear of shame or discrimination. Pham Tran Vu, head of the Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that the university encouraged its students to participate in science and technology events, particularly international competitions. Initially, the winning teams were scheduled to have a trip to Sunnyvale, California to demo their solutions to Google. However, this was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They will also get a Google certificate for their achievement and their products will be promoted by Google. Dtinews/Smartlocal "Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets": Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, filmmaker brothers Bill and Turner Ross ("Western") turn their camera on a group of people in a Las Vegas dive bar the day after Donald Trump's election. The filmmakers rented the space, recruited the patrons and told them all to pretend that the bar was closing at the end of the night. But the alcohol is real, the conversations unexpected and the result, available to rent Friday, is pure filmmaking magic. AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr MUSIC The Dalai Lama: To commemorate his 85th birthday on Monday, the Dalai Lama is releasing his first-ever album. The 11-track "Inner World" features teachings and mantras by the Tibetan spiritual leader set to music. On the project the religious leader recites the mantras of seven Buddhas, discussing topics like wisdom, courage, healing, compassion and children. Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar makes a guest appearance on the album, playing on "Ama La," a track honoring mothers. Egbuonye pleaded with residents to wear masks and be physically distant from one another in public settings. Yet cases which had been at an average of three per day in mid-June are now up to an average of 30 per day, according to data from the county health department. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} In recent days, the department has shared tips on its Facebook and YouTube pages on the importance of wearing cloth face coverings, washing hands and being socially distant, as well as food and safety guidelines for gatherings. The information is provided in multiple languages via a partnership with EMBARC. Still, cases continue to tick upward. Data from Black Hawk Countys website shows the majority of cases more than 49% are among adults 18 to 40. Were seeing its predominantly between the 17- to 30-year-olds, Egbuonye told The Courier on Monday. So thats really been our greatest concern. Thats why were pushing for people to continue to wear masks and socially distance. Though she believes its not legal for municipalities to mandate a mask something Muscatine in southeast Iowa mandated Sunday Egbuonye said it would be a good idea for Gov. Kim Reynolds to issue such a mandate, similar to other states like Texas. Statewide All information from the Iowa Department of Public Health, except where noted. (In parenthesis: how the number has changed since the day before.) The total number of people who tested positive for an active novel coronavirus infection since testing began in March 2020. 7-day average of cases: 388 (+14) Percent change in cases over 14 days: 47.1% (+13%). National average: 81.1% (-1.3%). (Info: KFF.org) The average number of people who become infected by an infectious person. Over 1.0 means the virus will spread, and below 1.0 means it has stopped spreading. 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You will never find in American history a president who is more teacher-centric or more supportive of teachers than me, Biden told National Education Association delegates on July 3. The presumptive Democratic nominee spoke via webcam during the NEAs annual Representative Assembly, which is virtual this year. This is going to be a teacher-oriented Department of Education, and its not going to come from the top downits going to come from the teachers up, he said. The former vice president has previously pledged to nominate a former teacher to the position of U.S. Secretary of Education if elected. Biden told educators that they are the most important profession and deserve more respect. Education should be put more in the hands of educators, he said. You should have more input on what you teach, how you teach it, and when you teach it. You are the ones in the classroom, you should have more input. And while he acknowledged that much of school funding comes from the state and local level, he said teachers would get a major say in where and how the federal portion is spent. The NEA, along with the other national teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers , endorsed Biden over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primary , although some members were dissatisfied with their unions decision. NEA delegates will vote on endorsing Biden in the general election via mail-in ballots. We need a new president, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia told delegates. And we believe Joe Biden must be that new president. We need a president who will fire Betsy DeVos on her first day in office. We need someone who will replace her with a Secretary of Education who knows what shes talking about. ... We need a president who loves our students and cares about all their lives and all their families and all the neighborhoods they live in. During his address, Biden touted his education plan , which calls for tripling Title I funding to pay for teacher salary increases and more student supports, universal prekindergarten programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, and full federal funding within 10 years for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Bottom line: When we win this election, youre going to get the support you need, he said, adding that if he doesnt follow through with his education plan, hell be sleeping alone in the Lincoln bedroom. Jill Biden, who taught high school for 13 years and is now a community college professor, is an NEA member. Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis Biden slammed President Donald Trumps response to the coronavirus pandemic several times, as well as the Senates refusal to consider the HEROES Act, which passed the House and would provide $58 billion in aid to local school districts. Already, Biden said, hundreds of thousands of educators jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic. Right now, thats largely due to the fact that hourly workers are considered unemployed when schools are closed , but thousands of teacher layoffs are expected to occur this year as states cut their education budgets. This is absolutely unacceptable, he said. Were already short the number of teachers we need nationally. While there isnt a national across-the-board teacher shortage , shortages do exist locally and in certain subjects, like special education and high school math and science. Also, enrollment at teacher-preparation programs has been steadily declining for the past few years. Biden also called for schools to receive more funding so they can make accommodationslike purchasing Plexiglass dividersto safely reopen for in-person instruction. And, he said, every student needs access to broadband internet so they can participate in remote learning. Theres probably a high probability well have to continue with remote learning in some parts of the country for a while longer, Biden said. Paula McConnell, an education support professional in Michigan, asked Biden what he would tell educators looking for leadership about how schools can reopen safely. We have to have a clear message based on science, based on what the experts tell us, and ... make sure to get the input from people who are in the field, in the classroom, in the buildings dealing with the problem, Biden responded. Parents, including teachers, are not going to be able to go back to work until theyre sure their childrenfrom months old to 3- to 4-years-oldare able to be taken care of safely. Turquoise Parker, a K-5 media specialist in North Carolina, asked Biden how he will fight racial inequities. Biden said he would fight for police reform and criminal justice reform so fewer people are sent to jail on drug charges. He also reiterated his call for more Title I funding, so that all schools could have access to Advanced Placement courses. As a kid, I used to stutter a lot, Biden said. Im not making it comparable to someone who is a young African American who has not been treated well or has been a victim of systemic racism. But Ill tell you one thing: Dont ever talk down to these kids. When [adults] told me, Thats OK, and finished my sentence for me, I said, Im smart. Ill finish my sentence. These kids are capable of doing anything anybody else can do. Lets not dumb it down. Theyre incredibly capable. ... Children tend to turn out what you expect of them. Lets show them the love and respect, and then the support. Finally, Jimbo Lamb, a high school math teacher and the president of the southern region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, asked Biden how hell unite a divided nation. Biden responded that throughout his career, hes been able to bring Republicans and Democrats together. We can disagree, but we dont have to be disagreeable, Biden said. In a phone interview after the address, Lamb said he appreciated Bidens answer. While Biden wasnt his first choice in the primaryhe supported Sen. Elizabeth WarrenLamb said he will be voting for him in November. He definitely knows what educators need, both in the classroom and in the overall school community, he said. Hes often listened to us and gotten back to us. And Bidens pledge to name an educator as Secretary of Education is key, Lamb said. In the past few years [with DeVos in the position], its been tougher to do what we need to do, he said. Image: Screenshot of the NEA webcast Madeline Will/Education Week My father and I had robust discussions about modern civil rights issues in my teens and 20s in the 1960s, comparing the different plights of Italian Americans and African Americans. I am proud of my Italian heritage, as are the 16 million Americans who identify themselves as Italian American, nearly 6% of the population and the fourth largest ethnic group in the country. The demolition of the Columbus statue, which was raised to honor Italian Americans, is an insult to all Italian Americans by people who demonstrate a complete absence of decency and sensitivity because of their lack of knowledge of the great contributions made by all those who have come to make up Americas diverse population. By day, 37-year-old Oakland resident Amir Abdul-Shakur is a program manager at the Y. Come nights and weekends, his tandem hobbies of photography and activism meet when he hits the streets to document the racial justice demonstrations that have become central to the daily lives of his family and so many others. "This is our civil-rights-great-depression bundle packagethis is going to be documented in history. As a creative, I feel like I have a moral obligation to be out there," says Abdul-Shakur, who at first paid little attention to the immense response garnered by his powerful images on Instagram. But when his photograph of a young woman wearing a mask that spoke volumes ("I Can't Breathe") went viral, corporate brands including MTV and Lyft took notice and shared the image, and local curators reached out and are now planning exhibitions. Abdul-Shakur, aka Amir the Photographer, could no longer downplay his callingto capture the dignity of the Black Lives Matter movement in a way that he says mainstream media has failed to do. (@amirthephotographer) "My purpose is to humanize people, specifically Black people," he says. "I want the images that come out from my community to be representative of our full experience. I'm focused on bringing out the beauty." The portraits that now paper his Instagram feed are mostly of people the lensman has just met at protests. In the span of 30 seconds to two minutes, he asks the subject to trust that he will treat them with care, and it isn't easy work. "I'm the one taking the photo, but this photo will mean something to somebody else. I'm taking pictures of somebody else's son, of people who don't get photographed often, of Black men. To have that kind of responsibility is a heavy burden at times; I want to get it right." The process, he says, is draining. "It hurts taking pictures of a girl holding up a sign, Am I next? This shouldn't be something she's worrying about." As a Black, Muslim, cisgender man, intersectionality guides Abdul-Shakur's work as he seeks to overturn stereotypes by capturing the many different people participating not just in BLM protests but also in the LGBTQ+ community. He calls himself a visual abolitionist. (@amirthephotographer) "People expect toxic masculinity or religious patriarchy to be displayed in my aesthetic but, as a photographer, I consider myself a Black unicorn of sorts," he says. "I dance in the intersections because that exemplifies my own experience. My wife is Latinx, my son is biracial, I have queer coworkers, gay potnas, and I'm Muslim." He's also a dad, whose family has long been part of the nationwide conversation around police brutality. In 2017, the Abdul-Shakur family was featured in The Talk: Race in America, a PBS documentary about the conversation known too well among parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police. The family's portion is especially poignant as Abdul-Shakur's son, Zaire, expresses a desire to be a police officer himself when he grows up. In light of the recent protests, the documentary has since been re-released, with a follow-up project in the works. "You can't hide the racism," says the father of a son who, he says, sees the world clearly for what it is. He "understands that things are not normal and that this is just wrong. My son just naturally wants to help people. He recognizes now he can do that without wanting to be a police officer." While he balances family and community with the pain he feels during these turbulent times, Abdul-Shakur ultimately finds healing in photography and chooses to acknowledge his responsibility as a blessing. "I recognize that this gift of photography comes from Allah (swt), by giving me a certain eye to find beauty in people." // Follow @amirthephotographer on Instagram. (@amirthephotographer) For more profiles on Black lives in the Bay Area, featuring photography by Amir Abdul-Shakur, go to 7x7.com/locals-we-love. MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images En espanol | Older voters have long said that access to affordable health care is one of their top priorities. Then came the greatest health crisis in generations. But the coronavirus pandemic is a complex issue. As of early July, COVID-19 had stricken more than 2.9 million people in the U.S. and cost nearly 130,000 American lives. And no one expects it to be contained before Election Day. At the same time, the pandemic has sidelined tens of millions of workers and threatened the future of countless businesses. Then, in late May, came a third national crisis, when hundreds of thousands of Americans of all ages took to the streets after the death of George Floyd, an African American whom, a video showed, a Minneapolis police officer pinned down by keeping his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. So, will it still be health care that drives voters in their election decisions this November? Will the cries for criminal justice reform keep up until the election? Will that iconic phrase from campaigns past It's the economy, stupid resonate again? Or, as older voters go to the polls in what's expected to be record numbers, will they focus less on individual issues and more broadly on leadership and vision? Elisa Sand esand@aberdeennews.com A Veblen woman was placed on probation for five years and must repay $24,032 in restitution in connection to the theft of funds from the Region VIII Head Start Association. Renee K. Olson, who was 57 when she pleaded guilty in February to felony mail fraud in federal court, was sentenced in June. Olson was treasurer for the association, according to court documents. She admitted to taking $24,032 from the association between September 2014 and June 2018. Her scheme involved obtaining funds through false pretenses, according to the paperwork. Part of her scheme included issuing invoices to members of the Title VIII Region, who then sent payments to her. The members believed the payments were to go toward training. Olson then deposited the checks into her personal bank account. She also made payments to herself for accounting fees and travel, according to the charges. Head Start is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program that provides early learning, health and family well-being services to low-income children and families. Region VIII is headquartered in Denver and includes South Dakota. Restitution must be paid in $200 monthly installments, according to court documents. North Dakota Stockmens Association Aberdeen News The North Dakota Stockmens Association (NDSA) was among the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fames (NDCHF) 2020 class of inductees, which was honored in the NDCHFs 25th anniversary induction celebration June 19-20 in Medora, N.D. The NDSA was recognized in the Special Achievement category. Other inductees included the following: Cowboy Long Rider: Dorvan Solberg, Ray, N.D.; Leaders in Ranching & Rodeo: Robert Luger, Fort Yates, N.D.; Pre-1940s Ranching: Martin Hovde, Williston, N.D.; Modern-Era Ranching: Phillip Baker, Mandaree, N.D.; Ranches: Black Leg Ranch, McKenzie, N.D.; Pre-1970s Rodeo: Carroll Johnston, Watford City, N.D.; Modern-Era Rodeo: Rockie Kukla, Rugby, N.D., and Harvey Billadeau, Parshall, N.D.; Rodeo Arena: James Cook, Sentinel Butte, N.D.; and Rodeo Livestock: 44 Magnum, Bottineau, N.D. The NDCHF strives to preserve the history and promote the culture of North Dakotas Native American, ranching and rodeo communities by informing and educating people of all nations and cultures about the states rich and colorful western heritage. In accepting the NDSAs award, NDSA Executive Vice President Julie Ellingson called it a tribute to the NDSAs 3,000 members and the thousands who came before them. Its a tribute to people like Andrew Johnston and John Leakey, whose vision led to the NDSAs formation and who passed the torch on to others to lead, she said. Its a tribute to folks like Wade Moser, who dedicated his career to serving the industry, and members like Fred Sorenson, who still remembers the excitement he felt the day the first Bar North arrived in the mailbox and how seeing the names of the directors with their brands in the magazine inspired him to want to serve on the board. She continued, This is for all those who served on a committee, volunteered at a youth event, attended a convention or drove to Bismarck on a blizzardy January day to show support for a bill at the Capitol. Its also for those who stayed home that morning to tend to the chores so someone else could go, for those who faithfully write a dues check year after year, wear a yellow lapel pin on the collar of their shirt, have a bright yellow sticker in the back window of their pickup and who report to work each day to care for the land and the livestock. She reflected on the NDSAs proud beginning, noting that curbing cattle rustling was the rallying cause for members in 1929. Nine decades later, rustlers are still a concern, although they arent always the kind that come in the dark of night and steal cattle, she said. Sometimes, those rustlers come in the form of activist organizations, over-the-top government regulations or even global pandemics that send markets into a tailspin. There is obviously lots of work left to do, and thats why we not only appreciate this honor, but take the responsibility that goes along with it to heart. Rich Lowry King Features Syndicate After hes repeatedly survived the unsurvivable, we are supposed to believe that President Donald Trump might quit the presidential race before it truly begins because of a spate of negative polling. This is the latest chatter among (unnamed) Republicans, according to a widely circulated Fox News report and cable news talking heads. Trump is a volatile figure and things could get weird if hes far behind in the final weeks. But the idea that he is going to fall on his sword because the conventional wisdom has turned sharply against his chances runs starkly counter to all Trumps predilections and past actions. Good luck convincing him hes going to lose after he survived the Access Hollywood tape that had GOP officeholders deserting him in droves, and after he prevailed on an election night when many people closest to him thought he was sure to go down to defeat. Theres nothing any political consultant, pollster or adviser can tell him about his dire political condition that he hasnt heard, and dismissed, before. If the polling looks bad for him now, Hillary Clinton had sizable leads in 2016, too. The assumption behind the Trump-might-drop chatter is that the president would want to avoid the psychological sting of a loss, but hes already signaled how hell handle a defeat by saying he was robbed. The anonymous Republicans speculating about this scenario surely are wish-casting and assume some other any other GOP presidential candidate would be better for the partys chances. This, too, is doubtful. How would the great drop-and-switch even work? The party would be implicitly conceding that the incumbent Republican president was such a disaster that he couldnt even run for a second term and then turn around and ask voters for four more years of yet another Republican president. One of the points of this exercise would be to repudiate Trump, but how could the party plausibly do that after loyally and enthusiastically backing him for four years? Who would be a turn-the-page candidate? The natural successor would be Vice President Mike Pence, but hes obviously more associated with Trump than any other figure in the party besides the presidents direct relatives. How about a Trump critic, say, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse? But such a choice would be a whiplash-inducing change of direction for a party led the moment before by Trump. The presidents base wouldnt go away even if Trump said he wasnt running again, and its feelings would have to be taken into account not to mention that Trump loyalists would make up a disproportionate share of Republican convention delegates, who would presumably make the choice of a new candidate. At a time of great populist passion in the GOP, deciding on a presidential candidate without the direct say of any voters would be fraught with peril, to say the least and more likely to produce a civil war rather than comity. Then, theres the question of Trump himself. Unless the Trump-stepping-aside scenario becomes even more implausible and involves him resigning the presidency and getting dropped off by Marine One at a monastery to begin a four-month silent retreat, hes not going to quietly abide some other Republican soaking up all the public attention that comes with being one of two people who will be the next president of the United States. Perhaps former Vice President Joe Biden indeed has a durable 10-point lead, in which case theres nothing that the GOP can do to avoid a terrible drubbing. If Biden is that strong, some emergency replacement Republican candidate hastily chosen amid a political panic isnt going to win, either. Its more likely, though, that the race will naturally tighten, and that Trump will be behind, but within range and have a punchers chance. Regardless, theres no way he quits without even trying to win the ultimate vindication for any president, and the ultimate repudiation of his critics. 85m @ 11.6g/t gold intersected near surface at Starlight Perth, July 6, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Musgrave Minerals Ltd ( ASX:MGV ) ( FRA:6MU ) is pleased to report assay results for a further eight reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes from the current program at the new Starlight gold discovery at Break of Day. Drilling continues to confirm the Starlight discovery and the strong near surface high-grades in multiple individual lodes. Starlight remains open to the south-east and down dip where drilling is continuing. All intercepts reported in the current drilling program are outside the existing Break of Day resource estimate.The Starlight lode at Break of Day is located on the Company's 100% owned ground at its flagship Cue Gold Project in Western Australia's Murchison district (Figure 1*). Drilling at Starlight is continuing, with a focus on infilling and extending the high-grade gold mineralisation intersected to date. Drilling will also continue to test for new lodes within the Break of Day and Lena system following the discovery of the new White Light lode located 75m south of Starlight (see MGV ASX release dated 29 June 2020, "New gold lode discovered 75m south of Starlight").Musgrave Managing Director Rob Waugh said: "Starlight continues to produce stunning gold results in near surface drilling. Further RC drilling is underway to infill and extend the Starlight mineralisation with the aim of completing a JORC resource update late in Q3 2020. Drilling is continuing with two rigs on site and we are confident we can extend Starlight and the new White Light lode and make significant new discoveries in the belt."To date a total of 45 RC holes of a planned 59 holes have been completed with assay results received for 39 holes. Three diamond drill hole tails and one twin hole have been completed to date with assays pending. All new assay results are shown in Table 1a with further assays expected within two weeks.The Starlight and White Light mineralised gold lodes lie proximal to the existing Break of Day resource (Figure 2*) within separate southeast-northwest parallel mineralised zones approximately 75m apart. Significantly, all the intersections returned from Starlight and White Light sit outside the current resource at Break of Day.The mineralisation consists of quartz lodes hosted within a foliated and altered basaltic stratigraphic sequence that typically dip steeply to the south (Figure 3). Both lodes have a strike extent of over 100m and are open to the south-east (Figures 3 & 5*) and down plunge.Discussion of ResultsA combination of six metre composites and one metre individual samples have been analysed from the RC holes drilled in the current program with details defined in Tables 1a and 1b*. All 6m composite samples above 0.1g/t Au will be re-submitted for individual 1m sample analysis.Significant intercepts at Starlight lode:o 85m @ 11.6g/t Au from 7m (20MORC058) including;o 8m @ 99.0g/t Au from 7m including;- 3m @ 254.2g/t Au from 8m ando 4m @ 45.5g/t Au from 38m ando 6m @ 9.4g/t Au from 86mo 68m @ 5.9g/t Au from 21m (20MORC057) including;o 8m @ 48.5g/t Au from 21m (20MORC057) including;- 1m @ 300.4g/t Au from 22mo 9m @ 10.7g/t Au from 52m (20MORC055) including;o 6m @ 15.7g/t Au from 52mo 6m @ 32.3g/t Au from 61m (20MORC061) including;o 1m @ 163.3g/t Au from 62mo 32m @ 1.2g/t Au from 0m (20MORC054) including;o 4m @ 4.6g/t Au from 26m (Hole 20MORC054 collared too far north to intersect main high-grade Starlight lode. Further drilling required)Significant new results from the White Light lode include:o 1m @ 22.6g/t Au from 115m (20MORC048)Break of DayThe current resource estimate for the Cue Gold Project totals 6.45Mt @ 3.0g/t Au for 613koz including the Break of Day deposit (868Kt @ 7.2g/t Au for 199koz contained gold) and the Lena deposit (4,3Mt @ 2.3g/t Au for 325koz contained gold) located 130m to the west (see MGV ASX releases dated 14 July 2017 and 17 February 2020).This current resource estimate does not include any recent results from the new Starlight and White Light gold discoveries. The updated resource estimate incorporating these results will be completed in late Q3 2020.Ongoing ExplorationMusgrave 100% tenements- Follow-up RC drilling on the Starlight lode at Break of Day is continuing with drilling now 75% complete. Further assays are expected in two-three weeks.- Additional drilling on the newly discovered White Light lode at Break of Day will commence next week.- The diamond drilling program at Starlight to test depth extensions to the mineralisation is progressing well with first assays expected in three-four weeks.- A resource update for Break of Day including Starlight and White Light is planned for late Q3, 2020. Evolution JV- Evolution has approved the FY20-21 budget and the Phase 2 follow-up aircore drilling of high-priority gold targets is scheduled to commence in late July 2020.THE CUE PROJECTThe Cue Project ("the Project") is located in the Murchison district of Western Australia (Figure 6*) and hosts Mineral Resources (Indicated and Inferred) totalling 6.45Mt @ 3.0g/t gold for 613,000oz contained gold. The Company has defined a +28km-long prospective gold corridor that includes the Break of Day-Starlight, Lake Austin North and Mainland-Consols gold discoveries.The Company believes there is significant potential to extend existing mineralisation and discover new gold deposits within the Project area, as demonstrated by the recent drilling success at Break of Day, Lena and Lake Austin North. Musgrave's intent is to investigate options to best develop a low-cost operation, capable of delivering strong financial returns for its shareholders.Musgrave has executed an $18 million Earn-in and Exploration Joint Venture with Evolution Mining Ltd ( ASX:EVN ) over the Lake Austin portion of the Cue Project (Figure 6*). The Break of Day, Lena and Mainland areas are excluded from the Earn-in and Exploration Joint Venture with Evolution Mining Ltd.Cyprium Australia Pty Ltd ( ASX:CYM ) has met the expenditure requirement to earn their 80% interest in the non-gold rights over the northern tenure at Cue including the Hollandaire deposit (Figure 6). Musgrave will retain 100% of the gold rights and a 20% free-carried interest in the non-gold rights to the completion of a definitive feasibility study.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Musgrave Minerals Ltd Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV) is an active Australian gold and base metals explorer. The Cue Project in the Murchison region of Western Australia is an advanced gold and copper project. Musgrave has had significant exploration success at Cue with the ongoing focus on increasing the gold and copper resources through discovery and extensional drilling to underpin studies that will demonstrate a viable path to development in the near term. Musgrave also holds a large exploration tenement package in the Ni-Cu-Co prospective Musgrave Province in South Australia. Councilwoman Sarah Lacey, D-Jessup, said shes excited to see the project slated for her district. When she was first knocking on doors in the community during her campaign, it struck her as a community that was built to keep people apart and away from each other, with no place even suitable for an indoor public meeting. Sydney, July 6, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - AUDIO: Nova Minerals Ltd (( ASX:NVA ) ( FRA:QM3 ) ( OTCMKTS:NVAAF ) ABN Newswire talks with Chris Gerteisen, the Managing Director about the recent developments at the Estelle Gold project in Alaska.Recent results and an ongoing drilling program will see a new resource definition in the short term. Operations are now full year, and continuous work on the project will be ongoing due to improved access and a fully functional base camp.To listen to the podcast, please visit:About Nova Minerals Ltd Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) is a dynamic explorer and developer of its flagship Estelle Gold district in the Tintina gold belt. Nova's strategy is to substantially increase the current 4.7Moz resource on the Korbel prospect. Subsequently to continue to lock in value through moving Korbel towards production whilst increasing the resource base across the pipeline of targets within the Estelle gold district. Nova Minerals also holds strategic investments in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (Thompson Brothers Lithium Project), Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) and RotorX Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Visit Baltimore, the nonprofit organization that promotes the city to tourists and business travelers, also received a loan of between $1 million and $2 million. The group, funded by hotel taxes and state dollars, has been hard hit by the pandemic, as hotel stays in the city have plummeted. Baltimore budget officials said in May they expected $5.2 million less in revenue for the organization in fiscal year 2021, which began Wednesday. Instagram Celebrity His wife Amanda Kloots broke the devastating news on her Instagram account on Sunday, July 5, writing that her 'darling husband passed away this morning.' Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - Broadway star Nick Cordero has passed away at 41 following a months-long battle with complications caused by Coronavirus. His wife Amanda Kloots broke the devastating news on her Instagram account on Sunday, July 5. "God has another angel in heaven now. My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth," the fitness guru wrote alongside a picture of the "Rock of Ages" star. Amanda went on to say that she's "in disbelief and hurting everywhere. My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him. Nick was such a bright light." Reminiscing of her late husband, she added, "He was everyone's friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband. Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, everyday." She also thanked Nick's "extraordinary doctor" Dr. David Ng, writing, "you were my positive doctor! There are not many doctors like you. Kind, smart, compassionate, assertive and always eager to listen to my crazy ideas or call yet another doctor for me for a second opinion. You're a diamond in the rough." Before concluding her message, Amanda thanked everyone "for the outpour of love , support and help we've received these last 95 days. You have no idea how much you lifted my spirits at 3pm everyday as the world sang Nicks song, Live Your Life." She also shared, "We sang it to him today, holding his hands. As I sang the last line to him, 'they'll give you hell but don't you light them kill your light not without a fight. Live your life,' I smiled because he definitely put up a fight. I will love you forever and always my sweet man." Nick was admitted to the intensive care unit in late March. Since he first tested negative for COVID-29, doctors were unable to confirm whether or not his "pneumonia-like symptoms" were caused by the coronavirus at the time. However, days later a second test revealed he had indeed contracted with the novel virus. His condition was getting worse to the point Nick were forced to amputate his right leg as the coronavirus was causing issues with blood flow to his lower extremities. He then tested negative in late April, but it was hard for him to have full recovery due to the long-term effects of the virus. He gave a slight hope on May 12 when Nick officially regained consciousness. But that didn't stay for long as Amanda revealed a week later that Nick's recovery went "a little downhill." Asking for prayers, she wrote at the time, "So I am asking again for all the prayers right now. Please sing, please cheer, and please pray for Nick today. I know that this virus is not going to get him down. This is not how his story ends." WENN/Instar Celebrity 'Many health professionals are concerned that young people struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery,' the author says on Twitter. Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - Despite being shunned by a lot of people, including the "Harry Potter" cast, over her anti-trans views, J.K. Rowling still stands by her opinion and has successfully robbed a lot of people the wrong way again with her latest tweets. On Sunday, July 5, the British author compared transitional hormone treatment and surgery as "a new kind of conversion therapy." It all started after Rowling noticed that someone was calling her out for liking a tweet that compared hormone prescriptions to antidepressants. Hitting back at the user, she began her long thread by saying, "I've ignored fake tweets attributed to me and RTed widely. I've ignored porn tweeted at children on a thread about their art. I've ignored death and rape threats. I'm not going to ignore this." Pointing that her views surrounding mental health medication are being misinterpreted, Rowling said, "Many health professionals are concerned that young people struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery when this may not be in their best interests." She then added how she and many other people believe "we are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people, who are being set on a lifelong path of medicalisation that may result in the loss of their fertility and/or full sexual function." Not stopping there, she said, "The long-term health risks of cross-sex hormones have been now been tracked over a lengthy period. These side-effects are often minimised or denied by trans activists." Many people naturally attacked her over her tweets, with some of them labelling her dangerous to the LGBT people. "Didn't take her long Mark my words. J.K. Rowling is dangerous and poses threat to the LGBT people. Trans healthcare is not conversion therapy. This is INSANE," one wrote. "Conversion therapy is a heinous, abusive practice perpetrated on children that can lead to lifelong trauma, if not worse," another said. "Trans kids having access to health care under the supervision of an affirming provider is...not." "This thread is so devastatingly misinformed and utterly wrong. Its offensive, damaging, and reads like a conspiracy theory," someone else commented, while transgender actor Scott Turner Schofield slammed her, "JoKaren Rowling is weaponizing victimization, spreading scientifically debunked theories, making anti-trans hate speech sound reasonable, and participating in a coordinated political campaign against a marginalized and powerless minority." Instagram Celebrity While the 'Shawty' rapper escaped injuries, four people died, including an 8-year-old girl, in multiple shootings that happened overnight Saturday into Sunday evening. Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - Rapper Plies barely dodged the bullets during a shooting in Atlanta on early Sunday morning, July 5. His car was reportedly hit with bullets when gunfire broke out on Edgewood Avenue in Southeast Atlanta. Luckily, the Florida-born star, whose real name is Algernod Lanier Washington, was not hit and escaped injuries. However, his car was not that lucky. In a picture which has circulated online, the red vehicle was badly damaged with bullet holes in it. According to local news outlets, the shooting broke out on the 400 block of Edgewood Avenue after two men fought over a girl. Police said the investigation showed the shooting victim had confronted another man who was talking to his girlfriend. Several people tried to pull the gun from the shooter and it went off hitting the victim in the arm. The victim was taken to Grady Hospital but he's reportedly in stable condition. The incident was only one of several shootings that happened during violent Fourth of July weekend in Atlanta. On Saturday evening, July 4, an 8-year-old girl was killed after someone opened fire into a car off University Avenue. It happened near the same location as the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta Police in June. A short time later at around 11:30 P.M., shots rang out on the 1500 block of Hardee Street in Northeast Atlanta. When officers arrived, they found a man and woman had both been shot, but neither refused to cooperate with the authorities. The cops believe the shooting appeared to be caused when the victims confronted a group of people shooting fireworks outside their home. At some point, shots were fired and hit both victims. Both were taken to Grady Hospital. Around 15 minutes later, police responded to a report of shooting on the 1600 block of Lakewood Avenue in Southeast Atlanta. Based on preliminary investigation, someone drove by and fired multiple times at a group of people who were standing around on the street. Five people were injured and taken to local hospitals due to the incident. Another shooting incident took place around 01:00 A.M. on the 200 block of Auburn Avenue. It happened after a car hit a person and a fight broke out. 14 people were shot during the scuffle, with two of having been pronounced dead. The other 12 were said to be in stable condition. Another person was shot in the leg near the intersection of Etheridge Drive and 7th Street in Northeast Atlanta. The victim was taken to Atlanta Medical Center South, but refused to talk to police about the incident. Instagram Celebrity The 'Wild 'n Out' star's 'favorite' cousin is apparently one of the two people who were killed during a shooting on Auburn Avenue on Fourth of July weekend. Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - D.C. Young Fly is mourning the death of his cousin, who was killed in a shooting in Atlanta on Fourth of July weekend. Sharing the sad news on his Instagram account on Sunday, July 5, the rapper/actor posted a picture of his late cousin. The 28-year-old star, who is also an Atlanta native, didn't reveal his cousin's name, but called him his "favorite" cousin in the caption. "Rip to my favorite Cuzin wtfffff," he wrote, along with a crying emoji. Young Fly went on expressing his feeling in another post on Sunday. He wrote over a plain black background, "My cousin was killed on auburn ave last nite." He added in the caption, "S**t krazyyy Atlanta yal kno yal wild for dis one." The comment sections of both posts were quickly flooded with messages of condolences from his friends and followers. "Sorry for your loss bro," one wrote. Another sent a message of support, "Keep your head up bro bro." "My condolences to you and your family .. sorry for your loss," wrote a third user. Meanwhile, a fan remembered Young Fly's cousin for being featured in his videos, "Aww dc I'm so sorry for your loss.. dam, I remember seeing your cousin in some of your videos." Young Fly's cousin was apparently one of the two victims who were killed during a shooting on Sunday around 1 A.M. off Auburn Avenue in northeast Atlanta. According to reports, it happened after a car hit a person and a fight broke out. 12 others were injured in the incident, but they were said to be in stable condition. It was only one of several shootings that happened during violent Fourth of July weekend in Atlanta. An 8-year-old girl was killed after someone opened fire into a car off University Avenue on Saturday night. A short time later at around 11:30 P.M., shots rang out on the 1500 block of Hardee Street in Northeast Atlanta. A man and woman were injured in the incident, but neither refused to cooperate with the authorities. A shooting also broke out on Edgewood Avenue in Southeast Atlanta after two men argued over a woman. According to police's investigation, the shooting victim had confronted another man who was talking to his girlfriend. Several people tried to pull the gun from the shooter and it went off hitting the victim in the arm. The victim was taken to Grady Hospital but he's reportedly in stable condition. The incident also caused damage to rapper Plies' car, which took some of the bullets. Luckily, the Florida-born star, whose real name is Algernod Lanier Washington, was not hit and escaped injuries. Another shooting occurred on the 1600 block of Lakewood Avenue in Southeast Atlanta when someone drove by and fired multiple times at a group of people who were standing around on the street. Five people were injured and taken to local hospitals due to the incident. Instagram Celebrity The former 'Anger Management' actor, who had been diagnosed with the HIV virus in 2015, has also been entirely sober for more than two years after years of battle with drug and alcohol addictions. Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - Charlie Sheen has marked one year without smoking in a celebratory Fourth of July post. The 54-year-old "Anger Management" actor took to Twitter on Saturday, July 4, which was also America's Independence Day, to reveal that he hasn't smoked cigarettes for 12 months. "Dear @my lungs, it was one year ago TODAY, that i quit smoking," he penned, jokingly adding, "hashtag - YOU'RE WELCOME (sic)!". "If i could go back in time and have NEVER STARTED, i would absolutely do so !" the "Two and a Half Men" star continued. "If you are on the fence about quitting, trust me; the sooner the better ! happy 4th !". Charlie Sheen marks Fourth of July as first anniversary after he quit smoking. Charlie Sheen marks The star has struggled for several years with drug and alcohol addictions that wrecked his acting career, but has now been entirely sober for more than two years. He previously confessed he had been diagnosed with the HIV virus in 2015, and pledged to turn his life around - which has seen a shift in focus for the dad-of-five. He told People last year: "I really focus on my health, my family and work will come next. I'm excited to be excited again." TLC Celebrity In an episode of '90 Day Fiance: B90 Strikes Back!', the Phillipines native shades her ex-partner, 'He smelled sour and maybe it's because of mayo in his hair.' Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - "90 Day Fiance" viral couple, Rosemarie Vega and Big Ed, might have broken things up, but it doesn't mean Rose has run out of things to say about her former partner. In a recent episode of "90 Day Fiance: B90 Strikes Back!", the Philippines native recalled their first meeting in her native country, and her first impression on him was far from the word good. During the episode, Rose was reading a fan's post that mocked Ed for not freshening himself up in the airport while waiting for his then-partner to pick him up. In response to this, the single mom said, "Ed did not fresh up when we met. He smelled sour and maybe it's because of mayo in his hair." For your reminder, Ed once confessed to putting mayo on his hair to look young. Meanwhile, Ed claimed that he was simply trying to be out in the open because the two never discussed where they were going to meet up. Explaining her side of the story, Rose admitted to feeling hungry so she decided to stop by McDonald's to grab some bite. She didn't seem to be sorry at all for making Ed wait for her as she grinned while saying that. Elsewhere in the episode, Ed also used this chance to shade Rose when the latter mentioned how important it was for Ed to give her two children. "We never talked about two kids. We had talked about you wanting a daughter one time, and you never brought it up again," he said. "You never brought it up again. And then you threw this on my face. So I'm going to call bulls**t." Rose and Ed appeared on "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days". The two called it quits after arguing about their contrasting views on having children. News Around the Republic of Mexico Mexico Covid-19 Risk Traffic Light Map for July 6-12 The latest Covid-19 Risk Traffic Light Map shows seven states that were orange (high risk) last week, returning to the red (maximum risk) category this week, due to an increase in coronavirus infections. The federal government considers four factors when determining the risk level and corresponding Traffic Light color for each state: case number trends (whether new infections are increasing, decreasing or stable), the number of people requiring hospitalizations, the percentage of hospital occupation, and the number of new positive cases resulting from the tests carried out in each of the states. After a private meeting between governors and officials from the Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB) and other officials, Hugo LApez Gatell, Undersecretary for Health Promotion and Prevention, predicted that 17 states will be in the red (maximum risk) category, and 14 will be orange (high risk) within the week of July 6-12, detailing the trends from June 1st, the date the sanitary traffic light was implemented for the reactivation of activities. The 7 states that, after having been in orange, have now returned to red are: Campeche, Chiapas, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatan. Another 10 states in the red zone are not expected to change: Baja California, Colima, Estado de MAxico, Nayarit, Nuevo LeAn, Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco and Tlaxcala. Four states have improved, moving from the red to the orange level: Guerrero, Hidalgo, Morelos and Oaxaca. The following 10 states are expected to remain in the orange category: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco, MichoacAn, QuerAtaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis PotosA and Zacatecas. Sources: Gobierno de Mexico a Yucatan Times a infobae As Mexico begins its second month of the 'new normality,' the number of coronavirus cases in the interior of the republic continue to grow. The latest Covid-19 Risk Traffic Light Map shows seven states that were orange last week returning to red this week due to an increase in infections.The federal government considers four factors when determining the risk level and corresponding Traffic Light color for each state: case number trends (whether new infections are increasing, decreasing or stable), the number of people requiring hospitalizations, the percentage of hospital occupation, and the number of new positive cases resulting from the tests carried out in each of the states.After a private meeting between governors and officials from the Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB) and other officials, Hugo LApez Gatell, Undersecretary for Health Promotion and Prevention, predicted that 17 states will be in the red (maximum risk) category, and 14 will be orange (high risk) within the week of July 6-12, detailing the trends from June 1st, the date the sanitary traffic light was implemented for the reactivation of activities.The 7 states that, after having been in orange, have now returned to red are: Campeche, Chiapas, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatan.Another 10 states in the red zone are not expected to change: Baja California, Colima, Estado de MAxico, Nayarit, Nuevo LeAn, Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco and Tlaxcala.Four states have improved, moving from the red to the orange level: Guerrero, Hidalgo, Morelos and Oaxaca.The following 10 states are expected to remain in the orange category: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco, MichoacAn, QuerAtaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis PotosA and Zacatecas. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top Music Fellow MC Lil Durk, in the meantime, takes a huge leap to the runner-up position from number 56 with his 'Just Cause Y'all Waited 2' album, whereas DaBaby's 'Blame It on Baby' settles for third. Jul 6, 2020 AceShowbiz - Rapper Lil Baby has made it five weeks atop the U.S. albums chart. "My Turn" shifts 70,000 equivalent units to hold on to the Billboard 200 title for a fourth consecutive week, having previously debuted at number one in March. It becomes the only album of 2020 so far to boast five weeks in first place, the most since Post Malone racked up five weeks with "Hollywood's Bleeding" in November. Meanwhile, fellow MC Lil Durk charges up to number two from 56 with "Just Cause Y'all Waited 2", followed by DaBaby's "Blame It on Baby" at three, and Malone's "Hollywood's Bleeding" at four. The Weeknd rounds out the new top five with "After Hours". Top Ten Billboard 200: UPDATE: 11:55 a.m. Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - The CHP shared Wednesday that a person of interest has been identified in a hit-and-run crash that left one Chico man in critical condition. CHP Willows officials said the name of the person will not be released until the investigation is complete. "We would like to thank the Glenn County community for their assistance and involvement in locating the vehicle and driver," CHP Willows said in a news release. This is a breaking news update. --- WILLOWS, Calif. The CHP is seeking information after a Chico man was hit by a car early Sunday morning and is now in critical condition. The crash happened around 2:50 a.m. Sunday. The CHP said an unidentified person was driving their vehicle northbound on Highway 99W, just south of County Road 48. The CHP said the car was directly behind Benjamin Maisonet, 24, of Chico. Maisonet was walking on the side of the northbound lane when the driver crashed into him, according to the CHP. Once officers arrived on the scene, Maisonet was found in the middle of the northbound lane. The driver left the scene before emergency personnel arrived. At this time, CHP said the driver and vehicle have not been located. Officers do not have a description of the driver or vehicle. Maisonet is currently in critical condition, Click Here to view a GoFundMe that has been set up for his recovery. The CHP Willows Office is asking that anyone with information call their office. Editor Note: This article previously stated the crash happened at 2:50 p.m., however, the time has since been updated in this article and occurred at 2:50 a.m., according to the CHP. SACRAMENTO, Calif. A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Chico man to 14 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and distribution of meth to a person under 21, according to the U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott. According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial, in July and August 2017, 25-year-old Christopher Ramonaguilar Lawrence, of Chico, recruited a then 17-year-old girl to engage in prostitution for his financial benefit. He used social media to communicate with the victim, and on two occasions, he lured the victim to Chico motel rooms where he gave the victim meth, explained the methods of his prostitution business, including how to detect and evade law enforcement, and continued to recruit the victim to work for him as a prostitute, U.S. Attorney Scott said in a news release issued Monday. After a seven-day trial, a federal jury found Lawrence guilty on Aug. 29, 2019, Scott said. RELATED: Chico man charged with sex trafficking a minor This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Chico Police Department, and the Butte County Sheriffs Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian A. Fogerty and Quinn Hochhalter prosecuted the case. Sex trafficking can occur in any community, and it is an exploitive, abusive crime that treats human beings as mere commodities to be bought and sold, said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. Our agents work closely with our local, state, and federal partners to identify individuals who are trafficking minors and adults for financial gain to disrupt this activity in the communities we serve. Today, as a result of our partnership with the Chico Police Department and Butte County Sheriffs Office, an exploiter who entrapped his victim in a cycle of abuse and addiction will pay the penalty for his crimes, and those he exploited can take another step towards healing. Spokeswoman for Scott, Lauren Horwood, said the case materialized as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, Click Here. Click on the resources tab for information about internet safety education. REDDING, Calif. Over a dozen people gathered in Shasta County demanding the sheriff step down. Protestors showed up to Park Marina Drive Sunday evening, near the Shasta County sheriffs office. On one side, demonstrators calling for an investigation into Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini, centered around what many feel are questionable social media posts in the wake of George Floyds death. Opposing demonstrators held signs and American flags in support of the sheriff. At times, the interaction became tense but for the most part, the rally stayed peaceful. Demonstrators gather in Shasta County demanding the sheriff step down Over a dozen people gathered in Shasta County demanding that the Sheriff step down. On one side, demonstrators called for an investigation into Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini, centered on what many feel are questionable social media posts in the wake of George Floyds death. Opposing demonstrators held signs and American flags in support of Sheriff Magrini. Dutch Bros. Chico employee tests positive for coronavirus One local coffee shop will be open this morning after one employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee works at the Chico Dutch Bros on Humboldt Ave. The individual worked June 28 and 29 for the evening shift. Dutch Bros management says they closed the location Friday and conducted a deep cleaning. Health officials await coronavirus results from 4th of July weekend Experts are concerned over how a holiday weekend of partying could add to a record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases. More than 30 states now seeing cases rise -- with Florida and Texas reporting their biggest daily increases over the weekend. Justices rule states can bind presidential electors' votes The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that states can require presidential electors to back their states popular vote winner in the Electoral College. Monday's ruling, just under four months before the 2020 election, leaves in place laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia that bind electors to vote for the popular-vote winner. So-called faithless electors have not been critical to the outcome of a presidential election, but that could change in a race decided by just a few electoral votes. Pfc. Vanessa Guillen bludgeoned to death on Army base, family attorney says Investigators have confirmed the identity of the remains of missing fort hood soldier Vanessa Guillen. Just as a suspect in her disappearance is set to be in court, an attorney for the Guillen family said the army has confirmed that bones, hair and other remains found near the fort belonged to Vanessa Guillen. Guillen was last seen April 22 at Fort Hood. Three of the four officers charged in George Floyd's death are now out on bond A third former Minneapolis Police Officer charged in the death of George Floyd has posted bail and is out of jail. Jail records show Tou Thao, 34, posted a $750,000 bond Saturday. Thao is expected in court September 10 on charges of aiding and abetting second- degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Pimples are undoubtedly the most common skin ailment. However, when it comes to solving it, everyone seems to give different advice. This can be confusing, especially for young girls who often suffer from pimple problems. Pimple-free, healthy skin ka expert is the latest campaign for Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash, that clears this confusion. This 360 campaign has been conceived by 82.5 Communications, Bengaluru. The main film is the story of a teenager looking for an effective solution for her first pimple. She quickly finds out that advice is aplenty and rather confusing. Her elder sister makes her understand that advice doesnt mean anything unless it comes from Himalaya, the expert pimple eliminator. This campaign is supported through TVC, Print and Outdoor media, as well as a series of quirky short films released on the digital medium. Mr. Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Business Director-Consumer Products Division, The Himalaya Drug Company, said, Himalaya has been a pioneer in offering safe, effective and trusted skin care solutions for decades. Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash is one of our flagship skin care products that has gained the trust of many consumers to discover pimple-free healthy skin. In this campaign we have introduced certain visual gestures for healthy skin that every teenager would aspire for. Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 Communications, said, "When you have a great product and a successful continuing campaign, the pressure on the agency is to live up to them. I think we have succeeded in bringing new relevance to the communication, which will aid young girls in clearing their confusion -- and their skin." With unmatched experience and credibility, Himalaya is an established leader in the face care category. And Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash has successfully solved pimple problems for crores of girls. Backed by expertise and so many satisfied customers, this campaign assures consumers that Himalaya can solve pimple problems most effectively. Naveen Raman, Sr. Vice President & Branch Head, Bengaluru, 82.5 Communications, delved into the strategy behind the campaign saying, Being the market leader in a category comes with a set of responsibilities. This strategy was thought through, keeping in mind the current scenario and looking at the consumer's expectation from an anti-pimple face wash. Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash has always been the go-to brand for taking care of pimples. The need of the hour was to underline the delivery of 'Healthy Skin' with emphasis on the expertise of Himalaya and the science that goes into its products. delved into the strategy behind the campaign saying, Being the market leader in a category comes with a set of responsibilities. This strategy was thought through, keeping in mind the current scenario and looking at the consumer's expectation from an anti-pimple face wash. Himalaya Purifying Neem Face Wash has always been the go-to brand for taking care of pimples. The need of the hour was to underline the delivery of 'Healthy Skin' with emphasis on the expertise of Himalaya and the science that goes into its products. Ravikumar Cherussola, Group Creative Director, Bengaluru, 82.5 Communications, spoke about the creative aspect saying, No doubt, Himalaya is the expert on pimple-free, healthy skin. The creative challenge was to bring that out in an immersive and relatable story. Now we all agree that the internet is filled with advice, often with little credibility. The question is, online or offline, why take advice from people when you have a brand that has consistently solved pimple problems for crores of girls? Keeping that as the core thought, we came up with a cute story of two sisters. We have also created five short films where the little sister takes on the role of these so called advice givers. Abhinav Chugh, Category Manager Face Wash, Consumer Products Division - Marketing, The Himalaya Drug Company, said, Himalaya is the most preferred brand in the Face Wash category. In current circumstances, we see hygiene, health, protection and trust increasingly gaining importance. Consumers are seeking security and credibility with scientific proof while looking for solutions to their personal care problems. As the leader in face wash, in this campaign we want to bring to life that their favorite face wash not only cures pimples, but also works hard to prevent them from reoccurring. Keerthika Damodharan, Brand Manager Face Wash, Consumer Products Division - Marketing, The Himalaya Drug Company, said, In the current scenario, where consumers are exposed to multiple advice, tips and hacks to tackle their pimple problems, they get confused. They look forward to more trusted and proven solution. This communication assures consumers of Himalaya Purifying Neem Face wash as the expert solution to their pimple problem that comes from the trusted house of Himalaya. Another challenge was to shoot a full-blown, beauty-category film while following the guidelines of the ongoing lockdown. Mr. V. K. Prakash from Trends Adfilms did an amazing job of managing everything. CINTAA's Senior Vice President, actor Manoj Joshi met with the Honorable Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari today. They discussed the issue of senior actors, above the age of 65, not being allowed to shoot. The Honorable Governor assured of necessary co-operation. The meeting was a dual purpose meeting, reveals Manoj Joshi. The Honourable Governor who has witnessed the freedom struggle wrote an essay on Mahatma Gandhi, participating in the competition organised by the Postal Department as a common man. When he won the competition, he added three times the amount to the prize money and gifted the same to the post office employees for protection against COVID19. "I had been to his place to congratulate him on this amazing gesture as well as honour him with a shawl along with State BJP Secretary and Vice-Chairman, of Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd (MFSCDCL) Amarjeet Mishra who presented The Hon Governor with an idol of Vithoba and Rukmini." Manoj Joshi then briefed the Hon Governor on CINTAA, its history, its members, on the senior citizens who are members of CINTAA on whom their family depends for livelihood, and that they already have had no work from three months. He elaborated that the number of working seniors was not very large, but apart from that, there are continuity issues and producers can not replace them. "The Hon Governor gave us a patient ear. It was a good 40 minute meeting. He was very positive and assured that he would help us in the best way possible. He had received the letter from CINTAA that we had sent him," elaborates Joshi. Havas Media Group today announced the launch of a social equity private marketplace, made up of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and LGTBQ+-owned media businesses so clients can positively invest funds in underrepresented businesses. This first-of-its-kind platform is the agencys latest commitment to exploring Meaningful Media and recognizing the need for equitable treatment of businesses that are traditionally underrepresented in the marketing industry. In a time where consumer and client sentiment is focused on social action in many forms, we felt it was important to launch a product that allows clients to take positive actions with their media spend as desired, just like a bank can create or manage socially responsible funds. Our role is to advise clients of the opportunity to support these businesses in a system that previously did not make it easy for brands to support minority-owned companies, said Havas Media Group Global CEO Peter Mears. Today, its just as important where a brand shows up as what they have to say. Mears said the new global offering stems from Havas Media Groups core strategy to make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses, and people, and its mission to understand the most Meaningful Mediathe media channels, moments, and brands that really move consumers to action. Media that is trusted, engaging, and influential has the best chance of helping brands reach an engaged audience. As an agency that is built on delivering the best possible Media Experience and has invested in and investigated what we call Meaningful Media, we do not believe that all impressions are created equal, Mears said. We also see that it is our duty to provide clients with alternative routes to reaching and engaging consumers if media spend is divested from one platform or partner into another. This is just one step we are taking within our own business. We have more work to do as an agency and industry when it comes to diversity and equity. As an industry partner, we would encourage media businesses to be meaningful in every sensefrom the brand safety they provide as media partners, through to their corporate behaviors as organizations, said Andrew Goode, EVP and Head of Biddable Media at Havas Media North America. We could not be more excited to launch this program first in the US before expanding to our global clients. The rollout will begin in the US and Michelin and Moen will be among the first brands to benefit from the marketplace. A rollout to international markets is planned for later this year. Were very pleased to have the opportunity to support Black, Indigenous, POC, and LGBTQ+ businesses and media partners through this marketplace and commend Havas Media for establishing this platform. This initiative will be important across our North American business, said Edna Johnson, Michelin North America, VP Communication and Brands. Kulmeet Bawa quits Resulticks as president & COO JAPAC. He spent over a year at Resulticks. His next move is yet to be disclosed Prior to Resulticks, Bawa was VP and Managing Director, South Asia at Adobe. He was also the director Government and healthcare at Microsoft India. Bawa is a graduate from the Indian School of Business and an alumni of the National Defence Academy. He joined the private sectors after serving the Indian Army's armoured corps for 12 year's. The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the Indian businesses and more so for the SMEs and Start-ups. With uncertainty in the business environment and an unexpected shift in the priorities of the government as well as the corporates, many start-ups are struggling to keep the operations going. As per a nationwide survey on the Impact of COVID-19 on Indian Start-ups conducted by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), jointly with the Indian Angel Network (IAN) with 250 start-ups, 70% of start-ups stated that their businesses have impacted by Covid-19. 12% of the start-ups have shut operations and 60% are operating with disruptions. The survey depicts that only 22% of the start-ups have cash reserves to meet the fixed cost expenses of their companies over the next 3-6 months. The findings show that 68% of the start-ups are majorly cutting down their operational and administrative expenses. Close to 30% of the companies stated that they will lay off employees if the lockdown was extended too long. 43% of the start-ups have already started salary cuts in the range of 20-40% over the period of April-June 2020. On the investment front, 33% start-ups said that the investors have put the investment decision on hold and 10% stated that the deals have been called off. Only 8% start-ups received the funds as per the deals signed pre-COVID. The reduced funding has led start-ups to put a hold on their business development, manufacturing activities and has resulted in loss of projected orders. The survey highlights the need of an urgent relief package for start-ups including possible purchase orders from the government, tax relief and swifter tax refunds. Further immediate fiscal support measures including grants, soft loans and payroll grants need to be provided. Besides 250 start-ups, 61 incubators and investors also participated in the survey. 96% of the investors stated that the investment in start-ups have been impacted by COVID-19. 92% of the investors maintained that the start-up investments will continue to be low over the next six months. 59% of the investors said they would prefer to work with their existing portfolio companies in the coming months and only 41% stated that they would consider new deals. A comparison of priority investment sectors pre and during COVID-19 shows that 35% of the investors are now looking at investments in healthcare start-ups followed by EdTech, AI/Deep Tech, FinTech and Agri. 44% of the incubators surveyed highlighted that their day-to-day operations have been considerably impacted by the COVID-19. Most of the incubators are now supporting their portfolio companies by providing them virtual platforms to interact with mentors, investors, and industries. Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI said, The start-up sector is stressed for survival at the moment. The investment sentiment is also subdued and is expected to remain so in the coming months. Lack of working capital and cash flows may lead to major layoffs over the next 3-6 months by start-ups. The survey indicates that the Indian start-ups need an enabling ecosystem and flow of funds to continue operations. Mr Ajai Chowdhry, Chair, FICCI Start-up Committee and Founder, HCL said, The start-up sector should be viewed as a propellent for the countrys growth and a contributor to Indias vision of being Atmanirbhar. Start-ups have a huge potential to innovate. However, in the current times, the start-up companies are reeling under huge pressure owing to lack of working capital. We need to act now to save a huge number of innovations created in the last few years. And government and industry need to reach out to support them through funding and business opportunities. Ms Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network & Co-Chair FICCI Start-up Committee said, In these uncertain times, as investors, we must play an important role to provide the Indian startups funding, mentoring and handholding support to stay afloat and come out at the other end of this crisis. To that end, IAN recently announced a Debt Fund to help IAN portfolio companies raise working capital and ensure business continuity, by partnering with Debt providers. This must be replicated on a wider scale, so a larger number of start-ups are provided the capital support to make it during these tough times. Mr Ganesh Raju, Co-Chair, FICCI Start-up Committee and Founder, TurboStart said, The survey results clearly indicate that the startups are struggling in this unprecedented time in our history. To navigate the evolving situation, startups must focus on cash preservation so sufficient capital is available to ride out the crisis. While some have been able to secure new funding, others might want to consider alternative sources of funding. We have also seen a number of startups, re-think their businesses and evolve as per the current situation. Startups must use their strengths in innovation to re-strategize and re-think their business. Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland Bern, 06.07.2020 - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an indictment in the Federal Criminal Court against a Swiss-Tunisian dual national and a Swiss national resident in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The suspects are alleged to have attempted to travel to territory held by the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) in the conflict zone between Syria and Iraq in order to join IS. The Swiss-Tunisian dual national is also accused of recruiting two members for IS, including his Swiss co-accused. The suspects have been indicted for violating the Federal Act on the Proscription of the Groups Al-Qaeda and Islamic State and Associated Organisations (SR 122). The OAG opened the criminal proceedings in February 2016. Both suspects were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention in 2016 at Zurich Airport on their return from Turkey to Switzerland, the Swiss national in June 2016 and the Swiss-Tunisian dual national in August 2016. Both were later released from pre-trial detention subject to alternative measures (Art. 237 Criminal Procedure Code). Attempt to travel to the conflict zone between Syria and Iraq in order to join IS According to the indictment, the Swiss-Tunisian dual national travelled from Switzerland to Turkey in October 2015 and the Swiss national in December 2015 with the aim of heading on to Syria and joining IS in the conflict zone between Syria and Iraq. Before their departure, the two suspects identified with the ideology of IS and were in contact with other persons radicalised with the IS doctrine. Both suspects were part of a group of several persons that underwent training in Switzerland and France in order to prepare physically for joining IS in the conflict zone between Syria and Iraq. In Turkey the suspects made use of the IS network to obtain logistical support and advice. This included being able to stay in an IS safe house in Turkey, being introduced to a person who could smuggle them over the border, and being given false papers. In addition, the Swiss-Tunisian national received permission from IS intermediaries for both suspects to head into IS-held territory. Both suspects are also charged with supporting IS financially during their stay in Turkey. The suspects were eventually stopped by the Turkish authorities from travelling on to Syria and later expelled to Switzerland, where they were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on their return Two persons recruited for IS by the Swiss-Tunisian dual national The Swiss-Tunisian dual national is also accused of indoctrinating his Swiss co-accused with the ideology of IS and of supporting his co-accused logistically with integrating into IS. According to the indictment, he introduced his co-accused to a group of individuals radicalised in the IS doctrine and integrated him into this group. He also brought his co-accused into the group that provided training to prepare persons physically for joining IS. Furthermore, he supported his co-accused in relation to his journey from Switzerland to Turkey, by giving him advice and introducing him to a person in Turkey who provided accommodation for IS recruits waiting to cross the border with Syria and enter IS-held territory. The Swiss-Tunisian dual national is further accused of indoctrinating a second person with the ideology of IS and supporting this person logistically with integrating into IS. This second person is a Tunisian-French dual national who is also the subject of OAG criminal proceedings. According to the indictment, the Swiss-Tunisian dual national introduced him to a person convicted in Belgium of being an IS member, who obtained false identity documents for the Tunisian-French dual national to enable him to travel to join IS. The OAGs criminal proceedings against the Tunisian-French national are currently suspended, as this suspect was expelled to France at the end of 2017 by fedpol in consultation with the OAG. Any questions with regard to this expulsion should be addressed to fedpol, which is responsible for the matter. The indictment now being filed is in line with the policy of prosecuting anyone in Switzerland who tries to participate in Jihadist-motivated terrorism or supports such terrorism by spreading propaganda. Currently the OAG is conducting around 70 criminal proceedings related to Jihadist-motivated terrorism. These cases mainly involve allegations of spreading propaganda, recruiting persons for terrorist organisations or funding terrorist organisations, and investigations into Jihadist-motivated travellers, including those who have returned to Switzerland. As is customary, the OAG will announce the penalties that it is proposing at the main hearing before the Federal Criminal Court. With the filing of the indictment, the Federal Criminal Court becomes responsible for procedural matters and for dealing with enquiries from the media. The presumption of innocence applies until a legally binding judgment has been issued. Address for enquiries Communication Service of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, T +41 58 464 32 40, info@ba.admin.ch Publisher Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland http://www.ba.admin.ch/ Public Health and the media have long considered anyone who questions vaccine safety to be an "anti-vaxxer." As the world has been turned inside out because of COVID-19, people who likely never questioned pediatric vaccines are beginning to wonder how a rushed COVID vaccine can be safe and effective. People in droves are asking hard questions about a rushed vaccine that has been touted as the one and only path to a "new COVID normal." We're going to need a much bigger tent for the anti-vaxxer holiday party.... ### 'Anti-vaxx' influence means up to half may not take coronavirus vaccine New polls in the US, Germany and the Czech Republic - among others - found that 50 per cent were sceptical New polls in the US, Germany and the Czech Republic - among others - found that 50 per cent were sceptical. Up to half of the populations in countries including the United States, Germany and the Czech Republic say they may not get any new coronavirus vaccine that is developed. A vaccine against the deadly virus that has swept the globe over the last six months is seen as possibly the only way for the world to return to normal after the pandemic, and scientists in hundreds of different countries are working as fast as they can to try to produce one. However, experts have estimated that at least 70 per cent of people will have to get the vaccine in order for it to stop coronavirus, a figure that appears to be some way off based on the latest numbers. Professor Heidi Larson, anthropologist and director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "It's going to be a challenge, particularly because in general, populations are more anxious about new vaccines and that's understandable. "But the good news is we do have time before we, hopefully, get a vaccine, so I think that we have to use that." In the United States, a number of polls have shown that only around 50 per cent are committed to getting a coronavirus vaccine... This week, the country's leading public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN he believed that the US was "unlikely" to reach herd immunity as a result of this, inspired by the "general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling". In Germany, a poll this week by YouGov found that only one in two Germans would definitely get vaccinated if there was a jab available, and one in five said they definitely would not. A protest was held in Ukraine on Friday over the potential for compulsory coronavirus vaccinations... Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes very eloquent speeches which are aimed at showing verbal support for Canada's multiculturalism policy. However, over the years it has become apparent that our prime minister doesn't seem to practice what he preaches when it comes to black people, with particular reference to 'anti-black male' racism and First Nations communities. Prime Minister Trudeau can be regarded as a "closet racist" because the actual practices of his government reveal a disdain for black and aboriginal Canadians which is not consistent with his rhetoric. The following behaviours and tendencies reveal the kind of systemic racism which may have caught the attention of voters at the United Nations when they didn't support Canada's bid for a Security Council seat. 1 Blackface. Time magazine's expose showed Justin Trudeau performing as blackface characters, which is specifically designed to mock black males as being monkey-like performers. 2 Justin Trudeau has systematically repressed the advancement of black members of Parliament into becoming cabinet ministers. This includes members of Parliament like Gatineau's Greg Fergus, who arguably has the skills to have become deputy prime minister. Trudeau's sidelining of black parliamentarians was particularly notable during recent Black Lives Matter protests. While hypocritically taking a knee to show solidarity with protesters, Trudeau was at the same time using his other knee to deny black parliamentarians like Fergus from having a constructive role. It is furthermore apparent that Justin Trudeau believes the Government of Canada ought not to be represented by black people in any public way. This contrasts sharply with former prime ministers like Paul Martin, who appointed MichaelleJean as Canada's first black governor-general. 3 Justin Trudeau has completely backtracked on Canada's previous commitments on international peacekeeping and other international development roles. This has been to the chagrin of black majority countries in Africa and the Caribbean, and is consistent with Justin Trudeau's apparent dislike for black people revealed in his blackface performances. 4 Justin Trudeau has denied black males any appointments in his so-called "reformed" Senate. At one point Canada had two black male senators and now Canada has no black males in Upper Canada. Again, Justin Trudeau's overlooking of very qualified black male candidates for senator is consistent with his blackface performances. 5 Justin Trudeau's government continues to systematically deny both black people and First Nations communities from senior management positions across the Canadian federal public service. 6 Justin Trudeau has refused to appoint any visible minorities as judges in Canada's Supreme Court. There are currently no visible minorities among Supreme Court justices. 7 In response to police forces across Canada, including those of the RCMP, murdering and abusing black people, First Nations peoples, and other visible minorities, Justin Trudeau has failed to execute legislative and other substantive reforms to redress systemic racism. Further, Trudeau has turned up the rhetoric on promises that he is unlikely to do anything about. 8 Justin Trudeau has failed to act on redressing the plight of murdered indigenous women. Instead, he has sought to use the coronavirus as an excuse to continue to do nothing about the matter. 9 Justin Trudeau's multibillion-dollar pipeline bailout is designed to support a white political elite which he shares an affinity to while oppressing the hereditary rights of communities that were there long before Canada. This lack of respect for First Nations people is further shown in the prime minister's willingness to turn his back on the third-world squalor, famine, and disease which persists in First Nations communities across Canada. 10 Justin Trudeau's treatment of Jody Wilson-Raybould shows that the prime minister believes the purpose of any woman or visible minority in his government is to serve as an ornament and not as someone who ought to be respected. I highly doubt that Prime Minister Trudeau would have treated a white male with the kind of disdain that he showed for Wilson-Raybould. 11 Both the Liberal Party of Canada and the Ontario Liberal Party have been known to practice systemic racism in the candidate nomination process, and Justin Trudeau has failed to do anything about this. 12 Justin Trudeau has failed to champion any kind of human rights reform of Canada's federal public service which would enable the higher employment of more black and First Nations people. 13 Justin Trudeau has been relatively less welcoming to "dark-skinned" refugees. 14 Justin Trudeau has failed to use his tremendous authority to support any federal-provincial coordination on domestic policies to redress systemic racism against black people and First Nations communities in Canada's cities, from various school systems to the ability of these groups to avail themselves of employment opportunities if they make it through school systems and higher education roadblocks. In my book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst, I further document a particular case of systemic racism which was enforced by a Supreme Court of Canada which totally lacks visible minority judges. There has been much talk in the media about how various police forces across Canada and the United States have been abusing and sometimes even murdering black people, First Nations people and other minorities. This has prompted calls to "defund the police" in response to the police killing of George Floyd. who uttered the now infamous phrase "I can't breathe." However, one particular lawyer in Ottawa shows us how collusion between mostly white lawyers and judges who support a system rife with racism is arguably a far worse problem. Indeed, police who inflict abuse and commit murders can generally take solace that the judicial system will mostly shelter them from the kind of legal consequences they would face as a civilian. In the case of John Summers, who is the Ottawa lawyer in question, the evil that he is responsible for might arguably be considered more atrocious than the crime committed by Minnesota police officers against George Floyd. Within moments, Minnesota police offers in the United States destroyed a human life through immediate physical trauma involving asphyxiation. What the Minnesota police did within moments, John Summers, through unethical conduct,has inflicted since February 2016 against Dezrin Carby-Samuels. Can you imagine the life of an elderly woman forcibly cut-off from her son and other loved ones at the hands of an abusive husband who constantly subjected his wife to tortuous mental, physical, and emotional abuse in isolation for more than five years? Can you also imagine a lawyer who used lies and treachery to perpetuate and deprive an elderly woman of medical assistance, nutritious food, and the support of her loved ones, along with a wellness check which had been endorsed by an Ottawa judge back in February 2016? In my book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst, I document the sheer evil of John Summers conduct. Thanks to John Summers, Dezrin Carby-Samuels endured neglect and abuse which has now led to her reported death a reliable source reveals. Dezrin's son Raymond was legally blocked from seeing his mother since June 15, 2015. John Summers, along with conspiring judges at the Ottawa Superior Court and the Ottawa Police, worked against the will of Dezrin Carby-Samuels to see her son. Dezrin wanted her son Raymond to protect her from domestic abuse by Horace Carby-Samuels,a situation in which Dezrin endured horrific conditions, rotting in fecal matter. Apparently for John Summers, Dezrin was just another black woman and he worked tirelessly to perpetuate the profound physical, mental and emotional abuse which led to Dezrins death. In the above video, we see the situation that John Summers worked to perpetuate. In this video, Raymond, Dezrin Carby-Samuels son, is seen delivering a February 2016 court order to enable him to see his mother, who had wanted to reunite with him since June 2015. It was just after this video that John Summers intervened to perpetuate the forced isolation of Dezrin Carby-Samuels. Horace Carby-Samuels is seen near the end of this video shouting at Ottawa Police, who were prevented from doing a wellness check accompanied by Raymond. People who observe the evils of police have no idea that, for every evil cop they observe, there are a lot more evil lawyers like John Summers and evil judges like Sylvia Corthon of the Ottawa Superior Court who apparently have no regard for the lives of black people. When Raymond, Dezrins son, sought to complain to media organizations like CBC Ottawa, organizations pledged to protect women from abuse, and various religious leaders in the city, his cries were ignored because, after all, she was just an elderly black woman. The legal plight of Dezrin and the efforts of her black son to protect his mother from the evils of John Summers were irrelevant to these institutions. Thats because, in the eyes of all these institutions, Dezrin appears to be just another black woman that ought to be left alone to suffer under the terror imposed by her husband, Horace Carby-Samuels, with the diabolical orchestration of Mr. Summers. I am donating any money received from sales of my book to seeking justice for Dezrin in her death. I aim to expose all the evil actors in our justice system that worked for over five years to deprive Dezrin Carby-Samuels of her life. This includes the evil deeds of Ms. Alison Timons, who had been serving as a social worker at the Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre. My book also reveals how this so-called social worker had first reported to Raymond the abuse that Dezrin had been experiencing from May 2015. At first, Ms. Timons said that she would be a witness for Raymond in any court proceeding against Horace Carby-Samuels. But under the pressure of a very dirty Ottawa police detective named Robert Griffin Jr., who sought to work on behalf of Horace Carby-Samuels, Ms. Alison Timons not only decided not to help Dezrin's son expose the abuse but refused to have any further contact with Raymond. Systemic racism operates in a manner that marginalizes and destroys the lives of visible minorities, who are often viewed with much less regard than someone's cat or dog. Dezrin's horrific death in isolation from her loved ones was orchestrated by John Summers, who was in turn paid by some evil mastermind that, to this day, he has not revealed, and the court has supported his silence on this matter, because I can tell you for a fact that Horace Carby-Samuels cannot in any way afford $300 per/hr to pay such a lawyer over multiple years. Was Dezrin a guinea pig of some Deep State medical experiment against an elderly black woman and paid-off by these conspirators? Was this Deep State linked to the manipulative aliens that have been documented by Dr. Michael Salla as existing and presiding over evil experiments against humankind? Do the evils of the police before the camera also reveal mind control experiments by a Deep State to divide, rule and conquer humanity? Explore these and other questions in my book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons. Let us hold the evil responsible for the death of Dezrin Carby-Samuels and other people at the hands of police and the judicial system accountable and pursue the disbarment of John Summers for his key role in orchestrating Dezrin's death. By day, shes Michelle Hoffman, a Gilbert mother of three who owns the My CBD Store in Ahwat 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. The sentencing of a former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist has again been delayed by novel coronavirus concerns. The hearing for Turab Lookman, who in January pleaded guilty to lying about his involvement in a Chinese recruitment stratagem, the Thousand Talents Program, is now set for Aug. 26. Hearings had been scheduled for late April and, after that, late July. "Dr. Lookman is nearly 70 years old and has a family history of significant cardiac disease," reads a June 30 court filing, similar to a previous one. "He is thus in a high-risk pool for serious and potentially fatal complications associated with COVID-19." More than 13,200 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious virus, had been logged in New Mexico, where Los Alamos is, as of Sunday. A safer, more virus-free "environment" might exist in the near future, Lookman's counsel argued. New Mexico, the counsel continued, "has shown it is capable of maintaining control over infection trends" in the past. Lookman years ago named a laboratory fellow, an illustrious title was arrested by the FBI in May 2019. A federal grand jury indicted him on three counts of making false statements about his connection to foreign governments and the Thousand Talents Program. The program is designed to coax people engaged in research and development in the U.S. to share information and knowledge with China in exchange for money or some form of compensation. By June 2018, Lookman had been recruited by, applied for and accepted into the Thousand Talents Program, widely described as a threat to U.S. national security. When a Los Alamos counterintelligence officer inquired about his ties to Chinese recruitment endeavors or employment, Lookman lied. Los Alamos is one of 17 national labs scattered across the country. The lab nearest to Aiken is the Savannah River National Lab, which is overseen by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. Today saw UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, set out the Governments plan for the post-Covid economy, with a focus on construction and innovation to create jobs and grow prosperity. He stated that the UK can be a science superpower, with one initiative being of particular interest for the aviation sector: a green passenger jet. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> As part of our mission to reach Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2050, we should set ourselves the goal now of producing the worlds first zero-emission long-haul passenger plane, stated Johnson. Jet Zero, lets do it, he stated. The project would involve Sustainable Aviation, a coalition launched in 2005 to bring together over 90% of UK airlines, as well as airports, major UK aerospace manufacturers, air navigation service providers and key business partners. Members include Airbus, Boeing, British Airways, Jet2.com, Rolls-Royce, United Technologies, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, dnata, and several airports. On the 1st of June, the Sustainable Aviation coalition wrote to the UKs Transport Secretary, calling for UK aviation to be at the heart of the Governments economic recovery strategy, saying that a joined-up approach to decarbonising aviation will enable the country to rapidly bounce back from Covid-19. Part of the coalitions proposal is to receive a commitment of 500m to support early-stage projects. Sustainable Aviation is calling for Government to work with the UKs aerospace industry to develop aircraft and engine technology R&D capabilities, ensuring the UK is among the first in the world to develop hybrid and electric aircraft. The coalition also wants to accelerate UK airspace modernisation, to make use of new aircraft performance capability and reduce emissions and noise; and to progress robust carbon offset measures and carbon removal technologies. Adam Morton, chair of Sustainable Aviation, said that these actions all remain essential to delivering sector-wide decarbonisation, particularly given the role UK aviation can play as an engine for rebuilding the economy. Following the speech by Johnson, ADS, the UK trade organisation representing the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors, with more than 1,100 member businesses, responded. Chief executive Paul Everitt said, Todays speech from the Prime Minister is a welcome acknowledgement of the skills and expertise the UKs aerospace sector provides. Everitt also referenced the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), a UK body which promotes transformative technology in air transport, creates the technology strategy for the UK aerospace sector, and funds R&D. Now the Government needs to extend funding of the Aerospace Technology Institute out to 2036 to enable us to deliver the goal and make the UK a world leader in hybrid and electric aircraft, added Everitt. Alongside boosting investment in aerospace innovation, Government should establish a long-term investment fund for our supply chains, use procurement opportunities to maximise prosperity from defence and space projects, provide targeted resources for the UKs security and resilience sector, and ensure direct support to safeguard jobs and skills. July 6, 2020 | Bio-IT World has announced the winners of the 2020 Innovative Practices Awards. Entries from Roche, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the University of Chicago, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mission: Cure, and the Pistoia Alliance were honored. Since 2003, Bio-IT World has hosted an elite awards program, highlighting outstanding examples of how technology innovations and strategic initiatives can be powerful forces for change in the life sciences, from basic biomedical research to drug development and beyond. The Innovative Practices Awards consistently recognize efforts in our community to push our technological boundaries further to advance life sciences research. Sharing these collaborations offers opportunities for the whole community to emulate best practices and leapfrog current hurdles for future growth, said Allison Proffitt, Editorial Director of Bio-IT World. Although the 2020 Bio-IT World Conference & Expo has been moved to October, we couldnt wait to share these well-deserving projects with our community. A panel of expert judges joined the Bio-IT World editors and Cambridge Healthtech Institute executives in reviewing detailed submissions from pharmaceutical companies, academic centers, government agencies, and technology providers. Five outstanding entries were named winners. 2020 Bio-IT World Innovative Practices Awards Winners Bristol-Myers Squibb and the University of Chicago, Center for Translational Data Science nominated by BioTeam The ability for researchers to find, access and share genomics data in order to maximize the potential of data-driven science is still a large challenge for pharmaceutical organizations. In late 2018, the Center for Translational Data Science at the University of Chicago released Gen3: a free, open source framework for creating a data commons. In 2019, IT for Translational Medicine at Bristol-Myers Squibb created SiloBreaker, a program with the mission to break down the barriers that exist between genomics data and scientists and create the conditions necessary to foster a collaborative genomics discovery ecosystem. BMS is the first pharmaceutical organization to leverage Gen3 to build its own internal data commons (BMS Genomics Discovery Hub). Center for Innovation and Bioinformatics, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital The SigNET Platform enables scientific collaboration, integration, analyses, and distribution of research data across studies and repositories. It generates Unique Clinical Research Identifiers (UCRIs) per Patient per Study per Disease, thus permitting collaboration and sharing in rare diseases, in which utilization of standard GUIDs may not be enough to protect identities of patients participating in multiple research projects. UCRIs allow aggregation and prevent duplication of patients records, enable integration/sharing of patient information originating in clinical/research silos, and allow automation of searches across multiple repositories. Such innovative approach and technology offer standardized, reliable, and secure way to collaborate across research continuum accelerating discoveries across academia, foundations, and the industry. Several pharma/biotech companies, government agencies, academic consortia, and disease foundations utilize SigNET in clinical trials/studies. Eli Lilly and Company nominated by EPAM Systems As a 143-year-old company, Lilly has access to myriad high value data. The challenge Lilly faced was the ability to derive value from data in record time and in a cost-efficient manner. Lillys Research.Data Program is a solution that has helped the company overcome that challenge. By enabling the FAIR principles for information in a deep ecosystem of data products, discovery researchers and data scientists can now gain insights for portfolio decisions more quickly and efficiently than ever before: deliver all research data in a consistent, managed and sustainable environment where researchers find, access, interoperate and reuse data (FAIR); deploy integrated catalog, data dictionary, data lake, data pipelines, and secure application programmable interfaces that enable cost efficient delivery of data products; expose more than 100 data products to eight production applications used by hundreds of scientists worldwide; and accelerate science in discovery chemistry, biology and molecular innovation in key therapeutic areas including Diabetes, Immunology, Neuroscience and Oncology. Pistoia Alliance and Mission: Cure nominated by Elsevier Elsevier and Pistoia Alliance organized a drug-repurposing datathon, with Cures Within Reach and Mission: Cure being the consulting organizations. The objective was to identify repurposable drug candidates for chronic pancreatitisa rare disease that affects about 1 million people globally, and currently doesnt have an approved treatment. Datathon participants used Entellect, an Elsevier data integration platform, to access Elsevier supplied datasets such as Reaxys Medicinal Chemistry, ResNet (aka PathwayStudio) and PharmaPendium. In addition, participants were able to incorporate third party datasets into Entellect to create a single, harmonized and linked dataset against which they applied machine learning and statistical techniques, from exploratory data analysis and data pre-processing, to feature engineering, model building, validation and comparison, and finally result visualization and model deployment. As a result, 4 drug candidates were identified in 30-60 days, then reviewed and approved by the expert panel, pending further clinical trials by Mission: Cure. Roche nominated by Linguamatics The focus of the Roche research was to discover if social media, particularly patient blogs and forum, can provide a good substrate to develop clinical endpoints relevant to Parkinsons disease patients. Being able to understand what matters most to patients and find unexpected insights into patient problems shapes clinical trials, e.g. by influencing design and outcome measures. Highly trusted social media sources (i.e. patient-focused communities) provided a robust substrate to analyze. From 24k verbatims downloaded and processed with Linguamatics NLP (Natural Language Processing), the Roche team extracted valuable data from ~450 posts. Ensuring that privacy issues were addressed, they were able to categorize the comments into symptom or impact categories. The study identified symptoms confirmatory of the clinical trial endpoints, and also added additional ones; and these specific recommendations have been added to the clinical disease model used in the clinical trial. Roches approach is an example of patient-centered drug development (an FDA initiative) and ensures that clinical disease models encompass patient needs. On the morning of June 4, Ali Hussein was sitting in his car staring at the latest message on his phone sent by a mediator who is helping free six members of his family. The message said the Syrian armed faction was demanding $90,000 for his family members abducted in August 2014 from Sinjar, northern Iraq. Hussein himself was kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) and managed to escape alive. He then decided to help rescue other Yazidis kidnapped by IS. According to the Kidnapped Yazidis Rescue Office based in the city of Dahok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, around 2,800 Yazidis were kidnapped by IS and other extremist factions in Syria. Ali Hussein al-Khansuri, who helped save dozens of Yazidi women and children, told Al-Monitor that rescue operations, which often involve buying back the kidnapped, are still ongoing, in particular in Idlib where Yazidi women and children are still held by IS and extremist factions. He said that the process of buying and selling Yazidis has turned into a trade, and that some Yazidis are sold several times in exchange for higher amounts. He recounted how his cousin Aziza was brought back home at the beginning of the year. The phone messages exchanged show the purchase process and details of the delivery of the agreed amount. The parties to this sale agreed that $25,000 would be handed over upon Aziza's release and $15,000 would be paid a month later. The messages also indicate that a mediator would go to the village of Abu Hassan, also called al-Baqan, near the Syrian Hajin area to pick up Aziza. The family was told not to contact another mediator to try reduce the total price of $40,000. Aziza was bought back after the amount agreed upon with IS was paid, Khansuri said. She went back home to the Kurdistan Region after being handed over [to the family] by the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeastern Syria. The media officer of the Kidnapped Yazidis Rescue Office, Maysar al-Adani, told Al-Monitor that they seek to free Yazidis kidnapped by IS through communication networks with mediators. The office opened at the beginning of October 2014. The office started operating after establishing a complete database of the Yazidis kidnapped by IS on Aug. 3, 2014, he said. He noted that the Kidnapped Yazidis Rescue Office provides financial and moral support to the families of the kidnapped after their liberation. The money [to secure their release] is sent by the private office of the KRG president. The office facilitates the survivors affairs at the state departments through coordination with the competent authorities. It also provides them with health and psychological support through the survivors support center in Dahok. In addition, the office archives and documents information on all survivors, relays their messages to the decision-making quarters and gets them help from civil organizations. Adani said, Large amounts have been paid over the past few years for the liberation of Yazidis. I don't know the exact amount, but I know it is substantial amid a lack of support from the central Iraqi government, which has not yet contacted us about the survivors. He added, New data about the Yazidi genocide shows that 6,417 Yazidis were kidnapped 3,548 females and 2,869 males; 3,530 individuals have been rescued alive 1,199 women and 339 men, in addition to 1,041 girls and 951 boys. A total of 2,878 people remain abducted 1,308 females and 1,579 males. Barakat Isa, a Yazidi media figure, believes that the buying and selling of the Yazidis has become a source of income for several factions and terrorist groups that are not affiliated with IS, in collaboration with Arab tribes in Iraq and Syria. He noted that the prevailing chaos on the Iraqi-Syrian border amid a lack of control and supervision on the Iraqi side has encouraged human trafficking. He added that some IS members have been benefitting from this lucrative trade since the establishment of IS in Syria and Iraq until this day. If IS has been militarily eradicated who is hiding the more than 1,000 Yazidis? Who are they being bought from? And why are those traders not being investigated, Isa concluded. With the launch of the final satellite of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) into orbit in late June, China has finally completed its quest to become a space power. Introduced in 2015, the BeiDou satellite navigation network is part of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), a digital corridor of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Completed six months ahead of schedule, the system is an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), Russias GLONASS and Europes Galileo. In the Middle East region, eight satellites from the BeiDou system were already providing navigational services to Arab states, according to a report presented at the Second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum held in Tunis last year. BeiDou satellite coverage has been offered to countries participating in the BRI megaproject, and Arab countries were among the first to have access to the facility as they are also members of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and the Strategic Dialogue between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Basically, according to Beijing, Any type of bilateral cooperation [with China] can be considered part of the Belt and Road. Saudi Arabia was one of the first to join formally, and Riyadh and Beijing had signed a MoU for the implementation of the DSR and to establish technical exchange platforms in three cities each in both countries. The DSR also falls in line with some of the UAEs future projects. As UAE economist Nasser Saidi observed in his talk at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2018, the digital corridor project or a space station would complement the UAE's national space program and help lift economic sectors to the next level. Collaboration in such innovative technological fields has also been described in detail in the 1+2+3 cooperation pattern laid out in the Arab Policy Paper of 2016. In the meantime, several GCC states such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt also became part of a Digital Silk Road Initiative launched last year. Including artificial intelligence, smart cities, nanotechnology and other related fields, this program has the potential to dramatically change the digital landscape of these countries. Fiber optic cable networks and data hubs are some other main components of the DSR infrastructure. However, the DSR has some grey areas and its risks are not limited to the GCC states. To start with, surveillance may become the main issue as Beijing could monitor internet traffic or even sever links with other regions if it wants. A total of 36,964 miles of undersea fiber optic cables have been laid by Chinese companies in more than 95 projects and 98% of global telecommunications are relayed through these cables. Situated in international waters, the cables remain vulnerable and breach of security cannot be monitored in underdeveloped countries. In addition, BeiDou navigation is used by many large-scale commercial applications and its features are built into popular smartphone brands. Most countries would wish to upgrade the security of their internet data. Any data and information accumulated from users can help provide insight on gaining substantial market shares, at the very least. Nevertheless, during the ongoing pandemic, artificial intelligence and diagnostic technology can be better deployed in the Middle East with the DSR. Notably, according to research carried out by Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China can become one of the worlds most important international submarine-cable communication centers within a decade or two. Second, the widespread use of Chinese digital technology can give Beijing more influence and leverage. Having only had an economic presence in the Middle East, China has never been involved in any security aspect, but with this holistic network of fiber optic cables on the ground, internet links under the sea and BeiDou satellites in space, Beijing has introduced a new power concept. With this multi-dimensional digital network, China has more options and it is also binding BRI partner countries within its exclusive zone of influence. At the very least, there would be more diplomatic opportunities and China would have more prestige and influence in international organizations. Recently, conveying the reach and concept of BeiDou, a Chinese state TV program explained, A navigation system is like a gold key of your home that should be kept only in your own hands, not others. A third risk is dependence. Relying on China for their internet and satellite navigation, many countries would manage their operations through the DSR, and it could include both civil and military uses. Right now, most of the countries covered by BeiDou systems are involved in the BRI, but various related services like port traffic monitoring and disaster mitigation have been provided to nearly 120 countries globally. Per a report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in 2019, any services under the "Space Silk Road" could deepen reliance on China for space-based services at the expense of US influence. Finally, since most BeiDou features are intrusive in nature, the Digital Corridor has potential to complicate matters further between Washington and Beijing. There are concerns that the space technology-based project may have implications for US interests in security, economic and diplomatic areas. According to a Council on Foreign Relations report in 2018, it's possible that Chinese tech companies may insert backdoor mechanisms that could increase [Beijings] intelligence and propaganda operations in Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. Users of the system could also be tracked once the technology is in widespread use. There are certainly some military uses of the satellite system and Beijing-based military analyst Zhou Chenming has said, With our own navigation and location system that has good precision, Chinas missiles, drones and other vehicles can rely on our own technology without having to worry about signal losses, and this can help [our military] to better coordinate force deployment and logistical support. To create a balance and neutralize the situation, spending would have to be increased in the digital sector and GPS accuracy could be improved further. Restrictions on technology purchases might help to reduce the heavy reliance on supply chains from China. In fact, the American semiconductor industry has given a $37 billion proposal to keep the United States ahead of China in the production of semiconductor chips, which are intrinsic to defense technology, artificial intelligence and 5G networks. According to the report "Chinas Ambitions in Space-Contesting the Final Frontier," to counter Chinas military operations in the space domain, the US Space Command would maintain suitable deterrence with training, exercises and new policies along with active participation in international space governance institutions to ensure their global leadership. CAIRO Egypt recently received tourists from Ukraine in Red Sea cities amid precautionary measures, following the governments decision to resume tourism and international flights as of July in the governorates that have been less affected by the coronavirus pandemic, namely the Red Sea governorate. The decision comes after a three-month hiatus in aviation. Maj. Gen. Amr Hanafi, governor of the Red Sea governorate, announced July 1 the arrival of a flight from Ukraine to Hurghada International Airport with 167 tourists on board. All precautionary and preventive measures were taken from the moment they set foot on Egyptian territory and throughout their transfers to their hotels, according to the governor. Hanafi held several meetings with some of the arriving tourists to ask them for their opinions on the states preventive measures, which they deemed to be in line with international standards, whether at the airports or during their transfers in luxury tourist buses on the way to their hotels. Egypts Ministry of Tourism had announced on June 19 a set of regulations to be observed for the resumption of tourism and in operating hotels, restaurants, sea cruises, transportation, as well as incentive packages for incoming tourists and travel agencies. Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anany on June 19 toured Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh to ensure that hotels and resorts were already well prepared and ready to receive Egyptian and foreign tourists. The health safety certificates provided by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for hotels to resume operations is at the basis of the regulations for the reopening of the tourism sector. Hotels wishing to resume operations ought to obtain the certificate, which will be circulated to all resorts and hotels via the Egypt Hotel Association (EHA). It serves to certify that hotels are abiding by the terms and conditions approved by the government in accordance with global health safety standards. The Egyptian Tourism Federation and the EHA provide the certificate for hotels and resorts that meet the requirements; it is signed by the EHA, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Ministry of Health. The EHA has created the Food and Occupational Safety and Health Administration to address this issue and follow up with hotels to ensure the terms and conditions are met for guests stays. During his June 19 tour, Anany stressed the need to coordinate with the Tourism and Antiquities Police to review the records of the operating establishments and follow up on the professional procedures and measures that are being implemented so as to ensure that hotels are committed to the necessary requirements. In the event of any violation, the police will be notified immediately and the ministry will take strict legal measures against the offenders, including revoking the establishments license and suspending involved managers and administrators, Anany added. Elham al-Zayyat, former head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, told Al-Monitor international tourism is not likely to return to normal as swiftly as we wish for, given that airlines have reduced flights and projected that commercial flight bookings are not likely to reach the same rates registered in 2019 before 2025. Mohammed al-Kahlawi, secretary general of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists, told Al-Monitor, I believe Egypt has rushed the decision to receive tourists in this delicate situation and during these difficult times. What are the scenarios in case of the arrival of coronavirus-infected tourists from Asian countries or China? Will they be treated in Egypt or repatriated? He added, The Ministry of Tourism ought to have all incoming tourists sign a form to undergo a medical examination upon entry to Egypt. International tourism is suffering from an economic pandemic. It is going to be a long time before tourism goes back to normal." Kahlawi said, Instead, Egypt could rely on domestic tourism, which is profitable and would greatly increase occupancy in hotels. The World Health Organization has warned against a second wave of the virus. The Egyptian state ought to take the utmost precautions not only in hotels and resorts but also on the beaches and in museums that will be open to the public. Tripartite negotiations on Ethiopias Nile River dam continue without progress toward an agreement. The talks follow a UN Security Council meeting last week on Ethiopias planned filling of the dam and opposition from Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia wants to fill the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) this month. The dam is on the Blue Nile River, which flows into the Nile. Ethiopia wants the project to supply the country with hydroelectric power and help alleviate poverty, while Egypt and Sudan believe that filling the dam will deplete water levels in the Nile in their countries. The river is a major part of east African economies. The countries met last week with UN Security Council members to discuss the issue. All three remained steadfast in their positions, while other countries called for the resumption of negotiations that broke down in June. Talks resumed on Friday following the council session. On Saturday, Egypts Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation reported that there is no agreement between the three countries. The states did agree to continue negotiations on Sunday, according to a ministry press release. Also according to the Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry, on Sunday Egypts negotiating team held a meeting with observers to discuss the matter. The countries representatives did not meet with each other on this day. The observers of the negotiations are from the African Union, South Africa, the United States and the European Union. The Sunday meetings were for each country to meet separately with the observers, according to Egypts state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. Sudan also said differences remain following the talks on Saturday. For its part, Ethiopia has remained defiant in its desire to fill the dam amid the continued negotiations. To Ethiopians at home & abroad: I urge you to use whatever means at your disposal to let people understand your countrys stand to equitably & reasonably utilize the River Nile water resources in cooperation with other riparian states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted on Saturday. The current talks continue until July 11, according to the Egypt Independent newspaper. Tensions remain high between the countries. On Friday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made a vague claim that the deadly shooting of Ethiopian singer Hachalu Hundessa last week was linked to the tension. Those external and internal forces who were not successful with the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue have tried their utmost efforts to create chaos at this time, Ahmed said, which could refer to Egypt, according to Agence France Presse. Two days after Iranian officials said there was an incident in an industrial shed at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, Iranian authorities have admitted serious damage has occurred. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Irans Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), spoke to parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission behind closed doors about the incident. According to the commission's spokesman, Abufazl Amouee, Salehi said multiple scenarios about this incident are being studied. According to Salehi, Amouee said, Expert groups from security and intelligence sectors have reviewed all aspects of the fire at Natanz. Irans Supreme National Security Council knows the reasons for the incident but will not state it due to security reasons, he added. IAEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said the shed will be rebuilt with larger dimensions and better and more advanced equipment. On the impact of the damage, Kamalvandi said, Its possible that this incident will create slowdowns in the medium term in the production and development of advanced machines. He said they will work day and night to create more capacities than before. According to Kamalvandi, the damaged shed was designed to make advanced centrifuges. He said Iran began work inside the shed after the United States exited the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The capacities for the shed would still have been within the limits of the JCPOA, Kamalvandi added. In response to the US exit of the JCPOA in 2018, Iran restarted segments of its nuclear program. A number of conservative media outlets speculated that the incident at Natanz was sabotage and called for an Iranian response. Iranian newspaper Farheekhtegan wrote, Of all the theories, a drone attack or sabotage operation has drawn more attention than other options, especially given that this took place on the anniversary of the Stuxnet attack on nuclear installations in July 2010. Stuxnet is believed to be a joint US-Israel cyberattack against Irans nuclear program that caused significant damage. While the article in Farheekhtegan believes that Stuxnet first appeared in July, it was closer to June that the first signs of it began to appear. The newspaper continued, Israel is one of the prime suspects of this operation, and Iran must show a response to such an attack. Otherwise, it will be a green light for larger operations against Iran by Israel. An article in the Persian daily newspaper Sobhe No said that given the statement by the Supreme National Security Council, it indicates there are outside forces involved in the incident at Natanz. The article continued, Once it is proved, Irans response will be firm. The article stated Iran has demonstrated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, both through the JCPOA and its work with the IAEA.If the other side crosses red lines and takes advantage of our strategic patience and targets our national interests and security, it will be accompanied by Irans firm response, the article added. Notable Iraqi security analyst Hisham al-Hashimi was assassinated in Baghdad today, according to multiple reports. On Monday, Agence France Presse reported that Hashimi was walking out of his Baghdad home when three gunmen on two motorcycles shot and killed him at close range. Hashimi was a known and respected commentator on Iraqi affairs who was particularly knowledgable on the Islamic State. Just about an hour before his death, he tweeted that division in Iraq was the result of the ethnic and religious quota system put in place following the 2003 US invasion. The tweet, which some shared after his death, has now been liked more than 11,500 times. Hashimi was a member of the nongovernmental Iraq Advisory Council and frequently spoke to media, including Al-Monitor. He was also an adviser to the Iraqi government and a fellow at the US-based Center for Global Policy. His murder has been widely condemned. In a Facebook post, the US Embassy in Baghdad wrote, We call on the Iraqi government to bring those responsible for his murder to swift justice. Member of Iraqi parliament Sarkawt Shams tweeted that Hashimi was a treasure for all Iraqis." It is unknown who killed Hashimi. The investigation into his death will be a test for Iraqs Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who is still only about two months into office. The prime ministers office said in a tweet, We vow to pursue the killers and bring them to justice. We will not allow the return of assassinations to the Iraqi scene, the office stated, in reference to the relatively common killings that followed the US invasion. Faced with a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases, Israels Cabinet is expected to reimpose certain movement restrictions on July 6. The government is now discussing recommendations made by the ministry of health. Finance Minister Israel Katz conceded earlier that significant decisions would be made at the meeting, but insisted, We must not return to the lockdown [that was instituted late March]." Early this morning, the Knesset Law Committee voted in favor of a bill advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to increase the fine for not wearing a face mask in public from 200 Israeli shekels ($58) to 500 shekels ($145). In order to be enacted, the bill must now be approved by the Knesset plenum. The coalition intends to bring it to vote already this evening, but might have to delay it after several lawmakers complained against the rushed proceedings. The lawmakers also contested the intention of the government to bring for Knesset approval within 48 hours the "big corona law," which will broaden the Cabinets authorities in curbing the outbreak. In the meantime, new restrictions have been enacted this morning, limiting restaurants, pubs and bars to receiving no more than 50 people at a time. The vote at the Knesset committee came as the Health Ministry published updated numbers over the coronavirus infection. The new numbers show that 30,162 people in Israel have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 since the start of the crisis, with 11,856 active cases. On July 5, 817 new cases were recorded. According to recent publications, thousands of Israelis received text messages instructing them to enter quarantine last week. Reports say that some 40,000 Israelis are currently quarantined. On July 1, the Knesset renewed for a period of three weeks the use of controversial surveillance measures to track coronavirus carriers and those they were in contact with. Apparently, the renewed emergency regulation was adopted against the advice of Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman, who no longer wants the agency to be involved in monitoring coronavirus-infected civilians. Many Israelis have complained this weekend that they were instructed to self-isolate without the possibility of contesting the decision. Professor Eli Waxman, who heads the coronavirus experts panel advising the National Security Council, warned July 5 that Israel had lost control of the pandemic. Interviewed by Channel 12, Waxman said, In terms of the number of infected and the fact that they are scattered around the country we dont know the sites of infection for most of the infected, so we are unable to control the outbreaks. In todays situation, with 1,000 infected [daily], we can no longer disrupt the chain of infection even if there were a working system to do that and there isnt." It could have happened because of the coronavirus pandemic, or perhaps because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to annex West Bank settlements. Regardless of the reason, observers anticipated that economic relations between Israel and Egypt and various other Arab states would begin to suffer and that this would impact natural gas exports. At this stage, however, economic ties between Israel and Egypt have not suffered in the least, and agreements to export Israeli gas to be liquefied in Egyptian facilities are being implemented fully. The first agreement to sell Israeli gas to Egypt was signed two years ago. The signatories were the gas partnerships in the Leviathan and Tamar fields, Israels two biggest fields, right off the coast, and the Egyptian Dolphinus consortium. The total value of the agreement was $15 billion over 10 years. An agreement signed in October 2019 increased the supply of gas to $20 billion, for a period of 15 years. Gas began to flow to Egypt in January of this year through a pipeline that begins in the southern town of Ashkelon. In June, Nobel Energy, which is part owner of the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields, upgraded the pipeline connecting Israel to Egypt. This increased the export potential to Egyptian industrial concerns to 4.5 billion cubic meters. By increasing the supply of gas to Egypt, the Israeli government also increased its income from its gas deals, whether through the taxation of profits or through the government-owned Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd., which is responsible for the gas pipeline. In total, this amounts to hundreds of millions of shekels per year. As aforementioned, the flow of gas through the pipeline began at the start of this year. It was accompanied by a formal statement by Israels Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz and Egypts Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Mollah, which read, This is an important development, which will serve the economic interests of both parties. In an interview with Al-Watan newspaper, Mollah said that before the revolution, his country already had an agreement to export gas to Israel, but the agreement was repealed as a result of the change in government. He explained that the main purpose behind the import of Israeli gas is to set Egyptian infrastructures into motion and export the gas overseas. He said Egypt could use Israeli gas for private consumption if needed since it falls within the strategic parameters of the Middle East Gas Forum. At a meeting of the Knessets Energy Committee on June 30, Steinitz said the direct income from the Tamar gas field since it first began production has been around 12 billion shekels. He said this would increase significantly within two years, mainly due to the rate of gas being supplied to Jordan and Egypt. Steinitz also told the committee that overall relations with the two countries are solid. On the other hand, a position paper produced by the nonprofit economic watchdog group Lobby 99 warned that the current contracts are sufficiently malleable to allow for a reduction of the amount in response to new circumstances. The group warned that such circumstances could include internal criticism within Arab states of gas purchases from Israel in reaction to the possible annexation of the territories. The Jordanian parliament has already voted on more than one occasion to repeal the agreement to purchase gas from Israel. In fact, the most recent of these votes took place last January. On the other hand, Jordan has a major economic interest in acquiring cheap gas from Israel. In 2014, before the agreement was signed, then-Jordanian Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed said the acquisition of natural gas from Nobel Energy does not constitute a political danger to Jordan, nor will it make it subject to the whims of another country. On the other hand, the deal would save Jordan $1.5 billion per year. According to the deal signed in 2016, gas produced by Nobel Energy at the Leviathan gas field was sold to the Jordanian electric company for less than it was sold to Israels own electric company. During the discussion about the topic in the Knesset committee, Steinitz recalled how, in the 1970s and 1980s, Arab petroleum-producing countries used oil to pressure the United States and Israel to apply diplomatic pressure on Israel. Now the situation is the reverse. The Arabs once exported energy, and we suffered for it. Now, that has all been turned on its head. Steinitz also brought up another huge project, the EastMed Pipeline with Greece and Cyprus, which would be used to export Israeli gas to Europe. Egypt is now expected to join that initiative as well. The initiative for this project, which Israel describes as strategic, was first advanced in the mid-2010s when it was learned that the gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean basin were larger than anticipated. The original plan was to link Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy by way of a 2,000-kilometer pipeline running through the Mediterranean. After the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the countries at the start of the year, Greek firm Energean rushed to sign an advance agreement to sell the gas it imports via the pipeline. Furthermore, the European Union announced it would invest tens of millions of euros to investigate the feasibility of laying such a pipeline, so Israel now believes it will be the main partner in its construction. The reason for Europes interest in this is to reduce its dependence on gas imports from Russia. With the signing of the memorandum, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was quickly becoming an energy power and energy exporter. He then called on Egypt and other Arab states to join the agreement. Egypt considers the proposal to be entirely reasonable, given the discovery of its own enormous gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. The importance that Egypt places on natural gas is also evidenced in its decision to expand its navy to defend its own gas fields and pipelines. Journalist George Mikhail wrote in Al-Monitor that Egypt is moving ahead with huge deals to purchase advanced weaponry to strengthen its navy. Israel believes one reason for this is the perceived notion that it will need to defend its gas exports, whether by tanker, as happens now, or pipeline, and whether it is the Israeli EastMed pipeline or a separate Egyptian pipeline, which will connect to it. What concerns Egypt most is its major rival, Turkey. An Israeli security source speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor opinions in Israel are divided over how to react to the expansion of Egypts navy and its military in general. There is the very tangible concern that if the Egyptian army gets too strong, it could be used by an Egyptian leader less friendly to Israel than Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. This was the basis of criticism leveled at Netanyahu who, according to reports, agreed to Germanys sale of advanced submarines to Egypt. On the other side of the debate is the position that the peace treaty with Egypt is stronger than ever and that, even if there is an attempt to replace the current government, it would fail, as happened with President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government. Egypt has too much to lose. The Middle East has undergone major changes. It is hard to imagine how it would be possible to turn those changes back, said the security source. Israel launched a spy satellite into space today. The action follows a series of mysterious incidents in Iran, including one linked to Israel, though neither country has confirmed this. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the satellite, called Ofek 16 one of Israels many will help with the ability to act against Israels enemies, near and far alike. It greatly expands our ability to act on land, at sea, in the air and also in space, said Netanyahu, as reported by The Associated Press. The launch follows several possible attacks in Iran in the past two weeks. There was a fire at Irans Natanz nuclear enrichment plant last week. There was an explosion on June 26 near a military facility in the east of the capital city of Tehran. On June 28, an apparent gas explosion in Tehran left 19 people dead. Iran originally downplayed the Natanz incident but later admitted that centrifuges at the secret facility were damaged, according to The Associated Press. Neither Israel nor Iran has made any statements on the responsibility for the fire at Natanz. Israel openly opposes Irans nuclear program, which it says aims to give the Islamic Republic nuclear weapons charges Iran denies. The New York Times reported that the Natanz event was an explosion triggered by a bomb and that Israel was responsible, citing an unidentified Middle Eastern intelligence official. There was also speculation in Arabic-language media that Israel attacked the facility. Israel also suspected Iran of being behind a cyberattack on its water and sewage systems in April. Israel rarely comments on its alleged military operations abroad, but Israeli officials have made statements indicating their responsibility for striking Iranian targets in Syria this year. Iran likewise has satellite capabilities. In April, Tehran launched its first military satellite into orbit. Israels government approved June 23 a decision to search for oil and natural gas in a maritime area known as "Block 72" (formally known as "Alon D"), a disputed sea area located near the north of the country, and not far from Lebanon. The decision enabled the launching of an offshore bidding round that should last several months. The closing date for bids is set for Sept. 23, and the successful bidder will be announced at the end of October. Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in a dispute over their maritime borders for several years now. Thus, the June 23 decision generated a harsh Lebanese reaction. President Michel Aoun warned July 2 that the decision to start oil and gas explorations in Block 72 is extremely dangerous," insisting that Lebanon will not allow others to encroach upon its internationally recognized waters. He also called upon Lebanons Supreme Court to convene over the issue. The two countries have known two wars and decades of bloody conflicts. With Hezbollah engaged in an arms race to produce precision missiles, fears are growing for another escalation in the region. On May 6, Israels envoy to the United Nations Danny Danon asked the UN Security Council to extend and enlarge the mission of UNIFIL forces in Lebanon. Security experts warn that the maritime dispute could escalate these existing tensions. The bilateral maritime dispute goes back several years. In 2009, an Israel-US consortium discovered the Tamar offshore natural gas field. In 2010, natural gas was also discovered in an adjacent offshore field named Leviathan. Both fields are located near Israels northern shore. These discoveries encouraged more oil and gas searches. Lebanon delineated 10 maritime zones or blocks where oil and gas could potentially be discovered. The problem was and still is that both countries have never agreed on their maritime border. Lebanon has never recognized the State of Israel, thus the maritime border between them was never demarcated. In 2011, a year after the Leviathan discovery, Lebanon submitted to the UN its proposed maritime border. Its proposal was based on the 1973 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entitles states to a 200-nautical mile Economic Exclusion Zone. Israel has not ratified this convention, but generally respects it. Shortly after the Lebanese proposal, Israel offered the UN its own maritime proposal. Evidently, the two proposed border lines clashed, with a certain area disputed. Negotiations to delimit the maritime boundaries were set to begin in 2019, but eventually nothing really came out of it. Shortly after the Israeli gas discoveries, Lebanon claimed that a portion of the Leviathan gas field was located in its own waters. But this claim was later abandoned. Still, out of the 10 blocks delineated by Lebanon for potential gas research, Block 8 and Block 9 are partially located in the disputed sea area. Lebanon is now arguing that Block 72 is adjacent to what it considers its own Block 9. Things are even more complicated considering the disappointing results so far of Lebanons sea drilling. In April, French Total said it had failed to encounter hydrocarbons in the Block 4 exploration well. In May, Lebanon's Energy and Water Minister Raymond Ghajar announced that his country will start oil and gas exploration in Block 9 by the end of the year, with Total doing the drilling. Lebanon is hoping to strike better luck this time around. Yuval Steinitz, who served in the former government as energy minister, kept the same position in the current Netanyahu government. A nomination that reflects the importance of the goal set by the previous government of achieving energy independence. A goal that has great consequences both economically and security-wise. According to estimates, the Tamar and Leviathan fields could hold together 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Once developed, these two fields could satisfy Israels electricity needs for the next 30 years. It could even turn it into a net energy exporter. Israels energy ties have also important consequences for its relations with neighboring Egypt and Jordan. In 2012, then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz approved the purchase of four new warships, tasked, among other things, with the protection of the new gas fields. In parallel, Israel has worked over the past decade to expand its cooperation with Greece and Cyprus, especially on the project of the EastMed undersea pipeline, which should transport liquified gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe. As Israels current defense minister and alternate prime minister, Gantz is now committed to that same task, of defending Israels energy interests, both diplomatically and militarily. RAMALLAH, West Bank The Israeli Jerusalem District Court rejected June 24 the appeal submitted by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on June 23 to block the transfer of church property to an Israeli settlement association. The court had earlier issued a ruling asserting the validity of a renewable deal whereby the settlement association Ateret Cohanim rented properties from the Orthodox Church in Bab al-Khalil in Jerusalem for a period of 99 years. Greek Orthodox Patriarchate spokesman Father Issa Musleh told Al-Monitor the Patriarchate will resort to the Israeli High Court of Justice in the coming period, as it has documents proving the existence of corruption in the deal. He said the legal team is still taking care of the needed measures and has yet to determine the date it will resort to court. The Patriarchate has all the required documents and is waiting for life to return to normal post-coronavirus. In 2004, the Orthodox Patriarchate signed a deal with shell companies that later transferred the property to Ateret Cohanim, the Maariv newspaper revealed back in 2005. The deal allowed the lease of three church properties to the settler association, namely the Petra and Imperial hotels located on Umar Ibn al-Khattab Plaza at Jaffa Gate, and Muzamiya House in the Bab al-Huta neighborhood north of Al-Aqsa Mosque. After its disclosure, the deal sparked angry reaction leading to the dismissal of then-Patriarch Irenaeus on May 7, 2005, as he was accused of leasing church property to the Israelis by granting a general power of attorney to the former treasurer of the Patriarchate, Nicholas Papademos, who signed the rental deals. Since then, the Patriarchate has been trying to nullify the deal. Ateret Cohanim was established at the end of the 1970s and works to populate East Jerusalem with Jewish settlers by evicting Palestinians from their homes and taking over Palestinian property. It has managed over the past years to take over dozens of Palestinian properties in the various neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. The recent District Courts decision is a new blow to the Orthodox Patriarchate and its attempts to nullify the deal. The Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem rejected on June 10, 2019, a similar appeal filed by the Patriarchate against the deal. But, according to Musleh, the Patriarchate now possesses documents and testimonies confirming that the 2004 deal is marred by corruption. The documents also accuse some officials of committing several legal breaches and infringing upon some powers while indulging in bribes, extortion and forgery. Musleh said he was surprised at the District Courts refusal of the appeal within hours of its submission, adding that the court did not even take the time to review the documents presented by the lawyers. He attributed the courts quick decision to the intervention of settlers and pressure placed on judges. In the coming weeks, Musleh said, the Patriarchate will launch an international campaign and contact members of the UN Security Council, Russia, Greece, Cyprus and all countries keen on a Christian presence in the Middle East in general and the Holy Land (Palestinian territories and Jerusalem) in particular, in a bid to pressure Israel toward relinquishing those properties. Asked about the Patriarchates plan in the event the Supreme Court rejects the appeal, Musleh refused to comment and said, We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Whatever it takes, we will not relinquish this region and property, and we are determined to recover it, he added. The Patriarchates chances of nullifying the deal seem to be dim in light of the accumulated judicial rulings proving the deals validity. And the Patriarchate has concerns that the Supreme Courts refusal of the appeal could raise the ire of the churchs parishioners against the Patriarchate due to the sale and rental of real estate deals to settlers or Israel during the past years. The Imperial Hotel in Jerusalem is one of three properties included in the 2004 deal. It was built in 1893 and consists of 50 rooms stretching over an area of 1,800 square meters. The Dajani family in Jerusalem rented it in 1949 from the Orthodox Church under a lease contract extending to three generations of the family, and it is currently managed by Abu Walid al-Dajani. Dajani told Al-Monitor, The Patriarchate is in a pickle. It claimed before its parishioners that it regained the property, while this is incorrect. It seems it has no way out of this predicament despite it declaring its intention to resort to the Supreme Court. The Patriarchate is buying time. It has to explain to the public opinion what happened and should take responsibility for it, Dajani said, adding that the case is likely to end in the coming months. Dajani still runs the hotel but under extremely difficult circumstances. Since January 2020, the hotels financial revenues along with Dajanis money have been withheld due to a lawsuit filed against the latter in the Israeli Central Court by Ateret Cohanim. Dajani explained that Ateret Cohanim, in its capacity as the owner of the property, sent him a letter in 2006 with a new rental contract, which he refused, citing lack of proof that the association is the owner of the property. In January 2020, the association asked him to vacate the property and pay 10 million shekels ($2.9 million) for the period he spent there from 2006 till today. He pointed out that since January 2020, the hotels income has been withheld by the bank by a decision of the Central Court, and he cannot dispose of it because of the lawsuit filed against him. There is wide discontent among the Orthodox parishioners, as many of them accuse the Patriarchate of complicity in concluding sales and rental deals to the settlers. Jalal Barham, a member of the Central Council of the Orthodox Christians in Jordan and Palestine opposing the Patriarchate, in an interview with Al-Monitor, accused the Patriarchate of complicity in leasing property to settlers. Barham said, This deal was carried out to confirm that the settler associations own the property and was planned and premeditated by Patriarch Theophilos and his legal advisers amid the neglect, laziness or deliberate conspiracy of the relevant politicians in charge of ecclesiastical affairs. The recent District Court decision, the previous decisions and any future decisions related to this case are solely aimed at covering the corruption, treachery, collusion and deliberate negligence of the Patriarchate. They also aim at embellishing the reputation of Theophilos and all the corrupt, and show them as defenders of the endowments and properties of the Orthodox Church before the Orthodox community, he added. Barham expected the Patriarchate to lose any appeal it files in the Supreme Court because of what he described as the collusion and dishonesty of those managing the file. The Bab Al-Khalil deal is one out of dozens of long-term sales or lease deals concluded by the Orthodox Patriarchate in favor of settlers or Israeli authorities, and this has raised the ire of the Orthodox community in Palestine and Jordan. It has also caused in recent years strong opposition to Patriarch Theophilos. Members of the Orthodox community posted Theophilos is unworthy on social networking sites because of his policy of racism against the Arabs as well as his squandering of church properties and endowments in favor of Israel. The Patriarchate's failure to thwart the Bab al-Khalil deal is to further fuel the communitys anger. The Pentagon is still allowing Turkey to produce components for US F-35 fighter jets, violating a defense law that President Donald Trump signed in December. Unfortunately, Turkish manufacturers are still producing and delivering key components of the aircraft despite the statutory prohibition on such participation in manufacturing line of the program, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and three other senators wrote in a bipartisan letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. We believe more urgency is needed and hope you will accelerate the process to ensure a more prompt removal. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., also signed onto the letter. Why it matters: The United States officially kicked Turkey out of the F-35 co-production program last year over Ankaras purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. Congress included a provision to defund the transfer of F-35s to Turkey and the transfer of Turkish components to the United States as part of last years defense bill. The Pentagon initially said it would wind down Turkish participation in the F-35 supply chain in early 2020, only to extend that deadline through 2022. The four senators accused the Defense Department of impeding our nations diplomatic and geopolitical efforts to pressure Turkey to reverse course. It is clear from these statutes that Congress intended for this transition to take place in a period of months, not a period of years, they wrote. The senators added, Based on recent revelations, it is clear that the Pentagon is not allowing its own timeline or the intent of Congress in this matter. We encourage you to reexamine the present approach and take action to ensure an expedited removal of Turkey from the manufacturing line as required by law. Whats next: Turkey tested the powerful S-400 radar on US-made fighter aircraft last year, but it has delayed fully activating the missile system, citing the coronavirus pandemic. Most recently, Ankara has said it would restrict Russian access to the S-400 batteries upon activation with several notable exceptions, including training. Know more: The Trump administration also appear to have backed off public sanctions threats after Turkey sentenced a US consular employee to nine years in prison, Amberin Zaman reports. Correction: July 7, 2020. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that a US consular employee was sentenced to three decades in prison. He was sentenced to nine years. The US dollar stockpiles of countries have taken on a new importance amid the global economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The turmoil has forced countries to review how they manage the gaps between their assets and liabilities and enact fresh measures. As a result, the adequacy of foreign currency reserves in meeting short-term liabilities has become a closely watched indicator. A report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, offers data comparing central bank reserves to the short-term liabilities of countries. The document an update to the IMF global financial stability report reveals that the reserves of Turkeys central bank are below the adequacy limit. The ratio of foreign currency reserves to short-term liabilities, supposed to be at least 100%, stands at about 80% for Turkey, which is shown in the most fragile group, along with South Africa, Chile and Egypt. In terms of the ratio of external financing requirements, including the current account balance and debts maturing within a year, to gross domestic product, Turkey is again among the most fragile countries, along with Poland and Malaysia. The IMFs reserve adequacy norm is a matter of debate on both the reserves and liabilities legs. The argument standing out in Turkey is that the countrys central bank has grown more fragile in meeting its liabilities, with more than 60% of its reserves relying on currency swap deals, that is, a peg leg. According to central bank data, Turkey has $164.6 billion in debts that will mature within a year. The countrys current account deficit reached $12 billion in the first four months of the year and is likely to hit $30 billion by the year-end. The IMF uses a more complicated formula to calculate the reserve adequacy of central banks. It factors in 30% of short-term external liabilities in the nearest 12 months and 15% of other liabilities as well as 5% of export and services revenues and 5% of broad money supply. According to @VeFinans, a Twitter handle that publishes reliable data on the Turkish economy, the central banks reserve adequacy was 72.6% in April as per IMF criteria, with gross reserves amounting to only $86.3 billion and liabilities standing at $119 billion under the said formula. Turkeys central bank provides no data on reserve adequacy, but releases monthly figures on gross reserves in line with IMF standards. In May, the banks official reserve assets totaled $90.9 billion, a 5.3% increase from $86.3 billion in April. In sub-items, foreign currency reserves increased 5.4% to $52.8 billion and gold reserves rose 5.4% to $36.7 billion. The bank notes that outstanding FX and gold liabilities arising from [the central banks] financial derivative activities with resident and non-resident banks recorded $55.3 billion, of which $20.1 billion is due in one month. This is an important detail as it pertains to sums obtained through currency swaps with foreign central banks and local banking actors. Accordingly, it reveals that more than 60% of reserves have been secured through swaps or financial derivative activities. Turkey has clinched swap deals with China and Qatar and the sum obtained through those deals has been announced as $16 billion. Turkey sought a similar deal with the US Federal Reserve, but to no avail, even though the Fed offered swap lines to other emerging economies such as Brazil and Mexico. Some observers tend to attribute the spurning of Turkey to diplomatic frictions with Washington, but harsh economic realities stand out as the essential reason. Here is why: In mid-March, risk perception at the markets deteriorated and credit lines came to the brink of collapse under the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US dollar liquidity in global markets became extremely scarce, leading the Fed to offer swap facilities to the central banks of the eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada, all key actors in global money flows. The facility was soon extended to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil. The reasons for Turkeys exclusion are not hard to discern. The share of Turkish financial assets in the basket of developing market economies has seen a sharp decline, shrinking to about 0.5%. Ankara has severely squeezed the London lira market to prevent what it sees as speculation by foreign actors to weaken the countrys currency. Among holders of government bonds, the foreigners share has fallen to 6% from about 30%. And US-Turkish trade is worth only about $20 billion, accounting for less than 0.4% of US trade volume. Meanwhile, the central bank is estimated to have used about $70 billion in reserves to prop up the embattled lira in the past 15 months, employing indirect, non-transparent methods via public banks. While the results of those operations have been lackluster, the international media has often sounded alarm over the central banks plunging net reserves. In sum, the central banks failure to get the Feds green light is hardly a surprise. The $16 billion from the swaps with the Chinese and Qatari central banks aside, the remaining $39 billion in transactions have been with local banks. The banks foreign currency deposits at the central bank stood at $54 billion in May, meaning that their on- and off-balance-sheet assets at the central bank totaled $93 billion. This swap-reliant, peg-legged outlook of the central bank involved $55 billion in swap liabilities and $33 billion in net international reserves in May. To describe better the peg leg, one could put it as $22 billion in negative reserves, deducting the swaps from the net international reserves. The way out from such dire straits goes through improving the countrys credibility. And confidence in Turkey depends on political credibility and a sustainable governance system. The executive presidency system, introduced two years ago, has failed to meet those expectations. Turkeys government has signaled that its military intervention on the side of Libyas internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) will deepen, part of a broader campaign to assert dominance in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean and to bolster flagging support at home. President Recep Tayyip Erdogans communications office announced via Twitter late Sunday that Libyas largest airbase, Al Jufra, and the coastal city of Sirte will be among its next targets. Both are controlled by the GNAs Libyan National Army (LNA) foes led by the eastern warlord Khalifa Hifter. It listed seven reasons both targets were strategically important, among them control over oil supply lines, the presence of Russian military aircraft and that of mercenary forces from the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group. The message was clear: Turkey will not be deterred from achieving its goals in the energy-rich country. The tweet followed an air attack on al-Watiya airbase in western Libya, the base wrested by Turkish-backed GNA forces from Hifter in May. Its fall marked the start of the rapid collapse of Hifters 14-month campaign to capture Tripoli. The timing of the raid suggests that the LNAs top allies the UAE, France, Egypt and Russia are not about to back down either. Just hours earlier, Turkeys Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, flanked by the Turkish Chief of Staff Yasar Guler, met with Turkish officers in Libya and inspected a Turkish warship anchored off the Libyan coast. The conventional theory is that the airstrikes were probably carried out by UAE fighter jets, part of an alleged pattern of covert targeting by Emirati drones and aircraft in support of Hifters failed campaign to take Tripoli. The extent of the damage remains unclear. An LNA official claimed nine targets were hit. The Turkish Defense Ministry said some systems had been affected but did not elaborate. Was it a military setback? No. But in terms of principle, it was a huge accomplishment, argued Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya watcher at the Clingandael Institute in The Hague. The idea that the Turks could send their defense minister to Tripoli, to parade there as if it owns the place, to organize meetings with Turkish officers before everybodys eyes, all those things are very provocative, and to have done so before al-Watiya was fully secured all show an extraordinary level of self-assurance, Harchaoui told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. Given its complex nature, the possibility that France provided intelligence for the operation is real, he added. Tensions have been rising between Turkey and its fellow NATO member France over drilling rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and now over Libya, causing more cracks in the Western alliance. France suspended its role in NATOs Operation Sea Guardian after accusing of Turkish warships of targeting its own ship off the Libyan coast on June 10. The Turkish ships were escorting a Tanzanian-flagged cargo vessel that Turkey insists was carrying medical supplies to Libya. The French ship wanted to inspect it to see whether it was carrying arms. Shots were nearly fired by both sides before the French ship retreated. NATO has launched an investigation. Turkey is demanding an apology from France. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu repeated the demand today during a tense news conference with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrel in Ankara today. Cavusoglu accused France of lying about what had happened in the Mediterranean. Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Turkey and Libya and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, aired skepticism over Ankaras version of events. If it was a humanitarian delivery, do you really need three frigates to escort it? he asked. Those interested have satellite imagery of when and where the cargo ship was loaded. It was a cargo of armored vehicles and missiles. Nobody believes the Turkish narrative, he told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. But even as it insists on its neutrality in the Libyan conflict, France has been silently backing the UAE, which in turn has been busting the UN arms embargo on Libya in support of Hifter, for years. The UAE is the ideal Muslim friend for France, argued Harchaoui. It's Arab, it's Sunni, it's rich, willing to spend a lot of money and willing to violate international law. For France, if you attach yourself to the UAE, you attach yourself to success. Hifters humiliating retreat from Triplolitania indicates otherwise, but the war is far from over. The Emiratis are bent on bogging Turkey down the best they can. For France, Libya is of critical importance because of jihadi terrorism in the Sahel region that poses a direct threat to Europe. Turkeys injection of Sunni Syrian rebels-turned-mercenaries into the conflict may help it and Russia get rid of radical elements in Syrias Idlib, but the risk that they may melt into illegal immigrants making their way to Europe is an immediate worry, noted Pierini. Turkey stole a march on its rivals in late November when it signed a maritime deal with Libya establishing an exclusive economic zone from Turkeys southern Mediterranean shore to Libyas northeast coast. In exchange, Turkey agreed to provide military assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood-friendly GNA. The accords signed with Libyas UN-recognized government bestow on Turkish intervention a legitimacy that none of its opponents has. Russia, despite being on the opposite side, has displayed zero interest in openly confronting Turkey and for all its bluster nor has Egypt. Qatar continues to help bankroll Turkey's actions in support of the Muslim Brotherhood across the region. And the lack of US engagement has made Libya a free for all. The regional muscle-flexing is also proving increasingly popular at home. A recent survey by the Ankara-based Metropoll seen by Al-Monitor showed that almost 60% of those polled in June said they support Turkeys military intervention in Libya compared with about only 35% in January. But then the same poll suggested that if elections were held today, Erdogan would get a mere 25% while his Justice and Development Party would garner only 30%, the lowest score since they came to power in 2002. Economic decline marked by rising youth unemployment, the depreciation of the Turkish lira and lower growth, all compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, is the main reason for their sagging popularity. When the economy is in trouble, a show of force is a very good thing, said Pierini. The US military suspects Iran-backed militias in Iraq are responsible for rockets launched on Baghdad International Airport and the citys Green Zone over the 4th of July weekend. A Katyusha rocket was launched at Baghdads airport Sunday night, though no casualties were reported. A US air defense system recently deployed to Baghdad shot down a rocket before dawn on Sunday near the citys Green Zone, which houses the US Embassy. The military tested the counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) system a day earlier, despite objections from Iraqs deputy speaker of parliament. A child suffered a head injury Sunday when his familys home was struck by a rocket launched from Baghdads Ali al-Saleh neighborhood, the Iraqi militarys Security Media Cell said. Iraqs military also said it prevented another rocket attack from the Umm al-Azam area; it was aimed at Camp Taji airbase north of the capital, where US forces are present. The attacks come less than two weeks after newly elected Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered Iraqs Counter-Terrorism forces to raid a PMU headquarters, where they reportedly arrested 14 Kataib Hezbollah members after receiving intelligence of planned attacks on sensitive sites and foreign diplomatic missions. Most of the detainees have been released, but in a rare step, the suspects were charged under Iraqs counterterror laws, according to Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The move has evidently not deterred militia rocket attacks. Sundays latest strike marked the seventh such attack in Baghdad in a month and comes ahead of a renewed round of talks between the United States and Iraq over the future of US forces in the country. The United States retaliated again against five suspected Kataib Hezbollah positions across Iraq in March after two Americans and one UK servicemember were killed in a rocket attack on Camp Taji. A previous strike on Kirkuks K-1 air base killed a US military contractor and wounded others, including Iraqi personnel, leading the United States to retaliate with airstrikes that killed more than two dozen Kataib Hezbollah personnel in December. Head of US Central Command Gen. Frank McKenzie has said killing top Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January has deterred Irans government from launching further direct attacks, but he said Tehrans proxy militias in Iraq are harder to influence. A Satsuma police officer was placed on administrative leave following allegations from a woman who said on social media that he abused his power during a traffic stop. the citys police chief told AL.com Monday. Officer Harvey Roberts was put on leave both because of the womans claims and for his own protection after he received veiled threats in the comments of the womans Facebook post, said Satsuma Police Chief Clint Harrell. Administrative leave gives Satsuma police time to investigate the allegation, Harrell said. Administrative leave should not be construed as any type of punishment or disciplinary action, the chief said. Saraland resident Logan Carter posted Sunday to Facebook about her familys interaction with Roberts, whom she claimed assaulted her and her husband and cursed at them in her mothers driveway after the officer pulled them over. She also alleged Roberts yanked her 3-month-old sons carseat out of her hands while the child was in the carseat. Both Carter and her husband were arrested following the incident for disorderly conduct, although Carter said she and her husband did not do anything improper. The Facebook post has since been taken down. He should NOT have this position, and he needs to be fired immediately. I was honestly scared that he was going to pull a gun on one of us. His behavior was so erratic that it literally scared me what he may do, Carter wrote. He does NOT deserve to be a cop, and he and cops like him are the problem the good police officers are battling today because they are the ones who have this country in an uproar. This man has zero integrity or honor to sit there and repeatedly assault both of us and then wrestle with me over my three month old son. Harrell said police are waiting for Carter to reach out to them before they can proceed with the probe into Roberts. Were still waiting to hear directly from the complainant, and until we do theres not much else to do at this point, he said. Police are investigating allegations that an Alabama prison system employee pulled a gun during an incident in a Chick-fil-A drive-thru. The employee, who hasnt been publicly identified, works at Limestone Correctional Facility, a prison in the Harvest area of Limestone County. A prison system spokeswoman said the employee was placed on mandatory leave today. The incident happened in the drive-thru line at Chick-fil-A on U.S. 72 in Madison on Friday evening, according to a police report. The prison employee allegedly started shouting because someone elses vehicle was not pulling far enough forward in the line, according to a news release from Madison police. The prison worker is accused of showing a gun when the other person got out of the vehicle. At some point the victim got out of the vehicle, but did not approach the suspects vehicle, says the news release from Madison police Major John Stringer. The suspect allegedly displayed a pistol. Stringer said police are investigating the incident, which was reported to police as a possible menacing crime. The city of Madison released the front page of the police report in response to a public records request from AL.com. The front page doesnt identify the prison employee nor the alleged victim. The front page of the report says a juvenile was involved in the incident but the police department declined to clarify whether the alleged victim is a child. The city declined to release the full report. [You can see the front page of the report here or at the bottom of this story] Menacing, a misdemeanor, happens when a person uses physical action and intentionally places or attempts to place another person in fear of imminent serious physical injury, according to Alabama law. Madison police are investigating whether the prison employee should be charged. The MPD will investigate this, as all reported criminal activity, objectively and thoroughly, respecting the rights of all involved, the police department said in its news release. A spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Corrections said the prison system is also investigating the situation. The spokeswoman, Samantha Rose, said swift action has been taken by the department. The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has been made aware of this alleged incident involving an ADOC employee who purportedly brandished a personal firearm inappropriately in a public setting, Rose said in an email to AL.com. She said the employee was put on leave today, and further corrective action is pending the results of our investigation. Citing an ongoing investigation, Rose declined to comment further or answer questions. Updated at 5:13 p.m. with comments from the Alabama Department of Corrections. This is an opinion column. Enough. No, we passed enough a long time ago. Too long ago to really recall. Too many lost lives ago. Too many young lives lost. By our own hand. Now, an 8-year-old boy is gone. An 8-year-old Black boy. An 8-year-old Black boy waiting to go shopping with his mom, stepdad, and two siblings last Friday afternoon. Waiting dutifully for one more person to leave the Childrens Place at the Riverchase Galleria in Hooverabiding precautions in place to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Waiting, so he and his family could enter and buy holiday weekend outfits. Could enter safely. Now, hes gone. Royta Giles Jr., a third-grader at Jonesboro Elementary in Bessemer, was shot in the head. By a scattered bullet from a gun wielded during a shootout instigated by Montez Coleman, law enforcement officials say. By a 22-year-old Black man. On Sunday, they announced that Coleman was charged with felony capital murder (along with other charges stemming from shooting injuries to three other people, including a juvenile girl). Coleman was said to be beefing with others near the food court when he fired towards them with a 5.56 caliber pistol concealed in a backpack. They fired back. Seconds later Giles was fighting for his life. More shooters are still being sought, law enforcement officials said. The capital charge stems from Giles being younger than 14. There is no easy word to describe it anymore. To describe the killing after killing after killing perpetrated by young Black men most often against another young Black man. Too often, a Black child is caught in the deadly crossfire. Innocent and overflowing with life in one moment, lifeless the next. Taleayah Stafford, 4 years old. RonNarius Duke Austin, just 2. Jurnee Coleman, 4. Tanarious Moore, 5. Royta Giles. Jr., 8. Say their names, too. Those were our children, Birmingham. We are not alone in this. A 7-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy were among 13 people killed in Chicago over the July 4 holiday weekend. In Atlanta, an 8-year-old girl was killed in crossfire as her mother tried to pull out of a package store parking lot. A 6-year-old boy in San Francisco died from a gunshot wound on Saturday night. In Southeast Washington, D.C., a group of Black men began shooting and killed an 11-year-old boy on his way to a cookout. The boys grandfather is involved in numerous antiviolence efforts. He pleaded for the shooters to come forward. You know whats going on! Speak up! Stop being scared, he said to a local television state as tears flowed. No easy word. Weve used senseless too many times. Tragic doesnt even begin anymore. Sick was how I felt when I head Giles had died. Sick in the pit of my gut. Sick in my heart. And madmad as hell. Im not the only one. Far from it. Weve got to be just as outraged when one of our own kills one of our own as we are when someone else does it, says Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, whose office on Saturday night issued the warrant for Coleman and will prosecute the case. People have the right to be in public places without fear of being shot. People have to be held accountable when they take these guns and use them inappropriately. There is too much of that. Its got to stop! Its got to stop! Weve heard that cry-- Its got to stop too many times, havent we? From too many grieving mothers and fathers, too many grieving siblings, relatives, and friends. From too many anguished preachers and frustrated public officials. From too many Black people. We passed too many a long time ago, fam. A long time ago. In 2001, Carrs younger brother, 18-year-old Jackstine Dannard Hunter, was found shot to death two days after being kidnapped. His car was found near his burned body, the cars rims taken. As DA, Carr has prosecuted more young Black men than he can recount. Young Black men much like those who killed his brother. It weighs on you, he says. You have a job to do and you do it. We will continue to hold people responsible based on the facts and the law. We will not waiver and we will remain diligent in our pursuit of justice for all. At the same time, because I understand the conditions these young men come from and having lost my little brother to violence, I also work to find ways to prevent young Black males from finding themselves in a courtroom or being in a casket. I see so many young black males making decisions that change their lives forever and end other lives. Its no fun openly airing our angst and anger our family issues. Especially now, when some (yall know who you are) seek to use it against us, to distract us from and dim the national awakening to decades of racial inequity and social injustice. To diminish Black Lives Matter. Even as whites kill whites at almost the same rate Blacks kill Blacks83.5 percent vs 90.1, per the FBIs 2016 stats. Because most crime is perpetrated among people who know each other and most often within proximity to each other. A few who reached out to me after Fridays shooting were sickeningly gleeful (yall know who you are) while a mother mourned the death of her young son. While the rest of us were hurting. While we were sick. While, yes, the outrage boiled inside us. Just as it does when any among us is killed by another. Especially when our children die. We, unlike some (yeah, yall know), understand the systemic conditions that lead to desperate decisions, to violencejust as they do in other places drained of jobs, of well-funded schools, of healthy lifestyle options. Of hope. Still, we have work to do, fam. Lots of it. We know it, and many, many, many among us (along with many sincere allies) work tirelessly every day as mentors, as conveners, as an ear or shoulderwhatever is neededin programs (some of which have been shut in recent months by the battle to stem the spread of COVID-19) based in churches, schools, the Birmingham Police Department, and numerous non-profit entities. Programs augmented with the prayer that one young Black person will be prevented from making a decision that will change their life forever. Or end another. They matter. As does the movement. We will not be deterred. From either. A voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond), Roys column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj Decatur police are investigating after a juvenile died after being shot during the early morning hours of July 4. At 1:34 a.m. July 4, Decatur police responded to Decatur-Morgan Hospital on a report of a shooting in the area. After arriving at the hospital, police determined the shooting happened near 18th Avenue and Locust Street Southeast. The victim was treated for a gunshot wound at Decatur-Morgan Hospital. Police said the victim is a minor, but did not provide the persons age. After treatment at Decatur-Morgan Hospital, the victim was transported to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where the victim later died, police said. While no suspect has been arrested, persons of interest have been developed in the case. The Decatur Police Department is working vigilantly to pursue all active leads in the case, police said in a statement. Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Det. Joshua Daniell at 256-341-4644 or by email at jdaniell@decatur-al.gov. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Monday nearly $100 million in federal coronavirus aid will be made available to support student learning at K-12 schools and state colleges and universities. Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey said all of the $48.8 million Ivey received through the federal Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund will be awarded to the Alabama State Department of Education. Mackey said the application process to distribute the funds among school districts is still under development. The new reality we now face requires investments in hardware, software, broadband capabilities, electronic content, and professional development the likes of which we have never seen before, Mackey said. We dont know what the future holds, but it is our responsibility to prepare for as many scenarios as we can. The total K-12 allocation will be divided among the following four priorities: $10 million to equip all school buses with WiFi capabilities to increase internet connectivity to help bridge the digital divide, $4 million to improve remote learning opportunities by providing digital textbook and library resources for all students, $26 million to provide additional academic support to bridge learning and achievement gaps, and $9 million to support intensive before and after school tutoring resources for learning and remediation in schools. I am pleased to invest in our states greatest asset our students, Ivey said. As we respond and adapt to COVID-19, we must ensure that our local school districts and institutions of higher education receive necessary support and provide our students full access to their educational opportunities. Closing school during the pandemic disproportionately impacts students who are already struggling, and it is our obligation to provide as much stability and access possible in these uncertain times. Related: Reopening Alabamas K-12 schools: Here are the plans Colleges and universities could receive up to $50 million of the $1.9 billion in federal CARES Act funding for Alabama, the announcement stated, through submission of requests for reimbursement for coronavirus-related expenditures. The funds for colleges are in addition to federal aid distributed in April, when Alabamas 50 public and private colleges and universities shared $184 million in federal CARES Act aid. Alabama Commission on Higher Education Director Jim Purcell said he supports Iveys distribution of aid for institutes of higher education. The financial assistance for higher education will aid individual institutions in addressing their specific needs, Purcell said. Ivey announced last week the state will use $30 million in federal COVID relief funding to expand coronavirus testing on college campuses, and to lay the groundwork for having students and faculty return to campus. Related: Alabama college enrollment will be impacted by coronavirus, official says Updated: 7:10 p.m. to include State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackeys comments. An off-duty police detective in Alabama was fatally shot on Monday. Montgomery police and Fire Medics found Montgomery Detective Tanisha Pughsley, 27, with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a shooting in the city, Montgomery Police Capt. Saba Coleman told the Montgomery Advertiser. Pughsley was pronounced dead at the scene, the City of Montgomery said in a news release. Authorities said her death appears to be connected to a domestic incident, but did not release more detail about the shooting. Detective Pughsley answered the call to serve, defend and protect our city, Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed said in the news release. We stand today with her family, friends, colleagues and all who loved her, praying for comfort, peace and healing during this tragic time. Pughsley had been employed with the Montgomery Police Department since 2016. President Trump is criticizing NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace over claims a noose was left in his garage at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. In a Monday morning tweet, the president asked if Wallace had apologized over the incident. "Has Bubba Wallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!" Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020 Trumps comments are in regard to a June incident where a Wallace crew member reported a rope tied like a noose in the drivers garage. Wallace, a Black driver, had earlier led the push for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its tracks and facilities. A later investigation by federal authorities found the rope was a garage door pull that had been there since at least October 2019. In a statement, NASCAR said while it determined Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime, the racing organization remained steadfast in our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing. In his own statement, Wallace said he was relieved the investigation revealed no hate crime had been committed. Authorities have released the name of a man killed in a Friday-afternoon shooting in Birmingham. The Jefferson County Coroners Office on Monday identified the victim as Robert Ezell Smith. He was 27. Officers from the South Precinct responded at 1:36 p.m. to 47th Street and 9th Terrace North on a call of a person shot. When they arrived on the scene, they found Smith lying on the ground with apparent gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin. Smith was taken by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. Mauldin said the preliminary investigation suggests an exchange of words occurred between the victim and the suspect prior to Smith being shot. Shortly after, the suspect surrendered by turning himself in. Police have not yet announced formal charges. Smith is Birminghams 58th homicide so far this year. Of those, eight have been ruled justifiable and one accidental and therefore are not deemed criminal. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 86 homicides, including the 58 in Birmingham. A 22-year-old man has been charged in Fridays horrific shootout inside the Riverchase Galleria that left an 8-year-old boy dead and three others injured. Police said more suspected gunmen are sought. The Jefferson County District Attorneys Office Saturday night issued a capital murder warrant against Montez Coleman in the slaying of Royta Giles Jr., Hoover police announced Sunday. Coleman is also charged in the wounding of a juvenile girl, an adult male and an adult female, all innocent bystanders when a gunfire erupted July 3 near the food court on the first floor of the states largest mall. Here's the latest on the child killed at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover on Friday. What's the latest on the child killed at the Riverchase Galleria on Friday? AL.com's Carol Robinson talks about one suspect who has been charged, and the others police are looking for. Posted by al.com on Monday, July 6, 2020 Our community is heartbroken,' said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. The officers who were on the scene will forever bear the image of an innocent child who died in their arms. Hoover police and fire medics responded to the Galleria at about 3:18 p.m. Friday after the Hoover 911 center received multiple calls of shots fired inside the mall. Responding officers located three victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Two victims were transported to Childrens Hospital and the third victim was transported to UAB Hospital. A fourth victim drove himself to American Family Care and was transported to UAB Hospital. Were live at the Hoover Police Operations Center for a press conference providing an update on the July 3 shooting at Riverchase Galleria. Posted by The Birmingham News on Sunday, July 5, 2020 Royta, shot in the head, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Childrens. Police said the three other victims were all treated and released Friday evening. As additional officers arrived on the scene, they were alerted to a male with a firearm running through the parking deck of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. That suspect has now been identified as Coleman. He was taken into custody without incident. The investigation has determined Coleman got into a verbal argument with a group of males on the first level of the mall, near the food court. During the argument, the suspect brandished a 5.56 caliber handgun - an AR pistol - concealed in a backpack and fired at the other males, Derzis said. Several of them were armed with handguns and immediately returned fire. Police have not said publicly who fired the shots that struck Royta and the other victims. At least three people fired guns. It was over in a matter of seconds,' said Lt. Keith Czeskleba. It was literally that quick. All we can say is thank God more people werent hurt because those bullets were flying through that mall,' Derzis said. Its incredible that more people werent hurt. When the gunfight was over, Royta lay critically wounded in the entrance to Childrens Place with a gunshot wound to the head. He and his family were preparing to buy outfits for the Fourth of July holiday. His mother spoke to AL.com hours after the shooting. We heard the gunshots and I grabbed them, and we hit the ground,' she said. When we all got up, he was the only one who didnt get up. First responders provided what aid they could on the scene and then rushed the boy to Childrens of Alabama, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. A Hoover police officer posted this about the ordeal on Facebook: I responded to a shots fired call inside the galleria. With out thinking I activated my lights and sirens, I was only 5 blocks away. Another officer and I arrived on scene at the same time. I quickly ran into the danger not thinking of anything but the innocents inside that were in danger. As I was walking through the building checking for the danger I noticed a sweet beautiful baby boy laying on the floor hurt and it was bad. I quickly jumped into action Schylur you have to save this baby as I sat there holding him treating him with the first aid I knew. I did my best I tried my best the medics finnaly got there after what seamed forever. I am sorry my sweet angel Im sorry that the evil In the world found you. You will always be with me. To his parents I am so sorry that this has happened. Royta Giles Jr you fly high dude. For all those that think us cops dont have a heart you are wrong I am devastated, crushed. In addition to capital murder, Coleman is also charged with three counts of second-degree assault. He was transported Sunday afternoon to the Jefferson County Jail where he will be held without bond. Court records dont reflect any previous criminal history for Coleman. Detectives are working to identify the others involved in this case. Investigators say they believe they were together in a group of five. Police said they have developed some leads, but are asking for the publics help and, on Sunday, released surveillance photos. To you that are watching, if you see your picture, please call us,' Derzis said. Because if you dont call us, were coming to see you. The Riverchase Galleria has remained closed since the shooting. Roytas killing is one of four there since the Galleria opened its doors on Feb. 19, 1986. Royta had just finished the second grade at Jonesboro Elementary School in Bessemer. Family members said he was energetic, always smiling and had wanted to be a rapper. To the people who did this, if I could say anything to them, its I dont care about justice or anything like that,' his mother said. I wouldnt say Im religious, I would say Im more spiritual, and the person who did this is going to have to answer for that whether it is to whoever they pray to or if its the streets. This one hits home,' she said. They took a good one. The galleria has been the scene of several high-profile shootings in the past few years. Emantic Fitzgerald EJ Bradford Jr. was shot and killed Thanksgiving night 2018 inside the Galleria by a police officer who was responding to a shooting. The shooting set off a wave of protests. State officials later announced the unnamed Hoover police officer was justified in the fatal shooting. Police have said Bradford was likely not the person who fired the shots that injured two others there. On June 26, 2019, Hoover police and firefighters responded about 1:30 p.m. to the fifth floor of the North Parking Deck. When they arrived, they found 20-year-old Zachariah Taylor Music, the son of a former Birmingham police officer, inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene. You know, senseless violence is not limited to the Riverchase Galleria or Hoover, Alabama,' the mayor said. This type of incident is something were seeing across the nation. Its really become a commentary on our society as a whole. Im confident our police department will find those who are responsible, and we will bring them to justice. Royta is Hoovers second homicide of the year. Roytas family is devastated. Please pray for them,' Derzis said. Id also ask you to pray for the other three victims, that theyre able to make a full recovery. A child died because people to chose to settle a verbal argument by firing guns at each other in a crowded mall,' Derzis said. Were not going to be satisfied until all of those responsible for this tragedy are held accountable. Anyone with information is asked to call: the Hoover Police 911 Center, 205-822-5300; Sgt. Matt Savage 205-739-6780 or Sgt. Daniel Lowe, 205-739-6762. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous and qualify for a cash reward can call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Updated at 5:44 p.m to correct the spelling of the suspects first name. And at 5:50 p.m. to correct his age. In an episode of the BBC series Victoria, set during the 1854 cholera outbreak in the working class neighborhood of Soho in London, John Snow, a local physician, recorded the number of cases by marking the unlucky houses with a pencil on a map. It was, in effect, a 19th century version of contact tracing. He was looking for a pattern to find the source of the invisible epidemic devastating the West End of London. After much cross correlation, he discovered the source of the illness was a contaminated well on Broad Street the neighborhood shared. Today, as cases of COVID-19 escalate at an alarming rate across the country and here in Alabama, our modern-day contaminated watering holes are the recently opened bars and restaurants. At the beginning of the stay at home order, alcohol sales skyrocketed as people drank to ease their fears and stress while sheltering in place and perhaps because their favorite restaurants and bars were closed. During the first month of the lockdown, online alcohol sales jumped 233% according to Nielsen. CNN reports alcohol sales have increased 27% over the past three months. Compared to the same period last year, Wine Business notes sales for spirits have risen 32%, wine 27%, while beer sales are up 17% This past Memorial Day Weekend, Americans spent $1 billion on beer. As states reopen, people are understandably starved for social connection and desperate to go somewhere besides home to have a drink. But You cant drink and wear a mask, a bar patron told the al.com reporter interviewing several Alabamians who had ventured back to their favorite watering holes. People drink for a number of different reasons, but one reason is to loosen inhibitions. Sipping cocktails in the intimate, closed space of a bar allows people to let their guard down. Drinking, as we know, affects our behavior, and often not in a good way. As Laura McKowen points out in her book, We Are the Luckiest, drinking is so normalized in our culture, its the only drug we have to explain why were not using. The word alcohol is derived from the Arabic word al ghoul, which translates into body eating spirit. On one end of the spectrum, a pale ale or a glass of wine relaxes us and makes us more agreeable. Sometimes though, you have a few drinks and the next thing you know, youre saying, Hold my beer and watch this before you head to the hospital. To say alcohol impairs our judgment is an understatement. Beyond the risky behavior, though, is something far more important as far as this virus is concerned. Alcohol damages the body, every organ in fact. It suppresses the immune system, and right now, we all need to be boosting our immune systems with what we ingest and how we behave. I quit drinking three years ago when I faced a health crisis. I needed to avoid the sugar, which is essentially what a glass of wine is. I also realized when my family dined out, I looked forward to the glass of Chardonnay more than the food. I had to reassess my habits in light of what was best for my health and those around me. The threat of a disease shook me to my senses. Like the nobles in Edgar Allen Poes short story Masque of the Red Death, I live in a community where exceptionalism is the rule as the young gather in bars and families and friends gather at lake houses in high spirits with spirits even during a pandemic. In Poes story, Prince Prospero retreats with 1,000 other nobles to an abbey in the country to avoid being exposed to a plague called the Red Death. There they conduct business as usual and hold a masquerade ball. A mysterious guest dressed as the Red Death shows up infecting the guests who all die. Poe understood human nature and our ability to be deceived and seduced by our addictions to our own habits and illusions. In real life, during the 14th century bubonic Plague in Italy, the well-off escaped to their country homes to entertain, as the wealthy thought they were immune to the fate of the less fortunate. As Birmingham attorney Frank McPhillips points out in his recent essay on the website The Comeback Town, here in Jefferson County, the rates of infection for the virus are actually higher in the so called Over the Mountain suburbs. As McPhillips says, An inescapable conclusion from this data is that the coronavirus makes no distinction between black and white America, or urban and suburban America but does distinguish between responsible vs. irresponsible America. Smart policy promoting responsible behavior saves lives. Hes referencing specifically the mask wearing requirement the city put in place that the suburbs didnt. Jefferson County has rectified the situation and made mask wearing a requirement. During the cholera epidemic when John Snow discovered the real source of the disease wasnt miasma, an invisible airborne infection, he convinced Queen Victoria to shut down the Broad Street well. Until the cholera outbreak was brought under control, that move was quite unpopular. But ultimately thats what government is for to make often unpopular decisions for the communitys well- being. It seems unlikely our pandemic will be brought under control until state and federal government takes more decisive steps, even if theyre unpopular. Thats called leadership. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Every spring, with the congratulations and recollections for the senior class, principals often add one more piece of advice in advance of graduation: Remember to celebrate responsibly. While traditionally a caution against drinking and driving, in a pandemic, that advice has taken on a whole new meaning. In at least a half-dozen states, health officials have traced coronavirus clusters to high school and college graduations. In several of those outbreaks, school and district leaders found that their creative efforts to provide a virus-safe ceremony may have been thwarted by students and guests abandoning social distancing rules soon afterwards. Christine Ackerman, the superintendent of the Chappaqua school district in New York, said in a statement that her district planned with the local health department and repeatedly provided clear guidance and protocols for families on how to stay safe and socially distant during the graduation ceremony for Horace Greeley High School, held at Chappaqua train station in New York. Unfortunately, at the event, and despite police presence, numerous individuals failed to follow our protocols. On the weekend of June 20, a student returned from a visit to Florida to attend the commencement, followed by days of private parties and a large, multi-community graduation celebration called Field Night that included juniors and seniors from Horace Greeley and surrounding schools. That student became the first of a still-expanding cluster of at least 19 coronavirus cases in Westchester County, N.Y., prompting investigations from the state board of health and concern from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Westchester is far from alone. In the last week, fully half of the new coronavirus cases in Lane County, Ore., have come from a 20-person cluster following a college graduation and another 11-person cluster following high school graduations . High school graduation is a uniquely special time in young peoples lives. ... Unfortunately for our graduating seniors and their families, this year is different, Ackerman said. A global pandemic is disrupting our lives in ways we could never have imagined, and we all must work together to contain it. Off-Campus Parties a Problem Thousands of high schools nationwide have been planning creative and often elaborate means to safely honor their seniors, from hologram diploma hand-offs to ski-lift commencements , but the most carefully thought through graduation wont prevent the spread of the virus if students and families dont follow schools safety rules at the ceremony or go stop socially distancing afterward. In both the New York outbreak and another following post-graduation house parties in New Orleans , witnesses told health officials that students packed inside private homes without masks. The Crescent Citys Health Director, Jennifer Avegno, said in a news conference that these private parties are becoming super-spreader events in a city struggling to contain new outbreaks. In Atlanta, the independent Lovett School honored seniors with a car parade in mid-May, but several students tested positive for COVID-19 in the days that followed. Courtney Fowler, a spokeswoman for the school, said Lovett later learned about several social gatherings after the parade, but did not know whether guests at the off-campus events followed any health recommendations. We strongly encouraged families of the graduates diagnosed with COVID-19 to work with the Fulton County Department of Health and their own health-care professionals, she said. Lovett postponed its planned in-person graduation to July 30, and Fowler said the school is monitoring local virus conditions to make sure they will be able to hold a live event. Careful planning and clear messaging during the ceremony itself can help send a strong message about playing it safe during the pandemic, as schools continue to look for ways to provide memorable commencements. New York health department spokesman Evan Frost said schools should make sure that no one who has had symptoms, a positive test, or who has potentially been exposed to someone with coronavirus participate in or attend any graduation events. Health officials also noted that leaders should be cautious of anyone who will be involved with a school celebration, not just those directly interacting with students. In Minnesota, for example, staff members at a graduation were exposed to the coronavirus by a presymptomatic person who was helping to set up the stage before the ceremony. A handful of other schools have also had to warn new graduates to self-quarantine for individual positive coronavirus cases, even those that did not lead to outbreaks. Only days after a successful socially distanced racetrack graduation at the Homestead/Miami Speedway, Christopher Columbus High School Principal Pugh spiked a mild fever that turned out to be COVID-19. Pugh immediately went into isolation and relayed the news of his illness to the graduates of the all-boys school, where he had been one of the staff members passing diplomas to seniors as they drove past. Earlier this week, he sent a video to his students to let them know he was on the mend and urge them to protect themselves as they begin to go out: Photo: Principal Vance Fishback holds a diploma to presnt to graduates of the class of 2020 from Cabarrus Early College of Technology at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a graduation event in Concord, N.C., Friday, June 12, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic Cabarrus County schools participated in a first-of-its-kind commencement ceremony for students and family. Source: Gerry Broome/AP Tens of thousands of rescue workers in Japan have been searching through the wreckage of houses shattered by deadly floods and landslides in a desperate search for survivors amid a rising death toll and looming torrential rain. Nearly 40 people are feared dead after record rains lashed areas of southwestern Japan in the early hours of Saturday, causing rivers to break banks and flooding low-lying regions. Although the rain has subsided from its peak levels, the floods washed away roads and bridges, leaving many in isolated communities cut off. Emergency services, aided by people in rafts, managed to rescue about 50 staff and residents from a nursing home facility, bringing them to safety by boat. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a non-compulsory evacuation order for hundreds of thousands of residents in Kumamoto and neighbouring Kagoshima prefectures. Up to 250mm of rain is expected in the 24-hour period through Tuesday morning in the southern part of Kyushu Island, which includes areas hit hard by the flooding, the agency said. Japan is currently in the middle of its annual rainy season which frequently delivers deadly floods and landslides. The fine white dust that shrouds much of his northern Myanmar village also covers sculptor Chin Win as he leans over a half-finished Buddha statue. We are blessed to carve Buddha, he said at his stone workshop surrounded by the seven white hills that give Sagyin village its name, which means marble in Burmese. For generations, artisans in this part of Buddhist-majority Myanmar have carved out a living from the marble, fashioning mostly colossal Buddha statues to be sold in the nearby city of Mandalay or exported to neighbouring China and Thailand. Many of the several thousand villagers here earn a modest living from the marble mines, hauling the slabs down the hill, carving them into statues, or exporting them overseas. Burmese marble, which ranges from pure white to bluish grey, is prized for its hardness and texture. A 45-tonne slab can sell for $40,000. In Sagyin, specks of the stone are used for everything from brushing teeth to washing clothes. We grew up breathing the dust, said Chin Win, 35, who has been carving statues since he was 11 years old. We use it as toothpaste, for soap powder, lipstick. The stone used to be chiselled by hand. Now, much of the work is done with machines. I was born in this village and for generations, this is what we have done: the men work on marble carving and the women work in the marble mines or polish the marble statues, said 25-year-old Mya Lay, in a house fashioned from dry bamboo sheets, with a floor made of marble chippings. For years, she has walked down from the mines from morning till sunset carrying large marble slabs on her head, laborious work for about $3.50 a day. If I could I would leave the village and find a job in the city, she said, adding that she wanted a better life for her daughter. Some fear the clouds of dust that cloak the village could make them sick. Inhaling marble dust in other contexts has been linked to silicosis, a serious lung disease that can be deadly. Few workers wear masks or other protective clothing, and several nursed rasping coughs, although they said the coughing could also be the result of smoking. Kyi Khaing, a workshop owner, said most residents are too poor to worry about their health. I think the marble dust is not safe, but most people here only focus on survival, rather than their healthcare, he said. A bigger worry is the impact of the novel coronavirus, which originated in China late last year and has since spread globally, infecting more than 10.4 million people. Myanmar has reported only 299 cases of the virus, and six deaths, but trade with China, which buys most of Sagyins statues, has been hit. The closure of the border between the two countries has meant Kyi Khaing, 49, has been unable to export his wares. The finished products are just sitting still, he said. I havent been able to deliver them anywhere. The buyers stopped coming as well. Still, Kyi Khaing thinks some things in Sagyin will remain constant. I believe until I die we will still have marble here, he said. Anywhere you dig, there are marble stones. Yesterday, my heart broke. Thus began my Facebook post the day after the National Readathon in Ghana on June 13. Dubbed a Festival of Nine authors, the readathon was my introduction into the Ghanaian literary scene. Although I had participated in literary festivals on the continent, appeared on radio and television in several countries, I had never participated in anything of this magnitude in Ghana. Recently returned to my native country after more than two decades in the US, I was thrilled. Ghana was home. Like other writers around the world, when the pandemic swept over us, we felt our walls collapse on us. Literary festivals, our social outlets, were cancelled. Determined to fight isolation and inspire our communities, Afrolit Sans Frontieres was born, the first-ever virtual festival. As we entertained audiences with light passages from our books, virtual festivals would pop up worldwide, including the National Readathon of Ghana. Almost three weeks before the event, we had watched in horror a policemans knee pressed down on George Floyds neck, watched George reduced to a child calling for his mother as the life seeped out of him. Across the Atlantic, my Afrolit Sans Frontieres family had felt his death so keenly we had published a letter condemning it, and in support of Black Lives Matter. Even so, I felt relieved to be in Ghana, away from white people who reduced my humanity in micro ways, who clutched their purses and fled from sharing a supermarket aisle with me. I lived in a country where I was madamed, judged only by my personality and not by my skin. Safe. I was on the other side of the ocean, basking in the adoration of family and colleagues. What was more, I was going to read to Ghana in the National Readathon for the very first time. I was so excited I showered an hour beforehand. Funny how one prepares for an online event. I mean, who was going to smell me? Still, I dabbed on perfume before selecting a Ghanaian print blouse made by my seamstress, a squatter who lives in a shack across from my house. She was thrilled I had given her a job during these hard times. I promised to give her more fabrics to sew if I looked good on screen. I checked the time. I was five minutes late. My skin prickled. In the time it took me to log onto Zoom, the moderator had already introduced Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng, a popular Ghanaian author and fellow returnee from the US. The site thrummed. Apart from Ghanaians, audiences had logged in from the US, Canada, Australia, Asia and Europe. I recognised Afrolit members including founder Zukiswa Wanner, Goethe Gold Medal Recipient, and Leye Adenle, author of Easy Motion Tourist. Messages flashed across my phone. James Murua, Africas premier literary blogger, texted to confirm where more people could watch. After Rodney read, the moderator was asking a question when a sound bomb exploded. At first, it seemed someones radio had erupted accidentally but we were quickly proven wrong. Country music blared, discordant. Insults flittered across the screen. American voices, mostly male, chattered like disturbed monkeys, some shouting n*****, others unintelligible. Osama bin Ladens picture exploded onto the scene, a death to blacks symbol. And then a middle-aged white male popped into a frame, standing full-frontal naked, jacking off into the camera, his eyes aglow behind his glasses, his voice a conquering thrill. As fast as the host tried muting, more frames shifted before us. Stunned, I looked away. A text to my phone urged me to log off. We all did. The organisers, DAkpabli Publishers, supplied new passwords and we started over. Author Rodney was attempting to answer a question when a loud crackle crashed through. An American male voice shouted, Shut the f*** up, Rodney! No one wants to hear from you! Then it was a mass of voices chattering again while R&B played this time, voices chanting n*****, n*****, n*****, a message flashing: Kill all N******. One chat message, captured on video by Leye Adenle, said: Everyone kill all blacks. Once again, we logged off. This time we moved to StreamYard and were able to have a successful event, grateful to those who followed the live stream on Facebook. I got through the readings, stumbling over my words but recovering towards the end. When it was all over, I folded into myself, mistrustful of the world. Even far away in Africa, white hate had found me. Feeling assaulted, I took to my bed and stayed there for most of the following day, the hateful words chanting in my ears, the jacking man flashing pink before me. In my nightmare that night, an American policeman chased me, his gun drawn. Even when I managed to lock myself up in my room, I saw him go after a male author friend. I snapped awake before anything bad happened. Now I know that I cannot escape racism. It comes to me vicariously through cable TV, taunts me with hatred or jacks at me with glee. What should have been a joyful celebration of the arts turned ugly. It is a psychological assault. The question I keep asking myself is this: Who are the perpetrators, and who is letting this terrorism persist? As of May 30, Zoom supposedly upgraded their software to prevent such a bombing from happening, and the readathon organisers have a paid, corporate account, so we are at a loss to explain why this happened. How could white supremacists hack us even after we used passwords? The organisers reached out to Zoom and received an automatically generated we-will-look-into-it response. Nothing more. Since the assault, people have reached out to me, including Mary Karr, author of the bestselling memoir, The Liars Club. It turns out she, too, has been subjected to men sending her naked pictures. Although hers was not racially motivated, the effect was the same. The intention is to reduce you to filth. As I tossed about on my bed talking to a cousin who had lived with racism throughout his life in the UK, I thought about the power of the written word. It occurred to me the only way to fight scum is to expose it to light and scour it. I cannot process hate. But we will not, must not be destroyed by it. We have to continue creating and empowering ourselves. Two days after the assault, I wrote a new Facebook post: They did not. Will not erase us. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. With its push into social commerce ahead of its IPO, ByteDance is stepping into territory so far controlled by Jack Ma. The last year has been one of the most trying in the history of the city of Lake Charles. Two hurricanes, including a Category 4, a major flood and a winter storm put the city on its heels. But local high school athletes dug in to win 11 state championships this school year. Lloyd Marcus's "The Source of BLM's Super-Power" concludes, "But most of all, BLM's demands are evil. Everyday Americans must say, 'No!' putting an end to BLM's takeover of America immediately." This article gives everybody it reaches the power to send BLM, along with its political, academic, and corporate supporters, crashing down in total ruin. This material, all of which readers and other interested parties can verify independently from the links you don't have to take my word for it also has the potential to demolish the credibility of ActBlue, the Democrats' key fundraising organization, and the left-leaning Thousand Currents organization. This material is, to be quite blunt, what Kryptonite is to Superman, Valyrian Steel is to the White Walkers in Game of Thrones, and a cross is to Dracula. The issue consists simply of BLM's apparent misuse of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt money to influence the November election. An inaccurate story has been circulating to the effect that Black Lives Matter is working with ActBlue to launder money that goes to Democratic candidates. Open Secrets explains, "A donation to BLM through ActBlue goes just to BLM, not any other group." ActBlue is itself not 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, so there's nothing more to see here, is there, folks? There is actually plenty to see, and the real truth is far worse than the debunked rumor. While ActBlue is not 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, therefore it has considerable leeway about what it does with its money, ActBlue Charities, which accepts donations for the Black Lives Global Network (the entity that apparently controls Blacklivesmatter.com) is. Thousand Currents, which is BLM's fiscal sponsor, also is 501(c)(3) tax-exempt. BLM is openly using its website to campaign against President Trump. Web pages hosted by ActBlue Charities and Thousand Currents also attack Trump, so these entities will have trouble saying "we did not know." We need to clarify before we proceed that BLM Global Network is emphatically not BLM Foundation, the noncontroversial organization founded by Robert Ray Barnes. BLM Global Network is represented at BlackLivesMatter.com, the same website linked by Thousand Currents and which collects donations via ActBlue Charities. The fact that the first Google result for "Black Lives Matter Foundation" links to BLM Global Network's About page* suggests to me that the latter organization is using the name of Barnes's organization to mislead internet users into visiting BlackLivesMatter.com instead and possibly donate money under the mistaken belief that they are supporting Barnes's far less controversial organization. This tells me plenty, and nothing good, about the ethics of BLM Global Network. For the purpose of further discussion, "BLM" means BLM Global Network and not BLM Foundation. 501(c)(3) Money Cannot be Used to Influence an Election The Internal Revenue Service says, "All 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from participating in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate running for public office." While the corporations that are supporting BLM can under some circumstances seek to influence elections, they need to ask about how they and their brands will look to customers, employees, and investors when this story about how BLM is using tax-exempt support goes viral. BLM Global Network is Openly Campaigning against Trump 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations are permitted to discuss issues of public interest, but they are not permitted to try to influence any election. BLM is trying to do exactly that, and it is not even being subtle about it. "Black Lives Matter Global Networks Statement Regarding Michael Cohens Testimony," hosted at blacklivesmatter.com, says in part, "[W]e are reminded that the 2020 election is around the corner. We can make our voices heard by voting this Administration out of office." "In Response to the State of the Union" says in part, "Like a Nazi trying to hide a neck tatoo [sic], Trump shows his true colors whenever he shifts aimlessly from empty platitude to veiled threat." Other pages on the BLM website also criticize Trump, but these are not (my opinion) as blatant at those cited above. Here is a CNN video in which BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who appears to be speaking on behalf of BLM Global Networks rather than herself, says openly that the group intends to campaign against Trump and therefore in favor of Biden, even if it doesn't mention him. "[W]e are going to push for is a move to get Trump out[.] ... Our goal is to get Trump out." I infer from this evidence (my opinion) the situation depicted in the figure below. If this is in fact the situation, then BLM and its associates, including its supporters in the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party and also its corporate supporters, are looking at an imminent, inevitable, and probably catastrophic public relations debacle. ActBlue Charities' and Thousand Currents' Own Roles While there is no proof that ActBlue Charities and Thousand Currents know that BLM Global Network was using its website, and therefore their support, to influence the presidential election, they cannot deny knowledge of the material they have hosted on their own websites. Thousand Currents appears to have taken down, in the June time frame, pages that disparage Trump. The most egregious is however still available here, and it says, "If we stand opposed to this president and administration, it is incumbent upon us to support and be in solidarity with struggles being led by oppressed communities[.] ... This administration is a failure." ActBlue Charities and I made sure I selected only pages that cite 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as opposed to ActBlue pages that say explicitly that donations to the listed causes are not tax-deductible has several pages that look like problematic uses of tax-exempt money. Bayley's Fundraising Page for Organizing to Win: Building Racial Justice with White Poor and Working Class Communities, cites 501(c)(3) status and begins, "If were going to successfully stop Trump, fight global racial inequality ..." Sponsor the #JewishResistance at AIPAC says, "Those of us opposing Trump are the true majority in this country." The bottom of the page cites ActBlue Charities and tax-deductible status. Ru's IfNotNow Fundraising Page says, "Particularly living under Trumps presidency, the connection between an unquestioning support for Israel (without a genuine regard for the real interests of Jews) and white supremacist values has become crystal clear to the public." These are but three of many examples, and you can find more yourself with a Google search on site:ActBlue.com and "Trump." Be sure, however, to pay attention to only the pages that say "ActBlue Charities" and cite 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status at the bottom. ActBlue also has a non-tax-exempt arm that has far more leeway as to what it can do to influence an election. Widespread publicity for these issues should collapse the Democrat left's center of gravity to deliver an electoral landslide in November. "Woke" virtue-signaling corporations that have supported BLM Global Network will scramble desperately to pretend that they never heard of it. Civis Americanus is the pen name of an American Thinker contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. * You may have to copy and paste hyperlinks to blacklivesmatter.com into your browser to get them to work. Image: Johnny Silvercloud via Flickr (cropped). Rarely does an author capture a truth as well as L.P. Hartley did in the immortal opening sentence of his novel, The Go-Between. Said Hartley for the ages: The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. This is a message that the nations civic leaders, elected officials, and editorialists would do well to absorb. As I write this, the Kansas City Parks Board has just voted, in the gratuitously brutal words of the Kansas City Star, to strip J.C. Nichols name from the fountain and street that honor him. Strip? Really? Remove would have done the trick. Some years back, I made a documentary for the local PBS station, KCPT, titled, Remember Me, KC. In it, I explored the history of J.C. Nichols, the man who built much of Kansas City, including the once great Country Club Plaza. A few years before that I taught for a year at a French university on the Fulbright program. Among the courses I taught was one on urban studies. The textbook for the class explored what the authors considered the four best-designed cities in the world. One, of course, was Paris. A second was the city of Bath in England. A third was the City of Nancy in France, the site of my university, which may explain why the department chair chose the book. And the fourth was Kansas City. The man cited as the reason for Kansas Citys inclusion was, you guessed it, J.C. Nichols. Nichols deserved the honor. When my wife and I moved to Kansas City fresh out of graduate school, we had our first meal at a sidewalk cafe on the justly famed Plaza. After lunch we followed our realtor out to her offices about four miles south along a street called Ward Parkway. I grew up in Newark, New Jersey. That to me represented the future of urban America, a weary fringe surrounding a decaying and expanding center. The mile after mile drive up Ward Parkway stunned me as did the Plaza itself. Cities, I discovered, did not have to die. No one was more responsible for Kansas Citys vibrancy than Nichols. A small-town Kansas boy, Nichols called his first development, built right after the devastating 1903 Missouri flood, California Heights. He wanted to assure flood refugees that these homes were high and dry. That development was located in what is now the roughest section of Kansas City, Kansas. Nichols went upscale starting with the construction of the still fabulous Mission Hills in 1914. Yes, this development and others had covenants that the Star tells us, restricted Black people, Jews, Italians and others. I am not sure about the Italians and others, but black people and Jews, yes. Everyone who signed a lease was as guilty as Nichols. Even by woke standards, no state has a nobler history than the Kansas in which Nichols first made his mark. In the 1850s, migrants from the east sacrificed their creature comforts -- and many their lives -- to settle the Kansas Territory for no reason other than to prevent the expansion of slavery. That said, forty years after Nichols began to build Mission Hills, the Supreme Court had to intervene to force Kansas to integrate its schools. The Board of Education in the landmark 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education was Topekas. The past, kids, is a foreign country. They did do things differently there. Ten years after Nichols started building Mission Hills, Jackson County Judge Harry Truman, up for re-election, paid his ten-dollar entry fee to join the Ku Klux Klan, a Democratic stronghold. He reportedly withdrew only because his boss, Tom Pendergast, objected to the Klans anti-Catholic bias. As a Democratic president, the media protected Truman in ways they would never protect President Trump. Only years after Truman left the White House did the Washington Posts Marquis Childs report Trumans take on African Americans: I get along pretty well with the burr heads until sooner or later I say n***er. Okay, so Truman desegregated the military. Big deal. By the standards set uniquely for Nichols, it may be time to strip Harrys name from Truman Road, rename Truman State University, and deface the presidential library. The Andrew Jackson statue in front of the Jackson County Courthouse is already heading for the dust bin. Can Harrys statue be far behind? Nichols and Truman were men of their times. Charles and Valentine McClatchy, who launched the McClatchy media empire of which the Star is a part, were ahead of their time. A year after the groundbreaking at Mission Hills, Valentine began writing about what he would indelicately call Our New Racial Problem: Japanese Immigration and Its Menace. As leader of the Japanese exclusion movement, Valentine, with the editorial support of Charles, helped convince Congress to call a halt to Japanese immigration. He feared that the Japanese would outbreed Americans of European descent and drive the white race to the wall. Time for some stripping here, no? Planned Parenthoods eugenicist founder Margaret Maggie Sanger sang from the same unholy hymnal. A dozen years after Mission Hills was launched, Sanger spoke to the female auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan. It was a natural audience for her. Possibly drastic and Spartan methods may be forced upon American society, Sanger wrote in her 1922 book Pivot of Civilization, to prevent the sexual and racial chaos into which the world has drifted. In 2006, and again in 2014, the Star proudly accepted Planned Parenthoods annual Maggie award for its editorial contribution to what Planned Parenthood was now calling reproductive justice. Up until about fifteen minutes ago, elected officials from both states were thoughtlessly attending their partys annual Jefferson-Jackson dinners. If we are to strip the names of those admitted slaveholders from public memorials, might we also want to demand an apology from the party that gave us slavery, secession, and a century of segregation? Yes, the past was a foreign country and sometimes a dangerous one. Those editorialists who are sure they would have denounced slavery, defied Jim Crow, or even turned down a home in Mission Hills might start showing a bit of courage by giving Planned Parenthood its damn Maggie back. @jackcashills forthcoming book, Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency, is available for pre-order at https://amzn.to/2VHOnS8 Could IT happen in the United States? Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi said, "It happened, therefore it can happen again. It can happen everywhere." Only days after one white Minneapolis police officer used excessive force on a black suspect resulting in the man's death condemned throughout the United States the catalyst for protests, riots, and looting stopped being about that incident. It quickly morphed into a cultural revolution to destroy America's Judeo-Christian foundation. As Black Lives Matter founder "comrade" Patrisse Cullors said in a 2015 Real News Network interview: "We are trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories." In a June 19 interview, Cullors reiterated BLM's Marxist goals, adding that its major objective is to "get Trump out." On June 24, Greater New York Black Lives Matter chairperson Hawk Newsome threateningly warned, "If this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking ... figuratively. I could be speaking literally. ... I just want black liberation and black sovereignty, by any means necessary." Republican Silence Timid Republican elected officials mistakenly believe that removing Confederate statues from the Capitol will quell rioters. The Grand Old Party's overall silence emboldens anarchist organizations like Black Lives Matter the way silence emboldened Germany's Nazis. As Albert Einstein said, "the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." The Jewish Einstein would know. In 1933, he renounced his German citizenship for political reasons before emigrating to America. Had Einstein remained in Germany, he probably would have been made into a lampshade at a Nazi death camp, his genius lost. Sadly, the Republican Party and many of its elected officials are quieter than a child waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. They seem to have collectively decided that ignoring anarchists is the best route to a quick return to posh country club fundraisers. Ignoring the mob didn't work so well in Germany in the 1930s. Too many Germans disregarded the vicious mob attacks (on people and property), hoping the violence would eventually fizzle out. Surprisingly, German Jews did not take Hitler seriously during his early years. In 1925, only a few German Jewish newspapers even bothered to review Mein Kampf. As Raphael Ahren wrote in The Times of Israel article "Why Jews Didn't Blink an Eye When Mein Kampf First Came Out": When Mein Kampf came out for the first time, German Jews hardly noticed it. They certainly did not view it as a threat to their existence, or even as a harbinger of a changing political climate in the Fatherland. Rahel Straus, a physician who grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany and emigrated to Palestine in 1933, wrote in her memoirs: We passed by the boxes of the Volkisher Beobachter (the official organ of the Nazi Party), read the incendiary articles and indignantly continued working. We didn't realize that this Volkisher Beobachter was one of the most read newspapers in Germany at the time. We saw Hitler's Mein Kampf on display in every bookstore; none of us bought it, none of us read it. Yet everything Hitler planned to do was detailed in Mein Kampf just as everything anarchists plan to do in the United States is available online and in books, starting with the anarchist bible: Saul Alinksy's 1971 book Rules for Radicals. Alinsky wrote, "It's not enough to persuade them of your competence, talents and courage. ... They must also have faith in your courage to fight the oppressive establishment." Alinsky stressed the importance of continually changing the end goal so there is never a resolution to the conflict. Removing Confederate statues quickly became toppling presidential statues and desecrating military monuments. "Reform the police" was quickly replaced with "defund the police," and now it's "abolish the police." Should police departments disband (due to budget cuts and/or officers leaving), crime will go up. Eventually, something would have to replace the hodgepodge of citizenry efforts to maintain law and order. In 1936, all German police forces traditional police, the SS, and the Gestapo (then the SD) were centralized under Heinrich Himmler, who was the head of the SS and chief of all German police. The German people welcomed this action, believing that less law meant more order. Laugh or cry? One reason Hitler wasn't taken seriously during the early 1930s was because the world media presented Hitler (and Mussolini) as caricatures to be laughed at more than feared. In "How Journalists Covered the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler," Dr. John Broich wrote in the December 13, 2016 issue of Smithsonian magazine: But the main way that the press defanged Hitler was by portraying him as something of a joke. He was a "nonsensical screecher" of "wild words" whose appearance, according to Newsweek magazine, "suggests Charlie Chaplin." His "countenance is a caricature." He was as "voluble" as he was "insecure" stated Cosmopolitan magazine. Others erroneously believed that if they gave Hitler some of what he wanted, he would mellow and curtail the violence. For example, in 1931, political writer Dorothy Thompson interviewed Hitler during the presidential campaign and asked what he would do if he won. Hitler responded: I will get into power legally. I will abolish this Parliament and Weimar Constitution afterward. I will found an authority-state, from the lowest cell to the highest instance; everywhere there will be responsibility and authority above, discipline and obedience below. Following her interview, Thompson ignored what Hitler told her and concluded (emphasis mine): It is highly improbable that in this case he will succeed in putting through any of his more radical plans in respect to the Constitution. Thompson and others dismissed Hitler as a fringe politician making over-the-top radical statements just to get elected. When he lost the 1932 presidential election to Paul von Hindenburg, there was a short-lived sense of vindication until the aging Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor in January 1933 just as today some spineless Republicans think a few fallen statues will placate violent anarchists. Americans made excuses during Hitler's rise to power, and the result was World War II and the Holocaust. Where will today's excuses lead us? Most law-abiding Americans shake their heads in disgust at what is happening. Some view anarchist antics as more comical than threatening. For instance: Weirdly designed pink vagina hats that look like props from a 1950s sci-fi movie. Garage door pull that had been used for months suddenly seen as a KKK noose. Bizarrely named autonomous zones that are declared separate countries. Young white girls yelling at older black cops that the black cops do not understand racism. Preserve the American way of life! To preserve the American way of life, Republicans should proudly join President Trump in strongly condemning "cancel culture" insanity. For the short term, have national statues and landmarks protected by the National Guard and the military. This would affirm America's belief in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, both founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Speaking about the lack of a unified response by fellow Republicans to the violent riots where innocent Americans are attacked, businesses are looted, statues are toppled, and landmarks are defaced, President Trump said, "They've got to get much tougher." He later added that "Republicans need to be fighting." If Republicans do not re-elect President Trump, keep the Senate, and take back the House, "Trumplicans" will abandon the party of Abraham Lincoln! One way to galvanize the Silent Majority of Trump-supporters is for elected Republican officials and organization leaders to stop kowtowing and kneeling to anarchist demands. Make no mistake: silence is kneeling! As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Some Americans reading this column will disagree. That's fine let's have this conversation now, not when we're standing in a crowded cattle car on our way to a re-education camp! This article is dedicated to 92-year-old Piri Katz, who was born in Tibiva, Czechoslovakia. On Erev Pesach in 1944, Piri and her family were taken by the Nazis to the Munkacs Ghetto. From there, they were shipped by cattle car to Auschwitz. Her parents, her brothers, and all but one sister were murdered in Auschwitz. She and her sister were marched to Geislingen and finally Dachau, where she was liberated by the American Army in April 1945. A proud member of West Orange County Republican Women Federated, Piri often speaks to groups about her support for President Trump and her love for the United States of America. Image: Louis P. Hirschman via Wikimedia Commons. The Detroit Free Press published an opinion piece from Christina Wyman, who's described as "an adjunct professor at Michigan State University" as well as the co-editor (as Christina Berchini) of an anthology rejoicing under the unwieldy, identity politics name Whiteness at the Table; Antiracism, Racism, and Identity in Education. In her editorial, Wyman tries to argue that it's not enough for white people to confess their sins; instead, they must act. She reveals herself to be a bully, an ignoramus, and a hypocrite. Wyman opens with the standard Maoist confession: she's white, she lives in a white neighborhood, and she enjoys all the benefits flowing from white privilege "too many privileges to count and many of which I do not consciously know." Right off the bat, if they're your privileges, and you don't know what they are after years of self-reflection, are you sure you have them, or are you just boasting? Next, Wyman claims that the Black Lives Matter movement (the same one that has destroyed cities, laid waste to black communities, and spread the Wuhan virus far and wide) is a "sexy topic" and very "seductive, intoxicating and consuming" but that's just not good enough. In the Church of Black Lives Matter, confession without action is meaningless. Nevertheless, she continues confessing. It turns out that Wyman lived her first 26 years in ignorant bliss, believing she was just an ordinary person. Then, ten years ago, she discovered that she was a special, privileged person who didn't get followed around in stores or pulled over by police because of her race. It doesn't seem to occur to Wyman that the fact that blacks are statistically more likely to commit criminal acts accounts for their being more likely to find themselves treated like criminals. Perhaps Wyman would be doing blacks a greater favor were she to say that, as children of God, they are as capable as any other race of conforming to the norms of success: get educated, get a job, get married, have children, and stay out of trouble. It's so much more satisfying for Wyman to proclaim her woke guilt, which she wears as a badge of honor. But again, says Wyman, it's not enough to confess. One must act except it's obvious that Wyman doesn't mean she must act. Instead, she wants everyone else to act, demanding of the world at large "political, financial, social and [as a sort of add-on] personal action." What's fascinating is that it's clear that Wyman has done nothing in the way of personal action. As she admitted, she lives in a safe, white neighborhood. If she meant what she said, she would trade homes with a needy black family and move into the family's home. Wyman also holds a job that could have gone to a black person. She needs to resign on the condition that MSU must hire a black person in her place. Wyman can perhaps get work as a store clerk as her way of expiating her sins. Not only is Wyman failing to live up to her demands, but she's also a bully: I've spent the last 10 years teaching predominantly white students about race, racism and privilege. After pleading with my own students to confess to a host of unearned privileges, it finally occurred to me: As with universities across the country, we're attempting to do this work on a predominantly white campus with a history of racist acts against its student of color, many of the official responses to these acts being what I would define as a national embarrassment. Do you think the students feel that Wyman is "pleading" with them, or do they understand that she's demanding confessions from them in exchange for grades? And please note, again, that Wyman is entirely comfortable with being on MSU's faculty, taking a job a qualified black person could and should have. Perhaps uncomfortably aware of her hypocrisy, Wyman repeats her point and her demands on others as if that obviates the need for her to make sacrifices: No racist institution was ever dismantled because a group of white people recognized and confessed to their privilege that is, not without serious political, financial, social and personal action, investment and sacrifice, as with the Minneapolis City Council which is working to dismantle their local police department in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Wyman may be a professor, but she's ignorant about American history. Slavery, the ultimate insult to any human being, ended in America because white Republicans laid down their lives to defeat the Confederate Democrats' extreme embrace of white privilege. Likewise, the Civil Rights Act came about because of a group of white Republicans in the Senate. Blissfully unaware of her hypocrisy and her ignorance, and serenely comfortable with her demand that society as a whole, rather than she, personally, should bear the burden of her obsessive guilt, Wyman issues a challenge that she's manifestly failed to meet: Stop confessing to your privilege and describe the steps you've taken to dismantle the institutions that embolden your privilege in the first place. No teary, attention-seeking confessional required. Dear Ms. Wyman, now that you've given your teary-eyed (and scolding) confession, please return to us when you've given both your safe white house and your nice white job to someone more deserving than you are. Oh, and take a good history class while you're at it. Image: Matthew Brady photograph of the white privileged dead at Antietam. If you read the home page of the Sunday New York Times, you would never know that two people died this past weekend because of Black Lives Matter protests. If you wished to learn about these deaths from the Times, you have had to go looking for them on the Times' website because neither fits the approved narrative. In Seattle, a black driver killed a white protester, and in Atlanta, a member of an armed Black Lives Matter mob shot and killed an 8-year-old black girl. You can imagine how different things would have been for the Times if a white driver had killed a black protester or a white person killed that little girl. You may recall a lot of images showing Black Lives Matter protesters blocking freeways. It turns out that the Washington State Highway Patrol has been facilitating freeway takeovers by blocking access to the roads to give the protesters free rein. Saturday night, that highway patrol barricade failed when Dawit Kelete, a 27-year-old man in a white Jaguar sedan, went around the barriers and plowed through the protesters. Shocking footage emerged showing the Jaguar throwing two women in the air like ragdolls. (Please note that this is a very disturbing video to watch.) Protesters blocking freeway in Seattle were hit by a white Jaguar last night pic.twitter.com/a1GZ8cGvHr Red Pill (@RealTimeRedPill) July 4, 2020 A 24-year-old young woman named Summer Taylor died, while the other woman is in serious condition. Police arrested the driver. The Times assigned the story to a young college graduate who's working there on a fellowship and hid her report from the front page. Although the young woman who died was fashionably non-binary, there was no getting around the fact that she was white and he was black. That's not a story an agenda-driven paper wants to promote. Instead, the story is straight news, which is refreshing but also hypocritical. The Washington State Patrol, in the meantime, rethought the whole concept of allowing people to walk all over freeways: The @wastatepatrol will not be allowing protesters to enter I-5. For the safety of all citizens including protesters and motorists, pedestrians walking on the freeway will be arrested. @wspd2pio WA State Patrol (@wastatepatrol) July 5, 2020 Kamala Harris immediately tried to make political capital out of the young woman's death: You dont care about this person or these issues or anything but your own ruthless ambition. Get back on your knees where you started your career and shut up. #Hypocrite #HeelsUpHarris https://t.co/dWryvdR7An James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 5, 2020 That's a tragic story, but the story out of Atlanta is even worse because a true innocent died. Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta's mayor, has been allowing armed protesters to "stand guard" by the burnt out husk of the Wendy's at which Rayshard Brooks met his death after stealing a police officer's taser and trying to use it against the police. Saturday night, a woman driving in a car with Secoriya Turner, her 8-year-old daughter, attempted to turn around in the area and ended up going through illegal barricades that the protesters had put in place. Someone in the group responded by opening firing on the car, killing Secoriya. The child's parents spoke to the press, and it will make your heart ache: "They say Black Lives Matter. You killed your own... You killed a child. Secoriya Williamson, father of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, addressed the public after his daughter was shot and killed last night in Atlanta by armed protesters. pic.twitter.com/J8zngZsjaQ Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 6, 2020 The Times again avoided the front page for this anti-narrative story. Instead, it opted simply to reprint an AP report and the AP, too, wrote this up as straight news because it was impossible to politicize it in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement. If Mayor Bottoms cherished hopes of becoming Biden's veep pick, she had better put those hopes in a memory box and put the box in the back of her closet. Her policies giving license to the activists have been disastrous for Atlanta, something else that the Times avoids covering. Incidentally, as of the night of July 5, the Washington Post has also avoided placing either story on the front page. We no longer have a national news system. We just have narrative-shaping Democrat party outlets that still cling to their former (and, more often than not, undeserved) reputations. Image: Twitter screen grab. One of the things that President Trump spoke out against in his masterful Mt. Rushmore speech was the "cancel culture" that is imposing a totalitarian straightjacket on America. That cancel culture is now going after a police officer who, in a lighthearted way, without naming names (including the name of his police department), pointed out the exquisite irony of at least one "defund the police" protest. A local Black Lives Matter spokesperson went full snowflake and cancel culture, and the department is now investigating him and two of his colleagues. President Trump's Mt. Rushmore speech was a tour de force. On the one hand, it highlighted core, classical American values, especially our inherent liberties. On the other hand, Trump was clear about the forces arrayed against these liberties. Speaking of the angry mobs prowling America's streets, he said: One of their political weapons is "Cancel Culture" driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America. [snip] In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished. (Emphasis added.) Officer Sam Lopez, of the Tacoma, Washington, police force, made a viral video in which he gently poked fun at an ironic request from the people planning a "defund the police" protest. They requested a police presence, you know, for their safety at the defund the police event. pic.twitter.com/oPQmQlbAXK Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) June 27, 2020 There are a few things to note about the video: the officer (who we now know is Lopez) has made sure that no one can see anything identifying the force on which he serves. He also says he approves of protests and does not speak disparagingly of the Black Lives Matter movement or of any race. In a sweet and human way, he points out something that any sentient being would find amusing. Mostly, he holds a mirror up to the activists, forcing them to see their own self-serving, hypocritical reflection. So of course, Officer Lopez must be destroyed: Three Tacoma police officers are under investigation by the Tacoma Police Department over their use of TikTok, a video-sharing social networking service. Officers Sam Lopez, Joshua Avalos and Helen Steiben all have TikTok accounts with large followings where they discuss criticisms of police. [snip] "Officers act in this way because they feel that there are no consequences for their actions," said Lyle Quasim with the Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective. "He is using his position as a sworn police officer inappropriately by taking a political position on a movement that derives from the people that he has sworn to protect and serve," Quasim said. [snip] "There are rules and regulations, there are protocol that establish a prohibition for police officers to use their vehicles, their equipment, anything associated with their duty without authorization. And I'm sure he did not have authorization," Quasim said. Quasim said he feels videos like this add to the already strained relationship between Black community members and police officers. "You selected this as your profession, you've gone through the police training commission. Nowhere in the police training protocols does it suggest that you come out with snarky sarcastic videos about difficult issues that we're trying to overcome as part of our civic engagement," Quasim told KING 5. There is no "difficult issue" about "civic engagement" here. There is just one man pointing out that the same people who are insisting on ending policing for their communities still want police for themselves. The only thing Lopez did was hold a mirror up to the Marxist activists, revealing how idiotic and hypocritical they are. And for that, as I said, the mob's spokesman declares he must be canceled. Image: Twitter screen grab. Past midnight on July 4, a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in Seattle congregated on Interstate I-5, parking their cars on the highway to protest alleged police racism and to advocate for defunding police departments. Seattle authorities had shut down the highway hours earlier by blocking entrances to allow the illegal protest to carry on without interruption. The roadblock protest was being livestreamed by members sitting behind the parked cars in the otherwise empty road when suddenly a woman alerted the mob to an incoming car. It soon became clear that the car was not going to stop, and more warnings are heard from the mob. Dozens of protesters, clad in black, dashed out from behind several black cars and onto the shoulder of the highway, the only possible path for the incoming vehicle to avoid a collision. Video footage taken from a nearby apartment balcony shows the incoming vehicle decelerating and swerving to avoid the protesters swarming into its path, unfortunately hitting two protesters head on, catapulting them into the air. TikTok video screen grab (cropped). Cries of panic are heard from the mob, followed by screams of "call the police!" whom they were protesting moments earlier. Additional cell phone footage shows protesters languishing over the slow response of 911 operators and expressing frustration with the lack of help from a police vehicle parked within eyesight of the roadblock. The vehicle that hit the protesters had driven a comfortable distance from the mob before stopping, turning on emergency lights, and waiting for authorities to arrive. Members of the mob descended upon the vehicle, screaming obscenities and attempting to pull the driver out, prompting the vehicle to slowly drive off. In hot pursuit was a pickup truck driven by a member of the roadblock protest. Far-left journalists took to Twitter to launch accusations of right-wing terrorism and white supremacy, only to be disappointed by the findings of real investigators. The driver was identified by authorities as Dawit Kelete, a 27-year-old black man. He had not been driving while impaired, there was no evidence of the collision being purposeful, and he inquired as to the condition of the protesters upon arrest. The protesters, both white women, were in critical condition, with one dying the next day in intensive care. Ordinary citizens might be deeply surprised to learn that Seattle authorities would allow road blockade protests on a highway, especially against the emphatic objections of police officers. Such citizens should bear in mind that merely days earlier, this same municipality allowed the dangerous Antifa group to seize control of a swath of downtown Seattle and declare itself a police-free country that is, until a 16-year-old black boy was shot and killed, marking the third black teenage shooting victim in the overwhelmingly white, allegedly anti-racist protest. To some, roadblock protests are a mere inconvenience, but the Black Lives Matter roadblocks have recently become deadly. BLM protesters have prevented ambulances, firefighters, and other emergency responders from reaching their destinations since the death of George Floyd, not to mention attacks on drivers. One BLM mob in Utah set upon a driver who had courteously stopped in front of their blockade, attempting unsuccessfully to pull the driver out of the vehicle before shooting the driver, who sped off wounded. The shooter fired again, hitting the rear window. Another driver in Seattle who stopped at a roadblock was almost pulled out of his car by a hostile mob before shooting his assailant in the arm, causing the mob to scatter. The driver then jumped out of his car and ran to the police to turn himself in. Multiple media outlets narrated the events as if the driver had plowed through the crowd and fired his gun into a peaceful protest group. The psychology behind roadblock protests is extraordinarily sinister. The mobs blocking roads are counting on the goodwill and generosity of drivers to stop for them and use that goodwill as an opportunity to conduct a deadly assault. By relying on the benevolence of drivers, the protesters are implicitly admitting the goodness of their victims before assaulting them anyway. A driver who refuses to remain parked after the danger critically escalates and plows through a mob of assailants is not a criminal, but rather a person of self-esteem. He holds his life and the lives of his passengers above that of a crowd of potential murderers and takes defensive action. It is this individualism, this selfishness, that the roadblock mob morally condemns, aghast that their sacrifice would not offer himself up willingly to be terrorized by them. They expect the one to cater to the many, even if it costs him his life, and howl with indignation when denied their sacrifice. It is this collectivist philosophy that animates BLM and other groups to attack America. A man has the right to life, liberty, and to pursue his own happiness? This is blasphemy to the crowd which glorifies jungle tribalism and denies the greatness of America's founding. America was the first country to be explicitly founded on the principle of individualism. In America, one does not live for the sake of King and Country, the rich or poor, his tribe or race. He has the right to live how he sees fit, pursuing his happiness instead of some collectivist greater good. It is this right that is under attack in America today, and it will require the un-silencing of Americans to defend it. One does not owe his life to those who seek to destroy him. The roadblock protesters owe a heartfelt apology to their victim, Dawit Kelete. Well, it looks as if the makeover has begun. Corrupt Joe Biden, who used his office to enrich himself and his family, to say the least, is now the foreign policy maven, particularly on China. That's the spin from the New York Times, which has beclowned itself badly, trying to tell the audience that something smelly is shinola. To voters unsettled by President Trump's disruptive approach to the world, Mr. Biden is selling not only his policy prescriptions but also his long track record of befriending, cajoling and sometimes confronting foreign leaders what he might call the power of his informal diplomatic style. "I've dealt with every one of the major world leaders that are out there right now, and they know me. I know them," he told supporters in December. Brett McGurk, a former senior State Department official for the campaign against the Islamic State, said Mr. Biden had been an effective diplomat by practicing "strategic empathy." And unlike Trump, Biden was oh, so personal, as well as "not an ideologue." Mr. Biden made a quick "personal connection" with the Chinese leader, even if he sometimes confounded his Mandarin interpreter by quoting hard-to-translate Irish verse, said Daniel Russel, an aide present at several of the meetings. "He was remarkably good in getting to a personal relationship right away and getting Xi to open up," Mr. Russel said. Had enough? The translation, according to Peter Schweizer's Profiles in Corruption is as follows: For Vice President Joe Biden, effective diplomacy was about forming personal relationships with foreign leaders. "It all gets down to the conduct of foreign policy being personal." The vice president had a series of important and tense meetings with Chinese officials on a variety of critical matters in the bilateral relationship. The trip coincided with an enormous financial deal that Hunter Biden's firm, Rosemont Seneca, was arranging with the state-owned Bank of China. What Hunter did during the official visit to Beijing we cannot know for sure. Other than a few photo ops with his father, he was nowhere to be seen. ...and... Approximately ten days after the Beijing trip, Hunter Biden's Rosemont Seneca Partners finalized a deal with the Chinese government worth a whopping $1 billion. The deal was later expanded to $1.5 billion. As of this writing, the fund's website says its investments amount to more than $2 billion. It's important to note that this deal was with the Chinese government--not with Chinese company, which means that the Chinese government and the son of the vice president were now business partners. Now he's Mr. Congeniality, the perfect opposite of President Trump who confronts China rather sternly on issues. To the Times, that's a bad thing. To the average "hey fat" out in the American heartland, as Biden puts it, Trump's diplomacy is actually standing up for the interests of Americans. It's also a disgusting double standard. Trump is no China-hater he does his best to cut the best deal possible for main street America by driving a hard bargain the Chinese know they have no choice but to accept. Any time Trump says something conciliatory to the Chinese, it's denounced as sucking up to dictators, while any time Joe does it pocketing the profits, which any non-ideologue is adept at doing he's Mr. Personality. As Mickey Kaus well observed: When Trump does it it's coddling dictators, with Biden it's Strategic Empathy! @michaelcrowley is at least a bit skeptical. https://t.co/Pnc9SqxAk4 Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 6, 2020 Here's the problem with this kind of "personal" diplomacy. It is very personal indeed to Joe, given the wealth it has brought is family members. It's also very dangerous, given that every string and hook China's oligarchs can get into him makes him an even bigger sock puppet than he already was. Combine with the world's dodgiest players considering Biden a non-entity (Osama bin Laden considered Biden a fool), and the picture is a very ugly one for America's interests. Here's the second problem: this apparent media makeover for Joe, painting him as the great personal-touch diplomat who can get along with everyone, is clearly the new party line being promoted in the press, and we can expect to see lockstep echoing of this embarrassing face-lift. The JournoList talking points have gone out, and now the shots are fired. As those shots went out, attempting to boost Joe while taking down Trump, the Chicoms themselves have been very active, too. Just days ago, according to a report in the Daily Caller, the Chinese investment firm that made Hunter a very rich man has quietly removed Hunter's name as a board member. That's to help Joe win his presidential bid, for sure, which ought to make voters wary, given whose interests are being boosted. Worse still, the Caller reports, they allowed him to keep his sizable stake in the company worth millions, at least. No wonder he's comfortably ensconced in the Hollywood Hills these days, bored and playing "artist," dodging release of his financial statements to an Arkansas judge over a baby daddy case with a stripper looking for child support. No wonder he apparently settled with the woman and swept the whole thing off the front pages. Now the makeover is on, with the media ignoring the pocket-lining entirely the New York Times makes simply no mention of it and the cash spigots still going. The whole thing pocket-lining and media cover-up is a disgusting double-load of corruption that anyone with a brain can see right through. The GOP must keep the heat onto this issue because it's being distorted beyond recognition. Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of images by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0, Acaben, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0, PxFuel public domain, and SKopp via Wikimedia Commons // public domain The American cause hung by a thread in the summer of 1781. The British were entrenched in New York, and the main Continental Army commanded by George Washington was incapable of dislodging them. In Virginia, a British Army of 7,000 men led by Lord Cornwallis wreaked havoc, opposed only by 900 Continentals under General Lafayette. Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Assembly had been chased from Richmond and Charlottesville. Vital supplies to General Nathaniel Greene's army in South Carolina were cut off. Washington's appeals to the states for reinforcements had gone unanswered, and when he decided to march south to confront Cornwallis, he had only 2,500 able-bodied men. They were actually outnumbered by the accompanying French force of 3,000 soldiers. It was a fateful decision. Failure would almost certainly be fatal to the war for independence. When they reached Virginia in September of 1781, Cornwallis was holed up at Yorktown. His force had been decimated by malaria, the curse of all Europeans south of the Mason-Dixon line. The rest of the history of the Battle of Yorktown is familiar to most literate Americans. The British surrender effectively ended the War of Independence. American sovereignty was born. The small force of American soldiers who marched south with Washington 239 years ago had very few veterans left from the armies of 1775 to 1780. These original Continentals had served their terms of enlistment and had returned to their farms and families. Washington took anyone who would serve, and hundreds of free blacks joined the cause, eager for gainful employment. Of the 2,500-strong force who arrived with Washington at Yorktown, as many as 20% were free blacks. They had an inherent genetic advantage over the Europeans. Because their ancestors came from sub-Saharan Africa, they were naturally resistant to malaria and were strong, healthy men, fully capable of discharging their duties. After the war, these men established families of their own, and their descendants are a significant portion of today's African-American population. Some of these are probably part of the Black Lives Matter movement and want to destroy the monuments to Washington around the country. Their ancestors, the men who fought under Washington, would be horrified. Like all Revolutionary War veterans, they treasured their memories of service under the Father of their country. They were patriotic Americans, and their progeny should honor and revere them. Even fight for them. The American educational system has failed to inform these people of the truth. Like all other Americans, the true history of their country has been hidden from them. The story of their ancestors is an honorable one. But it is a story they have never heard. Today, for black Americans to speak up in defense of Washington, and the nation he founded, requires some courage. But our common culture calls on them to speak out. For how can a man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his Gods? Fritz Pettyjohn blogs at ReaganProject.com. President Trump's Mount Rushmore speech was extremely important for two reasons: One: Trump gave terrified corporations permission to stop groveling to BLM. Fake news media are masters of illusion. Their celebratory reporting deceived corporations into believing that a majority of Americans support Black Lives Matter's absurd demands. Therefore, corporations wrote several-million-dollar please-don't-attack-my-business checks to BLM. Corporate CEOs had their advertising agencies produce TV commercials telling blacks that white America sucks and blacks deserve to demand anything they want. I was stunned to see Christian political activist Ralph Reed say America should launch a civil rights agenda. What the heck is brother Reed talking about? America gifted the first black president two terms. Oprah is worth $2.6 billion. Reed's opinion is a perfect example of the deceptive power of fake news media. Anyone watching TV these days could easily conclude that blacks are suffering the same racial injustice they did in the 1950s. This is an outrageous lie promoted by Democrats and fake news media. During his speech, Trump called BLM a domestic terrorist hate group and vowed to stop it from dismantling America. Trump is the most powerful voice of the free world. By promising to stand up for America, Trump gave terrified corporations permission to stand up for America with him. Perhaps now we will not see so many corporations on their knees in worship to BLM thugs. Two: Trump confirmed to Americans that he will preserve our way of life. For weeks, Americans have watched fake news media cheering on and Democrat governors and mayors allowing anarchists to assault, murder, and vandalize, costing billions. We the People desperately needed to hear our president say he will no longer put up with their crap. By declaring that he will preserve our way of life, Trump may have won his reelection. Sadly, we have allowed anti-American school boards to dumb down students regarding U.S. history for decades. So it was wise for President Trump to share history about the four outstanding Americans featured on Mt Rushmore. Millennials were probably hearing these truths about our heroes for the first time. Millions continue to be deceived by the relentless lies of fake news media. Therefore, I love that Trump exploits every opportunity to expose them. Fake news media are like "Terminator" robots programmed to falsely accuse and seek and destroy Trump 24/7. It is truly amazing, folks. Some conservatives/Republicans are still uncomfortable with Trump's tweets and pushback. I thank God for Trump's don't-mess-with-me New Yorker instincts. God prepared and gifted us Trump for such a time as this. A standard Washington, D.C. Republican politician would not have survived the unprecedented ongoing silent coup to remove him from office. Without Trump, religious liberty and a long list of constitutional freedoms would be long gone. Without Trump, Democrats would be expanding the killing of healthy born babies. If Biden wins the presidency, don't be surprised if he implements "National Kneel to BLM Day" along with new taxes on whites to give blacks reparations. After Trump's Mt. Rushmore speech, I turned to MSNBC, where they described Trump's speech as him "picking a fight." So Trump calming and reassuring terrified and dispirited Americans that he will not allow BLM thugs to assault and murder them in their homes burn down homes and tear down monuments is deemed "picking a fight" by MSNBC. Wow! These people are sick and evil, and they must be dealt with. Their lies and aggressive 24/7 activism to generate racial hate, divide Americans, endanger Americans, and destroy our country must no longer go unpunished. Nevertheless, I feel excited, hopeful, and grateful. Incredibly, despite the Democrat governors and mayors and fake news media's best effort to use Chinese flu hysteria to destroy Trump's unprecedented booming economy, our economy is roaring back. Awesome! Only under Trump could this remarkable economic comeback happen. I am so grateful to have this man in the Oval Office. Trump is courageously leading the charge against BLM domestic terrorists. He has vowed to preserve and restore this exceptional experiment we know and love as America. And folks, I wholeheartedly believe him. Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American Help Lloyd Spread the Truth https://www.trumptrainusa2020.com/ http://LloydMarcus.com In 1980, I was living in Taiwan. The English-language press there was then reporting the discussions in the U.S. about teaching religion or religious subjects in our schools. One morning, I was riding to his office with a young Taiwanese executive with whom I had been working for some months. As we passed a big, ugly brick building I was told by my friend that it was a school for all grades up through what we called high school. I asked him if the students there were taught about the Confucian faith. His answer "Certainly. That's who we are." has stuck in my mind since. I realized that morning that the defining glue that bound the Taiwanese, and much of Eastern cultures, together was a common understanding of "who we are." I have wondered since, especially during the last decade or so: do we know "who we are"? Or is there any "who we are"? I wonder how Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi would answer that question. I wonder how many of our secondary school teachers could answer that question. Who are we? Are we the same people who, by the thousands, trekked across the western deserts and freezing plains to build a nation of farmers, ranchers, miners, and builders out of a barren wilderness? Are we a nation of entrepreneurs who invented airplanes, mass-produced cars, invented electric lights, refrigerators, nuclear power, and moving pictures? Are we the same people who assembled at Concord, Massachusetts to launch a war against the then most powerful nation in the world? Are we the same people who joined together to build 120,000 airplanes a year and three ships a day and assembled a force of 11 million men in two years to defeat the powers of the world's oppressors? Are we the same people who gave 600,000 lives in a war to affirm the principle that "all men are created equal," that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, notwithstanding their culture or capabilities? Or are we a nation of 15% living on food stamps and the largess of others? Are we a people who damn the successful among us, whose talents, efforts, and risk-taking give us the technical marvels of today's life? Are we a people so dependent upon government caretaking that we will choose as leaders the most incompetent and corrupt simply to assure the continued access to the government's benefits? Are we a people who today ignore the demands of responsible social conduct and responsibility for our progeny, simply to enjoy the transitory pleasures of adolescent conduct throughout our lives? Do we know who we are? Do we even care? I wonder what my Taiwanese friend would think. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-561-7737 This page contains all of The Anchorage Press 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 an Anchorage resident whos been affected by the illness? Send us an email: matt.hickman@anchoragepress.com. (Image source from: Facebook.com/janasenaparty) Pawan Kalyan Extends His Support For Amaravati Farmers:- The farmers in and around Amaravati donated over 34,000 acres for the construction of new capital for Andhra Pradesh during TDP's regime. After YSRCP took charge, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy decided to shift the executive capital to Vizag and the arrangements are made. The farmers along with the people of Amaravati have been protesting from the past 200 days requesting the AP government not to shift the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Janasena Chief Pawan Kalyan extended his support for the farmers of Amaravati saying that they would not allow the capital to be shifted from Amaravati. He said that Janasena stood as a huge support for them right from the first day. "We will not allow the sacrifice of 29,000 farmers to go into the vein. The new government should continue or support the decisions taken by the past government to develop the state. It is not fair to differentiate between the decisions and the governments. One should respect the agreements made between the government and farmers for the capital construction. The farmers who are protesting are not even supported financially by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Their proposed funds which are scheduled for release in April are yet to be given till date" said Pawan Kalyan. "The entire state should be developed. But dividing the capital into three places will not make a wise decision. We will support the farmers along with BJP and will fight against the government. The government should think again about the shifting of the capital from Amaravati" said Pawan Kalyan. (Image source from: m.economictimes.com) China Withdraws Troops At Galwan Valley:- The situations across the India and Chinese border have been tense. Both the countries lost enough number of troops at the Galwan valley attack that took place last month. The discussions about the peace have been on from both the sides. Now, China is said to have withdrawn its troops by at least a kilometer near Galwan valley in Ladakh today as per the reports from national media. After this, the Indian troops too had to withdraw their soldiers. Chinese soldiers decided to withdraw their troops from Galwan region and they also removed the structures from the region. As of now, the situations are under control said Indian sources. Sources said that there is need for the forces to be separated from both the sides on a mutual basis to create sense and to prevent a tensed atmosphere. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Ladakh on Friday and he addressed the troops. He made it clear that they are not ready to tolerate if China steps beyond the LAC. The commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies met last week for the third round of talks after the Galwan valley attacks. Several satellite images surfaced online about Chinese troops moving back. (Image source from: Ndtv.com) Eight Lakh Indians At Risk In Kuwait After The Approval Of Expat Quota Bill:- Eight lakh Indians may be soon forced to leave Kuwait as the National Assembly Committee approved a draft of Expat Quota Bill which is aimed to reduce the number of foreign workers in the country. The legal and legislative committee said that the expat quota bill is constitutional. The Indians should not exceed 15% of the population and could result in 8 lakh Indians who are residing in Kuwait to leave the country. As per the records, Indians contribute the largest to the population of the country and are 1.45 million in number. The current Kuwait population is said to be 4.3 million and there 1.3 million Kuwaitis with three million expats. With the coronavirus outbreak, there is a huge slump in the oil prices and several locals are left jobless. The government officials and the locals mounted the pressure to reduce the numbeer of foreign workers in the country. Kuwait's Prime minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah already proposed or reducing the number of expats from 70% to 30% of the population soon. Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said that a group of lawmakers will submit the comprehensive draft to the Assembly soon. The major problem with Kuwait is that 70% of them are expats. The new law will impose a cap on the number of expats and this would benefit the locals. Considering the Indian population in Kuwait and the proposal of law, over 8 lakh Indians will be asked to leave Kuwait very soon. Apple has been called out by Google-backed groups over its new user tracking operating system for apps. As Reuters has reported the plan proposes to seek extra permissions from users before tracking them across websites and apps. This has caused quite the stir from Google-backed advertising groups as this new plan would affect them greatly. iPhone and iPad apps would have to show a pop-up screen before enabling the sort of tracking used by these advertisers. iOS 14 though will actually include a number of features Android has had for over a decade. Advertisement Advertisers angry at apple apps user tracking plan Sixteen marketing associates, which include groups backed by Facebook and Google have criticized the new plan. They fault Apple with not conforming to an ad-industry system. This system is all to do with seeking user consent under European privacy rules. Facebook is no stranger to advertising issues but this time it is the one speaking up on behalf of the advertising groups. Recently the company has had to speak out to defend itself as many companies have boycotted the company for the month of July. This new system will see users be asked for consent twice. Naturally, this will increase the likelihood users will refuse at some stage. Thus something that the advertising groups are unsurprisingly unhappy with. Advertisement New plan makes personalized adds more difficult These types of advertising groups often work on personalized adverts. This means they rely on user consent to track them across websites and apps. In turn, this translates into mapping of user desires and interests which these groups can use. Apples new plan makes this whole system much more difficult to operate. By increasing the likelihood that a user will decline to consent to these permissions these advertisers lose a lot of their business and power. As a result, many of these groups, some of which as mentioned backed by Google and Facebook, have hit back at Apple. Advertisement Apple claims the new feature is more about giving great transparency to users. This is to help users understand why companies are tracking their data. For example, a new popup would say the app would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. The group of European marketing firms has suggested that the pop-up warning would carry a high risk of user refusal. However, Apple engineers have said they will use a new tool to measure anonymous aggregated data to measure advertising campaigns. This could then potentially not trigger the pop-up if they are working. This is an important period of time for advertisers and technology companies. More and more focus is being placed on privacy and online safety. However, a balance needs to be struck between these industries and how this developed over the coming months could shape the future of the sector. A new ban may prevent Huawei from getting involved in 5G build-outs in the UK after all, reports indicate. The latest proposal, sources indicate, would see new 5G equipment from the company blocked outright. And it would accelerate the removal of Huawei 5G equipment in place in the UK under what is effectively a ban. Current UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will reportedly receive a new report outlining the proposal within the week. Reports indicate that Mr. Johnson will need to present the review to Parliament by the end of the month. A decision in the matter should be made in short order after that if the reports are accurate. Huawei cant catch a break on 5G, even in the UK Now, the latest reports follow months of preceding news about 5G in the UK as it pertains to Huawei. The company has faced global challenges from its smartphone supply chain to its 5G rollouts as a direct result of US sanctions. And those appear to be central to the proposed Huawei 5G ban in the UK as well. Advertisement Prior to this, the countrys leadership had determined that with some limits, the worlds largest 5G equipment supplier could be involved. Back in January, that decision was officially supported by the EU, with the European conglomerate delivering a set of guidelines that could help keep UK networks safe from potential Chinese government spying. Since that decision was reached, support for Huaweis position in the UK has wavered significantly. But it may actually be US sanctions that are doing the most harm here. Thats because its those sanctions that have caused the UKs Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to reconsider. With the sanctions in place, as noted above, Huaweis supply lines have effectively been cut. The agency reportedly revised its previous guidance based on the fact that, with supply lines cut off, Huawei would need to turn to untrusted technology and relatively unknown companies. Or at least companies that are largely unknown outside of China. Advertisement That would, in turn, make the risks impossible for the UK government to manage. And that may not be wholly inaccurate since Chinese law reportedly requires companies to cooperate. Other reports have indicated that Huawei may be able to build up a new supply chain with the likes of MediaTek and Samsung. But the company may otherwise be forced to turn to companies that are largely Chinese. What is Huawei doing to defend itself? Aside from turning inward and working to build up new supply chains as well as innovate with in-house solutions, Huawei has broadly denied all claims against it. Not only does the company not work for the Chinese government, according to Huawei. It also claims the sanctions and other actions taken against it are almost entirely political. Thats been denied wholesale by Huaweis detractors, who claim that there is very little if any politics involved. Regardless of whether its the official US policy, the present US administration has repeatedly used Huawei as a bargaining chip in ongoing trade disputes between Washington and Beijing. Advertisement Huawei has also begun working more closely with countries in a bid to stem the flow of accusations. Among the most recent of those, it was granted permission to build a chipset facility in the region. But that appears to have done little, if anything, to help the company. Motorolas new device, the Moto G 5G, is likely to arrive with a 5000 mAh Battery as reported by Deal n Tech. A TUV Rhineland certificate reveals. It also suggests the device will come with 20W fast charging support. Motorola is hosting an event on July 7. Here the company will likely announce several new smartphones. Amongst this will likely be the Moto G 5G. Alongside this will also probably be the Moto G 5G plus, the pair is likely to launch together. Moto G 5G battery and charging support leaked Originally, many thought the Moto G 5G was called the Motorola Edge Lite. However, it was later revealed that the XT2075-3 model would, in fact, be called the Moto G 5G. This is where the idea of the Moto G 5G also was thought to be in the works. Advertisement As the launch gets closer a few more key details have been revealed about the device. Tipsters spotted the XT2075-3 model on the FCC website at the start of July. This listing indicated some of the features that the model would come with. These included dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi 802.11a/g/n/ac, NFC and 5G connectivity. The device will also support Galileo, GLONASS, and GPS navigation systems. In the FCC documents tipsters also found the battery model number. When this happened no one really knew much about these models so could not glean much from them. Advertisement However, by cross-referencing with the TUV Rhineland certification database we have been able to reveal the specifications. New smartphone to come with huge capacity and charging support These specifications indicate some promising thoughts for the Moto G 5G. A 5000 mAh Battery and 20W of charging support is seriously impressive for a model of this kind. It is also likely to come with a 48MP primary camera Android 10 OS, 4GB RAM with 64GB Storage, dimensions of 167.98 x 73.97 x 9.59mm and a weight of 207g. Advertisement GSM Arena has also reported the device will also come with a 90Hz screen of FHD+ resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio. We have also had our first glimpses at the new device which shows off a number of its visual features. Now we have a pretty good picture built up of the Moto G 5G ahead of its impending announcement. There is not much more to know about the device. However, it will be interesting to see if Motorola can spring any surprises in at their event on July 7. Redditors are reportedly beginning to receive a new security patch via an update on their unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20-series devices. The update, perhaps surprisingly, brings the Android Security Patch level to July 2020. That follows Googles rollout of the firmware patch to its own Pixel-branded devices, which only recently started. The security patch is hefty, weighing in at around 220MB on the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. But this isnt necessarily going to be quite the same as the update found elsewhere in the world either. For starters, the included changelog doesnt mention anything about camera updates. And those were found, including zoom and video stabilization and improvements, when the patch landed in South Korea and Europe. That doesnt mean those improvements arent included. But Samsung certainly isnt listing them out for US users at any rate. Advertisement What, exactly, is Samsung including in this Galaxy S20 Security update? The exact nature of changes that are being made to the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20-series devices with this update isnt well-defined in the changelog. Samsung says that it includes Device stability improvements, bug fixes and that there are new or enhanced features. Performance improvements are part of the build too. But granular details are severely lacking. The general Android Security Bulletin for July 2020 could shed some light on the matter though. In fact, that showcases a grand total of 24 security fixes in this patch. Of those, seven are noted as being high-severity security fixes for Qualcomms components. And at least some of those are likely part of Samsungs release since its US devices typically use Qualcomm instead of Exynos chips. Two additional Qualcomm fixes are rated at a critical severity level and are related to connectivity. Critical fixes are also included in the general update for connectivity components and for the media framework. All of the remaining fixes are rated at a high severity level. Advertisement Now, not all of those will be applicable to the Samsung Galaxy S20-series flagships. And the number of patches is lower than it has been in the past. But its going to be a good idea for users to ensure that their device is charged and the update installed immediately upon receipt all the same. Heres how you can check for the update now Updating to the latest firmware isnt a difficult process but does, as hinted above, rely on at least one prerequisite. Namely, this July 2020 security patch can only be applied to unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20 series handsets. Because carriers need to make their own adjustments to the firmware, those variants arent receiving it just yet. That comes down to differences in the internal hardware. In the interim, it is possible in some cases to get the update early. Users simply need to navigate to the Settings application and scroll all the way down to Software Update. Advertisement If an update is available, it can be checked there. If not, users will need to wait since, as is almost always the case, this rollout will happen in stages. So it may just not be available yet for any given users. Once updated, the build number should be bumped to G988U1UES1ATFB, G988U1OYM1ATFB, or G988U1UES1ATFB. Thats for the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, respectively. 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. Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have today urged that costs related to public health measures aimed at mitigating the spread of communicable diseases should be borne by governments. IATAs Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: The aviation industry wants to get the world moving again. Image: IATA The COVID-19 pandemics effect on the industry and broader economy has halted aviation at global level, leading to multi-billion losses in revenue and traffic. As the industry begins to restart and plan for a long-term, sustained recovery, the health and safety of passengers and staff remains the foremost priority for airports and airlines. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), through the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), has resolved to partner with its Member States, international and regional organizations, and industry to address the challenges and to provide global guidance for a safe, secure and sustainable restart and recovery of the aviation sector. ICAOs TakeOff guidance outlines a number of new measures for safeguarding public health, which are already being introduced by airports and airlines around the world. To ensure their efficacy, these measures - which include health checks, sanitization and social distancing - will require implementation by the appropriate national authorities. ACI and IATA believe that existing roles and responsibilities of governments, airlines, airports and other operational stakeholders should be respected in implementing the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Airlines and airport operators should be included in national discussions to assess the practicalities of implementing the solutions proposed by ICAO aimed at harmonisation across jurisdictions. There is a recognition that a patchwork of different frameworks risks confusing travelers, introducing inefficiencies and unnecessary additional compliance costs on passengers, airports and airlines. Indeed, the World Health Organizations International Health Regulations require governments to pay the costs of health measures. As airport and airline operations begin to slowly recover, the health and safety of passengers and staff is paramount and many new health measures are being considered by governments for implantation at airports, ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. As the industry navigates the complexities of restarting operations, ACI believes the cost of any health measures that are required should be borne by governments. ACI and IATA are aligned on this issue, as set out in the Safely Restarting Aviation ACI and IATA Joint Approach which was our input to ICAOs TakeOff guidance. This laid out that public funding of health measures should be ensured, including but not limited to infrastructure or operational changes needed for their implementation. IATAs director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: The aviation industry wants to get the world moving again. We have successfully worked with ICAO and many governments worldwide to put in place standardized protocols that safeguard public health and give travellers the confidence to return to the skies. But the industry is still on the edge of a financial precipice. The extra costs of health measures mandated by governments mustas the WHO recommendsbe borne by governments. That will enable the industry to focus scarce resources on reconnecting the world and boosting economic recovery. MINUSMA absorbs and replaces the African Union Mission, MISMA (International Support Mission to Mali, under African leadership) and has lasted for more than 7 years. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link Arquus Bastion Patsas in MINUSMA operation, Mali (Picture source: French MoD) On April 25, 2013, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2100, creating the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali: MINUSMA (Mission internationale de soutien au Mali). Structural issues in Mali, ineffective governance, internal conflicts (especially the marginalized north) are triggers for this crisis. At the beginning of January 2013, during violent and repeated terrorist clashes, and notably during the capture of Konna, help was requested from the French. Operation Serval responded, launched in January 2013 in support of the Malian defense and security forces. The deployment of MISMA took place following the start of operations in February. Throughout these operations, Arquus supported the armies by providing 95% of Operation Serval vehicles, for example. Today, many Arquus vehicles are still present in Africa, such as Bastions or TRM trucks. On June 29, 2020, the UN Security Council decided to extend the mandate of MINUSMA for one year. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close 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 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. A record 8,181 coronavirus patients were hospitalized Sunday in Texas, and officials in major cities warned that hospitals' intensive care capabilities could be overwhelmed within weeks, the Texas Tribune reports. The big picture: New York hospitals never became so overwhelmed that patients were abandoned in hallways, but the situation became dire after lockdowns were in place, and it was mostly a matter of riding out the storm. In Texas and elsewhere, people remain free to move around and thus keep spreading the virus. What they're saying: Austin Mayor Steve Adler told the Austin American-Statesman yesterday that the city's hospitals could be overwhelmed in the "next 10 days to two weeks." The San Antonio Express-News reported that San Antonio's hospitals could be overrun in a week or two, with coronavirus hospitalizations rising by 55% in that area's trauma service region over the last week. In the Rio Grande Valley, 10 of 12 hospitals had already reached capacity by Saturday. The bottom line: "Like New York City in March, the Houston hospitals are experiencing a steep rise in caseloads that is filling their beds, stretching their staffing, creating a backlog in testing and limiting the availability of other medical services," the New York Times reported over the weekend. The federal government's main program to keep lower income people connected is only serving one-fifth of the people it could help, even during a pandemic that has forced school and work online. Why it matters: Millions of Americans still lack access to the high-speed internet service that's become vital as people remain stuck at home and reopenings reverse. How it works: The Lifeline program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, provides a $9.25 monthly subsidy (more on tribal lands) to companies that provide phone or broadband service to low-income consumers, generally at no out-of-pocket cost to the customer. Yes, but: Less than a fifth of the 38 million households that qualify for the program are actually enrolled. And despite a recent uptick, enrollment remains down sharply from the Obama era. Less than a fifth of the 38 million households that qualify for the program are actually enrolled. And despite a recent uptick, enrollment remains down sharply from the Obama era. "It's very clear that the program is needed now more than ever," Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks told Axios. "It's a program that is severely underutilized, and it has got to really meet the moment here." The intrigue: Starks and other critics lay the low participation rate at the feet of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by President Trump in 2017 to lead the commission. They highlight two factors in particular as contributing to anemic enrollment: Pai rolled back an Obama-era change that let the federal government approve internet service providers to participate in the program nationally, instead leaving that determination up to the states. That means any provider looking to take part in the program has to take it up with every state where they operate. A database to determine who's eligible for subsidized service envisioned during the Obama administration stumbled out of the gate and isn't fully operational yet. That could make it harder to sign up new participants. Another problem: The subsidy is too low to cover the cost of broadband, argues Gigi Sohn, who advised former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat. "$9.25 gets you a cheap mobile phone and 2GB of data, and thats basically it," Sohn told Axios. "Its a tiny amount its certainly not enough to do your homework on or telework on." The other side: Pai has overseen changes and enforcement actions aimed at curbing waste and fraud in Lifeline, which also brought recorded enrollment numbers down. In one high-profile case, the FCC accused Sprint of taking subsidies for nearly 900,000 subscribers that were not actually enrolled in the service. The FCC has made temporary changes in recent months to the Lifeline program in response to the coronavirus pandemic, an agency spokesperson noted, including: Waiving Lifeline usage requirements and de-enrollment procedures until Aug. 31 to help ensure current subscribers aren't kicked off the program. Waiving a requirement that consumers must provide three consecutive months of income documentation to qualify for the program. The FCC also is promoting Lifeline awareness by coordinating with agencies that administer programs like SNAP and Medicaid to alert enrollees to Lifeline, the spokesperson said. Starks said the agency should do more to advertise Lifeline and ensure that new enrollees in a program like SNAP are notified they also qualify for Lifeline. By the numbers: Enrollment has climbed slightly during the pandemic. Although it's still well below the roughly 12.5 million subscribers Lifeline served in 2016, the program went from about 6.7 million subscribers in February to about 7.2 million in May, according to figures from Lifeline compliance firm CGM compiled using disbursement data from the Universal Service Administrative Company, which oversees Lifeline. Meanwhile, some broadband providers including Comcast offer their own programs for low-income customers. Comcast is also giving new Internet Essentials customers two months of free service as part of its coronavirus response efforts. What's next: Washington continues to look for ways to better connect economically disadvantaged Americans, including through a massive infrastructure package the Democrat-controlled House passed last week that envisions a federally funded $50 monthly discount on broadband plans for low-income people. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced a Senate version of the broadband provisions. The bottom line: Without new legislation that passes both houses and gets the president's signature, only existing programs like Lifeline can help with the affordability gaps that contribute to the digital divide. In 2011, Mark Johnson sold his startup Zite to CNN for $20 million (it was later acquired by Flipboard). Three years later, he moved to New Mexico, where he ran Descartes Labs, which makes sense of satellite imagery. In May, Johnson made another big move relocating to Omaha to run GrainBridge, an agriculture tech company that is a joint venture between Cargill and ADM. Why it matters: Tech is seen as vitally important for the global agriculture industry, which faces the stresses of climate change and predictions of a significant increase in food demand with roughly the same amount of land devoted to farming. How it works: GrainBridge's software helps farmers figure out the best time to sell their crops. With crop prices in constant flux, farmers' timing of their sales is critical to their bottom lines. What they're saying: Johnson said he became fascinated by agriculture during his time at Descartes Labs. "We did a lot of work on understanding sustainability from space, looking at global crop productions, trying to understand demand factors, and understanding global shipping," Johnson told Axios. "If we're going to both feed a growing population and do so more sustainably over the next few decades, technology is key." The big picture: Johnson notes that while many U.S. farms are multimillion-dollar businesses, few have the sophisticated software tools they need. And, he said, that challenge is compounded by a trade war with China and supply chain disruptions brought on by COVID-19. As for Omaha, Johnson said he continues to believe there are lots of places outside of Silicon Valley that are filled with talent. Go deeper: John Deere quietly opens tech office in San Francisco House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday at a press conference that, after receiving a White House briefing, he sees no indication that the intelligence surrounding allegations that Russian operatives paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops is a "hoax" as President Trump has suggested. What he's saying: "The president called this a hoax publicly. 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." The big picture: Hoyer suggested that the White House briefing did not include direct perspectives from the intelligence community, and reiterated his call for the Trump administration to provide a full briefing to House members. "I would have preferred the briefing ... had been given by intel personnel, either from CIA director [Gina] Haspel in particular or NSA so that we would have the direct evidence and discussion from the intelligence community as to how credible they assessed the information," Hoyer said. "I thought this briefing was the White House personnel telling us their perspective. I think we knew the White House perspective. What we need to know is the intelligence perspective." House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also insisted that "the right people to give the briefing really were not in the room," and rebuked Trump for not assuring the public that he will "get to the bottom" of "whether Russians are putting bounties on the heads of American troops." "I do not understand for a moment why the president isn't saying this to the American people right now and is relying on, 'I don't know, I haven't heard, I haven't been briefed.' That's just not excusable. His responsibility as commander in chief is to protect our troops," Schiff said. "And I shared the concern at the White House today that I think many of us have, which is there may be a reluctance 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." The other side: National security adviser Robert O'Brien said in a statement Tuesday, "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." Go deeper: GOP senator demands accountability over reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops President Trump sent a handwritten note to over a dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus informing them that he would not cancel his meeting on Wednesday with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as they had requested. Why it matters: The caucus of Democratic lawmakers had denounced Lopez Obrador's visit to celebrate the newly enacted United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal as "a blatant attempt to politicize the important U.S.-Mexico relationship and distract from the pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, turned down the White House's invitation on Monday. "While this meeting may appear to be trade related and tied to the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), it is nothing more than an attempt to distract from the coronavirus crisis and your failure to lead an adequate response to the pandemic," the lawmakers wrote. "In border states such as Texas and Arizona, COVID-19 is out of control and your lack of leadership has already resulted in the deaths of more the 120,000 Americans and the gravest economic disaster since the Great Depression, both of which are decimating Latino communities." What he's saying: "CHC - Thank you for your very nice letter," Trump wrote in what appeared to be Sharpie. "He is my friend and a wonderful man. I look forward to meeting with the president. Will be good (& important) for both Mexico & the USA." Read the letter via DocumentCloud. Uber has agreed to acquire food delivery company Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock deal, the companies announced Monday. Why it matters: This is the latest merger for the food delivery space as the sector undergoes an ongoing market consolidation. After failing to agree on terms with Uber, GrubHub struck a deal to sell to Europe's Just Eat Takeaway last month. Nearly a year ago, DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square. The big picture: The Uber-Postmates tie-up would still put the combined businesses' market share behind DoorDash, which has about 45% of the U.S. food delivery market, according to credit card spending tracking companies. Postmates has raised just over $900 million in total funding, and was last valued at $2.4 billion post-money. This deal also showcases Postmates' prowess in the Los Angeles and Miami markets, where the company has strong market share. Between the lines: It's not surprising to see Postmates get acquired. Though it paused its IPO ambitions last year, the company was recently rumored to resume plans to go public and was also looking to raise new funding, as Axios reported. Uber has also been drastically reshaping its business since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Its ride-share business has significantly suffered, dropping by as much as 70% in April, and it recently offloaded its scooter and bike rental unit. However, its food delivery arm has seen a surge as restaurants turned to delivery to remain afloat. The pandemic has also made ride-hailing and delivery more costly for the companies across these industries as they've had to provide more resources to drivers, including paid sick leave and cleaning supplies. What's next: Both Postmates and Uber have opposed a newly effective California labor law that could force the companies to reclassify their drivers from independent contractors to employees. The companies are backing a state ballot measure to change the law in the coming November elections. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reaffirmed Armenias commitment to deepening its relations with the United States and praised Washingtons policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in an Independence Day message to President Donald Trump sent at the weekend. Armenia highly values the further development of friendly relations with the United States as part of the strategic dialogue established a year ago, read the message. We are committed to continued participation in the U.S.-led initiatives aimed at fighting cross-border terrorism and enhancing international security to the best of our ability, it said. For his part, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian noted a unique connection between the two countries and their mutual sympathy and trust in a statement on U.S. Independence Day. He described the U.S. as a land of liberty and democracy. We value the engaging character of our renewed dialogue, which enables us to discuss and expand our current common agenda, said Mnatsakanian. Both Pashinian and Mnatsakanian thanked Washington for its long-running assistance to Armenia and praised the U.S. role in international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict. The U.S. spearheads those efforts together with Russia and France within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-headed by the three world powers. We appreciate the United States constructive involvement and balanced policy in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, wrote the Armenian prime minister. Mnatsakanian discussed the Karabakh peace process with Philip Reeker, the acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, by phone on June 29. Their phone conversation came just hours before the Armenian foreign minister held a fresh video conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and the Minsk Groups U.S., Russian and French co-chairs. A court in Yerevan refused on Monday to allow investigators to arrest Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh Sarkisians fugitive son-in-law prosecuted on corruption charges denied by him. Armenias State Revenue Committee (SRC) moved to arrest Minasian in late April one month after charging him with illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money laundering. A district court judge agreed to issue an arrest warrant for him on May 6. The decision was overturned by the Court of Appeals on June 4, however. A few days later, the SRC broadened the criminal charges leveled against Minasian. It said that he had also failed to declare his de facto ownership from 2012-2018 of a 49 percent stake in Armenias largest food-exporting company. The SRC went on to seek another arrest warrant for Minasian. A different district court judge rejected the demand following an overnight hearing. It was not immediately clear if the SRC investigators will appeal against the ruling. The accusations are completely baseless, insisted one of Minasians lawyers, Amram Makinian. He again claimed that his client is a victim of political persecution overseen by the Armenian government. Minasian enjoyed considerable political and economic influence in Armenia when it was ruled by his father-in-law from 2008-2018. He is also thought to have developed extensive business interests in various sectors of the Armenian economy. A vocal critic of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Minasian left Armenia shortly after he was dismissed as ambassador to the Vatican in late 2018. In the last few months, he has posted on Facebook a series of lengthy video addresses to Armenians accusing Pashinian of corruption and misrule. For his part, Pashinian has repeatedly accused the 42-year-old of illegally making a huge fortune during Sarkisians rule. Minasian has so far declined to reveal his current place of residence. He has said instead that he is not returning to Armenia because he believes the investigators are acting on Pashinians orders. Armenias Court of Appeals agreed on Monday to order a fresh trial in connection with the violent death in September 2001 of a man at a Yerevan cafe visited by then President Robert Kocharian. Poghos Poghosian, a 43-year-old ethnic Armenian from Georgia, was found dead in the cafe restroom shortly after Kocharian left its premises together with his entourage. Prosecutors said at the time that Poghosian died after falling over and hitting the toilet floor with the back side of his head during a violent argument with one of Kocharians bodyguards, Aghamal Harutiunian. They claimed that the scuffle broke out after he reprimanded Poghosian for greeting Kocharian in a way he found too familiar. Some eyewitnesses asserted, however, that Poghosian was attacked and forced into the toilet by several men who looked like security agents. The witnesses included a friend of Poghosians who shared a table with him at the Poplavok cafe, then a popular venue for jazz concerts. Nevertheless, Harutiunian was the only presidential bodyguard prosecuted in connection with the deadly incident that caused uproar in Armenia. A district court in Yerevan backed the official version of events at the end of his high-profile trial in February 2002. Harutiunian was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and given a suspended 2-year prison sentence. Poghosians friends and relatives as well as Kocharians political opponents condemned the verdict, alleging an official cover-up. Armenian prosecutors decided to conduct a fresh investigation into Poghosians death only after the 2018 Velvet Revolution and the ensuing arrest and prosecution of Kocharian on coup and corruption charges rejected by the ex-president as politically motivated. The prosecutors based their decision on testimony given last year by Stephen Newton, a British citizen who claims to have witnessed the 2001 incident. Newton, who worked in Armenia at the time, stood by his earlier claims that the victim was beaten up by several presidential bodyguards. In January this year, the Office of the Prosecutor-General formally asked the Court of Appeals to overturn the 2002 guilty verdict and order a retrial. It said that the fresh investigation conducted by another law-enforcement body found further proof that Poghosians death was a murder committed by a group of individuals. The Court of Appeals accepted the demand, sending the case back to the Yerevan court of first instance. During court hearings on the prosecutors appeal Harutiunians lawyers denied the new and more serious accusations leveled against the former security officer. It is not yet clear whether any of the other former or current bodyguards have also been indicted. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian warned on Monday that his government will have to impose another nationwide lockdown if Armenian hospitals are no longer able to cope with the continuing spread of the coronavirus in the country. As soon as we see that our healthcare system is no longer able to cater for [infected] citizens we will have no choice but to revert to the restrictions regime to overcome this situation while realizing that this is a severe blow to our economy, Pashinian told a daily news briefing. I hope that we will after all realize the gravity of the situation and a change in our behavior will be the instrument with which we will overcome this epidemic, he said. The warning came after the Armenian health authorities recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus infections over the weekend, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 28,936. With 7 more coronavirus deaths registered on Sunday, the countrys official death toll from COVID-19 rose to 491. Speaking at the briefing, Health Minister Arsen Torosian sought to put a brave face on this statistics. He said that the daily number of new cases, which has averaged between 500 and 700 in recent weeks, have been relatively stable. Usually epidemics spread explosively, but we are not in such a situation, Torosian said, adding that Armenians have slowed the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing and wearing face masks in larger numbers. Torosian noted at the same time that there are now very few vacant beds at the intensive care units of Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. The situation is now more or less relatively stable, but nobody can guarantee that it will not be reversed tomorrow, Pashinian said in this regard. Every day we wait anxiously for the midnight to see how many new cases have been registered. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that at a certain point we wont have 800, 900 or 1,000 cases a day. Arman Badalian, an epidemiology lecturer at Yerevan State Medical University, suggested that the health authorities would have already registered this many new cases had they conducted more coronavirus tests. The daily number of tests has averaged more than 2,000 for the past month. About 30 percent of them have come back negative. The percentage of positive tests is quite high, Badalian told RFE/RLs Armenian service. It means that there are many cases and we dont hunt down all of them, so to speak. Badalian also insisted that social distancing and face masks alone will not contain the epidemic. The authorities, he said, should also resort to mass testing and more effective contact tracing. The Armenian government already issued stay-at-home orders and shut down most nonessential businesses in late March. But it began easing those restrictions in mid-April and lifted the lockdown altogether by May 10. The number of new coronavirus cases soared in the following weeks. By Trend Tea imports from Azerbaijan to Georgia increased by 30.8 percent from January through April 2020 compared to the same period last year, Trend reports citing Georgian National Statistics Service (Geostat). As reported, in the first four months of 2020, 250 tons of tea worth $1.55 million were imported from Azerbaijan to Georgia, compared to 194.7 tons of tea worth $1.18 million imported from Azerbaijan to Georgia in the same period of 2019. In the first four months of 2020, tea took tenth place in terms of import volume among the top 10 goods imported from Azerbaijan to Georgia. According to Geostat, the ninth place in the top ten was occupied by the product group "Coke petroleum, petroleum bitumen and other residues from the processing of petroleum or petroleum products" in the amount of 9,039.5 tons. The eighth position is occupied by the commodity group "Crude oil and crude petroleum products obtained from bituminous rocks (4,164.6 tons). Import of cement ranked seventh, and the import of steel bars (9,843.5 tons) ranked sixth. In the reporting period, Georgia imported 2,311 tons of copper ores and concentrates worth $5.9 million from Azerbaijan, which is 1,595 tons more compared to the same period last year (fifth position). Meanwhile, 8.5 tons of parts and accessories suitable for use with typing or calculating machines worth $11.1 million were imported by Georgia from Azerbaijan (fourth position). From January through April 2020, Georgia imported 41,870 tons of petroleum and petroleum oils worth $13.5 million from Azerbaijan (third position). Georgia imported from Azerbaijan electricity worth $21.2 million (second position). The first position is occupied by petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons, the most popular products imported by Georgia from Azerbaijan. Georgia imported 802,768 tons of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons in a total amount of $136.8 million from Azerbaijan from January through April 2020, which is 545 tons less compared to the same period of 2019. Azerbaijan ranked third in Georgias commodity circulation in the reporting period From January through April 2020, the foreign trade turnover between Georgia and Azerbaijan amounted to more than $367 million, which makes up 10.6 percent of the total trade turnover of Georgia. During the reporting period, Georgia exported products worth $221.8 million to Azerbaijan, which comprises 9 percent of total exports from Georgia. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan exported products worth $145.1 million to the Georgian market, which is 14.5 percent of total imports to Georgia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad Members of Trans-Caspian International Transport Consortium, Azerbaijans ADY Container, KTZ Express (Kazakhstan), GR Logistics (Georgia) and Pacific Eurasia Logistics (Turkey) has set a new freight transportation record, companys press service reported on July 6. According to the statement, member companies delivered freight train consisting of 43 containers within just 12 days, while earlier the delivery period was 16 days. The train, consisting of 40-foot containers with various cargoes entered Kazakhstan through Altynkol station. Then it was transported from Aktau port to Baku port by the ADY containerized feeder ship Beket-Ata, and from there to Akhalkalaki station in Georgia and then to Izmit city in Turkey. It should be noted that, despite difficult epidemiological conditions, the East-West railway transportation of cargoes continues uninterruptedly in compliance with sanitary and epidemiological norms. ADY Container LLC is a full-fledged subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, with a mandate to provide high-quality, reliable freight transport in the country. Exclusively operating all container transportation within Azerbaijan, ADY Container LLC offers an extensive range of services, from multimodal transport to custom brokerage and storage facilities, which can be conveniently managed through our online customer portal. ADY Container LLC has begun expanding cooperation, mainly with countries in the Far East region - China, Japan and South Korea, as well as with Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Iran and India, in order to increase the volume of cargo transportation along the international East-West Transport Corridor, North-South Transport Corridor and Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova YARAT Contemporary Space invites you to join a virtual discussion on July 8. This time curator Farah Alakbarli and young artist Chinara Majidova are going to provide insight into the multidisciplinary practice of contemporary artists, the role of research in it and various ways of expressing creativity. As an educated lawyer, Chinara will also discuss the factors that attract her to arts and her visualized projects about important topics of interest and emphasis in this field. The language of discussion will be Azerbaijani. YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011. The organization realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and the University of Montpellier (UM) have announced the candidates for a joint doctoral program for the years 2020-2022. The virtual meeting was held on the basis of a cooperation agreement signed between ANAS and the University of Montpellier (France), the Academy's website reported. Chairman of ANAS Commission, First Vice-President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, academician Ibragim Guliyev, members of the commission - ANAS Vice-President, academician Irada Huseynova, academician-secretary of ANAS, corresponding member, Aminaga Sadigov andhead of the Office of Foreign Relations Apparatus of the Presidium of ANAS, PhD in Biology Esmira Alirzayeva took part in the discussion. University of Montpellier was represented at the meeting by the chairman of the commission, Vice president of this higher education institution for international relations, Professor Patrick Caron, members of the commission-professors from doctoral organizations responsible for biology and the environment (CBS2 and GAIA) Eric Julien and Valerie Micard, as well as the deputy head of the Office of International Relations, Nadia Lagarde. Candidates who successfully completed the initial qualifying round, held presentations and answered questions from members of the commission. The members of the commission from ANAS and the University of Montpellier separately discussed the presented works, and then presented their decisions and during the discussion came to a single result. Selected candidates will study at the University of Montpellier for 2 years, and 1 year at ANAS. After completing the training, they will be awarded the right to receive diplomas of doctors of philosophy from both Azerbaijan and France. Note that since 2018, 4 doctoral students continue their studies at the University of Montpellier under this program. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Aisha Jabbarova Armenia uses the separatist regime set up in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh to prolong the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani Community has said in a statement. The statement was published on July 5, following Armenian Foreign Ministers illegal visit to Nagorno-Karabakh and his meeting with the head of the separatist regime set up there. Using its puppet entity as a cover up, the authorities of the Republic of Armenia make further territorial claims against Azerbaijan. This is in addition to the fact that about one-fifth of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territories, which include the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, are currently under Armenias occupation, the statement reads. The community said that Armenia was seeking to deceive the international community. In contrast to our peace message, it seems Armenias efforts are aimed at prolonging its occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Hate speech campaign fueled by Armenia and its diaspora targeting the ethnically cleansed Azerbaijanis is such a proof, the Community stressed. It also urged Armenia to focus on the peace and to support on the Communitys efforts for the peaceful coexistence of Armenian and Azerbaijani in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Earlier, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said that the meeting of the Armenian Foreign Minister with the so-called president of the illegal regime created in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is another example of Yerevans aggressive and annexation policy. Such steps by the Armenian leadership, as well as illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including illegal resettlement and change of geographical names, serve to strengthen the occupation, she stressed. __ Follow us on Twitter @AzerNews By Ayya Lmahamad Lump sum payments in the amount of AZN 190 ($111.7) will be paid to unemployed people in eight more cities and regions of Azerbaijan where the special quarantine regime has been extended, local media reported with the reference to Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev. Thus, in the coming days, 287,000 people in 16 cities and regions, where the special quarantine regime is tightened, will receive this lump-sum payment by bank cards. Babayev said in an interview with local TV channel on July 5 that the decision on payments has already been drafted and will be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers within the next few days. These payments will be paid to unemployed and informally employed people who lost their income during the special quarantine regime. Some AZN 55 million ($32,3) have been allocated for this purpose. Azerbaijan first introduced quarantine regime on March 24, and on June 18 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 1. On July 2, Cabinet of Ministers announced decision to prolong a strict quarantine regime till July 20. The new lockdown will be imposed on July 5-20 in capital Baku, as well as in Jalilabad, Ganja, Lankaran, Masalli, Sumgayit, Yevlakh cities and Absheron district, and Goranboy, Goygol, Mingachevir, Barda, Khachmaz, Samukh, Siyazan and Sheki regions. Under the lockdown rule, citizens are allowed to leave their place of residence only after obtaining SMS permissions. Baku metro will be suspended from July 4 midnight till July 20, and the entire public transport will not operate on weekends in cities and districts in which the special quarantine regime has been toughened Moreover, operation of shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, as well as museums, exhibition halls, sport and beaches was also suspended until July 20. Azerbaijan mandated wearing face masks on May 31. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad Turkey has sent a humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan in the fight against coronavirus infection, Embassy of Turkey reported on its official Twitter page on July 5. According to the statement, assistance included 30 devices of IVL, 55,000 overalls, 50,000 masks 95, 100,000 surgical masks, 5,000 medical glasses, 200,000 gloves and 40,000 boxes of the various medicines used for treatment of a virus. It should be noted that earlier, on June 9, President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan made individual donations to the World Health Organization, and humanitarian assistance to 29 WHO member countries, including $5 million to Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. Azerbaijan first introduced quarantine regime on March 24, and on June 18 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 1. As of July 6, Azerbaijan, the nation of ten million has registered 20,324 COVID-10 cases and 250 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 11,742 people have recovered from the disease. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad Some 6,836 citizens were fined during the period of July 2-5 for violating the strict quarantine regime that entered force on June 21, main traffic police department under the Ministry of Interior reported on July 6. All 6,836 were fined according to Article 211.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. Of them 5,787 were drivers who failed to follow the quarantine regime requirements and 1,034 were citizens not using facial masks in the public transport. Eight citizens was subjected to administrative liability. In the meantime, 4,910 cars, which had sought to leave these territories were stopped, and returned back during the reporting period. Moreover, as part of the measures taken by police officers in the fight against coronavirus, administrative measures have been taken against entities that violate the rules of the special quarantine regime. Thus, the control activities carried out on July 5 revealed the fact of operation of 11 catering enterprises in the country, which violated the special quarantine regime. Out of them, 10 owners were fined and one was administratively detained. Additionally, from today in Baku, police checkpoints are organized at the entrances to shop. Police officers will preventing customers from entering the shops without a mask, as well as to measure the temperature of customers. Checks are carried out in all food shops and retail outlets of Baku. It should be noted that yesterday, 2,294 citizens were fined for violation of the special quarantine regime, out of which 548 for failing to use medical masks, as well as 4 people were subjected for administrative liability. Earlier, it was reported that 17,134 citizens were fined in the period of June 21- July 1 for violating the quarantine regime, and 635 drivers were fined during June 14-16 lockdown, while 2,524 drivers were fined during June 6-7 lockdown. It should be noted that, once again, Interior Ministry demand citizens to unconditionally comply by all requirements set by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers. Azerbaijan first introduced quarantine regime on March 24, and on June 18 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 1. On July 2, Cabinet of Ministers announced decision to prolong a strict quarantine regime till July 20. The new lockdown imposed on July 5-20 in capital Baku, as well as in Jalilabad, Ganja, Lankaran, Masalli, Sumgayit, Yevlakh cities and Absheron district, and Goranboy, Goygol, Mingachevir, Barda, Khachmaz, Samukh, Siyazan and Sheki regions. Under the lockdown rule, citizens are allowed to leave their place of residence only after obtaining SMS permissions. Baku metro will be suspended from July 4 midnight till July 20, and the entire public transport will not operate on weekends in cities and districts in which the special quarantine regime has been toughened Moreover, operation of shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, as well as museums, exhibition halls, sport and beaches was also suspended until July 20. Azerbaijan mandated wearing face masks on May 31. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani Army has conducted night-time combat shooting tactical exercises in the frontline zone, the Ministry of Defense reported on July 6. During the drills, the military units performed various combat missions. Involved in the nighttime combat exercises, the units destroyed targets of the hypothetical adversary by firing from different types of weapons (machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers and etc). ---- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Defense Ministry has denied as a lie reports on Russia's 'Container' radar system detecting unknown planes allegedly using Azerbaijan's air space to carry out attacks on neighbouring Iran. Dissemination of such information is aimed at damaging the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations. It is clear that the information spread in order to damage the good relations between the two countries is nothing but slander, the ministry reported on its official Facebook page on July 6. "The report spread by pro-Armenian forces is unfounded and false," the ministr said. "So far, no steps have been taken against the neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran from the territory of Azerbaijan and will not be taken in the future," added the ministry. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Aisha Jabbarova President Ilham Aliyev has urged citizens comply with social distancing rules amid the special coronavirus quarantine regime imposed in the country, saying that some citizens are demonstratively violating such rules. The president made the remarks while opening a new modular hospital in Bakus Khatai district on July 6, which is the country fifth modular hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Aliyev attributed the spike in COVID-19 cases in Azerbaijan to civic irresponsibility among some citizens who do not follow quarantine rules. The main reason for the spread of the disease is the irresponsibility of some people. They do not follow simple rules. That is the reason why we were forced to increase the fines. In some cases, we are forced to take strict measures against those who violate the quarantine regime. But they must also understand their responsibility. All rules are designed to protect the health of people, including those who violate the quarantine regime. But we see that people are demonstratively violating this regime, Aliyev said. The president also commented on the detention of lockdown violators in Bakus Fairmont Hotel on July 5. That shameful incident that took place in a famous hotel yesterday is unacceptable. Therefore, the intervention by the Azerbaijani police was right. I have given strict instructions to the police to respond relevantly to all violations. No one is above the law - whether it is a local or a foreign company, a local citizen or a foreign citizen, we must protect our people and the health of our people. At the same time, existing laws and regulations related to the quarantine regime should be the basis for everyone. Therefore, we will continue to take steps in this direction. If people who break those rules are more responsible and disciplined, I think we will be able to control the pandemic, the president said. It should be noted that the new modular hospital of the Medical Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations consists of 10 buildings and has all facilities to receive 800 patients. According to the presidential order, construction of 10 modular hospital complexes has started in the country, some of which are already open. In total, the modular hospital complexes under construction will create 2,000 more beds in the country's healthcare system. Azerbaijan first introduced quarantine regime on March 24, and on June 18 decision was taken to extend special quarantine regime until August 1. As of July 7, Azerbaijan, the nation of ten million has registered 20,837 COVID-10 cases and 258 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 12,182 people have recovered from the disease. ___ Follow us on Twitter @AzerNews By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani President llham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have exchanged letters expressing their countries solidarity in fight against COVID-19. As in all areas, in the fight against COVID-19, Azerbaijan and Turkey show solidarity under the slogan One nation, two states. I am confident that with our joint efforts we will be able to cope with the coronavirus, Aliyev said in a letter sent to Erdogan on July 6. Aliyev expressed gratitude to the Turkish president over the humanitarian aid sent to Azerbaijan recently over COVID-19, adding that "this is another clear example of brotherly and friendly relations between the two countries." I wish you good health, success in your work, and prosperity and peace to the brotherly people of Turkey, the letter reads. Similar thoughts of solidarity were expressed during Erdogans letter sent on July 5. We are ready to render all possible assistance to friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan under the slogan One nation, two states, said Erdogan. He also emphasized that in this context, Turkey is ensuring the delivery of medical supplies to Azerbaijan, which may be of some benefit to Azerbaijan's fight against the pandemic. Taking this opportunity, I once again express our support for Azerbaijan in the fight against the pandemic, and I sincerely wish you good health and happiness, and peace and prosperity to the brotherly people of Azerbaijan on behalf of my nation and myself, Erdogan concluded. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Akbar Mammadov President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Nursultan Nazarbayev on his anniversary and wished him good health and new achievements in his work for the development of Kazakhstan, the presidential website reported on July 6. During the phone conversation, Aliyev noted the exceptional role of Nursultan Nazarbayev in the establishment of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan. The president also stressed that as a result of Nazarbayevs tireless efforts, Kazakhstan has passed a great way of development, great achievements have been made in ensuring the welfare of the people and strengthening socio-political stability. Furthermore, Aliyev said the friendly relations between national leader Heydar Aliyev and Nursultan Nazarbayev played an important role in building bilateral ties. At the same time, Aliyev commended Nursultan Nazarbayev's contribution to expanding cooperation among Turkic-speaking countries. In his turn, Nursultan Nazarbayev thanked the President of Azerbaijan for the attention, congratulations and kind words. During the telephone conversation, confidence was also expressed that Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan friendly relations will continue to develop successfully in all areas. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The price of Azeri LT CIF Augusta, produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field, went down by 2 cents on June 18 compared to the previous price, reaching $74.54 barrel, Trend reports referring to the source from the country's oil and gas market. By Akbar Mammadov Reconstruction of the damaged building of at Natanz Complex will get underway, IRNA news agency reported on July 6, citing Spokesperson of Irans Atomic Energy Organization Behrouz Kamalvandi. Reconstruction of the damaged building will get underway at Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Natanz Complex with a bigger plot of land for advanced equipment are supposed to be built there. The spokesperson noted that after the accident, the priority was to ensure that there are no casualties, find its cause and the way to reconstruct the complex and compensate for the losses. Kamalvandi said that as the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council announced, the security bodies now are aware of the cause of the accident, but, due to security considerations they do not tend to comment on it. Regarding the accident, Kamalvandi highlighted the fact the construction process of Natanz Complex started seven years ago. The process was about to be completed after two years, but, due to issues related to Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), construction works did not continue, he added. Speaking about the losses, the spokesperson noted that there were measuring equipment and precision instruments in the complex and many of them were destroyed by the accident. In this regard, on July 2, Kamalvandi said that there were no casualties in Natanz Complex as a result of the incident occurred, and the normal process of enrichment continues far from the site of the incident. Kamalvandi also denied reports that there had been nuclear material at the site. Earlier, rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Abolfazl Amouei said on July 5 that the dimensions of the Natanz incident and the report of the IAEA Board of Governors were discussed in the meeting in the presence of Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi. Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) spokesman Keyvan Khosravi stated that the cause of the incident at the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Natanz Nuclear Complex has been identified following the technical and security investigations and will be declared in due course for security reasons. Experts from different departments attended the site since the early hours of the incident and determined the main cause of the incident, but it will be announced later, he said. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz AVONDALE (3TV/CBS 5) -- Behind every COVID-19 statistic across the country is a real person with loved ones. The day before a California man died, he made a Facebook post urging people to social distance and wear a mask. His aunt, who lives in Avondale, spoke to Arizona's Family. "When we learned about this, I was in hysteria, I could not control myself because it couldn't happen to him," said Jessie Prieto. Prieto's nephew, a 51-year-old who has diabetes, told Arizona's Family that he followed all CDC guidelines, but, when Riverside County's lockdown was lifted in California, the truck driver felt okay with going to a party in Mid-June. "And nobody was wearing a mask. There was a gentleman there who was already sick, and he is the one who infected my nephew," said Prieto. Arizona-made masks are made with clear shields to make lip reading easier Masks are becoming an essential way of life and not going away anytime soon. One Arizona company decided to make masks that stand out from the rest. At first, Macias thought his diabetes was making him sick then he tested positive for COVID-19. His condition worsened. On that Saturday, he posted on Facebook filled with regret that he went out. He felt bad that he put his family in jeopardy and urged people to social distance and wear masks. The next day, Macias had trouble breathing. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died. "By posting that, hopefully, lives will be changed. And take this serious. Like he said on his post, this is no joke," said Prieto. Prieto hopes you take her nephew's message to heart so that you don't feel the pain that she's feeling. "And it's not until it hits really really close to you that you know that it's serious," said Prieto. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Work on Bluefield Primary School, the state of the art facility to replace Bluefields aging schools, continues at a steady pace near Bluefield High School on Cumberland Road. The school will be similar to Mountain Valley Elementary School when it is ready to receive its first class in January 2021, according to Superintendent Deborah Akers. The nations largest teachers union is bracing for a significant membership decline due to the anticipated wave of teacher and staff layoffs caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the unions revenue will actually increase by about $7 million next year because of a dues increase for teachers and support employees. In its proposed strategic plan and budget , the National Education Association says it has about 2.42 million full-time equivalent members this year. In the 2020-21 budget year, the union expects membership to fall to 2.29 million. (This number includes teachers, education support professionals, and retirees. In total, the NEA has about 3 million members, but many of those are part-time teachers. For the purposes of the budget, NEA just counts full-time equivalents.) The union has reported $350.4 million in tax-exempt revenue this year, which is projected to increase to $357.8 million. By 2021-22, the NEA projects its revenue will increase to $365 million. The value [educators] place in belonging to this union is significant, and they are willing to pay union dues to belong to that community to advocate for their colleagues and to stand up for what their kids need, said Kim Anderson, the NEAs executive director, in an interview. The annual dues increase, which was determined by a formula in the unions bylaws, amounted to $4 for teachers (raising the dues to $200 next year) and $2 for support employees (to $121.50). Much of the extra money raised from the dues increase will be delegated to the NEAs coronavirus response actions, Anderson said. Delegates will debate the proposed budget during their Representative Assembly on July 2 and 3. This year, the annual convention is virtual and scaled down , and it is mostly closed to the press. Delegates will vote on the budgetas well as the NEAs endorsement of Joe Biden and the election of NEA officersvia mail-in ballots. Membership Losses In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector unions cannot collect fees for collective bargaining from workers who decline to join the union. The decision caused the loss of nearly 90,000 fee-payers for the NEA and made it easier for teachers to leave the union. Previously, the mandatory fees were only slightly cheaper than union dues, so teachers often just kicked in the extra few dollars to become full members. Since then, the NEA has indeed lost thousands of members, but the losses were not as significant as predicted . We thought we could lose anywhere from 150,000 members, Anderson said, adding that those projections did not come to fruition. People are desperate to belong to a community and feel a sense of connectedness. In its latest financial report, the NEA released its membership numbers by state for the years 2017-18 and 2018-19. The union lost about 30,000 total members, with significant losses in California and Michigan. (The California membership loss was largely due to the California Faculty Association cutting ties with the California Teachers Association.) New York and Montana had sizeable membership growth, which helped offset some of the losses. Now, the NEA is preparing to lose even more members due to teacher and staff layoffs. As states cut their budgets in a coronavirus-inflicted economic downturn, school districts that rely on state funding will have to lay employees off. One analysis from the Learning Policy Institute predicted that 320,000 teaching jobs could be lost if states cut their education budgets by 15 percent. Anderson said the NEA is lobbying the Senate to pass the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or the HEROES Act, which passed the House last month and would include $58 billion in direct aid for K-12 school districts. Still, she added, our budget is not based upon the generosity of the Senate. The HEROES Act has faced an icy reception in the Senate. Earlier this week, Senate Democrats unveiled the $430 billion Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act , which would require states who use the relief package not to cut their own education budgets for three years. Grants to Recover and Advance From COVID-19 In the 2020-21 budget year, the NEA plans to use $5.5 million of its extra revenue from the dues increase to address the impact of the coronavirus. This money will be given to local and state affiliates who apply for it. We want to make sure we can provide grants to state affiliates and local affiliates to do more than just recoverwe want them to recover and advance, Anderson said, adding that money can go toward whatever the need is on the ground. NEA Secretary-Treasurer Princess Moss said in an open hearing on the proposed budget that the money could be used for trainings for members, building technical capacities, offering professional development around trauma-informed instruction, and other community work. It could also be used to support virtual member organizing. We dont know all of the needs, and we wont know, she said. But what we do know is that we need to provide assistance to our members and our affiliates. In addition to approving this two-year budget this week, NEA delegates will elect a new president. NEA Vice President Becky Pringle, who is expected to win, is running against special education teacher Mark Airgood and 8th grade teacher Mark Norberg. Outgoing NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia spoke to Education Week about her six-year tenure; read the interview here . Image: iStock/Getty Images Plus Gayle Duane Shumaker went home to his Lord and Savior on Sunday, June 20, 2021 at the age of 82. Gayle was born July 7, 1938 in Princeton, WV to the late Charles and Flossie (French) Shumaker. He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Ruth A. (Rathbun) Shumaker; children Mark, Todd, Sus Tornado, WWII Submarines and Motor Lodge: Oregon Coast Inns With A Past Published 07/05/020 at 7:44 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Lincoln City, Oregon) In the age of modern conveniences and a tourism industry thats slowly turning cylon / A.I., a full dive into living Oregon coast history is a refreshing thing. Yet its rare. So many new hotel constructs are leaving older, charming buildings literally in the dust. Theyre going bye-bye. (Above: the Submarine House in Lincoln City) Still, theres a few outstanding remnants of that Oregon Coast You Remember, as the slogan goes, or at least something astounding happened there. Heres three interesting examples. The late winter of 2010 was a gnarly one in Oregon. Its most high profile incident was a tornado in Aumsville on December 14, but the central Oregon coast had a separate crazy event about 5 a.m. It was then that a water spout was seen offshore in the dead of night, which made its way onto Lincoln City, thus becoming an actual tornado. The Sea Horse Oceanfront Lodging happened to be standing in its way. Back then, it was owned by a different group, and employee April Christy told Oregon Coast Beach Connection there was a heavy windstorm but no warning this would happen. Employees heard some terrible noises and later peeked outside to see chunks of the motels roof on the ground and other debris. 15 units all oceanfront had the roof torn off, some 500 feet of material. Large amounts of the motel were actually two blocks away after winds finished with them. At first it was believed this was simply an unusual gust of wind, but later the National Weather Service later determined it indeed was a small tornado. It took several months but the Sea Horse rebuilt that section. 1301 NW 21st Street, Lincoln City, Oregon 97367. Toll Free 800-662-2101 or 541-994-2101. www.seahorsemotel.com A bit farther down the road, Agate Beach Motel in Newport is one of those leftovers from a bygone age: the motor lodge. It was originally called the Agate Beach Motor Lodge (above photo courtesy Agate Beach Motel). Built somewhere in the 40s, this was a crossing over period where people had just discovered they didnt need to stay in tents on the coastline but could indeed stay indoors. At first, hotels and inns were small in number, starting about 1900 or just prior. Even until the 30s they werent that common, compared to the legions of tents set up along these beach towns, often called cottages. Somewhere in the late 20s actual cottages or cabins made of wood were slowly becoming more popular for tourists, replaced quickly by the idea of a motor lodge: a hotel where you could park your car in front of your room. Wendy Kelley of Bend now owns the Agate Beach Motel, which happens to share a name with another famous inn that occupied a place nearby until the 30s or so. Legendary composer Ernest Bloch stayed there at one point, presumably sometime just before he acquired his own house overlooking Agate Beach. Kelley and her husband reinvigorated the aging motel over the decades, keeping that vibrant, old-timey, woodsy interior. Its one of the few places on the coast where youll really get the flavor of the past. 175 NW Gilbert Way. Newport, Oregon. 541-265-8746. www.agatebeachmotel.com. Also from about the 30s is a vacation rental home called the Submarine House in Lincoln City, part of A1 Beach Rentals. It was built by a radio talk show host. In the early 40s, as World War II raged around the globe, American military personnel filled this private home and used it to look out for enemy submarines or aircraft. It got its nickname early: the submarine house came from its soldier tenants. A large gun was even placed on this beachfront property, on the edge of the cliff. Erosion took that out one year and the gun actually slid down with the soil. A year or two before the end of World War II, it became apparent no one was invading the states and the home was vacated of soldiers, along with the rest of the coastline. There are no pictures of it being used for that purpose to this day, largely because taking photos of military installations during wartime was a no-no. 1-(503)-232-5984. www.a1beachrentals.com. Hotels in Lincoln City - Where to eat - Lincoln City 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 Get complete access to The Beacon's website and e-editions for only $7.99 a month! This subscription option automatically re-bills every 30 days until cancelled. To cancel, just call us a 386-734-4622, or email circulation@beacononlinenews.com Joe Biden says the darndest things Cartoon: Above. Joe Biden, the former US Senator from a three county state, and later the Vice President of these United States, picked as a human insurance policy, arguably to remove then president Barrack Hussein Obama from any threat of assassination, is a funny guy.Many pundits have expressed that Next in Line Joe Biden is an affectionate, lovable gaff machine : smelling women's, and sometimes men's, hair while campaigning; forming physical embraces, often with strangers, that tended to go on far too long; understandably, campaigning to diminishing crowds, while making awkward comments about stories involving himself that make little sense, often confusing himself with someone else who might have participated in that story; often not knowing where he is, where his minuscule crowd is positioned ... but always getting it right when it comes back to hair - either the scent of someone elses, or that hair which grows on his own leg Will Joe Biden be president of these United States?Not a chance, but he will always be lovable Slow Joe schmoozing and pandering as if that is all that will be demanded of him to govern in these tremulous times; to navigate to the swirling waters of what is far more complicated than Joe, and his dwindling supporters, could ever hope to perceive; however, the man has comedic bones, and maybe should just stick with that here in his declining years 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.. Kim Brent/ Beaumont Enterprise A 40-year-old Beaumont man was arrested after police said he drove his vehicle through the front entrance of Parkdale Mall Saturday evening and allegedly stealing jewelry. Officers responded to a calls of alarms going off at the mall just before 8 a.m., Beaumont Police Department spokesperson Cody Guedry said. Beaumont native Abriel Coleman will be heading to Massachusetts this fall to attend the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a $120,000 scholarship after years of attending school online and pursuing her passion of dance and music at the Humphrey School of the Performing arts in Houston. It is super amazing because the school is super expensive to go to, Coleman told The Enterprise. And also its kind of like youre getting paid to do what you love, you know. Its pretty spectacular. Coleman has been dancing since the age of 6, and started her training at Bonnie Cokinos School of Dance. That was my home studio for a couple of years, she said. I studied preprofessional ballet, so I was kind of on track to become a ballerina. At 15, Coleman decided to try her hand at musical theater, earning a role in a summer production of The Little Mermaid. From then on, I just caught the bug, she said. I went to Houston and auditioned for the Humphrey School of Musical Theater and it kind of starts there. In Houston, Coleman studied a wide variety of performing arts, including acting, singing and dancing. I am so blessed to have been able to work with our professional affiliate, to get professional experience, she said referring to her multiple performances with Theater Under the Stars, a year-round, professional, nonprofit musical theater production company. Her credits include roles in productions such as Spring Awakening, Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast, The Wiz, Oklahoma, All Shook Up, Memphis and Sleeping Beauty and her Winter Knight. It was amazing getting to work with professionals, including Tony Award winners and to see how they work and how professional they were, she said. Coleman balanced other schoolwork through the Texas Connections Academy, a free, public, online school that serves students throughout the state. It was pretty interesting, it caused me to grow up more, Coleman said. One day I literally had to turn a Spanish paper in and then run on stage the next second. Despite making the transition to college during a chaotic time, Coleman said she is excited to get started on the next stage of her life. While musical theater is her current passion, she is not limiting herself to anything in the future. Of course, Broadway but I also want to do television, Coleman said. I want to do movies, I want to be on the creative side I want to choreograph. I want to direct, I want to produce, and I want to be successful at it. Coleman credits her success to her longtime ballet teachers Bonnie Cokinos, the namesake of the dance studio who died in 2016, and her successor, Emma Hunter. I wouldnt have been where I am today if it wasnt for her, Coleman said. She was practically another grandmother to me, and shes guided me through this and given me hope in saying that I can do it. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes Two local units account for nearly half of the active coronavirus cases among all Texas prison inmates, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Outbreaks at Beaumonts Mark W. Stiles unit and Jasper Countys Glen Ray Goodman unit have local county judges worried about community spread. The Stiles units 672 active cases is the highest in the state, while the Goodman unit ranks third with 198 active inmate cases. The Dominguez State Jail in Bexar County has the second highest number of active cases among inmates with 468 cases. Jasper County Judge Mark Allen called the spike in coronavirus cases at the Goodman unit a fire ant hill. The facility currently has 433 inmates and 155 employees. TDCJ reported that 24 employees were listed as active cases. Obviously, anytime there is an increase in case numbers at any facility, we are concerned and want to get to the bottom of that, TDCJ spokesperson Jeremy Desel said. For the most part, we know what is going on. Most of the time, for the last month, anytime there has been a significant increase in case counts at any unit, it has been in proximity to our unit having a mass testing program come though there. He said mass testing started at the Goodman Unit after 19 inmates showed symptoms and tested positive from June 16-22. Since the mass testing, the number of symptomatic inmates rose to 25; two inmates have beeen hospitalized. Allen said he expects the outbreak to spread into the community. Jasper County has 77 total positive cases; 37 are reported as still active. I know the state is working on it and trying to get control, but they have a long way ahead of them, he said. What we will probably see is a ripple effect in the general population of both Jasper and Newton counties. Over the weekend, TDCJs website showed the Stiles unit making up 35% of the states active inmate cases and 12% of the active employee cases with 82. The Stiles unit has 756 employees and nearly 2,500 inmates. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said the state alerted him Thursday that a second round of testing at the prison was completed and that the number climbed. TDCJ told me they would have additional resources at the facility, Branick said. They are providing additional medical resources and guards. Branick said he also is concerned about community spread stemming from the outbreak but hopes the guards are following the proper protocols. Im certain that they are telling the guards they need to go from work to home and home to work, he said. They are getting their guidance from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Branick said TDCJ indicated in phone conversations that the majority of the inmates and employees were asymptomatic, but said he did not know if any of them have been hospitalized. Desel said TDCJ has tested more than 120,000 inmates. He also said a lag in the way information is collected could muddy the picture. Weve tested virtually everyone in the system, he said. Weve tested people who are symptomatic and asymptomatic. We have seen case spikes that look significant, but it is important to note that in the vast majority of those cases within the last month, they have been cases that are almost exclusively asymptomatic individuals who tested positive. For the most part, by the time those test results get processed and posted on the website, they are already at the date range where the folks wouldnt even need to be in quarantine anymore, according to CDC standards. Allen said the fact that nearly half of the inmate population has tested positive, while the other half is in medical isolation because of possible exposure is plenty of cause for concern. Whats happening is these employees leave work and go out into the economy shopping, going to church, visiting family and friends just like anyone else, he said. I think we will see more community spread due to employee infections. I can see it happening in Newton County, too, and possibly Sabine County for that matter. Allen said he is closely monitoring the situation and has asked the state to give him daily updates. I want to be aware of what is going on so I can keep our health department advised because they were unaware of all of that, he said. I told the state that we will do whatever we can to help. chris.moore@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/chris_moore09 To be an energy superpower, U.S. oil and gas requires a suitably gargantuan pipeline network that stretches for millions of miles. The country's ability to expand that infrastructure is being tested like never before. In what's possibly the biggest victory yet for an environmental movement targeting the conduits carrying fossil fuels, Dominion Energy and its partner Duke Energy said Sunday they'll no longer pursue their $8 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline after years of delays and ballooning costs. It's the third such project this year to be sidelined or canceled altogether amid mounting opposition to development of coal, oil and gas. Armed with experienced lawyers and record funding, environmental groups are finding enormous success blocking key pipeline permits in court. The keep-it-in-the-ground movement has increasingly turned its attention to the pipes, rather than the wells themselves, because they require various federal and state permits, which, for the most part, can be more easily litigated. A lack of new pipelines in areas like the U.S. Northeast, which faces gas supply constraints, may hobble some producers and potentially hasten the pace of transition to renewable energy. The demise of Atlantic Coast also casts a dark cloud on Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $4.7 billion gas project being developed by EQM Midstream Partners alongside utility giants NextEra Corp., Consolidated Edison Inc. and others. The pipeline industry's challenges come despite support from President Donald Trump. In his first week in office, Trump greenlighted the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. Last year, the White House signed an executive order aimed at short-circuiting regulators who held up gas lines by refusing permits. But the measure has so far failed to save any major projects, and Keystone XL and Dakota Access remain embattled. In February, Williams Cos. scrapped its Constitution natural gas pipeline after failing repeatedly to gain a water permit from New York. Just three months later, the company said it wouldn't refile a state application for another gas pipeline routed through the state. In contrast to Trump, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to kill Keystone XL and is supporting a push to lower-carbon energy sources, even if it comes at the expense of oil and gas jobs. "Investors have lost patience with big infrastructure projects, and the 2020 election poses too much risk for major projects to move forward," said Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy. When Atlantic Coast was proposed in 2014, it was expected to cost $5 billion and connect Appalachian shale gas plays with markets in the southeast. The price tag rose to $8 billion as the pipeline's date to enter service was pushed back over and over again. The project faced opposition at various points along its route, including the proposed site of an associated plant in Union Hill, a community west of Richmond, Virginia, that was founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. Former vice president and fossil fuel critic Al Gore said last year the pipeline represented "environmental racism." The project won a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court in June, but a long list of other obstacles remained. In the end, not only did Dominion cancel it, the company also announced Sunday the sale of almost all its gas pipeline and storage business to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $4 billion, while highlighting its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. "The well-funded, obstructionist environmental lobby has successfully killed the Atlantic Coast Pipeline," U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a statement. "Duke and Dominion have had to make the difficult decision to end this project because it is no longer economically viable due to the costly legal battles they would continue to face." The Natural Resources Defense Council was among the environmental groups hailing the decision. The organization said the project threatened waterways and its cancellation marks a victory for landowners along the proposed route. Gas pipelines that traverse state lines have typically required more extensive environmental reviews than oil pipelines, which in turn makes them more vulnerable to legal challenges and permitting problems. But even crude lines are increasingly running into major roadblocks. The Keystone XL oil project is still stalled after more than a decade, while Enbridge Inc.'s Line 3 and Line 5 pipelines remain ensnared in court battles and regulatory pushback. Although Dakota Access is already carrying oil, it could see operations halted if a legal challenge is successful. Even in Texas, long considered a safe haven for the oil and gas industry, Kinder Morgan Inc.'s Permian Highway Pipeline is experiencing a backlash from landowners and conservationists who argue the project would harm aquifer recharge zones. "We have to be honest with ourselves that a world where ACP is too risky to get done is probably also a world where KXL is too risky to get done," said Bays, using acronyms for Atlantic Coast and Keystone XL. "We'll see companies pivot toward smaller, strategic investments and away from large interstate oil and gas pipelines." The Supreme Court victory for Atlantic Coast offered a glimmer of hope for Mountain Valley, which has also seen delays and cost hikes as it too seeks to carry Appalachian gas out of the Marcellus shale field. But its time may be running out after two customers in May amended a 2016 agreement to terminate the deal if service doesn't begin by the end of 2021. Christi Tezak, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, said she still expects Mountain Valley to get across the finish line, in part because the project is mostly constructed and faces slightly different circumstances than Atlantic Coast. "Is the landscape more challenging? Absolutely. But for the projects that are in play right now there are situational characteristics that make them all different," she said. "I would say that what we're seeing is the end of a cyclical boom in energy infrastructure, combined with a trend toward lower greenhouse-gas-intensive power generation." HOUSTON Evidence is growing that a mutated novel coronavirus strain, the main one circulating in the Houston area, is more contagious than the original virus in China. Two new research papers show that the newer strain is more transmissible, a possibility first suggested by a team of scientists in May. At the time, that suggestion was considered highly speculative by many scientists, including some in Houston. A summary of the data thus far suggests that this strain has gained a fitness advantage over the original and is more transmissible as a result, said Joseph Petrosino, Baylor College of Medicine chair of molecular virology and microbiology. It is safe to say this version is more infectious. Petrosino said that although Baylor hasnt yet conducted a surveillance study, the area rate of positive tests and increase in hospitalizations point to a significantly higher prevalence of the virus strain now. He said Baylor is finding the mutated strain in as many as 80% of viruses it analyzes. Houston Methodist researchers reported the strain was prevalent in the Houston area in a paper in mid-May. The paper said 70% of the specimens examined, taken from COVID-19 patients treated at Methodist from early March to March 30, showed a mutation to the spike proteins the coronavirus uses to attach to and enter human respiratory cells. The week before, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory reported on the mutation. They said it doesnt make people sicker but appears to facilitate the spread of the virus. The Los Alamos team expanded on the findings in a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Cell last Thursday. The Methodist researchers were among scientists skeptical of that conclusion. Dr. James Musser, the hospitals chairman of pathology and genomic medicine and a study author, said Friday he would like the science to play out a bit more as studies reviewed by scientists are published. He gave no update on the percentage of mutated strains analyzed at Methodist. The mutation is thought to have occurred in Europe, then was introduced by travelers to the East Coast of the U.S., particularly New York. It has since become the worlds most dominant strain, accounting for about 65% of cases submitted to a major database from around the world, according to one team of scientists. Except for the new Cell publication, all of the papers are examples of what is known as pre-prints, preliminary reports made public ahead of their peer-reviewed publication because of the discoveries time-sensitive nature. One of the papers, by a Scripps Research Institute team, showed that significantly increasing the number of functional spikes on the viral surface in laboratory experiments allowed the virus to bind to and infect cells. It said that the mutation provides greater flexibility to the spikes backbone, which makes viral particles better able to navigate the process fully intact. Over time, it has figured out how to hold on better and not fall apart until it needs to, Michael Farzan, a paper author and co-chairman of the Scripps department of immunology and microbiology, said in a news release. Another paper, by the New York Genome Center, found a huge increase in viral transmission when researchers switched from the original virus sequence to the mutated one, a change they interpret as an indication the new strain is more efficient at invading the human cell and taking over its reproductive machinery. At least three other lab experiments suggest that the mutation makes the virus more infectious, the Washington Post reported Thursday. Those findings also appeared in pre-prints. The mutation, known as D614G, involves one of roughly 1,300 amino acids that act as building blocks for the spike protein. Not much different from the original virus, it switched genetic instructions for the amino acid 614 from an aspartic acid (D) to a glycine (G). In the Cell paper, the Los Alamos researchers wrote that patients with the D614G mutation have more virus in their bodies. Their laboratory experiments found the mutation is three to six times more capable of infecting human cells. Strains of the virus circulating in the Houston area also include the original one from China and one from South America, according to Methodists study. The areas multiple-continent seeding contrasts with relatively single-continent seeding in New York and Seattle. Seattles came mostly from Asia. Many scientists, noting one paper found no evidence of increased transmissibility, say the evidence for D614Gs greater contagiousness is still far from definitive. This is an extraordinarily challenging problem, the evolution and demography are complex, so theres much more work to be done, Marc Suchard, a biostatistician at the UCLA School of Medicine, told the New York Times. Though Baylors Petrosino suggests the mutated strain is more prevalent, he adds that the recent spike is mostly a result of peoples wanting to gather and being willing to take risks to do so. The bulk of it is from people not social distancing properly, not masking appropriately and a reluctance to participate in contact tracing, Petrosino said. People have been getting tired of the safety measures and have started becoming more lax in their practices. todd.ackerman@chron.com DALLAS Leaders in two of Texas biggest cities are calling on the governor to empower local governments to order residents to stay home as the states continued surge in coronavirus cases tests hospital capacity. Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNNs State of the Union Sunday that he wants Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, to return control of his city to the local government as its hospitals face a potential crisis. If we dont change the trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun, Adler, a Democrat, said. And in our ICUs, I could be 10 days away from that. Texas reported 3,449 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Sunday, after a record high of 8,258 Saturday. State health officials also reported 29 additional deaths, bringing the totals to 2,637 fatalities and 195,239 confirmed cases. A record 8,181 Texans with COVID-19 were hospitalized Sunday. The true number of cases is likely much higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can be infected and not feel sick. The Fourth of July weekend has also seen some defiance of Abbotts orders closing bars and requiring people to wear face coverings in public in much of the state. The mask order which carries a $250 fine came as part of the most dramatic about-face Abbott has made as he retreats from what stood out as one of Americas swiftest reopenings. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top county official in the Houston area, said shes grateful for the mask mandate but that a stay-at-home order is needed. We dont have room for incrementalism, were seeing these kinds of numbers, nor should we wait for all the hospital beds to fill and all these people to die, before we take drastic action, Hidalgo, a Democrat, told ABCs This Week. Houston has rapidly become one of the American cities hit hardest by the virus. In addition to strained hospital capacity, it needs help meeting the demand for testing, Mayor Sylvester Turner told CBS Face the Nation Sunday. During the last month, the proportion of tests that come back positive for the virus has rocketed from about one in 10 to nearly one in four, Turner, a Democrat, said. In the face of the citys rising infection rate, Texas Republican Party leadership last week affirmed plans to hold its in-person conventio n in Houston. And not all Texans are following measures meant to limit the virus spread over Independence Day weekend. People flocked to cookouts and lakes to celebrate Saturday, with some not wearing masks or appearing to keep a safe distance from others. In Fort Worth, a bar may have its license suspended after hosting a Tea Party Protest on Saturday, WFAA-TV reports. Adler said the lack of unified public health messaging is endangering Texans, and expressed outrage over President Donald Trumps statements this week that the virus could just disappear. And when they start hearing that kind of ambiguous message coming out of Washington, there are more and more people that wont wear masks, that wont social distance, that wont do what it takes to keep a community safe, the mayor told CNN. And thats wrong, and its dangerous. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal. The vast majority of people recover. Barrys in Portrush is waiting for government advice to reopen. Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph Those hoping to visit Portrush landmark Barry's Amusements will have to wait a little bit longer for a ride on the big dipper and dodgem cars. The historic north coast tourist attraction says it is still awaiting confirmation from Stormont ministers on when it can reopen in time for the summer season. Barry's has been owned by the Trufelli family for the past 94 years and was put up for sale last year. Several potential buyers have been linked to the sale including Gareth Murphy from We Are Vertigo and actor Jimmy Nesbitt. The site, which sits on the Castle Erin Road seafront, was opened by Evelyn Chipperfield and Franceso Trufelli in 1926, who met when the Royal Italian Circus toured Ireland three years earlier. Read More Since the family announced it was selling the business last November, some people had resigned themselves to a Portrush without the famous amusement park. In March, it was confirmed that while the business was up for sale as a going concern, it would reopen for summer 2020. Weeks later Northern Ireland was placed in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement posted on its website at the weekend, a spokesperson for Barry's said: "In light of the coronavirus crisis, unfortunately we do not yet have a confirmed date for the reopening of Barry's and are awaiting information from the Northern Ireland Executive. "We trust everyone understands that the situation is beyond our control and once again we would like to thank our loyal employees and customers for their continued support. "When Government advice does change, we will review the situation and advise accordingly. "We urge people to stay safe and follow government advice," the spokesperson added. On Saturday, theme parks in England including well-known attractions like Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland and Alton Towers welcomed families for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown. Like all businesses, they have had to enforce a number of new safety measures under new government guidelines. Visitors will now have their temperatures checked upon arrival and are asked to bring face masks as these are mandatory for certain rides. Some rows of seats have been left empty in order to minimise the risk of spreading the disease while social distancing markers are in place to make sure people don't get too close along with hand sanitiser stations and staff clad in PPE. Many theme parks have also warned not all rides will be operating when they first reopen. Holidaying locally will be key to getting the region's hotel industry back on its feet, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault has said. "Last year tourists from Northern Ireland spent in the region of 300m locally," she said. "Whilst we are unlikely to achieve this figure in 2020 having lost 14 weeks of trade, we hope to gain traction over the coming months and attract some business that might have gone further afield. "Local support is imperative and we need income streams such as events, weddings and leisure facilities reopened as soon as possible." Ms Gault said 2020 will be the "year of the staycation" which she hopes will be a legacy of the pandemic. "Our job is to make sure it's so good that this pattern becomes the norm and is repeated for years to come," she added. "In the short term, we see this business being dominated by tourists from Northern Ireland. We are working closely with Tourism Northern Ireland on attracting not only local visitors but those from the south of Ireland as well. "We would also hope that as transport links improve, we will see guests arrive from England and Scotland, many of whom have strong family ties to this region. "Tourism Ireland has been researching this market and will have a campaign ready to go live once visitors from GB are ready to travel." Ms Gault said many of Northern Ireland's hoteliers have signed up to a new 'We're Good to Go' industry standard, a UK-wide scheme operated by Tourism NI which will give customers reassurance that the risks of Covid-19 infection are being controlled with measures in place to mitigate it. She added: "Hoteliers have their revised standards and procedures and generally these will be available for guests to read or staff will be happy to outline details to guests. "There will be some physical changes such as screens, along with new digital solutions like QR codes. Contact with customers may be less frequent with hotels adopting online check-in, opting for single use menus and disposable condiments. "Businesses have opened after carrying out a risk assessment and a lot of changes will occur behind the scenes which we hope will not impact on the guest stay but reduce risk for their visit." Not all hotels in Northern Ireland opened at the weekend. Many, including some of the Hastings portfolio, will take longer to integrate new ways of working while some have used the time to refurbish. Ms Gault added: "Others had been planning for the original opening date of July 20, so they will come on stream later this month or in August. At present, all of our members intend to open and will review the situation over the coming weeks, looking at future business opportunities. "Hopefully, we will see the return of additional revenue streams like events, full spa service and weddings, albeit with restrictions." He was there in Denver, 1998, as then-First Minister David Trimble awaited the call from Oslo confirming that he and John Hume had won the Nobel Peace Prize. As part of his role in drawing US investment, Bill Montgomery also chaperoned US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary on their historic visit to Belfast in winter 1995 when they turned on the city's Christmas tree lights. So as he retires from economic development agency Invest NI after 34 years, the father of three definitely has a tale or two. For the last three years or so, he's been director of Invest NI's advance manufacturing division, working with companies helping them grow jobs, exports and innovation. "We have great NI companies competing regionally and globally in aerospace, materials handling, construction, auto, renewables, electronics and advanced materials and consumer products. They really are some of the best manufacturing and engineering companies in the whole of the British Isles." He got his first job after university at a US insurance engineering company, assessing loss prevention measures at big companies like Apple and Pfizer. The job often took him to the Republic. "Ireland was booming with foreign investments as they had the big corporation tax advantage. I was visiting companies like Apple in the Republic and it occurred to me that I wasn't doing many visits in Northern Ireland - for obvious reasons, we weren't getting as much investment as we were still in The Troubles. I learnt about the Industrial Development Board (the precursor to Invest NI), then joined as part of an MBA programme." He soon took on a challenging role in the US. "Firms were looking at Europe, the UK and Ireland - my job was to showcase that NI would be a good proposition. That was the summer of 1992 when my wife Alison and two young boys Michael and Matthew and I all went over and lived in LA." The first big win was Seagate -the hard-drive manufacturer which now employs over 1,000 in Derry. But Mr Montgomery is quick to give credit to his predecessor. "Before I got there my colleague Grainne McVeigh had already done all the groundwork. They committed at the end of the year, and it was a big win - a hi-tech company with 350-person staff. At that point Ireland had been winning all the companies like Hewlett Packard. Intel had been another big win for them and they thought that they would get Seagate." Another highlight was accompanying the Clintons on their visit to Belfast in the run-up to Christmas, 1995. He was in the company of the First Couple a number of times. "Bill did have an incredible energy about him. He has quite a huge personality, and I remember how he could talk to people as if he knew them - he just had a knack of latching on as if he knew them well." Bill was asked to head up the North American headquarters of IDB in Chicago, this time with a third son, Ian, in tow. "At that time one of the sales team, Ian Murphy, had been courting and promoting NI to Allstate Insurance. We then managed to secure Allstate Insurance in October 1998. They committed to a couple of hundred people in IT, and there's now over 2,000. I was just a part of that. "Allstate was announced as part of an 11-city roadshow tour with the Secretary of State Mo Mowlam and the First Minister David Trimble. When we were in Denver they announced that David Trimble and Deputy First Minister John Hume had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Word came through to him to expect a call from Oslo and people got quite excited about it, though Mr Trimble was really quite reserved." The family returned home in 2003, and Bill then became director of Invest NI's international investment division. Jeremy Fitch, Invest NI's executive director of business solutions, paid tribute to Bill's work. "Bill has been one of the key leaders for inward investment into Northern Ireland over the last three decades and his contribution in this area has been immense. A significant proportion of Bill's career was spent in the US where he led the NI team and oversaw significant investments from Seagate and Allstate. More recently, when based back in Belfast, he has had strategic responsibility and led the inward investment focus on developing our legal services sector. He added: "A true team player, many of us have benefited from Bill's wisdom, experience and guidance." Help Our Community Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You! Take The Survey A major independent retailer in mid-Ulster has said a bank loan taken out under the government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme has been crucial to securing its future. Paul Cuddy runs three Cuddys stores in Ballymena, Carrickfergus and Magherafelt with his brother Steven. Their father Robert started the business 62 years ago in Magherafelt when he bought a traditional drapers store, then known as Hughes' shop. The branch in Ballymena followed around 28 years ago, then the Carrickfergus store was opened around 1998. Now the three stores cover fashion, toys - with the Magherafelt store part of the Toymaster group - as well as cookwear and accessories. School uniforms are also a major part of the business. Retail is in his blood. "I always wanted to go into retail. It was talked around kitchen table at dinner non-stop and that's all I ever wanted to do. Dad didn't force any of us into business and it was very clear if you wanted to go down another route it's fine but I always wanted to follow dad. "It's a fantasic career, even though it has become a lot harder. I enjoy the buying process, seeing new and different stuff and travelling to different countries. Dad worked six days a week, including a late night on a Saturday which was when the farmers' wives came into shop. "For dad, business was his life and that just permeated down the family." He remembers how energised his dad was by a good day's work. "I saw from him that what you put in, you get out - so if you put in a hard day's work, you reap the reward yourself if you have your own business." Paul's mother Margaret eventually gave up her job as a teacher to join the business. Many of the company's 40 staff have been there a long time. It had enjoyed a normal start to the year in the run-up to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the company undergoing the usual buying process in February. "Then March hit, and coming towards the middle of March, sales started to slow down quite dramatically. We had to reduce staffing costs but by the time all of that was to be implemented, things had come to a head. The government hadn't announced lockdown at that stage but I sat down with my brother Steven on the Friday and we made a decision that Monday would be our last day. "But we didn't have time to feel heavy of heart about having to close as we had so much to do. We knew we'd have to provide a lot of information to the banks because cashflow would be very quickly impacted so we did a stock-take to see what we had - by that stage about 60 to 70% of our summer stock had been delivered." To shift stock, the company is now running a 50% off summer sale - deeper than its usual discount of 30% off. Happily, he says he feels the business has the support of people in the town. "People are really glad you're open again, and there's a real mentality around the need to support local traders. There are stacks of brilliant shops around our towns. And we have traded reasonably well since we reopened though we'll probably have to do a big discount sale in September." Lockdown came at deep cost to the business but he feels there has been good help from government. "The government furlough scheme has been invaluable, and now we have a rates rebate for the rest of the year, which really helps." He thinks the majority of suppliers will have enough stock to meet demand later in the year. "Some suppliers are saying they'll be back to normal by the winter, other suppliers are cutting back on ranges because they don't think the winter season will be as good, others have been having problems with factories in China. "We've been told by one supplier that a range of mugs, trays and plates that we usually have over Christmas won't be coming this year." The company has taken out a 0.25m loan with Ulster Bank through the government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. "We needed help because our cashflow dried up very quickly. A loan was vital to keep us trading. Our business was healthy and we were quickly able to prove that we would be able to repay the loan. "Ulster Bank were very helpful. We were in a very lucky position because I know my own bank manager. She has been to the store and I know her by name, I have her number in my phone. She knows me and she knows the store layout so she really knew the problems the business would be having before we contacted her. "The money was in our bank account within 30 days of lockdown and the decision was made by the bank very quickly." He's now feeling reasonably optimistic, and says the business will continue to take advantage of the government's flexible furlough scheme until trade builds up. We now need to get back to the level of trade where we were pre-lockdown, and we foresee that we'll be back there by the end of October." And he feels that he's been well-looked after by the government here and in the UK. "We have got a fair amount of support. But without the support there would have been a question mark over the future of the business. Initially we only got three months rates relief, compared to a year in England. But we lobbied our local politicians and they sorted it out and were in constant contact and very helpful. "Our rates are probably about 8,000 a month so it's very helpful that we don't have that for the rest of the year." The SDLP has accused the First and deputy First Minister of a "conspiracy of silence" about how Brexit will affect Northern Ireland. The party's Brexit spokesman Matthew O'Toole MLA, and Colin McGrath MLA, who chairs the Assembly's Executive Office Committee, said the leaders of the Stormont administration appear "asleep at the wheel" on Brexit. The pair accused them of being content to let the UK Government do what it wishes in relation to the interests of Northern Ireland. The Executive office, said the first ministers had attended various meetings with EU and UK officials, attended the Executive Office Assembly committee to provide updates and party nominated representatives had been briefed. The two influential MLAs said the Executive Office - which coordinates Brexit policy here - has yet to give the public or the Assembly any detailed update on the process, and claimed Northern Ireland businesses have received next to no information about preparations. They said there have been no official updates to the public and businesses on how the Brexit process will be implemented, and no updates to the Assembly on upcoming programme of Brexit legislation. "It is clear that the UK Government has little but reckless disregard for the interests of NI in the Brexit process, but we shouldn't accept this level of complacency from the leaders of our own devolved government," Mr O'Toole said. "The Assembly has not had a single formal update from the Executive Office on Brexit or the delivery of the protocol since we reformed in January. "That is nothing short of shocking. "Covid-19 is not an acceptable excuse, it is even more of a reason for businesses and workers to get certainty from ministers. "The Assembly wouldn't even have debated Brexit if the SDLP hadn't brought a motion to the floor calling for a transition extension. "The First Minsters should stop the photo ops and give the Assembly - and more importantly the people of Northern Ireland - the clarity and leadership we need," he said. Executive Office committee chairman Mr McGrath added that during recent updates to the committee, ministers have appeared as a pair and then proceeded to offer different views on matters. "We must know if this is what is being projected to the British Government and European Union or does the existence of such differing views mean that no perspective at all is articulated during negotiations," he said. "Time is slowly slipping away and we need more than just soundbites." The Executive Office, in a statement said: "The First Minister and deputy First Minister have attended two meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations). They have also engaged directly with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Paymaster General on behalf of the Executive seeking engagement on a range of Protocol implementation issues, and on the main negotiations with the EU. Ministers have also represented NIs interests at both meetings of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee. The First Minister, deputy First Minister, Junior Ministers and officials have regularly attended the TEO Assembly Committee to provide an update on these key meetings. Work is ongoing across the NICS in preparation for the end of the transition period and the Executive has agreed to commence readiness planning, however negotiations with the EU on the future relationship are ongoing and readiness planning will be dependent on the outcome of the negotiations." The statement continued: "Since January, senior officials have provided comprehensive briefings for Executive Ministers at meetings of the Brexit Sub-Committee, Executive Committee considering EU Exit Matters, and also at Executive Meetings with a dedicated EU Exit agenda item. Party nominated representatives have also been briefed. The volume of EU Exit legislation required is fluid and likely to change following any agreements reached in negotiations and clarity of the implementation of the Protocol. The Executive will be monitoring progress of this legislative programme on a regular basis and updating the Assembly as required. Sean Lawlor and colleagues from the Cambridge Barbers on the Lisburn Road, Belfast cutting clients hair at the south Belfast barber shop shortly after midnight. Credit: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye A crowd listens to former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams speak during the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast. It has emerged that Bobby Storeys funeral service at Roselawn Cemetery in east Belfast last Tuesday was the only one of nine that day where 30 people were allowed to attend an outdoor service on site (Liam McBurney/PA) Indoor weddings, civil partnerships and baptisms will be allowed to resume from Friday July 10, the Executive has announced. The decision was reached at a meeting of the Executive on Monday. Indoor marriages will be allowed to resume in places of worship, local government offices and other venues from that date. In a statement the Executive said that private venues will make their own decisions on when to resume weddings, and it will be up for them to decide if they wish to host post-wedding celebrations. The number of people allowed to attending weddings will be decided by the venues on a "risk-assessed basis", taking account of the individual circumstances and public health guidance. "Couples contacting registrars and officiants to rearrange their marriages should be aware that there is a backlog of couples waiting but every effort will be made to accommodate everyone as soon as possible," an Executive statement said. The announcement comes after the Department of Health confirmed that had been no further coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland since Friday. Daily figures are no longer published on Saturday or Sunday, with a figures for the weekend instead published the following Monday. With no fatalities reported from 10am on Friday to 10am on Monday, Northern Ireland's death toll stands at 554. Meanwhile, Belfast City Council has apologised over its handling of the funeral of IRA veteran Bobby Storey. Read More The council said this was an "error of judgment" and an exception was made for the loved ones of Bobby Storey "for operational reasons". Council officials have apologised to the other families affected. Were you affected by Belfast City Council's arrangements? Contact us at newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk Here's how Monday unfolded: Clergy have welcomed the return of parishioners through their doors as many gathered for Sunday worship in churches across Northern Ireland for the first time in almost four months. Since last Monday, people have been able to return to church services after 15 weeks of lockdown and many reopened their doors yesterday to resume Sunday services. Congregations were smaller than usual because of new attendance restrictions and government guidelines concerning hygiene and physical distancing. There was strict social distancing in and between pews, no hymn-singing - only a band or an organist to provide sacred music - while people had to 'sign in' as they arrived, to facilitate track and trace measures. Many churches say they will continue to stream online services, which has become the 'norm' since mid-March, for those still unable to return to church for the moment. Parishioners of St Philip and St James in Holywood, Co Down were among those back to worshipping in church buildings and halls on Sunday. Rev Gareth Harron, rector of Holywood, welcomed 90 people, ranging in ages from tiny tots to those in their 90s. "We can't put an age limit on those coming through our doors but I was delighted to see a full range of people represented. "Some of our older parishioners really enjoyed being back as they have been a bit more isolated at home," he said. "I think anyone who came along and saw how we kept to social distancing guidelines would have felt that they were in a safe place and we had those within family support bubbles sitting together which worked well. "In general, the atmosphere was really good and I've had a few lovely messages from people who appreciated being together once more. "While services have been continuing online for the past few months it was very emotional for people to see members of their church family in person again. "There was a lot of work going on behind the scenes to prepare for this day and it was something that we didn't want to rush into without doing everything safely. "We normally have five Sunday services but we have reduced this to two for the moment. "We had stewards in high-viz vests to help set the tone as people came in and everyone did a great job," Rev Harron added. "We are lucky to have the benefit of large scale buildings and a staff team but I appreciate that not all churches have the infrastructure to be able to open up again just yet. "We are also in the fortunate position of being able to have one service in the church and the other in the parish centre which helps in terms of cleaning." Elsewhere 65 worshippers gathered once again and at a safe distance at Willowfield Parish Church in east Belfast. Parish curate, Rev Karen Salmon, said it was an exciting day and one that marked a step in the right direction. "Normally we would have four services on a Sunday but we just had one at 10am which was broadcast later on Facebook and YouTube as well as continuing to record our evening service. "Everybody came in excited, smiling and just glad to be allowed to be together again and that's how they left. "The feedback from them was that it was really good to be able to see each other again. "At the beginning of the service we got everyone to wave at each other across the church because they couldn't get up and mingle as they usually would. "We had contact tracing cards for people to complete, two metre floor markers, automatic hand sanitiser machines, and when people arrived, they were shown where to sit rather than choosing a seat themselves so that they weren't passing other people. "For me all these things were important in order to make people feel safe and confident about coming back to church," Rev Karen added. "I think once those who didn't come along today watch the service back online, see how separated out everyone was, and speak to those who were there, that will help encourage them to return also because we had space for many more people." Rev Colin Morrison from Eglinton Presbyterian Church in north Belfast was equally glad to see 100 people back in the Ballysillan Road building. "We had a good congregation of regulars and a few visitors too with a good balance of ages - from a three week old baby through to a few healthy senior citizens who took the risk. "Once everyone had safely filed out of the church afterwards they were able to chat to each other in the car park at a safe distance which they did for a while. "While there was some nervousness beforehand, we were happy that all the plans we had put in place in terms of stewarding, sanitisation and social distancing worked very well but a few tweaks will still be needed here and there," he added. Speaking as churches reopened in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, Bishop Andrew Forster said the coronavirus had exacted an enormous toll. "It's changed everything - how we act, how we think, how we live our daily lives," he said. Michelle ONeill has undermined the Executives message on coronavirus restrictions and must take responsibility for her actions, the First Minister has said. Arlene Foster said last night that Sinn Feins mask of integrity, respect and equality has well and truly slipped after the Deputy First Minister refused to apologise for attending Bobby Storeys funeral along with hundreds of others. Sinn Feins four Executive partners are backing a motion which calls for an explanation from the republican partys ministers who attended last weeks funeral for the IRA veteran. Mrs Foster said it would send a clear signal that there cannot be a toleration for double standards. There are not two sets of rules. While it is deeply frustrating that too much of our time has been diverted to deal with rule breaches by the very people who have helped to make the rules we must never forget that responsible and law abiding people have never used the Sinn Fein standard as their yardstick previously and must not do so now, she said. She added: The Deputy First Minister and her Sinn Fein colleagues must take responsibility for the health regulations being undermined. Their actions have undermined the authority and messaging of the Executive on Covid 19. The DUP leader said it makes no difference if you are a unionist or a committed Irish republican, the Covid-19 regulations are for the protection of health and life and must be adhered to. We are all frustrated and deeply disappointed by recent events. Sinn Fein stand isolated and without support because of their selfish and arrogant behaviour. The mask of integrity, respect and equality has well and truly slipped. 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 Funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey takes place in west Belfast - June 30 2020 [Photos] 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) Alliance leader and Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long urged Ms ONeill to offer the Assembly an explanation for her attendance at the funeral which drew hundreds of onlookers who lined the streets of west Belfast as the cortege passed through. Ms Long told the BBCs Sunday Politics: Of all the things weve asked people to do, watching your loved ones make their final journey alone or almost alone has been the most difficult. I know that were dealing with grieving families, and I include in that Bobby Storeys family, so we need to tread lightly on these issues but it is important that if you make the rules, you are seen to keep those rules. Its about confidence between the public and the Executive in terms of the things we may have to ask them to do again later this year if there is a second spike and will they treat the advice and regulations with the same respect that they had to date. I hope they do but we need acknowledgement of that from Michelle and an apology for the damage done.# Read More High-ranking republicans several of whom had served prison sentences for IRA-related offences took prominent roles at the funeral, including at one point carrying the coffin. Among them were former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, MLA Gerry Kelly, Sean Hughes, Sean Spike Murray, Martin Duckster Lynch and Martin Ferris, a former TD. Lynch was jailed for 10 years in 1982 after being caught with a rocket launcher, machine-gun, pistol and ammunition. Hughes was named in the House of Commons under parliamentary privilege as having had involvement in bombings in London, and has had property previously targeted by the Serious Organised Crime Agency, while Spike Murray was jailed in 1982 for 12 years for explosives offences. Other prominent republicans at Storeys funeral included Padraic Wilson who was once the IRAs leader in the Maze Prison. He was jailed for 24 years in 1991 when he was caught in possession of a bomb. Read More The massive farewell for Storey that brought west Belfast to a standstill quickly sparked a political storm at Stormont after the apparent disregard for restrictions on funerals and outdoor gatherings. It intensified when it emerged that the IRA leaders remains were not actually interred at Milltown Cemetery, where crowds had gathered to hear speeches from high profile Sinn Fein figures, but were driven across the city to Roselawn cemetery for cremation. Leaders of every party in the Executive outside Sinn Fein have called on the Deputy First Minister to step aside from her post to allow an independent investigation to proceed into alleged breaches of social distancing and public health guidelines at the funeral. Mrs ONeill has insisted she acted within the rules in respect of all events that were within her control, such as the size of the cortege and the numbers attending inside St Agnes Church, in west Belfast where the funeral service took place. She said she was sorry if families grieving for those lost during the lockdown had experienced hurt. But she added: I will never apologise for attending the funeral of my friend. The family of Noah Donohoe have issued a statement urging people to end social media speculation around the teenager's disappearance and death. The 14-year-old was last seen in the north Belfast area on June 21. Six days later his body was discovered in a storm drain close to where he went missing. While police said they had no reason to suspect foul play in the St Malachy's College pupil's death, speculation has continued on social media. In a statement issued through legal firm KRW Law, Noah's family said his disappearance and death "undoubtedly raise questions", but asked for the social media speculation to stop. We have seen a number of social media accounts which have been founded under Noahs name seeking further information. These accounts do not have the familys permission," the statement read. "Rather than ventilating any issue on social media platforms we urge anyone with information regarding Noahs disappearance and death to forward this information, including any photographic/CCTV footage to the PSNI or to Relatives for Justice (028) 90627171 email: info@relativesforjustice.com and niallm@kevinrwinters.com (please mark email Re: Noah)." The family said that all information will be dealt with in the strictest confidence. They thanked the public for their support following Noah's disappearance. The community came together as widespread searches took place across Belfast to locate Noah. Expand Close United stand: Search and rescue teams in north Belfast hunt for the teenager Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp United stand: Search and rescue teams in north Belfast hunt for the teenager We the family of Noah Donohoe wish to express our continued gratitude for the outpouring of good will and love we have received since Noah went missing. It has been an extremely traumatic time and this love is truly supporting us," the statement read. We recognise the huge public concern of the entire population and we thank each and every one of you. So many people have been incredibly generous to us with practical support. This support includes providing pieces of information regarding Noahs disappearance and death. Separately some have also ventilated concerns on social media platforms. At this time, we are working with the PSNI on matters which are outstanding to the investigation and we are seeking answers to questions which arise. Noahs disappearance and death undoubtedly raise questions, however public speculation and theory is unhelpful. We are dealing with the facts. The family is receiving practical and emotional support from Relatives for Justice, and are also represented by solicitor Niall Murphy of KRW Law." Noah was laid to rest last Wednesday following a funeral service at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of north Belfast to say farewell to the teenager. Noah's mum Fiona said that he was "a beautiful soul with a beautiful mind', who "poured a whole lifetime of love into my life in 14 short years." Expand Close Friends and relatives at Noahs funeral Stephen Hamilton / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Friends and relatives at Noahs funeral Former senior PSNI officer Judith Gillespie is to lead a Stormont-ordered investigation into clerical child abuse and mother and baby homes (Brian Lawless/PA) A former senior PSNI officer is to lead a Stormont-ordered investigation into clerical child abuse and mother and baby homes. Judith Gillespie has been appointed independent chairwoman of the group tasked with the work. Academics from Queens University in Belfast and Ulster University have been examining the operation of institutions such as the Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1999. I am keenly aware that the work of the group is approaching a crucial stage Judith Gillespie Ms Gillespie said: I feel honoured to have been appointed to this important role. I am keenly aware that the work of the group is approaching a crucial stage. I look forward to progressing this work, and to engaging with stakeholders as appropriate going forward. The Executives inter-departmental working group will take forward work on mother and baby homes, Magdalene Laundries and historical clerical child abuse. The appointment commenced with effect from June 1 and will run for an initial period of one year. Ms Gillespie became deputy chief constable of the PSNI in 2009 after a lengthy career in policing. She left the force in 2014 and is also a commissioner at the Equality Commission. Expand Close Health Minister Robin Swann said Judith Gillespies leadership skills would be a major asset to the group (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Health Minister Robin Swann said Judith Gillespies leadership skills would be a major asset to the group (Niall Carson/PA) Health Minister Robin Swann said: I am confident that her wide-ranging experience and leadership skills will be a major asset to the group. Women from mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland have told Amnesty International that they suffered arbitrary detention, ill treatment, and the forced adoption of their babies. More and more clerical abuse victims are coming forward to reveal their suffering at the hands of abusive priests and gross failures by church and state authorities, the human rights organisation has said. As recently as the 1980s, newborn babies were being forcibly taken from their mothers and given up for adoption by nuns in Northern Irelands laundries, women forced into institutions in Belfast and Newry after becoming pregnant have claimed. Because they were adults, they did not fall into Sir Anthony Harts public inquiry into child abuse in institutions. Victims have demanded their own public inquiries. The former chairwoman of the working group resigned due to ill health. A man is to stand trial over the death of an elderly mourner struck by a stolen car outside a west Belfast cemetery, a judge has ordered. Seamus Conlon, 70, was fatally injured in the collision on the Whiterock Road on August 3 last year. The pensioner was struck by a Vauxhall Vectra after leaving a funeral at the nearby City Cemetery. Michael Patrick Loughran appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with causing Mr Conlon's death by dangerous driving. The 33-year-old, with a previous address at Glenties Drive in the city, is also accused of aggravated vehicle taking causing injury or death and other motoring offences. During the preliminary enquiry hearing Loughran, who appeared remotely from prison, declined to call witnesses or give evidence at this stage. Defence barrister Sean O'Hare did not contest submissions that his client has a case to answer. On that basis District Judge Fiona Bagnall granted a prosecution application to have the accused returned for Crown Court trial. Loughran remains in custody, with his arraignment set to take place on a date to be fixed. It has emerged that Bobby Storeys funeral service at Roselawn Cemetery in east Belfast last Tuesday was the only one of nine that day where 30 people were allowed to attend an outdoor service on site (Liam McBurney/PA) Michelle ONeill said she has not been contacted by police following the Bobby Storey funeral. Northern Irelands deputy first minister attended a requiem Mass for the veteran republican on Tuesday. Hundreds lined the route in West Belfast and first minister Arlene Foster said it turned into a political rally and added Belfast City Council had questions to answer about the cremation. Police are investigating whether breaches of the coronavirus social distancing regulations occurred. Expand Close Michelle ONeill said she would never knowingly compound any familys grief (Liam McBurney/PA). PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michelle ONeill said she would never knowingly compound any familys grief (Liam McBurney/PA). The Sinn Fein deputy vice-president told the Assembly: I would never intentionally hurt anyone, I would never compound any familys grief and I said I was sorry for that. Belfast City Council has apologised to eight families denied the same cremation service as IRA veteran Bobby Storey on the day of his funeral. Mr Storeys service at Roselawn Cemetery in east Belfast last Tuesday was the only one of nine that day where 30 people were allowed to attend an outdoor committal service on site. The other eight cremations were not allowed services at the site. Coronavirus regulations on outdoor gatherings changed from 10 to 30 people late on Monday. Prior to that the council was allowing 10 people to attend burials but no-one was permitted to attend committal services after cremations on site. Mrs Foster asked why the cortege proceeded to Milltown cemetery in west Belfast when Mr Storeys remains were being cremated in East Belfast. She added: It did turn into a political rally. Expand Close Arlene Foster said Bobby Storeys funeral turned into a political rally (Liam McBurney/PA). PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Arlene Foster said Bobby Storeys funeral turned into a political rally (Liam McBurney/PA). She said Belfast City Council should explain why 30 people were allowed to attend Mr Storeys cremation. Nobody else was allowed that. There are a lot of questions to be answered and we will be pursuing this through our group at Belfast City Council. On Tuesday morning, the council increased the capacity for burials, enabling 30 people to attend the four burials that day. However, the council said it took an operational decision to apply the new rules for cremations from the point of Mr Storeys service onwards 3.30pm on Tuesday afternoon. This meant that eight cremations which took place earlier on Tuesday had no-one in attendance, even though the law had already been changed to allow 30. The council said its decision was an error of judgment. On Tuesday evening Assembly members will debate a motion expressing: Disappointment in the actions of those in ministerial office who breached public guidance and failed to share in the sacrifice that we have asked of others. Ms Foster said: It allows the Assembly its place in terms of what is going on. It allows the Assembly members to ask the question that people have been asking them. She said bereaved constituents were angry, upset and distressed because they could not have what they considered to be proper funerals for their loved ones yet Ms ONeill and others were able to attend a funeral of such significant magnitude. The council had already faced criticism last week after it emerged that some staff had been sent home early from Roselawn ahead of Mr Storeys cremation and that the remaining cremation slots in the day were blocked off for bookings in the period after his service. Expand Close Hundreds lined the streets of west Belfast for Bobby Storeys funeral (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hundreds lined the streets of west Belfast for Bobby Storeys funeral (Liam McBurney/PA) The latest revelations were aired on BBC Radio Ulsters Nolan Show. The council said: Council has apologised unreservedly to eight families who were not afforded the option to have up to 30 people at an outdoor committal service following the cremation of their loved one on Tuesday 30 June. Executive regulations were changed for outdoor services on Monday June 29, coming into effect at 11pm. Council was informed by the Executive Office on Monday afternoon, enabling us to start communications with funeral directors. This is normal practice. This was a rapidly changing environment, as has been the case during the response to Covid-19, as rules change frequently. An operational decision was made that, for cremations, the new procedures would apply from the cremation of Bobby Storey on the afternoon of Tuesday June 30 onwards, and this was the case from Wednesday. We accept in hindsight that this was an error of judgment. This meant that only one of the nine cremation services on Tuesday June 30 had 30 people in attendance. There were four burial services and these burial services had up to 30 in attendance. There were eight cremation services affected. We are in the process of contacting these families and are deeply sorry for how this error will have affected them and any hurt and distress caused. Belfast City Council made an operational decision to hold the last three cremation slots of the day on Tuesday June 30. This decision was made in order to ensure that there were no other cremations later that day in order to protect the privacy of other members of the public and their cremation services. Belfast City Council did not know whether to anticipate high numbers or otherwise and therefore planned for all circumstances. It is normal practice in the event of a high-profile cremation to hold slots. It added: Operational decisions like these made by Belfast City Council are made impartially in what is often a complex and difficult political environment. Concerns have been raised over a "catalogue" of misconduct probes at the PSNI training college in Belfast. Officers and trainees were disciplined over allegations including assault, discharging of firearms and drug possession. The probes at the Northern Ireland Police Training College at Garnerville can be revealed after a Freedom of Information request by this newspaper. Policing Board member Dolores Kelly expressed concern and called for further examination. "Police officers have to have high levels of integrity and set standards. It is somewhat concerning to learn of the catalogue of incidents," the SDLP MLA said. In the past three years, 20 student officers have been investigated for misconduct - 14 were male and six were female. The offences include professional duty (integrity), road traffic offences, domestic assault and inappropriate behaviour towards other students. Meanwhile eight officers - four male and four female - were investigated for a total of 14 matters while working at the police college. Investigations included drug possession, common assault, negligent discharge of a firearm, misconduct in public office and internal process breaches. Five matters involving officers led to no further action, two led to written warnings, and three led to 'management action'. Investigations into four matters are currently ongoing. The PSNI said three of the matters relate to one officer who is currently suspended. The officer involved in the other matter has been removed from a training role and continues to work administratively within the college pending the outcome of the enquiry. All matters are subject to decision making and ongoing review. There are no investigations ongoing with student officers. Outcomes of matters relating to students included no further action, management discussion, re-coursing, final written warnings and resignation prior to hearing. One officer was formally redeployed in the past three years. The PSNI said the majority of matters relate to internal misconduct or performance issues and are investigated by the PSNI's Professional Standards Department or the college's internal management processes. During the three year period, two matters were referred to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), but a decision was taken not to prosecute in both cases. Two other matters involving two student officers were reported to the PPS - one resulted in no prosecution and the other led to an adult caution. A PSNI spokesman said: "The majority of the completed enquiries have resulted in one of two outcomes, no further action meaning that the allegation was unsubstantiated or management action such as a performance improvement plan." Misconduct at the college has made headlines in recent years. Last October it emerged the PSNI was investigating allegations of inappropriate conduct at the facility. In 2017 there was an investigation into a male trainer who was at the centre of allegations for alleged dishonesty offences. And in November 2016 police recruitment was suspended temporarily as allegations of cheating at the training college were probed. The PSNI website states individuals will not be considered for appointment to the PSNI if they have served a custodial or suspended sentence. Any record of an offence, breaching a court order, or receiving a caution "may be taken into account" when considering an application. Mrs Kelly said: "One of the things that does concern me is that when you are applying to the police you have to fill out a lot of stuff about having no previous records or convictions and a high level of integrity. "We have known people who have applied before and we found out some people who, in their misspent youth had, for example, a speeding offence and they could be discounted from applying to join. "So the issue is then once they are in and they are involved in these types of incidents or behaviour, can they stay in?" She added: "Not that I'm condoning any of it - but it does warrant further explanation and examination." Chief Superintendent Philip Knox, head of the PSNI College, said officers and staff are expected to behave "professionally, ethically and with the utmost integrity at all times". He added: "We expect all of our staff at the college to have role model behaviours that reinforce our organisational ethos and values. These values and standards are instilled into the learning of our student officers as they commence their journey in policing. "All of our staff, including our newest employees, are supported and empowered to raise concerns if the behaviour of their colleagues, including those in authority, falls below the high standards that we all expect. "On the rare occasions that the behaviours of our staff falls below these standards we act immediately, with respect to due process, to investigate and robustly address the issues or concerns highlighted. "The matters will be investigated and may lead to sanction and redeployment or suspension if appropriate. "As a learning organisation we also understand that staff and students may make mistakes or errors of judgment. "In those cases the appropriate resolution may be more appropriately addressed through opportunities for reflection, learning and development." Full-time ambulance crews were not operating across the southern parts of Down and Armagh during part of the day on Friday. Local representatives were told that there were no full-time staff working out of the Newry and Kilkeel stations for a time. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said in a statement that staffing issues at the two ambulance stations had "provided us with a challenge" on Friday night. Sinn Fein MP Mickey Brady said: "I have been informed that there is to be no ambulance cover for Newry, Mourne and south Armagh. "I have sought urgent clarification from the Trust. If accurate, this is a totally unacceptable situation." A tenth of the staff were unavailable for work because of Covid-19, which has meant many others have been working overtime, an NIAS spokesperson said. "This level of overtime is not sustainable and it means on occasions we are unable to provide the planned level of cover in some areas," the statement added. NIAS said it has plans to cover when operational staff is reduced, including adding crews from other stations, extending Rapid Response Paramedic hours, increasing use of accident and emergency support vehicles and Voluntary and Private Ambulance Services (VAS/PAS). Southern Area Manager Mark Cochrane told armaghi.com: "It is a source of regret to me whenever ambulance cover is depleted due to a lack of available resources and the potential impact this may have on the community we serve. "Demand for NIAS services has increased significantly over recent years without a corresponding increase in ambulance resources. "We are working to address the issue and fill existing vacancies with ongoing regional recruitments and training. "I would like to express my gratitude to those staff, on the frontline and in ambulance control, who continue to work tirelessly to ensure that an ambulance response is provided to those who have an immediate and life-threatening need." Justice Minister Helen McEntee said scenes of busy streets around Dublin city pubs over the weekend were disappointing (Niall Carson/PA) The Justice Minister has warned that the Government could be forced to re-introduce tougher restrictions on pubs if premises continue to breach health regulations. Helen McEntee said scenes of busy streets around Dublin city bars over the weekend were disappointing. However, she said the vast majority of pubs and restaurants are complying with the Covid-19 regulations. Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said the full reopening of pubs on July 20 could be delayed if the rules are not adhered to. Mr Martin said the majority of publicans are complying with the rules but said there are breaches of the regulations by some pub holders. There is an obligation on everybody to behave. Personal responsibility matters here, he told Corks 96 FM. We've seen some scenes over the weekend that were disappointing Justice Minister Helen McEntee Pubs that serve food have been allowed to reopen since last Monday, while premises that do not serve food can reopen on July 20. Ms McEntee spoke out after photographs and videos emerged on social media showing groups of people drinking on the streets in Dublin. The minister said her department will continuously review powers given to the gardai to deal with licensed premises. I think to date the vast majority of citizens and business, whether its pubs or restaurants, have complied with regulations that were put in place as well as measures to not just protect yourself, but obviously protect people coming into their premises, she said. Of course, weve seen some scenes over the weekend that were disappointing. I would ask and I would urge everybody to comply with public health regulations because we have come so far, we have made such great progress, and while we have been able to implement measures and bring them forward, what we dont want is to have to re-implement any of these measures that we have now relaxed over the last while. Its an issue that will be kept under review. Ive a meeting with my Cabinet colleagues later on today and obviously we will keep engaged with the Commissioner if further measures are appropriate, perhaps proposals are needed for them. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris met with Minister for Justice and Equality Helen McEntee TD at Slane Garda station. Also met and discussed local issues with CSupt Healy and local GardaA. pic.twitter.com/rrJq53ZIg7 Garda Info (@gardainfo) July 6, 2020 She made the comments following a meeting with Garda Commission Drew Harris at Slane Garda Station on Monday, in which they discussed a variety of issues. Mr Harris said gardai carried out 6,000 visits of licensed premises across the country over the weekend. He said that, while the vast majority were compliant, officers did find breaches of the Covid-19 health regulations as well as breaches of the licensing laws in a minority of cases. We also found a situation, which was highlighted in social media, on Dame Lane, where indeed that was a public order situation and was dealt with as such, he said. If we see a situation, we have our powers to deal with that. Weve submitted a report to Government on what we experienced over the weekend, and then well see what would come from that following our further discussions with Government. But this is a situation thats evolving in terms of the practice of licensed premises. Were working with the licensees, we are asking them to be compliant, and the vast majority cases we are finding they are moving to a point of compliance. Meanwhile, the head of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) said that all pubs should have been allowed to open at the same time. If all the pubs had have been allowed to reopen at the same time, then I think we would have seen less of what we were seeing over the weekend Padraig Cribben, Vintners' Federation of Ireland Padraig Cribben said: We believe that all pubs should have been allowed to open at the same time for a number of reasons, one of which was there was a pent-up demand for people to get out after the lockdown. We now see about 45% of pubs open, with very big crowds trying to get back in. If all the pubs had have been allowed to reopen at the same time, then I think we would have seen less of what we were seeing over the weekend. However, he added that such scenes were unacceptable and condemned publicans for breaking the guidelines. Mr Cribben said most pubs are sticking to the rules and those that are not should be shut down. Repeatedly flouting social-distancing guidance would make a second wave of coronavirus inevitable, Irelands acting chief medical officer said. Dr Ronan Glynn expressed concern at gatherings of drinkers outside pubs in Dublin city centre over the weekend. He said Ireland was at a crossroads in its battle with the disease. If gatherings like that continue to happen it is inevitable that we will run into problems in the weeks and months to come Dr Ronan Glynn If it does not happen on a repeated basis hopefully we will be okay, he said. If gatherings like that continue to happen it is inevitable that we will run into problems in the weeks and months to come. He added: If we go back to what was our normal pre-Covid we will run into trouble again. Four new positive cases of Covid-19, but no more deaths have been recorded, the National Public Health Emergency Team said. Dr Glynn said the sick and vulnerable will be most at risk if there is a second wave of infection. Expand Close Dr Glynn expressed concern at gatherings of drinkers outside pubs in Dublin city centre over the weekend (Gaillot et Gray/handout/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Glynn expressed concern at gatherings of drinkers outside pubs in Dublin city centre over the weekend (Gaillot et Gray/handout/PA) He said: We are at a crossroads and have choices to make. If we make the right choices we can hope to keep this disease under control. If we make the wrong choices and do not keep following the basics of public health advice we will end up back where we were weeks and months ago and none of us want to be back there. Research conducted on behalf of Irelands Department of Health shows a higher level of overall worry among the population and a continued increase in the proportion anticipating a second wave. Almost three quarters (74%) think that there will be a second wave up 20% in the past month. Some 41% believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us, and one in three (32%) feel it lies ahead. Dr Glynn said: We have come through a very difficult phase for the country, the vast majority of people in the country have followed the public health advice. Very punitive measures were put in place for people and it has been difficult for communities and families. What we are asking people to do now, in relative terms, is more straightforward. He added: We want them to protect themselves. He said healthcare staff were exhausted and not ready for any new wave of infection and added children needed to go back to school in September. Between mid-May to the end of June, 35% of those identified as a close contact of a confirmed case did not take up the offer of a test. Dr Glynn said: Every case has the potential to turn into a cluster, which in turn has the potential to spread through a community. If you are identified as a close contact, please take up the offer of a test without delay. He said the international impact of Covid-19 was changing rapidly and it was right that the Government waited until later this month to publish green lists of countries which it was safe to travel to. The situation globally could get worse over the next week or two in which case we would have to think again about who is or is not on the list, he added. Expand Close Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA). PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA). Meanwhile, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin. Lord Mayor Hazel Chu proposed the honour at the City Councils monthly meeting. Dr Holohan stepped aside to spend time with his family as his wife Emer has been admitted to palliative care for cancer. The Lord Mayor said: The position he holds represents all frontline workers and all the work they do. He has been a constant presence in our lives during Covid-19 and his calm manner in imparting advice gave reassurance to us all. The accolade will be conferred on Dr Holohan at a future date. Some of the food offered to asylum seekers by Mears (Positive Action in Housing/PA) Dozens of asylum seekers in Glasgow are being left malnourished with food not fit for human consumption, according to a charity supporting them. Positive Action In Housing (PAIH) has rallied around refugees in the city after Badreddin Abadlla Adams attack at the Park Inn Hotel on West George Street. The 28-year-old from Sudan was shot dead by officers after six people including 42-year-old police constable David Whyte were injured in the incident on June 26. Asylum seekers were being housed at the hotel at the time, with campaign groups criticising the Mears Group, which has been subcontracted by the Home Office to carry out this process in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Expand Close Badreddin Abadlla Adam died after being shot by armed officers during the incident (Police Scotland/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Badreddin Abadlla Adam died after being shot by armed officers during the incident (Police Scotland/PA) Robina Qureshi, PAIH director, said 30 people kept in a separate location in Mears care are being malnourished. The charity says new evidence suggests some asylum seekers have been threatened with detention and deportation if they dare to complain about being left without any money or support. According to Ms Qureshi, the refugees are relatively new to Glasgow and include a former UN worker of many years from Afghanistan who had to flee for his life, and a professional musician from Iran. In separate testimonies given by some from the Park Inn Hotel, several have complained about being moved at short notice by Mears, with one woman saying her flat was mould ridden and smelled bad, with a dirty mattress. PAIH is now arranging crisis grants for those they say are in the greatest need. We dont have the option of saying nothing or else people will get used to this level of neglect and accept it Robina Qureshi, Positive Action In Housing Ahead of a press conference on Monday morning, Ms Qureshi said: While the people of Glasgow pick up the pieces of Mears neglect and provide human support, Mears Group picks up a 1 billion, 10-year asylum housing contract. Its CEO John Taylor has failed to answer a single interview or any of the concerns raised since a suicidal Syrian refugee died alone in his room at McLays Guest House. There is a humanitarian crisis going on and we dont have the option of saying nothing or else people will get used to this level of neglect and accept it. Almost 1,000 organisations and private citizens have now provided messages of support and signed in support of a full public investigation into the failure of Mears/Home Office to carry out its duty of care or vulnerability assessments with a community of people who have been left highly vulnerable. Expand Close Police officers at the Park Inn Hotel on West George Street, Glasgow (Andrew Milligan/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police officers at the Park Inn Hotel on West George Street, Glasgow (Andrew Milligan/PA) A Home Office spokeswoman said: These allegations are not true. Like everyone else in the country during the coronavirus outbreak, asylum seekers have been asked to stay where they are and to follow social distancing to help fight the spread, which has meant standing up temporary accommodation. When staying in hotel accommodation, all essential living needs including three meals a day, healthcare, WiFi and TV are met, which is all paid for by the taxpayer and there is no cost to the individual. For anyone with any issues, there is a 24-hour hotline available for support and it is fundamentally untrue to suggest that they are threatened with detention or deportation if they complain. As if there was any doubt, the shameless behaviour of those organising and leading Bobby Storey's funeral extravaganza reminds us that what goes these days by the name of Sinn Fein is not a political party. Sinn Fein is linked to a terrorist organisation, but now pretends to be something else. It indoctrinates its members, forms a closed, totalitarian society and persuades its members that the ethical codes of society at large are irrelevant. Its members learn to act at all times selflessly in the interests of their group and follow orders unquestioningly. Read More If you want to know what it's like living in such a regime, read Milkman, the marvellous novel by Anna Burns, who grew up in Ardoyne in a small community tyrannised by the IRA, where individuality of any kind was frowned on and the flouting of authority attracted a range of punishments that included being ostracised, exiled, injured, or murdered. Like the hunger strikers, Bobby Storey sacrificed his life and his family to a doomed attempt to force unionists into a united Ireland, because he believed in his messianic leader. Remember the time in 2014 when Gerry Adams was arrested and questioned (and no charges ever brought against him) about the murder and disappearing of Jean McConville, when Storey took to the streets to roar, "That they would dare touch our party leader, the leader of Irish republicanism"? What would have been right for Sinn Fein to do, were it a political party, would have been for Michelle O'Neill, whom it calls its leader in the north, since it can't be expected to recognise the legality of the state from which she draws her salary, to put the health of people in both parts of the island first and obey the rules she had insisted the public observe. Read More Instead, she followed instructions to flout all the rules so flagrantly as to demonstrate utter contempt for the little people. What was going through the heads of the veteran IRA figures when they decided that, en route to having Storey's coffin delivered to the Roselawn crematorium, there would be a detour into Milltown cemetery for large crowds to hear a eulogy from Adams? And that they would be pallbearers? Yes, the crowds were treated to the sight of bombers Gerry Kelly and Sean "Spike" Murray, arms smuggler and Kerry resident Martin Ferris, Sean Hughes, who has been accused in the House of Commons of involvement in London bombings, and Martin "Duckster" Lynch, who served 20 years for having arms that included a rocket launcher and who was believed to have been the IRA chief of staff since 2014. None of them, it goes without saying, had the right under the rules promulgated by Ms O'Neill to even be at the funeral and all of them could by now have passed on Covid-19. Read More As one source told Sunday Life: "This was the Provos saying, 'We haven't gone away'." - putting that message out to the British Government, the PSNI and dissident groups. And, of course, the new Irish Government. But that's not all they were about. As they sniggered about what they knew would be the inability of the police to implement the law, they will also have been having a chuckle about the serendipity of this funeral winding up loyalists. Read More The republican leadership has not been pleased that, in the interests of public health, the loyal orders cancelled their cherished July parades, so they will be thrilled that cancelled bonfires are being rebuilt and there have been around 100 applications by bands to march on July 12 and 13. I appeal to responsible loyalist leaders not, yet again, to fall into this trap. Domestic violence in Northern Ireland has risen considerably during the coronavirus lockdown, latest PSNI figures reveal. Between March and June there were 1,200 extra cases reported to police compared to the same period last year. A total of 9,303 domestic violence and abuse-related calls were made by members of the public between March 4 and June 16. This is a 14% increase on the 8,107 recorded during the same 2019 timeframe. Lockdown also saw an upsurge in killings and serious assaults allegedly involving members of the same household. Alan Gingles (32) is charged with murdering his grandmother Elizabeth Dobbin in their Larne home in April, while Michael Lenaghan (51) is accused of stabbing Ballymena guesthouse owner Inayat Shah to death in March. Expand Close Elizabeth 'Betty' Dobbin found dead in Larne April 2020 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Elizabeth 'Betty' Dobbin found dead in Larne April 2020 Other frightening lockdown-related assaults include that of Michael Gibson who is suspected of carrying out a horrific attack on his heavily pregnant partner. Belfast Magistrates Court was told that she rang 999 on April 25 after waking up to find the 29-year-old trying to smother her with a pillow. Gibson, who is charged with assault and criminal damage, is then alleged to have dragged her around a room by the hair while she held an 11-month-old baby in her arms. The peak for lockdown domestic violence reports came in the week between May 27 and June 2 when 727 were made to the PSNI - a staggering figure of more than 100 per day. Details about the worrying rise were revealed by Justice Minister Naomi Long in response to an Assembly question by DUP MLA Paul Givan. Expand Close Naomi Long / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Naomi Long She said: "The latest PSNI published information provides that from 1 April, 2019, to 31 March, 2020, there were 31,817 domestic abuse incidents in Northern Ireland, an increase of 135 (0.4 per cent) on the previous 12 months. "The most up-to-date weekly exceptional release published by PSNI shows that for the period 4 March until 16 June, 2020, PSNI received 9,303 domestic violence and abuse-related calls. This is a percentage increase of 14% compared to the same period for the previous year." Amnesty International has called for funding to be made available to local domestic violence charities to match the scale of the problem. Before lockdown, domestic incidents and crimes in Northern Ireland were already running at a 15-year high. Expand Close Haji Inayat Shah who was murdered in Ballymena / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Haji Inayat Shah who was murdered in Ballymena The human rights organisation's programme director, Patrick Corrigan, said: "Significant extra money has been made available in every other part of the UK, but not in Northern Ireland." The Scottish Government has given 1.35million to Scottish Women's Aid, while the UK Government committed a 28million package for domestic violence victims, and 3.8million for community-based domestic abuse and modern slavery services in England and Wales. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat (L) arrives for an interaction with the security forces personnel in Leh, Friday, July 3, 2020. PM Modi interacted with personnel of the Army, Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Photo: DD News, PTI. LEH (PTI): On a surprise visit to Ladakh in the midst of heightened tension between India and China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told soldiers that modernisation of the armed forces is a priority and that the spending on border infrastructure has almost tripled. In an address to troops, Modi said India is manufacturing critical weapons and bringing modern technology from around the world for the armed forces as the government is paying lot of attention for their requirement. "If India is enhancing its powers on land, air and water, then it is for the welfare of mankind," he said. "India is manufacturing modern weapons today. We are bringing modern technology from around the world for the armed forces. The spirit behind it is the same. If India is building modern infrastructure at a fast pace, then the message behind it is the same," he added. Modi said the government is paying a lot of attention to bring modern weapons for the armed forces. "Now the spending on border infrastructure in the country has almost tripled. This has also led to speedy development of border areas including construction of bridges and laying of roads," he said. "One of the biggest advantages of this is that now the goods reach you in a short time. The country is strengthening its armed forces at every level today," he added. The prime minister also heaped praise on soldiers for their bravery and courage and said they are serving the country under challenging circumstances. "Your courage is higher than the heights where you are serving today. When the safety of the country is in your hands, then there is a belief. Not only me, but the entire nation believes in you. We all are proud of you," he said. In the midst of the border standoff with China, the defence ministry on Thursday approved procurement of 33 frontline fighter jets, a number of missile systems and other military hardware at a cost of Rs 38,900 crore. The government has also approved procurement of 248 ASTRA beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile systems and a significant number of long range land attack cruise missile systems. The prime minister also mentioned about efforts to strengthen the national security apparatus. He highlighted recent initiatives of the government such as creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, construction of a grand national war memorial, implementation of the one rank one pension scheme and steps to ensure the well-being of the families of the armed forces personnel. Activists protest against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 during a demonstration at the University of the Philippines in Metro Manila, July 4, 2020. Philippine human rights and legal advocacy groups Monday sought a Supreme Court injunction against the Anti-Terrorism Act signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3, and warned it could be used to stifle free speech and go after government critics. About a dozen groups appeared at the court to file various petitions challenging the constitutionality of the new law, which repeals the Human Security Act of 2007. With the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, these [dissenting views ] can now be interpreted by the government as constituting terrorism, said an excerpt from an 84-page petition filed by a group of law professors at the Far Eastern University (FEU), a private campus in Manila. The definition of terrorism in Section 4 is so vague and broad it can be read to include legitimate and lawful gatherings and demonstrations where people assemble to exercise their freedom of speech, of expression, and of the press, it added. The new law allows the government to carry out warrantless arrests of suspected terrorists and hold them without charges for up to 24 days. It removes a requirement that police present suspects before a judge to determine that they werent tortured. It also creates a special anti-terrorism council to be made up of presidential aides instead of members of the judiciary. Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman was among the first legislators to question the law. It was replete with constitutional infirmities and should be jettisoned in its entirety, he said. In his petition to the court, Lagman emphasized that the derogation of freedom is not the price of security and peace, but the precursor of peoples unrest and righteous resistance. The criminalization of threat, proposal, and inciting to commit terrorism has chilling effects on deterring the exercise of the right to free speech and dissent, Lagman alleged, adding that the unreasonable seizure of a person was a violation of the right to movement. Duterte signed the act into law on Friday, amid recent violence against government security forces in the southern Philippines by militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group. On July 2, a police officer was killed when a suspected member of the pro-IS Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) attacked authorities manning a quarantine checkpoint in Esperanza, a town in Sultan Kudarat province. On June 26, four suspected Abu Sayyaf militants were killed by Philippine security forces during a joint police and military raid on a militant hideout in Metro Manila. The suspects were allegedly involved in plotting terrorist attacks, according to sources in police and military intelligence. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana appealed to the nation to give the new anti-terror law a chance. He described it as an essential measure for authorities to combat the scourge of terrorism. It is a much-needed measure to clothe law enforcement agencies with the necessary power to contain and eradicate terrorists who dont play by any rules and who hide behind our laws to pursue their evil deeds, Lorenzana said in a statement on Sunday as he urged people to read and understand the law. Anti-Marcos group protests A group of former activists who were jailed under the regime of late President Ferdinand Marcos are among the critics of the new law. They denounced it as a throwback to the rule of the former strongman who plunged the Philippines into two decades of darkness. Duterte and his cohorts are clearly desperate to tone down the growing unrest of the Filipino masses, and instead turn to deceptive and fascist schemes such as signing this law to hide his incompetence and ulterior motive to cling to power, said the groups spokesman, Danilo dela Fuente. Clearly, the safety of the country is not the priority of the government, he said, adding that the new law only formalized the ongoing culture of violence and impunity promoted by this administration. Duterte has expressed admiration for Marcos, who went into exile in Hawaii in 1986 following peoples power revolution protests. Marcos died three years later. His family was allowed to return to the Philippines, where members have re-established their political base in the north. Duterte has acknowledged receiving financial help from the family when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2016. Creating real change: a conversation with UB School of Law alum Orlando Dickson Orlando Dickson, JD 19. Photo by Douglas Levere by Laura Silverman Published July 6, 2020 Civic leader and activist Orlando Dickson, JD 19, brings a wide lens to the nations current reckoning with racism and police brutality. Born in Chicago and raised in Las Vegas, he spent most of his childhood homeless before joining the Army on his 18th birthday. He served for nine years, doing two tours of duty (in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively), and eventually taking college courses online. He left the military the day he earned his degree; two years later, at the age of 28, he entered law school at UB. After graduating in May of 2019, Dickson decided to stay in Buffalo to help create change where he could make a difference. A 2017 Open Buffalo Emerging Leader, Dickson now works as a civic educator at the Partnership for the Public Good, volunteers with Barack Obamas Boys and Men of Color Initiative, is on the board of Housing Opportunities Made Equal, is a certified community health worker, and serves on Buffalos police advisory board. How did you become involved in advocating for racial justice? Being homeless as a kid, I experienced something that I dont think too many people experience in their lives. And once you experience something like thatyou know, being at the proverbial bottom of the barrelI think it makes you extremely aware of everything thats going on around you. Theres a dichotomy in the way I was treated as someone who is homeless versus how people treat me when they find out that I graduated law school, or that Im a veteran. I have literally seen the expression and demeanor of a person change when they realize that who I am is not who they thought I was. Ill give you one example. Recently, I was talking to a Black police officer, just having a conversation with him on the street, when another police officer, a white one, walked up. He was immediately like, Whats this chump want? What did he do? He just assumed I had done something wrong. Then the first officer told him I was a lawyer, and he was like, Oh! My bad! When Trayvon Martin was killed, I started noticing how intersectional all of these things arehow your professional life can intersect with your personal life. At that time I was considering going to pharmacy school. But then I realized that the main reason George Zimmerman didnt go to jail was bad lawyering. I decided I didnt want that to happen again. Were you thinking youd become a public defender? Yes, but then I realized in law school that lawyers can do a lot of different things. There are people who are suited to be in a courtroom, pushing judges and prosecutors to be more equitable. But there are also people who are in the room when decisions are being made, speaking truth to power when it comes to the laws, speaking truth to power when it comes to the political feasibility of things. I realized that Im more suited to the latter. This country has a long history of racial injustice, and many unarmed Black men and women have been killed by the police. Why do you think the killing of George Floyd was the turning point for so many people? Eight minutes and 46 seconds. I cant explain it any better than Dave Chappelle did. You think about how terrifying it is to be in a dangerous situation. I was in a tornado when I was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas. I hid under a bed as it went down my street and was in absolute terror for five minutes. This man could not breathe for eight minutes and 46 seconds. That just does something to you at a very deep level. And people are finally waking up. Black people have asked in all the ways possible to be treated as human. But like Will Smith said, Racism is not getting worse; its getting filmed. Its always been this bad. Police brutality is something I experienced very early as a kid. I was 12 years old sitting at a bus stop when two police officers pulled up, grabbed me and my friend, handcuffed us, had us splayed on the ground with our faces on the hot blacktop, and held us there. This was Las Vegas in the middle of the day on a Saturday. It was 112 degrees outside. They thought we had robbed a place, because, you know, we were just a couple of 12-year-olds sitting at a bus stop, so that made sense. If it wasnt for the lady sitting at the bus stop, wed probably be in jail. Or something. People think its anti-police to talk about the brutality, but its not. Its not anti- anything. Its pro-humanity. Black people have asked in all the ways possible to be treated as human. We said, stop killing us. They essentially said no. We said, can the killers at least go to jail? They essentially said no. Okay, can the killers be fired permanently? No. Can we get unpaid leave for the killers? No. How about they pay out of pocket for wrongful death? No. De-escalation training? No. There have just been so many noes, and so many attempts at peaceful protest. At some point it was going to reach the boiling point. Do you feel like one difference now is that white people are finally paying attention? The most national attention the peaceful side of this has ever gotten was when Colin Kaepernick kneeled. At that point, I dont think any human being could say they had not heard of the Kaepernick protest. So awareness was not the issue. I think this situation with COVID-19, and there already being so many people losing jobs and feeling like something was wrong with the system that created the perfect storm for something like this to happen. But its also because things are being broken. Things are being burned to the ground. Its reached a fever pitch. And you know, nobody will sit here and say that rioting is the answer. Nobody wants to riot. But the focus on rioting completely negates the hundreds of years of peaceful attempts to create change. What do you think cities like Buffalo need to do now that would lead to real change? A lot of things. Riot police need to be permanently disbanded. Youve got to fire officers with a history of police brutality. You have to prosecute those officers and get results, like actual punishment rather than a slap on the wrist. You have to make officers pay for the settlements from police brutality with their pensions or some other form, not taxpayer dollars. Youve got to create independent external oversight bodies. Youve got to cut the police budget and invest in reforms and community support. There has to be transparency of police practices, activities, policies, cameras. They have to update the use of force policies to focus on de-escalation. In the military, our escalation of force procedures were better than anything Ive seen from police. We had so many steps before we got to the point where we were shooting people, and we were at war! Also, getting police out of schools and heavily child-populated areas, where Black children are being harassed. I could keep going. Photo by Douglas Levere You mentioned defunding the police, although you didnt use that phrase. Do you think people are misunderstanding what protestors mean by defund the police? Divesting funds from police and reallocating them to public safety and social services and other community resources is the point of the call to defund the police. It doesnt mean dont give them any money. It doesnt mean make their job unsafe. It just means shifting from the police handling every civil issue that arises to focusing on crime and crime prevention. I think there are people who try to derail every movement. People say Black Lives Matter, then people come with All Lives Matter. There are people who are purposely saying that Defund the Police is going to create anarchy and lawlessness, and its just not true. The research supports that when you invest in public safety and social services, crime decreases. Over-policing has been shown to increase lawlessness. Putting people in jail, especially pretrial, increases lawlessness, it increases recidivism rates. Whereas just focusing on the underlying issues does not. Youve said that most people who say they want to be part of the change end up just making a Facebook post. What would you tell people they should be doing that would be more effective? For Black and brown people, Im going to say the thing you can do to change something is to show up. Make sure that youre a part of some movement, because theres a movement in every city. If Im talking to white people, Im going to say, what are you doing to speak up? Are you having that conversation with your potentially racist friends? Are you keeping people from doing racist actions around you? Are you disowning the people who wont commit to changing their racist behavior? Are you raising your kids to be anti-racist? Its not enough to just not do the bad things. You have to actively engage when the bad thing is happening. There are just so many instances where people can change little things, just be decent human beings and treat us like were human beings. Its such an odd thing to have to ask people to value us as human beings. Its such an odd concept, and yet its been an issue all throughout American history. 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. Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or contributing today. Why Trumps Rushmore address was his best so far OLYMPIA - In response to COVID-19, Washington has launched Washington Listens, a support program and phone line to help people manage elevated levels of stress due to the pandemic. People who call the Washington Listens support line will speak with a support specialist and get connected to community resources in their area. The program is anonymous. "Washington Listens helps people cope and strengthen their resiliency in these uncertain times," said Sue Birch, director of the Washington State Health Care Authority, the agency managing the program. "It complements the state's behavioral health response services by providing an outlet for people who are not in crisis but need an outlet to manage stress." "This pandemic has had far-reaching effects that extend beyond our physical health. We are still in this fight against this virus, and this assistance will help Washingtonians recover during this uniquely stressful time," said Mike O'Hare, FEMA Region 10 administrator. The Washington Listens support line is 1-833-681-0211. It is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. TTY and language access services are available by using 7-1-1 or their preferred method. Providers and tribes that have partnered with Washington Listens include American Indian Community Center, Colville Tribe, Community Integrated Health Services, Crisis Connections, Frontier Behavioral Health, Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare, and Swinomish Tribe. The Washington Listens support line is made available by a $2.2 million Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) grant funded by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This program supports short-term interventions to mitigate stress, promote the use or development of coping strategies, and provide emotional support to help Washingtonians understand and process their stress. Resources and self-help tips are available on walistens.org. Specials | 01 June 2021 | Opinion For the automation portfolio, we see a strong and growing demand for application-related solutions : Dr Peter Fruhstorfer In the fiscal year 2020, Eppendorf AG succeeded in posting record revenue of 967.2 million as co...Read more DKSH Thailand Business Technology hosted a seminar in mid-June 2020 on the topic Preparing for the new normal: COVID-19 solutions for the future in Bangkok. The aim was to showcase the companys broad range of innovative and state-of-the-art solutions to equip businesses in Thailand for future epidemics. As the world adapts to the new normal brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, technological advancements will become increasingly relevant to everyday life. DKSH anticipates customers needs and aims to provide them with the latest technologies in detection, research, vaccine development and disinfection of infectious diseases. One example is Ubiquitomes revolutionary Liberty16 handheld real-time PCR device which can deliver COVID-19 test results in 45 minutes, run sixteen tests simultaneously and relay sample data via an iPhone app. It is a miniature DNA photocopier that can amplify specific target DNA sequences to show the presence of any DNA of interest, whether that be human, animal or wider environmental pathogens. Other highlights from the seminar included a simple rapid anti-body COVID-19 testing kit that can deliver results in merely 15 minutes, and a long-lasting disinfectant spray that can protect any surfaces against contamination for up to a year. These versatile solutions represent a new opportunity for various industries to stay ahead of costly health hazards and epidemics and ensure the safety and wellbeing of their stakeholders. Adrien Kehlstadt, Senior Director, DKSH Thailand Business Unit Technology, commented: DKSH connects customers in Thailand with most innovative products from around the world. We use our international networks and in-depth knowledge in the scientific industry to source and provide the best solutions to the Thai market to combat COVID-19. Investing in infectious disease technology is one of the ways to ensure that our customers can be better prepared for future epidemics and well-adjusted to the post-COVID-19 business outlook. DKSHs technology experts also shared some industry insights, market trends and global case studies on the potential growth of infectious disease prevention technology and its implications towards Thailands business landscape. As epidemics will likely become more common across the globe due to globalization, urbanization and climate change, innovations related to infectious diseases will be in high demand not only within the medical and healthcare sector, but also in industries such as hospitality, retail, food & beverage and life sciences. Market trends suggest that businesses will invest more in biometrics data collection to mitigate potential health risks and upgrade security. Moreover, DKSHs experts highlighted the rise of in-house testing facilities which will become a more common practice, as businesses rely on fast and efficient testing that do not require assistance from healthcare professionals. These trends correspond with the evolution of COVID-19-related devices in the market which have featured more handheld and cloud-connected options. Suchin Numruang, Assistant General Manager, Business Line Scientific Instrument, DKSH Thailand Business Unit Technology, added: We aim to leverage our position as a leading Market Expansion Services provider in scientific instrumentation and technology to help businesses in Thailand stay ahead of the curve. Our customers can benefit from the full service and technical support that we offer through our latest DKSH COVID-19 center. In addition, our Center of Excellence situated at Mahidol University, Phayathai campus, offers a best-in-class scientific testing facility and experts for customers who are looking to improve results and increase productivity. For more information on DKSH Covid-19 Technology Center, visit www.dksh.com/th-en/ins/dksh-covid19-center On July 2, an announcement came from ICMR that there are plans to launch COVID-19 vaccine by August 15 On June 30, Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech announced the development of 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 was developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotechs BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India. The company also announced that 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. Soon after on July 2, an announcement came from ICMR that there are plans to launch this indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 by August 15 after the completion of the clinical trials. The announcement also said that ICMR has selected 13 institutions across the country for clinical trials and asked them to initiate subject enrollment by July 7. ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava wrote a letter to the heads of the selected institutions, and informed them that it has partnered with Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to fast-track clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. Although it can be regarded as a big achievement for India, this deadline announcement is raising huge concerns across the country. On July 5, the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc) voiced out that while it welcomes the exciting development of a candidate vaccine and wishes it is quickly made available for public use, it strongly believes that the deadline is unfeasible and it has raised unrealistic hopes and expectations in the mind of citizens. Partha P Majumder, President, IAsc has slammed this declaration on his twitter account by saying, While administrative approvals can be expedited, the scientific process has its own time span that cannot be hastened without compromising standards of scientific vigour. Around the same time, an official statement was issued by the government on the PIB website highlighting the development of two vaccine candidates by India- COVAXIN by Bharat Biotech and ZyCov-D Vaccine by Zydus Cadila. A point worth noting here is that, a sentence- None of these vaccines is unlikely to be ready for mass use before 2021, was hurriedly removed from the press note within a few hours of uploading it on the website. Infact a statement issued by Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization has also gone viral in this context, which says- This vaccine cannot be given to people from August 15. I am sure Bhargava would clarify matters. Keeping in mind that ICMR is committed to treat the safety and interest of people of India as a topmost priority, a clear announcement will follow soon. Financial leaders are at a tipping point. The choices they are making today will become the bedrock of the industry for years to come. Most organisations have been forced to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic without the luxury of time to consider implications on longer-term sustainability. This begs the question: How can financial executives ensure that the decisions they make today are feasible in a post-Covid future and contribute to a more resilient tomorrow? Olga Arara-Kimani, regional head of corporate affairs and brand & marketing, Standard Chartered Africa & Middle East Power to avoid a potential recession Social investors invited to participate in new Covid-19 research Social investment fund manager Tshikululu has initiated a project to map the interventions of social investors throughout South Africa... Reminder of our interconnectedness, vulnerabilities Covid-19 pandemic: Should brands be doing more? Are the health and safety standards at stores in lower-income areas as high as they are in affluent areas? In brief, no... Looking to financial institutions for guidance Shift in thinking needed Ubuntu - the philosophy we need to follow right now We're seeing much more in the way of actual help for those affected by coronavirus than I've seen for any other cause, anywhere in South Africa, ever... Role of private sector in collective action Public-private partnerships Words and actions will be remembered At this point in time, private organisations are actioning operational and organisational decisions with profound implications on their local communities, with a generational impact on how they care and indeed, are there for their workforces and the markets in which they operate in. As such, these organisations must understand the needs of specific groups who might experience barriers to accessing information, care and support while engaging with communities and larger populations in the response to the immediate crisis. Similarly, enterprises looking to engage with their communities must consider the threat of a potential irreversible economic downturn and a seismic shift in the way industries operate as possible obstacles.To that end, banks, specifically, have the power to avoid a potential recession and maintain the operation of several businesses throughout the region through the efficient provision of liquidity and support measures. Across Africa, upwards of 20 million job losses are expected , whereas in the United States, over 40 million jobless claims have already been made as a direct result of the pandemic. This points to a larger issue regarding profitability for corporations across the region, as well as operational stability caused by the pandemic.At Standard Chartered, we have introduced numerous solutions to alleviate the financial burden implicated on clients during this period of uncertainty. As the pandemic took hold, the bank launched a series of charitable funds and financial assistance to aid those affected. Through our global commitment of $1bn to finance businesses that aid in the abatement of the crisis, we are hopeful that long-term progression in many markets is viable. Likewise, in March, we launched a $50m global relief fund to directly aid those impacted by Covid-19 and support emergency efforts led by charitable organisations across the globe.Covid-19 has presented itself as a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness and vulnerabilities. The virus respects no borders, meaning that combating it calls for a transparent, robust, coordinated, and nationwide response. Tackling the pandemic is a shared effort intertwined with health, social and economic issues and minimising its impact on these factors remains our absolute priority.We are continuing to present a united front against this common threat. As of May, our donations to philanthropic organisations, such as the Red Cross and Unicef, as well as local non-government organisations (NGOs) and government partners in Africa and the Middle East totalled $11.8m. These funds were directed to provide emergency relief in countries across the region impacted by the pandemic. Funding to Unicef for example will support the immediate protection and education of vulnerable children in Pakistan and eight markets in Africa and other such activities remote education via TV, radio, online and mobile platforms. The capital will also aid in funding child protection measures, including alternative care arrangements and family tracing services for children separated from their families due to Covid-19, training for social workers to conduct home visits to vulnerable children for mental health support, and alternative care and protection services for children of parents or caregivers affected by Covid-19.This commitment has been vital as we find ourselves at the cusp of a potential financial crisis. Banks lead the way in providing efficient money management services and consumers will continuously look to these institutions for guidance. If we can set a precedent with our commitment to encourage other leading institutions to follow, then we stand to contribute tremendously to the abatement of this pressing crisis.To aid in relieving the financial burdens imposed by the pandemic on our clients, weve introduced numerous measures ranging from short-term payment holidays, the extension of the tenure of a loan, the option to pay interest only on the component of the loan or offering discounts on domestic payments via Striaght2Bank.To continue adding value during the crisis, companies need to shift their thinking. Public-private partnerships are emerging, supported by a surge in solidarity funds across the continent. Covid-19 is creating new needs, while enforcing enormous financial pressures across a broad spectrum of society. From medical and public health needs related to the response, to economic uncertainty impacting vulnerable populations, Covid-19 is creating unmet needs above and beyond the standard.As such, non-profit organisations working directly to meet those needs require more resources to do so, however, all charitable entities are feeling this pressure, even if they are not directly responding to the crisis. The economic uncertainty may cause many donors to dial back. Many non-profits have had to cancel their usual programmes and fundraising events out of concern for public safety, while most of them have limited financial reserves to carry them through lean times ahead, putting them in a difficult predicament. To aid in the continuation of their philanthropic efforts, banks can strengthen their sense of purpose as they fulfil a social mission that supports households and businesses with access to credit and reclaim the banks value proposition.Similarly, containing the pandemics economic impact is not only a government task, but a collective action that the private sector must play a role in. Businesses throughout the region are contributing to this shared cause and are constantly working in unity to ensure that support is provided in as many countries and areas as possible.The bank is in touch with manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical industry through to healthcare providers to help provide our communities with these vital funds. This commitment has already seen Joint Medical Store, a leading Ugandan not-for-profit organisation, become the first client to make a drawdown under the banks $1bn financing commitment.As the fallout from the crisis continues, the private sector must continue to partner with non-profit organisations and government institutions to ensure the resiliency and stability of local communities. Through the provision of financial relief programmes and medical support, these measures must be implemented as a collective responsibility. As the industry adjusts to shifts in the economic landscape, reimagining may be essential, given emerging challenges facing communities, businesses, and the healthcare industry. These efforts can play out in the informal sector as well. From financial services to health issues, value chains have multiple entry points to change the relationship between businesses and citizens.To that end, organisations can no longer remain focused on their products and services. They serve as a vital piece of a dynamic puzzle and can make a significant difference by collaborating with a purpose. The question for all leaders to address will be how to partner with the public sector to adapt and learn from the plethora of innovations and experiments applied to supporting and uplifting the local community in times of uncertainty. On the African continent, specifically in Kenya, the United Nations launched a flash appeal alongside numerous NGOs seeking over $267m to aid in the relief of 10 million of the countrys most vulnerable people, which is complementary of the ongoing efforts extended by the nations government authorities. Similarly, in Kenya, the UN has built a model to catalyse public private action: the SDG Partnership Platform , led by the governments leadership.While companies actions will be remembered during this time for communities and businesses, so will words. As organisations operating within these communities, there is a duty to care for them. The financial world can be daunting for many and difficult to navigate, when the matter is, in fact, a simple one. In times of uncertainty, people are looking to ensure that their money is safe, and are, more than ever, seeking guidance regarding their financial statuses. We must remember that we are institutions that communicate largely with communities that face significant fears and need reassurance. We have made sure that our customers are aware of their options across all of our channels. We have a duty of care which is to inform and reassure as well as listen.Only by listening to our communities do we know what is keeping people awake at night, and knowing how we can address these issues and find solutions will keep our economy going and instil confidence in our consumers. What we do today determines what we become tomorrow. This serves as the primary reason for our continued action today to support businesses, communities, and individuals, as we aim to foster a better tomorrow. The vast array of providers and data management solutions that organisations are faced with can be daunting - from outright ownership models to a combination of ownership and subscription models to pure service provider offerings - and the market is continuously evolving. Gerhard Fourie, District Channel Manager for Commvault in South Africa Margin erosion Aspects to consider What is their influence in the market? Do they have a broad reach in their relevant region? Do they have the capacity to get skilled on new products and the motivation to build a pipeline and business model around a product? Do they have competent staff within their team? What is their level of commitment? Deciding on the right data management partner can be extremely tricky, and in order to make the right choice, there are a number of important considerations for organisations to consider before making a commitment.At the same time, partners are also struggling to choose the right vendor, based on the sheer volume of offerings in the market. The landscape was much less complex five years ago, when most partners had their preferred vendor, worked quite closely with them and it was fairly easy to position their technology.However, the pace at which technology and data management solutions are evolving has made it difficult for partners to keep up with all the new offerings, especially in terms of skills. Additionally, customers are becoming more informed about new offerings in the market, forcing traditional partners, that used to focus on a specific product, to start skilling up on other vendor offerings or platforms to ensure that their customers are not left behind.The sheer volume of data management offerings that is flooding the market has also led to some margin erosion, forcing partners to pick their battles very carefully. Essentially, they are all chasing the same accounts and each one is trying to show different value to the customers, so the products that partners in the channel space tend to stick to are typically those that still fall within a healthy margin spectrum.For data management vendors, choosing the right partners for their product offerings can be as complicated, but any vendor-partner relationship must be underpinned by absolute trust. Vendors share their business models with the partner, and in turn they trust that the partner will not share this with their competitors.Reputation is key. Successful data management partners those that been around for a while usually build up an extremely good reputation with their customers, and data management is all about trust. Customers must rest assured that if they have an outage, the partner will be there for them.On the other hand, as a vendor, the last thing you want is to be seen supporting a fly-by-night partner who leaves behind a mess for you to clean up. So, it is crucial that you make sure you are aligned with a partner that is reputable and has a good understanding of the data management market.When onboarding a partner, vendors should look at these five aspects:Also, agile management is important. A good partner must be able to adapt quickly to new circumstances within an account, be able to make clear decisions, and demonstrate strong execution. If you are going to invest money into a partners environment through business development funds, you want to see the execution.Ultimately though, make sure that you have a proper exit strategy in place that ensures that both partner and vendor understand that, should either one become unhappy with the other, there is the option to break ties and walk away. Research News UB researchers tapped to create patient registries, develop guidelines for treating children with COVID-19 By ELLEN GOLDBAUM Decades of research studying cardiovascular diseases in children related to viral illnesses and their therapies has provided us with important lessons that we believe may be relevant to understanding the cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 in children. Steven Lipshultz, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and chair Department of Pediatrics A paper and two editorials by UB pediatrics researchers call attention to key issues in health care that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light, and also recommend guidelines for evaluating and treating children infected with COVID-19. All were published in Progress in Pediatric Cardiology. As a result of the recommendations, the American Heart Association has requested that one of the authors, UB faculty member Steven Lipshultz, chair a committee to develop a Scientific Statement on the Management and Treatment of Children with Cardiomyopathies, including COVID-19 and other viral and inflammatory diseases. Lipshultz is A. Conger Goodyear Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. The Childrens Cardiomyopathy Foundation is also working with Lipshultz to fund a national registry of children with COVID-19 and these cardiovascular complications to augment his current National Institutes of Health funding of the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry. Lipshultz is credited with having helped establish the field of pediatric cardio-oncology and has been principal investigator of several landmark NIH studies on the causes and treatment of cardiomyopathy in children. Disruption to health care Lipshultz was corresponding author on the paper published online this week titled Disruption of Healthcare: Will the COVID Pandemic Worsen Non-COVID Outcomes and Disease Outbreaks? which discusses the far-reaching effects that the global pandemic is having on all aspects of health care. Along with Lipshultz, UB co-authors include Gale Burstein, Erie County health commissioner and clinical professor of pediatrics, and Dennis Z. Kuo, associate professor and division chief of general pediatrics, both in the Department of Pediatrics at the Jacobs School. Kuo is also a physician with UBMD Pediatrics. Additional co-authors are Paul Barach of Wayne State University, Stacy D. Fisher of the University of Maryland, and M. Jacob Adams and Patrick Brophy, both of the University of Rochester. Citing fear and lack of trust in health care institutions as patients with other conditions avoid treatment because of COVID-19, as well as dysfunction in the ways that health care is paid for in the U.S., Lipshultz and his co-authors describe in the paper the health care challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has created. Apprehension about seeking care for non-COVID diseases, especially heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, is leading to potentially lethal delays in seeking care, which will reverberate throughout health care systems for the foreseeable future, Lipshultz says. The authors note that a critical factor in boosting confidence in the systems ability to care for patients with all diseases is accurate and effective communication with the public about risks from the novel coronavirus, as well as non-COVID-19 diseases. The paper states: Uncertainty about the course and severity of the pandemic and the potential of a vaccine remains high; thus, effective risk communication is essential to ensure widespread adoption of evidence-based public health recommendations. H1N1 lesson The paper mentions, as an example, that in 2009, public acceptance of the H1N1 flu vaccine happened as a result of access to clear and accurate information and confidence in the vaccine, which was enhanced when President Obamas daughters were immunized. But the trust that Americans now have in the federal government to do the right thing has plummeted to 17%, according to research cited in the paper, and official actions during the pandemic have further eroded public confidence. The authors note that reporting of accurate data about the incidence of the disease and which populations are more at risk for COVID-19 and other diseases is also a factor that impacts public trust and perception. Disease incidence and progression for many conditions can vary by ethnicity, and COVID-19 may be no different, The paper states. Even in the U.S., needed information about infections, hospital admissions, and deaths is not readily available in some regions as a result of economic concerns and political pressures. Children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome Married couple, Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts, who owns a Cape Town-based company, 17 Films, chat to us about their new venture, Mind Your Own Biz, a live chat, showcasing local entrepreneurs on Instagram/IGTV and celebrating the grit of the business community one small enterprise at a time. Ivan Botha and Donna-lee Roberts started Mind Your Own Biz, a live chat, showcasing local entrepreneurs on Instagram. Let's start with the basics. What is Mind Your Biz all about and where did you get the idea to do it? We've always been very passionate about entrepreneurship and I think what a lot of people don't realise is, as film producers, every single time you create a project and start on a film - because we write and produce and we have a marketing division within our production company. It's like starting up a brand and a business every single time. So, within that, we found that we are so passionate about marketing and business and entrepreneurship. Why did you decide to use IGTV/Instagram specifically? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ivan Botha (@ivanbotha17) on Jun 1, 2020 at 11:30am PDT What is your growth strategy? Do you have plans to eventually take it into the studio, or do a talk show at a later stage or would you prefer to stick to digital and social media, specifically post-lockdown? Q&A with Ivan Botha about directorial debut Stroomop Actor, writer, and producer Ivan Botha chats about about his directorial debut Stroomop as well as the inspirational women in his life, filming in water, and collaborative writing. What has the response been like and what have you learned from the first episode? Interview with Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts Daniel Dercksen shares a few thoughts with superstars of the local film and TV industry, Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts, who charmed film-goers with Pad Na Jou Hart, sizzle in their latest charmer Vir Altyd (Forever)... I can hear how passionate you both are about entrepreneurship. I think there is a huge spotlight on start-ups and entrepreneurship globally, especially in 2020 when we look at how economies globally are struggling. I think the mentality at school need to start changing and without going anywhere negative, I think something that still breaks my mind is that entrepreneurship is not a subject at school, from a business perspective. Because I truly believe the days where massive corporates were the backbone of the economy are over. And we've seen that time and time again. Look at what just happened with the Edcon group; 22,000 people with the click of a button have lost their jobs. Those are 22,000 potential entrepreneurs. Edcon files to fire roughly 17,000 people, as other retailers struggle While Edcon issues section 189s to 22,000 workers, mid-sized retailers warn of bigger job-losses if their needs are not heard... Anything else you would like to add? So, Mind Your Own Biz, in its essence is an opportunity and a platform where we literally just want to share and celebrate and learn from entrepreneurs, from business owners, share in each other's passions and hopefully just get the word out there to people that are interested in supporting local businesses, local entrepreneurs, local artists and just wonderful stories.It started during lockdown. You always try and think about how you can contribute, where you can get involved and we try and be involved with charity work and community projects. But as entrepreneurs, obviously there was a massive light being shone on the economy and the stories were coming in on social media about businesses that were closing down and people were losing jobs and we just asked, 'What can we do? Whether it helps one person or a 1,000 people, what can we do?'.And we said, 'Well, we've been blessed with these social media platforms due to the film industry, but we're also business owners and passionate entrepreneurs and passionate marketers'. So, we said, 'Yes, let's start something', and that's where the dream and the idea started for us.Absolutely.We also own a clothing range called the Romantic Collective, and we have been extremely thankful for how people have been supporting our brand locally. We've been wanting to do something with entrepreneurs and small businesses for the longest time, and within the lockdown period, it became so apparent that there is a need for that. And we're extremely grateful to have a platform where we can celebrate and shine a light and share the love when it comes to other businesses.Well, I think specifically because just during lockdown we saw the growth specifically with Instagram and how Instagram just grew. We've been using Instagram personally, yes, but also for our business and it had an incredible impact. I'm sure there are other tools like TikTok and Facebook, but I think we are quite passionate about Instagram because there is a positive angle to Instagram that we really appreciate. And I think IGTV just allows you to grow that brand very quickly.What also made it quite exciting is that if you do go online or on Instagram Live, you literally then have the opportunity to not just have a focused conversation with one or two people but it kind of opens up that space to ask questions. It's extremely interactive. You get to speak to people from across South Africa. That's what we love about it because it gives us the opportunity to speak to small business owners and entrepreneurs and people who are starting movements and doing amazing work and in that way, through an IG Live platform, we get to share what they are doing.Well, definitely. We have also said this has got to have its own organic growth. We obviously have dreams for it and hopes for it, where it can go and what it can become. But I think we never want to lose track of what it started off as, and that is a platform and an opportunity for a celebration and to get the word out there and to get people to switch the mindset between just supporting and shopping from the usual to expanding your horizon.So from now, every first Monday of the month, just purely because our time is limited. We have lots of projects happening and I wish we could do it full-time but at the moment it's not about making money, it's literally just about giving our time and actually just to open a platform. You'll see the emails I send out to the entrepreneurs, are five points and it's just guidelines: who are you, tell us your story, what are the challenges that you are facing and where can people get hold of you and support you?It's literally just an opportunity to give somebody else a voice. Because a small business might have 400/500 people following them, and to get to 400/500 people following them, it's been a hard hustle. Where we have been fortunate, Donnalee has over 100,000 followers, I'm close to 100,000 followers. So, it's literally just an opportunity to actually give them a voice on our platform to a wider audience. We obviously select people. They have got to send us an email and we try and keep it interesting. So every first Monday of the month for now, and we are filmmakers, so you never know.Absolutely. We can't help ourselves but to start dreaming big and go, where can this go and how can we take it into the studio and make it even bigger in that way, but, as Ivan said, we never want to lose sight of where its started and what the essence and the realness behind it is. Because what's wonderful with something like an Instagram Live chat and using Instagram TV, because you go live, it's very real and in the moment and it's relatable. And I think a lot of the time with big organisations, it has almost become unattainable for small business owners and people wanting to start a movement or a project, and to get people involved in that. And I think more than anything, we really want to keep it real and relatable and have people go, it is attainable, you can be given a voice and we want to share.What our dreams and hopes for Mind Your Own Biz is, is that we can hopefully create a community within that platform, so that after a while that we've grown that platform to space where it doesn't necessarily have to be on Ivan's Instagram TV but that we can really move it to Mind Your Own Biz's platform. That is the dream. But also with that to create a community where people who are busy with projects and starting movements and small business owners and entrepreneurs, where whenever we share something or post something, that the community, and that the culture within that community becomes one of supporting each other by going: 'These are the entrepreneurs we are celebrating this month, please share it on your platforms and spread the word.' So, after a while, it's not just myself and Ivan sharing the good news, and sharing the love and shining a light on different movements and projects and companies, but that becomes the culture within that community.We've had a wonderful response. We're very thankful for that. Because it just goes to show that people are passionate about starting something and living out their dreams. My dream for Mind Your Own Biz, is to have a community where everyone that is part of that community follows the culture of sharing the love and celebrating within that community and celebrating each other and we've already started seeing that on our page, where people have shared. Even if it's just on their Instagram story with a swipe up link to someone's website. That's already started and that makes us very excited.I've just learned that there are some incredible entrepreneurs in this country. They just need a light to be shone on them and I think more than ever with Covid-19, what's been inspiring is the email that we've gotten where people, whether it be people that say, 'I've had a company for a month or I've had a company for six years,' say, 'I'm not giving up.' And that same kind of mentality that you need to be an entrepreneur, that same grit, that same fighting spirit is out there and it'snot going anywhere and that is quite exciting. Obviously people are hungry to grab opportunities to help them to market, to get the word out there and that is what Mind Your Biz does.And what we've also found is people that have sent us emails going, 'Oh, I do this and this, maybe I can link up with the company that you celebrated,' and that is the dream; to create that kind of community. And it is wonderful to see that people have already emailed us and said, 'We've watched your first episode, this is how we would like to link up with this company or this is how we can share their products within our shop.'If there was a bigger focus on schools on entrepreneurship. Even if it's not your dream or your passion to one day start your own business, I think if you get taught more of that in school, it's also going to make you a better employee one day to understand business structure and to go, "I'm passionate about the company that I work for because I really understand everything from A-Z."I just wanted to add that, obviously, that part of the criteria [of getting on the show] is that it has to be a real business and not, I'm going to start, or I have this idea. It has to be a functioning business, an operating business and a registered business. It doesn't necessarily have to have a website, as long as there is some form of contact, whether it be, Facebook, or Instagram or something like that. We've had some beautiful ideas come our way, but unfortunately Mind Your Own Biz is not that. It's an opportunity for an established business, whether it be literally a day old or 10 years old, whatever it might be.I think it would be wonderful if more people start following Mind Your Own Biz, even if you're not a business owner. We want to also have people who have businesses - we want to get the word out there to consumers and people who want to support and people who want to become involved with campaign and drives and movements and companies. So, the more people that follow and listen and share and celebrate, the wider we can grow this network and create that community of support.Call to action is get in contact and let's start a conversation. It's that old cliche that says, there's nothing like a bad meeting. In this instance, there's nothing like a bad email - let's start a conversation. Because you never know what kind of door it opens into the future, and we are all learning.Myself and Donnalee are not business experts at all and that's not what we're trying to say here and that's not Mind Your Own Biz is about. It's literally about opening a conversation. We love stories, we are storytellers and we want to tell other people's stories in a sense.You can catch Mind Your Own Biz on Botha's Instagram every first Monday of the month (tonight) at 7:30pm. You can also follow Roberts on Instagram for any new updates. One of the most significant backbones of Ghana's economic and social development for a very long time has been small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). They are the major driving force for business development, employment creation, production of goods and services and internal income generation in Ghana. Image supplied Access to credit and capital The biggest problem facing most SMEs in Ghana is the lack of credit or capital. Many SMEs find it extremely difficult to get the financial backing to boost their businesses. The financial institutions usually decline loan requests because of the positioning of such SMEs. E-commerce plays an integral part in building a good portfolio for SMEs. Having your products online in an organised way helps to reach a larger audience and generates better sales. This helps create a good portfolio and gives the financial institutions confidence that these SMEs are eligible for the loans requested. Also, being a partner to credible online retail platforms gives these SMEs great credibility to access credit and capital. The biggest problem facing most SMEs in Ghana is the lack of credit or capital. Many SMEs find it extremely difficult to get the financial backing to boost their businesses. The financial institutions usually decline loan requests because of the positioning of such SMEs. E-commerce plays an integral part in building a good portfolio for SMEs. Having your products online in an organised way helps to reach a larger audience and generates better sales. This helps create a good portfolio and gives the financial institutions confidence that these SMEs are eligible for the loans requested. Also, being a partner to credible online retail platforms gives these SMEs great credibility to access credit and capital. A platform for small scale vendors Would you rather have a shop in the middle of nowhere or a shop in the busiest part of the city? How many people will walk into your physical shop in a day as compared to the millions of people likely to see your product online? Business in Ghana has changed and most people would rather shop on their smartphones and laptops than visit physical stores. In the wake of Covid-19, everyone is trying to keep safe and online business has seen a tremendous increase. SMEs can really leverage on this to grow. Placing your products or services online gives you a bigger platform to showcase your shops and increase revenue. SMEs get to learn new techniques, meet partner brands and expand their businesses with the training and guidance from experts in the online retail industry. Would you rather have a shop in the middle of nowhere or a shop in the busiest part of the city? How many people will walk into your physical shop in a day as compared to the millions of people likely to see your product online? Business in Ghana has changed and most people would rather shop on their smartphones and laptops than visit physical stores. In the wake of Covid-19, everyone is trying to keep safe and online business has seen a tremendous increase. SMEs can really leverage on this to grow. Placing your products or services online gives you a bigger platform to showcase your shops and increase revenue. SMEs get to learn new techniques, meet partner brands and expand their businesses with the training and guidance from experts in the online retail industry. Employment One important area of growth for SMEs in Ghana in the area of employment. Over the years, many graduates complete school with the main aim of landing white-collar jobs, earn a decent salary and build a life from there. With growing numbers of graduates per year and limited opportunities, the best way forward is self-employment. E-commerce has indeed helped many of such unemployed graduates to enjoy good fortunes in developing their ideas. From small scale clothing to mobile phone accessories or cosmetics, platforms like Jumia have made it possible for thousands of unemployed Ghanaians to become gainfully self-employed. This opens the way for these SMEs to then also absorb other skilled people who may not necessarily have their own businesses. One important area of growth for SMEs in Ghana in the area of employment. Over the years, many graduates complete school with the main aim of landing white-collar jobs, earn a decent salary and build a life from there. With growing numbers of graduates per year and limited opportunities, the best way forward is self-employment. E-commerce has indeed helped many of such unemployed graduates to enjoy good fortunes in developing their ideas. From small scale clothing to mobile phone accessories or cosmetics, platforms like Jumia have made it possible for thousands of unemployed Ghanaians to become gainfully self-employed. This opens the way for these SMEs to then also absorb other skilled people who may not necessarily have their own businesses. Best pricing (increased demand) One of the greatest advantages that e-commerce has brought to SMEs in Ghana is that of increased demand. This is as a result of the price war among several vendors. In the online business, to get good revenue, one needs to have good quality products at very competitive prices. When that happens, more and more customers are willing and able to buy these products and that increases demand. This opens the door for SMEs to grow and expand. Best pricing also facilitates quicker sales hence paving a path to profitability. One of the greatest advantages that e-commerce has brought to SMEs in Ghana is that of increased demand. This is as a result of the price war among several vendors. In the online business, to get good revenue, one needs to have good quality products at very competitive prices. When that happens, more and more customers are willing and able to buy these products and that increases demand. This opens the door for SMEs to grow and expand. Best pricing also facilitates quicker sales hence paving a path to profitability. Competition In the absence of competition, there is always complacency. The e-commerce industry thrives on competition between vendors. Although the is a bigger customer audience online, SMEs have to be at the top of their games to possess a great share of the market. This then triggers an improvement in the quality of goods and services, customer service, management and other pillars of growth. Without competition, SMEs feel comfortable and do not look for various channels of growth. Ninety percent of registered businesses in Ghana are SMEs according to the Registrar Generals Department as noted by Graphic Online. An SME Research Report by Ghana Web also indicated that SMEs contribute an estimated 70% of Ghanas GDP and account for approximately 85% of employment in the Ghanaian manufacturing sector.With all these facts in mind, it has become imperative that Ghana intensifies efforts to further develop its existing SMEs and prepare to empower the new ones.There is great potential for SME growth and development here in Ghana. However, it is dependent on all stakeholders to identify the right opportunities and leverage e-commerce in order to maximize this potential. The future is bright and we are just getting started. Start a business today and take it online and if you already own a small business, its time to look at it in the e-commerce spectrum. Lets grow! The road to recovery for South African businesses will be a long and difficult one, especially for the small players. Andile Ramaphosa, CEO of SDI hands over keys of the new JAC truck to Godfrey Mokwaphakedi (Loadit) to enable him to create his own business with Charles Murray, SDI Supplier Development Initiatives (SDI), in partnership with FNB, handed over 18 vehicles to individuals who run micro-businesses as part of SweepSouth and Loadit, as well as Bolt e-hailing drivers.Not only will the vehicles enable these micro-suppliers to keep their small businesses going, but they will also assist with growth and expansion, giving them the opportunity to earn an income, contribute meaningfully to the economy and uplift themselves.This SDI initiative aims to put small businesses and micro-suppliers back to work and help keep their families and communities alive. These vehicles, purchased through FNB funding, will be donated free-of-charge to micro-suppliers from each organisation that have a professional, proven track record. All they will need to do is arrange their own insurance. Its a move that will fundamentally change the lives of these individuals and their businesses. With unemployment on the rise, initiatives like this contribute to economic stability by creating self-employment opportunities.SDI, an existing service-on-demand platform, has built its model around supporting and enabling micro-suppliers in multiple industries, giving them access to greater business opportunities. We have always championed the little guys, explains Andile Ramaphosa, SDI Co-Founder. And in the current economic climate, were ramping up our efforts to ensure that they dont fall through the cracks.The handover event, a small affair for less than 50 people took place on 3 July 2020 and is called Rishume Day, a Venda phrase meaning lets work to make things work. The Covid-19 pandemic is emerging as a powerful driver for digital transformation in the insurance industry, with a shift from an intermediated world to one of faceless onboarding and servicing. Robin Wagner, Senior Vice President: International Insurance at TransUnion Differentiated, digital distribution: They offer some intermediation, but most sales are conducted through direct, digital channels. Quote and bind online: The complete buying journey is conducted online, from the quote right through to the application process and delivery of policy documentation. Digital policy servicing: Customers can perform a range of policy services online, too, from changing coverage ratios and named drivers to log a claim. Shift in consumer behavior New research from TransUnion on the performance of insurers shows the pandemic has sparked a fundamental shift in consumer demand and buying behaviour, requiring new digital assets like seamless onboarding, with robust identity verification at point of contact.The research shows Covid-19 has hurt heavily intermediated, non-digitally transformed insurers. An analysis by TransUnion of quote volumes during Covid-19 revealed considerable variations across regions. In the UK, for example, volumes were relatively flat, whereas South Africa and India experienced a substantial decrease.To find out why, we looked at how insurance is sold in different regions, broken down by distribution channel - digital direct, intermediated or aggregated. In the UK, where volumes were least affected, around 80% of auto and property insurance is sold through digital platforms (about 70% digital aggregation and 10% digital direct). These platforms offer customers an end-to-end service, from quote to policy document. The remaining 20% of sales are from intermediated channels, where a broker or sales representative plays an important role in the process.An analysis of volumes at the client level provided further insights. Regardless of region, those that were managing better through the crisis had three characteristics in common, all of which relate to digital transformation.In light of measures taken to address the pandemic, it makes sense that organisations offering a full suite of services online will be in a stronger position to continue with business as usual than those relying heavily on intermediaries or telephony-based contact centres. Going forward, the ability to conduct business online and support a remote workforce will be a standard feature in business continuity plans.Were also likely to see a shift in buying behaviour as work-from-home and lockdown policies require people to do just about everything online, from work meetings and classes to grocery shopping and social hangouts. Consumers will demand a different experience and buying journey.As a result, digital onboarding and self-service will no longer be a differentiator, but a must. Research shows businesses lose up to 70% of potential customers because of cumbersome onboarding processes.In todays environment, defining the identity of who you are transacting with is also more critical than ever. Synthetic or stolen identity fraud is likely to increase as consumers across the globe are being targeted in Covid-19 related scams, as TransUnions Consumer Financial Hardship Studies show. Data-driven verification will assist in identifying potential fraud and reducing losses, while still meeting consumer expectations for seamless onboarding. Linking personal and device identity at the onboarding stage also improves the customer experience later, when customers use the platform to manage their policy or log a claim.Verification of both the individual and device transacting on a digital platform is key to protecting insurers bottom lines, as well as their customers. On short-term books, loss ratios are between 10% and 20% higher for policies where identities have not been verified or addresses have been misrepresented.Despite talk about digital transformation in the insurance industry for years, many insurers still rely heavily on broker or agent intervention. As the Covid-19 crisis forces a fundamental shift from face-to-face and contact centre channels to faceless, digital platforms, the need to verify personal and digital identities will become even more critical. Insurers with a digital onboarding journey that can service customers and underwrite digitally will emerge from the crisis in a much better position and will be favoured by the market. Much of the huge amount of information around the Covid-19, how it spreads and what people can do to help stop the spread is in English, so Dr Mathobela Matjekane, chief executive, Clinimed, has started a campaign to to create content and videos around the virus in as many of the country's official languages as possible. Dr Mathobela Matjekane, chief executive, Clinimed Set the scene. What is a typical work day like under lockdown? What was your initial response to the crisis/lockdown and has your experience of it? Tell us about the challenges and opportunities The world has really turned to creativity and innovation during this time. How are you seeing this play out in your sphere? What are you busy working on? What trends youve seen emerge as a result of the crisis? What is your key message for fighting the virus? How do you see the virus changing life as we know it? My day begins the day before. Im a mother and wife, so work life balance requires me to set the tone before I go to bed. I usually get up around 7am and fit in a 30 to 45 minute workout. I believe in staying active and challenging the body and mind. Ill take a shower, grab breakfast and then head to one of the practices depending on where I should be stationed based on appointments. I have a quick check in with my staff and set the day. We start our with our appointments/consultations. My day would end around 18.00 to 18.30pm after seeing at least 40 patients a day.My initial response was to ease panic amongst the staff, especially supportive staff who dont necessarily have medical experience like doctors and nurses would. We needed to understand the disease extensively, seek more information and add on top of what our government had communicated. This helped us set up preventive and protection measures for staff, patients and our families. Understanding the disease was our top priority. It gave us the opportunity to see whether we were prepared and had the capacity not only as a healthcare practice but as a business too. We had to adapt to changes and accept the new normal which was a bit overwhelming at first but we had to emphasise that its for importance.The challenges were realising that the pandemic has arrived in South Africa. My anxiety automatically thought of our home affairs with regards to the standards of living, service delivery, education, health, poverty and unemployment. I immediately thought we are going to have to buckle up. Having to explain the disease process to our patients on a daily basis and realising that the amount of information was sometimes overwhelming for them. Diagnosing patients regularly and realising that there is no cure, vaccine and literally praying that their immune system will survive the virus. Daily dealing with patients who are scared and anxious about their future and careers while having to deal with their health. Opportunity wise, the pandemic gave us a platform where we started understanding that we as medical professionals have a lot of information that we needed to decode for our patients. We started putting ourselves in the shoes of our mothers and aunts who were located in the deep rural Eastern Cape, Khayelitsha, and other communities where English is not well understood, who were watching from a fence wondering what is this Covid -19 all about. A big urge came that we should get information to them in the languages they understand so they could protect themselves.Moreover, it is interesting to see the healthcare profession moving into digitalisation and use of advanced telecommunication platforms to communicate any new developments for wider reach. This is not something we are necessarily used to outside of our consolation rooms and laboratory rooms. Technology has been quite helpful in this instance.We are currently collaborating with other entities to try and decode Covid-19 and any other medical diseases and make sure our communities are able to make informed decisions about their health. We've come up with medical care platform tailored for our patients by our doctors who understand what we need. We are trying to secure funding to get it out there.The pandemic has continued to expose the different socio-economic factors in our society. We are communicating digitally but there are far greater communities without access to basic services, let alone the internet. We are seeing a lot of live Instagram conversation amongst the healthcare profession but how far is the reach?We must continue social distancing as much as we can and even when the levels are reduced that doesnt mean that the virus has disappeared its still living amongst us and we must all act and be responsible individuals and protect our families and people around us. We must continue to boost our immune systems so that should we contract the virus it is able to fight Covid-19, wash our hands regularly, stay home if theres no need for you to be outside or socialising. Try and minimise the time you spend reading or watching news about the virus as it may cause panic and anxiety.As long there is no vaccine we will have to do things differently up till there is a way everybody can be protected and safe and have some immunity for all. I foresee us living around it as opposed to having life completely on pause. Unfortunately we see that the economy activity has to be considered. As part of our ongoing #BehindtheBrandManager series, we interviewed some of the Marketing Achievement Awards' Rising Star finalists - said to be the best and the brightest under the age of 35 who have consistently demonstrated excellent performance and who have the potential to become outstanding leaders in their profession. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Cape Coral City Council will hold a Special Meeting today, Monday, July 6, at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, in Council Chambers, 1015 Cultural Park Boulevard, Cape Coral. The following will appear on the agenda: 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. City staff recommends that Council strongly urge the wearing of masks rather than mandate face coverings due to concerns about the impact of diverting public safety personnel to non-compliance calls. If Council opts to mandate face covering in public settings, staff recommends the enforcement of employee and customer compliance regarding masks and social distancing be placed on businesses. Please check the Citys website for the most current meeting information at: www.capecoral.net; Department; City Clerk; public meeting calendar. To view a copy of the agenda once available, please go to www.capecoral.net/department/clerk/agendas_and_videos.php or pick up a copy at the Clerks Office. Note that masks are required to enter any indoor City-owned facility (some exceptions apply). As of Friday, at least 220 inmates at Susanville prison located 120 miles north of Lake Tahoe tested positive for COVID-19 over the past two weeks, prompting the California Department of Corrections to halt movement in and out of the prison - which includes sending inmates to the conservation camps, according to the state prison system spokesman, Aaron Francis. Until the lockdown lifts, only 30 of the states 77 inmate crews are available to fight a wildfire in the north state, prison officials said. Californias incarcerated firefighters have for decades been the states primary firefighting hand crews, and the shortage has officials scrambling to come up with replacement firefighters in a dry season that is shaping up to be among the most extreme in years. The state is hunting for bulldozer crews and enlisting teams that normally clear brush as replacements. -Sacramento Bee That said, just one of the inmate firefighters have tested positive as of Friday, according to Francis. The reduced manpower will create an enormous challenge for the state, should any large fires break out this year. "To have that many (conservation camps) locked down, there are only a few camps left in the north that are going to be able to fight fires," said retired corrections officer Mike Hampton, who served as the fire camp systems union president according to the Bee. "Thats going to hamper them." "All of a sudden we start losing inmates, you cant replace them with high-risk inmates," Hampton added. "That defeats the purpose of the program. The whole purpose of the program is to fight fires and save the state money. You put high-risk inmates in there, that defeats the safety standpoint for the citizens out there." Read more here: Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article243977827.html?fbcl Identified by their orange fire uniforms, inmates typically do the critically important and dangerous job of using chainsaws and hand tools to cut firelines around properties and neighborhoods during wildfires. Each crew has 17 inmates. Theyre supervised in the field typically by a Cal Fire captain, but sometimes a correctional officer will go with them on out-of-county assignments, or on local assignments located near residential areas. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials acknowledged losing inmate hand crews to the disease outbreak is going to pose a significant challenge this summer. -Sacramento Bee Read more here: Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article243977827.html?fbcl In order to cope with the shortfall, state fire officials are expanding the use of seasonal firefighters, creating new crews, and working with multiple agencies to secure more aircraft and bulldozers. Cal Fire employees have also been approved to serve on the states "fuels crews" teams, which create fire breaks by clearing brush and other flammable materials surrounding communities, according to Amy Head, a Battalion Chief and Cal Fire spokeswoman. State and federal officials, along with the National Guard and California Conservation Corps have all been tapped to help find more firefighters, the Bee reports. "Were doing our best to plan ahead," said Head. "Thankfully, we havent had anything too big to deal with yet." Inmate shortage began years ago At least 67 people were shot, including 13 fatally, over the Independence Day weekend in Chicago, according to authorities. Nine of the weekends victims were minors, and two children died, officials told Fox32. That includes 14-year-old boy who was among four people who were killed in the South Side neighborhood Englewood on Saturday evening. The victims were at a large gathering on the street at around 11:35 p.m. on South Carpenter Street. Four males then approached the group and began shooting, police said, adding that the 14-year-old boy was shot in the back before he was taken to Comer Childrens Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The three other males, who were not identified, were pronounced dead at the scene and at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. In the same incident, an 11-year-old boy suffered a bullet graze wound, and a 15-year-old boy was shot in the abdomen. They were taken to the Comer hospital, and both are currently in fair condition, authorities said. Officials said a 7-year-old girl was shot in the head while standing on the sidewalk at her grandmothers house during a Fourth of July celebration at 7 p.m. in Austin on the West Side, according to The Associated Press. Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun. Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) July 5, 2020 Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote on Twitter on Saturday. As a city, we must wrap our arms around our youth so they understand theres a future for them that isnt wrapped up in gun violence. In the incident, according to police, suspects emerged from a vehicle and started shooting. No suspects have been apprehended. Chicago Police Chief of Operations Fred Waller told NBC5 that the violence against children needs to end. You gotta be tired of this, he said. Chicagos heart is broken again. Austins heart is broken again Im tired of this. Meanwhile, in a later incident at around 2:15 a.m. on Sunday in the South Side, a 21-year-old man was shot to death while standing on the sidewalk, police said. An hour before that, a woman was shot and five men were injured when a person opened fire at a crowd setting off fireworks in the West Sides Lawndale neighborhood. Commenting on the latest violence, president Trump tweeted that shootings are significantly also in NYC "where people are demanding that @NYGovCuomo & @NYCMayor act now. Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!" A federal judge ordered Monday the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline a project at the heart of battles over oil-and-gas infrastructure while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts a new environmental analysis. Why it matters: The latest twist in the years-long fight over the pipeline is a defeat for the White House agenda of advancing fossil fuel projects and a win for Native Americans and environmentalists who oppose the project The pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to an oil storage terminal in Illinois, began operating in 2017 with the backing of the Trump administration after several years of regulatory and legal jostling and major protests. What happened: Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit vacated a critical easement while the Army Corps of Engineers prepares a previously ordered study called an environmental impact statement. Koch said they originally planned on a limit of $2,500 per family, but as the crisis has continued, they have more than doubled that to $5,400 per family. Not every resident who applies for the assistance will receive that much, Koch said they are hoping to help people with the smallest amount that will keep them housed. This will allow the funds for the program to stretch further, she said. 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. Itza Bonilla Hernandez has an Employment Accelerator Award to help publicize a new book by Kyle Hegarty 99. One student, for instance, is partnering with the public library in Portland, Maine, to make a science video library for teachers. Another is helping develop orthopaedic devices at Clemson University. Others are writing articles, building art portfolios, publishing podcasts, earning health care credentials, contributing to online marketing campaigns, or working for research labs, town offices, land trusts, virtual camps, and more. The diversity of ideas proposed by applicants did not take Kristin Brennan by surprise. What did impress the executive director of CXD was the quickness with which students responded. "I was surprised at the speed at which people put together high-quality proposals, but I wasnt surprised at the quality of proposals," she said. Of the ninety-six students who received grants, thirty-seven enrolled in Harvard Business Schools online business certificate for liberal arts students, which the university offered to Bowdoin students at a discount. The remainder put together plans for independent projects, other skill-based credentials, and internships. Eleven of the projects originated as short-term jobs that Bowdoin alumni posted for the new graduates. One was Kyle Hegarty 99, who sought Bowdoin students to help him publicize his new book, The Accidental Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across a Shrinking Planet. Itza Bonilla Hernandez 20 received an accelerator award to work on Hegarty's book campaign. "It all happened super quickly," she said, referring to connecting with Hegarty and applying for a grant. "And Ive already had job interviews and talked about what I am doing. It's awesome that I have this experience now." Guess they chose America over Trump! They know #TrumpHasNoCredibilty pic.twitter.com/nqtYGfMx3U The book's back cover (Image via S&S) CNN: Mary Trump's book about her Uncle Donald is coming out early due to high demand. LOS ANGELES BLADE: Corey Hannon who you met here and here is unwittingly making the case for calling male Karens Coreys. He's urging his fans to take the coronavirus more seriously than he did and he thought he did! (GIF via GIPHY) SOCIALITE LIFE: Prince Royce is the latest famous face to test positive for COVID-19. INSTINCT: RuPaul's personal Instagram was snatched bald. DEADLINE: JK Rowling is truly fighting to delegitimize trans people. It's not even in her wheelhouse, but she passionately argues about the definition of trans and now suggests kids transitioning are often doing so at the behest of homophobes because she clearly believes trans women are the enemies of women. She sees trans issues as antifeminist. There's no other excuse for her constant struggle to use her nearly unparalleled platform to swipe at trans people. WPIX: Stephen Cooper, one of several people pictured in a famous photo of 9/11, died of COVID-19 in Florida in March. He was 78. RANDY REPORT: Bright Light Bright Light's I Used to Be Cool is Desperately Seeking Susan meets a houseboy fantasy. NEWSWEEK: Trump's much-ballyhooed renegotiated trade pact with Mexico and Canada is bearing fruit for Mexico. TWITTER: Mandy Moore is not having ex-husband Ryan Adams's public apology for past abuse. For Ryan out loud! (Image via Disney Channel) TMZ: Now that it's been confirmed that Ryan in High School Musical was really gay, the actor who played him Lucas Grabeel says he wouldn't necessarily take the role today in order not to take it away from a gay actor. TWITTER: No more searing an image of American racism than white people painting over BLACK LIVES MATTER while the man declares that racism does not exist: An Arrest Warrant Has Been Issued pic.twitter.com/uhCtc9TEaf M-A #StayFuckin (@BagdMilkSoWhat) July 6, 2020 GR8ERDAYS: Remember Merv Griffin the anti-Trump on the anniversary of his birth: After several years of operating out of different temporary locations around Brandon, pastor Buchi Onuke of International Gospel Christian Ministries is looking for a more permanent place to spread the word of God. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 6/7/2020 (350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us After several years of operating out of different temporary locations around Brandon, pastor Buchi Onuke of International Gospel Christian Ministries is looking for a more permanent place to spread the word of God. Onuke told the Sun this past Saturday that his church group has set its sights on purchasing the old Masonic Temple located in the citys downtown core. Not only is this building better situated to attract Brandons more vulnerable citizens, but the pastor revealed that this venue would help the church expand its meal program. "The Masonic building has a government-approved kitchen that is fully equipped with pots, cooking utensils, coffee makers, plates and everything we would need," Onuke said. "It also has an area that I would call a banquet hall that is fully equipped with tables and chairs. So we dont even need to buy any of those things if we get in there." KYLE DARBYSON/THE BRANDON SUN Helen Onuke passes out sandwiches at the Youth for Christ building in downtown Brandon this past Sunday as part of International Gospel Christian Ministries' ongoing meal program. The church has been distributing free food and drinks to Brandon's most vulnerable citizens since June 2019. Since June of last year, International Gospel Christian Ministries has been distributing free food and drinks to homeless people and other vulnerable residents out of either Princess Park or the Youth for Christ building on Rosser Avenue every Sunday. While the church group has managed to attract upwards of 200 people in a single day at these gatherings, pre-pandemic, Onuke said their meal selection has been limited due to their lack of space and proper resources. "There are a lot of things we cannot do there," he said. "We are only permitted to serve sandwiches, water, coffee and fruit." With the Masonic Temples kitchen facilities at their disposal, Onuke said his congregation will be able to prepare more nutritious meals and provide a more comfortable atmosphere for their clientele to inhabit. The buildings increased space will also give Onuke a large platform to read Bible passages and spread words of encouragement that usually accompany every meal. "We teach them that God still loves them and that there is opportunity for them, so many opportunities for improvement," he said. "Our purpose is not just to feed people, but to get them to realize that they can still succeed in life, irrespective of how old they may be." KYLE DARBYSON/THE BRANDON SUN Pastor Buchi Onuke reads some Bible passages during the International Gospel Christian Ministries' Sunday get-together at the Youth for Christ building in downtown Brandon. So far, the International Gospel Christian Ministries has raised more than $12,000 of the $230,000 they need to purchase the building. The deadline to come up with this money is July 31, and the church group has even set up a GoFundMe account to help them reach this goal. Onuke said their struggle to raise funds is partly due to the churchs small size and relatively new status in community, having first shown up on the scene in the fall of 2018. However, the pastor maintains that International Gospel Christian Ministries will move forward with their meal program regardless of whether they purchase the building, since so many people have come to rely on these gatherings every Sunday. "We dont just give these people food," he said. "We talk to them. We teach them the word of God, we encourage them to stay away from drugs, to stay off the streets, and to be good to the community." Onuke and his wife Helen used to live in Peterborough, Ont., before moving to Altona and finally Brandon. Anyone who wants to contribute to their GoFundMe can do so by searching "Love in the City Building Fund" on the crowdfunding website. kdarbyson@brandonsun.com Twitter: @KyleDarbyson MONTREAL - Quebec reported eight additional deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday as health officials south of Montreal probed a cluster of positive cases stemming from a local bar. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 5/7/2020 (351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL - Quebec reported eight additional deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday as health officials south of Montreal probed a cluster of positive cases stemming from a local bar. The province, the hardest hit in Canada by COVID-19, has reported 5,574 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, but only one of those reported on Sunday was classified as a new death. Authorities said the other seven deaths occurred before June 27. The province also reported 79 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 55,863. On Saturday, the province had crept up over 100 daily cases for the first time since June 20. The number of hospitalizations and intensive-care cases decreased slightly for a total of 371 and 26 patients, respectively. As the province has gradually reopened sectors, health authorities have said they've been keeping watch for outbreaks, like one on Montreal's South Shore where health officials warned of COVID-19 cases stemming from people who went to a bar in Brossard, Que. Health officials urged patrons who went to the Mile Public House restaurant in the Dix-30 commercial district on the evening of June 30 between 8 p.m. and closing to get tested. The restaurant also urged patrons to isolate and get tested, noting in an online post that the outbreak involves five people from the same group, seated at the same table. Dr. Julie Loslier, the regional public health director, said in a video published Sunday that it was a reminder to respect prevention instructions in all shops and public places. "It would be a mistake to think that this establishment is more at risk or more dangerous than another. This is not at all the case," Loslier said. She noted the bar has already been disinfected and was only identified because of the public health investigation underway, but added this kind of transmission can occur in any business. The restaurant management said on its Facebook page that all employees will be tested and those working that night have are self-isolating. Loslier drew attention to the COVID-19 situation in the United States, where bars have been at the heart of some outbreaks. "We have seen with our neighbours to the south that the situation with bars has given rise to outbreaks and more and more cases, especially among younger populations, and we would especially not want to have to go back," she said. Loslier said physical distancing seems to narrow with alcohol consumption, but the responsibility for following public health rules is a shared one between owners and customers. Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec's public health director, was in the region on Friday and warned citizens not to let their guard down and continue to practice physical distancing, hygiene measures and wearing masks when a two-metre distance can't be kept. Also Friday, the hospital in St-Jerome, Que., about 60 kilometres north of Montreal, announced it was suspending regular visits indefinitely and restricting access to its end-of-life, palliative and birthing units with authorization only after a novel coronavirus outbreak in the facility. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2020. Officers were dispatched to the 700 block of South Broadway Street around 1:15 a.m. Some police officers were already in the area and began canvassing for possible victims and suspects. Police did not release the conditions of the three men, but said in a press release, due to the severity of the victims injuries, detectives from the Homicide Unit were called to the scene to assist with the investigation. William John Woestendiek Jr., who never used his first name, the son of William J. Woestendiek, a newspaper reporter and editor, and his former wife, Jo Woestendiek, who was also a newspaper editor and reporter, was born in Winston-Salem. Because of his parents newspaper careers, he was raised in Huntington, New York, Houston and Raleigh, North Carolina. Gourmet Basket has leased a site at 22 Narabang Way located within the Austlink Business Park in Belrose, Sydney. Steel distributor Steel Power International Pty Ltd has leased a 910 sq m freestanding warehouse at 13 Walker Place, for three years with options at $135 per sq m net. LJ Hooker Commercials Aymen Sobbi & Marcel Elias negotiated the lease for a private landlord. Gourmet Basket, a national company specialising in gourmet gift baskets, has signed a 621 sq m lease at 22 Narabang Way for three years. The unit is located within the Austlink Business Park, being a high clearance industrial facility purchased by EG in 2019 for $18.09 million. The building, which comprises 4,806 sq m of gross lettable area, was acquired to establish a new syndicate for wholesale investors. CBREs Ben Byford negotiated the lease. Vitality Club will move into a 120 sq m office at 57 Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery North Sydney Healthcare experts, Healthfix, have leased a 567 sq m ground floor office suite that previously housed an ANZ Bank branch at 53 Walker Street, from Mirvac for $400 per sq m. The lease term is five years. James Brock of Colliers International, negotiated the lease. Rosebery At the age of 36, Malcolm Gittoes-Caesar was unable to switch off from his work as a family law solicitor in a busy Sydney legal practice. The relentless workload and heavy responsibility combined with his constant connection to email meant he was always thinking about work. Malcolm Gittoes-Caesar is principal at Coleman Greig Lawyers in Parramatta. Credit:Wolter Peeters He is among 35,000 NSW solicitors to be offered a new mental health service in response to the pressures of the job that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, summer bushfires and floods. "I was always just constantly thinking about work and always worried about work and what was going to happen the next day," Mr Gittoes-Caesar said. JAZZ NOTES He didn't know his wife, Bella, had spent the day making celluloid flowers to sell to mourners at the cemetery the next day. They filled the caravan, so when he arrived home from a gig at 1am and could find nothing in the dark, he lit a candle stub that disintegrated in his hands, and the flame only had to kiss the flowers for them to explode. While Bella escaped the inferno, he was not so lucky. His legs were badly burned, his left hand worse. Doctors discussed amputation. Django Reinhardt's hand was saved, but with the third and fourth fingers permanently paralysed apparently ending the musical career of this kid born in a Belgian Romani community in 1910. He'd taught himself to play a six-string banjo at 12, been a gigging guitarist at 15, and by 18 the fire was widely admired. Initially unable to walk, Django spent a long, painful year convalescing in a sanatorium. Someone gave him a guitar, and, in an extraordinary display of genius and willpower, he devised a fretboard technique for two fingers rather than four. Simultaneously he heard a new music that touched his soul: jazz. The future beckoned. When he and friends sauntered into the club where violinist Stephane Grappelli was playing, the latter thought they were gangsters albeit intently-listening ones. Grappelli, born in the same Paris hospital where Django was treated for his burns, was also self-taught, and they soon clicked. Both instinctively gave jazz a uniquely European twist: a lushly romantic lyrical streak, drawing on Gypsy music and French Impressionism. Like all Europeans, they also played waltzes. Jazz waltzes. In 1934 they formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France, the line-up of three acoustic guitars, violin and double bass announcing the Gypsy swing revolution: the first original development in jazz outside the US. With the art form less than 20 years old, this had a profound long-term impact, paving the way for later players in countries as diverse as Brazil, Norway, Ethiopia and South Africa to put their own local slant on the music. Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli formed one of the great partnerships of jazz. Despite his injury, Django became jazz's first and arguably greatest guitar virtuoso, adapting an accordion's rippling arpeggios to the instrument and making a melody dance like sunlight on water, so each note was illuminated differently, even at blistering tempos. Sudden rhythmic switchbacks and furious chordal assaults would soften into romance with his extravagant vibrato, and his powers as a composer were almost as great, as evidenced by the sublime Nuages and groovy Minor Swing. The outbreak of WWII found the Hot Club in London on tour. Grappelli stayed, and Django returned to Paris. They wouldn't see each other until 1946 the same year Duke Ellington invited Django to join his orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Such pioneers as saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and trumpeter Rex Stewart had performed with Django when touring Europe in the '30s, and spread the word across the Atlantic. Django prayed Duke's offer would be his big break, but, speaking no English, he found his New York experience unnerving. He was late for the first concert and virtually missed the second, having run into an old Parisian friend with whom to speak French, drink Bordeaux and smoke Gauloises. When his popularity dived in the early 1950s he turned to painting, before being enticed back to music to record his only LP, after which a US tour was planned with Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Coleman Hawkins. That was never to be: Django suffered a stroke and died suddenly at 43. Australia is about to grant special immigration access for Hong Kong people who want to flee the newly repressive law imposed by Beijing to remove some key liberties. Australia's federal cabinet is scheduled to consider some options at its Wednesday meeting. Whatever the specifics, Scott Morrison has signalled the result already. Asked last week whether he was considering offering safe haven to Hong Kongers, he said: "If you are asking are we prepared to step up and provide support? The answer is yes." Australia is set to consider a humanitarian response to China's new security laws. Credit:Getty But is this a good idea? Australia won't be the only country offering an escape route, and it won't be the first time that Canberra has given asylum to Chinese political refugees. Britain has said it will create an urgent pathway to citizenship for up to 3 million Hong Kong citizens who were born before Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997. That's about 40 per cent of Hong Kong's entire population. Taiwan has opened an office specifically to assist Hong Kong refugees who want to relocate. And the US is considering special treatment for people fleeing the Chinese territory. Loading But Senator Amanda Stoker has more literary tastes. The Queensland Liberal purchased 40 copies of John Howards selected speeches, Howard: The Art of Persuasion, for the electorate offices gift drawer. PREPARED EARLIER If outgoing Senator Mathias Cormanns colleagues are claiming any surprise at his plans to leave politics, the shopping list of hopefuls circling his Senate spot says otherwise. On Monday, members in his West Australian Liberal branch said that even though they had long known of his exit plans, they had been surprised by the timing of his announcement. "Id always thought it would be October, closer to the end of the year, one Liberal MP told CBD. "Its a long time to plan," said another Liberal member. Already, Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Paul Everingham is regarded as a contender for Cormanns senate spot as is WA Liberals state director Sam Calabrese. On Monday, Everingham - who is close to Attorney-General Christian Porter and a member of the Federal Governments COVID-19 IR steering group - said he was weighing up the position. Others regarded as contenders include Wesfarmers project principal Rick Newnham, Property Council of WA executive director Sandra Brewer and one-time Curtin hopeful Anna Dartnell. UNHAPPY RETURNS An update to Scott Morrisons register of members interests caught our eye last week. For the uninitiated, thats the database in which MPs need to log things they own - as well the swag they get in the job. Loading The latest addition to the PMs haul? An honorary membership of the City of Sydney RSL Club. While the gift is not so significant in monetary terms (a one-year membership costs $5, with the 30-year option terrific value at $110), it comes at a perfect time, as NSW clubs open for business after the COVID-19 lockdown. Punters are said to be flocking back. Things arent rosy, however, for all RSLs. Down in Victoria theres a battle going on over the future of the states RSL arm. A campaign by younger veterans to topple the old guard at Anzac House was put on hold recently after the AGM scheduled for next month was delayed until November due to social distancing. Apparently organising a veterans' Zoom call was a bit too hard. That hasnt diminished the appetite for regime change, however, with the latest salvo by the reformers aimed squarely at what they say is poor financial management by the current executive led by state president Robert Webster. Theyve highlighted the RSLs minutes from April which reveal a $2 million loss for 2019, due in large part to writing off debts to sub-branches that have no prospect of paying up. Its news thats not expected to go down well. "Reporting a loss of this magnitude will need to be explained to the membership," the minutes note. Of course, this comes before the summer bushfires and COVID, which have placed further financial pressure on venues to stay afloat. Poker machines have been shut off in Victoria for months and are due to be switched back on later this month. But the rebels say the situation shouldnt have gotten this bad to begin with. The group is pushing for the RSL to get out of pokies all together. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her decision to close the NSW-Victoria border was taken after receiving health advice as the community transmission of COVID-19 surges in Victoria. But the Premier urged all other states to open their borders to NSW, given the state was taking strong action to ensure that Victorians could not travel into NSW from Tuesday night. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the decision to close the border had been under consideration for "quite some time" and, at 8am on Monday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant urged the government to act. Dr Chant said anyone who returned from Victorian hotspots over the next 24 hours would need to self-isolate for 14 days, which included staying home and not allowing guests to visit. This rule already applies to people travelling from Melbourne but will be extended to the whole state. The brother of a Sunshine Coast man killed by a shark off Fraser Island at the weekend says the 36-year-old died in his arms doing what he loved. Matthew Tratt had been spearfishing in waters off Indian Head, on the island's north-east tip, when he was grabbed by the leg on Saturday afternoon. The fatal attack, one of the first in recent memory on the island, has left both the region and Mr Tratt's loved ones reeling. His brother Rob had been in the water with the keen fisherman during the family holiday, with his wife and two children back on the beach. A sole passenger was greeted at Sunshine Coast Airport on Monday by more than 15 police officers, health staff and fire service members after the woman arrived on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne. Police Superintendent Craig Hawkins said there were three interstate flights due to land on the Sunshine Coast on Monday. The sole passenger from the Jetstar flight from Melbourne that landed on the Sunshine Coast on Monday morning. Credit:Nine News Sunshine Coast "Today were receiving the first flights back into the airport since the Chief Health Officer's restrictions changed [on Friday]," he said. "The four things we are interested in are: Have they come from a COVID hot spot - primarily Victoria? Secondly, have they come from overseas? Have they been exposed to a person who has coronavirus? Or alternatively, are they showing symptoms? Investor confidence in clean energy is rising strongly, led by interest in NSW's new renewables zones, while the boom in solar rooftop installations shows little sign of tapering. The latest semi-annual survey of renewable energy generators and storage firms by the Clean Energy Council showed businesses were more confident about investing in large-scale wind and solar farms than any of the previous four polls. Sheep graze near a solar farm near Dubbo. The industry is facing an upturn of confidence in NSW and the rest of the nation. Credit:Janie Barrett On a range of 0-10, the confidence level rose to 7.3 at the end of June from a low of 6.5 at the end of 2019. Among the states, NSW topped the list for the first time, with investor confidence up from 6.8 to 7.5 at the end of June. It overtook Victoria, where confidence edged higher from 6.9 to 7, while Queensland also registered a big rise from 5.6 to 6.8. The NSW-Victoria border will close at midnight on Tuesday as Victoria's second surge in the COVID-19 crisis intensifies. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the historic decision on Monday morning, as the state recorded its highest-ever daily increase in cases, 127, and two Victorian men, one in his 60s and another in his 90s, died of the virus. There are 645 Victorians ill with COVID-19, up from 125 active cases two weeks ago. The dramatic decision to shut the border for the first time in 100 years was made at an early-morning hook-up between Mr Andrews, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday. The biggest issue right now is that everybody is talking about the racial injustice, working with the different towns and stuff, making sure that theyre working with their police departments and everybodys on the same page, said Jones, noting that everyone has to work with the police and show them respect, and the departments must do the same. The thing today is everybody saying, black lives matter, but I think what we have to really believe in is that all lives matter. The residents living in the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing estates are frontline workers, nurses, construction workers, teachers and valued members of strong, resilient and caring communities who have been, like the rest of Victoria, self isolating, getting tested and supporting each other throughout this pandemic. It has been three days since the Premier announced the estate my family and I call home would be placed into a hard lockdown. Our family of four has received one small box containing food and apart from the packet of Weet-Bix and jar of jam, every other item had passed its expiry date. We have not had a visit from medical professionals and are still awaiting to be tested with no knowledge when or how that will occur. About 500 police are patrolling the affected towers in Melbourne. Credit:Darrian Traynor So far the only direct communication we have received from the government has been via police officers. While we have heard announcements of a co-ordinated effort involving doctors, social workers, mental health professionals and community leaders our only direct interaction with authorities to date has been with the police officers patrolling our floor and stationed out the front of our building. Since the first round of lockdowns were implemented in March, I had made numerous attempts to engage and share my concerns with the Office of Housing and Department of Human Health and Services with no response. Our community from the outset was conscious of the lack of hand sanitisation stations for visitors and those entering the building, the difficulties in procuring personal protective equipment and the overcrowding of communal spaces like the laundry. When alleged conman Con Petropoulos was banned from selling kittens earlier this year after repeatedly exploiting sick and dying animals for cash, he did something an opportunist might do: he began selling more. Mr Petropoulos faced court earlier this year accused of criminal breaches of animal welfare laws and has pleaded not guilty to fraud relating to creating false breeding and vaccination documents, but it has not stopped the notorious illegal trader. He has continued to sell pets from the boot of his car using allegedly fake documents and stolen microchip numbers and claiming COVID-19 as a reason he cannot bring people to his home. Video footage take in recent weeks shows Mr Petropoulos, also known as Konstantinos Petropoulos, selling kittens for up to $1500 each at a public car park in Ballarat under the name Tomas a pseudonym he chose to advertise four ragdoll kittens on the trading website, Gumtree. On the video, he tells the prospective buyer that he bred the kittens himself and urges her to purchase one immediately because they were in such high demand. Terry Wesselink tries to keep her distance in the supermarket, but says some people don't care. "They crowd you in the aisles,'' she says. "I went to Aldi on Saturday and everybody was diving into the woollens specials boxes." Ms Wesselink, 55, feels that some Victorians arent getting the message to socially distance when out, and to stay home if possible. Terry Wesselink (right) with her husband, Martin Paulo at their home in Macleod. Credit:Luis Ascui And she knows, better than most, the risks of people not taking health authorities' advice on lessening the risk of catching COVID-19. Tenants in high-rise towers outside the lockdown zones have called on the government to take urgent action to avoid another outbreak of COVID-19 at public housing estates in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy. Public housing residents have been warning the Department of Health and Human Services for months about the risks of transmission at the estates, with concerns rife about inadequate cleaning and sanitation processes. Yarra City Council will on Tuesday urge the government to test every resident of the 12 towers in its municipality, and transfer anyone who tests positive to an isolation hotel, rather than subject more tower residents to lockdown. More than 3000 residents have been locked down in Flemington and North Melbourne. More than 3000 residents in nine towers across Flemington and North Melbourne were locked in their apartments on Saturday, as authorities grew alarmed at the rate of transmission in the estates. The Broome community is reeling after a well-known tourism pilot and a 12-year-old girl were killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday. Troy Thomas, former owner-operator of Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, died after the Robinson R44 helicopter he was flying crashed on Antheous Way in an industrial area in the suburb of Bilingurr about 2.30pm. The group of four had taken off in the chopper to go on a holiday when the aircraft ran into issues shortly after take-off, according to Nine News Perth. Two survivors of the crash, Mr Thomas 12-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old woman, were flown to hospitals in Perth. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced the border between Victoria and NSW will close at midnight on Tuesday after an alarming surge of coronavirus cases. Today, Victoria reported 127 new cases, the state's highest daily infection increase since the pandemic began. In this episode, national editor Tory Maguire is joined by The Age's news director Patrick Elligett to discuss the escalating coronavirus crisis in Victoria. Our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe to The Sydney Morning Herald or The Age. New rural health commissioner Ruth Stewart is calling for measurable, short-term health targets to close the almost 10-year average life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The latest official data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that in 2015-17, the average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men was about 71.6 years, 8.6 years lower than for non-Indigenous men. For Indigenous women, the gap was 7.8 years an average life expectancy of 75.6 years compared with 83.4 for non-Indigenous women. The average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men is about 8.6 years lower than for non-Indigenous men. Credit:Sasha Woolley "This is a disaster that we have been watching unfold in our Indigenous communities since invasion," Dr Stewart, said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. "The health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been severely impacted by colonisation ... If we don't set time limits and targets, people won't work hard enough [to fix it]." After weeks of shouldering criticism over her decision to keep Queensland's borders shut, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has welcomed the decision from NSW to shut itself off from Victoria. Ms Palaszczuk was a target of repeated broadsides from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian over the decision to keep the Sunshine State locked down while there were high rates of community transmission in other states. In May, when NSW had the highest infection rate in the country, Ms Berejiklian said border closures were not logical. The message was echoed by her deputy John Barilaro, who said the border closure was "ridiculous" and this idea that borders should be shut doesn't even make sense. Loading Their thinking is that if enough Chinese citizens have this software to bypass the Great Firewall of government censorship, the citizens will see news about repression by the Communist Party. But pieces of circumvention software like Ultrasurf are considered old, and they are not widespread in China, according to cybersecurity experts. Just as important, Chinese patriots or nationalists who have access to reports critical of the Communist Party including students in the United States often do not change their views. "Anyone who has studied China's information control regimes and the evolution of Chinese technology knows that funding a set of circumvention tools is not going to bring down the Chinese Communist Party," said Rebecca MacKinnon, a former Beijing bureau chief for CNN who directs an internet freedom program at the New America Foundation that has received State Department funds before. Critics also warn that if lobbyists get their way and shift the fund's focus toward solely supporting software like Ultrasurf, it could set back the fight for internet freedom by decades. Both Democrats and Republicans are worried. Leading Republican senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham wrote to Pack with five other senators expressing their "deep concern" about his staff cuts, saying the moves raised "serious questions about the future of the US Agency for Global Media" under his leadership. Other Republican members of Congress said earlier that they were concerned about the Open Technology Fund. The bulk of the fund's money goes to incubating new technology that promotes human rights and open societies. The group supports projects such as widely popular encrypted messaging tools like Signal and technology like Pakistan's first 24/7 hotline for confidentially reporting sexual harassment. The Open Technology Fund supports a wide range of projects, including Signal, the popular encrypted messaging app. Credit:Haruka Sakaguchi / The New York Times The Open Technology Fund also looks to create and train a community of technical experts who can fend off sophisticated cyberattacks against internet freedom. One of the bedrock principles of the Open Technology Fund is to support open-source technology. Creating and funding tools that are open source means a worldwide collective of programmers can examine the products to ensure they are safe and secure for people in repressed societies to use, cybersecurity experts say. "Imagine a teenager in a country where being LGBTQ is illegal, and they just want to have a normal social life," said Isabela Bagueros, the executive director of the Tor Project, a nonprofit digital privacy group. "The internet enables that, and if you provide the security for them to do so, it is extremely important as a part of life." At the heart of lobbying efforts supporting the Falun Gong developers are Michael Horowitz, a Reagan administration budget official, and Katrina Lantos Swett, the daughter of noted human rights champion Tom Lantos During the time Pack assumed his role, they have worked to advance their agenda. On June 13, three days after Pack took office, Horowitz was a guest on a talk show hosted by Bannon, who was formerly Trump's chief strategist. Horowitz denounced Liu, who was the chief executive of the technology fund. Liu happened to be tendering her resignation to the board that day, effective in July. Pack fired her on June 17 and dismissed the board. Swett has been vocal about her displeasure with leadership at the fund because they have shied away from focusing most of the group's funding toward programs like Ultrasurf. She claims it is one of the most effective tools to fight against China's firewall, despite criticism from experts who warn that since Ultrasurf is closed source, there is no way to independently verify its performance or assure end users that they are not being tracked. Loading "Open source versus closed source, we don't get hung up on those things," Swett said. Many internet freedom experts disagree with this approach. "There is no person in their right mind who should be advocating for closed-source applications," said Nima Fatemi, the founding director of Kandoo, an internet freedom nonprofit. "When we're talking about people inside Iran, China and Russia who are already facing so much oppression, using these tools don't guarantee safety or security; they actually put them in more danger." The day after Pack assumed office, Swett sent him and officials at the State Department a letter requesting that $US20 million in funding be steered toward firewall circumvention programs like Ultrasurf. The State Department declined to comment. A prominent critic of China's President Xi Jinping has been surrounded by 10 police cars and arrested in Beijing, his supporters say, after publishing an essay accusing the Chinese Communist Party of systemic impotence in its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Xu Zhangrun, a Tsinghua University professor who completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2000, was a senior visiting scholar at the Melbourne law school and wrote a book on the Australian legal system, was reportedly arrested at 10am on Monday. Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun. Credit: It followed his ongoing publication of articles critical of the government despite being suspended by Tsinghua and having his pay cut. Xu published a provocative essay in February that accused Chinese authorities of standing blithely by as the crucial window of opportunity to contain the coronavirus "snapped shut in their faces". The server also told police that the passenger was speaking on the phone and Wallace was yelling at it so the other caller could hear him. The server thought the passenger was talking to a friend in law enforcement because he made a joke about not pulling over any cars that evening, the documents state, and Wallace, too, " yelled something to the effect of the person on the phone call not stopping any Ford F-150s. Huawei has lost the anglosphere. The telecommunications giant that came to symbolise China's economic rise and the risks of its unique brand of state-linked corporations will no longer have a role in building Britain's 5G network or that of any Five Eyes partner. The sudden backflip by Britain's security services on Monday, London time, over national security concerns is part of a much broader geopolitical play involving the US and Australia. Canada has effectively locked out the Shenhzen-based company through its major carriers signing contracts with Nordic firms Ericsson and Nokia. New Zealand's former national telecommunications carrier, now known as Spark, opted for Samsung over Huawei for critical components in March. British security services have recommended banning Huawei from the UK 5G network. Credit:AP Australia was the first of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network to formally ban the company's participation in the generation defining technology in 2018. 5G is 20 times faster than current mobile networks and will effectively connect smartphones, cars and household devices, creating unprecedented levels of data and opportunities for surveillance. The final push into a major player in the Five Eyes network looked promising as recently as January when the UK government approved the limited use of its technology in its 5G rollout, only for that decision to be suddenly scuppered by Britain's security services. It is inconceivable that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will now go against that recommendation. London: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has not ruled out hitting Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam with sanctions under the UK's much-anticipated Magnitsky legislation targeting human rights abusers. Under the new law, unveiled on Monday and modelled on similar legislation adopted in the US and Canada, travel bans and asset freezes would be imposed on those involved in serious human rights violations, including assassinations, torture, forced labour and slavery. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Credit:AP Raab said Britain was still fine-tuning the legal definition of "corruption" before it could also be added to the criteria. Britain's first wave of designations included 49 officials and organisations complicit in the gulags of North Korea, in the persecution of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey and Russians involved in the 2009 death of tax advisor Sergei Magnitsky, after whom the laws are named. Zadar: Croatia's ruling party came first in a general election on Sunday despite ongoing criticism over the country's recent handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic's centre-right party, the Croatian Democratic Union, has won more than 65 seats in Parliament. It was not enough for an outright majority, but with more than 90 per cent of votes tallied, his party had at least 10 more seats than it held at the start of the campaign. Voters opted for stability amid a profound health and economic crisis, said Dejan Jovic, a political scientist at the University of Zagreb. "It looks like the electorate sees the coming difficulties and want some centre-right government to lead the country," he said. In a surprise decision on Monday, US time, a federal judge ruled that the Dakota Access pipeline - which Trump approved within a month of taking office and which has been the site of ongoing protests - must be shut down by August 5, saying federal officials failed to carry out a complete analysis of its environmental impacts. The reversals demonstrate both the enduring power of environmental laws that the Trump administration has been trying to weaken and the tenacity of environmental, tribal and community activists who have battled the projects on forested land and in federal courtrooms. Washington: A number of recent legal defeats and business decisions have stymied three multibillion-dollar pipeline projects around the US, setting back Donald Trump's three-and-a-half-year effort to expand oil and gas development. The day before, two energy companies behind the controversial, 965-kilometre Atlantic Coast Pipeline abandoned their six-year bid to build it, saying the $US8 billion ($11.47 billion) project has become too expensive and faces an uncertain regulatory environment. And an April decision by a federal judge in Montana dealt a blow to the Keystone XL pipeline and raised questions about whether the Army Corps of Engineers will have to conduct more extensive environmental reviews for other projects. Loading "Our system is set up so that it's very unusual for the president to be able simply to snap his or her fingers and make something change," said Joel Reynolds, a senior lawyer for the Natural Resources Defence Council Action Fund. "We have checks and balances. We have statutes that lay out legal procedures to be followed. It's one thing to talk about deregulation; it's quite another thing to do it." American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers said in a statement his trade group was "deeply troubled by these setbacks for US energy leadership". "Our nation's outdated and convoluted permitting rules are opening the door for a barrage of baseless, activist-led litigation, undermining American energy progress and denying local communities the environmental, employment and economic benefits modern pipelines provide," Sommers said. "The need to reform our broken permitting system has never been more urgent." Washington: President Donald Trump is under fire for suggesting that 99 per cent of coronavirus cases are "totally harmless" as the rate of infection soared across the US following the July 4 holiday weekend. The nationwide number of deaths had exceeded 130,000 by Tuesday morning AEST, while the number of COVID-19 cases had reached almost 2.9 million, the highest numbers in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the "Salute to America" event on July 4. Credit:AP Despite Independence Day celebrations being scaled back this year with numerous beaches and restaurants forced to close, and some fireworks cancelled to avoid further outbreaks more than 30 US states experienced sharp spikes over the weekend, with Florida, Arizona, Texas and California among the hardest hit. While authorities warned that the surge was likely to worsen over the next few weeks, inundating hospitals and further denting the economy, President Trump insisted that the country "had made a lot of progress" and that "our strategy is working". The Independence Day weekend concluded with dire predictions about the surge of coronavirus cases across the United States with national and local officials saying a rush to reopen fuelled the spread of the pandemic and outpaced efforts to care for its victims. "We're right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak," former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Face the Nation on CBS. At the weekend, US President Donald Trump played down the severity of the crisis, insisting that 99 per cent of cases were "totally harmless". Credit:AP "The difference now is that we really had one epicentre of spread when New York was going through its hardship, now we really have four major epicentres of spread: Los Angeles, cities in Texas, cities in Florida, and Arizona. And Florida looks to be in the worst shape." The rolling seven-day average for daily new cases in the United States reached a high for the 27th day in a row, climbing past 48,000 on Sunday, according to The Washington Post's tracking data. Whether we have two of them on the field, all three of them on the field, well get creative and have some fun with it," defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. All I can say is, another tragedy in the city, said Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson, who represents Ward 4 where the stabbing occurred. Weve got to try to get our hands around the violence in the community, you know, whats causing it. Take the health-conscious and vegans out of the equation and it's universally agreed upon that fried chicken is good for the soul. With every crunchy, saucy, saturated bite, everything in the world feels right again. And it's especially poignant because we're celebraing Fried Chicken Day (6 July) today. While some of us may cling to our loyalties when it comes to choosing from the many different types of fried chicken out there, we acknowledge that all kinds of fried chicken are equally comforting and that there is no wrong camp with your preferences. Whether you enjoy Korean fried chicken with a little extra kick, or something from down in the American South, we've assembled a list of the best fried chicken places in Singapore that are worth indulging in today, tomorrow, and all the days after. For the discerning diners Summer Hill What comes to mind when you think of French fried chicken? For us, it's an utter amount of care and preparation. Hormone and antibiotic-free birds are used in Summer Hill's recipe, and they're brined for up to 24 hours and marinated in buttermilk before being fried. They are then drenched in a herb, lemon and butter concoction that makes this meal extra comforting. Now available for dine-in and online delivery here. For those in the K-trope Oven and Fried Chicken If you can't decide between different sauce mixes for your fried chicken, Oven and Fried Chicken is where you can experience the best of both worlds. Not only do they do a whole range of sauces that coat their fried chicken (including, but not limited to flavours like padi garlic, soy and jambalaya), they also provide complimentary pickled radish to cleanse your palate so you can experience the full flavour of your next bite. Now available for dine-in and online delivery here. For those who love the heat Chix Hot Chicken When we say this spicy fried chicken packs a punch, boy do we mean it. Started up by none other than homegrown talent Taufik Batisah, it offers a spicy halal fried chicken that will leave you in tears. Literally. This fiery fried chicken is coated in a secret batter and ghost pepper, and is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Ready tissues and a gallon of water. Now available for dine-in and online delivery here. For a bougie occasion Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Situated in the swanky Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Yardbird is perfect for those who want to experience a fancy twist on fried chicken. Besides the impeccable presentation of the food, a huge helping of deep-fried chicken served in a chicken-shaped basket as well as a side of waffles. Authentic soul food from the American South straight to your table. Now available for dine-in. For a lazy night in Arnold's Chicken Simplicity is best, and we're counting on good ol' Arnold's to take us back to the basics. They've been in business for almost 30 years now, which goes to prove that they're the OG fried chicken experts who have always been at the top of their game. Do us a favour, and savour their chicken skin on its own. Now available for dine-in and online delivery here. 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 Thierry Delaporte, the new CEO and MD of Wipro, who took charge on Monday, said the IT services company would emerge stronger from the current pandemic despite the immediate challenges created due to the Covid pandemic. I am excited about joining Wipro and consider it a great privilege to be asked to lead Wipro, an exceptional global company with an incredible legacy, Delaporte said in his first official communication with the employees. Delaporte, who is the first foreign national to lead Wipro since its inception, said that it was disappointing that he could not ... Insurers are discussing the growing need for a policy that covers business interruption losses due to a pandemic. Currently, such a loss is not covered by insurance companies as it does not involve damage to property. However, given the extent of disruption the Covid-19 has caused to businesses, insurers have had discussions on the feasibility of such a product and on the broad contours on how such a product can be developed. The discussions are at an initial stage and no timeline has been fixed on when such a product will come out. Insurers are suggesting that there is a need to ... Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Monday said it has suspended operations at its manufacturing plant in Bidadi for a day following the death of an employee due to Covid-19. The company deeply regrets to inform the sad news of an untimely demise of one of its employees and expresses its sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased employee, TKM said in a statement. The cause of death has been identified as Covid-19, it added. The employee had last attended work at the factory on June 23 and hence as of now there has been no clear evidence of internal ... Two cannons were also removed from Monument Avenue on Thursday. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a plaque on one of the cannons said it marks the location of the second line of the Confederate defenses of Richmond and was placed there in 1938 at the request of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society. The second cannons marker says it marks the spot where in 1861 a large earthwork of the inner line of defense was constructed. Leading US drugstore chain Walgreens and New Zealand-based site Stuff have decided to quit and its sister platforms amid criticism over its handling of and misinformation. They join over 400 advertisers including some big names like Coca Cola, Starbucks, adidas and Sony Playstation who are part of 'boycott ads on Facebook' campaign being run by civil rights groups. "Brands are withdrawing paid from and Instagram across the UK and U.S. for the month of July. During this pause, we will examine our marketing strategy, to ensure that our spend goes toward platforms with a commitment to address misinformation and hate speech," Walgreens said in a statement on Sunday. A leaked internal email showed the New Zealand's largest organisation is "ceasing all activity" on and its partner networks, reports The Spinoff. "Effective immediately, Stuff is trialling ceasing all activity on Facebook-owned networks. This experiment applies to all Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts across our entire group," the email read. The #StopHateForProfit boycott has more than 400 participants and the civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League on June 17, are now calling for a global expansion of Facebook ad boycott. American food company Chobani, drug maker Pfizer, software major SAP, Coca Cola, adidas, cleaning supply firm Clorox, Conagra (the maker of Slim Jim, Duncan Hines and Pam), fast food chain Denny's, Ford and Starbucks, among others, have decided to pull their ads from the platform. As hundreds of halt on Facebook and Instagram, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is confident the brands would soon return on the platform. According to a report in The Information, Zuckerberg told employees he was reluctant to bow to the threats of a growing ad boycott, saying "my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough." The social networking giant said it was getting better at removing harmful content and that the platform does not in any way profit from Facebook's digital advertising accounted for over 98 per cent of the company's nearly $70 billion in revenue last year. --IANS na/ (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 global count of coronavirus confirmed cases currently stands at 11.4 million, of which 6.4 million have survived the virus. There have been 534,176 deaths worldwide till now. More than half of all confirmed cases are from just four countries the US, Brazil, Russia, and India. In India, there now are 670,000 cases, of which 244,814 are currently active. As many as 409,082 people have been discharged, while 19,268 people have lost their lives. Here are some statistics on the pandemic: #1. Maharashtra takes just 7 days to add latest 50,000 cases Maharashtra now has ... The national positivity rate of Covid-19, percentage of samples testing coronavirus-positive from the total number of samples, has reduced and now stands at 6.73 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday. The Centre said the average number of samples being tested per day for Covid-19 has gone up in Delhi, from 5,481 to 18,766 in about a month and in spite of increased testing, ... 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 Noem doesnt plan anything similar, Seidel said. She cast Noems decision to fly on Air Force One as a demonstration of how to live with the virus. Seidel pointed to comments from the World Health Organization that the spread of the virus is rare from asymptomatic people. But that runs counter to guidance from public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that advises people to wear masks when interacting with people outside their household. Union Minister on Monday said India has shown to the world that despite the crippling crisis, the show goes on here as smoothly as during the pre-pandemic times. He was speaking after inaugurating the IAS professional course phase-II (2018 batch) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie through video conference. Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said that civil services in 2020 have assumed a pan-Indian character in true sense as it has representation from almost all states and union territories in the last couple of years. He said, for a heterogeneous country like India, it's a huge asset and in tune with the dream of the founding father of civil services in the country -- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The minister said that officers have an opportunity to become the architect of a new India, the foundation of which was laid down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh said that over the last 10 weeks, India has shown to the world that despite the crippling crisis, the show goes on here as smoothly as during the pre-pandemic times, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said. The minister said, in the 73rd year of Independence, India stands tall, strong and is looking at the future with great hope and potential. "A diverse country like ours owes its sustenance to the constant efforts by the government to understand its citizens, work with them with common goal of development in mind and inspire them to excel in every field of existence, said Singh. Referring to the first-ever online inauguration of IAS professional course, he expressed satisfaction that out of 185 participants, nearly 125 are from engineering and other professional backgrounds and added that this will go a long way in meeting the modern day developmental challenges facing India. Singh pointed out that presence of 50 women officers in the batch is a real testimony of the women empowerment mantra espoused by the Narendra Modi government. He recalled that in the last 5 to 6 years, a series of new beginnings and innovations were undertaken by the prime minister to provide a new orientation and direction to bureaucracy in India. The minister particularly mentioned that a three-month central government stint as Assistant Secretaries for IAS officers in the beginning of their career started a couple of years back added tremendously in their capacity building. Similarly, amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 brought about in 2018 gives adequate protection to honest officers from harassment as for the first time bribe giver was also brought into the ambit of the Act, he said. Singh said that so far more than 25 lakh officers have registered on iGoT platform (online module) of the Personnel Ministry fitted to the training needs of frontline workers tackling He underlined that this measure will help in training an IAS officer into a "corona warrior". Dwelling on the concept of 115 Aspirational Districts based on 49 key indicators, Singh said that based on a scientifically designed mechanism, each aspirational district was to focus on improving these key indicators and raise its rating viz-a-viz the best performing district of the state and the best performing district of the country in the given indicators. He said that these are not necessarily backward districts and placing young officers here will bring fast changes in the indicators. In his address, Sanjeev Chopra, the director of LBSNAA, said that for conducting the online sessions, the learning management system (LMS) known as GYAN is used at the academy. It is a one-point access online platform for the participants. Any participants can log in and access anything relating to the course e.g. power points, reading materials, live classes on video, assignments, quizzes, past classes etc, Chopra said. There are 185 participants for the phase II training this year. (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 government is reviewing around 50 investment proposals involving Chinese companies under a new screening policy, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Under new rules announced by India in April, all investments by entities based in neighbouring countries need to be approved by the Indian government, whether for new or additional funding. China is the biggest of these investors and the rules drew criticism from Chinese investors and Beijing, which called the policy discriminatory. The new investment rules were aimed at curbing opportunistic takeovers during the ... The Kerala government has made it mandatory for the public to adhere to Covid-19 safety guidelines such as wearing of masks for the next one year, as part of its measures to tackle the spread of the virus in the state. Through an amendment brought to the Epidemic Diseases Act, the state government said the regulations for the public will remain in effect till July 2021. The norms have been issued under the 'Kerala Epidemic Disease Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) Additional Regulations, 2020.' In the wake of an increase in Covid-19 cases in the state, the government has ... Type address separated by commas Your Email: Single-use has made a big comeback in the country with COVID-19 dealing a fatal blow to the campaign launched under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inspiration to discard it, environmentalist Anoop Nautiyal said on Monday. The prolonged lockdown has had a good effect on the in general by bringing down pollution levels but the increased use of masks, gloves, face shields, PPE kits sanitiser bottles etc to fight the pandemic has given rise to new concerns, he said. "Anyone would admit that single-use has made a big comeback post corona. The campaign against it which began on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day call from the ramparts of the Red Fort to discard it is almost dead," Nautiyal, a politician-turned-environmentalist, said. "After the prime minister's call an atmosphere was built all over the country to discard single use A massive campaign named "Swachchta hi Seva" was launched. Around one lakh people made a human chain in Dehradun to back the campaign," he said. All that, however, has come to nought with Corona making it compulsory to wear masks, gloves, face shields, PPE kits, he said. As many activities which remained suspended for months have now been resumed, the momentum with which the campaign against the single-use plastic was launched needs to be revived during unlock-II, he said. Asked how can it be done when use of masks, sanitiser bottles, gloves, PPE kits were a must in the fight against the pandemic, Nautiyal said a collective thinking on developing alternatives like reusable cloth masks and gloves to replace the current ones is needed. Nautiyal also sought the creation of a sound institutional mechanism in Uttarakhand for the disposal of bio-medical waste in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board in view of the pandemic. An estimated 5,500 kg of bio-medical waste is generated every day by around 3,000 private and government hospitals in the state, he said calling for creation of institutional systems to examine whether in times of corona bio-medical waste is being disposed of as per the norms set by the CPCB. Nautiyal had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on an AAP ticket from Tehri. (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 number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra's district has gone up to 42,420 after 1,878 more people tested positive for the disease, officials said on Monday. city accounts for over 25 per cent of the total cases in the district, as per an analysis of the data. On Sunday, 1,878 people tested positive for coronavirus, taking the count of cases to 42,420, the district administration said in a medical bulletin. Out of the fresh cases, Kalyan-Dombivali reported the maximum 482 cases, followed by city-373, Mira Bhayandar-303, Ulhasnagar-251 and Navi Mumbai-191. The remaining cases were reported from other civic limits in the district. Besides, 47 patients succumbed to the disease in the district on Sunday, raising the toll to 1,268. Out of the 47 deaths, 16 were reported from Thane city, as per the medical bulletin. So far, Thane city has reported 10,731 cases, Kalyan Dombivali-9,086, Navi Mumbai-7,793 Mira Bhayandar-4,314, Ulhasnagar-2,810, Bhiwandi Nizampur-2,319, Ambernath-2,200, Badlapur-973, and Thane rural-2,194. Thane city has till now also reported the maximum 402 deaths, followed by Navi Mumbai-244, Mira Bhayandar-162 and Kalyan Dombivali-140. The remaining fatalities have been reported from other civic limits. An analysis of the data showed the death rate in Thane was 2.99 per cent and the recovery rate was 50.19 per cent. Besides, the neighbouring Palghar district reported total 7,274 cases and 144 deaths till Sunday, a report from the district administration said. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who visited some areas of Thane district on Sunday, told reporters that civic bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region were not financially strong and had to depend on the state government and private hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The government should immediately pay attention to these civic areas and provide them assistance, including infrastructure, funds and manpower, said the leader of opposition in the state Assembly. The test results should be made available within a day as against the present time of four to five days, he said while expressing concern over the "mismatch" between the number of patients and facilities available in various parts of Thane district. (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 group, billed on its website as being the first full-time performing brass ensemble, also performed the first brass concert in at the Brahms-Saal concert hall in Vienna, Austria, in 1978, more than 100 years after the first concert was performed there. The 600-seat concert hall in which they performed is known for facilitating intimate classical music, but had yet to have a brass ensemble play there until Mr. Postens team. With over 30,000 additional troops being deployed in the Ladakh sector to counter the Chinese aggression, the Indian Army is going to place emergency orders for extreme cold weather tents for the soldiers on the borders. The need for the tents is being felt as the deployment on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is expected to be prolonged as the senior armed forces officers feel that the stand-off is likely to continue at least till September-October timeframe. Even if the Chinese withdraw from the locations, we cannot take chances for the future as well. The guard will always have ... After surpassing Toyota Motor Corp as the world's most valuable automaker and stunning with forecast-beating deliveries, Tesla Inc has taken time out to poke fun at the company's naysayers - with sales of red satin shorts. "Limited edition short shorts now available," CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday. Musk has often taken umbrage at short-sellers and in 2018 sent a box of shorts to hedge fund owner and Tesla short-seller David Einhorn. The "Short Shorts" on the Tesla shop website feature gold trim and "S3XY" in gold across the back, which ... has scored a rare diplomatic victory in establishing relations with the independent region of Somaliland. Intense pressure from has reduced self-governing, democratic to having just 15 diplomatic allies and being excluded from the United Nations and most other organizations where Beijing has leverage. claims as its own territory to be brought under its control by military force if it deems necessary. In elections and public opinion surveys, Taiwanese have overwhelmingly rejected political union with Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into warlord-led conflict and has seen little of the violence and extremist attacks that plague its neighbor to the south. Despite lacking recognition, the region has maintained its own independent government, currency and security system. In a statement posted July 1 on the Taiwanese foreign ministry's website, minister Joseph Wu said the governments had agreed to establish ties based on friendship and a shared commitment to common values of freedom, democracy, justice and the rule of law." In the spirit of mutual assistance for mutual benefit, Taiwan and Somaliland will engage in cooperation in areas such as fisheries, agriculture, energy, mining, public health, education" and technology, Wu said. Wu and Somaliland's foreign minister, Yasin Hagi Mohamoud, signed a bilateral agreement in Taipei on Feb. 26. Taiwan has been providing scholarships to students from the region of 3.9 million people. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday that China maintained ties with Somalia and accused Taiwan of undermining Somali sovereignty and territorial integrity." China firmly opposes Taiwan and Somaliland establishing an official agency or having any form of official exchanges," Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing. (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.) Britain will have to bear the consequences if it treats China as a hostile country when deciding whether to allow Huawei to be involved in the countrys telecommunications networks, the Chinese ambassador to Britain said on Monday. We want to be your friend. We want to be your partner. But if you want to make China a hostile country, you will have to bear the consequences, Liu Xiaoming told reporters. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week he would proceed carefully on making a decision on Huawei because the government did not want any critical ... France is creating three beefed-up ministries for finance, social affairs and the environment to respond to the coronavirus shockwaves convulsing the economy, as Emmanuel Macron attempts to recast his presidency. In a cabinet reshuffle days after Macrons party took a drubbing in local elections, Elisabeth Borne will take charge of an enhanced Labour and Social Affairs ministry just as the worst economic depression in decades unravels gains on unemployment. Macron is also seeking to reset relations with unions and voters after waves of protests. Borne, who successfully ... Without checking with surviving families to see if they wanted their murdered family members used for his political grandstanding, Hogan used their names in the order to take credit for naming Freedom of the Press Day. The importance of this Day is diminished by the fact that because of his veto, many Marylanders can and will repeat these horrifying crimes after buying a firearm with no background check. The Standing Committee meeting of Nepal Communist Party (NCP), scheduled for Monday to deliberate on the ruling party's unity, has been adjourned till July 8, said Surya Thapa, press advisor to Prime Minister Earlier, the Standing Committee meeting which was earlier to be held on Saturday was deferred till Monday after the party's officials sought time for further discussion. The fate of Oli was to be decided in this meeting. After talks between Oli and party co-chair Pushpa Kamala Dahal on Friday failed, both had agreed to sit again on Saturday morning ahead of the Standing Committee meeting. According to leaders, the time has yet to be fixed for a meeting between the two chairs. The NCP is in the verge of a split with the Oli and Dahal factions hardening their positions. The Dahal faction, backed by senior leaders including Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, has been demanding that Oli step down both as party chair and prime minister. Oli, however, has refused to budge. During their Friday talks, which lasted around three hours, Dahal had reiterated his position that Oli should step down but the latter refused, saying he was open to discuss any other issue, except for his resignation. Oli has faced strong criticism in the standing committee meeting held on June 30, with most of the members demanding his resignation. The Prime Minister has been criticised within and outside the party for the government's 'failure' to address a range of issues, particularly after he made a public statement that India is trying to topple him. (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.) Shares of sixteen fertilizers makers rose by 1% to 14%, following the record fertilizer sale of 111.61 lakh MT during April-June 2020. National Fertilizers (up 14.29%), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (up 4.98%), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (up 3.45%), Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore (up 2.92%), Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (up 2.67%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation (up 2.49%), Zuari Global (up 1.77%) and Tata Chemicals (up 1.09%) advanced. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 514.39 points or 1.43% to 36,535.81. Amid National level Covid-19 lockdown, Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers had a record sale of Fertilizers to farmer community. During April-June 2020 POS sale of fertilizers to farmers was 111.61 lakh metric tonne (MT) which is 82.81% higher than the last year sale of 61.05 lakh MT during the same period. During this period 64.82 lakh MT of Urea (67 % higher as compared to last year), 22.46 lakh MT of DAP (100 % higher than last year), and 24.32 lakh MT of COMPLEX Fertilizers ( 120 % higher than last year) were sold to farmer community. Despite lot of movement restrictions due to nationwide lockdown, production and supply of fertilizers in the country is going on without hindrance, the ministry said. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ICICI Bank said that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 8 July 2020 to consider and approve the proposal of raising funds by issue of equity shares and/or other equity linked securities, through permissible mode(s) including but not limited to a private placement, preferential issue, qualified institutions placement, further public offer, etc., or any combination thereof. HDFC Bank's advances aggregated to approximately Rs 10,045 billion as of June 30, 2020, a growth of around 21% as compared to Rs 8,297 billion as of June 30, 2019 (Rs 9,937 billion as of March 31, 2020). The bank's deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 11,895 billion as of June 30, 2020, a growth of around 25% as compared to Rs 9,546 billion as of June 30, 2019 (Rs 11,475 billion as of March 31, 2020). Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday (3 July) said it achieved a throughput of 41.5 MMT across its nine operating ports in India during Q1 June 2020. During the quarter, Mundra Port surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) volume to become the largest container port in India. NLC India and Coal India, both under the administrative control of Ministry of Coal, executed a joint venture agreement on 3 July 2020 for formation of a joint venture company to develop solar and thermal power assets to the tune of 5,000 MW on pan India basis. The equity participation in the proposed JVC between Coal India and NLC India will be in the ratio of 50:50. "This JV company marks a new era in the power sector, with the synergy and expertise of two Central Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Coal," the statement said. Marico on Friday issued an overall summary of the operating performance and demand trends witnessed in Q1 June 2020. Marico witnessed significant disruptions during the first fortnight of April, but since then has been able to steadily scale up operations to near-normal levels in June. The company said it remains cautiously optimistic about the future as it unfolds, however much will depend on the extent of the spread of COVID-19 in India and overseas and how the on-ground environment evolves in conjunction with the response of respective governments. Sobha announced sales volume of 650,400 square feet valued at Rs 488 crore, with a total average realization of Rs 7,498 per square feet in Q1 June 2020. Sobha said the price realization remained stable in Q1 June 2020. The company achieved new sales volume of 650,400 square feet in Q1 June 2020 from 1,063,632 square feet in Q1 June 2019. Total sales value dropped to Rs 487.70 crore from Rs 777.70 crore. Sobha's share of sales value declined to Rs 393.10 crore from Rs 660.60 crore. Total average realisation was Rs 7,498 per square feet over Rs 7,312 per square feet. Indiabulls Housing Finance reported 86.4% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 137.06 crore on 32% fall in total income to Rs 2954.20 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Meanwhile, the company's board approved issuing unsecured and/or secured, listed and/or unlisted, redeemable non-convertible debentures, with or without warrants, or any other similar security denominated in Indian rupee, or combination thereof, in one or more tranches for an aggregate amount up to Rs 5,000 crore (equivalent currency) on private placement basis or otherwise. Further, to augment the long term resources of the company, the board also approved raising rupee equivalent of up to $300 million, through one or more qualified institutions placement (QIPs). Shriram Transport Finance Company is planning to raise funds. The NBFC will raise funds by issuing debt securities in onshore/offshore market by public issue and/or private placement basis and commercial papers. Separately, the NBFC announced that its board will meet on Monday (6 July) to consider the terms of the proposed rights issue, including the rights entitlement ratio, issue price and record date. L&T Finance Holdings (LTFS) on Friday (3 July) said the agreement to sell its 100% stake in L&T Capital Markets (Middle East) to Proud Securities and Credits has been terminated as the buyer could not receive regulatory approvals to complete the transaction. LTFS had executed the deal with Proud Securities and Credits in November 2019. PVR has scheduled a board meeting on 6 July to consider rights issue price, record date, rights entitlement ratio, etc. Last month, PVR's board approved raising upto Rs 300 crore through rights issue of equity shares. Gati reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 62.91 crore in Q4 FY20 as compared to a net profit of Rs 8.28 crore in Q4 FY19. Net sales during the quarter fell 19.4% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 370.09 crore. National Fertilizers (NFL) has achieved highest-ever fertilizer sale of 12.85 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in Q1 June 2020. This is about 21.5% higher than the sales of 10.57 LMT reported in Q1 June 2019. Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) has temporarily suspended operations at PY-1 field from 3 July 2020 considering the Covid-19 situation in Tamil Nadu. The precautionary measure is for ensuring the safety of employees. PY-1 field is in the offshore part of the Cauvery Basin. The field will resume its operations once the situation is improved, the oil & gas exploration and production firm said in a statement. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) And then, like a flashbang, everyone in America was horrified by the 8 minutes and 46 seconds in which a man, who took an oath to protect and to serve, literally squeezed the life out of a defenseless human being. In conjunction with the unequal effects of this pandemic, his act made it impossible to ignore the fact that systemic racism makes it harder for Black people to succeed and makes justice radically unequal. Infosys Ltd is quoting at Rs 773.35, up 1.4% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 7.77% in last one year as compared to a 6.64% slide in NIFTY and a 1.13% slide in the Nifty IT index. Infosys Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 773.35, up 1.4% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.73% on the day, quoting at 10790.7. The Sensex is at 36586.64, up 1.57%. Infosys Ltd has gained around 7.28% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty IT index of which Infosys Ltd is a constituent, has gained around 4.39% in last one month and is currently quoting at 15285.9, up 1.72% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 41.93 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 111.07 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark July futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 773, up 1.46% on the day. Infosys Ltd is up 7.77% in last one year as compared to a 6.64% slide in NIFTY and a 1.13% slide in the Nifty IT index. The PE of the stock is 21.09 based on TTM earnings ending March 20. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prism Johnson hit an upper circuit of 10% to Rs 48.50 after the company said its board approved divestment of its entire 51% stake in Raheja QBE General Insurance Company. Prism Johnson on Monday (6 July) said its board approved divestment of its entire holding of 51% of the paid-up equity share capital in Raheja QBE General Insurance Company, a material subsidiary. The stake will be sold for an aggregate consideration of Rs 289.68 crore to QORQL, a technology company with majority shareholding of Vijay Shekhar Sharma and remaining held by Paytm (owned by One97 Communications). Meanwhile, the company separately announced on Monday (6 July) that it has agreed to acquire an additional 35,00,000 equity shares at Rs 37 each, aggregating to Rs 12.95 crore, constituting 35% in the total paid-up equity share capital of Sanskar Ceramics. The company presently holds 15% of the paid-up equity share capital in Sanskar. Subsequent to the aforesaid investment, the shareholding of the company in Sanskar would increase to 50%. Sanskar is engaged in the business of manufacturing of ceramic tiles at Morbi in Gujarat. The firm said on Friday (4 July) that it continues to tightly manage its cash flows, keeping enough liquidity in hand and making sure that working capital limits remain majorly undrawn. The liquid investment balance at the end of Q1 June 2020 was more than Rs 470 crore. During Q1, the net debt was reduced by about Rs 275 crore at standalone level. Certain loan installment which were due in later part of FY 20-21 and FY 21-22 were prepaid during the last quarter. The company added that it continues to explore its strategy of pre-payment/refinancing of loans well in advance. These measures would enable it to optimize interest cost and take care of loan obligations upto March 2022. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 63.774. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally, the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock was trading between its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at 38.97 and its 200-day moving average (DMA) placed at 57.38. On a consolidated basis, Prism Johnson reported net loss of Rs 45.52 crore in Q4 March 2020 compared with net profit of Rs 41.49 crore in Q4 March 2019. Net sales skid 15.6% to Rs 1,463.15 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Prism Johnson (earlier known as Prism Cement) is one of India's leading integrated building materials company, with a wide range of products from cement, ready-mixed concrete, tiles, bath products to kitchens. 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 indices are trading with modest gains in early trade on upbeat Asian stocks. At 9:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 257.07 points or 0.71% at 36,278.49. The Nifty 50 index was up 106.05 points or 1% at 10,713.40. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.76%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.78%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1113 shares rose and 564 shares fell. A total of 93 shares were unchanged. Stocks in news: ICICI Bank rose 1.5%. ICICI Bank said that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 8 July 2020 to consider and approve the proposal of raising funds by issue of equity shares and/or other equity linked securities, through permissible mode(s) including but not limited to a private placement, preferential issue, qualified institutions placement, further public offer, etc., or any combination thereof. HDFC Bank gained 2.85%. The bank's advances aggregated to approximately Rs 10,045 billion as of June 30, 2020, a growth of around 21% as compared to Rs 8,297 billion as of June 30, 2019 (Rs 9,937 billion as of March 31, 2020). The bank's deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 11,895 billion as of June 30, 2020, a growth of around 25% as compared to Rs 9,546 billion as of June 30, 2019 (Rs 11,475 billion as of March 31, 2020). Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) rose 1%. APSEZ on Friday (3 July) said it achieved a throughput of 41.5 MMT across its nine operating ports in India during Q1 June 2020. During the quarter, Mundra Port surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) volume to become the largest container port in India. Marico dropped 2.75%. Marico on Friday issued an overall summary of the operating performance and demand trends witnessed in Q1 June 2020. Marico witnessed significant disruptions during the first fortnight of April, but since then has been able to steadily scale up operations to near-normal levels in June. The company said it remains cautiously optimistic about the future as it unfolds, however much will depend on the extent of the spread of COVID-19 in India and overseas and how the on-ground environment evolves in conjunction with the response of respective governments. Sobha surged 4.51%. Sobha announced sales volume of 650,400 square feet valued at Rs 488 crore, with a total average realization of Rs 7,498 per square feet in Q1 June 2020. Sobha said the price realization remained stable in Q1 June 2020. The company achieved new sales volume of 650,400 square feet in Q1 June 2020 from 1,063,632 square feet in Q1 June 2019. Total sales value dropped to Rs 487.70 crore from Rs 777.70 crore. Sobha's share of sales value declined to Rs 393.10 crore from Rs 660.60 crore. Total average realisation was Rs 7,498 per square feet over Rs 7,312 per square feet. Indiabulls Housing Finance lost 2.65% after the company reported 86.4% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 137.06 crore on 32% fall in total income to Rs 2954.20 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Meanwhile, the company's board approved issuing unsecured and/or secured, listed and/or unlisted, redeemable non-convertible debentures, with or without warrants, or any other similar security denominated in Indian rupee, or combination thereof, in one or more tranches for an aggregate amount up to Rs 5,000 crore (equivalent currency) on private placement basis or otherwise. Further, to augment the long term resources of the company, the board also approved raising rupee equivalent of up to $300 million, through one or more qualified institutions placement (QIPs). Global Markets: Overseas, Asian stocks are trading near four-month highs on Monday as investors counted on super-cheap liquidity and fiscal stimulus to sustain the global economic recovery even as surging coronavirus cases delayed reopenings across the United States. Stocks in China led gains among the major markets, with the Shanghai composite soaring nearly 4%. In US, financial markets were closed Friday for the observance of Independence Day. Back home, domestic shares ended with modest gains after a volatile session on Friday. IT shares were in demand while banks corrected. Shares across Asia advanced on robust US payrolls data and a brisk pickup in Chinese service sector activity. However, a surge in coronavirus cases capped strong gains. The barometer S&P BSE Sensex rose 177.72 points or 0.5% at 36,021.42. The Nifty 50 index jumped 55.65 points or 0.53% at 10,607.35. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 857.29 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 331.96 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 July, provisional data showed. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Consultancy Services has successfully deployed TCS DynaPORT, a state-of-the-art terminal operating system at Tilbury2 Ro-Ro, Forth Ports' latest unaccompanied freight ferry terminal opened recently in London. TCS implemented this solution on schedule, 100% virtually during the COVID-19 lockdowns, leveraging the Secure Borderless Workspaces (SBWS) model. Tilbury2 Ro-Ro terminal is a 500,000-freight unit ferry terminal at the port of Tilbury on the River Thames, London. The bespoke terminal operates on unaccompanied freight mode, importing and exporting freight containing vital supplies for the UK, including food, drink and medicines to and from continental Europe. To streamline its operations, establish world-class benchmarks, and support its future growth, Forth Ports selected TCS' DynaPORT as its terminal operating system. The platform is already implemented within Forth Ports Lo-Lo container terminals operating at the Port of Tilbury and the Port of Grangemouth in Scotland, allowing all three freight terminals to operate on the same IT platform. TCS DynaPORT is a one-stop digital terminal operating solution that streamlines order-to-invoice processes and supports multi-modal (vessel, rail, truck and barge) and multi-purpose (container, break-bulk, liquid bulk, dry bulk and ro-ro) requirements. It currently powers over 80 terminals across the globe. The new terminal and the new automated system, support the drive towards having vessels spend less time in the port, reducing costs and turnaround times and facilitating faster transport of vital goods. Additionally, containers and trailers can be on the motorway network and on their way, in under an hour. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citizens found without mask or not following the prevention guidelines at public places in Gwalior will have to work as volunteers in hospitals and police check-posts for three days, an official said on Monday. Fines would also be imposed on those violating the protocols, he said. An order of this effect was issued by the district administration in on Sunday after Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh held a meeting with officials concerned on the ongoing 'Kill Corona' campaign, he said. The order said those found without mask or not following the guidelines at public places will not only have to pay a fine, but they would also have to work as volunteers for three days in hospitals and fever clinics treating patients and at the police check-posts. The collector said in the meeting that those coming from Indore, Bhopal and other states should be strictly screened at the district's borders, the official said. The government has undertaken the 'Kill Corona' campaign across the state for a door-to-door survey to identify Covid-19 patients. On Sunday, Gwalior reported 51 Covid-19 cases, taking the district's tally to 528. Global cues, Covid-19 trends, and quarterly earnings by market heavyweight will be the top triggers for the equity this week. On the earnings front, will kick off the June quarter results season on Thursday. Besides, and will also announce their Q1 results this week. Meanwhile, 116 other companies, including IRCTC, Dish TV, and are scheduled to announce their March quarter numbers during the week. However, concerns over rising cases as well as tensions between US-China and India-China remain key risks for the equity India overtook Russia to now become the world's number three in case count with nearly 25,000 new cases added on Sunday, according to Worldometer. The number of positive cases now stands at over 6.97 lakh with death toll is at 19,700. The global case load from the deadly infection has exceeded 1.1 crore. On the other hand, the increasing rate of recovery might allay some of the investor concerns. Hence, the trend in the Covid-19 cases and newsflow on potential vaccine front will remain key monitorables for investors. Apart from this, investors will also monitor movement of rupee and crude oil as well as progress of monsoon. Besides, they will also eye IIP data which is scheduled to be announced post-market hours on Friday. India's factory output contracted by a record 55.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April due to the complete lockdown imposed that month to prevent the spread of Covid-19. And, in the end let's see what the global cues and technicals are saying about the Indian today. At 7:10 AM, SGX was trading more than 50 points higher at around 10,630 levels, indicating a higher opening for the and today. This comes on the back of firm trend in Asian shares which held near four-month highs on Monday. Japan's gained 1.2 per cent while Hong Kong's markets were last up 1.5 per cent. South Korea's Kospi also rose 1 per cent. Overall, MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.05%, having hit its highest since February. In commodities, oil prices were mixed in early trade with Brent crude futures up 15 cents at $42.95 a barrel. On the technical front, the benchmark gained 2.2 per cent last week to end at a four-month high of 10,607. Analysts say the Nifty has formed a bullish pattern on the weekly charts and is headed towards 10,700-10,800 range, which is a key resistance zone. On the downside, it has good support at 10,500-10,400 levels. Read by Kanishka Gupta Ministry of Home Affairs has permitted universities and higher education institutions to conduct examinations as it continues with 'Unlock 2' phase. In a letter to Union Higher Education Secretary, the Home Ministry said that the final term examinations should be conducted as per examination guidelines by University Grants Commission (UGC) and academic calendar for the universities. The ministry also advised universities and other institutions should adhere to standard operating procedure (SOP) prescribed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. "The final term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities; and as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," Home Ministry said in a statment on Monday. UGC is currently working on fresh examination guidelines for universities and institutions. Educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools, have been closed acros the nation since March in view of lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic. Examinations conducted by them were also suspended. Centre had started lifting lockdown restrictions under the 'Unlock 1' phase that came into force on June 1. After a month of Unlock 1, the Home Ministry had graduated to Unlock 2, starting July 1, to further reopen th economy. However, schools, colleges and other educations institutions remain closed. Last month, Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) had cancelled the Board examinations pending due to coronavirus lockdown after receiving Supreme Court's nod in this matter. The apex court had also approved the scheme proposed by the Board to assess the cancelled papers. As per this scheme, the board will award marks to the students for the exams they have attempted. Students who have not attempted the last three examinations, such as those based in North East Delhi, will be marked on the basis of their performance in internal assessments. The results for Class 10 and Class 12 Board examinatons on July 15. ALSO READ: CBSE Exams 2020: How will students be graded? ALSO READ: CBSE, ICSE Class 10, Class 12 results to be declared in July The Chinese Army has started moving back its tents, vehicles as well as troops from certain areas of the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, in a first sign of disengagement from the area. Chinese troops have pulled back by over one-kilometre from the region, according to Indian Army sources who added that the disengagement (of Chinese troops) has begun as per an agreement between the Corps Commanders of the two sides. The Chinese Army has been seen removing its tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan Valley where the violent clashes took place on June 15. Similar movement of vehicles has also been witnessed in the Gogra Hot Spring area. However, the sources added that the retreat has to be verified on the ground. China had kept its armoured vehicles in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. Meanwhile, the Indian Army is monitoring the situation. "Removal of tents is visible but whether they have pulled back needs to be verified on ground," said an official. Another army official described the disengagement by the Chinese side as a "piecemeal de-escalation" stating that small steps are being taken by India and China to defuse the situation that has been volatile for over two months. Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a bitter standoff at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks. Tensions escalated after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but did not reveal details. India has been insisting on restoration of the status quo in all areas of eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquillity in the region. India and China have held several rounds of diplomatic and military talks in the last few weeks to ease tension in the region. The Central government on Monday signed a deal with the World Bank to boost micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the coronavirus crisis. The agreement worth $750 million has been signed under the MSME Emergency Response Programme. "The World Bank's MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. "COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the MSME sector leading to loss of livelihoods and jobs. The Government of India is focused on ensuring that the abundant financial sector liquidity available flow to NBFCs, and that banks which have turned extremely risk averse, continue taking exposures in the economy by lending to NBFCs," Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, said. The World Bank has so far committed $2.75 billion to support India's emergency coronavirus response, including the new MSME project. The first $1 billion emergency support was announced in April this year for immediate support to India's health sector. Another $1 billion project was approved in May to increase cash transfers and food benefits to the poor and vulnerable, including a more consolidated delivery platform - accessible to both rural and urban populations across state boundaries. Meanwhile, in its latest edition of the Global Economic Prospect, the World Bank said that the COVID-19 pandemic and the multi-phased lockdown imposed to curb its spread has resulted in a devastating blow to the Indian economy. India's economy will shrink by 3.2 per cent in the current fiscal, the World Bank said.Also read: India-China issue: Chinese Army moves back over 1 km from Galwan valley Also read: Sovereign Gold Bond scheme opens for subscription: Five things to know before you invest Since that day, Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his indifference; indeed open contempt, for those who serve the nation in support of its national security. His taking the word of Vladimir Putin over our intelligence community, his abandonment of the Kurds, his abuse of Gens. Jim Mattis, H.R. McMasters, Kelly, Navy Adm. William McRaven and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, his shocking interference in the military justice System, and his use of our troops against our citizens, all pale in significance to the latest outrage. Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra has issued an order to open hotels, lodges but they will be allowed to operate at only 33 per cent capacity. According to the order, only hostels, lodges and other accommodation services outside of containment zones will be allowed to reopen as part of the government's 'Begin Again' mission. Hotels and other entities providing accommodation services including lodges, guest houses outside containment zones, with restricted entry will be allowed from 8th July. These establishments will operate at 33% capacity and certain conditions: Maharashtra Government pic.twitter.com/pGAMOa42Mz - ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took the decision of reopening hotels after finalising a standard operating procedure (SOP) which will be followed by the hotel industry.Earlier, Chief Minister had met with the representatives from the hotel industry and said that reopening of hotels and restaurants needs to be carried out in a cautious manner keeping in mind the rising cases. The representatives expressed their concern over losses because of the COVID-19 lockdown.The number of cases in the state has continued to rise especially in Marathwada. Various district administrations have imposed blanket curfews in the area.Maharashtra has reported 86,057 active cases of coronavirus, according to the Health Ministry. Total deaths stood at 8,822. As many as 1,11,740 patients have been cured or discharged.Meanwhile, going past Russia, India became the nation with the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world yesterday.India reported 24,422 fresh cases on Sunday, along with 421 new deaths. The total number of confirmed cases has jumped up to 697,284 and number of fatalities to 19,700. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 24,248 new cases, 425 deaths in 24 hours; India overtakes Russia as 3rd worst-hit country Also Read: India-China issue: Chinese Army moves back over 1 km from Galwan valley Heavy rains continued in Mumbai on Monday with waterlogging in several areas. The city has been experiencing heavy rains for the last three days with the rains intensifying in the last 24 hours, especially in the suburban areas of the city. Several low-lying areas in the city such as Chembur to Andheri were inundated due to heavy rainfall over the weekend. Neighbouring Thane district also recorded heavy shower on Sunday. "Mumbai and around received heavy rains with isolated very heavy (>115.6 mm ) at Thane/West Suburbs in last 24 hours. Konkan may get isolated heavy showers in next 24 hours. Extremely Heavy Rainfall warnings for Saurashtra/Kutchh, Arabian Sea", IMD Mumbai's Deputy Director-General said in a tweet. The weather department had also warned that Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts will witness heavy rainfall on Monday. Mumbai police have now asked all citizens to check for officials updates before stepping outside of their houses. Earlier, the BMC warned of a 4.6-meter high tide which hit the shores of the city at 1.03 pm today. The corporation had requested people to stay away from the seashore. Heavy rains in Mumbai is always worrisome for people who in live in low lying areas of the city. The city is already dealing with a major outbreak of COVID-19, heavy rainfall and waterlogging will make it difficult for people to maintain social distancing norms. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 24,248 new cases, 425 deaths in 24 hours; India overtakes Russia as 3rd worst-hit country Also Read: India-China issue: Chinese Army moves back over 1 km from Galwan valley Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) share price rose to its all-time high in early trade today after the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate launched its video conferencing platform JioMeet to take on the likes of Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. JioMeet app can support as many as 100 participants in a single video call. No codes or invites will be needed for the call to begin. The call will be free of cost. Also, the free call can be done uninterruptedly for up to 24 hours. Another factor taking the stock to all-time high is the firm attracting 12 investments in 11 weeks raising Rs 1,17, 587.5 crore from leading global investors. The stock gained up to 3.94% or Rs 70.5 today, a trading session after Intel Capital, investment arm of Intel Corporation said it would invest Rs 1,894.50 crore in Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. That led the market cap of RIL to climb to Rs 11.74 lakh crore in afternoon session. The stock hit all time high of Rs 1,858 today against previous close of Rs 1787.50 on BSE. On Friday, the stock closed flat compared to opening of Rs 1,781. Moody's rates TCS, Infosys, RIL above sovereign, cites strong financials, global earnings Reliance Industries share is trading higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. RIL stock price has risen 17.13% in one month and 22.28% since the beginning of this year. It has gained 46.63% in a year. The share hit its 52 week low of Rs 867.82 on March 23, 2020. Intel Capital to pump in Rs 1,894.5 cr in Jio Platforms; 12th investment in 11 weeks Jyoti Roy, DVP Equity Strategist at Angel Broking said, "We are positive on Reliance Industries from a long-term perspective as we believe that the digital and retail business will be key growth drivers for the company going forward. Potential listing of the digital and retail business over the next 3-5 years would also lead to significant value unlocking for shareholders in the long run. We also expect the hydrocarbon business to recover in the second half of the year as demand for petro products normalizes. Given no significant capex outlay in the near future, the hydrocarbon segment should generate free cash flows which can be used to fund expansion in other businesses. " Stocks in news: RIL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, National Fertilizers, Edelweiss, Sobha Jio Platforms has raised Rs 1,17, 587.5 crore from leading global investors including Intel Capital, PIF, Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton, since April 2020. Reliance has sold 25.1% stake to 12 investors in mere 11 weeks till date. On Thursday, RIL announced Intel Capital would invest in its digital arm. Intel Capital's investment will translate into a 0.39% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. Additionally, RIL said it plans to increase its network of aviation fuel stations by 50% as it looks to capture greater market share in the business currently controlled by public sector oil retailing firms. Share Market LIVE: Sensex climbs over 400 points, Nifty above 10,735; IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank top gainers In its latest annual report, RIL said the double-digit growth observed over 52 consecutive months might have been stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but India continues to be one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world for the fifth consecutive year. By Aseem Thapliyal Surging for the fourth day in a row, both benchmark equity indices - Sensex and Nifty - closed at the highest levels since March 6 on Monday. While Sensex closed 466 points higher at 36,487, Nifty50 surged 156 points to close at 10,764. The broader markets also traded in line with frontline indices amid strong market breadth. Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC Bank, TCS, Bajaj Finance, and M&M were the major contributors to the indices' gains. Here are 5 things to know before opening bell on Tuesday: India-China border row With reports of Chinese troops pulling back at Galwan Valley by as much as 1 km today, the indices are expected to react positively in intraday trade tomorrow. "Indian indices ended with gains, in sync with solid global cues. Global markets rallied in hopes of a faster Chinese economic revival which could provide support to the global economy. The positivity regarding the recovery is extending to Indian markets also, in spite of surging infections, along with liquidity. The first signs of de-escalation of India-China border tensions should also calm the markets. We maintain the sell-on-rise strategy and advise investors to trade with caution," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "Markets made a promising start largely led by supportive global cues and gained over one and a half percent. Further, easing of geopolitical tension between India-China boosted investors' sentiments. The benchmark opened with strong gains and gradually inched higher as the day progressed. The rally was broad-based as both midcap and smallcap indices ended with healthy gains. On the sector front, apart from FMCG, healthcare and telecom, which ended in losses, all the other sectoral indices supported the rally wherein energy, metals, auto and realty were the top gainers," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking. Coronavirus update The total number of coronavirus cases in India stands at 705,161 and 19,793 people have died from the disease so far. In recent trades, the equity markets worldwide expressed optimism on news of vaccine development and better-than-expected economic data across countries. Although, the challenges with respect to rising virus cases and recovery of economic growth and any extension or resetting of lockdown measures will continue to add worries. Quarterly earnings Both traders and investors would be preparing a strategy to react to corporate earnings which begin this week. The investors will keep an eye on the shares of Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) which will be reporting its March quarter results on July 9. Monsoon trend Movement of monsoon winds and its progress of domestic grounds would also be closely watched by the traders. "Out of the 36 sub-divisions across India, till date, 4 have received deficient rainfall, 18 have received normal rainfall, and 14 have received excess rainfall," Kotak Institutional Equities said in its note. "Till July 1, cumulative rainfall was 15.8 per cent above long-term average with the weekly rainfall 0.7 per cent below the long-term average," it added. Technical insights "Technically, the Nifty keeps surpassing one resistance after the other. 10,827-10,943 band is the next set of resistance. Over the next few days 11,100-11,150 on the Nifty seems likely. 10,631 is the support. However Nifty has made a few upgaps in this upmove. These could be filled in the next fall," said Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities. "The markets might want to take support around the 10,650-10,750 area and then resume its uptrend. If we close below 10,650 we might fall to levels closer to 10,400. Until then, the trend remains positive and we could attempt 11,000 on the Nifty," said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 24,248 new cases, 425 deaths in 24 hours; India overtakes Russia as 3rd worst-hit country Also Read: India-China issue: Chinese Army moves back over 1 km from Galwan valley Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic induced shutdown, few noticed a significant Supreme Court (SC) judgement of April 1, 2020, relating to environmental governance and climate change mitigation. The case involves a May 14, 2002 circular issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) allowing "ex post facto" (retrospective) environmental clearances (ECs) to polluting industries. (The MoEF was renamed as Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change or MoEF&CC in short, in 2014.) The 2002 circular read: "...it has been decided to extend the deadline up to March 2003 so that defaulting units could avail of this last and final opportunity to obtain ex-post-facto environmental clearance. This would apply to all such units, which had commenced construction activities/operations without obtaining prior environmental clearance in violation of the EIA Notification of 27 January 1994." The MoEF first issued such a circular in 1998, which went unchallenged in court, unlike this one. A large number of polluting industries ignored the circular and continued to operate illegally, polluting air, water and soil. The 2002 circular extended the time limit for the third time (second in 1999) to seek retrospective green clearances for the last time. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 1994 mentioned in the circular provides for detailed study of social and environmental impacts of certain projects and is mandatory for green clearances. It was replaced with the EIA of 2006, which is now proposed to be replaced with the EIA of 2020. Also Read: Rebooting Economy I: Why stock market is booming when COVID-19-hit economy sinks Retrospective green clearance "unsustainable in law" About the 2002 circular, the Pune bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) first held in January 2016, that it "is illegal, void and inoperative". It ordered (i) revocation of environment clearances to the polluting industries in question (ii) immediate closure of all industrial activities without valid EC and (iii) imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh each for damaging environment on the industries in question. The MoEF and the affected industries challenged the NGT order in the SC. The top court's April 2020 order upheld the NGT's ruling that the circular granting ex post facto environment clearance is "unsustainable in law". It explained: "The concept of an ex post facto EC is in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence and an anathema to the EIA notification dated 27 January 1994...The reason why a retrospective EC or an ex post facto clearance is alien to environmental jurisprudence is that before the issue of an EC, the statutory notification warrants a careful application of mind, besides a study into the likely consequences of a proposed activity on the environment." The NGT had said, "This circular does not show by which provisions, the power is provided in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to allow 'ex-post facto' EC. This circular itself is void ab initio and ought to be struck down." The NGT had also described it as "illegal, void and inoperative". In effect, the NGT questioned the very legal basis of the circular and asserted that it "cannot override the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986". The Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 is the law that governs environment clearance for which the EIA report is a pre-requisite. The MoEF later told the apex court that the circular was an "administrative decision", meaning it has no legal basis. Since this case reflects everything that is wrong with India's environmental governance, including climate change mitigation, it needs to be scrutinised thoroughly. The case is also relevant for two more reasons. One, to understand why polluting industries which impose huge social and environmental costs on the economy - pollution of air, water and soil spreading illness and death; forest depletion damaging environment and taking away livelihood of tribals and other communities dependent on forests for survival - continue to flourish. (For more on this, read: Unravelling GDP growth II: Why GDP measures output, not people's well-being.) Second, how the proposed EIA of 2020 will impact the environmental governance. Apex court's green signal to retrospective clearances The apex court declaring "ex post facto" environment clearance illegal is just one part of its order. Also Read: Rebooting Economy II: What stock market boom means to people and economy It struck down two other key orders of the NGT: (i) revocation of green clearances and (ii) immediate closure of the polluting industries (three pharmaceutical companies operating in Gujarat). Why? It said: "The directions of the NGT for the revocation of the ECs and for closure of the units do not accord with the principle of proportionality." What is the "principle of proportionality"? The court explained pointing out that (a) these polluting industries had been operating for many years and "have made infrastructural investments and employed significant numbers of workers" (b) these industries had, after all, obtained ECs in 2002 and 2003 (even though retrospective) and (c) that in similar cases of violations of the environmental laws in the past the apex court had not revoked clearances or ordered closure of polluting industries. The top court relied on Article 142 of the Constitution, which grants it discretionary power to issue any order to do complete justice in a case, for these rulings. The apex court famously invoked this constitutional provision in November 2019 to decide the Ayodhya case. This apex court judgement is quite ironic. While ruling that ex post facto environment clearance is "unsustainable in law" and "in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence", it used the logic of "principle of proportionality" to overturn it and hand over the polluting industries as a 'fait accompli' - a phrase with environmentalists are quite familiar with - to the people of India. "Doctrine of proportionality" for clean chits In presenting this 'fait accompli' the apex court order invoked two previous judgements, one of which is famously known as the Lafarge case of July 2011. The Lafarge verdict used "doctrine of proportionality" in a way that led to "margin of appreciation" and ended in giving clean chits to the MoEF and other government agencies for their countless transgressions and undermining of all the environmental laws of the land. (The "principle of proportionality" was used in the April 2020 judgement to let the three polluting industries off the hook.) The Lafarge case is even more instructive and needs to be retold. The details of the case are from the apex court's order of July 2011 in the Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited vs Union of India case. The tale goes like this. French company Lafarge set up a cement plant in Bangladesh for which limestone was to be mined from Meghalaya's Khasi hills. The project was given the environment clearance by the MoEF in 2001 on the basis of a (rapid) EIA report which said the proposed mining area (100 ha) was a "wasteland", "covered with rocks" with "low botanical and floral diversity" and "no likelihood of any wildlife presence". (A rapid EIA is a limited exercise conducting environmental impact measurements in a single season.) Therefore, no forest clearance (FC) under the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 and no clearance under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 were sought. Mining began and the plant went into production in 2006. Something very interesting happened later that year. A senior forest officer, chief conservator of forests Khazan Singh, visited the mining site and wrote to the MoFE that the mining area was actually a "natural and virgin forest" with "thick natural vegetation cover with sizeable number of tall trees". He said trees had been felled to clear space for mining without forest clearance (FC) under the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 and sought necessary remedial action. Khazan Singh's finding would be confirmed multiple times by a stream of fact-finding teams over the next four years. Khazan Singh's report also said Lafarge had broken up 21.4 ha (of the 100 ha of mining lease area) and fell a large number of trees. When counted in 2010, a High-Level Committee (HLC) said the clearing involved felling of 9,345 trees, of which 1,200 had already been felled. Lafarge sought ex post facto forest clearance under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and went to the apex court in 2007 to expedite this clearance. The apex court knew everything in 2007 but mining continued for the next three years as the MoEF presented it as a fait accompli to the court, giving a variety of reasons: this being an operation involving a neighbouring country (Bangladesh), stopping it would damage bilateral relations, harm investment; Lafarge's promise of compensatory foresting, financial and other benefits to the local villagers of Meghalaya from the project. That the mining continued nonstop was confirmed by a study by North-Easter Hills University (NEHU) in 2010. Its report said the broken up (forest area cleared) and mined area stood at 38.089 ha - up from 21.4 ha that Khazan Singh had reported in 2006. The apex court took three years to put a stay on mining in 2010. This stay was meant to facilitate ex post facto clearances and work out Lafarge's remedial steps for allowing it to continue mining. One of the proposals negotiated in presence of the apex court was for the MoEF to grant revise ex post facto green clearances to divert not 100 ha, as was the case originally, but 116 ha of forest land to Lafarge mining. (No reason has been mentioned for this largesse.) In April 2010, the MoEF issued revised EC and FC. There was no mention of clearance under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. The apex court upheld these ex post facto clearances and allowed Lafarge to continue mining on July 6, 2011. In doing so, it granted a clean chit to all involved in the massive fraud. No questions were asked how "rocky" and "wasteland" with "no likelihood of any wildlife presence" turned out to be actually a "natural and virgin forest" rich in wildlife. No questions were asked about how all the checks and balances failed: the amended and strengthened EIA of 2006 regime which had replaced the EIA of 1994; public hearings; multiple MoEF experts' committees which examined, assessed and monitored green clearances; multiple central and state agencies regulating air, water, and soil pollution; central and state forest officials and those of the wildlife board who cleared diversion of forests for limestone mining. With one stroke, the apex court presented the Lafarge mining 'fait accompli'. While doing so it forwarded an interesting concept, "doctrine of proportionality", which the April 2020 order used to justify its own legalisation of ex post facto environment clearances to three polluting pharmaceuticals. Note the difference in the wordings with "proportionality". "Doctrine of Proportionality" that legalises violations of law While the "principle of proportionality" was used in the April 2020 judgement to let the polluting industries to continue their operations and validate an apparently illegal retrospective green clearance, the Lafarge verdict used the "doctrine of proportionality" to give clean chits to the MoEF and other government agencies for their countless transgressions and undermining of environmental laws. The Lafarge order was written by the then Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia while speaking for a three-judge bench. Also Read: Nitin Gadkari calls Environment Ministry guidelines outdated, hindrances to growth Here is the part on the "doctrine of proportionality" that the April 2020 order quoted (broken up for ease of reading): "The time has come for us to apply the constitutional "doctrine of proportionality" to the matters concerning environment as a part of the process of judicial review in contradistinction to merit review. It cannot be gainsaid that utilisation of the environment and its natural resources has to be in a way that is consistent with principles of sustainable development and intergenerational equity, but balancing of these equities may entail policy choices. "In the circumstances, barring exceptions, decisions relating to utilization of natural resources have to be tested on the anvil of the well-recognised principles of judicial review. Have all the relevant factors been taken into account? Have any extraneous factors influenced the decision? Is the decision strictly in accordance with the legislative policy underlying the law (if any) that governs the field? Is the decision consistent with the principles of sustainable development in the sense that has the decision-maker taken into account the said principle and, on the basis of relevant considerations, arrived at a balanced decision? "Thus, the Court should review the decision-making process to ensure that the decision of MoEF is fair and fully informed, based on the correct principles, and free from any bias or restraint. Once this is ensured, then the doctrine of "margin of appreciation" in favour of the decision-maker would come into play." Tough to read and understand. In short, all the wrongdoings of the legions of government agencies, including the MoEF, were condoned to allow the Lafarge project. Pharma companies' illegal operations and damage to environment Turning back to Gujarat's polluting industries, it needs to be pointed out that the apex court did find the three pharmaceutical companies "operated without valid ECs for several years after the EIA notification of 1994", they "have been operating in an unregulated and in defiance of the law" and that some of the environmental damages they caused "would be irreversible". Moreover, they did not have the requisite authorisation under the laws governing air, water and hazardous wastes even before the EIA notification of 1994 (operating without legal authorisation). As for the retrospective environment clearances given in 2002 and 2003, which the court cited to justify its balancing act, these were not even scrutinised to see if due processes had been followed. The NGT did. The NGT order revealed that for the public hearing (added to the EIA in 1997) mandated for these industries, the local villagers were not given any EIA report. It blamed the five government agencies involved in the public hearing: MoEF, Gujarat government, GPCB, and Collectors of Bharuch and Panchmahal - for not making the EIA reports available. Since the EIA provides details of a project's possible impact on communities and environment, public hearing without it is meaningless and legally invalid. The NGT order also said: "Public hearing was held in a hotel, in one case and in Gram Vikas Kendra in another case." Such hearings should happen at project sites to enable participation of the local communities. While the NGT order does not mention when public hearings happened, the order did record the complainants telling that those were held in 2013 (held by the MoEF) - 10 to 11 years after the retrospective ECs were granted and 11 years after the 2002 circular was issued. The SC dealt with this mandatory provision of public hearing (in EIA) in a bizarre manner. It relied on the past apex court judgements to dismiss its significance and said: "The Court while deciding the consequence of granting an EC without public hearing did not direct closure..." As for the environmental damages by the three drugmakers, the apex court noted that the Ankleshwar industrial area in Gujarat where they operated had "critical level of pollution" for years. It cited the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for 2009-10, 2013 and 2018 to drive home the point. These reports measured pollution of air, water and soil. How did the court award a fine of Rs 10 crore each to these industries for damaging the environment? It didn't say. Was there any scientific assessment? Is it commensurate to the damages caused? Were the costs of illness and death that air, water and soil pollution cause taken into consideration? Is Rs 10 crore a deterrent? No answer was sought, nor provided. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Trains by private firms face a dual challenge - they would have to compete with budget airlines in the premium segment, and Indian Railways itself in the budget class As many as 27 private firms including Tata Realty & Infrastructure Ltd, Adani Ports & SEZ, Bombardier, Alstom, Hyundai Rotem Company had evinced interest in rail projects In its attempt to attract more passengers, Railways may drop fares, which private players would not be able to match Hoping to rake in Rs 30,000 crore in revenue, the Railways last week invited global tender from companies to run trains on 109 routes Private companies winning the bid to run trains on high-density traffic routes would face a dual challenge in making money as they would have to compete with budget airlines in the premium segment, and with Indian Railways itself in case of the lower class. Moreover, the high capital expenditure in rolling stocks and operational costs would make road to profitability an arduous journey. "Leave aside competition, they have to first see their own economics of getting into it. Running train profitably would depend on a lot of factors such as timing of the train, sector and traffic," said former Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar. ALSO READ: Virgin Trains, Italferr, Indian cos likely bidders for private trains; Bombardier, Alstom to vie for rolling stock As many as 27 local and global private firms including Tata Realty & Infrastructure Ltd, Adani Ports & SEZ, Bombardier, Alstom, Hyundai Rotem Company had earlier participated in the meeting called by Indian Railways to discuss privatisation of train operations. Global rolling stock manufacturers Talgo and CAF had also attended the stakeholder meet earlier this year. Officials retired from top positions in Railways said that making money would be a challenge for private companies given high investment and cut-throat competition. "In a competitive environment it will be difficult to compete with budget airlines. In case of lower class, they won't be able to compete with Railways. The regulator cannot ask a private company to have dynamic pricing while directing Railways to have fixed fares. In its attempt to attract more passengers, the Railways may drop fares which private players would not be able to match," said Shri Prakash, former Member (Traffic), Indian Railways. Hoping to generate Rs 30,000 crore in revenue, the Railways last week invited global tender from companies to run trains on 109 routes. In all, 151 modern trains are proposed to be run by the private companies. This accounts for about 5 per cent of existing 2,800 Mail/ Express trains running over the Indian Railways network. The concession period for operating the trains would be 35 years as this is the life cycle of rolling stocks. The selected private companies will pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in gross revenue determined through the bidding process. ALSO READ: Private train operations to start by April 2023: Railway official With Dedicated Rail Freight Corridors expected to be commissioned in 2021, congestions on key trunk routes, Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata, are set to ease and Indian Railways hopes to use the freed-up capacity to run more trains. "The DFCs were expected to generate additional revenue. If the existing freight trains are diverted towards DFC, how would the investment be recovered. Anyways, I don't think much capacity would be freed up after freight corridors are commissioned," said a former Railway Board member, wishing not to be named. He also said that massive investment in procuring rolling stocks would require the private operators to maintain certain base fare below which selling tickets would result in losses. The Railways has said that the main objective of privatisation is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduce transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety and world class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector. Talking about value proposition, Rajaji Meshram, Partner (Infrastructure), EY, said that private sector is expected to introduce modern rolling stock design which would increase comfort and safety of the passengers. "There is also a significant scope for value added services and introduction of high-end technology in passenger services which can help make the overall proposition viable for private sector. Time is of essence and is a hygiene factor for passengers, especially for business travellers. As private trains will run together with trains belonging to Indian Railways, the rules of prioritisation will be an important factor," Meshram said. ALSO READ: Railways employee unions to protest against privatisation policy Highlights Realme X50 Pro 5G Android 11 Beta update is now available. It has many bugs and is not stable for regular users right now. Realme X50 Pro 5G was launched in India back in February. Realme X50 Pro is now receiving the Android 11 Beta build about a month after Google released it for Pixel phones initially. The flagship smartphone from Realme is ready to run the Android 11-based Realme UI, the company has announced via a post on the community forum. This means there will be less of stock Android features in the latest build. Since it is a beta build, Realme says it is recommended for testers as most features might not be stable and could impact the device. Realme is listing the issues the new Android 11 Beta build will pose to testers. For example, the automatic timing is not working and testers might have to set the timing on the phone manually and some parts of the interface might look "less than desirable." There are also several stability issues with the update, the post mentions. No data will be retained during the update process, which means the tester will need to back up the data on the device before initiating the update process. The Android 11 Beta is meant strictly for Realme X50 Pro 5G, which was launched in India back in February. The device should be running Android 10 version RMX2076PU_11.A.25 before the Android 11 Beta update can be patched in. This forum post has links to both Android 10 version, Android 11 Beta, along with a process for testers to roll back to Android 10 in case they do not like the beta version. How to download and install Android 11 Beta on Realme X50 Pro 5G? Download the Android 11 Beta package from the community forum post on Realme website. The update can either be downloaded on the phone or on a computer. In the latter case, the update will need to be transferred to the device. Beforehand, it should be ensured the device has at least 30 per cent battery. Now, open the File Manager app on the device and locate the firmware option and tap on it. Then an alert reading that the data will be wiped up will pop up. The next step involves giving consent to warnings and finally hit the Upgrade Now button at the final stage. The device will reboot multiple times during the update process and when it is complete, you will be welcomed with the start screen. The rollback steps are also given on the post, in case the Android 11 Beta experience is not desirable. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali reached the Bandra police station on Monday afternoon to record his statement in connection with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Bhansali was spotted outside the police station at around noon in a blue and white kurta pyjama and a mask. The director had offered films to Rajput but the projects did not materialise to date issues. Bandra police has recorded statements of 29 people so far in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's sudden demise. The police have spoken to his family, his close friends like actor Rhea Chakraborty, casting director Mukesh Chhabra, actor Mahesh Shetty, Yash Raj Films casting director Shanoo Sharma and actor Sanjana Sanghi, who was Rajput's co-star in Dil Bechaara. Besides Bhansali, police is also expected to record statement from veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who had tweeted about Sushant's death by suicide. Kapur had tweeted, "I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you wept on my shoulder. I wish I was around the last six months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their karma. Not yours." Earlier this month, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abhishek Trimukhe said that the department is investigating every angle, including professional rivalry, behind the actor's suicide. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput, solar eclipse, coronavirus vaccine amongst top searched topics in June: Google North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region raised its emergency threat level Sunday following a confirmed case of bubonic plague. Photo: IC Photo A city in North Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region issued a health warning Sunday after a livestock herder contracted bubonic plague. The health commission of Bayan Nur announced a level three emergency, the second-lowest in a four-tier system. It ordered residents in the city of half a million people to stop hunting, skinning or transporting rodents and other animals known to carry plague, to report fevers of unknown causes, and to report sightings of dead marmots. The patient, who had recently visited an area known to be susceptible to the disease, has been quarantined at Urad Middle Banner hospital in Bayan Nur and is in stable condition, the local health commission said. Plague infections are rare in China but occasionally occur in northern and western regions. The country recorded five plague cases last year, one of which was fatal, according to the National Health Commission. Four people in Inner Mongolia were diagnosed with the disease in November, two of whom had the more serious pneumonic plague. At the time, authorities headed off further cases by ramping up epidemic early-warning systems, medical screenings, and transportation inspections. While the four people infected in Inner Mongolia survived, a separate patient in northwestern Gansu province died of the illness. Previous plague outbreaks in China include one in northwestern Gansu province in 2014 and another in southwestern Yunnan province in 2005. They killed three and two people, respectively. Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which dwells in fleas and rodents. The disease has two main types, bubonic and pneumonic. It mainly transmits through flea bites, contact with bodily fluids and breathing in the respiratory droplets of a person with pneumonic plague. Known during the Middle Ages as Black Death, bubonic plague causes swollen, painful lymph nodes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it kills 30% to 60% of people it infects. Pneumonic plague primarily affects the lungs. It can be contagious and is always fatal if left untreated, according to the WHO. Contact reporter Matthew Walsh (matthewwalsh@caixin.com) Chinese mainland stocks entered a technical bull market after rising more than 25% from the lowest point in March. Meanwhile, the countrys top chipmaker SMIC will raise up to $7.5 billion in the mainlands biggest IPO in a decade. Luckin Coffee Chairman Lu Zhengyao lost in a board fight. By Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) ** TOP STORIES OF THE DAY Mainland chipmaker SMIC to raise up to 53.2 billion yuan in Shanghai listing The Chinese mainlands top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) will raise up to 53.2 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in its upcoming Shanghai listing by offering 1.93 billion shares priced at 27.46 yuan each, according to a company statement released on Sunday. The fundraising figure is more than double the estimated 20 billion yuan in its prospectus, and gives SMIC a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.44 around four times higher than industry counterparts like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Chinas A-share market enters bull market territory The Shanghai Composite Index, a benchmark of the Chinese mainland stock markets, closed up 5.71% on Monday to 3,332.88 after rising for four trading days in a row, reaching its highest point since February 2018. The spike took the index into technical bull territory as it rose 25.39% compared with its recent low in March. Analysts attributed the bullish performance to abundant liquidity from loose monetary policy as policymakers pledged to channel more funds to businesses in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckin Coffee shareholders vote to remove chairman, report says Luckin Coffee Inc. Chairman Lu Zhengyao, also known as Charles Lu, was ousted at a special shareholder meeting Sunday, Bloomberg reported Monday citing local media. Three other directors supporting an independent probe into the coffee chains financial reporting fraud were also removed. Sina considers CEOs buyout bid valuing company at $2.7 billion Sina Corp.s CEO and controlling shareholder, Charles Chao, proposed to take the company private in a deal valuing the Chinese online media company at $2.7 billion, Sina said Monday. New Wave MMXV Ltd., a company controlled by Chao, proposed to buy the shares it doesnt already own for $41 each, or 11.8% above Thursdays closing price of $36.67. BlackRock favors Asia markets closely tied to Chinas recovery BlackRock Inc., the worlds biggest asset manager overseeing $6.47 trillion in global assets, expects stocks and bonds in China and trading partners such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan to do better than global emerging markets over the next six to 12 months. Anxins $7 billion financial scandal prompts policy targeting trust industry A 50 billion yuan financial black hole has been found in the books of Anxin Trust Co. Ltd., once lauded as Chinas most profitable trust company. Anxins collapse has prompted regulators to tighten their grip on Chinas 20 trillion yuan trust industry where billions of dollars of investments have been misappropriated to benefit the biggest shareholders and their affiliates. Inner Mongolia city on alert after reporting case of bubonic plague A city in North Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region issued a health warning Sunday after a livestock herder contracted bubonic plague. The health commission of Bayan Nur announced a level three emergency, the second-lowest in a four-tier system. It ordered residents in the city of half a million people to stop hunting, skinning or transporting rodents and other animals known to carry plague, to report fevers of unknown causes, and to report sightings of dead marmots. Plague infections are rare in China but occasionally occur in northern and western regions. The country recorded five plague cases last year, one of which was fatal, according to the National Health Commission. ** OTHER STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES Finance & Economy HSBC Holdings has hired 100 wealth advisers and is setting up a fintech venture in China as part of a plan to increase operations on the Chinese mainland despite plans to slash as much as 35,000 staff globally. China suspended imports from two more Brazil meat plants amid coronavirus concerns, taking the total number of Brazilian meat factories blocked from exporting to China to six, Reuters reported. The two plants are owned by meatpackers JBS SA and BRF SA. A former director of provincial television station Zhejiang TV has been sentenced to five years in jail and fined 500,000 yuan by a local court for accepting bribes of 4.88 million yuan when making a TV show in 2016, according to a court statement (link in Chinese) released Thursday. Business & Tech Appliance-maker Gree Electric admitted Saturday that it mistakenly submitted the wrong information in its bid to supply equipment to Chinas largest mobile carrier, an error that ended up costing it its share of the 408 million yuan ($52.6 million) contract. China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. announced (link in Chinese) Sunday that it invested 325.8 billion yuan in railway fixed assets in the first half of 2020, up 1.2% over the same period last year. Tech giant Tencent has opened a new studio in California, led by former Rockstar Games veteran Steve Martin, to develop and publish AAA titles as it seeks to move beyond its home China market. Chinese flexible-display maker Royole Corp. is mulling an IPO in China while putting a planned U.S. listing on hold, Bloomberg reported. The company reportedly had previously filed for a U.S.IPO that could raise about $1 billion. ** ON THE CORONAVIRUS The Chinese mainland added four coronavirus cases on Sunday (link in Chinese), including three imported ones and one domestic case in Beijing, according to the National Health Commission. Beijing has reported single-digit numbers of new cases for eight consecutive days, according to the local health commission. The number of the global infections is approaching 11.5 million as of Monday afternoon Beijing time, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of fatalities had surpassed 534,000, with the U.S. number approaching 130,000. Read more Caixins coverage of the new coronavirus ** LOOKING AHEAD July 9: Release of Chinas CPI and PPI data Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and editors Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) and Gavin Cross (gavincross@caixin.com) Read more China Business Digest: Services PMI Notches Biggest Expansion in a Decade; Citic Securities, CSC Financial Again Deny Merger Report Oversupply in Chinas coal industry for the last eight years has prompted Beijing to launch a campaign to weed out many of the nations smaller, less efficient collieries. Sichuans largest coal miner has been forced into bankruptcy by its creditors, becoming one of the sectors largest such cases to date as the industry suffers from prolonged overcapacity. Oversupply in Chinas coal industry for the last eight years has prompted Beijing to launch a campaign to weed out many of the nations smaller, less efficient collieries. While those smaller companies have felt the brunt of the pain, the larger, state-owned Sichuan Coal Industry Group Ltd. Liability Co. joined their ranks last month when a provincial court in the capital city of Chengdu sided with the companys creditors in forcing the miner into bankruptcy reorganization. In a filing to the Shanghai Clearing House on Thursday, Sichuan Coal asked its creditors to report obligations they are owed before Aug. 14. It added it will hold a creditors meeting at a date to be determined in August. One of those creditors, the Sichuan Commercial Investment Group Ltd. Liability Co., holds 207 million yuan ($29.3 million) worth of past-due debt and was one of the entities requesting the bankruptcy reorganization. On June 11, the Chengdu court accepted the application, which showed Sichuan Coal had already defaulted on several billion yuan in debt. The companys financial report showed that last year it had more than 8 billion yuan in overdue debt. In making its decision, the Chengdu court determined Sichuan Coal lacked the ability to repay its debts, but that the company still had value in continuing as an operating entity. At its 2020 annual work review meeting, Sichuan Coals Chairman Jing Hongnian had expressed hope that the company could return to profitability through a reorganization of its debt, its assets and its businesses. Founded in 2005, Sichuan coal is fully owned by the provincial branch of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and is the parent of more than 20 subsidiaries in the local coal industry. Last year it produced 22.74 million tons of raw coal, representing 69% of the total for all of Sichuan province that year. In the industry associations 2019 list of the 50 largest producers, Sichuan Coal was the 33rd largest by revenue and 35th largest by output. The companys troubles are the result of years of losses, partly due to market conditions that have seen low prices due to oversupply dating back to 2012. Over that period, the benchmark Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index sank from a high of 797 yuan per ton to as little as 371 yuan. Among large producers that were relatively better able to weather the downturn, Sichuan Coal was hit harder than most due to the provinces complex geology that makes extracting its coal more costly. As a result, the company went from reporting a modest 24 million yuan loss in 2012 to a 1.62 billion loss in 2016. As the Beijing program to eliminate excess production took effect and coal prices firmed, Sichuan Coal was able to return to profitability in 2017 and 2018. But it slipped back into losses last year and the first quarter of 2020, with losses of 552 million in the former and 415 million in the latter. As its finances deteriorated, the company first defaulted on a super short-term 1 billion yuan note in 2016, and has made numerous other defaults since then. Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com) A green algae bloom has again reached the shoreline of Qingdao, marking the 15th straight year the algae have invaded the eastern Chinese citys waters. On June 12, the local government issued the lowest-level emergency response warning for the bloom. Workers are trying to fight off the algae by placing nets along the coast to prevent it from reaching shore. And when it does, they are using bulldozers to remove it Jun 21, 2021 03:53 PM St. Johnsbury, VT (05819) Today A few showers early with overcast skies later in the day. Cooler. High 66F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. 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 Yanceyville, NC (27379) Today Thunderstorms in the morning will give way to steady rain in the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. FILE - This file booking photo provided by the Rexburg (Idaho) Police Department shows Chad Daybell, who was arrested Tuesday, June 9, 2020, on suspicion of concealing or destroying evidence after local and federal investigators searched his property, according to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office. Court documents say authorities used cellphone information from the now-deceased uncle of two missing Idaho children to find the youths' bodies on a rural property in June 2020. Police found the remains of 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and her brother, 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow, on June 9 after months of searching. Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, are in custody. (Rexburg Police Department via AP, File) A familiar sight could return to Emerald Isle as early as November, as Carteret County went out for bids for another beach nourishment project Thursday. (Carteret County Shore Protection Office photo) Photo: approveme.com/ In May, in response to the global pandemic, the B.C. government issued two emergency orders that suspended in-person execution requirements for: Wills Health representative agreements Enduring power of attorney documents. These emergency orders allow legal professionals to assist their clients, especially seniors and immune-compromised people, who wanted or needed to execute these documents, but couldnt or shouldnt travel from their homes. The orders are tied to the provincial state of emergency and will expire when it is lifted. But in this day and age, when you can sign most other legal documents digitally, why is this only a temporary measure? Well, good news was announced last week by Attorney General David Eby in the form of proposed changes to the provinces legislation governing wills and estates that would make these provisions permanent. This modernization initiative was underway before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has made the reasons for these changes obvious to all British Columbians, Eby said. With this change, lawyers and notaries will no longer have to tell very sick people that there needs to be a personal visit in the hospital, or a court application, before their wishes can be recognized, he added. Similar proposed legislative changes are being looked at across the country based on work by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, which makes recommendations to harmonize and reform laws across the country. This is great news for British Columbians, as well as other provinces that follow suit. A recent survey found that 51% of Canadians dont have a will and it is safe to assume that even fewer have a health representative agreement or enduring power of attorney document. At the same time, the interest in getting ones estate affairs in order has risen dramatically. A Toronto-based online will service reported a 620% increase in sales in early April vs the same time a month before. A similar spike in life insurance applications has been seen during the same period. These very important things that many have been putting off for far too long are finally getting the attention they deserve. Dying without a will risks having your assets distributed according to a provincial formula, which varies across the country. Minor children would go to whoever applies to be the guardian, even if its a relative they didnt like. And pets most often end up in shelters. It typically takes much longer to administer an estate and often leads to arguments among family members. If one good thing comes out of the COVID pandemic, it will be that many people are finally taking the time to get their estate affairs in order. And these proposed changes to legislation will make it that much easier to do so. Photo: Glacier Media Chants of Justice for Mona Wang filled Richmond city centre Saturday as dozens of residents took to the streets in support of a B.C. nursing student and to protest police brutality. Its time for a change, and what happened to Mona Wang shouldnt happen again, said Yoshier Hu, who attended the rally. A surveillance video released late last month shows an RCMP officer in Kelowna dragging Wang a nursing student at UBC Okanagan down the hallway and stepping on her head, during a wellness check at her apartment in January. Hu said she felt heartbroken watching that footage. The pain and trauma Mona experienced impacts the whole community. We hope to see the police paired with health professionals or social workers during future mental wellness checks, said Hu. Its time for the police to be under the supervision of a locally-elected board and police officers should wear bodycams...When the police function without accountability, transparency and respect, the most vulnerable suffers, reads a media release hand out at the rally. Richmond city coun. Chak Au who held a sign reading support the victims, amend the mental health act and safer community said wellness calls should be left to healthcare professionals. The police arent the most ideal and appropriate people to handle mental health crises, we should leave these to our health professionals, he said. Au said British Columbians should urge the provincial government to amend its Mental Health Act, which requires police to conduct wellness checks. In terms of this tragic incident, its not just hurting the local Asian community, it actually hurts all vulnerable individuals. During a news conference about the incident Thursday, chief supt. Brad Haugli of B.C. RCMPs southeast district, said the current policy around wellness checks needs to change. My vision would be that there would be a nurse accompanying every police officer to every mental health call, he said. Haugli has also apologized to Wang. When I first saw the video, [I was] deeply concerned. Im very sorry to Ms. Wang for what occurred. If that was my family member or friend I would have deep concerns and want answers as well. Wang filed a civil lawsuit in March against the RCMP officer in the video, who has since been placed on administrative duties and is facing a code of conduct investigation. Photo: Contributed The pandemic was still just distant thunder when Narender Cheemas 80-year-old mother flew to northern India in January. The milder winter season seemed a good time for the Saanich woman to visit relatives. But then countries began to seal themselves off as COVID-19 spread. Worried, Cheema paid $875 to move his mothers return Air Canada flight from April 28 to March 30, the earliest date he could book. That flight got cancelled when India imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March. Cheema spent $600 rebooking the ticket to April 30 but that flight was cancelled, too. So, with regularly scheduled airline service to Canada suspended, he tried Air India, which was staging some relief flights to Vancouver. No luck. The tickets were gone the moment they were offered. It has been like that ever since, the seats on those rare repatriation flights seemingly snapped up before they go on sale. Cheema says he doesnt care about the lost money. With the temperature rising to a dangerous 45 C and the virus spreading in India, he just wants his elderly mother safe at home. Unfortunately, shes trapped, unable to leave. So are the parents of Cheemas wife, in another part of India. So are maybe 20,000 other citizens and permanent residents of Canada. Cheema says the federal government has to secure our borders against the virus, but it cant just forget about those who have been stranded abroad. Since when have Canadian citizens and permanent residents stopped being relevant because they innocently decided to take a holiday flight well before the acronym COVID had any meaning? he asks. Ottawa has barred entry to foreign nationals, but still has four airports, including Vancouver, accepting international flights so that people can return home to Canada. Global Affairs Canada says that as of July 2, just over 50,000 Canadians will have returned on 583 flights from 109 countries. A total of 154 flights have ferried 19,183 citizens and permanent residents back to Canada from India. Air India offers just a couple of trips a month to Canada, and other Canadians have made their way out of India on unscheduled KLM, Air France and Lufthansa planes to Europe, making connections to Canada from there, but often those flights are limited to Canadian citizens, accepting permanent residents like Cheemas mother, Mahinder Kaur Cheema, only if theyre travelling with young children. There arent enough flights to meet demand, and advocates estimate 20,000 people are waiting. On Friday, Cheema saw a ray of light, with the Times of India reporting that Canada and India are in talks to create a travel bubble in which the airlines of both countries would resume flights between the two. Photo: The Canadian Press RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Duheme points towards a map with timestamps indicating the path of an armed man who breached the gates of Rideau Hall on Thursday. The man charged with ramming a truck through a gate at Rideau Hall last week was armed with two shotguns, a rifle and a revolver, and threatened Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, police say. Newly released court documents add detail to the charges Canadian Forces member Corey Hurren is facing after the incident July 2. Information sworn by an RCMP officer alleges Hurren had with him a prohibited M-14 rifle, plus the shotguns and a revolver made by Hi-Standard. The document says he had a licence for the rifle, which typically means he or a close family member already owned it when the weapon became prohibited, but not for the revolver. The Manitoba resident is also accused of having a prohibited high-capacity magazine without a licence for it. Aside from 21 charges related to the weapons, Hurren is accused of threatening to cause death or bodily harm to the prime minister. Hurren is a reservist in the Canadian Rangers, the military says, who was on full-time duty through the summer under a program meant to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The RCMP say Hurren rammed through a gate at Rideau Hall in Ottawa early last Thursday. They say the truck he was driving broke down not far into the Governor General's official estate, where Trudeau and his family have also been living while 24 Sussex Drive awaits renovations. Hurren allegedly got out and headed in the direction of Trudeau's residence. Police intercepted him and were ultimately able to arrest him without anybody being hurt. Photo: The Canadian Press Amy Cooper called police on bird watching black man. A white woman who called the police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man over walking her dog without a leash in Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false police report. In May, Amy Cooper drew widespread condemnation for frantically calling 911 to claim she was being threatened by an African-American man, bird watcher Christian Cooper. On the video he recorded of the woman, he sounds calm and appears to keep a safe distance from her. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement on Monday that his office had charged Amy Cooper with falsely reporting the confrontation, a misdemeanour. She was ordered to appear in court on Oct. 14. After the backlash, Amy Cooper was fired from her job and released an apology through a public relations service, saying she reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions. He had every right to request that I leash my dog in an area where it was required, she said in the written statement. I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause and would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris. Amy Coopers 911 call inspired New York state lawmakers in June to pass a law that makes it easier under civil rights law to sue an individual who calls a police officer on someone without reason because of their background, including race and national origin. The new law, which the governor also signed last month, holds an individual who makes such 911 calls liable for injunctive relief, damages, or any other appropriate relief in a civil lawsuit. Amy Cooper was charged under an existing false-report law thats been long on the books and doesnt reference race. There was no immediate answer to a message seeking comment on Monday from her lawyer. The confrontation began early one morning when Christian Cooper said he noticed Amy Cooper had let her cocker spaniel off its leash against the rules in the Ramble, a secluded section of Central Park popular with birdwatchers. In the video posted on social media, he claimed the dog was tearing through the plantings and told her she should go to another part of the park. When she refused, he pulled out dog treats, causing her to scream at him to not come near her dog. Amy Cooper also warned him she would summon police unless he stopped recording. Im going to tell them theres an African American man threatening my life, Amy Cooper is heard saying in the video as she pulls down her face mask and struggles to control her dog. Please call the cops, Christian Cooper says. Theres an African American man, Im in Central Park, he is recording me and threatening myself and my dog. Please send the cops immediately! she says during the call before he stops recording. Police say by the time they responded, they were both gone. As swarms of locusts continue to be a menace across the country, the locusts' control authorities in Jaisalmer is using helicopters to spray pesticides on a wide scale. "The helicopter has left for the area where aerial spraying will be done after the pesticide was loaded on it. The use of helicopters will help in managing large areas efficiently. One more helicopter is scheduled to arrive today as well," Dr Rajesh Kumar, Locust Control Officer, Jaisalmer told media reporters here on Saturday. He further said all the people and animals have been evacuated from the locust-infested area. "People residing in those areas have been evacuated and the control of locusts is being done in five areas." The desert locust is a species of locust, a swarming short-horned grasshopper. They are known to devour everything in their path, posing an unprecedented threat to the food supply and livelihoods of millions of people. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, all the groups of locust swarms are being tracked by teams of the state agriculture departments of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, local administrations and officials of the Central Locust Warning Organisation and control operations are underway. (ANI) Also Read: Kolkata: Driver kills woman inside moving taxi after heated argument ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) -- An 8-year-old girl died after she was shot during a night of violence across metro Atlanta. ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) -- The family of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner who was fatally shot over Fourth of July weekend in Atlanta plan to hold a pu Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, or activate your access, to continue reading. Jordanian Cement Factories files for insolvency 06 July 2020 The Jordanian Cement Factories Co has announced that it will file for insolvency on the back of adverse financial conditions, worsening as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Jordan Times. As a result, the company has partially halted sales, collection and production. The companys management had worked on a road map to restructure the company to increase sales, production and operational efficiency. However, the negative economic impact caused by the pandemic has impeded the progress of this plan, according to a statement. Published under BUA Cement plans new 3Mta plant in Adamawa 06 July 2020 Nigerias BUA Cement has announced that it is planning to establish a 3Mta cement facility and 50MW power plant in the Guyuk and Lamurde areas of Adamawa state. While visiting the state governor, Abdul Samad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Cement, reportedly referenced preliminary findings which show that the two areas have good quality limestone deposits and said the company is ready to begin investment in the state. Mr Rabiu noted that the Guyuk plant would be a major investment into the northeast of the country by BUA and requested the support of the governor for the project, according to The Sun. Published under There is a very simple solution to avoid being hurt or killed by the police. All you have to do is comply with the officer. If you feel you have been wrongly stopped, charged, etc. wait until you have your day in court. It's that simple. What would you do? Take a second to put yourself in the officer's shoes when confronting a belligerent, combative person.What would you do? It seems that what has been happening lately in the news with many people being arrested, each one resisted the officer and caused the harm to themselves due to their actions. Always comply with the officer for the desired outcome. Jim Rosenbloom * * * Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her bed as she slept. What exactly was she doing to resist arrest? I'm not sure what sort of fairy tale world you think you live in where low income, Blacks, and people of color get a fair day in court, but it isn't America. Faced with image after image of police abusing their power and a justice system designed to make them disappear, it shouldn't be surprising that even an innocent person being arrested might make a bad, desperate choice. It's not as "simple" as you make it out to be. It's not for police to decide, criminal or not, whether a person suffers or dies. If they think it is, they need to find another job. Ray Ingraham Chattanooga J.R.R Tolkien, who quite famously wrote books like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, made a very astute observation one day before he died almost 50 years ago. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given us. None of us knows when the bell will toll, so my sole responsibility is to squeeze the most and best and brightest out of the time given me and I enjoy every day. Just so youll know, death doesnt scare me at all. I have the faith Im going to a far better place. Because death holds no fear, neither does COVID-19. If I get the Hunan flu, the chances are good Ill croak. My auto-immune system aint real sporty, and the last dance I had with my infections the medicine didnt work. The only option was to chop my leg off. So what? Live for the moment and seize the day, thats my thinking. Dont get me wrong. I wear a face mask everywhere, wash my hands a lot, and believe distancing really helps, but Im not about to get panicky over the pandemic. The only reason I take such precautions is, so I wont inadvertently give the disease to someone else. At the first signs of the disease, I prayed to God in early March, asking that He would encircle me with a thicket of thorns and, while I continue to ask for His grace for my friends, again, I dont give the coronavirus as much as a single thought in any given week. With that said, I need to tell you if I come up missing, one place you might want to check is Eagar, Arizona. Eagar is about five miles west of the New Mexico border and its biggest claim to fame is its proximity to the old Outlaw Highway. Any movie you ever saw about the gunfight at the OK Corral shows Wyatt Earp and his brothers going up against a ruthless band of desperadoes known as the Cowboys. They were a scurrilous bunch led by Johnny Ringo this isnt Hollywood, this is real history and a firebrand in the bunch was Ike Clanton. A big group of outlaws lived in Eagers nearby White Mountains because in the 1880s, when the law would sweep down on the outlaws, they would simply ride into New Mexico or vice versa because government rules decreed that lawmen could not cross state lines. At any rate, Ike Clanton was killed during a gunfight in Eagar (1887), which was nothing compared to the rift between the Cavanaugh and the Snider gangs that left seven dead in 1878. Believe it or not, in the next few days the Eagar cemetery was established on the very land the gunfight had occurred so they wouldnt need to drag the corpses of the dead around. Eagar is in the Arizona high country, about 7,000 feet above sea level, and the states top snow ski resort, Sunrise Park, is less than 30 miles to the west. But the best story of all comes from a very direct letter that the current mayor of Eagar just sent out to the towns 5,000 citizens. Lord have mercy what I wouldnt give if Eagar Mayor Bryce would bring his common sense and his direct voice to our White House. This echoes my sentiments exactly: * * * THE MAYORS LETTER: DEAR CITIZENS OF EAGAR, ARIZONA Dear Citizens of Eagar, Over the past several weeks I have been asked repeatedly what the Town of Eagar plans to do about Covid19, masks, visitors, riots, etc. It is somewhat alarming how many expect and almost invite a more drastic infringement on their freedoms. My response from the onset of the Covid19 pandemic has been that we will err on the side of freedom. When riots began to riddle the country and our governor took the drastic measure of a statewide curfew, again, I maintained that we will err on the side of freedom. I have received numerous phone calls from reporters, citizens, visitors, and complete strangers to our area asking why the Town of Eagar has not cancelled upcoming rodeos and our 4th of July parade. Again, my response is that Eagar will err on the side of freedom. What authority does the Town of Eagar, or any other state or local government, have to infringe on the rights of healthy law-abiding citizens? It bares mentioning that I am not one that believes that the coronavirus is fake or any one of a dozen other theories disseminating across the internet. Covid19 is a real virus that unfortunately has drastic negative effects on the health of some of the individuals that contract it. Just as with the flu virus, some of those individuals will die. I do not make light of the fact that its effects on individuals and families throughout the globe have been and will continue to be life changing and/or life ending. There are many individuals that risk serious peril if they were to contract the virus. Those individuals should take extreme precautions. I certainly would, were I in their position. In fact, I would invite those individuals to please stay home and not attend our festivities. But dont ask that the government require it of healthy law-abiding citizens. If an individual is fearful of contracting the virus, I would invite that individual to take every precaution they deem fit, including wearing masks, gloves, or a variety of other personal protective equipment. Those precautions do not harm me, and I will not judge you adversely for doing what you feel is best for you. But dont ask that the government require it of healthy law-abiding citizens. As grim as Covid19 is portrayed under the most drastic scenario, I dare say that we are facing a much more serious pandemic here in America. We are currently in the midst of the nations first political pandemic. * -- Never before in the history of America has ignorance and bigotry been more celebrated. * -- Never before has our government been more eager and willing to take away freedoms from the citizenry. * -- Never before has the citizenry been more willing to give them up. Benjamin Franklin warned that Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. I believe his warning is as applicable today as it ever was. Some will say that these safety measures have not impacted individual liberty. To them I would quip Thomas Jefferson: If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The right to move about freely in public is one of the cornerstones of American democracy. In a panicked frenzy, created by the media, state and local governments trampled that right wholesale. History will not judge us kindly for our actions over the past several months. In closing, where would America be if our ancestors that pioneered the countryside, facing a mortality rate that would make the coronavirus look like a scratch, had simply given up, turned back, or laid down and died out of fear? Where would America be if its brave service men and women, who throughout history have on occasion faced odds of almost certain death, simply refused to fight out of fear? When did we stop being the land of the free and the home of the brave? Take charge of your own life. Nobody owes you anything. The government has never been more ill equipped to solve your problems nor is it its function to do so. This is America! Stand up and be somebody. Be brave and live free. /s/ Mayor Bryce Hamblin Town of Eagar * * * A pandemic of lousy politics? You betcha! I stand with Mayor Hamblin. royexum@aol.com NEWS PROVIDED BY Catholic League July 6, 2020 NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue (photo) comments on the status of Catholicism in California: Anti-Catholicism is sweeping California. Attacks on Catholic statues, public complaints about Catholics attending Mass, the selective enforcement of executive orders on religious gatherings, and politicians seeking to intimidate priests and bishops, are commonplace. A mob of anti-Catholics celebrated the 4th of July by destroying a statue of St. Junipero Serra in Sacramento, the state's capitol. The statue was set on fire and smashed with sledgehammers. Though Serra did more to defend the rights of Indians in the 18th century against Spanish colonizers than all the protesters have ever done for American Indians today, Serra is a demon. That is why statues of him were previously destroyed in San Francisco and Los Angeles. What's feeding this frenzy? Citing COVID-19 concerns, restrictive measures on religious gatherings have been mandated throughout the state. The tone has been set by politicians: There is one rule for people of faith and another for protesters. This has not been lost on the anti-Catholics. Protesters by the thousands, many of them violent, have been allowed to march in big cities across California--without a permit--as public health officials and politicians said nary a word. According to the New York Times, 1,300 epidemiologists and health workers from across the nation recently signed a letter saying that those who protested stay-at-home orders were "rooted in white nationalism and run contrary to respect for Black Lives Matter." But when it comes to the protesters, they said, "we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for Covid-19 transmission. We support them as vital to the national public health." The mayor of Sacramento, Darrell Steinberg, shares the same position. He said in late May that he supported the Sacramento City Council's refusal to impose a curfew after two nights of violence and looting. He contended that it would be useless to do so because "those who are perpetrating looting and violence would probably ignore the curfew anyway." But in early April he said it may be permissible to have the police disperse church-goers if they assembled in prayer. Meanwhile, public officials in San Francisco are now doing a headcount of Catholics attending Mass. The San Francisco city attorney, Dennis Herrera, says he has received complaints that more than 12 Catholics have been seen at a Mass. He sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Archdiocese of San Francisco ordering it to stop indoor religious services. Herrera did not say whether he has done a headcount of Protestants going to church, Jews going to synagogues, or Muslims going to mosques. But we do know that his office is fielding complaints from the public that one Catholic church actually held six Masses in one day! Why Herrera did not send in a SWAT team remains a puzzle. We know who is contacting Herrera's office, and we know they are not public health fanatics. Moreover, we wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of them were among the 1,300 doctors and health care workers who signed the letter giving the protesters a pass while condemning everyone else who refused to abide by their highly politicized directives. Chinese President Xi Jinping has apparently decided that this is the right time to assert dominance and territorial expansionism when the global economies are reeling with the side-effects of a deadly pandemic outbreak, but instead of just rolling over, a growing number of nations are fighting back, the New York Post reported. New Delhi raising of tariffs on Chinese goods, restricting Chinese investments and banning TikTok as well as 58 other Chinese apps from Indian phones is one of the latest in the bid to demonstrate that India, for one, is clearly not intimidated by China's growing hawk policies. Not only this, but many Indians are also now boycotting "Made in China" products, a task made easier because online retailers like Amazon have been ordered by New Delhi to tell buyers where products are made. The respective developments from the Indian side came in response to China's unprovoked attack against Indian border personnel at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh on June 15, as a result of which the world's largest democracy had moved some 30,000 troops to the Himalayan border to counter any further provocative actions by the Communist Party regime, according to the New York Post. Meanwhile, the people of the Philippines are up in arms over China's expansionism into areas of the South China Sea claimed by Manilla after a Philippine fishing boat sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. When anti-US President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, he initially ignored popular sentiment and announced a "pivot to Beijing" on the promise of USD 24 billion in Chinese investments. Four years later, all that has changed. With the Chinese Navy sailing ever closer to Philippine shores and few Chinese projects in progress, Duterte has reversed his earlier decision to terminate his country's Visiting Forces Agreement with the US. Given a choice between having American or Chinese naval vessels anchored in Subic Bay, the decision was pretty obvious. In addition to this, the world has been a witness to how the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong were beaten by the city's riot police on Beijing's orders after the Asian giant passed the national security law, further restricting the privileged freedom of the semi-autonomous region, the New York Post reported. The sight of the 7.3 million free people of Hong Kong being crushed under the heel of the Chinese Communist Party regime is one the world will not easily forget. It has already prompted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to offer British citizenship to three million Hong Kongers, not to mention take a tougher line toward China itself. Huawei, for example, can kiss its 5G business in the UK goodbye. Now the interesting twist in the tale comes after knowing that China has also taken a toll on Australia, an island continent in the far south and also a part of the Asia Pacific. Australia's farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions after Canberra which suggests that the virus, which came out of China, may have come from there. Also, to counter the recent surge in cyberattacks, Canberra has promised to recruit at least 500 cyberwarriors, bolstering the country's online defences. Meanwhile, an astonishing 94 per cent of Australians say they want to begin decoupling their economy from China's. The same story is being repeated around the globe. From Sweden to Japan to Czechia, more and more nations are coming to understand China's mortal threat to the postwar democratic and capitalist world order. "Xi Jinping and the Communist Party that he leads have so badly overplayed their hand that they have, in a mere six months, accomplished what Donald Trump could not in almost four years: They have unified the world against China. And communist leader Xi has only himself to blame for the brazen move," the report said. On Wednesday, the US Congress unanimously voted to sanction China for its new security law that would effectively nullify Hong Kong's legal system and put Beijing in charge. "But America cannot fight China alone. And now, thanks to Xi's aggressive policies, the United States won't have to fight the war alone," according to the report. -ANI Also Read: Coronavirus: Brazil reports over 1.6 million cases; death toll at 64,867 Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) have introduced legislation "to combat illegal immigration fraud and eliminate loopholes in birthright citizenship that are being exploited by foreign nationals." The Ban Birth Tourism Act will amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and ban birth tourism as a permissible basis for obtaining a temporary visitor visa. Over the last two decades, birth tourism has grown to be a sizable industry. Each year tens of thousands of people exploit this immigration law loophole. Our nations citizenship is not for sale to those who pay to come here and give birth, said Senator Blackburn. Citizenship is for those who love our great country and want to contribute to and preserve freedom not those parachuting in to obtain a second citizenship so they may come back whenever they please. For decades, America has felt the repercussions of a failed, outdated immigration system that has rewarded those who abuse our nations compassion, said Senator Loeffler. The practice of foreign nationals traveling to the United States to secure automatic and permanent citizenship for their children by giving birth on American soil must end. Through the Ban Birth Tourism Act, we are closing a glaring legal loophole, reducing an undue and unfair burden on our Southern border towns and protecting the integrity of our immigration system. The senators said, "The Ban Birth Tourism Act codifies the U.S. Department of States January 2020 rule change to prohibit the issuance of visas for birth tourists. Birth tourism is a multi-million dollar industry in which businesses aid pregnant foreigners in obtaining birthright citizenship for their newborn. These firms often serve wealthy Russian and Chinese nationals and charge foreign clients thousands of dollars for advice on how to lie to immigration officers. Over 20,000 birth tourists come to the U.S. annually. From 2008 to 2012, the number of birth tourists coming from China to the U.S. increased from 4,200 to 10,000. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 19 birth tourism operators and clients in California for immigration fraud, money laundering, and identity theft." A camping package which includes 10 nights lodging for any Tennessee State Park is one of the packages available for a winner in the 2020 Tennessee Conservation Raffle sponsored by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation. The camping package is one of the seven, priceless outdoor experiences available to win this year. ennessee State Parks were recognized as one the top four state park systems in the nation in 2019. The winner of this package will receive a voucher for lodging for any Tennessee State Park that offers lodging and nights can be used consecutively or nonconsecutively. This includes hotels, inns, and cabin rentals. The voucher would be subject to availability. T In addition to the camping trip, the winner will receive a Bass Pro Shops gift card valued at $1,000 that can be used for online purchases, catalog orders, and purchases at any Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas retail store. Also included is a Chef Woodwind WiFi 24 Pellet Grill. It is a featured product of Chef Woodwinds new line of grills. Formerly known as the Elk Tag Raffle, this years Conservation Raffle has opportunities for everyone whether a hunter, fisherman, camper, or lover of the outdoors. One hundred percent of the funds from the raffle goes to support wildlife habitat restoration. In addition to the camping package, other packages available this year include an elk hunting package including a tag to participate in the 2020 Tennessee elk hunt; a fishing package which includes a day of fishing with the legendary Bill Dance; deer hunting package including a deer hunt on Presidents Island with crossbow and gear; off-road package with a 2020 Honda Pioneer UTV; turkey hunting package including gun and participation in the Governors One Shot Turkey Hunt; and a waterfowl hunting package. All the packages feature additional items and a complete list of the prizes can be found at https://raffle.twrf.net/. A single ticket is $20, three tickets for $50, and 10 for $100 and are on sale now until Aug. 16. There is no limit to the number of raffle tickets that can be purchased and the more tickets you buy, the better opportunity you have of grabbing one of the packages. Raffle tickets may be purchased online directly at https://raffle.twrf.net/. The winning tickets will be drawn live this year at the August meeting of the commission which will be held in Kingsport. The seven winners will be drawn for the seven great packages. The first person drawn will get to select the prize package they prefer. The next person drawn will select their package and the process will continue until all seven packages are selected. TWRF is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting habitat conservation, responsible land stewardship, and Tennessee's hunting and fishing heritage for the benefit of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee's outdoor enthusiasts. For 2020 only, the Tennessee General Assembly has approved two sales tax holiday weekends to help Tennesseans save money and support the economy amid the COVID- 19 pandemic. The first tax-free holiday weekend focuses on clothing and other back-to-school items. It begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 31, and ends Sunday, Aug. 2, at 11:59 p.m. During this time, consumers may purchase clothing, school supplies and computers and other qualifying electronic devices without paying sales tax. Certain price restrictions apply. For school supplies and clothing, the threshold for qualifying items is $200 or less. For computers and other electronics, the price threshold is $3,000 or less. Download the list of tax-exempt items here. Exempt items sold online are also eligible. Consumers must purchase items for personal use, not business or trade. The second sales tax holiday weekend focuses on restaurant sales. It begins at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 7 and ends Sunday, Aug. 9, at 11:59 p.m. During this time the retail sale of food and drink by restaurants and limited service restaurants, as defined in Tenn. Code Ann. 57-4-102, is exempt from sales tax. "The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense economic strain on Tennessee families. These sales tax holidays will allow them to keep more of their hard-earned money and support Tennessee businesses," said Governor Bill Lee. We want to remind everyone about these opportunities for tax relief, Revenue Commissioner David Gerregano said. Its a good opportunity to save money during these difficult times. For more information about the sales tax holiday weekends, visit www.tntaxholiday.com. You can also read frequently asked questions, as well as this notice. Wearing a mask in public is now mandatory in Hamilton County. Mayor Jim Coppinger announced this during his Monday press conference at the Golley Auditorium. Non-compliance can be punished by a $50 fine or 30 days in jail. This afternoon, after much thought and consideration and consultation, Ive asked Dr. Paul Hendricks to mandate the wearing of facial coverings. This mandate will be effective on Friday the 10th at 12:01 a.m. The decision is due to the increase in the number of active cases that we have, the hospitalizations in our community, and the number of patients in the ICU. The county mayor said he hoped that by taking this action, the number of cases will be minimized. He also said that by mandating facial coverings, it would make businesses more successful by making the wearing of masks uniform in all stores and businesses. Mayor Coppinger also brought up schools during his press conference. Concerning enforcement, Sheriff Jim Hammond said he was studying the mandate before commenting. Bill Hagerty, candidate for U.S. Senate, said, Tennesseans are tired of mandates. Period. They do not need the government telling them what to do. I trust the good people of Tennessee to make the right decisions for themselves." County Mayor Coppinger said, Our county cannot afford another interruption, and I ask your help in avoiding one. We want to help our public school students by opening our schools on time, said the mayor. Our students need to attend schools face to face with their teachers, interact with their classmates, and have the whole experience of growing up. But our only chance of doing this is to minimize the spread of this extremely contagious disease and virus that is in our county. After this, County Mayor Coppinger advocated for social distancing by staying six or more feet apart from one another. In addition to this, he also asked for residents to maintain proper personal hygiene by washing hands. Obviously, this was an extremely difficult decision, and its not a comfortable position to be in, but we know its the right thing to do, said the mayor. None of us should stand by and allow this horrific virus to spread throughout our cities and counties and neighborhoods and families. Lets protect each other by wearing these face coverings and masks. Dr. Paul Hendricks said several scientific studies show masks significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. He said that until a vaccine is available, wearing masks will just be a part of everyday life. If we want to keep our economy open and protect ourselves and each other, especially the most vulnerable, we need to do a few simple things, said Dr. Hendricks, who repeated the oft-said guidelines. This is not too much to ask. Health department administrator Becky Barnes said there are now 2,909 cumulative positive cases, and 38 new ones today. 1,933 of those have recovered, but currently contact-tracers are monitoring 941 people with COVID-19. Ms. Barnes said 55 COVID patients are in the countys hospitals, and 17 of those are in ICU. She said 35 county residents have died as a result of COVID-19, with 29 having underlying conditions. County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said he hoped that people will comply with the mandate. The attorney said noncompliance is a class C misdemeanor. A class-C misdemeanor is punishable by a $50 fine or 30 days incarcerated for anyone who has violated this, said Att. Taylor. The mayor said he has recently spoken with Sheriff Hammond about enforcing it. However, he said the county does not want to be heavy-handed with punishment. Mayor Coppinger said each of the law enforcement agencies around the county are on the same page. The idea is not to go out and enforce it, the idea is for people to just comply, said the mayor. But if there are people who just refuse to comply, we have this directive in place. Mayor Coppinger said there are places in the county where wearing a mask is not required. Examples he gave was being at home walking a dog, or being outside, or walking where there is no one around. He also said that wearing masks in restaurants are not required, as they would need to eat and drink. Me wearing this mask not only protects you from me, but also me from you, said the mayor as he held up a mask. Ive heard all the arguments and gotten emails and heard the anger from both sides. Click here for the directive. Country music and Southern Rock legend Charlie Daniels has passed. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member died Monday morning at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tn. Doctors determined the cause of death was a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days. Senator Lamar Alexander said, "Charlie Daniels could make his fiddle and everybody else jump at the same time. He was a big-hearted music man with many friends. I was lucky to be one of them. "His fans will miss him and 50 years of the Volunteer Jam. Honey and I send our sympathy to Charlies family. From his Dove Award-winning gospel albums to his genre-defining southern rock anthems and his CMA Award-winning country hits, few artists have left a more indelible mark on America's musical landscape than Charlie Daniels. An outspoken patriot, beloved mentor, and a true road warrior, Daniels parlayed his passion for music into a multi-platinum career and a platform to support the military, underprivileged children, and others in need. The Charlie Daniels Band has long populated radio with memorable hits and his signature song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Over the course of his career, Daniels received numerous accolades, including his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame and becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Daniels helped to shine the spotlight on the many causes that are close to his heart. He was a staunch supporter of the military and gave his time and talent to numerous charitable organizations, including The Journey Home Project, that he founded in 2014 with his manager, David Corlew, to help veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The Tennessee Supreme Court in a unanimous decision has held that acquitted-act evidence, evidence of a prior act for which a defendant was acquitted in a previous trial, may be used against that defendant in a subsequent trial if it meets the requirements of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b). This decision explicitly overrules the prior Tennessee Supreme Court case of State v. Holman, which prohibited the use of acquitted-act evidence under all circumstances. Generally, the State is not permitted to use evidence at trial of a defendants prior bad act for the purpose of showing the defendants character or actions in conformity with the charged crime. Rule 404(b) permits the use of such evidence under limited circumstances but only if the trial court determines, among other factors, that the evidence is relevant to prove some other material issue in the case. When the defendant, Steve Jarman, was tried for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Shelley Heath, the State sought to introduce evidence of a prior alleged assault by the defendant against Ms. Heath to prove the defendants intent and motive to commit first-degree murder. The defendant already had been tried and acquitted of that alleged assault by a jury. Following a hearing, the trial court permitted the State to present the evidence through testimony of the officer who responded to the scene of the alleged assault and Ms. Heaths brother, who claimed to have witnessed the event. The trial court determined that the evidence of the prior act was clear and convincing, relevant to prove the defendants intent or motive in the present case, and the prejudicial effect of the evidence did not outweigh its probative value. After the State presented the evidence, defense counsel introduced Ms. Heaths testimony from the prior trial in which she testified that she lied to the responding office and that the defendant never hit her, and defense counsel made comments on cross-examination and during closing argument alluding to the defendants acquittal. Defense counsel did not request a jury instruction regarding the acquitted-act evidence. The jury convicted the defendant of voluntary manslaughter, and the defendant appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that, under State v. Holman, it was reversible error for the trial court to permit the evidence of the alleged assault to be used against the defendant because he was acquitted of that offense at a previous trial. The court reversed the defendants convictions and remanded the case for a new trial. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted the States permission to appeal to reconsider the rule in State v. Holman, which categorically banned the use of acquitted-act evidence against a defendant at trial. In a unanimous opinion, authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the Tennessee Supreme Court overruled State v. Holman and reversed the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The decision to part from its prior precedent brings Tennessee in line with the majority of state jurisdictions across the country. The Court held that the procedural and substantive requirements of Rule 404(b) must be used to assess the admissibility of acquitted-act evidence on a case-by-case basis, and, in nearly all cases, the defendant should be permitted to admit evidence of the acquittal to the jury. The Court determined that Rule 404(b) gives trial judges the necessary framework to ensure that the acquitted-act evidence meets the threshold for relevance and does not cause undue prejudice to the defendant while balancing the jurys need to have all the necessary information to make decisions about the facts of the case. Additionally, the Court explained that the trial court must instruct the jury about the limited purpose for which the acquitted-act evidence may be considered, upon request by the defendant. Because the Court overruled State v. Holman, it held that it was not reversible error for the trial court to have admitted the acquitted-act evidence at the defendants trial for first-degree murder. The Court also concluded that any error regarding the trial courts failure to give a jury instruction was waived because the defendant did not request an instruction at any point. To read the unanimous opinion in State v. Jarman, authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, visit the opinions section of TNCourts.gov. 90 Day Fiance fans know Asuelu Pulaa for his mild-mannered and easygoing personality. But viewers saw another side to him in the July 5 episode of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? At one point in the program, Pulaa got into an argument with Faagata that grew increasingly heated as time went on. Amid the back-and-forth, he started shouting at his wife and even cursed her out, triggering a wave of reactions on social media. Kalani and Asuelu of 90 Day Fiance | kalanifaagata via Instagram Asuelu Pulaa and Kalani Faagatas relationship The couple met in 2016 when Faagata was vacationing in Pulaas native Samoa. Pulaa had been working at the resort where Faagata stayed when they crossed paths and hit it off. Faagata started traveling to the country more and more to see Pulaa and soon became pregnant with their son, Oliver, who was born in late 2018. After settling in Utah, the pair went on to get married and had another son, Kennedy, in 2019. Asuelu Pulaa and Kalani Faagata have been clashing on the show Faagata has often complained that Pulaa doesnt help her enough around the house, especially when it comes to their kids. Meanwhile, Pulaa tends to grouch about Faagatas parents living with them. Pulaa has been even more agitated because he wants to visit home with his family, but Kalani has refused due to a measles outbreak in Samoa. They instead decided to take a trip to California, but tensions arose during the car ride. As Oliver started to cry, Pulaa moved to comfort him before remarking how easy it is to care for him. Asked if he thought all womens jobs were easy or just his wifes, he said, Womens job. The remark clearly irritated Faagata, but Pulaa wasnt done. He went on to say that American women have it easier because they have machines to do everything while Samoan women are more traditional and do things without complaints. Faagata then called him out for not helping more with their kids, causing him to call her a lying b*tch. He also criticized the sound of her voice, calling it so f*cking annoying. The situation died down as Faagatas mom got involved, but the couple fought again when they reached their destination. Faagata called Pulaa a manipulator, but he didnt want to hear any of her expensive words and stormed away. Reactions to Asuelu Pulaas argument with Kalani Faagata Twitter users were extremely critical of the argument. One fan seemed totally shocked by it, sharing a tweet that said, Asuelu really verbally abused Kalani for ten minutes straight, culminating in him calling her a lying b*tch Im about to go through my TV and beat his f*cking a**. Another argued, Asuelu is a real piece of work. And by that, i mean hes a real sexist piece of sh*t, while a third fan said, This scene with Kalani and Asuelu makes me want to get out of the car and Im not even in the car. This scene with Kalani and Asuelu makes me want to get out of the car and I'm not even in the car #90DayFiance #90DayFianceHappilyEverAfter pic.twitter.com/Icydu7FJrJ Gossip Girl (@RealiteaTV1) July 6, 2020 But others werent so quick to judge. Someone else noted, The man child was raised in Samoa, a remote island nation with a population of less than 200,000. He knows nothing about the real world. She went there, a virgin, met him, got pregnant and then brought him to USA. Is it any wonder he has no idea. They are both completely crazy. Another fan echoed that, writing, She annoys me because she KNOWS the culture difference like bro he grew up in Samoa where things are different. YOU decided to have TWO babies with him and NOW decide to teach him and make him understand YOUR VALUES! Give me a break. Oof. Well stay tuned to 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? to see what happens from here. TLCs 90 Day Fiance has such a cult-like following that the reality show consistently spawns new spinoffs, including 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days. The show, one of a whopping seven spinoffs, is currently in its fourth season and features Ed Big Ed Brown and his fiance Rosemarie Rose Vega, a controversial couple people either love or hate or love to hate. Fans even celebrities, according to Marie Claire find Big Ed and Rose wildly entertaining for many reasons, including their many memorable moments and one-liners. Some are catchy enough that they end up going viral, made into memes, and even inspiring TikTok videos. What is 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days? RELATED: 90 Day Fiance Fans Are Furious Big Ed and Rosemarie Vegas Pay Gap on TLC Series According to the shows official page on TLCs website, cameras Follow couples who have an existing relationship online, but havent met in person. Well experience their journey as they travel to the others foreign country for the first time in an attempt to establish an in-person relationship and start the K-1 visa process. This differs slightly from the original 90 Day Fiance, which follows couples who have already met and have started or are in the process of acquiring their K-1 visas. Season four of Before The 90 Days follows eight couples as they meet for the first time, including Big Ed and Rose. The couple, who have a 31-year age gap between them, spent three months chatting via FaceTime before their real-life meeting in the Philippines airport. Who is Big Ed? 54-year old Big Ed Brown is a photographer and architectural interior designer from San Diego. His nickname is ironic since Big Ed stands just 411, which is a central aspect of the show. He initially lied to Rose about his height and has been very vocal about being picked on for it throughout his life. According to Heavy, Big Ed was single for the 28 years prior to meeting Rose via Facebook. His first marriage ended after just two years because he was unfaithful, but he and his ex-wife do have a 29-year old daughter, Tiffany. Dishonesty seems to be something Big Ed is all too familiar with, because on top of cheating on his first wife and lying to Rose about his height, he also reportedly filed bankruptcy twice before meeting her, but never disclosed that. Unlikely doppelgangers Big Ed | TLC Whether youre a Big Ed fan or not, you have to admit that hes memorable. Recently a Twitter user wrote, someone said Addison Rae and Big Ed look alike []. Another Tweet a few days later share the sentiment and fans agree, with one replying He could pass as her Dad and another writing, shes gorgeous but yeah, she does look like him. someone said addison rae and big ed look alike and i cant stop thinking about it pic.twitter.com/8i6RZ1fhV9 kaylea grace (@kayleavance) June 22, 2020 Although this may seem incredibly random, it didnt come out of nowhere. Addison Rae is a famous TikToker who recently posted a video spoofing an interaction between Big Ed and Rose from the show. In the now-viral clip, the couple is sitting poolside and Rose says, I like the view. Big Ed responds, You do? to which Rose says yes. Then, Big Ed drops a cheesy, Youre my best view, and Rose replies with Meh, which fans evidently millions of them found hilarious. As of the time of this writing, Addison Raes TikTok video has been viewed 48.4 million times and has over 7 million likes. Who is Addison Rae? So, just who is Big Eds unlikely lookalike? Addison Rae is one of the most influential people on TikTok, with over 48.6 million followers. Shes a member of the TikTok Hype House and is known for being cheeky and outspoken, far more likely to perform elaborately choreographed dances, and make silly faces than pose provocatively. And of course, shes now also known for looking like someone who could be Big Eds daughter. 90 Day Fiance star Colt Johnson might have split from his Brazilian ex-wife, Larissa Dos Santos Lima, but he quickly moved on with another Brazilianau pair Jess Caroline. On the fifth season of TLCs 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After, Colt and Jess had a whirlwind romance, ending in Jess invitation for Colt (and even his mom, Debbie Johnson) to visit her and her family in Brazil. On the July 5 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After episode, Colt and Debbie had a farewell dinner with his friend, Vanessa Guerra, before their trip. Colt revealed how he met Vanessa, as well as why Jess didnt want him to speak to her any longer. 90 Day Fiance fans immediately chimed in and couldnt help noticing that Colts friend closely resembled his ex-wife, Larissa. Colt Johnson | Bryan Steffy/WireImage RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Larissa Dos Santos Lima Misses Her Sex Life With Colt Johnson Colt explained that he met Vanessa while he was still married to Larissa During Colts weekend getaway to Chicago to visit his new girlfriend, Jess, the couple argued about his friendship with a mystery woman named Vanessa. Jess wondered if Colt might be hiding something about the woman who frequently called and texted her boyfriend. But Vanessa was far from a mystery during a recent episode of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After. In fact, Vanessa was planning to watch Debbie and Colts cats while they were away in Brazil. As Colt and his mom prepared for Vanessa to arrive for a steak dinnerand a few shotsat their Las Vegas home, the 90 Day Fiance star explained that he actually met his friend before his divorce from Larissa. I met Vanessa during the last few months of my marriage to Larissa, he revealed. We started talking online. And eventually, we decided to meet at a casino, and we just hit it off. The 90 Day Fiance star admitted he was lying to his girlfriend about his friendship with Vanessa Debbie and Vanessa greeted each other before dinner with a familiarity shed never shared with Larissa. And as for Jess, Colt wasnt happy with his girlfriends jealousy over his close friend. Jess has never met Vanessa. She doesnt even understand who Vanessa is, the 90 Day Fiance star said. And shes so jealous of her. After meeting Jess friendsall of whom warned her about the possibility that Colt might be cheating on her, at least emotionally, with Vanessa back in Las VegasColt promised his girlfriend that he would stop talking to Vanessa right away. But, he revealed, he intended to do no such thing. I told Jess I wouldnt talk to Vanessa anymore, and it feels wrong to lie to Jess, the 90 Day Fiance star explained. But Vanessa is my best friend, and shes been there a lot longer than Jess has. Even 90 Day Fiance producers seemed to wonder if Colt and Vanessa had ever been an item. One asked him, Have you and Vanessa ever been more than just friends? Colt replied merely with a long pause and an evasive side glance. 90 Day Fiance fans thought Larissa and Vanessa were lookalikes Under TLCs Instagram post about the episode, 90 Day Fiance fans piped up to suggest that Colt might just have a type. After all, they claimed, Larissa and Vanessa bore a certain resemblance to each other. She kinda looks like Larissaaaaa lol, one Instagram user wrote. Vanessa looks a little like Larissa, another viewer agreed. Fans immediately chimed in to agree with the sentiment. I thought she was her! one viewer exclaimed. At first glance, I actually thought Vanessa was Larissa, another 90 Day Fiance fan agreed. Looks like hes got a type, one commenter argued. Other fans argued that Colt seemed romantically interested in Vanessa. He looks suspicious when she mentioned Vanessas nameI think hes doing something with her, one commenter speculated. Still others wondered why Colt and Vanessa werent an item already. She seems like a nice normal woman, one 90 Day Fiance viewer pointed out. Why not stick with her instead of these crazies he messes with. Chrissy Teigen is one celebrity who is not afraid to speak her voice. She rose to fame as a model, though these days, Teigen is known for being a prominent figure on social media. Teigen has been using her platform to speak out about issues such as postpartum depression, beauty standards, and privilege. Fans might also know Teigen is not afraid to speak out when she sees injustice. Recently, Teigen showed this side of herself when she decided to call out American Airlines for its recent actions. Chrissy Teigen | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Chrissy Teigen is very vocal on social media Teigen has a big presence on social media. She often tweets throughout her day to share thoughts with fans. Additionally, Teigen also posts many pictures of herself and her family on Instagram. Her followers seem to enjoy her sense of humor and her no-nonsense approach to imparting information. Some of the things Teigen has been known to do on social media include clapping back at haters, giving fans insights into her life as a celebrity, being real about how imperfect her life is. Of course, she also uses social media to inspire change in the world. For example, she donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to helping bail out protesters involved in the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Teigen once slammed Donald Trump and Mike Pence for their comments about COVID-19 testing RELATED: Chrissy Teigen Gets Cruelly Body Shamed on Twitter But Has an Empowering Answer to Trolls In March 2020, fans saw that Teigen was not having it after Donald Trump and Mike Pence made negative comments about COVID-19 testing. Pence said at a White House press briefing, The test was very quick, but it goes a fair amount up into your sinuses and its not comfortable. That is probably a good opportunity to say again to any American looking on, if you do not have symptoms you do not need a test. Meanwhile, Trump said at a press conference that the test was not very nice to do and not a lot of fun to take. Teigen, who also had a COVID-19 test done herself in preparation for a surgery, took to social media to slam Trump and Pence for complaining about minor discomfort with a test that is meant to be done for public safety. Teigen compared their experience to her own one of giving birth. My vagina was ripped to my a**hole giving birth to Luna. I had a vaga**hole. F*ck your swab pain, Teigen wrote. She also added, They had to put a garbage bag at the end of the bed to collect my blood before stitching me up, where I then had to pee using a water bottle as a pain fountain for 3 months. so yeah. the swab, I bet its super rough. Why did Teigen call out American Airlines recently? RELATED: Chrissy Teigen Has It All But Her Pre-Fame Struggles Are Devastating Teigen recently decided to call out American Airlines for a COVID-19-related issue. The company announced in early July that it would start filling up planes at full capacityup from the 85 percent cap it had previously implemented. After Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley posted a picture of himself on a packed American Airlines flight, Teigen chimed in with harsh words for the company. Not to be dramatic but American Airlines only cares about money and doesnt care if you get sick and die, she said on Twitter. An American Airlines spokesperson told People the company is unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members. They also noted customers now have flexibility to change their travel plans should they not want to board flights that are crowded. Leida Margaretha and Eric Rosenbrook were embroiled in drama during their season of 90 Day Fiance. But, according to them, their time filming didnt start out that way. Eric and Leida of 90 Day Fiance | Instagram @_aicohen In an interview the couple did with The Domenick Nati Show on July 4, they said that, when they first began filming their season, the producers of the show told them their scenes were so boring and didnt bring enough energy. Eric says 90 Day Fiance producers threaten[ed] him to get the footage they wanted Eric and Leida said they were often kept filming until producers got the footage they wanted. So the interviews when youre sitting in the chair, youre sitting in that chair for 12 hours. Literally, youll go all night if they dont get what they want. Because you go through questions and they ask you different ways, said Eric. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: How Ariela Really Feels about Returning to Ethiopia to Be with BiniyamMy Excitement Is Slowly Dissipating During the Instagram Live interview with Nati, a fan asked Eric and Leida if they felt they had a good and fair experience with TLC. During it they treat you pretty good except for when they threaten you if you dont give them what they want, said Eric. He feels that, though the show is not scripted, the storylines are very much controlled by producers. They dont script, but they produce. So they will create scenarios. They will create situations, he said. Eric and Leida are their own least favorite 90 Day Fiance couple When asked which 90 Day Fiance couple was their least favorite, Eric and Leida said, based on the edit they received, themselves. We hate ourselves. Im being serious. I hate myself! Every time I see myself on the show I look like either a pig or an a**hole, said Leida. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Big Ed Brown Talks About Being Hospitalized After a Girl Threw a Brick at His Head Eric explained why he appeared to be so sweaty during filming. Im like a sweaty pig because they had us turn off the air conditioning. I get, you know, the noise. Its loud, and its in the background. But it was in the middle of June and it was hot as hell in the apartment. They were like, Turn off the fan. Turn off the air conditioning. So I just looked like a nasty, sweaty dude, he said. Eric and Leida say they understand why theyre not the most popular with fans. If you go by the way they portrayed us, yeah, were horrible people, said Eric. Eric and Leida say theyve received thousands of death threats and wishes from 90 Day Fiance fans 90 Day has a very rabid fan base. Really emotionally invested in the show, said Eric. He believes he and Leida have received thousands of death threats and wishes from fans over the last two years. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Geoffrey Paschel Offers Marriage Advice The couple tends to receive more hate from fans every time their season gets played. Every time they replay our season or snippets of it, reruns, then it starts back up. It quiets down then theyll start replaying it again, he said. If I dont like people on the show, Im not going to send them sh*t about them randomly on social media. No, I just dont like it. Thats it. These people, most of the time, are so entitled to their opinions, said Leida of 90 Day Fiance fans. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Eric and Leida Give an Update on Their Relationship with Tasha As any Greys Anatomy fan will tell you, Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) is a good man in a storm. Sure, the character had her moments. But even after Arizonas rollercoaster romance with Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) ended, the pediatric and fetal surgeon continued to shine. So naturally, viewers were shocked when ABC announced Capshaw would be leaving Arizona behind after Greys Anatomy Season 14. But why did the actor exit the hit Shondaland series? Heres what happened in 2018. What happened to Arizona Robbins in Greys Anatomy Season 14? Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins on Greys Anatomy | Kelsey McNeal/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images RELATED: Former Greys Anatomy Star Jessica Capshaw Was Turned Down For Two Roles Before Landing the Part of Arizona Robbins In Greys Anatomy Season 12, Callie and Arizona fought for custody of their daughter, Sophia, after Callie chose to move to New York City with her girlfriend, Penny Blake (Samantha Sloyan). The hearing itself was difficult to watch, to say the least. But in the end, Arizona won sole custody of Sophia. Nevertheless, Callie and Arizona eventually came to an agreement and split time with their daughter. Then Callie went to New York, leaving Arizona behind in Seattle. Though this may not be the end of their story. When Greys Anatomy Season 14 aired in 2018, Sophia returned to Seattle. However, she had a hard time adjusting. She missed her life and mom in New York. Meanwhile, Arizonas fetal surgery mentor, Nicole Herman (Geena Davis), returned and wanted to start a new womens health center. And because the center could be built anywhere, Arizona and Nicole decided on New York. Finally, in the Greys Anatomy Season 14 finale, Arizona hinted she could eventually get back together with Callie, noting she couldnt help but smile when texting her ex. But whether or not Calzona rekindled the romance, Arizona left Seattle for the Big Apple and hasnt returned to Grey Sloan Memorial. Jessica Capshaw on leaving Greys Anatomy RELATED: 4 Greys Anatomy Couples That Deserved to Be Endgame In March 2018, Deadline reported Capshaw and Sarah Drew who played April Kepner would not be returning after Greys Anatomy Season 14. The publication also shared the decision was made because the ABC medical drama wanted to go in a different creative direction. Then showrunner Krista Vernoff said in a statement: The characters of Arizona and April are permanently woven into the fabric of Greys Anatomy thanks to the extraordinary work of Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew. As writers, our job is to follow the stories where they want to go and sometimes that means saying goodbye to characters we love. It has been a joy and a privilege to work with these phenomenally talented actresses. Meanwhile, Capshaw released a statement of her own on Twitter, acknowledging the impact of her Greys Anatomy character. For the past ten years I have had the rare privilege of not only playing Arizona Robbins, but also being madly in love with playing her, Capshaw wrote. She was one of the first members of the LGBTQ community to be represented in a series regular role on network television. Her impact on the world is forever. Can Jessica Capshaw return to Greys Anatomy as Arizona Robbins? RELATED: 3 Songs Greys Anatomy Fans Cant Listen to Without Bursting Into Tears Its been about two years since Capshaw left Arizona behind on Greys Anatomy. And of course, fans would love to see the actor reprise her role in the Shondaland drama, even if its just a cameo. However, everyone will just have to wait and see what happens next. Even so, creator Shonda Rhimes hinted the door is always open, noting Capshaw and Drew will always be a part of our Shondaland family. Meanwhile, in an interview with Marie Claire ahead of her exit, Capshaw pointed out Greys Anatomy characters can always return, so long as they didnt die. You know, everyone consistently says that once youre in Shondaland, youre in Shondaland. Because its true, Capshaw said in 2017. Youre in the fold. Youre in the mix. Youre one of her people. So you never say never because unless your character actually genuinely dies, you can always come back. She added, And even then you could be a ghost. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently stepped down from their roles as senior royals, leaving behind the United Kingdom for a more private life in the United States. The two received some backlash for their decision but ultimately wanted to do what was best for their family. One royal expert recently claimed that Meghan is now eyeing the U.S. presidency. And though it seems far-fetched, the duchess past comments suggest it should not be totally ruled out. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Daniel Leal-Olivas/WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their royal departure back in January Late last year, Harry and Meghan took a six-week hiatus from royal life after constant battles with the press and the public over their attitudes and relationship. Though Harry had always had a high approval rating, Meghans was never quite at the same level, and it was difficult for her to create a strong public image. The time spent away from the spotlight showed the couple a life with more privacy and greater freedom. And when they returned to royal life in January, they announced that theyd be stepping down to create a better environment for themselves and their son, Archie. RELATED: Meghan Markle Didnt Meet Donald Trump in 2019 Because of Precedent, Royal Commentator Says One royal expert recently claimed Meghan would run for president Meghan and Harry have since settled down in Los Angeles, California, and so far, theyve been flying mostly under the radar. The couple announced their new charity, Archewell, though a few road blocks have placed it on a brief hold. Royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell revealed back in June that Harry and Meghan moved to the U.S. so that Meghan could start building a career toward becoming president. Of course, the accusation seems a bit far-fetched. But a look at Meghans past says otherwise. Meghans past comments suggest she could make a move into politics Meghan actually had political ambitions when she was in college. The now-duchess interned at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina during her junior year of college, where she received an up-close look at U.S. politics and international relations. Could Meghan and Harry pursue politics? | Samir Hussein/WireImage RELATED: Meghan Markle Is Still the Most Charismatic Member of the Royal Family In 2013, Meghan revealed in an interview that she thought shed end up pursuing a career in politics. I had always loved politics, so I ended up changing my major completely, and double-majoring in theater and international relations, she told Marie Claire. I thought for sure I would still have a career in politics. Meghan also said that, upon returning to LA from Argentina, she opted to get into acting instead. Now that Meghan and Harry are on their own, she might decide its finally time to see those political ambitions through. Harrys family has always largely remained out of the political sphere Though Meghan has certainly never been opposed to a political career, Harry might be a different story. The royal family largely stays away from political discussion, and while royals have spoken out about certain social issues, a political career was never something that was in the cards. Now that Harry isnt professionally linked to the royal family, its possible he might tell Meghan to go for it, and the two could get started down a political path. Theyve only just relocated to the U.S., so it seems all doors are still open. Princess Diana spent her adult life being hounded by the paparazzi. Supposedly the most photographed woman in the world, it was impossible for her to go anywhere unnoticed. Dianas complicated relationship with the press and her status as a public figure made for sometimes unrelenting photographers. Princess Diana attends a rugby match in France | Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images In need of a break, Diana retreated to Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russells sprawling home in Colorado. In fact, she once deemed her time there the best vacation shed had in her entire life. Keep reading to get details on Dianas getaway. Princess Diana confided in Kurt Russell about paparazzi During a 2016 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Russell recounted the story of how Diana came to stay at the Colorado home he and Hawn share. It was a series of things, I did a movie called Backdraft that there was a royal premiere of in London and sat between Lady Di and Prince Charles which was an interesting experience, he said with a laugh. Things werent going well. RELATED: Traveling with Princess Diana: 11 Photos of Her on Royal Tours When the movie debuted in 1991, Charles and Dianas marriage had been on shaky ground. In 1992, they would go on to officially separate. At the event, Diana shared with Russell how she didnt like the constant attention from paparazzi. In turn, Russell offered up the place in Colorado as a nice getaway. It wasnt until a few years later, Diana visited the home with her sons, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Sarah Ferguson asks Goldie Hawn if a friend can stay at her Colorado home According to Express, on an episode of The View ahead of Williams 2011 royal wedding to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Hawn opened up about the trip to Colorado. She explained how Sarah, Duchess of York, Dianas former sister-in-law, helped orchestrate the vacation. Fergie (Sarah, Duchess of York) called me, Hawn said. This is in the early 90s She said, My girlfriend is in need of a place to go where theres no paparazzi. Could she go to the ranch? And we (Hawn and Russell) said, Of course. So, Diana and her sons headed to Hawn and Russells home in Colorado for 10 days. Princess Diana told Goldie Hawn: I had the best vacation of my life Offering up some details about the stay, Hawn said Diana had a fabulous time with William and Harry at their 75-acre home in Aspen, Colorado. The Overboard actress recounted how Diana called her while staying there, gushing about what a lovely time she was having. Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry | Anwar Hussein/WireImage RELATED: Princess Diana: 13 Forgotten Photos of Her With Prince Harry and Prince William She (Diana) called me, and she jumped on the bed, she picked up the phone, and she said, Im having the most amazing time. Theres so many pillows on your bed, Hawn recalled. The kids (William and Harry) were laughing. They had the time of their life. ATVing everywhere, no paparazzi. Goldie, it was the best vacation of my life,' Hawn remembered Diana telling her. Maybe one day William and Harry will return to Hawn and Russells ranch for another family vacation with their own children. RELATED: Want to Vacation Like a Royal? Heres Where Prince William and Prince Harry Love to Stay There has been a lot of buzz about Prince William taking the throne ahead of his father Prince Charles, in the event Queen Elizabeth either abdicates or passes away. The Prince of Wales has waited longer than anyone to inherit the crown, but at the age of 71 years old and his popularity still low, many royal watchers would like to see William become the next King of the United Kingdom. Despite the will of the public, a royal expert claims that Queen Elizabeth has rejected the plea to skip Charles and go straight to William when she passes on. Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince William | Stefan Wermuth WPA Pool/Getty Images Does the public really want Prince William to be the next king? For several years, the royals have faced reports that the public would rather see William on the throne instead of Charles. Although Charles is clearly ready to be king, William has grown in popularity alongside his wife, Kate Middleton, leading to speculation that a change in the line of succession is in order. According to Express, royal expert Victoria Arbiter claims that a lot of people in the UK want William to take the throne next. Arbiter believes that this sentiment is fueled by Williams age and the fact that Charles is not the most popular member of the royal family. There are a lot of people who want to skip Charles and go straight to William, she stated. It would be shocking to skip Prince Charles, I think thats more driven by Williams youth. RELATED: Prince William and Prince Charles Accused of Leaking Megxit News To Detract From Another Royal Scandal William is second in line to the throne following Charles. Next up are Williams children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, followed by Prince Harry. The reports of William being the next king ramped up amid the coronavirus pandemic. With Charles isolating after testing positive for the virus, William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, quickly became the new faces of the royal family. The couple regularly updated fans on social media by sharing behind-the-scenes pics of their daily lives and took part in video conferences to keep up their royal duties. It may be a long time before William sits on the throne, but he is clearly ready for the challenge. Queen Elizabeth reportedly rejects the idea of skipping Prince Charles In light of the public support of William, royal expert Simon Vigar recently revealed that Queen Elizabeth has rejected the idea of the crown skipping Charles. Vigar argued that Queen Elizabeth would never go against the rules and wants nothing more than her oldest son to take over the monarchy after she is gone. He also stated that William is on the same page and agrees that Charles should wear the crown next. The Queen doesnt believe in breaking the rules, she does not want Charles to step aside when she passes. William doesnt want that to happen, Vigar stated. Charles has not given any indication that he plans on stepping aside once Queen Elizabeth passes. After waiting decades to be king, it appears as though the only way William will be on the throne next is if Charles suffers an untimely death. Although it sounds like Her Majesty is not keen on the idea of making William the next king, it does raise questions about what it would take for such a move to become a reality. Can anything change the line of succession? Even if Queen Elizabeth felt differently about the line of succession, she actually does not have the power to do anything about it. The 1701 Act of Settlement determines who is next in line to the throne and only Parliament has the authority to change it. The law, which was slightly modified a few years ago to include both male and female heirs to the throne, clearly states that the monarchs first child is the direct successor. That means nobody can stand in Prince Charles way if he accepts the role as the next King of the United Kingdom. RELATED: Queen Elizabeth Is Passing On One Very Unexpected Title to Prince Charles as He Prepares To Take the Throne That said, it is possible that Charles abdicates the throne and gives it to William. But since Charles seems eager to take the crown, the chances of that happening are slim. The royals have not commented on the rumors surrounding Queen Elizabeth rejecting the publics plea to get Prince William on the throne. Fans cant wait to see Kumail Nanjiani make his superhero debut in The Eternals when it premieres in February 2021. The actor recently opened up about representation in film and revealed the pressures of being the Marvel Cinematic Universes first Pakistani superhero. Kumail Nanjiani | Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images What is Kumail Nanjianis role in The Eternals? As the second film of Phase 4, The Eternals will introduce a race of new superheroes to the MCU. The titular Eternals are a group of immortal cosmic beings with various superpowers, who have been living undetected on Earth for many years. In the movie, Nanjiani is set to play Kingo, an Eternal with unbeatable sword skills, who now lives under the guise of a movie star. The film also stars Richard Madden as Ikaris, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Barry Keoghan as Druig, and Lauren Ridloff as Makkari. Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, and Salma Hayek of The Eternals | Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney RELATED: Why Kumail Nanjiani and Hasan Minhaj Think Harold and Kumar Deserves More Credit Than It Gets His role comes with a twist In the Marvel comics, Kingo is a samurai movie star based in Japan. But in a chat with the New Hollywood Podcast, Nanjiani noted that his film version of the character will be a Bollywood star living and working in Mumbai. By this point, weve been on Earth for a long time, and my character, for instance, is like OK were supposed to keep a low profile, no one should know,' joked Nanjiani. So I become a Bollywood movie star, thats my secret identity. Were supposed to keep quiet and Ive become the biggest Bollywood movie star. The actor also shared another fun tease about the movie. He revealed that The Eternals will feature a Bollywood number, with his character dancing in the middle. I took months of Bollywood dance classes to prepare for that, he said. Its really a workout, and you know, theres like 52 dancers, and 51 of them are professional dancers, and then theres me! Kumail Nanjiani is hoping to break stereotypes When talking to Ramy Youssef, Kenan Thompson, Dan Levy, and Ricky Gervais for The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy and Emmy Award-nominated writer and actor opened up about the significance and pressure of being the first Pakistani superhero in Hollywood. It was very significant because it was something that I really, really wanted to do, he explained. Now on top of that, theres this other pressure in that Im the first, but that stuff is a little harder to negotiate because I can only represent myself I, one person, cannot represent a whole group of people because all of our experiences and backgrounds are completely different. Upon getting the role of Kingo, Nanjiani decided to make his character look strong enough to take on a typical Hollywood superhero like Thor or Captain America. He trained and worked on his physique for months, which he suggests was an important part of his representation. I approached him really as the opposite of the opportunities that I had gotten and the opportunities that a lot of other brown men traditionally get in Hollywood, Nanjiani said. I feel like were this group where we can be the model minority, so the smart nerds, or the exact opposite, terrorists, depending on what the project is. Those are the two ends of the spectrum that we occupy and very little in between. Ive gotten to play a nerd, so I wanted this guy to be cool, he continued. Ive played weaklings, so I wanted this guy to be strong. Brown men have had to play terrorists, so I wanted this guy to be full of joy. So, really, this character for me was defined by what I didnt want him to be. The Eternals is scheduled to hit theaters on February 12, 2021. Legendary actor Tom Hanks latest movie, Greyhound, hits streaming service Apple TV+ on July 10, 2020, but the films star isnt too happy about it. Greyhound was originally scheduled to open in theaters over Fathers Day weekend, but due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as with so many other films, had to be moved straight to streaming. Tom Hanks | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI RELATED: Tom Hanks Greyhound: Will Apple TV+ Users Pay Extra Fees to Rent the New Movie? The story behind Greyhound Greyhounds screenplay, written by Hanks, is inspired by the 1955 C.S. Forester novel, The Good Shepherd. He also stars in the film as US Navy Commander Ernest Krause who, in this fictionalized account set in 1942, must help his crew survive an onslaught of Nazi boats over a five-day span. Hanks explained to Datebook in July 2020 what caught his attention about Foresters book and adapting it to film. RELATED: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: How the New Mr. Rogers Movie Did at the Box Office I think one of the reasons that I took to C.S. Foresters book The Good Shepherd is because I had a familiarity with all things Navy based on growing up so close to the Naval Air Station in Alameda, Hanks shared. We shot onboard the USS Kidd that is usually sitting on the Mississippi River there. . . and on the actual iron steel decks of the USS Kidd, which is an actual Fletcher-class destroyer that might be the only authentically preserved destroyer in America. Hanks on coronavirus vs. Greyhound As the actor points out, the crew and cast of the film could not have foreseen that their film would be hitting (small) screens in the midst of a global pandemic. They naturally envisioned premieres in every large city and box-office success. The Forrest Gump star sees a great deal of similarities between what the fictional characters in Greyhound had to endure as do all of us in the midst of this pandemic. RELATED: Fans Cant Get Over How Different Tom Hanks Is From His Son When we shot it, Hanks continued, no one anticipated wed be releasing it at the time of a worldwide conflagration that has as mysterious a solution as World War II did. COVID-19, no one knows how long its going to go on, no one knows whos going to die because of it. Everybody has something that they can do, and you dont have to go very far to see the correlations and similarities to the war years. Tom Hanks says he is heartbroken Discussing his latest film, Hanks couldnt get away from the obvious, that the movie will not be seeing a traditional release in films throughout the United States and world. The Apollo 13 actor expressed his frustration with the situation and explained his intense disappointment. In a July 2020 conversation with The Guardian, Hanks got brutally honest about the situation, calling it an absolute heartbreak. Hanks said, I dont mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality. The actor did express his appreciation to Apple TV+ for coming along when they did to allow the film to have its day in the sun. So Apple TV+ comes along as a savior and a gem and offers us the opportunity to have the movie out, Hanks continued in his conversation with Datebook. The great advantage is, the entire world can see the movie at the same time. The heartbreak is that 800 people dont get to go into a theater as strangers, watch Greyhound and come out 88 minutes later with something in common. RELATED: RELATED: Cast Away Turns 20 and Twitter Declares It to Be the Ultimate Social Distancing Movie Breaking ground on a new bank building in Tuttle are members of the First National Banks leadership, along with city officials, architects and construction managers. From left are Bank Manager Shannon Christian, Kurtis the Dinosaur (our educational liaison to schools); Tuttle Chamber leader Dr. Crystal Mosteller; Tuttle city officials Scott Dickson and Todd Littleton; Tuttle City Manager Tim Young; Bockus Payne Architect Jason Tyler; President and CEO John Gorton; Mortgage Lender Dana Davis, CMS Willobrook team member Mary Roberts; FNBT Chairman Pat Brooks, SVP Lender Moe Armstrong, CMS Willowbrook CEO Cary DeHart; SVP Lender John Baker; Bank Director Tim Osborn; Tuttle Fire Chief Bruce Anthony; Bockus Payne Architect Walt Henry; CMS Willobrook Project Manager James Madison; State Representative Brian Hill of Tuttle; Methodist Rev. Cap McIlany and FNBT Executive Assistant Rebecca Jones. In the composite image, a photo of the construction site is shown, as well as an artists rendering of the new building. 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. Chatham, VA (24531) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then cloudy skies late. High near 80F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. A bold statement of support: Tenn. church gives $1,000 each to employees at local police dept. Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A congregation in Tennessee has donated $1,000 to each member of their local police department as a sign of appreciation for the work they do to protect the community. Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church of Jonesborough raised a total of $23,000 for their local department, presenting the checks in a ceremony held on Saturday morning. Lighthouse Pastor Perry Cleek told The Christian Post that his church felt obligated to do the charitable act in response to news about the abuse many police have experienced in recent times. We have heard the news reports of entire police departments suffering from a debilitating lack of morale. In many places in America, local governments are signaling their support for those who are attacking law enforcement by defunding their local police, explained Cleek. We wanted to make a bold statement in support of law enforcement. Our desire was for our action to send a symbolic message of our support to the Jonesborough Police, but to also show our support in a very practical way by recognizing and supporting each individual employee. The Saturday event had around a couple hundred attendees, including Jonesborough Chief Ron Street Public Safety Director Craig Ford, with a crowd Cleek described as very supportive. We recognize that we do not speak for anyone but our local church. We have not issued an appeal for other churches to follow our example, he continued. However, we believe that millions of Americans feel exactly the same way we do about the treatment of law enforcement in our country, but do not feel they have a voice. The voices of those blaming and condemning law enforcement for much that is wrong in our country are very loud. We wanted our voice in support of law enforcement to be loud and bold. In recent weeks, the United States has experienced widespread protests and demonstrations, some of which have turned violent, in response to the killing of George Floyd on May 25. Many have seen the death of Floyd as part of a broader problem of police brutality and systemic racism, and have called for reduced funding or even disbanding certain police departments. Regarding the death of Floyd, Cleek called it without question an act of evil and called for the ones guilty to face the full justice of the Law. But much of the response to the killing of Mr. Floyd, the looting and burning and destruction of both public and private property, the disgraceful treatment, dishonoring and demonizing of law enforcement are also acts of evil, said Cleek. Our response to the evil all around is to do something good, something we feel is very good. Our act of support and encouragement for our local police department will, we believe, result in many more American citizens voicing their support. Abortions in Indiana fell by 5% in 2019: govt report Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A recently released report by the Indiana State Department of Health found that abortions have declined by 5% in the year 2019 compared to the year before. Released last week, the annual report found that a total of 7,637 abortions were performed in Indiana, including 7,019 for residents and 618 for women from out of state. This represents a decline from 2018 in which around 8,000 total abortions were performed and about 7,200 procedures were done on state residents. The report also found that the average age of a woman who had an abortion was 26.8 years, with 85.68% being unmarried and 90.04% having at least a high school diploma or GED. Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said in a statement last week that he was encouraged in knowing that 400 fewer children were aborted in Indiana last year. Yet our hearts are still broken knowing that 7,637 children were denied the right to be born, and an untold number of women now bear the physical, emotional and spiritual burdens of those abortion decisions, he added. Meanwhile, abortion businesses in Indiana continue to enjoy a multi million-dollar revenue stream at the expense of innocent babies. The lives of all unborn children matter. We will continue to work for the day when not a single abortion is done in our state. NARAL Pro-Choice America has dubbed the current Indiana governor and legislature anti-choice and labeled abortion access in the state severely restricted. Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court issued orders vacating lower court rulings against two pro-life Indiana state laws that had previously been blocked. The state laws required abortion clinic staff to show mothers an ultrasound image of their baby before undergoing an abortion and another required parental notification for an underage girl. Known as Box, Kristina, et al. v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana & Kentucky, the case will be sent back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The Supreme Court cited its recent decision in June Medical Services L.L.C. v. Russo, which struck down a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals near their practice so they can assist emergency room doctors when their patient suffers an emergency. Black man found hanging from tree was pastors adopted son; probe ongoing Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As activists demand a full investigation into the death of a white New Jersey pastors adopted black son found hanging from a tree and question possible murder motives, authorities say they are still investigating after the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office says Amani Kildea, 20, of Long Valley, was identified after his body was found in the Sugarloaf section of Morris County Park on June 28. A park visitor who spotted his body called police at about 2:47 p.m. to alert them of the death. Kildea, who was known as a gifted athlete, was also a member of the anti-pedophile group Pedo Got Caught, which catfishes and exposes child predators similar to the television series To Catch a Predator. Kildea was also the adopted son of the senior pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Succasunna, Tom Kildea, and his wife, Janice. The couple adopted him from Ethiopia at the age of 5. Three days after Kildeas body was found, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp released a statement explaining that the Morris County Medical Examiner "determined the manner of death as suicide. The Morris County Prosecutors Office ordinarily does not issue public statements on active investigations," Knapp said in the statement. "However, given the fact that unsubstantiated statements have circulated on social media, there exists a need to provide more information to the public at this time. There is no cause to believe there is any criminality involved. The Morris County Medical Examiner has determined the manner of death as suicide." Kildeas family also accepted his death as a suicide and noted in an obituary that he was broken and struggled emotionally. Amani was sensitive, tender-hearted, gentle and kind. He was a great listener, and he loved to listen to family stories. He felt deeply, observed closely. He was broken in ways that very few could see or would ever know, the family said. They noted that he had dreams of pursuing a career in the FBI or CIA and had completed basic training as a military police officer in the United States Army Reserves in February. His parents were so proud of the young man he was becoming, even as that process of his becoming was so difficult for him. He was looking ahead to attending James Madison University in the fall. He often dreamed about a family of his own, the obituary explained. Even though they loved him dearly, Kildeas family said he also struggled to believe in himself and was often challenging at home. Amani cherished his time with his friends, who meant the world to him. Everyone who met him, who knew him, young and old, admired him and loved him. He doubted that, but we knew it to be true, added the obituary. Although life with Amani was often challenging at home, we loved him dearly. His departure from us and from this world is an unspeakable tragedy for us all. He will be a part of our family forever, and we trust he is safe in the arms of Jesus. O dear, sweet boy, Amani! We love you! TAnna Kimbrough, the founder of Black Lives Matter Morristown, said in a statement Friday that while Kildea could have indeed taken his own life, she was concerned about how quickly his death was ruled a suicide without a complete investigation. She noted that his work exposing pedophiles could have exposed him to retaliation. Through this work, they have exposed at least 30 pedophiles in Morris County and other surrounding areas," Kimbrough said. "This work has led to multiple arrests, including arrests of the Mayor of Netcongs son and a police officer that was actively serving on a police force, which may demonstrate significant evidence of individuals with motive to harm him." Kimbrough said that Kildea's work to expose sexual predators was "brave, but dangerous." She contends that it left him "vulnerable to retaliation from those criminals." "Despite Prosecutor Knapps assertion that there is no cause to believe there is any criminality involved in his death by hanging, Amanis work in the community sheds light on a possible motive to kill and silence him, Kimbrough argued. A Change.org petition calling for authorities to "reopen" the investigation into Kildea's death has surpassed 169,000 supporters as of Monday afternoon. Responding to the concerns, Knapp said in a statement Friday that the investigation into Kildea's death has not concluded. Contrary to the statements made in social media and elsewhere, the investigation remains open and has not concluded," he said. "Our initial statement by this office was intended to [be] preliminarily and expeditiously inform the public that we and multiple other law enforcement agencies, including the Morris County Park Police, Morris County Sheriffs Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit and Morris County Medical Examiners Office, have been working with the Morris County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit to investigate the circumstances of Mr. Kildeas death." Knapp added that as of Friday, "no evidence of criminal act has yet been found" but "efforts to determine what occurred remain very active." "We have followed and continue to follow all investigative leads and will go where the evidence takes us, Knapp noted. Kildea leaves behind his parents; his brother, James; and his sister, Jennifer. His siblings looked up to him, admired him, and loved him deeply. He is also survived by his Pop-pop, James Muller, his birth-mother, Genet, in Ethiopia, and many aunts, uncles and cousins, who delighted in him and loved him, the obituary explained. A memorial service for Kildea is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday at Redeemer Lutheran Church, where his father has been a pastor for nearly 20 years. Erdogan signals support to turn Hagia Sophia, 6th century seat of Eastern Christianity, back into mosque Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in favor of turning Istanbuls Hagia Sophia back into a mosque as a court is expected to decide within 15 days the fate of the Unesco world heritage site, which was the seat of Eastern Christianity for 900 years before being converted into an Ottoman mosque and then into a museum. Turkeys Council of State, the countrys highest administrative court, held a hearing lasting just 17 minutes Thursday and said it would make a ruling within 15 days on the future of Hagia Sophia, according to BBC. Hagia Sophia was built in A.D. 537 as a Greek Orthodox church and was the seat of Eastern Christianity before the city was seized by Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror, in the 15th century. In 1934, modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, banned worship in Hagia Sophia and designated it as a museum. Erdogan is in favor of Hagia Sophia's conversion into a mosque, according to local media, The Sunday Times reported. Reports in Turkish media suggest that the court may ask the government to decide the status of Hagia Sophia, allowing Erdogan to take the credit for it and gain support among his conservative base at a time when the opposition party has called for early elections. Erdogan may hold the first Muslim prayer at Hagia Sophia as early as July 15, the anniversary of the 2016 coup attempt against his rule, according to some reports. Many Turks argue that Turkey is an overwhelmingly Muslim country and therefore Hagia Sophia should be turned back into a mosque to better reflect its identity. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged Turkey to continue to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum, as an exemplar of its commitment to respect the faith traditions and diverse history that contributed to the Republic of Turkey, and to ensure it remains accessible to all. The United States views a change in the status of the Hagia Sophia as diminishing the legacy of this remarkable building and its unsurpassed abilityso rare in the modern worldto serve humanity as a much-needed bridge between those of differing faith traditions and cultures, Pompeo said in a statement. Last month, the U.S.-based Christian group Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, wrote to President Donald Trump, urging him to protect the religious freedom of Christians in Turkey and the common heritage of humanity by preventing this sacrilegious and unnecessary decision. It is part of ongoing efforts to delegitimize the remaining Christian population of Turkey, further eroding their religious freedom, and to obliterate a significant element of the Christian heritage of Turkey and the surrounding region, as well as of the entire world. Converting Hagia Sophia Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site to a mosque, would render it the patrimony of one nation, an unjust and provocative act as this historic site truly belongs to the world, it said. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual head of about 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, has said that the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque will disappoint millions of Christians around the world, according to Reuters. Father of 19-y-o killed in CHOP says Trump is the only public leader whos called him Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Horace Lorenzo Anderson Sr., whose son was fatally shot inside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest occupation zone, said the only public figure whos reached out to him since his sons death is President Donald Trump. Anderson said he still doesnt know who killed his son, Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr., who went to CHOP in the early hours of June 20. "Incredibly, Donald Trump called me, Anderson, 50, told Fox News affiliate Q13 outside the funeral home in Kent, California, where his son was buried Thursday. The president of the United States called me today. He gave his condolences, and me, I'm not a political guy. I told him, 'Nobody like you.' I'm real. Donald Trump called me and he didn't have to call me. After the younger Anderson and another victim were shot at Cal Anderson Park, police were called into the zone but were met with crowds of hostile protesters (video) as they attempted to enter and clear a path for paramedics to treat and transport Anderson. Instead, so-called CHOP medics drove the gunshot victims to Harborview Medical Center. When officers arrived at the hospital, they were informed that Anderson had died and the second victim had sustained life-threatening injuries. "I haven't been able to sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night. I go look for him. He ain't there," Anderson said of his son, who unbeknownst to him had left their house that night to go to CHOP with friends. Anderson told media that he hadnt received a call from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, black leaders, the Seattle Police Department or the CHOP protesters who witnessed his sons murder. While Durkan hadnt called Anderson, she had referenced the killings of his son and that of a 16-year-old who was fatally shot by CHOP security when they reportedly fired 300 rounds at a Jeep the teen had driven into barricades at the zone. A 14-year-old passenger was also wounded in the incident. Durkan, who was criticized for allowing lawlessness to continue inside CHOP and accused of only taking decisive action to clear the area after protesters demonstrated outside her home, issued an executive order to shut down CHOP last Wednesday. Police Chief Carmen Best told Q13 that she would be reaching out to Andersons family and looking into why he hadnt been personally contacted by anyone at the department. Best explained that standard procedure is that the medical examiner contacts the next of kin and the police departments victims advocate unit reach out to the victims family to assist them after their loved ones death. In his first national TV interview, held with Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, Anderson broke down in tears as he described how his impressionable son was easily convinced to go to CHOP despite the risks. He also expressed the heartache he feels knowing his sons killer is still on the loose. Im numb, Im still numb today, Anderson said. I got to bury my son tomorrow. Its just been a lot going on. My whole thing, my whole life, man, this is incredible. To this day, its been almost two weeks, I havent heard from nobody. Has nobody called. Aint nobody called me or tried to find me. His I.D. is my I.D., so his number is my number, so its easy to come for the detectives to say, excuse me, knock on my door, excuse me, let me tell you what happened about your son. I dont know nothing. I had to find my son. They wouldnt even let me see my son that night. It took me a whole week before I could see my son. [S]omebody need to come tell me something because I still dont know nothing, and somebody need to come to my house and knock on my door and tell me something. I dont know nothing. All I know is my son got killed out there and hes just a 19-year-old. Thats Horace Lorenzo Anderson, thats my son, and I love him. That was my son. Anderson also said he wasnt aware that police and paramedics had attempted to enter Cal Anderson Park to treat and transport his son to the hospital but was already moved from the scene by protesters. The sentiments expressed by Anderson of not being contacted by officials and community leaders were similarly expressed by Angela Underwood-Jacobs, whose brother, Dave Patrick Underwood, was gunned down in a targeted attack during riots in Oakland, California, on May 29 as protests arose nationwide following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Underwood, 53, who was an officer in the Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Protective Service, was killed as he stood guard outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. A second officer at the scene was also shot and critically injured. Underwood-Jacobs, who testified alongside Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, at the House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Police Reform at Capitol Hill on June 10, lamented that her brothers murder hadnt received equal attention from the media as Floyd. She also said that national black leaders hadnt reached out to her family to offer either their help or condolences. It feels as though there is a difference in life, added Underwood-Jacobs, who was the first black woman to be elected to the city council of Lancaster City, California, in an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum last month. Meaning that, on one hand, George Floyd and my brothers situations are very different, she continued. At the same time, they are both African-American men. There has been so much talk regarding George Floyd and his family, which is fine. However, I think at the same time, my brother should be recognized as well, for literally going into work every day and putting his life on the line for us. And it saddens me that his memory hasnt been as prevalent in the news as I think that it should be. Not only that, I have not received any calls from anyone of color who are leaders in the country. And Im wondering, Why didnt I get a phone call? Why hasnt anyone reached out to our family to see how were doing and how they could be of assistance. Its been tough. The alleged suspects in Underwoods killing, Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, and Robert Alvin Justus Jr., the driver of the vehicle, were apprehended on June 16. Carrillo was charged with murder and attempted murder in the drive-by attack. Carrillo and Justus, who was charged with aiding and abetting the murder and attempted murder, had traveled to Oakland with the intent to kill police, the Department of Justice said. Suspects involved in CHOP murders remain at large and the Seattle Police Department is urging those with information to call the Violent Crimes tip line at (206) 233-5000. Starbucks quickly reversed course after BuzzFeed News published an internal memo explaining that Black Lives Matter buttons were verboten because they violated dress code policies forbidding attire that advocates for political, religious or personal issues and could be used to amplify divisiveness. The coffee giant had been quick to avow its commitment to Black Lives Matter as protests erupted over Floyds death, and committed $1 million to racial equity organizations. After the BuzzFeed report, Starbucks said in a letter to employees it was producing 250,000 T-shirts with a graphic expressing support for the movement, and employees could wear their own until those arrived. Herman Cain progressing in COVID-19 recovery; prayers 'making a difference' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Former Republican presidential candidate and businessman Herman Cain is still hospitalized with COVID-19 but making progress as prayers are making a difference, his team stated in an update Sunday. Herman wants to thank everyone for praying for him. Its making a difference, a post on Cains official Twitter account reads. Hes still in the hospital but hes making progress and we expect to hear more encouraging news as the week progresses. Cains staff urged supporters to keep the prayers coming. God is listening, the tweet explains. Update: Herman wants to thank everyone for praying for him. It's making a difference. He's still in the hospital but he's making progress and we expect to hear more encouraging news as the week progresses. So thank you, everyone, and keep them coming! God is listening. Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) July 5, 2020 Cain is a business executive and Tea Party activist who ran for president of the United States in 2000 and 2012. He also ran for U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2004. He did not win in the primaries of any of those elections. Last Thursday, it was announced that the 74-year-old Cain tested positive for coronavirus over a week after attending a rally for President Donald Trump. He is receiving treatment in an Atlanta-area hospital. According to Cains Twitter account, it is unclear where he contracted the virus. Cain was notified last Monday that he tested positive for the virus. Within two days, he had to be admitted to the hospital. There is no way of knowing for sure how or where Mr. Cain contracted the coronavirus, but we do know he is a fighter who has beaten Stage 4 cancer, a statement shared on Cains Twitter account stated. With Gods help, we are confident he will make a quick and complete recovery. Dan Calabrese, the editor of HermanCain.com, said the team is thankful because Cains condition did not require him to use a respirator. That was probably the one detail we were praying about the most, and God was gracious, Calabrese wrote in a blog post published on the website. While Calabrese remained confident that Cain will recover, he noted how serious the virus is and called for prayers for his recovery. Lets not sugarcoat it: COVID-19 is a horrible thing to experience, and while we are sure Herman will beat it just like he beats everything, he really needs prayer right now, Calabrese urged. Herman will be fine. Were also confident of that. But please lift him up in your prayers, as well as his wife Gloria and their family for strength and encouragement in getting through this. Cain recently attended President Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his team tweeted a photo of him with a group of supporters inside the arena. No one in the photo was wearing a mask. Just hours before the event, six staff members at the site had tested positive for the virus. Two more staffers tested positive after returning to Washington, The Washington Post reported. Additionally, dozens of Secret Service agents on the trip were ordered to self-quarantine at home because two of the staff members who tested positive in Tulsa were Secret Service employees. Calabrese noted that even though Cain also attended the rally in Tulsa, he could have gotten the virus from other places. Pastor Jentezen Franklin urges Christians to vote their faith after Calif. bans singing in church Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Megachurch pastor Jentezen Franklin cried discrimination and urged Christians to vote their faith in November as the California Department of Public Health issued updated guidelines Wednesday, forbidding churches from singing during services to prevent the spread of COVID-19 Californias Governor just banned singing/chanting at church. Catholics can't recite mass; Evangelicals can't worship out loud. The very definition of discrimination is to allow thousands to march and scream without masks while telling churches 100 or less that you cannot sing, Franklin, who is senior pastor of the multi-campus Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia, tweeted Friday. Christians must realize the radical left will restrict & control church if we dont vote our faith this November! Are you registered to vote your faith? A few weeks ago, California began allowing the reopening of churches for in-person services with guidelines after requiring most Californians in March to stay at home to disrupt the spread of COVID-19 among the population. As the number of cases began inching upwards again, public health officials said singing and chanting in houses of worship must not happen. Even with adherence to physical distancing, convening in a congregational setting of multiple different households to practice a personal faith carries a relatively higher risk for widespread transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and may result in increased rates of infection, hospitalization, and death, especially among more vulnerable populations, health officials noted in the new guidelines document. In particular, activities such as singing and chanting negate the risk reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing. *Places of worship must therefore discontinue singing and chanting activities and limit indoor attendance to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower, they advised. Houses of worship, along with other places of work such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, prisons, food production, warehouses, meat processing plants, and grocery stores, were identified as places that had suffered multiple outbreaks of COVID-19. A report from the Skagit County Public Health Department in Washington State published by the CDC in May showed how quickly the coronavirus spread after a choir practice became a superspreader event for the disease that infected 86% of attending members and killed two of them. While churches are still allowed to operate with restrictions, California health officials strongly recommended that places of worship continue to facilitate remote services and other related activities for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19, including older adults and those with underlying conditions. Like Franklin, many other evangelical leaders saw the banning of singing in churches in California as a hypocritical assault on religious freedom. The science that allows for protests but prohibits singing in church is fake science that must be rejected. If being outside makes protests safe, then why are beaches being shut down? Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas asked on Twitter Friday. Tony Suarez, chief operating officer of the Sacramento-based National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said he would rather be jailed than stop singing in church. Ill go to jail before Ill stop singing to my God! This just turned into our Daniel chapter six moment. California has just banned singing/chanting in houses of worship, Suarez said, encouraging civil disobedience. He also shared a statement from NHCLC President Samuel Rodriguez who noted: You cannot permit tens of thousands to march in protest without masks and demand that 100 worshipers refrain from singing. That my friend is the very definition of discrimination. @GavinNewsom please stop discriminating! #inalienablerights. Tom Buck, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, also encouraged Christians in California to reject the ban on singing. This is where every church should draw the line & practice civil disobedience. They must choose to obey God rather than man! Of course, part of that involves being willing to suffer the consequences, but the churches must not bow to this totalitarian order, he said. Some churches, meanwhile, are choosing to abide by the guidelines. Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa chose to be "flexible" and "safe" and avoid congregational singing. Instead of the typical series of worship songs, the worship team sang from the stage while reading scriptures and encouraging the congregation to meditate and pray. "Its not the end of the world if the health department says its not the best idea for you to be singing congregationally," Senior Pastor Brian Brodersen said Sunday. "Were mature enough. We have the Lord. We can navigate that. We dont have to get all stressed out about it." Jason Batt, chief operating officer of Capital Christian Center, one of the Sacramento areas largest congregations, told The Sacramento Bee, We recognize that singing is a challenge." He said the choir has been put on hold for the time being and the church only had limited singing on stage during the recent reopening. Turkey expelling 2 US Christian workers after deporting 16 others this year Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In what appears to be an official campaign to rid Turkey of foreign Christian workers, the countrys authorities have sent deportation orders to two American Christian workers, according to a religious persecution watchdog. At least 16 foreign Christian workers have been expelled from the overwhelmingly Muslim country this year, and two American Christians Joy Subasguller, who is married to a Turkish pastor, and Pastor Zach Balon of New Hope Church in Istanbul are the latest targets of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkeys Ministry of Interior has told Subasguller that her residency permit has been revoked, and Pastor Balon was told he wouldnt be allowed to return to Turkey as he was about to fly from Istanbul with his family, according to the U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Balon canceled his flight and filed an appeal but that may not protect the pastor, as such appeals have been unsuccessful in the past, CSW fears. The groups chief executive, Mervyn Thomas, called the expulsions deeply worrying. These workers had all the necessary legal documentation to live and work in the country, yet they are being deported by a government that continues to crack down on Christianity in line with a guiding ethos that equates being Turkish with being Muslim, Thomas said. Worse still, in several cases deportation may result in the separation of families. Thomas called on the Turkish government to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for all citizens, and to end the deportation of these Christian workers, who are legally resident in the country. Challenged by the opposition party, which has called for early elections, Erdogan is desperate to gain support among his conservative base, according to reports in local media. Erdogan is supporting calls for Istanbuls Hagia Sophia museum, which was the seat of Eastern Christianity for 900 years before being converted into an Ottoman mosque, to be turned back into a mosque. Turkeys highest administrative court, called the Council of State, held a hearing last week and said it would make a ruling within 15 days on the future of Hagia Sophia, according to BBC. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged Turkey to continue to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum, as an exemplar of its commitment to respect the faith traditions and diverse history that contributed to the Republic of Turkey, and to ensure it remains accessible to all. Turkey is considered a Tier 2 Country of Particular Concern by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Persecution watchdog Open Doors USA has earlier noted that missionaries to Turkey were under increasing scrutiny. North Carolina missionary Andrew Brunson was arrested and detained in Turkey for over two years before his release in 2018 on charges of terror connections, espionage, and Christianization, deemed a hostile act. Brunson, who spent over 23 years in Turkey before his arrest, told USCIRF in June that he knew of dozens of foreign church leaders and their family members that Turkey had deported in previous months for being a threat to national security. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In his fascinating book, Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Family and Marriage, Paul Kengor introduces his readers to the English utopian-socialist, Robert Owen. Owen is one of the first among characters during the 19th century who helped lay the foundation for socialist dogma. Kengor writes: "Robert Owen certainly left his collectivists footprint. On July 4, 1826, as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the geniuses of the Declaration of Independence, both dramatically breathed their last gasps of life on the fiftieth anniversary of their eloquent achievement on behalf of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Robert Owen stood in front of his new ideological colony in New Harmony, Indiana, and delivered his 'Declaration of Mental Independence.' It was, in effect, an anti-Declaration of Independence, and somewhat a precursor of the Communist Manifesto. 'I now declare to you and to the world,' proclaimed Owen, 'that man up to this hour has been in all parts of the earth a slave to a trinity of the most monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical evil upon the whole race.' What were the monstrosities? 'I refer to private property, absurd and irrational systems of religion and marriage founded upon individual property, combined with some of these irrational systems of religion.' Property, religion, marriage Robert Owen's unholy trinity." While we celebrate Independence Day, it seems that with much of what we are witnessing across the country, Owen's so-called "Declaration of Mental Independence" would, for many, if provided sufficient opportunity, supplant the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Owen would likely feel right at home with some of the agitators and radicals of the present. America's Declaration of Independence, in part, reads: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Alan Keyes, a former ambassador during the Reagan years, and currently a conservative political activist, pundit, and author, has masterfully argued that the Declaration of Independence has, in recent years, been seriously undermined and rejected. He says that this is the case because "it evokes the existence of Godthe rule of reason that accepts man's dependence upon the prior determinations of God as the premise of understanding human nature and human libertythe faithful logic that recognizes God as the source of wisdom that is indispensable if we are to appreciate the self-evident truths that establish human equality and God-endowed rights as the sine qua non of justice and true liberty." Indeed, the Declaration does exactly what Keyes' claims, and the great principles of our nation's founding document, are now being violently assaulted in the name of a socialist agenda by groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa. The Black Lives Matter website says that their organization wants to "disrupt" the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure." The BLM website also includes phrases such as "comrade," "struggle" and "collective" common language for those of the socialist/communist creed. In a 2015 video, BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, another co-founder, admitted that they are "trained Marxists." Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, stated it well when he recently told OneNewsNow.com that BLM "is about revolutionThis is about destroying what America stands for They don't care about police brutality. They don't care about black lives, or they wouldn't support abortion, which disproportionately kills black babies. This about the upheaval of American society" Mark Bray, who is author of the book, "Antifa: The Anti-fascist Handbook," and who defends the group, says that Antifa's "adherents are predominantly communists, socialists, and anarchists." Certainly, there isn't anything about these philosophies consistent with the American way. Mark Thiessen, a columnist for the Washington Post, rightly condemns Antifa as "the violent advocates of a murderous ideology." He adds, "There is no difference between those who beat innocent people in the name of the ideology that gave us Hitler and Himmler and those who beat innocent people in the name of the ideology that gave us Stalin and Dzerzhinsky." Let's be clear; everything about Socialism is anti-Christian. It essentially enshrines the state above all powers. Thus, it seeks to stand in place of God. History shows that socialist concepts have long been at war with marriage and the family. Socialism has a reprehensible record on life and liberty, and is best known in the dozens of places it's been tried for its tyranny and oppression. Furthermore, as Robert Knight, in an editorial for the Washington Times, once so eloquently stated, "Socialism is grand theft. It uses the state to take earnings from productive people and redistribute it to create dependency and thus political power for those handing it out." In other words, Socialism is at war with private property. Isn't it ironic that these groups, which are defacing and pulling down statues of American historical figures because of their alleged associations, complicity or actual support for slavery, are the same people who would have us embrace a government system that would enslave us all? Carl A. Keyser in Freedom's Bounty says: "A government that manipulates the people's money and credit, that regulates and controls the people's wages and prices and rents and profits, that owns, or closely supervises numerous business activities, and that offers welfare programs from cradle to grave is a government that threatens to tax the citizenry to serfdom." What Keyes described is at the heart of Socialism. And, of course, serfdom is simply slavery. Do you follow? Socialism is at war with the Declaration of Independence. It repudiates everything for which it stands. Long live the Declaration of Independence! Happy July 4! Steve Gonzales/Staff photographer Harris County awards disproportionately few of its contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses, with Black-owned businesses receiving the most discriminatory treatment, according to a study sponsored by the Harris County Commissioners Court. The findings could help the county establish a legal basis for taking steps to remediate the discrimination. The study, conducted by the government consulting firm Colette Holt & Associates, compared the amount of minority- and women-owned businesses that were tapped for county contracts to the number that were available to perform the types of work the county was looking for. It found that while contracting businesses owned by white males made up 72 percent of the market, they received 91 percent of the contracts, by dollar amount. In contrast, while Black-owned businesses made up 8.4 percent of the market and received 0.5 percent of contracts. A few years ago, after the Trump administration imposed a ban on visitors from Muslim-majority countries, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House on the U.S.-Canada border became a place for meetings between some United States residents and family members who lived abroad and were not allowed to enter the country. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, the building literally straddles the international border, with the opera stage and library holdings on the Canadian side, the front entrance and seats in a tiny Vermont town. An agreement between the two countries allows people from the Canadian side to enter the opera house without having to go through customs. This quirk of geography and geopolitics was the inspiration for "A Distinct Society," a play by Kareem Fahmy, a Canadian-born playwright and director of Egyptian descent. It is the winner of Capital Repertory Theatre's 2020 Next Act! New Play Summit, being presented online next week. Starting Monday, July 13 and running for four nights, the festival, in its ninth year, will be different in form than any previous incarnation, but its mission statement is as timely as ever: To use theater to "address injustices, inequities and cultural collisions, providing a voice for the unheard and unrepresented." In "A Distinct Society," the opera house becomes a hot zone for personal and political confrontation after an Iranian family's meeting there ensnares the head librarian, a U.S. border patrol officer and a local teenager. The play was chosen as the best from among 350 submissions, said Margaret Hall, the associate artistic director of The Rep and producer of Next Act! since its inception. A team of readers winnowed about 20 of the most promising plays from the initial batch, and Hall and Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill, The Rep's producing artistic director, chose those that would be performed. "A Distinct Society" is being directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, who directed productions of "The Royale" and "Lobby Hero" during recent seasons at The Rep. It will be presented at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 15. The festival opens on Monday with six short plays by Capital Region writers ages 13 to 18, continues the next day with "Slam!," a play by University at Albany sophomore William Feerick that won a competition co-sponsored by The Rep and UAlbany. The festival concludes on Thursday, July 16, with "The First 15 You Decide," in which the first 15 pages from four Next Act! submissions will be read, and the audience will decide a favorite. All performances begin at 7 p.m. They may viewed on The Reps Facebook page, Proctors Collaborative YouTube channel and Open Stage Medias On-Demand Channel. Full information is at capitalrep.org/next-act. Viewing is free, but donations are welcome. Actors, directors, stage managers and others rehearsed via video conference, and performances will be recorded virutally in advance to allow for any technical mishaps or stalled- Wi-Fi signals that could potentially affect a live performance. "We always use a lot of local actors for Next Act!, but for this we also have some from New York City, and there are others who live in New York but are somewhere else now" because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Hall. "There's definitely a learning curve for all of us on this." How to watch Next Act! New Play summit When: 7 p.m. July 13 to 16 Schedule: Monday, July 13: New Voices: Young Playwright Contest Tuesday, July 14: "Slam!" by William Feerick Wednesday, July 15: "A Distinct Society" by Kareem Fahmy Thursday, July 16: "The First 15 - You Decide" Viewing: On the Rep's Facebook Page, Proctors Collaborative YouTube channel, Open Stage Media's On-Demand Channel To donate: Via capitalrep.org or by texting NEXTACT to 41444 Info: Capitalrep.org/next-act See More Collapse The abbreviated and online nature of this year's Next Act! dictated that one play be named a winner in advance. (In past years, several plays have received full readings, with a winner chosen based on staff and audience input.) Hall said that while no official commitments have been made, she and Mancinelli-Cahill would like to see Fahmy's play produced during a future season at The Rep. Seven past winners have been included in subsequent seasons, and the winner of the 2017 competition, "The Way North," is due to be produced in the 2020-21 season, though that may be delayed or otherwise affected by ongoing pandemic-related restrictions. "We're hoping that our partnership blossoms," said Hall. "We'd really like to be able to present the premiere." Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center encourages women to get their mammograms done on time so that any cancers can be detected and treated early, improving chances of survival. Dr. Ethan Cohen is a radiologist at MD Anderson and says breast cancer will not hold, even for a pandemic. For any woman who needs to be screened or has symptoms especially if they have a symptom getting imaging is very important to make sure that we maintain our goal, which is to diagnose breast cancer when its easily survivable and easily treatable, Cohen said. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox To that end, MD Anderson has several locations for imaging. Its main campus in the Texas Medical Center, West Houston, The Woodlands and League City, Cohen said, are open as usual, but with a lot of precautions in place to keep from spreading the virus. Beyond social distancing, hand washing and mask requirements, everyone who enters the facility is screened. If someone has symptoms of the virus or has had any great exposure to it, they are not allowed in, Cohen said. Patients must wear a surgical mask (not cloth or homemade), and there are no visitors in the facility. Nonessential workers are working remotely indefinitely to lessen risk because Cohen said many of the women who come to get screened are in a higher risk category because of health issues or their age. Seats in waiting rooms are spaced for social distancing and monitored to make sure no one has moved them. Living proof In 2017, Charlene Upshaw lost her home during Hurricane Harvey, so she was still dealing with that when, in 2018, her good friend was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. As Upshaw was helping to care for her, her husband had a stroke. Then her younger brother was diagnosed with cancer and came to Houston for treatment. One after another, huge things kept happening in her life. Before she realized it, the 56-year-old hadnt had a mammogram in two years. The thought had not even crossed Upshaws mind. After getting screened and then putting off the registered letter from MD Anderson that she needed to pick up at the post office, she was officially notified by phone in June 2019 that she had early-stage breast cancer. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas 4000 takes ride online to fight cancer It was very scary because the first thing I thought about was all the people in my immediate family that had a diagnosis of cancer, and none of them had survived their cancer diagnosis, Upshaw said. At her familys urging, Upshaw went through genetic testing and then surgery and proton therapy treatment. She found out she was cancer free shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started and had the opportunity to bang the gong. Thats the proton therapy equivalent of ringing the bell to announce her victory. She will continue taking a pill for five years so that hopefully the cancer does not come back. Take the time Upshaw reminds women that if they can find the time to go to Walmart or take the risk of getting a meal out with their friends, they can take the time and risk to spend a few minutes getting a mammogram. She said it only takes a few minutes. She also added that MD Anderson is being extra cautious. I mean they just have it down to the science, making sure that people that are coming in are protected, as well as the people that are taking care of the people, Upshaw said. She also said although it may seem cliche, a woman needs to be well herself to take care of others. HEAR FROM THE EXPERTS: Amid COVID-19, call 911 for stroke, heart attack symptoms Cohen said people often believe that MD Anderson is only for those very sick cancer patients. But he said a critical part of what the world-renowned cancer hospital does is screening. We do all the entire extent of breast cancer: screening, diagnosis, treatment and then survivor care, survivorship; with the important thing for breast imaging from a breast radiology perspective, being screening because the way we really impact lives and save lives from a breast imaging perspective is through screening mammography where were able to find smaller breast cancers that are more easily treated with less aggressive therapy, Cohen said. Who should get screened? He said women 40 years or older should get a mammogram each year and that women at a younger age with a family history of a genetic mutation may be helped by earlier mammograms. Those with symptoms like a palpable lump, nipple discharge, nipple changes, persistent pain in the breast or changes on the skin of the breast should quickly seek care from their regular provider, such as a primary care doctor, internist or OB-GYN. The important thing for women to do is if they notice a symptom, anything at all thats going on thats not normal for them and theyre not really sure whats going on, or even if theyre sure whats going on, the first thing to do is to get it evaluated, Cohen said. He said if the issue is serious enough, the provider can refer her to MD Anderson for imaging. To schedule a mammogram with MD Anderson, visit www.mdanderson.org/mammogram. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com The Kingwood Womens Club announced that it has canceled its Holiday Marketplace, which raised over $100,000 for local nonprofits last year, due to uncertainty surrounding the novel coronavirus. The event was expected to bring thousands of shoppers to the Lake Houston area this Fall to purchase a variety of gifts, clothes, purses, sauces and other gourmet food in addition to accessories and decorations. Each business provides a percentage of their profits to the Kingwood Womens Club, which then collects the total donations, including what was raised from the raffle and silent auction and distributes it to 11 different organizations. SURVIVING: Lake Houston Brewery looks toward the future despite challenges The local non-profits and organizations include FamilyTime, Feed My Lambs, HAAM, Project Mammogram, SOSS, The Gathering Place, Village Learning Center, Mission Northeast and the YMCA, as well as educational facilities, such as the Kingwood Library and Lone Star College. We saw too many potential public health issues for shoppers and vendors that would attend. But at the same time, we are deeply saddened at having to announce such a popular Lake Houston tradition wont be held this year, the clubs president, Ellie Csengery said in a statement. The event, which kicked off in the Lake Houston area about 20 years ago, has been canceled only once when Hurricane Harvey flooded thousands of local businesses and homes in 2017. But the 150-member club is exploring alternatives for holding a different event this spring. We are solidifying our plans and will provide more details later, Csengery said. This is one way our group can give back to our community, along with the many hours of volunteering we do with local non-profit organizations. TOP HITS: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox The move comes as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the Lake Houston area. The 77396 zip code, which includes the Fall Creek and Park Lakes subdivisions, has 423 coronavirus cases and three deaths, according to Harris County Public Health data. Meanwhile the zip code which encompasses Humble and parts of Aldine, 77338, has 362 cases and 20 deaths. Atascocitas 77346 has 329 cases and one death while Summerwoods 77044 has 342 cases and three deaths. In the Kingwood zip codes of 77339 and 77345 there are 148 cases and 13 deaths. In the Houston region, positive coronavirus cases have reached 49,922 and the statewide total is 194,179, according to the Houston Chronicle data team. chris.shelton@chron.com The Lake Houston area surpassed 1,000 positive coronavirus cases this week as the Houston region sees the largest increase in cases since the start of the coronavirus. The region reached 1,077 positive coronavirus cases this week, up 94 cases from last week according to Harris County Public Health data. In the Houston region, positive coronavirus cases have reached 47,531 and the statewide total is 180,445 according to the Houston Chronicle data team. COVID-19: Houston coronavirus updates: What you need to know for July 3 Coronavirus testing sites remain open in the Lake Houston area and across the Houston region. While some locations in the area will charge for a test with the option to be reimbursed by insurance such as BAS Premier Testing in Kingwood, others are completely free. For more information on where to find testing sites, visit the citys website. Anyone can receive a test whether or not they have symptoms, but individuals must call 832-393-4220 for an access code and directions to the nearest testing site. On July 3, the Walmart in Fall Creek, 9235 N Sam Houston Pkwy E, was the citys labeled testing site in the Lake Houston area. An appointment is required, which can be completed at DoINeedaCOVID19test.com. Emergency Hospital Systems Deerbrook on FM 1960 offered coronavirus testing from June 24-26 and June 29-July 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering unlimited testing to those who made it within the time limits. Lines were backed up nearly half a mile down the side of FM 1960 on Tuesday. Tamesha James, the director of registration and lab manager, said they are testing between 400-600 people a day. COVID-19: Once lauded for its COVID-19 response, Texas now grapples with one of countrys worst outbreaks Memorial Hermann also remains prepared for an increase in cases, stated Memorial Hermann media relations specialist Drew Munhausen in an email. As of June 30, he said they had 600 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases across the hospitals system and that capacity was not an immediate concern for them at the time. Memorial Hermann has had a surge plan in place for many months and we remain ready and prepared to care for our community, including those in Northeast Houston, Munhausen said in an email. More Information Data on the coronavirus as of July 3 from Harris County Public Health can be viewed by ZIP code. These ZIP codes cover the Lake Houston area. 77396 378 confirmed cases 172 active cases 203 recovered cases 3 Deaths 77346 237 confirmed cases 95 active cases 141 recovered cases 1 Death 77338 330 confirmed cases 127 active cases 183 recovered cases 20 Deaths 77339 103 confirmed cases 64 active cases 26 recovered cases 13 Deaths 77345 29 confirmed cases 22 active cases 7 recovered cases 0 Deaths See More Collapse As cases rise and restrictions become more strict to prevent the spread of the virus, Lake Houston area restaurants are working to adapt to the pandemic. With to-go and delivery options, as well as the 50% capacity limit for dining in, restaurants are pivoting through the continued changes brought by the virus. POLITICS: Texas GOP moves ahead with in-person Houston convention despite COVID-19 spike Were at a place right now where everyone should be trying to stay healthy, try and avoid crowds, and making sure the public is aware of that, Mary Huynh, owner of Bibos Bistro and Bar at Redemption Square in Generation Park, said. Were kind of in a really tough position now as coronavirus cases are increasing. I think that theres a fact of, you know, people wanting to go out, but I feel its my duty to be part of that solution as well as everyone elses in keeping those numbers down. It is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to wash hands with soap frequently for at least 20 seconds and to physically distance when around others. It is also recommended to wear a mask covering the nose and mouth as well as covering coughs and sneezes to prevent any potential spread of the virus. Clean and disinfect surfaces daily, or when they get dirty and monitor your health for any symptoms, according to the CDC. savannah.mehrtens@chron.com I was framed, McDowell said that day. Police know they framed me because when they arrested me I was a victim. They placed me in the lineup. I am talking about I aint have no knowledge of (Mario) Castro, his family. I didnt murder him. Putting me under the jail (is) not going to make the family happy because the killer is still at large. You all, I mean, I cant, I dont even know what to say. I know I didnt kill that man. That is not my M.O. That is all I have to say. June 22 At 8:15 a.m., Officer Trujillo was dispatched to a shoplifting that occurred at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. The witness advised a black male wearing a black hat and a blue surgical mask carrying two black backpacks stole items and left the store without paying for said items. Officer Trujillo located the male at the Metro transit center and recovered the stolen items. At 5:04 p.m., Officer Baylis was dispatched to 6330 West Loop South in reference to a burglary of motor vehicle. Officer Baylis made contact with the Victim who stated an unknown suspect forced entry into his vehicle by prying open the handle on the drivers door and took loose change from the vehicle. Officer Baylis completed the report. At 7:20 p.m., Officer Marcotte initiated a traffic stop in the 6800 block of Second Street on a 2006 Jeep for displaying invalid registration. The driver was found the have a suspended drivers license and to be in possession of marijuana. The passenger was found to be in possession of a fictitious social security card. The driver was arrested and charged with driving while license invalid (DWLI) and possession of marijuana. The passenger was arrested and charged with felony tampering with a government document. June 23 At 11:26 a.m., Officer Lysack was dispatched to the 5200 block of Spruce Street in reference to a burglary of a motor vehicle. Officer Lysack met with the victim and witness who advised the suspect broke a window on the victims truck and stole multiple items. The witness was able to get a license plate number on the suspect vehicle. June 24 At 1:59 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to an in-station report in reference to an identity theft in the 7300 block of Avenue Boulevard. The victim advised an unknown subject used his identifying information to open an account which was sent to collections and also open a bank account with Wells Fargo Bank. At 5:12 p.m., the Bellaire Police Department received numerous 911 calls on a male and female fighting in a parking lot at 6700 IH 610 West Loop South. Upon arrival officers located the involved parties. It was found that the fight was a family violence assault between parents. The suspect was found to be in fraudulent possession of a credit card. The name on the credit card was a victim of identity theft in which a fraudulent account was opened in their name. June 25 At 1 p.m., Officer Carson was dispatched to the Bellaire Police lobby to meet with a victim who had money stolen from her personal bank account. The victim believes she knows the suspect who stole her money from her account. At 4:32 a.m., Officer Vorhees was dispatched to an alarm at a bank ATM at 4555 Bissonnet St. West University and Bellaire Officers located one suspect fleeing the scene in a stolen vehicle and was arrested. Officers Salinas and Barrientos assisted in this case. At 12:48 p.m., a victim called the Bellaire Police Department to report her vehicle had been broken into and her purse was stolen in the 4300 block of Lula Street. The victim stated she parked her vehicle on the street and went into her friends house. The victim believes the suspect was sitting in his car and saw her exit her vehicle without her purse. At 5:02 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to a burglary of a habitation that occurred in the 4600 block of Evergreen Street. Officer Norman made contact with the victim who advised an unknown person entered his unlocked residence and stole items. Officer D. Bailey assisted with this case. At 3:24 p.m., Officer D. Bailey was dispatched to 5200 Bissonnet St. to meet with the victim regarding burglary of a motor vehicle. The victim advised Officer Bailey that he withdrew cash from the bank and parked his vehicle. An unknown person entered his unlocked vehicle and removed the cash. At 12:47 p.m., Officer Quimby was contacted via phone call by the victim in reference to identity theft in the 5300 block of Grand Lake Street. The victim stated an unknown suspect(s) used his identifying information to file for unemployment benefits. At 4:03 p.m., a victim stated he parked his vehicle in the parking garage on the second floor at 6800 West Loop South. When he returned to his vehicle he discovered an unknown person had attempted to steal it. June 26 At 3:57 a.m., Officer Schwausch observed a vehicle traveling NB on Chimney Rock Road speeding and the run two red lights. Officer Schwausch conducted a traffic stop on said vehicle and further investigation found the driver to be driving while intoxicated while in possession of a handgun and marijuana. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and unlawful carry of a weapon and transported to the Bellaire Jail without incident. At 3:21 p.m., Officer Liccketto was dispatched to the lobby of the Bellaire Police Department in reference to a possible harassment at 4301 Bissonnet St. Officer Liccketto met with the reportee who stated one of her clients had been harassing her and was worried about going to work. At 9:48 p.m., Officer Barrientos was dispatched to recovery of a confirmed stolen vehicle left on the property at 5555 West Loop South. Upon computer query of the vehicle identifying number the vehicle showed to be stolen out of City of Houston Police Department. June 27 At 2:10 a.m., Officer Schwausch observed a vehicle fail to signal a lane change and a left turn. Officer Schwausch conducted a traffic stop on said vehicle and further investigation found the driver to be driving while intoxicated in the 4600 block of Bellaire Boulevard. The investigation also found that the suspect provided false information when identifying himself to Officers. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and fail to identify to police officer and transported to the Bellaire Jail without incident. Officer Barrientos assisted with Spanish translation during this investigation. At 10:54 a.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to an in-progress theft that occurred at 4501 Bissonnet St. The witness advised a black male or female wearing an American flag face covering, black shirt and black shorts stole their tip jar and left the place of business. Officer J. Jenkins located the subject in the 4500 block of Bissonnet Street. Officer Jenkins assisted in this investigation. At 2:44 p.m., Officer Liccketto was dispatched to the lobby of the Bellaire police Department in reference to a burglary of motor vehicle at 4747 Bellaire Blvd. The owner of the vehicle left his vehicle parked while at work. The victims alarm went off during the day and the victim later discovered his vehicle had been burglarized and a drone was stolen. June 28 At 5:22 a.m., Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for stopping in the middle of an intersection and defective tail lamps in the 5200 block of Bellaire Boulevard. Further investigation found the driver to be driving while intoxicated. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and transported to the Bellaire Jail without incident. Corporal OSullivan conducted the traffic stop while Officer Schwausch conducted the investigation and is the reporting officer. As the COVID-19 pandemic has brought isolation for many that cant get out, two Houston-area groups have found some solace in new friendships. Vita Living, a Houston nonprofit that enriches the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, joined with Sterling Oaks Rehabilitation, a Katy rehabilitation community, to start a pen pal program between their residents. Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox The Vita Living residents live in group homes in the community in groups of four or six but would typically go to their activity center during the day. After the pandemic and restrictions started setting in, Vita Living Activity Center Manager Kayla Rosenthal said the decision was made to do all their programming at the group homes instead. The residents were disappointed, but Rosenthal said many of them began to comprehend why the measure was necessary. They quickly understood that it was best for everyone to stay home and not be out in the community, she said. When days turned into weeks and weeks into months though, residents with Vita Living and Sterling Oaks needed more interaction and excitement. Without any outside visitors, social gatherings, special events or fun outings, the Vita Living residents were anxious for something more. Census: 2020 Census responses affect Katy ISD federal funding Since Vita Livings residents had sung Christmas carols at Sterling Oaks last December, the two groups already had a relationship. Sterling Oaks Community Life Director Theresa Jenkins got in touch with Rosenthal to find a way for the communities to work together. In mid-May, residents of both communities starting penning letters and introducing themselves to their new friends across the Katy Freeway. In addition to the letters, the Sterling Oaks residents have sent crocheted items, and the Vita Living residents have sent painted pictures. Rosenthal said the program is beneficial for all involved, even though they are are different ages and of different abilities. It does give (the senior adults) an outlet to meet new people engage in conversations, she said. It makes them think of things that they havent thought about in a long time, like whats your favorite childhood memory? On HoustonChronicle.com: Crime Stoppers offers free virtual programs during its 40th year The Vita Living residents really like to receive mail and packages addressed to them, Rosenthal said. Its a big, big, big, big deal for them, she said. So the joy of receiving a letter and knowing that you can go back, and you know, Im going to write back to this person. This person is becoming my friend because were exchanging things. Were learning new things about each other. Thats the excitement for them. The pen pal writers also discuss current times and remind each other to keep safe during the pandemic. Now, Rosenthal said she and Jenkins are looking forward to when the pandemic lifts and the Vita Living and Sterling Oaks pen pals can finally meet in person. Its just been great. Real positive, Rosenthal said. To learn more about Vita Living, visit www.vitaliving.org. For more information about Sterling Oaks Rehabilitation, visit www.sterlingoaksrehab.com. tracy.maness@ hcnonline.com Herman and Kathleen Hoffman are no strangers to pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. And after a fire ripped through their dairy farm on the outskirts of Conroe on Saturday, the couple agree they will go out in a pine box before they give up. Conroe fire officials were continuing their investigation into the fire Monday after firefighters responded to the farm on League Line Road early Saturday morning. We have it, so far, as undetermined, Conroe Fire Marshal Steve Cottar said regarding a cause for the fire. We havent found anything we can wrap it all up with. LAKE CONROE: Boy rescued from drowning by CPR-performing bystander The Hoffmans, who have been plagued by legal battles since 2014 when more than 200 horses were seized from their farm, said they plan to rebuild and are making arrangements to make their products available to customers as early as this week. We are going to have all the inventory available, except yogurt, this week, Herman said. We need to sell our inventory. The dairys inventory includes milk, cheese, butter, eggs, beef and sausage. We are going to try and get back open by the weekend if we can, Herman added. We want people to know we are not going out of business. As for the fire, Herman said officials indicated the fire, which claimed the lives of several goats and injured a cow, started on the porch of the dairys main barn and store. The structure, Herman noted, was uninsured. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox Theres nothing on the porch area so how do you start a fire when there is nothing there so that is a question, Herman said. Herman said despite their legal battles, and what he calls some haters on social media, the business was doing well. We were doing really good, he said. We held all of our product during corona and didnt raise any prices. The Hoffmans farm was raided in June 2015 where agents with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office, Precinct 5 Constables Office and the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were on the Hoffmans farm for days as they were executing a search and seizure warrant and gathering evidence. The Houston SPCA seized 207 horses from the property in 2015. Thirty were euthanized and three others died naturally. The rest of the horses were adopted to new families. In 2017, the Hoffmans were convicted on five counts of cruelty to livestock. Herman was sentenced to one year in jail and Kathleen given 18 months probation due to her health condition. While the Hoffmans appealed the conviction, in 2018 the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont upheld the lower courts ruling. The Hoffmans have maintained their innocence and claim they were sabotaged by former disgruntled employees. After serving their sentences, the cases have been disposed of. Several civil suits filed by the Hoffmans against numerous Montgomery County officials related to the criminal conviction have also been dismissed. For more information about how to purchase items from the dairy, call 936-205-1414. cdominguez@hcnonline.com Montgomery County health officials continued to urge residents Monday to avoid large gatherings and wear face masks as they confirmed 197 new COVID-19 cases over the long holiday weekend. According to the Montgomery County Public Health District, the total count for the county is now 2,550. Of those cases, 1,061 are active. The countys number of deaths remains at 37. Hospitalizations, including both county and out of county patients in Montgomery County hospitals increased to 212 with 52 patients in critical care beds. While health officials urged precautions, County Judge Mark Keough maintained mandating masks is an infringement of the rights of citizens. I am amazed and profoundly disappointed in the governors decision to remove the self-governance and personal responsibility from the people of the state of Texas, he said in a statement Thursday. Officials with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office said Saturday Gov. Greg Abbotts order to require face masks prohibits law enforcement agencies from detaining, arresting or confining to jail as a mean to enforce the order. The CDC recommends the following measures in a public place: stay at least six feet from others at all times; wear a cloth face covering to help protect yourself and others; 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; and bring hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol to use if soap and water are not available. For those needing to be testing, MCPHD has launched an online registration process for its voucher program for both symptomatic and asymptomatic. The testing is for Montgomery County residents only. To get a voucher, go to mchd-tx.org or mcphd-tx.org and click on the need to be tested link. Fill out the information. A voucher will be emailed. Once you have the voucher, make an appointment at your choice of testing center and get tested. For more information, the MCHD/MCPHD COVID-19 Call Center is open Monday-Friday 8:00am-3:30pm. Please call 936-523-5040. cdominguez@hcnonline.com The city of Chicago fined five businesses for violating social distancing rules aimed at curbing the coronavirus over the weekend and also shut down the operator of a Lake Michigan party boat. File/Google A 27-year-old man visiting from Louisiana was shot and killed Saturday night while standing outside a north Houston home, according to authorities. The drive-by shooting happened around 8 p.m. in the 11300 block of Elegant Way in the Champions Green subdivision off of Greens Road. The Tribune found this spring that residents of low-income senior housing in Chicago were being kept in the dark about coronavirus deaths in their buildings and that at least 90 people had died by late May in such buildings in the city. The ordinance does not require residents to be notified when someone dies of COVID-19 in their building, although information about coronavirus deaths in the city is publicly available from the Cook County medical examiners office. The Centers for Disease Control still recommends that people wear cloth face coverings when they are in public and around people they do not live with, particularly when its difficult to stay at least 6 feet from others, whether inside or outdoors. Following the guidelines helps to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which can be spread through the inhalation of droplets from an infected person, the CDC warns. We set a record for highs over the holiday weekend, and, of course, given the number of people who were out and about over the weekend celebrating, we are certainly concerned about what the next couple of weeks are going to look like as well, said Scott Harris, Alabamas health officer. Lorraine Sheppard moved into Potomac Valley Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center for physical therapy in mid-April, just as the nursing home reported its first coronavirus case. Within three weeks, the largely healthy 92-year-old was dead. Sheppard was one of at least three newly admitted short-term residents who contracted the coronavirus at Potomac Valley - a Rockville, Md., facility that continued to take new patients even as it struggled to contain a growing outbreak. What happened to her points toward a thorny question faced by all nursing homes: Whether to continue taking new patients during a pandemic that has devastated the elderly and infirm, leaving many facilities short-staffed and overwhelmed. Governments in New York and other states have been lambasted for forcing nursing homes to accept covid-19 patients to free up hospital beds, but less attention has been paid to the implications of nursing homes choosing to accept non-covid-19 patients into their ranks. For these facilities, closing the door to new residents means shutting off a precious source of revenue and turning away people in desperate need of care. But continuing admissions risks exposing new and existing residents to the coronavirus, especially if the facility is unable to properly isolate patients or lacks staff and protective gear. In Maryland, like across the country, such decisions are often left to the facility. State and local health departments sometimes impose admission bans, but not consistently. The Washington Post contacted 103 Maryland facilities with at least 30 known coronavirus infections. Of the 46 that responded, 20 said they had stopped external admissions at some point since the pandemic started. The remaining 26 said they did not. According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, Potomac Valley continued to admit patients who did not have covid-19 from April to May, a span in which 92 residents and 52 staff tested positive for the virus. Over nine days in May, five new patients arrived, all short-term stay residents like Sheppard, records show. Potomac Valley and its parent company, Vita Healthcare Group, declined to say how many short-term residents have been admitted since the pandemic started or how many of them contracted the coronavirus. Administrator Kathryn A. Heflin said the 175-bed facility abides by federal guidance and takes pride in "help[ing] patients with complex needs." She added that the facility is now "covid-free" and has not reported new infections for several weeks. Two Potomac Valley employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution, said nurses and nursing assistants asked administrators repeatedly in April and May to stop admissions, to no avail. "We have covid everywhere, and yet we are accepting patients," said one employee in early May. "Right now, I'd chop off my right leg before I'd send my parents here." Sheppard's daughter, Tina Bell, said Sheppard died as Bell and her brother were trying to pull her out of Potomac Valley. They were alarmed by Washington Post article in which employees described the facility as dangerously short-staffed and unable to isolate coronavirus-positive patients. The discharge process was underway, Bell said, when she got the call saying Sheppard had covid-19. "I wish they hadn't admitted her," Bell said. "Here's where the system failed." --- While nursing homes are known for treating elderly patients with medical conditions, they also serve as a pit stop for short-term patients, such as those in need of physical therapy or those recuperating from surgery. When elective surgeries were canceled in mid-March, nursing homes lost many of those patients and, like hospitals, took a massive financial hit. The daily reimbursement rate for Medicaid recipients, who generally are the long-term residents who fill the vast majority of a nursing home's beds, is $271.45 in Maryland, said Joseph DeMattos Jr., chief executive of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland. That is about 60% of what Medicare or private insurance pays for short-term stay patients. DeMattos said that because Medicaid is underfunded, nursing homes have to take in different types of patients to finance quality care. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer at Genesis HealthCare, which operates 25 facilities in Maryland, said admission bans are considered a routine part of infection control. Closing the doors of many facilities was among the first steps the organization took when the pandemic set in. But DeMattos said nursing homes should not be blamed for trying to stay financially afloat by taking in new residents - especially if they can isolate coronavirus patients and have enough employees, gloves and masks to provide appropriate care. "Our advice has consistently been, though, that you have to have the physical layout to have an observation space and the personal protective equipment and staffing to do it safely," DeMattos said. Erickson Living, a national chain that operates the Riderwood Senior Living Community in Calverton, Md., opted to stop all external admissions on March 20, said spokesman Dan Dunne. Genesis stopped admissions at 215 of its 361 facilities nationwide when signs of covid-19 appeared and did not resume until all residents and staff were cleared of the disease, Feifer said. According to an earnings report from the publicly traded company, the drop in admissions contributed to $14 million in losses in its first quarter, though most of that was offset by Medicaid reimbursements and changes in payer mix. "Any time any nursing home is not taking in admissions, and there are empty beds, there's naturally likely to be a negative financial impact," Feifer said. "But during a pandemic, you put patient safety first, and it is that simple." The Arden Courts of Towson near Baltimore, Md., stopped admissions in April. Allowing new patients during an active outbreak places them at risk of getting the disease, said Julie Beckert, a spokeswoman for the facility, especially because some residents have a tendency to wander. "These decisions are not financial," Beckert said. "They are made because it is the right thing to do." --- Not all providers made the same choice. Collingswood Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Montgomery County, Md., which as of July 1 had the second-highest nursing home death toll in the state, has continued to admit both covid-19 and non-covid-19 patients since March, said administrator Leah Whetzel. Asymptomatic patients are isolated from symptomatic and covid-19 patients, Whetzel said, and the facility has not struggled with shortages of staffing or protective equipment. As of Thursday, 41 residents and staff at the facility had died of covid-19. CommuniCare, another large operator in Maryland, chose to continue admissions at 16 of its 18 facilities, pausing them at two facilities only after being ordered to by health officials in Allegany and Carroll counties, said spokesman Fred Stratmann. The company's Clinton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in southern Maryland, where 196 staff and residents tested positive for the disease, has not ceased admissions at any point. "Pandemic or no," Stratmann said, "there are still people in need of skilled nursing care." --- In Maryland, local health departments can order facilities to halt admissions, said DeMattos. The same is true in Virginia, where local officials make recommendations for temporary admission bans "to ensure the facility can safely care for their current residents before accepting new resident admissions," said Sarah Lineberger, a program manager in the health care-associated infections program of the state health department. Lineberger said her agency does not track how many local admission bans have been put in place in Virginia, where nursing homes and long-term care facilities have reported 889 covid-19 deaths - 55 percent of all fatalities in the state - as of last week. The Washington D.C. health department has not implemented admission bans at any of the city's 19 nursing homes, but most voluntarily stopped taking new patients at the peak of the crisis in April and May, said Veronica Sharpe, president of the D.C. Health Care Association. As of June 28, there were 978 nursing home residents in D.C. who had tested positive for the coronavirus and 157 who had died. In Southern Maryland, St. Mary's County ordered all facilities to stop new admissions once there was a single coronavirus case, said county health officer Dr. Meena Brewster. --- Montgomery County, Md., which leads the state in nursing home outbreaks, did not have a blanket rule barring admissions but instructed some facilities to do so on a "case-by-case" basis, said health department spokeswoman Mary Anderson. She declined to say whether Potomac Valley was among them, adding that the state Office of Health Care Quality "asked that counties not share specific information on facilities." Maryland Health Department spokesman Charles Gischlar said the only facility the state has barred from taking new admissions is Pleasant View Nursing Home in Carroll County, the site of Maryland's earliest major outbreak. The state fined Pleasant View $70,000 in May for lapses in infection control measures. Lorraine Sheppard's son, Mike Sheppard, said the lack of consistent state and county guidance on admissions was a mistake. "Why didn't the state lock them all down?" he asked. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that nursing homes were vulnerable." Gischlar did not respond to questions about whether the state should have intervened earlier. As of Thursday, there have been 1,920 covid-19 deaths linked to Maryland long-term care facilities. --- When covid-19 arrived at Potomac Valley, the facility was already grappling with major changes in personnel. The family-owned facility was sold last year to Vita Healthcare Group, a private company based in New Jersey. As the virus arrived in April, there was an exodus of senior staff members, including the director of nursing and longtime administrator. The crisis peaked the following month. Nurses and nursing assistants became so busy caring for covid-19 patients, they weren't able to ensure that other residents were being fed daily or protected from symptomatic patients, said two employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation at work. Protective equipment was limited, two employees said. Isolating suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients was not possible. "We're already overwhelmed," one employee said in May. "They're bringing people in to get them sicker than they were." Lawrence Hartit, 74, was admitted in early March to recover from foot surgery, and discharged in late April with a high fever. Less than a day after returning home, Hartit was transported by paramedics to the hospital, where he tested positive for the coronavirus. It took him more than a month to recover, said his wife, Daryll Franklin-Hartit. "He came out of there worse than when he went in. . . . What he went through - it was awful." In addition to exposing the new short-term residents to the coronavirus, Potomac Valley's decision to keep admitting patients meant staff were further strained, said employees. Family members of seven residents said their loved ones suffered from a lack of care in April and May. One woman said a harried nurse told her that her mother hadn't eaten in two days; another man said he was not informed that his mother had covid-19 until after she was intubated in a hospital. Christopher Cofone, whose mother, Dorothy Piel, died in April, said communication from the facility was "dismal," and he has spent months trying to reach administrators to learn more about how his mother died. When Kay Buck, 85, suffered a stroke in May and needed to be moved to a nursing home to recover, staff at Howard County Hospital told her daughter, Suzanne Strayhorn, there were no facilities taking in new residents in Ellicott City, Md., where she lived. Strayhorn said she was told Potomac Valley was the "only option." Two weeks after Buck arrived, Strayhorn began trying to transfer her out of the facility. Family members were rarely able to get through to the nurse's station or receive an update on Buck's condition, she said. In the "blips of time" when they were able to reach Buck, she would plead to leave Potomac Valley. "I can't sleep at night because I'm so worried," Strayhorn said. By mid-June, Buck had been transferred to another facility. "There was no way we could stay," her daughter said. "It was just so dire." Fears over transmission of the disease have compelled consumers to rethink how they shop and pay. Retailers and restaurants are favoring clicks over cash to reduce exposure for employees. Chinas central bank sterilized bank notes in regions affected by the virus. And governments from India to Kenya to Sweden, as well as the United Nations, are promoting cashless payments in the name of public health. Schools throughout Virginia are shedding Confederate names and mascots as officials face a burst of advocacy from students, alumni and parents fueled by the national reckoning over racism and injustice. Prince William County is renaming Stonewall Middle School, named for Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, for a local black couple. After hours of debate, Loudoun County voted last month to remove the mascot for Loudoun County High School: the Raiders, named for Confederate Col. John Mosby's troops, guerrilla-style fighters who wrought havoc on Union supply lines. And Fairfax County is searching for a new name for one of its most racially diverse schools, Robert E. Lee High School - long ago informally re-christened "Lee High School" by embarrassed students who hoped peers from other places wouldn't recognize the reference. Options for new titles, put forth by the superintendent in a recent email to families, include Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., President Barack Obama and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. Often, schools' names have fallen after students or alumni started online petitions, which garnered hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of signatures in the days following the police death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. A.J. Jelonek and Deirdre Dillon, white alumni of Loudoun County High School, started just such a petition against the Raiders last month on Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating African Americans' emancipation from slavery. They said the pandemic, combined with the Floyd demonstrations, fueled the perfect opportunity for change: People were angry and stuck at home, and this marked one of the few ways they could speak out. "I think a lot of people, right now, are looking back and examining things in their life that they let slide or just accepted as 'that's the way things are,' " said Dillon, 29. "That's how it went for me, anyway, and my mind jumped right to the Loudoun County Raiders." Historians said wholesale rejection of Confederate iconography by Virginia schools is unprecedented, but James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, said "the rejection of the icons by black students, parents and community leaders has a history that goes back to the renaming of the schools and the mascots themselves." That took place mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, Grossman said, as an angry reaction to the Supreme Court's seminal 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated the desegregation of public schools nationwide. In response, angry white Southerners launched a program of "massive resistance," which included, in addition to more violent measures, renaming schools and their mascots for Confederates. An analysis by Education Week found that at least 191 schools in 18 states, almost all in the South, still bear the names of men with links to the Confederacy, though historians said that's an underestimate. The Education Week data suggests that Virginia has the second-highest count of these in the country at 23, trailing only Texas, which has 45. Adam Domby, assistant professor of history at the College of Charleston and author of "The False Cause," said white people at the time hoped to send a clear message to black families trying to integrate America's school system. "It was trying to make black students feel unwelcome, while white students and white communities were emboldened to resist desegregation," he said. "And it helped instill a narrative of history that is false and celebrates white supremacy . . . it was teaching white students who is a hero, who is the perfect white gentleman worthy of emulation." Kimberly Boateng, a 17-year-old black senior at Robert E. Lee High School, said the name never made her feel unwelcome. Her school is majority black, Latino and Asian, with white students making up 16% of the student body in 2018-2019; she has always felt its culture is loving and accepting. She loved walking the hallways, filled with diverse crowds, colorful in all senses of the word. But she didn't like walking past the gigantic painting of Gen. Robert E. Lee hung just by the school's entrance. "One day I was sitting after school and the lobby was empty and I looked up and it was kind of menacing," Boateng said. "Then I walked to the plaque underneath it and saw it was donated by the Daughters of the Confederacy. And suddenly I felt, 'This is ridiculous.' " Boateng and her friend Kadija Ismail, also 17 and a senior, knew some students and alumni had begun pushing to change the name in 2017. They got involved in the effort last year. After Floyd's death, Ismail, who is also black, decided she was fed up with waiting. She launched an online petition on June 6 that earned more than 1,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. And she and Boateng wrote an open letter the next day to Superintendent Scott Brabrand and the school board. Robert E. Lee "embodies the very heart of racism," they wrote. "The next graduating class [shouldn't] have the misfortune of having his name immortalized on their diploma and remembered as their alma mater." Days later, the board voted unanimously to change the name. The girls are far from done, they said: With other young people, they're discussing ways to add more black history to school curriculums and ensure that the school system hires more black teachers and administrators. "Civil rights didn't end with Martin Luther King," Ismail said. "The fight isn't over, and the fight won't be over for a long time." "We can't stop at names," Boateng agreed. Boateng and Ismail said they faced little opposition throughout, from classmates or alumni. That wasn't the case in Loudoun, where Jelonek, 28, and Dillon soon noticed backlash from older graduates on Facebook. Another white graduate, Shawn Carver, started a counterpetition calling the mascot a "generic cowboy-like raider" and urging the school board to "protect the legacy of thousands of students from being destroyed." He also noted the cost of a mascot switch - school officials had estimated a price of $1 million - and argued that the money could be better spent on boosting online learning during the coronavirus pandemic, or on purchasing textbooks that do a better job of capturing black history in America. His petition garnered nearly 1,000 signatures, and, Carver said, earned the support of students and alumni of all races and ages. At the heated virtual board meeting on June 29, others gave more sentimental reasons. "Our children have been stripped of so much this year, between a meaningful education, socialization with their peers and now a possible . . . mascot removal," said Carolyn Williams, parent to a high school senior, a middle-schooler and a kindergartner. "My senior athlete really cares about the Raiders." But, like in Fairfax County, the vote, which took place about 1 a.m., was unanimous. In Falls Church, Hayley Loftur-Thun is still awaiting the final outcome of her petition, which takes the battle beyond Confederate generals and calls to rename Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, where she attended first-fourth grades. Through research this summer, Loftur-Thun, a 22-year-old student at Virginia Commonwealth University, learned that Thomas Jefferson exploited enslaved black boys - between 10 and 16 years old - to staff his profitable nailery at Monticello. She found records in which Jefferson wrote that he oversaw "all the details of [the boys'] business myself." "I'm not saying let's erase Jefferson," said Loftur-Thun, who is white. "All I'm saying is that it's particularly inappropriate to name an elementary school after a man who enslaved young boys." She has faced fierce opposition, including a letter to the editor in a local newspaper, often from older white men. But, through phone calls, she has managed to convince some opponents. She got her father, an initially skeptical history buff and Jefferson fan, on board, too. The Falls Church School Board has taken no definitive action, though at its most recent meeting it discussed hiring a consultant who could provide more historical context. Even if the name never changes, Loftur-Thun said, she will still feel proud she launched the petition. At least she started a conversation. Social inequality matters, too. In the United States, Black people are far more likely than white people to become severely ill from the coronavirus, for example, most likely due in part to the countrys history of systemic racism. It has left Black people with a high rate of chronic diseases such as diabetes, as well as living conditions and jobs that may increase exposure to the virus. WASHINGTON - In a warehouse in Washington sits eight large shipping containers - the kind one might expect to see in a shipyard. Inside are dozens of previously worn N95 respirator masks. Workers, clad in protective clothing, place masks onto racks inside a container, tossing aside any that are contaminated with bodily fluids or makeup. The masks are sprayed with hydrogen peroxide vapor, then moved into empty shipping containers to be aerated. The process is part of a government-sponsored program to decontaminate and reuse what is normally single-use personal protective equipment during the novel coronavirus crisis. The system operated by Battelle Memorial Institute, an Ohio-based nonprofit research corporation, is part of efforts in the D.C. area and across the country to reuse personal protective gear such as masks amid continued shortages of the equipment. The shortages have persisted largely as a result of supply chain failures, including the availability of materials, said Ingrida Lusis, vice president of policy and government affairs at the American Nurses Association. On top of that, she said, some hospitals are storing large amounts of personal protective equipment amid concerns about future waves of the coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19. And as hospitals bid against each other to obtain critical materials such as respirators, gowns and gloves, some have lost out. Meanwhile, PPE decontamination appears to be more commonplace. There are nearly 50 Battelle decontamination facilities nationwide. And in an American Nurses Association study administered in May, 43% of the 14,000 nurses surveyed said their hospitals were decontaminating and reusing N95 respirators. In addition, 79% of respondents said they were required or encouraged to wear personal protective equipment for longer periods of time or reuse it, according to the study conducted between May 15 and 31. At Adventist HealthCare's Shady Grove Medical Center in Maryland, staff members initially decontaminated N95 masks in-house, using sterilizers they had on hand, said Sharon Greene-Golden, the hospital's central sterile-processing manager. The facility has outsourced the process to Battelle. The coronavirus pandemic forced sterilization professionals like Greene-Golden to toss aside old rule books that called for PPE to be discarded after it was used with one patient. "It changed things for me, because I had to defend a practice that was technically wrong, as far as our standards go," she said. The International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management, an organization for sterilization professionals, said it received questions from health-care professionals after federal agencies moved to support the decontamination of PPE. The Food and Drug Administration has released emergency authorizations allowing for N95 decontamination. The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested and signed off on a number of decontamination techniques. "Our phones rang off the hook and our emails were burning up because people were saying, 'Is this real? Can we do this?' " said Natalie Lind, IAHCSMM's education director. Concern about the safety of mask decontamination has been mounting among some nurses. In the May survey conducted by the American Nurses Association, 53% of nurses said the decontamination of N95s made them feel "unsafe." "The reason why we're learning nurses are feeling unsafe is because there's the risk of what we call off-gassing, and the inhalation of those gases, as they are emitted from the N95 respirator," said Kendra McMillan, senior policy adviser at the American Nurses Association. Concerns have also arisen among nurses and nurses' unions that respirators may not fit as well or may return degraded after undergoing decontamination. But Battelle officials say its Critical Care Decontamination System is backed by scientific research. Studies began in 2014 during the Ebola crisis, and the system has evolved into one that has now processed more than a million masks, said Will Richter, principal research scientist at Battelle. The percentage of masks that have yielded a complaint is a fraction of 1%, Richter said. The masks are aerated after each decontamination until the hydrogen peroxide vapor is 0.8 parts per million, below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard of one part per million, Richter said. In Battelle's early study, fit tests on decontaminated masks were performed on mannequins, Richter said. It has now partnered with Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital and OhioHealth to conduct testing on masks that have been worn by health-care workers. So far, they've tested masks that have undergone decontamination 10 times, Richter said. Battelle has also done internal testing on several types of N95 respirators, Richter said. "We've seen no outliers," he said. "They all have passed with flying colors." 3M, which manufactures N95 respirators, has been reluctant to embrace strategies to disinfect and reuse its product. But the company recently released its own evaluation stating that Battelle's system could be used safely up to 20 times on 3M N95 respirators. "However, the number of cycles that a particular respirator will withstand will depend on how many times it has been donned, stored and duration and conditions of use," 3M spokesperson Jennifer Ehrlich wrote in an email. Some hospitals, though, are opting to decontaminate the masks fewer than 20 times. Within Kaiser Permanente, the health system's "inventory supply planning is making forecasts based on assumptions that an individual respirator will undergo less than half that number of reprocessing cycles," spokesman Marc Brown wrote in an email. Some hospitals are returning N95 respirators to their original users after each round of decontamination, partially in an effort to boost the confidence of front-line health-care workers. "The team was already worried, people were already fearful of covid-19. And the one thing we could do to comfort their fears was to say, 'We're giving you back your mask,' " said Greene-Golden of Adventist HealthCare's Shady Grove Medical Center. Greene-Golden said it's still uncertain when hospitals like hers will be able to resume disposal of PPE after each patient. Her hospital is hoping to have a 90-day supply of N95 masks on hand before they return to the previous process, she said. Last she checked, there was about 75 days' worth of masks. Things are improving, she said. Battelle's decontamination system has received attention from the White House. On March 29, President Donald Trump tweeted, "Hope the FDA can approve Mask Sterilization equipment ASAP. As per Governor @MikeDeWine, there is a company in Ohio, @Battelle, which has equipment that can sterilize masks quickly." That day, the FDA, which had permitted Battelle to operate the decontamination system at its headquarters in Ohio, authorized the company to bring it to other sites throughout the country. In addition to concerns about the safety of reusing treated masks, Battelle's system has garnered criticism for its hefty price tag. The company's contract with the federal government has a ceiling of more than $400 million. The company has charged roughly $78 million so far for the setup of 47 systems nationwide, said Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey. "The cost of operations won't be known until the program comes to an end," he wrote in an email. "The ceiling is about $400 million, but it's just that, a ceiling. We did not just get a check from the government." For the time being, decontamination work continues in earnest at the District's Battelle facility on New York Avenue. Vivian Smith, a principal research scientist for Battelle, recently took over the site after running a CCDS facility in Pennsylvania. There, she said, she worked alongside volunteers from a wide array of backgrounds, including doctors, National Guard members and military veterans. "It's been really helpful for us, because they've helped improve the process," she said. Luis Garcia, a Battelle software engineer who ran the D.C. facility until recently, said he volunteered - even though he had little experience in the field - in an effort to aid those battling covid-19. "It's just been really awe-inspiring to see how many people from diverse backgrounds, even more diverse than mine, have just been ready to help our first responders, to help our health-care providers, to help the American people," Garcia said. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Midland County, Midland Health and the City of Midland confirmed Midland County's 17th COVID-19 related death. The patient, a male in his 50s, was being treated at a hospital in San Antonio. The patient passed away on July 4, 2020. The City of Midland Health Department is currently conducting their investigation on 41 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Midland County for July 6, 2020, bringing the overall case count to 927. There are 661 isolated cases, 249 recovered and 17 COVID-19 related deaths in Midland County. If Joe Biden is elected, he will face the same intransigence from the GOP that Barack Obama did. Just as soon as Biden is sworn in, Republicans will do everything in their power to defeat his policies and hamstring his presidency. They will suddenly remember long-forgotten conservative principles, such as fiscal restraint. They will refuse to compromise. Even though they ignored mind-boggling corruption for the last four years, they will show a passionate and determined interest in any whiff of scandal among Democrats. That's why a Biden administration will need a Democratic Senate. Without it, he will not be able to drag the country out of the mess that it's in. This is not the time for complacency, even though polls show Biden leading nationally and in several critical battleground states. It's the time for Democratic activists to redouble their efforts to boost not only Biden, but also Senate candidates in Colorado, Arizona, Maine, North Carolina and even Georgia. If Democrats cannot take the Senate, Biden's agenda hardly stands a chance. Remember the pledge Mitch McConnell made during Obama's first term? McConnell couldn't prevent Obama's re-election, but he did make his second term one of precious few accomplishments. The Senate majority leader and his claque blocked virtually every one of Obama's proposals. And the GOP will be even more stubborn during a Biden presidency because they will view their death grip on the Senate as their last tenuous hold on power, their last chance to turn back the tide of cultural changes sweeping across the nation. You think they were obstinate during Obama's presidency? They will be even more mulish about Biden's judicial nominees. They will refuse to confirm Biden's appointees for top roles in his administration. They will fight his efforts to undo the damage they have done to countless pillars of the federal government, from Justice to Interior to the State Department. A GOP-controlled Senate will also hamper Biden's efforts to dig the country out of the economic wreckage left by the coronavirus. The federal government's fiscal response should be broad and deep, targeted to middle-class and working-class families. Biden has pledged to raise the federal minimum wage substantially, to fund college tuition for most students and to expand the Affordable Care Act, which the GOP is still trying to kill. While Biden has not said much about tax increases, Congress needs to raise taxes on the wealthy and roll back the loopholes that allow them to escape paying their fair share. Republicans, of course, would vote in lockstep against any such proposals. There is also much unfinished business from the Obama years comprehensive immigration reform, providing affordable housing and tackling climate change. A GOP-controlled Senate would dedicate itself to blocking any effort to fix those problems. More Information Have something to say? We accept unsolicited essays and exclusive letters to the editor. Submissions are subject to editing for clarity, length, taste and accuracy. Include a daytime phone number. Mail:Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 Fax: 518-454-5628 Email: Letters, tuletters@timesunion.com; Essays, tucommentary@timesunion.com See More Collapse The U.S. Senate is one of the nation's least democratic (small "d") institutions. Because each state elects two senators, regardless of its population, the interests of the majority of voters are often ignored. Given the ways the nation has changed since its founding, it hardly makes sense that Utah and Idaho have as much clout in the Senate as California and Texas. (The same argument holds for the Electoral College.) And the population imbalances will only sharpen over coming decades as rural states such as North Dakota lose population while states such as Georgia gain residents. Political scientist Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute tweeted this a couple of years ago: "By 2040 or so, 70 percent of Americans will live in 15 states. Meaning 30 percent will choose 70 senators. And the 30 percent will be older, whiter, more rural, more male than the 70 percent. Unsettling to say the least." In the coming decade, Americans need to get down to the business of amending the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College and rebalance the U.S. Senate. Any such effort will take years of work by Congress and state legislatures. It won't come to pass anytime soon. But Democrats now have a good chance to give Biden a Senate that he can work with. They should do everything possible to see that he gets it. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form President Trump has frequently attacked the free press with bogus charges of fake news when it reports what would be more accurately characterized as news the President doesnt like. On the free assembly front, he seems inclined to conflate peaceful protesters with law breakers; his clearing of Washington Square of Black Lives Matter protesters so he could have his picture taken with a Bible in front of a church seems like it will go down in presidential infamy. The world is witnessing massive growth in data centre computing as organisations build the capacity needed to store and process huge volumes of data, with Gartner predicting growth in the large data centre category of 3.6% CAGR. While the public cloud is proving popular, many organisations are seeking to retain control of their data and computing environments by hosting in shared private facilities or creating their own private data centres. But the need to meet highest standards of performance and security means the technology chosen to operate these new centres is critical, especially the switching infrastructure that forms its communications backbone. The need for AI Digitalisation is a key factor behind data centre growth, and many are being built to meet the specific requirements of modern systems, including those that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). These AI-based systems demand incredibly high data throughput and have great sensitivity to packet loss; studies show that the loss of even 0.1% of packets can halve AI computing power. The sophistication of these modern environments also requires a high level of specificity in terms of data they generate regarding their own performance, to assist in the rapid identification and rectification of problems. And of course, considerations such as the cost of power and cooling remain an ongoing concern. All these considerations generate complexity well beyond those traditionally encountered within data centres and demands a new approach to their management and maintenance. The answer lies in utilising AI itself to play a key role in data centre operation and maintenance. When embedded in the operating environment of a data centre, AI can take on a large component of monitoring, management, and optimisation duties, including the automation of low-level administration tasks and fault resolution, while providing decision support to human operators when required. This leads to more reliable and more efficient performance and faster fault resolution. The CloudEngine 16800 advantage Huawei is a long-time leader in the data centre switch market, having sold more than 32,000 core switches to clients including the Max Planck Institute in Germany, China UnionPay, and ICBC Asia. And its latest flagship CloudEngine 16800 series data centre switch is an AI-driven switch the meets the needs of the AI-driven era. The CloudEngine 16800 features real-time learning and training capabilities in addition to autosensing and auto-optimisation of traffic to enable exceptionally low latency. Millisecond-speed data collection across eight dimensions provides complete network status data aggregation for efficient operations and maintenance, while intelligent analysis for self-optimisation identifies faults in seconds. It also uses an industry-unique AI algorithm, iLossless, to achieve zero packet loss on the entire network, to ensure that AI-powered workloads can perform at peak efficiency. The CloudEngine 16800 is also the industrys highest density 400GE switch, with a switching capacity up to five times the industry average. This future-proofs data centre investments and satisfies foreseeable requirements for smooth network architecture for the next 5-10 years. Additional capabilities include ultra-high-speed signal transmission, super heat dissipation, and an efficient power supply, which together reduce per-bit power consumption by 26%. It was this combination of features that stood out to judges at Japans largest and most influential ICT exhibition, Interop Tokyo 2020, where the CloudEngine won the Best of Show Award Grand Prize. Summary With data centre performance becoming more and more critical to business performance, organisations need to make the right investments. By incorporating AI technology into the industrys highest-density switch, the CloudEngine 16800 ensures organisations can make the right investment both for today, and well into the future. To find out more about CloudEngine and other Huaweis offerings, visit here. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy with rain ending in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 67F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access Morricones style was sparse, made of memorable tunes and unusual instruments and arrangements. His music punctuated the long silences typical of the Spaghetti Westerns, with the characters locked in close-ups, staring at each other and waiting for their next moves. The coyote howl, harmonicas and eerie whistling of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became Morricones trademark and one of the most easily recognizable soundtracks in cinema. Twenty-seven shootings occurred over the July 4 weekend in New York City, which injured 36 individuals and killed four. This follows an extremely volatile June, in which the city saw its number of shootings double, compared to the same time period last year. City Council Members Robert Holden and Joe Borelli and the citys largest police union say that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Councils liberal majority have created the conditions responsible. Holden specifically cited the recent $1 billion budget cut for the New York City Police Department. Borelli, from Staten Island, is one of three Republicans on the Council while Holden is a relatively conservative Democrat from Queens who won election on the Republican Party line. Last night was a prime example of the damage defunding the police and all the other anti-police legislation, that @NYCCouncil passed, has done to this city. Ten shootings last night, and the uncontrollable fireworks gave the impression of a war torn city. (1/2) https://t.co/lso4SJRJ3q Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) July 5, 2020 A violent 4th last night in #NYC 75th pct 1 shot 32 1 shot 49 1 shot 23 1 shot 77 1 shot 75 2 shot 28 1 shot 44 1 shot 69 1 shot 32 4shot 32 1 shot 67 2 77 1 77 1 73 1 44 1 32 6 34 3 90 1 43 2 20 incidents, 33 victims. Politicians are to blame. Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) July 5, 2020 For those saying defunding hasnt begun yet, its untrue. OT cut by $350m & each command/unit is already leaving positions unstaffed as a result. Less police man/hours started 7/1 Also, OT cuts =$10,000 per cop. Congrats, u made it harder for some working fams to feed the kids Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) July 6, 2020 Even President Donald Trump weighed in on the weekends bloodshed, urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action. Trump, on Twitter, also criticized demands being made by protestors and Democratic politicians to defund and abolish the police. Two Manhattan NYPD bureaus also took to Twitter over the weekend to bash the citys elected officials for the weekends shootings and singled out Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance for not arriving at the scene of a shooting. Its unclear what, if anything, Vance could have done to assist law enforcement at the scene of the crime. Disgraceful the amount of people shot in Manhattan North in the past 24 hours! Where are the elected officials and violence interupter!! The community is suffering!! NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan North (@NYPDPBMN) July 5, 2020 Manhattan DA Cy Vance where are you? No show at any shooting scene!!! Our community is being attacked, there have been 24 people shot in the city in the past 24 hours....Where Are You!!! NYPD Manhattan South (@NYPDPBMS) July 5, 2020 However, the decision to remove $1 billion from the NYPDs $6 billion budget was made only five days ago, which would not have had an effect on shootings that occurred throughout June. Also, the $1 billion being defunded from the department isnt exactly what many protestors and criminal justice advocates have been asking for. Technically, $382 million will be cut from the budget, $354 million worth of costs will be shifted around and the city will be looking at other ways to shave down the department's spending. Just as some law enforcement officials, Republican politicians and conservative pundits suggested that the recent spike in shootings and homicides should discredit the movement to defund the police, a similar argument was made about bail reform in February, when the same voices claimed a temporary spike in crime had been caused by letting more suspects awaiting trial out of jail. However, these assertions ignore the fact that shootings and homicides have risen in other major cities, such as Chicago and Minneapolis, throughout June. Homicides and shootings were also on the rise in the city within the first six months of 2020, but it appears the pandemic stalled the upward trend momentarily. The pandemic was also responsible for stalling roughly 39,200 criminal proceedings throughout the city, which is believed to have slowed efforts to curtail violence. Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told The New York Times that the citys sharp uptick in shootings could be the combination of warmer weather, Covid cabin fever and the traditional gun violence that we see in June, July and August. Shootings have also been linked to the unrest caused by police killings of innocent and unarmed individuals. After Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police office in 2014, homicides rose up to 20% in some major U.S. cities. Some police unions are fearful that the city is poised to face the high crime rates of the 1990s when the city saw its highest number of homicides to date while others feel its too soon for such predictions. The sum total of all of that is grounds to worry, but I have happily sat back and watched them predict Armageddon that hasnt come for years, Eugene ODonnell, a former city police officer and a professor at John Jay College, told the Times. Whether shootings go up or down, I think things have dramatically changed for the worst in communities affected by this problem. Update: This story was updated to clarify the meaning of Borellis comments. Dark and divisive. Over the weekend, both the New York Times and the Washington Post used those words to describe President Trumps Friday evening speech at Mount Rushmore. The Timess top story on the event used divisive or division six times, if you include the headline, a photo caption, and a quote from a spokesperson for Joe Bidens presidential campaign. Headlines in many other outlets focused on divisiveness, too, regarding the presidents Rushmore speech (the Associated Press: Trump digs deeper into nations divisions) and a second address in Washington, DC, on Saturday (CNN: Trump doubles down on divisive messaging). Vanity Fair proclaimed, below a headline that also used the words dark and divisive, So much for national unity! Trumps Independence Day speeches certainly were dark. He conjured lunatic images of rabid left-wing mobs rampaging through US cities, wantonly canceling the totems of American history and their present-day defenders. He did not dwell on the deadly pandemic ripping through the country; he mentioned it only as an opportunity to blame China, brag about his administrations response, and state, falsely, that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are totally harmless. There are many words that could be used to describe his rhetoricand over the weekend, as the speeches drove ample coverage, many words were used. Major outlets kept coming back, however, to divisive. Was this really the best we could do? ICYMI: Spies, Lies, and Stonewalling: What Its Like to Report on Facebook Throughout the Trump era, strong reporting has been let down by weak writingracially charged; partisan brawl; and, yes, divisive. Shorthand can be undermining when it factually and morally blurs sharp, often uncomfortable truths about racism, abuse of power, and the growing asymmetry of political sides that reporters were taught to treat equally. (Trumps divisive is not analogous to Obamas divisive.) Last week, after the president retweeted (then deleted) a video of a supporter shouting White power, Greg Sargent, a columnist at the Post, argued that Trump-boosters like to use euphemisms such as stoking division and throwing a match on gasoline to maintain plausible deniability around their true goal: to engineer violent civil conflict, by signaling to white Americans that they are under siege in a race war that theyre losing. Such euphemisms, Sargent wrote, imply that Trump is a passive bystander to societal conflicts. The mainstream press knows this not to be trueyet many reporters and editors too often find refuge in soft language. (Its not just members of the press: see also Mark Zuckerberg.) Two weeks ago, when Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Times, appeared on the Longform podcast, the host, Max Linsky, asked him what he really thinks of Trump. I think hes an incredibly divisive figure, Baquet replied. Then he paused. I think Ill stop, he said, other than to say hes an incredibly divisive figure. When the mainstream press gestures toward the immorality of Trumps divisiveness, the implication often seems to be that he is an unwelcome aberration from Americas otherwise noble history. (Its surely not an accident that divisive was everywhere over the July 4th holiday weekend.) At best, thats the product of wishful thinking; as Todd Gitlin, a sociologist at Columbia Journalism School, told Voice of America over the weekend, the idea of American unity is a myth. (Pick a moment in history when we have always not been deeply divided, he said.) At worst, that tendency is an abdication of journalisms responsibility, at this moment in particular, to illuminate the persistent race- and wealth-based disparities that splintered Americas past and define its present. Sign up for CJR 's daily email In February 2016, months before Trump was elected, Wesley Morris, of the Times, reflected on this and similar ideas in a piece, Its in Americas DNA to Be Divisive. Morris wrote that divisive used to carry a neutral, even positive connotationAmericans like to argue, after allbut became a word of admonishment. This incarnation of the word doesnt invite debate. It preemptively squelches it, Morris wrote. Divisive here tries to take whats divisive off the table, in order to keep a version of the peace. That analysis has even greater resonance today. Taking Trump off the table wont restore a halcyon conception of unity. So lets take the euphemisms off the table, instead. Below, more on Trump, history, and the July 4th weekend: Some news from the home front: Today, CJR is out with our new magazine, Reckoning: Covering an election amid a pandemic and an uprising. Features will roll out online over the next two weeks. You can get started with Adam Piores profile of MSNBC, Simon van Zuylen-Woods dissection of David Axelrod and the pundit class, and Jack Herreras analysis of how longstanding calls to Defund the Police got coopted as a campaign story. Last week, Herrera talked with Kyle Pope, CJRs editor and publisher, on our podcast, The Kicker. Other notable stories: ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump? 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. Russias environmental watchdog has asked a power subsidiary of Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel to pay almost 148 billion roubles ($2 billion) in damages over an Arctic fuel spill in Siberia. Rosprirodnadzor said in a statement on Monday that it had already sent a request for voluntary compensation to the subsidiary, NTEK, after calculating the damage caused by the May 29 fuel spill. Norilsk Nickels Moscow-listed shares fell by 3% after the watchdogs statement. The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The spill followed a loss of pressure in a fuel tank, and 21,000 tonnes of diesel was released into rivers and subsoil near the city of Norilsk. Environmental pressure group Greenpeace has compared the incident to the devastating 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska. Rosprirodnadzor said the damages included the cost for nearby water bodies, estimated at 147.05 billion roubles, and for subsoil is, estimated at 738.62 million roubles. The amount of the damage to Arctic water resources is unprecedented. The sum corresponds to it, Russias natural resources and environment minister, Dmitry Kobylkin, said in a separate statement. If one remembers the Exxon Valdez tanker accident off the coast of Alaska, the amount of the damage and charged fines (in that case) was over $5 billion, the minister added. LANSING, Mich. Jenna Hulse was at work out of town as a nurse when she got a message from her brother that a dam three blocks from her house in the Michigan village of Sanford was failing. Six feet (2 meters) of water entered the home, and though Hulse said shes lucky that the house shes lived in most of her life is still structurally sound, many other peoples homes were destroyed, ripped from their foundations. Things arent ever going to be normal again. There will be a new normal, I guess, but theres so much of the village thats getting torn down. Eventually, the look and feel of it will be different, Hulse said. Its just unfair and disgusting, watching these houses get torn down that Ive been looking at my whole life. Hulse is among the 859 Sanford residents whose lives were upended when privately owned dams with a history of neglect failed in May, resulting in more than $200 million damage in Midland County. When the floodwaters roiled the Tittabawassee River, much of the attention focused on the larger downstream city of Midland, home to Dow Chemical Co. But many in Sanford are still scraping up muck and debris as they wait to find out whether any government aid may come their way. In mid-June, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster, which would open up federal resources and financial support for the area. Michigan has not yet received a response to Whitmers request. Legislation to allocate $6 million in state funds to the Midland area, mostly for housing, is sitting in a committee, with the Legislature adjourned for the summer. Hulse said that when the floodwaters hit, countless volunteers in the village went to work helping her and families like hers by providing meals and supplies, and removing debris. The mud was unbelievable. It was slimy and it left this film on anything, Hulse said. A lot of the stuff that you thought, `Well maybe Ill clean this off and keep it, you cant even, you cant. Sanford, being so small, has already spent more than its yearly budget on debris cleanup alone. Emily Ricards created a Facebook page to organize volunteer work. Although state or federal government aid would be a huge help, Ricards said Sanford could not wait. Midland County has a history of salt and gravel mining, and local excavating companies are helping to clean up the debris. If we would have waited wed still be sitting and in three foot of muck, Ricards said. Many damaged houses were not in the floodplain and did not have flood insurance, Ricards said. Together with the Midland Foundation, which funds programming and services for the county, the Sanford Strong Facebook page has raised $210,000 to take care of the immediate needs of residents, such as food and housing. Floodwaters reached nearly to the ceilings of businesses in the downtown area, preventing them from reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic with the rest of the state, said Midland attorney Angela M. Cole, who lived in Sanford for more than 40 years. She created a GoFundMe that has raised nearly $20,000 to help local businesses. Its very personal to me. I raised my three sons in Sanford, Cole said. When they went to college and came back, the first place they always wanted to go for dinner was Lannys Restaurant, which is right in downtown Sanford. We celebrated birthday parties, their graduations, anything you can think of there. The goal is to keep people in the village, Cole said. Supporting businesses will make it easier for residents to stay or visit, which would build the tax base. I think its better just to help than to sit back and wait for state or federal funding, Cole said. Were gonna be very grateful for it, but can it really help the amount of devastation? Maybe not, so maybe if we do our part, that will help heal some more. About the photo: In this May 29, 2020 file photo, two cars are flipped over after major flood damage, in Sanford, Mich. Sanford village, with a population of 859, is pulling together after the devastation of two dam failures in May. Volunteers are still clearing muck and providing supplies to those whose homes were destroyed since theres no telling when major state and federal help will come.(Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP File) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The civil disturbance that started in Minneapolis after the killing by police of George Floyd spread to 20 other states an unprecedented property insurance catastrophe that will likely impact policy renewals and could even persuade some insurers to exclude coverage for damage caused by riots, executives for Verisks Property Claim Services said. In the U.S., there has been no precedent for a riot catastrophe like this, Tom Johansmeyer, head of PCS, said during a telephone interview with the Claims Journal on Thursday. Johansmeyer offered no prediction about total damages, other than to repeat a previous report that losses will exceed the $25 million catastrophe level. But he did say that this years civil disturbance was the first ever to cause substantial property losses in more than one state. That breadth of damage is bound to affect the thinking of property underwriters, especially those who insure large national retailers. He said up to now, insurers have thought of rioting as a local risk that can be controlled by building a geographically diverse book of business. Janet Ruiz, director strategic communications for the Insurance Information Institute, offered more detail. She said riot losses will surpass the previous record for civil unrest damages that was set in 1992 from rioting that erupted during protests after a jury acquitted police officers who had been videotaped beating Rodney King. PCS said insured losses from that event reached $775 million, or about $1.4 billion in 2020 dollars, according to the Insurance Information Institute. This will be a bigger event than the LA riots given the volume of locations that had losses around the country, Ruiz said. Its shaping up to look like it could be in the hundreds of millions. The insurance industry is prepared financially to handle these claims. PCS drew up a graphic that shows 21 metropolitan areas that were impacted. It will certainly be on the minds of property underwriters, Johansmeyer said. You do not talk about losses from big riots and not talk about them when it comes to renewal. Historically U.S. riot catastrophes have caused relatively low insured losses, PCS said in a previous report. The 2015 rioting in Baltimore was the last civil disorder event that PCS designated as a catastrophe, meaning it resulted in damages of more than $25 million. PCS said shortly after rioting erupted in Minneapolis that damages there could reach $25 million in Minnesota alone. The company has not yet updated the total amount of estimated insured losses. Johansmeyer noted that his company sells information to subscribers besides, PCS isnt in the forecasting business. There is a fair amount of loss to be had here, he offered, when asked what the total insured loss might be. Johansmeyer said the total amount of the loss isnt the real story anyway. Its the large retailer losses in particular that could change the character of this, he said. The dynamics of the retailer space are just profoundly different than what you had seen in the 1992 riots. Johansmeyer said national retailers were not truly national 30 years ago. He said he never saw a Target store or WalMart when he was growing up in Boston. Now those stores are ubiquitous. He said CVS, Target, Walgreens, Walmart and Whole Foods reportedly suffered property damage during protests in Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Boston and most other large U.S. cities. He said one has to look back to the 2019 civil unrest that spread throughout the South American nation of Chile late last year to find property damages of similar scope. Rioting set off during protests over the cost of living and income inequality caused $2 billion in damages, and 40 percent of that was incurred by large, multinational retailers. In fact, PCS said 20 percent of the loss came from a single retailer, he said. Johansmeyer said said one of those retailers in Chile was not able to find coverage for damage caused by strikes, riots and civil unrest when it renewed its property policy. He said it had to go the political violence market for coverage. He said its too soon to know if that will be the result of the U.S. civil unrest. We are aware that a couple of large retailers have put in large-loss advisories, Johansmeyer said. Ted Gregory, PCS director of operations, added numerous small claims suffered by a single policyholder make up a good part of the reported losses. Not every loss was a large loss or total loss of a building, Gregory said. There are a lot of smaller losses out there as well. About the photo: Ferguson resident Andrew Davis gathers his tools as he volunteers boarding up broken windows Sunday, May 31, 2020, at Beauty World beauty supply in Ferguson, Mo. The store was one of several damaged during protests over the death of George Floyd on May 25 after he was pinned at the neck by a Minneapolis police officer. Several buildings in the area of the Ferguson police department were vandalized. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) About 20 employees of U.S. oil refiner Phillips 66 tested positive at its Texas headquarters for COVID-19 in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter said, alarming employees as the company strove to keep staff working in its offices. Texas has reported record daily cases of the virus this week and Houston hospitals began emergency staffing and occupancy measures. On Thursday, the state ordered face masks be worn in public, reversing officials earlier opposition to a mandate. Phillips 66, which began bringing back its 2,000 headquarters staff in May, has become a test case for Houston employers looking to recall workers from home offices. In a video to employees, Chief Executive Greg Garland said their return would support its main product, gasoline, and be fair to company employees who cannot work from home, according to a video transcript reviewed by Reuters. Our company bled $1.6 billion of cash in the first quarter. Well bleed at least that much in the second quarter, he said, adding that weak fuel sales put employee jobs in jeopardy. If people dont commute, we dont have a viable business model. The company also had very few COVID-19 cases and no workplace transmission that it knew of, he added. But since then, the rising number of employee cases has troubled staff, according to four people who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. Phillips only recently mandated masks be worn in all areas of its offices. Employees had expressed concern about going to work amid Texas surge in cases and were unhappy about the relative protection of top executives with private elevators and enclosed offices, the sources said. A Phillips 66 spokesman said in a written reply to questions that the safety of employees, contractors and communities was the companys top priority. Employee monitoring, isolation and/or quarantining is taking place as necessary, he said, but did not respond to a question on the number of cases. Office seating complied with social distancing guidelines, and where this was not possible, employees worked staggered shifts, the company said. (Reporting by5 in Denver and Erwin Seba in Houston; editing by Richard Pullin) WILSON, N.C. A Black family has filed a federal lawsuit against the parent company of Hampton Inn and others after the family said a North Carolina clerk called police on them over a billing dispute two years ago. Delores Corbett was seeking clarification on a billing error for her prepaid room at the end of the familys stay in November 2018 when a female employee loudly told her that her credit card had been declined, The Wilson Times reported, citing the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday. The employee then loudly repeated `Your credit card was declined! Mrs. Corbett asked the employee to stop making the comment, to which the employee continued to loudly repeat `Your credit card was declined, the lawsuit said. The suit said the employee in the central North Carolina city of Wilson refused to verify the prepayment and Corbett asked to speak to a supervisor. The employee then shouted Get off my property and called the police, according to the lawsuit. The complaint said Corbett interrupted her husbands breakfast to rush him and their 16-year-old son to their van over concerns about how law enforcement would respond toward the African-American males of the family. She said the family left the hotel so quickly that it left some items behind. Unless you are an African American who understands what it means when a police officer comes on the scene and when someone irrational calls them, its a 50/50 chance of how this thing is going to go down, Corbett said. And for me, I was extremely afraid, she said. I told her that we didnt want any trouble, that we were checking out anyway, that there was no reason to call the police, but when you talk about that fear, its something that is hard to describe. But it is something that is at the deepest core of your being. When police officers arrived, they asked the Hampton Inn employee if the Corbetts had paid for their rooms. According to the lawsuit, she acknowledged that the rooms were paid. Officers escorted the family from the hotel and suggested that they call the corporate office, the lawsuit said. As the family left, the lawsuit states that the police followed them closely to a restaurant parking lot and circled their car several times as the family waited for other family members who were still at the hotel. Delores Corbett told a Hilton representative in December 2018 of the incident, the lawsuit said, noting that the representative recommended that she just move on. Hilton spokesman Nigel Glennie said the company has zero tolerance for racism and discrimination, but declined comment on the lawsuit. Glennie said Hiltons records indicated its representatives worked to resolve the complaint. Also named in the lawsuit are Hilton Franchise Holding and Patco Lodging of Wilson, which owns the hotel property. The suit asks for a jury trial and for a declaratory judgment finding the defendants actions violate the Civil Rights Act. Last month, a worker at a Hampton Inn in Williamston was fired after she called police on a Black woman and her child who were guests there and swimming in the pool. The worker had questioned whether the woman and her children were guests at the hotel, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Wilson. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. SAN FRANCISCO Firefighters scrambled to douse grass and structure fires sparked by illegal Fourth of July fireworks in Californias Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The city of San Francisco saw at least 100 fires between 3 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Saturday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The fire department tweeted about roughly 15 blazes in a single hour, the newspaper said. To the south in Santa Clara County, firefighters continued on Sunday to battle a 100-acre (40-hectare) vegetation fire that prompted evacuations near Morgan Hill. Across the bay in Contra Costa County, firefighters responded to 50 fires between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. alone, according to a count by the Chronicle. Blazes were also reported in Marin and Alameda counties. Firefighters treated people for minor injuries, but it wasnt immediately clear how many were hurt. Further south, crews in Fresno responded on Saturday to at least 70 fires triggered by fireworks, officials said. Resources were spread so thin that the citys fire department temporarily stopped responding to medical aid emergencies except cardiac arrest, the Fresno Bee reported. By early Sunday, Fresno Fire was still working on 14 fires throughout the city and our resources have been completely stretched to the max, department spokesman Shane Brown said. Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez told the newspaper it was the worst fireworks night hes ever seen. No injuries were reported in the Fresno area fires. Fireworks are illegal in most areas. Many communities canceled traditional fireworks displays because of the coronavirus pandemic In Nevada, Nye County officials threatened citations and arrests for illegal fireworks that led to some fires across metro Las Vegas. The county Sheriffs Office made an online plea Saturday night for people to stop using aerial fireworks. Pahrump Valley firefighters had to respond to calls about fires at homes and desert brush areas. Sheriffs officials say deputies will be searching and citing or arresting anyone found launching aerial fireworks. Reporting agencies showed fire calls for Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Clark County. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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 The entries are all in (deadline was June 26) and Westlake in Bloom judging is Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough is encouraging everyone, even businesses and organizations, to participate right now happening this week. by putting out a plant in the front yard or on the front porch while judging is taking place. By putting out a plant this week, said Clough, it not only celebrates Westlake In Bloom, it also demonstrates how our community is coming together. We would like the entire community to show their support this year. The yearly Westlake in Bloom event is free to all who apply and all the current participants to be judged are invited to the 2020 Reception and Awards Ceremony to be held August 13 at LaCentre. And speaking of coming together, most people missed out, and were missing the annual fireworks to be found in virtually every community in the Greater Cleveland area. Clough has announced the fireworks will be rescheduled, presumably for sometime in September, he said. We are working on a date now and we will announce it within the next few weeks. Disney had planned a theatrical release in October 2021 before dropping it early on its streaming service, but that's not enough to qualify it for Oscar consideration. Though eligibility rules were amended in April to allow films with planned theatrical releases to compete, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Recorded stage productions are not eligible for consideration." SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Its been close to two years since the Verb Ballets dance company made a pirouette over to expanded space at The Dealership in the Chagrin-Lee corridor. Now another dance troupe appears poised to leap into the Verb's former home in the lower level of Christ Episopal Church in the Van Aken District. Dance by Sha'Ran has applied for the same type of conditional use permit that was needed before Verb Ballets could use the same space, with a hearing set this week before the Shaker Heights City Planning Commission to allow for a specialized instructional school in the downstairs parish hall. "The applicant proposes dance classes for various age groups (starting as early as age 3) both in-person and combination Zoom classes with a maximum of 10 students, but will transition to up to 20 students after COVID-19," the application states. The hearing was also scheduled to be conducted via Zoom meeting this week, with a recommendation from the Planning Commission to be forwarded to City Council for confirmation. Originally from northwest Ohio, dance company CEO and artistic director Sha'Ran Marshall began her studies with the Toledo Ballet and Toledo Repertoire before moving to Cleveland in 1997. A former member of the Cleveland Cavaliers Dance Team for five years, Marshall also does fitness training, including aqua, step, stretch and firm, cardio-dance, circuit training, and Barre, among other disciplines. Economic development news The city also recently welcomed Shaker Hts. Nutrition into the historic Kingsburg building at 3433 Lee Road on the corner of Van Aken Boulevard across from the Greater Cleveland RTA rapid station and City Hall. The smoothie and juice bar also features "healthy and delicious shakes and teas," according to its Facebook page, which also showcased a red, white and blue concoction known as "The Bomb Pop" for the Fourth of July holiday. Meanwhile, back in the Van Aken District, Market Hall recently welcomed the newly-opened pizza stall operated by Scorpacciata Pasta Co. with arrivals later this summer that will include Lox, Stock & Brisket, Old Brooklyn Cheese Company, and Domo Yakitori & Sushi. Toward the goal of expanding opportunities in the district. two new pop-up stalls have been added in the Market Hall -- one for food and one for retail -- as part of the Van Aken Entrepreneur Initiative, "intended to lower barriers associated with starting up or expanding a business, especially for people of color, women, and other underrepresented entrepreneurs." The program provides wrap-around support services from other merchants, nonprofits and partners -- including the city and the Ohio Small Business Development Center at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland -- "to help businesses grow into the future restaurateurs and merchants of the Van Aken District and beyond." Virtual backup City Economic Development Director Laura Englehart noted that her department's work "changed almost overnight with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Our goal throughout this unprecedented emergency: to help our locally owned businesses survive and, perhaps even thrive." In addition to a frequently updated Resources for Business section of the city's website, Englehart and city staff continue to collaborate with the Shaker Heights Development Corporation (SHDC), in hosting two Virtual Roundtable Discussions. Based on feedback from those events, we're rolling out additional supports for our business community, including educational seminars, hands-on workshops, helping to source personal protective equipment (PPE) where necessary and even creating personal welcome back videos - parts one and two. "For example, we helped Picnic Hill Market Cafe and the Van Aken Market Hall expand outdoor dining opportunities," Englehard noted in a press release. "And we launched a new video concept to provide small businesses with marketing assistance, including Shaker Heights Animal Hospital and Budget Ease." Storefront renovation program Also thriving is the city's Storefront Renovation Program, providing matching grants for business proprietors who make improvements to the exteriors of their buildings, whether it is new signage or a new facade. Some recent examples of this program at work include: Congrats in order The city also extended hearty congratulations to John and Joan Pistone on the 20th anniversary of what started as the J. Pistone Market and Gathering Place at 3245 Warrensville Center Road, where social distancing is observed and curbside service is available. "During the recent governor-ordered closure of restaurants, the siblings took the time to make adjustments to their business model, renaming it J. Pistone One World Market and refreshing their dining room," the city press release continued. And just in time for that anniversary milestone, "John and Joan welcomed customers back. offering their tried-and-true chef-prepared foods using the freshest of ingredients, a patisserie, wine shop, local product market, and fresh produce. Read more from the Sun Press. CLEVELAND, Ohio Machine Gun Kelly took to social media Sunday night to deliver an emotional statement mourning the death of his father, who passed away over the weekend. The news came on the first anniversary of the rapper releasing his fourth studio album Hotel Diablo. I had plans for the one year anniversary of Hotel Diablo today, MGK wrote. That album was everything I wanted to say and I know its close to my fansBut my father took his last breath this morning, and Ive never felt a pain this deep in my life. Im setting my phone down. Love you. i had plans for the one year anniversary of Hotel Diablo today. that album was everything i wanted to say and i know its close to my fans... but my father took his last breath this morning, and ive never felt a pain this deep in my life. im setting my phone down. love you. Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) July 6, 2020 Weeks ago, Machine Gun Kelly, real name Colson Baker, posted on social media that his father was ill. The 30-year-old, who is typically tight-lipped about the specific details of his family, did not disclose a cause of death. MGK has been hard at work filming the movie Midnight in the Switchgrass with girlfriend Megan Fox, Bruce Willis and Emile Hirsch, among others, and finishing his new album Tickets to My Downfall, due out this summer. CLEVELAND, Ohio A group of Ohio agencies on Monday released detailed, localized data on a suicide crisis that has intensified throughout the 21st century and which experts fear could be exacerbated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Suicide in Ohio: Facts, Figures, and the Future offers a stark look at the crisis, with information on long-term trends throughout the state and data for regions in Northeast Ohio and Southwest Ohio. The goal is to provide insight into the crisis so government officials, healthcare workers and community organizations can develop services aimed toward suicide prevention, researchers said. Suicide deaths have risen precipitously in Ohio, increasing by 34 percent over the 10 years from 2009 to 2018. Nearly five people die by suicide every day in Ohio, and men account for almost four out of every five suicide deaths, the study says. The data is particularly notable amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Cleveland Clinic reported a concerning drop in suicide-related emergency room visits once the pandemic struck, and healthcare experts have raised alarms that prolonged periods of isolation and rising unemployment could lead to a long-term mental health crisis. If people to start to lose hope if they lose jobs or homes we are quite concerned, said Tony Coder, the executive director of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. Then, when you add in all the isolation weve already been through and the anxiety around this issue theres all of these things around the coronavirus that really make us worry. The coronavirus could also increase the risk for older Ohio residents, who already account for the largest share of the states deaths by suicide. Individuals in those older demographics may be more isolated because they are also considered high-risk for developing severe symptoms if theyre infected with the coronavirus, experts said. We know theyve got the highest rate of death by suicide, and theyre pretty much sitting in the bullseye for the coronavirus, said Joan Englund, the executive director of the Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition. Now they are forced to isolate, and in many cases, stay away from families and friends. Experts worry that cash-strapped governments could reduce mental health and suicide prevention services to balance out revenue losses during the pandemic. But the Suicide in Ohio researchers strongly advise against that. Studies have shown approximately 90 percent of people who die by suicide have an existing mental illness or substance use disorder, so its critical they have access to treatment and prevention services, Englund said. We need to make sure that mental health and addiction services are accessible to everyone who needs them, she said. We know were walking into an environment when revenues are down, and budgets are strained. But now is not the time to cut back or ration the availability of services. The Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition, the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and Ohio University compiled the study using data from various sources, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio Department of Health. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report. You can read the full documents online. Men accounted for nearly four out of every five suicide deaths in Ohio from 2009 through 2018, statistics show. (Courtesy Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health) Nearly 80 percent of suicide deaths are men Ohios population is roughly 51 percent female and 49 percent male, but men account for nearly four out of every five suicide deaths in the state on average. In 2018, the most recent year data is available, 1,425 men died by suicide in Ohio. Another 379 women died by suicide, bringing the overall total to 1,804. The study does not identify any contributing factors to the results, but Coder suggested an outdated machismo attitude among men, who may view seeking mental health treatment as weakness, could be a contributing factor. That is a really difficult nut to crack, simply because they dont want to talk about it, Coder said. We need to help men understand that the brain is part of the body and physical health ties into mental health. It should all be considered one in the same, and not separate, [instead of] that one is a weakness and one is acceptable. Suicide deaths increased at roughly the same rate among men and women over the 10 years examined for the study, with male suicide deaths increasing by 35 percent female suicide deaths by 33 percent. White people died by suicide at a much higher rate than Black or Hispanic people in Ohio over a 10-year period, statistics show. (Courtesy Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health) Suicide rate highest among white Ohioans White Ohio residents had a significantly higher suicide rate than any other racial demographic over the study period and accounted for more than 91 percent of all suicide deaths. An average of 15.05 per 100,000 white Ohio residents died by suicide each year from 2009 through 2018, according to the study. Black residents represented less than 6 percent of deaths, with a suicide rate of 7.51 per 100,000. Hispanic residents represented roughly 1 percent of deaths, with a suicide rate of 5.95 per 100,000. White men, in particular, account for the vast majority of suicide deaths across the U.S. In 2017, for example, roughly 70 percent of all suicide deaths in the U.S. were white men, the study says. Data shows suicide rate generally increases with age People aged 60 or older accounted for the more than 23 percent of Ohio suicide deaths in the 10 years covered in the study, the highest for any age group in the study. People aged 50-59 accounted for more than 20 percent. I think thats important, particularly when you think about how our state and our region are aging. Were becoming an older and older state, Englund said. The suicide rate increased by 93 percent among children aged 14 or under, but that age group accounted for 1.6 percent of Ohios suicide deaths in 2018. Experts said its difficult to draw conclusions about the spike due to the small sample size; 29 children age 14 or under died by suicide in 2018. Black high school students in Ohio attempted suicide at a much higher rate than white students, according to the results of Ohio's 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. (Courtesy Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health) Black high school students attempt suicide far more often than white students Black high school students attempt suicide far more often than white students, even though suicide rates are higher among white people than Black people. Nearly 7 percent of more than 1,200 teens across Ohio said they attempted suicide over the 12 months leading up to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. But 15.8 percent of Black teens said they attempted suicide at least once, compared to 4.1 percent of white teens. The discrepancy is likely due to multiple factors, including limited access to mental health and suicide prevention services in Black communities, Coder said. The data shows theres a clear need to address the issue, he said. It shows we have to invest more in services for African-American communities, he said. This was really frightening to me. Northeast Ohio-specific suicide data largely reflects statewide trends Data compiled in a report on seven Northeast Ohio counties -- Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit -- primarily reflects the trends seen in the overall Ohio report. But the Northeast Ohio report looks at suicide rates on a local level, offering data for every municipality that reported at least 10 suicide deaths from 2009 through 2018. The wide-ranging look at local suicide rates in Ohio is something thats never really been done before, said Karen Kearney, the Northeast Hub director for the Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition. It could help spur local governments and community organizations to develop suicide-prevention services, she said. It makes it really personal. If youre able to look at the map and see exactly what the numbers are for where you live, it really hits home more, Kearney said. It makes people more likely to act. Each of the seven Northeast Ohio counties had suicide rates ranging from 12 to 15 deaths per 100,000 population over the 10-year period, the study found. Summit County had the highest at 15 per 100,000 residents, while Cuyahoga, Medina and Portage had the lowest at 12 per 100,000. The city of Clevelands 10-year suicide rate of 11.01 deaths per 100,000 population was below the Cuyahoga County average of 12. The countys highest suicide rates are found in its suburbs; Olmsted Falls had the highest rate at 19.95. Brooklyn, Berea, Middleburg Heights and Lakewood all had suicide rates higher than 15. The highest suicide rates in the region appear in some of Northeast Ohios smallest communities, where the difference of one or two deaths over a 10-year period could have a significant impact on the overall rate. Harrisville Township in Medina County has a population of about 1,800, and reported 10 suicide deaths over the decade. That resulted in the regions highest suicide rate of 54.47 per 100,000, according to the study. The study also compiled suicide data for six Southwest Ohio counties, including Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati. The researchers are hoping to study other parts of the state over time, said Orman Hall, an executive in residence at Ohio University. Having a deeper understanding of which parts of a community are struggling with behavioral health disorders will eventually provide [governments and organizations] with data they can use to target services in those specific parts of a county, Hall said. Mental health resources in Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio: Read more from cleveland.com: Cleveland Clinic reports concerning decrease in mental health ER visits as hospitals brace for fallout of coronavirus crisis CDC Report: Ohio, U.S. suicide rates on the rise Does coronavirus have you feeling depressed, anxious, lonely? Mental health experts can help you in free Q&A guidance column Of all the actions proposed by the agitators, none is more just plain stupid than the attack on Christopher Columbus -- calling for his statue in Little Italy to be removed. Lets remember, by the laws, thinking and morality of his day, Columbus did nothing wrong -- morally or legally. Specifically, to call for the removal of his statue in Little Italy -- long a source of pride to Italians -- is a slap in the face. Compounding that insult is the call to replace Columbus statue with that of Chef Boyardee. Chef Boyardee (actually Boiardi) was a friend of my paternal grandfather when they both lived in New York and was a fine man and a great business success. However, Italians have produced untold millions of business successes in America and to equate Boyardee with Columbus is a clearly calculated insult. Lastly, proponents might want to rethink their insulting suggestion, since a logical extension of their argument would be to remove tributes and statues to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a great man in many ways but flawed by adulterous conduct and questionable morality. Blaine Griffin, the Cleveland city councilman for the area and a possible mayoral candidate, needs to speak out. Phillip A. Barragate, Westlake CLEVELAND, Ohio At least 17 people suffered fireworks-related injuries during the Fourth of July weekend, including one that resulted in the amputation of someones finger, Northeast Ohio hospital officials said. University Hospitals treated 13 fireworks accidents from July 2 through July 5, spokeswoman Carly Belsterling said. Those injuries included the finger amputation, burns on someone arm, cuts on someones leg, hand injuries and a burned foot. MetroHealth spokeswoman Dorsena Drakeford said that hospital treated four people for burns suffered in fireworks-related incidents. She said more that number could increase as the hospital evaluates more patients. The Cleveland Clinic did not respond to an inquiry about how many fireworks injuries they treated over the weekend. Cleveland fire officials said fireworks resulted in five fires and Euclid fire department said in a Facebook message that fireworks caused three small fires in that city. The amount of fireworks bought in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July was expected to set all-time records, industry officials previously told cleveland.com. The coronavirus pandemic caused people to be cooped up in their houses for months, several cities annual fireworks displays to be cancelled and that the Fourth fell on a Saturday this year all likely adding to the reasons more fireworks were bought. Fireworks complaints surged in the weeks leading up to the holiday, with some cities reporting several times the amount of complaints compared to 2019. Ward 8 Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek in an open email to Cleveland Parks Director Michael Cox said three parks in his ward Tromba, Humphrey and Neff were littered with the remnants of fireworks. He called the parks a complete mess and criticized the police department for failing to respond to fireworks complaints. In all my years in office I have never witnessed such a lack of respect for our parks and in many cases public streets as well, Polenseks email says. cleveland.com reporter Evan Macdonald contributed to this report. Read more from cleveland.com: Two in critical condition after crash on I-90 near West 25th Street exit, officials say One dead, one injured in shooting at Cleveland gas station Violent Fourth of July sees 20 people shot, three killed in nine hours in Cleveland Featured stories Dedicated nursing home worker dies of COVID-19 after refusing to abandon patients (Canton Repository) Cleveland City Council member Basheer Jones shares debunked claim about face masks on social media (cleveland.com) Violent Fourth of July sees 20 people shot, three killed in nine hours in Cleveland (cleveland.com) So incredibly sad: Bribery charges bring disappointment to Toledo as FBI accuses four council members in scheme (cleveland.com) Coronavirus in Ohio Ohio reports 968 new coronavirus cases: Sunday update (cleveland.com) Ohios new coronavirus order to indefinitely extend mass-gathering ban, health rules for businesses (cleveland.com) Gov. Mike DeWine says after May cuts to education, he wants to keep schools at new baseline (cleveland.com) Coronavirus outbreak at Elkton prison is waning, says U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (cleveland.com) Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine changes course, passes coronavirus response to local officials (cleveland.com) Nanotechnology shown to slow spread of COVID-19 virus in lung and white blood cells, study shows (cleveland.com) Crime (Advance File Photo) Cleveland police find parents of boy found wandering in Clark-Fulton neighborhood (cleveland.com) 8-year-old child injured in Fourth of July shooting in Cleveland, police say (cleveland.com) Man killed in shooting at Cuyahoga Falls hotel, police say (cleveland.com) Man robbed Euclid Walgreens while wearing face mask, police say (cleveland.com) Toledo police officer shot and killed Saturday in Home Depot parking lot, suspect found dead (Associated Press) Cleveland / Cuyahoga County 43 Black Lives Matter rally and march in Cleveland, July 4 City of Cleveland reports 53 new cases of coronavirus Saturday, 51 on Sunday (cleveland.com) Cleveland mayor mandates face masks in public amid coronavirus surge (cleveland.com) Cleveland Metroparks Zoo now requiring guests to wear face coverings in park (cleveland.com) Black Lives Matter Cleveland holds rally to de-fund police, push petitions to de-militarize police (cleveland.com) Power player Joe Romans retirement from Greater Cleveland Partnership signals another end for old guard civic leaders (cleveland.com) Former Cuyahoga County HR chief Doug Dykes pleads guilty, gets probation, will cooperate with corruption probe (cleveland.com) Local news East Longtime Solon superintendent Joseph Regano, who led one of Ohios top-performing school districts, dies of cancer (cleveland.com) Portions of South Euclid, Lyndhurst under boil water alert until 4 a.m. July 6 (cleveland.com) Local news West New Police Chief in Bay Village speaks on new job and big challenges (cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio One man is dead and another injured in a Sunday night shooting at a gas station in the citys Glenville neighborhood. The shooting happened about 11:55 p.m. Sunday at the Gas USA gas station on St. Clair Avenue and East 123rd Street. No arrests have been made in the case. Tommie James III, 23, of Cleveland, was killed in the shooting, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner. The shooting capped off a Fourth of July weekend that saw at least 27 people shot and four killed. Police said the two men were at the gas station when someone opened fire from across the street. James was shot in the side and died at the scene, police said. A 54-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his knee. An ambulance took him to University Hospitals. The two men ran inside the store. The gunman ran away, police said. Read more from cleveland.com: Man killed in shooting at Cuyahoga Falls hotel, police say So incredibly sad: Bribery charges bring disappointment to Toledo as FBI accuses four council members in scheme 8-year-old child injured in Fourth of July shooting in Cleveland, police say Nine children under 18 have been killed since June 20 as Chicago reels from another wave of gun violence. The last two were killed on Saturday evening. A 14-year-old boy was shot to death on Chicagos South Side. A 7-year-old girl was struck in the forehead by a bullet when three gunmen opened fire on a July 4 street party on the citys West Side, police said. The violence comes amid a wrenching debate nationwide about policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police. Those who defend the police say that the violence shows they need more support, not less, and that it is people living in high-crime areas who most need effective policing. Critics say the violence shows how police are failing the public, how deeply residents distrust officers and the need for reforms and the transfer of funds to address underlying problems, including unemployment, mental illness and drug use. (New York Times) Featured stories Seven-day average coronavirus case total in the U.S. sets record for 27th straight day (Washington Post) Trump falsely claims 99 Percent of virus cases are totally harmless (New York Times) Coronavirus: FDA chief refuses to back Trumps vaccine prediction (BBC) Houston mayor warns hospital system close to overwhelmed amid COVID spike (CBS News) National news Christopher Columbus statue near Little Italy brought down, tossed into Baltimores Inner Harbor (Baltimore Sun) Frederick Douglass statue vandalized in Rochester, New York, park (Associated Press) Predominantly Black armed protesters march through Confederate memorial park in Georgia (Reuters) Warning signs flash for Trump in Wisconsin as pandemic response fuels disapproval (NBC News) Police ID 8-year-old shot, killed; $10,000 reward offered in case (Atlanta Journal Constitution) 7 arrested, accused of racist harassment, illegal fireworks on Oregon coast beach (oregonlive.com) Human remains identified as missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen, family attorney says (CNN) Eight feared dead in plane collision over Lake Coeur dAlene in Idaho (NBC News) 2 dead, 8 wounded in shooting at crowded Greenville area nightclub during Foogiano concert (Post and Courier) World news Tensions heat up in South China Sea as U.S. makes significant show of force (CNN) Iran nuclear: Natanz fire caused significant damage (BBC) Coronavirus: India overtakes Russia in Covid-19 cases (BBC) Hong Kong national security law may spook socially conscious investors, sparking outflows (CNBC) Nearly 40 feared dead as torrential rains hit southwest Japan (Reuters) Opposition declares victory in Dominican Republics virus-scarred vote (Reuters) Croatias ruling conservatives win parliament vote (Politico) A woman has died after falling from a roller coaster in France (CNN) Two Americans charged with quarantine violation in Ontario, face $1K fine (The Star) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Foreign students wont be able to take a full online course load and stay in the United States this fall -- a problem if their institution decides to stay remote in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced plans to modify exemptions introduced this spring as COVID-19 gripped the United States and higher education institutions closed campuses. For spring and summer, international students were permitted to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation to maintain their nonimmigrant status. Nonimmigrant status refers to someone seeking permission to travel to the U.S. but not seeking approval to stay there permanently, like people who apply for visas to travel to the U.S. for a course of study. But for fall, if a students college moved its courses entirely online, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) will not approve a visa. The student would need to transfer from a school conducting courses entirely online to one with an in-person or hybrid model. Students can take a full online course load from overseas. If the college begins with in-person classes and then moves online, officials will need to report the change with the government. Nonimmigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes, an announcement on ICEs website reads. If students find themselves in this situation, they must leave the country or take alternative steps to maintain their nonimmigrant status such as a reduced course load or appropriate medical leave. In Ohio, many colleges have announced they are bringing students back to campus and offering a hybrid of online and in-person classes. The process of deciding which courses are online, blended or in-person is left to individual departments or professors. Some courses are more likely to be online -- labs and studios seem to be more likely to be prioritized as in-person. These plans are in flux, based on state and health department regulations. Some public health officials fear a second spike in coronavirus cases -- and in Ohio case numbers are steadily rising, with an increase of 805 reported confirmed and probable coronavirus cases on Monday. Foreign students must meet certain specifications if their institution is offering a blend of in-person and online classwork. Students who have an F-1 visa, meaning pursuing academic coursework, may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online if the school is operating under normal in-person classes. If the school is offering a mixture of online and in-person classes -- as many Ohio institutions are -- the student must verify that they are not taking classes entirely online, and taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program. Students from overseas make up a significant percentage of American higher education. International students made up 19.8 percent of Case Western Reserve Universitys student population, according to 2019 numbers on the universitys website. Ohio State University enrolled 6,571 international students, nearly 10 percent of its student population, according to a 2019 enrollment report. Ohios Department of Higher Education did not have a comment on the modified guidelines. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Before celebrating July 4 with fireworks at Mount Rushmore, President Donald Trump tossed a political firecracker into Northeast Ohio by endorsing Republican former state legislator Christina Hagans long shot bid to unseat incumbent Democratic congressman Tim Ryan in the 13th congressional district. Christina Hagan (@RepHagan) will be an incredible Congresswoman for the working families of Northeast Ohio, Trump wrote on Twitter, as he distributed a link to Hagans online fundraising page. An early supporter of our #MAGA agenda, she is Strong on Jobs, Border Security and your Second Amendment. Christina is running against an absolute failure, Tim Ryan, who.....talks big for the worker, but never delivers. Tim Ryan was a failed Presidential candidate and he keeps failing Ohio. Vote for Christina Hagan, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #OH13 ...talks big for the worker, but never delivers. Tim Ryan was a failed Presidential candidate and he keeps failing Ohio. Vote for Christina Hagan, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #OH13 https://t.co/ToJVHDt8sv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2020 Ryan, of the Niles area, responded with his own Tweet to the president: The absolute failure is your shameful response to the coronaviruswhich has devastated our economy, hurt our workers, and killed upwards of 130K Americans. Delete your account. Put down your phone. Do your job. He also distributed Trumps plug in a fundraising bid to his own supporters . Trump just endorsed our opponent, wrote Ryan. Shes anti-choice, anti-union, even anti-vax and now shes endorsed by Trump. Right-wing money is pouring into her campaign right now, can you chip in right now to help us fight back? Along with retweeting Trumps fundraising pitch on her behalf, Hagan declared that shes been honored to fight beside Trump and to advocate for America First Policies/ #OH13 was once a great manufacturing powerhouse & we, the American Workers, are ready to start WINNING & leading AGAIN! The "absolute failure" is your shameful response to the coronaviruswhich has devastated our economy, hurt our workers, and killed upwards of 130K Americans. Delete your account. Put down your phone. Do your job. Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) July 3, 2020 Trump just endorsed our opponent. Shes anti-choice, anti-union, even anti-vax and now shes endorsed by Trump. Right-wing money is pouring into her campaign right now, can you chip in right now to help us fight back? https://t.co/vD6OBPai0I pic.twitter.com/kVdWqwQrDD Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) July 3, 2020 Hagan, of Alliance, represented Ohios District 50 in the state legislature between 2011 and 2019. In 2018, she filed to run for Congress in the 16th congressional district, but lost the GOP primary to Anthony Gonzalez, who currently represents that district. During her last campaign, Hagan highlighted her blue collar roots, backing from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and support for Trump. A spokesman said Hagan lives on the border of the two congressional districts. Ryan was first elected to Congress in 2002 after defeating two incumbent Congress members - Tom Sawyer and Jim Traficant - to win the Democratic primary in a district that was designed for Democrats to win. Ryan spent several months last year running for president, but dropped out in October when his campaign didnt catch on. Hagan is the only Ohio challenger that Trump has tweeted to support during this election cycle. Republicans note that Ryan has less campaign money in his treasury than other Democratic incumbents in the state, and say his district, like the rest of the state, is shifting towards Republicans which makes him vulnerable. Hagan is the highest profile congressional challenger Ryan has faced, but her fundraising still lags behind his and the race is not deemed competitive by political prognosticators. It has been an incredible honor to fight beside you @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & to advocate for America First Policies! #OH13 was once a great manufacturing powerhouse & we, the American Workers, are ready to start WINNING & leading AGAIN!#KAG pic.twitter.com/04FwkPlmn3 Christina Hagan (@RepHagan) July 3, 2020 Federal Election Commission records show that Ryan has raised $564,283 so far for his 2020 re-election, spent $489,218, and had $192,641 in the bank. Hagan - who defeated six other Republicans in Aprils primary for the chance to take on Ryan in November - has raised $121,101, spent $68,502 and had $52,929 in the bank. University of Akron political scientist David B. Cohen says Ryan is strongly favored for re-election in what looks like it will be a strongly Democratic year. He said Hagan is exactly the kind of candidate that Donald Trump loves to support, but I think this is a steep uphill climb for her. He said Ryan is well-known in the district and that running for president helped build his brand locally. I would be absolutely shocked if Tim Ryan didnt run away with this race, said Cohen. Again, 2020 is shaping up to be a blue tidal wave year and I think all of the underlying factors favor Ryan easily winning re-election. More coverage: Presidential electors must vote as their states dictate, U.S. Supreme Court decides Coronavirus outbreak at Elkton prison is waning, says U.S. Sen. Rob Portman Ohios U.S. Senators back renaming Confederate-named military bases, despite Trump veto threat Sen. Rob Portman calls for sanctioning Russia if outrageous bounty reports are true U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana abortion law, similar to Ohios, requiring doctors to have agreements with nearby hospitals Senate Democrats including Ohios Sherrod Brown thwart consideration of GOP police reform bill Ohios U.S. Senators urge support for Asian tire dumping complaint Vice President Mike Pence to visit Lordstown on Thursday Ohio Congress members introduce bill to help hospitals financially hit by coronavirus Can he do that? Local health experts question President Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization Q & A: Trump adviser and Cleveland native JaRon Smith discusses police reform Ohio Democrats in Congress praise Supreme Court DACA decision decried by Trump: Read it here Prompted by Cleveland case, Sen. Rob Portman introduces bill to crack down on Chinese intellectual property theft Senate passes bill by Sen. Rob Portman to fund National Park repairs What is Juneteenth and should it be a federal holiday? Panel chaired by Rep. Marcia Fudge examines voting during the COVID-19 pandemic One venue will be open, though. Dave Jemilo, the owner of Green Mill, says the location hasnt been open since March 17, and it needs the money. My employees, they need to work because Ive been paying them, but its not good money because they dont get tips, so Im trying to get them back to work. Bands havent been playing at all, so Im trying to get them back to work. And because its legal, said Jemilo. COLUMBUS, Ohio - State Rep. Stephanie Howse, a Cleveland Democrat, announced on Twitter late Monday afternoon she tested positive for the coronavirus the day before. She is the first lawmaker to publicly acknowledge she has COVID-19. Its unknown whether anyone else in the Ohio General Assembly has gotten sick. No one else has made such an announcement, although a staffer in the Ohio Senate recently tested positive. Howse, who also serves as president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, said she debated whether to announce having coronavirus, and ultimately fell on the side of disclosure. What I do know is I have an obligation being a public figure to spread this information, she said. Hey Beautiful People, wanted to let you know that it was just confirmed that I have tested positive for the coronavirus. My symptoms (cough, lost of taste and lost of smell) are pretty mild and prayerfully I will make a full recovery#StephRonaLife pic.twitter.com/m9deLSDZdR Stephanie Howse (@stephaniehowse) July 6, 2020 She said her symptoms are mild. She doesnt have a fever, aches, chills or trouble breathing. I have been coughing, that was my first symptom, she said in an interview. Then I lost my sense of taste. That was the second one. Then I lost my sense of smell. That was on Friday night. I still dont have my taste and smell back. Howse said she got a coronavirus test on Saturday and received the results Sunday. Public health department officials called her and asked a series of questions, such as whether shes been in gatherings with over 10 people, had take-out food and names and phone numbers of everyone shes been around. Then officials verbally ordered her to isolate -- to not leave her house. She received the written order Monday. She was told the health department will release her from isolation. You have to be in isolation at least for 10 days, and you have to have 3 days of no symptoms, she said. Even with a negative test you still need a release from the health department. Shes been calling people shes been in contact with over the last two weeks to notify them of the news, she said. Howse and other Democrats have consistently worn masks during Ohio House sessions. Mask-wearing has been a flash point between Ohio House Republicans and Democrats -- with Democrats mostly wearing them and Republicans mostly opting against them. Masks are not required on the House floor. Taylor Jach, a spokeswoman for Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder said there has been an established protocol for COVID-19. Per our protocol, any House staff who have been within 6 feet of Rep. Howse for more than 15 minutes would be notified and sent home for 14 days per CDC guidance, she said. Howse is doubtful that she transmitted the virus to anyone at the Ohio Statehouse, based on the timing of symptoms. The last time I was at the Statehouse, I was there on the 19th, but I just went to my office, she said. But you never know. Howse said she doubts, with the spread of COVID-19, that shes the only lawmaker who has had it. There has been gossip around the Statehouse of other lawmakers who have gotten infected, she said. And many lawmakers disregard the advice from public health officials, she said. With the regard of socially distancing, hygiene, its inevitable, she said. I think its vitally important to be honest and truthful so we can get a handle on the virus and at the same time raise public awareness so people can be more thoughtful in their actions with other people. Howse ended her Twitter video by reminding people to take precautions. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other, she said. Wear a mask. Encourage other people to wear a mask. Other coverage: Ohio officials report 805 new coronavirus cases: Monday update Ohio state senator, concerned about coronavirus, staying away from Columbus Workers, advocates push state Senate to pass bill aimed at improving Ohios broken unemployment system COLUMBUS, Ohio - Founders Womens Health Center, one of three abortion providers in Columbus, is soon closing after 47 years, which will leave Ohio with eight clinics. The clinics closure comes at a time when anti-abortion activists have successfully pushed though two dozen limits on abortion in the Ohio General Assembly in the past decade. But the clinics owners say the closure is due to retirement and not related to any state actions, legislative or administrative, said Gabriel Mann, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohios communications manager. The clinic declined to make a statement to the media. The business will close this month after concluding all care for existing patients, Mann said. With the closure, Ohio will have eight abortion providers -- including two in Columbus. Of the eight clinics, six provide surgical abortions and two only offer medication abortions. Founders had provided surgical abortions for most of its operation but in 2018 switched to medication-only abortions, Mann said. Greater Columbus Right to Life was the first to announce Founders was shuttering. Although the provider says the closure is because of retirement, the organization believes pressure contributed to the decision. This did not happen by accident or good fortune; it happened because we are doing good work in central Ohio, said Beth Vanderkooi, the groups executive director, in a letter to supporters. Other coverage: U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana abortion law, similar to Ohios, requiring doctors to have agreements with nearby hospitals Ohio officials report 805 new coronavirus cases: Monday update CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians made quick work of the Baltimore Orioles on July 6, 1954. How quick was it? They scored a franchise record eight runs in the first inning before making an out. No Indians team matched that until the 1995 edition did the same thing against the Kansas City Royals on May 9. It is not a coincidence that both those teams went to the World Series. First baseman Billy Glynn started the bottom of the first at Municipal Stadium with a home run off Baltimores Joe Coleman. When Glynn came to the plate for his second at-bat in the same inning, the Indians still hadnt made an out and were leading 6-0. Glynn quickly made it 8-0 with a two-run single before reliever Mike Blyzka retired Bobby Avila on a fly ball to right field for the first out of the inning. The Indians just kept scoring. Larry Doby followed Glynn with his second single of the inning to score right-hander Early Wynn for a 9-0 lead. Al Rosen walked, but Wally Westlake, who hit a three-run triple in his first at-bat, popped out. Dave Philley made it 11-0 with a two-run single to score Doby and Rosen. The Indians ended the inning with 11 runs on 10 hits against Gordon and Blyzka on the way to an 11-3 win. The Indians out-hit the Orioles 14-5 in a game that lasted just 2:00 and drew 11,442 fans to the shores of Lake Erie. Every player in the lineup, including Wynn, had at least one hit and scored one run. The top three hitters in the lineup, Glynn, Avila and Doby, were a combined 7-for-14 with five runs and four RBI. Here are some other things in Indians history that happened on July 6: *Indians pitchers allowed seven homers on July 6, 1990 to the As to tie a franchise record. *Francisco Lindor hit two homers against Cincinnati on July 6, 2019. It was the 11th time in his career hes hit two homers in a game. *Roberto Perez had the second four-hit game of his career on July 9, 2019 against the Reds. *Jim Thome hit three homers in one game on July 6, 2001 against the Cardinals. *Sudden Sam McDowell struck out 15 batters against the Washington Senators in 8 2/3 innings on July 6, 1970. McDowell, in his career with the Indians, had six games in which he struck out at least 15 batters. Fanatics has released Cleveland Indians face masks, with sales benefitting two charities. See details and product links below. New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. Buy Indians gear: Fanatics, Nike, Amazon, Lids More Indians coverage Indians to determine best path forward with regards to team name Carlos Carrasco says Im good to go as Indians open Spring Training II Seven thoughts from Terry Francona as training camp gets underway Bieber: Team was ready for the marathon but now even more excited for the sprint OF Delino DeShields tests positive for coronavirus; Bieber will start opening day Can Francisco Lindor, Cesar Hernandez turn the double play? Hey, Hoynsie! Todd Paquette on how canceling the MiLB season impacts the Indians: Podcast Thinking (and nearly weeping) about what is next for minor league baseball: Pluto Indians sign CF Halpin and SS Tolentino, their 3rd and 4th round picks Cycles for Tony Horton, Rajai Davis: On this date in Indians history Indians mailbag: Blockbuster trades, Bobby Bradleys future: Podcast Mentors Big Red softball machine wins 23-0 on no-hitter: Big Ballgame of the Day CLEVELAND, Ohio An unusually large heat wave is settling over much of the United States and Northeast Ohio will not be spared. According to CBS News, temperatures will exceed 90 degrees at least one day this week for 84% of the nation ... around 270 million people. Most of the nation will see multiple days of temps reaching 90 degrees or more. The heat is being caused by the jet stream remaining well to the north and two domes of high pressure, which are allowing the heat to settle in across much of the nation, weather.com reports. In the Cleveland and Akron areas, it will be nearly the entire week. On Monday, highs are expected to reach 90 in Cleveland and a sweltering 95 in Akron. Skies will be sunny and there, winds calm and no chances of rain. The good news is that humidity will be low. The bad news is the very warm conditions have caused air quality to deteriorate. The National Weather Service has issued an air quality alert until late Monday night for most of Northeast Ohio. Residents are encouraged to drive less, if possible, and also to wait to mow lawns with gas-powered engines. By Tuesday, highs will reach the mid-90s in Cleveland and Akron with mostly sunny skies. Heat indexes could reach 100 degrees. There are slight chances of showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon in Cleveland, with Akron seeing about a 30 percent chance. High temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s through Friday in both Cleveland and Akron, with mostly sunny skies expected each day. In Akron, there are chances of showers and thunderstorms beginning Wednesday and through the weekend. Cleveland has chances of storms Wednesday, then again on Friday and through the weekend. Currently, storm chances are no higher than 40%. High temperatures will fall back to the upper 80s during the weekend and, despite chances of thunderstorms, mostly sunny conditions are expected. Mondays sunrise: 5:59 a.m. Sunset: 9:03 p.m. Pollen count: 3.1 (low-medium) 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 Maxwell is being prosecuted in Manhattan but jailed in Brooklyn the opposite of what happened with Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while on trial in Brooklyn last year, prompting closures of the Brooklyn Bridge each day as he was taken to and from court. Thirteen universities, or colleges, in the U.K. are at risk of going bankrupt as the coronavirus pandemic hits their finances and challenges the entire sector, a study by Institute for Fiscal Studies warned Monday. Social distancing measures, travel restrictions and lockdowns have tested the ability of universities to survive without students. In the wake of the pandemic, many moved their teaching online and some do not have plans to return to their facilities until the summer of 2021. There's also uncertainty as to whether non-U.K. resident students will still be looking to learn abroad and if colleges will be able to organize conferences and get a steady income from student accommodation. "The total income of the U.K. university sector is around 40 billion ($50 billion) per year, or around 1.8% of national income," the IFS said in a study Monday. "Much of this income is now at risk due to the Covid-19 outbreak." As a result, the institute forecast under its main scenario that 13 colleges could go bankrupt without a government bailout or debt restructuring. The institutions at higher risk of collapse are those with a large share of international students and those with significant pension obligations, the IFS said. "These tend to be higher-ranking institutions as well as postgraduate and music and arts institutions," the report said. However, the U.K. government has signaled that there will not be a bailout for the sector, and instead gave universities the green light to charge student their full fees for the current academic year even if their lectures were taking place online. The government also said it would bring forward research funding. Under its main scenario, the IFS assumed that only half of the usual number EU and international students would join U.K. universities this Fall and that there would be 10% fewer UK-based students, with some postponing their entry to higher education. It also assumed that revenues from accommodation, catering and conferences was lost for the rest of the academic year. "Our central estimate of total long-run losses is 11 billion or more than a quarter of income in one year," the institute said. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is reportedly in the running to become the running mate to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, said Monday she has tested positive for the coronavirus. "COVID-19 has literally hit home," Bottoms said in a tweet. "I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive." She later said on CNN that one of her children has also tested positive. In the interview, Bottoms said she had recently experienced symptoms similar to seasonal allergies, including a headache and a mild dry cough, and did not initially recognize them as signs of Covid-19. "I don't have any idea how we were exposed," she said. "I'm stunned." Bottoms, 50, has gained national attention in recent weeks for her handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide protest movement against police brutality and racism, both of which have had major impacts on Atlanta. Neither the Atlanta mayor's office nor the Biden campaign immediately responded to CNBC's requests for comment on Bottoms' tweet. Bottoms has been an outspoken critic of Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, whom she accused of rushing the process of lifting the strict social distancing measures put in place to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Last month, Bottoms' city became a hot spot for the civil unrest over race and law enforcement that had already boiled over across the country in the wake of George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis. Protesters and rioters burned down a Wendy's fast-food restaurant in Atlanta where a white officer on June 12 shot Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who had fallen asleep at the wheel of his car in the drive-thru lane. Brooks, 27, fought with two officers after being questioned at length about his sobriety. Footage of the incident showed him grabbing one of the officers' stun guns and fleeing, then appearing to turn and point the device at an officer who pulled out his firearm and shot Brooks. Both former officers involved in the incident have been charged. "That could have been any one of us," Bottoms said in an interview days after the incident. "That could be any of our kids or brothers. In this case it was: It was someone's father." Bottoms had previously been floated as a possible vice presidential pick by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the influential House Majority Whip whose endorsement of Biden during the contentious primary season was seen as an inflection point in the race for the Democratic nomination. "There is a young lady right there in Georgia who I think would make a tremendous VP candidate, and that's the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms," Clyburn said. Political betting markets have since put the Atlanta mayor near the top of the running to become the VP pick for Biden, who has already vowed to choose a woman as his veep. Biden is expected to announce his selection by early August. Bottoms is hardly the first politician to be diagnosed with Covid-19. More than half a dozen members of Congress have tested positive for the highly contagious disease, and most lawmakers have taken at least some preventive steps to protect themselves and others from catching it. Medical staff wearing PPE holding material about to walk into the Flemington Public housing flats on July 5, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's second most-populous state, Victoria, reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases since late March on Saturday, forcing the expansion of stay-at-home orders to more Melbourne suburbs and the complete lockdown of nine public housing towers. The southeastern state recorded 108 new cases on Saturday, up from 66 on Friday and more than 70 new cases in each of the previous four days. "These numbers are a very real concern to all of us," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference. The spike in Victoria is being closely watched as the rest of the country has reined in the virus that causes Covid-19. Australia's most populated state, New South Wales, reported six new coronavirus cases on Saturday, five of them returning travelers from overseas. The sixth is a past infection and not an active case, according to health officials. The state reported no new cases on Friday. Overall, Australia has weathered the coronavirus pandemic much better than most other nations, with just over 8,300 cases and 104 deaths so far. The nine towers in Melbourne consists of 1,345 units, housing about 3,000 residents. They will be locked down for at least five days, effective immediately, after many residents from those towers returned a positive Covid-19 test. Police will be placed on each floor of the towers and law enforcement authorities will also control access points. "These are very challenging times," Premier Andrews added. "The alternative is this gets right away from us and we have not just 12 postcodes in lockdown but every postcode locked down. I don't want to get to that." David Heinemeier Hansson remembers the moment he became a millionaire. He grew up "lower middle class," so the moment was significant, he said. It was also a let down. "The euphoria I felt when it was finally real lasted the rest of that day. The inner smile remained super wide for at least the rest of the week," Hansson wrote in 2015 for Observer.com, nine years after he became a millionaire. "Then a mild crisis of faith ensued. Is this it? Why isn't the world any different now?" Hansson became a millionaire when he sold "a minority, no-control stake" in management software company Basecamp (well known for operating entirely remotely) to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos for "a few million dollars" in 2006, Hansson said. His overnight windfall was the kind of wealth that Hansson, now 40, dreamed about as a kid. "I remember playing the 'What would you do if you won a million kroner?' game with my brother many times," Hansson, who grew up in Denmark, said. "We could spend eons making fantasy purchases. Comparing and contrasting choices and possibilities." Those games were imagination play because in real life, Hansson lived in a home provided by an affordable housing association on the outskirts of Copenhagen. His mother, "a damn magician at making impossible ends meet," did things like bike an extra 15 minutes to find the least expensive milk, he said. (Hansson is clear that Denmark's social support networks kept him from feeling any desperation or fear: "I never went hungry to bed. I never feared getting shot. I never worried whether the end of my future prospects would be as a store clerk working minimum wage. The Danish experience shielded me from all those concerns of basic safety and comfort," he said.) But Hansson always believed that having more money and more material things would make him happier. "There's always an appetite for more, and a belief that just a little extra was going to be the tipping point for eternal bliss," he said. "Dreaming of an Amiga 1200 (a personal computer released in the early 1990s), making it happen, and then thinking that, oh, what I really needed was that Amiga 4000. Somehow the repeated treadmill never seemed to bare its underlying truth, no matter how many times I took it for a run," he wrote. When it seemed to finally be happening thanks to Basecamp, the anticipation of becoming a millionaire was intense. "I remember the weeks leading up to that day when the numbers in my checking account suddenly swelled dramatically. They were anxious. I stood at the doorsteps of The Dream," he wrote. "A lifetime of expectations about how totally, utterly awesome it would be to be a millionaire. I'd be able to buy all the computers and cameras I ever wanted and any car I desired!" And Hansson did buy things, like a large screen television and a yellow Lamborghini. "While all very nice, very wonderful, it didn't, as we say, really move the needle of deep satisfaction," Hansson said. What did give him satisfaction, was continuing to build Basecamp, as well as writing, photography and computer programming. "If anything, I began to appreciate even more intently that flow and tranquility were the true sources of happiness for me all along. It was like I had pulled back the curtain on that millionaire's dream and found, to my surprise, that most of the things on the other side were things I already had. Equal parts shock and awe, but ultimately deeply reassuring," Hansson said. That's not to say that Hansson doesn't use his financial security to live a good life. He has a house in wealthy Malibu, California, where he lives with his wife and three kids, according to The Information. He also he races cars and has an expensive photography habit. (He told Tim Ferriss in 2018 that he bought a $10,000 Leica camera and lens.) Hansson has also been known to use his position of wealth to be a fly in the ointment of Silicon Valley culture. "What's the point of having 'f--- you' money if you never say 'f--- you'?" Hansson told The Information for a story on Tuesday. But despite the trappings, coming into money wasn't as life-changing as Hansson thought it would be. Something he'd heard others say was true but couldn't relate to until he experienced it. "I remember rich people trying to tell me this before I was rich. Not necessarily in person, but through clever or modest-profound quotes and interviews," Hansson wrote in 2015. "And I remember always thinking 'yeah, that's easy for you to say now you got yours'. It's not lost on me that most people reading this will probably feel the same. It's just the natural, instinctual reaction." That, and it's hard for most people to admit that they already hold the key to their own happiness. "I think it's scary to think This Is It. This is what I got. Changing the numbers on my bank account or the size of TV or the make of the car in the garage or the zip code isn't going to complete me. I have to figure that shit out on my own," he said. See also: Here's how many billionaires confirmed giving money to Covid-19 pandemic-related causes Malcolm Gladwell: You can't know someone in 10 seconds or on social media, and it's dangerous to try Feeding America CEO: How growing up with 107 brothers and sisters helped make me successful Mayra Guillen said last week that her sister had spoken with their mother about experiencing sexual harassment, but that her mother has been too devastated to talk about it. From their text conversations, Mayra Guillen said she believed her sister was afraid during her time at Fort Hood. In this article CFG Raymond Boyd | Getty Images Global equities will be roughly unchanged from their current position this time next year as bullish and bearish forces cancel each other out, according to Citi strategists. In its quarterly global equity report, the bank's strategists said Monday they would not be chasing markets higher from current levels, but would prefer to wait for the next dip. Citi remains overweight in U.S. and emerging-market equities and has retained a "defensive tilt" to its sector strategy. Defensive stocks are those that typically provide consistent dividends to shareholders and relatively stable earnings, irrespective of the health of the broader economy. "Global central banks are likely to buy $6 trillion of financial assets over the next 12 months, over twice previous peaks," Citi analysts said in the note. Citi has compiled its own checklist of 18 items to identify if global equities are about to enter a bear market period. "The global economy is showing further signs of recovery from the lockdown. Our Bear Market Checklist still shows only 6.5/18 red flags," the analysts said. However, they cited the continued vulnerability of the global economy to rising Covid-19 infections and excessive earnings optimism as downside risks that will likely cancel the optimism stemming from a potential recovery and massive central bank stimulus. "We think the bottom-up global EPS (earnings per share) consensus for end-2021 is 30% too high, suggesting that global equities are actually trading on a demanding 24x P/E (price-earnings ratio), not a more reasonable 17x," the note added. The closely watched P/E ratio is a company's current share price divided by its earnings per share. Watching local lockdowns While the U.S. has seen a broad escalation of new virus cases, dampening some of the optimism surrounding a possible economic recovery, small secondary surges in other major economies like China and Germany have been mostly addressed by the localized reintroduction of lockdown measures. Speaking to CNBC on Monday, RBC Capital Markets global macro strategist Peter Schaffrik said the big question markets would like an answer to is whether these measures are effective. "If they work, you can continue to reopen some parts of the rest of the economy while still fighting coronavirus on the other hand, and on top of that of course, you have all this largesse (from governments and central banks)," Schaffrik told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe." "If it can work, then I think we are probably in for a positive couple of months until we see what the autumn brings. If that doesn't work, I think we are probably in for a rude awakening." Defensives to take the reins Schaffrik's comments echo the sentiment of analysts at Longview Economics, who on Monday retained a neutral view on global equity markets, highlighting several reasons for investors to err on the side of caution and also signaling a move toward defensive stocks. First, much of the "good news" is already priced in, according to Longview CEO and chief market strategist Chris Watling. "The bounce in U.S. and global economic activity has been remarkably strong illustrated, for example, by the U.S. Citi Economic Surprise Index, which has reached its highest level on record," Watling said. Second, the recent rally in cyclical stocks, which tend to track economic performance, has not been confirmed by the rise in bond yields that usually accompanies outperformance of cyclical sectors, which Watling suggested raises questions about the rally's sustainability. Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images Companies have returned or canceled more than $30 billion in loans approved through the government's emergency Paycheck Protection Program, a senior administration official said Monday. The multibillion-dollar figure adds new context for the debate around the PPP and information on how many private companies applied for the loans. Public companies, who typically had to disclose their receipt or application of a PPP loan in a government filing, have only returned about $430 million, according to data analytics firm FactSquared. The PPP, created by the CARES Act in March, was designed to help small businesses cover payrolls costs during the Covid-19 outbreak and a historic contraction in U.S. commerce. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards But the program came under scrutiny almost as soon as its approval as applicants drained its initial $350 billion in about two weeks and it was revealed that public companies secured loans while hundreds of thousands of far small businesses seeking relatively tiny amounts remained in need. Since then, the SBA has worked to close that loophole, saying that big public companies "with substantial market value and access to capital markets" don't qualify for the program. Companies including Ruth's Hospitality Group and sandwich chain Potbelly have followed Shack Shack in returning their PPP funds. Other companies may have decided to return the loans because they couldn't meet the program's original spending stipulations because their businesses remained closed. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the average age of new coronavirus patients has dropped by roughly 15 years compared with only a few months ago as the coronavirus reignites in America's Sun Belt. "The average age of people getting infected now is a decade and a half younger than it was a few months ago particularly when New York and New Orleans and Chicago were getting hit very badly," he said. Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Q&A discussion with Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, that the resurgence of cases in the U.S. is an extension of the outbreak first reported earlier this year, not a second wave. While young people are less likely to develop serious illnesses from Covid-19, Fauci warned that the virus could still "put them out of action for weeks at a time." They should also remember that when they're infected, there's the likelihood that they could spread the disease to people who are at high risk of serious illness, Fauci said. Noah Higgins-Dunn Owner of Regent Barbers Alan Kelly (L), wearing PPE (personal protective equipment), of a face mask or covering as a precautionary measure against spreading COVID-19, is reflected in a mirror as he cuts the hair of a customer, also wearing a face covering, in Dublin on June 29, 2020, as lockdown measures begin to be eased. A group of 239 scientists from 32 different countries have published an open letter to the World Health Organization and other health agencies, calling for them to update their information on the coronavirus. In an article entitled "It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19," the group of scientists argue that the WHO needs to give more weight to the role of the airborne spread of Covid-19. The New York Times first reported the news on Saturday. "There is significant potential for inhalation exposure to viruses in microscopic respiratory droplets (microdroplets) at short to medium distances (up to several meters, or room scale), and we are advocating for the use of preventive measures to mitigate this route of airborne transmission," the scientists wrote in the paper. It appears to contradict previous evidence that the virus is transmitted from person to person via droplets from the nose or mouth. These are expelled when a person with the infection coughs, sneezes or speaks. The Trump administration on Monday disclosed the names of many small businesses which received loans under a program intended to blunt the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. The disclosure comes amid demands from Democrats for more transparency around the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, funds established as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed this spring. [The full list is available on the Small Business Administration website, which you can access here.] U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin testifies with Jovita Carranza, Administrator U.S. Small Business Administration during the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Hearings to examine implementation of Title I of the CARES Act on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sparked an outcry from Democrats when he originally implied that the Trump administration would not disclose the names of participants. The Treasury and SBA later reversed course, saying they would disclose names and other details about businesses that took PPP loans of $150,000 and above. Those loans represent nearly three-fourths of total loan dollars approved, but a far smaller proportion of the number of actual loans. About 87% of the loans were for less than $150,000, according to the SBA. Among the notable recipients are: The law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, whose chairman David Boies has represented powerful clients such as former Vice President Al Gore in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, received between $5 million and $10 million. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao's family's business, Foremost Maritime, got a loan valued at between $350,000 and $1 million. Chao is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Perdue Inc., a trucking company co-founded by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, was approved for $150,000 to $350,000 in loan money. A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department said Perdue Inc., a trucking service, said the loan was for about $182,000 and supported 27 jobs. Perdue's adult children are 99% stakeholders in a trust that indirectly owns the company, and the secretary did not have any influence on the SBA's loan decisions or the company's decision to apply for aid, the spokesperson said. Restaurant chains P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Chop't received aid of between $5 million and $10 million. TGI Fridays, which is backed by private equity firm TriArtisan Capital Advisors, received at least $5 million. The private equity firm tried to take the restaurant chain public in a deal with a special purpose vehicle, but that was terminated in April amid market volatility due to the pandemic. The Archdiocese of New York got a loan valued at between $5 million and $10 million, while the Catholic Charities of the Archdioceses of San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Boston, among others, all received assistance valued at more than $2 million. The Ayn Rand Institute, named for the objectivist writer cited as an influence on libertarian thought, was approved for $350,000 to $ 1 million. Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in New Jersey, which is named after Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner's grandfather, got a loan in the range of $1 million to $2 million. Jared Kushner's parents' family foundation supports the school, NBC News reported. Niche movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse received a loan of at least $5 million. Theaters have been closed while new film releases have been delayed or pushed to streaming platforms. Numerous news organizations received PPP loans: Forbes Media got at least $5 million; The Washington Times got at least $1 million; The Washingtonian got at least $350,000; The Daily Caller received at least $350,000 and The Daily Caller News Foundation got at least $150,000; The American Prospect received at least $150,000. Political organizations also received loans: The Ohio Democratic Party got at least $150,000 and the Florida Democratic Party Building Fund got at least $350,000, while the Women's National Republican Club of New York got at least $350,000, the Black Republican Caucus in Florida got at least $150,000. There were several errors in the database, so it's not clear whether all the companies listed received the funds. Some firms said they didn't receive or apply for the money they're listed as getting. The SBA released other details about the program Monday, including: It has approved 4.9 million loans for a total of more than $521 billion. Companies said that the funding supported more than 51 million jobs. But the businesses reported the total when they applied for loans, and it is unclear how many of those employees stayed on the payroll. The program has about $132 billion in funding remaining. The average loan is $107,000. Applicants in California received the most money overall with $68.2 billion, followed by Texas at $41.1 billion and New York at $38.3 billion. Businesses in California ,Texas and New York that received loans reported having about 4.1 million, 2.7 million and 2 million total employees, respectively. Businesses in economically distressed areas as designated by the SBA got nearly 23% of the loan money, while companies in rural areas received about 15% of the funds. Industries getting the largest share of net PPP dollars were health and social assistance, professional, scientific and technical services, construction and manufacturing. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The PPP's goal is to offer forgivable loans to smaller businesses, helping them to stay afloat and employees to maintain their jobs as the coronavirus puts the U.S. economy on hold. Companies that maintain most of their payroll through the span of the loan may convert those funds into a grant. While the aim of the program was to aid ailing companies with less than 500 employees, its effectiveness has remained unclear. Larger and public companies initially took advantage of loosely written language to tap the funds for themselves. Ruth's Hospitality Group, which owns the Ruth's Chris Steak House chain, AutoNation and ShakeShack are among those that took out PPP loans. So did the Los Angeles Lakers. They and many more companies ultimately returned the money after public outcry. More than $30 billion in loans were returned overall, senior administration officials who declined to be named said Monday. Lawmakers have also pushed to find out if politicians or their families' have taken on funds from the program. Rep Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., on Thursday disclosed that her family's businesses received nearly $480,000. The program was initially rolled out in April, offering $349 billion to small businesses. After those funds quickly ran out, the government replenished the program with an additional $310 billion. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The program's critics have expressed concern that the amount of untapped funds could show that rural or minority-owned businesses with weaker or no banking relationships have had trouble accessing relief money. More than 40% of Black small business owners were forced to close shop as result of the pandemic. Democrats have sought assurances that programs established to help Main Street sufficiently reach those who most need it. The bill Congress passed to replenish the program in April included $60 billion specifically for small lenders in response to concerns about businesses without a traditional banking relationship accessing loans. Last month, Congress passed a bill easing the terms for how businesses can use the funds and qualify for forgiveness. It lowered the share of the loan that a company must spend on payroll and gave them a longer period of time to use the money. The House of Representatives followed the Senate in passing a measure Wednesday to extend the program's application deadline from June 30 to Aug. 8. Trump on Saturday signed the extension into law. CNBC's Kate Rogers, Betsy Spring, Kevin Breuninger and Kayla Tausche contributed to this report. Graphics by CNBC's John Schoen European markets closed higher Monday as investors focused on the prospect of economic recovery and progress on potential coronavirus drugs, shrugging off concerns about a further acceleration of the pandemic. The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed almost 1.6% higher, with banks jumping 3.9% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory. The European Commission said Friday that conditional approval had been granted for Gilead's antiviral drug remdesivir to be used in the EU, making it the first authorized treatment for the virus in the region. The Sunday Times newspaper then reported that the U.K. is closing in on a 500 million ($624 million) supply deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline for 60 million doses of a potential vaccine. The World Health Organization said Saturday that more than 200,000 coronavirus cases were confirmed worldwide over a 24-hour period a new record with the Americas accounting for around 130,000 new cases. In the U.S., Florida and Texas reported record increases in new daily cases on Saturday, while cases rose in 39 states. On Wall Street, shares also rallied as investors looked passed a continued rise in Covid-19 cases. Data from the Institute for Supply Management showed a surprise expansion in the U.S. services sector. The firm's nonmanufacturing index rose to 57.1 in June, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 50.1. Investors who take a sustainable approach to allocating capital may be reevaluating putting their money into Hong Kong after the city implemented a national security law, an analyst said on Friday. "That's the one area of international capital flows that could be quite significant," said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research, a research firm. Sustainable or "ESG" investing factors in a company's environmental, social and governance ratings. These strategies vary and are subjective, but generally aim to make socially conscious investing decisions. Hong Kong has seen more than a year of protests that sometimes turned violent as residents pushed back against eroding freedoms in the city. Critics say the recently implemented national security law grants the central government in Beijing sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the law "draconian" and said it "ends free Hong Kong." Before China's law was implemented, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would impose sanctions on people or companies that "materially contribute to China's failure to preserve Hong Kong's autonomy." "It's one thing for Congress and Trump to make political statements. It's another thing for the funds themselves in Europe and in the United States to take a position based upon the optics of supporting an increasingly oppressive political climate," Collier told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia." On Tuesday, HSBC investor Federated Hermes said in a statement it was concerned about the bank's support for the new law. "We expect companies to support improvements in protections for citizens and not back their removal," said Roland Bosch, Federated Hermes' sector lead for financial services. Bosch is responsible for corporate engagements in Europe and the U.S. HSBC did not immediately reply to a CNBC request for comment. This could just be the tip of the iceberg, said Collier. He suggested other funds may be pushed by labor unions. For example, retired teachers' funds are likely "not going to be very happy with what's going on in Hong Kong," he added. Large funds may start to readjust investment protocols and operations in Hong Kong, affecting the city's position as a international financial center, said Collier. Earlier in June, Aviva Investors had expressed similar concerns about both HSBC and Standard Chartered before the law was implemented. The firm, a top shareholder of both banks, said it was "uneasy" with the public support for the law. It said it expects "both companies to confirm that they will also speak out publicly if there are any future abuses of democratic freedoms connected to this law." The banks declined to comment to CNBC when that statement was reported. CNBC's Abigail Ng contributed to this report. Britain is set to phase out Huawei equipment from its 5G mobile networks this year, the U.K. press reported over the weekend. If so, it marks a major U-turn in the government's position on the Chinese telecommunications giant. The government is drawing up plans to strip Huawei gear from Britain's next-generation networks by the end of the year, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph newspapers reported. It comes after London said in January that Huawei could play a limited role in Britain's 5G networks, a move which angered the U.S. as it sought to get other countries to block the Chinese company. Washington maintains that Huawei is a national security risk, alleging its equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage. Huawei has repeatedly denied the claim. The apparent policy reversal was driven by a new report from a branch of British intelligence agency GCHQ that raised new security fears over Huawei following U.S. moves to cut off the Chinese firm from key chips. The new U.S. rule passed in May, requires foreign manufacturers using American chipmaking equipment to get a license before being able to sell semiconductors to Huawei. The U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) launched an emergency review of Huawei's role shortly after. That review is set to be presented to the government this week and concludes that U.S. sanctions will force Huawei to use untrusted technology that could make the risk impossible to control, the Daily Telegraph reported. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is now drawing up plans to stop the purchase of new Huawei gear and rip out existing 5G equipment, the newspaper said. The U.K. government and the NCSC, were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Victor Zhang, vice president at Huawei, said the firm is open to discussions with the government and that it's "too early to determine the impact" of the proposed U.S. restrictions. "All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the U.K. government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown," Zhang said in a statement. U.S. pressure An Indian Border Security Force soldier erects a bunker near a check post along the Srinagar-Leh National highway on June 16, 2020. Indian soldiers who died in close combat with Chinese troops last month were unarmed and surrounded by a larger force on a steep ridge, Indian government sources, two soldiers deployed in the area and families of the fallen men said. One of the Indian soldiers had his throat slit with metal nails in the darkness, his father told Reuters, saying he had been told by a fellow soldier who was there. Others fell to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas, relatives have learned from witnesses. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the June 15 clash on the de facto border separating the two armies. The soldiers all belonged to the 16th Bihar Regiment deployed in the Galwan region. No shots were fired, but it was the biggest loss of life in combat between the nuclear-armed neighbors since 1967, when the simmering border dispute flared into deadly battles. Reuters spoke to relatives of 13 of the men who were killed, and in five cases they produced death certificates listing horrific injuries suffered during the six-hour night-time clash at 14,000 ft (4,267 metres) amid remote, barren mountains. Reuters contacted the military hospital in India's Ladakh region where the bodies were brought. The hospital declined to comment on the cause of death and said that the bodies were sent to the families along with the death certificates. Reuters also spoke to two soldiers of the Bihar Regiment deployed in the area, who were among those who accompanied the bodies of fallen colleagues to their homes in the area. They were not directly involved in the melee. The soldiers cannot be named because of military rules and all the families asked for anonymity because they said they were not supposed to speak about military matters. The Indian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the fighting on June 15. In response to a Reuters query, a China foreign ministry spokesperson repeated previous statements blaming the Indian side for crossing the de facto border and provoking the Chinese. "When Chinese officers and soldiers went there to negotiate, they were suddenly and violently attacked by the Indian troops," the spokesperson said. "The rights and wrongs of the incident are very clear. The responsibility absolutely does not lie with the Chinese." China has not provided evidence of Indian aggression. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he attends South Dakota's U.S. Independence Day Mount Rushmore fireworks celebrations at Mt. Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota, U.S., July 3, 2020. Two businesses got millions of dollars in government coronavirus relief loans as a group of pro-Trump lobbyists actively worked on their behalf. Lindblad Expeditions and Laundrylux Distribution, which hired lobbyists Jeff Miller and Brian Ballard, both of whom have close ties to President Donald Trump, received loans worth millions of dollars, according to a partial list of small businesses that took part in the administration's Paycheck Protection Program. A Laundrylux representative denied that there was any link between Ballard's lobbying and the loan that it received. The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration released on Monday the list of companies that received the federal aid. Lindblad is a New York-based cruise company with destinations including Alaska, Costa Rica, Egypt and the British Isles. It received between $5 million and $10 million in loans. Laundrylux, a New York-based commercial laundry machine company whose services include equipment rentals and marketing tools for laundry businesses, received between $1 million and $2 million in loans. Law firms with ties to Trump also saw loans from the federal assistance program. Kasowitz Benson Torres, founded by longtime Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz, saw a loan between $5 and $10 million. The American Center for Law and Justice, whose chief counsel is Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow, got between $1 million and $2 million. Kasowitz's firm and Sekulow defended Trump during the president's impeachment hearings. The laundry company, according to a lobbying disclosure report, paid $30,000 to Ballard's firm, Ballard Partners, in the first quarter of 2020 to work the Trump administration with the goal of "designation as essential business in response to COVID-19 virus," the document says. Essential businesses were often allowed to stay open during the start of the pandemic while many who were deemed nonessential were forced to close. The form shows that Ballard, a lobbyist who recently raised over $560,000 for the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee, along with Daniel McFaul, a partner at the firm, engaged with the Department of Homeland Security and White House representatives. Ballard is a regional vice chair for the Republican National Committee. Laundrylux later announced on its website that Homeland Security recognized laundromats and similar services to be essential. Miller's firm, Miller Strategies, helped Lindblad on "issues as they relate to the impacts of COVID-19 on the cruise and travel industry." Miller was the California campaign chair for former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry's 2012 run for president. He recently became the vice finance chair for the 2020 Republican convention. He recently helped raise $1.4 million for Trump Victory. Sven-Olof Lindblad, the CEO of the cruise company, wrote in an op-ed in May that they had returned the loan after receiving widespread scrutiny. The cruise industry was hit particularly hard in the wake of the pandemic. Data from FactSet shows that many of the top cruise lines, from Carnival to Norwegian, saw their first-quarter financial performance drop by up to 81%. Neil Milch, the executive chairman and owner of Laundrylux, told CNBC in an unprompted email that the lobbying effort was not linked to the loan that they received. Milch reached out after CNBC contacted Ballard's firm. "Our application for PPP had nothing whatsoever to do with Ballard's representation of us and our industry. Our concern was that millions of people who completely rely on laundromats for clothing sanitation would be in serious trouble if they were all shut down," Mitch said. "This is March/April time frame. We NEVER consulted Ballard on PPP; had nothing to do with them." A representative for Ballard declined to comment. Miller and a spokeswoman for Lindblad did not respond to a request for comment. The Treasury and SBA did not respond to requests for comment. The lobbying effort by Ballard, Miller and their teams for these companies was just a fraction of the work they did as the pandemic swept across the country. Data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows that Ballard's firm made over $5.2 million from January through March, their biggest first quarter ever. Miller's firm also had success in the early part of this year. Data shows that they made at least $2.7 million in the first quarter, more than any other quarter since 2017. Unemployed Kentucky residents enter the Kentucky Career Center for help with their unemployment claims on June 19, 2020 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Certain groups of workers, like the self-employed and those in the gig economy, are pulling in an increasing share of jobless benefits relative to others. Around 12.9 million Americans are collecting unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to most recent Labor Department data. That program, created by the federal CARES Act relief law enacted in March, extends jobless benefits to some workers previously ineligible for the jobless benefits traditionally offered by states. More from Personal Finance: Gig workers are eligible for this $1,000 government grant Covid-19 may upend plans for workers who want to retire Here's an easy way to build a retirement plan like the pros These include the self-employed, independent contractors, gig-economy workers, those with limited recent work history and those looking for part-time work, among others. That so many Americans are receiving aid through this new federal program suggests the system should be altered to provide unemployment benefits to these workers even in normal times, say some experts. "If we think unemployment insurance is a good idea, why would you be excluding work that's now characteristic of so many jobs?" asked Erica Groshen, a senior labor economics advisor at Cornell University and former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers collecting benefits through the PUA program represented about 41% of the 31.5 million total unemployment benefit recipients nationwide as of June 13, according to most recent Labor Department data. Two cases were brought by Electoral College voters in Washington state and Colorado who refused to back Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, despite her wins in those states. In both cases, the Democratic electors were mounting last-ditch efforts to prevent President Donald Trump from taking office after it was apparent that he had won enough votes to carry the election. Kagan's opinion was joined by all of her fellow justices except for Justice Clarence Thomas, who sided with the majority for different reasons. "Early in our history, States decided to tie electors to the presidential choices of others, whether legislatures or citizens. Except that legislatures no longer play a role, that practice has continued for more than 200 years," Kagan wrote. Kagan wrote that the Constitution gives states "broad power over electors" and "electors themselves no rights." Justice Elena Kagan, who authored the opinion of the court, wrote that "nothing in the Constitution expressly prohibits States from taking away presidential electors' voting discretion." States can require Electoral College voters to back the victor of their state's popular vote, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday, in a major dispute that could have an impact on November's presidential contest. Under the complex rules that govern American elections, it is the vote of the Electoral College that ultimately determines the winner of the presidency. Virtually every state besides Maine and Nebraska allocates all of its Electoral College representation to electors who have committed to vote for the winner of the state popular vote. And most states, including Washington and Colorado, have laws that require electors to vote for their pledged candidate. The electors who brought the two cases argued that the enforcement of those laws was unconstitutional. Micheal Baca, the Colorado elector, was replaced before he could cast his vote for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Three Washington electors were hit with $1,000 fines after voting for former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Lower courts divided on the issue, with courts in Colorado and Washington ultimately coming down on opposite sides. The federal appeals court in Colorado sided with Baca, while the Washington Supreme Court sided with the state and upheld the fines. The Supreme Court's action on Monday affirmed the Washington court's decision and reversed the Colorado decision. Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself from the Colorado case. Thomas, joined in part by Justice Neil Gorsuch, wrote separately to express different reasons for his vote. Rather than find that the Constitution grants states power over electors, Thomas wrote that the Constitution was silent on the matter. "When the Constitution is silent, authority resides with the States or the people," Thomas wrote. While "faithless electors" have never affected the outcome of a presidential race, such an outcome was plausible in a future contest, attorneys for the electors told the justices. Larry Lessig, an attorney for the Washington electors, said in court papers that a swing of just 10 electors would have been enough to alter the results of five previous presidential races. For that reason, the lawyers asked the top court to resolve the matter ahead of the November election between Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the former vice president. Lessig, in a statement released after the opinion was announced, said that "regardless of the outcome, it was critical to resolve this question before it created a constitutional crisis." "We have achieved that. Obviously, we don't believe the Court has interpreted the constitution correctly. But we are happy that we have achieved our primary objective this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress," Lessig said. Jason Harrow, who represented Baca, said that while "we don't think the Supreme Court correctly interpreted the Constitution, at least we know whether laws that bind electors can be enforced in the upcoming election." Jena Griswold, the Colorado secretary of state, wrote in a post on Twitter that the "unanimous decision by the Supreme Court ensures that Americans' voices will be heard in the Presidential election. We must fight all attempts to suppress voters and any corruption in our elections." Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson said in a statement that the court had reaffirmed "the fundamental principle that the vote of the people should matter in choosing the President." "If we had not been successful, many observers, including several justices, noted the upcoming elections could have been thrown into 'chaos,'" Ferguson wrote. The Washington case is Chiafalo v. Washington, No. 19-465. The Colorado case is Colorado Department of State v. Baca, No. 19-518. Physician John Jones, D.O. tests administrative assistant Morgan Bassin for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at One Medical in Scottsdale, Arizona, June 17, 2020. The United States needs a unified approach to tackle the rising cases of coronavirus infection and people should not get a false sense of security that a vaccine is just around the corner, infectious disease experts said on Monday. The U.S. recently reported a record increase in cases, with spikes seen in states that are well underway in their reopening process. Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Florida and Texas faced a surge of cases, leaving state and local governments struggling to gain the upper hand in containment efforts. Still, the rising case numbers have caused many states to change their recovery plans, delay reopening measures and re-introduce restrictions on businesses. "What we are seeing, certainly, is this virus (is) spreading across the states like a wildfire," said Joshua Barocas, an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University and an infectious diseases physician at the Boston Medical Center. He explained that states need to impose tighter restrictions on indoor gatherings. He said the surge in places like Florida and Texas should serve as a warning to other states, such as New Jersey or Massachusetts, where the infection spread appears to have slowed for now. "What we actually need is a comprehensive, unified approach to this," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Monday. "We need people at all levels of government and society backing up one strategy and that strategy, really at this point, while we're waiting for effective vaccines, effective treatments, we need this to be a preventive strategy." He clarified that does not mean a complete lockdown or that people cannot ever leave their houses again. "It simply means avoiding sharing items, physically distancing when you're out in public, wearing a mask these are fairly straightforward, fairly truthfully simple things to follow that are actually going to prevent more surges and more economic turmoil, to be perfectly frank," Barocas said. The U.S. has the highest number of reported cases and death toll in the world more than 2.8 million people have been infected and close to 130,000 people have died from Covid-19. Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 05, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Chris Graythen | Getty Images President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at the NASCAR Cup series' only Black driver and ripped its ban on the Confederate battle flag. Trump asked in a tweet if 26-year-old Bubba Wallace has "apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?" Trump was referring to findings that what appeared to have been a noose found in Wallace's garage recently was a pull rope and not meant to intimidate the driver. It was not ruled a hoax, as the president claims. "That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!" the president added in a reference to NASCAR's move last month to prohibit displaying the Confederate battle flag. Trump TWEET Contrary to Trump's tweet, NASCAR's ratings have actually increased from previous years, according to Speed Report. The flag has been commonly displayed at NASCAR races for decades. NASCAR in 2015 had asked that fans not fly the flag following the slaughter in Charleston, South Carolina, of nine Black churchgoers by racist Dylan Roof, but many fans had ignored that request. Wallace, the only Black full-time driver on the NASCAR Cup circuit, has been an outspoken critic of the Confederate flag and has called on the racing organization to "get them out of" events. "No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race," Wallace said last month. Days later, NASCAR announced that "The display of the confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties." NASCAR tweet The White House declined CNBC's request for comment on the president's tweet about the Confederate flag. But White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a Fox News interview Monday morning that Trump's tweet was intended to make "a broader point that this rush to judgment on the facts before the facts are out is not acceptable." In a press briefing later Monday, McEnany said that Trump's tweet "was not making a judgment one way or the other" on the Confederate flag. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wallace had also spoken out after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for about eight minutes. Floyd's death, which was captured on video, set off a wave of massive protests across the nation. In June, Wallace wore a shirt bearing the words "I Can't Breathe/Black Lives Matter" before a race in Atlanta. Later that month, NASCAR announced that a noose had been found in Wallace's garage stall at a race in Talladega, Alabama, and that it had launched an investigation. The discovery immediately stirred speculation that the noose was an act of retaliation. "There is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all," the organization said in a statement at the time. Wallace, too, weighed in, tweeting that "the despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened and serves as a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism." A campaign sign for U.S. President Donald Trump sits beside a Confederate flag bearing the words "I ain't coming down" in the backyard of a home in Sandston, Virginia, U.S., July 4, 2020. Kevin Lemarque | Reuters Twitter was born in 2006 out of the remnants of another San Francisco company called Odeo. Twitter went public in 2013, and hit its peak stock value shortly after. But the company's influence since then has only grown. Twitter now has content disseminated in more than 40 languages and has become an online, running feed for recording our global history. Hashtags like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter have become a rallying cry for social movements on the platform. And President Trump's Twitter feed in many instances sets our national dialogue and has become his preferred way to communicate with his constituents. But Twitter's success has not come without questions around the company's profitability and growth, and controversy around its role in deciding what content should and should not be broadcast to its 166 million monetizable daily active users. Watch this video to find out how Twitter has become a staple in our society and the challenges that the company faces as it tries to attract more users to the platform. Uber has bought food-delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock, the companies announced Monday. The deal brings together the fourth-largest U.S. food delivery service with Uber Eats, which trails only DoorDash in market share, according to Second Measure and Edison Trends. The companies said Uber intends to keep the Postmates app running separately, "supported by a more efficient, combined merchant and delivery network." Uber previously was in the running to buy rival food delivery service GrubHub, but talks broke down as the companies could not agree on a break-up fee, and the ride-sharing company grew frustrated with what it perceived as stalling tactics, CNBC previously reported. GrubHub instead sold to European food delivery service JustEatTakeaway in early June. Uber is banking on food delivery to help sustain its business during the coronavirus pandemic, as demand for ride-sharing has plunged. In its first-quarter earnings call, Uber said gross bookings revenue for its rides segment was down 80% in April from a year earlier, while gross bookings revenue in eats was up more than 50% during the period. Postmates has had success in specific urban areas Los Angeles and Miami but has struggled to compete nationally against DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats. Even with Postmates, Uber will still trail DoorDash in food delivery market share, according to Edison Trends. That should help with U.S. regulators, who may have pushed back on an Uber-GrubHub tie-up but could be more likely to accept an Uber-Postmates deal. Postmates had reportedly filed confidentially for an IPO in February 2019, but delayed its offering later that year amid deteriorating market conditions and tough competition, according to Recode. Postmates had also been considering restarting the IPO process, as well as an offer from a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) essentially a shell company that exists solely to take another company public, CNBC previously reported. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $2.4 billion in its last fundraising round in September, Reuters said. As coronavirus outbreaks continue to grow across a number of states, the U.S. response is still hampered by a lack of testing and an inability to direct resources to so-called hot spots, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday. Nationally, the U.S. has ramped up testing from an average of just over 174,000 diagnostic tests per day through April to an average of 666,081 tests per day so far in July, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project. While testing has risen nationally, Gottlieb said, demand for more tests has outpaced supply in hard-hit states like Florida and Texas. "We don't have a national plan. We don't have a national strategy. We don't have a national pool of resources and swing capacity that we can move around when we have these epidemics, and so states start to get pressed very quickly," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." The testing capacity in states such as Texas and Arizona is reportedly strained under the spike in demand that's come as parts of those states experience severe outbreaks. The overall supply chain for diagnostic tests, which includes sample-collection swabs, chemical reagents and other materials, has been strained since the start of the pandemic. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards While the supply chain has been bolstered since March through public investment, test manufacturers such as LabCorp and Quest have reported a backlog in recent weeks. LabCorp said it delivers test results, on average, within one to two days from specimen pickup, but spokeswoman Kelly Smith Aceituno told CNBC last week "results on average may take 1-2 days longer" due to the recent surge in parts of the U.S. "It's a bigger problem than we thought it would be at this point," Gottlieb said Monday. "There's delays of three to five days, when you talk to doctors on the ground. There's long lines, long waits to get testing, and so we really still don't have a national system where you can distribute these products nationally." The FDA granted emergency use authorization to Becton Dickinson for a Covid-19 antigen point-of-care test that can produce results within 15 minutes, the company said on Monday. The company said the test can be processed on the company's existing platform, which is already installed in about 25,000 health facilities across the country. Such tests will be crucial to ramping up testing, especially in hard-hit states with expanding outbreaks and overwhelmed health systems, Gottlieb said. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Wavebreakmedia Programs aiming to tackle the venture capital industry's systemic lack of diversity are shifting online amid the coronavirus pandemic as they try to sustain their momentum. This year, London-based Diversity VC and Included VC have tweaked their courses, which aim to get more people into tech investing from diverse backgrounds. VC has a reputation for being among the least diverse industries in the world. In the U.S., the industry is 70% white and 80% male, while 40% hail from Stanford or Harvard, according to analysis by Equal Ventures. In the U.K., just 13% of top VC jobs are occupied by women, according to a report from Diversity VC. It's a self-perpetuating prophecy: most of the industry's capital still flows to a relatively narrow group of founders who tend to have things in common with the VCs themselves. Going digital Instead of running its normal "Future VC" internship program for 30 people, Diversity VC decided to run a series of online webinars and mentoring sessions for 300 people. The sessions, which began on June 9, are being led by renowned tech investors working in the industry, such as Balderon Capital's Suranga Chandratillake and Eight Roads' Lillian Li. Check Warner, co-founder and CEO of Diversity VC, said she was concerned that the coronavirus pandemic will have a negative impact on diversity and inclusion in VC. "In the face of adversity and trying times, investors may go back to 'bad habits', such as relying on their network for introductions to both potential portfolio companies and team members," said Warner. "Stifling diversity of thought in this way is bad for everyone: for VCs, and for tech entrepreneurs. That's why, in the face of the obstacles, we are keen to ensure Future VC 2020 goes ahead this year." Another program run by Included VC, which offers a 12-month VC fellowship for 40 individuals from diverse backgrounds, was forced to make its cohort "retreats" virtual this year due to the pandemic. Fully remote Verizon Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg decided to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram after seeing content show up next to ads that "were not compliant with our standard agreements," according to an exclusive interview with CNBC. Verizon announced it was temporarily pausing advertising with Facebook and its Instagram subsidiary last month until it felt more "comfortable" with the social media platforms. At the time, Verizon was the largest advertiser to halt its ad spending. The boycott now encompasses more than 750 companies, including companies such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Unilever. Vestberg told CNBC that Verizon's decision wasn't about politics but rather driven by a desire to maintain "a very high standard for our brands." The company spent about $23 million in 2019 U.S. advertising on Facebook and more on Instagram, according to data from Pathmatics. Verizon was the 88th largest U.S. advertiser on Facebook for 2019, Pathmatics estimated. "Everything we do around our brand is super important," Vestberg said. "Where we show up, etc. What happened was that certain things on Facebook that were appearing next to our content were not compliant with our standard agreements with Facebook. So we decided to pause and work with them to see how we can avoid this in the future." Vestberg declined to say what specifically Verizon is asking Facebook to change. He said similar discussions occurred with Google's YouTube in 2017 and led to a satisfactory result where Verizon felt comfortable enough to restart advertising. "This happened with YouTube, and we worked with them and we solved it," Vestberg said. "We try to work with our partners that we're using for advertising. But, again, for us, we're very sensitive to our brand values and our brand standards." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last week that he expected the boycotting advertisers "will be back on the platform soon enough," according to private comments reported by The Information. Read the full Q&A here, exclusive to CNBC Pro subscribers. -- CNBC's Meg Graham contributed to this report. [The stream is slated to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected Monday to discuss the latest coronavirus research with National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins on a live Q&A on social media. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week that the virus has mutated in a way that might help the pathogen spread more easily. Research is underway to confirm the possible mutation and its implications, Fauci said, adding that "there's a little dispute about it." Earlier last week, Fauci said the U.S. is "not in total control" of the outbreak and daily new cases could surpass 100,000 per day if the outbreak continues at its current pace. "I can't make an accurate prediction but it's going to be very disturbing," Fauci told senators at 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." Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak. The protesters screamed and scattered as the car approached. A graphic video shows the vehicle approaching at a high rate of speed. It appeared to swerve slightly as it came toward two people still in the road. The car slid sideways as it hit the two protesters, sending them into the air. The driver turned on his flashers just after impact, and drove away. A White woman who was filmed in May reporting that "an African American man" was threatening her life in Central Park after he asked her to leash her dog will be prosecuted for making a false report, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. said Monday. The video of Amy Cooper calling 911 was widely shared after it was posted online by the man, Christian Cooper, and his sister. Amy Cooper, who is not related to Christian Cooper, was subsequently fired from her job at investment firm Franklin Templeton. The incident, which sparked nationwide conversations about the history of Black men falsely accused of crimes against White women, took place on Memorial Day, the same day that George Floyd was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, setting off weeks of protests against systemic racism around the globe. Vance said in a statement that Amy Cooper will face charges of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree. If convicted, she could face between 15 days and one year in jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 14. "Our office will provide the public with additional information as the case proceeds," Vance said. "At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reporting to contact our Office. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable." Amy Cooper issued a public apology in late May, saying she "reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash." She said Christian Cooper offered her dog treats and told her "you're not going to like what I'm going to do next." "I assumed we were being threatened when all he had intended to do was record our encounter on his phone," she said in the apology. "I hope that a few mortifying seconds in a lifetime of forty years will not define me in his eyes and that he will accept my sincere apology," she added. Robert Barnes, an attorney whose firm is based in Los Angeles, said in a post on Twitter that he was representing Amy Cooper. "The rush to judgment is a curse of cancel culture. Amy Cooper lost her job, her home, and her public life. Now some demand she lose her freedom?" he wrote in another tweet. "How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media?" In an interview with The New York Times that was published last month, Christian Cooper said that Amy Cooper's actions tapped into a "deep vein of racial bias." "And it is that deep vein of racial bias that keeps cropping up that led to much more serious events and much more serious repercussions than my little dust-up with Amy Cooper the murder of George Floyd, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, and before that Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond and Eric Garner and Tamir Rice," he said. 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. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) admitted on Monday that there may have been overestimates and underestimates in the bill of some consumers for the months of March and April. However, Meralco was quick to add that these were already corrected and reflected in the May or June bills, after meter reading was done. The problem is that Meralco failed to specify how much adjustments were made in the bills resulting to confusion among consumers. At Monday's hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy, its chairman, Sen. Win Gatchalian, confronted Meralco about its confusing electric bills. Gatchalian presented his May bill, an accumulation of his bills from March to May. It showed his consumption amounted to P23,000, he complained. The senator was charged P10,000 for March, P10,000 for April, and P3,000 for May. During March and April, I was not in this condo. I was in Valenzuela," he stressed. "And in fact, during the duration of the ECQ, which is March, April, May, I only stayed in the condo for less than 17 days. Ang nangyari, itong March and April mo, are overestimates (What happened is that these March and April are overestimates)." Victor Genuino, Meralco vice president for customer retail services, confirmed that Gatchalians March and April bills were overestimated. However, he also said that deductions from these overestimations were considered in his May bill. This is why the senator was only charged P3,000 for May, he said. If you paid your March and April bill, and if there are overestimations on that, that would have been reflected on your May bill already," Genuino explained. "Since you already paid your May bill. That is already your actual consumption for the periods, March, April, May." Genuino further explained that because of Meralco's inability to do meter reading due to the lockdown in March and April, the power company resorted to estimating bills. For some consumers, Genuino said, their bills may have been underestimated. But for others like Gatchalian, it was overestimation. One is where the estimated bill is actually underestimated," he said. "That applies to households or homes where there are people staying at home, working at home." Genuino continued: The other case is just like the case of Sen Gatchalian, where the place is either uninhabited or not occupied for the usual length of time that the person occupies the home. In the case of Senator Gatchalian, the March and April estimated bills, I would say, would obviously be overestimated." And since the P23,000 bill of Gatchalian already accounted for the overestimation, Genuino said there is no need to give him a refund. Gatchalian, however, complained that his May bill did not mention that adjustments have been made. Nowhere in the bill that informed me that you added the estimate. Hindi clear, wala yan sa bill (It wasn't clear, it wasn't in the bill)," Gatchalian argued. "Two, if you do that, how will you know if there is an overestimation? How will you reconcile? In early June, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued a show cause order against Meralco due to alleged violations of certain directives. Among these directives are the utilization of estimated billing, provided that the word estimate be clearly written on the consumer bill. Meralco president Ray Espinosa apologized again to the public for the confusion over their Meralco bills. Let me apologize for the continuing inconvenience to customers brought about by concerns and issues regarding billing matters, he remarked. I believe there has been failure on our part to clarify to our customers what is actual and what is estimated." Espinosa also committed to send clarificatory letters to all consumers within the 30 days, explaining the adjustments made on their bills. It is not Meralcos business to charge our customers beyond what theyve actually consumed This new explanation and letters to customers are indeed necessary for us to regain the trust of our customers, he said. Refund for those who paid installment plan in full Meanwhile, Meralco also said consumers who paid their bills in full but are entitled to installment plans, may refund their full payment. The ERC earlier announced that customers who consumed less than 200 kilowatt-hours would be given 6 months to pay their total balance staring June 30, while those who consumed more than 200 kilo-watt hours would be given 4 months to pay. Senator Risa Hontiveros said her office has received a number of complaints about this. Pinapabayad ng buo by June 30 ang bills nila noong lockdown," Hontiveros said. "Ano ang nangyari sa installment?... Sa dami ng problema at pagkalito sa electric bills, pahirapan pa ang magkwestiyon at magreklamo sa Meralco. Tatawag ka sa helplines, cannot be reached. [Translation: Meralco is asking customers during lockdown to pay their bill in full by June 30. What happened to the installment? Besides the numerous problems and confusion regarding electric bills, it is also difficult to question and complain to Meralco. You'll call their helplines, (but they) cannot be reached.] Espinosa explained that Meralco has issued an advisory that those who paid in full may get a refund of their payment, and avail of the installment plan instead. He added those qualified for refund, including those who paid using credit card, would receive letters itemizing the installment plan. (CNN) Unlike dance battles and dangerous dares, here's a "challenge" just about anyone can get behind. The Australia-based Plastic Free Foundation is once again recruiting participants to take the Plastic Free July challenge -- that is to go without single-use plastic for one day, one week or the entire month of July. "Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution -- so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities," the organizers say on their website. "Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?" The initiative, now in its ninth year, is spearheaded by the Australia-based Plastic Free Foundation, which aims to one day rid the world of plastic waste. The annual event aims to provide resources and guides to help anyone interested in taking part "reduce single-use plastic waste every day at home, work, school, and even at your local cafe." Some of the basic solutions the organization suggests for reducing plastic waste include using reusable coffee cups and bottles, bringing your own reusable straws, buying bars of soap rather than liquid bottled soaps, avoiding pre-packaged foods if possible and simply buying less packaged goods overall. Though the campaign's focus in on July, its push is to make an impact year-round. Over the years, a number of governments around the world, including Canada, the European Union and some US states, have moved to ban various plastic products. But with plastic so prevalent in our daily lives, many are looking for concrete things they can do at home to have an impact. "People worldwide are increasingly concerned with the impact humanity is having on the natural environment. They are looking for leadership and a way to participate in making a meaningful difference," Gunther Hoppe, chairman of the Plastic Free Foundation board said in the organization's 2019 annual report. "We believe that the Plastic Free Foundation can provide both." As part of its core values, Plastic Free Foundation operates under the principle that "small changes add up to make a big difference" and puts an emphasis on "inclusiveness of people, ideas, visions and approaches." The Plastic Free July campaign was started in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz in Western Australia who later founded the not-for-profit Plastic Free Foundation Ltd in 2017. This story was first published on CNN.com, "The Plastic Free July challenge is here to help you rid your life of single-use plastic waste." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano on Monday defended the anti-terrorism laws highly contested provision of a longer detention period for suspects, saying it will allow authorities to roll out thorough investigation on possible cases. You need this period to have this investigation and ensure that the terrorist act or threat shall be eliminated, Ano told CNN Philippines The Source, noting how the Philippines has a shorter detention timeline compared to other countries. It takes a network and the effect is really huge. Its carried out by an organized terrorist network, and yung dating (the previous) three days is not really enough to uncover the (plot) and neutralize the threat, he added. Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday allows suspected terrorists to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days. The measure repeals the Human Security Act of 2007, and will provide more surveillance powers to government forces. The Interior chief likewise allayed concerns over the controversial measure, saying its passage is long overdue, especially with the country climbing in the rankings of the global terrorism index. RELATED: Global Terrorism Index: PH 9th most affected by terrorism in 2019 He added that over 1,000 local chief executives from all over the country have expressed support for the measure. So on the side of the government, the LGUs, and law-abiding citizens, this law is really needed now more than ever, Ano said. Netizens and rights groups have previously voiced out concerns about the laws broad provisions, saying the measure may be open to abuse and lead to possible human rights violations. Some critics also argued that it may be used to target those who simply express criticism against the government. Ano along with a number of security officials and lawmakers have repeatedly dismissed these claims, saying citizens have their rights and several safeguards under the Constitution. The DILG said enforcers found to be abusing the measure will be held accountable, and may even face arrest. Ibigay niyo sa akin and I will make sure na lahat ng mga abusado na 'yan ay tatanggalin natin sa serbisyo at ipapakulong natin 'yan, we do not tolerate that, he added. [Translation: Send them by way, and I will make sure all the abusers will be removed from service and will be arrested, we do not tolerate that.] Just days after its passage, several groups have already filed petitions before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the measure. Officials are meanwhile ready to face and answer the pleas, Ano said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) The Department of Health (DOH) has warned of case clustering among barangays and closed-setting facilities in the National Capital Region and Cebu City as the national tally for COVID-19 infections continues to climb. DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online briefing on Monday that there are 64 barangays in Cebu City and 314 barangays in NCR that are exhibiting clustering of cases. In addition, clustering is also observed in three closed-setting facilities in NCR, which includes cases involving Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line 3 personnel. The Department of Transportation reported that a total of 186 MRT-3 employees tested positive for the virus, most of whom are depot employees, while others are ticket sellers, train drivers, control center personnel, and a nurse. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease temporarily suspended MRT-3 operations this week due to the increasing number of personnel testing positive for COVID-19 READ: MRT-3 halts operations starting July 7 as more employees get sick with COVID-19 An expert from the University of the Philippines College of Public Health said that COVID-19 is clustering among certain groups, like frontliners and government workers, as infections continue to spike. The country recorded 2,099 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing total tally to 46,333. Recoveries added 243, bringing total count to 12,185, while deaths added six more, raising death toll to 1,303. READ: Philippines reports 2,099 new COVID-19 cases; total climbs to 46,333 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has declined yet another nomination to the Supreme Court, saying his work at the Department of Justice is needed now more than ever. It is the second time for him to turn down a nomination made by Retired Associate Justice Raoul Victorino. In a letter released to the media on Sunday, Guevarra thanked Victorino for the nomination to fill up the Associate Justice position. But he decided to decline what may be his last time to be nominated. The Judicial and Bar Council rules says nominees must be under 67 years and 6 months old to serve for a maximum of 2.5 years before they retire at 70 years old. When the next Supreme Court vacancy comes up on January 2022, Guevarra would be 67 and 8 months old. "This opportunity has come at a time when my services as Secretary of the Department of Justice are most needed. The government is facing a huge and unprecedented crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is especially during these troubled times that law and order must be preserved and maintained," he wrote in the letter dated July 4. Among Guevarra's new tasks is his membership in the Anti-Terrorism Council under the newly-enacted Republic Act No. 11479. The Anti-Terrorism Council is controversial as critics say it expands the powers of the executive branch, allowing authorities to arrest people designated as "terrorists" without judicial warrant and to detain them without charge for up to 24 days. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) President Rodrigo Duterte will address the nation from his hometown of Davao City on Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. The President is back in his home in Davao City after meeting with police and military leaders last week regarding the Jolo shooting incident where four Army intelligence personnel were killed. Duterte is not expected to announce new community quarantine classifications with prevailing lockdown measures set to end on July 15. But nearly halfway through it, Roque said it is highly unlikely that Metro Manila will revert to a stricter enhanced community quarantine, even as the country recorded its highest single-day jump of COVID-19 cases on Sunday. "Kinakailangan nang buksan ang ekonomiya pero patuloy pa rin po ang pagiingat... Wala na tayong alternatibo dahil talagang sagad na ang ating ekonomiya, kinakailangan na tayong maghanapbuhay lahat," he said in a media briefing on Monday. [Translation: We need to reopen the economy while constantly exercising caution. There is no other alternative because our economy is really down, and we all need to go back to work.] Roque did not completely discount the possibility of the capital region shifting from general community quarantine to ECQ. He said it could happen if the critical care capacity which is currently at moderate risk at 63 percent occupation in Metro Manila worsens. He added that lack of critical care capacity and faster doubling rate of cases will give the government "no other alternative" but to reimpose stricter lockdowns. The Philippines recorded an all-time high single-day increase in COVID-19 cases on Sunday, with the Department of Health reporting 2,434 new infections. This broke the previous record high of 1,531 posted just two days ago. The latest case bulletin issued by the DOH showed that 1,069 of the new cases were registered in Metro Manila. The total case count soared to 44,254, with 1,147 of the new cases classified as "fresh" or were detected in the last three days. The other 1,287 are late cases or were part of the validation backlog, according to the DOH. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Police in Navotas City filed charges against a family who had a party despite quarantine restrictions and have now tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement released Monday, Mayor Toby Tiangco said several residents of H. Mornoy Street in Barangay Navotas West attended a party on May 14, violating the prohibition of social gatherings issued at that time. The familys utter disregard of safety regulations endangered their lives and all those living at H. Monroy. Their reckless act thwarted our efforts to prevent further transmission of COVID-19 and keep our people safe, Tiangco said. The street was put under lockdown from 5:01 a.m. of June 11, until 11:59 p.m. of June 24 after 14 residents tested positive for the virus. Of the 14 cases, six were discovered to have attended the birthday celebration of a family member who was later confirmed to be COVID-19 positive. Tiangco issued a warning against others who would violate restrictions. Even if we dont catch you in the act, we will file criminal charges against you if investigation showed you flouted the quarantine order, he said. On Monday, the DOH reported 2,099 new infections, with total cases now at 46,333. Recovered patients exceeded 12,000, after 243 more got well. The total number of survivors is now at 12,185, which accounts for around one-fourth of the countrys confirmed cases. However, the disease also resulted in the death of six more patients, raising the death toll to 1,303. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) The Philippine Coast Guard has filed a criminal complaint against the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier and its crew involved in a collision with a Filipino fishing vessel last month. The PCG said a case for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and damage to property was filed before the Provincial Prosecutors Office of Occidental Mindoro on Monday against Vienna Woods crew, namely Zhang Weiwei from Shandong, China; Shin Bin from Henan, China; Yi Lei from Jillen, China; and Yang Xileng from Shandong, China. PCG Station Commander of Occidental Mindoro LT. Valerie Lagua stood as complainant, while witnesses included PCG personnel, responders, and fishermen. On June 27, M/V Vienna Wood collided several times with Fishing Vessel Liberty 5 in the vicinity of Occidental Mindoro, leaving 14 Filipinos -- including 12 crew members and two passengers of Liberty 5 -- missing up to today. Vienna Wood was sailing to Subic while Liberty 5 was en route to Navotas at the time of the collision. The PCG said the court has the authority to declare the death of the missing Filipinos. Based on the initial investigation, the PCG said the collision at around 10:20 p.m. on June 27 was not deliberate. But the foreign crew members were found to have committed negligence, sending a distress call via email three hours after the incident. READ: Hong Kong vessel did not abandon Filipino fishermen, but several lapses found PCG The attacker was described as a man between 20 and 26 years old with a thin build and about 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-7 inches tall. He had his hair pulled back in a short ponytail and was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has observed an increase in reports of scams during the pandemic. "Sa kalagitnaan ng pandemic, tayo po ay nakapagtala ng 68 advisories laban po sa pag-aalok ng mga investments sa ating mga kababayan. At nauuso po ang ganito sapagkat ang ating mga kababayan ay nasa bahay, parating online, work from home, yung iba nawalan ng trabaho. At ito naman ay sinasamantala ng scammers," Oliver Leonardo of the SEC's Enforcement and Investor Protection Department told CNN Philippines on Monday. [Translation: In the middle of the pandemic, we have logged 68 advisories against offers of investments to people. This has become a trend because people are at home, always online, working from home, and some have lost their jobs. Scammers are taking advantage of this.] Leonardo said one of the most common and popular investment scams is the Ponzi scheme, named after a swindler named Charles Ponzi who devised the fraud in 1919. He said traditionally, Ponzi schemes offer no products but lure in potential investors with promises of high daily returns for a minimum investment. "Walang lehitimong negosyo ang pwedeng makapangako ng garantiyang sigurado kikita ka sa ganitong paraan. Ngayon, hinahaluan na nila ng produkto para masabi lang na kami ay lehitimo...pero nandoon pa rin yung pangakong kikita ka sa agarang panahon o yung tinatawag na get rich quick," he said. [Translation: There are no legitimate businesses that can guarantee that you will earn by this method. Now, they include products so they can claim they are legitimate...but there is still the promise of earning in a short period of time, or what is called a get rich quick (scheme).] Leonardo said there are companies which offer legitimate investment opportunities and potential investors can verify if they are legitimate by visiting the SEC's website. However, he said apart from being registered, a company as well as the people who work in it -- has to have a license or a permit from the SEC. Leonardo warned people against opportunities which seem too good to be true, adding that there are corresponding criminal liabilities for those who offer investments but do not have a license to do so. Watch the interview here: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) Tawi-Tawi is no longer free from COVID-19. The provincial government reported that its first confirmed case was a 44 year-old personnel of the Philippine National Police, a former locally stranded individual (LSI) with travel history from San Isidro in Quezon City to Zamboanga City. He then travelled to Basilan, back to Zamboanga City, and then arrived in Tawi-Tawi last June 30. The provincial government said the personnel is asymptomatic and is currently under self-quarantine. Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday that LSIs who intend to go back to their respective provinces should be included in the government's expanded testing program to lessen COVID-19 cases in their localities. READ: VP Robredo: Include locally stranded individuals in planned 10 million COVID tests Current rules prioritize testing to those exhibiting symptoms of the disease, those with pre-existing medical conditions, senior citizens, pregnant women, and frontliners. As of Monday, the Philippines has recorded 44,254 COVID-19 cases with 11,942 recoveries and 1,297 deaths. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) Four alleged suspects in the killing of Private First Class Mark Anthony Monte and three paramilitary members in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan last week surrendered to authorities on Sunday afternoon. They were identified as Karim Manisan, 31 years old; Saham Mohammad, 45 years old; Lito Manisan, 45 years old; and Ayatula Mohammad, 40 years old. The four individuals are all residents of Barangay Bohe Lebbung in Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan province. The four suspected gunmen turned themselves in to the Barangay Chairman of Bohe Lebbung. Then, they were turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) 4th Special Forces Battalion headquarters in Barangay Cabunbata also in Tipo-Tipo for investigation and custody. The alleged suspects also surrendered four high-powered firearms which include two M16A1 rifle, one M14 US rifle, and one M1 US carbine with several magazines and ammunitions. The four men said they are aware of the charges filed against them and they will face the consequences of their action. The combined forces from the 18th Infantry Battalion, 4th Special Forces Battalion, and the local PNP forces are still pursuing the other suspected gunmen who are still at large. Last July 4, Monte and three paramilitary members were killed in a shooting incident. Initial investigation showed the motive behind the shooting appeared to be a personal grudge/long standing feud between the opposing sides. Other casualties in the incident were Samy Akay and Alibasa Antaas from the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary, and Hakim Marani, a civilian member of the unit. The incident happened after President Rodrigo Duterte delivered a speech before the soldiers in Zamboanga City last July 3 to pacify both the military and police following the killing of four soldiers by policemen in Sulu. Jolo policemen fired at four Army intelligence personnel, including two officers, last June 29. Police officials called it a shooting instead of self-defense based on reports that showed the soldiers did not fire at the policemen. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 4) Authorities will not go on an arresting spree following the signing of the Anti-Terrorism Act, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. assured on Saturday. Esperon said the Anti-Terrorism Council, chaired by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, will first convene to review the law and draft its implementing rules and regulations. Si Executive Secretary, nag-usap kami noong isang araw na kung kamiy makakapagpulong na, ay pag-uusapan namin yung aming first and foremost, review ng signed law para magkaintindihan kami lahat. Pangalawa ay yung crafting ng ating IRR, Esperon said in an online briefing. [Translation: The Executive Secretary and I talked the order day and discussed that once we meet, we will first and foremost review the signed law so we are all on the same page. Second, we will be crafting the IRR.] In an interview with CNN Philippines, Esperon stressed that the law cannot be implemented without the IRR, which the Anti-Terrorism Council has to submit to Congress. The law mandates the creation of a joint congressional oversight committee which can summon the council and law enforcement officers over the implementation of the measure. The Anti-Terrorism Council is controversial as critics sound the alarm over expanding the powers of the executive body. It was created by virtue of the Human Security Act of 2007, which the new law repealed. The new measure adopts the provision under the previous law which gives the Anti-Terrorism Council the power to authorize law enforcement agents and military personnel to conduct the arrest and detention. However, it extends the time allowed for suspected terrorists to be arrested and detained without warrant from three days under the previous law to up to 24 days. Critics, including former Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, said the Anti-Terrorism Act relaxes safeguards on human rights and is open to abuse, noting that it allows warrantless arrests outside Rule 113 of the Rules of Court which requires that the crime is being committed in the presence of the arresting person for an arrest to be made. During Saturdays briefing, Esperon said, Iba yung sinasabi nating warrantless arrest (What we call a warrantless arrest is different). Even civilians can do it. Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, principal sponsor and one of the authors of the Anti-Terrorism Act, was earlier asked if the law should be more clearly worded to explain the processes. He said the IRR would "fine-tune" certain provisions. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the controversial measure on Friday. The next day, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court questioning its constitutionality. READ: Lawyers file first petition vs. anti-terrorism law Columbia, SC (29201) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 78F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, then cloudy skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The State College Police Department reported a shooting that occurred at 7:54 p.m. on Saturday, July 4 at 1335 Dreibelbis St. According to a press release, State College Police officers responded to the address for a report of a gunshot victim. Once they arrived, they discovered that a 26-year-old area visitor had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. The release said that the individual was flown to UPMC Altoona and is currently in stable condition. A preliminary investigation revealed that a friend of the individual a 25-year-old area visitor was handling a .45 caliber Colt semiauto handgun when it went off. According to the press release, the 25-year-old was unfamiliar with firearms. RELATED On Sunday, June 14, Penn State joined more than three-quarters of colleges and universities across the country in announcing it would bring students back on campus for the fall 2020 semester. Though students will physically return to University Park, many classes will be held online and as a result, students will be wrongfully charged thousands of dollars for classes that dont provide the in-person experience. According to a Penn State News release, Penn State administrators look forward to welcoming back faculty, staff and students to resume on-campus, in-person classes. The release goes on to state that some non-classroom spaces would be repurposed for instruction, and every class meeting in person would appropriately socially distance. Following this announcement, many students expressed excitement about the universitys reopening. Over the past several weeks, however, the locations of some students classes on LionPATH were changed to read ZOOM. In response to these changes, several students have created online petitions to reduce the price of classes held entirely via Zoom to the World Campus tuition rate. These students argue virtual classes, even those held synchronously, are essentially World Campus classes and do not offer the same educational experience as those held in-person. And since the World Campus tuition rate is $582 to $629 per credit for full-time students (as opposed to $769 to $1,452 per credit at University Park), students could save thousands of dollars with a reduced rate. Although the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic is very real problem for any university, Penn State should not charge the full, non-World Campus tuition rate for online classes, regardless of whether theyre held synchronously. Students do have the option of taking World Campus classes in the fall and then moving back to University Park, but World Campus does not offer the full range of courses available either at University Park or the Commonwealth Campuses, and there is limited capacity, according to Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers. Because of this, many students who need certain classes for their major or specific in-person experiences cannot take the credits they want through World Campus. Additionally, as many students quickly learned from the remote second half of the spring 2020 semester, the in-person experience is superior to the online one. Asking fellow classmates questions during class, questioning professors in person, and being able to actually see or hear written equations, videos and other supplementary materials typically utilized in an in-person setting are experiences that cannot be fully replicated through Zoom. Furthermore, simply being around other people or physically sitting in a classroom has motivational benefits that arent available in an online setting. Research even shows that students especially students with fewer resources at home dont learn as much when they are not physically in school. Penn State insists the experience is the same, but the data paint a different picture. Now, many students face the difficult choice of deciding to return to campus and pay housing costs just to take one or two classes in person. This points to a contradiction inherent in Penn States decision-making: holding classes online to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, only to bring students back to on-campus housing despite the threat of the coronavirus. Students are expected to pay full tuition, housing costs and dining costs only to receive a subpar educational experience. Penn State wants to receive students tuition and housing dollars, but doesnt want to be held responsible for an increase in coronavirus cases in State College. Ultimately, Penn State must reduce the cost of classes held online in the fall to the World Campus rate to fairly charge students for the educational experience they will receive. Additionally, the university should craft a plan to offer a reduced tuition rate for all classes in the event that an outbreak occurs and students are sent home before Nov. 20. It is not on students to work around Penn States budget restraints or determine where funding should come from in the absence of tuition dollars. It is Penn States responsibility, however, to provide fair and equal access to education for all students and it cant do that without charging less for classes held via Zoom. This editorial was written by Daily Collegian Assistant News Editor Lilly Riddle, who can be reached at lir5125@psu.edu. A Vietnamese tank competing at Army Games 2019 (Photo: PANO) The Vietnamese delegation is expected to compete in the categories of coordination of tanks, safe routes, dangerous environments, loyal friends, accident areas and borderless friendship. In addition, Vietnamese teams will participate in the content of Army Games 2020 held in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Held for the first time in 2015, Army Games 2020 is expected to be the largest multilateral military event this year, with over 440,000 soldiers taking part, an eight-fold increase from 2019. It is an opportunity for the armies of countries to compete and strengthen solidarity and mutual understanding; and show combat readiness, and learn from each other, especially about the combat skills of each soldier and the ability to coordinate together. Vietnam joined the Army Games for the first time in 2018 with three teams. At Army Games 2019, participating in 8 categories, Vietnamese teams won 4 collective medals and many individual awards. Of which, the tank team won the silver medal; and engineering, rescue and chemical teams won the bronze medals. Recently, along with the bilateral relations, the Vietnam - Russia defense ties have continuously been strengthened, developed and gained real depth. Vietnam's Ministry of Defense has actively participated in multilateral events organized by Russia, showing the efficiency of the cooperation, trust and mutual support between the two defense agencies and the two military forces. During an online discussion on July 3rd, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Russian counterpart Sen. Lieut. Gen. A.V. Fomin emphasized key areas of cooperation, expressing determination to carry out Vietnam - Russia priority tasks in 2020, including Vietnams participation in Army Games 2020./. Natalia was a very quiet and sweet little girl. She completed every assignment during class, got along with all of her peers, and colored the most precious pictures ever given to me. Natalia never hesitated to ask for clarity when needed. Sometimes, her quiet spirit gave her the strength to lead the reading lessons within her group, and she soared when it came to doing math. During e-learning, Natalia was always present and participating. At the end of each class session, she would type in the chat box, I Love You. Columbia, MO (65201) Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 83F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear skies. Low 64F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Danville, IL (61832) Today Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High near 75F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. 136 new COVID-19 cases reported on July 5, including 5 imported cases from India Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 136 cases of new COVID-19 infection as of 12pm on July 5, taking the national tally to 44,800. Majority of the new infections continue to be Work Permit holders residing in dormitories, MOH said in a press statement. There are also seven imported cases, of which four are Singaporeans/Permanent Residents. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@sporeMOH Among the seven imported cases, five returned to Singapore from India on June 20 and June 23. The remaining two cases returned to Singapore from Yemen on June 24. All of them had been placed on 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore, and had been tested while serving their SHN. There are also 18 cases in the local community, of which ten are linked to previous cases or clusters. Meanwhile, 324 more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. 07/06/2020 Photo (c) NatanaelGinting - Getty Images While consumers celebrated the Fourth of July over the weekend, the number of reported cases of COVID-19 increased dramatically in Florida and Texas. Health departments in each state reported a sharp increase in confirmed cases. Florida reported 11,445 new cases and Texas reported 8,258 new cases on Saturday, the highest single-day figures for both states since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Other states also saw virus totals rise sharply over the weekend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that California and Arizona reported 5,410 and 3,536 new cases on Sunday, respectively. State officials attributed the uptick in cases to people not following pandemic guidelines. Republican Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez called the increase in COVID-19 cases "extremely worrisome and pinned some of the blame on the states early reopening. "There's no doubt that the fact that when we reopened, people started socializing as if the virus didn't exist," Suarez told ABC News. Masks recommend In the U.S., there have now been more than 2.8 million reported coronavirus cases and nearly 130,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. For the past several weeks, the CDC has reported more than 20,000 new cases in the U.S. every day. But over the last three days, new cases totals were over 50,000 each day. Young people tend to believe they arent as likely to get the virus. However, in Florida, the median age of people who tested positive for COVID-19 was 35 as of Saturday. In Texas, a large number of those who tested positive were between 20 and 39 years old. In response to the increase in virus cases across the nation, many state governors have imposed mandatory face mask policies in public spaces. Governors in Texas and California were the most recent to require residents to wear face coverings in public. Nineteen states currently have strict face mask policies in place. Other states have varying policies but have been more lenient with the rule. CDC guidance states that everyone should wear face coverings in "public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain." Studies have shown that the use of masks is highly effective in preventing the spread of the virus. Up to this stage, we do not have a safe and effective vaccine. What remains practical is still either social-distancing measures or wearing masks, said Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong University. Authorities said the men were leaving the beach because of the storms and were about halfway between the waterline and the sand dunes when they were struck. David Langham Horace, 44, passed away June 9, 2021 in Lufkin. Viewing will be held on Friday, June 18, 2021 at Emanuel Funeral Home of Crockett from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Funeral will be held on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at Antioch Baptist Church in Pennington at 12 p.m. with burial to follow in A AFP/ASIO raids Who will be next? The raids on the offices and homes of NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane and a staffer from his office on 26th June should ring alarm bells for every democratically minded citizen of Australia. The raids are political and racist. The corporate media were at the ready, the political lynching started immediately the raids were launched. The shock jocks wasted no time in joining the lynch mob. They used every dirty trick in the book China-bashing, racism, and slander, and even roped in Moselmanes wife as being complicit. Anything to turn the public against the MP and staffer without a shred of evidence. Moselmane had not been charged with any offence, let alone found guilty. We used to live in a country where there was the presumption of innocence before being found guilty. Not any more! Battery of anti-democratic laws Commencing with the Howard government in the early 2000s, successive Australian governments have passed, with the support of Labor, more than eighty pieces of legislation eating away at our democratic rights in the name of national security. These bills were presented as anti-terrorism measures, couched in such terms as protecting our democracy, freedoms, values, and way of life. Each successive piece of legislation placed further restrictions on our democratic rights and freedoms, further eroding the rights they claimed to protect. The potential application of many of the bills extends far beyond fighting terrorism to such actions as peaceful protests and dissent. These laws lie in wait for future use. They were not passed to lie idle on the books. At every step the Labor Party hopped on board with the Coalition, thus ensuring the bills were passed. On some occasions there was not time to even read the text of what was being rammed through the Senate. Labor is again complicit. This time with NSW ALP Opposition leader Jodie McKay all too eager to seek the expulsion of Moselmane from the party and to have him stood down from Parliament. The raids were done under espionage and foreign interference bills passed in 2018. The main target of the bills is the Peoples Republic of China. That was clear from the Ministers Second Reading Speech. Convictions under the foreign espionage bill carry a penalty of up to 20 years in jail. In a statement to the media, Moselmane said he had made a number of visits to China, and had supplied wheelchairs to disabled children there and in a number of other countries. He has previously been criticised for praising the way China handled the pandemic, something which members of the government did at the time as well as leading medical practitioners and the World Health Organisation also did. I have done nothing wrong, I have never jeopardised the welfare of our country and our people, he told a media conference. He called on the media to revert to the basic journalistic principles of objectivity, privacy, and told them that his family does not deserve the harassment and intimidation they have experienced. Attack on Labor The timing of the raids does not appear to be an accident on the eve of an important by-election in the cliff-hanger seat of Eden Monaro. Labor is already reeling from the branch-stacking scandal in Victoria. Foreign corporations that lobby governments have nothing to fear although they seek to influence Australian governments. Nor has the United States which by and large dictates Australian foreign policy and even commands our military forces in the Northern Territory. These powers are there to protect the state that exists to protect the interests of the capitalist class. At times like these it is worth recalling the powerful words of Friedrich Niemoller, the famous German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me* Niemoller was elected as a president of the World Council of Churches in 1961 and was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1966. He had spent time in two Nazi concentration camps. His poem is a timely reminder that we cannot remain passive but must speak out and take action to halt the attack on our democratic and trade union rights what is left of them before it is too late. * There are various versions of the poem, but the sentiments are the same. Gig work survey shows urgent need call to regulate A survey highlighting how transport workers in the gig economy are being exploited through unpaid work and lack of rights shows the need to regulate the sector, says the Transport Workers Union (TWU). The survey shows most gig economy workers work as rideshare drivers and food delivery riders for Uber, Deliveroo, Ola and Lyft. They are significantly less satisfied with the work than other gig economy workers especially the inability to negotiate rates. They do on average 5.2 hours unpaid work each week and many have no work injury insurance. Rideshare drivers and food delivery riders were much more likely to say that their work generated 100 per cent of their total annual income and that the income was essential for meeting basic needs. The TWU said the survey, conducted by Queensland University of Technology, the University of Adelaide and University of Technology Sydney, was further evidence that the gig economy must be regulated. This survey is an eye-opener on what life is like for the thousands of people who deliver our food and transport us around. The Federal Government can no longer ignore the grim reality that gig work unregulated is creating an army of exploited workers who have no choice but to accept low rates, unpaid work and a scenario where neither their health nor their income is protected. Jurisdictions around the world have acted on this type of evidence and given these workers rights. The federal government needs to stand up for workers in Australia and do the same, TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said. NSW Vic/Tas Branch Secretary John Berger said that after months of pressure from the TWU and transport workers, the Victorian government has taken a step in the right direction. Gig economy workers have been on the front line of this pandemic risking their health and wellbeing for low rates and even lower health and safety standards. We know that governments around the world have acted swiftly to protect these workers under law. We thank the Victorian government for their work in the gig economy space, without strong regulations on the gig economy we will see these abhorrent business practices spread throughout the transport industry. We look forward to working with the Victorian government towards an outcome which protects both gig economy workers and the rest of the supply chain from these systems of exploitation, Berger added. The survey shows rideshare and food delivery workers are significantly more likely to be younger (18-34 years of age), to be on a temporary residency visa and to speak a language other than English at home. Although gig economy employers try to operate on the basis that their workers are self-employed, over a quarter of workers say they are treated as employees. The TWU has taken a number of court cases against gig economy employers. The Union has won an unfair dismissal case against Foodora and is fighting cases of unfair dismissal against Uber and Deliveroo. The TWU is also taking Deliveroo to court over gross underpayment. Transport Workers Union. We were a family. And our parents raised each others children. This neighbor slept at my house. I slept at that neighbors house. And we would have block club parties. ... It was no division. It was no adversarial activity. ... But now things have drastically changed, said Stevenson. With the drug infestation. The unemployment. And with the lack of jobs and things of that nature ... crime is on the rise. But were yet still here standing trying to bring some hope and possibility of hope to this community, and to those families over here. Development threatens Indigenous sites in Canberra One month since Rio Tintos blasting of the Juukan Gorge, Australias Indigenous heritage is again under threat. The Doma Group, a property development company, is planning to build an apartment complex at the base of Mount Ainslie in Canberra, over the top of a sacred Indigenous site. The site also contains survey markers placed during the planning of Canberra as a capital city. More outrageously, traditional Ngunnawal and Ngambri owners have never been consulted about the development, even after a 2013 ACT Environment Directorate report advised that the site has Indigenous significance. As early as 1933, stone artifacts were documented at the site. There is no excuse for Doma Groups negligent handling of Australias history. Just as Rio Tinto knew what they were destroying, Doma Group has full awareness of the sites history. This is part of a clear and repeated pattern of corporations violating Indigenous land and heritage for profit. Last week, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr called for a complete halt to the development, and the Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has asked the Environment Department to review the case. This is a promising development, but unless severe pressure is put upon the Environment Minister, nothing is likely to change. What is needed is a comprehensive overhaul of how Indigenous heritage is treated. Ngambri Elder Shane Mortimer has been a vocal opponent of the development and has started an online petition with over 5500 signatures. Its a place of shared history, he says, of the Indigenous and European artifacts found at the site. When you talk about reconciliation, there couldnt be a better demonstration of shared history than this site, He also wants a federal inquiry into the lack of binding provisions for examining Aboriginal heritage issues across most Australian jurisdictions, in light of the Juukan Gorge incident. The actions of Rio Tinto, as morally bankrupt as they were, were completely legal under Western Australian law. The Ainslie site is under the administration of the National Capital Authority, and if they allow the development to go forward, Doma will have a green light to bulldoze Australias history. Nationalise Qantas! The job losses continued to mount with Qantas announcing the immediate sacking of 6,000 workers on 25th June. It did, however, say that it would continue with the stand-downs of another 15,000 workers and that their leave would continue to accumulate. The future of these 15,000 workers is uncertain with JobKeeper due to wind up at the end of September. In all more than two-thirds of its 29,000 workforce are either stood down or unemployed. Many of them may never regain employment with Qantas or in the aviation industry. Unions representing Qantas workers reacted angrily, demanding the company wait until it knew what the government was planning in relation to JobKeeper and possible assistance to the industry. The federal government must urgently act to implement an AviationKeeper payment system to support the industry for as long as it needs, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demanded. Instead of cutting workers jobs and continuing stand-downs, Alan Joyce should redouble efforts to secure urgent government intervention, Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele ONeil said. Aviation workers are pushing for specific support from the Australian government. As one united industry, were fighting for an AviationKeeper, the TWU said. They are also, importantly calling for a national plan to ensure the long-term stability of the industry and fairness for thousands of workers. Meaner leaner The company has a three-year plan for when flights can resume. This is centred around becoming a much smaller airline. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce spoke in terms of a meaner leaner airline. One hundred aircraft will be grounded for up to twelve months or longer. Its A380s will be grounded and put into storage in the US for three years. It will also retire its six remaining Boeing 747 planes immediately, six months ahead of schedule. It is raising capital of around $1.9 billion to tide it over, including funding the 6,000 redundancies. Qantas has indicated that half of the stood-down workforce will not be back at work until international flights resume. While CEO Alan Joyce optimistically suggests that this might be as early as July 2021, it is more likely they will remain in that position for some years to come. A great deal depends on when a vaccine is found and produced in adequate quantities. Demand will take time to build when the skies are opened up again, and there will be fewer planes in operation. The leaner and meaner airline will be out to cut costs by every means possible. The remaining workforce and their unions will be in a far weaker bargaining position with a large experienced reserve labour force eager to get back into the industry. They can expect an all-out assault on wages and working conditions, reduced staffing levels, etc. There are also risks that short-cuts could be taken in maintenance and other safety provisions. Highly profitable Qantas is one of the most profitable airlines in the world. Last year, the company made a before tax profit of $1.3 billion and a return of 18.4 per cent on invested capital which is good by any capitalist standard. These figures include the operations from its budget subsidiary, Jetstar. It was wallowing in cash to the extent it returned to shareholders $1 billion in the form of dividends and share buy-backs. Qantas has made billions of dollars in profits over recent years. All of these profits could and should have been flowing into government coffers, not lining the pockets of senior executives and private shareholders. Yes, it has taken a hit from COVID-19, but Joyce has repeatedly said it was in a strong position to ride it out. The company is able to raise capital to tide it over. Joyce has not taken the begging bowl to government as Virgin has done. It was in Qantas interests to see its main competitor Virgin go under. Virgin carried huge debt, accumulated when attempting to compete with Qantas at the higher end of the market, leaving it unprepared for such a crisis. This left it extremely vulnerable, with the airline eventually going into voluntary administration last month. It had already sacked thousands of its employees, and many more are expected to lose their jobs as new owners, Bain Capital, take over the company. Bain Capital has a bad reputation for ruthless downsizing and attacks on wages and working conditions. The multinational corporation was set up in 1984 and now claims to have US$100 billion of assets under management. Its takeover of Virgin might have saved Virgin, but at what cost to the staff and their trade unions. Background to Qantas The company was founded in Queensland in 1920 as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, its present-day name an acronym of the original. Once a privately owned company, it was nationalised by the Chifley Labor government in 1947. The Keating Labor government began the privatisation of Qantas in 1993, with the Howard government transferring the final tranche to private ownership in 1997. This not only denied the government an important source of regular income, but meant that today Australias national carrier is privately owned. Qantas, as we have seen during the pandemic, played a key role in bringing stranded Australians back from around the world. It should be nationalised. Guardian readers can support the aviation workers campaign for a national plan for the industry by signing the petition on the TWU webpage twu.com.au. Report: World Beyond War webinar, 20th June 2020 Enforced isolation has not been such a bad thing. Its allowed me to link up with like-minded people around the world via the internet, and Id like to share the webinar discussion held by World Beyond War, which looked at the Rim of the Pacific Exercises (RIMPAC) impact on our region. World Beyond War is a global non-violent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace. It was uplifting to note that at least sixty-three people took part in the debate, no doubt many of whom live in regions affected by these military exercises. Kawena ulaokala Kapathua from Hawaii showed a video of bombs dropped during a military naval exercise blowing up old ships and spoke about the effect this had on marine life. It was amazing to learn that the exercises were only 55 kms off the coast and close to fishing areas. Maria from Guam spoke about finding whales stranded on beaches after the war games, and the impact of militarisation. She felt that, because of Guams colonial status, the US military does as it likes: something it cant do to the same extent in the Philippines or Japan. This upsets the local people who work actively to block some of the US militarys plans. Currently, the military continues to do training, even as Guam remains in lockdown due to the pandemic. The latest examples: the USS Theodore Roosevelt brought in hundreds of COVID-19 cases, and the Rim of the Pacific exercises are still planned for Hawaii. This shows that the military isnt concerned about the security of the people in the region. The double standard is blatant, as it would be unthinkable for the US to admit thousands of people during the ongoing pandemic, but it is happy to do so in the Pacific. Environmental issues were raised but not in detail. It is, however, a known fact that there are still eighty contaminated military dump sites on Guam with the concomitant toxic chemical pollution they entail. Another issue was sovereignty: the US wont grant political sovereignty to places it has control over, giving the excuse that the security of the Pacific Islands is protected. Virginia Lacsa Suarez of the Philippines spoke about the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which she wanted to be scrapped, mentioning that live ammunition had been used on protestors. Speaking about womens rights and the democracy movement, she remarked on the rapes, environmental degradation, and the 100 years of destruction and interference in political affairs by the US, pointing out that its people were suffering the same problems as black people world-wide. The VFA only survives because of the American military presence. Margaret Beavis, the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) President from Melbourne, also spoke about the secrecy of the US military in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that they were a law unto themselves. She queried whether US troops in Darwin were entering quarantine. In her view, the Australian military wasnt keen on holding RIMPAC but are under the thumb of the US who are ramping up feelings against China. Val from NZ, equated RIMPAC and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, saying that the principle of defunding the police should also apply to the military. It was money that should be spent on the people. She also spoke about marine depletion and institutionalised violence, and suggested the need for Pacific Regional Independence. Theres a lot of resistance against the US in Hawaii, Philippines, and Guam who want more say in what the US does. Maria says their Governor doesnt do much: her grandfathers land had been repossessed by the US and although theres now a re-colonisation movement which is working out options, it needs more power. Annette Brownlie of the Independent Peace for Australia Network said IPAN is building awareness and amassing organisations for peace, mentioning that Denis Doherty was on the Hiroshima Day Committee. In reply to Margaret Beaviss comment about how we challenge a dominant military, she thought that IPAN is a good start. Val recommended making connections and said were living on occupied lands and need to connect with BLM to challenge white supremacist domination, saying that national security needed deconstructing and the Constitution needed reform. The power of the corporations also needed challenging. Leah Bolger, from the US, suggested building a world-wide organisation fighting against military propaganda and suggested that a Declaration of Peace needed to be signed. International Day of the Seafarer A chance to recognise invaluable contributions, turn around decline of Australian shipping The significant and invaluable contribution merchant seafarers make to Australias economy and society transporting more than ninety-eight per cent of the nations imports and exports is being recognised today as the world marks the International Day of the Seafarer. Organised by the International Maritime Organization the United Nations agency with responsibility for the safety, security and sustainability of shipping 25th June highlights the huge but often overlooked contribution seafarers make to modern society. The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard for seafarers, with 200,000 currently stuck onboard ships around the world, unable to go home to their families due to border closures and a lack of government efforts to repatriate them. The Maritime Union of Australia said the day also highlighted the need to urgently turn around the decline of Australias merchant fleet, which has steadily shrunk under the Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison governments, leaving the country without the self-sufficiency a smart island nation needs. With very few ships flying the Australian red ensign, the nations supply chains have become increasingly precarious, with the overwhelming majority of ships servicing the nation now foreign owned, crewed and flagged. MUA national secretary and International Transport Workers Federation president Paddy Crumlin paid tribute to all seafarers, saying that our nation would grind to a halt without the vital supplies they bring. Seafarers are the invisible workforce responsible for supplying the country with crucial supplies, fuel, and the overwhelming majority of everyday products, as well as exporting our resources and manufactured goods to the world, Crumlin said. Put simply, without seafarers, Australias economy and society would collapse almost overnight. Unfortunately, under the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments we have seen the continued loss of Australian-flag vessels, leaving the nation in a dangerous position that could see fuel dry up within weeks if a crisis interrupts our supply chain. The Liberals and Nationals have driven a race to the bottom on the Australian coast, resulting in highly-skilled Australian seafarers being replaced by flag of convenience vessels registered in notorious tax havens and crewed by exploited foreign visa workers paid as little as $2 per hour. The International Day of the Seafarer highlights the need for Australia to restore merchant shipping, with a strategic fleet of Australian-flagged vessels crewed by Australian workers that can ensure our sovereign self-sufficiency and the security for our nations fuel and supply capabilities. A few rich families control our economy (1958) The Program of the Communist Party of Australia, describing the main present day economic trend, states: We live in the era of monopoly in industry, finance, and commerce [] The small industrial enterprise has given way to the giant factory and steel mill [...] A financial oligarchy dominates every phase of Australian life. In an attempt to cover up their domination the monopolists have invented the myth of Peoples Capitalism. According to this myth ownership and control of industry is not being concentrated into fewer hands, as stated by Marx, but is becoming more widely dispersed among hundreds of thousands of small shareholders. Lenin, in his well-known book, Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism, long ago demolished this myth. He said: Experience shows that it is sufficient to own forty per cent of the shares of a company to direct its affairs, since a certain number of small shareholders find it impossible in practice to attend general meetings. The democratisation of the ownership of shares, from which the bourgeois sophists and opportunist would-be Social Democrats expect (or declare that they expect) the democratisation of capital, the strengthening of the role of small scale production, is in fact one of the ways of in creasing the power of the financial oligarchy. Striking confirmation of the truth of Lenins observations and their validity for Australia, is contained in a book entitled Ownership and Control of Australian Companies, by E L Wheelwright, D.F.C., M.A. (St. Andrews), Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney. Wheelwright examined the shareholdings of 102 of the largest public companies registered in Australia in 1953. He found there were 437 million shares held in approximately 490,000 holdings. Of these only 2,000 were large holdings of 10,000 or more nominal value. But these large holdings accounted for thirty-seven per cent of the voting shares. The remaining holdings were small, being under 10,000 in nominal value, and accounted for sixty-three per cent of voting shares. Thus, comments Wheelwright, although the greater part of the shares was held by many thousands of small holders, there was a heavy concentration of shares in a few hands one half of one per cent of the holders owning thirty-seven per cent of the shares. Mr Wheelwrights investigation substantiates Lenins claim that in practice the hundreds of thousands of small shareholders are excluded from control of the company in which their capital is invested. To exercise effective control today it is no longer necessary even to own forty per cent of the shares. Mr Wheelwright, on the basis of his analysis, sets the percentage as low as ten to fifteen per cent. He says: It has long been realised that in large public companies with thousands of shareholders, the legal rights of the vast majority of shareholders, as far as the selection of directors is concerned, has very little substance in fact. The many small shareholders who collectively own a large company are too numerous, too unorganised and too uninterested to have much control over the selection of management. In these circumstances it is possible for a small group of shareholders to be able to select directors, even though they own a minority of the voting capital The percentage of voting rights necessary for the exercise of such control will vary with circumstances; with a sufficiently cohesive minority group it can be as low as ten to fifteen per cent. Although it is far from his purpose, Mr Wheelwrights book nevertheless confirms the conclusions of the Communist Party that the main economic trend in Australia today is towards dominance of monopoly. On the concentration of production, Mr Wheelwright quotes this comment by a visiting American scholar: There is a very high degree of concentration in the (Australian) economy the largest seventy-five firms owning nearly forty-five per cent of the total fixed assets in manufacturing. The steel industry and the glass industry are each in the hands of a single firm, seventy per cent of the paper industry in the hands of another, fifty per cent of the rubber industry is in the hands of still another, and so on for many important industries. Mr Wheelwright also quotes the thirty-fifth report of the Taxation Commissioner, to illustrate the dominance of the large public company in the economy. The report for the income year 1953-54 shows that there were 25,508 private and non-private companies with a taxable income of 526.7 million. The taxable in come of the 130 largest accounted for 178 million or just over one-third of the taxable income of all taxable companies, both public and private. The non-private companies clearly dominate the scene, says Wheelwright. For there were 5,492 non private companies and they received seventy per cent of the taxable income accruing to all taxable companies. The other thirty per cent was attributable to 20,016 private companies. The giants clearly dominate the public companies, for, of all public companies, the 125 largest earned forty-seven per cent of taxable income, distributed forty per cent of the dividends, had forty-seven per cent of the depreciation, forty-eight per cent of plant value and bought forty-nine per cent of all plant purchased by public companies. In manufacturing, the seventy-two largest companies earned forty-two per cent of the taxable income of all companies engaged in manufacturing. In the distribution of dividends the lions share goes to a relatively small handful of the biggest shareholders. Mr Wheelwright concluded that 1,206 holdings (composed partly of family groups) receive over one-fifth of all dividend paid out directly to persons. The remaining four-fifths are distributed among the other 487,475 personal holdings. This article originally appeared in Tribune January, 1958. Nationwide rally to miners side coalfields morale high (1949) Coalfields morale was never higher as mineworkers entered the second week of their vanguard battle to lift their own and all workers wages and living standards before the new depression hits Australia. Baby-starving, anti-strike legislation, threats to use scab labour and to call out the military have served only to solidify the miners ranks, rouse their fighting spirit and win them more support. Nation-wide awareness by workers that the miners fight is their fight is shown in the support pledged to miners at hundreds of meetings in all States and in the flood of telegrams protesting against anti-miner legislation reaching Federal and State Labor politicians from as far North as Darwin around the coast to Perth, Western Australia. Splitters rebuffed Newcastle branch of the Waterside Workers Federation carried by an overwhelming majority a resolution supporting the miners strike. A Grouper amendment supporting the government and urging the miners to submit their claims to arbitration was crushingly defeated. A mass meeting of railway workers at Cardiff Loco Workshops pledged full support for the miners strike and condemned the Labor Governments fund-freezing legislation. From Darwin came a telegram reading: Darwin workers incensed by starvation tactics of Federal Government. Mass stop-work meetings today condemned legislation and Labor Party betrayal. All workers said no legislation would prevent them assisting their mates, financial response was mighty. In Sydney, telegrams backing the miners are pouring in from factories, district meetings of locked-out workers, union meetings, and meetings of seamen and wharfies right along the waterfront. 250 BWIU [Building Workers Industrial Union] delegates at the Trades Hall last Saturday heard miner-speaker W Steers and, by 240 to 10, carried a resolution condemning the fund-freezing legislation. They collected 13/10/1 to aid the miners struggle. The Hospital Workers Union executive has joined the formidable lineup of unions backing the miners and has demanded that the ACTU should declare its opposition to the Governments anti miner actions. Rap fund-freezing The Postal Workers Union executive has declared that freezing of union funds has been the declared policy of the Liberal and Country parties and should be totally abhorrent to the Labor Government. Union stewards at Electric Power Workshops, Chullora, passed a resolution protesting against the State Governments drastic emergency regulations. Other protests have been registered by mass meetings of workers at McMahons Point ship repair yard, wharfies at No. 2, Woolloomooloo, and a number of other points along the waterfront, AFULE (engine drivers), women rail workers at Sydney Yards sub-branch, workers at W T Averys, AWU workers at Education Department, while seamen on at least twelve ships in Sydney Harbour have roundly condemned the Labor Governments anti-union actions in both State and Federal Parliaments. Lying press propaganda that the strike is against arbitration, from which, it is alleged, the miners have gained many benefits, has been answered effectively by the Miners Federation. Reaffirming that the strike is against the coal owners and their monopolist allies, the Federation declares that every gain the miners have won in the past has been by struggle and only by struggle. 100 challenge Challenging claims that the Joint Coal Board had vigorously carried out its job of improving pit and town amenities, the Federation has declared it will give 100 to any approved charity for every swimming pool, community centre, or meeting hall that can be found on the coalfields. The Federations challenge is supported by the Joint Coal Boards own report, which admits that out of 140 mines only five had a satisfactory bath and change house, only four had underground sanitation, and only twelve had underground crib rooms. Decent unionists have nothing but contempt and loathing for the mealymouthed clique at the head of the ACTU and NSW Labor Council, who are attempting to play the same strikebreaking role in this struggle as they played in the steel, gas and fire brigades strikes. Leftwing union leaders voiced the sentiments of all honest workers when they protested against Labor Council President Anderson attending last weeks talks with ACTU officials after he had made a statement to the bosses press condemning the miners strike. After Leftwing officials had strongly condemned Andersons actions and objected to sitting at the same table with him during the first days talks, he stayed away on the second day. The resolutions carried by a few ALP Electoral Councils supporting the pro-coal-owner policy of the Government will cut no more ice with striking miners than the similar resolution steamrollered through NSW Labor Council by the right-wing. The real feelings of all decent ALP members were expressed by Newcastle Trades Hall secretary Dowling and three other prominent members who resigned from the Labor Party in disgust with its fund-freezing legislation and joined the Communist Party. This legislation, which opposition leader Menzies has boasted has been a plank in the Liberal Partys program since its inception, has, like the mass lockout of workers, boomeranged on its sponsors. The article originally appeared in Tribune July, 1949. Dont let the victors warp history! It is expressed often and in various words that our understanding of history forms, to a large extent, our understanding of the present and future. Often enough to sound trite; yet the fact does not cease to be true. American and Russian troops converged at the Elbe River in Germany. All things exist in constant motion and change, and nations and their societies, and the lives of the people of which they are comprised, are no exception. Just as with the motion of a body through space, we cannot foresee its trajectory from a static snapshot of the present; we must see its motion over time, and so derive an understanding of the forces acting upon (and within) it. Thus for those who seek to falsify the present and future, it is also necessary to falsify the past. The history of the Second World War has become a particularly significant area of struggle over interpretations, reinterpretations, and historical revisionism. The legacy of this war continues to shape our world today: it led to the formation of the UN, where the five countries with permanent seats and veto power on the Security Council remain the five victorious powers of the war. The first protracted campaign of distortion of the historical facts of the war began not long after the war had ended. The US had already begun planning its new offensive against the Soviet Union, which would dominate world events for four decades. The high esteem in which the Soviet Union and its leadership were held at the time was an inconvenience that they had to somehow overcome. Masses of people around the world, including in Australia, saw the Soviet Red Army and Stalins leadership as the main force which won the horrific war against fascism seventy-five years ago. The Communist Party of Australia surged in membership, as did dozens of fraternal parties around the world, and many new socialist states were established. Several facts were still in living memory, and the many subsequent decades of imperialist propaganda obscuring or negating them had not yet had the full effect they have had by now: The root cause of the war was undeniably fascism itself, a social formation and corresponding political doctrine which can only lead to the most extreme level of hostility and aggressive expansion. Although events external to fascism itself must be understood as most secondary causes, one of the main external events which set up the conditions for the war was the Munich Betrayal the cowardly approval by Britain and France of Germanys (as well as subsequently, Polands and Hungarys) annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia. This agreement was made without Czechoslovakias input, and strongly denounced by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and communists around the world vocally warned of the dangers of fascism, and gave a scientific analysis of it. Meanwhile, capitalists and aristocrats, their governments, and the Catholic Church among others, were mostly ambivalent or outright supportive of fascism. The Soviet government, knowing that Nazi Germany was planning war against them, made many attempts to secure military pacts with Britain and France against Germany. Those powers however, also expected such a war to take place, and desired it in order to weaken or destroy the Soviet Union, which they saw as a greater enemy than fascism. As such, the Soviet Union was forced to negotiate a non-aggression pact with Germany in order to buy more time to prepare for the war. Over two weeks after the German invasion of Poland, once the Polish government effectively ceased to exist, the Red Army advanced into the now ungoverned land in order to push back against further Nazi expansion. The heroic victory by Soviet forces at Stalingrad turned the tide of the war against Nazi fascism, which after two further years of struggle culminated in the Soviet capture of Berlin and final defeat of Nazi rule. The Red Army was then freed up to join the struggle to expel the Japanese fascists from China and Korea, and in cooperation with local forces was able to quickly overwhelm the Japanese invaders. The ease with which the entrance of Soviet forces ensured the defeat of the now friendless Japanese military made their surrender inevitable, with or without the US decision to drop two nuclear bombs on Japan and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. The US, however, quickly set about promoting a narrative in which they were the main heroes, and their act of nuclear mass murder was both necessary and sufficient to end the war. This version has now become common knowledge in much of the Western world including Australia, under the influence of decades of anti-communist government and media, and American films. This story is combined with the anti-communist trope of the supposed moral equivalency of fascism and communism, and the vital role that the Soviet Union played in liberating the world from fascism is ignored or negated. In more recent times, the EU has been playing a major role in furthering this distortion of the history of the war. Last year, the EU parliament passed a resolution claiming the war was caused by the notorious Nazi-Soviet Treaty of Non-Aggression of 23 August 1939, and portrayed the two countries with diametrically opposite systems and ruling ideologies as equivalent. The resolution also attacked the modern-day Russian government for disagreeing with this supposed truth, and claimed that the Russian government is currently promoting the view that Poland, the Baltic States and the West are the true instigators of WW2. It seems the EU is now unable to perceive the possibility of any interpretation which places the overwhelming bulk of blame squarely on Nazi Germany itself! The resolution was particularly pushed by the far-right Polish government, which has also passed legislation at home criminalising the act of acknowledging any Polish complicity in Nazi crimes. This is despite a wealth of evidence that there was widespread complicity by many Polish individuals as well as organised groups in the Holocaust, including by groups and figures now regarded as heroes in Poland for their status as anti-communist militants. The murderous anti-semitism of many of these right-wing thugs is whitewashed and even made illegal to mention. Even the Israeli regime, which is often content to go along with anti-communist narratives concocted by European anti-semites, protested these moves by the Polish government (as well as similar ones by Ukraine) as constituting a form of Holocaust denial. This makes the allegations the Polish government spreads about Russia being the main distorter of the history of the war even more unforgivable. Attacks on truth were a persistent feature of the old cold war, and as the Western powers increasingly treat the present as a new cold war, they are again ramping up. With the recent attacks by the Australian government on democratic and press freedoms as well as the entire education system, we must be extremely wary of rewrites of history, both imported and home-grown. The truth is immortal: the heroic struggle and immense sacrifices by the Soviet people to liberate the world from fascism leave us forever in their debt. End the silence over Britains torture of Julian Assange, warn doctors around the world Over 200 medical professionals sign letter warning we do not want him to die in prison cell More than 200 doctors from 33 countries have signed a letter to seek to end the complicit silence of British officials over the psychological torture of Julian Assange. Doctors for Julian Assange have written in medical publication The Lancet to demand an end to the medical neglect and torture of the Wikileaks founder. Assange has been held in HMP Belmarsh for over a year after he was seized by British police in the Ecuadorian embassy. He was refused bail in March. Last year UN medical expert Nilz Melzer said that Assange was displaying all the symptoms of a person subjected to prolonged psychological torture. The letter, published yesterday, warns that Melzer issued a further warning that the inhumane conditions of Mr Assanges detention in Belmarsh may soon end up costing him his life. The doctors claim that the risks to Assanges life and health have grown more acute since the UN rapporteurs issued warnings over the coronavirus. During lockdown the imprisoned journalist is being held in solitary confinement for twenty-three hours a day. Requests for a radio were denied until he received one just last week, they said in the letter. Earlier this month, the 48-year-old was said to be too ill to attend the latest court hearing in his extradition case. He is wanted in the US to face seventeen charges under the Espionage Act, as well as conspiracy to commit computer intrusion after the publication of classified documents, including those exposing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The letter reads: We have a professional and ethical duty to speak out against torture, report past torture, to stop present torture and to prevent future torture. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists have recently warned that silence on Mr Assanges torture may well facilitate his death. The silence must be broken. It follows a previous letter by the group last year, which it says was ignored. Dr L Johnson, a campaigner in the group, told the Star she believes this reflects an attitude of impunity for torture and human rights abuse, and a lack of a sense of accountability to citizens. Alarm at the escalation of abuses against Julian Assange, both during his extradition hearing and during the coronavirus crisis, has prompted Doctors for Assange to repeat these demands, she continued. Julian Assanges life is at very real risk as a result of his inhumane treatment, and that risk is growing. We do not want him to die. United Nations special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer told the Morning Star: I welcome the renewed call of numerous medical doctors for Assanges release. More than seven months ago, I warned that Mr Assanges life may be in danger and officially called on the UK government to bar his extradition to the United States and to promptly release him to allow him to recover his health and rebuild his personal and professional life. I voiced serious concern at his prolonged isolation and the blatant and sustained arbitrariness shown by both the judiciary and the government in this case, which suggests an alarming departure from the UKs commitment to human rights and the rule of law. These broader concerns, which were reinforced by the governments refusal to conduct the long-awaited judicial inquiry into British involvement in the CIA torture and rendition programme, have been further exacerbated by the UK governments recent attempt to introduce, through the Overseas Operations Bill, a five-year statute of limitation even for the most serious crimes committed by UK personnel, including torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Morning Star Save USPS Postal Workers caravan delivers 2 million petitions to Washington Snaking its way from the Washington Navy Yard to the US Senate, a caravan of cars driven by Postal Workers delivered petitions with two million names on them, demanding lawmakers enact the Heroes Act, including its US$25 billion to save the US Postal Service (USPS) from financial devastation the coronavirus has caused to its revenues and potential subsequent collapse. Led by Postal Workers American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Mark Dimondstein, actor John Bowser Bauman, and Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, the caravan and its allies delivered the petitions in huge white Express Mail cartons to the foot of Capitol Hill. Their objective during the Save The Post Office Day Of Action: To pressure senators, especially the chambers ruling Republicans, to override their kingpin, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and approve the US$3 trillion economic aid measure. Caravanners appealed for continuing support from listeners and viewers on social media using the hashtag #SaveThePostOffice, by sending messages on the APWUs website, or by calling senators toll free at 844-402-1001. The post office is literally under threat of running out of money, Dimondstein said. Repeating an argument he used before, he added, The Cares Act the prior US$2 trillion aid bill Congress passed in March generated over US$500 billion for private corporations, but nothing for the post office. And if the post office runs out of money, everything else goes up for grabs in terms of service to the entire nation, since its the only delivery service that reaches everyone in the US, and cheaply US$0.55 for a first-class letter he added. That includes food, medicines, and absentee ballots, he noted. That latter item ballots highlights the particularly crucial role of the post office in ensuring a fair and accessible election this November. With COVID-19 still expected to be ravaging the nation by the fall, the importance of vote-by-mail will only increase. The GOP under Trump have targeted vote-by-mail as a threat to their re-election chances and are doing everything possible to stop its expansion. Thats another important part of the explanation for why the Republicans are determined to cripple the Postal Service. The US$25 billion for the USPS in the Heroes Act would go only to offset the crash in postal revenues the coronavirus caused, Dimondstein said. Its also a very small part of the bill. Among other economic aid, the measure extends federal unemployment benefits for millions of jobless workers through 31st January and provides US$915 billion to keep state and local governments including schools going while the nation combats the Depression caused by anti-coronavirus shutdowns, social distancing, and other measures. But McConnell is sitting on the bill, which the Democratic-run House approved earlier this year. He calls it a Democratic wish list. His opposition led the caravan out onto the streets of DC, with similar processions all in vehicles to let drivers meet anti-coronavirus social distancing standards nationwide. The petitions can show you what people are passionate about, Epting explained. Hundreds of thousands have signed and more hundreds of thousands got stickers saying, We love the Postal Service. The stickers are not the only evidence of wide support for keeping the USPS up and running and its 630,000 workers (a heavy majority of them unionists and many of them people of colour, female, veterans, or a combination) on the job. Public opinion polls show ninety-one per cent support, including majority Republican support, for the Postal Service especially in rural areas whose residents depend on it for delivery of food, medicines, and other vital items during the pandemic. And sixty-nine per cent of respondents back the direct cash no-strings-attached payment, which is what APWU, the Letter Carriers, the Mail Handlers/Laborers, the AFL-CIO, Jobs With Justice, the Alliance for Retired Americans, and other supporters advocate. The USPS board, all named by GOP President Donald Trump, also supports the aid, and has been very cooperative in providing personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing, and other measures to guard against coronavirus spread among USPS workers, Dimondstein said. Nevertheless, thousands have been sickened and nearly seventy have died. And while the Trump-named board supports the cash, Trump doesnt. He wants to dismantle the USPS and turn it over to privatisers, several speakers said. His Treasury Secretary and chief coronavirus aid negotiator, Steve Mnuchin, demands that any USPS aid depend on firing workers, closing post offices, ending Saturday service, jacking up rates, and ripping up union contracts. The twin threats prompted other speakers to campaign for the no-strings-attached aid. The Postal Service is considered the most essential enterprise in America, and its needed now more than ever to overcome this pandemic, said Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando. Since USPS deficits have soared into the billions due to a fifty per cent decline in money-making first-class mail, the Senate leadership must step up and send a clear signal to the entire country that it supports USPS and its workers by passing the Heroes Act. I live in a small community in Southern New Jersey, JWJ Executive Director Erica Smiley explained. She telecommutes to her job, but her neighbours depend on the Postal Service for medicines, food, and often personal contact when quarantined by the coronavirus. The US$25 billion is an opportunity to fully invest in a public Postal Service. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka coupled his support of the money for the USPS with a direct shot at Trump, though not by name. The USPS works at serving us, but theyre under attack not just from the virus, but from their own government, he said of Trumps destruction scheme. Why is our president trying to drive the agency into oblivion? Its ideology. Its privatisation [] and its shameful. Peoples World Not a lot is known about KW Miller -- not even what the KW stands for. A graduate from the not-fake-named Catholic University of America with a murky job history in "infrastructure," the independent politician is hoping to soon represent his sunburnt state of Florida in Congress. What we do know a lot about are his ideologies and views, many concerned with rooting out corruption, secrecy, and conspiracies in D.C. And none are more shocking than the infiltration of a Mediterranean femme fatale insurrectionist who has infiltrated the Black Lives Matter movement to destroy America from within. You all know who we're talking about. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Congressional candidate Kilowatt Miller likes to use his significant platform on Twitter to put members of the deep state "on notice." Members like Planned Parenthood, Patti Labelle ... ... and the most dangerous member of all, Beyonce Knowles-Carter. Or should I say, Ann Marie Lastrassi? (Insert Hercule Poirot sting). According to Miller, Beyonce is the spy persona of Lastrassi, an Italian woman who is "faking" at being Black to prosper in America -- because that's how that works. And, to get all the conspiracy cards on the table (not that Miller is playing with a full deck), this Queen Marie is also a Satanist, part of the Illuminati and in the employ of George Soros to use BLM to incite race riots. The mourners were all in the immediate vicinity of the defendant when he produced the loaded weapon and were placed in danger by the defendants reckless firing of the weapon into the gravesite. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Please click here to learn how. Edward "Ed" G. Day, 76, of Fairfield Glade, passed away June 11, 2021, at Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville. He was born Aug. 29, 1944, in Detroit, MI, son of Marie (Stalski) Weber. Ed worked as a photocopy salesman and retired from Panasonic in 2001. He was a member of Shepherd of the Lee Hamilton is a senior advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a professor of practice at the IU ONeill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years. Chris Stewart / SFC Lucky Brand plans to close its Danbury Fair mall and Westport stores as part of a bankruptcy sale announced Friday, with a mall and retail consortium negotiating a purchase of the denim retailer. Lucky Brand is based in Los Angeles and lists additional Connecticut stores in Clinton and West Hartford, as well as at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. In bankruptcy documents, the company disclosed a request for a bankruptcy judge to allow it to reject its Westport and Danbury Fair leases, with Lucky Brand owing $1.1 million to Danbury Fair owner Macerich. After months of withholding information on exactly which businesses received precisely how much from Congress's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and considerable consternation after multiple publicly held companies were outed for accepting sizable sums before ultimately returning them the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Department of the Treasury today released detailed information on nearly five million PPP grantees. The sum total of loans amounts to in excess of $521 billion, and in a statement, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin remarked, The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country." He then added, "We are particularly pleased that 27 percent of the programs reach in low- and moderate-income communities, which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas. The average loan size is approximately $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses." Related: SBA Releases New EZ PPP Loan-Forgiveness Application Despite the sudden rush to transparency, there is bound to be intense scrutiny. Some mom-and-pop restaurant owners, for example, might wonder why between $2-5 million the information was released both by state and assorted loan-amount thresholds, ultimately ranging from less than $150,000 to as high as $10 million was allocated to the Diocese of Alabama in Birmingham. And a cursory scan through the available documents (as user-unfriendly as the process of downloading and parsing through them might be) indicates a very small minority of owners willingly answered questions about their race, ethnicity or gender, and that a minority of overall respondents identified their businesses as black-owned or female-owned. The SBA's language concerning the disclosures is also a bit convoluted, at one point assuring, "This disclosure covers each of the 4.9 million PPP loans that have been made," but later adding that its various loan amounts "account for nearly 75 percent of the loan dollars approved." Furthermore, the single document purporting to contain information across all 50 states in alpahabetical order currently concludes after California. Related: Which Public Companies Have Returned Their SBA PPP Loans? (Updated) Entrepreneur emailed the SBA earlier this month when the forthcoming disclosure was first announced, seeking clarity on whether any loans exceeded $10 million and if so, whether their information would ever be made public but did not hear back. We've since followed up to additionally clarify whether the aforementioned 50-state document will be appended. We will update you when we have more to share. Related: SBA and Treasury Release Names of PPP Loan Recipients India Extends Free Foodgrain Scheme For Poor Till November End How to Navigate the Volatile Business-Funding Environment Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved 3 1 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 An outdoor concert had been set for the Jewish Community Center in Sherman this weekend, but the rain date will be used instead. SwingSet, an accomplished trio with a unique take on swing, jazz and bossa standards, will now perform outside, Saturday, July 18, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (The show was originally planned for July 11.) SwingSet features Wendy Matthews (ukulele and vocals), Julie Sorcek (flute, sax and vocals) and guitarist Ernie Pugliese. New Fairfield native/bass player Niles Spaulding will be the trios special guest. A 2019 graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Spaulding teaches at Guitar Center in Danbury and School of Rock in Ridgefield. BRIDGEPORT The city quietly removed a statue of Christopher Columbus from its perch overlooking Seaside Park on Monday afternoon. At 2 p.m. it was there; by 7 p.m. it was gone. Rowena White, a city spokeswoman, said the statue was removed out of an abundance of caution for preservation of the historic artifact, the need to respond to modern-day sensitivities, as well as public safety at large. We recognize, value, celebrate and support all cultures and ethnicities in our city and we need continue to do so with respect and understanding, Mayor Joe Ganim said in a statement released Monday after the statues unannounced removal. The statue has been temporarily placed into storage and its future is uncertain at this time. Until Monday, city leaders had been largely quiet about the future of the nearly 60-year-old statue amid a growing movement in other Connecticut cities to remove memorials to the Italian explorer. Though we removed the statue, Bridgeport is a diverse community and we must continue to work collaboratively to ensure that all cultures and ethnicities are welcomed and represented by our actions, said City Council President Aidee Nieves on Monday. City Councilman Jorge Cruz had been one of the few vocal council members calling for the statues removal. He cited Columbus arrival in Puerto Rico in 1493 and the subsequent European subjection of the natives. He dont deserve to be honored with a statue at Seaside Park, Cruz said of the monument to the explorer that has stood in his South End district since the mid-1960s. Ive had animosity toward that statue for many, many years. There has been a growing discomfort with Columbus mixed legacy of exploration and colonization in recent years, including in Bridgeport. In 2015, the school board unanimously voted to change Columbus Day in October to Indigenous Peoples Day and then renamed that Italian Heritage Day. And the Seaside Park statue in 2017 was splashed with blood-red paint with the words Kill the Colonizer emblazoned at its base. Now monuments to Columbus and other historical figures have been targeted in the wake of the outrage over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in late May by a white Minneapolis police officer. While that incident further fueled pre-existing efforts in Bridgeport, in Connecticut and around the country to reform law enforcement, Floyds death also sparked a movement to pull down Confederate monuments and statues of slave traders, imperialists, conquerors and explorers around the world. Over the past month, Columbus statues have been removed in Norwalk, New Haven, Middletown and New London. Last week, Bridgeports school board announced the launch of community survey that will examine renaming Columbus School in light of protests. No new names have yet been suggested. Three hundred dogs. Thats how many pitbulls Anya Kopchinsky has fostered in her five years rescuing them from dog-fighting rings. These are criminal cases, she explained on the latest episode of the Exit 43 podcast, even though most of the time the perpetrators get light sentences for unrelated crimes like drugs or money laundering. A man who was a service-truck operator stopped to assist a truck with a flat tire parked in the right lane, according to Illinois State Police. The service-truck operator was standing in front of the truck when a car traveling north on I-55 rear-ended the truck, pushing it forward into the service-truck operator. President Donald Trump, with two speeches in two days, has turned the Fourth of July from a joyful and unifying patriotic celebration of America's founding values into a partisan political event. The damage could outlast his presidency. From near the base of Mount Rushmore on Friday night and from the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday night, Trump tried to write himself into the history of America as an implacable wartime president. His enemy, however, is not the Nazis of the 20th century or terrorists of the 21st century. Instead, it appears to be those in America who disagree with him - a caricatured blue America. Trump knows his reelection campaign is in trouble. He sees the fight against this enemy of his creation as his pathway to victory in November. His political weapon of choice is exaggerated and at times racist rhetoric designed to pit Americans against Americans. Never in our lifetimes has the Independence Day holiday been used for such divisive and personal ends. He put it this way on Friday night: "Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children." On Saturday night, he said this: "We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms. We will safeguard our values, traditions, customs and beliefs." The president speaks for and to a portion of the country. People can debate how large or small his base is at this point, but the rhetoric of these recent days resonates as much as it divides. Political polarization is real. Identity politics - on both sides - is real. The culture war, broadly defined, rages across the country, whether the issue is masks or statues. The pandemic seems to have added fuel to that bonfire, and the president has now added fuel of his own. A portion of the country hears Trump's rhetoric as an uplifting message extolling the rich history of American success and greatness. The rest of the country recoils at a message seen as racist and divisive. As with all things Trump-related, there can be no middle ground. That's the inheritance this president is leaving to the country. In one sense, what Trump is doing is all about his own reelection, the issue he cares about above all others. But that's only part of it. He continues to seed the ground for more division long after he is out of office. If that's the case, Election Day will not be the endpoint, even if Trump is defeated. The president has taken this turn because he is losing the war that is most threatening to a majority of the country. That is the battle to contain and suppress the novel coronavirus that continues to spread rapidly. Months ago, it seemed like a disease concentrated in blue America, in states such as New York and Illinois and New Jersey. Today, it afflicts red America and blue America and purple America. Parts of Texas are overwhelmed after an early and too fast reopening. Arizona is under siege. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, was on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, lamenting the rapid reopening that had been allowed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. Florida is another hot spot, and Republican officials now must decide whether to go ahead with Trump's plans for his convention in Jacksonville at the end of August. Trump has defaulted as commander in chief in this war. He has consistently been at odds with the scientists on his coronavirus task force. When most other leaders are urging masks and social distancing, Trump seemingly couldn't care less. The gathering at Mount Rushmore appeared to violate all the guidelines. The president's handling of the pandemic has driven down his approval ratings and his support for reelection. He now trails former vice president Joe Biden badly in national polls - which are less important in presidential races - and in the battleground states that will decide the outcome in the electoral college. Some of that lost support probably will return as Election Day approaches, but even some of his most loyal advisers recognize how steep the climb back appears. Having lost ground over his handling of the virus, he has reverted to the law-and-order theme he trotted out at the Republican convention in 2016, waging war against protests that sprung up after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Trump has tried to turn sporadic acts of violence that have accompanied the mostly peaceful protests into the whole of the story. He describes the streets of America's big cities as overrun with rioters, looters and statue topplers. As America continues to grapple with its history, whether it be slavery and the treatment of black Americans or the imperfections of some of the nation's founders, Trump has sided with those seeking to preserve Confederate statues while attempting to make the issue almost solely about statues of founders. Mitch Landrieu, a Democrat, led efforts to remove Confederate monuments when he was mayor of New Orleans. In a recent CNN interview, he offered a nuanced analysis of the statues debate. He said there should be no question about monuments dedicated to Confederate generals and leaders who "fought to destroy the country for the purpose of preserving the institution of slavery." Others, such as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, he said, must be looked at one by one. "You take them individually," he said. "It's a complicated history, and then on top of that, by taking a monument down, you are not changing history. You are just changing how you choose to remember it or revere it." America's history is complicated and imperfect, and with each generation, there is a reckoning with the past. Over the decades, that has helped to revise the story of America, to write new people into it and to reevaluate the roles of many others. The president would have it otherwise - a history that is simple, always heroic and unchanging. In 3 1/2 years as president, Trump has never tried to expand his appeal, never sought to win over those who opposed him in 2016, never truly appealed for unity. On the day that has spoken to unity more than any other on the calendar, he instead followed his preferred script. The Shared Principles started in part as a response to protests over the police killing of Michael Brown in suburban Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Further impetus was added with the police killing of Laquan McDonald in Chicago in 2014. Work on the Shared Principles began when the NAACP and the chiefs held joint meetings around the state called World Cafes that attracted scores of community and police leaders to discuss how to go forward. The principles also built on President Barack Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Thank you for tuning in to episode 80 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at PSCU. As the nations premier payments CUSO, PSCU proudly supports the success of more than 1,500 credit unions. Over the last few months, there have been many important conversations in the credit union industry about the diverse needs of credit union members and employees. At the center of many of those conversations is Monica Davy, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the NCUA. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Monica on this weeks episode to learn more about the work she and her team have been doing over the last four years at the NCUA, and how that work has uniquely positioned them to lead the diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation through not only a global pandemic, but also the death of George Floyd and the resulting social protests. Monica and I discuss organizational issues facing DEI, and some tactics that credit union leaders can use to ensure accountability from the top-down. We also chat about best practices for creating inclusive opportunities and safe spaces; the responsibility credit unions have to address issues of racial inequality in their communities; and the need to infuse diverse, innovative thinking into credit union board rooms. In the leadership and life hacks portion of our conversation, we learn about Monicas time at the Internal Revenue Service, her transition to the NCUA, and what she finds most fulfilling about her current role. Monica and I also talk about the difference between mentors and sponsors, overcoming self-doubt, and the neighborhood dance parties shes put on during quarantine. We discuss how spending time with her family has become more important, and having a clean house has become less. Monica also tells us about her sons resilience and perseverance through various medical issues and why he is the first person she thinks of when she hears the word success. Monica outlines so many ideas and actionable steps for credit union throughout the episode that you wont want to miss. Give it a listen! Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List How to find Monica: monicadavy@ncua.gov www.ncua.gov LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Show notes from this episode: A big shout-out to our friends at PSCU, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you! Check out all the outstanding work that Monica and her team at NCUA are doing here. Shout-out: Jill Nowacki Shout-out: CUNAs Governmental Affairs Conference Shout-out: Chairman Rodney Hood Shout-out: Humanidei Shout-out: African-American Credit Union Coalition Shout-out: Renee Sattiewhite Shout-out: Beth Tucker, Deputy Commission of the Internal Revenue Service Album mentioned: Greatest Hits by Luther Vandross Book mentioned: White Fragility: Why Its So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo Book mentioned: Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Book mentioned: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates Book mentioned: Becoming by Michelle Obama Shout-out: Monicas son Find NCUAs Credit Union Diversity Self-Assessment here Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37 & 64), Chairman Rodney Hood, Renee Sattiewhite In This Episode: [02:25] Monica, welcome to the show! [04:10] Monica shares best practices that leaders credit unions can do to make sure that the commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is happening for the long term. [06:46] Monica speaks about how many of her black employees were not surprised by everything that has happened. [08:14] She discusses the frozen middle and what it means. [09:57] Monica shares ways that credit unions can create a safe space at work and how to make it ingrained in how you do business. [12:05] Monica believes that credit unions have a unique opportunity to affect change with systemic racism. [13:66] What challenges have you seen since COVID-19 hit? [15:48] Monica discusses how the pandemic and racism will affect how members interact with credit unions. [18:24] Do you have unconscious bias? [19:00] Monica speaks about what credit unions need to do to stay relevant in the technology space. [20:40] Monica shares what she will be proud to have accomplished a year from now. [24:29] What was the inspiration to take the position with the NCUA? [26:20] Monica speaks about how the inspiration has changed. [27:16] You have to have all the answers is something that Monica believes is a leadership myth. [29:01] Monica believes that the ability to make hard decisions is something that she has cultivated over the years. [31:02] How have mentors impacted your career? What is the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? [32:44] Monica shares a time when she felt self-doubt. [33:42] Monica is an extrovert, and if money werent an issue, she would run a bed-and-breakfast because she loves to cook for people. [35:13] What were you like in high school? [35:34] Monica wanted to be a lawyer when she was a child. [37:04] What is the best album of all time? [37:29] What book do you think everyone should read? [38:26] What has become more important, and what has become less important? [39:46] Monica shares that her son is the person she thinks about when she hears the word success. [41:05] Monica shares some final thoughts for the listeners. [42:40] Thank you so much for being on the show today! Eugene Crow, age 91, of Cullman, went home to be with his Lord on Saturday, June 19, 2021. He was born June 13, 1930 to Felix and Pearl Stowe Crowe. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Irene, his parents, two brothers and a sister. Mr. Crow served his country and is a veteran of The Elizabeth City, NC (27909) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly in the evening. Low 64F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. After three months of coronavirus-induced dormancy, the Leighton Criminal Court Building, known as the busiest courthouse in America, will start revving back up on Monday and plowing through thousands of cases that have been frozen in place. The reopening is not a full return to normal operations, and many speculated there will be little in the way of significant movement for the cases that have stalled. Judy D.J. Ellich judye@dailyamerican.com State police said an 11-year-old girl lost control of an all-terrain vehicle along Buffalo Creek Road Saturday while negotiating a left-hand curve. The 2020 Polaris Ranger UTV overturned onto the girl and caused fatal injuries, police said. Frederick Deem, 55, of Garrett, was a passenger. His injuries in the accident are unknown, police said. Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller said the girl's cause of death was blunt force traumatic injury to the abdomen. He did not release her name. Both the girl and Deem were not wearing seatbelts or helmets, police said. According to Somerset County 911, emergency crews were dispatched to the accident at 11:15 a.m. Saturday. Berlin fire department and emergency medical service, Meyersdale EMS, state police and MedStar helicopter responded to the scene. Staff reports The Daily American This Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) will visit south central Pennsylvania to meet with Bedford County officials, business leaders, and workers. Later in the day he will visit a growing employer in Somerset County. Sen. Toomey will attend the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce breakfast where he will discuss the state of affairs in Washington, while also giving local leaders the opportunity to highlight issues important to their communities. During this forum, attendees will also have the chance to voice COVID-19 related concerns. At10:50 a.m.he will visit Leiss Tool and Die in Somerset. Leiss Tool and Die is an industrial manufacturer specializing in dies, molds, fixtures and tools. Leiss Tool and Die applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to keep more than 175 workers on payroll during the COVID-19 economic shutdown. CDC guidelines will be followed during both events. Wear a mask and observe social distancing guidelines. Mr. Donald Lee Brown, age 72, of Dalton, Georgia, departed this life Saturday, June 19, 2021, at Chatsworth Healthcare Center. He was born January 8, 1949 in Rutledge, GA a son of the late Herbert and Sadie Bell Brown. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Patricia Brown, brothers, Ed News / Film & TV Reporter James is on the news desk where he focuses on protest reporting. Outside of reporting for the Daily Emerald, he is a former reporter and copy editor at LCC's The Torch, has contributed to KISS vinyl guides as a collector and is a vintage vinyl dealer. The economic implications of the Judges order are too big to ignore and we will do all we can to ensure its continued operation, she said. Billions of dollars in tax and royalty revenue will be lost by state, local and tribal governments in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. Farmers will suffer as crude transportation will move to rail, displacing corn, wheat and soy crops that would normally be moved to market. Ironically, the counties along these rail lines will face increased environmental risks due to the increased amount of crude oil traveling by rail. Students from grade 6 and theGrade 3, 4, 5 Life Skills class play a board game together. From left, Madison Glass, Frankie Catazone, Dilan Alvarado and Arjalia Secreto. GARDINER, N.Y. A skydiver from New York City died after crashing to the ground without his Ashland, KY (41101) Today Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon. Cooler. High 73F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable. You are the owner of this article. Chinas plan for world domination faces a hitch. That is the upshot of our Governments impending decision to curb Chinese technology giant Huaweis role in our next-generation 5G mobile data network. The move likely to be announced later this month will signal a sea-change in Britains policy on China. It marks the end of decades of appeasement, naivete and greed, where politicians and other decision makers have put short-term commercial considerations ahead of national security. Governments impending decision to curb Chinese technology giant Huaweis role in our next-generation 5G mobile data network will signal a sea-change in Britains policy on China Dazzled by this huge, fast-growing country, with its ancient civilisation, we have allowed the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies unparalleled influence in our economy, our universities and our political system. Because the penetration has been so deep, the cost of countering it now will be high. China has already signalled that it will retaliate. Targets abound. British people inside China will be vulnerable. In a sign of its contempt for Britain, the Communist authorities last August arrested and tortured Simon Cheng, a Hong Kong citizen who worked at the British consulate in the territory, when he made a trip to mainland China. He has been given political asylum in Britain. A stroke of a bureaucrats pen can destroy a business too. In a hawkish performance at a virtual press briefing in London yesterday, Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming warned Boris Johnson you cannot have a golden era if you treat China as an enemy. Any British firm that sells to the Chinese market, or which sources materials or components there, should be worried. Boris Johnson (pictured left) was told by the Chinese ambassador in Britain Liu Xiaoming (right) that you cannot have a golden era if you treat China as an enemy Our hard-pressed universities, so gravely dependent on high-paying Chinese students and research grants from Chinese sources, will be vulnerable. But the price is worth paying. This is not a row about business contracts and technical standards. It is about the future of this country. It is no exaggeration to say 5G will be the central nervous system of modern life our government, economy, transport system, and social activities. Whereas new technology initially enabled communication between people, the next industrial revolution will centre on the so-called internet of things countless millions of sensors on machines, buildings and mobile devices, all constantly messaging each other. This promises huge gains in efficiency and convenience. But it requires wireless data transfer at high speeds which is where 5G comes in. Hidden subsidies and protected access to Chinas home market have stoked Huaweis growth, helping its competitively priced products dominate the market for 5G systems, outstripping Western rivals such as Ericsson and Nokia. But make no mistake: Huawei is not a normal technology company. Its ownership is murky. Under Chinese law, it must follow the Chinese Communist Partys instructions unhesitatingly and in secret. We can therefore trust Huawei only as much as we can trust the Chinese leadership. And as is now painfully clear, the bullies of Beijing have given us no reason to trust them and abundant reason to fear them. We can therefore trust Huawei only as much as we can trust the Chinese leadership. It is not a normal technology company. Its ownership is murky The Mail reports today how former MI6 spy Christopher Steele has helped compile a dossier on Huawei which accuses China of attempting to influence key establishment figures in the UK and alleges that Huawei is a front for Chinese intelligence. China denies meddling in Britains affairs, the UK figures named in the dossier have said the claims have no basis in fact and Huawei has consistently denied any spying. Whatever the case, for years we have tiptoed round this issue of whether we can trust China. Many argued in line with what was then British Government policy that China was set on becoming a friendly partner. Its Communist label was misleading. The decision-makers in Beijing wanted only to enrich and modernise their country. That would benefit everyone. But as John Sawers, the former chief of MI6, said yesterday, the last six months have revealed more about China than the last six years. The politically adept ex-spymaster is, I think, sugaring the point. For rather more than six years his former service MI6, the code-crackers of GCHQ and our friends in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance which includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have been warning politicians about the danger we face from China. But the message was massaged for political reasons. In January the Government decided to restrict Huaweis role in 5G. But not to ban it. Sir John is, however, quite right that in the last six months the destruction of Hong Kongs freedom, the brutal treatment of Chinas Muslim Uighur minority, the bullying of Taiwan, military sabre-rattling and attempts to meddle in other countries politics have blown away the last cobwebs of complacency. The U-turn, let it be said, comes not from spine-stiffening in Downing Street. No, the real prompt for the new policy is from Donald Trumps administration. The U.S. Presidents choleric and haphazard foreign policy attracts many critics. But it is American sanctions that have crippled Huawei. The U-turn on Huawei comes not from spine-stiffening in Downing Street, but from Donald Trump's administration and the American sanctions have crippled Huawei The Chinese tech giant can no longer buy top-of-the-range, foreign-made components. The resulting uncertainty gives experts in GCHQ an excuse to say publicly what many have been saying privately for years: Huawei equipment is unsafe. Modern software and hardware is so complicated that it is impossible to be sure that no flaw exists. That is why we update our computers and our phones as new bugs emerge. These technical flaws do not just spell unreliability and inconvenience. They also offer the chance for malefactors spies, crooks and terrorists to breach our systems. The more we depend on technology, the greater the vulnerability. By giving Huawei a role in 5G, we are hurtling in the wrong direction. At stake is our data. Already, China hoovers up information about individuals, businesses and governments all over the world. This, experts fear, paves the way for it to impose abroad the Orwellian surveillance and repression that chokes dissent in China. Mobile phones act as tracking beacons and bugging devices. Facial-recognition software means every time you are captured on camera, you risk ending up in a database. Our financial information payments and credit ratings helps fill out the picture. Our spies use this information too, for example to expose the Russian hitmen who tried to murder ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury two years ago. But our agencies operate under the strictest legal framework. Chinese espionage faces no such restraints. For this reason, banning Huawei from the 5G network, costly and risky though it will be, is a necessary first step, but far from a sufficient one. Banning Huawei from the 5G network, costly and risky though it will be, is a necessary first step, but far from a sufficient one We face a long and arduous battle to extricate ourselves from the technological tentacles of Chinese power. China has already gained an alarming edge in vital fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computers. Some of that comes from the brilliance of Chinese scientists. But much comes from countries such as Britain. Self-interest and misplaced idealism has led us to allow China to rampage through our universities and industries, hoovering up human talent and technical secrets. The Chinese presence in Cambridge is of particular concern. Last month the local authority there ignored security concerns to give approval to a 1 billion Huawei research centre in the university city. We are in an existential struggle with a dictatorship that regards us with vengeful contempt. We have seen, with chilling clarity, the brutal treatment Chinese leaders mete out to their own people. Given the chance, why would they treat us any better? Hot and humid British summers can be a struggle for someone with oily or combination skin. Your make-up probably slips faster than usual, and sweaty, greasy skin is probably not the 'summer glow' you were going for. While blotting paper is fine for a quick dab throughout the day, actually getting to the core of why your skin is so oily and how to rebalance it is probably a much better option. The FOREO LUNA 3 is a Smart Facial Cleansing and Firming massage brush that is all about deep cleansing to remove dirt, oil, sweat and dead skin cells in just one minute. The Swedish beauty brand's smart exfoliation tool comes in three variations for different skin types, including normal, combination and sensitive. The FOREO LUNA 3 is a Smart Facial Cleansing and Firming massage brush which is all about deep cleansing to remove dirt, oil, sweat and dead skin cells in just one minute As someone who has oily/combination skin, the 169 LUNA 3 combination device has become a staple tool in my skincare routine, and has helped control my oily T-zone. It has also helped unclog my large pores and reduce pimples. The LUNA 3 uses T-Sonic pulsations for a deeper cleanse, and its hygienic nylon Silicone Touchpoints offer a deeper, gentler cleanse. The FOREO app also lets you choose from 16 different T-Sonic intensities, which personalise your cleansing experience to suit your skin type. The ridged side is great for massaging your skin and offers a spa-like treatment. If you currently suffer with acne, exfoliation could aggravate it more, so it's best to speak to your doctor or see a dermatologist before trying any new products like this. If you have oily sensitive skin you might want to opt for the purple FOREO for sensitive skin instead. I spoke with Chris Luckham, FOREO education specialist, to hear his advice on balancing oily skin and embracing your summer glow. Chris said the FOREO exfoliation tool is designed to do the work for you, so all you need to do is simply navigate it around your face, neck and chest. He also mentioned that it is important to use a cleanser based on your skin type. For a rebalancing program, he recommends using a salicylic cleanser in a gel form each morning. For a rebalancing program, FOREO education specialist Chris Luckham recommends using a Salicylic cleanser in a gel form with your LUNA 3 each morning Chris noted: 'BHA, which is what salicylic is classed as, is oil-soluble. [This] is top tier at addressing excess oiliness or congestion at the route of the problem, the pores.' Salicylic cleansers that have personally worked well for me include the Mario Badescu Acne Facial Cleanser which is available for 13.50 on Beauty Bay and the VICHY Normaderm Deep Cleansing Purifying Gel, which you can get for 13 from LookFantastic. Chris' second tip is to ensure that you maintain moisture on the surface and beneath by drinking plenty of water and using moisturisers both morning and evening. He advises: 'Steer away from any which are known to block pores (comedogenic) and those with fragrance, or silicones (the most prevalent ingredient, dimethicone).' MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page. The social distancing ambassadors seem unwilling to engage with park users to encourage compliance. If the city cannot enforce its own guidelines, maybe those of us who do wear masks can make clear that we dont want our parks dominated by those who disregard public health. This week, I finally took to asking every maskless person I passed on the trail, Wheres your mask? as courteously as possible. If we want to make sure our citys outdoor spaces are usable, we should be willing to take the risk of sounding impolite or bossy, knowing that were doing so because much greater risks are at hand. A woman who suffered 'horrific' abuse at the hands of her father for years has revealed how she feels the family were 'let down' by authorities because they were travellers. Helen O'Donoghue, 51, was four years old when her father, James OReilly, 75, of Killeens, Ballynonty, Thurles, in County Tipperary, Ireland, started molesting her and she was raped by him four years later. She did not know at the time that he was also abusing his younger sister and six other daughters. O'Reilly, who fathered a child with one of his daughters when she 16, was jailed for 20 years on 15th June after his conviction of 58 counts of rape and nine counts of sexual assault in December following a five-week trial. The women were beaten, starved and degraded throughout their childhoods and lived in poverty, despite O'Reilly earning good money as a scrap and horse dealer, Dublin's Central Criminal Court heard. Helen O'Donoghue (left), 51, was four when her father, James OReilly, 75, of Killeens, Ballynonty, Thurles, in County Tipperary Ireland started molesting her and was raped by him four years later Speaking of their childhood to The Irish Times, Helen said: 'I do believe we were let down because we are travellers. 'Settled people, mostly they looked down on us travellers, thinking, "Thats the way they live dirty, smelly". Helen spoke of how her father was 'always well-fed' while her and the sisters would try to 'rob the skins' from the leftover potatoes. She said she was not aware she had a birthday until she received a birth certificate for her marriage aged 25. Daughters of convicted rapist James O'Reilly outside the Criminal Courts of Justice following the sentence hearing of their father who was jailed for 20 years. Left to right: Philomena Connors, Helen O Donoghue, Anne O Reilly, Bridget O Reilly, Mary Moran, Margaret Hutchinson and Kathleen O Driscoll The 51-year-old, who is the eldest of seven sisters, has spoken on behalf of the women her father abused, including his younger sister, over the 23-year period from 1977 and 2000. Helen said she dealt with her abuse by 'keeping silent' before the women walked into Thurles Garda station four years ago to describe what happened to them at the hands of O'Reilly. The abuse of James O'Reilly James O'Reilly, 73, with an address at Killeens, Ballynonty, Thurles, subjected the teenage girls to 'horrific' sexual abuse over a 23-year period, a court heard. He pleaded not guilty to 81 counts of rape and sexual assault. He was convicted of 58 counts of rape and nine counts of sexual assault following a 27 day trial at the Central Criminal Court in June. Advertisement Speaking about the abuse, Helen said her father always drove to remote and 'isolated' places 'on purpose' as they moved around the country. She said: 'I was four when it started touching and feeling. We were living [then] in a horse-drawn wagon.' She described being told she was 'worthless' and 'an ugly creature' throughout her childhood, but said it was 'worse' learning her sister was also subjected to the same abuse. The children lived in wagons and tents in a field adjacent to a national school in Dublin for several years. Helen, who spent a total of three weeks in school, including a week in Dublin before her Holy Communion, and two weeks at another school in the capital before her Confirmation, revealed how neither schools questioned her short-lived stays. She said as child she was forced to 'stay home and cook and clean' while looking after the horses, younger children and her father's 'needs'. Meanwhile she explained she would have 'loved to go to school'. Meanwhile Helen also revealed she first tried to take her own life aged 12 and did so 'seven or eight times'. The women were beaten, starved and degraded throughout their childhoods and lived in poverty despite O'Reilly (pictured) earning good money as a scrap and horse dealer, the Central Criminal Court heard The family were not questioned as to why the children, who fed themselves from 'dustbins', often went without 'underwear' and 'socks', about their wellbeing or why they were not in school. Helen said a number of authorities including social workers, schools and the then Southeastern Health Board, witnessed the neglect but remained silent. Meanwhile an investigation by a social worker in 1997 also failed to save the women after Helen's sister Kathleen reported the rape and sexual abuse she had suffered. However at the time, Kathleen's sisters did not corroborate the reports at the time out of fear. Her father went on to be convicted after one sister became pregnant, with the DNA test securing his conviction. Helen revealed how the women feared they would not be believed by the police, but said they had been incredibly supportive throughout, and said seeing her father convicted was 'brilliant'. The women are now seeking a public inquiry into why State actors apparently did not act, while the children were not in school and were being subject to abuse and neglect. Left to right: Daughters of O'Reilly: Philomena Connors, Helen ODonoghue, Anne OReilly, Bridget O Reilly, Mary Moran, Margaret Hutchinson and Kathleen ODriscoll And they want to ask if being from a traveller community contributed to their abandonment by society and the State. A spokeswoman for Tusla told The Irish Times the agency was 'retrieving any files' relating to the child protection services of the family along with the then South Eastern Health Board and HSE before its establishment. The HSE did not comment in time for the article to be published by The Irish Times and the two Dublin schools could not be contacted. We all have bad days at the office, but these pranksters have made their colleagues lives a whole lot worse. Social media users from across the globe have shared hilarious examples of pranks their co-workers have played on them, collated by Shareably. The practical jokes include someone who planted watercress in one of their colleagues keyboards while they were on holiday, while another set up giant teddy bears on one of the desks. Here, FEMAIL reveals the best examples of office pranksters you're glad you don't have to work with. Social media users have revealed the hilarious but ridiculous pranks their colleagues have played on them - including one person, from the US, who celebrated April Fool's day by filling his boss' office full of multicoloured balloons Good advice! This user, from an unknown location, stuck an informative note about the office evacuation plan on a door Simple analysis! This user, from the UK, made it very clear he didn't want to be asked about his colleague Ed's whereabouts with a handy flow chart Growing on me! This user, from the US, came back from a two week holiday to discover his work friends had planted watercress in his keyboard Nothing to see here! This user, from the US, shared a picture of his University's Palaeontology Department dressed as dinosaurs on Halloween Doughnut open that box! This user, from the US, was devastated to discover what he thought was doughnuts was actually an array of vegetables Go! Power Rangers! This user, from an unknown location, witnessed his colleagues have an entire meetings dressed as their favourite childhood heroes Always watching! This user, from the US, spent his April Fool's day printing out stickers of his boss' face and decorating his office with them Office fun! This user, from the US, created his own makeshift ball pit in his work colleagues desk area Passive aggressive! This user, from an unknown location, made their thoughts on the washing up very clear with this poster In 2008 Sarah Brown, 44, founded Pai, an organic skincare brand for sensitive skin. She lives in London with her husband and two children, seven and four. I was working in PR in my 20s when, out of the blue, my skin broke out in hives and became hyper-sensitive. At a hospital dermatology department, I was told I had chronic urticaria, an auto-immune condition, and was given high-strength antihistamines. Trying to keep my skin under control was a daily battle. Id wake up and think: Is it going to be a good or bad skin day? After moving to work in the wine industry in the States, I had a huge flare-up in a high-stress meeting. My boss said: Whats happened to your face? I was mortified. Sarah Brown, 44, (pictured) who lives in London, revealed the inspiration for Pai came from her experience of having hyper-sensitive skin I started keeping a diary of what Id eaten, how I slept and, crucially, what skincare I was using, and noticed a pattern in the ingredients I was reacting to. Unlike the food industry, there is no regulation in the beauty industry controlling the use of terms such as natural, so there is a lot of mislabelling. Id ended up with a bathroom of products claiming on the front to be hypoallergenic and organic, but their ingredient lists were full of known irritants. Back in London in 2007, in my garage I started blending creams with good remedial properties, such as rosehip and chamomile. Focusing on a few core (but pure-grade) ingredients was better than having 94 in one formulation. It took me two-and-a-half years to persuade the bank to lend me 25,000 to buy ingredients, build a website and start with six products. Natural skincare had a slightly homespun reputation back then, so I wanted the packaging to be sophisticated. Pai means good in Maori (Im half-Kiwi) and that sums up what I wanted the brand to be. The good life: paiskincare.com Today, we have a 12,000 sq ft factory in West London with 53 staff and are stocked in John Lewis and Bloomingdales in the States. Our hero one-ingredient product is rosehip oil, which has amazing regenerative properties. Our products are certified organic, cruelty-free and vegan, and we won a Queens Award for enterprise in 2016. Fifteen years ago, I just wanted effective skincare I could trust. The last antihistamine I took was on my wedding day. I thought: This is the last time I use this crutch. And it was. Creating Pai was my way of taking back control. Aldi Australia is set to release a clothes dryer on Saturday July 11 that is similar to versions that are $300 more expensive. The $599 Heat Pump Dryer can hold up to seven kilograms of laundry, promises to have a low energy consumption rate and has a six-star energy rating - which can save households hundreds on their electricity bill. The Aldi Stirling product is made by the same company, the Residentia Group, that makes a near-identical Escatto heat pump dryer which varies between $815 to $900 in price. The $599 Heat Pump Dryer (pictured) has caught the attention of customers because it's said to be a 'dupe' of expensive alternative models on the market The dryer has a six star energy rating, which can save households hundreds of dollars The new Stirling version is not only $200 cheaper but has very similar energy-saving features. Compared to other vented dryers that blow hot air onto damp laundry repeatedly, the Aldi appliance uses heat pump technology to extract moisture, which is collected in a water tank. It also uses an evaporation element that intelligently recycles the heat when drying to create an energy efficient cycle - another unique feature that other dryers often don't have. The $599 Aldi Stirling product (pictured left) is made by the same company, the Residentia Group, that makes a near-identical Escatto heat pump dryer which varies between $815 to $900 (pictured right) By using less electricity, the appliance is cheaper to run and the recycled air is much gentler on clothing. At the end of a drying cycle, the machine continues to run for a default of 30 minutes to remove wrinkles from clothing by using cold air. According to the online description, the product promises to save households up to $1600 over ten years for customers who use their dryer a 'few' times a week. HOW DOES THE $599 ALDI DRYER DIFFER FROM EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVES? It uses heat pump technology: Heat pump dryers blow hot air over the clothes which extracts the moisture, then goes through an evaporator to dry your clothes The moisture is collected in a water tank and that same air is conserved and recycled in the dryer, repeating the same process in a very energy-efficient process Normal vented dryers just blow hot air onto your clothes repeatedly Major benefits include: Very energy efficient and safer on the environment Cheaper to run and saves household costs on power bills The recycled air process is a lot gentler on clothes 6-star energy rating: On average it uses 50 per cent less power per load to run a heat pump dryer cycle than it does to run a vented dryer cycle It can save households up to $1600 over the lifetime of the product (10 years) for customers who use their dryer a 'few' times a week Anti-crease function: At the end of the drying cycle, the machine will continue to operate for 30 minutes (default) or 120 minutes (selected) intermittently, with cold air to remove wrinkles from the clothes Source: Aldi Australia Advertisement On Facebook shoppers were excited to hear the dryer will soon be available to buy in stores, and many who already own the product said the dryer is 'the best' they've owned. 'I would recommend this dryer to everyone it would be fantastic for people in units,' another said, adding: 'The value for money is amazing at under $600 it is better value than top of the range heat pump dryers that can cost three times the price.' A third said: 'I brought mine last year love it best dryer! When we had water restrictions earlier this year, the distilled water that it gives after a load is done saved my plants and grass.' Others who had just bought a new expensive dryer weren't as thrilled to receive the news. 'I literally just ordered [another brand] for $1500,' one woman said. The dryer will be available to purchase from Aldi stores from Saturday July 11 while stocks last, and a matching $379 front loader washing machine will also be available as part of the Special Buy deals. An Australian mum has praised an $8 supermarket 'polish' that left her shower screen sparkling clean in a matter of minutes. Tamika, from Brisbane, previously tried everything including toothpaste and dishwashing liquid to banish soap scum, but nothing seemed to work until she discovered Bar Keepers Friend Cleaning Polish. Posting to a popular cleaning Facebook group, Tamika said she 'nearly cried' after the popular cleaning polish left the glass screens streak-free and clean without heavy scrubbing. The product can be bought from both Woolworths and Coles supermarkets across Australia. An Australian mum previously tried everything from toothpaste to dishwashing liquid to clean her shower screen, but nothing seemed to work until she used Bar Keepers Friend 'Over the last three years I have tried gumption, methylated spirits, Windex, toothpaste, dishwashing liquid, magic erasers, boiling water, mould remover, bleach [and] major elbow grease with minimal result,' she wrote. 'Late last night was scrolling and [saw] someone post about Bar Keepers Friend.' Tamika said whenever she tried to wash the glass it would appear to be clean until it dried, but after using the product the screen became 'spotless'. To clean the shower screen, Tamika sprinkled the powder directly onto a wet scourer pad and applied to it the glass in a circular motion. To clean the shower screen, Tamika sprinkled the powder directly onto a wet scourer pad and applied to the glass She left the product on for a couple minutes before wiping it off using a sponge and water followed by a hand towel. Tamika said she completed this application twice to ensure she didn't miss any areas. Since publishing the post on Facebook, other mums were delighted and said they would give it a go too. 'I think I'm excited to go and clean,' one woman said. 'It's a brilliant product, would recommend Bar Keepers Friend. Great on stainless steel,' another added. A third said: 'Bar Keepers Friend is really spectacular! I use it everywhere in the house.' 'I've tried it before and it didn't work but you've inspired me to have another go,' another added. Previously the same product has also been used to transform other areas around the house, including bathroom drains, sinks and stovetops. A $199 lilac midi-dress has sold out hours after it was worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, cementing her status as the world's most influential royal style icon after overtaking Meghan Markle earlier this year. Kate, 38, donned the floral printed 'Marie-Louise' from Bali headquartered Faithfull The Brand for a visit to East Anglia's Children's Hospice, 30 minutes' drive from her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall on June 25. The womenswear label was founded by Australian Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Norwegian Helle Them-Enger in 2012 after they met while travelling Indonesia and bonded over their love of clothing and coffee. Creative director Ms Them-Enger and CEO Ms Abrahams told Vogue Australia the dress sold out 'almost immediately' after Kate was photographed in it. The duo said they had no idea Britain's future queen owned one of their pieces until they were tagged in photos of the hospice visit on Instagram. Scroll down for video Kate arrives at East Anglia's Children's Hospice in the $199 Marie Louise midi-dress from Faithfull the Brand, a Bali headquartered label founded by Australian Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Norwegian Helle Them-Enger The Duchess, 38, poses for a photo outside the hospice on June 25, wring a new pair of $242 Russell and Bromley espadrilles Kate's 'isolation' outfits - worth a total of $11,313 AUD - have been huge hits with shoppers, increasing global online fashion searches by a whopping 86 percent since the UK lockdown began on March 23. The Duchess of Cambridge's ensembles were three times more likely to sell out than Meghan Markle's, with 14 out of 16 of Kate's looks selling out against just one of Meghan's six. Ms Them-Enger and Ms Abrahams said they were both incredibly 'flattered and thrilled' by the royal's public endorsement. 'Our Instagram is inundated with tagged imagery of the duchess wearing our dress and we have received so many [direct message] and email inquiries of how customers can now gt a hold of this piece,' they said in an email to Vogue. 'There is still uncertainty of how the Duchess got a hold of our dress and it completely took us by surprise; we are beyond happy she is a fan and wears Faithfull so well.' Faithfull co-founders Helle Them-Enger (left) and Sarah-Jane Abrahams (right) with blogger Olivia Lopez at a swimwear show in Miami, Florida on July 18, 2015 The Marie-Louise (left and right) is available in sizes XS through XXL and will be back in stock for Australian and New Zealand customers in late September Demand has proved so great that Faithfull is now working to release new stock of the Marie-Louise in the next five days - but sadly the replenishment won't be available to customers in Australia or New Zealand due to COVID-19 shipping restrictions. However a 'global re-cut' which will be available for delivery to both countries is scheduled for late September, the designers confirmed. The dress is available in sizes XS through XXL as part of the label's commitment to body inclusivity. The mother-of-three arrives at the Norfolk hospice without a handbag, ready to plant herbs and flowers with terminally ill children Kate wears a red floral dress from one of her favourite labels Beulah London for a broadcast about mental health from her home of Anmer Hall, Norfolk in May Although it's unclear where Kate first spotted Faithfull, her interest in the brand is likely to have been piqued by its 'thoughtful' manufacturing process in which every garment is made by hand. The mother-of-three, who shares Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, five and two-year-old Prince Louise with husband Prince William, is known for her penchant for ethical and sustainable fashion. Kate often wears dresses from Beulah, a London label that donates a portion of profits to victims of India's sex trafficking trade. A dentist has revealed everything you need to know about teeth whitening - and her top tricks to help you get a perfect smile. Dr Madeleine Duff from Toorak Fine Dentistry in Melbourne said there are countless ways to get whiter teeth - whether you visit a dentist and have it done in the chair, get moulds made to fit your teeth or buy products off the internet or from chemists - and they all have varying effects. So what do you need to know? A dentist has revealed everything you need to know about teeth whitening - and her top tricks to help you get a perfect smile (Dr Madeleine Duff pictured right with Hugh Jackman) First and foremost, the dentist said the best way to get whiter teeth is to always go to a dentist. Dr Duff (pictured) said the best way to get whiter teeth is to get it done professionally, whether in the chair or by getting whitening moulds made 'When you have whitening done professionally, it's different to the whitening products you buy yourself,' Dr Duff told the Adore Beauty podcast Beauty IQ. 'It's actually quite a strong chemical-based reaction so the idea is that it's either a hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide.' Dr Duff said that professional whitening oxidises the yellow and staining inside your teeth and brings them to the surface, so your teeth are whitened from the 'inside out'. 'It's a chemical process and a chemical reaction,' she said. Another way to successfully whiten your teeth is to get moulds made at the dentist, and then just fill them with the whitening gel at home. 'The key with this is moderation,' Dr Duff said. 'Rather than leaving the moulds in your mouth for an extended period of time, simply leave them in for up to two hours consecutively over a couple of days. 'By the time two hours is up, the chemical reaction is over and they won't be doing much anyway. Do it for less time but more frequently for the best results.' The final way to whiten your teeth is by buying at-home kits, and while these aren't as effective, they can help to reduce surface stains (stock image) What are the top tips for whiter teeth? 1. Limit coffee, red wine and tea. 2. If you are drinking these staining agents, try to drink them where possible through a straw. 3. Get a regular professional clean to reduce the buildup of tartar, which can make staining agents stick to your teeth more. 4. Limit acidic fruits like lemon water and the like, which can erode your teeth. 5. Remember that tomato-based pasta sauces can stain your teeth, as canned tomatoes are far more acidic than regular tomatoes. 6. Limit foods like popcorn and ice, which are crunchy and can place great strains on your teeth and increase the risk of fracture. 7. Be wary of charcoal toothpastes, which can just be sandy and strip the enamel of the teeth. Advertisement The final way to whiten your teeth is by buying at-home kits, either from the chemist, supermarket or internet. While these will not be as effective as a professional job, Dr Duff said they can help a little. 'They aren't anywhere near as high of a concentration of whitening so won't work as well,' she said. But they can give a whiter smile temporarily on a superficial level. 'If you have sensitive teeth, you might also want to be careful around charcoal whitening toothpastes,' Dr Duff said. 'A lot of these are just abrasive and sandy. They might lift surface stains, but they also wear away your enamel.' Instead, she recommends getting your teeth whitened in the chair or getting moulds made to your mouth. If you want to look after your smile at home, Dr Duff recommends you limit red wine, coffee and tea as much as possible - and if you are going to drink them, consider doing so through a straw. 'I drink red wine through a straw,' she said. You should be especially careful after you have whitened your teeth, as teeth become more porous after whitening. She also said you should make sure to get a professional clean regularly to ensure you don't get a buildup of hard yellow minerals on your teeth. 'This is called tartar, and it can give the appearance of staining,' she said. Coffee, red wine and tea can then sink into this even more. How do you prevent alcohol and soft drinks from ruining your teeth? The lower the pH of a drink, the more chance there is of your teeth eroding. The pH of water is about 7 and the pH of stomach acid is about 2. Tooth enamel can start to dissolve at around pH 5.5. Coca Cola: 2.7 Orange Juice: 3.4 Sparkling Mineral Water: 3.7 Gatorade: 3.3 Wine: 2.3 - 3.8 Beer: 4.0 - 5.0 Black coffee: 2.4 - 3.3 Cranberry Juice: 2.3 - 2.5 How to reduce the chances of enamel damage: - Load your glass with ice cubes to increase the water content - Consume water straight after drinking - Chew healthy hard foods that stimulate saliva like nuts, carrots and celery - Chew sugar-free gum - Wait 30 minutes before brushing - Apply a toothpaste-like cream containing CPP-ACP like Tooth Mousse before sleep Source: Doctor.Lewis Dr Lewis (pictured) revealed how you can prevent alcohol and soft drinks from ruining your teeth Advertisement What are the three different types of teeth whitening? 1. In-surgery whitening: A professional dentist will use whitening and bleaching to whiten your teeth from the inside out with a strong chemical base. 2. At-home mould whitening: A dentist will fit moulds to your teeth and send you home with instructions to wear the moulds and apply gel over a period of time. The moulds can be re-used. 3. Purchased gels and strips: You can buy gels and whitening strips on chemists, online and even in the supermarkets, but these won't be as high a quantity of whitening agent. Advertisement Previously, FEMAIL revealed the surprising foods that are ruining your teeth - including citrus fruits, pasta and popcorn. Dr Peter Chuang from the Australian Dental Association Oral Health Committee said things like lemon-infused water contain high levels of citric avid, which can lead to an increased risk of enamel erosion and teeth sensitivity. Meanwhile, pasta laced with Napoli or any tomato-based sauce is also a bad shout, as canned tomatoes are far more acidic than regular tomatoes and so can damage your teeth. Dr Chuang also said that foods like popcorn and even ice can damage your teeth, as crunchy foods 'also place great strains on your teeth, increasing the risk of fracture'. 'A special mention goes to candied varieties like caramel popcorn - coated in hard, sticky sugars,' Dr Chuang said. You also need to be careful around pickled foods, including olives, which are addictive but also acidic, so can be bad for the teeth. To find out more about Dr Madeleine Duff, please visit Toorak Fine Dentistry here. A New Zealand chocolate company is being praised for creating a jelly-infused block customers are calling 'the best chocolate ever', months after the snack discreetly launched in Australia. Whittaker's little-known batch of 'Jelly Tip' chocolate is having its moment in the sun after gaining national acclaim in NZ, as hundreds of Australians visit Coles and Woolworths for a $5 fix. The flavour is based off a classic Kiwi ice cream of the same name, which combines white and milk chocolate with flowing raspberry jelly. The Jelly Tip arrived in Australia last October after ruthless campaigning from fans. Whittaker's little-known batch of 'Jelly Tip' chocolate is having its moment in the sun after gaining national acclaim in NZ (pictured) The Jelly Tip arrived in Australia last October after ruthless campaigning from fans (the chocolate is pictured here with other sweet treats) Poll Would you try this chocolate block? Yes No Would you try this chocolate block? Yes 140 votes No 14 votes Now share your opinion Beauty editor Leigh Campbell was the first to raise the alarm on July 1 with an entire Instagram post dedicated to trying it for the first time. 'Now let me tell you, and I can not emphasise this enough, you need to be sitting down when you try this chocolate,' she wrote. 'It tastes like having sex with a Hemsworth (maybe even a couple of them) while harps are playing and angels are singing. 'It tastes like a free European holiday on a superyacht. It tastes like winning the lotto and getting a promotion and having a packet of Tim Tams that never runs out, all at once.' Beauty editor Leigh Campbell was the first to raise the alarm on July 1 with an entire Instagram post dedicated to trying it for the first time (pictured) Another Australian used their social media profile to give praise to Whittaker's, excited that she had received a box of Jelly Tip blocks for her birthday If law allowed her, Leigh said she would 'marry' the Jelly Tip chocolate, but until then she will '10/10 buy it again'. Such high accolades piqued the interest of her followers, with more than 500 fans swearing to find it next time they were at the supermarket. 'This is my absolute fave! I swear I go through two a week... It tastes exactly as you just described. It's the love of my life... my husband can work from home EVERY day and my one-year-old can tantrum about not being able to fit her dolls shoes on her feet as long as I have this,' said one woman. 'Its so f***ing good. I have only bought it once and banned myself from buying anymore since I ate the whole block last time,' said another woman. Bikini designer Karina Irby was similarly impressed and gave the block a shout out on her Instagram Story on Sunday 'This is the best chocolate ever,' she wrote, taking a bite on camera Another Australian used their social media profile to give praise to Whittaker's, excited that she had received a box of Jelly Tip blocks for her birthday. 'When your business partner knows you better than anyone! After all it's officially my birthday month! BEST. EARLY. BIRTHDAY. PRESENT. EVER,' she wrote. 'I was chair bouncing in my car over these. Best chocolate I've ever eaten. And that's a BIG CALL for a chocolate lover. 'It's tastes like the offspring of Top Deck and Turkish Delight.' Those who have experienced its marvels before said that the chocolate is best kept in the fridge so the jelly 'hardens', making it easier to eat Bikini designer Karina Irby was similarly impressed and gave the block a shout out on her Instagram Story on Sunday. 'This is the best chocolate ever,' she wrote, taking a bite on camera. Those who have experienced its marvels before said that the chocolate is best kept in the fridge so the jelly 'hardens', making it easier to eat. Otherwise it will be like 'molten lava' pouring out of every bite you take. The Jelly Tip was previously only available in New Zealand, but arrived in Australia last October after ruthless campaigning from fans. A beauty therapist has claimed the government's decision not to open salons along with the rest of the hospitality industry is 'disrespectful and lazy'. This Saturday saw bars, restaurants and hairdressers re-open for the first time in three months with strict new safety measures, however beauty salons and nail bars have been told they're still unable to welcome clients. London-based facialist Teresa Tarmey, who has been forced to shut her salons in Knightsbridge, appeared on This Morning today along with beauty therapist Lindsay Nesbitt, from South Shields to discuss the decision. Teresa told that beauty is a 'massive part of the economy' which has been 'left behind', while Lindsay said that clients' 'mental health and confidence' could be affected by not being able to see their beautician. London-based facialist Teresa Tarmey (pictured) has claimed on This Morning today the government's decision not to open salons along with the rest of the hospitality industry is 'disrespectful and lazy' Beauty therapist Lindsay Nesbitt, from South Shields, told that clients 'mental health and confidence' could be affected by not being able to see their beautician 'It's coming to crunch time now,' said Teresa, 'I'm in central London, which is a swanky area with high rent costs. I've had help with my wonderful landlord. 'But I feel for people who aren't as lucky as me, who don't have landlords willing to help. We're an industry who have been left behind which is the most disappointing part.' She went on: 'It's super disrespectful. Everyone is nervous and on edge wondering if we're going to survive. It's disrespectful it's laziness. 'They need to look at the sector, they've put us all in the same category. It's a huge industry and a massive part of the economy. I think it's just laziness.' The beauty therapists appeared to discuss the government's decision not to re-open beauty salons along with bars, restaurants and hairdressers Lindsay went on to argue that many clients, both male and female, will be affected by not being able to maintain their personal appearance. She said: 'It's impacting people's mental health and confidence, because of the way their personal appearance is. 'I've had several messages over the last six weeks especially, people saying, "I don't feel myself". Maybe their husband hasn't seen them without treatments.' She added: 'People are ringing, they're messaging my personal Facebook account trying to get appointments.' Teresa went on to argue that as beauty therapists working in close proximity to clients all the time, the importance of cleanliness has been 'drilled into them' The issue of re-opening salons was raised last week during PMQs in Parliament, and Lindsay told she found the video of Boris Johnson laughing while discussing the issue 'absolutely infuriating'. She said: 'That video absolutely infuriates me. They're laughing, it's people's livelihood, it's their career. 'We have a lot of people who rely on treatment, we have elderly people who live alone. They come for the chat, they like the atmosphere. It's a lot of people it's affecting.' Lindsay went on to argue that many clients, both male and female, will be affected by not being able to maintain their personal appearance Lindsay told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield (both pictured) how elderly clients rely on their visits to the beauty salon Teresa went on to argue that as beauty therapists working in close proximity to clients all the time, the importance of cleanliness has been 'drilled into them', claiming her salon is 'geared up like a hospital.' She told: 'As beauty therapists, it's drilled into us to be clean, of course, we have clean environments anyway. 'Me and my team all wear the masks, it's natural for us to wear masks and sometimes gloves, and we have steriliser all over the clinic, everyday before the pandemic. 'We're pretty much like doctors, to be honest. We're geared up like a hospital would be. We're much safer than people going out on a Saturday night.' A make up artist whose daughters breastfed in tandem - with one stopping just before she was five and the other continuing to this day, aged four - says they are so hardy only one girl has ever been to the doctors with a bug. Crediting her nursing with hardening their immune systems, Natasha Keane, 38, who also works with adults with disabilities, practises natural stage weaning - where a child decides for themselves when to stop breastfeeding. But Natasha, of Galway, Ireland, whose husband Adam, 35, owns his own gym, says that, as a first time mum to her son Stephen, 19, from a previous relationship, she believed that breastfeeding after a year was 'creepy.' Now extolling the virtues of nursing and defending a woman's right to do so in public, Natasha, also mum to Ellie, six, and Grace, four-and-a-half, said: 'I try not to let the comments and stares get to me, but I have been made to feel uncomfortable. Natasha Keane, 38, from Galway, practises natural stage weaning - where a child decides for themselves and was breastfeeding her daugters Ellie (left) and Grace (right) in tandem for years 'I find it such a huge double standard. It's okay to put women in bikinis or lingerie on huge advertising billboards, but it's not okay to let a mum to subtly feed her child? 'To me, breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world. Ellie has never been to the doctor's for a sickness bug in her life, and never needed antibiotics, and Grace has only been once for a chest infection she couldn't shake. 'I absolutely believe that it's breastfeeding that has made their immune systems so strong.' In contrast, when Natasha had Stephen, who works in a restaurant, she was placed on medication when he was just four months old and had to stop breastfeeding. Natasha, pictured with her daughter Grace, four, who continues to suckle once in the morning and once in the evening Natasha and her partner Adam wit their two daughters. The mother-of-three struggled with breastfeeding when she had her older son, but was determined to do things differently with her daughters 'I wanted to do it for longer, but I was only 19 back then and didn't think I could question my doctor,' she said. 'I cried so hard for about a week afterwards. Stephen struggled to take his bottle and it was very stressful.' Determined not to let history repeat itself, when Natasha fell pregnant with Ellie, she vowed to be more prepared and joined a local breastfeeding group. 'I walked into my first meeting, and saw a woman tandem feeding her three-year-old and 18-month-old, with one at each breast,' she recalled. Ellie and Grace tandem feeding: The mother-of-three said her girls are rarely ill, and she puts it down to extended breastfeeding 'My jaw hit the floor. I genuinely had no idea it was possible to feed children past the age of one let alone two at the same time. 'Instead of judging, I simply asked questions.' After finding other similar groups and speaking to several other mums, all protagonists of 'extended breastfeeding' an umbrella term used to describe women who continue to nurse their children after one year - she also read articles on the subject, including one examining the breastfeeding habits of other mammals. Combining her findings with information on the NHS website, saying babies are passed valuable antibodies to help protect them against infection through their mother's milk, she became increasingly convinced that this was the way forwards. Meanwhile, she discovered that even the prestigious World Health Organization states that breastfeeding can continue for up to two years and beyond. Natasha, pictured here with her daughters Grace and Ellie, has donated six litres of breast milk, which went on to help 22 different premature babies, as well giving a stash to some mums she met through Facebook, who could not nurse themselves during chemotherapy According to their recommendations made together with UNICEF children should start breastfeeding within an hour of being born and be exclusively nursed for six months, going on to be breastfed on demand then, from six months onwards, should begin eating safe and adequate foods, while continuing to take their mum's milk. Buoyed by her findings, Natasha became an advocate for natural stage weaning, saying: 'There's a saying in the community 'Don't offer and don't refuse.' 'Putting that into practice with my girls meant that, while I wasn't sitting them down like clockwork, offering them my milk, I wasn't saying no if they asked.' Happy family! Natasha with her children Grace, and Ellie, partner Adam and son Stephen - who she struggled to breastfeed when she had him at the age of 19 Natasha feeding her daughter Grace. She said that there's no deadline for stopping feeding, and that she will do it when her child feels ready Breastfeeding Ellie with no set deadline in mind of when to stop, when Grace arrived two years later, she nursed them - one at each breast - together. 'I tandem fed for two years,' she said. 'I was a little apprehensive at first about the practicalities of it all, but you find your own groove, and it gets easier the more you do it. 'As Ellie was a little older by then, I could explain to her to be patient and let Grace latch on and settle in first. Natasha tandem fed her daughters for two years, and said that they would fall asleep on the breast every night without fail 'Every single night, they would fall asleep without fail, one on each breast, holding hands.' While Ellie stopped wanting to breastfeed just before she turned five, Grace continues to suckle once in the morning and once in the evening. But Natasha still deals with negativity, which she blames on people's miseducation, rather than on deliberate nastiness. 'People see breastfeeding as fair game something everyone is allowed to have an opinion on and criticise,' she said. 'I never would, as it is every mum's choice, but I know if I said something about bottle feeding, it would be unacceptable. Natahsa with her partner Adam and their daughters. She said that she' shad negative comments about extended breastfeeding but choses to ignore them 'I have received some difficult comments over the years. When Grace was just eight months old, I had somebody say to me that I should be force-feeding her into weaning by that point. I just thought, 'What would you say if you knew I'm also feeding her older sister?' 'I also get lots of people remarking that I'm 'still' feeding with emphasis on the still. 'I don't think people are deliberately trying to shame me, or be evil, though. It's a lack of education - even within the medical profession. 'We have lactation specialists, but not many of them, and most doctors and nurses aren't armed to the teeth with the same level of information. That's how you end up with mums like I used to be, who don't realise you can feed past a year, or think it's wrong to.' By sharing her story, Natasha, who says that her husband Adam is her biggest cheerleader and is fully supportive, hopes to normalise breastfeeding and reassure other mums that they do not have to stop before they are ready. Also aware that some mums cannot breast feed, she wants to encourage them to find their local milk banks, where women can donate their own excess supply. In the past, she has donated six litres, which went on to help 22 different premature babies, as well giving a stash to some mums she met through Facebook, who could not nurse themselves as they were having chemotherapy, but did not want to give their babies formula. 'It's up to every mum as an individual what they want to do, and I understand that some have tried and tried, but simply cannot breastfeed,' she explained. 'Because of the constant flow of oxytocin - known as the love hormone - breastfeeding is a great mood booster. I had postnatal depression with Stephen and Ellie, so thought it'd be written in stone that I would with Grace, but I didn't. 'Before you make a comment, educate yourself. If a mum ever mentions something to me that I don't understand, I will keep my mouth shut, then go away and look it up. 'Whether I agree or not is beside the point. It's education that's important.' What we havent heard much about is dealing with gangs and the culture that applauds killing, especially the killing of those seen to be disloyal to a gang or a rival member of another gang. It is all about the exercise of power because gang members feel powerless as individuals. Here are some recommendations: mediation sessions with leaders of gangs to agree to a cease-fire; job training and placement as ways to get out of the powerlessness of poverty; mentoring of current gang members by former gang members; creation of a mission for good, to replace the mission of gang superiority; and safe houses for those trying to escape gang life. An eight-year-old boy with a rare immune condition has 'defied all odds' and finished his treatment after a life-saving stem cell transplant. Finley Hill, from Worcestershire, who suffers from Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), was released from hospital shortly before lockdown, after a man in Brazil donated lifesaving bone marrow. Appearing on This Morning today, his mother Jo told how after going into hospital in late November for chemotherapy to strip Finley of his immune system, he was given the new set of cells in December. Viewers quickly took to Twitter to praise Finley, hailing him 'brave and amazing' and insisting they're 'so pleased' Finley has been discharged from hospital after a successful operation. Finley Hill, from Worcestershire, who suffers from Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), underwent a life-saving stem cell transplant. He is pictured in December undergoing the transplant Appearing on This Morning today, his mother Jo (pictured) told how after going into hospital in late November for Chemotherapy to strip Finley of his immune system, he had the 'hardest two weeks' of his treatment Jo explained that the following two weeks were the hardest for Finley, telling: 'He couldn't speak. He had ulcers going down his throat and felt rubbish, as you would if you have no immune system. 'And he just started to get stronger and stronger and defied all odds, and by day 31 they were discharging us, which is crazy. ' On January 7th, Finley rang the hospital's bell to signify end of his treatment and speaking of the moment, he said: '[It's] amazing, that I'm discharged and I don't have to stay in hospital for nights'. The emotional interview struck a chord with viewers, who quickly took to Twitter to praise Finley, with one writing: What a brave and amazing little boy'. Viewers quickly took to Twitter to praise Finley, hailing him 'brave and amazing' and insisting they're 'so pleased' Finley has been discharged from hospital 'He is just the sweetest kid, so pleased he's doing well,' said another. A third agreed: 'Brave little man. Finley, you should be proud of yourself.' Finley's disorder causes the immune system to overreact, leading to inflammation and damage to tissues such as the liver, spleen and brain. He had a very slim chance of finding a match for a live-saving stem cell transplant with only two per cent of the UK on the donor register. But after doctors in Birmingham 'searched the world' and 'searched it again', Finley and the family appeared on the show last year to reveal a match had been located in Brazil. On January 7th, Finley rang the hospital's bell to signify end of his treatment and he told hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield (both pictured) it was 'amazing' being discharged WHAT IS HLH? Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocystosis - or HLH - is a rare autoimmune disease that usually occurs in young children. There are two types of the condition: familial and acquired. Symptoms include: Fever Enlargement of the liver Swollen lymph nodes Rashes and jaundice Coughing and difficulty breathing Stomachaches, vomiting and diarrhea Headaches, trouble walking, visual disturbances, and weakness HLH can be treated through chemotherapy, immunotherapy, steroids and antibiotics. If these forms of treatment fail, patients may need to undergo a stem cell transplant. Source: HopkinsMedicine Advertisement Speaking of the doner today, Fin's mother said: 'It was a mixture of relief and feeling really scared. Because we knew the next few months would be really tricky for Fin and that it wasn't going to be an easy process. 'But it was a massive relief and we were so happy that man got on that register and was there waiting ready for our boy.' 'Because he was asked for his bone marrow, not his stem cells, he had to have an operation which is unusual in this day. After the successful transplant, Fin now has reduced his hospital visits and his mother says his health is going 'in the right direction' 'But they felt it would give Fin his best chance and he did it and he doesn't even know who he is.' After the successful transplant, Fin now has reduced his hospital visits and his mother says his health is going 'in the right direction'. She told: 'At the moment, we still go to hospital to get Fin's bloods and we've just gone down to fortnightly. 'We were there weekly and not that long ago we were going twice a week, but because his levels are really steady, they've allowed us to go fortnightly which is a big step in the right direction.' The Duchess of Cornwall visited Swindon Fire Station and Swindon Borough Council today - as she slowly returns to royal duties amid the easing of the coronavirus lockdown. Camilla, 72, put on a stylish display in a monochrome checked dress which featured white collar detail - and accessorised with a pair of dainty pearl earrings. During her visit, the royal said everyone will have to keep their 'fingers crossed' the country does not experience a second wave of coronavirus as she thanked frontline health and emergency workers for their efforts. Camilla expressed her concerns as she met firefighters, medical staff and paramedics during her first solo public event since the lockdown, and heard their stories about working through Covid-19. Duchess of Cornwall, 72, put on a stylish display as she visited Swindon Fire Station and Swindon Borough Council today Her Royal Highness met firefighters, staff from Great Western Hospital and South Western Ambulance Service paramedics at Swindon Fire Station (pictured) The Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Swindon Borough Council Office Gardens where she met with members of the council and representatives from the Live Well Hub Members of the council and representatives from the Live Well Hub have worked on and benefited from the council's services during the pandemic. Pictured, the Duchess of Cornwall At the end of the visit to Swindon fire station, the duchess told the group: 'Just before I go, I'd like to thank you for everything you've done throughout this pandemic - I don't know, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that we don't see the second wave. 'But I think it's lovely to see how everybody's working together.' The royal family has been returning to public duties as lockdown restrictions have eased and on Sunday the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toasted the 72nd birthday of the NHS at a tea party in Norfolk for frontline workers. Health and emergency service workers had gathered at the fire station to meet the duchess and Ben Ansell, chief fire officer of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, introduced her to local firefighters. During her visit, Camilla learned how emergency services personnel have had to adapt their services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and thank them for their work. Pictured, speaking to staff Camilla opted for a black and white monochrome dress and accessorised with a pair of dainty pearl earrings The royal looked in high spirits as she slowly returns to royal duties amid the easing of lockdown restrictions The Duchess of Cornwall looked deep in conversation as she spoke with staff from Great Western Hospital and South Western Ambulance Service The royal made sure she adhered to government guidelines amid COVID-19 - and was socially distanced as she engaged in conversation with staff (pictured) Camilla paired her outfit with some block heeled beige shoes and a watch on her left wrist (pictured) Camilla chatted to station manager Sam Legg-Bagg and praised the commitment of his crews, saying: 'We couldn't have done without you - thank you very much.' Crews have been responding to call-outs throughout the pandemic, but firefighters trained in driving emergency vehicles and first aid have been relieving the pressure on paramedics by driving ambulances alongside a clinician. Firefighters from the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have driven ambulances in 716 of more than 3,000 incidents that South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) has responded to. During the visit, which was staged in the open air at the back of the fire station surrounded by engines, the duchess praised fire crews who changed roles to support paramedics, saying: 'It's one of these things, everybody has pulled together, which is so important - I take my hat off to you all.' It comes just days after it was revealed the Duchess of Cornwall will discuss life in lockdown, missing her grandchildren and how Charles is the fittest man she knows for his age in an upcoming radio interview. Camilla is due to cover a wide range of topics as she undertakes her first-ever radio guest edit on BBC Radio 5 Live's The Emma Barnett Show on Tuesday. Camilla could be seen with a stylish mac hung elegantly over her shoulders as the visited Swindon Borough Council Office Gardens today Like millions of teenagers across the US, one Sparta, Illinois high school senior's prom plans were ruined by COVID-19 but while she didn't actually get to attend the big dance, the pandemic didn't stop her from making her own prom dress anyway. In fact, Peyton Manker, 18, decided to change up her design to incorporate COVID-19, crafting her own gown entirely out of duct tape with details that spotlighted the virus, paid tribute to healthcare workers, and urged others to flatten the curve. 'We can have some positive things come out of this whole experience and my dress is an example of that,' she told CNN. Lookin' good! Peyton Manker, 18, made a coronavirus-themed prom dress out of duct tape Canceled: Like millions of teenagers across the US, the Sparta, Illinois high school senior's prom plans were ruined by COVID-19 Timely and stylish! She had already started making her prom dress out of duct tape in January, so she kept going but changed the design Must-have: Of course, she added a face mask that says 'flatten the curve' (though likely only wore it for this picture because a duct tape mask wouldn't be breathable0 Look at those details! The dress is covered in details documenting the pandemic It also pays tribute to healthcare workers with images of doctors, nurses, and other first responders Peyton is one of many high schoolers who has crafted her own prom dress out of duct tape for an annual scholarship contest. For 20 years, Duck Brand duct tape has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to creative students who make prom attire out of the tape. The contest showcases incredible creativity every year but Peyton has truly wowed with her creation, which isn't jut beautiful but topical. She had begun working on it in January, before the pandemic came to the US, and was determined not to give up even when her prom was canceled. She did shift her plans, though, turning the gown into something that 'documents a part of history.' 'It wasn't just high schoolers, it wasn't just America, it was the whole world being impacted by the pandemic so I wanted to show that,' she said. Her goal: For 20 years, Duck Brand duct tape has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to creative students who make prom attire out of the tape Amazing: The contest showcases incredible creativity every year but Peyton has truly wowed with her creation, which isn't jut beautiful but topical 'It wasn't just high schoolers, it wasn't just America, it was the whole world being impacted by the pandemic so I wanted to show that,' she said Incredible: She designed her own virus images with red, green, and yellow tape. She created artwork of people wearing masks and an image of a woman sneezing into the crook of her arm Social distancing! Part of the dress demonstrates how people should keep six feet apart The dress is mostly royal blue, with a full ball gown skirt and a ruffled off-the-shoulder neckline, with the design trimmed in gold tape. But all over the dress is coronavirus-themed imagery. She designed her own virus images with red, green, and yellow tape. She created artwork of people wearing masks, as well as the healthcare workers toiling away tirelessly to make people better. She has silhouettes of seniors who are graduating remotely, and an image of a woman sneezing into the crook of her arm. There are also super-detailed accessories, including high heels with more virus imagery, jewelry with little viruses, an anklet with the words 'this too shall pass,' a virus-shaped bag, and a beautiful duct tape bouquet. And, of course, a face mask with the words 'flatten the curve.' Want! There are also super-detailed accessories, including high heels with more virus imagery She made coronavirus jewelry, too, including a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet That's dedication! The entire project required 41 rolls of duct tape and four months of work Too cute! The coronavirus-shaped purse is her favorite element of the ensemble Peyton hopes people who see the dress will know that 'even though it doesn't seem like it right now, the coronavirus pandemic will eventually pass, it will all be okay in the end' The coronavirus-shaped purse is her favorite element of the ensemble, but the entire project required 41 rolls of duct tape and four months of work. Peyton told CNN that she hopes people who see the dress will know that 'even though it doesn't seem like it right now, the coronavirus pandemic will eventually pass, it will all be okay in the end.' 'We can have some positive things come out of this whole experience and my dress is an example of that,' she added. Duck Brand will award its scholarships this month, and Peyton is set to attend Southwestern Illinois College in the fall. The Ananda Wellness Bliss programme in the Himalayas is a great way to introduce yoga and relaxation into your daily routine, via online appointments. Over the course of 12 one-on-one sessions, I, a near-beginner in yoga, was introduced to a wide range of practices, going from joint stretches to sun salutations and more complicated sequences. I first had to fill out a form about my health habits, from nutrition to digestion and my sleeping pattern. This then led to a one-on-one consultations with one of the spa's GPs, who gave me personalised recommendations following the ancient Indian Ayurveda system. I then had yoga sessions with Head of Yoga at Ananda, Sandeep Agarwalla, who introduced me to the basics of yoga. While nothing beats a trip to the Himalayas, the Zoom sessions were easy to integrate to my everyday routine and a great introduction to yoga. Advertisement More than 130,000 Americans have died of coronavirus, as of Monday - a sobering milestone following a holiday weekend of record numbers of new daily COVID-19 cases in many states. Fourteen states have hit record-high numbers of new daily infections since the start of July, although number of people dying of the virus has remained stable or declined nationally and locally. Surges in infections in a handful of states have driven the nation as a whole to set a record for the rolling seven-day average number of new cases, for the 27th day in a row, according to The New York Times's calculations. Between Friday and Sunday, more than 200,000 coronavirus cases were added to the US tally. With much of the US partially or completely reopened, Fourth of July revelers are likely to drive new case numbers up even further in the coming days and weeks. Despite the tragic benchmark of 130,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US, daily death tolls have not yet climbed in correspondence with case surges over the last two weeks in states like Arizona, Florida and Texas. More than 130,000 people have now died of coronavirus in the US. States such as Texas and Florida are seeing dramatic increases in the number of daily infections - though corresponding death increases have not yet been reported A new uptick in coronavirus cases in the US began in early June (red). Although experts say a lag of 17 days or so days is expected for death increases, daily fatalities have remained largely stable (blue), even declining slightly since mid-April Florida has now surpassed Arizona with the steepest and most alarming rise in cases in the US. In just two weeks, the number of total infections there has doubled from 100,000 to more than 200,000 as of Sunday. Arizona and Nevada also hit their respective record-high numbers of hospitalized coronavirus patients on Sunday, as the Mayors of both Austin and Houston, Texas, warned that their hospitals are on the brink of being overwhelmed. Daily new case records were also set with alarmingly steep increases seen in states where the virus has been relatively quiet until recently: West Virginia, Tennessee and Montana. Last week, national attention turned to Arizona and Texas, which each surpassed their previous record numbers of new cases in a single day over and over again. Now, Florida has once again moved into focus. On Sunday, the Florida Department of Health confirmed 10,059 new cases of coronavirus. It was the third-highest number of infections in a single day, behind only the previous day's report, and the cases reported on Thursday. As of Monday morning, the state's health department had added another 6,327 cases, bringing Florida's total to 203,376. Both President Trump and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have put the rising case numbers in many states down to increased testing. That's been true in Florida, but does not account for the sharp increase in the proportion of those tests that are coming back positive. Florida set yet another record high number of daily infections on Saturday (right) but, curiously, corresponding increases in the number of deaths have not yet emerged, even though cases have been rising steadily for more than two weeks After harrowing spikes in the number of cases in Arizona last week, a relatively low number of new infections were reported over the holiday weekend Between June 21 and June 27, an average of 9.94 percent of tests administered in the state each day. Last week, the positive rate increased by nearly half, to 14.7 percent. Trends in hospitalizations and deaths have moved in the opposite direction, however. Over the past two weeks, as cases doubled in Florida, the number of daily deaths declined by 82 percent from Sunday to Sunday. Hospitalizations fell by 79 percent over the same period of time. Experts have warned that hospitalization and death increases will always lag behind increases in the number of cases. One study suggested the lag time between case increases and death increase is about 17 days. It's been at least 14 since cases began to spike in Florida. Some Florida beaches, like those in Miami, were closed over the Fourth of July weekend, while others in places Cocoa Beach remained open but required masks and temperature checks (pictured) Several oceanside cities and counties in Texas closed their beaches for the holiday weekend, but protestors flouted the orders in Galveston Nonetheless, at least one group of state lawmakers is urging Governor Rick DeSantis to make face masks in public mandatory. The Florida Department of Health currently recommends wearing face masks and avoiding crowds. The state's beaches remained largely open, per Governor DeSantis's Tuesday announcement that he would not issue sweeping shutdowns and that Florida was 'not going back.' Several South Florida counties closed their beaches any way, including Miami-Dade. Other beaches were less crowded than expected for a typical holiday over the Fourth of July weekend, but certainly still drew plenty of revelers. Some Florida beaches and piers required temperature checks and mask wearing at their entrances. As of Monday, Miami closed its restaurants and gyms too, in an effort to stop the wildfire spread of coronavirus in the city. Texas residents were seen celebrating and even protesting on the states beaches and lakes. The situation in Texas is growing dire, with more than 3,449 cases reported Sunday, and a record-setting 8,258 new cases reported Saturday Nevada also hit a record high number of hospitalizations on Sunday, after seeming to quell its outbreak last month Governor Greg Abbott issued an eleventh-hour mask mandate on Friday and large fireworks shows were cancelled. Some cities and counties, such as Galveston, closed their beaches, but there was no official state order, partiers gathered at still-open restaurants and others defied closures by going to beaches in protest. Nearly 3,550 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Texas on Sunday. Another 8,258 cases were confirmed Saturday, beating the previous record of 8,076 new cases on July 1. In total, 195,239 cases have been confirmed in the state and 2,637 people have died. Under increasing pressure, Governor Abbott has paused the state's reopening plan, a move for which at least one group - the GOP of Ector County in Odessa - has formally 'censured' the governor. The Mayors of Austin and Houston - two of the state's most populous cities - have issued matching warnings that, if the trajectory the coronavirus outbreaks in Texas continues, every bed in their hospitals will be full and the broader hospital systems overwhelmed within two weeks. A Harvard professor says the US needs a mandatory order to wear a mask in all 50 states to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Dr Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, discussed the lack of a nationwide mandate on NBC's TODAY. He says that wearing masks will not only be a way to get the infection rate to slow down, but will also prevent hospitals and ICUs from becoming overwhelmed. Dr Ashish Jha (pictured), from Harvard, says the US needs to implement a nationwide mask order to combat the coronavirus Studies have found that states with mask mandates slowed the growth rate and had lower deaths. Pictured: People wear face masks as they use the beach boardwalk in Huntington Beach, California, July 1 Jha said that wearing mask will not only curb rising infections but will also prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Pictured: Young people without protective masks walk along the Pacific Beach boardwalk in San Diego, California, July 3 Jha says a mandate on wearing masks would help prevent governors from issuing lockdowns or stay-at-home orders again. 'Every state should have a mandatory mask order...[Someone] talked about freedom and how everyone should get to choose on their own,' he said. 'I don't get to walk into a retail store and light up a cigarette out of my desire to smoke indoors. I shouldn't be able to walk into a retail store not wearing a mask.' Currently, there is no national policy requiring Americans to wear masks covering in public, with the decisions being left up to governors in some states. This is despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending in April that the public do so. A University of Iowa study looked at the COVID-19 growth rate before and after mask mandates in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Those with orders had slowdowns with rates decreasing 0.9 percentage points in comparison with five days before the mandate. Another study found that out of 198 countries, those with government policies that encouraged wearing masks had lower death rate A number of states' governors have required residents to wear masks including in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois and now even Texas But some, such as the governors of Florida and South Carolina, have been resistant and have let the mayors of individual counties decide. Cases in these states are on the rise, however, and Jha is worried that hospitals could get overwhelmed. 'In terms of the hospitals, a lot of hospitals are already starting to bump up against their capacity,' he said. 'At some point, we are going to run out of all of our capacity, our ability to take care of people and so we've got to sort of shut this off and we've go to find ways of breaking these increases or we're going to get a lot of trouble sooner than they think.' Jha also recommended that testing and contact tracing needs to be ramped up and certain establishments should be closed until further notice. 'Things like indoor bars, nightclubs, I think we just can't afford any of those right now, not when we're having these kinds of outbreaks,' he said. A new study shows that achieving so-called herd immunity against the novel coronavirus may be 'unachievable.' Researchers found that only five percent of the population in Spain have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and have built up antibodies. However, not enough people have gotten the illness for there to be no spread in communities. This means that 95 percent of Spaniards remains susceptible to contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Researchers looked at blood test results of 61,000 participants in Spain and around 5% have built up antibodies against the coronavirus (pictured) At least 60% of people need to have contracted the virus for it to not be able to spread throughout a community. Pictured: Healthcare workers move a patient in the Covid-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, July 2 Public health officials have warned for years that vaccines not only protect individuals but the community as a whole in what is known as 'herd immunity'. This occurs when the vast majority of a community - between 80 and 95 percent - becomes immune so that, if a disease is introduced, it is unable to spread. Therefore, those who are unable to be vaccinated or at high-risk of severe illness, including the ill, very young and very old, are protected. The study's lead author, Dr Marina Pollan, director of Spain's National Center for Epidemiology, told CNN possible herd immunity rates may even be lower but that we're still not anywhere close. In Madrid, seroprevalence was around 10%, while less densely populated coastal areas had rates lower than 3% (above) 'Some experts have computed that around 60 percent of seroprevalence might mean herd immunity. But we are very far from achieving that number,' she said. This was the strategy of the UK - to build up herd immunity rather than lockdown in order to remove the virus from the community. Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, told Sky News: 'Herd immunity [allows] enough of us who are going to get mild illness to become immune.' When models showed that the nation's hospital system would not be able to address all the serious cases, the government walked the plan back. The study, published in The Lancet, recruited more than 61,000 participants and adds to findings from a study last month also published in The Lancet involving nearly 2,800 participants in Geneva. In the first phase, conducted between April 27 and May 11, the antibody prevalence among residents was give percent. In Madrid, and the surrounding area, seroprevalence was around 10 percent, while less densely populated coastal areas had rates lower than three percent. The second and third phase showed antibody results sitting at around 5.2 percent. 'The relatively low seroprevalence observed in the context of an intense epidemic in Spain might serve as a reference to other countries,' the authors wrote. 'At present, herd immunity is difficult to achieve without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems.' Only about 0.8 percent of the US population has been infected, which Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert, A former Barclays boss has rejected a suggestion he 'deceived' the board during the 2008 crisis. John Varley was giving evidence at a High Court trial on Monday where businesswoman Amanda Staveley is suing the bank for 1.6billion over claims it misled her while she helped secure deal that saved it in financial crisis. Claim: Amanda Staveley is suing Barclays for 1.6billion over claims it misled her while she helped secure deal that saved it in financial crisis Barclays disputes the claim. She says a 2billion loan to Qatari investors was 'concealed' from the market, shareholders and her private equity firm. But Varley yesterday denied the suggestion he had deceived the Barclays board about an agreement made with the Qataris in June 2008. Boeing's communications chief Niel Golightly has resigned over an article he wrote more than three decades ago arguing women should not serve in combat. The former U.S. military pilot's exit leaves Boeing trying to fill the crucial role for the fourth time in less than three years, just as it is battling to shore up its brand after the prolonged safety grounding of its Boeing 737 MAX jetliner. The Senior Vice President of Communications job has become the industry's biggest hot seat as Boeing fends off criticism for its handling of the 737 MAX crisis. Boeing Senior Vice President of Communication Niel Golightly (pictured) resigned from the position on Thursday after only six months 'My article was a 29-year-old Cold War navy pilot's misguided contribution to a debate that was live at the time,' Golightly said in a statement included in Boeing's announcement. 'My argument was embarrassingly wrong and offensive. The article is not a reflection of who I am; but nonetheless I have decided that in the interest of the company I will step down.' In the December 1987 US Naval Institute magazine article titled 'No Right to Fight,' the former military pilot suggests women would disrupt 'exclusively male intangibles' which male soldiers fight for in war. 'At issue is not whether women can fire M-60s, dogfight MiGs, or drive tanks. Introducing women into combat would destroy the exclusively male intangibles of war fighting and the feminine images of what men fight for - peace, home, family.' Golightly published an article in the US Naval Institute's magazine 33 years ago in December 1987 He argued against women serving in the military and attempted to list several reasons as to why not An excerpt from the article suggested that female soldiers could make a squadron appear 'weak,' possibly prompting defeat on the battlefield. Golightly told staff in an email seen by Reuters that the exclusion of women at the time was 'government policy and broadly supported in society. It was also wrong.' Golightly declined to comment beyond Boeing's statement and his email. Golightly's departure after just six months on the job, during which he was said to be introducing sweeping changes, followed the board's review of an internal anonymous ethics complaint that flagged his article. He decided to step down after discussions with Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun and others, Golightly said in his email. 'I greatly respect Niel for stepping down in the interest of the company,' wrote Calhoun in an email. New York Post reports that Greg Smith, Boeings chief financial officer and executive vice president of enterprise operations, will oversee the communications role for the time being, Golightly decided to resign after having a conversation with Boeing CEO David L. Calhoun (left) and the position will be temporarily filled by Greg Smith, Boeings chief financial officer and executive vice president of enterprise operations Golightly acted after Boeing board members, already feeling pressure from the 15-month-old MAX crisis, had expressed little patience for a potentially damaging new distraction, people familiar with the matter said. The apprehension of board members comes as a reckoning on corporate company culture has sparked. U.S. employers have been more responsive to complaints related to sex and racial equality and diversity fueled in part by the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, and anti-racist activism following the slaying of Black men by police. In June, ABC executive Barbara Fedida was put on administrative leave for allegedly making sexist and racist comments at staffers. Boeing has touted its strong commitment to improving diversity, though the number of women on its executive council has fallen from five to two since the beginning of 2019, according to Boeing's annual reports and website. Golightly: 'My argument was embarrassingly wrong and offensive. The article is not a reflection of who I am; but nonetheless I have decided that in the interest of the company I will step down' Apart from a revolving door of top staffers, Boeing is still recovering from its 737 Max crisis that saw 346 people killed in two plane crashes. On October 29, 2018, a Lion Air flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea just 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia. The flight crew made a distress call shortly before losing control but the crash killed 189 people. The aircraft was almost brand-new, having arrived at Lion Air just three months earlier. Less than five months later, a second crash occurred on March 10, 2019, when the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board. The aircraft had departed from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and was bound for Nairobi, Kenya. The Lion Air plane was almost brand-new, having arrived just three months earlier. Pictured, debris from the Lion Air crash is examined The Lion Air flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea on October 29, 2018, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. The fatal crash killed 189 people on board (pictured, investigators examine parts of the plane recovered from the sea) Just after takeoff, the pilot radioed a distress call and was given immediate clearance to turn around and land. But the plane crashed 40 miles from the airport, just six minutes after leaving the runway. The aircraft involved was only four months old. The grounding of the 737 Max triggered lawsuits and investigations by Congress and the Department of Justice. Questions were also raised about the FAA and Boeing's safety approval process. Investigators blamed faults in the flight control system, which the 103-year-old company has been overhauling for months to meet new safety demands. Most recently, Boeing announced that it would begin flight safety test of the aircraft model in an effort to get them back into the sky. Pilots and technical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing are thought to be planning three days of tests, potentially beginning on Monday. Residents in the northern Mexican state of Sonora briefly blocked the main road leading south from the United States border over the holiday weekend due to fears of a coronavirus outbreak. Images on social media showed dozens of cars lined up in city of Sonoyta and obstructing the path of visitors who had just crossed over from Lukeville, Arizona. A bystander captured the tense standoff between Mexicans citizens, who now live in the United States, and concerned residents from the border town. A Mexican citizen who now lives in the United States argues with demonstrators in the northern Mexico border town of Sonoyta after residents blocked a main road leading south from the border with Mexico. Residents were concerned that visitors arriving from Arizona would spread the coronavirus in their city Residents in Sonoyta, Mexico, use their cars to obstruct a road leading south from Arizona on Saturday, fearing that arrival of their U.S. neighbors, including Mexican citizens living abroad, would spark a COVID-19 outbreak 'You are the same [a resident of Mexico] as me, brother,' an upset Mexican man argued while he was denied passage by a male demonstrator. 'So now I have to get permission from the guaros [border officials] and you, too. Well where am I from? What the hell?' A woman who joined the protesters could be heard in the background shouting, 'now is not the time to be visiting.' It comes as Arizona sees a major upsurge in infections - there are 11,361 confirmed cases and 1,825 deaths due to the virus. The mayor of the northern Mexican border town Sonoyta issued a statement Saturday 'inviting U.S. tourists not to visit Mexico' due to fears of a possible coronavirus outbreak. Arizona, which borders with Sonoyta, has registered 11,361 cases and 1,825 deaths The mayor of Sonoyta, Jose Ramos Arzate, issued a statement Saturday 'inviting U.S. tourists not to visit Mexico.' The road is the quickest route to the seaside resort of Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point. Ramos Arzate wrote that people from the United States should only be allowed in 'for essential activities, and for that reason, the checkpoint and inspection point a few meters from the Sonoyta-Lukeville AZ crossing will continue operating.' 'We had agreed on this in order to safeguard the health of our community in the face of an accelerated rate of COVID-19 contagion in the neighboring state of Arizona,' Ramos Arzate wrote. 'It is our duty as municipal authorities to protect the health of our town.' A woman, who holds Mexican citizenship, attempts to reason with residents in Sonoyta, Mexico, who protested her arrival from the United States and blocked her path on a main road leading from Arizona on Saturday because they were afraid that holiday weekend visitors could cause a COVID-10 outbreak Mexico and the United States agreed previously to limit border crossings to essential activities. A similar agreement exists between the United States and Canada. However, up until this week, the accord between the nations who share a 1,954-mile border, had mainly been enforced for people entering the United States, not the other way. Residents of Sonoyta demanded health checks on incoming visitors, better health care facilities and broader testing. The United States has 2,888,915 confirmed coronavirus cases and 129,948 deaths. Mexico has 256,848 cases and fifth behind Italy with 30,639 deaths. There has been some resentment that tourists, but not local residents, had reportedly been allowed into Puerto Penasco, where many banks and other services are located. In view of continued high infection rates and deaths in Mexico, some states are backpedaling on reopening businesses. For example, the Mexico City government said Sunday that more streets in the city's colonial-era downtown would be closed to traffic but open to pedestrians. The city already allows businesses with even-numbered addresses to open one day, and odd-numbered businesses the next. But on Sunday the city proposed a new, voluntary measure to reduce crowds downtown: officials asked people whose last names begin with the letters A to L to shop on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those whose names begin with the letters M to Z would be encouraged to shop Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. There was no proposal to enforce the rule. More than 1.9 million quality helmets to be presented to first grade students in the new school year 2020-2021 (Source: laodong.vn) On July 3rd, the National Traffic Safety Committee in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training and Honda Vietnam Company launched the Giu tron uoc mo (Keeping dreams) programme on providing helmets for first grade students nationwide in the school year 2020-2021. Politburo member and Standing Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, who is also the chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, attended the event. The presentation of standard helmets to first grader at all elementary schools nationwide has been held since the 2018-2019 school year. After two years, Honda Vietnam has gifted nearly four million helmets. Speaking at the ceremony, Standing Deputy PM Binh highly praised the programme's results which have contributed to increasing the helmet-wearing rate among Vietnamese children aged 6-15 from 35 percent in 2017 to 70 percent by the end of 2019, while the rate of wearing helmets among high school students is 90 percent. He also asked the relevant agencies to organise a walking event calling for helmet-wearing on the first Sunday of September, as well as a helmet presenting event and traffic safety month for students at the start of the new school year 2020-2021, toward the goal of raising the helmet-wearing rate among children to 80 percent by 2020./. In addition, its a penthouse-floor unit in the preferred southeast corner with amazing views, and you have all of that and can be in Streeterville too, right where the Chicago River and the lakefront meet. You cant beat that. You can get boat slips on the South Branch (of the Chicago River). This is a slip along with the preferred corner of the building and the top floor. Pre-school children may be better behaved and kinder if they have a family dog, a study has found. Experts believe younger children, who spend more time with pets as they are not at school, learn better empathy. Researchers at the University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute looked at more than 1,600 families with children aged two to five. Researchers at the University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute found that children who spend more time with pets learn better empathy (file photo) Parents filled out a questionnaire which measured children's antisocial behaviour, problems interacting with others and 'prosocial' behaviours such as kindness and sharing. Children from dog-owning households were 23 per cent less likely to have difficulties with their emotions and social interactions compared to children who did not own a dog. Playing with their pet three or more times a week made children 74 per cent more likely to be kind to others. Dr Hayley Christian, who led the study, said having a dog could benefit children's development and wellbeing. She added: 'This could be attributed to the attachment between children and their dogs.' At least 13 universities are at risk of closure amid a financial black hole in the sector of up to 19billion due to the pandemic, research suggests. They may need Government bailouts, debt restructuring or mergers to survive. And up to 20 universities could go to the wall if there is a significant second spike of the virus and the country goes back into prolonged lockdown. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that 'generally less prestigious institutions' are at 'greatest risk of insolvency'. This is because they 'entered the crisis in a weak financial position and with little in the way of net assets'. These institutions 'may not be viable in the long run' if they are left without financial support, it adds. At least 13 universities are at risk of closure and may need Government bailouts amid a financial black hole of up to 19billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, research suggests (file photo) The IFS has estimated that long-run losses across the UK higher education sector could come in anywhere between 3 billion and 19 billion - or between 7.5% and nearly half of the sector's overall income in one year. Even the most likely situation would see losses of 11billion. Around 130,000 students attend the 13 institutions most at risk. The IFS report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, says: 'While there is no precedent for the liquidation of a publicly funded university in the UK, it is explicit Government policy that universities can fail.' Institutions face 'big losses' from falls in enrolment, particularly of international students. They are also set to lose income from student accommodation and conference and catering operations, as well as take a hit on long-term investments and increases in the deficits of university-sponsored pension schemes. The report says: 'The institutions at the greatest risk tend to have smaller predicted losses, but have already entered the crisis in poor financial shape.' The future survival of the universities depends on the balance sheet position before the crisis, rather than on predicted losses from coronavirus. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that 'generally less prestigious institutions' are at 'greatest risk' as they 'entered the crisis in a weak financial position'. Around 130,000 students attend the 13 institutions most at risk (file photo) It adds that the Government response 'will be critical in determining the future of these institutions'. 'Insolvency of a university could cause significant disruption to students' education, potentially leaving them unable to complete their degrees,' the paper warns. The IFS research concludes: 'For around a dozen universities, insolvency is likely to become a very real prospect without a Government bailout.' Elaine Drayton, an IFS research economist, said 'by far the cheapest option' is a more targeted bailout of 140million to the 13 most vulnerable universities. She added: 'However, rescuing failing institutions may weaken incentives for others to manage their finances prudently in the future.' The researchers also warned that a more widespread bailout package could cost billions of pounds without providing much support to the struggling institutions most at risk of going under. Ben Waltmann, a research economist at IFS, said: 'With around 45 billion in reserves and an annual surplus of around 2 billion before the crisis, the university sector as a whole should be able to cope with substantial Covid-related losses. 'However, some universities were already in a weak financial position before the crisis hit. For around a dozen of these institutions, insolvency is likely to become a very real prospect without a Government bailout.' Alistair Jarvis (above), chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), has previously called on the Government to prioritise introducing a transformation fund for universities that require support to achieve longer-term sustainability The briefing explores a series of options that the Government could take - including letting institutions become insolvent to 'set a precedent' and show that it will not reward universities with the least resilient finances. A National Union of Students (NUS) spokesperson said: 'The coronavirus crisis has exposed many of the flaws inherent in running our education like a market. When funding is so unstable, it's no wonder that our universities and the jobs of thousands of academic and support staff are now at risk. 'We are of course especially concerned about the risk to students that this instability poses. You can't assess the risk to universities without thinking of the risks to students - both to their education and their wellbeing.' Universities UK, the umbrella group for vice chancellors, has previously called for a multi-billion pound Government bailout for the sector. Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said: 'Any student or their parents should be reassured that the failure of a university is rare, but course closures and occasionally campus closures are something many universities will have experience in managing and all registered universities have student protection plans in place for this scenario.' He previously called on the Government to prioritise introducing a transformation fund for universities that require support to achieve longer-term sustainability and financial support to help students who wish to study shorter higher education courses. IFS researchers warned that a more widespread bailout package could cost billions of pounds without providing much support to the struggling institutions most at risk of going under (file photo) Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: 'We need a comprehensive support package that protects jobs, preserves our academic capacity and guarantees all universities' survival.' A Department for Education spokesman said: 'We understand this is a very challenging time for universities and higher education staff, which is why we have introduced a package of measures to stabilise the sector, help universities manage their finances to avoid cash flow problems and safeguard students. 'We have confirmed universities' eligibility to apply for Government-backed packages worth at least 700 million according to Office for Students estimates, along with bringing forward 2.6 billion worth of tuition fee payments. 'To stabilise the university research base, Government is also investing 280 million into grant extensions for research impacted by coronavirus and covering up to 80% of a university's income losses from international students for the academic year 20/21 for research-active universities. 'We will continue to work closely with the sector to understand the financial difficulties they are experiencing at this time.' Byron Bay police officers were forced to shut down a party with more than 1,000 guests who were in direct violation of coronavirus restrictions. The idyllic seaside suburb on New South Wales' far north coast attracted criticism during the COVID-19 crisis because residents and holidaymakers largely appeared to flout government orders. Under current restrictions in New South Wales, visitor numbers are limited to 20 people inside a home at any given time. Detective Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe told the ABC police were called to the Wilson's Creek property at the weekend, where they found more than 1,000 people gathered - 10 times the legal limit. 'It is very disappointing,' he said. Guests shared photos of the event and themselves online - with one captioning this picture 'winter doof' One photo showed a cardboard cut out of a colourful forest was used at the opening of the tent to enter the party 'You can still have a good smaller party, but certainly don't go to the extremes that we've seen in the last few days.' One of the guests who attended described the party as a 'winter doof'. In video taken at the party, guests crammed onto a dance floor where they danced into the night while a live DJ performed. Other vision shows a ping pong table was set up outside, while a cardboard cut out of a colourful forest was used at the opening of the tent to enter the party. Byron Shire Mayor Simon Richardson previously warned people - whether they are residents or tourists - to stick to the rules. 'I get that there's a strong temptation to let your hair down a bit, especially if you're here for some relaxing and getting away from what has been a really stressful year, but I ask that we all put the safety of the whole community first,' he said. In video taken at the party, guests crammed onto a dance floor where they danced into the night while a live DJ performed Other vision shows a ping pong table was set up outside as people played while others gathered to watch The party comes amid concerns Victorian holidaymakers could be escaping the winter in their home state and travelling to Byron Bay - particularly during school holidays. Byron Bay has a population of about 30,000, but that number swells over the holiday seasons. Hundreds of Victorians are feared to have travelled there in recent weeks - increasing the contamination risk for COVID-19. While most states have largely eradicated community transmission of the deadly respiratory infection, Victoria has experienced an uptick in cases in the past three weeks. Some Twitter users have expressed their concern Byron Bay could become a hub for the virus with holidaymakers then bringing infections back to other parts of NSW and interstate. In video taken at the party, guests crammed onto a dance floor where they danced into the night while a live DJ performed Pictured: The dance floor and strobe lights at the 'winter doof' in Wilson's Creek on Saturday Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed last Tuesday the Sunshine State would open its borders on July 10 to every state and territory except Victoria. However, with Victorians and Queenslanders both able to travel to New South Wales, some argue the state could become a bridge for contagion. One Twitter user implored New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian to shut the borders, while another said she had already seen Victorian tourists heading north. 'It's happening now driving on the Pacific Highway passed dozens of Victorian Grey nomads and families heading north with caravans,' she said. 'Please stay home everyone, in all states. If you need a holiday, have one in your own state,' a third woman said. Others noted how hundreds of Queenslanders were already 'crisscrossing' the NSW border with work permits and heading to Byron Bay. Slide me On March 23, it was revealed hundreds of people had broken social distancing measures to gather on a grassy hill to watch the sunset Twitter users have said they have witnessed Victorians heading to Byron Bay in droves Since lockdown was first announced in late March, the suburb has made headlines multiple times for COVID-19 breaches. On March 23, it was revealed hundreds of people had broken social distancing measures to gather on a grassy hill to watch the sunset. Photos of the incident sparked calls from locals to implement tougher policies on hostels and backpackers. By April, Byron has opened a free testing clinic and the deputy mayor was urging people to get tested. Sarah Ndiaye told Daily Mail Australia at the time the community had been working hard to fight the virus. 'We have been incredibly impressed and grateful that our community has been working together to stop the spread of the virus and that visitors have stayed away,' she said. 'As a popular regional destination that usually attracts over two million visitors a year, we were concerned'. On June 6, Byron Bay hosted a Black Lives Matter protest - as did many other cities in Australia - which directly violated social distancing and gathering orders. This includes a 1million donation from them to Daily Mail's PPE drive MailForce The couple have already given 16.5million to causes linked to war on Covid-19 His wife Julia, an art expert, said they wanted to provide extra support for charity Mr Rausing, 57, is the grandson of the founder of food packaging firm Tetra Pak Philanthropists Hans and Julia Rausing have given an astonishing 10million lifeline to help charities survive the coronavirus crisis. The Charity Survival Fund is aimed at bridging a funding gap that has left hundreds of voluntary organisations under threat. One in ten UK charities is facing bankruptcy by the end of the year because of falling income and rising demand for services, according to a recent study. Organisations warned they were on a financial cliff edge as the lockdown forced them to cancel fundraising events and close high street shops. Mr and Mrs Rausing have already donated 16.5million to causes linked to the fight against coronavirus this year, including a 1million donation to the Daily Mails drive to supply more PPE to the NHS frontline. Philanthropists Hans and Julia Rausing (pictured) have given an astonishing 10million lifeline to help charities survive the coronavirus crisis Mr Rausing, 57, whose Swedish grandfather Ruben founded the food packaging firm Tetra Pak, and his wife Julia, an art expert, said they wanted to provide extra support for the charity sector. The couple has donated 210million since launching the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, making them among Britains most generous philanthropists. They said: The last few months have proven very difficult for individuals and organisations across the country, and in particular for charities who have seen their regular sources of funding dry up. The Charity Survival Fund is designed to provide financial aid for many small and medium-sized charities that are facing financial hardship. Their work is needed now more than ever, and we hope this new fund helps bridge the financial gap until usual sources of income return to the sector. A study last month found one in ten UK charities will face bankruptcy by the end of the year due to a 10billion funding shortfall. The analysis by Pro Bono Economics said they would suffer a 6.4billion loss of income over the next six months. Food banks and community groups offering support for older people and those with underlying health conditions have seen a massive increase in demand for their services. Food banks and community groups offering support for older people and those with underlying health conditions have seen a massive increase in demand for their services Research by the Charities Aid Foundation found that almost a third of charities believed they would have to shut within 12 months if the crisis continued. The National Trust, the RSPCA and St John Ambulance have already announced they will need to make redundancies. The Government announced a 750million bailout fund for the voluntary sector in April. But it faced criticism that it was not enough, and that it had been slow to hand out money. Caroline Mallan, of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: We have seen first-hand just how many charities are at risk of closing their doors and not being there for the people and causes that they support. This fresh source of funds from the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust is a desperately needed lifeline for charities to get them through the recovery phase so that they can deliver vital services and be there for communities across the country. Karl Wilding, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said its research found charities had suffered a 29 per cent fall in income. He said: The reserves of many charities are now depleted. The Charity Survival Fund is very welcome. Additional support such as this fund is essential if charities are to play a full role in supporting the nations recovery and renewal. Mr and Mrs Rausing have already donated 16.5million to causes linked to the fight against coronavirus this year, including a 1million donation to MailForce - the Daily Mails drive to supply more PPE to the NHS frontline (pictured) The Charity Survival Fund will offer grants ranging from 1,000 up to 250,000 and aims to support up to 200 charities. It is open to UK charities with an annual income of less than 5million. Almost two-thirds of smaller charities say they have already made significant cuts to services, and could not furlough staff because they would not be able to operate without them. Rita Chadha, chief executive of the Small Charities Coalition, said: The Charity Survival Fund could be a lifeline for our members. These are charities that are keeping neighbourhood food banks going or helping older people in the community. The Charity Survival Fund opened for applications today and has a deadline of July 27. More information about eligibility and how to apply is available online at www.juliahansrausingtrust.org A bikie enforcer facing life behind bars who allegedly fired a powerful military-style SKS assault rifle in front of his baby girl has been labelled 'clueless' by a judge. The shocking vision of Rebels outlaw Matthew Bruce, 35, filmed by his girlfriend and co-accused Cursty Shields, 32, shows him test-firing the gun in Victoria's Wombat State Forest as part of a promotional video to sell the rifle, a court has heard. A short video appears to show Bruce with a cigarette hanging from his mouth as he pulled the trigger, all while his one-year-old daughter watched on in the background. The clip was shown to County Court Judge Bill Stuart during a pre-sentence hearing for his girlfriend. 'Clueless smoking a cigarette, while holding a gun like that,' Judge Stuart said, according to the Herald Sun. Matthew Bruce (pictured) was allegely filmed by his girlfriend firing the military-style SKS assault rifle The court heard how Shields allegedly feared her bikie boyfriend and felt she had 'no option' but to comply with his demands to film him on her phone. The couple's one-year-old daughter can be heard in the background of of the video. 'Do you want go play with daddy's gun?' Shields can be heard asking her daughter. She then said to Bruce: 'I wonder what she will be like hearing it?' Her boyfriend replied: 'I want to make it work on full auto and this time I want you to record the whole f*****g thing.' An earlier phone call intercepted by police heard the couple planning a trip to Bunnings to buy ear plugs for the child as the gun was 'going to be loud', the court heard. Matthew Bruce's one year daughter was present when he allegedly test-fired the powerful weapon (pictured) in a promotional video Rebels bikie enforcer Matthew Bruce (pictured, right) and his girlfriend Cursty Shields (left) were arrested in February last year Bruce faces life behind bars after Echo Taskforce detectives accused him of being behind an extensive gun and drug syndicate early last year. The major crime ring involved arson, drive-by shootings, and the underground dealing of guns and drugs across Melbourne in the three months leading to to Bruce's arrest in February 2019. Shields was also arrested for her alleged involvement. Police allegedly seized a number of illegal powerful firearms, including the SKS assault rifle, an action rifle, a shotgun, a small handgun with parts in a plastic case and another handgun hidden in a pillowcase after the couple were arrested. A third handgun was allegedly found in a horse float used as storage while $17,000 in cash was found stashed in their freezer, the court was told. 'Who still puts cash in the freezer? I reckon it's one of the first places police look,' Judge Stuart commented. Cursty Shields (pictured) was also involved in her boyfriend's extensive crime syndicate The judge added it appeared Bruce had a number of 'lackies' to do his dirty work for him, including his girlfriend, the publication reported. The court heard Shields brought, weighed, packaged and selling it to his clients. The couple also supplied a shotgun to an associate who was ordered to fire shots into a Harkness home in Melbourne's outer west on February 16 last year. Bruce ordered another associate to torch cars at another property in the same suburbs several nights earlier, the court heard. The pair have both pleaded guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of ice, possessing a trafficable quantity of unregistered firearms, discharge firearm at premises, trafficking cannabis, and attempting to obtain property by deception. Bruce faces additional charges of arson, possession of a firearm in contravention of his firearm prohibition order, and negligently dealing with proceeds of crime. He faces a pre-sentence hearing on Monday. A warning that another 35,000 cancer patients could die in a year due to treatment delays caused by Covid-19 has prompted fury among experts who fear the actual toll could be even higher. The extent of excess deaths was predicted by the UK's leading cancer data research hub. The horrific toll is a stark illustration of the indirect impact of the pandemic on the nation's health, with many appointments and procedures postponed as hospitals prioritised treatment of the coronavirus. But Professor Karol Sikora, an oncologist and former World Health Organization and Department of Health adviser, said: 'I've criticised stark predictions in the past. But I think it could easily be worse than that.' Professor Gordon Wishart, a cancer surgeon and founder of Check4Cancer which provides screening, added: 'Some of us predicted this in April, so why has it taken so long to be acknowledged.' He tagged Health Secretary Matt Hancock into his tweet calling for urgent action, asking: 'What is the plan to deal with the massive cancer backlog?' Professor Karol Sikora, an oncologist and former World Health Organization and Department of Health adviser, said 'it could easily be worse' than 35,000 extra deaths. Professor Gordon Wishart, a cancer surgeon and founder of Check4Cancer which provides screening, added: 'Some of us predicted this in April, so why has it taken so long to be acknowledged' Up to 35,000 more cancer patients could die in a year due to treatment delays caused by the pandemic, experts at the UK's leading cancer data research hub fear (file photo) ALMOST 2.5MILLION PATIENTS ARE CAUGHT IN THE CORONAVIRUS CANCER BACKLOG, CHARITY WARNS Almost 2.5million patients have missed out on vital cancer tests and treatment because of the pandemic. The NHS faces the shocking backlog of cases as it tries to return to normal and also cope with new victims of the disease. Cancer Research UK says 2.1million patients are awaiting crucial screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer. Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours. And at least 21,600 patients have had surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy postponed in the past nine weeks. Some of these procedures would have saved lives or extended them, granting precious extra time with loved ones. It is also thought patients with warning signs of cancer have avoided seeking help because they are worried about contracting coronavirus in a surgery or hospital. Advertisement It comes amid fears of a cancer time bomb, with leading charities estimating up to 2.5million cancer patients have missed out on vital tests and treatment this year because of the coronavirus crisis. Modelling by Data-Can, which collects figures on cancer treatments and is linked to leading universities, suggested the UK could see at least 18,000 more cancer deaths than normal. The toll was as high as 35,000 in the worst-case scenario. The cancer mortality figures were highlighted last night in an episode of Panorama on BBC, called Britain's Cancer Crisis. Urgent referrals for cancer care have dropped significantly and treatments have been delayed or cancelled. According to Data-Can, urgent cancer referrals up to the end of May were down by 44.5 per cent on pre-coronavirus levels. Professor Pat Price, a clinical oncologist interviewed by Panorama, said in some hospitals radiotherapy machines were 'lying idle which could have saved lives'. She said: 'It has been safe to give radiotherapy during Covid-19, we know that now. We were told not to do this. We are looking at a huge number of unavoidable deaths.' Following the programme, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Radiotherapy has launched a six-point plan to transform services and save thousands of lives from the cancer backlog. The plan involves hiring more staff, replacing out-of-date machines and setting up a national task force to ensure Britain is not lagging behind other nations. Professor Price, chair of Action Radiotherapy and adviser to the APPG, added: 'The radiotherapy community is pleading with the Government to take action, recognise the severity of the situation and seize this opportunity to rapidly boost our cancer fighting capacity. 'There is no more time for bureaucracy because Covid has so frighteningly exposed the deficiencies in cancer services. 'Lifesaving radiotherapy treatments must be a key part of the cancer recovery plan. Not the afterthought they have been for so many years.' Tim Farron MP, chair of the APPG, said: 'Cancer survival rates in the UK have been amongst the worst in Europe for years. 'We absolutely need a plan if we are to avoid a national tragedy brought about by the cancer backlog. Professor Pat Price (pictured), a clinical oncologist interviewed by Panorama, said in some hospitals radiotherapy machines were 'lying idle which could have saved lives' TWO NIGHTINGALE HOSPITALS WILL BE CONVERTED INTO CANCER TESTING CENTRES Two newly-built Nightingale hospital are being converted into cancer testing centres to clear a huge backlog of potential cancer patients, the chief executive of NHS England said last week. Sir Simon Stevens revealed that the 200-bed Exeter Nightingale site will start screening multiple patients a day starting from today to help cope with the growing number of people waiting for tests to find out if they have the disease. The hospital, originally built for Covid patients in the event intensive care wards were overwhelmed, will be open seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm. It follows the 500-bed Nightingale in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which started offering CT scans for suspected cancer sufferers on June 4. It comes amid fears of a cancer time bomb, with leading charities estimating 2.5million cancer patients have missed out on vital tests and treatment this year because of the coronavirus crisis. Charities have also warned there could be an additional 18,000 cancer deaths in 2020 because of the number of patients who have been diagnosed too late. Sir Simon told MPs that a number of private sector hospitals could be transformed into coronavirus-free cancer clinics in the coming months to clear the backlog. Advertisement 'We have an opportunity to transform our radiotherapy services, boost cancer survival rates and save lives from the disruption to services caused by Covid-19.' Vice-chair Grahame Morris said: 'Radiotherapy has been a Cinderella service for too long, marginalised compared to other treatments, despite being one of the best and most curative cancer treatments available. 'People should not be travelling hours for treatment and they should have access to new life saving equipment. 'These are smart and sensible solutions which will allow us to rapidly turn the service into one of the best in the world and most importantly save many lives from the cancer backlog.' NHS England defended the situation, saying there was a 'balance' to be struck between treating cancer and the risk of patients coming into hospital and catching the virus. Separate polling yesterday suggested the aftermath of the crisis will be felt for months and years to come, with half of patients still scared of going to hospital even as the threat of the virus recedes. Mike Birtwistle, health policy expert at the Incisive Health consultancy, which polled 2,000 British adults, said: 'We are facing a coronavirus timebomb which could result in poor health outcomes, pain and misery for years to come. 'Levels of coronavirus may be falling but public fear is still very real. I fear an explosion of ill-health is inevitable.' Last week it was revealed that two newly-built Nightingale hospital are being converted into cancer testing centres to clear a huge backlog of potential cancer patients. Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said that the 200-bed Exeter Nightingale site will start screening multiple patients a day starting from today to help cope with the growing number of people waiting for tests to find out if they have the disease. The hospital, originally built for Covid patients in the event intensive care wards were overwhelmed, will be open seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm. It follows the 500-bed Nightingale in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which started offering CT scans for suspected cancer sufferers on June 4. Photos and videos of large crowds gathering on New Yorks Fire Island over the July 4 weekend are drawing the ire of hundreds on social media. Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department were called to the beach in Fire Island Pines twice on Saturday regarding reports of a large number of people failing to social distance or wear face coverings as they partied in the sand. Numerous videos have since been shared across Twitter and Instagram documenting the troubling scenes at the popular vacation spot, showing cohorts of dwellers stood closely together without masks on. Suffolk County police said officers walked through the gathering and reminded people to social distance, however no citations were issued. One attendee, Corey Hannon, even bragged on social media that he had recently contracted COVID-19, but, after only quarantining himself for eight days, he decided to flock to the beach party regardless. Photos and videos of large crowds gathering on New Yorks popular holiday destination Fire Island over the July 4 weekend are drawing the ire of hundreds on social media One attendee, Corey Hannon, even bragged on social media that he had recently contracted COVID-19, but, after only quarantining himself for eight days, he decided to flock to the beach party regardless In a since deleted Instagram post, Hannon is heard saying in the video: You know what, I did have COVID. Everyone knows I had COVID, and you know what I did? I sat in my f***ing bedroom and quarantined myself for eight f***ing days. And suffered through COVID. And now Im out celebrating. So go f*** yourselves. I hope all of you get f***ing COVID, you nasty, nasty trolls. The 27-year-old New Yorker detailed his alleged battle with coronavirus often on Facebook in the days before his trip to Fire Island. On June 30, he wrote, Random as hell but feeling grateful! 11:18 p.m. Day 7 and my body has decided it is done with COVID-10 [sic]. Praying I wake up tomorrow with this good feeling and its not just a tease. Three days later, on July 3, Hannon uploaded a list of essentials he was packing to take to Fire Island, writing: All ready to get the f*** out of the city to Fired Island to celebrate the f***ed up thing we call America. Just a day afterwards, Hannon shared on Facebook that he was starting to feel sick again, remarking F*** you, Miss Rona. I thought I was cured, accompanied by several crying face emojis. All of the posts have since been deleted. Another of the attendees of the party, identified as Giancarlo Albanese, uploaded an image to his public Instagram page celebrating his apparent defiance of state social distancing guidelines. F*** your mask. F*** your social distancing. F*** your vaccine. F*** your eugenics, Albanese wrote. Kiss my a**hole if you think Im an a**. In a statement to DailyMail.com on Sunday, Hannon apologized for his comments and actions, insisting he would never maliciously hurt someone. In a statement to DailyMail.com on Sunday, Hannon apologized for his comments and actions, insisting he would never maliciously hurt someone. Another of the attendees of the party, identified as Giancarlo Albanese, uploaded an image (above) to his public Instagram page celebrating his apparent defiance of state social distancing guidelines. The gathering Hannon attended was one of several on Fire Island reported on social media Saturday. Other images showed dozens gathered during what appeared to be a house party on the Island on Saturday night. Spending the beginning of my 2020 homeless to now living in a beautiful apartment in Hells Kitchen, Im not some privileged, arrogant, uneducated person. Im a very well educated, humble, passionate human being who made a poor choice and for that I am sorry. Hannon added that hed claimed to have had COVID-19 on social media because he was reportedly told by his physician that he most likely had it. I chose to be on the safe side and live and act as if I had it. When the symptoms subsided so rapidly, I began to think maybe I didnt. I made a mistake and now realize I shouldve stayed in longer. I am still not feeling any symptoms and have not since last Wednesday. When I posted that I wasnt feeling well, while on the beach, it wasnt a COVID symptom. I was simply not feeling well from the heat. After being severely dehydrated from Covid mixed with 90 degree heat, it didnt settle well, he continued. The gathering Hannon attended was one of several on Fire Island reported on social media Saturday. Other images showed dozens gathered during what appeared to be a house party on the Island on Saturday night. In the image, shared by Vega on Facebook, none of the attendees are wearing masks and stood closely together with some even with their arms around one another. Long Island, once deemed a major hot spot for coronavirus, is currently in Phases 3 of the states reopening plan and county officials are currently gearing up to implement phase 4 on Wednesday. State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday issued a reminder to local governments to continue to enforce social distancing rules. As we end this holiday weekend, I urge everyone to be New York Tough: wear a mask, socially distance, use hand sanitizer and continue the smart practices that have made our state a national leader in combating this virus, Cuomo said. I also remind local governments of their duty to enforce the standards that have made [New York's] reopening safe and successful. Unlike other major cities across America, New York City has seen an improvement in coronavirus numbers over the past few week weeks. Locals expressed their worries and frustrations on Twitter that the scenes on Fire Island could lead to a second surge of coronavirus. Hey @NYGovCuomo how about informing Fire Island that all these people need 2 stay there in quarantine for 14 days b4 they can come back 2 the city due 2 their carelessness. #fireisland, wrote Lucy Ortiz. So, it would be AMAZING if all of you who are in Fire Island to keep youre a**es there for the next 14-21 days, get a COVID test and after you get results exit quarantine like a responsible citizen. You are responsible for your actions. Stay where you are, added Adam Antium. Vinny Vega, a NY promoter and COVID survivor, also criticized Saturdays scenes in Fire Island. So many people are flat out refusing to adjust to the new normal. Guess whateveryone in this photo, and anyone at this party2020 has been a hard year for the ENTIRE F***ing PLANET, Vega blasted. Delusional, sociopathic mindsets in our current sociopolitical climate are resulting in spiking numbers of Covid-19 cases/deaths. THIS IS NOT A JOKE: THIS IS SERIOUS. CARE MORE. Locals expressed their worries and frustrations on Twitter that the scenes on Fire Island could lead to a second surge of coronavirus. No citations were issued at Saturday's beach party, local police have said The United States dipped under 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in four days, but experts have said Independence Day celebrations will likely act as rocket fuel for the nation's surging outbreak. Johns Hopkins University, which tallies confirmed cases, counted 45,300 new coronavirus infections in the U.S. on Saturday. The new count came after three days in which the daily count reached as high as 54,500 new cases. The country was reporting under 20,000 new infections a day as recently as June 15. Experts warned, however, that the lower figure on Saturday does not necessarily mean the situation in the U.S. is improving, as it could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday. They also expect a further spike after the long weekend. The United States has the most infections and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs on Friday, while Texas hit a new peak for hospitalizations. Florida health officials on Sunday said the state had reached a grim milestone: more than 200,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19. State statistics show about 10,000 new people tested positive - a record new single-day high. More than 3,700 people have died. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in the state has increased by 5,323 - an increase of 184.1 per cent. About 43 per cent of the cases in Florida are in three counties: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Calls have been made to 'cancel Hamilton' just days after the Broadway musical's streaming debut on Disney+, after a renewed focus on it's lead character, Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The show, created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, portrays Hamilton as a 'young, scrappy, and hungry' immigrant and someone who was passionate about the abolition of slavery. However, in light of recent Black Lives Matter protests, the story has now come under greater scrutiny - with some pointing out that Hamilton was a slave trader. The Founding Father married into a prominent New York slaveholding family, and managed the sale of slaves for his in-laws. He also did accounting for a Caribbean trading company that engaged in the slave trade. However, it does not appear that Hamilton ever directly owned any slaves himself. Set during the American Revolution, the musical does not discuss the central role that slavery played during that particular moment in history while also failing to mention that most of the Founding Fathers were slave owners Some have taken to social media to call for the cancellation of the show overall The show portrays Alexander Hamilton as a 'young, scrappy, and hungry' immigrant and someone who was passionate about the abolition of slavery, but he traded slaves although he doesn't appear to have ever directly owned any enslaved people The Hamilton musical, which won 11 Tonys for its Broadway run and has grossed $1 billion worldwide, cast many non-white actors in roles as historical white figures. But the production glosses over the issue of slavery, making few references about the profits that some Founding Fathers made from it. Ajamu Baraka an international human rights activist, organizer, political analyst wrote: 'The play & now movie Hamilton is racist buffoonery & revisionist history meant to make liberal white folks feel good about their collaboration with the colonial project know as the U.S. & its racist imperialist project abroad. Miranda should concentrate on feeing (sic) Puerto Rico.' The true story behind the show has seen the hashtag 'CancelHamilton' grow on Twitter. Alexander Hamilton's connections to slavery Hamilton was a penniless orphan from the Caribbean who was so brilliant and so good at self-promotion that he rose through the ranks in the Revolutionary War to become George Washington's right-hand man. In 1780, he married Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of a wealthy and influential New York landowner and military officer. The couple went on to have eight children. She was a source of loyalty and stability over the years. Although it does not appear that Hamilton ever directly owned any slaves himself, he did marry into a prominent New York slaveholding family, and managed slave sales for his wife's family. It's believed the Schuyler family owned between between 8 and 13 slaves at their Albany, New York estate over the years with a further 15 at the Saratoga, New York home. The slaves consisted of a handful of men, several women and their children. The male slaves would moving materials between the Schuylers properties while the women carried out household chores including cooking, washing, and looking after the children. Born and raised in the West Indies, Hamilton was orphaned in his early teens. Taken in as an apprentice to an international shipping company based on his home island, his talents were recognized by local benefactors who created a fund to provide him with a formal education. Hamilton came to New York in 1772 at age 17 to study at King's College (now Columbia University). While he lived in the city he was exposed to American Patriots became a supporter of their cause. As a student, he wrote defenses of the revolutionary cause and published in local newspapers. Soon afterwards, Hamilton was commissioned as a Captain of Artillery at the beginning of the Revolutionary War; and later his abilities were again recognized and he was invited to become an aide-de-camp to General George Washington. After the war, as a member of Congress, Hamilton was instrumental in creating the new Constitution. As co-author of the Federalist Papers, he was indispensable in the effort to get the Constitution adopted. As the first U.S. Treasury Secretary (1789-95), Hamilton created a modern financial system, funded the national debt, founded a bank and established a mint with the dollar as currency. He defended the Constitution in the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays. They would become his best-known writings. Hamilton also founded the New York Post, and was even involved in a sex scandal, the Reynolds Affair. In the infamous 'Reynolds Pamphlet,' published in 1797, Hamilton went public about an affair with a married woman, Maria Reynolds. He did so in order to clear his name from any suspicion of illegal financial speculation involving her husband, James. It was America's first prominent sex scandal and ultimately dashed any hopes of achieving higher office. Hamilton also had a lifelong rivalry with Aaron Burr, the vice president under Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton and Burr had been political opponents since the debate over the Constitution in 1789. Burr claimed Hamilton insulted him and in July 1804 challenged him to a duel. Each man fired one shot; Hamilton missed, and was killed. Source: Associated Press, National Park Service, History.com, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Park Advertisement 'How is Hamilton not canceled? Alexander Hamilton owned and traded slaves. I think we need to cancel Hamilton,' wrote one Twitter user. 'Hamilton was a slave trader. Tear down the statues NOW and #CancelHamilton,' added another. Some of the tweets appeared to be tongue-in-cheek, and mocking of 'cancel culture' which has seen shows and movies removed from streaming sites for their depictions of racism. Classic film Gone With The Wind was removed from the HBO Max streaming platform after after coming under criticism for romanticizing slavery, amid a nationwide re-evaluation of cultural values. And episodes of TV shows including Scrubs, Golden Girls and 30 Rock have been pulled from online platforms for their portrayal of blackface. Former Fox News and NBC Today host Megyn Kelly asked if the show could survive. 'Can Hamilton - a show that celebrates America and her founders - survive cancel culture?' she asked in a tweet. And conservative political commentator author Nick Adams tweeted: 'Alexander Hamilton bought and traded slaves. Is Broadway going to cancel one of the top-grossing shows of all time? Another user tweeted: 'Can't believe Disney is showing a show about a slave trader in times like this. Also the actors aren't the same color as the people they are portraying. How dare they. #CancelHamilton'. Other have sprung to defend show creator Miranda. 'To those of you using #CancelHamilton, you need to learn to separate fact from fiction. Hamilton is a god damn Broadway musical, not a history lesson. To those of you trying to cancel Lin, give me one reason why. Your reasoning is that he made the founding fathers look like good people. It's BASIC AMERICAN HISTORY that the founding fathers were not good people. 2 years ago you wouldn't shut up about the musical. Now you want to cancel it? Yeah, you guys are dumb asses.' Set during the American Revolution, the musical does not discuss the central role that slavery played during that particular moment in history while also failing to mention that most of the Founding Fathers were slave owners. In an interview with NPR last week, Miranda admitted that the show does not deal with the issue of slavery in a way that it deserves. 'Although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs he remained complicit in the system. And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, [the show] doesn't really say much else over the course of Act 2. And I think that's actually pretty honest. 'He didn't really do much about it. None of them did. None of them did enough. And we say that, too, in the final moments. So that hits differently now because we're having a conversation, we're having a real reckoning of 'How do you uproot an original sin?'' When the Broadway musical became hugely popular in 2016, historian Annette Gordon-Reed wrote: 'In the musical, only Jefferson is shown as a slave holder. But Madison owned slaves too, and so did George Washington.' '[Hamilton] was not an abolitionist,' Gordon-Reed notes the Harvard Gazette. 'He bought and sold slaves for his in-laws, and opposing slavery was never at the forefront of his agenda. 'He was not a champion of the little guy, like the show portrays,' she said. 'He was elitist. He was in favor of having a president for life.' 'In the sense of the Ellis Island immigrant narrative, he was not an immigrant,' Gordon-Reed said. 'He was not pro-immigrant, either.' Last month, the creator took to social media to apologize for not speaking up sooner over the Black Lives Matter protests and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Miranda posted an apology on the official Hamilton Twitter account and delivered a contrite message. 'We spoke out on the day of the Pulse shooting. We spoke out when Vice President Mike Pence came to our show 10 days after the election. 'That we have not yet firmly spoken the inarguable truth that Black Lives Matter and denounced systematic racism and white supremacy from our official Hamilton channels is a moral failure on our part,' Miranda said in the 90 second video. 'As the writer of the show, I take responsibility and apologize for my part in this moral failure.' Miranda apologized for 'not pushing harder and faster for us to speak these self-evident truths under the Hamilton banner which has come to mean so much to so many of you.' 'Hamilton doesn't exist without the black and brown artists who created and revolutionized and changed the world through the culture, music and language of hip-hop. Literally, the idea of the show doesn't exist without the brilliant black and brown artists in our cast, crew and production team who breathe life into this story every time it's performed,' he went on to explain. 'It's up to us and words and deeds to stand up for our fellow citizens. It's up to us to do the work to be better allies and have each other's backs,' he said. Miranda is pictured in 2016 'It's up to us and words and deeds to stand up for our fellow citizens. It's up to us to do the work to be better allies and have each other's backs,' Miranda said as he thanked company members and fans for 'holding us accountable.' A producer with the show, Jeffrey Seller also echoed similar thoughts in a second video. 'I'm not a politician. I'm not an activist. I'm not an expert. I'm a theater producer. But what I realize today is most importantly I'm an American citizen and silence equals complicity and I apologize for my silence thus far,' Seller began. Lin-Manuel Miranda, 40, issued an apology to fans of Hamilton for the Broadway show's failure to publicly denounce systemic racism sooner A producer with the show, Jeffrey Seller also echoed similar thoughts in a second video 'African Americans have always and will always be integral to our success as a nation, as a culture and as a people. I must make it my effort to work with all of the organizations who are doing so much to support the welfare, livelihood, safety and liberty of African Americans.' The Hamilton Twitter account followed up the videos by posting links to Black Lives Matter and the NAACP of Minneapolis, along with the Minneapolis Freedom Fund, which people can donate to to help bail out protesters in the Twin Cities. The Hamilton Twitter account followed up the videos by posting links to Black Lives Matter and the NAACP of Minneapolis, along with the Minneapolis Freedom Fund, which people can donate to protesters in the Twin Cities; pictured in January 2019 Miranda and Seller's statements came days after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Floyd was killed when a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, including two minutes beyond when he stopped breathing and became unresponsive. So far, the four officers involved in the arrest have all been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Creator, Miranda, said he was proud of the musical's influence on nationwide anti-racism protests that followed Floyd's death in police custody last month. 'I know that when I see a sign at a protest out in the street that says 'History Has Its Eyes On You,' or 'Tomorrow There'll Be More Of Us,' I know that the language of the show is connecting in a way that makes me incredibly proud,' Miranda said, referring to popular lyrics from the show. 'I can't even wrap my mind around that,' he told an online press conference. When Hamilton premiered in 2015, it was groundbreaking in its blend of hip-hop musical numbers, color-blind casting and political revolution. With theaters closed due to the pandemic, and the initial cast having long ago moved on to other productions, the streamed movie on Disney+ offers a rare chance to see the original run of the show. The musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton and fellow Founding Fathers with rap and hip-hop numbers mixed in with traditional show tunes. Since its first Broadway run, the musical has been performed across the country and abroad, casted with mostly non-white actors. That diversity, and its message of risking everything for a noble cause, means its timing could not be more apt, said original cast member Renee Elise Goldsberry, who played Angelica Schuyler. 'We get to remember what those young people felt like, at that time when 'laying down your life to set us free' meant something,' said Goldsberry, referencing one of the musical's lines. 'The diversity of this country can be claimed by all of the people that created it -- that's one of the many things this show celebrates and I think it's so needed right now,' she added. Its release comes at a time when historic statues and monuments are being removed across the country, as Americans grapple with the legacy of racism. Fellow cast member Okieriete Onaodowan said he was excited 'to see how this affects young black people today.' 'Young kids who are out there, who are upset and angry... can watch this and realize that they can put their energies through writing, through challenging the people who are telling you things that you don't like to hear, like Hamilton did,' said Onaodowan, who played Hercules Mulligan and James Madison. Parts of Australia have shivered through their coldest night of the year so far as temperatures plummeted below 0C. It was a chilly start to the working week, with most capital cities across the nation still in the single digit temperatures at 8am on Monday. South-east Queensland shivered through a second consecutive morning of freezing temperatures after 30 towns across the region recorded their coldest temperatures of the year on Sunday. Residents in the state's Southern Downs region felt the the biggest brunt of the winter chill on Monday, where Applethorpe woke up to a frosty -2.1C while Warwick recorded -1.1C. A kangaroo (pictured) shivered through freezing conditions in Wadbiliga National Park near Nimmitabel in the NSW region of Monaro on Saturday Many parts of Australia recorded single digits temperatures at 8am on Monday, with Canberra shivering through a 0C blast (pictured) Wellcamp Airport recorded -1.4C at 5.20am, while further north the mercury dropped to 0.5C in Kingaroy. Brisbane airport dropped to a low of 7C, while the CBD was slightly warmer at 8.1C, two degrees lower than average. The city is expected to remain partly cloudy before warming up to a top of 22C later on Monday. On Sunday, temperature hit a low of -0.1C in Toowoomba, its coldest morning since August 2015. But it the highest minimum temperatures were still recorded in the Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. A family enjoying the school holidays at Toowoomba in Queensland's south-east showed how cold the city got after two mornings of freezing temperatures (pictured on Saturday) A farmer in Toowoomba, Queensland, shared this picture of frost covering the fields on Monday morning (pictured) Forecaster Peter Markworth told Daily Mail Australia the chilly temperatures are the result of cool burst coming up from the south, but will warm up as the week progresses. It was a wet weekend for Australia's alpine regions, bringing widespread snow falls. In New South Wales, Thredbo and Perisher saw 15cm drop on Sunday. Nearby Wadbilliga National Park was also blanketed in snow as the native wildlife shivered through the freezing conditions. In Victoria, Mount Buller saw 10cm of snowfall. Wadbiliga National Park in southern NSW (pictured on Saturday) was blanketed in snow on the weekend as the native wildlife shivered through the chilly conditions Elsewhere across the the country, sunny Sydney will reach a high of 18C, Melbourne will see light showers and a top of 14C while Adelaide will be a cloudy 15C. After waking up to a chilly and foggy 0C, Canberra will be mostly sunny before reaching a top of 13C. It will be a wet start to the week with rain in Hobart (13C) and Perth (19C) while Darwin will be a sunny 32C. Holidaymakers saw 15cm of snow fall in the NSW alpine town of Thredbo on Sunday (pictured) A kangaroo is seen surrounded by snow in Wadbiliga Naional Park in NSW (pictured) on Saturday as temperatures plummet This is the shocking moment a couple narrowly escaped being crushed by a tree when it was blown to the ground at a crossroads in west London. The dashcam clip shows the tree as it is uprooted in Ealing amid strong winds on Saturday afternoon, with one couple leaping out of its way as it falls. Andrew Thomas, 41, who captured the video, had been driving through the area with his girlfriend Joanna Wolman, 33, when he witnessed the dramatic fall. 'Seeing that couple approaching and the tree falling was so horrific for me,' Ms Wolman said. 'That pair were so lucky... a person who is constantly looking [at their] phone would be killed.' Ms Wolman and Mr Thomas called the police at 4pm, and officers informed Ealing Council about the fallen tree. The Metropolitan Police said they believe no one was injured in the incident. Mr Thomas, who works as a health and safety manager, said: 'My shock is how the tree got to that state in the first place... when were the checks of it done?' Gusts continued to batter Britain on Sunday, with wind speeds of 55mph recorded in Lake Vyrnwy, Wales and 54mph in Newcastle. The dashcam clip shows the tree as it was uprooted in Ealing on Saturday afternoon, with one couple leaping out of its way as it falls Andrew Thomas, 41, who captured the video, had been driving through the area with his girlfriend Joanna Wolman, 33, when he witnessed the dramatic fall Even stronger gales hit the mountains of Scotland and Cumbria, where gusts of up to 70mph were noted at Great Dun Fell at 8pm and Aonach Mor at 1pm. At Llangennith beach, on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, brave windsurfers were yesterday photographed making the most of the strong winds. The Met Office described the conditions as 'unusually windy for early July', the Sun reported. The gusts are expected to continue overnight, with the Met Office forecasting heavy showers and windy conditions across northern, central and western parts of the UK. Britons are forecast to have a final day of clear, warm weather on Monday, with 69F (21C) highs, before torrential rain and gales begin to batter the nation this week. Temperatures are, however, expected to remain mild despite forecast showers. On Monday, conditions will be a 'mixture of cloud and sunny spells', with the wind weakening to make way for showers in the far north and east. Met Office forecasters said: 'A mixture of cloud and sunny spells, conditions less windy than Sunday but still breezy. 'Some showers, mainly in the far north and east, but many areas mostly dry.' Gusts continued to batter Britain on Sunday, with wind speeds of 55mph recorded in Lake Vyrnwy, Wales and 54mph in Newcastle (Pictured: Llangennith beach near Swansea) A solitary kite surfer makes the most of the windy conditions in front of the Worms Head on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea High wind speeds were recorded in Wales today, where wind surfers took to the waves in the Gower Peninsula A 'dry and bright' start is then expected on Tuesday, with temperatures climbing to 68F (20C) in London, before skies turn cloudy with heavy rain expected across the west of England. In a forecast from Tuesday to Thursday, the Met Office said: 'Dry and bright in the north. 'Elsewhere, after a dry and bright start on Tuesday, becoming cloudy with rain at times. Heaviest and most prolonged rain in the west.' The Met Office described the swing between conditions as being 'between weather systems,' with Atlantic winds set to disrupt northern England and southern Scotland. The north east, north west and Northern Ireland will also see significant periods of bad weather as a result, with Scotland affected by strong winds. That was not the case in Park Forest, where police working the overnight shift from Saturday into Sunday morning handled 140 calls for service, including an incident in which the rear window of a police vehicle was broken after an unknown object was thrown at it. Stood-down Qantas staff will be recruited to Victoria's botched hotel quarantine regime. Corrections Victoria has taken over the management of hotel quarantine for returned travellers after private security guards breached protocols, contributing to the state's latest coronavirus outbreak. The decision, announced by Daniel Andrews in a press conference on Monday was met by criticism. Stood-down Qantas staff will be recruited to Victoria's botched hotel quarantine regime (stock picture) Brian Wilson, a pilot from Airline Insider, told 3AW Breakfast using flight staff was a risky decision. 'They're not trained in infection control, and they're not trained in mental health,' he said. 'The key thing is really "What's the training?", what's the procedures and what's the competency testing into making sure the right people are there. 'The danger here is putting people in where they don't have the authority to be able to provide the sort of control that is needed in these sort of situations.' Successful candidates would have to work six 12-hour shifts over a 24/7 roster fortnight, according to the department's job advertisement. Support workers will be required to ensure social distancing measures and good hygiene practises are being adhered to at all times. 'The Corrections Commissioner and Corrections Victoria who have control from a management, supervision and overall chain of command ... over our hotel quarantine is very pleased that we have sought to engage a number of cabin crew who are currently stood down from Qantas,' Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Monday. Victoria's hotel quarantine program was put on hold after it was discovered it was central to the rise of the state's COVID-19 case numbers (Stamford Hotel in Melbourne pictured) 'Let's be clear: There are very few groups of people who take safety more seriously and know and understand safety protocols and dynamic environments and the need to always go by the book than those who work in our aviation sector.' Any stood-down cabin crew hired will be employees of the Department of Justice and Community Safety, they will not be sub-contractors, Mr Andrews said. They will be directly accountable and under the direct supervision and management of Corrections Victoria. 'We need people who are resilient, respectful and accountable and have the communication skills needed to support the hotel quarantine arrangements,' the job advertisement read. The Victorian Government came under fire over the program after it was hit with infection protocol breaches while hosting returned travellers. Controversy still surrounds the use of private security to guard the quarantine hotels. Instead of preventing the spread of the virus, the program was found to be central to the rise of the state's COVID-19 case numbers. As a result the Department of Justice and Community Safety is now tasked with guarding the quarantine hotels in place of private security companies. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas and The Department of Justice and Community Safety for further comment. Authorities in California are looking for a couple who defaced a Black Lives Matter street mural on Sunday just hours after community members finished painting it. The Martinez Police Department announced they were looking for an unidentified white male and female after they ruined a city-sanctioned Black Lives Matter mural with black paint. The incident began when the couple, appearing to wear Make American Great Again apparel, arrived to the mural in front of the city courthouse in downtown Martinez on July 4. Footage shows the woman pouring a can of black paint over part of the mural and using a paint roller to cover the bright yellow letters. When one witness asks the woman 'what's wrong with you,' her male companion replies 'we're sick of the narrative, that's what is wrong.' 'The narrative of police brutality, the narrative of oppression, the narrative of racism, it's a lie,' the man adds. The man, who was recording the incident, then points to the Black Lives Matter sign and calls it 'racism.' An argument is sparked between the man and onlookers while the woman continues to damage the mural. 'There is no oppression. There is no racism,' the man says. 'It's a leftist lie...from the media.' The Martinez Police Department are looking for an unidentified male and female (pictured) who vandalized a Black Lives Matter mural on Saturday The man (pictured) argued with witnesses that Black Lives Matter is 'racism' and 'no one' wants in it the city The woman then becomes enraged at the witnesses and exclaims 'keep that s****' in f****** New York! It's not happening in my town!' The woman appeared to referencing to a number of Black Lives Matter murals approved across all five boroughs of New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that one would be painted directly in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue - a move that angered the president - but it was delayed last week for unspecified reasons. Several such murals have painted on roadways across the country to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd and other black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. The man said the couple defaced the mural because they were 'tired of the narrative...', referring to police brutality and racism At one point, the woman becomes enraged and says to 'keep that s****' in f****** New York! It's not happening in my town!' Authorities said the couple fled the scene before police officers arrived At one point, the man chimes in that 'no one wants Black Lives Matter here' and 'all lives matter.' The Martinez Police Department said that it dispatched to the Black Lives Matter mural after people reported the incident, but the couple had already fled the area. Community members on Sunday returned to the mural and re-painted it. 'The community spent a considerable amount of time putting the mural together only to have it painted over in a hateful and senseless manner,' the department said. 'The City of Martinez values tolerance and the damage to the mural was divisive and hurtful. Please help us identify those that are responsible for this crime, so they can be held accountable for their actions.' Authorities also released a photo of the couple's suspected vehicle. 'A witness provided a photograph of the suspect's vehicle which was described as a Nissan pickup truck with the word 'NICOLE' on the right side of the tailgate in silver lettering', the press release read. 'The truck has a camper shell and the license plate is 52701B1.' Community members returned to the Martinez courthouse on Sunday to repair the damaged Black Lives Matter mural Authorities released an image of the couple's suspected Nissan vehicle in a press release on Sunday Tatiana Ray: 'You know, it was such a threat to have anybody else's concerns represented by the city and represented by the community' According to KPIX-TV, the City of Martinez approved the Black Lives Matter mural and allowed community members to paint the artwork on the Fourth of July. More than 100 people - all wearing face coverings and adhering to social distancing - gathered to paint the phrase on Saturday for five hours. The 'public art project,' was organized by a local group named Martizians for Black Lives, which got permission for the mural from the Martinez Recreation Department. Justin Gomez, a top organizer for Martizians for Black Lives, said the project was inspired after a number of anti-Black Lives Matter fliers were discovered in the city. The fliers reportedly prompted a community-wide discussion and reflection of how residents should be treated. 'People have now seen racism in their community; now we have to confront it,' said Gomez. He added that it was not mistake that the mural was placed in front of the Martinez courthouse. President Trump (pictured) has been heavily criticized for his response to the Black Lives Matter movement in recent weeks after a series of political missteps Pictured: An aerial view of 'Black Lives Matter' mural painting is seen on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York City on June 15 The legal system 'gateway to mass incarceration' that has disproportionately affected Black Americans and minorities, as well as perpetuated institutional racism. 'The "system" is made up of millions of little systems. We have to look locally first,' said Gomez. One of the mural artists, Tatiana Ray, told ABC 7 that the couple's response to the artwork was indicative of white supremacy permeating through American culture. 'I think that this is an indication of how much power white supremacy actually has,' she said. 'The fact that even having something on the street for one hour, they couldn't even tolerate that. You know, it was such a threat to have anybody else's concerns represented by the city and represented by the community.' Meanwhile yesterday a large-scale ground mural depicting Breonna Taylor with the text 'Black Lives Matter' was being painted at Chambers Park in Annapolis, Maryland The mural was organized by Future History Now in partnership with Banneker-Douglass Museum and The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. The painting honors Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by members of the Louisville Metro Police Department in March 2020 Nationwide protests against white supremacy, racial injustice and police brutality have gripped the United States since George Floyd's death on Memorial Day. As hundreds of thousands of Americans called for action, President Trump has railed against Black Lives Matter and unequivocally sided with law enforcement. He was condemned over his heavy-handed military response to often peaceful protests, appearing to incite further divide between civilians using prejudice rhetoric and for using the widely contested phrase 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts. His apparent distaste for Black Lives Matter protesters seeped into his Fourth of July address at the White House, where he compared them to Nazis and terrorists. 'American heroes defeated the Nazis, dethroned the fascists toppled the communists, saved American values, upheld American principles, and chased down terrorists to the very ends of the earth,' he said. The Martinez Police Department asked that if any members of the public can identify the male and female involved in the incident, they should call the Dispatch Center at 925-372-3440 with the information. Florida health officials have revealed that a person has been infected with a rare and usually deadly brain-eating amoeba. According to the Department of Health, the patient contracted Naegleria fowleri in Hillsborough County. Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic single-celled living amoeba, the department said in a statement on Friday. The amoeba can cause a rare infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) that destroys brain tissue and is usually fatal. Florida health officials have revealed that a person has been infected with a rare and usually deadly brain-eating amoeba called the Naegleria fowleri (3D illustration pictured) According to health officials, the amoeba is commonly found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers, ponds and canals. Infections can happen when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. Once the amoeba enters the nose, it travels to the brain where it causes PAM. 'It is essential to seek medical attention right away, as the disease progresses rapidly after the start of symptoms,' the health department said. Those symptoms include headaches, fever, nausea, disorientation, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures, loss of balance or hallucinations after swimming in warm water. Officials said this type of infection usually occurs when temperatures increase for prolonged periods of time. The peak season for this amoeba is July, August and September. While the amoeba is found in many freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers, health officials said it is more common in southern states. There are only 37 reported cases with exposure in Florida since 1962. According to health officials, the amoeba is commonly found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers, ponds and canals. Infections can happen when contaminated water enters the body through the nose Health officials also listed recommendations for residents who have plans to swim in bodies of freshwater. People should avoid 'water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater, hot springs and thermally polluted water such as water around power plants'. It's also important to avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater 'during periods of high water temperature and low water levels'. 'Hold the nose shut or use nose clips when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers, or hot springs,' officials said. Lastly, people should avoid 'digging in or stirring up the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas'. Rishi Sunak faces a plea to keep Britain in work as the scale of the jobs bloodbath already under way is revealed today. Almost 200,000 workers at household-name companies have been laid off since the start of lockdown, an analysis by the Daily Mail has found. The Chancellor was told last night that his focus needs to be on 'jobs, jobs, jobs' in his mini-Budget on Wednesday. Senior figures warned that the job losses so far will be just the 'tip of the iceberg' unless dramatic action is taken. Major layoffs have hit sectors such as retail, travel, hospitality and manufacturing, all of which have been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic. In just the past week alone, firms including Harrods, John Lewis, Cafe Rouge and Topshop-owner Arcadia have all wielded the axe, leaving more than 14,000 staff without a job. But data collated by the Daily Mail shows that 59 household-name companies have cut more than 195,000 roles since lockdown began in March. Some of the biggest have been at Heathrow Airport, which has laid off 25,000 staff, British Airways, which is axing 12,000, and Rolls-Royce, which is cutting 9,000 jobs. The Chancellor was told last night that his focus needs to be on 'jobs, jobs, jobs' in his mini-Budget on Wednesday Thousands of smaller companies have also been reducing their staff. A total of 2.8million are now claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while searching for a job, according to official data. Last night Lucy Powell, Labour's business spokesman, said: 'These job losses are devastating for the people involved and for the economy. We fear they are just the tip of the iceberg. Hospitality and high streets have been battered by this crisis, with many businesses struggling to survive. We need a back-to-work Budget with a laser-like focus on jobs, jobs, jobs.' Labour is calling for a 1.7billion hospitality and high streets 'fightback fund' to help protect jobs. Former Conservative chancellor Lord Lamont called for employers to be given a holiday on National Insurance payments, as he warned that jobs must be 'absolutely the key priority' for Mr Sunak. The Tory grandee, who held the post during the 1992 Black Wednesday crisis, said: 'He has acted boldly and quickly, but the difficult part is yet to come.' Lord Lamont, who was speaking on the Blue Collar Conversations podcast, said: 'I would perhaps have a holiday for employers' National Insurance for a period of time. If you cut the cost of employing people that will be the best way to retain jobs. Firms are going out of business not through any fault of their own.' Meanwhile, a group of former economic advisers to five Tory prime ministers or chancellors suggested that while the focus should be on 'jobs jobs jobs', debt must also be falling by 2024. Almost 200,000 workers at household-name companies have been laid off since the start of lockdown In just the past week alone, firms including Harrods, John Lewis, Cafe Rouge and Topshop-owner Arcadia have all wielded the axe They set out a plan for the UK's recovery from coronavirus that includes a national debt restructuring agency and an unprecedented skills and jobs package. The report, written by Mats Persson, Adam Memon, Raoul Ruparel, Tim Pitt, Will Tanner and Neil O'Brien for think-tank Onward, also calls for 30billion to be invested in struggling firms. The pace of cuts is picking up as the Government's furlough scheme, which has been used by 1.1million employers to protect 9.3million workers, draws to a close. Companies have already used the scheme to pay 25.5billion of their employees' wages. Thousands who have been let go had originally been furloughed, leading to fears that millions more furloughed workers will never return to their job as Mr Sunak gradually withdraws the wage support. A survey today suggests that 44 per cent of businesses participating in the furlough scheme believe they will have to let at least some of their staff go when it ends. The poll of 500 companies, conducted by Opinium on behalf of the think-tank Bright Blue, found that 65 per cent medium sized firms with between 50 and 249 workers, said they expect to make redundancies. A group of 120 industry leaders in the hospitality sector have written to Boris Johnson, calling for VAT to be cut temporarily from 20 per cent to 5 per cent to encourage consumers to spend. The group, coordinated by industry body UK Hospitality, also wants the Government to defer July tax payments for businesses such as hotels and restaurants, hand out targeted grants, and extend the business rates holiday. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government's watchdog, predicted in April that around 3.4million people, or one in ten of the working age population, would be unemployed by the end of June. Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf has slammed JK Rowling as 'dangerous' and a 'threat to LGBT people' in a row over the author's latest controversial tweets. The Harry Potter creator yesterday likened hormone therapy and surgery for transgender young people to 'a new kind of conversion therapy'. Her statements were backed by Baroness Emma Nicholson - who is embroiled in a row with Bergdorf over allegations that the Tory peer bullied her - who dubbed Rowling 'the very bravest of women'. She was also lent support from Walt Heyer, who transitioned to a woman and then back to male who called her 'my hero'. But Bergdorf was quick to slam the author's statement and wrote: 'Mark my words. JK Rowling is dangerous and poses threat to LGBT people. Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf (right) slammed JK Rowling (left) as 'dangerous' and a 'threat to LGBT people' in a row over the authors latest controversial tweets The Harry Potter creator today likened hormone therapy and surgery for transgender young people to 'a new kind of conversion therapy' 'Trans healthcare is not conversion therapy. This is INSANE.' In a separate Tweet she added: 'JK Rowling is not a scientist. She is not a doctor. She is not an expert on gender. She is not a supporter of our community. 'She is a billionaire, cisgender, heterosexual, white woman who has decided that she knows what is best for us and our bodies. This is not her fight.' Bergdorf was quick to slam the author's statement and wrote: 'Mark my words. JK Rowling is dangerous and poses threat to LGBT people She also called the author an 'enemy of progress' and branded her comments 'evil'. But there was support for the writer from Walt Heyer, 80, who transitioned to a woman and then back again to male. The American, who had 12 years of hormone therapy, backed the Harry Potter creator. He told the MailOnline: 'JK is quite correct to equate hormone therapy and surgery to "conversion therapy" very accurately put. 'The people are having a "row with her" because she is absolutely telling it like it is and frankly JK has become my hero for her willingness to stand up to the nonsense. 'JK is just getting on with the truth, bravo to her not many have such pluckiness.' Rowling sparked fury last month when she reacted to an online article titled: 'Opinion: Creating a more equal post COVID-19 world for people who menstruate'. She tweeted her 14.5 million followers: 'People who menstruate. I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?' Then in her 4,000-word essay she detailed her research and beliefs on transgender issues, including examples of where she thought demands by transgender activists were dangerous to women - which was widely criticised by LGBTQ advocacy groups as divisive and transphobic. Her statements were backed by Baroness Emma Nicholson (pictured with Rowling in 2007) - who is embroiled in a row with Bergdorf over allegations that the Tory peer bullied her - who dubbed Rowling 'the very bravest of women' She again faced a backlash yesterday after liking a tweet which stated: 'Hormone prescriptions are the new antidepressants. 'Yes they are sometimes necessary and lifesaving, but they should be a last resort - not the first option. 'Pure laziness for those who would rather medicate than put in the time and effort to heal people's minds.' Following backlash, the author took to Twitter to clarify her thoughts. In a separate Tweet Bergdorf (pictured) added: 'JK Rowling is not a scientist. She is not a doctor. She is not an expert on gender. She is not a supporter of our community' She wrote: 'Many health professionals are concerned that young people struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery when this may not be in their best interests. 'Many, myself included, believe we are watching a new kind of conversion therapy for young gay people, who are being set on a lifelong path of medicalisation that may result in the loss of their fertility and/or full sexual function. She went on to cite articles discussing the long-term effects of both antidepressants and hormone therapies. She added: 'None of that may trouble you or disturb your belief in your own righteousness. But if so, I cant pretend I care much about your bad opinion of me.' A man is receiving treatment in hospital after being shot in the stomach outside a Toby Carvery restaurant in north London on Sunday night. Police were called to a branch of the restaurant in Enfield following reports of shots being fired after an argument. Officers found a man, believed to be in his 50s, with a severe gunshot wound and he was rushed to hospital following treatment from paramedics. Police were called to an area near a Toby Carvery restaurant in Enfield in north London (pictured) after a man in his 50s was shot in the stomach following an argument Police officers from Enfield Metrpolitan Police service confirmed no arrests have been made following the incident Police confirmed that the victim's condition is being assessed, while an investigation has been launched. Footage of the crime scene shows a police cordon being placed near the entrance of the restaurant. Armed officers were called to the scene and made an area search of the nearby land to try and find the gunman, who had fled from the scene. No arrests have been made yet. The Toby Carvery restaurant in Enfield opened its doors for the first time since lockdown on Saturday, just over 24 hours before the attack. Police were called following reports of shots firing following an argument near the restaurant, and found the man with a gunshot wound to his pelvis Paramedics were also called to the scene and the victim was rushed to hospital. His condition is still being assessed, while no arrests have been made following the incident A statement from the Enfield Metropolitan Police service said: 'Police were called by LAS at 7.15pm to Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield, after a man was found with a suspected gunshot injury to his stomach. 'The man, believed to be in his 50s, was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. His condition is being assessed. 'At this stage there have been no arrests. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.' Anyone who witnessed the attack or has any information about the incident should call 101 ref CAD 7351/5 July. FBI agents preparing to storm the New Hampshire hideout of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein and alleged madam, nearly blew the entire $4.9million covert operation after a neighbor complained about planes circling overhead. Maxwell was taken into custody in Bradford, a small town in New Hampshire, on Thursday morning. Special Agent William Sweeney said at a press conference later that the FBI was 'discreetly keeping tabs' on her for some time and that she recently moved to the property. But as agents prepared to move in on Maxwell, a neighbor approached a convoy of vehicles parked nearby. One resident of the area told the Mirror: 'The planes had been buzzing around since 5am. They were a nuisance. We began calling each other to find out what the noise was about. Finally one snapped and drove down to where the vehicles were lined up. 'He demanded to know who they were and they replied they were from the New England Aerial map society it was totally fictitious. The problem the FBI had was that the guy is an expert in maps and geology. Its what he does for a living.' According to that resident, the upset neighbor demanded that he see inside their van but was told to back off. FBI agents preparing to storm the New Hampshire hideout of Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured in 2016), the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein and alleged madam, nearly blew the entire $4.9million covert operation after a neighbor complained about planes circling overhead As agents prepared to move in on Maxwell, a neighbor approached a convoy of vehicles parked nearby. The neighbor questioned the FBI about the planes and was told that 'they were from the New England Aerial map society'. Maxwell was arrested at the property above But according to another local, the neighbor is an expert in maps and geology and didn't believe a word the agents said. He then asked to see inside their van but was told to back off. He went back home and called police on the FBI. Maxwell was arrested at the home above The Daily Mail revealed that Maxwell bought the 156-acre property with cash, using an LLC to hide her identity, in December. About 24 agents arrested her on Thursday morning. The home, where Maxwell was arrested, is nicknamed 'Tuckedaway' 'He told his wife, and she called the police on the FBI. It was hilarious,' the other resident told the Mirror. The Daily Mail last week revealed that Maxwell bought the 156-acre property with cash, using an LLC to hide her identity, in December. About 24 agents arrested her on Thursday morning. According to the Mirror, she was wearing jogging bottoms and t-shirt when she was arrested. No other circumstances surrounding her arrest are known. In a videolink court appearance on Thursday afternoon, her attorneys agreed to have the case moved to the Southern District of New York - where she is being charged. Prosecutors asked the judge to deny her bail, saying she is a flight risk with an international network of friends and access to unlimited resources. She has been held for now without bail. It's unclear where she will be detained before her next court appearance but the judge said she would be 'temporarily' placed in custody. A grand jury returned a sealed, six-count indictment against her on June 29, almost a year after Epstein was charged. It accuses her of enticing underage girls to travel for sex, actually having sex with them and Epstein and later lying about it under oath in depositions when she was being sued by Virginia Giuffre Roberts, one of Epstein's accusers who says she had sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17. A six-count indictment accuses Maxwell (pictured with Epstein in 2005) of enticing underage girls to travel for sex, actually having sex with them and Epstein Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, gestures on Thursday as she speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Epstein The charges relate to incidents that happened between 1994 and 1997 and involve three unnamed victims, the youngest of whom was 14. The alleged abuse happened at Epstein's homes in New York, Florida and New Mexico and at Maxwell's home in London. Epstein has been accused of abusing dozens more girls and Maxwell is tangentially associated with the decades of alleged horror because, the accusers say, she was always by his side or making arrangements for him and them. Maxwell, the British socialite daughter of the late, disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell whose impressive international network of friends and acquaintances includes the Clintons, has been a ghost since Epstein was arrested last June on charges of sex trafficking. She is the one who introduced him to Prince Andrew and set up the 2001 London night out when the royal allegedly had sex with Giuffre. On Thursday, Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss said the investigation into Epstein's decades of abuse is ongoing and that she'd 'welcome' Prince Andrew 'coming in to provide a statement', prompting speculation that he may among people investigators may focus their attention on next. 'We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us. We would like to have the benefit of his statement. Our doors remain open. We would welcome him coming in and giving us an opportunity to hear his statement,' she said. It opens the door to questions of jurisdiction and whether or not US Attorney Strauss may charge for alleged incidents that happened in London and not America. Among the claims in the indictment is that Maxwell groomed one of the victims in London. At her press conference, Strauss said some of the sexual abuse also happened at Maxwell's house in London. The charges against Maxwell are: conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of perjury. Maxwell has not been seen since last August when she was photographed at an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles, ten days after Epstein's suicide The gate at Maxwell's property - called TuckedAway - on Thursday after she was arrested The indictment reads in part: 'Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's access to minor victims knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls and that he intended to engage in sexual activity with those victims'. When she met Epstein, she had an astonishing network of influential and important friends and acquaintances around the world which many say is what drew him to her. Among the allegations in the indictment is that Maxwell groomed the girls, including one in London. 'Victim 1' met Maxwell when she was 14 in 1994,' the indictment reads. 'Maxwell 'groomed [her] by taking her to the movies and on shopping trips. 'She also asked her about school, her classes, her family and other aspects of her life. 'She then sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, undressing in front of her and being present when she undressed in front of Epstein,' according to the indictment. The trio then engaged in 'group massage sex' on more than one occasion, the indictment claims. 'Victim 2' met Ghislaine in 1996 and groomed her at Epstein's New Mexico ranch. 'Victim 3' met Maxwell in London in 1994 and was groomed until 1995 where she had sex with them. At the press conference Strauss, said: 'Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, then delivered them into the trap that she and Epstein had set for them. 'She pretended to be a woman they could trust, all the while she was setting them up to be sexually abused by Epstein in some cases, by Maxwell herself. 'Today after many years, Ghislaine Maxwell finally stands charged for her role in these crimes.' FBI Special Agent William Sweeney said the bureau had been 'keeping tabs' on Maxwell 'for some time'. 'We have been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell for some time. 'She slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims continue to live with the trauma inflicted on them years earlier.' Maxwell has not been seen since August 2019 when she was spotted at an In-N-Out Burger, ten days after Epstein' s suicide. Reports soon emerged those images may have been 'faked' by her lawyer to disguise her whereabouts. She has made no public comment about the scandal or about Epstein's death last August and her whereabouts have been largely unknown. DailyMail.com tracked her down in a small New England town where she was living with tech CEO Scott Borgerson in August 2019 but aside from that, her movements have been a mystery. Maxwell is who introduced Prince Andrew to Epstein and who facilitated the 2001 night out in London when Andrew allegedly had sex with Virginia Giuffre Roberts, then 17. He denies they ever met. Pictured: The Prince with Roberts as Maxwell stands in the background in 2001 Since Epstein's arrest and suicide, his victims have demanded that others involved in the abuse be brought to justice. Maxwell (pictured with Epstein in 1995) has always been at the top of their list Since Epstein's arrest and suicide, his victims have demanded that others involved in the abuse be brought to justice. Maxwell has always been at the top of their list. She allegedly approached girls in high schools, at country clubs and even in the street if she thought they would be to Epstein's liking. She would tell them that she worked for a wealthy man who would generously help them if they agreed to come to his home and massage him for money, the women say. Giuffre has shared the most explosive allegations against her. She claims that Maxwell took part in her first sexual encounter with Epstein and that the three of them regularly had sex. She also claims that when she tried to break free from Epstein, Maxwell threatened her. Others have told how Maxwell facilitated their travel and taught them how to please the financier sexually. When Epstein was arrested in Palm Beach in 2007, she stood by him, writing in a character statement that he'd helped her through the death of her father. Maxwell lived for years with Epstein and was his frequent travel companion on trips around the world. Epstein killed himself in a federal detention center in New York last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was initially investigated in Florida and pleaded guilty to state charges in 2008 that allowed him to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. He was free a little after a year in prison. Maxwell has, for years, been accused by many women of recruiting them to give Epstein massages, during which they were pressured into sex. Those accusations, until now, never resulted in criminal charges. She is facing allegations of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of perjury. If convicted, she could face life in prison on the most serious charge - transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity - which carries a minimum 10 year sentence. Advertisement Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms declared 'enough is enough' after an eight-year-old girl was shot dead on the Fourth of July when at least two gunmen opened fire on her mom's car, as dozens of other scenes of violence and chaos erupted around the country. Secoriea Turner was killed after her mother Charmine Turner drove through an illegal barricade that had been set up by activists around the restaurant where Brooks was shot dead by police officers while being arrested on June 12. Meanwhile in New York, where cops say Mayor Bill de Blasio has 'surrendered' to lawlessness, gun violence spiked by 140 percent. President Trump threatened to intervene on Twitter, saying both Chicago and New York's crime numbers had gone 'way up'. Bottoms, who has been touted as a potential running mate for Joe Biden in November's presidential election, angrily told protesters and criminals to stop the bloodshed. 'We have talked about this movement that is happening across America at this moment in time when we have the ears and the interest of people across this country and across this globe who are saying they want to see change. We're fighting the enemy within when we are shooting each other up in our streets. You shot and killed a baby. And it wasn't one shooter, there was at least two shooters.' Scroll down for video Video from the scene of the shooting shows people running for cover after gunmen opened fire Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms on July 5, pleading with residents of Atlanta to stop the violence Bottoms also noted that the latest shooting, as well as others that occurred in a 24-hour span, were not the work of local police officers - whose brutality against black men is what started the movement. 'The reality is this, these arent police officers shooting people on the streets of Atlanta,' she said. 'These are members of the community shooting each other and in this case, it is the worst possible outcome.' Charmine was overcome by grief as she made an emotional plea during a press conference with Mayor Bottoms on Sunday. 'We understand the frustration of Rayshard Brooks, we understand,' Charmine said. 'We ain't got nothing to do with that, we innocent. We didn't mean no harm. My baby didn't mean no harm.' The shooting happened at around 9:50pm Saturday at the All American Package Store, close to the Wendys restaurant where Brooks was killed by an Atlanta police officer on June 12. The Wendy's - which was burned down in protests after Brooks' killing - has since become a site for demonstrations against police brutality. It was turned into a sort of autonomous zone, similar to Seattle's CHOP, and has been the target of scrutiny for city officials as illegal barricades were erected to keep others out. Authorities said the mother had attempted to drive through illegally placed barricades in the area when the vehicle came under fire Saturday night. In a statement Sunday, police said the girl was in a car with her mother and a friend of the mother when they got off Interstate-75/85 onto University Avenue and were trying to enter a parking lot nearby. Gun violence unfolds across the US over July 4 weekend New York City: 37 injured, 6 killed Chicago: 63 injured, 17 killed Philadelphia: 14 injured, 5 dead Baltimore: 8 injured, 1 killed Detroit: 5 injured, 2 killed Greenville: 8 injured, 2 killed Memphis: 4 injured, 1 killed Omaha: 8 injured Cleveland: 4 injured St. Louis: 11 injured, 3 killed As of 8pm EST, July 5 Advertisement They ran into a group of armed individuals who had blocked the entrance. 'At some point, someone in that group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child who was inside,' the statement read. Secoriea's mother drove the girl to Atlanta Medical Center but she did not survive. Authorities are offering a a $10,000 reward to for any information leading to an arrest and indictment of suspects. Police said they are seeking help from the public to identify those involved and released a wanted poster saying a person all dressed in black and another in a white T-shirt were being sought. 'An 8-year-old girl was killed last night because her mother was riding down the street,' Bottoms said. 'If Secoriea was not safe last night, none of us are safe.' 'Somebody knows something,' said Charmine during the press conference, while the child's father, Secoriya Williamson, comforted her. Williamson then took the mic and, while his voice broke from the pain, called out the shooters for apparent hypocrisy. 'They say Black lives matter. You killed your own. You killed your own this time,' said Williamson. 'Just because of a barrier. They killed my baby because she crossed a barrier and made a U-turn. You killed a child. She didn't do nothing to nobody.' Soon after, Charmine was overcome with grief and had to be escorted out of the press conference by family members. 'This is a child's life gone too soon, we are pleading, anybody, if you know anybody that knows somebody that knows this person or persons, please, we beg you, we beg you, please, please let's do this. Bring this in for justice,' said the child's aunt, April Turner. 'Whoever did this, we're asking the public, we are pleading. Call Crime Stoppers, call Atlanta Homicide, if you're in a different county, DeKalb County, call DeKalb County homicide. Bottoms announced that the death of Secoriea was the final straw as authorities now plan to shut down and clear out the autonomous zone near the Wendy's. Bottoms said there have been problems with protesters in the area putting up barriers to close off the street. She said she received a message that the barriers were back up less than an hour before she was informed that the 8-year-old girl had died. Bottoms said: 'At the request of Counci lmember Sheperd, our public safety chair and our city council president, we had not completely closed the Wendys location yet giving them an opportunity to have discussions with the people who were still at the Wendy's. NYC: Police officers and witnesses stand near where a 23-year-old man was shot dead in Harlem hours after Independence Day celebrations wound down Members of the New York Police Department examine a bullet hole in the front windshield of a marked police vehicle outside the 40th Precinct on Sunday in the Bronx In New York City at least four people were killed and 37 were injured in shootings during July 4th revelry. Police are pictured at the scene where a 23-year-old man was killed in Harlem 'Well, were not having any more discussions. Its over.' The attack which killed Secoriea was one of several shootings that occurred in Atlanta on Fourth of July night, which saw 23 people shot and wounded during celebrations. Seven-year-old Natalie Wallace (pictured) was among the at least 17 people killed in shootings in Chicago on Saturday It came as gun violence rang out across the country on Independence Day with 80 people shot in Chicago and 44 in New York City. President Trump promised to intervene in the cities amid growing violence, tweeting: 'Chicago and New York City crime numbers are way up. 67 people shot in Chicago, 13 killed. 'Shootings up significantly in NYC where people are demanding that [Governor Cuomo] & [Mayor Bill de Blasio] act now. Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!' In Atlanta, a large block party was disrupted by several gunshots after one car doing 'donuts' in the parking lot hit another. District 12 council member Joyce Sheperd told 11 Alive that the group occupying the Wendy's had gone back on its initial stance. 'Their position was that they were policing the site because they were not the ones who were doing the shooting,' said Shephard. 'They were not the ones doing the protesting that was violent.' Similar calls to action were made by public officials and celebrities. Felicia Moore, the President of the Atlanta City Council, described the appalling incident 'unacceptable.' 'The killing of the 8 yr old girl, and the multiple shootings among other atrocities that occurred last night/this morning are heartbreaking, leaving me angry,' she wrote on Twitter. 'It's unacceptable, and the message must be sent that it will not be allowed to continue!' CHICAGO: A police officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago on Sunday, July 5 An officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago on Sunday, July 5, 2020 Police in Chicago on Sunday, July 5, after a shooting which claimed the life of a young girl and an adult man Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik wrote: 'Where is Keisha Bottoms and the Fulton County District Attorney's Office? They have allowed this lawlessness!' At the moment, authorities said that the tragic shooting was not related to protests in any way. Police said two other people, in addition to the 8-year-old, were killed and more than 20 people were injured in incidents of gunfire and violence during the long holiday weekend. The mayor said the city's 911 system was flooded with calls Saturday night and pointed to protesters who damaged a Georgia State Patrol headquarters in Atlanta in a separate incident early Sunday. Elsewhere, Fourth of July night proved especially violent and, in some cases, deadly. In New York City, at least 41 people were shot, six fatally, in shootings overnight, police said. A 21-year-old man died after he was shot in the chest at about 12.45am Sunday in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Less than two hours later a 23-year-old man was shot in the back in Harlem before being rushed to the hospital. A 40-year-old man was fatally shot in the chest on Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn. In another incident, a 19-year-old was shot in the chest and a 27-year-old was shot in the shoulder in East Flatbush. The 19-year-old was later pronounced dead at the hospital. A 29-year-old man was also fatally shot in the chest on East 170th Street in the Bronx on Sunday evening. NORTH CAROLINA: An investigation is also underway in North Carolina after a 74-year-old woman was killed by what police described as reckless 'celebratory gunfire' A press conference near the Lavish Club pictured on Sunday where local council members condemned the violence that rocked the city over the Fourth of July weekend The incidents came after the city experienced it's deadliest June in 24 years with 205 shootings reported. Meanwhile, one of the children killed in Chicago was identified by her family as seven-year-old Natalie Wallace. The girl was playing outside her grandmother's house in the city's Austin neighborhood during a Fourth of July party when a vehicle pulled up and three men emerged and began shooting indiscriminately at about 7pm. Natalie was shot in the head and rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Chicago Tribune. 'Chicago's heart is broke,' Chicago police Chief Fred Waller said. 'A 7-year-old girl was taken from us. She was here visiting family. Now she's gone.' Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted: 'Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun. The Surrogate's Court across City Hall Park is covered with graffiti as New York City moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on July 4, 2020 The Martinez Police Department are looking for an unidentified male and female (pictured) who vandalized a Black Lives Matter mural on Saturday 'We cannot grow numb to this. We are making progress in slowing shootings, but we have to do better, every single one of us.' Seven other people were wounded in the same Austin attack, including a 32-year-old man who is now in fair condition. In Detroit two people were killed and five were injured in gun violence over the holiday weekend. A family of five people was driving home from a cook out when they were shot around 1am on Saturday in the 8300 block of Homer Street when someone pulled up beside them and started shooting. A 39-year-old woman died in the shooting. A 40-year-old man is in critical condition and the three other male victims aged nine, 12, and 15 are expected to survive, according to ClickOnDetroit. In response to the troubling succession of incidents, Trump tweeted that crime in Chicago and New York City is 'way up'. 'Shootings up significantly in NYC where people are demanding that [Gov. Andrew Cuomo] and [Mayor Bill de Blasio] act now,' Trump continued. 'Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked.' Shootings in New York City have doubled every week for the last three weeks. In the last seven days alone, the city has experienced a 142 percent surge in shootings compared to the same time period last year. Speaking during a radio interview Sunday morning, Kelly blamed the cause of the chaos on de Blasio's decision to slash $1 billion from the NYPD budget earlier in the week. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has previously disbanding an anti-crime plainclothes unit that had focused on stopping people and searching for guns. The Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD's largest union, also tweeted out against de Blasio Sunday, writing: 'Criminals with guns fear no consequences,' adding that the mayor owes his 'constituents an explanation'. The future of Queensland's nightclub and live music scene is under threat days after reopening following vision emerging showing revellers in breach of COVID-19 restrictions. Partygoers can be seen dancing shoulder-to-shoulder at Prohibition in the heart of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley on Friday night, it is alleged. The footage was taken on the same day pubs and clubs reopened to the public, with dance floors to remain off-limits until further notice. Police are now investigating the venue, prompting questions as to whether it will be fined and what will happen with the industry from here on out. The vision comes after insiders flagged concern about the profitability of pubs and clubs in May, stating venues may not fully recover after the coronavirus pandemic with rules and restrictions in place. Partygoers can be seen dancing shoulder-to-shoulder at Prohibition in the heart of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley on Friday night, the same day pubs and clubs reopened to the public, with dance floors to remain off-limits. Picture: The Today Show The idea of hundreds of people packed onto a dancefloor or waiting in line for drinks at a bar could well be a thing of the past. 'There's a lot of lobbying going on, certainly from Music Victoria and associated people, to make it really clear that if they don't do something specifically for us that we're all pretty much f**ked,' Melbourne nightclub Colour co-owner Liam Alexander told ABC. He said he and his business partners saved for years to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into refurbishments and licenses for Colour, which opened in 2019. 'I think initially our biggest fear was making it through the closure period. But now our biggest fears are about what the live music, nightclub, and hospitality industry in general looks like afterwards'. There are a number of venues nationwide who decided not renew leases or reopen following lockdown, including St Kilda club and eatery 'Big Mouth' in Melbourne. Commenting on the footage, Fortitude Valley Safe Night Precinct president Jason Hirt said Brisbane venue owners were 'appalled and outraged' about patrons and Prohibition disregarding the rules. 'We are all playing by the rules and getting it right, so we are very disappointed,' he said. The vision comes after industry insiders flagged concerns about the profitability of pubs and clubs in May , stating venues may not fully recover with rules and restrictions in place. Picture: The Today Show 'Everyone is aware the dance floor is off-limits and we're hoping it doesn't affect anyone else.' Queensland Hotels Association CEO Bernie Hogan was quick to distance his organisation from the nightclub precinct, saying none of his members was located in the Valley. "Hotels and clubs are desperate to keep operating so the actions of one or two should not impact the rest of the hospitality industry," he told AAP. The vision also follows a bar in Roma being fined $6672 after plain-clothes officers spotted several breaches, including failure to collect contact details. Queensland again recorded no new cases on Sunday with just one active case throughout the state. The devastated husband of a hairdresser who died after falling unconscious in the water on her first scuba dive has made a heartbreaking tribute. Grandmother Rebecca Rowell, 53, was pulled from the water at Gordons Bay in Sydney's eastern suburbs at 9.40am on Saturday when she was found floating on the surface. The instructor, who was leading the 'excited' mother-of-two on her first dive since gaining her scuba certification, found the breathing regulator detached from her mouth. This is understood to have have deprived her of oxygen for 30 seconds. While other divers and emergency crews frantically performed CPR, the woman from Campbelltown, in the city's west, was pronounced dead at the Prince of Wales Hospital later that day. Mrs Rowell (pictured, left) was remembered by her heartbroken husband Owen (right) as his 'best friend' Grandmother Rebecca Rowell (pictured with her husband Owen), 53, died while scuba diving. Pictured: an image of the couple snorkelling Her heartbroken husband Owen said the death of his 'best friend' was a shock to the family. 'I've lost my best friend, I want her to be remembered as the beautiful woman she was,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'I'm grateful to those who tried to save her.' Close friend Cindy Shaw said Mrs Rowell lived for her family and was devoted to her granddaughters. 'She was a beautiful woman, loved her family and had married her best friend. Her family was everything to her, she was the kindest friend,' she told the publication. 'I've lost my best friend, I want her to be remembered as the beautiful woman she was,' Mr Rowell (pictured, right) said of his wife (left) Close friend Cindy Shaw said Mrs Rowell (pictured) lived for her family and was devoted to her granddaughters The manager of the dive centre said Mrs Rowell was nervous before the dive, but was excited to explore the water. The woman was discovered when the instructor realised she was separated from the rest of the group. She was dragged ashore where group members tried to revive her, before paramedics took over. The scene at Gordons Bay after Mrs Rowell was pulled from the water after she was found floating on the surface (pictured on Saturday) The 53-year-old woman was scuba diving at Gordons Bay near Clovelly Road on Saturday (pictured, paramedics at the scene) Other divers pulled the woman out of the water and performed CPR before paramedics arrived (pictured on Saturday) Dramatic footage captured paramedics' frantic attempts to resuscitate the woman, as police and first responders in face masks look on. The vision showed the woman's pale, limp body laying on the rocks as ambulance workers push down on her chest to apply CPR. 'Our paramedics took over and did everything they could, working tirelessly to provide life-saving treatment and resuscitation before transporting her to hospital in critical condition,' Inspector Karl Cronan from NSW Ambulance said on Saturday. She was taken to Prince of Wales Hospital and pronounced dead later that day. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death (pictured on Saturday) Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. 'Nobody intends for these tragedies to happen, but the thing about accidents they happen in second but the impact can remain for a lifetime,' Mr Cronan said. 'Anybody who has experienced the horror of a drowning or near-drowning knows it is extremely traumatic for everyone involved, none more so than their loved ones.' Gordon Bay is a rocky area popular with divers, but has no life guards. When first announced, it was said the store would be open for the holidays, but no one could name which holiday. New Years Day became Easter became Independence Day, then became Labor Day and finally became sometime soon. It was reported the 35,000-square-foot footprint on Orchard Drive was in bad shape and needed to be gutted from floor to ceiling. Only the large sign with the store name and the words coming soon were on display in front of the shuttered door. The administrators of George Calombaris' former restaurant empire have been forced into a booze fire sale to pay back some of the $22 million owed to creditors. The former MasterChef judge's MAdE Establishments business spectacularly folded in February with just $389 in the bank and owing staff $1.2million in wages and entitlements. Documents this week revealed that liquidator Korda Mentha put almost 8,000 bottles of alcohol from six of the company's restaurants up for auction online in a bid to pay down part of the huge debt. Products auctioned off included one of the world's most expensive French wines - a $20,000 bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild from the year 2000 - plus a 10-year-old Dom Perignon champagne and right down to $2 bottles of Peroni beer. Administrators of George Calombaris's MAdE Establishments restaurant empire have auctioned off as many as 8000 bottles of alcohol from six bars to pay back creditors. Above is the former MasterChef star with his wife Natalie Tricario The booze bottles were sourced from the liquor cabinets and bars of six of Calombaris' former restaurants, including Melbourne's Gazi restaurant (above) A Chateau Mouton Rothschild worth $20,000 (left), a $250 bottle of Dom Perignon (centre) and $2 Italian Peroni beers were all up for grabs in the fire sale 'EVERYTHING MUST BE SOLD!' an ad by the Hymans Auction House said. And most of it went out the door in late April and early May - with just a 'small amount' of alcohol and other inventory left over according to an administrator's report obtained on Monday. A separate fire sale was held for restaurant equipment from four MAdE venues, ranging from whole bars to stoves and MasterChef-style ice cream mixers. The two sales netted the administrators about $333,000, according to the financial report. The result was revealed in financial documents just as an up-market Melbourne yoghurt chain backed by Calombaris, Yo-Chi, was dragged into a fresh debt scandal. Kitchen equipment (above) was also sold off at a separate auction in May A printer that was one of dozens of pieces of backroom equipment to be sold off at auction in May Yo-Chi's three outlets were the sole venues under the MAdE umbrella to trade as usual after the company went into voluntary administration. On Saturday the Herald Sun revealed liquidators had given up trying to claw back an $140,000 inter-company loan from the yoghurt business. 'The liquidators concluded that it would not be commercial to pursue the outstanding loan balance further as Yo-Chi has minimal cash and recoverable assets,' said financial documents seen by Daily Mail Australia. 'In addition, Made Establishments claim is as an unsecured creditor of Yo-Chi and we are aware of a secured creditor who would rank ahead of Made Establishments claim in any formal insolvency process.' Yo-Chi, an upmarket Melbourne yoghurt chain, was the sole MAdE franchise to continue operating. Liquidators have given up trying to claw back a $140,000 intra-company loan Calombaris has not commented on the latest developments. The once-thriving Melbourne-based restaurant empire he founded previously operated 18 venues including the Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic. But its fortunes changed in July 2019 when it emerged it had underpaid staff to the tune of $7.8 million. The wages were later backpaid but the development devastated the company's reputation and Calombaris' company was hit with a $200,000 fine. The Melbourne-based restaurant empire, founded by Calombaris, once operated 18 venues including the Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic (pictured) Financial documents said MAdE owes $9 million to the Commonwealth Bank alone, with most of that unlikely to be repaid. The liquidators have so far raised $820,000 which is expected to be directed to the bank, which is the main secured creditor. Staff are still owed $1.32 million in wages and entitlements which will be picked up by the taxpayer. When the empire went into administration on February 10, Calombaris said he was 'devastated'. 'It is with deep sadness and regret that today MAdE Establishment has been placed into voluntary administration,' he wrote on social media. 'To all my team, I truly regret it has come to this. On a personal note, the last few months have been the most challenging I have ever faced. 'At this time, while personally devastated, I remain thankful to my family, friends, the MAdE team, our loyal and regular customers. 'I am so sorry all our collective efforts have not provided to be enough. I'm gutted that it's come to this.' Calombaris (pictured, centre) was a judge and host on MasterChef from 2009 until 2019. The trio have this year been replaced by Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allan KordaMentha announced it had been appointed voluntary administrators earlier this year. 'Craig Shepard and Leanne Chesser of KordaMentha restructuring were today appointed Voluntary Administrators of 22 companies in the MAdE Establishment Group,' the advisory and investment firm said in a statement. 'The appointment excludes the [smaller offshoot, yoghurt store] Yo-Chi operations which will continue to trade as usual. All other venues have stopped trading immediately. 'Employees have been paid all outstanding wages and superannuation up to the date of the appointment.' The New South Wales-Victoria border will be closed for the first time in 100 years after Victoria recorded two deaths and 127 new coronavirus cases - its biggest total since the pandemic began. The decision to shut the border at 12.01am on Wednesday was agreed by both premiers and the Prime Minister in a three-way phone call this morning after NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant recommended the move at 8am. The hard border will be enforced by New South Wales Police and the Australian Defence Force with roadblocks and drones to keep Victorian officers free to battle the state's outbreak. There are 55 crossing including four major road crossings, 33 bridges, two waterway crossings and dozens of minor roads, as well as dirt tracks and bushland trails. NSW Police Comission Mick Fuller said: 'The task is not lost on me, in terms of the enormity of the logistics in this operation alone.' The New South Wales-Victoria border will be closed for the first time in 100 years. Pictured: Police at a road block in Melbourne Workers in hazardous material overalls are seen outside of a public housing tower along Racecourse Road, Melbourne that was placed under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease A member of the Australian Defence Force carries a batch of swab samples taken from members of the public at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic in Melbourne How will border shut-down work? The border will close from 12.01am on Wednesday It will be be enforced from the NSW side with roadblocks, drones and helicopters Permit system will be used for people with unavoidable travel to NSW People living in border communities will be able to travel for work and essential health services Specific arrangements will be set up for healthcare in Albury-Wodonga - Victoria runs the Albury Hospital even though it is located in NSW Advertisement The policy marks the first time the border between the two neighbours has been closed since between January and April in 1919, during the Spanish Flu outbreak. Residents who live on the border will be able to apply for a permit from Service New South Wales allowing them to cross. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refused to say how long the closure would last and urged other states to remove their borders with NSW to boost the economy. NSW recorded 10 new coronavirus patients, all locked up in hotel quarantine. On Sunday a Victorian man in his 90s died before another Victorian in is 60s passed away on Monday morning, bringing the national death toll to 106. Victoria has recorded more than 60 new cases of coronavirus a day since last Monday. Today's new daily case count of 127 exceeds the state's previous record of 111 on March 28. Twelve Melbourne postcodes containing more than 300,000 residents were on Thursday forced back into lockdown and residents of nine social housing towers were on Saturday totally banned from leaving their homes. Twenty-six of Monday's new cases are linked to the nine towers in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne where all residents are being tested. The towers have now suffered a total of 53 coronavirus cases. Police are patrolling the commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington Bags filled with food and personal hygiene supplies are seen at the Amssa youth connect centre in North Melbourne. They are for residents stuck in towers Healthcare workers carry boxes to high rise housing commission on Sunday during lockdown 'There are an additional 10 that were in earlier numbers that are now linked to those towers,' Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Monday. 'So it's an increase of 26, essentially doubling of the numbers from yesterday and really not unexpected. 'It is exactly the reason why these towers are in a hard lockdown and why we're doing extensive testing across all of them.' Mr Andrews warned Victorians that the virus is 'far from over'. 'It's not too much to ask that people use common sense and good judgement and for some - stop are pretending this is over. It is not over,' he said. Politicians criticised the border shut down and said it could be devestating for border towns. 'There is no excuse': Gladys Berejiklian demands open borders with all states except Victoria After closing the border to Victoria. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who has consistently argued against border closures, said other states have 'no excuse' for excluding residents of NSW, which recorded only 10 new cases on Monday, all from hotel quarantine. 'I also stress to the other states, now that New South Wales has taken this decision and given where we are, there is really no excuse for any other state, apart from Victoria, to have any border closures with New South Wales,' she said. 'I urge all the other states of Australia, in our national interest, to think about that. Premier Gladys Berejikian has demanded that all states and territories except Victoria open their borders with New South Wales 'Given this move by the New South Wales Government, we now anticipate that the rest of the nation will be able to deal with each other directly without any hard border closures.' Queensland is due to remove its hard border on 10 July except to Victorians while the Northern Territory is due to open up on the 17 July, except to residents from Melbourne hotspots. South Australia said it would open up to eastern states on 20 July but has postponed that decision due to the Victorian outbreak. Tasmania is targeting the 24 July but said it will 'keep an eye' on developments, while WA is yet to announce any relaxation of border measures. Last month Ms Berejiklian slammed the Queensland government for refusing to open its borders to boost the economy. Asked if she felt 'silly' because she was now herself shutting the NSW-VIC border she said 'not at all' because the situation in Victoria is 'very different' as it involves widespread community transmission. Advertisement Albury-based federal cabinet minister Sussan Ley warned a border closure was not workable with her hometown sharing a health service with Wodonga. 'It would be a real break on our regional economy,' she told ABC radio. 'I don't want to see that, I want to see us coming out of COVID but obviously these lockdowns have to happen and we have to take the health advice to do that.' Wodonga-based Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said the decision could be devastating for regional areas. 'This is going to cause serve disruption right along our border communities between NSW and Victoria for an issue and a hotspot in Melbourne,' she told Sky News. She said 98 per cent of Victoria's cases had been in Melbourne, while Albury-Wodonga had been virus-free for 92 days. Nationals senator Perin Davey - who is based in the NSW town of Deniliquin, which is close to Victoria - said the border closure would hit her community hard. 'Albury-Wodonga shares a health service. You've got all of these border towns, Echuca-Moama, Barooga and Cobram, they all share an economy,' she told Sky News. 'It is not quite as simple as being able to draw a line in the sand and say you cannot cross this border.' Senator Davey said regional Australia had been largely coronavirus-free while major cities had seen outbreaks. Meanwhile, West Australian premier Mark McGowan has asked the Prime Minister for a formal cap on numbers coming in to the state from overseas. He wants no more than one flight every three days. He is also drafting legislation to make returned travellers pay for their own enforced quarantine. An estimated 3,000 residents have been affected by the Victoria towers lockdown, which will last for at least five days. Australia's federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has labelled the housing commission towers 'vertical cruise ships' - a reference to the Ruby Princess outbreak. He threw his support behind the Victorian government on Sunday, saying the virus was spreading by community transmission at a rate not seen before in Australia. 'They are doing a fantastic job but this is a huge effort,' he said, adding everyone in Melbourne should get tested for the deadly virus. 'Right around the country we are offering and providing substantial support to our Victorian colleagues.' Mr Andrews said residents would be given food, free rent, baby formula, pet food and medical essentials. They will also be provided with counselling, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction including methadone for registered addicts, mental health care, family violence counselling and physical healthcare. A drive through Covid-19 testing site at a shopping centre carpark in a hotspot suburb in Melbourne Passengers arriving from Melbourne are greeted by staff from NSW Health to check for COVID-19 symptoms at Sydney Airport Pictured: A housing commission tower at Flemington in Melbourne's inner northwest 'This is not going to be a pleasant experience for those residents but I have a message for those residents: this is not about punishment but protection,' Mr Andrews said. 'We cannot have this virus spread.' Translators will be doorknocking to explain directions to tenants who don't speak English. Some residents of the public housing estate are employed and they will receive a $1,500 hardship payment to compensate for missing work. A crowdfunding campaign for residents by Victorian Trades Hall Council had raised more than $250,000 by Sunday afternoon. However residents have already begun complaining, shocked by their sudden forced quarantine. Signs were pinned to the windows at the Flemington tower. One said 'Flemington penitentiary', while others said: 'Treat us as humans, not caged animals, end this lockdown, effective immediately'. At a North Melbourne housing commission tower, a woman held a sign which simply said: 'Help'. A man shouted that he was hungry and needed food from the window of a neighbouring tower. On Saturday night, police brought in boxes of supplies for residents with more on the way. Medical workers and police outside Flemington public housing flats on Sunday Police carry bags of groceries from Aldi towards the housing commission towers at Sutton St, North Melbourne, on Sunday. Some residents yelled out the window that they were hungry and had no food - after just one day of lockdown A man hoping to deliver food to family talks to police at public housing towers on Racecourse Rd, Flemington on Sunday. Residents complained their essential food boxes on Saturday had no milk or bread Public housing resident Najat Mussa shared photos to social media of one box showing canned food including baked beans, tuna, pasta, apple juice, jam, weetbix, flour and muesli bars. 'Weet-bix with no milk, tuna with no bread, this is what we are given,' the picture had written on it. Angry residents were caught surprised and unprepared for the lockdown, and have issued a list of demands, saying they should be able to leave their homes for essential reasons. Victorian health officials have admitted that 'dozens' of cases can be traced back to breaches in the hotel quarantine system. Since March, Victoria has quarantined more than 18,000 travellers returning from overseas but, unlike other state leaders, Mr Andrews chose to enforce the quarantine with private security guards instead of the police and defence force. Within hours of the lockdown being announced on Saturday, residents of the nine housing commission towers began circulating a list of demands including that they not be locked down It has since emerged that security guards breached infection protocols by mingling with guests and failing to use personal protective equipment properly. Insiders have also alleged that some guards fell asleep on the job, shook hands and even slept with hotel guests. Premier Andrews said the guards shared cigarette lighters and even made journeys in the same cars while Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said that several guards breached social distancing rules. 'There's been closer mingling of these guards than we would like in the workplace,' she said. More than 60 cases can be traced back to two quarantine hotels in Melbourne's CBD - the Stamford Plaza and the Rydges on Swanston - after workers and guards caught the virus and took it back to their friends and families. By contrast, New South Wales has used ADF troops to enforce the quarantine of more than 25,000 returned travellers without suffering any major outbreaks. A man looks down at the street from the Sutton St housing commission where he is locked in A Massachusetts police detective has been fired after posting a picture on social media of her niece at a Black Lives Matter event holding a sign that suggested protesters should shoot cops. Rookie Springfield Detective Florissa Fuentes, 30, said she was showing pride in her niece's activism at a late May protest in Atlanta. One of the signs being held at the protest read, 'Who do we call when the murderer wear the badge?' Another sign suggested that people should shoot back at police Fuentes had claimed that the post was made on a personal account while she was off duty, and said she does not advocate violence against police. The posting by detective Florissa Fuentes, 30, saw two people holding signs one of which read, 'Who do we call when the murderer wears the badge?' Florissa Fuentes, 30, a Massachusetts police detective has been fired after she shared an Instagram photo of her niece taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest 'After I posted it, I started getting calls and texts from coworkers,' Fuentes said to The Republican. 'I was initially confused, but then I realized they thought I was being anti-cop. I wasn't. I was just supporting my niece's activism. I had no malicious intent, and I wouldn't put a target on my own back.' 'You have a lot of haters. You're going to get in trouble,' one co-worker told her. Fuentes removed the post, but the head of the detective bureau wrote her up and she was called by her captain, Trent Duda, citing a 'possible' social media violation. 'I said, "Cap, I already know why you're calling. I'm sorry. I meant no malicious intent and I already took it down",' Fuentes said 'Capt. Duda said Commissioner Clapprood was mad and wanted to see me the next day, but hoped if said exactly what I said to him, I should be fine.' Fuentes had only been with the Springfield Police Department for a year and was promoted to the rank of detective a few months ago After deleting the post, she then sent a private Facebook message to her colleagues. To my fellow officers, I recently shared a post that a family member had posted of themselves protesting the recent death of George Floyd. I did not share this photo with any malicious intent and I should have thought of how others might perceive it. I apologize to all of those who I have offended. I am not anti-cop. I wear my badge proudly and have committed my life and career to being a police officer,' she wrote. Nevertheless, some co-workers did not take kindly to the followup. 'Please stay as far away from me as you can,' one wrote, adding that she was 'either too dangerous or too stupid to safely associate with.' Supervisors at the police department expressed their disappointment at Fuentes actions who had only been sworn in last July. She was told that she could either resign or be fired and turned in her badge and gun after being fired on June 19 by Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood. 'That post was hurtful to many of her coworkers,' Clapprood said, noting that as a rookie Fuentes was still on probation and the post was the second issue she had. 'I took this job to give back to the community to the city that raised me,' Fuentes who is a single mother of three, said to The Republic. 'If I could get my job back, I would take it in a heartbeat.' Companies will get a 1,000 cash bonus for every young person they hire as trainees, Rishi Sunak will announce this week. In his 'mini budget' on Wednesday, the Chancellor will unveil a 111million boost for the traineeship scheme. As part of the plans, employers will be given 1,000 for every young person aged between 16 and 24 that they hire, up to a maximum of ten trainees, or 10,000. It is the first time firms will be paid direct government subsidies for hiring youngsters. Mr Sunak told The Daily Telegraph: 'Young people are on the front line at risk of unemployment, so we're backing them and the companies that they can learn from. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: 'Young people are on the front line at risk of unemployment, so we're backing them and the companies that they can learn from' (pictured outside Downing Street) 'We know traineeships work so we're investing in their skills and our collective future.' As part of a traineeship initiative, which lasts from six weeks to six months, young people receive maths, English and CV writing training as well as work placements. The extra funding will triple the number of places on the programme that is designed to give those aged between 16 and 24 the skills to secure a job. A Treasury spokesman said: 'The Government are making available three times more funding to providers this year to pay for tripling the number of trainees, and also increasing the funding providers receive for training. 'Businesses will also get a 1,000 bonus payment from the Government for every trainee they offer a work experience placement to. 'Employers who are new to providing trainees with work experience, or growing their existing offer, will also be eligible for the payment. It is the first time firms will be paid direct government subsidies for hiring youngsters (stock image) 'Evidence shows three-quarters of 18 to 24-year-olds who complete traineeships move on to employment or further study within 12 months.' The scheme is also being extended to A-Level pupils and will be in place in England from September 2020. The Government said it will also provide 21 million to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for similar initiatives. Also, work academies are to get a 17 million investment. Funding is being provided for more than 30,000 extra places at sector-based work academies, the Treasury said. A woman has died after her body was pulled from a charity bin in Melbourne. The victim was found trapped from the waist up by a passer-by at 11am on Sunday at a Moonee Ponds car park. The passer-by rushed to the woman's aid and phoned an ambulance. A Melbourne woman has died after becoming trapped head-first in a charity bin (pictured) sometime on Sunday morning Paramedics rushed to the car park on McPherson Street before trying to revive the woman. The unidentified woman could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene. Victoria Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the incident was not being treated as suspicious and a report is being prepared for the coroner. Two men, one in his 90s and another in his 60s, have died in Victoria after contracting coronavirus, taking the nation's death toll to 106. On Sunday, the state recorded an additional 127 new cases of the deadly respiratory infection. Victoria is in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19, following almost three weeks of 'unacceptably high' new diagnoses. On Monday morning, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed a 90-year-old was among the latest fatalities. Tape is plastered outside a St Vincent De Paul op shop community store in the hotspot suburb of Glenroy to indicate that the store is closed due to COVID-19 On Monday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the latest fatality during his press conference 'Sadly it is my duty to inform you a man in his 90s has passed away overnight. He was in the care of one of his hospitals,' Mr Andrews said during his morning press conference. 'We send our condolences and best wishes to his family and loved ones, his friends, this will be a difficult day for them.' Mr Andrews said he would not be providing further details about the man's identity 'out of respect' to his family. On Monday afternoon, 9News reported a man in his 60s also died from the virus earlier that morning. There are an additional 31 Victorians still in hospital with COVID-19, including five who remain in intensive care. There have been 8,583 diagnosed cases of coronavirus in Australia since the pandemic began, including 106 deaths Residents are seen in the windows of a locked down housing commission tower in Victoria Medical workers and police outside Flemington public housing flats on Sunday Residents place signs in their windows showing messages of despair amid a full and total lockdown of nine housing commission high rise towers in North Melbourne and Flemington during COVID-19 Of the 127 new cases picked up yesterday, 44 are connected to previously known and contained outbreaks. A further 40 are the product of routine testing, while 53 are under investigation. During Monday's press conference, Mr Andrews also announced the border between Victoria and New South Wales would close from Tuesday at midnight. The decision comes after Victoria was forced to entirely lockdown 12 postcodes throughout Melbourne in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. A drive through Covid-19 testing site at a shopping centre carpark in a hotspot suburb in Melbourne Residents within nine social housing towers have been entirely banned from leaving their houses because of the outbreak. So far, 53 of the newly identified coronavirus cases have come from the towers - including 16 overnight. Extensive testing is currently taking place for residents within those buildings. Medical Officer Brett Sutton on Monday confirmed that while most of the cases have been diagnosed within the locked down 'hot spot' postcodes, there were cases outside of these regions. 'There's significant spillover and so to use the bushfire analogy - there are literally spot fires adjacent to those restricted postcodes,' he explained. Police carry bags of groceries from Aldi towards the housing commission towers at Sutton St, North Melbourne, on Sunday. Some residents yelled out the window that they were hungry and had no food - after just one day of lockdown Locked down residents are seen looking out the windows of housing commission flats in Victoria Australia's last coronavirus fatality occurred on June 25 in Sydney. The 85-year-old man was a resident at the Opal aged care facility in Bankstown where there had been a small outbreak. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said the man's death has been reclassified after his doctor diagnosed COVID-19 as a contributing factor, taking the NSW death toll to 51. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 7 and died on April 27, after two negative swabs were recorded. The sixth-great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings has shared an image of himself posing alongside the third US president as part of a photo series that he says holds 'a mirror' to America. Shannon LaNier was photographed by British photographer Drew Gardner for the Smithsonian Magazine's article, American Descendants. LaNier, who is a TV host in Houston, shared the images of him dressed in similar attire as Jefferson on Instagram. 'The @smithsonianmagazine is helping hold a mirror to #America & reflect how #President #ThomasJefferson not only took part in creating this country but also it's people... black, white, brown, yellow & red!' LaNier wrote. Shannon LaNier (right), the sixth-great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson (left) and his slave Sally Hemings has shared an image of himself posing alongside the third US president as part of a photo series that he says holds 'a mirror' to America 'As the 6th great grandson of TJ & #SallyHemings, I'm only 1 example of how #slavery has not only separated the country but also made us more in common & connected than some may think!' he continued. While his attire was similar to Jefferson's in the portraits, LaNier chose not to wear a wig. 'I didn't want to become Jefferson,' LaNier told the Smithsonian Magazine. LaNier, who is a TV host in Houston, shared the images of him dressed in similar attire as Jefferson on Instagram While his attire was similar to Jefferson's in the portraits, LaNier chose not to wear a wig. 'I didn't want to become Jefferson,' LaNier told the Smithsonian Magazine 'As the 6th great grandson of TJ & #SallyHemings, I'm only 1 example of how #slavery has not only separated the country but also made us more in common & connected than some may think!' LaNier (pictured) continued 'My ancestor had his dreamsand now it's up to all of us living in America today to make sure no one is excluded from the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' LaNier, who co-authored the book Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family, added: 'He was a brilliant man who preached equality, but he didnt practice it. He owned people. And now Im here because of it.' Sally Hemings was the mother of six of Thomas Jefferson's children while she was enslaved at the Monticello estate. Ellen Wayles Hemings, pictured, (1856-1940) was the granddaughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. She married her next door neighbour Andrew Jackson Roberts in 1878 Harriet Hemings, pictured as a young woman (left) and later in life (right), was the granddaughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson According to her son Madison Hemings, her father was Thomas Jefferson's father-in-law, John Wayles. Hemings became Jefferson's property as part of his inheritance from the Wayles estate in 1774 and came with her mother Elizabeth Hemings in 1776. Hemings worked as a household servant and was never a free woman, but she was allowed to leave Monticello following Jefferson's death to live with sons Madison and Eston Hemings in Charlottesville, Virginia. Frederick Madison Roberts was the son of Andrew Jackson Roberts and Ellen Wayles Hemings - the grand-daughter of Sally Hemings. He was the first African American elected to the California State Assembly in 1918 Emma Byrd Young, third left, pictured with her her husband George and their 10 children at some time in 1915, was the great-grand daughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson- whose family left Virginia in 1827 and settled in Southern Ohio Jacqueline Pettiford and her family, who are descendants of Madison Hemings, Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson's son, standing outside of the Monticello estate in Charlottesville, Virginia The photo series also included descendants of Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton posing as their relatives. Gardner's photo series started about 15 years ago when he began tracking down the descendants of famous Europeans like Napoleon and Oliver Cromwell for the purpose of asking them to pose as their famous relatives. He then turned his sights to the US, telling the Smithsonian Magazine: 'For all its travails, America is the most brilliant idea.' The first border closure between New South Wales and Victoria in more than 100 years is set to devastate regional areas that have no active cases of coronavirus. Bushfire-devastated towns on either side of the Murray River face losing a significant number of visitors as Victorians are banned from crossing the border without a permit. Regional areas on both sides of the state border have zero active COVID-19 cases despite an outbreak in Melbourne, official data shows. Eden, on the NSW South Coast, and Mallacoota in Victoria's Gippsland region, were mass evacuated during the New Year, three weeks before Australia's first coronavirus case was confirmed. The first border closure between New South Wales and Victoria in more than 100 years is set to devastate regional areas that have no active cases of coronavirus. Pictured are kangaroos outside the Broken Oar takeaway food and general store at Pambula on the NSW south coast These bushfire-hit towns then lost potential visitors during Easter as Australians were put into lockdown and banned from travelling long distances. Tourism-dependent regional areas are facing another economic hit on the second day of the July school holidays, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirming NSW would close its southern border at 11.59pm on Tuesday. Bega Valley Shire mayor Sharon Tapscott said the border closure could cause many struggling tourism businesses to close on the NSW far south coast. 'I have no doubt we will see businesses that will not reopen,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'It's an accumulative effect that just makes the downward spiral harder to get out of. 'It's very difficult for us down here. Devastating.' Towns like Eden are particularly reliant on visitors from Melbourne during the July school holidays. Eden (pictured), on the NSW South Coast, and Mallacoota in Victoria's Gippsland region, were mass evacuated during the New Year, three weeks before Australia's first coronavirus case was confirmed. Bega Valley Shire mayor Sharon Tapscott said the border closure could cause many struggling tourism businesses to close 'They come from Melbourne, they come straight up the Princes Highway,' Ms Tapscott said. 'We don't need to lose tourism. On the other hand, we don't need to lose our no active COVID-19 status either.' Large regional centres in southern NSW like Wagga Wagga receive visitors from Victoria. Victorians who live at Wodonga, on the state border, will need permits to cross the Murray River into the neighbouring city of Albury in NSW. Complicating matters, Albury and Wodonga share the same health system with Albury-Wodonga Health operating hospitals on both sides of the border. NSW hasn't banned Victorians since 1919 at the height of the Spanish flu. Victorians who live at Wodonga, on the state border, will need permits to cross the Murray River into the neighbouring city of Albury (pictured in May 2020). Both towns share the same health system New South Wales hasn't banned Victorians since 1919 at the height of the Spanish flu. Regional states on either side of the state border have zero active coronavirus cases as this NSW Health map shows Victorian Liberal frontbencher Tim Smith, who coined the term 'Chairman Dan' to mock his state's Labor Premier, said the border closure would devastate regional areas. 'Don't punish our rural communities because of Daniel Andrews incompetence in Melbourne,' he told Sydney radio broadcaster Ben Fordham on Monday. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement 'It would be a real shame if it was closed. It would absolutely gut regional communities on either side of the Murray River.' NSW last week banned Victorians from 36 Melbourne suburbs in lockdown and introduced $11,000 fines if they tried to enter the state. Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced NSW would ban Victorians from crossing the border. Residents in border towns like Wodonga will need to apply for permits to visit neighbouring Albury, with Ms Berejiklian expecting Service NSW to take two to three days to process those applications. Victorians on the border needing to visit medical specialists will need special permits to cross the state border. Southern NSW, from far west to the Murrumbidgee and the South Coast have no active case of COVID-19, Department of Health data shows. Likewise regional Victorian, with zero active cases in Wodonga, East Gippsland, Wangaratta and the Alpine area in the state's east and none at West Wimmera further west. Nonetheless, Victoria recorded more than 127 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, a new record since the declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic. The daily case count exceeded the state's previous record of 111 on March 28. Victoria has recorded more than 60 new cases of coronavirus a day since Monday last week. Some 12 Victorian postcode areas have been put into stage three lockdown until at least July 29 in order to prevent the spread of the virus. More than 3,000 tenants in nine housing commission tower blocks have been put under 'hard lockdown,'meaning they cannot leave their homes. Eden, on the far south coast of NSW, is particularly reliant on Melbourne visitors during the July school holidays A two-year-old boy whose face was mauled by a dog in a horrific attack, tearing his cheek and exposing his teeth, is lucky to be alive - but will forever be scared by the incident. Maxin Bennett, of Christchurch, suffered injuries so severe he will need ongoing surgery when he was attacked by a dog named Zeus in a family member's driveway on March 14. The 'wee boy' was holding a sausage, riding a bike and being watched by his grandparents at the time of the incident. His mother Alana Trainor said they had been left traumatised. Maxin Bennett (pictured), two, was attacked while holding a sausage and riding a bike along the driveway in view of his grandparents Ms Trainor said the dog was not previously known to Maxin (pictured) but was present throughout the party as it was Mr Trainor's dog The 29-year-old, who traveled with her son from Christchurch to Hastings to attend the 50th birthday of her uncle and dog's owner, Peter Trainor, was resting in a bedroom of the property during the attack. 'My mum came screaming up to me that the dog had attacked my son,' she said. 'By the time I got out there my dad had him in his arms. 'The left side of his face had been ripped right back and you could see all of his teeth'. Ms Hastings, who rushed her son to Hawke's Bay Hospital before being airlifted to Christchurch Hospital for surgery, said she now worried for future bullying with her boy 'as a result of the scar', which Maxin now called his 'ouchie'. Ms Trainor confirmed Maxin will have to undergo a number of other surgeries as he grows, and said the dog was not previously known to Maxin but was present throughout the party. 'He used to love dogs but now since he has noticed his scar he has been shying away from strange dogs often grabbing my leg and when my dogs get near him he now slaps their nose and says 'ouchie' which is what he calls his scar,' she said. The incident has caused a rift between the family, with the family traumatised, the dog still alive and its owner refusing responsibility. Maxin's mother, Alana Trainor, believes Zeus, the dog which attacked her little boy (pictured), is a Staffordshire bull terrier Ms Trainor confirmed Maxin (pictured) will have to undergo a number of other surgeries as he grows Ms Trainer started a petition this month 'to have Zeus removed so it doesn't happen to another child and another family do not have to go through what we are going through'. She also lodged a complaint with the Hastings District Council. 'I just want some justice for my wee boy. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. If it does it could be worse. Maxin was lucky to escape with the injuries he received. It could have been a lot worse,' Ms Trainer said. 'Peter rung me the day of Maxin's surgery. He was crying and told me he put the dog down. Ms Trainor, who supplied screenshots of family and friends commenting on the situation with Mr Trainor, said: 'I have had a huge reaction from people around NZ. Mostly positive ... ' 'Peter has never (since) contacted me to make sure Maxin's ok. Instead they've been telling family members the dog did attack Maxin but it was only a small bite. It hurts me as a mother to see my wee boy like this.' HDC's regulatory solutions manager told Daily Mail Australia council's animal control team did not hear about the attack until May 23. John Payne said the attacking dog had not been seized as it was unknown which dog attacked after two were seized from the owner's property. The incident has caused a rift between the family, with Ms Trainor's parents traumatised by Maxin (pictured) being attacked, the dog still alive and its owner refusing responsibility Little Maxin (pictured) before he was attacked in March. His mum, Ms Trainer, has since started a petition 'to have Zeus removed so it doesn't happen to another child' He said the complainant understood the dog would be put down by its owner. However, this did not happen. Mr Payne added the owner now claimed the attacking dog was a stray. 'The dogs were seized on June 10 to allow Hastings District Council Animal Control the opportunity to further investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack and to prevent further possible harm,' Mr Payne said. 'The owner of those two dogs was interviewed and based on his statement Council had no authority to hold them, hence they were released June 11 pending the finalisation of the investigation. Ms Trainor said she now worried for future bullying with her boy 'as a result of the scar', which Maxin (pictured) now called his 'ouchie' 'The investigation is still ongoing. We understand there are further witnesses and we are awaiting contact details in order to interview them. 'We will then make a decision on a possible prosecution. One of the key considerations will be whether there is enough evidence to get a conviction.' Mr Payne said the dogs were released on strict conditions including inspections by council and the dog unable to leave the property, except in an emergency. Mr Trainor was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication. A young tourist was allegedly sexually assaulted by a predator on the same beach as Toyah Cordingley was murdered. Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland has a disturbing criminal history of rape, paedophilia, and torture over just the past five years. Ms Cordingley, 24, was strangled as she walked her dog along the beach on October 21, 2018, and her naked body dumped in sand dunes. The prime suspect, Rajwinder Singh, fled to India the same day, abandoning his wife and three children, and has never been arrested. Toyah Cordingley, 24, was strangled as she walked her dog along the beach on October 21, 2018, and her naked body dumped in sand dunes Less than two years later, on Saturday, a 26-year-old woman from Cairns was taking photos on the side of Captain Cook Highway about 9am. The 20-year-old, who can't be named, approached her and struck up a conversation before asking if she could drive him back to his car, police said. The pair then took a walk along the beach, where he allegedly sexually assaulted the woman, pushed her down, and tried to rape her - but she fought him off and fled. The man was arrested and will face Cairns Magistrates court on Monday charged with assault with intent to rape. He is from the Kowanyama Aboriginal community on the other side of the Cape York Peninsula and went to Abergowrie College between Cairns and Townsville. Wangetti Beach in Far North Queensland has a disturbing criminal history of rape, paedophilia, and torture over just the past five years Wangetti Beach is about 40km north of Cairns, and is a quiet area - but also a reception black spot, frequented by 'odd bods' and vagrants He was allegedly caught drink driving just before the alleged sexual assault, but got back in his car and drove his unlicensed car until he saw the woman. The man's lawyer said his client claimed the encounter, which occurred just a couple of hundred metres from where Ms Cordingley's body was found, was consensual. He was granted bail on the condition he return to Kowanyama and stay there. The small beachside community of just 14 houses was already reeling from Ms Cordingley's murder. Locals and hundreds more from nearby areas mounted a huge search before her body was found, and put up signs and printed 9,000 bumper stickers pleading for information. Ms Cordingley's heartbroken father Troy found his daughter's body himself as he frantically joined the search after she went missing. Suspicion initially fell on a pervert who was photographed masturbating on the beach in the middle of the day, before Singh was singled out. Rajwinder Singh travelled to India the day after Toyah's body was found and is believed to be the prime suspect wanted for questioning Ms Cordingley's heartbroken father Troy (pictured together) found his daughter's body himself as he frantically joined the search after she went missing Sadly the idyllic beach is no stranger to sex crimes. In October 2015, wanted paedophile Garry Amey was found floating in the shallows two weeks after he failed to return from a walk in Cairns. He was 'severely dehydrated' and sunburned in what was thought to be a miraculous feel-good story until it was revealed he was on bail for child sex abuse. Amey, a computer technician, admitted to stealing photos of 10 different children from his client's devices and posting them online. The then-60-year-old edited the images to put the children's faces on naked adult bodies and shared them on social media site Tagged under the alias 'Sally Wilson'. He also hid behind bushes and took photos of two naked children playing on a beach with their families. Police found 3,587 images, 785 of which were unique, of girls aged 10 to 15 on his computer. Wanted paedophile Garry Amey was found floating in the shallows two weeks after he failed to return from a walk in Cairns Amey pleaded guilty to nine charges including making, possessing and distributing children exploitation material, indecent treatment of a children under 12, and fraud. He was jailed for 18 months, suspended after three months. Wangetti Beach was embroiled in another strange crime when Maitland Chitty stumbled into Hartley's Crocodile Adventures in February 2016. Mr Chitty, then 26, had walked for a day through bushland after being kidnapped and tortured for 42 hours over a drug deal gone wrong. Melchor Garcia, Aaron Lions, Jacob Butler, Marc Veronese, and Kody Schieber were all convicted of their various roles in the grisly crimes. A court heard Mr Chitty had agreed to swap a bag of meth for guns but failed to come up with the goods and was tortured in retribution. Mr Chitty was thrown in the boost of a car, taken to a shipping container and tied to a crossbeam with a noose around his neck and a pillow case over his head. There he was bashed with an axe handle and lump of timber, stabbed him twice in the arm with a knife, choked, kneed, and punched. Garcia also threatened to cut off his toes and kill him - all while his friend Dean Guest was forced to watch. Maitland Chitty stumbled into Hartley's Crocodile Adventures in Wangetti Beach in February 2016 after being tortured for 42 hours Melchor Garcia (left) tortured Mr Chitty and threatened to cut off his toes and kill him, and Marc Veronese (right) helped with the kidnapping Garcia's 22-year-old girlfriend Schieber testified against the others and was given 15 months probation for 'reluctantly' helping to move Mr Chitty around 'He screamed in pain,' Justice James Henry said as he sentenced Garcia to seven years jail over 24 crimes including the kidnapping and torture of Mr Chitty. 'Blood was dripping down Chitty's arms and pooling under his feet. He begged for forgiveness. He bled so profusely his shirt was drenched in blood.' Mr Chitty was then taken to remote bushland, forced to swallow five sleeping pills, tied to a tree with a noose around his neck and left for dead. But he was able to free himself and hike to Wangetti Beach, where Hartley's owner Paul Freeman gave him a sandwich while paramedics were on their way. Garcia's 22-year-old girlfriend Schieber testified against the others and was given 15 months probation for 'reluctantly' helping to move Mr Chitty around. 'You could do anything from walking on a catwalk at an international level to being a scientist,' a judge told her. Locals at the time of Ms Cordingley's murder admitted the hideous crime had them living in fear and tourists avoiding the town. David 'Prong' Trimble said in the two weeks after her death, he was able to count the amount of people on Wangetti Beach and its neighbouring shorefronts 'on two hands'. Locals at the time of Ms Cordingley's murder admitted the hideous crime had them living in fear and tourists avoiding the town Ms Cordingley was murdered while while walking her dog on the beach (pictured). The dog was found tied to a tree unharmed Locals and hundreds more from nearby areas mounted a huge search before her body was found, and put up signs and printed 9,000 bumper stickers pleading for information 'Usually you've got cars, people, dogs, on those beaches there, but I reckon I could count 10 people on 20 different beaches,' he told Daily Mail Australia at the time. 'I've never seen it so bare. My wife won't walk around by herself anymore. It's changed people's ways, their lives. 'Out at Wangetti, there's a little township. They were very free and easy living people, and now they've all bought security screens and doors, it's changed the way they lived.' Douglas Shire mayor Julia Leu said acts of violence were so rare in the beach towns of Far North Queensland that residents were anxious for answers. 'That someone could be murdered walking their dog along a beach in broad daylight is shocking because to us because we are known as a very safe, welcoming, and friendly community,' she said. Barbara Porch, executive director of the Antioch chamber, was inspired by the Cows on Parade exhibition in Chicago a few decades ago and created a themed charity public art event in Antioch. The first event was called Dogs on the Chain referring to the Chain OLakes region in which Antioch lies. Artists painted dogs that were stationed throughout Antioch. The art was later auctioned with proceeds given to charity. Two passengers are dead and as many as six others are unaccounted for after a tragic plane collision over Lake Coeur dAlene on Sunday. The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office confirmed that two victims were discovered dead while authorities searched the Idaho lake. They were recovered from the water before the aircraft sank into Lake Coeur dAlene. 'Due to the nature to the accident their identity is unknown at this time,' the department wrote in a statement. Authorities in Idaho said two planes collided in a horrific crash above Lake Coeur dAlene on Sunday, leaving two dead and six others unaccounted for Initial reports said there were eight other passengers on the two aircraft, but authorities said they're verifying the count. The remaining six passengers are unaccounted for. The victims and additional passengers have not been identified. At this time, it is believed there are no survivors. Witnesses said they saw two planes colliding above the water, then crashing into the lake near Powderhorn Bay, according to a release from the Kootenai County Sheriffs Office. The crash took place about 2:20 p.m. Multiple local agencies, including the sheriffs marine teams, local fire departments and the United States Coast Guard, responded to the crash. The Kootenai County Sheriffs Office said the both planes have been located by a sonar team and are under 127 feet of water. The Kootenai County dive team is reportedly not equipped to be that deep, so a commercial dive team would likely be needed to search for any survivors and wreckage. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told CNN that one plane involved in the crash was a Cessna 206, but the other has not been disclosed. John Cowles told The Spokane-Review that was on the lake with his family at the time of the crash. Cowles said he saw what appeared to be an 'engine explosion' on a seaplane flying no more than 200 feet overhead. One of the planes wings then separated, and the plane fell into the water. Patrick Pearce, another witness, said he was pulling his jet ski from the dock when he noticed two single-engine planes flying towards each other between 800 to 900 feet above water. Pearce, who is a pilot, said based on the engine sounds the planes were going at fairly high speeds. The National Transportation Safety Board will likely take over the investigation in the coming days, Higgins told the Spokesman-Review. US prosecutors have asked a New York judge to schedule a court appearance on Friday for Ghislaine Maxwell, authorities said. The British socialite, 58, has been accused by many women of helping procure underage sex partners for Jeffrey Epstein and was arrested last week in New Hampshire. Prosecutors said in a letter that the defence lawyer for Maxwell, who has been detained without bail after agreeing to be moved to New York, would like a bail hearing on Friday after written arguments are submitted by both sides. An indictment made public last week said Maxwell facilitated Epstein's crimes by 'helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse' girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse. Maxwell was photographed sitting in an outdoor Los Angeles burger bar (pictured) days after Epstein's death in August 2019. However, it was revealed the picture had been staged, designed to throw pursuers off the scent Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in August last year in prison Epstein killed himself in a federal detention centre in New York last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph reported on the weekend that Maxwell had a private tour of Buckingham Palace organised by the Duke of York and sat on a throne. The indictment included counts of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of perjury. Maxwell has previously repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called some of the claims against her 'absolute rubbish'. Among the most sensational accusations was a claim by one Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, that Maxwell arranged for her to have sex with the duke at her London townhouse. Ms Giuffre claims she was only 17-years-old when the pair forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in 2000 - an allegation the Duke of York has vehemently denied - while a photograph shows the then-teenager posing alongside her accused and Maxwell (pictured, Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell) Andrew has denied her story. A source close to the duke said he is 'bewildered' by claims made by US authorities that he has not offered to co-operate with the Epstein case. It comes after Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the southern district of New York, told a press conference that authorities would 'welcome' a statement from the duke in relation to the investigation. Maxwell has spent at least some of her time in hiding at the property in New Hampshire where she was arrested on Thursday (shown) Premier Gladys Berejikian has demanded that all states and territories except Victoria open their borders with New South Wales after she banned Victorians from entering. From 12.01am on Wednesday the NSW-Victoria border will be closed for the first time in 101 years as Victoria suffers a huge coronavirus outbreak with 127 new cases and a death recorded on Monday. Ms Berejiklian, who has consistently argued against border closures, said the measure means other states have 'no excuse' for excluding residents of NSW, which recorded only 10 new cases on Monday, all from hotel quarantine. Premier Gladys Berejikian has demanded that all states and territories except Victoria open their borders with New South Wales Traffic on The Pacific Highway in New South Wales near the Queensland Border on March 26 'I also stress to the other states, now that New South Wales has taken this decision and given where we are, there is really no excuse for any other state, apart from Victoria, to have any border closures with New South Wales,' she said. 'I urge all the other states of Australia, in our national interest, to think about that. 'Given this move by the New South Wales Government, we now anticipate that the rest of the nation will be able to deal with each other directly without any hard border closures.' Queensland is due to remove its hard border on 10 July except to Victorians while the Northern Territory is due to open up on the 17 July, except to residents from Melbourne hotspots. South Australia said it would open up to eastern states on 20 July but has postponed that decision due to the Victorian outbreak. Premier Steven Marshall said he would now look at opening to NSW and the ACT. Tasmania is targeting the 24 July but said it will 'keep an eye' on developments, while WA is yet to announce any relaxation of border measures. The New South Wales-Victoria border will be closed for the first time in 100 years. Pictured: Police at a road block in Melbourne Workers in hazardous material overalls are seen outside of a public housing tower along Racecourse Road, Melbourne that was placed under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease Last month Ms Berejiklian slammed the Queensland government for refusing to open its borders to boost the economy. Asked if she felt 'silly' because she was now herself shutting the NSW-VIC border she said 'not at all' because the situation in Victoria is 'very different' as it involves widespread community transmission. 'The vast majority of cases that New South Wales and other states were experiencing were from overseas travellers or the direct contacts,' she said. 'All of the cases that the Premier Andrews announced today are from community transmission. 'This is unprecedented in Australia. That is why the decision of the New South Wales Government is unprecedented. We have not seen anything like this.' The New South Wales-Victoria border will be closed for the first time in 101 years after Victoria recorded a death and 127 new coronavirus cases - its biggest total since the pandemic began. The decision to shut the the NSW-Victoria was agreed by both premiers and the Prime Minister in a three-way phone call this morning after NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant recommended the move at 8am. The hard border will be enforced by New South Wales Police and the Australian Defence Force at all 55 crossings with roadblocks and drones to keep Victorian officers free to battle the state's outbreak. There are four major road crossing, 33 bridges, two waterway crossings and dozens of minor road crossings, as well as dirt tracks and bushland trails. NSW Police Comission Mick Fuller said: 'The task is not lost on me, in terms of the enormity of the logistics in this operation alone.' A member of the Australian Defence Force carries a batch of swab samples taken from members of the public at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic in Melbourne How will border shut-down work? The border will close from 11.59pm Tuesday night It will be be enforced from the NSW side with roadblocks, drones and helicopters Permit system will be used for people with unavoidable travel to NSW People living in border communities will be able to travel for work and essential health services Specific arrangements will be set up for healthcare in Albury-Wodonga - Victoria runs the Albury Hospital even though it is located in NSW Advertisement The policy marks the first time the border between the two neighbours has been closed since between January and April in 1919, during the Spanish Flu outbreak. Residents who live on the border will be able to apply for a permit from Service New South Wales allowing them to cross. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refused to say how long the closure would last and urged other states to remove their borders with NSW to boost the economy. 'I say to all the other states around Australia, use this as an opportunity to now take off your borders with New South Wales,' she said. NSW recorded 10 new coronavirus patients, all locked up in hotel quarantine. Earlier Mr Andrews announced that a Victorian man in his 90s has died, bringing the national death toll to 105. Victoria has recorded more than 60 new cases of coronavirus a day since last Monday. Today's new daily case count of 127 exceeds the state's previous record of 111 on March 28. Twelve Melbourne postcodes containing more than 300,000 residents were on Thursday forced back into lockdown and residents of nine social housing towers were on Saturday totally banned from leaving their homes. Twenty-six of Monday's new cases are linked to the nine towers in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne where all residents are being tested. The towers have now suffered a total of 53 coronavirus cases. Healthcare workers carry boxes to high rise housing commission on Sunday during lockdown 'There are an additional 10 that were in earlier numbers that are now linked to those towers,' Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Monday. 'So it's an increase of 26, essentially doubling of the numbers from yesterday and really not unexpected. 'It is exactly the reason why these towers are in a hard lockdown and why we're doing extensive testing across all of them.' Mr Andrews warned Victorians that the virus is 'far from over'. 'It's not too much to ask that people use common sense and good judgement and for some - stop are pretending this is over. It is not over,' he said. Politicians criticised the border shut down and said it could be devestating for border towns. Albury-based federal cabinet minister Sussan Ley warned a border closure was not workable with her hometown sharing a health service with Wodonga. 'It would be a real break on our regional economy,' she told ABC radio. 'I don't want to see that, I want to see us coming out of COVID but obviously these lockdowns have to happen and we have to take the health advice to do that.' Wodonga-based Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said the decision could be devastating for regional areas. 'This is going to cause serve disruption right along our border communities between NSW and Victoria for an issue and a hotspot in Melbourne,' she told Sky News. She said 98 per cent of Victoria's cases had been in Melbourne, while Albury-Wodonga had been virus-free for 92 days. Nationals senator Perin Davey - who is based in the NSW town of Deniliquin, which is close to Victoria - said the border closure would hit her community hard. 'Albury-Wodonga shares a health service. You've got all of these border towns, Echuca-Moama, Barooga and Cobram, they all share an economy,' she told Sky News. 'It is not quite as simple as being able to draw a line in the sand and say you cannot cross this border.' Senator Davey said regional Australia had been largely coronavirus-free while major cities had seen outbreaks. An estimated 3,000 residents have been affected by the towers lockdown, which will last for at least five days. Australia's federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has labelled the housing commission towers 'vertical cruise ships' - a reference to the Ruby Princess outbreak. He threw his support behind the Victorian government on Sunday, saying the virus was spreading by community transmission at a rate not seen before in Australia. 'They are doing a fantastic job but this is a huge effort,' he said, adding everyone in Melbourne should get tested for the deadly virus. 'Right around the country we are offering and providing substantial support to our Victorian colleagues.' Mr Andrews said residents would be given food, free rent, baby formula, pet food and medical essentials. They will also be provided with counselling, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction including methadone for registered addicts, mental health care, family violence counselling and physical healthcare. A drive through Covid-19 testing site at a shopping centre carpark in a hotspot suburb in Melbourne Passengers arriving from Melbourne are greeted by staff from NSW Health to check for COVID-19 symptoms at Sydney Airport Pictured: A housing commission tower at Flemington in Melbourne's inner northwest 'This is not going to be a pleasant experience for those residents but I have a message for those residents: this is not about punishment but protection,' Mr Andrews said. 'We cannot have this virus spread.' Translators will be doorknocking to explain directions to tenants who don't speak English. Some residents of the public housing estate are employed and they will receive a $1,500 hardship payment to compensate for missing work. A crowdfunding campaign for residents by Victorian Trades Hall Council had raised more than $250,000 by Sunday afternoon. However residents have already begun complaining, shocked by their sudden forced quarantine. Signs were pinned to the windows at the Flemington tower. One said 'Flemington penitentiary', while others said: 'Treat us as humans, not caged animals, end this lockdown, effective immediately'. At a North Melbourne housing commission tower, a woman held a sign which simply said: 'Help'. A man shouted that he was hungry and needed food from the window of a neighbouring tower. On Saturday night, police brought in boxes of supplies for residents with more on the way. Medical workers and police outside Flemington public housing flats on Sunday Police carry bags of groceries from Aldi towards the housing commission towers at Sutton St, North Melbourne, on Sunday. Some residents yelled out the window that they were hungry and had no food - after just one day of lockdown A man hoping to deliver food to family talks to police at public housing towers on Racecourse Rd, Flemington on Sunday. Residents complained their essential food boxes on Saturday had no milk or bread Public housing resident Najat Mussa shared photos to social media of one box showing canned food including baked beans, tuna, pasta, apple juice, jam, weetbix, flour and muesli bars. 'Weet-bix with no milk, tuna with no bread, this is what we are given,' the picture had written on it. Angry residents were caught surprised and unprepared for the lockdown, and have issued a list of demands, saying they should be able to leave their homes for essential reasons. Victorian health officials have admitted that 'dozens' of cases can be traced back to breaches in the hotel quarantine system. Since March, Victoria has quarantined more than 18,000 travellers returning from overseas but, unlike other state leaders, Mr Andrews chose to enforce the quarantine with private security guards instead of the police and defence force. Within hours of the lockdown being announced on Saturday, residents of the nine housing commission towers began circulating a list of demands including that they not be locked down It has since emerged that security guards breached infection protocols by mingling with guests and failing to use personal protective equipment properly. Insiders have also alleged that some guards fell asleep on the job, shook hands and even slept with hotel guests. Premier Andrews said the guards shared cigarette lighters and even made journeys in the same cars while Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said that several guards breached social distancing rules. 'There's been closer mingling of these guards than we would like in the workplace,' she said. More than 60 cases can be traced back to two quarantine hotels in Melbourne's CBD - the Stamford Plaza and the Rydges on Swanston - after workers and guards caught the virus and took it back to their friends and families. By contrast, New South Wales has used ADF troops to enforce the quarantine of more than 25,000 returned travellers without suffering any major outbreaks. A man looks down at the street from the Sutton St housing commission where he is locked in Mexican military officials found a smugglers' plane ablaze on a jungle road after it made an illegal landing when military aircraft started following it. The jet, which is suspected of carrying hundreds of kilos of drugs was discovered in flames on the Yucatan Peninsula. Video posted by the top Quintana Roo state police official showed smoke billowing from the jet as it sat on a rural two-lane highway. The Defense Department said the plane had arrived from South America and had been tracked since it entered Mexican airspace. According to the department, two air force planes were dispatched to trail the jet and troops were flown to the landing site. Scroll down for video Mexican military officials said on Sunday they discovered a small plane from South America in flames after it made an illegal landing on the Yucatan Peninsula possibly carrying hundreds of kilos of drugs Video posted by the top Quintana Roo state police official showed smoke billowing from the jet as it sat on a rural two-lane highway The Defense Department said the plane had arrived from South America and had been tracked since it entered Mexican airspace. According to the department, two air force planes were dispatched to trail the jet and troops were flown to the landing site Local press reported that because the aircraft had been detected by the Armed Forces in mid-flight, the crew would have landed and burned the plane in order to escape. However, local authorities have not confirmed that report. It is unclear whether the plane made the emergency landing and then burst into flames or whether the traffickers purposely set it on fire. Further down the highway, headed toward the neighboring state of Yucatan, troops found a pickup truck loaded with 13 sacks of cocaine weighing a total of about 850 pounds. With an estimated value of more than $4.9million, the loss would have a 'significant' impact on criminal organizations, said a statement from the Mexican military. Broadcaster Milenio, which showed footage of the plane half burnt out on a highway surrounded by dense vegetation, reported that the plane had arrived from Maracaibo, Venezuela. Reuters could not verify the information and the Venezuelan government did not immediately reply to a request for comment. No arrests have been made. The plane had landed in the state of Quintana Roo, home to popular beach resorts like Cancun. The website Aviation Safety Network identified the plane as a decades-old BAe-125 15-seat passenger jet. It's unclear what year the jet was manufactured, but its price could range between $500,000 and $1million. Further down the highway, headed toward the neighboring state of Yucatan, troops found a pickup truck loaded with 13 sacks of cocaine weighing a total of about 850 pounds Police have nabbed a masked man who attempted to escape a high rise commission flat at the centre of Melbourne's lastest COVID-19 outbreak. Officers sped into action as the man made his way out of the flats along Racecourse Road in Flemington to freedom just across the road on Monday. He never made it past the fence. Police stop a man who attempted to get out of a Flemington housing commission tower on Monday. He claimed he was going on a 'coffee run' The man emerged inside the towers shortly after where police again took hold of him before he vanished back into the tower Police converged on the man as he approached the rear of a Flemington housing commission tower on Racecourse Road Daily Mail Australia watched on as police swarmed on the man, who claimed he had been on a 'coffee run'. 'You can order coffee from inside,' a burly officer could be heard saying as he grabbed hold of the man. The man could be seen later arguing with police back inside one of the towers before he was physically moved out of view. Ugly scenes have continued on Monday as police enforce a strict lockdown on nine towers in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne where 26 new cases have been linked. The towers have now suffered a total of 53 coronavirus cases. Residents inside the doomed buildings had risen to a cold and wet Melbourne morning. But no-one was going anywhere even if they wanted to. Outside, health officials could be seen wandering past deserted playgrounds in full hazardous material suits. A booze bus positioned ominously out front comically needed to be jump started after officers inside ran its battery flat. Struggling police could later be seen picking up loaves of bread which had spilled on the footpath. They were joined by what appeared to be forensic police officers draped in masks and covered head-to-toe in protective gear. Those not trapped inside strained their necks to look upward where residents had stuck signs up in their windows. For some, it is now the only way they can communicate with the outside world. One said 'Flemington penitentiary', while others said: 'Treat us as humans, not caged animals, end this lockdown, effective immediately'. At a North Melbourne housing commission tower, a woman held a sign which simply said: 'Help'. A man trapped within the Flemington towers signals to photographers. He appeared to be arguing with his police captors A sign stuck to the window of a person trapped inside the housing commission flats in Flemington on Monday People continue to stick signs on their windows with a housing commission tower in Flemington Men dressed head-to-toe in protective gear descended on the housing commission flats in Flemington on Monday CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 8,449 53 cases of COVID-19 have been discovered inside nine Victorian towers New South Wales: 3,240 Victoria: 2,660 Queensland: 1,067 Western Australia: 618 South Australia: 443 Tasmania: 228 Australian Capital Territory: 108 Northern Territory: 30 TOTAL CASES: 8,394 DEATHS: 106 Advertisement At Flemington, motorists driving along Racecourse Road sounded their horns as they travelled past the towers. Seated on a grassy area outside, young folk dressed in high visibility vests waited to get inside the concrete jungles. Elderly residents inside could be seen staring outside their windows at them. Some ducked to avoid the long lens cameras peering at them, others just sat blankly staring into the horizon. Just after midday the testing teams went in. Hours later, former Labour leader Bill Shorten arrived carry in crates of food to observe the scene himself. Victoria has recorded more than 60 new cases of coronavirus a day since last Monday. Today's new daily case count of 127 exceeds the state's previous record of 111 on March 28. Twelve Melbourne postcodes containing more than 300,000 residents were on Thursday forced back into lockdown and residents of nine social housing towers were on Saturday totally banned from leaving their homes. In Flemington, a playground that ought be bustling with children enjoying their school holidays sits taped-off and empty below a tower. Above, children trapped in their homes can only sit and ponder about when they might be able to test the flying fox again. It is hard to imagine what families are going through inside. At points throughout Monday morning, people - mostly women - could be heard screaming - chilling screams associated with nasty situations. Talk back radio and social media posts paint an awful situation. No food, stale food, bad food - or worse. Residents at a Flemington tower talk to police outside their building. They could be seen waving at media for attention and indicating they were prisoners Food supplies are delivered to the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex on Monday amid complaints from those trapped inside Children gesture from a window inside a unit at the public housing tower along Racecourse Road in Melbourne on Monday Police have converged on housing commission towers across Melbourne on Monday Police camped outside a Flemington tower had to jump start their own booze bus after running down its battery Angry residents were caught surprised and unprepared for the lockdown, and have issued a list of demands, saying they should be able to leave their homes for essential reasons. On Monday, a man and a woman could be seen at the foot of one tower surrounded by police. They were shouting at a media pack, who could only watch on from outside the cordoned-off zone. The man waved frantically for someone to come over and appeared to be trying to communicate something. A policeman sits outside the exit to a Flemington housing commission tower on Monday At one point he crossed his arms together in protest - a sign that he was being detained against his wishes. While people inside tried to get out, some on the outside could be seen trying to get in. Women carrying bags of groceries were held up at checkpoints. A woman who managed to get out of the quarantine zone shouted out a message to photographers who milled about outside the gates. 'Free our people,' she said. Around the corner, health officials appeared to have set up several testing stations. A gazebo provided shelter for a couple of elderly residents who may have been allowed outside to get some fresh air. A playground outside the Flemington commission housing tower on Monday which has been placed into lockdown People on the outside of the Flemington towers look up at those trapped within the concrete beasts An elderly woman peers outside of her tower where on Monday she remained trapped in Flemington If they were, they would be among the lucky ones. Hardly anyone could be seen being allowed outside on Monday. Those below fear the only way some may leave the towers is in body bags. Mental health workers could be seen moving into the blocks amid fears a mental health crisis could grip those within as the days drag on. Others fear much worse. As the sun began to set, protesters converged at the front of the Flemington towers. They watched on as police carried in black bags of equipment in preparation for the night ahead. The situation has been described by some as a 'human rights' disaster that could get even uglier. 'Those towers are going to burn if they don't let them out soon,' one man said. A woman appears from within one tower. She was greeted by masked police outside her door A woman attempts to get into the Flemington towers carrying bag loads of groceries on Monday The cardiothoracic surgeon improved overnight and is now in remission Bruce Davis was on his death bed when he received treatment after a ctDNA test The test, known as ctDNA, could replace biopsies with a simple blood sample A new blood test that could save thousands of terminal cancer patients is being trialled in Australia. Cancer patients will now be able to access tumour DNA testing at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne as part of new clinical trials. The breakthrough tests, known as circulating tumour DNA testing, or ctDNA, could mean previously untreatable cancers are beaten, giving a much-needed lifeline to thousands of families. Melbourne cardiothoracic surgeon Bruce Davis, who was diagnosed with t-cell lymphoma in 2013, owes his life to the pioneering blood test. He underwent a series of chemotherapy treatments and immunotherapy, but the disease came back and spread to his stomach and brain. When he received ctDNA testing, he was just days from death. Haematologists Piers Blombery (pictured) said the treatment is useful for people with cancer that is deep in the brain - and can treat previously incurable tumours WHAT IS CIRCULATING DNA TESTING? Circulating tumour DNA are shards of of DNA shed by cancer cells. By isolating the DNA though a blood test, specialists can gain an accurate diagnosis and personalise treatment options. It replaces the need for invasive biopsies, and is more effective in determining diagnosis, prognosis and treatment options. Doctors can also use genomic sequencing to gain an understanding of any DNA changes that have taken place, and what has caused the cancer to grow. Treatments can therefore be tailored to suit he individual and further blood tests can monitor the effectiveness. Source: The Australian Advertisement Haematologists were able to isolate protein usually found in melanoma as a result of the ctDNA test and developed a treatment to target the protein and attack the cancer. Professor Miles Prince was one of the doctors treating Mr Davis and said he was deteriorating rapidly before the treatment. 'Unbelievably, we gave him a particular drug, he had a huge fever and it was almost like the movies - he woke up the next day like a new person,' he told The Australian. Mr Davis is now in remission and said the drug had a 'miraculous effect'. Leading haematologists Piers Blombery said the treatment is particularly useful for people who have cancer in areas where a biopsy can't be performed, such as deep in the brain. The test replaces the need for biopsies by using a blood sample to test the DNA of cancerous tumours, providing a more accurate diagnosis and allowing for personalised treatment options. 'Every cancer is different and genomics testing such as the ctDNA panel gives clinicians more details about what drives the individual patient's tumour cells. 'It can give you more accurate diagnoses, prognoses and ultimately more treatment options.' Professor Prince the test could monitor the way cancer patients respond to treatments the way blood glucose is monitored in diabetics, and could save people from receiving the wrong treatments. He has campaigned to the federal government to fund the testing, claiming it could save lives on a daily basis. Armed right-wing militia groups assembled at Gettysburg on July 4 after an apparent online hoax suggested that anti-fascists planned to burn American flags at the Civil War battleground. The initial event, posted online, reportedly billed itself as a 'peaceful flag burning to resist police.' It led to hundreds of counter-protesters showing up to the historic Pennsylvanian battlefield after it was shared on social media by various alt-right groups including militias. Members of a militia walk past a tourist as they patrol the area surrounding the Gettysburg National Cemetery on Saturday at Gettysburg National Military Park One of the hundreds who turned up to thwart a supposed flag-burning event at Gettysburg I guess the militia men and women didnt like the Black Lives Matter reference on my poster #Gettysburg pic.twitter.com/s8g3wywwwT Peter Carmichael (@PeterCarmicha15) July 5, 2020 They showed up to confront Antifa protesters - but none of the far-left supporters could be seen. The posts that appeared on social media ahead of the Independence Day celebrations reportedly called for people to arrive at the site in face paint. 'Let's get together and burn flags in protest of thugs and animals in blue,' one Facebook page read from a so-called organizer. Activists promised to 'give away free small flags to children to safely throw into the fire', according to the invite. The posts were shared to alt-right websites and social media groups, and generated outrage from readers. One post on Facebook last month even stated Antifa members had been 'trained by radical Muslims' and were planning to 'kill as many Trump supporters as possible'. The post claimed the information to have been confirmed by Gettysburg Police, which was untrue. There was a concerted effort on social media to generate interest in the event which appeared to dupe many far-right militia groups who showed up Part of the right-wing response in Gettysburg to a rumored flag burning to be carried out there by Antifa on July 4 Hundreds turned out to prevent any burning of U.S. flags, but no one turned up to burn flags The plan was further confirmed by a lengthy Facebook post which gave even more details However, there is no evidence to suggest that the flag burning had ever been planned by Antifa members at all. 'No, we did not create the event page. We have no interest in demonstrating at Gettysburg, we are all home with our families. The right wing loves to stir up their base with these ridiculous rumors and conspiracy theories,' the Antifa chapter for Central Pennsylvania group said to the Hanover Evening Sun. It's not clear who was responsible for the original social media posts but it lead to hundreds of bikers and militia members all gathering outside Gettysburg Cemetery waiting for a protest that never happened. 'It doesn't matter if it's a hoax or not,' Christopher Blakeman, 45, told The Washington Post. 'They made a threat, and if we don't make our voices heard, it'll make it seem like it's okay.' Counter-protesters came prepared to guard monuments and other structures at the national park from desecration or damage by protesters. Armed militia members, bikers and white nationalists turned up at the grounds of the Gettysburg National Military Park on July 4 to defend against a supposed burning of the U.S. flag by leftists Militia members at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania on July 4 Some of the online adverts promoting the flag burning event which even included face painting for kids In response to the proposed flag burning event, and the subsequent social media hype around it, local police released a statement on June 30 stating that they would be ready to protect local monuments, homes and businesses. 'We want to assure those we serve that we are taking all precautions at our disposal to maintain the safety of all residents and visitors to the area as well as the protection of property to include businesses, homes, monuments, churches and other historical treasures located in the greater Gettysburg area,' Gettysburg Borough Police Chief Robert Glenny Jr. wrote. Police at the event intervened in only one incident. Trent Somes, a pastor who was in the Gettysburg cemetery wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, was removed for his own safety after being surrounded by dozens of people, NY Daily News reported. During his Independence Day address, President Donald Trump vowed to defeat the 'radical left' as protests against racism and police brutality continue. Trump said he would 'fight... to preserve the American way of life'. In May, the president said he would designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Victoria's staggering rise in locally acquired coronavirus cases is unprecedented and a threat to the whole nation, politicians and medical experts warned today. Since last Monday Victoria has detected 632 new infections, only 14 of whom are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. This is radically different from the spike in cases across several states in late March and early April which saw large numbers of returning Australians test positive. Locally acquired cases are more dangerous because the patients are not in quarantine and can more easily transmit the virus around the community. This graph shows the number of locally acquired cases that Victoria has suffered since last Monday Victoria's staggering rise in locally acquired coronavirus cases is unprecedented. Pictured: Covid testing in Melbourne on Monday Residents locked inside the Melbourne tower block put a sign in the window Since last Monday Victoria has detected 632 new patients, only 14 of whom are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. Pictured: Police at a Melbourne housing estate A resident looks from a window at one of nine public housing estates locked down due a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in Melbourne Paul Komesaroff, Professor of Medicine at Monash University, told Daily Mail Australia the situation in Victoria, where 12 postcodes have been put back into lockdown, is alarming. 'It is an extremely dangerous situation and the safety of the entire country is at stake,' he said. 'Clearly there is a major problem that has required draconian measures which should be supported by Victorians to protect their safety. Professor Komesaroff said he supported the border shut downs and localised lockdown measures which have proved successful in other countries such as South Korea and Singapore. 'This a very different situation that we haven't seen previously and we have to do what he have to do,' he said. He added that 3,000 public housing residents placed under total lockdown in north Melbourne should be given as much support as possible because many are refugees who have already been through 'significant trauma'. Workers in personal protective equipment are seen entering the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex on Monday Residents look from a window at one of nine public housing estates locked down due a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in Melbourne Residents of the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex are tested for COVID-19 on Monday Playground equipment with caution tape is seen outside a public housing tower along Racecourse Road in Melbourne on Monday Victoria recorded 127 new coronavirus cases on Monday - all locally acquired - and two deaths, prompting New South Wales to shut the border for the first time in 101 years. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the situation was 'very different' to the previous spike earlier this year. 'The vast majority of cases that New South Wales and other states were experiencing were from overseas travellers or the direct contacts,' she said. 'All of the cases that the Premier Andrews announced today are from community transmission. 'This is unprecedented in Australia. That is why the decision of the New South Wales Government [to shut the border] is unprecedented. We have not seen anything like this.' Former Labor leader and MP for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, delivers food to the Flemington Towers Government Housing on Monday Mr Shorten waved to cameras as he helped out. Victoria recorded 127 new coronavirus cases on Monday - all locally acquired Police have been patrolling the commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington The decision to shut the NSW-VIC border was agreed by both premiers and the Prime Minister in a three-way phone call this morning after NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant recommended the move at 8am. The hard border will be enforced by New South Wales Police and the Australian Defence Force at all 55 crossings with roadblocks and drones to keep Victorian officers free to battle the state's outbreak. There are four major road crossing, 33 bridges, two waterway crossings and dozens of minor road crossings, as well as dirt tracks and bushland trails. NSW Police Comission Mick Fuller said: 'The task is not lost on me, in terms of the enormity of the logistics in this operation alone.' A member of the Australian Defence Force carries a batch of swab samples taken from members of the public at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic in Melbourne How will NSW-VIC border shut-down work? The border will close from 12.01am Wednesday morning It will be be enforced from the NSW side with roadblocks, drones and helicopters Permit system will be used for people with unavoidable travel to NSW People living in border communities will be able to travel for work and essential health services Specific arrangements will be set up for healthcare in Albury-Wodonga - Victoria runs the Albury Hospital even though it is located in NSW Advertisement The policy marks the first time the border between the two neighbours has been closed since between January and April in 1919, during the Spanish Flu outbreak. Residents who live on the border will be able to apply for a permit from Service New South Wales allowing them to cross. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refused to say how long the closure would last and urged other states to remove their borders with NSW to boost the economy. 'I say to all the other states around Australia, use this as an opportunity to now take off your borders with New South Wales,' she said. NSW recorded 10 new coronavirus patients, all locked up in hotel quarantine. Earlier Mr Andrews announced that a Victorian man in his 90s has died, bringing the national death toll to 105. Victoria has recorded more than 60 new cases of coronavirus a day since last Monday. Today's new daily case count of 127 exceeds the state's previous record of 111 on March 28. Twelve Melbourne postcodes containing more than 300,000 residents were on Thursday forced back into lockdown and 3,000 residents of nine social housing towers were on Saturday totally banned from leaving their homes. Twenty-six of Monday's new cases are linked to the nine towers in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne where all residents are being tested. The towers have now suffered a total of 53 coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, West Australian premier Mark McGowan has asked the Prime Minister for a formal cap on numbers coming in to the state from overseas. He wants no more than one flight every three days. He is also drafting legislation to make returned travellers pay for their own enforced quarantine. Workers in hazardous material overalls are seen outside of a public housing tower along Racecourse Road, Melbourne that was placed under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease Dozens of Spanish beaches were forced to close yesterday after crowds of people flocked to the beach - as British tourists prepare to descend on the country again. Nearly 30 Costa del Sol beaches had to turn visitors away at the busiest times of the day on Sunday in resorts including Benalmadena. Beaches in Malaga were also forced to reduce the number of visitors in order to maintain social distancing. The UK government has included Spain on its list of 'travel corridor' countries, meaning people returning to England will not have to quarantine from July 10, and the Foreign Office is no longer advising against all but essential travel to Spain. However, the regions of Galicia and Catalonia each put tens of thousands of people back into lockdown over the weekend after a new surge in cases. UK ministers warned last week that they 'will not hesitate' to re-impose quarantine rules if conditions worsen in the countries on the 'travel corridor' list. However, neither Spain nor any other country has been removed from the list since it was unveiled last Friday. Beachgoers soak up the sun at Malvarrosa beach in Valencia on Saturday, as Spain prepares to welcome British tourists again for the summer holidays Two parts of Spain - La Marina in Galicia and Segria in Catalonia, both shown in the north of the country - have been forced to re-impose lockdown measures after a spike in cases. On Spain's southern coastline, the beaches marked on the map all faced overcrowding over the weekend just days before Britain relaxes its quarantine rules allowing more tourists to head to Spain Around 55 beaches in southern Spain's Andalucia region were closed at some point yesterday, according to Malaga-based paper Sur. Malaga was the province most affected, followed by Cadiz and then Huelva. In Cadiz, sunbathers were turned away from Zahora beach near the Cape of Trafalgar which was shut shortly after 1.30pm. Several small coves in nearby Conil de la Frontera also had to shut their doors because of overcrowding. Town halls posted the closure information on mobile phone apps or council websites. Officials in Chipiona, near the US naval base of Rota, posted 'real time' information showing two of its beaches had reached maximum or near-maximum capacity - Cruz del Mar and Tres Piedras. The Tres Piedras closure around 3pm coincided with high tide when there was less space available on the sand. Local reports said Bolonia beach close to Tarifa and the nearby kitesurfers' paradise Valdequeros, hit by closures over the previous two weekends, escaped problems this Saturday and Sunday. The problems are expected to worsen further into July, as more foreign tourists arrive and Spaniards start their annual summer holidays. Spain is the worlds second-most visited country after France and normally receives more than 80million tourists a year - accounting for 12 per cent of jobs and GDP. Spain was one of the first countries named by Britain as part of a 'travel corridor', which means people will not have to quarantine on their return to England. Italy, France and Greece are also on the list along with Germany and Turkey, but not Portugal, Canada or the United States. The exemptions do not yet apply to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where devolved governments are set to draw up their own rules. People walk along the beach and paddle in the sea at San Lorenzo beach in Gijon on a weekend which saw large crowds at Spanish beaches This graph shows the daily number of new cases in Spain, which has been in the low hundreds in recent days. Spain has yet to release figures for the weekend that has just passed The beaches in southern Spain are normally busiest between mid-July and mid-August. None of the Costa del Sol beaches have opted for pre-booking systems like the one Benidorm is due to start operating when more people are in the resort. The two main beaches in Benidorm have been divided into lots measuring four square metres (43 sq ft) which beachgoers can reserve through an app. Spain is starting to re-admit visitors from 12 countries outside the EU, two weeks after allowing people from the Schengen zone and Britain to return. These 12 countries include Canada, South Korea, Thailand and Japan, but notably not the United States where cases are surging. Nearby Morocco and Algeria as well as China will be added to the list if they re-open their borders to Spaniards, the government says. Ryanair and easyJet have both started ramping up their flight schedules again with Britons back in the market for summer holidays. The health ministry said it had reinforced its presence at Spain's airports to check incoming travellers, with an extra 650 staff to add to the 600 already in place. Elsewhere, two northern regions of Spain have been forced to re-impose lockdown measures after a spike in cases. The regional government of Galicia yesterday imposed restrictions on around 70,000 people, meaning they cannot leave the area in the next five days. People play beach-volleyball at the seaside in Santander on Saturday. Some beaches have imposed booking systems to control numbers Sunbathers lie on the beach in Platja d'Aro near Girona yesterday. From July 10, Britons will not need to quarantine when they return from Spain The western Catalan city of Lleida and the rest of Segria county was put under lockdown from midday on Saturday (pictured, police carry out checks on motorists at the entrance to Lleida) Regional health authorities said there were now 258 cases in Galicia, of which 117 were in Lugo and many were linked to bars in the area. Capacity in bars and restaurants will be reduced to 50 per cent and people will have to wear a face mask, even if outdoors on beaches or at swimming pools. A day earlier, Catalonia locked down an area with around 200,000 residents following a 'sharp rise' in infections in Segria. People will not be allowed to enter or leave the area, gatherings of more than 10 will be banned and visits to retirement homes halted, officials said. Meanwhile Barcelona celebrated a milestone in its re-opening on Saturday, with visitors allowed back into the Sagrada Familia basilica, which is among Spain's most visited buildings. In the first phase of its reopening, health workers were the first to be admitted as a tribute to their work battling the pandemic. Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Sunday that the ministry was following the situations in Galicia and Catalonia very closely. 'Social distancing and lockdown measures were the key to flattening the curve. Now they are needed again to stop the outbreaks,' he said. Spain has seen 250,545 cases and 28,385 deaths since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. The country imposed one of the world's toughest lockdowns in March, with exercise not considered a valid excuse for leaving the house. A teenage girl has been accused of torching a youth centre to the ground causing $1million in damage. Firefighters were called to the burning property on Fifth Ave in Llandilo, western Sydney, at about 3.30pm on Sunday. It took Fire and Rescue NSW 40 minutes to extinguish the blazing inferno, which burned down the entire building, 7 News reported. Firefighters were called to the burning property on Fifth Ave in Llandilo, western Sydney, at about 3.30pm on Sunday (pictured) There were four people inside the building when the fire broke out, but they managed to escape unharmed. 'A 15-year-old girl was arrested at the scene at 4pm and taken to Penrith Police station,' police said in a statement. She has been charged with damaging and destroying property worth more than more than $15,000 with fire and destroying or damaging property valued between $2,000 and $5,000. The girl was refused bail and will appear before a Childrens Court on Monday. Officers from Nepean Police Area Command established a crime scene and have started investigations. At roughly 9:30 p.m. Friday, police found a woman with a gunshot wound to the stomach on the floor of an apartment in the 6700 block of Derby Drive, according to a press release. A child also was found in the home, and both were removed. The woman was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center for treatment. She was listed in critical condition, according to a Saturday press release. The child was not harmed. The coronavirus could have been lying dormant across the world until being 'ignited' by favourable environmental conditions rather than originating in China, a leading expert has claimed. Professor Tom Jefferson, of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), pointed to a string of recent discoveries of the infection's presence around the world before it emerged in Wuhan in December. Traces of Covid-19 have been found in sewage samples from Spain, Italy and Brazil which pre-date its discovery in China. Professor Tom Jefferson, from Oxford University, has pointed to a string of recent discoveries of the virus's presence around the world before it emerged in Asia as growing evidence of its true origin as a global organism that was waiting for favourable conditions to finally emerge Discussing the possibility the virus didn't originate in China, Professor Jefferson told The Daily Telegraph: 'Strange things like this happened with Spanish Flu. 'In 1918 around 30 per cent of the population of Western Samoa died of Spanish Flu, and they hadnt had any communication with the outside world.' He added: 'The explanation for this could only be that these agents dont come or go anywhere. 'They are always here and something ignites them, maybe human density or environmental conditions, and this is what we should be looking for.' Discussing the possibility the virus didn't originate in China, Professor Jefferson said: 'Strange things like this happened with Spanish Flu' DID THE VIRUS EXIST BEFORE IT WAS FOUND IN WUHAN? Experts have repeatedly claimed the coronavirus may have been lurking in animals for decades before adapting to be able to strike humans. Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the UK-based global health charity Wellcome, told MailOnline in January: 'This is absolutely not a brand new virus. 'This will have been circulating in animals in China and maybe other parts of Asia, probably for years... if not decades.' He added that it probably hadn't had an effect on humans until now, or caused such mild infections that 'no-one was bothered about' it. But Sir Jeremy said 'something changed', claiming the virus may have adapted to animals or mutated to become infectious to humans. Virologists in Spain last week claimed they found traces of the disease in samples of waste water from March 2019, almost a year before it struck Europe. Scientists suggested it went under the radar at the time 'because it was flu season and nobody was looking for it'. Italian health chiefs also found sewage water was contaminated with the virus in the cities of Milan and Turin in December. And Brazilian researchers claimed they found traces of the virus when they analysed waste water samples taken from Florianopolis in November. Scientists remain baffled as to how the virus jumped to humans. It has been linked to bats, pangolins and snakes. Advertisement Professor Jefferson told the newspaper he believes virus may be transmitted through the sewage system or shared toilet facilities. The virus called SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be mainly spread through droplets expelled by talking, coughing and sneezing. Virologists in Spain last week claimed they found traces of the disease in samples of waste water from March 2019, almost a year before it struck Europe. Scientists suggested it went under the radar at the time 'because it was flu season and nobody was looking for it'. But other experts questioned how it was possible for the virus known to be contagious to exist at detectable levels but not cause outbreaks. Italian health chiefs also found sewage water was contaminated with the virus in the cities of Milan and Turin in December. And Brazilian researchers claimed they found traces of the virus when they analysed waste water samples taken from Florianopolis in November. Scientists remain baffled as to how the virus jumped to humans. It has been linked to bats, pangolins and snakes. Experts have repeatedly claimed the coronavirus may have been lurking in animals for decades before adapting to be able to strike humans. Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the UK-based global health charity Wellcome, told MailOnline in January: 'This is absolutely not a brand new virus. 'This will have been circulating in animals in China and maybe other parts of Asia, probably for years... if not decades.' He added that it probably hadn't had an effect on humans until now, or caused such mild infections that 'no-one was bothered about' it. But Sir Jeremy said 'something changed', claiming the virus may have adapted to animals or mutated to become infectious to humans. It comes after a record 212,326 new cases of coronavirus were diagnosed worldwide on Saturday, according to the World Health Organization. The staggering figure mainly driven by the US and Brazil was an 11 per cent rise on the previous record of 190,566, set on June 28. June was the most devastating month for the global pandemic and saw cases top 10million and deaths surge past 500,000. The 10million milestone was hit only last week and the total has since risen to 11.4m, meaning more than 1.4million people have been diagnosed in seven days. Although many countries in Europe are now emerging from the worst days of the global crisis, the pandemic still rages on in the Americas and Asia. Uber has agreed to buy Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all stock deal to help grow the struggling ride-share company's food delivery business. The San Francisco-based Uber has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic -- cutting about 3700 workers in May, roughly 14 per cent of its 26,900 employees -- and has been looking to boost its growing food division Uber Eats. An expected $2.65 billion deal with start-up Postmates will be announced Monday, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The deal would bolster Uber and help Postmates, a nine-year-old firm that has struggled against larger food delivery rivals, the New York Times has previously reported. Uber has agreed to buy Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all stock deal to help grow the struggling ride-share company's own food delivery business An expected $2.65 billion deal with app-based start-up Postmates (pictured) will be announced Monday, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg The Postmates acquisition comes after a $6 billion Uber offer this year to acquire rival food delivery app Grubhub fell through earlier this year. Grubhub was later bought by European competitor Just Eat Takeaway. Uber said in its quarterly update earlier this year that it lost nearly $3 billion and its rides business was down some 80 per cent in April. The company noted however, that it was seeing strong revenue growth for its Eats food delivery operation. Neither Uber nor Postmates have commented on the potential deal. Uber, under pressure as its core ride-hailing business reels from lockdowns across the globe, offered a premium of about 10 per cent on Postmates' last valuation of $2.4 billion. Uber Eats vice president Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty will head the combined delivery business, according to both The Times and Bloomberg. Postmates in September raised $225 million in a private fundraising round. Uber currently estimates that it will issue about 84 million shares of common stock for 100 per cent of the fully diluted equity of Postmates, the company said in a statement. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, and stockholders representing a majority of Postmates' outstanding shares have committed to support the transaction, it added. Postmates operates in 4200 US cities delivering food and other products from restaurants and stores to customers' doorstep. One of the many taglines reads - "Have chips but no guac? Postmate it." Founded in 2011, San Francisco-based Postmates accounted for 8 per cent of the US meal delivery market in May, with its biggest rival DoorDash leading with a 44 per cent market share, according to analytics firm Second Measure. The move comes only weeks after Uber abandoned its plan to buy Grubhub through its Uber Eats business. The US online food delivery company was acquired in June by Just Eat Takeaway.com in a $7.3 billion deal. A British airline captain is accused of killing his baby daughter in a drunken rage by banging her head against the walls of a five-star hotel in Kazakhstan. Airbus 330 pilot Mohamed Barakat, 41, allegedly beat his young wife before fatally injuring his one-year-old child Sofia after an all-night drinking session. Barakat was detained and charged after his distraught Kazakh wife Madina Abdullayeva, 22, ran into the lobby of Almaty's five-star Intercontinental Hotel 'screaming for help'. He faces up to 20 years in jail for murder but claims the case against him has been 'fabricated' by police in Almaty. British airline pilot Mohamed Barakat, pictured with his Kazakh wife Madina Abdullayeva, is accused of killing his one-year-old daughter in a drunken rage Barakat is accused of attacking his wife and then fatally injuring his daughter at the five-star Intercontinental hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan (pictured) Barakat allegedly attacked his daughter after returning to the hotel room from a drinking session at 7am, prompting his wife to call his airline to say he was 'ill'. The call to Hong Kong Airlines 'enraged' the pilot who began punching his wife, prosecutors claim. The newly revealed indictment alleges that Barakat repeatedly punched his wife on the head before she escaped into the corridor. Sofia awoke because of her parents' fight and the pilot then turned his fury on the one-year-old, a British citizen, according to a report by Astana TV. 'He walked to the baby's cot, took his daughter Sofia in his hands and forcefully hit the walls and doors of the hotel room with her head,' says the court indictment. 'Having made sure Sofia Barakat was not displaying signs of life, he put her on the floor by the entrance door of the hotel room.' Forensic experts found that the child suffered multiple injuries and had no chance of survival. Her skull was fractured and her brain had been 'crushed', a virtual court hearing was told. Barakat appeared in a video-link court hearing (he is pictured bottom left) where it was claimed that his daughter's skull had been fractured and her brain 'crushed' However, Barakat's family in England claim he has faced 'injustice, corruption and illegal investigation' in Kazakhstan. 'The case is fabricated,' said his lawyers in a statement ahead of a further hearing which is expected to be delayed after a new coronavirus lockdown in Kazakhstan. 'There is no undisputed and substantiated evidence in the criminal case to prove his guilt for the death of his only child.' Lawyer Tair Nazkhanov said: 'The forensic examination reports indicated that there were no fingerprints and DNA from Mohamed on the child's body, which means that he did not even touch the child that day. 'The Almaty Police Department inspected the hotel room with gross violations of the Kazakhstan criminal procedural law.' A blood sample found in the luxury hotel room 'did not end up belonging to the child', it is claimed. Barakat was detained and charged after his distraught wife ran into the Intercontinental hotel lobby (pictured) 'screaming for help' Barakat's lawyers will demand that the case be sent back to the state prosecutor for further examination, claiming the police ignored other explanations as to how the child died. A previous set of defence lawyers had suggested that Barakat had accidentally fallen on the child. Barakat's wife is 'in contact' with her husband but was earlier banned from seeing him, say sources close to the case. No visits to inmates in the 1,000-capacity jail - where there is a feared outbreak of coronavirus - have been permitted during the Covid-19 crisis. Barakat has been held since October. A legal representative for Madina had earlier said: 'During the incident she was not in the room. 'The couple quarrelled and she ran out into the corridor. She does not know whether Mohamed intentionally harmed the child or not. 'We are waiting for the results of the examination.' The lawyer said: 'Madina is in contact with Mohamed and she has no desire to jail him at any price.' Authorities in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have issued an early epidemic warning after a resident contracted bubonic plague. Bubonic plague, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages, is one of the most devastating diseases in history, having killed around 100million people in the 14th century. The confirmed plague case has sparked fears of a new wave of virus outbreak erupting in China when the country is still battling the coronavirus. But experts have claimed that the disease, which usually affects wild rodents and is spread by infected fleas, will not become a global health threat like COVID-19. Authorities in Bayan Nur in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia has issued a warning on Sunday. The file picture taken on December 1, 2018 shows people taking part in a race during an international camel cultural festival held in Wulatehou Banner, Bayan Nur Health officials in the city of Bayan Nur issued the third-level alert yesterday, the second lowest in a four-level system. The picture shows the geographical location of the city A local hospital in the city of Bayan Nur alerted the municipal authorities of a suspected plague patient on Saturday, according to the local health commission. What is the bubonic plague? Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by fleas and transmitted between animals. The bubonic plague - the most common form - is caused by the bite of an infected flea and can spread through contact with infectious bodily fluids or contaminated materials. Patients may show signs of fever and nausea and at an advanced stage may develop open sores filled with pus. It devastated Europe in the Middle Ages, most notably in the Black Death of the 1340s which killed a third or more of the continent's population. After the Black Death plague became a common phenomenon in Europe, with outbreaks recurring regularly until the 18th century. When the Great Plague of 1665 hit, a fifth of people in London died, with victims shut in their homes and red crosses painted on the door. Bubonic plague has almost completely vanished from the rich world, with 90 per cent of all cases now found in Africa. It is now treatable with antibiotics, as long as they are administered quickly. Still, there have been a few non-fatal cases in the U.S., with an average of seven reported a year, according to disease control bosses. From 2010 to 2015 there were 3,248 cases reported worldwide, including 584 deaths, says the World Health Organisation. Some plague vaccines have been developed, but none are available to the general public. The WHO does not recommend vaccination except for high-risk groups such as health care workers. Without antibiotics, the bubonic strain can spread to the lungs where it becomes the more virulent pneumonic form. Pneumonic plague, which can kill within 24 hours, can then be passed on through coughing, sneezing or spitting. Advertisement The government immediately issued a citywide level three warning for epidemic control, the second-lowest in a four-level system. Level three warning is announced in China when a city has detected between one to 20 cases of an infectious disease. The patient, who remains unidentified, was later diagnosed with bubonic plague, according to a government notice. The official alert forbids the hunting and eating of animals that could carry plague. It also asks the public to report any suspected cases of plague or fever with no clear causes and to report any sick or dead marmots. The warning will stay in place until the end of the year, said the officials. Health officials of Beijing city have also warned citizens to avoid overnight camping and close contacts with wild animals when travelling to grasslands in Inner Mongolia. Sunday's warning follows four reported cases of plague in people from Inner Mongolia last November, including two of pneumonic plague, a deadlier variant of plague. Fears of a new wave of virus crisis after the coronavirus are fuelled in the country following the new plague case. However, British health experts have said that no evidence shows bubonic plague can be passed from one person to another, therefore it is unlikely to trigger another health crisis. Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, said: 'Bubonic plague is a thoroughly unpleasant disease and this case will be of concern locally within Inner Mongolia. 'However, it is not going to become a global threat like we have seen with COVID-19. Bubonic plague is transmitted via the bite of infected fleas, and human to human transmission is very rare.' Prof David Mabey, Professor of Communicable Diseases from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, called the case in China 'not worrying at all'. He said: '[The disease] is transmitted from rodents to human by flea bites. There were a number of cases recently in Madagascar where it was suspected there might have been human to human transmission due to so called pneumonic plague, when the infection spreads via the blood stream to the lungs, but this was never proven.' Prof Christl Donnelly, Professor of Applied Statistics, University of Oxford and Professor of Statistical Epidemiology, Imperial College London, said commonly available antibiotics were effective at treating plague. 'Sometimes antibiotics are given preventatively to close contacts of cases. Most cases of plague in the last 30 years have been recorded in Africa. However, small numbers of plague cases occur annually in the United States, usually in rural areas of western states,' Prof Donnelly said. Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by fleas and transmitted between animals. The picture above is a 3D illustration of the bacterium China has appeared to have largely controlled the COVID-19 outbreak but the capital city has been battling a local infection cluster linked to a wet market since mid-June. The plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is usually found in small mammals and their fleas. The bubonic plague, known as the 'Black Death' in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents. The bacterial infection can kill adults within 24 hours if not treated in time. Plague cases are not uncommon in China, but outbreaks have become increasingly rare. From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths. Plague cases are not uncommon in China, but outbreaks have become increasingly rare. From 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths. Pictured shows a Mongolian marmot The news comes after Mongolia, China's neighbouring country, quarantined a region next to the Chinese border after a local cluster of the bubonic plague. Two suspected cases of the plague - which is linked to the consumption of marmot meat - have been identified, health experts announced on Wednesday. Local reports suggested that the victims were a 27-year-old male and a young woman, although her age is not known. The provincial capital in western Mongolia is now in quarantine. The boss of Lloyds bank is set to step down next year after a decade in the top job, it was announced today. Chief executive of the bank Antonio Horta-Osorio, who was titled Britain's best paid banker in 2018 when he earned a staggering 6.5million, said he had 'mixed emotions' about the decision to leave at the end of June 2021. The new shake-up will also see the banking group appoint industry veteran Robin Budenberg as their new chairman. The Portuguese chief executive, who joined the bank after formerly heading Santander's UK arm, said: 'It is, of course, with mixed emotions that I announce my intention to step down as chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group by June next year. Chief executive of Lloyds bank Antonio Horta-Osorio, who joined the bank after formerly heading Santander's UK arm, has announced that he will leave his position at the end of June 2021. 'I am lucky to have had the support of a superb board and executive team on whom I will continue to rely as we complete our current strategic plan, transforming the group into the bank of the future. 'Everyone at Lloyds has unified around our purpose of ''Helping Britain Prosper'', and our customers and communities are seeing our commitment to that now, more than ever.' After joining in 2011, Mr Horta-Osorio led the turnaround at the bank in the aftermath of its government rescue in the 2007-09 financial crisis and saw it return fully to private hands in 2017. Speaking about the banker's achievements John Cronin, analyst at Goodbody, told The Financial Times: 'He has delivered a successful strategy overhaul as well as substantive transformation from an organisational efficiency perspective. 'While he will be sorely missed, it is not surprising that he is planning to move on after what will be 10 years at the helm come 2021.' Mr Horta-Osorio's departure was announced alongside the news that the bank had also found a new chairman in Robin Budenberg. Mr Budenberg will take over when Lord Blackwell, who had already announced that he would be steeping down, retires. The banking group has appointed industry veteran Robin Budenberg as their new chairman. (Stock image) The veteran banker built his career in investment banking at SG Warburg and UBS, including advising the government on its bailout of British banks including Lloyds in the crisis. He later led the government's UK Financial Investments and was a chairman of property developer The Crown Estate. Mr Budenberg plans to join the board in October this year, before replacing Lord Blackwell in 2021. He was formerly chief executive of UK Financial Investments, which manages the Government's stake in the banks it bought during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2016, he was appointed chairman of the Crown Estate, helping to manage a 14 billion portfolio. He will continue in this job, but step down from several others before becoming Lloyds chairman. Lord Blackwell said: 'I am delighted to welcome Robin Budenberg to the board as my successor. 'His knowledge of the group, combined with his broad experience in both financial services and other strategic advisory roles, give him an outstanding background to provide the board leadership required to support the continued transformation of the group.' Mr Budenberg said: 'Lloyds will play a vital role as Britain recovers from the current crisis. 'It is a great honour and challenge to take on the role of chair at this time, and I hope to continue Norman and Antonio's work, initially alongside Antonio, in pursuing Lloyds' core purpose of Helping Britain Prosper and in building the culture of the bank in order to support that purpose.' The husband of a well-known disabled rights campaigner arrested over her murder had been living apart from her for six months before she was killed. Ray Hoadley, 62, was today being quizzed over the death of Jackie Hoadley, 57, after he was detained by police at a residential school for disabled children. Chailey Heritage Foundation said Sussex Police had arrested a man after he was seen on the site, which is 25 miles from his wife's house in Eastbourne, Sussex. She had been discovered dead in the 150,000 semi-detached property after police were called on Sunday afternoon by a visitor. Jackie, 57, and Ray Hoadley, 62, publicising the plight of their disabled children Officers at Mrs Hoadley's home discuss the next move during their murder investigation Forensic officers comb the scene in Eastbourne at the Hoadleys' home where Jackie was found A map showing where Mr Hoadley was arrested and where his wife was found dead Neighbours said they had not seen either of them during lockdown, when their two children would have been part of the vulnerable shielding group. It is understood police have searched Mr Hoadley's van, which had a mattress placed in the back. He had been splitting his time between there and a flat he rented in Eastbourne. A neighbour said he had paid up front for a year six months ago. A spokesman for the Challey Heritage Foundation confirmed an arrest onsite on Sunday. He added: We can confirm there was an incident in the grounds of Chailey Heritage. Sussex Police arrived on site and apprehended the individual. We take the safety of all of those at Chailey Heritage as paramount and we had procedures in place should an incident like this occur. These procedures were activated immediately and the young people and their support workers were kept safe. No-one was harmed and all the young people who reside on site and the staff remained safe in their bungalows. Sussex Police secured the site and we are assisting them with their investigations. Chailey Heritage Foundation, where Mr Hoadley was arrested by Sussex Police on Sunday We are also liaising with and notifying all other necessary statutory bodies. Chailey Heritage Foundation is a charity providing education, care and transition services to children and young adults with complex physical disabilities. His wife was pronounced dead at her home and their two severely disabled children - who were not injured - are understood to be in the care of social services. Sussex Police rushed to the scene after a visitor to the house raised the alarm. Last night a modified family car with disabled stickers was still parked in the driveway as police forensic teams combed the property for evidence. Jackie had posted an inspirational quote on her public Facebook page just 11 days ago urging strength to get through tough times. It said: 'You are strong enough to handle whatever's coming, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.' One of the Hoadleys' neighbours Vicki Tester said she had seen police cars and ambulance at the house on Sunday afternoon. Police have arrested Jackie Hoadley's husband Ray on suspicion of her murder She said: 'They are a lovely family, I don't really know what's gone on. 'They both look after their disabled children and obviously it's a full time job. 'We haven't seen much of them lately because of lockdown. 'Everybody knows them and we all have barbecues in the summer and there's never been any trouble.' Campaigner Mrs Hoadley told last year how her children were denied basic human rights by government cuts. An online petition set up by Jackie calling for free incontinence pads for disabled children has so far been signed more than 88,500 times. Murder victim Mrs Hoadley posted this inspirational Facebook message just 11 days ago Mrs Hoadley visited Parliament with former Eastbourne MP Stephen Lloyd in October last year to lobby then social care minister Caroline Dineage. Mr Lloyd said yesterday: Its absolutely tragic news to hear of Jackies death. I did some work with her last year on various constituency issues so to hear this awful news out of the blue is just appalling. I believe the police are now treating it as a murder enquiry which makes the whole thing even more bleak. The family lived in a house in the Stone Cross area of Eastbourne. A spokesman for Sussex Police said: 'A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman's body was discovered inside a house in Eastbourne. 'Police and ambulance paramedics were called to Broad Oak Close at 1.59pm on Sunday (July 5) after a visitor to the house raised the alarm. 'The woman had suffered serious injuries and was sadly declared dead at the scene. 'Around an hour later, a 62-year-old man from Eastbourne was detained by police officers at Chailey and arrested on suspicion of murder. 'He remained in custody on Sunday evening. 'It is understood that the woman was known to the man and police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with her death. 'Nobody else was injured.' An Instagram influencer has been fined after escaping compulsory hotel quarantine through a fire exit. Sarah Josephine Liberty fled from the Marriott Hotel on Pitt Street in Sydney at about 10pm on Saturday. The Feminist Friday podcast host arrived in Sydney from Paris on Thursday and was taken to the hotel, where guests are unable to smoke while in lockdown. The 39-year-old was confronted by a security guard as she approached a fire exit on Saturday evening and a 'short struggle' ensued, police said. Sarah Josephine Liberty (pictured) escaped from the Marriott Hotel on Pitt Street The Potts Point influencer escaped from hotel security through a fire escape Ms Liberty was able to escape from the guard through the exit and out of sight onto the street. She was found about 150 metres away after a police search in Circular Quay at about 10.45pm, NSW Police said. The Potts Point woman was taken to hospital for an assessment, before being transferred to another hotel managed by NSW Health. She was given a $1,000 Penalty Infringement Notice for not complying with directions under the Public Health Act and breaching the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order. Police visited Ms Liberty's hotel room after her escape to find the sprinkler system had allegedly been seriously damaged. 'Inquiries into the damage are underway and legal action is expected to be taken,' a NSW police media release reads. Ms Liberty uploaded an Instagram post that reads 'you are stronger than you think' on Friday after her first night in the Marriott. Police allege the sprinkler system in Ms Liberty's room in the Marriott Hotel (pictured) was seriously damaged Ms Liberty was found about 150 metres away from the hotel after a search in Circular Quay at about 10.45pm, police said 'These were the words my amazing Sydney GP just said to me, after I called him urgently - after a wave of anxiety hit me when I woke up realising I am going to be locked in a hotel room for the next two weeks,' her post reads. 'And Ill confess, it brought me to tears. I am strong, but after facing months of confinement in Paris, I just want to run to the ocean, eat Sydney Thai (nothing beats it), and a huge plate of oysters. Instead, Im in hotel room with instant coffee, weatbix and not much else. 'Having said that, I understand why confinement is necessary and am so happy to be home. So wish me Bon Courage for the next 2 weeks, and watch out for me when Im released! Im a woman on a mission.' Of the 33,956 people who have gone into mandatory quarantine during the coronavirus period in NSW, Ms Liberty is the only person to be fined for breaching the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order. Jeremy Clarkson has suggested that he could back Labour at the next general election after slamming Boris Johnson's 'not particularly good' handling of the pandemic. The former Top Gear host and life-long Conservative voter said that if a vote was held tomorrow he would consider supporting Sir Keir Starmer. His words follow the Labour leader's decision to boot Rebecca Long-Bailey out of the shadow cabinet after she re-tweeted an anti-Semitic theory. Hinting that he might back Labour, the 60-year-old told Times Radio: 'I don't think the current crop are doing a particularly good job. 'If Boris Johnson proves to be as bad as I suspect he's going to be over the next couple of years... you would be an idiot to say, "I've always voted Conservative so I'll carry on voting Conservative".' The 60-year-old former Top Gear presenter, pictured at the London GO Car Awards in February, said he would now consider backing the Labour party He slammed 'teddy bear' Boris for quoting 'obscure' Greek mythology instead of providing leadership during a time of crisis The host of Grand Tour on Amazon went on: 'When Boris was ill and they just kept wheeling those absolute wet ne'er-do-wells into the press conference every day, and I thought "for heaven's sake if this really is the best they can do without the talking teddy bear at the top". 'And now the talking teddy bear's back and he's just quoting really obscure Greek mythology when he's trying to talk about oxen treading on people's tongues and I think, what are you doing?' But he added that the current Labour leader would need to 'lose the hair gel' and sort out his 'lego hair' in order to secure his vote. 'I don't like his hair - it seems to be a single entity, it's just one molecule, his hair, which is odd,' he said. Clarkson said he is not a 'natural' Conservative voter, but that he supports the party due to previous Labour leaders, naming Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Blair. But he said Sir Keir would need to lose the 'lego hair' in order to secure his vote Sir Keir's recent quickfire decision over the future of his Shadow Secretary of State for Education compares to the prime minister's bumbling response to his top aide Dominic Cummings' 260-mile trip to Durham during lockdown. The prime minister said he had concluded the aide had not broken lockdown rules, despite widespread consternation and condemnation. As the government attempts to move the UK out of lockdown to protect the economy, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a six-month stamp duty holiday on all homes under 500,000. Treasury officials are looking to remove the two per cent rate on homes up to 250,000, and five per cent on the next 675,000 in order to re-stimulate demand. The decision is expected to be announced to MPs on Wednesday. The UK announced 22 deaths and 516 cases of coronavirus yesterday, a day after pubs and bars re-opened across the country. The Australian city of Melbourne has introduced a 'hard lockdown' on 3,000 people living in nine public housing towers with bewildered residents claiming: 'It's like we're in the Hunger Games'. The tough new measures ban residents of the tower blocks from leaving their homes for at least five days and have seen people attempting to leave being swooped on by police officers. The lockdown, announced by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on the towers in North Melbourne, Flemington and Kensington, began at 4pm on Saturday after an outbreak of COVID-19 within the buildings. It comes as the state of Victoria saw a spike in coroanvirus cases, prompting authorities to close its border with neighbouring New South Wales. A woman in her car tries to avoid police outside public housing towers on Racecourse Road in Flemington on Sunday as police enforce a 'hard' lockdown at the public housing towers Police converged on the man as he approached the rear of a Flemington housing commission tower on Racecourse Road The public housing towers along Racecourse Road in Melbourne. Victoria's Premier has ordered the immediate lockdown of nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne 53 people within the Melbourne tower blocks have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of new cases across the state rose by 127 on Sunday. A woman who attempted to drive out of the Kensington tower block early on Sunday morning, hours after the lockdown was imposed, was intercepted by police officers who chased her on foot. An officer leaned through her car window and grabbed the visibly-upset woman by her jacket as she attempted to flee. In another instance, police swooped on a man who was claiming to go on a 'coffee run' as he attempted to leave the Flemington housing block on Monday. Incredibly, one man claimed he was not a resident of the tower but had been visiting a friend at the time the lockdown came into play. Police attempt to stop the car of a woman attempting to flee, outside public housing towers on Racecourse Road in Flemington, Melbourne, Sunday, July 5 The woman is questioned by police after attempting to flee in her car, above and below 53 people within the tower blocks tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of new cases across the state rose by 127 on Sunday Authorities had refused to let him leave the building. 'I don't live here, I had to sleep on the floor. I came to visit yesterday and I couldn't get out,' the man told one officer through a locked security door. The police officer then offered to make a phone call in a bid to help the man. Police began to go door-to-door throughout the buildings on Sunday to provide residents with information about their situation. One man who spoke to police through a locked security door said he was not a resident, but rather had been visiting a friend when the lockdown came into force Police stop a man who attempted to get out of a Flemington housing commission tower on Monday. He claimed he was going on a 'coffee run' Children gesture from a window inside a unit at the public housing tower along Racecourse Road in Melbourne on Monday A sign stuck to the window of a person trapped inside the housing commission flats in Flemington on Monday Flemington tower resident Najat Mussa posted a video of a Victorian Department of Health official addressing the entire building over a loud speaker. In it the woman can be heard telling residents: 'We are here to assist you'. 'We're getting spoken to from a speaker like we're on the Hunger Games,' Ms Mussa wrote. After being caught by surprise when the no-warning lockdown was implemented, many of those in the buildings were now furious at a lack of food and information from authorities. The sudden enforcement of the hard lockdown has meant those inside didn't have time to stock up on groceries, household items or essentials, such as baby formula. More than 3,000 residents in towers across Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne will be couped up inside their homes for at least five days Flemington tower resident Najat Mussa (pictured) posted several videos from inside the public housing building to social media in the wake of the 'hard lockdown' being introduced. In one she compared the situation being experienced by residents to a scene of The Hunger Games One man who tried to deliver food to a resident in need broke down in tears as he claimed Victorian Police had refused to pass the supplies onto his friend. 'We've been talking to some of the residents in the Flemington flats and we've been organising food supplies for people, and things that they need,' 'We just came back from dropping it off and there was a whole lot of police presence there and they were harassing people. 'And on top of that, everything we bought for the resident in the building, and even though we told them specifically who it was for, they've started harassing him too.' The hard-hit Australian state of Victoria recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in coronavirus cases on Monday. The death of the two men, one in his 60s and the other in his 90s, brings the national death toll from COVID-19 to 106. Food supply trucks arrived at a public housing tower on Racecourse Road in Flemington on Monday morning. A common complaint among residents has been a lack of access to food and crucial supplies Workers in personal protective equipment are seen entering the Flemington tower on Monday In total 127 cases were discovered across Victoria on Sunday. 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 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said of the 127 new cases, 53 were among 3,000 people who have been confined by police to their apartments in nine public housing blocks since Saturday. Andrews said the high number of cases reflected a daily record number of tests exceeding 24,500. Andrews also announced that the state border with New South Wales will be closed from late Tuesday night in an agreement between the two state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison had previously opposed states closing their borders. It will be the first time Australia's two most populous states have closed their border since the pandemic began. New South Wales had previously banned travel from dozens of Melbourne suburbs that were locked down last week for a month due to high rates of infection. The leader of Australia's most populous state said her government's decision to close its border with hard-hit Victoria marked a new phase in the country's outbreak. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian had criticized states that closed their borders to New South Wales residents when Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, had most of the country's COVID-19 cases. She noted the overwhelming majority of new cases in Melbourne in recent weeks were from community transmission. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews briefs the media on conditions concerning the Covid-19 situation in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday. Andrews said of the 127 new cases, 53 were among 3,000 people who have been confined by police to their apartments in nine public housing blocks since Saturday Everywhere else in Australia, the vast majority of cases were people infected overseas or by a returned traveler, Berejiklian said. 'What is occurring in Victoria has not yet occurred anywhere else in Australia,' she said. 'It's a new part of the pandemic and, as such, it requires a new type of response.' New South Wales police will close the Victorian border from late Tuesday. Some flights and trains services would continue for travelers who are given permits and exemptions, Berejiklian said. A friend of Ghislaine Maxwell's claims the 'spoiled and entitled' Prince Andrew 'doesn't know a lot' about what Jeffrey Epstein's was doing. Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, Laura Goldman was asked how much the duke knew about the convicted paedophile's actions. She replied: 'Prince Andrew doesn't know a lot. Partially because he's not that intelligent, and he is spoiled and entitled so he didn't really ask questions about what was happening.' Maxwell appeared in court in the US on Thursday accused of helping disgraced financier Epstein 'identify, befriend and groom' multiple girls, including one as young as 14. Ms Goldman defended her close friend this morning and told presenters Piers Morgan and Susannah Reid that Maxwell was a 'victim'. Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, (middle) aged 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell's (right) townhouse in London, on March 13, 2001 She said: 'I believe in supporting my friend she is a victim of Jeffrey Epstein just like many other people were, it doesn't mean that what she did was right, she should pay for her crimes.' On why Maxwell didn't leave Epstein after his conviction in 2008, she said: 'He would not let her leave. She tried many many times. There were things he had on her that if she had left in an angry way would have destroyed her life.' Her close friend also explained why Maxwell went into hiding after Epstein died and did not go straight to the FBI. She said: 'From what she's told me and her defence of that is, she did what her lawyers told her to do. They felt that going in because of the circus atmosphere of the case and feeding frenzy, you know its sort of like the salem witch trials 2.0. 'They felt she couldn't go into the FBI and have a somewhat civil conversation.' Andrew was friend's with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile, who killed himself last year Ms Goldman added she knew her friend was in trouble because she was eating a lot, and was 'famous for not eating'. The former investment banker previously said the British socialite regarded Andrew as a friend and was 'never going to say anything' about him to investigators. Ms Goldman, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday she would 'have to' go for a plea deal with prosecutors. Asked if Maxwell would speak about the duke as part of the investigation, Ms Goldman said: 'She has always told me she would never, ever say anything about him. 'I think she felt he was her friend and she was never going to say anything about him. 'She felt in the 90s when her father died that Prince Andrew was there for her.' Ms Goldman said she last spoke to Maxwell 'a couple of weeks ago' prior to her arrest in New Hampshire on Thursday, adding: 'She knew she was coming to the end of the road.' The boy was taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, Torbert said. Both Torbert and the Beach Park Fire Department in the release said they did not know his condition as of Monday. Australian woman Sara Connor is set to be released from Kerobokan Prison in a matter of days after serving four years for her role in the fatal assault of a policeman on a Bali beach. The Byron Bay mother-of-two has spent the last four years in the notorious Bali prison after the bashing death of police officer Wayan Sudarsa in Kuta in 2016. She was jailed alongside her then-boyfriend, Britsh national David Taylor, after they were found guilty of over the death. A brief statement from Indonesia's immigration department said the 49-year-old would be released in mid-July. No exact date was given. Australian Sara Connor escorted by attorney officer to testify at her ex-boyfriend David Taylor's trial at Denpasar Court in Bali in 2017 Australian woman Sara Connor is set to be released from Kerobokan Prison in a matter of days after serving four years for her role in the fatal assault of a policeman on a Bali beach She was jailed alongside her then-boyfriend, Britsh national David Taylor, after they were found guilty of over the death Connor will be deported back to her sons in Australia, having spent her time inside honing her craft as an artist and undertaking hair-dressing, crochet and make-up courses. She will leave ex-boyfriend Taylor, who is serving a six-year sentence in Kerobokan's male prison for his part in the officer's death. The couple were enjoying a night on the beach when they realised Connor's handbag containing $A300 was missing. They split up and searched the beach and Taylor confronted Sudarsa, believing he might have stolen her bag. A fight erupted and Sudarsa was hit with a bottle and a pair of binoculars. Taylor took his identification cards, which the judges were told had been cut up by Connor because 'she panicked and felt guilty'. Taylor also told her Sudarsa was passed out on the beach and the pair maintained they were acting in self-defence. Connor insisted she only intervened to stop the two men fighting and said she was bitten by Sudarsa during the fight. Sara Connor is seen at the crime scene taking part in the murder re-enactment The Byron Bay mother-of-two has spent the last four years in the notorious Bali prison after the fatal bashing of police officer Wayan Sudarsa (pictured) in Kuta in 2016 Prosecutors had sought eight-year terms, alleging gang violence had caused the officer's death. The court also heard Sudarsa had died on the beach several hours after he was abandoned and might have lived had the couple called for help. That argument formed the basis of an appeal against Connor, whose four-year sentence was increased to five. A bench of three judges found there was no intent to kill thus the couple were spared a murder sentence. Connor previously said the 'nightmare' was supposed to be a relaxing holiday, resulting in her spending four years apart from her now teenage children. She also told Australian media she has since separated from Taylor, who is ten years her senior. Connor will be deported back to her sons in Australia, having spent her time inside honing her craft as an artist and undertaking hair-dressing, crochet and make-up courses Australian woman Sara Connor (right) during her trial at Denpasar court in Denpasar in 2017 The former businesswoman received annual remissions for good behaviour, spending most of her time learning how to paint, crochet, and cut hair. Ms Connor painted a large safari mural with other prisoners inside the jail after being taught by a Thai prisoner, who learned to paint in classes organised by Bali Nine drug trafficker Myuran Sukumaran. Ketut Arsini, wife of the dead officer, recently told 7NEWS that human beings should be able to forgive and she had no ill-feeling towards Connor. 'Human beings should forgive,' she said. She did, however, avoid her husband's colleagues because their sight reminded her of painful memories. Connor was expected to be deported upon release from Bali's overcrowded Kerobokan Prison. However, this could be complicated by disruptions to flights with Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic. Theatres might not be open until next year, Oliver Dowden warned today - as he unveiled a 1.6billion bailout to stop thousands of arts venues going bust due to lockdown. The Culture Secretary said it would 'challenging' for pantomime season to happen this Christmas and it will be 'some time' before performances of plays and shows can happen, even outdoors. But he dodged questions over why it was possible for people to go on aeroplanes when they cannot be in a theatre, merely insisting there will be 'mitigations' for passengers. Stricken cultural venues have hailed news that they will be able to seek emergency grants and loans, in what ministers say is the biggest ever one-off investment in UK arts. With no live performances and more than 350,000 staff furloughed, the industry has warned that it will be devastated without cash aid. In interviews this morning, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said it would 'challenging' for pantomime season to happen this Christmas and it will be 'some time' before performances can happen indoors A man wearing a face mask is pictured above walking past the London Palladium. With no live performances and more than 350,000 staff furloughed, the industry has warned that it will be devastated without cash aid Mr Dowden has been pushing hard behind the scenes to extract the maximum possible from the Treasury, while impresarios and arts chiefs have been warning of dire consequences unless the sector is propped up while it cannot function. But announcing the money in a round of interviews this morning, the Cabinet minister warned that theatre performances without social distancing are 'some way off'. He said the reduction of social distancing rules, such as on planes, has only been implemented in 'exceptionally limited circumstances' and insisted 'slow and baby steps' must be taken.'We are simply not at a point that we can do that for theatre, nor will we be for some time,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Last week 1,500 artists including Sir Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Ed Sheeran (pictured above) wrote to the Government warning that the music industry faces a bleak future without more aid Mr Dowden said he hoped outdoor performances might be able to return 'shortly' but there remained a 'real risk' of coronavirus transmission inside theatres. 'I understand people's frustration. They're desperate for theatres to return, I'm desperate for theatres to return, but we have to do so in a safe way,' he told BBC Breakfast He was also very downbeat on the prospects for a pantomine season this year. 'I would love to be able to announce that pantos can return but I have to say it will be quite challenging to be able to get to that point,' he said. 'Because if you think about a panto, and we all love going to the panto for the joy of it, but it also supports local theatres, you've got granny through to grandchild all packed in together, you know how kids are encouraged to shout and scream at panto season, there's lots of sort of interaction. 'So I would love us to be able to do it. We're working with Public Health England and others to see about mitigations but I just want to be a bit realistic about the challenges of getting us back to that point any time soon.' Boris Johnson has promised to set out a timetable this week for when mass events can resume, but it is thought theatres, concerts and festivals may have to wait until 2021 to restart. 'The UK's cultural industry is the beating heart of this country,' he said. 'This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed.' Thousands of venues will be able to seek emergency grants and loans in what ministers say is the biggest ever one-off investment in UK arts Decisions on sharing out the bailout money will be made by bodies such as the British Film Institute, Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England. Venues will be able to apply for 880million in grants and 270million in loans. There will be 100million targeted at museums, galleries and heritage sites, 120million to restart infrastructure projects and extra money for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: 'Our world-renowned galleries, museums, heritage sites, music venues and independent cinemas are not only critical to keeping our economy thriving, employing more than 700,000 people, they're the lifeblood of British culture. 'That's why we're giving them the vital cash they need.' Last week 1,500 artists including Sir Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Ed Sheeran wrote to the Government warning that the music industry faces a bleak future without more aid. Britain will inevitably suffer 'big' Covid-19 outbreaks if people continue to flout social distancing rules, a leading expert claimed today. Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organization coronavirus expert, conceded that 'everybody has got to have fun' after more than 100 days of lockdown. But he warned clusters of the virus will inevitably break out if Britons can't obey social distancing while enjoying their newfound freedoms as pubs, restaurants and holiday destinations reopen. The 'one metre plus' rule was left in tatters on 'Super Saturday' when jubilant drinkers called time on lockdown and descended on the nation's pubs. Cities across Britain were heaving on a scale not seen since Boris Johnson ordered bars to close in a desperate bid to control Covid-19 on March 23. Drunkenness, brawls and vomiting returned to the country's nightlife, with millions of pints poured on the long-awaited night of heavy drinking. Photos from Soho in central London showed hundreds of young people packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets late into the night. Scenes prompted one senior police officer to predict a fresh Covid-19 onslaught after 'pub fights, drunken violence and drunken, drugged-up fools'. And Dr Nabarro echoed the concerns, warning any future spikes will 'quickly remind us that we are going to have to be more careful'. Scenes in London on Saturday night saw young people getting drunk and abandoning social distancing rules on day one of pubs reopening and lockdown rules loosening Dr David Nabarro feared 'a whole generation of people' are ignoring Covid-19 advice Discussing the threat of more waves of Covid-19, he told Sky News: 'So, OK, perhaps for the time being people are taking it lightly. 'But if we do [take it lightly], as I suspect we might, then some big outbreaks [are] coming up in the next few weeks.' Dr Nabarro begged young people to not treat the virus 'lightly', warning they could 'easily give it to somebody else who then goes and dies'. And he urged Britons to 'stay on guard' and take the threat of the dangerous virus seriously. Dr Nabarro said: 'It would concern me hugely if I felt there was a whole generation of people who were just not doing so.' On Friday the Prime Minister pleaded with millions of Brits to be 'sensible' on 'Super Saturday', warning the 'vicious' disease is 'still out there'. He said the government 'will not hesitate in putting on the brakes' and threatened to reimpose lockdowns on a region-by-region basis if outbreaks spike. In a clear message begging Britons to behave, Mr Johnson said local Leicester-style measures will be a 'feature of our lives for some time to come'. But his message fell on deaf ears across parts of the UK, with parks and open areas cramped with revellers unconcerned about the threat of a second wave. Police shut down raves across London on Saturday night as Brits finally freed from lockdown restrictions cast social distancing aside and partied into the early hours. Large areas of northeast London were put under 'dispersal orders' by police as they battled to shut down a series of illegal music events. Elsewhere, a market town 15 miles south of Leicester turned into a 'war zone' after it was invaded by hundreds of locked down residents desperate for a night out. Leicestershire Police imposed an urgent dispersal order in Market Harborough, when alcohol-fuelled disorder erupted on Saturday night. It came as a busload of Leicester City fans who went up to Nottingham to watch the match with Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. Police already feared being overrun by out-of-town drinkers when pubs reopened on Saturday. Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby claimed that Leicester pub fans in search of a pint 'could drive to Market Harborough'. Locals in Cornwall hung a 6ft banner over a bridge telling tourists to 'Turn around and f**k off' as holidaymakers headed to the coast after months of being forced to stay away A traffic jam built up in Devon on Saturday where the M5 meets the A30 as people headed to caravan parks in the south after months unable to travel Leicestershire Police were forced to impose an urgent dispersal order on Market Harborough (pictured) when booze-fuelled disorder erupted on Saturday night Police were forced to shut down a huge area of northeast London on Saturday (pictured) after hundreds flocked to illegal raves with no social distancing in sight Friends embraced in the streets of Soho, London on Sunday, the second day since lockdown restrictions were eased in England Leicester was put into a two week city-wide lockdown last week after a flood of new coronavirus cases emerged - three times higher than the next city. In Devon and Cornwall, angry locals have lambasted tourists as hordes of caravans descended upon beauty spots at the weekend. Holidaymakers took advantage of the eased lockdown restrictions and headed to popular destinations all over the country to try and get a break. But locals were so enraged they have hung a sign up telling visitors to 'f*** off.' The crude 6ft long banner was held aloft by three people. The three locals - whose faces were hidden - stood on the bridge over the A30 at Bodmin, one of the main roads into Cornwall for holidaymakers. Despite the cold reception from locals, businesses have welcomed the thousands of visitors heading back to the South West. Four women may have died 'unnatural deaths' from botched treatment at the hands of butchering breast surgeon Ian Paterson and systemic failings in the NHS, an inquest has heard. Coroners in Birmingham have announced fresh inquests to establish the women's cause of death, and whether it resulted from Paterson's 'experimental mastectomies' which left cancerous tissue inside the body, allowing the disease to return. The deaths of Yvonne Cordon, 39, a cleaner from Northern Ireland, Shionagh Gough, 73, a purchaser and wife of a retired doctor, Marie Pinfield, 49, a divorced police officer, and Deborah Hynes, 51, will be investigated. They died between 2000 and 2013. Their death certificates state they died either as a result of metastatic breast cancer or metastatic melanoma. As many as 675 out of 1,207 women who underwent the unregulated treatment with Paterson had died by 2017, with others finding out years later they had received operations they did not need. Paterson, a father-of-three who police said had a 'God complex', was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after being convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding between 1997 and 2011. Formerly of Altrincham, near Manchester, the trial heard how he exaggerated or invented cancer risks among patients and claimed payments for performing more expensive procedures in some cases. The former doctor, who practised at private clinics and NHS hospitals in the West Midlands, was ordered in February to hand back 216,000 he received in legal aid after his extensive US and UK property empire was revealed. Ian Paterson, 62, is serving 20 years in jail for 17 counts of wounding with intent (pictured at the Old Bailey) Marie Pinfield (left) pictured with her sister Shirley Moroney. Her death will be investigated Birmingham and Solihull coroner Louise Hunt opened hearings into the four deaths today and sail all the cases will be investigated together, and will look to establish whether their deaths may have been 'caused or contributed to by acts or treatment provided by Mr Paterson'. The court heard that other clinicians and hospital management will also be probed to check if 'systemic failings' led to any of the fatalities. Jailed for 20 years for wounding with intent: Ian Paterson Butchering breast surgeon Ian Paterson is currently serving his 20-year prison sentence. What was he convicted of? He was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding between 1997 and 2011, after a trial in 2017. How did he harm patients? Paterson carried out 'experimental mastectomies' on women that left the breast tissue in place, allowing the cancer to return. In some cases, he also advised treatment for women when they did not have cancer and offered them more expensive procedures. Who has been affected? 675 out of 1,207 women who underwent the unregulated treatment had died by 2017. Where did he work? Paterson worked at NHS hospitals in the West Midlands and private clinics including those run by Spire hospitals. Advertisement Mrs Hunt said: 'Following preliminary investigations that have been undertaken by Birmingham and Solihull coroners office I have reason to believe that the deceaseds deaths may have been caused or contributed to by acts or treatment provided by Mr Paterson and potentially other clinicians. 'I anticipate that in the inquest the following issues will be addressed. The inquest will consider the care provided by Mr Paterson and other clinicians. 'It will also consider whether their deaths were contributed to by failings in the supervision of Mr Paterson by his clinical colleagues, hospital management, and corporate governance. 'Secondly whether there were systemic failings by the hospital management and corporate governance in relation to addressing concerns raised about Mr Paterson. 'Thirdly whether there were failings by regulatory authorities such as the Care Quality Commission, General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and lastly failings in the recall of patients.' She added: 'We anticipate that there will be further cases to open in the following months. 'What we expect is that investigations will find generic issues common to all the cases. 'The most sensible way to investigate this number of cases is to investigate them all together.' Ms Cordon died in November 200 at John Taylor Hospital in Erdington, Birmingham. Ms Gough died in June 2006 in Solihull, Ms Pinfield died in August 2008 in a Marie Curie hospice in Solihull. Ms Hynes died in 2013. Paterson was employed by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, but practised at Spire Hospitals in Solihull and Little Aston in the West Midlands. Victim Patricia Welch (centre) speaks outside Nottingham Crown Court following Ian Paterson's sentencing in 2017 Coroners said on Saturday that, following investigations, they believed 'there is evidence to have reason to suspect that some of those deaths may be unnatural'. West Midlands police asked Birmingham and Solihull coroner's office to investigate 23 deaths in the disgraced 62-year-old surgeon's patients, after asking them to look at a 'random selection'. It is unclear whether today's ruling means further deaths will be investigated. An independent inquiry which released its findings in February this year said Paterson was able to go on performing unnecessary operations for years under a dysfunctional healthcare system that failed patients. The Paterson inquiry, launched in May 2018, published 15 recommendations after hearing 177 first-hand accounts from the surgeon's patients. Among recommendations, it urged NHS trust that employed Paterson and private health firm Spire Healthcare to check that all of the more than 11,000 patients he treated had been recalled. Tracey Smith (left) and Debbie Douglas outside The Bond Company, Birmingham, after Inquiry chairman, the Right Rev Graham James, presented a report and its findings of the Ian Paterson inquiry Inquiry chairman Rt Rev Graham James said the NHS and independent providers had let patients down over the years, and described a failure to suspend him in 2003, when a colleague raised concerns, as inexplicable. In the aftermath of his convictions, it was revealed that he received more than 200,000 in legal aid despite owning a lavish property portfolio. His patients received on average only 50,000. In 2015 the Scottish-born surgeon bought a three-bedroom condominium in Florida, which he still co-owned in 2018 with his twin daughters. It was estimated to be worth 107,000 two years ago. But the US property was nothing compared to his UK family home. The Grade-II listed Georgian mansion was sold in July 2013 for 1.25million. It boasts eight bedrooms, four reception rooms, a wine cellar and a gym. He had also invested in buy-to-let properties. Paterson and his wife Louisa, a physiotherapist, divorced shortly before his trial. In the aftermath of Patersons convictions, details emerged about his lavish property portfolio and love of expensive paintings and fine wine. Pictured: Ian Paterson's home in Florida Linda Millband, the national clinical negligence lead at Thompsons Solicitors who led the team taking legal action on behalf of 650 of Patersons former patients, said: 'This is yet another twist in the terrible story of Ian Paterson. This has been a horrific tale from start to finish, and it seems as if, for the families, the nightmare is not over yet. 'It is absolutely essential that we get to the truth, so I welcome the coroners inquests into the deaths. My heart goes out to the families who are affected, and who now have to face yet more upheaval while they wait for answers.' A Legal Aid Agency spokesman told the Daily Mail in February: Weve completed our investigation into Mr Patersons claim and are taking immediate action to get every penny of taxpayers money back. Two people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Albury on the edge of New South Wales and Victoria - just one day before the border is closed between the two states. One of those infected had recently returned from Melbourne, NSW Health officials said. 'Two suspected cases of COVID-19 returned positive results on preliminary testing,' a spokesman for the state's health authority said. 'One suspected case had recently travelled to Melbourne and had returned prior to hotspot travel restrictions coming into force.' Two people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Albury on the edge of New South Wales and Victoria. Pictured is an electronic sign in the town urging residents and travellers to keep the town free of COVID-19 on May 6 The border west of the town will be closed at 12.01am on Wednesday in the wake of urgent crisis talks between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the premiers of NSW and Victoria Gladys Berejiklian and Daniel Andrews. Victoria recorded 127 new cases on Monday - a new record for the pandemic. Since last Monday Victoria has detected 628 new infections, only 13 of whom are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. The closure - which will be enforced by the army and police at 55 border crossings - has come as a massive shock to the mayors of Albury and Wodonga, which sits on the other side of the border in Victoria. Albury City Mayor Kevin Mack said he felt as though the border communities were being penalised despite recording no recent cases. 'It's just unfortunate that five per cent of Melbourne population mean the whole states of NSW and Victoria are being penalised,' Mr Mack said. New South Wales Health officials wearing protective clothing looks on as travellers disembark the XPT Train from Melbourne at Sydney's Central Station on Friday 'I don't think people understand border communities. We've got kids going to schools on both side of the border and people travelling across for health services every day. 'People aren't as worried about the pandemic, they're worried about their day-to-day existence and how that's going to be impacted.' The border consists of 33 bridges and two waterway crossings. Aerial surveillance will also be enforced to stop people making a break for the border through bushland or rivers. Northern Victoria MP Tim Quilty said he and his community, which includes the border towns Wodonga and Mildura, were 'shocked and appalled' by the decision. Police guard access to housing commission apartments under lockdown in Melbourne on Monday. 'Everyone's confused and shocked, outraged. The phone's been ringing, everyone's saying the same thing, (they're) worried and confused about if they live in Albury and work in Wodonga,' Mr Quilty told AAP on Monday. A permit system is expected to allow locals to cross the border for work and health services, but Mr Quilty said he didn't see it going ahead seamlessly and was worried about punishments for those who cross without a permit. The permit system will be coordinated by Service NSW and is expected to be established in a few days. 'It doesn't make economic sense, it doesn't make virus sense. There hasn't been a case in regional Victoria for three months now,' Mr Quilty said. This graph shows the number of locally acquired cases that Victoria has suffered since last Monday 'For months now I've been calling the restrictions in the regions to be different to Melbourne because we're in different situations.' NSW had until now been the last state to allow an open border with Victoria. Ms Berejikilan has said her government's decision to close its border with hard-hit Victoria state marks a new phase in the country's coronavirus pandemic. 'What is occurring in Victoria has not yet occurred anywhere else in Australia,' she said Monday. 'Its a new part of the pandemic and, as such, it requires a new type of response.' Alexander Hamilton was a revolutionary and military leader, a Founding Father, first secretary of the treasury of the United States, and subject of the smash-hit Broadway musical Hamilton. But the show, which paints him as an opponent of slavery, is now facing calls for it to be 'canceled' for glossing over his own involvement in the trade. While Hamilton saw the evils of slavery first-hand growing up in the West Indies and advocated powerfully against slavery later in life, he often sidelined these views in order to win the approval of wealthy benefactors and advance his career. His two main benefactors were George Washington and Philip Schuyler, both of whom owned slaves. Hamilton helped the Schuyler family buy slaves, and helped run companies which profited from slave labor. Even when he did denounce slavery in 1796, having been forced out of politics, some argue he was cynically using it as a tool to trash his rival Thomas Jefferson. Alexander Hamilton (left) advocated against slavery several times during his life, but also married into a wealthy slave-owning family (pictured right, his father-in-law Philip Schuyler) and often sidelined his views to advance himself A relentless social climber, Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in 1755 to a trader father who deserted the family when he was 10 years old, and an already-married mother who died in 1768, when he was aged 13. His father, James Hamilton, was the son of the laird of Cambuskeith in Scotland, and throughout his life, Alexander Hamilton too pride in the knowledge of his noble lineage. Growing up in poverty, Hamilton is thought to have lied about his age to begin work for a pair of wealthy New York merchants, before using his connections to travel to mainland America and attend King's College - now Columbia. Once there he became an advocate for revolutionary causes, joining the Revolutionary War as a volunteer in 1775 and becoming captain of an artillery company the following year. It was at the Battle of Trenton in December 1776 that he came to the attention of his first major benefactor - Washington - by bravely defending his main army against an attack by the British. By 1777 he was serving as Washington's aide, a connection which he leveraged to marry Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of fellow revolutionary and second benefactor Major General Philip Schuyler. They wed in 1780. The Schuyler family's involvement in slavery By the time Alexander Hamilton was born, the Schuyler family were one of the wealthiest and most-prominent in New York. Their legacy was started by Philip Pieterse Schuyler, a Dutch-born carpenter who emigrated to what was then New Netherland around 1650. Once there, he became involved in the fur trade and used his wealth to buy land and property. His descendants then used that wealth to involve themselves in state politics, while still maintaining their status as landowners and merchants. Philip's youngest son, Johannes, served as Mayor of Albany and was followed in that role by his own son Johannes Jr, who was the father of Philip Schuyer, Hamilton's benefactor. It is not clear exactly when the family began owning slaves, though slavery was common in New Netherland from its inception, and were involved in the fur trade where the Schuylers first built their wealth. At the first census in 1790, Albany was revealed as the area with the most slaves in New York and Philip Schuyler is recorded as owning 13 slaves in the city, along with more in Saratoga, bringing the total to at least 30. Advertisement For Hamilton the marriage was solely about advancement, and he became a close confidant of Philip who was one of New York's richest men - and the largest slave owner in Albany. According to historical records, Schuyler owned at least 30 slaves who worked between his South End mansion and a farm on his Saratoga estate. While the slaves were used as so-called 'skilled labor' as opposed to plantation work, historians say the work would still have been 'degrading, violent and damaging'. As part of the family, Hamilton appears to have turned a blind eye to his father-in-law's slave ownership while helping to buy slaves for his in-laws - though it is unlikely he ever owned slaves himself. While at the same time involving himself in the slave trade with the Schuyler family, Hamilton began moving in abolitionist circles - including befriending ardent abolitionist John Laurens. When Laurens proposed admitting black people in to the army in 1779 and freeing them from bondage, Hamilton advocated for him. After the war ended, Hamilton - having led a battalion at the decisive battle of Yorktown - continued to advocate for freedom of slaves. In 1785 he helped establish the Society for the Promotion of the Manumission of Slaves in New York, which put pressure on owners to free their slaves and tried to stop freed slaves being recaptured and sold back into servitude. As part of the central committee he helped draft a proposal that would have phased out slave ownership among members of the society, but it was rejected. This was far from his primary project, however. In 1782 he was appointed to the Congress of the Confederation and went about trying to establish a tax system so the newly-formed government could pay its debts, mostly notably to the army. He then became involved with a group of officers who threatened the government with military takeover if they were not paid, known as the Newburgh Conspiracy. While the situation was eventually diffused, Hamilton would continue to advocate for a strong federal government with the ability to raise taxes, recruit an army and impose laws - after the fashion of old colonial masters Britain, with whom he wanted to maintain close ties. Despite coming from poverty he was an unabashed elitist, believing in the right of a principled upper class to rule over the majority, who he saw as immoral and uneducated. At the Constitutional Convention on 1787 he proposed that the president and senators should rule for life, while also speaking out against democracy. He also advocated in favor of the 'Three Fifths Compromise', which counted only three fifths of slaves as people when deciding how many representatives each state could send to Congress. Hamilton's life was turned into an award-winning musical which glossed over his involvement in the slave trade, something that has seen some call for it to be canceled 'No union could possibly be formed' without it, he said at the time. These views put him at odds with Thomas Jefferson, who viewed him as a would-be Caesar intent on leading the country towards tyrannical rule. In fact Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, even warned her husband that Hamilton was 'as ambitious as Julius Caesar, a subtle intriguer'. Separately, she likened him to 'a second Bonaparte' - who had also been an artillery commander during the French Revolution and was on his way to becoming Emperor of France. Henry Adams echoed this idea in a later letter, in which he wrote: 'I dislike Hamilton because I always feel the adventurer in him... 'From the first to the last words he wrote, I read always the same Napoleonic kind of adventuredom.' In 1794 that image was solidified in the minds of many when, having become first secretary of the United States Treasury, Hamilton enacted taxes on states to pay off the war debt, leading a group of farmers to rebel. Hamilton himself marched with troops to stamp out the rebellion, and while few died it cemented his reputation as being against the many and for the few. While many including Jefferson feared Hamilton becoming President, he wrecked his own ambitions when in 1791 he began an affair with a woman named Maria Reynolds. The Founding Fathers and their slaves Despite taking a stand in defense of liberty in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, in fact a majority of the prominent Founding Fathers were slave owners at one point. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson - among others - owned slaves, and while Washington and Franklin freed theirs, Jefferson was a slave owner until he died. Hamilton was one among a handful who is never thought to have owned slaves. Other figures include Samuel Adams and John Adams. While many of the Founders advocated against slavery at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, strong opposition from those in the South forced compromises. The Three Fifths Compromise is perhaps the most infamous, counting only three out of five slaves as people when determining how many representatives each state should get in Congress. The compromise increased the South's share of seats by a third, but also burdened the region with more taxes. Hamilton, Franklin and John Jay were also active in abolitionist societies in each of their respective states. Advertisement The so-called Reynolds Affair, known as America's first sex scandal, began when a 23-year-old Maria came to Hamilton and claimed to be destitute having been abandoned by her abusive husband James. According to Hamilton's account, he agreed to take money to a guest house where she was staying that evening, and the two ended up having sex. The affair continued for the next year, with Maria even visiting the house where Hamilton lived while Elizabeth was out of town visiting her father. Eventually Maria's husband reappeared and began blackmailing Hamilton over the affair - prompting him to end it. James Reynolds and a friend of his were then arrested the following year for fraud, when the friend told three congressmen that James had been collaborating in the crime with Alexander Hamilton. The congressmen confronted Hamilton about it, and he confessed to the adultery in order to exonerate himself. The scandal went quiet for the next few years as Hamilton retired from politics, but exploded to the fore in 1796 when Hamilton launched a full-throated attack on Jefferson - who was then running for president. Hamilton himself was out of the running, having been passed over by the Federalist party he helped to found for Thomas Pinckney and John Adams, but was determined to bring down his opponent. In a series of letters denouncing Jefferson as a hypocrite for speaking out against slavery while continuing to own slaves and profit from it, he also dropped hints about his relationship with one of his slaves - Sally Hemings. Hamilton would go on to try and interfere with the electoral college in the same election to keep Adams - who he disliked - as vice president while having Pinckney become president, though he ultimately failed. The following year, journalist James Callender struck back on behalf of Jefferson with information gained from one of the three congressmen, and publicly accused Hamilton of the affair along with dodgy financial dealings. Late in 1797, Hamilton was forced to publish the Reynolds Pamphlet in which he defended himself against the financial charges while confessing to adultery. The scandal ruined his political ambitions and casts a long shadow over his arguments against slavery, which critics say was simply a tool to get at Jefferson. Hamilton continued to exert his influence during the Adams administration until a feud between the pair exploded into the open just before the election of 1800. Jefferson and Aaron Burr subsequently won, kicking Adams and the Federalist party out of power, and leaving Hamilton in the political wilderness. Embittered and defeated, Hamilton went on the attack - and in 1801 founded the New York Post as a Federalist paper which he used to attack his opponents. In 1804 he used the paper to attack Burr, who was widely backed by the Federalists but who had personal grievances with Hamilton. At the time, Burr was in the running for New York governor having been dropped by Jefferson for the upcoming presidential election. Burr lost the governor's race to his little-known opponent Morgan Lewis, and while Hamilton's intervention may not have swung the vote, Burr was furious. As the dust settled, Burr demanded that Hamilton face him in a pistol duel because of a 'despicable opinion' of him that had been published in newspaper. Despite his eldest son Philip having been killed in a duel three years previously, Hamilton refused to offend his own honor by backing down and agreed. On July 11 the two men met at Weehawken, New Jersey - near the spot where Hamilton's son had died - where they paced apart before turning and firing. Hamilton's bullet missed, breaking a branch above Burr's head, but Burr's bullet hit Hamilton in the gut, causing a wound that would ultimately prove fatal. After 31 hours dosed up on opium to ease his pain, Hamilton died - leaving behind seven children and the wife he had previously betrayed who were deeply in debt. While most Northern States had voted to phase out slavery at the time of his death, it would take another 61 years and a Civil War before slavery was banned throughout the United States with the passage of the 13th amendment. The body of a 24-year-old woman has been found after she was stoned to death in an honour killing in Pakistan. National Highway and Motorway Police found a mutilated body with severe head injuries near the Indus Highway on June 27. Local police were able to identify the body of that of Waziran who lived in the village of Wadda Chachar. It is believed the woman, Waziran, had been pelted with stones and repeatedly hit with a wooden stick in Jamshoro and police are treating her death as an honour killing. 24-year-old Waziran from the Wadda Chachar village in Pakistan was stoned to death on June 27 in what Sindh police are treating as an honour killing Sindh Police say that the womans father, Gurl Muhammed initially testified that her death had been an accident but later retracted his statement, alleging that she had been killed by her husband Allah Baksh and his brother Kareem. He has been seen crying for justice beside his daughters grave. Both men have been and arrested and remain in police custody. In a statement, Allah Baksh alleges that her own family were responsible for the stoning because they did not approve of Wazirans decision to marry him. A three-man joint investigation team are looking continue to investigate the incident. A video purportedly showing Waziran's grieving father, Gurl Muhammed, crying for justice beside her grave after she was stoned to death in Pakistan China warned of 'consequences' today and accused the UK of bowing to US pressure as ministers prepare to drop Huawei from the UK's 5G network. Beijing's ambassador Liu Xiaoming said shutting out the company due to the US imposing sanctions would show Britain no longer has an 'independent' policy. He insisted the UK will have to pay more for the crucial telecoms technology if it shuns Huawei, and added: 'You cannot have a golden era if you treat us as an enemy.' The sabre-rattling came amid growing signs that the government will U-turn to axe the firm from 5G after an intelligence report warned the security risks are now too great. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that he had received the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assessment, and the US decision to levy sanctions on Huawei will have a 'significant impact' on its reliability. Although no final decisions have been taken, expectations are rising that ministers will announce proposals this month to strip out the company's kit from the wider UK telecoms network by 2029. However, dozens of Conservative MPs want the government to go further and complete the process by the end of this parliament in 2024. Huawei technology will be dumped from Britain's 5G network due to fears over security risks Beijing's ambassador Liu Xiaoming (file picture) said shutting out the company due to the US imposing sanctions would show Britain no longer has an 'independent' policy Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that he had received the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assessment, and the action by America will have a 'significant impact' on Huawei's reliability China accuses the UK of 'gross interference' in Hong Kong row Beijing's ambassador to the UK has accused the British Government of a 'gross interference in China's internal affairs' after Boris Johnson offered up to three million Hong Kongers a route to citizenship. Mr Johnson announced the move last week after China pressed ahead with imposing a controversial national security law on Hong Kong. But Liu Xiaoming today defended the legislation as he suggested the UK Government was guilty of 'political manipulation' in its criticism of China's actions. He also claimed some politicians in the UK view Beijing as a 'threat' as he said 'if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences'. The broadside from Mr Liu represented the latest salvo in an ongoing war of words between the UK and China as relations continue to deteriorate. Downing Street hit back at the ambassador's comments and said while the UK and China have a 'strong and constructive relationship' in many areas 'this relationship does not come at any price'. Advertisement Huawei's links to the Chinese state have been causing increasing ructions among Tories and security experts. The company furiously denies being controlled by Beijing, but Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat and former leader Iain Duncan Smith are among the senior figures calling for a tougher approach. At an online press conference today, Ambassador Liu sought to dismiss fears that Huawei's involvement allows the Chinese state a backdoor access into mobile networks. He also accused some British politicians of regarding China as a 'threat' or a 'hostile country'. 'We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences,' he said. Mr Liu said 'getting rid' of Huawei would sends out 'a very wrong message'. 'It means you succumb to foreign pressure and you cannot make your own independent foreign policy,' he said. In another swipe, he added: 'If the UK chooses to pay a high price for poorer quality, or less quality, it is up to you.' Huawei vice president Victor Zhang said the consequences of the sanctions were as yet unclear. 'We are working closely with our customers to find ways of managing the proposed US restrictions so the UK can maintain its current lead in 5G. As ever, we remain open to discussions with the Government,' he said. 'We believe it is too early to determine the impact of the proposed restrictions, which are not about security, but about market position.' Lord Mandelson, the Labour former minister who is bidding to become the World Trade Organisation's director-general, said the sanctions had been a victory for the States. 'We have to understand this is fundamentally not a question of security, it's a commercial war between the US and China,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'President Trump said he wanted to demolish Huawei and he's doing so through very draconian sanctions, and we're collateral damage in that. 'The Prime Minister would never have given the original go-ahead to the use of Huawei equipment if he was giving China a backdoor to our 5G network, but the point now is the agencies are being required by the Government to provide a cover for the change of position and they can do this because, operationally, Huawei has been disabled by the US sanctions, and that is a very heavy defeat by this Chinese company.' In an article for the Financial Times, former MI6 chief Sir John wrote: 'There are now sound technical reasons for the UK to change January's decision, which would have allowed Huawei to have an up to 35 per cent stake in the UK's 5G market, and exclude the company instead.' Ministers are set to be asked to approve a ban on the purchase of any new Huawei kit by the end of this year in a dramatic shift. The National Cyber Security revealed that Huawei's products are not secure after the US issued new sanctions against the firm, meaning its microchips are unsafe Mr Dowden, who has oversight of the NCSC, is also preparing to recommend that Huawei technology is stripped out of all Britain's telecom networks, possibly by the end of 2029. However, a 60-strong group of Tory MPs want the timetable speeded up to 2024. A source close to the rebels told the Telegraph it is 'unconscionable' for Huawei equipment to remain in use by the next election. 'The Government can forget about its legislative agenda until it's sorted out the China question,' the source said. The NCSC review was launched after US sanctions outlawed any US patented technology used in the firm's microchips. Intelligence officials believe this will render them unsafe because Asian alternatives considered less trustworthy will have to be used instead. The NCSC part of GCHQ, the Government's intelligence and security organisation has long-standing concerns that after seven years they may not be able to minimise the security risks of using Huawei equipment. Spy chiefs blamed uncertainty over fast-evolving technologies. A source privy to a conversation among spy chiefs about the seven-year time limit told the Mail: 'They can only guarantee the security of the network for seven years.' Mr Dowden told LBC Radio this morning: 'In relation to Huawei, we've had these US sanctions that were imposed a couple of months ago. I've asked the National Cyber Security Centre to analyse the impact of them. 'It seems likely they're going to have a significant impact on the reliability of Huawei, I've just received that advice, I will be discussing that with the Prime Minister and if there's any change of policy arising from it I will make an announcement. 'I would certainly aim to do that before Parliament rises for the summer recess, so later this month.' Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the Government wanted to be confident the network was 'secure' when it made a decision about Huawei. Intelligence chiefs at NCSC part of GCHQ, has long-standing concerns that they may not be able to minimise the security risks surrounding Huawei after seven years He said the US sanctions meant that 'UK intelligence services can no longer provide assurances' that Chinese equipment is safe to use in the UK's network. US officials have warned repeatedly that they believe Huawei could be used as a backdoor for spying by the Chinese state. Huawei hit back yesterday. Spokesman Paul Harrison accused the UK of allowing President Donald Trump to dictate its policy. And Victor Zhang, vice-president of Huawei, said: 'All our products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country Tou Thao, 34, left Hennepin County jail late on Saturday morning A third Minneapolis cop charged in George Floyd's death has been released from jail after posting bail. Tou Thao, 34, left Hennepin County jail late on Saturday morning, CBS news reports. He was being held in lieu of $750,000 before his release. Thao is one of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The cops were fired and arrested after the death of Mr Floyd, 46. Their colleague Derek Chauvin knelt on Mr Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Officers J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Thomas Lane, 37, were released on their $750,000 bonds last month. Kueng and Lane were the first to respond to the call that a man - later said to be Floyd - had been trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli. Kueng and Lane discovered Floyd sitting in a nearby car. They handcuffed him and attempted to put him inside their squad car. Later, after the arrival of Chauvin and Thao, witness video shows Kueng holding onto Floyd's back while he was lying in the street. Kueng then told the other officers that he 'couldn't find' Floyd's pulse. According to charging documents, Lane (seen far right) - who initially took Floyd into custody - held down the father-of-five's legs, while Kueng held his back Thao blocked a growing crowd from stepping in to stop Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck (pictured behind him). Despite their pleas for help, not once did Thao try to get Chauvin off Floyd's neck Thao's co-defendants (left to right), J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane Authorities said Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck for about two minutes after Kueng's statement. According to charging documents, Lane - who initially took Floyd into custody - held down the father-of-five's legs, while Kueng held his back and Chauvin knelt down on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. During the arrest, Floyd pleaded for air and eventually stopped moving. He was handcuffed at the time. In witness video released last week, a man and a woman are heard urging the officers to check Floyd's pulse before more bystanders are heard pleading with the officers to help Floyd. 'You think that's okay? Check his pulse!' a man is heard yelling as Thao argued with a woman nearby. 'The ain't moved yet bro,' the man continued. 'He has not moved not one time!' The man then asked Thao: 'Youre going to let him kill that man in front of you?' The woman then yelled: 'Tell me what his pulse is right now!' Another woman is heard asking in the background: 'Did they just f**king kill him?' George Floyd (pictured) died on May 25 under then knee of Officer Derek Chauvin As a crowd gathered, others are heard shouting, 'Get off of his neck!' and 'Hes not moving!' Despite their pleas for help, not once did Thao try to get Chauvin off Floyd's neck. Instead, he continued to argue with the witnesses, yelling for them to remain on the sidewalk and not come any closer. A short time later, paramedics arrived and lifted Floyd's lifeless body off the pavement and onto a stretcher. Police bodycam footage has not been made available to the public yet, because it is being investigated by the FBI. Chauvin (left) is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in relation to George Floyd's (right) death, with his bail set at $1.25 million Former police officers have said that the bodycam footage will 'prove' there was a struggle. During a CNN interview, Lane's attorney, Earl Gray said that 'It wasn't a violent resistance but it wasn't a kind of non-resistance that an individual should do when police officers are arresting him. He also noted: 'He should get out of his vehicle and follow the orders of the police officers. He didn't do that.' Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Kueng's attorneys said that he had been working on his third shift as a police officer when the incident occurred. Kueng can be seen here (left) with Floyd as he takes Floyd into custody on May 25 Lane was freed on June 10 and Kueng followed nine days later. Chauvin remains behind bars. He was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department and arrested after Floyd's death. He was initially charged with third-degree murder before that charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. Chauvin's bail was set to $1.25million. The officers appeared in Hennepin County courtroom last week, when their representatives asked for TV cameras to be allowed in the courtroom during the trial - currently set for March 2021. Chauvin and Thao are next due in court on September 11. Immediately following Floyd's death, Black Lives Matter protests erupted globally. While the majority of protests remained peaceful, buildings, businesses and police departments have burned after some demonstrations turned violent in major US cities. Protesters have not only demanded justice for Floyd, but they've called for justice for Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and most recently Rayshard Brooks. Demonstrators have also marched for Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot dead by a white man in Georgia in February. Floyd was laid to rest June 9 in Houston, Texas. Officials in Hong Kong have forced schools to remove any books that are considered breaching China's controversial and sweeping national security law. Hong Kong schools should not provide reading material breaching the new legislation unless they use it to 'positively teach' students about the issue, the city's Education Bureau said on Monday. It comes after a pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong has appeared in court today for the first time after becoming the first citizen in the city to face punishment under Beijing's national security law. Officials in Hong Kong have forced schools to remove any books that are considered breaching China's controversial and sweeping national security law. The file picture taken on May 27 shows students walking at Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School in Hong Kong Tong Ying-kit, 23, is charged with inciting secession and engaging in terrorism against China's controversial legislation for carrying a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest Wednesday. He is pictured appearing at a local court in Hong Kong Monday The legislation imposed by Beijing came into force last week and it punishes what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison. Critics see it as a tool to quash dissent. Hong Kong and Beijing officials insist the city's freedoms remain intact and the law only plugs national security 'loopholes'. Despite such assurances, public libraries have taken some books written by some pro-democracy activists and politicians off their shelves while they check if they violate the law. The Education Bureau, in a statement sent to Reuters, said schools were the gatekeepers for their teaching resources and school management and teachers should review 'all teaching materials, including books'. 'As with other serious crimes or immoral behaviour that is not socially acceptable, materials should be removed and re-selected,' the bureau said, adding that such materials could only be used 'for positively teaching' about national security. Books by young activist Joshua Wong and pro-democracy politician Tanya Chan have suddenly become unavailable in public libraries. The officials said schools were the gatekeepers for their teaching resources and school management and teachers should review 'all teaching materials, including books'. The picture shows school students at a pro-democracy protests near their school in Hong Kong on June 12 Albert Wan, co-owner of Bleak House Books shop, said the law had a 'chilling effect'. 'The law is so vague and so new that no one really knows where the red line is. Until we know, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing,' Wan said. 'The biggest challenge is to try as hard as you can to not self-censor because once you do it, you open up a can of worms, just like once you enact the national security law, there's no going back.' A Reuters visit to one public library showed books discussing Hong Kong independence, which is anathema to Beijing, were still available. A separate online search showed books by Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident Liu Xiaobo could also be borrowed. 'It's very arbitrary,' said Fu King-wa, associate professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at University of Hong Kong, who studies Chinese social media and information control. Fu said the public should not expect clear criteria or justification for censorship, which he said would likely extend into the digital sector. 'Some form of the censorship system in China now will be introduced to Hong Kong. Its a matter of time,' Fu said. Mr Tong has been remanded in custody after the court denied his bail application because the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security, according to the authorities. Reporters are pictured gathering outside the court A pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong has appeared in court for the first time after he became the first citizen in the city to face punishment under Beijing-imposed national security law. Pictured, the 23-year-old pro-democracy protester, Tong Ying-kit carrying a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at an anti-government protest on July 1 It comes after Tong Ying-kit, 23, a pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong has appeared in court today for the first time after being charged against China's controversial legislation. Mr Tong has been remanded in custody after the court denied his bail application as the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security, according to the authorities. Mr Tong, who carried a flag that read 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times' as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory's Chinese rulers, became the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under the new security law last Friday. The 23-year-old activist made his first appearance in West Kowloon Court on Monday afternoon after being hospitalised due to a fractured leg kept since the July 1 protest, where he is accused of violating the new legislation. Mr Tong, who carried a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory's Chinese rulers, became on Frida the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under the new security law. He is pictured on Monday An armed police officer (L) escorts a van (behind) transporting Tong Ying-kit (not pictured) who is accused of deliberately driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers on July 1 Mr Tong is accused of ramming and injuring some officers at an illegal protest on Wednesday, according to police. Police officers are pictured maintaining orders as a 23-year-old man, Tong Ying-kit, arrives at a court in Hong Kong Monday, July 6 after he was charged against the law Mr Tong is accused of ramming and injuring some officers at an illegal protest on Wednesday, according to police. A video circulating online shows a motorbike knocking over several officers on a narrow street before the driver falls over and is arrested. But he has been remanded in custody after the court rejected his bail application. The trial is adjourned till October 6. In rejecting bail, Chief Magistrate So Wai-tak referred to Article 42 of the new law, which states that bail will not be granted if the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security. Police stand guard as defendant Tong Ying-kit, 23, arrives the court on July 6 - Tong accused of deliberately driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers, is the first person charged for incitement to secession and terrorist activities under the national security law The top American diplomat in Hong Kong has described the use of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's new national security law to curb freedoms as a 'tragedy'. Police officers detain protesters during a rally against a new national security law on July 1 in Hong Kong The top American diplomat in Hong Kong has described the use of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's new national security law to curb freedoms as a 'tragedy'. Hanscom Smith, the US consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters: 'Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy for Hong Kong. 'Hong Kong has been successful precisely because of its openness and we'll do everything we can to maintain that.' The law, imposed last week following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs. Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city's independence is violating the law, regardless of whether violence is used. Critics see the move as Beijing's boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the former British colony and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system. Since the law came into effect, the government has also specified that the popular protest slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' has separatist connotations and is thus criminalised. Police detain a protester after spraying pepper spray during a protest on July 1 Since the law came into effect, the government has also specified that the popular protest slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' has separatist connotations and is thus criminalised. In Hong Kong's public libraries, books by pro-democracy figures have been pulled from the shelves, including those authored by prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and politician Tanya Chan. The authority in charge of libraries said it is reviewing the books in light of the new legislation. Many pro-democracy shops that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that adorned the walls of their stores, fearful that the content might violate the new law. More than 300 people were arrested on July 1 for offences including unlawful assemblies, disorderly conduct in public places, furious driving, and breach of then national security law, the police said. In a further ominous sign for activists, a Communist Party cadre prominent during a 2011 clampdown on land rights protesters in a south China village is to head a newly-empowered national security office in Hong Kong, official news agency Xinhua said. Zheng Yanxiong, 57, most recently served as secretary general of the Communist Party committee of Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong. A Hong Kong riot police was stabbed on the left shoulder by a protester while trying to tackle another demonstrator during a rally against a new national security law on Wednesday The new legislation gives the security office greater enforcement action and powers to take suspects onto the mainland, as well as granting privileges for agents, including that Hong Kong authorities cannot inspect their vehicles. Some activists have been keeping a low profile or leaving. Demosisto, a pro-democracy group led by Joshua Wong, disbanded hours after the legislation was passed, while prominent group member Nathan Law left the city. 'The protests in Hong Kong have been a window for the world to recognise that China is getting more and more authoritarian,' Law told Reuters. Hong Kong's publicly-funded public broadcaster RTHK, which has felt the pressure of government scrutiny, appeared to take heed of the law, reproducing the slogan as 'L*******#HongKong' in a comment on Twitter, to the scorn of some social media users. Waukegan, like most school districts, has a naming policy for its buildings and it will be interesting to see how the adults in the room decide if Jefferson stays within the context of his overall lifetime achievements, or is kicked to the curb. The same could be said for Washington School on Orchard Avenue if portions of ones past is considered. Police have been collaring passengers during early morning commutes after ministers vowed to crack down on compulsory face coverings. Officers were today deployed to London's Underground stations where they were seen confronting travellers not wearing masks. They hovered on platforms and carriages to catch passengers breaking the government's emergency coronavirus law, which was brought in last month to prevent the spread of infection. But despite the clear police presence, some passengers were still pictured riding the Tube without a covering in the capital this morning. Pointing to figures showing a 14 per cent non-compliance rate, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps pledged to get tough on rule-breakers, who face a 100 fine. Police have been collaring passengers during early morning commutes as they step up the crackdown on compulsory face coverings (London Bridge pictured) Officers were today dispatched to London's Underground stations where they were seen confronting travellers not wearing masks (London Bridge pictured) At London Bridge station - used by thousands of commuters each day for its links into the City and Westminster - British Transport Police (BTP) officers were pulling up passengers for not wearing coverings At London Bridge station - used by thousands of commuters each day for its links into the City and Westminster - British Transport Police (BTP) officers were pulling up passengers for not wearing coverings. Several passengers seemingly without coverings were seen producing a mask when demanded, despite billboards and tannoys reminding people to wear them upon entering the station. One man on the platform at London Bridge was seen fumbling in his pockets as two constables watched on. Last week, BTP confirmed that 'fines have been issued' to flouters, but did not specify how many or where they had been handed. Flouting the the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings on Public Transport) (England) Regulations 2020 legislation, ushered in on June 15, risks a 100 fine, halved to 50 if paid within 14 days. They hovered on platforms and carriages to catch passengers breaking the government's new emergency coronavirus law to prevent the spread of infection Police on the Jubilee line this morning during early morning commutes Several passengers seemingly without coverings were seen producing a mask when demanded, despite billboards and tannoys reminding people to wear them upon entering the station Despite the clear police presence, some passengers were still pictured riding the Tube without a covering in the capital this morning Last week, BTP confirmed that 'fines have been issued' to flouters, but did not specify how many or where they had been handed The new laws have not been drilled in to all passengers, with many still travelling without a mask During the peak of the pandemic, the UK parted ways with most of the world in not recommending face masks owing to 'weak' scientific evidence. But in an about-turn, ministers last month made wearing a face covering on public transport compulsory because of studies finding they may reduce the spread of Covid-19. Yet the new laws have not been drilled in to all passengers, with many still travelling without a mask. Last week, Mr Shapps said enforcement had been 'gentle' to start with but would be 'tightened' - after complaints that travellers are regularly flouting the rule. Speaking in the Commons, he said: 'We've seen very high levels of compliance on face coverings. 'It looks like, according to the Office of National Statistics, on the week of June 26 that 86 per cent compliance was in existence. 'We did say in the early days that we would ensure compliance was gently enforced but I do want to inform the House that TfL (Transport for London), Network Rail, British Transport Police will be tightening up on that implementation.' Two constables deployed at London Bridge station this morning A fairly busy Tube in London this morning, wear the majority of passengers wear a face covering The majority of passengers comply with the law and wear a mask India has overtaken Russia to become the country with the world's third highest number of coronavirus cases, with nearly 700,000 infections. The health ministry said 697,358 cases had now been recorded, a rise of 24,000 in the last 24 hours, while Russia has just over 681,000 cases. India has registered 19,693 deaths from the virus, a much lower number than many other badly hit countries. India has overtaken Russia to become the country with the world's third highest number of coronavirus cases, with nearly 700,000 infections. Above, volunteers distribute free food during the pandemic in Guwahati on July 5 There have been almost 20,000 deaths in India since the first case was detected there in January. India is now the world's third worst-affected country, behind only the United States and Brazil. It has seen eight times the number of cases as China, that has a similar-sized population and is where the virus originated late last year. India's health ministry said 697,358 cases had now been recorded, a rise of 24,000 in the last 24 hours, while Russia has just over 681,000 cases Workers clean an artifical water channel at the 16th century Mughal monument Humayun's Tomb, after it was reopened for visitors which was closed since mid-March as part of measures to try and combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in New Delhi on July 6 Officials said they had reversed a decision to reopen the Taj Mahal, India's most famous tourist attraction, in the city of Agra, 125 miles southeast of New Delhi, on Monday, following a spate of new cases in the area. India's Culture Ministry had decided to reopen all monuments across the country on Monday after more than three months with a cap on the number of visitors and mandatory wearing of face masks. After a strict nationwide lockdown, India has eased restrictions in most of the country except for the highest-risk areas. The Kerala state capital, Thiruvananthapuram imposed a new lockdown from Monday with public transport shut and only pharmacies allowed to open. Above, a banner displays masks for sale in Kochi, Kerala state The country's major cities have been worst hit by the pandemic. New Delhi and Mumbai each have about 100,000 cases, with 3,000 dead in the capital and nearly 5,000 in Mumbai. New Delhi has opened a new 10,000-bed temporary virus hospital while other cities are tightening restrictions on movement to head off a new surge in cases. The Kerala state capital, Thiruvananthapuram imposed a new lockdown from Monday with public transport shut and only pharmacies allowed to open. The clampdown came after hundreds of new cases were reported across the state, which had been praised for its action to curtail the pandemic. A portrait of a Battle of Waterloo hero the Queen has hanging in Windsor Castle has had its accompanying gallery and online description changed to include his links to slavery. Historical details of the painting of Sir Thomas Picton have been altered to include a reference to torturing a slave girl when he was the 'Tyrant of Trinidad'. Now the Royal Collection Trust's physical register at the gallery as well as the website detail the story of his cruelty as governor of the island. Previously it had featured no mention of this grim part of the British Army officer's history. The change is the first in the fine art world effected in the wake of the Black Lives Matter campaign, which has called for statues and memorials of figures linked to slavery to be reviewed. Picton was known for his brutal regime on Trinidad and ordered the torture of Luisa Calderon, 14, by hoisting her up by her arms in what would nowadays be called a stress position. Sir Thomas Picton was a hero of the Battle of Waterloo but was also known as the 'Tyrant of Trinidad' for his part in torturing a young slave girl The Waterloo Chamber in Windsor Castle is home to the controversial portrait (circled in red) He wrongly believed she had helped steal 500 and he was brought to trial over the 1801 incident. He was at first found guilty of unlawful torture to extract a confession, but was later cleared at a retrial. Until recently Picton was revered for generations as the most senior British soldier to be killed defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. But campaigners said his links to the slave trade should be highlighted - and a call has been made to remove a grand statue of him from Cardiff's City Hall to be replaced with a memorial to the slave girl he tortured. He was the highest-ranking British officer killed at Waterloo after Duke of Wellington called him 'a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived' but 'very capable.' Picton's is the first to be amended in The Royal Collection Trust which has a 250,000-strong art collection includes exhibits at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. It now reads: 'Picton's punitive administration of Trinidad and his subjects' enforced adherence to strict penal codes were the subject of contemporary controversy in Britain and the West Indies. 'He was brought to trial in London in 1806, accused of carrying out torturous practices in jails under his jurisdiction. He was later partially exonerated, on the grounds that while he had committed illegal acts not befitting his role as military governor, the right to torture prisoners was recognised under the Spanish laws still enforced at the time.' It is known as the largest art collection in the world and it is considering altering other notes online and at exhibitions. A campaign is also underway to get a statue of Sir Thomas Picton at Cardiff City Hall removed over his slavery links as the 'Tyrant of Trinidad' A trust spokesman told The Sun: 'In terms of other records, work is underway within our curatorial teams to improve and update them, which will happen in the coming weeks and months' A campaign has been launched to remove his statue from pride of place in a City Hall to be replaced with a memorial to Luisa Calderon. Sir Thomas was convicted convicted of ordering the illegal torture of 14-year-old girl Luisa after she accused of stealing. He admitted to the charge but the conviction was later overturned. He returned to Britain and was a sitting MP when he was killed by the Napoleon's troops in 1815. Campaigners are also keen to remove the memorial to Picton at Carmarthen taken down The first black Lord Mayor of Cardiff Dan De'Ath wants a marble monument to Picton removed from the council's 'hall of heroes' A marble statue of Sir Thomas stands proudly in Cardiff City Hall - but calls to remove it have been led by the city's own Lord Mayor. Sir Thomas Picton: Hero of Waterloo who became 'Tyrant of Trinidad' Where is the statue? Inside Cardiff City Hall Who wants his statue removed? Cardiff Lord Mayor Daniel De'Ath asked the council to remove the state in an open letter which has received support from council leader Huw Thomas. Who was he? A military officer who enjoyed a prolific career before being killed at the Battle of Waterloo. He was the Governor of Trinidad from (17971803). What did he do? The bad: Known as the 'tyrant of Trinidad' for his 'arbitrary and brutal' rule of the island His motto was 'let them hate so long as they fear' Ordered the torture of a 14-year-old girl accused of theft The good: Highest ranking officer killed fighting with Wellington at Waterloo Advertisement Dan De'Ath - the first black Lord Mayor of Cardiff - called for the marble monument to be removed from an array of the heroes of Wales in the council's Marble Hall. He said: 'I feel that it is no longer acceptable for Picton's statue to be amongst the 'Heroes of Wales' in City Hall.' An open letter to the Leader of Cardiff Council calls for the statue of Sir Thomas Picton to be replaced with a memorial to his most famous victim. Calderon was accused of being involved in the theft of money from a businessman who her mother had arranged for her to live with as a 'mistress' at age 11. Unable to get a confession through interrogation, Picton issued the order to 'Inflict the torture on Louisa Calderon'. Calderon did not confess and was imprisoned for a further eight months before being released. The statue was unveiled by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1916.. The hall also includes an iconic painting of Diana, Princess of Wales. Council leader Huw Thomas is also backing calls for the sculpture to be taken down from Cardiff City Hall next to the other Welsh heroes. Cardiff Council is set to discuss the removal at 'the earliest opporutunity'. Picton, born in Haverfordwest, west Wales, is still the only Welshman to be buried at St Paul's Cathedral. Dr Douglas Jones, of the National Library of Wales, said: 'Picton admitted ordering the torture, but claimed that it was legal under the Spanish law still being administered in Trinidad at the time, despite the island being under British rule.' Dr Jones said Picton's governorship was 'authoritarian and brutal' as he increased the number of lashes given to slaves and authorised executions. The painting's description on the Royal Collection Trust's website (above) previously detailed Sir Thomas' heroics at Waterloo with no mention of the torture trial Advertisement Angry locals in Devon and Cornwall have blasted tourists as hordes of caravans descended upon West Country beauty spots at the weekend. Tens of thousands of holidaymakers flocked to the region as they took advantage of the eased lockdown restrictions on Saturday. But some locals fearing a second coronavirus wave were so enraged they hung a sign up telling visitors to 'turn around f*** off' a gesture Cornwall's tourism chief slammed as 'unforgivable'. Three people with their faces hidden held the crude banner aloft on a bridge over the A30 at Bodmin, one of the main roads into the county. And tourists arriving in Dawlish, Devon, yesterday were greeted by a man dressed as the Grim Reaper holding a sarcastic sign that read 'Welcome holidaymakers'. Despite the frosty reception from some locals, businesses desperate for trade after lockdown welcomed the crowds of visitors heading back to the South West. Nikki Mulliner, manager of the Shipwrights pub in Plaidstow, told The Times: 'I was a little apprehensive but its been lovely to have so many people stop and think about what they are doing because you don't expect that in a pub. People have been enjoying sitting at a table and having their drinks brought to them.' The crude 6ft long banner - written in black paint on a white board - was held aloft by three people, their faces hidden by it Holidaymakers were yesterday greeted by a person dressed as the grim reaper in Dawlish Travellers were urged to avoid peak times, while police asked caravan owners to check their vehicles before setting off to prevent hold-ups. Above, a traffic jam on the M5 where the motorway meets the A30 on Saturday Queues of cars and caravans waiting to get a holiday break after coronavirus travel restrictions were lifted on Saturday Hundreds of caravans parked up at Taunton Dean services on Saturday in Somerset The M5 in Exeter, which was swamped with camper vans and caravans heading to the coast on Saturday morning as tourists getaway as hotels, restaurants and pubs re-open with people being able to stay overnight or longer in England A chef at Rick Stein's The Seafood Restaurant said that locals were keep to welcome visitors back but were concerned about a spike in coronavirus cases. The chef, who did not want to be named, said: 'The attitude of people coming down is very relaxed. They are not wearing masks and just wander around a bit as if there isn't a care in the world. We all want the trade to start up again but nobody seems to be distancing.' Cornwall's tourism chief has slammed the 'offensive and unforgivable' sign hung over the A30 on Saturday. Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said outsiders are welcome and the region, which relies heavily on tourism, desperately needs their money. In one incident today police are investigating reports that a group of teenagers shouted racist abuse after coming to Cornwall on holiday, as reported by CornwallLive. The group was heard using racist language in a car park in Polzeath on Saturday at around 11pm. Devon and Cornwall Police has issued an appeal for information following reports of racist disorder. Devon and Cornwall Police has said they dealt with more than 1,000 incidents on Super Saturday. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey angered locals when he and his family moved to their second home in Cornwall during the lockdown. Residents say Cornwall has only one major hospital and a flood of holidaymakers puts their lives at risk. Hundreds of thousands of tourists have started arriving in Cornwall and neighbouring Devon following the relaxation of banning measures on Super Saturday. Many residents have voiced their concerns on social media, saying it is too soon to lift the ban on holidaymakers and second home owners. There were also multiple reports of accidents on the M5 involving holiday traffic, with the Exeter-based HART ambulance team seen heading southbound towards Junction 31 A Facebook user shared a video of hundreds of cars and caravans waiting to get down to Cornwall The M5 Exeter was swamped with camper vans and caravans heading to the coast at Junction 30 on Saturday, as tourists made their weekend getaway on what has been dubbed 'Super Saturday' Caravaners heading for Devon and Cornwall stop for a break at Sedgemoor Services on the M5 motorway on Saturday Facebook user Alice Cantrell said she spotted 57 caravans along a stretch of the A30 A holidaymaker at the Taunton Deane services on Saturday with a boat in tow But Mr Bell said the West Country resorts won't survive without the money that outsiders spend in shops, pubs and other tourist attractions. 'We are battling to save thousands of jobs. Let's welcome our customers, who will share their money to keep Cornish people in jobs. Return of the Great British Staycation: Big changes holidaymakers can expect Contactless check-in at hotels, bed and breakfast and camp sites. Campers will have to stay in their car until they are directed to their pitch. In all settings they will be expected to stay over a metre apart from someone else. Breakfast buffets and mini bars are all out for the time being. Visitors could be asked to bring their own toilets with them. Guests will also be asked to bring their own hand sanitiser and soap. All paperwork and phones will be removed from hotel rooms. Camp sites will clean their toilets six times a day. In hotels and bed and breakfasts deep cleans after guests have left. Multiple family holidays are strictly reduced to just two households. Guests are not allowed to have visitors to where they are staying. Advertisement 'I don't like to see signs like the one we saw on the A30. It is being offensive to a large group of people. I find it unforgivable.' He understood residents' concerns but they should not assume outsiders were bring infections to the region. 'It's accusing people before they even arrive.' Feelings are running just as high in Devon - tourists arriving in Dawlish yesterday afternoon were greeted by a man dressed as the Grim Reaper. He sarcastically held aloft a 'Welcome holidaymakers' sign. But, showing not all residents share his opinion, he was challenged by two men who seized the sign from him. It is estimated that about 80,000 holidaymakers will be in Cornwall this week - which is 15% to 20% down on usual numbers for this time of year. And tourists have been warned a sudden cough may mean they have to isolate in their room or caravan and pay for an extra 14 days' stay. The warning about being forced to stay for an extra fortnight - and pay for it - if you show signs of the virus is in an information pack issued to all accommodation providers. It's been put together by Visit Cornwall with help from public health officials and tourism businesses. Visit Cornwall chief executive Malcolm Bell said 'If people fall ill on holiday and can't travel back safely using their car they will have to pay for their 14 days in isolation. 'We have to make that clear as the business will be losing trade.' An extra 14 days would throw the system into chaos for many accommodation providers. They would have to tell the next people who've booked that room or caravan for a holiday to stay at home. He said the information sheets would be distributed to businesses and placed in accommodation for staycationers when they arrive. 'We are reinforcing the think, plan, book message and we talk about beaches and the idea that they have to have a plan B. 'If they turn up and the beach is busy, be ready to go on somewhere else. Traffic on the M25 motorway in Kent early on Saturday morning as hotels, restaurants and hotels re-open with people being able to stay overnight or longer in England as part of the next stage of the coronavirus lockdown easing Members of the public queue in a socially distanced manner, with markers seen on the ground, to enter Alton Towers on Saturday, after the Government eased restrictions to allow some leisure and hospitality businesses to reopen Some tourists are seen with caravans, tents and camper vans at the re-opened Freshwater Holiday Park in Dorset on Saturday 'We also say that we want you to go TO the beach, not go ON the beach, regarding bodily functions. 'We also have strong messages from the RNLI and coastguard about being safe on the beach and in the water. The last thing we need is additional strain on the blue light services.' He said not all accommodation providers would be opening this weekend with many large holiday parks delaying till Monday and some hotels until later next week. He added that this was because they were having to bring back staff from furlough and making sure they are ready for guests. Mr Bell said that some would be running at 50 per cent occupancy in the first few days. It was expected there could be between 75,000 and 80,000 visitors coming to Cornwall which he said was 30 per cent down on usual numbers for this time of year. But he added that it was expected to rise in the coming weeks to 100,000. 'It will feel a lot busier and the roads will feel busy as we haven't had the run up that we normally have. But it won't be as busy as normal at this time of year. 'I have heard of people wanting to come down at midnight on Saturday but places have been sensible and said come down at the normal times.' Cornwall Council leader Julian German 'For some, the closed signs will remain in place - the sign of the human cost of this crisis on our communities not only in lives lost but livelihoods too.' A 'ballbreaking' female lawyer who accused her bosses of sexism was sacked after complaining she was being paid less than her male colleagues, a tribunal has ruled. Solicitor Helena Biggs was warned she was in danger of scoring an 'own goal' when she demanded to know why her salary wasn't the same as a male executive she shared an office with. The Bristol University graduate - who was criticised for being 'pushy', 'overambitious' and a 'ballbreaker' - claimed she suffered a 'campaign of victimisation' that ended in her dismissal as a result of her complaint. Helena Biggs won her tribunal after claiming she was wrongly dismissed by international shipping insurance firm, A Bilborough and Company And she said the firm's use of her as an 'enforcer' to tackle underperforming staff led to her being viewed in the office as the 'Wicked Witch of the West'. The 45 year old mother of two has now successfully sued international shipping insurance firm, A Bilborough and Company, for sex discrimination. As part of her case Ms Biggs alleged that she had witnessed repeated sexist behaviour from male bosses at the firm she joined in 2003. Claims Director Ian Barr told a female colleague to 'keep her legs shut' on hearing that Ms Biggs was pregnant and remarked of another that she 'looked like a dyke'. Mr Barr also tried to play down an incident when Ms Biggs complained she had been groped by a lawyer representing one of the firm's clients during a lunch, she claimed. Meanwhile her direct manager Steve Roberts - who described her as 'overly dominant' and 'incredibly ambitious' - advised her to 'use her charms' to win him round. The tribunal heard that the qualified solicitor, from Redhill, Surrey, was promoted to Associate Director at the company - where she worked as a claims executive - in 2010. In 2013 she accidentally discovered that a similarly ranked male colleague was getting paid 2,000 a year more than she was, a disclosure that she found 'particularly upsetting' but that she decided to keep quiet about. Her direct manager Steve Roberts (left) advised her to 'use her charms' to win him round, while claims Director Ian Barr (right) made sexist comments in the workplace, it was heard In 2015 she raised the issue with Mr Roberts. 'Mr Roberts responded by telling her that she should be careful and that the issue could be 'dangerous',' the tribunal heard. He told the hearing that pursuing this issue could be an 'own goal' for Ms Biggs and she would be better off leaving it alone. However, she persisted and in October the firm agreed to give her a pay rise although it did not backdate the award to 2010 because, Mr Roberts said, it had paid for her to go on a management course. Over the following two years Ms Biggs claimed she was 'victimised and targeted', the tribunal heard, being unfairly criticised, overburdened and losing out on promotion and training opportunities. She launched a grievance, accusing Mr Roberts of abusing his power and 'exhibiting intimidating or demeaning behaviour'. She also claimed he had acted improperly over a $1 million insurance claim involving a consignment of rice. The majority of her complaints were dismissed by the firm and there was a discussion about whether Ms Biggs - who had been signed off sick - should return to work. However, Mr Barr conducted a staff survey which he said indicated that she would be unwelcome back in the office. After concluding that her relationship with the directors and other staff had broken down, the firm sacked her in January 2018. However, the East London tribunal concluded that Ms Biggs had been unfairly dismissed and had been the victim of sex discrimination, victimisation and harassment. Ms Biggs studied law at Bristol University before going on to complete a legal practice course In relation to his 'keep your legs shuts and 'dyke' remarks the tribunal criticised Mr Barr for 'derogatory comments' which 'stereotyped' women. It said Mr Roberts had been 'sexist' and 'clumsy' to describe Ms Biggs as 'pushy' and suggest she 'use her charms' on him. 'This is a comment often made to females in the media and in society,' the judgement found. 'It is highly unusual to see a reference to an adult man using his charms.' The tribunal concluded that by the end of 2017 the firm wanted her gone 'as she had challenged their authority and had caused them difficulties'. The difficulties included her complaint of unequal pay and her allegations surrounding the $1 million insurance payout, the judgement found. These were the real reasons for her dismissal, not her relationship with directors and staff, it said. A hearing to decide possible compensation for Ms Biggs will be held at a later date. The number of people visiting high streets across England on 'Super Saturday' was down by more than half on a year ago despite the reopening of pubs and restaurants. Official industry data suggests city and town centres got off to a relatively slow start after lockdown rules were further eased by the Government at the weekend. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is now facing growing pressure to set out a long term financial support package for shops and the hospitality sector to ensure struggling firms survive. A group of 120 hospitality and tourism bosses have today written to the Government to ask for more help amid warnings the coronavirus crisis could cost companies more than 70 billion in lost income by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, a group of former Tory government advisers has urged Mr Sunak to effectively take a stake in coronavirus-hit businesses to stop them going under. The Chancellor will set out his plans for the UK economy in a mini-Budget on Wednesday. Rishi Sunak, pictured in 10 Downing Street on May 29, will set out a 'mini-Budget' on Wednesday this week The Chancellor is under growing pressure to set out a long term support package for the high street after footfall numbers suggested people are being slow to return Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers were allowed to reopen across England on Saturday. And while there were photographs and video footage of packed streets in some parts of the country, data suggests that overall many people continued to stay away. Data released by Springboard, a company which looks at footfall and visitor data, and published by The Guardian suggested the number of people visiting high streets was down 56 per cent on Saturday when compared to the equivalent day last year. Meanwhile, in London the number was down 75 per cent on a year ago. Hospitality and retail chiefs will be hoping that the number of people returning to the high street will steadily increase in the coming weeks. But they have made plain to Mr Sunak they will need some financial assistance long into the future in order to avoid mass closures and redundancies. The UK Hospitality industry body has estimated sales could end up down 56 per cent on last year, potentially slashing revenues by almost 74 billion. Meanwhile, half of businesses do not expect to reach break even until the end of next year. An open letter from hospitality bosses to the Government has called for tax bills to be deferred and for VAT to be slashed to give the sector a boost. The bosses said with the right support from ministers they could help create a wave of new jobs in the coming years. They wrote: 'In the decade that followed the financial crisis hospitality consistently created around one in six new jobs thanks in part to the VAT cuts and investment in youth employment and training introduced in the immediate aftermath. We can do so again.' It came as a group of former advisers to five Tory prime ministers and chancellors called for Mr Sunak to invest 30 billion in struggling firms. Economic advisers to George Osborne, David Cameron, Theresa May, Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid penned a new report for the Onward think tank. The former advisers suggested the money should be invested directly into high-growth companies through the British Business Bank, British Growth Fund and British Patient Capital to ensure firms can access capital. Meanwhile, union leaders have warned there could be a return to 1980s levels of mass unemployment unless Mr Sunak takes urgent action to support workers and businesses. Leaders of the TUC, Unite, Unison, GMB and Usdaw warned there is only a 'very short window' to prevent hundreds of thousands of workers from losing their jobs. Egypt has arrested at least 10 doctors since the start of the coronavirus crisis and warned health workers they could be punished if they speak out. Security agencies have tried to stifle criticism of president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and his government's handling of the pandemic, which has caused 76,253 infections and 3,343 deaths in Egypt - the worst death toll in the Arab world. Doctors have been voicing anger over shortages of protective gear and an apparent government attempt to blame them for the spike in deaths. At least 10 doctors and six journalists have been arrested since the virus first hit Egypt in February, according to rights groups. A health worker wearing protective gear takes a swab from a motorist at a drive-through centre at Ain Shams University in Cairo - as Egypt battles a spike in deaths President el-Sissi has stamped out dissent since leading a military takeover in 2013, jailing Islamist opponents as well as secular activists and journalists. One foreign correspondent has fled the country during the virus pandemic, fearing arrest, and another two have been reprimanded over 'professional violations'. The military has set up field hospitals with 4,000 beds, scaled up testing and ordered companies to churn out face masks and other supplies. But doctors say they are forced to purchase surgical masks with their meagre salaries, while families plead for intensive care beds. Health workers in Egypt say they have been warned by administrators to keep quiet or face punishment. One doctor in greater Cairo said: 'Every day I go to work, I sacrifice myself and my whole family. Then they arrest my colleagues to send us a message. I see no light on the horizon.' The pandemic has pushed the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, a non-political professional group, into a new role as an advocate for doctors' rights. Last month, the union released a letter to the public prosecutor demanding the release of five doctors detained for expressing opinions about the virus response. Another syndicate member, Mohamed el-Fawal, landed in jail last week after demanding an apology from the prime minister over comments that appeared to blame health workers for a spike in deaths. Incensed doctors hit back, saying they are under-trained, under-paid and under-resourced, and struggling to save patients. So far, 117 doctors, 39 nurses and 32 pharmacists have died from Covid-19, according to syndicate members' counts. Thousands have fallen ill. The government of president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi (pictured) has been criticised for its handling of the pandemic, which has caused 76,253 infections and 3,343 deaths in Egypt Security forces shut down a syndicate press conference that was set to respond to the prime minister's comments and discuss supply shortages, according to former leader Mona Mina. 'These doctors have no history of activism, they were arrested because they offered criticism of their very specific professional circumstances,' said Amr Magdi of Human Rights Watch, which has confirmed the arrests of eight doctors and two pharmacists. Two have been released, he said, while the rest remain in pre-trial detention. Doctors in three provinces say administrators threatened to report them if they publicly expressed frustration toward authorities or failed to show up for work. In one voice recording, a health deputy in a Nile Delta province can be heard saying: 'Even if a doctor is dying, he must keep working ... or be subjected to the most severe punishment.' At least 15 individuals have been arrested for broadcasting 'false news' about the pandemic, said the UN human rights office. Four Egyptian journalists who reported on the outbreak remain in prison, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has labeled Egypt among the world's worst jailers of journalists, along with Turkey and China. Those who spread 'false news' online about the coronavirus could face up to five years imprisonment and steep fines, Egypt's top prosecutor has warned. The coronavirus is surging in the country of 100million people, threatening to overwhelm hospitals. The death toll of 3,434 is higher than in other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia (1,858) or Iraq (2,368). With borders shut and flights halted, Egypt's critical tourism revenue has vanished - testing the economy and the government's authority. Although el-Sissi resisted a total lockdown because of the economic impact, schools, mosques, restaurants, malls and clubs were closed early in the outbreak and a nightly curfew imposed. Last week the government reopened much of society and welcomed hundreds of international tourists despite the spike in deaths. Advertisement A pair of mating giant tortoises were interrupted by a hawk landing on one of their shells - in one of a series of beautiful photos showing the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. The giant tortoises, who were made famous by Charles Darwin's encounters with them during his voyages on HMS Beagle, are native to the islands and can live for more than 100 years. One of the creatures became a landing pad for a Galapagos hawk, a bird which feeds on locusts, centipedes and even snakes and lizards on the islands off the coast of Ecuador. The photo - along with evocative images of birds in flight, shoals of fish and a snake feeding on an iguana - is contained in a new book called A Lifetime In Galapagos by photographer Tui De Roy. Pictured left: A Galapagos hawk lands on top of two mating giant tortoises, the emblematic species of the island whose members can live for more than 100 years and contributed to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Pictured right: a green turtle swimming with a shoal of striped salemas in the waters of the Galapagos Islands, which are off Ecuador A shoal of scalloped hammerhead sharks swim in the waters of the Galapagos Islands. The sharks can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans but the Galapagos is one of the few places where several hundreds of them gather at a time A Nazca booby - a type of bird - bites at a vampire ground finch which was feeding on its blood - a habit which gives it its name. The booby family is thought to get its name from the Spanish 'bobo', meaning stupid, because of their clumsy nature Galapagos hawk juveniles are captured play-fighting in mid-air - one of them gripping the other's tail feathers. When they grow to adults, the birds have an average wingspan of nearly 4ft (120cm) A Galapagos racer snake feeding on a marine iguana hatchling. The racer snakes are known to prey on creatures including lizards and geckos as well as young birds, while some have even been observed hunting for fish The collection includes several images of the Galapagos hawks, including one where the bird is feeding a hatchling turtle to one of its chicks. Another image shows a Nazca booby, a type of bird, biting at a vampire ground finch which had been feeding on its blood - a habit which gives it its name. Shoals of Hammerhead sharks and a sea lion playing with pufferfish are also seen at close quarters in the collection of photos. Wildlife experts describe the Galapagos Islands, which are 600 miles off the South American coast, as a 'priceless living laboratory' because of the wealth of endemic species. Photographer Miss De Roy, 67, sees the book as her life's work and chronicles her intimate moments with flycatchers and orchids in the forest and sharks and iguanas in the sea. Miss De Roy, a writer and conservationist as well as a photographer, divides her time between her world travels, Galapagos and New Zealand. She said: 'I started shooting professionally when I was just 16, and my photo projects have since taken me to some of the remotest, wildest corners of all seven continents, but this has only heightened my fascination for the Galapagos Islands and their wildlife. 'Thanks to arduous protection, this island ecosystem remains one of the most intact in the world, revealing new and startling facets of behaviour and adaptation on a daily basis. 'Since moving to New Zealand 28 years ago, I have returned yearly to continue photographing Galapagos, and each time I am wowed all over again. 'This book is the culmination of half a century of endless amazement, documented visually to the best of my ability; it contains not just 50 years of Galapagos photography, but also my heart and soul.' The new book is published by Bloomsbury. A flightless cormorant sits on its nest, surrounded by starfish. The Galapagos species is the only variety of cormorant which cannot fly, confining it to the beaches of Isabela and Fernandina, but they dive to the ocean floor to feed on eels and octopus Three Galapagos hawks spread their wings in flight. The native bird feeds on centipedes and locusts as well as snakes, rodents, lizards and young turtles. There are estimated to be only 150 breeding pairs in existence A Galapagos sea lion playing with pufferfish. The sea lions are found all along the coastline of the Galapagos Islands and primarily prey on sardines, but they themselves are vulnerable to being hunted by sharks and killer whales A Galapagos hawk feeds a hatchling sea turtle to a chick. The turtles are fast swimmers and can even sleep underwater for a few hours at a time, wildlife experts say. However, they can only stay underwater for a shorter period when being hunted Student taken to a police station and told him he was a suspect in a burglary case He was waiting for taxi in Cardiff city centre last year when he was arrested yioghosa Emmanuel Aigbe, 31, was placed in chokehold by South Wales police A student who claims he 'struggled to breathe' as he was placed in a chokehold by police who mistook him for a burglar has won 4,000 in damages. Uyioghosa Emmanuel Aigbe, 31, was wrongly held on the floor and arrested by South Wales police officers as he waited for a taxi in Cardiff city centre at 5am in September last year after earlier walking into a public building looking for a toilet. The Nigeria-born student, who had only been in Britain for two weeks at the time, said he was 'jumped on, trampled on and dropped on the floor' by officers and was shocked to be put in the 'mixed martial arts-style' throat hold. Mr Aigbe's civil claim against police told how he felt bodies on top of him while suffering blows to his legs, stomach and groin as he fought for breath from the officer's chokehold. Uyioghosa Emmanuel Aigbe (pictured), 31, was wrongly held on the floor and arrested by South Wales police in September last year He said: 'I was handcuffed without some sort of communication to tell me what was happening - what I'm meant to have done'. He was taken to a police station and held for five hours. Officers told him he was a suspect in a burglary case and later interviewed with a solicitor present. The CCTV footage showed police using 'excessive force' and the solicitor advised him to make a complaint. Mr Aigbe was released under investigation but police seized personal money he had been carrying. He said he also visited the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport where he was told he had soft tissue damage. South Wales Police later confirmed they would take no further action after realising no burglary had taken place. The University of South Wales student pursued a claim for wrongful arrest and was later awarded 4,000 and legal costs when the force settled with Mr Aigbe's legal representatives. Mr Aigbe has since returned to his studies at the campus in Treforest, near Pontypridd, where his studies 'are going well.' A spokesman for Newport-based legal firm Collinbourne Hennah said: 'He was unaware what was happening or what was being said to him. 'When the strikes stopped, he was handcuffed, and only then was when he realised it was the police who were attacking him. 'Collingbourne Hennah are specialists in civil action against the police who successfully pursued a claim against South Wales Police and recovered 4,000 in damages together with legal costs.' The Nigerian-born student was placed in a chokehold by police as he waited for a taxi in Cardiff city centre at 5am. Pictured: General view of Cardiff City Centre A spokesman for South Wales Police said: 'Officers responded to reports of a burglary in Cardiff city centre and arrested a man who had been seen on CCTV entering the building. 'It was later confirmed that no burglary had taken place and the man was released from police custody.' The spokesman said the force would 'seek to learn' from the incident and any allegations of racism or any injuries suffered did not form part of Mr Aigbe's civil case. He said: 'We acknowledge that a mistake was made in arresting this man for burglary, and a full debrief of the incident to identify any opportunities for learning by South Wales Police is taking place and we remain absolutely committed to taking those forward.' Keeping the middle seat empty on airplanes halves the risk of passengers getting infected with the coronavirus, a study has suggested. Professor Arnold Barnett, a statistician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimated the risk of transmission on an Airbus 320 or Boeing 737 two of the most commonly used planes. He found the risk of catching the virus for a passenger in a window seat on a packed aircraft was one in 7,000. But the odds drop to just one in 14,000 under the 'middle seat empty' policy, already adopted by some airlines in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Barnett whose work hasn't been peer-reviewed by independent experts claimed his findings show a 'measurable reduction' in transmission risk. But he wrote: 'The question is whether relinquishing one third of seating capacity is too high a price to pay for the added precaution.' Professor Barnett added the chances of the virus spreading would 'essentially drop to zero' if there was a thin layer of plexiglass between seats. The risk of catching the virus for a passenger in a window seat on a packed aircraft was one in 7,000. But the odds drop to just one in 14,000 under the 'middle seat empty' policy, already adopted by some airlines in response to the Covid-19 pandemic Professor Barnett, a renowned expert in the field of aviation safety and risk, admitted there were several flaws in his modelling. He wrote in the study it was based on the 'strong' assumption travellers will only get infected by someone sitting in the same row as them. This is 'plausible', he argued, because the air in the cabin is constantly refreshed and does not constitute a closed indoor space like a pub. Professor Barnett also revealed the estimate did not consider the odds of passengers getting infected during boarding or when they leave the plane. Travellers are known to congregate in larger groups in the gate waiting to board, and could come into contact with others when rushing to get off after landing. And the model not published in a medical journal did not take into account how travellers may walk past contagious passengers on the way to the toilet. DO SOME AIRLINES KEEP THE MIDDLE SEAT EMPTY? WHICH AIRLINES ADOPT A MIDDLE SEAT EMPTY POLICY? Alaska Delta jetBlue Southwest Airlines Frontier easyJet Spirit ... AND WHICH AIRLINES DON'T? American British Airways Spirit United Airlines Ryanair Advertisement It also disregarded the potential chance of the virus being left on surfaces in toilets, which could then be picked-up by fellow travellers. The research, published on pre-print website medRxiv, also assumed no passengers wore masks proven to cut the risk of transmission by up to 80 per cent. And the model which said risks are lower in flights that aren't full didn't take into account flight time. For example, the study was based on a two-hour domestic flight across the US but the risk may be higher if people are cooped up for longer. Covid-19 is still a mysterious disease, with scientists baffled by its mechanisms since it was first spotted six months ago. Under the risk of one in 14,000, it means approximately ten people will get infected for every 140,000 air travellers. But many cases may not get spotted because some patients will show no symptoms up to 40 per cent of infected people are thought to be asymptomatic. Professor Barnett wrote: 'Calculations like the ones here are highly approximate and projections about it often fall far of the mark.' Airlines have been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, with lockdowns around the world stopping people from taking flights to every corner of the planet. Britain's quarantine rules before the air bridges were announced sparked warnings that air travel would effectively be killed off. British Airways has already confirmed 12,000 job cuts will still go ahead despite the government extending its furlough scheme until the end of October. As the industry begins to pick up again, several airlines including budget carrier Ryanair have revealed they will fill all available seats on their flights. The firm's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, described keeping the middle seat empty 'idiotic' and said it would be unable to make any money adopting that policy. But fellow low-cost airline easyJet has gone down the opposite path, announcing it would keep the middle seats empty to allow passengers to social distance. It comes after a report last month warned Covid-19 outbreaks have been worse in areas with major airports and large numbers of travellers passing through them. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) said the spread of the disease, which has killed more than 50,000 people in Britain, was 'highly correlated' with air travel. A savage gang attack by five passengers who did not want to wear masks on a bus in France has left its driver brain dead. The gruesome attack on the man, identified only as Philippe, is the latest violence to be linked to strict measures aimed at stopping the spread of Coronavirus. Masks are currently compulsory on all public transport in France, but members of the group refused to put them on when they got on the vehicle a cross between a bus and a tram run by the Chronoplus company in the south west city of Bayonne on Sunday evening, at about 7pm. They got on the bus without masks, and also refused to show a ticket, said an investigating source. A bus driver was attacked in Bayonne after trying to stop passengers from boarding without wearing face masks (file photo) A police source in Bayonne, near the Atlantic resort of Biarritz in southwestern France, said one person was in custody and other suspects were being sought The first to get on had a dog with him they just assumed they could all get on and do what they want, but the driver had to do his job. When he stood up to them, a very unpleasant argument developed, and voices were raised and then the driver was attacked when everybody spilled out on to the bus platform. Philippe was punched and kicked repeatedly and then left with serious injuries, before the gang escaped. Philippe was rushed to a nearby hospital and placed in intensive care, before being declared brain dead on Monday. Police meanwhile tracked down the 30-year-old man with the dog, who identified the other four attackers. All were in custody in Bayonne on Monday, but have not been identified, said a spokesman for Bayonne prosecutors. All have been described as down and outs on the margins of society ones used to drinking heavily and taking drugs. A colleague of Philippe described him as a decent and hardworking man who always looked after passengers. He added: There has been a lot of tension over masks, because they are the law, but bus staff are not police, and we should not have to enforce the law. The Chronoplus colleagues said there had been three other assaults related to masks in recent days, but none as serious as the one involving Philippe. Claude Olive, the Mayor of Bayonne, said meetings were in progress to try and improve security on buses. This was a barbaric attack, said Mr Olive. Philippe was a wonderful person who should have been protected. Regional bus services were disrupted Monday after several of the driver's colleagues refused to work in protest against the brutal attack. The bus company voiced support for the protest and said the impromptu strike was 'completely legitimate', French media said. Another group of drivers walked to the hospital to show their support for the man, who is being treated in a grave condition. Fellow bus drivers said they were shocked but not surprised by the attack after a spate of assaults in recent days, according to Sud Ouest. The drivers said there had been 'daily tensions' with passengers in recent days and blamed a lack of security on public transport. Masks became mandatory as France began to move out of Covid-19 lockdown towards the end of May. Advertisement Chinese troops have started removing tents and other structures from a contested Himalayan valley where they fought a deadly battle with Indian soldiers last month. 20 Indian soldiers were killed in brutal hand-to-hand fighting on June 15 in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, sending tensions soaring between the nuclear-armed neighbours. China has acknowledged it suffered casualties but not given figures. The two sides have since held military and diplomatic talks and said they want a negotiated settlement. China's People's Liberation Army soldiers were 'seen removing tents and structures' and there was a 'rearward movement' of military vehicles in the Galwan Valley, an Indian army source told AFP on Monday. Chinese troops have started removing tents and other structures from a contested Himalayan valley where they fought a deadly battle with Indian soldiers last month. Above, Indian Army personnel drive vehicles as they take part in a war exercise at Thikse in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh on July 4 20 Indian soldiers were killed in brutal hand-to-hand fighting on June 15 in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, sending tensions soaring between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Above, an Indian Army convoy moves along a highway leading to Ladakh, at Gagangeer in Kashmir's Ganderbal district China's People's Liberation Army soldiers were 'seen removing tents and structures' and there was a 'rearward movement' of military vehicles in the Galwan Valley, an Indian army source told AFP on Monday. Above, Indian army soldiers drive vehicles along mountainous roads as they take part in a military exercise at Thikse in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh on July 4 'Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders' meeting,' the source added. The source said the Indian army was 'verifying' how far back Chinese forces had withdrawn. There was no comment on whether there was a similar withdrawal by Indian troops. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Monday that both sides had made 'positive progress... to disengage frontline troops and ease the border situation'. 'We hope that the Indian side will go with the Chinese side to implement the consensus reached by both sides with practical actions,' Zhao added. The Galwan Valley incident was the first time in 45 years that soldiers had died in combat on the Asian giants' long-disputed border. India and China fought a war over the frontier in 1962. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and army officials arrving in Leh, Ladakh, India on July 3. Modi visited Army, Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and top Indian army officials in Leh, Ladakh, India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit Friday to a military base in a remote region bordering China where troops from the two countries have been facing off for nearly two months Soldiers await a visit by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India's Himalayan desert region of Ladakh, India, July 3. Modi chanted 'Long live mother India!' while addressing troops at the Nimu military base, insisting that 'after every crisis, India has emerged stronger' Anti-China sentiment has been growing in India since the high-altitude clash, with the government banning Chinese mobile apps including the wildy popular TikTok. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit Friday to a military base in a remote region bordering China where troops from the two countries have been facing off for nearly two months. Modi, accompanied by India's military leadership, interacted with troops in Ladakh region. A photo on his Instagram account showed him sitting in a camouflage tent at the base. 'Interacting with our brave armed forces personnel,' he wrote. Modi chanted 'Long live mother India!' while addressing troops at the Nimu military base, insisting that 'after every crisis, India has emerged stronger.' He praised the valor of Indian soldiers and said: 'Enemies of India have seen your fire and fury.' 'Days of expansionism are over. Expansionism creates danger for world peace. This is an era of development. Expansionist force have either lost or forced to turn back,' he said in an oblique reference to China. It comes after China appeared to be building new structures near the site of a deadly border clash with Indian troops last month - despite both sides pledging to 'disengage'. Satellite images taken on June 22 showed what appeared to be a new Chinese encampment and road under construction on a terrace overlooking a bend in the Galwan River, where previously there was nothing. Meanwhile defensive positions appeared to have been built on the Indian side, and a nearby forward operating base appears to have been significantly scaled back when compared with images taken of the same area on March 22. Slide me Escalating tensions: The left-hand satellite image shows a region of the Galwan Valley on May 22, before clashes between Indian and Chinese troops, where there appears to be a single structure with a large Indian base nearby. The image on the right shows the same area on June 22, with a new road and camp on the Chinese side, and what appear to be new defensive positions on the Indian side along with a much-smaller base Slide me No backing down: This area is thought to have been the site of vicious hand-to-hand fighting between Indian and Chinese troops on June 15, that saw at least 20 killed. Indian analysts say the new Chinese camp, shown right, appears to be a mile over their side of the border - though China claims the whole region rightfully belongs to them Road to ruin? A satellite image taken on June 22 shows a road under construction on the Chinese side of the border, including several trucks, tents, diggers and cranes, along with a newly-constructed culvert over the river While the images were taken a month apart, Reuters news agency - which has access to more photos from space technology firm Maxar - reports most of the construction has happened in the last week. Both sides have repeatedly pledged to pull back from the disputed region, with the latest statement issued just yesterday - when India was pictured sending more troops and jets to the frontlines. India says the area where the structures have sprung up are on its side of the poorly defined, undemarcated Line of Actual Control or the de facto border between the two Asian giants. China says the whole of Galwan valley, located at about 14,000ft above sea level, is its territory and blames Indian troops for triggering the clashes. Nathan Ruser, a satellite data expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the buildup suggested there was little sign of de-escalation. 'Satellite imagery from the Galwan Valley on June 22nd shows that 'disengagement' really isn't the word that the (Indian) government should be using,' he said in a post on Twitter. Show of force: This newly-released image shows a Chinese base further along the valley. Both sides have officially agreed to 'disengage' in the region, though observers say forces are building on both sides Indian soldiers walk at the foothills of a mountain range near Leh, the largest town close to the disputed border, on Thursday. Locals say forces have been massing despite governments promising to back off An Indian Air Force's Chinook helicopter is seen flying over the arid terrain of Ladakh, the region where the disputed border - officially known as the Actual Line of Control - is located Indian fighter jets fly over Leh on Thursday as part of a show of strength following what military sources say has been a Chinese takeover of contested territory China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the apparent activity. India's defence ministry also did not respond to a request for a comment. Indian military officials have previously said they will be closely monitoring the planned disengagement process and verify it on the ground. 'There is a trust deficit so far as the Chinese are concerned,' said former Indian army chief Deepak Kapoor. 'So if they are telling us verbally they are ready to pull back, we will wait to see it on the ground. Until then the armed forces will be on alert.' The bodies of two sisters killed in a 'frenzied' knife attack following a birthday picnic were found lying 'entwined' on the ground in a London park, a court heard today. Danyal Hussein, 18, allegedly stabbed Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, multiple times in the early hours of Saturday June 6 in an 'unprovoked and random attack'. The half-sisters' bodies were discovered in Fryent Country Park in Wembley, north-west London, by Ms Smallman's boyfriend the next day. Ms Smallman and Ms Henry, who lived in Harrow and Brent respectively, were stabbed multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene. After Ms Henry's birthday picnic came to an end on June 5, the sisters were last heard from at 2.30am on June 6, the court heard. Danyal Hussein, 18, (artist's impression from his video-link court appearance today) allegedly stabbed Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, multiple times in the early hours of Saturday June 6 in an 'unprovoked and random attack' Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman (right) were murdered in Wembley, North West London Police said they were happily taking selfies, listening to music and dancing with fairy lights (pictured) until at least 1.13am on June 6, but calls to them at about 2.30am went unanswered Forensics officers investigate at Fryent Park in Wembley, North West London, on June 9 Officers guard forensics tents at Fryent Park on June 8 while the investigation continues 'They dehumanised our children': Mother slams 'toxic' Met Police after officers 'took selfies' with bodies of her murdered daughters Mina Smallman The grieving mother of two women who were stabbed to death slammed the 'toxic' Metropolitan Police after two officers were accused of taking selfies next to the bodies of her daughters. Mina Smallman said the accused officers 'dehumanised' her murdered daughters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry by taking the selfies in Wembley - which are believed to have been shared with members of the public. Mrs Smallman told the BBC yesterday about the moment she learned her daughters were dead, saying: '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.' And speaking about the selfies, she added: '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. 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.' Advertisement Friends and family reported them missing and went out to find them before their bodies were found on June 7. Joel Smith, prosecuting said: 'The defendant faces two charges of murder and one of possession an offensive weapon.' Mr Smith added: 'The deceased were lying entwined on the ground. 'On 5 June this year Ms Henry had arranged a socially distant outdoor party and picnic to celebrate her birthday with a number of friends and members of her family, one of whom was her sister. 'On 7 June a group of concerned friends returned to the park to search for them. 'They went to the area where the picnic had been held and found some sunglasses.' The bodies of the sisters were found along with a knife covered in blood, the court heard. Mr Smith said: 'This was an unprovoked and random attack on two members of the public involving the use of a knife.' Hussein, of Guy Barnett Grove, Blackheath, south-east London, was arrested at his home on July 1. He was charged with two counts of murder and possession of an offensive weapon. On Monday, he appeared before Judge Mark Lucraft QC by video link from custody at Wandsworth prison in south London. When asked to confirm his identity, he replied: 'Yes, Your Honour.' Judge Lucraft set a plea and case management hearing for September 21, when a trial date will be considered. The defendant, who wore a grey jumper, was remanded into custody. None of the victims' family attended court for the brief hearing. Police previously released pictures of senior social worker Ms Henry, from Brent in north-west London, and photographer Ms Smallman, from Harrow in north-west London, dancing with fairy lights before they were killed. A police officer stands next to flowers at an entrance to Fryent Park in Wembley on June 8 Rugby star Gareth Cooper's ex-wife has been ordered to pay him back just 1 because she is now bankrupt after swindling him out of 1million by fraudulently claiming mortgages and loans in his name. The former British Lions and Wales player, 41, had set up two gyms and freight businesses to be run by his wife Debra Leyshon. But Leyshon, 41, claimed loans and mortgages on the family home and four other properties - while falsely alleging that the businesses were 'thriving'. She was handed a two-year suspended sentence at Cardiff Crown court after pleading guilty to 13 counts of fraud totalling more than 1million. The ex-Wales scrum half, who has been forced to move back in with his parents as he faces 120,000 in legal fees, said he was 'deceived and manipulated' by 'the person I trusted the most'. He continued: 'I do not think I will ever be the same again.' Debora Leyshon, 41, was handed a two-year suspended sentence in Cardiff Crown court Ex-Wales scrum-half Gareth Cooper, pictured leaving court in Cardiff, said he will 'never be the same again' after his wife swindled him out of 1million Leyshon's business partner Simon Thomas, 47, and associate Mark Lee also received suspended sentences after admitting counts of fraud. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard Leyshon, from Bridgend, had netted 371,271 from the crimes. And Thomas, from Cowbridge, had made 161,081. Leyshon took over the businesses in 2005 after she married the rugby star. But by 2017 Mr Cooper had received a letter from a solicitor, telling him he was bankrupt and should attend court. But Judge David Wynn Morgan ordered both to pay back just a 1 nominal sum within the next 28 days. Roger Griffiths, prosecuting said: 'Leyshon and Thomas have both been made bankrupt and their assets are being dealt with by a trustee in bankruptcy. 'As a result, the Crown will only be able to recover a nominal sum due to their status.' Cooper had given his wife two gyms and a freight business to run - but she fraudulently claimed loans and mortgages in her husband's name In a statement read out at the sentencing in December 2019, Mr Cooper told how lost all his money and had to move back in with his parents for their financial support as he had more than 120,000 in legal fees. He added: 'This has had a profound and devastating effect on both me and my family. 'I was happily married with three children, enjoying a career playing a sport I excelled in for many years. 'I was deceived and manipulated by the person I trusted the most - my wife and the mother of my children. 'I do not think I will ever be the same again.' South Australian police are investigating suspected food sabotage after needles and thumb tacks were found in strawberries, avocado and bread at a supermarket. Three different customers reported finding sharp objects embedded in food at Woolworths in the Adelaide suburb of Golden Grove between Saturday June 27 and Wednesday, July 1. Metal needles were found in a punnet of strawberries, and in an avocado. Inside Woolworths at Golden Grove, Adelaide. Sharp objects were found in a punnet of strawberries, an avocado and a loaf of rye bread Outside Golden Grove Woolworths. Police and Woolworths staff are now investigating Thumb tacks were found in a loaf of rye bread. All of the products came from different suppliers. South Australian Police said on Monday the contamination appears to be deliberate. Police detectives are investigating. Woolworths have given police full access to their CCTV footage in an effort to find the culprit. A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Monday night that their suppliers were helping them in their investigation. 'As a precautionary measure, our store team opened up and inspected other stock in these batches,' the spokesperson said. Metal needles were found inside an avocado (stock picture) 'We found no further product safety concerns in these checks.' The supermarket has opened and inspected stock linked to the contaminated batches and found nothing else amiss. The sabotage comes almost two years after needles were embedded in strawberries by a disgruntled worker in 2018. The incident sparked copycat crimes and brought Australia's strawberry industry to its knees. One man reported accidentally swallowing a needle in 2018. Haoni van Dorp bought a punnet of strawberries from Strathpine Centre Woolworths, about 20km north of Brisbane on September 9, 2018. Soon after, van Dorp bit into one and swallowed half of a sewing needle, before he and his friend found another. The incident sparked a Queensland Police investigation into the contamination of Berry Obsession and Berry Licious strawberries. Needles were also found in a punnet of strawberries, sparking fears of a return to the terrible strawberry sabotage of 2016 which brought the industry to its knees. (stock picture) Thumb tacks were found in rye bread, though it is not known if the affected bread was from the bakery or packaged loaves on the shelf. (stock image) The nasty 2018 strawberry needle scare prompted Parliament to quickly pass a law strengthening penalties from 10 years' jail to 15 years' jail. Pictured: a 2018 contamination case A farm supervisor of Caboolture, Queensland, was arrested and charged with with six counts of contamination of goods to cause economic loss. The court heard the woman acted out of spite and that it was an act of sabotage. During the case, Detective Sergeant Gary Perrett told the court more than 240 copycat incidents were reported after the initial incident. The strawberry needle crisis cost the industry a staggering $12 million. Farmers like Aidan Young (pictured) were forced to destroy tonnes of strawberries over the needle scare in 2018 Aerial photos of a giant 8m by 3m pile, that was at least a metre tall, at a Donnybrook Berries, north of Brisbane. Donnybrook was the third brand hit by the 2018 needle scare, and the pile of strawberries pictured was bulldozed into the ground Sixty-eight strawberry brands were affected, including 49 in Queensland, which produces 40 percent of Australia's strawberries. Supermarkets had to pull punnets from the shelves and entire crops were bulldozed into the ground as spooked customers stopped buying. Some Queensland strawberry growers dropped out of the industry entirely. Second-generation strawberry farmer, Gavin Scurr, owner of Pinata Farms in Wamuran, Queensland, said with no one to sell berries to, he had no choice but to ditch their stock. 'We're spending $25,000 a day just on labour to pick strawberries we're dumping,' he told Daily Mail Australia in September 2018. 'We have to harvest it anyway because as soon as we don't every two or three days, it gets rotten and disease and fruit flies come in and attack the whole crop.' The Morrison Government moved swiftly to tighten the laws around food contamination, passing the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018, which passed both Houses on 20 September 2018. The new law increased the penalties around deliberate food contamination from 10 years' jail to 15 years, the Australian Parliament House website says. Police have asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online via the App. An unruly tourist has been accused of animal cruelty after he was filmed smacking a baby seal multiple times with a slipper while the animal was resting on a beach. Viral footage online shows a man, believed to be a Chinese national, shouting 'wake up, wake up' and repeatedly hitting the brown fur seal's head and body while a woman is heard laughing as the mammal desperately runs towards the sea. Millions of Chinese web users have reacted to the video with outrage after the clip was shared by an animal welfare organisation on social media. An unruly Chinese tourist has been accused of animal cruelty after he is filmed smacking a baby seal multiple times with a slipper while the animal is resting on a beach in Namibia It remains unclear when the clip was filmed, but accounts suggest it was taken in Namibia. The original footage was thought to be first uploaded by the female traveller onto Chinese TikTok-like Douyin before being shared on Friday by China Cetacean Alliance, an international animal protection and conservation organisation. The video allegedly shows a male Chinese tourist hitting the baby South African fur seal a dozen of times with a slipper before the animal suddenly sits up and scrambles to escape on the Cape Cross beach in Namibia of south-western Africa. A woman can be heard in the background laughing and saying: 'Your mum is calling you to wake up!' The animal welfare organisation claimed that the video was made to seek attention and attract views on social media. Viral footage online shows a man shouting 'wake up, wake up' and repeatedly hitting the brown fur seal's head and body while a woman is heard laughing as the jolted mammal desperately runs towards the sea on the Cape Cross beach in Namibia, south-western Africa The video allegedly shows a male Chinese tourist hitting the baby South African fur seal a dozen of times with a slipper before the animal suddenly sits up and scrambles to escape China Cetacean Alliance wrote in a post: 'Not to mention the hidden dangers and the risk of contracting wildlife diseases, doing something so stupidly and evilly to gain traffic online really discredits Chinese tourists as a group.' It continued:'We hope that all [social media] platforms can help guide the public atmosphere of respecting nature and science. Please stop promoting these sensational accounts that damage the country's image!' Screenshots shared by other web users show that the traveller had uploaded other videos in which the man continuing to attack a few more brown fur seals on the same beach. All the clips have been deleted from the original uploader's social media page. MailOnline has contacted China Cetacean Alliance for further comments. The viral video has sparked outrage on social media after amassing nearly five million views since being shared on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo on July 3. One commenter wrote: 'Turning animal cruelty into a joke, this is disgusting!' Another one replied: 'What's wrong with him? Really embarrassing for Chinese people. They should be blacklisted and banned from travelling.' A third web user said: 'This is so outrageous. This is exactly why Chinese tourists are so disliked in other countries!' Former Labor Leader Bill Shorten has teamed up with a Melbourne butcher to deliver Halal care packages to residents locked in public housing towers. Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, with 3,000 residents unable to leave their apartments for any reason for at least five days. Some residents locked in the towers have complained they haven't received enough food and supplies, so Mr Shorten took it upon himself to deliver some on Monday. The former leader of the opposition shared photos of himself and local butcher Macca Halal Foods delivering the food in Flemington. Former Labor Leader Bill Shorten has teamed up with a Melbourne butcher to deliver Halal care packages to residents locked in public housing towers The former leader of the opposition took to Twitter to share photos of him and local butcher Macca Halal Foods (pictured) delivering the food in Flemington Bill Shorten is seen at 120 Racecourse Road Commission flat housing in Flmeington after delivering care packages 'Community at its best,' Mr Shorten tweeted. 'Thanks to local butcher Macca Halal Foods, these care packages have made it to the Flemington Towers.' Images show Mr Shorten wearing a face mask and carrying boxes of supplies to and from buildings. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the towers have almost doubled, from 27 on Sunday to 53 on Monday from about 400 tests, as testing ramps up and police continue to patrol entrances and corridors. The state government says it has distributed 3,000 meals, 1,000 food hampers and 250 personal care packs to residents. Meanwhile charity FareShare has provided more than 3,000 prepared meals and 4,500 pastries. The government is also delivering bread and milk to residents after the staples were missing from hampers on Sunday. There are concerns thousands of residents locked in the towers still haven't received enough food and supplies, so Mr Shorten took it upon himself to deliver supplies on Monday Former leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten is seen talking to someone outside public housing towers in Flemington Abdirahman Ibrahim, who lives in the Racecourse Road tower, told AAP his family is yet to receive a box of groceries, but they have received formula and one litre of milk. Ahmed Dini, a resident of a North Melbourne tower and a social worker, told ABC News Breakfast some residents hadn't received groceries as of Monday morning. Residents have shared images on social media of out-of-date meals, food left on the floor and Muslim families given pork. Victorian Council of Social Services CEO Emma King said she was concerned culturally appropriate meals were not being provided by the government. 'We need to make sure we're hearing directly from the residents on the estate around what they need and making sure we deliver on that,' she told AAP. A sign stuck to the window of a person trapped inside the housing commission flats in Flemington on Monday Images show Mr Shorten wearing a face mask and carrying boxes of supplies to and from buildings on Monday Police patrol the housing commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington on Monday Ms King also noted residents were given copies of the public health orders or 'detention directives' on Sunday night, sparking confusion over the term of the lockdown which could last as long as 14 days. 'Any of us, to have police on your doorstep, handing a detention notice we can't understand, it would be really frightening,' she said. 'It is a very fine, precarious balance. We need to save lives first and foremost but we need to make sure people get the support that they need and they aren't terrified through the process.' Premier Daniel Andrews said he wanted to reassure everyone in the towers they would be looked after. Angry tower residents place signs in their windows showing messages of despair amid a full and total lockdown of 9 housing commission high rise towers in North Melbourne and Flemington Towers in the suburbs of Flemington (pictured), Kensington and North Melbourne will be closed for five days 'There are literally hundreds and thousands of people working - from police to social workers, to nurses and doctors, all the way through to people working in our supermarkets, people working in commercial kitchens ... they are all doing their absolute best,' he said. He added halal meals have been handed out by the Victorian Trades Hall in partnership with social enterprise Moving Feast. Sikh organisations have also set up outside the towers, offering hot vegetarian meals to residents. Sikh Volunteers Australia vice president Manpreet Singh said they were serving fresh vegetarian meals, bringing about 650 serves from their Cranbourne base. 'Nearly 400 meals we have already served (by about 7pm),' he said on Sunday. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has been preparing 2,000 culturally appropriate meals it plans to hand out in the coming days. Food supplies are delivered to the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex on Monday amid complaints from those trapped inside Beijing's ambassador to the UK has accused the British Government of a 'gross interference in China's internal affairs' after Boris Johnson offered up to three million Hong Kongers a route to citizenship. Mr Johnson announced the move last week after China pressed ahead with imposing a controversial national security law on Hong Kong. But Liu Xiaoming today defended the legislation as he suggested the UK Government was guilty of 'political manipulation' in its criticism of China's actions. He also claimed some politicians in the UK view Beijing as a 'threat' as he said 'if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences'. The broadside from Mr Liu represented the latest salvo in an ongoing war of words between the UK and China as relations continue to deteriorate. Downing Street hit back at the ambassador's comments and said while the UK and China have a 'strong and constructive relationship' in many areas 'this relationship does not come at any price'. China's ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming today accused the UK Government of a 'gross interference in China's internal affairs' over its decision to offer a path to citizenship to up to three million Hong Kongers The national security law, imposed by China last week following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal. Critics fear the law will be used to clampdown on dissent and believe it represents another step by Beijing towards bringing Hong Kong closer to the Chinese mainland. Mr Johnson said last week that the law 'violates Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong's basic laws'. He announced a new route for people in Hong Kong with British National (Overseas) status to enter the UK, granting them limited leave to remain with the ability to live and work. They will then have the option to apply for British citizenship. In an online press conference, Mr Liu said: 'The UK side knows well that Hong Kong is no longer under its colonial rule and that Hong Kong has returned to China and is now part of China. 'The UK has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of supervision over Hong Kong after handover.' Mr Liu claimed the UK Government 'keeps making irresponsible remarks' about Hong Kong, and aims 'unwarranted accusations' against the national security law. On the prospect of changing the arrangements for British National (Overseas) passport holders, he said: 'This moves constitutes a gross interference in China's internal affairs.' Mr Liu said the offer of citizenship 'openly tramples on the basic norms governing international relations' and constitutes 'interference into China's internal affairs'. 'I think this is a political manipulation against this national security law,' he said. He also accused some British politicians of regarding China as a 'threat' or a 'hostile country'. 'We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences,' he said. Mr Liu claimed the roll out of the new national security law had been subject to 'distortion' by the media. He said: 'This law is an important milestone in the implementation of one country, two systems, it is a strong safeguard on the rights and freedom of Hong Kong residents. 'After the law was adopted British media carried massive reports and comments which, to be frank, are full of misinterpretation, misunderstanding and... distortion.' Mr Liu said the national security law was intended to 'prevent, suppress and punish collusion with a foreign country' or 'external elements' who endanger national security. There were protests in Hong Kong after the law came into force, 23 years to the day since Britain returned the former colony to Chinese rule 'No one should underestimate the firm determination of China to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests,' he said. The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: 'We have a strong and constructive relationship with China in many areas. 'China have to be part of the solution to global problems that we face whether ensuring we don't face another global health crisis, supporting vulnerable countries or addressing climate change. 'But this relationship does not come at any price. It has always been the case that when we have concerns we raise them and where we need to intervene we will as we have done on Hong Kong.' Number 10 also hinted the UK could follow Canada's lead in suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong because of the national security law. The PM's spokesman said the Government is 'currently assessing the national security law and its legal ramifications in terms of extradition with Hong Kong'. Most children on the official coronavirus shielding list will be able to return to normal life over the summer, health officials confirmed today. Doctors are expected to remove all but the sickest children from the list of 93,000 which had been keeping vulnerable youngsters indoors since the coronavirus crisis broke out. After watching the epidemic unfold over the past four months experts and officials in the UK have decided the risk of children getting severe Covid-19 or dying of it is so low that shielding is no longer necessary. NHS England statistics show just 0.07 per cent of Covid-19 hospital fatalities have been among under-20s 20 out of a total 28,888 as of July 5. Families affected by the shielding move will be contacted directly by their children's doctors to discuss whether they can stop shielding and what to do next. Dr Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, said these discussions would happen over the summer, with looser restrictions beginning at the end of July. Children included on the list had been those with kidney disease, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, scoliosis, diabetes and severe asthma. The move comes as shielding for 2.2million 'clinically extremely vulnerable' adults loosens today, July 6, as they are allowed to meet up with others for the first time. Dr Jenny Harries backed guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) which says that most youngsters with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and kidney disease do not need to continue to shield and could, for example, go back to school The Government has taken the decision to lift the rules on shielding children following advice from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). There are a total of 92,633 children and teenagers under 18 on the shielding list in England, according to NHS digital. RCPCH experts said the benefits of school 'in terms of access to therapies and developmental support' outweigh the risk of infection with coronavirus. SHIELDING RULES START LOOSENING FROM TODAY Shielding rules in England currently urge people who are 'clinically extremely vulnerable' to stay at home as much as possible, with the exception of medical appointments and exercise. This is how and when the rules are changing: July 6 (today) From July 6 people in the shielding group will be allowed to socialise in small groups of up to six, provided they maintain social distancing (2m or 6'6") and stay outside. This is the same socialising rule that currently applies to the rest of the public. Shielding people who live alone will be allowed to form a social 'bubble' with one other household, with whom they will not have to social distance and where they can sleep overnight or vice versa. People who are shielding no longer need to observe social distancing with the people they live with, which they had been advised to do. August 1 From August 1 people in the shielding group will not have extraordinary guidelines in place but will be advised to spend as much time at home as possible. They will be allowed to return to work, to go shopping, and to go to places of worship, as long as they can maintain social distancing. Advertisement 'Children and young people who are cared for just in primary care are very unlikely to need to continue to shield,' they said. This meant children whose illnesses are cared for by GPs or community health services were now deemed to be safe to return to society. Some children under the care of hospital specialists, however, may still be too vulnerable to be released completely, such as those who have recently had organ transplants. Dr Harries said: 'I do not under-estimate the difficulty of children having to stay indoors and to only have limited contact with family and friends for such a long time. 'As our understanding of this novel virus has developed, evidence shows most children and young people are at low risk of serious illness and will no longer be advised to shield after July. 'Families who are uncertain about whether shielding is right for their child in the future will want to discuss this with their doctor, who will be best placed to determine the most appropriate care. These discussions will take place over the summer.' To distinguish between risk levels the RCPCH has created two lists of children based on their illnesses - List A, who will be advised to continue shielding, and List B. List A children will include those with weak or inactive immune systems, either because of a specific illness or because of a medical treatment. This will include transplant recipients, children having cancer treatment for acute leukaemia and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and those who are unable to cough, for example. Patients on List B, however, will include children with heart conditions, sickle cell disease, kidney disease, cystic fibrosis and severe asthma. Families of those children will be able to discuss with their doctors what to do next, with advice likely to be that they do not have to continue shielding so strictly. RCPCH guidance says: 'Many children with asthma, including those treated with biological agents and daily (drug) prednisolone, will not need continued shielding.' It adds: 'There is no evidence that children with diabetes are more likely to be infected with Covid-19 compared to children without diabetes.' Dr Mike Linney, a doctor at the RCPCH, said: 'It's been a long haul for thousands of families, and we hope this announcement brings some relief. 'Fortunately children are less affected by Covid-19. This appears to be the case not just in the UK but worldwide. However, they have suffered from the social effects of lockdown, isolation, and school closures. 'We know that many families who have been shielding will have concerns... Children under the sole care of a GP are very unlikely to need to continue shielding, but if you are worried, seek reassurance. 'Should we face a second wave, this guidance will allow us to make better decisions about who needs to shield. 'It was right to be cautious when we knew so little about the virus, but we now have a lot of evidence to guide us. We can be confident that the vast majority of children and young people don't need to shield.' Children and young people should continue to shield until the end of July but then clinically vulnerable people of all ages will no longer be advised to shield. Jeremy Corbyn's son claims he is being terrorised by a hammer-wielding thug - who bears a striking resemblance to the former Labour leader. Tommy Corbyn said the window of his CBD shop in Finsbury Park, North London, was daubed with a swastika in March. He claimed the window of the store was also smashed and tweeted a picture of the alleged culprit along with a public appeal for to identify him. With a stubbly beard, dark overcoat and a flat cap not dissimilar to the left-winger's trademark 'Lenin hat', people quickly pointed out the likeness to Tommy's father Jeremy. Tommy claimed the man was arrested at the time, but has now alleged he has once again been lurking outside his shop which he smashed again last week, although this has not been confirmed yet by police. Jeremy Corbyn's son claims he is being terrorised by a hammer-wielding thug who bears a striking resemblance to his father Tommy has claimed the situation has escalated after the man once again returned to the National Hemp Service, a licenced cannabis products store he runs with his girlfriend Chloe Kerslake-Smith (pictured with Tommy and Jeremy) Police arrested a man in March after a swastika was daubed on Tommy Corbyn's Finsbury Park, North London, shop window, which was later smashed Tommy runs the National Hemp Service, which sells licensed cannibis products, with his girlfriend Chloe Kerslake-Smith. The company tweeting last Wednesday: 'HammerGate update: Three months ago this man drew a swastika on our window. He came back that night and smashed the glass with a hammer. He was arrested, given conditions not to come near but he keeps coming back, lurking around & taking pics. Any tips on high street pest control?'. But rather than offering advice, people quickly piled in to point out the likeness to both the scarecrow in Worzel Gummidge and his own father Jeremy Corbyn. One person said: 'Jezza looks a bit roughed up, maybe he lost the key and wanted to check in on you?' Another woman, Vajeeha, suggested Tommy and Chloe should 'Spray him with CBD oil'. Tommy and Chloe replied: 'If we knew that would make him chill out and stop WE SO WOULD.' They now say they man has returned, tweeting last Wednesday he has been lurking outside the store National Hemp Service's first put out a plea for help on March 28 CBD oil is a popular homeopathic medicine derived from the cannabis sativa plant but it doesn't get you high. National Hemp Service's first put out a plea for help on March 28, saying: 'Do you recognise this man? 'He attempted to smash his way into our shop in Finsbury Park with a hammer. 'He also came twice before, earlier in the day and Thursday night, both times to scribble abusive messages on the window.' The alleged offender was snapped from a window above the store, wearing a brown hat and overcoat while pointing up at the camera. The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comment. In late May, a 19-year-old Merrillville woman at Park West Apartments told police shed been shot as she was leaving an apartment she and her boyfriend were visiting by an unknown person she couldnt describe, but then said she was shot on the couch inside the apartment she was visiting with her boyfriend, his family and friends, Mance said. Joe Biden vowed Sunday night that he would 'transform' American if elected president as Donald Trump's attacks against the presumed Democratic nominee continue to fall flat. 'We're going to beat Donald Trump. And when we do, we won't just rebuild this nation we'll transform it,' the former vice president tweeted. Trump's 2016 slogan 'Make America Great Again' made supporters feel nostalgic for America's 'glory days,' while Biden's new message is one of making the country something that it never was before. It also suggests that the nation has been torn down as Black Lives Matter protests continue to rock the nation and the coronavirus pandemic is surging. The president's efforts to tear down his challenger have proven ineffective. Google Trends data analyzed by Axios in a Sunday reports shows that Trump's 'Sleepy Joe' mockery of Biden isn't generating nearly the same sort of buzz his nick-names yielded in 2016 like 'Crooked Hillary' Clinton or 'Little Marco' Rubio. Joe Biden vowed Sunday night that he would 'transform' the U.S. if he becomes president rather than 'rebuild' Donald Trump's efforts to bring down his opponent with the 'Sleepy Joe' nick-name have been much less successful, according to Google Trends, than in 2016 when he dubbed Hillary Clinton as 'Crooked Hillary' Google Trends shows 'Crooked Hillary' (red) spiked much more in the 2016 cycle than 'Sleepy Joe' (blue) in this cycle 'Crooked Hillary' was a winning nick-name for Trump as it became an often-searched topic in the lat Spring of 2016 with 100 being the most-searched topic In the Spring of 2020, however, 'Sleepy Biden' only hit 10 one time on the 0-100 scale Google Trends Index uses a scale of 0-100 where 100 represents the most searches. In June 2016, 'Crooked Hillary' had the highest amount of hits on the search engine site, while from April to the end of June this year, 'Sleepy Biden' hovered around the 10-point mark. Internet users are more concerned with the coronavirus pandemic, which has spiked recently, than bringing up dirt on the Democratic presidential candidate. Trump's efforts to deflect away from the virus have not been fruitful, as 'coronavirus' is still much more searched than 'statues,' 'police' and 'Antifa' as the president has been pushing for outrage over those issues. Polling shows Trump slipping, especially among some key demographics, like among white uneducated male voters, and in battleground states needed to clinch another victory. Even some internal polling has not been optimistic, with aides, advisers and allies warning the president that he could lose against the former vice president in November. Trump has denounced the polls, asserting that even his former favorite network Fox News is touting 'fake' numbers. Biden's tweet Sunday suggests he is veering more towards a radical agenda, even though he continues to appeal to establishment and more moderate Democrats. He has pushed back against protesters' calls to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd's death and a climax in tensions between the black community and law enforcement. Biden has toyed with several campaign slogans, but the l one on his official website is: 'Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead' another nod toward America needing fixing. Trump has also struggled to find his footing this election cycle after garnering such a clear and resounding message for his base in 2016. Biden has been much more cautious as he gets back on the campaign trail, holding events with reporters socially distanced The president often polled his rally crowds for a new slogan of 'Keep America Great,' which appeared to be a hit before the coronavirus crisis hit and Black Lives Matter riots and protests ensued across the country. He also tried out 'Promises made, promises kept' at some points. More recently, Trump has taken a more toned down approach, testing on Twitter, 'Transition to greatness,' as he begins to take a building and recovering approach like in 2016. Biden, who earned enough delegates to officially become the nominee last month, has been much more compliant over coronavirus concerns than the president. He has worn a masks when venturing out in public, which the president has not yet done, and often talks of the threat of the virus. So far, there are more than 2.8 million people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19 and nearly 130,000 people have died after contracting the virus. Trump has lashed out at Biden for not holding any press conferences for months as he shifted to a largely virtual campaign for months, engaging in interviews from his make-shift basement studio. Biden has recently rejoined the trail traveling a handful of times including to George Floyd's funeral in Texas. Direct flights to Greece are set to resume from next week in a boost to British holidaymakers, it was revealed today. Air routes from the UK to the popular holiday destination can reopen on July 15, a month after they started up for many other European countries. However, arrivals in the country might still have to take a coronavirus test and self-isolate - even though the government has waived quarantine restrictions for Greeks coming to Britain. Greece kept the ban on direct flights from Sweden and the UK, along with other higher-infection states, when it previously loosened the rules on June 15 and July 1. Athens spokesman Stelios Petsas told a briefing that the relaxation was now being extended. 'In cooperation with the British government, and following advice of experts, the government announces the resumption of direct flights from the United Kingdom to all airports of the country from July 15,' he said. Greece has managed to contain its coronavirus outbreak to just 3,500 infections since reporting a first case in February. Direct flights from the UK to Greece are set to resume from next week in a boost to British holidaymakers, it was revealed today. Pictured, sunseekers in Corfu Greece kept the ban on direct flights from Sweden and the UK, along with other higher-infection states, when it previously loosened the rules on June 15 and July 1 The move came amid complaints that holidaymakers hoping to take advantage of long-awaited air bridge plans face a 'maze' of red tape. Greece, Spain, Italy and Germany were among those on the government's list published last week, with the rules due to take effect on July 10. But fewer than half of the 70-plus approved destinations allow travel without any restrictions. Some 59 do not have any quarantine on Britons, but around 25 do ranging from self-isolation edicts to outright bans. Meanwhile, dozens of Spanish beaches were forced to close yesterday after crowds of people flocked to the beach - as British tourists prepare to descend on the country again. Nearly 30 Costa del Sol beaches had to turn visitors away at the busiest times of the day on Sunday in resorts including Benalmadena. Beaches in Malaga were also forced to reduce the number of visitors in order to maintain social distancing. However, the regions of Galicia and Catalonia each put tens of thousands of people back into lockdown over the weekend after a new surge in cases - and the latest developments could prompt a rethink in London. Ministers warned last week that they 'will not hesitate' to re-impose quarantine rules if conditions worsen in the countries on the 'travel corridor' list. Beachgoers soak up the sun at Malvarrosa beach in Valencia on Saturday, as Spain prepares to welcome British tourists again for the summer holidays An Arizona woman has been dubbed a 'Karen' after she filmed herself destroying a rack of face masks inside a Target store claiming the pandemic is over and boasting that she had a $40,000 Rolex watch. The video was uploaded on the Instagram account of Melissa Rein Lively, who runs a public relations company in Scottsdale, and was reposted on Twitter on Sunday. 'Finally we meet the end of the road. Ive been looking forward to this s*** all my f***ing life,' she said as she films a rack selling various face masks inside a Target store. She then proceeds to aggressively rip the masks from the shelves and fling them onto the floor. 'This s***'s over, this s***'s over, this s****'s over. Woo! I dont need this s***. We dont want any of this anymore, this s***'s over, shes heard saying as she spreads the masks across the ground. Melissa Rein Lively, the CEO of a PR company The Brand Consortium in Scottsdale, filmed herself trashing a face mask display at Target shouting 'We dont want any of this anymore, this s***'s over' She filmed herself ripping face masks off their racks and throwing them onto the ground. The clip later emerged on Twitter on Sunday where it racked up over seven million views A view of the mess Lively made at the Target above When two employees asked her to stop Lively replied: 'Why? You let everyone else do it. Why? I cant do it cause Im a blonde, white woman? Wearing a f***ing $40,000 Rolex? I dont have the right to f*** s*** up?' Two Target employees then approach her as she makes her mess and say,' Maam can you please stop'. 'Why? You let everyone else do it. Why? I cant do it cause Im a blonde, white woman? Wearing a f***ing $40,000 Rolex? I dont have the right to f*** s*** up?' she fumes. The video has been viewed over seven million times on Twitter. A second video, filmed on Instagram Live on the profile of The Brand Consortium, the marketing brand Lively is the CEO of, shows cops arrest her at her home following the Target incident. In the clip Lively claims shes a spokesperson for QAnon and the White House. 'I was hired to be the QAnon spokesperson,' she said in the clip adding police can 'call Donald Trump and ask him' claiming she cant share any 'classified information'. A second video Lively shared on Instagram Live using her brand's account shows cops arrest her at her home. When confronted by police she claimed she was the spokesperson for QAnon and the White House When the cop tried to arrest Lively (left and right) she shouted: 'Youre doing it to me cause Im Jewish. Youre doing this to me cause Im Jewish. This is a Nazi game. This is Nazi bulls***' QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory that alleges theres a supposed secret plot orchestrated by an alleged 'deep state' against Donald Trump and his supporters. The group emerged on the dark web three years ago and has gained a niche of followers within the Republican party and on social media. On July 1 she shared on her Facebook page: 'I am honored and thrilled to officially announce I am the Global Press Secretary representing the organization worldwide.' After claiming to be a spokesperson for the group the cop asked her to put her phone down and moved to arrest her. 'Youre doing it to me cause Im Jewish. Youre doing this to me cause Im Jewish. This is a Nazi game. This is Nazi bulls***,' she says. Its unclear if Lively was arrested. Lively has run her own PR group for 11 years. According to its website the Brand Consortium is 'Arizonas #1 lifestyle and luxury public relations firm. We are a collective of public relations, buzz marketing, consulting and event design services specializing in hospitality, hotel & travel, real estate, retail, health & wellness and consumer brands.' On July 1 she shared on her Facebook page: 'I am honored and thrilled to officially announce I am the Global Press Secretary representing the organization worldwide' Several incidents have gone viral on social media showing people refusing to wear masks in public even as the coronavirus pandemic has infected over 2.8million in the US and killed over 129,000. On June 30 video surfaced of a woman in a Costco in Oregon refusing to wear a mask when an employee asked her to, as per store policy. Instead of leaving the store as asked, she stubbornly sat on the floor shouting 'I am an American! I have constitutional rights!' Arizona is one of the hotspots were cases of COVID-19 are rising after the state opened up. In Arizona, there are 3,536 new coronavirus cases and four deaths on Sunday. The state has over 98,000 cases of the virus and 1,809 people have died from the virus. A major worry for the southwestern state is the lack of hospital space to take care of patients as over 80 percent of intensive care unit beds are in use. The black driver who police say hit and killed a Black Lives Matter protester in Seattle is thought to have driven the wrong way down a ramp before asking if the demonstrators he hit were ok. Dawit Kelete, 27, drove his car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40am Saturday, according to a police report. Protesters have been walking on the freeway since the death of George Floyd in police custody. Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway. Summer Taylor, 24, succumbed to injuries sustained during the collision. Diaz Love, 32, also of Portland, Oregon, was also hit and remained in serious condition Sunday. Kelete was described by officers as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were ok, the documents say. He is now in custody awaiting a court hearing on Monday at which the judge will determine if he can be released on bail, according to court documents. Officials are now trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the protesters were hit. Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied. He is not said to have drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the crash. Dawit Kelete, 27, left, drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40am Saturday, according to a police report. Summer Taylor, 24, right, succumbed to injuries sustained during the collision Kelete, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave said. One of the other protesters got in a car and chased the driver for about a mile. He was able to stop him by pulling his car in front of the Jaguar, pictured Van Cleave Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway. Official do not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said Sunday. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting 'Car! Car!' before fleeing the roadway. A graphic video posted on social media showed the white Jaguar racing toward a group of protesters who are standing behind several parked cars, set up for protection. The car swerves around the other vehicles and slams into the two protesters, sending them flying into the air. Kelete was described by officers as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents Injured protester Love shared a picture from her hospital bed Sunday, writing: 'I'm alive and stable. In a lot of pain. I cannot believe Summer was murdered. If they thought this murder would make us back down, they are very wrong. Very wrong. 'My FB is filled with death threats, that and only being able to use one hand has me going slow. I deeply appreciate and feel all the love y'all are sending me.' Taylor, who worked at a Seattle veterinary clinic, was described as 'an incredibly strong and independent spirit' in a GoFundMe account set up after the crash. 'Summer is a bright and caring person whose presence elicits joy and laughter in others', the account - which has raised more than $40,000 - reads. Taylor, who the post said used they and them pronouns, was 'a positive force of nature' and brought joy, the post said. 'Anyone that works for Urban Animal will tell you that Summer Taylor's laugh makes any bad day better.' Katelyn Hoberecht, who worked with Taylor at the veterinary clinics, told the Seattle Times that Taylor had been a frequent presence at protests. 'Summer has been there since day one standing up for Black lives. Staying out all day and night, while still working full time taking care of animals,' Hoberecht said. 'Summer talked to me about the protests, and how incredible it was to be a part of something so huge. A part of history.' The collision sent the two protesters flying into the air, leaving one of them with life-threatening injuries and the other with serious injuries Injured protester Love shared a picture from her hospital bed Sunday Kelete, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave said. One of the other protesters got in a car and chased the driver for about a mile. He was able to stop him by pulling his car in front of the Jaguar, Van Cleave said. Troopers arrived, and the driver was put in custody, Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead said. Diaz Love, 32, (pictured) was also struck by the white Jaguar during the hit-and-run. They remain in a serious condition at Harborview Medical center Love and fellow protester, Diaz Love, are pictured being put into an ambulances by first responders after they were hit by a speeding car on Interstate 5 A judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault. It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017 majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed over the weekend. The Washington State Patrol said Saturday evening that going forward it won't allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway. Nine out of 10 health and care workers who caught the coronavirus got it at work, according to a report published today. And one in five patients hospitalised with Covid-19 had caught the virus while on a ward, raising concerns about the spread of the disease inside hospitals. The report, by scientists on the Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics group (DELVE), added that at least one in ten of all coronavirus cases diagnosed in England in May were found in healthcare workers. Researchers say transmission in homes and hospitals which often happens between people with no symptoms acts like a 'revolving door' with outbreaks in the community, with both feeding off each other. The report estimated an extra one per cent of cases in May were among hospital patients who caught the virus in hospital. And another six per cent were in care home residents, the researchers said. They pointed out that data suggests Covid-19 infection is six times more likely for healthcare workers than it is for the general population, with Office for National Statistics testing suggesting 1.87 per cent of healthcare workers would test positive compared to 0.32 per cent of the general population. Inadequate protective equipment, not enough testing, not separating patients well enough and staff not following social distancing may all have been behind the spread, the experts suggested. NHS staff must all now wear personal protective equipment when meeting patients in person, to avoid spreading the coronavirus (Pictured: Staff at The Christie cancer hospital in Manchester) Medical staff are pictured wearing PPE while treating an intensive care patient at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey The Royal Society's report, titled 'Hospital and health care acquisition of COVID-19 and its control', investigated the spread of coronavirus in hospitals and care homes in England. It was carried out by the Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics committee (DELVE). It tried to work out the scale of the spread - nosocomial infection - and reasons why it had happened and how to prevent it in future. ONE IN FIVE COVID-19 HOSPITAL PATIENTS CAUGHT VIRUS ON A WARD The UK's hospitals have been one of the main breeding grounds for spreading Covid-19, with one in five patients catching the virus while in hospital, scientists say. Papers published in June by Sage, and prepared for the Cabinet Office, showed that at the peak of the crisis, transmission within hospitals was believed to account for up to 22 per cent of cases in hospitalised patients, and up to 11 per cent of deaths. The figures did not include staff, or those attending outpatients appointments, so the numbers could be an underestimate. In light of the data, a letter from NHS England Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis has been sent to hospitals instructing them to 'minimise' close contact between staff and urges workers to 'avoid congregating at central work stations' and take staggered breaks. Reportedly it wasn't until May 18 that Public Health England (PHE) issued guidance to hospital staff as to how they should follow distancing rules, according to an investigation by The Daily Telegraph. This was almost two months after the UK entered lockdown on March 23. The data has fuelled concern that NHS trusts, alongside care homes, are causing Covid-19 to 're-seed' into the community, making it difficult to lift lockdown restrictions. Advertisement The researchers said it was important to understand the spread among health and care workers because it contributed to cases in the community as well, and vice versa. The report said: 'Infections in hospital have important implications for infection outcomes (hospitalised patients and some staff are at higher risk), workforce planning (healthcare workers being unable to work during peak pressure periods), and amplification of community transmission (through discharge of infectious patients and transmission to families and other contacts from healthcare workers and patients).' The report referenced a study published by Public Health England in May which predicted 89 per cent of Covid-19 cases among healthcare workers were spread inside hospitals. And approximately 20 per cent of infections in hospital in-patients had been caught by the patient while they were in hospital for something else, it said. Data from between April 26 and June 7, the report said, revealed that at least 10 per cent of all Covid-19 infections were in health and care workers. This period did not include the peak of the crisis, which was at the end of March and the start of April. But health workers made up a smaller proportion of all cases during that time, the report said, when the virus was more widespread among members of the public. It estimated that the peak of all in-hospital infections was at the same time as the national peak, but hospitals made up the greatest proportion at the start of May, when it was between 10 and 20 per cent. Professor Anne Johnson, from University College London, said: 'Hospital-acquired infections amplify community spread. There is a revolving door from the hospital to the community and back again,' the Evening Standard reported. Health and care workers were likely to catch the virus at work while caring for people with Covid-19, it said, and then to take it home and spread it to their families. Or on the other hand, they were at risk of spreading it to more people if they caught it outside of work, because they come into contact with so many people. The report included one case study of a hospital worker in Germany who went into work with a fever and infected 28 colleagues, 13 patients and seven visitors. In that case the uncontrolled spread had been blamed on a lack of social distancing and protective equipment (PPE), as well as the infected worker not staying at home. Data showed that the proportion of cases being accounted for by in-hospital infections peaked in early May, about a month after the peak of deaths in England, which came in early April Social distancing, PPE and generally sub-standard hygiene practices had caused in-hospital spread around the world, the report said. It appeared to include Britain but did not single out specific causes in NHS hospitals. Some of the reasons the virus appeared to spread so quickly in hospitals and care facilities were, the report said, inadequate hand washing, a failure to properly disinfect surfaces, lack of appropriate physical distancing, not separating infected and non-infected patients, and rotating staff through different areas of hospitals. They also said that more testing and tracing would be needed in future to control the spread of the virus among healthcare workers. In recommendations for reducing infections in the future the experts recommended widespread, rapid testing for all staff in hospitals, not just doctors and nurses. They also called for better surveillance and data for hospital-acquired infection, outbreak investigations for when cases did appear, and more research into cost-effective ways of reducing the spread of the disease. Professor Johnson said: 'We now better understand the risks of COVID-19 transmission within hospital and care settings although improved data are needed. 'As in many countries, outbreaks have occurred and continue to occur, though renewed prevention efforts are now in place. 'Now we need to learn from our experience and use our greater understanding of how the pandemic has played out, to ensure we are better prepared to prevent and manage new outbreaks and a potential second wave, protecting everyone.' White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows claimed Monday that the 'vast majority of people' are safe from the coronavirus and that the risk of the disease is 'extremely low' for those without risk factors. Meadows made his claim as the United States as seeing a surge in the rate of infections as states begin the reopening process with the average for daily new cases reaching a record high for the 27th straight day on Sunday. Overall the U.S. has more than 2.93 million people infected and more than 132,000 people have died. But Meadows, 60, said unless someone is of high age or has one of the risk factors then they are safe from the virus. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows claimed Monday that the 'vast majority of people' are safe from the coronavirus Meadows made his claim as the United States as seeing a surge in the rate of infections as states begin the reopening process with the average for daily new cases reaching a record high for the 27th straight day on Sunday 'When you start to look at the stats and look at all the numbers that we have - the amount of testing that we have - the vast majority of people are safe from this,' he said on 'Fox & Friends.' 'When you look at the deaths that we have, if you're over 80 years of age or if you have three what they call co morbidities - diabetes, hypertension, heart issues - then you need to be very very careful. Outside of that the risks are extremely low,' he added. He also told reporters at the White House later that 'a lot of these cases are asymptomatic.' 'If you look at the vast majority of those from 65 years of age and younger, if they don't have a comorbidity, we're looking at at this is not only not as dangerous as a number of other things that could potentially cause a loss of life,' he said during a Q&A session on the White House drive way. 'And that's the real key is when you start to take out some of the deaths we've had in nursing homes, and those it's not to downplay the deaths that we've had. But it's really to look statistically to know that whatever risks that you may have or I may have, or my children or my grandchildren may have, let's look at that appropriately,' Meadows added. The White House has pushed for a return to normalcy and a reopening of the country in order to get the economy back on track. Polls show voters give the president low marks for his handling of the pandemic, but they give him a high grade on the economy. The president has banked his reelection campaign on a strong economic message. President Trump also will return to the campaign trail on Saturday with an outdoor rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after his disastrous rally in Tulsa in late June. At the New Hampshire event, Trump's campaign will pass out hand sanitizer and face masks, which people will be encouraged to wear. 'There will be ample access to hand sanitizer and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear,' the president's campaign assured. The new stance on face masks is a marked changed from the June 20th rally in Tulsa, where masks were handed out but campaign said the decision to wear them was a personal choice. That rally fell way short of expectations in terms of the crowd - more than 6,000 people showed up when the BOK Center could hold 19,000. Most people did not social distance nor wear masks. And eight members of the Trump advance team tested positive for coronavirus ahead of the rally's start. Meadows said the changed stance on masks for the Portsmouth rally was a 'precaution.' 'It's more a factor of precaution,' he said. 'We want to make sure that other people feel safe,' he said. And Trump argued over the weekend that 99 per cent of the coronavirus cases were 'totally harmless.' 'Now we have tested almost 40 million people by so doing, we show cases 99 percent of which are totally harmless,' he said Saturday during a speech at the White House for a Fourth of July celebration. Meadows said the president wasn't downplaying the risks of COVID, just looking at the facts. 'I don't think it was the President's intent to downplay that as much as saying let's look at the risk, and let's look at this in an appropriate way, based on facts and figures,' he said. During Independence Day remarks at the White House, Trump said: 'Now we have tested almost 40 million people. By so doing, we show cases, 99 per cent of which are totally harmless' FDA Commissioner and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Stephen Hahn refused to comment Sunday morning on if there is any validity to Donald Trump's claim that 99 per cent of coronavirus cases are 'totally harmless' Trump also insisted that the U.S. would develop a vaccine or some other therapeutic solution to treat the virus 'long before' the end of 2020. FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn on Sunday declined to back up Trump's claim. 'I'm not going to get into who is right and who is wrong,' he told CNN. 'We have seen the surge in cases. We must do something to stem the tide.' Donald Trump will hold his next reelection rally outside on Saturday and his campaign will give out hand sanitizer and face masks after his first post-coronavirus rally fell way short of expectations in the midst of the continuing pandemic. The rally will be held in New Hampshire, a battleground state, at Portsmouth International Airport, the campaign announced Sunday night. 'There will be ample access to hand sanitizer and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear,' the president's campaign assured. 'It's more a factor of precaution,' Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox & Friends when asked about the masks and hand sanitizer. 'We want to make sure that other people feel safe,' he assured, adding that by giving out the protective gear the campaign is allowing 'freedom to take place and certainly want to encourage that go forward.' 'We're a nation of freedoms,' Meadows continued Sunday morning. 'If masks are appropriate... it's all trying to make sure that we deal with this virus.' Donald Trump will host his second post-coronavirus rally in New Hampshire on Saturday despite the flop in Tulsa last month (pictured). The rally will be held outdoors and the campaign claims: 'There will be ample access to hand sanitizer and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear' Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows assured that giving out masks is 'more a factor of precaution' New Hampshire citizens widely do not approve of Trump's handling of coronavirus as the amount of cases nears 6,000 A poll last month revealed that nearly two-thirds of New Hampshire residents do not approve of the way Trump is handling the pandemic. Another survey released last month shows that presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden is leading Trump in the Granite State with 49 per cent to the president's 42 per cent. The campaign's National Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said in announcing the rally: 'President Trump's record-setting accomplishments in record-setting time have improved the lives of all Americans. He rebuilt, restored and renewed our great nation once, and he'll do it again.' 'We look forward to so many freedom-loving patriots coming to the rally and celebrating America, the greatest country in the history of the world,' Gidley continued. Trump held his first post-coronavirus rally on June 20 in Tulsa Oklahoma, a deep red state and the event came after he was benched from the campaign trail for months in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The hyped-up event, however, did not receive the massive crowd the president and his campaign promised. Ahead of the rally, Trump touted that around a million people had requested tickets. However, the Bank of Oklahoma Center has a capacity of 19,199 and somewhere between 6,000 and 6,500 people attended. TikTok user and K-Pop fans took credit for the flop, claiming they flooded Trump's campaign with requests for tickets, making the president think there was a hire demand. It is indisputable that the rally was underwhelming, even in a state where Trump won with 65.3 per cent of the vote around 37 per cent more than Hillary Clinton walked away with. Trump's rally in Tulsa, a deep red state, was majorly underwhelming after the president touted 1 million people request tickets, but the 19,199-seat arena was filled with only abut 6,200 attendees It's uncertain if the New Hampshire rally will be more successful. The Northeastern state went blue in 2016, but by only .3 per cent with Trump earning 46.5 per cent of the vote to Clinton's 46.8 per cent. Many claimed ahead of the rally that hosting it without any social distancing or mask requirements could cause a spike in coronavirus cases. Eight campaign staffers who attended the Tulsa rally tested positive for COVID-19. As of Monday morning, more than 2.8 million people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19 and nearly 130,000 people have died after contracting the virus. In New Hampshire, according to the state's Department of Public Health, there have been over 5,800 confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 380 deaths. Trump last visited New Hampshire February 10 on the eve of the nation's first primary election for a massive rally in Manchester. Boris Johnson today showed off his new sleeker hairstyle and revealed he went for a pint at a pub near Chequers on 'Super Saturday' as he urged the nation to stick to social distancing rules, warning: 'We really can't afford to stuff this up'. The Prime Minister said he believed people had 'overwhelmingly' followed restrictions as bars reopened across England. But he said 'we cannot be complacent' and people must not 'blow it now' by disregarding official guidance to stay away from others. The comments came as it emerged the Prime Minister had taken advantage of restrictions being lifted to get his increasingly wild hair tamed. He modelled a much smarter look as he visited a construction site in Yorkshire this afternoon. The trim came after Mr Johnson complained last week that his hair was starting to form 'dreadlocks' after months of neglect. Boris Johnson modelled a much smarter look as he visited a construction site in Yorkshire this afternoon He was still sporting his shaggier style last night when he joined the clap for the NHS in Downing Street He was still sporting his shaggier style early last night when he joined a round of applause in Downing Street to mark the 72 year anniversary of the creation of the NHS. But the fluffy look had disappeared by the time he toured the Siemens Rail factory site in Goole today. Downing Street said that as well as getting a trim over the weekend, Mr Johnson also went for a drink at a pub near his Chequers country retreat in Buckinghamshire. Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers were allowed to reopen in England on Saturday for the first time since March. Photographs and video footage suggested that many people had failed to follow social distancing rules as they took advantage of premises welcoming back customers. But Mr Johnson said this afternoon he believes people had 'overwhelmingly' adhered to social distancing requirements. Asked during today's visit to Goole if alcohol and social distancing cannot mix, the Prime Minister said: 'I think they can mix if people are sensible. 'Actually my evidence I've seen is yes there have been some places where people have been imprudent and you can see there's been some people who have been getting it wrong. 'But actually overwhelmingly over the weekend I think the people of this country did the right thing. The fluffy look had disappeared by the time Mr Johnson toured the Siemens Rail factory site in Goole today Mr Johnson said this afternoon he believed people had 'overwhelmingly' stuck to the rules on 'Super Saturday' Mr Johnson said as long as people continue to stick to the rules the UK should be able to 'continue to drive down this virus' 'If we can keep it up, if we can keep going in the way we are, maintain discipline, enjoy ourselves but enjoy ourselves safely, then we will continue to drive down this virus and we will be able to get back to life as close to normal as possible as fast as possible.' Mr Johnson said he was not shocked by some of the scenes over the weekend because 'I understand what human nature is'. He added: 'There is a risk that some people will not obey the guidelines, thats always going to be there. But the overwhelming majority of people have and so far we think that the measures and the package is working. 'But we cannot be complacent, we really cant afford to stuff this up, to blow it now. We have got to keep going in the prudent way that we are.' The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman had earlier said that police forces had actually reported a 'quieter than expected' night on Saturday after fears of people over-indulging after months of lockdown. The spokesman said: 'I think far and away the vast majority of people acted in a safe, sensible and responsible manner and as I understand it many police forces across England reported a quieter than expected evening with few arrests. 'We would urge people not to overdo it. This was a cautious step towards opening more of our economy and it does look like the vast majority of people acted in a sensible and responsible way.' Downing Street also said Mr Johnson believed the changes made to social distancing rules - from two metres to one metre plus - had worked in allowing much of the hospitality sector to reopen. 'I think you've seen images up and down the country of the lengths which restaurants, cafes, pubs all went to to ensure their customers could enjoy a drink or a meal in a Covid-secure way,' the spokesman said. 'And, as I said, in the overwhelming number of cases, the public - aided by the advice - behaved responsibly.' Mr Johnson, 56, had told the Evening Standard last week that he intended to have his hair cut 'as soon as I can'. 'I'm starting to get dreadlocks at the back,' he said. 'I will be having a haircut as soon as I can. It's booked.' Many residents in a rural Georgia town say a local man who is set to stand trial for the murder of former beauty queen Tara Grinstead could not have committed the crime because he was always a nice kid. Ashleigh Merchant and her husband, John Merchant, are two lawyers based in Marietta, Georgia, who have agreed to represent accused killer Ryan Alexander Duke pro bono. Duke's former friend, Bo Dukes, was convicted in March of last year and sentenced to 25 years in prison after he confessed to authorities that he helped Duke cover up the murder in October 2005. After Grinstead was allegedly strangled to death by Duke as he was robbing her home in search of money to buy drugs, authorities say the two men burned her body for two days until her corpse turned to ash at a nearby pecan farm. John Merchant (left) and his wife, Ashleigh Merchant (right), two criminal defense attorneys based in Marietta, Georgia, have agreed to represent Ryan Alexander Duke pro bono Duke is set to stand trial for murder in the 2005 disappearance of Tara Grinstead (left), a teacher and former beauty queen. Duke and a former friend, Bo Dukes, were arrested and charged in February 2017 Dukes (pictured) was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for concealing Grinsteads death. He and Duke are alleged to have disposed of Grinsteads body by burning it in a pecan farm I felt drawn to the facts of the case, Ashleigh Merchant told Dateline NBC in an interview scheduled to air on Monday night at 10pm Eastern. The husband-wife team of attorneys say theyve spoken to residents of Ocilla, the seat of rural Irwin County in southern Georgia, who are in disbelief about the case. When you interview these folks, to a T, all of them say there's no way Ryan could've done this, John Merchant told Dateline. When asked why they feel this way, John Merchant replied: Well, because he was always a nice kid. He was very calm, peaceful, quiet. He wasn't the leader sort. And so, many of them believe that there's no way he could have orchestrated this kinda crime. In October 2005, Grinstead, who at the time was a history teacher at Irwin County High School, failed to show up for work. She was declared missing as authorities began investigating. No arrests were made until February 2017, when two former friends, Duke and Bo Dukes (no relation), were taken into custody. 2017 footage shown on the third day of Bo Dukes' trial shows the defendant admitting to helping his friend, Duke, hide 30-year-old's Tara Grinstead body. Dukes was charged with making a false statement, hindering the apprehension of a criminal and concealing the death of another. He was convicted in March of last year and sentenced to 25 years in prison Dukes was convicted in March of last year and sentenced to 25 years in prison for concealing Grinsteads death. Dukes admitted to his part in the coverup in videotaped interview with state investigators. 'I'm tired of living like this,' Dukes told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in the 2017 footage. Dukes is seen telling authorities that Duke told him the next day when he killed the woman and used his pickup truck to move the body. He and Duke are alleged to have disposed of Grinsteads body by burning it in a pecan farm owned by Dukes' uncle. In the footage, Dukes can be heard describing that it took the pair two days to burn the woman's body. Dukes explained that Duke told him he used a credit card to get inside the woman's home as she slept. Dukes said his friend admitting to strangling her 'right there.' It is believed that the man broke into the woman's home to steal money for drugs but Dukes never indicated a motive. According to investigators, Duke confessed to killing Grinstead, though he now claims that he was under the influence of drugs and that his statements to police described the actions of someone else, and not his own behavior. GBI agents have also said DNA matching both Duke and Grinstead was found on a latex glove discovered in her yard. In February, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously accepted Duke's appeal asking the state to provide funds so that he can call expert witnesses to testify for the defense. Duke's attorneys say he has no money to pay for experts and won't get a fair trial without them. But the trial judge, Tift Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt, has ruled that Duke gave up any claim to state funding when he declined legal representation from public defenders in favor of private attorneys who took his case for free. Grinstead was 30 in October 2005 when she disappeared from her home in Ocilla, about 185 miles south of Atlanta. In February of this year, the George Supreme Court unanimously accepted Duke's appeal ordering the state to provide funding for his defense so that he can call expert witnesses that will refute prosecution's evidence on DNA and other matters A billboard with her photo and a tip line number loomed for years in the area, and hope remained that she'd be found alive. Her death was confirmed when Duke and Dukes were arrested in February 2017. Duke's attorneys want the state to pay for expert witnesses in DNA, false confessions and psychology. The trial judge on January 3 reaffirmed his prior ruling that Duke has the right to be represented by private attorneys, but if he chooses that route, he's not also entitled to state funding for experts and investigators. When the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously declined to hear Duke's first appeal last summer, Justice Charles Bethel wrote that Duke's arguments for state funding 'appear to present difficult, complex, and important constitutional questions for which there is no controlling legal precedent.' A new episode of Dateline NBC airs Monday night at 10pm Eastern time. Alan Jones has blasted Australia's response to the coronavirus crisis in his return to broadcasting after retiring from radio. The 79-year-old debuted his new program on Sky News on Monday night and claimed Australia has run an 'alarmist' campaign in dealing with COVID-19. 'Since I was last on air and even before I went off air, we have endured this extraordinary alarmist campaign over coronavirus and it still persists,' Jones said. 'People understandably feel if they contract the virus, what comes next is a bag of nails, a few timber planks and you may as well climb into the coffin.' Alan Jones has claimed Australia has run an 'alarmist' campaign in managing coronavirus. Pictured: a traveler is tested for COVID-19 on arrival at Sydney airport on Thursday More than 8,400 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Australia with 106 fatalities, which Jones argued pales in comparison to the nation's yearly average of 160,000 deaths. He noted figures from the World Health Organisation that 99 per cent of the world's coronavirus cases are mild and questioned why the disease has shut down the country. 'Were breathlessly told how many more people have tested positive. Now this hysteria has gripped people,' he said. 'They baulk at getting into a lift.' Jones said if Victoria 'was a public company itd be in administration'. Frontline health care workers wearing full personal protective equipment in Flemington on Sunday during Victoria's second wave surge in coronavirus infections 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 veteran broadcaster claimed 'almost none' of the new cases were critical despite an emergency field hospital being erected at Melbourne Showgrounds to cater for a feared spike in cases from nine of the city's locked down housing commission towers. Five Victorian COVID-19 patients are currently receiving treatment in intensive care. Jones said leaders must start 'providing leadership' instead of frightening the public feeding hysteria surrounding the virus. 'Can we have some perspective in all of this? The economy has been crushed. What for?' Jones said. 'Weve got political leaders who have become followers. Chief medical officers whose names have never appeared on a ballot paper are running the country. 'Businesses are going broke for Gods sake and people may have lost their jobs for good because the impression has been created that if you test positive, you must immediately go to Bunnings, get a box of nails, some pine boards, build a coffin and jump into it.' Jones' return to air was met with mixed reviews on social media. 'Disgusting! So what happened to "doctor's orders" that you had to retire?' one tweet reads. 'How do I block the words "Alan Jones" from my Twitter feed?' another post reads. A supporter wrote: 'Brilliant! Welcome back Alan.' 'Alan Jones has risen from the dead! Thank you Jesus! Once again life has beauty and meaning!' another tweet says. I think its important we nominate someone who has experience practicing law and running an office of lawyers who go to court, and thats something Ive gotten, Harter said. This race hinges on the idea that we need to nominate someone who is conservative, who comes from the grassroots and understands the party and conservative values across the state. Im that person someone who gets things done and Im also someone who can actually win with voters in November. The director of a Wuhan virus laboratory linked to the coronavirus pandemic has claimed that no viruses could have escaped from the lab because it is highly secure. Dr Yuan Zhiming, director of the state-run P4 virus lab in Wuhan, said 'not a mosquito can fly into the building without authorisation' as he ensured the lab's top-level safety measures on state TV. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, which keeps more than 1,500 strains of deadly viruses, has become the centre of controversy amid the global health crisis. Some theories claim the novel coronavirus might have originated there out of concerns over its management. Dr Yuan Zhiming (pictured), director of Wuhan's P4 virus lab, told China's English state television station CGTN 'not a mosquito can fly into the building without authorisation' Some theories claim that the novel coronavirus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured), which cost 34million to build and keeps more than 1,500 strains of deadly viruses The Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory is also known as the P4 laboratory. This photo taken on February 23, 2017 shows Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli (left) inside the P4 lab in Wuhan Previous pictures from inside Wuhan's secretive Institute of Virology showed a broken seal on the door of one of the refrigerators used to hold different viral strains - including the bat coronavirus which has jumped to humans with such devastating effect. The pictures, first released by the state-owned China Daily newspaper in 2018, were published on Twitter in March, before being deleted. One comment attached read: 'I have seen better seals on my refrigerator in my kitchen.' China insists that the WHO has found no evidence the novel coronavirus was man-made. Shi Zhengli, a bat virus expert and deputy director at the institute, told the press in February that she 'guaranteed with her own life' that the outbreak was not related to the lab. Pictures from inside Wuhan's secretive Institute of Virology show a broken seal on the door (centre of shot, by medical worker's right eye) of one of the refrigerators used to hold 1,500 different strains of virus. The lab's director today ensured the building's security on state TV The pictures, first released by the China Daily in 2018, were published on Twitter in March, before being deleted. The Wuhan virus lab is affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan has the only lab with the highest biosafety level of P4 in China. P4 labs handle extremely dangerous viruses which can pose a high risk of life-threatening disease Dr Yuan, director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, told China's English-language state television station CGTN: 'Without authorisation... none of our researchers can take a drop of water or a piece of paper out of the lab. 'So when some people speculated that we might take the experimental animals out to sell or that these experimental animals might escape from the lab, they actually had no idea about the management and operations of our lab.' The Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory is also known as the P4 laboratory. It is the only lab with the highest biosafety level of P4 in China. P4 laboratories handle extremely dangerous viruses, such as the Ebola, which can pose a high risk of life-threatening disease, according to Lab Manager, a specialist publication. This electron microscope image shows the novel coronavirus (yellow) emerging from the surface of cells (blue and pink) cultured in the lab. The consensus among international scientists directs the origin of the new coronavirus to wild animals, most likely bats Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has a P3 virus lab as well as a higher level P4 lab, has been at the centre of controversy. This file photo taken on February 23, 2017, shows researchers donning full-body protection next to a cage with mice (right) inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan Dr Yuan explained: 'A P4 lab comes with a biosafety platform to ensure researchers are safe from the pathogens they work on and that the pathogens stay within the lab.' He noted that Chinese authorities hoped to turn the lab into an international platform that could attract foreign experts. He attributed the birth of theories surrounding the lab to people's fears, helplessness and lack of information during a health crisis. 'Many people would naturally link an area's outbreak to its nearest lab,' he said. The official promised that no viruses had ever escaped from the lab. He said all researchers had worked safely and in compliance with laws. Chinese state media labelled the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 'evil' and 'insane' after he said 'enormous evidence' showed that the coronavirus had escaped from the Wuhan lab This is not the first time Dr Yuan has hit back at the accusations against his virus lab on state-controlled media. In April, he told CGTN there was 'no way' the virus originated there because a man-made coronavirus would be beyond human intelligence. 'Some scientists believe that to synthesise a virus requires extraordinary intelligence or workload, so I have never believed that we humans have the capabilities at this time to create such a virus,' he explained. Dr Yuan attributed the theories to the fact that the institute and the P4 lab are in Wuhan, so 'people can't help but make associations which I think is understandable'. Shi Zhengli (seen in the lab in 2017), a bat virus expert and deputy director at the institute, said in February that she 'guaranteed with her own life' that the outbreak was not related to the lab Although scientists believe that the virus jumped to humans from wild animals sold as food in a market about 10 miles from the lab, there are theorists promoting different assumptions. Some people claim that the virus, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, could be a biological warfare weapon engineered there. Others suspect that it escaped from the lab. US President Donald Trump said in May that he had seen evidence which showed the novel coronavirus came from the Wuhan lab. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo then claimed there was 'enormous evidence' that the pandemic originated there. The broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2 came from bats, but the exact origin of the virus remains unknown. The Wuhan virus lab is affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The lab has three testing rooms, two animal storage rooms, one virus bank and one animal-dissection room. Twenty-four scientists can work there at the same time, according to a previous report from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Victoria's coronavirus outbreak has jumped the border to New South Wales as the crisis in Melbourne deepens and a military operation is launched to stop people crossing the state line. Residents of the greater Melbourne area were banned from New South Wales as of 12.01am on Tuesday - and all Victorians will be stopped from crossing the border 24 hours later. The ban had previously only applied to residents of Melbourne's 12 coronavirus hotspot postcodes. Police are seen guarding commission housing flats in Flemington on Monday Victoria's case numbers soared on Monday for the 20th straight day of double-digit (or more) gains. The outbreak state now has more than 97 per cent of Australia's active cases The extension of the NSW HotSpot Order comes as the Victorian outbreak spread into the NSW town of Albury. NSW Health confirmed on Monday night two people in the border town tested positive, one of whom had recently travelled to a Melbourne hotspot but returned before restrictions were imposed. The Federal Government will send up to 500 military personnel to help NSW Police seal off the interstate border. Many of the 55 roads linking the two states will be patrolled, while drones will spy from the air to stop people swimming across rivers or crossing through bushland. New South Wales police officers look on as passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials on Monday Passengers from Melbourne were met by health officials on landing at Sydney Airport on Monday who took temperature. Worried by the mass covid outbreak in Melbourne, NSW has now shut its border to all Melbourne residents ahead of the Victorian border closure tonight 'Defence is working closely with the NSW Government to finalise arrangements for the deployment of between 350 and 500 Australian Defence Force personnel to support the NSW Police Force border control checkpoints on the NSW-Victoria border,' an ADF spokeswoman said. 'The first of these are expected to deploy to the border to achieve the NSW Government directed border closure timings, pending finalising the agreement with NSW authorities.' As of Monday night, Victoria had 645 active cases which make up more than 97 per cent of Australia's total 668 active cases. The state is to be shut off from the rest of the country after case numbers surged by 124 on Monday revised down from 127 - its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. Medical staff on Monday perform a COVID-19 coronavirus test on a resident of one of nine public housing estates locked down due a spike in infection numbers in Melbourne The previous daily high in the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in Victoria was 111 on March 28. Meanwhile, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos announced a 30-bed field hospital was being set up at Melbourne Showgrounds to give first aid and triage to the 3000 residents of nine public housing towers under total lockdown in Flemington and North Melbourne. Australia's first field hospital dedicated to the virus was jointly established by the Royal Melbourne Hospital and St John Ambulance to provide urgent care if needed, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday. Australia's first emergency coronvirus field hospital was set up on Monday at Melbourne Showgrounds. The 30-bed triage and acute care centre is for the 3000 residents of the nine housing commission towers, locked down after a coronavirus outbreak Melbourne passengers arriving at Sydney Airport on Monday were met by health officials who took their temperature The public housing situation worsened on Monday with a 10th block exposed to the deadly virus. A resident living in a locked-down North Melbourne tower also worked as a subcontractor for Victoria's Health Department in the 10th block, at 108 Elizbeth St, Richmond, Nine News reported. Seven levels of the building have now been sanitised but the building had not been locked down as of Monday night. Two people tested positive to coronavirus at the New South Wales border town of Albury, NSW Health said on Monday. One of them brought the virus back from a Melbourne hotspot. New South Wales immediately shut the border to all greater Melbourne residents as of Tuesday 'Dying of starvation': Public housing say they've only eaten four sausage rolls since nine towers were forced into lockdown Public housing residents trapped in their homes have broken down in tears as they claim food supplies are so dangerously low people could die from starvation. Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, with 3,000 residents unable to leave their apartments for any reason for at least five days. The state government says it has distributed 3000 meals, 1000 food hampers and 250 personal care packs to residents, while the charity FareShare has provided more than 3000 prepared meals and 4500 pastries. But Debbie Harrison, who is caring for her 83-year-old mother, Ivy, at a housing unit in North Melbourne says they have only been given four sausage rolls to eat in 48 hours. Debbie Harrison (pictured) broke down in tears and said she and her mother have run out of fruit, vegetables, meat and toilet paper Debbie Harrison (right) is caring for her 83-year-old mother, Ivy (left), at a public housing unit in North Melbourne and says they have been given four sausage rolls to eat in 48 hours Ms Harrison broke down in tears and said she and her mother have run out of fruit, vegetables, meat and toilet paper. The distressed woman said they had only received their first delivery on Monday despite going into complete lockdown at 4pm Saturday. The mother and daughter were given four small sausage rolls to sustain them for the entire day. 'They are just going to go in the bin, we're not touching them,' Ms Harrison told A Current Affair. Frozen meals left for residents in the public housing blocks have thawed and gone off (pictured) Ms Harrison tried to get her daughter to deliver groceries, but she was turned away by police guarding the public housing tower. The 83-year-old great-grandmother said she is more worried about her children and her great-grandchildren. 'I want things to be what they used to be, I've never known anything like this in my 83 years, never,' she said. Advertisement Residents of the nine towers have complained about not having enough food since the lockdown began on Saturday afternoon. Flemington resident Steve Ulu told Nine News that nobody had knocked on his door to ask if he needed anything. Mr Ulu said he was running low on cat food and was just lucky he had enough food in his freezer to get by when the lockdown began. 'The prisoners have got more than we do because they get to eat three times a day,' he said. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement A resident who did not give her full name claimed that she and her seven children had been living off Weetbix cereal without milk, SBS News reported. 'I can't keep them fed anymore ... I don't know how to explain. I didn't expect this,' the resident said. However photographs revealed police delivering pallet loads of bread and boxes of essential food to Melbourne's housing commission towers on Monday. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday that Foodbank had provided 1000 essential food hampers with cereal, pasta, long-life milk, sugar, and tinned vegetables to residents, while a further 3000 ready-made meals and 4500 pastries had also been delivered. Melbourne community groups have also rallied to help the residents with Sikh Volunteers Australia bringing hundreds of hot vegetarian meals, Foodbank Victoria delivering 1600 hampers and the National Homeless Collective delivering 140 tins of baby formula, nappies and sanitary pads. A 10th subsidised housing tower at 108 Elizabeth St, Richmond, Victoria, linked to the outbreak by a subcontractor. It has not been locked down but has had several floors cleaned Despite complaints of food shortages, police could be seen on Monday delivering crates of bread at Flemington and North Melbourne's housing commission towers Mr Andrews said on Sunday that the Victorian Government would give residents of the subsidised housing towers food, free rent for two weeks, baby formula, pet food and medical essentials. They will also be provided with counselling, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction including methadone for registered addicts, mental health care, family violence counselling and physical healthcare. Translators will be doorknocking to explain directions to tenants who don't speak English. Some residents of the public housing estate are employed and they will receive a $1500 hardship payment to compensate for missing work. A crowdfunding campaign for residents by Victorian Trades Hall Council has raised more than $250,000. Subsidised housing residents protest their lockdown in Melbourne on Monday. Nobody except essential service workers is allowed in or out for the five-day lockdown which began on Saturday afternoon, until every resident is tested for coronavirus following an outbreak A resident peers out from a window inside the Racecourse Road housing commission tower. Residents in nine towers have complained they are not getting food, however thousands of food packages have been distributed by government and community groups However, residents on Monday complained to SBS news that the food parcels provided by the government were 'culturally inappropriate' including non-halal meat. Sixteen new coronavirus cases were found at the nine towers on Monday bringing the total to 53 confirmed cases in the subsidised housing blocks. 'The nine towers involved are now closed and residents are required to stay in their homes at all times,' Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday afternoon. 'This will be in place to ensure we can test every single resident. The lifting of this restriction will be determined by our success in testing and tracking this virus.' Five hundred police are patrolling the towers to make sure that nobody enters or leaves except essential service personnel. Despite media reports of claims that residents hadn't received food, Police were photographed delivering pallet loads of bread to Melbourne's lockdown towers on Monday Contrary to reports that residents were not being given food, police were seen delivering boxes of basic essentials on Monday. Pictured: budget boxes delivered to Flemington's towers The decision to close Victoria's border with New South Wales was made after three-way talks between Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. 'The cases have escalated significantly now,' Mr Morrison told Radio 2GB on Monday evening. 'We had a three way hook up earlier this morning ... and agreed that now is the time for Victoria to isolate itself from the rest of the country.' Mr Morrison said he expected there to be initial confusion and teething problems, but asked Australians to be patient. '(The) last time the border was closed, I think between New South Wales and Victoria was probably over 100 years ago. So ... I think people will be understanding of that,' he said. The border closures will be enforced on the NSW side so as not to drain Victoria's resources that are being used to fight the outbreak. How will NSW-VIC border shut-down work? The border will close from 12.01am Wednesday morning It will be be enforced from the NSW side with roadblocks, drones and helicopters Permit system will be used for people with unavoidable travel to NSW People living in border communities will be able to travel for work and essential health services Specific arrangements will be set up for healthcare in Albury-Wodonga - Victoria runs the Albury Hospital even though it is located in NSW Advertisement Residents of the subsidised government housing towers have complained that they are being sent 'culturally inappropriate' food care packages such as non-halal meat The Prime Minister criticised those among the 10,000 residents living in Victoria's hotspot postcodes who have refused coronavirus testing. Mr Morrison said it was his view that they ought to be penalised however it was a matter for the state to decide. A man in his 90s died in hospital on Sunday night, while a man in his 60s died on Monday, bringing the national pandemic death toll to 106. Fourteen new coronavirus cases linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak were found on Monday, Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday, bringing the total number of cases linked to the outbreak to 77. All staff and students at the school at Truganina in Melbournes west have been placed into isolation for contact tracing. Seven emergency department staff at Northern Hospital Epping, Victoria, have tested positive to COVID-19 over the past five days, a spokeswoman said. Contact tracing is underway and the emergency department is undergoing a deep clean, with all its staff being tested as a precaution. While the emergency department remains open, there is a temporary reduction in non-urgent elective surgery and outpatient appointments to free up resources to keep the ED operating. Visitors to the hospital have also been restricted as a precaution. Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was concerned by the spread of cases in Melbourne, saying a significant number were in suburbs near 12 hotspot postcodes, where stay-at-home orders are currently in place. 'There's significant spillover and so to use the bushfire analogy - there are literally spot fires adjacent to those restricted postcodes,' he said. On Sunday, Australia's Acting Chief Health Medical Officer Paul Kelly described the towers as 'vertical cruise ships', due to their potential to spread the virus. Mr Andrews said more cases should be expected as authorities test all 3000 residents of the towers. Meanwhile, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed a 32-year-old resident of one of the towers at Flemington has been arrested for attempting to leave and biting police. Public housing residents trapped in their homes have broken down in tears as they claim food supplies are so dangerously low people could die from starvation. Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, with 3,000 residents unable to leave their apartments for any reason for at least five days. The state government says it has distributed 3000 meals, 1000 food hampers and 250 personal care packs to residents, while the charity FareShare has provided more than 3000 prepared meals and 4500 pastries. But Debbie Harrison, who is caring for her 83-year-old mother, Ivy, at a housing unit in North Melbourne says they have only been given four sausage rolls to eat in 48 hours. Scroll down for video Debbie Harrison (pictured) broke down in tears and said she and her mother have run out of fruit, vegetables, meat and toilet paper Debbie Harrison (right) is caring for her 83-year-old mother, Ivy (left), at a public housing unit in North Melbourne and says they have been given four sausage rolls to eat in 48 hours Frozen meals left for residents in the public housing blocks have thawed and gone off (pictured) Ms Harrison broke down in tears and said she and her mother have run out of fruit, vegetables, meat and toilet paper. The distressed woman said they had only received their first delivery on Monday despite going into complete lockdown at 4pm Saturday. The mother and daughter were given four small sausage rolls to sustain them for the entire day. 'They are just going to go in the bin, we're not touching them,' Ms Harrison told A Current Affair. Ms Harrison tried to get her daughter to deliver groceries, but she was turned away by police guarding the public housing tower. The 83-year-old great-grandmother said she is more worried about her children and her great-grandchildren. 'I want things to be what they used to be, I've never known anything like this in my 83 years, never,' she said. After being caught by surprise when the no-warning lockdown was implemented, many of those in the buildings were now furious at a lack of food and information from authorities. Debbie Harrison (pictured) and her mother had only received four sausage rolls (in her hand) on Monday and said they were going straight in the bin A sign stuck to the window of a person trapped inside the housing commission flats in Flemington on Monday Food and drink packages (right) were delivered to residents by police (left) on Saturday night but some complained they did not receive essentials such as bread and milk A resident at Flemington named Omar said he had received a box of Weetbix for the week but did not have any milk. 'People are going to die of starvation,' he said. 'Pregnant ladies are knocking on doors for milk.' Other North Melbourne residents of the public housing blocks say they have been completely left in the dark about supplies and testing. 'There's been no communication, they don't tell you anything,' resident Brian told The Sydney Morning Herald. The Australian Muslim Social Services Agency (AMSSA) has delivered packages of food, nappies, hand sanitiser and other essentials today Members of the community have taken supplies and essentials to AMSSA in North Melbourne Hundreds of Melbourne residents have taken resources and supplies to the Australian Muslim Social Services Agency (AMSSA) Centre in North Melbourne Donations supplied by members of the public have been left in the corridors and eventually turns rotten. Brian, who did not want to disclose his surname, said frozen meals in plastic bags had thawed and gone off. 'I can't eat it because I'm no gluten or anything like that, but the other people - you couldn't eat it, no way,' he said. Resident at Holland Court in Flemington, Vas Crabb, said he received a supplies for the first time on Monday evening. Firefighters and police officers delivered fresh boxes of groceries donated by Coles, including pasta, oats, rice, canned vegetables, soup, milk and toilet paper. 'It's a relief, even if people aren't being told about it. But there's still a lot of uncertainty and still a low of people worried,' he said. Residents are confronted by police as they exit one of the residential blocks through a stairwell A total of 53 cases of COVID-19 have been discovered inside the nine towers, including 16 new cases announced on Monday Somali community leader Ahmed Dini lives in North Melbourne and said pies had been dropped off at 2am on Monday without any notice. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the towers have almost doubled, from 27 on Sunday to 53 on Monday from about 400 tests, as testing ramps up and police continue to patrol entrances and corridors. Abdirahman Ibrahim, who lives in the Racecourse Road tower, told AAP his family is yet to receive a box of groceries, but they have received formula and one litre of milk. Ahmed Dini, a resident of a North Melbourne tower and a social worker, told ABC News Breakfast some residents hadn't received groceries as of Monday morning. Hanson said refugees who fled war-torn countries should be able to deal with being locked up. (Pictured: Angry tower residents place signs in their windows showing messages of despair amid total lockdown) Food supply trucks arrived at a public housing tower on Racecourse Road in Flemington on Monday morning More than 3,000 residents in towers across Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne will be couped up inside their homes for at least five days Residents have shared images on social media of out-of-date meals, food left on the floor and Muslim families given pork. Victorian Council of Social Services CEO Emma King said she was concerned culturally appropriate meals were not being provided by the government. 'We need to make sure we're hearing directly from the residents on the estate around what they need and making sure we deliver on that,' she told AAP. Ms King also noted residents were given copies of the public health orders or 'detention directives' on Sunday night, sparking confusion over the term of the lockdown which could last as long as 14 days. 'Any of us, to have police on your doorstep, handing a detention notice we can't understand, it would be really frightening,' she said. 'It is a very fine, precarious balance. We need to save lives first and foremost but we need to make sure people get the support that they need and they aren't terrified through the process.' Food boxes from Woolworths is delivered to one of the Flemington Towers on Racecourse Road Flemington tower resident Najat Mussa (pictured) posted several videos from inside the public housing building to social media in the wake of the 'hard lockdown' being introduced. In one she compared the situation being experienced by residents to a scene of The Hunger Games Premier Daniel Andrews said he wanted to reassure everyone in the towers they would be looked after. 'There are literally hundreds and thousands of people working - from police to social workers, to nurses and doctors, all the way through to people working in our supermarkets, people working in commercial kitchens ... they are all doing their absolute best,' he said. THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS FROM THE TOWERS - Lack of essential supplies and food - Heavy handed attitudes of police in enforcing the stay-at-home orders - Inability to go shopping is at odds with others in the hotspot postcodes - Lack of protective equipment such as masks for residents - No information provided about length or reasons behind lockdown Advertisement He added halal meals have been handed out by the Victorian Trades Hall in partnership with social enterprise Moving Feast. Sikh organisations have also set up outside the towers, offering hot vegetarian meals to residents. Sikh Volunteers Australia vice president Manpreet Singh said they were serving fresh vegetarian meals, bringing about 650 serves from their Cranbourne base. 'Nearly 400 meals we have already served (by about 7pm),' he said on Sunday. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has been preparing 2,000 culturally appropriate meals it plans to hand out in the coming days. Hundreds of Melbourne residents have taken resources and supplies to the Australian Muslim Social Services Agency (AMSSA) Centre in North Melbourne. The mosque has become a temporary warehouse where volunteers scramble to separate fresh products, cans and other food. Nur Shanino is one of the community leaders trying to coordinate the volunteers. He said the decision to self-organise to provide residents with groceries came after they heard some families didn't have access to everything they needed. 'People contacted family saying they were still hungry, we don't have milk, we don't have oil,' he told AAP. 'So basically people connected on social media and decided to drop products here while we try to sort it out.' Protestors holding signs in protest gathered outside commission flats in lockdown on Monday The volunteers had talks with the Department of Health and Human Services and local government to work out the best way to distribute the food inside the quarantined buildings. Those talks paid off late on Monday afternoon, with some goods being distributed from the volunteer centre into the locked-down buildings. Police Association President Wayne Gatt walked into the improvised distribution centre earlier on Monday and said taking the food to residents can't be the job of officers. 'That needs to be a job of DHHS,' he told AAP. 'Clearly you've got hundreds of meals here that aren't able to be delivered to people that obviously need them. 'I can understand the community's frustration.' Food supplies are delivered to the Flemington Towers Government Housing complex on Monday amid complaints from those trapped inside Passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials taking their temperature on Monday New South Wales police officers look on as passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials on Monday This anger over the short notice given to residents about the tower lockdown, and the feeling of a lack of communication from government, has prompted many to join the front line of help. Mohamed Tooyo said he is sad all he could do is try to leave food at people's doorsteps, rather than see friends and relatives. 'The government said they would help and give people the necessities they needed, but they didn't deliver on that promise,' he said. 'Community has come together today from different backgrounds. I feel proud, I feel happy about it.' Victorian Council of Social Services CEO Emma King said there had been a groundswell of support from the Victorian community 'These people in housing estates are taking a huge hit for all of us,' she said. 'I think we as a Victorian community should be very grateful and appreciative to them, and I think people are wanting to help.' A Chinese man who was previously pronounced dead by doctors has reportedly returned home alive, leaving his family members astounded. The 43-year-old, known by his surname Jiao, showed up two months after his family had thrown a funeral service for him and cremated a body taken from a hospital. The man's frightened uncle told local media that the whole family was so shocked they thought Jiao had 'come back to life'. The hospital claimed medics had mistaken another deceased patient for Mr Jiao because the two looked extremely alike. The 43-year-old, known by his surname Jiao, astounded his family upon returning home alive two months later after they had thrown a funeral service for him and cremated a body taken from the hospital. The file picture shows a brown casket at a funeral service in China A Chinese man who was declared dead by medics and cremated has shocked his family while returning home after hospital 'mistook another patient for him'. The file picture shows a woman worshiping her deceased ancestors in front of the family grave site in Hong Kong Mr Jiao, who is said to have suffered mental illness, went missing from his home in south-western Chinese city Chongqing earlier this year, according to his uncle, known by his surname Liu. The worried family reported to police in March after failing to locate Mr Jiao. They were contacted by police in early April, saying that the man was being treated at a hospital in Wenzhou of China's eastern province Zhejiang. The family arrived at the hospital the next day. They were told by the doctors that Mr Jiao was unlikely to survive from suffering serious infectious diseases caused by tuberculosis (TB). Mr Jiao's uncle said that he was unable to identify his 'nephew', who was covered in a mask while being supported by an oxygen machine. The medics also prevented the family from seeing Mr Jiao up close over concerns of catching the coronavirus, Mr Liu told the local media Wenzhou Evening Newspaper. The family decided to bring the dying patient back home and spent 12,000 yuan (1,368) on the transport. But the man was declared dead by the doctors after all treatment failed while being taken back to Chongqing. The family did not see the body after it was immediately sent to a crematorium in Chongqing due to coronavirus restrictions. The devastated family spent another sum of 140,000 yuan (15,965) on throwing a grand funeral service for Mr Jiao. The medics claimed that they had mistaken another deceased patient for Mr Jiao because the two looked extremely alike. The file picture taken on April 3 shows a man cleans a grave during the Qing Ming festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, at a cemetery in Shanghai, China The 43-year-old, known by his surname Jiao, astounded his family upon returning home alive two months later after they had thrown a funeral service for him and cremated a body taken from the hospital. The file picture taken on March 25 shows workers presenting flowers in memory of dead people during a remote tomb-sweeping ceremony in Nanjing, Jiangsu While the family was dealing with grief, Mr Jiao's uncle received a surprising phone call from the police in late May. The officers in Shangrao, Jiangxi province of south-eastern China said that they had found a homeless man who claimed to be Mr Jiao. With the police's help, the Chongqing resident returned home safe and sound and was finally reunited with his family on June 5. Due to his mental condition, Mr Jiao was unable to explain how he travelled nearly 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) from Chongqing to Shangrao, the Chinese media said. The hospital in Wenzhou told the local newspaper that the doctors had accidentally identified another man, who remains unnamed, as Mr Jiao because the two looked extremely alike. The medical workers claimed that the patient was carrying Mr Jiao's ID when he was rushed to the hospital. Mr Jiao's uncle said that he was unable to identify his 'nephew', who was covered in a mask while being supported by an oxygen machine. The file picture taken on March 1 shows treating a critical coronavirus patient with ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) in Wuhan 'The doctors had checked the ID photo with the patient and they looked really alike,' said Dr Liu Xiao, a chief ER doctor at the Chinese Traditional Medicine Hospital of Wenzhou. 'We took a picture and sent it to the police. It was the police's responsibility to identify the person and contact the family,' Dr Liu added. The medics said that the two men both had been previously diagnosed with TB, causing the doctors confused with their identities. The hospital also claimed that the health workers had allowed Mr Jiao's family to identify the patient. Zhu Jing, a matron at the hospital, said: 'If the family couldn't identify the patient, how are we supposed to do that?' Mr Jiao's family has demanded compensation from the Wenzhou hospital for mistaking someone else for the Chongqing man. Ghislaine Maxwell has a secret stash of Jeffrey Epstein's twisted sex tapes and will use the footage as an insurance policy to save herself, a former friend exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com. Maxwell, 58, was arrested at her hideout in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. She was charged with six federal crimes, including enticement of minors, sex trafficking and perjury. The British socialite was arguably Epstein's closest friend and she is alleged to have acted as his madam, accused of securing underage girls for the multi-millionaire, who reportedly kept evidence of his perverted sex acts against the minors. When officials raided Epstein's Manhattan townhouse after his arrest last July, they found thousands of graphic photos that included images of underage girls and a safe filled with compact discs labeled 'nude girls', according to authorities. Maxwell's former friend explained: 'Ghislaine has always been as cunning as they come. She wasn't going to be with Epstein all those years and not have some insurance. 'The secret stash of sex tapes I believe Ghislaine has squirreled away could end up being her get out of jail card if the authorities are willing to trade. She has copies of everything Epstein had. They could implicate some twisted movers and shakers.' They added: 'If Ghislaine goes down, she's going to take the whole damn lot of them with her.' Ghislaine Maxwell has a secret stash of Jeffrey Epstein's twisted sex tapes and will use the footage as an insurance policy to save herself, a former friend exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com Maxwell, 58, was arrested at her hideout in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. She was charged with six federal crimes, including enticement of minors, sex trafficking and perjury. The British socialite was arguably Epstein's closest friend and she is alleged to have acted as his madam, accused of securing underage girls for the multi-millionaire, who reportedly kept evidence of his perverted sex acts against the minors When officials raided Epstein's Manhattan townhouse after his arrest last July, they found thousands of graphic photos that included images of underage girls and a safe filled with compact discs labeled 'nude girls', according to authorities. Maxwell's former friend explained: 'Ghislaine has always been as cunning as they come. She wasn't going to be with Epstein all those years and not have some insurance.' Pictured: The outside of Epstein's house The former friend continued: 'Not only did Epstein like to capture himself with underage girls on camera he wanted to make sure he had something to hold over the rich and powerful men who took advantage of his sick largesse.' 'I'll bet anything that once it comes out that Ghislaine has those tapes these men will be quaking in their Italian leather boots. 'Ghislaine made sure that she socked away thumb drives of it all. She knows where all the bodies are buried and she'll use whatever she had to save her own a**.' The day after Epstein's suicide last August, the New York Times published an account by journalist James B. Stewart who had interviewed Epstein in August 2018. In the course of their conversation, Epstein told Stewart he had filed away dirt on his famous house guests, 'some of it potentially damaging or embarrassing, including details about their supposed sexual proclivities and recreational drug use'. Maxwell's next court appearance is on Friday in New York. She is currently being held without bail. An indictment made public last week said Maxwell facilitated Epstein's crimes by 'helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse' girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse. She has previously denied allegations against her. In asking the judge to deny her bail, prosecutors argued she is a flight risk because she has a vast international network of powerful friends. Maxwell is undeniably connected to some of the world's wealthiest and most influential people. For decades, she has been pictured flitting between society parties in New York City and London, posing with actresses, models and tech tycoons, including Elon Musk and Naomi Campbell. Maxwell has an astonishing network of high profile friends and acquaintances. She is shown at Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding For decades, she has been pictured flitting between society parties in New York City and London, posing with actresses, models and tech tycoons, including Elon Musk and Naomi Campbell. Maxwell has even been snapped on multiple occasions cozying up to future President Donald Trump along with his now-wife Melania. Pictured: Maxwell, Campbell, Trump and Melania in 2002 But one of Maxwell's closest friends is Britain's Prince Andrew, pictured at his side throughout the years. She was also smiling in the background of a photo taken at her London apartment, where Prince Andrew posed with his hand around the waist of then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts Giuffre (pictured) Maxwell has even been snapped on multiple occasions cozying up to future President Donald Trump along with his now-wife Melania. She was so close with former President Bill Clinton, who flew multiple times on Epstein's infamous Lolita Express, that she attended the wedding of his daughter Chelsea in 2010. But one of Maxwell's closest friends is Britain's Prince Andrew, pictured at his side throughout the years. In a recently uncovered photo, she posed with disgraced actor Kevin Spacey on Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's thrones during a private Buckingham Palace tour organized by the Duke of York. She was also smiling in the background of a photo taken at her London apartment, where Prince Andrew posed with his hand around the waist of teenager Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The then-minor claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew under the direction of Maxwell and Epstein. Andrew has vehemently denied all claims against him. Maxwell's high-flying lifestyle came crashing down when the FBI found her hiding out at her $1 million home in the quiet town of Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. She bought the property in December for $1 million cash, using a company that reportedly has ties to her wealthy lover Scott Borgerson. Federal prosecutors said Maxwell had been hiding in New England since last July, when Epstein was arrested. Last summer, DailyMail.com tracked her down to the Manchester-by-the-Sea waterfront home of tech CEO Borgerson. She changed her phone number to one registered under 'G Max,' changed her email address, moved at least twice and when she ordered delivery packages had them delivered under a different name. A grand jury returned a sealed, six-count indictment against Maxwell on June 29, almost a year after Epstein was charged. Maxwell was picked up by the FBI and NYPD detectives at 8.30am at the property in Bradford, New Hampshire, she had bought in December 2019 using a limited liability company called Granite LLC to shield her name Maxwell's high-flying lifestyle came crashing down when the FBI found her hiding out at $1 million home in the quiet town of Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. She bought the property in December for $1 million cash, using a company that reportedly has ties to her wealthy lover, Scott Borgerson (right) THE ALLEGATIONS THE CHARGES Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (5 years max sentence) Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (20 years) Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (20 years) Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (10 years minimum, life maximum) X 2 counts of Perjury (x 10 years) THE 'FACTS' Prosecutors say Maxwell groomed three girls between 1994 and 1997 for Epstein. They are not named in the indictment, but she allegedly targeted them in London, Florida, New York and New Mexico. Maxwell, it is alleged, would befriend the girls by asking them about their life and their schooling. She would put them at ease by taking them to the movies and taking them shopping, winning their trust to later deliver them to Epstein, it's alleged. To 'normalize' the abuse that would come later, prosecutors say she undressed in front of the girls herself and asked them sexual questions. She then not only facilitated Epstein abusing them, prosecutors say, but took part in some of it herself. The alleged sex abuse includes 'sexualized group massages'. The indictment also says Maxwell made the girl feel 'indebted' to Epstein by encouraging them to take money from him and let him pay for their education and travel. Advertisement An indictment made public last week said Maxwell facilitated Epstein's crimes by 'helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse' girls as young as 14. It also said she participated in the sexual abuse. The indictment alleges: Maxwell groomed three unnamed girls, all under the age of 18, in London, New York and Florida, and New Mexico between 1994 and 1997 She befriended them by taking them to the movies or on shopping sprees and 'normalized' abusive behavior by getting undressed in front of them herself She encouraged them to travel to meet Epstein and engage in sex acts with them and him like 'group massage sex' in Epstein's homes Her introduction of them to him resulted in him abusing them when she was not present She lied in 2016 depositions while being sued by Virginia Giuffre Roberts that she'd never groomed or had sex with underage girls herself Maxwell, who has yet to enter a plea, faces 35 years in prison if convicted. She has previously denied any involvement in Epstein's crimes. The indictment reads in part: 'Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's access to minor victims knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls and that he intended to engage in sexual activity with those victims'. Among the allegations in the indictment is that Maxwell groomed the girls, including one in London. 'Victim 1' met Maxwell when she was 14 in 1994, the indictment reads. Maxwell allegedly groomed her by taking her to the movies and on shopping trips, asking her about school, her classes, her family and other aspects of her life. 'She then sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, undressing in front of her and being present when she undressed in front of Epstein,' according to the indictment. The trio then engaged in 'group sexualized massages' on more than one occasion, the indictment claims. The victim was allegedly encouraged by Epstein and Maxwell to travel to the financier's homes in New York and Florida 'for the purpose of sexual encounters with Epstein'. 'Victim 2' met Ghislaine in 1996 and was allegedly groomed by her at Epstein's New Mexico ranch. The indictment claims that Maxwell gave her a topless massage and 'encouraged [her] to massage Epstein'. 'Victim 3' met Maxwell in London in 1994 and was groomed until 1995, it is alleged. Maxwell encouraged her to massage Epstein 'knowing that Epstein would engage in sex acts' as she did so, prosecutors claim. The indictment alleges that Maxwell knew the three women were underage at the time. At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Acting US Attorney for the Southern District Audrey Strauss, said: 'Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, then delivered them into the trap that she and Epstein had set for them. 'She pretended to be a woman they could trust, all the while she was setting them up to be sexually abused by Epstein in some cases, by Maxwell herself. 'Today after many years, Ghislaine Maxwell finally stands charged for her role in these crimes.' FBI Special Agent William Sweeney said the bureau had been 'keeping tabs' on Maxwell 'for some time'. 'We have been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell for some time. 'She slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims continue to live with the trauma inflicted on them years earlier.' Two paramedics have been stabbed in the chest today after a call-out to a home in the West Midlands where the alleged knifeman was seen carrying two blades before being Tasered by police. The ambulance crew were called to reports of concern for a man's safety in the Ashmore area of Wolverhampton at around 12.15pm this afternoon. Neighbours said around a dozen emergency vehicles were at the scene and the suspect was Tasered with an electric stun gun by police after a male paramedic staggered out of the house yelling: 'Help, help, we've both been stabbed' while dragging his female colleague to safety. Both paramedics were stabbed in the chest by the knifeman who pounced as they entered the property, police later revealed. Anita Millard, 65, who lives next door, said a man lived alone at the property, and it had been his elderly mother who had first raised concerns for his welfare after he failed to answer the door. She described how two paramedics arrived, along with two police officers, before they managed to gain entry by removing a door panel with a screwdriver borrowed from a neighbour. She said: 'The police asked the man's mother to step back and then the girl paramedic went in, followed by the other medic. Then all I heard was a blood-curdling scream. He had two knives - I've never seen anything like it'. Police have swamped Stephens Close in Wolverhampton this afternoon where officers Tasered a man who allegedly stabbed two paramedics The ambulance workers were called to the house after a call about concerns about the man inside the property Mrs Millard, who has lived in the close for five years, added: 'The male paramedic then came backwards out the house and he shouted into his radio 'help, help, we've both been stabbed'. 'Then he pushed the female paramedic backwards towards the side gate, and away from it all. 'The guy was stood in the porch holding these knives. 'Then the police came in and shouted 'Taser' and then they tasered him. 'It was like something off the TV.' Colleagues of the paramedics have also spoken of the 'harrowing' scene that greeted them as pictures emerged of a blonde female paramedic being stretchered away. Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer Nathan Hudson said: 'We had a call at about midday from a woman concerned for a member of their family. 'We arrived at the scene within five minutes. Together with police we had to gain access to the property. 'As they were entering two staff members were stabbed in the chest with a knife. 'Police officers were soon able to detain the individual. 'The two paramedics, a female and male, are stable in hospital and their injuries are not life-threatening. 'Nobody comes to work to be stabbed. Only yesterday we were celebrating 52 years of the NHS. It is quite shocking really. 'They were conscious throughout and speaking when I went to see them in hospital. 'Health care workers put themselves on the line every day, but this is not what you expect when you get up for work in the morning. 'It was a harrowing scene and a harrowing place to be. 'There can be nothing worse than going to help people you know who've been seriously hurt. Throughout, they acted impeccably. 'I want to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the scene, in what was a very traumatic incident for everyone concerned.' Speaking at a press conference at the scene, Superintendent Simon Inglis added: 'We received a call at about 12 o'clock today from a concerned mother about her son that he was going to harm himself. 'Ambulance crews attended with ourselves. 'Medics entered into the property and unfortunately the man came out and attacked them with a knife. 'Officers then engaged. He was tasered, detained and is currently in custody. 'No other persons were injured and there was no wider threat to the community.' Another resident, who did not want to be named, added: 'The ambulance came first and we thought nothing of it. 'The paramedics were seen trying to get into the property and were confronted by a man with a knife. 'They used the emergency code and all of sudden police, ambulances, two rapid response vehicles turned up. 'Over the next 10 to 15 mins two air ambulances landed on the shopping parade and teams rushed round to Stephens Close. West Midlands Police said that a man accused of stabbing the emergency workers was shot with a stun gun 'I saw a male paramedic rushed out the property and into an ambulance. 'Five minutes later a female paramedic was wheeled into another ambulance. 'I know of the guy in the house but don't know him personally. He rides his bike to and from work. 'He doesn't normally acknowledge anyone else in the street passing him. It's normally a very quiet street and area.' A spokesman for West Midlands Police had earlier said: 'A man has been arrested after two paramedics were stabbed at a property in Stephens Close, Wolverhampton today.' A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: 'Two members of ambulance service staff have been stabbed after attending a call out to check on the welfare of a man in Wolverhampton. 'The initial call came through at around 12.15pm this lunchtime to an address in Stephens Close. 'Shortly after arrival, the crew used their emergency alert to say that they had been stabbed. 'Three additional ambulances, two Midlands Air Ambulances and the West Midlands Care Team attended the scene along with three paramedic officers. 'The two members of staff, both paramedics, have been treated at the scene by doctors and paramedics and have been taken to hospital for further treatment. 'A man who was Tasered by police officers at the scene has also been treated by ambulance staff. 'More details will be released later.' Three people have died and five are believed missing after a mid-air collision over a lake in Idaho. The planes - a Cessna TU206G and a de Havilland DHC-2 - collided at 2:20pm on Sunday over Lake Coeur d'Alene, a 25 mile-long stretch of water in the Pacific Northwest. Two bodies were recovered immediately from the water at the crash site, and a third later on at the bottom of the lake, the Kootenai County sheriff's office told DailyMail.com. The planes have been located under 127 feet of water. One of the aircraft was a float plane operated by Brooks Seaplanes of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which operates scenic flights over Lake Coeur d' Alene, the sheriff's office said. That plane was carrying five passengers, including three children, and a pilot, the sheriff's office said. The second airplane was a Cessna 206 that was carrying at least two people, the sheriff's office said. Carissa Lehmkuhl was boating on the lake when the accident happened. 'Two of my friends in the boat screamed bloody murder,' she told ABC's local affiliate, KXLY. Two planes collided above Lake Coeur dAlene on Sunday, leaving three dead and five missing 'I saw the rest of the explosion and all the debris falling down.' She said their boat and another were the first on the scene, in between Black Bay and Powderhorn Bay, south of Coeur d'Alene and across from Rockford Bay. She said they 'spotted two bodies pretty fast. 'Two of the guys in our boat jumped out and held the bodies from floating away.' It was not immediately clear what may have led to the crash. David Kilmer, whose house overlooks the lake, said he witnessed the aftermath of the crash. 'My wife, Rebecca, saw a fireball and wings flying out of the fireball,' he told the Coeur d'Alene Press. 'She said: "I just saw a plane explode," so we went to the scene.' A de Havilland DHC-2, like the one pictured, collided with another plane on Sunday in Idaho The second plane involved was a Cessna TU206G, like the one pictured Kilmer said that 20-30 boaters came to the scene to assist in the recovery. Crews from Worley Fire, Coeur d'Alene Fire and Eastside Fire departments also assisted at the scene. 'It was a great response by recreational boaters,' Kilmer said. 'There were so many people on the lake doing whatever they could to help recover what they could. There was nothing left of the plane that was floating.' Kilmer added that the lake was busy on the Independence Day holiday weekend. 'We've seen a lot of planes in the air all day,' Kilmer said. 'There were a lot of planes and people out enjoying the weekend. There was nothing we were able to do.' Higgins also praised the help of boaters on the scene who tried to help before authorities showed up. 'With the Fourth of July weekend, it was a nice sunny day with hundreds of boats out. 'As most boaters know, we can't be there for everything as we only have so many boats. The boaters really rely on the other boaters and do the best they could to help each other out.' Lake Coeur d'Alene attracts tourists to Idaho to go out on the lake in boats or hike the shore Kootenai County sheriff's office said they believed there were eight people on the planes, and no survivors. 'We're working on sonar and dive operations as we speak, but at this point we've gone to a rescue from a rescue to a recovery mode,' said Lt. Ryan Higgins, from the Kootenai County sheriff's office. There was a 'pretty bad oil slick' at the scene after the crash, he said Authorities are at Sunup Bay Boat Launch in Worley. The area is closed and will remain shut down through Monday morning. Jeffrey Epsteins brother is insisting that the pedophile financier was murdered and is demanding an investigation into his death after a coroner ruled he died by suicide in jail while awaiting child trafficking charges. Mark Epstein says he does not believe his brother committed suicide in his Metropolitan Correctional Center jail cell on August 10, citing how three bones in his neck were broken in an unusual fashion. 'I believe my brother was murdered. I want to know what kind of investigation they did. I have no indication that there was one,' Mark Epstein said to The Sun. 'They said the cause of death was pending. Just five days later they said it was suicide,' he added. Mark Epstein (left) insists that his brother Jeffrey Epstein (right) was murdered and is demanding an investigation into his death. Jeffrey Epstein, 66, died in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019 and his death has been ruled a suicide The New York City medical examiner ruled Epsteins death as a suicide by hanging after he was found with sheets wrapped around his neck. He died two weeks after he was placed on suicide watch at the jail. Dubious of the results, Epsteins brother hired pathologist Michael Baden to oversee the autopsy. Baden says Epstein died of homicidal strangulation rather than suicidal hanging. Attorney General William Barrs investigators also concluded that Epstein took his own life, but Epstein's brother insists the probe missed key evidence. 'I hired a very well-respected forensic pathologist, Dr Michael Baden, who is an expert on people being killed and the deaths being written off as suicide, to make an independent evaluation,' Mark revealed. The disgraced financier was found dead two weeks after he was placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Correction Center (above) in New York Epsteins brother hired pathologist Michael Baden to oversee the autopsy. Baden says Epstein died of homicidal strangulation rather than suicidal hanging. Baden pictured interview on Dr. Oz in January 'There were three broken bones in my brothers neck. 'Dr Baden says when you hang yourself and your feet are dangling, you are likely to break bones, but he says he has never seen three broken bones in kind of soft hanging that supposedly killed Jeffrey,' he added. Epsteins legal team voiced similar suspicion over his death, noting he had a bail hearing coming up and had agreed to be on house arrest and to pay for armed guards to assure he remained in custody. The disgraced financiers death was a huge blow in the investigation into his child trafficking charges, where he was accused of procuring underage girls for his rich and powerful friends and himself. Epsteins former girlfriend and confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, was arrested on Thursday in New Hampshire on six charges of sex trafficking and perjury in connection to the alleged trafficking ring Epsteins former girlfriend and confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, was arrested on Thursday in New Hampshire on six charges of sex trafficking and perjury in connection to the alleged trafficking ring. She previously denied all wrongdoing and faces 35 years in jail if convicted. Mark Epstein has refused to comment on Maxwell's arrest. A source close to Epstein says Maxwell's life may also be at risk now that shes in custody. 'She will be very-well guarded, but I wont be surprised if she dies and it is announced that she killed herself,' the anonymous source said. The source also revealed that Epstein had threatened before his arrest that he had damning information on his rich and powerful friends including President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton. More British women who claim to have been abused by Jeffrey Epstein have come forward as Prince Andrew was accused of playing a 'cat and mouse game' with the FBI to avoid being questioned. The American lawyer representing 16 of Epstein victims, Gloria Allred, has said the Duke of York must 'of course' speak to the US authorities about his friendship with the paedophile. Ms Allred has suggested that Prince Andrew might want to speak to the FBI last night before his friend Ghislaine Maxwell starts 'naming names' after she was arrested last week. She said: 'He's playing a cat and mouse game. Does Prince Andrew want it presented to him on a silver platter with footmen delivering this invitation from the justice department to come and be interviewed?' She said that more British women had come forward to make claims against Epstein's estate and said: 'I have now more victims contacting me in the last few days who have never come forward before.' Prince Andrew (pictured during his BBC Newsnight interview last year) is under increasing pressure to give evidence to the FBI about Jeffrey Epstein - lawyer Gloria Allred says Andrew wants an invitation 'on a silver platter' Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, aged 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London and the Duke of York is in a war of words with the US authorities and the royal insists he is willing to speak to them about Jeffrey Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell will be 'naming names' and 'fully co-operating' with the FBI and Prince Andrew is among those 'very worried' about what she might reveal, a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein has claimed (Epstein and Maxwell are pictured together in New York in 2005) Pressure is mounting on Prince Andrew to speak to the FBI last night before Maxwell starts 'naming names'. How Duke of York's annual meetings with Epstein including after he was sent to jail caused Prince Andrew decades of trouble Here is a timeline of the duke's relationship with Epstein. - 1999 Andrew first meets Epstein, reportedly introduced through his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell. Andrew welcomes Epstein to the Queen's private Scottish retreat in Aberdeenshire. Andrew later says he sees Epstein 'infrequently', adding 'probably no more than only once or twice a year'. - 2000 Andrew and Ms Maxwell are seen on holiday with Epstein at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Epstein and Ms Maxwell attend a party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew's 40th birthday, the Princess Royal's 50th, the Queen Mother's 100th and Princess Margaret's 70th. - 2001 Virginia Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew 'three times, including one orgy', with the first encounter allegedly taking place in Ms Maxwell's London townhouse. Ms Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew on two more occasions, at Epstein's New York home and at an 'orgy' on his private island in the Caribbean. - 2008 Epstein admits prostituting minors and is sentenced to 18 months in prison. - 2010 Epstein is released from jail. Andrew is photographed with the disgraced Epstein in New York's Central Park. Footage emerges years later, reportedly shot on December 6 2010, showing him inside Epstein's Manhattan mansion, from where he is seen looking out from a large door of the property waving a woman goodbye after Epstein leaves to get into a chauffeur-driven car. - 2011 The duke quits his role as UK trade envoy after the fallout from the Central Park photos. - 2015 Buckingham Palace denies Andrew has committed any impropriety after he is named in US court documents related to Epstein. A woman, later named in reports as Ms Roberts, alleges in papers filed in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Andrew, in his first public engagement since he was embroiled in the allegations, responds, saying: 'Firstly I think I must, and want, for the record, to refer to the events that have taken place in the last few weeks. 'I just wish to reiterate, and to reaffirm, the statements that have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace.' In April the claims against Andrew are struck from US civil court records following a federal judge's ruling. - 2019 Newly released legal documents show that Johanna Sjoberg, another alleged Epstein victim, claimed Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire's Manhattan apartment in 2001. Buckingham Palace said the allegations are 'categorically untrue'. Epstein is found dead in his jail cell on August 10, having killed himself after being charged with sex trafficking. Later that month a pilot on Epstein's private jet claims Andrew was a passenger on past flights with the financier and Ms Roberts. The Sun newspaper reported that David Rodgers said in a testimony released in August that Epstein, Andrew and the-then 17-year-old travelled to the US Virgin Islands on April 11 2001. Buckingham Palace describes the evidence statement as having 'a number of inconsistencies' and said that Andrew was on a different continent in some cases. Following Epstein's death, a statement from the palace says that Andrew is 'appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes'. Breaking his silence on the issue for the first time since 2015, Andrew then releases a statement on August 24 saying: 'At no stage during the limited time I spent with him (Epstein) did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.' On November 16, the prince gave a 'disastrous' BBC interview in which he spoke about his friendship with Epstein and addressed allegations of his own sexual conduct. He faced a barrage of criticism following his television appearance, with the royal accused of a lack of empathy with Epstein's victims. During the interview, Andrew, questioned by Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, twice stated his relationship with Epstein, who died in jail while facing sex trafficking charges, had some 'seriously beneficial outcomes', giving him the opportunity to meet people and prepare for a future role as a trade envoy. The duke denied he slept with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, on three separate occasions, twice while she was underage, saying one encounter in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express in Woking for a party. The same alleged sexual liaison, which the American said began with the royal sweating heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp, was factually wrong as the duke said he had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat. He cast doubt on the authenticity of a picture that appears to show Andrew with his arm around the waist of Mrs Giuffre, when a teenager. 2020 Ghislaine Maxwell is arrested in New Hampshire as pressure grows on Andrew to speak to the FBI. Advertisement Ms Allred said: 'If Miss Maxwell decides that she is going to co-operate and talk about Prince Andrew... Prince Andrew might want to get to the prosecutors first. 'If she is interested in a deal then she is going to have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in everything that she is asked and that would be Prince Andrew, what she saw him do, or observe or knew he did when they were together in reference to Jeffrey Epstein. 'Prince Andrew, when he was in that house, saw young girls coming and going constantly when he was there. 'What did he think they were doing there, why were they there, did he speak to them was he involved with them at all or even with adult young women there?' 'I have now more victims contacting me in the last few days who have never come forward before.' Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison for child sex charges after officers swooped on her US bolthole on Thursday. Yesterday one former associate of her late paedophile boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein predicted she would fully co-operate with the authorities in a bid to reduce any future jail time, adding: 'There's a lot of people very worried. She knows everything.' And Ms Allred said yesterday: 'If Miss Maxwell decides that she is going to co-operate and talk about Prince Andrew... Prince Andrew might want to get to the prosecutors first.' Ghislaine Maxwell sobbed 'why is this happening, how could this happen?' when she appeared in court last week, claims Epstein sex abuse victim Virginia Roberts. Maxwell appeared in court in the US on Thursday accused of helping disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein 'identify, befriend and groom' multiple girls, including one as young as 14. Due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic reporters could only listen-in to proceedings. Virginia Roberts, now known by her married name Giuffre, said you could hear a 'very loud British woman screaming why is this happening, how is this happening ,how could this happen' in court. She said that Maxwell was sobbing on the phone call to the court, reporters who listened in were unable to determine for certain it was her. Indeed, some reporters said that the British voice that sounded upset was different to Maxwell's voice when she answered questions and identified herself to the judge on the call. And the voice did not sound like she had been sobbing moments before. Virginia alleges Prince Andrew had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law. In an interview with 60 minutes, she said: 'Prince Andrew should be panicking at the moment because Ghislaine doesn't really care about anyone else but Ghislaine. I think he would be quite shook up.' The duke's allies insisted he wants to 'do his best', claiming he had tried unsuccessfully to break the deadlock with US prosecutors three times in the past month. The comments came as former Epstein associate Steven Hoffenberg, a convicted fraudster who worked with the financier in the 1980s, said of Maxwell: 'She's going to co-operate and be very important. There's a lot of people very worried. She knows everything. She'll totally co-operate.' Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents six of Epstein's victims, said it was 'highly likely' Maxwell, 58, would strike a plea deal with prosecutors. Another lawyer representing more Epstein victims, Spencer Kuvin, agreed. 'I think [Maxwell] will talk,' he said. 'She will be in panic mode, and will want to do anything to get a lighter sentence. For anyone who has culpability for anything over the past 10-15 years, I'd be nervous.' Chillingly, he added: 'I don't think she is going to get out of jail alive. I said the same thing about Jeffrey Epstein and people laughed at me. I think she knows way too much... I just have this gut feeling.' Epstein hanged himself in his cell last August while awaiting trial on child sex charges. His guards were found to have faked records saying they had checked in on him. Conspiracy theories abound that Epstein was killed to stop him talking about his powerful friends. Prince Andrew stayed with Epstein at his mansions in New York, Florida and the Caribbean, where women have claimed they were abused. He also flew on Epstein's private jet, nicknamed the 'Lolita Express'. However, he insisted last year that he never saw, witnesses or suspected 'any behaviour of the sort' that led to Epstein's arrest and conviction for child sex offences. London mayor Sadiq Khan was among those urging the duke to talk to US officials, telling LBC: 'I think it's really important for those of us in positions of power and influence to lead by example. 'We shouldn't lose sight of... who the victims are. The victims were children at the time, vulnerable children, young women, and it's really important that anybody who's got information helps the FBI and that includes Prince Andrew as well.' Mrs Allred, who represents five Epstein victims, told Good Morning Britain: 'I'm just so tired of the excuses. The victims want the truth. We know that Prince Andrew was at Epstein's home in London and in Manhattan and elsewhere, so he is an important person, and if Miss Maxwell decides that she is going to co-operate and talk about Prince Andrew and what he did there, Prince Andrew might want to get to the prosecutors first.' Yesterday sources close to the duke, 60, claimed he wants 'to do his best to offer his assistance as a witness'. They insisted his legal team had been proactive, sending three emails in the past month to the Americans to 'open negotiations' to discuss the terms under which he might give a witness statement. The last contact was made within the past few days but there has been no response, the sources said. The FBI has made no secret of its wish to meet Andrew face-to-face and question him under oath suggesting a statement drafted with his lawyers would not suffice. One insider said Andrew and his team were puzzled as to why other high-profile men linked to Epstein were not being pursued with the same vigour. 'It seems like the duke is a high-profile scalp for the Department of Justice and they are using his name to rattle cages and look like they are actively doing something,' they said. Appearing in an interview with 60 minutes (pictured) Ms Giuffre said Prince Andrew would be 'panicking' Armed officers smashed down the front door of Ghislaine Maxwells secret New Hampshire hideaway before hauling her off in handcuffs Andrew's immediate fate is in the hands of Home Office officials, who must decide whether to grant US officials' request for 'mutual legal assistance' made in April. Epstein killed himself last August before facing trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges Under the terms of a 1994 treaty between the US and UK, this could see the duke forced to give evidence in a courtroom. A specialist unit of civil servants within the Home Office is 'processing' the request 'via the normal channels', sources said. Once their recommendation has been made, the final ruling is expected to be made by Home Secretary Priti Patel. With no time limit attached to the request, officials may not wish to rush their decision. They may also hope the prince resolves the situation himself. British socialite Maxwell now faces six federal charges including child abuse, trafficking and perjury. She was said to have spent the first day following her arrest at Merrimack County Jail in Boscawen, New Hampshire. She will eventually be transferred to Manhattan, where she could end up in the same jail where Epstein, 66, killed himself. She was arrested in a secluded property in the New Hampshire, fittingly called 'TuckedAway'. The Mail can reveal it was bought via limited company Granite Reality, which was established on November 18 last year. This was one day after Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview, intended to clear up his relationship with Epstein but which led to him quitting frontline royal duties. Maxwell has already made one brief court appearance in New Hampshire but has not entered any plea to allegations relating to three girls, one as young as 14 and another in London. She allegedly befriended schoolgirls and took them shopping before luring them into Epstein's clutches, as well as abusing them herself. She has previously denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Virginia Roberts, who claims she was Epstein's teenage sex slave and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times, thanked the FBI for arresting 'an evil monster'. Miss Roberts whose claims the prince strenuously denies added: 'When I got the call, I was elated, crying tears of joy, laughing... finally, we got her. This woman found me, groomed me, abused me and handed me over to Jeffrey an Sweden has ordered its health authorities to be prepared for a second wave of coronavirus cases this autumn. The Nordic country says deaths and critical cases have come down despite its controversial decision to reject lockdown measures - but ministers warn that Sweden could be 'flooded by a second wave of infections' within months. Sweden has long boasted that its lockdown-free strategy is more durable because softer restrictions will be accepted for longer, but officials said today that 'regional regulations' could be put in place if worrying outbreaks spring up locally. The government has faced growing criticism of its strategy in recent weeks, with Sweden's infection rate still high while most of Europe is exiting lockdown. Sweden's daily coronavirus deaths (in red) have gradually come down in recent weeks, as shown by the rolling seven-day average (in blue) - but ministers are warning of a second wave Daily cases (in yellow) have been higher in recent weeks (with the seven-day rolling average in blue), but the Swedish government says this is because of higher testing rates Some days are blank because Sweden has stopped releasing figures at weekends Sweden's health minister Lena Hallengren said today that the number of people seriously ill with Covid-19 was continuing on a 'gratifying' downward trend. The total number of new cases was higher in June than in May, but Sweden says this is because of higher testing rates and that the number in intensive care is down. 'At the same time, we must prepare for the spread of infection to flare up again,' health minister Hallengren said. 'Then it is important that we have as good an emergency preparedness as possible to minimise the effects.' Writing in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Hallengren and two other ministers said Sweden should be 'well prepared for all conceivable scenarios'. 'We do not know when this global pandemic is over. We do not know how we will be affected this autumn,' they wrote. 'We do not know if Sweden will be flooded by a wide second wave of infections or if we will see several smaller local outbreaks in different parts of Sweden. 'As with most things in this pandemic, we are constantly learning more about both the evolution of the virus and how it is being fought.' Various government agencies have been tasked with drawing up plans for possible autumn outbreaks - with the Public Health Authority instructed to look at 'regional regulations where the infection is at its worst'. Sweden has never gone further than banning care home visits and closing some schools, with bars and shops staying open throughout the crisis. People walk and sunbathe on a jetty in Malmo last month in a country which has never gone into lockdown - sparking criticism as Sweden's death toll rose far above that of its neighbours Health officials have previously said that a wider lockdown would have been useless in preventing care home deaths. The country's National Board of Health and Welfare has been ordered to 'assess what interventions are required in health care and social services'. Sweden has confirmed 73,061 cases and 5,433 deaths since the pandemic began and its per-capita infection rate is one of the highest in Europe. Denmark has seen only 607 deaths, with 329 recorded in Finland and 251 in Norway - all of which are about half as large as Sweden. Deaths in Sweden were down to 140 last week, from 227 the week before. But both figures are higher than the 55 deaths which far more populous Germany suffered last week or the 123 deaths that were recorded in Italy. The worryingly high numbers have led some European countries to keep their borders closed to Swedes even as they start to reboot their tourism industries. Sweden is not on the UK's list of 'travel corridor' countries, meaning people travelling from Sweden to England will still have to quarantine for 14 days after July 10. By contrast, Denmark, Finland and Norway are all on Britain's approved list and the UK Foreign Office is no longer advising against all but essential travel there. The size of the outbreak has also led to growing criticism at home, damaging the government's faith that its strategy would command consent. Officials cite the 'high level of trust in government agencies' in Sweden as a reason for recommending health measures rather than enforcing them. Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell (pictured) has championed the country's lockdown-free strategy, questioning the measures imposed by other countries Last week Sweden announced a commission to evaluate its response to the pandemic, which has been championed by top virologist Anders Tegnell. Tegnell has defended his strategy and questioned the lockdowns imposed by other countries, and insisted that Sweden's health system has not been overwhelmed by the crisis - but admitted that the death toll is too high. Discussing a possible autumn spike, he said in April: 'If we're going to get a second wave in the fall with a lot of cases we could easily continue what we're doing today.' The commission has a broad mandate to look at how the virus arrived in Sweden, how it spread, the government's response, and the effect on equality. 'It is not a question of whether Sweden is going to change as a result of this - the question is how,' prime minister Stefan Lofven told a news conference last week. The commission will report on elderly care at the end of November, although its final conclusions are not due until 2022, ahead of a national election. The government has also pledged a further 5.9 billion crowns (500million) to increase testing and widen contact tracing across the country. Sweden has previously touted hopes that the spread of the disease in Stockholm could build up herd immunity among the population. This is achieved when enough people are immune from a disease that it will not pass through the population and even those who are not immune are shielded. However, the extent to which people become immune after recovering from the new coronavirus remains a matter of considerable uncertainty. Tegnell had claimed in April that up to 20 per cent of Stockholm residents were already immune, but a study released in May found the figure was only 7.3 per cent. The World Health Organization has warned against pinning hopes on herd immunity. Research into a vaccine remains ongoing. South Africa: Support for artists saving livelihoods The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has provided much-needed support to over 2 000 practitioners in the creative industry. The department has a R150-million relief fund to assist artists, athletes, technical personnel and the core ecosystem of the sector, whose gigs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 induced shutdown. We remain resolute in improving the quality of life for South Africans, in spite of the huge socio-economic impediments brought on by the restrictions of COVID-19. We know that as a department, ours is to save the lives of our sectors practitioners so that they can utilise their skills to better their lives and those of our communities, the department said. One of the beneficiaries of the relief fund, author and musician Loyiso Lindani, could not stop singing the departments praises. Lindani has since signed a purchase order for her books, thanks to the money from the department. I used the relief funds to pay for expenses and I am now selling copies. "The book I published, titled How HIV Saved My Life, is listed on the South African Publishers Network. The funds assisted in paying that off. The book is also listed with the National Library of South Africa, where we obtained its International Standard Book Number. I want to thank the DSAC [Department of Sport, Arts and Culture]," said Lindani. Meanwhile, the department said it has noted concerns raised by the sector about the delays in processing the applications. We are empathetic to the impact of our lengthy processes. Laborious as this exercise was to our sector, the principles of empathy, responsiveness and agility became the cornerstone of our measurement framework of engaging the sector as we move forward. The department said it would be exploring the possibility of a second application process. For ease of reference, the updated list of beneficiaries and digital applications can be found on our official website published on 6 July 2020. Furthermore, we will continue to update the nation on developments pertaining to the COVID-19 Relief Fund, as we have consistently done along the way. In line with the National Development Plans 2030 vision, the department said it intends to build a cohesive society in which everyone has access to sport, arts and culture resources, facilities and opportunities. While COVID-19 has robbed our industry of gaining fruitful employment, this challenge has further inspired us to ensure that our mandate becomes even more pronounced, the department said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), or the "new third board," saw total funds raised climb 17.43 percent in the first half of this year (H1) compared to the preceding six-month period as it undergoes market-oriented reform. Companies listed on the NEEQ raised 10.63 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, and all 10 of its benchmark indices were higher at the end of June than the beginning of this year. China's securities regulator outlined a series of reform measures last October to better orient the NEEQ to the needs and features of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and support the high-quality growth of the real economy. The reform will create a new tier for best-performing companies at the NEEQ and allow them to be listed on the stock exchanges, as long as they meet public offering requirements. The measures have encouraged 199 NEEQ-listed companies to announce plans for public offerings and join the best-performing tier, with 70 applications now processing, according to the NEEQ. The reform is yielding positive results as quality firms are increasingly willing to remain listed on the board, said the NEEQ, citing data that 27 companies have canceled plans to withdraw from the NEEQ in the January-June period. Launched in 2013, the NEEQ supplements the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and offers SMEs a financing channel with low costs and simple listing procedures. By the end of June, the NEEQ had 8,547 listed companies, including 1,189 on the innovation tier and 7,358 on the base tier, and over 1.3 million investors. [ Editor: WPY ] In his Facebook post, Booker said that he apologized after the men told him they were trespassing, but that five white men then attacked him. Booker wrote that the men threatened to break his arms and said, get a noose, while telling his friends to leave the area. He also said one of the men had a hat with a Confederate flag on it and that the men made statements about white power. German prosecutors on Monday demanded three years in jail for a 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard who they said was 'without a doubt' complicit in the murder of more than 5,000 people during World War II. In what could be one of the last such cases of surviving Nazi guards, Bruno Dey stands accused of complicity in the murder of 5,230 people when he worked at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland. Dey, who appeared in court in Hamburg in a wheelchair and wearing a black trilby, has denied any guilt for what happened at the camp. Bruno Dey, a former SS-watchman at the Stutthof concentration camp, hides his face behind a folder as he arrives on a wheelchair into a courtroom for a hearing in his trial on June 5 (File image). German prosecutors on Monday demanded three years in jail for the 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard But chief prosecutor Lars Mahnke said Dey knew about the 'state-organised mass murder' happening around him and should have climbed down from the tower and handed in his weapon. 'He knew without a doubt what was going on,' Mahnke said, accusing Dey of having contributed to 'barely describable crimes' that evoked 'horror and shame' over what human beings are capable of doing to one another. Dey's defence has insisted he did not join the SS voluntarily before serving at the camp from August 1944 to April 1945, ending up assigned there because a heart condition excluded him from frontline service. In what could be one of the last such cases of surviving Nazi guards, Bruno Dey stands accused of complicity in the murder of 5,230 people when he worked at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland, Above, Bruno Dey hides his face behind a folder in a courtroom during a hearing in his trial on June 5 in Hamburg, Germany But prosecutors argue that his involvement was crucial to the killings, as his time in the SS coincided with the 'Final Solution' order to systematically exterminate Jews through gassing, starvation or denial of medical care. Dey is standing trial at a juvenile court because he was aged between 17 and 18 at the time. During his testimony in May, Dey told the court that he wanted to forget his time at the camp. 'I don't want to keep going over the past,' he told the Hamburg tribunal. Dey's defence has insisted he did not join the SS voluntarily before serving at the camp from August 1944 to April 1945, ending up assigned there because a heart condition excluded him from frontline service. Above, Bruno Dey seated next to his lawyer Stefan Waterkamp (left) during his trial on June 25 Judge Anna Meier-Goering had asked whether Dey had spoken to his children and grandchildren about the time he stood guard at Stutthof. 'I don't bear any guilt for what happened back then,' Dey said. 'I didn't contribute anything to it, other than standing guard. But I was forced to do it, it was an order.' Prosecutor Mahnke said Dey could be proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 'He cannot be proud that he looked away at the decisive moment,' he said. Dey acknowledged last year that he had been aware of the camp's gas chambers and admitted seeing 'emaciated figures, people who had suffered', but insisted he was not guilty. The Nazis set up the Stutthof camp in 1939, initially using it to detain Polish political prisoners. But it ended up holding 110,000 detainees, including many Jews. Some 65,000 people perished in the camp. Dey, who now lives in Hamburg, became a baker after the war. Married with two daughters, he supplemented his income by working as a truck driver, before later taking on a job in building maintenance. He came into prosecutors' sights after a landmark 2011 ruling against former Sobibor camp guard John Demjanjuk on the basis that he was part of the Nazi killing machine. Dey acknowledged last year that he had been aware of the camp's gas chambers and admitted seeing 'emaciated figures, people who had suffered', but insisted he was not guilty. Above, Bruno Dey hides his face behind a folder as he waits in a courtroom for the start of another hearing in his trial on June 19 Since then, Germany has been racing to put on trial surviving SS personnel on those grounds rather than for murders or atrocities directly linked to the individual accused. Ukrainian-American Demjanjuk was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of nearly 30,000 Jews at the Sobibor death camp. He died while his appeal was pending. The court ruled that as a guard at the camp, he was automatically implicated in killings carried out there at the time. The case set a legal precedent and prompted several further convictions of Nazi officers, including that of the 'bookkeeper of Auschwitz' Oscar Groening. He died aged 96 before he could be jailed. A federal judge sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Monday and ordered the controversial Dakota Access pipeline shut down until more environmental review is done. In a 24-page order, US District Judge James Boasberg wrote that he was 'mindful of the disruption' that shutting down a pipeline that has been in operation for three years would cause, but that it must be done within 30 days. His order comes after he said in April that the pipeline remained 'highly controversial' under federal environmental law, and a more extensive review was necessary than the assessment that was done. 'Clear precedent favoring vacatur during such a remand coupled with the seriousness of the Corps' deficiencies outweighs the negative effects of halting the oil flow for the thirteen months that the Corps believes the creation of an EIS will take,' Boasberg wrote Monday. Boasberg had ordered both parties to submit briefs on whether the pipeline should continue operating during the new environmental review. The image above shows construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Morton County, North Dakota. A federal judge on Monday ordered the pipeline shut down while the Army Corps of Engineers conducts a thorough environmental review The pipeline was the subject of months of protests, sometimes violent, during its construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The underground pipeline was built underneath the Missouri River. The tribe draws its water from the river and fears pollution. The Standing Rock tribe presses litigation against the pipeline even after it began carrying oil from North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa and to a shipping point in Illinois in June 2017. Tribal Chairman Mike Faith called it a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux and for those who have protested against the $3.8billion, 1,172-mile underground pipeline that crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the reservation. The tribe draws its water from the river and fears pollution. 'This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning,' Faith said in a statement. Jan Hasselman, an attorney for the Standing Rock tribe, tweeted news of Boasberg's ruling and said: 'Stunning.' Texas-based Energy Transfer, the pipeline owner, has insisted the pipeline would be safe. It didnt immediately respond to a message seeking comment about Boasbergs ruling. Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, called the ruling 'shocking' and noted that the pipeline is moving 570,000 barrels of Bakken oil a day. 'I think there's a lot of questions about the authority of this liberal district court judge to make such a significant ruling,' Ness said of Boasberg, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. 'There is no doubt that the lawyers are all gearing up and looking at every possibility of a stay or an appeal or something.' The $3.8billion, 1,172-mile underground pipeline crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the Standing Rock reservation. The tribe draws its water from the river and fears pollution. Energy Transfer insisted the pipeline would be safe. The company last year proposed doubling the capacity from 600,000 barrels per day to as much as 1.1 million barrels meet growing demand for oil shipments from North Dakota, without the need for additional pipelines or rail shipments. The pipeline's construction was met with fierce protests in 2016 and 2017 as supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe demonstrated to demand that the project be halted Before the coronavirus pandemic devastated the US oil industry, daily oil production in North Dakota - the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas - was at a near-record 1.45 million barrels daily. The state's output has slipped to below 1 million barrels daily amid low energy prices and sparse demand. The US Army Corps of Engineers in 2018 completed more than a year of additional study of the pipeline, saying the work substantiated its earlier determination that the pipeline poses no significant environmental threats. Boasberg in June 2017 ruled that the Corps 'largely complied' with environmental law when permitting the pipeline but ordered more review because he said the agency didn't adequately consider how an oil spill under the Missouri River might affect the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's fishing and hunting rights, or whether it might disproportionately affect the tribal community. That concept, known as environmental justice, aims to ensure development projects aren't built in areas where minority populations might not have the resources to defend their rights. Permits for the project were originally rejected by the Obama administration, and the Corps prepared to conduct a full environmental review. In February 2017, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, the Corps scrapped the review and granted permits for the project, concluding that running the pipeline under the Missouri River posed no significant environmental issues. The Corps said that opinion was validated after an additional year of review, as ordered by the court. A 13-year-old girl died and her eight-year-old brother was critically injured after they fell out of a speeding car that was carjacked by a man while her parents were buying food inside a Los Angeles area restaurant. Jose Aguilar, 26, jumped behind the wheel of a family van with four children inside after the parents left the keys in the ignition so that the air conditioning kept running while they went to get food, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. The incident took place at around 2pm near the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Lindsey Avenue in Pico Rivera on Sunday afternoon. Investigators said that Aguilar got into the vehicle and started yelling at the four children, demanding that they get out. Vamanos! the suspect is alleged to have yelled in Spanish. Isabella Cortes, 13, has been identified as the girl who suffered fatal injuries after falling out of a carjacked vehicle in Pico Rivera, California, on Sunday afternoon Before the children were able to safely exit the vehicle, the suspect drove off from the location at a high rate of speed, authorities said in a news release. Immediately afterwards, the side doors to the van slid open. According to the LASD, an 18-year-old sibling inside the van started fighting with Aguilar before she and her 11-year-old brother got out of the vehicle. They both sustained minor injuries. The suspect then sped up, reaching speeds as high as 60 miles per hour. Investigators said the eight-year-old boy was forcefully ejected from the van. Immediately afterward, the 13-year-old girl, Isabella Cortes, also fell out of the moving van, though it is unclear if she jumped out or was pushed out. Investigators said Cortes struck a stationary object after falling out of the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Aguilar is alleged to have kept on driving at a high rate of speed down Whittier Boulevard when he collided with another vehicle that was driving southbound at the intersection of Whittier and Rosemead Boulevards. No injuries resulted from this collision, according to the LASD. Aguilar is then alleged to have kept on driving northbound on Rosemead into the town of El Monte. Moments later, the van became disabled due to the damage suffered as a result from the earlier collision. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that Cortes' parents left her and her three young siblings inside the family van while they went inside to pick up food at a restaurant on Whittier Boulevard. The suspect jumped behind the wheel and started driving off LASD said Aguilar abandoned the disabled vehicle just south of San Gabriel Boulevard and ran northbound on foot toward the Whittier Narrow Recreation Area. Aguilar is then alleged to have attempted another carjacking after he saw a man exiting his vehicle and buying fruit at a fruit stand while his wife and child were still inside. The man who exited the vehicle put up resistance and started fighting Aguilar as they wrestled for control of the wheel, according to investigators. LASD said Aguilar and the man kept fighting while the car crept forward about 100 yards. The struggle eventually ended when the vehicle collided into a nearby bridge, according to LASD. Investigators allege Aguilar then left the vehicle and ran back towards the disabled van. He then is alleged to have tried to get the van working again so he could flee the scene. Nearby street vendors who witnessed the attempted carjacking detained Aguilar until LASD deputies arrived on the scene. Investigators said Aguilar sustained several injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. According to the LASD, Aguilar was arrested on charges of murder, carjacking, and kidnapping. LASD said Aguilar was on probation at the time of his arrest. He had previously been detained for felony possession of a dagger and vandalism and was released on zero bail. In June, California judicial leaders ended a statewide policy of imposing $0 bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies that reduced jail populations by more than 20,000 suspects during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The states Judicial Council said the policy helped ease crowding in jails, which are potential hot spots for spreading the virus. But it said a uniform statewide policy is no longer appropriate as the states 58 counties vary widely in how quickly they ease stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing spread of the virus. Law enforcement leaders had roundly criticized the bail reduction since it took effect in early April, with some publicizing examples where offenders were freed only to be quickly re-arrested. But public defenders said the $0 bail caused no significant increase in crime and should continue, particularly as the nation confronts racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. President Trump went after New York and Chicago in a series of tweets after gun violence gripped both Democrat-run cities over the Fourth of July weekend. 'This is no longer about peaceful protesting, this is about angry, violent, criminal mobs taking over certain (Democrat run) cities. It is a lack of political leadership in that city,' Trump said quoting Chad Wolf, his acting secretary of Homeland Security, who appeared Monday morning on 'Fox & Friends.' Trump tagged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in that tweet, but the president lumped in Chicago as well, tweeting that they both 'play the Sanctuary City card, where criminals are protected.' President Trump went after New York and Chicago in a series of tweets after both cities were rocked by gun violence over the Fourth of July holiday weekend President Trump quoted his acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf who made an appearance on 'Fox & Friends' Monday morning President Trump also suggested New York and Chicago's so-called 'Sanctuary City' status contributed to the uptick in gun violence Chicago police officers investigate the scene of a shooting in the city on Sunday. Scores of people were shot and wounded in the Windy City over the weekend 'Perhaps they will have to start changing their ways (and thinking!),' the president said. So-called sanctuary cities don't work with federal immigration enforcement to deport residents. Democrats argue communities are safer because undocumented people will be less hesitant to report crime. Trump has continually tried to link crime to cities' sanctury city status. There was no evidence that immigrants - nor Black Lives Matter activists - were predominantly responsible for the Fourth of July shootings. Chicago's CBS affiliate reported Monday morning that nearly 80 people had been shot in Chicago since Friday night. Fifteen people have died, while 12 of the shooting victims were minors. The youngest victim was 7-year-old Natalia Wallace, who was shot in the forehead when she was outside playing in a yard. On Sunday, Trump made similar statements aimed at New York and Chicago - saying he would send in federal resources if asked The president also criticized those pushing to defund the police. In the aftermath of George Floyd's death, activists have pushed to 'defund the police' - take money away from law enforcement and put it toward schools and social services In New York, 11 people were killed in two days. There were 30 shootings and 48 shooting victims. Ten were considered homicides, according to WABC. On Sunday evening, Trump made similar statements about the two cities. 'Democrats want to Defund & Abolish Police. This despite poor crime numbers in cities that they run. CRAZY!' the president wrote. Since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, which resulted in 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrations around the country and globally, activists have been saying they want to 'defund the police' - give less taxpayer money to law enforcement and reallocate it to schools and other community services. In another Sunday evening tweet, the president volunteered to send federal help to Chicago and New York to respond to the shooting sprees. 'Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!' Trump said. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require presidential electors to back their states popular vote winner in the Electoral College in a ruling that would squelch efforts by 'rogue' faithless electors in 2020. The court held unanimously that states are entitled to tell their electors they have 'no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens' after Washington State sought to slap $1,000 fines on electors who ignored their pledges. 'That direction accords with the Constitutionas well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule,' Justice Elena Kagan wrote. The ruling, just under four months before the 2020 election, leaves in place laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia that bind electors to vote for the popular-vote winner, and electors almost always do so anyway. So-called faithless electors have not been critical to the outcome of a presidential election, but that could change in a race decided by just a few electoral votes if they were allowed to go 'rogue.' But in 2016, ten electors went 'rogue' in an attempt to prevent Donald Trump getting their states' votes. They included Hillary Clinton supporters who believed that they could back a moderate Republican - John Kasich and Colin Powell were among those named - and get other Republicans to join them, preventing Trump winning the electoral college. The cases dealt with Monday were filed by three Hillary Clinton electors in Washington state and one in Colorado who refused to vote for her despite her popular vote win in both states. In so doing, they hoped to persuade enough electors in states won by Donald Trump to choose someone else and deny him the presidency. The Court ruled unanimously that states can impose the requirements on electors The effort failed, but raised the possibility of something similar happening in the future. The justices had scheduled arguments for the spring so they could resolve the issue before the election, rather than amid a potential political crisis after the country votes. 'Nothing in the Constitution expressly prohibits States from taking away presidential electors' voting discretion as Washington does. The Constitution is barebones about electors,' Kagan wrote. She rejected claims by petitioners who claimed the words 'vote' and 'elector' suggested that the members of the electoral college has 'agency' to choose for themselves. 'Suppose a person always votes in the way his spouse, or pastor, or union tells him to. We might question his judgment, but we would have no problem saying that he 'votes' or fills in a 'ballot.' In those cases, the choice is in someone else's hands, but the words still apply because they can signify a mechanical act,' she reasoned. When the court heard arguments by telephone in May because of the coronavirus outbreak, justices invoked fears of bribery and chaos if electors could cast their ballots regardless of the popular vote outcome in their states. Bret Chiafalo, a plaintiff in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, poses for a photo at Lake Stickney Park near his home in Lynnwood, Washington. He got fined $1,000 after breaking his pledge to vote for Hillary Clinton and throwing his vote to Colin Powell in a bid to hurt Donald Trump The federal appeals court in Denver ruled that electors can vote as they please, rejecting arguments that they must choose the popular-vote winner. In Washington, the state Supreme Court upheld a $1,000 fine against the three electors and rejected their claims. In all, there were 10 faithless electors in 2016; three in Colorado, a fourth in Washington, a Democratic elector in Hawaii and two Republican electors in Texas. In addition, Democratic electors who said they would not vote for Clinton were replaced in Maine and Minnesota. Bret Chiafalo, a delegate for Hillary Clinton, was among those electors who voted for Colin Powell instead and got fined $1,000 by Washington State. Another delegate, Michael Baca, had his vote canceled by Colorado officials after he voted for then-Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich instead of Clinton. The ruling came Monday as the Court extended its release of opinions into July during a term that has already seen rulings on abortion and gay rights which went against Trump's administration. The closest Electoral College margin in recent years was in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush received 271 votes to 266 for Democrat Al Gore. One elector from Washington, D.C., left her ballot blank. The Supreme Court played a decisive role in that election, ending a recount in Florida, where Bush held a 537-vote margin out of 6 million ballots cast. Alexander Hamilton The justices scheduled separate arguments in the Washington and Colorado cases after Justice Sonia Sotomayor belatedly removed herself from the Colorado case because she knows one of the plaintiffs. In asking the Supreme Court to rule that states can require electors to vote for the state winner, Colorado had urged the justices not to wait until 'the heat of a close presidential election.' The Constitution provides only a cursory explanation of their role. Kagan cited the way the Electoral College has functioned in practice since the Founders first created it, including during the first contested election in 1796. 'The selectors of an elector knew just what they were gettingnot someone who would deliberate in good Hamiltonian fashion, but someone who would vote for their party's candidate,' Kagan wrote. A psychologist who killed a bodybuilder with his own barbell in order to steal his 7,000 Rolex watch has been jailed for at least 32 years. Christopher McDonald, 35, who gained a first class degree in psychology, was out on a life licence when he attacked Paul Tong, 54, who was known as 'Yankee', with an exercise weight at his home in Ealing, west London, on April 19 2017. McDonald and his accomplice Aliysa Ellis, 31, had plotted to rob Mr Tong after catching sight of his designer clothes and the luxury timepiece which he kept in a box on his bedside table. The killer had recruited Ellis, a criminology graduate, to act as a 'decoy' and keep the victim distracted as he worked his way into the flat. However Mr Tong's body was found the next day partially covered by bedding at a 'contorted and unnatural angle' and his room had been ransacked. Christopher McDonald (left), 35, from Croydon, was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to rob and sentenced to at least 32 years. Meanwhile his co-defendant Aliysa Ellis (right), 31, from Ealing, was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob and jailed for 13 years The court heard how McDonald attacked Paul Tong, 54, with an exercise weight (pictured) at his home in Ealing, west London in 2017 A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Tong, who was of 'muscular build', had cuts and bruises on his head and body, broken ribs and a ruptured liver from 'blunt impacts'. Following a trial at the Old Bailey, McDonald from Croydon, south London, was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to rob. Meanwhile his co-defendant Ellis, from Ealing, was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob and jailed for 13 years by Judge John Hillen. The pair first stood trial last year but the case was halted after Ellis breached her bail by going out for a night on the town and failed to attend court the next day. McDonald, who once burgled his own grandmother while armed with a knife, was released from HMP Elmley on September 8, 2014. Jacob Hallam QC, prosecuting, told how Ellis sent him a series of text messages when she was with Mr Tong. Mr Hallam said:'It was rumoured that he had a substantial amount of money. The state of the room suggests that Mr Tong was killed by people who were seeking to find and take his money, his valuables and his drugs. 'When the police searched the room after his death, they found neither drugs, nor valuables, nor any notes.' He continued: 'Ms Ellis was an associate of Mr Tong's and she spent time with him on a number of occasions and on the day of his death. 'Mr McDonald in contrast was not someone known to Mr Tong but was instead an associate of Ms Ellis. 'Together, the Crown say, these defendants conspired to rob Paul Tong of the fruits of his criminality. 'Together, having gained access to Mr Tong's room on the night of 19 April 2017 the defendants put the conspiracy into effect and, in the course of doing, so subjected him to a blunt force assault, rupturing his liver and fracturing his ribs.' The pair, who first stood trial last year, were sentenced following a trial at the Old Bailey Margaret Newman, a friend of Mr Tong, told police his room was 'like an Aladdin's cave and said he had '12 pairs of designer sunglasses, belts and watches' which were displayed around the room and another expensive watch on a teddy bear. Ms Newman said: 'He had about four, five watches. He had jewellery; he always had jewellery. Anybody who came there he was showing off to. You could see belts, you could see glasses.' The victim's family sat in the well of the court as their statements were read and the killers appeared via video-link from custody today. 'All of [their statements] say the length of time the trial process has taken has been a cause of particular hardship to them in different ways and the family as a whole,' the prosecutor said. 'Neither of the defendants had the integrity or the decency to take responsibility for what they did and put the family through not one but two trials.' Diana Ellis QC, defending Ellis, said that she was able to 'facilitate' the robbery through her history of casual sex with the victim but had not known deadly violence would erupt. She acted as a 'decoy' for her accomplice but the QC said there was no evidence to suggest she was present at the time of the murder, having left the flat ten minutes before McDonald. Ms Ellis said: 'My lord has seen extensive psychiatric reports. It is clear from the recording made, the pocket call just after 9 o'clock, that Ms Ellis is telling Mr McDonald to leave. 'She left the house certainly 10 minutes before Mr McDonald. 'The clothing she was wearing didn't have any pockets and she didn't have a bag and all that may go to indicate her role after the departure. 'One may note she is charged with conspiracy to rob rather than the actual joint robbery itself. There can be no doubt that she was extremely distressed by the events. 'They (Ellis and Mr Tong) had casual sex on occasions and she was welcome in his house at this time. 'It just looks to be on her point of view an offence she was able to facilitate because of her relationship with Mr Tong but not one she contemplated would lead to any serious harm. 'If the jury had found she was present when McDonald was inflicting those injuries with the dung bell then surely they would have convicted her of murder. 'It was an offence that was chosen rather than the robbery as a joint action. 'We submit it would be wrong for her to be sentenced on the basis that she was present particularly when the evidence is that she had left before McDonlad and that there was nothing in her hands. 'If she was there when the real violence and mayhem took place surely they would have convicted her of murder. 'She did actually care for him and that when this awful event took place she was very troubled by it. 'He (McDonald) needed someone to be a decoy. Someone has to get entry (to the flat). She says she herself has lost someone she loved deeply.' Kerim Fuad, QC, defending McDonald, argued that the murderer stood a chance of reforming himself after release from prison 'albeit as a much older man.' Mr Fuad said: 'His behaviour throughout the trial has been, I submit, impeccable and courteous. 'The minimum term will place him in or close to his 70s before he can ask for parole. 'He's a father of three young children. As an individual he can positively contribute to society.Albeit as a much older man.' Judge John Hillen, sentencing, said the victim had been a drug-dealer with a criminal past but was 'much-loved' by friends and family including his aunt with whom he lived. The judge said: 'What really happened in that room on the evening of 19 April 2017 we may never really know unless one or both of you choose to reveal that. 'Paul Tong was a drug user and drug dealer. In the past he had been a thief and burglar and had served time in prison. But whatever his past, whatever it was that he was engaged in at the time of his death, he was someone who was a much loved character. 'A son, a father and a grandfather. And the most beloved nephew of Jocelyn Poole who looked after him as if he was her own and who wrongly of course feels guilt that she could not protect him from you, who took away his life. 'Despite his lifestyle he was an intelligent and highly entertaining man with a gift for friendship. 'You, Aliysa Ellis, were his friend and his lover. He trusted you, and you betrayed him. 'You were the person who knew where he kept his drugs and his money in his room, you knew he had valuables there, and in order to fund your own addiction and support your disordered lifestyle you decided to steal from him. 'Because of the level of security employed, although unsophisticated, stealing from him by way of a burglary in his absence or by a sneak thief, was not possible. The method had to use force or threat of force to him in his own home - a robbery. 'He was a strong and fit man and would easily have dealt with threats of violence from you Aliysa Ellis. You needed a strongman who was not afraid to back up threats with use of force, which was, as it turns out lethal. 'There's no evidence that you Christopher McDonald knew Paul Tong, on or before that evening. 'There's no evidence that either of you went armed with a weapon. There's no evidence that there was intention to kill, this was a robbery, by use of brute force if required. 'But that brute force must have included an intention to do harm. Because of Paul Tong's strength you must have thought would involve considerable force. 'You Aliysa Ellis ensured Paul Tong was alone and allowed you, Mr McDonald, to trick your way into his bedroom. It should not be forgotten that in that house was a vulnerable person, Ms Poole, the victim's elderly and infirm aunt. 'Having got into the house and into Paul Tong's bedroom, what happened was a violent struggle in which you, Mr McDonald, took up the weights and with an intention to do really serious bodily harm used them to crush his ribs, causing the internal bleeding and organ damage which led to his death. 'As he lay dying, you emptied the room of everything of value you could find. 'You Aliysa Ellis are a thoroughly callous person. Having returned to the address, you must have found him dead or dying. You failed to summon any medical assistance or to help him in any way. 'I've described you Christopher McDonald as a violent criminal. Violent and dangerous you certainly were. 'You've now been returned to serve your indeterminate sentence. You were unreformed, greedy, selfish and arrogant and prepared to use violence to secure your ends. 'You had no regard for others, whether it was the women you used or the victims of your crimes.' Coles and Woolworths removed nearly all buying restrictions at stores across Australia on Tuesday. There are no limits on products in Coles supermarkets, express store or online store, with Woolworths removing all restrictions except for a two-pack limit on toilet paper. Lifted restrictions from both supermarkets will be monitored over the coming weeks. 'We ask that customers continue to buy only what they need and observe all safety and physical distancing measures in our stores,' a Coles spokesman said. Coles will remove all buying restrictions on products for the public on Tuesday. Pictured: shoppers queue outside Coles at Firle in Adelaide in April Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said staff were working to ensure all customers have access to the products they need. 'We continue to see elevated demand in our supermarkets, but we have good stock levels continuing to flow through our warehouses and into stores,' she said. It comes as Victoria continues to battle a second wave of COVID-19, with 632 new patients since last Monday. A staff member from Woolworths West Footscray customer fulfilment centre tested positive for the virus on the weekend, which lead to 20 per cent of their Melbourne online orders being cancelled. Some staff have been told to self-isolate, with the centre deep cleaned to return to normal operations from Monday. Fifty Woolworths staff from their Balmain store in Sydney were forced to self-isolate after a staff member worked while infected with COVID-19 earlier this month. Woolworths have removed all limits except for a two pack limit on toilet paper. Pictured: a happy shopper leaves Woolworths in Balmain in March with toilet paper Woolworths has encouraged shoppers from hotspot areas to do their grocery shopping online, with nurses stationed across its hotspot stores. Coles has donated 2,000 boxes of groceries and fresh food to Melbourne residents who are confined to their apartments through coronavirus safety measures. Each of the boxes contains enough food to feed four people for three days and includes forms to request groceries for upcoming deliveries. 'Its been a huge effort by all involved to help the community - not just the store team but the supply chain and our suppliers,' Coles Chief Operations Officer Matt Swindells said. 'Well continue to work with the Victorian government to provide essentials to the residents of these buildings for as long as they need.' A 32-year-old mother who fell to her death from a moving rollercoaster at a theme park in France in front of her family was celebrating her son's second birthday, it was revealed today. Elodie Duval, who was at the Parc Saint-Paul theme park near Beauvais, slipped over the safety bar of the Formula 1 ride on Saturday. Elodie's husband Michael desperately tried to grab her foot but could not stop her falling, witnesses claim. Elodie Duval, 32, (pictured) fell to her death from a moving rollercoaster at a theme park in France in front of her family Elodie Duval, who was at the Parc Saint-Paul theme park near Beauvais for her son Allen's second birthday, slipped over the safety bar of a Formula 1 ride (File image of the Formula 1 ride) Firefighters tried to resuscitate her in the park but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was hurt. She was joined by her sister Laurianne, her husband Michael and her mother at the park to celebrate little Allen's birthday. Speaking to Mirror Online, Laurianne said that Allen had been told his mother had 'gone to heaven'. 'We explained to him that his mum had gone to heaven. He doesn't understand,' she said. The woman's husband desperately tried to grab her foot after she slipped over the safety bar on the Formula 1 ride (file image) '(Elodie) was an amazing person who brought a lot of love to her family. She was full of life. She was a fighter. Her son was her life.' She added that the family, from Verneuil-sur-Avre in Normandy, were 'devastated after losing such a beautiful angel.' Saturday's incident happened at around 1.45pm local time and was witnessed by parents and children, who were left devastated. An onlooker who was present at the time of Elodie's death said: 'My children wanted to get in the carousel, and we heard screaming, then I saw the lady, who was strong, fall. 'She went over the bar and her husband tried to catch her by the foot.' Elodie is understood to have been visiting the park (stock image, pictured) for the first time to celebrate her two-year-old son's birthday Another onlooker added: 'We have seen children feeling sick or crying. Some were at the top when the carousel stopped.' One witness paid tribute to Elodie on Facebook following the tragic incident. 'It is with great sadness that I just learned about Elodie's death in a terrible carousel accident,' they wrote. 'Our thoughts are with Michael, her companion, and little Allen their child, Laurianne her sister, their whole family and the medieval festival team in Verneuil-sur-Avre. 'Have a nice trip my beautiful, may the angels watch over you.' In 2009, a 35-year-old woman lost her life on the same ride due to her own 'inappropriate behaviour' and the park was not held responsible, local media reports. The park's manager Gilles Campion was ordered to pay damages and was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence for two other incidents. In 2005, the Nacelle rollercoaster broke loose. Four people were seriously injured after it slammed into a metal pole, Le Parisien reports. A similar incident left 11 people injured a month earlier. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned down a White House invitation to celebrate the new regional free trade agreement in Washington with U.S President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Trump and Lopez Obrador are due to meet Wednesday Washington, but Trudeau spokesperson Chantal Gagnon said Monday that while Canada wishes the U.S. and Mexico well, Trudeau wont be there. 'While there were recent discussions about the possible participation of Canada, the prime minister will be in Ottawa this week for scheduled Cabinet meetings and the long-planned sitting of Parliament,' Gagnon said. Trudeau is conducting online Cabinet meetings instead of in person meetings because of the coronavirus pandemic. A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by name, said Trudeau had multiple conflicts related to the start of Parliament and coronavirus regulations which require Canadians who travel abroad to quarantine for 14 days on return. The official said Trudeau has asked to speak with Trump by phone. Lopez Obrador also said he would be speaking to Trudeau by phone. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Thursday, June 18, 2020. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP) Gagnon said the new treaty that took effect on July 1 'is good for Canada, the United States and Mexico. It will help ensure that North America emerges stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.' Trudeau last week cited a different reason: U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. 'We're obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently,' Trudeau told reporters. Trump and Trudeau have had a testy relationship. At the NATO summit in London last year, Trudeau and other world leaders were caught on a hot mic mocking Trump. President Donald J. Trump (L) and Canada's Prime minister Justin Trudeau (R) during NATO Summit in London, Britain, 04 December 2019 CHOPPIN' BROCCOLI: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau harvests broccoli at an Ottawa Food Bank farm on Canada Day in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada July 1, 2020 Trudeau was among foreing leaders caught on a hot mic appearing to mock Trump at a NATO summit Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet with Trump at the White House this week President Donald Trump, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, left, participate in the USMCA signing ceremony, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Trump and Nieto's successor plan to celebrate the deal this week Trump 'didn't like' Trudeau, former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton writes in his new book. 'Trump didn't really like either [French President Emanuel] Macron or Trudeau,' Bolton wrote. 'But he tolerated them, mockingly crossing swords with them in meetings, kidding on the straight.' 'I assume they understood what he was doing, and they responded in kind, playing along because it suited their interests not to be in a permanent tiff with the U.S. president.' Trump erupted at Trudeau after a G7 meeting in Canada, and instructed aide Larry Kudlow to go after him, Bolton writes, in a passage picked up by the CBC. 'Trump's direction [to Kudlow] was clear: Just go after Trudeau. Don't knock the others. Trudeau's a "behind your back guy,"' according to Bolton. Trudeau's decision also comes as the U.S. suffers an onslaught of coronavirus cases, repeatedly shattering daily records and logging more than 50,000 new cases on Sunday. Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams says she is considering going 'down the legal route' after officers 'racially profiled' the athlete and her husband in a heavy-handed stop-and-search. Williams, 26, and Portuguese sprinter husband Ricardo dos Santos, 25, were hauled from their Mercedes and handcuffed in front of their three-month-old son in Lanhill Road, Maida Vale, on Saturday afternoon. The black athlete today called on Met Police chief Cressida Dick to quit and said she is planning on taking her concerns about the incident 'down the legal route'. The couple were this afternoon urged by police to get in touch 'to discuss what happened and the concerns they have'. Commonwealth gold medallist Bianca Williams, 26, and her Portuguese sprinter partner Ricardo dos Santos, 25, were stopped and searched near their London home, with their three-month-old baby on board Metropolitan Police Commander for Central West Helen Harper said: 'Myself and Chief Superintendent Karen Findlay, who is in charge of the Territorial Support Group, are really keen to speak personally to the occupants of the vehicle to discuss what happened and the concerns they have. 'We're making efforts today to try to contact them but would also ask them to please get in touch as soon as they can.' She added: 'We want to listen to, and speak with, those who raise concerns, to understand more about the issues raised and what more we can do to explain police actions. 'Where we could have interacted in a better way, we need to consider what we should have done differently and take on that learning for the future.' Williams said she was dismayed by the Scotland Yard commissioner's silence since the shocking footage of the incident - which left her shaken and made to feel like they 'were the scum on their (the officers) shoe' - emerged. Sir Keir Starmer waded into the ensuing race row and said the video should make the Met feel 'uncomfortable'. But Williams has herself gone further and told Sky News that the Met Police commissioner 'does need to think about her position to be honest'. 'It's a never-ending cycle and it's not fair. 'What are we doing so wrong that we're getting stopped all the time and we can't even get a simple apology from the commissioner?' The Commonwealth Games gold medallist told of the incident: 'To them the UK's not racist, but the UK's very racist. It's heartbreaking to know that if it's not us, it's going to somebody else.' She told of her heartbreak at being separated from her baby and said the video is still too upsetting to watch back. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he has spoken to Scotland Yard and will treat the allegations of racial profiling with extreme seriousness. Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams has called on Met Police chief Cressida Dick (file photo) to quit Sir Keir Starmer today (pictured) claimed the Met Police should feel 'uncomfortable' after viewing the video of a black Team GB sprinter and her partner being pulled over in their Mercedes for a weapons stop and search Scotland Yard insists there is no evidence of misconduct on the part of its officers, and justified the incident saying the car had 'made off at speed' and was 'travelling on the wrong side of the road'. The Mercedes also had 'blacked out windows', which are only illegal in the UK if they let less than 70 per cent of light through. But this account was rejected by Ms Williams, who said the car was 'never' on the wrong side of the road. She told BBC Radio 4: 'That is false, we were never on the wrong side of the road. We were driving down through single-width roads. 'We only found out about us driving on the wrong side of the road once they tweeted in on Saturday afternoon. 'This isn't the first or fourth or fifth time - it must be about the 10th (her partner has been stopped by police), it's getting ridiculous.' Asked if the police racially profiled 400-metre sprinter dos Santos, Williams replied: 'Yes, 100%', adding: 'It's just horrible, it's an outrageous assumption for them to make. 'We are planning on taking it down the legal route. I feel very hurt by their actions, and to witness my partner being taken away and for me to be taken away from my son, my heart hurts. It's an awful experience.' Boris Johnson, when asked about the incident and that the UK is a racist nation during a visit to Goole, said: 'I don't think that is true. I think that the UK has made incredible progress just in my lifetime. 'But that doesn't mean we've done enough and we've got to keep doing better and we've got to keep addressing people's feelings that they face discrimination and prejudice.' This is the moment the Metropolitan Police stopped and handcuffed two of Linford Christie's athletes outside their home in London A photo shared on Instagram by Ms Williams of the stop and search confrontation. She is to the right of the centre of the photo, with her three-month-old son Labour leader Sir Keir claimed the Met Police officers were not justified in handcuffing the couple. He claimed the incident was not handled 'well at all' and should make Scotland Yard 'uncomfortable'. He told LBC: 'When they got to the car I didn't really think they handled it very well at all. It was clear there was a very young child in the back. 'The use of handcuffs is always controversial. I couldn't actually see what the justification for that was. 'We will wait and see, it will be for the police to justify their actions. But what I do know is if I was a senior officer looking at that video footage, I would feel uncomfortable about the way it was dealt with.' The clip appeared to show two people - a man and a woman - being pulled out of a car in a London street. The woman says 'he didn't do anything' and officers can later be heard telling the woman to calm down after she worries about her son remaining in the car. A male voice can be heard shouting in the background towards the end of the clip. Ms Williams has slammed the police for 'racial profiling' - though the Met insists there is no evidence of misconduct on the part of its officers The Olympic champion left a message on Twitter asking for an explanation after the athletes were stopped Mr Christie questioned the reason behind the stop and suggested the police service were guilty of institutional racism The Metropolitan Police said the stop was necessary as the car 'drove off at speed on the wrong side of the road' and had 'blacked out windows' The video of Williams and dos Santos being stopped and handcuffed by police in front of her three-month-old baby was shared on social media by their trainer and Olympic champion Linford Christie. Mr Christie has demanded an explanation after footage showed how the athletes appeared to be manhandled by members of the Metropolitan Police during the stop, saying it was proof of 'institutional racism' within the force. In a message addressed to the Met Police, he wrote: 'Two of my athletes were stopped by the police today, both international athletes, both parents of a three-month-old baby who was with them and both handcuffed outside of their home. 'Can Cressida Dick or anyone please explain to me what justification the Met Police officers had in assaulting the driver, taking a mother away from her baby all without one piece of PPE and then calling the sniffer dog unit to check the car over. 'Was it the car that was suspicious or the black family in it which led to such a violent confrontation and finally an accusation of the car smelling of weed but refusing to do a roadside drug test. 'This is not the the first time this has happened. (second time in two months) And I'm sure it won't be the last but this type of abuse of power and institutionalised racism cannot be justified or normalised any longer.' The text also contained the hashtags BLM and MetPoliceRacist. Linford Christie, pictured, questioned whether the car was stopped in such a manner because there was a young black family inside the vehicle Mr Christie asked Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to explain what happened Linford Christie has accused the Metropolitan Police of 'institutionalised racism' after two of his athletes were stopped and handcuffed Scotland Yard said officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have reviewed footage from social media and officers' bodycams and were satisfied there was no concern around the officers' conduct. The force said in a statement that a car was stopped in Lanhill Road, Maida Vale, west London, on Saturday afternoon after it was seen driving suspiciously, and a 25-year-old man and 26-year-old woman were searched. Commander Helen Harper said: 'I understand the concern when incidents like this happen and how they can appear when part of it is filmed without context. 'Due to the concern raised, we conducted a review of the stop. This included social media footage and bodyworn camera footage of the officers at the scene. We are satisfied that there are no misconduct issues.' Police later said they were patrolling due to an increase in violence involving weapons. London mayor Sadiq Khan said he takes allegations of racial profiling 'extremely seriously' and that he has raised the case with the force. In a statement responding to the incident, he said: 'It is absolutely vital that our police service retains the trust and confidence of the communities it serves so that every Londoner, regardless of background or postcode can feel safe, protected and served.' The board of directors also voted to phase out some of the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. Niemi didnt specify which programs may be cut, but those programs will be placed into the Academic Program Discontinuance Review Process and a teach-out plan will be implemented for the programs that are being discontinued. Two white employees at a Jimmy John's store in Georgia have been fired after they filmed themselves staging a mock lynching with a noose made out of bread dough. A Snapchat video of the incident, which reportedly took place at the sandwich chain's Woodstock location, went viral over the weekend after being shared on Twitter. In the 16-second clip a young male employee is seen placing the makeshift noose over the head of a coworker and yanking it upward as if to hang him. A third employee, who is also white, is seen laughing and recording the stunt on his phone. Scroll down for video Two white employees at a Jimmy John's store in Woodstock, Georgia, have been fired after they were filmed staging a mock lynching with a noose made out of bread dough In the 16-second clip a young male employee is seen placing the makeshift noose over the head of a coworker and yanking it upward as if to hang him The viral video was filmed by a fourth person behind the counter at the store who added a patriotic 'Happy 4th of July' sticker when it was originally posted to Snapchat. Twitter user @urwildlol posted it on Sunday with the caption: 'i am disgusted. this is in a jimmy johns. they made a noose with dough.. please retweet and share to get them fired.' A Jimmy John's representative confirmed hours later that all of the employees in the video and who shared it on social media had been fired. The video that later went viral was first posted to Snapchat with a 'Happy 4th of July' sticker. A third employee, who is also white, is seen laughing and recording the stunt on his phone The video went viral after Twitter user @urwildlol posted it on Sunday 'The actions seen in this video are completely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John's brand nor the local ownership team,' spokesperson Jack D'Amato said in a statement. 'To ensure that this never happens again, we will also be meeting with ALL employees individually and as a group immediately to relay the importance of acceptance, love, and kindness of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or background. 'We cherish our community and the people we serve and will continue to take immediate and forceful action when any inappropriate action takes place.' None of the employees who were terminated have been identified. A Jimmy John's representative confirmed on Sunday that all of the employees in the video and who shared it on social media had been fired. A Jimmy John's store in Woodstock is pictured The mock lynching video comes the US has been witnessed weeks of anti-racism protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest on May 25. Last month it was revealed that authorities were investigating a string of six hangings involving black Americans around the since Floyd's death. So far officials have ruled every case a suicide, but each of the incidents fueled fears and suspicions about the possibility of lynchings as racial tensions continue to fester nationwide. A man is due to face a central Queensland court charged with rape, torture and other domestic violence offences after two women were allegedly held against their will and subjected to escalating assaults. Officers found the 30-year-old man on a Bundaberg street, about 4.30pm on Monday and charged him with more than 20 serious violent offences. He allegedly knew both victims, with the violence escalating over the last month. Police will allege he punched one of the women in the head, kicked her in the stomach and held her hostage while armed with a pistol. A man accused of holding two women hostage with a gun before raping, bashing and torturing them for weeks has been charged over the horrific crimes (stock image) The Branyan man allegedly hit the other woman in the face with the pistol a number of times, and also punched her in the face and held her against her will. The women have received medical treatment for their injuries. The man has been charged with 26 violent offences including multiple counts of assault, deprivation of liberty, choking and rape, as well as grievous bodily harm, torture, stalking and contravening a domestic violence order. He's also been charged with weapons and theft offences and is due to appear at the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday. An aviation tycoon has today lost his High Court bid to overturn the government's 'sweeping' coronavirus lockdown measures after his legal challenge was thrown out by a judge. Multimillionaire Simon Dolan raised more than 200,000 through crowdfunding in order to launch the claim against Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson over the regulations - imposed in March following the outbreak of Covid-19. Mr Dolan, who according to the Sunday Times Rich List is worth 200million, claimed the rules are costing the economy 2.5billion each day and were beyond the Government's powers. The tycoon, who owns London-based charter airline Jota Aviation, claimed the measures were a 'disproportionate breach of fundamental rights and freedoms' protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. Simon Dolan (pictured with his wife Sabrina), who according to the Sunday Times Rich List is worth 200 million, claimed the rules are costing the economy 2.5billion each day and were beyond the Government's powers Multimillionaire Simon Dolan raised more than 200,000 through crowdfunding in order to launch the claim against Health Secretary Matt Hancock (right) and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (left) over the regulations - imposed in March following the outbreak of Covid-19 In a ruling at the High Court (pictured) on Monday, Mr Justice Lewis refused permission for a full hearing of the challenge He also challenged the decision to close schools across the country to most children, while asking for disclosure of minutes from all Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) meetings since the beginning of the year. Who is Simon Dolan? Monaco based aviation tycoon is worth 200m according to Sunday Times Rich List Simon Dolan is a businessman from Essex, where he was born in 1969. From the age of 13, he would sell scratch cards at school, a sign of his entrepreneurial flair. Simon Dolan with his wife Sabrina and their children Enzo and Bowie at their family home near Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, in 2011 The tycoon left school at 16 and started doing people's accounts after putting an advert in a local paper. He founded SJD Accountancy, which was one of the first accounting firms to offer a money back guarantee. He sold the firm in 2014. In 2010, Dolan invested in new start-up companies on Twitter, initially offering a 5 million investment scheme for successful business pitches. He was then known as 'Twitter Dragon'. Aside from accountancy, he has invested in PHA Group Ltd, Oneserve, Jota Aviation, BajaBoard, Coast Autonomous and Jota Sport. In 2010, Dolan and his racing team were stars of the documentary 'Journey to Le Mans'. Mr Dolan is based in Monaco with his wife Sabrina and sons Enzo and Bowie. Advertisement The Government opposed the claim and argued that Mr Dolan's case was not open to legal challenge. In a ruling at the High Court on Monday, Mr Justice Lewis refused permission for a full hearing of the challenge. In his judgment, he said that in the 'possibly unique' circumstances of the global pandemic it would be 'impossible' for the court to find the measures 'disproportionate'. Mr Dolan said the ruling was 'incredibly disappointing' and said lawyers were looking into the possibility of an appeal. The ruling comes after lawyers representing Mr Dolan, who was pursuing the case with others, argued that, while measures introduced in March to combat the virus are being eased 'to some extent', they are still 'unlawful and disproportionate'. Mr Dolan's barrister, Philip Havers QC, told the hearing: 'The claimants are seeking permission to challenge the most sweeping and far-reaching invasion of fundamental rights in England since World War Two, if not before, imposed in March, in response to the outbreak of coronavirus.' Mr Havers argued that the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 are 'still unlawful and disproportionate' and 'still far from being the least restrictive steps available to the Government'. In court papers, Government lawyers argued that lockdown measures have been taken to protect the public and save lives, and that the situation has changed since Mr Dolan's claim was first issued. In his ruling, Mr Justice Lewis noted that the rules in force as of the day of the hearing - July 2 - 'did involve a restriction on the freedom of assembly and association'. 'That freedom is an important one in a democratic society,' he said. But the senior judge added: 'The context in which the restrictions were imposed, however, was of a global pandemic where a novel, highly infectious disease capable of causing death was spreading and was transmissible between humans. There was no known cure and no vaccine. 'There was a legal duty to review the restrictions periodically and to end the restrictions if they were no longer necessary to achieve the aim of reducing the spread and the incidence of coronavirus. 'The regulations would end after six months in any event. 'In those, possibly unique, circumstances, there is no realistic prospect that a court would find that regulations adopted to reduce the opportunity for transmission by limiting contact between individuals was disproportionate.' The tycoon, pictured at his Buckinhamshire home with wife Sabrina in 2011, claims regulations are costing 2.5bn a day Simon Dolan owns aircraft charter business Jota Aviation, which is based at Southend Airport Mr Justice Lewis left open the issue of religious worship, saying it 'may have become academic' due to new changes to the regulations. But he said that it 'would not be right' to reach a conclusion on the issue without giving both parties the opportunity to make further submissions. Mr Dolan, who was described in the court papers as 'an entrepreneur who fully or partially owns a number of UK businesses which combined employ a total of around 600 people', had previously raised more than 204,000 through crowdfunding from some 6,600 pledges for the case. In the court papers, Mr Dolan, who is based in Monaco with his wife Sabrina and sons Enzo and Bowie, claimed that only 253 people under the age of 60 with no pre-existing health conditions had died of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. He said his firm had made 'numerous flights to transport vital PPE equipment for NHS healthcare professionals and to repatriate British people stranded abroad, as well as flying daily for the Italian Post Office to help keep their goods moving'. In a statement on today's ruling, he said: 'The judgment today not to grant permission for Judicial Review is incredibly disappointing for me and the thousands of other people who helped to fund it. 'The Government imposed the most draconian set of rules this country has ever known. 'Yet today's decision means that the courts believe it is perfectly fair and reasonable for the Government to be able to lockdown its entire population and take-away livelihoods whenever it chooses without having to justify its actions.' On the fundraising campaign behind the challenge, Mr Dolan added: 'This legal campaign is not only mine but that of the 6,500 people who donated more than 200,000 to crowdfund the action. 'Many of those supporters have shared the devastating personal effect lockdown had and will continue to have on their lives. I thank each and everyone one of them for stepping up and joining the fight. 'Billions have been wiped off a previously healthy economy and millions of people are now out of work because of the lockdown. We also face a cancer, NHS waiting list and mental health crisis as a result of it. 'It is for all these reasons and dozens more that lockdown simply cannot be allowed to happen again.' The tell-all book by Donald Trump's niece will be published two weeks early - on July 14 - as her publisher tries to rush it into bookstores amid a legal battle over its fate. Simon & Schuster said that they were acting because of high demand and extraordinary interest in Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, by Mary Trump. They also revealed new details from the book which will tell how in the Trump family financial worth is the same as self-worth; humans are only valued in monetary terms. The book will reveal that a killer instinct is revered, while qualities like empathy, kindness, and expertise are punished. According to Mary, among the Trumps taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged and they see cheating as a way of life. The move comes after a judge in Dutchess County, New York, imposed a restraining order against Simon & Schuster to stop them publishing the book. That was vacated by a federal appeal judge but a hearing is still set for July 10 in Dutchess County. The aggressive move by Simon & Schuster appears to ensure that the book is published. In a statement a spokesperson for Mary said: The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviors which have already destabilized a fractured nation in the face of a global pandemic. If Mary cannot comment, one can only help but wonder: what is Donald Trump so afraid of? President Donald Trump's niece Mary L. Trump (left) says that the confidentiality clause she agreed to 19 years ago under an inheritance settlement with her family does not restrict her from writing her tell-all book (right) about her uncle The book is already No. 1 on the Amazon best seller list and promises to be the most revealing portrait of the Trump family so far. Simon & Schuster released a brief extract from the prologue which reads: In addition to the firsthand accounts I can give as my fathers daughter and my uncles only niece, I have the perspective of a trained clinical psychologist. Too Much and Never Enough is the story of the most visible and powerful family in the world. And I am the only Trump who is willing to tell it. The publishers have previously said it will detail a 'nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse', according to the blurb. It is also expected to reveal that Mary was the primary source of the Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into Trump's tax history. That report, published in October 2018, found that the president received more than $400million in today's dollars from his father's real estate empire and had been involved in 'fraudulent' tax schemes - crushing his image as a self-made man The legal tussle over the book centers around a nondisclosure agreement that Mary signed 20 years ago to settle a dispute over the estate of her grandfather Fred St, the Presidents dad. The Trumps argue that this prevents her from writing a memoir but she disagrees. In an affidavit filed last week she claimed she relied on false valuations from the rest of her family to determine the amount she got from Fred Srs will. Mary has previously alleged in a lawsuit that the Trump family took advantage of a mentally incapacitated Fred Sr to all but cut her and her brother, Fred Trump III, out of his will. Mary Trump, seen at her New York home last week. Her book is already No. 1 on the Amazon best seller list and promises to be the most revealing portrait of the Trump family so far The siblings are the children of Fred Trump Jr, the Presidents older brother who died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism his whole life. In their court filings the Trumps argued they would suffer irreparable harm if the book were to come out. Yet Simon & Schuster said that it had already printed 75,000 copies and started to ship them to sellers, and had been unaware of the NDA. The publishers claimed that the Trumps were infringing on Marys First Amendment rights by trying to gag her. Mary's lawyers asserted that it's obvious the president and his family 'do not want the American public to hear' their client's story, but said that 'the First Amendment, ordinary rules of contract law, and bedrock equitable principles defeat Plaintiff's extraordinary and unwarranted request for injunctive relief'. In a press release Simon & Schuster call the book revelatory and say it will lift the lid on the toxic family that made the President who he is. The publishers say: 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 worlds health, economic security, and social fabric. Mary spent much of her childhood at her grandparents home in Queens, New York, where the President and his four siblings lived. She will talk in the book about seeing a tragic combination of neglect and abuse and the strange and harmful relationship' between the President and his father. Simon & Schuster say: Mary recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donalds place in the family spotlight and (his ex-wife) Ivanas penchant for regifting to her grandmothers frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trumps favorite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimers. Mary Trump claimed the non-disclosure agreement she signed 19 years ago under an inheritance settlement with her family does not restrict her from writing a tell-all book about her uncle. She defended her forthcoming book, 'Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man', in an affidavit filed Thursday, a day after a federal appeals court lifted a temporary restraining order blocking its publication by Simon & Schuster. Mary, a psychologist, is asking the New York Supreme Court to lift a restraining order against her, arguing that the confidentiality agreement she signed nearly two decades ago to end a dispute over her grandfather Fred Trump Sr's will was an unenforceable fraud. She claims that at the time of the signing she believed the asset amounts described in the agreement were accurate, but later learned the valuations were false in a New York Times expose. Mary further said she 'never believed' the agreement would bar her telling her 'life story' - which now includes 'the conduct and character of my uncle, the sitting President of the United States, during his campaign for re-election'. She also suggested that the agreement is irrelevant because President Trump 'has spoken out about our family and the will dispute on numerous occasions'. 'None of the parties to the Settlement Agreement, including my uncles Donald Trump and Robert Trump, or my aunt Maryanne Trump, has ever sought my permission to speak publicly about our family or their personal relationships with me, my brother Fred, or among each other,' the affidavit states. Mary's lawyers asserted that it's obvious the president and his family 'do not want the American public to hear' their client's story, but said that 'the First Amendment, ordinary rules of contract law, and bedrock equitable principles defeat Plaintiff's extraordinary and unwarranted request for injunctive relief'. Mary said she 'never believed' the confidentiality agreement would bar her telling her 'life story' - which now includes 'the conduct and character of my uncle, the sitting President of the United States, during his campaign for re-election'. Trump is pictured at a rally on June 20 The Trump family feud came to light last month after reports emerged that Mary had written a bombshell book describing a 'nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse', according to the blurb. It is also expected to reveal that Mary was the primary source of the Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into Trump's tax history. That report, published in October 2018, found that the president received more than $400million in today's dollars from his father's real estate empire and had been involved in 'fraudulent' tax schemes - crushing his image as a self-made man. Mary's book is due to hit stores nationwide on July 28 and is already ranked number one on Amazon's bestseller list. President Trump's brother Robert filed court documents last month to block the book's publication and secured a temporary restraining order against Mary and Simon & Schuster. But on Wednesday the court lifted the restraining order against the publisher - claiming that, unlike Mary, the company was not bound by a confidentiality agreement and was therefore within their rights to publish the book. 'While Ms Trump unquestionably possesses the same First Amendment expressive rights belonging to all Americans, she also possesses the right to enter into contracts, including the right to contract away her First Amendment rights,' Presiding Judge Alan D. Scheinkman wrote in his ruling on the appeal. 'Unlike Ms Trump, Simon & Schuster has not agreed to surrender or relinquish any of its First Amendment rights.' Simon & Schuster responded to the appeal in a statement on Wednesday saying: 'We support Mary L. Trump's right to tell her story in Too Much and Never Enough, a work of great interest and importance to the national discourse that fully deserves to be published for the benefit of the American public.' The publisher has claimed they were not aware Mary had signed a confidentiality agreement. Mary's lawyers argued in Thursday's affidavit that her restraining order should be lifted as well, writing that Robert Trump 'cannot succeed on the merits of his contractual claims because the confidentiality provision in the decades-old Settlement Agreement of financial disputes that Plaintiff invokes is unenforceable and inapplicable'. Mary and her brother Fred III filed suit against the president, his younger brother 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. Donald, Robert and Maryanne Trump are pictured together in 1990 Judge Hal B. Greenwald at the Dutchess County Court sided with Robert Trump on Tuesday, ordering Simon & Schuster to refrain from 'publishing, printing or distributing' any copies of the book ahead of a hearing on July 10. Justice Sheinkman, however, said terms of Mary's confidentiality agreement could have changed due to her uncle's position as president. Mary is one of two children by Fred Trump Jr (pictured), the president's older brother who died in 1981 after battling alcoholism. 'The legitimate interest in preserving family secrets may be one thing for the family of a real estate developer, no matter how successful. It is another matter for the family of the president of the United States,' he said. Although the restraining order has been lifted, the Trump family is expected to continue with their battle for an injunction. The Trumps have claimed that they will suffer 'irreparable harm' if the book is published, and that Mary breached her non-disclosure agreement by writing it. 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. Read Mary Trump's full affidavit below: Russia has threatened to retaliate against the UK after Dominic Raab unveiled the government's new sanction regime against the 'very worst human rights abuses', which includes 25 Russian officials. The Foreign Secretary today warned despots, dictators and their henchmen they will no longer be able to buy property in the UK or 'siphon dirty money through British banks' as he unveiled the Government's new sanctions programme. Mr Raab told MPs the UK's first sanctions for human rights abuses will cover those involved in the deaths of the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the systemic killings of the Rohingya population in Myanmar and the North Korean gulags. Britain has identified 49 'notorious' individuals and organisations, 25 of them Russian and 20 Saudis, prompting immediate anger from Moscow. Russia threatened to retaliate after Britain sanctioned officials including Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the powerful Investigative Committee which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. The Russian embassy in London said in statement: 'The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures in connection with Britain's hostile decision.' The mission said Moscow was particularly outraged by the sanctioning of top directors of Russia's Investigative Committee and General Prosecutor's Office as well as judges. The Foreign Secretary said this afternoon the new sanctions regime will target people responsible for the 'very worst human rights abuses around the world'. It will enable ministers to impose travel bans and to freeze the assets of both state officials and non-state actors. Dominic Raab, pictured in the House of Commons this afternoon, has unveiled the UK's new 'autonomous' sanctions regime to target people responsible for human rights abuses Britain sanctioned 25 Russian officials, including Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the powerful Investigative Committee which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin Dominic Raab (centre right) talking with Hermitage Capital CEO and anti-Kremlin activist, Bill Browder (right), and Natalya Magnitskaya (second left) and Nikita Magnitsky, the mother and son of former Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky Sergei Magnitsky uncovered large-scale tax fraud in his home country and died in prison after giving evidence against corrupt officials The Saudi Arabians on the list include an adviser close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Before Brexit the UK usually acted alongside the European Union or the United Nations when imposing sanctions on individuals accused of human rights abuses. But the Government has decided to establish its own system following Britain's split from Brussels. How will the UK's new sanctions regime work and who will be targeted? Dominic Raab today set out the UK's first 'autonomous' sanctions regime to target people guilty of international human rights abuses. Below are the key points made by the Foreign Secretary as he addressed MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon. On who will be targeted: 'In 2019, it was in the Conservative Party manifesto as a clear commitment. So, today, I am proud that under this Prime Minister and this Government we make good on that pledge bringing into force the UK's first autonomous human rights sanctions regime, which gives us the power to impose sanctions on those involved in the very worst of human rights abuses around the world.' On the powers which can be used: 'The Regulations will enable us to impose travel bans and asset freezes against those involved in serious human rights violations.' On the UK's message to perpetrators: 'Today this Government and this House sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people: that those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, or the henchmen of dictators, won't be free to Waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, or do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge, or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or financial institutions.' On how the regime could be extended: 'We are already considering how a corruption regime could be added to the armoury of legal weapons that we have.' On how long sanctions could apply: 'In practice, those people designated will be able to request that a Minister review the decision. They will be able to challenge the decision in court. And as a matter of due diligence, the Government will review all designations at least once every three years.' Advertisement US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed the move as an example of British post-Brexit diplomacy. 'This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies,' he said in a statement. The new powers unveiled by Mr Raab will: Allow ministers to impose travel bans on perpetrators and to freeze any assets they may hold in the UK. Mr Raab said that will mean the end of dictators and their henchmen being able to 'Waltz into this country to buy up property on the Kings Road, or do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge'. See the UK able to act unilaterally in targeting people guilty of human rights abuses, having previously usually acted alongside the EU or UN. Fulfil a pledge made by the Conservative Party in its 2019 general election manifesto to take targeted action against 'human rights violators'. See all designations reviewed at least once every three years to make sure they should still apply. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Raab said the new measures will 'hold to account the perpetrators of the worst human rights abuses' as he described them as a 'forensic tool... to target perpetrators'. 'Today this Government and this House sends a very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchman of dictators, will not be free to Waltz into this country to buy up property on the King's Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions,' he said. He added: 'We have deliberately focused on the worst crimes so we have the clearest basis to make sure we can operate the new system as effectively as we possibly can. 'That said we will continue to explore expanding this regime to include other human rights and I can tell the House that we are already considering how a corruption regime could be added to the armoury of legal weapons that we have.' Mr Raab paid tribute to Sergei Magnitsky and said his family were watching the Commons proceedings from the Foreign Office. The Russian lawyer uncovered large-scale tax fraud in his home country and died in prison after giving evidence against corrupt officials. He lends his name to the US Magnitsky Act which imposes sanctions on human rights abusers. Mr Raab told MPs: 'I hope that today in this House we show our solidarity with the family that Sergei Magnitsky left behind, his wife Natalya, his son Nikita and I can tell the House they will be watching from the Foreign Office in my office as we speak.' Setting out the first set of designations under the new regime, Mr Raab said: 'We are imposing sanctions on individuals involved in some of the most notorious human rights violations in recent years. 'The first designations will cover those individuals involved in the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer who disclosed the biggest known tax fraud in Russian history. The commander in chief of the Burmese armed forces Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy Soe Win, who were responsible for military operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine state between 2017 and 2019 were named on the list Saud Abdullah Al Qahtani, Prince Mohammed's most trusted adviser at the time, is said to have planned and directed the operation to kill Mr Khashoggi and is also on the sanctions list Deputy head of the intelligence services Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Al Asiri - who is alleged to have commissioned the 15-man team which killed Mr Khashoggi - is included in the list Oleg Silchenko, one of the Russian Interior Ministry's investigators, is also included on the list 'The designations will also include those responsible for the brutal murder of the writer and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 'They will include those who perpetrated the systemic and brutal violence against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and they also include two organisations bearing responsibility for the enslavement, torture and murder that takes place in North Korea's wretched gulags in which it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of prisoners have perished over the last 50 years.' Mr Khashoggi was a journalist who had been critical of Saudi Arabia's royal family before being killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. A total of 20 Saudi nationals linked to the brutal killing and dismemberment of Mr Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate have been included on the list. Deputy head of the intelligence services Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Al Asiri - who is alleged to have commissioned the 15-man team which killed Mr Khashoggi - and Saud Abdullah Al Qahtani, an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is said to have planned and directed the operation, are both on the list. Twenty five Russian nationals linked to the mistreatment of Mr Magnitsky - who died in police custody in 2009 after exposing allegations of widespread corruption - are also included. The Russians also include Aleksey Vasilyevich Anichin - who was a deputy minister in the Interior Ministry involved in investigating Mr Magnitsky - and Oleg Silchenko, one of the ministry's investigators. The commander in chief of the Burmese armed forces Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy Soe Win, who were responsible for military operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine state between 2017 and 2019 were named. And as were North Korea's Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and the Ministry of People's Security Correctional Bureau, which run prison camps linked to numerous violations including murder, torture and enslavement. But Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said there has been a 'remarkable silence on human rights violations in China'. Mr Tugendhat told MPs: 'There is no, as yet, announcement on any sanctions of those who are either exploiting or abusing the Uighur minorities in Xinjiang or repressing democracy activists in Hong Kong. 'And I wonder whether that is merely because this is the first stage of the sanctions and it's just perhaps that the Foreign Office hasn't quite yet caught up with that, or whether that is a policy change?' Mr Khashoggi was a journalist who had been critical of Saudi Arabia's royal family before being killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 Mr Raab said the Government will consider future sanctions 'very carefully based on the evidence' as he declined to 'pre-empt what the next wave of designations will be'. How 'McMafia laws' are keeping a close eye on foreign millionaires and their assets in Britain Dubbed 'McMafia laws' after the BBC drama about super-rich foreign gangsters using London as their base, Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) force millionaires who come into Britain from overseas to prove their assets were gained legally. They require a person who is reasonably suspected of involvement in, or of being connected to a person involved in, serious crime to explain the nature and extent of their interest in particular property, if it is valued at more than 50,000. It is thought that up to 90billion of money linked to organised crime is laundered through the UK every year. After the 2018 nerve agent attacks in Salisbury, the government said the measure would be at the heart of a crackdown on Russian money in the capital, with sources suggesting the National Crime Agency (NCA) could target 'more than 100' foreigners as a result, with many believed to have ties to Moscow. Advertisement Tobias Ellwood, the Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, also pressured Mr Raab on China. He asked: 'Can we have an announcement on China not just on tactical issues to do with human rights, but the wider foreign policy stance given China's trajectory?' Mr Raab replied: 'We have taken these measures. He's heard what we've said on Hong Kong. 'He'll know that Huawei is going through the review in the context of US trade sanctions. 'We have got the integrated review coming forward, that will be completed by the autumn. I think that is the right opportunity in parallel with the CSR to make sure we've got the right strategy and the resources to back it up.' A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'The regime will allow the UK to target individuals and organisations around the world unlike conventional geographic sanctions regime, which only target a country. 'Future targets of the regime may include those who commit unlawful killings perpetrated against journalists and media workers, or activity motivated on the grounds of religion or belief.' The sanctions are the latest step in the government's bid to crackdown on foreign criminals entering the UK. Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, asked Mr Raab why no action had been taken over human rights violations in China Previously, the government introduced Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) that force millionaires who come into Britain from overseas to prove their assets were gained legally. Dubbed 'McMafia laws' after the BBC drama about super-rich foreign gangsters, they require a person who is reasonably suspected of involvement in, or of being connected to a person involved in, serious crime to explain the nature and extent of their interest in particular property, if it is valued at more than 50,000. It is thought that up to 90billion of money linked to organised crime is laundered through the UK every year. In March, a multi-million-pound mansion on London's 'Billionaires' Row' was at the centre of the latest High Court challenge to new powers introduced under so-called 'McMafia laws'. Three properties in London - which are said to be worth around 80 million in total - were made subject to unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) last May following an application by the National Crime Agency (NCA). It was reported by the BBC on Tuesday, following an investigation with Finance Uncovered and campaign group Transparency International, that one of the properties is currently occupied by Nurali Aliyev, grandson of former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. That property in The Bishops Avenue in Hampstead, north London - often referred to as 'Billionaires' Row' - is reportedly a high-security mansion featuring an underground pool and a cinema. The other two London properties involved in the case are in Manresa Road, Chelsea and Denewood Road, Highgate. Ghislaine Maxwell will dodge her first public appearance in Manhattans Federal Court, after opting instead to appear remotely due to the COVID health crisis and significant safety issues related to in-court proceedings, DailyMail.com can reveal. Jeffery Epsteins former lover and alleged madam was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday when FBI agents staged a sensational swoop after months of covert surveillance. The 58-year-old who once partied with billionaires and presidents has been charged on six counts including two counts of Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts, one of Conspiracy to Transport Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity, one count of Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity and two counts of perjury. Maxwell had been expected to appear at the United States District Court, Southern District of New York Friday afternoon. But Judge Alison J Nathan issued an order late Monday stating that if she was willing to waive her right to appear in person the court would conduct the hearing remotely. Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred from a county jail in New Hampshire to a New York City jail. She is shown in 2016 The parties had until 9.00pm to file a joint letter informing the court of her decision. When it came to it Maxwells attorneys filed her decision almost an hour late, shortly before 10pm. Addressing Judge Nathan in his letter, attorney Mark S Cohen explained, We have been attempting to contact our client at the Metropolitan Detention Center; we were able to speak to her for the first time today just before 9.00pm this evening. She has agreed to waive her physical presence for the proceedings. Due to protocols at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, where Maxwell is currently being held without bail, the order read, the Defendant could be produced by video at either 9.00am on July 9, 2020 or sometime during the morning of July 14, 2020. Maxwells prospective prosecution comes after years of attempting to evade law enforcement and those years in hiding will be used against her by prosecutors who have made clear their intent to oppose bail under any conditions. Judge Nathan must formally approve the decision but the letter states that after conferring Monday evening the Government and Maxwells attorneys have agreed to push the hearing date to the morning of July 14. Further details are expected in a joint proposed briefing schedule Tuesday. With her vast network of powerful friends with deep pockets, and possibly dark secrets, the US Attorneys office has argued that she presents a clear flight risk. Maxwell - Jeffery Epsteins former lover and alleged madam - was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. The pair are pictured in 2005 The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Maxwell is and where she is awaiting her first court appearance She could also represent the prosecutors most valuable asset if, as has been suggested, she is willing to give up the identities of those who took advantage of Epsteins trafficked and underage victims. As exclusively revealed by DailyMail.com, Maxwell has a stash of evidence including twisted sex tapes that, according to one former friend, she too has kept as insurance for a day such as this. THE BROOKLYN JAIL WHERE GHISLAINE IS BEING HELD The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Ghislaine will be kept until at least Friday, is a male and female prison for inmates of all levels. There are high security divisions within it. High profile past inmates include the rapper Tekashi 6ix9nine, Allison Mack - who was charged as part of the case against the Nxivm sex cult - 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli and Al Sharpton, who served 90 days in 2001 for trespassing. It is also where Muslim men were detained after 9/11 as part of what became known as a 'sweep' of suspects. The men filed a complaint that they'd been abused in the jail and it spurned a Department of Justice investigation. A handful of inmates filed a lawsuit against the prison claiming they were being kept in 'inhumane' conditions and were only allowed out of their cell for 30 minutes at a time. According to an orientation handbook, inmates are generally woken up by 6am. They have to make their beds by 6.30am, but some pre-trial inmates are given another hour. Items that can be bought from the commissary include a 6-pack of water for $3.85, stamps for $1.15 each, a 20-box of tampons for $5.55 and mascara for $7.95. Inmates are allowed to shop once every two weeks and are limited to spending $150 at a time. It is also where an inmate died recently after being pepper sprayed by corrections guards. Advertisement Maxwell was transferred from the county jail in New Hampshire where she was taken on her arrest to Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center Monday. It is not clear exactly how or when that transfer took place but a helicopter was seen landing on top of the building Monday morning and taking off again shortly after. Prosecutors have asked the judge for a protective order which will protect the identities of third parties involved in the case, at least until her arraignment. They are refusing to say whether the jail is where Ghislaine will be kept if she is denied bail - which they have asked for. In a letter to the judge on Sunday, US Attorney Audrey Strauss wrote that that a protective order 'will be necessary to facilitate the production of discovery while also protecting, among other things, the privacy and identity of third parties, including the victims of the conduct charged in the indictment'. It will apply to both victims and others who may be involved. Maxwell is accused of procuring young girls for Jeffrey Epstein, the late pedophile financier, and also with having sex with them herself. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Ghislaine will be kept until at least Friday, is a male and female prison for inmates of all levels. There are high security divisions within it. High profile past inmates include the rapper Tekashi 6ix9nine, Allison Mack - who was charged as part of the case against the Nxivm sex cult - 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli and Al Sharpton, who served 90 days in 2001 for trespassing. It is also where Muslim men were detained after 9/11 as part of what became known as a 'sweep' of suspects. The men filed a complaint that they'd been abused in the jail and it spurned a Department of Justice investigation. A handful of inmates filed a lawsuit against the prison claiming they were being kept in 'inhumane' conditions and were only allowed out of their cell for 30 minutes at a time. Once they were in common areas, they complained that it was impossible to observe social distancing and that they were at risk of coronavirus. At the start of the year, the heat in the prison went off for several days, forcing inmates to huddle in their beds for warmth. It is also where an inmate died recently after being pepper sprayed by corrections guards. Prosecutors are refusing to say whether or not it is where she will be held for the duration of the case. They have asked the judge not to grant her bail, citing her extensive list of international connections and deep pockets as signs that she is a flight risk. She also successfully evaded the world's media for the best part of a year. She faces 35 years behind bars if convicted. The charges relate to her alleged grooming of three underage girls between 1994 and 1997. The girls say she procured them for Epstein then befriended them to make them feel comfortable around her, before subjecting them to sexual servitude. On occasions, Maxwell is accused of sexually abusing the children herself by taking part in group sex with Epstein and the girls. She is also facing two counts of perjury for allegedly lying in a 2016 deposition while being sued by a different woman who claims to have been abused. Maxwell has not yet been seen since she was taken into custody. The Special Housing Unit within the detention center. It's unclear which part of the prison she will be held in. The prison can hold 1,600 inmates Past inmates of the jail include Nxivm's Allison Mack (left) and rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine. They have both now been released She has been a ghost since Epstein's suicide last year. The FBI had been watching her in New Hampshire, where she had been for several months, they said. She is yet to enter a plea to the charges or make any form of public comment. In civil court, she has denied allegations by other women that she abused them or facilitated Epstein's abuse of them. Maxwell's network of well-heeled friends includes Prince Andrew, who has been accused of sleeping with a 17-year-old girl in London after being introduced to her by Maxwell in 2001. The Prince has vehemently and repeatedly denied the claims. It remains unclear if Maxwell knew she was about to be arrested or if her lawyers have tried to make any type of deal with prosecutors. Many of Epstein's victims say there are dozens of people who helped him abuse them, and that they should all be brought to justice. German prosecutors said Monday they have made a new arrest related to the spectacular collapse of payments provider Wirecard, which is shaping up to be the country's biggest financial fraud scandal. The managing director of Cardsystems Middle East FZ-LLC, a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard, was placed under arrest on suspicion of serious fraud, said prosecutors. The suspect was not named by authorities, but German media have identified him as Oliver Bellenhaus, who ran the German company's most profitable unit before the scandal was exposed. German prosecutors said Monday they have made a new arrest related to the spectacular collapse of payments provider Wirecard. Above, Wirecard headquarters in Aschheim, Germany Prosecutors said reasons for keeping the suspect in custody include 'flight risk and risk of evidence suppression'. Wirecard shocked Germany's financial world when it admitted last month that 1.9 billion euros missing from its accounts likely did not exist. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has called it an 'unparalleled scandal', saying it underlined the need for greater oversight and over such financial firms. Wirecard's chief executive Markus Braun was arrested on suspicion of falsifying accounts before being released on bail. The company has since filed for bankruptcy. Allegations had dogged Wirecard for months, but the financial technology company was able to repeatedly fend off claims. Wirecard chief exec Markus Braunwas forced to resign after auditor EY refused to sign off the payment systems provider's 2019 accounts German authorities even launched investigations against a journalist over the negative reports. But the scam unravelled in June when auditors Ernst & Young said they were unable to find 1.9 billion euros of cash in the company's accounts. The missing cash makes up a quarter of the balance sheet. The sum was supposedly held to cover risks in trading carried out by third parties on Wirecard's behalf and was meant to be sitting in trustee accounts at two Philippine banks. But the Philippines' central bank has said the cash never entered its monetary system and both Asian banks, BDO and BPI, denied having a relationship with Wirecard. The company, which employs nearly 6,000 people, was forced to admit that the funds likely 'do not exist'. The group's former CEO Braun, an Austrian computer scientist, subsequently turned himself in before being bailed for five million euros the following day. Another high-ranking Wirecard former executive, Jan Marsalek, has so far failed to turn himself in to Munich investigators despite a reported earlier promise to do so. Britons who booked holidays before the Government released details for international 'air bridges' are complaining of long waits for refunds - while others say partially cancelled flights have scuppered their holidays entirely. Travellers are now able to visit 59 countries without the need to quarantine for two weeks once arriving back in Britain, it was announced on Friday. But many would-be holidaymakers are now revealing they have had their recent trips scrapped - while others are still waiting for refunds from flights booked long ago. A number of easyJet customers are complaining that only one leg of their journey has been cancelled, meaning they are unable to make the trip but still have active bookings. Twitter user Joe Willett said: '@easyJet this is beyond a joke, nearly 2 and a half hours on hold and counting. Trying to sort the fact you've cancelled our flight to Ibiza but only rescheduled the return...which we obviously need to cancel and refund. What is going on?!' A number of easyJet customers are complaining that only one leg of their journey has been cancelled, meaning they are unable to make the trip but still have active bookings that they cannot make (file image) EasyJet customers are complaining of long wait times for customer services after parts of their trips were cancelled Julie Durney wrote: '@easyJet I appreciate its a difficult time but you cancelled an outbound flight. Found alternative company, then today you cancelled inbound flight. So thats 2 flights youve lost. Any explanation????' Laura Walsh said: 'I have had to arrange my own flight as my original one was cancelled by @easyJet please can someone contact me immediately for a refund for the difference in cost! I have spend an additional 373 on top of my holiday cost. My transfers need to be rearranged.' One social media user wrote: '@easyJet you cancelled my flights in June and said it would take 28 days to get a refund. Still had nothing and cant get hold of anyone? What do we do?' EasyJet have been contacted for comment. On a section of the easyJet website dedicated to its coronavirus policy, a statement reads: 'If your flight has been cancelled as a result of this, we are sorry. You will be contacted by our customer service team outlining the options available to you in Manage Bookings.' It continues: 'We know that this has been a difficult and frustrating time for many of you who have had your travel plans disrupted, for those who may have had to wait on calls, or for those who faced difficulties booking onto rescue flights. 'As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be flying again. Until then, we thank you for your support and understanding.' Of the 59 countries now green-lit for travel - including popular destinations Spain, France and Italy - only 25 allow travel without any restrictions. Remaining countries named as part of the Department for Transport's (DfT) 'travel corridors' have a range of conditions from quarantine measures to outright bans on UK visitors. Many would-be holidaymakers are now revealing they have had their recent flights cancelled - with some still waiting for refunds from flights booked months ago The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) published a separate list of 67 destinations which are exempt from its advisory against all non-essential travel. But analysis by travel consultancy The PC Agency and consumer research agency AudienceNet found that just 25 locations included on the lists do not have border controls that stop English visitors entering. Others are either closed to international flights or impossible to enter without quarantine or coronavirus testing, according to the analysis. Among the countries included on the Government's lists which have restrictions in place are Austria, Japan, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Vietnam. The PC Agency chief executive Paul Charles said: 'Consumers are confused by the two lists produced by Government, as it's just not clear which countries are actually accessible without having to quarantine on arrival. 'Our research shows that holidaymakers and business travellers from England can only enter 25 countries, out of 74 on the DfT list, without being quarantined. 'It's vital that the Government provides clarity to consumers who are booking, and provides just one list that is accurate and up to date in terms of where we can actually access.' On a section of the easyJet website dedicated to its coronavirus policy, a statement reads: 'If your flight has been cancelled as a result of this, we are sorry. You will be contacted by our customer service team outlining the options available to you in Manage Bookings' Emma Coulthurst, consumer advocate for price comparison site TravelSupermarket, said: 'The Government's latest information released late on Friday on where UK citizens can holiday this summer has the potential to confuse people and see them unwittingly book holidays which, due to restrictions imposed by the destination country, they might not be able to take. 'There are some countries on the UK Government FCO and DfT lists which are refusing UK citizens entry or imposing strict entry requirements, which either completely prevent holidays or make them extremely difficult or more costly. 'It is vitally important that holidaymakers check the individual country's entry requirements before booking and also book cancel-for-free or flexible rebooking options in case they unintentionally book a holiday which entry restrictions then prevent them from taking. 'The UK Government should be making it clearer what the actual situation is for travel from the UK to countries on their lists and providing a lot more clarity on where holidaymakers can actually go to from the UK without restriction.' Downing Street said it expected more countries to announce an easing of restrictions on travellers from the UK. The Prime Minister's official spokesman was asked during a briefing with journalists whether it was 'misleading' to have published a quarantine-free list when not all of the places featured were allowing UK visitors in without restrictions. The No 10 spokesman said: 'No, I'll say a couple of things on that. 'Many countries already don't impose quarantine restrictions on travellers from the UK and we expect more to ease restrictions on UK travellers following our announcement. 'We are working closely with international partners around the world to discuss arrangements from travellers arriving from the UK. 'It is obviously a changing situation across the world and passengers should check the individual country pages that we make available on gov.uk for travel advice and any restrictions at their destination before they book their trip and before they travel.' A U.S. Army private accused of plotting a deadly attack on his own military unit has pleaded not guilty to charges he shared secret information about their movements with a satanic neo-Nazi group. Ethan Melzer, 22, entered his plea on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan, at a hearing conducted electronically. The U.S. Department of Justice accused Melzer of using an encrypted app to send his unit's planned movements to members of the Order of Nine Angles ('O9A'), which it described as 'an occult-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist group,' and a related group called the 'RapeWaffen Division.' This photo provided by the Department of Justice seized from an iCloud account belonging to U.S. Army Pvt. Ethan Melzer displays personal effects, including paraphernalia associated with the extremist group Order of the Nine Angles Nazi occult group which dreams of creating a 'Satanic Empire' through heinous violence Behind its absurd fantasies of dominating the solar system, lurks a terrifying Nazi-Satanist group which is finding followers across the world. The Order of Nine Angles, believed to have been founded in the UK in the 1960s, deifies Hitler and the Third Reich. The Mass of Heresy, which is written in the group's Black Book of Satan, is spoken before an altar shrouded in a banner of the swastika, with a framed photo of Adolf Hitler and Mein Kampf on top. The followers chant: 'We believe Adolf Hitler was sent by our gods to guide us to greatness. We believe in the inequality of the races and in the right of the Aryans to live according to the laws of the folk.' Their rituals involve the eating of cannabis cakes, drinking wine, sexual acts performed by a priestess and the sacrifice of animals, according to UK-based pressure group Hope Not Hate. The image above shows the logo for the Order of Nine Angles, or O9A, a UK-based neo-Nazi extremist group that is also believed to be active in the United States The order's Black Book is considered so dangerous its three volumes are kept vaulted in a special section of the British Library. The book asks for the Spring Equinox to celebrated by sacrificing a human being and suggests this could be 'a Nazarene, such as an interfering investigative journalist.' The group believes that the world is controlled by a Zionist Occupation Government, an anti-Semitic term used by neo-Nazis during the 1980s to describe Jewish control of the state. The order aims to subvert society by urging its followers to commit random acts of violence, rapes and to 'cull' victims. There are believed to be 'Nexions' (cells) throughout the world amid fears that online trolls are seeking out the most extreme positions possible. O9A aims to recruit a 'certain type of rebellious young person' who is prepared to take action and incite others to commit violence. The order seeks to surround itself in mystery and make its aims obscure and terrifying to outsiders. Hope Not Hate described it in a 2019 report as 'unquestionably the world's most extreme Nazi Satanist group.' Advertisement Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss called Melzer 'the enemy within,' and prosecutors said the Louisville, Kentucky, resident hoped to cause mass casualties through what he and co-conspirators labeled a 'jihadi attack.' 'Melzer was motivated by racism and hatred as he attempted to carry out this ultimate act of betrayal,' Strauss said. Melzer enlisted in the Army in 2018, joined O9A in 2019, and began planning the attack in April after learning of a new foreign deployment for his unit, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors allege that on or around May 23, Melzer used an encrypted messaging app to 'solicit assistance for a mass casualty attack on his US Army unit once it deployed to Turkey.' Melzer is alleged to have 'provided confidential and sensitive information to a user of the app about his unit's size, anticipated travel routes in Turkey, its weaponry, and its defensive capabilities. Federal prosecutors say Melzer understood that this information would be used to 'facilitate' a 'mass casualty attack' on the unit. Melzer is alleged to have used a username, 'Etil Reggad,' in his communications with the 'anarchist, neo-fascist, neo-Nazi, and anti-Semitic' O9A. According to the federal government, O9A has expressed extremist views including one which claims Adolf Hitler 'was sent by our gods to guide us to greatness' and that the 'story of the Jewish 'holocaust' is a lie to keep our race in chains and express our desire to see the truth revealed.' The government also says O9A has also expressed support for the views of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as well as backing for his organization's terrorist attacks including the bombing of American embassies in Africa, the attack on the USS Cole, and the September 11, 2001, attacks. Melzer's alleged plot was foiled in late May, and he was arrested on June 10, they added. Federal prosecutors said they obtained messages sent by Melzer on his phone in April in which he expressed a desire not to 'end up' like a US soldier who was arrested for being affiliated with a neo-Nazi group. Melzer, who was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, with his unit, is alleged to have communicated with a co-conspirator on or around May 17. The co-conspirator asked Melzer if the unit had deployed to Turkey because another co-conspirator 'needs to know' since he 'has plans inshallah my brother, allahu akbar.' 'Allahu akbar' means 'God is great' in Arabic, and 'inshallah' translates to 'God willing'. The co-conspirator then asked Melzer: 'Are we literally organizing a jihadi attack.' To which Melzer replied: 'Yes probably...As long as I get the info I need to give you all.' The co-conspirator then asked Melzer if he was worried about 'gett[ing] shot' in the attack on his unit. 'Who gives a f***...The after effects of a convoy getting attacked would cover it...It would be another war...I would've died successfully...Cause if another 10 year war in the Middle East would definitely leave a mark.' A confidential informant communicated with Melzer on or around May 23. Melzer messaged the source, asking: 'I mean if you know some kinder weird Italian groups that would be willing to do something to stir something up I wouldn't mind.' To which the source replied: 'Stir something up with what? I'm confused you said you were in Turkey in the military.' United States military personnel are seen above in Adana, Turkey, in December 2015. A US Army soldier confessed to providing details about his unit's troop movements and weaponry to extremists who were plotting an attack on American servicemembers in Turkey, federal prosecutors say but Ethan Melzer, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges he is facing Melzer replied that he was 'stationed in Vicenza' and that he was 'going to Turkey for a deployment.' When the confidential source asked Melzer what he meant by 'stirring up,' Melzer replied: 'Ok let me be as direct as possible...IF YOU KNOW ANYONE IN TURKEY TELL THEM THIS INFO there.' Melzer was then asked what information he was referring to, to which Melzer replied: 'that you know that there is a convoy coming through Turkey soon and date and time will be given soon. Goddamn.' The federal government alleges that the 'convoy' was Melzer's unit. It's common for members of Order of Nine Angles to pose at the sites of notorious rapes and murders, and to celebrate their perpetrators In another text message intercepted by the government, Melzer claimed that he 'used to be cool with a couple IS members who lived in France' and that '3 of them are dead now and the last 2 I've lost contact with lately.' The federal government alleges that 'IS' stands for Islamic State, also known as ISIS. The confidential source then wrote to Melzer: 'So for the sake of clarity (and because I'm an idiot so I want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding)you currently stationed in Vicenza with U.S. army will be deployed to Turkey soon. 'A 'convoy' (your own convoy?) will be going through Turkey, and on Monday you'll be receiving the date and time the convoy will be going through Turkey. 'And you're going to dm me said time and date so that I can pass it along to any jihadis in Turkey. Right? 'And [redacted] you're going to do the same with your 'hajis' (lol).' Melzer replied: '[y]ou just gotta understand that currently I am risking my literal free life to give you all this.' He also wrote that he was 'expecting results.' Ethan Melzer, 22 a private assigned to 1st Battalion, 503rd Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza, Italy. The garrison is pictured here When told that arranging an attack on his convoy could jeopardize his life, Melzer wrote: 'Your kidding right. If we were to trigger this the right way the amount of s*** this would cause would cover it. 'My life would be absolutely meaningless in the amount of s*** it would cause after. 'Ok that sounds retarded but really it's true.' Melzer also allegedly told his co-conspirators information about his unit's weaponry and defensive capabilities. He said that his unit lacked firearms including machine guns, grenade launchers, and anti-tank weapons. The only weapons his unit was said to be armed with were M4 assault rifles, according to investigators. William F. Sweeney Jr., head of the FBI's New York office, said: 'Melzer declared himself to be a traitor against the United States, and described his own conduct as tantamount to treason. We agree.' Melzer is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, pictured Federal public defenders representing Melzer did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the hearing. Melzer is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Prosecutors said Melzer admitted his role in plotting an attack in a voluntary May 30 interview with military investigators and the FBI. Melzer said in that interview he intended to cause the deaths of as many fellow service members as possible, declared himself a traitor against the United States and likened his conduct to treason, prosecutors said. The defendant faces six charges, including conspiring to murder U.S. nationals and conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel, each of which carries a maximum life sentence, and providing material support to terrorists. The case is U.S. v. Melzer, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-cr-00314. Seven white men were arrested on July 4 after police say they intimidated a black family on an Oregon beach by yelling racial slurs and using Nazi salutes. Lincoln City police say they were called to the waterfront in front of the Inn At Spanish Head Resort Hotel at 9:30pm on Saturday evening to reports of a group 'highly intoxicated' people setting off illegal fireworks. Law enforcement say they were 'immediately surrounded' by a group of 10 people after arriving on the beach who 'began taunting and challenging the officers'. After calling calling for back up police say they 'learned that this same group of white people had been taunting and challenging a family of black persons by yelling racial slurs at them, insulting them and using Nazi salutes towards them'. The seven men, from Clark County, Washington, were all arrested on charges including riot and disorderly conduct before being cited and released. In a statement about the incident Lincoln City police confirmed they formed a line of officers to protect the victims and enable them to safely leave the area. Police said in a statement: 'The black family advised they felt intimidated by the actions this group had displayed towards them.' Gennadiy Kachankov, 30, top left, Antoliy Kachankov, 28, bottom left, Andrey Zaytsev, 28, center top, Oleg Saranchuk 45, top right, and Ruslan Tkachenko, 22, bottom right, all of Clark County Washington were charged with riot, interfering with police, disorderly conduct, harassment, possession of illegal fireworks, and offensive littering. Yuriy Kachankov, 30, bottom center right, of Clark County Washington was also charged with the same crimes along with resisting arrest. An additional male refused to identify himself, bottom center left Police added: 'The on scene officers formed a line between the group of white persons and the black family allowing the black family to safely leave the beach and return to their room. 'During this time several in the group of white persons continued to taunt the officers, trying to challenge them to fight. 'Other members from the group of white persons then began shooting off multiple large illegal aerial fireworks in front of the officers.' Gennadiy Kachankov, 30, Antoliy Kachankov, 28, Andrey Zaytsev, 28, Oleg Saranchuk 45 and Ruslan Tkachenko, 22, all of Clark County Washington were charged with riot, interfering with police, disorderly conduct, harassment, possession of illegal fireworks, and offensive littering. Yuriy Kachankov, 30, of Clark County Washington was also charged with the same crimes along with resisting arrest. Police had been initially called to the beach in front of the Inn At Spanish Head Resort Hotel , pictured, to reports of a group 'highly intoxicated' people setting off illegal fireworks Police said in a statement: 'The persons in custody were all transported and lodged at the Lincoln City Police Department. 'Due to corona virus policies at the county jail, six subjects were issued criminal citations released on 7/5/20. 'An additional male, who refused to identify himself and who had no ID on his person, was transported to and booked into the Lincoln County Jail for fingerprint identification and charged with the above listed crimes.' A documentary film about China's poverty relief won a Dutch film award and was released on Youku on July 2. "Farewell to Poverty," directed by Lu Guanghua, won an Around International Film Festival (ARFF) Globe Award in the January 2020 Official Selections of the ARFF - Amsterdam. Four European cities -- Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, and Berlin -- hold their own ARFF selections every month, and winners receive an Official Winner Laurel. There is a yearly award ceremony to determine the yearly winners. The film records the real stories during China's poverty-alleviation campaign in Kelan County, Shanxi province, where there are 91 poor villages, 4,580 poor households and 10,181 poor people. In accordance with the overall deployment of the poverty-stricken areas in Kelan County, the local government plans to relocate 115 natural villages. The film truthfully and objectively records the conflicts, struggles and entanglements of several deeply impoverished families during their relocations and their processes of regaining hope in their new lives. "Only by looking at eye level and restraining judgment can we gradually witness people's lives there," the director said. During the two years of filming, the crew lived in cave dwellings, struggled with household mice and fleas, and encountered severe scenarios, such as heavy snow sealing off mountain passes and mobile phones having no signal. Almost isolated from the world, the crew eventually finished this impossible movie. The tagline on the movie poster reads: "Poverty itself is not terrible. What is terrible is the thought that you are destined to be poor or must die due to poverty." "Farewell to Poverty," produced by Shanxi Film and Television Group and Shanxi Guangdian Audio & Video Publishing Co. LTD, was released online on July 2 on Youku, a major video streaming platform owned by Alibaba Group. At least three suspects have been arrested in connection with last week's massacre of 27 people at a drug rehabilitation facility in central Mexico. The office of the Guanajuato State Attorney General announced the arrests Sunday night, indicating the men were captured in an operation led by the state police. A spokesperson told DailyMail.com that state attorney general Carlos Zamarripa was scheduled to give additional information Monday. An image of the aftermath of the July 1 massacre at a rehabilitation center in Irapuato, Mexico, shows a man (circled) getting to his feet after the police arrive after at least four men broke into the building and opened fire on patients, killing 27 people and wounding four Still image from a video shot inside the central Mexico rehab center shows patients dancing and singing religious verses before a gang barged into the building and opened fire The three men in custody are allegedly part of the armed group who stormed inside the two-story building and opened fire last Wednesday. At least 26 of the 27 people who died were patients. Four men were also wounded in the horrifying attack. Video footage that went viral Sunday shows the victims dancing and singing religious verses before the attackers barged into the 'Recuperating My Life' facility, which according to local authorities did not have a permit to operate as a rehabilitation center. Images leaked on social media showed dozens of victims lying next to and atop each other on the ground and on mattresses which were soaked in blood. The arrests were made a day after a woman identified as Rosa buried her three sons - Giovanni, 27; Christian, 30; Omar; 39 - who were all killed in the barbaric assault, according to Mexican newspaper Sin Embargo. Martha Patricia, who lived near the center, said four men used a ladder to climb to the second floor of the building and broke through a door before they fires more than 60 shots. She said that four women ran out of the building injured during the shooting. Christian and Omar, who fathered six children, had been recently admitted to the facility due to their ongoing drug addictions. Members of the National Guard and police officers guard the site of the July 1 massacre where 27 people, include 26 patients, were executed Pictured: some of the 27 victims who died at a drug rehab center in Mexico last Wednessday Giovanni, who recently had been discharged from the facility for his addiction as well, had gone to the center to visit his brothers and drop off some refreshments and snacks before the attackers unleashed the assault. Rosa, a mother-of-seven, was home when her husband arrived and broke the tragic news. She rushed to the center but was not allowed in. A neighbor told her that Christian and Omar were found lying on top of their younger sibling. Since the attack, two drug rehabilitation centers in Irapuato have shut down, forcing the early discharge of 120 patients, whom site directors fear will eventually relapse if they don't get the proper care. Nicolas Perez, who heads the state's Bajio United Rehabilitation Center, said that the government is working to regulate 265 facilities in Irapuato and another 250 in the city of Leon that are operating without the necessary permits. Once a tranquil state following a truce between local cartels, violence has exploded across Guanajuato over the last four years due to an ongoing turf war between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, viewed by analysts as the most dynamic criminal organization in the country. Murders in Guanajuato increased by 222 percent in 2019 with 3,540 homicides after 1,096 were reported in 2016. At least 1,903 murders have been reported in the first five months of 2020. At least 61 homicides were reported in June in the city of Irapuato. A report published by the Citizen's Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice in June ranked Irapuato as the fourth-most dangerous city in the world in 2019 with 80.74 homicides per 100,000 residents. A direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson has called for the Jefferson Memorial to be pulled down in Washington DC and replaced with a statue of Harriet Tubman. Lucian K. Truscott IV, describes himself in a New York Times op ed as 'the sixth-generation great-grandson of a slave owner'. Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was the third president of the United States, ruling from 1801-9. Jefferson's grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, was Truscott's great-great-great-great grandfather. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC should be removed, a descendant has argued Lucian Truscott, right, is a sixth generation grandson of Thomas Jefferson. He is pictured with his cousin Shannon, who descended from Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings He argues that the domed marble monument to his ancestor, built by Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1939 -1943, was inappropriate given Jefferson owned 600 slaves. 'Its a shrine to a man who famously wrote that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence that founded this nation and yet never did much to make those words come true,' Truscott wrote. 'Described by the National Park Service as a shrine to freedom, it is anything but. 'He should not be honored with a bronze statue 19 feet tall, surrounded by a colonnade of white marble. 'The time to honor the slave-owning founders of our imperfect union is past. 'The ground, which should have moved long ago, has at last shifted beneath us.' His remarks were approved by another of the thousands of Jefferson descendants, Chris Truscott. 'Me too. And yes,' he tweeted. Chris Truscott, another Jefferson descendant, agreed with Lucian Truscott's view Lucian Truscott, a 73-year-old journalist and novelist who graduated from West Point before taking up a career as a writer, told how as a child he had played at Jefferson's Monticello estate, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He described running around the grounds and enjoying the historic plantation house. Truscott argued that Monticello served as a more fitting memorial to Jefferson because it contextualized his entire life, slavery included. 'Monticello is an almost perfect memorial, because it reveals him with his moral failings in full, an imperfect man, a flawed founder,' he wrote. The statue of Thomas Jefferson, inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC Jefferson had at least nine children, including six with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Her 'cavelike' quarters are on display at the Virginia estate. Jefferson did not free Hemings. She was permitted to leave Monticello by his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph not long after Jefferson's death in 1826, and went to live with her sons Madison and Eston in Charlottesville. 'My cousins from the Sally Hemings family are also the great-grandchildren of a slave owner,' he wrote. 'But the difference is that our great-grandfather owned their great-grandmother. My family owned their family. 'That is the American history you will not learn when you visit the Jefferson Memorial. But you will learn it when you visit Monticello.' Truscott concluded that the Jefferson Memorial should be replaced with a statue of Harriet Tubman, who he described as 'one of our founding mothers'. 'To see a 19-foot-tall bronze statue of a Black woman, who was a slave and also a patriot, in place of a white man who enslaved hundreds of men and women is not erasing history,' he wrote. 'Its telling the real history of America.' A Minnesota woman who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a woman in Florida to steal her identity has been returned to her home state to face trial on allegations that she killed her husband. Lois Riess, 58, is being held at the Steele County Detention Center in Owatonna on charges of first- and second-degree murder. Riess, who was known as 'Losing Streak Lois' because of her gambling habit, allegedly killed her husband at their home in Minnesota. Lois Riess was arrested in Texas in April 2018 on suspicion of murdering both her husband in Minnesota and a woman, Pamela Hutchinson, in Florida Riess confessed to the murder of Pamela Hutchinson in Florida and was sentenced to life David Riess, 54, was found dead at the couple's home in Blooming Prairie in March 2018. His body was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds after his colleagues called to say they hadn't seen him. Riess was nowhere to be found and a warrant was issued for her arrest Prosecutors allege she forged checks to steal $11,000 from her husband's business account shortly after he died, and accused Riess of frittering away the money in casinos as she drove to Florida. Once in Florida she befriended Pamela Hutchinson, who looked like her. Lois Riess pictured after pleading guilty to Pamela Hutchinson's murder in December 2019 David Riess was found dead in March 2018 in Minnesota, and Pamela Hutchinson a month later in Fort Myers, Florida. Lois Riess then went on the run and was arrested in Texas in April 2018 Hutchinson was of a similar height and age, and had the same almost-white hair. Riess then fatally shot her at a Fort Myers Beach condo the following month. 'Ms Hutchinson's purse was found to be in disarray and all cash, credit cards and identification appeared to be removed,' said Carmine Marceno, Lee County Undersheriff. 'Further investigation revealed that Ms Hutchinson was targeted by the suspect due to the similarities in their appearance.' Riess went on the run in Hutchinson's car. With her head of white hair, Riess garnered national attention as the 'fugitive grandma'. She was captured in April 2018 in Texas and sent back to Florida for trial. She received a life sentence in December after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in Hutchinson's death. The Florida Department of Corrections cleared the way in March for Riess to be sent to Minnesota. Minnesota's Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said that authorities believe the same gun was used in both killings. She was booked into the Steele County jail Friday. Minnesota does not have the death penalty. If convicted of first-degree murder in Minnesota, Riess faces life without parole. Kanye West's plan to run for president in November as an independent is already destined for failure as he has missed deadlines to add his name to the presidential ballot in six states. Of the 538 Electoral College votes total, West would already be missing out on 102 of those votes if he were to successfully make his way onto the ballot in other states as the registration date has passed for North Carolina, Texas, New York, Maine, New Mexico and Indiana. The 43-year-old rapper announced Saturday night he was running for president in November, even though he vowed in December 2016 after Donald Trump won 'We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,' West tweeted with the hashtag #2020VISION. 'I am running for president of the United States!' West would need to move quickly to avoid losing out on 85 more Electoral College votes as seven other states' deadlines to get on the ballot are coming up this month. Rapper Kanye West's bid for president could be short lived as he has missed several key deadlines to make it on the presidential ballot in November in at least six states West revealed on Independence Day on Saturday that he is running for president as an independent in 2020, calling for people to 'realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future' West said in December 2016, after Trump won, that he would not run for president until 2024 His wife, Kim Kardashian West, signaled her support for his run, tweeting out an American flag emoji with his announcement Billionaire Elon Musk also said West has his 'full support' Musk and West have a documented friendship, with the rapper tweeting out an image Wednesday of them together Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia all have July deadlines. He could, however, run in these states as a write-in candidate. Although, rules for this type of candidacy vary from state to state and in many states do not count or are tallied as part of the 'other' category. The late registration also the name of West's 2005 album would prevent him from standing any real chance against Trump and presumed Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Reality television star and pop culture icon Kim Kardashian West issues her support of her husband's decision, retweeting his announcement along with an American flag emoji. Billionaire Elon Musk also said he was behind West's White House ambitions, tweeting in response: 'You have my full support!' Musk and West have a documented friendship most recently with West posting an image Wednesday of them together. In 2015 Musk wrote West's entry in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. West has a fluctuating relationship and support record of Trump. In 2015, West floated he was considering a run for president, but said he would put off his ambitions until 2024 after Trump won the election. West has multiple times been pictured in a 'Make America Great Again' red cap, including during an Oval Office meeting with the president. He has also tweeted his support of Trump, asserting he would have issued a vote for him had he voted in the presidential election in general. In December 2016, West met with the president-elect, claiming: 'I wanted to meet with Trump today to discuss multicultural issues. These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago. I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change.' In February 2017, West changed his tune, deleting all of his tweets about Trump, as reports revealed the rapper disliked the new president's policies specifically the travel ban. Some claim West's ambitions are just a publicity stunt to promote his new single 'Wash Us in the Blood', album 'God's Country' and upcoming Yeezy fashion line at The Gap Some are accusing West's supposed 2020 presidential hopes of being a publicity stunt to promote his new single 'Wash Us in the Blood' and the recent announcement of an upcoming album 'God's Country.' West also announced in June he will be bringing a version of Yeezy fashion line to Gap stores. Besides potentially missing the boat on earning his way onto the ballot in a handful of states, West would also need to register with the Federal Election Commission to make his candidacy official. Registering with FEC has no deadline, but it appears West has still not done so, according to its public records. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea launched a fresh attack on Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, calling New York City's recent spike in violence 'predictable' given police budget cuts and the release of 2,500 inmates from Rikers Island. Shea's comments came after the Big Apple saw 63 people shot, at least 11 fatally, in 44 shootings separate shootings over the holiday weekend. One of the shootings was captured in shocking video which showed a 29-year-old man getting shot dead in front of his four-year-old daughter as they crossed a street in the Bronx on Sunday. On Monday afternoon NYPD officials revealed that gun violence increased 130 percent in June, with more than 205 shootings - a trend that's shown little sign of stopping into July. De Blasio sought to defend his police reforms during a press conference on Monday afternoon where he blamed the surge in violence on the coronavirus pandemic. The mayor acknowledged that the city saw 'too much violence' between Friday and Sunday and said: 'We have a lot of work to do to address it.' But he argued that 'there is not one cause for something like this', citing failures by the court system, economic uncertainty and the fact that residents are restless after months in coronavirus lockdown. Scroll down for video NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (left) took aim at Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday morning, calling New York City's recent crime surge 'predictable' given police budget cuts and the release of 2,500 inmates from Rikers Island. De Blasio (right) responded hours later by blaming the bloodshed on the coronavirus pandemic At least 63 people were shot, 11 fatally, in 44 shootings separate shootings in New York City over the holiday weekend. Police are seen responding to the scene of a shooting that left a 23-year-old man dead in Harlem early Sunday morning One of the shootings was captured in shocking video which showed a 29-year-old man getting shot dead in front of his four-year-old daughter as they crossed a street in the Bronx 'This is directly related to coronavirus,' de Blasio said. 'This is a very serious situation. As we're getting into warmer and warmer weather, we're feeling the effects of people being cooped up for months, the economy hasn't restarted we have a real problem here.' De Blasio vowed to 'double down' against violence with a multi-pronged response that would include an emphasis on neighborhood policing. He called for 'all hands on deck' with community leaders and elected officials as the city works to bounce back from being 'dealt a really tough hand'. 'It was the health care crisis in March and April, May we were coming out of it, the warmer months,' he said. 'People are cooped up, they don't have the normal things to engage their lives. 'But we're going to overcome it. It's going to be tough and take hard work. I know it feels very unsettling for people but we're going to fight it back.' De Blasio's comments came as the shocking video emerged of the shooting that killed a young father in the Bronx on Sunday. Police said 29-year-old Anthony Robinson of Brooklyn was shot in the chest just before 6pm as he passed in front of 221 East 170 St with his daughter. In the video the pair are seen crossing the street before a car drives up to them. A gun extends from the front passenger window and fires. Robinson, who police said had many prior arrests, dropped to the ground on the crosswalk as his daughter ran for cover. The father was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead. No arrests have been made in the shooting and police did not indicate any possible motive. Video shows the moment a person in a passing car extended a gun and opened fire on 29-year-old Anthony Robinson as he walked down the street with his daughter The car fled from the scene, leaving Robinson lying in the road as he daughter ran to get help NEW YORK CITY's CRIMINAL JUNE The NYPD released its crime statistics for June on Monday, revealing a dramatic spike in gun violence from the same month last year. New York City saw a 130 percent increase in shootings (205 vs 89) and a 30 percent increase in murders compared with June 2019 - with rates rising in all five boroughs. Other crimes are also on the rise - with burglaries increasing 118 percent (1,783 vs. 817) and auto thefts increasing 51 percent (696 vs. 462). Though the NYPD has made approximately 40,000 fewer overall arrests so far in 2020 compared to last year, gun arrests are rampant with 1,679 reported so far in 2020, compared with 1,683 across all 12 months last year. Advertisement Speaking to NY1 on Monday morning, Commissioner Shea said he wasn't surprised at all by the weekend's surge in shootings. 'This has been predictable,' Shea said. 'You heard me saying: "A storm is coming," and we're in the middle of it right now.' Shea tore into de Blasio and his administration last week after the city announced a $1billion cut to the NYPD's budget in response to weeks of protests against racism and police brutality. 'You'll see in the City Council, [a] bow to mob rule,' Shea said last Wednesday. 'And let's mark the date on the calendar and how long it's going to be before we're having a conversation about New York is crying out for more police. And I think that day has come.' After the bloody weekend, Shea on Monday argued that there is plenty of blame to go around - including with the latest policing reforms. He ridiculed a new local law that criminalizes the use of chokeholds, saying: 'Police officers should not have to worry more about getting arrested than the person with the gun that they're rolling around on the street with.' Shea also railed against how the inmate population at Rikers Island has been reduced by half thanks to bail reform and efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus inside the notorious prison. 'Where is the other half right now?' Shea asked. 'We've transplanted general population to the streets of New York City and it's extremely frustrating. And don't think this is happening by happenstance. This is organized.' However, Shea said it's not too late to address city chaos. 'We can fix this,' he said. 'We don't need a lot of new things. 'What we need is support and that's in short supply. We need tools. We need the laws that make sense. And then we need resources. Those three things and we can turn this around quickly.' As shootings soar over July 4th weekend, NYPD Commissioner Shea points to the low # of prisoners at Rikers, says they're released back into public. "People focus on the wrong thing. You have the guns - of course you cant shoot anyone without a gun - but its the people." pic.twitter.com/SLDiKnamqP Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) July 6, 2020 The inmate population at Rikers Island (pictured) has been reduced by half due to bail reform and efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus inside the notorious prison NYPD Chief Terence Monahan also weighed in on the weekend violence on Monday, calling it 'unacceptable'. He said the surge was due to 'a combination of things', including the pandemic, new reforms and heightened tensions between police and citizens. 'The animosity toward police out there is tremendous,' Monahan said. 'Just about everyone we deal with is looking to fight a police officer when we make an arrest, so it is vital that we get communities together supporting and speaking up for police.' The Police Benevolent Association, the NYPD's largest union, tweeted out against de Blasio Sunday, writing: 'Criminals with guns fear no consequences,' adding that the mayor owes his 'constituents an explanation'. Hours earlier, two NYPD officers were injured in the Bronx late Saturday after a bullet was fired through the windshield of their marked SUV. The officers had pulled up to a barricade outside Mott Havens 40th Precinct just before midnight on July 4 when the shot was fired. Chilling surveillance footage shows two pedestrians crossing the street in front of the idling SUV just moments before the bullet is seen piercing the windshield, sending a puff of debris shooting up from the vehicle's hood. The round passed between the two officers, who were sat in the front seats, and embedded into a divider between the back seats, authorities said. One officer was cut in the face from shattered glass while the other suffered ringing ears. Both were treated for their injuries at local hospitals. It remains unclear whether the vehicle was intentionally targeted or the bullet was a stray round. No arrests were immediately announced. Two cops were injured in the Bronx after a bullet smashed through the windshield of their SUV A total of 15 people were reportedly shot over Friday and Saturday, followed by another 48 on Sunday. Young father Jose Cepeda was shot in the chest shortly after midnight on Sunday in East New York, Brooklyn, the Daily News reported. The 20-year-old reportedly had a 'disagreement' with a friend outside of his home on Atkins Avenue before shots rang out. Cepeda taken to Brookdale University Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. In Harlem Sunday, a 23-year-old was fatally shot on West 116th St. near Morningside Park around 2.40am. Police were made aware of the shooting after the victim checked himself into a hospital and died minutes later. A 19-year-old man was fatally shot in the chest and a 27-year-old left injured after being struck by a bullet to his left shoulder at 4.20am, following a dispute on East 39th St. in Flatbush. While the teen was pronounced dead at King's County Hospital, the older victim was said be in a stable condition. A 22-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were later shot a short distance away on nearby Euclid Ave earlier the same evening. The man was shot in the chest and the woman was wounded in the right leg around 2.30. Both victims were taken to Brookdale University Hospital and were expected to survive, police said. In another chaotic scene, six people were wounded during a shootout that erupted at a party in Harlem, on 131 Street and Lenox Avenue. All six of the victims were taken to hospital. One of the victims, a 26-year-old male was said to be in a critical condition and likely to die. A triple shooting also reportedly took place at 306 East 171 Street in the Bronx just before 8.30pm on Sunday. Two victims of the victims are 'likely to die', law enforcement sources said. The nature of their injuries or the circumstances leading up to the shooting remain unclear. A 15-year-old boy was also shot in the chest on Madison Avenue, in East Harlem, and was rushed to Mount Sinai-St. Luke's Hospital in a stable condition. President Trump's message of protecting statues stretched beyond U.S. borders this weekend when the campaign used an image of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil in a series of Facebook and Instagram ads. 'We will protect this,' read the ads, attached to the accounts of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, with visuals of the giant Jesus statue that is a recognizable piece of Rio's skyline. The digital ads launched Friday and by Monday were 'inactive,' according to Facebook's ad details page. The Daily Beast first reported on their existence. President Trump's campaign used an image of Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue in a Facebook and Instagram ad that ran over the weekend 'We will protect this,' boasted the ad that included a picture of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which is in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The Christ the Redeemer ad is one of the top hits when 'Jesus statue' is Googled. Trump's campaign has leaned heavily into his fight with protesters over toppled statues A spokesperson for the Trump campaign has yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Google image searches generally show the Rio de Janeiro-based statue and the Christ the King statue in Swiebodzin, Poland when 'Jesus statue' is searched. The ad encourages Americans to sign up with the campaign to signal their support. 'The President wants to know who stood with him against the Radical Left,' the ads said. According to Facebook's metrics, the group mostly targeted with the ads were women over 65. Trump has hitched his re-election fortunes to culture war topics including the destruction of statues and monuments by Black Lives Matter protesters. The president hasn't distinguished between Confederate monuments - the main targets of the controversy for their white supremacist links - and other statues that have been assaulted, including Andrew Jackson in D.C.'s Lafayette park and Christopher Columbus in Baltimore. A Jesus statue was vandalized in Peoria, Illinois over the weekend. Trump has painted the protesters with a broad brush. 'Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities,' Trump warned Friday night at his Fourth of July eve event at Mount Rushmore. 'Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing,' the president continued. 'They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive,' he said. 'But no, the American people are strong and proud, and they will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them.' Trump has also pledged to veto a bill that would make the military rename bases that remain named for Confederate figures. Polling shows that Americans have moved on the issue of removing Confederate statues, but not by much. In a late-June Morning Consult survey, 47 per cent of registered voters thought the statues should remain standing, while 36 per cent said they should be taken down. Back in August 2017, 26 per cent were for removal and 52 per cent were against. Like most hot topics there was a big political split. Just 10 per cent of Republicans said they supported the removal of Confederate monuments, compared to 60 per cent of Democrats. But even in 2020, 24 per cent of Democrats were against removal, with 78 per cent of Republicans in agreement. In the same poll, voters were split 40 per cent to 40 per cent when asked if statues of slave-owners should remain or be removed. A partisan tilt was present there too, with 61 per cent of Democrats supporting removal, while 69 per cent of Republicans wanting those statues to stay. Voters were more inclined to punish someone who was an active racist. When pollsters asked if individuals who made racist comments should still be honored, 45 per cent of registered voters said they should have their names removed, while 34 per cent said their names should be left in place. If an individual supported racist policies, 50 per cent of voters said they should be scrubbed, while 33 per cent said their names should be left intact. A young asylum seeker from Africa died after a fight broke out with another group at the Greek camp of Moira on Lesbos island. The brawl was with a rival Afghan group that left three Africans with knife wounds and one beaten with a club, local police said. One of the three with knife wounds was the young victim who died early on Monday morning. The fight with the Afghan group is believed to have been started over a stolen cellphone. Police said they used flash grenades to disperse the groups and avoid a larger clash between them. Moria is a camp that was originally built to host less than 2,800 people but there are currently about 17,000 people crammed into it living in squalor. Pictured: Improvised tents around the refugee camp of Moira, on Lesbos island, where about 17,000 people live in squalor This year has seen a spate of violence with stabbings killing at least five people including a woman and a young boy. Greece's largest asylum-seeker camp has also seen ten people injured in the same attacks. Moira, and other camps, have also been under lockdown since March 18 which has added to the tension among residents. The lockdown, allowing only limited movement in small groups, has now been extended to July 19. No virus cases have been reported in camps across the islands, where there are over 29,000 people crammed in facilities built for fewer than 6,100. Moira has been under lockdown, allowing movement in small groups, since March 18. Pictured: An asylum seeker walking though the camp Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has previously criticised the lockdown extension as 'discriminatory' and 'counter-productive.' 'This population doesn't represent a risk. They are at risk,' said Marco Sandrone, the group's Lesbos field coordinator. He was noting that people were trapped in overcrowded camps with limited access to water and sanitation, and where social distancing measures were 'just impossible' to apply. The Greek government had planned to relocate more than 2,300 asylum seekers from island camps to the mainland, including elderly and ill people, but the operation has been stalled by the pandemic. Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom could throw China's state broadcaster off the air for airing a show trial of a British businessman on a news show presented by a friend of Meghan Markle. British broadcasting watchdog Ofcom today revealed it was considering sanctions following complaints of two news reports on the case of Peter Humphrey in China, which aired on CCTV news - since renamed CGTN. Mr Humphrey, 64, was jailed for more than two years by a court in Shanghai in 2014, in connection with a corruption case involving pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. The reports from CCTV news included footage of him appearing to confess to a criminal offence, and reported his conviction and an apology. He was identified in both but his face was blurred. The humiliating 2013 footage was broadcast across Chinese media as well as astonishingly in Britain. British broadcasting watchdog Ofcom today revealed it was considering sanctions following complaints of two news reports on the case of Peter Humphrey in China, which aired on CCTV news - since renamed CGTN China's star TV presenter James Chau, a Cambridge-educated journalist who counts the Duchess of Sussex among his friends, solemnly introduced the shocking footage to viewers. But according to Mr Humphrey, the entire broadcast was a lie. The investigator, who was arrested with his wife and business partner Yu Yingzeng while probing alleged corruption at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, insists that the footage masked the truth of his ordeal. Mr Humphrey claims that he and his wife are innocent and the so-called 'confession' was a sham confected from doctored footage captured after he had been plied with sedatives. Speaking from his home in Surrey, Mr Humphrey told The Mail on Sunday: 'It was a travesty of my human rights. 'I was stripped of my dignity, drugged, caged and had my words twisted to create the impression I confessed. But I never did and I never will. 'The grief and humiliation I suffered was overwhelming. During that forced confession and the two years I endured in prison, they set out to crush my spirit. I'm left with scars that are still healing.' After his release, Mr Humphrey complained to Ofcom, alleging unfair treatment and breach of privacy in two news reports on the case aired on CCTV, which has since been renamed CGTN. Mr Humphrey, 64, was jailed for more than two years by a court in Shanghai in 2014, in connection with a corruption case involving pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. He denies any wrongdoing In a ruling published on Monday, Ofcom said it had upheld the complaint, calling it a 'serious' breach of its code of conduct. The regulator said: 'We are therefore putting the licensee on notice that we intend to consider the breach for the imposition of a statutory sanction.' The regulator has the power to fine broadcaster for breaching its code, and can revoke licences in the most serious cases. In 2012, it revoked the licence of Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, for failing to transfer general editorial control to London from Tehran. Ofcom's ruling in the Humphrey case said CCTV's airing of footage of him in custody 'had the potential materially and adversely to affect viewers' perception of him'. It 'did not take sufficient steps to ensure that material facts had not been presented, omitted or disregarded in a way that was unfair to Mr Humphrey'. He was also not given an 'appropriate and timely opportunity' to respond to the claims and had a 'legitimate expectation of privacy' because he had not given consent. 'In the circumstances, Mr Humphrey's legitimate expectation of privacy was not outweighed by the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression and the audience's right to receive information and ideas without interference,' it added. Five years after his release from prison and his return to the UK, Mr Humphrey, who is still seeking redress in the American courts, continues to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder for which he receives treatment. It was only once he returned to the UK that Mr Humphrey also received treatment for a prostate tumour. He says he was denied medical help for it in jail because he refused to sign a confession. While Mr Humphrey was in prison, Mr Chau was enjoying the rewards of his high-profile career on state-owned China Central Television and basking in the adulation heaped upon him by Meghan Markle. China's star TV presenter James Chau, a Cambridge-educated journalist who counts the Duchess of Sussex among his friends, solemnly introduced the shocking footage to viewers. In a gushing post on her blog The Tig, the future Duchess of Sussex wrote in 2015: 'Sometimes you meet a person and just click. You fall into an easy banter, find them equal parts inspiring and entertaining, and you feel absolutely tickled to have made a new friend. (Something that gets harder as you get older if you were born after 1985, trust me on this). Such was the case when I met James Chau at One Young World last fall in Dublin. 'Little did I know that this savvy and charming gent is a broadcaster and writer who has interviewed world figures [of] the likes of Winnie Mandela and Robert Mugabe; that he's an award winning journalist and news anchor who captured an audience of 85 million (yes, 85 million) for over a decade at the helm of China Central Television. 'Many moons ago, my friend Misan told me that James and I would connect some day, and the moment we did it all made sense. James is a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, a graduate of Cambridge, and a lover of culture and arts. You know how I often rattle on about 'being the change you wish to see in the world'. Well, he's the guy that's doing just that. Authentically, and passionately.' Last week, however, the WHO announced it would now 'review' Mr Chau's role at the organisation. And a spokesperson for the UN's Aids organisation said Mr Chau's term as ambassador had ended in 2016. The World Health Organisation announced it would 'review' Mr Chau's role at the organisation and he has also been removed from the UN's Aids organisation website, after the WHO announced it was investigating him However, the organisation only removed his profile from their website last month, after the WHO announced it was investigating him. While the extent of Mr Chau's knowledge of how Mr Humphrey's alleged forced confession was obtained is not known, he became even if unwittingly the public face of it. CCTV was renamed China Global Television Network Channel (CGTN) in December 2016 and continues to operate in the UK under the same licence. A Chicago pastor says that city residents are scared to leave their homes after a violent Fourth of July weekend in The Windy City where at least 79 people were shot and 17 were killed, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. We cannot continue to go down this road, Pastor Corey Brooks of the New Beginnings Church told Fox News on Monday. Brooks, who heads the Project HOOD nonprofit dedicated to ending gang violence, said something needs to be done immediately to reduce the bloodshed in the city, even if it means deploying the military. 'Im for whatever it takes to stop the violence,' Brooks responded when asked if the mayor of Chicago should take up President Trump's offer to have the federal government step in and help. 'Whatever it takes to save a life.' Pastor Corey Brooks of the New Beginnings Church in Chicago said residents are scared to leave their homes after a violent Fourth of July weekend which saw 17 people fatally shot, including a 7-year-old girl, Natalia Wallace (right) Chicago police officers are seen above in the Austin section of the city where a 7-year-old girl was fatally shot on Friday Video courtesy of WGNTV 'I think sometimes we have to get beyond our pride of feeling inadequate and just come to an understanding that [we have to do] whatever it takes to save the lives of individuals in our city,' he continued. 'That's exactly what needs to be done.' Brooks added: 'So if bringing in the Feds, bringing in the military or whoever to help us to make sure that we can get rid of this violence, Im all for it, whatever it takes.' He said the sharp spike in the number of shootings can be attributed to a bunch of individuals, young individuals, young men who are illegal gun owners. A Chicago police officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago on Sunday Investigators are seen above in the area of another shooting which took place in the Englewood section of Chicago on Sunday This Fouth of July holiday weekend was a particularly violent one in The Windy City, where at least 17 people were fatally shot Not only are they illegal gun owners, but they are shooting at each other, he continued. Theyre causing havoc in our community and they are causing a lot of destruction and unfortunately, as a result of their destruction, children are being shot. Innocent bystanders are being shot. The pastor said that 'unfortunately people are going to leave and move out of the city because they just can't take the risk of allowing their children to be shot and killed.' 'Its just too much to deal with,' he said. The violence was far worse than last year, when the long July Fourth weekend ended with six people dead and 66 wounded in gunfire. And the holiday weekend of violence follows Chicagos deadliest Memorial Day weekend since 2015. After a relatively peaceful Friday, gunfire erupted at around 7pm on Saturday. Seven-year-old Natalia Wallace was standing on the sidewalk outside her grandmother's house on the city's West Side during a Fourth of July party when, according to police, suspects climbed from a car and opened fire. The child was shot in the head. Bullets just came from nowhere, Natalias grandmother, Linda Rogers, told the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. I came out here and my grandbaby (was) lying on the ground. The shooting has shocked the city and the nation. 'People are afraid to leave the house,' Brooks said. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (above) said 'enough is enough' on Sunday during a news conference to discuss the shocking fatal shooting of an eight-year-old girl Secoriea Turner (above) was shot to death in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday night while sitting in a car across the street from the Wendy's parking lot where Rayshard Brooks was killed by a police officer Authorities searched on Monday for at least two people who opened fire on the car she was riding in near a flashpoint of recent protests Authorities said Secoriea was in the car with her mother and another adult when the driver tried to drive through illegally placed barricades to get to a parking lot in the area 'Individuals are very scared, scared to walk [on] the street, scared to go to the store, scared to go to the playgrounds and its a very unfortunate thing,' he said. Natalia's death came amid a spate of shootings around the United States that left several children dead, including a 6-year-old boy in San Francisco, a 6-year-old boy in Philadelphia,an 8-year-old girl in Atlanta, an 11-year-old girl in Columbia, Missouri, and 8-year-old boy in Hoover, Alabama. Chicago Police said detectives used technology to find the gunman's vehicle, and they arrested the one man who was sitting inside. The man had not been charged in Natalia's death as of Monday morning and his name was not released. The department did not immediately know how many, if any, arrests have been made in the other weekend homicides. About three hours after Natalia was shot, a group of young men police believe are members of a gang jumped from a vehicle in the Englewood neighborhood on the city's South Side and opened fire on a rival gang member. They shot and killed him and they stand over him and keep shooting before jumping back in the car and fleeing the scene, Deputy Chief Brendan Deenihan told reporters Monday morning. But a child, 14-year-old Vernado Jones Jr, was nearby and one of the bullets fired at the man who was killed struck Vernado in the armpit. He had nothing to do with gang-on-gang violence. He was not the intended target, Deenihan said. Atlanta police are offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information leading to arrests in the case A visibly upset and angry Police Superintendent David Brown lamented the growing roster of children who fall victims to gun violence. We cannot allow this to be normalized in this city, he said. We cannot get used to hearing about children being gunned down in Chicago every weekend. This year, the department counted the July Fourth weekend shootings from 6pm on Thursday through the end of Sunday. In all, 13 children under the age of 18 were shot, including the two that died. The weekend violence highlighted what has been a particularly dangerous year for children in the city. Police statistics show there have been 32 homicide victims under the age of 18 so far in 2020 compared to 20 during the same period in 2019. A week earlier, Chicago's shooting victims included a 1-year-old boy riding in a car with his mother and a 10-year-old girl who was shot by a bullet fired a block away that pierced a window and struck her in the head as she sat on a couch at home. Chicago has counted a total of 1,782 shooting victims this year, 550 more than during the same period last year. And the weekend brought the number of homicides for the year to 353, which is 99 more than were recorded for the same period last year. As he did after the Memorial Day weekend, Brown put much of the blame for the spasms of gunfire on a criminal justice system that fails to keep violent offenders behind bars and a program in which many of those arrested - including those arrested on gun charges - are released from custody after being fitted with electronic bracelets that are designed to monitor their whereabouts. It's clearly not working, he said. Brown also pointed to a drastic reduction in the number of inmates at the county jail, which he said has left Chicago and other communities at greater risk of becoming victims of crimes. The killing happened near the Wendy's restaurant where a black man, Rayshard Brooks (above), was killed by a white police officer June 12 The image above shows a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta burning after it was set on fire by arsonists on June 13 Protesters chant outside a Wendy's restaurant on June 23 after a funeral for Rayshard Brooks was held Even before the pandemic prompted the release of more than 1,600 detainees between May and June of this year, an order to judges to set bail only in amounts that defendants could afford, resulted in a reduction in the jail's population by 1,500 in 2017 alone. We must keep violent offenders in jail longer, he said. The shooting death of an 8-year-old girl in Atlanta prompted a $10,000 reward for information as authorities searched on Monday for at least two people who opened fire on the car she was riding in near a flashpoint of recent protests. Police identified the girl killed on Saturday night as Secoriea Turner. And officers returned to the scene late Sunday to investigate another shooting, steps away from where Secoriea was shot, that left one person dead at the scene and two others injured, news outlets reported. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for justice in Secoriea's death during an emotional news conference Sunday with the girl's grief-stricken mother. 'You shot and killed a baby,' the mayor said. 'And there wasn't just one shooter, there were at least two shooters.' 'You can't blame this on a police officer,' she added. 'You can't say this about criminal justice reform. This is about some people carrying some weapons who shot up a car with an 8-year-old baby in the car for what?' 'Enough is enough,' Bottoms continued. 'If you want people to take us seriously and you don't want us to lose this movement, we can't lose each other.' The killing happened near the Wendy's restaurant where a black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer June 12. The fast food outlet was later burned, and the area has since become a site for frequent demonstrations against police brutality. Secoriea was slain during a particularly violent night in Atlanta on Saturday. A half-dozen shootings across the city left at least 23 people struck by gunfire, with the girl and two others shot to death, Interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. A fourth person died at a hospital after one of the shootings, Sgt. John Chafee said. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp addressed the Atlanta shootings on social media, saying the 'recent trend of lawlessness is outrageous and unacceptable.' 'Georgians, including those in uniform, need to be protected from crime and violence,' Kemp said on Twitter on Sunday night. 'While we stand ready to assist local leaders in restoring peace and maintaining order, we wont hesitate to take action without them.' Authorities said Secoriea was in the car with her mother and another adult when the driver tried to drive through illegally placed barricades to get to a parking lot in the area. An Atlanta Police Department officer stands watch as a burned out Wendy's restaurant is cleared of protesters and their belongings in Atlanta on Monday Two people, including 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, were killed over the violent Fourth of July holiday weekend near the site where Brooks was killed Armed individuals blocking the entrance opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child, police said. The driver took Secoriea to Atlanta Medical Center but she did not survive. 'She was only 8 years old,' said her mother, Charmaine Turner. 'She would have been on Tik Tok dancing on her phone, just got done eating. We understand the frustration of Rayshard Brooks. We didn't have anything to do with that. We're innocent. My baby didn't mean no harm.' The girl just wanted to get home to see her cousins, said her father, Secoriya Williamson. 'They say Black lives matter,' he said. 'You killed your own.' In Washington, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany lamented at Monday's news briefing that she was not asked by reporters about weekend killings in Atlanta and other major US cities. McEnany said she was asked 'probably 12 questions about the Confederate flag' and was dismayed that she did not get one about the weekend shootings. She also said comments by Secoriea's father 'broke my heart.' Police released a wanted poster announcing the $10,000 reward. The mayor urged anyone with information to come forward. The mayor noted that protesters had damaged Georgia State Patrol headquarters in Atlanta in a separate incident early Sunday. She said the citys 911 system was flooded with calls Saturday. A woman caught on camera attacking NHS care worker in Wetherspoons pub for 'speaking too loudly Polish' today denied she is racist and says she was set up. Clare McCarthy was filmed lunging at Anna Rutkowska at The Kingswood Colliers bar in Bristol and was accused of shouting: 'You're in England now.' But the 30-year-old alleged attacker today insisted she hadnt used those words and she revealed she had been sacked today from her job as a recruitment consultant after the footage went viral on social media. Ms McCarthy said she only reacted after being stared and laughed at by the Polish group for 20 minutes before one of them squared up to her when she confronted them and another pushed her. Police are now investigating footage of the incident, which happened at 9.15pm on Saturday, the first day pubs across England re-opened after being closed for more than three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Ms McCarthy said: Racism happens all the time and it is wrong, Ive always thought that. 'I dont have a racist bone in my body. But its almost as bad to accuse someone of racism when I have not muttered anything of the kind. This woman has accused me of attacking her and I know that in the eyes of the law that if someone touches you first they are the instigator so I contacted the police today and reported the incident. I want her to know that she is now part of the investigation and when that investigation is complete I will be pursuing her for defamation of character and loss of earnings. Clare McCarthy (pictured) said she did not even know the group were Polish and insisted she is not racist Anna Rutkowska (pictured) was drinking at The Kingswood Colliers Wetherspoon in Bristol when a woman launched at her friend She said she had gone out in Bristol on Super Saturday with her brother and a friend. Although she had had a couple of drinks, she insists she was not drunk. Recalling the incident, she said: I noticed a group sat down in one of the booths staring over at me and laughing. 'This mustve gone on for between 15 and 20 minutes. Even when I was making eye contact with them, they were not looking away and so it got to the point where I just went over and asked them what are you staring at? A guy stood up from the table and squared up at me and said are we going to have a problem here? One of the girls then started shouting at me, accusing me of being racist. I was very, very confused as to why I was being accused of that because I had no idea they were Polish. Despite what they claim, I hadnt overheard them talking and so didnt know they werent talking in English. Then the woman who had been shouting at me lunged out from the booth and pushed me aggressively. Her friend, who was sitting across the table from her, had her phone out and was recording what was going on. I dont know whether the video has been edited at all but if it was just three seconds longer youll be able to see that she pushed me first before anything else and Ive obviously gone back at her. I believe this is a deliberate set up in the way that they have gone about it. 'Im not proud about my reaction but I was defending myself and was provoked. To be honest I dont think the whole incident wouldve happened if either party hadnt have had a drink - and I do admit that - but by no means was I drunk. Both parties were kicked out of the pub, which I think speaks for itself because if it was something only we were guilty of, wed have been the only ones asked to leave. Within a couple of hours, while I am still out, I start getting calls and text messages saying that the video of the argument is now on social media. The 36-year-old recorded the horrifying attack (pictured, the attacker) on her mobile before doormen intervened A man, believed to be the female attacker's brother (right), can be seen wading in before the woman (left) lands a kick How can something be on the Internet so quickly accusing me of being racist when not a racist word came out of my mouth? I noticed that the woman who filmed the incident claims that I only said the words she hit me first because Im supposedly repeating and mocking her friend but I said it because thats what actually happened. I was tagged in to that video on Facebook and today I lost my job as a recruitment consultant as a result. People had been sending emails into my work saying this person works for you, how can you keep her on? My bosses said they believe my side of what happened but they have been backed into a corner based on the accusation and have had no choice but to let me go. Ive since been trolled online and had threatening messages sent to me. Polish-born Ms Rutkowska, who works at an NHS care home, claimed the fight was triggered by her group speaking too loud in their native tongue. The shocking incident happened in The Kingswood Colliers Wetherspoons in Bristol (pictured) on Saturday night She said: 'This is what happened on our first night out to a pub. Because we were speaking ''too loud in Polish'' with those people telling us ''You are in England now''. 'After which the girl attacked my friend, and then the staff asked us to leave, not bothering to ask anyone what happened. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said: 'Police are investigating video footage of a disturbance in a pub in Kingswood (the Kingswood Colliers). 'The incident was reported to police by a third party, who doesn't know anyone involved, after they saw the footage on social media and reported it to police online on Sunday afternoon, 5 July. 'Officers spoke to pub staff on Sunday, after the report came in. Staff confirmed they asked a number of people to leave the premises after a disturbance on Saturday. Police are trying to contact the woman who posted the footage on social media. 'Other enquiries are underway to identify those involved but we'd ask the people in the footage and those who posted it to come forward and give their account. Police are now investigating footage of the incident which the 36-year-old recorded on her mobile before doormen intervened. A man, believed to be the female attacker's brother, can be seen wading in before the woman lands a kick. In the one minute, 11-second clip the unnamed woman can be heard shouting: 'She touched me first.' Ms Rutkowska says: 'I am recording it.' The attacker's brother then said: 'You touch my sister*' before another says 'Come on the then.' Ms Rutkowska repeats: 'You are recorded.' A doorman then says: 'If you can't get one with anyone... Did he hit you, did he?' One of Ms Rutkowska's friends replies: 'She did.' The woman comes back and mimics her, adding: 'Oh ''She did!'' You hit me first.' She is then accused of being racist to which she angrily replies: 'Oh I'm racist am I?' Xing Yujing, president of the Shenzhen branch of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), was invited to give a lecture on customizing financial services to meet enterprises' needs in a symposium hosted on July 2 by the Luohu District Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). All major leaders of Luohu, including the Luohu Party Chief Luo Yude and district mayor Liu Zhiyong, attended the event, which was based on reviving the economy and industries, and more than 1,000 people took part in the main venue or watched it live online in the other 14 branch venues. In her lecture, Xing pointed out that to strengthen its financial support measures to enterprises, the PBOC, China's central bank, has worked together with multiple ministerial departments to roll out a package of economic policies to encourage commercial banks to apply more tailor-made financial policy tools. In doing so, they will help the hard-hit enterprises in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the micro, small, and medium-sized firms, to overcome temporary difficulties. Meanwhile, she also introduced some practices of the PBOC's Shenzhen branch and how they have helped the local enterprises in Shenzhen to resolve their difficulties in obtaining loans and other financial services. In particular, she described how the branch has prompted commercial banks to take the initiative to contact enterprises and get to know their needs. The listeners said they benefited tremendously from her lecture, which had no lack of statistics, theories and case studies. The financial sector is a pillar industry in Luohu. The district was the first among all districts in Shenzhen to establish a work consultation mechanism with the PBOC's Shenzhen branch to help coordinate the commercial banks' offers with the demands of enterprises. Liu Zhiyong said the hope is that the PBOC's Shenzhen branch can continue to support Luohu's development and help local enterprises to weather the storms they face. Iran confirmed that a nuclear site was significantly damaged following a mysterious incident on Thursday. The Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, located around 200 miles south of Tehran, was destroyed by a fire on Thursday morning, with Israel accused of masterminding an attack by a Kuwaiti news organisation. There were no recorded casualties or signs of radioactive pollution but the damage to one of Iran's main uranium enrichment plants is expected to set the country's nuclear enrichment programme back by approximately two months. Iran confirmed that serious damage has occurred at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility (pictured), which could put back the country's nuclear enrichment programme back by two months Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvand told state news outlet IRNA on Sunday: 'There were no victims... but the damage is significant on a financial level.' 'In the medium term, this accident could slow down the development and production [of advanced centrifuges]. 'God willing, and with constant effort... we will compensate for this slowdown so that the rebuilt site will have even more capacity than before.' The facility was destroyed by a fire on Thursday morning, with Israel suspected of being behind the cyber-attack The damage took place around 200 miles south from Tehran, who claim that its nuclear programme does not have military dimension Images show a one-storey Natanz building with a damaged roof and blackened walls caused by a fire, while doors appear to have been blown off their hinges by an explosion. It is believed that the Natanz nuclear complex, which has been the subject of sabotage attacks in the past, is mostly-underground. The alleged attacks come as the United States continues its campaign of so called 'maximum pressure' by applying crushing sanctions on Iran and its officials. The Natanz complex is mostly underground and is among the sites now monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency after Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers Natanz, also known as the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, is among the sites now monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency after Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But after the United States unilaterally abandoned the deal in 2018, Tehran announced it would be withdrawing from certain commitments in the accord. Tehran has since denied that its nuclear programme has military dimension. A man who filmed himself raping a baby before sharing it online was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Monday. Barry Hudson-Muscroft from Prestwich, Manchester held a secret double life as a predatory sex offender which he kept hidden from his wife of 16 years. The 33-year-old recruitment manager, who had previously worked in the hospitality industry, pleaded guilty to two offences of raping a child at Minshull Street Crown Court before his sentencing. Barry Hudson-Muscroft, 33, (pictured) was jailed for 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to two offences of raping a child and admitted to three offences each of making indecent photos, possession of indecent photos and sexual touching He also admitted to three offences each of making indecent photos, possession of indecent photos and sexual touching. After an examination of Hudson-Muscroft's phone, it was discovered he was in the possession of around 5000 indecent images of young children from Britain and America downloaded onto his device and had been communicating with minors as young as 12. On one occasion, the Manchester resident filmed himself raping a baby before sharing it on a paedophile group named 'Share Bears (No Limits)', using the username 'Diablo-1987'. Hudson-Muscroft admitted that he took pleasure from abusing babies as they 'couldn't talk' while he also confessed to being interested in both guys and girls between the ages of 0 and 15. The paedophile was caught after an undercover US deputy sheriff informed the FBI of Hudson-Muscroft's crimes and British detectives arrested the 33-year-old in his Manchester home. Hudson-Moscroft, who had a wife of 16 years, even admitted to raping a baby - a crime which he filmed and shared to 37 people in a paedophile group chat, under the username 'Diablo-1987'. He was caught after an undercover US deputy sheriff exposed his crimes to the FBI His indecent activity was not known by his wife, family or friends. Mr Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, said: 'His wife, with whom he had been in a relationship for 16 years - 10 years living together and married for two and a half years - described their relationship as a normal, happy one without any problems at all. 'She viewed him as loving and caring but the reality was somewhat different. 'He joined a paedophile sharing group and the evidence reveals serious depravity on his part and offending of the utmost gravity. 'In one online conversation the defendant quipped that it was expedient for him to have a victim who was unable to talk and offered to further abuse the child in a manner specified by the other person in return for like images, effectively inciting child abuse abroad. 'Unfortunately for him one of the people he was communicating with was an undercover Deputy Sheriff in USA.' Hudson-Muscroft, who worked as a recruitment manager after several years in the hospitality industry, admitted he enjoyed abusing babies as they 'couldn't talk' and admitted to enjoying sexual content among young children aged 0 to 15 Hudson-Moscroft's lawyer, Mark Friend, said his client admits there are 'very significant issues he must deal with' and described him as a 'hard-working man living a dual life'. Sentencing Judge Maurice Greene told Hudson-Muscroft: 'You had entrenched feelings of sexual attraction toward young children and the offences you committed can only be described as plumbing the depths of depravity. 'You present a serious risk of harm to children. You were part of a paedophile sharing group and there is a pattern of depraved sexual offending over a number of years.' Hudson-Moscroft will be on licence until 2044 under the terms of an extended sentence and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register. He was also given a restraining order and is banned from contacting his wife. A burst water main flooded a carriageway on London's North Circular on Monday which resulted in firefighters needing to save eight people trapped in their own cars. Shocking footage from social media showed the A406 North Circular Road completely drenched in water, as the carriageway closed down immediately due to the crisis. The London Fire Brigade attended the scene as they helped the concerned motorists escape their vehicles near the Brent Cross interchange. The A406 carriageway on the North Circular Road was completely flooded following a burst water main on Monday, leaving many cars damaged and stranded Vehicles of different styles and sizes were trapped in the water, including a truck (right) and a Ferrari (left), as eight motorists had to be rescued by emergency services The Ferrari was left stranded and motionless before firefighters arrived to rescue the driver and seven other motorists travelling along the North Circular on Monday Fire services were first called at around 3.37pm on Monday afternoon, as traffic jams occurred at both ends of the North Circular. Other footage shows one truck attempting to muscle its way through the flood, as well as a red Ferrari stuck in the middle of the carriageway. According to Thames Water, the burst main on the road led to little or no water for everyone living in the NW2, NW4, & NW11 postcodes. A spokesperson said: 'We're sorry to anyone who has been disrupted by a burst pipe on the North Circular Road. 'We know this has happened at an especially difficult time and understand the concerns our customers may have. 'Our specialist engineers are on their way to investigate the problem, and they will be doing everything they can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.' It is not first time that a broken water main has led to the flooding of this particular carriageway, with the last incident resembling these scenes coming in 2018. Frustrated motorists posted images of them being stuck in their cars as the water rose to half a metre high The London Fire Brigade arrived to help motorists escape their vehicles and the carriageway was closed at both ends It is not the first time a burst water main has flooded the North Circular Road, with the last reported incident believed to have taken place in 2018 It is also understood that floods caused by burst water mains on the North Circular even date back to 1999. One social media user tweeted: 'Burst water main on A406 AGAIN. Tried to search for it online and looks like this isn't the first time this has happened. Last time in 2018? Who is doing such an awful job at fixing this mess? Ridiculous, take some damn responsibility, get the job done properly.' Another wrote: 'If you're driving in north London today, avoid Brent Cross and the A406. It's a river...' Fire services were first called to the scene at around 3.37pm on Monday afternoon Footage showed how far the floods carried on the busy north London road on Monday Labour MP for Brent North Barry Gardiner also tweeted news about the flooding, saying: 'To all my constituents travelling home this evening intending to use the North Circular. Please be aware of the flooding at the Brent Cross intersection.' A statement from the London Fire Brigade said: 'We assisted with getting eight people out of their vehicles, that were trapped in their vehicles due to half a metre depth of water.' Barnet Metropolitan Police Service added: 'Significant travel disruption on #A406 North Circular at #BrentCross Interchange due to burst water main Please check your route before travel as diversions in place' A white financier who called the police on a black man in Central Park and accused him of threatening her has been charged with filing a false police report. Amy Cooper was asked on May 25 in Central Park by birdwatcher Christian Cooper to put her dog on a leash, as park guidelines dictate. In a Facebook post, he claimed the dog was 'tearing through the plantings' in the Ramble area of the park, and told her she should go to another part of the park. When she refused, he pulled out dog treats, causing her to scream at him to not come near her dog. Cooper then called the police on Christian. Amy Cooper engaged in a confrontation with Christian Cooper in Central Park in May Cooper called the police on Memorial Day after Christian Cooper asked her to put her dog on a leash, as per the Central Park rules. Cooper accused Christian of threatening her life Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan DA, announced charges on Monday against Amy Cooper 'Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree,' said Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney. 'We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable.' Cooper was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned on October 14. Signs in the Ramble request that the environment be protected for wildlife If convicted, she could be given a conditional discharge or sentenced to community service or counseling rather than jail time. Christian recorded the interaction on his phone, in video which then went viral. 'I'm in the Ramble, there is a man, African-American, he has a bicycle helmet and he is recording me and threatening me and my dog,' she said hysterically to the 911 operator as she gripped her dog's collar tightly. 'I am being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately!' Christian Cooper, a keen birdwatcher, was attacked by Amy after asking her to control her dog When she hung up, and put her dog on a leash, Christian replied: 'Thank you.' The video then ends. Christian, 57, a Harvard graduate who works in communications, has long been a prominent birder in the city and is on the board of the New York City Audubon Society. In the aftermath of the video Cooper surrendered her dog, Henry, to the cocker spaniel rescue group she had adopted him from two years before. She has since been reunited with the dog. She has however been fired from her job as a head of insurance portfolio management at Franklin Templeton. Cooper issued a public apology and tried to explain her response. Cooper, pictured with Henry, has apologized for her behavior on May 25 in Central Park 'I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash,' she said in the statement. Christian told The View that he accepts Cooper's apology, but he believes the incident is part of a much deeper problem of racism in America that must be addressed. 'I do accept her apology,' Christian said. 'I think it's a first step. I think she's gotta do some reflection on what happened because up until the moment when she made that statement it was just a conflict between a birder and a dog walker, and then she took it to a very dark place. 'I think she's gotta sort of examine why and how that happened.' Since the May 25 incident, details of Cooper's life have shown someone with a series of problems. One of her neighbors in her Upper West Side apartment building has since said that Cooper vowed to get their doorman fired following a confrontation last winter. The neighbor, Alison Faircloth, told the New York Times that she found Cooper on the 'verge of tears' after the doorman supposedly cursed at her for no reason. Faircloth said she later asked the doorman about the confrontation and he said Cooper had complained about a broken elevator before forcing her way into a security booth and yelling at him. The doorman told Faircloth that Cooper had to be removed a security guard. 'There's always a narrative from her about someone who has done her wrong,' she said. It has also since emerged that Cooper is now friends with, and goes on vacation with, the ex-wife of a man with whom she claims she had an affair. Cooper filed a lawsuit in 2015 against Martin Priest - a married man she worked with at Lehman Brothers between 2005 to 2008. In the lawsuit, Cooper said the pair were in a relationship and she had lent him $65,000 so he could divorce his wife and pay for another woman he was involved with to have an abortion. Her lawsuit claims that after she gave him the money she found out Priest's wife Tianna was pregnant and that he was going to marry another woman who was also pregnant. Cooper filed the lawsuit to get back the $65,000. Priest denies having a relationship with Cooper but says he did borrow money from her. Rayshard Brooks's widow Tomika Miller has met with George Floyd's ex partner Roxie Washington for the first time, calling her 'a spiritual sister who knows my pain'. During the meeting mother-of-four Miller told CBS she 'doesn't know what justice is anymore' after the former Atlanta cop charged over the death of her husband was released from jail on bail earlier this month. Brooks, 27, was shot dead by Garrett Rolfe, also 27, as he ran from officers in the drive-thru of a Wendy's. His June 12 death exacerbated tensions in the US over police brutality and racism stoked by the killing of Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. In footage which aired Monday, widow Miller met with Washington, the mother of Floyd's six-year-old daughter Giana. Washington said: 'I hope we get through it.' Rayshard Brooks's widow Tomika Miller, left, has met with George Floyd's ex partner Roxie Washington, right, for the first time, calling her 'a spiritual sister who knows my pain' I dont know what justice is anymore. Only on @CBSThisMorning, we invited Rayshard Brooks wife Tomika Miller and George Floyds former partner Roxie Washington to speak together with Mark Strassmann about their loss. Watch Monday on @CBS. pic.twitter.com/HWhMICoONe CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 6, 2020 Rayshard Brooks's widow Tomika Miller has met with George Floyd's ex partner Roxie Washington for the first time. Brooks is left with wife Tomika and their children. Floyd is right with his young daughter Giana Miller said her husband Brooks was 'in disbelief' and 'heartbroken' over the death of Floyd. She said: 'He actually cried. When it happened to me, I couldn't believe it. I never thought it could happen.' Floyd's former partner Washington told Miller: 'When I saw you and the babies, I was like, I got to get to her. When I saw it, I was like, not again. Not again.' Former cop Rolfe left Gwinnett County Jail on bail July 1. Miller had asked the court to deny bond, saying she would not feel safe with the former officer free. A second officer, Devin Brosnan, 26, stood on Brooks shoulder as he struggled for his life, authorities say. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath. When asked if she wants the cops involved in Brooks' death to spend the rest of their lives behind bars Miller said Monday: 'I don't know what justice is anymore to be honest, because the people who murdered my husband kicked him, stood on his shoulder while he was dying are out there in the world. 'So what is justice? I don't know. Because that wasn't just.' This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant, late Friday, June 12 Floyd died after Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against the handcuffed 46-year-old Black mans neck for nearly eight minutes Derek Chauvin, 44, left, is charged with second-degree murder over Floyd's death. Garrett Rolfe, right, faces charges including felony murder in the killing of Brooks Brooks was married to Miller but on the night of his death, while talking to police, he told them he was at Wendy's to pick up food for him and his 'girlfriend Natalie White'. Police claim White, 29, is partly to blame for setting fire to the fast food restaurant a day later on June 13. She was arrested on suspicion of setting the fire last month and has since been released on bond. White's attorney Drew Findling confirmed to DailyMail.com that the two were 'very close' but declined to share more details of their relationship out of respect to Miller, who was grieving him at his funeral while White was taken into custody. Tomika Miller, the wife of Rayshard Brooks, holds their daughter Memory, two, during the family press conference on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta Roxie Washington holds Gianna Floyd, the daughter of George Floyd as they attend his funeral service at The Fountain of Praise church on June 9 in Houston Natalie White, left and right, who was charged with first degree arson in the burning of an Atlanta Wendy's in the wake of the Rayshard Brooks shooting. Surveillance video tweeted by Atlanta Fire Rescue shows White, right Floyd's daughter Giana has since been offered a full scholarship to Texas Southern University (TSU). Washington said the youngster told her: 'Daddy changed the world. I believe that there are some good cops, and there are some bad cops.' Brooks was killed as he ran from cops in the drive-thru of the Wendy's. Bodycam footage of the incident shows the black man being approached by the officers after he was found asleep at the wheel of his car. The officers tried to arrest him and he struggled, eventually reaching for and grabbing one of the officer's Tasers. He ran away and was shot twice in the back by Rolfe when he turned to fire the Taser in Rolfe's direction. Floyd was killed when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes. His brutal death has inspired protests around the world, calling for defunding of police departments and more money into education and housing. The family of Anni Dewani, who was murdered while on her honeymoon in South Africa in 2010, say they are disgusted after one of three men jailed for her killing was granted an early release from prison. Zola Tongo, a taxi driver, who was jailed for 18 years for his part in the murder, is to walk free from jail on July 28 after serving just over half of his sentence. The 39-year-old had his original sentence cut from 25 years to 18 after his evidence implicated two more men in the murder plot. Tongo had alleged Anni's husband Shrien Dewani, who was charged but cleared of her murder, had paid him 1,400 to help carry out her killing. But the millionaire Bristol businessman, 40, had always claimed his innocence and was found not guilty in one of South Africa's most sensational trials after the judge halted the case midway and exonerated him. Anni, who was 28, was killed in Tongo's taxi after Mr Dewani and the driver were allowed out of the cab by two gangsters before his bride was shot through the neck as she cowered in the back seat of the cab. Anni's family today told of their anger that Tongo was being freed early after the brutal killing. Zola Tongo, a taxi driver, was jailed for 18 years for his part in the murder of Anni Dewani in South Africa in 2010. He is now set to be released Tongo had alleged Anni's husband Shrien Dewani, who was charged but cleared of her murder, had paid him 1,400 to help carry out her killing Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, her father Vinod Hindicha said: 'I'm disgusted with this news. Zola Tongo is even more guilty than the men who shot Anni dead. 'He organised the gunmen. He helped enlist them and drove my daughter to her death on that terrible night. 'He knew Anni was going to be killed. He took an innocent woman who was on her honeymoon and left her to die.' Mr Hindicha, 71, who lives in Sweden, added: 'He is an evil creature. He should be left to either rot in jail and serve his full sentence.' Anni's widower, who is now in a relationship with a male photographer, was cleared of the murder and is now living with his Brazilian-born boyfriend in London. Tongo accused Mr Dewani of asking him to recruit the gunmen to kill his new bride, a claim always denied by the millionaire care home boss. The family of Ani Dewani (nee Hindocha), her sister Ami Denborg wth her father Vinod Hindocha. Anni's family today told of their anger that Tongo was being freed early after the brutal killing In a confession read to court in December 2010, Tongo told prosecutors in South Africa he had been approached by Mr Dewani, who offered him the money to organise the killing and make it look like a carjacking. The taxi driver said he then recruited Xolile Mngeni and a third man, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, to carry out the killing. He said he first met Anni and Mr Dewani when he picked up the newlyweds at Cape Town Airport in November 2010 and dropped them off at the city's waterfront Cape Grace hotel. The next night Tongo was driving the couple through the dangerous Gugulethu suburb of the city when they were ambushed. Mr Dewani managed to escape while his Swedish-born wife was found slumped dead in the taxi the following morning, having been shot through the neck. He was filmed that same day paying money to Tongo which he said was cash he owed for hiring the vehicle. Mr Dewani, who revealed during the trial that he was bi-sexual and had slept with male prostitutes, was also said to have surfed gay porn on his laptop just days after his wife was murdered. Mr Dewani managed to escape while his Swedish-born wife was found slumped dead in the taxi the following morning, having been shot through the neck Tongo was driving the couple through the dangerous Gugulethu suburb of the city when they were ambushed Following a three and a half year battle against extradition, the trial against Mr Dewani in South Africa collapsed in November 2014. The judge threw out the case, saying it was based on the witness testimony of a 'self-confessed liar' who 'does not know where the truth ends and a lie begins'. While Tongo was sentenced to 18 years, killers Mngeni and Qwabe were given life sentences. Mngeni died from brain cancer while serving his sentence. In his only statement about his wife's murder, Mr Dewani insisted the three men had tried to frame him. 'I would like to make clear that I have a significant number of questions which remain unanswered about the night that my wife and I were kidnapped and Anni was tragically shot after being taken away from me. 'Each of the gang members did a deal with the authorities to gain either full immunity or vastly reduced sentences in return for providing evidence against me. Mr Dewani has since started a relationship with photographer Gledison Lopez Martins 'It is the evidence of these proven liars that led to a witch hunt against me and the resulting failure to pursue the truth of what happened that night. 'This has allowed the individuals concerned to literally get away with murder. I understand and share the Hindocha family's frustrations.' Mr Dewani has since started a relationship with photographer Gledison Lopez Martins and has travelled to Mumbai - where he married Anni - with his boyfriend. A male prostitute known as 'The German Master' flew to Cape Town to give evidence of his meetings with Mr Dewani. But the judge Jeanette Traverso halted the prosecution witness and decided his evidence was not relevant. The German Master, whose real name was Leopold Leisser, was found hanged in his Birmingham home in November 2016. In an affidavit to the trial, Mr Hindocha said neither he or his daughter knew anything of his son-in-law's secret gay lifestyle in which he paid male prostitutes for sex and frequented gay clubs, when the marriage took place. Anni's father travelled to South Africa last year when Tongo first applied for parole. He added today: 'I went back even though I said I would never step foot in that country again. But I had to keep this animal Zola Tongo in jail. 'When I left I was satisfied that he would not be released and would spend more years in jail. 'I now know he will not serve his full sentence and will go back to his wife and children. But I will never see my child again.' Anni's uncle Ashok said: 'The whole thing has been farcical since Anni was murdered. 'We have always been frustrated by the South African legal system. And now Tongo is being allowed out half way in his sentence.' A legal source in Cape Town said: 'Tongo has been ticking all the relevant boxes required of him in prison and has maintained good behaviour.' He said that there would be little point in Anni's family challenging Tongo's release and added: 'Ever since the first hearing, the parole committee seemed inclined to grant parole to him.' New York is warning the Black Lives Matter Foundation to stop soliciting donations from residents since the California-based nonprofit that is unaffiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement is not legally registered to operate in the Empire State. The warning was issued weeks after it was learned that people sent the foundation more than $4.3million money mistakenly thinking they were contributing to the unaffiliated Black Lives Matter movement. The state was called to action after several donors, including employees from large tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, gave millions to Black Lives Matter Foundation, which seeks to help bring the police and the community closer together in an effort to save lives. Thats a far cry from the stated goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has mobilized in recent weeks to demand that police departments either be defunded or abolished altogether. Every organization that seeks to solicit donations from New Yorkers must follow state laws, said New York Attorney General Letitia James. New York on Monday warned Black Lives Matter Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that is unaffiliated with the mainstream Black Lives Matter movement, to stop soliciting donations in the state. A Black LIves Matter protest is seen above in New York on Saturday We will also fight for transparency so that donors goodwill isnt preyed upon by opportunists. The Black Lives Matter Foundation failed to register or file any financial documents with the state, and therefore has failed to provide New Yorkers with information on how their donations will be used. Thats why we are taking action by demanding that the foundation stop soliciting contributions from New Yorkers. I encourage all donors to practice due diligence when giving to charities. Last month, it was learned that donors pledged an estimated $4.35million to a California-based nonprofit organization known as Black Lives Matter Foundation. The contributions were sent by people who were apparently unaware that the nonprofit is not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement that has taken to the streets worldwide in recent weeks following the May 25 police-involved death of George Floyd. Most of the cash did not make it to the Black Lives Matter Foundation after officials at fundraising sites became aware of the discrepancy, according to BuzzFeed News. While the Black Lives Matter Global Network, a charity incorporated in Delaware, is an outgrowth of Black Lives Matter, which is a decentralized movement with no formal hierarchy that was started after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, a private security guard, fatally shot a 17-year-old black teen, Trayvon Martin, in Florida in February 2012. The case ignited a social media phenomenon marked by the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Black Lives Matter Foundation was founded by a Los Angeles-based music producer, Robert Ray Barnes (above). He has denied wrongdoing and says that he, too, has been victimized by police brutality After Zimmermans acquittal, the Black Lives Matter Global Network was created by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi as an outgrowth of the Black Lives Matter movement. The network was created in order to build local power and to intervene when violence was inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. Black Lives Matter Global Network was incorporated in Delaware in November 2016. The Black Lives Matter Foundation was founded by Robert Ray Barnes, a 67-year-old Los Angeles music producer who officially registered the charity in May 2015. According to BuzzFeed News, Black Lives Matter Foundation is listed as a charity based in Santa Clarita, California. It has one paid employee and its official address is that of a local UPS store. The Black Lives Matter Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, while the Black Lives Matter movement is not. It raises money through a charity partner known as Thousand Currents. Nonetheless, well-intentioned donors have given money to both through platforms like GoFundMe, PayPal, and others thinking that its for the same cause. Black Lives Matter Foundation raised more than $4million, mostly from donors who work at tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox. They gave money through Benevity, a fundraising site that connects corporate America with social justice causes Several employees from large tech firms like Apple, Google, Dropbox, and Microsoft gave $4million to the Black Lives Matter Foundation through a web site called Benevity, which connects corporate America to socially conscious causes. After it was learned that the donations went to the wrong destination, Benevity de-activated the Black Lives Matter Foundation. Benevity, PayPal, and GoFundMe said they would offer donors the option of rerouting the money to causes associated with the Black Lives Matter movement or other racial justice causes. Today, we think most people would agree, that regardless of race, something must be done to heal the rifts between some communities and the police, and with your help we at BLMFoundation have the very ideas to do just that, the charitys mission statement reads on Benevity. I don't have anything to do with the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Barnes told BuzzFeed News. I never met them; never spoke to them. I don't know them; I have no relationship with them. Our whole thing is having unity with the police department. A spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter movement agreed with Barnes, saying that they are two completely separate organizations and that the California-based charity has nothing to do with us. New York State Attorney General Letitia James (seen above in Harlem on Friday) warned Black Lives Matter Foundation to cease soliciting donations in New York State The Santa Clarita group is improperly using our name, the Black Lives Matter spokesperson said. We intend to call them out and follow up. Barnes, however, has rejected criticism that he co-opted the name, saying that he, too, was a victim of police brutality and that his wifes ex-husband died at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department. No one owns the concept, he said. In fact, Barnes accused Black Lives Matter of having stolen his idea. He also accused the movement of not being transparent about its fundraising and how it uses the money that it is given. It appears there is a lot of scamming going on, but how can it have to do with me? Barnes asked. I had plenty of motivation to create the Black Lives Matter Foundation and the people who were doing Black Lives Matter werent interested in a foundation. They never created it. Now all of the sudden theyre interested in it. Barnes added: They took my name and put this inc behind it. They took my name. I own that name. I havent stolen anything from them. They have stolen from me. They have lied and been able to profit using my name. Barnes has so far refused to reveal how much money his foundation has raised thus far. He told BuzzFeed News that while he hasnt done anything with the money that he has received, he does intend to use it to create prototypes for cooperation between the police and the community. The mainstream Black Lives Matter movement started from a social media hashtag that went viral in 2013 after Florida man George Zimmerman (left) was acquitted in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin (right) The most recent publicly available tax filings from the Black Lives Matter Foundation shows that the charity raised more than $300,000 in donations. Barnes acknowledged that his charity has a different goal than the Black Lives Matter movement. We dont want to be enemies of the police. We will let the movement do that, he said. We want to get to the point where we have programs and thats where the change will happen. Thats where we come in. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez signed an emergency order Monday closing the county's restaurants and other related or similar facilities due to a continued spike in COVID-19 cases. Gimenez said restaurants, as well as ballrooms, banquet facilities, party venues, gyms and fitness centers, and short-term rentals, are to be closed again in Florida's most populous county under the order which goes into effect on Wednesday. Most of the affected businesses had been reopened since Florida joined states that aggressively ended their lockdowns during the pandemic about two months ago. Curbside and delivery services will be allowed to continue. Gimenez explained that the order was necessary 'to ensure that our hospitals continue to have the staffing necessary to save lives' as those who are infected and in need of medical attention come in. The county's beaches, which were closed over the Fourth of July weekend, are also set to reopen on Tuesday. However, Gimenez warned he will shut them down too if crowds do not practice proper social distancing. Crowds of visitors walk past restaurants on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach on Friday as the Fourth of July weekend kicked off. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez signed an emergency order Monday closing the county's eateries due to a continued spike in COVID-19 cases A couple is pictured entering the Ocean's Ten restaurant on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. The restaurant and all others in Miami-Dade County will be closed again due to COVID-19 under Mayor Gimenez's emergency order, which goes into effect Wednesday A restaurant worker offers hand sanitizer to patrons in Miami's South Beach on Friday Patrons are greeted by masked restaurant workers at the Villa Casa Casuarina, located in the former Versace mansion on South Beach. Restaurants are being ordered to close again because of COVID-19l but curbside and delivery services will remain available The county's beaches, which were closed over the Fourth of July weekend (pictured), are also set to reopen on Tuesday. However, Gimenez warned he will shut them down too if crowds do not practice proper social distancing Florida, according to the state's Department of Health, has now surpassed Arizona with the steepest and most alarming rise in cases in the US. Miami-Dade, which has 2.8 million residents, had a record 2,418 new cases of the deadly flu-like virus on Saturday. At the time, Florida also reached a new high of 11,458 cases in one day. The county then confirmed on Monday that another 1,981 cases had been reported to make a total of 48,423, and that its tally of total deaths blamed on the virus had reached 1,051 people. Across the state, there were 206,447 confirmed cases and a total of 3,778 deaths. Across the country, there have been more than 2.9 million cases and more than 130,000 deaths. As the number of COVID-19 cases has risen in Florida, hospitals in Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County are were readying for a new wave of patients. Several medical facilities are freeing bed capacity to ensure all will can seek treatment, WPLG reports. Gimenez said Miami-Dade was tracking the spike in the number of cases, which involved mostly 18- to 34-year-olds whose infections began in mid-June. The Countys medical experts say the spike was caused by a number of factors, including young people going to congested areas, both indoors and outside 'without taking precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.' 'Contributing to the positives in that age group, the doctors have told me, were graduation parties, gatherings at restaurants that turned into packed parties in violation of the rules and street protests where people could not maintain social distancing and where not everyone was wearing facial coverings,' Gimenez wrote in his statement. The mayor's order to close up restaurants a second time whiplashed owners, leaving them frustrated and even more worried about the survival of their businesses. 'We're burned out emotionally, we're burned out financially, and we're burned out from the trauma of seeing everything that's happening,' said Karina Iglesias, a partner at the popular downtown Miami Spanish restaurants Niu Kitchen and Arson. Michael Beltran, chef-partner at Ariete Hospitality Group which owns a handful of other popular Miami restaurants including Taurus, was struggling to come to terms with having to tell most of his 80 employees - many of whom were rehired for reopening - that they would again be unemployed. The Miami-Dade spike was caused by a number of factors, including young people going to congested areas, 'without taking precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.' Miami Beach was packed in June with unmasked visitors (pictured) Lines of cars are backed up with people seeking COVID-19 tests in Miami Beach Monday 'From what they told me I did the proper things (to reopen), and now we're at this point,' Beltran said. Infections are on the rise in 39 states, according to a Reuters tally, and 16 have posted record daily case counts in July. The alarming surge in daily new cases, which has been averaging around 50,000, has prompted many local leaders, like Gimenez, to consider slowing down or rolling back business reopenings to curb infection rates that are already overwhelming hospitals in some areas. The alarming surge in daily new cases across the US, which has been averaging around 50,000, has prompted many local leaders, like Gimenez (pictured), to consider slowing down or rolling back business reopenings to curb infection rates Gimenez tweeted about his new order requiring restaurants and other related facilities closed 'We can tamp down the spread if everyone follows the rules, wears masks and stays at least six feet (2 meters) apart from others,' Gimenez said in his statement announcing the emergency order. Gimenez will allow office buildings, retail stores and grooming services to remain open 'for now.' A 10pm to 6am countywide curfew also will remain in effect, but with exceptions for essential workers and people observing religious obligations. The mayor also encouraged residents to report anyone breaking the rollback rules by calling 305-476-5423-POLICE. Activist and food writer Jack Monroe has launched a withering attack on David Walliams, labelling the comedian's popular collection of children's stories racist and 'fatshaming nonsense.' David Walliams' publisher, HarperCollins Children's Books, responded to the accusations today saying Jack Monroe's tweets were factually inaccurate. They said the character Monroe claims has 'racist undertones' because of her 'big frizzy hair' is actually white. In a blizzard of posts on Twitter she dissected several of Mr Walliams' best-selling children's tales, picking out contentious characters and plot developments. The food writer accused the Little Britain star of 'targeting the working class', and said his stories recycled material from the controversial comedy show that made his name. She began: 'Small Boy completed his D*vid Walli*ms book collection today, so I finally decided to take a read of the latest. (It's important to note here I've not bought a single one.) It's like Little Britain for kids. 37m copies sold? Of this sneering classist fatshaming grim nonsense?' she wrote on her Twitter profile, before adding: 'a thread will now follow.' Many of her followers agreed with her, while other stuck up for the comedy star. Activist and food writer Jack Monroe has launched a withering attack on the children's novels of comedian David Walliams, branding them racially insensitive and 'fat-shaming' She then went on to quote from the books, highlighting her grievances with the content to her 300,000 followers. 'Supermum, in The World's Worst Parents, is BORING because she lives in a TOWER BLOCK and she CLEANS TOILETS. Single mum of two, Spike and Punk. I'm not sure what qualifies her as being one of the World's Worst Parents when all she does is love her kids and make them laugh?' she questioned. 'There's a kid in this book called Ping Pong, and I'd find it difficult to believe that's not a throwback to (the now derided racist trope) Ting Tong from LB [Little Britain]. 'But there are more than enough examples to be getting on with without gymnastics back through the ages, so I'll continue.' Last month Little Britain was removed frof BBC iPlayerr, Netflix and BritBox in a row over blackface characters. In November 2019 Walliams joined a select list of authors, including the likes of JK Rowling and Dame Jacqueline Wilson, to have sold more than 100 million worth of books One example flagged up the apparent targeting of working class fathers (top), while another extract appeared to recycle and old vomiting joke previously used in Little Britain Funny or offensive? Quotes from David Walliams' latest The World's Worst Parents with Jack Monroe's verdict Quote: 'Oh no, it's Supermum! Brandishing a toilet brush, a mop and a very bad homemade outfit' Jack Monroe: 'Single mum of two - I'm not sure what qualifies her as being one of the World's Worst Parents when all she does is love her kids and make them laugh?' Quote: 'Granville didn't laugh exactly. If he found something funny, like the misfortune of poor people...' Monroe: 'You what mate? Had to close the book at this point and have a small chat with my Small Boy about how 'misfortune' and 'poverty' aren't punchlines for jokes.' Quote: Suddenly Tony Truffle, Boby Bollywood and Dame Penelope Plum all turned a violent shade of green. Tony Truffle was first. He hurled his spaghetti over Boby Bollywood. 'BLEURGH!'. Boby was not far behind> He hurled his spaghetti all over the dame. 'BLLEEUURRGGHH!' It may surprise you to know that of the three the dame cold hurl the furthest. Monroe: Back to Little Britain, we have the Classic Projectile Vomiting Joke. Four whole pages of it. Does he not have any new material?' Advertisement Continuing on her Twitter tirade, the food writer went on to draw up cases of alleged racial undertones in the writing of Mr Walliams, noting: 'There's the black female teacher, Miss Tutelage, whose 'big frizzy hair' is a punchline. As is the school bully calling her 'Archbishop Desmond Tutu'. 'Which seems verbose for a character who was just saying 'WOT?' and being kept back many school years for being 'thick'. Harper Collins said: 'the character Jack Monroe refers to, Miss Tutelage, as a 'black female teacher' is indeed a white character.' 'Four eyes' being used about a character with glasses. 'Fat' as a derogatory description, pretty much throughout. Another projectile vomit joke. 'Frizzball' as a nickname for the teacher with the big hair and unpronounceable name... I'm still going.' she added. The publisher's statement responded the thread and said: 'David Walliams's books have a diverse readership which is reflected in their content. 'He writes about the real worlds of children using comedy as a way of confronting many difficult topics, from the ground-breaking The Boy in the Dress to Gangsta Granny, and which should be considered in the wider context of the overall stories. 'In his World's Worst series he writes cautionary tales using surreal humour to champion underdogs, deflate the pompous and denounce bullies. 'David Walliams's books have transformed countless non-readers into booklovers and got families reading together.' The thread received mixed responses, though many Twitter users expressed similar opinions about Mr Walliams work which they had felt previously unable to air. One Twitter user, Michaela Deas, replied: 'Oh thank the deities someone has finally said it! Cannot abide those books. Dreadful, racist, classist dreck. Have never understood why they are even remotely successful. Thank you, Jack x' Another, under the username @Miss Lupescu67, added: 'He makes my skin crawl. His books are an awful influence on their readers and it makes me seethe that he gets such a huge amount of promotion over far more talented writers because he was 'a name.' He even gets to appear at so many of the childrens Literature events.' Mr Walliams' most recent literary creation, 'the Ice Monster,' has just been released in audiobook format and was being promoted over social media throughout Monday. His many adoring fans were quick to praise the work. One Twitter user, Julie-Ann21, responded to the @DavidWalliams Twitter account: 'Fabulous illustrations, great book every success with new book too it's very good, funny and illustrated so well, I hope more people go and get a copy.' In November 2019 David Walliams joined a select list of authors to have sold more than 100 million worth of books. The comedian turned children's writer joined the likes of JK Rowling, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson, Jamie Oliver and Dan Brown in reaching the landmark figure following the overwhelming success of his work. He has regularly topped the annual list of bestselling authors since his 2008 debut, The Boy in the Dress - which alone has sold over one million copies worldwide. Melbourne is at risk of echoing Singapore's deadly coronavirus surge if it doesn't successfully contain the outbreak in the cramped public housing towers, experts have warned. In the early months during the pandemic, Singapore was praised for containing the virus by using a strict regime of testing and contact-tracing. However, the Asian city-state saw sharp uptick in locally transmitted cases in April after the virus took hold in the migrant workers' dormitory complexes. With 1,000 cases reported a day, authorities were forced to extend the city's partial lockdown by one month. Singapore has more than 44,983 confirmed cases at present. And now, with cases doubling in the past seven days in Melbourne, fears have been raised that the Victorian city could follow suit. Residents who are banned from leaving their homes are monitored by police at the commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington Police patrol the commission flats at 120 Racecourse Road in Flemington after 9 commission flats around Flemington and north Melbourne were put into total lockdown Police stand at the entry of 130 Racecourse Road in Flemington, Melbourne, following the lockdown on Saturday A resident peers out from a window inside the Racecourse Road housing commission tower. Residents in nine towers have complained they are not getting food, however thousands of food packages have been distributed by government and community groups The Victorian Government has been battling to contain the latest spike in its capital city. As of Monday night, Victoria had 645 active cases which make up more than 97 per cent of Australia's total 668 active cases. The previous daily high in the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in Victoria was 111 on March 28. The state is to be shut off from the rest of the country after case numbers surged by 124 on Monday revised down from 127 - its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. Nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were locked down on Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, with 3,000 residents unable to leave their apartments for any reason for at least five days. Professor Dale Fisher of Singapore's National University, who was part of the team who worked to help fight COVID-19 infections in the dormitories, said finding the 'weak spot' was key. Controlling the virus in Singapore's high-density dorms was challenging with a conventional response, he told the ABC's 7:30. A foreign worker wears a face mask as he carries groceries past the S11 Dormitory in Punggol, Singapore A foreign worker talks on the phone outside his room at the WestLite Toh Guan dormitory after it was declared an isolation area under the Infectious Diseases Act A man wearing a face mask stands on the top floor of a dormitory used by foreign workers at the S11 Dormitory in Punggol Foreign workers stand along the corridor of their rooms in the S11 Dormitory in Punggo, Singapore 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 He said an outbreak like this could happen anywhere because authorities were always 'five to ten days behind' the virus due to the incubation period. 'You've just got to find your weak spot. If you don't find it, the virus will.' UNSW Professor of epidemiology and WHO adviser Mary Louise McLaws told news.com.au the most effective response would be to move those in the Melbourne towers into purpose-built facilities. The government has chosen to keep residents in their homes with police guarding the buildings. There has been 3,000 meals, 1,000 food hampers and 250 personal care packs distributed to residents, while the charity FareShare has provided more than 3,000 prepared meals and 4,500 pastries. On Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews said the Victorian Government would give residents of the subsidised housing towers food, free rent for two weeks, baby formula, pet food and medical essentials. They will also be provided with counselling, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction including methadone for registered addicts, mental health care, family violence counselling and physical healthcare. Translators will be doorknocking to explain directions to tenants who don't speak English. Some residents of the public housing estate are employed and they will receive a $1,500 hardship payment to compensate for missing work. Victoria's case numbers soared on Monday for the 20th straight day of double-digit (or more) gains. The outbreak state now has more than 97 per cent of Australia's active cases About 3,000 residents in Melbourne were put into immediate lockdown on Saturday. Pictured: One of the nine public housing estates in Flemington Food and drink packages (right) were delivered to residents by police (left) on Saturday night but some complained they did not receive essentials such as bread and milk A crowdfunding campaign for residents by Victorian Trades Hall Council has raised more than $250,000. According to experts, the virus spiked in Singapore because authorities failed to act quickly, focusing on imported cases instead of local transmissions with migrant workers. The hotspots emerged at the dorms where there were 20 men per room, with shared toilets, cooking and other facilities. In May more than 50,000 workers were quarantined for two weeks, including 1,300 workers who were moved into segregated facilities in two army camps. They were required to observe strict health measures, stagger their meal times and maintain social distancing. Hollywood star Johnny Depp and his estranged wife Amber Heard have been locked in gruelling meetings with lawyers all day as they prepare to come face-to-face at the High Court tomorrow. Lawyers for the warring former couple have been working to make sure they arrive at the High Court at separate times for the showdown to ensure there is no risk of them bumping into one another outside. Both Depp and Heard, who havent been pictured together for three years, are expected to attend each day of the trial. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have not been pictured together in three years. Pictured here: The ex-couple at the Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2014 Depp is suing The Sun newspaper and its executive editor Dan Wootton over allegations the actor was violent towards his former wife during their troubled two-year marriage. The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 57, will spend three days in the witness box at from tomorrow to strenuously deny he ever hit the American actress. Depp has spent the past two days being prepped by Adam Waldman, his high-flying American lawyer. Both arrived in London over the weekend to prepare for the trial, which will also see a number of Hollywood figures giving evidence, including Depp's former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder. In court, Depp is being represented by David Sherborne while Adam Wolanski QC is appearing on behalf of News Group Newspapers (NGN) publishers of the Sun. Depp is suing The Suns publisher News Group Newspapers over a 2018 article which referred to him as a 'wife beater'. It appeared under the headline 'Gone Potty How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?' The article related to allegations made against Depp by actress Heard, 34, that he was violent towards her - claims he strenuously denies. The actor (left, in February), 57, is suing the tabloid's publisher News Group Newspapers and executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which referred to Depp as a 'wife beater'. The article related to allegations made against Depp by actress Heard (right, in December), 34, that he was violent towards her during their marriage - claims he strenuously denies Heard has hired barrister Jennifer Robinson, a leading human rights lawyer from Doughty Street chambers who also represents Julian Assange, to advise her. She will sit beside her in court and has been spending several hours each day preparing her for the witness box since she arrived in Britain from her home in California last week. An insider said: Theyre both going to spend a long-time giving evidence and their credibility as witnesses is what the whole case rests on. Lawyers from both camps have been working them hard to ensure that they get all their points across and are consistent in what they say. Theyre bracing themselves for a grilling and once they take the stand, the lawyers are going to pick holes in their testimony. Giving evidence is going to be challenging for both of them and the trial is going to be a real-life Hollywood blockbuster. Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp failed in a bid last week to have Heard banned from the court until she was called by NGN as a witness - meaning she would be prevented from watching her ex-husband give evidence. The trial hangs on 14 separate incidents of domestic abuse which lawyers for NGN argue demonstrate that the article by Wootton was not libellous. It is estimated that the trial is costing Depp and NGN around 1milllion each in legal fees. Pictured: Amber Heard's most recent Instagram post from last weekend. The months leading up to the trial have resulted in a serious of sensational allegations being made public as both sides argued during pre-trial hearings over material that could or could not be made public Pictured: Johnny Depp leaving the High Court in London in February this year. During one hearing, it was revealed that Depp sent texts during his relationship with Heard saying he would 'drown' and 'burn' his wife then 'f*** the corpse' The months leading up to the trial have resulted in a serious of sensational allegations being made public as both sides argued during pre-trial hearings over material that could or could not be made public. During one hearing, it was revealed that Depp sent texts during his relationship with Heard saying he would 'drown' and 'burn' his wife then 'f*** the corpse. NGN lawyers have been wading through 70,000 texts, some of which will be submitted as evidence to show that Depp was violent towards Heard. In another hearing, Depps lawyer alleged that Heard had 'two extra-marital affairs' or 'extra-relationship affairs' with Elon Musk and James Franco while she was going out with or was married to Depp. Both men have denied the claims. The High Court hearing will also hear details of a 2015 trip to Australia by Depp and Heard during which he sent messages asking for drugs, claim the Suns lawyers. They will also allege that he waged a three-day ordeal of physical assaults on Heard and held her hostage while they were in the country. Depp is also suing Heard for $50m in the US overa column she wrote in the Washington Post in which she described herself as a domestic abuse victim. Although Depp was not named in the column, he claims it defamed him. His libel claim against the Sun could have a major impact on the outcome of the American hearing. Depp and Heard met on the set of 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. In May 2016, Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp after accusing him of abuse, which he denied. The couple settled their divorce out of court in 2017, with Heard donating her seven million US dollars (5.5 million) settlement to charity. Advertisement Boris Johnson today refused to apologise for blaming care homes for their residents dying in Britain's coronavirus crisis after triggering a blazing row by accusing them of not following proper infection control procedures. The Prime Minister's spokesman said that care homes had 'done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances' but did not apologise for his remarks, which have enraged care bosses around the country. Health Secretary Matt Hancock also declined the chance to apologise in the House of Commons this afternoon for his leader's 'despicable' comments, and said his admiration for care workers was 'second to none'. A care home owner in Yorkshire and the North of England, David Crabtree, today said the PM had 'picked the wrong fight with the wrong people' and branded his comments despicable, saying the blame for care homes' staggering death toll - now over 30,000 - lay at the feet of Mr Johnson, his ministers and government officers. Mr Crabtree said care homes had been free of coronavirus before hospitals starting sending patients home without testing them, which then triggered deadly outbreaks. A bitter blame game has erupted among politicians and care home chiefs after Mr Johnson said 'too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have'. Mark Adams, chief executive of social care charity Community Integrated Care, added that he was 'unbelievably disappointed' by Mr Johnson's remarks and called them 'clumsy' and 'cowardly'. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'To be honest with you, if this is genuinely his view, I think we're almost entering a Kafkaesque alternative reality, where the Government sets the rules, we follow them, they don't like the results, they then deny setting the rules and blame the people that were trying to do their best.' Piers Morgan also attacked the PM for his 'disgusting' claim, saying: 'I can't even look at him anymore.' Labour MP David Lammy said it was 'inexcusable' to try and shift the blame, Green MP Caroline Lucas branded it 'utterly shameless' and an LBC presenter called it 'bowel-shifting dishonesty'. Business Secretary Alok Sharma today defended his leader and claimed Mr Johnson had been trying to point out that it was unclear to everyone what the correct procedures should have been. He said the Government had 'done our best'. When pressed for an apology from Mr Johnson this morning in light of the offence his remarks caused, the premier's official spokesman said: 'Throughout the pandemic care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances... The PM was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.' This is how Government decisions and failings led to the coronavirus crisis in care homes: At least 25,000 people were discharged from hospitals into care homes without being tested for the coronavirus in March and April, which bosses say triggered outbreaks; The Department of Health did not supply adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for care staff, according to managers who accused senior officials of overseeing 'shambolic', 'haphazard' and 'paltry' attempts to provide it; Routine testing for people living in care homes was not available throughout March and April and only small samples of people living in homes could get tests if there was a suspected outbreak; Department of Health did not publicly count the numbers of people dying of Covid-19 in care homes until April 29, by which time there had been more than 3,500 fatalities. Many victims are still uncounted because they never got tested; Public Health England's advice that care homes were not at risk of Covid-19 outbreaks remained in place until March, by which time thousands of people nationwide were infected after the virus came into the country in people returning from February half-term trips to Europe. Boris Johnson has refused to apologise for comments in which he said 'too many' care homes had ignored proper safety procedures to combat the coronavirus. Care home company owner David Crabtree said the PM was 'despicable' David Crabtree, who owns Crabtree Care Homes, said on Good Morning Britain today: 'Mr Johnson came to my county, Yorkshire - he's picked the wrong fight with the wrong people... this is huge. 'These care staff did dedicated every day to coming in here. The procedures were very very simple - you do not cross-infect, you do not move people who potentially could have had Covid with or without symptoms. 'They were deliberately discharged... We did not have Covid in our homes. These care staff were PPE'd up from February. WHAT WENT WRONG FOR CARE HOMES? A TIMELINE OF FAILINGS FEBRUARY - SAGE scientists warned Government 'very early on' about the risk to care homes Britain's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, revealed in April that he and other senior scientists warned politicians 'very early on' about the risk COVID-19 posed to care homes. He said: 'So very early on we looked at a number of topics, we looked at nosocomial infection very early on, that's the spread in hospitals, and we flagged that as something that the NHS needed to think about. 'We flagged the fact that we thought care homes would be an important area to look at, and we flagged things like vaccine development and so on. So we try to take a longer term view of things as well as dealing with the urgent and immediate areas.' The SAGE committee met for the first time on January 22, suggesting 'very early on' in its discussions was likely the end of January or the beginning of February. MARCH - Hospital patients discharged to homes without tests In March and April at least 25,000 people were discharged from NHS hospitals into care homes without getting tested for coronavirus, a report by the National Audit Office found. This move came at the peak of the outbreak and has been blamed for 'seeding' Covid-19 outbreaks in the homes which later became impossible to control. NHS England issued an order to its hospitals to free up as many beds as they could, and later sent out joint guidance with the Department of Health saying that patients did not need to be tested beforehand. Chair of the public accounts committee and a Labour MP in London, Meg Hillier, said: 'Residents and staff were an afterthought yet again: out of sight and out of mind, with devastating consequences.' MARCH - Public Health England advice still did not raise alarm about care home risk and allowed visits An early key error in the handling of the crisis, social care consultant Melanie Henwood told the Mail on Sunday, was advice issued by Public Health England (PHE) on February 25 that it remained 'very unlikely' people in care homes would become infected as there was 'currently no transmission of Covid-19 in the UK'. Yet a fortnight earlier the UK Government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling committee had concluded: 'It is a realistic probability that there is already sustained transmission in the UK, or that it will become established in the coming weeks.' On March 13, PHE advice for care homes changed 'asking no one to visit who has suspected Covid-19 or is generally unwell' but visits were still allowed. Three days later, Mr Johnson said: 'Absolutely, we don't want to see people unnecessarily visiting care homes.' MARCH/APRIL - Testing not readily available to care home residents In March and April coronavirus swab tests - to see who currently has the disease - were rationed and not available to all care home residents suspected of having Covid-19. Government policy dictated that a sample of residents would be tested if one showed symptoms, then an outbreak would be declared and anyone else with symptoms presumed to be infected without a test. The Department of Health has been in control of who gets Covid-19 tests and when, based on UK testing capacity. MARCH/APRIL - Bosses warned homes didn't have enough PPE Care home bosses were furious in March and April - now known to have been the peak of the UK's epidemic - that their staff didn't have enough access to personal protective equipment such as gloves, masks and aprons. A letter sent from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) to the Department of Health saw the care chiefs accuse a senior figure at the Department of overseeing a 'shambolic response'. Adass said it was facing 'confusion' and additional work as a result of mixed messaging put out by the Government. It said the situation around PPE, which was by then mandatory for all healthcare workers, was 'shambolic' and that deliveries had been 'paltry' or 'haphazard'. A shortage of PPE has been a consistent issue from staff in care homes since the pandemic began, and the union Unison revealed at the beginning of May that it had already received 3,600 reports about inadequate access to PPE from workers in the sector. APRIL - Care home deaths left out of official fatality count The Department of Health refused to include people who had died outside of hospitals in its official daily death count until April 29, three weeks after deaths had peaked in the UK. It started to include the 'all settings' measure from that date and added on 3,811 previously uncounted Covid-19 deaths on the first day. Advertisement 'A deliberate policy to discharge anybody and everybody from hospital into care homes, with or without Covid, for the sake of a two-bob test? 'Mr Johnson, you are responsible. The paper trail leads all the way back to you. You and your ministers and officers made this Eton mess. You are despicable for saying such a thing against the care staff that so valiantly fought for these people's lives.' The comments that have triggered the row were ones made by Mr Johnson during a visit to Goole in Yorkshire when he said: 'One of the things the crisis has shown is we need to think about how we organise our social care package better and how we make sure we look after people better who are in social care. 'We discovered too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they could have, but we're learning lessons the whole time.' He was responding to remarks by NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens, who said the Covid-19 crisis had shone 'a very harsh spotlight' on the resilience of the sector and urged the Government to enact plans for reform within a year. Mr Johnson last night accepted change is needed, saying: 'Most important is to fund them properly. 'But we'll also be looking at ways to make sure the care sector long term is properly organised and supported.' His comments sparked an immediate backlash. Community Integrated Care's Mark Adams accused the government's leadership of being an 'absolute travesty'. When asked to explain why he called Boris Johnson's words 'cowardly', Mr Adams added: 'Because you've got 1.6million social care workers who, when most of us are locked away in our bunkers waiting out Covid-19, [are] really trying to protect our family. 'We've got these brave people on minimum wage, often with no sickness cover at all, going into work to protect our parents, our grandparents, our children, putting their own health and potentially their own lives at risk. 'And then to get the most senior man in the country turning round and blaming them on what has been an absolute travesty of leadership from the Government, I just think it is appalling.' He said: 'I think what we're getting is history re-written in front of us, when you could list pages and pages of Government failure which the system has had to cope with. 'And to get a throwaway comment, almost glibly blaming the social care system and not holding your hand up for starting too late, doing the wrong things, making mistake after mistake, is just frankly unacceptable.' Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Home Forum, told the BBC the suggestion that care home workers were not following procedures was 'totally inappropriate' and 'hugely insulting'. She added: 'Care homes across the country were dealing with an extraordinary amount of different guidance that was coming out from Government on an almost daily basis. 'So for the suggestion that they were not following procedures as laid out is totally inappropriate and, frankly, hugely insulting.' Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: 'Inexcusable to try and shift the blame onto care homes and their workers. 'The government was too slow to provide the right guidance, too slow on PPE and too slow on testing. The least Boris Johnson could do is take responsibility for the mistakes his Government made.' Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, a Labour MP and NHS doctor, said on Twitter: 'Unbelievable that the Government choose to point the blame at care homes for the many avoidable deaths. 'If lockdown had happened earlier, advice wasn't changing every 5 mins, protective equipment provided and Govt properly funding social care - we'd have avoided much of this.' The Independent Care Group, a representative body for care homes in York and North Yorkshire, said the PM's comments were 'a real slap in the face'. Speaking about data released today, chairman Mike Padgham said: 'We warmly welcome today's continued fall in the death rate in care and nursing homes and feel it is a testament to the amazing, selfless and brave efforts by care workers during this horrific pandemic. 'Which makes it all the more upsetting for the sector when the Prime Minister makes the comments he did, a real slap in the face for those workers after they have given and sacrificed so much.' But Business Secretary Alok Sharma said that the Prime Minister had been pointing out that no-one had known what the correct procedures were. He told BBC Breakfast: 'What the Prime Minister was pointing out is nobody knew what the correct procedures were, because we know that the extent of the asymptomatic cases was not known at the time. 'We have done our best to put our arms around the care home sector.' The Government has faced a barrage of criticism for failing to protect care homes from the virus, from a lack of testing to inadequate supplies of PPE. Official policy for testing in care homes during the peak of the outbreak was to only swab a small sample in the home until mass testing became available in April. If positive cases were found, the home was assumed to have an outbreak and other residents with similar symptoms were classified as having coronavirus. As a result thousands of care home residents were not tested, meaning outbreaks continued to spread, and thousands of those who have died during the pandemic have not been counted as Covid-19 victims because they never got tested. Ministers finally caved into pressure last week and announced staff and residents in care homes will regularly be tested for coronavirus. Mr Adams added the care sector which looks after around 400,000 Britons, around two thirds of whom have dementia had been 'crying out' for weekly testing for months. When asked whether his staff were being tested enough, he said: 'We didn't test social care until the end of May. So us, like most social care operators, had our losses before we started having any testing at all. 'Yes, the testing has now reached a point where most of our staff in care homes and most of the residents have been tested once. 'But once is absolutely useless because if you get tested and then get on the bus back home and pick up the virus on the bus, within a week you're potentially asymptomatic and infectious. 'We have been crying out for weekly or ideally twice-weekly testing for months and we've only just got that commitment - it is a question of the horse bolting and shutting the stable door.' Somerset care home owner Christopher Dando was today reunited with his family (pictured with his wife Alison and four-year-old daughter, Edith) for the first time since Easter after moving into the home to help care for residents during the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. He said: 'Things got bad out there, people in local care homes were dying and staff infected the local hospital closed due to being overwhelmed with cases there was no good time for us to break our lockdown' Mr Dando, who runs the Court House Retirement Home in Cheddar, spent 12 weeks away from his family while he and his staff kept residents safe during the height of the crisis A National Audit Office report last month revealed ministers had ignored warnings to stockpile essential PPE in June 2019. Health chiefs only supplied a fifth of the gowns, a third of the eye protectors and half of the aprons that government advisers recommended. Care home bosses were still struggling to source PPE in May, well after the brunt of the pandemic had passed. One provider even added a 6.47-a-day surcharge on top of 4,000 monthly fees to pay for masks, gowns and gloves for staff. And one home in Wales was forced to warn in April that staff may have to resort to wearing bin bags unless they could urgently source PPE. The report also claimed around 25,000 hospital patients were discharged into care homes during the peak of the pandemic without all being tested for Covid-19. Labour MP David Lammy (left) said it was 'inexcusable to try and shift the blame onto care homes and their workers', while Mark Adams (right), chief executive of social care charity Community Integrated Care, said the PM's remarks were 'cowardly' Office for National Statistics figures released today revealed 1,300 care home residents passed away on April 12, the darkest day in the pandemic for the sector Health chiefs only supplied a fifth of the gowns, a third of the eye protectors and half of the aprons that government advisers recommended. Care home bosses were still struggling to source PPE in May, well after the brunt of the pandemic had passed. One provider even added a 6.47-a-day surcharge on top of 4,000 monthly fees to pay for masks, gowns and gloves for staff. MINISTERS WERE TOLD IN APRIL THAT 'BANK' STAFF POSE COVID-19 THREAT - BUT NO RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE UNTIL FIVE WEEKS LATER Government experts warned in early April of the coronavirus risk posed by care home staff working in more than one location but guidance restricting them to one facility was not issued until more than a month later. There are fears asymptomatic staff were unknowingly spreading the disease to the most vulnerable by working at different locations. Advisers had raised the issue at a meeting on April 9 but it was not recommended until May 15 that staff should only work at one care home. The minutes of an April 9 meeting of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) show experts talked about the issue of 'staff working between different care homes'. They also warned of the 'apparent lack of success' in stopping infections in such settings, according to The Sunday Telegraph. This was despite an expectation within the Government that shielding measures should have made care home residents the 'last to be infected'. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van Tam, who attended the meeting was apparently tasked with relaying the Nervtag concerns to the Department of Health and Social Care. A meeting which took place just over a week later concluded that 'consideration still needs to be given on interhome transmission driven by staff moving between homes'. Government guidance published on April 16 did not mention staff movement. It was not until May 15 that the Government advised that 'subject to maintaining safe staffing levels, providers should employ staff to work at a single location'. Advertisement And one home in Wales was forced to warn in April that staff may have to resort to wearing bin bags unless they could urgently source PPE. The report also claimed around 25,000 hospital patients were discharged into care homes during the peak of the pandemic without all being tested for Covid-19. Critics said the move, ordered to free up beds for an anticipated surge in seriously ill virus patients, was 'extraordinary' and showed care homes were an 'afterthought'. Mr Johnson's comments sparked immediate backlash last night, with Vic Rayner, of the National Care Forum, rejecting the criticism and urging the Prime Minister to start 'turning the dial up on reform and down on blame'. She added: 'Mr Johnson's comments in relation to care homes' following of procedures are neither accurate nor welcome. The Independent Care Group's chairman Mike Padgham said: 'We should not be getting into the blame game and it is wrong to criticise care and nursing homes at this time.' He added: 'Care providers may not have got everything perfect but neither has the Government. 'For much of this pandemic, providers were operating in the dark over what they ought to do and with one arm behind their backs in terms of the support they were given. In those circumstances, they have worked miracles.' No 10 last night tried to calm the row, saying Mr Johnson had not been criticising care homes but had merely been highlighting the difficulties they faced. 'Throughout this crisis care homes have done a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances,' a spokesman said. 'The PM was pointing out that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because the extent of asymptomatic transmission was not known at the time.' It comes after damning figures last week revealed a care home resident died every minute in England and Wales at the peak of the Covid-19 crisis in mid-April. Office for National Statistics data showed 1,300 care home residents passed away on April 12, the darkest day in the pandemic for the sector. A total of 495 of the deaths were confirmed as Covid-19 following a positive test but the virus was likely to blame for hundreds more. Very few care home residents were swabbed for the infection at the time because tests were reserved for the sickest hospital patients and NHS workers. They havent quite ruined her summer, but its been close. Day after day, news of exasperating royal behaviour has thudded on to the nations breakfast tables to the despair of the Queen. Prince Harrys staggeringly misjudged swipe at the Commonwealth and his assertion that it must acknowledge past wrongs over empire and race. His wife Meghans complaints about being unprotected by the royals while making sly digs at other family members. And then there is Prince Andrew, evoking the least public sympathy of all, as revelations about his friendships plumb fresh depths of tawdriness and embarrassment. Revelations about Prince Andrew's friendships plumb fresh depths of tawdriness and embarrassment, writes RICHARD KAY The shock over publication of a photograph of Andrews friends Ghislaine Maxwell and the disgraced Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey posing on the coronation thrones during a private tour of the Palace organised by the Duke of York, has ramped up the pressure, writes RICHARD KAY Every morning seems to bring a new piece of news about Andrew. Little of it brings good cheer. The shock over publication of a photograph of Andrews friends Ghislaine Maxwell and the disgraced Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey posing on the coronation thrones during a private tour of the Palace organised by the Duke of York, has ramped up the pressure. Day after day, news of exasperating royal behaviour has thudded on to the nations breakfast tables to the despair of the Queen (pictured), writes RICHARD KAY Yesterday it even drew in the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, who said the prince should cooperate with the FBI over his relationship with Maxwell and the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Sir Keir, a former lawyer and one-time director of public prosecutions, was unequivocal. It doesnt matter who you are, he said. You cooperate with the law enforcement authorities when they ask you to do so. All this week at Buckingham Palace, while the familys principal figures have been continuing to lead the nations response to the coronavirus, senior courtiers have been becoming more and more rattled by the distractions. To the people whose lives are committed to the welfare of the monarchy, this has been one of the worst periods of public disapproval since the summer of 1992 when intrigue over Prince Charles and Princess Dianas marriage and the misbehaviour of the Duchess of York dominated the deadlines. It is not a crisis as that summer was. Not quite. Or as one senior official muttered with distinct discomfort yesterday: Not yet. But there is a fear that this stream of uncomfortable news will reopen the debate about the future direction of the monarchy. The Andrew story in particular is seen as a gift for republicans to exploit and to enjoy. In many ways the saga of the prince and the paedophile would be seen as a farce were it not so sordid or so serious. Prince Harry (pictured during a video call with young leaders) made a staggeringly misjudged swipe at the Commonwealth, writes RICHARD KAY Just take the past few days. There has been the theatrical behaviour of the New York attorney, Audrey Strauss playing to the gallery with her grandiose pleas for Andrew to come forward; the shouty claims of defence lawyers pressing for the dukes head as a royal trophy; and even the involvement of a lobbying firm that specialises in taking on clients with an unsavoury reputation but declining to represent the Queens son implying that he was too toxic. But over-arching all this sorry story is about Andrew and a question of truth. Is he guilty of evasion or is he a victim too of over-zealous prosecutors who, to Andrews thinking anyway, have ignored the high profile and pressing claims of figures linked to Epstein in the U.S. namely President Trump and ex-president Bill Clinton for the glory of a royal scalp? Even so the duke has hardly helped himself. It is not just his appalling miscalculation in giving that interview to the BBCs Emily Maitlis and his explanations about Pizza Huts and not sweating, but rather about how he has responded to the most serious accusations. Over the weekend the phrase no recollection was deployed again. He used it last to answer questions about that photograph of his arm around the bare midriff of 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, who claims they had sex three times claims he denies. This time its use was over the throne-room photograph. It was taken in 2002 but who took it and how it came to be published 18 years later remains unknown. Every morning seems to bring a new piece of news about Andrew (pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts in 2001). Little of it brings good cheer, writes RICHARD KAY It doesnt take a constitutional genius to work out that picture presumably snapped by one of his guests and the image it conveys is not just an embarrassment to the Queen, it is also a betrayal of trust. The brocade-upholstered thrones have a near sacred role at the Palace. Always roped off from visitors, they are emblematic of the enduring power of monarchy and of the Queens unimpeachable duty. Treating them as props for a holiday snap is unspeakably bad manners, says a senior royal aide. They are historical artefacts and allowing pictures to be taken shows an astonishing lack of judgment. Andrew, however, has offered nothing in explanation for such a breach of protocol beyond the pat no recollection of the episode. Even his defenders find that hard to reconcile. Maxwell and Spacey were not the only figures on that Palace tour, so too was Bill Clinton. How many times has Prince Andrew escorted a former U.S. president around his family home, they wonder? Details of the events are still sketchy but insiders believe that the specially curated visit followed a dinner Andrew is thought to have hosted in the Chinese dining room. It is such a shock that this should happen with the Duke of York because he is normally a stickler for propriety, says the aide. Ive heard him tell people off for not eating properly at the table. The frenzy over the photograph underlined the closeness that existed between Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell. Gloria Allred, the American lawyer representing many of Epsteins victims suggested that the prince might want to speak to the FBI before his friend Miss Maxwell starts naming names. The duke has hardly helped himself. It is not just his appalling miscalculation in giving that interview to the BBCs Emily Maitlis (pictured) and his explanations about Pizza Huts and not sweating, but rather about how he has responded to the most serious accusations, writes RICHARD KAY If she is interested in a deal then she is going to have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in everything that she is asked and that would be Prince Andrew, what she saw him do, or observe or knew he did when they were together in reference to Jeffrey Epstein, the lawyer said. Prince Andrew, when he was in that house, saw young girls coming and going constantly when he was there. What did he think they were doing there, why were they there, did he speak to them was he involved with them at all or even with adult young women there? Andrew, it should be said, has strenuously denied any knowledge of criminal behaviour by Epstein. Ms Allred, who has been harrying Andrew for months, claims that more British women had come forward to make claims on Epsteins estate in recent days. Prince Andrew and Epstein seen after leaving the late financier's home in Manhattan at around 2.06pm on December 5, 2010 The Home Office is considering a request from US prosecutors to agree to help with their inquiries by facilitating an interview with Andrew under oath that would likely take place at his lawyers office in London. However, the prince insists he is prepared to help voluntarily, and that such a request under the Mutual Legal Assistance treaty is unnecessary. His team says he is willing to cooperate. According to a friend his inept handling of questions about the relationship with Epstein has helped pile pressure on him. He had no intention to deceive but with some of his answers he ended up deceiving, which is different. Another close figure says: Andrew is naive and unworldly, a product of the royal bubble. For now the naive prince remains holed up at Royal Lodge, his home in Windsor Great Park, isolated from the rest of the Royal Family and unable to visit the Queen at Windsor Castle. Barely five miles separate mother and son, but with every new revelations the gulf gets wider and his silence louder and more unhelpful for him, the victims and the Queen. More British women have reportedly come forward to say they were abused by Prince Andrews friend Jeffrey Epstein. US lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents 16 of the paedophiles victims, said a number of women from the UK had contacted her in recent days to make claims against the billionaires estate. The news comes after Epsteins close friend Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested by the FBI over child sex charges. The 58-year-old is alleged to have groomed schoolgirls who were then abused by Epstein including one she is said to have befriended in London. Maxwell has consistently denied all of the allegations. US lawyer Gloria Allred (pictured holding up a photo of an Epstein victim), who represents 16 of the paedophiles victims, said a number of women from the UK had contacted her in recent days to make claims against the billionaires estate Following the socialites arrest last Thursday, Miss Allred told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I have now more people, more victims, contacting me who have never come forward to anybody except me. I do represent some people from Europe, the UK as well, who have reached out. Another lawyer for Epstein victims, Brad Edwards, suggested he too had more clients who claimed to have been in the presence of Prince Andrew. The duke who stayed with Epstein at his Manhattan mansion and flew on his private jet, nicknamed the Lolita Express has categorically denied seeing or suspecting anything untoward. He has also strenuously rejected claims by Virginia Roberts, who alleges she was forced to have sex with the duke on three occasions. Mr Edwards claimed: It is not only Virginia we have several other clients who were in his presence and Mr Epsteins presence. Another lawyer for Epstein victims, Brad Edwards (pictured), suggested he too had more clients who claimed to have been in the presence of Prince Andrew US prosecutors want to question the prince as a witness as part of their investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in prison last August while awaiting trial. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer piled more pressure on Prince Andrew yesterday, saying: Of course he should co-operate with the US. He will have to justify his own actions, but it does not matter who you are, you co-operate with the law enforcement authorities where they require you to do so. Amid widespread speculation that Maxwell daughter of the late media tycoon Robert could strike a deal with prosecutors, Andrew has been urged to start talking to the FBI before she gives her own version of events. The news comes after Epsteins close friend Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured together) was arrested by the FBI over child sex charges Allies of the duke have repeatedly insisted he is bewildered at the standoff with US officials, having offered to help them but received no response. Mrs Allred told the BBC: They [the prosecutors] have said over and over again that they would like to speak to him in an interview where he answers questions, and he seems to be the one playing the cat-and-mouse game. If Prince Andrews lawyers would like to contact me, Ill put them in touch problem solved. Following Maxwells arrest, Miss Roberts claimed the duke should be panicking. Miss Allred said in response: I dont know if he will be panicking but certainly he can never know whether Miss Maxwell would in fact decide to co-operate. US prosecutors want to question the prince (pictured during his disastrous Newsnight interview) as a witness as part of their investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in prison last August while awaiting trial If she is interested in a deal then she is going to have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and she is going to have to answer truthfully everything that she is asked. And that would be [about] Prince Andrew what she saw him do or... knew he did. A friend of Maxwells yesterday insisted she would never, ever say anything about the duke. Laura Goldman told Good Morning Britain: Prince Andrew doesnt know a lot. Partially because hes not that intelligent, and he is spoiled and entitled so he didnt really ask questions about what was happening. Epsteins victims, feared to number in the hundreds, include British former Playboy model Anouska de Georgiou. She says she was groomed as a child after meeting the financier in London in the 1990s. She said last year: When Jeffrey would see me he would physically shake because he wanted to get at me. Governor Brian Kemp has declared a State of Emergency across Georgia following a holiday weekend surge of violence in Atlanta that saw 31 shot and five killed, including an eight-year-old girl. Kemps declaration activates up to 1,000 members of the Georgia National Guard to help maintain order on the streets. In justification of the motion, Kemp cited weeks of dramatically increased violent crime and property destruction in the City of Atlanta. Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead, Kemp continued. This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city. I have declared a State of Emergency and called up the Georgia Guard because the safety of our citizens comes first. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has declared a State of Emergency across the state following a holiday weekend surge of violence in Atlanta that saw 31 shot and five killed, including an eight-year-old girl Kemps declaration activates up to 1,000 members of the Georgia National Guard to help maintain order on the streets. The declaration will allow the Georgia National Guard to protect state buildings, including the state capitol, the Georgia Department of Public Safety headquarters, the governors mansion and the Georgia World Congress Center. Gun violence unfolds across the US over July 4 weekend New York City: 37 injured, 6 killed Chicago: 63 injured, 17 killed Philadelphia: 14 injured, 5 dead Baltimore: 8 injured, 1 killed Detroit: 5 injured, 2 killed Greenville: 8 injured, 2 killed Memphis: 4 injured, 1 killed Omaha: 8 injured Cleveland: 4 injured St. Louis: 11 injured, 3 killed As of 8pm EST, July 5 Advertisement The move, Kemps office said, will help free up more state law enforcement to increase patrols on roadways and in communities, particularly in Atlanta. Kemps order comes in the wake of a weekend plagued by gun crime in Atlanta an ominous spike of violence that was also mirrored in a number of other major US cities between Friday and Sunday, including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. In total, 31 people were shot in 11 separate incidents over the July 4 weekend in Atlanta. The youngest of the victims was eight-year-old Secoriea Turner. She was killed in the area of University Avenue on Saturday, near to the Wendys restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by cops last month in an incident which sparked further protests against police brutality The fatal shooting took place after her mother Charmaine Turner drove through an illegal barricade that had been set up by activists around the fast-food chain. At least two gunmen opened fire at Turners car, striking Secoriea. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms declared 'enough is enough' at a press conference in the hours after the little girls tragic death. 'We have talked about this movement that is happening across America at this moment in time when we have the ears and the interest of people across this country and across this globe who are saying they want to see change, said Bottoms, who has been touted as a potential running mate for Joe Biden in November's presidential election. We're fighting the enemy within when we are shooting each other up in our streets. You shot and killed a baby. And it wasn't one shooter, there was at least two shooters.' Secoriea Turner (pictured), an eight-year-old girl from Atlanta, Georgia, was shot dead on Saturday night when at least two gunmen opened fire on her mom's car. Video from the scene of the shooting shows people running for cover after gunmen opened fire The fatal shooting took place after her mother Charmaine Turner drove through an illegal barricade that had been set up by activists around the fast-food chain. At least two gunmen opened fire at Turners car, striking Secoriea Bottoms also noted that the latest shooting, as well as others that occurred in a 24-hour span, were not the work of local police officers - whose brutality against black men is what started the movement. 'The reality is this, these arent police officers shooting people on the streets of Atlanta,' she said. 'These are members of the community shooting each other and in this case, it is the worst possible outcome.' Charmine was overcome by grief as she made an emotional plea during a press conference with Mayor Bottoms on Sunday. 'We understand the frustration of Rayshard Brooks, we understand,' Charmine said. 'We ain't got nothing to do with that, we innocent. We didn't mean no harm. My baby didn't mean no harm.' Secoriea's mother drove the girl to Atlanta Medical Center but she did not survive. Authorities are offering a a $10,000 reward to for any information leading to an arrest and indictment of suspects. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms on July 5, pleading with residents of Atlanta to stop the violence Police said they are seeking help from the public to identify those involved and released a wanted poster saying a person all dressed in black and another in a white T-shirt were being sought. 'An 8-year-old girl was killed last night because her mother was riding down the street,' Bottoms said. 'If Secoriea was not safe last night, none of us are safe.' 'Somebody knows something,' said Charmine during the press conference, while the child's father, Secoriya Williamson, comforted her. Williamson then took the mic and, while his voice broke from the pain, called out the shooters for apparent hypocrisy. 'They say Black lives matter. You killed your own. You killed your own this time,' said Williamson. 'Just because of a barrier. They killed my baby because she crossed a barrier and made a U-turn. You killed a child. She didn't do nothing to nobody.' Elsewhere in the county, across the Independence Day weekend, a staggering 80 people were shot in Chicago and 44 in New York City. President Trump promised to intervene in the cities amid growing violence, tweeting: 'Chicago and New York City crime numbers are way up. 67 people shot in Chicago, 13 killed. 'Shootings up significantly in NYC where people are demanding that [Governor Cuomo] & [Mayor Bill de Blasio] act now. Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!' Up to three quarters of people in a household may develop silent immunity to coronavirus when one is infected, a study has shown. The number who have suffered Covid-19 may have been hugely underestimated because tests are looking for specific antibodies in blood rather than the bodys memory T cells that fight infection, experts say. Six out of eight of those living with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 showed negative results when tested for coronavirus antibodies in their blood, scientists found. Up to three quarters of people in a household may develop silent immunity to coronavirus when one is infected, a study has shown (stock image) Fall in daily death toll sparks hope that virus is on way out Hopes rose that coronavirus is now in full retreat as no new deaths were recorded in London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland yesterday. In total there were just 16 deaths across the UK, bringing the total to 44,236 since the pandemic began. Other than on June 22, when only 15 deaths were recorded, it was the lowest daily toll since the start of lockdown in March and the first with no deaths at all in any of the three devolved nations. The zero figure in London is a huge contrast with the peak of the pandemic, when more than 100 were dying in the capital every day. North-west and south-west England also had no new fatalities. Those who did die in England were aged 42 to 93 and all had underlying health conditions. Yesterdays figures also revealed that 352 more people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK infections total to 285,768. Daily hospital admissions dropped to single figures in most areas after peaking at 3,099 on March 31. These figures also present a stark contrast to the 883 hospital admissions in London on March 29, shortly after lockdown started, and 776 in the Midlands on March 31. The overall number of 47 fell below 100 for the first time since the start of data collection. Ten cases in north-east England and Yorkshire and 11 in the Midlands marked only regions with hospital admissions in double figures. Advertisement But when experts tested their blood samples for T cell immunity part of the bodys deep defences to infection, from white blood cells in bone marrow they found that they had in fact suffered Covid-19 with mild symptoms. Some patients immune systems appear to be split by their response to the virus so that those with no antibodies in their blood react at a deeper level with a T cell response, immunology experts said last night. This raises the prospect of new checks for coronavirus that work to detect T cells in a similar way to tests for tuberculosis with the potential for one lab to process hundreds of patients and get effective results within two days. It is currently estimated that up to 10 per cent of the population may have immunity to the virus, based on blood antibody tests, which detect antibodies generated by blood B cells. T cells are the bodys big weapon released from white blood cells in bone marrow to kill viruses when the immune system needs more help. The latest study from Strasbourg University Hospital in France looked at seven families because their corona blood tests were unusual. Our results suggest epidemiological data relying only on detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may lead to a substantial underestimation of exposure to the virus, said researcher Professor Samira Fafi-Kremer. The study involves a small sample and is yet to be peer reviewed but is being closely considered by immunologists. Professor Danny Altmann, of Imperial College and the British Society for Immunology, said there was growing evidence that Covid-19 immunity looked unusual, since some people were showing immunity from memory T cells alone. A normal response to a virus would be for antibodies in blood from B cells to also be present. It means large numbers of those infected and who had mild symptoms may be reacting in a different way to the virus that leaves them silently immune, because they cannot be diagnosed as having been exposed to Covid-19 by current tests. Three pubs have been forced to close after customers tested positive for coronavirus following Super Saturday. The Lighthouse in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, the Fox & Hounds, in Batley, West Yorkshire and The Village Home in Alverstoke, Hampshire are the first pubs in England to close following the easing of lockdown restrictions. Thousands of drinkers flocked to pubs over the weekend following three months of lockdown. However, now all three pubs have taken to Facebook to reveal how customers had tested positive for coronavirus, forcing them to close again. The Village Home in Alverstoke, Hampshire is one of three pubs that have been forced to close after a customer tested positive for coronavirus The Fox and Hounds, in Batley, wrote: 'This morning I got a phone call off a customer which visited our pub on Saturday to say they'd tested positive for coronavirus. 'On their visit they was unaware and had no symptoms but after seeing a post off another place they'd visited thought it was best to take a test to which come back positive. Due to privacy reason we won't be naming this person.' Management have sought advice from NHS Track and Trace. All staff have been tested for the virus and the pub is undergoing a deep clean. 'We fully understand this is a scary time but want to ensure our customer safety is our main priority in these tough times,' continued the post. 'Over the past few weeks we have put alot of hard work into the pub following government guidance to get us opened back up. 'Anyone that has visited us this weekend can see our new lay out of tables of 1metre plus, our one way systems, full table service and continuously cleaning throughout.' The Lighthouse Inn in Burnham-on-Sea said it was forced to close and contact customers who had visited on Saturday after a customer tested positive for COVID-19. The Fox and Hounds, in Batley, Yorkshire, wrote: 'This morning I got a phone call off a customer which visited our pub on Saturday to say they'd tested positive for coronavirus' The Lighthouse Inn in Burnham-on-Sea said it was forced to close and contact customers who had visited on Saturday after a customer tested positive for COVID-19 Do you know of a pub which has closed down again because of coronavirus? Contact jack.wright@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement As a result of the pub's closure the nearby Saagar Indian Takeaway will also shut until at least Friday. The Lighthouse said pub staff were contacting customers to alert them to the positive virus test. 'This isn't the message we wanted to write about so soon but The Lighthouse will be closed due to a customer testing positive to Covid-19,' the pub posted online. 'We are slowly getting through our list of customers that were in the pub on Saturday. 'All our staff are going to be tested and we will re-open when the time is safe to do so.' Meanwhile, The Village Home said they hoped to reopen on Saturday: 'Anyone who was in the pub over the weekend there is no need to isolate unless you show symptoms or are contacted direct by the trace group.' Scenes in London on Saturday night saw young people getting drunk and abandoning social distancing rules on day one of pubs reopening and lockdown rules loosening Leicestershire Police were forced to impose an urgent dispersal order on Market Harborough (pictured) when booze-fuelled disorder erupted on Saturday night Friends embraced in the streets of Soho, London on Sunday, the second day since lockdown restrictions were eased in England It comes as an expert warned Britain will inevitably suffer 'big' Covid-19 outbreaks if people continue to flout social distancing rules. Dr David Nabarro, a World Health Organization coronavirus expert, conceded that 'everybody has got to have fun' after more than 100 days of lockdown. But he warned clusters of the virus will inevitably break out if Britons can't obey social distancing while enjoying their newfound freedoms as pubs, restaurants and holiday destinations reopen. The 'one metre plus' rule was left in tatters on 'Super Saturday' when jubilant drinkers called time on lockdown and descended on the nation's pubs. Cities across Britain were heaving on a scale not seen since Boris Johnson ordered bars to close in a desperate bid to control Covid-19 on March 23. ***Do you know of a pub which has closed down again because of coronavirus? Contact jack.wright@mailonline.co.uk*** A major employer group has compared the Victoria-NSW border closure to the Berlin Wall and warned that the extreme measure will severely hamper Australia's economic recovery. The Victoria-NSW border will close at midnight on Tuesday night as health officials desperately try to stop the spread of coronavirus across state lines. Permits will be issued to people who need to cross the border for work or health care. Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the closure would pull the rug out from under the economic recovery and spark chaos. 'The border closure puts up a Berlin Wall between our two biggest states which represent more than half our national economy, and cuts in two our country's main economic artery,' he said on Monday. The Australian Industry Group, which represents employers, has compared the Victoria and NSW border closure to the Berlin Wall (pictured, police patrol the border on Monday) Two people tested positive to coronavirus at the New South Wales border town of Albury, NSW Health said on Monday (pictured, a sign in Albury seen in May) NSW police look on as passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials on Monday (pictured) 'It is a sledgehammer approach when what is required is focused strategy that is community and hot-spot based and not based on arbitrary borders that split communities.' Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, said the country needs to learn to manage outbreaks. 'This is an extreme measure and hopefully a temporary one because the country cant afford to continuously go from one extreme to the other,' she told the Australian Financial Review. 'The cost of failing to manage the way out of this pandemic would be enormous and we have to do everything in our power to prevent a stop-start recovery that saps confidence and kills jobs for good.' Passengers from Melbourne were met by health officials on landing at Sydney Airport on Monday who took temperatures (pictured) Federal MPs and senators based near the border have also raised concerns, with Nationals accusing state governments of punishing regional communities over the Melbourne outbreak. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision was necessary but couldn't say how long the border would remain closed for. 'I hope it's not for too long because it obviously has an economic impact and people's jobs are at risk,' he told 2GB radio on Monday. 'But they're equally at risk if the outbreak goes further than it is now.' The economy has already been badly hit by the pandemic, with Australia entering a recession and the unemployment rate jumping to 6.2 per cent - a figure only expected to increase. Melbourne passengers arriving at Sydney Airport on Monday were met by health officials who took their temperatures amid fears of an outbreak spreading across border lines (pictured) Albury-Wodonga has Australia's only cross-border health service, with cancer treatment and dialysis on the NSW side. The maternity unit is at the Victorian campus. Two people in Albury, on the NSW side of the border, have already tested positive. Independent MP Helen Haines, who is based in Wodonga, said locals needed certainty that health care and business wouldn't be affected. 'I don't want to hear of one case where someone on one side of the border is not able to access critical health care on the other because of a health crisis,' she said. Victoria's case numbers soared on Monday for the 20th straight day of double-digit (or more) gains. The outbreak state now has more than 97 per cent of Australia's active cases New South Wales health officials interview passengers as they arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport on Monday (pictured) Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, whose office is in Wodonga, criticised the 'one size fits all' approach of shutting down the borders. Mr Willox said freight should be waved through without any delay, warning traffic jams at borders could cause huge economic cost. Victorian authorities recorded 127 new coronavirus cases on Monday, while two men died in the state to take the national toll to 106. Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said virus outbreaks needed to be managed to protect livelihoods. 'This is an extreme measure and hopefully a temporary one because the country can't afford to continuously go from one extreme to the other,' she said. Passengers arrive from a Qantas flight that flew from Melbourne at Sydney Airport to be met by health officials taking their temperature (pictured on Monday) Model and actress Alicia Arden claims Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her during a meeting in 1997 - and has demanded that authorities investigate why police never followed up with her after she filed a report to the cops. Arden, 51, spoke out about her claims during a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday - the one year anniversary of Epstein's arrest. Arden said that the alleged sexual assault occurred at the Shutters on the Beach hotel in Santa Monica, California, in 1997. Alicia Arden is pictured at the press conference she held Monday in Los Angeles, revealing authorities did not follow up on her claim that Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her in 1997 Arden (left) is pictured with lawyer Gloria Allred (right), who is pointing to the police report that Arden filed in 1997, after a meeting she allegedly had with Epstein in Santa Monica At the time, Arden was 26 years old and an aspiring model, who had a handful of screen credits to her name, including an appearance on the Baywatch TV series and the TV movie, Red Shoe Diaries. During the press conference, Arden said that she had gone to the Santa Monica hotel to meet Epstein under the belief that she was going to 'a legitimate audition for Victoria's Secret.' She said the supposed audition had been arranged, in part, by an unnamed friend, People reported. Arden said she was carrying her modeling portfolio when she entered Epstein's room. She claimed that Epstein said, 'Let me manhandle you for a second.' He then allegedly groped her and pulled her shirt up over her head and her skirt down. Arden said that while this was happening, Epstein had touched her hips and buttocks. 'I started to feel scared and I began to cry,' Arden recalled. Arden was 26 years old when the alleged assault occurred in 1997. She said she had gone to see Epstein thinking she was going to a 'legitimate' Victoria's Secret audition. Arden is pictured in 2002 Arden (pictured in 2018) said that Epstein groped her and pushed down her skirt and up her shirt. When he was distracted by a phone call, she was able to make her escape She said that Epstein got distracted by a phone call, giving her the opportunity to redress. As she headed for the door, she said, Epstein offered her $100. She said: 'I told him, "Jeffrey, I'm not a prostitute. I want to be in the Victoria's Secrets catalog".' According to Arden, Epstein responded: "Let me see what I can do." She said that she 'left the money in the hotel room and walked out,' according to USA Today. 'I felt violated and mistreated,' she said, adding that Epstein 'took advantage of me.' Arden said that a few days after the alleged incident, she filed a police report with the Santa Monica Police Department, but that she never received a call about the report from either detectives or a prosecutor. Arden's lawyer, Gloria Allred, who arranged the press conference, said that 'Alicia deserves answers.' Allred said that letters had been written to Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Santa Monica Police Chief Cynthia Renaud, seeking information about whether local authorities had looked into Arden's allegations against Epstein. 'We'd like to know, first, what happened. Was there an investigation? Was there not an investigation,' Allred said Monday. 'I don't think Alicia should have to live with the unanswered question. ... Why was it apparently disregarded? Did they interview Mr. Epstein? Did he decline to be interviewed? Did they take his words against hers? Or did they not do anything?' Arden had previously come forward about Epstein's alleged abuse in the summer of 2019, following Epstein's arrest on federal charges involving allegations that he paid teenage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then sexually abused them. In August 2019, the Santa Monica Police Department told the Associated Press that Epstein was questioned in the wake of Ardens complaint, but that his statement conflicted with Arden's claims. According to the unnamed detective who supposedly invested Arden's report, Arden said that she didn't want to press charges against Epstein, asking instead that he be warned about his behavior. A police spokesperson then told the AP in a statement that, 'If the victim tells the detective they do not wish to prosecute, then the detective will close the case.' The spokesperson also stated that, 'In this case, the victim advised the detective she did not wish to prosecute so there was no point in presenting it to the City Attorney for review.' Arden has denied telling police that she didn't want to press charges against Epstein. In a December 2019 interview with DailyMail.com, Arden provided additional detail about her alleged encounter with Epstein. She said that she prior to her meeting with Epstein, she had been asked to do a test shoot and send the photos to Epstein's New York office. She said that she was so excited about the prospect of being able to model for Victoria's Secret, that she purchased lingerie from the brand to use during the shoot. Epstein then supposedly invited Arden to the Santa Monica hotel for an in-person meeting. 'He was very nice in the beginning and looked at my portfolio. When you go on an audition for something like this, they want to see your body,' Arden told DailyMail.com. 'I was in very little clothing like a swimsuit-type bra with a top over it and underwear and a short little skirt so he could see my legs. He said he liked the photos and said he'd love to get a picture in the Victoria's Secret catalogue. 'He said: "You know, you look really good, your body looks really good. I think I just need to see it better." ' Doing as requested, she moved closer only for Epstein to start 'manhandling' her. 'He started to take off my top, then he moved down to my skirt and was trying to take that off, and was touching my hips and buttocks,' she said. 'I was pushing his hands off me, I was pushing them down and pushing them away, but he was bigger than me.' She said that she went to the police to file her report 'because I thought he was doing it to other girls, and touching other girls, and I could have been raped myself. 'He told me he worked for Victoria's Secret, and he was misrepresenting the brand I wanted to file that.' Arden's Monday press conference comes hot on the heels of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell's arrest on July 2. She has been charged with helping to procure victims for Epstein's child sex trafficking operation that began more than 25 years ago. Epstein died in jail in New York City in August 2019, after pleading not guilty to the charges against him. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, confirming that he hanged himself in his cell. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a close friend of Melania Trump and a former adviser to the East Wing, will release a memoir detailing her friendship with the first lady this fall. It's the latest in a spat of book about President Donald Trump, the first lady and the administration. The publishing date for the tell-all by Mary Trump, the president's niece, was moved up two weeks due to high interest in the book, which the Trump family tried to stop from being published. The administration also tried and failed to stop former National Security Adviser John Bolton from releasing his tell-all about his time in the White House. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a close friend of Melania Trump and a former adviser to the East Wing, will release a memoir detailing her friendship with the first lady on Sept. 1 Wolkoff's 'Melania and Me: My Years as Confidant, Advisor and Friend to the First Lady' will be released on September 1, according to Vanity Fair. It promises a 'revealing and explosive portrayal of Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's fifteen-year friendship with Melania Trump and observations of the most chaotic White House in history,' according to a summary posted on Google books. And 'people with knowledge of the project say that the content of the book is largely negative, and that the manuscript heavily trashes' Melania, the Daily Beast reported. It is the second book about the notoriously private first lady to come out this fall. Mary Jordan's 'The Art of Her Deal' provided an in-depth biography of Melania and included details about how she renegotiated her prenup after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, addressed the plastic surgery rumors, and detailed Melania's relationship with Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's eldest daughter. Winston Wolkoff - a New York socialite who had previously helped plan the Met Gala - served as an informal, unpaid adviser to Melania Trump in the East Wing of the White House until February 2018 when she left the position amid controversy. She was in the news at the time after reports showed that her firm, WIS Media Partners, received a $26 million payment for its work on the inaugural. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff came under investigation for her role in planning Donald Trump's 2016 presidential inauguration - she's seen with Melania Trump and Rachel Roy at a January 2017 dinner ahead of the inaugural David Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania Trump and Donald Trump at an event in New York in February 2008 - Wolkoff served as an informal, unpaid adviser to Melania in the East Wing until she left amid the controversy surrounding the inauguration The firm in turn spent $24 million on subcontractors, a person familiar with the inaugural planning told DailyMail.com at the time. The source said Winston Wolkoff provided 'the whole look and feel the creative vision' for 18 or 20 inaugural events. Her personal take from Trump's inaugural committee was reported to be $1.62 million although later reports showed she received about $500,000 personally while the rest went to other producers working on the event. According to the committee's tax filings, Wolkoff's WIS Media Partners was formed 45 days before the inauguration and got paid the most of any vendor for its work. Melania Trump dismissed her from the East Wing with an email. 'I am sorry that the professional part of our relationship has come to an end, but I am comforted in the fact that our [friendship] far outweigh[s] politics,' the first lady wrote in the email. 'Thank you Again! Much love.' Melania Trump was subject to a biography earlier this year that detailed how she renegotiated her prenup after Donald Trump won election Wolkoff told the New York Times last year she wasn't fired - but she was thrown under the bus. 'Was I fired? No,' Winston Wolkoff said in a statement to The Times. 'Did I personally receive $26 million or $1.6 million? No. Was I thrown under the bus? Yes.' The Southern District of Manhattan is investigating the inaugural committee's spending and fundraising. Wolkoff was reported to be working with prosecutors. Winston Wolkoff was Melania Trump's first hire. Before she took over her inaugural event planning role, she worked as a special events planner for Vogue, helped stage the Met Gala, and was a fashion director for Lincoln Center. She is a longtime friend of Melania's. In December, it was revealed federal prosecutors in New York were investigating whether President Trump's 2017 inaugural committee misspent some of the $107 million it raised. The investigation came partly out of materials seized in the federal probe of Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen's business dealings. In April raids of Cohen's home, office and hotel room, federal agents obtained a recorded conversation between Cohen and Winston Wolkoff. Wolkoff's book is latest in a spat of Trump books including one by Mary Trump, the president's niece Trump tried to stop publication of his niece's book and one by former National Security Adviser John Bolton Wolkoff, in their conversation, expressed concern about how the inaugural committee was spending its money. It's unknown when the conversation between Wolkoff and Cohen took place or why it was recorded. Trump's inaugural committee raised more than double what former President Barack Obama's first inaugural committee did. Supporters said the event was so costly because no one expected him to win so all the planning was done at the last minute. But investigators are looking into whether some of the top donors to Trump's crowning event gave money in exchange for access to his administration, policy concessions or to influence the administration. Money in exchange for political favors could violate federal corruption laws. There could also be a violation of federal law if funds were diverted from the inaugural committee, which was registered as a nonprofit. The identity of a woman who was fatally stabbed at a London hotel has been revealed by detectives investigating her death. Khloemae Loy, 23, was found dead at the Holiday Inn on Bugsby's Way, Greenwich, in south-east London, shortly after 10am on Sunday. A post-mortem examination held at Greenwich Mortuary on Monday gave her cause of death as a single stab wound to the neck, police said. A man in his thirties - who officers believe to have been known to Ms Loy - fell from a height at the scene. He was taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition, and has been arrested in connection with the incident, police said. Khloemae Loy, 23, was found dead at the Holiday Inn on Bugsby's Way, Greenwich, in south-east London on Sunday Photographs previously shared on social media showed a broken window five storeys up on the hotel Homicide detectives have launched an investigation, with inquiries ongoing, but officers believe there was no one else involved at this stage. Photographs previously shared on social media showed a broken window five storeys up on the hotel. A local, who did not want to be named, passed the scene while jogging and said emergency services gathered on a ledge on the second floor. The hotel's general manager Umar Khattak, 38, previously said the man and woman involved in the incident checked in on Saturday. The hotel's general manager Umar Khattak, 38, previously said the man and woman involved in the incident checked in on Saturday A police sniffer dog with its handler searching bushes outside the Holiday Inn on Bugsby's Way, Greenwich, London While the hotel has been open during the pandemic to NHS staff at the nearby Nightingale hospital, Saturday was the first day it was open to non-key workers, Mr Khattak said. He said the hotel had received calls from different guests about noise coming from a room. Mr Khattak said police were called and officers moved all guests out of the fifth floor. The second floor looks out on to the ledge where the man is believed to have fallen, Mr Khattak said. Homeowners are set to get 5,000 for insulation and energy saving improvements as part of Rishi Sunak's mini-Budget tomorrow. Chancellor Sunak will announce a 2billion grant scheme as part of a 3billion green employment package focused on cutting emissions, improving the environment and creating jobs. Under the new scheme the government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements that conserve energy. The overall package will include 1billion to improve energy efficiency at public buildings such as schools and hospitals through measures including insulation and the installation of heat pumps in place of conventional boilers. It will also include 40million for a new Green Jobs Challenge Fund to encourage charities and local authorities to create employment in cleaning up the environment. Treasury sources last night said the cash would help fund at least 5,000 jobs in activities such as creating new green spaces, planting trees and cleaning rivers. Chancellor Rishi Sunak planting five trees in Richmond with two trustees of the Richmondshire Landscape Trust The Treasury declined to say how the remaining almost 2billion of the package would be spent. But Whitehall sources said most of it would go on a massive programme of insulating homes. The move chimes with Daily Mail campaigns promoting both tree planting and litter picking, including the recently re-launched Great September Spring Clean. It will also contribute towards a Government target of planting 75,000 acres of trees a year by 2025. A further 50million will go to pilot innovative schemes to 'retrofit social housing at scale', with measures including insulation, double glazing and heat pumps. Heating buildings accounts for almost 20 per cent of the UK's climate emissions. Treasury analysis suggests that better insulation could cut household energy bills by up to 200 a year. Mr Sunak has set aside 3billion for a green employment package focused on cutting emissions, improving the environment and creating jobs Cut admin not troops, No 10 says Boris Johnson has rejected plans to cut 20,000 troops, it emerged last night. The Prime Minister has told defence chiefs to 'think again' after they suggested that reducing the size of the Army was the best way to achieve savings demanded by the Treasury. Downing Street has instead ordered the Ministry of Defence to look at cutting its army of bureaucrats. Whitehall sources accused defence chiefs of 'shroud waving' after they suggested that deep cuts to front line capabilities were the only way to make savings. The Prime Minister's spokesman yesterday refused to rule out a reduction in the size of the Army but insisted that the Government was committed to increasing defence spending. However, a Whitehall source said Mr Johnson had rejected a big cut and was asking the MoD to plan for a 'substantial' reduction in its own civilian staff, which currently numbers more than 50,000. The source said the Prime Minister had 'told them to think again'. Downing Street yesterday denied the Government was planning defence cuts. Advertisement The new scheme could also create thousands of jobs at a time when ministers are desperate to stave off a predicted surge in unemployment. Ministers are braced for unemployment to return to levels not seen since the 1980s, with the jobless total topping three million. Much of Mr Sunak's statement tomorrow will focus on measures to create jobs and help workers keep their own. The Chancellor is considering a national insurance holiday for employers in certain sectors. He is also looking at plans for a temporary VAT cut in the hardest hit sectors, such as hospitality, where 2.4million jobs may be under threat as a result of the lockdown and continuing constraints on business. Businesses will also be offered 1,000 each for every apprentice they take on, as part of plans to massively increase opportunities for youth training in what is set to be the toughest jobs market for decades. The Resolution Foundation think tank last night called for a 200billion stimulus package. The organisation said the job retention scheme, which has already protected 9.3 million jobs, should be extended beyond October for those sectors still struggling a move that Boris Johnson has already ruled out. And it called for 'high street vouchers' worth 500 to be handed to every adult to boost demand an idea that has been considered by officials. The think tank also suggests that a 10billion increase in Universal Credit could help prevent rising unemployment leading to a collapse in consumer confidence. Green groups warned that the 3billion package was much too small to deliver on the Government's legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Ed Matthew, of think tank E3G, said: 'If this is the total level of energy efficiency investment they are pledging then it is peanuts.' Frederick Douglass shown as a young man Frederick Douglass was a prominent activist, author and public speaker who became a leader in the abolitionist movement after he escaped from slavery. Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, in 1818, although he was never sure of his day and month of birth. His mother was of Native American ancestry while his father was of African and European descent. He was separated from his mother as an infant and lived with his maternal grandmother before being moved to live and work on the Wye House plantation in Talbot County and then on to Baltimore. There he was a house servant with the family of Hugh Auld. Auld's wife defied state law to teach Douglass to read, and as he grew up, he taught other slaves using the Bible. In 1838, he escaped after several failed attempts at freedom and made his way to a safe house in New York established by the abolitionist David Ruggles. That year, he married Anna Murray, a free black woman he had met while enslaved and they settled in Massachusetts. He then dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery and his five children. In addition to campaigning for abolition, he fought for women's rights - specifically their right to vote - until his death. Douglass gave his speech - What to the Slave is the Fourth of July - at an Independence Day celebration on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. The address challenged the Founding Fathers and the hypocrisy of their ideals with the existence of slavery on American soil. He had been asked to speak on July 4th but opted instead to speak the following day, saying he could not celebrate freely when so many Americans were still enslaved. During the Civil War he was a consultant to President Abraham Lincoln and through Reconstruction he fought for full civil rights for freedmen. He died February 20, 1895 in Washington, D.C. He had been U.S. minister and consul general to Haiti from 1889 to 1891. His speech is below in full: Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens, He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I trust, however, that mine will not be so considered. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country school houses, avails me nothing on the present occasion. The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th July oration. This certainly, sounds large, and out of the common way, for me. It is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, seems to free me from embarrassment. The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable - and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. That I am here today, is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say, I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you. This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the clay, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act that day. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. 'Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. According to this fact, you are, even now only in the beginning of you national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. I repeat, I am glad this is so. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Were the nation older, the patriot's heart might be sadder, and the reformer's brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. There is consolation in the thought, that America is young.-Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. But, while the river may not be turned aside, it may dry up, and leave nothing behind but the withered branch, and the unsightly rock, to howl in the abyss-sweeping wind, the sad tale of departed glory. As with rivers so with nations. Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. The simple story of it is, that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and title of your 'sovereign people' (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government and England as the fatherland. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper. But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. They went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. I scarcely need say, fellow-citizens, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. Such a declaration of agreement on my part, would not be worth much to anybody. It would, certainly, prove nothing, as to what part I might have taken, had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. Everybody can say it; the dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the American Colonies. It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when, to pronounce against England, and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried men's souls. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! here lies the merit, and the one which, of all others, seems unfashionable in our day. The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. But, to proceed. Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated, by the home government, your fathers, like men of honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. This, however, did not answer the purpose. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Yet they persevered. They were not the men to look back. As the sheet anchor takes a firmer hold, when the ship is tossed by the storm, so did the cause of your fathers grow stronger, as it breasted the chilling blasts of kingly displeasure. The greatest and best of British statesmen admitted its justice, and the loftiest eloquence of the British Senate came to its support. But, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants, since Pharoah and his hosts were drowned in the Red sea, the British Government persisted in the exactions complained of. The madness of this course, we believe, is admitted now, even by England; but, we fear the lesson is wholly lost on our present rulers. Oppression makes a wise man mad. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so, than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. Such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it,) may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! Of this sort of change they are always strongly in favor. These people were called tories in the days of your fathers; and the appellation, probably, conveyed the same idea that is meant by a more modern, though a somewhat less euphonious term, which we often find in our papers, applied to some of our old politicians. Their opposition to the then dangerous thought was earnest and powerful; but, amid all their terror and affrighted vociferations against it, the alarming and revolutionary idea moved on, and the country with it. On the 2d of July, 1776, the old Continental Congress, to the dismay of the lovers of ease, and the worshippers of property, clothed that dreadful idea with all the authority of national sanction. They did so in the form of a resolution; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions, drawn up in our day, whose transparency is at all equal to this, it may refresh your minds and help my story if I read it. Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved. Citizens, your fathers Made good that resolution. They succeeded; and today you reap the fruits of their success. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation's history-the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the RINGBOLT to the chain of your nation's destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in. all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost. From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! That bolt drawn, that chain,broken, and all is lost. Cling to this day-cling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight. The coining into being of a nation, in any circumstances, is an interesting event. But, besides general considerations, there were peculiar circumstances which make the advent of this republic an event of special attractiveness. The whole scene, as I look back to it, was simple, dignified and sublime. The population of the country, at the time, stood at the insignificant number of three millions. The country was poor in the munitions of war. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline. From the Potomac to the Delaware was a journey of many days. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too-great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory. They loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. With them, nothing was 'settled' that was not right. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were 'final;' not slavery and oppression. You may well cherish the memory of such men. They were great in their day and generation. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! How unlike the politicians of an hour! Their statesmanship looked beyond the passing moment, and stretched away in strength into the distant future. They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defence. Mark them! Fully appreciating the hardships to be encountered, firmly believing in the right of their cause, honorably inviting the scrutiny of an on-looking world, reverently appealing to heaven to attest their sincerity, soundly comprehending the solemn responsibility they were about to assume, wisely measuring the terrible odds against them, your fathers, the fathers of this republic, did, most deliberately, under the inspiration of a glorious patriotism, and with a sublime faith in the great principles of justice and freedom, lay deep, the corner-stone of the national super-structure, which has risen and still rises in grandeur around you. Of this fundamental work, this day is the anniversary. Our eyes are met with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasm. Banners and penants wave exultingly on the breeze. The din of business, too, is hushed. Even mammon seems to have quitted his grasp on this day. The ear-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascending peal of a thousand church bells. Prayers are made, hymns are sung, and sermons are preached in honor of this day; while the quick martial tramp of a great and multitudinous nation, echoed back by all the hills, valleys and mountains of a vast continent, bespeak the occasion one of thrilling and universal interest--a nation's jubilee. Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. Many of you understand them better than I do. You could instruct me in regard to them. That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. The causes which led to the separation of the colonies from the British crown have never lacked for a tongue. They have all been taught in your common schools, narrated at your firesides, unfolded from your pulpits, and thundered from your legislative halls, and are as familiar to you as household words. They form the staple of your national poetry and eloquence. I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in in their own favor. This is esteemed by some as a national trait-perhaps a national weakness. It is a fact, that whatever makes for the wealth or for the reputation of Americans, and can be had cheap! will be found by Americans. I shall not be charged with slandering Americans, if I say I think the Americans can side of any question may be safely left in American hands. I leave, therefore, the great deeds of your fathers to other gentlemen whose claim to have been regularly descended will be less likely to be disputed than mine! THE PRESENT. My business, if I have any here today, is with the present. The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-living now. 'Trust no future, however pleasant, Let the dead past bury its dead; Act, act in the living present, Heart within, and God overhead.' We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future. To all inspiring motives, to noble deeds which can be gained from the past, we are welcome. But now is the time, the important time. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. You live and must die, and you must do your work. You have no right to enjoy a child's share in the labor of your fathers, unless your children are to be blest by your labors. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. Sydney Smith tells us that men seldom eulogize the wisdom and virtues of their fathers, but to excuse some folly or wickedness of their own. This truth is not a doubtful one. There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern. It was fashionable, hundreds of years ago, for the children of Jacob to boast, we have 'Abraham to our father,' when they had long lost Abraham's faith and spirit. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abraham's great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. Need I remind you that a similar thing is being done all over this country today? Need I tell you that the Jews are not the only people who built the tombs of the prophets, and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous? Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men, shout-' We have Washington to 'ourfather.'-A las! that it should be so; yet so it is. 'The evil that men do, lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones.' Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the 'lame man leap as an hart.' But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common.-The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! I can today take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people! 'By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.' Fellow citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, 'may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!' To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave's point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery--the great sin and shame of America! 'I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;' I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just. But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slave-holders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man, (no matter how ignorant he be,) subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment.-What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being. The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write.-When you can point to any such laws, in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and cyphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hillside, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men! Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? How should I look today, in the presence of Americans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding.-There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him. What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength, than such arguments would imply. What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may; I cannot. The time for such argument is past. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would, to day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than. all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which lie is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the every day practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE. Take the American slave-trade, which we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year, by dealers in this horrid traffic. In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. It is called (in contradistinction to the foreign slave-trade) 'the internal slave-trade.' It is, probably, called so, too, in order to divert from it the horror with which the foreign slave-trade is contemplated. That trade has long since been denounced by this government, as piracy. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. Every-where, in this country, it is safe to speak of this foreign slave-trade, as a most inhuman traffic, opposed alike to the laws of God and of man. The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. In order to put an. end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa! It is, however, a notable fact, that, while so much execration is poured out by Americans, upon those engaged in the foreign slave-trade, the men engaged in the slave-trade between the states pass without condemnation, and their business is deemed honorable. Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and American religion. Here you will see men and women, reared like swine, for the market. You know what is a swine-drover? I will show you a man-drover. They inhabit all our Southern States. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. You will see one of these human flesh jobbers, armed with pistol, whip and bowie-knife, driving a company of a hundred men, women, and children, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans. These wretched people are to be sold singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers. They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The drove moves tardily. Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that seems to have torn its way to the centre of your soul! The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Follow this drove to New Orleans. Attend the auction; see men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. See this drove sold and separated for ever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Yet this is but a. glance at the American slave-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United States. I was born amid such sights and scenes. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. I lived on Philpot Street, Fell's Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves, the slave ships in the Basin, anchored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming 'hand-bills,' headed CASH FOR NEGROES. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother, by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness. The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. When a sufficient number have been collected here, a ship is chartered, for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Or-leans. From the slave prison to the ship, they are usually driven in the darkness of night; for since the anti-slavery agitation, a certain caution is observed. In the deep still darkness of midnight, I have been often aroused by the dead heavy footsteps, and the pitious cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense; and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains, and the heart-rending cries. I was glad to find one who sympathised with me in my horror. Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-day, in active operation in this boasted republic. In the solitude of my spirit, I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave-markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bidder. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. My soul sickens at the sight. 'Is this the land your Fathers loved, The freedom which they toiled to win? Is this the earth whereon they moved? Are these the graves they slumber in?' But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. By that act, Mason & Dixon's line has been obliterated; New York has be-come as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women and childreH, as slaves, remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. The power is co-extensive with the star-spangled banner, and American Christianity. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. Where these are, man is not sacred. He is a bird for the sportsman's gun./ By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. Your broad republican domain is hunting ground for men.Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Your law-makers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. Your President, your Secretary of State, your lords, nobles, and ecclesiastics, enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. Not fewer than forty Americans, have, within the past two years, been hunted down, and, without a moment's warning, hurried away in chains, and consigned to slavery, and excruciating torture. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. The right of the hunter to his prey, stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of God included! For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, nor religion. The Fugitive Slave Law makes MERCY TO THEM, A CRIME; and bribes the judge who tries them. An American JUDGE GETS TEN DOLLARS FOR EVERY VICTIM HE CONSIGNS to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. The oath of any two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! His own testimony is nothing. He can bring no witnesses for himself. The minister of American justice is bound, by the law to hear but oneside; and that side, is the side of the oppressor. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. Let it be thundered around the world, that, in tyrant-killing, king-hating, people-loving, democratic, Christian America, the seats of justice are filled with judges, who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribes, and are bound, in deciding in the case of a man's liberty, to hear only his accusers! In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenceless, and in diabolical intent, this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe, having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty, and, if the churches and ministers of our country were not stupidly blind, or most wickedly indifferent, they, too, would so regard it. At the very moment that they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, and for the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance, and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness. Did this law concern the 'mint,anise and cummin,'-abridge the right to sing psalms, to partake of the sacrament, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of religion, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instantrepeal!-And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. Further, if this demand were not complied with, another Scotland would be added to the history of religious liberty, and the stern old covenanters would be thrown into the shade. A John Knox would be seen at every church door, and heard from every pulpit, and Fillmore would have no more quarter than was shown by Knox, to the beautiful, but treacherous Queen Mary of Scotland.-The fact that the church of our country, (with fractional exceptions,) does not esteem 'the Fugitive Slave Law' as a declaration of war against religious liberty, implies that that church regards religion simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. It esteems sacrifice above mercy; psalm-singing above right doing; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. A worship that can be conducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless, to give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy, is a curse, not a blessing to mankind. The Bible addresses all such persons as 'scribes, pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.' THE CHURCH RESPONSIBLE. But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent Divines, who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion, and the bible, to the whole slave system. - They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for christianity. For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! welcome atheism! welcome anything! in preference to the gospel, as preached by those Divines! They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny, and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke, put together, have done? These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. They strip the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throne of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs. It is not that 'pare and undefiled religion' which is from above, and which is 'first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.' But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains, stay there; and to the oppressor, oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation-a religion, a church and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. In the language of Isaiah, the American church might be well addressed, 'Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me : the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons, and your appointed feasts my soul hatest. They are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them; and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea! when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge for the fatherless; plead for the widow.' The American church is guilty, when viewed in connection with what it is doing to uphold slavery; but it is superlatively guilty when viewed in connection with its ability to abolish slavery. The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Albert Barnes but uttered what the common sense of every man at all observant of the actual state of the case will receive as truth, when he declared that 'There is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it.' Let the religious press, the pulpit, the sunday school, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery, and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds, and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive. In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; but how, we ask, could such a thing be done? We are met on the threshold of our efforts for the redemption of the slave, by the church. and ministry of the country, in battle arrayed against us; and we are compelled to fight or flee. From what quarter, I beg to know, has proceeded a fire so deadly upon our ranks, during the last two years, as from the Northern pulpit? As the champions of oppressors, the chosen men of American theology have appeared-men, honored for their so called piety, and their real learning. The LORDS of Buffalo, the SPRINGS of New York, the LATHROPS of Auburn, the COXES and SPENCERS of Brooklyn, the GANNETS and SHARPS of Boston, the DEWEYS of Washington, and other great religious lights of the land, have, in utter denial of the authority of Him, by whom they professed to be called to the ministry, deliberately taught us, against the example of the Hebrews, and against the remonstrance of the Apostles, they teach that we ought to obey man's law before the law of God.' My spirit wearies of such blasphemy; and how such men can be supported, as the 'standing types and representatives of Jesus Christ,' is a mystery which I leave others to penetrate. In speaking of the American church, however, let it be distinctly understood that I mean the great mass of the religious organizations of our land. There are exceptions, and I thank God that there are. Noble men may be found, scattered all over these Northern States, of whom Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn, Samuel J. May, of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend* on the platform, are shining examples; and let me say further, that, upon these men lies the duty to inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal, and to cheer us on in the great mission of the slave's redemption from his chains. RELIGION IN ENGLAND AND RELIGION IN AMERICA. One is struck with the difference between the attitude of the American church towards the anti-slavery movement, and that occupied by the churches in England towards a similar movement in that country. There, the church, true to its mission of ameliorating, elevating, and improving the condition of mankind, came forward promptly, bound up the wounds of the West Indian slave, and restored him to his liberty. There, the question of emancipation was a high religious question. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, the Burchells and the Knibbs, were alike famous for their piety, and for their philanthropy. The anti-slavery movement there, was not an anti-church movement, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement : and the anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assume a favorable, instead of a hostile position towards that movement. Americans! your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure christianity, while the whole political power of the nation, (as embodied in the two great political parties, is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land, you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot and kill. You glory in your refinement, and your universal education; yet you maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful, as ever stained the character of a nation-a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. You shed tears over fallen Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the theme of your poets, statesmen and orators, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to vindicate her cause against her oppressors; but, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make those wrongs the subject of public discourse! You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America.-You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery, to throw off a three-penny tax on tea; and yet wring the last hard earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country. You profess to believe 'that, of one blood, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth,' and hath commanded all men, everywhere to love one another; yet you notoriously hate, (and glory in your hatred,) all men whose skins are not colored like your own. You declare, before the world, and are understood by the world to declare, that you 'h old these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain, inalienable rights; and that, among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and yet, you hold securely, in a bondage, which according to your own Thomas Jefferson, 'is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose,' a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country. Fellow-citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a bye-word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh! be warned! be warned! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation's bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of God, tearaway, and fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions, crush and destroy it forever! THE CONSTITUTION. But it is answered in reply to all this, that precisely what I have now denounced is, in fact, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that, the right to hold, and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic. Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped. 'To palter with us in a double sense : And keep the word of promise to the ear, But break it to the heart.' And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be, they were the veriest imposters that ever practised on mankind. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape; but I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length; nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but interpreted, as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? it is neither. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it. What would be thought of an instrument, drawn up, legally drawn up, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a track of land, in which no mention of land was made? Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. These rules are well established. They are plain, common-sense rules, such as you and I, and all of us, can understand and apply, without having passed years in the study of law. I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality, or un. constitutionality of slavery, is not a question for the people. I hold that every American citizen has a right to form an opinion of the constitution, and to propagate that opinion, and to use all honorable means to make his opinion the prevailing one. With out this right, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the constitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive, and no American heart too devoted. He further says, the constitution, in its words, is plain and intelligible, and is meant for the home-bred, unsophisticated understandings of our fellow-citizens. Senator Berrien tells us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. The testimony of Senator Breese, Lewis Cass, and many others that might be named, who are everywhere esteemed as sound lawyers, so regard the constitution. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. Now, take the constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro . slavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. I have detained my audience entirely too long already. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. 'Thearm of the Lord isnot shortened,' and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from 'the Declaration of Independence,' the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up, from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated.-Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic, are distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, 'Let there be Light,' has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 'Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God.' In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it : God speed the year of jubilee The wide world o'er!When from their galling chains set free, Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee, And wear the yoke of tyranny Like brutes no more. That year will come, and freedom's reign, To man his plundered rights again Restore. God speed the day when human blood Shall cease to flow! In every clime be understood, The claims of human brotherhood, And each return for evil, good, Not blow for _blow; That day will come all feuds to end, And change into a faithful friend Each foe.God speed the hour, the glorious hour, When none on earth Shall exercise a lordly power, Nor in a tyrant's presence cower; But all to manhood's stature tower, By equal birth! THAT HOUR WILL COME, to each, to all, And from his prison-house, the thrall Go forth. Until that year, day, hour, arrive, With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive, To break the rod, and rend the gyve, The spoiler of his prey deprive So witness Heaven! And never from my chosen post, Whate'er the peril or the cost, Be driven Monkeys, just like humans, prefer to cradle their babies in their left arm and not their right, scientists have discovered. It is believed this preference evolved because the child is closest to the mother's left eye, which is controlled by the brain's emotion-processing right hemisphere. This half of the brain, in both monkeys and humans, 'specialises in the perception of emotional facial expression ' and helps mothers understand their baby's feelings. Previous studies found human mothers suffering from post-natal depression and stress often use their right arm, not the preferred left, to hold their offspring. It is now believed baboons also switch from left to right when they're under pressure, which can be brought on by feeling spurned by their societal groups. Now the left arm bias has also been seen in primates as well as humans, scientists think the behaviour first evolved in a common ancestor around 35 million years ago. Scroll down for video Monkeys, just like humans, prefer to cradle their babies in their left arm and not their right, scientists have discovered. Scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) studied 44 olive baboons to determine if monkeys hold their babies in their left arm Up to 72 per cent of human mothers cradle their babies on the left-hand side but it was unknown if other primates also have a left arm bias. Scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) studied 44 olive baboons to determine if the monkeys also hold their babies in their left arm. 'We found a significant left-side maternal cradling bias in an Old-World monkey, the olive baboon, in an almost identical proportion (67.45 per cent) to the one usually found in human mothers (64 per cent in the most recent study),' the scientists write in their study. Similar findings have also been seen in apes, including chimps and gorillas, in previous studies. Humans hold their children in their left arm almost exclusively for the first 12 weeks of the baby's life. This is the opposite of other acts, where the right arm is preferred (stock) Monkeys are more distantly related to humans than apes are, last sharing a common ancestor around 35 million years ago. 'We suggest that the origin of a left-cradling bias may be much older than the origin of humans and even older than hominids and hominoids, dating back to common ancestor of humans and Old-World monkeys about 2535 million years ago,' the scientists say. Humans hold their children in their left arm almost exclusively for the first 12 weeks of the baby's life. This is the opposite of other acts, where the right arm is dominant. Mothers cradle their young in their left arm because it enhances their relationship Studies have found humans naturally cradle their babies in their left arms. Around 70 per cent of women use their left arm. It lasts for around 12 weeks after the baby is born. However, the right hand is dominant for carrying inanimate objects. Scientists have discounted several theories to explain the phenomenon, including that it allows the right hand free for feeding and that it puts the baby closer to the mother's heart. The most common theory states that a left-cradled baby exposes its face to the left eye of the mother more than the right. This feeds directly into the right hemisphere of the brain, which specialises in processing emotions and facial expressions. On the other hand, right-side cradling is associated with higher pre-and postnatal maternal anxiety and depression. Advertisement For example, holding inanimate objects and performing medial tasks such as carrying shopping is often performed using the right arm, not the left, by humans. Scientists pursued an explanation for this peculiarity and now believe it is due to how the brain processes visual stimuli. Objects in the left side of the field of vision are processed by the right hand side of the brain, which is adept at detecting subtle emotional variation. Scientists say the cradling in the left arm therefore favours the mother's monitoring of the infant's emotional state. A baby in the left arm also looks up at the left side of the mother's face, which studies show is the most expressive side of the face. However, the researchers found this harmonious left-leaning relationship can be interrupted. In humans, right-side cradling is associated with higher pre-and postnatal maternal anxiety and depression, the researchers say in the paper, published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. This can inhibit communication between mother and child and affect emotional perception. In the baboons studied by the French researchers, 'the maternal left-cradling bias would be, just like in humans, altered by stress', the researchers say. Baboons become stressed when living in highly populated groups, the researchers write. They add: 'Higher densities increase the occurrence and frequency of conflicts involving severe aggression. Such conditions involve higher levels of stress.' Con artists are able to post scam adverts on Facebook and Google without being detected, according to an investigation by Which?. It warned that disingenuous adverts for fake companies and products can appear online within hours of being created. The tech giants have been working to improve protections against bogus ads, but Which? says it is still relatively easy for criminals to avoid detection. Scroll down for video Researchers created two linked fake companies, one of which was a water brand named Remedii (pictured). Google reviewed the submitted advert, but did not verify the legitimacy of the business and failed to ask for ID Con artists are able to post scam adverts on Facebook and Google without being detected, according to an investigation by Which? Researchers created two linked fake companies a water brand named Remedii and Natural Hydration, an online service offering pseudo health and hydration advice to see how easy it would be to post a fake ad. Which? devised and posted adverts, but no fake products were sold to consumers during the experiment. Google reviewed the submitted advert, but did not verify the legitimacy of the business and failed to ask for ID. In under an hour, the adverts were approved by the search engine firm for both dummy businesses, gaining almost 100,000 impressions over the space of a month. Afake advert for Natural Hydration was displayed above the official NHS Scotland pages when users searched for 'hydration advice'. Meanwhile, using a personal Facebook account, Which? created a business page on the social network for Natural Hydration and produced a range of posts with pseudo health advice to promote it. A paid promotion of the page gained some 500 likes in the space of a week. Facebook responded to the investigation saying the page set up by Which? does not violate its community standards and is not currently selling products. 'We remove harmful misinformation that could contribute to physical harm, such as false health claims, and have strict policies against deceptive advertising and scams,' it said. A fake advert for Natural Hydration was displayed above the official NHS Scotland pages when users searched for 'hydration advice'. Meanwhile, paid promotion of a business page on Facebook for Natural Hydration gained some 500 likes in the space of a week (pictured) Google and Facebook should lose 'monopoly' power over online advertising Google and Facebook face a crackdown on their 'monopoly' power which allows them to sweep up billions of pounds at the expense of UK businesses and families. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has demanded the Government takes action to end their stranglehold of digital advertising in Britain in a landmark ruling. The official watchdog suggests their dominance of the advertising market leads to higher prices on everything from hotels and flights to consumer electronics, books, insurance and many other products. The CMA also raised concerns about the way the online giants harvest personal information from consumers so that it can be used to bombard them with targeted advertising. A study by the watchdog lifts the lid on the extraordinary dominance of the two online giants, which have become advertising behemoths on the back of their near-monopoly positions in search and social media. Advertisement Google has already set out plans to introduce new rules in the UK from early 2021 which will require all advertisers to complete an identity verification programme. 'Our goal is to make more information about the ad experience universally available and accessible,' the company explained. It comes as the UK's competition watchdog called for new fines and the threat of break-ups for tech giants with dominant positions in the advertising space. According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), UK expenditure on digital advertising was around 14 billion in 2019, with 80 per cent of it going to Facebook and Google. It wants a new pro-competition regulatory regime in place to reduce their power, backed by a code of conduct to ensure such platforms do not engage in exploitative or exclusionary practices. 'Fraudulent activity is rife on social media and search engines and our investigation has exposed that a lack of controls on Facebook and Google has made it worryingly easy for fraudsters to create adverts promoting scams or fake products and services,' said Harry Rose, Which? magazine editor. 'Tech giants earn billions from advertising and should be putting more resources into preventing fraudsters from abusing their platforms, so consumers can trust that the adverts they see are legitimate. 'The Government should widen its definition of 'online harms' to include fake adverts and content, which would mean future regulation would require more action from tech companies to tackle false advertising.' A simple test of a woman's hair 'could tell women how many eggs they have left' by judging levels of a key fertility hormone, scientists say. US and Spanish researchers found 'biologically relevant' levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) an indicator of ovarian reserves in women's hair samples. AMH is a hormone produced by the cells within a woman's ovaries and gives an indication of her egg reserves and subsequent fertility. The hormone is incorporated into the matrix of hair before it reaches the surface of the skin. Levels of AMH from the hair correlated with levels from blood samples, which is currently the most common method of measuring the hormone. But taking AHM readings from the hair would be less invasive than a blood sample and a 'more appropriate representation of hormone levels', according to scientists. US and Spanish researchers found 'biologically relevant' levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) an indicator of ovarian reserves in women's hair samples. AMH LEVELS HELP ASSESS FERTILITY Anti-mullerian hormone is a protein hormone produced by cells within the ovary. AMH correlate with ovarian reserves and as ovarian reserve declines with age, so do AMH levels. An AMH test is often used to check a woman's ability to produce eggs that can be fertilized for pregnancy. A woman's ovaries can make thousands of eggs during her childbearing years. The number declines as a woman gets older. AMH levels help show how many potential egg cells a woman has left known as the ovarian reserve. If a woman's ovarian reserve is high, she may have a better chance of getting pregnant. She may also be able to wait months or years before trying to get pregnant. If the ovarian reserve is low, it may mean a woman will have trouble getting pregnant, and should not delay very long before trying to have a baby. Advertisement Testing can be done without visiting a clinic, such as by sending a hair sample through the post, which makes this type of test cheaper and available to a broader range of women. The role of AMH as a measure of ovarian reserve in predicting response to ovarian stimulation for IVF now seems 'beyond question', researchers add. 'Hair is a medium that can accumulate biomarkers over several weeks, while serum is an acute matrix representing only current levels,' said Sarthak Sawarkar at US health tech firm MedAnswers, who presented his research online at the 36th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. 'While hormone levels in blood can fluctuate rapidly in response to stimuli, hormone levels measured in hair would represent an accumulation over several weeks. 'A measurement using a hair sample is more likely to reflect the average hormone levels in an individual.' AMH has become a key marker in the assessment of how women may respond to fertility treatment. The hormone is produced by small cells surrounding each egg as it develops in the ovary. Studies have not correlated AMH levels to a reliable chance of live birth, nor to forecasting the time of menopause. However, AMH measurement has become an intrinsic marker in assessing how a patient will respond to ovarian stimulation for IVF as a normal responder, poor responder (with few eggs), or over-responder (with many eggs and a risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome). Currently, AMH is presently measured in serum taken from a blood sample drawn intravenously, but readings taken this way represent just a snapshot of a moment in time and are relatively invasive to complete. To learn more about the potential of AMH readings taken from the hair, researchers collected hair and blood samples 152 women from whom hair were during hospital visits. While hormone levels in blood can fluctuate rapidly in response to stimuli, hormone levels measured in hair would represent an accumulation over several weeks and therefore could provide a more accurate AMH reading AMH was also measured in blood samples from the same subjects, as well as an ultrasound count of developing follicles in the ovary a method known as antral follicle count (AFC). Biologically relevant AMH levels were successfully detected in the hair samples, which declined with patient age, as expected by the team. AMH levels from hair strongly correlated with levels as determined by both serum in the blood and AFC. The hair test was also able to detect a wide range of AMH levels within individuals from a similar age cohort, suggesting a greater accuracy than from a single blood sample. Hormones accumulate in hair shafts over a period of months, while hormone levels in serum can change over the course of hours, they found, meaning the hair test may be a more reliable measurement. Hormone levels are also assessed non-invasively, which reduces testing stress and offers a less expensive assay. 'This study is very interesting as it suggests AMH can be reliably measured from hair samples as opposed to the standard approach of a blood test,' Tim Child, medical director at Oxford Fertility, told the Times. AMH from human hair is a less invasive and a 'more appropriate representation of hormone levels' than from an 'acute' source like blood serum 'The AMH level in hair is more likely to be 'averaged-out' over a time period rather than the more instant level in a blood sample. 'The question is whether the hair AMH levels correlate to the ovarian response and therefore numbers of eggs collected during an IVF cycle this is not examined in this study. 'If the correlation is poor then hair samples will be of no benefit. 'If the correlation is as good as, or perhaps even better than with blood AMH, then this technique promises to further simplify the fertility treatment process for women and will be an exciting development.' The results have been presented by PhD student Sarthak Sawarkar, working in the laboratory of Professor Manel Lopez-Bejar in Barcelona, with collaborators from MedAnswers. Cyber criminals can work out if people are away from home by examining information transmitted over Wi-Fi by home security cameras, say scientists. Internet-connected security cameras that track potential burglars, such as Google's Nest Cam and Amazon's Ring range, can be interfered with by attackers. These devices, which are becoming an increasingly common feature of people's homes, generate huge amounts of hackable personal data. UK and Chinese researchers got access to a data set of smart home camera uploads from an undisclosed device maker. They found online traffic generated by the cameras, which are often triggered by motion, could be monitored and used to predict when a house is occupied or not. A lack of traffic throughout a working day could indicate that a homeowner is out, for example, leaving the home vulnerable to a burglary if linked with address data. Scroll down for video Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Queen Mary University of London tested if an attacker could infer privacy-compromising information about a camera's owner from simply from tracking the uploaded data passively without inspecting any of the video content itself IP home security cameras are internet-connected and can be installed in homes. Many have the ability for owners to remotely monitor them online via a Wi-Fi link. This connection and when it is activated can be hijacked by hackers, even if the content of the videos is encrypted. These cameras are growing in popularity and the global market is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2023. 'Once considered a luxury item, these cameras are now commonplace in homes worldwide,' said Dr Gareth Tyson, a senior lecturer of internet data science at Queen Mary University of London, who worked with researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. 'As they become more ubiquitous, it is important to continue to study their activities and potential privacy risks. 'Whilst numerous studies have looked at online video streaming, such as YouTube and Netflix, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which looks in detail at video streaming traffic generated by these cameras and quantifies the risks associated with them. 'By understanding these risks, we can now look to propose ways to minimise the risks and protect user privacy.' The researchers even found that future activity in the house could be predicted based on past traffic generated by the camera, which could leave users more at risk of burglary by discovering when the house it unoccupied WHAT IS THE INTERNET OF THINGS? Although the term Internet of Things (IoT) first appeared in 2005, there is still no widely accepted definition. The term generally describes a concept where normal everyday objects that are becoming connected to the internet. IoT includes gadgets bought by consumers, as well as products and services designed for businesses to help machines communicate with each other. Nearly anything can be turned into an IoT devicefrom watches to fridges and lightbulbs. Advertisement The majority of internet traffic is now video, dominated by the likes of Netflix, YouTube and live e-sports service Twitch, the researchers say. However, the advent of low-cost internet-enabled cameras has resulted in 'the arrival of a rather different type of video streaming service'. While Internet of Things (IoT) home security cameras were once considered a luxury, they have since entered the mainstream and brought fresh privacy and security concerns with them. Home security cameras follow an on-demand model, where video is only streamed when a user requests it, or when motion is observed. Researchers used data from a 'major' home internet protocol (IP) security camera provider, which the team wouldn't disclose to MailOnline. 'We signed an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] when analysing their data,' Dr Tyson said. 'Basically, this company shared data allowing us to characterise the scale of the problem across hundreds of thousands of users.' The data set covered 15.4 million streams from 211,000 active users and contained a mix of free and premium users. Internet-connected security cameras to track potential burglars, such as Google's Nest Cam and Amazon's Ring range, can be interfered with by attackers Assuming the role of the attacker, the scientists evaluated the potential privacy risks for users of the increasingly popular security devices. Researchers tested if a real-life attacker could gather privacy-compromising information about a camera's owner from simply tracking the uploaded data passively without inspecting any of the video content itself. TIPS FOR SMART HOME CAMERA USERS Change any passwords: Many wireless cameras have weak default passwords, such as admin. Set a secure password connecting three random words that youll be able to remember. Keep your camera updated: Not only does this keep your devices secure, but it often adds new features and other improvements. If in doubt, unplug it or turn it off: No one wants to have to worry about someone snooping in on their home, so deactivate the camera if youre at all concerned. If you do not use the feature that lets you remotely access the camera from the internet, it is recommended you disable it. SOURCE: Which? Advertisement Attackers could detect when the camera was uploading motion and even distinguish between certain types of motion, such as sitting or running, they found. This was done without inspecting the video content itself but, by looking at the rate at which cameras uploaded data via the internet. Scientists even discovered that future activity in the house could be predicted based on past traffic generated by the camera, which could leave users more at risk of burglary by discovering when the house is unoccupied. An attacker with access to this 'passive network data' may be able to infer the camera owners household activity by inspecting home security camera traffic. For example, a camera consistently uploading motion-triggered video at 6pm might indicate that family members arrive home at that time. The team found that premium users are more vulnerable to privacy risks due to their heavier usage and the exclusive availability of the motion detection mode, which was not available for normal users. 'Home security cameras have become a commodity which will likely increase in usage,' the researchers conclude in their report. 'As they are often placed in intimate locations, it is important we continue to investigate their activities and potential risks.' The findings are being presented at the virtual IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications this week. According to Javvad Malik, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, smart home camera firms should implement their own layered controls to ensure that IoT devices aren't accessible from the public internet. Consumers, meanwhile, can 'harden' them where possible by changing default passwords. Consumers should also review whether all of their IoT devices are essential or simply 'nice to haves'. 'It could be the difference between suffering a security incident or not,' Malik told MailOnline. Boris Cipot, senior security engineer at Synopsys, said there is currently no standard around the minimum data security and access requirements that IoT devices need to satisfy before they hit the shops. 'While the users do need to be encouraged in configuring security settings based on their risk appetite, users cannot be expected to be security experts,' Cipot told MailOnline. 'Responsibility ultimately falls to device manufacturers who must provide devices that dont require users to actively configure their devices to be secure.' Snow on the Italian Alps is turning pink due to an algae that absorbs sunlight and increases the risk of ice melting. The species of algae, known as Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, is lining the snow on parts of the Presena Glacier in northern Italy. Normally, ice reflects more than 80 per cent of the sun's radiation back into the atmosphere due to its white appearance. But scientists say the harmless algae is making the snow darker and it is absorbing more sunlight as a result. Therefore, the snow melts at a quicker than usual rate a process that exacerbates the effects of warmer temperatures caused by greenhouse gases. More algae then appear as the ice melts more rapidly, giving them vital water and air supplies, which further fuels the blooms. This adds even more red hues to the white ice at the Passo Gavia, at an altitude of 8,590 feet (2,618 metres), viewable from the ground and in aerial shots. A. nordenskioeldii is also present in Greenland's so-called dark zone, where the ice is also already melting, scientists say, but its abundance in Italy adds fresh concerns. Ancylonema nordenskioeldii is an algae species that had never previously been quantitatively documented in the Alps before studies by Di Mauro's team this year. As seen here in an aerial shot lining the snow on parts of the Presena Glacier in northern Italy Scientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change Light micrographs of algae found at the glacier in Switzerland as documented in a research paper from earlier this year by Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council 'The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles,' Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council told AFP. 'Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation. 'We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth.' Presena Glacier in northern Italy is a favourite for holiday-makers, with ski lifts and mountain huts Biagio di Maio, researcher at CNR (National Research Council) takes samples of pink coloured snow on July 4, 2020 on the top of the Presena glacier near Pellizzano More of the algae appear as the ice melts more rapidly, giving the species vital water and air The species was already known to dominates algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet in the Arctic circle Di Mauro had previously studied the algae at the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland. They found that concentrations of A. nordenskioeldii on the glacier surface there was higher than that of other algal species. Species of algae including A. nordenskioeldii produce dark pigments to protect them from the high solar radiation. An aerial picture taken on July 3, 2020 above the Presena glacier near Pellizzano in Italy's Alps The algae creates a stunning effect when viewed from above but it causes ice in the Alps to melt, exacerbating the effects of climate change Normally ice reflects more than 80 percent of the sun's radiation back into the atmosphere, but as algae appear, they darken the ice so that it absorbs the heat and melts more quickly Before Di Mauro's work, the glacier algal species had never previously been documented in the Alps and is known to dominate algal blooms in polar regions. Researchers say the presence of hikers and ski lifts could also have an impact on A. nordenskioeldii. It's possible that the presence of human feet could damage algal blooms at a location that is already popular with holiday-makers. Researchers are trying to work out the effect of phenomena - other than human causes such as greenhouse gas emissions - on the overheating of the Earth The pink colour of the snow is due to the presence of colonies of algae of the species Ancylonela nordenskioeldii The presence of hikers and ski lifts could also have an impact on the algae by damaging blooms Tourists at the glacier have been lamenting the impact of climate change to AFP. 'Overheating of the planet is a problem, the last thing we needed was algae,' said tourist Marta Durante. 'Unfortunately we are doing irreversible damage. We are already at the point of no return, I think.' Elisa Pongini from Florence said she felt the Earth was 'giving us back everything we have done to it'. '2020 is a special year terrible things have happened,' she said. 'In my opinion, atmospheric phenomena are worsening. Climate change is increasingly evident.' A miniature lizard which roamed what is now Madagascar around 240million years ago has been discovered by researchers who say it was just four inches (10cm) tall. This minuscule creature is believed to be an ancestor of much larger dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Named Kongonaphon kely - or 'tiny bug slayer'- it was smaller than a sparrow and had teeth for chomping on insects, sharp claws on its feet and bristles. It was unearthed on Madagascar and is a 'missing link' in the history of vertebrates, say the team from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The remains of Kongonaphon were actually discovered in 1998 but were found with so many other fossils it has taken scientists this long to understand its importance. Life restoration of Kongonaphon kely , a newly described reptile near the ancestry of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, in what would have been its natural environment in the Triassic Picture, a graphic showing a size comparison between the newly-discovered species (middle) and a known early dinosaur, the Herrerasaurus (right) and an average-sized man (left) Lead author Dr Christian Kammerer, a palaeontologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, said people assume dinosaurs were all giants. 'But this new animal is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs - and it's shockingly small,' he said. Some dinosaurs were over 100 feet long and weighed over 100 tons and ptterosaurs, their close airborne cousins, were the largest animals to ever fly. Some were as a modern plane, with a wingspan reaching up to 35 feet (10m). Both these ancient groups of reptiles belong to the group Ornithodira, but their origins have remained a mystery thanks to very few fossils of their earlier relatives. That was until an archaeological dig led to the discovery of Kongonaphon, the tiny lizard that shared key features with its bigger cousins. The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has implications for the evolution of birds, the living descendants of dinosaurs. It may help explain the origins of feathers and why pterosaurs took to the skies in the first place, said the North Carolina research team. The findings also shed light on the presence of 'fuzz' on the lizard species skin. Expedition leader Professor John Flynn, of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, explained that the site in southwestern Madagascar where the fossil was unearthed comes from a poorly known time interval globally. 'This tiny specimen was jumbled in among the hundreds we've collected from the site over the years,' said Flynn. 'It took some time before we could focus on these bones, but once we did, it was clear we had something unique and worth a closer look. 'This is a great case for why field discoveries - combined with modern technology to analyse the fossils recovered - is still so important.' The remarkably preserved specimens included parts of Kogonaphon's skull and limbs which enabled an accurate reconstruction of its appearance. They were dated to around 237 million years old - when the exotic African island was part of the supercontinent Pangaea and the first dinosaurs were emerging. Life restoration of Kongonaphon kely , a newly described reptile near the ancestry of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, shown to scale with human hands Body size comparison between the newly discovered Kongonaphon and one of the earliest dinosaurs, Herrerasaurus 'Recent discoveries like Kongonaphon have given us a much better understanding of the early evolution of ornithodirans,' he said. 'Analysing changes in body size throughout archosaur evolution, we found compelling evidence it decreased sharply early in the history of the dinosaur-pterosaur lineage.' The study found that giant dinosaurs, which went extinct around 66 million years ago, originated from extremely tiny ancestors. The fossil also yielded more details about the specimen's life. Researchers believe signs of wear on its teeth are evidence it ate insects. A shift to an insectivore lifestyle - linked to small body size - may have helped early ornithodirans survive as the world changed and they needed to find a new niche. They occupied a different niche to their mostly meat-eating peers - meaning they would not have been rivals, the team explained. And fuzzy skin coverings - from simple filaments to feathers - that were common in dinosaurs and pterosaurs may have started in Kongonaphon for thermo-regulation. Heat retention in small bodies is difficult and the mid-late Triassic was a time of temperature extremes - with sharp shifts between hot days and cold nights. Project co-leader Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana, a vertebrate expert from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. said this was a very important discovery. 'Discovery of this tiny relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs emphasises the importance of Madagascar's fossil record for improving knowledge of vertebrate history during times that are poorly known in other places.' Some 251 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, a mass extinction wiped out most of life on Earth. In its wake arose a group of egg-laying reptile pre-cursors called archosaurs, the common ancestors of dinosaurs, flying reptiles known as pterosaurs and crocodiles. At some point during the next period, the Triassic, pterosaurs and dinosaurs split off from the crocodile lineage. Kongonaphon is another piece in the jigsaw. The 800-year-old shrine of the murdered 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, has been brought back to life in a stunning digital reconstruction. A CGI film uses new evidence to show how the shrine at Canterbury Cathedral looked before its destruction almost 500 years ago in the carnage of King Henry VIII's Reformation. Thomas Becket was a hugely influential Archbishop of Canterbury and martyr during the 12th century. A rift between Becket and his once-close friend King Henry II culminated in the king's knights murdering the Archbishop in his cathedral in 1170. King Henry II uttered the famous phrase 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' that led directly to Becket's death. Today marks 800 years since Thomas Becket's body was moved from a tomb in the crypt of the cathedral into a glittering shrine July 7, 1220. But the incredibly ornate shrine was destroyed in 1538 amid Henry VIII's upheaval of religion in Britain as he dramatically spurned the Pope during his Reformation. Scroll down for video Released on the 800th anniversary of the creation of Saint Thomas Becket's shrine, stunning CGI reconstruction uses new evidence to show how it would have likely appeared The shrine of the murdered 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, has been brought back to life in a stunning digital reconstruction (pictured) The holy resting place of Thomas Becket, who was canonised soon after his infamous slaying, was the most important pilgrimage destination in medieval England, visited for hundreds of years by people seeking miraculous healing. This digital reconstruction is the first to be based upon surviving fragments of the shrine discovered in and around Canterbury Cathedral since the 19th century. It combines information from eye-witness accounts, theories from past historians, date of construction, materials used, details on accessibility, and its location to recreate how the shrine would have looked. This new digital rendering is 'the most accurate recreation of the shrine to date', academics claim. 'The murder of Thomas Becket stunned the whole of Christendom all across Europe he was acclaimed as a martyr,' said Dr John Jenkins, a historical researcher on the reconstruction team at the University of York. King Henry II uttered the famous phrase 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' that led directly to Thomas Becket's death. Today marks 800 years since his body was moved from a tomb in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral into a glittering shrine on July 7, 1220 Thomas Becket was a hugely influential Archbishop of Canterbury and martyr during the 12th century. A rift between Becket and his once-close friend King Henry II culminated in the king's knights murdering the Archbishop in his cathedral (pictured) on December 29, 1170 In 1538, at Canterbury Cathedral (above), the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket was destroyed 'Within 10 years of his death over 700 healing miracles had been recorded at his tomb and it rapidly became one of the most important three or four European pilgrimage centres. 'So it is therefore appropriate that on the 800th anniversary of his shrine we publish our latest findings to explain how new discoveries have helped us create this reconstruction.' Historians have long debated the true origin of some of the shrine's fragments since they were first discovered in the 19th century. THOMAS BECKET: A LIFE c. 1120 Becket is born in Cheapside in London on St Thomas' Day, December 21, the son of a textiles merchant named Gilbert 1143 Becket works as an accountant in London for the banker Osbert Huitdeniers 1145 The young man is taken on by Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, propelling him into a position of power which led to his travelling around Europe 1154 Becket is made archdeacon of Canterbury and shortly afterwards enters the service of Henry II as chancellor, making him one of the King's most trusted followers 1162 He becomes Archbishop of Canterbury following the death of his old master Theobald 1163 Becket falls out with Henry II after launching a campaign to assert the rights of the Church to pass judgment on priests who commit crimes 1164 The Archbishop goes into exile in France in order to avoid claims of embezzlement made against him by the King 1170 He returns to England but again fights with Henry after opposing the King's attempts to crown his son. Killed in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, apparently on Henry's orders 1220 Becket's tomb is opened and relics are distributed around Europe 1538 The shrine to the martyr in Canterbury Cathedral is destroyed by Henry VIII Advertisement However, many of them carry trademarks that link them to Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral. Trinity Chapel stands at the east end of the cathedral and was built as a shrine to house the relics of Saint Thomas Becket. 'The trefoil and stiff-leaf decoration on some of the fragments stylistically indicates a common origin, and they are very close in type and quality to the carved capitals of the Trinity Chapel,' said Dr Jenkins. 'Within the cathedral this marble is only found in the Trinity Chapel, which surely indicates that these fragments come from Saint Thomas' shrine rather than any others. The team's model is based upon how the shrine would have looked in 1408, a time when Canterbury was visited by up to 100,000 pilgrims a year. The scientists behind the reconstruction argue that the shrine was created much earlier, between 1180 and 1220, and would have likely taken more than 30 years to build and ornament. The model includes a sturdy marble base and iron grilles, not featured in previous reconstructions, that enclosed the shrine. The grilles 'would serve to enhance a sense of mystery' for visitors to the candle-lit shrine during its heyday. Offerings in thanks for miraculous cures were attached to the grilles so that the shrine would be seen 'through a curtain of proof of Thomas's power to respond to prayer'. 'We propose the shrine was a collaborative effort, with the marble base initiated and largely finished by William the Englishman and the vast expensive golden feretory brought to completion only under Elias of Dereham and Walter of Colchester almost four decades later,' said Dr Jenkins. The reconstruction forms part of a three-year AHRC-funded 'Pilgrimage and England's Cathedrals: Past and Present' project. It will be used as a heritage interpretation tool to help visitors to Canterbury and its cathedral go back in time to share the experience of medieval pilgrims. It will also function as a research tool for researchers to complete further investigation to study the look, feel, and nature of the site. The new reconstruction has been detailed further in a special volume of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Becket's death at the hands of the four knights who had listened to the king utter the line 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest', parodied in the first series of Blackadder WHAT WAS THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES? The destruction of English monasteries under Henry VIII transformed the power structures of English society. Henry had cut off from the Catholic Church in Rome, and declared himself head of the Church of England. His intention in destroying the monastic system was both to reap its wealth and to suppress political opposition. Becket's status as a saint was closely tied up with his defence of the rights of the Church against the encroachments of King Henry II. Unsurprisingly, his cult became the most high profile casualty of the break with Rome. A proclamation of 1538 ordered the obliteration of his name and image from liturgical books and ecclesiastical buildings. His tomb was smashed to bits, but the exact fate of his bones remains a mystery. Source: University of Cambridge Advertisement Today marks 800 years since the very first jubilee of Saint Thomas' death a date still marked every year at Canterbury Cathedral. This year also marks 850 years since his murder on December 29, 1170. Becket was one of the most important figures in medieval Europe and was believed to have died valiantly as a martyr. He was murdered by the knights of his former friend, King Henry II, while defending the rights of the Church. After his death he was quickly honoured as a saint, and was adopted as the patron saint of London, the city of his birth. A memorial of 'unparalleled splendour' was erected within the Trinity Chapel at Canterbury. However, in the 1530s, the Reformation in England saw the ornaments and riches of thousands of Catholic churches destroyed in a vast Protestant movement. The shrine at Canterbury Cathedral was destroyed in 1538 on the order of King Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 saw the legendary king break England and Wales away from the Catholic church. The dissolution was the consequence of the king's conflict with the Roman Catholic Pope Clement VII over the former's right to marry. Hackers with ties to North Korea are attacking large US retailers and stealing customers credit card information. Security experts discovered the group Hidden Cobra has been planting digital skimmers on checkout pages for at least one year. Also known as Lazurus, the hacking group was found to use malicious strips such as web skimmers to copy sensitive payment information. The cybercriminals are said to have access major retails including the fashion chain Claires, as well as Paper Source and Focus Camera. Security experts discovered the group Hidden Cobra has been planting digital skimmers on checkout pages for at least one year. Victim stores are shown in green and Hidden Cobra controlled exfiltration nodes in red DailyMail.com has reached out to the companies listed in the attack and has yet to receive a response. The attack was discovered by a team at Sansec, a firm in the Netherlands that searches for digital skimming operations. Hackers associated with the APT Lazarus/HIDDEN COBRA1 group were found to be breaking into online stores of large US retailers and planting payment skimmers as early as May 2019, the team shared in an announcement Monday. Sansec notes that they were able to pin the skimming on Hidden Cobra due to the fact that the group reused technology from previous attacks. The researcher team also found patterns in the malware code placed on checkout carts that matched those from other hacks linked to the cybercriminals. Also known as Lazurus, the hacking group was found to use malicious strips such as web skimmers to copy sensitive payment information Digital skimming, which is also known as a magecart attack, has become a popular hacking method since 2015. It was a go-to move for Russian and Indonesian groups, but is now spreading across the globe. Sansec explains that Hidden Cobra was able to gain access to the store code of dozens of large US retailers, allowing them to place its malicious script on the checkout page a complete list of the companies has yet to be released. Once an unsuspecting customer inputs their information and credit card details, the script sends the data to a Hidden Cobra-controlled collection server. However, these bad actors have also infiltrated smaller companies like a model agency in Italy and a family owned bookstore in New Jersey. The cybercriminals are said to have access major retails including the fashion chain Claires, as well as Paper Source and Focus Camera To monetize the skimming operations, HIDDEN COBRA developed a global exfiltration network, wrote Sensec. This network utilizes legitimate sites that got hijacked and repurposed to serve as disguise for the criminal activity. The network is also used to funnel the stolen assets so they can be sold on dark web markets. Sansec has identified a number of these exfiltration nodes, which include a modeling agency8 from Milan, a vintage music store9 from Tehran and a family run book store10 from New Jersey. Earth's magnetic field can change 10 times faster than previously thought, according to new research, almost 100 times faster than current changes. UK scientists have simulated the history of the swirling flow of iron 1,740 miles below the planets surface, spanning the last 100,000 years. Motion of the liquid iron creates the electric currents that power the field, which helps guide navigational systems, shield us from harmful extra terrestrial radiation and hold our atmosphere in place. In partnership with researchers in California, they've demonstrated that these rapid changes are associated with local weakening of the magnetic field. The magnetic field is constantly changing and satellites provide new means to measure and track its current shifts. The study by the University of Leeds and University of California at San Diego gives new insight into the swirling flow of iron 2,800 kilometres below the planets surface and how it has influenced the movement of the magnetic field during the past 100,000 years We have very incomplete knowledge of our magnetic field prior to 400 years ago, said Dr Chris Davies at the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment. Since these rapid changes represent some of the more extreme behaviour of the liquid core they could give important information about the behaviour of Earths deep interior. Earths magnetic field is created by the movement of liquid iron in the Earths outer core, some 1,800 miles below our feet. The iron is super hot (over 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit) and as runny as water meaning it flows very easily. As the liquid flows, it drags the magnetic field with it and its corresponding North and South poles. These magnetic North and South Poles are different from the geographic North and South poles. The geographic North and South poles are in a fixed position and are diametrically opposite one another. The magnetic North and South Poles, meanwhile, are constantly moving and over time become misaligned with their geographic equivalents. Satellites now provide new means to measure and track the shifts of the magnetic poles, but the field existed long before the invention of human-made recording devices. To capture its evolution back through time, experts had previously analysed sediments, lava flows and human-made artefacts but these measurements are unreliable. Scientists at the University of Leeds teamed up with UC San Diego in California to follow a different approach. The team combined computer simulations of the field generation process with a recently published reconstruction of time variations in Earth's magnetic field spanning the last 100,000 years. Changes in the direction of Earths magnetic field reached rates that are up to 10 times larger than the fastest currently reported variations of up to one degree per year. These rapid changes are associated with local weakening of the magnetic field, the research team say. This means these changes have generally occurred around times when the field has reversed polarity or during what are known as 'geomagnetic excursions'. The World Magnetic Map data shows Earth's magnetic north is moving at 31 miles per year, away from Canada and towards Siberia This is when the dipole axis corresponding to field lines that emerge from one magnetic pole and converge at the other moves far from the locations of the North and South geographic poles. A reversing magnetic field could lead problems for turtles, birds and the compass The Earth's magnetic field regularly flips poles every few hundred thousand years. The exact impact of this flip isn't known as it hasn't happened in 780,000 years, however geologists and astronomers do have some idea. One of the biggest impacts will be on animals that use the magnetic field for navigation - such as turtles and birds. North on the compass will also point to Antarctica rather than Canada. In terms of the impact on human life - the biggest risk depends on how weak the field gets during its transition. According to a NASA study theres no evidence it will disappear completely as 'it never has before'. However, there is a risk the field will weaken more than usual - it is variable already - during the change. If it gets too weak more radiation will get to the Earth's surface and could cause cancers and other issues. However, as it will happen over a few thousand years humanity will have time to prepare for any weakening magnetic field. The only other notable impact of a weakening magnetic field would be auroras at lower latitudes. Advertisement The clearest example of a geometric excursion in the University of Leeds' study was a sharp change in the geomagnetic field direction of roughly 2.5 degrees per year 39,000 years ago. This shift was associated with a locally weak field strength, in a confined spatial region just off the west coast of Central America, and followed the global Laschamp excursion a short reversal of the Earths magnetic field during the end of the Last Glacial Period. Recent research has found a few times every million years or so Earth's magnetic field reverses polarity. It's been likened to a giant bar magnet inside the planet getting flipped upside down, with molecules in the outer core switching direction, with the magnetic North Pole becoming the magnetic South Pole. The team's detailed analysis indicates that the fastest directional changes are associated with movement of reversed flux patches across the surface of the liquid core. These patches are more prevalent at lower latitudes, suggesting that future searches for rapid changes in direction should focus on these areas. 'Understanding whether computer simulations of the magnetic field accurately reflect the physical behaviour of the geomagnetic field as inferred from geological records can be very challenging,' said Professor Catherine Constable, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. 'But in this case we have been able to show excellent agreement in both the rates of change and general location of the most extreme events across a range of computer simulations. 'Further study of the evolving dynamics in these simulations offers a useful strategy for documenting how such rapid changes occur and whether they are also found during times of stable magnetic polarity like what we are experiencing today.' The study has been published in Nature Communications. The latest World Magnetic Model, which tracks the movement of the Earths magnetic field, revealed last year that the magnetic North pole is undertaking geomagnetic excursions of its own. Last year, a separate team of researchers reported that the Earth's magnetic North Pole is travelling at a rate of 30 miles per year. This is the fastest recorded shift of the Earth's north since the mid-16th century and could cause havoc for aviation and navigation systems, including smartphone apps that use GPS. The World Magnetic Model has also located caution zones on Earth around the magnetic fields where compasses may be prone to errors and send users off course. Advertisement A new bullet train has entered service in Japan thats the countrys fastest, smoothest, most comfortable and safest yet its able to escape to safety in the event of an earthquake. The N700S the s stands for Supreme has a top speed of 360kph (223mph), though the line it serves, the Tokaido Shinkansen line, has a maximum operating speed of 285kph (177mph). This line, which links Tokyo with Osaka and Kobe, is one of the worlds most famous. It became the worlds first high-speed line when the first bullet trains began running on it on October 1, 1964, between Tokyo and Osaka - and it passes the 12,400ft-high Mount Fuji. A new bullet train - the N700S (pictured) - has entered service in Japan thats the countrys fastest, smoothest, most comfortable and safest yet. Its able to escape to safety in the event of an earthquake The N700S the s stands for Supreme has a top speed of 360kph (223mph), though the line it serves, the Tokaido Shinkansen line, has a maximum operating speed of 285kph (177mph) The summit of Mt Fuji has been considered sacred since ancient times and bullet train staff have been known to bow to it as the train passes. While the N700S, which entered service on July 1 with the Central Japan Railway Co, looks very similar to the N700A trains its replacing, it boasts a number of impressive new features. The seats, according to CNN, can recline further, have individual power outlets and the overhead racks light up at each station to remind passengers to pick up their bags. An active suspension system makes the ride quieter and smoother and lithium-ion batteries enable the train to move without using power from the overhead lines. While the N700S looks very similar to the N700A trains its replacing, it boasts a number of impressive new features The seats on the N700S can recline further, have individual power outlets and the overhead racks light up at each station to remind passengers to pick up their bags An active suspension system makes the ride quieter and smoother and lithium-ion batteries enable the N700S to move without using power from the overhead lines The entire Shinkansen network is wired up to earthquake sensors. If a tremor is detected the power supply to the trains is cut off and their emergency brakes activated automatically to bring them to a stop. But the N700S, thanks to its battery packs, can trundle to a safer spot if it comes to a halt somewhere risky An N700A bullet train passes in front of the mighty Mt Fuji, which comes into view 44 minutes after departure from Tokyo This feature is particularly useful in the event of an earthquake. The entire Shinkansen network is wired up to earthquake sensors. If a tremor is detected the power supply to the trains is cut off and their emergency brakes activated automatically to bring them to a stop. But the N700S, thanks to its battery packs, can trundle to a safer spot if it comes to a halt somewhere risky, such as a bridge or tunnel. Hitachi, which has been building bullet trains since the 1960s, brought bullet train technology to the UK. In 2009 it introduced the countrys fastest domestic train the Javelin which runs at 140mph between London St Pancras International and Kent. Advertisement British Airways has begun reopening its swanky lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5 and has released images of the coronavirus measures that have been put in place in one of them - Galleries First. The pictures show staff in masks serving customers as well as plastic protection screens at reception desks. BA is reopening its lounges in phases. On July 4, the Galleries First, Galleries South Club and Arrivals lounges opened their doors. British Airways has begun reopening its swanky lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5 and has released images of the coronavirus measures that have been put in place in the Galleries First lounge BA is reopening its lounges in phases. On July 4, the Galleries First, Galleries South Club and Arrivals lounges opened their doors Customers scan their boarding passes when entering the lounge 'thus minimising contact between customers and staff' Customers will be able to order food and drink through a new online service, which will be accessible once in the lounge The ultra-exclusive Concorde Room lounge remains shut, but the terrace area in the First lounge has been converted into a temporary Concorde Terrace, which is open only to BA first-class customers (American Airlines first-class customers will also be able to access the Concorde Room once it's fully reopen, but can't access the 'Terrace'). The Galleries First lounge is open to first-class ticket holders, business-class ticket holders (Club World in BA-speak) and silver and gold members. Business-class ticket holders and silver members (unless they're travelling first class) can't usually access this lounge. Access is granted to Galleries South Club with a first class, Club World or Club Europe ticket. Among the safety measures in place is a trial of automatic contactless lounge entry screens. BA said this would enable eligible customers to 'scan their own boarding pass when entering the lounge, thus minimising contact between customers and staff'. Upon entry, passengers will be given a card, which they will be asked to place on their seat when they leave, allowing cleaners to 'thoroughly sanitise the seating area after each use'. BA said that lounge customers would also find a number of sanitisation stations and safe distance markers. The Galleries First lounge is open to first-class ticket holders, business-class ticket holders (Club World in BA-speak) and silver and gold members It added: 'Bathrooms and shower facilities will be meticulously cleaned after each use.' Customers will be able to order food and drink, meanwhile, through a new online service, which will be accessible once in the lounge. The airline said: 'Once ordered, customers can sit back and relax, and their order will be brought directly to their seat.' BA said more of its lounges would become available again across its network throughout July and August. The reopening of the lounges comes after BA announced it would be resuming flights to more destinations across its network in July, albeit offering fewer frequencies due to reduced demand. BA said more of its lounges will become available again across its network throughout July and August On Friday, July 24, BA will start flying between Heathrow and Newquay in Cornwall, initially offering three flights a week, moving to five a week in August and daily from September On Saturday, the airline launched its inaugural flight to Pristina in Kosovo, with the route operating weekly until September. On Friday, July 24, BA will start flying between Heathrow and Newquay in Cornwall, initially offering three flights a week, moving to five a week in August and daily from September. And on Friday, September 1, BA CityFlyer will begin a daily service from London City to Belfast City Airport. Currently, British Airways Holidays is offering discounts to customers who book summer holidays before July 9 to destinations including Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Customers can save 100 with a minimum spend of 1,500 per booking, 150 on holidays with a minimum spend of 2,500 per booking and 200 on holidays with a minimum spend of 4,000 per booking. Meanwhile, BA has also revealed that its preferred travel insurance provider, Allianz Assistance, has updated its policy to cover Covid-19. The airline said the policy would cover customers if they or their family are diagnosed with the virus, or if they have to quarantine after being exposed to it. Scheana Shay is putting tough times behind her with a quarantine getaway to San Diego with boyfriend Brock Davies. The Vanderpump Rules star, 35, was glowing as she enjoyed a socially distanced afternoon at the rooftop pool of the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel. There, the brunette beauty soaked in the sun and sipped on a cold drink while wearing a stylish black and white bikini. Getaway: Scheana Shay glowed while enjoying a sunny staycation at San Diego's Hard Rock Hotel over the weekend Scheana showcased her tan, toned legs as she perched herself on a sunbed and indulged in the tasty strawberry daiquiri mule. Radiating a summer chic vibe, the reality star dressed up her monochrome suit with a gold necklace and broad sunglasses. Her tresses were swept into a high ponytail secured with a thick headband which was both practical and fashionable. After enjoying her time in the sun Scheana and beau Brock headed inside for some food and fun. Cool cat: The brunette beauty wowed in a black and white bikini as she sipped on a cold drink Relaxation mode: Scheana showcased her tan, toned legs as she perched herself on a sunbed After slipping out of her swimsuit, the Bravo favorite decided to embrace the Hard Rock's edgy vibes in an all-black outfit. Sexy thigh-high boots and tight jeans were paired with a longsleeve top crop top with sheer, billowing sleeves. Never one to shy away from glamour, she made sure her makeup was picture perfect. Shay ventured south of her West Hollywood stomping grounds after she emotionally revealing she had suffered a miscarriage late last month. She shared how happy she was to get out of town in an Instagram caption from her stay, telling her 1.1million followers: 'Thank you to everyone who has reached out sending me love. Rock on! After slipping out of her swimsuit, the Bravo favorite decided to embrace the Hard Rock's edgy vibes in an all-black outfit Looking good: Sexy thigh-high boots and tight jeans were paired with a longsleeve top crop top with sheer, billowing sleeves 'It feels good to get out of the house and spend time down in SD w Brock. Its been a couple of weeks since we got the bad news and each day is a challenge but its what makes us stronger.' Shay opened up about her heartbreak on an installment of her Scheananigans with Scheana Shay podcast from June 26th. 'A few weeks ago, we found out that I was pregnant, and for those of you who have followed my fertility journey and freezing my eggs the last year and a half, I didn't think I could get pregnant on my own,' 'My doctors told me that it would be close to impossible.' she added. Scheana said she missed her period and felt sick one morning after drinking, so didn't initially guess she was pregnant. She later bought a pregnancy test and took it while FaceTiming with Davies. Open book: Shay ventured south of her West Hollywood stomping grounds after she emotionally revealing she had suffered a miscarriage late last month On an installment of her podcast Scheana said she and boyfriend Brock Davies were very excited to find out she was pregnant. 'We were freaking out, but just so excited because we didn't know or think this was possible,' she said When she got a positive result, the Sur server said she bought four more tests and then got it confirmed by her doctor with a blood test. Overjoyed at the prospect at becoming a mom, Scheana told her her mother and sister and also babysat a friend's child to practice her childcare skills. She also planned to tell her dad the news on Father's Day last weekend by making a surfboard with stickers to surprised him with the news he was going to be a grandfather. 'We were freaking out, but just so excited because we didn't know or think this was possible,' she said. Scheana Shay has revealed she recently suffered a miscarriage at 6 weeks pregnant However, things took a turn for the worse during a trip to San Diego earlier this month when Scheana said she felt 'off' and started to freak out after bleeding all weekend. The reality star said she tried to stay positive despite going to the doctor again and finding out that her progesterone levels had dropped significantly. She was prescribed progesterone pills but still felt something wasn't right. 'My OB got me in early, they did an ultrasound and there was no heartbeat,' she said, voice cracking with emotion. Hopes: The 35-year-old star was told by doctors it would be 'impossible' for her to get pregnant on her own so the news was even more exciting 'There was just nothing progressing, nothing going on inside. There were parts that he could see were starting to form, and it just didn't. So obviously, [that was] just devastating. We were so excited. Gone so quickly. It's still been a lot to process. 'Now I'm at home and I'm just waiting to naturally miscarry I'm just literally sitting here waiting, feeling normal but still treating my body as if I'm pregnant, which is a complete mindf**k because I know there's still something there, but I haven't passed it yet.' Scheana tearfully continued, 'Even though I was only six and a half weeks, that doesn't make it any easier. We still got so excited for something that isn't happening anymore. It's been really tough to wrap my head around.' Loss: During a trip to San Diego earlier this month for Brock's birthday Scheana said she felt 'off' and was freaking out after bleeding all weekend The brunette beauty went on to say it's been 'really hard' for Brock and he's been feeling angry because of the roller-coaster of emotions. In a recent interview with Maria Menounos, Scheana revealed her desire to have 'at least two children' with Brock, who she's been dating for nine months. Brock, a personal trainer from Australia, is already father to two children from a previous relationship. 'If in a crazy off chance, [I] get pregnant naturally, twins also run in my family,' she said at the time. 'If I have twin boys, I'm definitely trying again for a girl.' Eliminated MasterChef contestant Chris Badenoch has taken a few parting shots at his former co-stars, accusing them of being one-trick ponies. Chris told News.com.au on Monday that the criticism levelled against Laura Sharrad this season for focusing on pasta was unfair because several other cooks were also making the same types of dishes over and over again. 'Poor Laura's copping it and I don't understand it. I don't understand why people decide to pick on certain individuals on a certain topic when others are guilty of the same thing,' he said. Going rogue: Eliminated MasterChef contestant Chris Badenoch (pictured) has taken a few parting shots at his former co-stars, accusing them of being one-trick ponies Chris argued that the backlash against Laura was ridiculous, saying: 'She owns a f**king pasta restaurant, of course she's going to do pasta! It's what she's best at and if she can do it, she will.' He then singled out two of his former rivals: Reynold Poernomo and Reece Hignell. 'Reece has made a thousand f**king tarts but he doesn't get hit up for it. Reynold literally does the same dish every time, just a variation on a theme, and he doesn't get plugged for it,' Chris said. She's not the only one! Chris told News.com.au on Monday that the criticism levelled against Laura Sharrad (pictured) this season for focusing on pasta was unfair because several other cooks were also making the same types of dishes over and over again Good point! 'She owns a f**king pasta restaurant, of course she's going to do pasta!' Chris said. Pictured: Laura and her husband, fellow chef Max Sharrad, outside their Italian restaurant, Nido, which opened in Adelaide's Hyde Park last year 'I don't know why people are giving [Laura] a hard time.' Laura and her husband, fellow chef Max Sharrad, opened their own Italian restaurant, Nido, in Adelaide's Hyde Park last year. The couple had met in 2015 while working in the kitchen at Jock Zonfrillo's Orana restaurant. They got engaged in 2017 and tied the knot in the Barossa Valley the following year. Repeat performance: Chris said that Reynold Poernomo (pictured) 'literally does the same dish every time, just a variation on a theme' Ouch! 'Reece has made a thousand f**king tarts but he doesn't get hit up for it,' added Chris. Pictured: Reece Hignell It comes after season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow was eliminated from MasterChef: Back to Win on Sunday night's episode. Her departure was emotional for everyone on set, and judge Melissa Leong was on the verge of tears as she described Poh as 'a national treasure' and commended her for giving 'all of her heart, soul and commitment' to the competition. MasterChef continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 Time to say goodbye: It comes after season one runner-up Poh Ling Yeow (pictured) was eliminated from MasterChef: Back to Win on Sunday night's episode Paris Hilton is trying to find the 'silver lining' amid pandemic lfife. The blonde business bombshell opened up about how she's staying 'positive' during these 'scary times' while stopping by Barkha Beauty founder Barkha Shewakramani's YouTube channel. Paris, 39, explained how she was thinking about quarantine as a sort of 'reset for the world,' reminding people 'we're all together and this is something that's affecting everyone.' Bright side: Paris Hilton opened up about how she's staying 'positive' during these 'scary times' while stopping by Barkha Beauty founder Barkha Shewakramani's YouTube channel The Simple Life star said that she's been doing 'pretty well' while spending time with boyfriend Carter Reum. Keeping that positive attitude, Paris reflected on how the coronavirus pandemic is 'bringing the world closer together' to fight the same danger. 'I think it's really a reset for the entire world I feel that mother nature is telling us you guys need to really respect the world that we're all together and this is something that's affecting everyone,' she said. In it together: The blonde business bombshell explained how she was thinking about quarantine as a sort of 'reset for the world,' reminding people 'we're all together and this is something that's affecting everyone' Listening: 'I think it's really a reset for the entire world I feel that mother nature is telling us you guys need to really respect the world that we're all together and this is something that's affecting everyone,' Paris told Barkha Unity: 'It doesn't matter where you're from, it's affecting the entire world. Doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter who you are, this affects every single person and I really believe that it's bringing the world closer together' 'It doesn't matter where you're from, it's affecting the entire world. Doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter who you are, this affects every single person and I really believe that it's bringing the world closer together.' 'Like I've noticed just such a shift and that which I think is amazing and really people coming together to help each other and spreading love and people connecting in ways they've never connected. Paris has also relished the opportunity to slow down and spend time with her beau of six-months instead of dealing with her 24/7 schedule as an entrepreneur and DJ. Quality time: Paris has also relished the opportunity to slow down and spend time with her beau of six-months instead of dealing with her 24/7 schedule as an entrepreneur and DJ 'It's just been nice because I've always traveled. I'm used to be gonna plane 250 days a year, I'm constantly in a different country. I'm never at home, so just to be in an amazing relationship and be able to spend so much time with my boyfriend every single day and just cook together and just chill and relax. 'I've literally since I'm a teenager I've not relaxed or done anything like this or been at home so it's a big difference and I'm just loving the time with my man.' Paris finished with a cause dear to her heart, telling viewers about Lifeway Network, a charity that helps victims of human trafficking. 'I think it's amazing all the work they do to help women,' Paris said. Big Brother's Sarah McDougal has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she wants to win the $250,000 prize money. Speaking to TV Week on Monday, the 19-year-old said she hopes to win the show to pay off the debt from her late father James' funeral. 'He was 59 and pretty sick with emphysema, but doctors didn't realise how bad it was, so dad pushed me to go on my first trip overseas to do volunteer work in Indonesia last July,' she said. Heartbreaking: Big Brother's Sarah McDougal (pictured) has revealed the heartbreaking way she hopes to spend the $250,000 prize money 'He passed away really suddenly and I got the call to come home as soon as possible. It was heartbreaking and all the financial repercussions came down on us kids, so we got in quite a bit of debt,' she added. 'It would mean so much to me to be able to pay it off. It would change my family's lives.' Sarah, who is the youngest of seven children, went on to call her father the 'smartest person I've ever met' and said he'd inspired her to become a better person. 'It would change my family's lives': The 19-year-old said she hopes to win the show to pay off the debt from her late father James' funeral. Pictured: Sarah and her late father She also spoke about her family's financial struggles, admitting she got her first job as a dog walker at the age of 12 to help her parents pay the bills. On Saturday, Sarah shared a heartfelt tribute to her late father, a year after he died. '365 Days. That is too many days since I've heard a dad joke, heard him say that he loves me, try and beat him in a maths equation or even place a footy tip with him,' she wrote on Instagram. 'He passed away really suddenly': She told TV Week her dad 'was 59 and pretty sick with emphysema, but doctors didn't realise how bad it was' 'That's too many days since I had to spend over 24 hours travelling back to Australia to be with my family. That is too many days since hearing the voice of a person I look up to the most. 'Dad, I know you're with us. I know you're still taking care of this family. You were with me every single step of this crazy Big Brother journey and I know if I have even a quarter of your strength and courage, I can overcome anything.' Sarah's father would be proud of her accomplishments on Big Brother so far this year, as she has already won two challenges. She recently changed up her raven colored locks to a fire red color. And Kim Kardashian matched her latest outfit to her new tresses in a series of snaps posted to Instagram on Sunday. The 39-year-old Keep Up With the Kardashians star flaunted her toned midriff in the two piece set. New look: Kim Kardashian matched her latest outfit to her new hair color in a series of snaps posted to Instagram on Sunday Kim donned a fire red three piece set that featured a one sleeve crop top, teamed with matching leather pants and a skirt fixture over the pants. She teamed the look with white snakeskin boots, and dark oval sunglasses. As she posed in a concrete staircase, her new hair perfectly matched the outfit. Showing off multiple angles of her outfit, she went from posing standing and straight on to the camera, to sitting. Set: Kim donned a fire red three piece set that featured a one sleeve crop top, teamed with matching leather pants and a skirt fixture over the pants Last week she debuted the new hair color when posting pictures from her sister Khloe Kardashian's birthday party. Chatting to fans in a video on her stories she revealed the new color isn't one of the many wigs she often dons. 'It's mine, I dyed it,' Kim said as she chatted with someone about her new 'do. She tried out an eerie blue eye filter in the first video, before trying out a lighter shade of brown than usual for a piercing stare. Spooky: Kim tried out an eerie blue eye filter in the first video, before trying out a lighter shade of brown than usual for a piercing stare Kim appears to be at the same desert location as her sister Kylie Jenner. Kylie opted for a change of scenery in photos and videos posted to her Instagram on Sunday. The 22-year-old cosmetics mogul shared striking images of herself in a gorgeous copper-colored dress as she walked alone through the desert. Kylie showed off her new look in a photo that showed her dwarfed next to a stone building while reclining on a white chaise lounge. Golden goddess: Kylie Jenner, 22, sizzled in a photo posted Sunday to Instagram of her in a golden dress from a recent desert photoshoot The trip comes after Kim appeared to endorse her husband's claim he was running for US President on Saturday. The reality TV star retweeted the 43-year-old rapper's statement he was throwing his hat in the electoral ring, along with her own addition to the message. Kim simply tweeted an emoji of the United States flag in her July 4th message. A thousand words: Wife Kim had little to say immediately after Kanye's announcement he would run for US President, but showed her support by tweeting an American Flag emoji in response The mother-of-four had previously claimed she'd warned her Gold Digger rapper husband off entering politics. In September 2016, Kim told Wonderland, 'Look at all the awful things theyre doing to Melania [Trump], putting up the naked photos [of her] Ill say to Kanye: "Babe, you know the kind of photos theyd put up of me!" Haha.' West announced on Saturday he is running for president of the United States, just four months before election day. The 21-time Grammy winner celebrated Independence Day with the announcement on Twitter, which was met with mixed reactions and skepticism. No way Ye: The mother-of-four had previously claimed she'd warned her Gold Digger rapper husband off entering politics. Seen in November last year 'We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION', he tweeted on Saturday. The rapper has sparked speculation over the years that he would potentially enter the presidential race one day, most recently in November, when he said he planned to run in 2024. It is unclear if he has filed any official paperwork to appear on state election ballots this year. While there is no official deadline to enter the presidential race, candidates must meet certain filing requirements under Ballot Access Laws that vary by state. The deadline to add independent candidates to the ballot has not yet passed in many states, including California. Twitter users united to declare him 'the best Chris' in Hollywood last week after he was spotted with a bag crammed full of books. Chris Pine continued to play up his intellectual bona fides on Sunday when he wore a T-shirt promoting public broadcasting. The 39-year-old Wonder Woman star was in need of a caffeine boost so he dropped by a Blue Bottle Coffee location in LA's hip Los Feliz neighborhood. Caffeine run: Chris Pine, 39, played up his intellectual bona fides on Sunday with a white PBS T-shirt while grabbing coffees at a Blue Bottle Coffee location in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood Chris paired his white PBS T-shirt with navy blue shorts, simple black flip flops and a gold luxury wristwatch. He often favors a mix of bandanas and respirator-style masks to help ward off the novel coronavirus, but this time he wore a thick blue patterned scarf that was rolled up over his face for extra layering. Though he regularly drives around LA in his classic automobiles, Chris opted for comfort this time with his silver luxury SUV. Safety first: Chris often favors bandanas or respirator masks to ward off the coronavirus, but this time he wore a thick blue patterned scarf that was rolled up over his face for extra layering The Wrinkle In Time star wasn't far from the beloved indie bookstore Skylight Books, where he purchased a bounty of titles last week. After a photo of him carrying a heavy bag of books from the store circulated last week, Twitter users jokingly declared him 'the best Chris' in Hollywood (compared to Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt) for properly wearing a mask and supporting an indie bookstore. Author and journalist Dana Schwartz seemingly started the viral trend on Monday when she posted two photos of the actor. 'Chris Pine really pulled ahead and became the best Chris, it happened so slowly I didn't even notice it was happening,' she wrote. Traveling in style: Though he regularly drives around LA in his classic automobiles, Chris opted for comfort this time with his silver luxury SUV Missing from Chris' coffee run was his girlfriend Annabelle Wallis, though he carried two coffees, so one may have been earmarked for her. The English actress has previously been in various high profile relationships, including her onoff romance with Coldplay's Chris Martin from 20152017. Chris and Annabelle first went public with their relationship on a date night in London in July 2018, after first being romantically linked that April. MIA: Missing from Chris' coffee run was his girlfriend Annabelle Wallis, though he carried two coffees, so one may have been earmarked for her; pictured together in April The Outlaw King star got some good news late last month when his upcoming thriller Violence Of Action was sold to the German media company Leonine. Deadline reported that the film was sold in a multi-million dollar deal during the Cannes Film Festival's virtual market, though the regular festival had to be canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chris stars in the film as a Marine who travels to Poland to join a paramilitary force after he is involuntarily discharged from the Marines. The movie reunites him with his Hell Or High Water costar Ben Foster and also stars Community's Gillian Jacobs. Francesca Farago rose to fame earlier this year thanks to her eyebrow-raising appearance on raunchy Netflix series Too Hot to Handle. And it seems the model's new business venture is shaping up to be just as controversial. Eager to capitalise on her newfound fame, Francesca, 26, launched her eponymous swimwear brand, Farago The Label, in April. Seeing double? Too Hot to Handle star Francesca Farago's new bikini designs look very similar to those sold by Emily Ratajkowski's swimwear brand, Inamorata. Pictured left: Francesca modelling her Punta Mita bikini set, right: Emily modelling her Las Olas bikini set However, fans have noticed that several of her bikinis look extremely similar to designs sold by Emily Ratajkowski's swimwear brand, Inamorata. Francesca's Punta Mita bikini top ($70) is almost indistinguishable from Inamorata's famous Las Olas bikini top ($75), as both feature triangle cups and elongated straps which wrap around the waist. Inamorata's Las Olas top is paired with matching Las Olas bottoms ($75), featuring a G-string back and a Brazilian-style, ruched front section. Just a coincidence? Francesca's Punta Mita bikini top (left) is almost indistinguishable from Inamorata's famous Las Olas bikini top (right), as both feature triangle cups and elongated straps which wrap around the waist Similarly, Farago The Label's design is also paired with matching Punta Mita G-string bottoms ($70) in the same ruched style as the Las Olas bottoms. Francesca also recently launched her Juliette swimming costume ($170), which resembles Inamorata's Cardiff one-piece ($160). While the designs are distinguishable, Francesca appears to have taken inspiration from the Cardiff's tie-front detail when she was designing her Juliette swimsuit. Bottoms up! Similarly, Francesca's design (left) is also paired with matching Punta Mita G-string bottoms in the same ruched style as the Las Olas bottoms (right) Prints charming! While Francesca's brand (left) only offers bikinis in plain colours, Emily's range (right) features swimsuits in a variety of prints Model and actress Emily, 29, launched her brand in 2017 and earned immediate global attention for her racy, skin-baring designs. When the Las Olas bikini was released in 2018, the We Are Your Friends star made headlines by wearing the two-piece at the beach in Sydney. The photos soon went viral, and many described the Las Olas bikini as the most daring swimsuit ever invented. Racy: Francesca also recently launched her Juliette swimming costume (left), which resembles Inamorata's Cardiff one-piece (right) Francesca, who split from her ex-fiance and Too Hot to Handle co-star Harry Jowsey last month, recently spoke about the design process behind her swimwear range, which consists of pieces made from biodegradable and recyclable material. 'It took months and months of research,' she told Page Six Style in May. 'I really wanted to find an eco-friendly, sustainable, vegan company to produce the swimwear for me,' she added. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Francesca and Emily for comment. Director David Ayer responded to backlash over the alleged 'brownface' casting of Daytime Emmy winner Shia LaBeouf as a 'Cholo' gangster in his upcoming movie, The Tax Collector. 'Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood,' the 52-year-old filmmaker - who boasts 479K Twitter/Instagram followers - explained. 'This is a [half-Jewish, half-Cajun] dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie.' Hitting VOD on August 7! Director David Ayer (L) responded to backlash over the alleged 'brownface' casting of Daytime Emmy winner Shia LaBeouf (R) as a 'Cholo' gangster in his upcoming movie, The Tax Collector The 52-year-old filmmaker explained: 'Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood. This is a [half-Jewish, half-Cajun] dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie' The 34-year-old Echo Park native wore a three-piece suit in the trailer depicting his character as a 'terrorizing devil' collecting 'taxes' for a crime lord called Wizard. Ayer spent all Wednesday evening defending casting a white man at the center of yet another movie reinforcing stereotypes about Latinx and African-Americans in gangs. 'Yes. [Creeper] grew up in the hood. He's a gangster. He's a Cholo. He's a Southsider. Shia studied a real homie like that to get it correct,' David continued. 'I grew up hood and I'm a whiteboy. Chicano culture is inclusive - I've seen whiteys, Asians, Blacks, Filipinos all putting in work for the hood. It's part of street culture.' Unconvincing: The 34-year-old Echo Park native wore a three-piece suit in the trailer depicting his character as a 'terrorizing devil' collecting 'taxes' for a crime lord called Wizard 'He's a Cholo!' Ayer spent all Wednesday evening defending casting a white man at the center of yet another movie reinforcing stereotypes about Latinx and African-Americans in gangs Turns out Shia 'got his whole chest tattooed' to more authentically portray the chain-smoking culture vulture. 'He's one of the best actors I've worked with, and he's the most committed to body and soul,' the Suicide Squad helmer told Slash Film in January. 'On Tax Collector, he got his whole chest tattooed. So he kind of goes all in, and I've never known anyone that committed.' LaBeouf previously 'had a tooth pulled' the first time he worked with Ayer and Oscar winner Brad Pitt in the 2014 WWII flick, Fury. 'Shia studied a real homie like that to get it correct': Turns out Shia 'got his whole chest tattooed' to more authentically portray the chain-smoking culture vulture 'He's one of the best actors I've worked with': LaBeouf (R) previously 'had a tooth pulled' the first time he worked with Ayer (L) and Oscar winner Brad Pitt (M) in the 2014 WWII flick, Fury 'Can't wait for y'all to meet Lupe!' Also coming to the former child star's defense was his castmate Chelsea Rendon, who played Lupe in The Tax Collector (posted July 1) The 27-year-old Montebello native tweeted: 'Y'all. Shia is NOT playing a Latinx character. So chill. That is all' Also coming to the former child star's defense was his castmate Chelsea Rendon, who played Lupe in The Tax Collector. 'Y'all. Shia is NOT playing a Latinx character. So chill. That is all,' the 27-year-old Montebello native tweeted last Wednesday. 'You don't act/dress the same as who you grew up with? In the same neighborhood? I'm not saying some Malibu's most wanted s*** but the real s***. 'I got friends that aren't Latinx I grew up with who speak Spanish or have the same accent as mine and s*** is that not okay?' Legitimized: The Honey Boy actor-writer's latest controversy came less than a month after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced he'd be inducted into the Walk of Fame in 2021 Definitely no actress: It's worth noting that most actors wouldn't have a career at all if they were LaBeouf - whose sixth arrest was in 2017 for obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness (pictured in 2017) The East LA-set, indie crime flick - hitting VOD on August 7 - also features three-time Grammy nominee George Lopez, Bobby Soto, and Cinthya Carmona. The Honey Boy actor-writer's latest controversy came less than a month after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced he'd be inducted into the Walk of Fame next year. It's worth noting that most actors wouldn't have a career at all if they were LaBeouf - whose sixth arrest was in 2017 for obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness. MasterChef star Melissa Leong has been subjected to appalling racist abuse since debuting on the show earlier this year. And now the 38-year-old, who is of Singapore-Chinese heritage, has candidly addressed the vile backlash in a brave interview with TV Week magazine. 'When it happens to you every day of your life, you develop a way to cope,' Melissa explained. MasterChef star Melissa Leong has revealed how she deals with the 'appalling racist' abuse directed at her on social media in a candid interview with TV Week She said she does her best to deal with the vitriol with intelligence and humour, and not allowing herself to sink down to the level of the trolls. 'The best thing is to greet it with intelligence, humour and maybe some empathy, because you can't sink to that level yourself,' she said. But the TV star admitted some days were harder than others. Sensible: 'The best thing is to greet it with intelligence, humour and maybe some empathy, because you can't sink to that level yourself,' Melissa said 'There are days when I'm blindsided and feel this palpable jolt to the chest. But having tremendous friends like Andy and Jock helps, we have each other's backs,' she added. Melissa is incredibly proud of the diversity of the show and told The Herald Sun this week that she was thrilled at the representation being shown on the series. Support: 'There are days when I'm blindsided and feel this palpable jolt to the chest. But having tremendous friends like Andy and Jock helps, we have each other's backs,' she added. She is pictured here with Jock Zonfrillo (L) and Andy Allen (M) 'Everybody deserves to be seen and to be heard. Regardless of whether that is your culture, your language, who you love, your ability, or the way you chose to live your life, everybody deserves to be seen and be heard,' she said. She added that 'it makes her very happy that people who look like her' can see themselves on TV. 'I also hope that it gives those who have not been yet seen or heard adequately a reminder that their time is on its way,' Melissa said. Asian Australians have made up one-third of the contestants this season. Contestants Brendan Pang, Khanh Ong, Reynold Poernomo and Poh Ling Yeow are all of Asian descent, as are Sarah Tiong, Jess Liemantara and Amina Elshafei, who is of Korean and Egyptian descent. MasterChef: Back to Win, which has been praised for being the most diverse in the show's history, has also included a number of openly gay constants including Brendan Pang, Reece Hignell, Courtney Roulston and Khanh Ong. Diverse: Melissa is incredibly proud of the diversity of the show and told The Herald Sun this week that she was thrilled at the representation being shown on the series. Asian Australians have made up one-third of the contestants this season. Pictured left to right: Jess Liemantara, Khanh Ong, Poh, Brendan Pang and Reynold Poernomo Melissa recently hinted she would be returning for the thirteenth season of MasterChef, after this year's season was a surprise ratings smash. 'I'm very open-minded to the possibility of doing MasterChef season 13,' she told Who magazine, but didn't confirm her spot on the next season. MasterChef: Back To Win continues on Channel Ten, Monday, 7.30pm. Bachelor in Paradise star Alex Bordyukov has alleged that producers 'faked' the lesbian romance between Brooke Blurton and Alex Nation during last year's season. The American 'intruder' told the Help! I Suck at Dating podcast that he was shocked to discover his entire relationship with the youth worker was edited out - and Brooke's brief flirtation with female contestant Nation was made the focus instead. Bordyukov claimed that producers took advantage of Brooke's bisexuality and the fact that he and Nation have the same first name to fabricate a storyline. How Bachelor in Paradise 'faked' a lesbian romance: The show's producers allegedly edited Brooke Blurton's (left) interviews to make it seem like she was talking about female contestant Alex Nation - when she was actually referring to American 'intruder' Alex Bordyukov (right) 'We kicked it off, we would spend the whole time together until she left,' Bordyukov said, referring to his romance with Brooke. 'But they didn't show any of it because they wanted to play up that same-sex relationship she had. 'You hear everyone talking, "Alex and Brooke are spending all this time together and she didn't have time for anyone else," yet they didn't show any of it.' Bombshell allegations: Bordyukov claimed that producers took advantage of Brooke's bisexuality and the fact he and Nation have the same first name to fabricate a storyline Bordyukov explained that while he wasn't one to 'kiss and tell', he was baffled that producers would downplay their romance so much it was almost non-existent. 'They didn't even show us kiss... like they're really going to play it down that much?' he said. Bordyukov claimed that producers urged Brooke to dump him and pursue a more 'controversial' relationship instead. Production tricks: Bordyukov claimed he was shocked to discover his entire relationship with the youth worker was edited out, and Brooke's brief flirtation with female contestant Nation (left) was made the focus instead 'They basically told her, "You either follow up on one of these more controversial relationships you have or go home because Alex is boring," which is true - you know, I'm terrible TV!' he said. It comes after Brooke hinted to WHO Magazine in September last year that her on-screen romance with Nation was far from genuine. 'I wouldn't say it was forced, but [the producers] were really going with it,' she said. The pair's same-sex kiss was a major storyline on Bachelor In Paradise, and featured heavily in trailers for the show. Outlander star Sam Heughan has been voted as the people's choice to take over the role of James Bond as Daniel Craig prepares to step down after 15 years. The Scottish actor, 40, beat the likes of Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill and Idris Elba to claim the top spot in the poll conducted by RadioTimes.com. Speaking about the results, Tim Glanfield, RadioTimes.com editorial director, said: 'Sam has stiff competition but this vote of confidence will be something for Bond 26 producers to consider.' Potential: Outlander star Sam Heughan, 40, has been voted as the people's choice to take over the role of James Bond He added: 'Sam is clearly very popular with fans, and this victory solidifies his position as one of the public favourites for this most coveted of film roles. 'With a host of incredible talent in the frame to take over from Daniel Craig, Sam certainly has some stiff competition - but this big vote of confidence will certainly be something for Bond 26 producers to consider.' Daniel, 52, who has appeared in four Bond films to date - Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) - announced last year that No Time To Die would be his final outing as 007. Pro: Daniel, 52, who has appeared in four Bond films to date - Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) - announced last year that No Time To Die would be his final outing as 007 The results come after Sam fuelled the rumours linking him with the iconic role after admitting he had auditioned back in 2005 before being beaten by Daniel. Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning last month, the star said he would love another shot at the ultimate acting gig. Sam said: 'Obviously it's a dream for every actor. I auditioned for it back when they were doing Bond 21 when Daniel Craig was cast in Casino Royale and I think a lot of actors were seen in the UK. Starring role: The Scottish actor shot to fame in the role of Jamie Fraser in Outlander, which has now aired five series 'Of course it would be a dream role and a Scottish Bond, who doesn't want to see another Scottish Bond!' Other big name actors including Henry Cavill, Sam Worthington and ER's Goran Visnjic were considered for Casino Royale after Pierce Brosnan stepped down as 007. Phillip asked Sam directly if he would pick up the phone to the Bond producers if they rang him now. And the actor joked: 'Yeah. I need to jump off this call because I'm waiting for Barbara Broccoli to give me a bell.' What might have been: The results come after Sam fuelled the rumours linking him with the iconic role after admitting he had auditioned back in 2005 before being beaten by Daniel Fuelling the flames: Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning last month, the star said he would love another shot at the ultimate acting gig It comes after Sam recently slammed online bullies for subjecting him to six years of 'constant bullying, harassment and stalking' in an emotional Twitter post. Taking to social media in April, the actor claimed he and his family had been subjected to death threats and abuse by unnamed individuals and that he 'had to speak out' due to the toll it is taking on his mental health. The Scottish star also defended his decision to isolate in Hawaii saying he was 'putting no one at risk and am not a burden to the locals.' The star, who shot to fame on the first series of Outlander in 2014, wrote: 'After the past 6 years of constant bullying, harassment, stalking and false narrative I am at a loss, upset, hurt and have to speak out. Harrowing: Sam recently slammed online bullies for subjecting him to six years of 'constant bullying, harassment and stalking' in an emotional Twitter post (pictured January 2020) 'It's affecting my life, mental state and is a daily concern. My costars, friends, family, myself, in fact anyone I'm associated with, has been subjected to personal slurs, shaming, abuse, death threats, stalking, sharing of private information and vile, false narrative. 'I've never spoken about it because I believe in humanity and have always hoped these bullies would just go away. I can't elaborate for ongoing legal reasons but they are professionals: teachers, psychologists, adults who should know better.' He continued: 'Recently, these false claims vary from me manipulating fans, being a closet-homosexual, trying to mislead or exhort fans for money and disregarding Covid advice. 'I've done none of the above. I'm a normal guy and nothing like the characters I play.' Fame: Taking to social media, the actor claimed he and his family had been subjected to death threats by unnamed individuals and that he 'had to speak out' due to the toll it is taking on his mental health (pictured as James MacKenzie Fraser in Outlander) Explaining his decision to self-isolate in Hawaii rather than return to the UK, he wrote: 'I came here before the travel ban. Non of us knew how bad things would get but as the situation worsened, upon the advice of everyone I trust, I decided to remain in a safe environment. 'It was a good decision. I'm safe, isolated, putting no one at risk and am not a burden to the locals. Several telling me they are desperate to sell their produce (as hotels and restaurants are now closed). We have not been asked to leave. 'I'm nervous to take 3-5 flights back to the UK, around 20 hours on several planes, exposing myself to more danger, to be stuck in a city. 'This will only increase the risk to others and myself. Recently I was ill for 3 months and am being doubly careful.' Brave: The star, who shot to fame on the first series of Outlander in 2014, wrote: 'After the past 6 years of constant bullying, harassment, stalking and false narrative I am at a loss, upset, hurt and have to speak out' Sam said the bullies had created a 'false narrative' about himself as well as sharing private information and abusing himself and his loved ones on 'blogs and social media.' Sam is most famous for his role as Highland warrior Jamie MacKenzie Fraser in Outlander alongside Catriona Balfe. The hit series has already been renewed for a sixth season on Starz, which will likely debut in 2021. Outlander cast: Season 5 of Outlander has recently debuted on Starz, series stars Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin visited Build Studios in February 2020 The fifth season is largely based on the fifth book in the Outlander novel series, The Fiery Cross, with sixth season based on the sixth book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Outlander follows the romance through time between Claire, an English combat nurse in 1945, who becomes transported back in time to 1743, where she meets Jamie. There are currently eight books in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novel series, with the most recent book, Written In My Heart's Own Blood, published in 2014. Gabaldon is currently writing the ninth book in the series, Go Tell The Bees That I'm Gone, which doesn't have a publication date. If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org Daytime Emmy winner Shia LaBeouf 'got his whole chest tattooed' to more authentically portray a 'Cholo' gangster for his movie The Tax Collector, which hits VOD on August 7. The 34-year-old Echo Park native permanently branded his abdomen with his character Creeper's name over two Mickey Mouse gloves representing his own Disney Channel past. A closer look at Shia's ink revealed depictions of his mother Shayna Saide cradling a clown, which represented his own estranged father Jeffrey's past as a rodeo clown. Hitting VOD on August 7! Daytime Emmy winner Shia LaBeouf 'got his whole chest tattooed' to more authentically portray a 'Cholo' gangster for his movie The Tax Collector It's not the first time either. Back in 2015, LaBeouf got 12 small tattoos to get into character as magazine-selling hustler Jake in Andrea Arnold's drama American Honey. 'He's one of the best actors I've worked with, and he's the most committed to body and soul,' director David Ayer told Slash Film in January. 'On Tax Collector, he got his whole chest tattooed. So he kind of goes all in, and I've never known anyone that committed.' The former child star 'had a tooth pulled' the first time he worked with the 52-year-old filmmaker and Oscar winner Brad Pitt in his 2014 WWII flick, Fury. Blend of fiction and reality: The 34-year-old Echo Park native permanently branded his abdomen with his character Creeper's name over two Mickey Mouse gloves representing his own Disney Channel past Personal: A closer look at Shia's ink revealed depictions of his mother Shayna Saide (2-R) cradling a clown, which represented his own estranged father Jeffrey's past as a rodeo clown Not the first time: Back in 2015, LaBeouf got 12 small tattoos to get into character as magazine-selling hustler Jake in Andrea Arnold's drama American Honey (pictured in 2017) Ayer spent most of last Wednesday defending his alleged 'brownface' casting of Shia as a 'terrorizing devil' collecting 'taxes' for a crime lord called Wizard. 'Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood,' David - who boasts 479K Twitter/Instagram followers - explained. 'This is a [half-Jewish, half-Cajun] dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie...[Creeper] grew up in the hood. He's a gangster. He's a Cholo. He's a Southsider. Shia studied a real homie like that to get it correct.' Also coming to the chain-smoking culture vulture's defense was his castmate Chelsea Rendon, who played Lupe in The Tax Collector. Director David Ayer told Slash Film in January: 'He's one of the best actors I've worked with, and he's the most committed to body and soul. On Tax Collector, he got his whole chest tattooed. So he kind of goes all in' 'I've never known anyone that committed': The former child star (R) 'had a tooth pulled' the first time he worked with the 52-year-old filmmaker (L) and Oscar winner Brad Pitt (M) in his 2014 WWII flick, Fury 'Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood': Ayer spent most of last Wednesday defending his alleged 'brownface' casting of Shia as a 'terrorizing devil' collecting 'taxes' for a crime lord called Wizard 'Y'all. Shia is NOT playing a Latinx character. So chill. That is all,' the 27-year-old Montebello native tweeted last Wednesday. 'You don't act/dress the same as who you grew up with? In the same neighborhood? I'm not saying some Malibu's most wanted s*** but the real s***. 'I got friends that aren't Latinx I grew up with who speak Spanish or have the same accent as mine and s*** is that not okay?' David continued: '[Creeper] grew up in the hood. He's a gangster. He's a Cholo. He's a Southsider. Shia studied a real homie like that to get it correct' 'Can't wait for y'all to meet Lupe!' Also coming to the chain-smoking culture vulture's defense was his castmate Chelsea Rendon, who played Lupe in The Tax Collector (posted July 1) The 27-year-old Montebello native tweeted: 'Y'all. Shia is NOT playing a Latinx character. So chill. That is all' The East LA-set, indie crime flick also features three-time Grammy nominee George Lopez, Bobby Soto, and Cinthya Carmona. The Honey Boy actor-writer's latest controversy came less than a month after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced he'd be inducted into the Walk of Fame next year. It's worth noting that most actors wouldn't have a career at all if they were LaBeouf - whose sixth arrest was in 2017 for obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness. Legitimized: The Honey Boy actor-writer's latest controversy came less than a month after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced he'd be inducted into the Walk of Fame in 2021 Married At First Sight's Natasha Spencer has bravely shared her mental health battle. The 26-year-old financial analyst revealed on Sunday that she had been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder. She was recently embroiled in a nasty feud with fellow MAFS bride Stacey Hampton, but it's not suggested their rivalry and Natasha's mental health struggles are linked. Coming clean: Married At First Sight's Natasha Spencer (pictured) has revealed her mental health battle amid her bitter feud with rival bride Stacey Hampton In a lengthy Instagram post, Natasha spoke about her anxiety and how it affects her romantic life. 'I have general anxiety disorder (GAD). I fall in love the same way most people do. The only difference is that while I'm falling in love, my brain is also coming up with a million reasons why it won't work. The strangest mix of hope and dread,' she wrote. 'Sometimes it takes me a little longer to fall than my new partner because my anxiety is telling me that it won't work, or it's too good to be true. But once I fall in love, it's with my whole heart. I've been told so many times I'm difficult to love.' 'I've been told so many times I'm difficult to love': In a lengthy Instagram post, Natasha spoke about her general anxiety disorder and how it affects her romantic life She continued: 'I don't need grand gestures. My anxiety is silenced with reassuring conversations and defeated with hand holding when in uncertain social settings. I fall in love with someone who does the small things - like Sunday naps and breakfast in bed. 'It's the little things that remind me it doesn't take much to come back from a panic attack, a meltdown or a bad night. Falling in love with someone with anxiety might be a totally different experience to what you're use to, but I can assure you - it's an incomparable bond once you both fall.' It comes after Natasha claimed on Thursday that Stacey, 26, had sent her a cruel private message falsely accusing her of having 'ruined families'. Brides at war: It comes after Natasha (left) claimed on Thursday that Stacey Hampton (right) had sent her a cruel private message falsely accusing her of having 'ruined families' Natasha posted their conversation to her Instagram Story - and Stacey's baseless allegations were shocking to say the least. 'I'd like to propose a toast, to natARSHa for sleeping with the entirety of Sydney, including married men, ruining families and preaching mental health at the same time,' Stacey wrote, in response to a meme about the show Natasha had posted on Instagram earlier in the day. 'Like a good little law graduate, I keep files for situations like this... You've ruined more real marriages than I can think of and you're still going.' Natasha later responded to Stacey's false claims in a video shared to Instagram. Shocking: Natasha claimed on Thursday that Stacey had sent her a cruel private message falsely accusing her of having 'ruined families'. Natasha posted their conversation to her Instagram Story (pictured), and Stacey's baseless allegations were shocking to say the least She claimed that Stacey's message was 'bullying' her. 'I apologise in advance for this behaviour. I know I should rise above it but I will not ever tolerate... bullying towards myself or anyone else,' she said. Natasha, who is a financial analyst, then revealed the truth about Stacey's hurtful claim she'd slept with a married man, insisting the man in question had lied to her about his relationship status. 'I have spoken on Instagram multiple times about getting duped by a guy who was getting married at the beginning of the year and getting my feelings hurt,' she said. 'I do not steal husbands. I do not destroy families. And I am very much a mental health advocate and I am honest and I have spoken about it before.' Hitting back: Natasha later responded to Stacey's message in a video shared to Instagram. 'I will not ever tolerate... bullying towards myself or anyone else,' she said When asked about the dispute, Stacey told Daily Mail Australia on Friday: 'I wish Natasha the best. I don't speak to her.' Meanwhile, Natasha said she was considering sending Stacey a cease and desist letter. The two women had locked horns on Married At First Sight earlier this year, after Natasha's 'husband' Mikey Pembroke allegedly had a one-night stand with Stacey, which she strongly denied. Nick Cordero passed away on Sunday morning after spending a total of 94 days in hospital battling complications caused by COVID-19. And celebrities, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, have taken to social media to honor the 41-year-old Broadway star and to send condolences to his wife Amanda Kloots, 38, and their son Elvis, one. 'Devastating. What a loss, what a light. Whole heart with Amanda and his family tonight,' wrote Miranda, who shared the news with his vast Twitter following. RIP: Nick Cordero passed away on Sunday morning after spending a total of 94 days in hospital battling complications caused by COVID-19; Nick pictured in 2014 Heartbroken: Celebrities, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, have taken to social media to honor the 41-year-old Broadway star and to send condolences to his wife Amanda Kloots, 38, and their son Elvis, one Actress Viola Davis penned a touching tribute to Cordero and remarked on the actor's unimaginable battle on her Twitter page, as well. 'RIP Nick Cordero! My condolences to you Amanda who fought and loved so hard....so sorry for his little one. 'My heart is with you. May flights of angels,' concluded the 54-year-old The Help star. She reshared her own post on Instagram, but included a photo of Nick, Amanda, and their son Elvis. Alec Baldwin uploaded a video to his Instagram page, where he reacted to the news. Unimaginable: Actress Viola Davis penned a touching tribute to Cordero and remarked on the actor's unimaginable battle on her Twitter page, as well Maximum reach: She reshared her own post on Instagram, but included a photo of Nick, Amanda, and their son Elvis Collective effort: Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson wrote about the 'incredibly sad news' that is Cordero's passing, while urging the public to 'do what we need to do as a country to fight this virus together' Video message: Alec Baldwin uploaded a video to his Instagram page, where he reacted to the news 'I just found out about Nick Cordero and I just wanted to send out my deepest sympathies, thoughts and so forth to his wife and his family and his kid. What a shame,' he began. Alec expressed grief over the fact that Nick was just 41-years-old at the time of his passing. '41-years-old, my God. When I was 41-years-old, I had a little kid, my daughter Ireland, she was three then,' he recalled. 'Very sad for his wife, Amanda, for their family, and friends, and so forth. Just terrible.' 'Rest In Peace Nick Cordero,' wrote Baldwin in his post's caption. Hilary Duff published a text post to her Instagram page shortly after the news of Cordero's passing broke. She commended Amanda for her positivity and fearlessness during her husband's battle. Thoughtful: Hilary Duff published a text post to her Instagram page shortly after the news of Cordero's passing broke Look out for them: Cordero's dear friend and actor Zach Braff posted a heartbreaking tribute on Instagram that revealed that Cordero had asked him prior to his death 'to look out for his wife and one year old son' Emotional: 'Nick Cordero passed at 11:40am today with his wife and mother by his side. I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesnt care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart,' began the 45-year-old Scrubs star in his post Cordero's dear friend and actor Zach Braff posted a heartbreaking tribute on Instagram that revealed that Cordero had asked him prior to his death 'to look out for his wife and one year old son.' 'Nick Cordero passed at 11:40am today with his wife and mother by his side. I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesnt care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart,' began the 45-year-old Scrubs star in his post. 'The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis. I promise the world they will never want for anything. 'I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life Rest In Peace. Rest in Power,' he concluded, while also sharing a portrait of Nick and Amanda. Braff took to his Instagram Story as well to flood his followers with some of his favorite images of Nick. Braff's girlfriend Florence Pugh, 24, uploaded a video of Nick she had taken during a performance in April of last year. 'This was him April 19! In his element. On stage whilst commanding the entire audience so intensely, you could have heard a pin drop. The ONLY person who can ease so effortlessly from What A Wonderful World to Coldplays Politik, all the while singing directly across the room to Amanda,' wrote Pugh. Last thing: 'The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis. I promise the world they will never want for anything,' revealed the actor Grateful for friendship: 'I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life Rest In Peace. Rest in Power,' he concluded Memories: Braff took to his Instagram Story as well to flood his followers with some of his favorite images of Nick '[Amanda] knew all the words and started head banging the moment she heard Coldplay. Every night. For three nights. 7 months pregnant!!! It is so shocking and devastating to see one of your own come down as hard as he did. 'Over the last few months Ive wanted to ask myself every day- what can I do to help? But, instead Ill ask all of you. What can WE do to help? We still can. Help the world by continuing to take this virus seriously. Wear your mask, respect others space, clean your hands and please be safe,' urged the Midsommar star. 'This is far from over. Nick, we love you to infinity and beyond. Rest In Peace you beautiful, beautiful man.' Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson wrote about the 'incredibly sad news' that is Cordero's passing, while urging the public to 'do what we need to do as a country to fight this virus together.' In his element: Braff's girlfriend Florence Pugh, 24, uploaded a video of Nick she had taken during a performance in April of last year Infinity and beyond: ''This is far from over. Nick, we love you to infinity and beyond. Rest In Peace you beautiful, beautiful man,' wrote Pugh on Instagram Admiral woman: Eiza Gonzalez voiced her admiration towards Amanda in a post shared to her Instagram Story '[COVID-19] doesnt care how healthy you are. It doesnt care if you want to go to Fire Island. It doesnt care if you are tired of wearing a mask. Reign. It. In,' tweeted Ferguson. Eiza Gonzalez voiced her admiration towards Amanda in a post shared to her Instagram Story. Sarah Michelle Gellar was at a loss for words upon hearing the news, but found a way to voice her sympathies in a lengthy text post uploaded to her Instagram page. 'Im not even sure what to say right now. Today @nickcordero1 lost his battle with covid. For everyone out there thinking this disease is harmless, its not. 'Nick leaves behind a beautiful wife @amandakloots and the most precious son, who just celebrated his first birthday without his father,' wrote Gellar. Sarah noted that 'because of this horrible disease we cant even hug [Amanda]' during her time of need, but that she wanted Amanda to know 'there is an army of people here, ready to support you in ANY and EVERY way possible.' 'I wish you understood the inspiration that you have been to so many, and I hope that brings you even the smallest bit of comfort through all this. But none of this is fair.' The Buffy actress concluded her compassionate post with the quote: 'Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.' In her most recent Instagram post, Total Bellas star Nikki Bella added that she was sending 'so many prayers to @amandakloots her baby and family.' So sad: Ariana Grande reposted her brother Frankie's tribute to her Instagram Story Losing a friend: Ariana Grande's brother Frankie was friends with Cordero and uploaded a black-and-white photo of himself and the star to his Instagram 'RIP @nickcordero1 Heaven gained another amazing angel,' she wrote. Cordero played the role of Earl in the original production of Sara Bareilles' hit Broadway musical Waitress in 2016. And Bareilles publicly grieved the loss of Nick on her Instagram page and described the late actor as 'a light' she was lucky to know. 'He was light. Kind and gentle. Talented and humble. Funny and friendly. The best laugh. Sending so much love to the love warrior @amandakloots and little Elvis, and an immense hug to any one who is feeling the loss of this giant heart. Rest In Peace dear Nick. We love you,' she captioned. Jenna Ushkowitz - who starred in Waitress with Nick - simply wrote 'devastated' in a tweet. Nick's other Waitress co-star Drew Gehling wrote how Nick 'made work fun every day' for him and the rest of the cast. 'I wrote an email to @amandakloots the day he was admitted to the hospital while it was pouring rain. Ill never forget it. I wrote the last line and looked up to see a giant rainbow above the Hudson. 'Ill miss you always my friend. Im lucky to have known you. Im certainly better for it. Your son Elvis has a world of people with stories to tell and I cant wait to pass on a few,' concluded Gehling. A light: Sara Bareilles publicly grieved the loss of Nick on her Instagram page and described the late actor as 'a light' she was lucky to know Sending love: On her Instagram Story, Sara remarked on how 'brokenhearted' she is Devastated: Jenna Ushkowitz - who starred in Waitress with Nick - simply wrote 'devastated' in a tweet So much fun: Nick's other Waitress co-star Drew Gehling wrote how Nick 'made work fun every day' for him and the rest of the cast Stories to tell: 'Ill miss you always my friend. Im lucky to have known you. Im certainly better for it. Your son Elvis has a world of people with stories to tell and I cant wait to pass on a few,' concluded Gehling Selma Blair recognized Cordero for 'courageously fighting the ravages of COVID-19' amid his untimely passing on Sunday 'There has not been a day where he has not entered my prayers. Because of the love and saint like enthusiasm @amandakloots has given to their love and his hopes of recovery,' wrote the 48-year-old Legally Blonde actress. 'They were madly in love. With a one year old son, Elvis. Because of Amanda, my heart has grown, to witness her heroic faith and love has changed my life. Changed so many lives. The love and energy are ferocious around this family. 'I am sure moving forward will be stupefied by grief. At times. And celebration of what they created as a family. If possible, please donate what you can in support. I am sure medical bills and mortgage and life and dreams for their son, are even more overwhelming in this grief. Positivity and fight: Olivia Munn thanked Nick on Instagram for 'for making this world so much better' and she thanked his wife Amanda 'for sharing [their] journey these past 94 days with everyone and inspiring us with [their] positivity and fight' Simple: Zoe Saldana uploaded a handsome portrait of Nick to her Instagram Story with the hashtag #restinpeacenickcordero Sharing: Cynthia Erivo reposted Amanda Kloots' emotional Instagram post to her page and wrote 'RIP Nick Cordero' next to it So heartbreaking: Robin Thicke's fiancee April Love Geary wrote that Nick's death 'is so heart breaking' on her Instagram Story Selma linked a gofundme page in her Instagram bio for fans to visit and send support to Amanda and her family. 'We love you Amanda, Nick and Elvis. And family. I hold you as my own should you ever need anything from me. Bless this journey. Rest In Peace Nick. You gave a hell of a fight to live your life,"' she concluded. Olivia Munn thanked Nick on Instagram for 'for making this world so much better' and she thanked his wife Amanda 'for sharing [their] journey these past 94 days with everyone and inspiring us with [their] positivity and fight.' 'Thank You @amandakloots f My heart breaks for you and baby Elvis and your whole family. Sending you all my love,' concluded the 40-year-old The Predator star. Zoe Saldana uploaded a handsome portrait of Nick to her Instagram Story with the hashtag #restinpeacenickcordero. Cynthia Erivo reposted Amanda Kloots' emotional Instagram post to her page and wrote 'RIP Nick Cordero' next to it. Courageous: Selma Blair honored Cordero and remarked on his courageous fight Loss for words: Sarah Michelle Gellar was at a loss for words upon hearing the news, but found a way to voice her sympathies in a lengthy text post uploaded to her Instagram page Also: In her most recent Instagram post, Total Bellas star Nikki Bella added that she was sending 'so many prayers to @amandakloots her baby and family' Terrible: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom deemed the news of Nick's passing as 'terrible' and voiced her frustration with the virus, as a whole Robin Thicke's fiancee April Love Geary wrote that Nick's death 'is so heart breaking' on her Instagram Story. She also urged her following to 'stay safe' and to 'wear a mask' in order to protect themselves and those around them. 'Don't hang out hang out with groups of people,' concluded Geary, who has been incredibly vocal about the important of social-distancing. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom deemed the news of Nick's passing as 'terrible' and voiced her frustration with the virus, as a whole. 'Rest in Power Nick Cordero. Such sad news. U fought so hard and are so loved. Prayers to your family and friends,' wrote acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren on Twitter. Bernadette Peters was clearly shaken up over Nick's death, writing: 'RIP Nick Cordero [HEART EMOJI] Sending love to Amanda and Elvis.' Holly Robinson Peete wrote that the loss of Nick is 'crushing' and admitted that she has been following his battle 'since the beginning (13 weeks)' via Amanda's Instagram Story posts. 'Watching Amanda rally so hard with positivity, music and love always with a smile on her face. This is just crushing,' tweeted the actress. Ariana Grande's brother Frankie was friends with Cordero and uploaded a black-and-white photo of himself and the star to his Instagram. Fought hard: 'Rest in Power Nick Cordero. Such sad news. U fought so hard and are so loved. Prayers to your family and friends,' wrote acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren on Twitter Sending love: Bernadette Peters was clearly shaken up over Nick's death, writing: 'RIP Nick Cordero [HEART EMOJI] Sending love to Amanda and Elvis' Following the battle: Holly Robinson Peete wrote that the loss of Nick is 'crushing' and admitted that she has been following his battle 'since the beginning (13 weeks)' via Amanda's Instagram Story posts One Of Us: Actor Donald Webber Jr. began his tribute by labeling the Bullets Over Broadway star as 'one of us' and that his passing is something that is 'really hard to understand' 'my heart is broken over the loss of my friend Nick Cordero. as soon as I met him I knew God placed him in my life for a reason... He showed me such love, leadership through kindness, strength during difficult times, a true appreciation of life no matter what was happening around him... he made me smile and laugh when I was down and was magical to share the stage with,' began Grande in his caption. 'Onstage, backstage, offstage Nick Cordero was one of the finest people I have ever had the chance to meet, work with or just call a friend. He was taken too soon. He deserved more time to be here with his family and more time to continue to share the gift of his life with the world. But I know he will live on in me, for I remain forever changed for having known him. Frankie noted that Nick will continue to 'live on in his beautiful wife Amanda and his beautiful son Elvis,' as well as in 'the smiles of every audience member he ever touched with his brilliant voice and catching charm.' 'He will live on through his MUSIC. When he sang Just be yourself, you might get slapped like it's a crime Don't you bat an eye Live your life I listened. Confirmed: Cordero's wife Amanda confirmed his tragic passing on Instagram on Sunday evening 'I watched you do it Nick in your own life and I vow to you my friend to continue to do it in my life in your name. I love you Nick. And am truly blessed to have known you. See you on the flippily-dippily,"' concluded Frankie. Ariana reposted Frankie's tribute to her Instagram Story and wrote that she was 'so sad' about Nick's death. Actor Donald Webber Jr. began his tribute by labeling the Bullets Over Broadway star as 'one of us' and that his passing is something that is 'really hard to understand.' 'Fly, my good man. Sending love to Amanda and Elvis with all that Ive got today,' he concluded. Cordero's wife Amanda confirmed his tragic passing on Instagram on Sunday evening. Support: And almost immediately after posting, the 38-year-old fitness instructor's comment section was flooded with love and support And almost immediately after posting, the 38-year-old fitness instructor's comment section was flooded with love and support. 'Sending you so much strength and love,' wrote actress Dakota Fanning. Maria Shriver reminded Amanda that she 'too is an angel' and that the public is mourning with her and 'holding' her in their 'collective arms.' Kyle Richards wrote that although she does not 'know' Amanda, she has been 'praying for [her] and [her] family since [she] first heard' of Nick's condition. 'Thinking of you and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers,' commented the 51-year-old Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star. 'Sending ALL OF MY LOVE to you and Elvis. Rest in love Nick,' wrote actress Olivia Munn. Byron Bay has become a celebrity hotspot in recent weeks, as stars flock to the NSW coastal town to escape the coronavirus pandemic. Once a sleepy nook favoured by backpackers and spiritual types, the area has become an oasis for Hollywood stars during the COVID-19 outbreak, attracting the likes of Zac Efron and the Hemsworths. Zac, 32, was pictured at a Byron Bay cafe last week, finally confirming rumours he had fled Down Under to escape the pandemic in the U.S. Inside Australia's most exclusive COVID-19 hideaway: Why Zac Efron and the Hemsworths chose Byron Bay to ride out the pandemic. Pictured: Zac at a Byron Bay cafe last Wednesday Zac is said to have been quietly living five minutes away from popular nudist hotspot Belongil Beach for months. The High School Musical star is believed to be spending time with Chris Hemsworth, who lives in a $20million mega-mansion with his wife, Elsa Pataky, in Broken Head, near Byron Bay. Despite living in different parts of the world for most of the year, Thor star Chris, 36, and his actor brothers, Liam and Luke, are all spending lockdown in Byron. A-list pals! Zac is believed to be spending time with Chris Hemsworth (right), who lives in a $20million mega-mansion with his wife, Elsa Pataky (left), in Broken Head, near Byron Bay Last week, the trio were spotted catching up at a local restaurant alongside Elsa and Liam's girlfriend, model Gabriella Brooks. Meanwhile, Australian musician Tim Freedman, 55, has also reportedly been kicking back with Zac during his stay in Byron Bay. Tim, the frontman of '90s indie rock band The Whitlams, is said to own a beachfront mansion in the area. Whole gang's here! Despite living in different parts of the world for most of the year, the Marvel Universe star, 36, and his actor brothers, Liam and Luke, are all spending lockdown in Byron Local talent: Meanwhile, Australian musician Tim Freedman, 55, has also reportedly been kicking back with Zac during his stay in Byron Bay Today host Karl Stefanovic and his wife, Jasmine, enjoyed a family holiday in Byron Bay with their newborn daughter, Harper May, last week. The proud parents were spotted enjoying a morning coffee with their bundle of joy on Wednesday. They were later joined by Jasmine's sister, Jade Yarbrough. Coastal escape! Today host Karl Stefanovic (left) and his wife, Jasmine (right), enjoyed a family holiday in Byron Bay with their newborn daughter, Harper May, last week All smiles! The proud parents were spotted enjoying a morning coffee with their bundle of joy on Wednesday. (Karl has since returned to Sydney and was hosting Today as usual on Monday) Karl, 45, has since returned to Sydney and was hosting Today as usual on Monday. Byron Bay seems to be a popular destination for the Stefanovics, who went on holiday there in December. In fact, photos of Jasmine with a baby bump at the beach during that visit had confirmed rumours she was expecting her first child. Family holiday: The Stefanovics were joined on their family trip by Jasmine's sister, Jade (left) Meanwhile, Myer ambassador Elyse Knowles has been living in her new $2.3million Byron Bay beach house during the coronavirus pandemic. The 27-year-old model moved to the area early last year with her boyfriend, Josh Barker, in search of a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Speaking at an event in September, Elyse explained that she had decided to leave her home city of Melbourne after seeing people littering in the street. Bohemian bubble: Meanwhile, model and Myer ambassador Elyse Knowles (pictured) has been living in her new $2.3million Byron Bay beach house during the coronavirus pandemic 'I just can't see it being left on the ground. And when they're dropping rubbish, I think they need to be told off,' she said. Elyse added that the difference between life in Byron Bay versus life in Melbourne was astounding. 'Everyone always smiles and always say hello. That was one of the first things I noticed living [in Byron],' she gushed. 'The community is more environmentally conscious. It is conversations that people have every single day talking about the ocean and the marine life.' Gigi Hadid has not yet flaunted her baby bump since announcing she was pregnant in April. And after British Vogue tweeted that she was choosing to 'disguise' her growing bump, the 25-year-old hit back. She took to Twitter on Sunday to reaffirm her earlier statements that angles were merely working in her favor. Clapping back: Gigi Hadid took to Twitter on Sunday to reaffirm her earlier statements that angles were merely working in her favor and that she was not 'disguising' her baby bump (pictured in August 2019) '@GiGiHadidis yet to post a picture showing her baby bump,' the magazine tweeted. 'But her genius disguise gives an insight into her lockdown pregnancy.' The idea that she was purposely hiding her bump got the model's attention. 'Disguise ....?' she wrote. 'I said in a baggy jumpsuit the front and side views are visually different stories.' She clarified that her outfit of choice was not chosen because of its ability to conceal a bump. Attention getter: '@GiGiHadidis yet to post a picture showing her baby bump,' the magazine tweeted. 'But her genius disguise gives an insight into her lockdown pregnancy' Not what happened: 'Disguise ....?' she wrote. 'I said in a baggy jumpsuit the front and side views are visually different stories.' She clarified that her outfit of choice was not chosen because of its ability to conceal a bump 'Not that that was intentional or I was trying to hide anything,' she added. 'Will be proud and happy to share insight when I feel like it, thanks.' She followed up saying 'For now I am proudly experiencing and sharing this time with my family and loved ones.' The statement by the British Vogue Twitter account came after she sat down with activist Sophia Roe for an Instagram live in late June. Shortly after the video discussion, a fan asked the mother-to-be how she kept her bump under wraps. How does she do it: IThe statement by the British Vogue Twitter account came after she sat down with activist Sophia Roe for an Instagram live in late June, in a baggy jumpsuit 'This angle and the really baggy jumpsuit make for an optical illusion. From the side it's a different story! haha wishing u the best,' explained Hadid in the comment section. During the live stream, Gigi sat face forward in a brown wicker chair and hid her figure beneath an oversized beige jumpsuit. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back into a slick bun and she appeared to be wearing little to no makeup. For the duration of the live chat, Hadid and Roe discussed a variety of issues pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement. Pro tips: 'This angle and the really baggy jumpsuit make for an optical illusion. From the side it's a different story! haha wishing u the best,' explained Hadid in the comment section Under wraps: Hadid first became aware of her pregnancy in late February/early March, while jetting around the world for various Fashion Weeks; Hadid pictured in March The Vogue covergirl has been quarantining and reveling in the joys of pregnancy at her mother Yolanda Hadid's ranch in Pennsylvania amid COVID-19. Hadid first became aware of her pregnancy in late February/early March, while jetting around the world for various Fashion Weeks. In January, Gigi publicly rekindled her on-and-off again romance with boyfriend and former One Direction member Zayn. The pair first began dating in 2015 and endured their very first split in March of 2018. Online activism: For the duration of the live chat, Hadid and Roe discussed a variety of issues pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement Though they reunited later that year, they would split once more in January of 2019, followed by their rekindling in 2020. Gigi did not confirm the news of her pregnancy, herself, until her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April. 'Obviously, we wish we could've announced it on our own terms, but we're very excited and happy and grateful for everyone's well wishes and support,' she gushed. Days after Hadid's confirmation, an insider revealed to Us Weekly that Zayn 'could not be more excited' to be by Gigi's side and enjoying the journey to parenthood together. 'Even when there were times that they weren't a couple, the love was still very much there,' added the source. Shocking: Gigi Hadid shocked fans in April when she revealed she was expecting a child with beau Zayn Malik, 27, and happened to be a 'few months' along in her pregnancy; Zayn and Gigi pictured in January The new EU leadership, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the head of the European Council Charles Michel, took office in the last months of 2019. Despite some phone-calls with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, however, the COVID-19 pandemic postponed face-to-face meetings. The China-EU Summit finally took place on June 22 in virtual form, offering the first genuine opportunity for the two sides to get to know each other better. China and the EU have been relatively constructive for years. The recent virtual summit confirmed this general attitude without ignoring differences. Beijing and Brussels can still work together and build a better future. This is what matters in these difficult times of uncertainty. The title of the European press release "A complex and vital partnership" is indicative. As High Representative Joseph Borrell also acknowledged in a tweet, collaboration is critical to tackle the immense global challenges of today. Sino-European ties were partly strained during the pandemic. This was due to natural tensions in response to the virus that caught everyone by surprise. Insistence on different narratives in the words of Borrell constitutes the most important example. Solidarity became evident when needed, however. China received medical assistance by European countries and this was reciprocated when Europe faced its own crisis. The March 2020 G20 meeting had already shown that China and several European countries had a desire to find common ground. Obviously, COVID-19 was an issue discussed at the June 22 virtual meeting. Both sides need now to join forces to unlock the potential of a vaccine for the common good as President Xi Jinping said recently as well as mitigate economic consequences. Moreover, the fact that China and the EU reaffirmed the joint commitment to conclude the Comprehensive Investment Agreement in 2020 is important. Negotiations are tough because China sees a rising number of obstacles in rolling out its Belt and Road Initiative mainly the screening mechanism in a period during which it offers much-needed cash or know-how, whereas the EU asks for deeper access to the Chinese market to better defend its business interests. On June 22, the Chinese administration focused again on the continuous opening-up and reform process that potentially gives more opportunities to Europe. China's new foreign investment law obviously has not been carefully studied among European policymakers. China and the EU both support multilateralism. The former's proposal for joint actions to guarantee global peace and stability, global prosperity and global governance provides a good way forward. Coordinated actions in dealing with climate change, for instance, deserves attention. Von der Leyen placed particular emphasis on this common challenge during the press conference. And, it's not only about the Paris Climate Accord. Recently both Beijing and Brussels have agreed on the central role the World Health Organization should play. China supports the process of European integration while the EU understands that a multilateral world order cannot be successfully built without China. In the press conference the EU leadership appeared determined to protect European values. This is a fair point respected by the Chinese side which, of course, expects a similar response. This is no one-way street. China, for example, asked for clarifications on the "systemic rival" label. Cooperation is possible among partners with different governance models as long as one side does not seek to impose its will on the other. The more China and the EU talk, the better they understand each other. The Sino-European partnership is a critical aspect in today's world and this is acknowledged. Continuous rounds of dialogue will yield results, if they are being conducted in good faith. China and the EU cannot agree on everything but they are able to accommodate different interests and proceed together. George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Leonardo DiCaprio headed out for a leisurely stroll in Malibu, while staying safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The 45-year-old actor was spotted going for a casual walk on Sunday afternoon, staying safe while wearing a face mask. The Once Upon a Hollywood star wasn't seen with his girlfriend Camila Morrone, who he's been dating since December 2017. Safe: Leonardo DiCaprio headed out for a leisurely stroll in Malibu, while staying safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic The Titanic star was spotted wearing a plain white t-shirt and grey knee-length shorts as he took a walk in Malibu. He also wore a black and white trucker's cap with a pair of dark sunglasses and a white face mask covering his mouth and nose. DiCaprio completed his look with a pair of grey sneakers, with an extra pair of sunglasses tucked into his t-shirt. Leo's look: The Titanic star was spotted wearing a plain white t-shirt and grey knee-length shorts as he took a walk in Malibu DiCaprio and Morrone have been spending more time with each other after quarantining with each other in COVID-19 lockdown, and it seems to be getting serious. A source told People in June that the relationship is getting 'serious' and the Oscar-winning actor 'loves being with her.' 'He is usually very independent, spends lots of time with friends, but because of the lockdown, he has mostly spent time with Camila,' the source said. 'He loves being with her.' Serious Leo: DiCaprio and Morrone have been spending more time with each other after quarantining with each other in COVID-19 lockdown, and it seems to be getting serious 'They are very close,' the insider said, adding the actor has been getting very 'serious' about his girlfriend. 'Leo has spent 24/7 with Camila for months at his house,' the source added. They made their red carpet debut as an official couple back in February, when they attended the Oscars together. Close: 'They are very close,' the insider said, adding the actor has been getting very 'serious' about his girlfriend DiCaprio is coming off his critically-acclaimed performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and he's gearing up to reunite with director Martin Scorsese again The actor has signed on to star in Killers of the Flower Moon, based on the true story of members of the Osage tribe being mysteriously murdered. He is also attached to play U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt in the biopic Roosevelt and he's also playing Joe Petrosino in The Black Hand adaptation. Tammy Hembrow channelled the '90s when she stepped out on the Gold Coast on Monday. The 26-year-old fitness influencer was spotted running errands with her two young children, son Wolf, four, and daughter Saskia, three. Opting for a throwback fashion look, Tammy stepped out in a pair of baggy light blue jeans. Step back in time: Tammy Hembrow channelled the '90s when she stepped out on the Gold Coast on Monday She also went braless in a cropped white singlet top, which featured a butterfly motif on the front and showed off her taut stomach. Tammy rounded out her ensemble with a pair of white sneakers and a transparent pair of pale pink sunglasses. Her long blonde hair was worn in high ponytail and braided down her back, and she carried a white handbag on one shoulder. Top of the crops: Tammy wore a cropped white singlet top, which featured a butterfly motif on the front and showed off her taut stomach Tammy stopped off for an iced coffee, and was spotted carrying a drink tray and her car keys as she walked down the street. At one stage, she stood with her car door open as she helped her two young children climb out. In a post on Instagram on Monday, Tammy revealed she had just returned from a weekend away with her extended family. Out and about: The 26-year-old fitness influencer was spotted running errands with her two young children, son Wolf (pictured) and daughter Saskia The much-needed break came after her sister, Emilee, tragically lost her unborn son, Jamal, last month. 'A blissfully beautiful weekend away with my family. I feel so blessed to have such a big & close fam. By each other's side through everything. Always,' Tammy wrote on Instagram. In an interview with Women Fitness in January last year, Tammy spoke about how motherhood had changed her life. Taking a break: In a post on Instagram on Monday, Tammy revealed she had just returned from a weekend away with her extended family 'It's really hard to describe unless you've experienced it, but my life completely changed [for the better],' she said at the time. 'It is amazing and overwhelming to feel their dependence and trust in me. They make me want to be so much more than I am. 'Motherhood has and will continue to teach me intense lessons. My children are the greatest gift I've ever had.' She is one of Australia's most sought-after models. And on Monday, Elyse Knowles reminded fans just why she's so in demand as she posed in a skimpy swimsuit. Looking svelte as ever, the stunning 27-year-old shared a series of photos to Instagram as she relaxed at her home in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Wild thing! Elyse Knowles, 27, (pictured) showed off her svelte figure in a leopard print swimsuit as she soaked up the sun in Byron Bay on Monday In one photo, Elyse gazed seductively at the camera while leaning on her porch and holding a mug of tea. She also shared another photo of herself laughing while looking out into the distance. The glamazon wore her blonde hair out and accessorised her look with a quirky denim bucket hat. Style star: The glamazon wore her blonde hair out and accessorised her look with a quirky denim bucket hat It comes after Elyse and her boyfriend Josh Barker bought a $2.3million beach house in Byron Bay two months ago. Their new 1960s built property is located in the old part of Byron Bay town, just a short walk from the main beach and surrounded by tranquil greenery. They've been renting a nearby property for the last year, which they decorated with rustic and bohemian-style furniture. Home sweet home! Elyse and her boyfriend Josh Barker bought a $2.3million beach house (pictured) in Byron Bay two months ago Last year, Elyse told Daily Mail Australia that the couple had moved to Byron Bay from Melbourne while chasing a more sustainable lifestyle for themselves. Speaking at an event in September, the model explained she'd physically confront strangers that she would see littering in Victoria, before eventually leaving. 'I just can't see it being left on the ground. And when they're dropping rubbish, I think they need to be told off,' explained the activist. Rustic! The couple have been renting a nearby property for the last year, which they decorated with bohemian-style furniture (pictured) After relocating to Byron Bay in January 2019 with Josh, the star went on to claim the contrast to living in Melbourne was overwhelming. She said: 'Everyone always smiles and always says hello. That was one of the first things I noticed living [in Byron].' 'The community is more environmentally conscious. It is conversations that people have every single day talking about the ocean and the marine life.' Machine Gun Kelly is mourning the death of his father, who died Sunday morning. The Houston-born rapper took to Instagram with the news that evening, which was also the one-year anniversary of his fourth studio album Hotel Diablo. He wrote: 'I had plans for the one year anniversary of Hotel Diablo today... that album was everything i wanted to say and i know its close to my fans... RIP: Machine Gun Kelly took to Instagram to mourn the death of his father Sunday, which was also the one-year anniversary of his fourth studio album Hotel Diablo 'But my father took his last breath this morning, and ive never felt a pain this deep in my life. im setting my phone down. love you. thank you guys for everything.' The 30-year-old later took to his story with a screenshot of Neil Young's 1972 song Old Man playing on his phone. He wrote: 'It was 4:44 PM when I left the hospital the last time I saw my dad. This was the last song we sang together.' Kelly (whose real name is Colson Baker) did not go into detail on the cause of death, but his father was recently hospitalized in Denver over a non COVID-19-related illness. In mourning: He wrote: 'But my father took his last breath this morning, and ive never felt a pain this deep in my life. im setting my phone down. love you. thank you guys for everything' (pictured in March, 2020) Last song: The 30-year-old later took to his story with a screenshot of Neil Young's 1972 song Old Man playing on his phone, the last song they sang together He told The New York Times: 'It sucks because I really just want to just scream and cry and sit in my room and just wait for someone to come tell me its going to be all good.' The Big Time Adolescence actor added: 'Hes so stoked that Im playing guitar now. He called me the other day and told me that hes really starting to enjoy my music. And hes super proud of me.' He and his missionary father recently reconciled, and he's previously opened up about how his rebellious adolescence led to a 25-year rift between them. Hospitalized: Kelly (whose real name is Colson Baker) did not go into detail on the cause of death, but his father was recently hospitalized in Denver over a non COVID-19-related illness (pictured in February, 2019) All good: He told The New York Times: 'It sucks because I really just want to just scream and cry and sit in my room and just wait for someone to come tell me its going to be all good' (pictured in July, 2019) Sh***y son: The Bloody Valentine artist told British GQ last July: 'Id say sorry to my father. I have such a rule-abiding, amazing daughter and I was such a rule-breaking, sh***y son' The Bloody Valentine artist told British GQ last July: 'Id say sorry to my father. I have such a rule-abiding, amazing daughter and I was such a rule-breaking, sh***y son. 'The legal fees, the tens of thousands of dollars from the times I got arrested, the finding out your son missed a whole semester of high school because he was waking up and pretending to go but never going...' He continued: 'I dont know how he did it and I get why it took us 25 years to finally get along.' Machine Gun Kelly became a father himself back in 2008, when he welcomed daughter Casie Colson, 12, with ex Emma Cannon. Proud dad: Machine Gun Kelly became a father himself back in 2008, when he welcomed daughter Casie Colson, 12, with ex Emma Cannon (pictured in March, 2019) In recent weeks, the musician had been spending a significant amount of time with new love interest Megan Fox. The pair have been seen out on a number of occasions packing on the PDA. Fox, who recently split with husband Bran Austin Green, starred alongside the rocker/hip hop star in his music video for a song Bloody Valentine that dropped May 20. It was soon after that they confirmed their relationship when they were photographed snuggled up with each other and holding hands. Big Brother gave the men in the house free rein to use the bathroom for two uninterrupted hours earlier this season. And evicted star Marissa Rancan claims the 'pamper day' might have been given to her male co-stars as a way to encourage appropriate hygiene habits. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the '80s aerobics icon said: 'Some housemates chose not to shower... frequently.' Scroll down for video EXCLUSIVE: Housemate claims Big Brother may have introduced 'pamper day' for male housemates after some chose to go without showering or wearing deodorant for DAYS while filming the competition During the episode, which aired last month, Kieran Davidson, Mat Garrick, Daniel Gorringe, Xavier Molyneux and Shane Vincent were given unlimited hot water and a pamper pack full of beauty products to use. 'Big Brother did bring that [pamper day] on... I think due to the nature of some of the housemates who chose not to shower frequently,' she said. Marissa explained: 'Let's say they chose to go swimming instead of showering, but sometimes you need soap bubbles and you need deodorant, regularly!' She went on to say that it was 'quite funny' to watch the guys bond and build their 'bromance' during the pamper session. 'They chose to go swimming instead of showing': Marissa claimed some housemates chose to not shower and neglect deodorant regularly Comedy: Evictee Marissa went on to say that it was 'quite funny' to watch the guys bond and build their 'bromance' during the pamper session During the episode, Big Brother had claimed the male pamper day was a punishment to the females for not properly sharing the bathroom amenities. Former AFL star Daniel Gorringe complained about waiting 90 minutes to relieve himself while his female co-stars took care of their skincare and makeup routines. 'On average the girls are spending up to five hours each day applying makeup in front of the mirrors, the boys barely getting any time,' Big Brother said. 'Big Brother would therefore like to offer the boys an exclusive two hours of bathroom time to themselves. Pamper day! Daniel Gorringe, Kieran Davidson,and Xavier Molyneux were seen using pore strips, sheet masks and coffee body scrubs 'Oh my God, this is f**king bulls**t!' The women went directly to the diary room to complain about the situation, with makeup-free Sophie Budack (far left) swearing at Big Brother Kieran Davidson, Xavier Molyneux and Dan were seen using pore strips, sheet masks and coffee body scrub. Meanwhile, Dan and Shane Vincent made use of the hot water by having a water fight with the removable shower heads. Big Brother Australia continues Tuesday from 7:30pm on Channel Seven She may be out of the running for this year's MasterChef, but Poh Ling Yeow was all smiles at the Adelaide Farmers' Market on Sunday. The 47-year-old newly eliminated MasterChef contestant left the show's fans and fellow contestants shocked when she was sent home during Sunday evening's episode. But despite the devastating outcome, Poh seemed to be back to her usual bubbly self as she manned her Jamface market stall. Back to business: She may be out of the running for this year's MasterChef, but Poh Ling Yeow was all smiles at the Adelaide Farmers' Market on Sunday Poh was joined by her husband of six years, Jono Bennett, who she met during her first appearance on MasterChef back in 2009. Jono was working as a production assistant on the hit reality series at the time, and the couple now run Jamface alongside Poh's ex-husband Matt Phipps and his wife, Sarah Rich, who also happens to be Poh's best friend. Matt was also at the market, and was spotted chatting with Poh as Jono packed up their stall at the end of the day. Gone: The 47-year-old newly eliminated MasterChef contestant left the show's fans and fellow contestants shocked when she was sent home during Sunday's episode Feeling good: Despite the show's devastating outcome, Poh seemed to be back to her usual bubbly self as she manned her Jamface market stall Working it: Poh was joined by her husband of six years, Jono Bennett, who she met during her first appearance on MasterChef back in 2009 Despite their unorthodox friendship, Poh has previously insisted the group's dynamic works. But in an interview with Woman's Day back in 2017, Jono admitted he was initially jealous of Matt's close bond with Poh. 'It was something we all had to work on essentially. I know it's very human to be jealous, but it doesn't make it right,' he told the publication at the time. All smiles: Poh appeared to be in high spirits at the markets, happily chatting with fans who stopped by to say hello Quirky: She showed off her eclectic sense of style in a black and white striped miniskirt, which she paired with a fluffy peach-coloured jumper worn over a grey T-shirt He added: 'There's a lot of history [between Poh and Matt], so it's not something that can be taken away. It's not something that should be.' Poh appeared to be in high spirits at the markets, happily chatting with fans who stopped by to say hello. She showed off her eclectic sense of style in a black and white striped miniskirt, which she paired with a fluffy peach-coloured jumper worn over a grey T-shirt. Love at first bite: Jono was working as a production assistant on the hit reality series at the time, and the couple now run Jamface alongside Poh's ex-husband Matt Phipps and his wife, Sarah Rich, who also happens to be Poh's best friend 'It was something we all had to work on essentially. I know it's very human to be jealous, but it doesn't make it right,' Jono has said of Poh's close bond with ex-husband Matt Phipps Poh accessorised with a brown knit beanie, and wore a red knit scarf wrapped around her neck. The talented chef and artist rounded out her ensemble with a pair of black tights, which she teamed with black sneakers. She also wore her trademark hoop earrings and a slick of mauve lipstick. All wrapped up: Poh accessorised with a brown knit beanie, and wore a red knit scarf wrapped around her neck 'It's been everything that I wanted it to be. I'm a risk taker, and that's what happened today, you know,' Poh said following her elimination from MasterChef Viewers were left devastated after the fan favourite was eliminated from MasterChef during Sunday's episode, when the show's judges declared her dumplings to be undercooked. The dish failed to impress, but the elimination was emotional nonetheless, with judge Melissa Leong calling Poh a 'national treasure'. Poh was graceful in defeat, saying: 'It's been everything that I wanted it to be. I'm a risk taker, and that's what happened today, you know. 'I met my demise finally. But I've had such a fantastic time. It's just been such a joy to cook with these guys,' Poh said following her elimination from MasterChef Sad goodbye: While she was composed in the moment, Poh later broke down in tears, and said she was 'grateful' for her experience on the show. Pictured on MasterChef 'I met my demise finally. But I've had such a fantastic time. It's just been such a joy to cook with these guys. 'And it's really humbling to be around them. It's been... it's just been such a fantastic experience. I've loved every moment.' While she was composed in the moment, Poh later broke down in tears, and said she was 'grateful' for her experience on the show. It often seems like there's only six degrees of separation between reality stars. And when it comes to Big Brother's Sophie Budack, 25, and Bachelor in Paradise's Ciarran Stott, 25, it's much closer than that. The reality stars, who are both from Darwin, have actually been close friends for many years. Who knew! Sophie Budack and Ciarran Stott, who are both from Darwin, have been close friends for many years. Both pictured Taking to Instagram on the weekend Ciarran posted what appears to be a throwback snap of himself and Sophie to celebrate her birthday. 'Happy Birthday chick @sophiebudack,' he captioned the photo. In the photo Sophie is sporting a white t-shirt with black overalls which she accessorised with a hat and boots. Just pals: When asked by Daily Mail Australia about their relationship Sophie said: 'We've been besties for years and years. We're both from Darwin' Ciarran is sporting a big smile and wearing a black singlet and shorts with a pair of sneakers. The Big Brother star reposted Ciarran's sweet birthday message to her on her own Instagram stories. When asked by Daily Mail Australia about their relationship Sophie said: 'We've been besties for years and years. We're both from Darwin.' In it to win it: Sophie is currently competing for the chance to win $250,000 on Big Brother and she has struck up a relationship with Chad Hurst Sophie is currently competing for the chance to win $250,000 on Big Brother. She has also struck up a relationship with fellow housemate Chad Hurst, after they entered the house as latecomers in the second episode. Meanwhile, Ciarran is set to head to Fiji in the hope of finding love on Bachelor in Paradise, which will premiere July 15. The Hills star Heidi Montag Pratt reunited with her counselor mother Darlene Egelhoff while exploring the wilds of her native Colorado with two-year-old son Gunner Stone. 'So thankful for such a great adventure and family time!' the Crested Butte-born 33-year-old gushed via Instagram on Sunday. 'I love being able to [share] with my son the world I grew up in.' Adventure: The Hills star Heidi Montag Pratt reunited with her counselor mother Darlene Egelhoff while exploring the wilds of her native Colorado with two-year-old son Gunner Stone Heidi's blond boy - who already boasts over 78K Instagram followers - appeared to have a blast getting muddy during the summer family outing. Montag's husband of 11 years, Spencer Pratt, enlisted his mini-me for a Pratt Daddy Crystals campaign on July 1 shot by photographer Jon Premosch. The 36-year-old hummingbird enthusiast is a big believer in the magical powers of crystals and geodes, and he sells the precious rocks at his Los Angeles store. Spencer and the Bible-quoting blonde will resume filming the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in 'late July or early August.' The Crested Butte-born 33-year-old gushed on Sunday: 'So thankful for such a great adventure and family time! I love being able to [share] with my son the world I grew up in' Boys will be boys! Heidi's blond boy - who already boasts over 78K Instagram followers - appeared to have a blast getting muddy during the summer family outing 'Like father like son!' Montag's husband of 11 years, Spencer Pratt, enlisted their mini-me for a Pratt Daddy Crystals campaign on July 1 shot by photographer Jon Premosch New age: The 36-year-old hummingbird enthusiast is a big believer in the magical powers of crystals and geodes, and he sells the precious rocks at his Los Angeles store 'Production is working with health officials in Los Angeles County to assure a healthy filming situation,' an insider told Page Six. 'They will be doing some self-shooting but mostly back to filming with the new health regulations in place for filming.' Aside from the Pratts - the ensemble will include Brody Jenner, Audrina Patridge, Justin Bobby, Frankie Delgado, Whitney Port, Brandon Thomas Lee, Jason Wahler, Kaitlynn Carter, and Caroline D'Amore. Back in 2006-2010, the Laguna Beach spin-off was frequently criticized for fabricating storylines. June 27 family portrait: Spencer and the Bible-quoting blonde will resume filming the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in 'late July or early August' Grey's Anatomy star Kate Walsh has been pictured in Perth for the first time since she revealed she was 'trapped' in Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic. The American actress appeared to be having a whale of a time as she joined her gal pals for dinner and drinks at the swanky Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Sunday evening. Last month the 52-year-old revealed she was 'grateful' to be stuck in Australia after visiting for a holiday in March - and by the looks of it, she has now fully settled into local Perth life. Fun times: Grey's Anatomy star Kate Walsh (centre) has been pictured in Perth for the first time since she revealed she was 'trapped' in Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic Kate cut a casually chic figure in a plunging top which she teamed with a thick brown coat and a thin scarf around her neck. The TV actress' brunette locks were pulled back into a high bun, while a pair of shades rested atop her head. Kate looked like she was in great company as she chatted away with her pals while enjoying the ambience of her al fresco dinner. Looks McDreamy! The American actress appeared to be having a whale of a time as she joined her gal pals for dinner and drinks at the swanky Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Sunday evening Loving life: Last month the 52-year-old revealed she was 'grateful' to be stuck in Australia after visiting for a holiday in March - and by the looks of it, she has now settled into local Perth life Last month, Kate, who normally resides in New York City, told the West Australian that she feels like she 'left her country in wartime' after visiting Perth for a holiday in March. 'I also feel very privileged and grateful to feel so safe,' she said, praising Australia for their handling of the crisis. Kate has enjoyed her visit so much, she has extended her visa until November and is hoping to set up some projects to work on locally. Looking good: Kate cut a casually chic figure in a plunging top which she teamed with a thick brown coat and a thin scarf around her neck 'I think its going to be quite a while before production gets up and going in the States and studios will be looking for safe, clean and hospitable places to shoot,' she said. Kate added: 'Ive fallen in love with this place [Perth]... but its true, its really special and stunning and I think theres a massive opportunity to bring more culture than there already is.' In May, Kate celebrated her 15th anniversary since she made her debut as Dr. Addison Montgomery on the smash-hit, Grey's Anatomy. You can watch Grey's Anatomy on Stan. Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper remains in a 'serious and critical condition', Piers Morgan confirmed on Monday's Good Morning Britain. Kate, 53, sparked hope when she revealed on Sunday that Derek, 52, had woken from a coma over 13 weeks after first contracting coronavirus. But the TV personality's GMB co-star, 55, insisted that the situation is not as positive as people think and said Derek remains on a 'very slow and uncertain path'. Piers said: 'A few papers are doing a lot of coverage today on our colleague and friend Kate Garraway and the situation involving her husband Derek. 'It's not as positive as you might think': Piers Morgan said on GMB on Monday that Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper remains in a 'serious and critical condition' after he woke from his Covid: 19 coma 'It's probably not quite as positive a story as the papers perhaps believe and we've just got a little clarification from Kate's representative.' The statement read: 'These headlines give a level of optimism that may not yet be justified, we hope, as does Kate there will be more evidence of a recovery but it will be a very slow and uncertain path.' Piers added: 'We're going to talk to Kate on Wednesday and I'm sure she'll have something to do about this but it's certainly premature at the moment. 'Derek isn't in any way out of the woods on this sadly and he's in a very serious and critical condition.' Awake: Kate's husband Derek Draper has woken from his coma [pictured last year] but he is still incredibly unwell Piers's co-host Susanna Reid, 49, said: 'And we send them our very very best, obviously.' Later on, Lorraine Kelly, 60, echoed Piers's words during a conversation with Dr Hilary Jones. She said: 'Our Kate Garraway is on the front pages today, there is absolutely a glimmer of hope, there always has been. But a little bit of a note of caution really because it's slow slow progress.' Dr Hilary added: 'Absolutely. Kate knows that it's a long road ahead for Derek, she knows this. And what we also know is that many many people who've recovered from COVID-19 have taken a long time to recover and are still recovering. 'So it's quite a chronic illness even when people survive and they're having to learn to walk again to talk again. So we shouldn't underestimate. 'It's not just, you go in, you have it, you're lucky enough to survive and life goes back to normal. It's not like that. A lot of people have got ongoing disabilities.' Lorraine added: 'She's had such a tough time. She's going to be dropping in with us later in the week and I'm really looking forward to seeing that. 'She's had such a tough time and she's been absolutely remarkably.' Dr Hilary said: 'And she's never lost sight of the fact that other people are in similar situations.' Kate had told Hello! Magazine that her beloved spouse, has finally opened his eyes and is now in 'a minimum state of consciousness' following his ongoing battle with COVID-19. She told the publication: 'We're keeping positive and doing everything we can to bring him round. The children and I communicate with him every day on FaceTime, while a nurse holds his iPad. 'I really believe he can hear. When medical staff say, "Good morning, Derek!, he sometimes opens his eyes. We and the doctors are doing everything we can so that he can start to recover.' Lorraine Kelly said on Monday: 'Our Kate Garraway is on the front pages today, there is absolutely a glimmer of hope, there always has been. But a little bit of a note of caution really because it's slow slow progress' Dr Hilary added: 'Absolutely. Kate knows that it's a long road ahead for Derek, she knows this. And what we also know is that many many people who've recovered from COVID-19 have taken a long time to recover and are still recovering' Derek's initial admission to hospital happened back in March - with Kate and her family painstakingly waiting for hopeful news ever since. The couple have two children - Darcey, 14, and Billy, 10. Kate revealed at the time that the last thing he said to her before he was put in a medically-induced coma, was 'I love you, you saved my life'. 'I have been living at the end of the phone 24/7, waiting for news of Derek,' Kate went on. 'But the doctors have warned that his condition could persist for years so I have to get on with life whilst we are waiting for him to get better. 'Billy starts secondary school in September, but Derek's doctors say he won't be out of hospital by then.' She went on to tell Hello! that she has been urged to return to routine and not put her life totally on hold, suggesting she go back to work on GMB and Smooth Radio soon. Kate added that she has to continue to provide for her children and to ensure there is still 'light in their lives and hope for the future'. She also explained that it was harder still to remain strong for the family when Derek was always their 'rock'. A timeline of Derek's coronavirus battle MARCH Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11 - Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March. She said: 'Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] "god you look ill." 'He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe, 'I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance' Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition. APRIL Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed 'mild symptoms'. Kate said: 'Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I'm afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time. 'I'm afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.' MAY Kate said: 'The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight. 'But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.' That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers She said: 'I'll never give up on that because Derek's the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty' JUNE On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body On Sunday, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition. Advertisement Kate recently broke her social media silence to respond to a fan who urged her to 'keep hanging on' as her husband remains in intensive care. The TV personality had stepped back from all platforms in recent weeks, as her husband's condition had caused 'extraordinary damage'. Kate replied to a follower's tweet who encouraged her to watch a YouTube video of Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall who explains the stages of unconsciousness he came back from. Support: It comes after Kate broke her social media silence to respond to a fan who urged her to 'keep hanging on' as her husband remains in intensive care The fan wrote: 'Keep going with the messages he is hanging on, for a reason, for you, the kids, he has to come back to you all and he will. 'Try to watch the YouTube clip about Lincoln Hall, he explains about the stages of unconsciousness that he came back from. Big hugs xxx'. Kate typed back: 'Thanks - will do xxx'. The fan had encouraged Kate to watch a video about Hall, who reached the summit of Mount Everest on his second attempt in 2006, miraculously surviving the night at 8,700m on descent, after his family was told he had died. Kate's husband was in a comatose state in intensive care for 12 weeks after contracting coronavirus, before the recent developments. Former lobbyist Derek is now free of COVID-19, but is suffering from serious residual complications. REVEALED: HOW THE CRUEL LEGACY OF COVID MAY LAST A LIFETIME Covid-19 could leave survivors with debilitating illnesses that last for years, doctors have warned since the outbreak spiralled out of control. One leading medic called it 'this generation's polio' - a disease that killed thousands and left a generation with life-long mobility issues. Patients who spend weeks fighting for life in intensive care can suffer from long-term complications caused by permanent damage to their lungs and liver. Physiotherapists also warn patients can suffer a loss of mobility, if they are stuck on hospital wards for weeks, or endure flashbacks and emotional distress. But even patients who endure symptoms so mild they don't get admitted to hospital are plagued by fatigue, headaches and breathlessness that can linger for weeks. Several recent studies have highlighted proof Covid-19 causes fibrosis - scarring of the lung tissue that makes it harder for the organs to work. A research paper published in a Chinese journal in March said 'pulmonary fibrosis may be one of the major [long-term] complications in Covid-19 patients'. Evidence is also emerging that the virus may affect the brain, causing seizures and stroke, as well as harming the liver, kidneys, heart and blood vessels. A paper in the journal JAMA Cardiology in March reported one in five of 416 Covid-19 patients hospitalised in Wuhan, China, had suffered heart damage. The heart problems are thought to occur as a result of the virus triggering a 'cytokine storm', where the immune system overreacts to the infection. Number 10's panel of leading scientists - SAGE - called for studies to investigate the lasting effects of the illness. Advertisement The presenter became overcome with emotion during a recent instalment of GMB as she admitted she 'doesn't know' if Derek can recover from the damage COVID-19 has inflicted on his body, and may be in a coma for a year. Kate said: 'Well there will be tears, I'll try to keep them down, he's still with us, he has fought the most extraordinary battle, the fact that he's still here and holding on. 'I am so grateful that he's still here, and I've got the option of praying while others have lost that. Out now: Read Kate's full interview in this week's HELLO! magazine 'He's very, very sick and as time goes on, it's a virus, it's like a computer virus, the doctors manage one but there seems to be a flicker of hope and other things emerge and they're fighting that. 'It has affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. She added: 'He is now COVID-free, he has tested negative, the fight with the virus is over but it's wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don't know if he can recover from that.' Kate previously spoke for the first time about when Derek was admitted, saying: 'In that first week it looked like he was rallying. But then he was very bad, he couldn't really speak to me, he could shout things to me on speakerphone. 'He was begging me, he said "I can't take this, I feel like I'm suffocating", he said "please let them put me in a coma" and they didn't want to do that. On Sunday they said "we're going to put him in a coma as overnight we think we have to do that."' 'He said: "I love you, I'm sorry I have to leave you, you've saved my life". I think he thought I had asked the doctors to put in him in a coma. He said "being married to you, the children, you saved my life".' Derek has previously credited Kate for saving him from depression which started during his career as a political advisor and led to a nervous breakdown and a stint in The Priory in the late 1990s. Kate and Derek have been married for 14 years, with the former lobbyist cheering his wife on for the duration of her stint on I'm A Celebrity last year. Flash The 20th China Golden Horse Awards, a top tourism award in the country, held an online ceremony on June 19 to recognize the best tourism companies and individuals. The new edition of the China Golden Horse Awards established the "World Cultural Tourism Influencer of the Year" award to honor individuals who are creating a promising future for the real estate, tourism, hospitality and catering industries. Leading individuals who won the award include Christopher J. Nassetta, global president and CEO of Hilton; Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International; Qian Jiannong, chairman and CEO of Fosun Tourism Group; Zhang Jianming, chairman of Minyoun Industrial Group; Song Yu, chairman of the Beijing Tourism Group; and Yao Jun, general manager of the OCT Group. In addition, individuals such as Tyrone Tang, vice president of Shimao Group and chairman and CEO of Shimao Hotel Management Co., Ltd., Wang Jianping, president of Narada Hotel Group, and Lin Xingyu, vice president of Jin Jiang International Hotels China were recognized as Influential Persons in the Chinese Hotel Industry. The Greater China headquarters of InterContinental Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Accor Hotels, Guangdong (Int'l) Hotel Management Holdings Limited., Jinling Hotel and Resort Management Company, The Chateau Star River Hotels & Resorts Property Management, Evergrande Hotel Management Group and several other hotel management companies were among the winners of the award for Top 10 Hotel Management Companies. More than a million industry elites and leisure travel experts, as well as those travelers who are passionate about life and traveling, participated in the online award ceremony. She's been keeping a low profile during lockdown. But Chloe Crowhurst turned heads as she headed to celebrity hotspot STK in central London on Sunday night. The Love Island star, 23, put on a busty display in a plunging strappy scarlet dress which showcased her toned figure and bronzed legs. Turning heads: Chloe Crowhurst made the most of the end of lockdown on Sunday night as she headed to celeb hotspot STK restaurant in London The TV personality teamed the daring bright red asymmetric midi dress with strappy snakeskin heals for the party look. The reality star wore her blonde tresses in loose curls around her shoulders and opted for a glamorous makeup look. Chloe chose to forgo any accessories to keep the attention on her sensational figure as she celebrated the end of lockdown. Wow: The Love Island star, 23, put on a busty display in a plunging strappy red dress which showcased her toned figure and bronzed legs Chloe has built up her loyal empire of 314k followers following her brief stint on Love Island in 2017 alongside stars including Olivia Attwood and Amber Davies. The dumped Islander failed to find love on the show and she eventually returned to the arms of her ex-love, TOWIE star Jon Clark, 26, following her exit from series three. However, it wasn't meant to be as the former flames went their separate ways once again last November. Pout: The reality star wore her blonde tresses in loose curls around her shoulders and opted for a glamorous makeup look The model's journey on the show came to an end at the hand of her fellow Islanders, as she was booted off the series for being in the 'least compatible' couple, as voted by the others. At the time she was coupled with Sam Gowland - with the pair agreeing their relationship was purely platonic - who later returned to the villa and coupled up with Georgia Harrison. During her time on the show, scandal arose as season one Islander turned TOWIE star Jon claimed she had dumped him to appear on the series. Chloe is currently rumoured to be dating personal trainer Kieran Nicholls, with the busty blonde sharing a loved up snap of them on her Instagram during lockdown. Tom Hanks has described his experience of coronavirus after becoming one of the first high profile stars to test positive with the disease. The actor, 63, and his wife Rita Wilson, 63, both contracted COVID-19 in early March while Hanks was filming Baz Lurhmann's Elvis Presley biopic in Australia. Talking to The Guardian, the actor described his symptoms before slamming those who don't take precautions against the virus. Speaking out: Tom Hanks has described his experience of coronavirus after becoming one of the first high profile stars to be diagnosed with the disease Both Tom and Rita were hospitalised for several days in Australia and then continued their recovery in quarantine, before flying home to Los Angeles where they continued to self-isolate. Speaking about his stay in hospital, Tom explained he was initially worried about his prognosis due to underlying health conditions: 'When we were in the hospital, I said: "I'm 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart - am I a red flag case?"' 'But as long as our temperatures did not spike, and our lungs did not fill up with something that looked like pneumonia, they were not worried.' 'I'm not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if I'm going to see the end of the day or not. I'm pretty calm about that.' Tested positive: The actor, 63, and his wife Rita Wilson, 63, both contracted COVID-19 in early March while Hanks was filming Baz Lurhmann's Elvis Presley biopic in Australia Tom insisted that both and he and his wife have not suffered any lasting effects from COVID-19, revealing: 'Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks and we had very different reactions, and that was odd.' 'My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes. That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway.' The Hollywood legend recently blasted those who do not wear face coverings amid the global pandemic and he insisted he cannot understand those who don't feel they have to do their part to help stop the spread of the deadly virus. Responding to the worrying extent of the crisis in the US, he said: 'Oh dear! I have nothing but question marks about the official position as well as the individual choice.' Doing OK: Speaking about his stay in hospital, Tom explained he was intiially worried about his prognosis due to underlying health conditions 'There's really only three things everyone needs to do: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands. I know societally it's been politicised, but I don't get it, man. I don't understand how anyone can put their foot down and say: "I don't have to do my part.''' On President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic, he added: 'Well, I must say, I grew up looking to our leaders for calm and informed guidance and I don't think we've got that.' Hanks is currently promoting his new movie Greyhound, for which he also penned the screenplay. Spoke out: Hank,s who was seen wearing a face covering while out with wife Rita Wilson in LA on June 7, said it's 'common sense' to wear a mask and social distance during the pandemic The film had been due for release in movie theatres in May but was pushed back to June 12 due to the coronavirus. However, with movie theatres still shuttered in the main across the country, Apple purchased the film for streaming release on its premium subscription service. The World War II story stars Hanks as a U.S. Navy Captain who is given command of a destroyer code-named Greyhound in his first wartime assignment. Despite his inexperience, he finds himself in charge of an allied convoy that's being stalked by Nazi U-Boats. He famously played Amanda Seyfriend's love interest Sky in Mamma Mia. And Dominic Cooper was spending some Money, Money, Money as he popped to his local wine shop on a bike on Sunday. The actor, 42, looked suave as he cycled along Primrose Hill to stock up on his booze supply. Andante, andante: Mamma Mia! star Dominic Cooper popped to his local wine shop on Sunday on a bicycle The History Boys star, who is dating fellow actress Gemma Chan, cut a casual figure in a navy hoodie for the outing. He rolled up his chinos and tucked in his white socks and donned sunglasses as he raced through north London. Dominic was careful to take precautions as he wore pink latex gloves throughout his trip to the shops. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! The actor, 42, looked suave as he cycled along Primrose Hill to stock up on his booze supply Cautious: Dominic was careful to take precautions as he wore pink latex gloves throughout his trip to the shops Stopping by: The History Boys star, who is dating fellow actress Gemma Chan, cut a casual figure in a navy hoodie for the outing The actor was recently pictured enjoying a raucous picnic in Primrose Hill with his showbiz pals Lily James, 31, Billie Piper, 37, and his girlfriend Gemma, 37. He was the designated driver on the day as the celebrities all piled into his car. Dominic and Gemma have been putting their time to good use and have been working with the Cook-19 initiative. They deliver freshly cooked food and supplies to NHS staff who may be struggling due to long shifts or self-isolation. On your bike: He rolled up his chinos and tucked in his white socks and donned sunglasses as he raced through north London Showbiz mates: The actor was recently pictured enjoying a raucous picnic in Primrose Hill with pals Lily James, 31, Billie Piper, 37, and his girlfriend Gemma, 37 Doing good: Dominic and Gemma have been putting their time to good use in lockdown and have been working with the Cook-19 initiative Dominic had written about the charity on social media earlier this year. He penned: 'A wonderful lady I know has started a non-profit to provide freshly cooked food and care packages to frontline NHS staff who are having difficulty feeding themselves or their families due to isolation or long shifts. 'If you know any NHS workers in the London area who may need support please ask them to dm or email their info to donatecook19@gmail.com.' He and Gemma confirmed their relationship in September 2018 and she was previously in a long-term relationship with Jack Whitehall. Dominic's most high-profile romance was with his Mamma Mia! co-star Amanda Seyfried, 34. On Monday's episode of The Voice Australia, mentor Kelly Rowland left her contestants red-faced when she dumped them both during the playoffs. Team Kelly's Elishia Semaan was competing against drag performer Jimi The Kween, who returned to replace Ellen Monnery. Auckland, New Zealand-based Ellen was forced to drop out due to COVID-19 making travel impossible for her, hence Jimi, who had been voted out at an earlier stage of the competition, returned to take her place. No way! On Monday's episode of The Voice Australia, mentor Kelly Rowland (pictured) left her contestants red-faced when she dumped them both during the playoffs Jimi performed the Diana Ross song I'm Coming Out and said was 'so excited' to be back, while Elishia was tasked with Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River. However, the performances were lacklustre on the night, and Kelly was devastated. 'Alicia, I wanted you to get some grit, for it to be believable. But it was forced. Instead of you finding that place and pulling from there,' she said. Back: Elishia Semaan was competing against drag star Jimi The Kween (pictured) who returned to replace Ellen Monnery after she was forced to drop out due to COVID-19 travel issues Lots of fun: Jimi performed the Diana Ross song I'm Coming Out and was 'so excited' to be back, while Elishia (pictured) was tasked with Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River Oh no! However, the performances were lacklustre on the night, and Kelly was devastated. Clearly distressed, she said, 'I can't believe I am saying that both of these performance for me didn't land' 'Jimi, instead of being excited and happy for yourself in that moment, it just didn't feel like it landed,' Kelly added. Clearly distressed, Kelly went on: 'I can't believe I am saying that both of these performance for me didn't land. 'And I'm like, "did I do something wrong, did I say something wrong, is there something that I didn't convey in our rehearsals?"' Taking a deep breath, Kelly made a shock announcement: 'I have to make a really tough decision tonight. I can't take either of you through' Taking a deep breath, Kelly made a shock announcement: 'I have to make a really tough decision tonight. I can't take either of you through. Turning to host Darren McMullen, Kelly asked: 'Darren I don't know what that means from my team.' Darren replied: 'I am speaking to the executive producers. That will leave you a team member down'. After a discussion with producers, Darren told Kelly: 'They're willing to do that, if that's your choice.' So upset! Both contestants looked completely devastated, their faces conveying obvious embarrassment and disappointment Backstage drag star Jimi admitted: 'Everyone has bad shows but it sucks that this was the one, and it was in front of everyone on television' She replied: 'I'm going to stick with my decision. Guys please don't charge this to my heart. I wanted you to be ready, and I cannot set you up like that. I can't do that.' Both contestants looked completely devastated, their faces conveying obvious embarrassment and disappointment. Jimi was gracious on stage, saying: 'There is so much more to strive for and a fire in my belly to hone in on. I am going to do better and be back.' However, backstage the drag star admitted: 'Everyone has bad shows but it sucks that this was the one, and it was in front of everyone on television.' Kelly admitted that the decision felt 'bad' but she needed to make it, before it was announced that she would now be allowed two wild cards to make up her team. She isn't shy when it comes to talking about her love for the finer things in life. But eliminated Big Brother housemate Angela Clancy has now revealed she isn't as high maintenance as people think, as her husband of 15 years, Damian, proposed to her with her a $250 ring. Revealing that she 'loves her husband', the 38-year-old recalled her proposal as she addressed swooning male members of her new fan base who were asking for her hand in marriage. Not so lavish: Eliminated Big Brother housemate Angela Clancy (pictured) has revealed she isn't as high maintenance as people think, as her husband of 15 years, Damian, proposed to her with her a $250 ring Angela said: 'There's a lot of men asking for my hand in marriage. I've been married for 15 bloody years, and I love my husband!' Incorrectly giving the value of her ring at first, Angela said: 'I got engaged with a $250,000 ring. I'm not doing it again [marriage]. 'I love that man, so stop asking me for my hand in marriage! We can be friends, but I'm not going to get married to you!' 'I'm not going to marry you!' The 38-year-old recalled her proposal as she addressed swooning male members of her new fan base who were asking for her hand in marriage' Realising her mistake, Angela quickly uploaded another Instagram Story, saying: 'My ring is not $250,000, it is $250. I'm very smart. I thought I'm going to get married, so why not get a cheap ring, and then have a fantastic wedding!' She advised her followers to do the same, stating: 'If you want to get that man to marry you, go for the cheapest ring so you can have a fabulous wedding and then buy the most beautiful house!' Angela married Damian when she was in her early twenties, but it's understood they met years earlier when she moved to Australia from Kenya at 17. Angela said: 'I thought I'm going to get married, so why not get a cheap ring, and then have a fantastic wedding!' They are doting parents to two children, Callum, nine, and Bella, five. When they first started dating, she had never made her own bed or cooked for herself because of her privileged upbringing in the 'Beverly Hills' of Kenya. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Angela revealed that she's never owned a credit card nor ever had to worry about money thanks to her lavish lifestyle growing up. She's been keeping busy by hosting her hilarious segments from various locations in the West Midlands amid the coronavirus pandemic. And Alison Hammond appeared over the moon as she finally returned to the This Morning studios in London for the first time in 15 weeks on Monday. The presenter, 45, made a statement as she encouraged social distancing by wearing a kooky hat with two-metre poles, before downing a pint of beer. She's back! Alison Hammond appeared over the moon as she finally returned to the This Morning studios in London for the first time in 15 weeks on Monday Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield appeared in great spirits as they introduced their colleague to the programme. TV veteran Phillip, 58, said: 'We have been allowed to ease some restrictions', before his co-host, 39, added: 'That's right, for the first time in 15 weeks, we're finally allowed a guest in the studio. So we've invited the best, most entertaining woman we know.' 'Sadly Beyonce wasn't available so we settled for Alison Hammond', the cheeky pair joked. Cheers! The presenter, 45, made a statement as she encouraged social distancing by wearing a kooky hat with two-metre poles, before downing a pint of beer Make way: Sporting her quirky accessory, an elated Alison shouted 'keep your distance' as she entered the show Nice to see you: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield appeared in great spirits as they introduced their colleague to the programme Sporting her quirky accessory, an elated Alison shouted 'keep your distance' as she entered the show. ITV star Holly detailed one disadvantage of the current social distancing guidelines, sharing: 'I'll tell you what, this is really hard because you give the best hugs. Every instinct in my body is just wanting to give you a hug right now!' The former Big Brother star responded: 'I know, let's do a virtual one. It's so good to see you right now!' Alison put on a typically radiant display as she sported a floral print blouse and debuted her new hairdo. 'Let's do a virtual one!' The former Big Brother star spread her arms out wide as she attempted to hug Holly from a distance Twirling around the kitchen, the actress said: 'Yes I have been really good guys got my hair done. I am back! I wasn't desperate [though]. 'I really got good at tonging and washing my own hair. Aiden [Alison's 14-year-old son] is good, hes had a lovely weekend, its lovely to see everyone. Its so weird coming into the studio and seeing you guys.' Later into the episode, Alison treated herself to an alcoholic beverage as Holly and Phil played Spin To Win. In her element: Alison put on a typically radiant display as she sported a floral print blouse and debuted her new hairdo Busy bee: She's been hosting her hilarious segments from various locations in the West Midlands amid the coronavirus pandemic (pictured on Friday) 'Are you drinking a pint?' they exclaimed, with the cheery broadcaster defiantly replying: 'Yep!'. Viewers were delighted about the reality star's comeback, with one tweeting: 'Alison is a Legend! I love her and always enjoy her segments. Has kept me entertained during the lockdown and my furloughed time. 'I shall miss her and This Morning when I go back to work end of July. Thank you.' (sic) Others said: 'Love Alison she is so funny brightens up my day x.' Wahay! Later into the episode, the reality star treated herself to an alcoholic beverage as Holly and Phil played Spin To Win 'Alison Hammond always makes me smile such a lovely person @AlisonHammond. I met you when I was temping for teachers plus and you were lovely then and then you waved to me when I was on Dudley road x #Thismorning. 'Alison Hammond entering the studio with Savage playing in the background is lifeeeeee. #ThisMorning. 'Alison Hammond bounding into the studio with a new weave and a social distancing pinata on her head has just given me life #ThisMorning.' (sic) Caprice proved she's no wallflower when she was pictured heading to a business meeting in London on Monday. The 48-year-old American model cut a striking figure in a tiger print suit which she wore with a bold hat. She went braless under her two-piece as she strutted her stuff down the street and added a pop of colour to her look with a slick of coral lipstick. Hey all you cool cats... Caprice took a walk on the wild side as she went braless under a bold tiger print suit to head to a business meeting in London on Monday The mother-of-two wore a pair of platform heels which added height to her look and carried a small chic black clutch bag. Caprice wore a hair to cover her roots after taking to Instagram to lament that she hasn't been able to get to a salon in four months due to lockdown restrictions. She had written: '4 months no hair salon ... no bleach ...cant wait for sat #justsaying salt and pepper roots #justnotmything.' Styled: Caprice wore a hair to cover her roots after taking to Instagram to lament that she hasn't been able to get to a salon in four months due to lockdown restrictions Hairdressers opened their doors once again on Saturday but people have struggled to get appointments due to intense demand. A source close to Caprice recently told MailOnline: 'She cant wait to put some bleach in her hair asap and resume her beauty treatments as everything is looking a little to natural. 'She has never had three inches of grey and bad roots before. She always prides herself on being well groomed. 'But lockdown meant she hasnt had her hair done in over four months. She didnt even trim her own hair or attempt to do an at home hair dye kit. 'She knows thats what everyone has been doing but she was a little apprehensive and tried not to bother about it too much. It wasnt a big priority.' The source continued: 'She has been waiting for the call from her hairdresser!' Advertisement English rose Downton Abbey star Lily James has been pictured enjoying a night out in London with Captain America star Chris Evans. The Mamma Mia actress, 31, looked gorgeous in a red gown and heels as she headed back to 39-year-old Chris's London hotel, The Corinthia, in the same taxi as him, after partying into the early hours at private members' venue, Mark's Club in Mayfair just before 1am on Saturday. It had been rumoured that Lily was working on her long-term romance with Matt Smith, 37. Captain America and the English rose Downton star: Chris Evans was pictured heading back to his London hotel with Lily James after partying with her into the early hours at a private members' club in London just before 1am on Saturday Night out: The Mamma Mia actress, 31, was rumoured to be working on her long-term romance with Matt Smith, but on Friday night she hit the town with Chris, 39 Lily and Chris were pictured leaving the exclusive private members' club together, with the actress leading the way out of the door with Chris following closely behind to the same black cab. They arrived back to the hotel just after 1am but left the taxi separately, with Chris heading to the main entrance and Lily, who lives in north London, to another door around the back. Chris, looking dapper in all black, was forced to wait for a masked member of staff to unlock the door to the plush hotel. Taxi! Lily looked gorgeous in a red gown and heels as the pair left Mark's Club in Mayfair, London in the same taxi and headed to the actor's hotel Following her: Chris looked smart in a black suit as he followed Lily to the waiting cab Night out: A club doorman held the door for Chris who caught a ride back to his central London hotel Superhero: Chris is best known for playing Captain America in Marvel's Avengers movies (pictured left in Avengers - Age Of Ultron in 2015), while Lily James famously starred in Downton Abbey (right) Lily meanwhile waited outside, looking stunning in her long red dress covered by a black coat, and teamed with strappy heels. After making a phone call, the actress eventually managed to get inside the hotel with the help of staff after Chris was seen talking with employees inside the lobby. Representatives for Lily and Chris have been contacted by MailOnline for comment. Leading the way: They arrived back to the Corinthia hotel just after 1am but left the taxi separately, with Chris heading to the main entrance No Hollywood treatment here: Chris had to wait for a masked member of staff to unlock the main door into the hotel Waiting: Lily meanwhile was seen walking around the hotel to a different entrance, while messaging on her phone Low key: The British actress tried to keep a low profile as she waited outside in the early hours It was recently reported that Lily had rekindled her romance with Matt Smith, 37, during lockdown, after they were thought to have split in December. The couple had been dating for five years but reportedly went their separate ways due to her discomfort over his 'friendship with female stars.' A source told The Sun: 'Matt and Lily's break-up was mostly because their hectic schedules meant they could barely see each other. They kept the house together when they split because they were both barely around. But when lockdown began, they ended up isolating together. Glam night out: Lily looked stunning in her long red dress covered by a black coat, and teamed with strappy heels Let me in: Chris waited patiently as the hotel employee unlocked the door Outside: Lily strolled around the block while Chris made his way inside the plush hotel Coming in? After making a phone call, the actress eventually managed to get inside the hotel with the help of staff after Chris was seen talking with employees inside the lobby 'Being in the house and having no work and distractions has allowed them to reconnect and get back to a good place. 'There is such an amazing chemistry between them and they make a wonderful couple. 'It's what their friends had all hoped would happen because they do make each other so happy and their split happened because they were just too busy to see each other.' Gorgeous: The stunning actress showed off her red satin dress under her smart coat Chris' last known relationship meanwhile was with American actress Jenny Slate. The pair had an on/off romance for two years, eventually splitting in March 2018, according to a New York Times interview where Evans said his relationship with Slate had 'recently ended.' In a May 2019 interview with Men's Journal, the Hollywood star revealed he's ready to get married and start a family. 'I want a wife, I want kids,' he said. 'I like ceremony. I want to carve pumpkins and decorate Christmas trees and sh*t like that.' London stay: The Hollywood actor has a number of films in pre-production, including a major production of Little Shop of Horrors, which could explain his London trip Ex? It was recently reported that Lily had rekindled her romance with Matt Smith, 37, during lockdown, after they reportedly splitting in December (pictured in 2017) Laura Sharrad broke down in tears after wowing the judges with her stunning tortellini dish on MasterChef. Over the past few weeks, the 24-year-old, who owns an Italian restaurant in Adelaide, has steered clear of serving pasta dishes after copping intense criticism from viewers for being a 'one-trick pony'. But after returning to what she knew best on Monday night's episode, the talented chef welled up with emotion as she revealed the pasta dish took her back to her childhood, as it was what her 'Nonna used to make for her'. She's tortellini awesome! Laura Sharrad (pictured) was left on the brink of tears after wowing the judges with her stunning dish on MasterChef Laura revealed: 'I havent put up a pasta dish in a long time in this competition. I made lots of pasta at the beginning of the competition and then I decided to push myself using different techniques and skills. 'But I felt like today was the day. This dish is a childhood memory for me. It was the perfect time to pull it out. So, when my Nonna used to make this dish for us, I think it was my favourite thing. Detailing the importance of the dish further, Laura explained: 'It was just like the best hug you could ever get. Thats what I want to do today.' She continued: 'This is my childhood, and its getting me all emotional Happy emotions, you know? Brings back nice memories.' Endless pastabilities: Over the weeks, the 24-year-old - who owns a pasta restaurant in Adelaide - steered clear of serving up pasta dishes after copping criticism from viewers for being a 'one-trick pony' 'Happy memories': On Monday night's episode, Laura welled up with emotion as she revealed the pasta dish took her back to her childhood, as it was what her 'Nonna used to make for her' Laura revealed: 'I havent put up a pasta dish in a long time in this competition. I made lots of pasta at the beginning of the competition and then I decided to push myself using different techniques and skills' Judge Andy Allen asked Laura why they hadn't seen a pasta dish from her in a 'long, long time'. Laura responded: 'I spent two years as a kid living in Tuscany I'm gonna [sic] get all emotional.' Taking to Twitter, impressed viewers also leapt to the defence of Laura following her weeks of backlash. One said: 'People are so ridiculously harsh about Laura, why are you so angry she made pasta? And why does it bother you that she has an emotional origin sorry for her dish? Move on guys, shes a human being with feelings and shes a damn talented chef. #MasterChefAU.' Another viewer said: 'I just don't understand all the Laura hate. She's human. She has feelings. Leave her alone keyboard warriors. #MasterChefAU.' 'My Nonna used to make it': Laura continued to detail the importance of the her pasta dish, as she said it brought back memories from her childhood 'Bullying of Laura': Taking to Twitter, impressed viewers also leapt to the defence of Laura following her weeks of backlash A fan also tweeted: 'These Laura haters better see what their trolling has done to her. Those tears are because shes been unnecessarily bullied for being great at her job! Laura we all know your an absolute legend and a gun chef whether its pasta or #NotPasta.' Last month, Laura responded to viewers accusing her of cooking too much pasta, telling TV WEEK: 'We've all got our specialities. And I do own a pasta restaurant so it would be weird if I didn't cook pasta on the show.' This comes after Chris Badenoch told News.com.au that the criticism levelled against Laura this season for focusing on pasta was unfair because several other cooks were also making the same types of dishes over and over again. 'Poor Laura's copping it and I don't understand it. I don't understand why people decide to pick on certain individuals on a certain topic when others are guilty of the same thing,' he said. Life has pastas by: Laura said she 'spent two years as a kid living in Tuscany I'm gonna [sic] get all emotional' 'We've all got our specialities': Last month, Laura responded to viewers accusing her of cooking too much pasta Chris argued that the backlash against Laura was ridiculous, saying: 'She owns a f**king pasta restaurant, of course she's going to do pasta! It's what she's best at and if she can do it, she will.' 'I don't know why people are giving [Laura] a hard time.' Another eliminated contestant, Hayden Quinn, also defended Laura from her pasta critics. 'Poor Laura': This comes after Chris Badenoch [pictured] told news.com.au that the criticism levelled against Laura for focusing on pasta was unfair because other cooks were also making the same types of dishes over and over again 'You don't need to take her down': Another eliminated contestant, Hayden Quinn [pictured], also defended Laura from her pasta critics He tweeted: 'My opinion is you should think before you tweet sometimes. These are real people, with real feelings and real lives. Just because they are on TV doesn't mean you need to take them down.' Laura and her husband, fellow chef Max Sharrad, opened their own Italian restaurant, Nido, in Adelaide's Hyde Park last year. The couple had met in 2015 while working in the kitchen at Jock Zonfrillo's Orana restaurant. They got engaged in 2017 and tied the knot in the Barossa Valley the following year. Lockdown is officially over for Devon Windsor who took off to the Bahamas over the weekend with some of her friends. The Missouri born model soaked up the sun with some friends including Olivia Culpo as they modeled some swimsuit from Devon's range. The 26-year-old Victoria's Secret model showed off a gold two-piece as she emerged from the ocean in an Instagram clip she shared on Sunday. Sunkissed: Devon Windsor looked stunning as she posed in a gold bikini from her swimwear range over the weekend She showed off her slim physique as she gazed up at the sky with chunky gold jewelry adorning her neck. Devon also enlisted friends Olivia Culpo and Alyssa Riley to model some ruffle detail string bikini while posing in the sand. 'Tag who would would twin with in your @devonwindsor kinis' captioned the snap of the three women. Devon revealed last year that she designed two swimwear looks for her wedding weekend. Model beauties: Devon also enlisted friends Olivia Culpo and Alyssa Riley to model some ruffle detail string bikini while posing in the sand Lucky: The Missouri born beauty jetted to the Bahamas over the weekend to celebrate 4th of July and show off her new collection The 5ft 11in beauty wed Johnny Barbara - co-owner of fashion label Alexis - at St Bartholomew's Anglican Church on the Caribbean island of St Barths on November 16 2019. They planned an extravagant weekend for their guests - including Olivia Culpo, Georgia Fowler, Shanina Shaik and Cara Santana - that started on the beach at Shellona where Devon modeled her latest designs under her label, Devon Windsor Swim. She told BAZAAR Bride: 'Being a new swimwear designer, I worked closely with my mother-in-law, now-husband, and sister-in-law to design the most intricate hand-embellished pearl and sequin swimsuit that took multiple days of just bead application alone at their atelier. Cooling off: The Victoria's Secret model chose a stunning backdrop to model her collection Getaway: The 26-year-old model puts on a sexy show as she wades through the crystal clear waters 'The cover-up for my first look also had French macrame lace and French embellished lace trim all framed with pearls to tie in my swimsuit. 'The second look was an embroidered lace look with high-waisted bottoms that had a detachable skirt flowing down the back and a halter top. Both looks were all white and made me feel so so special.' The following day, the lovebirds exchanged vows as Devon dazzled in an elegant Zuhair Murad sheer, floral lace white gown and a veil with matching lace trim. She said: 'Have always been obsessed with his Couture and bridal gowns. His attention to detail is unlike anyone I have ever seen. My first gown was an off the shoulder, long sleeved lace gown that had a long train.' Never take life for granted: Devon was feeling reflective on Monday as she shared this message with her social media followers SEOUL, July 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's biggest automaker Hyundai Motor said Monday that it exported the world's first fuel cell heavy-duty commercial truck to Europe, aiming to ship a total of 1,600 such trucks by 2025. Hyundai said in a statement that the first 10 units of the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell, the world's first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck, were shipped to Switzerland earlier in the day. The company plans to ship 40 more XCIENT Fuel Cells to Switzerland by the end of this year, aiming to roll out a combined 1,600 XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks by 2025. "Building a comprehensive hydrogen ecosystem, where critical transportation needs are met by vehicles like XCIENT Fuel Cell, will lead to a paradigm shift that removes automobile emissions from the environmental equation," said Lee In-cheol, executive vice president and head of commercial vehicle division at Hyundai Motor. XCIENT is powered by a 190-kW hydrogen fuel cell system with dual 95-kW fuel cell stacks. The driving range per charge for XICENT is about 400 km. Seven large hydrogen tanks offer a combined storage capacity of about 32 kg of hydrogen. Refueling time for each truck takes some 8-20 minutes. Hyundai said it is developing a long-distance tractor unit capable of traveling 1,000 km on a single charge equipped with an enhanced fuel cell system that has higher durability and power. The South Korean carmaker introduced the world's first mass-produced fuel cell electric passenger vehicle, the ix35, and the second-generation hydrogen-powered SUV, the NEXO. It aims to sell 670,000 electric vehicles annually, including 110,000 fuel cell electric vehicles, by 2025. As part of its long-term roadmap, "Fuel Cell Vision 2030," Hyundai aims to secure a 700,000-unit-a-year capacity of fuel cell systems for automobiles as well as vessels, rail cars, drones and power generators by 2030. [ Editor: WPY ] Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping has written back to the Butuka Academy of Papua New Guinea. In his reply letter, Xi pleasantly recalled his attendance at the opening ceremony of the academy during his visit to Papua New Guinea in 2018 and gave credit to the achievements of the academy. Xi said he is glad to learn that the academy has recently overcome the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and resumed classes, noting that China will continue providing necessary support and assistance for the development of the academy. In a letter sent to Xi earlier, the Butuka Academy expressed gratitude for his caring about the academy's development, and spoke highly of China's contribution to promoting international cooperation in the global fight against COVID-19. Thanks to China's help, the letter said, the academy has overcome the impact of the pandemic and resumed classes. The Butuka Academy, a public service project funded by China, consists of a kindergarten, a primary school and a secondary school. Since its opening in November 2018, the academy has enrolled about 3,000 students and improved the local schooling conditions, winning the praise of the local government and the public. Poh Ling Yeow returned to work at her Jamface stall at Adelaide Farmers' Market on Sunday. And she was in some cosy company - both her ex husband, Matthew Phipps, and current husband, Jono Bennett, were in attendance. Poh, 47, stood off to the side chatting to Matthew as Jono, 38, worked the register at her stall nearby. Back to work: Poh Ling Yeow (left) returned to work at her Jamface stall at Adelaide Farmers' Market on Sunday. She caught up with her ex husband Matthew Phipps (right) for a chat The pair have remained friends since splitting, and in fact, Matthew is now married to Poh's best friend and Jamface business partner, Sarah Rich. Poh and Matt met in 1990 - at the time both were Mormons - and were married for nine years. They remain close friends and Poh has told Woman's Weekly that they 'still love one another' and he's 'like a brother' despite a very difficult split. Cheerful: Poh appeared to be in high spirits at the markets, happily chatting with fans who stopped by to say hello after her departure from MasterChef Despite their unorthodox friendship, Poh has previously insisted the group's dynamic works. In an interview with Woman's Day back in 2017, actor and DJ Jono - who married Poh in 2014 - admitted he was initially jealous of Matt's close bond with his wife. 'It was something we all had to work on essentially. I know it's very human to be jealous, but it doesn't make it right,' he told the publication at the time. Close! Her current husband, Jono Bennett (pictured) was also there. Poh, 47, stood off to the side chatting to Matthew as Jono, 38, worked the register at her stall nearby Past: Poh and Matt met in 1990 - at the time both were Mormons - and were married for nine years. They remain close friends and Poh says he's 'like a brother' despite a very difficult split He added: 'There's a lot of history [between Poh and Matt], so it's not something that can be taken away. It's not something that should be.' Poh appeared to be in high spirits at the markets, happily chatting with fans who stopped by to say hello after her departure from MasterChef Australia: Back To Win. Viewers were left devastated after the fan favourite was eliminated from the show during Sunday's episode, undone by her undercooked pasta. That's modern! Matthew is now married to Poh's best friend and Jamface business partner, Sarah Rich. Both pictured Bonds: In an interview with Woman's Day back in 2017, actor and DJ Jono - who married Poh in 2014 - admitted he was initially jealous of Matt's close bond with his wife Adapting: 'It was something we all had to work on essentially. I know it's very human to be jealous, but it doesn't make it right,' he told the publication at the time The elimination was emotional, with judge Melissa Leong calling Poh a 'national treasure'. Poh was graceful in defeat, saying: 'It's been everything that I wanted it to be. I'm a risk taker, and that's what happened today, you know. 'I met my demise finally. But I've had such a fantastic time. It's just been such a joy to cook with these guys.' The trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Netflix's popular 2018 film The Kissing Booth was released on Monday. And in the clip, plenty of details were shared as Elle Evans (played by Joey King) faces her senior year of high school while her boyfriend Noah Flynn (played by Jacob Elordi) is making new friends at Harvard University. The new movie, which is set to start streaming on July 24, also sees the return of Lee Flynn (played by Joel Courtney) and Mrs Flynn (played by Eighties icon Molly Ringwald). New look: The trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Netflix's popular 2018 film The Kissing Booth was released on Monday. It shows Elle (Joey King) and Noah (Jacob Elordi) having fun before he heads to Harvard and she finishes high school Is he the new Noah? Then in comes a welcomed distraction: the 'seriously luscious' Marco, played by Taylor Zakhar Perez of Embeds fame King and Elordi dated in real life after making the first movie, but he has since moved on with his Euphoria co-star Zandaya. There had been talk that reuniting for the sequel would be uncomfortable but they seem to handle the roles just fine as they are seen in new footage. The clip opens with Elle getting close to her handsome beau Noah while enjoying California as they ride a motorcycle together, hit a merry-go-round and enjoy the beach during the summer. In love: The clip opens with Elle getting close to her handsome beau Noah while enjoying California as they hit a merry-go-round Goofing around as always: And in this scene she feeds her love a cupcake She explains that they spent the entire summer together but then he went off to Harvard while she stayed at the high school they met at to complete her senior year. 'My heart flew off to Harvard,' she says in voiceover. 'I miss you jerk,' the beauty says when on FaceTime at home with Noah. 'I miss you more,' coos back her love. Long distance: 'I miss you jerk,' the beauty says when on FaceTime at home with Noah The fire is still there: 'I miss you more,' coos back her love as he wears a Harvard hoodie The next scene is Elle in a blue convertible Mustang with her best friend Lee, who is the brother of her boyfriend. All seems back to normal once on campus except there is no Noah around to catch her eye. 'And here I am first day of senior year,' says Elle while at a lunch table with Lee. 'And here we go,' she adds as the three most popular girls - named The OGs - walk up and sit near her. School daze: The next scene is Elle in a blue convertible Mustang with her best friend Lee, who is the brother of her boyfriend Solo: All seems back to normal once on campus except there is no Noah around to catch her eye Always by her side: The brunette, who wears a shirt and tie, says, 'And here I am first day of senior year,'while at a lunch table with Lee The mean gals: 'And here we go,' she adds as the three most popular girls - named The OGs - walk up and sit near her The trio immediately try to make Elle feel insecure as they insinuate that Noah - the star athlete she fell in love with during her junior year - has moved on with other women at Harvard. 'There are so many beautiful girls at Harvard, experienced girls,' says one of the mean OG girls. Then there are flashes of Harvard student Chloe who looks like a supermodel and can also play a mean game of pool in front of Noah. Chloe played by English actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers who is best known for The Originals as well as DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Insecure vibes: The trio immediately try to make Elle feel insecure as they insinuate that Noah - the star athlete she fell in love with during her junior year - has moved on with other women at Harvard Ouch: 'There are so many beautiful girls at Harvard, experienced girls,' says one of the mean OG girls. 'With different zip codes, break ups are basically automatic' Trust issues swirl as Elle wonders if Noah is having just too much fun at Harvard. One high school queen suggests Elle and Noah have broken up but Elle says not so fast. However, another counters, 'With different zip codes, break ups are basically automatic.' New girl: Then there are flashes of Harvard student Chloe who looks like a supermodel and can also play a mean game of pool in front of Noah Behind the 8 ball: She knows how to capture Noah's attention in the pool hall Oh no, that is some serious competition! The Harvard standout seems to be a model too His new love? Chloe played by English actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers who is best known for The Originals as well as DC's Legends of Tomorrow King's Elle looks overwhelmed and heartsick at the same time. Then in comes a welcomed distraction: the 'seriously luscious' Marco, played by Taylor Zakhar Perez of Embeds fame. 'The OGs literally describe a hundred different ways Marco is a snack,' says Elle wile by her locker, not realizing Marco is standing right behind her. New dude: Then in comes a welcomed distraction: the 'seriously luscious' Marco, played by Taylor Zakhar Perez of Embeds fame Embarrassing: 'The OGs literally describe a hundred different ways Marco is a snack,' says Elle wile by her locker, not realizing Marco is standing right behind her Tension: 'Nice to meet you,' says Marco as Elle turns around, clearly mortified. 'But I am a little hungry so I am going to get myself a snack,' making fun of her comment 'Nice to meet you,' says Marco as Elle turns around, clearly mortified. 'But I am a little hungry so I am going to get myself a snack,' making fun of her comment. Then comes the drama: Lee wants to go to Berkeley with Elle because that is where their moms met but Noah wants her to go to school at Harvard with him. They like what they see: The OGs all have a crush on Marco as they stare at him on the beach 'This is definitely a problem,' Elle says in voiceover as she feels the pull between Lee and Noah. The trailer moves to the beach where hunky Marco offers to help Elle during what appears to be a very strenuous obstacle course. 'Need a hand,' he says before Elle says 'hell no' and falls from her rope climbing session into a bath of mud. Uh-oh: Then comes the drama: Lee wants to go to Berkeley with Elle because that is where their moms met but Noah wants her to go to school at Harvard with him Too hard: 'This is definitely a problem,' Elle says in voiceover as she feels the pull between Lee and Noah Lee then gives her the idea of asking Marco to participate in the kissing both, but he flatly says no. Meanwhile, Elle applies to Harvard and when her pal Lee finds out, he is upset because he wants them to go to Berkeley together. Next Elle is seen landing in Massachusetts where she is greeted by doe-eyed Noah who holds a cute sign up for her that reads I Love You More. Come to me: The trailer moves to the beach where hunky Marco offers to help Elle during what appears to be a very strenuous obstacle course Splash: 'Need a hand,' he says before Elle says 'hell no' and falls from her rope climbing session into a bath of mud They have a great time together but there is still the distraction of Marco, creating the ultimate love triangle. It's clear Marco has 'changed' her and, as she says it, 'made me question everything.' There are flashes of Elle and Marco getting along well, flirting and staring into each other's eyes. Come kiss with us: Lee then gives her the idea of asking Marco to participate in the kissing both Not for me at all: But then he flatly says no while they are in the arcade The trailer ends with viewers not knowing if she takes up with Marco or waits for Noah. In late May it was revealed by King and Courtney that the movie will be streamed on July 24. King, 20, and Courtney, 24, took part in a live-stream event on the Netflix YouTube page where they revealed the date to their fans. What a bad situation: Meanwhile, Elle applies to Harvard and when her pal Lee finds out, he is upset because he wants them to go to Berkeley together The dream is to be college chums too: Lee wants her to go to Berkeley but will she? They did so by putting a puzzle together that revealed the new poster and the release date, while revealing other behind-the-scenes tidbits. The puzzle pieces came in a group of lockboxes, which she opened with the help of some of her co-stars like Courtney. When it came time to reveal the last piece, they were both extremely excited that it revealed the date of July 24, which King added is close to her birthday. Waiting for her: Next Elle is seen landing in Massachusetts where she is greeted by doe-eyed Noah Awwww: He holds a cute sign up for her that reads I Love You More It's true love: The two bond as they get close again on his new turf Trouble in paradise: She storms off after being with Noah who is seen here shirtless 'That's like six days before my birthday, what a wonderful birthday present,' King said after revealing the release date. After finishing the puzzle, King added, 'I'm very emotional right now and I don't know why but I'm very excited.' Courtney added, 'I'm so excited, this is the best' after the date was revealed. Earlier in the call, King brought on her co-stars Taylor Zakhar Perez (Marco Pena) and Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Chloe Winthrop), who are new characters in the sequel. The other man: But it's clear Marco has 'changed' her and, as she says it, 'made me question everything.' There are flashes of Elle and Marco getting along well, flirting and staring into each other's eyes Richardson-Sellers revealed that her character Chloe Winthrop is quite 'worldly' who has 'traveled all around the globe.' She added that Chloe becomes 'best friends' with Noah (Jacob Elordi) at Harvard, the older brother of Courtney's Lee and Elle's love interest. Perez plays Marco, 'Elle and Lee's musical and charismatic new classmate' who Elle spends a lot more time with her while Noah is away at college. Tough looks: Toward the end of the trailer, Marco faces off with Noah Not having it: And Noah seems as if he is not about to let Elle go off with Marco Jacob Elordi also sent along a video message to fans, hoping they're 'staying safe and healthy inside' amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Elordi also debuted a deleted scene from the first film, where Elle tries to flirt with Noah after he comes out of a bathroom. Writer-director Vince Marcello, who wrote and directed both movies, also debuted another scene, that is the first time Elle 'lied to Lee' about seeing Noah. She celebrated her one-yer wedding anniversary with Karl Glusman last week. And following her return from London, Zoe Kravitz was spotted picking up some Mexican food in New York City on Sunday evening. The 31-year-old beauty dressed casually as she went bra-free in a white tank top that flashed her muscular arms. The star has been training hard to play Catwoman in the new The Batman film with actor Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves. Casual: Zoe Kravitz put her petite frame on display on Sunday when she stepped out to pick up some takeout food in New York City Zoe appeared to be braless underneath a white singlet top that drew attention to her tiny petite frame. She teamed the look with forest green Adidas trousers and completed the ensemble with a pair of boots from The Row. The Big Little Lies actress stayed safe as safe as possible from the COVID-19 pandemic with a mask over her face. Safety first: The Big Little Lies actress stayed safe as safe as possible from the COVID-19 pandemic with a mask over her face Zoe sported her pixie cut style and appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup. The beauty's appearance comes after she celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary with husband Karl Glusman, last week. She commemorated the special day with a candid photo from their wedding that took place in Paris, France, in the home of her dad, Lenny Kravitz. Zoe recently revealed on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that she gets 'offended' when people ask her if she's having kids soon. Going strong: The beauty's appearance comes after she celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary with husband Karl Glusman, last week 'A lot of people ask the question, "When are you gonna have a baby?" or said things like, "When's the baby?" and I really get offended by people assuming that's something that I have to do because society says so,' said the High Fidelity star. She went on to say that she was too busy in her career to start a family right now. 'Right now, I'm certainly not in a place where I think I'm able to do that just 'cause of work and also just, man, I don't know, I like my free time.' Zoe admitted in January 2020 that she loved being married and loves having the occasional fight with Karl. Not the time: Zoe recently revealed on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that she gets 'offended' when people ask her if she's having kids soon 'I'm used to my family living in different cities, yet we stay close while all doing our own things,' she told Elle magazine. 'Karl has his own career and needs to focus on that, but we've been together for a few years now, and we know where we are. 'If anything, the best part of being married is being able to have the odd fight and knowing neither of us is going to walk out of the door. The commitment feels safe.' Zoe and Karl married in June 2019 in Paris, France, after getting their marriage licence the month before. The nuptials took place at her father Lenny Kravitz's Paris home. Guests included Lenny, mom; Lisa Bonet, step-dad; Jason Momoa, and her Big Little Lies co-stars. Kate Garraway has made a rare appearance on social media to share her gratitude for the support she has received, since revealing her husband Derek Draper has awoken from his coma. Good Morning Britain star Kate, 53, told Hello! Magazine that her beloved spouse, 52, has finally opened his eyes following his ongoing battle with COVID-19, and posted a message to her Instagram followers to reflect. She was sure to stress that, although a positive step, things remain critical. Thankful: Kate Garraway has made a rare appearance on social media to share her gratitude for the support she has received, since revealing her husband Derek Draper has awoken from his coma [pictured last year] She thanked the publication for 'helping me to bring you some of my hopes and plans for the future' and added: 'The future we are really hoping for - Derek recovering & coming home - is not nearly in sight & very uncertain. 'But it feels positive to share how we are trying to keep ourselves going as I know so many are dealing with terrible challenges in all sorts of ways as we all try to emerge from these ghastly times, just as we continue to hope Derek can emerge from his minimum state of consciousness. 'I hope reading this helps in some way. Thank you everyone for your lovely good wishes and for sending me your stories of how youve been coping too. I hope that some of the [article] brings some comfort were all in this together. 'Keep the hope alive and keep moving forwards! [sic]' Her fellow presenters Susanna Reid, Charlotte Hawkins and Kate Thornton posted caring replies to the message, as well as her I'm A Celebrity... campmate Myles Stephenson and a plethora of supportive fans. Kate originally told the publication: 'We're keeping positive and doing everything we can to bring him round. The children and I communicate with him every day on FaceTime, while a nurse holds his iPad. She thanked the publication for 'helping me to bring you some of my hopes and plans for the future' and added: 'The future we are really hoping for - Derek recovering & coming home - is not nearly in sight & very uncertain' 'Keep hope alive!' Good Morning Britain star Kate, 53, told Hello! Magazine that her beloved spouse, 52, has finally opened his eyes following his ongoing battle with COVID-19, and posted a message to her Instagram followers to reflect Support: Her fellow presenters Susanna Reid, Charlotte Hawkins and Kate Thornton posted caring replies to the message, as well as her I'm A Celebrity... campmate Myles Stephenson and a plethora of supportive fans 'I really believe he can hear. When medical staff say, "Good morning, Derek!, he sometimes opens his eyes. We and the doctors are doing everything we can so that he can start to recover.' Piers Morgan confirmed on Monday's Good Morning Britain that Derek remains in a 'serious and critical condition'. Kate sparked hope when she revealed on Sunday that Derek had woken from the coma over 13 weeks after first contracting coronavirus. But the TV personality's GMB co-star, 55, insisted that the situation is not as positive as people think and said Derek remains on a 'very slow and uncertain path'. Piers said: 'A few papers are doing a lot of coverage today on our colleague and friend Kate Garraway and the situation involving her husband Derek. 'It's probably not quite as positive a story as the papers perhaps believe and we've just got a little clarification from Kate's representative.' The statement read: 'These headlines give a level of optimism that may not yet be justified, we hope, as does Kate there will be more evidence of a recovery but it will be a very slow and uncertain path.' Derek's initial admission to hospital happened back in March - with Kate and her family painstakingly waiting for hopeful news ever since. The couple have two children - Darcey, 14, and Billy, 10. 'It's not as positive as you might think': Piers Morgan said on GMB on Monday that Derek remains in a 'serious and critical condition' after he woke from his Covid: 19 coma Kate revealed at the time that the last thing he said to her before he was put in a medically-induced coma, was 'I love you, you saved my life'. 'I have been living at the end of the phone 24/7, waiting for news of Derek,' Kate went on. 'But the doctors have warned that his condition could persist for years so I have to get on with life whilst we are waiting for him to get better. 'Billy starts secondary school in September, but Derek's doctors say he won't be out of hospital by then.' She went on to tell Hello! that she has been urged to return to routine and not put her life totally on hold, suggesting she go back to work on GMB and Smooth Radio soon. Kate added that she has to continue to provide for her children and to ensure there is still 'light in their lives and hope for the future'. She also explained that it was harder still to remain strong for the family when Derek was always their 'rock'. Family: Derek's initial admission to hospital happened back in March - with Kate and her family painstakingly waiting for hopeful news ever since. The couple have two children - Darcey, 14, and Billy, 10 [pictured in May] Kate recently broke her social media silence to respond to a fan who urged her to 'keep hanging on' as her husband remains in intensive care. The TV personality had stepped back from all platforms in recent weeks, as her husband's condition had caused 'extraordinary damage'. Kate replied to a follower's tweet who encouraged her to watch a YouTube video of Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall who explains the stages of unconsciousness he came back from. Support: It comes after Kate broke her social media silence to respond to a fan who urged her to 'keep hanging on' as her husband remains in intensive care Miracles do happen: The fan had encouraged Kate to watch a video about Lincoln Hall, who survived a night at the summit of Mount Everest after his team had to abandon him The fan wrote: 'Keep going with the messages he is hanging on, for a reason, for you, the kids, he has to come back to you all and he will. 'Try to watch the YouTube clip about Lincoln Hall, he explains about the stages of unconsciousness that he came back from. Big hugs xxx'. Kate typed back: 'Thanks - will do xxx'. Lovely surprise: The GMB host previously revealed the couple were set to renew their wedding vows after Derek popped the question again after she left the I'm A Celebrity jungle The fan had encouraged Kate to watch a video about Hall, who reached the summit of Mount Everest on his second attempt in 2006, miraculously surviving the night at 8,700m on descent, after his family was told he had died. Kate's husband was in a comatose state in intensive care for 12 weeks after contracting coronavirus, before the recent developments. Former lobbyist Derek is now free of COVID-19, but is suffering from serious residual complications. REVEALED: HOW THE CRUEL LEGACY OF COVID MAY LAST A LIFETIME Covid-19 could leave survivors with debilitating illnesses that last for years, doctors have warned since the outbreak spiralled out of control. One leading medic called it 'this generation's polio' - a disease that killed thousands and left a generation with life-long mobility issues. Patients who spend weeks fighting for life in intensive care can suffer from long-term complications caused by permanent damage to their lungs and liver. Physiotherapists also warn patients can suffer a loss of mobility, if they are stuck on hospital wards for weeks, or endure flashbacks and emotional distress. But even patients who endure symptoms so mild they don't get admitted to hospital are plagued by fatigue, headaches and breathlessness that can linger for weeks. Several recent studies have highlighted proof Covid-19 causes fibrosis - scarring of the lung tissue that makes it harder for the organs to work. A research paper published in a Chinese journal in March said 'pulmonary fibrosis may be one of the major [long-term] complications in Covid-19 patients'. Evidence is also emerging that the virus may affect the brain, causing seizures and stroke, as well as harming the liver, kidneys, heart and blood vessels. A paper in the journal JAMA Cardiology in March reported one in five of 416 Covid-19 patients hospitalised in Wuhan, China, had suffered heart damage. The heart problems are thought to occur as a result of the virus triggering a 'cytokine storm', where the immune system overreacts to the infection. Number 10's panel of leading scientists - SAGE - called for studies to investigate the lasting effects of the illness. Advertisement The presenter became overcome with emotion during a recent instalment of GMB as she admitted she 'doesn't know' if Derek can recover from the damage COVID-19 has inflicted on his body, and may be in a coma for a year. Kate said: 'Well there will be tears, I'll try to keep them down, he's still with us, he has fought the most extraordinary battle, the fact that he's still here and holding on. 'I am so grateful that he's still here, and I've got the option of praying while others have lost that. 'He's very, very sick and as time goes on, it's a virus, it's like a computer virus, the doctors manage one but there seems to be a flicker of hope and other things emerge and they're fighting that. 'It has affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. She added: 'He is now COVID-free, he has tested negative, the fight with the virus is over but it's wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don't know if he can recover from that.' Brave: Kate spoke for the first time about Derek's initial admission to hospital in March Struggling: The GMB presenter has talked about how her children - Darcey and Billy - are struggling while missing their father Kate previously spoke for the first time about when Derek was admitted, saying: 'In that first week it looked like he was rallying. But then he was very bad, he couldn't really speak to me, he could shout things to me on speakerphone. 'He was begging me, he said "I can't take this, I feel like I'm suffocating", he said "please let them put me in a coma" and they didn't want to do that. On Sunday they said "we're going to put him in a coma as overnight we think we have to do that."' 'He said: "I love you, I'm sorry I have to leave you, you've saved my life". I think he thought I had asked the doctors to put in him in a coma. He said "being married to you, the children, you saved my life".' Derek has previously credited Kate for saving him from depression which started during his career as a political advisor and led to a nervous breakdown and a stint in The Priory in the late 1990s. Kate and Derek have been married for 14 years, with the former lobbyist cheering his wife on for the duration of her stint on I'm A Celebrity last year. She recently teased details about her upcoming Majorcan wedding to fiance William Lee-Kemp. And Jess Wright looked to be on cloud nine as she soaked up the sun on the island's Cap Falco Beach on Monday. The former TOWIE star, 33, uploaded as sizzling snap to Instagram as she posed up a storm on the idyllic sands. Flawless: Jess Wright looked to be on cloud nine as she soaked up the sun on the Cap Falco Beach, Majorca, on Monday She flaunted her physique in a skimpy fuchsia crop top which she paired with a tiered mini skirt adorned with a floral pattern. Jess, who wore her lengthy raven tresses draped over one shoulder, finished the look with a pair of mirrored sunglasses and a small rattan handbag. The TV personality posted the sultry snap alongside a simple caption that read: 'Ive really missed you.' The post comes after Jess revealed where and when she will marry fiance William Lee-Kemp. Pleased: The TV personality posted the sultry snap alongside a simple caption that read: 'Ive really missed you' Will you marry me? The post comes after Jess revealed where and when she will marry fiance William Lee-Kemp after he proposed at a ski resort in Courchevel, France, in February She told Hello! how the pair have planned a ceremony in Majorca next June, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, and that there will be 15 bridesmaids - including her sister-in-law Michelle Keegan, actress wife of her brother Mark. Mark himself will act as master of ceremonies. 'I've been dreaming of a fairytale wedding since I was little, when I used to dress up in my mum's net curtains,' she said. 'Now I can't wait for the moment I've been imagining for so long, walking up the aisle in a fabulous dress to marry Will.' Of the location, she revealed: 'We've enjoyed some amazing holidays here and I practically grew up on the island because it's where my family has a second home.' When and where? She told Hello! how the pair have planned a ceremony in Majorca next June, overlooking the Mediterranean sea William proposed to Jess at a ski resort in Courchevel, France, in February. 'At breakfast one morning he told me he was feeling unwell and returned to our room. When I went to find him, the door was ajar and there was music playing. 'There were candles lining the hallway, red rose petals scattered across the floor, flowers, red heart-shaped balloons and two glasses of champagne waiting. I was stunned. 'Then Will called me out on to the balcony. With the snowy mountains behind him, he went down on one knee and asked me to marry him.' Overdoing it? There will be 15 bridesmaids - including her sister-in-law Michelle Keegan, actress wife of her brother Mark Enough is enough! Jess admitted when she turned 32 she was ready to give up on finding love 'after kissing a lot of frogs' Jess admitted when she turned 32 she was ready to give up on finding love. 'After kissing a lot of frogs, I reached 32 and thought: It's not going to happen. I felt lonely and sad and was panicking about my body clock. 'Mark was encouraging. He told me: "Someone with a heart like yours will never be alone, Jess."' Read the full interview in this week's issue of Hello! out now. Dominic West has revealed that he was left homeless and without money for a night in London. The British actor, 50, was speaking ahead of the release of Netflix series Stateless, which sees him play a suave cult leader who preys on the vulnerable. He told RadioTimes.com that the resonance of the plot is 'people's need for belonging' before admitting it was all too easy to fall through the cracks. Candid: Dominic West, 50, has revealed that he was left homeless and without money for a night in London Dominic, who is best known for his roles in The Wire and The Affair, said: 'What's so striking is how close we all are to this. 'I haven't experienced being stateless politically, but I've been without money I've been homeless for a night in London and without money.' The star did not elaborate on the specifics but admitted that the brief experience gave him a sense of what it was like to be one of the disenfranchised. He added: 'It was astonishing how quickly you become invisible, and how quickly you become reviled and how quickly you realise that all you've got to appeal to anyone is a common humanity. Role: The British actor was speaking ahead of the release of Netflix series Stateless which sees him play a suave cult leader who preys on the vulnerable 'And that's just not having money, never mind being a refugee or escaping a regime.' Last month Netflix released the first trailer for Stateless which focuses on four strangers, whose lives begin to intertwine at an immigration detention centre. The four characters are a flight attendant fleeing a cult, an Afghan refugee fleeing persecution, a young Australian father escaping his job and a bureaucrat caught-up in a national scandal. When their lives collide, they are pushed to the absolute brink of their sanity, and surprising connections begin to form. Stars: Last month Netflix released the first trailer for Stateless which focuses on four strangers, whose lives begin to intertwine at an immigration detention centre Yvonna Strahovski stars as Sofie, a flight attendant who is detained in the immigrant detention centre while fleeing a cult run by Gordon (Dominic West) and Pat (Cate Blanchett). Sofie is pushed to the brink while held in the centre in the middle of the Australian desert and as she searches for a way out, many look to her to bring light to the situation. 'People will be very interested in you. They will want to know why someone looks just like them is trapped in a place like this,' an activist tells her. The cult is tight lipped about her escape as her families searches to find her while she is being held by the government. From one cage to another: Yvonna Strahovski stars as Sofie, a flight attendant who is detained in the immigrant detention centre while fleeing a cult run by Gordon (Dominic West) and Pat (Blanchett) Stranded: Sofie is pushed to the brink while held in the centre in the middle of the Australian desert and as she searches for a way out, many look to her to bring light to the situation Blanchett makes just a few second appearance in the trailer while standing by West's side. Life in the detention facility is grim, many of those held are immigrants from the Middle East, believing the reason they are held is because they are shown as 'terrorists,' and are shown to be beaten by guards. 'Australia's detention regime is a reflection of our highly developed migration system. Enabling us to determine the identity of asylum seekers and the legitimacy of their claims for protection,' one character says in voice over, speaking of why the system was created. Another says: 'people are dying, families are being destroyed.' What it should do: 'Australia's detention regime is a reflection of our highly developed migration system,' one character says in voice over, speaking of why the system was created Netflix sealed the rights to the series before the Berlin International Film festival, where the six-part series premiered in February. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show was inspired by Cornelia Rau who was German and a permanent resident in Australia when Rau was unlawfully detained in 2004. 'The issues addressed in the series have universal resonance but have been cloaked in silence and muddied by fear and misinformation,' Blanchett and her co-creators Elise McCredie and Tony Ayres said in a statement. 'Our hope is that Stateless will generate a global conversation around our systems of border protection and how our humanity has been affected by them.' Stateless is streaming on Netflix July 8. If husband Kanye West has his wish, she is in the running of becoming The First Lady in four-months time. But Kim Kardashian's thoughts are currently more focused on her hair color. The 39-year-old beauty took to social media on Monday to reveal she was wanted to trade in her new raven tresses for her natural dark shade. Natural: Kim Kardashian said she was thinking of going back to her dark tresses when she posted a throwback photo on social media on Monday morning 'Found this pic in my phone, I think Im going back dark!' she captioned. Kim sported a tiny white namesake crop top that drew attention to her small and tiny waist. She teamed the look with a pair of grey joggers and some socks for the mirror selfie. Personalized: Kim sported a tiny white namesake crop top that drew attention to her small and tiny waist New look: Kim Kardashian matched her latest outfit to her new hair color in a series of snaps posted to Instagram on Sunday Kim's long dark tresses were styled out and draping over her petite physique. The mom-of-four's glam was heavy with attention on a smokey eye, contoured cheekbones and nude plump pout. Her dark hair mirror selfie comes after she took to the social media platform on Sunday to share a fiery red hot look. Kim donned a fire red three piece set that featured a one sleeve crop top, teamed with matching leather pants and a skirt fixture over the pants. She teamed the look with white snakeskin boots, and dark oval sunglasses. As she posed in a concrete staircase, her new hair perfectly matched the outfit. Set: Kim donned a fire red three piece set that featured a one sleeve crop top, teamed with matching leather pants and a skirt fixture over the pants Showing off multiple angles of her outfit, she went from posing standing and straight on to the camera, to sitting. Last week she debuted the new hair color when posting pictures from her sister Khloe Kardashian's birthday party. Chatting to fans in a video on her stories she revealed the new color isn't one of the many wigs she often dons. 'It's mine, I dyed it,' Kim said as she chatted with someone about her new 'do. She tried out an eerie blue eye filter in the first video, before trying out a lighter shade of brown than usual for a piercing stare. Kim's posts come after she appeared to endorse her husband's claim he was running for US President on Saturday. The reality TV star retweeted the 43-year-old rapper's statement he was throwing his hat in the electoral ring, along with her own addition to the message. A thousand words: Wife Kim had little to say immediately after Kanye's announcement he would run for US President, but showed her support by tweeting an American Flag emoji in response Kim simply tweeted an emoji of the United States flag in her July 4th message. The mother-of-four had previously claimed she'd warned her Gold Digger rapper husband off entering politics. In September 2016, Kim told Wonderland, 'Look at all the awful things theyre doing to Melania [Trump], putting up the naked photos [of her] Ill say to Kanye: "Babe, you know the kind of photos theyd put up of me!" Haha.' Kanye announced on Saturday he is running for president of the United States, just four months ahead of election day on November 3. The 21-time Grammy winner celebrated Independence Day with the announcement on Twitter, which was met with mixed reactions and skepticism. No way Ye: The mother-of-four had previously claimed she'd warned her Gold Digger rapper husband off entering politics (pictured November 2019) 'We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION', he tweeted on Saturday. The rapper has sparked speculation over the years that he would potentially enter the presidential race one day, most recently in November, when he said he planned to run in 2024. It is unclear if he has filed any official paperwork to appear on state election ballots this year. While there is no official deadline to enter the presidential race, candidates must meet certain filing requirements under Ballot Access Laws that vary by state. The deadline to add independent candidates to the ballot has not yet passed in many states, including California. Former child star and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce has announced his plans to run for president in the 2020 election. Following in the footsteps of rapper Kanye West's shock announcement, Pierce, 39, has also made the surprise jump into the political race, hoping to become the 46th president of the United States. According to his statement, Pierce - now an entrepreneur known for his work in the cryptocurrency industry - is promising to use technology to 'enhance institutions and improve lives.' Late entry: Brock Pierce pictured above in his newly-released video announcing his plans to run for president in the 2020 election However, like Kanye West, it seems Pierce's bid could be facing failure as he may have already missed key deadlines to get on the ballot in November. 'I've spent my life creating great things from nothing and I can help others do the same,' Pierce said in a video released over the weekend. 'Entrepreneurs are essential to the rebuilding of this nation that we love, and I'm running in this race because I know that together we can help build a pathway towards the rebirth of the America we love so much.' Star campain: As a child actor, Pierce (pictured above in 2016) starred in in Disney films The Mighty Ducks (1992), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994), and First Kid (1996). Forbes report that Pierce's net worth was estimated to be between $700 million and $1 billion in early 2018, and funds a number of cryptocurrency companies. Pierce - who currently lives in Puerto Rico - is promising a stimulus check overhaul, after the IRS this year sent out around 160 million checks in the U.S., part of Donald Trump's $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. However, he has not yet released any details of a specific plan, simply telling his Twitter followers to 'stay tuned.' Fame: Pierce, pictured playing the teenage son of a sitting president in Disney movie First Kid (1996), alongside actor Sinbad, who played a Secret Service agent protecting his character Born in Minnesota, Pierce first found fame as a child actor, starring in in Disney films The Mighty Ducks (1992), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994). He also once starred as the teenage son of a sitting president in First Kid (1996), alongside actor Sinbad, who played a Secret Service agent protecting Pierce's character. He is no stranger to controversy, which could certainly hinder his chances of a smooth campaign trail. Surprise entry: Former child star and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce (above in 2017 at the Sime Awards, Sweden) has announced plans to run for president in the 2020 election In 2014, Pierce denied allegations made against him by three ex-employees claiming he gave them drugs and asked for sex when they were minors. Although it is unclear where Pierce is at in his campaign preparation, he will need to move quickly in order to avoid losing out on states' deadlines to get on the ballot, which are coming up this month. However, if Pierce does make the ballot in November, he will be likely up against Republican President Donald Trump, and former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden. Sofia Richie modeled one of ex-boyfriend Scott Disick's hoodies from his clothing line as she hung out at the beach on Sunday. The 21-year-old beauty posed on the sand for the sexy shot wearing a cow print bikini and a tie-dye hoodie from Scott's Talentless clothing range. It comes just three weeks after Scott's ex Kourtney Kardashian wore his flannel shirt on a family trip to Wyoming with the father of her three children. Ex-factor: Sofia Richie posed in one of Scott's Talentless hoodies in a sexy beach snap from Sunday, just weeks after Kourtney wore her ex's flannel 'Hoodies at the beach' Sofia captioned the snap which showed her kneeling in the sand, sunglasses on and pulling up her sweater to show of her stomach. Sofia split with Scott, 37, in May after almost three years together but they were spotted together celebrating Fourth of July on Saturday. The pair - who first began dating in 2017 - grabbed lunch at Nobu restaurant in Malibu, before heading to a pal's low key July 4th bash on the beach. 'They seemed happy together but more friendly than romantic,' a source told People of their get together. When they first split, a source told the website that Sofia and Scott were taking a break 'so Scott can just focus on the most important things in his life - his health and his kids. 'Scott is working on his issues. Sofia is hanging out with friends,' the source explained. 'It was Sofia's choice to take a break.' Looks familiar: Kourtney, 41, wore Scott's flannel in this snap from their family trip to Wyoming last month Flirty: Shortly after Scott, 37, commented on another photo of Kourtney 'cute shirt' The break-up happened after Scott's brief rehab stint at a Colorado treatment facility in late April. Last month, a source told People that Sofia was 'still processing the breakup' and having a hard time doing so. 'It was a serious relationship, not some fling, and she was there for Scott through some tough times. It hurts to see all the speculation about Scott and Kourtney, but she is so young and gets so much attention. She'll be totally fine,' the insider explained. Sofia and Scott started dating in the fall of 2017 about two years after he split with reality star Kourtney, 41. Recently, Scott, Kourtney, and their three children, sons Reign, five, and Mason, 10, and seven-year-old daughter Penelope, have been spending a lot of quality time together, taking a family trip to Utah for Scott's birthday in May and most recently a trip to Wyoming together. Reconciliation? Sofia and Scott - pictured in February - started dating in the fall of 2017. They spent Saturday together in Malibu celebrating Fourth of July with friends Close: Recently, Scott, Kourtney, and their three children have been spending a lot of quality time together, taking a family trip to Utah for Scott's birthday in May and most recently a trip to Wyoming together Kourtney raised eyebrows when she posed for a snap wearing what appeared to be Scott's flannel shirt and posted it to Instagram during the getaway where she cuddled with a lamb at Kim and Kanye's ranch. Then in a flirty exchange between the former couple, Kourtney posted a photo of herself wearing a similar yellow plaid shirt and Scott commented 'cute shirt' under the snap. Scott and Kourtney dated on and off from 2006 to 2015 and according to an Us Weekly source, hell always have feelings for her. 'Scott is always going to be in love with Kourtney,' 'And thats something Sofia has had to face since even before she got serious with him.' they added. She managed to achieve an incredible three stone weight loss during the UK's months-long nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. And Gemma Collins continued to show off her new look on Monday, when she shared shots of herself modelling clothes from her new plus-size lounge wear collection with In The Style. The TOWIE star, 39, looked sensational as she posed in a selection of colourful pyjamas and loungewear for the glam In The Style x Gemma Collins summer lounge collection shoot. Model behaviour: Gemma Collins continued to show off her slender new frame on Monday, while modelling clothes from her new plus size lounge wear collection with In The Style In one image, the TV personality was seen pouting as she posed up a storm in a pink leopard-print gown, under which she wore matching bottoms. She also posed in a tropical-themed blue and green two-piece, while a third shot saw her lighting up the screen in a colourful patterned sundress. The shots, taken at Gemma's Essex home. showed her sporting impeccably-applied makeup, while her blonde locks were styled in glossy waves. Sensational: The TOWIE star, 39, looked sensational as she posed in a selection of colourful pyjamas and loungewear for the glam In The Style x Gemma Collins collection Incredble: She managed to achieve an incredible three stone weight loss during the UK's nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. Pictured left in January After the huge success of her MEM-AY collection in the spring, fashion brand In The Style has teamed up with the TOWIE favourite for the collection of plus size summer pyjama and loungewear sets, with prices starting at 6 and available in sizes 16-28, Gemma shared the images on her Instagram account on Monday night, writing: 'THE GC IS BACK BABYYYY... Ive designed a plus size exclusive collection with @inthestylecurve during lockdown and it is the most amazing PJs / loungey range you have ever seen.' Gemma took the initiative to embark on her weight loss journey soon after lockdown was ordered in late March, taking to her bicycle to improve her fitness levels. Longing in style: The shots, taken at Gemma's Essex home. showed her modelling the colourful new collection, which is available in sizes 16-28 She said on her BBC Sounds podcast: 'It's been really interesting, because when I first took the bike out I could only do flat surfaces. 'Literally as the weeks have been going on, I'm now in seven gears on one side and three on the other. I've still not worked out what they mean.' Gemma might not be around her Essex stomping ground for much longer, as it's been claimed that she is vying for a spot on Dancing With The Stars in the US. Sources claim the star has vowed to crack America by taking to the dancefloor after being supposedly snubbed by Strictly Come Dancing for being too 'low-calibre'. A source told The Sun that Gemma is determined to crack the US after impressing fans with her cameo on an Orange Is The New Black promo. At home with Gemma: The TOWIE favourite looked gorgeous in the bold prints which matched her colourful home style perfectly A source said: 'Gemma would love to have another crack at the US. The Americans loved her when she made a cameo on Orange is the New Black in 2018, and bookers on Dancing with the Stars have shown an interest. 'Gemma's schedule is always jam-packed and it's difficult for this year but the team in the US are keen to secure her for 2021.' Dancing With The Stars is expected to return to US screens later this year, though there are expected to be changes to the show's format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in 2017, Gemma was left unimpressed when Strictly judge Craig Revel-Horwood implied she was too 'low calibre' to take part in the show. In The Style x Gemma Collins summer lounge collection is available in sizes 16-28, launching Tuesday 7th July at 6pm exclusively on the In The Style app. Actually wanted Australia to finish until the end of July, all of the Lockdown measures. But now "Down Under" have to fight "" with a resurgence of infections. The focus of the spread in Victoria with its capital Melbourne, where on Monday 127 new cases registered the highest growth in the state since the beginning of the pandemic had been. Across the country there were 140 cases. Because of this development, are now closed again for the first time domestic borders. Till Fahnders Political correspondent for Southeast Asia. F. A. Z. Twitter it was announced on Monday that the state of New South Wales from Wednesday to leave no more people from the neighbouring state of Victoria in. Only in exceptional cases flights and train journeys are allowed, as the Prime Minister of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian announced. Residents from New South Wales, the return from Victoria, will need for two weeks in quarantine. Entire city in Lockdown? On the closure of the Border had agreed Berejiklian, the Prime Minister of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, and the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison. The increase in cases in Victoria for the authorities great concern, because it goes back to infections in the population and not, as in the other Federal States returning from abroad travellers. So Victoria had closed already on Saturday, nine blocks of flats with social housing under a "hard Lockdown" after a strong increase in infections was found. According to Minister Andrews blocks of life in this living, more than 3000 people. The measure will initially apply to five days, but it could be two weeks extended. In this time, all residents will be tested on Covid-19. Andrews rejected the representation of his government have lost in the fight against the Virus, the control. He did not rule out that the entire metropolis of Melbourne could be sent with almost five million inhabitants in the Lockdown, granted, but such speculation for the time being a rejection. A representatives of the authorities, according to the tight living conditions in the social housing blocks on the one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Virus. There is growing concern that there could have been hundreds of residents infected, even if they showed no symptoms. The Prime Minister spoke of the biggest challenge since the beginning of the pandemic in the state. "It is also a group of people among whom some of the most in Victoria belong to the most vulnerable," said Andrews. The social buildings are in the suburbs of Flemington and North Melbourne. The local residents, including many former refugees, were of the Lockdown have been surprised. For criticism of the massive police presence, with the measure now will be set caused. Some residents reported that they felt locked up like in a prison. In addition, dam residents ' values, they would have had no time to provide themselves with food. The authorities distributed food packages reached some of the families seem to be delayed. Also resulted in criticism that the residential blocks were preemptively closed, in which so far no infections were identified. A local resident described this to the Australian press as a "discriminatory". Updated Date: 06 July 2020, 18:20 The air photos from Botswana are disturbing. They show dozens of elephant carcasses. According to information from the species conservation organization Elephants Without Borders (EWB), which regularly takes flights of Control, and the recordings made are in the country in southern Africa, since may at least 356 elephants mysteriously died: 169 were at 25. May further 187 discovered, on 14. June. Most of the animals died on the river Okavango, the Delta is considered to be one of the biggest tourist attractions of Africa and its surroundings, about every tenth of a Botswana elephant has its home. Thilo Thielke Free Rapporteur for Africa, based in Cape town. F. A. Z. Twitter In a confidential report, the EWB-in-chief Michael Case for the government in Gaborone created were wrong around, it means some animals had been observed, how it "feeds on weak, lethargic and out". "Some of the elephants seemed disoriented, had trouble to go to, showed signs of a partial paralysis." An elephant was, for example, unable to change its direction, "although he had been encouraged by other members of the herd to this". Quick clarification was needed, calls for EWB. The conservationists, the reaction of the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi is much too slow. Meanwhile, have confirmed the authorities of the death of 275 elephant. For analysis, samples were taken to laboratories in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Canada sent, informed the Ministry for the protection of species and tourism. The carcasses, which were in the vicinity of populated areas, would be now disposed of. poachers are not suspected The death of the animals authorities, such as the types of guards in front of a mystery. Apparently, the giants of the savanna were not respected, neither by professional poachers slaughtered, the target is usually on the ivory, still hungry Locals did to the animals amicably. again and again the country people in the former betschuana against the elephants, because of this intrusion in settlements and fields to destroy. In Botswana at least 130,000 elephants, more than a third of Loxodonta africana life. In particular, small-scale farmers hunt the huge animals that devour each day, about 200 kg of foliage and 70 to 150 litres of water to drink. In the world economic crisis, in which many countries were overthrown by the lock downs, threaten in large Parts of Africa also famines. Many people will be forced to feed on wild game meat from national parks. But the giants of the savanna exhibit no external injuries, and even the Tusks were not removed. The ivory will only be brought in the next days of Rangers in safety. Updated Date: 06 July 2020, 13:19 The Dalai Lama (Lhamo Thondup) has spent nearly 61 years of his life in India. His struggle for the Tibetan cause and the ongoing tensions with China provides a backdrop to reflect on the strategic issues that had set the stage for the 1962 Indo-China War. These were (i) refuge to him by India; (ii) CIAs efforts to fan an armed insurgency in Tibet after the Korean War; (iii) the rift between China and former USSR; (iv) USSRs close relations with India; and (v) Indian influence in Tibet. On April 2, 1959, The New China News Agency broadcasting on Peking Radio reported that ...the Dalai Lama, under duress by rebellious elements, has entered India on March 31. Indian border police authorities have left Tawang to meet him. Indian diplomatic sources, speaking anonymously, added that he may be granted asylum by the Indian government. Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lamas elder brother, also reached the North-East Frontier Agency of Assam (present-day Arunachal Pradesh) to meet him. Incidentally, Gyalo Thondup had lived under the personal care of Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang (KMT) often referred to as the Chinese Nationalist Party and was married to the daughter of a KMT general. The Dalai Lama (sixth from left) rests with members of an escape party who protected him during his flight to exile across the Himalayas in March 1959. (Photo: Associated Press) After being founded in 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) quickly renounced all prior foreign agreements as unequal treaties imposed upon it during the "century of humiliation" and demanded re-negotiation of all borders including the McMahon Line. In November 1950, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Tibet, after which the Dalai Lama (15 years old then) was appointed head of state in Tibet. In May 1951, however, the Tibetan leaders were forced to sign the "Seventeen Point Agreement and renounce cultural and religious autonomy. This agreement also allowed the establishment of Chinese civil and military headquarters at Lhasa. The 1955 Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet further excluded Dalai Lama's government and instituted a system of Communist administration. Tensions continued to simmer amidst Chinese misrule. As the Khampa rebellion (The 1959 Tibetan uprising) spread, the fighting triggered a flight of Tibetans, with about a lakh of them landing up in Nepal and in a refugee camp in Kalimpong (near Darjeeling). In March 1959, a full-scale uprising broke out in Lhasa. Thousands died, and the Dalai Lama, his ministers and tens of thousands of others fled to India. On reaching Lhuntse Dzong on March 26, 1959, the Dalai Lama announced the re-establishment of the interim government of Tibet and sought refuge in India. On March 31, he entered India through the Indian post of Chuthangmu (north of Tawang). In Tibet, the Chinese repudiated the Seventeen Point Agreement and appointed the Pancham Lama as the chairman of a committee to rule Tibet. US Factor in the 1962 Indo-China War After World War II, the Communist Party of China (CPC) defeated the KMT, gained control of mainland China, established the People's Republic of China in 1949, and forced the KMT/Nationalist leadership to flee to Taiwan. This was followed by the Korean War (June 1950 to July 1953). Initially fought between USSR and South Korea/USA, it soon witnessed three major events. Foremost, the USA deployed its Navy in July 1950 to the Taiwan Strait to protect the KMT government in Taipei (First Taiwan Strait Crisis), at which China abandoned its plans for a reunification invasion of Taiwan. Second, China entered the Korean War after the US forces, after defeating the North Korean Army, reached the Yalu river, the border between North Korea and China. Third, the US agreed to the UN-led armistice after over 54,000 US soldiers died and nearly a lakh soldiers were wounded in this war. KMTs defeat despite major US support, and close ties between the two communist blocs China and USSR led the US to focus on opening a new front against China. Tibet was in throes of post-invasion unrest and from 1951 onwards, the US commenced efforts to exploit the turmoil, even asking the Dalai Lama to flee to India. But with sparse headway, the then-US President Dwight Eisenhower reoriented USs covert activities to push back against Communism. The US National Security Council directive 5412/2 of December 1954, inter-alia, mandated that covert operations shall...create and exploit troublesome relations for International Communism, impair relations between USSR and China...develop underground resistance and facilitate covert and guerrilla operations... The secret 5412-Committee was set up for coordinating the covert operations and it included the Tibet Program. The then-US President Dwight Eisenhower reoriented USs covert activities to push back against Communism. (Photo: Associated Press) With Thubten Jigme Norbu, Dalai Lamas elder brother, in touch in Washington and his other brother Gyalo Thondup establishing contact with the CIA office in Kolkata, covert US operations began to take shape. A telegram dated June 28, 1956, from the US Consul General in Calcutta records the Crown Prince of Sikkim (then a protectorate of India) conveying Dalai Lamas request to the US for weapons to fight the Chinese in Tibet. After the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of others reached India in 1959, the Eisenhower administration expanded its Tibet program. John Greaney, the then-deputy head of the CIAs Tibetan Task Force, was soon overseeing training at Saipan and Camp Hale (Colorado) of Tibetan fighters commissioned by Gyalo Thondup and his deputy Lhamo Tsering, under Operation ST CIRCUS. The fighters were air-dropped into Tibet from an airbase in erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). From 1960, the CIA also began using Mustang in Nepal for launching hit-and-run raids into Tibet. Deterioration in China and USSR relations In USSR, Khrushchev who succeeded Stalin denounced his predecessor in 1956 and began de-Stalinisation after the speech On the Cult of Personality and its Consequences. Mao Zedong, a cult figure, considered himself as the head of Communism and felt upstaged by the reformist Khrushchev. In addition were ideological differences on Marxism-Leninism the USSR was espousing peaceful coexistence with the Western bloc. Mao labelled it as Marxist revisionism and cowardice. July 1958 saw the Beijing-Moscow negotiations on the stationing of the Soviet nuclear-armed submarines at joint Sino-Soviet naval bases in China break down after Mao accused Khrushchev of trying to establish control over Chinas coast. Mao Zedong (L) considered himself as the head of Communism and felt upstaged by the reformist Khrushchev (R). (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) In August 1958, China attacked the Taiwanese islands of Kinmen and Matsu, leading to the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. The US responded by staging its Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Straits and arming Taiwan. The USSR was both angered and surprised by Chinas action. Angered because the Chinese action forced the USSR to revise its policy of peaceful coexistence to include regional wars. Surprised because the Chinese leadership had kept this plan secret. Relations between the two nations further deteriorated. There were additional reasons for the deterioration. The primary one was USSRs friendship with India. By 1960, India had received more economic and military assistance than China from USSR. The second was the USSRs neutrality in the Tibet border dispute. And the third was USSRs criticism of Maos Great Leap Forward, which had led to economic distress and the Great Chinese Famine (1958-1961). By 1960, relations between the two nations had reached a point where their respective leaders were trading insults publicly. Internally, the above and other events relegated Mao to a second line of leadership yielding place to pragmatists such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai. However, Mao was soon able to ally with General Lin Biao to regain control over the ruling Communist Party and the 1962 war with one part of that endeavour. The Indo-Sino events Although India had protested Chinas invasion of Tibet in September 1952, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced that the Indian Mission in Lhasa (for India-Tibet relations) would be replaced by a Consulate-General accredited to China. This was a tacit acceptance by India of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet (it was only in 2003 that India explicitly recognised Tibet as a part of China). This was followed by India and China concluding the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (Panchsheel Treaty) in 1954. Indian Prime Minister Nehru (L) and Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China Mao Zedong (R) signed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (Panchsheel Treaty) in 1954. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Things seemed normal until a Chinese newspaper, Kuang-ming Jih-Pao published an account of a road connecting Tibet-Xinjiang through Aksai Chin in October 1957. After this, the Indian government decided to send investigation patrols in the summer of 1958. Of the two patrols sent, one was captured by the PLA and released after 40 days. The second patrol confirmed the existence of this road. The inter-governmental correspondence between India and China on this road was initially cordial. However, that changed after the Dalai Lama was granted asylum by India in 1959. On August 25, the Chinese attacked an Assam Rifles post at Longju (Subansiri) and on August 29, former PM Nehru was finally compelled to inform the Parliament about this road through Indian territory. This was followed by the October 1959 clash in the south of Kongka Pass (Aksai Chin) in which nine Indian policemen were killed. The ensuing months saw many meetings between the two governments, but the differences couldnt be reconciled. Meanwhile, BN Mullik, the then Director of the Intelligence Bureau of India (IB), reported in October 1961 that China had established 61 new posts (seven in Ladakh, 14 opposite the Central Sector, 12 facing Sikkim, three opposite Bhutan and 25 across NEFA). India had two options: either to act on the claims of Aksai Chin being India territory, or do nothing. Thus was conceived the so-called Forward Policy during a high-level meeting under Nehru on November 2, 1961. The governments directive envisaged an initiative for strengthening Indian territorial claims and forestalling further Chinese ingress, albeit without considering the need for requisite military support. Many of the forward posts were air-maintained and there was an absurd assumption that China would not react to this forward staging of troops into areas that it considered disputed. Forward Policy was first applied to the Aksai Chin area and then to NEFA. In addition, there were reports that Mao felt humiliated by the reception and refuge given by India to Dalai Lama and suspected India was covertly working separately with both the USA and USSR to destabilise Tibet. This suspicion was reinforced by the fact that historically it was the Indian cultural and religious influence that spread into Tibet, and prior to 1950, the majority of Tibetan trade was with India. Even today, the Chinese leadership views the overseas Tibetan movement as the single biggest ethnic challenge. To sum up, the broad geopolitical underpinnings of the Cold War, and the bilateral aggravations between China and USSR, and China and India, set the stage for the Sino-Indian armed conflict. On July 10, 1962, around 350 Chinese troops surrounded an Indian post at Chushul and harangued the Gurkha troops to not fight for India. The Gurkha troops, of course, rejected this suggestion. On October 20, 1962, China attacked India even as the world was distracted by the Cuban Missile Crisis. On November 21, 1962, China announced it was declaring a unilateral ceasefire on the Sino-Indian border and beginning December 1, it would withdraw its troops 20 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) existing between the two countries as on November 7, 1959, as also 20 kms north of the so-called McMahon Line. With India not challenging the Chinese assertions, the fighting came to an end. Ex-CIA official and author of JFKs Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA and the Sino-Indian War - Bruce Riedel. Ex-CIA official Bruce Riedel, records in his book JFKs Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA and the Sino-Indian War: For Mao, India was a surrogate for his rivalry with Moscow and Washington. He ostensibly finalised the decision to go to war on October 6, 1962, with his senior generals. He told them that China had defeated Chiang Kai-Shek, Imperial Japan, and the US in Korea and now it was time to impose a fierce and painful blow on India, and expel it from territories that China claimed west of the Johnson Line and in NEFA South of McMahon Line. On October 08, the Chinese Foreign Minister informed the Soviet Ambassador in Beijing of the planned attack on India. However, the USSR, engaged in its own high-stakes gamble in Cuba, did not discourage the Chinese, despite Khrushchevs close relationship with Nehru. Losing territory and suffering casualties, Nehru asked the US and UK for help. This was a momentous request just a decade after US forces reached a ceasefire with Chinese forces in Korea, India was asking the US to join a new war against China. On October 28, 1962, the day before Nehru asked for US military assistance, the US Ambassador in Pakistan, Walter McConaughy, told then Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan that the US and UK would view a Pakistani move against India as a hostile and aggressive action inconsistent with the SEATO and CENTO Treaties. Riedel adds that Maos objectives in the War were to humiliate Nehru who was emerging as a leader of the Third World, and inflict a humbling defeat on India because that would be a setback for two of Maos enemies Khrushchev and Kennedy. Mao also believed that it would demonstrate that the PLA was not an army to be trifled with. After this war, the US lost interest in the Tibet Program and the training of Tibetans in Colorado came to a halt. Thereafter, Tibet met the same fate as the Cubans (Bay of Pigs fiasco) and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in 1989. All three were abandoned by the US. The CIAs involvement, however, gave China an excuse to portray Tibet as a pawn on the chessboard of imperialist cold-war policy and by its own count, allowed it to eliminate about 87,000 Tibetans. In his autobiography, the Dalai Lama states that the CIAs involvement "caused almost more harm to the Tibetans than to the Chinese." Also Read | India-China clash in Galwan: Why it is time for pragmatism In an interview with the Orange County Review shortly before she stepped down, Imhoff spoke happily of the progress made on her watch, while acknowledging that raising funds for Montpelier was a constant challenge, especially as house museums across the country have seen a decline in attendance. Money remains a pressing issue. Young said there were layoffs at Montpelier before his arrival. He is clearly aware that raising funds will be a challenge during the pandemic. But he is quick to credit his staff and board for their role in helping him develop ambitious plans, notably the 10-year rebranding of the Center for the Constitution. Young said he will seek funding for this major initiative, which will sponsor formal programs for teachers and other professionals and host scholars and artists in residence. It will all be in the service of addressing a significant question that will involve an understanding of the Constitution. As Young sees it, the endeavor also will provide a forum for schoolchildren, interns and pretty much anyone interested in thinking through the topic under discussion in a safe place, in a safe format. TRUMP: Biden was asked questions at his so-called Press Conference yesterday where he read the answers from a teleprompter. That means he was given the questions. tweet Wednesday. Biden was asked questions at his so-called Press Conference yesterday where he read the answers from a teleprompter. That means he was given the questions, just like Crooked Hillary. Never have seen this before! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020 THE FACTS: Joe Biden, Trump's Democratic presidential rival, did not read answers off a teleprompter. Nor did the AP, which asked the first question at the briefing, submit questions in advance. Biden used a teleprompter to read prepared remarks that took aim at Trumps handling of the coronavirus, before the questions and answers started, at which point the teleprompter appeared to have been turned off. Biden's campaign gave him a list of news organizations to call on and he answered questions from reporters on that list as well as some he chose spontaneously. Thats not an uncommon practice when officials give news conferences. Varun Chharia, a rising third-year from Loudoun County, has spent the months since the University of Virginia sent students home at his parents house. Because theyre both at risk for complications from COVID-19, Chharia has rarely even left the house. He misses friends, but hasnt really minded being at home, he said many of his classes require watching a lot of movies, and he turned that homework into a family affair. He recently watched the Japanese horror film The Grudge with his parents. Chharia actually hopes to stay with them during the upcoming fall semester, too, as he works to finish his undergraduate degree early. It hasnt been that bad, though its been hard to go out to shoot, said Chharia, who is a film student and hopes to go to Los Angeles after graduation. But then, when we talk about the fall semester I just need to focus on finishing school in a year, so I can move to California. Hes not expecting to know for sure which of his 18 semester credits will be online until mid-July, he said, at which point hell need to decide whether he can spend the semester at home or in Charlottesville. In light of the recent protests and marches taking place around the country, the Darien Police Department has issued several statements in regard to its policies and practices when in contact with the public. To read the documents in their entirety, visit here at Darientimes.com. Where we stand on the Eight That Cant Wait tenants of the Campaign Zero Initiative Darien, Connecticut Police Department FAQs: Additionally, all the Fairfield County chiefs of police plus the states attorneys were recently on a two-hour roundtable discussion hosted by the NAACP. They are working on providing a link to access this when it becomes available. If members of the public have questions concerning police department operations, we will do our absolute best to answer them in a timely fashion with accurate information, Darien Police Chief Don Anderson said. at the July 1 Police Commission meeting. The meeting was held at the Darien Police Department. Resignation of Commissioner Thomas Joyce This was the first meeting of the Police Commission since the resignation of Commissioner Thomas Joyce. For more, read here: Darien Police Commissioner resigns after concerns raised over his tweets We agree with the first selectmans comments that his statements are not reflective of the high standards and ideals of the members of the Police Commission, Darien Police Commissioner Kim Huffard said. Huffard said she and Commissioner Kevin Cunningham still represent a quorum. We will continue to do all the work necessary of the commission while we wait until the Board of Selectmen votes to replace Commissioner Joyce, she said. She then spoke about the operations of the Police Commission, saying its members are appointed by the Board of Selectmen, just like all commissions in town. Additionally, she said all meetings are open to the public and commission members are available to talk with residents between meetings about any issue as well. COVID-19 update Anderson said the coronavirus curve is flattening in town. There has been no spike. We have stayed COVID-19 free for all personnel at the police department, civilian and sworn, Anderson said. Police have been working closely with the Park & Recreation Commission in the event beaches get filled to capacity. We have mechanisms in place to have our variable message board signage out there telling people that the beach is now closed because its at capacity, whether it pertains to parking or the beach itself, he said. Anderson added this will probably be a strong boating season and the department is adjusting its personnel and hours to match that, to ensure there is proper protection. Ballistic vest for K9 Argo The Police Commission is passing the approval of the acceptance of a ballistic vest for K9 Argo to the Board of Selectmen for its review. It is a StreetFighter custom vest. This vest is much lighter than our current vest for K9 Argo, Anderson said. Its designed to be worn all the time, not just when you need to put it on the K9. The vest was given by a nonprofit organization named Bradys Mission thats based in Ohio. Its run by an 11-year-old boy. The organization donates full-shift ballistic and stab-proof vests for canines who need one. The value of the vest is about $1,500. Its a top of the line canine vest, Anderson said. Many other Connecticut towns have received one. K9 Argo is owned by K9 Officer Amanda Hinkley. For more on K9 Argo and Hinkley, read here: Darien police give K9 demonstration The next meeting of the Darien Police Commission is July 15 at Town Hall, in room 206. Watch the Darien Police commission meeting on Darien TV/79. sfox@darientimes.com The Darien Board of Selectmen will be meeting Monday, July 6, at 7 p.m. Two items on the agenda include: Appointment of Brent Hayes to the Police Commission for a term ending 6/30/2022 Discuss and Take Action on Request to Locate COVID -19 Testing Site in Rear of Leroy West Lot COVID-19 precautions Due to ongoing concerns related to COVID-19, public access to Town Hall remains restricted. The meeting of the Board of Selectmen will be broadcast live on Darien TV/79 and can also be streamed through the Towns website at http://www.darienct.gov/content/28025/30216/default.aspx. In addition, the meeting will be available through GoToWebinar, to enable public comment at the appropriate time on the agenda. Members of the public who wish to speak during the Public Comment portion of the meeting must register in advance through GoToWebinar using the link below. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2471315519135000846 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Members of the public may also send comments in via a-mail to DarienBOS@darienct.gov by 5 p.m., Monday. Emailed comments may be read aloud at the discretion of the Board of Selectmen. sfox@darientimes.com 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. While the government is in denial about the spread of virus through community transmission and there is major chaos at the hospital, the doctors treating Covid patients are unsparing in their account of the pathetic state of affairs in hospitals. Dr Taha Mateen, Managing Director of HBS hospital said, "The state's response to Covid has been disappointing as it reflects lack of planning, hasty decision making. As a polity we displayed utter disregard to the weak and vulnerable, a complete lack of insight, a disregard to science and a surrender to superstition, prejudice, and opinion." In the past few weeks, there have been several cases of patients being denied admission in hospitals resulting in death of several patients. The economic fallout of the Lockdown on daily wage-earners, the migrant crisis, the stigma of Covid that led to the denial of fundamental rights to pilots and doctors, and now this crisis in our healthcare, has proven beyond doubt that it's time to rethink and remind ourselves the lessons of compassion and care for each other that we seem to have forgotten. The fact that we spend the least percentage of our GDP on Healthcare, the complete abandonment of health care as a fundamental right of citizens really shows that we don't value each other for just being human. From the last one week, we are seeing a surge in cases in Bangalore. People searching for ICU beds is a daily affair and many have died. And it's only the start! Dr Mateen stated. In response to the government expediting efforts to turn hostels, stadiums and marriage halls into Covid centres, the MD remarked that the authorities should be told that the state needs beds with oxygen and ICU. Our response should have been enhancing our capacity of beds with oxygen. Increase ventilators. Create sensible protocols. We need advanced medicines like Tocluzimab and Remdesivir. We need well trained doctors and nurses in Public sector. We need Ventilators, Bipap ventilators, and HFN Cannulas. With better pay and perks, the corporate world has poached doctors away from public service, he stated. Dr Mateen in a video has requested the doctors to join his hospital as it has 80 beds, ventilators but no doctors to treat patients. The hospital that had 20 nurses and 44 doctors is now left with five doctors. Dr Mateen is in favour of invoking Essential Services and Maintenance Act (ESMA) on healthcare workers to enable patients in getting good care. We need to stop privatization of healthcare and build a British, Swedish or a German-like model for Public healthcare, he said. The state and privately owned hospitals together have only 225 ICU beds available with ventilators. Out of 13,251 active cases in the state, 243 are admitted in ICU's across the state. Meanwhile, it has come to the fore that the Bidadi plant of Bosch India has more than 62 positive Covid cases. Over 182 primary contacts have been put under quarantine and the positive cases have been shifted to designated hospitals in Bengaluru. With regard to the increasing vulnerability of police officials getting affected, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagare Palike (BBMP) special commissioner (solid waste management), Randeep D said that the health officials and ASHA workers are ensuring that nothing happens to them. "Police stations are being sanitised and their health is being checked. It is requested to the public to not to urinate, spit and throw garbage in public places, he said. According to the BBMP Covid war room report, 94% of the area in Bengaluru is under ontainment zone with maximum cases being reported from the West and East zones. Barricades are placed outside the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel after a threat call of a possible terror attack in Mumbai. (Photo- PTI) Mumbai: Mumbai Police has registered an FIR against an unknown person in connection with threat calls made to Taj Hotel and Taj Land Ends, last week. "An FIR has been registered against an unknown person in connection with threat calls made to Taj Hotel and Taj Land Ends," the Mumbai Police said. Last week, security outside Mumbai's two Taj hotels, located in Colaba and Bandra, and the nearby areas was tightened after a bomb threat call was received from Karachi. "Security tightened outside Taj Hotels and nearby areas after a threat call was received from Karachi, Pakistan to blow up the hotels with bombs," said the Mumbai Police. The police had said that the call from Karachi came on June 29. Taj Hotel was one of the venues which were targeted during the 26/11 attacks in 2008 MG road wears a deserted look during strict lockdown imposed by the authorities due to surge in COVID-19 cases, in Bengaluru. PTI photo The spurt in Coronavirus cases continues in Karnataka with the state recording 1,925 fresh positive caseshighest ever single day spike, with Bengaluru alone contributing 1,235 cases. The total tally in Karnataka stood at 23,474. Also, the state witnessed 37 deaths since Saturday evening. A majority of the fresh cases included 1235 from Bengaluru, 147 from Dakshin Kannada, 90 from Ballari, 51 from Vijayapura, while other districts reported less than 50 fresh cases. There were more than 1,300 cases listed under the 'Contact under tracing' category. Since July, there is a spike in this category and from the past two days it has crossed one thousand. While Bengaluru recorded 16 deaths, Bidar witnessed 10 deaths. Criminal cases against hospitals if they deny Covid treatment Medical education minister Dr Sudhakar who visited Jayanagar General Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Chest Hospital and addressed media later warned the private hospitals of stringent action for refusing to treat Covid patients. "No hospital should refuse to admit patients and if any hospital is found denying treatment criminal cases will be registered against them" he said. The Karnataka government has come up with 6 different systems for treatment of Covid patients: To handle the mounting cases, state has come up with 6 different systems for treating Covid patients. "Covid Care Centres, Government Medical Colleges, Private Medical College, Government Hospitals, Corporate Hospitals and home isolation with proper facilities are the 6 different systems for treating Covid patients", the Minister added. Dr. Sudhakar also declared four metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru and said the mortality rate is the lowest in Bengaluru at 1.46%. He attributed the spike in the fresh cases to increased testing and requested citizens not to panic but take precautionary measures. Guidelines regarding the home isolation for people aged 60 years and above will be released soon, he said. Four hundred ambulances will be deployed in Bengaluru, 2 each for every ward, he said. The Sudanese national was to board a repatriation flight for people stranded by the coronavirus pandemic. (Representational image) Hyderabad: A critically ill Sudanese national, hoping to make it back home on a special repatriation flight on Sunday from the Shamshabad airport here, passed away just a little over an hour before boarding her flight. The incident occurred at about 8 am, according to the Shamshabad airport police. The special flight, taking Sudanese nationals stuck in Hyderabad following the COVID-19 lockdown, was scheduled to take off at 9.30 am. Police identified the deceased as Heiba Mohamed Taha Ali, 62, who was in Hyderabad for treatment for cancer over the past few months. She was accompanied by her relative and was to board a chartered Badr Airlines flight to Sudan via Muscat. According to the police, the woman fell unconscious near the boarding gate and was rushed to Apollo Hospital at the airport where the doctors pronounced her brought dead. The woman was brought in a wheelchair to the airport by a relative who was travelling with her. After completing the departure formalities, she was taken to the boarding gate, where she fell from the wheelchair and became unconscious. Though she was rushed to the airport hospital, she had passed away, the police said. The woman suffering from cancer and was in a critical condition, the police added. Her companion, a relative, later boarded the flight and left for Sudan along with 160 others. The political bureau, made up of reporters who would hang around Lutyens corridors, had a separate enclosure all to themselves In 2005, when being interviewed for my first job at a Delhi broadsheet, I was still wallowing in late adolescence. Clark Kent apart, I didnt have any journalistic heroes. Literature graduates have few worldly smarts and even fewer transferrable skills. I was just glad I was being given a chance to write. A pittance, yes, but the salary did help. I could move into a Lajpat Nagar house with my childhood sweetheart. My newsroom stories bored her. Youd just be an extra on All the Presidents Men, she told me when we were breaking up. She was right. I had nothing on anyone. Okay, I had nothing. Im usually not one for nostalgia, but watching Paatal Lok (2020) was a blow of sorts to the head. Memories of Delhi came flooding back. In the shows first scene, police officer Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) offers one of his juniors some insight. Delhi, he tells him, is stratified, divided into three worlds heaven, earth and hell. Heaven gets equated with Lutyens Delhi. Vasant Vihar, Noida and Mehrauli all qualify as earth, while hell is made up of colonies like Outer Yamuna Paar, grimy, grungy areas that Chaudhary patrols. Much as I hate to admit it, my time in Delhi was spent on earth. The architecture of our office was a microcosm of the Delhi Chaudhary described. The political bureau, made up of reporters who would hang around Lutyens corridors, had a separate enclosure all to themselves. The rest of us sub-editors who would struggle with inscrutable copy, feature writers, the Carrie Bradshaws of the capital would start filling the office by two in the afternoon. Wed be curing hangovers with weak machine coffee, devising ways to procrastinate discreetly. There used to be one corner, however, that would always remain empty. I hardly ever saw crime reporters turn up. I must confess I was always felt envious of crime reporters. Theyd file stories from places as far as Ghitroni, Janakpuri and Dallupura. My stories only ever took me back to South Delhi. Id even find routine stories of chain snatchings a thing of wonder. I had arts and culture stories to edit when news of the Nithari murders left our office shocked in 2006. More than outrage, I felt I was missing out. I wanted to get my hands dirty. I wanted to be a real journalist. I wanted to access Delhis netherworld. Nearly 15 years later, Paatal Lok seems to want to offer some comfort. Crime reporters, it shows, are also forced to ask vapid questions. Their nosiness gets reasonable officers suspended. Their hunger for sensational news often impedes investigations. If its representation of journalism was even a touch more convincing, Paatal Lok might well have been an antidote to my FOMO. Sadly, however, the show portrays journalists with such an asinine artificiality, I feel like writing a furious letter to its editor. An adaptation of Tarun Tejpals Story of My Assassins, Paatal Lok is pegged to a particularly dangerous fantasy some journalists have one day theyll be so important that they will become the story themselves. Someone wants to assassinate Sanjeev Mehra (Neeraj Kabi), but that plot fails. For Mehra, editor of a news channel, self-importance is an aphrodisiac, potent enough to conquer fear. A few hours after four killers were to shoot him dead, Mehra is seen in a bar, drinking alone. A young anchor spots him and she is soon eating out of his hands. We used to be heroes, he tells her, ruefully. Mehra has the corner office. His affair with a much younger colleague does, of course, breach professional ethicality, but it is his Mehra himself that sets your teeth on edge first. His stagy English and assumed grandiosity both make you think Kabi is parodying a journalist, not performing one. A lesson I learnt in that Delhi office was that on most days, changing the world was only a fools errand. The world was too comfortable for all that. All I could maybe hope to do was disturb its sufficiency. Mehra would probably balk at such a suggestion, while demanding my resignation while he was at it. In my first year on the job, George Clooney decided to release Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), a film he had directed. Rather than make me want to be its protagonist, the legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, the film made me want to find in my workplace the kind of camaraderie journalists sometimes feel when they look beyond their egos. The lure of bylines and envy of crime reporters can make you forget that journalism is first a collective enterprise. This is something Paatal Lok and my yesteryear girlfriend failed to see. Id have done anything to be an extra on All the Presidents Men. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. The Chinese incursions in Ladakh have once again shown that the stereotype about regional parties that they do not have much interest or concern on issues of foreign policy and national security is by and large true. This is despite the fact that some regional parties project themselves as national like the All India Trinamul Congress, the AIADMK and the Nationalist Congress Party, to cite just a few. BSP supremo Mayawati may like to project herself as a potential prime ministerial candidate but has hardly ever spoken about international issues. There might be some exceptions like the Dravidian parties such as the DMK, which have a firm view on the Sri Lankan Tamil question, Katchthivu island and problems faced by fishermen in the sea near Sri Lanka. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav always believed that there is no bigger danger to India from China, a view publicly voiced by firebrand socialist George Fernandes when he was defence minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government some two decades back. In fact, the Chinese incursions have once again brought to the fore the limitations of regional parties in upholding national issues, despite the fact that 20 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice while defending the motherland. This is because, barring the Shiv Sena, hardly any party thought it fit to pose searching questions to the Narendra Modi government in this hour of national crisis, when a belligerent China under President Xi Jinping is in a tearing hurry to become the worlds biggest superpower. The Shiv Senas stand is no surprise given the fact that it has always sought to project that it is one up on the BJP on matters of national security, more so since Narendra Modi gained centrestage in May 2014. How much it has succeeded or not is a different matter. The only non-BJP chief minister who bluntly told the Prime Minister that India could not remain a passive spectator to what had happened in the Galwan Valley did not belong to any regional party but to the Congress. Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh is also a former Armyman and a military historian. Amid charges and counter-charges between the BJP and the Congress, NCP supremo and former defence minister Sharad Pawar has pitched for leaving it to the experts the job of dealing with China, which is moving strategically. He has also called for the convening of an early session of Parliament to send a message of national unity to Beijing. What has been witnessed in the past 20 days since the Galwan Valley clash is that the regional parties remained content only by underlining that they are backing the beleaguered government, apparently to be in the good books of the powers that be. That this suits the Narendra Modi government just fine is a different matter. But the tragedy is that these regional parties, during uncertain political times, have always attempted to punch above their weight nationally. They have played a role at the Centre in some way or the other since 1996 and had two Prime Ministers H.D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral heading governments supported from outside by the Congress. Ahead of the last Lok Sabha elections held over a year ago, the idea of a Federal Front was floated but had failed to get much traction when the issue of national security became uppermost in the minds of voters in the backdrop of the Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent Indian Air Force strikes in Balakot across the border. The idea of a Federal Front was not only to bring the regional parties together to form a government, but it was also projected as a reply to the centrist focus of national parties, where it was argued that the Union government become stronger at the cost of the state governments. The proponents of the idea had insisted that it was to strengthen the states so that they can progress. At the same time, it would also make the Union stronger. What has happened during the last 40 years is that the Union has strengthened itself so much at the cost of the states and is still doing so. That should come to an end. That was the alternative idea of the Federal Front, it was argued. But the idea was stillborn, apparently amid the conflicting claims, influence and ambitions of the regional leaders, who failed to project a national alternative. In fact, the idea simply failed to take off and remained a pipe dream. The irony is that time and again the regional parties have shown that they like to live in their cocoon, and generally do not like to move out of their comfort zones. Wittingly or unwittingly, they have left the national issues in the domain of the Centre, with the ruling party lording over it. Besides the Shiv Sena and to some extent the Samajwadi Party, hardly any party, besides the Congress, has taken a position on the incursions. The Aam Aadmi Party was not even invited to the all-party meeting. The Congress, rightly or wrongly, did raise some searching questions. The Left parties may be inconsequential, but they did raise hard questions. The job of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy is to oppose, expose and depose. The trend seen since the saffron surge of May 2014 is that most of the regional parties want to be the loyal Opposition. The BJPs politics under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah have made the regional parties wary, despite the fact that the BJP is gradually losing ground as seen in state polls in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and Jharkhand, even after achieving a spectacular comeback at the Centre in May last year. All in all, the regional parties will have to change their style and narrative in the coming years to avert growing marginalisation at the national level, where the Congress has remained a laggard for the last six years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once caustically shown his disdain for any Third Front experiment, insisting that it would turn India into a third-rate nation. The head of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) need not normally require investment banker Warren Buffet to tell him that one cannot produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant. But what Mr Buffet said along with it will be of interest to the pointman of medical research in India: No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. Had he known it, he would not have had to make a hasty retreat after embarking on a journey with an unlikely target to produce a vaccine for pandemic Covid-19 for public health use by August 15, this year. The ICMR chiefs about-turn is welcome but it should be seen as the sign of the times when regulators forget their mandate and play to the gallery where politicians sit. His letter on July 2 asking the 12 hospitals participating in the clinical trial of the vaccine, being produced by a private company, to fast-track the process had shocked the scientific community. They pointed out that the human trials of the inactivated BBV152 or Covaxin, to begin on July 7 by Bharat Biotech along with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology, Pune, will be required to follow certain well-accepted processes and it could take a time between one to two-and a half year to complete them. Every step in it will depend on the data factors such as the adverse effects of vaccine, discrepancies in human body reactions and antibody studies which made the scientists sceptical about the 38-day deadline. It is true that globally accepted fast-track mode allows for elimination of one or two steps which are repetitive. Even such a process should take eight months to a year to complete clinical trials, data testing and checking the accuracy and efficacy of vaccine. Given the stiff resistance and ridicule the directive evoked, the ICMR said the spirit of the letter was to eliminate red tape; and none should quarrel with the research body on it. All Indians would be happy if India comes out first with a vaccine against Covid-19; they would be happier if there is an antidote to bureaucratic delays as well. One may wonder why not the ICMR concentrate on how it updates the treatment protocols of the infection based on latest information available. Reports of the efficacy of the treatment improving come from various parts of the county and the world. A doctor who served in the Dharavi slums in Mumbai which chased the virus out is on record saying patients in intensive care units need augmented supply of oxygen than other patients and hence liquid oxygen cylinders are required. Doctors also talk of successfully experimenting with novel combinations of medicines for patients with different kinds of complications. These are suggestions which need careful assessment and immediate action. The ICMR will do the nation a great service if it works on such nuances instead of initiating unheard of practices in a discipline such as medical research. Some things just take time; please dont rush them. Hyderabad: The Union Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) on Sunday claimed initially that a vaccine for COVID-19 is unlikely to be ready for mass use by 2021. However, the ministry quickly backtracked from this claim, which is in contrast to the assertion of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that it has fast-tracked trials of a vaccine candidate Covaxin, so that it can be ready by August 15. In the earliest version of the press release issued by MoST through the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Dr T.V. Venkateswaran, a scientist at Vigyan Prasar, said: None of these vaccines is unlikely (sic) to be ready for mass use before 2021. Later in the day, however, this line was deleted. There were no notes of update on PIBs website to indicate that the statement had been edited. It is unclear as to why this line was deleted. Careful reading shows that the original statement used a double-negative it used none and unlikely in the same sentence, conveying a confusing meaning. Dr Venkateswaran had emphasised the importance of Indian manufacturers in the effort to develop and produce vaccines. He pointed out that there are more than 140 candidate vaccines in various states of development across the world. Two of the 11 candidates that have entered human trials are Indian Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and ZyCov-D of Zydus Pharma. Indian manufacturers account for 60 per cent of vaccine supplies to Unicef. The vaccine for the novel coronavirus may be developed anywhere in the world. But without Indian manufacturers being involved in the production of required quantities, (the distribution of vaccine) is not going to be feasible, Dr Venkateswaran said. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Overseas or Lateral recruits are military personnel who have gained entry to the Australian Defence Force based on prior experience in foreign defence forces. The ADF overseas lateral recruitment scheme addresses capability shortfalls that cannot otherwise be filled using Australian personnel. Visit the Defence Recruitment website for details and eligibility criteria or see the handbook below for information about the recruitment process. While the ADF will become a strong support base for your family, you should carefully research and plan your move across the world well before you leave. For specific military entitlement information visit the ADF Pay and Conditions website, and become familiar with the myGov website, a single-access portal to access all Australian government services. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is the official source of information regarding moving to and setting in Australia, living and working in Australia. An excellent starting point is Beginning a Life in Australia, a booklet for migrants available to download in English and 37 other languages. Defence Community Organisation provides a range of support services and information for ADF personnel and their families, detailed on this website and in the resources below. Overseas families can also contact us by email or through the all-hours Defence Family Helpline. Biography - Acting Head JSSD Acting Head Joint Support Services Division Brigadier Nicole Longley Brigadier Nicole Longley was born in NSW. She graduated from the Royal Military College - Duntroon in 1993 and commissioned into the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps. During her career, Nicole has served in roles which have primarily focussed on Logistics, Training and Leadership. Having commanded at all levels, her role as Commander of Defences seven Joint Logistic Units was considered a particular privilege. As part of this role she was responsible for the warehousing, maintenance and distribution of Defence Materiel not held by units; additionally she was responsible for developing, negotiating and managing major contracts in support of operations. She particularly enjoyed the benefits and challenges of leading a joint and fully integrated workforce. Although only for a short period she enjoyed the more strategic nature of the role of Deputy Chief of Joint Logistics and the accompanying roles of Director General of Strategic Logistics and Logistic Systems Branches. The need to think broadly and futuristically was both daunting and exciting. She is currently employed as Deputy Head Joint Services Support Division in Joint Capabilities Group this role has continued to broaden her by providing an understanding of another area of Defence. In addition to her primary duties, Nicole also has the honour of being the current Head of Corps for the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps and enjoys being the Chair of the not for profit Board for Relationships Australia, Canberra and Region. Brigadier Longleys operational deployments have been to the Sinai with the Multinational Force and Observers as the Staff Officer Personnel and Postal, and to Afghanistan as the Chief of Staff Headquarters Joint Task Force 633 - Afghanistan. Nicole has received the Force Commanders Commendation for her service in the Sinai, a Silver Commendation for her role as Officer Commanding Supply Company 1st Combat Service Support Battalion, and a Gold Commendation for her work as the Military Assistant to the Chief of Joint Operations. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Strategy and Management, Nicole is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and she is currently undertaking a Senior Executive Masters of Business Administration at Melbourne Business School/Melbourne University. Strategic Outlook Strategic Outlook [ PDF 130KB] PDF 130KB] Australia will have tremendous opportunities for greater prosperity and development over the coming decades, but at the same time will face complex security challenges and greater uncertainty in our strategic environment. Our region, the IndoPacific, is in a period of unprecedented transformation as the distribution of economic and political power shifts to our region. Strategic Drivers Shaping Security Environment to 2035 The 2016 Defence White Paper is underpinned by a comprehensive assessment of Australia's long-term strategic outlook. The White Paper highlights six key drivers that will shape the development of Australias security environment to 2035. First, the relationship between the United States and China, which is likely to be characterised by a mixture of cooperation and competition. The United States will remain the preeminent global military power over the next two decades and will continue to underpin the stability of our region. The world will continue to look to the United States for leadership in global security affairs, and to lead military coalitions that support international security and the rulesbased global order. The growth of Chinas national power, including its military modernisation, means Chinas policies and actions will have a major impact on the stability of the IndoPacific to 2035. A constructive relationship between the United States and China, which the Governments of both countries have publicly committed to, will be central to maintaining security and prosperity in the IndoPacific region into the future. Second, challenges to the stability of the rulesbased global order. Australias security and prosperity relies on a stable, rulesbased global order that supports the resolution of disputes through peaceful means, facilitates free and open trade, and enables unfettered access to the global commons to support economic development. The framework of the rulesbased global order is under increasing pressure and has shown signs of fragility. Rules for the global commons of the high seas, cyberspace and space will continue to be challenged by states and nonstate actors, leading to uncertainty and tension. It is important that the existing rulesbased global order be able to adapt and respond to these challenges. The coercive use of economic or military power can diminish the freedom of countries such as Australia to take independent action in our national interest. Third, the growing threat from terrorism and foreign terrorist fighters to Australias security. Daesh and other terrorist groups will continue to be a threat to Australias security and our interests in a stable international order. There are now more extremists fighting for terrorist causes in more countries than ever before. Conflicts, particularly in Iraq and Syria, will continue to attract foreign terrorist fighters, including from Australia and countries in our region. As these foreign terrorist fighters return from conflicts, the risk of instability and attacks in their home countries will rise. Fourth, state fragility, including within our immediate neighbourhood. The ability of terrorist organisations to operate is supported by state fragility, weak borders and an increasing number of ungoverned spaces through parts of North Africa, subSaharan Africa, the Middle East and Asia including in Libya, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. The South Pacific region will face challenges from slow economic growth, social and governance challenges, population growth and climate change. It is crucial that Australia help support the development of national resilience in the region to reduce the likelihood of instability. Fifth, the increasing pace of military modernisation in our region. Asias defence spending is now greater than Europes. Military modernisation in our region is underpinned by very positive economic transformation. While military modernisation will not be directed against Australia, it will mean that the defence capability edge we have enjoyed in the wider region will diminish. In the next 20 years, half of the worlds submarines and at least half the worlds advanced combat aircraft will be operating in our region. Sixth, increasing security threats in cyberspace and space. The cyber threat to Australia is growing. It represents a real and present risk to the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) warfighting capability, and our national security and economic prosperity both in peacetime and during armed conflict. The White Paper highlights that Australias security and prosperity will continue to be tied directly to the security and stability of our region and the maintenance of a rulesbased global order. The Government is building the highly capable force we need to protect our security and prosperity and respond to strategic challenges over the coming decades delivering a future ADF that is potent, agile and ready to respond wherever our interests are engaged. The Government has directed that Defence adopt a more active role in shaping Australias security environment, including through increased international defence engagement. An ADF with higher levels of preparedness will be able to better respond to strategic developments that threaten Australias interests where the Government requires a military response. The Government will continue to strengthen our alliance with the United States and deepen our longstanding network of international defence partnerships so we can better work together to meet common threats and challenges. Regular dialogue and practical defence cooperation will continue to promote our interests in a stable rules-based global order. The Government will maintain current operational commitments overseas and within Australia. We will maintain Australias significant contribution to the United Statesled coalition to disrupt, degrade and ultimately defeat the terrorist threat from Daesh in Iraq and Syria; and our contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization train, advise and assist Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. Dr. Amy Throckmorton, left, associate professor at Drexel University in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, recently delivered 250 face shields to Len Weiser, right, of White Horse Village. Throckmorton and her team at Drexel University use Drexels 3D printing resources and high volume manufacturing techniques to produce the vital PPE for health care workers, such as those at White Horse. featured County government Delco council gives preliminary OK to gift ban Derry, NH (03038) Today Mostly cloudy in the morning then periods of showers later in the day. Thunder possible. High 79F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain showers early with clearing later at night. Low 51F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. The Derry City and Strabane council area has recorded nine COVID-19 deaths in local care homes, the Derry News has learned. New statistics published by NISRA show that these deaths were registered between March 28 and May 1. Six deaths were recorded over a two-week period from April 11 to April 24. Behind each of these deaths there is an individual story and a family grieving their tragic loss. Since May 1 no deaths have been recorded in Derry City and Strabane care homes. The facilities in which these deaths occurred is unknown. Owen Mor Care Centre did however confirm an outbreak at its facility on March 27 when six patients tested positive for the virus. In a statement to the Derry News the care centre confirmed a death on April 1 - believed to be the first Coronavirus death at a care home in the city. Owen Mor then expressed its wish to keep any further developments confidential. Belfast has the highest number of care home deaths with 117. Derry City and Strabane has the third lowest number of care home deaths in the North. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in the council area currently stands at 28. In the past 21 days there has been just one confirmed COVID-19 case and zero in the past fortnight. Latest figures published by NISRA on Friday show that nine deaths involving COVID-19 occurred in the last week, from June 20-26, bringing the total of COVID-19 related deaths to 826. Of this total, 427 (51.7%) took place in hospital, 343 (41.5%) in care homes, eight (1.0%) in hospices and 48 (5.8%) at residential addresses or other locations. The 351 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 79 separate establishments. DELAYED TESTING Testing in care homes has been an issue throughout the crisis with the Commissioner for Older People Eddie Lynch calling for universal testing of all residents and staff. The Department of Health (DoH) said that testing in care homes was facilitated from the earliest opportunity, however, updated guidance wasnt published until April 26. The first Coronavirus death was confirmed in Northern Ireland in mid-March. An Interim Testing Protocol was first circulated on March 17 with an updated version issued on March 28. In line with the Protocol, testing was reserved for a number of priority groups these were unwell patients admitted to hospital, essential health and care workers, and residents in residential or care settings such as care homes or prisons. At its meeting on the April 10, the NI Expert Advisory Group on Testing recommended that testing be extended in care homes to test all symptomatic residents. The DoH also gave appropriate consideration to testing of staff in care homes either as part of the risk assessment of a potential outbreak or incident or if individual staff members are self-isolating because they or a member of their household have symptoms. CONCERN On April 23 Mr Lynch raised concerns that whilst patients leaving hospital were being tested, the results are not always known before they are discharged into nursing homes risking an outbreak. The revised Care Homes guidance published on April 26 mapped out an approach to discharges from hospitals to care homes. This approach was relayed to Health and Social Care Trusts by Permanent Secretary at the Department, Richard Pengelly, on April 24. It is in line with the strategy adopted in England - a country which has registered over 16,000 Coronavirus related deaths in care homes with thousands more deaths suspected to be undiagnosed Coronavirus, according to the Office of National Statistics. Previous guidance advised that nursing and residential homes should work closely with Trusts to facilitate discharges from hospital. In that time from March 17 - April 26, all, or at the very least 8 of the 9 deaths in Derry care homes took place. As of the week ending April 24 there were 158 deaths in care homes across the country and outbreaks in 57 separate establishments. According to the latest Public Health Agency report there have now been 172 outbreaks in NI care homes. Since the beginning of the pandemic the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said you cant fight a virus if you dont know where it is. The WHOs director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was essential to find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of COVID transmission. Every case we find and treat limits the expansion of the disease, he added. INQUIRY The Department of Health and Trusts have been criticised for not protecting care homes in the same way as hospitals. Bereaved families have called for a full public inquiry into the oversight of home during the pandemic. On February 28, 2019, a letter was circulated to all health trusts and authorities informing them that Coronavirus was a notifiable disease. In April it directed the independent health watchdog RQIA to step down its regular inspection programme to minimise the risk of spreading the disease. Nine RQIA Board members would resign in June saying they were not consulted on a number of decisions taken in their name by the Department of Health. That included reducing the number of care home inspections and redeploying senior members of staff such as chief executive Olive Macleod which they felt restricted their ability to protect the most vulnerable. The bias towards attracting inward investment overwhelmingly into Belfast has to change, says Foyle SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin. She was speaking after the latest statistical release showing the massive extent to which new inward investment is located in Belfast, at the expense of all of the rest of Northern Ireland. Over the three financial years 2017/18 to 2019/20, some 2,406 jobs from new inward investors were located in the Belfast City Council area. Only 517 jobs are located, or scheduled for, other parts of Northern Ireland. The location of 428 jobs is not yet determined. This means more than 82% of new jobs with a known location are sited in Belfast, which has 18% of Northern Irelands population. Derry City & Strabane has received 15 jobs in 2019/20 as a result of foreign direct investments from investors who had not previously invested in Northern Ireland, who were supported by Invest NI. Belfast has been given almost 60 times more than NI's second city with 890 jobs in the past year. The focus on Belfast at the expense of all other parts of Northern Ireland is an absolute disgrace and a scandal, said Sinead McLaughlin. Jobs and investment must be spread across all of Northern Ireland. At present they are overwhelmingly skewed towards Belfast. This must change. New investment focus must be on the areas of greatest need, which particularly means the Derry City and Strabane Council area. While I am pleased that Derry has the second highest level of investment from new investors, it is absurd that while this is the area with the highest unemployment and poverty, yet we have received only 15 jobs from new investors in the last year, while Belfast obtained 890. The ministers new Economic Advisory Group must focus on spreading investment and rebalancing our economy. I will keep pushing for this. Sushant Singh Rajput Case: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kangana Ranaut To Be Questioned By Mumbai Police The Sushant Singh Rajput case is getting murkier by the day. There are so many revelations that are coming to the forefront and the furore over nepotism has reached newer heights! A total of 28 people have so far been interrogated by the police including Sushants alleged live-in girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, casting director, Sushants last film Dil Becharas director Mukesh Chhabra, Sushant's house staff, Sandip Ssingh, co-actress Sanjana Sanghi so on and so forth. Director Shekhar Kapur too has been summoned by the cops. And now, moneycontrol.com reported, according to top police officials, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali will been summoned by the Mumbai police. Well, not just him YRF casting director Shanoo Sharma has again been summoned by the cops. This would be Sanjays first visit to the police station with regards to the death case of Sushant Singh Rajput, Shanoo has already been interrogated once. The same sources further revealed, actress Kangana Ranaut too might be summoned to the police station even though she doesnt have any direct connection to the case. There are also reports that Aditya Chopra too will be summoned by the police officials in the matter. Here's your daily punch - According to reports in the regional press and Reuters, a Vietnam-made 5G smartphone is on the way. VinSmart, a subsidiary of Vietnams largest listed company Vingroup, has produced its first 5G smartphones in cooperation with US company Qualcomm. To date, no 5G smartphone has been manufactured or officially distributed in Vietnam. The Vsmart Aris 5G model, as it will be known, is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G module platform from Qualcomm, a wireless technology innovator which describes itself as the driving force behind the development, launch and expansion of 5G. The model also features a quantum security chip, a Super Amoled 6.39" display, 8GB RAM and a 4,000 mAh battery. Vietnamese press reports say that tests carried out by the measurement centre of the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Information and Communications indicated that the network speed of the device was eight times higher than 4G. VinSmart has not yet announced the official price of the Aris 5G, when it will hit the market, or how many units it plans to produce. The company has apparently been focusing on the low-end segment of the market, which, if replicated for the proposed 5G models, could boost adoption of 5G. Vietnam began trialling 5G in May this year. However, the recent pandemic is likely to lead to operators delaying commercial 5G launches as they divert investment towards boosting their 4G capacity. A new homegrown social media super app called Elyments, made by the Art of Living Foundation was launched in India by the Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, and is now available on the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. With the ban of TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, Indian app makers have a vacuum to fill. The popular social media platform has already seen a bunch of homegrown alternatives like Roposo, Chingari and Mitron rack in the downloads as a large number of users are migrating and looking for a new platform to speak their minds and show off their creativity. What is Elyments? Elyments is an all-out social media app that rivals Facebook in terms of features and things you can do with it. Its also completely homegrown, developed by Bangalore-based private IT consultant, Sumeru Software Solutions with more than 1,000 IT employees working on it, on behalf of the Art of Living Foundation. The app essentially takes the popular features from various social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and the likes and combines them to offer an all-in-one platform for people to engage with each other. And it doesnt shy away from admitting where it took its inspiration from. The app has already garnered 5 million downloads. There's no web version of the app, yet. Elyments positions itself as a super-app of sorts. One that can do it all. Its available in more than eight Indian languages and for now, you can make friends, chat with them, browse their content on your feed and even make a call to them. Why is Elyments called a super app? The app is divided into three main sections Hub, Social and Chat. The Hub offers curated news content. You can get a fix of content based on themes like health and lifestyle, fashion, or sports. You can even small games here on the hub. The second section is social, which wasnt working as it should as of writing the article. But based on the headings, there will be a feed, dedicated to the content shared by your friends, and a Discover section which were guessing will surface content that has gone viral. The chat section is where you can see friends who are online, and chat with them, and even make audio calls. Using the app, provided there are enough people on the platform, one can easily garner friends and followers, like in the early days of Facebook. You need a phone number to create an account. But this is not where the buck stops. While Elyments seemingly begins its journey as a Facebook-clone, it harbours an ambition to become Indias WeChat by integrating more elements into the app. At the launch, the Elyments team said they also plan to add more features in the coming weeks. This includes secure payments, video calls, public profiles and also a curated commerce platform. How sound is Elyments privacy policy? On its Twitter feed, Elyments claims hardware-based encryption technology with the data being stored within Indian shores. The app also has a bunch of privacy settings where you can tweak who can see your content and personal info. However, the privacy policy of the app clearly states it collects personal information like date of birth, email address, contacts stored in your phone, professional and educational data, preferences and interest-related data and more. This includes personal data shared voluntarily by the user as well as those that are collected in the background. Among other things, the data is also shared with third parties who may provide services on the app in a revenue-sharing model. However, the privacy policy also states Elyments has strict contracts in place with third parties to prevent them from using the personal data outside of the domain both parties have agreed upon. Update, 8 July 2020: Sony India has shared the following statement with digit. "This page pertains to registration of interest enabling interested customers to register and get regular updates on PS5. Such information can be availed from other channels as well including Sonys newly launched online shopping portal www.shopatSC.com." When you log on to Sonys own website, Amazon or Flipkart, you can enter your email ID and get notified about new information pertaining to the PS5. When the PS4 launched in India there were massive shortages of stock while demand for the console was high. It is possible that Sony is looking to avoid this situation by gaging user interest, understanding the demand and ensuring enough stocks are available. Information circulating the internet suggests that the PS5 will have 6 million units shipped during the launch window. to put things into perspective, in the first three months of launch, Sony said that the PS4 sold more than 5 million units. The price of the PS5 is still unknown and there is no information on when Sony will announce the price of its next-gen console. Original Story: The PS5 is coming to India in late 2020, as per the product listing on Amazon and Flipkart! The PS5 has a launch date of Holiday 2020, globally. There is no confirmed date in any region, but the internet is abuzz, hinting that Sony could reveal the price and a release date for the PS5 on July 13. Coming back to the listing page, it not only shows off the PS5 but the digital edition as well along with the accessories like camera, headset, charging station and media remote control. It is possible that all these could be available at launch. At the bottom of the listing page on Amazon and Flipkart, we have a listing of games that have been announced for the console. We know that Spider-Man: Miles Morales is releasing in 2020 and it has been confirmed by developer Guerilla Games, that Horizon: Forbidden West will launch in 2021. PS5 India Launch Date When Sony launched the PS4, it released in North America on November 15, 2013, EU, November 29, 2013, and Japan on February 22, 2014. The console launched in India in December 2013 and went on sale in January 2014. If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then PS5 will launch in North America and other key markets in November 2020, a week before Black Friday sales in the US to cash in on the holiday buying. It is possible that we could see the same December-January 2020 launch for the console in India. This isnt confirmed, it is just us speculating. Other leaks suggest that Sony could announce the launch date and price of the PS5 on July 13 and considering Sony just gave us a few days heads up before the June event, it is possible we will hear of this event a few days before its intended date. PS5 India Price When Sony showed off the PS5, the one key piece of information the company withheld was the price. Information circulating the internet suggests that the PS5 could cost as much as $500 for the blu-ray drive version and about $450 for the All Digital edition. That translates to Rs 37,300 and Rs 33,500 respectively when directly converted, but this isnt the price we should judge the console on. Look at it this way, the PS4 launched in 2013 for $399. In 2013 $399 was about Rs 24,000 approx. directly converted. But the PS4 launched in India for Rs 39,999. This is after the inclusion of taxes and import duties. So it would be safe to assume that the PS5 will cost close to Rs 50,000 when it launches in India around December 2020. It is good news that Sony is launching the PS5 in India almost at the same time as its international launch. There are those in India that would buy the console via international travel scheduled around the time, but because of the ongoing pandemic, international travel may not be likely for quite some time. Sony could cash in on the demand of the console from dedicated fans and gamers that are saving up for the consoles and will not be able to get it through alternate means. At an event in June 2020, Sony gave us a glimpse into the PS5 design and you can see how it compares to the Xbox Series X design here. On Microsofts front, there is no information on when the Xbox Series X will come to India. Even though the Xbox India website has a page dedicated to the Series X with a Holiday 2020 date, there is no official information on a concrete launch window. You can read more about the Series X here. Camscanner is one of the 59 apps banned over security and privacy concerns, but there are plenty of alternatives available. For the most part, you do not really need a separate app to scan documents. The default camera apps in most phones now have a document scanning feature, and many of them support the features of scanning apps such as QR code reading and adding details to contacts from business cards. The user experience with scanning apps is very tricky, and not perfect. All the apps use some AR components for guiding the user through the scanning process, use AI in various ways, and process the captured image excessively. All of these means that for the end user the experience is never smooth, no matter which camera scanning application is used. Considering the experimental tech used, it might actually be more problematic to scan a document than simply snapping a picture. So when do you need to use these scanning applications? You need one of these if you want to integrate offline docs into your note taking or journaling system. In this case, Evernote is the way to go. Another reason to use camera scanning apps is if you want an easy way to convert physical documents into PDF files using your smartphone. If you need to scan business cards and add them directly to your contacts, go for Evernote or ABYYY. Note that ABYYY is very good at recognising the text, but does not allow you to save the information in its own Cardholder as well as Contacts, without an option to save only in Contacts. Adobe Scan is a great, free version that does allow you to save contact information from Business cards directly to Contacts. If you work a lot with Microsoft Office or Adobe software, then Office Lens and Adobe scan are powerful companion apps for these software. If you want to use an app to capture and edit text, the best option is Google Translate. Let us take a closer look at each of these scanning apps. Adobe Scan Adobe Scan is the software to use if you want to convert documents, forms and photographs into PDF files. There are four modes available in the app, Whiteboard, Form, Document and Business Card. The hero feature of this app is the ability to capture a form, convert it into a PDF document that you can fill and then share digitally, or take a print out and submit. However, considering the wide variety of lines, boxes and fields used in local forms, this feature does not work very well, for say an Indian Learners License application, or the feedback form for Tinkle comics. The form feature also does not work in the horizontal mode. When it does work though, it works very well. When it comes to text, you can annotate in Acrobat, or use the scanned document as every other PDF. If you are using Acrobat Pro, the text gets recognised and formatted, and is editable. When it comes to scanning documents, users can scan multiple pages and add them to a single PDF file, reorder the pages within the app itself. There is a cleanup option that is really helpful in removing blemishes, scratches, creases and even a coffee stain. The app has some other nifty little features for handling documents, for example the ability to print directly from the app to a connected WiFi printer. Now most of the business card canning apps that we have have a number of artificial impediments in the process. They either force you to use their own contact saving software, or go in for a pro subscription. Not Adobe Scan. Here, you can just scan a business card, and save the information to your contacts. This is simple and straightforward, the way it should be. If you want to add contact information from a stack of business cards to your phone, then this is definitely the software that you have to go for. The OCR is accurate, and moreover, you can save all the business cars as PDFs, or images within the app. You can also add the contact information directly to the intelligent assistant on your phone, if you so desire. Adobe Scan: Android | iOS PhotoScan PhotoScan by Google Photos is meant for the sole purpose of scanning photos, and the most important feature is the glare removal. This means that if you have lights around on a glossy print, the AI removes glare from the photo. The process of capturing an image is a little tricky, and there are four guide points that show up confusingly in the middle of the photo instead of the corners. This is by design, as what the app does is combine four images into a single photo. The movement of the phone prevents the final image from capturing the glare, as the portions with the glare are automagically removed. You have to move the smartphone to cover these four circles, and be careful not to pan or tilt while doing so, only move horizontally or vertically. We checked out the app in extremely glossy print, and the glare removal works very well. The app also gets rid of shadows, and is just about the best app around for adding old photos to your smartphone. However, adding each photo is a time consuming process, and if you have to capture a lot of photos, it takes that much more time. For iOS users, bizarrely enough, the app does not let you save directly to the Camera Roll. The cropping is accurate, as is the perspective correction if you do not manage to capture it in a perfectly horizontal position. However, you can export the image to social media apps and instant messaging clients directly from the app. The app can actually be used to scan documents as well, using the same method. This is almost an easter egg, because the app does not clearly say that it can be used for this purpose. To do so, simply turn off the glare removal feature, which is the magic wand icon on the UI. Do note that the app adds a white border, as well as a note saying PhotoScan by Google Photos. This however, can be easily cropped out, and there is no watermark on the photo itself. Microsoft Office Lens Office Lens is a powerful app with OCR technology that has four modes. These are Whiteboard, Document, Photo and Business card. Only the Photo and Business card modes have any UI elements that allow the app to function in horizontal mode, which is typical for most scanner apps. The Photo mode forces you to crop in the horizontal mode as well, but fortunately, the corner guide has a handy little magnifying glass feature like most of these apps, that lets you see exactly where the corner points need to be placed. The photo gets automatically straightened after these corner points are picked. If you really want to use them, the Photos section even has a bunch of filters. Once scanned, you can export the image to the Library, or any of the Microsoft utilities including OneNote, OneDrive, Word and Powerpoint. These options are available for the Document and Whiteboard mode as well. When it comes to Business Cards, the app does not let you automatically add the information to the contacts. Instead, you can save both the contact and the image details in OneNote. Unless you use OneNote for saving all your contact information, this can be problematic. The app is also erratic, and repeatedly gets stuck whenever it has to export any scanned document, image or business card to other apps. Then Office Lens works really well with Word and Powerpoint. If you scan a document, the text gets automatically added to word with the formatting preserved. If you scan a whiteboard or sketches on a notepad for Powerpoint, they get converted into line graphics that can be directly manipulated within Powerpoint. These are both really helpful provided that you are using Microsoft Office regularly. Apart from all of these, Microsoft Lens also allows you to annotate scans, as well as save them to a PDF format. Microsoft Office Lens: Android | iOS TapScanner TapScanner has fewer modes than the other apps here, and only supports QR, Document and Photos. The Document mode though has been designed to scan a lot of documents very quickly and in rapid succession. There are a number of modes that automatically clean up the capture, which is sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast, which is great for scanning documents in a range of lighting conditions. However, the best modes require you to pay, and the default ones are not very good. What makes TapScanner stand out is the extensive features for organising your scans within the application itself. You can sort documents into folders, and even give them tags. Additionally, they can be arranged by the date of scanning. The Pro version also allows for signing the documents digitally, as well as capturing the text using OCR technology. All of these features work well when used, but are not the best. You get a few credits to try out the features when you first install the app. For verifying the OCR, there is a compare mode that lets you see the original scan side by side to the captured text. There are some problems with formatting, which is expected as the line breaks are preserved. There are some extra features in TapScanner not found in the other apps. It lets you specify the quality, and by extension the size of the PDFs created from the scanned documents. You can also export the images as PNG files, and there are quality options for this as well. The pro subscription with unlimited access to all the good features costs 4,199 a year. Evernote When it comes to the clarity of scanned documents using a smartphone app, Evernote is easily the best. You do not even have to press the trigger for scanning the photo, just point the camera at the document, photo or business card and it is automatically scanned. Instead of giving the user options of what the object of the scanning is, such as business card, whiteboard, photo or document, Evernote automatically recognises the type of of object and intelligently uses the information. For example if you point the phone towards a business card, then the contact information is automatically obtained, and the image is stored in a folder called Business Cards. When scanning a document, all the small details of the print are preserved, the threshold for black and white never messes up by adding random noise, the shadows and creases are removed, and handwritten notes just look good. It is also one of the few document scanning apps that supports Post It notes. A weak point is that the camera scanning features are not as expansive as the other apps. Once again, for the clarity of the captured information, Evernote is the best, and the free version works in this sense unlike TapScanner. Evernote has consistently been the best organisation and note taking apps around for a lot of years, and is the best app that allows you to sync digital and physical notes across platforms. As the information is reliably available across platforms, Evernote can just be a bin for all the information that you need to access. You can just put it in Evernote and forget about it, then search for it when you need it. There are really innovative ways to use these features, from keeping track of winning in game items, to take out menus of restaurants, to railway timetables, there are really a number of uses that opens up once you start using evernote. The Evernote app works as well at a distance as it does close up, and it is one of the few scanning apps that does that. So for example if you want to scan a map outside a fort, or the tourist information for a city that you are visiting, or the details on the exhibit card at a museum, or a metro fare chart, then Evernote is really the best app to use. Using Evernote is almost like a good habit that you need to cultivate. If you want to find alternatives to other banned apps, do check out the list of options we have put up for UC Browser, TikTok and ShareIt. [Update: OnePlus has confirmed that it's preparing to launch the OnePlus Nord( 27978 at Tatacliq) in an AR event on July 21 from 7:30 PM IST. Know more about it here.] OnePlus Nord could finally launch on July 21 in India as has been accidentally revealed by Amazon. The popular online shopping platform accidentally went live with the OnePlus Nord launch invite with an image that confirms the launch date to be July 21. The listing was first spotted by TechRadar India and also had an outbound link to the OnePlus website with Nord AR mentioned in the URL which is likely the QR code generator required to join the event. All the listing and the launch invite link have since been taken down but screenshots (1,2) are readily available online. The launch of the upcoming OnePlus Nord is being pegged as the worlds first AR smartphone launch event and the company has been slowly building up the hype train in the heads up to the launch. Its currently unclear as to how OnePlus will pull-off its AR launch event as it requires a stable connection to stream properly. Then again, OnePlus is fairly acquainted with challenges of launching a phone as it did in the past with the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus 3 VR launch events. The images from the Amazon listing have made it online to Twitter after the former took down the page. OnePlus has also revealed the new product packaging for the upcoming affordable smartphone which is a departure from the companys signature red boxes. This time around, the box is black in colour with teal accents in the middle. OnePlus claims that the box is incredibly sturdy. OnePlus Nord leaked specifications OnePlus Nord is rumoured to feature a 6.55-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) AMOLED screen with a 90Hz high-refresh-rate. The leaks have indicated that the phone could have a dual punch-hole cutout in the corner for the selfie camera. The phone is confirmed to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset with an octa-core processor and Adreno 620 GPU. This is paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and there could be more variants as well. The OnePlus Nord could come with a triple camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 64MP camera, a 16MP ultra-wide-camera and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, there is a 32MP primary camera supported by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera for selfies. It is rumoured to be fitted with a 4,300mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging out-of-the-box. As per some rumours, the phone could be priced as much as the original OnePlus One, which launched at around Rs 22,000. OnePlus is scheduled to release the second episode of its documentary on the making of OnePlus Nord on July 7 at 5:30 PM IST where it is expected to reveal more details about the launch. Microsoft has started rolling out the new Chromium-based Edge browser as part of the new Windows 10 update, replacing the existing Edge browser. The new Chromium Edge browser is included in the Windows 10 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, and 2004 versions as it becomes a core component of the Windows 10 operating system. The updated browser rollout isnt without its fair share of controversy. Twitter user Taran Quarantino kicked off the Twitter thread where he highlights how once the new update is installed, users are held hostage for a moment. Rebooting your Windows 10 PC brings up a full-screen prompt to set up the Chromium Edge browser, with no way to close the splash screen. Users must start the setup process, before being given the option to exit. For those who choose to set it up, you can sign in with your Microsoft ID and also import settings and data from other browsers. Additional issues pointed out in the Twitter thread include the fact that an icon for the new browser is pinned to the taskbar, added to the desktop and being greeted with a prompt asking if youd like to set the new Edge browser as default when you open a web link. Unfortunately, the ruckus over these last two points seems more like a toddler tantrum than anything else. For starters, every time a user sets up a brand new Windows 10 PC via a full re-install of the OS or even a factory restore, icons for the Edge browser has always been present in the taskbar and the desktop. Removing them, if they are oh so intrusive, is as simple as a right-click, followed by choosing delete or "unpin from taskbar." Microsoft had already announced that they would be replacing the current version of Edge with the new Chromium-based build as a part of the Windows 10 default suite of apps, so the noise over the matter feels a little unwarranted. The Chrome icon can be found on the desktop and docks of Chromebooks while the Safari icon is prominently placed on macOS and iOS. This is standard practice and singling Microsoft for doing so is just plain wrong. Microsoft's Chromium-based Edge browser rolls out to user backlash The forced splash screen, however, feels wrong on many levels, and this isnt the first time Microsoft has held users hostage. At some point, Microsoft removed the visible option to set up Windows with a non-Microsoft account. The only way to setup Windows without signing into your Microsoft ID is by making sure youre not connected to the internet. However, during the Windows setup process, connecting to a network is presented to users as one of the first things to do, and unwittingly, most of us oblige. Once done, the option for setting up an offline account is removed. Microsoft has also increasingly been forcing Microsoft ID linkage across various Windows 10 components, even if a user doesnt want to do so. For example, if you decide to set up an offline account, there is no way for you to download anything from the Microsoft Store without signing in. Once you sign in, the information is applied system-wide or limited to Microsoft Apps only, an option that is laid out in the disguise of a hyperlink. There is no option to limit the login information to the store only, and therein lies the problem. Regardless of the steps taken by Microsoft to push its browser upon the Windows 10 user-base, the browser does feature significantly improved security and features to go head to head with Google Chrome. Users of Microsofts new browser also report lesser RAM usage in comparison to Google Chrome, something that would be very appealing to users running on systems with 8GB or less RAM. For those interested in test-driving the browser, you don't have to update run Windows Update if you're worried about potential issues. The new browser can be downloaded from Microsoft's website. Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China is set to see a record level of money raised by newly established mutual funds this year as the country's capital market reform facilitates more institutional investments, data showed. By the end of June, the country has issued about 680 new mutual funds this year, raising more than 1.06 trillion yuan (about 150 billion U.S. dollars) in total, market data showed. The half-year amount has already neared the record for whole-year fundraising of 1.43 trillion yuan set last year, showing the enthusiasm among Chinese investors for professionally managed products, analysts said. New equity funds were among the most popular investments, raising more than 710 billion yuan in H1, accounting for 67 percent of the total. The growing popularity of mutual funds comes as individual investors in China are becoming increasingly aware of the potential for higher returns on investments managed by institutions, said Hu Lifeng, an analyst with Galaxy Securities. China has been stepping up reforms in the capital market to foster a healthier, more value-oriented investment style, with a string of measures supporting long-term investments. As people's disposable income increases, Chinese investors will be more willing to diversify their investment portfolios, said Wang Hanfeng, an analyst with CICC. [ Editor: WPY ] Subscriber content preview SEATTLE An apartment building at 909 N. 74th St. sold for a bit over $2.6 million, according to King County records. The seller was an LLC associated with the Kreidler family, which had owned the property for decades. . . . Theres a lot you can do with $28 million. From mega-yachts to sleek mansions to luxe round the world trips, its hard to decide what you would do if that much cash magically appeared in your bank account. For one Qatar Airways passenger (and Australian Frequent Flyer forum moderator), however, that bizarre hypothetical recently became a reality. As Australian Frequent Flyer reports, A forum moderator got the shock of her life recently when she discovered that her available credit card balance was suddenly over $28 million. The reason? Shed just received a refund for a Qatar Airways flight! JessicaTam had booked return Qatar Airways Business class flights from Jakarta to London. But like most flights at the moment, they were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 and a refund was processed, Australian Frequent Flyer reports. So far so normal. JessicaTam posted on Australian Frequent Flyer: Hmmm. I notice that today my QR refund has come through to my credit card.' My account is now showing as $28,179,789 available balance. (The refund was less than $3000.) Can anyone suggest a small country I should purchase? While countries may not be up for grabs, there are more than a few private islands she could have potentially temporarily put down a deposit for. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Travel Blogger | Resebloggare (@readyfortakeoff.se) on Jan 13, 2020 at 10:57am PST The windfall, however, was not to last, with AFF reporting: Somehow, somewhere along the way, it looks like the refund was quoted in Australian Dollars but for the amount in Indonesian Rupiah (a costly mistake, given 1 Australian dollar is worth almost 10,000 rupiah!). Fortunately (for Qatar Airways), either the airline or the bank corrected the error the following day! This may seem like a bizarre amount of money to refund when the ticket only cost around $2,800. But the amount wasnt quite a coincidence. As the first flight on this ticket departed from Indonesia, the fare was originally paid in Indonesian Rupiah. The total airfare, converted into Indonesian Rupiah, was IDR28,179,000. Sad news everyone. My bank has decided to take close on 30 million dollars from my account. More than just a funny story though, this reflects a broader mistake fare issue in the industry: currency conversion errors are actually a frequent cause of mistake fares, which can lead to everything from ridiculously cheap flights being sold by accident on Skyscanner to incidents like the one discussed above (though usually, the margins arent so huge). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lucas Estevam (@estevampelomundo) on Mar 1, 2020 at 7:03am PST Other sources of error fares, AFF reports, include: typos, fuel surcharges being erroneously removed and airfares being filed for the wrong class of travel (which happened recently with Cathay Pacific, with $2,000 first-class flights accidentally being sold). Sometimes airlines honour these, other times they dont. But you can be sure if they stand to lose AU$28 million, the odds are not in your favour. Update: Qatar Airways released a statement on the 7th of July, which clarifies the situation and reads as follows: Qatar Airways is aware of a story regarding the overpayment of a refund. The airline processed the refund correctly and was not involved in the transaction between the bank and the passenger. We are glad to learn that the matter was swiftly corrected. Read Next Harrisonburg, VA (22801) Today Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly in the morning. Thunder possible. High 72F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 47F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. According to Adams, the witness previously stated she would not have spoken with law enforcement regarding her ex-husband responsibility for the Harriss death. When we spoke with the witness earlier this year she said she would testify to her statement given in 1990, but the next day she changed her mind, Adams said. It wasnt until she received a subpoena, and she realized she would have to testify in court, is when she testified to her previous statement. Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker confirmed that Beasley lived in Ozark at the time of the killing and at the time he was arrested. Tracy Harris went missing on March 7, 1990. Her body was discovered a week later in the Choctawhatchee River off County Road 20. An autopsy determined that she died by drowning, and that there was water and sand found in her lungs. It also noted bruising on the side of her neck consistent with strangulation. I am pleased Ms. Harris family can now have closure after all this time, Adams said. The family has wanted justice for some time, and today that have that justice. It is our job to follow the truth, and the arrest of Beasley is a fine example of Jordan following the truth until the end. With regard to the prosecution of Carl Harris, Adams said evidence had piled up against Harris, and that evidence would lead any person to reasonably believe Harris was involved in Tracys murder. 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. Across the nation, at least 19 states have enacted face mask requirements. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} ADPH data shows that Alabama, which reported 44,375 confirmed cases on Monday, an increase of 925 from Sunday, has consistently posted near or above 1,000 new cases during the past two weeks Statewide deaths remain at 984, and 22,082 people are presumed to have recovered from the virus. To date, 453,592 residents have been tested for coronavirus, and 28,481 of the tests have been performed in southeast Alabama counties. COVID-19 cases for other Wiregrass counties include: Pike, 437; Coffee, 381; Covington, 370; Barbour, 353; Dale, 299; and Henry, 136. Of those counties, Barbours risk factor is high while Coffee, Dale, Covington, and Pike are rated as moderate and Henry is a low-risk area. Ratings are based on a number of factors including: a high-risk area has posted a decrease in cases for 1-6 days, a moderate risk is a decrease between 7-13 days, and a low risk is when the countys downward trajectory is 14 or more days (or a total rate of 10% or less over the previous two weeks). Last week, Houston County was rated as moderate and Geneva was low. ADA [ndash] Wanda Lee Brewer, 91, of Ada, Oklahoma passed away Sunday, June 13, 2021, in Ada. Services for Wanda will be held Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 10 a.m. at the Estes-Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, with Bro. Roger Arter officiating. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. For up The judge overseeing the trial of a man accused of murdering Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe has told the jury to use caution when considering the evidence of one witness who was interrupted during her video link testimony by a man who told her: Put a stop to it. You can stop it right now. No more testimony. Mr Justice Michael White told the 13-person jury that Molly Staunton, who gave evidence from her New York apartment over two days last month, was not being independently supervised and the interruption was improper and regrettable and he apologized for it. He explained the circumstances that led to Ms Staunton giving evidence from her home without independent supervision. It was, he said, the original intention that she would travel to Dublin but due to the pandemic the court decided to allow her to give evidence via video link. A request was sent to American authorities to facilitate her but the outbreak in New York was such that no public facilities could be provided. Under normal circumstances he said a witness would not be permitted to give evidence without supervision and Mr Bradys defence raised concerns but the decision was taken to allow her give evidence from her home. She was sent a letter telling her to be on her own, in a quiet room where she would not be interrupted. However, Mr Justice White said, a basic risk assessment was not carried out to ensure she had control over the area. The person who interrupted was, the judge said, a friend or boyfriend who was living with Ms Staunton. He added: The interruption was improper and regrettable and I apologize to you. He said that during his charge at the end of the trial he will issue a warning to them to exercise caution in their evaluation of Ms Stauntons evidence. Aaron Brady (28) from New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe who was then a member of An Garda Siochana on active duty on January 25, 2013 at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Co Louth. Mr Brady has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbing approximately e7,000 in cash and assorted cheques on the same date and at the same location. The jury also heard cross examination today (MON) of Special Agent Mary Ann Wade of Homeland Security in America who again refused to answer questions regarding the immigration status of Daniel Cahill. Mr Cahill, a bartender, has previously told the trial that Aaron Brady admitted to him on three occasions that he shot a garda. He also said that he, Mr Cahill, had overstayed his visa in the US and was attempting to regularize his status having married an American citizen. Special Agent Wade told defence counsel Michael OHiggins SC that her employer will not allow her to give evidence of the immigration status of Mr Cahill or five other witnesses who were interviewed in New York. She said that she could talk about Aaron Bradys immigration status as he is not one of the six witnesses named by her employer. Mr OHiggins asked the witness if she understood why he was asking her questions about the circumstances of Mr Cahills detention on July 25, 2019, the same day he gave his first statement to gardai. She replied: Yes. You are trying to discredit me, I understand that. By asking the same questions over and over. Mr OHiggins asked her about a suspected cannabis plant found under lights in a closet in Mr Cahills house on that day. The witness has previously stated that the plant found did not contain any cannabis and was not considered prosecutable by the local district attorney and no charges were brought. Mr OHiggins asked why, if the plant was not prosecutable, Mr Cahill was put in handcuffs and brought to Yonkers police station. Special Agent Wade said there were also steroids in the house. She said she couldnt remember if she had mentioned the steroids when being cross examined on the same issue last week. She said no prosecution was ever taken against Mr Cahill in relation to the steroids but she did not remember why. It was, she said, not a federal matter and therefore was not going to be her investigation. The witness refused to say whether there was an investigation into Mr Cahills legal status in the US or whether she had a conversation with Mr Cahill about his status prior to him speaking to gardai. Ms Wade has completed her evidence and the trial continues in front of Mr Justice White and the jury of six men and seven women. North Andover, MA (01845) Today Increasing clouds with showers arriving sometime in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 82F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Rain showers early with clearing later at night. Low 52F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Umatilla County saw one of the largest spikes in daily coronavirus cases this week with an average of 44 cases per day, the second most in Oregon, as the countys top health official cited workplace outbreaks spurred by sick employees returning to their jobs as a major contributor. A county commissioner said some people also are refusing to wear masks. With just under 78,000 residents, the ... 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. 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Pipeline owners Dominion and Duke Energy announced Sunday they were cancelling the fossil fuel project due to mounting delays and uncertainty. They said the many legal challenges to the project had driven up the projected costs by almost half, from $4.5 to $5 billion when it was first announced in 2014 to $8 billion according to the most recent estimate. Environmental and community groups, who have long opposed the project on climate, conservation and racial justice grounds, welcomed the news. "If anyone still had questions about whether or not the era of fracked gas was over, this should answer them," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Today is a historic victory for clean water, the climate, public health, and our communities. Duke and Dominion did not decide to cancel the Atlantic Coast Pipeline the people and frontline organizations that led this fight for years forced them into walking away. Today's victory reinforces that united communities are more powerful than the polluting corporations that put profits over our health and future." The utilities' announcement comes a little less than three weeks after the pipeline scored an important legal victory when the Supreme Court ruled that it could pass beneath the Appalachian Trail. But environmental groups at the time pointed out that the project still needed eight other permits. Early this year, a federal court vacated a permit the pipeline needed to build a natural gas compressor station in Union Hill, a historic Black community in Virginia, after community members successfully argued that it would disproportionately harm the health of the mainly African American residents who lived nearby. "We the People have overcome today!" Friends of Buckingham, a community group instrumental to the compressor opposition, tweeted Sunday. "Many many hands, hearts n minds are singing it out!" Courts have also tossed permits over the pipeline's plans to cut a visible scar through the forest as it crosses beneath the Blue Ridge Parkway, its crossing of more than 1,500 streams and rivers in West Virginia and its impact on endangered species like the Indiana bat and Madison cave isopod, Sierra Magazine pointed out in 2019. "All of the ACP's problems are entirely self-inflicted," Greg Buppert, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, told Sierra Magazine at the time. "It was never a good idea to build this pipeline through two national forests, a national park, across the Appalachian Trail, and through the steepest mountains in West Virginia." But the legal climate described by Duke and Dominion in their statement reflects the growing vulnerability of all fossil fuel pipeline projects. The utilities' cited as a major challenge the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Montana cancelling Nationwide Permit 12, a stream-and wetland-crossing permit used by the Army Corps of Engineers to fast-track infrastructure projects. The ruling was prompted by a legal challenge to the Keystone XL pipeline in particular, but it ended up cancelling the permit for all new oil and gas pipeline projects without further review of their impact on endangered species. "We regret that we will be unable to complete the Atlantic Coast Pipeline," Dominion and Duke Energy chairs, presidents, and chief executive officers Thomas F. Farrell, II and Lynn J. Good said in Sunday's statement. "For almost six years we have worked diligently and invested billions of dollars to complete the project and deliver the much-needed infrastructure to our customers and communities. Throughout we have engaged extensively with and incorporated feedback from local communities, labor and industrial leaders, government and permitting agencies, environmental interests and social justice organizations. We express sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts and important contributions made by all who were involved in this essential project. This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States. Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country's energy needs will be significantly challenged." But the pipeline's opponents insist that pipelines like the ACP are not in fact necessary to meet the country's energy needs. "The costly and unneeded Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have threatened waterways and communities across its 600-mile path," Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Gillian Giannetti said in a statement reported by The New York Times. "As they abandon this dirty pipe dream, Dominion and Duke should now pivot to investing more in energy efficiency, wind and solar that's how to provide jobs and a better future for all." 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 All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. They say your college years are the best of your life. But they tend to leave out the part where youre scrounging every dollar for textbooks, food and (if youre lucky) the occasional weekend outing with friends. Money is tight when youre a student, and that financial stress can be compounded by the reality of having to stay on top of your studies. If theres a silver lining, its student discounts. Many companies offer their products and services at a discount to those struggling through lectures, writing research papers and studying for finals. Weve compiled a list of the best deals you can get on useful services, along with some things youll enjoy in your down time. Just keep in mind that most of these discounts require you to prove your status as a student either by signing up with your .edu email address or providing some form of student identification. Shopping Amazon Prime Amazon If youre not piggy-backing off of your parents Amazon Prime account, you can have the subscription for less while youre in school. College students can get Prime Student for $6.50 per month or $60 per year, and it includes the same perks as a standard Prime membership including free two-day shipping, free same-day delivery in select areas, and access to the entire Prime Video library. Amazon also currently offers a six-month free trial, so youll pay even less during your first year. Buy Prime Student at Amazon - $60/year Shipt Shipt is similar to DoorDash but for groceries and household essentials: Pay an annual fee and you can get same-day delivery from numerous stores including Target, Costco and CVS. Shipts student plan costs $50 for the year a 50-percent discount from the normal price and you get the first two weeks free. Just double check that Shipt has stores available in your area before you subscribe. Buy Shipt - $50/year Apple Apple offers some deals to students and educators. This year in particular, Apple is throwing in a free pair of AirPods when you buy select Macs or iPads for college. Youll get AirPods with the regular wired charging case free, or you can upgrade to AirPods with the wireless charging case for $40 more. Alternatively, you can get the AirPods Pro for $90 more. Apple knows how popular AirPods are and it clearly wants to sweeten the deal for students who have been thinking about getting a new computer before heading off to college. The AirPods promotion also includes Apple education pricing on Macs and iPads. There isnt a flat percentage rate across all products; the discounts are device dependent. For example, right now students can get a new MacBook Air starting at $899, which is $100 less than the normal starting price. The 13-inch MacBook Pro also starts off $100 cheaper and the new iPad Pros start at $749, or $50 cheaper than normal. These are decent savings if you must have a brand new Apple product, but those with tighter budgets should also consider Apples refurbishment program. Shop Apples back-to-school promos Samsung Samsung offers up to 10 percent off most of its products to students and educators. The Galaxy manufacturer also has some decent offers like a free pair of Galaxy Buds when you buy a Samsung Chromebook. Wed recommend stretching that 10 percent discount as much as possible by using it on big-ticket items like a Samsung laptop or a Galaxy smartphone if you need one. Otherwise, Samsung has solid accessories like the T5 portable SSD and the Galaxy Watch Active 2. Shop Samsungs back-to-school promos Microsoft Microsoft also provides students and educators with up to 10 percent off its gadgets, including the already affordable Surface Go 2 and the new Surface Headphones 2. And Microsofts online store doesnt only sell Surface devices you can also find Windows PCs from Lenovo, HP, Acer and others there at discounted prices. Shop Microsofts back-to-school promos Streaming Spotify Will Lipman Photography / Spotify Spotify Premiums student plan gives you a lot for only $5 per month. Besides access to millions of songs, it also includes Hulus ad-supported plan and Showtimes ad-free service. Youd spend roughly $27 per month if you paid for all three separately at their full prices, making this student offer one of the best you can get. Buy Spotify Premium Student - $5/month Pandora Pandora also offers students its Premium membership for $5 per month. Pandoras offering doesnt include any additional services, but you do get an ad-free experience, personalized music, unlimited skips and unlimited offline play. Buy Pandora Premium Student- $5/month Apple Music Apple also slashes 50 percent off its Apple Music subscription for students, bringing it down to $5 per month. The offer is available for up to 48 months so you can enjoy the rate for the entirety of your college experience. Whats more, the company bundles Apple TV+ in this student offer, so you can watch Apple originals like The Morning Show and See. Buy Apple Music Student membership - $5/month Tidal Tidal provides student discounts on both of its streaming services: Premium and Hi-Fi. Premium drops to $5 per month, down from $10, while Hi-Fi costs $10 per month, down from $20. Tidal is still often overshadowed by Spotify and Apple Music, but these discounts are a good way to give it a try without spending too much money. Buy Tidal Student starting at $10/month YouTube If youre already spending a lot of time watching YouTube, you may have a better experience with YouTube Premium. The Student plan knocks nearly 50 percent off the price so youll pay $7 per month for ad-free video viewing, background play, video downloads and access to YouTube Premium Music. The latter is YouTubes attempt at a Spotify/Apple Music competitor, but it has a long way to go before it can really hold a candle to those services. However, if you listen to most of your music via YouTube already, Premium could be your one-stop-shop for music and video streaming. Buy YouTube Premium Student - $7/month Audible Audible can be a good way to supplement your Libby audiobook borrowing habit, especially when the student discount costs only $10 per month. Thats $5 less than a regular membership and you get all the perks: one credit per month for you to use on any title in Audibles library plus two Audible Originals for free. The company also has daily deals and book sales regularly that are only available to members, so you can often snag two titles for the price of one or for as low as $2. Buy Audible Student - $10/month Headspace Being a student is stressful even in the best of times, but now its even more difficult to concentrate and find peace. Headspace is just one of many meditation and mindfulness apps available that can help with that, but it stands apart with a great student discount: $10 for the entire year, or $60 less than a normal annual membership. In addition to a large library of meditation lessons and routines to follow, Headspace recently added SleepCasts, a collection of soothing voices reading bedtime stories to help you fall asleep, as well as mindful workout routines. Buy Headspace Student plan - $10/year Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Youre probably using Adobe products if youre studying anything to do with digital art or design. Adobe CC is the industry standard in this space but the entire suite of programs is quite expensive at $53 per month. Thankfully, Adobe has education pricing for students that drops the entire creative suite to $20 per month for the first year. That includes the big programs like Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC along with Lightroom CC, Premiere Pro CC, Adobe XD and more. After your first year, the monthly cost increases to $30 per month. While not ideal, its still more affordable for students than it is for industry professionals. If youre not tied to Adobe programs, you can also consider Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher apps from Serif ($50 each for the Mac or Windows versions), which compete with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Buy Adobe CC for students - $20/month Microsoft 365 Many students have to use Microsoft 365 tools on a regular basis. If your college or university doesnt provide you with an account, you can still get Microsoft 365 for free by taking advantage of the companys student and educator discount. This gives you access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and even Microsoft Teams free of charge, which is a great deal considering an annual subscription costs $100. Get Microsoft 365 Ulysses Spending all day and night writing papers is even more frustrating when you dont have all your writing organized in one place. Ulysses is a popular writing app for mac/iOS that can be used for note taking as well as thesis writing, with features like auto-save and auto-backup, word-count writing goals, markup, plain text support and DropBox integration. Normally, Ulysses costs $40 per year but students can get it for only $11 every six months, or $22 per year. There isnt a direct alternative for Windows users, but you do have options including Scrivener (a one-time student price of $41.65), IA Writer (a $20 one-time price) and FocusWriter (free and open-source). Buy Ulysses - $22/year LastPass Premium Keep all of your school passwords and login information safe (and easily accessible) with a password manager like LastPass Premium. While the password manager doesnt technically have a student discount, it does offer students six months of Premium for free. Premium, which costs $36 annually, adds 1GB of encrypted file storage on top of the features included in LastPass free tier those include password storage and accessibility on all devices, password generator, multi-factor authentication and more. We suggest snagging the free six-month offer and deciding later if you want to continue with Premium or opt for the free tier. Get LastPass Squarespace Student plan Whether youre itching to get a jump-start on your portfolio or just want an online space for to show off your work, Squarespace is a good option as it gives students a 50 percent discount on any of its annual plans. The most affordable option will cost $72 for the year, which is half the normal yearly price of $144. Squarespace is one of many website builders out there, but its particularly popular with creative professionals. Its customizable templates make it easy to build a website and make it look exactly how you want it. Plus, you can upgrade down the line to add things like website analytics, custom JavaScript and CSS and e-commerce. Buy Squarespace starting at $72/year News Will Lipman Photography / The Atlantic Its always been important to keep up with the news, but its never been more important than it is now. Yes, its daunting sometimes and we dont expect (or encourage) you to inhale every breaking-news headline as its published. However, its crucial to know whats going on in the country and the world as a whole. Here are some reputable news organizations that offer student discounts on their monthly or annual subscription plans. The Atlantic: Starts at $25 per year for digital-only access. The New York Times: $4 every four weeks for a base subscription. The Washington Post: $5 every four weeks for digital-only access. The Wall Street Journal: Starting at $1 per month for the Student Digital Pack. China just recently imposed a new national security law on Hong Kong, a region not subject to the countrys restrictive Great Firewall that censors the internet throughout the country. However, legal experts believe the new law gives police the power to order individuals and companies to remove content. But despite the law, it sounds like Facebook isnt immediately going to comply. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebooks WhatsApp will pause any processing of requests for user data from Hong Kong police while it reviews the new regulation. WhatsApp was the first Facebook company to confirm it wouldnt process these government requests, but now it sounds like all of Facebook will hold off on reviewing data requests. A WhatsApp spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the company was looking at the impact of the new law specifically focusing on formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts. Legal experts believe the new law doesnt let Hong Kong fully block services or website, which Chinas notorious Great Firewall does but Facebooks refusal to comply with the law could certainly put the company at odds with the Chinese government. Given that Hong Kong has long lived with an open and free internet, itll be worth seeing if any other companies follow suit with Facebooks refusal to comply with the new regulation. Itll also be significant to see how Chinas responds to Facebooks decision, particularly if other companies join Facebook and push back against the new law. Last year, Apple eventually complied with Chinas demands for it to remove a Hong Kong protest-tracking app, a move that was criticized as the company bowing to governmental pressure. Whether Facebook will do an eventual about-face remains to be seen. Microsoft is getting ready to show off more Xbox Series X titles. Itll hold an Xbox Games Showcase as part of Summer Game Fest on July 23rd at noon Eastern Time. You can watch it on the Xbox website, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. After Microsoft killed off its own streaming platform, Mixer, you can catch the showcase on its old nemesis, Twitch, too. Microsoft has held one Xbox Series X games event so far, which focused on third-party projects. There might be a closer look at first-party games this time around, likely including whats perhaps the consoles biggest launch title, Halo Infinite. With the clock ticking down until the holiday 2020 release window for Xbox Series X, there might be details about the consoles price and availability too. Today the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, has met with the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nassif Hitti, at the Foreign Ministry. Hitti's visit to Rome was the first in Europe since the outbreak of Covid-19 emergency. The meeting made possible to reaffirm in a particularly delicate stage for Lebanon Italy's commitment to stability, safety and prosperity in the country and to review the main issues on the agenda at both bilateral and regional level. First of all, Minister Di Maio confirmed Italian support for the reform process undertaken by Prime Minister Diab's Executive, an essential condition to overcome the current difficulties, to relaunch economy and to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Lebanese people. On the security front, Minister Di Maio recalled the major contribution made by our country to the Lebanese armed and security forces through the MIBIL bilateral training mission and the supply of nonlethal material, in line with the commitments made at the Conferenza Roma II conference in 2018. He also reiterated with determination Italy's commitment to UNIFIL (to which we are contributing with the second largest contingent in terms of manpower and Force Commander Del Col), a mission that continues to play a fundamental role for the stability of the region. Finally, the meeting enabled us to take stock of the main regional dossiers of mutual interest, and in particular the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process and the Syrian crisis. 2020-07-06 Maeci Today the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, has met with the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nassif Hitti, at the Foreign Ministry. Hitti's visit to Rome was the first in Europe since the outbreak of Covid-19 emergency. The meeting made possible to reaffirm in a particularly delicate stage for Lebanon Italy's commitment to stability, safety and prosperity in the country and to review the main issues on the agenda at both bilateral and regional level. First of all, Minister Di Maio confirmed Italian support for the reform process undertaken by Prime Minister Diab's Executive, an essential condition to overcome the current difficulties, to relaunch economy and to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Lebanese people. On the security front, Minister Di Maio recalled the major contribution made by our country to the Lebanese armed and security forces through the MIBIL bilateral training mission and the supply of nonlethal material, in line with the commitments made at the Conferenza Roma II conference in 2018. He also reiterated with determination Italy's commitment to UNIFIL (to which we are contributing with the second largest contingent in terms of manpower and Force Commander Del Col), a mission that continues to play a fundamental role for the stability of the region. Finally, the meeting enabled us to take stock of the main regional dossiers of mutual interest, and in particular the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process and the Syrian crisis. 2020-07-04 Maeci The first of three humanitarian flights organised by the Italian Cooperation, on Deputy Minister Del Res initiative, in collaboration with the Directorate General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) of the European Commission departed this morning from Brindisi destination Mogadishu, in the framework of the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge initiative and with the support of the United Nations Humanitarian Emergency Response Depot (UNHRD). The operation, with a total load of 42 tons of humanitarian aid (including medical equipment for the response to Covid-19), is the result of intense collaboration and coordination between the Foreign Ministry, DG ECHO, the Italian Embassy, the EU Delegation in Mogadishu and the Somali authorities. The cargo was made available not only by the Foreign Ministry itself, but also by Italian Civil Society Organisations and United Nations Agencies. At destination, humanitarian aid will support the assistance activities of the Somali Authorities and humanitarian organizations in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 and in assisting the population affected by the recent exceptional floods. The operation is a tangible demonstration of the "Team Europe" approach, which aims to put EU and Member States' initiatives into practice in the best possible way. Italy, also through its Development Cooperation, has a high-profile presence in Somalia, and this operation is a further demonstration of the traditional friendship and closeness of our country to the Somali people. To comprehend and process the social crisis and upheaval in everyday life that have resulted from the corona pandemic, we need research and new perspectives. Researchers of early childhood education at Abo Akademi University, University of Helsinki, University of Gothenburg, Orebro University and Umea University have studied how children attending day-care or preschool comprehended coronavirus at the time of its initial outbreak. "Earlier research has shown that negative life experiences, such as pandemics, affect children's well-being in the short and long term, and children are especially vulnerable in crises. Thus, it is important to consider how the corona pandemic is being comprehended and expressed by children in their daily environment", explains Mia Heikkila, Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at Abo Akademi University, who is leading the research team. According to Heikkila, children are active, participatory agents capable of contributing to the handling of a crisis with their ideas and actions, if they are given the opportunity to do so. "It is vital to reinforce children's resilience, that is, their capacity to withstand adversities, both during and after a social crisis like the corona pandemic. Previously, it has been shown that supportive relations between adults and children, as well as children's opportunity to participate actively are significant in this respect. Here, early childhood education plays a key role", says Ann-Christin Furu, who works as a researcher at Abo Akademi University, following a period at the University of Helsinki. The present study was conducted as a questionnaire survey among personnel engaged in early childhood education in Finland and Sweden. The results show that children express themselves in multifaceted ways regarding the new, unfamiliar and often heavily changed daily life of the children themselves and of their families, relatives and friends, as well as the day-care or preschool personnel. Children's expression and participation regarding the outbreak of the corona virus are approached through four themes. The first theme concerns health, and it was found that children both have knowledge and wish to know more about the virus itself and how to protect oneself against it. The second theme deals with worry and concern about those close to the child, for example, friends, parents or elderly relatives. The third theme is about how to cope with the changed routines in everyday life. "The fourth theme relates to children's playing, creativity and humour as potential tools to cope with the situation. Children are playing, for example, 'corona tag' and 'being at hospital', or they come up with corona-related drawings, rhymes or songs of their own", explains Furu. "These expressions can provide the personnel, as well as the parents, with tools to understand what the children are dealing with in the corona situation. It may offer a way to observe one's own group of children, and to create situations where the children can express themselves with regard to the coronavirus", says Furu. "The abundant material we received in a very short time revealed that children have numerous and multifaceted expressions and reflections regarding the corona pandemic. Adults should be aware of this and act accordingly. Also, there are many children who need support in coping with and understanding the situation. Early childhood education should assume a clear role in developing pedagogical approaches that allow room for the various expressions of children, and offer tools to support the children's ability to face challenging situations", says Mia Heikkila. ### Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. 1. Early screening may reduce breast cancer deaths by more than half in childhood cancer survivors Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M19-3481 URL goes live when the embargo lifts Early initiation (at ages 25 to 30) of annual breast cancer screening with breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with or without mammography, might reduce breast cancer mortality by half or more in female survivors of childhood cancer previously exposed to chest radiation. These findings highlight the importance of MRI in reducing deaths from breast cancer in this population. A comparative modeling study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Female survivors of childhood cancer who have been exposed to chest radiation are at significantly increased risk for breast cancer. Surveillance with annual mammography and MRI is recommended for this population, yet benefits, harms, and costs are uncertain. Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital used data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and two breast cancer simulation models from the Collaborative Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) to estimate the benefits, harms, and cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening strategies in childhood cancer survivors. They found that compared with no screening, starting screening at age 25 with annual mammography with MRI averted the most deaths (56 percent to 71 percent) and annual MRI (without mammography) averted 56 percent to 62 percent of deaths. When costs and quality of life were considered, beginning screening at age 30 was preferred given commonly cited cost-effectiveness thresholds. According to the researchers, these findings underscore the importance of MRI in screening and suggest identifying effective policies and interventions to reduce barriers to screening should be priorities to ensure comprehensive and coordinated care for these high-risk survivors. Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Jennifer Yeh, please contact Peter.Cohenno@childrens.harvard.edu. 2. Steroid bursts associated with an increased risk for severe adverse events within the first month Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M20-0432 Editorial: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M20-4234 URL goes live when the embargo lifts Oral steroid bursts (short courses of oral corticosteroid prescribed for 14 days of use or less) are associated with an increased risk for severe adverse events, including gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, sepsis, and heart failure. After initiating patients on oral steroid bursts, physicians should be on the lookout for these severe adverse events, particularly within the first month after initiation of steroid therapy. Findings from a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Oral steroid bursts are frequently prescribed in the general adult population in Taiwan. While long-term use of corticosteroids is known to be associated with an increased risk for serious adverse events, the risks from steroid bursts are not clear. Researchers from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and the National Health Research Institutes studied the entire National Health Insurance Research Database of medical claims records in Taiwan to examine the associations between steroid bursts and severe adverse events. They found that prescriptions for steroid bursts were associated with an increased risk for GI bleeding, sepsis, and heart failure within the first month after initiation of steroid therapy (incidence rate ratio, 1.80, 1.99, and 2.37, respectively). According to the researchers, these findings suggest that physicians who consider prescribing steroid bursts to their patients should weigh the benefits against the risks for rare but potentially serious adverse events. Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead authors, Tsung-Chieh Yao, MD, PhD or Hui-Ju Tsai, MPH, PhD, please directly contact Dr. Yao at yao@adm.cgmh.org.tw or Dr. Tsai at tsaihj@nhri.edu.tw. 3. Autologous bone marrow transplant cures difficult case of Susac syndrome Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ L20-0055 URL goes live when the embargo lifts An autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant may successfully treat difficult cases of Susac syndrome. Authors from Hospital de Leon in Leon, Spain cite the case of woman with unresolved blindness and hearing loss due to a long-term Susac syndrome who experienced remission following an autologous bone marrow transplant. A brief case report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Susac syndrome is a rare, immune-mediated, ischemic vasculopathy affecting the brain, eyes, and ears. Many cases are mild and treatable, but severe cases are notoriously difficult to treat. Hemaopoietic stem cell transplantation may offer relief. A patient with confirmed Susac syndrome experienced persistent blindness and hearing loss for more than 16 months. After a long course of prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil, and aspirin, in addition to other treatment regimens, her symptoms still did not resolve. Recognizing that the alternative treatment was necessary to relieve the patient, her physicians administered an intermediate-intensity conditioning regimen, and then infused mobilized CD34+ cells at a dose of 6.86 106 cells/kg. Bone marrow engraftment was rapid and sustained. At 5 years of follow-up, the patient's disease was in complete remission without treatment, and her vision and hearing were restored. The authors caution that in autologous transplants, responses might be transitory since deleting every memory autoreactive clone seems unfeasible. They suggest the possibility that a matched allogenic transplant could be curative. Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Jose Garcia Ruiz de Moreles, MD, please contact him directly at jmgarciar@saludcastillayleon.es. ### Also in this issue: DALLAS, July 6, 2020 -- Medications commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure may also reduce patients' colorectal cancer risk, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-i) or angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) medications are prescribed for conditions such as heart failure, high blood pressure or heart disease. These medications inhibit or block angiotensin, a chemical that causes arteries to become narrow. Doctors commonly prescribe these medications to people with high blood pressure to relax and open blood vessels, thereby lowering blood pressure. Based on the findings of this large study, taking these medications may also reduce colorectal cancer risk. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. "The roles of ACE inhibitors and ARBs on cancer development are controversial and, in some cases, study findings are conflicting. Results of previous studies have been limited by several factors including a small number of patients and data only on short-term follow-ups. Our results provide new insights on a potential role of these medications for colorectal cancer prevention," said study author Wai K. Leung, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China. "This is the first study to show the potential beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors and ARBs on colorectal cancer development, based on a large group of patients who were colorectal cancer-free at the beginning of the study." Researchers reviewed health records of 187,897 adult patients in Hong Kong from 2005 to 2013, with a negative baseline colonoscopy for colorectal cancer. The analysis found that: those who took hypertension medications such as ACE-i or ARBs had a 22% lower risk of developing colorectal cancer in the subsequent three years; the benefits of ACE-i and ARBs were seen in patients 55 or older and those with a history of colon polyps; and the benefit associated with the medications was limited to the first three years after the negative baseline colonoscopy. "While ACE-i and ARBs are taken by patients with high blood pressure, heart failure and kidney diseases, the reduction in colorectal cancer risk may be an additional factor for physicians to consider when choosing anti-hypertensive medications," Leung said. This is a retrospective study, looking back at whether patients on these medications developed colorectal cancer. Researchers note that the results should be verified with a prospective randomized controlled study, which would actively follow patients to determine the potential benefits of these medications on colorectal cancer risk. ### Co-authors are Ka Shing Cheung, M.B.B.S., M.P.H.; Esther W. Chan, Ph.D.; Wai Kay Seto, M.D.; and Ian C.K. Wong, Ph.D. The Health and Medical Research Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government funded this study. Additional Resources: Available multimedia is on right column of release link - https:/ / newsroom. heart. org/ news/ common-hypertension-medications-may-reduce-colorectal-cancer-risk?preview= d2e5a1e2b2569d4f74c1e69580290461 Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association's policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations and health insurance providers are available at https:/ / www. heart. org/ en/ about-us/ aha-financial-information . About the American Heart Association The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1. Bentham Science Publishers have recently published a new book series on mass spectrometry applications, in research. The new series, Applications of Modern Mass Spectrometry covers the latest advances in the use of mass spectrometry in scientific research. The series attempts to present readers information on the broad range of mass spectrometry techniques and configurations, data analysis and practical applications. Each volume contains contributions from eminent researchers who present their findings in an easy to read format. The multidisciplinary nature of the works presented in each volume of this book series make it a valuable reference on mass spectrometry to academic researchers and industrial R&D specialists in applied sciences, biochemistry, life sciences and allied fields. The first volume of the series presents 5 reviews: Applications of mass spectrometry for the determination of the microbial crude protein synthesis in ruminants Qualitative and quantitative LC-MS analysis in food proteins and peptides Chemometrics as a powerful and complementary tool for mass spectrometry applications in life sciences Recent developments of allied techniques of qualitative analysis of heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions with special reference to modern mass spectrometry New techniques and methods in explosive analysis ### About the Editors: Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Cambridge University (1968), has 1080 international publications in several fields of organic chemistry including 751 research publications, 37 international patents, 69 chapters in books and 221 books published largely by major U.S. and European presses. He is the Editor-in-Chief of eight European Chemistry journals. He is Editor of the world's leading encyclopedic series of volumes on natural products 'Studies in Natural Product Chemistry' 54 volumes of which have been published under his Editorship by Elsevier during the last two decades. Prof. Rahman won the UNESCO Science Prize (1999) and was elected as Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society (London) in July 2006. He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including (Sc.D.) by the Cambridge University (UK) (1987). He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK, conferred the TWAS (Italy) Prize and the Austrian government has honored him with its high civil award ("Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande") (2007). He is Foreign Fellow of Chinese and Korean Academy of Sciences, Foreign Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society and former President of Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Dr. Syed Ghulam Musharraf is working as a Professor at International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, since 2017. Dr. Musharraf has post-doctoral experience from Austria and USA on mass spectrometry. Dr. Musharraf has extensive experience in new MS techniques. He is an established practitioner of hyphenated techniques as well in various applications of natural products chemistry and proteomics and metabolomics analysis. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary is a Professor of Organic/Bioorganic Chemistry and Director at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry and Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, and Coordinator General of COMSTECH - OIC Ministerial Committee). He is among the most prominent scientists of Pakistan, recognized for his original contributions in the fields of natural products and bioorganic chemistry. He has written and edited 27 books, most of which have been published in USA and Europe. He is also the author of over 1000 research papers and chapters in top international science journals of the West as well as 27 US patents (H-index: 68 & Citations: 27,500). He is the Volume Editor of many international book series and journals. He has served as a visiting faculty in many prestigious universities of the world including Cornell University (New York), Purdue University (Indiana), Pennsylvania State University (Pennsylvania), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (San Diego, California), The University of Rhode Island (Rhode Island), and other top Universities. Keywords: mass spectrometry, qualitative analysis, Chemometrics, explosive analysis, data analysis, How did the chemical makeup of our planet's core shape its geologic history and habitability? Washington, DC-- How did the chemical makeup of our planet's core shape its geologic history and habitability? Life as we know it could not exist without Earth's magnetic field and its ability to deflect dangerous ionizing particles from the solar wind and more far-flung cosmic rays. It is continuously generated by the motion of liquid iron in Earth's outer core, a phenomenon called the geodynamo. Despite its fundamental importance, many questions remain unanswered about the geodynamo's origin and the energy sources that have sustained it over the millennia. New work from an international team of researchers, including current and former Carnegie scientists Alexander Goncharov, Nicholas Holtgrewe, Sergey Lobanov, and Irina Chuvashova examines how the presence of lighter elements in the predominately iron core could affect the geodynamo's genesis and sustainability. Their findings are published by Nature Communications. Our planet accreted from the disk of dust and gas that surrounded our Sun in its youth. Eventually, the densest material sank inward in the forming planet, creating the layers that exist today--core, mantle, and crust. Although, the core is predominately iron, seismic data indicates that some lighter elements like oxygen, silicon, sulfur, carbon, and hydrogen, were dissolved into it during the differentiation process. Over time, the inner core crystallized and has been continuously cooling since then. On its own, could heat flowing out of the core and into the mantle drive the geodynamo? Or does this thermal convection need an extra boost from the buoyancy of light elements, not just heat, moving out of a condensing inner core? Understanding the specifics of the core's chemical composition can help answer this question. Silicates are predominant in the mantle, and after oxygen and iron, silicon is the third-most-abundant element in the Earth, so it is a likely option for one of the main lighter elements that could be alloyed with iron in the core. Led by Wen-Pin Hsieh of Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University, the researchers used lab-based mimicry of deep Earth conditions to simulate how the presence of silicon would affect the transmission of heat from the planet's iron core out into the mantle. "The less thermally conductive the core material is, the lower the threshold needed to generate the geodynamo," Goncharov explained. "With a low enough threshold, the heat flux out of the core could be driven entirely by the thermal convection, with no need for the additional movement of material to make it work." The team found that a concentration of about 8 weight percent silicon in their simulated inner core, the geodynamo could have functioned on heat transmission alone for the planet's entire history. Looking forward, they want to expand their efforts to understand how the presence of oxygen, sulfur, and carbon in the core would influence this convection process. ### The authors were supported by the Academia Sinica, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship, the Chinese Academy of Science, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Deep Carbon Observatory, and the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group. The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science. A new guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, based on a rigorous systematic review of the latest evidence, found no benefit of routine screening for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and precursor conditions (Barrett esophagus and dysplasia) in patients with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The guideline, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), recommends physicians in Canada continue current practice to not screen routinely http://www. cmaj. ca/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1503/ cmaj. 190814 . "Given the many needs facing the health system, it is important to use services where we know there is benefit," says Dr. Stephane Groulx, assistant clinical professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Universite de Sherbrooke and Chair of the Task Force EAC working group. "We did not find sufficient data to recommend routine screening by upper endoscopy of people with chronic GERD for EAC and precursor conditions, such as Barrett esophagus." This recommendation does not apply to people with alarm symptoms for esophageal cancer, such as difficulty or pain swallowing, recurrent vomiting, unexplained weight loss, anemia, loss of appetite or gastrointestinal bleeding, or to those who have already been diagnosed with Barrett esophagus. Barrett esophagus is a condition where the normal lining of the esophagus changes to look more like the lining of the intestine. It is linked to chronic GERD and can lead to the growth of abnormal cells (dysplasia) that may turn into EAC over time much more frequently than GERD alone. It is found in 5%-20% of patients who undergo esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for chronic GERD. Current practice in Canada does not involve organized screening programs for EAC among patients diagnosed with chronic GERD, although some family physicians do refer these patients for EGD. "Clinicians should be aware of alarm symptoms in patients and conduct appropriate investigation, referral and management of these patients," says Dr. Scott Klarenbach, a member of the working group and professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta. "Physicians who routinely refer patients without alarm symptoms for screening may want to stop, given the lack of evidence showing benefit." EAC is the most common type of esophageal cancer in Canada and has one of the poorest survival rates among all cancers. The estimated 5-year survival rate is 15%. Unfortunately, most esophageal adenocarcinomas are diagnosed at a late stage of the disease, after alarm symptoms develop. It was hoped that early detection could save lives; unfortunately, the Task Force's rigorous review of available evidence did not identify any benefit from screening. Although age 50 years or older, male gender, having a family history, white race, abdominal obesity and smoking are factors that may increase the risk of EAC, relevant trials and cohort studies did not provide sufficient data to recommend screening for individuals with one or more of these risk factors. As the evidence underpinning the guideline was of low- or very-low-certainty, and because screening by endoscopy is costly and may cause harm, the Task Force calls for more research to help understand which patients with chronic GERD are most likely to develop EAC and whether screening of specific high-risk groups provides benefit that outweighs the known harms. During the development of the guideline, the task force engaged patients to understand values and preferences around screening. The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada have endorsed the guideline. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer has provided a statement of support for the guideline. For the full guideline, podcast, clinician and patient FAQs, visit the EAC guideline page at http://www. canadiantaskforce. ca . In a related commentary http://www. cmaj. ca/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1503/ cmaj. 200697 , Dr. Sander Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, writes "The Task Force's strong recommendation against gastroscopy screening for patients with chronic GERD without alarm symptoms depended in part on the assumption that scarce health resources would need to be expended to implement screening." He agrees that routine screening of patients younger than 50 who have chronic GERD is unnecessary. However, because gastroscopy is generally a safe and straightforward procedure, he suggests it may be considered in patients older than 50 who have chronic GERD and risk factors such as obesity and smoking. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is an independent panel of health professionals who are experts in clinical preventive health care and guideline methodology. The task force's mandate is to develop and disseminate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for primary and preventive care. ### GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- In a surprise twist, a major group of flowering plants is evolving twice as quickly in temperate zones as the tropics. The finding runs counter to a long-held hypothesis that tropical regions, home to the planet's richest biological diversity, outpace their temperate counterparts in producing new species. The tropics are the birthplace of most species of rosids, a group that makes up more than a quarter of flowering plants, ranging from mangroves to roses to oaks. But in an analysis of about 20,000 rosid species, researchers found the speed of tropical rosid evolution lags far behind that of younger communities in temperate habitats. Although rosids originated 93-115 million years ago, the rate at which the group diversified, or formed new species, dramatically increased over the last 15 million years, a period of global cooling and expanding temperate habitats. Today, rosids are diversifying far faster in places such as the southeastern U.S. than in equatorial rainforests, said study co-lead author Ryan Folk, assistant professor of biological sciences and herbarium curator at Mississippi State University. "Everyone knows about the diversity of tropical rainforests. You would assume all the action in evolution is happening in them," said Folk, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "But we found out that it is really the temperate regions of the Earth - really our own backyards - where a lot of the recent action is taking place." Charles Darwin once described the speed with which the earliest flowering plants evolved and spread across the planet as an "abominable mystery." Scientists are still tracing the driving forces behind these plants' runaway evolutionary success, with temperature emerging as a complex factor: Some studies have shown that flower evolution accelerates in warmer regions while others point to cooler climates. Research on higher and lower latitudes' influence on plant diversification produced similarly conflicting findings. A team of evolutionary biologists selected rosids as the candidates for a closer look at the relationship between temperature and plant diversity in the first large-scale assessment of the group's evolution. Comprising an estimated 90,000-120,000 species, rosids live in nearly all land-based habitats, with rosid trees shaping most temperate and many tropical forests, said study co-author Douglas Soltis, Florida Museum curator and University of Florida distinguished professor. "To me that was one of the biggest terrestrial evolutionary events - the rise of the rosid-dominated forests," he said. "Other lineages, such as amphibians, insects and ferns, diversified in the shadow of rosids." The team's study shows rosids evolved by leaps and bounds after the Earth's hothouse climate began to cool and dry and as many tropical and subtropical habitats transformed into temperate ones - offering new real estate for evolutionarily enterprising organisms. The diversity of tropical regions, in contrast, is not due to evolutionary mechanisms, but rather stability: Folk said tropical plant communities have "simply failed to go extinct, so to speak." The findings echo a similar pattern the team uncovered in another group of plants known as Saxifragales, but the researchers are cautious about making conjectures on whether the pattern holds true for other plants or animals. "It's difficult to say there is a universal pattern for how life responds to temperature," said study co-lead author Miao Sun, a postdoctoral researcher at Denmark's Aarhus University and a former Florida Museum postdoctoral researcher. "On the other hand, there seems to be a trend forming that, together with our study, shows a lower diversification rate in tropical regions compared with temperate zones. But it's still hard to tell to what extent this pattern is true across the tree of life." If cooling temperature spurred rosid diversification, how might the group fare on a warming planet? The prognosis is not promising, the researchers said. Rosids were able to fill cool ecological niches and now may not be able to adapt to a temperature hike, especially at the current rate of change, said study co-author Pamela Soltis, Florida Museum curator and UF distinguished professor. "Warming temperatures will likely slow the rate of diversification, but even worse, we don't expect species currently living in arctic or alpine areas to be able to respond to quickly warming temperatures," she said. "The change is happening too rapidly, and we are already seeing species moving northward in the Northern Hemisphere or up mountains, with many more species facing extinction or already lost." The team used genetic data from GenBank and natural history databases such as iDigBio and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to assemble DNA data for 20,000 species and 3 million plant occurrence records - one of the largest investigations of this nature to date. "This work would have been impossible without natural history collections data," said study co-lead and senior author Robert Guralnick, Florida Museum curator of bioinformatics. "Rosids are an enormously successful group of flowering plants. Look out your window, and you will see rosids. Those plants are there because of processes occurring over millions of years, and now we know something essential about why." ### The Florida Museum's Matthew Gitzendanner and Zhiduan Chen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also co-authored the study. Folk's quotes originally appeared in a press release published by Mississippi State University. Stem cells are central to organ development and renewal. In most organs, stem cells are located in specific regions and, in some cases, can be identified through several intrinsic properties, like molecular markers. They can differentiate into various types of cells and divide indefinitely to produce more stem cells. However, does this mean the stem cell at the top is immortal? Or can any cell overthrow this? The scientific community is in an open debate whether stem cells actually arise from intrinsic cell properties or from the collective dynamics of the tissue itself. In this second scenario, potential stem cells are in constant competition to sit in certain "niche" regions. Each cell wants to overtake its neighbor by replication and, therefore, continuously pushes them. The functional stem cell will be the one that wins this competition, while losers will be pushed away from the niche, differentiate, and ultimately die. Here, the Hannezo group at IST Austria looked at the mechanism to overcome such pushing forces away from the niche, in collaboration with researchers from the National Cancer Institute of Netherlands and the University of Cambridge. They used a live-imaging microscope to record stem cell movements in the breast, intestine, and kidney tissue. The team found that in addition to constant flow and pushing forces, many random movements were observed. Why would those be important? "A famous saying in real estate business is "location, location, location." In the case of stem cells, this saying transfers to a location determining stemness (rather than the other way around). Then, random movements become key, as they allow you to get to the right location even if you started in the wrong one." summarizes Edouard Hannezo. Under that framework, the tissues look like the exit of the subway station in the rush hour, with some people able to randomly turn back against the drift of the mass, trying to take the subway again. Under this metaphor, random movements are key to allow cells away from the stem cell niche to eventually go back to it. "We wanted to know what defines the number and dynamics of the stem cells, and to what extent this could be answered by mathematically exploring only the movements of the cells and the geometry of the organs," says Bernat Corominas-Murtra, the leading scientist in this study. They then mathematically mapped this noisy cell dynamics into the geometry of the organs and could predict, among others, the number of functional stem cells (the ones that can get to the right location in time, given the amount of noise/mobility in the system). They found that during tissue renewal or growth, stem cell regions developed naturally, without needing to make assumptions on the molecular nature of the cells. Therefore, the scientists showed that the dynamics and geometry alone play an essential role. Bernat Corominas-Murtra describes their results: "You would expect that the randomness of cell movements blurs the properties of the system or makes it more unstable. Instead, it is key for the emergence of robust, complex patterns like the stem cell region, which remarkably coincides with the one previously identified using biomolecular markers of individual cells." These results contribute to the open debate on the nature of stem cells in tissues and potentially opens a new dimension in the understanding of organ renewal. ### Currently, low-alloy aluminium is widely used in electrical engineering and machine building. At the same time, it should be noted that modern electrical engineering places very high and in some cases mutually exclusive requirements to aluminium alloys. For example, conductive aluminium alloys must have both high electrical conductivity and strength, and sometimes also long term thermal stability, if they are to be used in conditions of long term exposure to certain temperatures. Typically, high strength and thermal stability of aluminium alloys is provided by means of complex alloying, which leads to a sharp decrease in electrical conductivity of the materials. In 2017, a research team of the Physics and Technology Research Institute at Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod, on the initiative of the Moscow Plant for Special Alloys Processing, took up the task of improving the performance of aluminium alloys. To obtain new low-alloy aluminium alloys, Nizhny Novgorod researchers used the technology of induction casting in vacuum. According to Professor Alexey Nokhrin, Head of the Materials Diagnostics Laboratory at the UNN Physics and Technology Research Institute, one of the main tasks was to develop the regimes of casting for new aluminium alloys. "The structure of the cast metal is very heterogeneous, it has a needle-like dendrite structure and contains large particles that resulted from casting. Because of this, it is very difficult to form the cast metal. In order to achieve the required results, it was necessary first to determine very precisely the metal casting regimes that would help to get rid of large particles, and then, by using plastic deformation, to refine the cast dendrite structure. The second step was especially difficult, since it was not possible to process the alloy at elevated temperatures, as it is usually done at factories. An increase in temperature would have resulted in the precipitation of large particles, which would have caused the wire with a diameter of less than 0.5 mm to rupture", explains Alexey Nokhrin. To solve the problem of obtaining thin wire, a large amount of research has been conducted by UNN scientists to study the effect of casting regimes on the homogeneity of the structure and properties of aluminium alloys containing magnesium and scandium microadditives. Intensive plastic deformation technologies, including equal channel angular pressing and rotary forging, were used as the key methods for controlling the structure of aluminium alloys. As a result, a homogeneous highly plastic structure was obtained in the alloys where nanoparticles were formed by annealing, which provided the required level of strength and thermal resistance of the wires manufactured. The new alloys have demonstrated a number of unique characteristics. Lobachevsky University researchers managed to solve the difficult task of increasing simultaneously electrical conductivity, strength and thermal resistance of the alloys while ensuring a very high level of plasticity at elevated temperatures. The research shows that new alloys possess superplasticity: during tensile testing at 500 degrees Celsius and at high rates of deformation the samples showed the elongation of more than 1000%, and after cooling became very strong and electrically conductive again. "This will allow the producers to manufactire the wire using the superplasticity regime, when special deformation mechanisms are activated and the metal "flows" like liquid glass", concludes Alexey Nokhrin. At present, the team is working on the next stage of the project. The researchers are studying the possibilities of replacing expensive scandium with other alloying additives (Zr, Yb, etc.). The aim is to maintain high characteristics of the alloys produced while sharply reducing their cost. ### Research results of the Lobachevsky University team were published in the highly rated Journal of Alloys and Compounds (2020, v.831, Article ID 154805), and the practical part of the proposed solution is currently being prepared for patenting. WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- Deserts of the U.S. Southwest are extreme habitats for most plants, but, remarkably, microscopic green algae live there that are extraordinarily tolerant of dehydration. These tiny green algae (many just a few microns in size) live embedded in microbiotic soil crusts, which are characteristic of arid areas and are formed by communities of bacteria, lichens, microalgae, fungi, and even small mosses. After completely drying out, the algae can become active and start photosynthesizing again within seconds of receiving a drop of water. How are they so resilient? That question is at the core of research by Elena Lopez Peredo and Zoe Cardon of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Given the intensified droughts and altered precipitation patterns predicted as the global climate warms, understanding the adaptations that facilitate green plant survival in arid environments is pressing. Working with two particularly resilient species of green microalgae (Acutodesmus deserticola and Flechtneria rotunda), Peredo and Cardon studied up- and down-regulation of gene expression during desiccation, and added a twist. They also analyzed gene expression in a close aquatic relative (Enallax costatus) as it dried out and ultimately died. Surprisingly, all three algae - desiccation tolerant or not - upregulated the expression of groups of genes known to protect even seed plants during drought. But the desiccation-tolerant algae also ramped down expression of genes coding for many other basic cellular processes, seemingly putting the brakes on their metabolism. The aquatic relative did not. Peredo's and Cardon's research suggests this new perspective on desiccation tolerance warrants investigation in green plants more broadly. Upregulation of gene expression coding for protective proteins may be necessary but not sufficient; downregulation of diverse metabolic genes may also be key to survival. ### 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. BOSTON - Many patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain unresponsive after surviving critical illness. Investigators led by a team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) now describe a patient with severe COVID-19 who, despite prolonged unresponsiveness and structural brain abnormalities, demonstrated functionally intact brain connections and weeks later he recovered the ability to follow commands. The case, which is published in the Annals of Neurology, suggests that unresponsive patients with COVID-19 may have a better chance of recovery than expected. In addition to performing standard brain imaging tests, the team took images of the patient's brain with a technique called resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), which evaluates the connectivity of brain networks by measuring spontaneous oscillations of brain activity. The patient was a 47-year-old man who developed progressive respiratory failure, and despite intensive treatment, he fluctuated between coma and a minimally conscious state for several weeks. Standard brain imaging tests revealed considerable damage, but unexpectedly, rs-fMRI revealed robust functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), which is a brain network thought to be involved in human consciousness. Studies have shown that stronger DMN connectivity in patients with disorders of consciousness predicts better neurologic recovery. The patient's DMN connectively was comparable to that seen in healthy individuals, suggesting that the neurologic prognosis may not be as grim as conventional tests implied. Twenty days later, on hospital day 61, the patient began following verbal commands. He blinked his eyes to command, opened his mouth to command, and on day 66 followed four out of four vocalization commands. By this time, he also consistently demonstrated gaze tracking with his eyes in response to visual and auditory stimuli. "Because there are so many unanswered questions about the potential for recovery in unresponsive patients who have survived severe COVID-19, any available data that could inform prognosis are critical," said senior author Brian Edlow, MD, director of the Laboratory for NeuroImaging of Coma and Consciousness and associate director of the Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery at MGH. "Our unexpected observations do not prove that functional MRI predicts outcomes in these patients, but they suggest that clinicians should consider the possibility that unresponsive survivors of severe COVID-19 may have intact brain networks. We should thus exercise caution before presuming a poor neurologic outcome based on our conventional tests." Providing families with an accurate prognosis about neurological recovery is particularly challenging for patients with COVID-19, because so little is known about how the brain is affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or associated inflammation and clotting disorders. "Initially, our goal in the intensive care unit was to support patients through the critical illness of COVID-19," said lead author David Fischer, MD, Neurocritical Care fellow at MGH. "However, we found that a subset of patients, after surviving the critical illness, were not waking up as expected. As neurologists, we were asked by many families whether their loved ones would regain consciousness - a critical question given that decisions about life support often hinged on the answer - but we were uncertain. We used functional MRI to try to provide a more comprehensive assessment of brain function." The application of functional MRI to critically ill patients with disorders of consciousness is the culmination of decades of work to develop this technology and ultimately translate it to clinical care. Co-author Bruce Rosen, MD, PhD, director of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH, and one of the developers of functional MRI in the early 1990s, explained that "we have to be cautious when interpreting results from a single patient, but this study provides proof of principle that clinicians may be able to use advanced imaging techniques like functional MRI to get a clearer picture of a patient's brain function, and hence the potential for recovery." ### To facilitate dissemination of this tool to other hospitals around the world caring for patients with COVID-19, the investigators release the functional MRI sequence parameters and the data analysis pipeline at http://www. github. com/ ComaRecoveryLab/ COVID-19_rsfMRI . This work was supported by the James S. McDonnell Foundation COVID-19 Recovery of Consciousness Consortium. About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 8,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2019 the MGH was once again named #2 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its list of "America's Best Hospitals." Portland, Ore. (July 6, 2020) --The National Psoriasis Foundation, NPF, is proud to announce the awarding of $3.28 million in research grants and fellowships in 2020. This year's awards bring the total amount NPF has invested in psoriatic disease grants and fellowships in recent years to more than $24 million. This year, NPF plans to fund a total of 39 projects focused on psoriatic disease and related comorbidities. All projects align with the NPF mission of driving efforts toward a cure for psoriatic disease and improving the lives of those affected. The NPF board of directors has approved awards for the following grants and fellowships. Psoriasis Prevention Initiative (PPI) The Psoriasis Prevention Initiative supports multi-institution, multi-disciplinary, team-based research network projects that aim to identify an intervention that will prevent the onset of psoriatic disease, disease relapse, or relevant comorbidities. Investigator recipients leading multi-institution, multi-disciplinary teams include Joel Gelfand, M.D., MSCE University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Johann Gudjonnson, M.D., Ph.D. University of Michigan, and Christopher Ritchlin, M.D., MPH University of Rochester Medical Center. The Psoriasis Prevention Initiative is made possible through the generous support of Karen and Dale White and contributions from corporate partners Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Discovery Grants Discovery Grants fund researchers to explore preliminary ideas and conduct proof-of concept experiments. They support new areas of research important to the psoriatic disease community and stimulate the development of new research programs capable of competing for long-term funding from the National Institutes of Health, NIH, or other funding agencies in the future. Recipients include Bryan Sun, M.D., Ph.D. University of California San Diego, Alexis Ogdie-Beatty, M.D., MSCE University of Pennsylvania, Concepcio Soler, Ph.D. University of Barcelona, Lihi Eder, M.D., Ph.D. University of Toronto, David Dombrocwicz, Ph.D. Universite de Lille, Yuri Bunimovich, M.D., Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, Dror Avni, Ph.D. Sheba Medical Center, Erik Lubberts, Ph.D. Erasmus University Medical Center. Translational Grants Translational Research Grants fund research initiatives that focus on the rapid translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications with a clear benefit for patients with psoriatic disease. The Dr. M. Alan Menter Translational Research Grant was awarded to Paola Di Meglio, Ph.D. King's College London. Additional translation grants were awarded to Ramon Merino, M.D., Ph.D. Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnologia de Cantabria, Lars Iversen, M.D., DMSc Aarhus University Hospital, and Loredana Frasca, Ph.D. Istituto Superiore di Sanita. Early Career Research Grants Early Career Research Grants support graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and researchers at similar trainee-level positions interested in conducting projects focused on psoriatic disease. The goal is to support scientists at this challenging early career stage and to welcome them into the collaborative community of scientists, clinicians, and patients involved with NPF research. The Sue Shoenberg Endowment for Early Career Research Grant was awarded to John Riley, B.A., M.S. Thomas Jefferson University. Additional early career research grants were awarded to Jacqueline Frost, Ph.D. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Piotr Konieczny, Ph.D. New York University School of Medicine, and Omar Cruz Correa, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. University Health Network. Psoriatic Arthritis Diagnostic Test Grant Psoriatic Arthritis Diagnostic Test Grants are aimed at developing a diagnostic test for psoriatic arthritis which will dramatically reduce the delay in diagnosis and beginning treatment, decreasing the risk of permanent joint damage and other related co-morbidities. This grant is funded in multiple phases, with the first year of support awarded in 2019, to establish proof-of-concept data. Renewal for a second year of funding is awarded upon validation of the project's feasibility, which is then followed by a competitive renewal for up to three additional years of funding to complete research, development and validation of a diagnostic test. Grant recipients funded for a second year include: Vinod Chandran, M.B., B.S., M.D., D.M., Ph.D. University Health Network, University of Toronto, Bingjian Feng, Ph.D. University of Utah, Wilson Liao, M.D. University of California, San Francisco, Ananta Paine, Ph.D. University of Rochester, Siba Raychaudhuri, M.D. University of California, Davis, and Jose Scher, M.D. New York University School of Medicine. This grant is not possible without significant support provided by Michael Graff and Carol Ostrow, Michael and Carol Laub, the Bucks Creek Foundation, The Wood Family, James and Toni Turner, Xiaotong Zhang, Ron Grau, William "Bill" and Jodi Felton, and Fred and Joan Weisman. Support from corporate sponsors include AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Janssen Biotech. Summer Student Research Grants NPF Summer Student Research Grants support undergraduate and medical students interested in conducting research focused on psoriatic disease or related comorbidities. This grant fosters the development of promising young scientists who will go on to become bench researchers or clinician scientists focused on improving the lives of those living with psoriatic disease. Mentored by Samuel Hwang, M.D., Ph.D., Timothy Law of the University of California Davis received a grant from The Don and Nancy Alpert Family Fund. Other NPF Summer Student Research Grant recipients include Glen Katsnelson, M.Sc. University of Toronto and Kremibl Research Institute, mentored by Dafna Gladman, M.D., Daniel Cummins University of California San Francisco, mentored by Wilson Liao, M.D., and Nicholas Teri NYU Medical Center mentored by Shruit Naik, Ph.D. Bridge Grants Bridge Grants support researchers who have submitted meritorious applications with a focus on psoriatic disease or related comorbidities but did not receive K-type (career development) or R-type funding from the NIH or similar funding bodies. This grant provides a critical year of additional support to near-miss applicants so that they can collect data that strengthens a future successful NIH or similar funding application. Recipients include: Jaehwan Kim, M.D., Ph.D. Rockefeller University and Michael Garshick, M.D., M.S. NYU Langone Health. Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowship The Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowship provides support to talented, driven new investigators who demonstrate a commitment to a career in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis research. These awards help to develop and enhance the opportunities for physicians and scientists training for research careers in academic dermatology, rheumatology, pediatric dermatology, and pediatric rheumatology. The Dr. Mark G. Lebwohl Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowship was awarded to Rand Nashi, M.D Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who is mentored by Alexa Kimball, M.D., MPH Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Five additional Psoriatic Disease Research Fellowships were awarded through generous support from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Janssen Biotech. Recipients include: Charlotte Read, M.B., B.S., BSc University of Southern California, mentored by April Armstrong, M.D., MPH Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Joy Wan, M.D., MSCE University of Pennsylvania, mentored by Joel Gelfand, M.D. Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer Boles, B.S., M.D. Northwestern University, mentored by Amy Paller, M.D. Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Gerardo Russo, M.D Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, mentored by Mark Lebwohl, M.D. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Rochelle Castillo, B.S., M.D., M.S. NYU School of Medicine, mentored by Jose Scher, M.D. NYU School of Medicine. The NIH-NPF Fellowship in Translational Medicine The NIH-NPF Fellowship in Translational Medicine provides support for an early career clinical and translational scientist to conduct research at the NIH focusing on research and patient care in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis or related comorbidities. The fellowship was awarded to Heather Teague, M.S., Ph.D. National Institutes of Health-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, mentored by Nehal Mehta, M.D., MSCE National Institutes of Health-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Milestones to a Cure The Milestones to a Cure grant supports psoriatic disease research focused on treatment durability, remission/relapse, prevention, and personalized medicine. This grant has been awarded to Andrew Blauvelt, M.D., MBA Oregon Medical Research Center. 2021 grants and fellowships application process will begin in the fall. To learn more about future opportunities and deadlines visit https:/ / www. psoriasis. org/ grants . ### New platform uses cell-free synthetic biology to test for 17 contaminants, including lead, copper, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics Tests cost pennies to make and minutes to work Researchers tested the platform in Paradise, California, where wildfires caused toxins to enter the water supply EVANSTON, Ill. -- A new platform technology can assess water safety and quality with just a single drop and a few minutes. Likened to a pregnancy test, the handheld platform uses one sample to provide an easy-to-read positive or negative result. When the test detects a contaminant exceeding the EPA's standards, it glows green. Led by researchers at Northwestern University, the tests can sense 17 different contaminants, including toxic metals such as lead and copper, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and cleaning products. The platform -- which is powered by cell-free synthetic biology -- is so flexible that researchers can continually update it to sense more pollutants. "Current water tests rely on a centralized laboratory that contains really expensive equipment and requires expertise to operate," said Northwestern's Julius Lucks, who led the study. "Sending in a sample can cost up to $150 and take several weeks to get results. We're offering a technology that enables anyone to directly test their own water and know if they have contamination within minutes. It's so simple to use that we can put it into the hands of the people who need it most." The research will be published on July 6 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Lucks is a professor of chemical and biological engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the Center for Synthetic Biology. Jaeyoung Jung and Khalid Alam, members of Lucks' laboratory, are co-first authors of the paper. Molecular 'taste buds' A major challenge of ensuring water quality is that people typically can't see or taste contaminants. Northwestern's platform uses synthetic biology to sense this unnoticeable contamination, filling in the gaps where human senses fall short. In cell-free synthetic biology, researchers take the molecular machinery -- including DNA, RNA and proteins -- out of cells, and then reprogram that machinery to perform new tasks. The idea is akin to opening the hood of the car and removing the engine, which allows researchers to use the engine for different purposes, free from the constraints of the car. In this case, Lucks' team used molecular machinery from bacterial cells. "Nature has already solved this problem," Alam said. "Biology has spent over three billion years evolving an elegant solution to detect contaminants." "We found out how bacteria naturally taste things in their water," Lucks added. "They do so with little molecular-level 'taste buds'. Cell-free synthetic biology allows us to take those little molecular taste buds out and put them into a test tube. We can then 're-wire' them up to produce a visual signal. It glows to let the user quickly and easily see if there's a contaminant in their water." These reprogramed "taste buds" are freeze-dried to become shelf-stable and put into test tubes. Adding a drop of water to the tube -- and then flicking it -- sets off a chemical reaction that causes the freeze-dried pellet to glow in the presence of a contaminant. "The magic is in the tubes," Lucks said. "We compose everything and freeze dry it -- the same process as making astronaut ice cream." Inspired by women in science Lucks and his team call this testing platform "RNA output sensors activated by ligand induction." But his team has nicknamed it ROSALIND for short, in honor of famed chemist Rosalind Franklin, who discovered the DNA double helix alongside James Watson and Francis Crick. Franklin's 100th birthday would have been next month (July 25). "Her work essentially eventually enabled us to learn how to reprogram DNA to act in our technology," Lucks said. When starting this project, Lucks took inspiration from another woman scientist in his life: his wife, Northwestern anthropologist Sera Young, who studies global food and water security and the role of household water insecurity in societal well-being. "Sera researches how poor water quality impacts people's daily lives," Lucks said. "People tend to go to the most convenient sources to get water. But if they knew that water was contaminated, they might choose to travel farther to find safer water. We want everyone to have the tools they need in order to make informed decisions." ROSALIND in Paradise To test the new platform in the field, Lucks, Jung, Alam and fellow Northwestern professor Jean-Francois Gaillard visited Paradise, California at the end of last year. One year earlier, a string of massive wildfires obliterated the northern California town, destroying nearly 19,000 buildings and displacing most of its population. Gaillard, a professor of environmental engineering, is an expert in the biogeochemical processes that affect metals in the aquatic system. "Wildfires basically melted the town," Lucks said. "They burned down buildings and melted cars that released toxic metals into the environment." Lucks, Gaillard and their teams tested ROSALIND alongside gold-standard water tests and discovered that ROSALIND was able to identify the presence of elevated toxic metals in the water supply. It also provided much faster and less expensive results. Lucks and his team envision that ROSALIND could help recovery efforts like the one in Paradise, in which residents needed to perform tens of thousands of tests in order to know if their community was safe to re-enter. "Laboratory testing doesn't scale," Alam said. "It shouldn't take days to get an answer to the simple question: 'Is my water safe to drink?'" Difficulties of testing at home Disasters, of course, aren't the only causes of unsafe water. Heavy metals, such as copper and lead, that are naturally found in the environment can leech into pipes, contaminating household water taps and school drinking fountains. Personal care products, such as sunscreens and lotions, wash off people's skin and end up in waterways. Unused pharmaceuticals and agricultural herbicides, too, run off into our water and end up in our sinks. But, unless we can directly -- and regularly -- test for these pollutants, there's no way to maintain a peace of mind. When testing water in their own home in Evanston, Illinois, Lucks and Young noted several difficulties. Consuming high levels of copper over many months or years can lead to liver damage and even death. With this concern, Lucks decided to check the copper levels in their household water. It cost $150 and took a month to receive the results. "This is a one-time test," Lucks said. "It doesn't allow for checking levels from different taps in the house or temporal testing over time." Testing for lead wasn't much easier. Lead-testing kits are available at most hardware stores. But after filling a tube with water, it still must be mailed to a centralized facility. It still costs up to $150 per test and takes weeks for results. And if people want to check their water for other contaminants, such as antibiotics, tests simply do not exist for consumers. "There has been a lot of advances in developing point-of-use diagnostics for monitoring pathogens," Jung said. "But not nearly enough effort for detecting chemical contaminants." "To ensure access to safe and clean drinking water, we need technologies that will allow easy monitoring of water quality," Lucks said. "With a simple, easy-to-use, handheld device like ROSALIND, you can test the water in your home or out in the field -- where you would want to use it most." ### The research, "Cell-free biosensors for rapid detection of water contaminants," was supported by the National Science Foundation (award numbers 1452441 and 1929912), the National Institutes of Health (award number R35 GM118157), the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University and Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust. Editor's note: Northwestern startup company, Stemloop, has optioned the ROSALIND technology with plans to commercialize it. Lucks, Alam and Northwestern will have financial interests (royalties, equities), if it is commercialized. More news at Northwestern Now Find experts on our Faculty Experts Hub Follow @NUSources for expert perspectives National and regional policies aimed at addressing pollution fueled by nitrogen lag behind scientific knowledge of the problem, finds a new analysis by an international team of researchers. Its work, which appears in the journal Nature Sustainability, reveals how governmental regulations favor nitrogen use for commercial enterprise over curbing its environmental impacts. "There is a large gap between what scientists understand about nitrogen pollution and how policymakers address it," says David Kanter, an assistant professor in New York University's Department of Environmental Studies and one of the paper's co-authors. "By favoring the use of fertilizers and other nitrogen-rich materials for agricultural purposes over scientifically informed controls, governments around the globe are coming up short in addressing environmental concerns." The analysis, conducted with Wilfried Winiwarter of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and Poland's University of Zielona Gora, examined more than 2,700 nitrogen policies in 186 countries. It is the first to study nitrogen policy on a global scale. Specifically, it examined both national and regional policies by continent, then considered the policy category they fell under (e.g., regulatory, economic, etc.), which sectors these policies applied to (e.g., agriculture, waste, transportation, etc.), and where resulting nitrogen-fueled pollution ended up--also known as "environmental sink" (e.g., air, water, soil, etc.)--as a result of these policies. Overall, the analysis revealed a nearly complete lack of policies that address nitrogen impacts across multiple destinations, or sinks. "This reveals how environmental policy around the world is currently not equipped to address such a cross-cutting pollutant," explains Kanter. Notably, there were significantly more policies in the agricultural sector--the dominant source of nitrogen pollution--that incentivize nitrogen use or manage its commerce (640 policies) than aim to reduce nitrogen pollution (190 policies). ### The paper's other co-authors included undergraduate research assistants Olivia Chodos, Olivia Nordland, and Mallory Rutigliano of NYU's Department of Environmental Studies. Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, are the first organisms on earth that learned to extract electrons from water and convert sunlight to usable energy through photosynthesis. Using cyanobacteria as a model organism, the details of photosynthesis--the key process that supports all forms of advanced lives on earth--have been studied for many decades. And all studies, despite their differences, reveal one thing: that it is an astonishingly precise process, consisting of numerous small reactions run by many proteins and their combinations. However, the molecular-level details of many of these steps are still not understood very well. The initial energy capture and transmission is one such step that still holds many unanswered questions. At the start of a photosynthetic cycle, special proteins on the membrane of cyanobacteria absorb the solar energy and then transfer this energy to other cellular proteins. This is the "light-harvesting" process. As excess energy can harm the cell, some proteins take part in the dissipation of excess energy, a process known as "energy quenching." These are closely coordinated processes, with energy transfer between different molecules taking place very quickly, within a few tens of picosecond (1 picosecond = 1 10-12 second). In cyanobacteria, two reaction-systems, the Photosystems (PS) I and II, work together to capture the energy from sunlight. Now, in a new study published in Communications Biology, a team of scientists led by Associate Professor Fusamichi Akita of Okayama University, Japan, has investigated the structure of PSI of the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus vulcanus, formed under an iron-deficient condition, to decipher the role of a key protein called iron-stress inducible A protein or "IsiA" in photosynthesis. In the cyanobacterial membrane, IsiA appears in low iron level conditions, and combines with a trimeric core of PSI to perform the light-harvesting step. Much akin to a runner in a relay race, IsiA "donates" or transfers the captured energy to the trimeric core of PSI that performs the subsequent step in the photosynthesis process. It has been believed that in addition to functioning an "energy harvester," IsiA also works as a "quencher" that gets rid of excess energy as heat when light intensity is too high for the cells to grow. Dr Akita explains what made them interested in the IsiA's function, stating "While IsiA has been considered as both the energy donor and quencher for a long time, the path of these processes is not clear. Moreover, the data accumulated so far suggests a different story, indicating a contrasting possibility that in reality IsiA is involved either in the energy transfer or quenching processes but not in both steps." To answer the first question, the team first used a technique called "single-particle cryogenic electron microscopy," and determined the structure of the "supercomplex" that IsiA forms with the trimeric PSI core and many other molecules in the absence of iron. They found that 18 copies of IsiA come together to form a ring encircling the trimeric PSI core. As a result of this arrangement, several possible energy transfer pathways from IsiA to the PSI core were formed, and a pathway that had the fastest rate of energy transfer was determined to serve as the main route through which the energy moves from IsiA to the PSI core. To solve the rest of the puzzle as to whether IsiA works as a quencher too, the scientists used a spectroscopic technique called "femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence decay." The result of this study ruled out the possibility of any energy-quenching taking place in the IsiA-PSI core supercomplex, confirming IsiA's role as an energy harvester and donor. Highlighting the significance of this exciting study, Dr Akita states, "These structural and spectroscopic findings provide important insights into the molecular arrangement and energy-transfer mechanisms in the photosystems of cyanobacteria. A deeper understanding of how photosynthetic energy transfer takes place will help to develop new energy devices based on photosynthesis." Further studies comparing the inter-species differences in PSI systems are required before we can generalize these findings, but for now, the results of this study have laid to rest a polarizing debate on the function of IsiA. ### Andrew Brunson: US 'increasingly hostile' to Christianity; following Jesus will come at personal risk Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment NASHVILLE American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned for his faith in Turkey for two years, warned that being a Christian in the U.S. may soon come with great personal risk as the culture becomes increasingly hostile to believers. "There is a price to following Jesus," said Brunson told hundreds gathered at the National Religious Broadcasters Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, last week. "There is a price in other countries. We hear about that. But increasingly, I think that there will be a price to be paid here." According to Brunson, the media, political, the business classes, most of academia are becoming increasingly hostile to those who identify publicly with Jesus Christ and with His teaching. "I feel a sense of urgency in my heart for this generation in my country, the pastor stressed. I feel it especially for my children's generation that they're not prepared to stand. I'm not sure that everyone in this room is ready to stand for Jesus without apology." We need to prepare ourselves now. We need to make decisions now about our commitment to Jesus because otherwise, the natural tendency when difficulty comes is to fear. And when were afraid, the natural instinct is to run away, is to compromise. It is normal to be afraid, he added. The issue is, will you stand in spite of your fear? Will you remain faithful? In the end, people are going to pay a price for the sake of the Gospel. Overseas, yes, but also here ... there is a cost to following Jesus. Brunson, a Christian missionary who lived in Turkey for more than 20 years, was taken into custody by Turkish officials along with his wife, Norine, in October 2016. Norine was released soon after, but Brunson was thrown in prison, accused of plotting to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government. Following two years in detention, Brunson was released last October after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the country. Brunson shared details about his imprisonment in Turkey, revealing he experienced a crisis of faith while in detention. I was actually very afraid, he admitted. The issue, actually, is what we do when were afraid. There are things to be afraid of. Despite severe persecution, Brunson said he believes God is moving powerfully in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern regions. I believe that millions of Muslims will begin to follow Jesus Christ, he said. What God has shown us is that this powerful move will come in difficult circumstances. God allows the things of the foundations we trust in to be shaken to get our attention. He allows it in our country, and He allows it in other places. There is going to be a harvest in the most dangerous and the most difficult places, and this means that there is risk to those who are going to gather the harvest in those places. Many young Muslims now have access to the Gospel thanks to the rise of smartphones, Brunson explained. The wind of God is going to sweep through that area and many are going to turn to the Lord. Whos going to follow them up? Who is going to disciple them? A lot of that is going to have to be done through media until churches can be established in those places. The pastor warned that if we dont stand here, this will have repercussions far beyond the U.S. If the U.S. hurdles in the darkness, there will be grave consequences for many other countries because the U.S. has been one of the main mission-setting basis in the world, he said. Great blessing has flowed from the American church to other countries. So the choices we make that we make here now will have consequences both for us here, for our generations here, but also or the coming generations and for many others around the world. What will motivate us to stand? he asked. The answer is found in the First Commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is what fuels endurance, what fuels perseverance, he said. Loving God, he declared, also means standing for God, and intentionally pursuing Gods heart positions us to receive assignments from Him. "He is worthy and He is worth it," the pastor concluded. In the end, you will never regret whatever you place at risk because of your love for God." An international study has used data from a major home Internet Protocol (IP) security camera provider to evaluate potential privacy risks for users. IP home security cameras are Internet-connected security cameras that can be installed in people's homes and remotely monitored via the web. These cameras are growing in popularity and the global market is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2023. For the study, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science and Queen Mary University of London tested if an attacker could infer privacy-compromising information about a camera's owner from simply tracking the uploaded data passively without inspecting any of the video content itself. The findings, published at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (6-9 July 2020), showed that the traffic generated by the cameras could be monitored by attackers and used to predict when a house is occupied or not. The researchers even found that future activity in the house could be predicted based on past traffic generated by the camera, which could leave users more at risk of burglary by discovering when the house it unoccupied. They confirmed that attackers could detect when the camera was uploading motion, and even distinguish between certain types of motion, such as sitting or running. This was done without inspecting the video content itself but, instead, by looking at the rate at which cameras uploaded data via the Internet. Dr Gareth Tyson, Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said: "Once considered a luxury item, these cameras are now commonplace in homes worldwide. As they become more ubiquitous, it is important to continue to study their activities and potential privacy risks. Whilst numerous studies have looked at online video streaming, such as YouTube and Netflix, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which looks in detail at video streaming traffic generated by these cameras and quantifies the risks associated with them. By understanding these risks, we can now look to propose way to minimise the risks and protect user privacy." ### Notes to editors * Research publication: 'Your Privilege Gives Your Privacy Away: An Analysis of a Home Security Camera Service' Jinyang Li, Zhenyu Li, Gareth Tyson, Gaogang Xie. In 39th IEEE Joint Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), Beijing, China (2020). * For more information or a copy of the paper, please contact: Sophie McLachlan Faculty Communications Manager (Science & Engineering) Queen Mary University of London sophie.mclachlan@qmul.ac.uk Tel: 020 7882 3787 About Queen Mary Queen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university that connects minds worldwide. A member of the prestigious Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our world-leading research. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework we were ranked 5th in the country for the proportion of research outputs that were world-leading or internationally excellent. We have over 25,000 students and offer more than 240 degree programmes. Our reputation for excellent teaching was rewarded with silver in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework. Queen Mary has a proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond. Common to each of these institutions - the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew's Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College - was the vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented. Today, Queen Mary University of London remains true to that belief in opening the doors of opportunity for anyone with the potential to succeed and helping to build a future we can all be proud of. Young children from dog-owning households have better social and emotional wellbeing than children from households who do not own a dog, suggests research published in the journal Pediatric Research. A team of researchers at the University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute utilised questionnaire data from 1,646 households that included children aged two to five years. The researchers found that, after taking into account children's age, biological sex, sleep habits, screen time and parents' education levels, children from dog-owning households were 23% less likely to have overall difficulties with their emotions and social interactions than children who did not own a dog. Children from dog-owning households were 30% less likely to engage in antisocial behaviours, 40% less likely to have problems interacting with other children, and were 34% more likely to engage in considerate behaviours, such as sharing. Associate Professor Hayley Christian, the corresponding author said: "While we expected that dog ownership would provide some benefits for young children's wellbeing, we were surprised that the mere presence of a family dog was associated with many positive behaviours and emotions." Among children from dog-owning households, those who joined their family on dog walks at least once per week were 36% less likely to have poor social and emotional development than those who walked with their family dog less than once per week. Children who played with their family dog three or more times per week were 74% more likely to regularly engage in considerate behaviours than those who played with their dog less than three times per week. Associate Professor Hayley Christian said: "Our findings indicate that dog ownership may benefit children's development and wellbeing and we speculate that this could be attributed to the attachment between children and their dogs. Stronger attachments between children and their pets may be reflected in the amount of time spent playing and walking together and this may promote social and emotional development." To examine children's social and emotional development and its possible association with family dog ownership, the authors analysed data collected between 2015 and 2018 as part of the Play Spaces and Environments for Children's Physical Activity (PLAYCE) study. During the study, parents of children aged between two and five years completed a questionnaire assessing their child's physical activity and social-emotional development. . Out of the 1,646 households included in the study, 686 (42%) owned a dog. The authors caution that due to the observational nature of the study they were not able to determine the exact mechanism by which dog ownership may benefit social and emotional development in young children, or to establish cause and effect. Further research should assess the potential influence of owning different types of pets or the influence that children's attachment to their pets may have on child development. ### Media Contact Deborah Kendall Assistant Press Officer Springer Nature T: +44 2078 4326 53 E: deborah.kendall@springernature.com Notes to editor: 1. Research article: The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social-emotional development: findings from the PLAYCE observational study Pediatric Research 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-020-1007-2 For an embargoed copy of the article please contact Deborah Kendall at Springer Nature. After the embargo lifts, the article will be available here: https:/ / www. nature. com/ articles/ s41390-020-1007-2 Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. 2. Pediatric Research publishes original translational research papers, invited reviews, and commentaries on the etiologies and treatment of diseases of children and disorders of development, extending from basic science to epidemiology and quality improvement. 3. This research was funded by the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) and the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). To testify the "iron hypothesis" in the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) ice core, Cunde Xiao and his colleagues firstly reconstructed the bioavailable Fe data in this deep ice core from the northern Hemisphere over the past 110 kyr B.P., which suggested that the dissolved Fe (DFe) records in NEEM ice core were significantly anti-correlated with the carbon oxide (CO2) concentrations during the cold periods. The pattern of Fe concentration was extremely similar to that of the number of dust particles. The results also emphasized that the changes of Fe fertilization effect could not be explained by a simple linear relationship with the glacial-interglacial changes in the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This study focused on the linkages between NEEM ice core and Chinese loess record over the past 110 kyr B.P. The changes of Fe fluxes in the NEEM ice core were in phase with that archived in Chinese loess, where the mineral dust distribution was controlled by the vast Asian deserts and large-scale wind pattern. They suggest that the dust input on a hemispheric scale were most likely driven by the changes in solar radiation during the last glacial-interglacial cycle, as a response to Earth's orbital changes. In the last glacial-interglacial cycle, the ratios between dissolved Fe and total dissolved Fe (DFe/TDFe) were higher during the warm periods (i.e., post-Industrial Revolution, the Holocene and the Last Interglacial period) than during the main cold period (i.e. the Last Glacial Maximum), indicating that the Fe fertilization effect was more complex during the Holocene, due to the presence of different composition of dust associated, with various grain sizes and other factors. Although the burning of biomass has released large amounts of Fe-contained aerosols since the Industrial era, no significant responses were observed in Fe variations during the same time period. ### See the article: Xiao CD, Du ZH, Handley MJ, Mayewski PA, Schupbach S, Zhang T, Petit JR, Li CJ, Han YC, Li YF, Ren JW 2020. Iron in the NEEM ice core relative to Asian loess records over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. National Science Review, doi. org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa144 In recognition of the unprecedented and ongoing challenges facing the library and research communities worldwide, there will be no increase in The Company of Biologists' e-journal prices in 2021 In recognition of the unprecedented and ongoing challenges facing the library and research communities worldwide, there will be no increase in The Company of Biologists' e-journal prices in 2021. As a not-for-profit publisher committed to maximising the availability of high-quality biological science research, we are keen to support our authors, readers and library customers as far as possible during these difficult times. We are therefore freezing fees for e-access to our subscription journals - Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology - until 31 December 2021. This applies to both new and existing customers. Article processing charges (APCs) will also remain at 2020 levels throughout 2021. In addition, we are waiving 2021 price increases for the two-year Read & Publish Open Access agreements we have signed with national library consortia - Jisc in the UK, IReL in Ireland, and MALMAD in Israel - and with individual institutions. "Our mission is to support and inspire the biological community, and we want to ensure that the highest quality research continues to be available as widely as possible during these uncertain times and beyond. As a result, we have taken the decision to freeze our e-journal prices in 2021," says Matthew Freeman FRS, Chairman of The Company of Biologists and Head of the Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford. "We are also supporting the library and research community through our Read & Publish initiative which offers libraries a cost-neutral transition to Open Access with free and unlimited Open Access publishing for corresponding authors." ### About The Company of Biologists The Company of Biologists is a not-for-profit publishing company dedicated to supporting and inspiring the biological community. We publish five specialist peer-reviewed journals - three hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, and Journal of Experimental Biology), and two Open Access journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms, and Biology Open). We also host scientific meetings and workshops, and provide a variety of grants to the scientific community. Our Read & Publish Open Access initiative was launched in November 2019, and we have signed national-level consortia agreements with Jisc in the UK, IReL in Ireland, and MALMAD in Israel, as well as with individual institutions. For further information: The active agents of many drugs are natural products, so called because often only microorganisms are able to produce the complex structures. Similar to the production line in a factory, large enzyme complexes put these active agent molecules together. A team of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Goethe University Frankfurt has now succeeded in investigating the basic mechanisms of one of these molecular factories. Many important drugs such as antibiotics or active agents against cancer are natural products which are built up by microorganisms for example bacteria or fungi. In the laboratory, these natural products can often be not produced at all or only with great effort. The starting point of a large number of such compounds are polyketides, which are carbon chains where every second atom has a double bound to an oxygen atom. In a microbial cell such as in the Photorhabdus luminescens bacterium, they are produced with the help of polyketide synthases (PKS). In order to build up the desired molecules step by step, in the first stage of PKS type II systems, four proteins work together in changing "teams". In a second stage, they are then modified to the desired natural product by further enzymes. Examples of bacterial natural products which are produced that way are, inter alia, the clinically used Tetracyclin antibiotics or Doxorubicin, an anti-cancer drug. Interdisciplinary cooperation While the modified steps of the second stage are well studied for many active agents, there have up to now hardly been any insights into the general functioning of the first stage of these molecular factories where the highly reactive polyketide intermediate product is bound to the enzyme complex and protected so that it cannot react spontaneously. This gap is now closed by the results of the cooperation between the working groups of Michael Groll, professor of biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich, and Helge Bode, professor of molecular biotechnology at Goethe University Frankfurt, which are published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Chemistry. Findings inspire to new syntheses of active agents "In the context of this work, we were for the first time able to analyze complexes of the different partner proteins of type II polyketide synthase with the help of X-ray structure analysis and now understand the complete catalytic cycle in detail," Michael Groll explains. "Based on these findings, it will be possible in the future to manipulate the central biochemical processes in a targeted manner and thus change the basic structures instead of being restricted to the decorating enzymes," Helge Bode adds. Although it is a long way to develop improved antibiotics and other drugs, both groups are optimistic that now also the structure and the mechanism of the missing parts of the molecular factory can be explained. "We already have promising data of the further protein complexes," says Maximilian Schmalhofer, who was involved in the study as a doctoral candidate in Munich. ### The work was supported with funds of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the context of SPP 1617, SFB 1035 and the Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM) cluster of excellence and the LOEWE focus MegaSyn of the State of Hesse. X-ray structure data were measured at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen (Switzerland). The Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing provided computing time for the theoretical modeling. Publication: Alois Braeuer, Qiuqin Zhou, Gina L.C. Grammbitter, Maximilian Schmalhofer, Michael Ruehl, Ville R.I. Kaila, Helge B. Bode und Michael Groll: Structural snapshots of the minimal PKS system responsible for octaketide biosynthesis, Nature Chemistry 06.07.2020 - DOI: 10.1038/s41557-020-0491-7 BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, July 6, 2020--Puerto Rico's population of African-European hybrid honey bees (AHB) are famously known for being much gentler than their continental counterparts. Now Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues have found that this reduced defending of the nest is determined by colony-level genetics as opposed to individual bee's DNA, according to a study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found no significant correlations between individual bees' defensiveness and specific genes. By contrast, they saw strong correlations between a colony's level of defensiveness and how frequently specific genes appeared within the colony. "It's as if your home environment is a better predictor of how belligerent your temper is than are your individual tendencies in responding to situations. In more scientific terms, for these bees, it is the frequency of the appearance of a gene in the genetic makeup of the colony that is a better predictor than is the genetic makeup of a single bee," explained ARS geneticist Arian Avalos with the Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who led the study. Defensiveness in honey bees arises from the coordinated actions of colony members, primarily nonreproductive "soldier" bees. Some soldier bees act as guards, patrolling the hive entrance and release alarm pheromones when they encounter an intruder, while other soldiers respond to the alarm by flying out of the hive to sting the intruder. Honey bees die after stinging, so the decision that stinging is called for is a serious one. "We were also able to winnow down the differences in genetics between aggressive and gentle African-European hybrid honey bees from having to analyze the whole genome to just 256 genes" Avalos said. Honey bees have a total of about 10,000 genes in their genome. AHB are the descendants of honey bees imported from Africa into Brazil in the 1950s in the hopes of breeding a bee better adapted to the tropics. They instead escaped, interbred with European honey bees (EHB) already present and spread south to Argentina and north into Central America and finally into the United States in only 40 years. African honey bees, which are a separate sub-species of honey bee distinct from EHB, are best known for their strong, vigorous defense of their nests. In the United States, this behavior has been evident and predominant wherever AHB spread and interbred with EHBs. AHB arrived to Puerto Rico in 1994 aboard ships carrying cargo like oil pipes from South America and were no gentler than other AHB. However, within a few years of arrival to Puerto Rico, AHB began to show reduced defense of their nests and today are about on par with EHB in this trait. Researchers suspect several factors could have contributed to this process all related to the challenges of surviving in a remote oceanic island with a high density of human population. The process may have also been abetted by major hurricanes such as Irma and Maria, which could have reduced the bees' overall population and genetic diversity. The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact. ### Research explains how a unicellular marine organism generates light as a response to mechanical stimulation, lighting up breaking waves at night. Every few years, a bloom of microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates transforms the coasts around the world by endowing breaking waves with an eerie blue glow. This year's spectacular bloom in southern California was a particularly striking example. In a new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters, researchers have identified the underlying physics that results in light production in one species of these organisms. The international team, led by the University of Cambridge, developed unique experimental tools based on micromanipulation and high-speed imaging to visualize light production on the single-cell level. They showed how a single-celled organism of the species Pyrocystis lunula produces a flash of light when its cell wall is deformed by mechanical forces. Through systematic experimentation, they found that the brightness of the flash depends both on the depth of the deformation and the rate at which it is imposed. Known as a 'viscoelastic' response, this behavior is found in many complex materials such as fluids with suspended polymers. In the case of organisms like Pyrocystis lunula, known as dinoflagellates, this mechanism is most likely related to ion channels, which are specialized proteins distributed on the cell membrane. When the membrane is stressed, these channels open up, allowing calcium to move between compartments in the cell, triggering a biochemical cascade that produces light. "Despite decades of scientific research, primarily within the field of biochemistry, the physical mechanism by which fluid flow triggers light production has remained unclear," said Professor Raymond E. Goldstein, the Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, who led the research. "Our findings reveal the physical mechanism by which the fluid flow triggers light production and show how elegant decision-making can be on a single-cell level," said Dr Maziyar Jalaal, the paper's first author. Bioluminescence has been of interest to humankind for thousands of years, as it is visible as the glow of night-time breaking waves in the ocean or the spark of fireflies in the forest. Many authors and philosophers have written about bioluminescence, from Aristotle to Shakespeare, who in Hamlet wrote about the 'uneffectual fire' of the glow-worm; a reference to the production of light without heat: "... To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once. The glowworm shows the matin to be near, And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire. Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me." The bioluminescence in the ocean is, however, not 'uneffectual.' In contrast, it is used for defense, offense, and mating. In the case of dinoflagellates, they use light production to scare off predators. The results of the current study show that when the deformation of the cell wall is small, the light intensity is small no matter how rapidly the indentation is made, and it is also small when the indentation is large but applied slowly. Only when both the amplitude and rate are large is the light intensity maximized. The group developed a mathematical model that was able to explain these observations quantitatively, and they suggest that this behavior can act as a filter to avoid spurious light flashes from being triggered. In the meantime, the researchers plan to analyze more quantitatively the distribution of forces over the entire cells in the fluid flow, a step towards understanding the light prediction in a marine context. Other members of the research team were postdoctoral researcher Helene de Maleprade, visiting students Nico Schramma from the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Gottingen, Germany and Antoine Dode from the Ecole Polytechnique in France, and visiting professor Christophe Raufaste from the Institut de Physique de Nice, France. The work was supported by the Marine Microbiology Initiative of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Schlumberger Chair Fund, the French National Research Agency, and the Wellcome Trust. ### Coconut oil production may be more damaging to the environment than palm oil, researchers say. The issue of tropical forests being cut down for palm oil production is widely known, but the new study says coconut oil threatens more species per ton produced than palm or other vegetable oils. The researchers use this example to highlight the difficulties of "conscientious consumption". They say consumers lack objective guidance on the environmental impacts of crop production, undermining their ability to make informed decisions. "The outcome of our study came as a surprise," said lead author Erik Meijaard, of Borneo Futures in Brunei Darussalam. "Many consumers in the West think of coconut products as both healthy and their production relatively harmless for the environment. "As it turns out, we need to think again about the impacts of coconut." Co-author Dr Jesse F. Abrams, of the Global Systems Institute and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, both at the University of Exeter, added: "Consumers, especially those striving to be more responsible in their consumption, rely heavily on information that they receive from the media, which is often supplied by those with vested interests. "When making decisions about what we buy, we need to be aware of our cultural biases and examine the problem from a lens that is not only based on Western perspectives to avoid dangerous double standards." According to the study, production of coconut oil affects 20 threatened species (including plants and animals) per million tons of oil produced. This is higher than other oil-producing crops, such as palm (3.8 species per million tons), olive (4.1) and soybean (1.3). The study shows that the main reason for the high number of species affected by coconut is that the crop is mostly grown on tropical islands with rich diversity and many unique species. Impact on threatened species is usually measured by the number of species affected per square hectare of land used - and by this measure palm's impact is worse than coconut. Coconut cultivation is thought to have contributed to the extinction of a number of island species, including the Marianne white-eye in the Seychelles and the Solomon Islands' Ontong Java flying fox. Species not yet extinct but threatened by coconut production include the Balabac mouse-deer, which lives on three Philippine islands, and the Sangihe tarsier, a primate living on the Indonesian island of Sangihe. The authors, however, emphasise that the objective of the study is not to add coconut to the growing list of products that consumers should avoid. Indeed, they note that olives and other crops raise also raise concerns. Co-author Professor Douglas Sheil, of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, said: "Consumers need to realise that all our agricultural commodities, and not just tropical crops, have negative environmental impacts. "We need to provide consumers with sound information to guide their choices." The researchers argue for new, transparent information to help consumers. "Informed consumer choices require measures and standards that are equally applicable to producers in Borneo, Belgium and Barbados," they write. "While perfection may be unattainable, improvements over current practices are not." ### The article, published in Current Biology, is entitled: "Coconut oil, conservation and the conscientious consumer." Erik Meijaard declares a potential conflict of interest through paid work for ANJ-Agri, an oil palm company, and his chairmanship of the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force. New research provides the first direct evidence for the Gulf Stream blender effect, identifying a new mechanism of mixing water across the swift-moving current. The results have important implications for weather, climate and fisheries because ocean mixing plays a critical role in these processes. The Gulf Stream is one of the largest drivers of climate and biological productivity from Florida to Newfoundland and along the western coast of Europe. The multi-institutional study led by a University of Maryland researcher revealed that churning along the edges of the Gulf Stream across areas as small as a kilometer could be a leading source of ocean mixing between the waters on either side of the current. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on July 6, 2020. "This long-standing debate about whether the Gulf Stream acts as a blender or a barrier to ocean mixing has mainly considered big ocean eddies, tens of kilometers to a hundred kilometers across," said Jacob Wenegrat, an assistant professor in UMD's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and the lead author of the study. "What we're adding to this debate is this new evidence that variability at the kilometer scale seems to be doing a lot of mixing. And those scales are really hard to monitor and model." As the Gulf Stream courses its way up the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, it brings warm salty water from the tropics into the north Atlantic. But the current also creates an invisible wall of water that divides two distinct ocean regions: the colder, fresher waters along the northern edge of the Gulf Stream that swirl in a counterclockwise direction, and the warmer, saltier waters on the southern edge of the current that circulate in a clockwise direction. How much ocean mixing occurs across the Gulf Stream has been a matter of scientific debate. As a result, ocean models that predict climate, weather and biological productivity have not fully accounted for the contribution of mixing between the two very different types of water on either side of the current. To conduct the study, the researchers had to take their instruments to the source: the edge of the Gulf Stream. Two teams of scientists aboard two global-class research vessels braved winter storms on the Atlantic Ocean to release a fluorescent dye along the northern front of the Gulf Stream and trace its path over the following days. The first team released the dye along with a float containing an acoustic beacon. Downstream, the second team tracked the float and monitored the concentration of dye along with water temperature, salinity, chemistry and other features. Back on shore, Wenegrat and his coauthors developed high-resolution simulations of the physical processes that could cause the dye to disperse through the water in the manner the field teams recorded. Their results showed that turbulence across areas as small as a kilometer exerted an important influence on the dye's path and resulted in significant mixing of water properties such as salinity and temperature. "These results emphasize the role of variability at very small scales that are currently hard to observe using standard methods, such as satellite observations," Wenegrat said. "Variability at this scale is not currently resolved in global climate models and won't be for decades to come, so it leads us to wonder, what have we been missing?" By showing that small-scale mixing across the Gulf Stream may have a significant impact, the new study reveals an important, under-recognized contributor to ocean circulation, biology and potentially climate. For example, the Gulf Stream plays an important role in what's known as the ocean biological pump--a system that traps excess carbon dioxide, buffering the planet from global warming. In the surface waters of the Gulf Stream region, ocean mixing influences the growth of phytoplankton--the base of the ocean food web. These phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide near the surface and later sink to the bottom, taking carbon with them and trapping it in the deep ocean. Current models of the ocean biological pump don't account for the large effect small-scale mixing across the Gulf Stream could have on phytoplankton growth. "To make progress on this we need to find ways to quantify these processes on a finer scale using theory, state-of-the-art numerical models and new observational techniques," Wenegrat said. "We need to be able to understand their impact on large-scale circulation and biogeochemistry of the ocean." ### The field research was conducted from the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System vessels R/V Knorr and R/V Atlantis and was supported by the Scalable Lateral Mixing and Coherent Turbulence Departmental Research Initiative of the Office of Naval Research. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. In addition to Wenegrat, co-authors of the study included researchers from Stanford University, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, University of Cambridge, University of Washington, University of Victoria and Oregon State University. The research paper, "Enhanced mixing across the gyre boundary at the Gulf Stream front," Jacob O. Wenegrat, Leif N. Thomas, Miles A. Sundermeyer, John R. Taylor, Eric A. D'Asaro, Jody M. Klymak, R. Kipp Shearman, and Craig M. Lee, was published in the July 6, 2020 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Media Relations Contact: Kimbra Cutlip, 301-405-9463, kcutlip@umd.edu University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences 2300 Symons Hall College Park, Md. 20742 http://www. cmns. umd. edu @UMDscience About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 9,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $200 million. In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, researchers at the University of Michigan have made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent. They provide a recipe to help other researchers find the best balance between conductivity and transparency by creating a three-layer anti-reflection surface. The conductive metal layer is sandwiched between two "dielectric" materials that allow light to pass through easily. The dielectrics reduce the reflection from both the plastic and metal layer between them. "We developed a way to make coatings with high transparency and conductivity, low haze, excellent flexibility, easy fabrication and great compatibility with different surfaces," said Jay Guo, U-M professor of electrical engineering and computer science, who led the work. Previously, Guo's team had shown that it was possible to add a layer of metal onto a plastic sheet to make it conductive--a very thin layer of silver that, by itself, reduced the transmission of light by roughly 10%. Light transmission through plastic is a little lower than through glass, but its transparency can be improved with anti-reflection coatings. Guo and his colleague Dong Liu, a visiting professor at U-M from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, realized that they could make an anti-reflection coating that was also conductive. "It was taken for granted that the transmittance of the conductor is lower than that of the substrate, but we show that this is not the case," said Chengang Ji, first author of the study in Nature Communications, who worked on the project as a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering. Ji received his doctorate from U-M in 2019. The dielectrics chosen by the team in this case are aluminum oxide and zinc oxide. On the side closest to the light source, the aluminum oxide reflects less light back to the source than the plastic surface would. Then comes the metal layer, composed of silver with a tiny amount of copper in it, just 6.5 nanometers thick, and then zinc oxide helps guide the light into the plastic surface. Some light still gets reflected back where the plastic meets the air on the opposite side, but overall, the light transmission is better than the plastic alone. The transmittance is 88.4%, up from 88.1% for the plastic alone. With the theory results, the team anticipates that other researchers will be able to design similar sandwich-style flexible, highly transparent conductors, which allow even more light through than the plastic alone. "We tell people how transparent a dielectric-metal-dielectric conductor could be, for a target electrical conductance. We also tell them how to achieve this high transmittance step-by-step," Liu said. The tricks are selecting the right dielectrics and then figuring out the right thickness for each to suppress the reflection of the thin metal. In general, the material between the plastic and metal should have a higher refractive index, while the material nearest the display or light source should have a lower refractive index. Guo is continuing to move the technology forward, collaborating on a project that uses transparent conductors in solar cells for mounting on windows. These could absorb infrared light and convert it to electricity while leaving the visible spectrum to brighten the room. He also proposes large panel interactive displays and car windshields that can melt ice the way rear windows can. ### The research is funded by the MTRAC Advanced Materials Hub Award. Liu's visit to UM was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China U-M has licensed the technology to the startup company Zenithnano, co-founded by Guo, to pursue commercialization. Guo is also a professor of mechanical engineering, macromolecular science and engineering, and applied physics. Ji is now a chief technology officer of another startup based on his Ph.D. work and Zhang, who was a former Ph.D. from Guo lab, is now a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. John Piper warns Christians against patriotism over Christ Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Popular Reformed theologian John Piper warned Christians about being too patriotic and placing their loyalty to the fatherland over their loyalty to Jesus Christ. In an episode of the podcast Ask Pastor John posted before Independence Day, a listener named Matt asked Piper about how patriotism fit in the Christian life. Obviously, as Christians we are to live as strangers, exiles, aliens, and pilgrims on this earth. Is there an appropriate place in the Christian life to be patriotic? If so, what is it? And at what point does our patriotism go too far? inquired Matt. Piper responded that patriotism, a love for ones country, can be right and good even as Christians should identify as exiles, refugees, sojourners. He believes that the Bible condones special affections in the life of a Christian, such as for a particular city or tribe or nation, in addition to the general love for humanity. For example, Paul says in Galatians 6:10, As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith, explained Piper. So its as though there is this specialness about those who are close to you and like you. There is a kind of affection for them thats different. However, Piper also said that such affections should only exist up to a point and that Christians should never give them absolute allegiance. Never feel more attached to your fatherland or your tribe or your family or your ethnicity than you do to the people of Christ, he continued. Everyone who is in Christ is more closely and permanently united to others in Christ, no matter the other associations, than we are to our nearest fellow citizen or party member or brother or sister or spouse. Piper bemoaned the many horrible indignities that have occurred because Christians failed to realize that we are more bound together with other believers no matter their ethnicity or their political alignments or their nationality than we are to anybody in our own fatherland. In the end, Christ has relativized all human allegiances, all human loves. Keeping Christ supreme in our affections makes all our lesser loves better, not worse. The extent to which churches, especially those in the United States, should observe patriotic sentiments has been a source of much debate among clergy and laity alike. Some, including First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, annually hold a patriotic-themed worship service every Fourth of July weekend. FBC Dallas Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress has defended the practice, explaining in a 2018 interview with conservative columnist Todd Starnes that it is about worshiping the "God Who has blessed America and not America itself. I believe there's nothing wrong and everything right, according to the Bible, for expressing gratitude to God for His blessings upon our country, he said at the time. Also in 2018, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners released a Reclaiming Jesus statement, which denounces concepts like America first as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal, reads the statement in part. We reject domination rather than stewardship of the earths resources, toward genuine global development that brings human flourishing for all of Gods children. Serving our own communities is essential, but the global connections between us are undeniable. Our cells are constantly dividing, and as they do, the DNA molecule - our genetic code - sometimes gets broken. DNA has twin strands, and a break in both is considered especially dangerous. This kind of double-strand break can lead to genome rearrangements that are hallmarks of cancer cells, said James Daley, PhD, of the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Daley is first author of research, published June 18 in the journal Nature Communications, that sheds light on a double-strand break repair process called homologous recombination. Joined by senior authors Patrick Sung, DPhil, and Sandeep Burma, PhD, and other collaborators, Dr. Daley found that among an array of mechanisms that initiate homologous recombination, each one is quite different. Homologous recombination is initiated by a process called DNA end resection where one of the two strands of DNA at a break is chewed back by resection enzymes. "What's exciting about this work is that it answers a long-held mystery among scientists," Dr. Daley said. "For a decade we have known that resection enzymes are at the forefront of homologous recombination. What we didn't know is why so many of these enzymes are involved, and why we need three or four different enzymes that seem to accomplish the same task in repairing double-strand breaks." An array of tools, each one finely tuned "On the surface of it, there seems to be quite a bit of redundancy," said Dr. Sung, who holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at UT Health San Antonio. "Our study is significant in showing that the perceived redundancy is really a very naive notion." DNA resection pathways actually are highly specific, the findings show. "It's like an engine mechanic who has a set of tools at his disposal," Dr. Sung said. "The tool he uses depends on the issue that needs to be repaired. In like fashion, each DNA repair tool in our cells is designed to repair a distinctive type of break in our DNA." The research team studied complex breaks that featured double-strand breaks with other kinds of DNA damage nearby - such complex breaks are more relevant physiologically, Dr. Daley said. Studies in the field of DNA repair usually tend to look at simpler versions of double-strand breaks, he said. Dr. Daley found that each resection enzyme is tailored to deal with a specific type of complex break, which explains why a diverse toolkit of resection enzymes has evolved over millennia. Cancer ramifications Dr. Burma, the Mays Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Oncology at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the fundamental understandings gleaned from this research could one day lead to improved cancer treatments. "The cancer therapeutic implications are immense," Dr. Burma said. "This research by our team is timely because a new type of radiation therapy, called carbon ion therapy, is now being considered in the U.S. While being much more precisely aimed at tumors, this therapy is likely to induce exactly the sort of complex DNA damage that we studied. Understanding how specific enzymes repair complex damage could lead to strategies to dramatically increase the efficacy of cancer therapy." Part of the research is funded by NASA. "These kinds of complex DNA breaks are also induced by space radiation," Dr. Burma said. "Therefore, the research is relevant not just to cancer therapy, but also to cancer risks inherent to space exploration." ### Acknowledgments Dr. Daley is research-track faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Sung is professor and interim chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology and associate dean for research in the Long School of Medicine. Dr. Burma is professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Neurosurgery and is cross-appointed in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology. Grants and awards from the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Gray Foundation under the Basser Initiative, and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas supported this study. Specificity of end resection pathways for double-strand break regions containing ribonucleotides and base lesions James M. Daley, Nozomi Tomimatsu, Grace Hooks, Weibin Wang, Adam S. Miller, Xiaoyu Xue, Kevin A. Nguyen, Hardeep Kaur, Elizabeth Williamson, Bipasha Mukherjee, Robert Hromas, Sandeep Burma and Patrick Sung First published: June 18, 2020, Nature Communications https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41467-020-16903-4 The Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is named for Texas philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long. The school is the largest educator of physicians in South Texas, many of whom remain in San Antonio and the region to practice medicine. The school teaches more than 900 students and trains 800 residents each year. As a beacon of multicultural sensitivity, the school annually exceeds the national medical school average of Hispanic students enrolled. The school's clinical practice is the largest multidisciplinary medical group in South Texas with 850 physicians in more than 100 specialties. The school has a highly productive research enterprise where world leaders in Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer, aging, heart disease, kidney disease and many other fields are translating molecular discoveries into new therapies. The Long School of Medicine is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center known for prolific clinical trials and drug development programs, as well as a world-renowned center for aging and related diseases. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is one of the country's 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. What causes African hybrid honey bees (AHB), also known as killer bees, to be highly defensive and aggressive? York University researchers have found it was the mixing of African and European genetics that led to hyper-aggression in this invasive strain of honey bees. AHBs are a genetics experiment gone wrong. Researchers in Brazil imported a honey bee subspecies from South African and bred them with European-derived honey bees in the 1950s. The idea was to develop a better subtropical honey bee, but bees escaped and mated with the local bees. "The resulting bees were highly invasive and aggressive, much more than the European honey bees used by North and South American beekeepers at the time," says Associate Professor Amro Zayed of the Faculty of Science, a co-author on the paper led by previous York PhD student Brock Harpur, now an assistant professor at Purdue University. "The genetics causing this hyper defensiveness were not well known, but the prevailing wisdom was that killer bees are aggressive because South African bees are aggressive." The new AHB colonies rapidly reproduced and spread across, not only Brazil, but South America, Central America and, by 1990, the southern United States. Today, they have completely replaced the European-derived honey bee in Brazil and are the most common honey bee from Northern Argentina to the southern United States. The research team measured the defence response of 116 Brazilian AHB colonies using the Suede Ball test (see video by one of the researchers, Samir Kadri, a former York visiting PhD student from Brazil). A suede ball is gently swung for one minute in front of the colony entrance stimulating a defense response in the bees and encouraging additional bees to sting the ball. "We sequenced the genomes of the most aggressive colonies, which would sting the ball 90 times or more per minute, and the least aggressive colonies," says Harpur. "We then compared the genomes of the most and least aggressive colonies to identify mutations that associate with these differences in behaviour." "The most defensive colonies in our study were more related to South African honey bees except at several regions of their genome that influence aggression. Here, they were more related to honey bees from Western Europe," says Zayed. "That is - it was the mixing of these two honey bee subspecies that led to hyper aggression." How DNA from these two subspecies interacts to influence defense response is an important next question. ### The paper was published today in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university - our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. Ohio seniors benefit from some of the lowest costs for Medicare insurance options. Policy rates can vary as can available discounts according to an analysis by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI). The report shares information for Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, the three largest metro areas. "Ohio seniors turning 65 can benefit from some of the lowest Medigap costs in the nation," shares Jesse Slome, director of the Association. "The lowest rate we found was $82.63 a year for a Cleveland female which compares to the lowest rate for a New York City woman who'd pay $190 for basically the same plan," he notes. "Ohio seniors need to know that rates between the different insurance carriers can still vary significantly." The 2020 survey reports the lowest and highest rates available in major Ohio metro areas. "Consumers are not aware of the importance of comparing before signing on the dotted line," Slome notes. "You might be making a decision that you can't easily change down the road." The analysis of 2020 Medigap pricing examined rates for a 65-year-old purchasing Plan G. According to the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance this is the most common Medigap choice for those turning 65 who opt for supplemental Medicare insurance coverage. "The individual insurance companies each set their pricing," Slome notes. "A smart consumer looks at price as well as discounts available, and the company's history of rate increases." Ohio Medigap Plan G 2020 Price Index Findings COLUMBUS (Zip 43221) FEMALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $82.63 Highest monthly premium: $343.48 MALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $93.31 Highest monthly premium: $387.42 CLEVELAND (Zip 44130) FEMALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $82.63 Highest monthly premium: $343.48 MALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $93.31 Highest monthly premium: $387.42 CINCINNATI (Zip 45238) FEMALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $82.63 Highest monthly premium: $343.48 MALE age 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $93.31 Highest monthly premium: $387.42 The Association posts suggesting for consumers along with information on the 2020 Medicare Supplement Plan G Price Index findings on their website. Household discounts may be available for Ohio seniors buying Medigap insurance. "The percentage savings can vary from five percent to as much as 14 percent for Ohio applicants," Slome shares. In addition, the Association provides an online directory to find Ohio Medicare insurance agents. "The Zip Code based directory is free to use and completely private," Slome adds. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI) is an advocacy and informational organization. AAMSI supports insurance professionals who market Medicare Supplement insurance. Monday, July 6, 2020 James J. Talerico, Jr., a nationally recognized small business expert and the CEO & Founder of Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc., who has consulted with literally thousands of small-to-mid-sized businesses over the last 30 years, utilizes a comprehensive business analysis that checks over 275 different qualitative and quantitative aspects of a business and provides small-to-mid-sized business owners with an objective, 3rd party review and a detailed findings report outlining how a business owner can improve his or her business. Because Mr. Talerico has worked with many of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the U.S., he can share the best practices of the top performers in many different industries. His company's Performance Potential Indicator (PPI) Scorecard TM, moreover, assesses important areas of a business that most business analysts overlook, and provides a unique look at a small-to-mid-sized business that most of his competitors cannot match. Mr. Talerico helps small-to-mid-sized business owners improve their businesses by identifying the problems these business owners often cannot see and do not know how to fix. "Most businesses do not operate at their potential. When business owners can see these problems and know the solutions, these businesses can exceed the business owners' wildest dreams," he says. Mr. Talerico asks for no money up front and if he cannot find at least 10 times the cost of the business analysis there is no cost. He also has considerable expertise helping small-to-mid-sized businesses implemented the needed changes. Small-to-mid-sized business owners with questions about Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc.'s compendious business analysis process are encouraged to contact James J. Talerico, Jr. at 1-800-828-7585 for a free consultation. To learn more about Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc., go to: www.greaterprairiebusinessconsulting.com . Sunday, July 5, 2020 With its official imposition of the Hong Kong national security law The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has effectively placed its autocratic knee on Hong Kongs democratic neck extinguishing any remnants of free speech and human rights. The overwhelming passage of this law undoubtedly proved that the pen is indeed mightier than the Hong Kong riot police. The PRCs timing was impeccable enacting it so near to our Fourth of July an anti-Fourth of July anti-freedom of speech legislation. Admittedly its passage had more to do with the fortuitous timing of a world preoccupied with their respective internal pandemic crisis and the kid gloves rebuke by the Trump administration relative to the draconian security law. The argument put forth by the PRC supporting this law is that it will be used judiciously for specific individuals. On the other hand its merely a question of selective enforcement and political convenience akin to laws stating fines for littering or jaywalking which are rarely enforced but could be overnight. Psychological Impacts The sword of Damocles now hangs over most Hong Kong professionals triggering stratospheric stress impacting physical and mental health. The pressures for this first-world territory is unique because there hasnt been a change in the type of government anywhere else in the world. In addition to the dangers of Covid-19, Hong Kongers are suffering a psychic shock because they now live under a de facto autocratic state after decades and generations under a democratic one. The security law raises self-censorship at the level equivalent to walking on eggshells. Everyone now has to reassess casual, business and even family relationships in avoiding becoming guilty by association. Economic Impact This elevated stress will adversely impact work productivity and creativity required in an uber-competitive world. The PRC has been slowly reducing Hong Kongs importance for decades as Shanghai and Shenzen has emerged as the dominant financial & trade center and technological center respectively. In the future Hong Kong may be relegated to merely a comprehensive back office engaged in nothing more than administrative duties. Since the summer of 2019 when the protests began there have been strong downward economic pressures on the commercial real estate market. Initially foreign firms drastically reduced their personnel by evacuating many professionals because of the protest violence followed by a recession. This commercial real estate trend is underscored by The Wall Street Journal article 30 June 2020 Hong Kong Skyscrapers Lose Some Sheen, 30 June 2020. In sum, the article states: Remote work and hot desking may reduce companies need for office space by up to 20%. For this reason vacancy rates have risen dramatically to between 5-8% depending on the commercial sector. Rents for prime Grade-A Hong Kong office space could continue its decline from 2019 by an additional decline of 15%-20%. In 2019 Grade-A office space in Central Hong Kong was $313/sf or 48% higher than the next expensive city, midtown Manhattan. This figure has been dropping precipitously. Additionally my previously published article 31 May 2020 entitled Asian Dunkirk | Hong Kong Brain Drain provided a comprehensive overview of the aforementioned factors particularly the real estate market just prior to the enactment of the national security law. Global Pandemic | Strangulation through Triangulation The political epidemic is entrenched in Hong Kong. The political pandemic will soon begin is worldwide tour. In other words Hong Kongs national security law is a misnomer because in reality its an international security law that applies to non-Chinese companies and non-Chinese citizens worldwide. The national security laws global reach is insidious. According to the Wall Street Journal article 2 July 2020 Hong Kongs Security Law Means No More Business as Usual, violations can apply even if committed overseas, and even if the person isnt a Hong Kong resident. That means anyone of any nationality, anywhere who says something perceived as hostile to the PRC could be liable under this law. It would not be far-fetched to imagine that this savvy language was specifically designed as a tool for political and economic suppression and de facto blackmail worldwide. It subtly forces corporate behavior modification in their business and communications about the PRC or risk incurring heavy penalties such as lost business whether directly with a PRC firm or non-PRC third-party company whom the PRC has informed not to do business with them. Its business strangulation through political triangulation. Its a law that can impact business negotiations with a politically well-connected PRC firm who can merely whisper the possibility of alleged irregularities to gain a business edge. The permutations are as endless as the vagueness and vagaries of the national security law. The absurdity of the open-ended scope and vagueness of this security law can be compared to a classic scene in the movie Reservoir Dogs (1992) in which merely thinking anti-Chinese government policies can get you a one-way ticket to Beijing. Counter-Measures Standing up to the worlds # 2 economy whether for a big or small corporation is a daunting but not impossible task should one be so bold as to challenge the PRCs high table. The security law serves as a hidden yet subtle constraint on growth for non-Chinese firms globally while PRC companies enjoy a competitive advantage. The Hong Kong security law is an internal matter as long as the security law is applied within the PRCs jurisdiction. However if this law is used against non-PRC companies and citizens outside the PRC, this would constitute an intolerable and illegal imposition on anothers sovereignty. With respect to countermeasures, sending a message through aggressive and immediate shareholder and consumer activism can be utilized through protests and boycotting. Copyright 2020 Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based think-tank and advisory service that provides prescient beyond-the-horizon contrarian perspectives and risk assessments on energy investments, geopolitical dynamics and global urban security. 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. Correction: This story has been changed to correct the number of San Antonio companies that received Paycheck Protection Program loans. More than two dozen San Antonio-area companies, including the Thomas J. Henry law firm and Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Enterprises, received loans of at least $5 million under the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program. Other local recipients of loans from $5 million to $10 million included Our Lady of the Lake University, Joeris General Contractors Ltd., Lewis Energy Group and South Texas Oncology & Hematology. The SBA on Monday released the names of many of the companies that received PPP loans. Businesses that received a loan below $150,000 were not identified. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases More than 19,600 San Antonio companies and nonprofits received a PPP loan. The PPP loan program was set up as a lifeline to help small businesses during the coronavrius pandemic. It was designed to allow businesses hire back employees as states lifted stay-at-home orders. Besides payroll, business owners can use a portion of the loan for rent, utilities and other expenses. The loans can be forgiven if certain requirements are met. The program initially was funded with $349 billion, but when that ran out in mid-April, lawmakers replenished it with $310 billion. The program was set to expire June 30, but with more than $130 billion still remaining, President Donald Trump extended it until Aug. 8. The PPP loan program has supported more than 51 million jobs and 80 percent of small-business employees, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. The average loan size is about $100,000, he added. Now Playing: Scenes from Earl Abel's and SoHill Cafe on the first day of reopening, May 1, 2020. Video: Paul Stephen The program initially came under sharp criticism from small-business owners after it was revealed that large public companies received loans. The backlash led many of the companies to return the loans. Among them were Taco Cabana parent Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., Ruths Chris House and Shake Shack. On ExpressNews.com: Taco Cabana giving back $15 million in coronavirus relief loans Borrowers were then required to certify in good faith that their PPP loan requests were necessary. The program is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The recipients identified Monday were grouped by loan amount ranges, with $5 million to $10 million the top range. Other ranges were $150,000 to $350,000; $350,000 to $1 million; $1 million to $2 million; and $2 million to $5 million. Thomas J. Henry Law PLLC received a loan from Frost Bank on April 9. The SBAs data shows that the firm retained 487 jobs as result of the loan. A firm spokeswoman didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Bill Miller Bar-B-Q received its loan from San Antonios Jefferson Bank April 6. The San Antonio-based barbecue chain didnt immediately respond to an inquiry. Bill Miller, which operates 76 restaurants in Texas, recently announced it would temporarily close its dining rooms and cease walk-up service due to the spread of COVID-19. Its providing drive-thru, curbside and delivery service. San Antonio-based MUY Brands and four connected entities with the same address collectively received between $18 million and $36 million from different banks. The website for MUY Cos. describes MUY Brands as an independently owned and operated franchisee of fast-food restaurants, including Wendys, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut locations. MUY Brands did not immediately respond to messages left at its office. Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox Other local companies that received loans in the $5 million to $10 million range included: Stagg Restaurants, an operator of 35 McDonalds restaurants; research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan; pharmaceutical company Mission Pharmacal Co.; and Buffets LLC, a Hollywood Park-based owner of all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016. More than 110 San Antonio entities received PPP loans in the $2 million to $5 million range. They include: Ancira-Winton Chevrolet; Beldon Roofing & Remodeling Co.; Haven for Hope of Bexar County; San Antonio Food Bank; the San Antonio Zoological Society; the Langley & Banack law firm; Sushi Zushi of Texas; and Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Almost 230 San Antonio entities received a loan of $1 million to $2 million, 896 received a loan of $350,000 to $1 million; 1,626 received a loan in the range of $150,000 to $350,000; and 924 received a loan under $150,000. Madison Iszler covers retail, technology and tourism in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Madison, become a subscriber. Madison.Iszler@express-news.net | Twitter: @madisoniszler Apple has temporarily closed its Texas stores once again as COVID-19 cases in the state continue to surge. All 17 of the companys Texas locations are shuttered until further notice, including two stores in San Antonio at the Shops at La Cantera and North Star Mall. Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas, Apple said in a statement. We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible. The company closed all of its stores outside China in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic spread. It began reopening some U.S. locations in May with safety precautions, including requiring customers and employees to wear masks and conducting temperature checks. Apple also recently closed stores in Florida, Arizona and other states experiencing a surge in confirmed cases. Texas has emerged as a hotbed for the pandemic, with cases and hospitalizations in San Antonio and other major cities rising quickly. Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars and tubing and rafting outfitters to close and paused further reopenings. Texas reported 5,318 new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the total to 200,557. The death toll stands at 2,655. Some restaurants and stores in San Antonio recently closed voluntarily due to concerns about the rising number of local cases and possible exposure, or after employees or customers tested positive for COVID-19. Microsoft also closed its stores in March, including a location at the Shops at La Cantera, as the pandemic took hold. The company recently announced it will permanently close nearly all of its physical stores. It plans to reimagine locations in London, New York City, Sydney and Redmond, Wash. 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, said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter. madison.iszler@express-news.net Quadriplegic Texas man dies after hospital stops treatments against wife's wishes Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The wife of a recently passed quadriplegic Texas man with brain damage claims that her husband died after a local hospital and court-appointed guardian agreed to stop life-saving treatment against her wishes. The hospital contends that it was not medically possible to save her husband. The death of 46-year-old Michael Hickson at St. David's South Austin Medical Center on June 11 has raised questions about what quality of life means and has raised concerns from disability rights activists even though Hicksons family members had differing opinions of their loved ones outlook. Melissa Hickson, Michaels wife, has turned to the internet and media to raise attention over what she believes to have been an unjust course of action taken by the hospital with approval of a court-appointed legal guardian, Family Eldercare. Michael Hickson, who became quadriplegic after going into cardiac arrest in 2017 and suffered brain damage, was living in an Austin nursing home when he contracted COVID-19 in May. He was sent to the hospital on June 2 when he developed a fever and breathing troubles. While at the hospital, Hickson developed other life-threatening complications that ultimately resulted in multi-system organ failure, according to a statement from St. Davids Chief Medical Officer Dr. DeVry Anderson. Hickson suffered from pneumonia in both lungs, a urinary tract infection and sepsis. Melissa Hickson recorded a June 5 call with a doctor at the medical center. Hickson said she was told that additional measures to treat her husbands ailments would not help improve his quality of life. "Will it affect his quality, will it improve his quality of life?" the doctor asked in the recording. "And the answer is no." She pushed back, asking the doctor why treatment wouldnt improve his quality of life. "Being able to live isnt improving the quality of life? she asked. The doctor is heard in the recording telling Hickson that there is no improvement with being intubated, with a bunch of lines and tubes in your body, and being on a ventilator for more than two weeks." "As of right now, his quality of life he doesnt have much of one," the doctor is heard saying. Hickson again pushed back, asking the doctor: What do you mean? She asked if it was because her husband is paralyzed with a brain injury, to which, the doctor responded by saying, Correct. Hickson posted a video on YouTube, claiming that her husband was murdered. She voiced her outrage that the hospital staff and Family Eldercare employees decided to put her husband in hospice care. She claimed that her pleading with them to change their decision did no good. The reason that he (the doctor) would not treat my husband any further was because he was disabled, she said. That disability caused him to believe that my husband had poor quality of health. Reports of the recorded conversation with the doctor have driven much concern from disability rights and pro-life activists who contend that the doctors remarks show a level of disregard for human life. In a statement, Anderson, the hospitals CMO, shot down the narrative that rose last week, stressing that misinformation has spread regarding Hicksons case. Anderson said that while he doesnt normally divulge the private details of the hospitals patients, he felt troubled by the untruths surrounding the circumstances of Hicksons death. Some people want the public to believe that we took the position that Mr. Hicksons life wasnt worth being saved, and that is absolutely wrong. It wasnt medically possible to save him, Anderson stressed. My colleagues and I went into healthcare to preserve human life. When a patient passes, its a loss for everyone involved. We all feel it and mourn that loss, and our hearts always go out to the patients family and loved ones. This situation is no different. Anderson explained that the decision made in Hicksons case had nothing to do with hospital capacity, his disabilities or the color of his skin, adding that the hospital treats all patients equally. This was a man who was very, very ill and in multi-system organ failure, Anderson added. His legal guardian and his doctors worked together, consulting pulmonary and critical care specialists, to determine a care plan that was best for him. When Hickson was transferred to the facility, he had pneumonia in both lungs, a urinary tract infection and sepsis. Other complications also arose near the end of his life, such as aspiration of food. According to Anderson, aspiration means that Hickson was regurgitating the nutrients going into his body through his feeding tube, and they were going into his airways, causing his respiratory condition to worsen. Aspiration has the potential to be fatal, especially for a patient in a weakened physical state, like Mr. Hickson, and this was the reason his tube feedings were discontinued, he explained. To act within the bounds of the law, my staff at the hospital communicated with Mr. Hicksons court-appointed guardian, an organization called Family Eldercare. Although it is not common for guardianship to be taken away from family members, a court may do so if they think it is in the patients best interest, Anderson explained. In Hicksons case, a Travis County judge appointed temporary guardian status to Family Eldercare until it can be determined whether Melissa Hickson or Hicksons sister, a physician, would be appointed Hicksons guardian. The Washington Post reports that court documents filed in February by a county investigator found that during an earlier hospitalization, a hospital manager complained that Melissa Hickson had rejected the facilitys efforts to transfer him out of the hospital, which resulted in Hickson being kept in the hospital for months longer than he should have. The hospital manager also commented that Hickson had unrealistic expectations when it comes to the level of care her husband required. Michael Hicksons sister, Renee Hickson, a fellow at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., agreed with the doctors assessment of her brothers condition in June. She told the newspaper that the doctors worked hard to save her brothers life. However, she said her brothers condition worsened suddenly. She disagreed with the notion that the doctors decisions were based on race or disability. In a statement on Hicksons passing, Family Eldercare stressed that end of life decisions when families are in disagreement can be especially difficult. As court-appointed Guardian, we consulted with Mr. Hicksons spouse, family, and the medical community on the medical complexity of his case. Mr. Hicksons spouse, family, and the medical community were in agreement with the decision not to intubate Mr. Hickson. Family Eldercare argued that in consultation with Mr. Hicksons family and medical providers, it agreed with the recommendation for hospice care for Hickson to receive end-of-life comfort, nutrition and medications. Some activists and medical professionals, however, are not pleased by the reports of Hicksons death. Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, chair the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, issued a Twitter thread to voice her displeasure. As a Brain Injury Medicine physician, I have fought for patients like this every day of my career in #Physiatry, Verduzco-Gutierrez wrote. Begging doctors who dont know the outcome data or wouldnt want to live that way to give a chance at treatment, rehab, & life. She argued that Hickson may of had more quality of life than any of us. Steven Spohn, a disability rights advocate, award-winning author and COO of AbleGamers Charity, warned on Twitter that Hicksons case shows how much of an an underlying fear this scenario is for much of the disabled community. We live our entire lives in fear that one day a doctor will decide we just aren't worth it, Spohn wrote. In the YouTube video, the doctor can be heard saying he will have lines and tubes coming out of his body... That's not a quality-of-life. I have tubes coming out of my body. I happen to like my life. Without those tubes I'd be dead. Spohn wrote that his definition of quality of life is apparently vastly different than how the doctor defines the term. Disability rights advocates protested along the street outside St. David's campus on Saturday. Advocates with the Texas Americans with Disabilities Action Planning Team. Im a quadriplegic just like Michael was, demonstrator Bob Kafka told the Austin American-Statesman. I want to make sure Im treated equally. The future was looking bright in early March for graduating seniors at Kennedy High School in the Edgewood Independent School District, one of the states highest-poverty school systems. The class was smaller than last years, but many more had filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by March 6, ahead of the Alamo Colleges deadline for the first group of schools to receive free tuition under the new Alamo Promise initiative. Then students went home for Spring Break and never returned, as the looming risk of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, shut down the country. We started off so strong, and its just disheartening that we didnt get to engage directly with our kids towards the end of the year, said Angela Dominguez, the districts assistant superintendent of academics. This would have been a monumental year for our kids in particular, in Edgewood, in terms of access and equity. Demoralized by the way their high school careers were ending, many seniors lost the motivation to finish their classes, much less the forms necessary for federal grants and loans, Dominguez said. Others spent their time working at supermarkets and essential stores after their parents lost jobs. Only eight Kennedy seniors filled out the FAFSA between Spring Break and mid-June, illustrating a national trend. As schools closed across the country, application rates plummeted, which doesnt happen by chance, said Bill DeBaun, director of data at the National College Attainment Network, of which the San Antonio Education Partnership is a member. We have to lay a lot of that at the feet of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Nationally, total FAFSA completions have dropped 3.6 percent, compared with June 2019, with the biggest declines in low-income schools. Being disconnected from support systems that schools and community-based organizations provide is surely changing some students completion of those milestones, DeBaun said. Its depriving them of college knowledge and the advice that they would benefit from. On ExpressNews.com: Column: Look beyond the application when deciding on a college Buoyed by Alamo Promise, which had an initial Valentines Day application deadline, FAFSA completions in San Antonios traditional public school districts increased by about 6 percent over the previous year, bucking the national trend. But counselors and administrators said theyd hoped for more and felt hamstrung by the pandemic. The U.S. Education Department accepts the FAFSA until June 30 after the academic year in question, so some students applying for the fall semester have until June 2021. But many cant afford to wait that long to clarify their financial aid picture. Starting in the 2021-22 school year, filling out the FAFSA or its state equivalent will be a high school graduation requirement under Texas law. By March 6, a few more seniors at Marshall High School in Northside ISD had filled out the FAFSA than in the previous senior class by the same date in 2019, and the college readiness adviser was hounding the rest. But after schools shut down, the Alamo Colleges started reporting that applications to Northwest Vista College, the closest community college to Marshall, were dwindling. As of June 19, about 3 percent fewer Marshall seniors had submitted the FAFSA, compared with last year. High school counselors and advisers struggled to reach students during the shutdown, said Mary Libby, director of counseling for Northside ISD. Seniors were just not responding to phone calls, to emails, to the way they did things, Libby said. Jay and Holmes high schools were among the 25 local campuses included in the first round of Alamo Promise because of their low college-going rates. FAFSA completions at those schools are up this year by about 25 percent. But at Taft and Stevens high schools, also in Northside ISD, completions dropped about 20 percent. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox Libby, who was Tafts head counselor until the shutdown, said many students there typically fill out the FAFSA after Spring Break, when theyre pulled from English classes to apply for scholarships from local organizations. By the third week of virtual learning, Libby said, college advisers in the district were communicating with students via Google Classroom, but many seniors who did respond said college was no longer a priority. Some said they needed to stay home because their parents had lost jobs, or they balked at the uncertain state of college campuses. Others couldnt get online to begin with. The pandemic certainly did remind us that, no matter how much we think were going to provide access, there is a gap in access to resources, Libby said. Alamo Promise fed a push for increased FAFSA completion at East Central High School, said Brandon Oliver, spokesman for East Central ISD. The community college district held an assembly and other events that seniors attended during school hours. They were doing applications and FAFSAs right there on the spot, Oliver said. There was also an increased effort by the district to help students who planned on going to four-year universities. The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University-San Antonio are popular choices, and one student is Harvard-bound. English and government teachers made time for seniors to fill out the forms in class, Oliver said. Parents came to the school for help, and counselors went on home visits to families with transportation issues. By Spring Break, FAFSA applications from East Central had nearly doubled when compared with the previous March. After the break, only about 30 more seniors applied. The total increase is now 59 percent, but more than 200 students have not submitted forms. Some students are foregoing college for the military, a trade or the family business, Oliver said. But for those still interested in college applications, internet connectivity is spotty in many of the districts rural areas. A similar FAFSA push was underway before Spring Break at Wagner High in Judson ISD, which switched its FAFSA nights to FAFSA days when the Alamo Colleges financial aid staff visited to help students regardless of where they planned to attend college. More such events were planned after Spring Break but went online instead, said Alissa Perez, college readiness counselor. It was very hard to do the FAFSA virtually, and the FAFSA does take a very long time, Perez said. I would be on a Zoom call helping one student for like two hours. Wagner ended up with a 36 percent one-year increase in completions, though they slowed during the shutdown. About half the graduating class submitted the forms. Many who are now rethinking their plans would be the first in their families to go to college, Perez said. They cant get face-to-face help with registration and might not want or be able to take college courses online. Its kind of hard because they come to me for guidance, but I never went to school during a pandemic, she said. I think were just living in a crazy time. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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 Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday called for justice for missing Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen and an end to sexual violence in the military. We owe it to those who put on the uniform, and to their families, to put an end to sexual harassment and assault in the military, and hold perpetrators accountable, reads statement from the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Guillen, 20, who was from Houston, went missing almost three months ago from Fort Hood, where she was stationed. Her family members have been asking for answers as to what happened to Guillen, whom they believe had been sexually harassed at the base. The case has drawn other national criticism of the Army post for its handling of the case. Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said Friday his community is grieiving for Guillens family. I want to tell Gloria, Vanessas mother and Mayra, her sister, that we will not rest until a full investigation is conducted by the military and changes are made so that this never happens to another soldier, Garcia said. For now, we pause and stand with the Guillen family in their time of sorrow and we will be with them to lay Vanessa to rest. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said in a statement Friday that Guillen and her family were failed by the Army. Together with my colleagues in Congress, we must ensure the Guillen family gets justice for Vanessa and that this never happens again, she said. A fellow soldier bludgeoned Guillen, a Houston native, to death at Fort Hood in April and then dismembered, according to FBI investigators. Her body was buried along the Leon River. Military officials identified Army Specialist Aaron David Robinson as the soldier suspected in the disappearance of Guillen, the 20-year-old Houston native who went missing April 22. Robinson shot and killed himself as law enforcement officers confronted him along a Killeen road after the discovery of human remains believed to be those of the missing 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier. A march calling for justice for Guillen is planned for 5 p.m. Saturday at Discovery Green. hannah.dellinger@chron.com On just about any pre-pandemic weekday, before the term social distancing had ever been heard, the 559th Flying Training Squadron would be bustling. Planes would speed down runways. Groups of officers would break away at lunchtime for burgers at Chesters, a popular restaurant a short drive from Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. Clusters of students in dark green flight suits would be briefed before or after their missions by instructors such as Capts. Cate Miller and Glen Gibbs, who would lead them to the flight line and back after a day in the air. They might meet later in the Heritage Room, tugging a jet plane control joystick to draw cold beer from a keg. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer With COVID-19 crowding San Antonio-area hospitals and the threat of the disease choking social and economic life, the squadron, which trains pilots to teach others to fly, might not be recognizable to instructors who learned the trade just a year ago. Far fewer airmen are here. The Heritage Room is closed. Things are different at home, too, right down to the way pilots care for their kids or socialize. The Air Education and Training Command oversees 30,000 people in various training pipelines, including for undergraduate and instructor pilots. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a message at the outset of the pandemic, said training is mission essential, an understatement to anyone whos served in a military thats been at war since 9/11. As airmen leave the service, they have to be replaced, and the AETC in San Antonio produces many of the officers and enlistees needed for 309 career fields. Randolphs two runways saw 207,000 takeoffs and landings last year, 43,130 more than San Antonio International Airport. Aviators are chronically in short supply. Last year, the Air Force was 2,100 pilots below what it needed. Early in the pandemic response, undergraduate pilot training slowed to 50 percent of capacity, but it had largely recovered by late May, said Marilyn Holliday, an AETC spokeswoman. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Were confident in our ability to operate with a virus in our midst, she said in an email, but there was no question the pandemics recent spike will affect the pace of training, so the commands expectation that 1,200 new pilots will be produced by the end of the current fiscal year is purely an estimate. Instructor pilots, though, are graduating roughly on schedule, with 250 new ones expected by the end of the fiscal year. Pilot training squadrons scattered at 11 bases, including Randolph, have had a very small number of coronavirus cases among pilots, but like other service branches, the Air Force doesnt provide exact numbers for particular units, Holliday said. The COVID-19 crisis that has scrambled training across the armed services has also improved pilot retention because it has hammered the airline industry, a constant source of competition for pilots. A little more than a week ago, 222 Air Force pilots had been approved to remain past their original retirement or separation dates, including 153 who chose to stay beyond Sept. 30. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer The myriad complexities, and sobering risks, of training pilots in a pandemic become clear at the 559ths front door, where a sign reads, Essential personnel only. These days, Lt. Col. J.C. Gorman might see roughly a third of his 120 airmen when hes there. Like everyone else, the commander works in his office three days a week and from home the rest of the time, a concession to the risks of too many people gathering in one place as the worst pandemic in a century sweeps through San Antonio. There are other concessions, but the work at Pilot Instructor Training gets done. We view this as a national security priority, to continue pilot production, and thats what were going to do. So my goal as the commander of the 559th, only within my scope, is to not eliminate risk I cant eliminate risk, he said. If I did that, I would just stop flying. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Calculating risk Josie Norris /Staff Photographer There was a rhythm before and after the coronavirus for Miller, 32, and her husband, Lt. Col. Drew Badgett, 41. Both instructor pilots in the squadron, with a 10-month-old son, Dylan, theyre spending more time at home but on different schedules. They used to work Monday through Friday, with Miller coming in early, around 6 a.m., to fly once or twice a day and heading home early in the afternoon. You only really see one half the squadron at a time, said Miller, a 10-year Air Force veteran with 1,700 hours in the T-6 trainer and C-130 cargo plane. There are people you havent seen since the beginning of the pandemic because theyve been on the opposite shift of you. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer All of our classes and academic instruction that we used to do in the classroom or on the flight line with the students, we just do via Zoom or Microsoft Teams or one of the other platforms that allow videoconferencing. The squadron has switched to 10- to 12-hour shifts, but only three days a week, so Miller now goes in on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends. Badgett, a C-130 pilot who instructs in the T-6, works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Gibbs also works every other day. He packs a lunch at his home before heading to Randolph to brief his students before taking off. Those in the squadron not only wear masks in the building, but also don them when they exit the T-6 after landing. Hell fly with an average of 15 instructor pilot students a month, going up twice a day. A KC-135 tanker pilot with 750 combat hours over Iraq and Afghanistan, Gibbs is well aware of the pandemic risks. It hit his family: A great-aunt in her 70s died of COVID-19, while an uncle made a full recovery. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Hes single and lives alone, yet another stress point. Civilian friends help, dropping off groceries and other necessities at the front door. Living by myself and social distancing, it gets a little lonely sometimes. Ive been using a lot of the technological tools we have available, like Im sure everybody else has, said Gibbs, 33. Thats helped a little bit. And then just trying to get creative with staying in shape. Gormans order to reduce the number of instructors is a risk mitigation measure that brought the squadron from 120 airmen on any given day to 40 or 50. A major focus for Gorman, 39, of Cibolo, has been on communication. He mapped plans to use video teleconferencing for instructors to conduct flight briefings but shelved them because in-person sessions are better. But hes using video conferences to talk not only with fellow pilots but families as well, explaining the risks being taken in the squadron and why. Married, with a 7-year-old son, he knows the stress is everywhere. It is incredibly difficult for our family, and I would say thats not just true of my family, Gorman said. For Miller, the on-and-off schedule at the squadron puts time with her husband at a premium. They have one full day together per week and must juggle caring for Dylan, who was born three months early. The family got a taste of the current precautions after his delivery during flu season. They stayed home a lot. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer These days, they get food delivered and do curbside pickup at a restaurant. One of the big stress relievers, for them and many other Air Force pilots, is getting into the cockpit and flying. Another is simply having a steady job. I feel very fortunate that, one, we dont have to be worried about where our next paycheck is coming from and that were still able to work there, Miller said. Gibbs, who majored in math at the University of Georgia and holds a masters degree in engineering management, follows the news but tries to limit screen time by reading a good book, typically history, philosophy or leadership. Hes on the third season of the series The Americans, doesnt date and hangs out with only one friend. Ive actually driven by cars in the parking lot. Theyre kind of just, people are communicating with the window down, Gibbs said. Ive heard of people doing it on first-time dates. Some problems at the squadron require solutions folks might not expect out of a military organization. There are cases where dependents have immune deficiencies, making them particularly susceptible to illness. Thanks to the latitude that hes been given to command, Gormans been able to work with medical providers to assess the situations of families in his squadron and allow a couple of people to work remotely. The jobs include reviewing grade books to ensure students receive the right training, tracking paperwork for instructor certification required by the Federal Aviation Administration and helping squadron members who relocated from other states register to vote the latter task is mandated by law. Ill tell you, I have folks who just dont come to work, and thats because their family members are at extreme risk of death if they did that, so I have them teleworking, and so, again, thats not an ideal situation, Gorman said. Hitting turbulence It might be a surprise, given the complexities, but students in Gormans squadron are graduating on time, or close to it. A novice aviator in undergraduate pilot training requires a year to graduate, while an instructor pilot needs four months. A typical student in the 559th will work a Tuesday-Saturday schedule, putting in a mix of studying on the ground and flying with an instructor. Some of the ground time is in simulators, especially early in the course, where students can work through specific problems or rehearse parts of their missions. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Simulators, which these days have become an indispensable training tool, are also a choke point. We only have a limited number of simulators, and so thats a confined space, and so weve had to implement some mitigation procedures thats slowed the initial training down, Gorman said. But once they get to the flight line, we are able to get them back on a normal rate of training. The squadron is catching up by putting students in the air six times a week. They might go faster if theyve spent a lot of time in the T-6A, the Air Forces basic propeller trainer. Gorman credited his cadre of instructor pilots. Success is expected. He quoted the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. David Goldfein: Its not business as usual, its business as required. Gormans squadron went through some turbulence with the troubled T-6A on-board oxygen system, which suffered from widely reported failures that were the suspected cause of unexplained physiological episodes among pilots. Right after arriving at Randolph in late June 2018, he canceled flights for a day after meeting with his instructor pilots, some of whom had refused to fly the plane. On ExpressNews.com: Cockpit oxygen problems persist in Air Force trainer flown in San Antonio Ill say its been quite a ride the last two years, said Gorman, who has 3,000 flying hours, 617 of them in combat. And then we have restructured our entire syllabus, and weve integrated virtual technology and were trying to redefine the way were doing pilot training, and thats all happening here at the 559th. Now his task is to train without getting sick. What unfolds every day at PIT is a cant-fail mission. The work has to get done. Gorman cant eliminate risk, just minimize it. The question is, what happens if there is an outbreak? he said. Man, thats a huge challenge because at some point youve got to get them back in the door, and Im not sure I have all the answers to all that. Sig Christenson covers the military and its impact in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Sig, become a subscriber. sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe The coronavirus continued its unabated spread through the area Sunday, as Bexar County reported 198 new cases and eight new deaths, the highest death count since the start of the pandemic. The rising number of deaths follows five others that were reported Saturday. The victims Sunday were two Hispanic males and one Hispanic female in their 50s, two Hispanic males and two Hispanic females in their 60s, and one Hispanic male who was 19 or younger. The youngest victim had an underlying genetic disorder. The others had underlying medical conditions, city spokeswoman Laura Mayes said. The pandemic has now killed 130 people in Bexar County since the first cases began to show up here in March. When we report these facts, for our community, they arent numbers. Theyre people, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a video on Twitter. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, best friends and co-workers, loved ones and neighbors, San Antonians young and old. Gone. The confirmed new cases brought the countys total to 14,751, the Metropolitan Health District reported. Some 5,766 people have recovered and 8,855 are still ill. A total of 1,142 COVID-19 patients were in county hospitals Sunday, up from 802 a week ago. Of those patients, 365 were in intensive care and 197 on ventilators. A mere 10 percent of the regions staffed hospital beds remained available Sunday. The rise of hospitalizations in the region is growing at a faster rate than in other major Texas cities and is straining area hospitals, which are rushing to add new beds and reconfigure rooms for patients. With our hospitals approaching capacity, its difficult to imagine that tonight will be the last time we report another life lost to COVID-19 in San Antonio, Nirenberg said. That reality is beyond harrowing; its gut-wrenching, its morbid, its cruel. Officials also announced that city sites will only test people experiencing symptoms starting Monday. All testing sites overseen by the city will require people to have coronavirus symptoms in order to be tested. Those locations include the Freeman Coliseum and two new sites at Kazen Middle School and Cuellar Community Center. Taking a COVID-19 test will give you results from a moment in time. A person who has been exposed to the virus needs to quarantine for 14 days from that exposure regardless of a negative COVID-19 test, said Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger, who also is interim director of Metro Health. If you have insurance, please contact your health care provider to seek a test. The no-cost testing sites are intended to bring access to those who may not have insurance or a primary health care provider. In his video statement Sunday, Nirenberg again implored residents to stay home, wear a mask if going out and wash their hands. Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, officials and hospital chiefs urged residents to take those precautions to prevent a new wave of infections. Many public fireworks displays were canceled, and Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff ordered city and county parks closed. On ExpressNews.com: When were full, were full: COVID-19 pushes San Antonio hospitals to the limit Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order Thursday requiring nearly all Texans to wear masks when in public. City and county officials had pushed for the measure, but Abbott previously stripped them of the ability to enforce their own mask mandates. Abbotts order, which took effect Friday, does not apply to children under 10 or to people traveling in a vehicle with family members, attending worship services, dining in a restaurant, exercising or swimming. People voting or administering elections and people with a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask are also exempted. The order does apply to people participating in political protests. On ExpressNews.com: Its the least people can do Abbotts mask order meets mixed response in S.A. First-time offenders will receive a warning, and repeat violators could be fined up to $250. Abbott also recently closed bars and tubing and rafting outfitters, delayed elective surgeries in hard-hit counties and paused additional reopenings. Statewide, Texas officials reported 3,449 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the lowest single-day total in nearly two weeks. There were 8,258 new cases the day before, the most Texas has reported in one day since the beginning of the pandemic. State officials also reported 29 new deaths Sunday, down from 33 the previous day. madison.iszler@express-news.net 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 Haitian family detained by immigration officials at a hotel near the San Antonio airport for more than a week has been taken to the Karnes County family detention center. Officials checked them out of Homewood Suites by Hilton on Wednesday, hours after advocates rallied at the hotel and the family spoke with a lawyer for the first time. The family two parents, their 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum on June 7, said their lawyer, Krystle Cartagena of RAICES. The daughter has tested positive for the coronavirus. There are 11 detainees with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, at the Karnes detention center, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data. Amid concerns about the rapid spread of COVID-19 in detention centers, a federal judge recently ordered ICE to release detained children by July 17. Lawyers are worried that ICE will release children, but not their parents, separating families. The Haitian family, as of last week, hadnt yet been granted an interview with an asylum officer , which would mark the first step toward the process of seeking asylum. While in custody at the airport area hotel, deportation of the family appeared imminent last week. The Trump administration has essentially sealed off the border from asylum-seekers, citing the coronavirus spread. In May, about 92 percent of migrants crossing the border were either turned back to Mexico or deported, according to federal data. Its unclear whether the Haitian family now will be able to pursue an asylum claim from detention. Homewood Suites said the family had been checked into the hotel by a government contractor for a total of eight nights, seemingly contradicting the familys message indicating theyd been held aqui, or here, for 22 days. The message was scrawled on a piece of paper and flattened against their hotel room window so it could be seen by the advocates and Cartagena, before she was allowed into the room to speak with them. On ExpressNews.com: Haitian family detained Homewood Suites, a franchise, echoed Hilton Hotels statements against its rooms being used to detain immigrants. We wholly reject the use of our hotel guestrooms as a detention facility, Homewood Suites said in a statement. The company did not communicate with ICE either before or after the familys stay there, said Aaron Krens, spokesman for Baywood Hotels, the management company of Homewood Suites, noting a subcontractor had booked the room. 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 Imari Alvarado was making plans to join the Air Force after speaking with recruiters who visited her campus at OConnor High School over the past year. But after news of Pfc. Vanessa Guillens death, Alvarado and her mother Monica felt they could not trust the military. It was very scary seeing this happen, Imari Alvarado said. The Alvarados joined more than 200 people Sunday evening at a vigil for Guillen outside the San Fernando Cathedral. They called for an investigation into how the Army handled a complaint that she had been harassed. Im not going to allow it, Monica Alvarado said of her 18-year-old daughter joining the military. I cant. Not my baby. Remains discovered Tuesday in a shallow grave east of the installation triggered a manhunt that ended when a suspect Spc. Aaron Robinson killed himself as officers closed in, the Army said. Army investigators have identified the body as Guillen, her family told the Washington Post, more than two months after she vanished from Fort Hood. Robinson's girlfriend was charged with evidence tampering and said she helped dispose of the body, court records show. Guillen's disappearance, and her family's allegations that she was sexually harassed, drew attention from activists, lawmakers, celebrities and other soldiers. The family also has complained that the Army's search for the 20-year-old soldier lacked urgency and care at the highest levels. Investigators moved too slowly to piece together evidence and secure phone data that led to the suspects, said family attorney Natalie Khawam. Her leadership failed her, Khawam said. The Army failed her. Guillen was bludgeoned to death at Fort Hood on April 22, near where she was last seen, investigators said. The remains found Tuesday were so close to a site searched by investigators nine days earlier that they unknowingly stood on top of them, one search leader said. Sundays vigil was organized by Janis Gonzalez under the No Mas Movement, a cause thats been uniting people and organizations in San Antonio, Houston and as far as New York in the wake of Guillens death. They are calling for more accountability in the military and protection for servicemen and women who become victims of sexual harassment and assault. At the vigil, people lit candles and carried signs with images of Guillen that read We will fight for you! and We are your voice. A group of mariachis serenaded the group. Patsy Guillen, a relative of the late soldier, thanked everyone fighting for Guillen and said the military did not provide credible answers to the family. Our pain didnt matter to them, our soldier Vanessa Guillen didnt matter to them, but I hope she matters to you and thats why youre here today she said. She said thousands of stories of sexual assault are being shared on social media inspired by Vanessas story. Apparently what happened to Vanessa, its not new. It has been silent for so many years and it will continue to be covered if we dont speak up and say we need Congress to take action, Patsy Guillen said. We demand justice for these women, thats the least they deserve. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro offered a moment of silence and said San Antonio considers Vanessa a daughter of the city. He said many women at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland have experienced the same type of trauma. He said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has called for an independent investigation into what happened. The United States military failed Vanessa Guillen. The United States government failed Vanessa Guillen, and for years both have failed women who are in the armed forces, Castro, D-San Antonio, said. Women who are serving our nation shouldnt have to worry about sexual harassment or sexual assault, or any other kind of military sexual trauma. Janelle Marina Mendez, CEO of the Military Sexual Trauma Movement, addressed the crowd in hopes of collecting signatures needed for Congress to consider establishing the Military Industry Regulatory Authority, or MIRA. The authority would allow victims to report sexual assault outside of their chains of command, a process that many say is what prevents servicemen and women from lodging such complaints. Mendez was just 17 years old when she became a victim of sexual harassment after she enlisted in the Marine Corps. A year later, she said she was drugged and sexually assaulted. When she reported the initial harassment, she was locked up and told, This is the culture that you signed up for, she recalled. Now 30, Mendez said the trauma caused her to have a miscarriage two years ago. Since then, she has led the MST Movement lobbying for MIRA in the hopes of protecting people like Guillen. It's empowering to be here, Mendez said of the vigil. It's making my story and what I went through worthwhile and I can help her (Guillen's) family. So, I'm grateful this is where God put my life. 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. He was a leader in Atascosa Countys fight against COVID-19. He scrounged for personal protective gear for first responders and jail guards wherever he could find it. He joked that hed used so much sanitizer, his hands were chapped. Then last week, David Prasifka, the countys emergency management coordinator, tested positive for the very virus hed worked so hard to keep at bay. Prasifka, 58, died Saturday of COVID-19 and the effects of leukemia, which had been diagnosed shortly before the virus. It wasnt immediately known how he contracted the virus. It was just a real shame and a real shock, and you could feel it this morning as we gave him a good send-off, Kyle Coleman, Prasifkas counterpart in Bexar County, said Monday. There were so many people down there that he had assisted and helped. The send-off came Monday morning as area firefighters and other first responders from Bexar, Atascosa and surrounding counties lined San Antonio streets and Interstate 37 leading south to Atascosa, paying their last respects to Prasifka. He was carried in a white hearse from Methodist Metropolitan Hospital downtown to Hurley Funeral Home in Pleasanton, where funeral arrangements are pending. The end came quickly. Just last week, Prasifka had been in Bexar Countys Office of Emergency Management warehouse, gathering personal protective gear for his people in Atascosa. Thursday, he was on the phone with Coleman, telling him he had been diagnosed with acute leukemia and was on his way to a San Antonio hospital. Friday, Prasifka told another colleague that he had tested positive for COVID-19. By Saturday, the man described as a caring, reliable professional who always could be counted on in a crisis was gone. Looking for PPE Since the novel coronavirus had hit South Texas earlier this year, Prasifka had spent much of his time working to secure personal protective equipment PPE, to use the parlance of his profession for nursing home workers, voting sites, jail staff and inmates, and others in his rural county south of San Antonio, Coleman said. On ExpressNews.com: For area suburban counties, pandemic battle is improvised and personal David would drive around the county and distribute that PPE out, to make sure that they got it. If they needed anything, theyd call David, and David got it for them, he said. After Prasifka visited the Bexar County OEM warehouse last week, he left with a supply of protective suits for county jail employees, Coleman recalled. Three days later, on Thursday, Coleman got a call from Prasifka as his wife, Donna, was driving him to the hospital in San Antonio. Prasifka sounded surprised as he told Coleman hed been diagnosed with leukemia. He told me that he had acute leukemia, and that his doctor told him he needed to get up there pretty quick, Coleman said. Friday, Prasifka told another emergency manager that hed tested positive for COVID-19. Coleman texted him that day but didnt hear back. He became worried. Prasifka went into renal failure and died Saturday. Atascosa mourns Atascosa County officials have said the leukemia likely compromised his immune system before he passed away from the very disease he has been valiantly fighting against in the community COVID-19. Recently, David had been leading Atascosa County through the COVID-19 pandemic. His humor, heart, and passion for not only his EM job, but his family will be missed by many, Atascosa officials said Saturday on Twitter. Prasifka began working in Atascosa Countys emergency management office in 2013 and was named coordinator in October 2014. Before that, he was a firefighter in Jourdanton for 27 years, holding numerous offices in the volunteer fire department and serving as chief for several years. He also was a longtime mechanical technician for the San Miguel Electric Cooperative, which provides power for member cooperatives in 42 South Texas counties. Prasifka graduated from Jourdanton High School in 1980. Coleman said Prasifka was well-liked in a tight-knit family of emergency management professionals who are comfortable working together, often in high-pressure situations. He was known for helping others in neighboring counties, especially McMullen and Wilson counties. He provided assistance after the 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs left 26 people dead in rural Wilson County and after a 2015 tornado in Floresville. On his agencys web site, Prasifka noted that his office prepares for disasters, large and small, and supports other counties in times of need. Emergency Management is a very rewarding job, he wrote. Coleman said he didnt know how Prasifka contracted COVID-19. But he said Prasifka wore PPE and was the consummate emergency management coordinator. Its one of those things that all you have to do is slip out once to be exposed, Coleman said. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases As of Saturday, Atascosa Countys emergency management office had reported 145 confirmed cases of COVID-19: 56 active, 87 recovered and two deaths. Social media sites were filled with remembrances of the emergency management leader. Some talked about his neatly trimmed lawn; others recalled how he often had breakfast at Jourdantons Restaurante Chile Bandera one of his favorite hangouts, since long before the pandemic forced businesses to shut down or scale back. Prasifka and Donna were married in 1994; he has four sons. His Facebook page features a giant American flag as its profile photo. Among the many images hed posted in support of police and first responders was a meme with a lit candle honoring all our essential people who are keeping things going during COVID-19. Around that candle are the words, I cant stay home Im an emergency manager. 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 Its not too late to respond to the 2020 census. And it may keep a census worker from coming to your home and knocking on your door later this summer. The decennial census conducted once every 10 years aims to count every person living in the United States. The goal of achieving a complete count is critically important, local officials said. The final numbers will determine how many congressional seats are allotted to each state and how more than $675 billion in federal funds are disbursed to states, counties and cities. The funding decisions will span the next decade, for public needs such as hospitals, Medicaid, education, school lunches, food stamps, highways, transportation, fire stations, emergency medical services and other programs. Civic leaders have said an incomplete count could cost Texas millions of dollars in federal funding. This affects you, your family and the future of this community for the next 10 years, said Berta Rodriguez, census administrator for San Antonio. We really want people to understand that they have an impact. They have a say in the future of our community our schools, our hospitals, our programming that supports children, that supports the elderly. The 2020 census questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete, the U.S. Census Bureau said. That survey asks how many people were living in the household on April 1 and if the residence is a house, apartment or mobile home that is owned or rented by the occupants. The questionnaire also asks for the household occupants names, genders, ages, dates of birth, races and ethnicities. And it inquires how the household occupants are related to each other. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio City Council hears plans to push for census responses before door knocking starts Federal law requires the Census Bureau to keep responses about a specific person or household confidential for 72 years. Only general statistics for a geographic area can be made public. People can respond online, by phone at 844-330-2020 or by answering paper questionnaires sent through the mail. The deadline to respond, originally July 31, has been pushed back to Oct. 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic. But census officials are strongly encouraging people to respond now. Its easy. Its important. And its vital for everyone to respond, said Census Bureau spokeswoman Ximena Alvarez. Current plans call for census workers wearing full personal protective equipment to visit non-responsive households starting the second week of August. Those plans may be adjusted to comply with federal, state and local health guidelines if the COVID outbreak gets worse. San Antonio ranks fourth nationally among U.S. cities of at least 1 million people showing the strongest response rates to the 2020 census. Inside the San Antonio city limits, 58.6 percent of households had responded as of Wednesday, the latest data available. San Jose and San Diego have the strongest household response rates in the nation among large U.S. cities, at 69.9 percent and 67.8 percent respectively. Phoenix ranks third nationally with a household response rate of 59.7 percent. Houston and Dallas are lagging behind San Antonio. Dallas household response rate stood at 53.4 percent, while Houstons stood at 52.4 percent as of Wednesday, the latest data available. On ExpressNews.com: Bexar Countys population becoming more diverse, latest census figures show In Bexar County, the household response rate stands at 60.3 percent. Texas ranks 40th among states in its response rates. The Lone Star State is tied with Arkansas, posting a household response rate of 56.6 percent. That accounts for 6.9 million households in Texas. Across the country, 91.5 million households have completed the 2020 census so far, which amounts to a response rate of 61.9 percent. The last decennial census in 2010 drew a self-response rate of 66.5 percent nationally by mail. Texas posted a self-response rate of 64.4 percent 10 years ago. There is still a lot of work to be done, Alvarez said. And we hope that the public understands that theyre not just being counted, but it affects them in their daily lives, especially in this (pandemic) situation that were facing. Hospitals need funding, she noted. And in order for them to get funds, they depend on the count of the people. Peggy OHare covers demographics, the census and occasionally crime and general assignment stories in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Peggy, become a subscriber. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare During this pandemic, information and leadership have been critical to the publics ability to remain safe. Whether through emergency alerts on our smartphones or daily briefings from local officials, San Antonians are best able to prepare when our elected leadership offers clear, accessible guidance. At the onset of the pandemic in March, all five Bexar County justices of the peace issued a joint order postponing its dockets. This order, issued before the Texas Supreme Courts statewide eviction moratorium, helped prevent displacement, eviction and homelessness. During the worst phase yet of this public health crisis, our courts should lead again, issuing a uniform order halting all parts of eviction proceedings in all parts of Bexar County. Currently, such a pause is happening piecemeal. Courts in Precincts 2 and 4 suspended hearings for the week of June 29; Precinct 1, Place 1 paused hearings after Thursday; Precinct 3, as of this writing, is holding remote hearings one hour per day. These are positive developments, but they do not ensure equal justice across the county. At this moment, no Bexar County resident, regardless of precinct, should be subject to eviction. Additionally, while these partial steps have been reported, they have not been well publicized. They have not been announced on the Bexar County website or its social media accounts. Without widespread access to this information, Bexar County renters and landlords alike will not know of their rights. A single, clear order from all courts shared widely will minimize confusion while maximizing safety. Moreover, pausing eviction trials alone does not stop the eviction process under Texas law. Our justices of the peace should uniformly order a halt not only to eviction trials but also to pretrial notices to vacate and post-trial writs of possession, which allow law enforcement officers to return the unit to the landlord. Both steps can lead to displacement of residents and homelessness; both must pause during this emergency. Certainly, landlords also have bills to pay. Many cannot afford missed or delayed rent payments. To help make landlords whole and to keep tenants housed, both Bexar County and the city of San Antonio have established housing assistance programs in response to the current crisis. These programs, and not eviction hearings, chart the way forward for our community. Since June 1, nearly 200 of our neighbors have called the St. Marys University School of Law and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid housing hotline. Callers are fearful they will not have a safe place to call home. In the coming weeks as rent deadlines come and go, countless more are likely to join their ranks. It does not need to be this way. With the simple act of signing a single piece of paper and sharing it for all to see, our justices of the peace can contribute to the safety and shelter of all San Antonians. Greg Zlotnick, J.D., is the director of pro bono programs at the St. Marys University School of Law. Texas Calvary Chapel pastor accepts responsibility for spread of coronavirus at church Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment More than a week after at least 51 members of Calvary Chapel of San Antonio in Texas got infected with COVID-19 since the congregation started meeting in person, the churchs pastor says he takes full responsibility. I accept full responsibility. Im the leader of the church, said Pastor Ron Arbaugh, according to News 4 San Antonio, while adding, We kept all of the rules to the letter of the law. Late last month, at least 50 church members, including Pastor Arbaugh and his wife, Paula, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, leading to the church being immediately closed until July 12 and thoroughly cleaned. CCSA is suspending all other church activities through July 11, the church says in its bulletin. Arbaugh said if he could have done it all over again, I would have said no hugging.' Immediately we shut down the church to get everyone through a quarantine period, he said, adding that he and his wife had recovered and that the majority of those tested positive had reported mild symptoms. Two days after members tested positive, the pastor wrote to the congregation, saying, We will not have worship but I will be here teaching and look forward to joining with you online. There will be only a couple of us here in the building to ensure that everyone is safe. Please be safe. Keep your focus on Jesus. Read your Bibles and try not being consumed by the news or by the strange times we are living in. We will be fine; Gods grace is more than sufficient. We will return together as a church body to focus on the marvelous mission God has blessed us with. Pray for others and know that they are praying for you. Nothing can stop the work our Jesus has for us! He also quoted Philippians 4:6-7, which reads: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. On Sunday, the pastor announced that when they reopen the church on July 12, everyone will be required to wear masks, in keeping with Gov. Greg Abbott's order issued Thursday. Arbaugh made it clear that the church has been complying with the governor's orders during the pandemic. "We are going to adhere to strict social distancing guidelines," he said. "If you dont like wearing a mask, then its just better to stay at home and watch online." While Calvary Chapel typically holds three services on Sunday, Arbaugh noted that only the first service will be open to the public. That service will then be rebroadcast for the following two worship times. Texas has been seeing "substantial increases in COVID-19 positive cases" and increased hospitalizations, according to Abbott. In response, the state is requiring the use of face coverings, which Abbott called "the least restrictive means," in order to avoid "more extreme measures." Exceptions for the mask mandate include: children under 10 years of age, persons exercising outdoors, those dining, and those "actively providing or obtaining access to religious worship" though masks are strongly encouraged. With lyrical passages that seemed set to music, Bless Me, Ultima reads like an incantation. Set in rural New Mexico during the 1940s, the novel is told through the eyes of a 6-year-old boy. Antonio learns about evil, but he also learns about goodness, about courage and integrity. And he learns that standing up is hard, but cowering is harder, robbing you of your soul and spirit. At the center of it all is Ultima, a curandera, healer. She teaches Antonio there is a world beyond the landscape he can see, the hills and mountains and rivers. It is a world of magic. Published in 1972, the book became a classic, its story captivating a generation of readers and writers. The author, Rudolfo Anaya, was hailed as the greatest Mexican American writer of his day. But as time passed, eroding the literary biases that constricted artists of color, it became apparent that the category Mexican American was too narrow, too confining. He was a great American writer. Anaya died June 28 at his home in Albuquerque, N.M. The author had been suffering from a long illness, his niece told the Associated Press. He was 82. Through his indelible stories, Rudolfo Anaya, perhaps better than any other author, truly captured what it means to be a New Mexican, what it means to be born here, grow up here and live here, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. Yes. But like the Mississippi River of Mark Twain and the Michigan woods of Ernest Hemingway, the world of Bless Me Ultima is our world, too, no matter where we hail from. Ultima guides Antonio through a dark, turbulent environment an environment which, while perhaps different from our own in detail and context, is the same in the impact it has on a young, impressionable boy. Like other great works of literature, the book seemed to have as many critics as it did champions. The story was too bold and graphic for some, including violence and adult language. It was placed on the list of the most commonly challenged books in the U.S. in 2013. No matter. The book has persevered, just as Anaya himself persevered. A high school teacher in New Mexico, he wrote after school, inspired by the voice he heard during one of his late-night writing sessions. It was Ultima, speaking to him from the depths of his imagination. The truly magical moment in the creative process was when Ultima appeared to me and instructed me to make her a character in the novel, he wrote. Publisher after publisher rejected his manuscript. He was not deterred. A small California Press, Quinto Sol, finally accepted it in 1972. We are all richer for his dedication. Anaya wrote other highly regarded books after Bless Me Ultima, but his debut work would remain his towering achievement. He was awarded a National Humanities Medal for his pioneering stories of the American Southwest. He was so honest and beautiful in his storytelling, U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo told the Santa Fe New Mexican. This is the hallmark of great writing and why his words will continue to resonate. BRIDGEPORT The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a major local fundraiser to go virtual. St. Vincents Swim Across the Sound where competitors typically swim from Port Jefferson, N.Y., to Captains Cove in Bridgeport raises money and support for those battling cancer. But the traditional race, sponsored through St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, also involves multiple escort and law enforcement boats, which have several people on board. According to the events web page, social distancing guidelines necessitated by the pandemic make the traditional Swim Across the Sound impractical this year. This has challenged us with finding new ways to raise money, in the safest way possible, the page reads. Our community has also been confronted with finding new ways to stay healthy while staying home. Lets meet these challenges by doing something healthy and positive for ourselves while supporting individuals in their personal fight against cancer. This year, participants will be asked to run, swim, walk, bike ride or do another activity for 15.5 miles, the typical distance of the swim. They register online and pay a fee to compete $10 for a kids package, $30 for a regular package and $40 for a premium package. The race can be completed in one day, or over several days in the month of August. To help raise additional money for patients, participants can also create a fundraising page and enlist friends and family to support their race, build a team and work together toward a mutual goal, or simply make a donation. All contributions will go to the Swim Across the Sound cancer support fund to help those in need in our community. Funds are used for wigs, prostheses, medication assistance, free transportation for treatments and appointments, mortgage and rent assistance, plus cancer screening and prevention programs for the uninsured and underinsured. Register today by visiting https://runsignup.com/Race/CT/Bridgeport/StVincentsSwimAcrossTheSound. For more information, email Christine.Howard@hhchealth.org or call 475-210-7308. File photo shows Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a welcome ceremony for Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages on Sunday with his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Ghana diplomatic relations. In his message, Xi noted that since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties 60 years ago, the traditional friendship between China and Ghana has grown stronger with practical cooperation yielding fruitful results. China-Ghana relations have shown a sound momentum for all-round development in recent years, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples, Xi said. Since the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, Xi said, China and African countries, including Ghana, have stood by each other in a joint fight against the disease, which demonstrates the brotherly friendship between China and Africa who share weal and woe. Troupers perform during the "Ghana Day" at the Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) Stressing that he attaches great importance to the development of bilateral ties, Xi said he stands ready to work with Akufo-Addo to take the 60th anniversary as an opportunity to carry forward traditional friendship, deepen cooperation in various fields under the joint construction of the Belt and Road and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, so as to benefit the two countries and their peoples, and contribute to the building of a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. For his part, Akufo-Addo noted that the older generation of leaders from both sides, including late Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, jointly initiated and nurtured the friendly relations between Ghana and China. A staff member sorts products at the booth of Ghana at the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 9, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiayang) Over the past 60 years, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges, achieved remarkable results in cooperation in various fields and worked together to build a peaceful, just and equitable international order, he said. Noting that Xi has shown extraordinary leadership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Akufo-Addo said that China has won worldwide acclaim for its assistance and support to countries around the world, including Ghana, in the anti-virus fight. Ghana, he added, firmly supports the efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic through international solidarity and cooperation. Akufo-Addo also expressed his readiness to work with Xi to consolidate the traditional friendship, strengthen strategic coordination and deepen bilateral cooperation. Turkish-backed militants persecuting Christians, Yazidis after US troop pullback: USCIRF Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A religious freedom scholar told the United States' top religious freedom panel that the U.S. troop pullback in northeastern Syria has created a vacuum that has allowed Turkish forces and affiliated opposition groups to carry out war crimes against Christians and other religious minorities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom held a hearing last week focusing on the opportunities and challenges related to religious freedom in northeast Syria amid the Turkish occupation and President Donald Trumps decision to pull back U.S. troops in the region. It is the same region where the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria held territory and severely persecuted religious minorities until the jihadis were pushed out by Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition partners in 2017. But since early 2018, operations by the Turkish military and Turkish-backed Islamic militant groups have taken over areas that were once under the control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and have reportedly killed, abducted and persecuted civilians. The offensive has led to the displacement of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. It was in the northeastern pocket of Kobane that Syrian Democratic Forces staged what began as a last stand but with the support of U.S. military and a committed multinational force became a four-year effort to turn back and eventually defeat ISIS, USCIRF Chairman Tony Perkins said at the beginning of the hearing. It was also in this part of Syria that those same democratic forces and their supporters forged a unique initiative to introduce local governance autonomous from the Assad regime based on principles of inclusion, diverse representation and personal freedoms, including religious freedom, that aligns more closely with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights than anything else in that region. But in October 2019 after a phone conversation with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military would pull back its troops in advance of a Turkish offensive against SDF-controlled areas. Critics feared the move was an abandonment of allies in the fight to defeat the Islamic State. The Turkish offensive caused thousands to flee from their homes. Because it is led by Kurdish fighters, Turkey has considered the U.S.-backed SDF to be a terrorist group and accuses it of being aligned with the Kurdistan Workers' Party. I visited northeast Syria in late 2019 where I was able to see for myself the devastation brought upon the Christian villages near the area Turkey had invaded, USCIRF Vice-Chair Nadine Maenza said. I met with religious and community leaders and heard about the remarkable religious freedom conditions under the autonomous administration and how that is now nonexistent in the area Turkey occupies. Turkey is now threatening the crucial population centers of Kobane and Qamishli even as it has used the worlds complete inattention to forcefully repopulate abandoned towns with refugees from other parts of Syria, just as it had done in Afrin [in February 2018], she added. [These] are actions that Genocide Watch has just indicated are war crimes fitting the legal definition of crimes against humanity. Amy Austin Holmes, a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a professor at the American University in Cairo, told the panel that Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities that have existed in the region for centuries are again facing existential threats. Holmes noted that some of the fighters in the Turkish-backed militias are former members of the Islamic State. They have been killed, disappeared, kidnapped, raped, detained, subjected to forced religious conversions and held for ransom until their families pay exorbitant sums of money to secure their release, Holmes explained. They have been forcibly displaced and driven from their homes. Their places of worship have been defaced, destroyed and looted. Even their cemeteries have been demolished and vandalized. The international community has failed to take action. Holmes, who is also a visiting scholar at the Middle East Initiative of Harvard University, explained that the partial withdrawal of U.S. forces in October 2019 created a vacuum allowing these crimes to take place. Christian and Yazidi organizations warned that this would happen before the Turkish intervention, she said. Holmes said that since the Turkish occupation of Afrin in early 2018, all 23 Yazidi villages and all 19 Yazidi shrines have come under Turkish control, many of which have been defaced or looted. Yazidis are a religious minority community, thousands of who faced some of the most atrocious killings and enslavements under the Islamic State. She said that an estimated 90% of the Yazidi population has fled from Afrin, saying that some estimates suggest that what was once a population of 20,000 to 30,000 Yazidis in Afrin is now down to 2,000-3,000. Kurds and Yazidis have been kidnapped by Turkish-back militias who charge large ransoms from their families for release, she noted. This is a way to engage in ethnic cleansing and demographic change without actually killing people because they cannot afford to pay this ransom, Holmes said. As a result of the Turkish intervention last October as part of its Operation Peace Spring, Holmes said that at least 137 Christian families were displaced. I also provided a list in my written testimony of those Christians who been displaced and the villages from which they have been forcibly displaced, she said. The second deadliest site of the Armenian genocide is under the control of Turkey and Islamist militias. Holmes explained that the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, in areas it controls, is attempting to dismantle the laws that guarantee religious equality, religious freedom and gender equality that were created by the autonomous administration. This includes attempts to force Yazidis, in particular, to renounce their religion and convert to Islam. This includes signs that have been placed in Afrin that demand that women wear a veil. Women have been arrested by Turkish-backed militias in Afrin and elsewhere who travel without a male relative. This is the same policy that ISIS enforced on women in areas that ISIS used to control. They required that Muslim women if they wanted to leave their homes, had to travel with a male guardian. Holmes further warned that there are 35 Assyrian Christian villages within less than six miles of the front lines of the Turkish intervention. The Syrian Democratic Forces are the only armed group in Syria that has a policy of not discriminating on the basis of religion, ethnicity or gender, Holmes argued. My survey data shows that the SDF has incorporated members of all religious groups, of all ethnic groups. Arabs from every major and minor tribe in Syria have members how joined the SDF. In her remarks, Maenza, a longtime speaker, writer and advocate, warned that the U.S. troop drawback in northeast Syria signaled tacit approval for Turkey to cross the border. In December, former deputy assistant secretary for Department of Defense policy in the Middle East told Foreign Policy magazine, Looking back at it, one could say we helped facilitate the military incursion because essentially, we helped the Turks do reconnaissance. And since the SDF were with us, they believed they werent going to be attacked and disabled several of their defensive positions. USCIRF, an independent council that advises the federal government and Congress on issues of religious freedom, recommends that the U.S. government exert significant pressure on Turkey to provide a timeline for its withdrawal from Syria. USCIRF also recommends that the U.S. increase its engagement with and assistance to the autonomous administration in northeast Syria and called on the U.S. government to exempt the autonomous region from sanctions as well as work with nongovernmental organization and international partners to fund and develop local programs that promote religious tolerance, human rights and alleviate sectarian tensions. On Friday, USCIRF condemned Turkeys latest round of airstrikes and ground operations near civilian areas in northern Iraq and called for an immediate end to these actions. Turkeys operations in Iraq and northeastern Syria make it clear that regional ambitions not domestic security are driving its actions today, and it cannot be allowed to do so with impunity, Perkins said in a statement. We call upon the administration to utilize all diplomatic and economic leverage to protect vulnerable religious minorities in northern Iraq as well as neighboring northeastern Syria from Turkeys indiscriminate military operations. Jerry Nelson Special to the Farm Forum My wife and I were at the farm supply store the other day when a small glass cabinet caught my eye. Look at this! I exclaimed as I pointed at the locked cabinet. What will they think of next? Now theyre selling oil for citizens band radios! You dope! That isnt CB oil! my wife replied tactfully. Its CBD oil. I studied the cabinet closely. So it is, I replied. But whats CBD oil good for? Do we even own a CBD? Is a CBD some newfangled device that we should buy? Im all for owning the latest technology. My wife shook her head and rolled her eyes. Look it up! she said, pointing at my smartphone. This is the modern version of a mother saying to her child, Go ask your father! According to Google, CBD is shorthand for cannabidiol. This is fortunate for me, mainly because CBD is much easier to type than cannabidiol. CBD is extracted from the hemp plant, which can easily be confused with its cousin, the marijuana plant. These plants look so similar that the average person wouldnt be able to tell one from the other in a police lineup. Google further explained that hemp products contain little to no whoa, man! compounds. Maryjane, on the other hand, has a well-earned reputation as a party girl. Hemp has been used as a source of fiber for thousands of years. Several of our nations founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin raised hemp. But maybe Franklin shouldnt count due to his many strange proclivities, one of which was flying kites into thunderheads. During World War II, America was cut off from its hemp supply in the Philippines. In response, the USDA launched its Hemp for Victory campaign, which encouraged farmers to raise hemp for cordage. Farmers were thus roped into the war effort. I once owned an old John Deere model B grain drill. On the underside of its lid was a chart that listed seeding rates for various crops. Among the recommended settings for such crops as flax and vetch and lespedeza was a listing for hemp. Weve grown hemp on our farm for as long as I can remember. We have never planted any of it. Wild hemp sprouts along fence lines and in cattle yards, a strong indication that it was seeded by helpful birds. Hemp is a tough adversary. If you dont whack it when its young and tender, by late summer you could be dealing with a plant thats roughly the size of a giant Sequoia. But what of the CBD oil thats extracted from hemp? Is it really all that? Will it cure your insomnia, chase your arthritis away, and fill your bald spot with a lush crop of new hair? In short, do CBD products work? As with many things, it depends on whom you ask; you have to consider the source. For instance, a while back it was claimed that WD-40 was good for creaky joints. This rumor was debunked when it was revealed that its source was the Tin Man. Few of us and by few I mean none will get through life without some aches and pains. And with Baby Boomers rapidly aging, the demand for something, anything, that relieves discomfort will be more popular than a calamine lotion outlet next to a poison ivy patch. CBD is available in a variety of forms ranging from oils to lotions to vape fluids to gummies. I wouldnt be surprised to learn that there is a CBD aftershave. I dont know. Maybe this hemp craze will prove to be similar to the llama bubble. Some years ago, llamas suddenly became all the rage. It was widely reported that individual llamas were selling for tens of thousands of dollars. Several years later I was chatting with a farmer when I noticed that a brace of llamas were living with his sheep. I asked what hed paid for the llamas. I bought them at a farm auction for $50, he replied. Apiece? Nope. For the pair. Hemp seems to be having a moment. That CBD products are in the farm supply store is a sign that they have gone mainstream. We will probably soon be offered CBD car air fresheners and CBD-infused pumpkin spice lattes. Its up to each person if they want to rub a particular plant extract on their aching joints or consume oils that taste like fermented lawn clippings. And if this enables farmers to diversify and tap into new income streams, all the better. Besides, Benjamin Franklin seemed to be onto something regarding that curious substance called electricity. A major incident was declared at the Port of Tilbury after the roof of a grain store was partially destroyed in a 'massive explosion'. The Essex site, Britain's largest terminal for the import and export of grain, experienced a substantial explosion on Friday (3 July) at 09:55 BST. A witness told BBC News the noise was 'horrendous' - 'like a bomb going off'. Another said 'flames shot up about 75m above the silos'. Mark Cameron, who was on board a ship in the area at the time, said on Twitter: "There's just been an explosion in Tilbury harbour at the grain terminal - lifted the roof off. "I just felt the ship shake so came up on deck, a colleague said the flame shot up about 75m (246ft) above the silos." Several social media users in the area at the time of the incident have uploaded videos and photos of the aftermath of the blast. A Port of Tilbury spokeswoman confirmed a 'major incident' had taken place at the grain terminal within the site. But the port was operating as normal as of Saturday 4 July, and the site was not deemed to pose a risk, she added. The situation at the grain terminal has now been stabilised and the site is not viewed as posing any immediate further risk. The cause of the explosion will now be the subject of a detailed investigation by the relevant authorities and it will be some time until the results are known. Essex Fire and Rescue Service confirmed four fire engines attended the scene when the incident happened. The East of England Ambulance Service said one person was treated at Basildon and Thurrock Hospital following smoke inhalation. The site, built in 1969, marked its 50th anniversary in September 2019. It has processed more than 35m tonnes of grain since operations commenced. The port presently handles two million tonnes of grain, wheat, barley and beans every year. Farmers and landowners are being advised to protect themselves from unwanted public rights of way being created amid a rise in the number of walkers. The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown period has resulted in an increasing number of people venturing into the countryside. But farmers are now being urged by property consultancy Fisher German to protect their interests amid this boom in walking, and consequently, trespassing. Even if landowners currently see no harm, not protecting their assets may result in rights of way being created and losing control of land in the future. Public footpaths and bridleways can be created by people walking or riding across otherwise private land for a long time, usually in excess of 20 years. Once created, it can then become difficult to remove or alter the route of it, even when landowners are able to produce evidence that they have prevented people from using a path, for instance by challenging users or erecting signage. Molly Dickson, of Fisher German, said an increasing number of farmers and landowners had contacted the firm over the issue during the last few months. While farmers may currently see no harm in people walking across their land, this could result in a public right of way being created through long-term use. This can have a negative impact on property values and cause damage to crops and livestock, and access may be of particular concern if the landowner has aspirations for an alternative use of the land in the future." Fisher German is advising landowners to gain expert advice on ways to protect themselves, including making a deposit under Section 31(6) of the Highways Act 1980. Although this measure does not necessarily mean that the owner is planning to stop public access, it does protect them against public rights of way being created over land through long-term usage. Lodging a deposit under the Act is one way for landowners to protect themselves, and although it doesnt always mean that the owner is planning to stop public access, it is a way to protect themselves," Ms Dickson said. It does not affect those rights of way already in place and accrued, but it does stop the clock on new ones being acquired. It is important that landowners seek the appropriate advice on how to lodge a deposit, including the application and renewals process, and other ways to help protect their assets. A surge in pork exports to Asia has helped a family farm survive the Covid-19 crisis after experiencing a sharp drop in sales to pubs and restaurants. Wicks Manor has doubled its export revenue during the lockdown period to help offset losses in food service sector. The Essex-based farm faced a sharp drop in sales to pubs and restaurants, which typically account for 45% of its revenue. But the business's meat produce - namely bacon and sausages - were redirected to Asia and the Middle East during the height of the lockdown. Wicks Manor sought support from the Department for International Trade (DIT) to help ramp up its exports to supermarkets in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Since April exports have increased by 100 percent, with Wicks Manor supplying products to customers worldwide. Owner Fergus Howie said international trade had provided the farming business a 'lifeline' during the coronavirus pandemic: Our exports would usually account for 20% of sales, however since April we have been able increase them to 40%," he said. The importance of diversifying our sales across different markets has been laid bare during this difficult time. "We are now focused on maintaining export growth while preparing to return to supplying pubs and restaurants," Mr Howie added. Wicks Manors pigs are either born and bred on the farm or sourced from local East Anglian rearers. They are fed grains grown on site, and the pork is then prepared and packaged at the family butchery, allowing the farm to maintain control over the production of its meat. The business started exporting in 2010, when it secured a contract with a supermarket in Dubai. Since then it has expanded to 10 new markets in Asia, Middle East and Europe, where its products are especially popular with British expats. Due to the recent export growth, the business has been able to maintain nearly a full staff count of 45 employees and avoid food going to waste during the pandemic. International trade secretary Liz Truss said exporting will play a 'vital role' in the UKs economic recovery from the coronavirus. "My department is committed to delivering greater export opportunities for UK businesses through new free trade agreements," she said. Now, more than ever, we need UK businesses to follow in the footsteps of exporters like Wicks Manor and showcase their produce on the world stage. In 2019, exports of British bacon, ham, sausages and related products were worth 107.4 million, an increase of 9.3% compared to 2018. The government has been urged to embed sustainability metrics measuring the external impacts of farming per unit of food produced - at the heart of agri policy. Julian Sturdy MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Science & Technology in Agriculture, said the move would help secure the 'optimum balance' between food production, resource use and environmental impact. The group aims to promote debate among politicians and other stakeholders on the value and role of scientific innovation in UK agriculture. Writing in the group's 2018-19 annual report, Mr Sturdy highlighted that British agriculture faced a period of unprecedented change and uncertainty. He said the devastating Covid-19 outbreak had provided a 'stark reminder' that food was a 'basic human need'. "It is inconceivable that this crisis will not stimulate a renewed policy focus on food security and the importance of maintaining a productive and sustainable domestic farming industry as the first vital link in our food supply chain. "Recent government figures point a drop in UK agricultural productivity of more than 2%, signalling the scale and urgency of the challenge, and the importance of getting the policy balance right," Mr Sturdy said. He noted how it has been 10 years since Sir John Beddingtons Foresight report on food security, which urged the government to take a lead in promoting sustainable intensification in agriculture. But while the pressures on global food supply remain as critical as ever, he said 'little progress' had been made at a UK level to 'define, measure or monitor sustainable intensification in practice'. The UK has a unique opportunity to put sustainability metrics at the heart of a new policy agenda," Mr Sturdy explained. "Farming businesses already generate large amounts of data relating to input use, production and management, but no centralised system currently exists for industry-wide sharing or collation of data. The Conservative MP noted that a 10-year study presented to the APPG during 2019 by scientists at Cambridge University had challenged the notion that more extensive farming systems were always the most sustainable. In fact, their research suggested that high-yield, intensive farming may be the best way to feed the world sustainably. The scientists were equally clear that the only way to provide meaningful comparisons between different farming systems is to measure external impacts per unit of food produced, rather than per unit of area farmed. We dont currently do this on a systematic basis in the UK. Access to metrics capable of objectively and consistently monitoring the balance between productivity, resource use and environmental impact will be essential to define the concept of sustainable intensification in practice, to set targets, measure progress and develop coherent R&D programmes. "It will also provide the basis to understand and disseminate advice on best practice throughout the industry, Mr Sturdy said. Farmers are researching whether sustainable soil management practices can boost deeper rooting earthworm populations to improve soil health and crop yields. A group of farmers have teamed up with researchers to test how different levels of cultivation and organic matter impact populations of these vital soil invertebrates. With support from the Innovative Farmers programme, they will dig soil pits in different treatment areas as part of the on-farm research. The farmers will count and observe the burrows, which will provide an indication of how many deeper burrowing worms are present in the soil. Triallist Rory Lay at Park Farm, Shropshire, runs a mixed farming system with beef, lamb and arable crops. He said soil was at the 'front of everyones mind'. "I want to quantify the effects that bringing more farmyard manure and broiler litter onto the farm has on earthworms and on crop yields," he said. "Were trying to build organic matter and support soil health by not disturbing the soil, which we hope will help both the environment and our business." It is hoped the field lab may help farmers improve their yields without the need for chemical inputs, as research has shown deeper rooting earthworms can provide multiple benefits to crops. For example, they can aid water infiltration, help prevent waterlogging, and break up soil below the level that everyday machinery can access, which allows crop roots to take hold and access previously unavailable nutrients and moisture. Limited rooting depth is thought to be a major limitation to cereal crop yields as many crops have shallow roots that cannot fully access water below 40cm depth. Additionally, cereal and oilseed roots struggle to penetrate strong soils, so need cracks, fissures and channels to reach greater depths which can be created by deep burrowing earthworms. Current numbers of deeper burrowing earthworms in many arable soils are suspected to be below historic levels, which is thought to be due to intensive cultivation and use of artificial fertilisers. Other factors may include lower applications of organic matter and a reduction in crop rotations including extensive grazing livestock, which have traditionally added organic matter to soil. The farmers leading the trial hope to add to previous research on earthworms and plug the data gap on the impacts of organic matter and cultivations on earth worm numbers and rooting depth. Kate Pressland, Innovative Farmers programme manager, said encouraging deeper rooted crops is 'vital' for farmers to make their farms 'resilient to drought'. "By testing how sustainable soil management techniques can affect deeper rooting earthworm populations in arable systems the group are hoping to learn more about how to promote healthy crops and soils and improve yields. "This field lab is a good example of how biological systems could help farmers use less inputs by essentially doing the work for them," she said. The results from the field lab will be available in November 2020. A two-year-old boy has died on a Lancashire farm following a slurry pit incident, the Health and Safety Executive has confirmed. The toddler was found unresponsive in water on a farm near the hamlet of Ireby, on 27 June. The boy was taken to Royal Lancashire Infirmary, but died shortly after arrival. Lancashire Police confirmed the incident: We were called around 5.05pm on Saturday 27 June to a report a boy had been found unresponsive in water on farmland at an address in Ireby. A Home Office post-mortem examination to establish a cause of death will take place in due course. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed to HM Coroner. "Our thoughts are with the boys family at this sad and difficult time. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) added: Initial notification is that a child playing near a slurry pit was killed when he became overcome by slurry gas. The HSE recently reminded farmers to ensure children were safe on the farm as schools remained shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes as new figures by the safety watchdog show that despite accounting for a large share of the UK's annual fatality count, the industry saw the lowest level of farm fatalities on record during 2019/2020. However, on guidance on its website, HSE says that children are 'regularly killed and injured on farms'. The body has published a leaflet which provides practical guidance on how to reduce the risk of injury to children under 13 and older children below minimum school leaving age. Total UK tractor registrations in June 2020 declined by 15 percent compared to the same time last year, new analysis shows. Figures from the Agricultural Engineers' Association (AEA) show that 932 tractors (>50hp) were registered last month. This figure is 15.3 percent lower compared to June 2019, and comes amid Brexit and ongoing Covid-19 related uncertainty. However, it is a marked improved on May 2020 figures, in which only 586 tractors were registered, down 41.9 percent year-on-year. It comes as some machinery plants had to close temporarily as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However, some production sites across Europe have started to resume at a reduced capacity. Figures also show that overall tractor sales over the first half of 2020 is 25 percent lower that the same period last year. Tractor registrations are taken as a broad indicator of the strength of the domestic market for agricultural equipment, AEA explained. Tractors must be licensed for use on public roads and as such are registered with the Department for Transport which allows an accurate count to be made. In value terms, sales of tractors, plus parts and accessories, account for almost one half of farmers total spend on equipment, which again makes this data series a prime indicator. It comes as the AEA elected its new president, Les Malin, earlier this week. He said the crisis had shown 'more than ever' that technology was the 'key forward' for the industry. "We have to embrace the future and show our customers that we can offer expertise, money saving machinery, environmentally efficient solutions such as robotics. "We as an industry must embrace these modern methods to safeguard our futures and entice the younger generation, Mr Malin added. 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. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As much as I despise the cancel culture, if there is any cultural icon who deserves to be canceled for racist attitudes, it is Charles Darwin. Or were you not aware of how his ideas helped fuel the fires of eugenics? I tweeted a poll on June 23, asking, Who said this? The western nations of Europe now so immeasurably surpass their former savage progenitors and stand at the summit of civilization. Of the four choices offered, 4.2 percent voted for David Duke, 10.5 percent for Robert E. Lee, 29.6 percent for Adolph Hitler, and 55.7 percent for Charles Darwin. The majority got it right! But is this knowledge widely disseminated? Do the countless millions of fawning Darwinists know about Darwins racial theories? And if they do, do they simply turn a blind eye to them? The same day I did the poll, I sent the link of a disturbing article about Darwin to a friend of mine who is Black and a historian. The article, written by Austin Anderson and posted on the Philosophy for the Many site, was titled, The Dark Side of Darwinism. I asked my friend, I assume you knew this about Darwin? He replied, What? That he was a racist? Sure. Thats race history 101. He added, Racist philosophy, eugenics and white supremacy are the love-children of Darwin. Survival of the fittest is the core of European philosophy and its approaches to colonization and imperialism. Did we learn about this in our schools? Anderson wrote: Darwins defenders most often cited his abolitionist identity, notes from his diaries, or quotes from people who knew Darwin. His accusers, on the other hand, often directly cited text from The Descent of Man. Conclusions drawn from the authorial approach to the question, in which defenders focused on proving that Darwin himself was not a racist, starkly contradicted conclusions drawn from the approach of consulting Darwins text itself. Im familiar with Darwins theories, but I had never actually read his books; I suspect the same is true for most of you. However, I found that to determine whether or not Darwins theories are racist, the text of his books is revealing and conclusive. Information outside the text of The Descent of Man can help us understand the man behind the pen, but it does nothing to soften the brutal racism and white supremacism found in the text of his theory. Which peoples does Darwin describe as savages? He is quite generous in his use of the term, including, Australians, Mongolians, Africans, Indians, South Americans, Polynesians, and Eskimos. Darwin asks, How little can the hard-worked wife of a degraded Australian savage, who uses hardly any abstract words and cannot count above four, exert her self-consciousness, or reflect on the nature of her own existence? This was virtually identical to the reasoning used by European and American slave traders, who viewed the Africans as intellectually inferior human beings, therefore deserving of servitude to the white man. These savages, according to Darwin, also had lower morality, lack of ability to reason, and less self-control. And, quite naturally, given the survival of the fittest and the ruthlessness of the evolutionary process, the superior whites should conquer and colonize the savages lands. As Anderson notes (while quoting Darwin), As white Europeans exterminate and replace the worlds savage races, and as great apes go extinct, Darwin says that the gap between civilized man and his closest evolutionary ancestor will widen. The gap will eventually be between civilized man and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the gorilla. Yes, the illustrious Darwin wrote those very words. Of course, Darwin should have been canceled intellectually decades ago due to the abject scientific failure of Darwinian naturalism. As atheist philosophy professor Thomas Nagel argued in his book Mind and Cosmos, the modern scientific story of the origin of life through evolution is ripe for displacement and it represents a heroic triumph of ideological theory over common sense, which will be seen as laughable in a couple of generations. (The subtitle of Nagels book is, Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False.) There is no viable, materialistic explanation for the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the origin of human beings (as distinct from animals, with a conscience and a state of consciousness). That too, however, is not something you are likely to hear in school. As Nagel wrote, I realize that such doubts will strike many people as outrageous, but that is because almost everyone in our secular culture has been browbeaten into regarding the reductive research program [about the origin of life] as sacrosanct, on the ground that anything else would not be science. Can I give an amen to an atheist? Unfortunately, the intellectual cult of Darwinism does not seem ready to collapse just yet, as it remains thoroughly entrenched in academia to this day. To oppose it is to be a heretic. But perhaps, given the dark side of some of Darwins theories, theories that were intrinsic to his evolutionary views, Darwin can be questioned morally. Starting there, it will be easier to topple his intellectual house of cards. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Ranveer Singh is truly a treat to watch on the big screen. The way he emotes on the big screen makes the audience feel extremely close to the character. Ranveer is known to play any character with utmost precision and dedication. He has done several different characters over the years and with each film, he manages to impress the audience a little more. He stepped into Bollywood in 2010 in Yash Raj Films Band Baaja Baaraat as a flamboyant Delhi boy and made his way into the hearts of millions effortlessly. Ranveer has not just wowed everyone with his performances in the films but his looks as well. A character look is an important part of how convincing the character looks on the big screen and Ranveer has managed to nail it several times now. On his 35th birthday today, we thought about listing out the character looks of Ranveer that were a cherry on the top as he took on the big screen with his performance. 2019 Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) annual awards conference was held in Christchurch. These were the New Zealand 2019 ARPA Gold awards and one young writer Bronze. CATEGORY 4 Best News Story - GOLD Helping Out Those in Debt by Jade Reidy in SPANZ, Spring 2018 Jade Reidy examines the experience of local churches helping vulnerable people deal with debt, manage money and achieve nancial independence. This report is realistic and informative without feeling didactic. Over the course of the story, the reader develops empathy and understanding; a powerful combination. CATEGORY 5 Best Feature, Single Author GOLD Us not Them: the church and homophobia by Ingrid Barra in The War Cry, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, (Samoa Territory) A most worthy and outstanding winner out of 22 entrants in this category. Using as its basis a personal story, this is a courageous and confronting article on a vexing issue within the church. Balanced, contextual, and with appropriate sources, the structure, ow and writing are near-impeccable. The nal, three-sentence paragraph is especially superbly crafted in a way that is both thought-provoking and challenging CATEGORY 10 Best Faith Reection - GOLD Live your best ordinary life by Greg Liston, NZ Baptist (Baptist Churches of New Zealand) Live your best ordinary life is an extraordinary article that well and truly deserves rst place. It is thought provoking, well-written, balanced, and deeply relevant to all especially to those of us who are faithful plodders. Category 11 Best Theological Article GOLD Who is this Man By Ingrid Barra9 in War Cry, NZ, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa Territory This is one of the most eective articles I have read on the theology of the incarnation. It thoroughly places Jesus as a human being as well as giving a believable divine dimension without taking away from the humanity. It rightly has an inclusive element showing Jesus as accessible to all cultures and types of humanity. New Young Writer - Bronze - the Press Service International young writer Matthew Thornton from Auckland who was awarded BRONZE in the category of New Best Writer the judges said of his article which was titled Overcoming Shame - This article has a message from which many in times of doubt and trouble could find strength. Dont give up on yourself, with faith find strength and hope. ARPA President - New Zealands Sophia Sinclair was elected President of ARPA. See full remarkable story https://christiantoday.com.au/news/sophia-sinclair.html Next year ARPA is being held in Perth, Western Australia 4-6 September, 2020. Press Release FINAL Airtel deploys India's largest open cloud-based VoLTE network with Nokia software products As part of its cloudification strategy, Airtel will deploy Nokia's CloudBand Infrastructure Software 6 July 2020 Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that its CloudBand-based software products are powering Bharti Airtel's ("Airtel") Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network in India. The network supports over 110 million customers, making it the largest cloud-based VoLTE network in India and the largest Nokia-run VoLTE in the world. The cloud-based VoLTE deployment allows Airtel to provide its mobile customers faster and more reliable, cost-efficient call connectivity. The solution, which has been deployed to cover all 22 telecom service areas in India, uses Commercial Off-the-Shelf IT hardware with cloud-based Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), which consumes much less power and space compared to the traditional 2G/3G Circuit Switched legacy core. Nokia's VoLTE solution enables Airtel to free up spectrum by ramping down its 3G network, allowing the operator to utilize the freed up spectrum to deploy 4G/LTE services for better speed and capacity. As part of its cloudification strategy, Airtel will also deploy Nokia's CloudBand Infrastructure Software with the aim to create new revenue opportunities for 5G and internet-connected devices. As a vendor-agnostic, multi-technology and multi-domain platform, CloudBand will enable Airtel to lay the foundation for 5G networks and deliver new digital services with greater ease, flexibility and agility and ensure a reliable and high-performing network for delivering improved customer experience. CloudBand is an open, scalable, flexible platform that will allow Airtel to adapt network capacity in accordance with changing consumption patterns in real-time and in a cost-efficient manner. Nokia multi-cloud management solutions with analytical capabilities will also simplify operations for Airtel and allow the operator to design a network architecture that suits its needs and deliver new capabilities across mobility, enterprise, and telemedia business lines for its customers. Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel, said: "We are delighted to deepen our strategic partnership with Nokia to build a future ready and agile network. The country's largest open cloud based VoLTE network is a major milestone in Airtel's journey. Our objective is to reap the benefits of cloud solutions to simplify our architecture and enable faster delivery of innovative services, ultimately delivering an enhanced customer experience." Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said: "Nokia is very pleased to expand our partnership and support Airtel's digital transformation journey. Nokia's carrier-grade cloud software solutions drive simplicity and flexibility and will further strengthen Airtel's solid 5G network foundation and transition to innovative digital solutions that are customer and experience centric." Additional Resources Webpage: Nokia CloudBand About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks. Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.comand follow us on Twitter @nokia. Media Inquiries Communications Phone: +358 LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / World High Life Plc (OTCQB:WRHLF) announces that the Company has issued 23,362,717 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") as detailed below. The Company has issued 12,733,823 Ordinary Shares in settlement of fees to certain Directors, officers, advisors, and consultants of the Company in lieu of cash at a price per share of 9p. Shares have been issued to Directors and the company secretary as follows: Director Number of Ordinary Shares Issued Number of Ordinary Shares Held Following Issuance Ordinary Share % Ownership Following Issuance David Stadnyk 3,545,875 17,046,875 10.09% Robert Payment 277,778 957,778 0.57% Andrew Male 409,625 709,625 0.42% Kevin Ernst 166,667 1,583,327 0.94% Charles Lamb 166,667 2,033,327 1.20% Heytesbury Corporate LLP 375,342 375,342 0.22% The Company has also issued a further 3,446,756 Ordinary Shares in lieu of cash in respect of outstanding debt repayments at a price per share of 9p. A total of 7,182,138 Ordinary Shares will be issued upon the conversion of convertible debentures with a principal value of 666,666 plus accrued interest of 46,393. Application will be made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the AQSE Growth Market and admission is expected to become effective, and dealings in the new Ordinary Shares are expected to commence, on 9 July 2020. Following this issue, the Company's has 168,963,447 Ordinary Shares in issue, each share carrying the right to one vote. The figure of 168,963,447 should be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. "These measures will deliver the joint benefits of reducing World High Life's debt and improving working capital as we continue to support the expansion of Love Hemp's business model, both in the UK and beyond," said Mr. David Stadnyk, World High Life Founder & CEO. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. 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 Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 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. Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name David Stadnyk 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Director / Chairman b) Initial notification /Amendment Initial Notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name World High Life Plc b) LEI 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary Shares of 1pence each ISIN: GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction Debt Settlement c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price (p) 9p per share Number of Ordinary Shares: 3,545,875 d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price Issuance of 3,545,875 Ordinary Shares at 9p per share at an aggregate value of 319,129 e) Date of the transaction 6 July 2020 f) Place of the transaction AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Robert Payment 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Director / CFO b) Initial notification /Amendment Initial Notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name World High Life Plc b) LEI 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary Shares of 1pence each ISIN: GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction Debt Settlement c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price (p) 9p per share Number of Ordinary Shares: 277,778 d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price Issuance of 277,778 Ordinary Shares at 9p per share at an aggregate value of 25,000 e) Date of the transaction 6 July 2020 f) Place of the transaction AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Andrew Male 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Executive Director b) Initial notification /Amendment Initial Notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name World High Life Plc b) LEI 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary Shares of 1pence each ISIN: GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction Debt Settlement c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price (p) 9p per share Number of Ordinary Shares: 409,625 d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price Issuance of 409,625 Ordinary Shares at 9p per share at an aggregate value of 36,866 e) Date of the transaction 6 July 2020 f) Place of the transaction AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Kevin Ernst 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Non Executive Director b) Initial notification /Amendment Initial Notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name World High Life Plc b) LEI 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary Shares of 1 pence each ISIN: GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction Debt Settlement c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price (p) 9p per share Number of Ordinary Shares: 166,667 d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price Issuance of 166,667 Ordinary Shares at 9p per share at an aggregate value of 15,000 e) Date of the transaction 6 July 2020 f) Place of the transaction AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them. 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Name Charles Lamb 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Non Executive Independent Director b) Initial notification /Amendment Initial Notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name World High Life Plc b) LEI 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Ordinary Shares of 1pence each ISIN: GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction Debt Settlement c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price (p) 9p per share Number of Ordinary Shares: 166,667 d) Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price Issuance of 166,667 Ordinary Shares at 9p per share at an aggregate value of 15,000 e) Date of the transaction 6 July 2020 f) Place of the transaction AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) 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/596317/World-High-Life-PLC-Announces-Issue-of-Equity TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / AEX Gold Inc. (TSXV:AEX) ("AEX" or the "Corporation") is pleased to provide an update on the results of recent test work aimed at assessing the potential to use ore sorting to improve the processed grade of materials at the Nalunaq Gold Project in South Greenland. Key Highlights: AEX has worked with leading provider of sensor-based solutions, TOMRA, to investigate the potential application and efficacy of ore sorting at the Nalunaq Gold Project; Ore sorting uses various detectors to identify minerals from waste material, which could be particularly attractive for the Nalunaq Gold Property given the contrast in density and colour of the white and gold bearing mineralized quartz vein and the non-mineralized host rock; A 500kg bulk sample of mineralized Main Vein ("MV") material, collected from the historical underground workings, was used for a preliminary performance test at TOMRA's test facility in Wedel, Germany; The performance test report confirms that Nalunaq's mineralized material is highly amenable to Ore Sorting Technology; Laser sorting technology showed favourable results in the preliminary performance test, with total gold recovery ranging between 90.2% and 99.4% and with mass rejections of waste ranging from 58% - 62% of the incoming feed stream; A second test, planned for 2021, will focus on optimizing the detection parameters to increase confidence in gold recovery; The Corporation believes that this ore sorting technology, once optimised, could offer a cost-effective processing solution to supplement the Company's existing plans. Eldur Olafsson, CEO of AEX, stated: "Ore sorting has the potential to be a cost-effective solution for processing Nalunaq's mineralized material. We are pleased to continue progressing on the development of the Nalunaq project by involving industrial cutting-edge technologies in our development strategies." Given the positive outcome of the test, AEX will continue refining and progressing its approach to Ore Sorting to consider the potential inclusion of an ore sorter in Nalunaq's process flowsheet. Background Gold at Nalunaq is mineralised in a quartz vein (MV), which averages 0.7 meters in width and exhibits a typical "nugget effect". Past mining operators have used a combination of selective resue mining and conventional long hole stoping, which resulted in an average true mining width of 1.2 meters. Therefore, the mined material includes a significant quantity of amphibolite host rock (devoid of gold and considered as dilution). It is anticipated that ore sorting could be effective at Nalunaq due to the contrast in density and colour between the high-grade gold-containing quartz veins (white) and host amphibolite (dark grey). See below Figure 1 illustrating the colour difference between MV and the waste host rock: Figure 1: Typical Face of a Sublevel, illustrating the white mineralised quartz of MV on the dark amphibolite waste The potential removal of the host rock from mill feed could therefore enable significant upgrading of the mined material, lower processing costs and enable an increase in milling throughput. Ore sorting technology has been employed in various mineral processing operations for many years and is now used with a variety of commodities including diamonds, tin, tungsten and gold. The ore sorting process has become increasingly efficient with advancements in sensors and in computing technology. Approximately 500 kg of typical Nalunaq mineralized material was sourced from the 460 level in Target Block. The sample was hand-picked from broken material in the drive. Twenty eight percent of the sample mass was mineralized quartz vein material with the remaining 72% being unmineralized amphibolite and granite. The sample was representative of the relative proportions of different rock types on the 460 level. See Table 2 below which provides more information as to the composition of the sample: Table 1: Ore Sorting Bulk Sample Description Bag Containing Description Location Mass (kg) Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 43.6 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 44.2 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 36.6 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 40.6 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 42.2 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 38.4 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 39.3 Waste Amphibolite 460 L W 39.7 Waste Granite / Aplite 460 L W 35.5 Ore Quartz Vein 460 L W 36.7 Ore Quartz Vein 460 L W 38.0 Ore Quartz Vein 460 L W 33.9 Ore Quartz Vein 460 L W 31.8 Total 500.4 Waste 72% 360.1 Ore 28% 140.3 Tests were operated on two particle size fractions: 20 mm to 40 mm, and 40 mm to 60 mm material (typical particle sizes in crushing circuits and amenable to ore sorting). Throughout testing, the ability to effectively sort mineralised quartz vein was clearly demonstrated and results from the tests were positive. Significant upgrades of gold were achieved in the four tests which were operated (two using the laser sensor and two using the x-ray transmission (XRT) sensor). The results of the tests are illustrated in Table 2 below: Table 2. Results of the Nalunaq material Ore Sorting Test Test # 1 2 3 4 Sensor Laser XRT Size range [mm] 20-40 40-60 20-40 40-60 Feed Mass [kg] 69.3 156.0 71.0 170.0 Au [g/t] 107.9 10.3 40.4 24.3 Waste Mass [%] 58.3 61.9 62.7 70.6 Au [g/t] 18.1 0.1 2.0 11.0 Product Mass [%] 41.7 38.1 37.3 29.4 Au[g/t] 233.4 26.8 105.0 56.2 Au Recovery [%] 90.2 99.4 96.9 68.0 Concentration factor 2.16 2.61 2.60 2.31 Figure 2 below shows an example image of the product and waste streams for test #2 (laser): Figure 2: Example image showing the product (left) and waste (right) streams from Test #2 (laser) Figure 3 below illustrates examples of the raw and processed particle images using the laser sensor. The images show the sensor's ability to differentiate between quartz and waste rock. Figure 3: Example images the raw (left) and processed (right) image using the laser sensor (blue indicates quartz, red and black indicates waste, green is background). The primary objective of the test was to assess the amenability of the Nalunaq mineralised materials to detection by ore sorting technology. AEX recognizes that the test has demonstrated conceptually that ore sorting is potentially highly effective at detecting and separating particles containing quartz and should be further investigated. The Corporation is currently planning to undertake a second campaign of ore-sorting test work with TOMRA by further investigating a 500-1000kg sample of material of a 10-50mm fraction size. This test, planned for 2021, will be focused on optimizing the detection parameters of the laser and XRT sorters, and therefore gold recovery. The results from the second phase would then be evaluated and a trade-off study on ore sorting would be developed with an experienced third-party consultant. Qualified Person and QA/QC The scientific and technical information presented in this press release has been approved by James Purchase, P.Geo. (OGQ 2082), Director of Geology and Resources of G Mining Services Inc. and independent to AEX Gold Inc. for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Mr. Purchase is a member of the L'Ordre des Geologues du Quebec, and a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101. Mr. Purchase has visited the Nalunaq Project and has verified the results reported in this press release. Sample preparation and assays were carried out by Wheal Jane Laboratory of Cornwall, England. Gold assays were performed with the M4 screened metallics method, which is a UKAS 17025 accredited method. This involves stage pulverising a 1 kg sample through a 106 m screen until between 30 g and 50 g of oversize material remain. This entire oversize fraction along with two similar sized duplicate fractions of the undersize are then assayed to extinction in order to determine gold content. The Screened Metallics protocol reduces the likelihood of factors such as the nugget effect influencing the results of the head assay. For the purpose of the Performance Test, 489kg of the AEX Gold material were received. For sizing 8mm mesh, a 20mm mesh, a 40mm bar-sizer and a 60mm bar-sizer were used. The received samples contained a significant amount of oversized material, which has been crushed manually after sizing to -60mm and added to the other fractions. For test work purpose the fractions 20-40mm and 40-60mm were used. Material 20-40mm as well as +40-60mm has been divided each into two equivalent samples with aim to test two different methodologies: LASER and XRT for each fraction. Material proposed for the LASER, has been washed before the sorting, since this technique requires a clean surface. Contact Information George Fowlie, Director and CFO 1-416-587-9801 gf@aexgold.com Eldur Olafsson, Director and CEO +354 665 2003 eo@aexgold.com Camarco (Financial PR) Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis +44 (0) 20 3757 4980 About AEX AEX's principal business objectives are the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Greenland. The Corporation's principal asset is a 100% interest in the Nalunaq Project, an advanced exploration stage property with an exploitation license including the previously operating Nalunaq gold mine. AEX is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and wholly owns Nalunaq A/S, incorporated under the Greenland Public Companies Act. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Corporation's current expectations regarding future events and the future growth of the Corporation's business. In this press release there is forward-looking information based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Final Prospectus available under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking information included in this press release is based only on information currently available to the Corporation and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new circumstances or events. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. 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. SOURCE: AEX Gold Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596212/Ore-Sorting-Increases-Grade-of-a-Bulk-Sample-by-up-to-161-at-AEXs-Nalunaq-Project BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 2.00 am ET Monday, Destatis is slated to issue Germany's factory orders data. Orders are forecast to climb 15 percent on month in May, in contrast to a 25.8 percent decline posted in April. Ahead of the data, the euro climbed against its major rivals. The euro was worth 1.1289 against the greenback, 121.58 against the yen, 1.0647 against the franc and 0.9035 against the pound as of 1:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. 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. SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global prescription lens market size is expected to reach USD 51.4 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 4.5%, according to a report conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Uncorrected refractive error cases are majorly contributing in the rapidly growing cases of visual impairment. Therefore, various organizations are focusing on increasing awareness regarding the conditions related to refractive errors and their corrective options. These organizations are also incorporating services to treat refractive errors. Initiatives taken to enhance vision care, identify cases at early stage, and to provide efficient lens for treating different vision problems are some of the factors expected to boost market growth. Myopia and astigmatism are the two refractive errors with highest prevalence. Therefore, to provide better treatment for these refractive errors market players are coming up with different type of prescription lens with advanced coating options. Furthermore, to increase the reach of these advanced lens, companies are being developed to enhance the accessibility of vision test through online platform. These online vision tests will enhance early diagnosis of refractive errors and hence are expected to positively impact the market. Key suggestions from the report: The single vision held the largest share in 2019 mainly due to its effectiveness in enhancing peripheral vision The progressive segment are expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period due to effective functionality and youthful appearance The workspace progressive segment expected to grow at a significant rate due to increasing number of working professionals and exposure to electronic display screens Myopia held the largest share in the market in 2019 due to the increasing prevalence of disease in the forecast period Presbyopia is expected to experience the fastest growth rate during forecast period. Increasing ageing population is contributing towards the growing prevalence of the disease and is driving the market Anti-reflective coating dominated the market in 2019 due to its advantage of providing clear image by reducing reflections The Ultraviolet (UV) treatment application segment is expected to witness the fastest growth rate over the forecast period owing to its ability to avoid the development of UV related eye disorders such as cataracts and macular degeneration North America held the largest share in 2019 owing to the increasing product launches in U.S. and enhanced distribution network for prescription lens in the region Asia Pacific is expected to experience fastest growth rate during the forecast period largely due to the growing prevalence of myopia in China , Japan , Singapore , and Korea and growing adoption of advanced eye care products in the region. Read 140 page research report with ToC on "Prescription Lens Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Single Vision, Progressive Lens, Workspace Progressives), By Application, By Coating (Anti-reflective, Ultraviolet Treatment), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/prescription-lens-market Prescription lens are available with various coating options to provide patients with enhanced vision in different environments. Anti-reflective coating prescription lens are widely preferred due to their advantage of eliminating reflection and reducing contrast. On the other hand, UV coating prescription lens are experiencing growth mainly due to its growing demand to avoid penetration of harmful UV radiations. These UV radiations later can result into various eye related disorders, thus, increasing the demand for UV coated product. Market players are focusing on forming alliances to expand the reach of their products. In December 2016, the HOYA Vision Care announced an agreement to acquire safety prescription eyewear business of 3M to expand its prescription lens product portfolio. Similarly, non-profit organizations are initiating programmes focusing on resolving visual impairment due to refractive errors. Grand View Research has segmented the global prescription lens market based on type, application, coating, and region: Prescription Lens Type Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Single vision Convex Concave Cylindrical Bifocal Trifocal Progressive Workspace progressives Others Prescription Lens Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Myopia Hyperopia/Hypermetropia Astigmatism Presbyopia Prescription Lens Coating Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Anti-reflective Scratch resistant coating Anti-fog coating Ultraviolet treatment Prescription Lens Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Russia The Netherlands Switzerland Turkey Poland Asia Pacific China Japan India Thailand South Korea Indonesia Taiwan Hong Kong Philippines Malaysia Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Chile Middle East & Africa & South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE Kuwait Qatar List of Key Players of Prescription Lens Market: Essilor ZEISS International HOYA VISION CARE COMPANY VISION EASE SEIKO OPTICAL PRODUCTS CO.,LTD PRIVE REVAUX Vision Rx Lab Find more research reports on Medical Devices Industry, by Grand View Research: Transcatheter Devices Market - The increasing demand for Minimally Invasive Procedures/Surgeries (MIS) is one of the key factors propelling the market growth. The increasing demand for Minimally Invasive Procedures/Surgeries (MIS) is one of the key factors propelling the market growth. Retinal Imaging Devices Market - The growing prevalence of ophthalmic disorders and increasing demand for early diagnostic measures are the factors expected to drive the overall market growth. The growing prevalence of ophthalmic disorders and increasing demand for early diagnostic measures are the factors expected to drive the overall market growth. Wound Closure Devices Market - Rising incidence of chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers are anticipated to spur the demand for wound closure devices over the forecast period. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainability is about more than just responsible environmental policy. A functioning society is also hugely dependent on the health of its population, yet 41 million people are still dying annually from preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, respiratory conditions and cancer.i These are conditions normally associated with wealthier countries, but in low- and middle-income countries, where patients have less access to healthcare services, NCDs affect four out of five people.ii In an article and accompanying video in Business Reporter, Ashling Mulvaney, Head of Access to Healthcare, Global Sustainability, at AstraZeneca, describes how the pharmaceutical company has connected its global business targets to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, strengthening healthcare capabilities and infrastructure to facilitate access to healthcare in developing and emerging countries.iii The initiative has been a success - through public-private partnerships it has reached more than 19 million people, activated 2,600 health facilities, and trained more than 81,000 healthcare workers.iii Healthy Heart Africa is a programme at the heart of this ambition, with the aim of sustainably improving access to hypertension care by increasing education and awareness around lifestyle choice and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD); training healthcare providers and driving care to lower levels of the healthcare system.iii,iv Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in sub-Saharan Africa, where 150 million adults are expected to have the condition by 2025.v A strong local focus is essential to tackle this worrying trend and, in the past five years since inception, HHA has worked with local partners in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Uganda to strengthen the provision of services for managing and preventing hypertension, including raising awareness and education of lifestyle risk factors for CVD.iii,iv But more work needs to be done. Access to healthcare is a basic human right and reducing the huge growing burden of these diseases is a major public health concern, requiring ground-level work in countries with less developed healthcare systems to address the prevention, awareness and diagnosis of hypertension, as well as the education and training of health workers, in a sustainable way. To find out more about AstraZeneca's work in access to healthcare and Healthy Heart Africa, you can read more and watch the video here. 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 Healthy Heart Africa Developed by AstraZeneca and implemented across Africa in collaboration with African Governments and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Healthy Heart Africa (HHA) is designed to contribute to the prevention and control of hypertension and decreasing the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) across Africa. Currently present in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Uganda, the programme supports sustainable models by working with local health systems. Each model works independently with partners in the country of implementation to address different health challenges and health environments, with the aim of providing a sustainable means of fighting hypertension in Africa. References i) World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases. Last accessed June 2020 ii) NCD Alliance. NCDs. Available at: https://ncdalliance.org/why-ncds/NCDs. Last accessed June 2020 iii) AstraZeneca Sustainability Report 2019. Access to Healthcare. Available at: https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/dam/az/Sustainability/2020/pdf/Sustainability_Report_2019.pdf. Last accessed June 2020 iv) Healthy Heart Africa. Available at: https://www.astrazeneca.com/sustainability/access-to-healthcare/healthy-heart-africa.html. Last accessed June 2020 v) Van de Vijver S, Akinyi H, Oti S, et al. Status report on hypertension in Africa: Consultative review for the 6th Session of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Health on NCDs. Pan African Med J. 2013;16:38. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3932118/pdf/PAMJ-16-38.pdf. Last accessed June 2020 China's exports of epidemic prevention materials continue to grow FUZHOU, China, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Daddybaby Co's lineup of personal protective equipment for use in epidemic prevention has received the EU CE certification, leading to the company's inclusion in the Ministry of Commerce's list of medical material manufacturers that have obtained foreign standard certification or registration, according to a news update on the website of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products (CCCMHPIE) on June 29th. (http://en.cccmhpie.org.cn/Web/Content.aspx?queryStr=w7x08q7x15x15o3w8w1vS9z8w7x1X10x16x0X10x16o3w8w1u9v1u9v5u9v1) Also referred to as the Ministry of Commerce's White List, it is a roster of companies confirmed by the ministry as having qualified to export five categories of epidemic prevention materials including novel coronavirus detection reagents, medical masks and medical protective suits. In order to be included in the White List, interested companies need to complete the US FDA's or the EU CE marking certification process for medical devices, and meet the entry conditions of the overseas markets that they have targeted. China's Ministry of Commerce announced earlier that since April 1, China's exports of epidemic prevention materials showed a significant increase. In response to this increase, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said that the Chinese government will work consistently to strengthen quality control as well as bring order and discipline to the market in a move to provide qualified epidemic prevention materials to global markets while trying to meet the increasing demand of the international community for such materials. According to the announcement by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Market Regulation on April 25, medical supplies production and export businesses that have obtained foreign standard certifications or registrations are required to submit electronic or written statements at the time of customs clearance, promising that their products meet the quality standards and safety requirements of the destination country or region. China Customs would grant clearance according to the Ministry of Commerce White List. Daddybaby's inclusion in the White List also means that the company's non-sterilization masks have obtained from Customs the "export passport" as an epidemic prevention material. Daddybaby has completed the registration process with the UK Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The company's information is available via search on the MHRA website. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1199935/image_5000666_8411280.jpg VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE: FSM) (TSX: FVI) regrets to inform of the sudden death of a 34-year old contractor's employee at the Caylloma Mine, located in the province of Arequipa, on Sunday, July 5, 2020. The family and authorities have been promptly informed. The cause of death has not been determined at this time. In accordance with the Company's health protocols approved by the Ministerio de Salud (MINSA), the individual had completed a health check, including COVID-19 rapid diagnostic testing, which was negative for COVID-19. The Company and the contractor are working closely with authorities, who have initiated an investigation into this unfortunate incident. Fortuna reiterates its priority to safeguard the health and safety of its personnel and its local communities, and as a result, aligned with recent Peruvian government Sanitary Emergency provisions for Arequipa, the Company has decided to voluntarily suspend operations for a period of approximately two weeks at the Caylloma Mine. The Company will use this time to, among other things, sanitize and disinfect the mine site. A reduced task force will remain on site to safeguard critical infrastructure, care and maintenance, and environmental monitoring. The Company is initiating the demobilization of its on-site personnel. About Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Fortuna is a growth oriented, precious metals producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. Our primary assets are the Caylloma silver Mine in southern Peru, the San Jose silver-gold Mine in Mexico and the Lindero gold Project, currently under construction, in Argentina. The Company is selectively pursuing acquisition opportunities throughout the Americas and in select other areas. For more information, please visit our website at www.fortunasilver.com (http://www.fortunasilver.com) . ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Jorge A. Ganoza President, CEO and Director Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Trading symbols: NYSE: FSM | TSX: FVI Investor Relations: Carlos Baca T (Peru): +51.1.616.6060, ext. 0 Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "Forward-looking Statements"). All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are Forward-looking Statements and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the Forward-looking Statements. The Forward-looking Statements in this news release may include, without limitation, statements about the continued practices for the screening and prevention of COVID-19;the temporary suspension of operations at the Caylloma Mine and the Company's efforts to minimize the impacts of same, discussions with government authorities and other stakeholders, and the timing of the resumption of operations at the Caylloma Mine; the duration and effects of COVID-19 and any other pandemics on the Company's workforce, business, operations and financial condition, and the risks relating to a global pandemic, which unless contained could cause a slowdown in global economic growth and impact the Company's business, operations, financial condition and share price;. Often, but not always, these Forward-looking Statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "planned", "reflecting", "will", "containing", "remaining", "to be", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking Statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-looking Statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, the worldwide economic and social impact of COVID-19, the duration and extent of COVID-19, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the duration of government restrictions on business related to COVID-19; changes in prices for silver and other metals; technological and operational hazards in Fortuna's mining and mine development activities; risks inherent in mineral exploration; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, mineral resources, and metal recoveries; changes to current estimates of mineral reserves and resources; changes to production estimates; governmental and other approvals; changes in government, political unrest or instability in countries where Fortuna is active; labor relations issues; as well as those factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-looking Statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking Statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to the management of the worldwide economic and social impact of COVID-19, that the duration and extent of COVID-19 is minimized and not long-term; that the temporary suspension of operations at the Caylloma Mine is short-term; the expected trends in mineral prices and currency exchange rates; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral resource and reserve estimates; that the Company's activities will be in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained; that there will be no significant disruptions affecting operations and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking Statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any Forward-looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in its legal proceedings or that these Forward-looking Statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on Forward-looking Statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events including, but not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's operations, including the temporary suspension of operations at the Caylloma Mine and the Company's efforts to minimize the impacts of same, the continued practices for the screening and prevention of COVID-19, discussions with government authorities and other stakeholders, and the timing of the resumption of operations at the Caylloma Mine. WTTC and Carnival Corporation Present Unique COVID-19 Scientific Summit WTTC to collaborate with world's largest cruise company on convening leading global scientists and health experts on July 23 for a virtual public forum on the latest insights and best practices for living in a world with COVID-19 LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) - together with the world's largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) - will host the WTTC/Carnival Corporation Global Science Summit on COVID-19. Set for July 23, this will be a virtual scientific summit focused on COVID-19 and the 'new normal.' Taking place from 1400 hours to 1730 GMT (10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, July 23, the summit, which is open to the public, will share the latest scientific knowledge and evidence-based best practices related to prevention, detection, treatment and mitigation of COVID-19. The joint summit will see global tourism leaders, WTTC Members, government agencies, destination partners, trade and private businesses, share the very latest science and medical evidence that can be used to inform practical, adaptable and science-based solutions for mitigating and living with COVID-19. The WTTC/Carnival Corporation Global Science Summit on COVID-19, is the latest initiative to continue building global understanding concerning COVID's impact on society, including travel and tourism. The Summit will consider practices from the leading scientists and health experts for mitigating the spread of the virus. This unique virtual Summit is hosted by WTTC, which represents the global Travel &Tourism private sector, and Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company, and is free to attend. Summit convenes global scientists and health experts at forefront of COVID-19 fight The summit will bring together a robust lineup of world renowned medical, epidemiology and public health experts to explore and share the latest best practice on the science of COVID-19 and how best to address the many practical questions people have about the disease. Speakers and panelists represent a diverse range of science, research, clinical, academic, policy and business backgrounds, including amongst others, members of Scientists to Stop COVID-19, who have volunteered to participate. For additional information on the program and panelists, see the registration site at CovidScienceSummit.com Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: "I was excited when Arnold, on behalf of Carnival Corporation, approached me with this idea. This event will be a powerful platform for harnessing the best thinking from across all fields of knowledge in the public and private sectors. The science of this virus is rapidly evolving and these real-time insights will be invaluable in helping us determine evidence-based protection and mitigation measures to combat COVID-19. They will also help drive global alignment and collaboration on the frontiers of science and policy, which is critical to the survival of this important sector. "COVID-19 has had a crushing global socio-economic impact and is threatening the jobs of millions of people whose very livelihoods depend upon a thriving Travel & Tourism sector for their survival." Summit will discuss practical approaches to living in a world with COVID-19 The event will feature a series of panels, each focusing on a critical area of science surrounding COVID-19 and will include best practices from different industry sectors and world regions to control and limit the spread of COVID-19. Panels will include a mix of science-based debates and discussions sharing the latest thinking on the following key topic areas: Epidemiology: Incubation and peak infectivity periods for SARS-CoV-2; disease progression from exposure to illness; and symptom variability among different individuals and groups. Incubation and peak infectivity periods for SARS-CoV-2; disease progression from exposure to illness; and symptom variability among different individuals and groups. Transmission: How, when and where SARS-CoV-2 spreads; significance of environmental transmission; guidelines for mitigating spread How, when and where SARS-CoV-2 spreads; significance of environmental transmission; guidelines for mitigating spread Screening and Testing: Availability and accuracy of current testing methods; viable and cost effective ways to detect illness and effectiveness of screening using temperature and health questionnaires. Availability and accuracy of current testing methods; viable and cost effective ways to detect illness and effectiveness of screening using temperature and health questionnaires. Therapeutics: Status of vaccine development; available and approved SARS-CoV-2 treatment protocols; the role of cytokine storms; and profiles of COVID-19 recovery. Status of vaccine development; available and approved SARS-CoV-2 treatment protocols; the role of cytokine storms; and profiles of COVID-19 recovery. Practical Risk Mitigation: Measures to mitigate the risks of social gatherings; balancing the benefits and risks of social gatherings; the role of testing, contact tracing, and managing the psychology of fear. Arnold Donald, President & CEO of Carnival Corporation, is a member of the WTTC Executive Committee and its Vice Chair for North America. Carnival Corporation designed and is producing the Summit in close coordination with WTTC leadership. "Our highest responsibility and top priorities are compliance, protecting the environment and the safety, health and well-being of our guests, our crew members and the people in the communities we visit," said Donald. "Throughout the pause in our guest operations, we have been consulting and assembling the best minds in medical science, public health and infectious disease control. We are grateful to bring together a select group of science and medical experts who bring such relevant insight into COVID-19 for the public to hear. Hopefully, this Summit will be an efficient way for attendees to become more informed about COVID-19 in the space of just a few hours." Registration Details To register for the Summit, please go to CovidScienceSummit.com Global participants will be invited to submit questions in advance and during the online event. Members of the media are welcome to join for all or part of the sessions or connect with members and/or presenters. Members of the media are welcome to join for all or part of the sessions or connect with members and/or presenters. Evidence from WTTC's Crisis Readiness report, which looked at 90 different types of crises, highlights the importance of public-private cooperation to ensure that smart policies and effective communities are in place to enable a more resilient travel and tourism sector. According to WTTC's 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel &Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs. For further information please contact the WTTC press office at press.office@wttc.org About Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard. Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com. CONTACT: Carnival Corporation Media Contacts: Roger Frizzell, Carnival Corporation, rfrizzell@carnival.com, (305) 406-7862, or Mike Flanagan, LDWW, mike@ldwwgroup.com, (727) 452-4538 Posted Monday, July 6, 2020 3:12 pm Editors Note: The Chronicle is working to assist local businesses suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus spread and associated government orders to close or limit commerce. There will be a feature on a local business in each edition of The Chronicle and at chronline.com moving forward. To be considered, email reporter Eric Trent at etrent@chronline.com. Additionally, The Chronicle will continue to offer its coverage of the coronavirus and its effects across the community, state and nation free outside of our paywall at chronline.com. PE ELL Whitney Adolphsen has been hanging out in coffee stands since before she could talk or walk. It runs in the family. So it only made sense that one day shed open her own stand. She would go to work with her mom as a baby at the now-closed One Moore Cup in Raymond. Now both of Adolphsens parents own coffee stands, her dad in Castle Rock and her mom in Raymond, for the last 19 years. She started working at her moms shop, The Daily Perk, officially when she was 16 years old. Big coffee family, Adolphsen said. Both of my sisters worked in it at one point or another, too. I was that kid that grew up in the coffee shop, hanging out with my mom down there. Im probably the only 30-year-old with 20-plus years experience working in a coffee shop. Thats why when she decided to open Jacked Up in 2018 she chose to base it in Pe Ell the halfway point between her parents. Adolphsen grew up in Old Willapa and went to Willapa Valley and South Bend high schools, but she did have some history with Pe Ell. A star softball player growing up, she became a Trojan for one year during high school because Valley didnt have a softball program at the time. That made the transition to the community a little easier. The biggest change was going from longtime employee to business owner. She was commuting from Lebam when she first opened her shop and was late one day rushing down state Route 6 toward the stand in Pe Ell, worried about being late to open. Then it hit me halfway, Well, Im not going to get in trouble, Adolphsen said. The worst thing thats going to happen is Im going to lose a little bit of money. Its OK. Now shes been able to relish the independence of being a business owner. I have a lot more pride in my work now that its my own, Adolphsen said. That, and getting to set up shop in a whole new area and getting to meet everybody here. Thats been cool, too. Its that community that stood behind her shop once the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, shutting down non-essential businesses and delivering blows to the economy. The pandemic temporarily dried up her customers and left her wondering the fate of her stand. Eerie, Adolphsen said. It was really eerie. There was a two-week standstill where customers trickled in at a snails pace. Adolphsen panicked and laid off all her employees for that first week. She, along with every other human on earth, was unsure what to expect. She wanted to gauge the level of customers coming in and make sure shed be able to pay the bills. Then, all the sudden, business went back to normal. At the same time, Jacked Up tried to be a beacon of normalcy in its customers lives as the rest of the world was filled with uncertainty. Its been an interesting thing to live through and work through down here, Adolphsen said. Im just really grateful we didnt get shut down. Luckily, Jacked Up was already following most of the health department guidelines beforehand. It did step up its cleaning and started sanitizing the clipboard each time it went through the window. Now, her employees are working more hours than ever before. The Pe Ell community has shown its support more than ever, Adolphsen said. One organization included Jacked Up in a scavenger hunt, people were buying gift cards, others dropped by just to check on Adolphsen and her employees. Customers who would normally show up once a month were suddenly coming in a couple times a week. Part of it was also people searching for social interaction. There was a month stretch where it was difficult to close at a regular time because customers were dropping by to chat. Its another reason why Im glad I set up shop in a small town, Adolphsen said. There was a huge outpouring of support and small-town camaraderie. Jacked Up, which uses Ravens Brew Coffee from Alaska, is located at 404 N. Main St. in Pe Ell. The local favorite is currently open Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 7 a.m to 4 p.m. Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Sunday, the lowest daily COVID-19 death toll in 103 days was reported in the United States. With 212 new deaths reporting in the last 24 hours, the total number of people who died due to the disease in the U.S. increased to 129,947, as per Johns Hopkins University's latest update on Monday. The last time a figure lower than this was recorded on March 24. This is less than 10 percent of daily deaths that reached its peak on May 6. Further, a drastic fall in new cases was recorded at the weekend when compared to the highest infection rate just two days ago. New infections hit its peak with more than 57000 cases on Friday. But on Sunday, there were 14000 less cases. While the daily infection rate fell to 43000, the total number of cases in the country increased to 2,888,729. President Donald Trump said COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are down, 'low and steady'. New cases of the disease, which he described as 'China Virus', are up because of massive testing, according to him. 'The Fake News Media should report this and also, that new job numbers are setting records,' he tweeted. Meanwhile, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn expressed doubt about Trump's prediction that a vaccine for the deadly disease will be ready this year. 'I can't predict when a vaccine will be available,' the head of the U.S. drugs regulator said on ABC's 'This Week' Sunday. The latest state-wise infection and casualty data of the worst-affected regions: New York (32206 deaths, 397131 infections), New Jersey (15211 deaths, 173402 infections), Michigan (6218 deaths, 72941 infections), Massachusetts (8183 deaths, 109974 infections), Louisiana (3288 deaths, 65226 infections), Illinois (7020 deaths, 147251 infections), Pennsylvania (6753 deaths, 94403 infections), California (6373 deaths, 264681 infections), Connecticut (4335 deaths, 46717 infections), Texas (2628 deaths, 194932 infections), Georgia (2860 deaths, 95516 infections), Virginia (1853 deaths, 65748 infections), Maryland (3243 deaths, 69632 infections), Florida (3731 deaths, 200111 infections), Indiana (2693 deaths, 48201 infections), Ohio (2911 deaths, 57150 infections), Colorado (1701 deaths, 34048 infections), Minnesota (1508 deaths, 38136 infections), Arizona (1825 deaths, 98103 infections) Washington (1359 deaths, 35898 infections), North Carolina (1423 deaths, 72992 infections), Mississippi (1111 deaths, 30900 infections), Tennessee (645 deaths, 51316 infections) and Missouri (1051 deaths, 23816 infections). Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX/NYSE: PVG) ("Pretivm" or the "Company") announces that Patrick Godin will be joining the Company as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer effective August 1, 2020. Mr. Godin will succeed David Prins, Pretivm's Vice President, Operations. Mr. Godin brings more than 25 years of mining industry experience to the Pretivm team. Most recently, Mr. Godin was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Stornoway Diamond Corporation, from January 2019 until June 2020. He joined Stornoway Diamond in May 2010 as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and was directly responsible for the construction and the operations of the Renard Diamond Mine, Quebec's first diamond mine. Prior to joining Stornoway Diamond, Mr. Godin acted as Vice President, Project Development for GMining Services Inc. (2008-2010), Vice-President of Operations for Canadian Royalties Inc. (2007-2008), and President and General Manager of CBJ-CAIMAN S.A.S. (2004-2007), a French subsidiary of Cambior Inc. (now IAMGOLD Corporation), holder of the Camp Caiman gold mining project located in French Guiana. Mr. Godin holds a bachelor's degree in mining engineering from Universite Laval in Quebec. "I'm very pleased to welcome Patrick to the Pretivm team," said Jacques Perron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pretivm. "His successful leadership, extensive technical and operational experience working in mines across the world and broad knowledge of the mining business will be instrumental as we continue to drive Pretivm's success." About Pretivm Pretivm is an intermediate gold producer with the high-grade gold underground Brucejack Mine. For further information contact: Troy Shultz Manager, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Pretium Resources Inc. Suite 2300, Four Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street PO Box 49334 Vancouver, BC V7X 1L4 (604) 558-1784 invest@pretivm.com (mailto:invest@pretivm.com) (SEDAR filings: Pretium Resources Inc.) Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively herein referred to as "forward-looking information"), including the "safe harbour" provisions of Canadian provincial securities legislation and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "guidance", "projects", "assumes", "budget", "strategy", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "modeled", "targets" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative forms of any of these terms and similar expressions, have been used to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to: the Company's leadership transition plans; production and financial guidance, and our expectations around achieving such guidance; our future operational and financial results, including estimated cash flows (including free cash flow forecasts) and the timing thereof; expectations around grade of gold and silver production; Brucejack Mine production rate and gold recovery rate; capital modifications and upgrades, underground development and anticipated benefits thereof, and estimated expenditures and timelines in connection therewith, including with respect to maintaining a steady state production rate of 3,800 tonnes per day; payment of debt, operating and other obligations and commitments including timing and source of funds; our mining (including mining methods), expansion, exploration and development activities, including longitudinal longhole stoping initiatives, the reverse circulation drill program, our infill, expansion and underground exploration drill programs and our grassroots exploration program, and the results, costs and timing thereof; our operational grade control program, including plans with respect to our infill drill program and our local grade control model; grade reconciliation, updated geological interpretation and mining initiatives with respect to the Brucejack Mine; our management, operational plans and strategy; capital, sustaining and operating cost estimates and timing thereof; the future price of gold and silver; our liquidity and the adequacy of our financial resources (including capital resources); our intentions with respect to our capital resources; capital allocation plans; our financing activities, including plans for the use of proceeds thereof; the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources including any updates thereto; parameters and assumptions used to estimate mineral reserves and mineral resources; realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; our estimated life of mine and life of mine plan for the Brucejack Mine; production and processing estimates and estimated rates; estimated economic results of the Brucejack Mine, including net cash flow and net present value; predicted metallurgical recoveries for gold and silver; geological and mineralization interpretations; development of our Brucejack Mine and timing thereof; results, analyses and interpretations of exploration and drilling programs; timelines and similar statements relating to the economic viability of the Brucejack Mine, including mine life, total tonnes mined and processed and mining operations; updates to our mineral reserves and mineral resources and life of mine plan for the Brucejack Mine, and the anticipated effects and timing thereof; timing, receipt, and anticipated effects of, and anticipated capital costs in connection with, approvals, consents and permits under applicable legislation; our executive compensation policy, approach and practice; our relationship with community stakeholders; litigation matters; environmental matters; payment of taxes, our effective tax rate and the recognition of our previously unrecognized income tax attributes; new accounting standards applicable to the Company, including methods of adoption and the effects of adoption of such standards; statements regarding U.S. dollar cash flows, currency fluctuations and the recurrence of foreign currency translation adjustments; management and board of directors succession plans; the impact of financial instruments on our earnings; and the effects of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak as a global pandemic, including anticipated operational and financial impacts, and our response and contingency plans. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, actions, events, conditions, performance or achievements to materially differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information including, without limitation, the ability of the Company to successfully close a financing pursuant to the base shelf prospectus or shelf registration statement, when final or effective, and those risks identified in our final short form base shelf prospectus and the documents incorporated, or deemed to be incorporated, by reference. Our forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, including, without limitation, those set out in our Annual Information Form and Form 40-F, each dated February 21, 2020, for the year ended December 31, 2019, our MD&A and our other disclosure documents as filed in Canada on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and in the United States through EDGAR at the Security and Exchange Commission's (the "SEC") website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Forward-looking information involves statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and our 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. For the reasons set forth above, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX nor the NYSE has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Minkap Resources Inc. (TSXV:KAP) ("MinKap" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding arm's length letter of intent dated July 2, 2020 with Canarc Resource Corp. ("Canarc") relating to the proposed acquisition of an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Lightning Tree property ("Lightning Tree Property") from Canarc (the "Canarc LOI"). The Company has concurrently entered into a non-binding arm's length letter of intent dated July 2, 2020 with DG Resource Management Ltd. ("DGRM") relating to the acquisition of a 100% undivided interest in the contiguous Breccia Gold property (the "Breccia Gold Property") from DGRM (the "DGRM LOI") (together, the Canarc LOI and the DGRM LOI are referred to as the "LOI's" and the transactions contemplated thereby are referred to as the "Proposed Transaction"). The Lightning Tree Property and the Breccia Gold Property, which are both located in Lemhi County, Idaho, USA, are collectively referred to as the "Property". "The opportunity to acquire and advance a significant gold asset such as the Breccia Gold Property puts MinKap in the unique position of being able to explore a past-producing gold mine at a time when precious metals are seeing near-unparalleled interest. Historic work at the Breccia Gold Property has identified a significant, low sulphidation, epithermal gold system, which was tested by only a few drill holes, and several bulk samples," stated Jonathan Armes, President of MinKap. "We are looking forward to the commencement of an exploration program at the Breccia Gold Property, which will include a significant drill program aimed at confirming historic grades and widths of the gold mineralization." The Breccia Gold Property Situated approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Salmon, Idaho, the property is accessible by paved highway and a network of well-maintained gravel roads. The property hosts the historic Gahsmith gold mine, which is central to a significant low-sulphidation epithermal gold system. The property consists of 80 claims covering approximately 1,650 acres within the Blackbird Mining District and is host to the historic Gahsmith Gold Mine, which is contiguous to the south and southwest of the historic Musgrove Creek Gold Mine. Some important highlights of the Breccia Gold Property follow: Covers 1,800 m long portion of the Meadows Fault Zone 2018 - 39 surface grab samples from <0.1 g/t Au to 84.3 g/t Au 2019 - 52 surface chip and grab samples from <0.1 g/t Au to 46.8 g/t Au, with surface soil samples anomalous across widths of up to 100 m Gold mineralization on the property occurs within an approximately 1,800-metre portion of the Meadows Fault Zone (MFZ), with the northernmost showing referred to as the Lee Prospect and the Breccia Gold Zone within the southern portion. Historic and recent exploration focused on an approximate 500 m long by 8 to 20 m wide zone of highly brecciated and oxidized host lithologies, proximal to the MFZ, and which is host to highly anomalous concentrations of gold. The Breccia Gold Zone was exploited by at least eight adits during the 1930s and early 1940s, with several thousand tons of mineralized material extracted, targeting high-grade gold mineralization within quartz veins, hosted by a wide zone of brecciation. The Breccia Gold Property underwent some exploration in the mid-1980s that included metallurgical testing and limited drilling, as well as surface and underground sampling. In 1987, a bulk sample of 4,621 tons of gold-bearing material was collected from a bulldozer cut along a 20 foot wide by 200-foot long section of the Breccia Gold Zone, just north of the South Adit. Two drill holes completed in 1985 tested the zone at depth, north of the South Adit. Though assay data for these holes is unavailable, inclined hole DH-1 intersected the Breccia Gold Zone from 200 to 300 feet, while vertical DH-2 continued within the Breccia Gold Zone for its entire 100-foot length. Prospecting and surface sampling carried out by DGRM in 2018 and 2019 suggests the anomalous gold is present across the Breccia Gold Zone with higher grades associated with quartz vein and replacements, which generally occur near the centre of the zone. In total, 39 grab samples were collected from the Breccia Gold Zone in 2018; these returned an arithmetic average of 6.33 g/t Au and 3.01 g/t Ag. Further sampling in 2019 included a total of 52 chip and grab samples; these returned an arithmetic average of 4.44 g/t Au and 4.83 g/t Ag (see Table 1 below for ranges and average grades). The Company cautions investors that grab samples are selected samples and not necessarily representative of mineralization hosted on the Breccia Gold Property. Table 1: Summary of Gold content for the 2018 and 2019 Grab Samples, Breccia Gold Zone Au (g/t) Range 2018 Totals 2019 Totals <0.1 6 12 0.1 - 1.0 10 12 1.0 - 5.0 12 14 5.0 - 10 2 8 >10 9 6 Upon completion of the 2018 program, samples were palletized and shipped by freight by Salmon River Stages to ALS in Reno, Nev. Samples were bagged in the field using cloth bags, recorded and assigned a sample number. Analysis consisted of multielement inductively coupled plasma (ME-ICP61) and gold by fire assay (Au-ICP22 and Au-GRA22). Upon completion of the 2019 program, both rock and soil samples were confirmed, put into pails and labelled for shipping. Samples were collected in polyurethane sample bags, recorded and assigned a sample number. Soil samples were shipped out of Cutbank, Mont., by FedEx ground transport to ALS in Reno, Nev., for multielement aqua regia digestion (AuME-ST43). Rock samples were driven back to Edmonton, Alta. (DGRM's head office), and then shipped by Purolator ground transport to Actlabs in Ancaster, Ont., for aqua regia multielement (1E3 (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry)) and fire assay (1A2-ICP). ALS and Actlabs are commercial laboratories and completely independent of DGRM. ALS in Reno, Nev., and Actlabs in Ancaster, Ont., are both ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. The nature and style of mineralization observed at the Breccia Gold Zone is characteristic of low sulphidation, epithermal gold deposits. Some notable examples of this deposit type include Hishikari, Japan, Round Mountain mine, Nevada, and Fruta del Norte, Ecuador. Immediate exploration plans for the property include ground geophysics and soil sampling, to be followed by a drill program anticipated by year end (permitting application has been submitted). QP Mr. Garry Clark P.Geo, (Exploration Manager and a director of the Company), a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised its preparation. Proposed Transaction for the Lightning Tree Property with Canarc: Under the terms of the Canarc LOI, the Company has an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Lightning Tree Property by completing, among other things, the following: Issuing an aggregate of 2,500,000 common shares (the " Consideration Shares ") and 2,500,000 common share purchase warrants (the " Consideration Warrants ") over a 2 year period to Canarc; ") and 2,500,000 common share purchase warrants (the " ") over a 2 year period to Canarc; C$12,500 payable upon receipt by the Company of final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the Proposed Transaction (the " Approval Date "); "); C$25,000 due on the first anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the second anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the third anniversary from the Approval Date; Spend an aggregate $2,000,000 in exploration expenditures over three (3) years, commencing on the date MinKap receives an exploration drill permit for the Property (the " Permit Date "); "); Issuing to Canarc a 2.5% net smelter return royalty (" Canarc NSR ") in respect of the Property, subject to the Company retaining an option to acquire 1% of the Canarc NSR for a cash payment of C$1,000,000; and ") in respect of the Property, subject to the Company retaining an option to acquire 1% of the Canarc NSR for a cash payment of C$1,000,000; and File, on the Company's SEDAR issuer profile, a mineral resource estimate in compliance with NI 43-101 on the Property within 3 years of the Permit Date. Proposed Transaction for the Breccia Property with DGRM: Under the terms of the DGRM LOI, the Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Property by completing the following: Issuing an aggregate of 2,500,000 common shares (the " Consideration Shares ") and 2,500,000 common share purchase warrants (the " Consideration Warrants ") over a 2 year period to DGRM; ") and 2,500,000 common share purchase warrants (the " ") over a 2 year period to DGRM; C$12,500 due on the Approval Date; C$25,000 due on the first anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the second anniversary from the Approval Date; C$50,000 due on the third anniversary from the Approval Date; Spend an aggregate $2,000,000 in exploration expenditures over three (3) years, commencing on the date MinKap receives an exploration drill permit for the Property (the "Permit Date"); Issuing to DGRM a 2.5% net smelter return royalty (" DGRM NSR ") subject to the Company retaining an option to acquire 1% of the DGRM NSR for a cash payment of C$1,000,000; and ") subject to the Company retaining an option to acquire 1% of the DGRM NSR for a cash payment of C$1,000,000; and File, on the Company's SEDAR issuer profile, a mineral resource estimate in compliance with NI 43-101 on the Property within 3 years of the Permit Date. Pursuant to the LOIs, MinKap has also agreed to grant to DGRM and Canarc, together, a one-time bonus payment (the "Bonus Payment") of $1.00 per ounce of gold or gold equivalent, up to a maximum of C$1,000,000 upon the SEDAR filing of a NI 43-101 compliant resource of 1,000,000 ounces of gold or gold equivalent. The Bonus Payment will be payable to DGRM and CANARC on a pro rata basis based on the number of ounces of gold or gold equivalent from each of their respective claims relative to the 1,000,000 ounces as defined in the NI 43-101 compliant technical report to be prepared in respect of the Property. The completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to the execution of definitive agreements with both Canarc and DGRM and the receipt of all corporate and regulatory approvals, including that of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Concurrent Financing The Company also announces that it proposed to complete a concurrent non-brokered private placement of up to 10,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") of the Company at a price of $0.075 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $750,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit shall consist of one common share (each, a "Common Share") of the Company and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.15 for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of issuance. Finder's fees may be payable in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. The Proposed Name Change The Company also intends to change its name in conjunction with the Proposed Transaction to "Ophir Gold Corp." or any such other name that is approved by the board of directors. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Further details of the Proposed Transaction will be included in subsequent news releases and disclosure documents to be filed by the Company. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Jonathan Armes" MinKap Resources Inc. For further information, please contact: Jonathan Armes President & CEO Phone 1 (416) 708-0243 jarmes@bell.net Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to the Proposed Transaction and the Offering, risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. 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, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. SOURCE: MinKap Resources Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596323/Minkap-Enters-Into-Property-Option-Agreements-for-the-Breccia-Gold-Property-Idaho-USA BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. ISM services PMI for June is scheduled for release at 10:00 am ET Monday. Ahead of the data, the greenback fell against its major counterparts. The greenback was worth 107.50 against the yen, 0.9387 against the franc, 1.2512 against the pound and 1.1337 against the euro as of 9:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. SAINT HELIER, Jersey, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate services has appointed Brijesh Patel as Global Head of Corporate Services. With more than 20 years of international financial services experience, Brijesh, joins SANNE from State Street in Singapore where he held the role of Vice President, Relationship Management. As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Brijesh has an impressive background in managing strategic global relationships, leading servicing teams and coordinating service delivery from multiple jurisdictions and business areas to a broad range of clients invested in various asset classes. Based in SANNE's Singapore business, he will work closely with SANNE's Country Heads and Corporate Services business to expand the product offering, providing professional administration and accounting services to a variety of listed clients, global corporates, family offices, entrepreneurial groups and sovereign wealth funds. On the appointment Jason Bingham, Chief Strategy Officer at SANNE commented, "We are delighted to welcome Brijesh to SANNE. His wealth of experience in our industry and his approach with clients will ensure that our global Corporate Services offering is well positioned in an increasingly competitive and consolidated market." "It's an absolute pleasure to be a member of the SANNE team and join an organisation that is a global leader in the fund and corporate servicing industry. I look forward to joining forces with our business leaders and global servicing team as we collectively work to strengthen our product offering and grow our strategic relationships with current and future international clients," added Brijesh Patel, Global Head of Corporate Services. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200562/Brijesh_Patel.jpg CHICAGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Fuel Additives Market By Type (Deposit Control, Cetane Improvers, Lubricity Improvers, Cold Flow Improvers, Stability Improvers, Octane Improvers, Corrosion Inhibitors), Application (Diesel, Gasoline, Aviation Fuel) - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Fuel Additives Market is projected to reach USD 6.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 3.2% from USD 5.8 billion in 2020. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=723 Browse in-depth TOC on "Fuel Additives Market" 314 - Tables 51 - Figures 258 - Pages View Detailed Table of Content Here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/fuel-additives-market-723.html Governments all over the world are imposing stringent environmental regulations to address growing concerns about the harmful effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Government agencies are focusing on the use of clean and efficient fuels The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US has regularly modified and enforced several norms for reducing vehicular emissions and improving the quality and efficiency of fuels used. The European Union (EU) has imposed stringent rules that are to be followed by every refiner and marketer of fuels. The directive on the Promotion of Clean and Energy Efficient Road Transport Vehicles (EU) strives to introduce environment-friendly vehicles and fuels. It is also concerned with the purchase of vehicles for public transport services. The UK government introduced a set of regulations in 2011, which look after the use of additives in fuel. The Government of India has imposed the Euro IV standards in 13 metro cities and Euro III standards for Tier-2 cities to control emissions. With environmental regulations increasingly becoming stringent, there is a growing necessity for reducing emissions. This can be achieved by adding more efficient fuel additives. These factors are driving the fuel additives market. Deposit control is the largest type of fuel additives. The deposit control segment accounted for the largest share of the fuel additives market by type, in terms of value, in 2017. The growth of the deposit control segment is expected to continue during the forecast period due to its high use to prevent deposit formation in the injector nozzle of engines. The use of deposit control additives also improves combustion and fuel economy and hence, is widely used in various fuels. Moreover, deposit control additives prevent the accumulation of impurities, thus, improving the performance of the engine. The diesel segment is estimated to be the largest application of fuel additives during the forecast period. Diesel is estimated to be the largest application of fuel additives during the forecast period. The market for diesel fuel additives has been driven by the developing economies of APAC. North America and Europe are now focusing on the use of ULSD, which has higher dosing of additives than in the normal diesel. The global diesel consumption is expected to increase during the forecast period, and the quantity of additives used is likely to increase to meet stringent environmental norms. This is expected to drive the market between 2020 and 2025. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=723 North America is estimated to be the largest market for fuel additives during the forecast period. North America is expected to be the largest fuel additives market during the forecast period. Globally, the region has been leading the market, in terms of demand as well as product innovation regarding quality and application development. Due to stringent environmental regulations, the fuel additives market is witnessing significant growth. The North American market is highly regulated with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) playing a key role in the monitoring and commercialization of fuel additives products. The key market players profiled in the report include Afton Chemical Corporation (US), Innospec Inc. (US), The Lubrizol Corporation (US), BASF SE (Germany), Infinieum Limited (UK), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Chevron Oronite Company LLC (US), Lanxess (Germany), Dorf Ketal Chemicals (India), Cummins Inc. (US), and Cerion LLC (US). Browse Adjacent Markets: Specialty Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Cold Flow Improvers Market by Type (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, Polyalpha Olefin, Polyalkyl Methacrylate), Application (Diesel Fuel, Lubricating Oil, Aviation Fuel), End-Use Industry (Automotive, Aerospace & Defense) and Region - Global Forecast 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cold-flow-improver-market-22248854.html Friction Modifiers Market by Type (Organic and Inorganic), Application (Transportation Lubricants (Commercial Vehicle, Passenger Vehicle, Aviation, Marine), and Industrial Lubricants), and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/friction-modifier-market-52458814.html Lubricating Oil Additives Market by Functional Type (Dispersants, Detergents, Oxidation Inhibitors, Anti Wear Agents, Extreme Pressure Additives, and Viscosity Index Improvers), Application, End-use Industry, and Region-Global Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/lubricating-oil-additive-market-126233103.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. 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' 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 Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/fuel-additives-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/fuel-additives.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg BEIJING, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition was officially launched on May 15 in Beijing, China. It's theme for 2020 is "Envision Your Future", The mission is to provide a complete entrepreneurial eco-system for global entrepreneurs, through making series of world leading tech events to inspire and motivate daring founders to challenge and envision the future. The New Tech Event is Seeking for Ambitious Start-ups from World Wide HICOOL is operating global pitch competition in four territories, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and China, focused in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Financial Technology, Medicine and Health, Next-Generation Information Technology, New Energy, New Materials, Smart Equipment, Cultural Innovation, and other sectors. Each Field is divided into Maker Group and Growth Group. The Pitch Competition has set up 100 winning spots with a total bonus of up to 80 million Chinese RMB and 1 billion RMB venture capital, in addition the winning project owner will receive direct investment of 10 million RMB from venture capital. HICOOL is cooperated with leading enterprises, investors, universities, associations and media from world-wide, such as Alibaba Cloud, Sequoia Capital, Baidu, Inc, Xiaomi Corporation, ByteDance, Hillhouse Capital Group, IDG Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, Tsinghua Alumni Association, Peking University Alumni Association, and other well-known venture capital institutions, college alumni associations, and media agencies. HICOOL will also invite top investors, well-known mentors, and leading entrepreneurs to provide full entrepreneurial counselling and incubation services for the pitch winners, helping the potential projects to increase media exposure, seeking financing support, match-making potential partners, and supporting entrepreneurs to establish cooperation opportunities with leading enterprises, for the purpose of building a multi-level, multi-dimensional and diversified international entrepreneurship model, to continuously support the winning entrepreneurs to live, work and expand business in Beijing of China. HICOOL Entrepreneurship Competition Schedule May 15 to July 15, Global Project Registration July 16 to July 19, Review Participating Project July 25 to August 20: Global Preliminary Round (TBD) September 10, Global semi-finals (TBD) September 11, Global finals (TBD) September 12, HICOOL 2020 Global Entrepreneur Summit (TBD) HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit will be held in Shunyi district in Beijing, to create a leading tech event in China in 2020, igniting the entrepreneurship spirit and attract the world class science and technology projects to the entrepreneurial eco-system, establishing an optimal industrial ecological empowerment in Beijing, China. HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition Contact: PR Correspondent: Liz Lee Media: media@hicool.com HICOOL Organizing Committee: 86-10-80461951 SOURCE: HICOOL View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596377/HICOOL-Global-Entrepreneur-Summit-and-Entrepreneurship-Competition Regulatory News: For 2020, Mercialys (Paris:MERY) is once again in the top 5 of the overall ranking for the representation of women in management structures for listed companies, achieving fourth place on the SBF 120. Marking this occasion, the Company's commitment to gender equality was recognized by Marlene Schiappa, Minister of State for Gender Equality, when she visited its offices. Each year, the ranking for the representation of women in management structures for listed companies, commissioned by the French Ministry of State for Gender Equality and carried out by ConvictionsRH, assesses the presence of women within companies' executive management and governance bodies, as well as various indicators relating to their gender diversity policies (training, awareness, remuneration, presence of women's networks, etc.). This year, Mercialys achieved an overall rating of 80.36/100, positioning it in fourth place on the SBF 120. To mark the publication of this ranking, Mercialys welcomed a visit to its offices by Marlene Schiappa, Minister of State for Gender Equality, and Marie-Jo Zimmermann, co-author of the French law for the balanced representation of women and men within boards of directors and supervisory boards (known as the Cope-Zimmermann Act). They praised the Company's exemplary approach, illustrated in particular by its Management Committee, which has achieved gender parity, the specific equality agreements signed covering various aspects, such as tackling the pay gap (reduced from -4.5% in 2017 to -2.1% in 2019) and access to training, as well as the commitment shown by its governance structures, including the Board of Directors, which also has gender parity, which represents a real driving force for progress within the Company. Following these exchanges, Marlene Schiappa signed a mission statement for Marie-Jo Zimmermann to assess compliance with the Cope-Zimmermann Act nationwide. During this event, Elizabeth Blaise and Vincent Ravat, Mercialys' executive leadership team, once again set out their continued commitment to gender diversity and equality policies within the Company. This press release is available on www.mercialys.com About Mercialys Mercialys is one of France's leading real estate companies, focused exclusively on shopping centers and high-street retail assets. At December 31, 2019, Mercialys had a portfolio of 2,144 leases, representing a rental value of Euro 180.6 million on an annualized basis. At December 31, 2019, it owned properties with an estimated value of Euro 3.6 billion (including transfer taxes). Mercialys has had "SIIC" real estate investment trust (REIT) tax status since November 1, 2005 and has been listed on Euronext Paris Compartment A (ticker: MERY) since its initial public offering on October 12, 2005. At December 31, 2019, there were 92,049,169 shares outstanding. IMPORTANT INFORMATION This press release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding future events, trends, projects or targets. These forward-looking statements are subject to identified and unidentified risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to Mercialys' Universal Registration Document available at www.mercialys.com for the year ended December 31, 2019 for more details regarding certain factors, risks and uncertainties that could affect Mercialys' business. Mercialys makes no undertaking in any form to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking statements, nor to report new information, new future events or any other circumstances that might cause these statements to be revised. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005489/en/ Contacts: Analysts investors media contact: Alexandre Leroy Tel: +33(0)1 53 65 24 39 Email: aleroy@mercialys.com MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / July 3, 2020 / Sigourney Belle is a top spiritual leader and healer, whose modern-day healing techniques and spiritual practices are bringing a remarkable change in the world. The creator and CEO of The Wildgrace Movement, Sigourney has precisely infused her understanding of spirituality with her knowledge in medical science. As a spiritual entrepreneur, Sigourney Belle has made it her life's vision to not only raise the vibration of those in need but to create an effective and far-reaching dialogue towards 'spirituality as a career'. As a business mogul, Sigourney Belle runs training programs around the world, about spiritual healing. With her phenomenal leadership qualities, she has successfully sparked a global change through The Wildgrace Movement which is a revolution of its own kind. Not just a spiritual leader, Sigourney Belle is the author of the bestseller book titled Levianthan. The book is an in-depth analysis of spiritual practices Sigourney has developed over all these years. Levianthan takes the readers on a unique journey and throws light on a plethora of tools and techniques which they can apply to their lives in order to achieve healing. In the book, Sigourney Belle has quoted multiple instances and breakthroughs, as she discovered more about her higher self while being on her creative and spiritual journey. The book demystifies the practices that involve meditative and yogic transformational energies. Hailing from a medical background, Sigourney Belle finds it intuitive to figure out the root of one's illness and extends clients with her healing process by amalgamating her medical knowledge with her extrasensory gifts. She specializes in work with high magic and alchemical processes which are designed to recalibrate people back to the state of health, well being, and spiritual abundance. Sigourney keeps her practices and consultations completely client-oriented. She is now working on her next book, The Dark Empire, to be released in September 2020. The book is about changing the business paradigm from the inside out by aligning business strategy with our internal, deep knowing, and marketing with magic. To know more about Sigourney's work check out her media contact information below: Name of the company: Sigourney Belle Websites: www.theasatara.com and www.sigourneybelle.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigourneybelle/ LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/ sigourneybelle Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ sigourneybelleasatara/ Business Email: sigourney@theasatara.com Company Phone Number: +61400027187 SOURCE: Sigourney Belle View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/596077/Spiritual-Leader-Entrepreneur-Sigourney-Belle-Discusses-Bestseller-Levianthan Posted Monday, July 6, 2020 3:10 pm A series of grants funded through the Washington state Department of Commerces coronavirus relief funds are set to be allocated to local businesses who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of last Wednesdays weekly Economic Recovery Forum, Meri Hamre of the Lewis County Economic Development Council Board said the grant has received 19 applicants. A committee composed of members from the Lewis County Together team and Lewis County EDC will review the applications and ultimately award the grants. According to the application, businesses have until 4:00 p.m. on July 13 to apply. Were looking for businesses that have either not been helped enough, by the other grant processes, or, frankly, didnt get any help at all from PPP, Working Washington, or those things, Committee member Larry McGee said. This is countywide and were excited to get started. Businesses around the county will be awarded a total of $200,000 in grants, set aside from the Coronavirus Relief Funds by the Board of County Commissioners. According to Tamara Hayes, who has been working with Lewis County Together to provide assistance to members of the business community impacted by the pandemic, those interested in applying can do so on the Lewis County Together homepage. Its a very user-friendly application, but its really great even on your phone, Hamre said. You dont have to have a PC, laptop, iPad or whatever, you can do it right there on your phone and it works really well. Annalee Tobey, who helped establish Lewis County Together, said shes pleased with how the awareness about the application has spread so far, but hopes to see it reach more members of the business community county-wide. Just yesterday, I had several people reaching out asking questions, Tobey said. We really want to make sure East Lewis County, the word gets out there as well. Toledo Mayor Steve Dobosh said that businesses from his community are aware of the grants and he would be passing along information to assist whoever should want to apply in doing so. According to Tobey, in order for a business to be eligible to apply for the grants, they need to be located in Lewis County, have no more than 20 employees and have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those are kind of the three bullets that weve been trying to accompany with information in regards to the grants, Tobey said. From the perspective of Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund, the group that has been selected to serve on the committee has continued to assist the county in its response to COVID-19. I am just over the top in debt to those folks, Fund said. Those folks put the pedal to the metal at the very beginning and got Lewis County Together we just moved lightning speed. With those involved in Lewis County Together now involved in the committee tasked with awarding the grant dollars to small businesses, Fund thinks the impact people like Tobey, McGee, Hayes and others have made is only going to be accelerated. Theyd do anything to help our businesses, Fund said. Its a big countywide team that theyve developed. 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: 6 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 39,498 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,920 pence 24.03 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,914 pence 23.96 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,918 pence 24.01 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 6 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 11,557 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.00 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 24.00 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.00 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 6 July 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 33,048 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 24.10 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 23.90 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 24.01 USD PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 34.52 USD 27.86 GBP which was calculated as of 30 June 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 195,298,468 Public Shares outstanding, or 201,230,754 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 15,658,282 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/20200706005525/en/ Contacts: Media Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2020 / Lucky Minerals Inc. (TSXV:LKY)(OTC PINK:LKMNF)(FRA:LKY) ("Lucky" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Definitive Option Agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") on the terms outlined in the Company's news release dated March 2, 2020. The Definitive Agreement allows the optionee exclusive rights to explore for copper deposits on the Fortuna 3, 4, 5, and 6 Concessions until January 23, 2021 followed by an earn in on copper targets with a potential to host deposits with greater than 500,000 tonnes of payable copper. For details of the option and earn-in readers should be referred to the Company's news release, dated March 2, 2020. Lucky retains a 100% interest in all primary-gold deposits and copper interests of less than a potential 500,000 tonnes of payable copper on the optioned concessions. This allows the Company the right to explore on the entirety of the project and to focus its efforts on gold targets in 2020. Lucky owns a 100% interest in the Fortuna concessions. Lucky CEO, Adrian Rothwell, stated "This definitive agreement is testament to the quality and size of the Fortuna Concessions, which lie in a known prolific and underexplored gold and copper district in Ecuador. We look forward to working toward quickly advancing multiple copper targets on Fortuna and to leveraging this work to also advance gold targets." Image: Location of Fortuna Concessions in southern Ecuador This Agreement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Image: Concessions under option. Definitive Agreement Lucky has entered into a Definitive Agreement on terms consistent with the Memorandum of Understanding outlined in the Company's news release on March 2, 2020. The Definitive Agreement has been refined to include only the Fortuna 3, 4, 5, and 6 Concessions. The optionee may, over three phases, earn up to a 70% interest in a minimum of 500,000 tonnes of payable copper to be demonstrated in a NI43-101 compliant resource report. After creation of a joint venture the parties must jointly prepare a feasibility study demonstrating the above, with Lucky's costs to be capped at US$1,500,000. Exclusivity Phase An initial exclusivity period shall expire on January 23, 2021 at which time the parties may enter into an option and joint venture agreement on specific targets on a portion of the Fortuna 3, 4, 5, and 6 Concessions. At the commencement of this initial exclusivity period a total of US$159,810 was contributed by the optionee towards the Fortuna Concession fees and there is a commitment to make certain minimum exploration activities to assess the claims, outlined above. These activities will include - but are not restricted to - mapping, sampling, geophysics and any work needed to generate drill targets. During this exclusivity period, Lucky is entitled to explore gold and precious metal opportunities on these concessions in parallel with these copper exploration efforts. Fortuna 3 Mapping and sampling to date at El Buitre (Fortuna 3) has identified a coarse-grained granite (known as the Tres Lagunas Granite) that has been intruded by a dacite quartz porphyry of Miocene age. Both intrusives show strong phyllic alteration with a central area of potassic alteration with disseminations and quartz veinlets of pyrite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenum. Rock chip sampling has returned consistent copper anomalies, and gold up to 1.0 g/t. The dacite porphyry intrusion has been observed to have produced at least two generations of veins and breccias associated with characteristic porphyry type mineralization and wall-rock alteration. The vein types observed at El Buitre include B type veins (chalcopyrite-moly-pyrite) and D veins (quartz-pyrite-sericite). B veins appear to be mostly related to the potassic alteration area and are crosscut by the D type veins. Veins are often classified according to cross-cutting relations in conjunction with form. The significance of these diverse vein types and breccias is that they highlight the diversity of hydrothermal fluids (events) over time. These fluids can contain metals that are deposited as disseminations and/or in veins in the host rocks. These disseminations and vein types, when mineralized, may show at surface as anomalous gold, copper and/or molybdenum mineralization. The Definitive Agreement allows the optionee to focus on the core copper mineralization at El Buitre and surroundings. The Company intends to initially explore for gold targets outside of the option area, and has noted two areas of interest for potential gold mineralization within the Fortuna 3 concession, Macuche and Respondedora, located approximately 4km to the south-east and south-west of the El Buitre copper-molybdenum-gold target. Image: 2018 early reconnaissance mapping at the El Buitre Porphyry showing the extent of porphyry and hydrothermal alteration. The Macuche and Respondedora Areas These areas lie south of the El Buitre Porphyry and can be observed in the figure below. Image: Section of Fortuna 3 showing location of El Buitre Porphyry, Macuche and Respondedora areas The Respondedora area of mostly rhyolite is in contact with the Tres Lagunas granite. It hosts up to 20cm wide sigmoidal quartz veins. This geology continues to the SE and supports the historic gold anomalies in the area. The Macuche zone of mainly phyllites hosts a quartz vein of up to 1.5m thick. Further follow-up reconnaissance work is expected to be completed this year on these areas by the Company. Fortuna 4, 5, 6 Limited historical geochemical reconnaissance in these concessions has outlined anomalous areas for copper and gold mineralization potential. Follow-up work consisting of stream sediments, prospecting and geological mapping is planned for this year by both the Company and the optionee. Lucky is in the process of finalizing plans for an upcoming Phase II exploration program that will focus on gold targets on the entirety of the mineral concessions. Lucky Appoints Ms Jeannine Webb as Chief Financial Officer The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Jeannine Webb as Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Webb replaces Mr. Robert Rosner as Interim Chief Financial Officer. We thank Robert for his contribution and welcome Ms. Webb to the Company. Jeannine Webb (CPA) has over 25 years of experience in the mineral exploration sector, and served as Director, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary for various private, junior "small cap" domestic and international public companies. She has a wide range of skills on financial management and regulatory reporting, and currently serves as CFO and Corporate Secretary for several Canadian TSX Venture companies with operations in Canada and the US, as well as private companies. 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. Qualified Person: Victor Jaramillo, M.Sc.A., P.Geo., Lucky's Exploration Manager and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Fortuna Project for Lucky Minerals and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Adrian Rothwell" Chief Executive Officer 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/596444/Lucky-Announces-Definitive-Agreement-on-Fortuna Technavio has been monitoring the zero-waste shampoo market and it is poised to grow by USD 47.75 million during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200706005451/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Zero-waste Shampoo Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please request the 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. Ethique Ltd., Living Naturally, Lush Retail Ltd., Naples Soap Co., and Plaine Products LLC. are some of the major market participants. The need for shampoo bars will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. The need for shampoo bars has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Zero-waste Shampoo Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Zero-waste Shampoo Market is segmented as below: Type Zero Waste Shampoo Bar Zero Waste Shampoo Bottle Distribution channel Offline Online Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download the latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31754 Zero-waste Shampoo 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 zero-waste shampoo market report covers the following areas: Zero-waste Shampoo Market size Zero-waste Shampoo Market trends Zero-waste Shampoo Market analysis This study identifies the growing demand for vegan products among millennials as one of the prime reasons driving the zero-waste shampoo market growth during the next few years. Zero-waste Shampoo Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the zero-waste shampoo market, including some of the vendors such as Ethique Ltd., Living Naturally, Lush Retail Ltd., Naples Soap Co., and Plaine Products LLC. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the zero-waste shampoo 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 Zero-waste Shampoo Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist zero-waste shampoo market growth during the next five years Estimation of the zero-waste shampoo market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the zero-waste shampoo market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of zero-waste shampoo 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 Zero-waste shampoo bar Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Zero-waste shampoo bottle Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by type PART 07: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL Market segmentation by distribution channel Comparison by distribution channel Offline Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Online Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by distribution channel PART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023 North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023 South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 12: MARKET TRENDS Growing demand for vegan products among millennials Introduction of sustainable packaging Presence of well-organized retail sector in developed countries PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Ethique Ltd. Living Naturally Lush Retail Ltd. Naples Soap Co. Plaine Products LLC PART 15: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations Definition of market positioning of vendors PART 16: 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/20200706005451/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/ By Douglas Busvine and Arno Schuetze BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Monday they had arrested the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard , widening the circle of suspects in a multi-billion-dollar fraud investigation into the collapse of the payments company. The Munich prosecutor's office said in a statement it had questioned the chief executive of Cardsystems Middle East FZ-LLC earlier in the day and arrested him on the basis of a warrant. The executive had travelled from Dubai and turned himself in, prosecutors said, without naming him. By Douglas Busvine and Arno Schuetze BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Monday they had arrested the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard , widening the circle of suspects in a multi-billion-dollar fraud investigation into the collapse of the payments company. The Munich prosecutor's office said in a statement it had questioned the chief executive of Cardsystems Middle East FZ-LLC earlier in the day and arrested him on the basis of a warrant. The executive had travelled from Dubai and turned himself in, prosecutors said, without naming him. Unless defendants are publicly well known, their identity can be protected under German law to avoid prejudicing legal proceedings. The arrest was made on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud, attempted fraud and aiding and abetting other crimes, prosecutors said. They said there was a risk that he would flee or tamper with evidence. Wirecard filed for insolvency last month owing creditors 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) after disclosing a 1.9 billion euro hole in its accounts that its auditor EY said was the result of a sophisticated global fraud. Investigative journalists and speculators had long highlighted Wirecard's reliance on an obscure trio of third-party acquiring partners - one of which was Cardsystems - to generate the bulk of its reported revenue and profit. Wirecard's creditor committee was meanwhile set to convene for the first time on Tuesday, people close to the matter said. INVESTIGATION GATHERS PACE The latest arrest came after police and public prosecutors raided Wirecard's headquarters in Munich and four properties in Germany and Austria last Wednesday as they widened their investigation. Prosecutors have said they are investigating Wirecard's Chief Financial Officer Alexander von Knoop and Chief Product Officer Susanne Steidl, in addition to former Chief Executive Markus Braun and chief operating officer Jan Marsalek. Wirecard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request to comment on behalf of von Knoop and Steidl. Braun has been released after posting 5 million euros bail. Marsalek's whereabouts are unknown and his lawyer is declining requests for comment. Creditors will convene on Tuesday to discuss the latest on the fraud investigation, as well as planned asset sales with which insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe hopes to recoup at least a fraction of the money owed, people close to the matter said. One of the people said that Jaffe was likely to raise only about 400-500 million euros for Wirecard's assets, including about 100 million euros for its banking unit. That works out at at about 10% of the total they are owed. Wirecard's lenders will be represented by ING and German regional bank LBBW, while bondholders will be represented by a law firm appointed by Cyrus Capital, people close to the matter said. Holders of other securities have named German law firm Tilp to the creditor committee, while employees will also be represented, the people said. The members of the creditor committee declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine, Joern Poltz, Alexander Huebner and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Arno Schuetze/ Edward Taylor/Jane Merriman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Sam Mendes said that Netflix made the initial 500,000 donation to the Theatre Artists Fund, designed to help workers at breaking point Sam Mendes is spearheading a fund to help people working in the theatre industry in need of emergency financial support, reports The Independent. (Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak) The fund has been created with the support of streaming giant Netflix who donated 500,000 and is backed by Steven Spielberg and Armando Iannucci. The focus of the fund is to immediately provide short-term relief to theater workers and freelancers across the U.K., particularly people from underrepresented groups that have been disproportionately affected by the lockdowns. Check out the announcement here SOLT & UK Theatre today announces a Theatre Artists Fund to assist individuals in need of emergency financial support. The fund has been established with a 500k donation from Netflix and is spearheaded by director Sam Mendes. Click here to find out more: https://t.co/0z9Shgj5Rt pic.twitter.com/w54QU4QJUG Official London Theatre (@london_theatre) July 5, 2020 Mendes said, Thousands of theatre professionals in the UK are struggling. Many of them havent been able to get help from the existing government schemes, and the situation continues to worsen. They need help now. The fund is specifically designed for theatre workers who find themselves at breaking point, for those unable to put food on the table or to pay bills, or for those considering leaving the profession altogether. "The Theatre Artists Fund is not for buildings, or regular staff, but for freelance artists who actually make the shows that the public pay to see. The fund has been initiated by a donation from Netflix and I am extremely grateful for their remarkable generosity and leadership," the 1917 director further added. The new fund will provide small grants of $1,250 (1,000) to struggling theatre workers, who have been ineligible for government aid and have not been able to work since venues closed since early March. To be eligible for the fund, applicants must have worked in theater between January 2019 and 31 March, 2020. Applicants will need to provide information on recent work, as well as a reference, writes Variety. The theater drive fund comes alongside a newly announced government's $1.9 billion support package for the arts sector. Saroj Khan and Madhuri Dixit built their songs around longing for love, but they were always champions of self-sufficiency over victims of dismissive patriarchy. Saroj Khan and Madhuri Dixit's collaboration is a storied string of stunning song sequences. But if you watch all the popular ones successively, you may realise they tell a story of their own. Khan, who passed away on 3 July, designed songs as comprehensive recitals when seen in isolation, but they also lent themselves equally well to the narrative of the films they were a part of. Her maiden collaboration with Dixit was their breakthrough 'Ek Do Teen' in N Chandra's 1988 directorial Tezaab. The action romance gave Dixit her first major break in the Hindi film industry, but also announced her arrival as a formidable dancer. Khan played on Dixit's inherent innocence when she introduced her as a girl experiencing first love. The colour palette of the song, including Dixit's costume at the centre, is a shade of pink, and the dominating motif on the set is a life-sized bugal. These symbols make sense at various levels since Dixit is seen 'counting down up' to the expected arrival of her first love. The longing that hangs in the balance does not paint Dixit as a victim of self-absorbed, dismissive patriarchy. Rather, she is seen revelling in that feeling. Even when she expresses frustration, she does so by blithely tossing-and-turning on the floor or mirthfully fake-slamming her head on stairs. As "din bane hafte, hafte mahine, mahine ban gaye saal," she gives up and plays the bugle herself, announcing the arrival of both a dancing rockstar and her first taste of resilient love. The next song worth exploring is 'Humko Aajkal Hai Intezar' from Sailaab (1990). Dixit is discovered in mermaid-fashion when she is captured unconscious from the sea in a Marathi community's fishing net. Here, the colour palette turns orange, and Dixit's costume yellow. These essentially signify the sunrise in her life (or the sunset?), as she looks out for love in all directions. Her longing is deeper here, just like the shade of the colour she is wearing. She is dressed in a traditional Maharashtrian attire, and lets out the latkas and jhatkas when prompted by the fisherwomen in signature Lavani style. Here, the back dancers assume a greater role as they sing the stanzas, leaving the chorus for Dixit, the opposite to the usual case. They make her realise how she is behaving restlessly because she is in love. But she does not let the discomposure surface even a bit as she celebrates the longing, rather than grieving it. In the end of the song, the fisherwomen community sing, "Aa gaya wo... aa gaya." Like Dixit, we cannot see the man in question, but end up dancing with abandon like the Marathi mulgi-mermaid. In 'Dhak Dhak' from Indra Kumar's 1992 film Beta, Dixit is seen romancing the hero (Anil Kapoor). She has a man around, but is not impatient even after all the waiting. She wants to give it time, to let the feeling sink in. She is clad in orange yet again, but the cut is more fluid and the shade more ablaze. It represents both the fire of passion, and the rising phoenix that she poses as, in the midst of waterfalls and haystacks. Khan makes sure that the fire within her is untamed, through steps that assert her femininity but never provoke the man. She does not douse the fire, but only lets it simmer with occasional flareups, in an effort to let the long-awaited feeling stay. 'Choli Ke Peeche,' from Subhash Ghai's 1993 crime drama Khalnayak, explores what is a rites of passage for every woman expressive of her sexuality. It sees an older Neena Gupta, in maroon (like blood left to dry) attire, point fingers at Dixit's 'insistent' gestures and 'troublesome' reputation. But Dixit continues to stand her ground by shifting the blame from her actions to the male gaze fixated on her. She insists that she does not yearn for the 'laakhon deewane' unlike Gupta, but has her eyes set on a singular man. Khan cloaks Dixit in traditional Rajasthani colours here, as she reiterates that women across cultures, whether they wear ghagra-cholis or nauvari sari, pride themselves on their self-sustenance. 'Chane Ke Khet Mein,' from Rahul Rawail's 1994 psychological thriller Anjaam, is designed as the story of a woman meeting her sexual fantasy (you know where!). The choreography follows the picture the lyrics paint rather closely, with Dixit often using her left hand as that of the man in her head. As her expressions and moves, like the lyrics she lip-syncs to, blame the man for initiating, her mischevious eyes and roguish smile quietly speak of her wilful partaking. But the situation in the film and the supporting visuals tell us that Dixit is merely dedicating a song to a friend at her godbharai ceremony. She celebrates her friend's sexual fulfillment as she looks forward, quite vividly, to one of her own. Moving to 'Akhiyaan Milaaoon Kabhi' from Indra Kumar's 1995 action romance Raja, Dixit is seen shaking a leg with Sanjay Kapoor in a garage. The style turns into hip-hop, and the colour palette becomes crimson red. Dixit seems the closest to love here, as she complains of "bina payal ke baje ghungroo" (tingling without a reason) even when she exchanges glances or makes any form of physical contact with her lover. Khan makes Dixit dance with her eyes here as the latter declares she is heads over heels in love. 'Maar Dala' from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2002 historical romance Devdas released comes seven years later. Here, Dixit plays Chandramukhi, a courtesan, who has clearly had several experiences of 'love' but has never encountered one she does with the titular character, essayed by Shah Rukh Khan. She confesses it is the first time in her life that she feels ambitious or envious with respect to love. These feelings are denoted by green, a rare colour used in the Bollywood aesthetic, that she carries off with elan. She admits she is heading to a path of self-destruction by asking for too much love, but she maintains that it is of her own volition (Read: "Khushi ne humari humein maar dala"). The final song Khan choreographed was also, poetically, filmed on Dixit. 'Tabaah Ho Gaye' from Abhishek Varman's 2019 period drama Kalank fits perfectly as both the climactic song in the film and a self-actualisation ode to Dixit and Khan's love for longing. As the song begins, Dixit walks back into her haveli with a red cloak, that she soon disrobes to reveal within the 'colour of the hour' yes, orange yet again. It is extremely difficult to choreograph a 'sad dance' song, that too with the temptation of giving in to a peppy Madhuri Dixit number. But Saroj Khan knows better. She taps into the emotion prevalent at that point in the film, and also pushes Dixit to do something she has not attempted before. Here, Dixit is mourning the loss of a greenly infected part, and her resurrection from the ashes. She grieves lost love but the muted smile and the reassuring eyes claim she knew exactly what she was getting into right from the beginning. Even at the end of the song, Dixit performs with a determination that stems from her belief in the cyclic nature of life. And somewhere in all the swooning, there is great solace that going all over the process of incessant longing, eventual heartbreak, and eventual healing is bound to be worth it every time. As Saroj Khan leaves Madhuri Dixit to take the stories forward, she left behind enough moments on screen to look back at, and long for; like the two longed for a love that was elusively rewarding. The directors will work with selected filmmaking teams from Victoria, Australia, to mentor and then shoot the short films. Filmmakers Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Rima Das and Onir have come together to create four short films on the themes of race, disability, sexuality and gender. The shorts will be compiled into one film titled My Melbourne, which will premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2021, before travelling to the international film circuit. The filmmakers will work with selected filmmaking teams from Victoria, Australia, to mentor and then shoot the short films. Ali said the last few months have been "full of life lessons" for people and for one to move ahead, it is important to look at the stories of identity. "Viewing stories of identity in the context of the diverse society that we are all a part of is quintessential for us to chart our path ahead. I am looking forward to meeting a new set of people and understanding their life stories for the screen," the Tamasha director said in a statement. For Khan, who has helmed films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and the upcoming 83, celebration of diversity is a dialogue that should be "fostered in current times." "In the post-pandemic world, being one with each other in a community should be the single most important takeaway. The virus has shown us the futility of everything else. I am excited at the opportunity presented by IFFM and looking forward to the experience," he said. Each of the four selected teams will be assigned a budget to create an original script. The four filmmakers will do workshop and develop the selected stories and oversee pre-production with the teams via Zoom call. Once travel restrictions are lifted, they will travel to Melbourne to shoot the films. Das, who has helmed National Award-winning films Bulbul Can Sing and Village Rockstars, said it is essential for filmmakers to examine the world around them from the prism of its socio-political context. "The short film will allow us to bring in authentic lived-in stories that often get lost in popular culture," she said. Onir, known for films like My Brother Nikhil and I Am, said the role of a filmmaker is to "trigger a dialogue." "The world we are living in calls for fresh discussions on inclusivity and diversity to reiterate strong value systems for our audiences. I am glad for the opportunity and hope its a step in the right direction," he added. Mitu Bhowmick Lange, Festival Director, IFFM, said the initiative gives Victorian screen practitioners an opportunity to work with some of the worlds best filmmakers. "I am delighted and thrilled that IFFM has secured four of Indias most diverse voices of independent cinema for these workshops and the creation of four short films on the core values of IFFM diversity and inclusivity," Bhowmick Lange added. The festival recently announced that the 2020 edition was pushed ahead, with dates rescheduled from August to October due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. IFFM 2020's program will be devised in line with public health guidance, with plans for a compact schedule taking place over a week from 30 October to 7 November. Coronavirus Updates: The WHO has earlier said the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground. Auto refresh feeds But in an open letter to the Geneva-based agency, published on Monday in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined evidence that they say shows floating virus particles can infect people who breathe them in. The WHO says SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground. The World Health Organization (WHO) is reviewing a report urging it to update guidance on the novel coronavirus after more than 200 scientists, in a letter to the health agency, outlined evidence the virus can spread in tiny airborne particles. "Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status," ICE said. "Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States," US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The United States said Monday it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall because of the coronavirus crisis, reports AFP. The employee, who works at the research department of the varsity, tested positive on Sunday, a senior official said. An employee of the Jadavpur University tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the authorities on Monday to shut the varsity till 12 July. Classes and on-campus academic activities are suspended since March 16, but the administrative section is functioning, PTI reports. The Maharashtra government on Monday said that hotels and lodges outside containment zones will be open to guests from 8 July, but with strict safety measures in place to check the spread of the coronavirus. The government said that the establishments will be allowed to operate at 33% of their capacity. Earlier, it had advised all COVID-19 hospitals to opt for "prone awake ventilation" as and when possible before putting a patient on conventional mechanical ventilation. The West Bengal government on Monday advised all COVID-19 hospitals in the state to issue death certificates according to the guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The department also advised the hospitals that "before putting hypoxic patients on ventilators, high flow nasal oxygen therapy should be tried as per the guideline". Karnataka Minister JC Madhuswamy said there are fears of community transmission of the virus in the state, reports ANI. Medical condition of eight infected with coronavirus admitted in Tumkur Covid Hospital is critical, Tumakuru district-in-charge minister Madhuswamy said. There is no guarantee of their lives as per the information. We somewhere feel we are worried that coronavirus is spreading at the community level. India on Tuesday reports 22,252 coronavirus cases and 467 deaths in the past 24 hours. This takes the overall total to 7,19,665 and the toll to 20,160. More than 4.39 lakh people have recovered. India is now the third worst-affected nation in the world, crossing Russia. Only the United States and Brazil have more cases. With 2,11,987 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,14,978) and Delhi (1,00,823). India has so far tested 1,02,11,092 samples, said the Indian Council of Medical Research. Of this, 2,41,430 samples were tested on Monday alone, reports ANI. All of themwere admitted to the Western Railways Jagjivan Ram Hospital here which was in April declared as a facility to treat COVID-19 patients, they said. Of the total cases, 559 were reported from the Central Railway and 313 from the Western Railway, officials said. As many as 872 employees of the Central Railway and Western Railway, their family members and retired personnel have so far tested positive for coronavirus and 86 of them have died, officials told PTI. The state government is "cheating'' both people and the centre with regard to COVID-19 testing numbers since the beginning, he said in a series of tweets. "Shocked that a government can stoop to such level to cover their failures." he said. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government's claim of conducting one million COVID-19 tests is a "sham" as test reports were generated without taking samples, reports PTI. The fight against COVID-19 is more difficult than the mythological war of Mahabharata, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, adding that the battle against the pandemic will continue till 2021 as the disease vaccine won't be available before that. It expressed concern over India reporting the third highest COVID-19 cases in the world The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed confidence that the battle against COVID-19 would be won in 21 days, but it has been over 100 days and the crisis still persists. According to the order of the District Magistrate and Chairperson, DDMA, Jorhat, all the weekly huts/markets will remain shut in the entire district by this order. In order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, a 'total lockdown' will be imposed in areas under the Jorhat Municipal Board from 7 pm of 9 July to 15 July. Six more people have succumbed to the viral infection in Odisha, the state health department said on Tuesday. While four of the total lost their lives to COVID-19, two others passed away because of comorbidities. One death each was reported from Nagaur, Dholpur Bharatpur and Jodhpur, taking the death toll to 465, it said, adding the total number of positive cases in the state has increased to 20,922. Rajasthan reported four COVID-19 deaths and 234 fresh cases of the virus on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 20,922 in the state, according to an official report. Out of these, 5.34 lakh people were identified as high-risk contacts, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. So far, 13.28 lakh people have completed their 14-day quarantine. More than 15 lakh people have been quarantined in Mumbai after contact-tracing so far since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city civic body said. Haryana government issues order freezing Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners respectively, at current rates till July 2021, due to COVID-19, reports ANI The total number of COVID-19 cases in Odisha crossed the 10,000-mark on Tuesday with 571 fresh infections, while the toll climbed to 42 as four more people succumbed to the disease, a health department official told PTI. The state's tally stands at 10,097, he said. The top court has taken suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the condition of children in protection -- be it juvenile, foster or kinship homes across the country -- amid the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on news articles that 57 minor girls of Kanpur-based shelter home have tested positive for COVID-19. The chief surgeon at a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh Ballia district and a senior supply officer test positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports. As per an order issued by Bhopal district collector Avinash Lavania, violators will have to work as "corona warriors" at check posts, fever clinics and carry out coronavirus-related awareness work. Shops, malls, offices and business establishments in Bhopal will be forced to shut for three days if they fail to comply with the COVID-19 prevention guidelines and ensure that visitors follow the norms as well, reports PTI. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told a division bench of Justices A A Sayed and M S Karnik that the state government does not have a policy for street vendors and it is also not contemplating framing any as of now. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that at present it does not have any intention of allowing street vendors to resume their business in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, reports PTI. Indias coronavirus tests cross 1 crore. The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that Indias recovery rate is now over 61 percent. He added, "30,329 samples were tested yesterday. 9,22,049 samples have been tested in the state so far." The Uttar Pradesh government said that in the last 24 hours, 1,346 new COVID-19 cases have been reported. Active cases in the state stand at 9,514. A total of 19,627 have been discharged after recovering from the disease. The toll stands at 827, said Uttar Pradesh principal Hhealth secretary Amit Mohan Prasad. The Goa government on Tuesday sought permission from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for using convalescent plasma therapy to treat coronavirus patients, state health minister Vishwajit Rane was quoting as saying by News18. "These two products were declared as essential items till June 30. We are not extending further as there is enough supply in the country," Nandan told PTI. On 13 March, the Union consumer affairs ministry had declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities for 100 days to boost supply and prevent hoarding of these items in its fight to check the spread of coronavirus. Face masks and hand sanitisers are no more essential products as their supply is sufficient in the country and, therefore, are now kept out of the purview of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, ANI reported that the Patna Medical College issued an order to deploy six doctors, three nurses, and a ventilator at Kumar's official residence, after Secretary of the Health Department directed the hospital to do so as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. A close relative of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had been staying at his official residence, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, PTI reported. His statement came after doctors and nurses were appointed in the chief minister's official residence as a "precautionary measure". RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said, "When the chief minister's sample is sent for a COVID-19 test, reports are received in two hours. But in case of common men, it takes over 5-7 days. Now the chief minister's residence has been turned into a ventilator-equipped hospital,while poor people are suffering due to lack of medical facilities." "Government enhances the domain of containment zones by including buffer zones within such areas as well. State to prohibit functioning of all offices, all non-essential activities, congregations, all forms of transport and all marketing/trading/industrial activities within these newly defined Containment Zones," the report said. The West Bengal government has decided to impose a "total lockdown" in containment zones across the state from Thursday, News18 reported. The Maharashtra health department said that 5,134 new COVID-19 cases, 3,296 discharged and 224 deaths in the state on Tuesday. The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 2,17,121 including 1,18,558 recovered, 9250 deaths and 89,294 active cases. The latest health bulletin showed that one new coronavirus case was reported in Mumbai's Dharavi area on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 2,335. "Today me and my mother have been tested positive for COVID-19. We both are not showing any symptoms & have been advised by doctors to be under home quarantine & have thus self-isolated. All other family members have been tested negative.Stay Home, Stay Safe," she said. Maharashtra BJP MLA Mukta Tilak on Tuesday tweeted that she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and quarantined herself at residence. The US Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States, the release said referring to the September to December semester. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release on Monday that for the fall 2020 semester students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the US. In a decision that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students in the US, the federal immigration authority has announced that foreign students pursuing degrees in America will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester. Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, reports said. Hindustan Times reported that he was taking hydroxichloroquine as medication. Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said that the BMC will henceforth conduct COVID-19 testing "to open up testing to any individual in the city without prescription/self attestation". Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, reports said. Hindustan Times reported that he was taking hydroxichloroquine as medication. The @mybmc has decided to open up testing to any individual in the city without prescription/ self attestation. Labs can now conduct RT PCR tests as per ICMR guidelines at the will of anyone. This will help citizens feel safer and test when they have a doubt, without any delays. Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said that the BMC will henceforth conduct COVID-19 testing "to open up testing to any individual in the city without prescription/self attestation". 7 deaths and 1879 new #COVID19 positive cases reported in Telangana today. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 27612 including 11012 active cases, 16287 discharged and 313 deceased: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/XZSIv8vvPd Telangana recorded seven COVID-19 deaths and 1,879 new patients today, taking the total number of cases in the state to 27,612 and toll to 313, reports ANI quoting a health bulletin. As many as 16,287 persons have been discharged till date and the state now has 11,012 active cases. 7 deaths and 1879 new #COVID19 positive cases reported in Telangana today. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 27612 including 11012 active cases, 16287 discharged and 313 deceased: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/XZSIv8vvPd Telangana recorded seven COVID-19 deaths and 1,879 new patients today, taking the total number of cases in the state to 27,612 and toll to 313, reports ANI quoting a health bulletin. As many as 16,287 persons have been discharged till date and the state now has 11,012 active cases. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to allow markets and shops to remain open for additional two hours from 9 July. Markets and shops can now remain open from 9 am to 7 pm, an extension of two hours from the existing closing deadline of 5 pm, in non-containment zones. Issuing a notification to this effect, the government said it aims to control or reduce crowding. India's drugs regulator has asked drug controllers in states and Union Territories to keep a strict vigil to prevent black marketing of the anti-viral Remdesivir injection, approved for emergency and restricted use to treat COVID-19 patients, reports PTI. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr VG Somani said in a communication to Drugs Controllers in states and UTs that his office received a letter raising concerns that certain unscrupulous persons were indulging in black marketing and over-pricing of the drug. "In view of the above, you are requested to instruct your enforcement officials to keep strict vigil on the matter to prevent the black marketing and sale of the drug Remdesivir injection above MRP. "Action taken in the matter may please be intimated to this office at the earliest," Somani said in his letter addressed to state and UT drug controllers. Rajasthan on Tuesday reported its biggest single-day spike of 716 cases, pushing the virus count to 21,404, while 11 more deaths due to the disease raised the toll to 472 in the state, according to an official report. Three new fatalities were reported in Pali; two each in Jodhpur and Jaipur and one each in Jalore, Nagaur, Dholpur and Bharatpur, it said. We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, told a news briefing. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday acknowledged evidence emerging of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people, reports Reuters. The emergencies chief of the World Health Organisation says the coronavirus is continuing to gain pace globally, reports AP. Noting the marked increase in the number of confirmed cases being reported in the past five or six weeks, he warned that a spike in deaths could be soon to follow. In April and May, we were dealing with 100,000 cases a day, said Dr Michael Ryan during a Tuesday press briefing. Today we're dealing with 200,000 a day. Ryan said the number of COVID-19 deaths appeared to be stable for the moment, but he cautioned that there is often a lag time between when confirmed cases increase and when deaths are reported due to the time it takes for the coronavirus to run its course in patients. Ryan also dismissed the idea that the significant jump in cases was due to more widespread testing and, said, This epidemic is accelerating." The Gujarat High Court premises will be closed for the next three days as seven coronavirus cases were reported from among those who had visited the court recently, the Registrar General said on Tuesday. The judicial functioning of the court will remain suspended during this period, said a circular from the highcourt registrar general's office. Coronavirus Updates: Speaking at the daily briefing in Geneva, Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHOs technical lead for infection prevention and control, said there was evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus , but that it was not definitive. The civic body also informed that those kept in institutional quarantine will be discharged only when they test negative for the virus. A close relative of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had been staying at his official residence, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, PTI reported. Meanwhile, ANI reported that the Patna Medical College issued an order to deploy six doctors, three nurses, and a ventilator at Kumar's official residence, after Secretary of the Health Department directed the hospital to do so as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 . More than 15 lakh people have been quarantined in Mumbai after contact-tracing so far since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city civic body said. Out of these, 5.34 lakh people were identified as high-risk contacts, the BMC said. The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the prime minister had expressed confidence in ending the battle against COVID-19 in 21 days, but it has been 'over 100 days and the crisis still persists'. The fight against COVID-19 is more difficult than the mythological war of Mahabharata, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, adding that the battle against the pandemic will continue till 2021 as the disease vaccine won't be available before that. India on Tuesday reports 22,252 coronavirus cases and 467 deaths in the past 24 hours. This takes the overall total to 7,19,665 and the toll to 20,160. More than 4.39 lakh people have recovered. Those attending schools that are staying online must "depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction," according to guidance by issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Coronavirus cases in India inched towards seven lakhs on Monday with 24,248 new infections being reported in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the toll rose to 19,795 with 425 new deaths. As per the health ministry, there are 2,53,287 active cases in the country while 4,24,432 patients have been cured or discharged. A day after India overtook Russia to become the third worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic, the Union health ministry said that the Centre has emphasised on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of the COVID-19 cases. "The national positivity rate stands at 6.73 percent. Many states report lower COVID-19 positivity rate than the national average of 6.73 percent. Their tests per million are also higher than the national average," the ministry said on Monday. The ministry also said that the recovery rate stands at 60.85 percent. Total COVID-19 tests conducted in India cross 1 crore The total number of tests for the detection of COVID-19 crossed the one-crore mark in India on Monday. "A cumulative total of 1,00,04,101 samples have been tested till 11 am on Monday with 1,80,596 samples being tested on 5 July," Scientist and media coordinator at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Lokesh Sharma said. According to the ICMR, a total of 99,69,662 samples were tested for the disease in the country till 5 July, with 1,80,596 just on Sunday. There are now 1,105 testing labs in the country comprising 788 in the public sector and 317 private labs. The per day testing capacity is also growing fast, Sharma said. Around 2,00,000 samples have been tested on an average daily for the last 14 days, he said. India had crossed the nine million-mark on 1 July. "The per day testing capacity which was around 1.5 lakh on 25 May is more than three lakh per day now," Sharma said. Starting with one single laboratory at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and then expanding to 100 laboratories in the beginning of the lockdown, the ICMR on 23 June validated the 1000th testing laboratory. MHA allows universities to conduct exams with proper COVID-19 guidelines The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday allowed universities and other academic institutions to conduct examinations during the ongoing 'Unlock 2' phase. In a statement, the MHA said it has sent a letter to the Union Higher Education Secretary permitting universities and institutions to conduct examinations. "The final-term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC guidelines on examinations and academic calendar for the universities and as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the statement said. Various examinations conducted by universities and higher education institutions in the country have been suspended since March during the coronavirus -induced lockdown which first began on 25 March. Centre says positivity rate in Delhi declined to 10% from 30% The Centre said the average number of samples being tested per day for COVID-19 has gone up in Delhi from 5,481 to 18,766 in about a month and in spite of increased testing, the positivity rate has declined from around 30 percent to 10 percent in the last three weeks. As on 5 July, the states with their positivity rate lesser than the national average and tests per million higher than the national average are Puducherry (5.55), Chandigarh (4.36), Assam (2.84), Tripura (2.72), Karnataka (2.64), Rajasthan (2.51), Goa (2.5), and Punjab (1.92). In Delhi, tests were ramped up through increased RT-PCR testing along with the new Rapid Antigen Point-of-Care (POC) tests which gives results in only about 30 minutes, the Centre said. "In spite of significantly increased testing in Delhi, the positivity rate has seen a substantial decrease from about 30 percent to 10 percent in the last three weeks," the statement said. There are around 25,000 active cases in Delhi and of these, 15,000 people are currently in home isolation. COVID-19 cases in Delhi cross 1 lakh, Maharashtra continues to be worst-hit state As per the Union health ministry data, Maharashtra continues to be the most impacted state from the infection with 2,06,619 cases and 8,822 fatalities due to the coronavirus . Tamil Nadu reported 61 deaths and 3,827 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The total number of positive cases stands at 1,14,978 including 46,833 active cases and 1,571 deaths. Delhi crossed the 1 lakh-mark, with 1,379 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases stands at 1,00,823 including 72,088 recovered/discharged/migrated and 25,620 active cases. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the number of ICU beds at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital has been increased from 45 to 200 to treat coronavirus patients. Karnataka reported 1,843 COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking total number of cases to 25,317 including 10,527 recoveries and 401 deaths. Highest number of cases 981 have been reported in Bengaluru in the last 24 hours according to the state health department. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the state has reported 193 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of positive cases to 5,522. Active cases stand at 2,252. A total of 354 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Madhya Pradesh, taking the total number cases to 15,284. The toll rose to 617 after nine deaths were reported. Meanwhile, three more personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. There are total 151 active cases and 273 have recovered till date in the force. Mizoram reported five new COVID-19 positive cases; the total number of cases in the state stands at 191 including 58 active cases and 133 cured/discharged. In the last 24 hours, 933 new cases and 24 deaths have been reported in Uttar Pradesh. There are 8,718 active cases, 19,109 discharges so far and 809 patients have succumbed to the infection, state additional chief secretary (Home), Awanish Awasthi said. According to the Union health ministry, West Bengal has reported 22,126 COVID-19 cases including, 6,658 active cases, 14,711 cured and 757 deaths. Meanwhile, Gujarat has reported 36,037 cases including, 8,202 active cases 25,892 recovered and 1,943 deaths as of Monday. A total of 1,322 COVID-19 cases were reported in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 20,019, an officer said. With seven persons succumbing to coronavirus infection on Monday, the toll in the state now stands at 239. With inputs from PTI Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to begin human trials of COVAXIN last week. The vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology in Pune. The hospitals chosen by the ICMR to conduct human trials of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech COVAXIN are gearing up for the "top priority project" and looking at a span of at least six months of monitoring the people who will be administered the vaccine. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to begin human trials of COVAXIN last week. The vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology in Pune. Following the approval for human trials, ICMR chose 12 institutes as 'clinical trial sites' to conduct the trials of the vaccine on chosen participants. Dr Chandrashekhar Gillurkar, director of the Gillurkar Multispecialty Hospital in Nagpur, is anticipating an observation period of at least six months for the people who will be administered the trial vaccine. His hospital is one of the 12 trial sites chosen to conduct human trials. Explaining the medical timeline of Phase I and Phase II trials, he said that the research team will check in with the participants of the trials on day 14, day 28, day 42, day 104, and day 194 after the vaccine is administered. The timeline, laid out by Dr Gillurkar, becomes significant after a letter, circulated internally by the ICMR, instructed trial sites that the vaccine should be launched for public use by 15 August. The letter, dated 2 July, also said, In view of the public health emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic and the urgency to launch the vaccine, you are strictly advised to fast track all approvals related to initiation of the clinical trial and ensure that the subject enrollment is initiated no later than 7 July, 2020... Non-compliance will be viewed very seriously," the letter further added. 'Human trials can't be fast-forwarded' A consultant physician with Jeevan Rekha Hospital in Karnatakas Belgaum, another hospital listed as one of the trial sites by the ICMR, Dr Amit Bhate said that making the vaccine available for public by 15 August is not possible. The hospital will have to follow scientific protocol regardless of the instruction in the "leaked" letter, he told Firstpost. Its a slow process, human trials cant be fast forwarded. There are many dynamic factors to be taken into account in vaccine research, nothing can be hurried just because there is a deadline set, Bhate said, "We havent personally received any instruction about making the vaccine available for public use by 15 August, so we will continue to follow scientific methods in our research." Dr G Arjuna of the King George Hospital in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam, one of the 12 sites picked by the ICMR. echoed Bhates statement. Arbitrarily they (ICMR) have chosen one date, but this is a scientific process so we cant pre-decide a date for the launch of the vaccine," he said. According to Gillurkar, by 15 August only the initial results from Phase I and Phase II trials will be available. He said that the government will get an initial idea of the safety and immunogenicity (ability of a foreign substance to provoke an immune response in the human body) of the vaccine by then. It is up to the discretion of the government then, whether to release the vaccine to the public or not, Gillurkar said. The ICMR's letter had sparked off a heated debate among the medical community who slammed the research body for unprecedented speeding up of the process. Speaking to Firstpost, Dr Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health, bioethics and health policy said, Its understandable for a pandemic of this scale. But we cant compromise on the safety and the efficacy aspects. Minimum standards around safety, efficacy and quality need to be followed. Collapsing the entire process to just 45 days is unlikely, and almost impossible, he said. The ICMR, on 4 July , clarified that it is adhering to global standards in developing and testing the vaccine. "Our process to develop vaccine to fight COVID-19 pandemic is as per globally accepted norms of fast tracking," ICMR said. What to expect during clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine? Of the 12 sites listed, the three hospitals that Firstpost spoke to - Gillurkar Multispecialty Hospital in Nagpur, King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam and the Jeevan Rekha Hospital in Belgaum - have worked on vaccine research in the past. Gillurkar said his hospital had worked with Bharat Biotech on more than 10 research projects and Bhate said the Belgaum hospital had already been conducting research on the typhoid vaccine, among others. The doctors said that the ICMR has stipulated that hospitals must screen people from ages 18 to 55 and only recruit those who are completely healthy and without co-morbidity. The screening process that is set to begin on 7 July. "The ICMR has said that in phase I, a total of 375 people should be administered the vaccine and 750 in in phase II. We have also been instructed to administer a low dose to the participants in the first phase," Gillurkar said. All the information on the condition of the participants after administering the vaccine will be shared with the ICMR, Bhate told Firstpost. Gillurkar said monitoring the level of anti-bodies in the patient will be an important metric to understand whether the vaccine is working. "We will observe basic parameters in phase I and phase II, if there is a significant rise in the level of anti-bodies, then the vaccine is working," he said. Participants could also experience itching or swelling around the area of the injection, or even nausea, body ache, or fever. In very rare cases, there have been instances of anaphylactic shock (an extreme, often life-threatening allergic reaction to an antigen to which the body has become hypersensitive). "But that is very rare because the vaccine basically contains a killed virus," Gillurkar added. Discrepancies emerge in the information given by ICMR The doctors from the three hospitals told Firstpost that the information from the ICMR was not clear enough to understand the process of the trial properly. While Gillurkar from Nagpur said that the results of the pre-clinical trials that were conducted "in New Zealand on rabbits and mice" by Bharat Biotech had been shared with his hospital, Bhate and Arjuna said that they had not received any such information. Gillurkar also said that he had received the ICMRs letter specifying the 15 August date for the launch of the vaccine while Bhate said his hospital had not. Arjuna, from King George Hospital, also said that he hadnt received instructions on the recruitment of participants for the trials while the others had. Other media reports also noted the discrepancies in sharing information. Arjuna further added that his hospital was also consulting with the Andhra Pradesh government and was likely to hold a meeting with the state health department in the coming days. "We are taking the guidelines given by three authorities ICMR, the state government, and our ethics committee into consideration before we start the trials," he said. Currently, the hospital was awaiting approval from the state government and the ethics committee. The ethics committee will give approval quickly because it is a government project and not private, he said. CCMB is currently doing 400-500 tests per day and sent proposals to ICMR to undertake a new method which will consume less time and manpower. A vaccine for COVID-19 cannot be expected before early next year as the process involves a lot of clinical trials and data testing, a top official of CSIR-CCMB said on Saturday, a day after ICMR said it aims to launch the world's first COVID-19 vaccine by August 15. Rakesh K Mishra, Director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, said the ICMR's letter in this regard may be for internal consumption and aimed at putting pressure on hospitals to get ready for clinical human trials. "If everything goes absolutely really like a textbook plan, then we are talking about six to eight months to think of something that now we have a vaccine. Because you have to test in large numbers. It is not like a drug that if somebody is sick you give and see if it is cured or not," Mishra told PTI when asked about the possibility of the vaccine becoming ready by 15 August. The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday wrote to select medical institutions and hospitals to fast-track clinical trial approvals for the coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin, being developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech, a city-based vaccine maker, which it plans to release on 15 August. "Actually vaccine development takes many years, but you are in very desperate conditions. Maybe by the beginning of the next year if the vaccine clicks, we can expect. Not before that. Before that (it is) very unlikely as far as I understand," Mishra said. He said thousands of people are given vaccine during clinical trials and one has to wait for the data and results, which normally takes months. To a query, he said CCMB is currently doing 400-500 COVID-19 tests every day and had sent proposals to the ICMR for undertaking a new way of testing, which will consume less time and manpower. "We are doing a lot of tests. 400 to 500 tests every day. But there are limitations that you cannot go beyond certain numbers. But we had proposed to the ICMR a new way of testing. It is a shorter method. It can be done in a safer way and will take half the time. It is much less expensive and less human resources required. We are waiting for the ICMR to give an advisory on that," he said. Posted Monday, July 6, 2020 11:23 am The static Fourth of July parade in Chehalis Saturday was soundtracked by the fife and drums of a marching revolutionary war reenactment group and the cheers of parade viewers and participants alike. Dozens of cars lined the road leading up to the event held on the land between the Veterans Memorial Museum and the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum on Independence Day. The drive-through parade was open from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum was offering train rides at 75 percent capacity at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. which took 188 people on rides throughout the day. The partnership between the railroad and the Veterans Museum was spectacular. The train rides, the parade, the music, the food, and vendors were like an old fashioned Fourth of July. It was a smashing event, said Mary Kay Nelson, marketing director for the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak and the many event cancelations, the idea of the static parade where spectators could view the displays and floats from their vehicles and maintain a safe distance was a great compromise to the traditional Fourth of July parade held in Centralia, said Chip Duncan, director of the Veterans Memorial Museum and one of the event organizers. There were many displays and floats set up including those for politicians running in the upcoming primary election, civil and revolutionary war reenactment groups dressed in historically accurate clothing, and other local organizations that handed out candy and hand sanitizer. Some of the displays included Little Miss Friendly with the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, Miss Mount St. Helens, a Donald Trump booth and other political displays, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Kitty Kat Haven. Bonanza BBQ offered food to parade attendees and Nelson said they sold out of all of the chicken, ribs, mac & cheese and cornbread that they had prepared for the day. Linda Soule made the drive from Bellingham in order to be a part of the Revolutionary War reenactment group in attendance, which she has been involved with for 20 years. I feel a little bit like an animal at the zoo with all of these cars just driving by but in a good way, Soule said with a laugh. Im just really happy to see so many people come out, she said. Soule said that she enjoys being a part of the reenactment group because she is able to hang out with her friends and combine her love of history and music since she plays in the fife and drum group. As cars entered the static parade line they passed by a row of Boy Scouts holding large American flags. Jeremy Schleke with boy Scout Troop 373 said that he has been involved with the Boy Scouts for 35 years. He said that an important part of being in the Boy Scouts is understanding the history of the scout's home country and so he was happy troop 373 was able to be a part of the parade this year. County Commissioner Edna Fund said that she thought the parade was a great idea and that it was a wonderful compromise to the canceled parade because people could stay in their cars and keep a safe distance. The parade participants could wear masks and gloves to keep everyone safe when handing out candy. Throwing candy has been a problem at the Centralia parade but now I can just walk up to the car and hand the kids the candy. ... Its great to see that so many people came out today, said Fund. Human challenge trials have been used to test other vaccines but there were rescue medicines to cure those who got sick. There is no cure for COVID-19. One way to quickly see if a coronavirus vaccine works would be to immunize healthy people and then deliberately expose them to the virus, some researchers are suggesting. Proponents say this strategy, called a human challenge trial, could save time because rather than conducting tests the usual way by waiting for vaccinated people to encounter the virus naturally researchers could just infect them. Challenge trials have been used to test vaccines for typhoid, cholera, malaria and other diseases. For malaria, volunteers have stuck their arms into chambers full of mosquitoes to be bitten and infected. But there were so-called rescue medicines to cure those who got sick. There is no cure for COVID-19 . For both ethical and practical reasons, the idea of challenge trials for a coronavirus vaccine has provoked fierce debate. In a draft report published last month, the World Health Organization said that challenge trials could yield important information, but that they would be daunting to run because of the potential of the coronavirus to cause severe and fatal illness and its high transmissibility. The report, by a 19-member advisory panel, provided detailed guidelines about the safest way to conduct challenge trials, recommending that they be limited to healthy people ages 18-25 because they have the least risk of severe illness or death from the virus. The virus would be dripped into their noses. But the panel also said its members split nearly in half over several major issues. They were divided over whether trials should be carried out if no highly effective therapy had been identified to treat participants who got sick; over whether studies in healthy young adults could predict the efficacy of a vaccine in older people or other high-risk adults; and over whether challenge trials could really speed vaccine development. coronavirus vaccines is ethical" width="1280" height="720" /> In the United States, government researchers say that although their primary focus is on traditional clinical trials, they have already begun preparing for human challenge trials, in case they are needed to test either vaccines or treatments. The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases has begun investigations of the technical and ethical considerations of conducting human challenge studies, a spokeswoman, Jennifer Routh, said by email. The institute is also developing strains of the virus that could be used to infect participants. Routh said that toward the end of 2020 the institute would use data from standard clinical trials to assess future human challenge studies, should they be needed and should they be deemed safe and ethical to employ. Citing concerns about putting healthy people at risk, Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the institute, said in an interview, If something like that takes place, it has to be done with absolute intense examination by a group of independent ethicists and independent people who have nothing to do with the trial. But the National Institutes of Health, the umbrella organization for the institute, offered a more cautious assessment, saying the government is not planning to support human challenge studies for COVID-19 , in an email from a spokeswoman, Renate Myles. There is an expectation of sufficient natural transmission for efficacy studies that will be launched as early as summer 2020. The development of a human challenge model would take longer than this timeline and human challenge studies have a number of serious ethical considerations. Among the staunchest advocates of challenge trials is Dr Arthur L. Caplan, a bioethicist at NYU Langone Medical Center. I havent really heard convincing ethical counter objections, he said in an interview. A challenge trial could take advantage of the lower death rate in people ages 18-29, Caplan and Dr Stanley Plotkin, a vaccine expert and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, suggested in an article published in April in the journal Vaccine. Despite the danger, we believe it is ethical to ask now for volunteers who would be informed about the known and unknown risks, they wrote. Other researchers have made similar arguments. Such an approach is not without risks, but every week that vaccine rollout is delayed will be accompanied by many thousands of deaths globally, a team led by Dr. Nir Eyal, a bioethicist at Rutgers, wrote in March, in an article in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Eyals group suggested choosing an age range of 20-45, and even proposed using a control group that would receive a placebo shot rather than the vaccine but would still be exposed to the virus, so at least some would almost certainly fall ill. I think thats a little bit cuckoo, Caplan said. Thats too risky. There is no highly effective treatment for COVID, and no sure way to predict who will recover quickly and who will become severely ill. Multiple measures would be put in place to ensure that, prior to consenting, potential participants fully comprehend the unusual risks involved in the study, Eyals group wrote. Dr Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, sharply questioned any form of a challenge trial for COVID, saying that participants cannot be fully informed about the risks, because too little is known about the virus. There are too many uncertainties, he said. Although it is not common, healthy young people have inexplicably become critically ill from the virus, and some have died. All we need is one of those cases in the course of a vaccine trial where we intentionally infected somebody with this coronavirus , Kahn said. What would we say then? Was it worth it? Several vaccine makers had lukewarm reactions to the idea. Dr Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said the company would consider challenge trials only if a treatment became available. He also said larger, traditional Phase 3 trials would provide more safety information. Dr Tal Zaks, chief medical officer of Moderna, which expects to begin Phase 3 vaccine trials this month, said in an interview that the question of a challenge trial will likely be moot as it relates to our development. If such a model were available we would look at it, but Id hate to put people in harms way, Zaks said. We are right now leading this race and it might be relevant for other vaccines behind us. Other vaccine makers are considering the idea. Dr Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, which developed a coronavirus vaccine that is already in Phase 3 testing, said there was potential utility in challenge trials for vaccines and treatments. He said his institute, which has conducted such studies in the past for malaria, typhoid and other diseases, might perform one for COVID before the end of the year, to test vaccine efficacy. He said the studies were also a good way to compare vaccines. The trials would be acceptable even without a treatment, he said, because the participants would be young and fit, and exposed to only a low dose of the virus, so any illness that occurred would most likely be self-limiting. But Hill added: Having a treatment would be helpful. By the time we get to doing this, there may be one. Caplan argues that the first few vaccine candidates are likely to fail, and that it will be increasingly difficult to recruit the 20,000 or 30,000 people needed for each subsequent trial. Challenge trials in small numbers of participants could more quickly identify products that do not work, letting researchers scrap them and reserve larger studies for more promising candidates. Another cause for concern is that challenge trials would enrol far fewer patients than traditional studies of vaccine efficacy, which generally include tens of thousands of people. Smaller studies may miss rare side effects that could become a serious problem once a vaccine is given to millions of people. The number of people who will have received the vaccine at the time of licensure will be very small in comparison to the usual Phase 3 efficacy trials, said Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University and a member of a group that will review vaccine data as advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because many vaccine candidates involve new technologies, thats all the more reason you need a large safety base, Schaffner said. Challenge trials might also be seen by the public as a means of cutting corners, and undermine confidence in coronavirus vaccines, he said, adding, I think its not a great idea. Advocates say volunteers for a coronavirus challenge trial would be young and healthy, without chronic health problems that would put them at high risk of complications or death from the virus. They would also be people who have a substantial risk of catching the disease anyway even without being deliberately exposed because they live in hot spots with high transmission rates, or because of their jobs or living conditions, proponents say. Eyals group suggested an age range of 20-45. During a trial, they would be quarantined and monitored closely, and if they became ill would receive the best-known treatment possibly the antiviral drug remdesivir, or convalescent plasma from people who had recovered from the illness. But so far, remdesivirs benefits have been described as modest, and studies of convalescent plasma are still underway. The steroid dexamethasone lowered the death rate in one study, but is recommended only for those who become severely ill. The article by Eyals group struck a chord with Josh Morrison, 34. Eight years ago, he donated a kidney to a stranger, and now runs an advocacy group for kidney donors. The opportunity to save someone elses life meant a great deal to him, and he sees challenge trials as a chance to do it again. If it could lead to a speedier creation of a vaccine for the disease COVID-19 , we are willing without reservation to have doctors infect us with the novel coronavirus , he and Sophie Rose, 22, a graduate student in epidemiology, wrote in The Washington Post. Morrison, who had a brief career as a corporate lawyer, has begun organizing others who are interested in volunteering into a group called 1DaySooner. So far, about 30,000 people from 140 countries have signed up online saying they might participate in a challenge trial. Donations of $700,000 have enabled him to hire three full-time staff members. There are significant risks in childbirth and kidney donation, Morrison said in an interview. No one should take them lightly but they are things we allow people to consent to. I hope for an effective treatment by the time a trial would be conducted, but if not, I do think it would be reasonable to go forward with challenge trials. His hope is that an established research centre will conduct the trials. Much of his efforts have gone toward finding a company to produce batches of the virus for use in the studies. Our goal is not to manage the manufacturing process or trial process ourselves, he said. Our goal is to make the preconditions, so that if challenge trials would be useful, theyre available. So far, donors have offered a total of $1 million for virus production, if Morrison can find a vendor. He said he had a promising candidate, but declined to name the company. Several vaccine makers have expressed interest in challenge trials, but the discussions have been confidential, so he could not reveal which companies, he said. But he believes the trials will happen. I dont think of this as a pie-in-the-sky idea. Denise Grady c.2020 The New York Times Company There are 155 teaching posts vacant in departments like Biochemistry, Burns and Plastic Surgery, ENT and General Medicine while there are 10 posts for assistant professors in the Department of Trauma and Emergency The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal has announced several vacancies for teaching posts in its departments. Eligible candidates can apply online at https://aiims-edu.com/home or visit the official site of AIIMS Bhopal aiimsbhopal.edu.in. Applications for the posts of professor, assistant professor, associate professor, and additional professor will be accepted till midnighof August 17. A total of 165 vacancies are available at AIIMS. In a recruitment notification dated 4 July, authorities have detailed the number of posts available, application requirements and the application fees. Any eligible Indian citizen or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) can apply for the posts by filling in the online application form. There are 155 teaching posts vacant in departments like Biochemistry, Burns and Plastic Surgery, Dermatology, ENT, General Medicine, Microbiology, Nephrology, Nuclear Medicine, Physiology and Urology to name a few. Apart from these, there are 10 posts available for assistant professors in the Department of Trauma and Emergency. Candidates who wish to apply for multiple posts must fill in separate application forms and pay the fees separately for all the posts they applied for. While the application fee for General and OBC candidates is Rs 2,000, SC and ST candidates must pay Rs 500, according to a report in the Times Of India. The payment must be paid on-line at the time of submission of application form only. Candidates belonging to the Persons with Disability (PwD) category would not be required to submit any fees. In case of any query, candidates can reach out the authorities at faculty.recruitment.2020@aiimsbhopal.edu.in or call on 0755-2672334. The varsity has said its offices will work with skeletal staff, with unit heads deciding on who needs to be physically present at the university. The University of Allahabad has asked all its teaching and non-teaching staff to work from home till 31 July. In a notification, the varsity has said its offices will work with skeletal staff that will be decided by the unit head. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the decision of allowing staff to work from home comes days after the varsity had asked all staff to work from campus. The notification, issued by Allahabad University Registrar Prof NK Shukla, states that with reference to the central guidelines for Unlock-2 by the HRD ministry and UGCs letter regarding safety, the university has decided to take several steps. Allahabad University has told the authorities that the Aarogya Setu app must be installed by students, faculty members and employees for easy identification of potential risk of infection from COVID-19 . In case of exigency, any faculty member/researcher/non-teaching staff may attend or may be asked to attend the duties at University of Allahabad or its constituent college. Employees have been asked to provide their contact details such as e-mail address, mobile number to their reporting officers so that they may be contacted if there is any emergency. According to a report by NDTV, the Allahabad University has said that essential services such as sanitation, electricity, water supply, hostels, health centre and office residence will remain open. It has also asked everyone to take all the preventive measures notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). It was along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh that violent clashes between India and Chinas armies on 15 June led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. In the first signs of de-escalation of the conflict along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was seen removing tents and moving back troops from some parts of the Galwan Valley on Monday, government sources told PTI. The PLA started removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14 after an agreement between the corps commanders on both sides. Similar movement was also seen at the Gogra Hot Spring area. With the Indian forces also retreating, a buffer zone equidistant from both the sides of the LAC has been created. Even though troops and tents were moved back by one or two kilometres at some friction points, Chinese heavy armoured vehicles are still present in some areas along the Galwan river, LiveMint reported. Disengagement will involve rival troops pulling back a few hundred metres from face-off sites, with further retreat taking place in phases as the complex plan progresses on a verifiable basis on the ground every 72 hours by both sides, Hindustan Times reported. It was along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh that violent clashes between India and Chinas armies on 15 June led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. The Chinese side did not release details of casualties suffered. Recent satellite images had indicated that the Chinese had illegally trespassed 423 metres into Indian territory in the Galwan Valley, with a significant consolidation in Ladakh's Pangong Lake region, according to NDTV. The bitter stand-off between both the sides over their claim on multiple locations along the LAC in eastern Ladakh showed no signs of abatement for seven weeks despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks. The first agreement towards de-escalating tensions in the region, reached on 6 June after a meeting held in Moldo between top military commanders, was derailed after the 15 June clash. In a meeting between senior military leaders on 30 June, India reiterated its demand for "expeditious, phased and stepwise" de-escalation as a "priority" in key areas including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and the strategic Depsang plains, apart from thinning the military build-up in the region. The factory in Ghaziabad had stockpiled highly inflammable material used in small quantities to make special candles, officials said. New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police chief over the deaths of people in a fire at a candle-making factory in Ghaziabad, officials said on Monday. Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, the commission said it is "necessary for the local administration to fix the responsibility of the concerned officer and start departmental or criminal proceedings against them, immediately to ensure justice to the victims and their families." According to a statement, the commission has issued notices to the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh and the Director General of Police, seeking a detailed report within four weeks. They have been asked to state the action taken against the factory owner and the delinquent officers, officials, status of the medical treatment being provided to the injured and relief or rehabilitation provided to the aggrieved by the state, according to the statement. Eight people were killed after an explosion brought down the roof and gutted the factory, located in Modinagar's Bakhrwa village, district officials earlier said. The factory had stockpiled highly inflammable material used in small quantities to make special candles generally used for decorating birthday cakes, officials said. The recent death of a father and son due to alleged custodial torture by the Tamil Nadu police has reverberated the cries to end unjust incarceration and institutional culture of police brutality in India. Recent protests across the United States of America galvanised by the killing of George Floyd by a police officer has put the spotlight on the issues of excessive use of force by law enforcement agencies. In the United States, there have been discussions to do away with the armour shield of qualified immunity a legal defence created by the judiciary that hinders civil lawsuits against police officers who violate rights of individuals. This inflection point must be seen as an opportunity to reflect upon Indias fault lines in policing, where police brutality occurs rampantly along the lines of caste, religion, gender and financial status. The recent death of a father and son due to alleged custodial torture by the Tamil Nadu police has reverberated the cries to end unjust incarceration and institutional culture of police brutality in India. There exist multiple impediments for victims of police brutality to avail remedies in law for seeking compensation and holding the police accountable for violation of individual rights. Law enforcement agencies have a central bearing in the criminal justice system. They have the power to advance or forestall truth and justice. Policing powers are sovereign powers and must be exercised with caution. The faith reposed by the citizens in its police is a reflection of the State's effectiveness in not only curtailing the spread of crime but also its commitment to the protection of individual liberty. Since its inception, the Indian police was structured to secure the interests of the colonists rather than to serve the interests of the public. The police often resort to physical violence as an investigation tactic and also as a deterrent for those in custody from committing crimes in the future. Such an attitude downplays the violation of both constitutional and basic human rights arising out of illegal police actions such as arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, torture and custodial violence. Any violence by the State against the individual is a naked violation of human dignity, which destroys to a considerable extent, the individuals personality. Victims of custodial violence and their family members should have a way to be compensated for the pain and suffering inflicted upon them. Whenever police actions have led to the infringement of fundamental rights, the Indian courts have awarded monetary compensation as a public law remedy. Courts have consistently rejected the doctrine of sovereign immunity a defence that the State can never be prosecuted for its wrongdoings, in cases where there is incontrovertible evidence of a violation of ones right to life. The liability of the compensation is fastened on the State rather than the police officer. The remedy for compensation is in addition to the claim available in private law for damages for tortious acts of public servants. However, in most cases, victims of systematic prejudice and oppression are the poor and socially marginalised who do not have the knowledge or legal assistance to pursue the cause of justice. One of the first impediments crime victims face is when the police refuse to file an FIR against one of their own due to the bonhomie between members of the police. The model of going to the police station to lodge a complaint instead of the police coming to your doorstep creates an equation imbalance, where often the victim is forced to visit the very station where the abuse occurred or interact with the offending officer. As a result, victims become more reclusive, and crimes committed by police personnel often go unreported, and culprits remain unpunished. Even if one gets the FIR registered, procedural delays, biased investigations and lengthy trials act as an obstacle in access to securing justice. This is evident from the 2018 statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau, where out of a total of 5,479 cases registered against police personnel across India only 41 were convicted in 2018. Another impediment is Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 that grants the privilege of immunity to police personnel from prosecution without prior sanction from concerned authorities. This ensures that the police can carry out their duties without the fear of frivolous cases being filed against them. Such protection is available only when the alleged act done by the police personnel is integrally connected with the discharge of its official duties. Misuse and abuse of powers vested in a police officer or acts done purely in a private capacity can never be said to be part of official duties and will not be covered under the protective umbrella of the provision. In effect, no prior sanction is required from the government for prosecution of a police officer who engages in unruly behaviour, maltreatment, bribery, custodial violence, fraud, fabrication of records, adducing false evidence and shielding a person from punishment. It can be argued that the bar of prior sanction narrows the scope for victims and families of police brutality to seek justice and instead encourages police misconduct. However, eliminating the requirement of prior sanction is not going to be a fail-safe solution to police misconduct. Implementation of directions issued by the Supreme Court in landmark cases of D K Basu and Prakash Singh concerning functioning of the police across states needs to be constantly monitored. There is an urgent need for investment in training, equipment and infrastructure to reduce the pressure on law enforcement agencies. The need of the hour is to fundamentally rethink the approach to policing culture in India. The focus should be to shift from a policing culture that instils constant fear in public to one that is centred around the notion of public service. It is not only law and institutions that do justice. People do. Therefore, law enforcers should be not only conscientious and rule conforming, but also compassionate humans. There needs to be increased focus on rights-respecting policing and ensuring frequent prosecution of errant police officers, without exception. The standard of what categorises as violence cannot be separate for an ordinary citizen and a police officer. Effective use of independent internal accountability measures can be a deterrent against the misuse of power by the police authorities. An online database of pending cases involving allegations of police abuse with names and the charges against each police officer must be created. All internal departmental proceedings involving severe charges must be resolved on a fast-track basis and made available to the public. All such measures to hold police officers accountable will build trust amongst citizens and send a strong signal to each officer reminding them that those who do not toe the line of law will face strict action. Sarthak Karol is a judicial law clerk at the Supreme Court of India and Janay Jain is a law student at the Government Law College in Mumbai. Views are personal. According to the NIA, the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Hizbul Mujahideen and Pakistani state agencies 'to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India'. Jammu: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet against six people, including suspended Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh and a top Hizbul Mujahideen leader, for allegedly waging "war against India" with the help of Pakistan-based terrorists and members of the country's high commission in Delhi, officials said. The 3,064-page chargesheet, filed in a Jammu court under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code, names self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu and his alleged network of aides. If all the charges are proved in the court, the accused can be punished with death or a life sentence. The others named are Naveed Babu's brother Syed Irfan Ahmad as well as the group's alleged overground worker Irfan Shafi Mir, alleged accomplice Rafi Ahmad Rather and businessman Tanveer Ahmad Wani, former president of the Line of Control Traders Association. According to the NIA, the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen and Pakistani state agencies "to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India". Detailing the conspiracy, the NIA alleged that Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who is in a jail here, was "in touch with certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information". It said in the chargesheet that the probe in the case has brought "on record that the Pakistani establishment has been devising all possible ways and means to fund, arm and sustain the terrorist activities of the banned terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen". The "so-called leadership" of the banned terror group, including its chief Syed Salahuddin, his deputy Amir Khan, operational head Khursheed Mehmood and financial head Nazar Mehmood besides officials of the Pakistani establishment were extending support to Hizbul Mujahideen cadres based in Jammu and Kashmir, the chargesheet stated. It comprises 3,017 oral and documentary evidences, the officials said. Singh was arrested on 11 January this year along with Naveed Babu, Rather and Mir, an advocate, when their car was intercepted by Jammu and Kashmir police near Qazigund on the national highway connecting the Valley with the rest of the country. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, three pistols and a cache of ammunition and explosives. The NIA took over the case on 17 January. The investigation found that Singh, in an apparent bid to shield Naveed Babu, had shifted him along with the advocate to Jammu and arranged safe shelter for them in the city in February last year. Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists and also assured them help in procuring weapons, the NIA alleged. It said Naveed Babu, a former police constable who deserted the force along with weapons, was responsible for several killings, including an attack on labourers and truck drivers after the abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The chargesheet said Naveed Babu made efforts to recruit gullible youths to join the Hizb and was also receiving funds from "LoC traders". It accused Wani of providing him funds with the help of other traders based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Investigations revealed that the accused were obtaining weapons and ammunition from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and Singh. These weapons were later used for terrorist activities, it said. Highlighting the role of Mir, who is alleged to be a double agent, the NIA said he had met top leadership of the terror outfit as well as Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of Pakistan's spy agency ISI. He was tasked with identifying and activating the new hawala channels for transferring money to sustain terrorist activities in Kashmir Valley, the chargesheet added. The NIA said Mir was in touch with certain Pakistan High Commission officials in New Delhi. They provided him funds to organise seminars in the erstwhile state to mobilise the masses against the Indian government. The advocate by profession also received instructions and money from the Pakistan High Commission and facilitated visa applications for a number of Kashmiris to enable them to visit Pakistan, it alleged. In its chargesheet, the NIA said investigations against another accused Tariq Ahmad Mir, arrested in April this year, continued and the agency would be filing a supplementary chargesheet against him. Mir is a former sarpanch of a village in Shopian in south Kashmir. The experiences of many Muslims in Tamil Nadu in accessing healthcare revealed a system that repeatedly revealed its biases against them. Editor's note: This multimedia series documents the mechanics of how 12 districts in Tamil Nadu worked during the COVID-19 lockdown; told through the stories of healthcare workers, sanitary workers, district officials, other essential workers, administrators, locals and patients. The series resulted from three weeks of travel through the state. Shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak began in India, news channels across the country started caricaturing Muslims from the Tablighi Jamaat as wilful defaulters who were traveling across the country to spread the disease. In Tamil Nadu, such propaganda meant that the principle of 'Noiyoddan poradungal, noiyyalioddan alla (fight the disease, not the patient) was thrown to the winds. The above principle, incidentally, is the opening line one hears on making a phone call in the state. However, on the ground, the experiences of many Muslims in accessing healthcare revealed a system that was steeped in prejudice. This was in direct contradiction to the exhortations made by international organisations such as the World Health Organisation to use strategies which do not further alienate society from those who are victims of the virus. Muslims in Tamil Nadu have a very different perception of Tablighi Jamaat from the one that has been largely splashed across TV channels. A college student said in a lighter vein, When I realise that a Tablighi Jamaat person is approaching me, I try to escape. This is because, he explained, Tablighi Jamaat leaders usually try to point out how Muslims are erring in what is expected from them. It is like a school teacher giving you a lecture. At times, we are okay with the lecture but at times, we also run from the lecture, he said as his friend laughed along. Elaborating further, he added, Among us, we know there are certain Muslims who will be very aggressive in taking on people who wrong us. Like Muslims in Popular Front of India (PFI) or the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. You can say they are very politically vocal. But there are others who do not interfere with anything that is to do with the administration, state or politics. People from the Tablighi Jamaat are like that. They lead a simple lifestyle, and mind their own business, which is to talk to us Muslims about Islam and how we should stick to the various tenets of Islam. They are paavam (harmless) people." - When SM Mansoor and SK Abdul Khader received a call from the local police on 29 March, it was the first time that they were told that they could have COVID-19 . They were part of a group of 16 who had travelled back from Delhi to Melapalalyam, a Muslim neighbourhood in Tirunelveli. They were asked to report for a test to the Melapalayam general hospital. All of them did so within an hour, only to be told that they are being shifted to another facility. "They didnt inform us that we were being taken away or that well be isolated. We wouldve carried our things and would have been prepared, says Abdul Khader. Melapalayam, meanwhile, was completely shut down on the orders of the District Collector Shilpa Prakash Satish. The DC also ordered a stop to all vehicular movement to and from Melapalayam. The locality was completely barricaded. In the days to follow, 103 people were traced as contacts whom the 16 from Melapalayam had been in touch with. They were quarantined and tested. Out of these, sixteen tested positive. Mansoor said, All of us were asymptomatic. We wanted to see some test results which said that we were positive but we werent provided with any. In any case, a total of 32 tested positive. Why was an entire locality with more than 3 lakh people shut down for that? This is what is baffling. The house of Abdul Khader, which is where this reporter interviewed him, is an independent building. So is the case with all other houses in Mansoors street. There are no common toilets. The 15 others were also living in similar settings, in other streets of Melapalayam. Particular streets where the 16 lived could have been turned into containment zones. But why was an entire area declared as being out of bounds? A female relative of the 16, who was also tested, questions how the media can repeatedly refer to an area as a corona hub, when only 32 in a population of more than 3 lakhs tested positive. The repercussions of this kind of profiling were immediate. For instance, private hospitals turned away nine Muslim women from Melapalayam who had deliveries lined up in April. The women had been visiting these hospitals till March. This reporter accessed audio recordings where relatives of some of these women plead with the doctors from these hospitals to be allowed admission, only to be told they have been explicitly instructed by the district administration not to accept any patients from Melapalayam. The district administration denies having given any such orders. Even though some of the patients' relatives say that they knew nobody from the people who travelled back from Delhi, and they could be tested for COVID 19 before being admitted, the doctors refused to engage with them. At least two were downright rude, and indirectly Islamophobic. The ordeals that these nine women faced were similar. They travelled first to the hospital where they were getting their routine check up and had been assigned a date for delivery. When they were turned away from there, they tried a few more private hospitals. Some had no option left but to finally go to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TMCH), a government facility at Highground. Rizwana, 21, from North Thaika Street in Melapalayam was reluctant to get herself admitted at TMCH Highground as she previously had bad experiences at this hospital. Nobody cares about you there. The place is also not very well kept and this was my first pregnancy, she explained. But with no options left, she admitted herself at TMCH Highground on 31 March. As soon as I told them I am from Melapalayam, I could sense everybody just freeze. I stood outside the Labour Ward as much as I could, as I didnt want to antagonise anybody, says Rizwana. After this, she had a caesarian section done. When I regained consciousness, I realised I was outside the operation theatre and not in a ward, or a room. None of them wanted to approach me. It took them three hours to even move me from there, says Rizwana. Rizwana was put in a room temporarily after which she was moved to the old GH building, where the COVID-19 positive patients were also housed. Women from Melapalayam, who had just finished their delivery, were allotted a separate room in the same GH building. There was nobody to attend to us. Even when they had to, they didnt even touch us or check on the stitches, as they are supposed to. They would stand at a distance and yell, said Rizwana. On the fifth day after her delivery, Rizwana was instructed to remove her urine bag by herself. The nurse stood at the entrance and threw a syringe at me, telling me to pierce the drip with it. The syringe fell on the floor. I hadnt gotten off the bed till then. With my stitches, without knowing what I was doing, I used my feet to pick up the syringe and pierced it into the urine bag. And then yanked the drip out, Rizwana says. It didnt stop there. The nurses also instructed her to remove the bandage around her stitches. Rizwana tried doing that but when it hurt, she refused. After this, Rizwanas family spoke to a few leaders and asked them to intervene at the hospital. Only after this did a doctor attend to Rizwana. Witness to all of this was Nasreen Fathima, who had also recently delivered a baby and was in the same room as Rizwana. She was denied admission at Annai Velankanni Hospital after which she was admitted at Highground GH. I saw Rizwana struggle with her urine drip by herself. Some nurses were good but most of them werent. They spoke to all of us very harshly and kept yelling at us, says Nasreen. The room was dirty, there were constant long power cuts, the fans werent working and the bathroom didnt even have a light. And there was nobody to attend to us, says Nasreen. Jevariya, 24, also was turned away from CSI Annapackiyam Mission Hospital on 11 April, her due date. This is when a few leaders, including Nasreens father Sheikh Mohammad, a meat trader and a local leader, came together and spoke to the authorities of Crescent Hospital, situated in Melapalayam itself. After this, most expecting women from Melapalayam were accommodated at Crescent Hospital. Sabita Begum, 26, who was turned away from Madhubala Hospital and Karuniya Health Centre, questions how the administration can completely ignore the medical needs of such a big population. Why did we have to fend for ourselves? With all that pain, I went from hospital to hospital for eight hours. Who is to be held accountable for this?, she asked. While the Muslim community of Melapalayam was able to figure out a temporary solution for expecting mothers, those with serious medical problems were left in the lurch. Like Peer Muhammad, a liver cancer patient and a resident of Melapalayam. Muhammad used to travel to Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Thiruvananthapuram for treatment since he was diagnosed with the condition. After the nationwide lockdown came into place on 25 March, RCC sent him a mail, directing him to the nearest government facility for chemotherapy. Muhammad first attempted to access the facility on 30 March, a day after Melapalayam was shut down. His son Muhammad Ibrahim says that they were made to wait in the sun, and were not allowed inside. After a half a day of waiting, Ibrahim took him back home. When Muhammads condition further deteriorated, his family attempted to access chemo again on 22 April, without luck. A video of Peer Muhammad shot on the same day shows him in an extremely precarious condition. Five days later, he died. Naseer, a health worker from Melapalayam Medical Society working with COVID 19 patients and patients with non-communicable diseases says that the state of affairs at TMCH Highground have marginally improved in the past few weeks. There were some administrative changes within the institution, after which the response has been better. Private hospitals are also starting to behave, after we amped up pressure on them, he says. Arabi Gnaniyar, an ambulance driver who saw patients from Melapayalam struggling with accessing medical care, said, Everybody thinks Melapalayam is where coronavirus is spreading from. Ive travelled across Tirunelveli and the adjoining villages. People are speaking as if COVID-19 originated from Melapalayam, not China. He further recalled, As soon as Melapalayam was cordoned off, patients who were already admitted at hospitals were also asked to leave. An elderly Muslim woman was discharged from an ICU, even though it had been three days since she had been there. Both her sons are in Dubai and pleaded with me to try and get her admitted at any hospital. But I couldnt. She died two days later. What SM Mansoor fails to understand is why a convoluted plot was derived from something as simple as a yearly religious exercise. The plans for travel in March were made many many months in advance. Why then have we been treated like this? As soon as we were told to report for a test, we did so in less than an hour. Our families complied with what was asked for. Yet, the local media and the administration branded us as Coronavirus carriers. People from this entire neighbourhood were treated inhumanely. Why? questions Mansoor. Small-time businesses from Melapalayam, like those doing AC repairs and household work, told this reporter that people are turning them away from work if they disclose that they are residents of Melapalayam. Khader also pointed to how he didnt have to face stigma from neighbours as he stays in a Muslim locality. But my cousin, on the other hand, lives in an area where the majority is non-Muslim. When he was taken for a test, immediately, the media carried videos of him being taken in an ambulance. The area was turned into a containment zone. Such measures were taken by the government across Tamil Nadu. But in how many such cases were the individuals told that they, as Muslims, are the cause for the spread and if they leave the area, the area will no longer be affected? The lockdown had a good effect on the environment but the increased use of masks, gloves, sanitiser bottles to fight the pandemic has given rise to new concerns, said Anoop Nautiyal. Dehradun: Single-use plastic has made a big comeback in the country with COVID-19 dealing a fatal blow to the campaign launched under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inspiration to discard it, environmentalist Anoop Nautiyal said on Monday. The prolonged lockdown has had a good effect on the environment in general by bringing down pollution levels but the increased use of masks, gloves, face shields, PPE kits, sanitiser bottles to fight the pandemic has given rise to new concerns, he said. "Anyone would admit that single-use plastic has made a big comeback post coronavirus . The campaign against it which began on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day call from the ramparts of the Red Fort to discard it, is almost dead," Nautiyal, a politician-turned-environmentalist, said. "After the prime minister's call an atmosphere was built all over the country to discard single use plastic. A massive campaign named "Swachchta hi Seva" was launched. Around one lakh people made a human chain in Dehradun to back the campaign," he said. All that, however, has come to nought with coronavirus making it compulsory to wear masks, gloves, face shields, PPE kits, he said. As many activities which remained suspended for months have now been resumed, the momentum with which the campaign against the single-use plastic was launched needs to be revived during unlock-II, he said. Asked how can it be done when use of masks, sanitiser bottles, gloves, PPE kits were a must in the fight against the pandemic, Nautiyal said a collective thinking on developing alternatives like reusable cloth masks and gloves to replace the current ones is needed. Nautiyal also sought the creation of a sound institutional mechanism in Uttarakhand for the disposal of bio-medical waste in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board in view of the pandemic. An estimated 5,500 kilograms of bio-medical waste is generated every day by around 3,000 private and government hospitals in the state, he said calling for creation of institutional systems to examine whether in times of coronavirus bio-medical waste is being disposed of as per the norms set by the CPCB. Nautiyal had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on an AAP ticket from Tehri. Once declared, the Tamil Nadu HSE (+2) March 2020 Exam results will be available on tnresults.nic.in, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in Tamil Nadu 12th result 2020 Date | The Tamil Nadu Class 12 results for the academic year 2019-20 will not be announced today (Tuesday, 7 July), reports said. According to The Indian Express, the Directorate of Government Examination (DGE), Tamil Nadu is likely to conduct the pending exams before announcing the HSE (+2) March 2020 Exam Results. Earlier, Scroll.in had reported that the DGE, Tamil Nadu, may declare the result today. An official with Tamil Nadus DGE had told NDTV that scores will be announced by 7 July. The office of director M Palanisamy too had informed the Indian Express that the Class 12 board exam result would be announced today at 5 pm. However, later in the day, the newspaper stated that the DGE Tamil Nadu will announce the HSE (+2) March 2020 Exam Results and is re-thinking conducting the pending examinations. Once declared, the results will be available on tnresults.nic.in, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in. state education minister KA Sengottaiyan had earlier said. To check Tamil Nadu Class 12 results, students can follow these steps: Step 1: Go to official Tamil Nadu results website tnresults.nic.in. Step 2: Click on the Tamil Nadu HSE result link. Step 3: Enter roll number and other login credentials. Step 4: Click on the submit button. Result will be displayed. The higher secondary exams were held in March but the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent nationwide lockdown delayed the evaluation of answer sheets. Previously, Class 10 exams were scrapped and the government had decided to promote students on the basis of internal assessment marks and attendance. Sengottaiyan had also announced through a tweet that Class 10 and 11 results will be announced in the third week of July. However, a date for the results is yet to be announced. Disclaimer: As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified by Firstpost. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in. Posted Monday, July 6, 2020 1:20 pm Washington and any other state may pass laws ensuring that presidential electors vote for the presidential candidate that their state's voters choose, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday. "Nothing in the Constitution expressly prohibits States from taking away presidential electors' voting discretion as Washington does," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court, which ruled 9-0 against the three Washington faithless electors who brought the case. "The Constitution is barebones about electors." The case dates back to the 2016 election, when the three electors, Bret Chiafalo, Esther "Little Dove" John and Levi Guerra, cast their electoral ballots for Colin Powell, not Hillary Clinton, in a last-ditch attempt to try to get Republican electors to abandon Donald Trump. All of Washington's electors had signed a pledge to support the candidate that got the most votes, so Chiafalo, John and Guerra were fined, under state law, $1,000. (A fourth Washington elector, Robert Satiacum, also broke his pledge and did not vote for Clinton, but he was not involved in the court case.) For three and a half years, they fought that fine through the court system, all the way to the Supreme Court. At stake was much more than a $1,000 fine. Rather, it was a question that had never been definitively answered in the more than 230 years since the Electoral College was created: Can presidential electors vote for whomever they want, or can states ensure they follow voters' will? The case had the potential to throw the 2020 presidential election into unprecedented chaos. In a close election, just a couple of electors going rogue and switching their votes has the potential to flip the election, despite the tens of millions of ballots cast by regular voters. But the court on Monday found that the U.S. Constitution gives states "far-reaching authority" over electors, making such a scenario now all but unthinkable. The Constitution gives states the authority to appoint presidential electors, which the court found also gives states great control over the electors. "The power to appoint an elector (in any manner) includes power to condition his appointment -- that is, to say what the elector must do for the appointment to take effect," Kagan wrote for the court. "A State can require, for example, that an elector live in the State or qualify as a regular voter during the relevant time period. Or more substantively, a State can insist ... that the elector pledge to cast his Electoral College ballot for his party's presidential nominee, thus tracking the State's popular vote." Washington, following the 2016 election, strengthened its law so faithless electors are removed and replaced with an alternate if they don't follow the will of the voters. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office defended the state in the case, said the Supreme Court "reaffirmed the fundamental principle that the vote of the people should matter in choosing the president." "If we had not been successful, many observers, including several justices, noted the upcoming elections could have been thrown into 'chaos,'" Ferguson wrote. In fighting their fines through the court system, Chiafalo and John also had a larger goal: Blow up the Electoral College. Their goal was a Supreme Court ruling saying electors could vote however they want, with states powerless to stop them. Such a ruling, they thought, would be viewed as so absurd that there would be a popular uprising to change the Constitution, ditch the Electoral College and embrace the national popular vote as a better method for choosing a president. Chiafalo, in an interview Monday, said that cause was still advanced, even though they lost unanimously. "Anything that brings the Electoral College to the forefront of discussion for Americans is completely a win," he said. "Electors are effectively robots now, so it begs the question, why the hell do we have the Electoral College? Because it only serves the function of giving voters in small states undue power." Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have a law that requires presidential electors to vote for the candidate the state's voters chose. But fewer than half of those states have any enforcement mechanism. Lawrence Lessig, co-founder of the nonprofit Equal Citizens that represented the three electors in court, said they disagree with the court's ruling but are glad the question has finally been settled. "Regardless of the outcome, it was critical to resolve this question before it created a constitutional crisis," Lessig said. "We are happy that we have achieved our primary objective -- this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress." This is not the first time Nadda has gone after Rahul, or indeed the Gandhi family, but things seem to have escalated in the past few weeks. New Delhi: Launching a fresh attack on Rahul Gandhi, BJP president JP Nadda said on Monday that the Congress leader "has not attended" a single meeting of Parliament's standing committee on defence but continues to "demoralise" the nation and question the valour of the armed forces. "Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible Opposition leader should not do," the BJP president said on Twitter. He added, "Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees don't matter, only commissions do. Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters, but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad." Nadda's tweets came after reports that Rahul has not attended any of the committee meetings. This is not the first time Nadda has gone after Rahul, or indeed the Gandhi family, but things seem to have escalated in the past few weeks, when the BJP and Congress have been locked in a bitter war of words over a host of issues, including India's stand-off with China at Ladakh. On 29 June, Nadda, saying his party would leave no stone unturned in "exposing double-faced politicians", asked the Opposition party 10 questions, including about alleged links between the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and China. Nadda also claimed that Mehul Choksi, over whom the Opposition repeatedly attacks the government, had donated money to the RGF. The "crown prince" of the Congress used the most "obnoxious" language for Modi after Choksi fled but he was helped by the Congress to get bank loans, Nadda claimed. The Congress is yet to react to this latest salvo from Nadda. "I want to tell Sonia Gandhi that under the garb of China and COVID-19 crisis, one should not shy away from answering the questions the nation wants to know... It's a shame. It's a sacrifice of national interest by accepting money from foreign powers in personal trusts," Nadda told reporters while attacking the Congress president. On 24 June, Nadda launched a stinging attack on the Gandhi family, saying a dynasty and its courtiers have "grand delusions" of the Opposition being about itself and stated that a "rejected and ejected" family is not equal to the entire Opposition. In his tweets, Nadda said it was the time for unity and solidarity, and the "relaunch of the scion for the nth time can wait", an apparent dig at Rahul. Nadda said India lost thousands of square kilometres of land due to the "misadventures of one dynasty" and claimed that the Siachen glacier, where the Indian Army has a strong presence, was almost gone. No wonder India has rejected them, he said. On 20 June, after Rahul Gandhi raised questions on whether "unarmed soldiers" had to fight the Chinese Army and alleged that the prime minister had surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese aggression, Nadda, addressing a virtual rally for Rajasthan, said that "some Opposition leaders are demonstrating their limited knowledge" and "asking why did soldiers go unarmed". "These leaders are lowering the morale of defence forces through their tweets when jawans are defending the country in Galwan on India-China border. "Don't you know the international rules and agreements?" "The language used by an individual reflects the family's culture. Indian families do not have the culture of using such language as done by you," Nadda said. "Forget about honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, you did not honour your PM. You tore his ordinance. People of the country and the world know this," the BJP chief said. Nadda was referring to an incident when Rahul had denounced an ordinance by the Manmohan Singh government in 2013 to nullify a Supreme Court order on disqualifying convicted lawmakers. During a press conference, Rahul had termed the ordinance complete nonsense that should be torn apart and thrown out. In January, Nadda accused Rahul of misleading the country on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and dared the Congress leader to speak ten sentences on the law. Speaking at a programme organised by a Buddhist body in support of the CAA, Nadda said it is "unfortunate" for the country that some people "exhibit their wisdom" without understanding the issue so as to mislead the masses. "The Congress is opposing the CAA. I dare Rahul Gandhi to speak 10 sentences on the law. He should tell us in two sentences what is his problem with the CAA... He is leading such a big party and has to decide himself how he has to do it, but he should not mislead the country," Nadda had said. With inputs from PTI FP Trending Space Perspective, a Cape Canaveral, Florida-based startup has announced that it plans to send human passengers to the edge of outer space using balloons. According to a report in CNN, the company will be using a high-tech version of a hot air balloon, with a pilot and up to eight travellers riding in a pressurised capsule that is suspended from an enormous blimp. Space Perspective has scheduled the test flight of its Spaceship Neptune for early 2021. The takeoff will happen from Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. While the test flight will be uncrewed, Space Perspective hopes that in a few years it'll also be taking space tourists on six-hour sightseeing tours complete with a refreshment bar and social media capabilities. A report in Evening Standard says that each passenger will have to pay an estimated $125,000 for the journey. According to Mark Lester, CEO of Alaska Aerospace, the high altitude rides will be available from Kodiak and will support Alaska tourism. Lester said, "You will have people from around the world who want to come to Alaska and see the northern lights from the edge of space." The report reveals that passengers will begin the two-hour ascent from 19 miles above Earth. According to a statement from Alaska Aerospace, following the tour, Neptune will make a two-hour descent under the balloon and splashdown, where a ship will retrieve the passengers. A New Atlas report mentions that the launches will be regulated by the FAA Office of Commercial Spaceflight. Apart from passengers, the flights could also include research-related payloads. "Few endeavours are more meaningful than enabling people to experience the inspiring perspective of our home planet in space for the betterment of all, and thats what we are accomplishing," said company founder Taber MacCallum. FP Trending Pink glacial ice has mysteriously appeared in the Alps. The pink hue is caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change. According to a report by AFP, Biagio Di Mauro from Italy's National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is most likely caused by the same plant found in Greenland. The report quoted Di Mauro as saying, "The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles." Ancylonema nordenskioeldii is the scientific name for the plant which is present in Greenland's so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting. The report mentions that normally ice reflects more than 80 percent of the sun's radiation. However, with the arrival of the algae, it absorbs the heat and starts to melt faster. Di Mauro said everything that darkens the snow leads to rapid melting because of its accelerated absorption of radiation. We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth, Di Mauro added. According to a Phys.org report, tourists have been lamenting the changing hues of the glacier and its impact on climate change. A tourist Marta Durante was quoted as saying that with overheating of the planet already is a problem, the last thing they needed was algae. Durante added, "Unfortunately we are doing irreversible damage. We are already at the point of no return, I think." Another tourist, Elisa Pongini went on to add that she thinks the Earth is giving back everything that has been meted out to the planet. "In my opinion, atmospheric phenomena are worsening. Climate change is increasingly evident," Pongini said. FP Trending The solar dynamic observatory (SDO) of NASA completed a decade of watching the sun continuously last month. Marking the 10th anniversary, the US space agency released a time lapse video of the sun in all its glory. The SDO has been gathering high-resolution images of the sun while orbiting around the earth from June 2010. Over the years, it has accumulated about 425 million pictures that have been stitched together to form the video. Data worth 20 million gigabytes have been collected by the observatory using three major instruments, including the atmospheric imaging assembly (AIA). Titled A Decade of Sun, every one second of the video showcases one complete day. Hence, in a little over an hour (precisely 61 minutes), you get to witness the sun for long 10 years. One can see the rise and fall of the solar cycle, along with transiting planets and solar eruptions. However, there have been moments of occasional dark frames. An article by NASA states that this is because of the earth or the moon eclipsing the SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the sun. A much longer dark phase can be witnessed in 2016; this was caused due to some problem with the AIA instrument that captures images of the sun every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. The article explains that in the instances when the sun is not in the centre of the frame, the SDO was calibrating its instruments. Of the long video, at time stamp 12:24, the year is 2012 and we can see Venus pass across the face of the sun. This would not happen again until 2117. Many such interesting flares and eruptions are seen throughout the video. The Hong Kong government insists free speech is not under threat. But on Saturday, the citys public library system said books by some prominent activists had been removed from circulation Hong Kong: A barge draped with enormous red banners celebrating Chinas new security law was sailing across Hong Kongs famed Victoria Harbour only hours after the legislation passed. The police now hoists a purple sign warning protesters that their chants could be criminal. Along major roads throughout the city, neon-coloured flags hailing a new era of stability and prosperity stand erect as soldiers. In recent days, as China took a victory lap over the law it imposed on the city Tuesday, the defiant masses who once filled Hong Kongs streets in protest have largely gone quiet. Sticky notes that had plastered the walls of pro-democracy businesses vanished, taken down by owners suddenly fearful of the words scribbled on them. Parents whispered about whether to stop their children from singing a popular protest song, while activists devised coded ways to express now-dangerous ideas. Seemingly overnight, Hong Kong was visibly and viscerally different, its more than seven million people left to navigate what the law would mean to their lives. The territorys distinct culture of political activism and free speech, at times brazenly directed at Chinas ruling Communist Party, appeared to be in peril. For some who had been alarmed by the ferocity of last years unrest, which at times transformed shopping districts, neighbourhoods and university campuses into smoke-filled battlefields, the law brought relief and optimism. For others, who had hoped the desperate protest campaign would help secure long-cherished freedoms, it signalled a new era of fear and uncertainty. This is home, said Ming Tse, sitting in the cafe he manages, which once loudly supported the protesters. But I dont think this place loves us anymore. For months, Tses love for his home was advertised at his shop in the working-class neighbourhood of North Point. The oat milk carton at the cash register sat behind postcards of protest art. A poster condemned the police shootings of two student demonstrators. Even after opponents of the movement threatened to vandalise the shop last fall, the decorations stayed. But on Thursday, Tse, 34, took everything down. News reports said police officers had interrogated owners of restaurants with similar protest paraphernalia. The security law criminalises subversion of the government, a crime that the police say encompasses speech such as political slogans. All that remained was a small plastic dinosaur on the counter, wearing a yellow hard hat. That inexpensive yet tough headgear, worn by protesters who fought with police, had become a symbol of their scrappy fortitude. I dont know if they are so sensitive, Tse said. Its just a helmet on a dinosaur. He paused, then reconsidered: Actually, everything is sensitive. That the lines of criminality had been redrawn became clear on Friday, when authorities charged a 24-year-old man with terrorism and inciting separatism the first person to be indicted under the new law. With a Liberate Hong Kong flag mounted on the back of his motorcycle, the man careened into a group of police officers on Wednesday, the anniversary of Hong Kongs return to China from British rule. Most years, that holiday draws large pro-democracy rallies. But this time, they were banned. Protests were scattered, and police swept in and arrested hundreds. Ten people, including a 15-year-old girl, were accused of inciting subversion, a vaguely defined crime under the new law; some had merely waved flags, bearing slogans that had never been explicitly outlawed. A few dozen relatives and social workers waited Thursday outside a police station in North Point where more than 100 of those arrested were being held. Such vigils had become a rite for protesters loved ones. But this one felt more perilous, with crimes under the security law punishable by life imprisonment in the most serious cases. A Chinese official said on Wednesday that the law was meant to hang over would-be troublemakers like the sword of Damocles. Police collected DNA samples and searched the homes of the 10 people arrested on suspicion of inciting subversion measures that seemed excessive when applied to people accused only of possessing pamphlets, said Janet Pang, a lawyer who is helping some of them. Youre supposed to only use power that is necessary, and thats how the law should be, she said. Shortly after noon Thursday, a pro-democracy activist, Tam Tak-chi, emerged from the station, where he had spent the night after being detained. Tam met a young man inside who said he had been arrested after police found a banner in his bag reading Hong Kong Independence, the Only Way Out. The man wept on his shoulder, Tam said. The Hong Kong government has insisted that free speech is not under threat. But on Saturday, the citys public library system said that books by some prominent activists had been removed from circulation while officials reviewed whether they violated the new law. The censorship has crept even into private homes. In June 2019, Katie Lam took her two young sons to a large rally. Her older son wore a cap that read Hong Konger and raised a handmade sign saying, Dont shoot us. Now Lam, a data analyst, is anxious about what her sons say at home. One of them is having a birthday party in two weeks, and Lam wondered if she should hide a print displayed on the piano that reads Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times, a slogan that the government says could be considered subversive. The boys loved singing Glory to Hong Kong, the unofficial anthem of the protest movement. She worries that the neighbours will hear it. Even though we all knew it would happen one day, she said of Chinas intervention, its still painful. But in some corners of the city, Chinas move has been welcome. The successive blows of the unrest, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, emptied malls and grounded flights, eviscerating Hong Kongs economy. The security law, however unpopular, seemed poised to end the months-long impasse over the protests. It was Hong Kongs prosperity and worldliness that drew Harry He, 33, to the city from mainland China 10 years ago. He earned masters degrees in finance and engineering and fell in love with his new home: Its efficient public transportation, its high food-safety standards. He got married, found work as an insurance agent, bought a home, had a daughter. Last year shattered that serenity. Once, while he was eating at a restaurant with friends, masked protesters smashed a nearby sushi restaurant owned by a company seen as pro-Beijing, he said. His mainland clients began avoiding Hong Kong. He said he had supported the protesters at first. But he soon grew convinced that authorities needed to restore stability, and that the security law would do so. I just dont want to see violence again, he said in an interview in his office tower in Tsim Sha Tsui, a luxury shopping district that was battered by street fighting. I just want Hong Kong to be as developed and prosperous as before. Still, even some who embraced stability wondered about its price. Just as core to Hong Kongs identity as its freewheeling capitalism has been its proud, even gleeful, outspokenness. Street booths often lined the citys busiest shopping districts, blasting duelling political messages. Tiny bookstores crammed into overpriced commercial spaces hawked volumes that were banned in the mainland. Xu Ze, a 22-year-old recent college graduate, said the law was needed to address the terrorism committed by some protesters. He had been horrified by a clash in November, when some demonstrators poured gasoline on a man who had scolded them, then set him ablaze. But Xu also worried that the law could be used to clamp down on dissent, including speech. Xu, who grew up on the mainland before attending university in Hong Kong, had never had a chance to protest at home. Last year, he attended his first demonstration, a small gathering against violence. If Hong Kongers lost the right to protest, he said, I would feel deeply, deeply regretful. Few people in the city know the price of protest better than Rowena He, a historian at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For more than two decades, Rowena He has studied the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, when Chinese troops gunned down protesters in Beijing. Her office is an informal museum of the massacre, with a miniature replica on her bookshelf of the Goddess of Democracy statue that the Tiananmen protesters erected shortly before the killings. On Wednesday, the day after the security law was enacted, one of the professors students decided to walk around Hong Kong, documenting a city on the cusp of change. He sent her a photo of a row of Chinese flags, flapping in the wind. On a sidewalk railing nearby, a banner supporting a pastor imprisoned on the mainland had been ripped in half. You are a real historian, Rowena He responded. Even as old markers of resistance have come down, subtler ones have surfaced. Some protesters have turned to puns and created new meaning from well-worn phrases, a tactic long adopted by mainland internet users to skirt government censorship. On Wednesday, in one of the citys commercial hubs, someone had spray-painted Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves the opening line of Chinas national anthem. And one shop, in place of protest slogans, hung up nearly two dozen posters of propaganda from Mao-era China, including one that proclaimed: Revolution is not a crime, rebellion is reasonable. Vivian Wang, Elaine Yu and Tiffany May c.2020 The New York Times Company Saudi Arabia in June decided to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending the hajj to 1,000 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus Cairo: Saudi Arabia announced health protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the 2020 hajj season, banning gatherings and meetings between pilgrims, the State news agency said on Monday. It was last month that Riyadh decided to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending hajj to 1,000 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus . This, after barring Muslims abroad from the rite for the first year in modern times. Touching the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, will be banned during the hajj, and a social distancing space of a meter and a half between each pilgrim during the rituals, including mass prayers and while in the Kaaba circling area will be imposed, a statement by the Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control elaborated. Also, access to holy hajj sites at Mona, Muzdalifah and Arafat will be limited to those with hajj permits starting Sunday 19 July till 2 August, 2020, and wearing masks all the time will be mandatory for both pilgrims and organisers. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's state minister of military production, Mohamed al-Assar, one of the country's most prominent government and military figures, died on Monday, state media said. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's state minister of military production, Mohamed al-Assar, one of the country's most prominent government and military figures, died on Monday, state media said. He was 74. Local media said he died after a long illness. Assar was a close ally of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who promoted him last month to honorary Lieutenant General. Under Sisi and Assar the military has further expanded into the wider economy and signed business deals with foreign firms and countries. Assar was also a prominent member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which briefly ruled Egypt after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Giles Elgood) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Joe Bidens political trademark was a blue-collar Everyman style, but from the start of his Washington career he had prioritised foreign policy Barack Obama had a China problem. His national security team knew the Chinese Communist Party was getting ready to anoint a new leader. But his aides wanted to better understand the man they expected to assume power, Xi Jinping. It seemed like a job for then-vice-president Joe Biden. Xi was Chinas vice-president at the time, Bidens counterpart and natural interlocutor. Beyond that, Obama and his aides hoped Bidens ingratiating charm and decades of interactions with foreign leaders might allow him to penetrate Xis officially scripted facade. Beginning in early 2011 and during the next 18 months, the two men convened at least eight times, in the United States and China, according to former US officials. They spent more than 25 hours dining privately, joined only by interpreters. Biden made a quick personal connection with the Chinese leader, said Daniel Russel, an aide present at several of the meetings. He was remarkably good in getting to a personal relationship right away and getting Xi to open up, Russel said. Bidens gleaned insights especially his assessment of Xis authoritarian intentions informed Obamas later approach, several Obama aides said in interviews. To voters unsettled by President Donald Trumps disruptive approach to the world, Biden is selling not only his policy prescriptions but also his long track record of befriending, cajoling and sometimes confronting foreign leaders what he might call the power of his informal diplomatic style. Ive dealt with every one of the major world leaders that are out there right now, and they know me. I know them, he told supporters in December. Brett McGurk, a former senior State Department official for the campaign against the Islamic State group, said Biden had been an effective diplomat by practicing strategic empathy. Biden is a foreign policy pragmatist, not an ideologue; his views have long tracked the Democratic mainstream. For a decade before the Iraq War, he was known as a hawk, but more recently he has become a chastened sceptic of foreign intervention. In lieu of grand strategy, he offers what more than 20 current and former US officials described in interviews as a remarkably personal diplomacy derived from his decades in the glad-handing, deal-making hothouse of the Senate. It is an approach grounded in a belief that understanding another leader is as important as understanding his or her nation. Its very Lyndon Johnson-esque, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington who attended many meetings with Biden. Yet Xi has clearly tested the limits of that approach. Bidens record is short on public warnings that the Chinese leader could become the thug that the presumptive Democratic nominee calls him today. And as US relations with China slide from bad to worse, Biden is facing questions about why he did not do more to stiffen Obama administration policy toward Beijing about why his strategic empathy did not come with more strategic vision. That is a point the Trump campaign has sought to make by weaponising Bidens diplomatic dance with Xi. A series of Trump campaign ads shows Biden and Xi clinking glasses against an audio backdrop of Biden waxing lyrical about friendship and cooperation with China. The Biden campaign calls such criticism preposterous from a president who has himself repeatedly praised Xi as a friend and a great leader. But the attack is part of a broader Trump indictment of Biden as Chinas puppet a Washington establishment fixture who misread China and Xi. Bidens critics insist that his emphasis on the personal is not effective at all, that it covers for flawed judgment and a lack of principle. Its little wonder that he claims world leaders have told him they support his election they want to get back to eating Americas lunch again, said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman. The effectiveness of Bidens diplomatic style and how well it might translate to the presidency is hard to measure. As a senator, he produced no landmark foreign-policy legislation or defining doctrines. As vice-president, he was largely a facilitator and adviser to Obama, often overshadowed by the secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and then John Kerry. Asked in an interview to cite instances where his approach to diplomacy proved successful, Biden pointed to his work wrangling international support for the Paris climate accords and for the coalition to fight the Islamic State group, though those were both projects in which others, including Kerry, played major roles. I cant think of any place, to be honest with you, that it didnt work, he added. For example, he continued, before pausing. Well, I could give one example, but I dont think it helps me especially if I get elected, with that particular leader still around. Soon after his January 2001 inauguration, President George W Bush invited Biden to the Oval Office. A foreign policy novice, Bush was seeking insights into world leaders he was soon to encounter. Biden later wrote that the new Republican president had all these other policy people to talk to, but he wanted to talk with another politician who had sat down with these leaders, who maybe had a read on the personalities and the motivations. Bidens political trademark was a blue-collar Everyman style, but from the start of his Washington career he had prioritised foreign policy. In 1979, a 37-year-old Biden met with Chinas leader, Deng Xiaoping, in Beijing, and later recalled the value of seeing firsthand Dengs very real fear of the Soviets. The same year he visited Moscow for nuclear arms talks with Kremlin officials including the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. After a senior official was evasive about Soviet tank numbers, Biden offered a vulgar retort that a translator diluted to, Dont kid a kidder, he later wrote. By his first run for president in 1988, Biden considered himself an expert diplomat. I knew the world and Americas place in it in a way few politicians did, he wrote in a memoir. He marvelled at the personal intimacy of diplomacy. When Obama chose Biden as his 2008 running mate in part for the direct foreign policy experience that Obama lacked it made for a glaring contrast with Bidens Republican rival, Sarah Palin. To drive home the point, Bidens office released a partial list of nearly 150 world leaders from some 60 countries with whom he had met over his career. In tapping Biden, Obama had overlooked his running mates 2002 Iraq War vote, which Biden at the time a leading Democratic advocate of a muscular US foreign policy now says he regrets. Looking forward, the new president tasked Biden with overseeing post-war Iraq, telling aides, He knows the players. But Michael Doran, a national security aide in Bushs White House, argued that many foreign leaders see Biden, who he said had offended allies with his infamous gaffes, as unreliable. The claim that Bidens relationships and experience are an asset has been a part of his standard rhetoric for years, but they mean nothing if people dont trust him, said Doran, now at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. Biden said he had come away from meetings impressed by Xi, who became Chinas president in 2013. Hes a smart guy, Biden said. He would ask very revealing questions. Xi inquired about how the US political system works and how much authority the American president wields over the military and intelligence agencies, Biden said. So my conclusion was he was very much trying to do something that no one had ever done since Deng Xiaoping, and that is to actually control the government, not just the party, he said. Xi has since emerged as a stern authoritarian. Today, Biden speaks of him in more critical terms. This is a guy who is doesnt have a democratic, with a small D, bone in his body, he said during a February Democratic debate. In the interview, Biden suggested that Xi bore significant blame for Chinas secretive initial response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in January, which many experts say cost the world valuable time. It didnt surprise me at all, Biden said. All of which might portend a hostile relationship between the men. Except Biden declined to go further. God willing, I may have to deal with him, he said, and I dont want to burn all of my bridges here. Michael Crowley c.2020 The New York Times Company Posted Monday, July 6, 2020 2:38 pm Two dozen people gathered outside at the Salkum Cemetery in the midst of a pandemic in early April to mark the 100th birthday of a man who gave his life for his country during World War II. Surviving siblings of 1st Lt. Arnold Francis Grose and about 20 motorcyclists gathered April 4 to place a memorial headstone for the WWII aviator near the graves of his parents, Alice and Frank Grose. I was only five years old when Arnold died, recalled Audrey (Grose) Rhodes of Chehalis, one of Arnolds seven siblings. It was hard on my folks when he died the oldest boy. Because of COVID-19, they kept the gathering small, with only Rhodes and her older brother, Cyril Grose of Morton, and a niece and caregiver marking Arnolds birthday at the cemetery. Theyre hoping more family members can visit the memorial in late July during the annual Grose family reunion at Riffe Lake. Im more than proud of him, Rhodes said. Im glad we could do something for him. Arnold, who was born April 4,1920, and moved west with his family during the Great Depression, was working as a logger in Morton in 1941 when he joined the Army Air Corps, where he was assigned to the 365th Bomb Squadron in England. But in June 1943, during a daylight raid over Germany, his B-17, Boom Town, took flak in the wing, caught fire, and an engine exploded, shifting the plane into a flat spin. Five men bailed out, and four survived, but Grose, the copilot, and four others died near Valburg, Holland, where the Flying Fortress crashed in a farmers field. Arnold, 23, was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery near the small village of Margraten, Holland, where for 75 years generations of Dutch families have volunteered to maintain the graves of 8,300 Americans killed during World War II. They are buried on 65 acres just a few miles from the German border. The person who adopted Arnolds grave in Plot I, Row 21, Grave 13 is Eugene van Zinnicq Bergman of Brunssum, a half hour from Margraten. The website for the Foundation for Adopting Graves at the American Cemetery in Margraten constructed in October 1944 is www.adoptiegraven-margraten.nl. We can honor veterans in the United States through the Wreaths Across America program (https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/), where for $15 we can have a wreath placed on the grave of a soldier on National Wreaths Across America Day Dec. 19, 2020. Wreaths are placed at Arlington National Cemetery and 1,600 military cemeteries across the United States, including the Vancouver Barracks and the North Olympic Peninsula cemetery in Sequim. The goal is to remember, honor, and educate. Or we can join the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, which honors the military service of all veterans, living and dead. EDC Smart Tank During the coronavirus pandemic, more people have learned to meet virtually through online programs like Zoom and Google Classroom. On June 26, I joined the Lewis County Economic Development Councils Smart Tank for an hour of learning about Visual Techniques to Grow & Scale Your Business, taught by Angie Moline of Moline Creative in Arizona. It provided interesting information despite a few technical glitches with showing slides over Zoom. This is the EDCs third year of offering Smart Tank, a series of four educational workshops to help students, small-business owners and prospective entrepreneurs learn and flourish. It is presented in partnership with Centralia College. Smart Tank has really been different this year, said Matt Matayoshi, the EDCs executive director. Without being able to meet in person, it has really slowed our momentum. While 14 people attended the in-person workshop in February, only a few were online in June. As with businesses, Matayoshi said the coronavirus pandemic has altered the way the EDC operates. At this point we are working to get hand sanitizer and other supplies to companies that have a need, he said. We are working with Lewis County Together and the Coal Transition Board to do this. The EDC is still working with companies interested in locating businesses in our region. We are planning for additional infrastructure to serve the Winlock industrial park, he said. Most of our industrial buildings in the community are full. There is uncertainty ahead of us, and we will adjust and be effective as possible. Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at chaptersoflife1999@gmail.com. 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. Back in 2014, with the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google announced support for the apps running with 64-bit architecture. Many apps running these days are 64-bit, however Google Chrome was one native app that stayed with a 32-bit design. That is changing finally, as Chrome v85 is moving to a 64-bit version on phones running Android 10 and higher. According to the Google Play Store rules, all apps must be updated to their 64-bit version for all supported devices. Chrome v85 stable is slated to release on August 2020, which puts it well ahead of the deadline. However, it is interesting and maybe a little embarrassing that Google did not release a 64-bit version of Chrome earlier. Moving to 64-bit apps on Android has been a lot slower when compared to iOS. This is largely due to how tightly Apple has their app ecosystem on lockdown and also how fragmented the Android ecosystem is. Google Chrome for Android moving to 64-bit should help improve the overall security and performance. The Chrome Dev and Chrome Canary are now available to download from Google Play Store. Source Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) has agreed to acquire the natural gas transmission and storage assets of Dominion Energy (NYSE:D). The all-cash deal values the assets at $9.7 billion and includes the assumption of $5.7 billion in debt. Berkshire Hathaway will acquire more than 7,700 miles of natural gas pipelines from Dominion, including its 100% interest in Dominion Energy Transmission, the Questar Pipeline, and Carolina Gas Transmission, as well as its 50% stake in the Iroquois Gas Transmission System. Berkshire will also purchase 900 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage assets from Dominion as well as a 25% stake in the Cove Point LNG facility, which is one of six currently operating LNG export terminals in the country. The transaction will transform Berkshire Hathaway Energy into one of the country's largest natural gas transportation businesses. It will carry 18% of all the interstate natural gas transmission volumes in the country, up from 8%. In commenting on the deal, Warren Buffett said, "we are very proud to be adding such a great portfolio of natural gas assets to our already strong energy business." Meanwhile, the deal is transformational for Dominion as well. It will significantly reduce the company's debt while returning its focus to its core electric regulated utility operations. The company also plans to rebase its dividend. It will cut the payout from $3.76 per share to $2.50 per share after closing the transaction, which will improve its dividend payout ratio from 85% to 65%, with the latter more in line with the utility sector's leaders. These moves will enhance Dominion's financial foundation, providing it with greater flexibility to invest in expanding its utility business. In 2020, only a quarter of Americans were confident they'd have enough money saved to live comfortably throughout retirement, according to a poll conducted by Principal. It's not surprising so few people are sure how they'll cope financially in their later years, as saving enough for a secure retirement can be a financial challenge. But there are some habits that can help make that happen. According to Principal's study, confident Americans have done two key things to make sure they'll be ready to retire to a life free of financial worries. 1. Saved a hefty emergency fund Although studies have shown around 62% of Americans are living without an emergency fund, the numbers are very different for those who are confident about their retirement savings. In fact, a whopping 60% of those who feel secure about having enough to live on in retirement have an emergency fund large enough to cover at least seven months of expenses. This is actually more than the recommended minimum fund size, as most experts suggest having at least three to six months of living expenses in reserve. It's not surprising that having an emergency fund makes these Americans more likely to feel secure about their later years, as this money means they won't have to pause retirement investing to cover unexpected expenses, they won't have to raid retirement accounts if they hit a financial rough spot, and they won't have to withdraw too much from their savings if something goes wrong. 2. Worked with a financial professional Having an emergency fund wasn't the only thing that confident Americans had in common. The same number, 6 in 10, had also worked with a financial professional. Getting professional financial help can be beneficial for a number of reasons. A financial professional can offer advice on making a comprehensive plan for how much to save for retirement, what accounts to use, and what to invest money in. If you opt to work with a professional, you'll want to make sure you find someone with the right credentials who charges reasonable fees. You can get recommendations from friends and family or visit NAPFA.org to find an advisor in your area. Talk with any professionals about the scope of their work and make sure you're choosing someone you're comfortable with to guide you. You may also decide you can make a comprehensive financial plan and select investments on your own without this type of assistance. There's nothing wrong with that. And you can still join the ranks of Americans who feel sure they'll have a secure retirement, even without paying for professional advice. The key is to actually sit down, make an informed plan, and monitor your progress over time. Take steps today to become more confident about your retirement prospects If you want to join the minority of Americans who are confident they'll have enough money to live comfortably for the entirety of retirement, you can get started on achieving that goal today. Like the other Americans who feel their future is secure, you can save up an emergency fund to help you weather the 2020 recession or any other economic downturns or surprise expenses that crop up. And whether you work with a financial professional or do it on your own, you can create and begin executing a plan to save and invest wisely for your future. Putting in the effort to do that is worth it, since the last thing you want is to spend your later years worried about running out of cash. ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Anglers and crew on board the Fleur-de-lis, a 72' Viking out of Grand Isle, Louisiana, owned by Keith and Ginger Myers had quite a weekend resulting in a new Alabama state record for blue marlin. Ginger Myers caught an 851.9 pound blue marlin making her not only the pending record holder for the state of Alabama but also positions her to have the largest blue marlin caught by a lady angler in the Gulf of Mexico. Her fish is the blue marlin category leader in the 2020 MONGO Offshore Challenge. The Fleur-de-lis crew consisting of Captain Scooter Porto, Mates Zachary Taylor, and Jake Glass weighed their MONGO blue marlin in at Orange Beach Marina on Sunday night in front of a crowd. Their fish will be hard to beat but registered MONGO Offshore Challenge teams will have until October 15th to try. Arriving on campus for the first time as a freshman can be stressful for a multitude of reasons, so keeping yourself busy is key to settling into a healthy routine. In order to get into this new college lifestyle, Virginia Tech provides its students with plenty of opportunities outside the c GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina)- The Greenville City Police Department says they arrested a suspect after one person was killed during a fatal shooting on Saturday on Jenkins Street. ANDERSON, SC (FOX CAROLINA) -The Anderson County Sheriff's Office says a man threw about 80 grams of meth out of the window while he was trying to flee from deputies during a traffic stop. I do. I think were doing the best we can on a tough issue I dont. I think we need to step it up I dont know enough about the issue Vote View Results 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. The Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce promoted Kyle F. Allwine to Vice President of Membership and Government Affairs. He joined the Chambers staff in July 2017 as its Community Advancement Manager, and was named Director of Government Affairs in 2019. Allwine also serves as the program coordinator for Leadership Fredericksburg and is responsible for management of the Chambers marketing and events departments. "The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was an invaluable gas infrastructure investment that would spur economic development," Virginia Chamber President and CEO Barry DuVal said Sunday. "Unfortunately, today's announcement detrimentally impacts the commonwealth's access to affordable, reliable energy," DuVal said. "It also demonstrates the significant regulatory burdens businesses must deal with in order to operate." The decision to end the project also didn't sit well with House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, a strong critic of legislation adopted by the new Democratic majorities in the General Assembly this year to move Virginia away from fossil fuels and instead expand use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. Dont ever again let a Virginia Democrat tell you they want you to have cheap and reliable sources of energy," Gilbert said Sunday on Twitter. "Dont ever again believe them when they purport to care about those least able to pay for their energy policies. Never again. But Michael Towns, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters, said, "With this pipeline out of the way, Virginias clean energy future is that much closer. Where it is in the Smithsonian now, its with a whole bunch of other planes. You cant see or it or appreciate it there, said Hornung. Hornung said the airport exhibit would also feature a video presentation to tell the story of Langley and his aircraft. Its long overdue, said Hornung. This was the first time in the history of mankind that mechanical flight, heavier-than-air, was demonstrated, and it happened here in Stafford. Hornung said Langley was never successful with a manned flight off the Widewater coast. But Hornung added that Langley didnt become interested in flight until he was 50 years old, then persevered with a determined spirit throughout his endeavor to launch a successful flight. In a June 1897 article published in The Strand magazine, titled The New Flying Machine, Langley looked back on the Aerodrome No. 5 project: I have brought to a close the portion of the work which seemed to be specially minethe demonstration of the practicability of mechanical flight; and for the next stage, which is the commercial and practical development of the idea, it is probable that the world may look to others. The world, indeed, will be supine if it does not realize that a new possibility has come to it, and that the great universal highway overhead is now soon to be opened. James Scott Baron: 540/374-5438 jbaron@freelancestar.com Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A celebration of life for Barabra Zackery, 79, of Gainesville, will be held at a later date. A full obituary will be published when service times have been scheduled. Barbara passed away on June 15, 2021 in Gainesville. You may sign the online registry at www.geojcarroll.com. File photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows a Huawei 5G mobile phone testing speed in Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) "All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown," said Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei. LONDON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese technology firm Huawei said Sunday that it remains "open to discussions" with the British government and is working closely with its customers to find ways of managing the proposed U.S. restrictions so Britain can maintain its current lead in 5G. The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that it will impose new restrictions on Huawei's acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain U.S. software and technology. Huawei said in a previous statement that it "categorically opposes the amendments made by the U.S. Department of Commerce to its foreign direct product rule that target Huawei specifically." The British government announced in January its new plans to safeguard the country's telecoms network, which is widely seen as approving a restricted role for Huawei in helping build the country's 5G network. But the British government is reviewing the impact of the U.S. restrictions on Huawei and will make a statement regarding the issue later this month, according to local media. File photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain.(Xinhua/Han Yan) In Sunday's statement, Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: "We believe it is too early to determine the impact of the proposed restrictions, which are not about security, but about market position." "All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown," said Zhang. An executive of Vodafone has warned that Britain's hopes of leading the world in 5G technology would be dealt a terminal blow if the government removes Huawei from the country's telecoms infrastructure, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported last month. "The UK's leadership in 5G will be lost if mobile operators are forced to spend time and money replacing existing equipment," Scott Petty, chief technology officer at Vodafone UK, told FT. The Chinese technology company has been operating in the British market for some two decades. It employs 1,600 people in Britain and supplies telecoms network equipment to all the major mobile and broadband service providers in the country. The handout concept image provided by Huawei shows the first phase of a state-of-the-art center to be built in Cambridge, Britain. (Xinhua) Recently, Huawei announced that it will build a state-of-the-art center in Cambridge, Britain, which will focus on the research, development, and manufacturing of optical devices and modules. Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 78F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Clear. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Tomorrow Mostly sunny skies. High 83F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Galveston, TX (77553) Today Thunderstorms in the morning, then partly cloudy late. High 89F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly early. Low 82F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Dance legend Carl Cox has shared his thoughts on the wave of illegal raves hitting the UK while the country battles COVID-19. The DJ chatted with Sky News about the raves, saying it's 'not the answer' and putting blame on the government. Cox told Sky News that with social distancing in effect, nightlife simply can't operate as normal, saying that "illegal parties are basically done out of frustration." "Just done out of showing it's our right to do what we want to do," he added. "It's not the answer to this." Last month two illegal raves drew over 6,000 people. Unfortunately, at said raves three men were stabbed, one man died of a suspected drug overdose, and police were reportedly investigating the rape of an 18-year-old woman. Pubs and restaurants in the UK were allowed to reopen as of Saturday, while clubs and music venues remain closed - as they have been for the last four months. The signs of the time can be found along the streets of Gilbert as candidates and their supporters mounted posters in advance of the Aug. 4 Primary Election. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. US intelligence involved in 'drug trafficking' in Afghanistan: Russia envoy Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 2:38 PM The Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan says the US intelligence has been involved in "drug trafficking" in the country, while dismissing accusations by Washington that Moscow has colluded with the Taliban to kill American troops. Zamir Kabulov was quoted by Russia's TASS News Agency as making the comment on Sunday, after The New York Times claimed in an article that Russian military intelligence had offered "rewards" to Taliban-linked militants for attacks on American soldiers and other coalition troops in Afghanistan. Moscow has vehemently denied the allegations, calling the article fake news. "Those wonderful US intelligence officers, who accuse us of different things, are involved in drug trafficking. Their planes from Kandahar, from Bagram [airfield near Kabul] are flying wherever they want to - to Germany, to Romania - without any inspections," Kabulov said. Kabulov underlined that US involvement in drug trafficking to Europe through uncharted planes is an open secret in Afghanistan, saying, "Every citizen of Kabul will tell you that, everyone is ready to talk about that." US President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post last week that US intelligence did not find the Times story credible. The Taliban likewise have denied having had any deal with the Russian intelligence services. The United Nations says more than 80 percent of the world's opium is produced in Afghanistan and the bulk of narcotics produced in the country are destined for European states. The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 shortly after the September 11 attacks. While the invasion ended the Taliban's rule in the country, it has failed to eliminate the militant group. American forces have since remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump. About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown numbers of Afghan troops and Taliban militants. Over 100,000 Afghans have been killed or injured since 2009 when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties. There have been no reported attacks by the militant group on the US positions since Washington and the Taliban reached an agreement in February. US redeployment of B-52H in Guam a blatant show of muscle: expert Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/5 23:48:40 The move by the Pentagon to relocate the B-52H strategic bomber to Guam in the western Pacific and dual US aircraft carriers staging exercises in the South China Sea amid large-scale exercises conducted by the People's Liberation Army's Navy in the South China Sea is not a coincidence but a blatant "show of muscle." The bomber, which is capable of carrying cruise missiles and nuclear bombs, took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in the US on Saturday and arrived at Guam after a 28-hour flight to demonstrate the commitment of the US Indo-Pacific Command to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, Russian media sputnik reported. A B-52H bomber took off from its home station and participated in a maritime integration exercise with the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups in the South China Sea before landing at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, the website of the US Pacific Air Forces reported. The "Bomber Task Force demonstrates US capability to rapidly deploy to a forward operating base and execute long-range strike missions," said Lt. Col. Christopher Duff, the 96th Bomb Squadron commander. "This sortie demonstrates our ability to reach out from a home station, fly anywhere in the world and execute those missions, rapidly regenerating from a forward operating base and continuing operations." The US Navy announced on Saturday that two strike groups with the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan as their flagships would begin cruising in the South China Sea. The US Pacific Fleet said that in the course of air defense and air strike operations, aircraft carrier strike groups with frigates will practice against "possible attacks by the enemy." Bombers including the B-52H, along with intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic nuclear-powered submarines, are regarded as the three major nuclear weapon delivery platforms of the US. B-52H bombers can carry up to 31 tons of explosives more than 6,400 kilometers and can carry out its mission alone. The B-52 is the backbone of the US bomber force. It has a history of more than 60 years. The US military is expected to use the B-52 bomber until 2050. Wang Ya'nan, an expert on aircraft and chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, told the Global Times on Sunday that it is not a coincidence but collusion between the redeployment of B-52H and the maritime drill in the South China Sea in order to display the US' long-range strike force in Guam. It is also aimed to show the muscle of US aircraft carrier battle group. Wang said that the US military is apparently aiming to "show off its muscle." "By conducting massive military exercises in the South China Sea, they intend to show their forces more clearly to China," Wang said. Wang believes that the US' B52 and B1B bombers all carry anti-ship missiles, but are not usually used in massive military exercises. The US previously deployed B-1B bombers, which carried long-range anti-ship missiles, for patrol missions while B-52H bombers have showed different powers in different exercises depending on the subjects, according to Wang. "The most powerful display of the B-52H is in live fire exercises at sea, while the bombers also have the ability for air refueling and loaded cruising," Wang said. According to the website of the US Pacific Air Forces, B-52H bombers and carrier-borne aircraft have conducted flying in formation. The B-52H strategic bomber was deployed again in Guam after three months. On April 17, the US military withdrew five B-52H bombers deployed at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam from the Guam base. This is the first time the B-52 bomber has been completely withdrawn from Guam base since 2004. The redeployment of the B-52H to Guam further embodies the US military's combat concept of a "dynamic force employment." Its purpose is to make major military deployments unpredictable so as to make potential opponents such as China and Russia nervous, analysts said. Therefore, it can be predicted that the redeployed B-52H strategic bomber will perform cruise operations in the waters near the South China Sea and the East China Sea to flex their muscles, they said. Wang said US bomber forces will continue to exist in Guam. Although the B52 has a long history, it is equipped with a long-range precision guided weapon that can be launched in the air. Its targets can include surface ships targets in the nearby waters centered on Guam or even further away. In other words, it can constitute a relatively large threat to US marine opponents. The US military now regards the Guam base as a base with sea power advantages over the entire West Pacific, Wang said. Israel to build over 160 new settler units in occupied West Bank Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 4:10 PM Israeli officials are planning to construct new housing units in the occupied West Bank irrespective of an international outcry against the Tel Aviv regime's settlement expansion policies, besides its contentious plans to annex large parts of the Palestinian territories. The head of the Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem, Hassan Bureijia, said in a statement on Sunday that High Planning Committee of the Israeli Civil Administration has approved the construction of 164 housing units in Neve Daniel settlement in southern Bethlehem, Arabic-language Ma'an news agency reported. Bureijia added that the project will create a new neighborhood built on Palestinian-owned land seized in the town of Khader, located 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) west of Bethlehem, and Nahalin village. More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel's settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions. Less than a month before US President Donald Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council in December 2016 adopted Resolution 2334, calling on Israel to "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem" al-Quds. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel's continued settlement expansion. 'Efforts underway to form international coalition against Israel annexation plans' Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat says Palestinian authorities have been mobilizing efforts with the United Nations General Assembly in order to forge an international coalition against the Israeli regime's annexation plans. Erekat told the Arabic-language Voice of Palestine radio station on Sunday that the coalition will hold Israeli authorities to account in case such a measure is implemented. He added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been reaching out to world leaders to remind them that any Israeli annexation means the Palestinians would no longer bear any commitment to agreements struck with Tel Aviv and Washington. "According to the annexation plan, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants to downgrade the role of the Palestinian Authority to a servant and a tool for the perpetuation and continuation of the occupation. This falls within the framework of the [so-called] deal of the century and will never happen," Erekat said. The deal of the century envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as "Israel's undivided capital" and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley. The plan also denies Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland, among other controversial terms. Trump's plan has triggered waves of protest around the globe. Many Palestinians believe the Israeli plans to annex one-third of the already illegally occupied West Bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley, is only a formality and a de facto Israeli occupation of their land has been under way for many years. "Israel's annexation plan has been in process since 1967," said Salah Khawaja, coordinator of an anti-occupation campaign called the Popular Committee to Resist the Wall and the Settlements. "Israel has since built settlements and the wall. And so, annexation has been ongoing for a long time," he added. Kuwait calls for decisive Arab, intl. stance against Israel's annexation plan Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 3:21 PM Kuwait has strongly denounced the Israeli regime's plan to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, calling on the international community to take a united stance against the move. Kuwait's National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim in a press release on Sunday stressed his country's rejection of Israel's ploy to annex the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, and called for decisive Arab and international reactions against "Israel's aggressive unilateral steps". Ghanim expressed his readiness to work with international parliamentary forums to expose Israel's vicious practices and rally an international position against them. During a telephone conversation with Jordanian counterpart and chairman of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Atef Tarawneh, Ghanim also discussed a variety of possible actions against Israel. Last month, an Arab group headed by Kuwait opposed Israel's nomination bid for a legal committee at the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September. In a letter to the UN chief, Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said the group had concerns and considered Israel ineligible for membership in the bureau because of its ongoing and systematic violations of international law and many UN resolutions for more than seven decades. Meanwhile, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that a third intifada (uprising) could be just around the corner if Israel goes ahead with its highly-contentious annexation plan. Israel's ruling coalition, led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had announced July 1 as the date to begin moving forward with the scheme to impose "sovereignty" over about a third of the West Bank, including settlements and the fertile Jordan Valley. The regime, however, failed to launch the land grab bid on the set date amid widening differences between Netanyahu and his coalition partner, minister of military affairs Benny Gantz. Israeli labor, social affairs and services minister Ofir Akunis stressed that officials were still working out the details of the plan with their American counterparts. US President Donald Trump had already given Tel Aviv the green light for the land grab in his self-proclaimed "deal of the century," which was unveiled in January with the aim of re-drawing the Middle East map. But, there have been indications of Trump's waning support for the annexation deal, with some analysts arguing that the US president has already too much on his plate to deal with in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis gripping the United States ahead of the November presidential election, and therefore is not in a situation to continue his controversial support for Netanyahu's land grab project. Israel's planned push to illegally consolidate its occupation of Palestine has drawn fierce international condemnations even from some of the regime's closest allies. The UN, the EU and key Arab countries have all said the West Bank annexation would violate international law and undermine the prospects of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 boundaries. At a joint press conference this week, Palestinian groups of Hamas and Fatah pledged unity against Israel's annexation of Palestinian areas and vowed to "topple" Trump's so-called Middle East plan. The plan has faced growing international criticism because Israel intends to annex the lands that were occupied after the 1967 war. More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built on the land since the occupation. All previous foreign-mediated agreements between Palestinians and Israelis as well as repeated UN resolutions have mandated Tel Aviv to withdraw behind the 1967 borders. The international community views the entire West Bank and the eastern part of the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as home to an independent Palestinian state in the future. Daesh kills 2, including 5-year-old, in Nigeria Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 6:39 AM Takfiri Daesh terrorists have killed two civilians, including a five-year-old, in an attack in northeast Nigeria, the United Nations (UN) says. Edward Kallon, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said in a statement on Saturday that the fatalities took place during an attack by the so-called West Africa Province (ISWAP) branch of Daesh in the town of Damasak in the northeastern Borno State. The assault left several others injured. Kallon said the terrorists also fired at and damaged a helicopter used to dispatch humanitarian support to the civilian population in vulnerable and hard-to-reach Nigerian states. He said no aid workers were on board at the time and crew members were all safe. Kallon also called on the Nigerian authorities to reinforce the safety and security of humanitarian workers in the country's northeast, which is close to the border with Niger and dominated by the ISWAP. "I strongly condemn any attack against civilians, humanitarian assets or aid workers and call on all armed parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian property and personnel," Kallon said. The attack was the second deadly assault against civilians and aid workers within a month. The ISWAP made an alliance with the Boko Haram terrorist group in 2015 before separating in 2016. ISWAP has been launching numerous attacks in Nigeria since Daesh lost all its urban strongholds in Iraq and Syria to government troops and allied fighters. Both ISWAP and Boko Haram are notorious for ambushing military and civilian convoys on highways and abducting travelers at fake checkpoints. Around 36,000 people have been killed in the decade-long Takfiri terrorism which has spilled over into neighboring Chad, Niger, and Cameroon and forced more than two million people to flee their homes. Israel's annexation of Palestinian lands could trigger 3rd intifada: Abbas' aide Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 5:40 AM An adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that a third intifada (uprising) could be just around the corner if Israel goes ahead with its highly-contentious plan to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territories. Speaking to France 24 Arabic on Saturday, Nabil Shaath said that the two major Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, which are based in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively, are in agreement about a new intifada if Israel annexes the West Bank. "When things flare up and it becomes a fully-fledged intifada, we will see a combination of forces between Gaza and the West Bank," he said. Shaath also noted that he expected the potential Palestinian uprising to be funded by the Arab world. The first intifada, which took place in 1987-1993, involved Palestinian demonstrations, mass boycotts and general strikes as well as attacks on Israeli forces using rocks, Molotov cocktails, and firearms. The second intifada featured many more pitched gun battles and bombings. It began in 2000 and lasted until 2005, leaving 3,200 Palestinians and about 1,000 Israelis dead. Israel's ruling coalition, led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had announced July 1 as the date to begin moving forward with the scheme to impose "sovereignty" over about a third of the West Bank, including settlements and the fertile Jordan Valley. The regime, however, failed to launch the land grab bid on the set date amid widening differences between Netanyahu and his coalition partner, minister of military affairs Benny Gantz. Israeli labor, social affairs and services minister Ofir Akunis stressed that officials were still working out the details of the plan with their American counterparts. Akunis also said that he expected the annexation to take place later this month after US President Donald Trump issued a declaration on the matter. The US president had already given Tel Aviv the green light for the land grab in his self-proclaimed "deal of the century," which was unveiled in January with the aim of re-drawing the Middle East map. But recently there have been indications of Trump's waning support for the annexation deal, with some analysts arguing that the US president already has too much on his plate to deal with in light of the upcoming elections and the COVID-19 crisis gripping the United States, and therefore is not in a situation to continue his controversial support for Netanyahu's land grab project. Israel's planned push to illegally consolidate its occupation of Palestine has drawn fierce international condemnations even from some of the regime's closest allies. The UN, the EU and key Arab countries have all said the West Bank annexation would violate international law and undermine the prospects of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 boundaries. At a joint press conference on July 2, Hamas and Fatah pledged unity against Israel's annexation of Palestinian areas and vowed to "topple" Trump's Middle East plan. Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh of opposition Joint List party also attended the conference. "I'm taking part in the conference in Ramallah to support Palestinian reconciliation moves. Reconciliation between the factions is a necessary step in combating annexation, ending the occupation and achieving a just peace," he said in a statement. US sending aircraft carriers to the South China Sea during Chinese drills Iran Press TV Saturday, 04 July 2020 4:53 PM The United States is sending two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea to hold military exercises at the same time China is holding drills in the area. China announced last week that it was scheduled to hold a five-day drill starting on July 1 in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands. The US Navy said in a statement on Saturday that it was sending the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz to carry out operations and exercises in the South China Sea "to support a free and open Indo-Pacific." In its statement, the navy did not say exactly where the exercises were being conducted in the South China Sea, which extends for some 1,500 kilometres and is mostly claimed sovereignty to by Beijing. The Wall Street Journal quoted Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff as as saying that the US Navy exercises were not a response to those being conducted by China's navy forces. Wikoff, who is commander of the strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan, claimed the purpose of the drill was show Washington's regional allies its commitment to security and stability in the disputed waters. "The purpose is to show an unambiguous signal to our partners and allies that we are committed to regional security and stability," he said as quoted by the WSJ. Earlier this week, Pentagon had criticized China for the drills, saying they were "counter-productive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability" in the region. On Friday, China dismissed concerns raised by the US about China's presence in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said "non-regional countries" had traveled a long distance to conduct large-scale military activities in the South China Sea, stressing that provocative moves in Chinese territorial waters were the source of tensions and instability in the region. Some of the world's main water routes, where trillions of dollars worth of good are annually transited, pass through the South China Sea. However, parts of the South China Sea, which are said to have untapped oil and gas reserves in them, are also claimed by China's neighboring countries, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. US Expands Remote Pacific Military Base Amid Regional Standoff With China: Report Sputnik News 09:38 GMT 05.07.2020 In late June, a Chinese government think tank warned of a possible military conflict due to the US military's "unprecedented" deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. War Zone has reported about "substantial improvements" to the secretive US military base on Wake Island, described by the news outlet as "America's remote outpost deep in the Pacific". "The major expansions to the [Wake Island] airfield began early this year and are still underway today", War Zone said, referring to new satellite imagery that it obtained from the private American imaging company Planet Labs. The improvements include a large apron expansion on the eastern side of the airfield, construction in the support area to the north, and a complete rebuilding of the runway. War Zone editor Tyler Rogoway pointed to Wake Island's "key fallback position" in case of a possible armed conflict with China, which he said would almost certainly affect a key US naval base on the island of Guam. The reported expansion of the Wake Island base comes amid an ongoing standoff between Washington and Beijing in the Asia-Pacific region as the sides continue sending warships to the area for naval drills. On Saturday, American strike group commander Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff was cited by The Wall Street Journal as saying that the US Navy is sending two aircraft carriers, the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, to the South China Sea to take part in war games. The deployment followed the Chinese Foreign Ministry rejecting the US Department of Defence's crtiticism of Beijing's own drills in the South China Sea, which the ministry said are being conducted in sync with the country's sovereignty. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the exercises as "highly provocative", adding that Washington "opposes Beijing's unlawful claims [to the South China Sea]". Apart from China, territories are claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The US, in turn, challenges Beijing by carrying out "Freedom of Navigation" missions in the area, angering China which rejects such operations as "provocations". In late June, Wu Shicun, head of the National Institute of South China Sea Studies, a Chinese government think tank, called the US military deployment in the Asia-Pacific region "unprecedented". He argued in an interview with the AFP news agency that "the possibility of a military incident or an accidental shot fired [in the region] is rising". According to Wu, the US has deployed around 375,000 soldiers and around 60% of its warships to the region, including three of its aircraft carriers. He underlined that China does not "envisage a new cold or hot [war] with the US" but warned that "deteriorating military relations would substantially increase the possibility of a dangerous incident, a conflict, or even a crisis". Rear Adm. Stephen Koehler, US Navy Indo-Pacific Command Director of Operations, for his part, touted aircraft carriers and carrier strike groups as "phenomenal symbols of American naval power". He added while the Indo-Pacific deployment isn't something the US will be able to sustain permanently, "it's something we can do when we want to". In late 2019, Washington voiced concern over the growing capabilities of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the Pacific after the size of the Chinese Navy reportedly outstripped that of the US by about 300 ships. The Pentagon responded to the shifting balance of forces by ordering new classes of anti-ship missiles, introducing the concept of mini-carriers, and proposing the downsizing of strike groups. Sputnik Al-Shabab Militants Abduct, Kill Somali Lawmaker By VOA News July 05, 2020 A regional Somali lawmaker has been abducted and killed by al-Shabab militants near the town of Bal'ad, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu. Mohamed Mohamud Siyad was travelling in a vehicle from Jowhar town to the capital Mogadishu when he was abducted on Sunday, a security source told VOA Somali. The vehicle Siyad was travelling in was stopped near the village of Gololey, north of Bal'ad. The militants drove the vehicle off the road. Officials say they believe the lawmaker was killed soon after he was removed from the vehicle. The militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the lawmaker. Al-Shabab has been attacking the road between Jowhar and Mogadishu frequently over the last three years. In September last year, five regional officials including a former trade minister, a finance official and a humanitarian worker were killed in an explosion from an improvised explosive device. In June of 2018, two regional lawmakers were among 11 people killed in an al-Shabab ambush while traveling on the same road. No public activity, access to July 4 celebration in US Houston Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/7/5 9:58:08 There is no public activity and access to the annual Houston Fourth of July celebration Saturday night as COVID-19 continues its rapid spread in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Texas Health and Human Services, as of Saturday, there are 191,790 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the state, an increase of 8,258 from Friday. The death toll reached 2,608. "Freedom Over Texas," Houston's annual Fourth of July celebration, will be held without public activities or public access due to the continued fast spread of the coronavirus. In a written statement, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said, "The city of Houston will celebrate freedom this year, but out of an abundance of caution during the COVID-19 pandemic, we want people to stay home and watch the fireworks." "The virtual celebration will include a dazzling display of red, white, and blue as we reflect on the history of our country and the challenging events of 2020," the statement continued. Following Texas Governor Greg Abbott's statewide face covering mandate, Lina Hidalgo, judge of Harris County where Houston is located, has issued an order prohibiting outdoor gatherings of 10 or more people. The order went into effect on July 3, and will last until Aug. 26. The order came at a time when people are celebrating Fourth of July weekend. According to the order, fireworks displays that were permitted in unincorporated Harris County and are viewed from inside a motor vehicle are permitted. Also, fireworks displays and gatherings with more than 100 people viewing them from outside a vehicle are prohibited. Spain's Catalonia places 200,000 people back into lockdown following rise in COVID-19 cases Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/7/5 10:27:22 The Catalan regional government on Saturday decided to re-impose a lockdown that will affect over 200,000 people in and around the city of Lleida, northeast Spain due to a localized rise in COVID-19 cases. This is the first such measure to be introduced since Spain ended its State of Alarm allowing the return of free movement around the country on June 21. Regional leader Quim Torra explained that the decision has been made after a "considerable increase" in the number of coronavirus cases in the Segria region, which covers Lleida, its capital, and the surrounding area of 38 municipalities. Almost 350 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the Segria region over the past week, many of them among temporary fruit pickers, and a temporary field hospital has been set up in Lleida. The lockdown will last for an initial period of 15 days. Miquel Buch, head of the Catalan interior department, has confirmed an end to free movement "from 12:00 hours on July 4, 2020 till a new resolution is adopted." Only those who have to move for "force majeure" and work purposes, such as the provision of services, commerce, and business activities, will be allowed to go out. The Catalan authority has also prohibited meetings of more than 10 people and recommended that older residents remain indoors. Around 200 members of the Catalan regional police force (Mossos d'Esquadra) will be deployed at various points to enforce the lockdown. Catalonia is the second region in Spain hardest hit by the coronavirus. The Spanish Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that out of 62,057 infections in the region, 834 were diagnosed in the last seven days, and 5,673 people have succumbed to COVID-19. Chinese mainland reports 8 new confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 10:36, July 05, 2020 BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Sunday that it received reports of eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Saturday, of which two were domestically transmitted. The domestically transmitted cases were reported in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. One new suspected case from overseas was reported in Shanghai, and no deaths related to the disease were reported Saturday, according to the commission. On Saturday, seven people were discharged from hospitals after recovery. As of Saturday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,553, including 403 patients who were still being treated. Altogether 78,516 people had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 had died of the disease, the commission said. Six new imported cases -- three in Gansu Province, one in Tianjin, one in Shanghai and one in Sichuan Province -- were reported Saturday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,931. Of the cases, 1,863 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 68 remained hospitalized. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported. The commission said seven people, including three from overseas, were still suspected of being infected with the virus. According to the commission, 4,201 close contacts were still under medical observation after 1,072 people were discharged from medical observation Saturday. Also on Saturday, seven new asymptomatic cases, all from overseas, were reported on the mainland and one asymptomatic case was re-categorized as confirmed one. The commission said 99 asymptomatic cases, including 63 from overseas, were still under medical observation. By Saturday, 1,258 confirmed cases including seven deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 46 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 449 in Taiwan including seven deaths. A total of 1,145 patients in the Hong Kong SAR, 45 in the Macao SAR, and 438 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery. WHO notes all-time high in coronavirus cases in 24 hours +World updates Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 7:23 AM The World Health Organization (WHO) says the number of new coronavirus infections reached a record high at 212,326 cases in the past 24 hours for the first time since a global pandemic was declared early this year. The WHO said on Saturday that the largest number of daily cases were recorded in the United States, Brazil, and India. The US now has 2,839,436 confirmed cases, and a death toll of nearly 130,000. Brazil's cases have surpassed 1.5 million, and the country now has almost 65,000 fatalities. India has recorded over 673,000 known cases and more than 19,000 deaths. WHO stops trials of 2 drugs The WHO also said it was discontinuing large multi-country trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and HIV combination drug lopinavir/ritonavir. "These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care," the WHO said in a statement. Meanwhile, another WHO-led trial is looking at the potential effects of remdesivir on patients ill with the viral infection. On Friday, the European Commission gave the drug conditional approval after it was shown to shorten hospital recovery times for the patients. The virus has now infected some 11,267,309 people and killed 530,858 around the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Some 6,044,585 patients have also recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Below is the latest on the coronavirus pandemic from around the world: Brazil Brazil reported 37,923 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, along with 1,091 deaths, according to the country's Health Ministry. Brazil has now registered a total of 1,577,004 cases and 64,265 deaths. Mexico Mexico on Saturday reported 523 new deaths, taking the country's overall tally to 30,366, the Mexican Health Ministry said. Mexico has now overtaken France to become the fifth-worst-affected nation in the world. The ministry also reported 6,914 new cases of the infection on Saturday. Cases now total at 252,165. Germany Germany's reported cases of the disease increased by 239 to 196,335, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll also rose by 2 to 9,012. India India reported its highest single-day spike in new cases on Saturday, with over 22,000 positive cases of COVID-19 and 442 deaths. India, the world's second-most populous country, after China, now ranks fourth in terms of caseload, with over 673,165 cases. India's death toll stands at 19,268. 'Stay the course together to emerge stronger' from COVID-19 crisis: UN chief's message to major sustainability forum 5 July 2020 - As a major United Nations forum prepares to assess progress towards a fairer future for people and the planet, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that each of the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which formally begins on Tuesday, is an annual stock-take of the world's progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, senior government figures are meeting virtually, via video-conferencing software, to discuss and debate ways to tackle some of the world's biggest challenges; from poverty, to climate change, peace and security, and gender equality. National plans in the spotlight Countries will have the opportunity to present their updated plans for making the 17 Goals a reality (known as Voluntary National Reviews), and several UN, and other intergovernmental bodies will also provide input to the discussions. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many aspects of society, and the economy, is reflected in the 2020 programme: the theme of "building back better" after the pandemic is the background to many of the sessions over the major 10-day conference, covering such areas as poverty reduction, financing for developing countries, protecting the planet, and access to sustainable energy. A decade of action The Secretary-General's latest report on progress towards the SDGs, which will form the basis of discussions, notes that 2020 marks the beginning of a "decade of action and delivery for sustainable development", during which the pace and scale at which the goals are achieved will be ramped up. The report notes that the global crisis resulting from the spread of COVID-19, has had a major effect on these targets, with health systems overwhelmed, businesses shut down, and 1.6 billion students kept out of school; the poor and vulnerable have borne the brunt of the pandemic, and tens of millions are expected to experience extreme hunger and poverty. Focus on inequality and climate change The discussions held during the forum will also be informed by a second report from the Secretary-General, which focuses on how to deliver the SDGs, in light of the pandemic. In it, the UN chief outlines two overarching themes: reducing inequality, by making economies more sustainable and just; and committing to "rapid and sustained" carbon dioxide reductions. The first theme is described as a key strategy to reduce global poverty. Progress towards reduction has slowed in recent years, and it is projected that in 2020 alone, the pandemic could lead to up to 49 million people falling into poverty. Improving income distribution, says the report, can make a major impact, not only in keeping people above the poverty line, but also in contributing to faster economic growth, as the poorest in society gain greater spending power. Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases, is essential if the international community's goal of keeping an overall global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is to be met. Policies and strategies currently in place, warns the report, do not go far enough, and there is a real risk of significantly overshooting the target. The Secretary-General declares, in the report, that ambitious and immediate climate action is the only viable pathway that limits climate change, whilst protecting people, livelihoods and natural ecosystems. Such action would also see a tangible net economic benefit, saving the global economy tens of trillions of dollars. The UN chief's progress report highlights the importance of international cooperation and solidarity in recovering from the crisis, a "large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response", amounting to at least 10 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP). Mr. Guterres raises the prospect of a post-pandemic global economy that "builds back better", with measures in place that reduce the risk of future crises and bring the world closer to achieving the 2030 Agenda. WHO: World Sets Record Daily Jump in Coronavirus Cases By VOA News July 05, 2020 The world saw a record 24-hour increase in the number of coronavirus cases Saturday 212,326, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. The United States, Brazil and India led with the largest increases, the WHO daily report said. The previous record reported by the WHO was 189,077 on June 28. Deaths continue to be about 5,000 a day. Worldwide, there are nearly 11 million confirmed cases, according to the WHO. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported an increase Saturday of 52,492 cases for a total of 2,785,023. Deaths rose by almost 750 to 129,397. The U.S. set its daily total record of more than 55,000 on Thursday. Brazil reported 48,105 new cases Saturday for a total of nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases and nearly 62,000 deaths. India followed with nearly 23,000 new cases Saturday for a total of nearly 650,000 and total deaths of more than 18,600. In the U.S., Florida reported a record number of new confirmed cases, nearly 11,500, Saturday, the state health department said. The Southern U.S. state has seen its new cases rise by more than 10,000 twice in the three days. Texas also reported its biggest daily increase in cases Saturday, with more than 8,200 cases, and hospitalizations rose to a new high. As of Friday, the entire state is under orders from the governor to wear a face covering in public or face a $250 fine. U.S. President Donald Trump did not mention the 130,000 COVID deaths at a July 4 celebration at the White House Saturday. Despite all the apparent setbacks as the U.S. struggles to contain the outbreak, Trump said that the country's coronavirus "strategy is moving along well." He also said the country would likely have a coronavirus vaccine or therapeutic by the end of the year, something scientists say would be exceptionally quick. While the number of coronavirus infections has risen drastically recently, the nation's average daily death toll has gradually declined because more of the recent positive cases are younger people who are less likely to have severe outcomes. However, the percentage of positive tests is rising a key indicator of community spread in at least 18 states, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The WHO says a rate of more than 5 percent is concerning. Twenty-seven states are at 5 percent or above, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Eleven of those states averaged double-digit rates over the past seven days: Arizona (26 percent), Florida (18 percent), Nevada (16 percent), South Carolina (15 percent), Alabama (15 percent), Texas (14.5 percent), Mississippi (14 percent), Georgia (13 percent), Idaho (11 percent), Kansas (10 percent) and Utah (10 percent). That's up from four states with double-digit rates two weeks ago. Elsewhere around the world, England took its biggest step toward a return to normal Saturday when it allowed pubs, barbers and movie theaters to reopen. "Let's not blow it now," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged fellow Brits as they headed out for a pint or a haircut. As other countries have emerged from lockdown, authorities have been working to quash virus clusters as they have popped up. Some examples: Australia's Victoria state locked down nine public housing towers and three more Melbourne suburbs after 108 new cases. Premier Daniel Andrews said 3,000 people in the towers and "there will be no one allowed in ... and no one allowed out." Authorities in northeast Spain ordered a lockdown of El Segria county around the city of Lleida, home to more than 200,000 people, after health officials recorded a jump in 60 cases in 24 hours. The outbreaks are linked to agricultural workers in the rural area. And Tokyo confirmed 131 new cases, exceeding 100 for the third day in a row and hitting a new two-month high, prompting Governor Yuriko Koike to ask residents to avoid nonessential out-of-town visits. Concerns are rising about a resurgence of infections as Japan is now nearly back to business as usual after its state of emergency was lifted in May. France said it was sending medics to its South American territory of French Guiana, where infections have surged as the virus swept neighboring Brazil. Over the past week, 1,400 new COVID cases were confirmed in French Guiana, with a population of just 300,000, according to French health officials. The military is flying patients from saturated facilities to the French Caribbean island of Martinique for treatment. Finally, in South Africa, a growing hot spot as the pandemic picks up speed in parts of Africa, confirmed cases have climbed to more than 177,000, with a record 9,063 reported in the most recent 24-hour period. If Africa's most developed country is struggling to manage the pandemic, that's ominous for less-prepared African nations. Confirmed cases across the 54-nation continent are now above 433,000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. New Concern in US South About Rising Coronavirus Spread By Ken Bredemeier July 05, 2020 Local officials across the southern tier of U.S. states voiced new concerns Sunday about the sharp increase in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in recent days even as President Donald Trump has dismissed it "totally harmless." Mayor Kate Gallego in the western city of Phoenix, Arizona, told ABC News's "This Week" show, "We opened [local businesses] way too early" after they were initially closed in March and April. "We are in a crisis," she said, with a total of 59,000 people infected in the city of 1.7 million people. Gallego said coronavirus testing sites "are overwhelmed." The U.S. has recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases on several recent days, largely across a row of southern states that avoided a big outbreak of cases in March and April when cities in the northeastern part of the country, especially New York City, were especially hard hit and now have way fewer cases. Florida, the southeastern-most U.S. state, alone recorded more than 11,400 new cases on Saturday, as some big cities in the U.S. held annual Independence Day celebrations even as dozens of smaller communities canceled theirs for fear of people spreading the virus. "There's no doubt when we opened, people started socializing" again in public places, leading to the new surge in infections, Miami, Florida, Mayor Francis Suarez told ABC. He called the big increase in infections "extremely worse," but said that "if people wear a mask, there's a good chance we'll cut the spread." Harris County, Texas, in the greater Houston area, recorded almost a quarter of its total of 35,000 coronavirus cases on Saturday. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told ABC, "Wishful thinking is neither good public policy or health policy. What we need to do is what works: stay at home. We need to be proactive." But Trump, in a speech at a White House party he hosted Saturday night, said "99%" of the new cases are "totally harmless," a dubious claim as hospitalizations of sick patients increase sharply, even though younger people being infected now are generally recovering in time. In all, nearly 130,000 Americans have been killed by the virus and more than 2.8 million infected, with both figures far and away the biggest across the globe. Trump, facing a difficult re-election contest in November against former Vice President Joe Biden, continued to predict a vaccine against the coronavirus will soon be discovered. "I want to send our thanks to the scientists and researchers around the country and even around the world who are at the forefront of our historic effort to rapidly develop and deliver life-saving treatments and ultimately a vaccine.," Trump said. "We are unleashing our nation's scientific brilliance and we'll likely have a therapeutic and/or vaccine solution long before the end of the year." But Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn told ABC, "I can't predict when a vaccine will be available." He said FDA is currently monitoring 141 clinical trials of potential COVID-19 therapeutic treatments. "Our solemn promise to the American people is that we will make a decision based upon the data and science on a vaccine with respect to the safety and effectiveness of that vaccine," Hahn said. "When those data become available, and I hope those data are available sooner rather than later, we will make that judgment based upon those data and that science." But he said it was "concerning" that a recent Washington Post-ABC poll showed that 27% of Americans would refuse or ignore public health pleas to get themselves inoculated. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told the "Fox News Sunday" show, "I'm very optimistic we're going to have [a vaccine] in early 2021." But Jha said it could be a year before enough doses of a vaccine are produced to inoculate billions of people around the world. Politically agitative books by activists disappearing in HK Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/5 12:46:35 Public libraries and bookstores in Hong Kong have started to remove and suspend books with politically agitative content written by some Hong Kong activists, after the National Security Law for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) came into effect. Local news outlets said public libraries in the finance hub have gradually removed all nine "politically sensitive" books, including those from riot leader Joshua Wong, Wan Chin, a writer known for the "Hong Kong city-state" series, and lawmaker Tanya Chan. Although some of those books are still available and are placed conspicuously in bookstores in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay, Wong's book can no longer be seen in most stores, media reported. Local media hk01.com said that books related to political movements have been popular in Hong Kong despite the local government's criticism of them. Many readers can easily find them due to their conspicuous display. In a bookstore at Mong Kok, hk01.com found that slogans on book covers such as "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now" were covered with tape on a book titled "Struggle under Tyranny." A staff member told media that they will pay more attention to the content of the books in the store. Despite Wong's complaint on Twitter on Sunday that banning his book suggested an "Orwellian society of the 21st century," many local internet users said it was inspiring to see those books' disappearance, as such "treasonous propaganda did nothing but destroy the mind of the youth." "Those books (written by Joshua Wong) are relatively old and have limited reprints," a staff member told hk01.com. "That rubbish should not be regarded as books, which should enrich the knowledge and soul rather than bring meaningless destruction with fallacies and negative words," said a Hong Kong resident, noting that the National Security Law for HKSAR is undoubtedly a deterrent for those meddling in Hong Kong. "In fact, few people borrow these books from libraries, and it is strange that libraries bought them in bulk before," said another, indicating that their previous existence was due to the "response" of foreign forces. The National Security Law for HKSAR came into force on Tuesday, and clearly identifies four types of offenses: secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external forces to endanger national security. Britain Poised to Ban Huawei By Jamie Dettmer July 05, 2020 The British government is set to end the participation of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the building of Britain's 5G phone network a policy about-turn that will further deteriorate London's strained relations with Beijing, but will please Washington, according to British media reports. The major policy change follows a fresh reassessment by Britain's National Cyber Security Center, or NCSC, on the eavesdropping risks posed by the Chinese company, according to Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper. British officials have confirmed to VOA the newspaper report is accurate. Previously the NCSC, a department within Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ, said the security risks posed by Huawei could be safely managed and mitigated, a view not shared by U.S. intelligence agencies. But the imposition last month of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei has altered the picture, the NCSC warns. Britain's cybersecurity chiefs now conclude the sanctions, which block Huawei from using components and semi-conductors based on any American intellectual property, will mean the telecom giant will have to use "untrusted" parts, increasing security risks. British officials are drawing up a timetable for the removal of Huawei equipment already installed in the 5G network. British telecom firms BT and Vodafone have asked the government to give them until 2030 to strip Huawei components from the existing 5G infrastructure, but officials say Downing Street wants much speedier action, even if it means slowing down the roll-out of the new network. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed the reports, saying, "The government's change of heart is very welcome." The planned policy reversal comes amid a mounting diplomatic dispute between Britain and Beijing over the introduction by the Chinese government of a new draconian security law that allows Chinese security agencies to arrest pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British enclave. To Beijing's anger, Britain announced Hong Kong residents would be allowed to move to Britain. In January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to allow Huawei a limited role in building the less critical parts of the country's next-generation cellular network, dealing a blow to a U.S. campaign urging allies to boycott the telecom giant. For more than a year, the Trump administration has urged Britain and other allies to ban Huawei from participating in the development of fifth-generation wireless networks. U.S. officials say there's a significant risk that the company, which has close ties to Chinese intelligence services, will act as a Trojan horse for Beijing's espionage agencies, allowing them to sweep data up and gather intelligence. Ahead of Johnson's go-ahead, U.S. officials warned London that giving Huawei the green-light could jeopardize intelligence-sharing between Britain and the United States. The British prime minister sought to mollify Washington and critics within his own ruling Conservative party by allowing Huawei to build only 35 percent of Britain's 5G infrastructure and to exclude it from critical networks and from locations near nuclear plants and military bases. Pressure has been mounting on Johnson to reverse his decision from within his own party, pressure that has been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that Beijing downplayed the danger of the novel virus. A newly-formed Conservative group in the House of Commons called the China Research Group has been urging Johnson to take a robust line with China's communist leaders on a range of issues, from Beijing's security crackdown in Hong Kong to Huawei. The group has attracted the support of dozens of Conservative lawmakers and around 60 had warned Johnson that they would mount a backbench rebellion, if he did not block Huawei. Johnson recently instructed officials to draft plans to limit Britain's reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports in light of the coronavirus crisis. Britain is strategically dependent on China for 71 critical goods categories, including pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer electronics, according to trade data analyzed by the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank based in London. Last month, Christopher Patten, a former Conservative minister and Britain's last Hong Kong governor, warned Johnson publicly about Huawei, saying, "If people argue we should deal with Huawei because they're just like any other multinational company, that is for the birds: if they come under pressure from the Communist government to do things which are thought to be in Beijing's interest they will do it." With Britain poised to block Huawei, it would leave Canada as the only member of the so-called 'Five Eyes' intelligence-sharing partnership, which includes the U.S., Britain Australia and New Zealand, not yet to have excluded Huawei from involvement in 5G development. Huawei issued a statement Sunday saying it remains "open to discussions with the British government" and accused the U.S. of seeking to boost the market position of American companies. Company officials say an any decision to reverse its role in Britain's 5G network is based is based on "mistaken assumptions." A Huawei spokesman said: "Huawei is the most scrutinized vendor in the world and we firmly believe our unrivaled transparency in the UK means we can continue to be trusted to play a part in Britain's gigabit upgrade. It's important to focus on facts and not to speculate at this time." Natanz incident investigated by parliament's National Security Commission IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, July 5, IRNA -- Rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Abolfazl Amouei said on Sunday that the dimensions of the Natanz incident and the report of the IAEA Board of Governors were discussed in the meeting in the presence of Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi. Salehi delivered a report on the process of Iran's latest nuclear activities and was informed by the commission members in the session, Amouei said. Referring to the recent Natanz incident, Salehi pointed out that various scenarios about this incident are under investigation and the final results will be announced soon. Salehi went on to say that the technical and security investigations, conducted by concerned organizations and expert bodies, determined the cause of incident happened at Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility. But the cause of the incident will be announced in appropriate time due to some security considerations, Amouei further noted. Earlier, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) spokesman Keyvan Khosravi stated that the cause of the incident at the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Natanz Nuclear Complex has been identified following the technical and security investigations and will be declared in due course for security reasons. Also, Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said that there were no casualties in the Complex as a result of the incident occurred, and the normal process of enrichment continues far from the site of the incident. 3266**2050 France reaffirms commitment to JCPOA IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, July 5, IRNA -- French Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sunday reaffirmed commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. France's statement was in reaction to a letter forwarded by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's to EU High Representative Josep Borrell on invoking Dispute Resolution Mechanism envisaged by the context of the JCPOA. By invoking DRM, Zarif expressed dismay of the Islamic Republic of Iran at lack of respect to the nuclear deal and failure of France, UK and German Governments to honor their commitments. France together with Germany and the UK are committed to preserve Iran nuclear deal, French Foreign Ministry said adding that they respect their commitments to the JCPOA. We have even taken step for supporting legitimate trade with Iran, it added. Without referring to European parties' impracticality with regard to their commitments, the French Foreign Ministry urged Iran to return to its JCPOA commitments. We negotiated with Iran and other JCPOA parties based on a basic and realistic approach, the statement reads. Zarif in a letter to the High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell once again referred the cases of European countries' non-compliance to the Joint Commission for settlement in accordance with Article 36 of the JCPOA. Iranian Foreign Minister's letter warned that any interference in the ongoing cooperation between Iran and the IAEA would be contrary to the provisions of the JCPOA and could have negative impacts on the existing cooperation under the Safeguards Agreement. Meanwhile earlier, Borrell said in a statement that he believes the JCPOA is an historic achievement for global nuclear non-proliferation contributing to regional and global peace and security. "I have received today a letter from the Foreign Minister of Iran referring Iran's concerns regarding implementation issues by France, Germany and the United Kingdom under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to the Joint Commission for resolution through the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the agreement," Borrell's statement reads. "As I have said previously, the Dispute Resolution Mechanism requires intensive efforts in good faith by all. As Coordinator of the Joint Commission, I expect all JCPOA participants to approach this process in this spirit within the framework of the JCPOA." "The Joint Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the agreement under the terms of the JCPOA, has met since 2016 to discuss the implementation of the JCPOA and address pertinent issues brought to the attention of the Coordinator by any participant." 9376**1416 US trying to portray Iran as security threat to the world: Zarif ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 5 July 2020 / 15:28 Tehran (ISNA) Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif stressed that the United States is trying to portray Iran as a security threat to the world. Speaking at the parliament session on Sunday, Zarif said Washington is also trying to view economy through a security lens. "In this full-scale war, the United States has several purposes the most important of which is to create a concept, i.e., portray Iran as a security threat. After it features Iran as a threat to security, then the issue of Iran becomes the topic of discussion at locations and domains where the US dominates such as the UN Security Council," he said. "Or the US wants to drag the issue into the security domains of economy, so that it can deal security blows to global economy," Zarif added. He said the United States' second purpose was to build a consensus against Iran. "From January 2018 until last week, four UN Security Council meetings were held in a bid to put pressure on Iran," said the top diplomat. He said Washington's third objective is to tell fabricated stories about Iran, adding, "We should notice what the United States' goal of this game is and we should take care not to get involved in this game." Zarif noted the US is also trying to pressurize Iran's friends and target the country's interests in the region. Zarif said the White House seeks to drive a wedge between Iranian people and the Establishment, and seeks to create the impression that the Islamic Republic's System is inefficient. "They want to delegitimize the Establishment," he said. Zarif further noted that the United States has misgivings over the emergence of countries such as China and other emerging countries. Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister said Iran should reach out to its neighbours and make them realize that the Islamic Republic is a source of security, stability and development in the region. End Item More advanced shed to replace damaged one at Natanz facility: AEOI spokesman Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 4:53 PM The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says a new and more advanced shed will be built at Natanz nuclear facility to replace the one damaged in a recent incident. In an interview with IRNA on Sunday, Behrouz Kamalvandi said, "Necessary arrangements have been made to rebuild the damaged shed at Shahid Ahmadi Roshan (Natanz) nuclear facility and a bigger shed with more advanced equipment is to replace it." More centrifuge machines, he added, were supposed to be produced at the damaged shed, which was inaugurated following Washington's withdrawal from Iran nuclear agreement officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and exactly two days after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ordered the AEOI to make preparations for the enrichment of uranium up to a level of 190,000 SWU without delay. Of course, Kamalvandi said, the facility did not operate at full capacity due to the JCPOA limitations, but this shed was to undergo further development and this project was ongoing until the day when the incident happened. In his order to the AEOI in June 2018, the Leader said, "It seems from what they say that some European governments expect the Iranian nation to both put up with sanctions and give up its nuclear activities and continue to observe limitations [on its nuclear program]. I tell those governments that this bad dream will never come true." The landmark nuclear deal was reached between Iran and the P5+1 group the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany in 2015. However, in May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country and later re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran and began unleashing the "toughest ever" fresh sanctions. Elsewhere in the interview, Kamalvandi noted that the damaged shed housed measuring equipment and precision tools, part of which was destroyed in the incident and another part was damaged. The damaged equipment cannot be used anymore in view of the work they do, even if the incident had taken place on a smaller scale, the official said. The AEOI spokesman emphasized that the incident has caused no stoppage in Iran's enrichment work, adding, however, that it may slow down development and manufacture of advanced machines in the medium term. "However, we would make up for this slowdown, God willing, through round-the-clock work and diligent efforts of our colleagues at the organization," Kamalvandi said. "As announced by the secretariat of [Iran's] Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the country's security authorities have found out the cause of the incident, but they do not want to make it public for the time being due to security-related considerations, he said. Kamalvandi on Thursday reported an incident at the Natanz nuclear complex but emphasized that there has been no damage to the main uranium enrichment facility. He said the incident caused no casualties and did not affect the activities at the complex. SNSC Spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said on Friday that the "main cause" of the incident had been determined and would be announced at an appropriate time. He added that experts from different sectors had started investigating "different hypotheses" about the incident. "Due to some security considerations, the cause and manner of this incident will be announced at a proper time." Natanz is a uranium enrichment center located in the city of the same name in Isfahan Province, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the capital Tehran. It is among the sites now being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the JCPOA. Iran will stand up to IAEA's excessive demands: Parliament speaker Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 2:21 PM Iran's Parliament speaker says the country will stand against excessive demands put forth by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Board of Governors, and will not allow the agency to act as it wills on the Iranian soil without limitation. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf made the remarks while addressing an open session of Parliament on Sunday, during which Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif briefed the lawmakers on the latest developments regarding Iran's nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and IAEA's request for access to certain Iranian sites. Last month, the IAEA's Board of Governors adopted a resolution, drafted by Britain, France and Germany, calling on Iran to grant the IAEA access to two locations amid allegations of undeclared nuclear activities. Russia and China voted against the resolution, with Moscow describing it as counterproductive. Tehran has rejected allegations of non-cooperation with the IAEA, arguing that the mentioned sites are totally irrelevant to its current nuclear program, and that the agency's insistence on inspecting the two locations comes on the basis of fabricated information provided by Israel. "The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Board of Governors must know that when it comes to foreign policy, the Islamic Republic and parliamentarians will never allow the agency to have an open hand and do whatever it wants without any limitation," the Parliament speaker said. Qalibaf added that the IAEA cannot expect Iran to allow it, through unlimited inspections of Iranian sites, "to seek to complete intelligence [gathering] and espionage efforts of hostile countries." "We will seriously stand against this IAEA's excessive demands and call on the [Iranian] Foreign Ministry to implement policies to reduce commitments under the JCPOA and simultaneously continue cooperation with the IAEA within the framework of commitments, which is the right of the nation," Qalibaf said. Israeli foreign minister: Israel taking any action to stop 'Iranian nuclear threat' Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 1:37 PM The Israeli foreign minister says the regime considers Iran's nuclear abilities as an "existential threat" to itself, noting that Tel Aviv is taking any action to stop what he called "Iranian nuclear threat." Gabi Ashkenazi made the remarks on Sunday, a few days after a shed at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility was damaged in an incident, whose cause has not been officially declared yet. Natanz is a uranium enrichment center located near a city of the same name in central Isfahan Province, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. The center is among the sites now being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under a 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Tehran and major powers. On Thursday morning, one of the sheds under construction in the open area of the site suffered damage following an incident, which caused no casualties and did not affect the activities at the complex, according to the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) at the time. Israeli top diplomat, whose remarks were quoted by Jerusalem Post, further said, "We have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities." Therefore, Ashkenazi added, "We take actions that are better left unsaid." He also claimed that Iran "with those abilities is an existential threat to Israel, and Israel cannot allow it to establish itself on our northern border." Although Iran has fully adhered to the terms of JCPOA, in May 2018, US President Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the landmark nuclear deal and re-imposed the sanctions, which had been lifted against Tehran, and began unleashing the "toughest ever" fresh sanctions. The US's intransigence flew in the face of the fact that the deal has been ratified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the form of its Resolution 2231. The Safeguards Agreement between Iran and the IAEA ensures non-diversion of nuclear material declared by the Islamic Republic. In another controversial move, Washington recently launched a campaign to renew the Iran arms banin place since 2006/2007 and is set to expire in Octoberthrough a resolution at the UNSC, despite the fact that the US is no longer a party to the JCPOA. Russia and China are against the push, and most likely to veto it. Elsewhere in his comments, Ashkenazi said that the Israeli regime supported Washington's efforts to ensure that the UN arms embargo against Tehran would not be extended past its original expiration date this October. He noted that Tel Aviv could not accept a situation where Iran can purchase what he described as advanced weapons systems. "The problem is not just attaining nuclear weapons, it's that they are arming groups across the Middle East. Look at Hezbollah in Lebanon. That is why we're making broad diplomatic efforts across the world," he further claimed. Back in January last year, Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, Israel's former army's chief of staff, finally confirmed long-running reports of the regime's collaboration with militant groups operating against the Syrian government, admitting that it has provided weapons to them. Also on Sunday, Israeli minister of military affairs Benny Gantz said Tel Aviv will not allow a nuclear-capable Iran, and will stop it "by any means". Regarding the Natanz incident, Gantz said, "I cannot confirm or deny (Israel's involvement) in this or other incidents". Iran operates underground missile cities along southern shores: IRGC commander Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 1:23 PM Iran's Armed Forces have developed underground missile cities along the country's entire southern shores, including the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, says the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy. Brigadier General Alireza Tangsiri made the remarks in a detailed interview whose text was published on Sunday, noting that such cities accommodate both naval vessels and missiles. "We [in the Iranian Armed Forces] have underground cities, which house both vessels and missiles," the commander said, adding, "Our entire shoreline [in southern Iran] is equipped with [various types of] arms." Tangsiri emphasized, "Our shoreline is equipped with weapons and there is no chanting about it." He noted that the IRGC Navy has formed a marine Basij force, which is positioned along a 2,200-km coastline (excluding the Iranian islands), and so far 428 flotillas, including more than 23,000 military personnel, have been organized. The enemy knows that there are underground cities belonging to the Army and the IRGC along the Persian Gulf and Makran coasts, but it has no accurate information in that regard, he said. "But another thing I am going to say [to enemies] with certainty is that we are present everywhere in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman and ... in places you cannot even imagine. We are your nightmare," Tangsiri added. He emphasized that the IRGC Navy has full information command in the Persian Gulf and is precisely aware of and monitors the location of every ship from its entrance through the Strait of Hormuz to its exit. "This is not just a slogan. We have long-range missiles and they [enemies] should wait to hear further news about long-range missiles and vessels they cannot even imagine." The IRGC's chief commander Major General Hossein Salami warned in April that the Islamic Republic will target American vessels if they were to threaten the safety of the country's vessels or warships. "We declare to them that we are absolutely determined and serious in defending our national security, maritime borders and interests, and that any move [against us] will be effectively and swiftly met with a decisive, effective response," Salami said. Later in May, the IRGC Navy had an incident with US forces in the Persian Gulf as they entered a drill area despite having been warned in advance not to approach. Tangsiri said US forces will be pursued in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman. "They had entered our training area while it had already been announced that drills would be held there ... hence, they were ordered to leave." The US Navy Central Command has earlier alleged that 11 IRGC vessels had "harassed" up to six US ships in the Persian Gulf. The claims were rejected as "baseless" by Iranian officials. The IRGC issued a statement describing the American allegations as "Hollywood tales," detailing that the incident happened after an American vessel repeatedly harassed an Iranian boat. Iran lodges complaint against US at ICC over sanctions amid rise in COVID-19 infections Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 6:33 AM Iran has filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICC) against the United States regarding the impact of Washington's sanctions that have seriously hampered the country's efforts to curtail the coronavirus pandemic. "Given the fact that the sanctions are inhuman and against human rights, a new complaint was lodged at the ICC about the consequences of the bans on the COVID-19 pandemic," Iran's Vice-President for Legal Affairs Laaya Joneidi said during a visit to Pasteur Institute of Iran in the capital Tehran on Saturday. On July 2, Iran's envoy to the United Nations called for an end to unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on various countries as the restrictive measures hinder their fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting to review the impact of the coronavirus, stressing that the lifting of the sanctions was necessary to counter the spread of the flu-like pathogen in the targeted countries as well as across the world. Takht-Ravanchi said the unilateral sanctions by the US on countries like Iran, Syria and Yemen mostly impacted coronavirus patients as the measures impeded efforts by the affected countries to import medical equipment and medicines needed to fight the disease. "These unilateral sanctions effectively target patients the most, and show how immoral, inhumane, and illegitimate these sanctions are," the Iranian envoy to the UN said at the time. Iran to introduce restrictions in 9 provinces: Official Meanwhile, a high-ranking health official says Iran is going to impose restrictions in nine provinces amid the coronavirus pandemic, stating that wearing face masks will be mandatory in crowded and public places as of Sunday (July 5). "People are obliged to wear face masks in all state organizations and crowded public places like subway stations, public transportation as well as shopping malls as of July 5. State organizations are required to ensure that the new regulation is implemented and offer their services only to clients who wear masks. The employees of the organizations can also go to work only if they wear masks," Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi told IRIB TV2 television network late on Saturday. Harirchi added that the country's western provinces of East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Kordestan and Kermanshah besides the southern provinces of Khuzestan and Bushehr have just started tackling the first wave of COVID-19 infections, voicing concerns that some areas in the country, including the central province of Fars, are likely to record a spike in new coronavirus cases. He further noted that nine provinces have been granted permits to shutter down restaurants, wedding halls, teahouses, beauty salons, cinemas, theaters, prayer grounds and mosques in the "red" regions, where the outbreak is pervasive. "Such decisions are being made on a weekly basis. Similar restrictions may apply to Tehran. The city of Tehran has not entered the red zone yet, but it is on the brink," the senior Iranian health official said. No service to people not wearing face masks: Rouhani Also on Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani said government offices across Iran will not offer any service to people refusing to wear face masks as of July 5 amid strict regulations to contain the spread of the coronavirus. "Wearing face masks in all public places will be obligatory as of tomorrow. People without masks will not receive services at any organization and institution. Government employees will also be barred from entering offices if they refuse to wear masks or observe health protocols," Rouhani stated at National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus. The president also emphasized that individuals who are aware of having contracted COVID-19 are bound to inform others on humanitarian and religious grounds. Iran has so far recorded 237,878 cases of COVID-19 infections and contagion-related deaths have reached 11,408, according to www.worldometers.info. A total of 198,949 people have recovered from the respiratory disease, whilst 3,136 patients are in serious condition. The pandemic's worldwide death toll is above 533,500 and the number of those who have contracted the virus has exceeded 11.38 million. Iran Spending Hundreds Of Millions On Religious Shrines In Iraq And Syria Radio Farda July 05, 2020 The head of Iran's Holy Shrines' Reconstruction Headquarters, Mohammad Jalal Ma'ab, says, despite the coronavirus epidemic in Iraq, building the "Zaynab Courtyard" project in the city of Karbala "continued unabated". According to the state-run Iran Students News Agency, ISNA, Ma'ab said that pouring concrete for the columns of the building is currently underway. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic officials are discussing with their counterparts in Iraq's Shiite religious cities, including Najaf, to begin other projects, Ma'ab said. He also also announced that the headquarters has resumed its activities in Damascus and is developing Zaynab's sanctuary in the Syrian capital city. Zaynab, also spelled Zainab, was the daughter of the first Shiite Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah, daughter of Prophet Muhammad. No one knows the exact date and place of her death, but she probably died in the year 62 AH (681/682). Therefore, her burial place has not been determined. The construction of Zaynab's courtyard in Karbala, which covers an area of 168,000 square meters (approximately 41.5 acres), is part of Imam Hussein (Shi'ites' third Imam and brother of Zaynab) courtyard development project, which has been under discussion since 2013. The estimated cost of construction of the courtyard has been on average up to 45 million rials (about $1000) per square meter, or 7.56 trillion rials (roughly $168 million) in total. Assisted by 2,000 Iranian workers, the courtyard is under construction on four floors as part of Imam Hussein's shrine development project. The Iranian government has another project underway in Karbala, called the sanctuary of Hazrat Zahra (Prophet Mohammad's daughter, and mother of Zaynab). The shrine has an area of 220,000 square meters (roughly 54.3 acres), which is estimated to cost more than ten trillion rials (about $238 million). This is amid serious economic crisis in Iran, where the government is running out of cash and resorts to printing money. Iran has been withdrawing money from its foreign currency reserves in the past two years to sustain its essential operations. According to a senior official at the Holy Shrines Reconstruction Headquarters, the building of the courtyard in Karbala was handed over to the Islamic Republic government's representatives after a Lebanese Shiite cleric saw a dream that the Prophet of Islam gave "Zaynab's cradle" to an Iranian Grand Ayatollah, Mohammad Taqi Bahjat Foumani, who died at 92 in 2009. Meanwhile, since last June, the officials of the Holy Shrines (Atbat-e-Aliat) Reconstruction Headquarters have launched a project called "Qassem Soleimani" which aims to fulfill the slogan "Every Iranian, 5,000 Tomans (about $1.20)" to help to build the courtyard of Hazrat Zainab in Karbala. Last March, Washington imposed sanctions on the Reconstruction Organization of the Holy Shrines in Iraq with a batch of sanctions. The U.S. Treasury Department has described the entity as an organization based in Iran and Iraq, controlled by the Qods Force. Also targeted by the sanctions is the organization's executive chairman, Mohammad Jalal Ma'ab. An Iranian citizen from the town of Kerman, Ma'ab, was appointed to the post in 2019 by Qassem Soleimani, the IRGC's Qods Force Chief Commander who was killed by a U.S. drone attack in early January, outside Baghdad international airport. Iran's efforts to rebuild Twelver-Shiite religious sites in Iraq began in 2003. The Headquarters for the Reconstruction of the Holy Shrines, a subdivision of the IRGC's Qods Force, has been responsible for more than 155 projects in Iraq and Syria, so far. The headquarters has also been active in various Iraqi cities, such as Najaf, Karbala, Al-Kazimiyyah (a northern neighborhood in Baghdad), Kufa, Samarra, Musayyib, and Balad, and has been operating in Syria since 2014. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-spending- hundreds-of-millions-on-religious-shrines -in-iraq-and-syria/30707198.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. Official: Iran to Build Bigger Building to Replace Damaged One at Natanz Uranium Enrichment Site Sputnik News 16:57 GMT 05.07.2020(updated 17:37 GMT 05.07.2020) On 2 July, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) said there was an incident during construction work at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in the central province of Isfahan, which damaged one of the awnings under construction. Iran will construct a bigger building with more advanced equipment to replace the damaged building at the Natanz uranium enrichment site, Behrooz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said in a statement. According to the spokesman, cited by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the incident at Natanz could slow down Tehran's development and the production of advanced centrifuges in the mid-term. He also added that the incident had caused significant damage to the facility. The statement comes after the Natanz uranium enrichment plant experienced an incident during construction work. However, the cause of the incident remains unknown. Prior to the incident, the AEOI confirmed media reports that it had stopped an IAEA inspector from examining the Natanz plant. According to the AEOI, the security monitoring equipment at the facility's entrance had shown the presence of suspicious materials among the inspector's belongings. Tehran announced the gradual reduction of its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) obligations on 8 May 2019, which marked the first anniversary of the US' unilateral pullout from the 2015 pact. The Iranian authorities then said that the country would start abandoning some parts of its nuclear commitments every 60 days unless the European signatories ensured Iran's interests amid Washington's reinstated sanctions. Under the JCPOA, Iran is obliged to repurpose its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant as a centre for the production of stable isotopes, refraining from enriching uranium and leaving Natanz as the only uranium enrichment facility. A Sputnik 'We Are Your Nightmare': Iran Has Underground 'Missile Cities' on Southern Coasts, Admiral Says Sputnik News Tim Korso. Sputnik International 15:41 GMT 05.07.2020(updated 18:34 GMT 05.07.2020) Despite numerous protests from Iran, US warships regularly patrol the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, including the Islamic Republic's maritime borders. Washington hasn't backed down from the practice, even after complaining about Iranian speedboats "harassing" American destroyers. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri has revealed in a recently published interview that Iran has built numerous offshore "missile cities", groups of underground silos, along the coasts of the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf, hosting ground-to-sea missiles ready for launch. The admiral explained that the information about the missile silos' existence is no secret to Tehran's enemies, but he hinted that the adversaries are unaware of their real locations. "The IRGC Navy is present everywhere in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, in every place that the enemy would not even think about," the admiral said. Tangsiri went on to note that apart from new long-range missiles, Iran's enemies might face brand new military vessels "beyond their imagination". "We are your nightmare", the IRGC Navy's admiral summed up. The admiral's revelations come as Iran continues to demand that the US stop deploying its naval forces in the Persian Gulf region. Washington has so far ignored the calls, regularly sending in its destroyers and aircraft carriers, despite complaining about them being "harassed" by Iranian speedboats. The US justifies its naval military presence by insisting that its mission is to maintain peace, but Iran has repeatedly dismissed this explanation. The Islamic Republic's officials have argued that the US doesn't bring peace to the Middle East, and insists that the Persian Gulf states can take care of local security issues themselves. A Sputnik Iran's Top Security Official Says Killing Soleimani is US 'Biggest Gift' to Terrorism in Region Sputnik News 02:06 GMT 05.07.2020(updated 02:22 GMT 05.07.2020) At the request of US President Donald Trump, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), General Qasem Soleimani, was killed during a goodwill trip to Iraq in January in a targeted drone strike, alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq's Hashd al-Sha'abi militia. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, said on Saturday that the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani by US forces was Washington's "biggest gift" to terrorism in the region, according to Press TV. "Resentment and grudge of the US and the Zionist regime [Israel] against [] Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were due to their irreplaceable role in fighting Takfiri terrorism in the region and revealing the US' anti-terrorism charade," Shamkhani said, addressing a meeting on Soleimani's killing, according to the outlet. The meeting, attended by number of Iranian judicial, political, security, intelligence, and military officials, was reportedly dedicated to a discussion on "political and legal aspects" of the extrajudicial killing of the general, one of the most respected figures in Iran, and making necessary decisions to speed up the process of retribution and justice for the assassination, according to Mehr News. Shamkhani said that the international community "must appreciate the efforts and sacrifices" made by the late general Soleimani and al-Muhandis in the fight against terrorism in the region. On Monday, Tehran's prosecutor-general, Ali Alqasi-Mehr, announced that Iran has approved a measure to ask Interpol to put US President Donald Trump, along with dozens of US and foreign officials, on its international Red Notice of wanted persons over Soleimani's killing. "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," Alqasi-Mehr said in a statement. "At the top of the list is US president Donald Trump". Later in the day, an Interpol spokesperson said that they would not consider any Iranian request for Trump's arrest, citing the organization's guidelines. "In accordance with Article 3 of Interpol's Constitution, 'it is strictly forbidden for the Organisation 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. On 3 January, US forces conducted a targeted drone attack against Generals Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis near the Baghdad International Airport, as the Iranian general was carrying out a goodwill visit to Iraq to normalize Iran's relations with regional states. Trump at the time declared that the strike against Soleimani was conducted at his order. The Pentagon confirmed its responsibility for the operation. Soleimani's assassination resulted in a major escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington, with Iran officially responding by launching air strikes against two Iraqi military bases housing US troops. A Sputnik Rocket lands near Baghdad's Green Zone, injures child: Iraqi military Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 2:08 PM A rocket has struck a home near the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, which houses some of the main government offices and foreign diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy. The Iraqi military said in a statement on Sunday that the projectilewhich failed to reach its target caused damage to a house near the high-security district, wounding a child due. An unnamed police source which confirmed the news also said an anti-rocket system set up near the US embassy shot down the rocket before hitting the Green Zone. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. The military statement further said Iraqi security forces have also managed to stop a Katyusha rocket from being launched at Camp Taji base, north of Baghdad, which houses the US-led coalition forces. The statement gave no further details. The fortified zone has been repeatedly targeted by Katyusha rockets in recent months. Washington, each time, has been quick to point the finger at popular anti-terror groups, which are now integrated into Iraq's armed forces. The US has time and again targeted positions of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, after blaming the major anti-terror force for the rocket attacks. The popular group has strongly denied any involvement in the strikes. Last week, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces detained the members of Kata'ib Hezbollaha military unit operating under the PMUfor allegedly planning a rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone. They were released shortly afterwards and all charges against them were dropped. But the raid on Kata'ib headquarters has raised serious questions about Iraq's direction under the new government, as Iraqi leaders describe it as an attempt dictated by the US occupiers. Despite Washington's accusations, Kata'ib has never claimed responsibility for the attacks. Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Iraq following the US January 3 assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, senior Hashd al-Sha'abi commander in addition to several other comrades outside the Baghdad airport. Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to avenge the assassinations, but denied any role in such rocket attacks. Two days after the US assassinations, the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously for a resolution that called for expulsion of all US and other foreign forces from Iraq. Washington, however, has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled from Iraq instead of ending the occupation of the Arab country. Iraq officially protests Turkey's cross-border offensive Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 1:39 AM The Iraqi government has expressed its official protest at Turkey's attacks against the Arab country's north, saying the offensive must immediately stop. The Iraqi cabinet's spokesman Ahmed Mulla Talal said in a statement on Saturday the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad has been summoned to receive two official letters of protest, with strong tone, regarding the attacks by the Turkish forces on Iraqi lands. The spokesman warned that his country will use the international law and covenants to establish the right of Iraq to reject and stop these attacks. Baghdad strongly rejects and condemns the Turkish attacks on its territories which violate Iraq's sovereignty and harm the close, long-standing relations between the two peoples, he noted. The attacks are "detrimental to regional peace," the spokesman said, describing the offensive as an "assault on the Iraqi sovereignty, lives and property." The statement urged the international community to "take steps that would enhance stability in the region, and to assign the sovereign right of Iraq to protect its lands and preserve the safety of its people." Turkey began fresh air and ground military operations in Kurdistan region in northern Iraq in mid-June, with the stated aim of removing suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets from the area. Five civilians have been confirmed killed by Turkish airstrikes. The ground campaign, dubbed Claw-Tiger Operation, was launched against PKK positions in the Qandil Mountains as well as Sinjar and Makhmur districts on June 17. Claw-Eagle Operation, the air campaign, had begun two days earlier. On Thursday night, Iraq threatened to cut off its trade ties with Turkey in protest at Ankara's ongoing cross-border operation. "Turkey has interests in Iraq as the annual trade balance between Baghdad and Ankara stands at more than 16 billion dollars annually. There are also hundreds of Turkish commercial insinuates operating inside Iraq. The Iraqi government will take actions against all these interests if urgent need arises," spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed al-Sahaf, said in an exclusive interview with local Kurdish-language Rudaw television news network. Sahaf further noted that the Iraqi government has a wide array of options to stop the Turkish offensive and demand compensation for the loss of civilian lives. The PKK militants regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq. A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since. Turkish ground and air forces frequently carry out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria. More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between urkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group. Rocket Attack Targets Baghdad's Green Zone By VOA News July 05, 2020 A rocket attack Sunday targeted Baghdad's Green Zone, home to a number of embassies, including that of the United States. The rocket fell short of its target and instead damaged a nearby house, injuring a child, according to the Iraqi military. The military said it was also able "to thwart another attack and seize a Katyusha rocket and launcher that were targeting the Taji base north of Baghdad." U.S.-led coalition troops are stationed at Taji. No further details were given. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Sunday's attack came just hours after the U.S. embassy tested an anti-rocket defense system. In recent months, U.S. diplomats and troops have been the target of dozens of missile attacks in Iraq which the U.S. blames on Iran-backed militia. In late June Iraqi forces arrested more than a dozen members of an Iranian-backed militia on charges of being involved in the attacks. Russian Shot Dead Near Vienna Was Reportedly A Kadyrov Critic By RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service July 05, 2020 A Russian asylum seeker who was shot dead outside the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 4 was a former Chechen separatist and a critic of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, sources in the Chechen diaspora told RFE/RL. The sources said the victim was Mamikhan Umarov, who was known as Anzor of Vienna. Officials in Austria have said only that the victim was a 43-year-old asylum seeker from the Russian Federation and that he was shot dead in a parking lot outside a shopping center in the Vienna suburb of Gerasdorf. According to initial reports, the asylum seeker was shot in the head and died before ambulances arrived. A suspect, who was also identified by Austrian authorities only as a Russian citizen, was captured several hours later about 200 kilometers west of the capital in Linz following a large-scale police manhunt. Police are investigating the incident and trying to determine a motive. A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Vienna told the state news agency TASS that it had not been contacted in connection with the events. In interviews and social-media posts, Umarov has said he was a former mercenary who called himself a former employee of the security service of the former de facto independent Chechen state of Ichkeria. He frequently accused the Russian security forces of carrying out the assassinations of former Chechen separatists in European countries. In February, Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov was attacked in Sweden. He was able to overpower his alleged attacker and hand him over to the authorities. In March 2019, the head of the Chechen parliament, Magomed Daduyev, declared a blood feud against Abdurakhmanov. On January 30, Chechen blogger Imran Aliyev, also a critic of Kadyrov, was found dead in the French city of Lille. He had been stabbed 135 times. Prosecutors say they have identified a Russian-born man who returned to Chechnya immediately following the killing as the prime suspect in the case. In August 2019, Georgian native Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen separatist fighter, was shot dead in Berlin. A Russian citizen has been arrested in connection with that killing. Rights groups have accused Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007, of numerous human rights abuses, including kidnappings, torture, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and the targeted killings of political and personal rivals both in Russia and abroad. With reporting by TASS, APA, and Kurier Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-asylum- seeker-austria-murder/30706727.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. Putin: Adoption of Constitutional Amendments Right For Russia Sputnik News 12:36 GMT 05.07.2020(updated 16:10 GMT 05.07.2020) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday has expressed confidence that the adoption of amendments to the country's constitution following a nationwide vote is a step in the right direction for strengthening the country and fostering development for decades to come. "I am absolutely convinced that we are doing the right thing, that we are adopting amendments to the current constitution. These amendments will strengthen our nationhood and will create the necessary conditions for the progressive development of our country in the coming decades", Putin said during an appearance on the Rossiya 1 broadcaster. The Russian president also referred to the amendments that concern the inviolability of the country's borders, adding that these changes were proposed by members of the working group on the constitutional amendments and citizens themselves. Commenting on previous constitutions of Russia at the time when it was part of the Soviet Union, Putin said that the constitutional provisions stipulating the Communist Party's monopoly on union-wide power and the right of member states to secede anytime they want to be a time bomb. "With regard to the secession from the Soviet Union. The constitution the 1977 constitution and the previous ones enshrined the Communist Party's monopoly on power and the party itself was the core of the entire state system. There were no provisions on the right to quit the party for the representatives of different national entities. It [the Communist Party] held everything", Putin said. According to the Russian president, this amounted to the Bolsheviks knotting their own future and interests with the interests of the entire union. "And when the Communist Party began falling apart, on its own and under no external hits, the entire country followed to collapse. This is absolutely unacceptable. This was a delay-action mine, planted back in 1922 amid the creation of the Soviet Union and then in the constitutions of 1924, 1936 and 1977. We have to avoid such things", Putin said. The amendments to Russia's 1993 constitution came into force on Saturday after gaining the support of 77.92 percent of people who cast their ballots in a nationwide vote. Turnout was just below 68 percent. The constitutional amendments protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, set children as a priority of Russia's domestic policy and include obligations to support and protect culture as the unique heritage of Russia's multi-ethnic nation. Other amendments confirm that Russia safeguards historical truth and honours the efforts of the defenders of the motherland. The amendments envision a limit of two six-year terms for the President of the Russian Federation. The provision applies to the president at the time the legal changes enter into force; not taking into account the number of terms previously served in this position, thus paving the way for President Putin to run again after his current term ends in 2024. The changes also aim to protect Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, prohibiting any attempts or calls to alienate part of its territory. A Sputnik Turkish troops, allied militants cut off drinking water to people in Syria's Hasakah, environs Iran Press TV Sunday, 05 July 2020 4:03 PM Turkish military troops and allied militants have once again cut off drinking water supplies to about a million people living in and around the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah by stopping a border water pumping station, a report says. In an interview with Syria's official news agency, SANA on Sunday, Director General of Hasakah Water Company Mahmoud al-Ukla said that Turkish soldiers and Ankara-baked militants stopped Alouk Water Station on Saturday evening and barred workers of the station from entering the facility. The major water station is located in the vicinity of the border town of Ra's al-Ayn, which Turkish troops and their allied militants seized in October 2019 during the so-called Peace Spring Operation. Ukla warned that the inhumane move was threatening the lives of inhabitants of the city and its surrounding residential neighborhoods in northeastern Hasakah province. He added that the criminal act came as the people of the affected areas are in the utmost need for the water from the Alouk station, the only source for guaranteeing the drinking water for them. The water station has so far been forced to stop several times by the invading Turkish troops and their allied militants. Back in March, the Syrian foreign ministry sent two identical letters to the chief of the United Nations and the UN Security Council in protest against the repeated inhumane move. It noted at the time that the Turkish military forces shelled the water station during their cross-border military operation last October, putting it out of service. Furthermore, Syrian officials, accordingly, presented a briefing to the UNSC in February, informing the international body of a water outage in Hasakah. Second soldier dies after anti-landing drill accident ROC Central News Agency 07/05/2020 09:13 PM Kaohsiung, July 5 (CNA) A solider who fell overboard during a military anti-landing drill last week died in hospital Sunday, bringing the death toll to two in the boat accident that occurred off the coast of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. Staff Sergeant Chen Chih-jung () passed away at 6:29 p.m. Sunday, after his family decided to discontinue life support, according to the Zuoying Branch of the Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital. In a separate press release, the Navy expressed condolences to Chen's family and said he will receive a posthumous promotion. The Navy also promised to provide compensation and funeral assistance to the family. Chen is the second soldier to have died after the accident during the military exercise on Friday morning, when a raiding craft from the 99th Brigade of the Marine Corps overturned with seven soldiers on board, off Taoziyuan beach in Kaohsiung. All seven soldiers were rescued, but four of them were hospitalized, three with pulmonary edema, a condition caused by an abnormal amount of fluid in the lungs, according to the Navy. In the early hours of Sunday, one of the soldiers with pulmonary edema, Private First Class Tsai Po-yu (), died. Currently, one patient is in intensive care on life support and the fourth is said to be in non-critical condition. Also Sunday, one of the supervisors of the drill, Navy Lieutenant Commander Yang (), committed suicide. Although no suicide note was found, the Navy said, Yang may have killed himself because of the fatal accident that occurred during the drill. An initial investigation into the boat accident found that it was caused by surge waves, which are unpredictable waves that appear suddenly, according to the Navy. The anti-landing drill was being held in preparation for the Han Kuang military exercises, Taiwan's major annual live-fire drills, which are scheduled this year for July 13-17. (By Matt Yu, Cheng Chi-feng and Joseph Yeh) Enditem/pc Supervisor of fatal military drill commits suicide: Navy ROC Central News Agency 07/05/2020 04:07 PM Kaohsiung, July 5 (CNA) One of the supervisors of a Navy anti-landing drill in Taiwan that went fatally wrong on Friday has committed suicide, the military said Sunday. Navy Lieutenant Commander Yang () was found hanging by the neck in his room at the Kaohsiung Zuoying naval base early Sunday, hours after one of the soldiers injured in the drill died in hospital, according to a Navy press release, which did not give Yang's full name. Yang was immediately taken to hospital but could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead, the Navy said. Yang, a member of the Navy's Education, Training and Doctrine Development Command, was one of the instructors and supervisors in the military anti-landing drill held off Taoziyuan beach in Kaohsiung on Friday, the press release said. During the exercise, a raiding craft from the 99th Brigade of the Marine Corps overturned with seven soldiers aboard, all of whom were rescued, but four of them were hospitalized, three with pulmonary edema, a condition caused by an abnormal amount of fluid in the lungs, according to the Navy. In the early hours of Sunday, one of the soldiers died, while two remained in intensive care on life support, and the fourth was said to be in non-critical condition. In a press release Saturday, the Navy Command said an initial investigation into the accident had found that it was caused by surge waves, which are unpredictable waves that appear suddenly. On Sunday, the Navy Command's Political Warfare Director Chang Chun-yi () told reporters that prosecutors had ruled out foul play in Yang's death, based on the post-mortem report by medical examiners. Chang said no suicide note had been found, and the military would not speculate on whether Yang's suicide was related to the fatal boat accident on Friday. The military is working with prosecutors to find out why Yang committed suicide, Chang said. The Navy, meanwhile, has expressed condolences to Yang's family and said it will offer them funeral assistance. The anti-landing drill was being held in preparation for the Han Kuang military exercises, Taiwan's major annual live-fire drills, which are scheduled this year for July 13-17. (By Matt Yu, Cheng Chi-feng and Joseph Yeh) Enditem/pc One of three Marine soldiers critically wounded in landing drill dies ROC Central News Agency 07/05/2020 11:49 AM Kaohsiung/Taipei, July 5 (CNA) One of the soldiers who fell overboard during a military drill on Friday passed away early Sunday, the Navy Command said in a statement. The Navy expressed condolences to the family of the 26-year-old soldier, surnamed Tsai (), and said posthumous promotion, compensation and funeral assistance will be given to him and his family, according to the statement. The Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital Zuoying Branch confirmed that Tsai was declared dead 36 minutes past midnight after his family decided to give up on resuscitation efforts. The soldier was one of the seven-member Marine Corps team who fell into rough seas during the drill on Friday to simulate a response to enemy forces landing in Taiwan. Their rubber craft overturned in waters off Taoziyuan beach in Kaohsiung. Three of the four soldiers who were rushed to the hospital, including Tsai, a 36-year-old sergeant and a 34-year-old sergeant, all male, were taken to intensive care units with pulmonary edema, a condition caused by an abnormal amount of fluid in the lungs. According to media reports, the ill-fated soldier was found by other participants of the drill two hours after the others were rescued. President Tsai Ing-wen () said she is deeply saddened by the soldier's death. She has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident and will come up with measures to prevent such accidents from happening again, she added. The president also said she has instructed the Ministry of National Defense to provide utmost care and support to the victims of the accident and to their families. Meanwhile, the hospital is still trying to revive the other two, who are now on life support. In a press release Saturday, the Navy Command said initial findings of an investigation into the accident showed that it was caused by an unexpected surge of waves. Major General Lin Chuan-sheng (), political warfare chief in the Marine Corps, said four preparatory training sessions had been held at the same vicinity before the drill. The landing drill was being held in preparation for the annual Han Kuang military exercises that are slated to take place July 13-17. Several fatal accidents had occurred in previous Han Kuang exercises, including the crash of an F-16 jet fighter in June 2018 that claimed its pilot's life, and the fall of a CM-11 tank into a river in August 2016 that resulted in four deaths. (By Emerson Lim, Hou Wen-ting, Cheng Chi-feng and Yeh Su-ping) Enditem/cs Gloucester, MA (01930) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will give way to cloudy skies and rain in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 78F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Rain showers early with overcast skies late. Low 53F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Aimee Ambrose can be reached at aimee.ambrose@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240316. Follow her on Twitter at @aambrose_TGN . Aimee Ambrose can be reached at aimee.ambrose@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240316. Follow her on Twitter at @aambrose_TGN . 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 More States Join the Effort A LARGE-SCALE OPERATION When state governments began calling for private-sector help in the fight against coronavirus earlier this year, that call was met by a cadre of tech companies from Utah.The affiliates of Silicon Slopes , a nonprofit that represents the state's tech start-up community, launched a new public-private partnership to assist governments as they tackled challenges like test deployment, virus-tracking and data collection.The initiative was led by health-care vendor Nomi Health, marketing analytics firm Domo, and Qualtrics, an online survey software company. Together, the companies had all been in talks to provide what they called a unified "crisis response service" for state governments a means for officials to augment and extend testing efforts.Josh Walker, co-founder and COO of Nomi, toldthat his company saw an opportunity to fill in the gaps where governments were struggling with the scale of COVID test deployment and virus tracking."A number of organizations in states were trying to determine what their response would be to [the] coming pandemic, and you had fears that hospitals would be overrun," Walker said. "As we raised our hand in Utah initially to help the state respond to the pandemic, it became very apparent that what was missing around the U.S. was a body to bring together all those disparate point solutions that were powerful in and of themselves but that needed to be knitted together to create a comprehensive strategy and solution."The collaboration began in Utah, where the companies struck a deal with Gov. Gary Herbert's administration to help launch TestUtah . The program offered a number of services, including a symptom testing website and physical testing sites. While the services were initially offered for free, the companies eventually expanded their services, signing around $11 million in contracts with the state After this initial burst of success in Utah, the companies saw the opportunity to expand.Advertising their services to other governments, the companies quickly garnered partnerships in Nebraska and Iowa. Beset by the unpredictable virus and facing anxious constituencies, the administrations in both states hurriedly used emergency buying powers to sign no-bid contracts amounting to $27 million and $26 million, respectively.Under those contracts, the vendors promised to deliver an all-in-one solution to augment state and municipal testing efforts: Qualtrics would deliver an accessible symptom checking website; Domo would provide data sharing and analytics solutions to state officials ; Nomi, meanwhile, would act as an overall coordinator for the organizations and processes at play providing materials for pop-up test sites and connecting vendors, state health agencies and public officials.State administrations would staff and run the testing sites themselves. As Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts explained during a press conference , the companies would "deliver the test kits and really kind of make it a turnkey delivery for us with regard to machines, the test kits and all that sort of thing. Though we will be here in the state of Nebraska managing that lab. Itll be Nebraskans that are running it. Itll be Nebraskans who are running the test sites and so forth.""We became essentially what is the general contractor, the connective tissue, amongst a number of solutions coming together to [produce] a comprehensive ... statewide COVID testing response-as-a-service," said Walker, about Nomi's role in the projects.The companies appear to have positioned themselves to develop similar contracts nationwide with Domo apparently registering similar website domains for all fifty states TestFlorida.com and TestTexas.com, for example.Yet, some say what followed in Utah, Iowa and Nebraska fell short of the ideal public-private partnership, pointing to trouble ramping up to meet testing demand and questions over test accuracy. Lawmakers in all three states asked administrations end the contracts.Now the company contracted to conduct the actual tests, Co-Diagnostics, is being sued by one of its investors, which alleges that the company engaged in a "pump and dump" scheme to up their stock price through exaggerated claims. The lawsuits claims that Co-Diagnostics announced in early May that its test was 100 percent accurate, but that those claims were not accurate. The company has said that it doesn't agree with the allegations in the lawsuit, providing a statement tothat says the company stands behind the quality of our technology platform, and performance of our testing products. We intend to vigorously defend this matter."A represenative for Nomi also defended the testing company, explaining in a statement that "despite political chatter from senators, health experts and the FDA are all confident in Co-Diagnostics tests, and there have now been more than four third-party validations of them. If the FDA were not, the test would not be used."The ambitions of these public-private partnerships were immense: to stand up large-scale testing procedures in numerous communities across multiple states in a tight time frame, with immense public pressure in the background.Adminstrations in Iowa and Nebraska have so far disregarded much of the criticism of the partnerships.Gov. Pete Ricketts' office in Nebraska could not be reached for comment for this article, but has consistently defended its program . The office of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, meanwhile, said in an email tothat the program had significantly improved since its launch.In Utah, where these partnerships began, the longterm future of the program isn't totally clear. Local news reports suggest that the partnership between the state and Nomi Health had been renewed as of mid-June, but a spokesperson for the governor's office said the agreement is under review."The contract is under review to assess the effectiveness before renewing it," said Brooke Scheffler, public information officer for the Utah Governor's Office, in a recent email.In May, suspicions about test accuracy cropped up when it was reported that TestUtah was returning an unusually low rate of positive test results . This spurred various reviews of the program's testing process.Meanwhile, in Iowa, rollout of TestIowa was criticized for being slow to scale to the goal of 3,000 tests per day that was established at the outset of the program.Tricia Kitzmann, Community Health Division manager with Linn County Public Health, said in an email that as of June 9, a total of 1,043 county residents had been tested through TestIowa. The test site in Linn County, Iowa's second most populous county, has been operating since the beginning of May.Kitzmann also revealed that initially, many of the tests they received were inconclusive or showed inconsistencies, though Kitzmann said that in the past few weeks things have improved."The data we are receiving now is much cleaner and [involves] very little duplications and inconclusive tests," she said.Nomi's Walker said that the test materials for the sites were provided by the company, but that the sites were staffed and run by government agencies. The capacity to add 3,000 tests a day was a goal set by state governments themselves, which Nomi's infrastructure was provided to accomodate, he said."TestIowa is just one tool individuals can use to get a COVID-19 test," said Pat Garrett, spokesman for Gov. Reynolds' office, in regards to criticism of its rollout. "That being said, we have significantly ramped up testing and we now have TestIowa clinic sites, in addition to drive up sites."In Nebraska, meanwhile, available testing options have irked disability rights groups for their lack of accessibility, something several local Democrats have swiftly criticized the Republican governor for. That particular criticism, however, also applies to many of the country's pop-up test sites, which require a car and do not appear to be designed with disabled people in mind."We've worked very hard to support the state in making sure that those who need and want access to the program can get access to it," Walker said. "Ultimate decisions around how that's done, how that's accomplished, is left up to the state, who is running and directing the program."Indeed, all three states recently decided to renew contracts to continue the programs, with Utah extending through mid-July. The programs have definitively helped widen the scope of testing efforts; governments are still expanding these efforts, too. In May, Iowa was able to nearly double its testing capacity, going from some 1,400 tests per day to a little over 3,000. It's not totally clear how much of that was because of TestIowa, according to the Des Moines Register "The uniqueness of the solution has really been a convergence of taking technology and applying it in new ways to help states respond to a crisis," Walker said. "Through this process, the programs that we've been able to stand up are now available to 8.3 million people across the state. We've done more than a million assessments. We've tested through these programs more than 150,000 individuals. And our average turn around time is about 40 hours.""From that perspective, it's been wonderful to be a part of the state's response efforts on a big level," he added.Government TechnologyGoverning Group Bravery Citation In the early evening of 29 May 2016, Mr John Hendrikus Verbeek and other members of the public were involved in the rescue of a woman from a burning vehicle at Palm Beach in Queensland. Just after 6pm, a car travelling at high speed left the road near an intersection, leaving the road and crashing into a power pole. Debris was strewn over a large area as the vehicle was split in two and then caught alight. A passer-by stopped her vehicle and ran to the wrecked car. Other drivers then stopped to assist and they managed to pull the deployed airbags off the injured female driver. With fire coming through the windscreen and footwell, one person reached into the car and tried to pull the woman free, whilst another person supported the unresponsive driver. With flames getting more intense, a rescuer placed herself between the driver and the flames and manipulated the woman's arms and legs from underneath the steering wheel and the dashboard. Shattered glass covered the driver and the five rescuers, including Mr Verbeek, continued to manoeuvre her and the front seat until they were able to pull her from the vehicle. The injured woman was moved away from the vehicle and her vital signs were checked by one of the rescuers who was a doctor. Moments later the damaged vehicle erupted into flames. For his actions, Mr Verbeek is recognised by the award of the Group Bravery Citation. When the country closed, government along with everyone else discovered a sudden, urgent need to do things through the Internet.Tech vendors have stepped up to help in many, many ways. Granicus worked with the state of Oklahoma on unemployment insurance claims. Citrix helped Illinois set up remote work capabilities for thousands of public servants. Deloitte created a new software suite on top of the Salesforce platform to manage recovery efforts. NIC found itself at the crux of what many governments needed: to serve people online. So during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has been busy deploying more than 100 solutions to help governments stay functional.Most of them we put up at no cost to the government and the citizens, said Harry Herington, NICs CEO. Thats a thing thats really impressed me throughout all of this, is everybody stepped up and said How can we help, and NIC was no different.Thats an old stand-by for NIC, which has long relied on a business model that involves offering services for free and then collecting revenue through service fees. Some things, Herington said, dont bring in revenue.When the company started getting calls from government sometimes just as they received the orders to head home, and they were literally in the process of turning off lights, locking doors and driving home employees were faced to quickly put up services for government offices caught off guard.They were put in a position that they werent ready for, and thats not their fault, Herington said. Think of this like a thousand-year flood everyone prepares for the hundred-year flood.GovStatus, a cloud-based service for information websites and notifications, became a workhorse for the companys customers. Agencies have used it to deliver COVID-19 statistics, executive orders and other information to residents, whether that comes through a website or a text to their cellphone.Theyve been heavily used , Herington said.Those sites across the country were getting hammered. We had no idea, just the, I would say, the terror, he said. In this country, when this crisis hit, nobody knew where to turn, and so they started turning to government. And they were scared, we were scared, everybody was scared. And this gave them not only a place to turn to, but it told them when something changed.Some things have been relatively easy. For example, NIC already had an appointment-scheduling tool in place that started becoming useful for agencies that couldnt take walk-ins anymore.Several agencies lost their innocence, is what I like to say, during this, because there wasnt a need and this isnt anything that is negative on them there wasnt a driving need from their constituents to do stuff online. So they did face-to-face. Individuals would come to their office, would call them on the phone, they would do things face-to-face, Herington said. When the pandemic hit and they shut the doors, that was no longer an option.One of the stories hes particularly proud of is when the state of Louisiana turned to NIC to help speed up virus testing.Louisiana, theyre trying to set up the testing and the issue they had is by their regulations they had a form that had to be filled out in triplicate and sent in and then processed manually. Well, the offices shut down. No. 1, how do you get the forms? No. 2, who is processing these? he said. We were able to turn that around real quick so that it could be done online and it could be vetted by that agency almost instantly because testing was critical.In a similar vein, the company has stood up services to help retired nurses reinstate their licenses so they could help overwhelmed medical centers, to help businesses quickly attain certificates of good standing so they could be eligible for federal relief funds and to help agencies coordinate on finding personal protective equipment.While the initial rush for those kinds of services might have cooled off, the country is currently undergoing an ominous increase in new cases, as well as the percentage of tests coming back positive. So Herington is expecting more.This isnt over, and there is a sense that it might be over, and its not, he said. Nobody knows the magnitude it can go to. We have an obligation to keep the citizens informed and calm, and thats what governments doing. 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. The Texas approach, "Damn the COVID-19 torpedoes, full steam ahead!" has resulted in several torpedo strikes amidship, with the ship of state, down at the bow.Texas did not fully close down early in the pandemic and was one of the first to reopen 'for business.' Yay Texas! Then, as things began to sour with more coronavirus cases popping up in more heavily populated cities in the states, those mayors instituted mask requirements for their jurisdictions. BUT--the Governor, said, "No you don't--you can't do that, no one in the state is required to wear masks."He loosened this up a bit a few weeks ago and then has just recently jumped into the deep end of the mask pool by requiring Texans to all wear masks, under penalty of a fine.It is amazing what science and an exploding number of COVID-19 cases, followed by surging hospitalizations, will do to one's political thinking. It is a classic 'politics meets science and reality' moment.The problem for Texans is that it will take at least two weeks for the preventative nature of wearing a mask kicks in to help decrease the case numbers. Meanwhile--you have mixed messages with the Lt. Governor of Texas decrying all this mask wearing and slamming Dr. Fauci for being "wrong on every issue."Mixed messages are a public information officer and public health professional's worst nightmare.Speaking of "full speed stern" as in reversing course, President Trump is now suggesting, but not mandating people wear masks. Poll numbers do have matter after all, even if the science has no impact.Lastly, churches in Texas do not have to follow the mask guidance. They are free to infect as many parishioners as they can. It is not in the Bible, but there is a popular saying, "God helps them, who help themselves" which might just apply in this case. (TNS) Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced nearly $50 million to support broadband expansion across Missouri, including support directed at telehealth and education.The governor also signed house bill 1768, which expands the states existing Missouri Broadband Grant Program until 2027.Funding for the new programs comes in large part from the Coronavirus Relief Fund and is aimed at improving resiliency and aiding in the COVID-19 response.Providing Missourians essential services during this time is one of our top priorities, Parson said. Ensuring citizens have appropriate access to telehealth and education and that they are able to telework is critical. These are not optional services and we want to do our best to increase connectivity across the state.Currently, an estimated 300,000 Missouri households, 195,000 K-12 students and 54,000 businesses and farms lack access to high speed internet.The expansion includes several new initiatives.Emergency Broadband Investment: This initiative allocates $20 million to establish a reimbursement program for broadband providers. It will assist providers with construction costs for new broadband expansion to households with students or vulnerable populations. By November 2020, this program plans to make more than 10,000 new connections in unserved and underserved areas of the state.Telehealth: $5.25 million will support connectivity for telehealth services for vulnerable populations. In partnership with Missouri Telehealth Network, located with the University of Missouri Columbias School of Medicine, more than 12,500 hotspots will be secured for use by the Federally Qualified Health Centers and the Community Mental Health Centers.Libraries: The Office of the State Librarian within the Secretary of States office will deploy $2.5 million to implement and administer a grant program for Missouris libraries to access resources for hotspots and Wi-Fi enabled devices to support telehealth and students of higher education.K-12 Distance Learning: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will allocate $10 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to seek reimbursement for eligible costs to increase student connectivity.Higher Education Distance Learning: The Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development will allocate $10 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to public institutions to upgrade the campus broadband networks, offer students access to Wi-Fi enabled devices or hotspots and enhance learning management systems.Broadband Technical Assistance Request: The Missouri Association of Councils of Government and DED have partnered together to apply for nearly $615,000 in grant support from the Economic Development Administration to support a pilot project for Broadband Modeling and Engineering Feasibility Plans for up to 24 counties or eight regional clusters. The state of Arkansas announced last week that Nolan Leatherwood will be serving as the permanent chief information security officer.Leatherwood had served as the state's interim CISO since April 2018. The CISO for Arkansas is part of the Division of Information Systems (DIS), which is under the Department of Transportation and Shared Services (TSS).Last month, Gov. Asa Hutchinson made Leatherwood a member of the state's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Board as part of an attempt to shore up Arkansas' IT infrastructure. In an email to, Leatherwood described the current landscape of information security in terms of COVID-19's overall impact."The increase of remote work due to COVID-19 increases the attack surface," Leatherwood wrote. "More remote accessible applications and networks means more opportunity for attackers. Though Arkansas employees are back in the office, there are several considerations the state would need to take into account if remote work were to be reinstated."Leatherwood began working for DIS in 2001 as an intern before joining the division full time. A press release indicates he has been "a subject matter expert on cybersecurity legislation and budget proposals, worked on the States strategic security plan, and facilitated statewide security working group meetings."Leatherwood shared what he has taken the most pride in during his tenure as the state's interim CISO."I think the largest accomplishment in the past two years would be the executive branch rollout of malware protection software to all endpoints," he said. "This has led to unprecedented protection and visibility for state departments." (TNS) Weeks of protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd have placed renewed attention on police body-worn cameras, whose two largest U.S. manufacturers have a significant Seattle presence.Axon and Motorola Solutions recently branched out to commercial sales even before Floyds filmed killing in Minneapolis. Cellphone footage from bystanders put the case in the spotlight, but recordings from police body cameras are expected to be introduced at trial.Businesses and municipal services large and small including fire departments, emergency medical technicians, private security firms, department stores and construction crews have turned increasingly to body-worn devices from a plethora of manufacturers to monitor employees for training, safety and behavioral purposes.Frankly, weve been really surprised at the level of interest in a broad number of different industry marketplaces that were not on our radar before, said Axon founder Rick Smith, whose 1,500 employees include 245 in a Seattle office that is the companys second biggest beyond its Scottsdale, Arizona, headquarters.The idea of body cameras as a nonlethal safety tool to monitor police and modify behavior with the aim of reducing excessive force by officers and false complaints against them is also whats luring the business world.Axon makes body cameras for the Seattle Police Department and the Minneapolis force, four of whom were charged in Floyds killing in May. Within the past six months, it has started selling cameras to larger companies for industrial use purposes, one of the bigger ones a pharmaceutical firm where devices are being worn on a trial basis by employees at drug-testing facilities.It turns out that any time there is any concern that somebody didnt follow the right safety protocols, they have to scrap millions of dollars of medication, Smith said. But they reported back to us that by having people that are working key processes wear body cameras, they are able to go back and check and verify whether or not a process was followed. Theyve already saved millions of dollars in stuff they didnt have to scrap.Others include a company doing large truckloads of deliveries to grocery stores, using cameras to record the physical transfer of goods to reduce theft and loss. There are times when a client would call up and say, Hey, were one pallet short of some produce or This produce is bad. Well, now that theyve got the video, theyre able to go back and look.While cameras like GoPro have made significant inroads among consumers sky divers, mountain climbers, cyclists and other outdoor enthusiasts Smith said his commercial clients want something different. The Axon Flex 2, Axon Body 2 and newer Body 3 cameras are less focused on color pixelation and cinematography than a GoPro, but better for evidence gathering given their 12-hour, full-police-shift battery life and delivery of accurate, non-erasable footage even in low light and crisp audio along with secure storage options.The Body 3 offers livestreaming and can begin recording video automatically when a police weapon is drawn or emergency lights activated. It also offers remote map-tracking of the camera-wearer.The fact that we do this with police evidence is a strong industry endorsement around the reliability and security of our overall platform, Smith said. It appears to really be resonating in a lot of other industries.Motorola has made in-vehicle cameras for police since 2004 becoming the national leader in that realm before branching out to body camera sales in 2015. It began selling body cameras commercially in the United Kingdom last year and in the United States the first half of this year to customers in retail sales, the railway industry and emergency first responders.The companys Seattle office of about 150 employees is a headquarters for its command center software business which includes tools for gathering and storing video evidence obtained from body cameras.John Kedzierski, Motorolas senior vice president of video evidence and analytics, said the recent protests and calls for increased body camera use by police has absolutely made more customers interested in the product. But Kedzierski said commercial interest had already been piqued, with demand surging once the coronavirus pandemic took hold.Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see cases where customers behave very inappropriately, Kedzierski said. Youve probably read and heard about cases where people engage in coughing and spitting intentionally because they were dissatisfied with something. And so, were seeing more demand for cameras in those areas to de-escalate those situations and, if need be, to document them.Clients also use the footage to train new employees on real-life situations they may face. Or, to go over how an employee handled a situation to train them to attain better outcomes.Motorola, like Axon, wouldnt divulge the names of its U.S. clients because it doesnt have permission. Motorola clients overseas include the Sainsburys department store chain the U.K.s second largest where Kedzierski said employees at about 400 of 1,400 or so locations wear the companys VT100 camera to record customer interactions.Front-line employees that are trying to enforce people wearing masks, or social distancing, inside the store can encounter a customer that doesnt want to do that, said Kedzierski, whose company also sells VT100 cameras to the British-based ASDA and Co-op supermarket chains. And those situations can get escalated. That focus on employee safety has been a key driver in our discussions more than anything else.The VT100 is more lightweight than the V300 models Motorola sells to law enforcement and doesnt have the companys proprietary Record-After-the-Fact technology which allows continuous footage to be retrieved from the police models even if the camera wasnt turned on.But the VT100 offers a standby mode where cameras can sit idle for months and then be turned on at the push of a button without recharging. Once on, the cameras footage is livestreamed to a stores control room video monitors while an audible or text alert automatically goes to security guard radios for quick response if needed.Among U.S. businesses known to use body cameras include Walmart, which equips members of its InHome Delivery team with proprietary models. The program, launched last fall in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Missouri, and Vero Beach, Florida, enables employees to gain access to private homes when owners are absent and place groceries directly inside refrigerators.By turning on their cameras, the employees trigger a special locking mechanism on a homes door allowing one-time access with the owner able to monitor the transaction on a smartphone application. Walmart has since added pharmaceutical deliveries to the program, plans more services this summer and could expand to other cities later this year.Last October, Massachusetts regulators required those making home deliveries of recreational marijuana to wear body cameras because they were prone to robberies and to ensure they werent leaving packages with small children.Axon founder Smith views increased body camera usage as a natural outgrowth at a time seemingly everybody already films smartphone videos. Smiths company used to be known as Taser and has sold nonlethal stun-gun weapons to police since the late-1990s and body cameras since 2015.Two of Smiths high school friends were shot dead in a 1991 road-rage incident in Scottsdale while he was away attending graduate school. The killings spurred a personal fascination with the subject of gun violence and his companys core mission to explore nonlethal solutions to counter it.And while Axon cameras filming Floyds death didnt prevent it, hes hopeful emerging technology especially livestreaming can lead to quicker interventions when lines get crossed. That technology is why Smith views Seattle as our most important recruiting hub for top talent, including the December hiring of former Amazon Alexa Vice President Jeff Kunins as the companys new chief product officer.Just like police, Smith expects commercial clients will grapple with privacy issues surrounding body cameras including the limits of workplace surveillance, use of facial recognition technology and determining how footage will be compiled and who will have access to it. And Axon will have to address such concerns through tech.There are no easy answers, Smith said. We cant go back to the 1950s where, of course, there was privacy and nobody was being recorded. Thats just not a world we can go back into. (TNS) As nationwide protests force a deep examination of police tactics and funding, technology companies say they are re-evaluating their relationship with law enforcement as well. Amazon has halted police use of its facial recognition technology for one year and the website Nextdoor has stopped forwarding tips to police.Now, privacy groups and activists are scrutinizing the relationships between Amazon and local police departments that allow law enforcement to request access to video recordings from doorbell cameras installed in private homes.Amazons expanding network of law enforcement partners for its Neighbors app remains intact, an arrangement that critics say is designed to boost sales of its Ring cameras and capitalize on fears of property crime. Social media and news channels are filled with stories of package thieves and other incidents captured on Ring cameras, which acts as a form of marketing for the products.Seeking access to video footage and crime tips, law enforcement agencies in Northern California cities such as Elk Grove and Rocklin, and sheriffs offices in El Dorado and Placer counties have each signed on to be partners. The Roseville Police Department is considering a partnership, too.The Neighbors app attracts the same kind of conversations as Nextdoor. Many conversations are indeed about property crime, missing pets, and community disturbances. It also allows residents to make snap judgments about people they dont recognize and promptly alert police.At a time when Black Lives Matter and other activists are demanding cities cut back on police spending, the agreements with Amazon motivate the kind of profiling that contributes to harmful encounters with police, privacy groups and activists say.They encourage a kind of vigilantism and racism in the use of the Neighbors platform that is deeply troubling, said Mohammad Tajsar, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. And that will hurt poor people, homeless people and people of color who are innocents and have done nothing wrong other than being captured by cameras owned by wealthier homeowners.No money typically changes hands between Amazon and the law enforcement agencies. But privacy experts say the agreements could also give the impression that the government favors Ring camera products over all others.Some cities have gone so far as subsidizing the purchase or Ring cameras for residents, and local police departments and Amazon often coordinate messaging when the partnerships are announced and agencies agree to increase users of the website.This is one of many red flags, experts say.All of this creates an incentive system where police are out on the street promoting a for-profit company, said Matthew Guariglia, a researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He added that if a police department then recommends buying cameras, residents could have reasons to doubt their intentions.This creates uncertainty about whether your neighborhood is unsafe or police are just operating under some shadowy agreement with a for-profit company, Guariglia said. You shouldnt have that ambiguity about why police are telling you to install surveillance cameras on your house.Amazon has grown its roster of partners to more than 1,300 agencies nationwide.The city of Rocklin received its first pitch in November 2018, records show. A Ring official sent an email to Police Chief Chad Butler after hed attended a law enforcement conference in Orlando. The company offered him 5 free Ring devices and access to its new neighborhood watch app.Butler forwarded the email to one of his captains: Is this something that would be beneficial to us? Its free.Butler gave the free devices away in a raffle, according to police department spokesperson Scott Horrillo. Rocklin became a partner about 7 months later. Horrillo said they have not sided with one video doorbell company over others.Were not endorsing any product. My understanding is even though this is Ring, anybodys camera can send or share video with people in their neighborhood or city, Horrillo said. Its just another way of fighting crime.In Elk Grove, tips from cameras have not solved any crimesThe Elk Grove Police Department became a partner last July after a string of video doorbell thefts.It was obviously a platform our community members were posting videos on and sharing with other community members, said Jason Jimenez, a police department spokesperson. What we found is there are times that people posted a video but did not report the crime. Or maybe it was some suspicious activity that (a) community member felt.The department wanted to be aware of all those incidents, he said. Now, almost one year since joining, Jimenez said the tips from the Neighbors app have not led to any solved crimes.True to form, the Neighbors app in Elk Grove is filled suspicions that are often either inconclusive or wrong.A month ago, a video was posted in which a woman walks up to the front door of a house from the street and glances around the porch for a few seconds before walking back toward a group of women pushing strollers. The video was titled Package thief?The comments started out reasonable: She might be looking for her package, lately Amazon (has been) delivering to the wrong house and UPS. It happened to me twice, said Neighbor 2.No way is she looking for her package!, Neighbor 7 posted.Yeah, probable package thief ... they come in all shapes and sizes and appearances...Most do their best to appear innocent, Neighbor 10 added.Ill leave a box full of s--t next time, said Neighbor 13.And on and on it went. Weeks later, the original poster returned with the verdict.This was not a package thief this time. This was my daughter and we got an alert our package was dropped off but it wasnt there...Im sorry we startled you!Do video doorbells lower crime?Ring operates with the mission to make neighborhoods safer. Video doorbells heighten awareness but it remains to be seen if they lower crime. Small scale studies of communities in Utah and California have tried to answer this question but the results are either contested by academics or lack rigor.There is no empirical evidence that suggests they are helpful. The only evidence that they have is a case study in Los Angeles, said the ACLUs Tajsar. That study has been debunked by a group of researchers at MIT.The publication MIT Technology Review tried to reproduce a study of a Los Angeles neighborhood that claimed crime fell by 55 percent over six months after the devices were installed. The initial study was conducted by Ring but researchers could not replicate the result, concluding that burglaries in the area studied actually increased.In another study of West Valley City , Utahs second-largest city, an analyst found that burglaries fell over a one-year period after installing Ring doorbells. But the community without them the control group was found to be safer.The mixed results leave little evidence that cameras make communities safer.Ring officials did not answer the question when asked if the company had any proof its doorbells help lower crime. A spokesperson said Ring devices and the Neighbors website have helped resolve crime and safety incidents and allowed communities to share valuable information in times of crisis.Ring will continue in support of our mission while maintaining our commitment to user privacy, security and control, Ring spokeswoman Morgan Culbertson said in an email. She then listed a handful of incidents throughout California where the technology helped nab criminals.The lacking evidence hasnt stopped residents like Pauly Parker, who lives in East Sacramento with his wife, from buying them. An IT professional by day, Parker said he bought a Ring doorbell after a slow escalation of thefts in his neighborhood along Folsom Boulevard.The last straw was when a thief stole bikes worth thousands of dollars from his neighbor. Parker worried about his own collection of music equipment.With the Ring cameras, Parker is now alerted when a person walks onto his driveway or porch, sometimes looking around and checking under ledges for something when hes not home. When that happened recently, Parker said he was able to announce himself through the doorbell even though he was not home. Soon after the interaction, the man walked away.Almost daily Im getting notifications. It seems to be escalating, although most of them are uneventful people coming up the driveway, taking a look, and then walking back down the driveway, Parker said. It really gives us an immediate and tangible grasp about whats going on when were not here.Key talking points for police agenciesA common facet of the agreements is a three-page memo of key talking points that details how agencies should announce the partnerships. It includes a section on social media messaging and success metrics pegged at increasing both users of the Neighbors app and responses from people who are already members.The Elk Grove Police Department received the talking points, too. Jimenez, the department spokesperson, said their announcement on social media was no different than when the city joined Nextdoor.They have rules; youre agreeing with their rules, Jimenez said of the contracts.I dont know what they (Amazon) get. But the Ring platform is essentially no different than any of the other social media channels out there Facebook, YouTube, Twitter. You have people sharing videos on those platforms all the time, Jimenez said.Ring officials said the same thing; how the agreements help police adhere to its terms and conditions, particularly limiting access to the agencys staff.Critics disagree. They say the focus on results shows how the company is entangling local governments in its business plan instead.This is a deliberate and intentional corporate plow to dramatically increase the market share of Ring in communities that it would otherwise have a much more difficult time to get access to, said Tajsar.Tajsar said some communities have subsidized the purchase of Ring cameras under the impression it will lower crime.These partnerships really ought to be resisted by community members, Tajsar said. Police departments really need to take more seriously the problems associated with Ring devices.Some cities, like the Roseville Police Department are still on the fence after fielding several requests to join and meeting with Ring officials, said police spokesman Rob Baquera.We are open to partnering with any trusted platform that helps increase communications, Baquera said, adding that Ring has set itself apart by creating an online community. If there was another platform doing the same thing we would also consider joining.Still, Baquera said theyre going in with their eyes open.Any time were operating with a privately held company we absolutely keep the concept in the back of our mind there may be some linkage or further process for a profit margin down the line, Baquera said.What is Amazons next move?Amazon has moved swiftly into new industries before, disrupting and then dominating them.Surveillance technology could be next. With the Ring devices and the Neighbors app, Amazon is on common ground with law enforcement agencies who have an increasing interest in video footage.Companies pay millions to advertise products like video doorbells to consumers. Critics say the arrangement turns police departments into unwitting salespeople for Ring, boosting the brands image in communities through their own government.Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia who studies police use of surveillance technology, said the agreements show a preference for Ring over other companies.There is an open question about whether police should be favoring a private platform that offers a service, maybe a valuable service, but isnt doing it out of the goodness of their heart, Ferguson said.Tech companies, he said, make these products inexpensive or even free because the data collected from them is far more valuable in the long run.Civil liberties and privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have criticized the company for its apparent lack of security on Ring cameras and the Neighbors app.The group found that Amazon was also selling user data to advertisers. Another group of researchers was able to reveal the precise location of website users, showing that their information was vulnerable and could be easily exposed. Hackers were able to breach a live feed of a Southern California home.In February, Ring said it would no longer allow multiple login attempts, require two-factor authentication and stop most third-party advertisement tracking. The company later said it would allow users to turn off law enforcement calls for video in the settings.Some agencies like the police department in Roseville take solace in some of the improvements.The piece that we appreciate is that a private resident has to self-select and push their information if they want, said Baquera, the Roseville police spokesperson. They push it out and they have the options to share the information if they want.Guariglia said those moves still arent enough.How many people are going to go into their features and deliberately turn them off? Guariglia said. And it doesnt matter because the police can send a warrant to Amazon and get your footage without you knowing. (TNS) The corporation that operates Fort Worths bicycle sharing service was hacked, and some users credit card information may have been stolen, the company said in a letter to customers. BCycle operates bike shares across the country , including in Fort Worth. Some users received a letter in the past week informing them that BCycle found malware on its website that allowed a hacker to see personal information between Jan. 24 and April 26.The hack only impacts those who signed up for a membership pass through the website, said Jennifer Grissom, executive director of Fort Worth Bike Sharing.BCycle found the malware in April and launched an investigation, according to the companys letter. On June 2, the company identified which users may have been impacted and sent a letter to them on June 26. The hacked information may have included users names, credit card numbers and addresses.Grissom said the hack impacts about 12% of BCycles nationwide users.It was a very small portion of people who bought passes through the website, she said.In the letter, BCycle said the company was not aware of any unauthorized transactions that resulted from the hack. But at least one person reported to the Star-Telegram that their credit card was hacked and someone made unauthorized purchases in May and June.BCycle will cover the cost of one year of identity theft protection for affected customers, according to the letter.In another breach, Fort Worths public transit agency Trinity Metro was hacked by a ransomware group , cybersecurity experts said Thursday. Trinity Metro said it cannot comment on cybersecurity issues. Grissom said she was not aware that Trinity Metro had been hacked, and that hack did not involve Fort Worth Bike Sharing, which is separate from Trinity Metro. Hackers attacked the Sheriff's Office for Cooke County, Texas, over the weekend, apparently stealing some of the law enforcement agency's data in the process.Statements made in online message boards seem to suggest that the hackers stole potentially sensitive data which included "information related to both past and ongoing [police] cases," said Brett Callow, threat analyst with Emsisoft. The Sheriff's Office could not be reached for comment.County spokesperson Cathy Lloyd said that she had been made aware of the ransomware incident over the weekend, but could not provide any further information. County officials have so far not confirmed that data was stolen, nor commented on the nature of the ransom.The cybercriminals responsible for the incident are apparently affiliated with REvil ransomware and have threatened to start releasing the agency's data within seven days if their financial demands are not met. REvil is the same strain of malware that struck over 20 different Texas communities simultaneously last summer The attack on Cooke County is only the most recent incident in a rising trend as hackers have increasingly used malicious malware not just to encrypt but also steal government data."Cooke County is at least the fifth U.S. municipality to have had data stolen by a ransomware group and the fourth to have the stolen data published one paid to prevent publishing. There may be others that we do not know about," said Callow.Most recently, ransomware victim Knoxville, Tenn. , saw some of its data published online, as hackers sought to coerce officials into meeting ransom demands. Kristin Farley, Knoxville's director of communications, said in an email that her city continues to monitor the situation."The data is being published on a site created by the threat actor to shame victims who choose not to pay the ransom and as additional leverage to seek payment of the ransom," reads a statement provided by Farley. "We are working diligently, with the assistance of our third-party computer forensic specialists, to review the data published by the threat actor and confirm the full extent of data that is impacted."While successful ransomware attacks on government agencies declined slightly during the beginning of the stateside COVID-19 pandemic , those numbers appear to be climbing again.As the attacks have continued, public officials have continually agreed to pay criminals for their data, thus validating the business model. A good example is the University of California, San Francisco, which recently agreed to pay hackers $1.14 million in exchange for data stolen in May "If organizations would follow the advice of law enforcement agencies and stop paying ransoms, ransomware would become a thing of the past," said Callow, adding that if governments continue to pay, "the outcome will be a vicious circle in which the criminals become ever better resourced and able to invest in ramping up the scale and sophistication of their operations." It was a special race in Austria yesterday. Many retirements, an unexpected podium and several penalties were handed out. Valtteri Bottas managed to avoid all of this and won the race after leading from head to tail. Though he didn't avoid all the drama after having trouble with his gearbox. This is how the international press reacted to the spectacular Austrian Grand Prix. La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy): Austrian Grand Prix full of emotion! A win for Bottas, Ferrari second with Leclerc Raise your hand if you had predicted that Ferrari would have a second place at the end of the Austrian GP. It happened, in a tortuous way, thanks to accidents, safety cars and penalties. But it happened. Charles Leclerc managed it who managed to beat the McLaren of Lando Norris and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez with an exciting finish. And thanks to the five-second penalty that Lewis Hamilton received, Leclerc was able to give the 'prancing horse' a place that, after a very disappointing qualifying session, was not expected. Auto Motor und Sport (Germany): Was the Mercedes victory really hanging by a thread? For 23 laps everything looked like a demonstration for Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton led the field superior, their biggest competitor Max Verstappen was out of the race prematurely with an electronics problem. But then an extensive discussion between drivers and engineers began. Radio communication was sometimes more exciting than the race. Toto Wolff said they were so superior that it made sense to save the engine. AS (Spain): Red Bull and Mercedes raise the tone in their "power battle." Red Bull Racing did badly in the Austrian GP. Max Verstappen fell out due to a problem with the electronics on his RB16 that has no official explanation yet, but that made the car undriveable and Alex Albon ended up in the gravel when he tried to overtake Hamilton. The Briton received a penalty of five seconds and is the epilogue of a weekend full of fights, claims and punishments between the energy drinks company and Mercedes. The Guardian (Great Britain): Valtteri Bottas wins F1 Austrian Grand Prix after Hamilton suffers penalty. Incidents, spectacle, drama, tension: Formula 1 could not have asked for a better season opener at the Austrian Grand Prix. The coronavirus may have ensured that there were no fans at the Red Bull Ring to witness the great theatre, but it can be assured that they would have been thrilled by racing that ebbed and flowed, down to final lap's last tenth of a second. Valtteri Bottas took the flag for Mercedes from pole but was only one player in a grand cast. Le Figaro (France): Bottas wins first crazy Grand Prix in Austria. A crazy race for recovery. The F1 world feared a single Mercedes driver after their dominance throughout the weekend. While Bottas dominated the race from start to finish to claim his eighth career success, Lewis Hamilton had a complicated Sunday. The Briton, who was punished with three places on the grid and was forced to start fifth, also received a five-second penalty at the end of the race for launching Albon when he tried to overtake. In second place at the finish, the six-time world champion ended up in fourth place. Grand Haven, MI (49417) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 69F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Mugello's chances of hosting a Formula 1 race on the 2020 'corona calendar' stand at 98 percent. That is the claim of Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's team boss. The Maranello-based company also owns Mugello, a challenging circuit in northern Tuscany. Mugello is well known as a test track, but it is now slated to host Formula 1's 1000th grand prix one week after the Italian GP at Monza. Binotto says the contract is not yet signed "but we are close". "We care about it a lot and have been in contact with Formula 1 to have this race which would be the 1000th grand prix," the Italian told Sky Italia. "It is 98 percent that we will get there, but we do not celebrate until there is a signature." Binotto added: "We also hope to have our fans with us, while always looking at the situation with Covid-19." (GMM) Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. It has received strong research support from numerous clinical trials osrs gold evaluating its efficacy in individuals with OCD in both inpatient and outpatient settings. EX/RP involves two components: 1) provoking obsessions and experiencing subsequent anxiety while 2) refraining from engaging in rituals.The purpose of this process is to gradually extinguish your obsession related anxiety by having you by doing.Crucially, by preventing rituals, you learn that (1) despite your anxiety and compulsive urge, the feared outcome likely will not occur (or at least not nearly as bad as you imagined); and (2) the anxiety itself will habituate on its own as long as compulsions aren't performed. Plus, as a byproduct, many people also feel a sense of control and empowerment over their anxiety for the first time, instead of remaining crippled by obsessions and compulsions.The actual exposure occurs gradually and systematically, so you start with the least feared situation and move onto the most feared. Sakazakii isolates on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The whole genome phylogeny was determined using Mugsy and RaxML. SNP calls were determined using SMALT and SAMtools, and filtered using VCFtools. I do like to believe, as I previously mentioned, that there is a greater power. And while I agree with the fact that we are not to judge others, I believe it is important for the media to explore these discrimminating practices, especially when degrading photos and videos are posted to the internet. Yes, there is a separation of church and state, but to what extent? Given the fact that so many gays are taking their own lives because of societal ignorance angers me. When relationships falter, a person directly suffers from the negativity and unhealthiness of that relationship. Therapy seeks to improve a person relationship skills, such as: communicating effectively, expressing emotions appropriately, and being properly assertive in personal and professional situations. You'll learn to notice when you're starting to get depressed, and to engage in activities that are aligned with your wants and values (which is critical, because depression causes isolation, lethargy, and lack of interest). Instantly he said whatever you need from me , I there for you Glen. I there for you, I there for the band, I there for the tour and there for there the fans. Whatever we need to do for this thing about the show must go on.. First, let me say that the President should be able to appoint whomever he wishes. And, unless they are not qualified, and unless it is a permanent appointment they should be confirmed almost without question. Let the incoming President make his own appointments if he doesn like the current ones. Good News! Here comes RSorder Summer Flash Sale in this hot season! Welcome to snap up totally 200M OSRS gold & 1000M RS3 gold for free at 03:00 am GMT on July 13, 2020. Visit activity page: https://www.rsorder.com/flash-sale. Besides, 5% off code "RSYK5" is also offered for Osrs gold / Runescape 3 Gold and all other products. Buy from https://www.rsorder.com/ at anytime. Sebastian Vettel's relationship with Ferrari continued to deteriorate after the 2020 season re-start in Austria. It was the first race weekend since the Maranello team made the decision to oust the quadruple world champion at the end of the year. The event finally made clear the extent of Ferrari's problems with its 2020 car, with Vettel not even making it into the top ten segment in qualifying. "We are missing a second to pole - seven tenths on the straights alone," team boss Mattia Binotto said. But amid rumours Ferrari's engine design was hobbled as a result of the cheating scandal, reporters pointed out that the new car was actually considerably slower than its predecessor in Austria a year ago. "We compare ourselves with the competition, not with the previous year," Binotto insisted. He says the problem is "a combination of the engine and aerodynamics", and said some new parts will arrive for the next race in Austria, and then a bigger update is set for Hungary. "But it will not be a final solution," the Italian warned. "The engine is frozen for this year and we will not be able to reduce the drag so quickly either." However, the situation is also widening the obvious divide between Vettel and Ferrari. Hailing Charles Leclerc for "fighting like a lion" en route to an unexpected podium, Binotto was far less forthcoming with praise for the German. "It was certainly not his best race today," he told Sky Italia when asked about Vettel. "He said the car was less driveable than it was on Friday. "As far as the spin (with Carlos Sainz) is concerned, it wasn't a great move by him and he is aware of that. "I think it's a shame because today would have been important to score points, especially when our direct competitors could not," Binotto added. For his part, Vettel denied fault for his poor race. "Something was wrong with the car," he said. "I had no confidence and I am even glad that I only spun once." (GMM) Submit An Obituary 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. Go to form Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Fluid warmer devices, also called blood warmer devices are used to treat hypothermia. These devices are used in various healthcare facilities such as hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and home care. The global fluid warmer devices market growth is largely influenced by the adoption rate of these devices across these facilities. The increasing prevalence of hypothermia is the main aspect driving the market's growth. Likelihood of hypothermia in geriatric population and infants is high. ]The increasing geriatric population across the globe is expected to drive the use of fluid warmer devices, which in turn is anticipated to boost the growth of the global market for these devices. Also, the demand for fluid warmer devices is high in cold regions. Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/22222 Company Profiles 3M Company Emit Corporation General Electric Company Smiths Group Plc Stryker Corporation Geratherm Medical Belmont Instrument Corporation Biegler GmbH Barkey GmbH & Co. KG Stihler Electronic GmbH Get To Know Methodology of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/22222 A comprehensive market research report titled Fluid Warmer Devices: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Forecast (2017-2026) by Persistence Market Research unveils several facets of the global market that have an impact on the global markets growth. The reader can gain directions to achieve stability in the changing market dynamics and can aim for future market expansions. According to the analysis include in this extensive research report, the global fluid warmer devices market is estimated to reach a significant valuation by the end of the year of assessment and is projected to grow at a high value CAGR of 5.5% throughout the period of assessment (2017-2026). Key Segmental Highlights of the Global Fluid Warmer Devices Market The global fluid warmer devices market is segmented on the basis of product type, application, end user and region. With respect to product type, the warming devices are extensively used for fluid or blood warming. The increasing adoption rate of warming devices can be attributed to better end results, due to which the warming devices segment is expected to be the largest with a high market value during the forecast period. Moreover, this segment is projected to grow at the fastest rate throughout the period of forecast, 2017-2026. Disposable accessories segment is the second largest contributing significantly to the growth of the global fluid warmer devices market in the coming years. Access Full Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/22222 In the application category, the surgery segment is expected to grow at a significant pace during the assessment period. The use of fluid warmer devices during surgery is expected to grow in the coming years. The surgery application segment is estimated to reach a high market value of over US$ 55 Mn by 2026 end, thus dominating the global market. The adoption of fluid warmer devices for new born care and home care is also expected to grow in the years to follow. By end user, the use of fluid warmer devices has been observed largely in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. Hospitals as an end user are highly lucrative for the growth of fluid warmer devices market across the globe. The hospitals segment is expected to lead the global market and is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. In addition, the ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) segment is projected to grow at the highest pace during the forecast period. In the region category, North America and Europe, both are expected to highly contribute to the global markets growth. Of these, North America is most attractive region for fluid warmer devices, followed by Europe. On the other hand, the fluid warmer devices market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is projected to grow at a relatively higher pace in the coming years, followed by Europe. APEJ is expected to present potential growth opportunities for the adoption of fluid warmer devices. A graduating student attends a class at Jiangsu Qingjiang Middle School in Huaian, East China's Jiangsu province, on March 30, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] Over 49,000 candidates in Beijing will take the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, which begins on Tuesday, the largest scale gathering in the capital since the first locally confirmed COVID-19 case of an outbreak emerged on June 11. "It's a big challenge (for authorities and students)," Beijing Education Commission spokesman Li Yi said recently at a COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention conference. As scheduled, 49,225 students in Beijing will take the exam spread over 2,867 examination rooms and 132 schools starting Tuesday morning. The municipal government has asked education departments at all levels to make detailed plans for organizing the exam with COVID-19 monitoring and emergency response procedures in place during the four days of the exam. Li said on Friday that the schools holding the exams have everything ready. He said they will all be disinfected before the exam and no central air-conditioning will be used in exam rooms to prevent spreading the virus. "All students will be required to wear masks the whole time during the examination," Li said. "All staff members for the exams have received nucleic acid tests, but students will not be required to do so in order to reduce the risk of cross-infection." To help the staff be more familiar with the procedure, Fengtai No 12 Middle School held an exam drill on Friday. Unlike in previous years, there will be an area for checking people's temperatures, a temporary medical observation area, spare exam rooms and disinfection facilities at the school. Jiang Yanfu, head of the school's main campus, said there were 36 exam rooms with 20 students taking the exam per room. Preparations "We have prepared three spare exam rooms," he said. "Students' temperatures will be taken before they enter the campus. If someone's temperature is abnormal, the student will be brought to another location to again have their temperature taken, and psychology teachers will be on standby there to help ease students' nerves." Tables with disinfection items, masks and tissues have already been prepared outside each exam room. The spare exam rooms to be used for emergencieseach will hold nine students at mostare equipped with ultraviolet ray disinfection devices. Exam monitors in those rooms will wear protective suits and glasses, Jiang said. To create a quiet environment for the exam, construction sites within 500 meters of the schools will suspend work during daytime and some buses will adjust their routes to avoid passing schools during exam hours. Some companies, such as navigation service provider AutoNavi, will provide free rides for students taking the exam who make reservations. Students in centralized quarantine for medical observation will take the exams alone in the rooms. Local governments will provide private transportation for those students to prevent infection. "Parents and schools should pay more attention to students' mental health now, since they have been through a lot in the first half of this year," Li added. Graduating students had to study at home for months due to the epidemic in February. A few weeks after they returned to campus, a new cluster of infections sprang up in Beijing, which forced them to return to studying at home until the exam. A parent surnamed Fang whose son is a graduating student at Fengtai No 2 Middle School, said the teachers have been monitoring the student's health every day and providing psychological guidance during his home study, which is very warm. "I hope my son will be able to approach the exam with calm and do his best at it," Fang said. "In this special time, he would not only gain the rewards for his hard work for college, but also beneficial experience for his life." For Dance Project, the grant is a really big deal, said Anne Morris, the organizations executive director. Dance Project Inc. cultivates the field of modern dance in North Carolina, nurturing a community of artists, audiences and students by providing opportunities for training, performances, collaboration and employment. The grant will primarily support the organizations administrative staff. Without them, it would be hard to do even a fraction of the things Dance Project does in the community, Morris said. So this gives them some job security, and allows us to be as nimble and flexible as possible as we figure out how to keep adapting quickly to a changing landscape. With local and national talent, a focus on artistic excellence and a Southern voice, Triad Stage in downtown offers a wide sampling of quality theater, including original works and reimagined classics. According to Jody Cauthen, Triad Stages development director, the theater remains in a holding pattern on live productions. But the grant will allow Triad Stage to continue its pivot to online and virtual programming. The NEA received more than 3,100 applications for the $45 million available in assistance. All of us at the National Endowment for the Arts are keenly aware that arts organizations across the country are hurting, struggling and trying to survive, Mary Anne Carter, who chairs the agency, said in a news release. 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. GREENSBORO A 22-year-old Greensboro man died Saturday and three people are charged in connection with his killing, Greensboro police said in a news release. Myles Marcel Barnes died at a hospital after he was found at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of East Market Street with a gunshot wound, according to the release. On Friday, officers arrested Duane Alexander Richardson, 23; Charles Christian Richardson Jr., 22; and Sade Emonni Damon, 23; all of Greensboro. Duane and Charles Richardson are charged with first-degree murder and Damon is charged with accessory after the fact, according to the release. All three are being held in the Guilford County jail. "If you take $10 and go to Food Lion or Walmart or Aldi or whatever store you shop at, it's going to be worth $10," said Shante Woody, the People's Market manager. "But if you take those same $10 on your card and come here, we are going to give you $20 to spend." One of the stranger things tourists see on Outer Banks beaches is wild horses that appear to be dead. Dont be fooled, warns the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Wild horses are apt to doze off on the sand like people, only they are less predictable when startled, the nonprofit says. Just like babies of all species, foals sleep a lot! the fund posed on Facebook. Youll very often see them laying down on the beach ... and its usually not anything to be worried about. The fund shared a photo of a lifeless-looking foal on the beach, and the image was so disconcerting that herd manager Meg Puckett had to assure people the young horse was fine. The focus is on the SAFE (Sexual Assault Fast Reporting and Enforcement) Act, which Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law on Nov. 7, 2019. The law extended statute of limitations so that victims of child sexual abuse could more easily file civil lawsuits. Attorneys for the defendants in this lawsuit argue that the new law is unconstitutional when applied to the Childrens Home and the Conference. Such previously terminated civil liability cannot be revived now by an act of the General Assembly without violating North Carolinas substantive due process protections, particularly when such revival attempts to reinstate claims against this defendant that are almost 50 years old, Wilson said. Kelly Hughes, an attorney for the Conference, makes similar arguments in her motion to dismiss. This is at least the second time such an argument has been made against a lawsuit involving child sexual-abuse allegations that happened in Forsyth County. Attorneys for the Kernersville YMCA and the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina also argued that the SAFE Act was unconstitutional in arguing that a lawsuit against them should be dismissed. RALEIGH The cumulative number of North Carolinians infected with the novel coronavirus is nearing half a million, according to one group of researchers, more than seven times the number of positive tests. The estimate of 483,156 people infected may seem large, but it means less than 5% of the states population has been infected, and as many as 9.8 million people are still susceptible to the virus statewide. This indicates that North Carolina is a long way from reaching herd immunity, which occurs when 50% to 60% of the population have been infected. The number also indicates not enough people are being tested, the researchers said. We are far, far away from herd immunity, said N.C. State University professor Julie Swann. When people were talking about, Oh, well have a second wave in the fall, my message was, We havent even had the first wave. Everybody is still susceptible. Swann, along with UNC professor Paul Delamater and Ph.D. student Rachel Woodul, set out to make coronavirus estimates and forecasts available to the public. Their estimates also show some 84,000 people are currently infected with COVID-19 in the state and of those, 41,648 people are infectious. The estimates are as of Wednesday. The scientific research community is not only about the science, is not only about the data, is not only about the questions that we ask, its also very much about the people who are conducting that work, said Johnna Frierson, assistant dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Diversity and Inclusion at the Duke University School of Medicine. Calls to action Just like there have been protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, Triangle universities organized marches, times of reflection and calls to action. Duke Health had a march against racism on June 10. On June 16, Duke held a universitywide virtual symposium on Living While Black, with experts providing context to the national movement as well as students and staff sharing their personal experiences at Duke. Dukes School of Medicine and Pratt School of Engineering encouraged faculty, staff and students to participate in #ShutDownSTEM on June 10. Organizers said the goal was for the reflection and education from that day to lead to lasting changes in how science and academia address racism against Black people. Systemic racism involves all walks of life, we cant not be involved, said Christopher Newgard, director of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. I didnt know it was going to be this packed, Smith said. There are so many people, Im kind of nervous to be out, honestly. Sending out a message The surge of new cases has led some states to pause their reopening plans, or even take a step back, as Texas and Florida did more than a week ago in closing down bars. North Carolina paused its reopening, extending Phase Two for another three weeks as cases in the state reached their highest levels of the pandemic. Now, Phase Three could begin in mid-July at the earliest, if trends improve. Cohen cautioned she doesnt want to see North Carolina mirror Texas, Florida and Arizona, where new cases are surging. Its not just about your own personal risk, its about what is your risk to our community members as a whole, Cohen said. We need folks who are younger to not only understand the risks to themselves, but the risks to their friends, their family and the rest of the community. Public health officials are concerned with how they can encourage people to stay home and wear masks and take precautions in public places. Joseph DiAngelo Jr.s plea of guilty is an example of restorative justice (Golden State Killer admits to rapes, murders spanning 40 years, June 30). Mr. DiAngelo is 74, and his health is failing, yet he pleaded guilty, having said to himself, I did all that. This will allow his sentence to be changed from the death penalty to life in prison without parole. It is decades overdue. And certainly I cant speak for families and friends of his victims. But it does show what can happen when justice is allowed to be restorative rather than retributive. The article said that loved ones wept while watching the proceeding. Mr. DiAngelos pleas of guilty and admittance of what he did are a vital step in the beginning of healing for those he has hurt. It will not, of course, bring back those he killed. But it can mend. The Rev. Beth Woodard High Point Demonizing the police is dangerous. Nothing positive can come from that. In fact, it will only make matters worse. Recent events have raised this question to prominence in the public square: Are black lives in danger due to systemic racism in American policing? The numbers from recent years suggest that the answer is no. Records kept by The Washington Post show that nine unarmed Black persons were shot dead by cops in 2019 (most justified); 19 unarmed white people shared the same fate. These numbers confirm that Black lives are not in danger due to systemic police racism. Nine incidents do not demonstrate a systemic problem. Despite these facts some call for abolishing the police or euphemistically defunding the police. What does this nonsensical notion mean? If you defund police, they cannot perform their core function: to prevent and solve crime. The defund movement has currency right now and goes arm-in-arm with the other major movement taking place right now, i.e., the abandonment of the rule of law and the destruction of civic life. We need to ask ourselves this: When the police lose it, whos going to win it? 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. GREENWICH A car stolen in Greenwich may have been involved in a pursuit that led to gunfire aimed at State Troopers in New York, according to police. An Alfa Romeo, which was unlocked with the keys inside, was stolen from Otter Rock Drive in the Belle Haven neighborhood on a weekend morning around 3 a.m., police said. But police did not specify the date it was taken. WEST HAVEN - The body of Gilo Gil Cunha, who disappeared May 7 his birthday has been found by the Suffolk County, N.Y., Police Department, police here confirmed Monday. The West Haven Police Department is working with Suffolk County police to determine cause and manner of Cunhas death, according to a release. With respect to Mr. Cunhas family and friends, no further information will be released at this time, the West Haven release said. Family members and friends have said Cunha, 50, was a thoughtful, sensitive person and a great friend, brother and cousin. The family has said Cunha went missing sometime between 1 and 8 a.m. May 7, likely taking a walk on the shore, as he often did when he was unable to sleep. Cunha left his wallet home, including credit cards, and there had not been any activity on his accounts, his family has said. In the month before he disappeared, Cunha, who lived with his parents, self-isolated for COVID-19 for three weeks, family has said. He was not tested for COVID-19, but self-diagnosed, they said. In the two weeks after his isolation and before his disappearance, family members said he was eating very little, couldnt sleep and lost interest in things he normally loved. Some family members have said that confusion might have been associated with COVID-19. Hundreds of missing person posters were put up along the shoreline, and while police dog searches turned up nothing, Westies - including his family and friends had held out hope. Two highway billboards bearing his photo were installed, seeking information as to his whereabouts. The family has said Cunha, who graduated from Notre Dame of West Haven and Syracuse University and took graduate courses at a university in Portugal, had lived in Vienna, Austria, with his wife of five years before returning to West Haven after a divorce. He was a teacher in Austria, his family said. Friends from Notre Dame class of 1988 said Cunha was a great athlete, especially at rugby, and he was smart, generous and warm. He had lived all over the world, including Portugal, Austria, Turkey, New York City and Ireland. Notre Dame classmate and friend Shawn McKoy said he and Cunha shared a love of the Irish rock band U2 and since Cunha went missing, he often sat by the fire listening to the U2 album The Unforgettable Fire and thinking of his childhood friend. Im going to miss him forever, but Ill cherish the memories forever, said McKoy, now of Hamden. He was a gentle soul. It is a real tragedy. Childhood friend Michael Cox of Rhode Island, also ND class of 1988, said it was a beautiful situation when he and his son were able to meet Cunha in Ireland last year for two days. It was cool hanging out with Gil because if you were a tourist you wouldnt know about places he showed us, Cox said. It was wonderful - at least we spent some together. Back in the United States, Cunha worked until February as a substitute teacher at a West Haven elementary school, where his family said that, according to a colleague, he was well-liked. His family said it would be out of character for Cunha to disappear on purpose, as he was always concerned about his mother. The Suffolk County Medical Examiners office checked in their system for Cunhas name but said records are not public in New York as they are in Connecticut. Another close friend, Mark Consorte, said Cunha was a great guy who was a guest lecturer at Consortes comparative politics class at Gateway Community College. Cunha knew the subject well as he was so international, said Consorte, also a teacher at West Haven High School. He was a very kind guy - he was a deep thinker and he knew a lot about history, who was always examining his place in the world, Consorte said. Cunha was also generous, giving Consortes son guitar lessons and even equipment. Another fellow 1988 Notre Dame graduate, Mike Quoka, also a teacher at WHHS, said Cunha is going to be missed by many, many of our fellow classmates. Ill miss our exciting conversations about sports, music and politics, Quoka said. He spoke to Cunha 10 days before his disappearance and they decided to get together after the pandemic was over. The goal of the event is to lift up the issues that the community faces, and to honor and learn from the people who are working to address them. The event brings the community together, according to Milius, and cultivates a spirit of recognition and appreciation in Windham. The United States banned its companies from using Huawei equipment, but it's struggling to make its allies follow suit. Following the United Kingdom that allowed high-risk companies to provide equipment, now France said it will not put a total ban on the Chinese telecommunications manufacturers. Guillaume Poupard, head of French cybersecurity agency ANSSI, revealed to the local newspaper Les Echos that they are inciting operators not currently using Huawei to stick to the status quo, while ones that are already with the Chinese giant will receive temporary authorizations. 5G connectivity on a Huawei Mate Xs smartphone Reuters quoted that half of the equipment of Bouygues Telecom and SFR is built by Huawei, while state-controlled Orange is already working with rivals Nokia and Ericsson. He also said that this is not Huawei bashing or anti-Chinese racism: All were saying is the risk is not the same with European suppliers as with non-Europeans. According to sources, France will seek to keep Huawei out of its core mobile network which processes sensitive information such as customers personal data. Poupard revealed companies have already sent inquires about working with the Chinese company, and those who received a confirmation will be allowed to operate in the future three to eight years. Source Samsung is preparing a new foldable phone called Galaxy Fold 2, and according to a listing at the Chinese regulatory 3C, it will come 25W fast charging. The listing for phone with model number SM-F9160 also confirms 5G connectivity, but we already knew that. Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 certification at CCC 25W fast-charging is not new to Samsung - weve first seen it in the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, released back in February 2019. Then they got to the Note10 lineup and is now a flagship standard. While some of the company's phones come with 45W charging support Samsung doesn't include the charger in the box. 25W is also an improvement over the first Galaxy Fold - it had only 15W wired and wireless charging, as well as reverse at 9W. The new device is expected to have new cameras, a Snapdragon 865 chipset, and a notification strip screen, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip. However, sources claim that despite being prepared for an introduction on August 5, it will hit stores in September with very limited supplies. Via JACKSON, Mississippi -- Voters will have the opportunity in November to remove a Jim Crow-era provision from the state Constitution that makes Mississippi the only state in the nation where a candidate for statewide office can win a majority of the popular vote and not be elected. The Mississippi Constitution, adopted in 1890, requires the winning candidate for governor and for other statewide offices to obtain both a majority of the popular vote and win the most votes in a majority of the 122 House districts. If no candidate obtains both of those requirements, the Mississippi House of Representatives gets to choose the winner of the top two vote-getters. But a resolution passed this month by both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature would remove that requirement. This weeks legislative action means that Mississippi voters will decide in November whether to remove that provision from the Constitution. The provision was placed in the Constitution in 1890, according to the written account of that time, to ensure Black Mississippians, then a majority in the state, were not elected to statewide office. The state House districts were configured in a manner to ensure white Mississippians would have a majority in that chamber. The Legislature acted in response to a federal lawsuit challenging whether the electoral provisions violated principles of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was filed last year in the midst of the gubernatorial race between Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood and Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves. The lawsuit claimed that under the gerrymandered House districts, Hood would have had to win as much as 55 percent of the popular vote to win the majority of the House districts. In effect, the plaintiffs argued, the provision dilutes the strength of African American voters, who are more prone to vote for the Democratic candidate in Mississippi. U.S. Judge Daniel Jordan of the Southern District of Mississippi did not rule on the lawsuit but expressed grave concerns and indicated he might rule at a later date if the election was impacted by the provision or if the Legislature did not act to remove the provision. Jordan met with legislative leaders about the issue before the 2020 session began. With Reeves garnering 52 percent of the vote and winning the majority of the House districts, the provision throwing the election into the House was not a factor. The lawsuit was filed by the National Redistricting Foundation and the Mississippi Center for Justice on behalf of African American voters in the state. In a press release, the Mississippi Center for Justice pointed out that the Legislatures final passage of the resolution on Monday comes one day after lawmakers addressed another 1890s-era issue: the removal of the state flag that has the Confederate battle emblem as part of its design. In the wake of the historic removal of the Confederate emblem from our states flag, we are pleased the Legislature is taking this additional step to remove this racist relic of the post-Reconstruction era from Mississippi law, said Vangela M. Wade, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice. In addition to joining in the lawsuit that led to this development, we are moving forward with our challenge to Mississippis felon disfranchisement law, which is another discriminatory provision of the 1890 Constitution. We want to take advantage of this important moment in American race relations to advance the cause of justice in our home state of Mississippi. If approved by voters in November, the provision will be removed, but Mississippi will still be in a minority of states. Under the resolution approved by the Legislature and pending the approval of the voters, Mississippi would become one of only three states in the nation to require a runoff between the top two vote-getters if no candidate achieves a majority of the votes. Georgia and Louisiana require runoffs. Vermonts statewide elections are thrown to its legislature to decide if no candidate obtains a majority. Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, was one of two senators to vote against the resolution. He supported removing the provision throwing elections into the House but opposed placing in the Constitution the runoff. He said the runoff could be placed in general law. It takes more votes (two-thirds of both chambers and a vote of the people) to change constitutional provisions than it does general law, which requires only a majority to change. We are tying the hands of future legislatures, said Bryan, who said a future legislature might want to do ranked voting. Ranked voting gives extra points to candidates who finish No. 2 in a multiple candidate field in order to select a winner. Senate Constitution Chair Chris Johnson, R-Hattiesburg, said, Sen. Bryan has made valid points, but indicated at this late date in the session senators should pass the language before them creating the runoff. The only instances where the electoral provision was a factor were in three consecutive elections in the 1990s. To measure how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting various demographic groups in the United States, The New York Times obtained a database of individual confirmed cases along with characteristics of each infected person from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The data was acquired after The Times filed a Freedom of Information Act suit. The CDC provided data on 1.45 million cases reported to the agency by states through the end of May. Many of the records were missing critical information The Times requested, like the race and home county of an infected person, so the analysis was based on the nearly 640,000 cases for which the race, ethnicity and home county of a patient was known. The data allowed The Times to measure racial disparities across 974 counties, which account for about 55% of the nations population, a far wider look than had been possible previously. Infection and death rates were calculated by grouping cases in the CDC data by race, ethnicity and age group, and comparing the totals with the most recent Census Bureau population estimates for each county. For national totals, The Times calculated rates based on both the actual population and the age-adjusted population of each county. The age adjustment accounts for the higher prevalence of the virus among older U.S. residents and the varying age patterns of different racial and ethnic groups. The national totals exclude data for eight states for which county-level information was not provided, but each of those states also showed a racial disparity in case rates. Haiti - Economy : The charge d'affaires of Haiti encourages Qatar to invest in the country Haiti presents a huge opportunity for countries like Qatar to invest in its key sectors such as agro-industry, tourism, outsourcing of business processes and the textile sector (currently more than 90% of Haiti's exports with greater potential for growth), declared to the Qatari journalists Francois Guillaume II, Chef de mission and charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Haiti in Doha (Qatar, Emirate of the Middle East). "[...] we believe that Qatar and Haiti bilateral relations can bring mutually beneficial initiatives in several other areas. Other sectors with great growth potential include infrastructure, manufacturing, real estate and construction," stressed Guillaume II adding "Haitis last 30 years history has been marked by long strides of political instability and natural disasters, creating a prevalent situation of under-development, Guillaume said investors can now take advantage of his countrys investment-friendly climate. Francois Guillaume II explained "[...] Haiti offers exceptional incentives for investors: 15 years of tax exemption, funding from various local banks and other financial institutions, and high-quality opportunities in industrial parks and free zones. Investors, he pointed out, will also have preferential trade access to 17 developed country markets, unparalleled duty-free access to the US market for the apparel sector, and competitive and committed workforce of 4.3 millions with 55% under the age of 30, including a large pool of English, French and Spanish speakers." Regarding the strengthening of bilateral relations, Guillaume said that Qatar and Haiti can also collaborate in other fields such as the health sector, diabetes management protocols, the environment sector as the initiatives of " Global Dryland Alliance . HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Jacmel : large seizure of war weapons and ammunition Arrest Sunday July 5, 2020 in Jacmel, of Labbe Israel and his companion. Military weapons as well as pistols, magazines and a large quantity of ammunition were found and seized during the search of his home. Strengthening relations between Turkey and Haiti On Sunday July 5, in a cordial atmosphere, President Jovenel Moise had a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, about the need to strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. At the end of these exchanges, the two Heads of State agreed to establish active cooperation in the fields of energy and infrastructure. In addition, President Jovenel Moise accepted an invitation from his Turkish counterpart to visit Turkey. Promise to pay wages Miloody Vincent Director of Communication for the Ministry of National Education said that all teachers appointed to the Public Administration will receive their full salary during the month of July. Resumption of regular schedules at ONI Jean Jacques Elibert, Director General of the National Identification Office, inform the operators that as of this Monday, July 6, the ONI resumes its usual hours, stressing that the sanitary measures remain in force. Land Conflict Decree In the Special Le Moniteur #12 of July 1, 2020 was published the Decree reducing the application of fiscal constraints for a fair and equitable distribution of justice and modifying the default judgment procedure in matters of land conflict. Dominican elections on TV in Haiti A chain of 30 Haitian media, including Radio Television National d'Haiti (RTNH), broadcasted throughout the national territory reports on the Dominican presidential and parliamentary elections that took place on Sunday, July 5 [Luis Abinader, of the Parti Revolutionary Modern, was elected new President in the first round with 52.83% of the vote]. A first media initiative in the history of the two Nations, a production of the company MediaCom and the binational organization Zile Foundation, directed by Pastor Edwin Paraison. The special program "Desisyon RD 2020" was designed to contribute to the strengthening of relations between the two countries of the island, by making known in Haiti the main political actors and their programs at binational level, an unprecedented media event that will mark island journalism," said Paraison. HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2020/07/05 | Source Lee Chun-jae Police on Thursday wrapped up a 30-year investigation of serial killings that terrorized Hwaseong south of Seoul after finally pinning them on a man who is already in jail. Advertisement Investigators concluded that Lee Chun-jae is a psychopath who was responsible for 14 unsolved murders, 10 of the them in Hwaseong, and his crimes were triggered by predatory sexual urges. Police in Gyeonggi Province on Thursday said Lee committed 14 murders and raped nine other women. Police discovered last year that DNA samples collected from the scenes of three of the crimes matched Lee's DNA, which was in the national database because he has been in prison in Busan since 1994 for raping and murdering his sister-in-law after his wife walked out on him. The investigation into the killings that lasted from 1986 to 1991 is finally concluded, but the statute of limitations ran out in April 2006, so he will face no additional punishment. After being transferred to a prison in Suwon to be investigated over the serial murders, Lee was sent back to the penitentiary of Busan to serve out his life sentence. Police said Lee's crimes were motivated by "pent-up frustration and sexual desire due to a monotonous life after he was discharged from the military". Lee started raping women in January 1983 when he was 23. In September that year, he committed his first murder. For the next four years and seven months, he committed a total of 14 grisly murders, desecrating the corpses of his victims if they had resisted vehemently or if he was in a bad mood. An exhaustive investigation of over 52 face-to-face interviews by profilers and other forensic psychologists found that he felt no remorse or shift in emotion as he committed more murders, which eventually escalated into serial killing, while his modus operandi became increasingly grisly. Police said Lee also exhibited extreme self-centered tendencies by blaming the victims for the murders. The story was adapted for the movie "Memories of Murder". Read this article in Korean Published on 2020/07/05 | Source Women enjoy a picnic in the Han River Park in Seoul on June 19. A growing number of people are picnicking along the banks of the Han River as they avoid bars, restaurants and other enclosed spaces due to the coronavirus epidemic. Advertisement That has led to a boom for businesses that cater to them, delivering increasingly sumptuous assortments of food and drink. Noodles and fried chicken have been a picnic staple for some time, but now businesses have started to deliver things like wine and tapas. Food delivery app Baedal Minjok lists around 100 restaurants that deliver wine and hors d'oeuvres to Han River parks in Banpo and Yeouido districts. Lee Eun-ho (33), who runs a wine bar in Yeouido, said, "We started delivery services two months ago after a decline in customers due to the epidemic. Now around 30 to 40 percent of our customers order takeout and many of them are in sitting somewhere in the Han River park". Of course the picnics are eminently instagrammable. Lee Hye-jin (33) said, "I've always enjoyed outdoor activities and decided to have some wine with my friends in a park along the Han River without worrying about coronavirus. I posted a photo on Instagram and got so many likes". Published on 2020/07/05 | Source Nongshim's Shin Ramyeon Black have been chosen as the world's best instant noodles by the New York Times' Wirecutter product-review website. Advertisement In an article title "The Best Instant Noodles, According to Chefs, Cookbook Authors, and Ramen Fanatics" on June 17, Shin Ramyeon Black was rated as the tastiest of 11 brands sold around the world. Four of the top 11 were Korean, six Japanese, and one outlier Singaporean. Shin Ramyeon Black "has a winning combination of a complex, spicy broth, substantial dehydrated vegetables, and toothsome noodles. I couldn't stop eating these", author Anna Perling wrote. All four Korean brands were Nongshim products, the others being Chapagetti and Neoguri (No. 3), Nongshim Shin Light (No. 6) and Nongshim Bowl Noodle Soup Gourmet Spicy (No. 8). Also on the list were Japan's Oh! Ricey Instant Rice Noodles Pho Bo (No. 4), Nissin Raoh Ramen Noodle Soup (Umami Tonkotsu Flavor) (No. 5) and Nissin Top Ramen Noodle Soup Chicken Flavor (No. 7). The list was compiled based on recommendations from seven chefs, food writers and critics followed by taste tests of the final 11. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Editor: The decline of American culture can be seen clearly in the self-absorbed c 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. The rise in infections Victoria reported 77 new cases Thursday, the most since March has driven home the outsized impact of the coronavirus on communities in which working-class immigrants and essential workers are particularly vulnerable to the disease. In these places, people often must venture out for jobs that put them at risk of contracting the virus, and communication by authorities in residents native languages can be patchy. Eddie Cowman was not coping on the day, the court heard A drunken passenger who arrived late to check in for a flight at Dublin Airport hurled abuse at staff before throwing his own phone down a flight of stairs. Eddie Cowman (33) was arrested for his behaviour at a check-in desk and admitted public order offences when he appeared before Dublin District Court. Judge Bryan Smyth said he would apply the Probation Act, leaving Cowman without a record, if he makes a 200 charity donation. He adjourned the case for three months. Cowman, of Church Road, Bunclody, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty to public intoxication and using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Dublin District Court heard the incident happened at Dublin Airport on January 6. Garda Sergeant Paul Keane told the court the accused went to the departures area in the airport at 3.15pm and failed to check in on time for a flight to Barcelona. He then went to the Ryanair check-in desk and became verbally abusive to staff, who called airport police. Smashed When the airport police arrived, he continued to be abusive to them and was uncooperative. As they were dealing with him, Cowman, who was intoxicated at the time, smashed his own mobile phone by throwing it down a flight of stairs. He was arrested and charged, Sgt Keane added. The garda said the accused had no previous convictions but had been given the benefit of an adult caution previously. Cowman had had mental health difficulties since his teens and was "not coping" on the day, his solicitor Michael Kelleher said. His mother had travelled with him from Wexford to support him in court. Judge Smyth said if the accused made a donation to the Peter McVerry Trust he would apply the Probation of Offenders Act. He adjourned the case to a date in October for the payment to be made. In default of this payment being made, the judge said, Cowman would be convicted and fined 200. The accused was remanded on continuing bail. Fianna Fail has become embroiled in controversy just a week after entering government with two of the party's most senior politicians forced to issue public apologies. Embattled Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen is under pressure to give a detailed account of the night he was stopped by gardai for drink driving. He is also facing questions over how he managed to reach the age of 49 without a full driver's licence. Yesterday, he committed to addressing the controversy in a Dail statement. But last night, in response to queries about his licence, Mr Cowen would only say he sat a test and received his full permit after his driving ban. There are also questions emerging over who in Fianna Fail knew about the ban, with senior party figures admitting they had heard "rumours". Meanwhile, Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher has caused embarrassment for Taoiseach Micheal Martin after it was revealed he ignored quarantine rules so he could attend the vote for the Taoiseach. Mr Kelleher ignored HSE guidelines requiring people arriving into Ireland to self-isolate for two weeks when he flew in on Friday June 26. Mingle Instead of quarantining, the Cork MEP attended a Dail sitting the next day in the National Convention Centre before travelling to Leinster House to mingle with colleagues. He then travelled to Cork and returned to Dublin the following day and flew back to Brussels. In a statement, Mr Kelleher said he made an "error of judgement" and apologised "unreservedly". Speaking publicly for the first time since his driving ban was revealed, Mr Cowen said he was "humiliated" by his own actions and added he was "no example" to his own children. "It was a serious lapse of judgment and I wasn't raised that way," he said. The Offaly TD, who is former Taoiseach Brian Cowen's brother, said if any good was to arise from his drink driving ban it would be that others would think twice about getting behind the wheel of their car while over the limit. Unaccompanied "I was fortunate in that there was nobody hurt, injured or maimed or killed, thankfully, but that's not to say that will be the case in any other instance of a similar nature," he added. Speaking on RTE's The Week in Politics, Mr Cowen said "of course" he drove his car unaccompanied while on a learner permit but says he has since acquired a full licence. Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore said Mr Cowen should address the Dail on his driving ban and the new minister said he would do so. Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly hailed the app as being a 'powerful tool' to fight 'this awful disease' A new Covid-19 contact tracing app will be launched in the coming days after the Cabinet gives the green light to the technology. The Covid Tracker App will allow users to tell people they have been in contact with that they have contracted the virus. It will also give the Government vital information on the spread of the virus. The app has been developed by the HSE, and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet today on the new technology. It cost 850,000 to develop and has been cleared for use on Apple and Android phones. People who test positive for coronavirus will be able to anonymously alert other users who they have been in close contact with using the Bluetooth function on their phones. It will tell people who have been close contacts but do not know each other that they could have been exposed to the virus. Tests have been carried out to ensure the app does not store private data or give additional personal information about users to the Government. "As the country reopens, contact tracing and the early identification of symptoms will become increasingly important as more people are visiting family and friends, exercising, socialising, shopping, returning to work and using public transport," a source said. "The app is an important part of the whole of Government response to Covid-19." The app has been developed by Waterford company Nearform. Gardai were involved in testing the app as were researchers in Trinity College. Tracing apps are currently in use in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan and Latvia. However, the introduction of a similar tracing app in the UK has been delayed after the Westminster government decided to change the technology it was using. Meanwhile, the National Public Health Emergency Team said yesterday evening that there had been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). The total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland now stands at 1,741. As of midnight on Saturday, the HPSC had been notified of 18 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, the team added. There are now a total of 25,527 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland. Reunited The HSE said it is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. The total number of tests completed now stands at 454,216, with a positive rate of just over six per cent. There are currently 22 confirmed cases in hospitals. On Saturday, the Herald reported on the case of a Dublin man who has finally returned home after more than 100 days in hospital with Covid-19, five weeks of which he spent in an induced coma. Andrew Murray (61) was finally reunited with his wife Vera in his Coolock home on Friday, after first being taken to Beaumont Hospital on March 22 with a confirmed case of Covid-19. Two bodies were recovered from the quarry in Portroe Two men believed to be brothers have tragically died in a diving incident at a former quarry in Co Tipperary. The tragedy happened at the Portroe Dive Centre, at Portroe Quarry, near Nenagh at 1.30pm yesterday. The bodies of the men were taken to University of Limerick Hospital where post-mortems are expected to take place later. The victims have been named locally as 42-year-old Fergus Brophy and his 34-year-old brother Philip from Ballybrittas in Co Laois. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Authority said it is "looking into the circumstances of the tragedy" as it occurred at a workplace. However, the workplace safety regulator will only be needed if employees of the facility were involved in the incident, a spokesman told the Herald. A major search and rescue operation swung into action involving gardai and ambulance staff. An alert went out to members of the Killaloe Coast Guard who were returning to their base after a separate call-out and they responded immediately. The Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter, which is based at Shannon Airport, was tasked to respond to the emergency alert, but its crew was stood down after the brothers' bodies were recovered and the men were pronounced dead at the scene. "Gardai attended an incident in Portroe, Co Tipperary, where two males have drowned," a garda spokesman said. Accident "The males are believed to have been diving when they got into trouble at approximately 1.30pm. "The bodies of both men have been removed to Limerick University Hospital where post mortems are due to take place." Garda sources said they were treating the incident as a "tragic accident". "No one was expecting this," the source said. "They were experienced divers but what exactly happened I can't say for sure. A lot of divers come from around the country to attend the dive centre in Portroe. "There are a lot of members locally but a lot of people visit. It's known as a good place to practise diving." According to reports, one of the men got into difficulty in the water and his sibling entered the water to try to help after raising the alarm. It is understood that one of the brothers managed to return to the surface of the former slate quarry that is 40m deep but died a short time later. The other sibling died before he was brought to the surface. Local Independent councillor Seamus Morris described the incident as "a tragedy for the men's families and all involved at the facility". "As a dive centre, it's used by local divers and it has always been very professionally run. Obviously, my sympathies go to the men's families and the dive club. "I don't know what happened but diving is a sport that, unfortunately, has serious consequences if things don't go right," Mr Morris added. Officials from the dive centre declined to comment last night. Announcement However, in a post on its Facebook page last week the centre, which opened five years ago, announced it was due to reopen on Saturday, after closing in March due to the pandemic. According to its website, Portroe Quarry is "one of the best inland dive locations in Ireland" and is "always diveable regardless of weather conditions". Divers accessing Portroe Quarry can explore deep water of up to 40m featuring car wrecks, an underwater pub, construction machinery, stone huts, and a sunken boat, according to the centre. Annie McCarrick was 26 when she went missing. A team including a former FBI agent will travel from the US to Ireland later this year in an attempt to solve the mystery 1993 disappearance of American student Annie McCarrick. Ms McCarrick, who was living in Dublin at the time, was 26 when she was last seen taking a bus to Enniskerry. Her father John, who spent years trying to find out what happened to her, died in 2009 with no answers. Now, a lawyer who he hired in 1993 to help with the investigation into her disappearance has joined forces with a former FBI agent and Annie's uncle, John Covell, to finally solve the mystery. The men have identified a prime suspect in the case and are hoping to get access to the cold case file on the initial investigation. The men are being assisted by Brian McCarthy, an Irish private investigator who was initially hired by the McCarricks when their daughter went missing almost 30 years ago. Mr McCarthy recently became aware of a witness statement allegedly given to gardai back in 1993, which puts a woman matching Annie's description in a local cafe in Enniskerry. The private investigator, who used to work for the American embassy, believes the statement could put an entirely new timeline on the case. At the time, gardai investigating Ms McCarrick's disappearance collected information to say that she had visited Johnnie Fox's Pub in the village of Glencullen, high in the Dublin Mountains. Mr McCarthy and the US-based team do not believe that information to be true. "She wasn't in Johnnie Fox's," said Mr McCarthy. "It's not particularly well known, but the gardai were given a statement from a woman who worked in a small coffee shop out there called Poppies, in the village. "The lady was in her 50s at the time I think. Hesitant "She was adamant that Annie was in there in the afternoon with a man who fits the description of a suspect I have identified. "The female, if it was Annie, was hesitant about buying something and he said to her, 'Do you want a cake, a slice of cake?' "He paid for whatever snack she got, and they left. "The woman has since passed away, but she gave an initial statement to gardai. "She was not asked to help with an e-fit. "We think this sighting is more crucial than initially thought." Mr McCarthy said that the sighting in Johnnie Fox's, which was late in the evening, did not make sense. The walk from the bus stop to the pub was almost 3km and it was raining on the day Ms McCarrick went missing. Lawyer Michael Griffith, who first came to Ireland with John McCarrick in 1994 to offer a reward for information relating to his daughter's disappearance, was due to come to Ireland in March to meet an Irish lawyer who is assisting the team with the case. "Unfortunately, Covid-19 came along and that trip was cancelled," he said. "We plan to come later in the year and I'm confident that we can solve this. We have one main suspect. "It's a cold case. We think if we put our heads together we can resurrect this case and solve it. One last roll of the dice," he added. Mr Griffith and Mr McCarthy have joined forces with Kenneth Strange, a former FBI agent, and John Covell, a retired US naval officer who is married to Ms McCarrick's aunt Maureen Covell. Shane Ragsdale, formerly of Greenville, beloved son of Sheila June Winters and father Sariah Vanderwal-Ragsdale, passed away May 31, 2021 in the ICU of Hilo Hawaii hospital of pneumonia. Hi memorial service was held June 12, in Makapala, Hawaii. His fellowship on Earth will be missed; antici Homicides usually rise in the summer, which coincided this year with many people emerging from pandemic lockdown. In one recent weekend in Chicago, 14 people were killed and at least 106 people were shot, the most in eight years. At least 17 people died over the past Fourth of July weekend in Chicago including a 7-year-old girl, the latest in the citys string of children fatally shot over recent weeks. And as The New York Times reported recently: It has been nearly a quarter century since New York City experienced as much gun violence in the month of June as it has seen this year. (On Sunday night, the city reportedly had nine killings in the previous 24 hours.) Just after 4 p.m., Marshel H. Keen, 78, of Oakwood, Virginia, was traveling north on U.S. Highway 19 less than a mile south of state Route 676 when he lost control while negotiating a curve, according to the Virginia State Police. Keens 2011 Harley-Davidson ran off the left side of the highway and struck a guardrail. He was thrown from the bike and died at the scene, the VSP said. As counties in North Carolina began requiring masks to prevent spread of the coronavirus, posts online have circulated suggesting that gun owners permitted to carry a concealed gun would face a felony charge if they carry while wearing a mask. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that face coverings would be required while out in public saying that people must wear face coverings when in public places, indoors or outdoors. Posts circulating on social media warn that those who decide to concealed carry and wear a mask can be charged with a felony. Once you have a felony you can no longer carry, stated one post with more than 5,000 shares on Facebook. The posts online referenced NC Gen. Statute 14-12 as the reason state residents with concealed carry permits could not carry their gun and wear a mask at the same time. But in May, as part of its Covid-19 Recovery Act, the North Carolina state legislature made a temporary exception to the states mask law due to public health concerns. The bill also stipulates that a person wearing a mask shall remove the mask upon request of a law enforcement officer. The law dates to the 1950s, when masks were banned in public. Hartley said a key for the city is the upcoming Nov. 3 referendum that could allow a casino to operate here. The Hard Rock Bristol Casino Resort is forecast to generate between 1,000 and 2,000 immediate jobs and millions in annual tax revenue for the city, if voters approve its planned location at the Bristol Mall. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} I think one of the biggest things that is coming will be the referendum in November on the casino. That has a lot of potential long-term [effects] in terms of jobs, economic development, quality of life. Depending on how it goes, that referendum can change the discussion as well. Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty, Hartley said. The council approved two separate one-time appropriations during the called session that followed the reorganizational meeting. One, for $54,840 from federal CARES Act funding, will pay the salaries and benefits of one police officer and one firefighter until it expires Dec. 30. The council also approved moving $115,435 from its capital projects budget to fund salaries and benefits of five other positions, including codes enforcement, the economic development director and two in parks and recreation. Both votes were 3-1. Even if this ends well, it will not end well. Mind you, if it ends badly that is to say, if Donald Trump is returned to the White House in November Americas likely future will be, in the words of Thomas Hobbes, nasty, brutish and short. But the paradox of our predicament is that even if it ends well Joe Biden becomes the 46th president our likely future will, at least in the short term, be only marginally better. Thats not an indictment of the state of our economic, foreign policy, environmental, judicial or social affairs, though those, too, will be dicey. No, thats an indictment of the brokenness, the newly revealed fragility, of our society, of the rituals, traditions and unspoken agreements that make America. As illustration, try a thought experiment. On Inauguration Day, by longstanding tradition, the incoming president meets the outgoing president at the White House. They exchange pleasantries and then ride over to the Capitol together. One imagines it can be awkward, especially if the new president defeated the old one at the polls. Yet Bush did it with Clinton, Carter with Reagan, Ford with Carter, Hoover with Roosevelt a grand symbol of the continuity of government and the peaceful transfer of power. 3. Force companies to create jobs in the coalfields. OK, thats a bit overstated but it speaks to another problem: Government can create a tax code full of incentives, it can even fund education at unprecedented levels to create a better-skilled workforce, but theres still no guarantee that companies will locate there. Not even Bernie Sanders is enough of a socialist to order companies to create jobs in certain communities. So how do we do this then? This is an idea borrowed from one of the congressmen who represents Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California. He proposes to spread the digital wealth by having the federal government give special consideration on contracts to companies that are located in rural areas. In effect, this would be a set-aside program just as there are set-asides for female-owned or minority-owned businesses. Conservatives often object to those on ideological grounds. Heres a case where a coalfield set-aside (or a larger rural set-aside) would benefit localities they represent. Would ideology still trump local interest then? Our invocation of politics shows one of the practical difficulties in getting any of this enacted: Were asking Republicans to go against their core philosophies, and were asking Democrats to vote for massive subsidies for communities that vote 70% or more Republican. We never said this was going to be easy for anybody. Don Aines The Herald-Mail Tinted windows on a Jeep Grand Cherokee led to a traffic stop last week resulting in drug and gun charges against the driver. Chad Lynn Stubbs Jr., 24, of South Locust Street in Hagerstown, was charged with four counts of possession with intent to distribute drugs, as well as use of a firearm in a drug-trafficking crime and numerous other firearm and drugs offenses in the July 2 incident. Members of the Maryland State Police Gang Enforcement Unit were patrolling Day Road at 12:39 p.m. when they saw the Jeep, the charging document said. The tinting on the widows was too dark for the troopers to see inside the vehicle and it was stopped on Dual Highway. Stubbs was the lone occupant and appeared nervous, his hand shaking as he handed over his drivers license, the document said. The troopers could also detect a strong odor of marijuana. They also spotted a plastic bag containing five pills on the center console, the document said. Police found in excess of 12 grams of marijuana and $5,893 in cash on Stubbs. A search of the Jeep turned up a hidden compartment on the dashboard where troopers found more than 5 grams of heroin, almost an ounce of powdered cocaine, some crack cocaine and about 7 grams of an unknown white powder, according to the document. Also in the compartment was a Taurus 9 mm handgun with 13 rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber, the document said. A further search of the Jeep yielded more than 8 ounces of marijuana. A small packet of cocaine fell from his pants when Stubbs was searched at the barracks. Stubbs revealed he was a member of the Bloods gang, but otherwise declined to answer questions about drug-trafficking and other crimes, according to the document. The drugs, cash, Jeep and Stubbs cellphone were seized for evidence. At a Monday bond hearing, Washington County Assistant Public Defender Brian Hutchison told District Judge Terry A. Myers that the tinted window stop ... is a problem for the state. Hutchison did not indicate whether that legality of the stop would be challenged later. Noting the loaded handgun, Myers denied bail to Stubbs. I cant sleep. I see the vision of his foot coming toward my face. I feel I could not be here right now, Caldwell told the Courant. Im a praying woman, so I pray and talk to God a lot to try to get me through this safely. Lorenzo Reyes USA TODAY As coronavirus cases continue to surge in many states, the process of easing restrictions, then slamming them back in place could be America's new tumultuous reality one that threatens the psyche of many, experts say. At least 21 states have paused their plans to reopen their economies, just weeks after unveiling those measures as the nation started to emerge from strict quarantine measures and stay-at-home orders. These stops and starts can trigger feelings of frustration and fatigue and leave people feeling overwhelmed. This is very confusing for many people, and rightfully so, Dr. Ogbonnaya Omenka, assistant professor of public health at Butler University, told USA TODAY. Initially, mixed messages defined how states and different jurisdictions were responding to this problem. With public health intervention, clear messaging, even if its wrong, is better than mixed messages. Because if the message is clear, you are leaving it still up to the individuals to decide whether they want to acquiesce to it or not," he said. "But when its mixed, the confusion is: What should I follow? We are reaping the fruits of those mixed messages. One thing it did was lure the public into a sense of an oversimplification of the problem. The common misconception was that months of lockdown would eliminate the threat of the virus,Omenka said, even though health care experts across the country stressed that thorough hand washing, use of face coverings and social distancing would still be mandatory, even after the restrictions eased. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said Sunday on ABC's This Week that Arizona opened way too early and that when nightclubs in the state opened their doors, it sent the signal that we had, again, defeated COVID and, obviously, that is not the case. Not only is the virus surging, it is infecting more people in the U.S. than ever before. At the start of June, there were 16,040 confirmed new cases of the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard. By July 1, that number swelled to 52,609, a record for new cases. The next day, the figure jumped to 54,869. On July 3, another record, 57,209. During a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction and that he would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around. These ominous numbers have been exacerbated by pre-existing weaknesses in the country's public health system, such as racial health disparities and certain communities being underinsured or having no insurance. Dr. Thomas File Jr., president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, equates these problems to being almost like a social pandemic that can heighten the burdens and stresses placed on the most vulnerable. The weakest link within a community is going to affect the whole community, File said. We have to make sure everybody in the community is actively served so that everybody in the community is protected. Its almost like an expression of patriotism. I think we have to frame it like that. Perhaps the most quintessential example of this in the U.S. has been nursing homes, where coronavirus infections have decimated populations of residents, many of whom have been instructed to remain in their rooms for months on end, without any social contact. The U.S. has not invested in a lot of the social protections that leave people feeling like they have a safety net, Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and professor of epidemiology, told USA TODAY. And without a safety net and without a social infrastructure of connectedness and cohesion of communities, which weve lost a lot of, it exacerbates the sense of anxiety and fear and isolation that people have in these circumstances. It makes it all a lot worse. Experts argue, however, that there are opportunities for those who may be feeling overwhelmed by the see-sawing of restrictions and unrelenting nature of the virus to feel that they have tools to take greater control over the health of their communities. The caveat, though, is that the effort must be formed collectively. I think people should feel empowered, said Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I think people should see community responsibility as a form of community power and that, collectively, we have the ability to ensure we achieve those goals: an open economy and a healthy community. We just have to act as a community. Fortune said it would be a mistake to frame the discussion on reopening as a dichotomy between staying healthy and letting people return to work. A "basic package of risk mitigation strategies could get society to feel, functionally, if not normal, pretty normal and keep economies humming, she said. Those measures are well-known but not always enforced or utilized: the use of masks, hand washing, distancing, reduced density and a strong focus on contact tracing, testing and surveillance testing. I just dont want to be quoted as saying the second wave is inevitable, Fortune said. Theres a tendency toward a certain narrative that I dont feel is helpful to society. Because I dont think it is inevitable and I think that narrative almost propagates societal divisions. Fried said that going forward, the U.S. needs to "pandemic proof" itself with stronger infrastructure that aims to solve multiple problems. New buildings, for example, should be designed in ways to both diminish the transmission of infectious diseases and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and teleworking needs to be a priority. If we can start talking in a way that puts pressure on our leaders to provide the right direction, we dont have to be the worlds example of how to do this wrong, Fried said. We could turn this around. But we can only turn it around together, respecting the science and knowledge and continuing to learn. This could be an opportunity to make the U.S. better, stronger. Mike Lewis mlewis@herald-mail.com The Fulton Forward Foundation recently donated $75,000 to the Washington County COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. The fund is a campaign organized by the Community Foundation and United Way of Washington County. The goal is toraise as much money as possible to help individuals and families severely affected by the pandemic, according to a news release from United Way. The Fulton Forward initiative was developed to help make communities better, one change at a time, the release states. It has helped programs, products and services focused on four areas: affordable housing and home ownership, job training and workforce development, financial education and economic empowerment, and diversity and inclusion. The Fulton Forward Foundation is one of 20 major donors and one of nearly 300 individual donations to the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund since April 1. The initial goal for the fund was $200,000. With the latest contribution from the Fulton Forward Foundation, the Emergency Assistance Fund will exceed $300,000. With this incredibly generous donation, we will have funded roughly $301,000 in emergency funding back to our community. One hundred percent of donor contributions have been deposited back into our community where the need is the greatest," Heather Guessford, president and CEO of United Way of Washington County, said in the release. To date, approximately $225,000 has been awarded to 30 nonprofit and agencies and essential service providers. "The Community Foundation is so honored by Fulton Banks continued support during this unexpected hardship challenging our community. Its a partnership we value tremendously," Stacey Crawford, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Washington County, said in the release. After starting the emergency fund, the Community Foundation of Washington County secured $100,000 in matching grants in less than two days. Matching donors include: Adna Fulton Family Fund, Pauline Anderson Foundation, William Dutton Family Fund, Alice Virginia and David W. Fletcher Foundation, Gods Grace Fund, Community Foundation of Washington County, John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation, Ed and Betsy Beachley, Dr. Mitesh and Erin Kothari, Kevin and Stacey Crawford, and Todd and Sue Baer. United Way of Washington County waived all administrative and processing fees through June 30 to ensure that 100% of donations were distributed appropriately throughout the community. Donations still can be made online at https://bit.ly/2UR6fsy by texting COVIDWashCo to 313131, by calling 301-739-8200, ext. 104, or by mailing checks to United Way of Washington County, 83 W. Washington St., Suite 101, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Kellen Stepler For the Public Opinion SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. Shippensburg University will still be honoring the Class of 2020 drive-in style. On Monday, June 29, Shippensburg University announced four small, drive-in commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020 scheduled for July 31 and Aug. 1. The ceremonies will follow social distancing and health and well-being guidelines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. The ceremony for the school of graduate studies is slated for July 31 at 6:30 p.m., and the College of Arts and Sciences ceremony is set for Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. A combined ceremony for the John L. Grove College of Business and College of Education and Human Services is scheduled for Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. Commencement is an important moment in the lives of our students and their families, university President Laurie A. Carter said in a media statement. A pandemic doesnt change the magnitude of that accomplishment, and we have always wanted to honor them with a ceremony. So even when we knew it wouldnt be possible to conduct a traditional ceremony, we have been determined to have an on-campus ceremony." The ceremony will be broadcast on the university website, local Comcast cable channel 21, 88.7 FM WSYC and throughout the parking areas through a sound system. In the ceremony, graduates will be asked to leave their vehicle to be awarded their degree. Graduates will wear their robe, cap, tassel and a face covering as they begin the processional. Vehicles will be parked every other space to allow for social distancing. Graduates are required to wear masks while exiting vehicles to receive their degrees, and attendees will also be required to wear a mask if they need to leave their vehicles. In the event of severe rain or poor weather, the ceremonies will be rescheduled to Aug. 1 and 2. Matthew Umstead mumstead@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Tuesday is the last day for Martinsburg residents to register to vote in the citys July 28 municipal general election. Absentee-ballot applications from registered voters must be received by July 22 at Martinsburg City Hall, 232 N. Queen St., according to the West Virginia Secretary of States office. All of the more than 12,400 registered voters in the city are eligible to vote by absentee ballot due to the coronavirus outbreak, but must request an absentee ballot application, the West Virginia Secretary of States office confirmed Monday. More than 90 absentee ballot applications had been requested as of Monday, according to City Recorder Gena Long, the citys chief election officer. Absentee ballot applications can be obtained online at https://sos.wv.gov/elect ions/Pages/AbsenteeVoting Information.aspx. Early, in-person voting at City Hall begins July 15 and continues through July 25, excluding Sunday. Vying to be elected as the citys next mayor are business owner Luke Loy, who is not affiliated with a political party; Democratic incumbent At-Large Councilwoman Harriet Johnson; Republican James W. Dailey II, president of W. Harley Miller Contractors Inc.; Republican Dan Dulyea, Berkeley County Council vice president; Republican Misty Francis, a pastor at 365 Church; and Republican Robert L. Rob Lowe II, a former Berkeley County magistrate. Incumbent Mayor George Karos decided not to seek reelection. Eight residents have filed for two at-large council seats, including an official write-in candidate, according to the county clerks office. The Republican candidates are H.D. Boyd Jr. and Shari Persad, both former Martinsburg City Council members, and Scott Myers, a former Berkeley County Sheriffs Office deputy. Democratic candidates are David Anderson, Martinsburg Utilities Director Steve Knipe and Cory Roman. Jamie Lopez, a Realtor, did not list a political party in his certificate of announcement, but is a registered Democrat, according to the county clerks office. The official write-in candidate is Peter Anselmo, a registered Libertarian who also did not list a political party in his certificate of announcement. Democrat Zakee McGill filed for an at-large city council seat but later withdrew from the race, according to Long. Incumbent Ward 1 Councilman Dennis Etherington, a Republican, and incumbent Ward 5 Councilman Jason Baker, a Democrat, are opposed in the election by Republican challengers Tyler Kolb and David Kemp, respectively. Ward 2 Councilman Kevin Knowles, Ward 3 Councilman Ken Collinson and Ward 4 Councilwoman Kimberly Nelson are unopposed in the election. The newly elected mayor and council are scheduled to be sworn into office on Aug. 5 to begin four-year terms. The mayor is paid $6,000 per year, and council members are paid $2,400 annually. All of the elected city officials are eligible for insurance benefits. Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly in the morning. Cooler. High 66F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 46F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. A ship carrying the slogan of "celebrating the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)" sails at Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai) The HKSAR government will do its utmost to fulfill its duty and responsibility, and cooperate with the national security adviser and the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR in establishing and improving the HKSAR's legal system and implementation mechanisms for safeguarding national security, Carrie Lam wrote. HONG KONG, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The enactment of the law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is a historic step for improving Hong Kong's legal system and the "one country, two systems" principle, HKSAR chief executive and major government officials said on Sunday, pledging to fully support the implementation of the new law. Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam and 16 major officials of the HKSAR government published articles on the front page of local newspaper Wen Wei Po, pledging to do their best in supporting the implementation of the law and expressing hope that the public will have more confidence in Hong Kong's future after fully understanding the law. Lam said in her article that it is a glorious mission and a great responsibility for her to lead the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR and the HKSAR government in taking on the task of safeguarding national security at this historic moment. The HKSAR government will do its utmost to fulfill its duty and responsibility, and cooperate with the national security adviser designated by the central government and the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR in establishing and improving the HKSAR's legal system and implementation mechanisms for safeguarding national security, so as to ensure the steady and sustained development of "one country, two systems" and the long-term stability of Hong Kong, she wrote. The promulgation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was signed by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam and published in the Gazette, according to a statement of the HKSAR government on June 30, 2020. (Xinhua) The HKSAR government's Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung said in his article that the promulgation and implementation of the national security law will surely halt the turmoil of the past year and bring Hong Kong back on track. Under the complex and volatile global political and economic environment, it is extremely important to cultivate a sense of national identity, correct conception of history, love for the nation and correct values for the next generation, he pointed out, adding that it is also needed to strengthen the public's awareness of safeguarding national security, especially among the youths. The HKSAR government's Financial Secretary Paul Chan said a secure and stable environment is a key factor for facilitating business and attracting investment and talents, and a major prerequisite for maintaining Hong Kong's status as an international financial center and ensuring the sustainable socio-economic development and the well-being of Hong Kong residents. Hong Kong has suffered from the turmoil of the past year, with its international image and confidence of international investors undermined by violence and separatism, Chan wrote, adding that the enactment of the national security law is aimed at preventing the society from falling into turbulence again and restoring social order and public security. Hong Kong residents 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) The HKSAR government's Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said the law helps safeguard national security in the HKSAR as it provides a clear legal basis for preventing, curbing and punishing illegal acts endangering national security in Hong Kong. The national security law is unique and groundbreaking as it includes organic law, substantive law and procedural law, and stipulates clearly the important principles of the rule of law and the protection of Hong Kong residents' rights and freedoms, Cheng noted, pledging to lead the Department of Justice to fully perform its duty of safeguarding national security. Secretary for Security John Lee wrote that he will lead the six disciplinary forces of the HKSAR government to fully discharge their due responsibilities to implement the national security law, striving to safeguard national security and ensuring the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. One of the major effects of COVID-19 we have seen in other states is the struggle to staff polling places and local election offices, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said Monday as she announced a new statewide recruitment drive for poll workers. We are working with our local election officials to make sure that they have the resources they need for the elections in August and November, including adequate staffing. No Connecticut voter will have to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote. The Covid-19 pandemic has taught India several painful lessons. The first is that we can no longer continue with the ruthless exploitation of nature. The climate crisis, erratic weather phenomena, pollution of air, land and ocean have pushed the country, and the world, to a dangerous brink. Unless this is reversed immediately, we are in for serious trouble by the end of the century. It is extraordinary that the lockdown period has led to nature regenerating. We saw blue skies again after many decades, pollution levels dropped, and several species of animals, birds and insects staged a comeback. We must try and ensure that these positive developments are sustained so that we do not revert to the old normal, but adopt a new normal vis-a-vis nature. The second lesson is that India needs a drastic restructuring of its developmental plans which involves allocating at least 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each to health and education. If the country does not strengthen these sectors, all plans of becoming a world-class power are doomed to fail. It has been a national failure that we have not done so since Independence. It is also clear that in a vast federal country such as India, a crisis like this demands close cooperation between the Centre and the states, regardless of which political party is in power. Health is a state subject, and in the final analysis, it is the states and the Union territories that have to deal with the crisis on the ground. This is an area where cooperative federalism rather than confrontational federalism is required. Third, despite efforts of leaders such as the United States (US) President Donald Trump to trash the concept of globalisation, the fact remains that international collaboration in crises like this is essential. This applies to the quest for a vaccine as well as the availability of medicines and personal protective equipment. As our ancient concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) tells us, in the final analysis, no nation, howsoever great, can be an island unto itself. The human race will ultimately sink or swim together. We have some of the best scientists and researchers in the world, and several of Indias laboratories are working overtime to find a vaccine against the coronavirus. Here again, cooperation with the laboratories in other countries will be of great value. I led the Indian delegation to the World Health Organization (WHO) general conference on several occasions as health minister. In its building in Geneva, there is a beautiful Nataraja image that I presented to the then director-general Dr H Mahler when he visited Delhi to celebrate the eradication of smallpox worldwide. Despite WHO coming in for criticism recently, I feel we must continue to cooperate with it fully and take advantage of its organisational expertise. The fourth lesson is that the intolerable sufferings of millions of migrant workers due to the sudden lockdown, and the lack of preparedness for their welfare, will remain a matter of deep shame to the nation. This teaches us that there has to be a safety net for the most vulnerable sections of society the one-quarter of Indias population that still lives below the poverty line. Apart from other measures, an assured minimum income credited directly into their accounts is the only way to achieve this. This is the least that India can do as a nation. This can be achieved with the restructuring of Indias financial planning and reorienting its monetary policy. Fifth, the virus has forced us to revisit family relationships and to extend support and affection, particularly to the elderly. Reports of increased domestic violence during the lockdown are disturbing. This is the opposite of what is needed. Existing laws need to be strictly enforced because any improper behaviour towards women, children or the elderly is unacceptable and against the tenets of Indian culture. The Covid-19 crisis has also impelled us to change personal lifestyles in a manner that unnecessary expenditure on luxury items has been minimised. That some of us can afford to spend on these is no justification for avoidable expenditure. The vulgar and grossly over-the-top engagement and wedding ceremonies, along with hugely wasteful banquets and receptions, should be restricted by law by designating a limited guest list, say, 50 people. With millions not getting one square meal a day, it is nothing short of criminal to waste so much money on so few. Finally, the virus has taught us the benefits of silence and solitude so that we can look into ourselves and explore the deeper recesses of our consciousness. We are so involved in superficial activities that we seldom get time to look within. In the ultimate analysis, it is our inner consciousness that will express itself in our actions and relationships. If we can find deep within ourselves the divine light that is the core of our beings, this will uplift not only each individual but society at large. Karan Singh is a senior Congress leader, a former Union minister, and a former parliamentarian The views expressed are personal Nine musicians from the Syrian diaspora in Europe are playing Sunday in the 24th friendship concert conducted by Riccardo Muti, this year at the Paestum archaeological site in southern Italy, but the coronavirus pandemic blocked others from arriving directly from Syria. The concert Sunday by the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra founded by Muti, part of the Ravenna Festival summer series, is dedicated to Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad and Kurdish-Syrian politician Hevreen Khalaf, both of whom were slain during Syrias ongoing civil war. These concerts give to Ravenna the possibility to be an important ambassador of peace and brotherhood from Italy, Muti told The Associated Press earlier this month in Ravenna. Khalaf was killed by Syrian fighters trained by Turkey 2019, and al-Asaad was beheaded in 2015 by fighters of the Islamic State group after he refused to aid their destruction of the ancient Roman city at Palmyra, a U.N. world heritage site. Muti launched the Roads of Friendship concert series in 1997 in Sarajevo, shortly after Bosnias 1992-1995 civil war ended, and has since traveled to cities wounded by war, including Beirut, as well as in ancient and historic sites to reestablish ties with places that have made history, including the ancient Roman amphitheater in the southern Syrian city of Bosra. We can build bridges between civilizations, between people, with music, said Karoun Baghboudarian, a cellist living in the Netherlands who is playing in Sundays concert and who sang in the chorus during the 2004 concert in Bosra before Syria devolved into war, a period when she said musicians lives flourished. Her brother, Missak Baghboudarian, conducts the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra and had hoped to travel to Italy to conduct a concert in Ravenna and attend the Paestum concert of Beethovens Symphony No. 3, known as the Heroic, but was unable to travel because of travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus. Instead, the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra streamed Beethovens Heroic from Damascus on July 2. Karoun Baghboudarian said she hoped the concert would renew attention on Syrians suffering. We hope that Syria will come through the war and all the difficult situations as heroes, and that they can live normally, she said by phone from Paestum. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three hundred unmanned drones were programmed to form images above the Han river in Seoul for a show held on Saturday, July 4. The spectacular showcase of motivational and awareness messages comes at the time when the world is still battling the coronavirus pandemic even though lockdown is beginning to ease in phases globally. The show began with messages spreading awareness, reminding people of key precautionary measures to keep themselves safe. The sky was lit up with signs indicating wearing masks, washing hands and keeping a two-metre distance from others. PHOTOS: Covid-19: Hundreds of drones light up Seouls sky with messages of support The image of a mask surrounded by coronavirus particles, quickly shuffled to form two hands and water droplets against the night sky. The 10-minute show then shifted to messages of gratitude for frontline medical personnel who have been tirelessly working amid the pandemic. THANKS TO YOU, the drones wrote in the sky next to a heart shape. This was followed by a silhouette of the Korean peninsula with the message: Cheer up, Republic of Korea. The event organised by the government was not advertised in advance in consideration of social distancing rules. Flying drones are strictly regulated in Seoul, but the city government has recently allocated 27,000 sq m (290,000 sq ft) of land along the Han river for the new park, according to Yonhap news agency. The site has been made available from June 25 and also includes an information centre to advice on safety issues. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Vivian Westwood and Wolfgang Tillmans are among 100 artists who have contributed art and articles to a new magazine LIMBO created especially to help colleagues who are out of work and to capture the world during lockdown. Responding to increasingly urgent calls from the high-profile sector, Britain announced on Sunday it would invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help an industry crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to be published on Tuesday, LIMBO was born of a desire to capture the world in a unique moment in history and to help each other in a time of crisis, its creators said. The magazine upends the traditional publishing model by sharing all revenue equally between the team. In the very first week of lockdown I thought to myself Id love to see inside everyones minds and everyones home right now, publisher of LIMBO, Nick Chapin, told Reuters. All these fantastic creative people, writers, filmmakers. How are they channelling this energy? So I almost saw it as like a hundred windows on the minds and homes of people around the world. Nick Chapin, publisher of LIMBO Magazine, designed to help the beleaguered creative community in the post-pandemic world, and Creative Director David Lane examine test print sheets in the printworks. (REUTERS/Stuart McDill) Fifty A-list artists and creatives - from Oscar-winner Andrea Arnold, to Miranda July waived their fees, allowing funds raised to go to the 50 contributors most in need. I wasnt able to get any help from the government when my business fell through. So we definitely felt like we had to do something ourselves. We had to find a way to support our community from the ground up, Chapin said. The magazine is being sold in an honour system at three different prices, 9 ($11.25) for concessions, 14 at normal price and 19 for readers who want to contribute more. (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 Rahul Roy, who became a household name with Aashiqui, could not recreate the same success in his later films. A few years later, he disappeared from the scene, only to reappear as a participant in the popular reality show Bigg Boss and win its first season. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Rahul opened up about being away from the spotlight. I walked away and that was my choice. Industry ka kuch lena dena nahi tha (The industry had nothing to do with it). Whether it is a privilege or whether it is a curse, I came into the industry not because I was seeking to be a star or an actor, he said, adding that he was approached for Aashiqui after Mahesh Bhatt met his mother for a completely different reason. Talking about why he chose to stay away from Bollywood, Rahul said that after he turned 30, he wanted to get married. Being an actor, it is very difficult...I applaud those that can...but it is very difficult to do cinema as well as fulfil family responsibilities. Because cinema takes a lot out of you. When I got married (to model Rajlaxmi Khanvilkar) in 2000, I said, Lets take a break. Let me work on my personal relationship, he said. Also Watch | Have lost some movies due to nepotism in Bollywood: Taapsee Pannu Also read: Kartik Aaryan lauds rockstar policeman who sang Tera Yaar Hoon Main, watch viral video Rahul also admitted that his films at the time were not doing very well and though he was getting offers, they did not excite him. My growth as an actor had stagnated. Youre doing the same role again and again, and in that time, everybodys perception is ki isko yehi karte raho (make him do the same thing). It was a combination of a lot of things, he said. Rahuls year-long sabbatical became longer, when Rajlaxmi wanted to move abroad. After moving to Australia, it became difficult for him to continue with a career in Bollywood. He said that though he tried to approach and meet a lot of people, nothing worked out. He also said that he could never understand the new agency culture. In 2005, Rahul was in an insecure place and gladly took up the Bigg Boss offer. When he won the first season, he was convinced that the audience still wanted to watch him. He eventually went on to sign a few films that took a lot of time to make because they were not big-budget films. However, he said that he was proud of them. Follow @htshowbiz for more Sushant Singh Rajput is back on screen one last time as Dil Bechara trailer came out on Monday. The experience was always going to be poignant, more so given the theme of the Mukesh Chhabras film. The official remake of Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgorts The Fault In Our Stars, Dil Bechara casts Sushant and debutante Sanjana Sanghi as two youngsters battling cancer with a stoic aplomb. The two fall for one another while bonding over music and movies. While Sushants cancer is in remission, Sanjanas Kizie tries to distance her from himself so as not to hurt him. They then go on an adventure to Paris, which cements their bond further. Watch Dil Bechara trailer here Director Mukesh Chhabra wrote, Finally after such a long wait, 2 years of my life. So many friendships close to my heart,so many ups and downs, happy and sad moments. Presenting to you our dream and the dream of my brother Sushant, who will live on in me till my last breath. The trailer of my debut film #DilBechara. So much has changed in my life these past years and I will always cherish every single moment. Putting the trailer out there in your hands and in your hearts. Its over to you now. For every single one of you to watch from your home as many times as you like, Im glad its free for everyone, without any subscription, so every single person in India can watch it. So many mixed emotions. I urge you to watch it with your family, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, loved ones. For you to celebrate a life that lived and will forever be in our hearts. Dil Bechara will release on Disney+ Hotstar on July 24. The streaming platform has made the film available for free as a tribute to Sushant who died on June 14. This is the last film of the actor who has given memorable performances in MS Dhoni biopic, Chhichhore and many others. ALSO WATCH | Dil Bechara trailer: Sushant Singh Rajputs last film is a tragic love story Ahead of the trailer, Sanjana shared her nervousness on her Instagram stories. She wrote, Nobody told me this is what pre-trailer jitters can feel like!!! Stomachs RUMBLING and ROARING. I can feel yall and him are with us. #DilBechara. Sanjana Sanghi shared a picture on her Instagram stories ahead of the trailer release. It is adapted from the famous novel The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and will also see Saif Ali Khan in a special appearance. Directed by Josh Boone, The Fault in Our Stars is a 2014 American romantic drama starring Shailene and Ansel with Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Nat Wolff, and Willem Dafoe. Woodley played Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer patient, who has had cancer since she was a child. She meets Augustus who has lost a leg to the disease but his cancer is now in remission. The two start a touching and spirited romance. After she introducing Gus to her favourite novel, he arranges for them to fly to Amsterdam to meet its alcoholic author. The two grow closer than ever during the journey, even as their disease continues to impact their lives. Also read: Amit Trivedi: Nothing called nepotism in the music industry, this is the most time-waste topic Director Mukesh Chhabra had recently revealed that Sushant had not even read the script before giving his nod to star in the film. I remember long ago Sushant had promised me that whenever I make my first film, he would star in it as the lead and he kept his promise. So when I approached him for Dil Bechara, he immediately said yes, without even reading the script. We always had this strong emotional connection, he said. Sushant worked very closely with Mukesh during the making of the film and always gave his creative suggestions to improve a scene. Sharing how Sushant helped him out in direction, Mukesh said, He used to always help me improve the scene. He used to read with me and if at any point he felt that creatively the scene could be improved he used to always let me know. We used to sit together and discuss at length. Follow @htshowbiz for more On Sunday, a number of Bollywood celebrities spoke about their teachers on Guru Purnima. Ishaan Khatter posted a bunch of pictures and videos with brother Shahid Kapoor, mother Neelima and others to express his gratitude on the occasion. Sharing one picture from when he was an infant with Shahid holding him in his lap, he wrote: My pillar to lean on. The picture shows Shahid as a pre-teen boy himself. Sharing another post with Shahid, from an awards function, Ishaan wrote: Bhai, who has shown me by example the value of perseverance, hard work and patience. Ishaan also wrote about his mother, actor and dancer Neelima Azeem. Writing about his mother, he said, Ma.. who has taught me and continues to teach me everyday to be a good person and artist. Hope I ca live up to your values always. Ishaan Khatters Guru Purnima posts. Ishaan was gracious enough to thank all those who have influenced his journey thus far - he made a special mention of dancer and choreographer Shiamak Davar, his Beyond the Clouds director - Iranian maestro Majid Majidi, Dhadak director Shashank Khaitan, Udta Punjab director Abhishek Chaubey (Ishaan posted pictures with Abhishek during the shoot of the film) and his upcoming film Suitable Boys director Mira Nair among others. He made a special mention of producer Karan Johar and wrote: Captain K. Generous and enterprising in equal measure.. and the emperor of wit! Also read: Saroj Khans daughter reveals which Bollywood actors kept in touch with masterji as her health deteriorated Ishaan has, of course, spoken at length about his brother. He definitely counts Shahid as one of the biggest influences in his life. After the release of his debut film, speaking to Filmfare, he had said: Yes, of course. His first film (Ishq Vishk) released in 2003. I was eight when he became a film star. I was fascinated by it all. So Id run around with him on his sets. I was on his sets almost every day. Id watch the actors, the cinematographers... Initially, I loved him and idolised him. Then I started watching his films more seriously. I started asking him questions like how he prepared for a certain role, what inspired him or how he enacted a particular role. Eventually, I was able to assist in a film (Udta Punjab), in which he was also performing. I had my own set of responsibilities as well. It was interesting as I was both objective and subjective. Shahids been a big influence in my life. Follow @htshowbiz for more Even after three weeks since actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death, conspiracy theories, assumptions and debates refuse to die down. Angered by this constant rumour-mongering, blame game and social media toxicity, actor Raveena Tandon urges, Stop sensationalising it now. You cant blame anyone, not the film industry. This is just becoming a witch-hunt, a lynch mob, which is wrong. People have to think rationally. Its doing a great disservice to the poor boy whos gone. The 45-year-old, who had met Rajput twice during his film promotions on a reality show, reveals that she was appalled to see a Whatsapp forward doing the rounds that, Karan Johar intentionally made a bad film for Sushant, so he could ruin the actors career. Why would a producer pay an actor crores of rupees, sign him in his movie and then risk the rest of the crores in making a shitty film? Why would anyone invest so much money, time and mechanism to intentionally sabotage his own film? How absurd are these allegations! "mean girl"gang of the industry.Camps do exist.Made fun of,bn removed from films by Heroes,their girlfriends,Journo chamchas&their career destroying fake media stories.Sometimes careers are destroyed.U struggle to keep afloat.fight backSome survive Some Dont.#oldwoundsrevisited Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 15, 2020 However, Tandon doesnt deny the existence of camps and mean girl gang in Bollywood, something that she had also tweeted about after Rajputs demise, when many other actors, too, had called out the toxic star culture and favouritism in the film industry. There are politics, I agree. And there are good people and there are bad people. This is what I had written in my tweet also. And there are bad people who do plan your failure; Ive been through it. They are the ones who would want to see you down and removed from films. Its literally like classroom politics. They play dirty games, she says adding that, But people like this are there in every industry. Were in a high profile glamorous job and the competition is cut-throat, so it gets highlighted. When you speak the truth,you are branded a liar,Mad,psychotic. Chamcha journos write pages&pages destroying all the hard work that you might have done.Even though born in the industry, grateful for all it has given me,but dirty politics played by some can leave a sour taste . https://t.co/uR9usJitdb Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 15, 2020 It can happen to someone born within,an "insider" as I can hear insider/outsider words,some anchors blaring away.But you fight back.The more they tried to bury me,the harder I fought back. Dirty politics happen everywhere. But sometimes one roots for good to win,and Evil to lose. https://t.co/NMIkUgkLbW Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 15, 2020 The actor further goes on to gives her own example of being removed from a film overnight at the hands of mean girl gang that she referred to. I was doing fittings with the films designer for an outfit for the evening mahurat party. At 4pm, I get a call that Ive been dumped from the movie and Ive to return the signing amount because the heros girlfriend didnt like me, she reveals, quoting an interview of late actor Shashi Kapoor that helped her deal with that situation. He had said main party par gaya hoon, and there I realised the hero is someone else and they didnt even inform me. So, what happened with all these false claims of nepotism? Even the greatest filmmaker Raj Kapoors family wasnt spared by politics, says Raveena, who admits that the reason she remembers Kapoors interview so clearly, Because at that time, I used to get inspiration from these people when these kind of things used to happen to me. Even theyve faced things like this I used it as an example to console myself. Mention how Rajput always feared being thrown out of Bollywood if his films didnt work, Tandon says thats a reality that with every actor. Even the top most stars or top most producer, directors brothers or sons have that fear. If that wasnt the case, all star kids would have been superstars today, but there are many who have been thrown out of Bollywood. So, when Sushant appealed to the public to come and see his films, nobody knew that it was said with so much charged emotion. The boy went much deeper and maybe was always emotionally very fragile, says Tandon, unable to fathom what drove such a young, handsome, talented, successful boy to take this drastic step. Rajputs demise also sparked off the insider vs outsider debate and Tandon immediately points how actors like Shah Rukh Khan Ranveer Singh and Amitabh Bachchan, too, never had any godfather or connection in the industry. And according to this outsider-insider phraseology, my dad was a filmmaker, so Im supposed to be an insider, right? But he has retired; he never launched me, never put money in any film. I was discovered at a pizza shop and before that I was they doing ads and nobody gave me ads because I was Ravi Tandons daughter. I was called up by a casting scout and later they discovered that Im my fathers daughter. But, I still get abused on social media with people saying that you are also a result of nepotism, she rues. I love my industry,but yes,the pressures are high,there are good people and people who play dirty, there are all kinds,but thats what makes the https://t.co/YEXmquEDj2 has to pick up the pieces,walk again and again,with the head held high.Goodnight world.I pray for a better tmrw https://t.co/52nGxPma2m Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 15, 2020 Furthermore, with the spotlight back on the importance of mental health, the actor is of the opinion that there cant be better help than ones family members and closest friends. There are signs that you can see, of depression, in a person. There are signs you know, can see and read, and when you talk to the psychiatrist, they also say, Okay, these are the signs. In America and all, it might be a fad to go to a psychiatrist and they talk to you, but in India, our families, best friends are so close that you can reach out to them, to your best friends, says the actor. Referring to Rajput who often said he wasnt a part of any camp, group or power table in Bollywood, Tandon adds, I could kind of, to certain extent, also identify with Sushant because I myself never had many friends within the industry except for Neelam Kothari, Juhi Chawla, Shilpa Shetty these are probably the only girls I really got along with, and we are still friends now. But during my rock bottom days, my friends who were always there for me were those from school and college, whove been constantly with me and have seen what all Ive gone through in my life. Also, I believe parents are the biggest and strongest backbone and Ive always talked to them. Interact with the author on Twitter @monikarawal Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali reached the Bandra police station on Monday afternoon to record his statement in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajputs suicide case. He was spotted at the police station around noon in a blue and white kurta pyjama and a mask. It was reported that he had offered films to the late actor but the two couldnt work together due to date issues. Speculation is rife that Bhansali was summoned to be questioned about his plans to cast Sushant in his 2013 release Goliyon ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, which didnt materialise due to the actors contract with Yash Raj Films. Sanjay Leela Bhansali being escorted to the Bandra police station. (Varinder Chawla) Sanjay Leela Bhansali at Bandra police station on Monday. (Varinder Chawla) The police have so far recorded the statements of at least 29 people in connection with the case. Earlier last week, Bollywood casting director Shanoo Sharma, and the deceased actors co-star from the film Dil Bechara, Sanjana Sanghi were also questioned by Mumbai Police. The police is also expected to interrogate film director Shekhar Kapur in connection with Rajputs suicide. The police is likely to question Kapur in connection with the controversy surrounding the movie Paani, which was shelved. Also read: Ahead of Sushant Singh Rajputs Dil Bechara trailer, fans make it a top trend; Sanjana Sanghi says I can feel yall and him are with us Earlier this month, Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhe had said that the department is investigating every angle behind the actors suicide. Sushant was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. He was suffering from depression and did not leave a note. The trailer of his upcoming film Dil Bechara releases on Monday. It is his last film and will be available for free viewing on Disney+ Hotstar. (With ANI inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more Commuters who have long loathed the tolls that have affected Portsmouth in particular, shouldnt expect change anytime soon. The lucrative contract ERC secured years ago would be transferred to the buyer. Only if the buyer felt the need or desire to negotiate the terms with the state would it do so. Still, at least one local lawmaker is optimistic. Sussanne Khan has shared a collage of her pictures with actor brother Zayed Khan as she took to Instagram to wish him on his 40th birthday. The doting sister showered the Main Hoon Na actor with love by calling him her favourite human. Sharing the collage, she wrote, Happppppy birthday my Zai...u are truly my favourite human.. we celebrate you every day!! #twinningforlife. All the three pictures show them in high spirits. While the siblings are twinning in black in two of them, the third picture shows them in contrasting black and white outfits. A few of his industry friends also wished him on the occasion. Actor Rohit Roy also called him his favourite human as he wrote, Mine too happy birthday bro. Preity Zinta wrote, Happy birthday Zayed. Kunal Kapoor and Arjun Bijlani dropped heart emojis in reaction to the post. Zayed is all set to make an acting comeback as father Sanjay Khan gears up to relaunch him in Bollywood. The senior actor-director is planning war drama that will revolve around the life of 1947 India-Pakistan war hero Brigadier Mohammad Usman who laid his life for the country. He has cast Zayed in the titular role. Talking to Mid-Day about relaunching his son, Sanjay had said in an interview, He is one of the most handsome actors in the film industry. As a father, it is my duty to make a film for him. The audience will rediscover him in the movie. Also read: Amit Trivedi: Nothing called nepotism in the music industry, this is the most time-waste topic Talking about the film in particular, he said, I am working hard on the script because I want to make it as authentic as possible. I want to depict the Indian Armys bravery, and how they fought despite not being armed with sufficient artillery and equipment. A few years ago, Zayed was asked about nepotism in the film industry. He had replied, , Isnt everybody nepotistic? Hasnt everybody coming up [in this industry] used their influence to help their loved ones or keep their loved ones in a better position? It is merely human nature. Lets not blow things out of proportion. Were a free enterprise. Its survival of the fittest. Nepotism is a new word that has fascinated everybody. Buckle up, dust yourself off, and move forward. Follow @htshowbiz for more Consensus has guided 40 meetings of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council since its inception, but differences between the Centre and fiscally stressed states within the federal tax body are becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile. The Council, which will meet later this month, is set to see sharp differences emerge over the central governments obligation to make up for states GST losses, which has gone up due to the two-month national lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a situation that wasnt anticipated in GST laws. States have for long been complaining about delays in getting their assured compensation. Some states such as Kerala have been demanding the Centre borrow from the market to pay dues to states. They contend that the Centre can repay the borrowings by extending the cess imposition on items such as automobiles and tobacco beyond 2022 when these levies expire. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is the convenor of several ministerial panels within the GST Council and is regarded as the go-to person for resolving disputes within the council, said in an interview that states may make statements for political reasons but they need to be realistic about their compensation demands as the Union government is also facing revenue losses. Among the numerous decisions taken so far, the only issue on which the Council had to resort to voting for settlement was taxation of lotteries due to differences among states. Modi, who is also the convenor of the group of ministers on revenue analysis, said that the Centre can compensate states only from the revenue collected in the compensation cess fund, not from the Consolidated Fund of India. The law does not provide that the central government will at any cost provide compensation to the states. It is to be given from the compensation cess fund. It is another thing that states may issue any kind of political statement, said Modi. He said that the options before the council for addressing the compensation requirementincreasing the tax rates and extending the coverage of the GST cesscannot be taken up in the immediate future due to the pandemic situation. He also said borrowing by the Centre is not an option. I do not think the central government can borrow. Who will repay and who will pay interest? There is no guarantee either that states losses will not persist for the next four or five years, said Modi. Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac told the council at its meeting in December, citing its former chairperson Arun Jaitley, that the council could borrow to fund the compensation requirement and extend the levy of cess from five to six years, minutes of the meeting showed. For the second time in the past five months, the Haryana cabinet on Monday deliberated on a piece of draft legislation to provide reservation in private-sector jobs and gave a go-ahead for drafting an ordinance in this regard after fresh vetting by the law secretary. The move to introduce reservation for local youth in private-sector jobs is on the lines of a law enacted by the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh, which has been challenged on the question of constitutional validity in the Andhra Pradesh high court. While the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the coalition partner of the BJP in Haryana, had made a commitment to provide 75% quota in private-sector jobs to Haryana youth in its poll manifesto, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had sounded non-committal on the prospect of enacting a law to provide such reservation. Though Khattar has been emphatic that the government will go ahead with the proposed quota in private jobs, sources close to him say the proposed bill in this regard might be watered down to ensure there is no pressure on the industry. On February 7, the chief minister had made a reference to hiring unskilled workers by the industry, thus indicating that the proposed reservation could only be for the unskilled workers. It will not be mandatory for the industry and enterprises to implement the quota. Also, if the industry is not able to get 75% workers from Haryana, they will be at liberty to hire from outside the state, the CM had said in February. CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY ISSUE Haryanas law secretary, while examining the draft bill sent for vetting by the cabinet on January 31, had raised objections on the constitutional validity of the proposed law. The issues primarily pertaining to Article 14 and 19 (1)(g) of the Constitution were deliberated upon by the cabinet on Monday and the draft was yet again sent to the law secretary for vetting. Article 14 pertained to equality before law and Article 19 (1)(g) provides for protection of certain rights to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. The proposed ordinance titled Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Ordinance, 2020, will provide 75% of the new employment to local candidates for jobs having salary less than Rs 50,000 per month in private companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms and partnership firms situated in the state. However, employers will have the option to recruit local candidates from one district to the extent of only 10%. The proposed law will also contain an exemption clause if suitable local candidates are not available for a particular category of industry. PASSAGE NOT TO BE SMOOTH Even after the proposed legislation receives the assent of the governor, it will have to be sent to the Presidential assent as the labour-related matters are in the concurrent list of the Constitution. The Government of India may not be keen on the enactment of such a legislation, said an official. The BJP government at the Centre has a very different view on the issue. In response to an unstarred question on whether the government proposes to formulate any scheme to implement reservation in appointment in private companies, the then Union minister of state for commerce and industry, CR Chaudhary, had told the Lok Sabha in March 2018 that a coordination committee for affirmative action for scheduled castes and tribes in the private sector was set up in 2016 by the department of industrial policy and promotion of the central government. In accordance with the decisions of the committee, apex industry associations Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) prepared a voluntary code of conduct for member companies centered on education, employability, entrepreneurship and employment to achieve inclusion. Former Union MoS for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla had in response to an unstarred question on whether the government intends to provide reservation in jobs to persons belonging to the SC/ST category in the private sector had told the Rajya Sabha in May 2016 that there was no such proposal. A 55-year-old man was killed after two sons of an acquaintance assaulted him for reportedly making their father waste money on alcohol. Jaspreet Singh alias Jassi, 36, of Dhillon Nagar and his brother Jasvir Singh, 30, reportedly assaulting Satnam Singh, a mason living in the same locality. He died after falling down when they pushed him. The Daba police have lodged an FIR for culpable homicide not amounting to murder against both after a complaint by Satnams son Gurnam, who is an assistant to an advocate. Jaspreet and Jasvir are on the run. Gurnam stated that his father was a mason and Narinder Pal Singh was his drinking partner. Both had taken shelter on July 4 under the shed of a shop during heavy rain after drinking together. When Gurnam went to fetch Satnam, Jaspreet and Jasvir turned up and accused Satnam of making their father waste money on alcohol. When I objected, the two slapped me. My father tried to intervene, but the accused thrashed him also and gave him a strong push, said Gurnam. My father fell and his head hit the ground. I rushed my father to hospital, where he died, he added. Assistant sub inspector (ASI) Gurdial Singh who is investigating the case said that a case under sections 304 and 34 of IPC had been registered against the accused at Daba police station. Narinder Pal Singh had retired as a peon at a government school a few months back. He was spending his employees provident fund on buying liquor and his sons held Satnam responsible for it, the ASI added. A hunt is on for the arrest of the accused, the ASI said. The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday refused to stay the examinations of graduate and postgraduate dental courses to be conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, scheduled to commence on Tuesday. The plea challenging the move was filed by the Dental Surgeons Association of India, demanding that the exams should not be held in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. Dismissing the plea, the high court bench of justice Arvind Sangwan observed that that varsity has followed the guidelines issued by different agencies from time to time for the conduct of exam. It also took note of the submission that there are only 189 students appearing in the MDS exam, out of which, 69 students have to appear in only one exam. Similarly, in BDS exam, there are 14 exam centres, divided into two shifts and only 100 students have to appear in each shift. It also took note of the fact that varsity has already conducted MD/MS examination in June, 2020 and also it is in the process of conducting recruitment examination for doctors and paramedical staff for the state government. It also found that varsity had on June 14 directed the students to join the hostel by June 20 so that they may undergo 14-day self quarantine in the hostel itself. The varsity had also told the court that majority of the students had reported back and have undergone 14 days self-quarantine in the hostel. Fifteen cases of Covid-19 were reported in Mohali on Monday, taking the districts total count to 318. While 13 of the 14 cases reported on Sunday were from Dera Bassi subdivision, the fresh ones are from Mohali and Kharar subdivisions. In Mohali subdivision, two women, aged 26 and 52, and a 27-year-old man, all of whom have travel history to Kanpur, have been found infected in Sector 66, besides three men, aged 20, 33 and 45, and a woman, aged 70, in Majat, who are contacts of previous cases. A 29-year-old woman, who works in the Chandigarh education department and lives in Sector 80, and a 70-year-old man from Phase 11, who is suffering from influenza like illness, have also tested positive. In Kharar, a 32-year-old man, who is a contact of a patient, a 46-year-old man from Sunny Enclave and a 37-year-old man from Sector 127 have tested positive. A 65-year-old man from New Chandigarh, Mullanpur, and a 23-year-old woman from Ballomajra have also been found infected. Civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said all patients have been admitted to Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur and samples of their family members are being taken. There are 85 active cases in the district, as 229 people have recovered while five have died. Behda village declared containment zone After 35 Covid-19 cases were reported from Behda village near Dera Bassi, it has been declared a containment zone. While a health team led by the civil surgeon visited the village, deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan passed orders to seal its boundaries to prevent further spread of the disease. A total of 22 workers of a meat factory near Behda have tested positive so far. The factory has already been declared a containment zone. Most of its workers live in this village, 11 of whom had tested positive on Sunday, said Dr Manjit Singh, adding that 141 samples of family and community contacts were collected besides door-to-door screening on Monday. No unauthorised entry into district Acting on directions of the state government for mandatory e-registration for travellers to Punjab, the deputy commissioner said on Monday that no unauthorised entry would be allowed into the district and strict vigil would be maintained at all five border check posts at Siswan, Jharmari, Zirakpur, Bohra Khera Morh and Nagal Morh. Everyone entering the district will have to go through proper procedures as laid out in the advisory regarding standard operating procedures, which would be applicable from Tuesday, though no e-registration is required for tricity residents. Air India pilots in a letter on Monday to the national carriers chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal, on the financial health of the airline. The pilots have requested to resort to measures undertaken by private airlines, such as cutting costs and mandatory leave without pay, to cope with the current situation. When HT contacted the airline, an Air India spokesperson said, We would not like to comment on our internal matter. In the letter, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), comprising Airbus (narrow body) pilots, and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) comprising Boeing (wide body) pilots asked the airline to exempt class IV employees from the 10% cut on allowances as they are being affected more severely than other employees. ..The financial burden must be fairly distributed between all employees based on their job functions and emoluments.. the letter read. Air India currently has 1600 pilots. The pilots also asked Air India to follow private airlines in cutting costs and reducing staff from various departments at the backend that the pilots have termed as non- relevant to the aviation business. They pointed out that the airline has more than 1,600 staff members in its human resource and finance department for a fleet size of 125 aircraft. This is nowhere in-line with market standards and since operations have been scaled back, their work has reduced drastically. It is prudent for Air India and MoCA [Ministry of Civil Aviation] to take cognisance of this excess manpower to trim costs as our aircraft stand under- utilised, the letter read. They also suggested that since Air India is in financial distress, the employee strength should be brought at par with other market players through measures such as mandatory leave without pay till normal operations resume. We request you to innovate and spare no efforts to secure the survival and financial health of the airline, concluded the pilots. An Air India pilot said, We are willing to take pay cuts as we want the management to deduct salaries according to the earnings of an employee (barring the class IV employees). The airline has majority of the employees in backend who not only dont report to office but are also not working. Moreover, at times when the airline is struggling to survive, there are departments that have outdoor expenses that run into crores, shouldnt the airline cut down on such expenses in this phase? A senior pilot of the airline said, We have a total of 125 aircaft of which half of them are not flying, then why do we need full strength of ground staff, engineers, pilots and cabin crew? Why is the airline paying all of us? Like other private airlines, Air India can also send employees on leave without pay for few days over and above the 10% cut that should be according to respective salary slabs. New Delhi: The Delhi government resumed virtual teaching-learning process in its schools after the summer break on Monday. As many as 415,000 students enrolled in classes KG to 10 accessed worksheets through WhatsApp and 23,000 class12 students attended live lessons via YouTube on the first day. In a statement issued on Monday, Delhi education minister Manisha Sisodias office said, Students from KG to class 8 received their first worksheet which they will now receive every day. It contains activities to promote reading, writing, basic numeracy and happiness among children. Similarly, students in Grade 9 and 10 received worksheets for Hindi, Science and Maths today. They will receive 2-3 worksheets every day. All the worksheets were shared with the students by the class teachers through WhatsApp group created for each class. For those students who dont have access to WhatsApp, teachers will get the printouts of these worksheets and hand them to their parents each week, it added. What a great start of online teaching & learning in #DelhiGovtSchools. Over 1.35 lakh views of the Gr 12 English & History class on Youtube & over 4 lakh students accessed lessons via WhatsApp.Proud of my teachers! We have to make sure we reach every child of each class, Sisodia tweeted. Similarly, for class 12 students, the Delhi governments Directorate of Education (DoE) conducted online classes via YouTube in English and History on Monday. The students were given an opportunity to remove their doubts through YouTube comments, to which teachers responded. Around 23,000 students watched the live lessons on YouTube and answered questions asked by teachers in the comments section. Till the writing of this report, the videos had been accessed by more than 1.35 lakh people, the statement added. Sisodia requested the parents to continue supporting the government in this initiative so that every child can learn. Its very important to engage creatively with the students on digital platforms and our teachers have created very engaging content, he said. All schools in Delhi have been shut since March 18 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both private and government schools are offering virtual learning through different modes such as video conferencing, YouTube and WhatsApp. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday said Delhi Universitys final-year students cannot be treated as guinea pigs and that there are serious glitches in the varsitys online open book examination scheduled to start on July 10. Justice Pratibha Singh -- on a plea by several students who sought cancellation of the examination -- said apart from the technical aspect, the mental state of the students should also be kept in mind since they are at home since February, have not been attending classes and do not even have online material available for studying. Expressing displeasure for conducting the examination without any basis, the judge asked Delhi University to give a state-wise data of final-year students who will take the test. It asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to give its committees report on conducting exams in universities across the country. The court was hearing a plea filed by six students through the Vera Cause Legal, a law firm, seeking to call off the open book exams. They said students are facing several problems in taking the online exams. On Monday, advocate Shivankar Sharma, counsel for five students of DUone from Faridabad, two from Delhi and one each from Rajasthan and Nagaland told the court that several students would have to go to the nearest community centres to write the exams and risk their lives in a situation when Covid-19 cases are rising every day. The Delhi University has suggested students to use common service centres in their localities to write online exams in case they do not have the internet facility at home.. Sharma said students live in remote areas where there might not be electricity and internet connections. He contended there were glitches during the mock tests conducted on Saturday when students had to download and upload question papers and answer sheets of different subjects . Students faced trouble logging in, and downloading and uploading PDFs. The website too crashed many times, students had alleged on Saturday, a claim the university had denied. He said several students complained that the community centres were not aware of the mock examinations. Appearing for Delhi University (DU), senior advocate Sachin Datta and advocate J S Rupal, told the court that DU is the only varsity in the country attempting the online exams. They said officers are taking huge risks to conduct the examinations, and that those who cannot take the exams now later appear in September. The court then said, You cannot make the students guinea pigs. Think about their mental status also. Suppose there are children whose family members are unwell; they need to be in the correct state of mind. This is complete callousness where the decision has been taken without any basis. The judge said that by conducting the exams, the university is putting their careers in jeopardy because by the time the results are declared by the end of August, many foreign universities and other higher educational institutions would already have started their academic session. It said because of the postponement of the exams, earlier scheduled to start from July 1, the interest of the students had been jeopardised. Despite several attempts, DU Dean examination Vinay Gupta and Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi did not respond to calls and texts sent for a comment. A member of the examination team, requesting anonymity, said, The University will produce relevant information in the court on Tuesday. We cant comment further since the matter is sub-judice. The UGC counsel told the court that its notification is not binding and advisory in nature. The UGC notification in April suggested the universities several modes of conducting exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which includes the open book exams. He said many universities have decided to not conduct the exams. The judge said there cant be any delay in UGCs recommendations on the conduct of exams for final-year students in universities across the country. UGC is coming up with a fresh notification on exams for final-year graduation and postgraduate students. The court asked DU to give state-wise data of final-year students, a detailed examination schedule, including declaration of results and distribution of answer sheets. The matter would be now heard on Tuesday. Kanpur Station house officer(SHO) , Bithoor, Kaushalendra Pratap Singh, one of the seven policemen injured in the shootout at Bikru village in Kanpur early on July 3, said he had been asked by station officer, Chaubeypur, Vinay Tiwari, who was suspended on Saturday, to accompany the raiding team. On reaching Bikru village, the police team left their vehicles on the road and walked about 100 metres, said Singh at the hospital where he is being treated. They eventually found a heavy earthmoving machine blocking the road. The team, he said, somehow reached close to Dubeys house. Dubeys men were fully prepared. Each of them had weapons. They were using semi-automatic weapons. Suddenly, firing began from all the directions. We looked for safe places. But the majority of our men went down in the first hail of bullets, he said. The remaining policemen fired back, he said, adding the criminals could see them but policemen could not. Two of my constables Ajay Sengar and Ajay Kashyap were injured. My priority at that time was to save them and take them to safer ground as others had fallen, he said. Singh was injured when he was taking the constables away. He said he came to know later when he saw visuals of the attack on social media that the firing was going on from three sides and that at the place where Circle Officer, Bilhaur, was hiding, firing was done from right above him. -- here is the reporter version All the workers of the local police station are under our scope of investigation on how Vikas Dubey got information about police movement. Whoever is found guilty will be charged with murder, he added. The Uttar Pradesh Police has contacted the police of both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Even after 65 hours, UP Police and ATS have not yet discovered anything about the whereabouts of Dubey, sources informed. The district administration had on Saturday demolished the house and visuals showed cars and other vehicles in the premises of the building complex being crushed by machines. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier announced Rs 1 crore each ex-gratia for the families of the policemen who were killed in the Bikaru village encounter. The creation of the organization also comes at a time when many businesses are reckoning with longstanding diversity issues. For example, the percentage of Black employees at Facebook has grown just 0.8 percentage points over the past five years from 3% in 2014 to 3.8% in 2020, according to the company. Workers of color also have difficulty advancing their careers. While 15% of business executives in the country are people of color, 36% of support and operations staff are people of color, according to a 2020 analysis of census data by the Mercer consulting company. About 24% of the nations population is non-white. Strategically important due to its location close to the international border with Pakistan, All India Radios Gharinda tower near Attari integrated check post (ICP) is currently non-functional as the staff in Delhi is unable to record programmes due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This has left listeners on both sides of the border, especially those in Pakistans Lahore located about 25 kms from the Attari-Wagah border, disappointed as they are no longer able to tune into Urdu programming relayed from here. This is disappointing. The shows were very popular among Amritsar residents and also the intelligentsia of Lahore. Pakistan is covering Amritsar through a number of FM and medium-wave transmitters but India is unable to cover Lahore now. This is a wakeup call for Prasar Bharati, said Harjap Singh Aujla, a retired engineer in Amritsar. Kulwant Singh Ankhi, patron of Amritsar Vikas Manch, an NGO, said, Earlier, the problem was that the original 1,000-ft high tower, through which a larger audience could be reached, was not being commissioned. Now, the suspension of Urdu programming has created a new problem. Aujla adds that the non-commissioning of the high-tower is a waste of resources as AIR is able to reach only 25% of the population it is supposed to cover in the area on both sides. He says that officials cite a slight bend in the upper portion of tower for its disuse. Santosh Rishi of the All-India Radio, Jalandhar, who manages the Gharinda tower, says, The Urdu programming, which was relayed by the Delhi office, has gone off air temporarily due to the pandemic outbreak. The staff is currently unable to rejoin office. We have written to the Delhi office to resume the service, but we cannot say anything on when it will be resumed. More than a year after upping the ante against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is set to announce a new political outfit on Tuesday. The party is likely to be named Shiromani Panthik Dal, it is learnt. Had Sukhbir (Badal) owned up the responsibility for the Akali Dals defeat in the 2017 election assembly polls and protected the Panth by punishing the guilty of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, I would have not taken this step. For me, Panth and Punjabiat are the foremost. Under Sukhbirs leadership, the SAD has forgotten its original agenda and lost its base. The Punjabis need a platform to save the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and other institutions, said Dhindsa, who was in Patiala for joining of Congress leader Tajinderpal Singh Sandhu his camp. He said SAD patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in the know of every misdeed in the party and the SGPC, but he kept his eyes closed to protect Sukhbir. Dhindsa, who had quit all party posts in September 2018 in the wake of a revolt in the SAD, said the same mafia which was ruling the roost during the SAD-BJP regime by exploiting mining resources besides dominating the liquor trade etc, is flourishing under the Congress now. There is the need to replace both the Congress and the SAD to usher in a new era of development in Punjab, he added. Last week, Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) chief Brahmpura had offered Dhindsa to take over the party, but the latter declined to do so. My fight is to liberate the SGPC from the clutches of wrong people. Everyone who saw the Badal family as a threat to the Panth should support us. The party workers will decide our future tie-ups, said Dhindsa. He said that Badals have exploited the SGPC for their personal benefits. On the langar scam, he said there should be stringent punishment for misuse of the offerings of devotees by making forged bills. The SGPC should dismiss all those guilty, he said. On Khalistan, the Rajya Sabha MP said he did not support any such demand. We will fight for rights of Punjabis, but will not go against the country, he added. UNFOLDING OF REBELLION Sept 29, 2018: Dhindsa quits all party posts, including that of general secretary and member of the core committee, in the wake of a revolt against SAD leadership by veteran Akali leaders. Oct 19, 2019: The Rajya Sabha MP resigns as the leader of SAD in the Upper House of Parliament. Jan 3, 2020: His son and former Punjab minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa resigns as SAD legislative party leader Jan 12, 2020: SAD suspends Dhindsa, his son Parminder for anti-party activities Feb 3, 2020: SAD expels the father-son duo for rebellion against party Amid reports of differences between the two ruling partners in the state Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the transfer of 10 IPS officers and the poaching of five Sena corporators by the latter, Sharad Pawar visited Matoshree on Monday evening to mediate on the issues. Shiv Sena insiders said the CM was upset over the two issues that created the differences and believed it would send a wrong message about the coalition government. Earlier in the day, Sena also decided to ditch its ruling partner for the Kalyan Panchayat Samiti and joined hands with former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) . The BJP and Sena have shared the chairman post in the panchayat samiti for one-and-a-half years each. The Sena had four members, while the BJP had five members, and NCP had three members. Earlier, there was an arrangement between us (Sena-NCP) since the MVA [Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi] government is in power. But the decision was changed later, a Sena functionary from the Bhiwandi-Kalyan region said. Home minister Anil Deshmukh, too, was a part of the Monday evening meeting to clear the air over the transfers of the IPS officers, which was later stayed by the CM. Deshmukh is expected to meet Thackeray again on Tuesday over the issue, a senior functionary said. Sena leaders and ministers Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde were also present at Matoshree. Uddhav ji felt that poaching corporators was wrong. At least, the NCP should have brought the discontentment of the Sena corporators to the notice of the party chief. But Ajit Pawar chose to induct them. Such things give out a wrong message. Milind Narvekar has conveyed to Ajit Pawar on getting the corporators back to Sena, said a Shiv Sena insider. This was the second meeting since Friday between Pawar and Thackeray to clear differences over the lack of coordination among the ruling allies. The CM already expressed his displeasure after Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh decided to transfer the 10 IPS officers. Though Singh has the transfer powers, the norm of consulting the CM was not followed, according to Sena insiders. The home department is with the NCP and Singh had kept home minister Anil Deshmukh in the loop. The transfer order was not only cancelled by the chief minister on Sunday but all the DCPs were also asked to resume their previous postings immediately. The chief minister has confined himself to his residence most of the times. This has led to communication gap between him and the other ministers. This needs to be resolved, said a senior NCP minister. CM is also unhappy after five of his party corporators from Parner Nagar Panchayat in Ahmednagar district joined NCP in the presence of deputy CM Ajit Pawar. As per Sena insiders, Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Thackeray, spoke to Ajit Pawar on behalf of the CM to get the five corporators back in the Sena fold. There was a buzz that Ajit Pawar will also visit Matoshree. It is unlikely that Ajit dada will go to Matoshree as Pawar saheb already visited the CM, said a close aide of Ajit Pawar. Political experts opine that Thackerays style of functioning could become a bone of contention in the government. The CM is trying to run the government the way he has been running his political party and this is the main reason for friction between the three parties. He is surrounded by a group of people and most of them are his family members. Also he has no previous experience of running a government . He doesnt want do consult people in his cabinet , Prakash Bal, political expert, said, adding the government can be saved only by the NCP chief. Rainfall and heavy winds led to several incidents of tree fall and hoarding collapse in Kalyan, Dombivli and Navi Mumbai on Monday. A massive signage board located at the Jakat Naka on Kalyan-Shilphata road fell on a car parked below on Monday noon. No one was injured in the incident. The Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) fire brigade officials have cleared the road for traffic. There was strong wind since morning, which led to the collapse of the board, along with the iron support to which it was attached. No one was inside the car when the incident took place, said an official at the spot. The city has received 126mm rainfall since Sunday evening to Monday morning. There were fewer vehicles because of the lockdown. Otherwise, this stretch has continuous traffic flow, added the official. In Kalyan-Dombivli, a total of 27 tree fall incidents were also reported, out of which, three trees fell over houses in Chikanghar and Manda-Titwala in Kalyan (West). No injuries or casualties were reported in these incidents. Meanwhile, in Navi Mumbai, a man sustained minor injuries after a tree collapsed in Airoli on Monday at around 11.45am. The incident took place near Abhyudaya Bank in Sector 17 and the passers-by rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, said a fire official. However, the disaster management cell of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and Rabale police said that they were not able to trace the person injured in the mishap. As per the fire brigade, the Rabale police sent the victim home as he only sustained minor injuries. The tree was weak and collapsed during heavy rains, said KT Rathod, office superintendent at the NMMC disaster management cell. Shikhar Arora (18), a resident of Krishna Nagar, east Delhi, on Thursday returned disappointed from the subdivisional magistrates office as he couldnt get an income certificate of his family, which he needs urgently to apply to the Delhi University. Arora, who is seeking admission to a BA Pass course, said he wont be able to apply under the economically weaker section (EWS) category without the income certificate to show that he is eligible. I have been going to the office for nearly a month, but have not been able to get the certificate. They have now asked me to apply online, he said. Issuance of income certificate is one of the 70 services provided by the Delhi government under its ambitious doorstep delivery of services project, which was launched in September 2018. It was suspended this March in view of the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). While the government has further relaxed restrictions from July 1, under the Unlock 2.0 plan, the Delhi government is yet to restart the doorstep service delivery project. Under the project, 70 services from 10 different departments, including those of social welfare, transport, and food and supplies,among others, were being provided to citizens at their doorstep. Arora said, Had the service been operational, it would have saved me from unnecessary trips to the SDMs office. He is one of the many people queuing up outside the district revenue offices for certificates needed to apply to colleges/jobs. An official at the East Delhi district office said, Currently, only the registry of property is being done manually. For all other certificates, citizen have to apply online. The office is also in the process of setting up help desks to help applicants fill up online forms, he said. Ananya Mandal (18) is seeking admission to BA (Hons) in Economics at DU and she had visited the SDMs office in Mehrauli to get an OBC (other backward class) certificate, a mandatory document to apply under the OBC quota. I was told that we will have to apply online since the staff at the SDMs office are currently busy with Covid-19 duty. I tried to fill the form online but that the portal was not working properly. Still, I managed to apply for the certificate online and submitted the acknowledgement slip along with my admission form. But I dont know by when I would get the certificate itself, she said. A senior official at SDM Mehrauli said, We are accepting applications online. We are trying to clear all EWS and income certificate related applications at the earliest as these are required by students. The government, however, has no immediate plan to restart the service. A senior official with the administrative reforms department, on condition of anonymity, said, The service was suspended due to Covid-19. Currently, there are a lot of Covid-19 cases being reported from the national capital. There is no immediate plan to resume the service in these circumstances. We will do so only when the Covid-19 situation is under control. The official added, The doorstep delivery was an additional service. People can still apply for essential documents either online or manually at the offices concerned. Under the governments doorstep delivery scheme, people could just call on the centralised number -- 1076-- and place a service request. The services included the issuance of certificates (caste, income, domicile, delayed birth order; duplicate registration certificate of the vehicle, transfer of vehicle ownership), and new water and sewer connections, among others.The government had outsourced the operations to VFS Global, which had set up the centralised call centre and hired mobile sahayaks to ensure timely and hassle-free delivery of services. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic situation in Delhi, the doorstep delivery operations were suspended from March 23, 2020, and we are awaiting further instructions from the Delhi government, a VFS Global spokesperson said. As the city crawls back to normalcy with further relaxations in restrictions imposed earlier to contain the spread of the infectious disease, citizens say the doorstep delivery of service should be resumed as people could then avoid visiting crowded places. Atul Goyal, president of United RWAs Joint Action (URJA), said, It was a good scheme and would have proved beneficial during the present times when the number of Covid-19 cases are on the rise. While government offices have resumed public dealings, people want to avoid going to public places for fear of contracting the infection. But those who need crucial documents are forced to step out. The government should encourage online systems or provide doorstep delivery of services. Explaining the reason why the service cannot be resumed, a government spokesperson (CHECK)on condition of anonymity, said, We cant resume services immediately, as the entire staff at the call centre and officials of the revenue department are deployed on Covid-19 duty. It will be restarted once the Covid situation improves. Though there is no breakthrough in developing a vaccine for Covid-19 yet, the youngsters of the country are leaving no stone unturned to back Indias brave fight against the pandemic. Meet engineering students Tushar Chaudhary, Kaashika Prajaapat, and Tanay Aggarwal, who have collaborated with Dr Abhinav Singh Verma from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. Together they have successfully developed the COPAL-19 app, which will help build a plasma donor bank to speed up recovery of Covid-19 patients. Kaashika Prajaapat is an IIT-Delhi student. We had been working on a Medical Facility Tracker. When we launched it, people suggested other problems that can be solved though apps. And one of the issues was the lack of routing between plasma donors and Covid-19 patients. Kaashika Prajaapat, student, IIT-Delhi Prajaapat, a fourth year Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate at Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Delhi, says, I had been creating a Medical Facility Tracker that could help people locate things like the nearest hospital for treatment against Covid-19, the number of beds available in that hospital etc. I was working on this with my friend Tanay, a student of Maharaja Surajmal Institute Of Technology (affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University). When we launched the tracker, a lot of people came to us to discuss about what other problems can be solved though mobile apps. And one of the issues we found pertinent was the lack of routing between plasma donors and Covid-19 patients. We started work to create a prototype. And Tushar, who is my senior at IIT-D, connected us with Dr Abhinav Singh Verma from AIIMS, who was also aiming at solving the same problem. Thats how we all collaborated and took this initiative further. Tanay Aggarwal is a student of Maharaja Surajmal Institute Of Technology. There have been a lot of cases where people have died because of the unavailability of plasma, and we wanted to do something about it, says Chaudhary, adding, The app helps to connect those patients who need plasma therapy with the potential donors, well in time for the treatment to begin. We coordinated with Dr Verma and developed the app digitally! So, this was majorly a remote project. Phone calls and video conferencing is what helped us remain in touch as we developed the app during these odd times. Tushar Chaudhary, an IIT-Delhi student, helped connect his juniors with Dr Verma at AIIMS. In absence of a Covid-19 vaccine, the age old plasma therapy is proving useful to reduce the viral load, making COPAL-19 app a crucial software. The Resident Neurosurgeon at AIIMS Delhi informs that the idea for one such app was propelled by the need to find a plasma donor for his senior. Dr Verma adds, We wanted matching plasma for one of our senior doctors who had turned Covid-19 positive. And it took a group of 50 doctors almost one full day to arrange it! Still they managed to find only two donors. At that point, I realised what a crisis it is and thought of how can it be solved with a simple solution to make a smart database of plasma donors. Calling COPAL-19 app the need of the hour, Chaudhary adds, If a doctor had to face so much trouble to get plasma donors, wonder what common people would have been facing... Thats how the idea for COPAL-19 was born. Thus the engineering students acted quickly and moved from the ideation stage to the execution within a matter of few days. It took a week from ideation to prototyping. We worked day and night to get the permissions and to have a working prototype launched. It will now be made available pan India, on the playstore, within a week or two, says Prajaapat, sharing that the team is also in touch with Karnataka government to further spread the word about the app. Talking about the response so far, Prajaapat adds, Though its not yet a published app since we are seeking certain permissions, people have already registered themselves as donors and have voluntarily come forward to save people who are infected and in need of plasma. Interact with the author @FizzyBuddha Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases recorded in the national capital till now crossed the 100,000 mark on Monday, crossing a grim milestone that underlines the challenge in containing the outbreak even as daily numbers show a sustained decline. The capital recorded 1,379 new cases, the lowest in a day since June 9, according to Delhi government data. The number of tests dipped from 23,136 in Sundays to 13,879 in Mondays bulletin. The capitals first case was 127 days ago when on March 2, a 45-year-old man from Mayur Vihar tested positive after returning from Italy. Senior government officials said the dip in the number of tests conducted on July 5 was because it was a Sunday. Government data confirmed the trend. On June 28 (Sunday), 16,157 tests were conducted and on June 21 (Sunday), 14,682 tests were conducted. On Saturday, all the 11 districts had conducted a total of 23,136 tests, which dropped to 13,879 on Sunday. These numbers include both RT-PCR and rapid antigen detection tests. Earlier also, the testing numbers had dipped on Sundays because fewer people turn up and fewer workers report to duty. They cannot be working seven days a week for months together, a senior government official said. The city touched the 1-lakh mark six days later than predicted by a five-member panel set up in the beginning of June to aid the Delhi government plan the increase of infrastructure. Contrary to what the committee had suggested, the number of active cases has also not shot up to 50,000-60,000 yet. It has remained between 25,000-27,000 for the last two weeksreaching a peak of 28,329 active cases on June 27. We had predicted the trajectory of the infection based on the trends then. Anyway, it was the worst-case scenario; now we are well-prepared to handle the cases. The number of active cases seems to have stabilised. This is mainly due to two reasonsnow even though we are testing over 20,000 people a day, the positivity rate has been reducingfewer new cases are being reported. At the same time, the number of recoveries has gone up, said Dr Arun Gupta, one of the members of the panel and the president of Delhi Medical Council. Reduced mortality Even though it is declining, Delhis case fatality ratethe number of people who died of Covid-19remains over 3%. This is slightly higher than the national average of about 2.8%. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press briefing on Monday said the number of deaths due to Covid-19 has come down. Earlier, over 125 deaths were being reported on a single day. Now there are 55 to 60 deaths daily. So, the umber of deaths has come down by half. It needs to be reduced further, he said. Dr Gupta said, No one across the globe has been able to predict the behaviour of this infection; the models have all failed. But, from the current numbers, I feel that the number of new cases and new hospitalisations will start going down now. Recovery rate up An increased recovery rate is the reason for the number of active cases stabilising. The number of recoveries shot up June 18 onwards when 3,884 people recovered or were discharged in one day, rather than the few hundred that were recovering before. According to the data provided by the Delhi government, the highest number of recoveries was recorded on June 207,725. An increase in the number of cases in June and the revised discharge policy of the union health ministrywherein a Covid-19 patient can be discharged 10 days after the onset of symptoms or three days after recoveryare likely the reasons for Delhis increased recovery rate. On Monday, the recovery rate stood at 71.4%; it had crossed the 70%-mark a day ago. I do not know whether the increased recovery rate is because of a change in the behaviour of the virus. It could also be that we are testing more people in the community and detecting mild cases. However, I have always believed, that Sar-Cov-2 just like any other zoonotic virus will slowly adapt and become less virulent. However, the virus is unlikely to disappear, it will cause milder symptoms and people will get used to living with it. A vaccine will also help, said Dr Shobha Broor, former head of the department of microbiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The data also shows that hospitalisations have started going down with 5,250 people in hospitals on Monday as opposed to over 6,000 people that were in hospitals the week ending on June 28. This decline, however, is because of the decline in the number of new cases being recorded and not because the cases are milder. The proportion of active cases that need hospitalisation has remained more or less the same at about 21%. It is too soon to judge whether the infection has peaked. The positivity rate has gone down since the rapid antigen tests began. They have been testing even the asymptomatic people in the community, which is likely the reason for brining down positivity rate. If you take a population that is likely to have the infection and test them, the positivity rate will be higher. Having said that, Covid-19 is likely to plateau in Delhi soon, said Dr Broor. Low positivity rate Delhis positivity rate proportion of people who test positive among those tested has also continued to decline and came to a single digit for the first time on Sunday after May third week. On Sunday, only 2,244 of the 23,136 people tested turned out to be positive, bringing the positivity rate to 9.7%. Experts say this is a positive sign as the number continues to decline despite increased testing. The highest positivity rate of almost 37% was recorded on June 13 when the number of tests being conducted in the city in a day had gone down. On average, 5,525 people were being tested in a single day then. Now, the figure stands at over 20,000. The deployment of the rapid antigen testing helped the government in considerably scaling up testing, with the government now asking all hospitals to test people in the high-risk groups, such as older people and the immune-compromised to be tested mandatorily. The Delhi government on Monday withdrew its order delinking three hotels in the city that were acting as extended Covid-19 facilities and were attached to three separate hospitals. The order delinking the three hospitals was issued on Sunday, citing poor room occupancy and unnecessary staff expenditure and maintenance of facilities as the reasons for the decision. A senior official with the revenue department said that the earlier order was issued in haste and the government has planned to maintain the status quo at least till July 15. We have to be open to the possibility of an unexpected spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the next few days, the official, who did not wish to be identified, said. Through the Sunday order, the government had delinked Hotel Piccadily in the Janakpuri District Centre complex that was acting as an extended facility for Mata Chanan Devi Hospital, Hotel Taj Vivanta in Dwarka that was acting as an extended facility for Akash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital and Hotel Pride Plaza in Delhi Aerocity that was acting as an extended facility for Venkateswara Hospital in Dwarka. The order had further stated that Hotel Welcome in Dwarka Sector 10 that was acting as an extended facility for Manipal Hospital in Sector 6, Dwarka, would now act as an extended Covid-19 facility for the all the three other hospitals as well. The withdrawal order, which HT has seen, stated that the decision has the approval of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The Delhi High Court on Monday came down heavily on the Centre and the city government for their failure to answer the courts queries on the various schemes in place for the benefit of the nurses while also seeking the Delhi governments reply on suggestions for setting up a helpline for nurses through which they would be able to complain against private hospitals for failing to provide N-95 masks and personal protection equipment (PPE) kits. A bench comprising Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan also sought to know the Delhi governments stand on the suggestion by Manoj V George, counsel for the petitioner, that private hospitals and nursing homes must file an undertaking before the authorities concerned for providing PPE kits, N95 masks to the nurses. The court was hearing a plea by an NGO which has alleged that nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes were not being provided with proper PPE kits and masks to guard against Covid-19. During the hearing on Monday, the court directed the Delhi government, represented by advocate Anupam Srivastava, to file a reply to each of the six points suggested by the counsel for the NGO. Besides a helpline, ex-gratia and the undertaking, the court also asked them to respond to the suggestions of extending the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) of insurance protection to nurses working in private hospitals and nursing homes and that the insurance premium be paid by the authorities at least for a limited period during the Covid-19 pandemic. The court, during the proceedings, sought answers to specific queries concerning the premiums to be filled to avail the benefits of the PradhanMantri Garib Kalyan Yojana from the counsels. However, when they failed to answer, the court called an officer from the Delhi government to reply to its questions. You people dont know anything as to how many nursing homes are there, whether the premiums (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme) are to be filled monthly or yearly and how many nurses are there This is a very casual approach. This is how you guys are arguing in the court of law, the court said. The Centre, represented by its standing counsel Anil Soni, told the court that he would seek instruction on the suggestion of extending the benefit of PMGKP of insurance protection to nurses. Later, after brief arguments, the Delhi governments counsel sought time to file a reply to the suggestions, following which the matter was listed for a hearing on July 17. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that authorised helpline numbers of all Covid hospitals in the city are being reflected in the Delhi Corona mobile application, an official statement said on Monday. The development comes after the Delhi government received many complaints from citizens that helpline numbers of these hospitals remained unreachable most of the time, it said. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage Taking cognisance of the matter, Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, who is also handling the health portfolio, directed all Covid hospitals of the city to make authorised helpline numbers. All these hospitals have come out with 24*7 available authorised helpline numbers and the numbers are available in the Delhi Corona app which was developed and launched by the Delhi government to provide Covid-19 pandemic related information, the statement said. Any person who wants to reach out to these hospitals with Covid-19 related query can now dial these numbers directly from the application, it said. When a person clicks on the name of a hospital where beds are available, its phone number along with its location on a map, will pop up in the mobile app. The AAP government had launched the Delhi Corona application last month to provide real-time information on the availability of beds for the treatment of coronavirus in hospitals across the city. Days after launching the application, the government had ordered the medical facilities to ensure real-time updating on the app. The application also helps Delhiites locate nearby healthcare facilities dealing with coronavirus patients. The hospitals have also been colour-coded red, yellow and green depending on the availability of beds, with red denoting hospitals with very few beds available and green denoting those with an adequate number of beds, the statement said. Till July 6, Delhi has around 14,986 beds, out of which, 5,169 beds are occupied and 9,817 beds are vacant, it added. A lot of the fashion industry experts are saying this is the ideal time for some smaller brands to rise up, especially ones that are running very low inventory or in my case made-to-order with a few pieces in my storefront, she said. It seems to be a unique opportunity for a business of my size. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that though the number of coronavirus disease cases has crossed one lakh in the national capital, there is no need to panic. Covid-19 cases have crossed 1 lakh mark in Delhi but there is no need to panic as around 72,000 people have also recovered, Kejriwal said in a digital press briefing. Listing the work done by his government to check the spread of the coronavirus disease, Kejriwal said, Out of 25,000 active patients, 15,000 are being treated at home. Death rate has also come down. Weve also started the countrys first corona plasma bank. Our trials have shown that plasma therapy can help moderate patients improve significantly. He also urged the people of the city to donate plasma to help whose who have contracted the disease. The number of people who need plasma is more than those coming forward to donate it. I urge all those who are eligible to come forward and donate plasma. It will not cause any pain or weakness. Those donating plasma are doing selfless service to society, Kejriwal said. Watch: Recovery rate from Covid 72%; urge people to donate plasma: Arvind Kejriwal The chief minister had said on Sunday that the number of people requiring hospitalisation in Delhi has been declining. Less and less people in Delhi are now requiring hospitalisation, more and more people are getting cured at home, Kejriwal tweeted yesterday. Whereas there were around 2,300 new patients daily last week, no of patients in hospital has gone down from 6,200 to 5,300. Today, 9,900 corona beds are free, he said in another tweet. The Delhi government, meanwhile, announced that the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in three Delhi government hospitals has nearly tripled. As per a statement by Delhi government on Sunday, ICU beds in the three major Covid-dedicated hospitals in the city - Lok Nayak (LNJP), Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospitals - have witnessed a 169% increase. Delhi has been recording thousands of new Covid-19 cases daily. Till Sunday, 3,067 fatalities had been reported in the city. But the rate at which the states population is turning positive has been declining steadily, giving hope to authorities that the disease is close to its spread in the national capital. The average positivity rate - the rate at which samples test positive - has decreased to 11.6% from 21.6% two weeks ago. The Dalai Lama marked his 85th birthday on Monday. He has now lived for 61 of those 85 years as a treasured guest of India, and has added value, in both tangible and intangible ways, to Indian public life, its soft power and its global reputation. The Dalai Lama is a symbol of an oppressed community which had to flee its homeland because of Chinas territorial aggression; he is representative of the great Gandhian tradition of non-violence; he is a religious and spiritual icon who has inspired hundreds of thousands of people, outside his own community, to seek the true meaning of life; and he is a living reflection of the shared Buddhist heritage of India and its independent neighbour for centuries, Tibet. But it is equally true that Indias hospitality has been often tempered with geopolitics. The fear of antagonising China has often meant that Indian governments including the current dispensation have been inconsistent in their approach to Tibet. From recognising Chinese suzerainty over Tibet to giving the Dalai Lama a home and collaborating with the United States in encouraging a rebellion, from deploying the Tibet card sporadically to refusing to even engage with the Tibetan leader, Indias approach, to Tibet, has, for too long, been subject to its dynamic with China at any particular point. It is now time to evolve a consistent approach. China, of course, sees Tibet as a core interest an ever expanding circle to make its redlines clear. India has sought to respect this. But clearly, China has no hesitation in attacking Indias core interest, of which territorial integrity is at the top. Delhi now needs to shed its hesitation, not just because Tibet is a card, but is intertwined with the values of freedom and peace central to the vision to resist China. Delhi must take the following steps. One, honour the Dalai Lama with the Bharat Ratna. Two, speak up for Tibetan rights at international platforms. Three, deepen linkages with the new generation of Tibetan activists who are at the forefront of the new resistance. Four, rebuild links with all Tibetan sects, some of which have got caught in the web of bureaucratic battles in India. And most important, declare that India will respect the wishes of the Dalai Lama on his succession making it clear that China will not have its way in installing a puppet Dalai Lama. Taking on an expansionist China must begin from a commitment to Tibet where it first displayed imperial ambitions. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sought the setting up of a sainik school in Bhind-Morena district in the states Chambal region where almost every household as someone in the military. He made the demand after meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Sunday, a public relation department official said. The official said that Chouhan, as CM in 2017, had allotted 334 hectares of land for setting up a defence ministry institute, as well as a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and in lieu of this the then defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had promised a sainik school for the Chambal area. He said the CM apprised the defence minister that land for the school has already been identified. Chouhan told Singh youth from the region join the military in large numbers and a sainik school will help them become not just soldiers but also officers, the official added. MBOSE HSSLC Results 2020: Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) will declare the results of the Meghalaya HSSC examination on July 9, 2020, on its official website. The board has also released a notification regarding this decision. After the results are announced, students of class 12 will be able to check their HSSC examination results online at mbose.in, megresults.nic.in, jagranjosh.com, meghalayaonline.in, meghalaya.shiksha, and results.shiksha. There will be no display of results in MBOSE Office, Tura/Shillong, and even in the examination centers due to the Covid-19 situation, reads the official notification. How to check Meghalaya 12th Board Result 2020 after it is announced: Visit the official website of Meghalaya Board at mbose.in Click on the Results tab on the top of the homepage Click on Science, commerce or vocational stream link Click on Download certificate Key in your roll number and submit Your result will be declared on the website. Download and take its print out. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a letter to the Union Higher Education Secretary, on Monday, permitted the conduct of examinations by Universities and Institutions. The final Term Examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities and as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reads the statement issued by the MHA. With students facing many difficulties, higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) had asked the committee headed by Central University of Haryana Vice Chancellor R C Kuhad to revisit its guidelines on holding of exams. The UGC on Monday evening discussed the committees revised recommendations. According to an official, the UGC has favoured holding of exams, especially for the final year students. However, it has suggested that the exams may be held either in the online, offline or blended modes. The panel is also learnt to have agreed that the universities hold the exams latest by September end. The UGC will soon issue the revised guidelines. Due to COVID-19 impact, the academic year has been rendered shapeless as classes as well as the final examinations have been disrupted. Several universities have been trying to hold exams but have been meeting protests from students as well as parents. While many students have raised the issue of internet connectivity for online tests, the attempt to hold offline exams raises concerns of pandemic spread. Tamil Nadu 12th Result 2020: The students who have appeared in the Tamil Nadu Board Class 12 examinations are anxiously waiting for their results. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu boards official website is flashing HSE(+2) March 2020 Exam Results - Await for Details. Earlier on June 18, Tamil Nadu Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan announced that the Tamil Nadu plus two examination results will be declared in the first week of July 2020 as the evaluation of answer-sheets is nearing completion. Therefore the Tamil Nadu class 12 examination results are expected to be anytime soon. According to reports in some section of the media, the Tamil Nadu class 12 results are expected to be declared by Monday or Tuesday. Earlier on June 6, Sengottaiyan had said that the Tamil Nadu class 10, 11, and 12 exam results will be released in the third week of July 2020. Once the results are declared, Tamil Nadu board Class 12 students can check their board exam results online at tnresults.nic.in, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in. How to check TN Class 12 results 2020 after it is announced: Step 1: Visit the official website at dge.tn.gov.in Step 2: On the homepage, click on the link that reads, Tamil Nadu HSE result 2020 Step 3: Key in your credentials and log in Step 4: The Tamil Nadu class 12 results will be displayed on the screen. Last year, a total of 8,69,423 students appeared in the examination, out of which 8,42,512 students appeared through schools and 29,911 appeared on their own. In 2019, the overall pass percentage for TN 12th exam was 91.03%. Out of which, the pass percentage for boys is 88.57% and 93.64% for girls. Actor and former Bigg Boss contestant Arti Singh has spoken about her friend Ankita Lokhande and gave an update that the Manikarnika actor needs her space right now. Ankita and actor Sushant Singh Rajput were in a relationship but called it quits a few years ago. Sushant was found dead on June 14 at his house in Mumbai. Arti told Times of India in an interview, I had known Sushant through Ankita (Lokhande) only. He was a very nice guy and was very motivating. I have spoken to Ankita and asked her if she is fine. Ankita needs her space and I want to give her that. After Sushants death, Arti had posted a picture of the three of them and written, No words left.... why .. we will miss you so much.. all of us .. not done sushant . U only and only showed love .. we needed more of you .. Arti had earlier opened up about battling depression when she was inside the Bigg Boss 13 house last year. She talked about not getting work despite being hailed as one of the most talented actors on the small screen for her performances in shows like Maayka and Waaris. However, the praise did not get her a single offer, and eventually she slipped into a depression. Also read: Fan names a star after Sushant Singh Rajput, says shine brightest among the stars you so genuinely admire Arti also revealed how she used to call her parents at night and even lost out on a good marriage proposal as the grooms family came to know about her illness. Talking about how it is still considered a taboo, she said she realised people started distancing from her due to her condition. Cant a person be unhappy for a certain period of time? she said in a video that her team later posted on Instagram. Follow @htshowbiz for more The coronavirus pandemic has instilled extra unpredictability into the already fickle Paris Fashion Week. After first cancelling the July shows for menswear and Haute Couture, the French fashion federation has now organised an unprecedented schedule of digital-only events instead. Top houses such as Chanel, Dior and Hermes are set to show their new Fall-Winter couture collections or their Spring-Summer menswear collections online this week but with no celebrity guests, no Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and none of the usual frenzied media circus. No one from the public will be allowed to see the clothes in person at all, in fact, during this on-screen-only version of fashion week that starts Monday. Some shows will be live-streamed, and others may be pre-recorded. Models wait before the presentation of Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File) The federation decided this spring that because of social distancing guidelines, Paris Fashion Week famed for its 25-centimeter (9-inches)-a-bottom seating allowances would skip in-person shows for a season, and return to normal, or, at least a new normal, in September, barring a second wave. Its uncharted waters this season, a whole new ball game, ODDA Magazine Editor-at-Large Jessica Michault said. Chanel is live-streaming its couture show Tuesday after piloting such an approach in its Cruise collection in June. Hermes is presenting its show as a digital experience on two separate days, one streamed live and the second time as a video replay. Dior Mens has promised a sumptuous immersive experience without explaining what that means and Dior Couture is revealing a surprise to editors, who will admire and review glimmering silk chiffons and diaphanous taffetas from the comfort of their couches. Valentino, meanwhile, is going rogue this season by unveiling an online sneak-preview during its allotted couture slot Wednesday of what it promises to be a live performance in Rome for later in the month. It says that the later event will bring together the human and the digital touch, creating a dialogue where neither of them will take the lead. It hasnt said whether that means actual members of the public will be allowed to attend, or given details. The new digital Paris Fashion Week calendar isnt bad for everyone. Normally, there is one official show per hour, allowing gas-guzzling cars to crisscross Paris transporting editors to and from venues. But because theres no need for travel this season apart from to the kitchen to the living room and back to top up on mineral water and coffee shows have been spaced out by only 30 minutes, effectively doubling the amount of on-calendar shows. The new gaps have been populated by smaller houses that wouldnt normally get a look-in, and menswear newbies such as Ernest W Baker, Alled-Martinez, Cool TM and Egonlab. This season will definitely have changed the fashion industry moving forward, especially for smaller brands, as the digital avenue can get them bigger visibility, by being on-calendar, Michault said. This season the calendar boasts a record 68 mens shows over five days. Its too early to tell whether this will sound the death knell for the traditional fashion show, but for Haute Couture, many fashion critics warn that this approach cannot do justice to the art of high luxury fashion and it just wont catch on. Paris is where designers show ideas, and ideas cant come through unless the shows are presented to breathing witnesses, who can testify with emotion to live clothes and staging, said Long Nguyen, a freelance critic who has spent decades observing fashion from the front rows. Its like physically going to Tibet or viewing it online its not the same experience. For commercial clothes digital streaming is fine, but couture and high fashion is different, he added. Paris Fashion Week has said that next season, in Septembers womens ready-to-wear, there will be a return to the normal style of physical shows, but given the persistent threat of the resurgence of the virus, houses will likely have to change the way they showcase their clothes. Paris houses may have to rent out bigger spaces to adhere to social distancing rules, or reduce audience sizes. Either brands will go large at giant venues like Louis Vuitton or go small and cull the guest list with fewer guests. Or go digital. Nothing beats being at a fashion show, sitting on the front row and seeing the clothes up close, but somethings going to have to give, Michault said. Milan menswear which begins July 14, just as the Paris season wraps up, and runs four days has also announced a mostly digital calendar, with just Dolce&Gabbana and Etro staging live runway shows, a month later than usual. The coronavirus epidemic was confirmed in Italy during Milans February shows, prompting Giorgio Armani to hold his show on Feb. 23 behind closed doors, while the fashion world watched live over streaming. Many complained at the time that the online format simply did not work as a platform to view and appreciate designs. Nevertheless, the virus looks like it may be the catalyst for change in the whole high-fashion sector. Saint Laurent and Gucci have used the coronavirus scare to rethink the pace of the fashion industry, announcing they will leave the four-times-a-year rhythm of the fashion calendar behind, with its shuttling of fashionistas between global capitals where they squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder around runways for 15 breathless minutes. Last week, storied Parisian house Mugler also said it would consolidate all its annual output into two shows from four to respect a steady growth plan and the creative pace of the Paris atelier. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An augmented reality (AR) mirror at the new Seoul flagship boutique of cosmetics powerhouse Amorepacific makes easy work of seeing if that scarlet shade of lipstick or long-lash mascara suits you - even if youre wearing a face mask. The mirror takes a photograph of the customers face and analyses it, recommending products based on skin texture, and addressing any blemishes, wrinkles or dark circles. Customers can then see a computer-generated image of what they would look like wearing a wide range of foundations, blush, eye products and lipsticks. Due to the coronavirus, it felt uncomfortable to test cosmetics after someone had used them, said shopper Cho Yu-lim, 24, as she peered into the full-length mirror, which has Find Your Makeup Look written on it. This is very convenient as I can see the actual colour on my face without even touching my face. In addition to social distancing, South Korean government guidelines recommend shoppers try out cosmetics on the backs of their hands, not on their faces. It was frustrating as I couldnt try cosmetics on my face but it was fun to find the product that suits me best through this AR device, said 20-year-old student Song Da-hye after hours of testing products on her hands at other stores. South Korea has been praised how it has handled Covid-19, but Asias fourth-largest economy has experienced persistent outbreaks in recent weeks, mostly in the capital. To minimise human contact and limit the risk of virus spread, the shop has also put QR codes next to all products on display, so customers can check details with their mobile phones instead of talking to staff. It took very little time and I didnt need to talk to anyone before I made my purchases, Cho said. (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 Police in Uttar Pradesh suspended two sub-inspectors and a constable on Monday over suspicion that they leaked information of an operation targeting dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey, whose accomplices shot dead eight members of the team that went on the late-night raid to Bikru village near Kanpur city. Officials were also probing a purported report by deputy superintendent Devendra Mishra, killed in the failed raid on Thursday night, indicting another sub-inspector suspended earlier in the case over his alleged links with Dubey while also indicating that there could be a deep rot in the system. On another front, police intensified efforts to locate the hardened criminal and his men who escaped in the dark after the chilling 15-minute ambush. Officials put up posters with images of the 48-year-old Dubey at toll plazas amidst apprehensions that he had already left the state, and increased the bounty on him to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. ...as soon as he crosses any of these toll plazas, information on his whereabouts can be obtained...Some teams have also been sent to other states. We are expecting news soon, Mohit Agarwal, Kanpur inspector general of police, said. Uttar Pradesh director general of police HC Awasthy said the police were conducting raids to track down Dubey, who faces 60 criminal cases. An alert has been sounded in all 75 districts of the state and 25 teams from 40 police stations were pressed into action. In Chaubeypur, where an attempt to murder case was registered against Dubey on Wednesday, sub-inspectors Kunwar Pal and KK Sharma and constable Rajeev were suspended over their suspected collusion with the gangster. A preliminary enquiry has been initiated against the three suspended policemen, Dinesh Kumar P, Kanpurs senior superintendent of police, said. Officials believe that Dubey, an influential gangster whose criminal records date back to 1993, had supporters in the police force and that they helped him and his gang have a free run despite cases of murder, attempted murder and abduction against them. Daya Shankar Agnihotri, an aide of Dubey arrested on Sunday, has said in a video statement that a caller from a police station informed the gangster about the raid. Officials suspect that it could be the police station in Chaubeypur, about 14km from Bikru. The team that raided Bikru on Thursday night left from the police station there. Police also said they were investigating reports that Bilhaur circle officer Mishra, who led the raid team to Dubeys village, told former Kanpur senior superintendent of police that Vinay Tiwari, the Chaubeypur station officer who was the first person to be suspended in the case, was protecting Dubey. HT has seen the report, which was sent on March 14, but cannot independently verify its authenticity. He [Dubey] killed a man in Shivli police station; I had instructed SO Chaubeypur to initiate strict action against such a hardened criminal. I have already spoken to you [SSP] about the criminal and the case, a part of the purported report read. Local police officials who did not want to be named said Mishra regularly complained about Tiwari, and asked for a preliminary enquiry against him over his alleged links with Dubey. Tiwari has been suspended though officials have not specified the exact nature of allegations against him. He is under probe. If the report is true, it is damning, said Jai Narayan Singh, the Kanpur additional director general. He confirmed that the report was brought to his notice and that he asked for all documents for a thorough examination. Other vaccine makers are considering the idea. Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, which developed a coronavirus vaccine that is already in Phase 3 testing, said there was potential utility in challenge trials for vaccines and treatments. He said his institute, which has conducted such studies in the past for malaria, typhoid and other diseases, might perform one for COVID before the end of the year, to test vaccine efficacy. He said the studies were also a good way to compare vaccines. Authorities in Uttar Pradesh on Monday suspended three more policemen over allegations that they were in regular contact with Vikas Dubey, the main accused behind the killings of eight personnel of the force in Kanpur Dehat district last week. Dinesh Kumar P, Kanpurs senior superintendent of police, said two sub-inspectors Kunwar Pal and KK Sharma and constable Rajeev of Chaubeypur police station were among those who have been suspended. The role of these three policemen has been confirmed in the in-house investigation conducted by the force, officials have said. Their calls records were checked threadbare before they were suspended. They said the process to terminate them from service would begin soon. Officials said they are under investigation for leaking the information about the raid as well. Dubeys aide, Daya Shankar Agnihotri who was arrested on Sunday, said in a video statement that a caller from a police station informed the 48-year-old Dubey, who faces 60 criminal cases, about the raid. Agnihotri is suspected to be part of the gang that laid a trap for the police team raiding Kanpur Dehats Bikru village and attacked them on Thursday night. Officials suspect it could be the police station in Chaubeypur, about 14km from Bikru. It is the place where an attempt to murder case was registered against Dubey by a villager on Wednesday. The team that went to raid Dubeys village past Thursday midnight left from Chaubeypur. Before this, Chaubeypurs station officer (SO) Vinay Tiwari was suspended and shifted to Lucknow last Saturday after being questioned for nine hours over his role in leaking information about the raid. Officials have not specified the nature of allegations against him. Officials have said they are investigation 30 policemen for their links with the 48-year-old gangster, who is on the run. Officials believe that Dubey, an influential gangster whose criminal records date back to 1993, has support within the police force and that they helped him and his gang enjoy a free run despite cases of murder, attempted murder and abduction against them. Mohit Agarwal, inspector general of police, Kanpur range, had said earlier at least three policemen were suspected to be in touch with Dubey and that an investigation was underway. Services of police personnel in league with him will be terminated and they will face a criminal trial, Agarwal had said. Hitesh Chandra Awasthy, Uttar Pradeshs police chief, has also increased the reward amount for his arrest on Vikas Dubey to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh after Agarwal sent a proposal on Sunday night. The police have launched a massive manhunt for Dubey, who they believe slipped out of Uttar Pradesh before the states borders were sealed. An alert has been sounded in all 75 districts of the state for the arrest of Dubey and the search for the gangster intensified. Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM-S), in all likelihood, may become a part of the NDA. If party sources are to be believed, an announcement in this regard will be made on July 10. The party, which contested the Lok Sabha elections as part of the Grand Alliance, had issued an ultimatum for formation of a coordination committee in the alliance by June 25, to start seat sharing talks. Now that our deadline is over, the party core committee at a recently held meeting has authorized party president Jitan Ram Manjhi to take a call on the partys future course of action. The core committee is meeting on July 10 and the picture will become clear after that, partys spokesperson Danish Rizwan said. HAM-S has one member each in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. Sources in the party said that HAM-S becoming a part of the NDA is all but a formality. The party has laid no pre-conditions on seats, said a senior party leader, who wished not to be quoted. Party sources said that despite assurance of an early settlement on issues related to seat adjustment and demand for a co-ordination committee at a virtual meeting of Grand Alliance parties, there seems to be no urgency for bigger parties of the alliance, Rizwan said. Manjhi had demanded a discussion on the forthcoming polls on issues of seat adjustment, candidates, etc., and had also demanded a co-ordination committee in the GA. In case a co-ordination committee could not be formed by June 25, I will be free to take a call on my future course of action, Manjhi had said. NDA leaders feel that if at all Manjhi joins the alliance; the JD (U) will use it to silence LJP, which of late has been embarrassing the government by raising different issues. If somebody shows trust in NDAs leadership and policy, we do not have any problem in anybodys joining, said BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand. Manjhi was with JD (U) before he was picked as chief minister in 2014. He, however, had to resign a year later, as he lost the trust of his own party and went on to form a new party. The RJD does not seem rattled by Manjhis ultimatum. Instead, it accused him of weakening the alliance. RJD is the biggest party in the GA and allies should remain united to defeat the ruling NDA in the forthcoming polls, he said. In fact, leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, had said on Sunday that everybody should be ready for a bigger sacrifice, in an oblique reference to pressure politics by some partners. On June 25, the environment ministry asked the Arunchal Pradesh state government to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the controversial Etalin hydropower project, and also offered to help. The state has since submitted the analysis -- done, not by it but by the developer of the project, Etalin Hydro Electric Power Company Limited . Expectedly, the analysis found the project beneficial. And environmentalists are protesting the conflict of interest in getting a projects developer to effectively decide on the future of the project. The 3,097-megawatt project being developed in Arunachal Pradeshs Dibang valley entails the loss of 270,000 trees at the junction of the Paleo-arctic, Indo-Chinese, and Indo-Malayan biogeographic regions with luxuriant forests. After environmentalists protested the loss of habitat that te project would entail, the environment ministry called for the analysis to be conducted by the state government . A cost-benefit ratio analysis is a process of working out the best return on an investment based on the costs, resources and risks involved in a project. Guidelines framed in 2017 for such an analysis state that ecological and environmental losses and distress caused to the people who are displaced are weighted against economic and social gains. Senior officials of Arunachal Pradeshs forest department said they submitted the analysis done by Etalin Hydro Electric Power Company Limited, a joint venture between the Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited and Jindal Power Limited, to the Union environment ministry. The project proponent...has made a cost-benefit analysis which has been sent to the ministry. We havent conducted the analysis, admitted RK Singh, principal chief conservator of forests, Arunachal Pradesh. The Etalin Hydropower Project will involve clearing at least 270,000 trees in sub-tropical evergreen and rain forests in a vital tiger habitat, according to a fact sheet prepared by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC). In a letter addressed to principal secretary (forests), Arunachal Pradesh dated June 25 (available on the environment ministrys Parivesh website) the environment ministry asked the state government to submit a cost-benefit ratio analysis and told that the regional office of the ministry in Shillong would assist with the analysis. The state government was also asked to examine all the representations (attached with the letter) thoroughly, take concrete action on the matter and submit its response to the ministry. The ministry also asked the Arunachal government to review if trees marked for felling could be left untouched. The area is rich in bird life (230 species recorded by WII, or Wildlife Institute of India). State government will, therefore, review if trees marked for felling could be left as such, at least in the reservoir area, as dried trees could also be used as bird habitat, the letter said. Hindustan Times hasnt seen the cost-benefit analysis. A spokesperson for Jindal Power said in response to queries from HT: As desired by Arunachal Pradesh state government, a cost-benefit analysis report was submitted, which was as per guidelines framed by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change. As per the Analysis, the project is definitely beneficial to all the stakeholders like local population / state government / government. of India, We expect the cost-benefit ratio analysis to be done by the state government. If not completely, they should be involved in the process. If the state government is satisfied with project developer doing the analysis, we have nothing to say, said a senior environment ministry official who is communicating with the Arunachal Pradesh government. We havent received the analysis or responses on our queries yet from the state government, he added, requesting anonymity. The environment ministry, on the recommendation of the FAC, specifically asked the Arunachal Pradesh state government and the regional office of the ministry of environment, forest & climate change in Shillong to submit a revised cost benefit analysis in line with the latest guidelines, said Parvish Pandya, director, conservation and science, Sanctuary Nature Foundation which focuses on wildlife and nature conservation. The foundation submitted its representation to the environment ministry citing several concerns with the project. Jindal, the project proponent, has no role in this process. For a project of this scope and impact it is crucial that this directive is followed, and the previous report prepared by the project proponent is not recycled, Pandya added. Anoko Mega, a member of the Arunachal Pradesh Wildlife Advisory Board, has also sent a representation against the Etalin project to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. I am very concerned for my region and my communitythe Idu Mishmi people. Since we have many tributaries here, if we allow any large hydropower project, more companies will try to enter the area and use our land, rivers and forests. We are strongly connected to our forests. In my personal opinion the community will not allow any dams here, said Mega. New Delhi The Union government has pressed the Indian Air Forces Mi-17 choppers with home-grown technology to control crop-devastating desert locusts, apart from deploying higher-capacity engine-powered drones and sorties by a Bell helicopter in affected states, as swarms continue to breed, officials said. Air force pilots are using an in-house technology to spray atomised pesticides from the air, which has been able to track and kill large armies of locusts, an official said, requesting anonymity. On July 5, Mi-17 air force choppers doused large swarms of locusts in Jodhpur with atomised pesticides, a first in the battle against the pests. The choppers were needed because they have better manoeuvrability and can target large trails of pests with a special form of the pesticide malathion, which has been indigenously developed, the official said. Also, the civil aviation ministry on June 27 relaxed more rules, allowing the use of engine-powered drone of up to 50kg during night times, a second official said. Also read: Six states on high alert as govt warns of more locust swarms An empowered group, led by the agriculture ministry, has decided to deploy more resources to protect robustly progressing kharif or summer-sown crops from the voracious pests. Dozens of countries, from Kenya to Pakistan, are battling the worst locust outbreak in generations. The migratory insects are setting off from the Horn of Africa, where they are breeding in insurmountable numbers due to frequent cyclones, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). These cyclones are possibly linked to climate change, according to the FAO. The organisation has already warned the invasions pose a serious risk to Indias agriculture. In the intervening night of July 3 and 4 , operations were carried out at 25 places in six districts including Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Nagaur, and Dausa of Rajasthan and in Uttar Pradeshs Jhansi. The farm ministry had signed a contract with the UKs Micron Group to modify two Mi-17 helicopters for spraying atomized pesticides. The UK-based firms supply has now been delayed until September, the second official said. The air force then tasked its no. 3 base repair depot in Chandigarh to indigenously design an airborne locust control system for Mi-17 helicopters. The atomized airborne spraying has been successfully achieved in air through a configuration of nozzles mounted on both sides on external trusses of Mi-17 helicopters, a statement said. The pesticide malathion is filled in the internal auxiliary tank of 800 litres of the choppers, achieving nearly 40 minutes of spaying duration covering approximately 750 hectare in each mission. One hectare is roughly 2.5 acres. Also read: Interministerial group set up to tackle locust invasion across states Operations are continuing in six states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana -- by locust circle offices. So far, the damage has been limited, of below 10%. But there seems to no control over breeding in Africa, where millions are at risk of food scarcity. So, we cant let our guard down, said Pramod Vajpayi, a former entomologist with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The Assam government on Monday decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary into a national park amid a controversy over allowing coal mining inside its area. Our government has decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary in Assam, which is home to a variety of flora and fauna, to a national park. In a meeting with senior officials today, I have directed them to take necessary steps in this regard, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal tweeted. Experts said the state government seemed to have taken the decision to placate public concerns ahead of next years assembly polls in the state. Proposed coal mining in wildlife habitats has evoked protests from locals. In April, the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) had recommended coal mining to be allowed in a portion of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve provided it fulfilled 28 preconditions. Spread across 937 sq km, the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve falls in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts and is located withinthe periphery of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, said to be the largest lowland tropical rainforest in India. NBWL allowed Coal India Limited (CIL) to conduct opencast coal mining in 98.59 hectares of the reserve forest. CIL had been carrying out mining in 57 hectares of the reserve and the fresh recommendation allowed it to mine coal in another 41 hectares. Besides elephants, leopards, hoolock gibbons, pangolins and bears, Dehing Patkai is also home to over 200 species of birds, various replies and many species of butterflies and orchids. The habitats of these species as well as the foraging routes of elephants are expected to be affected by coal mining. Following the NBWL move, opposition surfaced against the proposed coal mining. The Assam government also sent forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya to visit the site in May and he held out an assurance that there would be no compromise in protecting the states forests and biodiversity. Although the NBWL recommendation was passed in April, a right to information (RTI) query revealed that mining in the area had been underway even before the approval came. The reply to an RTI query by environment activist Rohit Choudhury revealed mining related work had already started in 17 hectares (or nearly 39% area) of the 41 hectares area claimed by CIL to be unbroken. It was confirmed that about 9 hectare area out of 41.39 hectares has already been broken up and operated and another approximately 7 hectare area has been cleared, mentioned a November, 2019 site inspection report by the Shillong office of the ministry for environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC). North Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of CIL had secured a lease for coal mining in an area of 4 sq miles in the Saleki area of Dehing Patkai for a period of 30 years from 1973. Although the lease expired in 2003, CIL applied for lease/diversion of forest land only in 2012, seeking permission for coal extraction in 98.59 hectares. Taking up a suo motu (on its own) case against a proposed move to allow coal mining, the Gauhati high court issued notices to the Centre, the Assam government, Coal India and others last month. Hearing two public interest litigations (PILs) on the same issue, a division bench of chief justice Ajay Lamba and justice Soumitra Saikia said the court too had taken up the matter suo motu. The court issued notices to the Centre, the Assam government, CIL, NBWL, mines and mineral department of Assam, the home department, Assam Police and others and fixed July 20 as the next date of hearing of the case. All respondents have been asked to file affidavits by July 14. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi over video call on Sunday, right before soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army were reported to have taken the early steps to move back from the standoff points in the Galwan area and near Pangong Tso, people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times on Monday. NSA Ajit Doval and the Chinese foreign minister Wangs conversation is learnt to have focused on full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control. The two sides also spoke about working together to avoid such incidents in future, a top government official said. Also Read: China pulls back troops in Galwan Valley by at least a km: Official An external affairs ministry statement issued later said NSA Doval and minister Wang - two Special Representatives on the boundary issue - had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on the recent developments in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas. Ice-breaker meeting: What Doval, Wang agreed Necessary to complete disengagement of troops along LAC Should complete the disengagement process expeditiously Should also ensure phased, stepwise de-escalation in border areas Should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control Should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo Should work together to avoid any incident in the future Diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue discussions They agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, an external affairs ministry statement issued later said. The first impact of the ice-breaker meeting started becoming visible soon after. Officials said the PLA appeared to have moved about a kilometre from the standoff point in Galwan where soldiers of the two armies had clashed on June 15, leading to casualties on both sides. The violent scrap had led to a sharp slide in relations between the two countries, provoking New Delhi to ban Chinese mobile applications and keep out China-linked firms from future contracts across sectors. In their conversation, Doval and Wang agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They reaffirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas. A 38-year-old serial killer, who had murdered at least nine women and raped two of the victims, was sentenced to death in a rape and murder case by a district court in south Bengals East Burdwan district on Monday, police said. The accused Kamruzzaman Sarkar was sentenced to death by the additional district and sessions judge court for raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl in May 2019. He was arrested on June 2, 2019, said Bhaskar Mukherjee, superintendent of police of East Burdwan district. He has been charged in 15 cases in two districts East Burdwan and Hooghly. There were two were rape and murder cases, seven murder cases and six attempt to murder cases. The victims were aged between 16 and 75 years. In some cases he was charged with sections related to robbery as he had robbed the victims. All the crimes took place between 2013 and 2019 till he was arrested. The court observed that it was one of the rarest of the rare cases. I stressed on maximum punishment as the man had hit the minor helpless girl on her forehead and then tried to strangulate her and raped her. Nothing can be more heinous than this, said Soumyajit Raha, special public prosecutor of the case. The survivors told the police that the accused entered their houses posing an official of the electricity department to take meter readings. In most cases he would strangulate his victims with a metal chain. These common links had earned him the notorious tags of chain man and meter man in the two districts. He chose his prey carefully and usually struck in the afternoons, when the men of the houses were away at work. He would conduct a recce for two-three days to find out whether the woman he wanted to target was alone at home, said Mukherjee Originally hailing from Murshidabad district, Sarar used to stay with his wife, two sons and a daughter in East Burdwan. He used to deal with scrap metal, police said. Interrogation had revealed that Sarkars downfall was brought on by his superstition. Police said his astrologer had told him that red was his lucky colour, so he had stuck to a red motorbike and red helmet even after some of his targets escaped alive. On June 1 last year, the police shared all clues that they could gather to civic volunteers who help cops in traffic management. The breakthrough came the next day, said a police official. Two civic volunteers Anirban Ghosh, 28, and Khokon Santra, 30, had flagged down a red motorcycle and was noting down the number when another man on another red motorbike tried to speed past the barricade, lost his balance, and fell. It was Sarkar. Born in a lower middle-class family in Bengals Murshidabad district in 1982 as the fourth of nine siblings, Sarkar lost his mother at the age of 13. His father married soon after, and following a few months of trouble, Sarkar dropped out of the local madrasa and left home. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker in West Bengal claimed on Monday that his car was vandalised by the workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Arjun Singh, the Member of Parliament (MP) from Barrackpore, alleged that the incident happened in Halisahar area of North 24 Parganans district on Sunday. Singh said the incident took place when he had gone to a party workers home. I had gone for a meeting there but as soon as I joined it, supporters of TMC started throwing bricks at my vehicle, Singh told mediapersons. Some motorcycles parked outside the home were also vandalised, alleged the MP. TMC leaders, however, refuted the charge and instead alleged that BJP workers had ransacked one of the offices of their party. Partha Bhowmick, TMC legislator from Naihati, told the media that Singh was making false allegations to be in the news as his party was losing ground. No senior police officer could be contacted for comments. Six months after he was arrested while providing safe passage to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorists, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a charge-sheet against suspended deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir police Davinder Singh for conspiring with terror groups and Pakistani officials for subversive activities in the valley, officials said. The agency has stated in the charge-sheet, filed under terror laws, that not only had Davinder Singh provided safe passage twice to terrorists in his car; but had also been in touch with an assistant in the Pakistan high commission in Delhi, identified as Shafqat, for seeking information on sensitive military establishments in Kashmir, officials said on condition of anonymity. Shafqat was repatriated to Pakistan last month along with 50% of staff at the mission as a part of an Indian decision to reduce its strength . He has not been named as an accused but figures in the charge-sheet for being in touch with Davinder Singh and terrorists through WhatsApp and other platforms. Devender Singh was in touch with certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sonia Narang, NIA Spokesperson in a statement. Apart from Singh, the charge sheet named Hizbuls commander in Shopian and Qazigund Syed Naveed Mushtaq, alias Naveed Babu; and other HM terrorists Irfan Shafi Mir, Rafi Ahmad Rather, Tanvir Ahmed Mir and Babus brother Syed Irfan Ahmad. Singh was arrested by J&K police on January 11 this year at a check-post in Qazigund while he was taking Babu, Irfan and Rafi in his i20 car. The agency stated in its charge-sheet that Davinder Singh had provided safe passage to Babu and his brother in February 2019 as well in his Scorpio car. The agency recovered an AK-47 rifle from his car, a Chinese pistol from his house along with ammunition and some phones which he used for communication with terrorists and Pakistan high commission officials. Sonia Narang said in the statement: Investigation has revealed that Pakistan based leadership of Hizb-ulMujahideen (HM) namely Syed Salahudin, Amir Khan (Deputy Chief), Khursheed Alam (Operational Head), Nazar Mehmood (Financial Head) and others along with Pakistani establishment is extending support to the cadre and commanders of outfit in Jammu & Kashmir. The agency said that Irfan Shafi Mir was a key person in the case as he had been to Pakistan four times since 2016 and met Syed Salahuddin. Irfan Shafi not only met HM leadership in Pakistan but also met Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of ISI {Inter-Services Intelligence} of Pakistan and he was tasked to identify and activate the new hawala channels for transfer of money for sustaining terrorist activities in Kashmir valley. Investigation also revealed that certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were in constant touch with Irfan Shafi and he was provided with funds to organize seminars in J&K to mobilize the masses against the Indian government. He also used to receive instructions and money from Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and also facilitated the visa applications for number of Kashmiris for their visit to Pakistan, Narang added. She added that Naveed Babu, a former constable of J&K police who deserted the force, was responsible for various killings in which labourers and truck drivers were killed after the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K in August last year that divested the state of its special status. Naveed Babu had made efforts to recruit gullible Muslims youths to join cadre of HM. He was also receiving funds from LoC traders and accused Tanveer Ahmad Wani (who was an Ex-President of LoC traders Association), was providing him funds with the help of other traders based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Investigation has also revealed that the accused were obtaining weapons and ammunitions from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and accused Devender Singh, Narang added. Six days after top Indian and Chinese military commanders agreed to work on an expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation of the ongoing border conflict on priority, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has possibly moved back by 1 to 1.5 km from the friction site in Galwan Valley, people familiar with developments said on Monday. Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders meeting. The PLA was seen removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14, said one of the persons cited above. Disengagement will involve rival troops pulling back a few hundred metres from face-off sites, with further retreat taking place in phases as the complex plan progresses on a verifiable basis on the ground every 72 hours by both sides, as reported by Hindustan Times on Thursday. Rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA was also seen at General area Galwan, Hot Springs-Gogra Post, said a second person. Specific distances can be confirmed only after verification, he said. At the June 30 meeting, the Indian side reiterated its demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from several friction points along the LAC and sought the restoration of status quo ante (early April) in key areas including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and the strategic Depsang plains, apart from emphasising the need for thinning the military buildup in the region. In terms of net subscriber gains, the Hamilton bump for Disney Plus was certainly higher than the mobile app data reflects, given that people could sign up for the service online and through smart TVs (and may not have also downloaded it on mobile), noted Apptopias Adam Blacker, VP of insights and global alliances. As of early May, Disney Plus had signed up 54.5 million subscribers worldwide just six months after its launch. In the U.S., it costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. The Congress-affiliated NSUI on Monday filed a police complaint accusing Delhi University (DU) of allegedly leaking the data of lakhs of students online. Akshay Lakra, president of the Delhi unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), and former DU students union president Arun Hooda approached the Maurice Nagar police station in north police district with the complaint. Not just mobile number but information like Aadhar card number, bank account number, mode of transportation taken by student from college to home is readily available on the Delhi University website. It is not just a blunder but also breach of privacy of students and endangers the lives of students in DU, they said. A senior police officer said they have received a complaint and are looking into the matter. Several students here objected to the uploading of their admit cards containing personal information on the Delhi University website, flagging privacy concerns. Final-year students, who will be appearing for an online open-book exam, claimed that access to their admit cards is so easy that anyone aware of their roll numbers and the gateway password can download it. Meanwhile, the NSUI said Hooda also surrendered his LLB degree to dean of examination Vinay Gupta in protest after the DU completely failed to hold a mock test, leaving students clueless. Network problems, incorrect question papers and difficulty in logging in are some of the issues that Delhi University students have been facing while attempting to take the mock online exam. Despite opposition from students and teachers, the university is going to conduct online open-book exams for final year students from July 10. A policeman deployed for the security of incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was found infected with Covid-19 after returning from 12 days of leave on Monday. The policeman had gone to his native place in Bihar and returned to Ranchi on Sunday. As per the set protocols, he was put in quarantine after his return and his samples were taken for testing. The confirmatory test report came on Monday. The ailing Prasad, 72, who has been serving jail term in two fodder scam cases, has been under medical treatment in custody for over two years in Ranchis Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS). He is currently admitted in the hospitals paying ward under a tight security manned by nearly 40 police personnel. The policeman who was found infected with the respiratory disease, had gone to his native village in Bihar on a 12-day leave. After his return, he was in quarantine and tested positive. Since he had not joined duty, there is no threat to anyone, Sadar deputy superintendent of police Deepak Pandey said. The patient has been shifted to the districts dedicated Covid-19 hospital. State RJD spokesperson Anita Yadav said, RJD supporters should not worry about Prasads health after the security personnel was found infected with Covid-19. The policeman was not on duty. Meanwhile, three other police personnel including a woman also tested positive for coronavirus. The three cops are posted at Ranchis Hindpiri police station. The Kerala government tightened measures on Sunday to check the spread of Covid-19 cases by making wearing of facemask and observance of social distancing mandatory for one year. The government backed the measures, saying people had begun to take safety rules casually after relaxations. However, traders in the state said the tightening of norms may prove to be counterproductive for businesses. Fine for those not wearing a mask has been increased to Rs 10,000 or to a two-year jail term. These measures will be in force for one year unless notified otherwise, said a statement from the government. We dont want to lower our guard at the critical juncture. After norms are eased, some people are behaving like pre-Covid days; we want to check this. As long as the virus is in our backyard, we have to follow three basic norms, social distancing, masks and hand hygiene, state health minister K K Shailaja said. The government amended the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Control Ordinance 2020 on Saturday to give it more teeth. Earlier, the fine for not wearing a mask was Rs 2,000. The amendment has also made social distancing mandatory for at least one year and restricted the number of participants for wedding parties to less than 50. For all social gatherings, protests and rallies, a written sanction of authorities will be needed, said the statement. Spitting in public places has been made an offence punishable with a fine or jail term. In shops and other business establishments, the amendment limits the presence of people to a maximum of 20, depending on the size of the trading area. Even at work places, masks are mandatory and wearing them casually will also invite a fine. Business establishments have been asked to avoid air-conditioning and closed enclosures and told to maintain office temperature in the range of 25 and 27 degree Celsius. While Indian Medical Associations Kerala chapter, which wanted stricter norms, welcomed the move, traders and businessmen were guarded in their reaction. Containment measures are welcome but at the same time the government will have to ensure proper atmosphere for traders. Even at worst-hit areas in Tamil Nadu and Mumbai these norms are not extended to one year, said MP Prashanth, a trader in Chalai market in Thiruvananthapuram. The decision came in the backdrop of a steady rise in coronavirus disease cases in the state. On Sunday, Kerala reported 225 Covid-19 cases, taking the states tally to 5,429. One person succumbed to the infection, taking the toll up to 26. The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court held a hearing in open court in a child custody case and overruled a lower courts verdict granting custody of a three-year-old to the father after seeing the boys fondness for the mother. This comes at the times when most courts in the country are holding virtual hearings because of social distancing norms put in place for the Covid-19 pandemic. The mother, a resident of Ujjain district, filed a petition before the Indore bench of the high court on January 14 against the Mandsaur district family courts order on January 6, handing custody of the child to his father under The Hindu Minority & Guardianship Act, 1956. Because of the lockdown imposed for the Covid-19 pandemic, a hearing on the petition couldnt be held. The matter was taken up through a video conference on June 25 and the court directed the father to ensure the presence of the child in the court on the next date of hearing. In its judgment dated July 1, the single-judge bench of justice SC Sharma said: The order dated January 6, 2020 passed by the learned principal judge reveals that for the last six months, the child was residing with his father, grandfather and grandmother and after discussing various judgments of the Honble Supreme Court, the presiding officer has observed that at this stage if the child is separated from his father, it might adversely affect the mental status of the child. Justice Sharma said that at the open court hearing, the child was permitted to go to the mother and he started playing with her. He was very happy with her and this court really fails to understand as to how an observation has been made that in case the child goes with mother, it will affect the child emotionally and mentally. The bench said, It is true that welfare of the child is of paramount importance keeping in view section 17 (2) of the Guardian & Ward Act, 1890, however, the Court is bound to take a decision after taking into account the age, sex, religion and other factors also. Disposing of the petition, the court said the woman was from a well-off family and it is nobodys case that the wife doesnt have income to look after the child. Granting the custody of the child to his mother, the court ordered that she would allow the father of the child to meet him every alternative Saturday of the month in Mandsaur and the trial court shall be free to pass a final order without being influenced by its own order dated January 6 and also the high court order. RR Bhatnagar, the counsel for the woman, said: Its a really unique case when the court decided to hear the petition in an open court, a departure from the usual practice of hearing through a video conferencing these days due to the Covid situation. We were all wearing face masks on the day of hearing. The moment the woman removed her mask the child rushed to her and went into her lap. However, a final decision on the custody of the child will be taken by the family court which is hearing the divorce suit filed by the childs father. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India on Monday told a meeting on the development of Afghanistan that putting an end to terror sanctuaries and safe havens is an essential condition for ensuring peace and stability in the war-torn country. JP Singh, the new head of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk in the external affairs ministry, represented India at Strengthening Consensus for Peace, a meeting of regional partners that was hosted by the Afghan government. The meeting was chaired by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Twenty countries and international organisations, including the United Nations, participated in the meet. India highlighted the fact that in order to achieve durable peace in Afghanistan, putting an end to terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens is an essential pre-requisite, said a statement from the external affairs ministry. Indian and Afghan officials have often blamed Pakistan-based terror groups for fomenting violence in Afghanistan. There is also growing concern in New Delhi over a spike in violence by the Taliban despite the group signing a deal with the US in February. The meeting discussed issues related to the Afghan peace and reconciliation process and support of regional partners for an independent, unified, democratic and sovereign Afghanistan, the statement said. India, one of the largest development partners of Afghanistan, with a commitment of more than US $3 billion, reiterated the importance of an inclusive, Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, Afghan-controlled peace and reconciliation process, the statement said. India expressed support for a constitutional order in Afghanistan, which would protect the interest of all sections of Afghan society, including women, children and minorities, it added. Ghani thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending Covid-19-related assistance to Afghanistan and for hosting the Saarc leaders meeting for coordinated efforts in the region to overcome the pandemic. The Uttarakhand forest department and researchers from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have come across a giant elephant near Haridwar in Rajaji landscape recently which they say is so huge they cant radio collar it. They said it is one of the biggest elephants they have come across in the Himalayan state, where the elephant population has crossed the 2000 mark, according to the elephant census released a few days back. Bivash Pandav, a senior scientist from WII, who is heading the identification and selection process, confirmed that this was one of the largest animals found in the particular landscape. This elephant is likely to be one of the largest animals in the area around Haridwar forest division, where it primarily roams around and goes up to Uttar Pradesh. We have also seen it in the eastern part of Rajaji Tiger Reserve occasionally. It moves in the human-dominated area, except crop-raiding it has not attacked anyone, said Pandav. He added that this adult male elephant, approximately around 50 years of age, roams around solitary and does not stay with the herd. The giant elephant spotted near Tedhipuliya region near Haridwar. (HT Photos) The forest officials came across the jumbo while identifying elephants that need to be radio-collared ahead of Maha Kumbh 2021. The elephant is a suspected problem elephant which ventures alone in the forests. There are many bulls (male elephants) roaming in the area and he is one of them. It would be difficult to radio-collar this elephant given its size as it is one of the largest elephants we have come across. We are still identifying problematic elephants which venture into human habitations that will be radio-collared for monitoring to ensure they dont come into conflict with pilgrims during Maha Kumbh 2021. We have roughly identified around nine bulls who frequently use that area (where Maha Kumbh will take place), added Pandav. The researchers are trying to find out where the elephants spend time during the day so that a plan on tranquilising and radio-collaring them can be formulated. The elephants usually come out at night, when radio-collaring the animal is difficult. Dr Aditi Sharma, senior veterinarian of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, said, This elephant is most likely a full-grown nine feet animal. Usually, dominant male elephants found in this region grow eight feet, but this particular elephant is most likely around nine feet given its physical features. Uttarakhand forest department authorities with the WII are working on radio-collaring some of the elephants prone to straying into human habitations in a bid to prevent attacks on pilgrims, who are expected to congregate in Haridwar for the next years Mahakumbh. The state government is waiting for approval from the Central government before putting into motion the radio collar exercise. State forest department officials said elephants usually venture into areas, where tents are set up for the Mahakumbh pilgrims. Tedhipuliya and Shyampur regions, near Haridwar, are found to be some of the areas most prone to man-elephant conflict, forest officials said. Those elephants, which stray into human habitations, will be radio-collared. Well get a sense of their movement pattern after theyre radio-collared and work out a mechanism to prevent man-animal conflicts, Sharma said. The forest officials had started their preparations since last November, when man-animal conflict hotspots were identified and geo-tagged. The central government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it has reservations about issuing court summons and serving notices to litigants over WhatsApp. Attorney general (AG) KK Venugopal, representing the central government, told the top court that service of notices and summons should be permitted through email and fax in view of Covid -19 ,but not through WhatsApp given that the messaging app does not allow the government to access data even in matters concerning terrorism and pornography. Union government has reservations regarding WhatsApp. It does not allow (government to) access (data) in cases involving terrorism and pornography, Venugopal told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde. The submissions were made in a case relating to extension of the limitation period for filing cases. Limitation period is the deadline to file cases in any court or tribunal in the country. The limitation period is generally prescribed under the Limitation Act. It is also sometimes provided under special laws in certain cases. The Supreme Court had, on March 23, extended for an indefinite period, the limitation period to file cases in any court on tribunal amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The order was passed by the apex court in a suo motu (on its own) case initiated after taking into account the coronavirus threat and the resultant difficulties faced by litigants in approaching courts. The issue of service of summons and notice through WhatsApp came up on Monday during submissions by the central government requesting the apex court to pass further orders allowing summons and notice through email and fax. The matter was eventually adjourned for July 10. Certain high courts like the Bombay high court and Madras high court had allowed service of notice to parties via WhatsApp. The Delhi high court, after taking note of the spurt in coronavirus disease cases, issued a circular on June 9 allowing service of documents, notices and summons through WhatsApp, email and fax. The Bombay high court had, in 2018, held that the service of notices through WhatsApp was valid. AG Venugopal, however, said that the practice should not be allowed for the time being and pointed to a case which is pending before the Supreme Court on the traceability of messages sent over WhatsApp. He was referring to a case from Tamil Nadu involving WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in which the government has pressed for a decryption of messages on social media and messaging platforms in matters involving considerations of national security, law and order etc. That case had started before the Madras high court as a plea for linkage of social media accounts with Aadhaar. Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu government raised concerns about WhatsApp not cooperating with police probes in key cases, citing end-to-end encryption. The matter was transferred to the Supreme Court in October 2019 on a plea by Facebook in August 2019. WhatsApp has maintained that the original sender of a message cannot be tracked because of end-to-end encryption. For Facebook and WhatsApp to say they cannot decrypt is not acceptable. A terrorist cannot claim privacy, AG Venugopal told the court in October 2019. The national positivity rate of Covid-19 - the average rate of samples testing positive for the coronavirus disease across the country - stands at 6.73 percent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated on Monday. The ministry added that the central government had emphasized increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of Covid-19 cases. The ministry said that with the help of effort undertaken by the central government, a big jump in Covid-19 testing in Delhi has been achieved while the positivity rate has gone down. The rate of positivity is an important marker in assessing the trend of an outbreak. According to Johns Hopkins University, the rate can provide insights into whether a community is conducting enough tests. Also read: Deadline of Aug 15 for Covid-19 vaccine unrealistic - Indian Academy of Sciences Union Government has emphasized on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of the COVID19 cases. The national Positivity Rate stands at 6.73% : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 If a communitys positivity is high, it suggests that that community may largely be testing the sickest patients and possibly missing milder or asymptomatic cases, it says. A lower positivity rate, on the other hand, may indicate testing of patients with milder or no symptoms. The WHO has said that in countries that have conducted extensive testing for Covid-19, should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days, it states. India overtook Russia on Sunday as the third-worst affected country with Covid-19. Indias Covid-19 death toll stands at 196,93 while the tally now nears 7 lakh with a total of 697,413 cases. More than 60% of people have recovered from the deadly contagion across the country with 424,432 patients recovering or getting discharged from hospitals. With cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) spiralling to nearly 700,000, the Centre has asked state governments to adopt a two-pronged strategy to slow the spread of the pandemic, people aware of the development said. Key elements of the new strategy include keeping the mortality rate at less than 1% and suppressing transmission of the disease by following the guidelines of World Health Organization (WHO). The strategies were discussed at meetings last week including an interaction between cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and state officials, the people said on condition of anonymity. The Centres revised strategy to tackle Covid-19 comes at a time when India has overtaken Russia to the third position in the tally of cases, behind only the US and Brazil, and after a careful assessment of the experiences of states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Haryana and the urban centre of Hyderabad, capital of Telangana. Also read: Thiruvananthapuram under triple lockdown as Keralas Covid-19 tally rises to 5,622 The Centre has also pointed out that Delhi, which had a positivity rateor number of positive cases per 100 testsof 40% a month ago, has reduced to just 10% now. The Centre underlined that Delhi has also doubled its testing from 11,000 per day a month ago to daily 22,000 tests. The states have been told to ensure 72-hour surveillance of at least 80% of close contacts of Covid-19 patients, a measure that can go a long way in reducing the transmission and possibility of spread of the virus. From proper quarantine of suspected Covid-19 patients to setting a target of ensuring a positivity rate of less than 10%, the centre has set a series of doable tasks for the states. Gauba has also said that once the positivity rate declines to less than 5%, the states can feel they are in a comfort zone. All states have been told to conduct minimum of a 14 tests per 100,000 people. While Delhis Covid-19 management has improved after the Union home ministry stepped in last month, working out collaborative strategies at joint meetings with the state, a few other states have emerged as a big headache for the Centre. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the city of Hyderabad had seen transmission slowing down but again the outbreak gained pace. We have told the states that they initially did a good job but then lost some momentum, said a senior official involved in the management of the outbreak. In two meeting with the cabinet secretary, lasting two hours each, examples of Kerala, Haryana and Tamil Nadu were given to other states to show how these states were able to keep the death rate or case fatality ratio around 1% or below. To improve the death rate, the Centre has asked states to improve the speed to care or speed up ambulance services and less triage time in the hospitals. Also read: Manipurs recovered Covid-19 cases surpass active cases for 3rd straight day We had asked states to do an assessment of how many people called for ambulances, how many were rejected and what time it took for the patient to reach hospital in an ambulance, said another official, and also ensure that when a patient reaches the hospital he or she should not spend more than 45 minutes in triage. The states were also told it is critical to smoothen transition points which includes test confirmation to hospitalization to ambulance coordination. For suppressing transmissions, the Centre is referring to the detailed guidelines issued by the WHO such as the need for more effective contact tracing, better sealing of hotspots and antibody testing. It also include screening and triage for early recognition of suspected Covid-19 patients, and rapid implementation of source control measures, isolation and cohorting of patients suspected or confirmed to have been infected by the virus and standard precautions like the use of masks and sanitizers The states were also encouraged to hold teleconferences for local doctors with specialists or senior doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other top hospitals. The Kerala government on Monday terminated the service of information technology consultant Swapna Suresh after the Customs department unearthed her alleged links to a gold smuggling racket following the seizure of 30 kg gold from a diplomatic consignment on Sunday. Customs had seized the precious metal from an air cargo consignment from the United Arab Emirates to the countrys consulate in Thiruvananthapuram after permission from the Ministry of External Affairs. Swapna Suresh who was working as the operational manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited under the state IT Ministry is said to have gone underground after the seizure. After the Customs department intensified its search for her, an embarrassed state government issued a terse statement saying her contract with the IT department was terminated with immediate effect. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan holds the IT portfolio. The opposition BJP and Congress stepped up pressure on Vijayan asking him to explain his position in the case. BJP state president K Surendran alleged that after the seizure of gold, a senior official from the CMs office made a desperate call to Customs officials pleading them to spare some people involved in the case. Before taking up her latest job Swapna Suresh worked in the UAE embassy for some time as a PR consultant and was sacked after some irregularities. There is a case against her in Thiruvananthapuram also. Then how did she take up an important position in the IT department?, asked Surendran. He said large quantities of gold were smuggled through diplomatic consignment earlier also using her contacts and many got their share of the booty. He also alleged that she was close to IT secretary M Shivashankar who helped her to get plum the assignment. It is disturbing that the CMs office has turned into a haven for smugglers and others. The IT secretary should be sacked. Since the case is getting murkier we want the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe it, said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. IT Secretary M Shivshankar said he was ready for any investigation and will share all information with the customs department. He said since the investigation was on it would not be proper for him to comment on the case. The CM played down the incident and denied reports that his office made any intervention. Customs is with the Union government. Let it investigate and find out the truth, Vijayan said. When asked about the appointment of Swapna in a key position he said it did not come to his notice and he will find out how it happened. He said a recent tendency to drag the CMs office into all issues will not succeed. Amid the political sparring that the gold seizure has sparked, Customs have refused to comment. Our investigation is continuing. We have got some information that earlier also the syndicate smuggled gold like this, said Sumit Kumar, Customs Commissioner in-charge of Kerala and Lakshadweep region. The UAE embassy said in a statement that none of its officials had any role in the smuggling and one of its former employees made use of diplomatic immunity to indulge in such an act. The gold bars and sticks were hidden inside some of the household equipment to avoid detection. The seized gold is worth Rs 15 crore in the market, a Customs official said. The woman followed officers orders to get out of the car, but Green didnt and instead started the car. Thyne, who was standing near the open drivers side door, was caught in the door and dragged as it drove away, police said. A Kuwaiti parliamentary committee has approved a draft law to set a quota system for expatriates that, if it is passed by the National Assembly, could reduce the strength of the Indian community in the West Asian country by up to 700,000. The legal and legislative committee of Kuwaits National Assembly decided on July 2 that the draft law was in line with the Constitution and laws. The panel also decided to refer the bill to another committee that will study all legislation related to expatriates with the aim of cutting their numbers, Kuwait Times reported. According to the Indian embassys website, Kuwait is currently home to 920,000 Indians. The draft bill proposes the number of Indians the largest foreign community in Kuwait must not exceed 15% of the population of Kuwaitis, currently at 1.45 million. If the bill is enacted, a little more than 700,000 Indians will have to leave the country. The bill has come at a time when the Kuwaiti government is grappling with a serious downturn in its economy due to the reduced demand for oil amid the Covid-19 crisis and a growing clamour among parliamentarians for reducing the number of expatriates. During a meeting with editors of local newspapers on June 3, Kuwaits Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah said the country is facing a big challenge in addressing the population structure, with Kuwaitis making up only 30% of the total population of 4.8 million. The ideal population structure is to have Kuwaitis being 70% and non-Kuwaitis 30%, so we have a big challenge in the future which is to address the discrepancy in population, he was quoted as saying by state-run Kuna news agency. The issue should be handled in phases till Kuwait reaches a final adjustment to the population in future, he said, adding the government is keen on cooperating with Parliament on this issue. The developments are being closely followed by the external affairs ministry, though people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity the draft law has so far only been cleared by a parliamentary panel. Moreover, they pointed out the bill was proposed by only five MPs. The total strength of Kuwaits National Assembly is 65, including 50 directly elected members. Kuwait Times reported that hundreds of thousands of Indians leaving the country, if the bill is approved, would be an impossible task by all means. Another report in the Kuwait Times quoted interior minister Anas Al-Saleh as saying that a separate draft law on amending the residency law will be submitted to the National Assembly within two weeks as Parliament prepares to complete legislation to reduce the number of expatriates within a few months. This draft law calls for Kuwait to benefit from neighbouring and advanced countries with the aim of encouraging only those expatriates who are needed in the country, he said. National Assembly speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem also told Kuwait TV that he and a group of lawmakers will submit yet another draft law calling for a phased reduction of expatriates. He contended that 1.3 million of the 3.35 million expatriates are either illiterate or can merely read and write, and are not the type of people Kuwait needs. He also said 100,000 foreign workers are illiterate. Ghanem said the National Assembly intends to complete the population structure legislation before the end of its term in October. Experts questioned the viability of the move, noting that expatriate workers from India and other countries had played a major role in building the infrastructure and services of Kuwait. Former ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, who served extensively in West Asia, including in Kuwait, said the move appeared to be driven more by emotions rather than good sense following the economic crisis due to the pandemic. These workers have gone on legal work contracts and with visas, which makes the state party to their recruitment. The workers went because there is a need for them. It is demeaning to describe these blue collar, semi-skilled and skilled workers as illiterate. These are the people who transformed Kuwait from a desert sheikhdom into a modern state, he said. It appears the move is driven more by the downturn, which is temporary. It is a pipe dream without any understanding of the ground realities. The Indian population of 920,000 in Kuwait includes nearly 28,000 employed in the government sector and more than 426,000 in the private sector. Their annual remittances to India are about $4.8 billion. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The legal and legislative committee of Kuwaits National Assembly (Parliament) has approved a draft expat quota bill which could result in eight lakh Indians leaving the country. According to the committee, the draft bill is constitutional and seeks to limit the number of Indians to 15 per cent of the population. It will now be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created. The move comes a month after Kuwaits prime minister had said that the countrys expatriate population should be reduced from 70 to 30 per cent of the total. We have a future challenge to redress this imbalance, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah told a local media publication, and the statement was released by state-run Kuwait News Agency or KUNA. Foreigners account for 3.4 million of Kuwaits 4.8 million population, according to government data cited by local news outlets. Gulf News cited local media reports to say that the new bill could see eight lakh Indians leaving Kuwait, as the Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in Kuwait, totalling 1.45 million. There are, however, many critics of the quota approach (thereby reducing the number of expats) propounded by some of the Kuwaiti lawmakers since the prime ministers statement. On Twitter, users reacted with anger. The deputies at Kuwait National Assembly should have their mental health regularly checked! tweeted a user who goes by a single username M. The deputies at Kuwait National Assembly should have their mental health regularly checked!#JustSaying M (@MQ10758183) July 4, 2020 Wait, next shocking news will be from UAE, tweeted Salem Faisal. Wait, next shocking news will be from UAE. Salem Faisal ( ) (@cosmicbeing84) July 6, 2020 The anti-expat rhetoric have spiked since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic with lawmakers and governmental officials call for reducing the number of foreigners in Kuwait. According to latest data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 49,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Gulf country. A 20-year-old labourer from here in Madhya Pradesh has approached the police fed up with a large number of calls he has been receiving on his mobile phone on the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Investigation conducted by the cyber cell of Indore units Superintendent of Police Jitendra Singh has revealed that a page created on Facebook in the name of Rajputs rumoured girlfriend Ankita Lokhande had the mobile number of the labourer mentioned in the about section. Lokhande had links with Indore. After Sushants suicide, the labourer is getting many calls daily. While some disconnect the call after realising that it was a wrong number others express their anguish over the Sushant issue, the SP said. Singh said more than 40,000 people are following this particular page on Facebook. To find out reality, police had forwarded a message on the messenger to the operator of the page, but yielded no response so far, he said. Police are trying to unravel the operator of the page. China on Monday said the consensus reached with India to disengage troops at the border should be implemented as soon as possible, indicating cooling down of tension with India at the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC). India and China clashed earlier last month along the disputed border in Galwan Valley, resulting in death of 20 Indian soldiers and purported casualties of Chinese troops. Acknowledging that current bilateral ties were facing a complex situation, Beijing said both sides should adhere to the to the strategic judgement that they do not pose a threat to each other. A statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry on a conversation between foreign minister, Wang Yi and Indias national security advisor Ajit Doval on Sunday said both New Delhi and Beijing welcome recent military and diplomatic talks to resolve the last months crisis at the border. Also read: Before PLAs step back, a 2-hr video call between Doval and Chinas Wang Wang was referring to the June 30 meeting and two previous ones in June -- between 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. ALSO WATCH | China pulls back from Galwan after Ajit Doval-Wang Li chat: The key details The two sides welcome the progress made in the recent military and diplomatic meetings between the two countries, and agree to continue the dialogue and consultation and emphasise that the consensus reached at the level of the two border defence forces commanders should be implemented as soon as possible to complete the process of disengagement of the front-line forces of the two sides as soon as possible, the statement in Mandarin released Monday evening read. Chinas statement comes on the same afternoon India released its statement agreeing that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously and also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the border areas. India, in its statement, also said that Wang and Doval re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control, and that they should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas. This was the first contact between the Special Representatives since the border standoff between the two sides began in May. The two countries have held discussions through diplomatic and military channels, including the corps commanders and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs. Also read | China pulls back troops in Galwan Valley by at least a km: Official However, China in its statement, also made it clear who Beijing thinks was responsible for the standoff in Galwan Valley and then the violence at the border. What happened recently in the western part of the border between China and India in the Galwan Valley is very clear. China will continue to effectively defend its territorial sovereignty and maintain peace and tranquility in the border area, said Wang, who is also state councillor told Doval, according to the statement. It referred to the existing mechanisms between the two countries to resolve the long-standing 3488 km boundary problem currently the longest land border dispute in the world. The two sides agreed to strengthen communication through the special representative meeting mechanism, the working mechanism for consultations and coordination on Sino-Indian border affairs, and constantly improve and strengthen confidence-building measures in border areas to avoid the recurrence of incidents affecting peace and tranquility in border areas, the Chinese statement said, quoting Wang. The relationship between India and China is complex and both sides should work to reverse it, Wang said. The two sides should always adhere to the strategic judgement that they do not pose a threat to each other and provide each other opportunities for development, attach great importance to the complex situation facing the current relationship between the two countries, and work together to overcome and reverse them as soon as possible, the Chinese statement said. Wangs statement emphasised the importance of guiding public opinion and public will on the ties between the two countries. It is hoped that India and China will act in the same direction, correctly guide public opinion and public will, maintain and promote normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, avoid adopting practices that expand disputes, and jointly safeguard the overall situation of China-India relations, the statement said. Unlike India, China is yet to release the PLAs casualty figures it sustained during the June 15 brawl. A senior Chinese official had told foreign diplomats last month that one of the reasons Beijing hadnt released official figures was because it did not want to stir sentiments. The other reason, the Chinese official said, was because the casualty numbers were low for the PLA. Manipurs Deputy Chief Minister and National People party MLA Yumnam Joykumar Singh has been reallocated the portfolios of finance, science and technology, economics and statistics departments that he held earlier before he withdrew support to the government last month. Manipur Chief Secretary Dr J Suresh Babu issued a notification (dated July 5, 2020) of reallocation of the portfolios. As per the notification, Chief Minister N Biren Singh presently holds the charge of Home, Personnel, Planning, GAD, Vigilance, Transport, Minor irrigation, Tourism, Minority affairs OBC & SC, Information Technology, Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD),Horticulture & Soil Conservation and any other departments not allocated specifically. Joykumar was reallocated the portfolios 11 days after he and three other NPP MLAs, L Jayentakumar, N Kayisii and Letpao Haokip who had withdrawn support to the BJP-led coalition government, agreed to return to the government. Biren Singhs government was in trouble after nine MLAs, including the four NPP ministers and three BJP MLAs withdrew support to it on June 17. To resolve the political crisis, NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma air dashed to Imphal twice. They also flew to Delhi along with NPP MLAs to call on the BJP national leaders to patch up differences in the Manipur coalition. The KP Oli-led Nepal government, whose ties with India has strained of late because of a border dispute in Uttarakhand, will install fourth-generation (4G) mobile telephony services in two villages on the Indo-Nepal open border within three months with the help of a Chinese telecommunication company in a bid to improve connectivity in the remote region, a Nepalese government official said. Tek Singh Kunwar, assistant chief district officer (CDO) of Nepals Darchula district in the far western region, confirmed the bid to improve mobile telephony services in the border villages. Plans are afoot to provide 4G in Chhangru and Byas and 3G services in Tinkar villages in Darchula district, said KB Gurung, a Nepal Telecom official. Mobile telephony services are being upgraded in the border villages, where connectivity is often an issue. Initial work started two weeks ago after officials did a feasibility study, said KB Gurung, a Nepal Telecom (NT) official. Work has started to improve the mobile telephony connectivity in three border villages. Though there were mobile towers equipped with 3G connectivity in Chhangru and Byas villages, Tinkar had none, said Gurung, who was part of the NT team that conducted the feasibility study. Chhangru and Vyas mobile subscribers can avail of 4G service soon. However, Tinkar will have the basic 3G service for now, Gurung added. Indian intelligence officials said Nepal is taking the help of a Chinese telecom giant to roll-out 4G services in the two border villages, raising alarm bells about national security and sovereignty amid the border stand-off. In June, Nepals National Assembly, the Upper House of Nepalese Parliament, had unanimously passed a constituent amendment bill to update the Himalayan nations political and administrative map incorporating three Indian territories that fall in Uttarakhand while New Delhis objected to untenable artificial enlargement of Kathamandus territorial claims. Earlier, Nepals House of Representatives, the Lower House of Nepalese Parliament, had also endorsed the new political and administrative map, incorporating these three Indian territories. Gurung, however, downplayed the Chinese hand in the roll-out of 4G services. We cant say its all Chinese because the components are from various countries, including China, he said. It is the Nepalese authorities prerogative to opt for a Chinese company to upgrade their mobile telephony services in the border district, said Amit Kumar Shukla, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Dharchula, Pithoragarh district. In Dharchula, the district authorities are trying to overcome mobile telephony woes on the Indo-Nepal border areas. We have provided 34 satellite phones to village heads in Dharchula to tackle the connectivity problem to some extent. However, the Centres permission is pending to instal permanent mobile towers in the area, he added. Indian mobile phone users in Uttarakhands remote Pithoragarh district use the pre-paid subscriber identification module (SIM) cards of Nepalese service providers for better connectivity for an estimated monthly cost between Rs 150 and Rs 200. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 5 pm. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Indias Covid-19 positivity rate at 6.37 percent: Ministry of Health The national positivity rate of Covid-19 - the average rate of samples testing positive for the coronavirus disease across the country - stands at 6.73 percent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated on Monday. The ministry added that the central government had emphasized increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of Covid-19 cases. Read more. LAC stand off: India, China agree to expeditiously complete disengagement India and China have agreed to expeditiously complete the disengagement of their border troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not to take any unilateral action to alter the status quo along the disputed border, the external affairs ministry said on Monday. Read more. NIA files charge sheet against J-K rogue cop Davinder Singh The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against suspended deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh for his association with terrorist groups in Kashmir valley, officials said Monday. Singh was arrested in January this year for providing safe passage to terrorists Naveed Babu, Rafi Ahmed Rather and Irfan Shafi Mir. Read more. Massacre of cops in Kanpur exposes encounter specialist UP govt: Shiv Sena The Shiv Sena on Monday targeted chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the killings of eight police personnel by henchmen of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey last week and warned that he should not become Dawood (Ibrahim) of Nepal for India. Read more. Sushant Singh Rajput death: Bhansali records statement with Mumbai cops Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali reached Bandra police station on Monday around noon to record his statement in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. On June 14, Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment following which a probe was ordered to ascertain the cause of his death by suicide. Read more. Watch: Heavy rains wreak havoc in Gujarat, flood like situation in some areas Several parts of Gujarat have witnessed heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. Roads were waterlogged in several areas such as Porbandar. Flood like situation prevailed in parts of Dwarka and the highway from Somnath to Una was also closed due to heavy rainfall. Water level in the Shetrunji river also increased. The IMD has predicted rainfall for the next 4 days in the area. Watch the full video for all the details. Virat Kohli could never be the cool ice man like MS Dhoni: Nasser Hussain on how India captain is different from MSD Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lauded Virat Kohli for making his own mark in captaincy and not following his predecessor MS Dhonis style of leadership. Kohli followed Dhoni to become Indias Test captain in 2015 and ODI skipper in 2017 and while he could have chosen to lead India the way Dhoni did, Hussain credited Kohli for developing his unique leadership skills. Read more. Got an SMS to download TikTok Pro? Dont do it, its a scam The government recently banned 59 China-based apps in India for posing a threat to the countrys security. The list of the banned apps includes TikTok, which prior to the ban had amassed nearly 200 million users in India. The ban has led to an increase in the popularity of the apps India-based alternative. It has also led to a rise in TikTok-based scams. Read more. Tweeple are really relating to this tweet about being an adult. How about you? The tweet has been shared on the Life at Tiffanys Twitter handle. She wrote, A thing I never realized about being an adult is that you will always be cleaning your kitchen. No matter if you get take out, no matter if youre gone all day, you will be cleaning. the. kitchen. Read more. Sushants Dil Bechara trailer lands and we cant stop our tears Sushant Singh Rajput is back on screen one last time as Dil Bechara trailer came out on Monday. The experience was always going to be poignant, more so given the theme of the Mukesh Chhabras film. The official remake of Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgorts The Fault In Our Stars, Dil Bechara casts Sushant and debutante Sanjana Sanghi as two youngsters battling cancer with a stoic aplomb. Read more. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against suspended deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh for his association with terrorist groups in Kashmir valley, officials said Monday. The charge sheet which also names five others including Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmad Rather, Irfan Shafi Mir, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a former trader on the LoC and Syed Irfan Ahmad (brother of Naveed Babu) was filed in a NIA Special Court in Jammu, the agency said in a statement. The charge sheet was filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Substances Act.. The investigation has revealed that accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Pakistani State Agencies to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India, the NIA statement said. Singh was arrested in January this year for providing safe passage to terrorists Naveed Babu, Rafi Ahmed Rather and Irfan Shafi Mir. Accused Devender Singh was also in touch with certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information, the NIA said. It also said that in February 2019, in order to shield Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Naveed Mushtaq from the heightened surveillance of security agencies, Devender Singh along with Irfan Shafi Mir and Syed Irfan Ahmad, arranged safe shelter for him and his associate in Jammu. Accused Devender Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of HM terrorists and also assured them help in procuring weapons, the NIA said. Earlier last month, a Delhi court had granted bail to Davinder Singh after the Delhi police failed to file charge sheet against him during the statutory period of 90 days in a conspiracy case. The Delhi polices special cell (anti terror unit) had filed a case against Singh, for alleged criminal conspiracy and activities against the interest of the country. Despite the bail, Singh has remained in jail in the case being probed by the NIA following his arrest while ferrying Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists in a vehicle on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in January. Singhs bail in the conspiracy case drew fire from the opposition. The NIA had then tweeted that the investigation was in full swing and that the agency would file a charge sheet against Davinder Singh and other accused persons in the first week of July. The police officer who is suspected to have turned rogue, was arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, or UAPA, the anti-terror law. The J-K Police had seized an AK-47 assault rifle, three pistols, five hand grenades, 174 rounds of AK-47 and 36 rounds of pistol ammunition and other incriminating material from his car The NIA later took over the case from the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The Chinese army on Monday begun falling back in Ladakhs Galwan Valley, which last month saw the worst flare-up of violence in four decades. Behind this development is a video call between National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi. During the call, they had a frank discussion on the recent developments, people familiar with the matter said. Here are the latest developments in the India-China border face-off: 1. Both NSA Doval and minister Wang agreed that both sides should maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas as it is essential for further development of bilateral relations between India and China, top government officials said. They also agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) expeditiously, the officials added. 2. During the discussions, both the Special Representatives on the boundary issue re-affirmed that India and China should strictly respect and observe the LAC and not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo, an external affairs ministry statement issued later said. 3. It was also agreed upon that the diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue their discussions, the statement said. 4. The disengagement came six days after commander-level talks took place (on June 30) to cool the situation in eastern Ladakhs Galwan Valley area. 5. China on Monday said progress had been made between the two militaries, and that the two sides will continue to work to implement the consensus reached at the two previous rounds of talks. 6. The Chinese troops agreed to move back in the Galwan Valley on Monday. The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has possibly moved back by 1 to 1.5 km from the friction site, people familiar with developments said. 7. Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders meeting. The PLA was seen removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14, said a person aware of the developments. 8. The Chinese foreign ministry on July 1 had welcomed the June 30 military-level talks. 9. During the talks, th military commanders had agreed to work on an expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation of the ongoing border conflict on priority. 10. There have been several rounds of talks between top Chinese and Indian army commanders in the Ladakh region since 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed on June 15 in their worst clash in 45 years. A day before China and India took first step indicating truce on Monday at the site of clash in Galwan Valley, Indias national security advisor Ajit Doval had a telephonic conversation with Chinas minister of foreign affairs Wang Yi. India and China reached an agreement during the conversation to expeditiously complete the disengagement of their border troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India and China initiated talks focussing on expeditious de-escalation last week, days after Indias demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from several friction points along the LAC. India had also sought the restoration of status quo ante in key areas including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and the strategic Depsang plains, apart from emphasising the need for thinning the military buildup in the region. Here is the full statement released by Ministry of External Affairs on NSA Dovals conversation with Chinas Wang: 1. The Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question - Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India and H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China had a telephone conversation on 5th July 2020. The two Special Representatives had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on the recent developments in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas. 2.The two Special Representatives agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes. Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas. 3.The two Special Representatives agreed that the diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue their discussions, including under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC), and implement the understandings reached in a timely manner to achieve the above outcomes. It was also agreed that the two Special Representatives will continue their conversations to ensure full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols. In court filings, the defense said it consented to the first cancellation because of Gov. Ralph Northams stay-at-home order. But the governor has since moved the state to Phase 3 of his reopening plan. In Phase 3, social gatherings of up to 250 people are allowed and capacity caps for nonessential retail businesses and restaurants have been lifted. As Odishas Covid-19 positivity rate crossed the national positivity rate of 6.73% and more and more hospitals turned into Covid-19 hotspots, opposition leaders accused the state government of failing to control the pandemic by not increasing daily testing. On Monday, Odisha reported 456 new Covid-19 cases from the 4,827 samples tested indicating a positivity rate of 9.44 per cent, a sharp departure from the positivity rate of 4-6 per cent that it reported till July 1. The total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state shot up to 9,526 and the state reported 38 deaths. There are close to 3,000 active cases currently. For the third day today, the number of local cases was more than 30 per cent of the total cases suggesting the onset of community transmission. Among the positive cases reported was a BJP MLA, a 70-year-old priest attached to one of the prominent temples in Dhenkanal town, two doctors and a pharmacist working at a community health centre of Ganjam district. The MLA is the first legislator in Odisha to get infected by Covid-19. The rise in cases came even as opposition Congress and BJP slammed the state government for falling tests. Senior Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja said the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in Odisha would have been more than 1 lakh had the state government done more testing. Had all migrant workers who returned from Maharashtra and Gujarat been tested for Covid-19, then we would have known the actual spread of the disease. The government is just picking and choosing a few infected people from a large number of people already infected, said Saluja. BJPs state general secretary Golak Mahapatra alleged that the state government has miserably failed in scaling up the daily tests to 15,000 resulting in the current situation. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in April had announced that the government would conduct 15,000 Covid-19 tests a day in June. Its already July, and we are testing around 4000-5000 samples a day, said Mahapatra. Referring to Delhi, Mahapatra said increasing testing there has brought the situation under control. Another BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan also raised questions over the Covid-19 management by the state government saying it had become more bureaucratic which is not yielding any results. Over the last month, we have seen weekly shutdowns. Has it helped bring down the numbers? The state government has just no clue about the spread of the virus, said Harichandan. Meanwhile, a Covid-19 positive person escaped from a Covid-19 hospital of Nabarangpur district by scaling the boundary wall. Nabarangpur district collector, Ajit Kumar Mishra said a 50-year-old patient who was brought to the Covid-19 hospital on July 3, went missing on July 5 morning. The patient was missing when the hospital staff went to offer him breakfast. A police complaint has been lodged, he said. China is in the process of supplying four armed drones to Pakistan, ostensibly to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Peoples Liberation Army Navys new base at Gwadar port, according to people familiar with the development said on Sunday. Gwadar, in the highly restive southwestern province of Baluchistan, is described as the crown jewel of Chinas $60 billion investment in Belt and Road Initiative projects in Pakistan. The supply of two systems (each has two drones and a ground station) comes ahead of Beijings plan to jointly produce 48 GJ-2 drones, the military version of Wing Loong II, designed in China for use by Pakistans air force. Also Watch | India-China border: IAF uses attack choppers, fighter jets for surveillance China has already been selling the reconnaissance and strike drone Wing Loong II to several countries in Asia and West Asia and emerged as the largest exporter of armed drones. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) arms transfer database, China had delivered 163 UAVs to a dozen-odd countries including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates from 2008 to 2018. Unlike the US that follows an elaborate process to determine and regulate the end-use of its high-end weapons, China has no such qualms. Chinas attack drone, said to be armed with 12 air-to-surface missiles, are currently being used by UAE-backed forces in Libya against the Turkish-backed government in Tripoli with limited success. Four of them were shot down in the last two months in Libya, according to data compiled by non profit Drone Wars UK. Chinas aggressive postures in Ladakh where the two armies are engaged in a standoff that has lasted two months and its supply to Pakistan has prompted India to conveyed to the US its renewed interest in the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) armed Predator-B drone, which not only collects intelligence through surveillance and reconnaissance but also locates and destroys the target with missiles or laser-guided bombs. The Indian Navy has been in negotiations with the US for its unarmed naval variant, but national security planners feel that due to the prohibitive cost of the UAV, it would be better to have an all-in-one drone rather than separate ones for surveillance and targeting. Also called the MQ-9 Reaper, the armed remotely piloted aircraft is battle-proven in the Iraq, Afghanistan and Syrian theatres with the capability of carrying four Hell-Fire missiles and two 500 pounds of laser-guided bombs. For the future, Indian private sector companies on the outskirts of New Delhi are in the process of developing medium-altitude long-endurance drones for India. But the capacity to acquire armed drones within the country is some distance away. The Defence Research and Development Organisation also has plans to produce the Rustom drone prototype by the end of this year. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The main accused in the murder of a woman, who was killed just hours before her wedding on Sunday in Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam district, has been arrested, police said on Monday. The accused, 27-year-old Ram Yadav, a resident of Ratlam town, was arrested in Rajasthans Rajsamand district where he had fled after committing the crime. His accomplice Pawan Panchal was arrested earlier. The duo have been booked for the murder of the 33-year-old woman at Jaora in Ratlam district, more than 290 kilometres north west of Bhopal, police said on Monday. Ratlam superintendent of police, Gaurav Tiwari said Ram Yadav slit the throat of Sonu Yadav, a resident of Shajapur, with a knife in a beauty parlour in Jaora when she was getting ready for her wedding. After committing the crime, Ram Yadav and Panchal fled on a bike. Later, Panchal returned to Ratlam while Ram Yadav fled to Rajasthan. Police arrested Panchal from Ratlam with the help of CCTV footage on Sunday late evening. Panchal informed the police that Ram Yadav had gone to a Sanwaria temple in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, more than 300 kilometres from Ratlam. Police arrested him from the temple on Sunday night, said Tiwari. The SP said, During the interrogation, Ram Yadav confessed that he knew Sonu for the three years and they met several times. They wanted to marry but five days ago, Sonu called him and informed him about her marriage with another person. This development infuriated him (Yadav) who asked her to break off the marriage but Sonu refused to do so, given her parents wishes. After that Ram decided to kill her. He purchased a knife and called Sonu to meet him one last time. Sonu asked him to come to the parlour. Ram reached there and killed her, said the SP. Police have also recovered the weapon used in crime. Ram Yadav worked in a jewellery shop while Sonu was a teacher in a private school. China on Monday said progress had been made between the two militaries to disengage and ease tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), six days after commander-level talks took place to cool the situation in eastern Ladakhs Galwan Valley area. The Chinese foreign ministry did not elaborate on the details of the progress that were made in the past six days. Chinese and Indian troops held a commander-level talk on June 30. The two sides continue to work to implement the consensus reached at the two previous rounds of talks, Zhao Lijian, foreign ministry spokesperson, said at the ministry briefing on Monday. Lijian was answering a query on whether China, as per reports in Indian media on Monday, had withdrawn troops from the area of tension. In his response, Zhao referred to the June 30 meeting and two previous ones in June -- between 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. There is progress made on frontline troops taking effective measures to disengage and ease the tensions, he said. We hope the Indian side will move towards China and through concrete actions implement the consensus and continue close communication through military and diplomatic channels to jointly push for the de-escalation on the border region, Zhao said. The reaction from China came within hours of Indian media reporting that Chinese troops had agreed to move back around 1.5 km from the area of friction in the Galwan Valley. At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a bloody brawl with Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in the Galwan Valley area on the night of June 15. China has admitted casualties on its side but has not revealed details. The PLA has possibly moved back by 1 to 1.5 km from the friction site in Galwan Valley, people familiar with developments told HT in New Delhi on Monday. Disengagement with the PLA has started as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders meeting. The PLA was seen removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14, said a person aware of the developments. The Chinese foreign ministry on July 1 had welcomed the June 30 military-level talks. China welcomes that. We hope the Indian side will work with the Chinese side towards the same goal, keep up close communication through military and diplomatic channels, and ease the situation and reduce the temperature along the border, Zhao had said according to a statement published on the website of the Chinese foreign ministry. The Punjab government has made mandatory e-registration for all travellers entering the state from Monday midnight, and also ruled out any dilution of the 14-day home quarantine norm for domestic entrants, an official said. The directions came in the wake of the high risk posed by those coming from New Delhi and national capital region in particular. Travellers can self-register online from their homes, as per the guidelines of the government, and ensure hassle-free travel, a government spokesperson said. The state government has advised road travellers entering or transiting through Punjab to self-register, either through COVA (Corona Virus Alert) app or through a weblink,https://cova.punjab.gov.in/registration, before embarking on the journey. The app was launched on March 9 by the state government to spread awareness by sharing various travel and preventive care advisories.The objective of e-registration is to avoid any inconvenience to the travellers due to crowding and long queues at the border check points. For passengers who are entering the state and not merely transiting it, after successfully crossing the check-point, those who are asymptomatic will have to undergo self-quarantine at their homes for 14 days. During quarantine, they will be required to report their medical status daily either by calling 112 or through the Cova App. In case of symptomatic passengers, appropriate instructions will be given at the check-point, said a government spokesperson. The spokesperson further said that all relevant details about the visitors/residents coming into Punjab would be shared with the concerned health authorities and police stations through a real-time alert system. The concerned police stations would keep a regular check, both through physical and technical means (geo-fencing etc.), on the incoming visitors at their given addresses for their protection and the health and safety of the people of Punjab. India is now the third worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic after overtaking Russia on Sunday. The country has reported a steep rise of 24,248 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health stated on Monday. As many as 425 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the national death toll to 19,693. Indias Covid-19 tally now nears 7 lakh with a total of 697,413 cases. More than 60% of people have recovered from the deadly contagion across the country with 424,432 patients recovering or getting discharged from the hospitals. Rajasthan has seen its Covid-19 tally breach the 20,000-mark while the cases continue to surge across India and much rapidly in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, among others. Also read: Indias Covid-19 tally surges past 6.97 lakh, death toll at 19,693 Heres taking a look at the statewise situation of Covid-19 infections across the country. Maharashtra The state Covid-19 tally jumped to 206,619 on Monday. Over 111,740 people have recovered from coronavirus in Maharashtra while 8,822 have died. Tamil Nadu With 111,151 coronavirus cases, Tamil Nadu is the state with second-highest coronavirus cases in the country and has witnessed 1,510 coronavirus fatalities. The number of patients who have recovered from coronavirus in the state stands at 62,778. Delhi The national capital is the third worst-hit in India with coronavirus cases jumping to 99,444 on Monday. As many as 71,339 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in Delhi while 3,067 have succumbed to the infection. Gujarat Gujarat has seen Covid-19 cases reach 36,037 on Monday. The state has seen 25,892 people recover from coronavirus while 1,943 people have died. Uttar Pradesh The Covid-19 tally in Uttar Pradesh has jumped to 27,707 while the number of recoveries has touched 18,761. The states death toll stands at 785. Telangana The states Covid-19 tally stands at 23,902 coronavirus cases. While 12,703 people have recovered from the disease, the Covid-19 death toll has jumped to 295 in the state. Karnataka The South India state has witnessed 23,474 coronavirus cases till date while three hundred and seventy two people have lost their lives to the deadly contagion in the state. Nearly 9,847 patients have recovered from the disease in Karnataka. West Bengal As many as 22,126 people have contracted Covid-19 in West Bengal till date. The state has seen 14,711 recover from coronavirus while 757 people have been killed. Rajasthan The state has reported 20,164 Covid-19 cases till date. Covid-19 death toll in Rajasthan stands at 456 while 15,928 patients have recovered. Andhra Pradesh The state has 18,697 Covid-19 patients while the death toll stands at 232. Over 8,400 people have recovered from the contagion in Andhra Pradesh. Situation in other states The coronavirus tally in Haryana has touched 17,005. Over 14,930 people have been infected by coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh till date. The number of Covid-19 positive cases in Bihar nears 12,000, while the tally in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 8,429. In Odisha, cases have jumped to 9,070 while Assam has reported over 10,000 cases till date. Punjabs Covid-19 tally stands at 6,283, and the number of cases in Kerala is 5,429. Covid-19 tally in Uttarakhand is over 3,000 cases. States with less than 3,000 cases Nagaland, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Manipur, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, have less than 3,000 but more than 500 Covid-19 cases. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Mizoram, Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have reported 500 Covid-19 cases or less. Meghalaya is the lone state with less than 100 Covid-19 cases. Note: Figures are from official data released by the Ministry of Health, and may differ from realtime numbers released by various state governments subject to confirmation from the Centre. Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) in Tahirpur, the second healthcare facility in the national capital to start dedicated care of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients, has increased its intensive care unit (ICU) beds to 200 -- an over four-fold increase from 45 that it previously had. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited the hospital on Monday evening in a bid to observe a landmark at the hospital the release of the 1,000th Covid-19 patient, who has recovered from the viral infection. Now, we have given Dr (BL) Sherwal, director, RGSSH, a new target of increasing the ICU beds to 500, said Kejriwal. This is in line with the Delhi governments policy to increase ICU beds across the city, even as nearly 10,000 non-ICU beds across hospitals are lying vacant. Delhi Covid-19 application showed that around 60% of ICU beds are being occupied, including both with and without ventilators. The 1,000th patient to be discharged was a senior nursing officer from Delhi-government-run Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospital in East Patel Nagar. Her husband, who works in the public works department (PWD) of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) and associated with Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhis biggest Covid-19 facility, was also discharged along with her. Though three others from the family had contracted SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, they are all under home isolation. In June, Delhi health minister Satyendra Kumar Jain was initially admitted to RGSSH after he showed symptoms for Covid-19, but was later shifted to Max Hospital in Saket for convalescent plasma therapy. Now, RGSSH has started administering convalescent plasma therapy to at least 200 patients under a trial being headed by the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, which houses the countrys first plasma bank. The hospital has also started a video calling facility to let families communicate with patients. On Monday, Lok Nayak Hospital also ramped up its ventilator bed capacity to 180 from 60. JP Nadda, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Monday once again trained his guns at Rahul Gandhi for what he called was the Congress leaders irresponsible behaviour as an opposition leader. Naddas tweet attacks came after Rahul Gandhis comments on the governments policies, including its handling of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), saying they become case studies for the Harvard Business School. The BJP president, on his part, questioned Gandhis absence from the meetings of Parliaments committee on defence-related matters. Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do, Nadda tweeted. Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do. Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 6, 2020 The senior BJP leader has questioned Rahul Gandhi in the past as well over his continuous criticism of the Centre after the June 15 violent border standoff with China in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. Before this, Nadda had accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to divide the nation and demoralise the countrys armed forces after the Congress leaders allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese. Nadda had asked him last month whether it was the effect of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the Congress had signed with the Communist Party of China. He has also hit out at the Congress, alleging that its leaders were demoralising the Indian Army. He had, in a series of tweets, questioned Manmohan Singhs statement over the June 15 brutal clash in Galwan Valley. Nadda also focussed on the glorious dynastic tradition. Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees dont matter, only commissions do. Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad, Nadda added. New Delhi: The Supreme Court expunged on Monday scathing criticism of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Delhi high court in connection with the bail application of Gautam Navlakha and set aside the high courts order asking to examine documents used to transfer the jailed activist from Delhi to Mumbai last month. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha said only courts in Mumbai, and not the Delhi high court, have the jurisdiction to decide Navlakhas bail plea. The 67-year-old activist is currently in Mumbais Taloja jail facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their alleged links with banned Maoist outfits. The entire exercise taken by the high court of Delhi was totally uncalled for..it was the jurisdiction of the Bombay court alone to entertain any application (of bail). The high court of Delhi should not have entertained the application at the threshold, the observations made are hereby ordered to be expunged, the bench said in its order. Since the respondent (Navlakha) has been moved to Bombay, he is at liberty to apply before the competent court in Bombay, the order added. Also read: European Parliaments panel on human rights expresses concern at arrest of Indian activists Navlakha, along with nine other activists, is wanted in connection with the violence that broke out in Maharashtras Bhima Koregaon village on January 1, 2018. Police say the activists had Maoist links and fuelled clashes by giving inflammatory speeches at an event called Elgar Parishad held on December 31, 2017. Navlakha surrendered on April 14, after the top courts order to the effect on April 8, and was taken to Mumbai by train on May 26. On May 27, the Delhi high court pulled up the NIA for taking away Navlakha from Tihar Jail to Mumbai even when his interim bail plea was pending here. Justice Anup Bhambhani had noted there was an evident haste shown by the NIA in moving pleas across Mumbai and Delhi over weekends and Gazetted holidays (Eid) and obtaining orders by e-mail, and whisking away Navlakha to Mumbai. The HC also sought to examine the documents produced by the agency in support of its production warrant from a special judge in Mumbai. During Mondays proceedings in the SC, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who was representing the NIA, submitted that on May 22, the NIA apprised the Delhi HC that Navlakha will be taken back to Mumbai as soon as the lockdown is lifted. We did nothing behind HCs back, Mehta said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Navlakha, told the apex court that the occasion to approach the Delhi HC arose after Navlakha took ill. Due to lockdown, Navlakha was lodged at Tihar Jail where he faced a high risk of contracting the coronavirus disease, said Sibal. The bench directed Sibal to seek all appropriate remedies before the competent court in Mumbai. Sibal objected to the remarks being expunged as the order was being set aside. But the court felt it necessary as the Delhi HC acted without jurisdiction. Also read- UAPA: When laws turn oppressive | Opinion It is not routine for the top court to expunge remarks but it has occurred in many cases before. Experts said the apex court, in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction, can expunge remarks made by it or by a lower court in exceptional cases to prevent abuse of the process of the court or to secure justice. Last week, Karnataka high court judge justice Krishna S Dixit expunged controversial remarks against a rape victim in his judgment granting bail to the accused UGC Guidelines 2020: Universities and colleges across the country will have to hold their final-year or final-semester examinations by September 30, the University Grants Commission (UGC) decided on Monday, in a move that coincided with the Union home ministrys approval to such institutes for conducting these tests. In a meeting held on Monday, UGC officials decided that final-year examinations can be held either online, or offline (pen and paper), or using a combination of both. For students not in final year, UGC, headed by DP Singh, allowed universities and colleges to choose their own method to close the academic session. Students missing the exams in September will get another chance and universities will conduct special exams as and when feasible, according to UGC guidelines. UGC officials also discussed a report prepared by a panel headed by Central University of Haryana vice-chancellor RC Kuhad on holding exams and deciding on the academic session. A large number of students, parents and teachers approached me and expressed concerns about their career opportunities and future progress nationally and globally. Keeping all aspects in view, the committee recommended that the students of terminal semesters or final years should be examined following offline, online or blended modes of exams, Kuhad told HT. Final-term examinations will be held in line with UGC guidelines on examinations and academic calendar for universities, and in compliance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, a home ministry statement said. The statement said the ministry sent a letter to the Union higher education secretary Amit Khare, permitting the conduct of examinations by Universities and Institutions. UGC vice-chairperson Bhushan Patwardhan, when contacted by HT, said the commission was committed to safeguarding the health and safety of students while also focusing on fair and equal opportunity for them. A statement by UGC said: Academic evaluation of students is very important milestone in any education system. The performance in examinations gives confidence and satisfaction to the students and is a reflection of competence, performance and credibility that is necessary for global acceptability. Colleges and universities are closed in the country since March 16 due to the pandemic. Several universities, including Delhi University, have tried holding exams, but met with opposition by students and parents. While a section of students has raised the issue of internet connectivity in case of online tests, the attempt to hold offline exams has triggered health concerns. While the final exams are now mandatory, UGC has allowed universities flexibility in taking decision on how to close the academic year for other semesters and years....It is being considered that in view of the situation, the academic year, earlier planned to begin in August-September, could be pushed further back, said an official who did not want to be named. While there is a general agreement that the academic year needs to be re-looked at, a decision will be taken later, the official said. Earlier, the human resource development ministry postponed JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) in view of Covid-19. JEE-Main examination will be held between September 1 and 6, while JEE (Advanced) will be held on September 27. NEET examination will be held on September 13. It was shortly after 1 a.m. in the Sandpiper Crescent Lincoln Military Housing complex off Shore Drive, and she and her husband had just finished moving a television into their master bedroom, she told The Virginian-Pilot Monday. Her husband, Nicholas, was putting away his handgun as he does every night when the shooting started. Several monuments across the country will reopen from Monday for the first time in more than 100 days since the lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus disease was clamped in March. However, only those monuments that are in non-containment zones will be open for visitors. District authorities in Agra have said the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbars tomb in Sikandra and other monuments will remain closed until further orders as they fall under containment zones. The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) had shut down more than 3,400 monuments on March 17, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown. Some 820 religious places under the ASI were reopened when the government announced a graded exit from the total shutdown under Unlock1. The Union culture ministry had on June 8 allowed 820 monuments to open, including the Taj Mahal. But the Agra administration decided against opening the Mughal-era monument in view of the rising number of coronavirus disease cases in the city. The Nizamuddin Dargah also got approval but its administration decided against opening the site. The culture ministry had given its approval last week for the reopening of monuments, places of worship, museums and heritage sites controlled by ASI. Officials said the decision to open these sites outside containment zones was taken in consultation with ASI. Here are the rules visitor have to follow while visiting these places: * No physical tickets will be issued until further orders and visitors will have to buy entry tickets through e-mode only * They will have to mandatorily use the contact-tracing Aarogya Setu mobile application * They will have to compulsorily wear masks and use sanitisers regularly * There will be separate paths for entry and exit * There will be thermal scanners at the entry points * Visitors status on Aarogya Setu will be checked before they are allowed to get in * There will be staggered entry and a cap on the number of people who can be present in a monument at a given time * ASI will also collect visitors phone numbers in case contact-tracing needs to be done later * E-ticketing facilities will also be ramped to ensure smooth and easy access * The number of visitors will be capped and there will be slots every day. * Visitors will have to stick to a time limit in order to ensure social distancing. At a time when most of India is in an Unlock phase, some states have selectively opted for a hard lockdown, confining residents indoors, shutting offices and commercial establishments and taking transport off the streets, to stanch the rising number of Covid-19 cases since restrictions began to be eased on June 1. The number of coronavirus disease cases in the country has almost quadrupled to 700,000 from 190,000 since the Unlock guidelines were enforced. Lockdowns were to continue in containment zones and hotspots until July 31, the Union home ministry said, allowing states to identify and demarcate such zones and impose fines on violators. Almost all activities except the opening of educational institutions, cinema halls and metro train services, have been allowed in the Unlock phase. On Monday, Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, went into what the state government said was a triple lockdown with almost all offices, shops and public transport closed. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan worked from his residence, Cliff House. And, at the state secretariat, only the offices of chief secretary, home and revenue secretaries were functional. The situation is grim, said Kerala tourism Minister Kadakkampally Surendran, adding that stringent restrictions will continue even after the week-long triple lockdown that was announced on Sunday ends. In the Thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation limits, 100 wards are fully closed and only essential services like banks, automated teller machines, pharmacies, hospitals, the media, milk booths, petrol pumps and gas agencies were functioning with minimal staff. Thiruvananthapuram deputy commissioner of police Divya Gopinath said cases would be registered and vehicles seized if people come out of their homes unnecessarily and violators of the restrictions would have to undergo institutional quarantine. The Kerala government had earlier imposed a triple lockdown in the northern Kasaragod and Kannur districts and in some parts of Malappuram to keep all Covid-19 patients and their primary and secondary contacts inside their houses to prevent community spread of the virus. Keralas coronavirus tally has crossed the 5,000 with 2,228 people under treatment and over 3,000 having recovered. On Sunday, the state reported 225 fresh cases, much fewer than several other small states such as Haryana, West Bengal and Odisha, but the government decided to impose a hard lockdown in the state capital, where half the new cases were reported. In Assam, the state government is set to extend the lockdown in the state capital of Guwahati, and the rest of Kamrup Metro district, as the number of Covid cases continue to rise. On Sunday, 777 new Covid-19 cases were reported, the single biggest spike in a day in the Kamrup Metro district, taking the districts tally for 10 days (between June 24 and July 4) to 2,741 cases, nearly one-fourth the total 11,001 cases in the state. We have to extend the lockdown in the district for another week as cases continue to rise, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. On June 28, the Assam government had imposed a 14-day hard lockdown in Kamrup Metro district, allowing only pharmacies to operate. States such as Odisha, Tripura and Karnataka have announced weekend curfews or hard lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, saw its first weekend curfew on June 5, which would continue till August 2, chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced on Sunday, while ruling out a complete lockdown in the state. All shops and business establishments except those selling essential goods and services are closed during the Sunday curfew. The weekend curfew in Odisha, which started on June 1, has been extended to 18 districts from an earlier 11 for the entire month of July as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state touched 10,000 on Monday. Around half the cases are locals, unlike in the months of May and June, when a majority of the cases detected were among migrant workers returning home from across the country. Some of the Odisha districts have added their own conditions to the shutdowns. In Dhenkanal district, the collector banned the entry of the devotees in various Shiva temples during the month of Shravan. In Koraput district, shops and business establishments can run between 7 am and 2 pm. Ganjam has banned non-essential vehicular movement till July 31. And the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation prohibited labourers belonging to hotspot states or districts from working in the industrial, construction, hotels/hospitality sectors till July 31. The weekend curfews help us to ramp up collecting swabs and conducting rapid testing, saida Odisha health department official who didnt want to be named. Tripuras capital city of Agartala has been under a weekend curfew since July 5. In an order, the state government has imposed 24-hour lockdown, which it says would continue on all Sundays in July. Our state is in the Covid-19 stage I. We need to prepare for Stage 2 and 3, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb said in announcing the Sunday lockdown. Tripura has reported 1,559 Covid-19 positive cases, of whom 1,199 recovered. Manipur has also imposed a lockdown in Jiribam district, 220 km west of Imphal, till July 15 after 28 police personnel posted at a border check-post with Assam tested positive. Manipur chief secretary Dr J Suresh Babu said only essential services will be allowed. Passenger coming by vehicles at Jiribam gate (from Assam) after the midnight of July 5 will not be allowed to pass and will be put in institutional quarantine at Jiribam, Babu said. Jiribam district authorities have declared 17 areas as containment zones. Manipur has reported 1,625 Covid cases, of whom 667 have recovered. (With inputs from state bureaus) Special trains between Howrah in West Bengal and coronavirus hotspot areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad will now run only once a week, railway officials said on Monday. The Mamata Banerjee administration in West Bengal had urged the Indian Railways to reduce the number of trains from hotspot areas as Covid-19 numbers in the state have been hitting new highs almost every day over the past one week. A spokesperson of the South Eastern Railway said that instead of daily trains, only one train would run between Howrah and Ahmedabad every week. The Howrah-Ahmedabad special will leave every Friday starting from July 10, while the Ahmedabad-Howrah Special will leave every Monday from July 13. Similarly, the Howrah Mumbai CSMT special will leave Howrah every Wednesday from July 15, while Mumbai CSMT- Howrah will leave Mumbai every Friday from July 17. The timings and stoppages will remain the same, the official said. The special trains between Howrah and New Delhi both via Patna and via Dhaanbad would also operate once a week starting from July 11. These trains used to run at least three to four times a week till date. Earlier, the civil aviation ministry suspended flights coming to Kolkata from six cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad between July 6 and July 19. No such restrictions were imposed on flights leaving Kolkata and travelling to the six cities. Till date, West Bengal has registered 22,987 Covid-19 cases with 861 new cases being reported on Monday. The death toll now stands at 779. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again targeted the Narendra Modi government, calling its demonetisation policy and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) failures. He also said that these policies along with the governments failure in handling of the coronavirus situation will be studied by the Harvard Business School. Future HBS case studies on failure: 1. Covid19. 2. Demonetisation. 3. GST implementation, Gandhi said on Twitter. Future HBS case studies on failure: 1. Covid19. 2. Demonetisation. 3. GST implementation. pic.twitter.com/fkzJ3BlLH4 Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 6, 2020 He also attached a clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation, superimposing a graph which shows the number of Covid-19 cases rising in the country and India reaching the third spot globally. Gandhi and his Congress party have been attacking the government over the Covid-19 situation in the country, comparing its policies with those of the western countries. He has also held a series of talks with public intellectuals and business leaders where Gandhi accused the government of centralising the power. He also talked about the migrant workers and the poor people who were hurt the most by the Covid-19 lockdown. When the number of Covid-19 cases crossed the five lakh mark last month, Gandhi had said that the Modi government is refusing to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Gandhi posted a media report on his Twitter handle in support of his comments and remarked that while coronavirus is rapidly spreading into new parts of the country, the government has no plan to defeat it. The prime minister is silent, Gandhi had tweeted. During a conversation with former US diplomat Nicholas Burns in June, Gandhi had accused the central government of taking decisions unilaterally. We have a government which takes decisions unilaterally. It decided to impose a hard lockdown and the result was for everyone to see. You had thousands of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometres to their hometowns. This type of episodic leadership is very very disruptive, he had said. India, meanwhile, went past Russia in terms of the number of Covid-19 infections to become the third biggest hotspot of the coroanvirus disease. The grim milestone came after four consecutive days of record highs in new cases of Covid-19. The country reported 24,422 new cases and 421 new deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 697,284 and fatalities to 19,700. Public health experts, however, say that while India has a high Covid-19 caseload, its case fatality rate, at 2.8%, is much lower than the global average of 4.7%. Despite the sharp rise in the number of positive cases of Covid-19 in the last one month, Telangana has been lagging far behind neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in testing, tracing and treatment of the people affected with the virus. The Andhra Pradesh government has claimed to have crossed the one million mark in conducting tests, but Telangana has reported only one-tenth of it till now. By Monday morning, the total number of tests conducted in AP was 10,33,852, whereas only 1,15,835 tests were conducted in Telangana. Right from the beginning, we have been aggressively implementing the three-pronged strategy of tracing, testing and treating to contain the spread and intensity of Covid-19. We have been trying to cover every household to ensure that no suspect is left untested, Andhra Pradesh nodal officer for Covid-19 Dr Arja Sreekanth said. He pointed out that Andhra had started its journey from zero labs for testing on March 6 and it now has 78 facilities, including government, private and TrueNat labs along with dedicated hospitals for treating Covid-19 patients. While it took 59 days to complete the first one lakh tests for Covid-19, the state has consistently increased the testing capacity and completed the last three lakh tests in just 12 days, he said. Stating that extensive testing has been the weapon in the battle against Covid-19, Sreekanth said the state government had made use of the services of village volunteers for community surveillance, monitoring the health condition of the people. So far, the state has reported 238 deaths and 20,009 Covid-19 positive cases. The tests per million population in Andhra Pradesh has reached 19,047 against the national average of 6,878 tests per million. With extensive testing and timely treatment, the mortality rate stands at 1.24 per cent which is much lower than the national average of 2.86 per cent. On the other hand, the rate of testing has been very low in Telangana from the beginning. In fact, the state medical and health department had been reluctant to disclose the total number of samples tested in the regular media bulletins for quite some time. It was on May 16, that the department disclosed, while presenting data analytics of testing based on gender and age distribution among the patients that a total of 23,388 samples were tested till then. It was exactly after a month from June 16, that the department started sharing the details of testing. On June 16, it disclosed that as many as 44,431 samples were tested since the first case was reported in the state on March 1. So, between May 16 and June 16, only 21,043 tests were conducted in a span of 31 days an average of just 678 tests per day. Between June 16 and till now, as many as 71,404 samples were tested in a span of 19 days an average of 3,758 tests per day. This is basically because the Telangana government has stepped up testing and allowed private labs to test the samples, following the visit of central teams and a reprimand from the state high court. We have taken up 50,000 rapid tests in Hyderabad and surrounding districts, besides allowing private laboratories for the first time. We are going by the ICMR guidelines for testing, instead of doing indiscriminate testing, state medical and health director, G Srinivasa Rao said. Compared to 78 testing labs in Andhra including seven private labs, Telangana has only 36 testing labs including 22 private ones. However, the Telangana health department has noticed that the positive cases have been shooting up abnormally ever since the private labs have started testing. In the last one month, the number of positive cases for Covid-19 went up by over 19,000 from 3,290 to 22,312. The number of deaths has also gone up from 113 to 288, an increase of 175 fatalities in one month. Our expert teams have found a lot of discrepancies in the testing by certain private labs which has resulted in a high positivity rate. In one lab, it was as high as 71 per cent. We have served notices to 13 private labs seeking an explanation and asking them to rectify errors in testing, Rao said. Health expert Somasekhar Mulugu, however, said the figures being furnished by the state government cannot be taken for granted and there had been several discrepancies between the bulletins and actual figures. What is more important for the government is to create sufficient health infrastructure in state-run hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients. The existing infrastructure is grossly insufficient to tackle the increasing pandemic, he said. Hyderabad Municipal staff of the temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradeshs Chittoor district drew ire on social media after a video of them using an earth mover to dump a victims body into the grave went viral on Monday. The video showed sanitation staff of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation lifting the body of the Covid-19 victim using the earth mover and dumping it into an already dug pit in the graveyard. The body was that of a 50-year old man, a resident of a village on the outskirts of Tirupati, who was admitted to state-run Sri Venkateshwara Ram Narayan Ruia Hospitals last week. He died of Covid-19 on Monday. The municipal staff, wearing PPE and masks, brought the body in the ambulance belonging to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to Harischandra cremation ground. They pulled the body out of the ambulance and placed it on the ground. Then they used the earth mover to dump it in the grave. As the video was telecast by the local television channels, Tirupati municipal commissioner P S Girisha called a press conference to explain the action. Generally, we cremate the bodies of Covid-19 victims in the electric crematorium. So far, we have cremated 17 bodies without any complaints, he said. The body of this particular victim was also taken to the electric crematorium, said Girisha. However, it was very heavy, weighing around 175-180 kgs, and tall; it did not fit on the pyre. As it was being lifted, the wrapping around the body got torn. As part of standard operating procedure, it was again taken to the hospital to be wrapped again, he said. The municipal authorities then decided to give it a burial instead of cremation. As per the Covid-19 protocol, they had to dig a 14 ft-deep pit using the earth moving machine. The municipal staff were exhausted as they had already carried the body three or four times. So, they had to use the earth mover to shift the body from the ambulance to the grave, hardly two metres away and bury the body. This was done only after taking the consent of the relatives of the deceased, Girisha said. He, however, admitted that the municipal staff should not have used the machine to dump the body in such a disrespectful manner. They should have engaged another five or six more workers to carry the body physically, the municipal commissioner said. The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday further increased the prize money for the arrest of dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey, who headed the gang which shot dead eight policemen who came to arrest him. The prize money has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh, news agency ANI quoted Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Hitesh Chandra Awasthy as saying. The prize money was increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh on Sunday for the arrest of Dubey, who has been on the run since the killing of the policemen near his home in Bikru village in Kanpur rural late on Thursday night. Fifty dedicated teams and over 3,000 police personnel across the state have been deployed in a massive manhunt to nab the gangster. DGP Awasthy had said that an alert has been sounded in all 75 districts of the state for the arrest of Dubey and the search for the gangster intensified. His photo was put up at Unnao toll plaza on Monday by the police. A huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from Dubeys house after it was demolished on Sunday. The police are also probing how did Dubey get the information about the police raid. At least 30 cops are being investigated for their links with the gangster. Meanwhile, three more policemen have been suspended after investigation revealed that they were in regular touch with Dubey. The suspended policemen include two sub-inspectors and a constable. News agency PTI reported SSP as saying that an FIR will be lodged against these policemen. Their role was confirmed in the in-house investigation conducted by the force, officials said. The call records of these cops were checked to arrive at the conclusion that they were speaking to the gangster regularly. The process to terminate them from service will also begin, senior officials said. Before this, Chaubeypurs station officer (SO) Vinay Tiwari was suspended and shifted to Lucknow on Saturday. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier announced Rs 1 crore each ex-gratia for the families of the policemen who were killed in Bikru village. Uttarakhand police have warned that kanwariyas found entering the state illegally into the state will be put under paid quarantine to deter them from coming to Haridwar for the kanwar pilgrimage. This years pilgrimage was cancelled after consultation among the governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Only those pass holders heading to Haridwar for immersing ashes in post-cremation rituals are being allowed at Har-Ki-Pauri in Haridwar with police pickets put up at 1 km periphery of Har-Ki-Pauri with barricades at ten spots. One platoon of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) has also been deployed at Har-Ki-Pauri. Haridwars Senior Superintendent of Police D Senthy Aboodai Krishan Raj S said that adequate security forces have been deployed at the interstate border check posts, Har-Ki-Pauri and other sensitive points. He added that local devotees are only allowed to offer Ganga water at temples amidst strict adhering to social distancing norms and wearing masks. To ensure smooth management, we have deployed police personnel at prominent temples, he said. Interstate border with Uttar Pradesh has been sealed from Sunday night with the deployment of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) at border stretches of Lakshars Balawali village bordering Bijnore district and Badivala which falls on the border of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Similarly other borders posts of Mandavar in Bhagwanpur block and Narsain in Mangalore have also been put under PAC cover with additional deployment of state police. Station house officer Khanpur PD Bhatt said round the clock monitoring is being done at both Balawali and Badiwali posts as they fall near Uttar Pradeshs bordering districts. At Jhabreda, the border post at Gokalpur and Kharkhadi, Uttarakhand police is allowing only valid pass holders to enter the state. Meanwhile, half a dozen police teams have headed for Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Haryana to disseminate information about cancellation of this years kanwar yatra. These police teams are being sent to neighboring states aided with hoardings, pamphlets, flex and dossiers to ensure they generate awareness about the cancellation of this years Kanwar yatra and fair. In case any kanwariya illegally arrives in Haridwar, he or she will be put under paid quarantine. Intense drive on the border check posts is being carried out to ensure no Kanwariya enters the hill state, Haridwars Superintendent of City Police Kamlesh Upadhyay said. The border with Uttar Pradesh has been sealed from Sunday night and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel have been deployed on the interstate border, said police. Last year 3.60 crore kanwariyas had travelled from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh to Haridwar to fetch sacred Ganga water. Vikas Dubey, head of the gang that laid a trap for the police team in Kanpur, operated like Maoists, a senior police officer said after huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from his house. A huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the residence of Vikas Dubey, during search. Some of the weapons recovered are licensed under names of people associated with him, but they were used by Vikas. This is similar to how naxals operate, BK Srivastava, Superintendent of Police, Kanpur Rural told mediapersons on Sunday. A bunker, two kg of explosives, six country-made pistols, 25 live rounds and shrapnels were found in Dubeys house when it was demolished by the police. Heavy explosives were kept there, it could be so powerful that it would blow up the whole house. He has about 12 licensed weapons in his family. Vikas Dubey used to issue arms licenses in the name of people living with him and then used them for himself, Srivastava added. Kanpur inspector general (IG) Mohit Agarwal said that the bunker that Dubey built was stocked with items on which he and his men could have survived for days in case of a prolonged siege. Police had taken the decision to pull down the house following inputs that the criminal had hidden firearms on the premises, he said. The police are looking for Dubey, who they believe slipped out of Uttar Pradesh before the states borders were sealed. UPs Director General of Police (DGP) Hitesh Chandra Awasthy said that an alert has been sounded in all 75 districts of the state for the arrest of Dubey and the search for the gangster intensified. Fifty dedicated teams and over 3,000 police personnel across the state have been deployed in a massive manhunt to nab the gangster. Dubey is the main accused in the case in which eight policemen, part of a team whch had gone to arrest the gangster, were killed after being attacked by his men late on Thursday night. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced Rs 1 crore each ex-gratia for the families of the policemen who were killed in the Bikru village encounter. The Nepal Sashastra Prahari (NSP) or Nepal Armed Police which was manning six new border outposts set up along border with India near Dharchula area of Uttarakhands Pithoragarh district have withdrawn two of them a few days ago, state government officials said on Monday. The development has come amid reports of Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli coming under attack from his ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) for his anti-India posture. A standing committee of the NCP was also to hold a meeting to decide Olis future on Monday but was postponed till Wednesday. The six new border outposts were set up by Nepal about a month ago following a rift in relations with New Delhi after India inaugurated a strategically important road connecting the Lipulekh Pass with Dharchula town in Pithoragarh district. Since then, Olis government has claimed that Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura areas of Pithoragarh district were Nepalese territories. Nepals Parliament also passed a new map showing the three areas in it. Confirming the removal of the border posts, Anil Kumar Shukla, sub-divisional magistrate of Dharchula said, The two border outposts manned by NSP were removed two days ago. Shukla said, We noticed it during a brief meeting with Nepalese authorities a few days ago at the check post. When we enquired about it, they said it was done on order of higher authorities. Another official privy to the development said on the condition of anonymity, The two outposts that were removed were located in Ukku and Bakra areas of their Darchula district near Indo-Nepal border. There are reports that three more newly set up Nepal border outposts would soon be removed, which is a major development, he said. SDM Shukla said the high cost of maintaining the posts at remote areas could have been a factor in their removal. It seems their move came after the purpose, for which the border outposts were set up, was not served, he said. They were largely set up amid the territorial dispute to check on illegal activities, if any, and the movement of Indian forces at the border. But, as illegal activities are mainly confined to drug trafficking or smuggling at a minor scale through this border, their purpose was not served. And on top of that, the cost of maintaining these posts with men at such a remote location was significantly high. Hence, they removed the two posts, said Shukla. Experts on Indo-Nepal relations in Uttarakhand termed Nepals move a significant one amid the tension in bilateral ties. L L Verma, a retired professor of political science at Kumaon University and a close observer of Indo-Nepal ties said, The removal of the outposts by Nepal signifies the change in its approach towards India amid tensions and PM Olis slipping grip in the government. 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. The World Bank and the central government has signed an agreement worth $750 million to boost the flow of finance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the Covid-19 crisis, the Ministry of Finance stated. The agreement is for the MSME Emergency Response Programme which will provide increased financial support to the MSMEs that have borne the impact of the coronavirus crisis in the past few months. The World Banks MSME Emergency Response program will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time, read a statement released by the World Bank. On the behalf on the Government of India, the agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank. This project will support the Government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivize NBFCs and banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis, Khare said. The international baning body, including its private sector arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will support the governments initiatives to protect the MSME sector by unlocking liquidity, enabling financial innovations and supporting key market-oriented channels of credit such as the NBFCs and Small Finance Bank (SFBs), the release read. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to attach a Central London property as well as fixed deposits worth around Rs 50 crore belonging to Rana Kapoor next week, people familiar with development said on condition of anonymity. The attachment of property in London is the first major overseas act by the investigative agency in the case , which deals with Kapoors alleged use of the bank to extend loans in exchange for kickbacks as detailed in EDs May 6, 2020, charge sheet against Kapoor. The agency has identified that a company run by Kapoors daughter Rakhi Kapoor , Doit Creation Jersey Ltd, having investment of Rs 83 crore, has three properties in London including an office-cum-guest house at 77 South Audley Street, London worth 11.5 million British Pounds (around Rs 107 crore) and another residential property. Also read: Supreme Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of DHFL promoters in Yes Bank money laundering case Without divulging details of the specific property under the scanner, one of the people cited in the first instance, an officer at the agency said: One property in Central London will be attached next week under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for which documentation is already done. Kapoors lawyer Subhash Jadhav declined comment. The anti-money laundering probe agency has identified several expensive properties owned by Kapoors family and companies run by them including bungalows, villas, clubs, resorts, apartments, farmland, etc in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, London, the US , the UK and other places worth several thousand crores, and the people cited in th first instance added that these may have been obtained with proceeds from kickbacks for loans given to undeserving companies. Three of these bungalows are in Delhis Lutyens Zone alone , 40 Amrita Shergill Marg (worth Rs 375 crore), 18 Kautilya Marg (Rs 195 crore) and 20 Sardar Patel Marg (Rs 175 crore) . Then there is 7.5 acres of prime beach-front land in Alibaug, near Mumbai. ED has already attached properties worth Rs 59 crore in India. This will be first attachment abroad in Yes Bank scam. More will follow soon, said the officer cited above. Both ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have already filed chargesheets in May and June respectively against the founder of Yes Bank and his family members. While ED has claimed that Rana Kapoor used Yes Bank as his personal fiefdom to carry illegal activities over the years and that there was a poor credit culture, poor compliance culture, and centralization of power as well as lack of institutionalization in the bank. Also read: YES Bank asks court to restrain Zee stake sale Rana Kapoor perpetrated the entire scam by firstly taking money out of Yes Bank under the garb of debentures and loans, by abusing his position in the bank and secondly, receiving kickbacks/gratification for the same, EDs chargesheet says. The agency has pegged the proceeds of crime at Rs 5,050 crore and says a complex web of at least 100 shell companies was used to channel this money. Loans worth around Rs 30,000 crore given under the tenure of Rana Kapoor (he co-founded the bank in 2004 and was MD-CEO till January 2019) have turned into bad loans and out of these, Rs 20,000 crore have become NPAs (non-performing assets), according to ED. CBI has claimed in its chargesheet last month that Rana Kapoor conspired with Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Limited) for benefitting each other using public money. Kapoor is currently in Mumbais Taloja jail. After two Malinois dogs became members of its canine squad 15 days back, West Bengal forest department on Sunday inducted a German Shepherd for anti- poaching operations, an official said. The recruit, Sweetie, became the third member in the dog squad deployed to track poaching and related crimes in Buxa Tiger Reserve in North Bengal. Chief Wildlife Warden Ravikant Sinha said the two other dog squad members of Buxa Tiger Reserve were Sylvie, also a German Shepherd, and Karim, a Malinois. Sweetie also became the 10th member of the West Bengal forest departments dog squad. Earlier on June 20, two dogs of Malinois breed - Orlando and Shyana - were deployed at Gorumara in North Bengal and Sunderbans in South Bengal respectively. The deployment of the dogs came following reports of poaching and trafficking of body parts of wild animals. The canines have also been trained to find out hidden firearms by poachers. The Rajasthan government has decided to cancel all undergraduate and postgraduate exams for all the universities, colleges and technical educational institutions for the academic year 2019-2020, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The decision was taken by chief minister Ashok Gehlot after a meeting on Saturday. In view of the scenario of the corona epidemic, examinations of UG and PG courses of higher and technical education will not be conducted this year, and all students will be promoted to the next class without examination, said Gehlot. With respect to the determination of the marks of the students being promoted, Gehlot said the Union ministry of human resource development will take appropriate decisions after studying the guidelines issued in the next few days. The process to determine marks of the students and the promotion to the next class will be decided after examining the guidelines which will be issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the state government said. The meeting was attended by state higher education minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati, minister of state for technical education Subhash Garg, chief secretary Rajiv Swaroop, additional chief secretary finance Niranjan Arya, and higher education secretary Shuchi Sharma and other officers. The state has reported 19,532 Covid-19 cases far. Of these, over 400 patients have died. Maharashtra on Monday breached the 9,000-mark in Covid-19 fatalities with 204 more deaths, taking the toll to 9,026. The states case fatality rate (CFR) is 4.26%. The state recorded 5,368 fresh Covid-19 cases lowest single-day figure since June 30 taking the tally to 211,987. Mumbai is inching closer to the grim mark of 5,000 fatalities as it recorded 39 new deaths, taking the toll to 4,938. Mumbai recorded 1,200 new Covid-19 infections, pushing its tally to 85,724. There are 87,681 active cases in the state and 23,624 in Mumbai. After an upward trend in the daily cases reported, the state saw a relatively lower increase on Monday. The state recorded 5,537 cases on July 1, 6,330 on July 2, 6,364 on July 3, 7,074 on July 4 and 6,555 on July 5. However, state health department officials said that it is not a trend to consider yet as the incubation cycle in several areas is not completed and there would be an upswing in daily cases for a few more days. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) continued to contribute a chunk of the new infections with 2,169 cases or 40.41% of the states total cases were reported from the region, excluding Mumbai, on Monday. In the past 15 days, the region recorded 32,631 cases. On Monday, Thane city and Thane district recorded 301 and 250 new cases respectively, while Kalyan-Dombivli recorded 454 Covid-19 infections. The total cases in Thane city are 12,260 while it is 10,854 in Kalyan-Dombivli. Vasai-Virar reported 283 new infections, while adjoining Mira-Bhayander reported 123. Besides Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane recorded 28 and 10 fatalities respectively, while Pune, Vasai Virar and Nashik city reported 13 deaths each on Monday. Jalgaon district reported 12 deaths on Monday. The daily rise in cases is lower on Monday. But it is hardly a trend unless it sustains for a longer period. The cases in MMR and few other regions are still increasing. We expect the cases to rise till this month-end before they start to plateau, said a senior health department official. Besides MMR, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Jalgaon, Jalna and Aurangabad have also clocked several cases on Monday. Pune reported 520 cases, while Pimpri-Chinchwad reported 257 new cases. Jalgaon district reported 188 new cases. Aurangabad district and city reported 83 and 161 new cases, taking the total cases there to 6,782. The local administration in Jalgaon, Jalna, and Aurangabad has announced a complete lockdown looking at the spike in cases in the past few days. In the wake of the rising cases, the district administration and municipal bodies are enforcing stringent lockdowns to manage patients and the burden on health infrastructure. There would be a complete lockdown in Aurangabad city from July 10 to July 18 in the wake of rising number of coronavirus cases. This phase of the lockdown will be in force for nine days and only essential services will be allowed to operate during this period. Jalna district collector Ravindra Binwade has already announced a lockdown in the district from Monday till July 16, while a lockdown has been announced in Jalgaon from Tuesday. State health commissioner Dr Anup Kumar Yadav said that the priority before the state government is to keep mortality in check. He said that the state had set up a task force with expert doctors to tend to critical patients. We have changed clinical guidelines, have set up a task-force in every district where advice from expert doctors, epidemiologists and virologists are being made available to rural patients with comorbidities, Yadav. Yadav added that the state government is also procuring adequate quantities of drugs that could prove to be life-saving for patients in critical condition. Without divulging the quantity of remdesivir and other drugs, Yadav said, We have some stock of these drugs, and we are also procuring more for every district. He added that the state is also adding ventilators in districts and tier-two cities where the health infrastructure is weaker. In a bid to give a boost to the reopening of businesses, the state government has decided to allow any private establishment seeking to reopen to get their staff tested for Covid-19. The state medical education and drugs department (MEDD) issued a government resolution (GR) on Monday stating that private establishment had repeatedly sought relaxations in getting their staffers tested before reopening their businesses. According to the GR, minimum 50 people are required from an establishment for a group test. The head of the establishment must approach the district collector or municipal commissioner in urban areas to seek approval for the tests. They would have to mention the type of test they want to undergo, including RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT, antibody, or antigen test, in their application. It is a part of Mission Begin Again for establishments that want to reopen. The establishments can approach the district collector and get approval for tests, and say we have this private lab and we need permission to test our employees. We have allowed two things: all labs to conduct antigen and antibody tests so testing is ramped up, said Sanjay Mukherjee, secretary, MEDD. Meanwhile, the recovery rate in the state continued to remain over 54 % with 3,522 patients discharged on Monday. So far, 1,15,262 patients have been discharged after full recovery until today. The total number of active cases in the state stands at 87,681. (with inputs from Eeshanpriya MS) The number of personnel in the Mumbai Police who tested positive for Covid-19 continued to rise on Monday, with the total now at 2,975. Of the total cases, 535 personnel are currently undergoing treatment, while 2,397 have recovered. The number of fatalities in the city police force stands at 43, while the toll for the state police force has reached 70 after three more personnel from Mumbai, Thane and Amravati died. Among the new cases in the Mumbai Police, a senior inspector from Bandra police station and two assistant inspectors of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) tested positive for Covid-19. According to Bandra police officers, the senior inspectors driver had fever and tested positive for the virus, following which the senior inspector also got tested. His result arrived on Saturday. The senior police inspector is asymptomatic and is in home quarantine, said an officer. In another case, a 57-year-old police head constables son has complained to Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Twitter, alleging that his father, who is due for retirement in 10 months, contracted the virus due to negligence of the department. He also claimed that five other members of his family also got infected because of it. He said that though his father was aged above 55 and was exempted from duty, he was called on duty by the police station in-charge and deputed in containment zones. However, senior police officers denied the allegation stating that a departmental inquiry was already conducted into the case and the allegations are baseless. The government resolution issued in June asked all government employees to come on duty at least once a week. The senior police inspector followed this and called the head constable to be on duty. The head constable was never assigned duty in any risky area. He is suspected to have contracted the virus from the building he was staying in which had infected people. The building has been sealed now. All rules were followed properly and the allegations are baseless. The police station in-charge did not flout any rule, said Ravindra Patil, assistant commissioner of police (Kurla division), who conducted the inquiry in the matter. The Maharashtra government has initiated an industrial employment bureau that will help in providing jobs to the unemployed youths of the state. The bureau will also fulfil the labour requirements of the industries. The job seeker and the employer both can register and meet their requirements on the portal mahajobs.maharashtra.gov.in. The state government has incorporated 950 professions from 17 sectors in the portal. The portal was launched by the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. The state, however, has put a condition that the person seeking employment with the help of the bureau should be a domicile. The portal will bridge the gap between the employers and local skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers and ensure jobs to everyone, the chief minister said after launching the portal. Our aim is to end unemployment in the state. The portal is an employment bureau that will provide workforce to the industries. This is being done, bringing both the job seeker and the employer on a common platform, said state industries minister Subhash Desai. Those who are in need of a job will have to apply on the portal. They also wont have to wait forever. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) will ensure that they will be employed based on the credentials, the industries minister said. A person looking for a job will have to register on the portal by sharing details such as education, training if taken any, diploma etc. At the same time, companies can also place their requirement by giving details on the job openings. The in-house software developed by the information technology department will match the requirement and the company will be informed about the workforce available as per their requirement, said P Anbalagan, chief executive officer (CEO), MIDC. This will be done with the help of a dedicated cell of the MIDC. Once, intimated the company can start selection process and hire those who will be selected, he added. The portal has started getting response within hours after being launched. As many as 13,500 job seekers and 150 companies have registered on the portal on Monday. On domicile condition, Desai said that they have a policy for the industries on providing 80% jobs to the locals and the domicile condition will work towards complying the state orders. We have put only one condition that only those can register on the portal who have been staying in Maharashtra for last 15 years and possesses domicile certificate. This is being done to ensure that locals get the priority, he said. The state also has plans to provide training to all those wasnt selected by the company for lack of skills. In the next stage of the project, we are planning to provide the required skills to the unemployed people who could not get selected by a company because of lack of skills. This will ensure that no one who has applied on the portal will be left without a job, said a senior official from state industries department. Mithibai College in Vile Parle has allowed some of its students to pay their fees in instalments after students and political parties raised complaints over a hike in fees despite orders from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and University of Mumbai (MU). On June 29, HT had reported that the college run by Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) charitable trust had hiked its fees for second- and third-year students. Following the announcement, student bodies of political parties such as Yuva Sena of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Student Islamic Organisation had taken the matter up with the management of the institute and the state Fee Regulatory Authority, respectively. While Mithibai College has increased the fees by up to 30%, students had sought an option to pay their fees in instalments as the income of their families had been affected owing to the lockdown. On Monday, students were informed that those with genuine reasons for inability to pay fees will be allowed to pay in parts. Students have to write to the heads of their departments and the principal stating reasons if they are unable to pay their fees. The college will then verify the claim and approve it on a case-to-case basis, said a third-year student on the condition of anonymity. All decisions in the college are taken by the principal. I cannot comment on the same, said Asoke Basak, chief executive officer of SVKM. Rajpal Hande, principal of the college, did not respond to calls and messages. The college had given a four-day window to students for making payments between June 27 and 30, which was later extended till July 6. However, students said that this was against the letter issued by UGC, the apex governing body of all higher educational institutes, on May 27 wherein it had asked all universities and colleges to be sympathetic towards students while asking them to pay tuition and other fees. Subsequently, MU instructed all colleges, including autonomous ones, to not hike fees for the academic year 2020-21 and allow students to pay fees in instalments. Meanwhile, Yuva Sena has written to state higher and technical education minister Uday Samant to issue a circular to all colleges and universities in the state to provide the option of part payment of fees and consider reduction of fees in view of the Covid-19 situation. An increasing number of citizens and celebrities have complained about inflated bills received in June, resulting in a social media outrage post the announcement of unlock 1.0. In some cases, the bills are two-three times more than the average bill of the household. However, utility companies and experts maintain that the bills are higher owing to the suspension of meter-reading in March-end, more usage of electronic gadgets due to the lockdown and hot weather in the summer months of March, April and May. If you see the average demand in Mumbai during the day, in these months - it was around 1,800 megawatts (MW), which spiked to 2,400 MW between 11pm and 5am, when the air-conditioners were on, said Ashok Pendse, a noted Mumbai-based power expert and a consumer representative at the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). As per MERC guidelines, meter-reading was suspended at the end of March and utilities were asked to charge consumers based on the average of the preceding three months - December, January and February, which were winter months. This effectively means that consumers underpaid in the months of April and May when consumption was high. And in June, when actual meter-reading began, the residual electricity amount was also taken into consideration, said an official from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL). During the lockdown period, only 2.32% consumers across the state were billed as per actual reading, data reveals. Last week, MSEDCL also released a video, explaining the multiple reasons behind the high bills. The video shows that when all members of the household are at home, more gadgets are being used. The video shows people utilising chargers, laptops, air-conditioners and mixers, when in the house. People should also remember that when your consumption is high, you are also charged at a higher slab, Pendse said further. For instance, if MSEDCL charges 4.91/unit for 0-100 units, it increases to 8.88/unit for 100-300 units and so forth. A BJP MLA from Mumbai, who has been addressing complaints in his area since a month, said, In my own house, all gadgets were in use throughout the day during the lockdown. People are not able to accept this fact, and their frustration, also a result of the lockdown, is pouring on social media. Owing to the lockdown and job losses, peoples income and spending capacity have also reduced. There is a simple way to check if your bill is right, says Pendse. If you have received a bill where your consumption is 1,500 units, go and check your meter. If it is higher than 1,500 units, that means the bill is right, if it is at 1430 units, you can approach the utility to check the meter again. In any case, if your bill is more than double of the average for the period of March-May 2020, utilities are bound to give you an option to make payment in three easy monthly instalments, Pendse explained. MERC, in a directive issued to utilities, has also stated that utilities cannot disconnect power supply unless the grievances are resolved. -- The Shiv Sena on Monday targeted chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the killings of eight police personnel by henchmen of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey last week and warned that he should not become Dawood (Ibrahim) of Nepal for India. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said that the killings of the police personnel during a raid has exposed the encounter specialist UP government and asked what has changed since Yogi Adityanath became the UP chief minister in March 2017. Eight police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were gunned down last week at a village near Kanpur by the henchmen of Dubey. An accomplice of Dubey has been arrested, while the gangster is still at large. Also read: 3 more Kanpur cops suspected of leaking raid info to Vikas Dubey suspended The Saamana editorial said that Dubey is said to have fled to neighbouring Nepal. Pointing to the porous border and current relations with Nepal, the editorial said, Indias border with Nepal has always been a concern in such cases. At the moment, our relations with Nepal are also not good. In this perspective, Vikas Dubey shouldnt prove to be Dawood of Nepal for us tomorrow. The editorial stated that Uttar Pradesh is often referred to as Uttam Pradesh, but it now stands soaked in the blood of policemen leaving the country in a state of shock. How did Dubeys name not feature in the list of UP government which is otherwise known for finishing off gangsters in encounters, the editorial asked in a series of questions to Adityanaths government. During the three-year tenure of Adityanath, more than 113 gangsters were gunned down, while Dubey had built an unauthorised bungalow that came to the governments notice only after the gangster orchestrated the killings of policemen, which is unfortunate, the editorial said. Also read | Vikas Dubey, UPs most wanted man, may have fled UP before borders were sealed: Cops It has been more than three years since the Yogi government came to power in Uttar Pradesh. During this period, the police had encounters of more than 113 goons, but how did the name Vikas Dubey get dropped in it? He has over 60 serious crimes, including murder and robbery. But how did he survive due to lack of evidence? How did the police become witnesses on his behalf? Is the list of encounters being prepared according to the convenience of Uttar Pradesh police and government? If someone makes such an allegation, what does the Yogi government have to say on this? questioned the editorial. It added that the incident revived the memories of the killing of 11 policemen in UPs Kathuapur by a dacoit named Chaviram four decades ago. Even after 40 years, if gangsters can kill policemen in this manner than what has changed in Yogi Maharajs Uttar Pradesh There are several questions that Yogi government will have to answer because Uttam Pradesh is now soaked in the blood of policemen, it said. BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Some U.S. and Western politicians have recently made false accusations against the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Here are one of the rumors they spread, and the facts. Rumor: The legislation on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong marks the end of "one country, two systems" and deprives Hong Kong of its high degree of autonomy. Facts: -- Article 1 of the law reaffirms the commitment to "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong people administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy. The goal of this legislation is to close the critical loophole in national security in Hong Kong, cement the foundation of "one country," and provide maximum safeguard for Hong Kong to harness the strengths of "two systems" on the basis of upholding "one country." -- The enacted legislation will not affect the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents under the law. It will not affect the HKSAR's independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication. There will be no change to the policy of "one country, two systems," the capitalist system, the high degree of autonomy, or the legal system of the HKSAR. How quickly can a peaceful protest march in a representative democracy turn into a perverted mob violating those very noble principles for whose sake it was aroused in the first place? I well remember walking the Virginia Beach Oceanfront as a volunteer police chaplain, the police officers harrowing challenge to prevent a large crowd from rioting. It behooves all concerned to note that counter acts of violence only serve to postpone progress and provoke fear at large, providing an opening for over-reaching authoritarian rule and the curtailment of freedoms in the guise of public safety demands. Some 2,000 years ago the rabbis taught us that without basic respect for government people would swallow one another and indeed the rule of law for equal protection of the weak and powerful is an absolute requirement and the veneer of civilized conduct is regrettably thin. Over the last month, the Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML), the largest power distributor in Mumbai, received 48,000 complaints on inflated power bills. Adani officials, however, said that only 2,111 complaints need a re-validation. In a press conference addressed by the groups chief executive officer (CEO) on Monday, AEML said that it had anticipated that there will be complaints about the bills and had also intimidated consumers about it when actual meter-reading began on June 1. Kandarp Patel, CEO, AEML said, We had intimated consumers via messages and email that there will be an increase in billing later owing to the lockdown and suspension of actual meter-reading. In 2019, we had observed a 33% difference in consumption between the winter and summer months. This year, owing to the lockdown, there has been a 50% difference in consumption. Patel also said that around 11,300 and 35,120 readings were received from customers in April and May respectively Owing to the lockdown, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had asked utilities to suspend meter-reading. For March-May, consumers were being billed on an average of the December, January and February months. Many consumers, including Bollywood actors, took to Twitter to complain about being charged excessively. 95% of the complaints have been addressed and there has not been a single bill which was wrong so far, said Paresh Chaudhry, group president - corporate brand custodian, Adani Group. The company now has a recovery due of almost 750 crore. Almost 6.7 lakh consumers have not paid their bills in the last one month, Patel added. He also said that if consumers were billed as per 2019s consumption in March, April and May, it would have been better, however, power regulations restrict billing, in such case, to calculate as per the presiding three months. As a measure towards removing human intervention from meter reading, the distributor is also looking at installing seven lakh meters in the city by March 2022. Meanwhile, on Monday, AEML also termed remarks of a Bollywood actor against the group on Twitter as derogatory and irresponsible. According to AEML, the actor had recently posted an April 2019 bill to complain of high electricity bills and used derogatory remarks. The actor, however, later deleted the tweet. -- The Ghaziabad Police on Monday arrested the owner of an illegal candle-making factory in Modi Nagar where eight people were killed in a fire, officials said. The blaze at the factory in Bakharwa village was reported around 4 pm on Sunday after an explosion that brought down the roof and gutted the building, the officials said. The factory had stockpiled highly inflammable material used in small quantities to make sparkler candles, which is generally used to decorate birthday cakes, according to the officials. The factory owner, Nitin Chaudhary, who was on the run for 18 hours, was arrested on Monday morning and is being questioned, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani said. He told the police that the candles were stocked in the factory and were being packed when the blaze broke out, Naithani said. An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by local villagers. Chaudhary has been booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as relevant sections of the Explosives Act and the Criminal law (Amendment) Act, the SSP said. Investigation revealed that the factory was being run in his ancestral house, Naithani told PTI. The ownership documents of the house will be scrutinised. In case the factory was operating at a rented premise, the owner will also be booked, the officer said. Seven women workers and a 16-year-old boy were killed in the fire at the factory. Another eight people were injured in the incident, the officials said. Three of the injured, who had sustained burn injuries, were admitted to a private medical college in Meerut. The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police chief over the incident, officials said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Sunday directed District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey and the SSP to immediately visit the spot. He had also sought a detailed report from them. Loni sub-divisional magistrate Khalid Anjum will submit his report within a week before the district magistrate. The incharge of the police post in the area was suspended for alleged dereliction of duty and a magisterial inquiry was ordered into the incident, officials had said on Sunday. The administration has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased. The injured will be given Rs 50,000 each and free treatment. Union minister Nityanand Rai on Sunday asserted that there was no rift within the NDA in Bihar and charged the RJD-Congress combine with spreading rumours regarding it. The former Bihar BJP chief made the remarks, while addressing party workers in Purnea district through video conference, in an oblique reference to speculations which have followed notes of discord emanating from LJP chief Chirag Paswan in the recent past. The NDA, under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will fight as a united force in the assembly polls. It will repeat the stupendous success of 2010 when the coalition had grabbed more than 80 per cent of assembly seats, Rai said. The RJD-Congress will do better to stop spreading rumours about NDA and worry about fissures in their own camp, said the Minister of State for Home. Founded by Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, the LJP had severed its links with the Congress-led UPA and walked over to the NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Paswan handed over the party mantle to his son Chirag last year and the young leader has been critical of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the migrant crisis resulting therefrom. Chirag Paswan, who also represents the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, had raised many eyebrows recently with his cryptic remark we are supporting the government in the state but are not a part of it. The LJP chief was, understandably, venting his frustration at his party having no representation in the state government after his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, a member of the cabinet, got elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019. Reports have claimed that Paswan has been unhappy over Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), expressing unwillingness to part with a respectable number of seats in assembly polls for the LJP, which had contested six out of 40 in Bihar in Lok Sabha. Last week, a district unit chief of LJP in Bihar was also removed from the post for giving a statement before the media that the NDA was atoot (unbreakable) in Bihar. Although it was said that the lower-rank party leader had violated the diktat that only Chirag Paswan was authorised to make remarks with regard to alliance, the action fuelled fresh speculations about the LJPs disaffection with the NDA. At a video-conference meeting held by Rahul Gandhi with Congress leaders from Bihar, Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh is understood to have conveyed the message that the rift in the NDA be cashed in on and attempts be made to woo the LJP. Congress MLC and AICC media in-charge Prem Chandra Mishra held out an olive branch to the LJP on Saturday when he came out with a video message, reminding Ram Vilas Paswan of his association with the UPA and saying that he would be welcome in the Grand Alliance. The Grand Alliance, a five-party coalition which comprises, besides RJD and Congress, HAM, RLSP and VIP, however itself seems to be in disarray. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been dismissive of Chirag Paswan and his LJP. Besides, a key Grand Alliance partner HAM headed by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has been dropping hints that it was feeling slighted by the RJDs domineering ways and would not be reluctant to switch sides ahead of the assembly elections. PUNE The Pimpri-Chinchwad police booked ten vegetable vendors for violating lockdown rules on Sunday. Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Sandeep Bishnoi had issued orders under Section 144(1)(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure that prevented vegetable vendors from operating after 5 pm. The order also directed the vendors to follow social distancing rule while dealing with customers. However, as per the complaints, these vendors were found operating even after 6 pm. According to police, the customers were found flocking the vendors without maintaining social distance in the light of Covid-19 pandemic. Three of the booked vendors have been identified as Govind Billo Sarkar (53), Biplav Papagalchand Vishwas (35), Swapnil ArunBhakar (20) all residents of Marunji village in Hinjewadi. They were found near Vinodi Vasti Corner in Wakad. Four others identified as Akash Deepak Nikam (80), Vandana Rakendra Nikam (42) and Sarika Deepak Dhede (30) and Tukaram Gunwantrao Panchak (52) were selling vegetables at Lakshmi chowk in Hinjewadi, and three others identified as Mohammad Amleen Istiyak Ali Ghoshi (21), Vinod Bhai Karasandas Ramanandi (25) and Prakash Dhhaglaram Chaudhari (28) were found near Supriya Complex area of Wakad, according to the police. All cases have been registered under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of Indian Penal Code at Hinjewadi police station. PUNE The Paud police station officials have booked at least 100 people for violating lockdown rules during the weekend and visiting tourist spots like Mulshi, Tamhini Ghat, Lavasa, and Bhugaon despite prohibitory orders from the district administration. Besides, Mulshi, rural police also acted against revellers vising local tourist destinations. According to Pune rural police, a total of 187 persons were booked in the district on Sunday while 80 persons were fined for not wearing masks. On Sunday, the police station officials collected a fine of Rs 18,000 from mask violators in these places, according to inspector Ashok Dhumal of Paud police station. This has been happening every weekend since June. Every weekend there are close to 50-60 cases. We must have registered at least 200 cases in June alone. Most of these people are from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas, said Dhumal. While 45 cases were registered on Saturday, over 50-60 cases were registered on Sunday as well, according to Dhumal. The cases have been registered under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Rs 500 fine is levied upon people who fail to wear masks. The gram panchayat officials collect that fine. We must have collected over Rs 1 lakh in fine in June, said Dhumal. The Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram has continued the prohibition of assembly and movement to tourist places in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the monsoon season and unlock down procedure has led to an increased number of tourists, said, officials. As per the order issued by Ram on June 7 under Disaster Management Act 2005, entry of people has been restricted to Bhushi dam and Lonavla area in Maval taluka, Mulshi dam and Tamhini ghat in Mulshi taluka, Khadakwasla dam in Haveli taluka, Malshej ghat in Junnar taluka, Bhatghar dam, fort area in Bhor taluka, Panshet dam and other areas in Velhe taluka, Bhimashankar in Ambegaon taluka and other tourist places. Meanwhile, at Bhushi dam in Lonavla wore a deserted look even as it was overflowing during the weekend. Every monsoon when the dam overflows, a large number of revellers throng their famous tourist destination. Police action Number of persons booked in Pune district on Sunday: 187 Number of persons booked by Paud road over the weekend: 100 Action against number of persons not wearing mask in Pune district: 80 Number of persons booked by Pune rural police over month: 381 In addition to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) office bearers, 211 employees have tested positive for the Covid-19 infection as of July 5. PMC municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad and additional municipal commissioner Rubal Agrawal are home quarantined and will be giving swab tests on Tuesday, as they attended various meetings with mayor Murlidhar Mohol who tested Covid-19 positive on July 4. After the mayor tested positive, several PMC officers have been home quarantined for three days and will be giving a swab test on Tuesday. Agrawal said, I am home quarantined, but work was not affected as I conducted online meetings on Monday. I will give a swab test on Tuesday. PMC labour welfare officer Shivaji Daundkar said, In total, 211 PMC employees have tested positive for the Covid-19 infection till July 5. Among them,109 have been recovered and discharged. Until July 6, a total of 90 PMC employees were admitted to various Covid centres. A total of 12 PMC employees have lost their lives due to Covid-19, among them, one employee was on contract and the rest are permanent employees. BOX PMC employees and Covid-19, as of July 5 Total positive- 211 Deaths - 12 Total discharged -109 In hospital - 90 A 30-year-old man has alleged that his Pune-based employers kidnapped and abused him in order to punish him for using the companys funds during the lockdown. A case has been registered against three people, including the owner of the company. The complaint has been lodged by Sanil Shinde, a native of Badlapur, Thane, who was working with a partnership company in Pune as a manager. The company runs a studio and organises art festivals in Pune, according to the complainant. I was sent to Delhi in March for some work and was stuck in Delhi. I came to Pune in the first week of May. After undergoing tests at Sassoon hospital, I was asked to remain in quarantine for 14 days. The company owners first told me to check-in at a hotel on Apte road which I did. After 4-5 days, they said they will not pay for the hotel stay, said the complainant. He allegedly left a mobile phone and the company debit card in the hotel after spending 17 days there as he could not pay the bill. The complainant claims that the accused found him through a social media post he had made along with his friend. According to complaint, the three accused allegedly kidnapped him on June 13 at 11am from Ghotawade phata area in Mulshi and took him to the office in Paud road area where he was allegedly beaten up. The men, then undressed him, harassed him and then left him locked there. In the morning, the younger brother of one of the accused opened the door and let him out. One of the officials had received the complaint. Prima facie, it is an offence and all facts have been recorded in the complaint. There was no reason to doubt the content of the complaint. The complaint was sent to the appropriate police station, said Pornima Gaikwad, deputy commissioner of police, Zone-3 of Pune police. The three are on the run. We are looking for them. We are also waiting for the medical certificates of the complainant. The accused are all residents of Pune city. The assault happened in Kothrud, but since he was picked up from here, the case has been registered here (Paud), said police inspector Ashok Dhumal of Paud police station. A case under Sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 342 (wrongful restraint), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means), 504 (insult with an intention of causing breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the three at Paud police station. A 30-year-old man was allegedly abducted and tortured by three men, including his employer, in Kothrud here in Maharashtra over a financial dispute regarding the victims stay in Delhi on the companys money during the lockdown, police said on Sunday. Though the alleged incident occurred on June 13 and June 14 at the firms office, an FIR was lodged only on July 2 with Paud police station, an official said. The complainant used to work as a manager for the firm which organises exhibitions of paintings of artists, he said. He had gone to Delhi for some official work in March but got stuck there due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, he said. The complainant stayed in a lodge in Delhi and spent the cash given to him by his office, the official said. After returning to Pune on May 7, the complainants employer asked him to get quarantined in a hotel for 17 days. Since he did not have money, he mortgaged his phone and debit card before check out, he said quoting the FIR. On June 13, the owner of the company and his aide demanded money spent by the complainant and bundled him into a car, the official said. They took him to the firms office where he was confined. The owner and two others thrashed him and sprayed sanitiser on his private parts, the official said. They released him later, he said. The complainant got himself admitted in a private hospital and lodged an FIR on Thursday. Further investigation is underway. No arrest is made so far. PUNE Pimpri-Chinchwad police have arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly killing his wife over suspicion of an extramarital affair. The incident took place on Saturday. The accused has been identified as Vaibhav Narsingh Kale, a resident of Saibaba Paradise Society, Ambethan chowk, Chakan in Khed. The deceased has been identified as Jyoti Vaibhav Kale (27) who lived with him. A complaint was lodged by the accused mans younger brother identified as Ganesh Narsingh Kale (23) who lives in a rented room located at Golden chowk, Chakan. According to police, the deceased was a housewife and both the brothers work in a private firm at Chakan. The brothers are natives of Loha taluka of Nanded district. The two were at home around 9:30 am on Saturday when the incident happened. Kale first hit her on the head with a wooden stump causing a head injury, according to the complaint. He then strangled her with a nylon rope and then with his hands until she stopped breathing, according to the police. They were married for more than one year. The accused called up his younger brother and asked for money after narrating the incident. The younger brother called the police and narrated the incident, said sub-inspector Pramod Kathore of Chakan police station who is investigating the case. A case under Sections 302 (murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code is registered at Chakan police station against the accused. Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra has always matched every trend in Mumbai, be it business, fashion, culture, and also, the incidence of infectious diseases. In 2009, Pune became the epicentre of the swine flu outbreak and it also reported the first case in Maharashtra on March 9, 2020, in the Covid-19 pandemic. At present, there are 21,520 cases in Pune. The population of Pune is estimated to be 6.5 million while Mumbais population is exactly its double at 13 million. The total number of cases in Mumbai is 84,524 which is the highest not only in Maharashtra, but nationally too. If compared statistically, Pune city has 25 per cent cases as against Mumbai. However, the case fatality rate in Mumbai is 5.85% and that of Pune is 3.32% as of July 3. All these figures show that though Pune claims the better numbers, it is closely following Mumbai. The civic administration of Pune has not yet realised the blunders committed in Mumbai and have been blindly following the trail. Mumbai mistakes Testing criteria: In Mumbai, testing rate at the ground level is low. Citizens who want to be tested are discouraged and sent back by government and municipal doctors, which is happening in Pune too. This has led to a delay in diagnosis and worsening of the patients condition, resulting in more serious patients and deaths. Patients referred by private practitioners to the BMC hospitals for Covid-19 tests are seldom tested. On the contrary, private doctors in Mumbai have been served legal notices for referring such patients. Many of them, turn out to be positive when tested at a private laboratory. Similar incidents are being noted in Pune as well. The reports of the patients undergoing RT-PCR tests are given neither to the patient nor to the referring doctor. It is in the possession of the medical officer of BMC. This procedure of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has caused a delay in admission and treatment of patients. In Pune too, a similar pattern has been observed. Private laboratories in Pune often deny testing those referred by private practitioners and they have also been instructed to send reports to the referring doctors and PMC and not to the patients. Contact tracing is very poor in Pune. Positive patients do not even submit names of their contacts and apart from family members, only a few others are traced. This trend proved to be detrimental in Mumbai. Testing of senior citizens and those having co-morbid conditions and living in containment zones has not been prioritised either in Mumbai or Pune. The case fatality rate of this group is around 80% as such people easily fall prey to the disease. The case fatality rate pattern in Mumbai and Pune clearly indicate it. Hospital facilities: Sassoon General Hospital, being the only government hospital with ICU facilities in Pune, is always full even in the pre-Covid period. PMC has failed to construct a new general hospital with tertiary care facilities and trained doctors and staff. Sassoons demand for modern equipment has been ignored till now. The assurance of having a 500-bedded infectious diseases hospital after the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 was never fulfilled. Doctors on duty: The number of doctors in the public sector hospitals are insufficient and hence, many posts are vacant. Newspapers, doctors associations and social workers have been demanding appointment of doctors, but the government and PMC always turned a deaf ear to their demands. Now, new applications are being invited. Treatment meted out to private doctors- Private practicing doctors were given notices to attend duties in Covid-19 wards. In Mumbai, Pune and across the state, private doctors or their associations like the IMA, were never consulted. Doctors have been threatened with legal consequences under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, Disaster Management Act, 2005 and MESMA. To compensate the lack of hospital beds, the government acquired 80% beds of private hospitals and capped rates of various services. Government of Maharashtra alleged that private hospitals in Mumbai were overcharging and sending the patients away. The government has failed to resolve the problems of doctors. The same pattern is being followed in Pune. Scarcity of facilities: Punes situation is becoming grim with every passing day. Private doctors do not know where to send their patient and patients have to visits numerous hospitals. The scenario is very similar to the tragic situation in Mumbai. IMAs demand for developing an app for ambulances and bed availability has not been answered till now. Eight of every ten patients prefer private doctors to government hospitals. So, the government should stop ignoring them and must take some advice from private doctors. The residents of Pune are always satirised about their afternoon siesta even while doing business. It is time for the administration to wake up from their slumber and look for better solutions. (Dr Avinash Bhondwe is the president of the IMA, Maharashtra state and is the UNESCO Chair For BIOETHICS) Despite the local administrations appeal to not venture out on Sunday, which was to be observed as a janata curfew day in Pimpri-Chinchwad, large crowds were seen at shops across the city. Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Usha Dhore and the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar appealed for a curfew twice a week on Sundays and Thursdays. The appeal came as the industrial town has been witnessing a rise in Covid-19 cases. As on Sunday, PCMC reported 4,288 cases and 61 deaths. However, despite the appeal, people followed a regular Sunday routine as most of the shops were open and heavy traffic was on display in most areas in PCMC. People followed their routine in the morning, many claiming that they were not aware of the curfew appeal made by the PCMC civic body. I have not heard anything about the janata curfew. Like a daily routine, I will close my shop at 5pm. I dont think anyone is aware as I can see all the shops are open at Dange chowk, said the owner of Raj vada pav centre in Thergaon. In other areas, like Kalewadi phata, normal traffic was seen while at the Pimpri market all shops were open but customers were scattered. The shops at Pimple Saudagar and Chinchwad had a mixed response to the curfew; some were closed. Since the message was circulated by 9pm yesterday, many people are still not aware of the appeal. Once people are aware of it they will support the call of the mayor and commissioner, Anna Bodade, assistant municipal commissioner, PCMC said. In the last 15 days, the civic body authorities have noticed people not following social distancing norms and despite fine not wearing masks. Although the civic body is not in favour of a complete lockdown, they are seeking support from residents so that the transmission of the virus can be stopped. Twice a week is a good idea, I hope on this Thursday, we will see more people voluntarily observing the curfew, Bodade said. Mask for Safe PCMC movement: Pimpri -Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has started selfie with mask to support the wearing of masks. PCMC aims for safe movement within its jurisdiction. The selfies can be sent to @pcmcindiagovin. The PCMC has appealed to people to stay home, maintain social distance and fight Covid-19 together. In a tweet, PCMC Commissioner Shravan Hardikar was seen posing with his mask delivering the message I have worn a mask, have you? Nithya Menen, who will portray former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in a biopic titled The Iron Lady, is not worried about comparisons. While Kangana Ranaut will play the late leader in Thalaivi, Ramya Krishnans character in the web series Queen was loosely based on her. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Nithya said that she was concerned about doing justice to the portrayal of Jayalalithaa, rather than comparisons with other actors. When asked if she feels a greater sense of responsibility, given that others are playing the part as well, she said, Not at all. The responsibility should not come with comparisons with other actors or films. The responsibility should come with comparisons with Jayalalithaa, that I did that role right or I did right by that person. The number of projects on Jayalalithaas life doesnt matter to Nithya. Different people can make different films and everybody is very passionate about their own film. There is no problem with that. There shouldnt be a sense of competition, but rather that this is a creative medium and art should always thrive. Everyones films should do well. I dont think these things even played in the directors mind. She told me, Let them make their film, we will make our film. Our interest is only in making a good film, not in making the best film. A film that is authentic, that is right and stands out in its own way, she said. Also read: Kartik Aaryan lauds rockstar policeman who sang Tera Yaar Hoon Main, watch viral video Jayalalithaa was a successful movie star before she set her sights on politics in the 1980s. She held the chief ministers seat for six terms. She continues to be loved and revered by the people. When director Priyadhaarshini approached Nithya for the role of Jayalalithaa in The Iron Lady, she was prepared to politely turn it down. However, she changed her mind because of the filmmakers clarity of vision. Talking about the apprehensions she had about playing Jayalalithaa, Nithya said, I think while playing any real person, you will have some kind of apprehension, because you have to fit yourself into that mould. That is not very easy to do. So, you think, Will I be successful in doing that? I initially thought I will politely decline, but the director was quite clear with how she wanted to go about it and just seeing how clear she was, I changed my mind. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Authorities will on Monday ease several curbs in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, which was under intense lockdown from June 19 to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease. Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami had on Saturday announced relaxations for Chennai and extended curbs for Madurai and nearby regions till July 12. The government issued a separate set of guidelines for areas that fall under the limits of Greater Chennai police and for neighbouring districts. There are certain activities which are prohibited throughout the state till July 31 midnight. The government has said vegetable and grocery shops can open from 6am to 6pm from the earlier 6am to 2pm in Chennai and in the suburban areas under the jurisdiction of Greater Chennai Police. Restaurants can continue with takeaway services only but they can remain open till 9pm from the present 2pm. Tea shops could resume functioning and operate from 6am to 6pm but only takeaway services would be permitted. All kinds of showrooms and other businesses, including textiles and jewellery, can be back in business from 10am to 6pm. The restrictions and relaxations applicable prior to June 19 will come into force again. Businesses and commercial establishments were allowed to function by following safety measures, including social distancing, till June 18. The intense lockdown clamped from June 24 in Madurai city and several nearby areas, including Paravai town panchayat and a number of village panchayats, would continue till July 12. Only essential services would be allowed to function in these regions and no kind of activities shall be permitted in containment zones. Besides Chennai and Madurai, several relaxations as part of Unlock 2 are applicable in other parts of Tamil Nadu. The government had earlier announced that there will be a complete shutdown on all the four Sundays in July throughout Tamil Nadu. The lockdown was imposed on 19 June in four districts including Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu with permission for essential services only. The state government had also imposed an absolute lockdown on two SundaysJune 21 and 28that fell during the stipulated period. Tamil Nadu has 107,001 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 8,671 people lost their lives after contracting it. (With agency inputs) Former Bigg Boss contestant and actor Kashmera Shah is disturbed by the negative side of social media and rued how people are using it only to spread hate and ugliness. She also talked about the excessive use of social media and said that people have really forgotten to live. Kashmera shared a picture with her dog on Instagram and wrote, My best friend my life my Boo. When one thinks back and sees the important moments in your life it will Never be an Instagram or a FB post. It will be real moments. How many of these real moments do we have left? It is so sad to see people check their phones all the time and be concerned about who likes their picture and who does not and how many followers they have. People have really forgotten to live. Wishing to go back to a time when there was no social media, Kashmera wrote, So many posts I see here and on other social media and most of these posts are people pushing their own agendas and they have nothing to do with anything but they want to say something even if it is wrong. People forwarding WhatsApp messages without even thinking twice whether the message forwarded is true or not or who they are hurting and accusing in the bargain? We have become such a rude and negative society that even if someone is doing something good all we can do instead of helping or keeping quiet is bring them down. Also read: Kartik Aaryan lauds rockstar policeman who sang Tera Yaar Hoon Main, watch viral video Kashmera cited the examples of people rushing to take pictures and videos of an accident on their phones, instead of helping the injured. Where and when did we leave humanity behind? Dont just pray to God. God is not at home sitting in our temples but God is inside those that are out there minus their phones Helping people in need. Dont lose humanity over a few likes guys, she wrote. In conclusion, Kashmera said that she was so done with all this negativity and fakeness and urged people to not comment on her post, as she did not care about their opinions. And dont bother commenting on my post. For your opinion to matter to me You have to Matter to me. So done with all this negativity and fakeness. Wish all humans had some animal in them to learn compassion, she wrote. Kashmera has acted in films such as Yes Boss, Hera Pheri and Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha. She has also participated in a number of reality shows, including Bigg Boss, Khatron Ke Khiladi and Nach Baliye. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that 99% of Covid-19 cases in the country were totally harmless, as the 4th of July weekend to mark US Independence Day added to worries of further spread of the pandemic. Many states broke records in new cases. In Texas for instance, 7,890 patients were hospitalised. Florida has reported a new record of 11,445 cases. Trump once again blamed China for the pandemic and held out hopes of a vaccine by the end of the year. He held the 4th of July celebrations against warnings that the virus is spreading through such large gatherings. Deaths in US were nearing 130,000 on Sunday as cases topped 2.8 million, with more than 45,000 in the past 24 hours. China must be held fully accountable, Trump said, blaming Beijing for misreporting and misleading the world, while claiming again that the high number of cases in the US was due to more testing. Now we have tested, almost 40 mn people, 99% of which are totally harmless, he said. The president went on to hold hopes of a breakthrough in the hunt of a vaccine, saying, Well likely have a therapeutic and/or a vaccine solution long before the end of the year. Trump said China must be held fully accountable for its secrecy, deception and cover-up that allowed it to spread the coronavirus all over the world. He touted the countrys progress against the pandemic saying, We have the manufacturing record for ventilators. We have the most and the finest testing anywhere in the world. We are producing gowns, masks, and surgical equipment in our countryIt was almost exclusively made in foreign lands, in particular, China, where ironically this virus and others came from. Chinas secrecy, deception, and cover-up allowed it to spread all over the world, 189 countries and China must be held fully accountable. Pakistans point person on the coronavirus disease, Dr Zafar Mirza, has himself contracted Covid-19. Dr Mirza announced on Monday that he was isolating himself at home after testing positive for the coronavirus disease. In a tweet, the special assistant to the prime minister on health said that he was experiencing mild symptoms and was taking all precautions. He also applauded the services of his colleagues, saying Keep up the good work! You are making a big difference and I am proud of you. <327> I have tested positive for COVID-19. Under med advice I have isolated myself at home & taking all precautions. I have mild symptoms. Please keep me in your kind prayers. Colleagues, keep up the good work! You are making a big difference & I am proud of you. Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) July 6, 2020 Last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also tested positive for the disease. Dr Mirza has been at the forefront of Pakistans strategy to fight Covid-19. He has been severly criticised by various quarters for his inability to get a coordinated strategy in place. Both Dr Mirza and prime minister Imran Khan have been accused of implementing a muddled strategy under which the countrys Covid-19 numbers are amongst the highest in the region. Meanwhile, Pakistans Covid-19 tally on Monday crossed the 2,31,000-mark after 3,344 new infections were detected in the last 24 hours. So far, the disease has claimed the lives of 4,762 in the country. Out of the total infections, Sindh province reported 94,528 cases, Punjab 81,963, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 28,116, Islamabad 13,494, Balochistan 10,814, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,561 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 1,342. Pakistans Ministry of National Health Services said that 56.78 per cent patients have recovered from the disease while those still infected are 43.21 per cent. Forty eight doctors resigned in Pakistans Punjab province on Sunday citing inability of the government to provide safety gear to protect them from the virus. The doctors in question have resigned after the governments failure to comply with their repeated requests to provide them protective gear against the deadly coronavirus and other inadequate facilities, a senior doctor of a public hospital Lahore told news agencies. Most of these doctors were working in teaching hospitals. The United States said Monday it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall because of the coronavirus crisis. Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement said in a statement. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status, ICE said. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings. ICE said the State Department will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 students pursue vocational coursework, according to ICE. Universities with a hybrid system of in-person and online classes will have to show that foreign students are taking as many in-person classes as possible, to maintain their status. Critics quickly hit back at the decision. The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds, tweeted Senator Bernie Sanders. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class-in person or get deported, he said. For Gonzalo Fernandez, a 32-year-old Spaniard doing his doctorate in economics at George Washington University in the US capital, the worst thing is the uncertainty. We dont know if we will have classes next semester, if we should go home, if they are going to throw us out. Plans up in the air Most US colleges and universities have not yet announced their plans for the fall semester. A number of schools are looking at a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction but some, including Harvard University, have said all classes will be conducted online. Harvard said 40 percent of undergraduates would be allowed to return to campus -- but their instruction would be conducted remotely. There were more than one million international students in the United States for the 2018-19 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). That accounted for 5.5 percent of the total US higher education population, the IIE said, and international students contributed $44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018. The largest number of international students came from China, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada. According to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, who works as the policy counsel at the Washington-based think tank American Immigration Council, the new rule is almost certainly going to be challenged in court. He explained on Twitter that foreign students will likely struggle to continue their studies while abroad, due to time differences or a lack of access to technology or academic resources. President Donald Trump, who is campaigning for reelection in November, has taken a bullish approach to reopening the country even as virus infections continue to spike in parts of the country, particularly the south and west. SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!! he tweeted Monday. With more than 130,000 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, the United States is the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic. While cracking down on immigration is one of his key issues, Trump has taken a particularly hard stance on foreigners since the health crisis began. In June, he froze until 2021 the issuing of green cards -- which offer permanent US resident status -- and some work visas, particularly those used in the technology sector, with the stated goal of reserving jobs for Americans. US President Donald Trump has lashed out once again at angry mobs and the radical left, as he has been calling anti-racism protesters. We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing, he said in an Independence Day speech on Saturday at Washington DC. Protestors in Baltimore in the adjoining state of Maryland brought down a statute of Christopher Columbus. Anti-racism protests around the country, triggered by the killing of George Floyd, have put a focus once again on Americas history of slavery and subjugation of indigenous peoples. An armed group of mostly African American protestors marched through South Mountain Park near Atlanta demanding the removal of a giant rock carving considered to be the largest confederate monument and is said to be central in symbolism for white supremacists. On the west coast in Seattle, a woman was killed when a car drove into protesters after crashing through a police barricade. She died after being hit along with another woman on Saturday. The driver is in police custody. The crucial talks between embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the ruling Nepal Communist Partys executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on the issue of power-sharing failed on Sunday, but they agreed to meet again on Monday to sort out their differences ahead of the partys powerful Standing Committee meeting. The Prachanda faction, backed by senior leaders including Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, has been demanding that Oli step down both as party chair and prime minister. The two leaders failed to reach any agreement. As both the leaders stick to their respective stands, the talk could not bear any fruit, said a source close to Prime Minister Oli. However, they have agreed to sit again for dialogue on Monday ahead of the scheduled Standing Committee meeting to sort out differences, a senior minister told PTI. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues but no common ground was reached, he said. The twice postponed powerful Standing Committee meeting of the party on Monday is expected to decide on the political future of 68-year-old prime minister. On Saturday, a crucial meeting of the 45-member Standing Committee was postponed until Monday to allow more time for the top leadership to iron out their differences over Olis style of functioning and anti-India statements. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli met with former prime minister and president of the opposition Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba. Tere is speculation that Oli might have sought Deubas backing to save his government in case the ruling party splits. The United States Navy took a jibe at China after a news report claimed that Beijing has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons and the South China Sea is fully within grasp of the Chinese army. The US Navy said that it is not intimidated. China has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like DF-21D and DF-26 aircraft carrier killer #missiles. South China Sea is fully within grasp of the #PLA; any US #aircraftcarrier movement in the region is at the pleasure of PLA: analysts, a tweet from Chinas Global Times said. In response, the US Navys chief of information tweeted, And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated. It tagged the Global Times report and used the hashtag #AtOurDiscretion. And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated #AtOurDiscretion https://t.co/QGTggRjOul Navy Chief of Information (@chinfo) July 5, 2020 The United States has sent the two aircraft carriers - USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz - to the South China Sea to participate in a military exercise. The exercise is long-planned but comes as China conducts military drills of its own in the area, near the contested Paracel Islands, exercises that have been criticised by the US and other countries. The US Navys operation of two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the South China Sea region further represents a significant show of force and comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over a number of areas, including Hong Kong. The US has also targeted China over the coronavirus disease which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan and later spread to the world. Washingtomn accuses Beijing of hiding information from the world. China responded with a short video on Twitter in May which said that Washington didnt listen to the words of caution from Beijing on the coronavirus outbreak. The animated video was posted on Twitter by the Chinese Embassy in France on Thursday and was titled Once upon a virus. The video lists the timeline of the outbreak, with cartoon figures representing China and the United States accusing each other. While the Chinese side in the video says it informed about the discovery of a new virus in January, the US didnt take any note of it. The one minute 39 seconds video further shows China announcing its lockdown in January, and the US calling it barbaric. It also shows the US accusing China of human rights violation - more than once. 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 Beijing police arrested a law professor who had criticised President Xi Jinpings style of functioning and recently questioned the governments handling of the Covid-19 pandemic on Monday. Xu Zhangrun, 58, was arrested from his house in a Beijing suburb, Geng Xiaonan, his friend, told Bloomberg. She got to know about the arrest from his domestic helper, wife and students, Geng added. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at regular ministry briefing that he had no information about the arrest. Xu had published an essay in February, blaming the culture of censorship under Xi for the spread of the coronavirus in China. Xu wrote, Chinas leader system is itself destroying the structure of governance, adding that the chaos in the first virus epicentre of Hubei province reflected systemic problems in the Chinese state. But that essay was only the most recent of Xus scathing critiques of Xi and his rule. In a series of essays published from early 2016 to early 2019, Xu questioned at length, and in detail, the political, economic and cultural trajectory of the Peoples Republic of China under Xi Jinping, the leader of the nations party-state-army, says the e-journal, China Heritage, affiliated to the Wairarapa Academy of New Sinology in New Zealand. A China Heritage article on Xu says in late July 2018, Xu published Immient Fears, Immediate Hopes, a 10000-word article. In it, Xu not only questioned Xi Jinpings dispensation, he also offered concrete policy suggestions to counter the authoritarian revanchism (or a policy to retaliate) of Xis New Epoch. In some of his essays, Xu didnt even take President Xis name. In March, 2019, Xu told selected foreign media that he had been placed under investigation by the Tsinghua University. At the time, Chinese state media was quick to slam Xu. Several politically extreme articles have made Xu stand out from dissidents in China since 2018... He must be certain that one cannot keep his teaching position for long at a top university with an open stance of political confrontation. His stand has forced the university to adopt a different attitude, the nationalistic tabloid, Global Times had reported in March, 2019. The treatment Xu has received may not surprise those familiar with him. One can never find a top university in any country tolerating a professor with such an aggressive anti-establishment view, it said. Xu, GT reported, had told the media during his interaction in March, 2019, that he could end up in prison for his writings. Shortly after fireworks above Mount Rushmore disappeared into the night sky on Friday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem accompanied President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One despite having had close contact with Trumps sons girlfriend, who had tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump has been in a position all along to encounter a virus that spreads from people who dont feel sick, such as Noem, who had interacted closely at a campaign fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr.s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who turned out to be sick. Noem didnt wear a mask on the plane and chatted with the president as the flight returned to Washington, D.C., according to her spokesperson, Maggie Seidel. Noem had tested negative for COVID-19 shortly before welcoming Trump to South Dakota on Friday, a day after she had interacted with Guilfoyle. One photo on social media showed Noem and Guilfoyle, who is also a Trump campaign staff member, hugging. The Trump campaign announced that Guilfoyle had tested positive on Friday. Guilfoyles infection prompted some Republicans, such as Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, to take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. He suspended in-person campaigning for his gubernatorial bid after his wife and his running mate both attended a fundraiser with Guilfoyle earlier in the week. Noem doesnt plan anything similar, Seidel said. She cast Noems decision to fly on Air Force One as a demonstration of how to live with the virus. Seidel pointed to comments from the World Health Organization that the spread of the virus is rare from asymptomatic people. But that runs counter to guidance from public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that advises people to wear masks when interacting with people outside their household. Asked about Trumps interaction with Noem, the White House noted the frequency with which the president is tested. The president is tested constantly, has tested negative, and those around him are tested as well, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. When asked why Noem was allowed to travel on Air Force One, McEnany referred the question to the Secret Service, but added: They take the presidents health very seriously. They would never put him in a situation that would put him in harms way. As the number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 in South Dakota has decreased in recent weeks to just 59 people statewide, Noem has doubled down on her relaxed approach to the pandemic. Even as Republican governors in states like Texas have moved to require people to wear masks, Noem didnt require distancing or masks at the July 3 celebration at Mount Rushmore, an outdoor event at which few in the closely packed crowd wore masks. On Friday night, she told the crowd, Tonight, if you look to your left, if you look to your right, youre going to see that this crowd isnt just from South Dakota, but its from everywhere across this nation. The influx of tourists for the Rushmore fireworks has some local leaders and doctors concerned that the area could see a spike in cases. Seidel said the governor worries about other effects of the virus, such as unemployment and domestic violence. When Seidel was asked about a risk to Trumps health from Noems presence on Air Force One, she said, I dont understand why Gov. Noem now needs to manage the presidents medical care. Sri Lanka will re-open its schools in a phased manner from Monday after keeping them closed for 115 days due to the lockdown imposed in the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Education said on Sunday. The schools were shut mid-March when Sri Lanka detected its first Covid-19 infection. Ranjith Chandrasekera, the additional secretary to the ministry, said students from Grades 5, 11 and 13 will resume schooling on Monday. There will be extended hours for Grade 13 students with school closing time extended until 3.30pm from usual 1.30pm closure. In the next phase, students of Grades 12 and 10 will return on July 20. The students of Grades 3,4,6,7,8 and 9 would return on July 27. The final phase would be on August 10 when Grades 1 and 2 would return, the official said. Parents are strictly advised not to send children to schools if they are having fever, cough and flu, Chandrasekera said. He said students were not expected to wear face masks when in school but must don them when they travel to school and back. They will also be made to follow strict Covid-19 health guidelines. The school principals have been advised not to conduct term tests or to have students participating in extra curricular activities despite the re-opening of schools. The teachers and non-academic staff had returned to schools last week to prepare for students return while setting in motion health guidelines. Sri Lanka ended its Covid-19 lockdown in stages after it was imposed in May. Last month, the Sri Lankan government completely lifted the curfew imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus after no new case of community infection was recorded for nearly two months in the country. Sri Lanka had been under a continuous lockdown since March 20, a week after the first case of the pandemic was reported. Initially, a nationwide blanket curfew was imposed but it was later eased for about two-thirds of the country and was mostly confined to night time. The island nation recorded over 2,000 Covid-19 positive cases with just 11 deaths. Since April 30, no cases from within the local communities have been reported, according to the health officials. Sri Lanka is set to hold parliamentary election on August 5 which was also postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chinas health authorities are on high alert after a suspected case of the infectious bubonic plague was reported Sunday from Inner Mongolia less than eight months after two cases of the same type of plague were reported from the same northern province. In November last year, two cases of the more infectious pneumonic plague were also diagnosed in Beijing and in Inner Mongolia. In the latest case, the Bayannur municipal health commission said in a press release late on Sunday night that the peoples hospital in Urad Middle Banner (an administrative division in China) reported the suspected bubonic plague case in local herdsman on Saturday. The patient has been isolated and under treatment in a local hospital; he is said to be stable. Local authorities in Bayannur issued a third-level warning for plague prevention and control that will last till the end of 2020, the commission was quoted by the official news agency, Xinhua, as saying. The commission issued an advisory for residents in the area to prevent people-to-people infection including not to hunt and eat animals that could cause plague infections. It asked the public to report any findings of killed or dead marmots and other animals, and report suspected plague cases, high fever patients with unknown reasons and patients dying from sudden deaths. There are three types of plague, a bacterial infection caused by Yersinia pestis: septicemic, which spreads in the blood; bubonic, which affects the lymph nodes; and pneumonic, which affects the lungs. The last two types were reported in Inner Mongolia and in Beijing in November, 2019. There are large areas of natural plague foci in Inner Mongolia where contact with plague-infected animals such as rats or hares might result in human infection, Chinese health authorities had said earlier. According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while the bubonic plague spreads through fleas hosted by infected animals, like rodents it wiped out millions in medieval Europe before spreading to Asia and Africa in the 14th century pneumonic plague spreads through cough droplets. Symptoms include persistent high fever, coughing with blood, and chest pain. Bubonic plague is more common, but the latter is more dangerous. In 2014, China had locked down the city of Yumen, home to over 30,000 people, in the northwestern province of Gansu, after a person died of bubonic plague; 151 people were quarantined. According to Chinas national health commission (NHC), a total of five people have died from the plague between 2014 and September 2019. A Reuters report on Sunday said from 2009 to 2018, China reported 26 cases and 11 deaths. The most recent outbreak of pneumonic plague happened in Madagascar in 2017, with over 2300 confirmed cases and 202 deaths, according to the WHO. Taiwan would welcome a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, its foreign ministry said on Monday, a trip that would infuriate Beijing which views him as a dangerous separatist. The Dalai Lama has not visited the Chinese-claimed, democratic island under the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, who first took office in 2016. He last came in 2009. In a birthday message via video link to supporters in Taiwan on Sunday, the Dalai Lama said he would like to visit again. As the political scenario changes, it may be that Ill be able to visit you in Taiwan again. I hope so. Whatever happens Ill remain with you in spirit, he said on his website. Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the government had not yet received an application for him to travel to the island but would handle it under relevant rules if one came. We will, in accordance with the principle of mutual respect and at a time of convenience for both sides, welcome the Dalai Lama to come to Taiwan again to propagate Buddhist teachings, Ou added. Beijing is deeply suspicious of Taiwans president, believing she wishes to push for the islands formal independence. Tsai says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. Taipei-Beijing relations have worsened further since Taiwan offered to receive Hong Kong people who wish to leave the city after China passed a new national security law last week, an offer Beijing has condemned. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. China accuses him of being a splittist, but he says he only wants genuine autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has unveiled a 1.57 billion pounds rescue package of emergency grants and cheap loans for arts, culture and heritage industries to help them weather the impact of coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of organisations across a range of sectors including the performing arts and theatres, heritage, historic palaces, museums, galleries, live music and independent cinema will be able to access the funding boost put in place on Sunday night. Our world-renowned galleries, museums, heritage sites, music venues and independent cinemas are not only critical to keeping our economy thriving, employing more than 700,000 people, theyre the lifeblood of British culture, said Sunak. Thats why were giving them the vital cash they need to safeguard their survival, helping to protect jobs and ensuring that they can continue to provide the sights and sounds that Britain is famous for, he said. The Indian-origin finance minister indicated that many of Britains cultural and heritage institutions have already received financial assistance to see them through the pandemic including loans, business rate holidays and participation in the Coronavirus Job Retention or furlough scheme, introduced by him earlier this year at the height of the pandemic. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the new package represents the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture and will provide a lifeline to vital cultural and heritage organisations across the country hit hard by the pandemic. From iconic theatre and musicals, mesmerising exhibitions at our world-class galleries to gigs performed in local basement venues, the UKs cultural industry is the beating heart of this country, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down, he said. The arts industry had been lobbying for support for some time and many agree that this package would help them stay afloat while their doors remain closed under the lockdown restrictions still in place for most venues. Funding to restart paused projects will also help support employment, including freelancers working in these sectors. The new package will be available across the country, including 33 million pounds to Northern Ireland, 97 million pounds to Scotland and 59 million pounds to Wales and ensure the future of many multi billion-pound industries are secured. Our arts and culture are the soul of our nation. They make our country great and are the lynchpin of our world-beating and fast growing creative industries, said UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. I understand the grave challenges the arts face and we must protect and preserve all we can for future generations. Today we are announcing a huge support package of immediate funding to tackle the funding crisis they face. I said we would not let the arts down, and this massive investment shows our level of commitment, he said. Of the total sum, 1.15 billion pounds support will go for cultural organisations in England delivered through a mix of grants and loans, made up of 270 million pounds of repayable finance and 880 million pounds grants. Targeted support of 100 million pounds will go for the national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust. Capital investment of 120 million pounds will be available to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and for heritage construction projects in England, which was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. Decisions on awards of the different funding will be made working alongside expert independent figures from the sector, including the Arts Council England and other specialist bodies such as Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute. The government said the repayable finance, to be set out in the coming weeks, will be issued on generous terms tailored for cultural institutions to ensure they are affordable. This is welcome news for the museum sector, both in the scale of funding and as a strategic commitment to our role in the life of the country, said Sir Ian Blatchford, Chair of the National Museums Directors Council. Julian Bird, Chief Executive, Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre, added: Venues, producers and the huge workforce in the theatre sector look forward to clarity of how these funds will be allocated and invested, so that artists and organisations can get back to work as soon as possible. Our industrys united ambition is to be able to play its vital role in the nations economic and social recovery and this investment will allow us to do so. Two top Myanmar army officials involved in atrocities against Rohingya Muslims are among 49 individuals and entities named by the Boris Johnson government on Monday under a new regime of sanctions unveiled against abusers of human rights. The regime equips the post-Brexit UK with new powers to freeze assets and stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channelling money through UK banks, or profiting from the British economy, foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced. Those identified in the first such list of sanctions are mostly Russian and Saudi Arabian individuals, but also include Myanmar army commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win, deputy commander-in-chief both named in relation to Rohinyas in Rakhine state. It is the first time that the UK has sanctioned people or entities for human rights violations and abuses under a UK-only regime. It previously joined collective sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the European Union. Officials said that the first list included 25 Russian nationals involved in the mistreatment and death of auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered widespread Russian corruption by a group of Russian tax and police officials; 20 Saudi nationals involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; and two organisations involved in the forced labour, torture and murder that takes place in North Koreas gulags. Raab said the regime will allow the UK to target individuals and organisations around the world unlike conventional geographic sanctions regime, which only target a country. It could also include those who commit unlawful killings perpetrated against journalists and media workers, or violations and abuses motivated on the grounds of religion or belief. A special unit will consider the use of future sanctions, with teams across the department monitoring human rights issues. They will ensure targets under the landmark regime will have to meet stringent legal tests before the UK decides to designate, ensuring the sanctions are robust and powerful. As specified in the legislation presented in the House of Commons, the regime can be used to impose sanctions for serious violations or abuses of three human rights: an individuals right to life; right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or right to be free from slavery, not to be held in servitude or required to perform forced or compulsory labour. As COVID-19 cases continues to soar, the physical and mental health of senior citizens is under severe threat, and home care and nursing services are receiving more enquiries than ever. NRIs in particular have only such services to depend on to care for their parents back home. P S Srikumar, CEO of Chennai-based elder-care service company Care Finder, says though the demand has increased, there is a shortage of home nurses. This is definitely a worrying time for everyone, especially for elders. This situation has also had a psychological impact on senior citizens. We are trying to assist them in day-to-day chores. But since the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing every day, the availability of home nurses is going down, he says. Many home care agencies are running with reduced staff, as people on their rolls had returned to their native places before the lockdown, adds Srikumar. Dr Vasanth Karthikeyan, a consultant geriatrician at Geri Care, Chennai, says the demand for homecare services is rising, since many elderly people are stranded without help in the lockdown. Physically and emotionally they are affected because they cant even step out of their homes. This has affected many young people, so you can imagine how it impacts the elderly, he says. Being away from their loved ones is also affecting them. And news reports about how the infection is mostly affecting the aged is contributing to their misery, he adds. He says the lack of manpower is making the problem worse. Another aspect is that many elders who are staying on their own are facing financial difficulties. Large online pharma companies have cut down discounts from 20% to 10%. P lans to lift the stamp duty threshold that would exempt most UK home buyers from paying any tax on their purchase have been trailed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. He is expected to announce the move, which will temporarily raise the level at which people start paying stamp duty from 125,000 to 500,000, this Wednesday, according to The Times. When will the stamp duty threshold raise? It is understood the stamp duty holiday will last for six months to a year and come into effect with the autumn statement, in an attempt to give the market a shot in the arm following its seven-week hiatus under coronavirus lockdown. Under current rules, someone buying a 500,000 property will pay 15,000 stamp duty, although different rules apply for first-time buyers and overseas residents buying a property in Britain. How will it affect buyers? With an average purchase price of 232,000, most buyers will not have to pay stamp duty at all under the Chancellors plan, saving 2,140. However, many London buyers are likely to remain liable for some property purchase tax, with the average home sold for 588,700 in inner London in the first three months of this year. It is not yet clear how the new lower threshold will affect stamp duty liability on homes costing more than 500,000. Estate agent Jeremy Leaf warned that announcing a planned stamp duty cut long before the changes were introduced would stop the market in its tracks and kill off the increased activity since lockdown was eased. Mr Leaf also called for first-time buyers to be the focus of the relief, saying: I would like to see help targeted at first-time buyers, the lifeblood of the market who tend to trade up regularly, as opposed to investors who buy at lower levels and usually stay there. First-time buyers are the group most nervous about job prospects as government support from furlough draws to a close, so [its] the area of the market which needs most assistance. Nick Sanderson, chief executive of retirement homes developer Audley Group, said reform should also include incentives for downsizers to move. He said: A report from CASS Business School this month found that we will have 20 million surplus bedrooms in this country by 2040, many in houses owned by people who would like to downsize. Hand in hand with increasing supply should come incentives, like stamp duty relief or help-to-move packages, for people moving out of family homes into properties that meet their needs and lifestyle. How stamp duty works Buyers living in the UK currently pay zero per cent stamp duty on homes costing less than 125,000. There is two per cent stamp duty payable between 125,000 and 250,000 and five per cent up to 925,000, rising to 10 per cent for the portion from 925,001 to 1.5 million and 12 per cent above that. How the Budget 2020 will impact stamp duty tax 1 /7 How the Budget 2020 will impact stamp duty tax Budget 2020 In his first budget, new Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that an additional tax will be charged to non-resident buyers of UK property. Shutterstock / Ink Drop Stamp duty reform The policy was initially trailed in the Conservative Party manifesto, which promised to impose a three per cent surcharge on overseas buyers. AP Two per cent surcharge However, from April 2021 the additional tax for non-resident buyers has been set at the slightly reduced rate of two per cent. Daniel Lynch Estimated sales The surcharge is expected to affect 70,000 of the UKs total 1.2 million annual property transactions. Alamy Stock Photo Raising revenue The Chancellor said the money raised from this tax will be used to fund 6,000 new homes for homeless people. PA No change for domestic buyers No other changes to stamp duty for the mainstream housing market were included in the Budget statement. Monkey Business/REX/Shutterstock Watch this space Rishi Sunak said that housing secretary Robert Jenrick will announce plans to overhaul the planning system on Thursday 12 March, with a planning white paper due in the spring. First-time buyers pay no stamp duty on a home costing 300,000 or less. If they spend 300,000 to 500,000, they pay no duty on the first 300,000 and five per cent on the rest. In the case of first homes costing more than this, usual rules apply. From April 1 next year, all non-UK residents buying homes in England and Northern Ireland will have to pay a two per cent surcharge on top of any stamp duty already chargeable on their purchase. Sarah Okroi, a mother of two boys who are non-verbal autistic, feels even more empowered to be the best advocate she can be for her sons as we Three Border Security Force jawans were injured in an attack by a gang of nearly a dozen Bangladeshi smugglers at the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengals North 24 Parganas. All of them are constables who were released after first-aid, BSF sources said. Two of the attackers are believed to have also been injured when the BSF retaliated by firing from non-lethal weapons during the ambush that took place early on Friday opposite to the Border Guard Bangladeshs outpost at Dhankhola manned by the BGBs 49th battalion. The BSF has sounded an alert all along the 4,096-km India-Bangladesh front to check cross-border human trafficking that may have seen a spurt during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, officials said Sunday. The BSF has seen innovative methods to push poor and vulnerable people across the border by luring them with job opportunities in cities like Kolkata, Guwahati, other Northeast towns, and Delhi and Mumbai, a senior BSF officer said. At least five Bangladeshis were caught by the BSF in the past two weeks, the officer said. Multimedia Video Journalist Buffalo native trying to get her news on! Im a Multimedia Journalist here at Your Hometown Stations and I love what I do. Have a cool story idea? Im in! Just email me at ashelton@wlio.com or message my Facebook page. Appointment 6 July 2020 He will be responsible for the development of all areas of the 229-room hotel in the lead-up to its official scheduled opening in the autumn of 2020 and subsequently for the management of the hotel. As General Manager, Mr. Willensdorfer will help to reinforce the success enjoyed by this Deutsche Hospitality brand in Austria. After beginning his career as Manager On Duty at the Sofitel & Novotel Vienna Airport, Stefan Willensdorfer went on to gain further experience in a number of sales roles. His most recent position was Head of Sales for roomz Austria at the Roomz Graz. He completed a Bachelor degree at the Bad Leonfelden College for Tourism & Hospitality Management and later studied for a Masters in Business Administration at London Metropolitan University. Press Release 6 July 2020 The success of a hotel, in large part, relies on the success of its advertising. While the guest experience will remain the ultimate differentiator across properties, capturing the attention of prospective new guests, maximizing ad spend, and driving direct bookings remains paramount. After all, an exceptional guest experience can only be provided after the guest has decided to step foot on the property. Advertisements With this in mind, metasearch engines have emerged as a critical distribution platform over the last few years, enabling hotels to drive cost-effective bookings, while reducing reliance on OTAs. In an effort to further examine the power of metasearch and better understand the state of hotel advertising, D-EDGE conducted a new study to help hotels plan and allocate their marketing budgets in the coming weeks and months. The report works to not only analyze canonical metasearch platforms but also to highlight the advertising channels that, directly or indirectly, contribute to hotels' direct revenue. The findings are representative of a fixed pool of 954 properties worldwide and revealed some significant insights, including a +300% increase in bookings linked to digital advertising since 2012. Display Advertising Yields Reliable Results It's no secret that online display advertising can help to drive relevant traffic to a hotel's website. From the guest point of view, compelling visual inspiration can play a pivotal role in their decision to book and typically yields higher consumer engagement. These ads are also unique in that they aren't shown directly in search engine results, therefore increasing property visibility without any risk of 'traffic cannibalization'. With the ability to target and re-target consumers and specific demographics across multiple sites, hoteliers can effectively bring their hotel to life across channels and increase website traffic while inspiring booking decisions. According to the report, the positive trend of display advertising shows no sign of slowing down; in 2019 alone, display advertising across multiple platforms generated as many bookings as Google Hotel Ads and Tripadvisor combined. Moreover, in the case of D-EDGE clients, they were able to achieve 9x ROI (or more) across channels, making it an incredibly safe and reliable advertising investment. Metasearch is Still the Winning Formula, Especially Google Hotel Ads Since 2013, metasearch has established its position as one of the most reliable advertising channels for hoteliers, and a preferred online booking method for prospective guests. It would seem that, despite industry changes led by changing guest behavior, the same remains to be true today metasearch is still the winning formula. These channels include Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, Tripadvisor, HotelsCombined, and Kayak. Photo: Hospitality Net In 2017, Google Hotel Ads demonstrated favorable ROI in terms of both ad spend and click volume, and, by 2019, this channel drove the highest volume of traffic to hotel websites. Currently, Google Hotel Ads boasts an impressive return of 10.5X, which can likely be attributed to the launch of google.com/travel in 2019, the implementation of Book on Google, and the recent Pay Per Stay (PPS) and Property Promotion Ads (PPA) features. Trivago, on the other hand, has become an appealing low-risk advertising platform. The channel experienced a 17% increase in traffic from 2012 to 2019, and a positive return on advertising spend (ROAS) with the number of bookings increasing by 248% over the same time. Hoteliers should note that, as a general rule, partners providing the cheapest rates on Trivago would hold a higher position in paid search, regardless of the bid offered. In the case of Tripadvisor, the report indicated stable returns despite decreased volume, and a higher cost-per-click investment. In 2012, the platform boasted a ROAS of 10X, which fell slightly to 9.5X in 2019. However, last year the Tripadvisor platform generated 52% fewer clicks than in 2012, likely due to increased competition in the metasearch space, including Google, and continued changes to the Tripadvisor business model. Despite the recent drop in traffic volume, Tripadvisor metasearch ads remain very qualitative with a very engaged and relevant audience. Finally, HotelsCombined and Kayak generate a fraction of the volume of Tripadvisor and Trivago; however, they've proved to be a compelling option for hotels in Asia and North America that cater to a niche market. From an ROI perspective, HotelsCombined offered hoteliers 6.8X at the end of 2019, with Kayak coming in at 7.8X. Search Advertising, Is It Still Relevant? Understandably, with so much emphasis on metasearch advertisements, classic search engine advertisement appears to be on the decline across the hospitality space. The report revealed that the ROI of brand-protection campaigns across general search engines (Google and Bing) decreased from 16X to 12.4X, while the average CPC increased by 10 cents. Google also changed its brand-protection policy on its text adverts on Google Ads, back in 2018. When considering ROAS from a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) perspective, it's important to remember that the CPA for direct revenue, generally speaking, should not be higher than the average commission paid to OTAs. After all, much of the appeal of metasearch advertising is that it provides hoteliers with a competitive advantage to shift away from OTA reliance, which is often costly. The report helped to provide some perspective here, revealing that campaigns with the lowest cost per acquisition are the ones on the whole Google ecosystem, with search having the lowest (8%), followed by Google Hotel Ads (10%) and Display (10%). Tripadvisor and Trivago, on the other hand, have 11% and 12% CPA. However, fluctuations are common, and it remains important for hotels to utilize a marketing mix with optimized campaigns across more than one channel. Conclusion: By focusing on optimized ad spend across metasearch channels, hotels can effectively expand their reach to a broader demographic and drive direct bookings and make the most of their advertising budget. Click here to access the full report from D-EDGE. External Article 6 July 2020 Summer vacations used to mean wine tasting in Tuscany, backpacking in Southeast Asia or trips to the Grand Canyon. Advertisements But fears that airplanes could be a breeding ground for Covid-19 infections have wreaked havoc on the air travel industry. "This could take several years before we're into our new normal of traveling," said Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian. Last Sunday, fewer than 640,000 passengers flew out of U.S. airports compared with more than 2.6 million travelers a year earlier. With passenger demand in sharp decline, Delta, United and American parked hundreds of planes and posted their first quarterly losses in more than five years. American Airlines said it expects its second quarter 2020 revenue to be down about 90% versus the second quarter of 2019. The U.S. airline industry is in turmoil. The Dakota Access pipeline must shut down by Aug. 5, a district court ruled Monday in a stunning defeat for the Trump administration and the oil industry. The decision, which shuts the pipeline during a court-ordered environmental review thats expected to extend into 2021, is a momentous win for American Indian tribes that have opposed the Energy Transfer LP project for years. It comes just a day after Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. scuttled another project, the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, after years of legal delays. Environmentalists have increasingly used the courts to try to block additional investment in fossil fuel infrastructure while they push for a clean energy transition. Tribes, landowners, and other project opponents have also complained about local impacts from construction and potential spills on or near their land. CHALLENGED: A grim day for pipelines shows they're nearly impossible to build The sophisticated legal onslaught has led to delays and disruptions for several other pipelines, including Keystone XL. But Mondays court order, if upheld on appeal, marks the first time a major, in-service oil pipeline will be forced to shutter because of environmental concerns. Energy Transfer said its immediately pursuing all available legal and administrative processes to challenge the decision. Historic day The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said a crucial federal permit for Dakota Access fell too far short of National Environmental Policy Act requirements to allow the pipeline to continue operating while regulators conduct a broader analysis the court ordered in a previous decision. The ruling scraps a critical permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, and requires the pipeline to end its three-year run of delivering oil from North Dakota shale fields to an Illinois oil hub. Judge James E. Boasberg said Dakota Access must shut down the pipeline and empty it of oil by Aug. 5. Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline, tribal Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement. This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning. Boasberg acknowledged that the ruling would cause major disruptions for Dakota Access and the North Dakota drillers that supply its oil. Yet, given the seriousness of the Corps NEPA error, the impossibility of a simple fix, the fact that Dakota Access did assume much of its economic risk knowingly, and the potential harm each day the pipeline operates, the Court is forced to conclude that the flow of oil must cease, he wrote, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act. Energy Transfer said it plans to immediately ask Boasberg to freeze the decision, and will head to the U.S. Court of Appeals if that request is denied. The company said its confident that once the law and full record are fully considered Dakota Access Pipeline will not be shut down and that oil will continue to flow. The Army Corps referred questions about the ruling to the Justice Department, which didnt immediately respond to requests for comment, including on whether it intends to appeal the ruling. Disruptions The decision is likely to be enormously disruptive, said Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy LLC. The Army Corps 18-month timeline for addressing flaws in its environmental review makes Energy Transfer vulnerable to a change in administration and a more draconian policy towards oil pipelines, she said. ClearView Energy Partners analyst Christine Tezak said there is a strong possibility that the new Biden Administration could decide to not reissue the authorizations now that the permits have been vacated. The ruling will also fuel litigation against other projects, as it just totally overturns that conventional wisdom that courts will never force in-service pipelines to shut down, said Southern Methodist University law professor James W. Coleman. Theres no legal rule that says you wont shut down an existing pipeline but people felt like that was such a constant that they could count on it, he said. Coleman assigned 50% odds to the prospect that the D.C. Circuit would stay the lower courts decision. Some analysts speculated odds as low as 30%. The pro-pipeline GAIN Coalition argued that Mondays decision jeopardizes energy security, and said its confident common sense will prevail and this decision will be stayed or overturned. The American Petroleum Institute called for permitting reform. Our nations outdated and convoluted permitting rules are opening the door for a barrage of baseless, activist-led litigation, undermining American energy progress and denying local communities the environmental, employment and economic benefits modern pipelines provide, the oil industry group said. Energy Transfers shares fell as much as 13.8% Monday for the biggest intraday drop since mid-March. Continental Resources Inc., the shale producer founded by Harold Hamm, another prominent Trump supporter, also fell on the decision, as did Hess Corp. Both companies have significant operations in the Bakken shale field, and a shutdown of Dakota Access will make it harder for them to pipe their crude out of the basin. Physical sweet crude prices in the U.S. rose slightly against oil futures on Monday, as the closing of the pipeline means less oil supply. However, prices for oil produced in North Dakota have come under pressure as the loss of the conduit would mean less interest from buyers. Years of opposition Boasbergs decision comes after four years of litigation from tribes opposed to Dakota Access route across Lake Oahe, a dammed section of the Missouri River just a half-mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakotas. The Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, and others sued the Army Corps for approving the water crossing in 2016, saying it put tribal water supplies and cultural resources at risk. Their frustrations triggered an outpouring of support from fellow tribes, indigenous advocates, and environmentalists from across the country. Thousands of pipeline opponents camped out in North Dakota for months to show their opposition. The Obama administration responded by withholding a final permit and committing to a new consultation process, but President Donald Trump quickly put Dakota Access back on track after taking office in 2017. Kelcy Warren, the billionaire chief executive officer of Energy Transfer, has long been a Trump fan. He recently hosted a fundraiser for the presidents re-election campaign at his private Dallas home. My God, this is going to be refreshing, Warren told investors two days after Trump won the last election. Despite high-profile opposition to Dakota Access, including from celebrities and some of Warrens favorite musicians, the Energy Transfer founder has stood by the project, going so far as to say he talks about Dakota Access like I talk about my son earlier this year. Im so proud of that project, he said. Trouble in court But the district court in Washington found flaws in the governments pipeline approval process. Boasberg ordered the Army Corps to conduct additional environmental review in mid-2017, but allowed the pipeline to remain in service during that time. Earlier this year, the court again identified shortcomings in the Army Corps review, concluding that the agency didnt fully consider expert disagreement over the risk of an oil spill in Lake Oahe. The Army Corps must do an in-depth environmental impact statement for Dakota Access, the judge said. Boasberg issued the opinion in March and ordered both sides to submit new briefs explaining whether the pipeline should shut down in light of the decision. The default consequence for an agency violation of the National Environmental Policy Act is invalidation of the permit at issue, but legal precedent allows courts to balance that outcome against other factors, including how disruptive nixing a permit would be, and how likely an agency is to support its original decision after additional analysis. The Army Corps has said it expects to finish the court-ordered analysis in mid-2021. To be an energy superpower, U.S. oil and natural gas requires a suitably gargantuan pipeline network that stretches for millions of miles. The countrys ability to expand that infrastructure is being tested like never before. In the span of less than 24 hours, a court ordered the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline to shut down and the developers of the Atlantic Coast gas conduit said they were canceling the project. It was a deluge of bad news for an industry thats increasingly finding that the mega-projects of the past are no longer feasible in the face of unprecedented opposition to fossil fuels and the infrastructure that supports them. Armed with experienced lawyers and record funding, environmental groups are finding enormous success blocking key pipeline permits in court. The challenges come despite support from President Donald Trump, who so far has failed to ensure big projects like Keystone XL get built. I would expect this to be a turning point for new investment, said Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy. There is real investor fatigue around this parade of legal and regulatory headwinds to energy projects. Dominion Energy Inc. and its partner Duke Energy Corp. said Sunday theyll no longer pursue their $8 billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline after years of delays and ballooning costs, becoming the third such project this year to be sidelined or canceled altogether amid mounting opposition to development of oil and gas. ONE DONE: Pipeline completion expected to boost natural gas exports to Mexico Then on Monday, a U.S. district court ordered Energy Transfer LPs Dakota Access crude oil pipeline to shut down by Aug. 5. It ruled that a crucial federal permit for the project fell too far short of National Environmental Policy Act requirements to allow the pipeline to continue operating while regulators conduct a broader analysis ordered in a previous decision. The keep-it-in-the-ground movement has increasingly turned its attention to the pipes, rather than the wells themselves, because they require various federal and state permits, which, for the most part, can be more easily litigated. Trump has attempted to insulate the industry from those efforts. In his first week in office, he paved the way for Dakota Access and the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Last year, the White House signed an executive order aimed at short-circuiting regulators who held up gas lines by refusing permits. Dakota Access entered service but remained embattled. Keystone XL still hasnt been built. In February, Williams Cos. scrapped its Constitution natural gas pipeline after failing repeatedly to gain a water permit from New York. In contrast to Trump, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to kill Keystone XL and is supporting a push to lower-carbon energy sources, even if it comes at the expense of oil and gas jobs. The Dakota Access and Atlantic Coast pipes encapsulate the last few years of a trend weve watched: the dramatic expansion of using regulatory obligations to hurt infrastructure projects in the courts, said Brandon Barnes, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. When Atlantic Coast was proposed in 2014, it was expected to cost $5 billion and connect Appalachian shale gas plays with markets in the southeast. The price tag rose to $8 billion as the pipelines date to enter service was pushed back over and over again. In the end, not only did Dominion cancel it, the company also announced Sunday the sale of almost all its gas pipeline and storage business to Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for $4 billion, while highlighting its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Environmental groups heralded the Atlantic Coast cancellation and the courts decision to shut down Dakota Access, while industry groups blamed these latest blows on litigious activists. BATTLE IN TEXAS: Environmentalists ask judge to halt construction on Hill Country pipeline The well-funded, obstructionist environmental lobby has successfully killed the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a statement. The American Petroleum Institute said in a statement that its deeply troubled by the Atlantic Coast cancellation and Dakota Access shutdown. The need to reform our broken permitting system has never been more urgent, the industry group said. Oil producers Continental Resources Inc. and Hess Corp., both of which have significant operations in the Bakken shale field of North Dakota, saw their shares fall Monday morning following the Dakota Access shutdown order. And a lack of new pipelines in the U.S. Northeast, which faces gas supply constraints, may hobble Appalachian producers and potentially hasten the pace of transition to renewable energy. The demise of Atlantic Coast also casts a dark cloud on Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $4.7 billion gas project being developed by EQM Midstream Partners LP alongside utility giants NextEra Corp., Consolidated Edison Inc. and others. Enbridge Inc.s Line 3 and Line 5 crude pipelines remain ensnared in court battles and regulatory pushback. The Dakota Access ruling marks the first time a court has shut down a major, in-service pipeline for environmental concerns, Southern Methodist University energy law professor James W. Coleman said. The decision upends conventional wisdom that judges would always preserve the status quo by keeping projects in service, and will spur pipeline opponents to look for opportunities to shut down other existing projects, he said. Even in Texas, long considered a safe haven for the oil and gas industry, Kinder Morgan Inc.s Permian Highway Pipeline is experiencing a backlash from landowners and conservationists who argue the project would harm aquifer recharge zones. We have to be honest with ourselves that a world where ACP is too risky to get done is probably also a world where KXL is too risky to get done, said Bays, using acronyms for Atlantic Coast and Keystone XL. Well see companies pivot toward smaller, strategic investments and away from large interstate oil and gas pipelines. U.S. Energy Information Administration The recent completion of a natural-gas pipeline project in Central Mexico is expected to boost exports from the Permian Basin of West Texas. Mexico City pipeline company Fermaca began operations along the Villa de Reyes-Aguascalientes-Guadalajara Pipeline in June. Indian Army vehicles take part in a war exercise at Thikse in Leh district of the Union territory of Ladakh on July 4, 2020. (AFP) New Delhi: In what seems like a major breakthrough, India and China announced Monday they have agreed to ensure complete disengagement of troops--of both countries--along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from border areas. Both sides also decided to complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously and ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation. It was also decided neither side will take any unilateral action to alter the status quo at the LAC and both nations will instead work together to avoid any incident in future that could disturb peace. This was agreed in a telephonic conversation on Sunday between Indias national security adviser Ajit Doval and Chinas state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi, when both had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on recent developments in the western sector of India-China border areas, the Indian government said. Doval and Wang are also their countries special representatives on the boundary question and the interaction reflects a move at higher levels in both nations to repair the enormous damage in ties in the past two months, especially after the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in mid-June. Mondays announcement comes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Ladakh visit last week and Indias recent move to ban 59 Chinese apps. A statement issued by Inda's Ministry of External External Affairs said: They (Doval and Wang Yi) agreed it was necessary to ensure at the earliest the complete disengagement of troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. It added: They reaffirmed both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity. The statement said the two state representatives agreed both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes. This was a reference to reviving the earlier consensus between Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping on bilateral ties that faced a severe jolt in recent times. The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, one of the largest oil and natural gas industry associations in the state, named Jason Modglin its new president on June 3. Succeeding John Tintera, who retired last year, Modglin is stepping into his new role as the coronavirus pandemic and industry downturn have resulted in tens of thousands of layoffs over the past three months. No stranger to the oil and natural gas industry or the halls of government, Modglin will represent the organizations 2,600 members in both Austin and Washington, D.C. In an exclusive sit-down interview with Texas Inc., Modglin shared his ambitious plans for the 90-year-old organization to navigate challenging times. Leadership: TXOGAs 100 years reflect changes in oil & gas Q: You became president of the alliance earlier this month and Cye Wagner became chair in April. How have yall spent the last few weeks? A: We hit the ground running and weve been trying to catch up with members as best we can to connect and let them know that Im on board and how the Alliance can do a better job for them. These are tough and challenging times for everybody, including the oil industries. We are working hard to do that during these challenging times. Q: There are several industry associations. Where does the alliance fit and how does it make itself different? More Information Jason Modglin Age: 37 Hometown: Houston Spouse: Erin Modglin Children: Three Education: University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs (Master of Public Affairs) Southwestern University (Bachelor of Political Science) Professional Experience: Railroad Commission of Texas Texas House of Representatives Texas Department of Agriculture Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP Source: Texas Alliance of Energy Producers See More Collapse A: Our alliance is focused on independent producers with the ethos and the spirit for family-run business, smaller producers. We work with everybody, but we been able to carve out a great niche to provide smaller operators with first class and regulatory expertise at their fingertips. We prioritize their interests when we approach a legislature or when we approach regulators. We work well with other associations, and they have great leadership and great staff. But we offer something a little different. Q: Such as? A: For our smaller members, we have an insurance pool. And they have access to insurance, professional liability as well as property and casualty and workplace liability insurance. So thats a significant savings and benefit to them. Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox Q: So, does that mean your association is more for convention drillers? Those just doing vertical drilling? A: The industry is not homogeneous. The bulk of our membership its focused on conventional drilling, but weve had a number of operators that have also drilled horizontal wells. So that again, the industry is not homogeneous. We are not limiting ourselves to vertical operators. Q: A few years back, the alliance passed a big tent resolution to expand membership beyond producers. How successful was that? A: We have a number of bankers and lawyers and geologists that are members of our association. We have a very broad group of folks. We have a very high number, over 2,600, and my goal is to double that number. Q: Thats pretty ambitious. With the coronavirus pandemic canceling conferences, how will you make that happen? A: Were working on a summer conversation series with lawmakers. We know its a challenging time, but the session is approaching. We want to talk about produced water. We want to talk about transportation. We want to talk about funding. Weve been reaching out to lawmakers in the state legislature but also congressional officials. Well host Zoom calls with them for our members, and were excited for those opportunities. We canceled our conference in April because of COVID but our new chairman has tasked me with rebuilding and recreating it on Zoom in August. Halliburton at 100: From wagons and mules to 21st century technology Q: Speaking of COVID, how is the pandemic affecting your members? A: Its a double challenge for oil and gas operators right now. Until demand returns, operators are faced with shutting in wells and less production as well as less demand for their product. Were confident demand will return. Our operators arent getting out of the business. They very much want to stay in oil and gas and producing in particular, in Texas. Were left with a number of advantages over other states and over other countries. But this is significant challenge. Q: A number of operators have shut in production. Have your members done the same? A: I was just in Midland and theres a number of pumpjacks that arent moving. I was in Wichita Falls the week before, same story. Thats tough to see, but hopefully prices stabilize and demand starts to increase as economies come back online and as people start to fly and drive more. Well see a return of demand and that will necessitate our operators bringing those wells back online. The worst thing that could happen would be if demand returns and oil and gas operators arent prepared to produce. If that happens, well see price spikes. More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com Q: Economist Karr Ingham is synonymous with the alliance. Will he still be involved? A: Karr is our executive vice president and he really stepped up and ran the alliance when John retired. Karr will continue to be our petroleum economist and we will continue to rely heavily on his expertise in this space to to have the petro index published by the alliance. Q: Cye Wagner became board chair in April and then you became president. Thats a lot of change for one organization at once. How are yall working together? A: Shes branded the new alliance and I was very excited to come to work for her and the board. She is a very dynamic leader. We are excited to have her as our chair and is leading us in positive directions. She is very much focused on education and how we can continue to highlight opportunities for both students in the STEM field but also for our members. Q: The Texas Legislature meets again in 2021. Whats on the alliances list for the next session? A: First and foremost, this is going to be a budget session. A few months ago, we wouldve thought it would be a different, but COVID has derailed that as well as some budget projections. We are going to be working closely with lawmakers to make sure that the Railroad Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality remain fully staffed. We need inspectors. We need our regulators to be able and capable of doing their jobs. sergio.chapa@chron.com http://twitter.com/SergioChapa Bernice Wallace had just been released from the hospital following a fainting spell when she got a phone call from Debra Kelly with a special request. An oncology nurse navigator at Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Houston Healthcare, Kelly works with the volunteer sewing group led by Wallace, 93. Wallaces group makes pillows, blankets and other comfort items for women undergoing chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer. But this time, Kelly needed something Wallace hadnt made since she learned to sew at age 13. It was mid-March, and Kelly told Bernice there wasnt enough equipment to go around. Physicians were performing breast biopsies and exams without face coverings, she said. Wallace went to work researching mask patterns online and enlisting help from the members of her volunteer group, the Pedal Pushers. The next thing I know, theyve already made me 300 masks, Kelly says. Soon after Kelly distributed the masks to hospital staff, the Pedal Pushers had made enough for her to start giving them to patients, too. They were so happy, Kelly says. You know, cancer patients are so scared, Kelly says. Being able to serve a population with compromised immune systems during the initial weeks of the health crisis would not have been possible without the Pedal Pushers, she says. Shes still in awe that Wallace started the project the day she returned home from the hospital. Shes phenomenal, says Kelly. Shes one of the most positive people Ive ever met. She just doesnt let things drag her down. Here everybodys complaining about being isolated and being in the pandemic, Kelly says, while she is asking, What can I do to help? At 93! Using one of the four sewing machines in her apartment, Wallace sews almost everyday. Sometimes when she cant sleep at night, she cranks up a machine to pass the time. She helped form the Pedal Pushers in 2000; the name refers to the foot pedal that powers a sewing machine. Since then, theyve organized events to raise funds for fabric uplifting patterns like a Clifford the Big Red Dog print and other supplies they use to improve the chemo experience. Together, they sew small cushions that provide a barrier between a patients surgical point or chemo port and a vehicles seat belt. They provide pillows to make chemo chairs more comfortable and tote bags that patients use to keep their medications and cell phone handy. When she hands out the blankets, masks and other comfort items, Kelly includes an informational card about the volunteers who made them because it makes the gift meaningful, she says. Cover yourself up with this blanket, she says she tells a patient. Somebody made this for you because they want you to get better. Patients think its just the most wonderful thing to get these little gifts of love, Kelly says. A member of Wallaces church, Rudyne Walker has herself received gifts from Wallace, whom she describes as selfless. Wallace regularly cooks meals for members, asks how she can pray for them, and even is responsible for planting the flowers in front of the church building, Walker says. In 2016, Walker was part of a six-way, 12-person kidney swap at Houston Methodist. While she was in dialysis recovering, Walker says she began to lose her hair. Wallace noticed and crocheted her a hat. She loves to help others, she says. I have noticed Bernice is only Bernice when shes giving. Wallace is matter of fact about giving back. Im so fortunate in so many ways, she says. Im blessed I can do this. The Pedal Pushers are happy when they can sew anything for patients that can make their lives easier. Thats my joy, Wallace says. U.s. Army/NYT DALLAS (AP) Army investigators have identified the body of a soldier who vanished more than two months ago from a base in Texas, according to a lawyer for the soldier's family. Remains found last week buried near Fort Hood belong to Spc. Vanessa Guillen and Army officials informed her family in Houston Sunday, attorney Natalie Khawam told The Associated Press. Guillen, who had been missing since April, was killed and dismembered by a fellow soldier who took his own life last week, federal and military investigators have said. With less than a year left for the Assembly Election in West Bengal, BJP president J P Nadda on Monday called for the use of "lock, stock and barrel" to oust chief minister Mamata Banerjee's party: Trinamul Congress from power in the state. Tearing into TMC leaders over corruption through "cut-money," he also tasked the BJP ran and file to "cut their size." On the occasion of Jan Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's 119th birth anniversary, Mr Nadda told a BJP virtual rally, "Now is the time to restore the pride of Bengal following the path of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. It has to be brought back and taken to a height from a political and educational perspective. For this, the present government, which has been inflicting all types of losses, has to be thrown out lock, stock and barrel to establish the BJP rule." He said, "It is our task which we have to fulfill. The politics of violence and criminalisation have become the order of the day in the birthplace of Mookerjee. We never heard the word: cut money which we hear now. Cut the size of these leaders in coming times. Their size has to be cut." Setting the BJP's agenda, Mr Nadda alleged, "Education has taken a nosedive in West Bengal. It has gone down to the bottom. Politicisation is taking place. The situation here has become such that you would get a scope of education based on the party you have voted for. The politicisation has been to such a lower level that everything has been politicised. It is bad and sad for Bengal. It should be our resolve to restore the past glory in education which Syama Prasad Mookerjee achieved by serving as the vice chancellor of the Calcutta University at a young age of 33." He further asked the BJP to work for "decriminalization" of politics. Mr Nadda claimed, "There is nothing left in West Bengal except vying for posts. They are ready to compromise on all fronts only to remain in power. Criminalisation has grown so much now that it has posed a question of crisis for Bengal. We have to give the answer. We have to fight this battle. Bengal was once known for its conscience. But conscience ends where force is used." According to him, "The present government is throttling the conscience in Bengal. Political opponents are slapped with cases even of narcotics and put in jail. Our MPs are not allowed to work in corona crisis. They are put under house arrest with notices pasted outside. What is the yardstick? While Syama Prasad Mookerjee spoke about national integrity from regional aspirations, the present Bengal CM does not think it fit to report the corona cases to Delhi. Which type of federalism are we working in? At a time when our PM believes in cooperative federalism and takes all on board to fight corona together, the cm is otherwise here." The BJP chief noted, "Aayushmaan Bharat is for the health of the poor. But it is not implemented in Bengal because it's from the centre and Modiji. Such a decision neither serves regional aspirations nor national interest." WASHINGTON Some of the best-known companies in Texas received millions in federal loans meant to help businesses stay afloat during the coronavirus outbreak, according to newly disclosed data detailing the loan recipients for the first time. The report comes months after several big chains, including Shake Shack and Taco Cabana, were pressured into returning millions they had borrowed through the same Paycheck Protection Program. At that time, small business owners struggled to secure the funding during the programs rocky launch. Publicly traded companies were among the few required to disclose how much they got. The records disclosed Monday show that among the recipients of loans of between $5 million and $10 million the maximum amount under the forgivable loan program were the Houston Zoo and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as Sport Clips, which runs hair salons across the country, and restaurant chains including TGI Fridays, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen and Jasons Deli. ALL I NEEDED WAS THAT STUPID LOAN: Congress replenishes small business funding as frustration grows Others borrowing $5 million to $10 million included: The Alamo Drafthouse, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, Pappas Restaurants the parent company of Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen and Pappasitos Cantina and Success Foods Management Group, which runs Torchys Tacos. The companies all reported that the loans helped them retain hundreds of employees. The data released by the Small Business Administration shows that more than 389,000 of the loans were approved for businesses in Texas by the end of June, totaling more than $41 billion second only to California. Of those, 378 loans in the $5 million to $10 million range were awarded to Texas businesses. In all, 52,150 Texas businesses received $150,000 or more, the data shows. The program was available to companies with 500 or fewer employees, and the loans can be forgiven if a certain amount is spent to keep workers on the payroll. Restaurant chains, hotels and other franchise businesses with fewer than 500 employees per location were also eligible. I WOULDVE BEEN THAT BILLIONAIRE: Fertitta urges Trump administration to set aside help for restaurant chains Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta in May urged President Donald Trump to peel off some of the loan funding to help large restaurant chains like his. Fertitta said he initially received a paycheck protection loan, but returned it after he realized I wouldve been that billionaire that took the money from the little businesses. Fertitta asked the administration to add a category for the larger private restaurateur that could go out and take this money, and put it in a different bucket so it wouldnt be me taking this money away from the little beauty salon. ben.wermund@chron.com After a three-month hiatus on any jury service in Harris County due to the COVID-19 pandemic, grand jury selection began on Monday in NRG Arena under social distancing measures meant to help curb the novel coronavirus. About 50 people showed up for the first day of jury service out of the 1,000 who received summons, said Al Ortiz, spokesman for the Harris County District Clerks Office. Another 30 prospective jurors were scheduled in the afternoon to appear via video conferencing. Grand juries hear evidence on criminal cases and issue indictments if they determine that probable cause exists to show a crime was committed. Five panels meet twice a week for three-month terms, each serving one district court. The most recent panels had already been extended to serve six-month terms after the state entered a lockdown in March, District Clerk Marilyn Burgess said. Operating without grand juries wasnt really an option, she said. Weve done everything we can to make it as safe as possible, Burgess said. Its critically important we have grand jury panels. Justice has to keep going. Before entering NRG, prospective jurors have to pass a temperature check and answer a series of questions. They must wear face masks or are given one, Ortiz said. They are also provided with face shields and are seated at least 6 feet apart. During a 1:30 p.m. jury call, in which 19 people showed up, jurors first met in a large arena space to be sworn in. Then, they moved to a slightly smaller space for jury selection, or voir dire. They spread out across a section in their designated seats, and zip ties folded the unused seats shut. Most of the prospective jurors were asked to return in early August, when the grand juries will officially be selected. Twelve jurors and four alternates will be on each panel. Its a very different selection process, said Judge Susan Brown, presiding over the 11th Judicial Administrative Region of Texas, a six-county region of state courts in southeast Texas. Prior to the pandemic, the swearing-in process took place in the basement of the county administrative building downtown, and actual selection was in individual courtrooms. State District Judge Kristen Hawkins, who presides over the 11th civil district court, said she felt Mondays jury duty appeared to go smoothly. No one appeared outwardly anxious or nervous, she said. They seemed like they were here for jury duty, she said. The novel coronavirus has proven to be a challenge for the local courts, which are mostly functioning remotely to keep defendants and attorneys out of usually-crowded courtrooms. A state Supreme Court order has banned most jury trials from taking place until Aug. 1, but an exception was made locally for grand jury selection for five state district courts. The Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association has opposed the plan to resume jury selection at NRG Arena, saying that it puts defense lawyers' lives at risk. "No lawyer should be required to explain her private 'health risks' to any judge, and no sitting judge in this county, or judicial region, is equipped to accurately assess such risk," Mark Thiessen, the group's president, said in a June 29 letter to the administrative judge. Defense attorneys are not usually present at grand jury selections. They do attend jury selections for criminal trials, however. Once juries are selected at NRG Arena, the actual trials will be held at the courthouse downtown. Regular jury service has been postponed until September. Grand jury selection will continue through Monday. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Andrea Williams was expected in Louisiana last month to reveal the gender of her baby. The night before the party, police investigators say, her husband shot her to death at their Houston apartment. A police officer found the slain 39-year-old woman on June 27 in the bedroom of her MacGregor area apartment in the 3700 block of Southmore Boulevard after her father-in-law tried checking on the couple, according to court documents. Near the front door was a note. "For (the) record I'm not leaving u are," the note stated. The husband, David Nathan Willis, was not at the apartment, police said. Investigators said the officer saw a pile of men's clothing near the front door, as well as two boxes of ammunition. Willis was charged last month with capital murder in the death of Williams and her unborn child. Police, after sharing a prior booking photo Friday in hopes of finding him, said he was apprehended over the Fourth of July weekend. Harris County Sheriffs Office spokesman Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said Willis surrendered to authorities at the Joint-Processing Center on Saturday. He is being held at the Harris County Jail without bail, according to court records. Williams mother, Ozene Williams, when reached Monday, said her daughter had a 15-year-old son and was 4-months pregnant with her second child. I know how he did it, but I want to know why, she said. Williams and her mother would speak three times a day on the phone but after her death, the calls stopped and she came to Houston to find out what happened. Mothers intuition, the elder Williams said, adding that she has since brought her grandchild back to Tennessee, where she lives. My daughter was a loving person, she continued. She was the best daughter anyone could have. According to court documents, Williams' mother-in-law told investigators that she last heard from the expectant mother the night before her body was found. She received a text message around 10 p.m. that said Williams and Willis could no longer attend the gender reveal party planned for her in Baton Rouge, records show. Investigators outlined what happened next in the June 28 charging documents: Willis contacted his mother the morning of the party to ask if Williams had made it to Louisiana but she said no. His mother asked, "if everything was okay," but Willis did not reply. Willis' father went to Houston to check on the two because he believed his son had been drinking and that there may have been a fight. The father said Willis "has a historically violent past and implied that it was well documented by police reports," the investigator wrote in the sworn statement. Court records show he was out on bond for a January 2019 arrest on charges of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and felony failure to stop and render aid. Willis' vehicle was found at a friend's home, where a man there said the suspect recently stopped by to drink alcohol. He "appeared distraught'" investigators wrote. Willis then revealed that he had "shot her," the friend told police. The friend told the investigator that Willis "is usually non-violent but behaves irrationally when he drinks," police wrote. nicole.hensley@chron.com Perry Adkisson, a Texas A&M University entomologist whose research into the control of cotton-feeding insects led to integrated pest management principles that revolutionized crop production across the globe, has died. He was 91. Adkisson, chancellor of Texas A&M System from 1986 to 1990, was the first scientist to be honored with all three of the worlds major agriculture prizes - the World Food Prize, the Wolf Prize and the Alexander von Humboldt Award. He also was the first Texas A&M professor to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the nations most elite group of scientists. He was a very smart, hard-working scientist with a unique ability to identify and solve problems, said Ray Frisbie, a former head of A&Ms department of entomology who described Adkisson as his mentor. He was a visionary who looked into the future of agriculture and saw its reliance on pesticides wasnt a sustainable way of doing business. Adkisson passed away in Bryan June 25 after a lengthy illness, according to the family obituary. He was born on March 11, 1929 on the familys cotton/soybean farm in Arkansas. He got his bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and completed advanced academic work at Kansas State University and Harvard before coming to Texas A&M in 1958. As Texas A&Ms chancellor, Adkisson was instrumental in bringing the George H.W. Bush presidential library and museum to the school, a huge coup that involved fending off a challenge from a combined bid by the University of Houston and Rice. Not long before Bush was scheduled to make his final decision, Adkisson pointedly provided the president with data showing most Texas A&M students voted for him while most at UH and Rice voted for Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis. But it was for the his research into the control of cotton pests specifically, the boll worm and boll weevil that was Adkissons biggest achievement. The approach pioneered by Adkisson resulted in a 50 percent reduction of insecticide use on U.S. crops while maintaining or increasing yields. Adkissons ideas were born of basic science insights into the bollworm, a moth larva that attacks the fruiting bodies of certain crops, especially cotton. Adkisson noticed it spends winter in a quiescent state much like hibernation and developed the strategy that farmers plant earlier in the year and destroy crop residue following harvest so the insects cant hibernate there. The most important application was with the boll weevil, a kind of beetle that was discovered in the High Plains of Texas in 1962. The insect, which can destroy cotton, already had run many other Southern farmers out of business and resulted in heavy insecticide use. At one time, a third of the insecticide used in the U.S. was used to combat boll weevils. Adkissons pest control program not only prevented the insects spread, it eventually eliminated it in the High Plains. You cant imagine how many pounds of insecticide would have been applied if the boll weevil had become established in the High Plains, Adkisson said in a 2013 interview in which he called the insects eradication his most significant achievement. Farmers in other parts of Texas were applying as many as 15 to 20 applications per year to control the pest. Adkisson also spoke proudly about how his integrated pest management principles were applied to food crops around the world, noting in a 1997 interview that the worlds largest such program is with rice in southeast Asia. Until then, he noted, people were getting poisoned by pesticide residues and mosquitoes that carry malaria were becoming resistant to pesticides. Adkissons work took to him to every continent and the South Pole. In the 2013 interview, he told of the pleasure he received drinking Scotch whiskey with 2,000-year-old ice taken from deep drilling being done at the Pole during his visit as chairman of the Polar committee for the National Science Board. As head of entomology at Texas A&M, Adkisson recruited some of the fields top scientists, turning the program, solid when he took over, into one of the nations best, according to Perry. He also mentored a number of students who would go on to become prominent entomologists, famously recruiting students with the philosophy that an entomologist is a biologist with a job, a slogan he had emblazoned on a T-shirt he frequently wore. As chancellor, Adkisson worked with the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress to increase funding by almost 50 percent for research, teaching and extension programs of the Texas A&M System. He led the effort that added four universities to the system Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I, Laredo State University and West Texas State University. They are now known as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M International and West Texas A&M University, respectively. The Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston also was established during his chancellorship. Adkisson is survived by his wife Gloria, daughter Amanda, two stepchildren and four grandchildren. todd.ackerman@chron.com COMSTOCK Exactly how the Devils River got its forbidding name is lost to history, but there is little doubt the harsh terrain played a role. It is far from any habitation, in a barren waste surrounded by hostile Comanches, but it is a beautiful place, noted one early visitor. A century and a half later, the natural beauty remains and the rushing, spring-fed Devils owns the reputation as the last unspoiled river in Texas. Its milky-green currents slide through a wilderness unmarred by settlements or commerce. The only disturbance is the occasional blast of a low-flying Air Force training jet. But all is not well here. A plan by a billionaire Chinese industrialist named Sun Guangxim to build a huge wind farm is causing seismic upset among longtime landowners. Its a total crisis. We depend on ecotourism. The turbines will affect the deer. They kill birds. And were on the flyway for the monarch butterflies, said Alice Ball Strunk, 63, whose great-grandfather Claude Hudspeth began acquiring the ranch in 1905. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News The project by Suns GH America Energy also threatens to disrupt critical pilot training missions at Laughlin AFB in nearby Del Rio. Last week, the obscure West Texas energy project was thrust into the national spotlight when a right-wing news commentator denounced it as a threat to national security. Since 2015, Sun, who made much of his wealth in Chinese real estate and energy, has purchased about 140,000 acres in the back country northwest of Del Rio. It is unclear how many turbines Sun could potentially build there. He is already moving forward with the first phase, called the Blue Hills Wind Farm, a 51-turbine project on one northern holding. His company is also exploring using some of the land for solar power projects. Sun declined to respond to a list of questions sent to his representative in Texas. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News 700-foot turbines This is a timeless place of prowling mountain lions, dark night skies and Indian pictographs in hidden caves. Once sprinkled with sheep and goats, many of the large family ranches now are used only for hunting or have been acquired by real estate speculators. Vast protected areas also belong to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Nature Conservancy, the Texas Agricultural Land Trust and private owners with conservation easements. In Texas, the Nature Conservancy is invested heavily in a lot of places, but nowhere more so than the Devils River, said Jeff Francell, the conservancys director of land protection. Michael Fisher/ San Antonio Express-News The main source of the pristine river surfaces in a lush grove of pecan and sycamore trees on Strunks ranch. What worries me is that the springs are on my place, and they own the next land over, about a half-mile away. The danger is that they will degrade the water, Strunk said. I just hate that they are going to industrialize right next door. The eye pollution, the lights, the noise .... . The prospect of 700-foot tall wind turbines sprouting on hilltops also worries officials at Laughlin, which trains 300 new pilots a year as one of three Air Force pilot training bases. Col. Lee Gentile Jr., the base commander at Laughlin, declined to be interviewed. A critical hurdle for the wind farm is for its backers to reach an agreement with military authorities on a plan to mitigate interference with flights from the air base. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News Former base commander Dave Belote, now a mitigation specialist hired by GH America Energy, said agreements for foreign-owned projects typically include many security safeguards. You have to give the DoD (Department of Defense) access to the site and to the data stream anytime they ask for it. You also have to give the DoD prior notice of any foreign national who will be on the site, he said. Since Laughlin pumps an estimated $2 billion a year into Val Verde Countys economy, elected officials are eyeing the proposed wind farm project with trepidation. My position, and probably the countys, is that if it affects Laughlin Air Force Base, and hampers their ability to perform their mission, we are going to oppose it, said County Commissioner Beau Nettleton. Im all for private property rights, but we have to protect the one thing that is the economic engine for Del Rio, he added. But because there are few legal or regulatory obstacles to such wind projects, even those built near a military base, there is little anyone can do if Sun decides to go forward. Unfortunately, counties dont have the authority to regulate wind farms, Nettleton said. So were looking at legislation in the next session that would grant a county that authority on these type of projects that would have a direct effect on a military bases ability to perform its mission. The apex of Texas rivers Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, has spoken out against development in the area, about 200 miles west of San Antonio. The Lower Pecos and Devils River country represent one of the last true bastions of wilderness in our state, he said, citing the departments long-term efforts to preserve the area. Proposals to further intensively develop the area surrounding the Devils River run counter to many of the values that ranchers, conservationists, biologists and outdoor enthusiasts alike have labored long and hard to protect, he added. In 1988, the state bought 20,000 acres on the Devils River to create the Del Norte State Natural Area. In 2011, it added 18,000 acres to the south, which became the Dan A. Hughes State Natural Area. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News The Devils River ends at the 57,000-acre Amistad National Recreation Area a few miles west of Del Rio. TPWD aquatic biologist Chad Norris, whose specialty is springs, said the Devils represents the apex of rivers in Texas. Certainly the Comal and San Marcos are wonderful rivers, but they are pretty developed, he said. If there is any place in Texas that deserves preservation, its the undeveloped watershed of the Devils River. One of the large ranches acquired by Sun in Val Verde County, formerly called the Morning Star Ranch, is apparently being kept for his personal use. It has a high fence, a large hunting lodge and jet runway, and he reportedly visits periodically. Members of the Devils River Conservancy, a group created 10 years ago to protect the area, are in regular communication with Suns representatives. We have talked to them about all kinds of alternatives. Weve offered exit strategies. The one thing they have told us is that if the economics are not there, they wont proceed, Conservancy President Randy Nunns said. But in that case, they might just sell it to another developer, and it might end up as ranchettes. We would still oppose the country being carved up, he said. Security Vulnerabilities West Texas is a windy place, and Texas ranks first in the country for both operating wind energy projects and those under construction, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The state has about 15,000 wind turbines spread among some 160 projects. Together they generate around 30,000 megawatts of power, enough to power 7.7 million homes, according to the trade association. The current low price of natural gas, also used in power production, has cut into the profit margins of wind farms. Among the questions that appear unresolved about Suns mega-project is if it is economically feasible to build a wind farm in such a rugged and inaccessible area, one with few roads or transmission lines. Its also unclear if the available transmission lines operated by ERCOT (Energy Reliability Council of Texas) have the capacity to the absorb any additional load. A former wind energy executive, Wayne Walker, 52, who with his brothers Philip and Caton, owns a ranch adjacent to the Blue Hills property, said time is running short for Suns wind project to prove itself. If they dont get Department of Defense approval or if ERCOT says there is not enough capacity, they go home. They wont build it. And both should be known by the end of the year, he added. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News Walker, who developed wind projects for Horizon Wind Energy in Houston, said there is another wild card in the deck. The worm in the tequila jar is the political part. You dont have to watch the news for more than 30 seconds to see that, he added. After a March visit to Del Rio, where he met with local officials and Air Force personnel, Sen. Ted Cruz told the Del Rio Herald that the air base is dealing with the distinct problem of a Chinese-owned company threatening to imperil training routes. Noting that China is Americas most significant long-term geopolitical rival, Cruz said, China has demonstrated a willingness to invest billions of dollars expanding its surveillance state. These Chinese towers, if constructed, pose a threat not only to air training, but also of potential security vulnerabilities, he added. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, who has been monitoring the proposed wind farm, said the issue is much broader than compromised air training routes. This is a question of foreign ownership of energy supply and, if you are a wind farmer, of trying to put it on the grid, he said. A U.S. company could not go to China and buy land anywhere near a Chinese military installation. So why are we allowing a well-known Chinese company whose leader is well entrenched in the Chinese Communist Party, to do that in the United States? he asked. 50,000 Hungry Coyotes For the scattered residents of the Devils River area, the threats posed by a large wind farm are hardly abstractions. Three years ago, a project with 69 turbines, each 500 feet tall, began operating on the eastern border of Val Verde County. Owned by French and Middle Eastern entities, the so-called Rocksprings Val Verde Wind Farm covers 15,000 acres along U.S. 277 and is within about 15 miles of the Devils River. Some of the land belongs to Sun. Dell Dickinson, 76, who lives in his grandparents house on a ridge about 18 miles to the west, vividly recalls its launch. The first night they turned on these high-intensity, blood red synchronized lights, I literally thought the Martians had landed, he recalled with a grimace. Since then, he has kept the blinds on the east side of his house permanently shut, to avoid the turbine lights. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News Having lived out here, Im one of those guys who loves to see forever, he said. If were not careful, well see Val Verde County turned into a huge pin cushion, with the wind towers being the pins, he added. Dickinsons 7,000-acre spread includes 4 miles of river frontage. Along the banks, he said, are caves and shelters that were inhabited by native people thousands of years ago. In his living room, he has a collection of various points and arrowheads gathered on his ranch, including several unique to the Devils River area. What his ranch doesnt have these days is livestock. Instead it has coyotes, bobcats and foxes in abundance. We have a terrible problem with predators, he said, adding that last year, after not a single lamb survived, he temporarily moved his last 600 head of wool sheep to another property. The problem is that this used to be a ranching community where the ranchers supported each other to keep the predators in check. Now, were the only working ranch left in the area, he said. Things are only slightly better 15 miles to the north, at the Hudspeth River Ranch, where Strunk still runs sheep and goats on 16,000 acres. We have about 2,000 sheep. We dont know how many goats we have because they are such escape artists, she said. Both are meat animals and some of the lamb is served at restaurants in San Antonio. But predators also get their share. Eat More Lamb, 50,000 Coyotes Cant Be Wrong, reads a bumper sticker on her truck. The herds are guarded in the rocky pastures by sheep dogs. She also has trappers at work, setting snares. Coyotes and bobcats, however, are a minor worry compared with huge wind turbines. It drives me crazy, because it doesnt make any economic sense. They just want to prove they can be successful wind farmers in America, she said of the Chinese. A few miles south of her ranch, on a recent weekday morning, a group of five urban kayakers were about to launch a four-day fishing trip. Their start was at Bakers Crossing, a site on Texas 163 named for a pioneering cattleman. Its just crystal clear and theres a lot of bass in here, all catch and release, said Derrick Shroyer, 34, of Austin. Two years ago, he caught a 4-pound large mouth bass when he made the same float. Its one of the few rivers that everyone actually cares about. People take out whatever trash they bring in, he added. The prospect of large wind turbines twirling from nearby hilltops came as an unpleasant surprise. I dont want to see that. Thats the whole reason we come out here, to get away from all that, said Matt Hillis, 34, also of Austin. They will take down a lot of trees, build roads all over the place, and bring in power lines. Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Justice to pursue harsh sentences for anyone who destroys or vandalizes monuments, memorials or statues. The order targets activists who, as part of the record-breaking nationwide wave of protest over attacks against African Americans, have been asking officials to remove statues considered racially offensive or doing it themselves. Meanwhile, the Mississippi state legislature voted to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, and the governor signed the bill into law. What causes public officials and voters to favor removing Confederate symbols and monuments? Advocates for removal often argue for racial equity while emphasizing that keeping such symbols in place hurts local business interests, as corporations and organizations increasingly decline to bring conferences or jobs to locations with public racist emblems. Our recent research published in Political Research Quarterly finds economic arguments to be especially successful in persuading both elected officials and the public at large to support removing Confederate imagery. Why do economics matter for decisions about removing Confederate imagery? Over time, many in the South have come to see Confederate symbols as economic liabilities. For instance, in 2015, the CEO of a biofuel firm in South Carolina told Inc. magazine that colleagues outside the South literally laughed at the idea of starting a business in South Carolina due to its backwoods, good ol boy image, including the fact that, at the time, the Confederate flag flew at the state capitol. That year, the South Carolina government finally removed the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds after a white supremacist horrifically shot and killed nine Black parishioners at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. But many controversial statues and symbols remain in place, in and outside the South. What changes the minds of those who want to keep those symbols in place? How we did our research To learn whether talking about economic interests affects Southerners attitudes toward the presence of Confederate symbols, we conducted three studies of political elites and voters. In each study, elected officials and voters were randomly assigned to different groups. The first group called a control group read a question asking them to report how likely they were to support removing a Confederate flag from local government property on a scale from 1 (most likely to support removal) to 7 (least likely to support removal). The second group read the same information, but with an additional sentence arguing that keeping the flag in public spaces would hurt local businesses. This group was then also asked whether they favored removing the Confederate flag from local government property. In surveying the regular voters, we also asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for Blacks to work their way out of the lower class. This language, also used in the American National Election Studies surveys, helps measure what social scientists call racial resentment, or attitudes that combine anti-Black feelings with moral traditionalism. Talking about racial symbols as economic problems makes a difference We found that Southerners were far more likely to support removing the flag from public property when told it would hurt the local economy. Elected officials in Southern cities went from somewhat likely to favor removal to very likely when they heard the economic message. County elected officials not presented with the economic message most frequently said they were neither likely nor unlikely to support removal, but those who were pushed to think about economics moved toward somewhat likely to remove the Confederate symbol. Voters responded similarly: Those who read the economic argument were moved about half a point on the seven-point scale in the direction of favoring removal of Confederate symbols. Thats similar in size to the shift among Southern elected officials. Political scientists Andrew Searles and Nathan Kalmoe reported last week at TMC that individuals with higher levels of racial resentment were more likely to oppose removal of the Confederate flag. Our research also showed racial resentment was correlated with greater support for Confederate symbols. However, mentioning economic consequences generally shifted individuals support for removing the flag in roughly the same amount, no matter how little or how much racial resentment voters reported. Peterson is an assistant professor of political science at North Carolina State University. Grose is an associate professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California and is the academic director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. This op-ed was originally published by the Washington Post. The claim: We havent done this top-to-bottom review of our criminal justice system at the national level since 1965. Texas. Sen. John Cornyn Cornyn made the statement during a call with Texas reporters on June 11, as he touted a part of Senate Republicans police reform bill that would set guidelines for a commission to undertake such a review. Democrats later blocked the JUSTICE Act bill, saying it didnt go far enough. PolitiFact ruling: True. Experts and academic research show that a commission of that scale, with that broad an area of review, has not been convened since President Lyndon B. Johnson did so in 1965. Discussion: Cornyn and other Republican lawmakers have pushed to create a commission to study ways to reduce crime and improve policing across the country, filing unsuccessful legislation to establish such a commission since at least 2010. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox But last year, President Donald Trump directed the formation of a commission through an executive order, sidestepping the need for legislative action. In January, U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced the creation of the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. The part of the wide-ranging bill Cornyn highlighted during his conversation with reporters had been lifted from a standalone bill that covered just the creation of the commission. About PolitiFact PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made. See More Collapse That bill was introduced before Trump created the commission, but a spokesman for Cornyn said the senator would still like to see it advance because he believes his version is more holistic. While the Presidents Commission is made up of law enforcement officials only, Cornyns would include community leaders, civil rights advocates, crime victims, social services providers and public health officials. Cornyns bill would also task the commission with a broader area for review, covering the criminal justice system as a whole and its effect on various areas of government from health care to education. The current commission is limited to law enforcement and crime control issues within the Department of Justices jurisdiction because of the way it is set up. Additionally, similar to the 9/11 Commission, the bill calls for a group that would be making recommendations directly to Congress. The current commission, in 18 months, will report its findings to the Attorney General, who will submit a final report to the president. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen, during his introductory remarks at the opening ceremony for the commission in January, echoed Cornyns statement and said it has been over 50 years since we have systematically studied ways to improve upon the criminal justice system. 1965 commission stemmed from national upheaval Drew Brandewie, a spokesman for Cornyn, said the senator was referring to the Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice that Johnson created in 1965. The commission forwarded more than 200 recommendations many of them now very well-known mainstays, such as creation of the 911 emergency call system and research organizations like the Bureau of Justice Statistics. It, too, was established by way of executive order. Johnson signed the order July 23, 1965, according to The American Presidency Project at the University of California Santa Barbara. In the 1965 commissions final report, members wrote that Johnson had created the group recognizing the urgency of the Nations crime problem and the depth of ignorance about it. The report stated that Johnson wanted to address a key issue with the criminal justice system: a lack of data on police, courts and other justice agencies, which made it difficult to make basic assessments of crime on a national level. Johnsons commission came as race riots were breaking out in major U.S. cities over police brutality and other frustrations, including the well-known Los Angeles Watts Riots. The commission in 1965 really stemmed from the upheaval in the country at the time, and from everything Ive read, Barry Goldwater, he made law and order a big issue during the campaign, said Marc Levin, founder and chief of policy and innovation at the conservative criminal justice initiative Right on Crime. And when LBJ came in, he really felt that we needed to take a look at this. Levin agreed that no such commission has been formed since Johnsons. He said other groups have met and provided recommendations in the years since, but none were as robust as that of a national commission. In 2014, for example, Congress created the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, which made recommendations on how to make the prison system more just and efficient. But that only looked at the Bureau of Prisons and not the entire criminal justice system from police to courts. A free chance to win $1 million or more in lottery Free tickets to sporting events A paid day off work I'm anti-vax and think incentives are a distraction Vote View Results Groton, CT (06349) Today Thunderstorms in the morning will give way to steady rain in the afternoon. High 77F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. Low 52F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. 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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. @theMarket: Markets Celebrate Fourth of July The continuing gain in jobs cheered equity markets on Thursday, just before the holiday weekend. Given the surge in virus cases in more than half of the United States at the same time, some investors were dumbfounded. They just don't get it. The nation added 4.8 million jobs in June, which was better than expected. It was the second month in a row that the employment data surprised investors by beating expectations. Remember, however, that this data is backward looking. The bounce back in the economy as a result of re-opening businesses resulted in these upside labor surprises. Readers should expect those employment gains to moderate next month for some obvious reasons. Topping the list is the massive upsurge in virus cases in those states that chose politics over lives. The pandemic has slowed many state plans to re-open their economies and will impact future growth as well as further employment. I suspect this three-day weekend will damage the American comeback even further, unless the nation actually listens to the advice of medical experts. In the meantime, I've spent most of the week explaining to clients and readers why I have maintained my bullish stance throughout the last several months. It comes down to my view on the future of the economy and the stock market. There are three main schools of thought on how the economy will weather this pandemic. There are those who believe a "V" shaped recovery is in the offing. These are mostly politicians and investors with their eye on November's elections. Then there are those who think we will see a "U" shaped gradual pickup that will take longer to accomplish. Finally, there is a group who believe we will see a "W" type recovery, where the big decline in March is followed by a sharp recovery (like what we are experiencing now), only to fall back again before finally rising out of the chaos. If you look at all three cases, what do you see? In every case, the direction of the right side of each of these letters is going up. From my perspective, that is all you need to know. Will the restoration of jobs and the economy require six months, 12 months, or even 18 months? No one really knows, because no one can game the virus without a vaccine. Whether the economy takes a longer or shorter time period to get there, it will still recover, and so will your investments. There are several promising vaccines in the works worldwide. In some cases, such as one Chinese version (that is already being administered to their army), the chances of success should be known sooner than later. Several drug companies are expected to provide further information on their vaccines in the fall. A successful drug would be a gamechanger, not only here in the U.S. but for the economies worldwide. In which case, the "V" might be the preferred choice. Thanks to the massive stimulus provided by the government, the last quarter in the stock market was one of the best since 1998. And the stimulus is expected to continue fueling further gains in the financial markets. While I still expect markets to have their ups and downs, hang in there, because better days are coming if we all use our common sense. Stanley Parese, bottom right, addresses the Williamstown Planning Board and Community Development Director Andrew Groff, top left. Williamstown Planning Board Stands by Pot Bylaw Proposal WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Voters will choose between two diametrically opposed zoning bylaws on outdoor commercial pot production at next month's annual town meeting. The Planning Board on Thursday decided not to try to alter the language of a bylaw proposal it approved back in March for the planned May town meeting. That means the board's draft , which would make outdoor marijuana cultivation impossible throughout the town, will be opposed by a bylaw placed on the town meeting warrant by citizens petition that would allow commercial outdoor growth by special permit in the town's three rural residence districts. The Planning Board held a virtual meeting Thursday, gathering for the first time in three months. And the planners considered whether they should take advantage of the time between now and the planned Aug. 18 annual town meeting to reconsider the prohibition on outdoor production embedded in their proposal. The issue came up because the board members did agree to try to take another look at a different bylaw amendment they are putting before voters at town meeting. Two factors led to that possibility. One, the board has to schedule a public hearing anyway in order to present the citizens petition pot bylaw to voters in advance of town meeting. Two, one of the other bylaws the Planning Board proposed already has been "road tested," and shown to mean not exactly what the board intended. Town Planner Andrew Groff informed the board that Massachusetts law puts zoning bylaws into effect after they are proposed by a Planning Board and until they are ratified by town meeting. "The [state] statute is written that way because, say you're proposing a bylaw to prevent a particularly noxious development," Groff said. "This could prevent someone from pulling permits before town meeting. "The statute doesn't contemplate a global pandemic." Two of the zoning bylaws proposed by the Planning Board for town meeting already have been utilized in the town. One, the bylaw on "long and common driveways" appears to have worked exactly as designed. The other, on "reforming non-conforming 1 & 2 family structures," had what board members saw as an unintended consequence. In June, the Zoning Board of Appeals heard an application for a special permit to extend a nonconformity on an existing garage. While most of the draft bylaw's language focuses on "dwellings," section C of the draft specifies that, "A nonconforming structure may be extended, provided that: " The use of the word "structure" in that section appears to open the door to applications of the bylaw that board members did not intend. "It dawned on me that we should be more explicit and say the nonconforming right only applies to dwelling units and not accessory buildings," board Chairwoman Stephanie Boyd said. "I don't want to [reconsider the draft language] because of this property, but it brought it to mind that when I was thinking of this before that we would extend these rights for a house. That seems sort of important. But it's not as important for a garage that's built on a property line. I guess I would be more comfortable if we limited it to dwelling units." Chris Winters agreed. "It strikes me there will be vastly more garages and outbuildings that have been built right against the property lines than there will be residences," Winters said. "This will be a different scale if we go one direction or the other. "If the intent was to be flexible with dwelling units, [altering the language] would lean toward clarifying that so the garage problem doesn't happen in the future." The board agreed to have Groff check with town counsel to see whether it can amend the language of a bylaw proposal that previously went through the public hearing process at a new public hearing prior to town meeting. It did not agree to take another look at the language in its marijuana bylaw. After months of deliberation, the Planning Board this winter crafted a bylaw that defines the "emissions and odor control and mitigation plan" for indoor pot production, which would be allowable only by special permit in the town's Planned Business and LImited Industrial Zones. And the board proposed amending the town's use table to prohibit outdoor cultivation in all nine of the town's zoning districts. A group of citizens, led by the town's Agricultural Commission, put forward an alternative bylaw proposal that would allow outdoor cultivation by special permit in Rural Residence 1, 2 and 3. "The Agricultural Commission, representing the Williamstown farming community, unanimously supports the continued right to outdoor marijuana cultivation, which can be a financially profitable crop to help support farming operations," reads text accompanying the competing bylaw. "The proposed amendment continues to allow limited outdoor marijuana cultivation on a small-scale. The amendment addresses the concerns that residents voiced about the proposal for an outdoor growing operation on Blair Road." A local attorney who represented many of the residents opposed to that Blair Road operation [a proposal ultimately pulled by the applicant] told the Planning Board Thursday it should not renege on the proposal it advanced in March. Stan Parese pointed out that the Planning Board began working on the marijuana bylaw in August, conducted an open process that included testimony from members of the Ag Commission and ultimately voted 4-0-1 to send the current draft language to town meeting. The Planning Board also heard testimony this winter from many of the same residents who, the previous March, turned out to ask the ZBA to deny a special permit for the Blair Road project. "There was considerable interest among a group of people with whom I have an affinity because we were all part of the ZBA hearing on the Massflora petition which was a scathing experience for that group," Parese said. "They turned out informed and prepared at two of your meetings, which were lengthy. And you followed through your process. "So I would suggest it is not a good idea to have an engaged community be told: Thank you very much for your effort, but this is the third time we're going to make you try to persuade this town that the approach here should not be outdoor [cultivation]." Anne Hogeland addressed the board from the "floor" of the virtual meeting and noted her own trouble connecting to the Zoom conference as a reason not to hold another public hearing on a matter that drew considerable public comment the first time around. The majority of the board agreed that its March language should stay as is. "I guess I approach the ones we stand behind as: If they're not broken, why should we try to fix them," Winters said. "Why relitigate that which we already voted upon and moved forward to town meeting? If we're entertaining changing something substantial on the nonconformity one, that's a different ballgame. I think that merits a new public hearing. "But for something that we're literally not interested in changing, I think we don't fix what is not broken." Boyd suggested that another approach could be to pull all the zoning bylaw articles in light of the fact that August's annual town meeting will be held outdoors and likely at Williams College's Weston Field, where the public address system is not ideal for making sure all in attendance can follow a protracted debate. A couple of her colleagues said they would be uncomfortable putting the articles off until the town can hold an indoor meeting. "We have spent a lot of time talking about it and gotten a lot of community input," Susan Puddester said. "It might be unpleasant to sit at a town meeting and listen to the PA system. But I feel like I'd like to get this one under our belt. "If I understand it correctly, if we don't do anything, people who want to come in and open up operations we might not support have more flexibility until we get something down in writing as a bylaw." Winters agreed. "I would favor moving these forward," he said. "We put the work in. We believe in them that they're the right direction for the town to go in. Government moves slowly enough. Why make it move slower? "The people who will be at town meeting are the sorts of people who have self-identified as being that interested in town government that they would do such a thing even in this year. I think they would be understanding that the Planning Board would make its normal motions." The Agriculture Commission actually is supporting two citizens petitions on the annual town meeting warrant. A separate measure proposes that the town increase the number of allowing events (weddings, family reunions, etc.) that can be hosted on a Williamstown farm from six to 10 in a given year. The original events bylaw easily passed at town meeting in 2012 The updated events bylaw, the Ag Commission-backed marijuana bylaw and depending on the advice of town counsel the nonconforming structure bylaw will be the subjects of a public hearing on July 22 at 7 p.m. Robert Putnam is recognized on his retirement from the Hoosac Valley Regional School District in 2018 by Adams Selectwoman Christine Hoyt. Putnam, on Monday, was named interim superintendent at Mount Greylock Regional. Mount Greylock Names Putnam Interim Superintendent WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Monday voted to offer an interim superintendent position to the former superintendent in the Central Berkshire and Adams-Cheshire Regional school districts. Chair Christina Conry announced after the committee met in executive session for 38 minutes that Superintendent Kimberley Grady is on an indefinite medical leave. Pending the successful negotiation of a contract, the district is hiring longtime Berkshire County educator Robert Putnam. Putnam taught for 13 years in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District before moving into administration. He was the director of teaching and learning in the Berkshire Hills district from 2001-2003 and 2006-10, principal at Stockbridge Plain and Muddy Brook elementaries from 2003-06, assistant superintendent in Dalton from 2010-14, superintendent of Central Berkshire from 2014-15 and superintendent in Adams-Cheshire from 2016-18. In between superintendent jobs, he returned to teaching in the Berkshire Hills district. He has been working as a consultant since retiring from Adams-Cheshire, now Hoosac Valley, two years ago. "The district explored other possible interim candidates and felt strongly about Dr. Putnam," Conry told iBerkshires.com after Monday's brief, single-item public meeting. The vote to hire Putnam on an interim basis was 7-0. "We want to make sure we have clear directives," Conry said in the meeting. "The No. 1 priority is having our reopening plans mapped out. After that would be acclimating the new administrators to their roles and working with the subcommittees." This spring, Grady hired Kristen Thompson as principal at Williamstown Elementary School and Jake Schutz as principal at Mount Greylock. The latter moves up from the post of assistant principal at the middle-high school. Thompson comes to the district from Albuquerque, N.M. Late last month, rumors began circulating in the district after Mount Greylock Assistant Superintendent Andrea Wadsworth sent an email to district staff informing them that she would be acting as superintendent while Grady was "unavailable." Wadsworth this spring had announced that she was leaving the district to take a job at Berkshire Community College. On Monday, Conry noted that Wadsworth was planning to leave the Lanesborough-Williamstown district on Wednesday, but Putnam is available to begin work right away, so "there will be some crossover." It is the second time in seven years that the Mount Greylock district will be led by an interim superintendent. In December 2014, after the retirement of Rose Ellis, the district hired Gordon Noseworthy on an interim basis. He served from January through June 2015. The School Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 6 p.m. Italian marines case verdict may not hit Indias fishing rights by Murali Krishnan July 06,2020 | Source: HT The ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (tribunal) at the Hague in the Italian marines case will not affect Indias rights in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for fishing, exploration of gas and so on, former additional solicitor general (ASG) PS Narasimha, who headed Indias legal team during the initial stages of the case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, said. The EEZ is a sea zone prescribed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and extends upto 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coastline of the country. UNCLOS is an international agreement that defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with regard to their conduct and use of world seas and oceans and management of marine natural resources. As per Article 56 of UNCLOS, every country has sovereign rights within the EEZ including the right to exploit natural resources, living or non-living. The shooting of Indian fishermen in 2012 happened within the Indian EEZ. Despite that, the arbitral tribunal came to the conclusion that Italy had not violated Indias sovereign rights. But the tribunals observations should be seen in the context of the specific incident of Enrica Lexie, an Italian oil tanker, wherein it held that a vessel can take action to protect itself from what it assumed was an attack by pirates, Narasimha said in an interview with Hindustan Times. The Tribunals ruling does not impact Indias rights in the EEZ for fishing, exploration of gas, fishing in any manner whatsoever. The Tribunals observations (on Italy not having violated Indias sovereign rights) are limited to the extent of stating that a vessel has a right to protect itself from potential piracy attacks including in the EEZ of another state. These observations are only a reflection of the rights vested in a countrys vessel to protect itself in certain circumstances and not in derogation of the coastal states rights in the EEZ, he said. Narasimha made it clear that the finding of the Tribunal need not be categorized as Italy not having violated Indias sovereign rights at all. The Tribunal, he said, recorded in clear terms that India has the freedom of navigation in the high seas and that Italy had acted in breach of Indias freedom of navigation. The tribunal has only held that in the specific incident of the Italian vessel, which was otherwise traversing peacefully through the EEZ, the action taken by Enrica Lexie due to its supposedly bonafide assumption of a potential piracy event, may not have been in violation of Indias sovereign rights in the EEZ. The Tribunals ruling only proceeds to examine whether a vessel is entitled to take defensive steps to defend itself in the event of an attack in the EEZ of another country. To this particular question, it has answered in the affirmative, he said. Narasimha also pointed out that the tribunal rejected Italys claim that India is expected to make reparations for its actions of arrest and investigation of the marines. On Indias counter- claim of violation of Articles 56 by Italy, the Tribunal has held that no foreign flagged vessel can proceed to act against Indian sovereign interests and rights in the EEZ in any manner, he added. While the tribunal held that Italy interfered with Indias right to navigation when Enrica Lexie fired at the India fishing boat St. Antony, it also held that India should stop exercising criminal jurisdiction over the marines because the marines enjoyed state immunity since they were acting in their official capacity. Are these two findings contradictory? Narasimha said that while there might be problems with regard to tribunals finding on marines enjoying state immunity, it is not contradictory to the finding on violation of Indias right to navigation. Though the issue of territoriality has been held in Indias favour the issue of immunity is not contradictory but a different issue entirely, he said. The Tribunal, he said, correctly observed that the act of shooting by the Marines which caused St. Antony to change direction and head back to shore was in violation of Indias freedom of navigation. But despite specifically holding that India has jurisdiction over the incident, the tribunal also observed that whether or not India can subsequently try the Marines would also depend on the outcome of the question of immunity. The question of immunity was then answered in favour of Italian marines based on which India was asked to stop the criminal proceedings against the Marines. The Tribunals finding that immunity was applicable to the Marines in these facts and that they were State officials of the Italian Republic and acting in their official capacity as officers of the Italian Navy is questionable. This approach is rather dangerous for the serious implications they entail in how countries are expected to act in similar situations in the future, Narasimha added. HT Media Limited All Rights Reserved. Theme(s): Others. Get 25% off of the regular $65 annual All Access rate. With this subscription you will get: Digital access to ElPasoInc.com and archives (value $45) Print subscription home or business delivered (value $65) Book of Lists (annual rate only, value $50) El Paso Inc. Magazine (value $20) El Paso Kids Inc. Special sections - OR - Get 15% off of the regular $45 annual Digital-only rate. With this subscription you will get: Complete digital access to ElPasoInc.com. New 317,000 project launched on sustainable fisheries management in the Virgin Islands July 06,2020 | Source: St Lucia News The United Kingdom Government-funded Darwin Initiative has announced the projects funded under this years Darwin Plus scheme which provides grants to projects working on environmental issues in the UK Overseas Territories. One of the successful projects in this latest funding round is a joint project being delivered by the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Government of the Virgin Islands, and the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI). This project will build capacity in fisheries evidence, networks, and management to support ongoing sustainable fisheries management. This three-year project will review and consolidate existing evidence, data, and maps for the marine area, and produce a centralised fisheries database and fisheries evidence report to improve the capture and display of fisheries data and support future licensing and management decisions. It will also strengthen fisherfolk capacity and engagement and facilitate the development of a formalised network of fisherfolk to enable a collective voice and greater participation in decision-making. In addition, the capability will be built with the Government of the Virgin Islands to support the ongoing management of the evidence base. Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Virgin Islands, Dr Natalio Wheatley said: This project will assist us to better manage our fisheries resources, which are an important part of the Virgin Islands culture and economy. We are happy for this partnership with CEFAS and CANARI and the technical expertise these agencies bring to our shores. An important part of this project is the work that will take place with fishers to assist them in organising themselves and understanding their role in sustainable fisheries. We are thankful for the opportunity afforded us through the UK Governments Darwin Initiative, and look forward to the implementation of the project over the next three years. Cefas Chief Scientist Professor Stuart Rogers said: We are delighted to be working with the Government and fisheries stakeholders in the Virgin Islands to build on the progress already made on sustainable fisheries management. We understand the importance of evidence to support good decision-making and are looking forward to working in partnership with managers and the community. CANARI Executive Director Ms. Nicole Leotaud said: We believe this project will contribute to strengthening the small-scale fisheries sector for food security, protecting valuable ocean resources key for economic development in the Virgin Islands, and supporting fisherfolk livelihoods in the face of COVID-19, climate change and other key risks. CANARI welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Government and fisherfolk in the Virgin Islands to enhance their capacity for sustainable management and resilience. Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Fishing community in Mumbai, India, seeks help from municipal corporation as Mumbai witnesses incessant rainfall July 06,2020 | Source: RepublicWorld With heavy rains lashing the Indian city of Mumbai for the third consecutive day, the Koli fishing community in Mumbai has sought help from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as rains threaten to flood their low-lying homes. This comes shortly after the BMC issued a warning asking people to stay away from the Colaba coast which is likely to witness choppy high tides. Amid the flooding-scare, the fishing community of the Colaba Koliwada revealed that while their business had been terribly affected due to COVID over the past two months, the onset of heavy rains had only added to their woes. "We have not been operating for the last two months because of the COVID-19 guidelines and our business has been terribly affected. That along with the heavy rains has made it really difficult," said Jayesh Bhoir, a fisherman who lives in the Colaba Koliwada to news agency ANI. Amid the incessant rainfall in Mumbai, Mahesh Palawat, Managing Director of Skymet, has said that the rainfall in Mumbai will continue for next five to six hours. He also advised citizens to stay at home for 24 hours whenever there is an alert from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) or Skymet. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police on Sunday cautioned the local residents against venturing in the waters or around the sea. Hindmata, Sion, King Circle, Mahalakshmi, Dadar are some of the worst affected areas in the city owing to being low-lying areas. Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. 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. 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. Political upheavals in Sri Lanka have given rise to new challenges. To protect media freedom, journalists and media workers must focus on collective action, writes Viranjana Herath. Sri Lanka, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean but unfortunately a large dot on the worlds media rights violations map. The country experienced particularly grave media rights violations over the 2000-2015 period including killings, disappearances, abductions, assaults against journalists and attacks against media stations. In 2015, the new government led by the President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe came to power with a bag full of promises including ending the impunity of crimes against journalists. In its first two years, the new regime showed considerable commitment to ending impunity and establishing a healthy environment for media freedom. But all this has changed since 2017. A different and dangerous face of media rights violations have occurred including executive decisions against media freedom, the shutdown of the internet and blocking social media platforms. November 2019 saw another regime change, as two brothers, Gotabaya Rajapaksha and Mahinda Rajapaksha as the President and Prime Minister respectively, seized power. The change raised serious concerns regarding media freedom because Mahinda and Gotabaya were the President and Secretary of the Defense Ministry from 2005-2010 when a raft of serious media rights violations occurred and until today justice have not been done yet. According to the monitors, several media rights violations have occurred since November 2019. Three journalists, two of them in Colombo and the other in northern city Vavniya, were called and questioned by the police in the November. A provincial journalists and his wife were assaulted at Aluthgama in Kaluthara district and seven journalists, who belongs ethnic minority, from Batticaloa received death threats. There were numerous other threats against journalists and media outlets. This is what was reported. But the reality is that many violations go unreported or unnoticed. As opined by group of journalists, editorial independence has become a nightmare for many Sri Lankan media stations. Reporters have been forced to neglect diverse voices, the right of reply has been ignored and questions of ethical reporting have gone unheeded. Journalists have been put in a difficult situation - their journalism ethics are undermined yet they want to hold on to their jobs. Conversely, there are journalists who adopt these negative practices, due to a combination of poor training and a desire to protect their own jobs. Indeed, journalists who have raised their voices against such practices have been fired. Activist groups and social media users have found legitimate reason to criticize private broadcast media outlets for divisive and insensitive reporting especially on ethnic, racial and religious issues. There are media outlets that all too often fail to take into account these sensitivities. As a consequence the media, in general, faces a backlash from ethnic and religious minorities creating an unhealthy reporting environment. . With the spread of the corona pandemic, problems for journalists in Sri Lanka have been compounded. Salary cuts are widespread and some journalists have not been paid salaries for months. The situation is worse for contract and freelance media workers. On April 1 this year, the Sri Lankan police issued a public statement on threatening, stern legal action against anyone making defamatory or malicious social posts about public servants in relation to the Covid-19 outbreaks. As per the release, the Acting Inspector General of the Police ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and officers in charge of all police stations across the country to arrest those who violate these warnings. Even people who highlighted these threats on their social media accounts were arrested, tried and remanded. While certain restrictions on freedom of expression during a pandemic may be acceptable, Covid-19 should not be used as an excuse to repress dissent. Media rights violations in Sri Lanka are varied and disturbing. From severe violations including threats, arrests, jailing and being fired from their work for holding power to account. And then there are the soft violations related to issues of editorial independence and self-censorship. While these violations cannot be observed easily, the impacts are serious. The question for Sri Lankan journalists and media organisations is: have they identified the issues that infringe on media freedom? And are they prepared to deal with new changes and challenges? There are three main media organisations in Sri Lanka that work with International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) as affiliates. These representative bodies play a key role as media monitors. Together with media organisations representing specific ethnic groups or media specialisations, organizing to protect rights is more effective. Collective action is central to protecting rights with a slew of emerging challenges. For collective action to succeed, an umbrella organisation with specific aims and common objectives is vital to establishing a sustainable and collaborative mission to protect media freedom. Divisions among media rights organisations cause confusion for journalists. For instance, journalists have had to deal with three or more media organisations when they face media rights violations, complicating their own need for support. Establishing a central body with the participation of all groups to monitor media rights violation is an important step to addressing the emerging challenges. A common platform for identifying and working with all subjective and objective issues would be beneficial to all journalists in the country. The majority of journalists in Sri Lanka are not members nor do they have any close connections with any media representative organisations. Without the support of representative journalist bodies, isolated journalists are bound to feel more vulnerable, as it is easier for their press freedoms to be violated. Some provincial journalists do have the support of regional media support networks. However, by working closely with national media monitors serious violations can be dealt with more effectively. It is imperative that both media organisations and journalists update their knowledge and responses to media rights violations. The focus has been largely on serious violations such as attacks, threats and intimidations. Often what are considered soft violations including self-censorship, editorial independence, professional rights, gender based violations and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion are overlooked. As different governments come to power, the challenges faced by media organisations and journalists evolve and intensify. Media workers need to coordinate to deal with the emerging challenges and they have to fight continuously against ongoing issues, especially impunity for crimes against journalists. Media organisations and journalists of Sri Lanka must rethink their institutional activities and organisational structure in order to address emerging challenges to media freedom and work collectively to fight for real change. Viranjana Herath is a lawyer, journalist and researcher currently reading his PhD in Legal Studies at South Asian University, New Delhi with Masters in Human Rights Law from National law school of India University Bangalore and Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Rana Ayyub's social media profiles have been flooded with rape and death threats after she wrote posts about a Kashmiri victim killed by the Indian police. The IFJ has welcomed Mumbai police's decision to start an investigation immediately and have called for action to be taken against the abusers. On 1 July, Ayyub tweeted that "when it comes to Kashmir, there are no humanists, just convenient nationalists." The following day, she quoted the wife of Bashir Ahmed Khan, a civilian who was killed by the Indian police. On the same day, she referred to a gruesome picture of the victim's young grandson, sitting on the bloody dead body of his grandpa. Her social media profiles started being flooded with aggressive and threatening comments, escalating into rape and death threats. One of the comments said "Remember Gauri Lankesh," a reference to the journalist who was killed in 2017 in her home in Bangalore after speaking out against right-wing Hindu nationalists. Ayyub also recalls with fear that Lankesh had personally told her that online hatred would not become a threat in real life three days before she was killed. Ayyub reported that online hate triggered by posts about Kashmir is "unimaginable," and that threats are becoming more and more fearless and explicit. The Navi Mumbai police have launched an investigation. The IFJ welcomed the police's speedy action, but have also called for more prevention of online harassment. The IFJ said, "Online harassment is a health and safety issue which is often gendered and sexualized. In two-thirds of the cases, no action is taken against perpetrators. We appreciate that this is not one of these cases, and hope that the Indian government will do their best to protect journalists exercising their freedom of expression on social media." The IFJ has been active in giving visibility and support to women journalists who are victims of harassment at work which, according to IFJ statistics, amounts to an appalling 65%. It has called on governments to adopt ILO Convention 190 against gender-based violence, compiled guidelines for media and unions to counter the phenomenon, and has recently launched the Online trolling: you are not alone! campaign. A DNA test confirmed a body found in November 2019 matched that of Tej Bahadur Khadka, a Bajura-based Radio Budhinanda journalist who went missing on August 27, 2018. The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalist (FNJ) and the Nepal Press Union (NPU) urge an investigation into Tej Bahadur Khadkas disappearance and death. The Nepal polices Forensic Science Laboratory on June 30 reported the DNA test of a skeleton discovered in the Kalte area in Bajura district matched that of Khadka, who worked for the state-owned radio broadcaster, Radio Nepal. Khadka was also the first chairperson of Nepal Press Union Doti and a member of the Federation of Nepal Journalists Doti chapter. Khadkas body was found with his identity card, drivers license, clothing and the bag he disappeared with. According to FNJ, Khadka went missing during his return home from Budinanda, a local pilgrimage. FNJ and NPU have advocated for police to uncover the truth behind Tej Bahadur Khakas disappearance. On July 3, NPU district chapters from province 7 submitted a petition to the provinces chief minister Trilochan Bhattarai calling on him to launch an investigation into Tej Bahadur Khadkas death. FNJ general secretary Ramesh Bista said: The sudden disappearance of journalist Khadka and discovery of his skeleton along with Khadkas credentials after 15 months of the disappearance makes this case mysterious." FNJ urges the Nepali government to investigate the incident and compensate Khadkas family. NPU general secretary Ajaya Babu Shiwakoti said: Finding Khadkas credentials intact along with the skeleton after 15 months of disappearance is dubious." NPU urges the government of Nepal to take the case seriously and conduct an investigation. IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said: This is an absolute tragedy and it is devastating it has taken so long for his identity to be confirmed. The IFJ extend condolences to Khadkas family and his colleagues who have fought hard for justice and a thorough investigation. Radio journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva has been found guilty of "justifying terrorism" and fined 500,000 rubles (around 6.000 ) over a column she wrote about a suicide bomb attack targeting the FSB security service in 2018. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), in calling for her complete acquittal. In November 2018, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva wrote a column about a suicide bomb attack against a local FSB building, linking it to the repression of political dissent under Putin's rule. She said her article was merely an attempt to understand "why a young man with his whole life ahead of him decided to kill himself in a criminal act." In September 2019, Prokopyeva was charged with publicly justifying terrorism (breaching Article 205.2(2) of the Russian criminal code) over the column. On 6 July 2020, Prokopyeva was found guilty of the charges. Prosecutors had asked the judge for a six year jail term and to ban Prokopyeva from working as a journalist. This controversial case has sparked protests at national and international level, including sharp criticism by the RUJ, the IFJ and EFJ. "Perhaps someone hoped that the industry would breathe a sigh of relief, learning that Svetlana was assigned "just" a fine, and not a jail term. However, the very fact of deciding the journalist's guilt in justifying terrorism, regardless of what punishment our colleague could face, suggests that this court decision essentially legitimizes the infringement of the journalist's right to freedom of speech and gives the "green light" to law enforcement agencies to prosecute journalists with impunity for fulfilling their professional duty," said the RUJ in a statement. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "Svetlana Prokopyeva cannot legitimately be found guilty of any crime, just for exercising her freedom of speech and reporting. We condemn this ruling that aims to intimidate Russian journalists and call for Svetlana's total acquittal". Imperial Valley News Center Ghislaine Maxwell Charged in Manhattan Federal Court for Conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to Sexually Abuse Minors Manhattan, New York - Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Dermot Shea, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced that Ghislane Maxwell was arrested Thursday morning and charged with enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit both of those offenses, and perjury in connection with a sworn deposition. The Indictment unsealed alleges that between at least in or about 1994 through 1997, MAXWELL and co-conspirator Jeffrey Epstein exploited girls as young as 14, including by enticing them to travel and transporting them for the purpose of engaging in illegal sex acts. As alleged, knowing that Epstein had a preference for young girls, MAXWELL played a critical role in the grooming and abuse of minor victims that took place in locations including New York, Florida, and New Mexico. In addition, as alleged, MAXWELL made several false statements in sworn depositions in 2016. MAXWELL is expected to be presented this afternoon in the in federal court in New Hampshire. This case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: As alleged, Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated, aided, and participated in acts of sexual abuse of minors. Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, and then delivered them into the trap that she and Jeffrey Epstein had set. She pretended to be a woman they could trust. All the while, she was setting them up to be abused sexually by Epstein and, in some cases, Maxwell herself. Today, after many years, Ghislaine Maxwell finally stands charged for her role in these crimes. FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: Preserving the innocence of children is among the most important responsibilities we carry as adults. Like Epstein, Ms. Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibility as an adult, using whatever means she had at her disposal to lure vulnerable youth into behavior they should never have been exposed to, creating the potential for lasting harm. We know the quest for justice has been met with great disappointment for the victims, and that reliving these events is traumatic. The example set by the women involved has been a powerful one. They persevered against the rich and connected, and they did so without a badge, a gun, or a subpoena - and they stood together. I have no doubt the bravery exhibited by the women involved here has empowered others to speak up about the crimes of which they've been subjected. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said: The heinous crimes these charges allege are, and always will be abhorrent for the lasting trauma they inflict on victims. I commend our investigators, and law enforcement partners, for their continuing commitment to bringing justice to the survivors of sexual assault, everywhere. If you believe you are a victim of the sexual abuse perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI, and reference this case. According to the Indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court: From at least 1994 through at least 1997, GHISLAINE MAXWELL assisted, facilitated, and participated in Jeffrey Epsteins abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Jeffrey Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to MAXWELL and Epstein to be under the age of 18. The victims were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed and abused by MAXWELL and Epstein, both of whom knew that their victims were in fact minors. As a part and in furtherance of their scheme to abuse minor victims, MAXWELL and Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epsteins residences in different states, which MAXWELL knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse. As alleged, MAXWELL enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways. For example, MAXWELL attempted to befriend certain victims by asking them about their lives, taking them to the movies or taking them on shopping trips, and encouraging their interactions with Epstein. MAXWELL also acclimated victims to Epsteins conduct simply by being present for victim interactions with Epstein, which put victims at ease by providing the assurance and comfort of an adult woman who seemingly approved of Epsteins behavior. Additionally, to make victims feel indebted to Epstein, MAXWELL would encourage victims to accept offers of financial assistance from Epstein, including offers to pay for travel or educational expenses. MAXWELL also normalized and facilitated sexual abuse by discussing sexual topics with victims, encouraging them to massage Epstein, and undressing in front of a victim. As MAXWELL and Epstein intended, these grooming behaviors left minor victims vulnerable and susceptible to sexual abuse by Epstein. MAXWELL was then present for certain sexual encounters between minor victims and Epstein, such as interactions where a minor victim was undressed, and ultimately MAXWELL was present for sex acts perpetrated by Epstein on minor victims. That abuse included sexualized massages during which a minor victim was fully or partially nude, as well as group sexualized massages of Epstein involving a minor victim where MAXWELL was present. As alleged, minor victims were subjected to sexual abuse that included, among other things, the touching of a victims breasts or genitals, placing a sex toy such a vibrator on a victims genitals, directing a victim to touch Epstein while he masturbated, and directing a victim to touch Epsteins genitals. MAXWELL and Epsteins victims were groomed or abused at Epsteins residences in New York, Florida, and New Mexico, as well as MAXWELLs residence in London, England. Additionally, in 2016, while testifying under oath in a civil proceeding, MAXWELL repeatedly made false statements, including about certain specific acts and events alleged in the Indictment. * * * GHISLAINE MAXWELL, 58, is charged with one count of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, one count of conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and two counts of perjury, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge. Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. This case is being handled by the Offices Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex Rossmiller, Alison Moe, and Maurene Comey are in charge of the prosecution. The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Imperial Valley News Center Attorney General William P. Barr on Independence Day Washington, DC - United States Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement: As we celebrate the 244th anniversary of our nations birth, we are reminded that the words of the Declaration of Independence are just as important today as they were the day they were written: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration goes on to make it clear that governments exist to secure these rights and derive their power from the consent of the governed. These words form the foundation of freedom and justice in the United States, and the framework for the rule of law. For much of our history, the fruits of justice and freedom were not available to all Americans, and redeeming the promise of the Founding remains a work in progress. As our nation confronts challenges ranging from a global pandemic to serious unrest and violence, we must recommit ourselves to the timeless principles that give birth to our nation and that bind us together as a people. At the Department of Justice, we will continue working to uphold those principles by protecting individual rights and enforcing the rule of law. I wish all Americans a happy Fourth of July, and as the Department of Justice celebrates its 150th anniversary, I extend particular gratitude to all of our Department employees for the work they do each day, on behalf of the nation we love. Imperial Valley News Center Ten Defendants Charged in $1.4 Billion Rural Hospital Pass-Through Billing Scheme Jacksonville, Florida - Ten individuals, including hospital managers, laboratory owners, billers and recruiters, were charged in an indictment unsealed Monday for their participation in an elaborate pass-through billing scheme using rural hospitals in several states as billing shells to submit fraudulent claims for laboratory testing. The indictment alleges that from approximately November 2015 through February 2018, the conspirators billed private insurance companies approximately $1.4 billion for laboratory testing claims as part of this fraudulent scheme, and were paid approximately $400 million. Jorge Perez, 60, of Miami-Dade County, Florida; Seth Guterman, 54, of Chicago, Illinois; Ricardo Perez, 57, of Miami-Dade County, Florida; Aaron Durall, 48, and Neisha Zaffuto, 44, each of Broward County, Florida; Christian Fletcher, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia; James Porter Jr., 49, of Marion County, Florida; Sean Porter, 52, of Citrus County, Florida; Aaron Alonzo, 44, and Nestor Rojas, 45, each of Miami-Dade County, Florida, were charged in an indictment filed in the Middle District of Florida. All defendants (except Sean Porter) were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Jorge Perez, Guterman, Ricardo Perez and Durall were each charged with five counts of substantive health care fraud; Durall and Zaffuto were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering; Jorge Perez, Guterman, Ricardo Perez, Fletcher, James Porter and Sean Porter were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and the following defendants were charged with substantive money laundering: Durall (three counts); Zaffuto (one count); Jorge Perez (seven counts); Guterman (one count); Ricardo Perez (five counts); Fletcher (two counts); James Porter (12 counts) and Sean Porter (two counts). Jorge Perez, Ricardo Perez, and Durall appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel B. Toomey of the Middle District of Florida. Initial appearances for Zaffuto, Fletcher, James Porter Jr., Sean Porter, Aaron Alonzo, and Nestor Rojas are scheduled before Magistrate Judge Toomey on June 30 and July 1. 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 A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. The charges announced today make clear that the department is committed to dismantling fraud schemes that target our health care system, however complex or elaborate. Trust and integrity undergird the confidence and reliability in our healthcare system, said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez for the Middle District of Florida. Fraudulent and deceptive business practices undermine those values and erode the publics trust in that system. We will continue to pursue those who set these tenets aside and compromise the care and safety of our citizens for profit. The FBI views health care fraud as a severe crime problem that impacts every American, said Special Agent in Charge Rachel L. Rojas of the FBIs Jacksonville Field Office. Fraud and abuse take critical resources out of our health care system, and contribute to the rising cost of health care for everyone. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate these crimes and prosecute all those who are intent in defrauding the American public. OPM OIG remains committed to investigating those who seek to defraud the federal health care system for their own personal gain, said Deputy Assistant Inspector General Thomas W. South of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General (OPM OIG). Schemes that exploit rural hospitals are particularly egregious as they can undermine access to care in underserved communities. We are extremely proud of our criminal investigators and law enforcement partners for their hard work uncovering this complex criminal fraud scheme. An important mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of health care fraud in union benefit plans, said Special Agent in Charge Rafiq Ahmad of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL OIG) Atlanta Region. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of labor unions and their benefit plans. Our office, in partnership with our fellow investigative agencies, will continue to comprehensively investigate and bring to justice the people who perpetrate health care fraud, said Kevin Winters, Amtraks Inspector General. Preventing health care fraud is particularly important to Amtrak because, as a self-insured company, the fraud adversely impacts its operating budget, which is dedicated to multiple critical requirements such as passenger safety. The indictment alleges that the conspirators would take over small, rural hospitals, often in financial trouble, using management companies they owned and operated. The conspirators would then bill private insurance companies through those rural hospitals for millions of dollars of expensive urinalysis drug tests and blood tests, conducted mostly at outside laboratories they often controlled or were affiliated with, using billing companies that they also controlled. While outside laboratories did most of these laboratory tests, the conspirators allegedly billed private insurance companies as if these laboratory tests were done at the rural hospitals. According to the indictment, these rural hospitals had negotiated contractual rates with private insurers that provided for higher reimbursement than if the tests were billed through an outside laboratory. Accordingly, the scheme used the hospitals as a shell to fraudulently bill for such tests. Further, the indictment alleges that the lab tests were often not even medically necessary. The conspirators allegedly would obtain urine specimens and other samples for testing through kickbacks paid to recruiters and health care providers, often sober homes and substance abuse treatment centers. The indictment also alleges that the conspirators engaged in sophisticated money laundering to promote the scheme and to distribute the fraudulent proceeds. The rural hospitals involved in this case are: Cambellton-Graceville Hospital (CGH), a 25-bed rural hospital located in Graceville, Florida; Regional General Hospital of Williston, a 40-bed facility located in Williston, Florida; Chestatee Regional Hospital, a 49-bed rural hospital located in Dahlonega, Georgia; and Putnam County Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed rural hospital located in Unionville, Missouri. An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. This case was investigated by the FBIs Jacksonville Field Office, OPM OIG, DOL OIG and Amtrak OIG. Trial Attorneys Gary A. Winters and James V. Hayes of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tysen Duva of the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case. The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for nearly $19 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers. Imperial Valley News Center Chinese National Guilty of Laundering Millions for Mexican Drug Cartels Chicago, Illinois - A Chinese national pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with laundering more than $4 million in drug proceeds generated by large-scale cocaine trafficking in the United States. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia; Special Agent in Charge Wendy C. Woolcock of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Special Operations Division and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey T. Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division; Jason Crosby, Chief of the Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); and Special Agent in Charge James Gibbons of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago, Illinois, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea. According to court documents, Xueyong Wu, 40, cultivated relationships with Latin American drug trafficking organizations to transport and launder their United States-based drug proceeds. Wu is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29. Much of this money was repatriated to Mexico through a complex series of international financial transactions. Wu received a percentage of the money involved in these transactions as compensation for organizing these laundering activities. Much of this money was generated through movement of cocaine or payment for cocaine that took place within the Eastern District of Virginia. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. BenAry and David A. Peters, along with Trial Attorneys Steve Sola and Kerry Blackburn of the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case. Imperial Valley News Center Attorney General William P. Barr on the Restoration of Law and Order in Seattle Seattle, Washington - Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement: I commend Police Chief Carmen Best for her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle. For the past several weeks, the Capitol Hill area of Seattle was occupied by protesters who denied access to police and other law enforcement personnel. Unsurprisingly, the area became a haven for violent crime, including shootings that claimed the lives of two young people, assaults, and robberies. As Chief Best made clear throughout the process, there is a fundamental distinction between discussion of substantive issues - including addressing distrust of law enforcement by many in the African-American community - and violent defiance of the law. Chief Best has rightly committed to continue the substantive discussion while ending the violence, which threatens innocent people and undermines the very rule-of-law principles that the protesters profess to defend. Thanks to the Seattle Police Department, Capitol Hill parks, streets, and businesses are again accessible to the people of Seattle, who may travel throughout their city without fear of violence. The people of Seattle should be grateful to Chief Best and her Department for their professional and steadfast defense of the rule of law. The message of todays action is simple but significant: the Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law, and such conduct has no place in a free society governed by law. Imperial Valley News Center Justice Department Congratulates T-Mobile And Dish For Closing The Boost Divestiture Washington, DC - T-Mobile US Inc. (T-Mobile) and Dish Network Corporation (Dish) announced today that they closed T-Mobiles divestiture of Boost Network (Boost) to Dish. Boost was legacy Sprint Corporations prepaid wireless brand, and the transaction was completed pursuant to the remedies imposed by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. I congratulate T-Mobile and Dish for closing the Boost divestiture as required under the Final Judgment, said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division. This deal is a significant milestone in realizing the Department of Justices remedy, which is designed to strengthen competition for high-quality 5G networks and benefit American consumers nationwide. The Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on July 26, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia along with the settlement that resolves the departments competitive concerns. Judge Kelly entered final judgment in that matter on April 1, 2020. The attorneys general for the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas each joined in this settlement. Separately, Judge Marrero in the Southern District of New York denied the request of a minority group of states to enjoin the transaction nationwide. Judge Marreros opinion relied, in part, on the federal remedies designed to protect against the competitive harms that may otherwise have occurred. The FCC also approved the transaction after a thorough examination, with certain commitments as a condition of approval. T-Mobile US Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. In 2019, T-Mobile posted revenues of $45 billion. Deutsche Telekom AG, a German corporation headquartered in Bonn, Germany, is the controlling shareholder of T-Mobile US Inc. Imperial Valley News Center U.S. Seeks to Recover Approximately $96 Million Traceable to Funds Allegedly Misappropriated from Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund Los Angeles, California - The Justice Department announced today the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of approximately $96 million in assets allegedly associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Combined with earlier civil forfeiture complaints filed beginning in July 2016, the United States has sought the forfeiture of more than $1.8 billion in assets traceable to funds embezzled from 1MDB. To date, as a result of these actions, the United States has recovered or assisted Malaysia in recovering nearly $1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. This case represents the largest action brought under the departments Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Iniative as well as the largest civil forfeiture action in the Justice Departments history. The complaints filed today in the Central District of California identify additional assets traceable to the 2012 and 2013 bond offerings. These assets include luxury real estate in Paris, artwork by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol, and accounts maintained at financial institutions in Luxembourg and Switzerland. According to the complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates. 1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people. The complaint filed today seeks to forfeit a range of luxury items including real estate in Paris, artwork by Monet, Warhol, and Basquiat, and international bank accounts all of which were allegedly acquired with funds stolen from Malaysias sovereign wealth fund, said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Todays action is just the latest demonstration of the Criminal Divisions longstanding commitment to tracing, seizing, and forfeiting assets acquired through grand corruption and, wherever possible, returning those assets to the people from whom they were stolen. The FBI will relentlessly pursue international corruption investigations, said FBI Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the Criminal Investigative Division. As efforts in this case have shown, our dedicated investigators will pursue corruption, uncover proceeds of illicit activity, and return ill-gotten gains to the rightful owners. In this case, to the people of Malaysia. These seemingly endless civil forfeiture complaints associated with the 1MDB scandal are representative of the seemingly endless schemes used to hide and launder money as part of the sophisticated efforts to steal from the Malaysian people, said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. This latest civil forfeiture complaint would return an extraordinary sum of money to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can finally be used for its original intended purpose - to improve the lives of everyday Malaysians. As alleged in the complaints, the members of the conspiracy which included officials at 1MDB, their relatives and other associates diverted more than $4.5 billion in 1MDB funds. Using fraudulent documents and representations, the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the funds through a series of complex transactions and shell companies with bank accounts located in the United States and abroad. These transactions allegedly served to conceal the origin, source and ownership of the funds, and ultimately passed through U.S. financial institutions to then be used to acquire and invest in assets located in the United States and overseas. As alleged in the earlier complaints, in 2009, 1MDB officials and their associates embezzled approximately $1 billion that was supposed to be invested to exploit energy concessions purportedly owned by a foreign partner. Instead, the funds were allegedly transferred through shell companies and were used to acquire a number of assets, as set forth in the complaints. The complaints also allege that the co-conspirators misappropriated close to $1.4 billion in funds raised through bond offerings in 2012, and more than $1.2 billion following another bond offering in 2013. The complaints also allege that in 2014, the co-conspirators misappropriated approximately $850 million in 1MDB funds under the guise of repurchasing certain options that had been given in connection with a guarantee of the 2012 bonds. The FBIs International Corruption Squads in New York City and Los Angeles and the IRS-CI are investigating the case. Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorneys Barbara Levy and Joshua L. Sohn of the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Kucera and Michael Sew-Hoy of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California provided substantial assistance. The trial team also expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs for their continued assistance in this matter. The department also expresses its deep appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland, the judicial investigating authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Grand-Ducal Police of Luxembourg, the Attorney Generals Chambers of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force-Commercial Affairs Division, and the Attorney Generals Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is led by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and often with U.S. Attorneys Offices, to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (link sends e-mail) or https://tips.fbi.gov/. A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards judgment in favor of the United States. Imperial Valley News Center Novartis Pays Over $642 Million to Settle Allegations of Improper Payments to Patients and Physicians Washington, DC - Pharmaceutical company Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Novartis), based in East Hanover, New Jersey, has agreed to pay over $642 million in separate settlements resolving claims that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA). The first settlement pertains to the companys alleged illegal use of three foundations as conduits to pay the copayments of Medicare patients taking Novartiss drugs Gilenya and Afinitor. The second settlement resolves claims arising from the companys alleged payments of kickbacks to doctors. Through this settlement and others, the government has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that drug companies do not use kickbacks to influence the drugs prescribed by doctors or purchased by patients, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justices Civil Division. We will continue to safeguard the Medicare program from kickbacks and their pernicious effects, including the undermining of important cost-control mechanisms instituted by Congress. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits anyone from offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any remuneration which includes money or any other thing of value to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded programs. This prohibition extends not only to improper payments to providers, but also to the improper payment of patients copay obligations. In the first settlement, Novartis has agreed to pay $51.25 million to resolve allegations that it illegally paid the copay obligations for patients taking its drugs. When a Medicare beneficiary obtains a prescription drug covered by Medicare, the beneficiary may be required to make a partial payment, which may take the form of a copayment, coinsurance, or a deductible (collectively copays). Congress included copay requirements in the Medicare program, in part, to serve as a check on health care costs, including the prices that pharmaceutical manufacturers can demand for their drugs. Novartis sells Gilenya, which is approved for treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The government alleged that, in October 2012, Novartis learned from the contractor managing Novartiss free drug program for Gilenya that over 300 patients who were receiving free drugs would be eligible for Medicare in 2013. Novartis and the contractor transitioned those patients to Medicare Part D so that, in the future, Novartis would obtain revenue from Medicare when those patients filled prescriptions for Gilenya. Knowing those patients could not afford the copay for Gilenya, Novartis developed a plan with a foundation so that Novartis could cover the copays for those patients. Specifically, at the same time Novartis made a payment to the foundation, Novartis arranged for the foundation to open its MS fund at 6:00 pm on a Friday and for the contractor to have personnel working overtime to submit applications for those patients who had been receiving free Gilenya. Novartis knew that this coordination would result in a disproportionate share of its funding going to Gilenya patients for 2013. Novartis also sells Afinitor, which is a second-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and a treatment for progressive neuroendocrine tumors of pancreatic origin (PNET). The government alleged that Novartis learned that, for the 2010 donation year, it would be the only donor to an RCC copay assistance fund operated by a charitable foundation. The government alleged that Novartis told the foundation that it would be willing to donate to the fund only if the eligibility definition was narrowed in a way that ensured that a greater amount of the copay assistance would support patients taking Afinitor. The government alleged that, as a result of narrowing the fund definition, the fund disproportionately assisted patients taking Afinitor compared to its overall usage rate among RCC drugs. The government further alleged that, in 2012, Novartis asked another foundation to open a copay assistance fund to pay copays for PNET patients, which Novartis knew would be used only to pay the copays of Afinitor patients. According to the allegations in todays settlement, Novartis coordinated with three co-pay foundations to funnel money through the foundations to patients taking Novartis own drugs, said U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts. As a result, the Novartis conduct was not charitable, but rather functioned as a kickback scheme that undermined the structure of the Medicare program and illegally subsidized the high costs of Novartiss drugs at the expense of American taxpayers. At the same time, we recognize that Novartis current management has taken constructive steps to address the governments concerns with the companys prior relationships with co-pay foundations. In the second matter, Novartis will pay $591,442,008 to resolve FCA claims that it paid kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe the Novartis drugs Lotrel, Valturna, Starlix, Tekturna, Tekturna HCT, Tekamlo, Diovan, Diovan HCT, Exforge, and Exforge HCT. In addition, Novartis will forfeit $38.4 million under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Statute. Novartis also made extensive factual admissions in the settlement and agreed to strict limitations on any future speaker programs, including reductions to the amount it may spend on such programs. In a case pending in the Southern District of New York, the United States alleged that Novartis hosted tens of thousands of speaker programs and related events under the guise of providing educational content, when in fact the events served as nothing more than a means to provide bribes to doctors. Novartis paid physicians honoraria, purportedly as compensation for delivering a lecture regarding a Novartis medication, but, as Novartis knew, many of these programs were nothing more than social events held at expensive restaurants, with little or no discussion about the Novartis drugs. Indeed, some of the so-called speaker events never even took place; the speaker was simply paid a fee in order to induce the speaker to prescribe Novartis drugs. For more than a decade, Novartis spent hundreds of millions of dollars on so-called speaker programs, including speaking fees, exorbitant meals, and top-shelf alcohol that were nothing more than bribes to get doctors across the country to prescribe Novartiss drugs, said Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York. Giving these cash payments and other lavish goodies interferes with the duty of doctors to choose the best treatment for their patients and increase drug costs for everyone. This office will continue to be vigilant in cracking down on kickbacks, however they may be dressed up, throughout the pharmaceutical industry. The governments complaint further alleged that Novartis sales representatives, on the instruction of their managers, selected high-volume prescribers to serve as the paid speakers at these events with the intent to induce them to write more or keep writing many Novartis prescriptions. The sales representatives then pressured the speakers to increase their prescriptions of Novartis drugs, and often dropped doctors from the speaker program if they failed to do so. Further, the government alleged that this widespread kickback scheme was the result of decisions made by top management at Novartiss North American headquarters in New Jersey. This settlement resolves a lawsuit captioned United States ex rel. Bilotta v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., No. 11-Civ.-0071-PGG (S.D.N.Y.) initially filed under the whistleblower provision of the FCA, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the governments recovery. The FCA permits the United States to intervene in such a lawsuit, as it did in the whistleblower case filed against Novartis. The amount to be recovered by the private whistleblower, Oswald Bilotta, has not yet been determined. As part of the settlement, Novartis will also pay an additional $48,151,273 to resolve state Medicaid claims. Contemporaneous with the settlement of the FCA claims in these matters, Novartis entered into a corporate integrity agreement (CIA) with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The five-year CIA addresses the conduct at issue in both matters. Among other things, the CIA requires Novartis to significantly reduce the number of paid speaker programs and the amounts spent on such programs. Under the CIA, Novartis speaker programs may only occur under limited circumstances and in a virtual format. In addition, the CIA requires Novartis to implement measures designed to promote independence from any patient assistance programs to which it contributes. The CIA also requires multi-faceted monitoring of Novartiss operations and obligates company executives and Board members to certify about compliance. OIG will continue to work closely with the Department of Justice to investigate and pursue kickbacks regardless of the form they take, said Gregory E. Demske, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, HHS-OIG. To address Novartiss conduct and the widely-recognized compliance risks associated with paid speaker programs, the CIA requires Novartis to make fundamental changes to its speaker program practices. Under the CIA, Novartis must significantly reduce the number of programs and the number of paid physicians, and can no longer pay for inherently-risky in-person programs. The governments resolution of these matters illustrates the governments emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477). The copay investigation was conducted by the Civil Divisions Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Bilotta matter was litigated by the Southern District of New York, with assistance from the Civil Divisions Commercial Litigation Branch, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General. The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability. Imperial Valley News Center Warrant and Complaint Seek Seizure of All Iranian Gasoil Aboard Four Tankers Headed to Venezuela Based on Connection to IRGC Washington, DC - A forfeiture complaint and warrant were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that all petroleum-product cargo aboard the Bella with international maritime organization (IMO) number 9208124, the Bering with IMO number 9149225, the Pandi with IMO number 9105073, and the Luna with IMO number 9208100 are subject to forfeiture based on the terrorism forfeiture statute. John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division; Michael R. Sherwin, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Steven W. Cagen, Special Agent in Charge, Denver, Colorado, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Rainer S. Drolshagen, Special Agent in Charge, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Federal Bureau of Investigation, made the announcement Thursday. The documents allege a scheme involving multiple parties affiliated with the IRGC to covertly ship Iranian gasoil, obtained via ship-to-ship transfers, to Venezuela. The shipments are alleged to be a source of influence for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization. The documents allege that profits from petroleum sales support the IRGCs full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad. There are approximately 302,502 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Bella, approximately 302,522 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Bering, approximately 259,700 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Luna, and approximately 298,484 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently on board the Pandi. United States District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a warrant to seize all Iranian gasoline on these four vessels, based on a probable cause showing of forfeitability. The warrant commands the property to be brought to the sole jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A warrant for arrest and civil forfeiture complaint are merely allegations. The burden to prove forfeitability in a civil forfeiture proceeding is upon the government. Funds successfully forfeited based on terrorism authorities are in part directed to the the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund: http://www.usvsst.com/ In announcing the forfeiture complaint, Assistant Attorney General Demers, Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin, Special Agent in Charge Cagen, and Special Agent in Charge Drolshagen commended the work of those who investigated the case from HSI and FBI. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zia Faruqui, Brian Hudak, and Stuart Allen; National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, Deputy Chief Elizabeth Cannon and Trial Attorney David Lim; and U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia Paralegal Liz Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick. Two California Men Sentenced for Conspiracy to Rob Chase Bank in Modesto Fresno, California - Two Soledad men were sentenced this week for conspiracy to rob the Chase Bank in Modesto, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Robert Zavala, 24, was sentenced today to five years in prison, and Moises Misael Garcia DeLeon, 27, was sentenced to on Monday to four years and nine months in prison. According to court documents, on Nov. 16, 2018, a deputy sheriff noticed a Nissan Altima that had been reported stolen from Salinas parked in a parking lot at an apartment complex in Modesto. Officers set up surveillance on the stolen Nissan and watched four cars carrying the five co-conspirators leave the apartment complex. The cars traveled close to each other to a shopping area in Modesto that contained a Chase Bank. Zavala, who drove one of the cars, drove back and forth near the Chase Bank on surveillance. The stolen Nissan, driven by co-defendant Victor Bravo, parked in a loading area behind the shopping center next to a car driven by Enrique Lopez. Lopez got out of his car and started loading items into the stolen Nissan. The stolen Nissan then left the loading area, drove through an alley, and parked in a parking lot near Chase Bank. Officers stopped the car and detained all four occupants. Inside the stolen Nissan, officers found two assault rifle-style firearms, a handgun, a revolver, masks, gloves, and a large duffel bag. DeLeon was sitting in the front passenger seat with an assault rifle next to him. Three co-defendants have been sentenced. On June 2, Bravo and Lopez were each sentenced to five years in prison, and on June 15, Cesar Lemus was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison. This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Stanislaus County Sheriffs Department, the Modesto Police Department, the Monterey County Sheriffs Department, San Mateo County Sheriffs Department, Tulare County Sheriffs Department, and Fresno County Sheriffs Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross Pearson is prosecuting the case. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Departments renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorneys Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn. This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justices signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Departments past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. Rob Brydon and Hugh Bonneville are among the first stars to praise the governments 1.5bn rescue package for the arts industry. The money will be shared out between theatres, independent cinemas and other arts organisations to help them stay in business while coronavirus forces them to remain closed. The rescue package, announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak, is expected to help world-famous cultural institutions such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Mary Rose Trust. It follows weeks of mounting pressure for the government to help the arts after warnings the industry would be brought to its knees without intervention. Gavin & Stacey star Brydon who appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh in The Painkiller on the West End and had previously called out the governments slow response to the theatre crisis reacted to the bailout on Twitter, writing: Great news! Lets hope this gets to the people and places that need it. Paddington actor Bonneville, who began his career at the Royal Shakespeare Company wrote: Thank you, Mr Sunak. And thanks to all who have advocated for the Arts multi-billion pound contribution the UK economy. However, as well as companies, buildings and ideals, tens of thousands of industry freelancers need help through uncertain times ahead. Lets keep talking. Reactions from the rest of the arts industry were mixed. While many were grateful for the investment, others were unhappy with the way the British government had dragged its feet, and how much more some other countries had invested in their arts sectors. Following the announcement, Boris Johnson said the UKs cultural industry was the beating heart of this country. He added: This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down. Q What is the minimum number of passengers in a flight in order for it to go ahead and not get cancelled? Tracy L A Zero. If an airline thinks that a round-trip will, on balance, be profitable, then it will certainly run an empty flight in one direction. The most obvious examples are at the beginning and end of the summer season: an airline will gladly fly out full to a Spanish or Greek island at the start of operations in May, and fly back empty. The converse applies at the end of the season when the outbound service is empty or nearly so. Look out in an ordinary autumn for news stories at the end of October about how someone was the sole paying passenger on a flight to the Med. The (near) empty leg is a fact of airline life. I want a letter. This was the simple request written on a piece of paper by Laila Soueif, 64, an Egyptian professor and life-long human rights activist as she sat on the curb that licks around the blistering crucible that is the entrance to Cairos notorious Tora prison. The small and innocuous demand to hear from her jailed son Alaa Abdel-Fattah, 38, a software engineer and leading voice of the 2011 revolution, was too much for the Egyptian authorities. Egypt had halted all prison visits since the outbreak of the coronavirus in March. It has worried many families, particularly as the Geneva-based Committee for Justice reported that there have been Covid-19 cases present in nearly 30 detention centres across 10 governorates, including Tora prison. DuckDuckGo is once again available in India, after the privacy-focused search engine was discovered to be mysteriously offline since 1 July. Were seeing our services being broadly restored in India, the company tweeted on 4 July, Thank you for all of your reports, bringing attention to this issue. If you're still having trouble accessing DuckDuckGo Search, please report it to [the Internet Freedom Foundation]. It remains unclear why DuckDuckGo was inaccessible for the Indian people for such a long amount of time. The Indian government recently announced a list of nearly 60 applications sourced from China which the government claims were stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. Those applications were banned. The ban included many popular applications including WeChat and TikTok, as well as mobile games such as Clash of Kings. Recommended TikTok and 58 other apps leave Apple and Google app stores DuckDuckGos headquarters are in Pennsylvania in the United States, however, and the company was not on the list of banned apps. Other users reported DNS lookup errors as the cause of the fault. We have contacted the Indian government but have not yet received a response, a DuckDuckGo spokesperson had told The Verge over the weekend. We are bewildered on why the Indian government would instruct Indian ISPs to block DuckDuckGo, but are optimistic that this will be resolved soon. The comapny told The Independent that it was " still trying to gather information to establish why this happened". It encouraged any users affected by blackouts at DuckDuckGo or other websites to the "Save The Internet" project, which is run the by the Internet Freedom Foundation. Virgin Media users have been hit by an outage that stopped it working for some of its users. Customers said they were unable to get online, apparently as a result of problems with the network. The company asked those who complained on Twitter to check its service status page, which informs them of the status of any outage, though some said they were unable to get to that site too. According to DownDetector, the issue appeared to spike at around 1pm UK time. The issue is affecting users across the country, in cities including Nottingham, London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds. Some users in Glasgow and Belfast have also been affected. 78 per cent of users have had their cabled internet stop working. 18 per cent of people have had their mobile data interfered with, while a small percentage (three per cent) of people have had their television signal stopped. It is unclear what the source of the issue is. Recommended How to improve your internet connection during lockdown Virgin Media said the issue was a local one, and has apparently been fixed. Weve fixed the local issue which meant customers in the Nottingham area briefly lost broadband services. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, a Virgin Media spokesperson said. This is not the only instance recently where Virgin Media's service has stopped working. Last month, service went down for users across the country. In 2018, it was reported that Virgin Media services 5.9 million cable customers across the country, and provides support to 3.1 million mobile customers. Rishi Sunak has announced that a stamp duty holiday will come into effect immediately, making certain properties on the market exempt from the tax. On Wednesday 8 July, the chancellor of the exchequer unveiled an emergency mini-budget that included the removal of stamp duty on homes worth up to 500,000 in a bid to kickstart the stalled housing market amid the coronavirus crisis. Sunak said the cut will last until 31 March 2021, with the average stamp duty bill falling by 4,500. Although the measure will be temporary, it could have a huge impact on people who are looking to buy homes on the lower end of the market. Here is everything you need to know. What is stamp duty? Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is a sum of money that must be paid when an individual purchases a property or a piece of land for a certain amount of money. The quantity of money required for stamp duty depends upon the overall price of the property. It is also contingent on the type of property you are purchasing; whether it is residential, it is non-residential, mixed-use or whether you are a first-time buyer. Stamp duty land tax applies to properties in England and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax must be paid on purchased properties or land, while in Wales a Land Transaction Tax must be paid for sales that were completed on or after 1 April 2018. A stamp duty land tax return must be sent to HM Revenue & Customs within 14 days of completion on a property or land, otherwise you may be charged penalties and interest. How much does it usually cost? As it currently stands, people who buy a property for up to 125,000 do not need to pay stamp duty, the government outlines. If the property is worth between 125,001 and 250,000, the stamp duty land tax rate is 2 per cent. So if the property was valued at 250,000, the levy would be 2 per cent of 125,000, which is 2,500. For the next 675,000, the rate is 5 per cent. Therefore, if a property was valued in the 250,001 and 925,000 bracket, the buyer would not pay any stamp duty on the first 125,000, would pay a 2 per cent rate on the next 125,000 and would pay a 5 per cent rate on the following 675,000. Recommended UK house prices fall for first time in eight years For the next 575,000, for properties between 925,000 and 1.5m, the stamp duty rate is 10 per cent, with this figure rising to 12 per cent for properties above 1.5m. As an example, as provided on the governments website, if a person were to buy a home for 275,000, they would not pay stamp duty on the first 125,000. For the next 125,000, they would pay 2 per cent stamp duty, which is 2,500, bringing them up to 250,000. For the final 25,000, they would pay 5 per cent, as they would be in the next threshold. This would be 1,250, resulting in a final sum of 3,750 for stamp duty. These rates apply to people who have bought a home before, excluding first-time buyers. UK news in pictures Show all 51 1 /51 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 June 2021 A British Airways plane at Heathrow airport in west London which has been damaged after tipping on to its nose PA UK news in pictures 17 June 2021 Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 16 June 2021 A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 June 2021 Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre PA UK news in pictures 14 June 2021 Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park Reuters UK news in pictures 13 June 2021 Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring Englands first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley Reuters UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall EPA UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall AP UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA In 2017, then-chancellor Philip Hammond removed the stamp duty land tax for first-time buyers, so they do not have to pay the levy for properties up to 300,000. For properties between 300,001 and 500,000, they must pay 5 per cent stamp duty tax. If the price of the property or land surpasses 500,000, then the usual rates apply. Who is eligible for the stamp duty holiday? The current stamp duty land tax will be altered so that the threshold for stamp duty is set between 300,000 and 500,000. This would allow members of the public looking at homes on the lower end of the housing market to avoid having to pay stamp duty for a significant period of time. If a first-time buyer purchases a property for 500,000, the new system could allow them to save 10,000 on stamp duty, as per the current rates. Recommended UK housing market on hold as people urged not to move homes For people who have bought a property before, a new threshold of 500,000 would cut the cost of purchasing a 238,000 home by 2,260, while individuals buying properties worth half a million pounds or more could save 15,000. While the move has been announced in an effort to kickstart the economy in Britain, a leading economic think tank has warned that it could bring the property market to a halt. Helen Miller, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the government really should be keeping tight-lipped about these things. If you are thinking about buying a house and there is the prospect of cutting your tax bill by 15,000 in a few months time, in most cases you are going to think it is worth waiting, Ms Miller said. It would be better to wait and see if you need this fiscal stimulus before you enact it, and its a really bad idea to pre-announce it or trail it, because people will just delay. If the chancellor wants to do it, he has to announce it and say its happening now. Watered-down guidance for pubs and restaurants creates an enormous risk that further coronavirus outbreaks wont be able to be traced, public health directors have warned. It had been expected that venues would be required to record contact details of customers ahead of re-opening at the weekend so that in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak customers at risk could be identified. But the final regulations, issued on Friday night, said this was purely voluntary and local public health directors have hit out at what they said is a significant downgrade and leaves them unable to take effective action locally. The guidance on maintaining records of staff and customers said it was critical that organisations took measures to help during the UK public health emergency. This includes keeping a record of visitors for 21 days that could the be shared with the test-and-trace service. But the guidance added giving information was voluntary adding: If a customer or visitor informs you that they do not want their details shared for the purposes of NHS Test and Trace, they can choose to opt out, and if they do so you should not share their information used for booking purposes with NHS test and trace. It added the accuracy of details provided by customers did not need to be verified by the venue. Professor Dominic Harrison, director of public health at Blackburn with Darwen Council, told The Independent he was surprised and disappointed to see the guidance state recording peoples contact details was voluntary. He said the biggest risk was that busy town centre pubs may choose not to follow the advice and if an outbreak occurred in a pub the NHS test-and-trace service would be unable to identify everyone at risk. The biggest risk of large-scale transmission of Covid-19 is from mass gatherings in an indoor setting. That is a description of a busy town centre pub on a Saturday night, he said. If pubs dont keep records there is no way test and trace can identify people at risk and there is a risk if we have an outbreak that you have significant community spread, especially as maybe up to 40 per cent of people could be asymptomatic. I am seriously concerned about this; it is an enormous risk. Prof Harrison said he was hoping to encourage local outlets in his area to record contact details, but he said the fact the guidance was voluntary meant he had no powers to require it. Its a complete own goal to have not made it a requirement. It has completely disabled us from being able to take effective action locally. Greg Fell, director of public health in Sheffield added: Its a good example of a downgrade of regulations to make it a bit easier for businesses to operate, but a lot harder to do rapid chasing in event of an incident I suspect there was a strong lobby from the hospitality trade to downgrade the strength of recommendations in the guidance. He added: Speed does matter in event of managing an incident. Time to find people is time they might infect others. The trade-off between economy and public health is a false trade-off. They are both dependent on each other. We need to keep on in this vein, do it carefully and keep learning as we go. We 100 per cent need to get the economy going but we 100 per cent need to avoid another epidemic wave. The Independent specifically asked the Department of Health and Social Care how the contacts from an outbreak in a pub would be traced if no customer details had been kept but did not receive a reply. Instead a DHSC spokesperson confirmed the guidance was voluntary but then went on to say the maintaining of records of staff, customers and visitors was vital to help NHS Test and Trace identify and contain outbreaks of Covid-19 linked to particular venues. They added: The vast majority of the public have played their part in curbing the spread of the virus. In line with this we urge everyone to share their details with the venues they visit and support the NHS Test and Trace service to do its job in helping to protect us, our families and communities from further outbreaks of Covid-19. Visitors to Wales are being urged to behave responsibly after travel restrictions were eased across the country. The stay local rule, which required people to remain within five miles of their home, ended on Monday, allowing for unrestricted travel into and around Wales. Outdoor attractions are also allowed to welcome visitors ahead of the reopening of holiday accommodation from Saturday 11 July. However, Mark Drakeford, the first minister, warned that while the risk of Covid-19 was lower outdoors a level of danger remained. He also told visitors to be respectful of both other people and the environment. Unfortunately, over the recent weeks weve seen the results of people not treating parts of Wales with respect, with crowds leaving piles of litter in their wake, Mr Drakeford said. This selfish behaviour is a blight on our beauty spots and puts people at risk. The countryside code has been revised, with visitors asked to plan ahead and obey social-distancing measures. Tegryn Jones, the chief executive of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, said: We urge those who choose to explore our landscapes in the coming weeks and months, perhaps for the first time, to do so with respect for the people and wildlife, which call it home, and for each other. The lifting of travel restrictions also means families and friends can reunite. People from two households are able to form one extended household, meeting indoors and staying overnight. Darren Millar, the Welsh Conservative shadow minister for Covid-19 recovery, welcomed the lifting of the cruel previous rule and said it had undermined peoples mental health and personal relationships. Travel restrictions were introduced when the UK entered lockdown on 23 March. The lifting of the ban in Wales comes after stay home guidance was scrapped and replaced with stay local on 1 June. Loading.... The next review of coronavirus restrictions in Wales will consider the options for reopening bars and restaurants outdoors and hairdressing by appointment only from 13 July. One person died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Wales on Sunday, Public Health Wales said. This latest fatality took the total number of deaths there to 1,531, while the number of positive tests increased by 15 to 15,890. Additional reporting by Press Association Many developing countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa are "just at the start" of their Covid-19 outbreaks, the Department for International Development has warned. Giving evidence to MPs on Monday Dr Charlotte Watts, the department's chief scientific advisor, said an "extremely concerning situation" was unfolding across large parts of the developing world. "We are seeing rapid increases across Asia, south America and sub-saharan Africa, so this is happening in multiple geographies," she told the international development committee when asked about infections. "We're expecting the rate of increase to keep going in the next few months and particularly as a lot of countries lift their lockdown measures because of the economic pressures and sustaining those." Dr Watts said estimated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London supported by the department estimated that Covid-19 infections would peak in the next two to three months in parts of Africa. "What they estimate with Sub-Sarahan Africa is that about ten per cent of cases are being reported, and we're likely to see peaks in the next two to three months," she told MPs. "In practice its quite hard to predict when exactly because in each country it's very dependent on the actions each country is taking and also context factors like the density people live in and the extent to which they are able to reduce transmission risk through changing their own actions." She added: "I think we're at a very dangerous time in term of the impacts that might play out and at a time when if anything we're starting to take our attention off Covid slightly and feeling like we can relax activity. Sub-Saharan Africa is behind and I think we're just at the start of their outbreak, we think in that continent." Many African countries are moving to open their airspace to encourage tourism in a bid to stave off further economic damage, even as cases climb. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The World Health Organisation warned as far back as April that Africa could become the next epicentre of the outbreak and the the pandemic would kill at least 300,000 people on the continent and push nearly 30 million into poverty. The Department for International Development faces being merged with the UK's Foreign Office, the first time since 1997 the British government has not had a separate aid department. Floridas most populous county has ordered restaurants to halt on-site dining again as the states coronavirus infections continue to rise across the state, including an uptick in the number of younger patients. The announcement follows the state reaching more than 200,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, while the availability of hospital beds in several counties has hit, or is close to, reaching capacity. Miami mayor Carlos Gimenez also closed gyms, short-term rentals, ballrooms and other event spaces. Last week, the mayor ordered casinos, movie theatres and strip clubs to close and mandated masks in most public spaces. Late last month, state officials ordered bars statewide to suspend on-premises consumption. County officials closed bars and nightclubs in early June. Retail stores, offices and salons and barbers are open for now, the mayor said. Mayor Gimenez blamed a rise in cases among 18- to -34-year-old residents, which surged in June, on a number of factors, including young people going to congested places indoors and outside without taking precautions such as wearing masks and practising social distancing. He said health officials have pointed to graduation, parties and restaurant gatherings. He also blamed street protests where people could not maintain social distancing and where not everyone was wearing facial coverings, though several cities with large protest turnouts have not reported case increases related to demonstrations. We want to ensure that our hospitals continue to have the staffing necessary to save lives, the mayor said in a statement on Monday. Closures are effective on 8 July. A 10am to 6pm curfew also remains in effect except for essential workers. Florida was among the first states to reopen on 1 April, though more populated and impacted Miami-Dade and Broward counties didnt reopen until mid-May. Mayor Gimenez said the countys beaches will reopen on Tuesday following Fourth of July holiday weekend closures, but threatened to close them if people violate physical distancing rules during what are otherwise busy summer months. The Miami area, home to roughly 2.8 million people, has confirmed nearly 50,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths since the onset of the outbreak. On Saturday, Florida health officials recorded more than 11,000 new cases in the state, shattering single-day records and nearly surpassing New Yorks highest daily case toll of roughly 11,500, recorded back in April. New Yorks one-day toll was the highest in the US amid the pandemic so far. The state also saw its youngest Covid-19 victim last week with the death of an 11-year-old boy, according to the states health department. Daequan Wimberly, who had joined the family of a Miami pastor and struggled with several health issues, died on 30 June, according to the Miami Herald. The death of an 11-year-old boy ... should send a signal to all of our community that this virus can attack anyone without mercy, Mayor Gimenez said in a statement. Loading.... The US recorded more than 50,000 cases for the second day in a row on Independence Day as the nation saw a dozen states double their case counts over the last two weeks. More than 2.7 million cases in the US have been identified over the last several months, including nearly 129,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. While city and county officials across Florida have imposed some measures to combat the states disturbing spikes, Governor Ron DeSantis has faced mounting criticism from state lawmakers urging the governor to issue a statewide mask mandate, but he has resisted shutting down the state beyond its current closures. On Monday, the governor, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, insisted that the increase in cases is due to widespread testing. As you see cases, people should just put it into context about whats going on, he said during a press conference. Theres no need to really be fearful about it. The governor claims that the state has processed an average of 60,000 to 65,000 test results in recent weeks, totalling roughly 2.2 million about 10 per cent of the states population since the onset of the virus. When we do 85,000 tests, were gonna have more, he claimed. While the states rate of positive cases dropping below 5 per cent between May and June, as lockdowns were lifted and people returned to business as usual, positive cases have increased significantly, to nearly 20 per cent, in recent weeks. But other Republican governors once eager to reopen businesses and lift brief stay-at-home measures reversed course in recent weeks, marking a significant turn among Republican leaders signalling that their reopening plans had failed. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered most residents to wear face coverings in public after the state saw a sharp uptick in new cases last week. In June, he rolled back the states reopening by closing bars and reducing restaurant capacity to a maximum of 50 per cent occupancy. Arizona also has mandated face coverings in public after the state saw its largest single-day case spike last month. A Kansas Republican official has apologised following the publication in his newspaper of a political cartoon likening face mask requirements to the Holocaust. The Anderson County Review, a rural newspaper in Kansas owned by the county GOP chair Dane Hicks, ran a cartoon suggesting compliance with state face mask mandates was akin to stepping onto a train bound for a concentration camp. The cartoon features an image of Kansas governor Laura Kelly wearing a face mask with a Star of David on it. She is superimposed over a photo of Jewish people boarding trains meant for concentration camps. Below the image a caption reads: "Lockdown Laura says: Put on your mask ... and step onto the cattle car." Ms Kelly issued a statewide order on Friday requiring all Kansans to wear face masks in public spaces. According to The Washington Post, Mr Hicks decided to remove his cartoon after it generated substantial criticism online. "After some heartfelt and educational conversations with Jewish leaders in the US and abroad, I can acknowledge the imagery in my recent editorial cartoon ... was deeply hurtful to members of a culture who've been dealt plenty of hurt throughout history - people to whom I never desired to be hurtful in the illustration of my point," Mr Hicks wrote in a statement on. Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois was among those offering feedback on the cartoon. Mr Pritzker condemned the image on Twitter on Saturday . "Another disgusting display by ignorant Republicans who fail to understand that their propaganda is costing lives. I helped build the Illinois Holocaust Museum to fight exactly this kind of hate," Mr Pritzker said. "America is better than this." Ms Kelly called the cartoon "deeply offensive" and the state's Senate minority leader Anthony Hensley said it was "appalling". Mr Hicks initially defended his cartoon, referring to his detractors as "liberal Marxist parasites" and claiming that "as a traditional American, they are my enemy". Further discussions about the cartoon eventually convinced Mr Hicks to remove it and apologise. Recommended Texas governor orders face masks in public spaces "It's apparent I previously lacked an adequate understanding of the severity of their experience and the pain of its images. To that end, I am removing the cartoon with apologies to those so directly affected," Mr Hicks wrote. It is not the first time a Republican official has likened a coronavirus-related state order to Nazi authoritarianism. In March, Colorado's Republican House minority leader Patrick Neville compared governor Jared Polis' stay-at-home order to Nazism and claimed it would lead to a "Gestapo-like mentality". Mr Polis, who is Jewish, took exception to the comparison in an emotional reply during a press conference. "Well, first of all, as a Jewish American who lost family in the Holocaust, I'm offended by any comparison to Nazism," he said. "We act to save lives - the exact opposite of the slaughter of six million Jews and many gypsies and Catholics and gays and lesbians and Russians and so many others." Georgia governor Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency after more than 30 people were injured and five people including an 8-year-old girl were killed during a violent 4 July weekend. The Republican governors order authorises the state to deploy National Guard troops to support state buildings, Confederate monuments and statues honouring segregationists, and the governors mansion, after he threatened Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to take action amid growing unrest. Governor Kemp appeared to blame ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations for the shootings, though activists and organisers, outraged by violence, have condemned both the shootings and attempts by officials and law enforcement to connect them to the spree. Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda, Governor Kemp said in a statement. Now innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot and left for dead. On Sunday, the mayor pleaded with residents to stop the random wild wild West shoot-em-up that led to the shooting death of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner. You shot and killed a baby, and it wasnt one shooter. There were at least two shooters. An 8-year-old baby. And you want people to take us seriously. And you dont want us to lose this movement, then we cant lose each other in this, she said during an emotional press conference on 5 July. There are peaceful demonstrators across this city and across this country, and I applaud them and I thank them for being peaceful and for honouring the lives of so many people who have been killed in America because of injustice. Protests across the US in the wake of police killings of black Americans have also gripped Atlanta for more than a month. Following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Garrett Rolfe, a white police officer, fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, in the back while he ran from a Wendys restaurant parking lot and fired a Taser behind him on 12 June. Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Show all 21 1 /21 Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June An aerial photo made with a drone shows a large group gathered in Union Park to protest the arrest of George Floyd, who later died in police custody, in Chicago, Illinois EPA Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June A large group marching and chanting in Chicago, Illinois EPA/Tannen Maury Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Protesters gather along the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum and Eakins Oval during a protest AP Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators try to block a freeway during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Thousands of demonstrators march across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators gather at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators march down Flatbush Avenue toward the Manhattan Bridge chanting slogans REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Protesters take part in a demonstration to protest in support of the George Floyd protests in the United States, and also to commemorate a similar circumstance in France when Adama Traore, a 24-year-old Frenchman was killed in 2016 by police, during an rally in Champ de Mars next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris EPA Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators attend a protest in Berlin, Germany FABRIZIO BENSCH/REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Sydney RON SHAMGAR via REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators attend a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protestors in Sydney AFP via Getty Images Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens, UK PA Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June People wearing masks hold placards during a protest march over the alleged police abuse of a Turkish man, in echoes of a Black Lives Matter protest, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis, in Tokyo REUTERS/Issei Kato Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators attend a protest against police brutality in Frankfurt REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators attend a protest against police brutality at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June People stand in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds in tribute to George Floyd during a protest against racism and police brutality in Frankfurt am Main, Germany Getty Images Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Thousands of people demonstrate in Cologne, Germany AP Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators hold placards as they attend a protest march to the US Embassy in London AFP via Getty Images Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators cross the River Thames via Vauxhall Bridge as they march to protest outside the US Embassy in London AFP via Getty Images Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Demonstrators gather for a protest against racism and police violence in Lisbon AP Stunning aerial shots show global Black Lives Matter crowds on 6 June Boxer Anthony Joshua is seen on crutches with demonstrators in Watford, Britain REUTERS Early on Sunday, a small group of protesters broke into and damaged a Georgia State Patrol building, sparking flames inside with fireworks. The governor said his order will allow troops to protect state property and dispatch state law enforcement officers to patrol our streets. Enough with the tough talk, he said. We must protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians. The shooting death of Secoriea Taylor took place at the near the Wendys where Mr Brooks was killed, according to police. The area has served as a memorial for vigils and a site of protests in recent weeks. Activists have aspired to turn the site where the restaurant was burned down into the Rayshard Brooks Peace Centre, which could host job training, youth programmes and other services. On Saturday, Secorieas mother Charmaine Turner allegedly drove her car around an illegally placed barricade where they were met by a group of armed people at the parking lot, according to police, though residents have disputed the account. At least one person fired into the car. The city has announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. We didnt mean no harm, Ms Turner said during a press conference on Sunday. My baby didnt mean no harm. Somebody knows something. Demonstrators who have organised memorials at the site have condemned the shooting and stressed that no one from the group was involved. We too mourn the loss of a life gone too soon, organisers said in a statement. To the family, we stand with you and are here for you. We wish to make clear that no one from our group was involved in any way ... None of our activists, community members or neighbours were involved. Organisers said that although our hearts are broken by another loss in the black community ... it only affirms the urgent need for healing and peace in this community as we continue to be targets of trauma and violence. On Monday, workers began clearing the parking lot, full of stuffed toys, candles, posters, flowers and notes to memorialise the victims. Fresh details have emerged of the FBI raid leading to the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of grooming young girls on behalf of her former partner, the convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The 58-year-old British heiress is due to appear in a New York court this week to face four charges of aiding Epstein in the trafficking and sexual exploitation and abuse of minors, and two counts of perjury, which could see her imprisoned for 35 years. Ms Maxwell is currently being held in New Hampshire, where more than 20 armed FBI agents and police officers conducted a raid on her secluded 156-acre hideout named Tucked Away on Thursday morning. Spy planes are reported to have monitored the property for four hours prior to the 8:20am raid to ensure the daughter of late and controversial media mogul and MP Robert Maxwell was unable to flee. Armed law officers allegedly broke down the buildings front door to find the former socialite strangely passive and subdued as she was placed in handcuffs, putting an end to a high-stakes game of cat and mouse which spanned the year following Epsteins death in a Manhattan jail cell and cost the FBI millions of dollars, according to one agent. Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Show all 9 1 /9 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein attends court as he pleads guilty to solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, 2008 Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in court Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation and procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Epstein, allegedly paid several girls under the age of 18 in return for naked massages at his Palm Beach, Florida estate Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's car Jeffrey Epstein is whisked away from the Palm Beach County jail in a black car shortly after 6am on 22 July 2009. Epstein left the jail through the sally port, where prisoners are brought in, rather than through the main doors where prisoners are routinely released Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot, taken after he was indicted for soliciting a prostitute on 26 July 2006. Beginning in mid-March 2005, Epstein became the target of a sexual battery probe conducted by the Palm Beach Police Department, according to the affidavit, which alleges that Epstein paid a series of underage girls to engage in sexual activity with him. In a 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein, Donald Trump called the moneyman a 'terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Epstein, who reportedly runs a multibillion-dollar investment fund, travels in his own Boeing 727 (upon which he has transported Bill Clinton to Africa) and owns a 45,000-square-foot mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jack Goldberger, Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Jeffrey Epstein's attorney, Jack Goldberger, talks with reporters gathered outside the Palm Beach County jail on 22 July 2009 after Epstein was whisked away from the jail in a black car Zuma/Rex Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein Florida Police department sexual offenders database picture of Jeffrey Epstein taken in 2013 Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's mansion His Palm Beach mansion in Florida Google Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News Jeffrey Epstein: Controversies surrounding paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's island The private Caribbean island, Little St James is part of the US Virgin Islands NBC News They had her, then they lost her, the agent told the Mail on Sunday. She was in Colorado and Wyoming then they lost her until she showed up in New Hampshire. Its been a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. They had to build a case and put it in front of a grand jury. These things take time. She slipped through the net once but as soon as the grand jury came back with an indictment 10 days ago, it was on. Local police were only informed of the raid on Wednesday, while FBI agents had been gathering in the area since Monday, the paper reported. Speaking of the raid itself, the agent said: We drove at speed up the half-mile driveway in a convoy of 15 vehicles. And lets just say, we didnt knock politely on the door. It was smashed down. Maxwell was up and dressed, in the living room, wearing sweat pants and a top. Strangely she didnt seem to have much reaction. It was like it wasnt registering with her. Early on in their relationship, Ms Maxwell was Epsteins girlfriend but later became his close friend and confidante, allegedly helping Epstein groom and procure young girls for the wealthy elite. The indictment against Ms Maxwell, passed up by a grand jury in Manhattan, stated that she assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epsteins abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse the victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18. It said some of the victims were as young as 14, with the abuse starting from at least in or about 1994 to about 1997, adding: In some instances, Ms Maxwell was present for and participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims. Ms Maxwell has denied all allegations against her and is understood to plan to argue that she has immunity under a previous deal Epstein made with Florida prosecutors. Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved to a New York jail ahead of a bail hearing on Friday, where a court will decide if she remains in detention ahead of a trial in which she faces charges of facilitating the sexual abuse of minors. Prosecutors allege that Ms Maxwell, 58, lured and groomed underage girls so that they could be abused by her former boyfriend and associate, the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. She was arrested on Thursday at her luxury home in New Hampshire, and moved on Monday to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Epstein was arrested in July last year for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in his cell at a Manhattan jail a little over a month later. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, but Epsteins lawyers dispute the finding. Recommended Details emerge of FBI raid at Ghislaine Maxwell hideout Ms Maxwell is expected to make her first appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Friday for a bail hearing. She will be held at the Brooklyn detention facility until then. The Brooklyn jail has been in the spotlight in recent weeks following the death of an inmate after correctional officers sprayed him with pepper spray. A week-long power failure at the jail in January 2019 sparked unrest among shivering inmates. In March, the jail had the federal prison systems first inmate to test positive for coronavirus. Prosecutors have said Ms Maxwell poses an extreme risk of flight and they are expected to ask that she be detained ahead of a trial. Last week they outlined some of their arguments to keep Ms Maxwell detained, such as her wealth, extensive international ties, and the likelihood of a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The indictment against her passed up by a grand jury in Manhattan, stated that she assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epsteins abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse the victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18. The indictment also alleged some of the victims were as young as 14, with the abuse starting from at least in or about 1994 to about 1997. Ms Maxwell could potentially serve up to 35 years in prison if she is found guilty of the charges against her. She has previously repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called some claims against her absolute rubbish. With agencies Seven men have been arrested after an alleged racist incident on the Fourth of July in an Oregon beach town. Police said that the men allegedly yelled racial slurs at a black family and used Nazi salutes while people spent Independence Day on the beach in Lincoln City, southwest of Portland. The men have been arrested on suspicion of charges including riot, disorderly conduct, interfering with police and possession of illegal fireworks, according to The Oregonian. Police said that officers had to form a barricade between the group and the family to allow them to safely leave the beach, the report said. According to the newspaper, the group of men then allegedly challenged police to a fight and set off illegal fireworks. The seven men, who were from Clark County, Washington, were arrested on Saturday and later released, according to police. Listed phone numbers could not be found for the men and it is unknown if they have attorneys, the AP reported. A number of aggravated incidents against people of colour have occurred across the US in recent weeks against the backdrop of national civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, which sparked countrywide protests against police brutality and racial discrimination. On Thursday a white couple in Michigan was arrested and charged with felonious assault after they were caught on camera seemingly pulling a handgun on a black woman and her family outside a restaurant in Michigan, authorities said. Another white couple in St Louis was filmed pointing guns at protesters who were marching down their street to the mayors house to demand her resignation. Additional reporting by the Associated Press. Joe Biden told members of the largest teachers' union in the country during a virtual event that their profession is the most important in the United States. On Friday, the same day Donald Trump said America's public schools teach students to hate their own country, Mr Biden addressed members of the National Education Association at its annual Representative Assembly and answered a few questions as he detailed his vision for education. You are, and I'm not joking about this, you are the most important profession in the United States, Mr Biden said. You are the ones that give these kids wings. You give them confidence. You let them believe in themselves. You equip them. And I promise you, you will never find in American history a president who is more teacher-centric and more supportive of teachers than me. Mr Biden noted that his wife, Jill Biden, is a veteran educator - and a member of the National Education Association - and that his late first wife was a teacher as well. He has promised to name an educator as education secretary to replace Betsy DeVos, Mr Trump's controversial choice. Mr Biden's tone and view of public education was in sharp contrast to that of Mr Trump, who said in his Friday speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota that public schools are teaching kids to hate our country with a far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. Mr Trump, in a jab at public schools and teachers, said: Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies, all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition. Joe Biden was vice president for two terms during the Obama administration, whose Education Department pushed a school agenda that included high-stakes use of students' standardised test scores to evaluate teachers, the expansion of charter schools and the Common Core State Standards. Although the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) had supported Mr Obama in the 2008 and 2012 general elections, they turned against Arne Duncan, Mr Obama's long-serving education secretary, for what they said were policies that harmed teachers, and the NEA called for him to resign in 2014. Mr Biden was never at the forefront of the Obama education agenda, but Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers' union, has said that when the AFT was not getting along with the Obama administration, Mr Biden was our north star and our go-to guy who always listened to us. Mr Biden has said that as president he would triple federal funding for high-poverty schools, increase teachers' salaries and ban for-profit charter schools. He has also expressed opposition to standardised testing. At the NEA event, Mr Biden said that it was time for teachers to have more control over what happens in the classroom. You should have more input on what you teach, how you teach it, and when you teach it, he said. You are the ones in the classroom. You should have more input. The presumptive Democratic nominee was lauded at the event by Lily Eskelsen Garcia, who was elected president of the NEA, the country's largest labour union, in 2014 and is about to step down. As president of the United States, Joe Biden will fire Betsy DeVos on his first day in office, replacing her with an education secretary who comes from a public school classroom and believes that educators should be essential partners when crafting education policy, Ms Eskelsen Garcia said in a press release. He will work to dismantle systemic racism that prevents too many Native, Black, and Hispanic Americans from reaching their full potential, while building an economy that works for all Americans. The Washington Post Donald Trumps approval rating has taken a considerable hit amid the coronavirus pandemic, as new research revealed possible connections between the president's plunge in support and a spike in the number of new cases nationwide. The presidents approval dropped the fastest in 500 counties suffering from 28 deaths resulting from Covid-19 per 100,000 people, according to the latest data from Pew Research Centre. By late June, his support fell 17 per cent among voters who previously said in March they approved of the president just as the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a national emergency and global pandemic. According to Pew Research Centre, the dip in support transcended party lines and voting blocs, with an almost-equal split among Democrats and Republicans. Men and women, as well as college graduates and non-graduates, were also reportedly unified in their newfound disapproval of the president particularly in counties facing a rise in coronavirus infections. The data showed Mr Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all of which helped the president secure victory in 2016 where he was losing critical support among voters aged 65 and over. He also appeared to be struggling in states like Arizona, North Carolina and Florida, where a majority of senior voters said they disapproved of the presidents response to the coronavirus pandemic in the US. The vast majority of new cases 75 percent were in states that went to Mr Trump in 2016. Mr Trump has meanwhile continued to downplay the pandemic, only acknowledging just last week that he may, in fact, wear a mask amid mounting criticism over his numerous appearances in public in which the president does not wear any face coverings. Vice President Mike Pence has begun wearing a mask during public outings, though he has also attacked the media for fear-mongering over the virus in a recent Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal. The outbreak appeared to be spreading from largely urban hotspots to more rural parts of the country, as hospitals nationwide warned they may soon reach capacity and lack critical supplies, as New York and other states similarly endured at the start of the pandemic. Mr Trumps 2020 re-election campaign has released a statement strongly encouraging supporters at an upcoming rally in New Hampshire to wear face masks. Donald Trump will head to New Hampshire next weekend for another 2020 campaign event, as he snubs concerns over rising coronavirus cases. The US presidents campaign team said on Sunday that the Make America Great Again Rally was scheduled to take place on Saturday. The outdoors event, which could see thousands arrive at the international airport in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is Mr Trumps second big 2020 campaign event since Covid-19 hit the United States in March. In a statement, his campaign team said there will be ample access to hand sanitiser and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear at Saturdays event. We look forward to so many freedom-loving patriots coming to the rally and celebrating America, the greatest country in the history of the world, added campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley. President Trump was mocked last month when smaller than expected crowds turned-up to his campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, reportedly over Covid-19 concerns. More than 2.93 million Americans have now contracted the virus, whilst 132,000 have died. The Trump 2020 campaign announcement on Sunday was made as coronavirus continued to surge across the American Sun Belt, where some 40,000 new cases were confirmed across Florida, Texas and Arizona alone this weekend. Authorities in those states have now admitted that social and economic restrictions ended too soon, despite Trump administration advice to reopen. Republican Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez told ABC News that it was extremely worrisome, and said: Theres no doubt that the fact that when we reopened, people started socialising as if the virus didnt exist. I will tell you, a month ago one in 10 people were testing positive. Today, its one in four, added Houston mayor Sylvester Turner to CBS. The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. New Hampshire in comparison has seen smaller increases in Covid-19 cases, of around 20-40 per day, compared to nearer 10,000 new cases on Sunday in Florida. Still, president Trump has continued to face criticism over his Tulsa event, after which Trump-ally Herman Cain was hospitalised with coronavirus, having attended the presidents rally. The release of a tell-all book about President Donald Trump, written by his niece, has been brought forward by two weeks despite an ongoing legal battle to prevent its publication. Simon & Schuster announced on Monday that it will release Mary L Trumps book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The Worlds Most Dangerous Man, on 14 July, instead of the previously announced date of 28 July. In a statement on Monday, the publisher announced: due to high demand and extraordinary interest in this book, Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L Trump will now be published on July 14, 2020. The publisher has already printed 75,000 copies of the book, which is currently top of Amazons US best sellers chart, according to CNN. Simon and Schuster also released an excerpt from the book on Monday that read: Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in & synthesise information. The presidents brother, Robert Trump, has been attempting to block the books publication by arguing that it breaches a confidentiality agreement relating to the estate of his father, Fred Trump, signed by Ms Trump 19 years ago. Last Wednesday, Judge Alan D Scheinkman ruled that the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) Ms Trump signed does not bar Simon & Schuster from releasing the book. While Ms Trump unquestionably possesses the same First Amendment expressive rights belonging to all Americans, she also possesses the right to enter into contracts, including the right to contract away her First Amendment rights, Mr Scheinkman wrote. Unlike Ms Trump, Simon & Schuster has not agreed to surrender or relinquish any of its First Amendment rights. Although the publisher can release the book, the Trump family still has an injunction against Ms Trump, and she is asking the New York Supreme Court to lift it, as she claims the NDA does not apply to her. Ms Trumps book will reportedly reveal that she was the primary source for the New York Times investigation into the Trump familys alleged involvement in tax fraud schemes. She claimed that finding out her inheritance was worth less than she was informed through the expose makes the NDA an unenforceable fraud, according to the Daily Beast. Ms Trumps lawyer, Ted Boutrous, wrote in an affidavit on Thursday that the settlement agreement is unenforceable and void because plaintiff and his siblings fraudulently induced Ms Trump to enter into it based on false valuations that were revealed by the New York Times in its expose of the Trump family finances in October of 2018. Ms Trump added that she never believed the NDA ever barred her from writing her life story, which she claims involves the conduct and character of my uncle, the sitting President of the United States, during his campaign for re-election. She claimed that because members of her family, including the president, have spoken out about our family and the will dispute on numerous occasions, that the confidentiality agreement is irrelevant. None of the parties to the Settlement Agreement, including my uncles Donald Trump and Robert Trump, or my aunt Maryanne Trump, has ever sought my permission to speak publicly about our family or their personal relationships with me, my brother Fred, or among each other, she wrote. Last month, the White House attempted to block the release of former Trump administration national security adviser John Boltons, tell-all memoir about his time working for the president. The Trump administration delayed the books release and attempted to block its publication entirely, but were unsuccessful, and The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir was released on 23 June 2020. A spokesperson for Ms Trump criticised interference in the publication of her book, in a statement that was released on Monday. The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviours which have already destabilized a fractured nation in the face of a global pandemic, the statement read. If Mary cannot comment, one can only help but wonder: what is Donald Trump so afraid of? States can make members of the presidential electoral college honour the results of the popular vote and cast their ballots for their pledged candidates, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The unanimous ruling allows states to eliminate the possibility of "faithless electors" going rogue and voting for candidates other than the ones who win their state's popular vote and whom they had previously agreed to support. In the US, a state's popular vote determines which candidate's chosen electors in that state are sent to the electoral college to choose the president. The vast majority of presidential candidates' pledged electors cast ballots for them during the electoral college vote, but there are often a handful of defectors. In the 2016 election, for instance, two electors from Texas who had pledged to support Donald Trump ended up voting for former Congressman Ron Paul and then-Governor John Kasich of Ohio. And five Democratic electoral college voters defected from Hillary Clinton to vote for other people. Mr Trump still won by a 304-227 margin in the electoral college vote, but the phenomenon of faithless voters always raises concerns among democratic experts about their potential impact on future elections with closer electoral margins. Thirty-two states have laws addressing so-called faithless electors, but only half of those, 16, penalise or cancel the votes of defectors. While all nine US Supreme Court justices ruled to uphold the constitutionality of state laws curbing electoral college defections, unanimity was not the standard in some lower courts. The Constitution provides the state only with the power to appoint, leaving the electors with the discretion to vote their conscience, Washington State Supreme Court Justice Steven C Gonzalez wrote in a dissenting opinion in May 2019. In the backdrop of the Supreme Court's decision on Monday are persistent ideological and legal questions about the democratic merits of the electoral college system. Two of the past three US presidents George W Bush and Donald Trump won the presidency in the electoral college despite losing the nationwide popular vote. Armed far-right groups descended on Gettysburg on Independence Day to counter-protest a rumoured antifascist flag burning demonstration that never took place. The groups were said to have seen an event advertised on Facebook which called on antifascist supporters to meet at the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on 4 July to protest police violence against unarmed black civilians. According to The Hanover Evening Sun, the Facebook post said supporters would burn the American, Confederate and Blue Lives Matter flags. Lets get together and burn flags in protest of thugs and animals in blue, wrote one person on a Facebook page called Left Behind USA last month. The post added that there would be antifascist face paint and free small flags to children to safely throw into the fire, reported The Washington Post. Facebook removed the page on 25 June, at which point far-right members had shared the page and event, which they attributed to Antifa. Right-wing supporters then planned a counter-protest to protect Civil War monuments and the American flag at Gettysburg on 4 July, reported The Post, with some saying they would be armed. If you plan on coming, I would plan on coming full battle-rattle to be fully, 100 per cent prepared to defend yourself and whoever you come with, said Delaware militia member Macky Marker on YouTube. Armed militia were seen among those who turned up on Saturday, to see no Antifa supporters at the National Cemetery. It doesnt matter if its a hoax or not, Christopher Blakeman, who travelled to the Gettysburg site from West Virginia on Saturday, told The Post. They made a threat, and if we dont make our voices heard, itll make it seem like its OK, he added. In a statement to The Hanover Evening Sun, Antifas Central Pennsylvania chapter denied those claims, and said Its a right wing hoax. We are not even remotely involved. Let them give each other Covid. We will be home with our families, said the group. According to The Post, which tried to contact the person behind The Left Behind USA Facebook page, the users name could not be traced. US president Donald Trump last month named Antifa and other left-wing activists as those who had perpetrated violence amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racism. The Battle of Gettysburg, in July 1863, turned out to be the turning point in the Civil War as Union forces defeated the Confederates. Four months later President Abraham Lincoln visited the site to give his famous Gettysburg Address, in which he promised that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". President Donald Trump slammed the people responsible for ripping a statue of Frederick Douglass from its base in upstate New York, writing in a tweet on Monday: "This shows that these anarchists have no bounds!" It was not immediately clear who was responsible for vandalizing the statue of Douglass, an escaped slave who became a leader of the abolitionist movement, and a powerful orator who delivered a famous speech on 5 July, 1852 in which he asked, What to the slave is the Fourth of July? Mr Trump tweeted a link from the conservative website Breitbart along with his post about the Douglass statue. That article said there was no reported motive yet in the statue toppling, and also noted a previous incident in which two teenagers vandalised the monument in 2018. The teens said at the time that they did not have any political motive. The Douglass statue was torn from its base in Maplewood Park in Rochester on Sunday and moved about 50 feet away from its pedestal, according to local news outlets that covered the incident. While a finger on the statue was damaged to the point where it could not be repaired, according to officials, there were no graffiti markings or other extensive damage to the Douglass monument. Douglass delivered his famous keynote address during an Independence Day celebration in Corinthian Hall in Rochester, questioning the day of celebrations in a nation with slaves. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? he said. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? He added: I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The statue of Douglass at Maplewood Park marked the site he used with other abolitionists like Harriet Tubman to help free slaves along the Underground Railroad. Officials who helped bring the statue of Douglass to Maplewood Park said they would work to install a new statue quickly. Carvin Eisen, one of the officials behind the project, told CBS Rochester affiliate WROC-TV: Is this some type of retaliation because of the national fever over Confederate monuments right now? Very disappointing, it's beyond disappointing. He added: I feel (we should) put a monument back here immediately so whoever did this knows that we are not going to be deterred from what our objective is, and our objective is to continually celebrate Frederick Douglass. Close Lincoln Project tells Trump his inner circle are "whispering" about him White House officials boasted a "big win" in the US Supreme Court's birth control ruling, which stated employers were not required to provide employees with contraceptives in their health coverage if it went against their religious beliefs. The administration which rolled back an Affordable Care Act policy that aimed to expand women's healthcare marks a significant blow to the landmark Obama-era legislation as Donald Trump seeks the court's ruling to overturn the entire law. Meanwhile, the president has threatened to cut school funding for areas that refuse to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, adding he disagrees with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) very tough and expensive guidelines. The White House coronavirus task force without Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert announced that the agency would release revised guidelines following the president's threats. Total coronavirus infections in the US have surged past 3 million, with 1 million cases identified within the last month alone. Hospitals in states like Florida and Texas are reporting limited capacity in their hospital intensive care units, and rising infection rates have signalled to health officials that the virus is spreading. In Arizona, as many as one in four tests are returning positive. Meanwhile, key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman has announced his retirement from the army by citing intimidation led by Mr Trump. The president of the United States attempted to force Lieutenant Colonel Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a president, said Lt Col Vindmans lawayer, accusing the president of a "campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation". Follow live coverage as it happened Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load A Chinese legal scholar and vocal critic of the Communist party has been detained by police, according to friends. Xu Zhangrun, 57, was taken from his house in suburban Beijing on Monday morning by more than 20 policemen, who also searched his house and confiscated his computer, his friends told Reuters. It is unclear where he is being held. Xu, who once described Chinas president Xi Jinping as clueless, came to prominence in July 2018 for denouncing the removal of the two-term limit for China's leader, which allows Xi to remain in office beyond his current second term. A former professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University, Xu was banned from teaching after publishing a series of essays in which he condemned the growing dominance of the authoritarian Communist party. Recommended Protest slogan calling for Hong Kong liberation now illegal He had been placed under house arrest earlier this year but released on 30 June ahead of the anniversary of the Communist partys founding, reports said. The anniversary also marked the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese control under the one country, two systems policy. But Hong Kong democracy activists say that system is in tatters after China last week imposed a new national security law on the territory. The legislation, which makes it an offence to disrespect the Chinese national anthem, came into effect overnight on Tuesday. Officials kept the full details of the bill secret until after it was passed. The law bans succession (breaking away from China), subversion (undermining the power of central government), terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces. Critics say that many of the clauses in the law are deliberately vague. The introduction of the law saw hundreds of demonstrators take to the streets to protest against what they saw as fundamental threats to their personal freedoms. On Friday, police charged the first person arrested under the new law. A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration against the new law (Getty Images) (Getty) Tong Ying-kit, 23, has been hit with one charge of terrorism and one charge of secession, according to court documents published on Friday. The United Nations has warned that the vague and overly broad provisions in the law may lead to activists being prosecuted in violation of fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression. Hong Kongs activists have vowed to set up a parliament in exile while others, such as Nathan Law, have decided to leave over fears of being detained under the law. Additional reporting by Reuters India now has the worlds third-highest tally of coronavirus cases, overtaking Russia as its total jumped to more than 697,000. The health ministry reported more than 23,000 new cases on Monday, down slightly from a record increase of almost 25,000 the day before but continuing a trend of adding at least 20,000 cases a day since Thursday. It comes as Indias healthcare system showed growing signs of strain from the pandemic, with a spate of incidents across the country of Covid-19 patients dying after being turned away from multiple hospitals. India enacted one of the worlds strictest and earliest national lockdowns, first suspending international air travel and then shutting down the country entirely from late March. But cases have continued to rise, in part due to increased testing, and prime minister Narendra Modi has had to limit restrictions only to isolated containment zones in order to restart the economy. India now sits behind only Brazil, which has just over 1.6 million cases, and the US on nearly 2.9 million cases in terms of the worlds worst-affected nations. Russia has almost 686,800 cases, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. But Indias death toll remains low relative to its number of cases, at 19,693. That puts it eighth in the world, behind the likes of the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Experts have attributed this discrepancy to India having a relatively youthful population, as well as chronic issues with the way cause of death is recorded the government admitted last year that only 22 per cent of deaths in India are medically certified. As of Monday morning, the healthy ministry said, India has 253,000 active Covid-19 patients and more than 424,400 cases where people have recovered. Thus, 60.85 per cent of the patients have recovered so far, the ministry said in a statement. State-by-state data showed that Maharashtra in western India continues to contribute the greatest number of daily cases. The state, whose capital is the financial hub of Mumbai the countrys second worst-affected city behind Delhi reported more than 7,000 new cases for the first time on Saturday, and another 6,555 on Sunday. But while the growth rate in Maharashtra is lower than the national average and slowing, local media said that the spike in cases since Thursday could partly be put down to rapidly growing outbreaks across southern states which previously had relatively few Covid-19 patients. In Karnataka, which now has the fastest-rising number of cases in the south, a dedicated helpline was set up on Sunday for people to lodge complaints against hospitals allegedly refusing to admit patients with coronavirus symptoms. It comes after the high-profile case of a man named Bhawarlal Sujani, who died last month after being turned away from 18 hospitals in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), Karnatakas state capital, according to his family. Sujani, 52, and his brother travelling around the citys hospitals for hours on a motorbike trying to get him admitted, covering a distance of around 120km before the patient finally succumbed to his symptoms and died on the doorstep of the last hospital they tried. The state has now issued an official notice to nine of the hospitals the family visited, asking why they should not be prosecuted for failing to provide emergency primary care. At a press conference announcing the new hotline for patients, K Sudhakar, the state health minister, warned private hospitals they would face strict action if they denied admission to coronavirus patients or refused to carry out tests. If denied admission, the patient can call 1912. It is a 24-hour helpline number, Sudhakar told reporters. Whoever calls the number will get immediate relief. Meanwhile, Indias scientific community has expressed alarm over reports that the government wanted to fast-track a homegrown coronavirus vaccine so that it could be launched on Indias Independence Day, 15 August. A letter emerged from Thursday in which Balram Bhargava, the head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), wrote to trial-conducting institutes saying that he envisaged a rapid schedule for approval of the potential vaccine Covaxin, which had only been given the green light to begin human trials earlier last week. In a letter to the trial hospitals and Covaxins creator Bharat Biotech, Bhargava said there was an urgency to launch the vaccine given the public health emergency and non-compliance would be taken very seriously. But while the ICMR has defended the letter and said 15 August was not a deadline, there has been a fierce public backlash from those accusing the government of setting an arbitrary target for the sake of optics. In a statement, Professor Partha P Majumder,the president of the Indian Academy of Sciences, said that while he welcomes the exciting development of a candidate vaccine, as a body of scientists including many who are engaged in vaccine development the IASc strongly believes that the announced timeline is unfeasible. This timeline has raised unrealistic hope and expectations in the minds of our citizens, he said. On Saturday, the US president Donald Trump marked the American Independence Day by declaring that a US vaccine would be ready long before the end of the year. The next day, drugs regulation chief Dr Stephen Hahn refused to support such a timeline, saying: I cant predict when a vaccine will be available. When the pandemic began in January this year, most experts suggested a vaccine would not be ready until mid-2021. Last month, the World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the estimate is we may have a vaccine within one year, adding that if accelerated, it could be even less than that, but by a couple of months. Thats what scientists are saying. Nearly 40 people were feared dead as torrential rains continued to hit Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu, with river banks at risk of bursting on Monday morning and new evacuation orders put in place. Flooding and mudslides that began at the weekend have killed 21 people so far. A further 18 people were showing no vital signs and presumed dead pending official confirmation, and 13 people were missing, Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, said at a news conference. I offer my deepest condolences for those who have passed from the torrential rains, Mr Suga said, adding that some 40,000 members of the Self-Defence Force were involved in rescue missions. He added that evacuation centres were also working on preventing the spread of the coronavirus by distributing disinfectant and asking evacuees to maintain their distance from each other. As of Saturday, some 200,000 have been ordered to evacuate their homes, according to Kyodo news agency. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The floods are Japan's worst natural disaster since Typhoon Hagibis in October last year that left about 90 people dead. Reuters The French president Emmanuel Macron has ousted his top security official in a significant shakeup of his government ahead of the final two years of his term. The centrist leader who is yet to announce if he will run for a second time in 2022 had already announced on Friday that Jean Castex, a career civil servant with no ministerial experience who had crafted the plan for the country to emerge from lockdown, would take on the role of prime minister, replacing the widely praised Edouarde Philippe. Now in a sweeping shakeup of his cabinet, the Elysee has announced the removal of interior minister Christophe Castaner from his post, just weeks after he had come under fire for his response to Black Lives Matter protests in the country. Mr Castaner had initially announced a ban on the use of chokeholds in policing to sate protestors, but then backed down in the face of counter-demonstrations and pressure by police unions. He is to be replaced by former budget minister Gerald Darmanin who previously stood as a conservative and defected to Mr Macrons centrist En Marche party in 2017. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The reshuffle has been touted as an attempt to shift the governments focus to post-virus economic recovery in the last two years of Mr Macrons term with more power being vested in the ministries for finance, social affairs and the environment. Having promised the government would be one of purpose and unity, Mr Macron wrote on Twitter that the platform on which he was elected must adapt to the international upheavals and crises we are experiencing. A new path must be forged. He went on to name controversial lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti who has defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and suspected terrorists, and has been critical of the French judicial system as the head of the Justice Ministry. Elisabeth Borne will take charge of an enhanced Labour and Social Affairs ministry just as the downturn unravels Macrons hard-fought gains on unemployment and the president seeks to reset relations with unions and voters after waves of protests. She previously led the Ministry for Ecological and Inclusive Transition. Meanwhile, Barbara Pompili, a former Green Party politician, was moved to the powerful Ministry for Ecological Transition, a top priority for Mr Macrons presidency. She had previously served as biodiversity minister under Macrons predecessor Francois Hollande. Mr Macron didnt change the finance or health ministers, posts central to helping France through the virus crisis and recession, or the foreign and defence ministers. Additional reporting by agencies Lisbon plans to turn Airbnb-style rentals into homes for key workers to bring "lifeblood" back to the city centre, the Portuguese capital's mayor has said. Fernando Medina estimated that more than a third of properties in the centre of the city are currently taken up by holiday lettings. Writing in The Independent, Mr Medina said tourist rentals had pushed up property prices in recent years and driven out essential workers and their families. To tackle the problem, authorities will offer to pay landlords in return for renting "safe homes" as affordable housing for workers including hospital staff and teachers. As well as the rental initiative, authorities hope to create more cycle lanes and parks as part of the city's green recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty "Now we want to bring the people who are Lisbons lifeblood back to the centre of the city as we make it greener, more sustainable and ultimately, a better place to both live and visit," Mr Medina wrote. The mayor cited examples of other cities that were also implementing "bold" strategies to change their urban spaces for the better. He wrote: "From Melbourne to Paris, the tide is turning against urban sprawl and back to revitalised city centres where residents can reach key services, like doctors, schools and shops all within a 20-minute walk." He added: "With many more people likely to be permanently working from home, it makes sense for more Lisboetas to swap the suburbs for the city where they can easily access public transport, services and take advantage of festivals and concerts." The impact of rental platforms such as Airbnb has come under growing scutiny in cities around the world. Earlier this year, the French government announced its plan to create a state-run booking website in an attempt to rival websites such as Airbnb and Booking.com as the county tries to revive its tourism sector in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Popular tourist beaches in Spain were forced to temporarily close over the weekend due to concerns of overcrowding amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Closures were reported along the Costa del Sol, on the southern coast, and elsewhere in Spains Andalusian region. According to regional government figures, around 55 beaches were shut at some point on Sunday, the Malaga-based paper Sur reported. Malaga was the province most affected, followed by Cadiz and then Huelva. The closures were reportedly posted by local authorities on mobile phone apps or council websites. Costa del Sol beachess have yet to adopt the pre-booking system being implemented by popular tourist hotspots in Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca. Flights to Andalusia resumed late last month, as hotels, restaurants and bars have set about gradually reopening their doors to tourists. However, the region remains under the spotlight after more 90 people were reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 last week. The infections were recorded at a Red Cross centre in Malaga, the scene of the provinces first new outbreak since the end of Spains state of emergency on 21 June. In total, five of the eight provinces of Andalusia have now reported new Covid-19 outbreaks. The Spanish government was also forced to place a second region into lockdown on Sunday after a spike in cases. People will be banned from entering or leaving La Marina, near Lugo in Galicia, for five days from midnight on Sunday, unless for work reasons. The 70,000 people living in the region will be allowed to move between its 14 municipalities, although they are encouraged to stay in their area to limit the spread of the virus. Face masks will be mandatory in public and groups of more than 10 people will be banned from meeting unless they are from the same household. Capacity in bars and restaurants will also be reduced to 50 per cent. The region is Spains second in just 24 hours to re-enter lockdown. The government of Catalonia on Saturday ordered an indefinite new lockdown for the Segria region following new outbreaks. That confinement came into effect at midday on Saturday and has no end date. Around 209,000 people live in 38 municipalities across the Segria region in the west of Catalonia, whose capital is Leida. A suspicious explosion last week badly damaged one of the most sensitive and prized sites in Irans nuclear programme. Now speculation has begun to mount over who or what caused it, and what Iran might do in response. The focus of allegations of an attack fall on Israel, which has conducted clandestine operations on Iranian soil in the past seizing documents and files about Irans nuclear programme and has a motive for slowing down Tehrans nuclear technology development. Sabotage of the site by Israel or any other group or country would mean glaring security deficiencies and possible enemy infiltration at one of Irans most sensitive sites. The explosion on Thursday took place at a workshop near the central Iranian city of Natanz, where scientists and engineers have been striving to build advanced centrifuges to more quickly and efficiently produce enriched uranium that could be used for atomic weapons. It followed a 26 June explosion at the missile facility of Parchin, which was allegedly used to conduct nuclear research in the 1990s, on the outskirts of Tehran. Iran has now admitted that the 2 July explosion caused significant damage but has not disclosed what caused it. It has yet to react to allegations in published reports that Israel placed a bomb in the building but has insisted it plans to build an even bigger facility to replace it. There were no casualties as a result of the incident, but significant damage was incurred, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Irans atomic energy authority. There were advanced equipment and precision measurement devices at this site that were either destroyed or damaged ... possibly causing a delay in development and production of advanced centrifuge machines in the medium term. There were no reports of radiation leaks from the site, a research facility well known to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors who monitor Irans nuclear programme. Uranium enriched in centrifuges to lower levels of purity can be used for peaceful power generation, medicine and scientific research. According to satellite imagery, the damage was extensive, and potentially caused a major setback in Irans nuclear research and development programme. Centrifuges are incredibly sensitive; even if you have a basic design getting them running is quite a feat, Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies in California. Because they spin at such insane speeds you have to balance the rotors very, very exactly so that the whole thing wont just blow apart, which in turn requires sensitive instrumentation, and all of that would have been done in that building. Iran spends an estimated 3 or 4 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence, and allocates a significant part of its government budget towards policing, surveilling, prosecuting and imprisoning an increasingly restless population of 83 million. Yet it could not protect one of its most important sites from sabotage by a foreign power. Speculation first centred on a possible cyber-attack, but the size of the blast made it likely that some sort of explosive device had been placed at the site. The really interesting question here is how did they do it? said Mr Hinz. If it was a cyberattack you would need something already inside that causes an explosion like this. If this was a missile factory or an explosives workshop sure. But a centrifuge assembly workshop? I dont think so. But any risky Israeli or American sabotage operation against Iranian attempts to develop advanced centrifuges would also underscore the incoherence of policies on Irans nuclear programme. Iran accelerated its development of advanced centrifuges only after the US president, Donald Trump, opted to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal under the tutelage of Israel and a small cluster of influential of pro-Israel operatives in Washington. I dont think theyre going to want to demonstrate any weakness to the domestic constituency. Its going to be a rhetorical response unless there is very clear evidence implicating the Israelis or another government Sanam Vakil, Chatham House Israel, the only nuclear power in the Middle East, and the Trump administration are convinced Iran is using the guise of a civilian nuclear programme to pursue weapons capability. But US intelligence officials have repeatedly concluded Iran abandoned a clandestine nuclear weapons programme in 2003. Most independent researchers and experts surmise that Iran is attempting to assemble all the necessary components of a nuclear weapons programme to give itself the option to break its non-proliferation treaty obligations and weaponise its programme. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the nuclear deal assembled by the US, European nations, Russia and China was meant to guide Irans nuclear programme towards civilian ends with a package of economic and diplomatic incentives. In contrast to attacks on Iranian allies in Syria, Israel has kept mum about any role it may have had in any recent explosions, likely an attempt to avoid compelling an Iranian response. We have a long-term policy over the course of many administrations not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said Sunday. We take actions that are better left unsaid. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing a cabinet session in Tehran on Sunday (AFP/Getty) Defence minister Benny Gantz alluded to Irans long track record of industrial accidents. Not every incident that happens in Iran necessarily has something to do with us, he was quoted as saying. Irans atomic spokesman Mr Kamalvandi said that Iranian security officials would not disclose the cause of the blast due to security reasons. The Natanz facility was inaugurated in 2013 but had not been completely finished by the time Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear activities in 2015. Domestic and international dynamics may force Iran to respond in some way for the blast, even as it awaits November elections that could see Trump ousted and the resurrection of the nuclear deal under a Joe Biden presidency. If it was a cyberattack you would need something already inside that causes an explosion like this. If this was a missile factory or an explosives workshop sure. But a centrifuge assembly workshop? I dont think so Fabian Hinz, James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies Irans first suspect is Israel, said Ali Omidi, a professor of international relations at Irans University of Isfahan. Given that Israeli authorities did not publicly take responsibility for the Natanz incident, I think Iran will react with a cyber-attack. If Israeli authorities take responsibility, in my opinion, Iran will attack more openly. Pressure could be mounting for a response, despite counsel by JCPOA signatories eager to prevent armed conflict in the Middle East. An Iranian parliament dominated by noisy hardliners was recently sworn in and appears eager to make its mark and humiliate the pragmatist administration of President Hassan Rouhani. An Iranian official boasted on Sunday that the Revolutionary Guard had installed batteries of underground missiles aimed at the Persian Gulf. Theyre going to ramp up rhetoric against Israel and the Gulf countries, said Sanam Vakil, an Iran specialist at Chatham House. I dont think theyre going to want to demonstrate any weakness to the domestic constituency. Its going to be a rhetorical response unless there is very clear evidence implicating the Israelis or another government. The world may be distracted by the pandemic, but French voters have not forgotten the climate crisis. Local elections in France have seen an unprecedented green wave, prompting the president, Emmanuel Macron, to announce a new environmental programme. On 28 June, Frances Green Party and its left-wing allies made significant gains, taking major cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille. In Paris, the green-endorsed socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, known for her anti-pollution and pro-pedestrian agenda, was re-elected with a clear majority. Municipal elections in France are far more indicative of the political landscape than their equivalents in Britain. As a result, the green wave and the disappointing result for his own party, La Republique En Marche (LREM), have been a wake-up call for the French president. In response, Macron has promised 15bn over two years to fight climate change, and has accepted all but three of the 149 proposals published last week by the Citizens Commission for the Climate. The Commission, established in 2019 in response to the Gilets Jaunes protests, is composed of 150 randomly selected individuals from all walks of life. Recommendations include a carbon score for all products and a call for French citizens to reduce their meat and cheese consumption by 20 per cent. Macron has also declared himself open to holding two referenda on environmental issues in 2021: one on amending Article 1 of Frances constitution to introduce notions of biodiversity; of the environment; and the fight against global warming, and the other on criminalising ecocide. A petition to make ecocide a crime in Britain, by contrast, was shut down early in 2019 due to the general election, with only 22,000 signatures. Macrons 146-point plan to fight the climate crisis is a far greater commitment than anything Johnsons government has announced. It will certainly face challenges. Several of the recommendations, such as backing the creation of a European carbon tax, require cooperation at international level. The plans have also drawn criticism domestically; Macrons rejection of a 4 per cent tax on dividends of companies making more than 10m in annual profits is likely to cement his reputation as the president of the rich. In a telling YouGov poll, 58 per cent thought Macron was not sincere in his concern for the environment. Certainly, the timing of the announcement, coming days after his own partys dismal performance in the local elections, suggests political expediency rather than ideological commitment. But given that French voters are notoriously harsh on their leaders, perhaps it is unsurprising that the programme has drawn scepticism from a stony-hearted electorate. Boris Johnsons record on the climate emergency pales in comparison to Macrons. The prime ministers Rooseveltian New Deal has triggered an outcry from experts over the limited environmental content. When held up against the French presidents 146-point plan, the British governments regurgitation of an unfulfilled manifesto pledge to plant more trees, for example, fails to deliver. Johnsons actions are a long way from living up to his statement during the 2019 election campaign that there is nothing more conservative than protecting the environment. His build back greener rhetoric threatens to be empty bluster. As host of the COP26 UN climate summit, the government should demonstrate a greater commitment to combating the climate crisis. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty So what should Britain do? We must take note of this growing political movement as it gains traction across Europe. France provides ample political inspiration. In 2016, it became the first country in the world to legislate against food waste. Britain ought to do the same. The British government ought to establish its own citizens commission of randomly selected individuals to produce environmental recommendations in collaboration with experts. In Britain, lockdown has seen reduced pollution and the pedestrianisation of city centres. Where possible, this progress must be maintained. Across the Channel, we can only hope that Macrons new environmental zeal is sincere. But as Extinction Rebellion and the school strikes have shown us, climate activism is a global movement. The pandemic has claimed thousands of lives and, in time, so will the climate crisis. The 2019 European Parliament elections saw the birth of a green wave. In last weeks local elections, French voters showed the environment remains at the top of the agenda. What is Britain waiting for? Some of the cash seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in Co Longford on Monday.Picture supplied by An Garda Siochana. More than 10 cars, caravans, cash and designer handbags and shoes have been seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) during an investigation targeted criminal gangs. Sixteen properties were searched, including 12 residential premises, three commercial premises and one professional premises in Co Longford. The CAB investigation is focused on an organised criminal group based in Longford which is suspected to be involved in the sale and supply of drugs, intimidation and extortion of money. Expand Close A Mercedes seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (An Garda Siochana/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Mercedes seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (An Garda Siochana/PA) Among the items seized included 110,000 euro in cash, 14,000, as well as three caravans, 11 vehicles including a Mercedes, Skoda Kodiaq, Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger, Toyota Landcruiser and assorted light commercial vehicles Other items included three power washers, two Rolex and one Tag Heuer watch as well as designer handbags and footwear. Financial accounts with more than 80,000 euro were frozen under Section 17 of the Criminal Justice Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. Gardai said the criminal gang targeted in Mondays search operation is heavily involved in the ongoing feud in the Longford area and a number of members of the gang have been before the courts in relation to criminal incidents emanating from this feud. Expand Close Three caravans were seized (An Garda Siochana/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Three caravans were seized (An Garda Siochana/PA) Gardai also said that this gang has amassed a large property portfolio as a result of the proceeds of its involvement in criminal activity. Mondays search operation comes as a result of ongoing liaison between the CAB and local gardai in Longford. It also involved a large-scale multi-agency operation. A notice for arriving passengers regarding the Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport as a requirement for people arriving in Ireland from overseas to alert the authorities where they will be self isolating has come into effect (Brian Lawless/PA) Asking people travelling into Ireland from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days is not working, according to Professor Kingston Mills. He is the professor of experimental immunology and head of the Centre for the Study of Immunology at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute in Dublin. Any person travelling from abroad into Ireland is expected to self-quarantine or isolate for 14 days. That restriction was supposed to be lifted on Thursday of this week, but it is now expected to be extended until July 20 and then reviewed every two weeks thereafter. If you have symptoms of #COVID19, you should self-isolate to protect others. Find out how to take care of yourself at home and when to call a GP here: https://t.co/4tl1uvFPP0 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/cs9X80fHVS HSE Ireland (@HSELive) July 6, 2020 A green list of countries where it is safe to travel to and from without having to quarantine is not expected to be published until July 20. Prof Mills said Ireland has done well in suppressing the spread of coronavirus but allowing unrestricted travel into the country would unravel this. Were one of the countries with the lowest levels of the virus in Europe and were an island. We have a chance to do even better than we have done in terms of completely eliminating the virus and preventing any further surges of the virus, he told RTEs Morning Ireland. The idea of non-mandatory self isolation is not really working as I understand there are a significant amount of people not self-isolating or they are not being followed up. People are effectively ignoring the advice from Government not to travel because you only have to look at the number of flights going in and out of Dublin to see that. Expand Close People arriving in Ireland are expected to self-quarantine for 14 days (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People arriving in Ireland are expected to self-quarantine for 14 days (Brian Lawless/PA) Prof Mills said there are some European countries that may be safe to travel in and out from but he noted there are cities in the US where there are high numbers of cases. Theres flights coming into Ireland from places like Chicago where they have a significant number of cases. If you have unrestricted flights coming in and people are not self isolating when they get here, then you are asking for trouble in terms of the virus re-surging. Restrictions on international travel expected to be extended when the Cabinet meets on Monday. Camon everyone. Weave come too far to go back. Great to see our economy reopened & social life resuming but letas keep using our cop on & common sense. We owe it to each other, to those families who have lost loved ones, to the local business we want to keep open & to our kids https://t.co/zcoeWkETUg Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) July 5, 2020 Concerns over reported breaching of guidelines at some pubs in Dublin will also be voiced. One more person has died with Covid-19 in Ireland on Sunday. There has now been a total of 1,741 related deaths in the country, the National Public Health Emergency Team said. Generation of change: Younger people havent come through the industry. Older family firms want to exit, says Sean Moran of HPC Group Dozens of family-run hardware stores face likely closure or takeover as a crisis-driven industry shake-out favours larger chains, according to the president of the Hardware Association of Ireland. "It's a wider problem than the pandemic. Younger people haven't come through the industry. A lot of these family-run businesses are considerably older and would like to exit," said Sean Moran, who is also chief executive and majority shareholder of HPC Group, owner of several building merchant brands. He said about 200 of the country's 300 hardware stores and building merchants were family-owned firms that had toughed out the economic crisis a decade ago. He estimates that 20 to 40 could sell up or shut down in the near future. "They're now very weary having this Covid crisis landed on them when they're perhaps in their mid-to-late-60s and would like to get something for the business and get out. We do anticipate that some independents will not want to go through all this again." For larger players, this consolidation could mean growth in a sector with a half-dozen building merchants of scale. These include Grafton Group-owned Chadwicks, Limerick-based McMahons Builders Providers, Brooks Timber and Building Supplies, Northern Ireland-based Murdock Builders Merchants, DPL (Dublin Providers) and HPC, which is short for Home Project Centre. It employs 270 workers in 15 branches operating under a half-dozen brands, including the group's most recent February acquisition, Deeside Supplies in Ardee, Co Louth. Most operate under the TJ O'Mahony label alongside plumbing and heating specialist PH Ross, Commons Hardware, McCarthys Hardware and Wexford's C+D Providers. Sales in 2018 topped 70m, in 2019 80m - and were expected to top 90m before Covid hit. Mr Moran still expects to eke out a profit this year despite a feared 20pc drop in turnover. He forecasts a return to solid growth in 2021, potentially approaching 100m sales by 2022. HPC plans to open its 16th outlet in Naas, Co Kildare, in September - a move postponed on the eve of the Covid crisis. The group has only three stores in the west - two in Galway and a third in Tipperary - and wants to open at least two outlets in the midwest and southwest in the coming year. Mr Moran says HPC has enough cash and loan facilities for acquisitions as smaller, weakened firms face closure. "We expect a lot of opportunities for the larger companies to make those acquisitions," he said, adding: "You can't be reckless with decisions to open new stores or signing new leases or acquisitions." The Hardware Association represents 400 firms throughout the supply chain for building materials. It has published a report today appealing to the Government to revive and expand the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme closed in 2018. This provided tax credits for people hiring tradesmen for home improvements up to 30,000 - effectively getting the 13.5pc Vat charged for labour costs refunded. Mr Moran wants the Government to revive that policy and raise the cap to 50,000. "People will spend money if a scheme's there to claim some of it back." he said. "People like to get money off the Government." As businesses scramble to pick up the pieces, I spoke to more of the people fighting to protect Ireland's food and hospitality industry. THE FOOD BOX Jemmy McCann grew up with mushrooms, which his parents produced for the UK wholesale market for 30 years. They retired and in 2018 he started Ard Mhacha Mushrooms, on the home farm in Silverbridge, Co Armagh, specialising in Shitake and Oyster mushrooms, which have become the darlings of hot chefs around the country. Expand Close Jemmy McCann of Ard Mhacha Mushrooms, Co Armagh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jemmy McCann of Ard Mhacha Mushrooms, Co Armagh A site carpenter by trade, Jemmy always had a keen interest in growing speciality mushrooms. Working in Australia and England, he visited many farms where he first saw growers producing their own compost, and loved the idea of the grower being in control of their operation from start to finish. "My first customer was Conor Mee, of the Courthouse restaurant in Carrickmacross," he said. "My cropping was volatile at the time but he worked with me and told me I had something very special and I needed to keep going." In January 2019, he met Sean and Jayne Hussey, of Hussey's Farm. "I came home delighted that they bought all my mushrooms, and my father, Kevin, said, 'what the hell are we going to do next week, Jemmy?', as crop yields were still volatile." He was due to increase his growing operation as Covid-19 struck. The restaurant trade seized overnight and he thought that was it. "My sales direction had to be changed very fast as these mushrooms don't stop growing. Since March, the little 150g Shitake and 200g Grey Oyster retail boxes have come on the scene and done so well that I can't keep up with orders. I cannot thank the general public enough. They've got behind Irish producers during the pandemic and made all the work - seven days a week - worthwhile." @Mhacha_Shitake THE CRAFTER SMEs are the lifeblood of this country and they've been rocked to the core. Tara and Ed Hammond's Slated, which produces beautiful artisan tableware crafted by Ed in Dalkey, Co Dublin, is one of such SME massively affected by the devastation of Covid-19. I first came across Tara 10 years ago during the last recession, and, oh boy, is she a fighter. "Slated kickstarted 2020 with plastic-free packaging - we thought that was our toughest challenge of 2020," she said. "How wrong we were." Expand Close Tara Hammond at Slated, Dalkey / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tara Hammond at Slated, Dalkey Having started in a recession, they were all too aware of how lean times can be. "Overheads needed to be lowered, cashflow watched like a hawk. Ten years of hard work had got us to the fortunate position where we had numerous revenue streams - restaurants, stockists, corporate clients and direct customers. Watching our customers close was devastating, long-standing relationships made it feel so personal. Suddenly we were left with just our online sales. We took two weeks to reassess and to try and formulate a plan for the foreseeable future. It will be a steep learning curve for us, and we won't learn it all but we will try our hardest." Slated's personalised carved cheese boards have become bestsellers as gifts. "Every order we receive reminds us how amazing Irish people are at supporting small, independent businesses, and every order means the world to us. If Ireland minds Ireland and thinks local, we should all make it out the other side." slated.ie THE RESTAURANT Restaurateur Anthony Gray was used to the adrenaline rush of running his two popular restaurants, Eala Bhan and Hooked in the heart of Sligo town, jumping between both as he expertly kept the plates spinning, but everything changed for him when the lockdown came into effect. Expand Close Anthony Gray at Hooked, Sligo / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anthony Gray at Hooked, Sligo "On March 16, I closed both of my restaurants, not knowing what was in store." he says. "But slowly I came to terms with this hateful virus and the effect it was having on my life, along with the fear for my family, myself, my staff and businesses. One of my colleagues suggested I do a cookery video online. It was great fun, and to be stopped on the street and asked when the next one was coming out gave me a great lift." Anthony then opened Hooked for takeaways, and reopened it last week, but is still doing takeaways for those who want to eat at home. "There will be hurdles but it's how we get over these that will lead to our success," he says, "so bring it on." If businesses in this country are to survive, they'll need support, Anthony says. "We've missed the entire summer and come October to March things are going to get serious. In rural Ireland, sometimes all you see in these months are seagulls. We are passionate people who create jobs and support local economies and the government must realise this and understand that we're at our lowest - 0pc VAT to start is a must. There's an old saying which I love, 'A rising tide lifts all boats'." hookedsligo.ie THE HOTEL Set on 1,000 acres, dotted with woodland and beautiful lake views, the Castle Leslie Estate at Glaslough in Co Monaghan is among the most extraordinary places to stay in Ireland. With gorgeous interiors, great food and spa facilities as well, a visit here is memorable. The Leslie family has been in residence since the 1660s, and as they prepare to reopen tomorrow, Samantha Leslie told me how they've been coping with the current crisis. Expand Close Samantha Leslie at Castle Leslie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Samantha Leslie at Castle Leslie "We've worked hard to stay connected to our customers via email, social media, and online marketing, offering gift vouchers at a discounted rate, and on Mother's Day, we opened a drive-through tea service, which proved so popular that we developed a whole new drive-through food offering with everything from brunch and afternoon tea to date-night dinners and even a Sunday roast. I laughed when I saw on Facebook, a customer calling it the 'McLeslie Drive Thru'." Now, with restrictions lifting, they're preparing to open their gates again. "With 1,000 acres, we have lots of lush space with guaranteed social distance. We're also launching our summer houses; three beautiful wooden buildings set down by Glaslough Lake that can be hired privately for al fresco dining. We're taking it one step at a time, so that we can continue to plan a successful future and ensure a safe environment for our team and our guests." Castle Leslie is also offering some great new package offers for overnight stays. castleleslie.com Lucinda's noticeboard "It's easier to be faithful to a restaurant than it is to a woman." Federico Fellini Adare has the new Cafe Logr opening this month by David Hayes, a former head chef at the Dunraven Arms. Finns' Table in Kinsale is re-launching on Thursday next as Finns' Farmcut with mighty fine steaks. Global Village in Dingle will not reopen this summer but will be offering street food from its new collection window opening on to Curran's Pub yard. So, Curran's drinks and Martin Bealin's fab food. Sounds brill... globalvillagedingle.com Rage in Blackrock has a takeaway menu and a Cook at Home range of prepped dishes to stick in the oven. ragerestaurant.ie RICE on South Richmond Street, the long-awaited newbie to Press Up's 40-plus hospitality venues, is trading as a takeaway only. ricechinese.ie The Lodge at Ashford Castle has a one-night B&B Dining Experience for two people sharing, with a three-course meal, from 229 per night. thelodgeac.com 3 Leaves in Blackrock has set up a new portal for ordering its fab Indian food to go. 3leaves.ie Tell Lucinda how you're fighting back: info@lucindaosullivan.com Twitter/Instagram @lucindasireland #FoodiesFightBack Let's have a minister for each county. Who wouldn't want to be the minister for Dublin, or Laois or Mayo? The 17 junior ministers, plus the 15 Cabinet ministers mandated by Section 28 of the Constitution, plus the two super juniors already appointed, adds up to 34 ministerial positions - more than enough for everyone in the audience. Why, with a little tweaking we could even have one minister for each of our 39 constituencies. Would having a Cabinet based on the regions, counties or constituencies really make any part of Ireland more prosperous? We may be using the wrong approach. The issue may be less 'one-for-everyone-in-the audience' than a problem of trying to have 'one-size-fits-all' policies and governance that tries to suit all of Ireland. Calls for a better regional spread of ministers falls into the trap of mistaking representation for legislation. It is the specific job of a TD to represent the views of each place - not a minister. What would happen to the role of the 'ordinary' TD when there is also a minister in almost every constituency? This smacks of populism at its worst. It seeks to bypass the Constitution; diminishes the role of the TD and dilutes governmental accountability. It is a bad idea, notwithstanding the reality that all Cabinets should have a regional balance, of which more later. The chopping and changing of departments to meet political needs is also a bad idea because of the damage it does to the structure, staffing and operation of central government. There is nothing wrong with being open to change in pursuit of continuous improvement, but this is not happening in Ireland. Here, such change happens increasingly for political expediency. This practice must be stopped but the people most affected - the civil servants - cannot speak out publicly about the havoc wrought. Returning to the topic of 'Cromwell's Cabinet', much of the indignation is about the lack of representation. The complaints are framed by using the phrase 'the west of Ireland', as if this is an area that has special entitlements. Too often this formulation is used to make the case for perceived imbalances - some even claiming that the country is divided into 'Dublin and the rest'. This is false, misleading and highly damaging to policy formulation. It is false because 'rural Ireland' is complex, made up of different places with different issues and opportunities. There are at least four rural Irelands: west coast, east midlands, north and south midlands. Within these there are remote areas, areas around towns and the rural towns themselves. Each of these, in turn, have different roles, prospects and needs. It is critical to have fine-tuned policies and governance to deal with this diversity. Populists who try to wrap all this complexity in the handy crowd-pleasing banner of 'rural Ireland' do no favours to those that they seek to rouse or represent. Two problems arise from generalisations about rural Ireland. The first is the emergence of 'one-size-fits-all' policies for rural areas, which inevitably fit no place well. The second, bigger problem, is that this debate acts like a smokescreen that blinds us to the continuing disgrace of Ireland's excessively centralised system of governance. The effects on regions of poor policies are the symptoms of centralisation, not of any lack of attention that would be rectified by Cabinet representation. If we want to deal effectively with the misfits between policies and plans for rural areas, then we need to deal with the causes, not the symptoms. Countries that take too much control to the centre can never give enough attention to the detailed needs of each different place. Having more representatives of each region at the centre - as junior or senior ministers - will not solve this problem. In fact, it only makes it worse, by causing a further increase in the size of central government that struggles to deal with more specific regional issues. Equally important this does away with the micro-management of local implementation by officials who know little about local issues or sensitivities. The solution to better regional prosperity, recognised all over the world, is to transfer as much power as possible, as close as possible to the place where the decisions have effect. It is called 'devolution' and it involves giving powers to plan, spend and tax to local politically accountable bodies. Do not be fooled by the blandishment of 'decentralisation' as a substitute for devolution. It is merely an exercise in musical chairs about where service offices are located that makes no difference to policies or services. In Ireland we have the beginnings of this system appearing with our three regional assemblies. These need to be dramatically strengthened and politicised, but they are a very good start. Indeed there might even be a case for having a minister for each of these regions at Cabinet - with each region in turn having a Cabinet of the region's TDs, mirroring the functions of central government as a training ground before progressing to a national Cabinet. This would give permanent and structural representation of the type sought. In proper systems the central government makes strategic decisions and national budgets - after which the regional government is in charge of implementation and fine-tuning to meet local need. This might even allow the opportunity to have a smaller Cabinet in charge of unchanging, stable Government departments - no junior ministers. These changes, in turn, would provide a secure and workable structure for elected mayors that are a recognised pre-requisite for regional prosperity, such as Spain's autonomous regions. In all of this we need to make the Cabinet smaller and the number of ministers and departments fewer. Evidence suggests that the ideal size of a board is seven and that effectiveness declines with each additional member. The framers of our Constitution were correct when they specified that the Cabinet should be no smaller than seven and no bigger than 15. We need to listen to concerns about any lack of regional representation, but the solution is not to make matters worse by having more junior ministers. If people really want to vote for change, they should vote to change governance, not governments. Fianna Fail has become embroiled in controversy just a week after entering government, with two of the party's most senior politicians forced to issue public apologies. Embattled Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen is under pressure to give a detailed account of the night he was stopped by gardai for drink-driving. Read More He will address the Dail tomorrow evening on his drink driving ban and his failure to acquire a full drivers licence until he was 49 years old. Mr Cowen sought permission from Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail to make a personal statement in the Dail after committing to do so during an interview on RTE. The move comes after the Irish Independent revealed the Offaly TD was banned from driving for three months for drink driving Yesterday, he committed to addressing the controversy in a Dail statement. But last night, in response to queries about his licence, Mr Cowen would say only that he sat a test and received his full permit after his driving ban. There are also questions emerging over who in Fianna Fail knew about the ban, with senior party figures admitting they had heard "rumours". Meanwhile, Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher has caused embarrassment for Taoiseach Micheal Martin after it was revealed he ignored quarantine rules so he could attend the vote for the Taoiseach. Mr Kelleher ignored HSE guidelines requiring people arriving in Ireland to self-isolate for two weeks when he flew in on Friday, June 26. Instead of quarantining, the Cork MEP attended a Dail sitting the next day in the National Convention Centre before travelling to Leinster House to mingle with colleagues. He then travelled to Cork and returned to Dublin the following day and flew back to Brussels. In a statement, Mr Kelleher said he made an "error of judgment" and apologised "unreservedly". Meanwhile, speaking publicly for the first time since the Irish Independent revealed his driving ban, Mr Cowen said he was "humiliated" by his own actions and added he was "no example" to his own children. "It was a serious lapse of judgment and I wasn't raised that way," he added. The Offaly TD, who is former taoiseach Brian Cowen's brother, said if any good was to arise from his drink-driving ban, it would be that others would think twice about getting behind the wheel of their car while over the limit. I was fortunate in that there was nobody hurt, injured or maimed or killed, thankfully, but thats not to say that will be the case in any other instance of a similar nature, he added. Speaking on RTEs The Week in Politics, Mr Cowen said of course he drove his car unaccompanied while on a learner permit but says he has since acquired a full licence. Mr Cowen said he should have told Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin about the incident but naively decided against informing the Taoiseach. Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore said Mr Cowen should address the Dail on his driving ban and the new minister said he would do so. Rise TD Paul Murphy said it was bizarre that a TD could reach 49 years of age without acquiring a driving licence. Mr Murphy told the Irish Independent Mr Cowen still had some explaining to do and insisted the Dail should take the minister up on his offer to address the controversy. Just how it was that he was 49 years old and presumably driving on a daily basis, back and forth to the Dail and elsewhere, without a full licence, he said. If he was driving unaccompanied during this period surely theres questions also he should answer there. Yesterday, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he accepted Mr Cowens explanation. He has acknowledged that it was wrong, the courts have applied the appropriate fine and bans, he has apologised to his colleagues and thats something I accept and maybe there is a lesson for us all to learn, he said. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar spoke to Taoiseach Micheal Martin about the incident and also accepted Mr Cowens explanation. Meanwhile, Cavan/Monaghan TD Niamh Smyth was also forced to defend taking her mother to the Convention Centre for the Dail sitting when Mr Martin did not take his family. Ms Smyth said she was an essential worker who worked for 14 hours a day and was concerned about becoming tired while driving. The increased reliance on online shopping which Irish people built up throughout the Covid-19 crisis is likely to be here to stay for some time. Although high-street shops have reopened, there are still plenty of people who are nervous about returning to them in the wake of the pandemic. There are others who simply don't want the inconvenience of queues and social distancing. Online shopping is not without its mishaps and dangers however, and it is therefore crucial that you understand what rights you can fall back on when things go wrong. Here are six things you should know about your entitlements when shopping online. You could have up to a year to change your mind about buying something When you buy something online, you usually have the right to change your mind, cancel your order and get your money back - as long as you do so within 14 days (known as the cooling-off period) of receiving the order. You can cancel for any reason. An online trader must inform you of this right when you buy something. Otherwise, the cooling-off period is extended to 12 months from the date it would have expired if the information had been initially provided. If the trader provides the information within this 12-month period, the cooling-off period expires within 14 days of you receiving the information. There are a number of occasions when you are not entitled to the 14-day cooling-off period -including on the purchase of plane tickets, package travel, car rental and customised products. Bear in mind too that you must be dealing with a trader from the EU, Norway, Iceland or the UK to be entitled to the 14-day cooling-off period. You can return something if it looks different on delivery than it did online Let's say you ordered a coat by a well-known and reputable brand online - only to find that the coat delivered is a misshapen imitation brand. As long as you ordered that coat from an EU-based website, you have the right to return that coat and get your money back. "You are entitled to a very clear description of the goods online," said Dr Cyril Sullivan, director of European Consumer Centre (ECC) Ireland. "You have the right to return your goods if the items are not as described [online] - or if the quality is not what you expected. However, you don't have those rights if you bought the item from China or the US - or another country outside the EU [apart from Norway, Iceland or the UK]. A non-EU trader may still take care of you to ensure your continuity of custom - but your legal entitlements may be diminished, so when buying online be very aware of where the trader resides." Under EU law, you should be provided with the online shop's full contact details - including the trader's address and telephone number. Avoid buying online if you can't find these details as it may mean that the retailer is not based in the EU - and if this is the case, you might not have any recourse if things go wrong. Do not assume a trader is based in the country indicated by its web address (such as .ie for Ireland). You can refuse to pay a follow-up bill which hadn't been flagged upfront Let's say you order something from an online retailer, pay the full price of the item based on what you are notified at that stage, and you later receive a second invoice in the post requesting a separate payment for Value Added Tax (VAT) or delivery. This is against EU law and so you shouldn't have to pay that extra charge (as long as you are dealing with an EU trader). "The retailer should have told you about any delivery charges or taxes upfront [when you initially ordered]," said Sullivan. "The retailer can't surprise you - or charge you more for something after you've paid for it. You have to be told the full price of something at the outset." So when you initially order something online, you should be told of any VAT or delivery charges that apply before you pay for that item online (as long as you're covered by EU law). ECC Ireland recently received a complaint from a consumer who had bought an item online from a UK retailer - only to receive a separate invoice for VAT after paying for the product. "The trader had assumed the consumer was a business and so no VAT was applied [to the initial price charged]," said Sullivan. "The trader subsequently discovered the person wasn't a business and sent a second invoice for VAT. Even though the VAT charge was correct, as the trader had not told the consumer about it upfront [when the item was first ordered and paid for], the company was not allowed to charge it." It's not up to the courier to rectify a breakage, even if he dropped your order One of the biggest issues which consumers ran into with online shopping over the Covid-19 lockdown arose after items delivered were broken, according to Sullivan. "Even if the item you ordered online is broken because the courier dropped it while delivering it, your rights [under EU law] are very clear here - the responsibility is on the trader to deliver the item in good order," said Sullivan. "So if an item arrives broken, tell the trader immediately - and you should be refunded for it." You are however liable for the diminished value of the goods if you handled them in a way which either broke or damaged them. You shouldn't be waiting longer than 30 days for delivery Many people faced long delays for delivery of online orders during the coronavirus crisis - and while these delays may be easing now, delivery of some items could still take longer than before the pandemic. "Under EU regulations, a trader is obliged to deliver an item to you within 30 days - so regardless of whether or not the courier is at fault [for a delayed or non-delivery], the responsibility is on the trader to deliver on time," said Sullivan. "The only way that right is diminished is if you asked the trader to allow you to arrange your own delivery of the item." Furthermore, if the retailer agreed to deliver the goods within a certain time (that is much shorter than 30 days), it should meet that deadline. If the trader has not delivered the goods within the time agreed, you can re-request delivery within an extra period of time appropriate to the circumstances. Keep proof this has been done. If the trader still has not delivered the goods within that additional time, you have the right to end the contract and get a refund. The product you buy should be safe One of the biggest risks you face when buying online is that the product may not meet EU safety standards - and could therefore be dangerous. "Our network [of consumer groups] has found many outright dangerous products sold online," said Monique Goyens, director general with the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). Earlier this year, six consumer groups from the BEUC network tested 250 electrical goods, toys, cosmetics and other products bought from online marketplaces. "Two-thirds of the 250 products failed safety tests," said Goyens. "This included smoke and carbon monoxide alarms which did not detect smoke or carbon monoxide." The tests found some toys were 200 times over the legal limit for chemicals. "Online marketplaces are very popular with consumers - perhaps even more so due to Covid-19," said Goyens. "The crucial thing to beware of is that a product will often be sold through these marketplaces by third-party traders. These traders may be based outside Europe and therefore do not necessarily respect European standards - that is the main difficulty people might, unwittingly, face." To reduce the risk of buying an unsafe product, consumers should check sellers' details for strange business names or lack of contact details. "People should also avoid unbranded products, products from unknown brands, or those that simply appear too cheap to be true," said Goyens. "This is especially the case for electronic products, such as chargers - as they have been shown to spontaneously catch fire and could create huge damage." Always check something you buy has a genuine CE mark. Businesses are required by law to ensure the products they sell conform to EU and Irish safety regulations and standards. As always, buyer beware. High street rights Returning item to shop after lockdown Let us say you bought a dress in a high street store just before lockdown. You only tried it on when you got home and it didn't fit. Due to lockdown, you haven't been able to return it to the shop until now. But is it too late to do so? "Check the details of the shop's returns policy - and the timeframe that applies," said a spokeswoman for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). "Under consumer law, items bought in store can only be returned if they are faulty. Some businesses however offer exchanges or refunds if consumers change their mind. This is considered a goodwill gesture by the shop - but it is not a legal requirement. Businesses also tend to have a time limit on this - for example, you may have to return items within 28 days. If the retailer doesn't accept returns which are not faulty, or if you are outside the timeframe for returning it, ask the shop if it would be willing to adapt its policy due to the exceptional circumstances arising from Covid-19 - as a goodwill gesture. If the shop will not offer a refund, you can ask if it could facilitate either a credit note or an exchange. However, there is no obligation on the shop to facilitate any of these requests." Paying via apps Let us say you downloaded an app which allows you to pay for a meal through your smartphone - without using a card machine. You're wondering if it's safe to pay for meals in this way. "Scammers often use a card-reading device and decoding software to steal credit and debit card details - and then use these details to pay for items online," said the CCPC. "With contactless technology, they only need to have the device close to your card, so it is possible for them to intercept your details while your cards are in your pocket or bag. To buy items online, the three digit CVV security code on the back of the card is generally needed along with the cardholder's name, but this is not always the case and some items can be bought without these. "So when using any contactless payment facility - whether it be through a shopping app on your smartphone or with your debit or credit card, it's important to be careful to secure your personal details and to avoid falling foul of potential scammers." Click & Collect When using 'click and collect' services, you have the same rights and protections that you typically would have when shopping online - including the right to cancel within 14 days. Certain items are excluded from this cooling-off period however. "These include perishable goods (such as food), items that have been unsealed or which cannot be returned for hygiene reasons (such as underwear or cosmetics) and custom-made goods," said the CCPC. THE government has finally launched the contact tracing app into app stores. Heres an idiots guide on what it is, how it works and what it will and wont do. It alerts you if someone you were in close proximity to over the last 14 days tested positive for Covid-19. The app uses the phone to send out signals, which are acknowledged by other phones (which have the app) and stored for two weeks. If you test positive for Covid-19, you enter that detail into the app and it automatically pings any other phones that were close to you for a minimum period of time (enough time to be considered a risk for transfer of the virus). So now theyll know that some unidentified person they were in close contact with recently just tested positive for Covid-19. Then what? Then its up to them to go get a test. Does it cost anything? No. If I use it to report my positive coronavirus test, will it say who I am? No. You may want to separately engage with the HSE as part of a more manual contact-tracing process, but the app wont be unveiling you. Are we sure about that? Everyone swears it is so. Indeed, this has been one of the big delaying factors; the first version of the app was ditched for this reason. The new version is built on technology form Apple and Google that doesnt let the government or the HSE identify the user. For example, the app is disabled from collecting any location data. You have to give it permission to do anything and you can withdraw that permission at several stages. Sorry, but I just dont trust these smartphone apps. Is there any way at all it might sneakily collect some extra data about me? Will I start seeing some weird new ads? Apple and Google swear blind that this will not happen. Apple, in particular, stakes a lot of its reputation on not collecting ad information. The rest of your phone is way more likely to be collecting data on you than this app. What kind do phone does it work on? Any modern iPhone or Android smartphone. There are some very old smartphones, typically over six year old, that it wont work on. It also wont work on feature phones like old Nokias. Will it use up battery more quickly? A little bit, yes. Apple and Google have been at pains to say that theyve tried to minimise this effect. But the fact is that it will be working away in the background non-stop, even when your phone is locked. Is this being made mandatory? No. Its totally voluntary. Although there are some questions about whether private companies HR departments might ask, or even require, employees to download it as a precautionary measure. Is it technically reliable? TCD experts say its not flawless at making connections, especially in shops and buses. On the other hand, if you do get an alert warning that someone recently, its very likely that you were in proximity at some point to a person with Covid-19. Will it work to help stop the spread of Covid-19? If lots of people download it, it probably will. By lots, experts generally say it needs a minimum of around 20pc adoption to have any positive impact at all. One Oxford professor suggested it would need 60pc takeup to be really effective. For a variety of reasons, it looks unlikely to reach this level of adoption. What reasons are they? Some people wont bother. Others arent allowed (if theyre under 16) or their phones are too old. Some might worry about the impact on battery life. And there remain a small number who say theyre still opposed to downloading it for privacy reasons, despite assurances. Those all add up. Will it work with the contact tracing app in the North? We hope so, though we wont know for sure until that app is launched. Where can I get it? Go into Apples App Store or Googles Play Store and search for HSE contact tracing app. The government says that it will be available from tomorrow, but you may need to check back a few times. The British government could order the wholesale replacement of Huawei equipment powering its 5G phone networks just months after authorising telecom providers to use the Chinese firm as a major supplier. Ireland's three mobile mast operators - Vodafone, Three and Eir - all use gear from rival Swedish supplier Ericsson in their core 5G networks being rolled out nationwide. Eir, alone among the three, does use Huawei gear for non-core radio elements of its infrastructure. Chief executive Carolan Lennon has defended using Huawei equipment, describing the Chinese firm as providers of "really top-quality kit". The UK's 'Sunday Telegraph' reported yesterday that British officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei equipment within six months - and to remove equipment already installed in mast networks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government in January cleared Huawei to supply equipment for the UK's 5G networks, arguing the country needed diversity in supply. The US administration has accused Huawei - a global leader in 5G technology - of supporting Chinese state spying. US President Donald Trump has publicly criticised Britain's stance. Last week, UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said US sanctions on Huawei introduced in May were "designed to make 5G designed by Huawei very hard to do". The 'Sunday Telegraph' said Huawei now faces a UK ban within months, citing an intelligence report due to be presented to Mr Johnson this week. Britain's health secretary, Matt Hancock, said yesterday that awarding Huawei a share of 5G business came with "conditions that had to be met". "I'm sure that the National Security Council will look at those conditions and make the right decision on this to ensure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure and everyone can get a phone signal - but also that it is secure," he said. The 'Sunday Telegraph' said that a report from the UK National Cybersecurity Centre had concluded that US sanctions mean Huawei will have to use untrustworthy technology as it is barred from relying on American intellectual property. Additional reporting: Reuters The Waterford-based company develops virtual reality (VR) training and education products that make it easier to collaborate on tasks remotely, create content and learn Waterford based VR Education has appointed HTC executive Praveen Gupta to its board of directors, effective immediately. VR Education develops virtual reality (VR) training and education products that make it easier to collaborate on tasks remotely, create content and learn. The appointment comes after HTC earlier this year invested 3m in the company for a 20pc stake in the business. HTC can have a presence on the board of VR Education as long as its stake remains above 10pc. The deal with HTC includes a strategic partnership for the distribution and licence of VR Education's 'Engage' platform globally. Mr Gupta is currently vice president, corporate investment & development at HTC, based in San Francisco, in addition to positions held on the boards of five Cloud and VR-focused companies. He has particular skills in business development, strategic investment and advisory, and M&A activities, according to a statement from VR Education. During this career Mr Gupta (61) has held positions at a range of large and high-profile technology companies across America and Asia, most recently as vice president, corporate business development at SK Telecom Americas, part of the leading mobile carrier in South Korea. He has also held a number of strategic advisory and business consultancy roles. Richard Cooper, chairman of VR Education, said: "I am delighted to welcome Praveen to the board following HTC's investment and strategic partnership. The board looks forward to working with him and I am confident that the group will benefit from Praveen's considerable experience." In 2018 VR Education raised 6m (6.7m) when it listed on the London and Irish stock exchanges. From a 2,997-point rout in the Dow to two 9pc single-day rallies in the S&P 500, the 2020 stock market has served up a raft of tantalising sessions for would-be market timers. Hours came and went in which whole years could be made or lost. But for all the dizzying turbulence, it's worth noting the S&P 500 is nearly flat for anyone who sat tight and held through the chaos. Mistakes stand out in an environment like that - the back-breaking costs of even a few wrong moves in a market as turbulent as this one. Maybe volatility is the time for active managers to shine, but the downside of getting it wrong has rarely been greater. One stark statistic highlighting the risk focuses on the penalty an investor incurs by sitting out the biggest single-day gains. Without the best five, for instance, a tepid 2020 becomes a horrendous one: a loss of 30pc. The exercise highlights the danger of trying to call the market's peak, something investors are feeling tempted to do now with the S&P 500 hitting a wall at the 3,200 level, coronavirus infections rising and the worst earnings season in a decade about to kick off. In a recent survey conducted by Citigroup, more than two-thirds of investors see a 20pc decline in the market as more likely than a gain of a similar amount. "We want to be tactical," said Yana Barton, a fund manager at Eaton Vance Management. "But the problem is, it's easy to get out and you don't know when to get back in." However prudent it sounds, the cost of bearishness is exemplified by the hedge fund crowd, whose reluctance to embrace equity gains is one reason they've lagged behind the market. In perhaps the most famous case to date, legendary investor Stan Druckenmiller told television interviewers he was "far too cautious" and had made "all of 3pc in the 40pc rally". Broadly, hedge funds that focus on equities were down 6.3pc in the first half, according to data from Hedge Fund Research. That compared with a total decline of 3.1pc in the S&P 500. Still, the urge to take the money and run is understandable after the S&P 500 has rallied 40pc from its March bottom, a pace of gains that eclipses any in nine decades. Profits are estimated to have plunged 44pc in the second quarter, billions of dollars in buybacks are shelved and the stay-at-home trade is back in vogue. But economic data from housing to employment is improving, retail investors are warming up to stocks, and the Federal Reserve pledges indefinite support. With the number of 2pc days piling up for the S&P 500 at a pace not seen in decades, the halfway point of 2020 might look like a great time to pack it up and go home. Looking back, on the other hand, one had to have perfect prescience to have made a timing strategy work any time up to now. The benchmark dropped more than 5pc on five sessions, four of which occurred in March. The same month also accounted for four of the five biggest gains, totalling more than 900 points. "There were no flashing signals that those were the days that were going to see huge upside," said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. "If you look back, they are unexpected. We get some of the biggest rallies on those unexpected days and so if you're timing the market and you're out of them, you've missed out on all of the rally really." Sell high and buy low. It's Investing 101. But an ill-timed decision to do either can open the door to career-threatening pain. Getting out at the top may seem like the way to maximise returns. But over the past century, the S&P 500 had suffered 13 bear markets before this year, with all of them seeing losses fully recovered and the index eventually exceeding its prior peak by an average 68pc. "People are always hopeful that they can time the market, and most people try and time the market based on emotion rather than logic," said Olivia Engel, chief investment officer of the active quantitative equity team at State Street Global Advisors. "From a couple of decades of investing, I would say that timing the market is just really hard - and if it was easy, we'd all be very rich." As hard as it is, that hasn't stopped investors from trying. Bears, in particular, haven't given up on their calls for the S&P 500 to crash, potentially revisiting its March low. If history is any guide, that scenario may not play out when stocks have gone this far in a rebound. During the eight market cycles since WWII, only once did the S&P 500 come within 5pc of its bear market trough after three months had passed, as is the case now, according to a study by BMO Capital Markets. "You can't buy it one day and sell it the next and think you can outfox the market. You can't do that," said Gary Bradshaw, a portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas. "The way you make money in the market is you buy good companies and you hold on." Bloomberg Jess Wright says she cant wait to tie the knot next year. The former Towie star, 34, will marry businessman William Lee-Kemp in Majorca in June. Were very excited, she told Hello!, adding: Ive been dreaming of a fairy tale wedding since I was little, when I used to dress up in my mums net curtains. Now I cant wait for the moment Ive been imagining for so long, walking up the aisle in a fabulous dress to marry Will. She said her Towie co-star brother Mark Wright had set her up with Lee-Kemp after she had given up on finding someone special. Expand Close Jess Wright and William Lee-Kemp (Hello! magazine) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jess Wright and William Lee-Kemp (Hello! magazine) After kissing a lot of frogs, I reached 32 and thought, its not going to happen. I felt lonely and sad and was panicking about my body clock. Mark was encouraging. He told me, someone with a heart like yours will never be alone. Wright said her fiances romantic proposal in the French ski resort of Courchevel in February took her by complete surprise. The door was ajar and there was music playing. There were candles lining the hallway, red rose petals scattered across the floor, flowers, red heart-shaped balloons and two glasses of champagne waiting. I was stunned. Then Will called me out on to the balcony. With the snowy mountains behind him, he went down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was crying with excitement and Will was in tears too. It was a perfect, magical moment. The full interview is in Hello! magazine, out now. Ennio Morricone performs at Palais Omnisports de Bercy on February 4, 2014 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Wolff - Patrick/Redferns via Getty Images) Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose haunting scores to Spaghetti Westerns like "A Fistful of Dollars" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" helped define a cinematic era, has died Italian news agency ANSA said on Monday. He was 91. Ansa said Morricone had broken his femur some days ago and died during the night in a clinic in Rome. Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone wrote scores for some 400 films but his name was most closely linked with the director Sergio Leone with whom he worked on the now-classic Spaghetti Westerns as well as "Once Upon a Time in America". Read More ANSA said Morricone, who won two Oscars and dozens of others awards including Golden Globes, Grammys and BAFTAs, broke his femur some days ago and died during the night in a clinic in Rome. Morricone worked in almost all film genres from horror to comedy and some of his melodies are perhaps more famous than the films he wrote them for. His last Oscar was in 2016 for best original score for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight". He first declined the job, but then relented, demanding that Tarantino allow him a "total break with the style of Western films I wrote 50 years ago". Morricone wrote for hundreds of films, television programmes, popular songs and orchestras, but it was his friendship with Italian director Sergio Leone that brought him fame, with scores for Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood in the 1960s. They include the so-called "Dollars Trilogy" - "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More," and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Morricone used unconventional instruments such as the Jew's harp, amplified harmonica, mariachi trumpets, cor anglais and the ocarina - an ancient Chinese instrument shaped like an egg. The music was accompanied by real sounds such as whistling, cracking of whips, gunshots and sounds inspired by wild animals including coyotes. He always tried to shake off the association with the Spaghetti Westerns, reminding people, particularly outside Italy, that he had a very creative and productive life before and after the films he made with Leone. STRAIT-JACKET "It's a strait-jacket. I just don't understand how, after all the films I have done, people keep thinking about 'A Fistful of Dollars'. People are stuck back in time, 30 years ago," the Maestro, as he was known in Italy, told Reuters in 2007. "My production for Westerns is maybe 7-1/2 or 8 percent of what I have done overall." One of Morricone's most evocative soundtracks was for the 1986 film "The Mission," by Roland Joffe, for which he was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. To accompany the story of the Jesuit missions in 18th century South America, Morricone used European style liturgical chorales and native drums to convey the mix of the old and new worlds. Another non-Western classic was Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America", in 1984, which told the story of poor Jewish children in New York who grow up to become Prohibition-era mobsters. In Italy, Morricone developed a close friendship with director Giuseppe Tornatore, whose "Cinema Paradiso" won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1989. Morricone also composed for Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables", Barry Levinson's "Bugsy", and Margarethe von Trotta's "The Long Silence". PRECOCIOUS TALENT Born in Rome in 1928 while Italy was headed by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Morricone learned music from his father, a trumpeter in small orchestras. He entered Rome's conservatory at the age of 12, studying trumpet, choral music and composition, and later was chosen to join the orchestra of the prestigious Academy of Santa Cecilia. He first wrote music for theatre and radio programmes and later was a studio arranger for record labels, working with some of Italy's best-known pop stars of the 1950s and 1960s. He ghost-composed several film scores before he received his first credit for a feature film for Luciano Salce's "Il Federale" in 1961. His success with director Leone, a former schoolmate, made him one of the most desired composers for the screen, with directors around the world beating a path to his door: John Huston, John Boorman, Terrence Malick, Bernardo Bertolucci, Barry Levinson, Warren Beatty, Oliver Stone, Barry Levinson, Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli. Morricone said his one big regret was never having worked with Stanley Kubrick. "He did call me to do the score for 'A Clockwork Orange' and I said 'yes'. He did not want to come to Rome, he did not like flying. And then he called (Sergio) Leone, who told him I was busy working with him. He never called again," he said. One of few Italians to have become a Hollywood legend without living there, Morricone said a studio had once offered him a luxurious villa in California, but he turned it down. "All my friends are here, as well as plenty of directors who love me and appreciate my work," he said. "Rome is my home." Morricone married Maria Travia in 1956. They had four children, three sons and a daughter. Despite this years festival being called off, RTE is hoping that a one-off Rose of Tralee special can give fans of the pageant their annual fix. The loss of the nations 'guilty pleasure' has left a 10 million gap in the Kingdoms coffers as well as a big gap in RTEs schedule. For the first time in 61 years, the two-day television spectacle, hosted by Daithi O Se, has been shelved due to the Covid-19 crisis. Read More With a gap in the TV schedule and bitter disappointment among die-hard Rose of Tralee fans, there will now be a special that is being billed as, more than just a greatest-hits package. "The Rose of Tralee is part of Irish culture and while people love to giveout about it, you just know theyre watching it, one insider said. It is kind of like our own Irish Eurovision. We did look at doing a remote pageant but it just wasnt viable and it wouldnt have done the show justice. A special will go out in August and will hopefully give people their annual Rose of Tralee fix. "We will be raiding the archives to get some footage that will bring back some fond memories fora lot of loyal viewers. Of course, Daithi is now part-and-parcel of the Rose fabric so it would be inconceivable to have this show without him playing a big part as well. With 61 years of archive footage to choose from, if anything, the problem for executives compiling the programme will be what to leave out rather than what to put in. Undoubtedly 2014 Rose winner and now MEP Maria Walsh is certain to be front and centre, as will be the iconic moment Dublin Rose Siobheal NicEochaidh performed her hip-hop dance routine. 653,500 people saw SineadFlanagan win last year, with 1.43 million watching the Rose of Tralee finals. The show proved to be popular globally, with over 110,000 streams reaching 85 countries, including Botswana, Kyrgyzstan, Burundi and the Maldives. For more culture and entertainment news, reviews, interviews and features directly into your inbox sign up for our weekly newsletter HERE . More than 100k in cash and a number of luxury vehicles and designer items have been seized during searches carried out in Co Longford. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) officers, with the assistance of the garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU), raided 12 residential premises, three commercial premises and one professional premises this morning. During the searches, more than a dozen luxury vehicles were recovered as well expensive designer watches, handbags, and footwear. Gardai seized 110,000 and 14,000 in cash and froze a further 80,000 in Irish bank accounts. Gardai say the raids "marks a significant development" in the CAB investigation focused on an organised criminal group involved in the sale and supply of drugs, and are "heavily involved" in an ongoing feud in Longford. THE jury in the Adrian Donohoe murder trial have been warned by the presiding judge that they will have to "exercise caution" when evaluating the testimony of a key prosecution witness, the court heard. Mr Justice Michael White made the comments this afternoon in relation to the evidence of US woman Molly Staunton, who previously told the court that she heard the accused say he shot a cop. Aaron Brady denies the capital murder of detective garda Adrian Donohoe. While giving evidence via video link from her home on June 12 a man entered the room she was in and told her "put a stop to it" and "no more testimony" before the camera feed cut off. Today Mr Justice White told the jury that later inquiries established he was Ms Staunton's "friend/boyfriend" who she was living with at that time. The jury were told that initially witnesses based in New York would travel to Dublin to give evidence but that due to the Covid-19 pandemic the prosecution applied for this evidence to be given by video link. Due to the severe nature of the pandemic in New York, he said, the court was informed that facilities could not be provided by American authorities and that the order was varied to allow witnesses to give evidence from their formal residences. He said that the court attempted to impose as much formality in this process as possible but said that there was an error in not carrying out a risk assessment of the place of testimony. Mr Justice White described the interruption as "improper and regrettable" and apologised to the jury for it. He added that in due course, during his charge to the jury, he will be issuing a warning for them to exercise caution on the evaluation of Ms Staunton's testimony. This afternoon the cross-examination continued of a US agent who inquired with people based in New York if they were interested in speaking with Gardai as part of the investigation. Special Agent Mary Ann Wade, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), was asked by defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC about going to the home of Daniel Cahill on July 25 last year. Mr Cahill previously told the court he heard the accused say on three separate occasions that he had shot a Garda. Asked why Daniel Cahill was handcuffed and taken to a local precinct when there was nothing prosecutable found in the house, she said that "there were also steroids in the house." Special Agent Wade said she was "not sure" when asked if she had ever mentioned steroids to the court before. She said there was no prosecution brought by the local district attorney in relation to these or plants found at the apartment, and that they were "nowhere near" the threshold for federal charges. The court also heard that Special Agent Wade did not take any notes of any discussions she had with Mr Cahill. The HSI agent refused to answer questions on Daniel Cahill's immigration status citing the letter of scope from her employer limiting the evidence she could give. She said she could speak about Aaron Brady as he was not one of six witnesses mentioned in this letter. This, the court heard, limited her to reports of investigations and "interviews of six witnesses conducted in New York." When asked by counsel if she knew why he was questioning her about aspects of the detention of Daniel Cahill, Special Agent Wade replied: "To discredit me, I understand." The evidence of Special Mary Ann Wade has now concluded and Mr Justice White thanked her for her cooperation. The trial continues before the jury of six men and seven women tomorrow morning. Aaron Brady (29) has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Adrian 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 approximately 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques from Pat Bellew at the same location on the same date. A major player in the Kinahan cartel and two of his closest Dublin associates today pleaded guilty to a series of serious drug and firearms offences at a court in England. The trio face lengthy sentences when they next appear before Ipswich Crown Court on October 26 next. They were busted after a four year investigation by the British National Crime Agency who worked closely with gardais Drug and Organised Crime Bureau with the police agency paying tribute to gardai in a statement today. The NCA announced that Dubliners Thomas Bomber Kavanagh (52) and Gary Vickery (37), both from Tamworth, and Daniel Canning (41) from Walkinstown all admitted conspiring to import class A and B drugs, and money laundering. Canning also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition. Bomber Kavanagh is one of the most senior players in the Kinahan cartel and his conviction today was welcomed by senior gardai who have been investigating him for decades. Kavanagh was given a three-year sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court last year after a modified pink stun gun was found in his "highly fortified" mansion. Because of standard 50 per cent remission in the English prison system for so-called minor offences, Kavanagh would have expected to be a free man by next March on this conviction. However he is now facing years behind bars after pleading guilty to the organised crime charges. Independent.ie previously revealed that Bombers close associates Vickery and Canning had been using top-of-the-range encrypted phones as part of their drugs trafficking activities but got sloppy allowing law enforcement agencies to pounce on them. These individuals were operating a number of front companies in the UK similar to the companies which have been dismantled in Ireland by the DOCB, a senior source said. Kavanagh is best described as a general within that organisation one of the biggest in the world, the source added. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has previously described 'Bomber' Kavanagh as directing a wider organised crime network in Birmingham. As well as operating in the British Midlands, gardai suspect that Kavanagh also directed operations of the Kinahan cartel's Irish associates based in Liverpool. In October 2017, the NCA dealt a major blow to Kavanagh's network when around 5.5m of drugs and more than 225,000 (252,000) in cash were seized in raids across the Midlands and Dover. Bomber has rarely returned to Dublin since leaving almost 15 years ago after being targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). However, he was spotted at the funeral of his brother-in-law David Byrne, who was shot dead in the Regency Hotel murder in February 2016. After his stun gun conviction, the English court heard that Kavanagh had a "lengthy criminal record" in the UK and Ireland for offences including possession of a firearm, making threats to kill, assault, and breach of the peace, and fraud. Last December he suffered a panic attack after being arrested in prison for questioning in relation to the investigation. NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Matt Horne today welcomed the conviction of Bomber and his pals. Todays guilty pleas are the culmination of a four-year investigation into Thomas Kavanagh and his co-conspirators, who were part of a significant international crime network, capable of organising multi-million pound shipments of drugs, Mr Horne said. We have worked throughout with our colleagues at An Garda Siochana, and I hope these convictions send out a strong message to others who may think themselves to be untouchable. We will be relentless in our pursuit of those involved in organised criminality, he added. A new Covid-19 contact tracing app will be launched in the coming days after the Cabinet gives the green light to the technology. The Covid Tracker App will allow users to tell people they have been in contact with that they have contracted the virus. It will also give the Government vital information on the spread of the virus. The app has been developed by the HSE, and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet today on the new technology. It cost 850,000 to develop and has been cleared for use on Apple and Android phones. People who test positive for the virus will be able to anonymously alert other users who they have been in close contact with, using the Bluetooth function on their phones. It will tell people who have been close contacts but do not know each other that they could have been exposed to the virus. Tests have been carried out to ensure the app does not store private data or give additional personal information of users to the Government. "As the country reopens, contact tracing and the early identification of symptoms will become increasingly important as more people are visiting family and friends, exercising, socialising, shopping, returning to work and using public transport," a source said. "The app is an important part of the whole of government response to Covid-19," the source added. The app has been developed by Waterford company Nearform. Gardai were involved in testing the app, as were researchers in Trinity College. Tracing apps are in use in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Latvia. The introduction of a tracing app in the UK has been delayed after the government there decided to change the technology being used. Street trader Clive Staunton was gunned down outside his home in Leixlip Gardai have arrested a man in relation to the fatal shooting of Clive Staunton. The man, aged in his 30s, was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Mr Staunton, which happened on November 15 of last year. Mr Staunton, originally from north inner city Dublin, was gunned down outside of his home in Leixlip, Co Kildare. This is the third arrest in the investigation into the death of Mr Staunton. A man and a woman, aged in their 30s, were arrested in December and were both released without charge, with files prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The man is currently detained at Leixlip Garda Station under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. Anyone with information in the ongoing investigation is asked to contact Leixlip 6667800 the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. Parents of 670 post-primary students with Down syndrome have won their battle to enroll them in the summer education programme for children with complex special needs. The new Cabinet bowed to pressure and extended the eligibility criteria for the scheme to allow this cohort of students to gain access. In previous years, the programme catered for children with a severe/profound intellectual disability or autism, but because of the disruption to education caused by Covid-19, it was expanded to include about 9,000 additional primary-aged children with complex needs. However, while it was open to children with Down syndrome in a mainstream a class in a primary school, there was dismay when students with Down Syndrome at post-primary schools were not included. Down Syndrome Ireland spokesperson Cathy Gray said they were absolutely thrilled that the Government has listened to our concerns and the concerns of parents of children with Down syndrome and acted. Read More Down Syndrome Ireland campaigned strongly on the issue, in recent weeks, claiming that the teen students exclusion from the programme caused untold stress to their parents. The programme, known Summer Provision 2020, will operate in a limited number of number of schools, at both primary and post-primary level. It is up to schools to volunteer and, to date, about 240 have opted in. If a student cannot get a place in a school-based programme, their parent may apply for a grant for a home tutor, although there is no guarantee that a tutor will be available. Education Minister Norma Foley and Junior Minister for special education Josepha Madigan announced the move after todays Cabinet meeting. Ms Foley said she was "deeply conscious of the additional challenges these students have faced in continuing with learning since the Covid-19 closure of school buildings since March. "Providing this additional support is an important step in recognising this difficulty and in preparing these young people for school re-opening and I would like to thank my Cabinet colleagues for their support in this." Ms Madigan said the programme was crucial in preparing students with complex needs to return to school in the autumn and "is right that this programme should be open to post-primary school students with Down syndrome also." A pandemic unemployment payment cheat drew down more than 55,000 by making 25 separate online claims. Gardai arrested the individual who made the claims using nine different bank accounts. Seven were opened in March when the Government first introduced the payment for individuals who had lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During a search of a property gardai found a notebook containing the details of the bank accounts used and the payments collected. The individual was arrested by Special Investigation Unit (SIU) gardai for deception under Section Six of the Criminal Justice Act. There have been concerns in government about people continuing to claim the 350-a-week payment after they have retuned to work. There are also plans to reduce the number of people claiming the payment as part of the Government's soon to be announced economic stimulus package. They are considering extending the wage subsidy scheme to businesses who employ people who are on the pandemic unemployment scheme. The wage subsidy scheme is currently only available to people who were employed before the pandemic. This week, people who worked part-time before the coronavirus will see their weekly payment fall to 203, in line with the jobseeker's welfare allowance. The cut was announced in June and came into effect last Monday but, as the payment is paid in arrears, recipients will only notice the difference in their bank accounts from tomorrow. For anyone earning 200 per week or higher before the coronavirus outbreak, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) rate will remain at 350 per week. But those who were earning less than 200 before the pandemic will have their payment reduced to 203. A Department of Social Protection spokesperson said: "No person on the lower rate of payment will receive less on PUP than they were previously paid by their employer." Last Monday, there were 439,000 people in receipt of the pandemic payment. This represented a decrease of 26,900 on the 465,900 people who had been paid the previous week. Since the peak of the payment in early May, the number of people receiving it who were working in construction has dropped by 55pc, while in manufacturing it fell 42pc and 37pc in the wholesale and retail sector. The largest cohort of those returning to work last week were those aged 35-44, at 5,100; followed by employees aged 25-34, at 4,500. This is followed by 3,900 in the 45-54 age category, and 3,800 more under age 25, all returning to work. After her appointment, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said she welcomed the continuing fall in the numbers of people who are depending on the PUP. She added that she was looking forward to working closely with the officials in her department. Motivated by fear: Joe Duffy is the voice of the nation but that doesnt stop him worrying about his job. Pic: Mark Condren He is the voice of a nation but behind Joe Duffy's very public persona lies a lack of self-confidence that has left him believing he does not deserve the job of hosting 'Liveline' and fearing it could all come to an end. "I'd be very insecure, that's the other thing. I've never had a sense that I was entitled to a job or entitled to stuff in life," he said. Read More "It's fear. You're only as good as your last programme, and it's personality-driven, and you have to build up a trust with people, and if that trust goes you're a goner." Even though his weekday show on RTE Radio 1 has over 400,000 listeners, Duffy, who has hosted it for over 20 years, still worries about his future. In an interview with new podcast 'Human Nature', the 64-year-old, who "never thinks about retiring", said: "I'm on a contract which can be terminated by the end of this broadcast if they so decided, without any consequences." Asked if he thought his insecurity made him a better broadcaster, he said: "I think it does, actually. I think not just my insecurity, but I think insofar as I don't over-think it, but I think I can relate to people more because I've been through a lot of things in my life." He said he "can't stand broadcasters" who are "contriving an argument you know they don't believe". "Obviously they believe something, but a lot of the things they come out with, especially at the start of their programme, is trying to get people going. You know they're no more believing that than the man in the moon. No, everything I say, I believe," he said. In the interview he opens up about his childhood and the impact of his father Jimmy's alcoholism, saying it instilled "fear" in him because he didn't know what his father might do next. He also speaks of his regret that someone he knows has fallen foul of an addiction to alcohol amid the Covid-19 lockdown. "I'm fairly conscious now with the lockdown that some people I know who are recovering alcoholics have slipped, and you try to be as supportive to them as you can, you know," he said. "And the main person I know who's slipped, he was such a giver and he will be again, that's all he did in his life, his sober life, was look after other people, be it his elders or his grandchildren, and I never knew that he had such a drink problem until he slipped during the lockdown." He says his brother Aidan's death in a car crash in 1991 at the age of 25 is "without doubt the single biggest wound in my life" and recalls vividly when he heard the news, while in RTE. "I remember in the 1.30pm news bulletin hearing there's been a tragic car accident in Maynooth and two people are dead. I said 'Oh my God'. "And then at 3pm as I came upstairs the chaplain at RTE was sitting at my desk and I was wondering why he was there, and a few of my friends were there and they said 'We've bad news. Aidan's been killed in a car crash'. "The hardest thing I ever had to do in all my living life was go up to tell my mother that Aidan was dead. I still find it difficult to talk about it, to knock on the door and your mother opens and you have to tell her that her youngest son is dead," he said. Thinking of his own mortality, Duffy says he pictures his wife June and children Ronan, Ellen and Sean at his funeral. "All I can see at my funeral is, apart from my wife obviously, is the three children shouldering the coffin, and I'd like them to speak at the funeral. I'd like them to tell me a few things before I die, but that is my image. I see no one else there apart from family," he said. "My legacy is my children," he added, admitting he regularly texts "to tell them I love them". 'Human Nature' is a podcast by Rodney Edwards and is available on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud and impartialreporter.com. TAOISEACH Micheal Martin will not ask Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen to step down in relation to the ban he received for drink-driving four years ago, as the incident was "dealt with at the time." The Offaly TD was disqualified from driving for three months after he was found to be over the limit when he was breathalyzed at a Garda checkpoint in 2016. Read More Mr Cowen has previously told the Irish Independent he is "profoundly sorry for having made that mistake," adding that it was an "appalling lapse of judgement." Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said he "wasn't aware" of Mr Cowen's offence until last Friday. Speaking to Red FM presenter Neil Prendeville, Mr Martin said he told the newly appointed minister, "you should have alerted me to that," adding: "He said he was very ashamed of it and it was an appalling lapse of judgment on his part. He accepted the punishment at the time." When asked if Mr Cowen should be removed from cabinet, Mr Martin said: "In terms of justice being metered out, it did get dealt with at the time, four years ago. Are you going to condemn someone for the rest of their lives for something that might have happened four years ago, or five years ago? "I think there was an issue of proportionality in that regard." Speaking about Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher breaching Covid-19 restrictions by choosing not to quarantine for 14 days after he flew to Ireland from Brussels, Mr Martin said there was "no need" for him to attend the National Convention Centre. "There was no need for him to travel to the convention center, obviously it was a big day in terms of formation of a new government. "He has accepted that he was wrong in that regard, that there was no necessity to do it, and he's apologised for that... "But that said, he didn't have to be at the convention centre at all." Meanwhile, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said it would be appropriate for Minister Barry Cowen to make a statement in the Dail about his drink driving incident. She was speaking after she met with the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris for the first time this morning, at Slane Garda Station, county Meath. She said, Firstly to say on my own part what happened was wrong, it shouldnt have happened and I think the Minister has acknowledged what he did was wrong. I think what is important at the time (is) the law was applied and obviously what was given out to the Minister he accepted it and he took that, as he should have. I think what we need to focus on in this government, as the previous government did focus on, victims of those who have lost family members due to drink driving, making sure that we have measures in place that protect people, that make our roads as safe as possible and obviously there was a huge amount of changes implemented in the last government and we want to continue to implement them. I do not agree with what happened, he has apologised, I accept that and I think it is important that the law was applied to him at the time. Asked if he still has questions to answer, the Minister said, I think he has said he would be willing to make a statement in the Dail in terms of questions and that would be appropriate. The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has urged the public to comply with Covid-19 health regulations and described scenes of people socialising over the weekend as disappointing. The Minister said the issue on whether new powers were needed for Gardai to deal with Covid restrictions will be kept under review. Read More She was speaking after her first meeting with the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and was asked whether the Gardai had sufficient resources to deal with Covid restrictions particularly in the area of clubs and bars. She said, "This is obviously something we need to continuously review. I think to date the vast majority of citizens, business, whether pubs or restaurants over the weekend, have complied with regulations. "They put in place measures to not just protect their staff, but obviously protect people coming into their premises. "Of course we have seen some scenes over the weekend that were disappointing. "I would ask and I would urge everybody to comply with public health regulations because we have come so far. We have made such great progress and whilst we have been able to implement measures and bring them forward, what we do not want is to have to reimplement any of these measures that we have now relaxed over the last while." "Certainly it is an issue that will be kept under review. I will be meeting with my Cabinet colleagues later today and obviously we will keep engaged with the Commissioner if further measures or perhaps proposals are needed for them." In relation to reprimands for publicans who do not comply she said; "What we want to see is compliance from everybody and if you look at the vast majority of premises over the weekend, people were compliant. "(And) measures were put in place so if we need to ask and engage with various different sectors to comply, we will do that and review that and if that does not happen, if certain premises continue to disregard those regulations, then obviously further measures will have to be taken but this is about working with people." The Garda Commissioner said that over the weekend Gardai carried out 6,000 visits to licensed premises and, "what we found were the vast majority were compliant. We did find breaches of the regulations, we also found breaches of the licensing laws as well in a minority of cases. "We also found a situation which was highlighted on social media in Dame Lane (Dublin), which was a public order situation and was dealt with as such. This has been a collective effort by society, I know there was shock at the scenes over the weekend, those scenes were pretty much isolated to one place. The broader picture is one of compliance and people particularly businesses doing their best." He said Gardai have submitted a report to Government on what they experienced over the weekend and, "we will see what will come from that following our prior discussions with government but this is a situation that is evolving in terms of the practice we are seeing in licensed premises and we respond in terms of our operation." HOLIDAY-MAKERS will have to wait until July 20 to find out which countries will be on the 'green list' for non-essential international travel. It comes as the government said health officials are "very worried" about a possible surge in coronavirus cases linked to foreign travel. Taoiseach Micheal Martin said airlines promoting tourist flights now are acting "contrary" to public health advice. The caretaker government had suggested a 'green list' of countries were travel would be allowed without the need to quarantine on return would be drawn up this week. Read More However, Mr Martin confirmed that the list now won't be published until July 20. He said the government doesn't want to undermine the sacrifices made by the Irish people and that's why a "cautious approach" is being adopted for international travel. Mr Martin pointed to new spikes of coronavirus cases in Spain and the UK: "That is informing our view as second waves are emerging across Europe". He said Ireland wants to keep the number of cases low to allow for the full reopening of schools and non-Covid-19 health care services. The green list, when it is published, will be countries that have similar levels of coronavirus cases to Ireland. But it will also be reviewed every two weeks. People travelling from countries on green list will not be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving here. The passenger locator form system is to go online and arrangements for checking passengers are staying where they said they would are to be significantly ramped up. Mr Martin was asked about airlines like Ryanair promoting flights to destinations such Greece that are opening up to tourists. He said the government wants to work with airlines but said such promotion is "contrary" to the government's advice to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. Health minister Stephen Donnelly said public health officials are "very worried about the potential for a second surge really driven by a big upswing in foreign travel." He said that 17pc of new coronavirus cases here are now caused by foreign travel, up from 2pc in recent months. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said that the government's advice is "in many ways it isn't the message that people want to hear from the government today but it is the message they need to hear. "We are still advising against all non-essential travel from the island of Ireland and with good reason because we're trying to save lives". The new Minister for Children said he would not have posed for a picture with Peter Tatchell had he known about their previously expressed views on consent. Photo: Steve Humphreys New Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman has hit out at 'toxic' and 'homophobic' online attacks against him - but said he would not have posed for a picture with a leading LGBT activist had he known about their previously expressed views on consent. Mr OGorman was speaking to Independent.ie following days of attacks on social media over a picture of him with British LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell at the Dublin Pride march two years ago. Mr Tatchell wrote in 1997 that that some friends made a conscious choice to have sex with an adult when they were under 13. While it may be impossible to condone paedophilia, it is time society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful, he wrote in a letter to the Guardian 23 years ago. Mr Tatchell has since said his letter was edited and has clarified in recent days on Twitter that he condemns and opposes adults having sex with children. Mr OGorman, who was forced to contact his parents to explain to them that he would have to respond to the online attacks, said the Pride march was the only time he met with Mr Tatchell. I think if Id known what he said at the time, I dont think I would have posed for that picture, the new Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration told Independent.ie on Monday. Speaking after days of online attacks, the new Green Party Cabinet minister said: I feel there's been a kind of a pile-on from some of the fairly right-wing groups on social media. They're using a combination of misinformation and people's legitimate concerns about issues, particularly around children and kind of tying that together in fairly toxic attacks against me. A small group of people with a very clear agenda have been making allegations about me on social media over the last few days. Iam taking this opportunity to set the record straight. pic.twitter.com/AKKLkauYvg Roderic OaGorman TD (@rodericogorman) July 6, 2020 I think most of it has centred around a picture of me with Peter Tatchell, who is an LGBT activist in the UK. I met him at the Pride parade in 2018 here in Dublin [and] got my picture taken with him. It's the sole time I have ever met him. I don't know him other than that one meeting. I think subsequent to, I suppose in light of in the last few days, I've seen some stuff that he put out in the 1990s, which I certainly would disagree with strongly and I think he himself has clarified what he meant over the last couple of days and I think that's welcome. Mr OGorman said there is no circumstances in which sex between an adult and a child is acceptable. The Dublin West TD said that online claims that he is unsuitable for the role because he is gay are homophobic. I think the same subtext was aimed at my predecessor, Katherine Zappone as well and I think probably the key commonality there is that we're both gay. I think that's where a lot of this is coming from. I do [think its homophobic]. I think from some of the people making these making these comments it is homophobic. It is an attempt to silence people from minority groups. You've seen something similar with my colleague, the Lord Mayor Hazel Chu, whenever she's put her head above the parapet. The same people who are attacking me attack her and it's the same sort of ridiculous thing. He added: It goes almost to the ridiculous but because it's tied in to misinformation and tied into a very legitimate concern, people's concern about the welfare of children, it becomes particularly toxic and particularly damaging. Mr OGorman said constituents had been in touch with him in recent over days over what they had been seeing online. It's not nice. I had to ring my parents today - thankfully they're not on social media - to say 'listen we're doing some media about this, I'll be talking about this' to kind of put them in the picture and no one likes that. "I would prefer this week to absolutely 100pc focused on just reading myself into the brief. Obviously Ive had to do some kind of respond to this, so yeah, you know, its not pleasant but I am getting on with the job. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has said targeted testing at airports will be used to prevent new cases of Covid-19 being imported into Ireland, adding he does not want to see an "avalanche" of travel in and out of the country. The Cabinet will meet today as it delays publishing a "green list" of countries - planned to share an 'air bridge' with Ireland - until July 20. Mr Ryan said that while flights wouldn't be stopped, due to the need for some to travel for "essential" purposes, he didn't want to see an "avalanche" of travel. As more flights take off, he said updating testing at airports was now a priority for the Cabinet. "We will look at other measures to try and improve our responsiveness because the virus hasn't gone away. It's actually flaring across the world," he told Newstalk yesterday. "It's rising in terms of the number of cases a day and we, as an open country, cannot completely isolate ourselves, particularly as we are in a common travel area with the UK. "What we will have to do is introduce further protocols to try and manage this, including testing in airports and not testing every passenger but targeted [testing]. "It will continue to evolve depending on the status of the threat. It won't be fixed." The Government would now work toward launching a "certain element of testing", including the electronic recording of passengers' information and following up with texts and phone calls. Passengers would be tested and contacted to see if they had "continued without symptoms, whether they adhered to regulations in terms of quarantine", said Mr Ryan. Although this information is currently being compiled, it is only in written form and needs to be upgraded electronically. "But what we don't want is for that to become an avalanche [in travel], a wholesale exit," Mr Ryan added. "The real concern is Irish people going abroad. The number of people coming in on holidays is going to be very small, as the world isn't traveling... or isn't thinking of coming here," he said. "The real concern is Irish people travelling and bringing it [Covid-19] back because the numbers here right now are very low." The Government will not ban travel but will be "sending a message to the Irish public to play their part, to holiday at home this summer and autumn", he said. The "green list" will be compiled by assessing countries that have "similar if not better" results regarding suppressing the virus. The Government had said the list would be unveiled on July 9. However, Mr Ryan said this had been delayed due to a desire to "see the status of the virus" abroad first. "Sometimes you loosen the reins; sometimes you tighten them," he added. "We won't be able to keep the virus completely out. There will be flares where it comes in and we have to isolate that." Contact tracing, testing and "managing" the virus would be the way forward, he added. Meanwhile Mr Ryan said he was looking forward to a leadership contest against his deputy leader Catherine Martin, someone he said he holds in the "highest regard". "I make mistakes speaking off the cuff," he said. "She's maybe more patient. Maybe if I'd not rushed into speaking so often, or much, it would be different. "We each have our own skills and get on very well." Tragic scene: The quarry in Portroe, Co Tipperary where two men were found drowned. Photograph Press 22 Two brothers have tragically died in a diving accident at a former quarry in Co Tipperary. They were last night named locally as Fergus (43) and Philip Brophy (34), from Ballybrittas, Co Laois. The tragedy unfolded at the Portroe Dive Centre, located at Portroe Quarry, near Nenagh, about 1.30pm yesterday. The bodies of the brothers were later removed from the scene to Limerick University Hospital where post-mortem examinations were expected to take place. After the alarm was raised, a major search and rescue operation swung into action involving the Killaloe Coast Guard, gardai, and ambulance personnel. Members of Killaloe Coast Guard, who were returning to their base from another call-out, immediately responded to the alert at the quarry. The Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter, based at Shannon Airport, was tasked to respond to the emergency. However, the crew was stood down after the bodies of both divers were recovered and they were pronounced dead at the scene. Gardai from the local station at Nenagh responded to the incident. A Garda spokesman said: "Gardai attended an incident in Portroe, Co Tipperary, where two males have drowned. Experienced "The males are believed to have been diving when they got into trouble at approximately 1.30pm. "The bodies of both men have been removed to Limerick University Hospital where [post-mortem examinations] are due to take place." Garda sources said they were treating the incident as a "tragic accident". A source confirmed to the Irish Independent that the deceased brothers were experienced divers. "No one was expecting this," the source said. "They were experienced divers but what exactly happened I can't say for sure. "A lot of divers come from around the country to attend the dive centre in Portroe. "There are a lot of members locally but a lot of people visit. It's known as a good place to practise diving." According to reports, one of the men got into difficulty in the water and his brother entered the water to try to help after raising the alarm. It is understood that one of the brothers managed to return to the surface of the former slate quarry, which is 40 metres deep, but died a short time later. The other man died before he was brought to the surface. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Authority said it was also "looking into the circumstances of the tragedy" as it occurred at a workplace. However, the workplace safety regulator will be involved only if employees of the facility were involved in the incident, a spokesman told the Irish Independent. Local Independent councillor Seamus Morris described the incident as "a tragedy for the men's families and all involved at the dive centre. "As a dive centre, it's used by local divers and it has always been very professionally run. Obviously, my sympathies go to the men's families and the dive club. "I don't know what happened, but diving is a sport that, unfortunately, has serious consequences if things don't go right," Mr Morris added. Officials from the dive centre declined to comment last night. However, a post on its Facebook page last week announced that the centre was due to reopen at the weekend, after having closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to its website, Portroe Quarry is "one of the best inland dive locations in Ireland" and is "always diveable regardless of weather conditions". 'In 1951, friendless and isolated at college, Sylvia Plath described her loneliness as a "contagion", "like a disease of the blood". Almost 70 years on, a different type of contagion has for months separated us all from each other; as restrictions slowly lift and we tentatively begin to re-engage, we have had to confront our own sense of loneliness in lockdown. Even the most robustly self-contained have been feeling it. While under less extraordinary circumstances we often crave and seek solitude to restore our equilibrium, few of us like to admit to its shameful shadow, loneliness. Yet the pandemic has made many of us feel lonely. Can we learn from the experience? Could this moment of universal lockdown-induced loneliness be useful longer term, if it awakens in us empathy for and awareness of those who suffer from the more chronic kind? The kind that has been killing people prematurely long before Covid? And meanwhile, is it possible to convert negative feelings of loneliness into a positive state of solitude? Unlike solitude, loneliness is a relatively modern idea, an emotion rather than a factual state of being. Its impact on our health, both physical and mental, is alarming - chronically lonely people are, says the UK's National Health Service, 30pc more likely to die prematurely than the non-lonely. Pre pandemic, loneliness had already been deemed "an epidemic", by the US Surgeon in 2017, and "the leprosy of the 21st century" by The Economist in 2018, the same year Britain appointed a Minister for Loneliness. It is not what we want to be, yet millions of us are. So what is it? Cultural historian Fay Bound Alberti, in her 2019 book A Biography of Loneliness, defines it as "a conscious, cognitive feeling of estrangement or social separation; an emotional lack that concerns a person's place in the world." It is "an emotion cluster, a blend of different emotions that might range from anger, resentment, and sorrow to jealousy, shame, and self-pity." And it's physical. The late US neuroscientist John Cacioppo, known as Dr Loneliness, argued that as primates, we are designed to live together. Over millennia, we evolved a fight-or-flight survival response when separated from our social group, which manifests in modern loneliness as hypervigilance: anxiety, stress, insomnia, increased blood pressure, sometimes emotional eating to self-soothe (there is a connection between chronic loneliness and obesity). Illnesses linked to long-term loneliness include depression, anxiety, heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and decreased immunity. Dr Bound Alberti suggests that like obesity, loneliness is a "disease of civilisation", "chronic, pathological and associated with the way we live in the modern, industrial West". It's a side effect of "the all encompassing ideology of the individual" , rather than an emotional state integral to the human condition. It's modern and man-made, emerging as a term and an concept around 1800; before that, loneliness was known as 'oneliness', and wasn't perceived as problematic because it was so rare. When Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe in 1719, his shipwrecked hero does not experience loneliness on the desert island. Aloneness yes, but not loneliness. Historian David Vincent, in his new book A History of Solitude, writes how Defoe "argued the healthiest form of solitude is embedded in the busiest of lives." Creative endeavour, for instance, requires solitude, where the individual is so engaged in the flow of what they are doing that time flies by, unnoticed. Not that solitude was always considered healthy - in 1667, diarist John Evelyn wrote: "Solitude produces ignorance, renders us barbarous, feeds revenge, disposes to envy, creates witches, dispeoples the world, renders it a desert, and would soon dissolve it." Crikey. And yet today, the gulf between solitude as an idealised state (far from the madding crowd at, say, a boutique wellness retreat seeking greater self awareness and/or spiritual clarity), and loneliness as a coruscating 21st century killer, has never been wider. We are all susceptible - the old, the young, the bereaved, the isolated care givers, the unhappily partnered, the atomised, the permanently online. And most of all, the poorest. We forget about the acute loneliness of those whom Bound Alberti calls the "roofless and rootless" - homeless people and refugees. The only thing worse than being lonely inside your four walls is being lonely without the comfort of your four walls: "Loneliness is not merely a mental, but also a physical state... our experience and engagement in the world is always mediated through our bodies as well as the things that define us: from clothes and crockery to cars and carpets, objects give rise to individual and social meanings." Or as Joni Mitchell put it, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." Much of modern loneliness has to do with how we live: in the 20th century, extended families became nuclear families, and one person households have increased alongside Western economic prosperity. Pre 20th century, one person households numbered around 5pc; by 1950, it was 9pc. Today in cities like London and Stockholm, it's more than 60pc (Irish one-person households make up 23.5pc of the demographic). Obviously, living alone does not automatically result in loneliness (remember Sartre's warning that hell is other people, while Virginia Woolf advocated a room of one's own) - solitude has long been a luxury, once associated with privileged white men, the Romantic poets being the only ones who could realistically afford to wander lonely as a cloud. But for every 21st century urban professional living their best life in a converted loft space, how many impoverished isolated individuals are there, longing for more human contact? For every Greta Garbo, there is an Eleanor Rigby. It's cultural - 'lonely' in Arabic translates as 'single' in English. "Loneliness in collectivist cultures has been associated with a lack of family support," writes Bound Alberti. "Whereas loneliness in individualistic cultures speaks to a lack of extra-familiar connection." Billy No Mates, as it were. Ireland, long a collectivist culture, has been transformed through prosperity to a more individualistic one; in 2018, 400,000 Irish people reported suffering from loneliness. During lockdown, this figure rose to include 41pc of the entire population. So how do we deal with it? Can loneliness be reframed? Short term, the answer is yes. Psychoanalyst Noel Hess, in a 2004 essay on loneliness, writes: "The pain of being alone is fundamentally related to the pain of being alone with oneself, and what we feel to be inside us, be it predominantly persecutory, critical and aggressive, or loving, supportive and forgiving." In other words, self-compassion and feeling comfortable in our own company is key in navigating episodic loneliness, or enforced solitude. And if your feelings of loneliness are raging out of control, you can use DIY cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to damp them down. All you need is pen and paper. Clinical psychologist Eva Doherty reminds us that solitude is a fact, and loneliness is a feeling. "Loneliness may reflect a mixture of several co-existing feelings - sadness, fear, anger, frustration, perhaps even disgust," she says. "The critical difference between loneliness and solitude is most likely observed in the thought processes underpinning both. "The most helpful way to approach your feelings of loneliness is to introspect, and write them down, to counteract the feeling of being overwhelmed by them: 'How am I experiencing loneliness'? If you're feeling frustration, for example, there may be a mixture of fear ('This is never going to end') and anger ('Why is this so hard?'), or sadness ('I miss hugs'). "Explore this on a deeper level, and dig through the layers of feelings." This is not, says Dr Doherty, about supressing your feelings of loneliness via unrealistic positive thinking - it's about pinning down runaway thoughts and feelings and shining a light on them, until they are neutralised by your own logical investigation. You are not going to die alone and be eaten by your cat - that is your imagination running away with you, because you are feeling fearful. "It's about keeping your thinking close to what you know, rather than filling the gaps with terrible unknowns," she says. "It's essential to write it all down. And then write an alternative: 'This is going to end.'" For many of us, as we slowly reconnect, this loneliness is already ending. But as lockdown eases, what about all those people who remain chronically lonely for all kinds of different reasons? "How do we reframe loneliness in the neoliberal age?" asks Dr Bound Alberti. David Vincent writes how the invention of the internet in 1991 and the smartphone in 2007 has driven "the conscious experience of solitude from a privilege of the educated male to the practice of all but the poorest in the late modern era." Solitude, no longer a deviation or novelty, has become normalised - in the midst of crowds, we are hunched over our devices in our noise cancelling headphones - and loneliness more widespread. Perhaps now that we all know acutely what loneliness feels like - from small children missing their playmates to older people missing their grandkids - we will remember the feeling, and reach out more. We won't forget our own experiences of loneliness, and it may make us kinder. Damage: A car stands on its end after being washed away by flood in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Photo: Getty At least 34 people are missing and presumed dead due to deep floodwaters and mudslides from torrential rain in southern Japan. Helicopters and boats have rescued more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region, aided by more than 40,000 defence troops, the coastguard and fire brigades. Large areas along the Kuma River were swallowed by floodwaters, with many houses, buildings and vehicles submerged almost up to their roofs. Mudslides smashed into houses, sending people on to rooftops where they could only wave to rescuers. At a flooded elderly care home in Kuma village, where 14 residents were presumed dead after rescuers reached them on Saturday, a rescue continued yesterday for the dozens of remaining residents and caregivers. Sixty-five residents and about 30 caregivers were trapped at the riverside care facility Senjuen when floodwaters and mud gushed in. All the remaining 51 residents, including three who had hypothermia, had been rescued by boats and taken to hospitals for treatment by yesterday afternoon. Shigemitsu Sakoda, a local rafting company operator who joined defence troops in the rescue effort at the nursing home, said floodwaters were still high on the first floor when they arrived at the scene on rafts. So we smashed windows with a hammer to get in, he said. Soldiers went up to the roof to rescue survivors who were able to go upstairs while the waters rose. Unfortunately, some of the residents could not make it to the second floor, he added. People are still picking up the Covid-19 virus and have no idea where they were infected - signalling it is still spreading in the community. In the two weeks up to July 1, well over a quarter - some 30 of the 109 newly diagnosed people with the virus - could not account for where they contracted it. Read More This is among the most worrying forms of transmission of the virus because it can be next to impossible to trace the source and the risk is that it could lead to a wider spread of the virus. It comes as another 18 people were confirmed with the virus yesterday, bringing the total infected so far to 25,527. There were no new fatalities, with the toll remaining at 1,741. It emerged that testing of some passengers who arrive in Irish airports and ports is to get under way. The "green list" of the countries with low levels of the virus which would remove the need for tourists to quarantine has been postponed until July 20 amid fears there will be a surge in cases from abroad. It means that all people coming into the country, including people returning from trips abroad, must continue to self-quarantine for two weeks after their arrival. The testing of passengers is expected to be carried out on a random basis but airport testing remains controversial because it may mean people who are infectious will be missed because the virus will not be detected. Newly released minutes of meetings of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) in June show it reiterated its advice that self-quarantine for new arrivals here from abroad should be mandatory for two weeks and they should be offered a designated facility during that time. The Government has already indicated it will remain voluntary. The Nphet expressed ongoing concern about the potential for cases of the virus to be brought back here. The meeting also heard about a proposal to develop a national plan to secure supplies of a Covid-19 vaccine if one is developed. The plan would set out funding, implementation and monitoring of the immunisation programme should a successful vaccine be made. Meanwhile, new modelling analysis suggests that eliminating Covid-19 from Ireland over the course of the summer is possible and would require only a modest amount of additional effort. The work by Prof Gerry Killeen, the AXA research chair in applied pathogen ecology at University College Cork, states that repeatedly imposing, lifting and re-imposing restrictions to merely suppress the epidemic until it hopefully burns itself may prove a dangerous gamble. Commenting on the study published in the journals 'Infectious Disease Modelling' and the 'European Journal of Epidemiology', he said: "The quiet tail of a fading epidemic may be just as dangerous as the silent onset." Prof Killeen added that Ireland should look to countries with ambitious national strategies to crush the curve of their epidemics, such as China, South Korea, Japan and Australia. "With their approaches to eliminating the virus with sustained and uninterrupted restrictions, their timelines to that exit point are about three months and New Zealand is already there. "Countries like Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, where daily incidence rates have been slowly falling, may well have achieved 80pc suppression of transmission. "Their epidemics could slowly fizzle away if current measures were maintained, so why would these countries not build upon their successes by pushing even just a little further past this crucial tipping point? "Faster progress towards elimination would obviously be better and these timelines could be shortened if we were to push ahead now with even more stringent and effective restrictions," he said. Defiant: Gregory Johnson (right), whose burning of an American flag in 1984 led to a Supreme Court ruling upholding the act as free speech, sets fire to one in LA. Photo: Reuters Experts in the US fear celebrations for the July 4 weekend will act like rocket fuel for the nation's surging coronavirus outbreak. The US dipped under 50,000 new daily infections to 45,300 for the first time in four days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The lower figure does not mean the situation is improving, however, and could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday, according to the university. The US has the most infections and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic is significantly higher, due to people who died before they were tested and missed mild cases. Worldwide, nearly 11.3 million people have been infected and over 531,000 have died, with outbreaks surging in India, South Africa, Pakistan, Brazil and several other Latin American countries. In a first, South Africa yesterday reported more than 10,000 new cases in a single day. To show just how steep the US infection curve is, authorities were reporting under 20,000 new infections a day as recently as June 15. On Saturday, Florida and Texas reported more record daily increases in confirmed cases and virus-related deaths have begun to rise. "If we don't change this trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun," said Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas. Judge Lina Hidalgo, the senior official in Harris County, Texas which includes Houston, said: "We don't have room to experiment, we don't have room for incrementalism when we're seeing these kinds of numbers. "Nor should we wait for all the hospital beds to fill and all these people to die before we take drastic action." Texas, which reported a record daily increase of 8,258 confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, is retreating from what had been one of the country's swiftest reopenings. Much of the state has began mandating face coverings, with a $250 (222) fine for offenders. Despite warnings by health experts to limit gatherings, President Donald Trump went ahead with a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday and an evening of tribute and fireworks on Saturday, on the National Mall in Washington. Mr Trump used Independence Day as an occasion to attack those who do not support him. He played down the severity of the Covid crisis, insisting without evidence that 99pc of cases were "totally harmless". Trump supporter Pat Lee, of Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, and two friends, none in masks, gathered near the event in Washington. "POTUS said it would go away," Mr Lee said of the pandemic, using an acronym for president of the US. "Masks, I think, are like a hoax." In another worrying sign, the World Health Organisation said member states reported more than 212,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world on Saturday, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. The Geneva-based organisation said more than 60pc of the confirmed cases reports it received were in the Americas, which includes the US and Brazil. Faced with rising infections, many US communities cancelled parades and fireworks and cautioned people against hosting large gatherings. In Florida, which reported 11,445 infections on Saturday, bars statewide are shut down. Meanwhile, Kanye West, once a staunch supporter of President Trump has announced he is to run for the presidency himself. The 43-year-old US rapper, reportedly the highest-paid musician in the world, revealed his plan on Twitter. "We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future," he wrote. "I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION." However, West may have left his bid a bit too late, with the filing deadline for independent candidates having passed in several major states. Disease: A Covid-19 patient is cared for in an intensive care unit. Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images Coronavirus may have lain dormant across the world and emerged when environmental conditions were right for it to thrive - rather than starting in China, an Oxford University expert believes. Dr Tom Jefferson, senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford and visiting professor at Newcastle University, says there is growing evidence the virus was elsewhere before it emerged in Asia. Last week, Spanish virologists announced they had found traces of Covid-19 in samples of waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the disease was seen in China. Italian scientists have also found evidence of the virus in sewage samples in Milan and Turin from mid-December, many weeks before the first case was detected, while experts have found traces in Brazil from November. Dr Jefferson believes many viruses lie dormant throughout the globe and emerge when conditions are favourable. It also means they can vanish as quickly as they arrive. "Where did SARS-1 go? It's just disappeared," he said. "So we have to think about these things. We need to start researching the ecology of the virus, understanding how it originates and mutates. We may be seeing a dormant virus that has been activated by environmental conditions. There was a case in the Falkland Islands in early February. Where did that come from? "There was a cruise ship that went from South Georgia to Buenos Aires and the passengers were screened and then on day eight they got the first case. Was it in prepared food, defrosted and activated? "Strange things like this happened with Spanish flu. In 1918, around 30pc of the population of Western Samoa died of Spanish flu and they hadn't had any communication with the outside world. "The explanation could only be that these agents don't come or go anywhere. They are always here and something ignites them." Dr Jefferson believes that the virus may be transmitted through the sewerage system or shared lavatory facilities, not just through droplets expelled by talking, coughing and sneezing. ( Daily Telegraph, London) French President Emmanuel Macron has removed his interior minister as part of a government shake-up on Monday following protests against police brutality. The reshuffle is aimed at shifting the governments focus to post-virus economic recovery in the last two years of Mr Macrons term. Former budget minister Gerald Darmanin was named to replace Christophe Castaner, who had come under fire amid widespread French protests against racial injustice and police brutality spurred by the death of George Floyd in the United States. Mr Castaner announced a ban on police chokeholds in response, but then backed down in the face of counter-demonstrations and pressure by police unions. He also launched an experiment with expanded Taser use. Mr Macron replaced the ecology minister, a top priority for his presidency, but did not change the finance or health ministers, central to helping France through the virus crisis and recession, or the foreign and defence ministers. Killing: Police tape at the scene where the man was shot dead in Gerasdorf, Austria. Photo: Ronald Zak A Chechen man has been shot dead in Austria in the second apparent contract killing of critics of the Chechen government this year. The 43-year-old Russian national was shot on an open road near Vienna on Saturday and two suspects in the attack have been arrested, Austrian police said yesterday. The alleged killer was detained after a chase through the city of Linz, while a second man was held yesterday after he was initially called in as a witness. Police said the motive of the crime was "unclear" but they were treating the killing as a possible terrorist act. Austrian police described the victim as an asylum seeker named Martin B. He was identified by Russian media as Mamikhan Umarov, who assumed the name of Martin Beck after moving to Austria. Chechnya, a Russian republic in the North Caucasus region, went through two devastating separatist wars in the 1990s before the Kremlin struck a deal with a rebel leader who ruled until he was assassinated in 2004. His son, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been at the helm since then, creating a fiefdom that he rules with an iron fist. Mr Kadyrov has faced many accusations of extrajudicial killings, torture and beatings, all of which he denies. Some of his opponents have died in mysterious circumstances while living in exile abroad. The murder of Mr Umarov follows an increasing wave of killings and attacks on Chechen dissidents in Europe. Imran Aliyev, an outspoken Chechen blogger, was stabbed to death in a hotel room in Lille, France, in January. French police suspected a political motive behind the killing but did not name any suspects. Mr Umarov, who had been living in exile for nearly 20 years, had a popular YouTube blog where he was critical of the Chechen government. In an interview on Ukrainian television in February, he claimed he had been approached by emissaries of Mr Kadyrov's inner circle about organising contract killings of high-profile Chechen critics abroad. Mr Umarov claimed to have been passing information to Austrian intelligence about those plans and said he had warned potential victims. One of them was shot dead in October 2017 in Ukraine, while her husband survived. Musa Lomayev, another Chechen exile in Europe, told the TV Rain channel yesterday he was confident that Mr Umarov was the victim of a contract killing. "I have no doubt that this man was killed on Kadyrov's orders because he used to tell me Kadyrov placed a $10m bounty on his head," he said. In August last year, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former rebel fighter, was gunned down by a Russian man in central Berlin, a killing Germany's prosecutor general said appeared to have been commissioned either by Moscow or Chechnya. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] House-builder Barratt said its finances are good enough to repay the furloughed salaries of around 6,700 workers (David Davies/PA) Barratt Developments has promised to repay the Government all the furlough money it claimed to cover the salaries of its staff while they were unable to work. The house-builder said its finances are good enough to repay the salaries of around 6,700 workers who were sent home during the pandemic. Barratt had already topped up the pay for its furloughed employees, who represented around 85% of the builders workforce. They have all now returned to work, barring a few vulnerable members of staff who are shielding. Expand Close Chief executive David Thomas said the company is beginning a new financial year with cautious optimism (Barratt Developments/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chief executive David Thomas said the company is beginning a new financial year with cautious optimism (Barratt Developments/PA) Barratt said all its operational sites reopened by June 30, after having been closed for several months. However, the lockdown has not left Barratt untouched. The number of new homes completed in the year to June 30 dropped by nearly a third to 12,604, the company revealed. Customers have flocked back since its sales centres reopened, though reservation levels have yet to return to normal. Chief executive David Thomas said: Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the group was delivering a strong year of progress on both volume and margin. The pandemic has caused significant disruption, but our highly skilled and experienced team have shown incredible resilience, flexibility and commitment, both through the peak of the crisis and in the careful reopening of our sites. Now, with our construction sites operational across the UK, we begin the new financial year with cautious optimism, supported by our strong forward order book and our well capitalised balance sheet. This optimism is not founded on thin air. The company has a growing order book, has seen high customer interest levels since the reopening of its sales centres, and it now has all its sites up and running Russ Mould, AJ Bell Shares rose around 6.2% after the announcement on Monday morning. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: Any kind of optimism is welcome in the current climate, cautious or otherwise, so the tenor of todays trading update from Barratt Developments struck a chord with the market. This optimism is not founded on thin air. The company has a growing order book, has seen high customer interest levels since the reopening of its sales centres, and it now has all its sites up and running. There was some bad news to balance out the good in Barratts statement inevitably completions were down in the 12 months to the end of June and the average asking price also fell. Dividends remain off the table, but it doesnt appear as if the market was expecting anything different on that score. A lobbyist with ties to the Trump administration and a client list that includes governments accused of human rights abuses has declined to represent Prince Andrew, it was claimed last night. The 'New York Times' said the Duke of York's lawyers approached the Washington-based lobbyist Robert Stryk "in recent weeks". Mr Stryk has a history of "taking on clients with unsavoury reputations" the newspaper reported but it claimed he "expressed discomfort about the possibility of assisting Prince Andrew". Meanwhile, a friend of Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed she would "never" disclose information about Prince Andrew in the case surrounding paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Former investment banker Laura Goldman said the British socialite regarded Andrew as a friend and was "never going to say anything" about him to investigators. It comes as Ms Maxwell appeared in court in the US last week accused of helping disgraced financier Epstein "identify, befriend and groom" multiple girls, including one as young as 14. The Duke of York , who is a former friend of Epstein, has since been urged to provide information to the investigation by a US attorney. Ms Goldman, who claims to have known Ms Maxwell since she moved to the US, told the BBC she would "have to" go for a plea deal with prosecutors. Asked whether Ms Maxwell would speak about the duke as part of the investigation, Ms Goldman said: "She has always told me she would never, ever say anything about him. "I think she felt he was her friend and she was never going to say anything about him. "She felt in the 90s when her father died that Prince Andrew was there for her." Ms Goldman said she last spoke to Ms Maxwell "a couple of weeks ago" prior to her arrest in New Hampshire on Thursday, adding: "She knew she was coming to the end of the road." She claimed Ms Maxwell was a "victim" of Epstein and had been always "a little afraid" of him. Ms Goldman said: "I think she thought if she did one more grooming, found him one more girl, he would marry her. Is that OK? No. "She honestly thought at the end of the day she would be Mrs Jeffrey Epstein and that was the prize she wanted." Ms Maxwell, daughter of late media mogul Robert Maxwell, has previously denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of sexual misconduct by her former boyfriend Epstein. He killed himself in jail last August while awaiting trial. Harry said he and the Duchess of Sussex were committed to tackling racial inequality (Dominic Lipinksi/PA) The Duke and Duchess of Sussex warned that the Commonwealths past wrongs need to be acknowledged to be able to move forward as they joined a discussion on justice and equal rights. Harry and Meghan both took part in the video call with young leaders in one of the Queens Commonwealth Trusts (QCT) weekly sessions set up in response to the growing Black Lives Matter movement. The duke, whose grandmother the Queen is head of the Commonwealth, last week outlined his personal commitment to tackling institutional racism. Harry said: When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past. So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do. Its not going to be easy and in some cases its not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits. Meghan also touched on the Commonwealths past, saying: In that self reflection, its acknowledging whatever mistakes weve all made, right? So if we look at the Commonwealth, I know part of the conversation were going to explore later on is looking at the history of that. The roots of the Commonwealth a voluntary association of 54 nations stretch back to Britains colonial past and the British Empire. Nicola Brentnall, chief executive of the QCT, has written that the organisation is looking at how the Commonwealths past of colonialism, of the subjugation of peoples and the ongoing legacy of such historic injustice should shape its identity and future. Former Suits star Meghan also stressed it was important to focus on individual actions. What have we done in our past that we put our hand up? This is a moment of reckoning where so many people go You know what, I need to own that. Maybe I didnt do the right thing there, the duchess said. The couple, who were speaking from Los Angeles, joined Chrisann Jarrett, co-founder of We Belong, which is led by young people who migrated to the UK, and Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas. Also on the July 1 chat were Mike Omoniyi, founder of The Common Sense Network and Abdullahi Alim, who leads the World Economic Forums Global Shapers. Harry addressed the issue of unconscious bias, sharing his own perspective. We cant deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been brought up and educated to see the world differently, he said. However, once you start to realise that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to be able to become more aware. Expand Close The couple are living in LA with their son Archie (Toby Melville/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The couple are living in LA with their son Archie (Toby Melville/PA) The duchess, who became the first mixed race person to marry a senior British royal, highlighted the quiet moments of unconscious bias as a key issue, drawing on her own personal experience. Its not even in the big moments right? Its in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and hides and thrives, she said. She added: So much of what Ive come to the understanding of, especially in learning even more about it of late, and obviously having had personal experience with it as well, in peoples complacency, theyre complicit. After the Sussexes stepped down as a senior working royals, Harry had to leave his role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. But he and Meghan retained their posts as president and vice-president of the Queens Commonwealth Trust. Harry told those taking part as they discussed the drive towards a more equal society: This change is needed and its coming. He added: The optimism and the hope that we get is from listening and speaking to people like you, because there is no turning back now, everything is coming to a head. Solutions exist and change is happening far quicker than it ever has done before. The group discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and their own take on radical change. Asked by Meghan what the solutions were, Ms Jarrett replied: We all need to be in this for the long run. This is not a hashtag its about being persistent with the demand that change must come and were not going to stop until it comes. Meghan spoke of how equality was a fundamental human right. Were going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because its only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships, she said. Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing which is a fundamental human right. At one point, Harry made his wife laugh by saying: Im ageing, right. Im 35 already. Meghan remarked: Thats not ageing, with Harry adding: It is ageing compared to these guys. Monkeys eat fruit at an ancient temple during the annual 'monkey buffet' in Lopburi province, Thailand. More than 4,000 kilos of fruits and vegetables were offered to monkeys during the annual festival Monkey labour to harvest coconuts for commercial products "is almost non-existent" in Thailand, the commerce minister said on Monday, after British retailers announced bans on products campaigners say use the animals in their production. Waitrose, Co-op, Boots and Ocado vowed not to sell products that used monkey labour, while Morrisons has already removed Thai products amid an appeal by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds. Symonds on Friday backed a call to supermarkets to stop selling Thai coconut products over accusations of monkey "slaves" by the rights group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) published in the Telegraph newspaper. "Using monkeys for the coconut industry is almost non-existent," Thai Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit told reporters, saying human labour had long ago replaced monkeys. "But there may still be the pictures of monkey collecting coconuts for tourism on video clips, which created a misunderstanding," Jurin said. Deputy agriculture minister, Mananya Thaiset, echoed his comments. "How do you even find that many monkeys to collect large amounts of coconuts to cater to the industry?" she said When asked by email about the minister's comments that the video may have been taken at tourist shows, rather than in an industrial plantation, PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker said: "PETAs investigation footage was captured recently on plantations and training schools." "When the government tries to explain away extreme cruelty to monkeys, it only makes the public angrier," he added. Reuters could not verify whether the monkeys in the PETA video were being used in commercial coconut farming. Thailand last year exported coconut milk worth 12.3 billion baht (350m), about 8pc of it to Britain. Walmart-owned supermarket Asda also said it was removing products from Aroy-D and Chaokoh, Thai brands of coconut milk, while investigating the PETA report. An Aroy-D spokeswoman disputed the report and said British retailers did not consult it before their announcements. Chaokoh did not reply to queries on Monday. Edwin Wiek, of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand that tends to rescued wildlife, said he believed the practice was waning as farmers strived to meet European trade standards. "I do believe that monkeys are still being used for the coconut picking. But in the last 15 years, its going down at a very big rate," he said. THE HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) won the elections. It was clear that the HDZ would win after the exit poll results came in, but the first official results confirmed the party's victory. The first official results suggested that the HDZ was set to win 71 seats, but the number slightly decreased as results from more polling stations came in. By two o'clock in the morning, over 98 percent of the votes had been counted. HDZ has won 66 seats. The SDP's (Social Democratic Party's) Restart coalition has experienced an abysmal failure, winning only 41 seats. Miroslav Skoro and his Domovinski pokret (Homeland Movement) have won 16 seats, but contrary to all predictions, their seats will not be essential in forming a government. Most (Bridge of Independent Lists) has won eight seats and thus showed that they are a party with a solid stronghold in Croatian politics. The biggest surprise of these elections is the platform gathered around the Mozemo (We Can) party. They won seven seats, mostly in Zagreb, and thus created an opportunity to be one of the main contenders for the position of mayor of Zagreb at a local level. A coalition gathered around the Pametno (Intelligently) party is also entering the parliament. Dalija Oreskovic, Dario Zurovec, and Marijana Puljak, who won a seat in the tenth constituency at the last minute, are entering the parliament. The HNS (Croatian People's Party) has won one seat and thus, despite predictions to the contrary, continues to exist as a parliamentary party. Radimir Cacic and his reformists have also won one seat. Plenkovic gave a speech However, the HDZ won by a landslide. All pre-election analyses and polls predicted that the government would not be formed easily. Moreover, most polls and analysts gave Bernardic's Restart coalition a better chance of a relative victory. Not only did that not happen, but the SDP experienced an utter failure in the elections. It will take a lot of knowledge, willpower, and ability to get the party back on its feet, and those are the things that the party is currently lacking. Advertisement Plenkovic gave a rather short speech, in which he mostly thanked the voters. The speech was interrupted by applause a few times. The atmosphere in the HDZ headquarters was more or less calm, regardless of the victory, not even close to the unforgettable party in 2015. Moreover, Plenkovic did not come on stage accompanied by a patriotic song. Instead, he was accompanied by the song Eye of the Tiger, and there were no flags. "Such support is a huge obligation for us, and we will make sure we always keep it in mind. Croatia needs solutions for challenges that both the economy and the public health are facing, and it also needs to strengthen institutions, human and minority rights," Plenkovic said in his speech. When compared with the results of previous years, it is clear that this is one of the greatest victories of the HDZ. Previous election results In 2003, 59.59 percent of the total number of voters voted in the elections, and the HDZ won the most seats - 66, followed by the SDP (Libra, LS, IDS) with 43 seats. As for the percentage of the seats won, HDZ won 43.42 percent of the seats. The SDP, along with Libra, LS and IDS won 28.29 percent of the seats. In 2007, Sanader's HDZ won 61 seats plus five from the diaspora, while the SDP won 56 seats. In 2011, the HDZ won 44 seats plus three from the diaspora, while the SDP's Kukuriku coalition won 80 seats plus one minority seat. About 62 percent of registered voters voted in the elections, whereas yesterday, 47 percent of voters voted. In 2015, the SDP and HDZ coalitions won an equal number of seats 56. The Domoljubna koalicija (Patriotic Coalition) won 746,056 votes in ten constituencies, and 24,444 votes from the diaspora. 60.82 percent of voters voted in the elections. In 2016, the HDZ also won easily, winning 61 seats, and the SDP-led coalition won only 54 seats. Plenkovic's HDZ won about 70 thousand fewer votes than in 2015, "only" 695,791, which includes votes from the XI constituency. Only 52.59 percent of the total number of voters voted in these elections. Donald Trump making bizarre claims on COVID-19 with no evidence to substantiate his conclusions is nothing new. Well, now there is a latest one on the list as he has said that 99% of the cases in the country are 'totally harmless'. He said this on July 4, to mark the Independence Day weekend, as per a report in Hindustan Times. His statement comes while many states are breaking records. In Texas, 7890 patients were admitted to hospital while Florida reported 11,445 fresh cases. AP Trump yet again lashed out at China even as he hoped for a vaccine by the end of the year. "China must be held fully accountable, he said. AP Now we have tested, almost 40 million people, 99% of which are totally harmless, he added. Cases in USA have crossed 2.8 million with nearly 130,000 deaths. AP "We have the manufacturing record for ventilators. We have the most and the finest testing anywhere in the world. We are producing gowns, masks, and surgical equipment in our country. It was almost exclusively made in foreign lands, in particular, China, where ironically this virus and others came from. Chinas secrecy, deception, and cover-up allowed it to spread all over the world, 189 countries and China must be held fully accountable," he went on to say. Worldwide more than 11 million people are affected and over 536,000 are dead. The number of people recovered is above 6500,000. Rumors about Queen Elizabeth soon retiring and abdicating, leaving the monarchy so she can start relaxing, have been rife since forever. At present, she is still not stepping down, despite her age. According to royal insiders, with how the Palace affairs are going right now in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the Queen might be hesitating to abandon her role and let the succeeding royal deal with all the issues. Apart from the issue of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the palace and their royal positions, another issue is with regard to her son, Prince Andrew, whose association with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has brought massive disgrace to the royal family. While it appears as if most royal talk and gossip revolves around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and their decision to leave, this is not true. In reality, equal attention towards Prince Andrew's present fate as the FBI hounds him for all that he knew about Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking business. The Queen is certainly up to her neck with pressure to do something. Therefore, according to Globe, if there is one thing that the Queen felt she has to do first before she can even truly consider leaving her position, this is to strip Prince Andrew his HRH Title. Since she really cannot do anything about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle anymore, regardless of the exposes they are supposedly going to about the royal family, the Queen can still do something about Andrew so he would no longer be a nuisance to the palace. Moreover, she already took away Harry and Meghan's titles when they quit their royal duties. What they do now would no longer be a complete reflection of the royals. As long as Prince Andrew still has his HRH title, his would be a completely different story. If the Queen steps down before stripping down Prince Andrew's HRH title, her reputation as having a favorite and bias among her four children, would be cemented. Letting her favoritism take precedence over the outrage over Prince Andrew's ties to the sex-trafficking pedophile Epstein would be a very bad record on the longest-reigning monarch. According to Nigel Cawthorne, the author behind the book "Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace," since Queen Elizabeth's favorite son is "virtually retired and can no longer carry out royal duties," he should just give up the HRH title. The author even hinted the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be among the ones clamoring for the title removal. "He should give up the HRH title and the money he receives from the Privy Purse, "the author said. "Harry and Meghan, who were upset about losing their HRH, will be thinking it's a little bit unfair Andrew gets to keep his." "Good Morning Britain" host Piers Morgan essentially said the same, hinting at the audacity of the Prince to want the title retained when he brought massive shame to the royal family. At present, there are conflicting accounts of whether prince Andrew is cooperating with the FBI or not. His camp said yes, but the FBI itself said no. The Queen is quite anxious about the unfolding case. READ MORE: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Bankrupt Since Megxit: Couple Needs to Make Money ASAP See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform a flyover near the White House on July 4, 2020 in Washington, DC, in his "Salute to America" celebration. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) A forward camp of the Indian army in July 1991 at 16 thousand feet (upper part of glacier) and 45 miles up on a 75 mile Siachen Glacier, in Baltistan province, near the Chinese border. (Annirudha Mookerjee/AFP via Getty Images) US Senate poised to pass National Juneteenth Holiday Bill S.4019 by Khubaka, Michael Harris Sunday Jul 5th, 2020 8:19 PM Since that final summer military campaign in Texas beginning June 18, 1865, people of Pan African Ancestry throughout the Diaspora have always celebrated Juneteenth in a big way. Juneteenth, our 155 year old cultural holiday, marks the agreed upon date to celebrate the abolishment of slavery in the United States, has joyous added meaning this year as we transition to our Official National Juneteenth Holiday. Beginning in the 16th century, Pan Africans were captured as prisoners of war by Spanish and Portuguese military expeditions following a Papal Edict in 1442. Today, the 2020 Solar and Lunar Eclipse, punctuated by Senate Bill 4019 may finally provide a path to begins a peaceful rest, by initial recognition of our long and arduous journey from slavery to freedom, Dr. John Hope Franklin is smiling with so many others. Since that first summer of 1865, people of Pan African Ancestry throughout the Diaspora have always celebrated Juneteenth. If you are not from rural Texas or are deeply connected strong Pan African communities, civic organizations, fraternal or faith based communities nationwide, then chances are you did not learn about Juneteenth growing up or care about Juneteenth until President Trump made it Global news. It is long past time to make Juneteenth a national holiday and have official government conversations on culturally appropriate ways to commemorate the ending of "America's Peculiar Institution." Designating June 19 a national holiday will powerfully proclaim throughout the United States and the world, that we may be finally ready to grapple with the ongoing legacy of the Trans Atlantic Trade in Human Cargo. June 19, 1865 or Juneteenth marks the day when Union Troops arrived in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy at Port Galveston Island, Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and was murdered in 1865, word traveled very slowly during the waining days of the US Civil War. Over 600,000 Union and Confederate troops had already died in a bloody Civil War and two months after the Confederate Army of Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House, the fighting continued. Union soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19 and issued General Order No. 3 declaring all enslaved people were free. A 7 week campaign with over 3000 US Colored Troops setting the pace to secure the border with Mexico, free enslaved Pan Africans and confiscating valuable cotton crops for the US Treasury. Today, increasing number of Americans are beginning to celebrate Juneteenth for the promise it holds and for the powerful message it symbolizes. From its beginning, Juneteenth builds upon an America story that moves us closer to actualizing the ideals of equity and inclusion within the Declaration of Independence. The idea that all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" will acknowledge the denial for centuries under the notion of "previous condition of servitude." At this years Folsom Juneteenth in Historic Sutter Street, Folsom, California we joined with other community leaders throughout the nation to celebrate in the spirit of hope and joy of a new beginNing. National Juneteenth Holiday remains our day where all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities can come together to experience a message of healing, honoring our ancestors, elders and elevating the best in our communities, nation and world. Together, we will continue to advocate for Juneteenth to be officially designated a nationwide holiday and prepare to lead efforts for cultural appropriate ways for everyone to celebrate Juneteenth as part of our ongoing commitment toward achieving truth, justice and equality for all. Deep learning continues to be one of the hottest fields in computing, and while Googles TensorFlow remains the most popular framework in absolute numbers, Facebooks PyTorch has quickly earned a reputation for being easier to grasp and use. PyTorch has taken the world of deep learning research by storm, outstripping TensorFlow as the implementation framework of choice in submitted papers for AI conferences in the past two years. With recent improvements for producing optimized models and deploying them to production, PyTorch is definitely a framework ready for use in industry as well as R&D labs. But how to get started? Youll find plenty of books and paid resources available for learning PyTorch, of course. But there are also plenty of resources on the Internet that will help you get to grips with the framework for absolutely nothing. Plus, some of the free resources are of even higher quality than what you can pay for. Lets take a look at what is on offer. PyTorch.org tutorials Perhaps the most obvious place to start is the PyTorch website itself. Along with the usual resources such as an API reference, the website includes more digestible works such as a 60-minute video and text blitz through PyTorch via setting up an image classification model. There are guides for both the standard and the more esoteric features of the framework, and when a new major capability is added, such as quantization or pruning of models, youll normally get a quick tutorial on how to implement them in your own applications. On the downside, the code in the various tutorials tends to vary quite a lot, and sometimes standard steps will be missed or passed over in order to show off the feature that the tutorial is concentrating on rather than producing idiomatic PyTorch code. In fairness, the tutorial code has definitely improved over the past couple of years, but you do sometimes have to be a little careful. For this reason, I wouldnt recommend using the PyTorch website as your primary resource for learning. Nevertheless, its a useful resource to have on hand and the best place to learn how to use the latest new features. Udacitys and edXs PyTorch deep learning courses Im bundling Udacitys Introduction to Deep Learning with PyTorch and edXs Deep Learning with Python and PyTorch together here as they have similar structures, cover a lot of the same ground, and appear to suffer from the same issues. They both have a traditional series of lectures that build up from the foundations of deep learning, introducing you to concept after concept, then tackling more complex scenarios such as image and text classification by the end of the course. This is a completely fine way to go about teaching deep learning, but it does mean that youll be sinking some considerable time into the lessons before you get to do anything exciting with PyTorch, unlike, say, what happens with the Fast.ai course. Both the Udacity and edX courses do appear to suffer from being a little out of date in terms of content and PyTorch itself. You wont learn anything about generative adversarial networks (GANs) or Transformer-based networks in either course, and the Udacity course is based on PyTorch 0.4. This isnt necessarily a problem, but were currently at PyTorch 1.5, so you may find yourself running into deprecation warnings when trying to replicate code on the latest version. If youre choosing between these two courses, I would give Udacity a slight edge over edX due to the Facebook stamp of approval. Fast.ais Practical Deep Learning for Coders Since its beginnings 2016, fast.ai has been the gold standard for free deep learning education. Every year, it has released a new iteration of its two-part course, iterating on the previous incarnation and pushing things forward a little every time. While the first year was based on Keras and TensorFlow, fast.ai switched to PyTorch from year two and hasnt really looked back (though it has cast a few glances at Swift for TensorFlow). Fast.ai has a somewhat unique approach to teaching deep learning. Other courses devote many of the early lectures and material laying the foundations before you even consider building even the tiniest neural network. Fast.ai is, well, faster. By the end of the first lesson, youll have built a state-of-the-art image classifier. This has led to some criticism that the Fast.ai course leans too heavily on magic rather than teaching you the basics, but the following lectures do give you a good grounding in what is happening under the covers. And yet, Id be a little hesitant to recommend Fast.ai as your sole resource for learning PyTorch. Because Fast.ai uses a library on top of the framework rather than pure PyTorch, you tend to learn PyTorch indirectly rather than explicitly. Thats not to say its a bad approach; the Part Two Lessons of the 2019 course include an astonishing set of lectures that builds a somewhat-simplified version of PyTorch from scratch, solving bugs in actual PyTorch along the way. (This set of lectures, I think, puts paid to any notion that Fast.ai is too magical, for what its worth.) That said, you might want to use Fast.ai in conjunction with another course in order to understand what Fast.ais library is doing for you versus standard PyTorch. EPFLs Deep Learning (EE-559) Next up, how about a course from an actual university? EE-559, taught by Francois Fleuret at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, in Switzerland, is a traditional university course, with slides, exercises, and video clips. While it begins with the basics, it does ramp up beyond whats on offer with the Udacity and edX courses by taking in GANs, adversarial samples, and closes out with Attention mechanisms and Transformer models. It also has the advantage of being current with recent PyTorch releases, so you should be confident that youre learning techniques and code that are not using deprecated features of the framework. Other PyTorch learning resources There are a few more resources that are very useful but perhaps not core to learning PyTorch itself. First, theres PyTorch Lightning, which some describe as PyTorchs equivalent to Keras. While I wouldnt go that far, as PyTorch Lightning is not a complete high-level API for PyTorch, it is a great way of producing organized PyTorch code. Further, it provides implementations of standard boilerplate (for details like training, testing, validation, and taking care of distributed GPU/CPU setups) that you would otherwise end up re-writing for most of your PyTorch work. The documentation on the projects website includes some good tutorials to get you started. In particular, theres a wonderful video that shows off the process of converting a normal PyTorch project to PyTorch Lightning. The video really shows off the flexibility and ease-of-use that PyTorch Lightning provides, so definitely have a look at that once youve mastered the basics. Second, theres Huggingfaces Transformers library, which has become the de facto standard for Transformer-based models over the past 18 months. If you want to do anything approaching state-of-the-art with deep learning and text processing, Transformers is a wonderful place to start. Containing implementations for BERT, GPT-2, and a brace of other Transformer models (with more being added seemingly on a weekly basis), it is an amazing resource. Happily, it also includes a selection of Google Colab notebooks that will get you up and running with the library swiftly. And third, I cant write his article without mentioning Yannic Kilchers explainer videos. These are not PyTorch specific at all, but they are a great way to keep track of current papers and research trends, with clear explanations and discussion. You probably wont need to watch these when you start learning PyTorch, but by the time youve gone through some of the coursework mentioned here, youll be wanting to know what else is out there, and Kilchers videos point the way. Learning PyTorch deep learning If youre looking to learn PyTorch, I think your best bet is to work through both the Fast.ai course and one of the more traditional courses at the same time. (My pick for the companion course would be EE-559, since it stays current with PyTorch.) As a bonus, theres a Fast.ai book coming out in August that will be one of the best introductory texts for deep learning. Based on the new FastAI2 library (which among other things has a multi-tiered API structure for easier integration with standard PyTorch), the Fast.ai book is likely to be essential for getting started in the field really quickly. And while I recommend buying a physical copy, you can read it all for free in notebook form on GitHub. Dive into the book, and youll be telling dogs from cats in no time at all! Cara Delevingne had a massive year so far and not professionally, but personally. She got burned so bad at the romance department that she's not raring to do anything of that sort anymore. According to OK USA, July 13 edition, Cara Delevingne has sworn off dating. She just broke up with Ashley Benson and had to deal with the circus that followed. She was also just dragged in Amber Heard's scandalous business with Johnny Depp. The "Pirates of Caribbean" actor is accusing her of having engaged in a threesome with his then wife, Amber and his wife's boyfriend, Elon Musk. It's natural therefore that Cara is now iffy with anything that has to do with another person. A pal revealed, "She wants to live without the pressure of having a girlfriend." The source added that Cara would admit that she often jumps into romances far too quickly, which can become disastrous. As such, the model thinks it will do her good to just chill for a few months. In the middle of the lockdown while the whole world grapples with COVID-19 pandemic, Cara and her then GF, Ashley Benson broke up after two years together. As fans accused Benson of cheating on her with G-Eazy, Cara even put her foot down and told the people that they should not blaming Benson. The relationship reportedly broken down of things fans do not know about. In addition, after all these drama, she's dragged into ex-flame Amber Heard's divorce drama. Now people cannot stop thinking of threesome when they think of Cara. Look how fast people search Google for "Cara Delevigne threesome." It was the last straw of the model turned actress. She is hardly the girl who is comfortable with having her private life aired out in public so all these are taking a toll on her. The pal explained that Cara had already been feeling wary after her Benson breakup, that the Amber Heard fiasco pushed her to her limits. "She's looking forward to stepping back from the limelight and doing some self-care," the friend also shared. Her work might be the silver lining to her life right now. After all, professionally, she seems to have everything going ever since. She's a known model and a successful actress herself. Even with all these drama going on in her life, she was able to work with Dior. The company recently unveiled its new jewelry campaign featuring Cara Delevingne. The media had been all praises for her hard work and talent on this shoot. According to Daily Mail, she stunned with the campaign as she brought her trademark quirkiness to the shoot done by Mario Sorrenti. She's not UK's highest-paid model for nothing! She was also reported to be a property tycoon. According to Mirror UK, she's the director of her father's 45million real estate firm and the firm is snapping up pads in the capital's chicest and wealthiest of streets. A source said that Cara truly has her mojos on in this business and it is no ordinary business at that. "Everyone knows property is. decent long-term investment and Cara has got her head screwed on," the source revealed. READ MORE: See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles ROME Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and often haunting soundtracks for such classic Hollywood gangster movies as The Untouchables and the epic Once Upon A Time In America, died on Monday. He was 91. Morricones longtime lawyer and friend, Giorgio Assumma, said the Maestro, as he was known, died in a Rome hospital of complications following a recent fall in which he broke a leg. During a career that spanned decades and earned him an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2007, Morricone collaborated with some of Hollywood's and Italy's top directors, including on The Untouchables by Brian de Palma, The Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino and The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo. The Tarantino film would win him the Oscar for best original score in 2016. In accepting that award, Morricone told the audience at the ceremony: There is no great music without a great film that inspires it. In total, he produced more than 400 original scores for feature films. His iconic so-called Spaghetti Western movies saw him work closely with the late Italian film director Sergio Leone. Morricone was credited with nothing less than reinventing music for Western movies through his partnership with Sergio Leone, a former classmate. Their partnership included the Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood as a quick-shooting, lonesome gunman: A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, For a Few Dollars More in 1965 and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly a year later. Morricone was celebrated for crafting just a few notes, like those played on a harmonica in Leones 1984 movie Once Upon A Time in America, which would instantly become the films motif. The movie is a saga of Jewish gangsters in New York that explores themes of friendship, lost love and the passing of time, starring Robert De Niro and James Wood. It is considered by some to be Leones masterpiece, thanks in part to Morricones evocative score, including a lush section played on string instuments. Inspiration does not exist, Morricone said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press. What exists is an idea, a minimal idea that the composer develops at the desk, and that small idea becomes something important. In a later interview, with Italian state TV, Morricone cited study, discipline and curiosity as the keys to his creative genius. Writing music, like all creative arts, comes from a long path along life's experiences, he said. In his late 80s, Morricone provided the score for The Hateful Eight, Tarantinos 2015 70-mm epic and the first time in decades that he had composed new music for a Western. It was also the first time Tarantino had used an original score. In accepting Morricones Golden Globe for the music in his place, Tarantino called him his favorite composer. When I say favorite composer, I dont mean movie composer. ... Im talking about Mozart, Im talking about Beethoven, Im talking about Schubert, Tarantino said. Italy's head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, in a condolence message to the composer's family, wrote: Both a refined and popular musician, he left a deep footprint on the musical history of the second half of the 1900s. Morricone's sound tracks, Mattarella said, contributed greatly to spreading and reinforcing the prestige of Italy in the world. Morricones style was sparse, made of memorable tunes and unusual instruments and arrangements, and often stirred deep emotions. His music punctuated the long silences typical of the Spaghetti Westerns, with the characters locked in close-ups, staring at each other and waiting for their next moves. The coyote howl, harmonicas and eerie whistling of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became Morricones trademark and one of the most easily recognizable soundtracks in cinema. Minutes before handing Morricone the Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2007, Eastwood recalled hearing for the first time the score of A Fistful of Dollars and thinking: What actor wouldnt want to ride into town with that kind of music playing behind him? It was a night to remember for Morricone, who had been nominated for Oscars five times (The Hateful Eight was his sixth) but until then had never won. Born in Rome on Nov. 10, 1928, Morricone was the oldest of the five children. His father was a trumpet player. After studying trumpet and composition at the Conservatory of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in the Italian capital, he started working as a trumpeter and then as an arranger for record companies. I started working on very easy kinds of music pieces for the radio, for television and then for the theater, and then little by little I started to compose the film scores, he told the AP in 2016. In 1961 he wrote his first score for a movie, a bittersweet comedy set in the final moments of Fascism called Il Federale (known in English as The Fascist). That decade also saw Morricone cooperate with Pontecorvo, first on The Battle of Algiers, the black-and-white classic depicting the Algerian uprising against the French; and later on Queimada, a tale of colonialism starring Marlon Brando. Morricone received his first Oscar nomination for original score with Days Of Heaven, a 1978 movie by U.S. director Terence Malick. Beside The Hateful Eight, the others were for The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991) and Malena (2000). Shortly before his lifetime Oscar, Morricone joked that he would have been happy without the coveted statuette, saying I would have remained in the company of illustrious non-winners. But he also made no secret that he thought The Mission, with its memorably sweet theme of Gabriels Oboe, deserved the Academy Award. That year, he lost to Herbie Hancocks Round Midnight. Another renowned maestro, Riccardo Muti, cited his friendship and admiration for Morricone. Muti on Monday recalled that when he directed the composers piece Voci dal Silenzio (Voices from the Silence ) the work elicited true emotion from the audience, both in Chicago, where Muti directs the symphony orchestra, as well as during a performance in Ravenna, Italy. Muti called Morricone an extraordinary composer both for films and in classical music. Asked by Italian state TV a few years ago if there was one director he would have liked to have worked with but didn't, Morricone said Stanley Kubrick had asked him to work on Clockwork Orange. But that collaboration didn't happen because of a commitment to Leone, Morricone recalled. Morricone is survived by his wife Maria Travia, whom he cited when accepting his 2016 Oscar. Married in 1956, the couple had four children, Marco, Alessandra, Andrea and Giovanni. Biographical material for this report was contributed by former AP correspondent Alessandra Rizzo. Camden County detectives are investigating the fatal shooting of a woman inside a home on the 2900 block of Congress Road, authorities said Sunday. Lateemah Leavy, 37, of Camden, was found dead from a gunshot wound in an upstairs bedroom around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a statement issued by Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Police Chief Joseph Wysocki. They did not say if Leavy lived in that home and did not provide details on the extent of her injuries. Anyone with information is urged to call Camden County Prosecutors Office Detective Matt Barber at 856-225-5166 or Camden County Police Detective Shawn Donlon at 856-757-7400, or send an email to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org. The Jersey Shores continuing mask wars led an iconic ice cream parlor to do the unthinkable: temporarily shut its doors at the start of the busy Fourth of July weekend. Springers, in Stone Harbor, one of the essential Shore ice cream parlors, voluntarily closed to a busy July 1 and 2 crowd after a coronavirus scare among employees, who were also being berated by mask-less customers, its owner said. Now, owner Mary Humphreys says, all customers in line and at the window will be required to wear masks in order to be served by the ice cream shop, which boasts that it has been serving ice cream in Stone Harbor since the days of Prohibition. I dont want to be the weak link in all of this, Humphreys said Monday. Thankfully, everybody has tested negative. One employee, who no longer works there, tested positive in late June while on a trip, Humphreys said. That led to concerns about other employees. Then another family of an employee also reported that theyd been in contact with someone who had tested positive. Humphreys made the decision to shut down altogether. I dont want to be the business that just assumes its no big deal and you just stay open and then suddenly youve got an outbreak, she said. The shop employs about 35 people, ranging in age from 14 to mid-20s, she said. READ MORE: As July 4th crowds flock to Jersey Shore, Ocean City officials give goodies to get people to wear masks She cautioned that visitors to the Shore should not be complacent because of businesses that do not seem to have any issues with employees testing positive. They may just not be as open about it as she is, she said. She said shes received calls from other Stone Harbor business owners dealing quietly with similar issues. Youve got to know theres other businesses dealing with it, she said. Customers are saying, at least youre being honest. One of her employees, she said, was chewed out by a customer after the employee asked her to put her mask, which was around her neck, back over her face. She turned around to the crowd and said, Can you believe this kid? You dont have the authority to enforce anything, Humphreys recalled. As noted by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and again Monday in his daily briefing, mask usage at the Jersey Shore has been spotty, at best, and mostly nonexistent on beaches, despite crowds throughout the holiday weekend. Unlike Springers, Murphy said he was not yet ready to issue a mask requirement outdoors, but was looking into it. Masks are currently required only indoors in New Jersey. Humphreys posted a long explanation for the shutdown on Facebook, dispelling rumors that the shop was closed by the state, and explaining the zero-tolerance policy for not wearing masks that will now be in place. She said she closed her eyes and hit send, on the post, but that the response has been mostly positive. The shop reopened July 3, taking a significant financial hit the two previous days, she said. Masks are not a political issue for us; they are an issue of public health and safety plain and simple, Humphreys wrote. She compared wearing masks to other precautions taken by food-service employees, like hair nets and gloves. The only thing new about masks is that it is a two-way street, she said. We need you to participate in this particular precaution. Anyone not wearing a mask, she said, should not bother coming to Springers for ice cream. The shop does not allow anyone inside. Orders are taken on the website, or while waiting in line, with employees going outside to take orders. The fulfilled orders are placed on a table outside. I respect the choice of those people that do not want to wear a mask and when our communities are free and clear from this pandemic and we do not have to wear masks any longer, we will gladly serve you ice cream again, she said. But for this year, if you want to get ice cream at Springers, you must wear a mask. A lingering issue, Humphreys said, is people sticking around to eat their ice cream, not a mask-friendly activity. They stand around on the property and eat their ice cream, she said. And its like, Everybody just move along. She said of her mask requirement, If youre doing your part, weve set it up that it shouldnt be a risk no matter what. You should never be in front of our employees for more than 10 minutes. As for the wait, thats always an issue at Springers, as one commenter noted. First of all, anyone who complains about waiting 30 minutes for a milkshake has clearly never been to Springers before. #worththewait, wrote one woman. Liz Krieger, 27, was enjoying a drink with friends outside a bar on Second Street in Old City on Sunday afternoon where the summer crowds were behaving almost as if the coronavirus did not exist. Then, a Black man on a bike stopped near the restaurant and began shouting, Social distancing! No one is wearing a mask! Restaurant goers started shouting back, telling him to go away. It was a dispute typical of America in the pandemic until one of the men sitting there, Jamie Atlig, owner of nearby Infusion Lounge, stood up as if to fight. Krieger and another woman rushed to position themselves in between them. According to Krieger, the man with the bike shouted something about MAGA privilege, while Atlig shouted Trump 2020! Thats when Atlig pulled a gun, and Krieger said she saw the Black man freeze at the sight, then pull out his bike lock in self defense. People were screaming, He has a gun! she said. And I was screaming, He has a bike lock! In seconds, Atlig, owner of Infusion Lounge nearby, had put away his gun. And the other man, whom Krieger didnt know, picked up his bike and rode off. When reached for comment, Atlig referred all questions to his lawyer, Robert Gamburg, who confirmed that it was his client who is seen in the video pulling the gun on the passerby. Gamburg said the pedestrian was being confrontational with guests at the lounge and was engaging in threatening behavior, menacing behavior. Mr. Atlig is licensed to carry a firearm. He has extensive firearm training. Hes a business owner and he was being threatened, Gamburg said. The individual reached behind his back for an object, Mr. Atlig unholstered his licensed firearm, defused the situation, and sat back down. Atlig was questioned by police after the incident on Sunday, Gamburg said, though he didnt know who called authorities to the scene. A police spokesperson, Eric McLaurin, said on Monday afternoon that its a very active investigation at this point. Krieger said police arrived shortly afterward but did not take a report because the victim had already left. To Krieger, the seeming lack of consequences was what compelled her to share the story with her friend D.J. Torney, an intern for City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who posted it to Twitter. The Black man doesnt need to be killed for this to be a story, she said. A man had a gun pulled on him for speaking the truth. We werent social distancing. He was completely in the right to be yelling at us and if I hadnt been there, this is how Black people are shot and its claimed later that he had a bike lock on him and people thought it was a gun. But lets be clear: The bike lock was never pulled out [until after the gun was]. As Philadelphia is easing back into public life after months of shutdowns and nearly a month of protests, the episode is causing the Old City District to think carefully about its plans to expand outdoor dining into the street, the organizations executive director Job Itzkovitz said. We want to do things cautiously and deliberately and with safety being a top concern, he said. Thomas, in sharing the video, expressed outrage after the holiday weekend that brought at least 30 shootings to the city. After a weekend of too much gun violence, more guns is not the answer, Thomas said in a tweet. He said the episode underscores the need for a serious response to gun violence. The vice president of the Monroe Township school board in Gloucester County has resigned after posting a message on Facebook suggesting one way to stop violence is to let Blacks kill each other. Well, there is one way to stop this [expletive], since they seem to wanna keep it up, school board vice president Jeff Simpler wrote in a Facebook post that surfaced last week. As much as I hate to say this. Stay out of the way, and let them kill each other sooner or later they will run out of other Black people to kill. A screenshot captured the post on Simplers Facebook page in response to a June 27 news story about a spike in violence in New York City that left 18 people shot in 24 hours. It prompted immediate calls by residents for Simpler to step down. The Monroe Township board announced Simplers resignation on Saturday, effective immediately. Simpler could not be reached for comment Monday. His Facebook page has been deleted. His telephone number has also been disconnected. In a statement Monday, the district said: We have been made aware that a former Board member made very troubling public comments on social media. It is important our community realize these comments do not reflect the Monroe Township Public Schools and the Board of Education. While it is sad that a statement is necessary, given the sentiments that were expressed, the Monroe Township Public Schools and the Board of Education stand for equality, integrity, and most of all, racial equity. Interim school Superintendent Thomas Coleman declined comment. The district enrolls just short of 6,000 students in K-12, about two-thirds of whom are white, and 16% Black, according to state data. Nia Imani, a 2011 Williamstown High School graduate, shared Simplers post in a Black Lives MatterSouth Jersey Facebook group. She said she had contacted district officials and the state Board of Education. We cannot allow this kind of person to oversee policies regarding Black children when this is his mind-set, she put in her post. The board gave no indication on when Simplers seat would be filled. The school board is scheduled to meet July 16. According to a 2011 campaign flyer, Simpler retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 and worked for the U.S. Postal Service. It said Simpler was a former president of the Monroe Township Democrat club, served on township committees, and was a state licensed official for high school sports. In 2018, school board candidate Richard Jankowski withdrew from the election after New Jersey Globe reported disparaging remarks on Jankowskis Facebook page calling Blacks monkeys and animals and suggesting its time to start firing bullets to kill them. Msgr. Michael J. Doyle came to Sacred Heart Church in Camden in 1974 and saw a city ravaged by poverty and white flight. Many of the churchs white parishioners had fled to Pennsauken, or Cherry Hill, or other South Jersey suburbs. As a result, both the church and Sacred Heart School struggled to stay afloat. About 80% of the schools current students are not Catholic. But poverty did not scare Father Michael, as his congregation calls him. He was born in Ireland on a farm, the second of five children. It was a field, not a town, he said of his origins, a community named Rossduff which, ironically, translates to black woods, similar to the name of a town in Camden County: Blackwood. The poorest child in Camden probably had a better Christmas than I ever had, Doyle, 85, said Sunday, just days after the Diocese of Camden announced he would be retiring later this month. Doyle talked about his imminent retirement, his passion for Camden, and growing up in Ireland, just after helping celebrate the first public Sunday morning Mass at Sacred Heart since March 15, when the coronavirus forced the temporary shuttering of most places of worship in an effort to reduce the spread of the deadly virus. A faithful crowd of about 45 people attended Sundays 10 a.m. Mass at the church that sits like a beacon inside the triangle formed by Michael Doyle Lane, Ferry Avenue, and Broadway. Everyone wore masks. Blue duct tape Xs marked spots on the wooden pews where parishioners could sit socially distanced from one another. I just wanted to thank them all for coming out today, Doyle said of the brief remarks he made. He said he was grateful to see everyone, and that they had enough trust to come together in church again. But he didnt say anything about his retirement during the service. That was left for Susan Cedrone to acknowledge during the announcements. Doyle will retire on July 15, after 46 years as Sacred Hearts pastor. After the Mass, people exited through a side door onto Michael Doyle Lane. There, on the street renamed for their pastor in 2017, they talked with great emotion about him and the prospect of not seeing him on the altar. Im just devastated and crushed, said Joan Riley, of Merchantville. But Im happy for him. Hes an icon. Hes a saint walking around on earth. Hes wonderful. Rocky Wilson, of Camden, broke into tears. He always says that Camden has three things that make it a wonderful place, Wilson said. Walt Whitman, he loves Walt Whitman, the people, and the river. But I would add a fourth thing, and thats Father Michael. Wilson said he had a health scare recently, and talking with Doyle kept his spirits up: Hes a poet as well as a priest. He brings a poets feelings to whatever he does. What Doyle does, and has done, has made him the subject of several documentaries, including one narrated by actor Martin Sheen. He was also profiled on 60 Minutes. His protests against the Vietnam War led to his arrest, along with others, for destroying draft cards at the Camden Post Office in 1970. The protesters were acquitted at trial the next year. Doyle was ordained as a priest in Ireland in May 1959 and came to the United States and the Camden Diocese in September of that year. His first assignment was at St. Raymonds in Villas, Cape May County. After two years there, he taught religion at Villanova University. READ MORE: Father Doyles unshakable mission and belief in Camden He returned to New Jersey and was assigned to other Camden parishes: Saint Joseph, from 1968-72; Saint George, from 1972-73; and Saint Joan of Arc, from 1973-74, the Catholic Star Herald reported. The Camden Dioceses newspaper called him an eloquent advocate for the poor who is renowned for his personal charm. Hes also known for supporting the struggling community in which Sacred Heart is located. Across Broadway, there is a vacant lot where a black wooden marker grimly notes: Anjanea Williams, Aged 20 Years, Shot to Death 1-20-11. Father Michael helped launch a food-sharing program that lets people in Camden get a bag of food on the fourth Saturday of every month. In 1984, he and Sister Peg Hynes (who has since died) organized the nonprofit Heart of Camden Housing Corp., to buy and renovate houses for low-income people to purchase. Susan Cedrone, a longtime church volunteer who lives in Delaware, said Doyle realized that by becoming homeowners, people would have more pride in where they lived and the community would become more stable. Church members also say he is responsible for keeping both Sacred Heart and Sacred Heart School alive. Every month, he sends out 5,000 letters to encourage people from all over to pay $300 to support one childs tuition at the school. We have a saying in Ireland: You cant get blood from a stone, Doyle said. There is no way that Camden families can pay enough tuition to support the school. A sign with a red heart outside the church notes that the school is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Many of us came here because of his conviction of a liturgy that leads to justice, Cedrone said. You cant just go to church and pray without doing something about what is going on in the world. Sacred Hearts Masses follow the traditional Catholic calendar. Our Mass leads to justice, Cedrone added. If you have a good liturgy, youre nourished by that liturgy and then it sends you forth to make things right in the world. About three or four years ago, after Doyle had surgery, Father Mike McCue, an oblate of St. Francis de Sales in Camden, began assisting with Mass. We all knew it was coming, but its still sad, Lesly DAmbola said of Doyles retirement. Many derived some relief that he plans to remain in the neighborhood. The parishioners were also pleased that Doyles successor is Father Vincent G. Guest, an immigration lawyer and the former director of the Camden Center for Law and Social Justice. Doyle also seemed happy about that pick. I heard he asked the bishop to be assigned to Camden and said he wanted to stay in Camden for life, the Irish priest said with a smile and twinkle in his eyes. Philadelphia voters will be asked in November to approve the creation of a Citizens Police Oversight Commission, an independent body that would have the power to review complaints against police and use of force by officers. But the structure and powers of the new commission would be finalized only after the vote. The same goes for its budget, which would be key to its success. Any oversight entity, regardless of how its structured, if they are not appropriately resourced ... will not be effective because it wont have the support it needs to do the work, said Liana Perez, director of operations for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. The new entity would replace the current Police Advisory Commission, which has been criticized for lacking enough power to provide effective oversight. The push to do so is one of several changes promised by Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council as protesters demanded action following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Philadelphias current Police Advisory Commission has seven employees and received $550,000 in the fiscal year that began last week, representing an 18% decrease from the previous years funding. The budget approved last week which included the elimination of a planned $19 million increase for the Police Department allocates an additional $400,000 for police oversight that would be held separately in the Managing Directors Office while officials determine the structure for the new board. The Police Advisory Commission budget for this fiscal year, is less than one-tenth of 1% the size of the $727 million Police Department budget a small amount compared with other large U.S. cities, which allot several million dollars to police oversight annually. Hans Menos, executive director of the commission, urged City Council to consider spending at least the equivalent of 1.5% of police funding on oversight. That would result in about $10 million annually for the new entity. This would ensure minimum staffing needs be met and would ensure independence, he said at a Council hearing last month. Kenney spokesperson Mike Dunn said the city cannot yet commit to a set level of funding. READ MORE: Philly City Council approves budget with coronavirus cuts, tax hikes, flat-funded Police Department We are only at the beginning of those conversations and recognize that civilian oversight will likely need additional funding, he said. Adding to the funding challenge: The city faces a fiscal crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. Philadelphia had to fill a $749 million budget hole and anticipates having just $51 million in reserve funds when the current fiscal year ends next summer. Menos pointed to New York and Chicago, noting that they each spend $16 million to $19 million on police oversight annually and have at least 180 employees working on oversight. In Chicago, the police oversight boards funding is set at 1% of the Police Department budget. New York City voters recently approved a measure to make police oversight staffing 0.65% of the number of officers in the city. Menos said in an interview that the mandate for his office is clear, granting him the authority to access any relevant Internal Affairs documents. But he said his requests have been routinely denied. I think what we need to do is recognize the importance of not only establishing powers for the Police Advisory Commission, he said, but respecting the ones that currently exist and allowing for real enforcement of those powers. The commission has been criticized for focusing more on policy recommendations than on investigations into police misconduct, Menos said during last months hearing. He recommended a new body with several sections, including units for special investigations, misconduct investigations, community engagement, data management, and audits of internal police investigations. Kenney administration officials have said the new body would have subpoena power, a measure that could help it access documents and information the current commission unsuccessfully sought. The ballot question would authorize adding the commission to the citys list of fully independent boards, such as the library trustees or the zoning commission, rather than placing it within a city department. The Police Advisory Commission currently reports to the Managing Directors Office, which also oversees the Police Department. Other details have yet to be worked out, but Dunn said officials are consulting with experts in other cities to develop a model that works. Ensuring public safety is paramount, and the events of the past several weeks have made clear that restoring the publics confidence in the Police Department is and will remain a huge part of that, Dunn said. The mayor believes that enhancing oversight will go far to rebuilding trust. READ MORE: Phillys police union spent decades amassing power. Reforms could cut its clout Pending approval from voters, the administration would negotiate additional details with City Council, which quickly approved the ballot measure last month along with other police changes. Only Councilmember Brian J. ONeill voted against the oversight legislation. Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who sponsored the legislation asking voters to approve a new commission, said at a Council hearing last month that the independence of the new agency would be key, so that its leaders can make decisions and dont have to fear for their jobs and the future of their commission. City Council legislation would still be needed to create the new commission if the ballot measure passed. That legislation would lay out its powers, the number of members, how much they would be paid, and other details. No timeline is set for getting the commission up and running, Dunn said, but we along with our partners on City Council intend to move expeditiously. While city officials commit to reform and seek to restore trust in police, however, they will have to juggle that with financial limitations due to COVID-19. Funding for oversight is now more readily available in many cities amid increased political will to reform police departments, Perez said. But oversight bodies are also being asked to do more with less. We havent really heard of any model of any existing oversight agencies being cut because of the pandemic, Perez said. More so, everybodys just going to need to reevaluate how theyre providing services and how they can be more efficient. Staff writer Samantha Melamed contributed to this article. Philadelphias gun violence epidemic reached alarming heights Sunday, as 23 people were shot across the city the most in a single day since at least 2013. Six of the victims died, including a 6-year-old boy who police believe was mistakenly shot by a 5-year-old boy inside an Upper Holmesburg rowhouse. The violent surge capped a July 4th holiday weekend in which 35 people were shot between Friday morning and Sunday night, according to police. The victims included an 11-year-old girl grazed by a bullet in Elmwood, a 52-year-old man shot in the foot while riding a bike in North Philadelphia, and a 15-year-old boy who died after being shot in the head during a triple shooting in Overbrook. Police said most of the cases had not yet resulted in arrests. On the block where the 6-year-old was killed, neighbors said they were shocked to learn a child died inside with other kids nearby. So far this year, at least 888 people have been shot in the city, according to an Inquirer analysis of city and police data an average of 4.7 people per day. The number of shooting victims has been steadily increasing since 2014, when 1,047 people were shot. If this years pace holds, the city will reach that number by early August and will finish the year with more than 1,700 victims, the highest total since at least 2007. Homicides, which also have been steadily rising in recent years, have continued to surge in 2020. According to police statistics, 210 people have been killed in the city this year, 27% above last years total through the same date, putting the city on pace for its highest annual murder tally since 1997. Mayor Jim Kenney on Monday lamented the violence, saying police resources have been stretched thin by the ongoing protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He added that violent situations can sometimes result from people being stuck in their homes for a long time because of the coronavirus pandemic. City Council President Darrell L. Clarke said the city was facing a perfect storm of problems, including widespread poverty, the coronavirus, the ongoing unrest, and easy access to guns issues he said Council was working to improve. At the end of the day, weve got to get through this, Clarke said. We got to figure out a way. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw was not available for an interview, the department said. The steady uptick in gun violence this year began with an especially brutal January and continued even after the emergence of the coronavirus, when shootings and homicides continued unabated as other violent crime generally decreased during the citys stay-at-home order. Other cities across the country including Chicago and New York have also seen spikes in gun violence in recent weeks, even as overall reported crimes have fallen. Jerry Ratcliffe, a criminal justice professor at Temple University, said Monday that determining causes for the spikes could be a challenge. In Philadelphia, so much has changed during the pandemic and subsequent social unrest: More people are staying home, more people are unemployed, police have shifted arrest and enforcement tactics to protect public health, and a broad public conversation has been taking place about the use of force by police. Youve got multiple things taking place at once, and its hard to disentangle the effects of each one, he said. Some of these factors will compound each other, some may dissipate, but we just dont know. Thomas Abt, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, cautioned in a report he coauthored and released last month that killings could rise during the rest of 2020 for several reasons, including cuts in city services, difficulty in safely conducting anti-violence outreach during a public health crisis, and worsening police-community relations amid the unrest over Floyds death. We have a lot of things going on at the same time, and unfortunately most, if not all, of these factors are pushing crime and violence in the wrong direction, Abt said in an interview. Meanwhile, Bilal Qayyum, a longtime anti-violence advocate in Philadelphia, said the lack of jobs and opportunity in many communities of color had only intensified as the pandemic exposed long-standing inequalities. That kind of pressure consistently on a community, without any signs of changing, I really believe is helping drive the violence were seeing right now, he said. In addition to systemic issues, Kenney has said police faced unprecedented deployment challenges during the first several days of the protests. Police statistics show 35 people were shot during the first two days of the demonstrations, on May 31 and June 1, though the majority did not occur in areas where protests took place. Beyond simply recording more victims this year, the frequency of shootings has been on the rise. According to an Inquirer analysis of city data, only 3% of this years 186 days have passed without a shooting the smallest percentage of any year since 2013. Meanwhile, 45% of this years days have ended with at least 5 people shot. And at least 78 of this years victims have been age 17 or younger, with 10 of this years victims getting shot before they reached age 13. One of them was Fakeem Hayes, the 6-year-old boy killed about 1 p.m. Sunday inside a house on the 4600 block of Kendrick Street. Staff Inspector Sekou Kinebrew, a police spokesperson, said investigators believe a 5-year-old boy inside the house shot Fakeem by accident. The child did not live at the house where he was shot, said Kinebrew, who added that detectives were still trying to sort everything out, and our best witnesses are young children. Outlaw told reporters at the scene Sunday that an adult was home with the children when the shooting occurred, and that a neighbor transported that adult and the young boy to the hospital. No one answered the door Monday at the two-story redbrick rowhouse where the shooting happened. A small blue inflatable pool sat on the front lawn, and two red-and-blue kids bikes were parked on the concrete walkway in front of the house. Neighbors said the people who live in the home kept to themselves. Biolanny Gil, 29, said: There are so many people coming in and out of the house. You dont know who actually lives there. Other neighbors said they believed there was drug activity at the house and another on the block. A woman who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution called the houses problem homes for a very long time. She said she did not know who lived there. The woman said she initially believed that police visiting the house Sunday afternoon had done so as part of a drug bust. She was saddened to learn it was instead for the death of a young boy. The whole neighborhood was shocked to hear that had happened, she said. People gathered outside the West Oak Lane house where police said Fakeem lived declined to comment Monday. Meanwhile, unrelated shootings continued in the afternoon. Just before 2 p.m., a 22-year-old woman was shot in the foot in East Germantown, police said. Two hours later, on the 4600 block of Broad Street in Logan, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot in the head and neck. Staff writers Sean Collins Walsh and Hadriana Lowenkron contributed to this article. Just months after the new owner of St. Laurentius Roman Catholic Church in Fishtown said he wanted to save the historic, deteriorating architectural landmark, he is seeking permission to tear down the building after the most recent engineering inspections deemed it dangerously unstable. We believe the nature of the structural distress is critical and will lead to at least partial collapse of the northeastern or northwestern towers within the next 10 years and an 80% probability of partial collapse within three years, concluded a June 14 report from the structural engineering firm Harman Group. Propelled by the dire findings, the deconsecrated churchs owner, New Jersey developer Humberto Fernandini and his lawyer, Matthew McClure of the Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr, urged the Philadelphia Historical Commission to expedite its review of Fernandinis demolition application. The commission agreed to add the matter to its Friday meeting agenda. Owing to the extremely poor condition of the building and the likelihood of a catastrophic collapse, according to an overview of the demolition application, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections Commissioner David Perri asked the Historical Commission to consider this matter as soon as possible and not wait for the next round of reviews in late July and early August. In the case of what could be a buildings imminent collapse, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections can order the structure to be demolished. The review Friday will accelerate the fate of the building, which has been at the center of a fierce, years-long spat between parishioners, neighborhood residents, and developers. Fernandinis request to demolish the citys first Polish church is the opposite of what he said he wanted to do when he bought the 19th-century, 8,000-square-foot building from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in January. I love the church itself, he said then. I think its an amazing project, and I was sort of enamored with the building. We are committed to keeping the church standing. He noted that he still had to assess the infrastructure before making any decisions. Concerns from residents and city building officials about the condition of the church, a brownstone from 1882 at 1608 Berks St. with two distinctive 150-foot spires that each weigh 500,000 pounds, peaked last year when pieces of the buildings facade crumbled, in one case with 6,000 pounds of rock breaking off a spire. It punctured steel scaffolding and fell within a fenced safety zone around the church, and the nearby St. Laurentius Catholic School had to close for two days. The archdiocese spent $135,000 to stabilize the building. This summer, Fernandini hired two engineering firms, the Harman Group based in King of Prussia and Thornton Tomasetti in Philadelphia at the request of the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspection to review the infrastructure. It is our opinion that inaction at this time poses a threat to public safety, Thornton Tomasetti said in a Thursday letter to Fernandini. Repair of the church, the firm said, was possible at the cost of more than $4.5 million. The Harman Groups assessment of the ill-maintained church on June 3 found cracked mortar the severity of which was exacerbated by moisture, freezing, and thawing disconnected wall corners, and large cracks at windowsills. The spires, which had obvious visible deterioration from at least 2013, were the most pressing concern, Thornton Tomasetti said in its letter to Fernandini last week. The firm listed 10 reviews from engineering or restoration professionals since 2013, all of which reported severely degraded infrastructure. The Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections said it asked the citys Historical Commission to meet quickly when it received the two engineering reports. L&Is position is that because of increased deterioration, the condition of the towers must be addressed promptly, Karen Guss, a spokesperson for the department, said Monday. Waiting and seeing is so longer a viable option. L&I does not have a position on what the method for addressing the problem should be. Fernandini was not available for comment. The request to demolish the church on an expedited schedule appeared to have taken local residents by surprise. We cannot continue to allow this bamboozling of our processes, Oscar Beisert, a Philadelphia preservationist, wrote on Facebook. ... This is absurd. Some locals have witnessed the drawn-out quarrels over the church since 2014, when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia closed the church out of worry that the building was in danger of collapse. The next year, the archdiocese said it intended to demolish St. Laurentius, a move that drove locals and preservationists to successfully add the church to Philadelphias historic register in an effort to protect it. Leo Voloshin, a local developer, bought the church with Linden Lane Capital Partners the next year with the plan to maintain the churchs exterior, but convert the interior into 23 apartments. The purchase price was not disclosed. Voloshins proposal drew the ire of a neighborhood group in Fishtown, the Faithful Laurentians, which appealed to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Commonwealth Court about a zoning permit Voloshin received to convert the church into apartments. In 2019, the Commonwealth Court said the Faithful Laurentians did not qualify as an aggrieved party because its members had not identified themselves as members of the group at a Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting on Nov. 1, 2016. The court upheld Voloshins permit. Despite the victory, after defending the zoning permit in court for several years, the developer eventually capitulated and walked away from the project, according to an overview of the demolition application. Other prospective buyers who might have rehabilitated the building came and went, scared off by the lengthy litigation. In January, Fernandini, the churchs current owner, confirmed that Voloshin had transferred St. Laurentius agreement of sale to him. But in the years before the handoff, Fernandinis lawyer said last week, the facade and masonry primary structure continued to degrade and, most unfortunately, the towers have become irreversibly unstable. In the larger world of finance, $5,000 hardly registers. But for a small community-based arts organization, it may well mean the difference between silence and holding on to staff and WiFi. Recognizing that, the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation decided in March to increase the funding available for grant-making, and on Monday, it announced 23 companies would receive awards of $5,000 each. For Scene-N-Action Productions Company, the very essence of a small community group annual operating budget under $20,000 the funding is as sweet as manna from heaven. Its grant is for general operating support, which means it can be used for any kind of company-related expense. SNAP, as it is known, offers dance and theater arts classes to neighborhood kids in the Germantown-Mount Airy part of the city. As might be expected, everything is online at the moment, thanks to COVID-19. That makes the Bartol grant SNAPs first huge. Its exciting, said Lydia Robinson, SNAP artistic director and president of the board of directors. The grant, she said was so on time because of everything thats been happening with the pandemic. Children can no longer come to the Finley Rec Center on Mansfield Avenue, where SNAP sets up shop during non-pandemic times. Parents have lost jobs and can no longer pay any fees. Staff positions are under threat. Insurance payments need to be made. SNAP applied for a Bartol grant last year, but did not make it. Robinson kept plugging away, however, and with the help of foundation staff, this year the company was rewarded for the effort. And now the programming for 33 children, plus outreach programs for at-risk kids can continue. Robinson said: $5,000 to us felt like a million dollars. It really, really helped. It seemed a moment to step up for COVID and for the organizations were working with, said Beth Feldman Brandt, Bartols executive director. Of SNAP, she said, This is exactly who we should be funding. The Bartol Foundation increased its overall giving in 2020 by almost 40% over 2019, including emergency grants to our grantees to pay teaching artists unable to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Feldman. A third of our new grantees have budgets under $100,000 and the smallest has a budget of $14,000. In addition to the $5,000 organizational grants, Bartol, which has a focus on arts education and community programs, is also giving out emergency grants, small ($500) micro grants, and an annual Bartol Award ($5,000). The total outlay will be about $145,000 this year, compared to $115,000 last year. Federal law mandates foundations distribute at least 5% of their endowment for charitable purposes. This year, Bartol bumped up to 6%. Grantees this year, in addition to SNAP, include: Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, Allens Lane Art Center, Art Sphere, Artistas y Musicos Latino Americanos, ArtWell, Big Picture Alliance, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble, International Ballet Exchange, Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum Ensemble, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Philadelphia Dance Company, Philadelphia Folklore Project, Portside Arts Center, Power Street Theatre Company, Rock to the Future, Scribe Video Center, Sister Cities Girlchoir, Spiral Q Puppet Theater, Tibetan Association of Philadelphia, University City Arts League, Warrior Writers of Culture Trust, and Young Artist Program. BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Some U.S. and Western politicians have recently made false accusations against the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Here are one of the rumors they spread, and the facts. Rumor: The legislation on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong will jeopardize Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. Facts: -- Since the turbulence over proposed legislative amendments last June, the "Hong Kong independence" groups and violent terrorist acts have dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's rule of law, economy and livelihood. The city's business environment and international image have also been severely damaged. The legislation is designed precisely to reverse that situation. After its adoption, the National People's Congress decision on national security legislation for Hong Kong received explicit support from many Hong Kong-based foreign-invested corporations. -- No international financial center will see its business environment undermined by the enforcement of a national security legislation. A recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong shows that more than 70 percent of companies don't have plans to move capital, assets, or business operations from Hong Kong, and more than 60 percent of the respondents personally don't consider leaving the city. -- The Macao SAR passed its national security legislation in 2009 in accordance with Article 23 of its Basic Law. From 2009 to 2019, Macao's GDP soared by 153 percent, its number of tourists increased by 81 percent, and its overall unemployment rate dropped to a 10-year low. Johnny Depp's legal team failed to get the judge's nod this time, so their next court trial will be more intense than usual. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the court canceled the supposed trial between Depp and The Sun in March 2020 and moved it to July 7. However, the delay caused another fiasco to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's legal team, as they failed to stop his ex-wife from attending the next libel trial. According to AP, trial judge Justice Nicol announced through a court order on Sunday (July 5) that the "Aquaman" actress is allowed to show herself before Depp on Tuesday. Per Mr. Nicol, excluding Heard from the London courtroom before she will be allowed to testify in the case "would inhibit the defendants in the conduct of their defense." Initially, Depp's lawyers motioned to keep her out until she is called to give her side on the case between Depp and The Sun. They believe that her testimony would be more reliable if she were not to attend the trial while Depp was being cross-examined. The judge reasoned out that News Group and Wootton are the ones defending the claim, not Heard. Thus, they are expected to rely "heavily" on what the actress will say. The 57-year-old actor is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and Executive Editor Dan Wootton over the publication's article about Depp being abusive toward Heard. The aforementioned article also contained the story on how J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" series, still chose to hire the "wife-beater Depp" in a "Fantastic Beasts" film despite the ongoing case against him. The actor reportedly sent some unseen 2013 text messages to actor Paul Bettany, one of which stated that he would "burn and drown" his ex-wife. One of the texts read, "I will f*** her burnt corpse afterward to make sure she is dead." In 2018, Depp filed the defamation lawsuit against the British tabloid after losing his "Pirates of the Caribbean" role, Captain Jack Sparrow. He also made a move to prevent his reputation from being damaged further. Heard's Appearance Is Expected? Before Depp's legal team attempted to prevent her from coming to the trial, an insider claimed that Heard is set to break her silence. The source said that the actress informed everyone that she would go to London to testify against her ex-husband and his claims. According to The Daily Mail's report, Heard will soon appear in the High Court to make a testimony about the incidents when Depp reportedly beat her. Her emergence will be considered as their first vis-a-vis legal battle showdown since two leaked audios, wherein Amber can be heard admitting that she hurt Depp, spread online. "She will be there to tell the truth. It is her chance, her moment," the source said. Other sources close to the actress reportedly said that Amber will make sure she will be revealing her side wholly as she believes that it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to come out clean. READ MORE: Johnny Depp's Fans Enraged After Devastating News! See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Lilian is an energetic elementary student at St. Martin de Porres Catholic School in North Philadelphia. She loves math, loves her school, and reads three years beyond grade level. When schools closed due to COVID-19 on March 13, Lilian and her classmates stepped up to the challenge of virtual learning and shes been thriving. But thousands of Philly Catholic school students face an uncertain future: Private schools elsewhere are permanently shutting down due to economic concerns. Across the river, the Diocese of Camden announced five South Jersey Catholic schools are shutting down for good. Then came news that two Diocese of Harrisburg schools would close. And in Baltimore, a Catholic girls school that served its community for nearly 200 years has shuttered for good. Philadelphias Catholic schools could be next and the consequences would overwhelm the School District. Lilians school serves a community where the median household income is less than $25,000. The school is part of Independence Mission Schools, a network of Catholic schools serving 5,000 pre-K-8 low-income kids throughout Philadelphia. Lilians family can only afford a Catholic education through a tax-credit scholarship from the Childrens Scholarship Fund Philadelphia. If Philadelphia Catholic schools shut down, students from low-income families will have few options: their zip code assigned district school or charter schools with long waitlists. But kids in district schools would also suffer a sudden influx of students would shock the system. The fact is, private schools are a huge benefit to district schools in Philadelphia and across the state. Pennsylvania school districts spend $18,000 per student on average. Each student educated outside that system, therefore, reduces the school districts costs. Since education dollars dont freely follow children to their school of choice, each private school student represents an $18,000 gift to public education. Considering there are 50,000 private school kids in the Philadelphia region, and 200,000 in Pennsylvania, the implications are staggering. Private schools save school districts billions of dollars each year while reducing districts classroom size. Mass private school closures could increase Pennsylvanias education costs by $1 billion or more as students flood to district schools, according to an EdChoice study. If just 30% of private school students could no longer attend their school, Philadelphia-area district schools would face an influx of 15,000 kids. School districts already under strain like Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh will suffer the most. To ensure our kids education isnt another victim of the coronavirus, we must focus on three immediate solutions. First, federal stimulus funding from the CARES Act must be accessible to all children. The act contains two funds, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) and the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER), through which Pennsylvania schools will receive roughly $625 million. While private school students are entitled to equitable services from school districts under ESSER, they will receive no direct funding. But Gov. Tom Wolf has the authority to issue grants from the governors fund that will benefit families of all school types. Since private schools educate around 12% of Pennsylvania students, Wolf should grant a proportionate share of CARES Act aid, $75 million, to private school students. Second, lawmakers and the governor should establish a $2,000 Back on Track education scholarship account (ESA) for every student to compensate for fourth-quarter educational services school districts couldnt provide during the coronavirus shutdown. These parent-controlled accounts would help families pay for at-home learning expenses, including online classes, curriculum, and tutoring and prepare students to return to school in fall. Third, Pennsylvanias existing tax-credit scholarship programs must be preserved and expanded. These programs allow individuals and businesses to give back to their communities by investing in private school scholarships in return for a partial tax credit. Private schools are critical components of our education system. Without them, all students will be worse off. State leaders should leverage all available options to ensure students can still receive the education they deserve and need. For kids like Lilian, the best time to act was yesterday. The second-best time is now. Charles Mitchell is the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvanias free-market think tank. Like the rest of the United States population, the prison population is aging fast. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2030, people over the age of 55 will account for almost one-third of all incarcerated people. That means that American prisons will house upward of 400,000 older prisoners, about the same population of New Orleans, representing a near doubling of the number of older prisoners currently behind bars. Caring for these elderly prisoners suffering from physical and mental frailty will create significant challenges for prisons. As an expert in human rights law and a former commissioner on Pennsylvanias Sentencing Commission, I am concerned about the burden this places on already overstretched prisons, but also the cost to human dignity. Furthermore, my research suggests that indefinitely detaining someone who does not understand why may violate the United States Constitutions prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Dying behind bars Americas large aging U.S. prison population is the direct result of the tough on crime policies of the 1980s and 1990s, when three-strike laws and mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole condemned many to die behind bars. And one in 10 people serving life without the possibility of parole in the U.S. are incarcerated in Pennsylvania. As the elderly prison population balloons, we must consider the cost of these policies. The Federal Bureau of Prisons spends approximately US$881 million per year caring for the elderly in their custody. Pennsylvania spends $3.2 million on medication for this population each month. Part of what is driving this cost is the expense of caring for those with serious medical conditions, especially those with dementia. Last year, the federal government opened its first unit dedicated solely to caring for prisoners with dementia. The unit is staffed by nurses, correctional officers and other prisoners who receive special training to help them care for those with Alzheimers disease and dementia. Likewise, Pennsylvania has three long term care units behind bars. The challenge of caring for this population will only compound as it grows. If researchers estimates are correct, by the end of this decade around 70,341 to 211,020 of the elderly prison population will have dementia. Most will be unable to perform the regular activities of daily life and will eventually require around-the-clock nursing care. Unusual cruelty Finances are not the only concern regarding this elderly incarcerated population. There is also the cost to human dignity. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution upholds this principle by outlawing cruel and unusual punishment. To justify punishment, the Eighth Amendment requires that there be some penological purpose, such as retribution, rehabilitation or deterrence. Recent U.S. Supreme Court cases suggest there is no such justification for indefinitely incarcerating those with dementia. In February 2019, the court in Madison v. Alabama which centered around a prisoner who developed severe dementia after a series of strokes held that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who cannot rationally understand their death sentence because it serves no retributive purpose. While Madison vs. Alabama addressed death sentences, a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case provides precedent for the conclusion that the justices holding could be extended to life without the possibility of parole. In Miller v. Alabama, the court compared a life sentence to a death sentence, as it forswears altogether the rehabilitative ideal. In other words, both sentences result in the condemned person having no ability to redeem themselves. While the court had suggested in previously cases that the death penalty is in a category all its own, in Miller it suggested that life sentences share some characteristics with death sentences that are shared by no other sentences. Furthermore, when it comes to prisoners with dementia, life sentences cannot be justified as a deterrence. Because of their profound impairments, people with severe dementia are often unable to understand that they are in a prison, much less why. How can someone adjust their behavior to avoid punishment, if they do not understand that the punishment is a consequence of their own bad acts? Forcing those who cannot understand their punishment to live the remainder of their days behind bars appears to be exactly the type of excessive and cruel punishment that the Eighth Amendment was meant to protect against. We need to reconsider the real world consequences of life without parole sentences. In my view, the cost, both to taxpayers and to our basic human dignity, is too high. Rachel Lopez is an Associate Professor of Law, Drexel University. A version of this piece previously appeared on TheConversation.com. All across Pennsylvania, we need to build trust between police and the communities they serve, with systemic change that can be created through thoughtful legislation. Community partnerships need to be formed between law enforcement organizations, residents, schools, child support services, prosecutors, religious leaders, businesses, and other members of our society. These needs have come into sharp focus this year, as protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police have occurred in big cities and small towns all over the country. Amid calls for abolishing the police and other criminal justice reforms, it is important that we not lose sight of another area where injustice exists in the system. As chair of the Board of Pardons, I see those who fall through the cracks in our state, good people whose lives are ruined by bad choices. For some, it is a bar fight that remains on their record for three decades. For others, its life imprisonment (with no chance of parole) for a second-degree conviction. That means they did not take a life, but the commonwealth is taking theirs through imprisonment. Arbitrary, mandatory minimum sentences send some people to prison for the rest of their lives, while others who committed more serious crimes under different statutes are paroled within five or 10 years. We have long known that our justice system falls woefully short of equity, as demonstrated by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasners Conviction Integrity Unit, which has uncovered misconduct that should shock the consciences of all those in pursuit of justice. We also know that much of this misconduct is directed toward marginalized communities: Black and brown people who do not have the resources to fight the system. So they wither (and in many cases die) in prison after serving years, and sometimes decades, more time than was reasonable for the crime they committed. Pennsylvanias mass incarceration is not just the result of police action. It lies at the feet of prosecutors more concerned with winning rates than justice. It lies at the feet of politicians who, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, are more devoted to order than to justice. We as a commonwealth must start caring more and doing more to address mass incarceration. One way Pennsylvania can achieve this is through increased funding to the Office of the Board of Pardons, so we can process more pardon and commutation applications and free deserving Pennsylvanians of this burden on their lives. Our states relationship with mass incarceration begins with a police encounter and, for many, ends in unduly long incarceration sentences. About 5,500 people are serving life without parole in Pennsylvanias state correctional facilities, including approximately 1,100 people with second-degree murder convictions. That means 1,100 people who did not take a life are having their lives taken at the hands of the commonwealth. Two-thirds, 66%, of all incarcerated life-without-parole inmates are Black, though Black people only comprise approximately 12% of Pennsylvanias population. When broken down by county, Philadelphia makes up 50% of all life-without-parole inmates. When broken down by race, 84% of Philadelphias portion of life-without-parole inmates are Black (although Philadelphias demographics show that the population overall is 42% Black). These numbers are outrageously disproportionate, and they show how broken Pennsylvanias criminal justice system really is. Change can occur if we demand action from our state legislature to reform police and prosecutors, repeal mandatory sentencing, and reduce over-policing (which includes finally legalizing adult-use marijuana). We must invest in making communities safer through education and programming. We should be sending more children to college instead of prison. We can only truly begin to make meaningful changes to the justice system in Pennsylvania if we address it as a whole, all the way from an encounter with the police to our parole and pardoning processes. John Fetterman is the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. Free pads and tampons! It is a sunny Thursday at South Philadelphia High School, and our table near the exit is piled with 250 paper bags of menstrual products. Families take a few as they leave the meal site, set up to help hungry families during the coronavirus pandemic. Within two hours, the bags are gone. We see many looks of relief. Thank God, one woman tells us. These things are expensive. Shes right: Having a period is expensive. So expensive, in fact, that the difficulty of affording menstrual hygiene products even has its own term: period poverty. A 2019 study of American cities found that two-thirds of low-income women did not have the resources to buy menstrual products at some point within the last year. (This study did not include transgender men or nonbinary people.) Period products are not covered by Medicaid, SNAP (commonly known as food stamps), or WIC. READ MORE: Q&A: Are a teens severe menstrual cramps a sign of a more serious health issue? In Philadelphia, 81% of students in public schools live in poverty. Many students rely on products supplied by their nurses, but these resources are at times insufficient. Some students even take to using socks and other makeshift materials as pads. With schools closed, and the economic effects of the coronavirus disproportionately impacting lower-income communities, where does that leave these students? The teenage-run Menstrual Equity Project is attempting to help fill that gap. Sofia Pejcic, our fellow classmate at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School, began the project after realizing that closing schools also meant cutting off access to menstrual products for many students. If condoms are free for students in Philadelphia, then why arent pads and tampons as well? In partnership with Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Pejcic began by hand-packing and distributing 200 bags of menstrual products at Northeast High School, where the district was distributing meal boxes. Each kit came with six pads and two tampons, enough to support, or at least supplement, one menstrual cycle. Within four weeks, she had recruited 12 volunteers including ourselves to distribute 2,700 kits of products across the city. READ MORE: How to talk to your children about puberty in language they will understand | Expert Opinion But the 2,700 individuals we serviced were just a drop in the bucket. With even more district meal sites opening this June, the Menstrual Equity Project plans to continue distributing products throughout the summer. Some of our products have been donated by Period, an international youth-led nonprofit with similar ambitions in the fight against period poverty. But most of the funding for the project has come from its crowdsourced campaign on GoFundMe. The gratitude we received at the meal sites wasnt just heartwarming it also made us angry. For decades, activists have challenged their state legislatures to take action toward menstrual equity. And even when states express support for progressive menstrual hygiene legislation, they move at a pace that avoids any real system-wide change. Our countrys clumsy response to COVID-19 has exacerbated period poverty, magnifying the inaction of our lawmakers, and the burden it imposes on our communities, placing pads and tampons at the expense of groceries or rent. Menstrual products are necessary products, and they need to be treated as such. Students deserve schools with the resources to care for their health and safety. We need a future where the Philadelphia School District, not solely nonprofits or a group of high school students, takes on that responsibility. Lola Milder and Lucy Duckworth are rising seniors at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, where they report for their school newspaper, Voices. The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the citys push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org. The campaigns leading up to Tuesdays New Jersey primary have featured a bitter battle among Democrats in the states 2nd Congressional District, and a bruising Republican fight in the 3rd Congressional District. Both districts sprawl from the Shore to the suburbs of Philadelphia. The incumbent House members, Jeff Van Drew (R., 2nd District) and Andy Kim (D., 3rd District), already put their districts on the national political map: Kim turned a traditionally red congressional seat blue in 2018, and Van Drew morphed from Democratic to Republican in January gaining himself a moment with his idol on a Wildwood stage, and inspiring a small army of Democrats to run for his seat. In 2nd District Democratic hopefuls Will Cunningham, Brigid Harrison, and Amy Kennedy, the Editorial Board believes voters have three worthy challengers to Van Drew. (John Francis III, a borough commissioner, and Robert Turkavage, a retired FBI agent, also are on the ballot.) We endorse Will Cunningham. A lawyer in Vineland, he has raised less money and has less name recognition than his rivals. But Cunningham, 34, has significant experience on the Hill. He worked in the Washington office of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) as a member of the health-care policy team, and also on the House Oversight Committee staff of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.). We like Cunninghams support for bold criminal justice reform. Cunninghams is an inspiring life story homeless while a Vineland High School student, he earned a Brown University scholarship. His is a generation whose time has come. Although we respect Harrison, 55, an accomplished academic from Longport, she represents the Democratic machine at a time that demands fresh perspectives. Educator Kennedy, 41, of Brigantine, has a famous political name, but little political experience. In the 3rd District, Republican voters have two potentially strong Kim challengers in Kate Gibbs and David Richter. Retired construction company executive Richter, 54, moved to Island Heights, Ocean County, to satisfy the residency requirement for the nomination. He is a cheerleader for President Donald Trump and planned to run in the 2nd District before Van Drew switched parties. We endorse Kate Gibbs, a former Burlington County freeholder who works as the deputy director at the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative. A 33-year-old resident of Lumberton, Burlington County, Gibbs is a mainstream Republican more in sync with her politically diverse district. Gibbs is savvy, yet her down-to-earth manner has served her well while explaining that her arrests for shoplifting, marijuana possession, and beer on the beach were little more than a young persons misadventures. We take Gibbs at her word when she claims to have learned from her mistakes. In 2018, the Editorial Board endorsed Kim, who later won a narrow upset victory, and is running unopposed Tuesday. We also endorsed Van Drew, then a Democrat, in 2018. His opponent, Robert Patterson, declined to speak to us. But our editorial about Van Drews party switch stands: He owes New Jersey voters an apology. And on Tuesday, voters should choose Will Cunningham and Kate Gibbs. Voters can cast ballots in person Tuesday, July 7, also the deadline for bringing their completed ballots to an official drop box, or for mailing the ballot. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday that he will not attend next month's Republican National Convention due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic's continued sweep across the United States. Grassley's move makes him the first congressional Republican to announce that he will skip this year's convention, which was moved to Jacksonville, Fla., from Charlotte after North Carolina state and local officials declined to agree to Trump's demands for a crowded large-scale event amid the pandemic. "I'm not going to go. And I'm not going to go because of the virus situation," Grassley said Monday on a conference call with reporters, according to the Des Moines Register. A Grassley spokesman confirmed that the senator will not attend the convention. Grassley, 86, is the second-oldest member of the Senate. His announcement comes as Florida has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases, with more than 200,000 confirmed infections since late February. In Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, three new testing sites are opening this week, along with a mobile testing site, according to local TV station Action News Jax. Grassley told reporters Monday that he has attended every Republican National Convention since 1980, and that while he supports GOP officials holding the event, they should strive to "make it as safe as possible, so that would mean with face masks and with social distancing," the Des Moines Register reported. The decision to move the event from Charlotte to Jacksonville came after Trump tweeted on Memorial Day that he wanted the convention in a city that would allow him speak in a fully filled arena. The RNC also indicated it did not want to require masks for Trumps speech. TORONTO Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned down a White House invitation to celebrate the new regional free trade agreement in Washington with U.S President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Trump and Lopez Obrador are due to meet Wednesday Washington, but Trudeau spokesperson Chantal Gagnon said Monday that while Canada wishes the U.S. and Mexico well, Trudeau wont be there. While there were recent discussions about the possible participation of Canada, the prime minister will be in Ottawa this week for scheduled Cabinet meetings and the long-planned sitting of Parliament, Gagnon said. Trudeau is conducting online Cabinet meetings instead of in person meetings because of the coronavirus pandemic. A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by name, said Trudeau had multiple conflicts related to the start of Parliament and coronavirus regulations which require Canadians who travel abroad to quarantine for 14 days on return. The official said Trudeau has asked to speak with Trump by phone. Lopez Obrador also said he would be speaking to Trudeau by phone. Gagnon said the new treaty that took effect on July 1 is good for Canada, the United States and Mexico. It will help ensure that North America emerges stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Trudeau has less to lose by shunning Trump now that the new treaty is in effect. Trudeau losses in Canadian public opinion to be seen chumming with the very unpopular Trump, Wiseman said. Trudeau can afford to wait out Trumps presidency now with less than four months to the U.S. election. Trudeau will still be power after the election, Trump much less likely so. A highly anticipated book by Mary L. Trump, the niece of President Trump, will be published two weeks earlier than planned after a court last week allowed Simon & Schuster to continue distributing copies. The book will be published on July 14 due to intense interest in it, the publisher announced Monday. While the publisher last week was released from a temporary restraining order, Mary Trump is still under the order and is contesting it. In the meantime, her publisher released the book jacket and a news release that promised a sweeping indictment of the president's psychological makeup. "From this explosive book," the news release said, "we learn how Donald acquired twisted behaviors and values" such as that "cheating is a way of life," "taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged" and "qualities like empathy, kindness and expertise are punished." It did not provide specifics, leaving that for the book's publication. The back cover of the book, also released Monday, said that "Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving." It says that Donald Trump feared his father's rejection and "suffered deprivations that would scar him for life." The book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," has rocketed to the top of bestseller lists based on advance orders after a blizzard of publicity about how Mary Trump would provide an insider account of the family that shaped the man who became president. Much of the publicity material released Monday has appeared in the original posting on sites such as Amazon.com, including the allegation that Donald Trump "dismissed and derided" his father, Fred Trump Sr., when the elder Trump had Alzheimer's disease. President Trump has told Axios that the allegation was untrue and he said that his niece was not allowed to write the book because she signed a confidentiality agreement in 2001 following an inheritance settlement. "It's totally false; the opposite," Trump said about the allegation regarding his father's disease. "Actually, the opposite. I always had a great relationship. I didn't know that she said that. That's a disgraceful thing to say." The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment about the news release. Mary Trump has said in a court filing that she is not bound by the confidentiality agreement because Donald and his siblings misled her about the value of family holdings. Mary Trump, 55, is a clinical psychologist, giving her a professional background that the publisher says provides her with a unique perspective to analyze her uncle. President Trumps younger brother, Robert, recently filed a petition in New York Supreme Court seeking to stop publication on grounds that Mary Trump had agreed not to publish an account of the family. But the courts appellate division ruled last week that the publisher, Simon & Schuster, was not a party to that agreement and lifted a temporary restraining order against it. WASHINGTON After a weekend spent stoking division, President Donald Trump on Monday went after NASCARs only Black driver, Bubba Wallace, and criticized its decision to ban the Confederate flag at its races and venues. Exploiting racial tensions, Trump wrongly accused Wallace of perpetrating a hoax after one of his crew members discovered a rope shaped like a noose in a garage stall they had been assigned to. Federal authorities ruled last month that the rope had been hanging there since at least last October and was not a hate crime. Wallace has maintained the rope had been fashioned into a noose. Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?" Trump tweeted. "That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER! The tweet came after Trump used a pair of Independence Day speeches to dig deeper into Americas divisions by accusing protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a merciless campaign to wipe out our history. The remarks served as a direct appeal to the Republican president's political base, including many disaffected white voters, with less than four months to go before Election Day. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president's decision to wade into the Wallace case, saying in an interview on Fox News Channel that, The presidents merely pointing out that weve got to let facts come out before we jump to judgment." Wallace, an Alabama native, has taken an active role in the push for racial equality. He has worn a shirt saying I Cant Breathe," raced with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme in Virginia and successfully lobbied for NASCAR's Confederate flag ban. For more than 70 years, the flag was a common and complicated sight at NASCAR races. The series first tried to ban the Confederate flag five years ago but did nothing to enforce the order. While Trump claimed NASCARs ratings are down, they are actually up. New Jersey is holding its primary election Tuesday. But like other states that expanded the use of mail ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic, most of the voting has likely already happened. The state pushed back its primary from June 2 and Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the election to be conducted mostly by mail. Most voters were automatically sent a mail ballot, with some others receiving an application for one. With the Democratic presidential race long since effectively decided, there are only a couple House races in South Jersey were watching. Heres what you need to know. Another coronavirus election A little more than a month after Pennsylvania ran its first statewide election of the coronavirus era, its New Jerseys turn. And as in Pennsylvania last month, the process of voting will be quite different. Polls will still be open on a limited basis from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at about 1,600 locations or so across the state, slightly less than half of the normal 3,400 locations. Those are mostly for people with disabilities, people without permanent housing, and others who prefer to vote in person. But most votes are being cast by mail. And lessons learned from that will help elections officials figure out how to handle the high-turnout presidential election in less than four months. For example, voters will be given a chance to fix problems with their signatures, such as ballots that are missing signatures, following problems with an all-mail municipal election in May. One lesson thats already clear: Counting votes will take time. As in Pennsylvania, results could take days or even weeks to become clear, with every vote cast either by mail or by paper ballot at the polls. Paper ballots take longer to count than votes cast on machines at polling places, and mail ballots wont begin getting counted until Tuesday. Votes will also keep coming in, with any mail ballot postmarked by Tuesday counted if it arrives within a week. Democrats vie to take on party-switching Jeff Van Drew Strategists in both parties are closely watching the primaries in two South Jersey districts that voted for Barack Obama twice before flipping to Donald Trump in 2016. Democrats won both seats in 2018, helping deliver the party its House majority. But by the end of last year, New Jerseys 2nd District captured national attention when first-term Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew announced he was switching parties after outraging Democrats by opposing Trumps impeachment. Trump held a Wildwood rally to reward Van Drew for his defection, and Trump allies largely cleared the GOP primary field for their new ally. Van Drew is now the heavy favorite in the Republican primary against Bob Patterson, a former speechwriter in the George W. Bush administration who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2016 in a different district. Running in the Democratic primary to get a shot at Van Drew in November are Brigid Callahan Harrison, 55, a college professor; Amy Kennedy, 41, a former public school teacher and the wife of former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy; and Will Cunningham, 34, a Black lawyer and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. The primary has become, in part, a proxy fight between two of the states Democratic power centers. The South Jersey Democratic machine, led by power broker George E. Norcross III, is backing Harrison, as is Booker. Murphy, a Norcross foe, and public sector unions such as the New Jersey Education Association endorsed Kennedy. Kennedys campaign has spent about $240,000 on television commercials, about the same as Harrisons campaign and a pro-Harrison outside group, according to ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics. The 2nd District includes all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties, and parts of Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, and Ocean Counties. Republicans eye freshman Andy Kims seat In the 3rd District, based in Burlington and Ocean Counties, Republicans David Richter and Kate Gibbs are running to face Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who defeated a GOP incumbent in 2018 by less than two percentage points. Gibbs, 34, a former Burlington County freeholder and deputy director of Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative 825, was the early favorite. Richter, 53, a former CEO of construction firm Hill International, started his bid for Congress in the 2nd District but changed course in late January after Trump threw his support behind Van Drew. Richter is campaigning as a pro-Trump conservative Republican, and has painted Gibbs as soft on immigration. New Jersey native Bill Stepien, Trumps deputy campaign manager, has advised Richters campaign. Gibbs has campaigned as a problem solver willing to work across the aisle and says she wants to bring business and labor together to create jobs, build our infrastructure, and grow our economy. A pro-Gibbs outside group has tried to tie Richter to the Biden family, highlighting Hill Internationals relationship with Joe Bidens brother James. Thats David Richter: buddy with the Bidens, bad for New Jersey, the narrator says in an ad paid for by the political group Real Jersey. Also on the ballot Tuesday is Booker, who faces a little-known opponent, Lawrence Hamm, in the Democratic Senate primary. In the GOP Senate race, biotech engineer and lawyer Rikin Rik Mehta has won the most endorsements from county party committees, followed by engineer Hirsh Singh. Also seeking the Republican nomination are Patricia Flanagan, Eugene Anagnos, and Natalie Lynn Rivera. Booker is expected to win reelection easily in the heavily Democratic state. Months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left The Firm, their departure remains controversial. This is after one royal author put the blame on the duchess. Royal author Lady Colin Campbell plans to drop more bombshell claims through her book "Meghan and Harry: The Real Story." Though it is set to be released on July 28, she already made controversial allegations about the royal couple and criticized them even more. Campbell recently sat for an interview with FUBAR Radio's "Access All Areas" where she continuously castigated the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and shared what she thinks about Megxit. "If you believe for one second that Harry had anything like this up his sleeve you believe in the tooth fairy and the pig airline," Campbell told hosts Joanna Chimonides and Stephen Leng. She then lashed out at Prince Harry and Meghan and referenced Adolf Hitler over their recent work on activism. The 70-year-old author explained that Hitler and Mao Zedong from China believed that they were doing the right thing for people, but in the end, they only caused the deaths of millions. "I have no doubt that they tell themselves they're doing the right thing, but we also need to remember that history is littered with people who thought they were doing good," Lady C shared. "So I'm sorry you know, history's littered with people who are deluded enough to think that because they want black to be white, that black is white. Black is black and white is white." In addition, Campbell claimed that Meghan used and exploited the royal prince. She insisted that the duchess was the reason why they stepped down as senior royals and that the relocation to Los Angeles was for her own good. Before Campbell unrolled her claims,Prince Harry already said that it was his own desire to quit his senior role. He told the public that he had no choice but to resign and make the decision for his family-of-three. Princess Diana Won't Be Proud of Harry? Aside from blaming Meghan for the Megxit, Campbell also claimed that if Prince Harry married another woman, the royal rift between him and Prince William would never occur and he would still be in Kensington Palace with them. Since their marriage caused Prince Harry to lose everything, the royal author pointed out that the duke's late mother, Princess Diana, would feel nothing but horrified by the Sussexes' decision to leave the monarchy. "Diana, whatever her failings, was not into making money, or as Harry and Meghan put it -- financial independence -- I cannot see that any aristocrat or royal would be anything but horrified by what's happened," the author continued. Previously, Campbell already dropped a contentious assertion about the Duchess of Sussex making a scene during Prince Charles' 70th birthday. The royal author told Daily Star that she felt "absolutely gobsmacked and astonished" when she heard how Harry and Meghan's fallout with the royals immediately started after the two tied the knot. It is worth noting that her claims came after reports revealed that Meghan allegedly a horrifying behavior towards royal staff. Her attitude reportedly made her earn nicknames like "Me-Gain," "Duchess of Difficult" and "Di 2" or "Di Lite". After Campbell's book is released on July 28, royal watchers can expect to read more damaging allegations about Harry and Meghan. READ MORE: Goodbye, UK: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Deliver Sad News Amid Pandemic See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles A Pennsylvania congressman received as much as $1 million in federal coronavirus relief loans for his car dealerships, according to records released Monday. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Butler County Republican who represents a northwest Pennsylvania district that includes Erie, owns car dealerships outside Pittsburgh. Three entities associated with his business Mike Kelly Automotive Group Inc., Mike Kelly Automotive LP, and Mike Kelly Hyundai Inc. each received federal loans ranging between $150,000 and $350,000, Treasury Department records show. Kellys businesses received the government-backed loans in April under the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program enacted by Congress and President Donald Trump as part of the governments pandemic relief legislation. The loans are forgivable if businesses spend the money on payroll costs to avoid layoffs, as well as other eligible expenses. The loans helped retain 95 jobs at Kellys business, according to Treasury data. The loans to Kellys businesses were disclosed in a batch of PPP data released by the Trump administration under pressure from Congress. A centerpiece of the federal governments efforts to protect small businesses and their employees amid the economic wreckage of the coronavirus pandemic, the program has been criticized for making it easier for big businesses to get fast cash than for smaller mom-and-pops. Members of Congress were not prohibited from receiving the federal aid, but some have drawn scrutiny for benefiting from a law they passed. Politico reported last month that at least four members, from both parties, have ties to companies that won approval for loans. Andrew Eisenberger, a spokesperson for Kelly, said that in accordance with congressional ethics rules, Kelly is not involved in the day-to-day operations of his auto dealerships and was not part of the discussions between the business and the PPP lender. Moreover, Kellys small family business employs more than 200 western Pennsylvanians whose jobs were at risk because of Governor [Tom] Wolfs business shut down order, Eisenberger said in a statement. The precise amount of the loans to Kellys businesses wasnt clear Monday, as Treasury figures only provided ranges. Kelly was the 46th wealthiest member of Congress as of 2018, putting him in the top 10%, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, with total assets and liabilities that average about $12.4 million (members of Congress are only required to report assets in wide ranges). On his 2018 financial-disclosure form, Kelly reported receiving business income between $15,001 and $50,000 from Kelly Automotive. He said his salary for Kelly Chevrolet Cadillac was $23,842. The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to sustain the income of workers who would otherwise have been without pay or employment at no fault of their own during the coronavirus pandemic, Eisenberger said, and organizations in which members of Congress have an ownership stake were not prohibited from receiving PPP loans to help their employees during this difficult time. The Barchart Chart of the Day belongs to the plastic products company Deswell (NASDAQ: DSWL ). Readers are always asking me how to find stocks that are just beginning to trend before everyone else discovers them. One of the best ways is to look at Barchart's Strong Volume Gains preformatted screener. It identifies stocks... Read More Real-time social media posts from local businesses and organizations across Northern Virginia, powered by Friends2Follow. To add your business to the stream, email cfields@insidenova.com or click on the green button below. 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. But a French court decision in late May has offered hope to Spanish restaurant owners seeking business interruption claims resulting from the pandemic. A Paris court ruled that AXA, Frances biggest insurance group, should pay a restaurant owner two months worth of revenue losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The insurer argued its policy did not cover business disruptions resulting from the health crisis. In a statement, AXA said it would appeal the decision, but later settled with the restaurant owner. Stephane Manigold, the owner of four Paris restaurants who brought the case against the insurer, said that since the court decision, his team had received calls from other countries, including Spain, asking for the details of their contract and the court ruling. This decision in Paris has a global resonance, he told Reuters. After the ruling, AXA chief executive officer Thomas Buberl said the insurer was seeking an amicable solution and planned to meet the bulk of claims of restaurant owners whose contracts had some ambiguity in them. These contracts represent less than 10% out of total contracts with restaurant owners and I am confident that we will find a solution, he said. Spains hospitality industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis as strict lockdowns were implemented to curb transmission of the virus. Before the pandemic, the sector accounted for 6.7% of the countrys GDP and employed about 1.7 million workers. The majority of these workers were either laid off or furloughed as the outbreak led to business closures. The Paris ruling provides a ray of hope for many of these businesses as the hospitality sector shows signs of recovery post-pandemic. Since restrictions have eased, Spains online restaurant reservations have shot up 74% across the country from Costa Blanca to Costa del Sol, according to a new report from Madrid-based reservation platform ElTenedor. Meghan Markle remains unstoppable as her legal team presented some shocking court claims. Last week, a new court filing revealed several scandalous events she faced as a member of the royal family. She included the times she allegedly felt "unprotected" by the monarchy during her pregnancy, as well as how her marriage with Prince Harry brought economic benefits to the U.K. Meghan's lawyers mentioned that they believe that her 2018 royal wedding brought in $1.2 billion, although they held it with a hefty price tag of over $40 million. The $30 million of which reportedly covered the cost of security. Per The Express, the filing states that the royal wedding produced $787 million in business spending and $337 million in public relations value. Harry and Meghan also reportedly claim that they did not use much of taxpayers' funds, as Prince Charles paid most of the costs himself. "Any public costs incurred for the wedding were solely for security and crowd control to protect members of the public as deemed necessary by Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police," Meghan's legal team contended. Despite mentioning it on the legal documents, several people and groups challenged the huge sum and said that it did not sound realistic at all. Harry, Meghan Wounded UK's Revenue Instead? Following the emergence of the legal documents in public, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got slammed for their far-fetched and implausible calculations. According to Andy Barr of PR firm 10Yetis, a billon dollar total revenue for a royal wedding sounds unimaginable and doubtful. "It's a huge sum, and the stars would have to align to get even half that. Even if you were to take into account the longer-term values from travel and tourism, it's still a long way off," Barr explained. "If I was forced to speculate, I would say a maximum of 250million." Meanwhile, an anti-monarchy group claimed that the royal wedding costed more money than what they disclosed. Republic, an organization that appeals to abolish the monarchy, said that the wedding "wound up" since it was actually a net loss for British taxpayers. "Meghan Markle is falling for the same spin that the royal household put out," Republic CEO Graham Smith told Express U.K. "There is no evidence at all that the monarchy ever bring money in from tourism." Smith said that Meghan's claim that her wedding produced $1.2 billion "is pure fiction," and she has no evidence to support what she believes. Even after Megxit, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still allegedly milking the British taxpayers. In May 2020, royal expert Charles Rae revealed that the heir to the throne sent the Sussexes a huge amount to help in their security costs after the couple chose to live in the United States. "We are still as far as we know paying out a bit for their security, aren't we?" talkRADIO host Mike Graham asked Rae. In response, Rai said: "We are because at the moment Prince Charles is giving them 2million a year. It is going to be looked at in 12 months." Harry and Meghan's finances have been an issue since they departed from the firm, and they are about to get into more troubles as the opportunities for them become lesser due to pandemic. READ MORE: Goodbye, U.K.: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Deliver Sad News Amid Pandemic See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Old Mutual said it had conducted a comprehensive global search, but in the end chose Williamson, an actuary who has spent almost three decades at the Johannesburg-based company. Chairman Trevor Manuel was pleased with the appointment of Williamson, who has held several key positions within the company, including managing director of its retail-affluent division, finance director of the emerging-markets business and chief operating officer. His steady hand, strategic mind, and authentic leadership style has been both refreshing and truly welcomed, Manuel said in a statement. Williamson will now be tasked with reviving the 175-year-old insurers performance and reputation which was dealt a hefty blow following the saga with Moyo. The coronavirus crisis also hasnt helped the companys cause either, pushing profits further down. Old Mutual announced on May 28 that first-half profit was expected to fall at least 20% as business shutdowns hamper the insurers ability to distribute its products. Many of the companys advisers and branch consultants were not able to meet with clients between April and May when the lockdowns restricted the movement of people and goods across South Africa. But investors also welcomed the much needed certainty the appointment of Williamson provides. Iain provides Old Mutual with stability and continuity of knowledge, which are invaluable in times of extreme change, said Warwick Bam, head of research at Avior Capital Markets, in an interview with Reuters. Old Mutuals stock has dropped 36% this year. LP Insurance Services has acquired Meridian Insurance Services, an independent agency that offers commercial, employee benefits, personal and risk services products to clients in Carson City, Nev., and Roswell, N.M. In our efforts to grow our footprint and provide added services to our communities, the addition of the Meridian team is a welcome event, said Nick Rossi, president of LP Insurance. Like LP, they are equally committed to outstanding client service and community support. Notably, Progressive did not share its data for the month of April the month when most auto insurers saw their biggest drop in accident claims. Progressives actuary indicated that the company could provide a 22.8% refund, after expenses, to provide recompense to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the insurer instead chose to refund 20% for April and May, saying the amount was its best estimate of all associated effects. The insurer also revealed in a release that it saw $1.3 billion net income for April and May this year. The amount is more than double the $566.3 million net income the company posted for April and May last year. Consumer Federation of America insurance expert Douglas Heller criticized Progressives profits, calling them beyond extraordinary. Heller previously called for auto insurers to provide more premium relief to customers, after determining that the insurers giveback programs were relatively meager compared to the change in risk. Read more: Consumer advocate calls for auto insurers to provide more premium relief Progressive did not respond to Chicago Sun-Times request for comment on the matter. According to the indictment, the suspects owned management companies which would take control over small rural hospitals. The suspects then allegedly had expensive medical tests carried out at private laboratories, but billed insurance companies at a higher rate for the tests as if the tests were performed at the hospitals the suspects owned. The indictment said that many of the medical tests performed were unnecessary. Schemes that exploit rural hospitals are particularly egregious as they can undermine access to care in underserved communities, an Office of Personnel Management inspector general said. Three of the suspects were arraigned earlier this week, VOA News said; their pleas of guilt or innocence were not announced. In the past 10 years, the U.S. has seen 121 events produce damage in excess of $1 billion. Globally, this escalates with many more events around the world. From major hurricanes and floods, to annual severe weather, devastating wildfires, and even the rarer occurring earthquakes and volcanoes, in the past decade, the U.S. has seen them all. In the latter half of the decade, the trend of catastrophic losses continued to rise with events like Hurricane Harvey (2017) and the California wildfires (2017 and 2018) among the most costly and disruptive. Now more than ever, insurers need real-time data to understand risk on a granular level and best serve their policyholders. Flood Flooding is the No. 1 natural disaster in the U.S. and is not specific to designated flood risk zones or a season. Flood can affect any location. On average, about 300,000 homes are flooded in the U.S. every year. Some of the most devastating floods in recent years have been associated with hurricanes. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm at landfall, stalled over the Greater Houston metropolitan area and caused massive precipitation-induced flooding. CoreLogic estimated that Harvey caused between $25 billion and $37 billion in damage to residential and commercial properties, with 70% of this uninsured. Hurricane Harvey arrived during a time of increasing interest by private industry to insure flood. The disruption and lessons from the Harvey flooding accelerated the privatization efforts of insurance carriers and highlighted the need for flood insurance outside of designated flood zones. One year later, in 2018 Hurricane Florence, a massive Category 1 hurricane traveled slowly over North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, causing massive flooding. CoreLogic estimated flood damage to residential and commercial properties ranged from $19 billion to $28.5 billion, of which roughly 85% of residential flood losses were uninsured. The high percentages of low adoption of insurance demonstrate the low number of properties in the U.S. that are covered by flood insurance, which is likely because of limited understanding of flood risk, especially the risk outside of designated flood zones. Wildfires Additionally, in California and across much of the western U.S., wildfires have become increasingly severe. Between 2012 and 2016, California wildfires destroyed a yearly average of 1,172 structures. This escalated in 2017, with more than 10,000 structures destroyed by wildfire and even more in 2018, with more than 22,000 structures destroyed. 2017 and 2018 were two of the most devastating wildfire years in U.S. history. Since 2018, 11 Western states have had at least one wildfire that exceeded 50,000 burned acres. The leading states were California and Oregon, each with seven fires that burned more than 50,000 acres. Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zones have historically been used to define areas of risk, but like with flood, this does not mean there is no risk outside of the WUI. In California alone, nearly 4.5 million homes, representing almost one-third of California housing units, are in the WUI zone. The 2017 fires in Sonoma County, California remind us that homes in areas adjacent to the WUI are at risk. Unlike other hazards, wildfire is a unique peril in that it can cause 100% destruction, resulting in the total loss of a home and all its contents. The devastating 2018 Camp Fire destroyed over 18,000 structures and took more than 80 lives. Many of the homes, like in the case of those in Paradise, will never be rebuilt, giving extended clarity for the need to be protected. Adequately assessing the reconstruction value of a home is paramount to gain an accurate understanding of the components and price to rebuild. Convective Storms Severe convective storms, including tornadoes, thunderstorms, hailstorms and high-speed winds, are among the most common and most damage-inducing natural catastrophes in the U.S. On average, the U.S. sees 1,400 tornadoes every year, but there is great variation in the annual counts and not all of these will hit an urban center and cause damage. Hailstorms are very damaging to property. In the spring of 2016, over a two-month period, CoreLogic documented four storms in Texas alone that impacted more than 900,000 homes with hail (an aggregate total for all four storms). The estimated damage to homes for those storms exceeded $700 million. Earthquakes While the past decade has seen devastating earthquakes globally, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2010-2011 New Zealand earthquake sequence, 2011 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake among the most devastating, it has been more than two decades since the U.S. has experienced a major catastrophic earthquake. Even though a major damaging earthquake has not been recorded, the U.S. has seen earthquake damage in the past decade. In 2011, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Virginia, which was felt by an estimated one-third of the U.S. population. In 2014, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Napa region of California, damaging homes and disrupting the wine industry. The total damage from this event was estimated to approach $1 billion. The largest earthquake to strike the continental U.S. in the last decade struck Californias lowly populated Mojave Desert, near Ridgecrest with a magnitude 7.1 earthquake plus a magnitude 6.4 foreshock and several large aftershocks. Despite the magnitudes of these earthquakes, the damage to property was low due to the remoteness of the region and a modern building code. These events serve as a reminder that the earthquake risk in the U.S. is real and an understanding of the risk is necessary to adequately prepare. Whether it be hurricane, flood, severe weather, wildfire or earthquake, every part of the U.S. is exposed to some natural hazard. While we currently sit in an environment where much of the country is starting to reopen, various levels of social distancing requirements remain in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Response efforts for any disaster will be challenged this year and insurers need to have the financial resources to help their policyholders rebuild. The ability to recover after an event is critical to building a resilient society, which can be improved by strengthening or retrofitting homes and businesses. Its unclear what the next decade of natural disasters will bring but its up to the insurance industry to reflect on the past to best prepare for the future. Topics USA California Catastrophe Trends Hurricane Flood Wildfire Earthquake As many states keep watch for the next wave of COVID-19 infections, the insurance industry is keeping watch for the next wave of potential claims that could be directed at independent agents. In a recent webinar by RiskGenius, E&O in the Age of COVID, moderator Chris Cheatham, CEO of RiskGenius; and panelists Dave Hulcher, executive director of the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents (KAIA); and Will Larson, attorney for the KAIA, discussed what agents can expect following the pandemic. Agents Duty In most states, insurance agents are obligated to provide a duty to clients which defines their responsibilities with respect to their customers, said KAIAs Larson. In Kansas, for example, insurance agents are obligated to obtain the insurance that the insured requests. An important element in determining duty when agents face an errors and omissions (E&O) claim is the judge presiding over the case, Larson noted. Its the judge, not the jury, who determines whether or not there is a duty in the particular circumstances of a case, he said. For example, an agent wouldnt necessarily have a duty to determine the value of an insureds building they would only have a duty to obtain the insurance for the amount that the insured says its worth. For most states, there are three categories of an agents duty. In some states an insurance agent is only considered an order taker, meaning the insured tells the agent what they want and the agent obtains insurance for that request. In these states, an agent doesnt have any other obligation, according to Larson. There are special circumstances to consider. In some instances, the order taker duty can be elevated to an insurance advisor. For example, if the insurance agent claims to be an expert in a particular area, or says to an insured that they will make certain there is coverage for losses in particular circumstances. In those instances, the agent is assuming the duty of an insurance advisor and that duty is significantly different than just an order taker, Larson explained. And the exposure increases significantly as well. In addition, there are some states where an insurance agent has a duty to advise like an attorney would and in those cases the duty and the exposure is significantly higher than in a place like Kansas, or a pure order taker state. Standard of care is another issue that must be considered in an agency E&O situation. If in a case against an agent the judge determines that the agent does have a duty then the question becomes one of standard of care, Larson said. Was the standard of care delivered to the insured considered to be reasonably prudent? What was the duty of the insurance agent? Did he do what he was supposed to do in a reasonably prudent manner that any insurance agent would? Larson asked. He cautions agents against elevating their duty to that of an insurance advisor. This is often a concern when agencies represent their firm as a risk manager online. In most cases, insurance agents arent risk managers but if they claim to be a risk manager or insurance advisor that increases their duty and exposure to E&O. After Disasters The panelists said following Hurricane Katrina the insurance industry saw a surge in agency E&O claims. Prior to Katrina, Louisiana was primarily an order taker state, said Cheatham. Post-Katrina, given the natural sympathy toward the many victims of the hurricane, the duty imposed on insurance agents and brokers became somewhat blurred, he noted. When a lot of people are hurting and theres a lot of potential claims, judges tend to be more liberal in construing insurance policies and in cases against insurance agents, as well, Larson said. Theres always the risk that judges are going to bend over backward to try to find coverage under a policy or try to determine that somehow the insurance agent breached his duty for standard of care and hence there should have been coverage. But unlike Katrina where claims hit one geographical area, COVID losses will be more dispersed, and that makes a difference, Larson says. When you look at Katrina, the majority of claims were flood claims, said Hulcher. There is a flood product that can be offered to insureds for purchase. But in the case of COVID, with business interruption and specifically virus exclusions, there wasnt a product readily available to cover that exposure. Hulcher says that is a big difference. Was coverage readily available that could have been offered through the rank and file agent? Likely not. E&O Uncovered KAIAs Hulcher reminds agents that anytime there is a catastrophic loss scenario to expect that theres going to be a great uncovering of E&O claims. Where coverage is not offered there is going to be issues, so catastrophes are the opportunity to uncover coverage gaps, he said. Also, from an agency perspective, operational issues and knowledge-based weaknesses get uncovered. The most common allegations against agents for E&O are consistent, he said. It starts with failure to procure coverage negligent misrepresentation of coverage, failure to handle claims in a timely fashion, failure to duplicate prior coverage, failure to adequately identify exposures, failure to recommend coverage type all of these are the types of allegations that we see made against agents, Hulcher said. He also warned agents that its not just allegations from insureds. Between 5% to 10% of agency E&O claims actually involve the carrier suing the agent, Hulcher said. Mitigating agency E&O exposure boils down to proper documentation. When you look at trying to protect yourself and your agency, we always talk about document, document, document, Hulcher says. Theres no way of talking about E&O and risk management without saying that. And that also includes documentation with the underwriter as well. Hulcher expects to see agency E&O claims stemming from COVID alleging failure to recommend pandemic coverage, failure to recommend coverage that didnt contain a virus exclusion, failure to turn in claims in a timely fashion, and perhaps failure to recommend cancelation and event coverage. From a risk management standpoint, what can agencies do to lessen their risk with pandemic related claims? Our advice to agents is that even if a carrier is telling you that certain claims are not going to be covered, you still have an obligation, and its a best practice, to not discourage your clients from submitting the claim, Hulcher said. The agent is not part of the contract. The contract is between the carrier and the insured so we dont encourage agents to position themselves to make coverage determinations. Hulcher wanted to remind agents that just because theres a claim made against them that doesnt mean they did anything wrong. When a claim occurs, the agency may advocate on behalf of their customer, and say, Hey, I really screwed up, I should have gotten this. Then they will put that in writing and if that happens, then you are hung, he said. Not only is that putting you in an adverse position or your E&O carrier in an adverse position, you also may be doing things to jeopardize your right to coverage underneath that policy. Finally, Cheatham reminded agents to check their customers policies, often. Theres a hardening market and carriers are looking to change how they are writing their insurance policies, he said. Check for form changes and notify the customer. Topics COVID-19 Agencies Claims Professional Liability Kansas Risk Management This morning, I wrote an article for the CPCU CLEW (Coverage, Litigators, Educators & Witnesses) Interest Group called On Becoming an Insurance Coverage Nerd. This afternoon, in this column, I get to demonstrate one of the values of being a coverage nerd aside from just the pure joy of knowing coverages at a cellular level, as one attorney described me in a recent review of my When Words Collide book. I enjoy taking a coverage or claim scenario and determining whether a loss that arises from the facts and circumstances of a specific situation would be covered by the insurance policy in question. To me, thats not work, but more like a challenging game. To you, if a customers assets and income are at risk, its certainly more than a game. But it doesnt have to be work if youre up to the challenge. Knowledge and understanding of the coverage options available to you and/or that exist in the marketplace are among your most powerful sales and service tools. For prospects and insureds who care, it gives you a strategic advantage over price peddlers. For prospects and insureds who dont care, it gives you an opportunity to educate them and increases the likelihood that you will make a sale, retain a customer, and minimize your E&O exposure. To illustrate, Tim Wahl is an agent in Missouri who is routinely approached by contractors and business owners for insurance quotes that save me money. Invariably, when he demonstrates the holes in their current insurance program and how he can fill them inexpensively, they leave his agency as new customers paying more than they were before, but with substantially better coverage and, perhaps more important, a clearer understanding of why coverage matters. Everyone wins simply by the agent knowing his or her craft. Lets examine a real-life example. A business owner insured his company-owned pickup truck on an ISO Business Auto Policy (BAP). He had the opportunity to participate in a competitive road rally and wanted to use this vehicle and its signage to promote his business. When he approached his agent to make sure his auto insurance covered him, the agent confirmed from the insurers claim department that there would be no coverage because of the racing exclusion in the BAP, which applied to: Covered autos while used in any professional or organized racing or demolition contest or stunting activity. The insured was incredulous because he envisioned racing to mean something like NASCAR or Indya speed contest. But a road rally is not a speed competition per se. Its not about who is the fastest. The winner of a road rally is the driver that completes a prescribed route by arriving at various checkpoints along the way at precise times based on average speeds determined by the organizer that are well within posted speed limits. Safety, not speed, is the prime concern. If you peruse dictionary definitions of race, youll find that a race is not necessarily only a contest of speed. It can be a set course or duration of time or a contest involving progress towards a goal. That was how the insurer was interpreting a road rally to be a race. Would the insurers interpretation hold up in court following a denied claim? Who knows, but who wants to have a court decide the issue? You know that, if there is a claim, the insurer will likely deny it and litigation may be the only resolution. So, unless you want to argue with the carrier or move the account, it appears that there is nothing the insured can do. But the agent knew better because he was aware that the racing exclusion in ISOs Personal Auto Policy (PAP) was less restrictive than their BAP. The ISO PAP excludes: Any vehicle, located inside a facility designed for racing, for the purpose ofCompeting inorPracticing or preparing forany prearranged or organized racing or speed contest. The key wording here is located inside a facility designed for racing. The ISO BAP has no such restriction in its racing exclusion, so the ISO PAP would provide coverage for the use of a covered vehicle in a road rally where the ISO BAP arguably would not. The fact that the agent understands that car insurance is not a commodity and examined the precise language of each policy has given his customer a coverage option that appears to enable him to participate in the road rally. However, not so fast (no pun intended).The ISO PAP has other exclusions, the most important one in this case being a lack of coverage for the use of nonowned autos furnished or available for your regular use. Fortunately for the insured, though, the agent knew that there was a coverage option for this exclusion in the form of the ISO PP 03 06 Extended Non-Owned Coverage Vehicles Furnished Or Available For Regular Use endorsement. In fact, almost anyone who has regular access to a company car should have this endorsement. When I drove a company car, while my employer had commercial auto coverage, I added the vehicle to my personal auto and umbrella policies at a total cost of $52 for $2.5 million in additional liability coverage. A bargain. In the case at hand, many agents would have simply given up and advised the customer that they wouldnt have coverage for this event. The agent in question, though, used his coverage knowledge to find a solution through a different policy the insured already had while, at the same time, significantly increasing his available coverage limit for that vehicle for a minimal increase in premium. Insurance is not a commodity. Know the insurance contracts youre selling or servicing. Sell coverage, not price. Be creative. Solve problems. Topics Agencies Auto InsurTech Customer Experience 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. Topics Workers' Compensation Massachusetts Drugs A Superior Court judge has ordered an Arkansas poultry processing company and two Delaware subsidiaries to pay more than $28,000 in sanctions for repeatedly refusing to provide information to plaintiffs suing the company over wastewater violations in southern Delaware. The judge this week ordered Mountaire Corp. and the subsidiaries to pay $18,000 in attorneys fees to the plaintiffs and more than $10,300 for the plaintiffs share of billings from a special master appointed by the court to help manage the case. Judge Craig Karsnitz noted that he had repeatedly warned attorneys on both sides about the lack of civility which permeated the case. My urging to civility has fallen on deaf ears, Karsnitz wrote. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Millsboro-area residents against Mountaire Corp., Mountaire Farms Inc. and Mountaire Farms of Delaware Inc. The plaintiffs claim they have suffered both property damage and personal injury from wastewater discharges at Mountaire facilities in Sussex County. The plaintiffs also have intervened in a federal lawsuit involving a proposed consent decree between Mountaire and Delawares Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. The consent decree is aimed at resolving spray irrigation and land application permit violations cited by DNREC in 2017 involving Mountaires Millsboro facility. Area residents argue that the consent decree is not fair, reasonable or consistent with federal environmental laws. They are seeking permission from a federal judge to obtain information about the settlement negotiations between DNREC and Mountaire. Meanwhile, Mountaire agreed in December to pay a $420,000 penalty and upgrade its wastewater system as part of the proposed consent decree. The company also agreed to pay a $230,000 administrative penalty regarding violations at its Selbyville facility and other violations in Millsboro that are not related to the 2017 wastewater treatment system failure. In his sanctions ruling, Karsnitz pointed to a February 2019 court decision that allowed limited information sharing in the state lawsuit to determine whether his court had jurisdiction over Mountaire Corp., and whether the plaintiffs had met the requirements for a class-action proceeding. The two sides could not agree, however, on what information the plaintiffs were entitled to receive, including minutes of Mountaire Corp. board meetings and shareholder meetings. The special master subsequently ordered Mountaire to produce minutes from such meetings that involve the formation and operations of its facilities in Delaware. The plaintiffs later complained of extensive redactions by Mountaire in documents it had provided. Mountaire was then ordered to produce unredacted copies of several documents, including meeting minutes. After seeing the unredacted documents, the plaintiffs asked for sanctions. Karsnitz noted that even a cursory examination of the documents shows that they contained information that clearly and obviously covered relevant issues and had direct bearing on the jurisdictional issue. The redactions were intentional, and without any legal basis, Karsnitz wrote, noting that five separate orders required Mountaire to produce the documents requested. A spokeswoman for Mountaire Farms Inc. declined to comment on the ruling, citing a gag order that has been issued in the case. The sanctions decision is the second ruling by Karsnitz in recent months involving a lack of information sharing in the lawsuit. In April, the judge scolded state environmental regulators for withholding information subpoenaed by the plaintiffs attorneys. He rejected arguments by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control that the information being sought could be withheld under Delawares Freedom of Information Act as investigatory files. DNREC also had argued that the information was subject to attorney-client privilege and was protected because it was part of settlement discussions, and that having to provide it would unduly burden the agency. A statutory obligation cannot be an undue burden, the judge noted. The information sought from DNREC included documents gathered in its investigation of Mountaires environmental violations and information from settlement discussions between DNREC and Mountaire. Karsnitz noted that DNREC had an obligation under Delaware law to provide the public with information about environmental inspections, violations and enforcement actions. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Legislation Pollution Delaware The UK dominant accounting firms must separate their audit units from other businesses by June 2024 as the countrys accounting watchdog reacts to shortcomings that led to the collapse of several companies. The Financial Reporting Council is asking the so-called Big Four KPMG, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC and Ernst & Young to agree to operational separation to ensure audit practices dont rely on persistent cross-subsidy from the rest of the firm, it said Monday in an emailed statement. From Enron to Wirecard Big 4 Accounting Firms Still Face Systemic Problems Allianz Ends Relationship with Wirecard Amid Accounting Scandal SoftBank May Sue Wirecard Accountant EY; EU Probes Germanys Regulator The Moneys Gone: Wirecard Collapses Owing $4 Billion Former CEO of Wirecard Arrested in Accounting Scandal Involving Missing $2.1 Billion Auditors are under greater regulatory scrutiny than ever after a serious of high-profile lapses in recent years, with Ernst & Youngs role in the collapse of German payments provider Wirecard AG now under the microscope. These final principles follow extensive discussions with the audit firms, the regulator said. The FRC is now asking the Big Four firms to agree to operational separation of their audit practices on this basis and to provide a transition timetable to complete implementation by June 30, 2024 at the latest. The guidelines aim to shield auditors from being influenced by other part of a firms business that could divert their focus away from audit quality, the regulator said. KPMG supports operational separation in the UK, Jon Holt, the firms head of UK auditing said in a statement. It is clear however that operational separation of the UKs audit firms is just the first step on the journey to restoring trust in UK Plc. Spokespeople for Deloitte and EY were either not available or didnt immediately return messages seeking comment outside office hours. We share the FRCs objectives of improved quality and confidence in audit, PwC said in statement. We will continue to engage constructively with the FRC on the complexity and detail of these principles. Audit practice culture should encourage ethical behavior, openness, teamwork, challenge and professional skepticism and judgment, it said. Profits distributed to partners should not persistently exceed the contribution to profits if the audit practice, the FRC said. The firms should submit an implementation plan by Oct. 23 and the FRC will agree a transition timetable with each firm. It will then publish an assessment every year of how well each audit firm is complying with the principles. With assistance from Hugo Miller. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom, people were surprised when Prince Charles -- the next in line to the British royal throne -- tested positive for COVID-19. It was in March 2020 when the Buckingham Palace confirmed that the 71-year-old royal fell victim to the novel virus. People were worried about his health, which might force his eldest son, Prince William, to take his place in case anything unexpected happened. Although the Prince of Wales only displayed mild symptoms, he is still vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, which is known for targetting older people with weak immune and respiratory systems. It is not clear how Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son acquired the virus, but he was immediately put on isolation to prevent spreading the virus from the royal household. After a week in isolation at the royal family's Scottish residence and responding well to his medications, Prince Charles survived the coronavirus. Not Fully Recovered? Prince Charles said that one of the key symptoms he experienced was the loss of his sense of taste and smell. But three months after testing negative from coronavirus, the future king revealed that his sense of taste and smell has not yet fully returned. In an exclusive interview with Sky News last month, Prince Charles said that compared to others who got infected by COVID-19, he still considered himself lucky as he quickly got away with it. "I was lucky in my case... but I've had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through," Prince Charles said. Meanwhile, Speaking to ITV's Royal Rota, royal correspondent Chris Ship said that during Prince Charles' visit to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital last month, it looks like his health has not yet fully recovered and he is still suffering from the effects of coronavirus. "One of the experts had a conversation with Prince Charles where he looks like he's still suffering from the effects of coronavirus," Ship said. "Not only his sense of taste and smell but his fatigue also." Camilla's Revelation Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are already back on official royal duties. But in a recent interview, the 72-year-old Duchess of Cornwall made a major revelation about her husband's current health condition. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's "The Emma Barnett Show," Camilla said that Prince Charles is healthy that he could probably outlive his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who is now 94-years-old. Camilla said that considering Charles' age, he is very fit and could walk without feeling tired. "He is probably the fittest man of his age I know. He'll walk and walk and walk," Camilla said. "He's like a mountain goat, he leaves everybody miles behind." Camilla was also placed in isolation in Birkhall after Prince Charles got COVID-19. While she tested negative for the virus, the Duchess also remained in quarantine for 14 days. They were the first senior royals who resume face-to-face royal engagement after the coronavirus pandemic. READ MORE: Prince Andrew Guilty And Scared? Queen's Son Hides After Ghislaine Maxwell Arrest See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Aviva plc announced the appointment of Amanda Blanc as chief executive officer with immediate effect. She succeeds Maurice Tulloch, who has stepped down from the role for family health reasons. Blanc is currently an Independent non-executive director at Aviva plc. She was appointed to the Aviva board in January 2020 and chairs the Customer, Conduct and Reputation Board Committee. After Avivas Reorganization, CEO Vows More Accountability Aviva to Retain China, Singapore Businesses After Conducting Asian Review UK Insurer Avivas New CEO Targets Cost, Job Cuts in Company Overhaul Management Shake-Up at UKs Aviva Continues as CFO Stoddard Steps Down Avivas CEO Needs Time for Success, but Investors Wont Have Much Patience: Opinion UKs Aviva Names Company Veteran, Tulloch, as CEO After 5-Month Search She was previously CEO, EMEA & Global Banking Partnerships at Zurich Insurance Group. Prior to that she was group CEO of AXAs UK and Ireland business and has served as chair of the Association of British Insurers and president of the Chartered Insurance Institute. In addition to her previous roles at AXA and Zurich, Amanda has held senior positions at Towergate Insurance Brokers and Groupama Insurance Co.. She started her career with Commercial Union, which subsequently became part of Aviva. Tulloch joined Aviva in 1992 and held a number of senior positions in the business during his time with the company. He joined the Aviva plc Board in 2017 and was appointed chief executive in March 2019. Since that time, Tulloch has been in the process of reorganizing the company, which has had a sluggish share price and has not delivered the returns that shareholders expected. Tullochs predecessor, Mark Wilson, was pushed from the job after his work on transforming the company did not yield the expected results. I want Aviva to be the leader in our industry again and the first choice for our customers and partners. My focus will be on achieving that for the benefit of all of our stakeholders, said Blanc in a statement. We will look at all our strategic opportunities, and at pace. I have been on the Aviva board since the start of this year and have a good understanding of where the business has its strengths and what actions we should take across our portfolio, she added. I would like to thank Maurice for his valuable contribution over many years with Aviva. The board and I were saddened to hear of the personal reasons behind his desire to step down and we wish him and his family the very best for the future, said George Culmer, chairman of Aviva. We are delighted that Amanda will be our new CEO. The board was unanimous in endorsing her appointment. I know she will bring real dynamism to Aviva and re-establish our credentials as a high-performing, innovative and customer-centric business, Culmer continued. Blanc will step down from all of her current non-executive commitments. She will continue in her voluntary role as chair of the Welsh Professional Rugby Board. Photograph: Avivas headquarters in London. Photo credit: Aviva Canopius, the London-based specialty re/insurer, announced the launch of a set of cyber property products for medium-to-large corporations across all sectors across the globe. In light of the ever-evolving cyber threat, the Canopius Cyber Property Damage Product Range (PDPR) will be sold on a consultative basis and in close collaboration with brokers. As well as replacing cyber cover excluded from property policies following regulatory action to address the issue of silent cyber, it also protects clients against risks associated with the continued reliance on technology, expanding 5G coverage and an increase in automation, connected buildings and the use of Internet of Things (IoT). Canopius has created this product suite based on an established rating model that combines historical data from the property market with cyber expertise. This has created a consistent pricing strategy across the cyber property damage book. The new product range is designed with flexibility in mind, and Canopius underwriters will be able to work with clients to provide solutions appropriate to their exposure. The products available from Canopius deliver bespoke coverage to clients that provide clarity and tackle the complexities created by the removal of cyber coverage from their traditional property insurance policies, said Camilla Walker, cyber underwriter at Canopius. The range of products means Canopius can continue to address clients exposures as they evolve, whether that be due to a business change or the application of further, or different, cyber exclusions within other insurance products. Studies suggest there could be as many as 43 billion connected devices by 2023, many of which will be low complexity devices used to monitor and control buildings and their environments, said Canopius, quoting a 2019 report from McKinsey. Such devices are creating a new vector for digital criminals looking to terrorize or defraud businesses and individuals, explained Canopius. Matt Northedge, global head of cyber at Canopius, said: Regulatory intolerance for silent cyber plus hardening property rates has created a cyber property coverage gap. These products endeavour to define this silence to help clients carve some of that back. It also mitigates against a multitude of potential risks stemming from the increased reliance on technology and automation across organizations computer networks. The new Canopius PDPR provides up to a $25 million line and offers brokers a streamlined application process and access to seven underwriters in London available to service property damage enquiries. About Canopius Canopius is a global specialty re/insurer with underwriting operations in Australia, Bermuda, China, Netherlands, Singapore, the UK and U.S. It underwrites through Lloyds Syndicates 4444 and 1861 (managed by Canopius Managing Agents Ltd.) and a U.S. surplus lines insurer, Canopius US Insurance, Inc. Source: Canopius Topics USA Cyber Property New Markets A former student in a suburban Illinois high school has filed a $1 million lawsuit that alleges the school district did not protect her from a choir teacher who is charged with installing hidden cameras to film her and other students as they changed clothes before class. The former Beecher High School student, identified in the lawsuit against Beecher School District 200U as Jane and John Doe, allege that the one-time teacher, James Vidmar directed the girls from time to time to change into their choir or band uniforms before class. According to the (Tinley Park) Daily Southtown, police in the south suburb of Beecher, arrested Vidmar in late 2018 after being contacted by school officials who had discovered the cameras. Vidmar was suspended when the cameras were discovered and fired the next month. A grand jury indicted him on 12 felony counts of unauthorized video recording of a victim under 18. The 45-year-old Vidmars phone has been disconnected and he could not be reached for comment. The school districts superintendent, Brad Cox, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Illinois American companies are coming under increasing pressure from investors to publicly disclose information about diversity among employees in the wake of nationwide protests against racial discrimination. Many executives have pledged to champion equality in response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the United States and beyond. The goal of global investors increasingly focused on social and governance issues is to gain a common metric on racial diversity to compare companies and hold them to account on their pledges, building on a drive to improve gender equality. The good news, they say, is that U.S. firms with more than 100 employees already gather such data for the federal government annually via a form known as the EEO-1, along with gender information. However, the data is confidential and companies are not required to publicly release it, with some arguing it does not accurately capture the structure of their businesses. Only 32 companies in the Russell 1000 make the information public, according to researcher Just Capital, either via the form itself or through detailed summaries. The EEO-1 is not the holy grail, but its an excellent starting point, said John Streur, chief executive of Calvert Research and Management, an investment firm pressing executives to publicly disclose the data. Once companies began releasing information, it would create competition to improve diversity, he added. This was echoed by Mirza Baig, Global Head of Governance at London-based Aviva Investors, part of insurer Aviva. We think its inevitable that those data points will be disclosed and we think companies should get ahead of it. UNDERREPRESENTED Companies that file the EEO-1 form, to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), record the number of workers they have of each race and gender across 10 job categories, including senior officials, sales workers and technicians. The latest filings are for 2018, as the 2019 deadline was deferred to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data reveals some very unequal pictures. For instance, of 290 executives and top leaders at Uber Technologies Inc, one of the companies to publicly release the information, seven were Black and nine were Hispanic or Latino in the payroll period covering the last two weeks of 2018. Both figures represented only around a 3% share of top positions, well below the two groups proportion of the U.S. population, of about 13% and 19% respectively. At Bank of America Corp., in another example, Black people held 5% of 4,197 top-level roles as of last year, and Hispanic or Latino people held another 4%. Measuring the Moment: How Will George Floyds Death Matter to Insurance Industry? While some insurers may track numbers privately, a few insurance organizations do reveal more than intentions in their efforts to increase African-American representation within their ranks. American International Group is one AIGs website has a percentages report that breaks out employment by minority categories (10.4% of AIG associates are African-Americans). Progressive Insurance reports the minority percentage of its new hires and current employees. In 2018, 27% of Progressives new hires were African-American, compared to 17% for current employees. It also reports on promotions by race, ethnicity and gender. Allstates Prosperity Report discusses diversity and shares that 17.2% of employees are African-American. Zurich publishes an extensive human resource factbook that explores the companys employment by gender, generation and geography but not race. The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers has a task force on diversity and the organization researches and reports on the status of minority employment, including for African Americans, in insurance agency ranks. Read more. The figures are broadly in line with aggregated EEOC data showing that of the roughly 900,000 people holding those top jobs across the country, about 3% were Black and 4% were Hispanic in 2018. Companies that disclose the data, like Uber and Bank of America, show a more serious effort to improve minority representation, said Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, a University of Massachusetts professor who studies workplace diversity. Transparency is a prerequisite for both goal-setting and accountability, he added. An Uber spokeswoman said the company is committed to investing in long-term strategies to create a sustainable pipeline of talent from historically underrepresented communities. Bank of America says on its website it is focused on attracting, retaining and developing diverse talent. WALK THE WALK There has been a marked shift in attitudes since the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Companies have collectively pledged hundreds of millions of dollars and to remake their own workforce profiles. However firms voicing support for racial equality should back up their talk by releasing their EEO-1 data, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer says in letters being sent to 67 companies in the S&P 100. Were asking companies that condemned racism to walk the walk, Stringer, who oversees some $206 billion in retirement assets, told Reuters. Activist investors say efforts to make diversity data public are gathering momentum, partly since this can be easier than reforms like adding social metrics to CEO pay programs or naming new board members. For instance, at cybersecurity company Fortinet Incs annual meeting on June 19 the Juneteenth U.S. holiday marking the end of slavery in 1865 70% of shares voted backed a resolution to report on its workforce diversity. Kristin Hull, CEO of resolution sponsor Nia Impact Capital, said the vote tally a record high among similar resolutions at U.S. companies according to the Sustainable Investments Institute reflected the current discussion about race in corporate America. Update: Lloyds of London Apologizes for Its Shameful Role in Atlantic Slave Trade Lloyds grew to dominate the shipping insurance market, a key element of Europes global scramble for empire, treasure and slaves, who were usually in the 18th Century included in insurance policies in the general rate for ship cargo. Some Facts About Londons Role in Insuring the Atlantic Slave Trade Slaves were seen as cargo by the insurance market of the time and generally included in the general insurance rate. Lloyds Statement on Its Role in Slave Trade At Lloyds we understand that we cannot always be proud of our past. In particular, we are sorry for the role played by the Lloyds market in the eighteenth and nineteenth Century slave trade an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own. In acknowledging our own history, we also remain committed to focusing on the actions we can take today to shape our future into one that we can truly be proud to stand by. Read more. A Fortinet spokesman said it planned to release its EEO-1 data. MATCHING THE WORKFORCE However to date, most companies have shied away from public disclosure of EEO-1 data. Executives say privately they worry about legal liability, bad publicity and attracting rivals recruiters if they employ many minorities. Some argue the forms categories such as craft workers or laborers arent relevant to their businesses. Even some of the activists do not give out their data. We have not historically published the EEO-1 forms, but we are reviewing that approach, said Robyn Tice, spokeswoman for Calvert parent Eaton Vance Corp. Some companies do disclose data, but on their own terms. Just Capital counted 204 companies that disclosed some information on the gender and ethnicity of their employees as of August 2019, often in non-standard ways. In a report on its website, for example, Starbucks Inc states that 17.5% of its executives ranked at senior vice president or higher are People of Color. A Starbucks spokeswoman said it was reviewing whether to release its EEO-1 data publicly. Others disclose little data currently, like Snapchat parent Snap Inc. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a CNBC interview on June 11 that, while it was working on providing more details, it was worried that disclosures have actually normalized the current composition of the tech workforce, which has few minorities. A Snap spokeswoman said the company planned to disclose a breakdown of its employees by race and gender as the EEO-1 form outlined, but would likely use different job categories that better matched its workforce. It also plans to show additional data such as hiring rates, she added. For an interactive version of the graphic, click here https://tmsnrt.rs/2Nq8D62. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? Calverts Streur mentioned Home Depot Inc as an example of a company that could expect more pressure to release its full EEO-1 data. Nearly every year since 2005, shareholder activists have put a resolution on the idea to a vote at the retailers annual meeting an uncommonly long run. The company has opposed the resolutions. In its notice for this years meeting, held on May 21, it noted it began releasing certain diversity data annually in 2018. In 2018, 48% of shares cast backed a resolution calling for the EEO-1-level disclosure. A similar resolution got 36% support at this years meeting, held four days before Floyds death. A Home Depot spokeswoman said it was committed to diversity and equal opportunity. She cited a company diversity report, which states minorities made up 44% of its workforce in 2018. American Centurys Sustainable Equity Fund was one backer of the resolution this year, according to Guillaume Mascotto, vice president for the fund manager. He said the national conversation about race would make more shareholders likely to back calls for disclosure in the future. More and more investors, especially those that have a long-term horizon are going to want to see how companies are approaching this. (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Pravin Char) Topics USA Excess Surplus Talent Market London Lloyd's Diversity A plaintiffs attorney cannot avoid a showdown with a cruise line at the federal courthouse in Miami simply by pleading the case as an action that does not require the courts jurisdiction under admiralty law, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, vacated and remanded a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro that found the court had no jurisdiction to hear Carmela DeRoys lawsuit against Carnival Corp. That ruling, if upheld, would have allowed the claim to proceed to state court and a possible jury trial. DeRoys attorney, M. Benjamin Murphey, filed the suit as an in personam action to get around a forum-selection clause in Carnivals passenger agreement that requires federal courts to hear any disputes when federal jurisdiction applies to the claim. The legal term refers to a courts jurisdiction over a person, as opposed to property. Admiralty law is derived from the federal courts jurisdiction over seafaring vessels. It was a creative effort, the 11th Circuit panel said in its opinion. But DeRoys proposed loophole does not exist, so she cannot escape the forum-selection clauses ironclad consequences. The injury that prompted the lawsuit is not mentioned until the 13th page of a 16-page complaint: DeRoy was injured when she tripped over a dip in the carpeting on the 6th deck of Carnivals Valor cruise ship. Murphey said his client suffered an orthopedic injury. Much of the rest of the complaint presents arguments as to why the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Florida has no jurisdiction. We all know the state of play, Murphey said in a telephone interview. If Im going to have to fight somebody, I want to fight where the terms are best for me. The complaint that Murphey wrote on DeRoys behalf says that federal courts have for many years failed to understand that passengers dont have to file claims against cruise lines under admiralty law. Court decisions have confused the concepts of forum, subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, claims presented and applicable law, the suit says. Murpheys law firm, Lawlor White & Murphey in Fort Lauderdale, represented some of the plaintiffs in those lawsuits. In DeRoys case the firm argued that the federal court lacked jurisdiction. DeRoy is a Florida resident and Carnival is headquartered in South Florida, so theres no diversity, the suit argues. The courts jurisdiction under admiralty law doesnt apply because the suit was filed in personam, the complaint says. The 11th Circuit didnt agree. The panels opinion notes that DeRoy had also pursued a lawsuit in state court. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal, which has jurisdiction, has ruled that the forum-selection clauses in Carnivals passenger agreements were enforceable in three previous decisions. The appellate court said the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in a 1991 decision that cruise lines have a special interest in clarifying where they can be sued, since their business involves transporting passengers through many jurisdictions. In short, the forum-selection clause does not contain the loophole DeRoy urges, the court said in conclusion. To the contrary, it serves as a moat around the federal-court forum, ensuring that claims where federal jurisdiction could lie, if litigated at all, stay in federal court. Topics Lawsuits USA Florida The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 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 Monday for remdesivir, and said the price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors. Were in uncharted territory with pricing a new medicine, a novel medicine, in a pandemic, Gileads chief executive, Dan ODay, 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 criticized; a consumer group called it an outrage because of the amount taxpayers invested toward the drugs development. The treatment courses that the company has donated to the U.S. and other countries will run out in about a week, and the prices will apply to the drug after that, ODay said. In the U.S., 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 its in the right place at the right time, ODay said In 127 poor or middle-income countries, Gilead is allowing generic makers to supply the drug; two countries are doing that for around $600 per treatment course. Remdesivirs 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 coronaviruss ability to copy its genetic material. In a U.S. government-led study, remdesivir shortened recovery time by 31% 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 $4,580 to $5,080 if it saved lives. But recent news that a cheap steroid called dexamethasone improves survival means remdesivir should be priced between $2,520 and $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 $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. The price might have been fine if the company had demonstrated that the treatment saved lives. It didnt. While it may be a sticker shock for many, from the health system perspective, if remdesivir can shorten duration of hospitalization by four days, then the medicine provides a reasonable value, Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota, said in an email. ODay said that shortening hospitalization saves about $12,000 per patient. Gilead says it will have spent $1 billion on developing and making the drug by the end of this year. Gilead shares rose 64 cents to $75.22 in late-morning trading. The drug has emergency use authorization in the U.S. and Gilead has applied for full approval. Jefferies pharmaceuticals analyst Michael Yee wrote to investors that Gileads price was a bit above what stock brokers were expecting. He said that at that price, analysts expect Gilead to make $525 million on remdesivir sales this year and $2.1 billion next year About the photo: This is an April 30, 2020, file photo showing Gilead Sciences headquarters in Foster City, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics COVID-19 Carriers USA Drugs A new team at the Texas Department of Insurance has been established to identify and quickly resolve issues involving health insurers in the state. Michael Nored, previously special counsel to the commissioner, was tapped to head the new Health Market Actions Section created to work across the agency to ensure consumer interests are protected. Nored brings 22 years of experience on insurance litigation and regulatory issues involving company interventions, exams, and enforcement. He joined TDI as an attorney in the Enforcement Section in 2012. He also has 14 years of private sector insurance law experience Attorney Doug Danzeiser will also be on the team. Hes been working on health insurance and enforcement issues at TDI since 2000, most recently as a director in the Life and Health Division. The section will report to Financial Regulation Deputy Commissioner Jamie Walker and collaborate with staff throughout the agency. Topics Texas Trends Market North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest has filed his lawsuit challenging Gov. Roy Coopers decisions to shutter businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic without getting the backing of other elected officials. Forest officially sued the Democratic governor in Wake Superior Court on Wednesday, nearly a week after Forest signaled hed do so. The Republican lieutenant governor, who is trying to unseat Cooper in November, had to jump over legal hurdles to sue without using the Attorney Generals Office to represent him. Forest wants voided six of Coopers executive orders issued since March because Cooper didnt obtain concurrence from the Council of State for his actions. His latest order also mandated people wear face coverings in public. Without addressing the lawsuit specifically, Cooper told reporters Wednesday his administration has followed the law while making health and safety decisions. Even if Cooper doesnt believe council approval was necessary, Forests lawsuit says, the governor failed to follow other rules that give his state health director power to limit movement. The lawsuit seeks a quick injunction barring enforcement of Coopers executive orders until he receives support from a majority of council members. Other lawsuits filed by business owners challenging Coopers orders have been unsuccessful to date. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics COVID-19 Lawsuits North Carolina State regulators are taking over maintenance of a decades-long environmental cleanup in two northwestern Montana towns where lung-damaging asbestos contamination has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on last week transferred responsibility for protecting the towns of Libby and Troy from further contamination to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Asbestos from a vermiculite mine owned by W.R. Grace polluted the area until the mine was shuttered in 1990. Cleanup work began in 2000, after media reports spurred federal officials to investigate widespread health problems among area residents. More than 2,600 homes, businesses and other properties were cleaned up at a cost of more than $600 million under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Superfund program for hazardous sites. Roughly 1 million cubic yards of soil and other material were removed during that process. However, some asbestos remains in the soil and in peoples houses where vermiculite was used for insulation. With the transfer of responsibility, state and local officials will be responsible for handling any new discoveries of contamination, such as during construction or excavation work. These are small amounts of contamination that are still left, EPA spokeswoman Beth Archer said. Thats not posing a risk for peopleIts in areas that people cant reach. The state will face ongoing costs estimated at $663,500 annually. That includes any additional cleanup work that must be done, routine inspections and other costs. The microscopic fibers of asbestos can cause lung problems and eventually death. Health officials estimate that several thousand people have been sickened in northwest Montana from exposure to Libbys asbestos and at least 400 have died. While state and local officials are taking over management of much of the remaining contamination, EPA will retain some oversight. State and federal officials described Wednesdays transfer as a milestone in their efforts to clean up the town and get it off the Superfund list. But the legacy of the contamination is expected to linger for many years as the health problems of people who were exposed worsen over time. An unprecedented public health emergency declared in Libby by the EPA in 2009 remains in place. The timing on a complete removal of the site from the Superfund list has not been determined, said DEQ spokesman Moira Davin. The mine site itself, just outside Libby, has yet to be cleaned up by W.R. Grace. A feasibility study that would help determine the parameters of that cleanup is pending, Davin said. Grace is responsible for the cleanup costs at the mine and in 2008 agreed to pay a $250 million settlement for cleanup work elsewhere in the area. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Pollution Pacific Gas & Electric has emerged from a contentious bankruptcy saga that began after its long-neglected electrical grid ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people. The nations largest utility announced Wednesday it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and paid $5.4 billion in initial funds and 22.19% of its stock into a trust for victims of wildfires caused by its outdated equipment. This is an important milestone, but our work is far from over, Bill Smith, PG&E interim chief executive officer, said in a statement. Our emergence from Chapter 11 marks just the beginning of PG&Es next era as a fundamentally improved company and the safe, reliable utility that our customers, communities and California deserve. A federal judge last month approved a $58 billion plan for the company to emerged from bankruptcy by June 30, the deadline that the company had to meet to qualify for coverage from a $21 billion wildfire insurance fund created by California last year. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montalis decision cleared the way for PG&E to pay $25.5 billion for losses from devastating fires in 2017 and 2018. Dozens of lawsuits were settled during the ordeal, with $13.5 billion earmarked for more than 80,000 people who lost family, homes, businesses and other property in the fires. The company plans to find a new CEO to replace Bill Johnson, who stepped down June 30 after just 14 months on the job. It has overhauled its board of directors, including 11 members who were just recently appointed. PG&E also has committed to slicing up its sprawling territory into regional units to be more responsive to the different needs of the 16 million people who rely on it for power. Financing the plan requires PG&E to nearly double its debt, saddling the company with a burden its critics fear will make it more difficult to raise the estimated $40 billion for improvements that the utility still needs to make to its electrical grid. This marks the second time in 16 years that PG&E has navigated a complex bankruptcy case that has raised questions about how it should operate in the future. The last time the company emerged from bankruptcy, in 2004, electricity rates soared and management focused even more on boosting profits instead of upgrading its power supply. Related: Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Jeffrey Epstein's former associate and ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been arrested on Thursday and is currently in jail. According to new reports, the former "madame" of the disgraced financier is scheduled for a court appearance on Friday in New York. In a letter from the prosecutors to a judge on Sunday, they said that they communicated with Maxwell's defense lawyer, Christian Everdell, who would like a Friday bail hearing after both sides submit written arguments. Ghislaine Maxwell is also said to be arraigned at the hearing. The 58-year-old is charged with four criminal counts related to procuring and transporting minors for illegal sex acts and two counts of perjury, as per the indictment by federal prosecutors in New York. Lawyer Spencer Kurvin, who represents three of the disgraced billionaire's sex trafficking accusers, said that there are fears among Epstein victims that people will want to silence Maxwell in prison. Speaking to The Daily Mail, he revealed that he thinks Ghislaine Maxwell will not get out of jail alive. "I said the same thing about Jeffrey Epstein, and people laughed at me." Jeffrey Epstein was awaiting trial on federal charges of trafficking minors from 2002 and 2005. He was in his jail cell when he was found hanged in an apparent suicide. The 66-year-old pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of solicitation of prostitution from a minor in a deal made in 2008, with prosecutors that were widely criticized as too merciful. "I think Maxwell knows way too much information - I just have this gut feeling," Kurvin said. TV host Christopher Mason who also knew Maxwell, said, "I'm absolutely worried for her safety. The authorities are open to the possibility of some cooperation." In a report by Page Six, Ghislaine Maxwell is said to be ready to air out dirty laundry and start naming some big names in an attempt to help her case following her multiple charges. Steven Hoffenberg, a former business associate of Jeffrey Epstein, revealed that Maxwell would be dropping some names soon. Not only those who abused underage girls but also those who made financial agreements with Epstein or have benefited from his generosity -- including included flying on his planes or staying at his homes. The former financer was allegedly associated with note-worthy figures such as Britain's Prince Andrew, former US president Bill Clinton, and current POTUS, Donald Trump. These men have said to have denied any knowledge or involvement in Epstein's underage sex ring. Ghislaine Maxwell Arrest The Guardian reported that 20 armed officers and agents broke down the door of Ghislaine Maxwell's $1 million New Hampshire estate in Bradford. Her 156-acre hidden property is named "Tucked Away." Her arrest came almost a year after Jeffrey Epstein's arrest and followed several months of FBI investigations. If convicted, Ghislaine Maxwell will face 35 years in prison. It was reported that after being arrested, the "pimp" of Epstein sobbed and said, "How could this happen?" as per one of their victims. Virginia Robers Giuffre, a survivor of the sex trafficking ring, said that during one of Maxwell's court hearing, she heard a "very loud British woman screaming." For Giuffre, the news of Maxwell's arrest was a feeling of pure happiness. Speaking to 60 Minutes, she said, "This day to me has been like one of the best days of my life. I have not stopped smiling and crying, happy tears, and I'm elated to know she is where she belongs." READ MORE: Royal Karma: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry EXTREMELY 'Struggling' Since LA Move See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles A U.S. judge will not stop Hawaii from enforcing a quarantine on arriving travelers, saying in a ruling that the emergency mandate is reasonable during the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A group of Hawaii, California and Nevada residents tried to stop the quarantine by filing a lawsuit alleging it is unfair and unnecessary. It violates the fundamental right to travel freely, they argued. The quarantine mandate, which applies to out-of-state travelers and Hawaii residents, doesnt prevent people from traveling and the plaintiffs have elected not to travel whether to or from Hawaii because they do no want to be quarantined, U.S. District Judge Jill Otake said in a ruling issued Thursday night denying a request for a temporary restraining order. The decision is good for Hawaii, the state attorney generals office said Friday: Our department will continue to wholeheartedly defend the Governors Emergency Proclamation. The plaintiffs are waiting to see full details of Gov. David Iges plans to allow travelers to bypass quarantine starting next month if they test negative prior to arriving. The testing plan is similar to one in Alaska. Were going to wait and see what the governments position is before we formulate our next moves in this lawsuit, Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney representing the people challenging the quarantine, said Friday. But the litigation is very much going to continue. Hawaii imposed the quarantine to prevent the importation and spread of COVID-19 and to avoid overwhelming the health care system, which are compelling state interests, Otake said. Hawaiis health department said Friday there were 29 newly reported cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began to 975. The department reported the states 19th COVID-19 death Friday. The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. Hawaii has been able to keep infection rates low compared to other parts of the U.S. because of emergency restrictions, state Attorney General Clare Connors told Otake at a hearing Thursday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some _ especially older adults and people with existing health problems it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. Dhillon said its not known if low rates can be attributed to the quarantine and that the state could have enacted less restrictive measures sooner. Although the right to travel within the United States is constitutionally protected, that does not mean that a temporary quarantine cannot be instituted in certain areas when evidence shows that unlimited travel there would directly and materially interfere with the safety and welfare of that area, Otake said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics COVID-19 USA Legislation The U.S. Forest Service shut down an extensive fire mitigation project after raising concerns about the number of trees being cut down and sold to a logging company in southwestern Colorado. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad completed eight miles of the tree-cutting project before the Forest Service sent the railroad a cease-and-desist order May 27, The Durango Herald reported. Members of the public and Forest Service resource specialists have raised a number of concerns about clearing activities currently being conducted along the railroad right-of-way, San Juan National Forest Supervisor Kara Chadwick said in the order. The project focused on the 100-foot right of way on each side of the railroad tracks from the Cascade station to Silverton, said John Harper, general manager of American Heritage Railways, which owns the D&SNG. It was intended to help prevent wildfire and derailment. Downed trees were sold to the Dolores-based IronWood Mill, which was also contracted to cut down the trees, Harper said. Theres been some misrepresentation because people consider it logging, Harper said. But any salvageable timber was taken out of the canyon so it could be put to good use rather than be disposed of or wasted. The D&SNG did not inform the Forest Service of its project because the railroad isnt required to notify the agency of work in its right of way, he said. But Chadwick said since the track crosses and is adjacent to National Forest land, federal law requires the railroad to inform the agency of any work that may go beyond routine maintenance. The regulation requires you inform the Forest Service in order to obtain a determination that the work is routine and is therefore exempt from permit requirements, Chadwick said. Forest Service spokeswoman Esther Godson said the situation remains under investigation and the agency has no further comment. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Colorado Opinion Policies Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue. Feedback policy If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com). Column Policy Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions. Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020 You may also like these stories: The Foreign Residents Support Center hosts the offices of eight public organizations on one floor of a building located in front of JR Yotsuya Station in the capitals Shinjuku Ward. The move comes as the Japanese government shifts toward bringing in more foreign workers under a new visa system launched in April last year in response to an acute labor shortage amid population declines. TOKYOJapan on Monday opened a new support center in Tokyo for the countrys growing number of foreign residents to give advice on employment, visas, laws and humanitarian issues. A demonstration of an interpretation system via videolink is shown to the press at the Foreign Residents Support Center in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on July 6, 2020. / Kyodo A demonstration of an interpretation system via videolink is shown to the press at the Foreign Residents Support Center in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on July 6, 2020. / Kyodo The Day When Myanmars First Christian Convert was Baptized As Domestic Tourism Reopens in Myanmar, Businesses Struggle to Get Back on Their Feet US Vows to Take Strong Actions After China Passes Hong Kong Law Myanmar to Go to the Polls on Nov. 8, Election Commission Announces Myanmars NLD Distances Itself From Senior Members Comment on Presidency for Military Chief Despite Myanmar Ethnic Parties Bold Election Strategy, NLD Insists on Going It Alone We do not encourage viewing this site in this width. Please increase the size of your window. 'You know you're on the right side of history when...' By Mark Alexander You know you're on the right side of history when the other side burns our flag and topples our monuments and obstructs the march toward American Liberty that these symbols represent. Joe Biden remains largely hunkered down in his basement bunker so as not to risk further exposure of his non compos mentis cognitive slide. Until last week, when he made an unpublicized appearance and fumbled his remarks, it had been 89 days since he last answered an unscripted media question. Apparently, his campaign's strategy is "less is more" and who can blame his handlers? Last Monday, from his sequestered safe house, Biden posted a social-media comment, asserting, "White supremacy should be rooted out and relegated to the pages of history not promoted by the President of the United States." That immediately prompted a question he should be (but won't be) asked in response: Given the violent racist history of the Democrat Party, shouldn't any and all references to it be "canceled" and stricken from history, and anyone who refuses to disassociate themselves from the party thrown out of office? After all, Democrats were the party of slavery before Republicans emancipated black people in the 19th century. Then Democrats became the party of racist oppression in the century that followed. And in the 55 years since the Civil Rights movement was met by the policy failures of Lyndon Johnson's so-called "Great Society," the Democrat Party is still enslaving poor people on what amount to socialist urban poverty plantations. Arguably, the Democrat Party is, at the same time, the author and beneficiary of "systemic racism." As the old saw goes, "If not for double standards, Democrats would have no standards." Amid all the "cancel culture" desecration and destruction of our nation's history, it is apparent that our educational institutions have succeeded in dumbing down a generation of mostly privileged white leftists and their frontline agitators. These unenlightened malcontents never learned that interpreting history in the current context is not the same as understanding history in the proper context. Worse, they conflate historical context for the current context. It is no small irony that some of the nation's most elite academic institutions are now subject to the stench of the effluent they created. Leftists now have the Ivy League universities of Yale and Princeton in their sights. Yale was named for vicious slave trader Elihu Yale in an effort to win his financial favor and become the beneficiary of his fortune. That didn't happen. Princeton, endeavoring to appease the cancel crowd, is removing the name of former university president, Democrat "progressive" president, and notorious racist Woodrow Wilson from its campus buildings. Duke and Cal-Berkeley, elite universities named for slave owners Washington Duke and George Berkeley, will be next. After the 2017 Charlottesville protests, I asked the following question in a column entitled, "Monumental Ignorance The Left's 'Historic Cleansing' Campaign": Given that the University of Virginia was founded by a slave owner, should it be left standing as a monument to Thomas Jefferson's legacy? UVA will be next. None of the wealthy endowments funding most of these esteemed institutions can escape ties to the historical racial oppression of black people, though most of their discrimination today is against students of Asian descent. Let's defund them all! Apparently, university names, statues, rice, pancake syrup, and the like weren't "racist" just a few years ago when Democrat Barack Obama and his sidekick Joe were in charge. Notably, given the latest renaming fervor, there's one recent Democrat Party icon who has escaped cancellation, and his name is emblazoned on hundreds of places. Despite the "fact-checker" obfuscation, former Sen. Robert "Conscience of the Senate" Byrd (D-WV), the longest-serving member of the Senate, actually DID have direct ties to the Ku Klux Klan. In his home state of West Virginia early in his career, Byrd organized and led a 150-member Klavern, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops. Two years after declaring he had officially left the KKK, Byrd wrote a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS) declaring he would never fight in the military "with a Negro by my side." Byrd concluded, "Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours be degraded by race mongrels." A year later he wrote a letter to the national leader of the KKK, the Imperial (Grand) Wizard, stating, "The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." In 2001, the former Democrat Senate majority leader, who became its president pro tempore emeritus two years later, said in an interview regarding race relations: "They're much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime. ... I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us. ... My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much." In his 2005 memoir, Byrd lamented, "It has emerged throughout my life to haunt and embarrass me and has taught me in a very graphic way what one major mistake can do to one's life, career, and reputation." One major mistake followed by a thousand minor ones. Check out this list of institutions, etc. bearing Robert Byrd's name. Don't hold your breath. Democrat hypocrisy has no time limit. Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Burma Military Sacks its Appointed Kachin Security Affairs Minister After Kachin Jade Disaster A rescue team carry a dead body after the Hpakant landslide. / Myanmar Fire Service Department. Yangon Myanmars military has taken action against Kachin States security and border affairs minister and an officer commanding a military unit over the latest landslide in Hpakant that killed more than 170 jade prospectors, according to the militarys information team. The statement said the minister, Colonel Nay Lin Tun, and the commanding officer had been moved back to their former positions after being found primarily responsible for the accident. The two officers will face further action, it said. A new minister would be appointed, the statement added. A presidential investigation was set up on July 3 and has not yet completed its report. The Presidents Office appointed U Ohn Win, the minister for resources and environmental conservation, will chair the inquiry committee, which will include the military-appointed home affairs minister Lieutenant General Soe Htut, social welfare minister Dr. Win Myat Aye, Kachin State chief minister Dr. Khat Aung, U Min Thu, the director of the Resources and Environmental Conservation Ministry, and U Htun Zaw, a Kachin State government secretary. The Presidents Office has assigned the committee to find the main reason for the landslide and reveal those responsible. The group has been assigned to assist the families of those injured and killed in the accident. It has also been asked to make suggestions to avoid further accidents. U Darshi La Sai, Kachin States resource and environmental conservation minister, said the committee left Kachin State on Monday after inspecting the site and meeting representatives, injured jade prospectors and the relatives of those killed. The investigators also researched five jade mines which were deemed as at possible risk of collapse. They instructed the state authorities to prevent prospectors from entering the sites. The landslide occurred in Hpakant on Thursday morning. It killed at least 172 prospectors and more than 50 were injured. About 20 people are still missing. Dr. Win Myat Aye said on Sunday that his ministry and the national disaster management committee would provide 500,000 kyats (US$366) in assistance to each family of the 172 dead and 200,000 kyats ($146) to each of the 54 people who were injured. The ministry has donated 11 million kyats ($8,040) to civil society organizations helping with the rescue operations. U Darshi La Sai said they will educate prospectors to avoid further accidents. The Kachin State government reported that there were 19 landslides in Hpakant and Lone Kin in 2019 and 94 deaths. By June this year, 30 people had reportedly died in landslides. You may also like these stories: Landslide Kills at Least 126 at Northern Myanmar Jade Mine Election 2020 Myanmar Sets Up Voting Abroad in Advance of November Election A man casts his vote at a polling station in Yangon during the 2018 by-election. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmars Union Election Commission (UEC) has said nationals living abroad must register by Aug. 5 to be able to cast advanced ballots in this years general election. Myanmar will hold its general election on Nov. 8, with nearly 100 political parties vying for a total of 1,171 parliamentary seats up for grabs in the Union Parliament and the state and regional legislatures. The UEC announced that voters abroad can get registration forms for advanced voting at their relevant embassies or download the forms from the websites of the UEC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Myanmar embassies. Prospective voters must return the form between July 16 and Aug. 5. Advanced voting is a major concern raised by political parties as it is hard to monitor. In the 2010 and 2015 elections, it was a cause of disputes and allegations of fraud. UEC Chairman U Hla Thein previously said that the commission will prevent the upcoming election from being rigged by advanced votes. There were reports of election fraud in advanced voting in previous elections to change the results. We will prevent such things from happening in the 2020 elections, he said. According to the commission, voters abroad cast more than 6,000 votes in advance of the 2010 election and more than 20,000 votes in advance of the 2015 election. Both numbers are very low compared to the number of documented migrants from Myanmar living abroad. There are more than 4 million documented Myanmar nationals living abroad, according to census data. Most of them are in Thailand and Malaysia. Daw Mya Nandar Thin, from election monitoring group the New Myanmar Foundation, said it is crucial for voter turnout to ensure that migrants are well-informed about the election and can cast their votes smoothly, especially given the COVID-19 crisis. The UEC also said that officials from government training centers, schools, hospitals and jails will organize advance voting on designated days between Oct. 8-21 for locally-registered voters who will be outside their constituency on the election date. This group of advanced voters includes civil servants attending trainings, prisoners and people receiving care at hospitals, among others. Burma NLD Struggles to find Candidates in Rakhine for Myanmars General Election The National League for Democracy is weak in Rakhine State. / The Irrawaddy Yangon The National League for Democracy (NLD) has difficulty finding candidates for the November general election in conflict-torn Rakhine State, according to the partys vice-chairman, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung. In the 2015 election, the NLD lost to the Rakhine ethnic party, Arakan National Party (ANP), and holds less than 20 percent of seats in the state parliament. The NLD central executive committee meeting on Thursday discussed party members applications for candidacies in northern Rakhine, where Myanmars military and the Arakan Army (AA) are engaged in ongoing fighting. Some party members have recently applied for candidacies in Rakhine, said Dr. Zaw Myint Maung. We were very concerned about Rakhine State. There was talk that the election cant be held in Rakhine State without the approval of the AA. It is difficult to find candidates. Now [party members] can apply for candidacies in Rakhine State. We are trying to get candidates for all the townships and we believe we will, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung told reporters. There are 47 seats 35 elected seats and 12 set aside for military appointees in the state parliament and the ANP won a majority of seats in 2015. There are 61 constituencies in 17 townships in Rakhine. The NLD only won in 14 constituencies one seat in the Upper House, an ethnic affairs minister position and seats for the Lower House and the state parliament in Myanaung, Thandwe, Taungup and Gwa townships in southern Rakhine. According to NLD lawmakers, the selection of candidates at the township-level in southern Rakhine is complete. It can be dangerous to run an election in northern Rakhine State as there are active armed groups. We need to exercise extra caution because [the fighting] can spread to southern areas, said state lawmaker U Win Naing for Thandwe Township. While regional stability plays a factor, the NLD has little chance of winning the election in Rakhine, according to political observers. The NLD has not been strong in northern Rakhine since 2015, but not because of the clashes. It suffered a resounding defeat in the 2015 election. It will be even more difficult now. No non-Rakhine party has ever won an election in the state. Only ethnic parties have been strong, said analyst U Maung Maung Soe. More than 100,000 people have been displaced by clashes with the AA in northern Rakhine since January 2019. Displaced people in Rakhine State are occupied with return and resettlement and making a living rather than the election. So many of them do not think the election is necessary, said U Tun Kyi, coordinator of a Kyaukphyu rural development association. Although the Union Election Commission (UEC) has designated constituencies in the state, it cannot guarantee if voting will take place in conflict hotspots in northern Rakhine, said observer U Tun Kyi. If clashes continue, no one would dare to vote. It would be better if the Tatmadaw [military] introduced a ceasefire during the election period, he said. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko Burma Senior Myanmar Police Officer Jailed for Demanding Sex From Female Subordinates Former Police Brigadier-General Zaw Moe Than / The Irrawaddy YANGONA senior Myanmar police officer was imprisoned last week for sexually exploiting his female subordinates, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Police Brigadier-General Zaw Moe Than, who had overall responsibility for the process of making appointments within the Myanmar Police Force, was detained and underwent an internal investigation after the ministry received a complaint that he demanded sex from a female officer in exchange for a promotion. He was found guilty of the offense and was imprisoned on Friday. He was sent to Yamethin Prison [in Mandalay Region], said ministry spokesman Police Colonel Kyaw Thiha. The officer faces a maximum punishment of three years in prison under the Myanmar Police Force Maintenance of Discipline Law, Police Colonel Kyaw Thiha said, adding, however, that he did not have specific details of the sentence handed down in this case. When the case first emerged, it was known only that a female police officer had filed a complaint against Zaw Moe Than, but according to sources in the police force, at least eight female officers filed complaints accusing him of sexual exploitation. We are grateful that action has been taken against him. But whether the punishment fits his crime is another question. Female officers can also file lawsuits against him under the Penal Code, and open civil cases, said lawyer U Thein Than Oo. Government spokesman U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy in late June that Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant-General Soe Htut had briefed government leaders on Zaw Moe Thans sexual abuse of female officers. The Home Affairs Ministry said it took punitive action against 2,817 police officers and 6,730 other officials from 2016 to 2020. Among these, 19 police officers were punished under the Anti-Corruption Law. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Senior Myanmar Police Officer Accused of Sexual Exploitation of Female Officer Myanmar Military Chief: Intl Cooperation Vital Against Terrorists Backed by Strong Forces Myanmar Military Chief Hints at Political Role in Interview With Russian Media Myanmar & COVID-19 Another Myanmar Migrant Returnee Hangs Himself in the Irrawaddy Delta The quarantine center in Pathein where Ko Nay Lin Htet, a migrant worker who returned from Thailand, committed suicide. / The Irrawaddy PATHEIN, Ayeyarwady RegionA returned migrant worker who was in a COVID-19 quarantine center in Pathein after returning from Thailand committed suicide by hanging himself on Friday evening. Since May, Myanmar nationals returning from foreign countries have been placed in 21-day mandatory quarantine at quarantine centers in their respective townships by regional and state governments. Ko Nay Lin Htet, 27, who worked in Mahachai, Thailand, returned to Myanmar through a land border and entered facility quarantine in Pathein on June 26. He went into the toilet and hung himself. As it was raining, we could not hear the sounds from outside. We only found out after a while. Then we contacted the concerned authorities, said an official at the quarantine center in Pathein, which is a converted cooperative training school. Ko Nay Lin Htet was a native of Ayeyarwadys Myanaung Township. He used a polyester rope to kill himself, according to the police. He was the second person to commit suicide while in quarantine Pathein. Ko Chit Thaung, 28, who returned from China, committed suicide using his long-sleeve shirt in the toilet of the isolation ward at Pathein Hospital in June. We are investigating the death of a 27-year-old man who returned from Thailand, said regional police spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Tun Shwe of Ko Nay Lin Htet. He said the body has been sent to Pathein Hospital for post-mortem examination. Another Myanmar migrant worker who returned from Thailand also committed suicide on Friday by slitting his throat at the immigration reception center in Myawaddy, on the Myanmar side of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot land border crossing. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. You may also like these stories: Recovered COVID-19 Patient in Myanmar Tests Positive Again Myanmar Lifts Last Stay-at-Home Restrictions at Its COVID-19 Epicenter Myanmar Sees Largest COVID-19 Spike as Migrants Deported from Thailand Test Positive Monday, July 6th, 2020 (1:13 pm) - Score 3,425 Openreach (BT) has today announced that 80,000 premises across the city of Edinburgh in Scotland can now access their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network and work is on-going. The city was one of the first to be announced under their Fibre First deployment plan, which began two years ago. At this stage its still unclear how much the citys deployment is costing the operator and how many premises will ultimately benefit, although their roll-out has now completed in Abbeyhill, Corstorphine, Davidsons Mains, Newington, Fairemilehead, Fountainbridge and Liberton. Most of the build is also nearing completion in Colinton, Granton, Leith and Morningside. NOTE: Openreach s FTTP based broadband ISP network currently covers 2.75 million UK premises and aims to reach 4.5 million by March 2021. After that they have an ambition to reach 20 million by the mid-to-late 2020s (costing c.12bn to complete). Meanwhile Openreachs engineers are due to restart work (i.e. as COVID-19 restrictions ease) in areas including Stockbridge and the West End, Craiglockhart and Portobello. Upgrades will also start in Maybury, West Edinburgh, and the city centres Waverley exchange area later this year. Suffice to say that theyre far from finished. However, its probably no coincidence that the operator has put this announcement out today, which follows only a few days after Virgin Media announced that their 1Gbps DOCSIS 3.1 network upgrade had also gone live across Edinburgh (here). Both now have a large area of coverage in the city. Robert Thorburn, Openreachs Partnership Director for Scotland, said: Weve made great progress here in Edinburgh despite the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions, with 80,000 city households and businesses now able to connect to our new full fibre broadband network. Connectivitys been vital for city businesses, home workers and families home educating during the lockdown, with record demand across our network. Now, as the nation faces the economic fallout from the pandemic, its going to be even more essential. Our rollout in Edinburgh offers these 80,000 homes and businesses access to the fastest, most reliable broadband available anywhere in the UK. That gives the city an economic edge for the recovery so Id urge people to check if they can upgrade now. The copper network is coming to the end of its working life and will eventually be switched off. Edinburgh businesses and residents can be early adopters to the new full fibre network, with a choice of providers who use the Openreach network to offer services. We should point out that Openreach and Virgin Media arent the only gigabit broadband builders in the city. Cityfibres own FTTH network (Gigafast Broadband) also started to go live earlier this year (here), but their coverage remains comparatively small. Elsewhere Hyperoptics full fibre connectivity, which tends to focus on large apartment blocks (MDU), has also been present across various parts of the city for some years now. Otherwise readers will no doubt note that fastest, most reliable broadband available anywhere in the UK claim, which isnt entirely accurate since there are other ISPs offering 2Gbps and 10Gbps packages (e.g. Zzoomm, B4RN and Black Fibre). On top of that Openreachs network is asymmetric in speed rather than symmetric, which is what many of their rivals are already doing (e.g. Cityfibre). Mind you none of those have good coverage, yet. Like the Ithaca Times? Please help support local journalism by whitelisting this site in your ad blocker. Thank you! The capitulation of the Iraqi Prime Minister to Iran By Yoni Ben Menachem On June 25, 2020, Iraqi forces raided the Baghdad headquarters of the Hizbullah Brigades, a militia loyal to Iran, and arrested 14 operatives on suspicion of planning and carrying out rocket attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, including on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and Iraqi army bases where U.S. troops are based. The raid also captured a workshop manufacturing katyusha rockets and several ready-to-fire rockets. The raid was ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who promised Americans a month ago in the first round of Iraqi-U.S. strategic talks to stop the attacks on U.S. military in Iraq. The raid was welcomed by many in Iraq who saw it as a first sign of the new prime ministers determination to disarm the pro-Iranian militias in the country. However, shortly after the raid, pro-Iranian militia members of the Al-Hashd Al-Shabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) umbrella organization began issuing threats at Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Qais al-Khazali with Iranian General Qasem Suleimani (Irans ABNA News Agency, 2014) Qais al-Khazali, Chief of the Aasib Ahl al-Haq militia, warned Prime Minister Kadhimi that he should not get into a confrontation with Al-Hashad Al-Shabi militias. I am giving you some good advice. These militias represent the people. Nobody can prevent the fighters from fighting American forces to get them out of Iraq if they do not withdraw peacefully, said Khazali. According to Iraqi sources, Qais al-Khazali threatened Iraqi Prime Minister Kadhimi that he would work to overthrow him and reminded him that Kadhimis government is only a transitional government that will hold office until the early elections. Prime Minister Kadhimi appeared to be alarmed by the threats, and the 14 activists arrested in the raid were released soon after their arrest. As soon as they were freed, they went to the center of Baghdad to celebrate, where they trampled images of Prime Minister Kadhimi and set fire to Israeli and U.S. flags. We will not hand over our weapons, only to Imam Al-Mahdi, [a messiah-like figure], the released activists shouted. In interviews with Iraqi media, they claimed that among the counterterrorism forces who arrested them were Americans in civilian dress. Did Kadhimi Capitulate or Was There a Deal? Sources close to Prime Minister Kadhimi claimed that the Hizbullah Brigade militants were released as part of a deal, in which they would halt attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq in exchange for release. However, senior officials at the Al-Hashad Al-Shabi umbrella organization have firmly denied this. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office just a few months ago, and this incident is considered by Iraqis to be a painful humiliation, harming his dignity and status as prime minister. The Iraqi government is maintaining silence and has not provided a public explanation of what happened. The obvious conclusion is that the release of the Hizbullah Brigades activists and the surrender of Iraqi Prime Minister Kadhimi to Al-Hashad Al-Shabi militia pressure indicate that the pro-Iranian militia can effectively veto any political decision that they do not approve. Kadhimis surrender is seen as a big political mistake that would be very difficult to correct. All the Iraqi assumptions that the pro-Iran armed militias will agree to disarm after the new government is set up have faded. The Kadhimi government faces a major challenge: forcibly dismantling the armed militias or accepting the existing situation. Akram al-Kaabi, the head of the pro-Iranian al-Nujaba militia, joined the circle of those refusing to disarm the militants, and instead called for ignoring the demand to disarm and for strengthening the capabilities for the big campaign. Al-Hashad Al-Shabi militias formally belong to the Iraqi army, but they openly ignore Prime Minister Kadhimis demands. According to Iraqi law, Kadhimi is considered the supreme commander of the armed forces. The bottom line is that the latest incident means that Iran registered another victory in Iraq. It will continue to influence the political system and decisions in the country, such as the Iraqi parliaments decision to expel U.S. forces from Iraq. There is no doubt the Americans are outraged at Mustafa al-Kadhimi, which raises a question mark over Kadhimis expected visit to the United States. Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Home Stacker presents the 100 best movies of all time, as determined by weighted IMDb ratings and Metascores. Only English-language movies released in the U.S. were considered for the list, and each movie needed both a Metascore and at least 20,000 votes on IMDb to qualify. 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 J.R. Florez, an employee with Stephen F. Austin State Universitys Residence Life Department, mists a room in Steen Hall with a hypochlorous acid, a disinfecting compound the custodial staff says is safer and more effective than bleach. All residence hall rooms have been treated with the disinfectant and will have been treated twice when students return to campus in the fall. Jennifer Dorsey is chief copy editor and Business section coordinator. She worked in Washington, D.C., and Chicago before moving to the Tetons. A Minneapolis neighborhoods bold experiment in victimhood By Michael R. Shannon The New York Times has a story thats entertaining reading for conservatives. It concerns a mostly white, solidly leftist neighborhood so inspired by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a rogue policeman, they decided to volunteer to become victims, too. Rapidly the residents of Minneapolis Powderhorn Park began living in Powderkeg Park. Almost en masse, the progressive neighbors have vowed to avoid calling law enforcement into their community. Doing so would add to the pain that black residents of Minneapolis were feeling and could put them in danger. The headline was A Minneapolis Neighborhood Vowed to Check Its Privilege. Checking your privilege to those forward thinkers means volunteering to be a crime victim. Its not white folks promising to stop snitchin. Theyre promising to never start snitchin. It was a bold step into the past. When one of the first dontringthecops ringleaders moved into Powderhorn, it was plagued by prostitutes, johns and gangbangers. She spent most of her time shooing off working girls and calling the cops. This new experiment in Hobbesian living is characterized by the philosophical thread linking all leftist experiments in utopia. The project is judged by the intent of the effort and not the results. No one is required to take personal responsibility. And in any evaluation of the effort the only moral position is the one taken by the left. Possibly the neighborhood is nostalgic for grit or maybe there is such condition as criminal naivete. Either way, I want to give credit where credit is due. Normally the procedure for elite leftists is to make other people live up to their high ideals. Meanwhile the elites money, personal security and gated communities insulate them from any consequences. Not this time. These leftists are living the nightmare themselves. Before you could say police brutality vagrants erected a tent city in the park the neighborhood was named after. The multiracial group of roughly 300 new residents seems to grow larger and more entrenched every day. They do laundry, listen to music and strategize about how to find permanent housing. Some are hampered by mental illness, addiction or both. Their presence has drawn heavy car traffic some from drug dealers. At least two residents have overdosed in the encampment and had to be taken away in ambulances. Powderkeg Park is no longer a sea of tranquility. One of the pledgetakers lives in fear. She dreams of using a bat to defend herself from home invaders. Sexual harassment stopped another from walking her dog in the park. Ones ideological commitment to a false narrative has resulted in her kids being drafted into the cause. Like the dogs, they cant play in the park either because its unsafe. This has not caused commitment to lag. The women agreed to let any property damage, including to their own homes, go ignored. And if they saw anyone in real danger they decided to call the vigilantes at the American Indian Movement. Mitchell Erickson could have used an AIM war party. He was confronted by the new arrivals. Two black teenagers who looked to be 15 cornered him outside his home a block away from the park. One of the oppressed pointed a gun at Erickson and demanded his car keys. Understandably rattled, he gave the thugs his house keys instead, so they went down the street and stole another social experimenters auto. Erickson forgot his commitment to social justice and backslid. He called the police. He atoned for his lapse by pledging not [to] cooperate with prosecutors in a case against the boys. Days later he was still riven by regret. " I regret calling the police. It was my instinct but I wish it hadnt been. I put those boys in danger of death by calling the cops. And there you have the leftist mindset. A rare combination of condescension, noblesse oblige and racial stereotyping. No one is responsible. Everyones a victim of circumstances beyond their control. Drugs too cheap. Work too early. School too boring. Otherguy did it. The real irony for this collection of calamity volunteers is that if they would only agree to be baptized they could personify the weak, meek, generous, forgiving Christians the secular world demands believers become! Whats confusing was why a reporter as mendacious as Caitlin Dickerson she peddles the lie that scores of police killings [are] part of a systemic problem of the dehumanization of black people by the police would let facts that werent all butterflies and balloons into the story? Then it dawned on me. Dickerson doesnt consider white men with a gun shoved in their face, white women being MeTooed and white folks in general losing access their neighborhood park to be negative at all. Michael R. Shannon is a public relations and advertising consultant with corporate, government and political experience around the globe. He is a dynamic and entertaining keynote speaker. He can be reached at mandate.mmpr (at) gmail.com. He is also the author of Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!). Home Repairs are complete to the footbridge at Harpers Ferry that had been damaged in the Dec. 21 train car derailment. The bridge opened to visitors on July 3. Living Reporter and Theatre Critic Tim covers leisure and arts, and he is also a theater critic. He interned for the JI in 2015, and was hired in 2016. Tim graduated from UConn, Central College of McPherson, Kansas, and American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His favorite movie is "Jaws." The past, present, and future of Quebec updated to 2020 (Part Five) By Mark Wegierski The Quebecois nurse a great number of grievances against what has ironically been dubbed "TROC" ("the rest of Canada"). (Troc apparently means rump in French.) The term has an interesting significance giving the impression that Quebec wants to see itself as both the most quintessentially important part of Canada as well as separate from Canada. It also points to the unwillingness of TROC to call itself English Canada or English-speaking Canada. Indeed, the term English Canada is frequently rendered in quotation marks in many of the more recent Canadian English-language political works, as it would today be considered presumptuous to assert the existence of such an entity, considering the supercharged multiculturalism that especially characterizes such major megalopolises as current-day Toronto and Vancouver. As in the case of most so-called recognized minority groups today, the Quebecois have amplified in their collective memory, a long catalogue of wrongs that were committed against them by the anglais. However, the Quebecois cannot just be seen as a recognized minority they have a huge area of land to which they could be considered native they are a nation and, were they to separate, they would form a territorial nation-state. For the Quebecois nationalist today, everything bad begins with the battle of the Plains of Abraham, and the resultant Conquest -- the conquest of French Quebec by the British in 1759. This primal wound has haunted French-English relations in Canada. However, the French of an earlier Quebec seemed to be better able to reconcile themselves to their fate. The British had ironically been relatively tolerant to the institutions of Ancien Quebec, especially in regard to the Roman Catholic Church which was allowed to continue to flourish something that was virtually unheard of in most British realms. Some may remember that phrase from an American Revolutionary ditty if Gallic Papists have the right, to worship their own way, what hope then, for the freedoms, of poor Americay. George IIIs toleration of Roman Catholicism in Quebec was read in as an article of indictment against him in the Thirteen Colonies. In the nineteenth century, the British constitutional monarchy was not seen as alien to Quebec, as it has latterly become perceived. From the 1960s forward, as modern, progressive-minded nationalists, the Quebecois have had to find a way to repudiate much of their earlier, Catholic-centred, rurally-focused history, and to simultaneously blame what is today seen as this unfortunate backwardness exclusively on the English. The artifact which fulfills this function is the idea of the so-called "roi negre" (which could be politely translated as local chieftain). It is assumed that first the prelates of the Church, and then such figures as Duplessis (a long-serving Premier of Quebec in the 1930s to 1950s, called "le Chef", somewhat similar in style to America's Huey Long), were actually tools of the English in maintaining social control over Quebec. The English were not interested in improving Quebec society, so long as they had a "local chieftain" they could rely on to enforce order among the locals about whom the English couldnt care less. The English did dominate commerce and industry in Quebec up to the 1950s, largely confining French-Canadians to the rustic, but it is not often considered that many at that time might have preferred such a life. One of the great focal events of Quebec, for the Quebecois nationalists, is the 1837 Rebellion of the Patriotes, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, which was brutally suppressed by the British. Although the Rebellion actually had comparatively little support at the time, across a Church-bound Quebec, it is seen as a harbinger of secular nationalism. The execution of Louis Riel, the leader of the half-French/half-Indian Metis in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, is seen as another atrocity. The fact that Riel had decades earlier executed an English-Canadian in rather gruesome circumstances which made it difficult for Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to show clemency -- is rarely mentioned. Salt was also rubbed into the wounds when French-language schooling in Manitoba was done away with, and failed to be enacted in other provinces with French minorities. The execution was certainly a baneful event, which turned Quebec away from the once-powerful Bleus/Conservative Party in the federal election of 1896. Relying on a solid bloc of seats from Quebec, and a minority of seats from English Canada, the Liberals have almost always formed the government of Canada in the Twentieth Century. While Quebec remained a very conservative society until the so-called "Quiet Revolution" of the 1960s, it generally voted Liberal federally. This trend was continued with its support of the chameleon-like Pierre Elliott Trudeau, first elected in 1968. English-Canadians believed that Trudeau would "put Quebec in its place", while French-Canadians voted for him because he was seen as a "native son". The idea of Trudeaus toughness against the Quebec separatists was reinforced by his declaration of martial law in Quebec in October 1970, against a small, extremist separatist faction, that had kidnapped (and later murdered) the Quebec Minister of Labour, as well as kidnapped a British trade official. Trudeau enacted the policy of coast-to-coast bilingualism (French and English) in Canada, which was said to be the price of keeping Quebec in Canada. Ironically, the Quebecois nationalists cared little for bilingualism, and moved to make their province unilingually French. Trudeau's individual rights, multiculturalism, and aboriginal rights policies came to be seen as diluting and undermining the now undisputed place of French-Canadians as one of the "two founding peoples" of Canada. The 1980 Quebec referendum on "sovereignty-association" failed by a ratio of 60 to 40. In 1982, Trudeau "patriated" the Canadian Constitution, including within it the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, within the Constitution Act, 1982. The Parti Quebecois provincial government, led by Rene Levesque, which had just lost the referendum, refused to accept this. The so-called "patriation", and the maneuvers of Trudeau and the other Premiers concerning its initial announcement to the public, are often seen as an anti-Quebec conspiracy, sometimes described in Quebec, rather too flamboyantly, as "the Night of the Long Knives". In an attempt to have Quebec accede to the new Canadian Constitution, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney negotiated the Meech Lake Accord in 1987. A strange kind of fury seized English Canada, especially in opposition to the legal recognition of Quebec as a distinct society, an obvious historical and social reality, but a blow to absolute individual rights, as well as to the notion that so-called group rights are normally afforded only to visible minorities (a term of official usage), as well as to Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The Accord failed in 1990, when it was rejected by the recalcitrant legislatures of two smaller English-Canadian provinces. In 1992, the Charlottetown Agreements were cobbled together by Mulroney and the ten provincial Premiers. They were in many ways similar to the Accord. They were put to a countrywide referendum. The Quebecois nationalists opposed them because they did not offer enough to Quebec, whereas TROC opposed them because they offered too much. The Agreements were solidly defeated across the country. Written in 1840, Lord Durham's famous Report had accurately warned that the future of Canada might consist of "two nations warring in the bosom of a single state". To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Investigators used DNA evidence to identify the remains of a Winston-Salem man who was reported missing nearly 34 years ago, authorities said Monday. On July 24, 1986, Dwight Michael Gordons family reported him missing to the Winston-Salem Police Department, police said in a statement. Gordon was 37 and had been living on Washington Avenue. Investigators determined that Gordon was last seen by his family about two years before the disappearance was reported, police said. On Oct. 21, 1984, the Chilton County Sheriffs Office in Alabama found the body of an unidentified white man on County Road 459, police said. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences determined that the mans cause of death was due to multiple blunt force injuries to his head, and the mans death was ruled a homicide. Despite efforts by authorities in Alabama, the victims identity remained unknown. In 1986, investigators with the Chilton County Sheriffs Office arrested James Cleckler, who was 32 at the time. Cleckler pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Gordons death in 1987 and was sentenced to life in prison. The act of protesting itself also can take a toll, said Dr. David Gutterman, clinical director of LeBauer Behavioral Medicine, part of the Cone Health Medical Group. Its physically demanding, its not comfortable and in some cities they are also facing a lot of opposition, Gutterman said. Its not only physically taxing; it can be very emotionally taxing as well. Thats something Morgan has seen during the nonviolent Greensboro protests hes organized. At the Battleground Avenue protest, where protesters blocked the street, Morgan said there were three incidents where white people were trying to run us over. Still, Morgan, Gutterman and Harris all said they see positive things coming out the protests especially people gathering from different backgrounds. Whats been so encouraging, when you look into the crowds of people, you literally can see everybody, Harris said. Gutterman said: At a time when peoples emotional reserves were at a pretty low level, after months of being quarantined and the fears and anxieties around the virus (the protests have) created what psychologists call a moral elevation. A 59-year-old man filed the lawsuit in Mecklenburg Superior Court in April against the Childrens Home, which is now known as Crossnore School & Childrens Home, and the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, which ran the Childrens Home at the time of the alleged abuse. The man said in the lawsuit that Bruce Jackson Jack Biggs and his wife, Beatrice Hatcher Biggs, a married couple who served as house parents at the Anna Hanes Cottage at the Childrens Home, sexually abused him repeatedly, starting at age 10, from 1970 to 1973. The man also said that the couple sexually abused other children at the Childrens Home. The couple was never criminally charged, and it is believed the Biggses were fired in 1973 due to the sexual-abuse allegations, the lawsuit said. North Carolina has set another daily record for COVID-19 hospitalizations 982 statewide as the overall case count nears 75,000. Hospitalizations, which rose by 33 from Saturday to Sunday, have been above 800 for 21 consecutive days in North Carolina. There were 1,546 new cases reported for Sunday for a total of 74,529 since the onset of the pandemic, along with two additional deaths for a total of 1,398. The state experienced a record 2,099 new cases Friday. The state Department of Health and Human Services reported that as of 4 p.m. Monday a total of 55,318 North Carolinians, or 74.2%, have recovered. Meanwhile, Forsyth County's COVID-19 cases continued to surge with 221 new cases over the Fourth of July holiday weekend for an overall total of 3,353. There were no coronavirus-related deaths over the four-day period. The Forsyth health department reported 83 new cases Friday, 48 on Saturday, 57 on Sunday and 63 on Monday. Forsyth's highest daily case increase remains 162 on June 1. Forsyth health officials report 2,040 individuals who have recovered, along with 37 deaths, for an active case count of 1,276 At least nine cases in Forsyth are linked to staff members at the county jail. President Trump stands up for religious liberty By Dr. Robert Owens US President Donald Trump addressed a United Nations event on Religious Freedom. In his speech he boldly spoke up for religious freedom and against religious persecution saying, The United States is founded on the principle that our rights do not come from government; they come from God. This immortal truth is proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitutions Bill of Rights. Our Founders understood that no right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, and virtuous society than the right to follow ones religious convictions. The religious freedom enjoyed by American citizens is rare in the world. Approximately 80% of the worlds population live in countries where religious liberty is restricted, or even banned. The United States calls upon the nations of the world to end religious persecution. To stop the crimes against people of faith, release prisoners of conscience, repeal laws restricting freedom of religion and belief, protect the vulnerable, and the oppressed, America stands with believers in every country who ask only for the freedom to live according to the faith that is within their own hearts. Taking aim at a tragic truth ignored by the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media President Trump continued, It is estimated that 11 Christians are killed every day for following the teachings of Christ. The USA is forming a coalition of businesses for the protection of religious freedom which will encourage the private sector to protect people of faith in the workplace. Too often, people in power preach diversity while censoring the faithful. True tolerance means respecting the right of all people to express their deeply held religious beliefs. The United States of America will forever remain at the side of all who seek religious freedom and I ask all nations to join us in this urgent moral duty to allow every person to follow their conscience, live by their faith, and give glory to God. Summing up his position and the policies of his administration the President boldly said, Were standing up for almost 250 million Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. And President Trump has put his actions behind his words. Back in 2017 While commemorating the National Day of Prayer, President Trump signed an executive order that he said will "Defend freedom of religion and speech in America." While addressing the gathering of American religious leaders the President also said, "The Founding Fathers believed religious liberty was so fundamental they enshrined it in the first amendment in the constitution, yet for too long the Federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith bullying and even punishing Americans for following their religious beliefs. No American should be forced to choose between the dictates of the government and their faith." Freedom is not a gift from government. Freedom is a gift from God." The order, based on one of Mr. Trump's campaign promises, provided regulatory relief from Obamacare requirements such as the requirement that organizations provide contraception care. A requirement that many religious organizations felt was forcing them to violate their beliefs. Taking a swipe at the Johnson Amendment to the IRS Code, which prohibits political speech in churches, the President also directed the Department of Justice to develop new rules designed to establish religious protections for all Americans saying, "Under my administration, free speech does not end at the steps of a cathedral or synagogue, we are giving our churches their voices back, with this order, we will also make clear that the federal government will never penalize any person for their protected religious beliefs." And this work to give legs to his promises continues into the present time, on Tuesday June 2, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order on international religious freedom. The order reads, Religious freedom, Americas first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative. Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom. The executive order also allocates an annual amount of $50 million for advancing international religious freedom by deterring attacks on sects and enhancing security at houses of worship. That order is aimed at bolstering global incentive programs and restricting the issuance of visas under the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of human rights abuse and corruption. This is all part of a coordinated campaign to bring attention to the war against faith being waged by the forces of evil around the world. Following Trumps lead, the State Department has brought a new focus on religious freedom. The Executive Order states, The Secretary shall require all Department of State civil service employees in the Foreign Affairs Series to undertake training modeled on the international religious freedom training described by the Foreign Service Act and amended in 2016. Also, President Trump has hosted victims of religious persecution striving to bring this ongoing attack against faith the visibility it deserves. Drawing a line in the sand President Trump does not equivocate when he stakes out his position with regard to religious freedom, Each of us has the right to follow the dictates of our conscience and the demands of our religious conviction. On the world stage President Trump, while hosting the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event, called for: The international community and business leaders to work to protect religious freedom. All nations to act to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith. Taking the lead, the United States under the Trump Administration: The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, during which more than 100 governments and religious leaders committed to fight religious persecution. The Administration is spearheading the International Religious Freedom Alliance, an alliance of nations dedicated to confronting religious persecution around the world. The Administration has taken steps to protect victims of all faiths from religious violence. The Administration will dedicate an additional $25 million to protect religious freedom and religious sites and relics. The Department of Justice hosted its Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism in July. The United States has provided humanitarian aid to help Christians and Yazidis who suffered at the hands of ISIS and to help Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing persecution. Not overlooking the domestic war against religion by the enemies of faith President Trump has made it a priority to support every Americans fundamental right to religious freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights. In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to advance religious freedom, restoring the ideals that have undergirded our Nation since its founding. The President took action to ensure Americans and organizations are not forced to violate their religious or moral beliefs by complying with Obamacares contraceptive mandate. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established a new Conscience and Religious Freedom division to help direct the agencys efforts to protect religious freedom. HHS took action to protect the right of healthcare entities to act according to their conscience. This year, the Administration finalized a rule providing more flexibility for Federal employees whose religious beliefs require them to abstain from work on certain days. The Administration has unequivocally stood for religious freedom in the courts. This campaign for religious liberty is all part of the Trump Administrations efforts to advance religious freedom by combating rising levels of violence around the globe. The wide scope of this war against faith being waged by the worldly forces of evil can be seen in facts such as these: Eighty-three percent of the worlds population lives in nations where religious freedom is threatened or banned. The Trump Administration is deeply concerned for the more than 1 million Uighurs interned in Chinese internment camps. Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais, humanists, and non-believers alikealmost every group has been increasingly persecuted over the past decade. Many former administrations paid lip service to the freedom of religion which is necessary for humanity to find its way to God. President Trump has done more to stand up for religious liberty in one administration than every other president combined. Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com 2020 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens Home As a locally owned coffee shop with a sea of competition, both corporate and locally owned, its important to differentiate yourself from other businesses, and one way we do that is with our beans, says Tart. We are proud of the beans we source and brew, both from N.C. roasters and from roasters in other parts of the USA. Fortuna is based in Greensboro and they roast most of our drip coffee beans, as well as provide the majority of our paper products, syrups, etc. Having close relationships with suppliers and roasters allows local coffee shops to be more flexible and innovative in the drinks they offer. For Footnote, having their own operation which is housed in the beer-brewing facility lets them experiment. Bartholomaus says they recently purchased a cold brewing unit that produces 300 gallons. Prior to COVID-19, they were serving it in Footnote and had plans to slowly release it on draft at other locations, but now are working on distributing it in cans to help build interest. Above all, consumers should remember that by supporting local or smaller coffee businesses, theyre not only benefiting the ones brewing their coffee, but everyone behind the scenes who made that cup possible. The most important thing consumers can do for the industry is spend more money, Ehrlich says. If youre a Folgers drinker, keep drinking your Folgers, but once a month buy a more expensive specialty bag of coffee, or support a local coffeehouse. By doing that, youre telling the coffee roaster he has a market, and when he sees he can sell this coffee, he sticks his toe in a little bit deeper, and that lets us step our toe in a little bit deeper. Its all connected. Kosovos Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will relaunch talks in Brussels on Sunday, an EU spokesman said, reviving negotiations that ground to a halt in 2018. The talks are intended to solve one of Europes most intractable territorial disputes, with Belgrade refusing to recognise Kosovos independence. The talks will follow a video summit on Friday hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at easing tensions between the Balkan rivals. It is no coincidence that we are continuing the virtual dialogue on Sunday (in Brussels), said Peter Stano, an EU spokesman. These are complementary events. Both Kosovo and Serbia have been facing mounting pressure from the West to reboot negotiations after a series of diplomatic tit-for-tats effectively suspended the peace effort. The new push comes after Kosovos President Hashim Thaci was charged last month with war crimes by prosecutors in The Hague over the secessionist that killed 13,000 people. The indictment at the EU-backed tribunal led to the postponement of a White House summit between Serbia and Kosovo due to be held at the end of June, after Thaci cancelled his trip. European officials had bristled at the US initiative, having spent years trying to resolve the dispute. Resolving the lingering conflict is a requisite for either side to make progress on their EU accession dreams. Serbia has refused to recognise the independence Kosovo declared after the province broke away in the bloody 1998-99 war that ended only by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops. More than 13,000 people died in the war, mostly Kosovo Albanians, who form a majority in the former province. During the war Thaci was the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), but prosecutors in The Hague suspect him of being behind nearly 100 murders as well as numerous cases of persecution and torture. He has denied the charges, accusing the international tribunal of rewriting history. Tensions with Serbia flared anew when its President Aleksandar Vucic called the indictment good news. Yet Vucic, whose party claimed a big win in parliamentary elections last month, has been under Western pressure to make progress on talks with Pristina. Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader and candidate in Ivory Coasts October presidential election, has been forced into self-imposed exile in France in the face of a long list of legal problems. But in his stronghold of Ferkessedougou, a commercial hub in the north, he has the unwavering support of backers who believe he is destined to lead the west African country. I dont do politics, but you dont abandon your child, said Kiali Ouattara, a traditional chief. Soro was a leader in a 2002 revolt that sliced the former French colony into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south and triggered years of unrest. He was an ally of President Alassane Ouattara, helping him to power during a post-election crisis in 2010 that claimed several thousand lives. Soro went on to serve as prime minister under Ouattara and then parliamentary speaker. But the two eventually fell out and Soro began to harbour his own presidential ambitions, parting ways with the ruling RHDP party last year. Thats when his fortunes turned. in April, Soro was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of embezzling public funds. He also faces charges of plotting an anti-government uprising. As a result, he abandoned an attempt to return to the country in December. Many of his supporters, who have dismissed the charges as politically motivated, have been jailed. Soro is also the subject of a complaint filed in Paris on the grounds of torture, murder and war crimes between 2004 and 2011. Soro has insisted that the accusations are designed to keep him out of the presidential race, which has been seen as a test of stability for Ivory Coast, the worlds largest cocoa producer. Far-fetched verdicts None of the charges or accusations have discouraged his supporters in Ferke, the common name for this city of 160,000 people 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the village of Diawala where Soro was born. The RHDP puts (Soros) supporters in prison and sentences him with far-fetched verdicts, said Ouattara Laragton, a 55-year-old hairdresser a reference to what happened to Ouattara under former presidents Henri Konan Bedie and Laurent Gbagbo. Some say they would like to see Soro, 48, bring a more modern approach to the post held by 78-year-old Ouattara. I know that if the kid shows up, hes going to win, Laragton said. Sitting at a major crossroad with direct routes to border crossings into Mali and Burkina Faso, Ferke supplanted the nearby historic city of Kong the stronghold of the Ouattara family as the norths commercial centre in the 20th century thanks to the passage of a regional railway. Just 50 km west of Ferke is Korhogo, the capital of the north and the city of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the RHDP candidate chosen by Ouattara to succeed him. Soro had long hoped that Ouattara would nominate him as his successor. Sougari Soro, a 45-year-old mechanic in Ferke, said the RHDP has been ungrateful. They threw him under a bus after he devoted himself to getting them in power, he said. There are many of us in Ivory Coast who are silent supporters of him. It was Soro who left But the RHDP is far from having lost its grip in the city. As soon as he came to power, President Ouattara invested in the predominantly Muslim north of the country, which had long been neglected by the political power coming from the south. Ferke, like Korhogo, has benefited greatly from the money that has been poured into schools, mains electricity and roads. (Soro) is in too much of a hurry to take power. He has to continue his apprenticeship, to learn alongside the president, said Ismael Ouattara, an electrical appliance salesman. Soro cant say that this is his stronghold, said Tilkouete Sansan Dah, a member of parliament for the nearby town Bouna. Soro would be unable to be elected MP for Ferke today. The RHDP has worked to chip away at his support. The RHDP was like a house made up of different rooms. There was the pro-Soro room, the pro-Gon Coulibaly, the pro-Hamed Bakayoko (defence minister), among others, said Sansan Dah. The activists did not change houses. It was Soro who left the house. Kosovos new Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will hold talks in Brussels on Sunday in a bid to ease longstanding tensions, an EU spokesman said Monday, reviving negotiations frozen since 2018. The talks will follow a video summit for the Balkan rivals hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday. These are complementary events, said Peter Stano, an EU spokesman. Kosovo and Serbia have faced mounting pressure from the West to reboot negotiations after a series of diplomatic tit-for-tats effectively suspended the peace effort. The new push comes after Kosovos President Hashim Thaci was charged last month with war crimes by prosecutors in The Hague over the secessionist conflict in the late 1990s that killed 13,000 people. The indictment at the EU-backed tribunal led to the postponement of a White House summit between Serbia and Kosovo due to be held at the end of June, after Thaci cancelled his trip. European officials had bristled at the US initiative, having spent years trying to resolve one of the Continents most intractable territorial disputes. Serbia has refused to recognise the independence Kosovo declared after the province broke away in the bloody 1998-99 war that ended only by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops. More than 13,000 people died in the war, mostly Kosovo Albanians, who form a majority in the former province. Hotis office later said the Kosovo premier would meet Macron in Paris on Tuesday ahead of Fridays virtual summit. This meeting shows the care and commitment of President Macron to Kosovo and its Euro-Atlantic future, Hotis office said in a statement. Painful legacy Tense relations between the nations have persisted, with Kosovo announcing a ban on all imports from Serbia unless they are certified as for the Republic of Kosovo just weeks after abolishing a 100-percent tariff on Serbian goods. The legacy of war has proved divisive at home as well, as the desire for reconciliation or at least normalised relations clashes with national pride and anger over the fightings painful toll. Several Serbian military and police officials were convicted by international tribunals of war crimes committed during the conflict, which saw hundreds of thousands of civilians forced from their homes. Some Kosovo rebels were also accused of kidnapping and other crimes, including some who would secure senior political posts after the war. Thaci was the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and prosecutors in The Hague suspect him of being behind nearly 100 murders as well as numerous cases of persecution and torture. He has denied the charges, accusing the international tribunal of rewriting history, and has vowed to resign if the charges are upheld. Tensions with Serbia flared anew when Vucic called the indictment good news. Yet Vucic, whose party claimed a big win in parliamentary elections last month, has been under Western pressure to make progress on talks with Pristina. Miroslav Lajcak, the EUs special envoy on the issue, said after a meeting with Vucic last month that he was hoping to restart the detente talks in July. Thaci, however, had lent his support to the US initiative, after expressing dissatisfaction with the long-running EU-led talks to bring the Balkan neighbours to an accord. Resolving the lingering conflict is a requisite for either side to make progress on their EU accession dreams. For three and a half years, Gambia, a small West African country, has been in transition from dictatorship to democracy, and it has ticked a number of boxes. An impressive, crime-revealing, Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) has been ongoing publicly since January 2019. Several bills, including amending the criminal code and code of criminal procedure, were put before lawmakers for enactment, as well as a new access to information law. A new constitution is being drafted. The man in the government who has been key behind this and the leading voice on the rule of law and accountability is Abubakarr Tambadou, a former human rights lawyer who became Gambias Minister of Justice after the fall of Yahya Jammeh, the head of a rights-abusing 22-year dictatorship, in January 2017. Politically prominent and influential, Tambadou was also appointed the chair of the security sector reform committee early 2019. This put him in an even stronger position to drive the countrys transitional justice policy. That was until June 25, when Tambadou announced his resignation. Recommended reading Stop genocide against the Rohingya, Gambia asks the ICJ His departure could affect the transitional justice process Since his announcement, uncertainty appears to be hanging over the countrys reforms and the question has been raised: will Gambias transition stay on course? The concern, said Gambias human rights lawyer and chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Emmanuel Joof, is genuine. Joof is a longstanding friend of Tambadou. In the early 2000s, the two were part of Gambias stubborn lawyers, a coalition of human rights defenders who challenged rights violations under Jammeh. We can all be lawyers but the passion of Tambadou, his dedication, was fairness and justice. Tambadou was never for impunity, said Joof. To many, Tambadou did not just establish the transitional justice process for the sake of it; he saw and lived an undesirable past that the so-called new Gambia must break from. Perhaps the most successful institution in this regard has been the TRRC. Tambadou was fully supportive and never attempted to interfere with the Commissions work, said Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, the TRRCs executive secretary. He certainly knows the transitional justice process better than anyone in the government right now. So, yes, his departure could affect the transitional justice process, especially if his successor is not very strongly dedicated to it. I have to say that we are concerned because we do not know what the future holds for us [victims] as far as justice and accountability issues are concerned, said Sheriff Kijera, chairman of the Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations. Tambadous resignation is quite shocking. We could not hide our frustration. A sensitive political context Gambians are heading to the polls next year. Kijera is worried about the political influence and strength of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), the party supporting former president Jammeh. (Jammeh is in exile in Equatorial Guinea.) We have seen the current trend in the appointments the hiring of the enablers of Yahya Jammeh in key positions. We are concerned that the Executive might want to lobby for more political support from APRC sympathisers, said Kijera. It might be around the time of the elections that the TRRC would come up with its final report and recommendations. Elections could therefore pose a special challenge to the implementation of the TRRC recommendations. For a reliable implementation policy, Kijera said, there would have to be a Justice Minister as passionate about the process as Tambadou manifested. Will there be political will? asked Dr Ismaila Ceesay, a government critic who now leads a political party called the Citizen Alliance. Tambadous lows Tambadou has arguably been the most criticized member of Gambias cabinet. And probably the most praised too. His critics point to several injustices in the country. Ceesay was a political science lecturer at the University of the Gambia at the beginning of 2018 (and still is). Back then he declared that the new president Adama Barrow would be responsible for the prolonged stay of the West African forces in the country because he was not showing trust in the army and had not visited a single military installation since his election victory in December 2016. Apparently, for the new, post-dictatorship government, this was incitement. Ceesay was picked up by the police. Arrests like Ceesays were not uncommon, although a lot of them were seen as intimidation tactics since many cases were never taken to court. Several prominent Gambians like opposition leaders Mamma Kandeh, Fabakary Tombong Jatta and rights activists like Madi Jobarteh were arrested in manners that were reminiscent of Yahya Jammehs era. In June 2018, three young men protesting against destructive mining activity in Fabara, a settlement about an hour drive from Banjul, were shot and killed. Several others sustained gunshot injury. Though the state investigated the incident, no one to date has been prosecuted and compensation recommended to the affected families remains unimplemented. Tambadou was here when I was arrested. He was around when other people were arrested. He was there when security forces shot and killed people in this country. What did he do? Nothing, Ceesay stated. Today, however, Ceesay seems to wish Tambadou had not quit. This is a critical time for the transitional justice process. It seems as if the whole thing is crumbling we started seeing those signs, he said. So, why is he jumping ship? For me, he should have, as someone who believed in the whole transitional justice process and as a patriotic citizen, overseen it to its conclusion, Ceesay now lamented. We know he has done a very good job. If this [transitional justice process] fails, it might be because the person replacing him might not have the same clout, institutional memory and passion. A strong stand on Jammehs prosecution As Minister of Justice, Tambadou took a firm stance on accountability for Jammeh-era crimes. In January 2020, at a gathering in Banjul where president Adama Barrow was seated, Tambadou declared: If former President Yahya Jammeh ever comes back to this country, he will face immediate arrest and charges of the most serious kind and no amount of irresponsible idle talk or political brinkmanship will prevent this from happening. Such tough statements have been quite unique in the Barrow administration. They are in contrast to the Presidents more ambiguous moves. Barrow has been criticized for flirting with the support base of Jammeh since he fell out with the United Democratic Party. His rhetoric has changed from accountability to we have a nation to build and we put the past behind us statements generally seen as attempts to create a soft landing for Jammeh. In 2019, Barrow told a rally in Foni, Jammehs region, that the former authoritarian leader cannot rule the country again but he can return home as an ex-president. This aroused huge criticisms from opponents. And this made Tambadou an ally to Jammehs victims. I am aware that my principled position on former President Jammeh has not endeared me to his supporters and sympathisers, and to them I say: Jammeh belongs to the past, so wake up from your dreams of a Jammeh political comeback and move on with your lives, Tambadou told journalists at a his farewell press conference on June 25. At the event, Tambadou who will be taking a position as Registrar of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals also said he does not know if he should commiserate with his successor Dawda Jallow, or congratulate him. He comes to a hot seat, said the outgoing cabinet member. Questions on the new Minister of Justice Edward Singhatey, a former member of the military junta (left) and Dawda Jallow, the new Minister of Justice, studied law together. (Undated, uncredited photo) The new Minister of Justice is a former teacher and civic educator who graduated from law school in 2010 and took the Bar in 2011-2012. He has a Masters in human rights from the University of Essex, United Kingdom. Following his appointment in government, Dawda Jallohs resume has become a matter of public interest. Both at the law school and at the Bar, Jallow was a batch mate of Edward Singhatey, a prominent member of the Jammeh-led military junta that took power on July 22, 1994, through a military coup. Another former batch mate of Jallow, who does not wish to be named, described Jallows relationship with Singhatey as too close. This relationship may come to be tested when and if the TRRC recommends Singhatey for prosecution. Jallow is a very obedient person who has come to follow the Presidents path, alleged a former lecturer of Jallow, who also wished to remain anonymous. At his swearing-in ceremony at the State House, Jallow assured all stakeholders in the transitional justice process, especially the victims, that the Ministry of Justice will continue to support and provide the necessary leadership to ensure that the transitional justice process reaches its logical conclusion. (Jallow declined to be interviewed for this article.) Junkung Jobarteh, a former magistrate and schoolmate of Jallow, said Jallow has the capacity and intelligence to do the job. Almamy Taal, Jallows former lecturer at the law school, confirmed that he was an excellent student, he came to the law as a mature person and comported himself well. An honest man, smart, open and critical minded As a magistrate, Jallow did make rulings that went against the state, despite the interest of the Jammeh government in those cases. In 2014, a local online newspaper critical of Jammeh, Kairo News, ran the following headline: The admirable magistrate Dawda Jallow. The newspaper praised Jallow for acquitting a former permanent secretary at the Youth Ministry on false information charges. I recall the days when Dawda Jallow was the head of programs at the NCCE [National Council for Civic Education], where he had traversed the length and breadth of the country educating citizens about their civic rights and duties, said Madi Jobarteh, a leading Gambian rights activist. Dawda was a constant face and voice on the airwaves on television and radio. I used to know Dawda as an honest man, smart, open and critical minded. With this hindsight I am elated that he is now the Minister of Justice, Jobarteh said. (On 30 June, Jobarteh was himself charged with false information and broadcasting.) Key players like Dr Baba Galleh Jallow of the TRRC and Emmanuel Joof of the Human Rights Commission stand clear that the countrys transitional justice process would not be knocked off-course without a fight. I do not have these fears at all, said Jallow. Yes, it is possible that whatever government is in place at the time will try not to follow through with the TRRC recommendations. But I believe that Gambians would then be prepared to make sure that does not happen. Im hoping there wont be any need for that. Joof shows similar faith. None of us will condone impunity. And I think you have seen how people can be emboldened when those who committed atrocities walk free. Stuck on Rose or buttery Chardonnay? There are as many fun wines as there are days of summer, and with most travel plans currently on pause, now is a great time to travel the world via wine. Whittling down your many options can be overwhelming; here are a few affordable and delicious ideas to help guide your palate and jumpstart your wine journey; we've even added pairing propositions: Norton Malbec Reserva 2018: This elegant, complex, and intense Argentinian wine is made from 30 to 50-year-old vines. Expressive with ripe black fruits, violets, spices, and tobacco, it is wide and fleshy with a lingering finish. Rich umami foods like flank steak risk steering a wine towards bitterness and astringency, but this wine has plenty of concentrated fruit flavors, smooth tannins, and a full body to complement its savory meat. Try it with Carne Asada, marinated in a blend of citrus juices, cumin, and other spices and then simply grilled. Don Olegario Albarino 2018: This single-vineyard white from Rias Baixas, Spains most renowned Albarino growing region, is medium-bodied and shows opulent, powerful aromas and flavors of citrus, flowers, and tropical notes. Its bright fruit and citrus flavors with undertones of herbs is the perfect combo for Tacos de Pescado, served piping hot and topped with flavorful condiments such as tangy veggies, creamy and rich crema, and avocado. Infamous Goose Sauvignon Blanc 2019: This fresh, high-quality Sauvignon Blanc is from the cool-climate Marlborough region of New Zealand's South Island. With aromas of lime zest and distinctive passion fruit, the palate features crisp acidity and an abundance of tropical and citrus flavors. Pair this wine with marinated and shredded Chicken Tinga with pickled onions and a squeeze of lime. The zing of the wine will balance flavorful marinades and not fall flat. Montes Alpha Carmenere 2018: This well-balanced wine from Chiles Colchagua Valley is structured with soft tannins. An intense nose of ripe blackberries, figs, and dried plums are complemented by notes of spicy nutmeg, black pepper, tobacco, leather, and subtle balsamic and dark chocolate aromas. The wines full body, fruitiness, and slight sensation of sweetness from aging in French oak stand up well to Tacos al Pastor marinated pork with a heady blend of chilies and spices, and topped with chunks of pineapple for a sweet, tangy kick. Salud! Photos by Fran Miller CASS COUNTY, MO (KCTV) A second Raymore-Peculiar High School employee has tested positive for the coronavirus. In a release, the school said they learned Monday about the second positive testing. They also said that both cases are non-teaching employees who had worked in close proximity with each other. The Cass County Health Department is conducting the contact tracing related to these cases. The employees and affected contacts will be required to follow health department guidelines for quarantine and testing before returning to work, a release said. The school is closed Monday for deep cleaning. The school said that summer school classes for middle school and high school students will start on Tuesday, July 7 at the high school located at 21005 S School Rd, Peculiar, Missouri 64078. The health and safety of our students and employees is a top priority. We will make adjustments to procedures and schedule changes, if circumstances warrant. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we implement safety measures during the pandemic, the release said. KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Funeral services have been planned for 4-year-old Legend Taliferro this week. Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark is donating the money to cover the funeral costs. The services will be at Serenity Funeral home at 9 a. m. Friday. 'This is a nightmare': Kansas City boy dies after shot in face while sleeping A young boy was shot and killed while he slept in an apartment off 63rd Street and The Paseo. Police say the bullets came from outside the home. Clark has tweeted about the tragedy, asking the community to rally around the boys family. RIP young LeGend Taliferro. Crazy In the midst of a movement we still manage to do foolish things. He was killed as he slept in his home due to gun violence. His mother, Charron Powell needs us. Let his name be heard. pic.twitter.com/x7nuk4cD8D Frank Clark (@TheRealFrankC_) July 3, 2020 Police have received a few tips but are still looking for the person who shot into the Citadel Apartments a week ago and killed Legend while he slept. His family is pleading for information. They want justice, and they want LeGends legacy to live on. but none have led to an arrest. KC community activist speaks after 4-year-old shot, killed while sleeping Monday morning Kansas City police are asking for tips in the murder of a 4-year-old boy that happened around 2:30 Monday morning. The child was asleep in his bed when he was shot in the face. LeGends mother, Charron Powell, lead a balloon release on Sunday in tribute to her only son. She wants him to be remembered as a loving, caring and sweet boy who loved sports. We just want justice for him and we just want everybody to continue to build his legacy, Powell said. Community assists police in trying to find answers in murder of boy Kansas City police are still looking for answers in what led to the shooting death of a 4-year-old boy - and they're hoping to get help from the community. His mother says one way people can support is to contribute to the American Heart Association. Legend survived heart surgery as a baby. He had another operation planned. Community pays tribute to 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro Its been nearly a week since 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro was shot and killed while asleep in his bed in KC, now his family is pleading for information on the little boys murder. The annual walk for the American Heart Association is Sept. 3. Anyone can join the familys team Walking Legend. Click here to read more. South Africa: Major repairs to vandalised schools underway Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says almost all provinces are currently doing repairs to schools that were vandalised during the national lockdown. Briefing the media on Sunday on the state of readiness for the return to school of the second group of grades, Motshekga said a total of 1 718 schools across the country are currently undergoing major repairs following a spike of burglaries and vandalism during the lockdown. In Gauteng alone, 351 schools have been affected by vandalism. Six were vandalised just this week, and these are burglaries taking place at schools previously targeted. In the North West, a school was torched this week, resulting in three classrooms being damaged. The province reports that burning tyres were used to set the school on fire, Motshekga said. The Minister said the vandalism of schools is a serious setback to the communities affected by these barbaric acts, which cause so much damage to the departments infrastructure. What is disturbing though, is that the criminals continue to cause havoc in our schools, Motshekga said. Only Grades R, 6 and 11 returned to schools on Monday, following an agreement by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). The CEM also noted that provinces may be at different levels of readiness for the return of Grade R learners, and agreed that provinces that are not ready to receive Grade R on Monday must provide strategic and realisable plans for ensuring the reincorporation of Grade R learners to schools within, but not later than the end of July 2020. However, Motshekga said the provinces that are ready to receive Grade R learners on Monday can proceed to receive those learners. What is critically important is that all Grade R and pre-Grade R learners, who have already returned to schools, must remain in schools. Schools that meet the health, safety and social distancing protocols can reopen for their Grade R and pre-Grade R learners, Motshekga said. Water tanks delivered to additional 2 000 schools Motshekga reported that to date, water tanks have been delivered to an additional 2 175 schools. In total, Rand Water assisted with filling on-site storage tanks at 3 380 schools. It is important to note that over and above the Rand Water contribution, there are several other water boards and municipalities working hard to ensure sustainable water supply and appropriate sanitation at our schools, Motshekga said. When the department started the discussion on the reopening of schools, Motshekga said the provincial education departments identified about 3 500 schools with water supply challenges. She said municipalities came on board as part of the cooperation between the Department of Basic Education, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, South African Local Government Association, and Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent. Some schools had existing on-site storage tanks, and just required assistance with filling them up with water. There were, however, several schools that did not have on-site storage tanks. Rand Water, contracted by the department, assisted with the procurement and delivery of additional on-site storage tanks and water supply, the Minister said. On sanitation, Motshekga said all 910 schools in the Eastern Cape and 453 schools in Limpopo requiring proper sanitation, have received proper sanitation. Learner support interventions Meanwhile, Motshekga said to mitigate the resultant challenges of COVID-19, the department continues to provide support to learners at home with a variety of platforms, including radio, television, online and in school. We have 197 sites that are zero-rated, and have good curriculum content that can be accessed, whether one has data or not. These interventions are part of the departments effort to ensure unlimited access to content for learning during this time, Motshekga said. Motshekga expressed her appreciation and sincere gratitude to the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies for the continued supported in this regard. The list of zero-rated is available on the Department of Basic Education home page www.education.gov.za. Motshekga emphasised that the lessons learnt from COVID-19 must be strategically used to plan for the future. We must strive to bring forward some of the strategic plans under development, for implementation. All of this should be done during our term of office, the Minister said. She said strategic plans on the improvement of school infrastructure, including the general maintenance of schools, the provision and sustenance of water and proper sanitation, and plans for the roll-out of Information and Communications Technology, must be brought forward and fast-tracked to finality. As South Africans, we have agreed that education is a societal matter. We therefore have an obligation to turn these noble words into tangible action. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. KATHMANDU, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Two-decade-long wait of Nepalis in the capital Kathmandu to get water supply from the Melamchi Water Supply Project has come close to reality after the Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese company, completed the tunnel digging of the project. Water was released into the 27.5-km tunnel to test if there is any leakage or other problems in the tunnel on Sunday after the Chinese company's work, Nepal's Ministry of Water Supply said in a statement on Sunday. Sinohydro was awarded contract in September last year, after the Nepali government terminated contract with an Italian contractor in January last year citing poor performance. Sinohydro had won the two separate contracts of digging tunnel and the headwork of the project. It is the largest drinking water project in Nepal in terms of the capacity as it aims to supply 170 million liters of fresh water per day to the capital. Together with available supply of water from existing sources, the Melamchi project will largely fulfill the existing water demands in Kathmandu, Nepali officials said. "After the completion of the testing process, we will soon fix the date of the inauguration which is not far away," Nepali Minister for Water Supply Bina Magar said. Sunday, the water was diverted to the tunnel by erecting a temporary dam on the Melamchi river which lies in the north of Kathmandu in the neighboring Sindhupalchowk district. The project, which was launched in 2000 after years of conceptualization, has long been seen as a sustainable solution to Kathmandu's chronic shortage of drinking water. Sinohydro has been involved in Nepal in a number of development projects as a contractor and developer of 50MW Upper Marsyangdi Hydropower Project in western Lamjung district. Letter to my woke CEO By Greg Strange Soon after the George Floyd riots began, the CEO of the Fortune 500 company for which I work sent out a memo to all employees. As you can imagine, since corporate America has proven itself utterly craven and gratuitously woke, the memo was a load of treacly virtue signaling that basically affirmed the despicable lie that America is shot through with systemic racism. I was so enraged by this disgusting propaganda that was put in my workplace mailbox that I had to respond personally to the CEO. What follows is the letter I wrote to him, via e-mail, and his eventual response. The names of the CEO and the company have been changed. Dear Mr. Smith: As a longtime employee of Acme Inc., I was recently disheartened by a memo I found in my mailbox from you. Im referring to the memo you recently put out about George Floyd and related events. The reason I found it so disheartening is that while we are all being continuously pummeled by lies about an irredeemably racist America, the CEO of the company I work for has apparently joined the woke mob and is now pushing this propaganda on his employees. Im sorry if that sounds harsh, but someone has to speak up, and forcefully. Between the never-ending vilification of white people and the utter mayhem that has recently been occurring in every major city in the country, reading your memo literally made me feel sick. Why? Because in it, you basically affirmed the destructive notion that the police are systemically racist and that, indeed, all of America is still racist. That is simply not the case and it is highly offensive both to me and thousands of Acme employees. Everyone agrees that George Floyds death was wrong, but according to the statistics, which are readily available to everyone, a black man is about as likely to be struck by lightning as to be killed by a racist white cop. Sir, if you have the ability to run a large corporation, then you certainly have the ability to analyze very simple and straightforward data, such as the following: Twice as many whites as blacks are killed by police in an average year, even though blacks commit an inordinate percentage of the violent crime in this country. A cop is 18 times more likely to be killed by a black person than vice versa. A black cop is twice as likely as a white cop to kill a black person. And we all know about the pandemic of black-on-black violence and murder that infects every urban center in the country that has a significant black population. Therefore, we all understand that the single greatest threat to a black man in this country is another black man. Nothing else even comes close. So, with all due respect, why in the world would you contribute to perpetuating the destructive lie that our police are systemically racist and out to kill black men? To be honest, in the current atmosphere and being white myself, I dont feel particularly safe as I go about this largely black city doing my job. Given the fact that when it comes to interracial crime between blacks and whites, over 80% of it is black-on-white, I dont think my trepidation is unjustified, particularly in the current climate. Do you care about my safety or my feelings as you denigrate the country that I love and that I know is so much better than what you depicted in your memo? Or is placating our colleagues of color the only thing that matters now? Of course, you are hardly alone. Virtually all corporations of any size in the country are now aligning themselves with the radical left in virtue-signaling obsequiousness, and all in support of a contemptible lie. Unfortunately, America is going to pay a heavy price for this because all you are doing is helping to fuel the rage of those who contribute nothing to society and bring anarchy to our cities. The radical left in this country has taken what was clearly an aberration and used it as an excuse to literally tear the country apart with riots, looting, assault, murder and general mayhem. They are toppling statues, defacing monuments, making insane demands, calling for the end of police, convincing formerly rational people to kneel before them. In their irrational rage they are even tearing down statues of Washington and Jefferson, two of the greatest men in human history who helped establish the greatest country in history. Its all like something from the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution, which, by the way, was the antithesis of our American Revolution and ended in a total bloodbath. Again, I have to ask the question, with all due respect: Why would you contribute to this in any way? Sir, do you actually believe the smears against America and the police, or are you just going along to get along? I strongly suspect its the latter, but either one is unworthy of someone in your position and no good can possibly come from it. So, why am I even bothering to write this and send it to you? Because I care deeply about this country and when I see it irrationally being torn apart, I cant stand by and do nothing. I want to see if its possible to appeal either to your intellect or your conscience or both. Im out there risking my life, literally, every day for this company. Let me tell you that between, first, the stresses of Covid and now this anti-American madness that has gripped the country, it is nearly unbearable to think that the CEO of the company I work for is contributing to that madness. And I can assure you, Im not the only one who feels this way. So, what do I want? At the very least, what I want is that you would not subject your employees to any more propaganda that helps to fuel the irrational beliefs of left-wing anarchists who are out to destroy our country. That doesnt seem like too much to ask. Perhaps in the current atmosphere you feel that the pressure is so great that you have no choice but to go along to get along. If so, I would remind you of Churchills famous quote: An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. In the current climate of progressive madness in which the radical left has been so emboldened, the purges are likely to be unending. It would be foolish for corporate leaders to think that because they parroted leftist ideology, they will therefore be immune from those purges. After all, the left hates capitalism. What more do you need to know? Sir, if you care about our country and about the thousands of Acme employees who feel the way I do but are afraid to speak up, you will take what Im saying seriously. I implore you: please do not give in to the mob. Your loyal and patriotic employees do not deserve to be insulted or to have to live and work in an atmosphere of intimidation. Please do not succumb to the poison of identity politics which cant possibly unite us, but will only divide us into opposing camps. Thank you for hearing me out (assuming you havent already hit the delete button). I thought about sending this anonymously out of fear of possible reprisal, but then I thought, no! There is no way that a fair-minded man, as I assume you are, would do that. Hopefully, my having spoken openly and honestly about something this important will garner your respect and not your disapprobation. With respect and concern, Greg Strange, Acme employee And heres his response: Greg, I received your letter regarding my message to employees about racism. Thank you for expressing your opinions. I am certain you recognize that this is an extremely emotional and traumatic time for all Americans, but especially African-Americans. I am proud that Acme Inc. stands firmly for equity and justice. Thank you, John Thats it, nothing more, short and sweet, completely dismissive. He wasnt interested in any contrary facts, just staying on message, no matter the cost to company morale or our society at large. I might as well have been talking to a zombie and for all intents and purposes, I was. So, we can expect the virtue signaling to continue until the day comes when Black Lives Matter storms his office, drags him out and burns his capitalist, white privileged headquarters to the ground. But until then hes proud that Acme Inc. stands firmly for equity and justice. This is where were at, folks. Would he have reacted differently if he had received a thousand similar letters? Who knows? I still recommend that everybody send one to offending corporations. Better to go down fighting than to just take whatever they dish up without pushing back. But this affliction, which is turning our people into woke zombies, is unbelievably virulent and it's hard to imagine what could turn things around, short of a violent rebellion. Greg Strange can be reached at gpstrange30341@yahoo.com. (c) 2020 Greg Strange. Home After hours of searching, rescuers were not able to find a person who went missing at Smithville Lake. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says they started looking about 4 p.m. but couldn't find them KEARNEY Tina Smets is a busy mother of three. She works nights at the Alley Rose restaurant in Kearney, opposite of her husband Aarons schedule at the local Baldwin Filters plant so they can save money on child care. Like many young families, finances are a major factor in their decision-making and college tuition never seemed to fit into their plans. Although Smets enjoys her job at the Alley Rose, where shes worked the past decade, the 31-year-old recently started to realize she wanted something more. What am I going to do next? the Kearney native asked herself. She found the answer while scrolling through her Facebook feed after work. Thats where she discovered Nebraska Promise, a new University of Nebraska program that covers tuition for in-state students from low- and middle-income families. I just decided to apply, Smets said. It was seriously a 3 a.m., spur-of-the-moment decision. We really want people to submit those and they are required to do so, Anderson said. We get those forms and review them. If we have questions, we call the individual organizing the event and we talk it through. Our whole goal is to help everybody understand what precautions they need to take so that the event can be successfully held in a safe environment. CDHD is also helping long-term care facilities complete the necessary requirements to move into Phase 3. Anderson said the health department is helping these facilities get COVID-19 testing for all its staff and provide them with personal protective equipment. Weve got a situation now where the viral activity is extremely low within the long-term care facilities and that is where we want to test the staff one more time before we open them up, she said. We are also recommend that any individual who does not feel well not visit the nursing homes. They should stay home and away those long-term care facilities. As Nebraska and CDHD begin to loosen restrictions and open back up, Anderson said the health department needs to be very watchful and is working hard to ensure there is enough COVID-19 testing available. She also encouraged people to continue wearing a mask when in public to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. There is a very high possibility or likelihood that we are going to see the virus again in big numbers, Anderson said. What we want to do this whole time is just try to control the curve flatten it so we do not have too much stress on our medical system. A 41-year-old man died early Sunday of gunshot wounds suffered while driving near 60th Avenue and Northwest Radial Highway, Omaha police reported. The police identified the victim as Obdoo Walker and said they had responded to a car crash at that site about 1:50 a.m. when they found the man in the car. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene. Shortly after that, a man near 61st Street and Bedford Avenue was found with a gunshot wound. The 43-year-old man said he had been in the car in which Walker was shot and that he had fled after the shootings and the crash. The Omaha Police Department said that man went by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening. This was one more shooting incident in a three-day weekend in which gunfire and injuries were all too common. That was the only one, however, in which a person was killed, police said. Omaha experienced three nights of violence early Friday into early Sunday, with police responding to at least eight shooting incidents. Eleven people were injured, including the fatal shooting of Walker. There is not a lot of diversity out in the county as a Black guy doing a traffic stop or doing some kind of law enforcement where I am going into peoples homes, that doesnt go over all that well, he said. I had people tell me that this is not an occupation that Black people do calling me the n-word, being kind of belligerent toward me. Johnson said he also got pushback from some Black people he encountered who saw working in law enforcement as a betrayal of the African-American community. Despite that, he said, he didnt consider quitting. Tell Johnson he cant do something, and he will try to prove he can. The insults, he said, just made him work harder. That was kind of my thing. I just looked at it like, If I fold, they win, he said. A lot of people now, they want to test you Being in law enforcement at this moment during a national push for changes in police tactics in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests around the country can be stressful, Johnson said. He said he understands the protests but also thinks some protesters are unwilling to listen to other perspectives. Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week: HOUSE VOTES STUDENT LOANS AND FRAUD: The House has failed to override President Trumps veto of a resolution (H.J. Res. 76), sponsored by Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., that would have voided a September 2019 Education Department rule concerning the process by which former students at public and private schools seek forgiveness of their federal student loans due to alleged fraud by their schools. Lee said the rule would allow for-profit schools to wreak havoc on the lives of these students and take advantage of American taxpayers. A resolution opponent, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said preserving the rule would ensure that all colleges and universities will be held accountable, defrauded students will see relief, and taxpayer dollars will be better protected. The vote, on June 26, was 238 yeas to 173 nays, with a two-thirds majority required to override the veto. NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st) House Vote 2: More than $100,000 has been allocated by the State of Wisconsin to go toward managing the coastline in Kenosha and Racine counties. The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program announced the recipients of a total of $1.5 million to local, state and tribal governments, regional planning commissions, universities and nonprofit organizations, all along the states coastline. Wisconsins Great Lakes are some of our most important economic, cultural and natural resources, said Gov. Tony Evers in a press statement. From safe drinking water to tourism and recreation to commerce and transportation, we know that protecting the health of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior is a key to our states ability to thrive and support future generations. Recipients for this years grants were recommended by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Council, an Evers-appointed citizen and governmental advisory group. The program awards federal funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office for Coastal Management in the U.S. Department of Commerce to local governments and other entities for innovative coastal initiatives. The project has been awarded funding of 134,894 from the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Digital Innovation for Development in Africa (DIDA) fund . Project to enhance climate hazard resilience and related disease prevention in Africa receives funding boost Experts from the University of Exeter will lead a pioneering project to design digital innovations to help communities across Africa become more resilient to climate hazards and prevent outbreaks of associated diseases. A team of experts from Exeters The Centre for Water Systems (CWS) and the European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH) will lead the ground-breaking new project, called OVERCOME (digital innOVation in climatE hazaRd early warning and related disease prevention for COMmunity capacity building and rEsilience). The project, a transnational research network, has been awarded funding of 134,894 from the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Digital Innovation for Development in Africa (DIDA) fund. The OVERCOME team will collaborate with other interdisciplinary researchers to create a framework of new technological methodologies and applications, which can support strategic planning and decision making to enhance societal resilience to climatic hazards. Within next 12 months, OVERCOME will engage with stakeholders in natural environment, health care, environment-economic, urban planning, utility services, disaster management, policy making and local communities to co-shape the research questions and targeted outcomes for future studies. Dr Albert Chen, a Senior Lecturer at CWS, will coordinate the OVERCOME project, supported by Dr Kath Maguire, Prof Karyn Morrissey and Prof Slobodan Djordjevic. Dr Chen said: OVERCOME will strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities in minimising the negative impact of climate disasters and associated health risks, which will improve country progress in addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prof Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova, the Associate Dean for International Development, is looking forward to expanding CEMPS networking with new collaborators in Africa. Prof Tsaneva-Atanasova said: The excellent opportunity will enable us to work with key intuitions in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. OVERCOME will enhance the University of Exeters links with Global South countries in developing novel solutions for smart communities to safeguard public safety and health during climate disasters. Prof Karyn Morrissey, Associate Professor for Population Health at the ECEHH and an Alan Turing Fellow, said: digital solutions are increasingly offering low cost, accessible solutions to the health- environment-climate nexus. Thinking about digital technology with communities, offers real scope to build community-based resilience for future generations.. Dr Kath Maguire, National Institute for Health Research Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellow agreed, adding It is important for academics and communities to work together in designing systems that can be implemented in practice. The OVERCOME team consists of world-leading scientists from University of Exeter, University College of London, University of West London , Public Health England, and Aquobex Technologies in the UK; the University of Malawi, The Polytechnic in Malawi, the National Institute of Meteorology in Mozambique, the Chinhoyi University of Technology; University of Zimbabwe, and University of Ghana. An international multiplinary panel including experts from Columbia University, Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services Malawi, ECMWF, Eurecat Technology Centre, FIWARE Foundation, Kruger A/S, Ministry of Agriculture Malawi, Ministry of Health Malawi, Ministry of Health Malawi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Norwegian Meteorological Institute has be invited to share their knowledge and assist the OVERCOME team to co-design the research roadmap. A virtual meeting between the OVERCOME team and the expert panel was held on 26 June 2020. Over 30 participants from 10 counties have participated in the discussion for identifying key challenges, research gaps and collaboration opportunities. Tearing down those statues doesnt advance any cause. It only causes further division and shows how uneducated some of the protesters are about our own nations past. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Col. Heg, who ended up living in Racine County, died in 1863 in a battle in Chickamauga, Ga., in the fight to end slavery. In a Wisconsin State Journal story, University of Connecticut professor Manisha Sinha, a leading authority on the history of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, called the removal of the statues in Madison misguided because it opens the door for Confederate statue supporters to ask where the line in historical recognition will ever be drawn. And debates are ongoing about the possible removal of Lincoln statues, including the one atop Bascom Hill that looks down State Street toward the Capitol Dome. There are many stains on Lincolns past that are hard to look back on. He signed the Homestead Act, which provided settlers with land taken away from Native Americans who were pushed onto reservations. During a debate speech, he argued that he favored the superior position assigned to the white race, according to a Chicago Tribune report. But in the end, he is remembered most for signing the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the end of slavery. 37 Shares Share Slavery has been part of countless cultures. Slavery is hideous but was not a founding principle of the United States. The founding fathers had differing views on slavery. However, in drafting the Declaration of Independence, the founders planted the seeds that would lead to emancipation. Watching media, one would not know that. In 2017, Angela Rye, a CNN political commentator, stated that she wanted statues of Jefferson and Washington to come down. This view has been normalized in current journalistic coverage of present protests. I understand her feelings; both Washington and Jefferson owned slaves. However, history has context, and current media coverage of racism in the United States fails to cover it. Our founding fathers crafted the Declaration of Independence, including the phrase, all men are created equal. There is evidence that when Jefferson wrote that line, he thought that it would eventually lead to the end of slavery, despite him being a slave owner and his own conflicted history on slavery. Peaceful protests are a right in our society. What has happened to Black Americans is awful. One cannot watch the video of a fellow human being getting slowly choked to death by police without feeling disgust and a yearning for justice. Watching the video of a Black American jogger being hunted down and executed in Georgia is one of the most horrendous things I have ever seen. These homicides deserve to be protested as the vilest form of alienation of personal freedom. However, they should not be used to launch a political attack on the very fundamentals of American democracy. Recently, protests have turned from peaceful to violent. Mobs have moved from tearing down confederate statues to tearing down statues of our founding fathers, and even abolitionists. Representations of President Grant, who played a major role in defeating the South, and with it guaranteeing emancipation, have been destroyed. Mount Rushmore is even under attack. Students are now asking for Abraham Lincoln statues to be removed. Attacking the Fourth of July cant be far behind. I hope the destruction of the statues of Grant, Jefferson, and Washington were done out of ignorance rather than a concerted effort to delegitimize the founding of the United States of America. Criticism has gone far beyond the destruction of statues and has morphed into a general staggering criticism of the United States as a whole. There could be a more sinister reason for the expansion of the attack on our historical figures. Angela Ryes 2017 comment exposes this. More recently, one critic believes the 1619 Project essentially supports the position that racism and slavery are in the very DNA of our country. This is an extremely dangerous and erroneous supposition. DNA is inextricably tied to each and every living thing. For our country to have DNA that is inextricably tied to racism or slavery, would mean that it is impossible to separate racist ideals from the very foundational being of the United States of America. Thus, to eliminate racism, we would need to figuratively eliminate the United States of America as we know itincluding its history. We have already seen this in Seattle in the formation of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. We are hearing it in the words of protestors, politicians, political commentators, and seeing it in the actions of vandals eliminating statues. I hope everyone takes a look at what is happening and educates themselves. Attacks are no longer just about police brutality, or racial disparities; to many, it is about undermining the true DNA of the United States of America. All men are created equal. The most important words in one of the most important works in history. That is our DNA. It cannot be changed, no matter what party you belong to or who you want to be the next president. These words planted the seeds for freedom of all people, regardless of what existed at the time they were written. The founders deserve credit for what they created. We should teach the depths of the horrors of slavery to all of our children. Similarly, our founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution need to be celebrated and not dismissed or canceled. Andrew Pickens is an emergency physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 2K Shares Share Black bodies are dying, and medical schools are partially to blame. Never did I imagine that I would come to the realization that as a medical student; I was being trained and conditioned to identify and treat conditions predominately in white people. It is time for medical institutions to address how medical school curriculums, which use whiteness as a scale to define normal, contributes to increased rates of mortality and morbidity in Black communities. In my first two years of medical school, our curriculum focused on training us to be able to compile a comprehensive differential diagnosis based on presenting symptoms. During one of our practice sessions, we received a list of symptoms, and I shouted, Kawasakis disease. As my classmates smirked (because my answer was a zebra), the ER attending, who is overseeing our discussion said something that I will never forget, you will not diagnose something that is never on your differential. Now that Ive completed my didactic years of medical school, I have become vividly aware of how I am being trained to diagnose and treat conditions in white bodies, Black and brown bodies are an afterthought. This was a heartbreaking realization to come to, seeing that my medical school is located in Chicago, an urban area, and our patient population is predominantly Black and brown. I first began to realize this fundamental flaw in my medical education when we began to learn how to write histories of present illness (HPIs). We had been taught repeatedly not to include racial or ethnic identifiers because their inclusion can lead to bias. Despite that warning, and research confirming potential for bias, my school continues this practice. However, these identifiers are only used when a clinical case involves a person of color. Examples of cases I received in my first two years of medical school are: a Black single mother of four with colon cancer, a Black Dominican family with sickle cell disease, and a Latina with an epidural hematoma from an incident of domestic violence in the presence of her young child. These very stereotypical cases teach student doctors early in our careers to typecast people of color, drastically narrowing our differential diagnosis when interacting with these patients. This narrowed differential can lead to delays in diagnosis, which research shows contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in Black people. Additionally, by only identifying race and ethnicity when wanting students to think of people of color, by contrast, it can be assumed that every other clinical case that we study is of a white person. Effectively expanding how we think of differential diagnosis when working with white patients. This inherently white supremacist form of medical education is fundamentally teaching us how to treat and care for white bodies; while Black and brown bodies continue to be supplemental to our education. My suspicions were confirmed when we spent a week studying dermatology. I must have seen at least 100 slides with various skin conditions, and out of those 100 slides, I saw around three on Black skin. When I asked our professor, a dermatology attending, how I could identify a particular skin condition on a Black person, she told me that it was a great question. She then proceeded to inform me that I would have a better understanding if I did a dermatology residency. What this incident taught me was that learning about skin conditions on white people is expected to be basic knowledge for all doctors, whereas identifying those same conditions on Black bodies for some reason requires specialized training. Meaning that out of my class of 200 students, the only people who will be trained to identify basic dermatologic conditions on Black bodies are possibly five students who match into a dermatology residency. White should not be the standard by which medical education is taught. Black bodies should not be an afterthought. Why are medical institutions comfortable with graduating classes of ophthalmologists, internists, family medicine practitioners, and obstetricians that cannot identify basic skin conditions on Black people? This speaks to a health care system that knowingly or unknowingly values white bodies above all else. I could give countless more examples of how Black bodies in our education are othered or supplemental. Sadly, before we know it, we are another generation of doctors who miss diagnosis in Black bodies, when the reality is that we are not being trained to identify them, to begin with. This underlying sentiment of white supremacy in our medical education does a disservice to every single Black patient that we will serve throughout our long medical careers. This ingrained limited differential diagnosis for Black patients can help to explain why Black people are forced to beg their physicians to believe their symptoms, when their condition strays from the norm. It can also help to explain why Black people are required to get second, third, and fourth opinions; because doctors are not being trained in medical school to treat Black bodies. Despite the fact that my medical school, like others around the country, are trying to revamp their curriculums, the damage has already been done. Cohorts upon cohorts have been graduated without basic competencies of how to treat anyone that is not white. In school, we often learn about the social determinates of health and how they affect both morbidity and mortality in communities of color. It is time to acknowledge how medical school curriculums that emphasize whiteness and neglect to adequately address how health conditions affect Black bodies continue to perpetuate health care inequities. The author is an anonymous medical student. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 17 Shares Share I cant take this, doc. Its gonna kill me. I cant. I just cant, exclaims my patient with persistent refusal of his medication. My frustration is met with my patient care teams hesitation to give him the medication with fear of further conflict and possible escalation to violence. But whos at fault? Any of us? All of us? My second patient, lying on the MRI table, shaking his head swiftly in agitation: That stuff aint gonna calm me down. Its gonna blow up my mind. Its gonna ruin my life. Meeting this with a decisive look, I ask the nurse: Please give the Haldol. She needed not to reply for me to gather the distress painted over her face. Hes refusing I cant give it. I cant. As doctors, we take an oath to do no harm, to prioritize our patients wellbeing above all. This, of course, comes in balance with patient autonomy: a patients ability to make decisions about his medical treatment without any coercion and in light of being given all the relevant information regarding such treatment, provided that he/she has the capacity to make his own decisions. This decision entails the ability to understand the issue at hand, including the ability to describe the risks and benefits of each option offered as treatment; however, what happens when capacity and autonomy diverge? Our first patient, used to walking for himself, was hospitalized with a limb-threatening case of osteomyelitis that, if not treated with antibiotics, would ultimately result in amputation of his foot; however, difficulty arose when his underlying untreated mania reared his head. Despite his pressured speech, intermittent yelling, grandiose delusions, he glibly described his younger days as a truck driver. On the surface, he appeared to understand the refusal of antibiotics. However, as he attempted to leave the hospital ward each day walking, did he truly understand that loss of mobility was the alternative? Our second patient with altered mental status had waxing and waning pieces of attention, but his sense of humor found no paucity in jokes that cleverly masked his inability to answer some questions. Is his transient alertness enough to refuse pre-medication for an MRI to further understand his complex illness? Our medical decision-making is often met with resistance of staff to administer therapy to refusing patients who are seemingly highly functional. Judgment of capacity presents a gray zone that can put into question the integration of patients autonomy and the ideal of beneficence. Psychotic signs and symptoms are not always persistently present and are not always so dramatically portrayed. Coupled with moderate patient mental functionality, this can make judgment of capacity a complex task and ethically jarring in time-sensitive cases. As physicians, we are taught from an early stage to just know your patients. This becomes natural as we spend long hours at the hospital, observing our patients many changes and fluctuations. We re-examine frequently, interview family members, analyze the myriad of results to know our patients. As nurses, we are taught to care, to observe, to measure, and to share our concerns with our physician colleagues. We are our patients first responders for their pains and their questions. We see them writhe in pain and sleep it off after its treated. Were called to help them feel better, heal better, and understand better. Its only natural to hesitate to medicate a patient who adamantly screams no and had no hints of mania in the minutes leading up to the moment. Complicate this by frequent nursing shift changes and great inflexibility in rescheduling specialized diagnostic tests in the hospital. What is the ethical thing to do? Can the patient refuse his pre-imaging sedative? Can you have intermittent decision-making capacity to refuse your care? At what point can we, as physicians, substitute our decision-making for that of patients? Do no harm rings in the back of the mind of everyone involved. Am I doing more harm keeping my patient away from his antibiotics in his manic state? Can I fully diagnose and treat my patients alerted mental status without a post-sedative obtained MRI? In what way should I incorporate my staffs discomfort with my decision to treat my patient whom I believe lacks the medical capacity to make medical decisions? Stop and listen. We all stop and listen to each other. We talk, and we discuss our views. We explore our opinions and couple them with our experiential and medical knowledge. Should there be concerns for the treatment of a possibly capacity-lacking patient, its urgency should be examined. Its relevance and its effect on our agitated patient should be weighed. Furthermore, our patients capacity should be re-evaluated at each point. Its the careful psychiatric and neurological exam that couples our nurses observations with our medical evaluation. Jointly, we can understand our patients conditions to be better able to serve them and all the while, do no harm. Aula Ramo is an internal medicine resident. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Sterling, VA (20165) Today Cloudy with rain ending in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 72F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. The Reverend Edna Wakely was instituted as rector of the Church of Irelands Castlecomer Union of Parishes at a special service in St Marys Church, Castlecomer on Friday night last, July 3rd, 2020. Edna comes to Castlecomer from Limerick City Parish in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe where she has been Curates Assistant since 2014. She succeeds the Reverend Patrick Burke who was rector of Castlecomer for seven years. From Omagh in County Tyrone originally and a qualified music teacher and organist Edna spent most of her adult life in South Africa with her husband Robin but relocated to Dublin in 2001 when her husband began training for full-time ordained ministry. Widowed in 2008, Edna commenced training for ordained ministry herself in 2009. The preacher at the service of institution on Friday night was Ednas former rector, the Dean of Limerick, the Very Reverend Niall Sloane. The Dean told the congregation in St Marys Church that their new rectors gifts will become evident very quickly, listing among them her musical ability, pastoral qualities, unique powers of administering to the elderly and her careful planning and preparation of the liturgy. Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory, the Right Reverend Michael Burrows, warmly welcomed the new rector to the parish and the diocese and ending the service, described the occasion as an extraordinarily historic one because it took place after the end of Covid -19 lockdown and the closure of church buildings for over four months. While conviviality after the service will not be possible, he said, this service nevertheless has been a very joyful occasion. Following the liturgy, Monsignor Michael Ryan, parish priest of Castlecomer, speaking on behalf of the parish of Castlecomer and clergy colleagues in the wider community, said that there has always been a great spirit of Christian friendship in Castlecomer and prayed that Ednas ministry would be a fruitful one and that she will be very happy there. Ken Wilson, speaking on behalf of parishioners welcomed the new rector also. You are our first lady rector. We hope you will have many happy years among us. May God grant you every blessing on your journey with us as together we start a new chapter in this place, he said. As well as friends and some clergy colleagues Ednas two daughters Jenny and Joanna also attended the service along with her son-in-law, Darren and grandchildren Robyn and Kyle. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa An Austin man is pleading guilty to robbing a bank in Howard County. Luis Angel Vega, 27, has entered guilty pleas to federal charges of bank robbery and using a firearm during a violent crime. Authorities say Vega pointed a .45 caliber pistol at a teller in the Lime Springs branch of CUSB bank on September 3, 2019. Law enforcement says he drove off with money in a duffel bag and was arrested later the same day in Austin. State charges against Vega were dismissed to allow for his prosecution in Cedar Rapids Federal Court. No sentencing date has been set. Austin, Minn-Due to the Coronavirus The City of Austin decided canceled its July 4th celebration known as Freedom Fest. The cancellation prompted community members to think outside the box, they found a way to social distance while still celebrating the fourth. About 25 cars decked out in red, whiteand blue decorations paraded through Austin. The Austin residents took part in a July 4th car parade. "It was beautiful to see the smiles on peoples faces the waves as we went past all the senior care facilities and a few of them were outside a lot of them were in their windows waving, said Dan Mueller, organizer. The 4th is organizer Mueller's favorite holiday. It because it represents my heritage my family, said Mueller. Many of them fought in the wars some of them came over on the mayflower. So all of those pieces that make up America ." When Mueller heard of the city decision he decided to create his own celebration. About a group of 20 backed him up on his plans. Joseph Tarpeh is originally from West Africia. Saturdays event not only celebrated America's freedom but also Austin's diversity. After the parade participants marched through the park with flags that represent their heritage. Tarpeh says this symbolic act made him and other minorities feel included. "Being here in Austin celebrating united states independence where the flag of Liberia is presented that means liberia is also presented, Tarpeh said. It indicates to me United States is a nation of many nations. We all are from different backgrounds. We all are from different cultures but we are united in one location. Mueller put together a total of three events today The Car Parade in Austin , A Flag walk of Nations and A Car Cruise of Mower County. While Austin canceled their firework show the city of Stewartville decided to go through with theirs. Close to four hundred shells were created for a massive display. Each year Stewartville firefighters that are certified in pyrotek volunteer to create a display from scratch. Jarett Jones has been part of the show for the last seven years. He says the crew work for free to help alleviate cost for the city. "The number of fireworks can cost in the range of $10,000, said Jones. To have a company to come in and put the show with their liability insurance and the time that they put it could double in price. So this is something that we can give back to the community and help the city out" Jones says some of the shells that are six inches in diameter will shoot up fireworks as high as a thousand feet. He estimates the display will be visible from as far as fifteen miles away. Lois Riess, accused of killing her husband before killing another woman after running from authorities across the country, entered a not guilty plea Tuesday in southern Minnesota. Riess pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a woman in Florida so she could assume her identity and was been returned to her home state to face trial on allegations that she killed her husband in 2018. Lois Riess is being held at the Steele County Detention Center in Owatonna on charges of first- and second-degree murder. Shes accused of fatally shooting David Riess at their home in Blooming Prairie in March 2018. She appeared remotely Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea in the death of David Riess. Prosecutors say Riess drove to Florida afterward, befriended Pamela Hutchinson and fatally shot her at a Fort Myers Beach condo. She received a life sentence in her death. NORTHWOOD, Iowa One sentence has been handed down while two still await trial on Worth County drug charges. Kyria Idarmis Bautista Roldan, 31 of Thompson, pleaded guilty to driving while barred and possession of methamphetamine. She received a deferred judgment and was sentenced to five days in jail, with credit for time served, and six months of probation. If Bautista Roldan successfully completes her probation, this conviction will be removed from her record. The Worth County Sheriffs Office says Roldan was the driver of a vehicle pulled over on December 27, 2019, near Northwood. Two passengers, Wanda Cartagena and Ricardo Garcia, pleaded not guilty to drug possession over methamphetamine found in the vehicle. Their trials are scheduled to start on September 30. NORTHWOOD, Iowa A Lake Mills man is pleading not guilty to an 85 mile per hour chase through Worth County. Jason C. Jensen, 50, is charged with eluding and driving while barred. The Worth County Sheriffs Office says he sped away from an attempted traffic stop on December 12, 2019, and had to be forcibly removed from his vehicle after being caught. The Sheriffs Office says a deputy tried to pull Jensen over for an expired registration. His trial is set to begin on December 9. ROCHESTER, Minn. - A 62-year-old Rochester man is in custody for criminal sexual conduct. Paul Goldstein was arrested at his home in the 1100 block of Buckridge Dr. NE in Cascade Township. Olmsted County began investigating the case July 1 and Goldstein was arrested a day later. Hes facing charges of first-degree sexual conduct with a victim under 13 and two counts of indecent exposure to a victim under 16. CLEAR LAKE, Iowa Fireworks are being blamed for a garage fire in rural Cerro Gordo County. The Clear Lake Fire Department was called to the 10000 block of 220th Street at around 1:49 pm Monday. Firefighters from the Clear Lake and Ventura fire departments arrived to find a non-attached garage being consumed by flames. Four pumper-tankers and 17 firefighters extinguished the blaze. The garage was destroyed with an estimated loss of $35,000 in structure and contents. A nearby house also received heat damage to the exterior siding. No injuries are reported. The Clear Lake Fire Department says the cause of the flames was determined to be detonated fireworks into the garage. SANTIAGO, July 4 (Reuters) - Chiles state-run Codelco said on Saturday it would temporarily halt construction on a new level at its flagship El Teniente mine, a move it said was necessary to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. World top copper producer Codelco said in a statement the measure would bring the total reduction in staff at its Teniente operations to 4,500 people. The mine will continue to operate with a previously announced shift schedule of 14 days on and 14 days off to protect workers, the company said. "This (measure) began to be implemented last weekend," Codelco said, adding the move was aimed at "reducing the density of both our own and contract staff, scaling back movement and reducing the possibility of infection." The decision comes as the Federation of Copper Workers (FTC), an umbrella group for Codelcos unions, announced a contract worker at El Teniente had died of COVID-19, the sixth death from the disease at the companys operations. Unions say at least 2,300 of Codelcos workers have been infected with the virus since the outbreak began in mid-March. The coronavirus outbreak caught Codelco in the midst of a 10-year, $40 billion dollar initiative to upgrade its aging mines. The El Teniente project would extend the working life of the century-old mine, located in the Andes Mountains south of the capital Santiago. Unions and social groups have ratcheted up pressure on Codelco and other miners to beef up protections for workers, including a proposal this week to close mines north of Teniente, in the Antofagasta region, for two weeks. Codelco CEO Octavio Araneda said in an interview with local media on Thursday that any such move would be "catastrophic" for the country. He defended the companys virus response as proactive. The company said it would continue with planning and preparations for the Teniente expansion despite the setbacks. Peak construction is expected in 2021 and 2022, the statement said. HARARE, July 6 (Reuters) - Australian-listed Prospect Resources said on Monday it had picked Renaissance Securities Capital as its exclusive financial advisor for the possible sale of shares in Zimbabwe's Arcadia Lithium mine to Russian energy firm Uranium One. Uranium One, a unit of Russia's state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom, agreed with Prospect last December to start talks towards buying equity in Arcadia and an offtake agreement. Zimbabwe is pushing lithium as a major draw for investors as it looks to attract capital to its mining sector. Prospect said in a statement that Renaissance Securities would advise "in relation to the potential sale, directly or indirectly, of the Company's economic or other participation in, or the whole or part of the licence and/or the assets of, the Arcadia Lithium Project". Prospect said discussions with Uranium One were ongoing but there was no guarantee this would lead to a formal binding agreement. In December, Prospect appointed African Export-Import Bank to arrange and syndicate a $143 million project finance debt facility for the Arcadia lithium project. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and over 40 trade associations on Monday urged top U.S. and Chinese officials to redouble efforts to implement a Phase 1 trade agreement signed by the worlds two largest economies in January. In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the group said they were encouraged by progress achieved so far, but called for a significant increase in Chinas purchases of U.S. goods and services in coming weeks. Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Franklin Paul Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. For a merchant business in this day and age, processing transactions doesnt have to end with your current jurisdiction. Often times, youll receive orders from customers that live in other countries. To cater to these types of customers, youd have to facilitate virtual transactions, wherein customers would make payments for your wares without making a physical contact with you. To handle these sorts of transactions, youd need a merchant account capable of accepting international payment. So what do you do? Approach any nearby financial institution, right? Well, if only it was that easy! For most financial institutions, the nature of your business will first have to be examined for its level of risk before they decide whether to honor or decline your request. Consequently, merchants are categorized as either high-risk or low-risk businesses. This then brings us to the question of the day: what kind of business is considered a high-risk merchant. Lets find out! What is a low-risk merchant? To understand what a high-risk merchant business is all about, one has to first understand what a low-risk one is. And just as the name suggests, a low-risk merchant is a merchant business that carries a significantly lesser amount of risk. As compared with a high-risk merchant account, low-risk accounts often attract lesser fees and charges from banks. And their applications are mostly granted, unlike the high-risk merchants, which are often declined. But what kinds of merchants are considered low-risk? Banks will consider your eCommerce business a low-risk if it satisfies the following conditions: Your maximum monthly business revenue is $20,000 Your average ticket size is $50 You use fraud filters like 3D secure to prevent fraudulent activities on your store/site. Your payment processing company also handles your payments page. Your business operates in a low-risk industry like home appliances, grocery goods, food, fashion, apparel, books, pet, etc. Your business exists majorly in low-risk regions like the USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, or any EU country. What is a high-risk merchant? Unlike in the case of low-risk merchants, there are no definite criteria for categorizing businesses as high-risk merchants because different payment processors use a different set of criteria. However, from the nature of a business perspective, most Card-not-present merchants are considered high-risk. This includes businesses like eCommerce stores, Forex, gaming, financial services, travel and lots more. So, lets say you want to get a forex merchant account for your forex trading website, you can expect the payment processing service to consider you as a high-risk merchant. Generally speaking, though, two of the biggest criteria used in categorizing businesses as high-risk are chargebacks and fraud potential. If your business receives a lot of chargebacks or is too susceptible to fraud attacks, it will most likely be considered a high-risk merchant. Simply put, the more the chargebacks on your eCommerce store, the higher the risk you bear. Getting a payment service for your high-risk merchant Due to the perceived risk associated with high-risk merchants, the only set of institutions willing to work with them are mostly acquirers and payment processing services, many of which charge huge fees to accept liability for the risk theyre taking on. However, there are still some payment processors, like iPayTotal, who are willing to help high-risk businesses accept virtual payments without paying through their noses. They provide end-to-end high-risk merchant account payment solutions for businesses around the globe. Thanks to their healthy relationships with many National and International Acquiring Partners, theyre able to offer reliable debit, credit, and Echeck Processing to almost every industry considered high-risk. Reducing the risk on your merchant Of course, if your business is run in a country or an industry thats considered risky, such a business will be labeled high-risk, no doubt. However, you have to remember that the rate of chargebacks and fraud cases happening in and around a business can also contribute to a merchant being tagged high-risk. Therefore, you should strive to ensure that your business isnt placed in the category of high-risk just because, at one point, you allowed a scammer to invade your site or didnt manage chargebacks effectively. Always find new ways to minimize your chargeback rate, as well as mitigating the potential for fraud in your business. By doing this, youll be reducing your risk level. Dont know how to manage chargebacks appropriately? Cant seem to stop fraudsters from attacking your store? Feel free to contact iPayTotal today; they have just about the perfect solution for you! Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. $750,000 of drugs were found by investigators in three packages. Carlos L. Scott is charged with drug trafficking in the investigation. Kokomo, IN (46901) Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 72F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 57F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. OnlineMedEd, an Austin, Texas-based healthcare training company, raised $5M in funding. Backers included more than 20 physicians, founders, and partners of some of the largest physician-owned firms in the United States. Glenn C. Robinson, M.D., past President of Austin Gastroenterology, P.A. is one of the investors. The company intends to use the funds to expand existing programs to health care professionals around the world, in specialties ranging from nursing to physician assistants to MDs and DOs. Led by Jamie Fitch, CEO, OnlineMedEd is a clinical learning platform for a broad spectrum of healthcare learners to gain the knowledge needed for Board exams and clinical practice. In addition to being used by individual med students, the suite of products are institutionally used by over 50 universities nationally, and many more around the world. Today, they have over 350,000 monthly active users. FinSMEs 06/07/2020 A South Korean court on Monday refused an extradition request by U.S. law enforcement authorities for a man convicted of running a South Korea-based dark web child pornography site that sold videos for digital cash around the world. The man, Son Jong-woo, the site's operator, completed an 18-month sentence for violating South Korean child protection and information laws in April but has remained in custody after he was also indicted on U.S. federal charges in Washington. The Seoul High Court said in its ruling that it had refused the extradition request because sending him to the United States could hamper South Korean investigations into sexually exploitive content, Yonhap news agency reported. The court said the ruling should not be interpreted as exonerating Son, and that he should actively cooperate with investigators and face proper punishment, according to Yonhap. Reuters was no able to find contact information for Son's lawyer. Officials said last year they had arrested at least 338 people in 12 countries linked to the network, which they described as one of the largest child pornography operations they had encountered. Called Welcome To Video, the website relied on the bitcoin cryptocurrency to sell access to 250,000 videos depicting child sexual abuse, authorities said, including footage of extremely young children being raped. Its upload page specifically stated, "Do not upload adult porn". Son's 18-month sentence contrasted with several 15-year sentences handed out to other people convicted in the United States in the case, and led to efforts in South Korea to impose stricter laws and tougher penalties for child pornography offences. (Reuters) Children enter a kindergarten in Daegu on June 22, maintaining social distancing after the facility reopened following a 122-day shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap South Korea's health authorities are coming under growing pressure to increase the intensity of social distancing in the face of a steady rise in new virus cases in major cities such as Gwangju, but the reimposition of toughened infection preventive measures may be in place for those that report a sustained rise in new infections. The country last week adopted a three-tier social distancing scheme that adjusts the intensity of virus prevention guidelines depending on the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak. The country is currently in "Level 1" social distancing that is implemented when the virus situation is manageable under the current medical system, with the daily rise of COVID-19 cases staying below 50. The Level 1 social distancing is equivalent to the country's "distancing in daily life" adopted on May 6, which enables citizens to carry out their economic and social activities under quarantine rules. However, due to a resurgence of virus cases in recent days, there have been growing calls that the country should raise its social distancing level. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the daily rise of virus cases topped 60 from Friday to Sunday, which was the first time since April that the country posted more than 60 new COVID-19 cases for three consecutive days. Park Jie-won, left, the nominee for national Intelligence Service (NIS) chief, receives condolences from the North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong, right, on behalf of her brother upon the death of former first lady Lee Hee-ho on June 12, 2019, at Panmunjeom. Park is accompanied by Chung Eui-yong, then-national security adviser. Park's ties long ties with North Korea's Kim dynasty is one of the primary factors in Moon's surprise decision to name him as the NIS chief. Yonhap Seoul's capacity to convince Washington on easing sanctions still in doubt By Do Je-hae There is much interest in what kind of impact President Moon Jae-in's recent decision to fill his diplomatic and national security team with inter-Korean specialists will have on foreign policy. The big news about Cheong Wa Dae's reshuffle announcement on July 3 was the President's pick of Park Jie-won, one of the main negotiators of the historic 2000 first-ever inter-Korean summit during the 1998-2003 Kim Dae-jung administration, as the chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). He is to succeed Suh Hoon, the outgoing NIS chief, after undergoing a National Assembly hearing. Park is known to be one of the few South Koreans to have met almost all of the key figures in North Korea's Kim dynasty the late Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong. "Park was recommended through various routes," a senior presidential aide told reporters, Sunday. "His nomination was entirely based on the President's decision." The President's picks for other key posts, including the national security adviser and two special advisers for foreign affairs and national security, are also marked by their long careers of negotiating with North Korea. Moon has decided to retain the service of Suh as the new head of the presidential National Security Office (NSO) and has named his former chief of staff Im Jong-seok and outgoing NSO chief Chung Eui-young as special advisers on foreign policy and security. Suh, Im and Chung were at the forefront of Cheong Wa Dae's efforts to realize Moon's previous three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018. Moon also nominated ruling party heavyweight and North Korea expert Rep. Lee In-young, a former floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), as unification minister to succeed Kim Yeon-chul, who stepped down last month after North Korea's unilateral destruction of the inter-Korean liaison office, a symbolic outcome of the April 27 inter-Korean summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, held on the southern side of the Joint Security Area in 2018. NIS chief nominee Park Jie-won, second from right, and other members of the South Korean delegation to the 2000 inter-Korean summit ride on a subway train in Pyongyang on June 14. Korea Times file Cheong Wa Dae's announcement came after weeks of heated debate about the need to overhaul Moon's diplomatic and national security lineup, after Pyongyang destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office, considered a major sign of its disregard toward the past agreements between Moon and Kim for drastic improvement in inter-Korean relations. But some experts who talked to The Korea Times, Sunday, were mostly negative in their assessment of the July 3 reshuffle, underlining its heavy focus on restoring ties with North Korea despite continued U.S. opposition that will likely lead to a wider rift in the Korea-U.S. alliance. If the Moon administration continues rushing to improve inter-Korean relations under his new diplomatic and security team regardless of the speed of North Korea's denuclearization process, the experts particularly warned of real damage to the alliance with the U.S. Bilateral relations have already triggered concerns under the Trump administration due to the huge gaps in key bilateral issues, including the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations for deciding Korea's share of the costs for maintaining U.S. troops here. Geopolitical chess game Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute, pointed out the reshuffle reflects a glaring absence of a "big picture" in Cheong Wa Dae's North Korea policy by not paying due attention to international factors, such as the escalating U.S.-China rivalry. "The reshuffle is a knee-jerk remedy to overcome the current inter-Korean stalemate. But it lacks a big picture. Both Washington and Beijing see the North Korean issue as a component of the U.S.-China geopolitical chess game. North Korea knows it. South Korea doesn't," Lee said. "Moon is obsessed with North Korea. But North Korea is obsessed with the U.S. That's the geopolitical curse for Moon. Unfortunately, Moon is seen as a pro-China figure in Washington. As long as Moon doesn't secure Washington's blessing, his inter-Korean vision will be a limited endeavor." Lee added, "South Korea's improving ties with North Korea will inevitably include economic aid and resumption of joint projects that will create further tension between Seoul and Washington. Amid the deepening U.S.-China rivalry, China will welcome the disintegration of the alliance relationship." The expert in Korea-China relations also highlighted that the reshuffle's role will be "limited" if Moon's greater goal is to engineer another summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un, in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Other experts showed concerns about the loss of credibility in Moon's foreign policy from an international perspective. "The Moon administration should avoid the impression that North Korean threats and violence get laws changed, activists prosecuted and ministers reshuffled in Seoul. A loss in foreign policy credibility could invite further economic coercion from Beijing and more worries about the alliance in Washington," said Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. "President Moon has purposefully chosen South Korean officials well-known in Pyongyang in hopes of restarting dialogue. But the Kim regime shows little interest in reconciliation and exchange, instead demanding financial benefits without denuclearization." The leaders of the two Koreas, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, sing "Our wish is unification" with the members of their respective delegations during a farewell lunch on June 15, 2000, at the North Korea leader's guesthouse after their summit. Park played a central role in organizing the summit. Korea Times The sky lights up during the Lake James annual fireworks show on Saturday night. The show lasted about 25 minutes. There were numerous boats on the lake but arrangements for land viewing at Pokagon State Park had a different look because of social distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OSP says trooper made 'OK' hand signal to check on protester in Salem, not 'white power' symbol Gettysburg, PA (17325) Today Rain ending early. Remaining cloudy. Thunder possible. High 72F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Update: A Missing Endangered Person Advisory has now been issued on behalf of the Butte Silver Bow Law Enforcement Division for a woman missing since Thursday, July 2. Law enforcement says 22-year-old Shaila Thomas has been reported missing and there is concern for her well-being. Authorities say she may be traveling with her boyfriend Bryce Baltezar, believed to be in a 2007 blue 4-door Pontiac G6 with Montana license plates. They may be traveling to Las Vegas. Baltezar has been reported as abusive and Shaila's phone was recovered in a trash can in Dillon, Mont. If you have any information, please contact Butte Silver Bow LED at 406-497-1120 option 1 or dial 911. Previous coverage: Authorities are asking the public for assistance in the search for Shaila Thomas. Shaila has been listed as missing and has not been seen since Thursday, July 2nd. Shaila is approximately 5'2" weighing 120 lbs. Her phone was located in Dillon, MT on Friday. Shaila's vehicle is a 2007 Pontiac G6, blueish gray in color bearing MT license plate 1-55025A. May be in the company of a male, Bryce Baltezar. If you have spoken with Shaila or know her whereabouts, please contact dispatch at 406-497-1120. WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Stephen Hahn on Sunday refused to offer a timeline for COVID-19 vaccine, which U.S. President Donald Trump suggested could be available "long before the end of the year." "I can't predict when a vaccine will be available," Hahn told ABC on Sunday. "We are seeing unprecedented speed for the development of a vaccine. But ... our solemn promise to the American people is that we will make a decision based upon the data and science on a vaccine, with respect to the safety and effectiveness of that vaccine." During a Fourth of July address in Washington on Saturday, Trump said the country is likely to have a therapeutic and/or vaccine solution long before the end of the year. Hahn said Thursday that he was "cautiously optimistic" about current efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, pointing to "year's end or early next year" as potential completion dates. More than 2,852,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States with the fatalities surpassing 129,700 as of Sunday afternoon, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Description GIS 06 July 2020 : The Wolmar Traffic Centre to the tune of Rs 12 million on a plot of land of 2400 m2 was inaugurated on 03 July at Wolmar Flic-en-Flac in presence of the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Disaster Risk Management, Dr Anwar Husnoo, the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Mr Alan Ganoo, and the Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram. The project , an initiative of the Ministry of Land Transport and Light Rail in collaboration with the Traffic Management and Road Safety Unit and the Beach Authority has been put in place by Transinvest Construction Ltd. The traffic centre will enable bus users to have a proper boarding and alighting platform in a secured environment as well as provide bus operators a proper holding area. Also, provision of solar powered street lights and smart bus shelters have been made to make the traffic centre more sustainable. The traffic centre has also successfully integrated the existing toilet facilities, car parks and the access to the public beach and also caters for the existing buses and any future expansion of bus routes to the region of Flic-en-Flac. In his address, the Vice-Prime Minister, Dr Anwar Husnoo, spoke of the various infrastructure development projects which are in the pipeline for the region of Black River. They are mainly, the social housing projects to the tune of Rs 12 billion which will also cover the region of Black River; extension of the Yves Cantin Hospital at Black River; road construction towards Cascavelle as well as to Chamarel and the construction of two village hall at Gros Cailloux and Tamarin respectively. Dr Husnoo also recalled that for the year 2014 to 2019, Rs 132 million have been spent for local authority projects in the region of Black River. The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Mr Alan Ganoo, spoke of the need for the traffic centre in this part of the island which he said has over the recent years known a rapid expansion of the villages and several residential and commercial developments have flourished in the region causing a substantial increase in the demand for public transport services. He pointed that the project has been completed within the set timeframe and will help ease the traffic flow for nearly some 7,000 passengers who travel to Flic-en-Flac by bus every day. He recalled that the traffic centre will benefit four bus routes in the region of Flic-en- Flac namely: Quatre-Bornes to Wolmar; Port-Louis to Wolmar; Ebene to Wolmar; and Curepipe to Wolmar. Minister Ganoo also spoke of several projects which will be undertaken in Flic-en-Flac among which the rehabilitation of the beach to the tune of around Rs 10 million to prevent sand erosion. He added that a sum of Rs 40 billion has been earmarked for infrastructure projects across the island. For his part, the Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram, reiterated the Governments commitment to transform Mauritius into a modern country for the betterment of the population. He recalled that his Ministry is working in close collaboration with the Road Development Authority on a master plan regarding major development projects across the country including the region of Black River. He further stated that the traffic centre at Wolmar is a requisite owing to the number of persons travelling to Flic-en-Flac regularly. Now that things have loosened up with regard to the pandemic, are there precautions you are still practicing? Which have you relaxed? 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 last week saying as many as 100,000 Americans could become infected each day if the nation doesnt 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. 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 cant 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. I think its important to tell you and the American public that Im 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. Were going to continue to be in a lot of trouble and theres 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. No fewer than 28 persons were feared dead this afternoon after a canoe they were traveling in capsized in River Benue. Vanguard gathered that the ill-fated locally made boat was conveying mainly members of the ECAN Church Ijaha in Makurdi Local Government Area to a meeting across the river when it sank at Kwaghtan Sule in Guma LGA. According to the source, the canoe which had a carrying capacity of not more than 15 passengers was overload with over 30 passengers and midway into the journey sank. The number of people in that canoe cannot be ascertained because the operators do not keep records of the number of passengers that get on board but they may be over 30 in that boat which should carry more than 15 passengers. Though two persons were rescued alive, some others have not been seen but the search is still ongoing and it is being carried out by local fishermen and the police, the source said. Some 35 Kenya primary pupils and secondary school students were arrested while six others escaped after police raided a rental house where they were taking alcohol and smoking bhang. The teenagers, aged between 13 and 17, were found drunk with some n.a.k.e.d in a two-roomed house where used condoms were also found in the room at around 6.00 pm. But police later released them over lack of adequate space in their cells. The incident occurred at Sango Estate in Homa Bay town on Friday. According to Arujo Location Chief Bob Lango, they received a tip-off from the public that the youngsters were taking alcoholic drinks, smoking bhang and were causing a ruckus in the neighborhood. After raiding the house, Lango said that they arrested 15 girls and 20 boys and took them to Homa Bay police station for interrogation. The administrator who was flanked by his two assistant chiefs, Jackton Olielo of Arujo sub-location and his Homa Bay township counterpart Duncan Odhiambo, said that they also arrested the landlord, Patrick Ayieko, for allowing children to conduct immoral activities within his compound. Meanwhile, the chief warned parents and guardians against letting their children roam in town, saying that they risk being arrested and charged with negligence. Confirming the incident, Homa Bay Sub County Police Commander Sammy Koskey said that they have summoned the parents and guardians of the children to report to the police station on Monday. There has been a significant increase in the airfares as airlines prepare to resume operations Wednesday. The Federal Government had directed the resumption of domestic flights on July 8th after the March 30th lockdown of the airlines. Checks by Punch revealed that the airlines raised their fares in all class of tickets for one-hour flights from Lagos to Abuja. While flights for Dana Air on Economy Discount sold for N33,000 for a one way Lagos to Abuja flight, the Economy Flexible plan sold for N70,500. Air Peace for its Economy-Flexi Domestic plan sold for N33,001 for a one way Lagos-Abuja trip while its business class ticket sold for N80,000. Azman had economy tickets sold for N33,000 while business class sold for N60,000 for the same 1hour, 15 minutes trip. Arik Airs Economy plan was the lowest with N29,189 for economy and 71,532 for business class flights for a one-way Lagos to Abuja trip. One of the business class one-way trips sold for N126,199 for a trip slated for 4 pm. Before the lockdown, economy tickets could go for as low as N15,000 and as high as N40,000 for one-hour flight, Punch reports. Following allegations that he owns four properties and transfers funds abroad through a third party, the Department of the State Service, DSS, Monday, arrested the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu. In a seven paragraphs statement disclosed by DSS, obtained by SaharaReporters stated that the anti-graft agency chairman was said to have been found guilty of prejudicial to state security withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer. Read the full statement below: In December 2010, the Police Service Commission (PSC) found Magu guilty of action prejudicial to state security withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer, and awarded him severe reprimand as punishment. Magu is currently occupying a residence rented for N40m at N20m per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commissions finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired, a questionable businessman who has subsequently been arrested by the secret service. For the furnishing of the residence, Magu enlisted the Federal Capital Development Authority to award a contract to Africa Energy, a company owned by the same Mohammed, to furnish the residence at the cost of N43m. Investigations show that the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by Mohammed. In one of such trips, Magu flew to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed with a bank MD who was being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by the immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Furthermore, the EFCC boss has so far maintained a high-profile lifestyle. This is exemplified by his preference for first-class air travels. On 24 June, 2016, he flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m. This is in spite of Mr Presidents directive to all public servants to fly economy class. Magu has fostered a beneficial relationship with Mohammed who by his confession approaches clients for possible exploitation, favours and associated returns. Recall that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), had on the 19th of June recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari the sacking of Magu. Malami, in a memorandum to the president, anchored his recommendation on several grounds raging from diversion of recovered loot to insubordination and misconduct. Weeks after his letter, DSS arrested Magu. Culled from Sahara Reporters Dbanjs former manager, Franklin Amudo, has spoken out on the current r.a.p.e allegations surrounding the music star, after claiming that supposed victim, Seyitan Babatayo, told him of the alleged r.a.p.e after it happened in 2018. Mr Amudo, who is making his statement for the first time since the r.a.p.e allegations became a public affair, said recently that he gave Ms Babatayo the keys to his hotel room on December 30, 2018, so she could spend the night after an all-white event at Eko Atlantic Hotel. He mentioned that Babatayo and several others were invited to the event, and she spent the time in his hotel room while he headed home to catch a flight to Accra, Ghana by 7 am the following day. Amudo explained that Dbanj had accommodation for the night at Eko Atlantic Towers. He said, Upon my arrival in Accra, Seyitan called, saying that Dbanj gained access into her room at Glee Hotel by 3am and rape her. The artiste manager further added that he decided not to discuss the issue with the former MoHits star and his wife, saying that the trip to Accra was meant to be a healing trip from the loss of their son. I chose not to discuss this matter with Dbanj because he and his wife were also in Accra as this was supposed to be a healing trip to recover from the loss of their son, he wrote. Amudo has reiterated that he is against rape and debunked allegations that he was in the habit of arraigning girls for artistes and that he colluded with Babatayo to indict Dbanj. Read his statement posted on Instagram below; American 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 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 EUs 27 member states. They can also enter the four other nations in Europes visa-free Schengen travel zone. 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 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. 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. Every bit of him cuts the image of a taciturn, harmless and easy-going individual. But Ndubisi Anthony is extremely dangerous. He poses as a shoe dealer on Ogbunabali Road, Port Harcourt City, but behind the visible business of buying and selling shoes, the 52-year-old indigene of Ngo-Okpala in Imo State has other secret criminal ventures, including kidnapping and killing his victims. Anthonys neighbours were shocked when he recently led a detachment of policemen to his well-built house situated at Umuebule 1 Community, Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State. The house is a flat of about four bedrooms surrounded by a high fence. In fact, the fence, which is secured with a gate, made it impossible for neighbours to know what went on in Anthonys compound. Little wonder nobody around suspected Anthony and his bloody enterprise. Within the compound is a pit dug very close to the fence and covered with columns of concrete. Innocent people who entered his compound thought it was a mere soak away pit. Only Anthony knew that the pit was not meant for sewage alone but also served as a burial ground for victims of his illicit trade. In his compound, he confessed to kidnapping people, strangling them and dumping their remains in the pit. Most of his victims bodies had completely decayed with their skulls remaining. But one was still fresh when the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Joseph Mukan, engaged some youths in the area to pull them out. During interrogation, Anthony admitted luring his victims to his house under the guise of buying their goods or selling his to them. He would make his victims feel at home in his living room after offering them a special seat. He would even offer them drinks. But in the process, he would go behind them, hold their necks in his hands and twist them. After confirming that they were dead, Anthony said he would drag them to his well-secured compound and throw them into the pit. Though he said he lived with his wife and about four children, it was discovered that the wife fled the compound before nemesis caught up with him while two of his grown children were no longer living with him. Anthony said he started the business of kidnapping and killing in February this year, adding that he had so far killed four of his business partners. He said three of his victims were Togolese while one came from Aba in Abia State. He said: I sell shoes. I get my victims by luring them to bring shoes to my house. When they bring them, I tell them to sit down. When they had sat down, I would go behind them and strangle them to death. I have been doing this for a while. I collect their shoes when I kill them. I also collect their money. But after I did this last one, police started investigating it and they started looking for me. One of my customers called me to come, but when I got there, the police arrested me. He added: I live here with my family. I kidnap people and kill them by strangling them. I invite them to my house. Some are my business partners. I ask them to come and supply me goods or to come to my house and buy from me. They bring their shoes to my house. I started doing this in February this year. Since then, I have kidnapped and killed four people. I kill them and throw them into the soak away pit. My wife goes to the market always and people cant see me because the area is fenced. Anthony said he started kidnapping because of poverty, adding that he had so far received N800,000 from his victims families. The last operation that blew his cover involved his business partner, Ajumiene Ofor, from Aba in Abia State. A source, who spoke in confidence, said the victim supplied him shoes worth N500,000 on credit and Anthony told his victim to come to his house for payment. On arrival at his house, the man sent the address to his wife in Aba. The source said: The discovery was made when a trader from Aba in Abia State left the address and phone number of the suspect with his wife upon departure to collect the sum of N500,000, being the cost of the goods he had supplied the suspect on credit. After waiting for 48 hours without any sign of her husbands return, the wife of the victim reported the matter to the police who immediately launched an investigation into the matter. On interrogation, the suspect took the police to his house where fresh corpses were recovered from a 20-fit soak-away pit dug purposely for dumping of corpses. While the wife of the suspect has since abandoned her four children and ran away, two grown up children of the suspect have also taken to their heels while two little others demonstrated how their evil father strangled his victims in their presence. They said their father sternly warned them not to tell anyone about his evil deeds else he would apply the same treatment to them. Commenting on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, said: Operatives of the Aniti-Kidnapping Unit, in a sting operation on 29/6/20202 at about 1330hrs, arrested a notorious kidnapper and serial killer, one Anthony Ndubuisi m from Ngo-Okpala in Imo State but resides at Umuebulu Etche LGA. The suspect, who was arrested through intelligence-led policing, on interrogation confessed to have carried out several kidnappings and killings of his unsuspecting victims, including three foreign Nationals and a Nigerian, the most recent being the kidnapping and killing of one Ajumiene Offor who was lured from Aba to his house for a business transaction but kidnapped and killed on 9/6/2020. In the course of investigation, the suspect led operatives to his house at Umuebulu, where he pointed to a septic tank that contained the bodies of his victims. On exhumation, we recovered three human skulls and the decomposing body of his recent victim. They have been evacuated and taken to the mortuary for autopsy. Investigation is ongoing and efforts have been intensified to arrest other members of his deadly gang. In the wake of his arrest, two pump action guns and some cartridges were recovered. Description GIS 06 July 2020 : The cooperative sector needs to revamp and constantly reposition itself so that it can keep pace with the challenges of the competitive business environment and thus make itself modern, efficient and effective, said the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, on 4 July 2020, during the celebrations marking the International Day of Cooperatives held at the National Cooperative College, Terre Rouge. He pointed out that Regional Cooperative Centres need to be centralised while adding that cooperative societies and federations have a significant role to play in the modernisation of the movement. He recalled that the Cooperatives Act 2016 gives more possibilities to a cooperative society which can now, through only one registration, diversify in various sectors. Speaking about the crisis brought about by Covid-19, Minister Bholah highlighted that if cooperative societies were present in each region in Mauritius, it would have greatly helped the community. In that context, he announced the opening of a cooperative store in the south in one months time. The store, he said, will be similar to a supermarket and will make use of barcodes. Government, he added, is encouraging the setting up of such cooperative stores across Mauritius. As regards the sale of potatoes, onions and garlic, he underlined that the cooperative movement is collaborating with the ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security through the Agricultural Marketing Board for the distribution of these food items across the country. The launching of a logo for cooperative products also coincided with the gathering of cooperators on that occasion. International Day of Cooperatives The International Day of Cooperatives is an annual celebration of the cooperative movement observed on the first Saturday of July. The theme this year as proclaimed by the International Cooperative Alliance is Cooperatives for climate action . The theme was chosen to support Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website allows the public to check prisoners details and Nigerians have gone on the site to search out Hushpuppis details. Recall that Hushpuppi, whose birth name is Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, was extradited to the US after he was arrested in Dubai for fraud. His registration number in the US prison system was made public, allowing people search for him in the BOPs website. His details on the website shows his name, age, race and the location where hes being held. As for his release date, it states Unknown. The US Department of Justice said in a statement that Hushpuppi could get a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Senator Dino Melaye has said he will not glorify APC with a response on suspected fraudster, Hushpuppi. Over the weekend, APCs deputy National Spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, had released a statement where he called on EFCC and other security agencies to investigate the relationship between arrested Hushpuppi and some PDP chieftains. Nabena had said some of the PDP chieftains like Atiku Abubakar, Yakubu Dogara, Bukola Saraki and Dino Melaye have been pictured with Hushpuppi and so they must be investigated to know the true state of their relationship with him. He said; We note that the EFCC has already declared the arraigned Instagram celebrity wanted over fraud allegations. However, the EFCC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other sister agencies must investigate money laundering reports linking some PDP leaders and financiers to the Dubai-based international criminal ring. PDP leadership turned Dubai into their Strategic meeting place ahead of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria and Hushpuppis affinity with the PDP leadership is not mere coincidence. At different times, Hushpuppi was been photographed in Dubai meeting with the PDPs 2019 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, former Senate Preident, Yakubu Dogara, Dino Melaye and other PDP stalwarts. Reacting to Nabenas statement via his instagram page, Melaye said he will not be glorifying the party with a response. He wrote I will not glorify a religiously lunatic character nor the caretaker party(APC) with a response on Hushpuppy. SDM Nollywood actress Lala Akindoju has berated the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, after they shared a video showing their visit to actress Regina Daniels who recently welcomed a baby. During the visit, the AGN led by President Emeka Rollas presented gifts to the actress and her billionaire husband Ned Nwoko. Emeka Rollas also said the newborn is the Nollywood baby of the year This is our baby, Nollywood baby of the year, we are here to rejoice with your family, Emeka Rollas said. The visit and gift presentation took place at the actresss residence in Abuja. However, Lala Akindoju didnt find the visit necessary at this point. Lala said AGN neglected pressing issues while taking up the visit to Regina Daniel as a priority. This is actually shameful. In these times where the actors guild should show leadership on pressing issues like navigating the industry with COVID-19, like creating structures to stop sexual harassment in the industry, she wrote on Twitter. This is their priority. Even if you visit your member, must you film and post? The videos we need to see about the future and safety of practitioners. Yet, they abuse us and insist that we join. Sigh! It is shameful because they should use the same energy to do the things that actually move the industry forward. Man dies after booking into lodging with girlfriend, unused condoms, energy and... A 32-year-old man was on Sunday found dead at a Lodging in Narok town, Kenya. Shocked residents milled about the lodging as Narok police officers removed his body from the building. The deceased, identified as Edmond Parseen, was an officer at the Ministry of Industrialization. According to the police, he booked into the lodging on Saturday, July 4, at about 6pm. He was later joined in the room by his girlfriend, police said. In the room, police found unused condoms, alcoholic and energy drinks. Narok North OCPD Fredrick Shiundu said the cause of death will be determined after a post-mortem is conducted. But he said the deceased could have died as a result of alcoholic and energy drinks that he took. The deceaseds uncle, Felix Nkoyo, said the deceased was unreachable on his mobile since Friday only for him to learn that he had died. He revealed that the woman he was with was their neighbour although their affair wasnt public. Police took the body to Narok County Hospital mortuary as investigations begin. The police have since taken her into custody as investigations commence. Tijani Oniru, one of the sons of Late Oba Abiodun Idowu Oniru, is seen in a video making the rounds on social media being attacked by men who wore uniform with security inscribed at the back just by Oniru estate. The cause of the alteration is yet to be known, but son of the late Oba who died in 2019 was seen in the viral video being beaten by the men. He was punched, slapped before being descended upon again. A twitter user, with the name Prince Harleem (@harleem360), shared videos of the attack writing; Hmmm ..World War 2 in oniru, his first tweet read. The boys of the new oba of Oniru assaulting Tijani Oniru (son of former oba) ..All these is not necessary ..@followlasg @jidesanwoolu @Mr_JAGss #oniru #lagos, he said in a second tweet tagging the Lagos state government. Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, at the weekend, said his administration took the opportunity of the novel Coronavirus pandemic to strengthen the states health care facilities. The governor made this known at the commissioning of the upgraded Agbami Isolation Centre, Jericho, Ibadan. Makinde, while berating the previous administrations non commitment to enhanced health care facilities in the state, recalled that the facility was commissioned at the twilight of the immediate-past administration without adequately equipped. The governor maintained that contracting the virus was not a death sentence as many might have perceived, adding that, it was not something to be ashamed of. His words: I battled COVID-19, so it is not a death sentence and it is not something to be ashamed of. The virus is here with us and it will be here for some times to come; it is not going to disappear two or three from now, so we have to learn to live with it. So, if any of us is sick, we have the facilities, we have taken the opportunity of COVID-19 to strengthen our health care facilities. This facility was commissioned at the twilight of the last administration. Before we came in, it was a Tuberculosis (TB) Centre at that, we didnt know that there will be COVID-19 pandemic, but here we are dealing with COVID-19. Before the naysayers will go to town and say again Seyi Makinde is commissioning something they did, well we give you credit for putting this together even though it was commissioned when it wasnt ready. I came here and went inside, there was nothing, absolutely nothing inside. Now because we have the pandemic in our hand and we also have high earned individuals in Oyo State that are not comfortable going to Olodo because they want individual room and privacy. For those individuals, we know some of you have aged parents at home and because we have to give concession for such individuals to self isolate at home and monitor them, now we dont have to do much of that anymore. With facilities here you can self isolate privately, just drive in, we will give you the treatment and we will ensure that you dont infect others, once you have properly manage you will go back to various homes. So, if COVID-19 is no longer here our facilities will remain, we will maintain them, it is no big deal that anyone tested positive to COVID-19. You dont need to go and hide at private hospitals where they dont really have the facilities and also the resources, the personnel to ensure that you access to adequate care. This has been upgraded now, we have oxygen concentrator here, you will get the type of care that you truly deserved. If you look at where we are coming from it is a really challenging environment because when we started the year we had high hope but now we have to sheave off almost 35 percent of our budget for the year simply because we are facing the pandemic and we are also facing the economic meltdown, but in spite off all of that with the support of the good people of Oyo State we have been able to keep moving on, stated. The governor, however, told his teeming supporters not to indulge in praise-singing his government alone, but criticise him constructively, when the need arose. Boaters who rent slips on Lake Genevas west end pier are renewing their push for city officials to improve security on the pier. Renters have asked city officials in the past to install a security gate because of vandalism and people fishing, swimming and sunbathing on the city-owned structure, which is not allowed. A group of slip renters raised the issue last year, and city officials installed a sign stating that no fishing, swimming, sunbathing and unleashed dogs are allowed on the pier. But the public structure remains a popular place for place for people who enjoy getting close to the water or diving in for a swim. Boaters now say the sign is not doing the trick and they are again airing their complaints to City Hall. Cindy and Gerald Yager of Lake Geneva sent a written complaint that there has again been vandalism on the pier, and that some of the rope they use to secure their boat recently went missing. The couple also reported a group of six unsupervised children jumping off the pier to take a swim. Its only been a few weeks into this season, and we seem to having the same problems we did in the past, the couple wrote. The sign doesnt seem to be working. RACINE City officials clapped back at Judge Jon Fredrickson after his June 24 order stopped enforcement of the citys coronavirus restrictions. This ruling is extremely troubling, said Racine Mayor Cory Mason in a press release. Local governments have a clear and longstanding ability and authority to enact ordinances to protect the health and well-being of our residents. That has never been more needed than now, in the midst of this pandemic. As mayor, my duty and obligation is to protect the health of Racines residents, and I will continue to seek ways to do that while this litigation works its way through the process. In the meantime, this judicial ruling leaves no protections in place for our community, putting all of us at increased risk. This means that all city residents must double-down on our own actions to protect ourselves, our families, our coworkers, and our neighbors from this virus: wear masks in public and practice social distancing. Wash your hands and use sanitizer. If you are sick, stay home. We are on our own for now, without the public health protections that were helping to keep the virus from exacting an even worse toll on our communities. Stay safe, Racine. As the famous story goes, Mrs. OLeary was in the barn around 9 p.m., milking her cow when the cow kicked over a lantern and sparked the inferno. Mrs. OLeary consistently denied this account, saying that she never milked after dark. However, as an Irish immigrant living in poverty, she made a convenient scapegoat. Some have suggested that pieces of Bielas Comet a periodic comet that disintegrated around the time of the fire might have fallen to Earth and sparked not only the Chicago fire but other devastating blazes in Wisconsin and Michigan that same day. An article in the Chicago Tribune suggested: A more likely culprit is the one person who admitted fault for the blaze, Louis Cohn, a businessman and gambler, who died in 1942, was 18 when the fire broke out. His will contained a public confession hed only shared with friends and family. He and Mrs. OLearys son, along with a few other boys, had been shooting craps in the hayloft by lantern light that night, when one of the boys not the cow knocked the lantern over. Cohns story is perhaps the most believable of the bunch, since he had nothing to gain from lying. Cohns version of the story is anything but self-aggrandizing. A 1944 press release from the Medill School of Journalism, which received an endowment from Cohns estate, noted Mr. Cohn never denied when the other boys fled, that he stopped long enough to scoop up the money. Michelle Bie Love is a member of the Williams Bay Historical Society and co-author of A Pictorial History of Williams Bay, Wisconsin On Beautiful Geneva Lake. Time is running out to make comments on the Food and Drug Administrations proposed food traceability rule. The proposal, published in September, aims to reduce the time it takes to trace contamination issues from consumer to source. Description GIS 06 July 2020 : Mauritius is classified as a high-income country as of 1 July 2020, following the publication by the World Bank of the updated taxonomy of countries by income groups. The institution classifies the worlds economies into four income groups- high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low. This is based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (current US$), calculated using the Atlas method. The classification is updated each year on July 1st based on the previous years national account information and using data provided by Statistics Mauritius for 2019. The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development welcomes this new step as a result of the confidence and efforts of the Mauritian people to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. For his part, Mr Erik von Uexkull, World Bank Country Representative for Mauritius, highlighted that in a longer-term perspective, this is a great achievement that reflects the efforts and dedication of generations of Mauritians to build a better future for their children. He also congratulated the people of Mauritius for reaching this milestone. It should also be noted that this nomenclature is based on statistical data for 2019. Thus, and as indicated by the World Bank, the impact of Covid-19 has not been taken into account in this exercise. It will be integrated in the 2020 classification. With a Gross National Income per capita of $12,740 in 2019, up 3.5% from 2018, Mauritius has reached the threshold of high-income economies for the first time in its history. The latter, updated annually by the World Bank, has been set at $12,535 for the year 2019. Gunmen stormed and opened fire at a nightclub in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday morning, leaving two people dead and eight others wounded. Lt. Jimmy Bolt, the spokesman for the county's sheriff's office, said several clubgoers were critically injured. He did not share the identities of the victim or how many were gravely wounded following the incident. According to Bolt, a deputy was headed to an unrelated call at 2 AM when the officer spotted people running outside the Lavish Lounge. The deputy immediately requested for backup. Authorities who entered the nightclub said over 200 people were inside during the incident. It was unclear whether the gunmen were still shooting as the law enforcement officers entered the building, the New York Times reported. County officials identified those killed as 56-year-old Clarence S. Johnson and 23-year-old Mykala Bell. Both victims were pronounced dead at the Greenville Memorial Hospital. Johnson was working as part of the security personnel at the club on the night of the shooting. He was known in the area to be a peaceful person. Bell, a young mother of two, was described as a textbook bystander who was caught in a terrible incident. Persons of Interest Rapper Foogiano was celebrating his 27th birthday at the club on July 4th. On his Instagram page, the Gucci Mane protege announced he would be holding a free concert at the nightclub where the gunfire erupted. Video footage suggests the violence began after different groups threw gang signs. While Foogiano was not involved in the incident, police are eyeing his crew members for the gunfire. Social media users claim the suspects opened fire after someone tried to steal a chain from the performer. Footage shared on multiple platforms showed a man onstage and aiming a weapon at the crowd. He opened fire several times. Another footage shows a member of the audience approaching the rapper just before the gunfire started, as reported by Page Six. A representative for the rapper said Foogiano was safe and was not injured during the shooting. However, they refused to respond to the latest allegations. Violating COVID-19 Restrictions The Lavish Lounge violated the state's COVID-19 orders after it continued operations despite a mandate that nightclubs and concert venues should remain closed, Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said. In early-June, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster extended the ongoing state of emergency to allow the state to continue receiving emergency funding for expenses in the fight against the novel coronavirus. The State of Emergency banned night clubs, concerts, other venues and events to resume operations. The Lavish Lounge was considered both a club and a concert venue. Detectives are now investigating whether the club had been granted special permission to hold the packed event. Sheriff Lewis said the club owner would receive a $200 citation for violating the orders. He also revealed plans of shutting the club down after people were allowed to bring guns inside the establishment, Greenville Online reports. Want to read more? Illegal fireworks lit up the Los Angeles sky on the Fourth of July, prompting over a thousand illegal fireworks complaints and air pollution. This is despite the cancellation of many Fourth of July fireworks shows due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles Police Department received over 1,000 illegal fireworks complaints submitted online by 10 p.m. Saturday, reported CBS Los Angeles. The police said they had to hold many 911 calls because the lines were clogged up from the complaints. They had to apologize for delays for the entire night. They urged the residents to only call 911 for emergencies. That is, only call if someone is hurt or there is fire. The LAPD's Communications Division said those who called for non-emergencies are "tying up 911 for other life-threatening emergencies". The police department said they had to hold over 50 calls on 911 and over 170 calls were not emergencies. Fire on the 4th of July A fire started with several large palm trees in L.A. It spread and destroyed an apartment building in Northridge, said a report from Fox News. By the time firefighters put out the fire, eight apartment units were already destroyed. Officials say half of the apartment complex burned down. Five tenants were reportedly injured. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart said about 50 residents had to be moved out of their homes because of the incident. The fire surrounded the apartment units and palm trees. It took 81 firefighters 43 minutes to put out the fire. An investigation determined the fire was caused by illegal fireworks, officials said. Stewart said the Fourth of July was always a busier night for their department. Different types of fires happen on the day, she said. The fire department usually gets 1,400 calls for service in a day, maybe even lower. But on Saturday, it responded to 1,738 calls, Stewart said. Public information officer Sky Cornell said it was the second-busiest day in the department's history. It was only second to February 17, 2012 when firefighters received 1,777 calls during a rainstorm. The county's public health officials temporarily banned fireworks displays and closed beaches earlier in the week. Parking lots were closed and people were encouraged to watch from their homes. There weren't official fireworks shows but backyard displays still caused the air quality in L.A. to be rated as dangerous in some areas the following morning. Fine-particle pollution levels in the area soared Fireworks give off high levels of particulate matter called PM2.5. July 4 and July 5 usually meet high levels of this particle, health officials said. Phillip Fine of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said it was definitely one of his worst years for July 4 and July 5 fireworks episodes. The PM2.5 air pollution was more concentrated this year. It stayed in the air longer compared to past holidays, said a report from Los Angeles Times. The dangerous air quality was first reported around 10 p.m. in central Los Angeles and the air pollution did not improve until about 8 a.m. The same condition happened in Anaheim around midnight. Want to read more? Check these out! Hundreds of scientists say there is mounting evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can spread through airborne transmission. They also accused the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) of underplaying the risk of aerosol transmission. In an open letter due to be published this week, over 239 scientists across 32 countries urged the health agency to acknowledge the role of airborne spread of the coronavirus and to revise recommendations. Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne transmission of viruses, said the international health organization relied on studies from hospitals suggesting low levels of virus in the air. However, she noted those studies underestimated the risk as they did not include buildings, such as bars and processing plants, where air-exchange rates were much lower, as the New York Times reported. Interviews with nearly two dozen scientists, including consultants for the World Health Organization, said droplets expelled during sneezing can glide the length of a room through the air. These droplets may transmit the virus to a healthy person when inhaled. In W.H.O.'s June 29 guidance, the health organization's officials said that while the aerosol transmission may play some role in the spread, the primary routes of transmission are through droplets expelled during coughing, sneezing, or speaking. Members of the agency's infection prevention committee further said that introducing new measures to combat airborne transmission was unlikely to affect the spread of the virus. W.H.O. continued to promote handwashing as a primary prevention strategy. If the airborne transmission is acknowledged as a significant factor in the virus' spread, experts suggest wearing face masks indoors and imposing tighter regulations for ventilation and air conditioning could help guard against the infectious particles. Bureaucratic Issues While most experts praise W.H.O. for holding daily briefings amid its shrinking portfolio, they insist the organization is ignoring the latest research due to bureaucratic issues and its political relationships, particularly with the United States and China, Slate reported. Cannot stop thinking about a document emanating from a @WHO group that I was asked to comment on yesterday. On the issue of face coverings, as a form of #Covid_19 control. Assessment done, but the whole experience has left me extremely uneasy about procedural opacity. Sanjoy Bhattacharya (@JoyAgnost) May 22, 2020 However, experts condemn the infection prevention and control committee who, they claim, are bound by a rigid view of scientific evidence. Many say the committee is slow in updating its guidance. Critics previously called out the agency after it endorsed the use of masks months after evidence of its effectivity on preventing the spread of the virus became available. By then, most nations had encouraged their citizens to wear face coverings when going out in public. The organization had released a statement where it encouraged wearing masks. Still, it noted that its usefulness has yet to be supported by "direct scientific evidence." They also provided a list of the potential disadvantages of masks, including "discomfort." Critics are now calling for the committee to diversify its expertise and relax its criteria for proof. This comes after experts on air quality, and aerosols attended a discussion with W.H.O. officials were staunch supporters of handwashing dominated the meeting. The committee's advice remains unchanged, with supporters claiming that handwashing must have emphasis over aerosols. Want to read more? Tony award-nominated Broadway actor Nick Cordero died at 41 from severe medical conditions due to coronavirus just this Sunday. The actor died at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, said a report from The Guardian. Cordero spent more than 90 days in the hospital, according to his wife Amanda Kloots. Kloots said her husband was "singing and praying as he gently left the earth". Cordero entered the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai on March 30. His condition was initially thought to be pneumonia. The first coronavirus test on him came up negative, but a test that followed was positive, said a report from USA Today. According to a report from Associated Press, Cordero faced many serious health problems for around 13 weeks. He had mini-strokes, blood clots, septic infections, a tracheostomy and a temporary pacemaker implant. He was on a ventilator and unconscious. Cordero also had his right leg amputated. Doctors even explored the possibility of a double lung transplant. While at the hospital, Kloots sent him videos of their one-year-old every day. She also urged friends and fans to join a daily sing-a-long. Kloots said it was hard to tell if her husband knew what was happening to him but he would respond by looking up and down when he was alert. Over $600,000 raised on GoFundMe Because of the high medical expense, a GoFundMe drive was created to help with the bills. They were able to raise more than $600,000 from concerned friends, families, fans, and those who knew Nick Cordero. Kloots shared regular updates to her social media followers on her husband's recovery. Fans and well-wishers sang songs like "Live Your Life" in hopes of waking up the actor as he lay in coma. Hashtags such as #WakeUpNick, #OffTheVent and #CodeRocky were used by fans in social media. The actor had shown signs of getting better but the many COVID-19 related problems he had were too much to overcome. The Broadway star woke up from his coma in early May but Kloots said he couldn't move or talk by mid-June. At that point, Cordero had lost 65 pounds because of muscle atrophy. Kloots struggled with keeping a positive outlook when she was told that her husband's chances of surviving were low. She was not able to visit Cordero from the time he was admitted until June 19. Because of the restrictions, she only had the chance to check on him via FaceTime set up by nurses. On his 79th day at the hospital, Kloots posted a photo of herself finally holding his hand in the ICU. The Broadway actor starred in hit musicals such as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway. The industry has paid tribute and urged people to donate. Actor Zach Braff was very close to Cordero. He posted a tribute on social media saying he had "never met a kinder human being" than Cordero. Braff also reminded people that COVID-19 does not only claim the lives of the old and sickly. Musical director Michael Moritz sent his condolences to Kloots and grieved the loss of a "wonderful friend and musical partner". Cordero is not the only coronavirus victim in Broadway. It also hit veterans like Danny Burstein, Tony Shalhoub, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit and Laura Bell Bundy. Composer David Bryan was also a victim of the virus. Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally had his life claimed by the virus. Want to read more? Check these out! Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said on Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refused to help despite the soaring numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths. To add, there is also a shortage of coronavirus testing resources in the city. Gallego appeared on ABC's "This Week" where the mayor said she felt the U.S. had already declared victory against the virus while her city was still suffering from the crisis. In a later interview, the Phoenix mayor said she had been trying to get more testing resources for the city since April. However, both FEMA and the private sector ignored her pleas. The city is now facing a shortage of testing, mostly affecting individuals who did not have health insurance, as reported by the New York Times. Some people wait nearly half the day to get tested for the virus. An aide to the mayor said the federal agency had responded to the request by claiming it was "getting out of the testing business." Officials from Maricopa County reportedly received the same response when they asked FEMA for help. An official from the White House reached out to Gallego following the interview to gather more information and present possible options to resolve the state's need for testing supplies. Increasing Rate of Positives During the Sunday interview, Gallego said more than 20 percent of all tests in the state of Arizona are coming back positive. Cases have also doubled in recent weeks. On Sunday, health officials announced more than 3,500 newly confirmed cases. Arizona also reached another record number of virus hospitalizations with over 3,182 patients confined in medical institutions across the state. According to the state's health department, the state has seen 98,089 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Maricopa County has reported 62,296 cases. Phoenix Mayor Gallego said she believes the sudden surge in cases in the state of Arizona may be linked to reopening the economy too quickly. She also blamed the increase to packed nightclubs who refuse to require patrons to wear face masks. Arizona was one of the last states to impose COVID-19 lockdown orders but became one of the first to begin reopening businesses. Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey re-enforced stay-at-home orders at the end of June after health officials recorded an explosion of coronavirus cases in the state. Bars, theaters, gyms, and parks were ordered to shut down operations through July 27, AZ Central reported. Data published by the Harvard Global Health Institute showed Arizona has the highest per-capita rate of new COVID-19 infections since the beginning of July. Out of every 100,000 residents, 49.9 test positive. Most patients involve residents aged 20 to 44. According to a report published by the CDC, Arizona has one of the highest numbers of new virus infections reported over the past seven days. The state is only behind Florida, California, and Texas. Want to read more? The Latino population is more at risk of being exposed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of cultural norms or practices. "There is a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the LatinX community," chief of equity and inclusion for the City of Dallas Cedillo-Pereira said in a report. "Multi-generational households where the 'abuelita,' the grandmother, is living with the family. That's an issue related to density," she added. Tarrant County is 30 percent Latinos, but 39 percent of COVID-19 cases are Latinos. Meanwhile, Dallas County has around 41 percent of Hispanics with 57 percent of positive COVID-19 cases. National president of the League of United Latin American Citizens Domingo Garcia said the same situations are observed in the largest counties. States with High COVID-19 Latino Patients The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that around eight percent of the population in Anne Arundel County in Maryland are Latinos. Thirty-eight percent of coronavirus cases in the area are Hispanics. In Monterey County in California, patients, who tested positive in the past weeks, were 80 percent Latinos. Monterey County resident Leticia Morfin said many of her relatives, who tested positive for the coronavirus, are employed in the agricultural and construction industries. "They know going out is a risk, but they have bills to pay and children to take care of," Morfin said in ABCNews report. Latino in Essential Jobs Reports noted that Latinos are most likely to work in the food, agriculture, and construction industries. All do not offer worker's health benefits. "Many of the people who are essential workers are working in those occupations that, in fact, never stopped working, even after many of us were able to quarantine," Cedillo-Pereira told WFAA. Working Family Solidarity Organizer Leone Jose Bicchieri explained that many Latinos are trying not to be homeless, while struggling to be safe from the coronavirus. Other Issues Family physician Dr. Evelyn Figueroa noted that Latino have other health issues that can cause severe cases of coronavirus infection. He said example of this is diabetes. Figueroa explained that Latinos make about 16 percent of cases of diabetes. This is a higher rate compared to other races in the country. Figueroa, who also treated COVID-19 patients, opened Pilsen Food Pantry in Chicago two years ago, according to CBSNews. She cited a 45-percent increase in food pantry demand now. She noted that most of the people lining up for rations are Latino and undocumented immigrants, who are not qualified for assistance. Bicchieri argued that even undocumented immigrants should also be protected during this health crisis regardless of immigration issues. "You're not going to make anyone safer by having any portion of the population - let alone anywhere between 6 and 12 million undocumented people - get sick," Bicchieri said. Check this out! The sudden closure of school buildings led to decline in the number of students applying for U.S. federal college aid. During the sudden break from school this spring, students were cut off from school counselors and families with financial setbacks reconsidered plans of higher education. Applications for federal aid dropped by nearly half compared to last year's numbers. In the first weeks of the pandemic, a sudden decline among students from low-income schools also happened, said a report from Associated Press. When states and schools started campaigns encouraging students to apply for aid, the numbers went up but are still lower compared to last year. Education officials are alarmed with this. They believe thousands of students are thinking of delaying or missing college. This can leave a big impact for the students' future jobs and earnings. David Nieslanik, principal of Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon said this can lead to kids going directly into the workforce. "They're closing the door on post-high school learning," he said. Nieslanik noticed that only more well off students filed for aid when instruction was moved online. In an email to The Detroit News, Brian Gutman of Education Trust-Midwest called the drop "disappointing but not surprising". Gutman noted that students and families need support from their schools to find their way around college planning and that includes access to college aid, especially during the pandemic. In the four weeks starting March 13, completed applications were still less compared to last year at 45%. Even before the pandemic, a decrease in applications was expected since there were fewer high school seniors but as the coronavirus spread, every state experienced decreases compared to last year's levels. This includes states that had more high school seniors this year. In AP's analysis, the sharpest decrease was at public schools that have large shares of low-income students at 52%. Other schools had a 39% slide only. Overall, applications went down by 70,000 as of June 19. This is a 3.7% drop for the entire application cycle. Gregory Cole, principal of Mojave High School in Nevada, said the pandemic came at "the very worst time." Cole said the school was a "lifeline" for a lot of the students. He said the students needed help through the process and he finds it very possible that some of them are going to "fall through the cracks". Many Latino Students Are Intimidated by College Costs USA Today reported last May that the number of Latino students enrolled in college rose from 2016 to 2017, from 3.17 million to 3.27 million. This makes double the 1.4 million Latino students in college in 2000. But keeping Hispanic students is "less than optimal" said Deborah Santiago, co-founder of advocacy group Excelencia in Education that focuses on Latino students. Data from American Council on Education show that about 70% of Latino undergraduates in higher education from families in the lower half of earners. Santiago said educational institutions can't just enroll students if they won't graduate. "The only growth population is Hispanics. So we're saying you have got to focus on what it means to serve," she said. She also said more colleges need to make sure students have access to financial aid because many students are pushing for it too. Want to read more? Check these out! Latino-owned businesses are gravely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a new assessment report. The New American University assessment noted that closures and unemployment, as well as loss of income, are the common effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on businesses. A total of 65-percent of owners claimed that the pandemic has resulted in "extreme" or "many" changes in their business. Fifty-six percent of owners said there was a serious disorder to business as usual; 30 percent reported closure or suspension of operations; and 26 percent had reduced their operations. However, the effects were not felt similarly. Technological firms and business services industries have been affected less and made fewer changes. They also managed to point to more opportunities. Challenges Faced by Latino Entrepreneurs Mexican folk art store Colibri in San Francisco's Mission District was forced to close. Owners Connie and her husband Ricardo Pena opened Colibri three years ago. "We were so excited. We put a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice, and we invested a lot of money to open this, but now we feel very sad, very devastated," Connie was quoted in a report. Cesar Oyagata also closed the Native Forever store, which he owned for 17 years. Meanwhile, some businesses are slowly regaining their balance as they were allowed to gradually open up. Jesus "Chuy" Gutierrez was able to continue its operations during the shutdown due to being an essential business. But his business still suffered around 75 to 80 percent of loss. Guiterrez owns Mari Chuy's Mexican Kitchen and added that there's some slow changes. "Our dine-in and patio has been steady... And they're still respecting social distancing and [wearing] masks," he was quoted in a report. Non-essential business establishments have been forced to close during the statewide shutdown. Tattoo parlor owner Jose Velasquez said they were relieved to be allowed to open in the reopening of the economy. He owns A Toda Madre Tattoos. Although they are back in operations, both owners admitted that it will take at least a full year to financially recover. The two business owners were concerned that they might have to close again due to recent increase in coronavirus cases in Nevada. Support to Latino Businesses Before the pandemic, San Francisco supervisors created the non-profit organization 24th Street Latino Cultural District aiming to help Latino-ownned businesses and residents. The Calle 24 Latino Cultural District also organizes Carnaval and the Day of the Dead festivals, which have already been cancelled. Calle 24 Latino Cultural District business liaison Gabriella Lozano has worked with the city to realign the budgets so that it can be handed out as grants to affected businesses. Lozano explained that the funds were handed out as unrestricted funds that could be used to pay their own rent and employees to help them for a few weeks or a month. It has given out $2,000 assistance to 26 businesses. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is all set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, but his upcoming visit to the White House was met with controversy. Lopez Obrador and Trump's meeting will mark the taking into effect of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) last July 1. In a statement released on July 1, Trump said he appreciated the efforts of Mexico and Canada "to ensure that North America is strengthening its economic ties." Trump noted that he looks forward to meeting the Mexican president at the White House. He also said that 'trade, health, and other issues central to regional prosperity and security" will be talked about in the meeting, the Bloomberg reported. The meeting on Wednesday will be the first one between the two presidents since Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018. But this is not the first time Trump welcomed another president to the White House during the pandemic. Polish President Andrzej Duda also met with Trump last week. In 18 months that Lopez Obrador had been president, he has not travelled abroad, said a report from The Hill. The White House has set up health safety measures for visitors. Coronavirus tests are done to anyone who comes in close contact with Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. Lopez Obrador's Approval Ratings Dropped The scheduled meeting with Trump comes amid the dropped of Lopez Obrador's approval ratings over his handling of the Mexican economy during the pandemic. During his campaign in 2017, the Mexican president attacked Trump's "politics of hate" and border wall, reported the Los Angeles Times. In Trump's 2015 presidential bid, he mocked Mexican immigrants and called them drug dealers, criminals and "rapists," adding an assumption that "some" are good people. But last Friday, the Mexican president said he will go with his head high as a "[representative] of this great people and this great country." Some Mexicans don't see it that way. Critics decried the meeting. Many said the president is making a big mistake by going. They said Lopez Obrador is helping Trump politically as he faces a tough reelection campaign. Cristian Corte is one of the Mexicans, who are nervous to vent anger about the trip. "I want him to tell Trump to stop stepping all over us and to treat everyone as equals," Corte told the NPR. Professor Denise Dresser of Mexico City said Lopez Obrador's move is "risky." Many Mexicans view Trump as racist and has them put down. For Dresser, Lopez Obrador's meeting with Trump will make all of the offenses done to Mexicans seems okay. Others say the president is using the trip to distract Mexicans from domestic troubles and the increased rate of infections from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Last week, the country went beyond the recorded number of coronavirus deaths in Spain. Like Trump, the Mexican president does not wear a mask in public and chose to open the economy over heavy lockdown measures. He also said he does not need to get tested for the virus. This is despite officials near him testing positive. To add to the risks of travelling, he will be flying commercially to the White House. He refused to use the presidential plane and called it too extravagant. Without the direct flight, he will have to stop in a major U.S. city and land the night before his meeting with Trump. He will have to get tested in the U.S. too. Want to read more? Check these out! If a dog is a man's best friend, then cookbooks are definitely the perfect companion for home cooks and chefs. Every page of a recipe book is designed to amuse you with a fresh and modern take on a recipe or remind you of dishes you had many years back. Many cookbook readers find themselves inspired by recipes that use special or locally sourced ingredients or the dish's cuisine background. The easiest way to learn new tricks, cheats, or hacks are by reading and dissecting every page in a cookbook. Nowadays, newly published troves of recipes contain the amusing journeys of the chefs, who helped conceptualize the dish. Some recipe books introduced its loyal readers to a multitude of cuisines, including the distinctive taste of food from Latin America. The Latin American region offers an explosion of flavors made from a unique combination of spices. This list offers a selection of the best Latin American cookbooks with recipes that would definitely secure you a MasterChef apron. The Gran Cocina Latina is a book written by famous historian and restaurateur, Maricel E. Presilla. Formally trained in cultural anthropology, she has done extensive research on food crops in the Americas and specializes in bringing some of the best Latin American dishes on the table. Her "Cocina" column in Miami Herald is well-known for its authority on chocolate and Spanish and Hispanic culinary history. The book, which was awarded by the James Beard Foundation, details a comprehensive collection of recipes from the Latin American region. Recipes include traditional adobos and sofrito to the sweeter flans and tres leches cake. Maria Kijac is a cooking teacher and historian who has been teaching culinary techniques in Chicago for more than a decade. Born in Ecuador, she pursued a career in cooking and food by attending classes in Northwestern University and the Dumas Pere L'Ecole de la Cuisine Francaise. This comprehensive book features over 450 recipes from South America's various regions, including authentic dishes from Patagonia and Rio de Janerio. The cookbook offers readers a look inside the history of cooking in South America, with several recipes coming from the pre-Columbian civilizations. If you hope to create Mexican Tacos al Pastor, Cuban Sandwiches, and Brazilian Avocado Ice Cream, then this book is exactly what you need in your kitchen right now. Street food offers the best and most exciting flavors of every city and country. This book by Sandra Gutierrez takes readers on a tasting tour around the Latin American region. Throughout the pages, you can discover over 150 street food recipes, personal memories, historical notes, and culinary tips the author has curated from 20 countries. Gutierrez is a former food editor of "The Cary News" and is a food writer with over 1,000 published articles. Her work for "The Cary News" allowed her to cover a wide range of topics, including food history and ethnic cuisines, in a weekly column. Looking for other products? Check these out: Description GIS 06 July 2020:The Riviere du Rempart Farmers Service Centre as a One-Stop-Shop, bringing under one single roof all government institutions concerned with agricultural activities, was launched on Saturday 04 July 2020, in presence of the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr. Maneesh Gobin. Key institutions providing their services at the One-Stop-Shop are: the Sugar Insurance Fund Board, Food and Agricultural Research Extension Institution, Agricultural Marketing Board, Small Farmers Welfare Fund, Agricultural Services Centre and the Mauritius Cooperative Agricultural Federation Ltd, and the State Trading Corporation for the provision of staple goods namely flour and rice. In his address, the Minister said that the One-Stop-Shop has been set up in accordance to Governments determination to cater for the needs of the population by providing effective service-delivery across the island, in accordance with its policy of proximity. This centre aims at improving the effectiveness of service delivery for operators in agriculture as well as farmers residing in both the Northern and Eastern regions of the country, he added. Mr. Maneesh Gobin observed that the Covid-19 crisis has underscored the need to be as self-sufficient as possible in what we consume. Hence, with the aim of consolidating food security and reduce our dependence on imports, he emphasised that Government is seeking to strengthen the agricultural sector and will release abandoned lands for cultivation. He urged operators in agriculture to avail themselves of Governmental facilities including technical and financial assistance to undertake more agricultural activities, while encouraging them to consider new farming techniques and new varieties of crops . The Minister also recalled that the Government has offered a grant of Rs 15 million for the purchase of a harvester, that will be allocated to the Mauritius Cooperative Agricultural Federation Ltd. He indicated that the equipment that has been purchased from India, will be received in some weeks and that engineers will dispense a six-month training to local officers as regards the utilisation and maintenance of the machine. He observed that agriculture has significantly contributed to the economic progress of the country and stressed that we should still tap into the numerous opportunities of the sector and leverage it as one of the engines of tomorrow's growth. Two key projects of the Ministry in the pipeline consist of the launching of a National campaign on agro-food processing regarding food conservation processes such as deep freezing and the setting up of another Farmers Service Centre One-Stop-Shop in Beau-Champ. Also present on the occasion, the Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah, laid emphasis on the contribution of women as entrepreneurs and the collaboration of her Ministry to increase the participation of women in the agricultural and fisheries sectors. She reiterated her Ministrys mission of ensuring the welfare of families, protecting the rights of children and promoting gender equality and equity and deplored that children and women continue to be victims of acts of abuse and violence. Government will take the necessary measures to ensure their protection and see to it that their fundamental rights are respected, she said. Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah stressed that parents , as primary care-givers as well as elderly family members, have the duties and responsibilities to ensure that children are raised in a safe, secure and loving environment. According to her, the rights and well-being of children and women will be best served in a society free from violence and discrimination, hence the need for everyone to fight against any form of abuse. She also announced that the New Childrens Bill will be shortly presented in the National Assembly. - The goliath frog is the world's largest frog and it can be found in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea - It is 32 centimetres in length and it has a life span of 15 years in the wild - However, the goliath frog can live up to 21 years in captivity PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The world's largest frog is the goliath frog and it can be found in two African countries, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Goliath frog, which is 32 centimetres in length, can live up to 15 years in the wild. It can live up to 21 years in captivity, Legit.ng has learnt. According to NewScientist, goliath frogs build their nests in streams, which seems to entail shifting rocks that weigh up to two kilograms. Shifting of rocks may explain why goliath frogs have evolved such large bodies. The goliath frogs are threatened by hunters who hunt them for food. They are also preyed upon by snakes, Nile crocodiles, Nile monitors, among other predators. A goliath frog nest built into coarse gravel. Photo credit: Mark-Oliver Rodel of the Berlin Museum for Natural History in German Source: UGC In other news, Chefchaouen, Morocco, is regarded as the bluest city in the world. The city is a popular tourist destination because of its proximity to Tangier and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. It is this beautiful atmosphere of the town that makes Chefchaouen very attractive to visitors. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a former member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Glory Oguegbu, was honoured by the United States for lifting women out of poverty. The United States embassy took to its official Facebook page to celebrate Glory, saying the young lady has continued to be a shining example since she embarked on the Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2016. The embassy applauded Glory's contribution to reducing unemployment and creating a sustainable society. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app She said: It occurred to me that, if only we could process cassava, we could make money for these women. It could lead to real economic growth. The young lady built a cassava factory with the help of community leaders and created jobs for women. Glory said: I wanted more women to be employed. I wanted them to be able to take care of their children. Source: Legit.ng UPDATE: Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek on Monday evening identified the man who died after an incident Sunday night involving a Norfolk Southern train on Eastons South Side. The mans name is David Huber, 50, of the 500 block of Bushkill Drive in Easton, Lysek said. Huber died from multiple blunt force trauma and the manner of death was suicide, Lysek said. INITIAL POST: A male, no age given, was struck Sunday night by a Norfolk Southern Railway train in Easton and died, the freight carrier confirmed in an email. The 8:55 p.m. incident happened east of Canal and Centre streets on the citys South Side, but the train came to a stop near the intersection, according to a report from the scene. The male was on the tracks for an unknown reason and suffered fatal injuries, the Norfolk, Virginia, based company said. Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek will rule on the cause and manner of the death and notify family. He couldnt immediately be reached on Monday morning. The westbound train originated in Jersey City and was headed for Chicago, the company said. Its flatbed cars were mostly empty, according to the report from the scene. The railroad, with cooperation of local authorities, is investigating, a spokesman said. An Easton Fire Department truck extended its ladder over the scene to provide light. Easton police were there as well. Freelance photographer Tim Wynkoop contributed to this report. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a voluntary subscription. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. The nostalgia of the 1950s soon will be making a comeback in the Slate Belt. Longtime DiMarcos Bakery and Lyndees Ice cream owners Joseph and Lillian DiMarco closed shop on the family-run business March 1 after 13 years of business in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County. They plan to open DATS Soda Shop -- named after their three daughters Danielle, 18, Alexandria, 23, and Victoria (Tori), 8 -- by early August in Plainfield Township. A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project will soon transform a round-about at Routes 115 and 209 and eliminate the strip mall the bakery was housed in. That change led to the business demise, the owners said. They decided to instead limit the baking side of the business for the new venture. Think less brownies and cookies and more homemade ice cream sundaes, malts, milkshakes and sodas. The soda shop is moving into a site that previously housed a PNC Bank at 5684 Sullivan Trail. Itll be known for its eats, treats and sweets, owners say. We are offering the opportunity for families to come in for good food, ice cream, and/or desserts all under one roof with a step back in time, Lillian DiMarco said. The couple from Eldred Township, Monroe County, took to social media in March to express gratitude to longtime patrons and announce the move to Northampton County: To all of my family, friends, customers, and our employees who have grown to be part of our family or extended family ... I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone for the help, hardwork (sic), and continuous support that you and your familys (sic) may have put in at any point in our time of business. You all have made an impact in our lives at the business in one way or another and hope we have done the same for you. Were looking forward to this new adventure and hope everyone will come see and maybe even be part of this adventure with us! Thank you all for everything! At the bakery, the owners were known for their Italian pastries, especially the homemade cannolis. The recipe for the cannoli cream filling was passed down through generations. They also served homemade Italian ice and ice cream. All will be available at the retro soda shop, as well as a full lunch and dinner menu and pre-made special occasion ice cream cakes. There will be both indoor and outdoor seating for nearly 50 people. More than 20 different ice cream flavors will be available on a daily basis. They run the gamut from traditional flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, to the more unique -- cannoli, Rice Krispy treat and salted caramel truffle. There also will be more than 20 flavors of Italian ice with speciality flavors including Sour Patch Kid, vanilla chocolate chip and fruit punch. The logo of the DATS's Soda Shop, expected to open next month in Plainfield Township. The shop will have a jukebox and novelty items, such as vintage tin signs. The business logo depicts a female server and large vinyl record with the words, DATs What Im Talkin Bout. There also will be music playing from the 1950s era at all times, owners said. I think when people step inside, ... it will just be a happy atmosphere, said Alex DiMarco, who will manage the shop. Itll be a very family-oriented place to be. Joseph DiMarcos roots have been in the bakery business since he was a child. His late grandfather, Nicholas DiMarco, started the original family bakery known as Stella Doro in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York after arriving in the United States from Italy. Josephs father, Nicholas Chris DiMarco, then expanded the business with several other locations throughout Long Island. Joseph DiMarco grew up working in the family business in high school and went on to receive an associates degree in hotel/restaurant management. He pursued working in the restaurant and catering industries before moving to Monroe County in 2006. He then opened a DiMarcos Bakery in Chestnuthill Township in 2008. He said there werent many specialty bakeries at the time in the area. Lillian, a Chicago native who later moved to New York, also has a background in the dining industry. The couple met while working for the Red Lobster chain as youngsters. The closure of DiMarcos Bakery marks the last bakery for the family in nearly a century. The owners called the move bittersweet but hope DATs will become the new family business and one their daughters can get involved in. The family also plans to get more involved in the Lehigh Valley community by hosting fundraisers and promotions at the soda shop. We decided to move our business to the Slate Belt area to have a mutual location for all of our customers that weve acquired over the years, Joseph DiMarco said. We wanted to be closer to the Lehigh Valley to hopefully acquire a larger following, as well. We are excited to now be a part of the Lehigh Valley community, but we are so thankful for support and love from all of our customers in Monroe County. DATs is planned to be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. A Portlaoise charity shop that is reopening next coming week is appealing to the public for support as it emerges from almost four months of lockdown. The Self Help Africa (formerly Gorta) shop at Lyster Square in Portlaoise is set to reopen on Wednesday, July 15, after months in lockdown. Were really looking forward to welcoming our wonderful Laois customers back to our Self Help Africa shop over the coming weeks, said shops manager Maggie Dwyer. The safety of our customers, staff and volunteers is our number one priority. We have put in place safe shopping arrangements, including Perspex glass screens, social distancing floor signage and hand sanitizing stations in all of our outlets She said that the retail side of Self Help Africas charity fundraising had been severely affected by the Covid-19 shutdown, and that the organisations wider fundraising and programme activities in sub-Saharan Africa had also been significantly disrupted. We ask the general public to keep us in mind at this challenging time. If people have taken the opportunity over the past few months to do domestic tidy ups and clear outs, we would be delighted to receive any clothing, books, bric-a-brac or other household goods that are in good condition, and that could be recycled to a new home. Maggie Dwyer said that stocks across the charitys network of outlets are quite low following the lockdown, and that all good quality goods would be gratefully received at any of their shops across the country. Given the nature of the coronavirus pandemic we would appeal to people to do the best that they can to make sure that goods are in a clean condition. Our shop volunteers are at the frontline, so we would be grateful if people would keep that in mind when they are dropping items in to us, she added. Self Help Africa is currently involved in extensive Covid-19 response work in sub-Saharan Africa, with masks, hand soap, safe hygiene and social distancing training being provided to communities across the countries where the organisation is working. For more details about Self Help Africas shops opening plans visit: selfhelpafrica.org/ie/our-charity-shops/ or contact the Portlaoise shop at 5 Kelton House on Lyster Square, Portlaoise. Telephone: 057 8622966. A new survey of credit union CEOs and managers across the Republic of Ireland has found that the three most in-demand services for credit unions have been the rescheduling of loans, the provision of bespoke services to cocooning members, and express lodgements. The research undertaken on behalf of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) by i-Reach, surveyed credit union CEOs and managers about their operations and services during the Covid-19 pandemic and also their views on what challenges lie ahead in the reopening and recovery period for credit unions and their members. The ILCU represents the majority of credit unions in Ireland with 226 affiliated credit unions in the Republic of Ireland, with over half of all ILCU affiliated credit unions (133) responded to this survey. According to the survey, the three most in-demand services have been the rescheduling of loans, the provision of bespoke services to cocooning members, and express lodgements. 62% of credit unions (82% in Connacht) have introduced payment holidays, while 21% have been more flexible on underwriting. The lockdown has been difficult for many Irish communities and businesses; this has required credit unions to adapt quickly to changing member demands. Increased remote customer engagement, unsurprisingly, has been a strong feature of Covid-19 services provided by credit unions to members over recent months. Of the services provided by credit unions during Covid-19, online and telephone banking, at 72% and 59% respectively, had the greatest levels of engagement by members. The most significant operational challenges for credit unions during Covid-19, according to respondents, have been maintaining social distancing for employees at 55%, followed by setting up staff into separate teams at 53%, and maintaining physical distancing for members at 48%. As credit unions across the country begin to reopen, 80% of those surveyed believe that rescheduling loan repayments is the measure that can most assist credit union members in the period ahead, followed by community supports (46%) and back-to-business loans (43%). In Munster and Connacht, there was also strong support for working capital loans for members (51% and 48% respectively). The biggest challenges facing credit unions themselves during the months ahead were cited to be a lack of borrowing appetite amongst members (74%), operating costs including regulatory levies (68%), and a decline in income leading to viability issues for credit unions (61%). When credit union CEOs and managers were asked what measures were most important for the new Government to introduce to underpin the long-term sustainability of the credit union movement, the most dominant responses were changes to the capital reserving structure required of credit unions (87%) and expanding the capacity of credit unions to provide a larger volume of home loans (32%) and business loans (30%). This research provides a welcome snapshot into the work and demands on credit unions, from the perspective of those to the fore in delivering financial services to our members, during Covid-19, commented ILCU President Gerry Thompson on the research findings. Credit unions throughout the pandemic have strived to ensure continuity of service for the 3.1 million members who use credit union services across the Republic of Ireland. This has included keeping our offices open throughout lockdown; expanding online and remote services; and, providing tailored financial services to those cocooning at home. Equally, our credit union CEOs and managers have directly experienced the impact of Covid-19 and its economic fall-out on our members, which has included a significant demand for payment holidays for members. Each individual credit union is working with our members on these issues and actively encouraging them to engage with their local credit unions to work through their financial difficulties at this unprecedented time. From the perspective of the long term viability of credit unions themselves, it is equally clear that Covid-19 and its effects such as a lower appetite for borrowing or the reserving requirements which must be met by credit unions will present challenges in the months ahead. However, a new Government provides the opportunity for it to now work with the credit union movement to implement constructive policies to safeguard the long-term future of credit unions across the Republic. In the coming days, the ILCU will publish a comprehensive policy document which sets out the key policy reform measures which the new Government must now introduce to ensure that credit unions, who have long provided a vital financial lifeline to families, communities and businesses, have the capacity to not only continue to do so but to become an even stronger force in community banking in Ireland, he concluded. The death has occurred of Alice Kelly (nee McMahon) Staplestown House, Staplestown, Donadea, Kildare / Inniskeen, Monaghan Kelly (nee McMahon), Alice, "Staplestown House", Staplestown, Donadea, Co. Kildare & late of Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, July 5th 2020, peacefully at Naas Hospital, beloved wife of the late Johnny and sister of the late Kathleen & Bid, deeply regretted by her loving daughters Margaret & Geraldine, sons in law Liam & Peter, her four grandchildren Shane, Darina, Conor & Iain, and their partners, her nephews Brian & Gerry, nieces Sue & Kaye, relatives, neighbours & friends. Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a Family Funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Alice's funeral will be leaving her residence on Thursday at 10.30am to arrive at St. Benignus Church, Staplestown, for 11am funeral Mass, followed by burial in St. Benignus Cemetery, Staplestown. In accordance with HSE Guidelines, we ask you to please keep to social distancing throughout the funeral. The family would like to thank Brid and Karl and all the staff of Craddock House Nursing Home for all their kindness and support over the past few years. The death has occurred of James (Jim) COADY St. Conleth's Place, Naas, Kildare Coady (St. Conleths Place, Naas) - July 4, 2020, (peacefully), at Naas General Hospital, James (Jim), beloved son of the late James and Mary; Sadly missed by his loving nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a Private Funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence book below. The death has occurred of Peter Brereton Allenwood South, Allenwood, Kildare Peacefully, at Naas Hospital. Grandad of the late Jack. Sadly missed by his loving wife Frances, daughter Julie, sons PJ and Willie, grandchildren Adam, Elliott, Emily, Polly and Eoghan, son-in-law Johnny, daughter-in-law Noelle, brothers Seamus, Christy, Tom and Paud (RIP), sister Laly and Mary, brother in law, sisters in law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Peter Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a Family Funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Peter's funeral will be leaving his residence on Tuesday at 10.30am to arrive at The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Allenwood, for 11am Requiem Mass, followed by burial in Allen Cemetery. In accordance with HSE Guidelines, we ask you to adhere to social distancing throughout the funeral. The death has occurred of Barney Farrell Martinstown, Johnstownbridge, Kildare / Enfield, Meath Farrell Barney, Martinstown, Johnstown Bridge, Enfield, Co Kildare, died peacefully, at Beaumont Hospital on July 4th, 2020. Son of the late Kate and Denis (Dinny) and predeceased by his brothers James and Denis, his sisters, Mary and Jane and his nephew Ger Haslam. Very deeply regretted by his loving wife Ann, family Peter, Celine, Threas, Marie, Barney Jr, Sarah, Samantha and Katie, sons in law, daughters in law, Brother Liam, sisters, Renee, Theresa, Ann and Felicitas, brothers in law, sisters in law, grandchildren, great-grandchild, nephews, nieces, cousins and his many neighbours and friends. May Barney Rest in Peace His remains will be reposing at his home this Monday (6th July) evening from 5pm until 8pm, house private thereafter. Funeral Mass on Tuesday at 1.30pm in St Patrick's Church, Johnstown Bridge and burial immediately afterwards in Kilshanroe Cemetery. In accordance with government guidelines, 50 people can attend the Funeral Mass. However, the capacity of St Patricks Church is limited to family only. Please respect and adhere to social distancing guidelines and public health advice at all times. The death has occurred of Jenny Foy (nee Capper) Pluckerstown, Kilmeague, Kildare Formerly of Swords and Raheny, Co. Dublin. Peacefully, at Beaumont Hospital. Sadly missed by her loving husband Tom, daughter Danielle and her partner Mark, sisters Dorothy, Fiona and Sandra, brothers Fergus and Trevor, brothers in law, sisters in law, aunt, uncle, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Jenny Rest In Peace The death has occurred of Mary Cronly (nee Conlon) Coill Dubh, Kildare Formerly of Clongorey. Peacefully at home. Mother of the late Mark and grandmother of the late Leah. Sister of the late Liam and Tony. Sadly missed by her loving husband Murty, son Alan, daughter Marie, son-in-law Paul, daughter-in-law Deborah, grandchildren Dylan, Emma, Ciara and Lucas, sister Pauline, brother Joe, brothers and sisters in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Mary Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a Family Funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Mary's funeral will be leaving her residence on Wednesday at 10.30am to arrive at The Church of Christ The King, Cooleragh, for 11am Requiem Mass, followed by burial in Allen Cemetery. In accordance with HSE Guidelines, we ask you to adhere to social distancing throughout the funeral. The death has occurred of Diarmuid CONLON Kilcock, Kildare / Castleknock, Dublin CONLON (Kilcock, Co. Kildare and formerly of Castleknock, Dublin). June 30th 2020 (suddenly). Diarmuid (Dermo), beloved husband of Sandra (Sandy) (Nee Skelly) and dear father of Eoin, Lauren and Rachel. Sadly missed by his loving wife, son, daughters, Mother Teresa, Father Dermot, brothers Barry and Rory, mother-in-law Pauline, father-in-law Joseph, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. Rest In Peace Due to Government advice and restrictions regarding public gatherings and to protect our most vulnerable family members and our friends, a private family funeral will take place. Diarmuid private funeral service can be viewed remotely by webcam on Monday (6th July) afternoon by following the link HERE from 12 noon. Diarmuids Funeral cortege will pass his home at 1.15 pm (Approx) on Monday afternoon as he makes his final journey from St Cocas Church, Kilcock to St. Josephs Cemetery, Kilcock. The family would ask you adhere to current HSE guidelines and restrictions at all times. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral; but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave your personal message by selecting Condolences below or alternatively leaving a message at www.cunninghamsfunerals.com. 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. A major drive is being launched to source and publish for the first time GAA stories from the grassroots of the Association. The collaboration between the Association and publishers, Ballpoint Press Ltd., aims to gather the most comprehensive treasure trove of Gaelic-related stories ever compiled in the 136-year history of the GAA. As well as the four corners of Ireland, stories will also be sought from across the globe, in particular from those who have been GAA frontier people in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries. The story gathering will include oral accounts so that all kind of stories can be written down for the first time in book form and also feature in the GAAs archives at Croke Park. Potential contributors who feel they have a story but may not feel up to writing it can get in touch with Ballpoint Press and relate their account. It will then be written and sent back for approval before being submitted for final publishing. This project and the resulting publication will complement the work undertaken by the GAAs Oral History Project, which was commissioned in 2009 as part of the Associations 125 celebrations. The President of the GAA, John Horan, said he welcomed the exploration through the GAA grassroots to find the diversity of stories that undoubtedly exist there: The grassroots is the lifeblood of our organisation and it is timely that that such an undertaking is finally going ahead. Im delighted because it means that there will be a permanent home for these stories in both book form as well in our own GAA archive section. Well-know journalist and author, PJ Cunningham, will spearhead the undertaking alongside GAA Communications Director, Alan Milton. Mr Cunningham said it had been an ambition of his for many years to bring what he believes is the great legacy of GAA stories together under one roof: GAA is a way of life for most Irish people at home and abroad. It is packed with diverse stories from on and off the pitch. I grew up listening to them and enjoying their re-telling but the reality is that many of these stories exist only in word of mouth form. At present we all have a bit more time to commit such stories to paper so that they can be preserved for future generations. We are looking for ordinary stories from the grassroots with twists and turns rather than plain historical accounts about clubs themselves or ancestors who just won medals or became famous. This is not a collection of how clubs were founded or run but about the people in them. Each club has written its own history - this collection is seeking the yarns and the exploits of its members on and off the field from times past right up to the present, Cunningham explained. For further information on how to get in touch see details on pj@gaastories.ie or communications@gaa.ie marked GAA Stories The US recently sent three carrier strike groups (CSGs), the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz on the South China Sea. As a response, the Chinese government decided to make a show of force by having an undisclosed number of ships close to the Paracels for sea drills. They are warning the US warships to stay away from purloined Chinese territory. Since the start of the three carrier exercises, the Chinese are shooting threats against the US Navy carrier strike groups. The spring patrols by the Nimitz, Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan saw a reduced Chinese Navy activity. This always occur when the US Navy warships were close to China and present in the Philippine Sea. China threatened with US Navy's activities This particular exercise by the US Navy was timed for the fourth of July. Another is show the naval strike power of the US against the communist part of China, according to Reuters. The US Navy has conducted the freedom of Navigation as China wants dominion in the South China Sea. The US is challenging China's claims by sending ships close to the yellow sea. Drills by the PLAN were criticized by Asian governments and supported by the US Navy, as it seeks to back up US Allies in the Indo-Pacific. Before the exercises, China sent warnings not to enter it. China has been putting blame on the US as a troublemaker, when China has been active in bullying its neighbors and using the pandemic as cover for expansion. Another point of contention is trade in Hong Kong. According to the US and its allies, the Chinese activities are not welcome, as mentioned in Firstpost. Also read: Three US Navy Aircraft Carriers Seen Patrolling Indo-Pacific Amidst Tensions in Three Years as a Pushback Aimed at Beijing The official US Navy Statement US Navy released an official statement saying that the two super carriers, the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, are conducting operations and exercises in the South China Sea to exploree a free and open Indo-Pacific. This is an obvious slant to the questionable activities of the PLAN in the SCS. The PLAN is secretive in the whereabouts of its exercises in the South China Sea, with a distance of 1,500 km that is protested as illegal by other nations, according to National Post. According to Wall Street Journal, Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff states that it is a sign of support for all allies of the US, including safe-guarding rights of the sea and stability between nations. He added that the exercises were not a reaction to China and its exercises. The Pentagon mentioned the Chinese exercises as not appropriate and does not help in easing tension in the South China Sea. Carrier exercises are usual for the US Navy in the Western Pacific and in the South China Sea. When China announced on July 1 there will be naval drills close to the Paracels, Philippines and Vietnam opposed the drills and said it will have negative effects in the region. In sending two carrier strike groups, it shows that only the US Navy can command such power. Related article: Guided-Missile Destroyer USS Russell Crosses Taiwan Strait After Chinese Aircraft Carrier Went for Sea Trials @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The decision of the owners of the Drumshanbo Blueway Water Park to close this week has been described as devastating by FG Cllr Enda Mc Gloin. This decision was taken following news that the parks insurers were not in a position to renew the annual premium and attempts to find an alternative quote resulted in a 150% increase in the premium. The Blueway Water Park was a tremendous asset to Drumshanbo and the Lough Allen region providing a fabulous facility for children complimentary to the hotel, the Blueway, Moorlands Equestrian Centre and local self-catering providers. This park was a further reason for young families to holiday in our area stated Cllr McGloin. I have today written to the new Minister, Jack Chambers who is Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance outlining that insurance cover for the park went from 10,000 annual premium to over 25,000 leaving the business unviable with only a UK company willing to cover the business leaving the business owners even having to cover the first 5,000 of the claim themselves! Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on our local service businesses however access to insurance is having an equally depressing impact and something needs to be done to deal with this otherwise any attempt by government to stimulate the local economy is a waste of time and money I accept Minister Chambers needs time to read into his brief and I know the previous Minister Michael Darcy worked hard to bring in insurance companies and get the industry to explain their actions however unless actions are taken to deal with spurious claims and a legal industry complicit in the current system a long term solution to this problem is not possible I feel The owners and investors in the Blueway Water Park invested a lot of money and brought tourists to our area and enhanced our product here in the Drumshanbo region to compliment government investment we now need this new government to find a solution quickly otherwise more and more businesses like this will close," concluded the Drumshanbo based councillor. In a statement on their facebook earlier this week the owners outlined "It is with utter disappointment that we have to inform you that we will be closing our park next Wednesday evening at 5pm for the 2020 season. This decision is due to a lack of insurance providers in the leisure activity industry and our inability to secure viable insurance options as of 9/7/2020. "We remain optimistic and hopeful that we will be back bigger and better than ever next May catering for school tours and group bookings. Thanks for all the continued support and we wish you all an enjoyable summer." 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. The death has occurred of Margaret Danaher (nee Byrne) of Templeathea, Athea, and Mayo. Margaret passed away peacefully at her home on Sunday. Predeceased by her husband Maurice. Sadly missed by her daughter Barbara (Hospital, Co Limerick), sons Maurice (Abu Dhabi), Michael (England), her devoted friend and neighbour Ned O'Hanlon who will miss her greatly, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, son-in-law William, daughters-in-law Mary and CJ, extended family, friends and neighbours. Reposing at her home on Tuesday from 2pm and also on Wednesday from 2pm. Please note "no shaking hands" due to current guidelines and also respect social distancing. Arriving to St Bartholomew's Church, Athea, from her home in Templeathea on Thursday for 12 noon requiem Mass. Burial afterwards in Holycross Cemetery, Athea. In accordance with HSE guidelines and in the interest of public health, funeral Mass will be strictly family only. Those wishing to pay their respects can join the route as the funeral cortege departs from the church to the graveyard. May she rest in peace. The death has occurred of Edward (Eddie) McInerney of 41 Bengal Terrace, Limerick city. Late of Limerick Shoe Factory, KRUPS and Garryowen Weightlifting Club. Eddie died peacefully at home. Beloved husband of Christina and dearest father of Edward, Robert, Mary and Florence. Sadly missed by his sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family, relatives and friends. Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday (July 8) in St Johns Cathedral at 11:15am. Burial afterwards in Mount St Lawrence Extension Cemetery. Mass will be live streamed on: https://www.churchservices.tv/limerickcathedral In compliance with current guidelines Eddies funeral will be private for family members and close friends only. May he rest in peace. The death has occurred of Niall McPartlin of Newtown, Crecora, Limerick / Tallaght, Dublin and late of Limerick Institute of Technology). On July 4 unexpectedly. Beloved husband of Rita. Dearly loved father of Stephen and David. Much loved son of Claire and Patrick. Sadly missed by his loving sister Una, brothers Patrick and Ian, mother-in-law Lilly Scully, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, extended family and friends. A Requiem Mass for family and close friends will take place at Raheen Church this Thursday at 12 noon followed by burial in Crecora Cemetery. In line with best practice taken from government advice regarding public gatherings, a private funeral will take place. May he rest in peace. The death has occurred of Margaret O'Dwyer (nee Toomey) of 5 Cois Carraig, Clarina, Limerick. Peacefully, at her residence, surrounded by her loving family. Beloved wife of the late Pat. Much loved mother of Sinead, Linda and David. Sadly missed by her family, adoring grandchildren Conor, Niamh, Luke, Lily, Sean, Patrick and Eoin, sisters, brothers, sons-in-law Brendan and Mike, daughter-in-law Sonia, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, other relatives, kind neighbours and friends. Requiem Mass on Wednesday at 11.30am in St. Joseph's Church, Ballybrown, followed by burial in Kilkeedy Cemetery, Ballybrown. Church restricted to family and close friends. May she rest in peace. The death has occurred of Juliet Wallace of 3 High Meadows, Gouldavoher, Limerick city. Late of Kennedy Park and Howmedica / Stryker. Juliet died peacefully at Milford Care Centre. Beloved mother of Evan and Steven (Carey), dearest daughter of the late Willie and Phyllis Wallace and loving sister of Joe, Junior, Majella, Michael, Doreen and the late Mary. Sadly missed by her loving brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, Stephen and the Carey Family, all her extended family in England, Canada and USA and her many friends. Requiem Mass will take place on Thursday in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Janesboro at 11am. Burial afterwards in Mount St Oliver Cemetery. Mass will be live streamed on a link to be announced later on RIP.ie. Family flowers only, donations, if desired, to Milford Hospice. In compliance with current guidelines, the funeral will be private for family members and close friends only. May she rest in peace. The death has occurred of Audrey Victoria Wood (nee Williams) of Embury Close, Adare and formerly of Old Kildimo). On June 29, 2020 suddenly in Gran Canaria. Beloved wife of Brian. Dearly loved mother of Keith. Regretted by her brother Ken, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nephews, extended family and friends. A private funeral service will take place in Ballingrane Methodist Church grounds, Ballingrane, Co Limerick on Friday, at 3pm. In line with best practice taken from government advice regarding public gatherings, a private funeral will take place. May she rest in peace. A MAN who went to the assistance of a young woman who appeared to be in distress was stabbed by her boyfriend a short time later, a court has heard. Details of the incident, which happened in the early hours of March 10, 2019 were revealed during a sentencing hearing before Judge Tom ODonnell at Limerick Circuit Court. Detective Garda Neil OGorman said the 35-year-old victim sustained stab wounds to his back and stomach and required treatment at University Hospital Limerick afterwards. Adam Christie, 21, of Garryowen Road, Limerick and Erin OShaughnessy, 19, who has an address at Windmill Street, Limerick have both pleaded guilty to assault causing harm. Det Garda OGorman said the victim was walking to get food following a night out when he encountered Ms OShaughnessy in a distressed state at OConnell Street. He went to assist her at which point she began shouting and roaring at him. According to several witnesses, she also threw several slaps. Following the altercation, the victim left the area and continued to walk in the direction of Supermacs a short distance away. Before he reached the premises, he was approached by the defendants who got in his face. He later told gardai that after hearing Ms OShaughnessy saying yeah, thats him, he felt a pinch in his stomach and saw blood. The victim managed to make his way into Supermacs where he received assistance and the alarm was raised. Det Garda OGorman told John OSullivan BL, prosecuting, that CCTV footage was obtained showing the movements of the defendants on the night as well as the stabbing incident. It was established by gardai that Mr Christie had travelled to OConnell Street after he was contacted by Ms OShaughnessy after her initial encounter with the injured party. In a victim impact statement, the victim said it took a long time for him to recover mentally and physically and that he was out of work for ten weeks. He said he is still very cautious of large crowds and that he tries to avoid certain areas late at night as he no longer feels safe in the city. For a long time I did not leave home after work, he said adding that his domestic arrangements were also impacted by what happened. Judge Tom ODonnell has indicated he will impose sentence at the end of July. It is very complex and it will take me time to decide what to do, he commented. The Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, Cllr Michael Collins, has thanked Dr Tony Holohan for his work as Chief Medical Officer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Holohan, who grew up in Limerick, announced last week that he is to temporarily step away from his role as CMO for personal and family reasons. From today, I will be taking time out from all of my work commitments to be with my family. I would like to thank everyone for their support, understanding and respect for my familys privacy and would wish that to continue. Continue to stay vigilant and look after each other. pic.twitter.com/aNfi88c1Jo July 2, 2020 Dr Tony Holohan has worked tirelessly as CMO since the arrival of Coronavirus in Ireland. He has been a steadying and re-assuring figure when uncertainty was all around us. He deserves our gratitude and our heartfelt thanks as he steps down to take care of his wife and family, said Cllr Collins. Throughout these dark and unpredictable times especially in March and April, Tony had always been there to offer support and encouragement - whether it was to stay at home and stay safe, to practice social distancing, or sympathise with those who were dealing with bereavement through Covid-19, he added. GARDAI are warning people to be wary of the latest romance scam to come onto their radar. At least one person in Limerick his been duped out of a significant amount of cash after she was targeted by the fraudster who claimed to be a sea captain. The lady, in her early 40s, received a friend request from a gentleman and she accepted it and to make a long story short a romantic on-line relationship began, explained divisional crime prevention officer, Sergeant Ber Leetch. They spoke frequently by phone and he sent a number of photos. After about three weeks he asked for her address so that she could receive a package on his behalf as he was at sea and unable to receive same she added. According to gardai, the lady agreed to this and she subsequently received a number of emails regarding the delivery of the package and in one email, money was requested for delivery cost. Unfortunately the lady paid this cost. Not long after the sea captain disappeared and with him a large amount of money which had been taken from the ladys bank account, said Sgt Leetch. Gardai say they are aware of a number of incidents internationally which sparked the genuine sea captain whose identity had been stolen to issue a warning on social media. I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure you know exactly who you are providing your bank details to otherwise you might as well be standing on the street and handing out your cash to complete strangers, warned Sgt Leetch. AN objector to plans to demolish Curragower House says she hopes the landmark city building can still be saved. An Bord Pleanala has given the go-ahead for the building in Clancy Strand to be demolished and replaced with a townhouse, apartments and cafe. But Michelle Hayes, the president of Environmental Trust Ireland and a former chair of An Taisce Limerick, has sparked renewed hope of its saving, by urging a judicial review into An Bord Pleanalas decision. She said: The destruction of the 18th century Georgian building, Curragower House would be a complete travesty and present an enormous loss to the historic, visual, cultural and architectural heritage of Limerick City and County. Once gone, its gone forever. Ms Hayes pointed out the An Bord Pleanala inspector agreed with her submission, and held the proposed development would be incongruous with the visual amenities of the area. The Inspector stated I would have serious concerns regarding the demolition of Curragower House, and stated that the demolition of an existing historic dwelling Curragower House, which contributes to the architectural character of the area, would fail to have regard for the intrinsic historic character of Clancys Strand and recommended that planning permission be refused. However, in its decision, An Bord Pleanala overruled its own Inspectors recommendation to refuse planning for demolition. Ms Hayes said she is heartened and encouraged in her battle to save Curragower House by the large scale outpouring of public support for its retention. It is clearly cherished by the people of Limerick who have taken this historic and architectural gem to their hearts, she added. Home Delivery of The Troy Free Press print PLUS full access to LincolnNewsNow.com.com as well as full access to the Electronic Edition of The Troy Free Press. ONLY $19.99 per month for the first 3 months! Only $23.99 per month after promotional period. Or ONLY $37.99 for a full year Only $49.99 per year after promotional period. The United Arab Emirates imported 4,500 dairy cows from Uruguay as part of a drive to boost food security with the coronavirus disrupting global supply chains. The shipment of Holstein cattle is the first of many, state-run news agency WAM reported Sunday. Its a perfect step in strengthening the countrys efforts to enhance local production," Mariam Almheiri, minister of state for food security, was quoted as saying. The UAE and most other Gulf states import the bulk of their food, largely because their arid climates make crop and livestock cultivation difficult. They also depend on overseas supplies of medical, consumer and industrial products to sustain their populations. The UAE government has taken several measures to ensure uninterrupted access to supplies since the virus spread around the world. A food-security council coordinates official efforts, including the stockpiling of essential goods. The country is also looking to farm rice to reduce its reliance on purchases from abroad. 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 USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan are not intimidated, US Navy's Chief of Information said on Sunday (local time), responding to Chinese state media which boasted that "China has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons". The United States has sent two aircraft carriers into the disputed waters of the South China Sea to participate in military exercises as Beijing flexes its muscle in the region. "China has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like DF-21D and DF-26 "aircraft carrier killer" #missiles. South China Sea is fully within grasp of the #PLA; any US #aircraftcarrier movement in the region is at the pleasure of PLA: analysts," tweeted Global Times, along with a link of the report. Responding to this tweet, US Navy's Chief of Information, said: "And yet, there they are." "Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated #AtOurDiscretion," tweeted US Navy's Chief of Information. And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated #AtOurDiscretion https://t.co/QGTggRjOul Navy Chief of Information (@chinfo) July 5, 2020 China's foreign ministry said on Monday the United States had deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between the countries in the region. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the comments during a daily press briefing in Beijing in response to a question about two U.S. aircraft carriers conducting operations and exercises in South China Sea. 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 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China was not the first to inform them about COVID-19. Apparently, the Chinese government has failed to say anything, and it was WHO's Chinese office who first got word about the virus. Even the first Wuhan case was not informed. While the outbreak claimed thousands of lives all over the world, US President Donald Trump lambasted the WHO for their lack of vigilance to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Another is WHO's alleged leniency when it comes to dealing with China. The WHO vehemently denied all of these allegations, as reported by Japan Times. Last April 9, questions about the timeline from the first detection to the most recent was published. The continuously rising death toll and how it dealt with was the subject of scrutiny by leaders from all over the globe. It is widely-acknowledged that the first victim of the coronavirus was detected on December 31, initially thought to be pneumonia. However, according to Medical Express, WHO did not identify who their source was. On April 20, the WHO boss chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus held a conference to shed light on the origins of coronavirus. Ghebreyesus told a news conference on April 20 that the first report had come from China, but not from the Chinese government. A recently published timeline will discuss finer points and details about how it spread earlier on January. Also read: Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Continues, China Government Under Fire The updated timeline On December 31, the WHO office in China claimed that a case of viral pneumonia was reported by the Wuhan health commission. It was not yet verified, but some implied that early whistleblowers may have been involved. Several of the whistleblowers disappeared without a trace. The same day, the WHO's epidemic information registered a report sent by the international epidemiological surveillance network ProMed. This US-based company notified WHO about the multiple cases of unusual pneumonia found in Wuhan patients. Soon after, the WHO requested for more information from the Chinese authorities about the cases from Jan 1 and 2. They finally got the answers on January 3 According to WHO, emergencies director Michael Ryan clarified that there are 24-48 hours to acknowledge any event. This gives enough time to get all the pertinent data ready for documentation. He added that the Chinese called the WHO when it requested confirmation on the report. Continued deference to China has made President Trump doubt WHO and severe ties with the organization. He perceived the WHO as too compliant with China and claimed it had a bad record of dealing with the pandemic. However, WHO leaders denied these allegations. Trials for a coronavirus vaccine Last Friday, Tedros mentioned that results from various trials for vaccines will available soon. Several drugs are undergoing studies to determine if they will work. The Solidarity trial that involves 5500 patients in 39 countries that might yield a possible vaccine soon, according to Reuters. He added in two weeks' time, there will be enough data to study. Involved in the trials are Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquines, Lopinavir, and Ritonavir that is used with Interferon. According to Ryan, for now, it's hard to predict how long the vaccine trials will run to finally find a suitable candidate. Related article: Chinese Journalist Missing After Revealing Information on Real Wuhan Coronavirus Situation @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The 85th birth anniversary on 6 July of the 14th Dalai Lama assumed special significance in India. The spiritual leader of Tibetans has been in exile in the country since 1959, along with thousands of followers, but Indias Himalayan standoff with China has reminded Indians of the need to rally all forces of freedom against Beijings expansionist designs, and the principled opposition that he had led against these deserve amplification. His global fame can be attributed largely to his commitment to peace, compassion and humanism, though it is his political cause that should concern the free world. In the temporal sphere, he led until 2011 the Central Tibetan Administration, a government-in-exile with headquarters in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, which has held on to its dream of a Tibet free of Chinese rule even as New Delhis support for it has visibly wavered down the decades. Now, as our ties with Beijing fray, we need no longer tiptoe around its sensitivities. This would be a good time to shed our diffidence. We should openly reconsider our official stance on one China" and signal a reversal of our 2003 acceptance of the territory as an integral part of the Peoples Republic. Beijing has always taken a jaundiced view of the refuge India granted the Dalai Lama and his followers after their failed uprising of the late 1950s against Chinese occupation. The indignities that Tibetans have had to suffer back in their homeland are well known. China, though, seemed to assume that its rise as an economic power would silence critics of its imperialist turn in the plateau. For a couple of decades, it even appeared to have bet correctly. Some 17 years ago, New Delhi acceded to its wishes on the status of Tibet. Now, however, that looks like an error. In what may be a sign of a possible re-adoption of the Tibetan cause, Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju greeted the Dalai Lama on Twitter for his birthday. While a tweet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself would have been a bolder statement, Beijing would certainly have noticed one by a member of his cabinet. What the Chinese leadership ought to notice, too, is the revulsion its bully tactics and repressive ways evoke around the world. We need global solidarity not just for the Tibetan cause, but also to keep in check Beijings repression of Uighurs and other minorities. Drawing attention to the plight of victims may not be enough. By its past record, China seems unlikely to simply be shamed into better behaviour. Its jackboot methods in Hong Kong reveal how brazenly it ignores global opinion. Still, the heavy tools it employsre-education" camps, for instance, that are more like prisonsneed to be exposed for the brute authoritarianism they represent. Beijings cultural agenda denies millions of people their natural diversity and seeks to homogenize the country in the image of its dominant group. Few have a more intimate experience of this than Tibetans, who have found their culture trampled upon. Countries that consider themselves free and democratic must come together to challenge Chinese hegemony. As the Dalai Lamas host, India could deploy its diplomatic resources to carry his voice far and wide. Chinas wanton acts of aggression could still be foiled by a determined pushback. As the worlds largest democracy, one shaped by Mahatma Gandhis ideals of non-violence, India would have to play a major role in that exercise. For the sake of the future, this is a responsibility we must not abdicate. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The class of 2020 includes Jeremy Aydell, Sport Clips; Courtney Chaney, Livingston Parish Council; Jim Chapman, Farrell Calhoun Paint Company, Inc.; Chasity Chauvin, French Settlement Elementary; Jeanette Clark; John Dillon, All Star Automotive; Joffrey Easley, Forte & Tablada, Inc.; and Aaron Ellis, Aaron Ellis, Attorney at Law, LLC. Also, Nicole Gautreau, Bank of Zachary; Richard Hill, LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors; Lance Landry, Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office; Tim McMasters, Livingston Parish Assessors Office; Vanissa Murphy, Quality Engineering & Surveying, LLC; Chris Neal, Pelican State Credit Union; Gary ONeal, Jr., Quality Engineering & Surveying, LLC; and Dev Patel, First Guaranty Bank. Also, Christine Patrick, Livingston Parish Chamber; Kevin Pope, Livingston Parish Clerk of Court; Todd Price, Holmes Building Materials; Amanda Seals, Ochsner Medical Center; Joel Stern, Our Lady of the Lake RMC; Sandy Teal, Livingston Parish Council; and Kelly Westmoreland, Neighbors Federal Credit Union. The coronavirus pandemic continued to surge in California over the weekend and Gov. Gavin Newsom's "watch list" of counties with rising infection and hospitalization rates stood at 23 as of Monday afternoon. In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County fell off the list and Contra Costa was added. Marin and Solano counties are also on the list. The California Department of Public Health created the watch list to monitor counties that experience significant changes in COVID-19 infection rates, an increase in hospitalizations, outbreaks in congregate settings or a rise in community transmission at workplaces. Counties on the list are working with the state to identify the causes for any worrisome trends and next steps to mitigate the virus spread. Contra Costa County was added back to the list Monday, after being removed on July 3. "There is a concerning rise in the number of people hospitalized," according to the CDPH. "This is in parallel to a rise in overall cases." The state said that delaying the reopening of additional businesses, encouraging people to avoid gatherings and increasing messaging about face masks are key actions necessary to stop the spread in the county." According to the CDPH, Marin County is seeing elevated virus transmission and more hospitalizations. Some of this is due to the massive outbreak at San Quentin, where 1 in 3 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, the state noted an increase in community transmission among essential workers and "outbreaks in congregate settings and Latinx neighborhoods." As a result of being added to the watch list, the county announced Sunday afternoon that it is halting all indoor dining for a minimum of three weeks. The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 5. Outdoor dining is still permitted. Solano County ties part of its surge to "many dozens" of vineyard workers getting sick over the last two weeks; the state says those individuals work in Sonoma and Napa counties but reside in communities in Solano County. An "ongoing surge in cases related to family gatherings and other social gatherings on the weekends" is exacerbating the county's rise in hospitalizations. Santa Clara County was removed from the list on Monday afternoon. It is experiencing an increase in hospitalizations for coronavirus, but the state believes much of this can be attributed to patients from other counties seeking care there. Patients transferred from long-term care facilities are also landing in county hospitals. Once the epicenter of the Bay Area outbreak, Santa Clara County's hospitals are some of the state's most experienced at treating COVID-19 patients. "Although the percentage change in hospitalizations shows an increase, the increase in the absolute number of patients hospitalized is low relative to the size of the population in Santa Clara County and is low relative to the number of hospital beds available in the county," the California Department of Public Health said. Coronavirus cases continue to climb in California. Saturday was the 15th consecutive day that the state detected a record number of patients being hospitalized for COVID-19. There are currently 5,669 hospitalized around the state, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the state. California now has 260,155 confirmed cases and a death toll of 6,331. The rate of positive tests over the last 14 days is 6.3 percent. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. The quarantine roommate horror stories that will make you thankful you live alone Oakland McDonald's worker says customer attacked her after being told to wear a mask These metrics suggest the coronavirus is indeed back on the upswing in the Bay Area Why coronavirus cases in California are suddenly surging 239 Experts With 1 Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne Katie Dowd is SFGATE's managing and Amy Graff is the news editor. Email them: kdowd@sfgate.com and agraff@sfgate.com. Local officials and experts in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth have expressed concerns in recent days that increasing coronavirus hospitalizations could overwhelm their intensive care capacities, with some saying it could happen in less than two weeks. As Texas hit another record high Sunday, reporting 8,181 people hospitalized for the new coronavirus, local officials predicted cities could soon run out of space to care for the sickest patients. The state reported that there still are 13,307 available staffed hospital beds, including 1,203 available staffed ICU beds statewide, but hospital capacity varies greatly by region. This story originally ran on TexasTribune.org On Sunday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler told the Austin American-Statesman that hospitals there could be overwhelmed in the "next 10 days to two weeks" if the amount of people admitted because of the coronavirus continues to increase, adding that 434 out of 1,500 Austin-area hospital beds for coronavirus patients are occupied. HOUSTON COVID-19 UPDATES: Record high for hospitalizations in Texas The San Antonio Express-News also reported that the city's hospitals could be overrun with patients in the next week or two, noting that the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in that area's trauma service region rose by 55% in the past week. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday that Rajesh Nandy, an associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology in the UNT Health Science Centers School of Public Health, warned that Tarrant County hospitals could reach capacity in about three weeks. As of Saturday, 10 of 12 hospitals in Texas' Rio Grande Valley had already reached capacity as the number of people being hospitalized for the coronavirus more than doubled over the last two weeks. Ten of Texas' trauma service regions have more than 70% of their beds filled, with six of those regions reporting their beds are at least 80% filled, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texans in most counties to wear masks in public. The mandate warns people living in counties with more than 20 active coronavirus cases that first-time violators will face a warning while repeat offenders could face a $250 fine. Adler and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo urged Abbott in television appearances Sunday to give cities the power to issue stay-at-home orders in order to fight the spread of the virus. "What I'm being told is that there's not the staffing to go along with the surge, and if this is happening in Austin, Dallas and Houston and San Antonio all at the same time, we're in trouble," Adler told CNNs "State of the Union" Sunday. Adler added that while he appreciates Abbott mandating the use of face masks, he believes the lack of a united messaging has put the state in danger and hopes the message "hasn't come too late." Hidalgo expressed similar concerns on ABCs "This Week." "As long as were doing as little as possible and hoping for the best, were always going to be chasing this thing. Were always going to be behind, and the virus will always outrun us," she said. Disclosure: Steve Adler, a former Texas Tribune board chairman, and the UNT Health Science Center have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. What used to be the former Valentino The Bistro is about to take on a new identity as La Nostra Famiglia Trattoria on near the intersection of Bitters and Blanco roads when it opens this week. Arturo Sanchez hopes to open Thursday, starting with dinner hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. The Sanchez family has been in the restaurant business since the 1990s. The Italian menu is still being developed, but executive chef Kim Van Winkle, who formerly worked at Battalion, said to expect a hearty lineup of pizzas, sandwiches, salads, seafood, meatballs and pasta dishes once finalized. Customers should expect to see a balanced menu that will represent all regions of Italy, Van Winkle said. The aim for our food is to be simple, but with robust flavors that I will put a little twist into. La Nostra will start with only dinner service. On ExpressNews.com: Chucks Food Shack: Welcome to Steak 101, with all the dos and donts for great grilled steak Van Winkle said the menu at La Nostra will rotate with seasonally available ingredients. She will be joined in the kitchen by Adrian Orozco, Sanchezs son-in-law, who owns three bakeries and three restaurants in Mexico City. The cozy property, which has room for about 50 patrons inside and another 15 outdoors, will also feature a full bar once proper licenses from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have been secured. Until then, customers can expect a glass or two of complimentary wine with their meals. La Nostra Famiglia Trattoria, 14357 Blanco Road, 210-408-8022. Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Facebook: @La-Nostra-Famiglia-Trattoria Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.comTo read more from Chuck, become a subscriber. cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are setting up a trend. The former royals underscore again that they are currently independent of the royal family. They have officially closed their Sussex Royal organization which will further seal themselves as separate entities from the British royal family. They are rumored that they will never make a comeback to their senior membership. This followed the demand that they could no longer use "Sussex Royal" in their branding by Queen Elizabeth II, reported Mirror. The former "Suits" actress felt "unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself," court documents divulged this week that in her short duration as a senior working royal. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent the first half of 2020 taking steps to start their new life to step down as senior members of the royal family, according to Elle. After formally closing down Sussex Royal, the Sussexes' new foundation is named Archewell. The paperwork filed were with the Charity Commission and Companies House, reported Cosmopolitan. Prince Harry and Markle also consented to not use the name anymore. According to an insider, the pair are thankful to Sussex Royal trustees who provided support and guidance over the duration it spanned for one year. The Sussex Royal charity will now undergo the process of solvent liquidation wherein its trustees will renounce their roles excluding Prince Harry. The Duke of Sussex will persist as the director until the process concludes. Also Read: Meghan Markle Reveals She Was 'Unprotected by the Royal Family' During Pregnancy News has circulated that Prince Harry and Markle have been initiating behind closed doors to persuade people globally to support groups establishing a boycott of Facebook. They have been quite outspoken and have been in talks with groups and organizations leading the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign. This aims to hold the social media platform accountable for not mitigating and removing hate speech throughout its platforms. The Sussex Royal charity was established following the separation of their household from Prince William and Kate Middleton aka Kensington royal. Also, Prince Harry reportedly dropped the title of "HRH" from his Travalyst, his environmental tourism website. "The sole program in operation and development at the charity has been the sustainable travel and tourism initiative, Travalyst," a source indicated. Travalyst is currently in operation as an independent non-profit organization based in Britain. Assets from the Sussex Royal charity will be transmitted. Archewell's public initiation is anticipated to be slated in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair aims to offer educational and emotional support among numerous services. They will also create a website, identical to The Tig, Markle's deleted blog. Prince Harry and Markle released a statement, "Our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic, but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be." The foundation will reportedly be a charity offering volunteering services, podcasts, a website, and possibly books and films. Related Article: Meghan Markle Pregnant Again? Prince Harry's Wife Allegedly Hiding Baby Bump @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) announced that the Department of Transportation (DOT) will be awarding $1,921,000 to the Cherry Capital Airport and $263,156 to the Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County. This Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant is supplemented by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which Peters and Stabenow helped enact to support airports affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will go towards infrastructure improvements including the rehabilitation of the terminal building at the Cherry Capital Airport and the reconstruction of the airplane apron at the Pellston Regional Airport. Ninety-seven years after then-Pvt. Henry Johnson of Albany fought off a German army raiding party of nearly two dozen enemy soldiers in France's Argonne Forest on May 15, 1918, he finally posthumously received a Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for combat heroism. The Association of the United States Army came up with a creative way to honor the World War I hero even more. Sgt. Henry Johnson is now the subject of a 11-page digital comic issued by the association, announced Eric Durr, spokesman for the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs. Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts of Trenton, N.J., were assigned to the all-Black New York Army National Guard's Infantry Regiment. The 369th was attached to the French 16th Division, Fourth French army, as it was short of soldiers. Initially the soldiers assigned to the 369th, the Harlem Hellfighters, were assigned menial labor including unloading ships and digging latrines until the unit was loaned to the French army. The pair were assigned to man a remote listening outpost beyond a series of defensive trenches. At approximately 2 a.m., enemy snipers opened fire on the outpost. As Johnson and Roberts readied their rifles and hand grenades for an expected attack, they heard the Germans snip and clip barbed wire to their front. Johnson sent Roberts back to their headquarters to alert others of the attack. But, Roberts decided to return to help Johnson, As he did so, Roberts was severely wounded by a grenade blast. After Johnson threw a grenade at the wirecutters, the enemy countered with a heavy volume of rifle fire. Johnson threw more grenades and fired his rifle until he ran out of bullets. The Germans attacked the outpost from many directions. Before the attack was repulsed, Johnson was wounded 21 times, including in the head, lip, his side and a hand. Despite the wounds, Johnson swung his rifle like a club until the wooden rifle butt splintered to keep the Germans at bay. Johnson then saw several German soldiers try to capture Roberts. That's when Johnson grabbed his bolo knife, quickly charged and hacked the enemy before they could shoot him. He stabbed one German in the stomach, and killed an enemy officer before another enemy soldier jumped on Johnson's back and shot him in the arm before he was able to stab the enemy between his ribs. Johnson then dragged Roberts away as French and American reinforcements arrived. Johnson was credited with killing four German soldiers and wounding more than a dozen others. Both Johnson and Roberts became the first Americans awarded the Croix du Guerre, France's highest military honor for combat bravery. After the war, Johnson returned to his job as a Red Cap porter at the Albany train station for a while. He also went on a speakers circuit for a time as his life became overwhelmed by alcoholism. He died at age 32. Unfortunately, his chain of command in the segregated Army never recommended Johnson and other Black soldiers for medals. Decades later, historians, relatives, veterans groups and political leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, were successful at righting a wrong. New York Army National Guard Sgt. Maj. Louis Wilson received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on Nov. 9, 2015 on the behalf of Johnson. The Johnson comic is the sixth in part of a series focusing on Medal of Honor winners. Other comics focus on the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who earned the Medal of Honor serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese-American unit, in World War II; Lt. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in American history who also served in World War II; Sgt. Alvin York, who served in World War I; Staff Sgt. Roy Benavidez, a Vietnam War veteran, and Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, who fought in Afghanistan. The online comics, which can also be downloaded as .pdf files, are being released as part of AUSA's effort to educate the public about the role of the Army, according to Durr. The comic can be read and or downloaded at www.ausa.org. The AUSA Book Program Medal of Honor: Henry Johnson full-color digital graphic novel was created by: Script: Chuck Dixon (Batman, The Punisher, The 'Nam); Pencils, Inks, Cover: P.J. Holden (Judge Dredd, Battlefields, World of Tanks); Colors: Peter Pantazis (Justice League, Superman, Wolverine); Lettering: Troy Peteri (Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men). Donate to aid Disabled American Veterans Customers at Cumberland Farms stores and gas stations and Price Chopper/Market 32 grocery stores can help the Disabled American Veterans by donating at registers through July 31. Trained DAV personnel advocate for wounded, injured, sick and disabled veterans as they seek treatment and Veterans Affairs benefits. DAV volunteers also drive veterans to and from medical appointments. At least 85 cents of every donated dollar aids disabled veterans. Cumberland has a goal to raise $250,000 nationally for DAV. Also, Cumberland is offering free coffee to service personnel and veterans through July 31. At Price Chopper/Market 32 outlets, the supermarket chain will match donations, up to $5,000. News of your troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, N.Y., 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com. The City of Laredo requested a local court to put a stop to the one business that decided to stay open despite Texas Governor Greg Abbotts order issued on June 26. Abbott ordered that all establishments which receive more than 51% of their revenue from alcohol sales to close indefinitely. The establishments main commodity is selling playing time, so the owner said they did not fall under the executive order and could remain open. On June 30, the city filed a petition for a temporary restraining order, temporary and permanent injunction and request for disclosures after a Laredo Morning Times article was published stating that while the bar provides alcohol, it does not sell it. According to La Oveja Negra owner Robert John Anthony, patrons do not pay to drink but rather pay an hourly fee to be in the establishment and play any games they want while also being able to drink alcohol. The business model is similar to many slot machine establishments in the city also known as maquinitas as they provide alcoholic beverages but do not sell them directly. They are complementary with the playing fee. With this business model, Anthony said the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission allows him to operate as usual as he does not count as a bar under the governors decree. When Abbott made the announcement, Anthony quickly researched and discovered his business could remain open. However, he said they must abide by certain rules to keep their doors opened. READ MORE: Dos Laredos heard on La Voz as Jimenez earns a spot Anthony hopes that staying open while other bars in the downtown area close can be beneficial since business has been slow with the 50% capacity rule that they were recently following, the LMT article states. On July 1, 341st District Court Judge Beckie Palomo issued a temporary restraining order on La Oveja Negra stating that Anthonys establishment is temporarily restrained from operating or maintaining on the property, and the propertys certificate of occupancy is revoked. According to the petition, the citys COVID-19 operation team worked on June 26 to enforce the citys emergency order. Fire Marshall Andres Jimenez, Jr. observed the property and noticed they were operating and providing alcoholic beverages to patrons who paid a fee to enter the establishment, documents state. (Anthony) was informed that his business would have to close since they were in violation of the governors executive order and the citys emergency order. Fire Marshall Jimenez returned to the business on (June 28) at 1 a.m. and inspected the property and observed they were still operating and providing alcoholic beverages to patrons. The petition further states that the establishment provided alcoholic beverages without a permit to paying customers only in violation of the TABC while also holding a certificate of occupancy classifying it as a bar in violation of the citys emergency order and the governors executive order. The City of Laredos Emergency Order prohibits all non-essential services from operating in the city while the emergency order is in effect until July 31, 2020, including bars or similar establishments and businesses where alcoholic beverages are served or made available to customers at no charge, according to the petition. Anthony was not immediately available for comment. However, a post written on Friday on La Oveja Negras Facebook page states, Well be temporarily closed this weekend and the following. Stay tuned for updates days/times. See you all soon! Palomos order temporarily restraining Anthonys business expires on July 15, and a hearing on the request for a verified application for temporary and permanent injunction is scheduled for the same day at 9 a.m. in the 341st District Court. The story of Fort Hood Private First Class Vanessa Guillens murder has affected many people both close to the family and the extended community, and many Laredoans took a minute of silence for Guillen on Saturday. According to an attorney for her family, Guillen was alledgedly bludgeoned to death with a hammer where she worked in the armory room. Aaron David Robinson, the primary suspect, killed himself Wednesday when confronted by police in Kileen, Texas. The attorney also said Guillen had been planning to file a sexual harassment complaint against Robinson the day after she was killed. Although people could not go out to the streets in order to conduct a vigil or hold a minute of silence in person, many Laredoans took to social media and shared their minutes of silence and other ways they commemorated Guillen through a Facebook event called Justice for Vanessa Guillen: Laredo Peaceful Protest. The Facebook group Laredo for Vanessa Guillen organized and conducted the event on Saturday afternoon and plans to continue hosting events in efforts to seek change and justice for the family of the soldier. At 1 p.m. on Saturday the fourth day of July, we ask that you all take part in honoring her memory with one minute of silence, said Janelle Fanelle, one of the founding members of the group. Laredo is a very strong and caring community, and anybody else who would like to join is more than welcome, and we also ask businesses that may respect this one minute of silence. This was a gruesome crime, and her family needs to know that there is support out there and we wont stand for this either. READ MORE: Martin ROTC hopes for a new, safer obstacle course According to the organizers of the group, their vision lies in helping remember Guillen and at the same time transmitting a sense of unity with the family in efforts for them to not feel alone as they continue to grieve and find answers for what happened. My vision is simple, just one minute of silence wherever you may be, said Jenny Lee, another founding member of the page group. At the store, at your house and anywhere really, if its possible, record and take a picture in hopes one day the family will see this and know the community was with them. Although the group understands that their power to show support for the family and the cause they pursue could be done better if they could gather in person, they also understand the current situation and do not plan to hold any events in person. However, they hope enough people in the city could voice their support through social media and point out the need for continued pushes for justice. In lieu of recent events, I would like to invite everyone to this page to help support and bring justice to Vanessa, Fanelle said. I know that in some way, shape or form or fashion, one of us or a family member or friend has been affected by sexual harassment and its something that has to be spoken of, advocated, and its something that we cannot turn a blind eye to any longer. She said the group has not planned anything yet since they do not want to interfere with the city ordinances about gathering in large groups. While they usually would unite in a vigil or a silent protest, Fanelle said for now they simply ask people to do something from home such as putting a yellow ribbon on their door, putting a candle on the window sill, changing their porch light to a different color or simply changing their Facebook profile picture to Vanessas picture and sharing it on their page. According to Fanelle, their work to try to find justice and uniting the community in this cause will continue, and they hope more people can like their page and share the hashtags #JusticeForVanessa and #LaredoForVanessa in efforts to show their support. The public may find the group and see what fellow Laredoans did to take part in the minute of silence on Saturday at facebook.com/LaredoforVanessaGuillen. The group can also be contacted at justicevguillen@gmail.com A highly anticipated book by Mary L. Trump, the niece of President Trump, will be published two weeks earlier than planned after a court last week allowed Simon & Schuster to continue distributing copies. The book will be published on July 14 due to intense interest in it, the publisher announced Monday. While the publisher last week was released from a temporary restraining order, Mary Trump is still under the order and is contesting it. In the meantime, her publisher released the book jacket and a news release that promised a sweeping indictment of the president's psychological makeup. "From this explosive book," the news release said, "we learn how Donald acquired twisted behaviors and values" such as that "cheating is a way of life," "taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged" and "qualities like empathy, kindness and expertise are punished." It did not provide specifics, leaving that for the book's publication. The back cover of the book, also released Monday, said that "Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving." It says that Donald Trump feared his father's rejection and "suffered deprivations that would scar him for life." The book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," has rocketed to the top of bestseller lists based on advance orders after a blizzard of publicity about how Mary Trump would provide an insider account of the family that shaped the man who became president. Much of the publicity material released Monday has appeared in the original posting on sites such as Amazon.com, including the allegation that Donald Trump "dismissed and derided" his father, Fred Trump Sr., when the elder Trump had Alzheimer's disease. President Trump has told Axios that the allegation was untrue and he said that his niece was not allowed to write the book because she signed a confidentiality agreement in 2001 following an inheritance settlement. "It's totally false; the opposite," Trump said about the allegation regarding his father's disease. "Actually, the opposite. I always had a great relationship. I didn't know that she said that. That's a disgraceful thing to say." The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment about the news release. Mary Trump has said in a court filing that she is not bound by the confidentiality agreement because Donald and his siblings misled her about the value of family holdings. Mary Trump, 55, is a clinical psychologist, giving her a professional background that the publisher says provides her with a unique perspective to analyze her uncle. President Trump's younger brother, Robert, recently filed a petition in New York Supreme Court seeking to stop publication on grounds that Mary Trump had agreed not to publish an account of the family. But the court's appellate division ruled last week that the publisher, Simon & Schuster, was not a party to that agreement and lifted a temporary restraining order against it. The British royal family was once again dragged onto the Jeffrey Epstein scandal when an image manifesting the late financier's alleged confederate posing on the Buckingham Palace throne came out. According to the the New York Post, on Saturday, UK-based Daily Telegraph newspaper issued an image revealing Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite, seated beside Kevin Spacey, House of Cards actor who has been alleged for sexual misconduct and apparently in the Queen's London residence in 2002. New photograph also shows Ghislaine Maxwell sitting in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace with Kevin Spacey 2/ pic.twitter.com/KhmBB6XTc9 Josie Ensor (@Josiensor) July 3, 2020 It was unconfirmed why Spacey and Maxwell were seen together at the palace. It was reported on the paper that Prince Andrew, who has undergone public pressure to give an explanation about his relationship with Epstein and claims by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of his accusers. It has been claimed by Giuffre that she has been forced into sexual encounters when she was underage with the prince and other men. All allegations have been denied by the accused party. Buckingham Palace refused to give a comment about the published photograph. Even Prince Andrew's spokesperson refused to provide a comment. Read also: Jeffrey Epstein's Friend Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested by FBI in Sex Trafficing Probe Prince Andrew was Epstein's friend and in the past has been taken a photograph together with Giuffre and Maxwell. In an interview in November, Prince Andrew uttered that he had never seen Giuffre, suggesting that his photo with Giuffre may have been manipulated, CNN reported. In 2017, Spacey's career fell down, which was followed by several claims of harassment and sexual assault. Last July, he was freed from the charges against him in the US, denying most of the allegations. According to Max Foster, a royal correspondent of a news provider said the throne is a representation of a monarch's authority, stating that no one else is entitled to sit on it and it would be a sign of disdain towards the country and the Queen. Foster noted being seated on the Buckingham Palace's throne is viewed as less of an insult than being seated on the St. Jame's Palace's senior throne. In modern times, aside from the monarch, no one else has ever been seated on the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey as far as anyone is aware of. On Thursday morning, Maxwell, who is known as the onetime girlfriend and claimed confederate of Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sex-trafficker, was taken into prison and charged by the New York federal prosecutor for her rumored role in grooming, recruiting, and sexually abusing girls as young as 14 years old as part of a criminal enterprise that is years long. Maxwell, 58 years old, and Epstein, who died in August by presumed suicide while waiting for the trial, are indicted for luring the girls to an array of residences, which included his Palm Beach estate, Upper East Side mansion, Santa Fe ranch, as well as, London, England, where she owned a house. Prince Andrew has been urged by a US attorney to layout information for the investigation. In a press conference, Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, articulated that authorities would appreciate receiving a statement coming from the Duke, who is the second son of Queen Elizabeth. Related article: Ghislaine Maxwell Charged for Being Chief Enabler in Sexual Trafficking Ring for Young Girl Victims @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) voiced concerns Tuesday and showed support for the reopening of the border for Mexican tourists in efforts to revive the local border economies that have been suffering. During a conference call to speak about the beginning of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Congressman Cuellar discussed the importance of nonessential travel across the border as it annually brings billions of dollars from millions of tourists coming from Mexico. He said it is time to open the border by finding ways it can be done while protecting public health and screening incoming individuals. I want to talk and see what we can do at the borders, whether Customers Border and Protection or vendors can be at the border and check temperatures or other testing at the border as there are ways we can do this, so we can get the nonessential trade coming in, Cuellar said. Cuellar said the lack of incoming money from these tourists is costing many businesses heavily to the point of some not even finding it prudent to reopen. Therefore, he believes such travel must be considered in the hope of finding a balance between health and saving the economy. I called tourists as essential, because a couple of years ago Mexico was sending over 18 million Mexicans to come and stay at our hotels and go to our restaurants and to our malls, and they were spending over $19 billion a year, Cuellar said. According to Cuellar, the closure of the bridges for this type of nonessential travel in March means the state is losing approximately $1 billion each month. He believes it is devastating for many of the businesses that depend on nonessential travel visits. Cuellar said the retail sector, especially in places like Laredo and San Antonio, is mostly affected with The Shops at La Cantera shopping center being one of the most affected. We have to find a balance, Cuellar said. If we are not letting Mexicans in because of political reasons, that might be something else, but if it is a logistical reason because of the health, then I think we can find a way to direct that issue at the border as the Mexicans, right now, they are checking temperatures for anybody going south, which shows that there are many ways in which we can do things. Cuellars pleas for reopening do not come alone as last month when the border shutdown was extended for another month for Mexican tourists, many local officials including Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz also voiced support for the reopening. If no extension is implemented, bridges for nonessential travel are expected to reopen on July 22. On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Henry Cuellar held a telephone conference to discuss the new highway infrastructure bill called the Moving Forward Act and what it meant for the Laredo area and beyond. Cuellar especially focused on two amendments he added to the bill to ensure two projects are completed within the legislation. These are the secured designation of the I-27 ports-to-plains corridor as a future interstate and the secured amendment that will help trains from blocking streets that create higher congestion. I-27 is currently slated to be connected to I-35 and then Highway 83. But as the USMCA already entered into effect on July 1, Cuellar believes the route should be changed a bit by legislators in Austin to help reduce congestion in one of Laredos busiest areas. The way the state did this is that they are looking from going to Laredo, up I-35, up H-83 and then all the way up to West Texas, but I got a commitment from my Republican friends that I would set this designation then that they would consider an alternative route from Laredo up to Mines Road and then connect up the river, pass Columbia and connect to Eagle Pass, said Cuellar. He said he hopes that legislators in Austin could achieve this as it would be good for the Mines Road area that needs attention. Congestion and traffic is immensely high in the area and this route will help alleviate some of the traffic to go through this new interstate highway. Cuellar also believes that both Laredo and Eagle Pass economy would also benefit from such plan, plus products would be delivered faster. Cuellar also argues that such project would benefit Homeland Security by helping U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to have more ability to survey the new area. Instead of building a wall, we would also have Border Patrol that could go up and down the border as everybody that has driven the 125 miles from Laredo to Eagle Pass understands what they have to travel. But this would be a straight drop, Cuellar said. According to the congressman, the new project would also help create jobs in the area not only temporary jobs for those working on the construction of the new route, but also for individuals that will use these areas to work from. On the floor of the House of Representatives, Cuellar also made statements in support of his amendment in stating how valuable it will be to the area in terms of trade across Mexico and the interior of the United States and Canada as well. This designation will make Texas and New Mexico eligible for increased federal funding to complete the I-27 highway expansion project, creating economic growth, jobs, trade opportunities across those two states, Cuellar said. The I-27 expansion will grow the Texas G.D.P. by $17.2 billion and create 178,000 construction jobs. It would also add 17,000 long-term employment opportunities in the new I-27 corridor. It would also make Laredo the only port of entry that will have three corridors: I-35, I-69, I-27. The information provided by the congressman is data that was collected from a survey done in correlation to the possible construction of the new route to facilitate traffic and increase trade as well. In the conference call, he also pointed out that the new project will help trade in the Laredo area to increase by 5% or more, a trend that was already being seen before the COVID-19 pandemic halted many activities except those considered essential. As well, the project will also help connect many of the smaller cities and communities along the west side of the southern part of the state like Eagle Pass and Del Rio, which would allow for more trade to be done in the area and also for a closer connection to the state of New Mexico. The congressmans train amendment was also made in consideration of the fact that many trains throughout the inland port of Laredo and surrounding areas sometimes stagnate drivers assigned with trade goods that often leads to more congested traffic. He proposed ending this by redirecting such train lines through infrastructure as well. Since Laredo is the largest land port in the area and trains are one way that trade is brought into he country via the citys port, Cuellar noted the significance of the congestion of trains in the city and how it merits solutions. Over 4,000 trains cross through my district each year, facilitating two-way trade with Mexico, and economic prosperity for South Texas and the U.S, Cuellar said. However, it is critical that we ensure that these exchanges are done in a safe manner and without impeding the daily life of those who live at the border. This new grant program will maximize safety at grade crossings by funding projects that will create solutions, such as infrastructure improvements and new communications tools, to prevent accidents. The need for bettering and enhancing infrastructure in the area is important considering the fact that Laredo is the No. 1 land port in the country, and it facilitates over 60% of all U.S.-Mexico trade, Cuellar argued. It contributes to the more than $120 billion in U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade each year. Voters in the Dominican Republic ousted the party that has dominated the country for two decades as Latin America continues to vote out incumbents. Opposition leader Luis Abinader will be sworn in as president of the Caribbean's largest economy next month after winning in the first round and avoiding a runoff. With 67% of polling stations reporting, Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party had won 53% of the ballots, compared to 37% for ruling party candidate Gonzalo Castillo with the Dominican Liberation Party, according to the electoral authority. Castillo conceded and congratulated Abinader in a speech broadcast by local TV station CDN 37. As Latin America's economic outlook has worsened, incumbent parties have been voted out across the region over the last year, from Argentina to Uruguay to Suriname. In the Dominican Republic, a series of graft scandals also turned voters against the government. Abinader, a 52-year-old economist, has pledged to stick with the business-friendly policies that helped make the Dominican Republic one of the fastest-growing economies in the Americas until Covid-19 devastated its tourism sector. The country in on track for its deepest slump in three decades this year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. "We will recover jobs for everyone who wants to work and we will rescue trust in our democratic institutions," Abinader told supporters after the vote. Abinader, a cement company executive and tourism developer, says he'll seek international financing to stabilize the Dominican peso and maintain stimulus programs that have been rolled out since the pandemic hit. He'll be sworn for a four-year term on Aug. 16. Former three-time PLD president Leonel Fernandez, who broke with the party last year, came in third, with 9% of the vote. The PLD ran the country for 20 of the last 24 years, first under Fernandez and now under President Danilo Medina. The Dominican Republic is the regional epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and reported 1,241 new cases on Sunday, a single-day record for the nation of 11 million. Health officials are warning that they expect a spike in cases due to Sunday's election-day crowds. During the day, an opposition supporter was shot dead and two others were wounded near a voting center in the capital Santo Domingo following a dispute between rival party members, the electoral authority said. The medical community should make every effort to eliminate the impact of racism in health care. Although the disparities are being brought to light by the current pandemic, the problem has been acknowledged in the past. Now is the time for health care professionals to aggressively seek to reverse the impact of negative attitudes and practices that have long been in place. Causes and effects of racism in health care There is an alarmingly high national rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths within the minority community, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is 4.5% higher for African Americans than that of the non-minority population. It also rises for Hispanic or Latino individuals and Native Americans. Aside from the increases brought to light by the coronavirus, the disparity in general good health can be seen across the board in every medical arena. The higher rates of diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other conditions among minorities have contributed not only to higher coronavirus consequences, but to cardiovascular issues, kidney failure and other dangerous circumstances. In a report published in the archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine in 2019, unequal access to medical care for minorities is a major factor in fostering health inequities. Other factors in maintaining or widening the gap include a lack of childhood development, a higher rate of poverty, and income inequality between minority workers and non-minority workers. Housing and other social and economic factors are also important in the health care disparity discussion. While they may not all seem related specifically to medical care, they result in inadequate circumstances for minorities. Lack of preventative care The economic disadvantages more frequently faced by minorities in childhood and adulthood lead to less consistent medical care. Infrequent checkups and less education about signs of disease increase the odds of major health difficulties. According to the NIH/NLM report, only 3% of all health care money in the United States is spent on preventative care. Many dangerous medical conditions, including cardiovascular issues, are preventable, or at least more controllable when warning signs are detected. The economic factors of racism decrease the probability of prevention. Because wages are lower, doctor visits are infrequent. Many low paying jobs do not include health benefits. Workers may also resist relinquishing a day's pay to go to a doctor's office for a checkup, as well. Availability and procedural disparities The there is also a fracture quality of health care for minorities once a diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed. The impact of this is obvious in all age groups. Infant mortality rates are higher and life expectancy is shorter in minority communities. In one example of specific treatment recommendations, the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology cites a study that revealed that 35% fewer minority patients who were eligible for kidney transplants received them, versus the non-minority eligible patients. Steps the medical community must take Addressing social risk factors among minorities, diversifying the health care work force, improving the availability of health care and providing more avenues to primary care are among the strategies that can help. There are programs in place that provide outreach into minority and underprivileged communities to provide better health care. Medical institutions should encourage their doctors and nurses to participate in programs that deal with childhood intervention, senior care and assistance to the disabled. The American Medical Association has acknowledged that bias exists within health systems and peripheral institutions that contribute to the disparities. Health professionals and institutions are being urged to examine and correct it. Ask Dr. Haqqani If you have questions about your cardiovascular health, including heart, blood pressure, stroke lifestyle and other issues, we want to answer them. Please submit your questions to Dr. Haqqani by e-mail at questions@vascularhealthclinics.org. Dr. Omar P. Haqqani is the chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at Vascular Health Clinics in Midland: www.vascularhealthclinics.org WASHINGTON - Stimulus checks' second wave might arrive earlier than expected for millions of Americans affected by the current global health crisis. Several indications were shown by lawmakers on a number of occasions that an economic relief package should be pass to address the effects of COVID-19 before proceeding to their month-long recess this summer. However, negotiations will most likely start on July 20, the date when the Senate will reconvene, due to their break for two weeks as part of their Independence Daybreak. According to Forbes, Nancy Pelosi, the current House Speaker shared on Thursday that surely Congress will have enough time to negotiate another bill before the Capitol Hill clearance on August 7. Pelosi also stated that since the Republicans showed publicly their positive interest towards the second wave of stimulus, they are anticipating that it will be a bill in the next few weeks. It has been almost 2 months since the House comprised mostly by Democrats passed the HEROES Act or the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, a bill that includes a follow-up round of stimulus checks wherein each member would receive $1,200 including children but the legislation put a cap at a total of $6,000 per family. Despite being favored in the Congress, the HEROES Act did not make it far past the House as it was considered Dead on Arrival by Republicans in the Senate. The White House also shared that if the bill will be placed on the United States President Donald Trump's desk, definitely he would veto it. Read also: Fact Check: Did Donald Trump Confirm Second Stimulus Checks are Coming? However, there are still signs that White House would get behind additional funding as the US President recently shared that he does not only supports the second wave of stimulus checks but also wants a huge number compared to the Democrats, Newsweek reported. But the US President emphasized that the process should be done properly as he wants the people to receive a larger amount than they can spend. It has been more than three months since the CARES Act or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was applied by the legislation that already provided assistance of $1,200 for individuals who are earning $99,000 yearly and for couples who are married and making less than $198,000. Persons with dependents could also avail the $500 additional per person added to their stimulus check. According to the information from the Internal Revenue Service last month, a total of 159 million Americans have received payments which sum up to close to 260 billion. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader shared previously that if another stimulus will be passed it would probably this summer. The top Republican also mentioned that the recovery effort should focus more on three things, healthcare, jobs, and kids. He also mentioned that in order for the country to push forward to normalcy, K-12 and college students to resume their schooling and to re-energize hiring to as workers should be back on their respective jobs while preparing for the fall and winter as they search for the vaccine continues. Related article: Second Stimulus Check: Is It Coming to Americans With an Increase to $2,000? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. LAGUNA DEL TIGRE NATIONAL PARK, Guatemala - The makeshift airstrips are sliced into the jungle, clearings carved out of the oaks and palms wide enough to land jets full of cocaine. The planes arrive in the middle of the night, their lights off, guided by drones, unsteady under the weight of the drugs. They descend over Mayan ruins, over camps of jaguar researchers and ornithologists, over illegal settlers and ranchers. The cat-and-mouse game between the United States and the leaders of Latin America's drug trade has shifted to this wild stretch of Guatemala, one of the most inhospitable landscapes in the Western Hemisphere. Jets can carry more than $100 million worth of cocaine, to be ferried swiftly out of the jungle, through Mexico and on to the United States. Over the 50-year U.S. drug war, one truth has prevailed: When one trafficking route closes, another emerges to take its place. Not long ago, cartels moved more drugs in submarines and fishing boats through the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Coast Guard vessels narrowed that route. Cocaine-filled jets once flew mainly to Mexico and Honduras, until those countries developed aerial interdiction teams. But Guatemala's northern border remains a no man's land, a wildlife reserve that has become a criminal playground. This newest route runs through the largest rainforest in Central America, an expanse the size of Delaware that was once the cradle of Mayan civilization. Guatemalan security forces last year found 50 abandoned narco jets in the country. Dozens more landed and then flew away, authorities say. Ninety percent of the cocaine now consumed in the United States transits through Guatemala. The coronavirus pandemic has had a mixed impact on drug trafficking in the Americas. The increased difficulty of moving the product across locked-down borders has crashed the price of coca leaf in South America. But cocaine seizures in the United States have been largely flat. In this undefended stretch of Guatemala, authorities here say, the planes have kept coming. A slick twin turboprop was found in a clearing in the jungle on June 21. The burned remains of a jet, apparently set on fire by traffickers after the drugs were removed, were found June 19. Another crashed south of the Laguna del Tigre National Park in April, scattering thousands of pounds of cocaine in tightly wrapped bricks throughout the brush. In recent months, the park has been ravaged by more than a dozen large-scale fires, many set by drug traffickers who are burning tracts of jungle to build "illicit landing strips for the transportation of drugs," President Alejandro Giammattei said in an address to the nation this spring. A team of firefighters was captured in the park this month by a group of armed men. But even as Guatemalan officials acknowledge the transformation of this protected land into a drug trafficking corridor, its security forces say they are outmatched by the far better resourced cartels. On a flight over Laguna del Tigre earlier this year, a Washington Post journalist counted more than a dozen landing strips across the park - and several jets sitting on them. "We are talking about an industry that has enough money to abandon million-dollar planes in the jungle," Guatemalan Army Col. Juan de la Paz said. "Their resources are infinite, and we are just trying to keep up." Many of the jets come from Venezuela. Between 2012 and 2017, cocaine moving through the country rose by 57%, according to the U.S. government's consolidated counterdrug database; the Justice Department this year charged President Nicolas Maduro with narcoterrorism. Still more cocaine comes from Colombia and Ecuador. "Colombian and Venezuelan drug trafficking organizations often partner with Mexican cartels for significant cocaine shipments," said Michael Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. "The cocaine shipment is most often destined for Guatemala." The Pentagon sent Navy and Coast Guard ships to the Caribbean this year in its largest ever deployment to confront the drug trade there. But Attorney General William Barr has acknowledged: "Our pressure has led to an attempt for an air route out of Central America." That air route has proved more difficult to block. Enforcement in Guatemala's remote corners is almost nonexistent and access to Mexico's porous southern border is unobstructed. "Guatemalan smuggling groups control a vast array of clandestine airstrips, and they can adjust or redirect landings as needed," Miller said. "It does not appear that one cartel controls one airstrip." The United States, worried about the threat of aerial trafficking, donated six helicopters to Guatemala's "air interdiction fleet" in 2013. By 2016, they were grounded due to poor maintenance, a State Department inspector general reported. That left Guatemala without the ability to confront the narco jets, even when the United States was tracking them. The 15,000-square-mile department of Peten is protected by a brigade of 1,200 soldiers with no air support, De La Paz said. By the time soldiers bushwhack through the jungle, the planes have departed or been destroyed. "It's an impossible task," said one soldier, who was not authorized to speak to journalists. "We hear the planes fly in and we just say, 'There goes another one.' " In one rare case in January, in the village of Las Cruces, just south of the park, Guatemalan soldiers managed to confront the traffickers while they were still unloading their drugs. A shootout ensued. The traffickers had seven vehicles and more than a dozen assault rifles, de la Paz said. They eventually sped off toward Mexico. No one was arrested. But the incident offered Guatemalan forces a rare view into the operation. The soldiers cautiously approached the plane, a Hawker Siddeley 125, marketed as a "midsize business jet." It was pristine, with green and blue stripes beneath its wing. The troops climbed the stairs and found 1,700 individually wrapped kilos - roughly 3,700 pounds - of pure cocaine. It would be worth roughly $160 million in the United States. - - - A joint force of 30 soldiers, police and park rangers set out one morning in February to patrol the outskirts of a village called La Florida. By 8 a.m., it was almost 100 degrees. The men moved slowly through the tall grass. They weren't looking for traffickers - they didn't have the equipment or the mandate. Their mission was to catch illegal ranchers. But they knew the line between illegal ranching and the drug trade was blurry. The illicit airstrips are built near massive ranches carved into the jungle. Drug profits are often laundered through the purchase of cattle sold across the border in Mexico. "The narcos use the fincas to justify their presence," de la Paz said. The unit had been patrolling for less than an hour when they saw a man in a green shirt on horseback, riding on a narrow path in the jungle. The nearest illicit airstrip was just a few miles away. "Did you see that guy?" one soldier said. "He took off," said another. One soldier tried to take a picture with his phone, but the man soon disappeared from view. "We'll send a report to the justice department," a ranger said. Asked if he thought the report would prompt any action, the ranger laughed. "Not a chance." About once a week, soldiers and rangers said, they heard drones fly over their jungle base. Then, often in the middle of the night, the planes arrived. Some appeared to be almost new. Guatemalan officials say pilots are paid up to $500,000 per flight - a wage that appeared to take the risk into account. De la Paz said Guatemalan forces last year recovered the bodies of 10 pilots killed in crashes. One crashed into the getaway vehicle waiting next to the airstrip. In Flores, the capital of Peten, the United States helped start Guatemala's first environmental court. It was meant to pursue ranchers destroying protected land to graze cattle and hunters who trafficked wildlife in the biosphere. But officials quickly came to realize that environmental crimes in Laguna del Tigre were inextricably linked to drug trafficking. Judge Karla Hernandez was held hostage for three days in 2018. She's been assigned two bodyguards. In 2018, Hernandez sentenced Lester Ovidio Gallegos Mayorga to four years in prison for illegal cattle grazing in Laguna del Tigre. The next year, police charged him with transporting 70 kilos of cocaine through the park in a pickup. Other cases have exposed links between drug trafficking and influential families. One ranch in Laguna del Tigre was long registered to Waldemar Lorenzana, a well-known recipient of government contracts, even as he ran one of the country's largest cocaine trafficking organizations. Extradited to the United States in 2014, he was eventually convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced this year to 23 years in federal prison. U.S. authorities said Lorenzana's organization worked with traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to transport cocaine by boat and airplane to El Salvador and Guatemala for distribution in the United States. The Justice Department said Lorenzana had "significant ties" to the Sinaloa Cartel, once led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Dozens of airstrips identified by the Guatemalan military remain active, fueling suspicions of government complicity or participation in the trafficking. In some cases, the military has refused to destroy the airstrips until it receives dynamite from the Guatemalan Justice Department. "Guatemalan forces disabled 16 suspected clandestine airfields in 2019, though many returned to operational use within days or weeks," the State Department reported this year. The DEA has found that air traffic controllers have been bought off by drug traffickers. "It's a combination of official corruption and a lack of institutional capacity," said Stephen McFarland, a former U.S. ambassador to Guatemala. "There's money to do more, but there's not a political will." As ambassador from 2008 to 2011, he said, he passed intelligence on drug trafficking targets on to Guatemalan security forces. "While they made some significant seizures, they would often come back and say, 'We wanted to, but we didn't have the fuel.' Or 'We couldn't reach the naval base commander to get permission.' "There was never a good answer." - - - Two millennia before Laguna del Tigre came under the control of drug traffickers, it was the cradle of the Mayan civilization, home to a road network that linked hundreds of Mayan cities in an ancient jungle metropolis. "This was New York City at the time of Jesus Christ," said Roan McNab, the Guatemala program director for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, as he flew over the jungle. Below him was the Mirador basin, where archaeologists are uncovering signs of one of the world's most sophisticated pre-modern civilizations. A pyramid swelled in the jungle, larger than the Egyptian pyramid of Giza. With U.S. funding, McNab and his organization have worked for years to protect the park and its wildlife. One biologist studies the park's jaguar population. Another incubates eggs of the imperiled scarlet macaw. Another helps train the park's rangers. Those rangers have focused on preserving one 143,000-acre tract of the park, about a sixth of its total area, because they don't have the resources to protect more. Criminal organizations have razed much of the land outside that area. In the past year, McNab said, man-made fires have swept through tracts roughly twice the size of the District of Columbia. "Demand for cocaine in the Northern Hemisphere leaves a trail of wreckage across the Americas," McNab said. "The ecological devastation of Laguna del Tigre is just one example. Farther south, other Mesoamerican protected areas face similar challenges." The U.S.-funded Rainforest Alliance offers legal forest concessions to communities just east of Laguna del Tigre. That effort is intended in part to restrict the movement of drug traffickers; in 2015, Guatemalan security forces destroyed several illicit landing strips in the area, under pressure from the United States. At nearby El Mirador, a towering Mayan ruin deep in the jungle, archaeologist Richard Hansen has hired a 28 private armed guards to fend off traffickers. Much of his funding comes from private donors, including actors Mel Gibson and Morgan Freeman. Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., Tom Udall, D-N.M., and James Risch, R-Idaho, introduced a bill last year that would devote $72 million to fund "archaeological research, law enforcement, and sustainable tourism" around the ruins. Hansen envisions trains full of tourists winding through the jungle to the remote site. "We have to outsmart the narcos," he said. The drug trade has had a devastating environmental impact, a phenomenon Science Magazine dubbed "narco-deforestation." Laguna del Tigre has lost more than a fifth of its tree cover since 2000. Rarely have U.S.-funded conservationists worked so dangerously close to some of the world's most powerful traffickers. The unarmed park rangers in Laguna del Tigre come face-to-face with them regularly. A group of 30 men arrived on horseback in one of the rangers' camps last month and ordered them to stop patrols, McNab said. Rangers have been kidnapped and beaten. Last week, armed men carjacked a park ranger's government vehicle and left it torched in the brush. At least 12,000 people live illegally in the park. Many were displaced during the country's long civil war. Others came in search of land, rare in a country where vast amounts of property are controlled by a small political and economic elite. But many end up working the illegal cattle farms of wealthy landowners, many of them linked to the drug trade. Informal settlements inside the park have grown into small towns, with schools and clinics and convenience stores. Many are close to illicit airstrips. But residents insist that they are poor farmhands, not traffickers. "We see the planes fly over, but we don't know who they belong to," said Rony DuVon, 38, a teacher in the settlement of Lagunita. "We are here because we believe as Guatemalans we have a right to live and farm here, and it's the conservationists who are against our rights." The rangers have a different view. They say Lagunita is a cog in the machinery of the park's criminal network. McNab said the traffickers have "considerable economic and coercive capabilities." "Absent state and civil society support, the area's landless poor have few options for support aside from the powers active in the park," he said. Guatemalan officials say they are getting another helicopter fleet up and running. The president is pleading for foreign help in putting out the fires. McNab's group is trying to preserve the part of the reserve that remains intact. McNab thinks often about the Mayan empire. It collapsed in part because it overused the forest's resources. But after that collapse, the forest slowly returned to life. "Maybe that's what happens here again," McNab said. "The jungle returns to life after mankind is forced to leave." A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the anniversary of one of his most famous speeches, delivered in that city in 1852. Police said the statue of Douglass was taken on Sunday from Maplewood Park, a site along the Underground Railroad where Douglass and Harriet Tubman helped shuttle slaves to freedom. As Yasmin Miller drove home from a laundromat in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood last weekend, a gunman in another car peppered her red Hyundai sedan with bullets, grazing her head and striking her son, Sincere Gaston, in the chest. Sincere died in his car seat. He was 20 months old. On June 20, a man fired gunshots through the back of a dark blue SUV, wounding the 27-year-old man driving and hitting his stepson, Mekhi James, in the back, killing him. Mekhi was 3. Two other girls, both aged 3, were hospitalized with gunshot wounds in separate incidents in recent days one after her mother thought she heard fireworks and turned around to see her daughter collapsed on the ground. These were just the toddlers. In all, nine children under 18 have been killed since June 20 as Chicago reels from another wave of gun violence. The last two were killed Saturday evening. A 14-year-old boy was shot to death on Chicago's South Side. A 7-year-old girl was struck in the forehead by a bullet when three gunmen opened fire on a July 4 street party on the city's West Side, police said. "The Windy City is becoming the Bloody City," said the Rev. Michael L. Pfleger of Saint Sabina Church, calling it the worst period in the 45 years he has worked on social issues. "I have never seen the despair, hopelessness and anger all mixed together at the level it is right now." The violence comes amid a wrenching debate nationwide about policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police. Those who defend the police say that the violence shows they need more support, not less, and that it is people living in high-crime areas who most need effective policing. Critics say the violence shows how police are failing the public, how deeply residents distrust officers and the need for reforms and the transfer of funds to address underlying problems, including unemployment, mental illness and drug use. At least 336 people have been murdered in Chicago this year as of Thursday, according to the Chicago Police Department, a homicide rate on track to hit the 2016 record of 778 deaths, one of the deadliest years in decades. (New York City, with almost three times the population, had 176 murders as of June 28.) Chicago had 658 murders in 2017, 567 in 2018 and 492 in 2019, according to Chicago police records. Before the July 4 weekend, Mayor Lori Lightfoot made an appeal to young men, who she said were responsible for the bulk of the shootings. "Think about the number of children that have been killed just in the last two weeks," she said at a news conference. "Families that will not recover from this hardship. Mothers' hearts that are broken, fathers' hearts that are destroyed, grandparents who are living in mourning." Chicago is not alone. Before the coronavirus hit, homicides were escalating nationwide in early 2020, and although the lockdown brought a pause, they began rising again as the stay-at-home measures were lifted. A national study showed that homicide rates fell in 39 of 64 major cities during April and began creeping up in May. The pandemic has added significant stress on the communities that already suffer the most violence. Impoverished neighborhoods like Englewood also have some of the highest rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths. Overall, there have been 53,375 known coronavirus cases in Chicago and at least 2,631 deaths, according to statistics from the state. Unemployment in some of the most affected areas rose to 35 percent from 28 percent during the pandemic, Pfleger said. An off-duty Laredo police sergeant has been arrested on the suspicion of driving drunk, authorities said. LPD identified its official as Sgt. Jose O. Sotelo, a 21-year veteran patrol sergeant with the department. Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox has won the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, denying a comeback to Jon Huntsman, the former governor and 2012 presidential candidate who stepped down from his post as U.S. ambassador to Russia last year. The Associated Press called the race for Cox on Monday night. The June 30 primary was conducted mostly by mail, with some areas of the state offering drive-up and in-person voting because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cox said in a tweet Monday night that he had received a "gracious call" from Huntsman conceding the race. "Thanks to all of you for making today happen," Cox tweeted. "We still have much work to do. And we will do it together." Huntsman had been elected to two terms as Utah governor. He resigned during his second term in 2009 and became the U.S. ambassador to China under the Obama administration. He left that post two years later for an unsuccessful run for president. In 2017, President Donald Trump tapped Huntsman to be his ambassador to Moscow. Huntsman stepped down from the post two years later, saying in his resignation letter that he wanted to return home "to reconnect with our growing family and responsibilities." He announced his bid for governor soon after returning to the United States. Cox bested Huntsman and two other candidates, former state House speaker Greg Hughes and former state GOP chairman Thomas Wright, in the Republican primary. Polling in June showed Cox and Huntsman locked in a tight race, with Cox leading among registered Republicans and Huntsman ahead among Democrats and unaffiliated voters. - - - The Washington Post's Carol Morello contributed to this report. ALBANY A report released Monday by the state Department of Health sought to absolve the agency of blame for more than 6,000 deaths in New York nursing homes from COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said at a press conference Monday morning that a controversial memo issued by the agency on March 25 that disallowed nursing homes from denying admission or readmission to residents based solely on a positive or suspected COVID-19 diagnosis was not to blame for what stands as the nation's highest nursing home death toll. If a COVID-19-positive patient at a hospital was medically stable and needed nursing home care, many nursing homes believed the directive required them to accept that person. The policy has been criticized by Cuomo critics, as well as in media reports, as the cause of the widespread infection rate among a highly vulnerable elderly population. But the DOH report argues the deaths occurred because staff working at the homes had brought the infection into the facilities, at a time when the spread of coronavirus within the state was unknown. That conclusion was supported in the report by data that showed the peak of nursing home deaths occurred a week before the peak of nursing home admissions of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19; the peak of infections of nursing home staff similarly tracked with peak mortality for residents. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements Will Waldron/Albany Times Union The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, at a press conference that began soon after Zucker's ended, blasted critics who attributed the deaths to his administrations policy. That has no basis in fact, Cuomo said. It was pure politics and it was ugly politics. And now the report has the facts, and the facts tell the exact opposite story. As Cuomo has received national attention and praise for his daily briefings on the pandemic, Republicans smarting from criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the crisis have seized on the nursing home deaths to allege fatal mismanagement by New York's executive branch. GOP members of the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus are seeking information from the Cuomo administration about the nursing home directive. According to the Cuomo administration report, which was based on data submitted by nursing homes, 37,500 nursing home staff members in New York or about one in four overall were infected between March and early June. Of those, about 7,000 were working in facilities in March. The peak number of nursing home deaths arrived on April 8, according to the report. Because the time from infection to death ranges between 18 and 25 days, the report suggests that residents were likely infected by staff in mid-March before the DOH order went into effect on March 25. Read the full report: The report also stated there was a high likelihood that visitors to nursing home residents played a role in sparking COVID-19 infections before Cuomo suspended such visits on March 13 although the report acknowledges there is no data to back up that claim. Meanwhile, according to the report, 6,326 COVID-positive patients were admitted to nursing home facilities between March 25 and May 8. But while the peak date for admissions based on the DOH memo was April 14, according to the report, the peak date for deaths was actually six days earlier, on April 8. If admissions were driving fatalities, the report stated, the order of peak fatalities and peak admissions would have been reversed. Zucker said he did not believe the DOH policy was responsible for deaths, but declined to comment on a recent ProPublica report that concluded states that adopted policies similar to New Yorks had significantly higher number of nursing home deaths when compared to states like Florida, which barred hospitals from transferring positive patients to nursing homes. I would have to go back and look at that data, Zucker said. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, a Republican and frequent Cuomo critic, has touted the fact that he defied the DOH directive and that there were no subsequent COVID-19 deaths at his county-run, 320-person nursing home, Van Rensselaer Manor. The DOH report also stated that nursing home residents who were transferred to hospitals after displaying COVID-19 symptoms before being transferred back to their nursing homes stayed at those hospitals a median length of nine days. According to the report, nine days after first showing symptoms a patient would no longer be infectious, another matter of timing that Zucker said buttressed the administrations contention that the March 25 order was not responsible for nursing home deaths. Asked on Monday if his administration could have done anything differently, Cuomo pinned the blame wholly on the federal government for not raising the alarm in December or January about the spread of COVID-19 to the U.S. from China and Europe. By March 1, when New York had its first confirmed case, the disease had already spread widely here, Cuomo said. They should have said the virus was here when it was here, Cuomo said. I dont do global pandemics; I dont have an international health department. While New York has the highest nursing home death toll in the country, the Cuomo administration has noted a New York Times finding that the states nursing home deaths, as a percentage of total COVID-19 deaths, are 46th in the country. New Yorks percentage is, however, driven down by the fact that it also has by far the countrys highest overall total number of COVID-19 deaths. Robert Ortt, who only recently took over leadership of the state Senate's Republican minority, lambasted what he called Cuomo and Zucker's "continual attempts to distort reality" as an "insult to every New Yorker" who lost a loved one to the virus in a nursing home, long-term care or assisted living facility. "The Cuomo administration now blames family members and dedicated staff instead of their botched March 25 directive that sent COVID-19 positive patients walking into the door," Ortt said in a statement. "The Cuomo administrations failure to accept responsibility for their disastrous response has been outrageous, but to blame family members who have suffered devastating losses who were not even able to say goodbye at funerals is the ultimate low." Ort repeated his call for an independent investigation into the nursing homes deaths instead of a report "issued by the Cuomo administration and their allies." State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who won election in 2018 with Cuomo's backing, is investigating the conduct of nursing homes; while that probe is being conducted in conjunction with DOH, it will not look into the agency's actions. Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, the Democratic chairman of the body's health committee, has called for an investigation by an independent counsel appointed by James that would probe both nursing homes and the state government's actions. Amid the rising tensions at the China-India border, an unseen contest is underway at the Pangong Tso, where the two countries are aiming to take full control of the territory from the opposition. The confrontation comes as tension between the two countries rises with encounters erupting from multiple regions. The Chinese nation controls approximately two-thirds of the body of water which spans 83 miles. The lake is home to frequent patrol boat incursions and confrontations between the two nations' troops. Rising tensions According to Forbes, in 2018, conflicts between the two countries in the lake have calmed until they once again resumed in 2019. The overt clashes occurred when Indian and Chinese troops faced each other in unarmed combat in and around the area of Pangong Tso. Recently in May, encounters between both nations' troops resumed in the decade's worst border violence recorded. After a fatal battle in June, however, the majority of hostilities have ceased, but both sides have since begun ramping up their aggression by calling in reinforcements, including vessels. Previously, another fatal encounter between Chinese and Indian troops, that led to the deaths of several military personnel had one Indian soldier have his throat slit open by metal nails. The man's father explained that a fellow troop revealed his son's cause of death. The victim is among those who lost their lives during a close combat confrontation with Chinese military troops last month when they were surrounded unarmed by a large group of China's military. Witnesses have also revealed that some Indian troops died when they fell into the freezing waters of the Galwan river located in the western part of the Himalayas, as reported by Reuters. Also Read: India Clashes With China at Border, 20 Indian Soldier Killed, Beaten to Death Brutal unarmed encounter On June 15, 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the border when they came face-to-face with Chinese troops. The confrontation led to brutal and violent unarmed combat and is considered to be the highest fatality encounter since 1967 between the two countries. One Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters that the government accused the Indian troops of illegally crossing the border, provoking Chinese forces, which then led to the fatal clash. The spokesperson claims that Chinese officers and soldiers attempted to negotiate with the opposition who then violently attacked and ambushed them. The official went on to say that the responsibility for the incident was apparent and that the Indian troops are solely to blame. The accusations, however, are not supported by evidence as the defence ministry of China refused to provide further comments on the case. The casualties of the confrontation include three men who had their "arteries ruptured in the neck" and two who suffered severe head injuries that were allegedly caused by sharp or pointed objects, as seen in their death certificates. A Delhi government official revealed that the sudden battle caused the troops to use whatever they could find as weapons, including sticks, rocks, and even their own fists to defend themselves against the opposition. Indian officials accused the People's Liberation Army (LPA) of acting in a planned manner but had since not revealed the full details regarding the incident. Related Article: [Breaking] Terrorists Assault Karachi Stock Exchange, At Least 9 Killed @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Lori Van Buren SARATOGA SPRINGS - City police confirmed on Monday that it is investigating a complaint in connection with incidents that took place at a Shelters of Saratoga's office on Ballston Avenue. Lt. Robert Jillson said there were two incidents, one on July 1 and another on July 2. He did not say what the nature of the complaint was. Virginia reported no known coronavirus-related deaths on Monday for the first time in more than three months, while the District lost ground in a key metric after identifying a weeks-old spike in cases. The District, Maryland and Virginia reported 659 new known coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the regional total to more than 146,000 since the start of the pandemic. The daily increase is the smallest number in the three jurisdictions since April 3. The region recorded five new fatalities Monday, with no daily deaths reported in Virginia for the first time since March 28. Mondays typically have some of the lowest daily numbers following the weekend, with this Monday also coming after a holiday. The District on Monday reported 33 new cases and two deaths. In Maryland, 272 new cases and three fatalities reported. Virginia had 354 new cases. Several key measures of the virus have been improving in the Washington region, experts say, although the daily average caseload has plateaued after weeks of decline. Officials have cautioned that the gradual lifting of restrictions could increase the rate of transmission as more people interact in public places. Officials also cautioned that the region could have an increase in cases after celebrations tied to the Fourth of July holiday. The number of new cases on a seven-day average has generally hovered below 1,000 since mid-June. The District on Monday also announced it had lost some ground as it measures community spread of the virus after identifying a spike in mid-June. D.C. officials want to see 14 days of declining community spread before lifting more restrictions. City health officials count new cases by the date patients first reported experiencing symptoms - which usually lags behind positive test results. As of Sunday, the District had measured eight days of declining spread, starting June 12 with about 40 new cases. But the District reset that clock to five days on Monday after identifying another roughly 40 patients who developed symptoms about a week later. Officials are counting the new peak as the start of a two-week decline period. The changes mean the District couldn't move to the third phase of recovery until the middle of next week at the earliest. Northern Virginia has moved to its third phase of recovery, raising concerns about whether District residents patronizing reopened businesses in the state could spread the virus in the city. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was relieved that bar areas had not reopened as part of Virginia's recovery. Packed rallies are out, along with their cheers and jeers. In comes the Internet, with its memes and trolls. The era of social distancing ushered in by the deadly coronavirus has forced Singapore's political parties to face off online in the lead-up to a national election in less than a week. "Compared to past elections, parties clearly are adopting a more experimental approach to sustain people's interest and meet different needs," said Carol Soon, senior research fellow and head of the society and culture department at the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore. Though previous elections have increasingly seen political parties vie for attention online, social media is quickly shaping up to be a key pillar in campaign strategies this time around. The shift comes as politicians face public health restrictions on election activities with the island still grappling with virus infections. That includes the scrapping of physical rallies, typically held outdoors at stadiums which sometimes attract tens of thousands of voters. Social media has presented an opportunity for these parties to obtain greater access to voters, many of whom are digitally-savvy and increasingly politically engaged. Ahead of the July 10 polls, most opposition parties have sought to reach more voters by bolstering their content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They are also making use of the ability to conduct live video broadcasts on platforms such as YouTube and Zoom. To facilitate online campaigning, venues have been provided for candidates to do live streaming at certain time slots throughout the day during the campaign period, equipped with Internet connectivity at subsidized rates. Minutes after Parliament was dissolved in June, the Workers' Party - the main opposition force - posted a video introducing the 12 candidates it intends to field in the coming polls. The video of its line-up of candidates smiling for the camera and set to soaring music has garnered 210,000 views to date. Tan Cheng Bock, the 80-year-old leader of the Progress Singapore Party, became a sensation after he attempted to use millennial slang while addressing the press during a walkabout. Tan has avidly posted content on Instagram, including a video showing how he types with a single finger, in an effort to relate to younger voters. "Cyberspace has helped open up Singapore's political culture," said Cherian George, a professor of media studies at Hong Kong Baptist University's School of Communication. Whether that would have an impact on "electoral outcomes is a very different question. So far, the answer is no," he said. The Singapore Democratic Party said it's "constantly looking for ways to creatively" get its message out on social media, but there still are limitations to the online reach. "We have always depended on rallies and large walkabouts which are banned for this election," Chairman Paul Ananth Tambyah said in an emailed response to questions. Many of the country's present ministers, who hail from the ruling People's Action Party or PAP, already are established on the same online platforms. The party has governed the Southeast Asian nation since independence in 1965. While Singapore doesn't allow opinion polls, most analysts expect the PAP to easily win again in a race that will see all 93 seats contested by at least two parties for just the second time. The PAP has revved up its social media activity by posting video segments explaining the party's stance on key policy issues. It's focused on the government's handling of the coronavirus and the economic fallout. Ministers are also posting more updates about their activities on the ground during the campaign season. Collectively, the posts have garnered thousands of likes. But with greater access also comes greater scrutiny. Social media has proven to be a double-edged sword that can inflict damage on the image of candidates and parties as well. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's 'East Coast plan' blunder during a speech last week was widely shared, leading to memes poking fun at him and his comments. Heng is widely seen as the PAP's successor to current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The Progress Singapore Party's Tan -- a former PAP lawmaker -- also had a near slip in rallying support for the ruling party instead of his own. On Sunday, Workers' Party candidate Raeesah Khan publicly apologized for her previous online remarks about how law enforcement treats different groups in Singapore. The apology came after authorities announced that police reports had been lodged against Khan for the social media posts, which date back to 2018 and also one earlier this year. Promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of race or religion under the country's penal code could warrant up to three years in jail, a fine or both. Police said investigations are currently ongoing. Earlier as elections in the country kicked off, PAP candidate Ivan Lim faced a wave of allegations online over his behavior when he was in the military and as an executive at a unit of conglomerate Keppel Corp Ltd. Lim withdrew from contest shortly after, saying he didn't want the allegations to distract from the PAP's efforts. The incident prompted Prime Minister Lee to caution against a "culture of trial by the Internet." "It sets a very damaging precedent that you can condemn somebody and write him off on the basis of an Internet campaign," Lee said at a virtual press conference on June 29. "We don't have time to settle it now, but we can't simply write off and destroy people like this." In October, Singapore enacted a fake news law that empowers the government to issue correction orders and even force social media platforms to restrict access to web-based content it deems untrue. Officials have said the law is needed to quell errant online information -- drawing criticism from the opposition and even Facebook Inc., amid concerns it would set a precedent for stifling free speech. Since general elections were announced by the prime minister last month, officials continued to invoke the law. Correction orders were issued over the weekend against the Singapore Democratic Party and various media over statements about the city-state's population target, as well as carrying comments made by an opposition leader on migrant workers' virus testing. A man tried to smuggle more than 35 pounds of meth in candy bags through the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Thursday. READ MORE: Copperhead snakes engage in nightly summertime feeding congregation Enrique Santos, 40, was arrested and charged with import, attempt to import and conspire to import the meth. At about 11:41 p.m. June 29, Santos arrived at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge as a passenger in a commercial bus from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico traveling to San Antonio. A secondary inspection of the candy bags Santos had resulted in the discovery of 35.22 pounds of methamphetamine. The contraband had an estimated street value of $704,590. Homeland Security Investigations special agents and task force officers responded to take over the investigation. Santos allegedly agreed to make a post-arrest statement. Santos stated that while he was in Monterrey, his cousin instructed him to take the narcotics-laden candy bags to San Antonio, according to court documents. Once in San Antonio, Texas, Santos was to deliver the candy bags to an unknown individual. Santos further stated his cousin is associated with a drug trafficking organization, states the affidavit. Santos stated he knew the candy bags contained something illegal, but he was not aware of what exactly they contained. READ MORE: Laredo singer stuns judges on La Voz Santos added that he was supposed to return to Monterrey after delivering the narcotics. Three men and a woman were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a busy south Houston intersection Sunday night. The shooter and three men were involved in some kind of argument near Holcombe Boulevard and the South Freeway around 10:40 p.m., according to Houston Police Department detective C. Bowling. As the victims car was in traffic at a stop light near the intersection, the suspect started shooting at the car, striking the men. HOUSTON WEATHER: Rainy start to the week provides no relief from heat A woman, who was not involved in the altercation, was also shot as she waited for the light to change, police later said. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The suspect sped away as the men drove themselves to nearby Ben Taub Hospital, where they were expected to survive. Their car was seen parked in the emergency room lane riddled with bullet holes. Police did not release a description of the suspected shooter. Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com LONDON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese technology firm Huawei said Sunday that it remains "open to discussions" with the British government and is working closely with its customers to find ways of managing the proposed U.S. restrictions so Britain can maintain its current lead in 5G. The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that it will impose new restrictions on Huawei's acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain U.S. software and technology. Huawei said in a previous statement that it "categorically opposes the amendments made by the U.S. Department of Commerce to its foreign direct product rule that target Huawei specifically". The British government announced in January its new plans to safeguard the country's telecoms network, which is widely seen as approving a restricted role for Huawei in helping build the country's 5G network. But the British government is reviewing the impact of the U.S. restrictions on Huawei and will make a statement regarding the issue later this month, according to local media. In Sunday's statement, Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: "We believe it is too early to determine the impact of the proposed restrictions, which are not about security, but about market position." "All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown," said Zhang. An executive of Vodafone has warned that Britain's hopes of leading the world in 5G technology would be dealt a terminal blow if the government removes Huawei from the country's telecoms infrastructure, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported last month. "The UK's leadership in 5G will be lost if mobile operators are forced to spend time and money replacing existing equipment," Scott Petty, chief technology officer at Vodafone UK, told FT. The Chinese technology company has been operating in the British market for some two decades. It employs 1,600 people in Britain and supplies telecoms network equipment to all the major mobile and broadband service providers in the country. Recently, Huawei announced that it will build a state-of-the-art center in Cambridge, Britain, which will focus on the research, development, and manufacturing of optical devices and modules. During the Fourth of July weekend, at least 13 people have died, including a young 7-year-old girl attending a family party in Chicago, said police officers. The shooting also wounded at least 59 other people. Young victims According to AP News, four armed men opened fire at a large gathering of people in the Englewood neighborhood on Saturday evening. Tom Ahern, a police spokesman, said two males were killed on the spot and two others, one a 14-year-old boy, died inside the hospital due to their injuries. Another four people received injuries, and one was put in critical condition while the other three were in better terms. Ahern noted that the gunmen quickly fled the scene, and no arrest has been made. Assailants killed the 7-year-old girl by shooting her in the head when she was attending a Fourth of July party at her grandmother's house in the Austin neighborhood. The suspects allegedly got out of a car and immediately began shooting at the group of people. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot posted on Twitter, where she wrote that the young girl became part of a list detailing the children who have lost their lives and hopes for the future at the hands of firearms, as reported by Star Tribune. Lightfoot also said the community must continue to protect the young generation and encourage them that there is a future where they can live in that is not plagued by gun violence. Also Read: Godmother Charged With Capital Murder for Choking, Killing 5-year-old One of the injured people included a 32-year-old man transferred to the hospital and is in stable condition. Police officers reported that seven of the victims of the shooting were minors. The tragedy of this weekend's shooting followed last week's incident where a one-year-old boy who was riding with his mother died in shootings along with a ten-year-old girl who was shot while inside her home while sitting on the couch, as reported by Boston News. Additional police force In response to the heinous crimes committed during the Memorial Day weekend, police announced they would be adding 1,200 additional law enforcement personnel patrolling the streets for this holiday weekend. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown previously said that they were unable to provide additional support during the previous two weekends that recorded 111 people shot, 24 of which died. Brown reassured the public they would be having the other officers working through Thursday to Sunday. Brown noted that they aimed to arrest criminals who try to undermine public peace and justice during the holidays by taking advantage of the situation. The superintendent announced police would focus on street corners he claims is home to the city's drug market that allegedly result in the shootings and murders in the city. The superintendent also requested the criminal justice system to keep criminals in prison through to Sunday to avoid potential crimes and violence. Brown said, "When we clear a corner, we're pleading to the court system: keep them in jail through the weekend." Related Article: Vanessa Guillen Murder: Female Air Force Veteran Lambasted After Saying She Deserved Harrasment @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Houston has a banner week ahead: Hot, wet and sticky. Scattered showers and thunderstorms could crop up Monday afternoon as temperatures reach the lower 90s. It will feel like the low 100s outside when the humidity is factored in, a whopping 65 percent by noon. BEAT THE HEAT, STAY HOME: Texas leaders warn of hospital capacity, ask for lockdowns Theres only a 30 percent chance youll see some of those scattered showers Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Those chances increase to 50 percent overnight. Tuesday will have the biggest rain chances, with 50 percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. Temperatures will also remain in the low 90s with heat index values, or feels like temperatures, in the low 100s. As things dry out Wednesday, temperatures will rise to the mid-to-upper 90s through the weekend. As of Monday morning, Sundays predicted actual high temperature is 100 degrees and the heat index could be even worse. This heat could prompt a heat advisory for the area later in the week. But regardless of an advisory, Houstonians should exercise caution when working and playing in the heat by limiting their exposure and knowing the signs of heat stroke. In the tropics, Tropical Storm Eduardo is spinning in the mid-Atlantic Ocean and poses no immediate threat to Houston. The National Hurricane Center is also watching two separate disturbances. The first is in the northern Gulf of Mexico that is expected to move across the Florida panhandle into the Atlantic Ocean, which has a 40 percent chance of development by the weekend. The second is just east of the Caribbean Sea and has a 10 percent chance to develop. 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 High speed travel to Auckland and catching snapper from clean water at the wharf are among the benefits expected from a $9 million Government package for projects in Warkworth. The Mahurangi River Restoration Trust has been granted $4.06 million by the Ministry of Environment to finish dredging the Mahurangi River. Trust board member Steve Burrett expects the dredging will be finished by October 2021. He says once complete, vessels with up to 1.5 metres of draught will be able to traverse the river at all tides, opening the way for high speed ferries to Auckland. A further $5 million has been awarded to Auckland Council for riparian planting and fencing to prevent sediment building up in the river again. The projects will be monitored by a reference group a committee comprised of government and external members as well as an independent chair. The government is hoping that the projects will create 105 new jobs. The River Restoration Trust has so far removed 12,000 cubic meters of sediment and has 100,000 more to go. Steve says the money will significantly speed up the dredging process from 100 cubic metres of sediment a day to up to 400. The removed sediment is taken to a farm halfway down the river where it is compressed to remove the water. It is then spread out and sown with grass. Steve says ultimately the Trust may employ a second barge, although it is difficult to find vessels of the right specification. The grant means we wont have continual stoppages from the funding running dry, he says. Trust board member Peter Thompson says it will also have environmental benefits, providing cleaner water for shellfish beds and allowing fish to stay up stream. Thirty years ago you could catch snapper from the wharf. Thanks to the dredging, you will be able to do that again. The Mahurangi River projects were chosen from a list of more than 300 projects submitted by regional councils. Our committee would like to express our thanks for support from One Warkworth and, in particular, local MP Marja Lubeck who has campaigned diligently with the various ministers, Steve says. Lockport, NY (14094) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Cooler. High near 65F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear skies. Low 49F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. A total of 310,275 has been approved and paid out to Longford businesses under the Governments Restart Grant to aid reopening after COVID-19, Senator Micheal Carrigy has said. Senator Carrigy said, The Governments Restart Grant involves direct grant aid to micro and small businesses of between 2,000 and 10,000, to help with the costs associated with reopening and re-employing workers following COVID-19 closures. Business owners and their staff have been through incredibly difficult times recently and it is so welcome that the Government is doing everything possible to support them to open up again. This work was begun by Fine Gael in the last government and it is welcome that the new Government is prioritising the recovery from the economic shock of Covid-19. They are working to repair the damage that has been done and restore confidence and prosperity. Small businesses will play a huge role in that as they are the lifeblood of the local economy. The latest figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, now headed up by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, show that 310,275 has been approved and paid to businesses in Longford since the Restart Grant was formed. These targeted supports that have been developed by the Department in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices, will be available to companies of including micro enterprises, SMEs, and sectors most exposed with a focus on food, manufacturing and internationally traded services including exporters and importers. This is in addition to a range of other supports for businesses to help them through the pandemic. The July Jobs Initiative, which will be announced in the coming weeks, will help to bolster our economy and get people back to work as quickly as possible. It will enhance and add to the existing measures totalling 12 billion in supports for Covid-19 impacted businesses already announced. For example this week Tanaiste Leo Varadkar announced that 183 retailers have been approved for 6.5 million in funding as part of the Online Retail Scheme, which is targeted at online retailers to strengthen their online offering and enable them to reach a wider customer base. Other measures include the Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), liquidity supports such as 0% finance for 6 months from MicroFinance Ireland, rates waivers from local authorities and the warehousing of tax liabilities of SMEs by Revenue. The Restart Grant is being rolled out through the Local Authorities across the country, so Longford County Council has a crucial role here. Impacted firms that are in rateable premises can apply to Longford County Council for grant support of between 2,000 and a maximum of 10,000 equivalent to their rates bill of 2019. The application form for the Restart Grant is available on the Councils website. I encourage all micro and small business owners in Longford to take a look at the website and apply for the grant to help them get back on their feet after COVID-19. A pensioner, who put a bomb on a bus during Queen Elizabeths visit here, has lost an appeal against the severity of his eight-and-a-half year sentence. The Court of Appeal said that the only way that it would change the 70-year-olds very lenient sentence would be to increase it. However, the three judges decided not to do so. Donal Billings with an address at St Bridgets Court, Drumlish, County Longford, had already lost an appeal against his conviction for the offence, and for making a number of hoax bomb threats during the State visit. That appeal had focused on his Irish language rights. He was found guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court in 2016 of possessing an explosive substance at Longford railway station car park on May 16, 2011. He was also convicted of making false reports that bombs had been placed at Busaras, at Sinn Fein's headquarters in Dublin, and in the toilets at Cork airport, and that two mortars were set for Dublin Castle. Sentencing him at the time, Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, said Billings was perfectly entitled to hold a low opinion of Queen Elizabeth and her visit to Ireland, but was not entitled to express such an opinion by engaging in criminality. His trial was heard in both Irish and English, as was his appeal today (Monday). Court President Justice George Birmingham opened proceedings by warning that, when dealing with severity of sentence, the powers of the court included increasing as well as reducing sentence. Billings decided to go ahead with his appeal. His barrister, Gerard Humphreys SC, noted that Billings was 70 years old, and informed the court that he had health difficulties. He pointed out that his trial had been listed to last for six weeks but had finished in 13 weekdays, due to his clients cooperation. The court said today that it did not need to hear from the Director of Public Prosecutions, as it had the States written submissions. Justice Birmingham, sitting with Justice Marie Baker and Justice Patrick McCarthy, rose to consider the case before returning to dismiss it. For us, its clear, theres no merit in the appeal against severity, said Justice Birmingham. This was a lenient, indeed a very lenient sentence. He said that the only live question was whether it was so lenient, that it would be necessary to increase it. Weve decided that we will not intervene to increase it, he said, however. Billings was present remotely, attending from Portlaoise Prison, to hear his appeal dismissed. 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!) An 8-year-old girl died after being shot on the Fourth of July weekend when two people opened fire on the car she was riding in near recent protests in Atlanta. Police officials revealed the girl's identity as Secoriea Turner, with the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms calling for justice on Sunday during a news conference that the victim's mother attended. Horrific shooting According to AP News, the incident occurred near Wendy's restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, an African-American man, was shot and killed by a police officer from Atlanta during a fatal encounter that started as a simple alcohol test on June 12. The restaurant was burned after Brook's death and later became the location for frequent protests calling out police brutality. Reports revealed the mother of the young girl tried to pass through illegally-placed barricades in the area when unknown assailants opened fire at the vehicle on the evening of Saturday. Bottoms said "You shot and killed a baby," adding there were at least two gunmen on the scene during the incident. On Sunday, police released a statement that said Turner was in the car with her mother along with her mother's friend when they attempted to enter a parking lot on University Avenue. A group of armed individuals then blocked their path to the entrance, and one eventually opened fire at the car multiple times, shooting and killing Turner who was sitting inside. Bottoms urged the public to come out with information they may have regarding the identities of the armed individuals who caused the death of the young girl, as reported by CNN. Also Read: Vanessa Guillen's Killers Burn, Pour Cement on her Corpse to Cover Up Their Crime The Atlanta mayor said "enough is enough" and stated that all across the United States, the public is eagerly waiting for a change in response to the continuous incidents of violence and murders running rampant across the nation. The mayor also called out the killers, saying they killed an innocent child who had no intention of fighting back. Public assistance Police officials are now offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that could support the investigation looking into the identities of the criminals responsible for Turner's death. Allegedly, the group of armed individuals were black men, one of which was wearing all black clothing similar to a bounty hunter while another was clad in a white t-shirt, said police officers. Bottoms noted that there had been previous reports of citizens causing trouble by blocking off streets and added she received a message that one hour before Turner's death, the barricades were back up. The Atlanta mayor also said the 8-year-old girl died while passing through a street, and noted if she were not safe, no one in the community would be. According to USA Today, after Turner's death, police officers responded to another shooting that occurred on Pryor Road where they found two people who had been shot and later found a third victim who was transferred to the hospital. Related Article: Ghislaine Maxwell Charged for Being Chief Enabler in Sexual Trafficking Ring for Young Girl Victims @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 6th July 2020 Runtime 20:09 Wentworth Resources are something of an E&P anomaly. Covid 19 and the oil price crash have inflicted damage on many AIM-listed companies, but by contrast, Wentworth have continued their work programme and were financially confident enough to pay the second dividend of the financial year, amounting to a 7.6% yeild. #WEN are debt free and have $15.7M in cash as of May 2020. In an exclusive interview with London South East, Katherine Roe CEO talked us through her growth strategy for the Tanzania-based gas business, and gave us an in-depth operational update. #WENs primary asset is a 32% non-operated holding in the Mnazi Bay gas field in the south of Tanzania, close to the border with Mozambique. It has a fixed price gas offtake contract until the end of the licence in 2031 and firmly a sustainable partnership approach with the Tanzanian Government is the way to do business in the country. The field operator is Maurel & Prom, and the Government hold the remaining 20% through TPDC. Mnazi Bay is one of the largest natural gas fields in Tanzania and supplies gas to power electricity stations in the main industrial city of Dar es Salaam in the north. The electricity made is used primarily for domestic power generation. #WEN hope to close the access to power gap in the country, where 8 million households are without electricity. Tanzania has Hydro electricity, more prevalent in the rainy season, Gas and Renewable energy. Wentworth have given production guidance of 65 to 75 MMscf/day (gross) for the year, and when in-country demand has increased can supply to over 100 MMscf/day. Demand for gas will grow as new power stations are built and existing capacity expanded. Electricity distribution infrastructure is to be extended throughout Tanzania. When challenged about a change of political leadership in-country Katherine said: Access to low-cost, affordable power is a political imperative, regardless of who is President, who is in power, its at the heart of any countrys development. And why hold Wentworth stock? I have paraphrased Katherine below. 1. Tanzania has a growing population and its energy needs will grow exponentially. Wentworth gives you exposure to the Tanzania opportunity via a well run high quality business. 2. We are an ESG-friendly business in a very difficult space which is moving towards a lower carbon carbon energy solution. Natural gas works well as a transition fuel. 3. We have a unique opportunity to deliver the possibility of both capital and income growth. (Alliance News) - Former Barclays PLC chief executive John Varley has refuted a suggestion that he "deceived" the bank's board during the 2008 financial crisis. Varley was giving evidence at a High Court trial in London on Monday after Barclays became embroiled in a GBP1.6 billion battle with a businesswoman. Amanda Staveley has made complaints about the behaviour of Barclays bosses when negotiating investment deals during the crisis 12 years ago. She says Barclays agreed to provide an unsecured GBP2 billion loan to Qatari investors. But she says that loan was "concealed" from the market, shareholders and from PCP Capital Partners, a private equity firm she runs. PCP is suing the bank and wants GBP1.6 billion in damages. A judge began overseeing the trial on June 8. Justice Waksman has already heard evidence from Staveley and witnesses called by PCP. Staveley, who in recent months has been involved in brokering a deal which could see a Saudi consortium take control of Newcastle United, says PCP introduced Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour to Barclays and he "subscribed" to invest GBP3.25 billion. She says PCP is owed money for the work it did. Barclays disputes PCP's claim and says it is made "of sand". Varley was questioned by a barrister leading PCP's legal team on Monday. Joe Smouha QC asked whether information about a particular agreement made with Qatari investors on June 5 2008 had been reported to a Barclays board meeting on June 11. Varley indicated that information had been given to the board shortly after June 11. He said: "If you are suggesting to me Smouha, as I think you are, that I in some way deceived the board, then I strongly disagree with that." Varley has told the judge how, in 2017, the Serious Fraud Office had brought criminal charges against him. He said he had "maintained my complete innocence of any criminal offences" and a judge had ruled that he had no case to answer. In February, three other former Barclays bosses were cleared of fraud over a GBP4 billion investment deal with Qatar at the height of the banking crisis. The SFO had alleged that lucrative terms given to Qatar were hidden from the market and other investors through bogus advisory service agreements. But Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath were acquitted by jurors following a five-month trial at the Old Bailey. By Brian Farmer, PA source: PA Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - Hochschild Mining PLC on Monday said it has temporarily halted operations at the Inmaculada mine in Peru after some workers tested positive for Covid-19. Shares in Hochschild were down 5.5% at 177.50 pence in London in morning trading. The Americas-focused precious metals company said a "number of workers" at Inmaculada tested positive despite preventative measures such as quarantine and testing. Given this, the company has decided to prioritise employee health over business continuity and put a temporary halt to operations. Inmaculada will continue with a reduced workforce that will operate care and maintenance activities at the site. Operations are expects to resume once "a safe and healthy workforce can return to site". San Jose in Argentina and Pallancata in Peru are still in operation. By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - MC Mining Ltd said Monday it has agreed with restructure a ZAR240 million conditional loan with the Industrial Development Corp of South Africa Ltd, which was first secured in March 2017. The facility was granted to develop the Makhado hard coking project and led to the IDC holding a 5% stake in MC Mining's subsidiary Baobab Mining & Exploration Pty Ltd, which owned the project itself. MC Mining has already used ZAR120 million of the facility, with the second tranche remaining undrawn. The company has been in advanced discussions to secure ZAR535 million, the capital and working capital needed to construct phase one of Makhado, which has a nine-year life-of-mine and is expected to produce 540,000 tonnes of coal and 570,000 tonnes thermal coal by-product. Significant progress was made in March, including the signing of a further ZAR245 million loan facility. Now the IDC has agreed that MC Mining can drawdown ZAR40 million from the second tranche, while the loan facility remains part of the phase one funding package. In return, the IDC will take up a further 1.7% interest in Baobab, and the agreement is conditional on MC Mining raising ZAR15 million in new equity. "The company made significant progress in securing the capital required for phase one prior to the Covid-19 lockdown. The execution of the complete phase one composite funding package was delayed due to Covid-19 and the restructuring of the Initial IDC facility pursuant to the agreement gives the company the time it needs to conclude the funding process. The restructuring also delays the repayment of the first tranche and negotiations are ongoing to align this payment with the positive cash flows generated by Makhado," said Acting Chief Executive Brenda Berlin. Shares in MC Mining were down 6.7% at 7.00 pence on Monday in London, while its Johannesburg shares were 8.6% lower at ZAR1.17. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - Supermarket chain WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC on Monday announced the appointment of Jeremy Townsend as a non-executive director, effective immediately. This comes after the resignation of independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee Belinda Richards. Richards will leave the board after the release of the Bradford-based company's interim results on September 10. Townsend will also be appointed to the grocer's audit, corporate compliance & responsibility, nomination, and remuneration committees. He will take the reigns of chair of the audit committee from September 10, when Richards steps down. Morrison Chair Andrew Higginson said: "I would like to thank Belinda for her significant contribution to the board over the last five years, and to wish her well in her new role. "I am delighted to welcome Jeremy to Morrisons. He brings extensive financial and industry experience and is ideally suited to chair the company's audit committee." Townsend is currently chief financial officer of pest control company Rentokil Initial PLC, a role from which he is due to retire later in 2020. Shares in Morrisons were up 0.7% at 186.65 pence on Monday morning in London. By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - Quilter PLC on Monday said Independent Non-Executive Director Jon Little will step down at the end of September. The London-based wealth management services provider explained that Little has recently taken on a new full-time role that will not allow him to commit the required time to his role with Quilter. Little has served on the Quilter board and as a member of the remuneration committee since May 2017. He is also chair of Quilter Investors Ltd, Quilter's multi-asset investment solutions business, and he will also step down from that role at the end of September. An external search agency has been appointed to help the company to identify a successor to Little, Quilter said. "Jon Little has played a significant role since joining the board in May 2017 by first supporting the preparation of Quilter for listing and later bringing his deep experience of the asset management industry to bear in re-shaping the business into a modern wealth management business and in particular guiding the build-out of Quilter Investors," said Chair Glyn Jones. "We thank him for his contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours," added Jones. Quilter shares were trading 1.3% higher in London on Monday at 142.40 pence each, while in Johannesburg, the stock was 1.0% higher at ZAR30.16 per share. By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - Britain will on Monday name the first individuals to be sanctioned under a new regime targeting people who violate human rights, with Russians and Saudis reportedly on the list. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will set out the new sanctions powers in parliament and reveal a list of individuals who will immediately be subject to UK asset and visa bans. "From today, the UK will have new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the UK, channelling money through our banks and profiting from our economy," Raab said in a statement. "This is a clear example of how the UK will help to lead the world in standing up for human rights.A "We will not let those who seek to inflict pain and destroy the lives of innocent victims benefit from what the UK has to offer." The Foreign Office declined to say in advance who would be on the list. But the Financial Times said it is expected to include people believed by Britain to be implicated in the deaths of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Magnitsky was arrested after detailing an alleged large-scale tax fraud by Russian officials. He died in jail in 2009. Khashoggi was a Saudi insider-turned-critic who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.A Five people were sentenced to death for his killing in Saudi Arabia last year, but 20 more, including two former aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,A are currently on trial in Turkey. The new sanctions regime, set up under a 2018 British law, will also target figures from North Korea but not China, the FT and the BBC reported. The Foreign Office said: "Future targets of the regime may include those who commit unlawful killings perpetrated against journalists and media workers, or activity motivated on the grounds of religion or belief." Overall, the regime could apply to those who "facilitate, incite, promote, or support these violations/abuses, as well as those who financially profit from human rights violations and abuses". source: AFP Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. 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. Formal charges against a Warren police officer who was arrested over the weekend were delayed Monday. Anwar Mohommed Khan, 48, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in 42nd District Court in Romeo but those proceedings were put on hold when prosecutors asked for more information from sheriff's office investigators. Records showed over the weekend he was being detained in the Macomb County Jail in Mount Clemens on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon after being arrested on July 4. - Advertisement - Reached Sunday night, Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer declined to comment on the allegation. Macomb County Circuit Court records show Khan filed for divorce from his former wife, Melissa, in June 2019. He filed for interim custody and parenting time of the couple's children along with the divorce papers. Judge Rachel Rancilio approved the divorce in January of this year. On Monday, as the arraignment was supposed to begin, Judge Denis LeDuc at the request of prosecutors instead entered a $10,000 interim bond with stipulations that include no criminal charges, aggressive behavior or contact with potentially witnesses or his former wife by Khan, court representatives confirmed Monday afternoon. As of late afternoon Monday, the prosecutor's office had not sent over revised arraignment paperwork and a representative there refused comment on the case. It was unclear if Khan had posted bond late Monday afternoon though records showed him as being housed at the county jail on Elizabeth Road in Mount Clemens. His attorney, John Dakmak of Detroit-based Clark Hill, said he was unsure Monday evening if charges will be filed. However, he said if they are authorized "we are not even considering any plea negotiations." Dakmak stated the incident that led to the weekend arrest happened when Khan's ex-wife arrived at his house to visit the couple's children. "She typically only gets supervised visitation at Phoenix House due to mental conditions made worse by drug and alcohol use," he said. "She asked to see the kids after not seeing them for months and almost from the minute she arrived things got bad." Khan was also involved in an incident with a former Warren police commander who was accused of threatening a potential witness in a criminal case and was also one of several defendants named in a federal lawsuit filed by DeSheila Howlett, an African-American former police officer who sued the city, police department and some officers alleging she was the victim of racial and gender discrimination, and harassment between 2006 and 2016 because the city did not require diversity training for her fellow officers. In one of her claims, Howlett said Khan, who was a field training officer at the time, told her that women do not have a right to work or be police officers. Court records show she further alleged that Khan had said: "America was better off prior to 1940, 1941, when all the men went off to war and then the women started working jobs, and basically, our society declined due to the women entering the workforce, so now there's nobody to tend to the children." The suit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Deputies take Jeffrey Zeigler into custody following his conviction in October 2018. The Rochester Hills man, 55, was convicted of assault with intent to do great bodily harm after he shot at a teenager who approached Zeigler's house for help. The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that an Oakland County Circuit judge did not give any reason for exceeding state guidelines when she sentenced Zeigler to 2-10 years on the assult charge. The sentence will be revisited. Chinese officials have detained one of Xi Jinping's most open critics who is a legal scholar most notable for being one of the most prominent voices in the country that is still publicly announcing his opposition to the president's ways. Taking down the opposition On Monday, a law professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University, Xu Zhangrun, was taken into custody by police officers while he was at his residence in the Chinese capital. His friends, citing a housekeeper who bore witness to the encounter with law enforcement and the official, revealed the arrest. According to the Wall Street Journal, Xu was previously detained when he criticized President Xi's method of leadership, most notably for his writings that condemned the Communist Party's initial mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The professor demanded government officials to take responsibility for the crude responses and urged for political reform to enable freedom of expression in the mainland. A Chinese official who personally knew Xu cited a Chinese idiom of an individual taking revenge during a favorable time by saying "They are settling accounts after the autumn harvest." Geng Xiaonan, who talked with Xu's wife and students, revealed by telephone that police officers stormed the professor's home, taking him, his computers and papers. Witnesses reported they saw ten official police cars and at least two dozen personnel who surrounded the residence before arresting Xu, as reported by The New York Times. Geng noted that Xu was prepared for when they would take him away and had previously prepared a bag filled with clothes and toothbrush that he kept hanging on his front door. Despite being ready for the scenario, the actual incident still surprised Geng when it actually happened. Also Read: China's New Security Law In Hong Kong Causes Libraries to Pull Pro-Democracy Books in Fears of Violations The Chinese government's detention of Xu is the latest of the string of steps officials have taken to take down the opposition. Last week saw Beijing passed the controversial new security law on Hong Kong that aimed to undermine political freedom and the city's autonomy from the mainland. Xu's arrest also suggests the Chinese government's series of steps to taking intellectual critics into custody that openly oppose the Chinese Communist Party. A voice for democracy An Australian Sinologist currently residing in New Zealand, Geremie R. Barme, said that Professor Xu "writes using a language of profound classical resonance" that he also credited to several writers from the West. According to The Guardian, when called and asked about Professor Xu's whereabouts, a police officer from Changping declined to answer and stated they did not know of his arrest. Chinese officials had banned Xu's publications in the mainland but were able to spread throughout the internet when users shared them in private channels. Xu first gained massive attention, while garnering the gazes of the Chinese Communist Party's defenders, for his 2018 essay condemned President Xi's political methods. In the essay, the scholar wrote that the Chinese people, including the wealthy and elite, have become uncertain of the country's future and that they fear for their own safety within their own nation. Despite multiple warnings from officials and colleagues of the university he worked at, Xu continued to write controversial publications aimed at the Chinese government. Related Article: Prominent Young Pro-Democracy Activist Nathan Law Flees Hong Kong Amid Threat of China's New Security Law @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Formal charges against a Warren police officer who was arrested over the weekend were delayed Monday. Subscribe to the Macomb Daily This is available to all readers in the interest of public safety. Please consider supporting local news; subscribe for only 99 for the first month. St. Peter Lutheran Church of Macomb Township will be distributing food at the Hope for the Hungry Food Pantry July 16 between 1 and 2 p.m. food to those in need. The Hope for the Hungry Food Pantry is currently housed in the Siefert School building at 24125 26 Mile Road (east of North Avenue) in Ray Township. - Advertisement - -- Gina Joseph, The Macomb Daily RELATED STORY Macomb Township church food pantry seek partnership TERRY LEE LUNDGREN, age 59 of Janesville, passed away following a three year battle with cancer at his home on Saturday, June 19, 2021, surrounded by his family. Per Terry's wishes, a private family service and a celebration of life will be held at a later date. Dennis Funeral & Crematio SPRINGFIELD - Concerns about COVID-19 and the spread of the virus through large crowds has led Hampden Sheriff Nick Cocchi to call off his annual summer picnic. The annual event, which attracts thousands of people and politicians from across the state, had been planned for Aug. 19 at the Springfield Elks lodge in Forest Park. Instead, Cocchi hopes to reschedule it for sometime in October if it is considered safe at that time to have people gather again. Cocchi said that although Massachusetts has had success compared to other states at reducing the spread of COVID-19, the risks of scheduling the cookout were just too great. We considered the possibilities for social distancing, but it just made sense to cancel this years event, he said. We dont know where things will stand with the pandemic come August and the last thing we want to do is help facilitate anyone getting sick. The summer event began decades ago as a clambake by Cocchis predecessor, Sheriff Michael Ashe. When Cocchi became sheriff in 2017, the clambake transitioned to a cookout, but it remained a go-to event for anyone seeking public office in Hampden County and even statewide office. In 2019, Massachusetts State Treasurer Deb Goldberg and U.S. Senator Ed Markey were among those in attendance. We are hopeful about putting something together for the fall, but regardless, we are already looking forward to next years summer cookout, he said. Its always nice to see the people we serve alongside our law enforcement community and our legislators, and we will get together when its safe to do so. HOLYOKE Ahmed Dia Eldin Elnaiem, a fourth-year Harvard Medical School student embedded with the citys Board of Health the past six weeks, is helping fight the spread of COVID-19, which has claimed nearly 130,000 American lives. Elnaiem, a Rockville, Maryland native, was researching in Haiti before the outbreak began. With coronavirus spreading out-of-control, he returned to the U.S. in March. Dr. Louise Ivers, a mentor and executive director of the Massachusetts General Hospital for Global Health, asked Elnaiem if he would volunteer to bolster the city of Holyokes pandemic response. Ivers, an infectious disease expert, is helping lead the response in Massachusetts. With Harvard shuttered, Elnaiem said yes to Ivers offer and found himself in Holyoke, his first time. I didnt know much about the town, but I thought it would be a fascinating situation to go work in, he said. Before arriving in Holyoke, Elnaiem read the latest Massachusetts Department of Public Healths COVID-19 town-by-town report. I saw it (Holyoke) was the third-highest number of cases in the state. At the time, I wasnt aware of what was going on at the Soldiers Home, he said. He also knew Holyoke was historically one of the most impoverished communities in the Commonwealth. He worked closely with Sean Gonsalves, the Board of Health director, Mike Bloomberg, the acting Emergency Management Director, and a COVID-19 response team assembled by Mayor Alex Morse. Elnaiem tried to determine the Board of Healths contact tracing capacity and workflow while attempting to corral Gov. Charlies Bakers bulletins and emergency orders. Its another reality to come see what the public health workers on the ground are doing, he said. He decided to view the situation through the lens of health workers and the response team. The states contract tracing initiative started a few weeks before he arrived in Holyoke. Tracing remains critical in identifying and limiting the viruss spread. There are challenges of communication. At the same time, I saw people working hard managing very complicated social situations with people who had been infected with Coronavirus, connecting them to services, Elnaiem said. He coordinated his activities with Ivers and her team in Boston, who specialize in community-based health care. Ivers has led massive responses during global health crisis, including the devasting earthquake in Haiti. Elnaiem and Ivers assembled a dashboard or database to capture and decipher the states latest figures. Holyoke has complete access to case-by-case data while keeping patient information private. The Board of Health can cull the data for trends, including how the pandemic will play out in the fall or flu season. The data can identify virus hotspots or zero in how certain demographic groups in Holyoke. The data can also examine trends affecting other communities in Massachusetts and whether they apply to Holyoke, according to Elnaiem. To get to that point of clarity, it requires building up a dashboard thats able to take this large database and wrangle the data so we can visualize it in a way that we can infer or take conclusions from it, he said. Ivers team will conduct a survey that tracks the Coronavirus antibodies levels in the population and whether herd immunity was achieved. The data can help determine if schools can safely reopen in the fall. Elnaiem will begin an emergency medicine rotation this week in Boston. Wilfredo Martinez, a fourth-year resident in internal medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital, will replace Elnaiem in Holyoke. As soon as my rotation is over, Ill come back in the fall and continue supporting the Board of Health, he said. The pandemic has had an impact on Elnaiems career path. While he understands the biological aspects of Coronavirus and infectious diseases, the societal impact they have on communities propels him to continue in the public health field. It throws in a lot of interesting questions that you have to deal with, like how people relate with each other and how local culture or context influences the way you implement health programs, Elnaiem said. He added, I find myself happiest when Ive been working in social medicine, not only valuing the biologic understanding of disease but also putting on equal footing the societal context the disease is having. In a statement, Morse said, Our local staff has worked tirelessly since February to keep ahead of this pandemic. The external support from the team at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital has allowed our citys response to be more data-driven and effective. The mayor added, Perhaps more important than the improved planning and analysis, are the values and attitude that drive Dr. Ivers team and which Ahmed demonstrated during his time here in Holyoke. If our future doctors and public health officials show the same level of collaborative spirit, empathy, and propensity for health equity and justice as Ahmed, then there is a lot to be optimistic about. Related content: Last week began with overnight camps set to reopen as part of Massachusetts coronavirus reopening plan in phase 3. By the end of the week, the camps had been moved to phase 4 with a timeline for reopening set for the summer of 2021. Overnight camps, according to the states four-phase reopening strategy, are now prohibited from operating until the summer of 2021. Recreational day camps resumed operation in phase 2. That was a punch to the face for all of us, Matt Scholl, who is president of the state camping association and a director of two camps, told the Boston Globe. It came as a total shock to us. We didnt even get an e-mail or a phone call about it. A shift into the fourth phase of Bakers reopening strategy means the camps wont reopen until a vaccine is available. However, for overnight camps, which cater to children, that shifts reopening back to summer of 2021. Overnight camps, according to the reopening plan, are prohibited from offering options during spring or winter vacations and must wait until the summer. During Bakers press conference last week, when he announced the state would move into phase 3, he didnt mention camps new home in phase 4. Some camp operators told the Globe, they had spent thousands of dollars in the weeks leading up to a potential phase 3 reopening. Bars experienced a similar situation in early June. Bars were originally placed in phase 3, but one day the states website listed them in phase 4. Baker later acknowledged the switch. The primary driver of much of the significant increase in positive tests in a number of states have been reopening of bars and nightclubs, Baker said last week. Obviously bars and nightclubs are sitting in Phase 4 in our guidance and there was a reason for that. However, the move for bars came weeks prior to the start of phase 3. For camps, their notice was only a few days. It caught us off guard . . . We didnt expect to just be stopped in our tracks, and that is what happened, John Szablowski, the director at Hume New England Christian Camps, told the Globe. Massachusetts moves into phase 3 as its seen a steady decline in its daily reported COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of Sunday, the state had reported 136 new diagnoses of the disease and 11 new fatalities linked to the virus, bringing the states total number of cases and coronavirus-related deaths to 109,974 and 8,183 respectively. The commonwealth is also reporting the third-lowest COVID-19 transmission rate out of all 50 states. Massachusetts Rt, a key measurement of how quickly a disease is spreading, stood at 0.90 on Monday, below the 1.0 threshold that marks the rapid spread of a virus. While overnight camps will remain closed, phase 3 offers opportunity to reopen for fitness centers, museums, casinos and movie theaters. Related Content: Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey is among the thousands of individuals demanding that Stop & Shop reinstate hazard pay for its grocery store workers after cutting the wage hike program amid the coronavirus pandemic. As the COVID-19 public health crisis ramped up across the country earlier this year, Stop & Shop announced on March 20 that the grocery store chains roughly 70,000 workers across New England, New York and New Jersey would get a 10% pay raise called appreciation pay. The wage increase was expected to last until May 2 but was extended to July 4. The Quincy-based company has yet to announce plans to further extend the pay hike, despite calls from Markey and others to keep the program going. Proponents for continuing the wage increase have emphasized the risks associated with working at a supermarket during the ongoing pandemic. Grocery stores were deemed essential from the onset of the outbreak, and workers at such businesses, public officials and advocates have argued, are more likely to contract the viral respiratory infection. Grocery store workers are in contact with hundreds of people a day, which certainly increases their chances of exposure and is a threat to them and their families, Markey wrote in a letter to Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid on July 4. I implore you to recognize that were are still in a time of incredible risk to these workers. Markey and the unions president, Fernando Lemus, gathered alongside employees at the Stop & Shop South Bay on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston on Monday afternoon to demand that management reconsider its decision to end the appreciation pay program. These workers are heroes, but heroes need help, Markey said. Theyre taking a risk right now inside of this supermarket in order to provide food for everyone who lives in this region. You cannot Skype into your job as a meat cutter. You cannot Skype into your job as a cashier. You cannot Skype into your job behind the deli. You must show up. These are heroes, but heroes need help and they need appreciation ... they need hazard pay. A petition circulating online, created by the United Food & Commercial Workers 1445, had garnered nearly 5,400 signatures as of Monday afternoon. It is demanding that Stop & Shop extend the pay increase until the pandemic is over. Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, grocery workers across the country have been at the forefront of the rapidly growing national health emergency, the petition said. Given the fact that these workers are exposed to thousands of customers a day, work extended hours to ensure a clean environment for patrons and risk their own health and safety to provide for clientele, it is obvious that they are well deserving of a higher wage as long as this global emergency continues. Most of these workers have made their time at Stop & Shop a priority, pushing aside other commitments like academics, other jobs, and their families. Kristen Flanagan, a deli manager in Somerville whos worked for the grocer for 12 years, said employees are working under conditions weve never seen before. She said as long as employees must wear masks and socially distance and sanitize due to added safety concerns, they should receive hazard pay. Its 10%, its not $600 a week. Thats all we ask for, a little appreciation, she said during Mondays news conference with Markey and Lemus. Stop & Shop, which in May called for grocery store employees to be designated as first responders or emergency personnel, told WBZ in a statement that the company deeply appreciates the efforts of its associates. The appreciation pay program was offered with the purpose of recognizing employees hard work during an unprecedented surge in demand and customer traffic, the grocery store chain added. As states continue to reopen, we are returning to pre-COVID levels of traffic and demand, the statement said, according to WBZ. We are continuing to take significant steps to keep our associates and customers safe and will continue to offer our associates a flexible leave policy and additional paid sick leave. The UFCW 1445 is part of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the largest private sector union in the United States that represents around 1.3 million workers in cannabis, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. The news about Markey and the unions demands comes as Massachusetts entered Phase 3 of its four-part coronavirus reopening plan on Monday. The commonwealth, initially one of the hardest hit states by the virus, is now reporting one of the lowed COVID-19 transmission rates in the country. Benjamin Kail contributed reporting. Related Content: While the world still faces a global pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the causative agent for COVID-19, China's Inner Mongolia region now faces yet another threat to public health as suspected cases of the bubonic plague were reported. According to the Xinhua news agency, the case was initially reported in a city just northwest of Beijing called Bayannur. The report said that municipal authorities were alerted by hospital personnel about a patient showing signs of the disease. The day after the report, local officials and authorities immediately issued a Level 3 plague prevention warning across the whole city. Based on the news agency, the warning will be in place until the end of 2020. Caused by the microorganism Yersinia pestis., bubonic plague was the disease that caused the Black Death pandemic which killed millions of people in the 14th century. The said disease is transmitted through bites of fleas and infected animals, it was also considered as one of the most deadly infections caused by bacteria in the history of humans. Bubonic plague is often characterized by symptoms including swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, coughing, and chills. However, at present, complications brought about by the bubonic plague can be prevented by modern antibiotics as long as it will be administered quickly. People in Bayannur are now encouraged by health authorities to take extra precautionary measures in order to minimize the risk of the bubonic plague being transmitted from human to human. Moreover, they have also advised against hunting and eating animals that may cause the infection. In an interview by China Daily, a state-run newspaper, a local health official from Bayannur acknowledge that there is a risk of a plague epidemic that is present in the city. He also advised the public to be vigilant of the situation and immediately report any abnormal health conditions. Read also: WHO Received First Reports of Coronavirus Not From China, But From Another Whistleblower Marmots primary suspect on brewing plague epidemic According to CNN, health authorities in Bayannur have also issued warnings to the public to be on the lookout and immediately report if they find dead or sick marmots. Marmots are a type of large ground squirrels which is typically consumed by people in parts of China and Mongolia. Historically, marmots have caused outbreaks of plague in the region. Back in 1911, during the pandemic of the pneumonic plague, the marmot was also the primary suspect/ the said plague killed more than 63,000 in northeast China alone. Marmots are typically hunted for their fur and this has also caught the attention of traders internationally. Despite the fact that the said epidemic was contained in only a year, the plagues caused by the marmot has continued until the present. Last week, the confirmed bubonic plague cases in Mongolia were identified to be brothers who have recently consumed marmot meat. Moreover, back in May, a Mongolian couple died of the said disease after they ate a marmot's raw kidney since it was believed to be a folk remedy that brings good health. . Related article: Mongolia Quarantines Area Next to China After Discovering Cases of Black Plague @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. LENOX A Friday night ghost hunt at Ventfort Hall will raise money for the preservation and restoration of the historic mansion. Author David Raby and Rebecca Anne LoCicero, who has been working as a psychic medium for more than 24 years, will lead the paranormal investigation at the historic Ventfort Hall on 104 Walker St. in Lenox. The event will begin on Friday, July 10, at 7 p.m. and concludes at midnight. Masks that cover both the mouth and nose are required during this event. Social distancing will be practiced. Non-refundable tickets for this exciting event are $38 per person with a reduced rate of $20 for ages 12 18 and 19-23 with student ID and are limited. Reservations are required. No walk-ins. Call us at (413) 637-3206 for reservations. Ventfort Hall was built in 1893 for George and Sarah Morgan, the sister of famed Wall Street financier J. P. Morgan. Before the investigation begins, Raby will give a brief history of the lives that once graced the hallways. The author of four published books and numerous online articles, Raby has a self-described passion for the paranormal field and has accumulated more than a decade of experience LoCicero is the proprietor of The Beyond Center in Vernon, Connecticut, and is certified through the Forever Family Foundation. She has appeared at national comedy clubs, holistic centers, lecture halls and expositions as well as on local television and radio broadcasts. Ventfort Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as an important partner of the Lenox Cultural District. As pandemic restrictions ease. tours of the historic mansion will soon be offered again, as well as Tea & Talks, such exhibitions as the Bellefontaine Collection, concerts, theater and other programs. The Jacobean-Revival Berkshire cottage is available for private rental. Related content: Using about 113,000 loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, Massachusetts retained more than 2.2 million jobs according to data released by the Small Business Administration on Monday. The data included about 700,000 small businesses loans as part of $660 billion of funding as part of the PPP loans that first launched in April. The Paycheck Protection Program was part of the CARES Act, and allowed small businesses to apply for forgivable loans if certain criteria was met. The program, which aimed at helping businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, expired at the end of June. The data from the SBA included figures for every state and territory within the United States and divided the funding into two categories: Loans greater than $150,000 and loans less than $150,000. The data didnt provide exact figures for business that received more than $150,000, but instead broke the numbers down into vague categories such as $5 to $10 million or $350,000 to $1 million. However, the SBA provided the names of businesses that received the larger loans. The names of businesses that received less than $150,000 werent provided, but exact dollar figures were. Data provided in this story best reflects the information provided by the SBA. However, when sifting through the data, MassLive found municipalities spelled incorrectly, such as Worceter, Bosten and Sprigfield. Those were included in each citys breakdown, but others may have been missed. Loans more than $150,000 Across the state, 18,252 loans retained at least 1.4 million jobs, according to the data. The highest loan amount as part of the program was $10 million. The data showed that 145 businesses in the state received loans of $5 to $10 million. In Boston, 1,957 businesses received loans of greater than $150,000, which retained 72,487 jobs. Twenty businesses in Boston received loans ranging from $5 to $10 million. They included: Beacon Residential Management Limited Partnership Catalant Technologies, Inc. Creative Financial Staffing Inc Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd Fuze, Inc. Grand Circle LLC Jenzabar, Inc. Joslin Diabetes Center, Inc. Legal Sea Foods, LLC Manning Gross + Massenburg Llp Morrison Mahoney Llp Nutter, Mcclennen & Fish, Llp Ophthalmic Consultants Of Boston, Inc. Poah Communities Llc R. G. Vanderweil Engineers, Llp Simon, Kucher & Partners, Strategy & Marketing Consultants, LLC The Brattle Group, Inc. Third Sector New England Inc Walsh Brothers Incorporated Wolf And Company PC In Worcester, 370 businesses received loans of $150,000 or more, which helped retain 18,359 jobs. Three businesses received more loans of at least $5 million, which included Assumption University, Family Health Center of Worcester and Greenwood Industries Inc. In Springfield, 278 businesses retained 16,122 jobs in receiving PPP loans of at least $150,000. Two companies received loans of at least $5 million: Harry Grodsky & Co. Inc and Peter Pan Bus Lines Inc. Loans Under $150,000 Across the state, the Paycheck Protection Program offered a total of 94,746 loans of $150,000 or less. In total those loans were worth more than $7 billion. The average loan was $74,239. In Boston, 5,111 businesses received loans of less than $150,000, with an average loan size of $86,800. The smaller loans totaled more than $443.5 million and helped retain at least 39,437 jobs. In Worcester, 1,917 businesses received loans less than $150,000, which helped retain 17,932 jobs. The average loan amount in Worcester for businesses receiving loans of less than $150,000 was $74,897. Worcester received a total of $143,578,481 in the smaller loans. Springfield businesses received 979 loans of less than $150,000. The average loan size was $73,135, which retained 8,352 jobs. The overall amount of smaller loans Springfield received was about $71.6 million What is the Paycheck Protection Program ? The loans were provided to business with under 500 employees or sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed persons. Businesses including non-profits with more than 500 employees were still eligible, however, they must have met the SBAs size standards. At the start of June, Congress and President Donald Trump agreed on updates the to Paycheck Protection Program to offer more flexibility for businesses hoping for loan forgiveness. One of the biggest changes to the program was the lowering of the percentage of funds that borrowers need to use for payroll costs in order to ensure loan forgiveness. Under the new act, a borrower can remain eligible for loan forgiveness by using at least 60% of the funding for payroll costs. Originally, businesses needed to use 75% of the funding for payroll. The new legislation also extended the time a business can use the funding. A borrower now has 24 weeks to distribute the the funding rather than eight weeks. Related Content: A 41-year-old Montague man has died two days after he was stabbed in a Randall Road home invasion. A second victim remains hospitalized. Mary Carey, spokesperson for the Northwest District Attorneys Office, said 18-year-old Elijah Michonski of Montague is alleged to have entered the Randall Road home at about 6 p.m. Friday and repeatedly stabbed two people. He was arrested by officers from the Montague, Erving and Gill police departments shortly after the incident when he fled the scene in a car stolen from the victims Carey said Michonski will now be charged with one count of murder in addition to one count of assault and battery with the intent to murder, one count of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - a knife, one count of armed assault with the intent to murder, two counts of home invasion, breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony and larceny of a motor vehicle. The second victim remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Carey said. Michonski is being held pending arraignment in Greenfield District Court Monday. The incident remains under investigation by Montague police, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Northwestern District Attorneys Office and MSP Crime Scene Services. SPRINGFIELD Police arrested three adults and a teenager on charges of trafficking in cocaine after finding more than 29 grams of crack cocaine and 60 bags of powder cocaine in their car Sunday night. Police arrested Hector Maldonado, 24, of Calhoun St, Mariah Adorno, 20 of New Britian, Connecticut, Israel Rosa, 25 of Cloran Street, and a 16-year-old who is not being identified. The three adults were charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, said Ryan Walsh, police spokesman. Rosa was out on bail and on a GPS monitor at the time of his arrest. He is awaiting trial on charges of attempted assault and battery with a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building and illegally possessing loaded firearms in connection to the October homicide of Israel Heredia, Walsh said. Police were first asked by Ludlow officers to keep a lookout for a car with four people connected to an incident in that community. Springfield officers later spotted the vehicle at about 11:20 p.m. at the McDonalds at 2300 Main St., Walsh said. After stopping to speak to the people in the vehicle, officers spotted a large amount of marijuana in the car. They found the cocaine after a subsequent search, he said. Ludlow police continue to investigate the incident in that community, Walsh said. Related content: Springfield mayor, police scold judge for low bail for armed suspects, They were not selling Girl Scout cookies' State police arrest 2 in Bernardston for trafficking in crack cocaine, heroin distribution Springfield brothers arrested after illegal firearms investigation Editors note: This is part of The Republicans One People, One House community dialogue series sharing perspectives on the issues of racism and policing: I have been marching and protesting for over 50 years. I have been in sit-ins about school busing (de facto segregation) and police brutality. I have faced the National Guard, state police and various other law-and-order agencies. My name, along with my friends names, were on the book that identifies us as firebrands in the city of Springfield and beyond. I made headlines and went to court for starting a disturbance in Mason Square where I was charged with assaulting police officers. I was young and reckless. I torched businesses and looted stores. I have learned something over the years: Stop, Look and Listen the fundamental instructions given to us by our parents or others who love and protect us. Stop! The stop means you should have yourself under control before you step off into traffic or other dangerous situations or circumstances. We need to be in control of ourselves as we deal with the coronavirus, protests and the anger of 2020. We are beginning to lose control over our anger and frustration and disgust with the powers that be (police, politicians, the National Guard and the national media). We must be under control when we make broad statements, when we speak of defunding local police departments, when we begin destroying national monuments and statutes, removing certain flags and retaliating against anything red like a bull in a china shop. We need to get ourselves in control before we leap into the heavy traffic of retaliation. The purpose of protest is to make people aware of circumstances which cause unfair consequences to individuals and organizations. These conditions create a great wound which hurts and divides our nation. America, regardless of the mismanagement and drawbacks, is a living miracle. Our goal should be to protect and heal the wound caused by injustice. We need to come together so we can love and protect our nation. This nation is so vast we need police departments. We agree police departments need to be improved via training and supervision. Our goal should be to heal the wound and join our great country together. Look! We need to look at the great unrest that has permeated our nation. Look at the wild extremes we have come to torching, looting, removing flags and statues, all of which has nothing to do with healing the wounds. Those statues that are up were put there for a purpose. It provided historical significance regardless of whose race or culture they represented. To destroy them will cause a great deal of pain and resentment. This does not aid the healing process. Right or wrong, blood was shed, and, as Abraham Lincoln said, We must honor those who paid the highest price for what they believed in. It is difficult to embrace symbols that have been associated with racism and symbolic superiority. Look at the protesters of 2020 youth, middle-aged, millennials and older folks joining together to protest. Look at the potential of bringing all these forces together for positive change. We must resist the opportunity to retaliate out of frustration and resentment. Look at what God has given us in this great country of America. Look at the possibility of healing the wounds and realizing the goals of our forefathers. Look before you leap into hysterical and nonsensical oratory. Look at the many people we have who are willing to work for the changes needed. Look for the talent that is needed to help make that change. Look at all the resources available to support the necessary changes. Look for the opportunity to bring this nation together despite our past history. Look at the various methods used to divide us, and look for those methods and ideas that will bring us together. We as a people have great compassion. We must be willing to forgive. Listen! We must listen to the worldwide demonstration and protest. America is expected to be a model of freedom and opportunity. Listen to the words of the people, by the people, for the people, so help us God. Listen to the words that heal the wound. Listen to the words which embrace. Listen to expressions of love for one another. Listen and support the new energy of 2020. America has gone through many changes in its 400 years since the first settlers arrived. If we have learned anything, it is that time changes all things. It is time for us to come together as a nation. We were new to the North America continent. We had enemies that change from time to time. We fought the English, French, Spanish, Mexicans, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Somalians, Afghanistan, and Italy at one time or another. We are now attempting to join with these countries in a united nations organization. Listen to the people! Jerald Jay Griffin, who grew up in Springfields Mason Square neighborhood, is one of the founders of Springfields Harambee and Stone Soul Festival. In 2014, he was honored with the Ubora Award, given to an African-American who has made significant contributions to Greater Springfield. Retired as a program director for the Northern Education Service HIV/AIDS division, he is active in many civic organizations. Authorities on Sunday identified Noe Hernandez, 35, of Lynn, as the victim of a fatal shooting that saw four other people injured during a cookout in the city on Saturday night. Hernandez was one of five people shot during a shooting near 134 Fayette St., where police responded just before 10 p.m., authorities said. A 35-year-old man was taken to Salem hospital and pronounced dead; he was later identified as Hernandez, the Essex District Attorneys Office announced Sunday evening. Another unidentified man suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown via med-flight to a Boston hospital on Saturday. As of Sunday night, the man was still alive, authorities said. No arrests have been made, the district attorneys office said. Three other people who were shot at the cookout are expected to survive, authorities said. The shooting remains under investigation by the Essex District Attorneys Office, the Essex State Police Detective Unit and the Lynn Police Department. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a first-degree murder conviction of a man who killed his live-in girlfriend in their Peabody apartment in 2008, taking photographs of her afterward. Ashley Fernandes, who was convicted of first-degree murder in September 2012, appealed his conviction using a variety of arguments, including that authorities violated his rights by searching his digital camera because the search warrant they obtained failed to link the camera and any contents to the crime. In a decision Monday, the Supreme Judicial Court sided with lower courts decision upholding the conviction. The SJCs decision states that its clear the decision to seek a warrant, which included searching for any DVD/VCR tapes, recording devices, cameras and cellular phones, was not prompted by any prior illegal search. The SJC also wrote that It has repeatedly recognized that evidence explaining the relationship between a defendant and victim in a domestic violence case is relevant and admissible to prove state of mind and intent. The nature of the evidence sought here was images from a digital camera police found in the home one day after the killing. That evidence would obviously provide insights into the nature of the relationship, including the victims appearance at identifiable time periods up to and possibly including the date of the crime, the SJC wrote. All of this is apparent from facts either expressly stated in the warrant affidavits or reasonably inferred from that information. Fernandes digital camera contained pictures he took after he strangled Jessica Herrera to death on April 5, 2008, court documents say. The images also showed him reenacting the murder, according to the decision. Authorities say information first came to light hours after Herreras death when Fernandes was at a bar talking to another patron. Fernandes blurted out twice that his girlfriend was dead in his apartment, according to the decision. The patron reported the conversation to police the next morning. Police conducted a traffic stop involving Fernandes a day later. According to court documents, he invited police to search his nearby apartment, where they found Herreras naked body rolled into a blanket. He later confessed to the strangling after being taken into police custody. Authorities found evidence suggesting Fernandes wanted to kill Herrera to stop her from testifying against him in a domestic abuse case scheduled April 11, 2008 and because she planned to leave him. One key piece of evidence, aside from the pictures, was a calendar on Fernandes kitchen wall. The box for April 5 was colored over with red marker. Written underneath in red were the words END OF STORY -- NO MORE LOVE -- 5:00 P.M. -- FINISH. The April 10 box included Jess Birthday in blue pen. The April 11 box was colored over in red marker with the words Bench Trial -- Court Peabody -- I am Ready! underneath. While Fernandes argued the incident was a crime committed in the heat of passion, the jury rejected that claim. Republican President Donald Trump is expected to hold a campaign event in New Hampshire this weekend, as polls are showing him well behind his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, in the 2020 race. The incumbent president will host the outdoors Make America Great Again Rally at the Portsmouth International Airport in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, according to a statement from his campaign. There will be ample access to hand sanitizer, and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear, the statement said. Trumps most recent campaign rally, and the first to be hosted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June and drew an unexpectedly low turnout, The New York Times reported. Brad Parscale, the campaign manager who organized the event, blamed the news media for the low turnout, claiming that COVID-19 and recent protests had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally, the Times reported. However, privately, campaign officials admitted to the Times that many people who had signed up to go to the rally were online tricksters, not Trump supporters. New Hampshire catapulted Trump to victory in 2016 after he won the Republican primary in the state and become an early frontrunner in his party. However, he wound up losing the state by a slim margin in the general election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The last time Trump was in New Hampshire was on the eve of the Granite States Republican presidential primary in early February. The incumbent president, who remained largely unchallenged by members of his own party, won the state primary in a landslide. The commander in chief - known for his volatile and unfiltered language, particularly at campaign events - falsely claimed at his rally in New Hampshire on Feb. 10 that he would have won the state in the 2016 general election were it not for Massachusetts residents crossing over to New Hampshire to vote illegally. The allegation, which the president has made on multiple occasions, has since been debunked by several officials, who noted there was no evidence of voter fraud in New Hampshire in 2016. Trump is set to rally in the Granite State as support for him in the general election in November seems to be wavering, with polls showing him several percentage points behind Biden. A new Monmouth University poll, published Thursday, found that Biden had a 12-point lead over Trump, with the former Democratic vice president and the current Republican president seeing 53% and 41% of support among registered voters respectively. Slightly more respondents to the survey said they are more confident about Bidens mental and physical stamina than Trumps. The Democratic challenger also holds a significant advantage among voters who do not have a favorable opinion of either candidate, according to the poll. Half of the nations electorate says they have ruled out voting for Donald Trump in November, while 4 in 10 say the same about Joe Biden, the poll said. Recent polling amid widespread protests against systemic racism and during the coronavirus pandemic has shown the president with unfavorable numbers in regard to his handling of both issues. Another national survey conducted by Monmouth University released in early June showed more American adults trust Biden to handle race relations than they do Trump. A plurality of voters, roughly 38% of those surveyed, also think that the presidents handling of the COVID-19 outbreak has made it less likely rather than more likely that he will be reelected in November. Roughly one-third of respondents to the poll also said that race relations will be a major factor in their vote for president this year, a trend mirrored by statewide polling in Massachusetts. According to a new Suffolk University poll from WGBH News, MassLive, The Boston Globe, and the State House News Service, racism is the top issue residents believe is facing the state, eclipsing fears about the economy and the ongoing public health crisis. But in the wake of national unrest over systemic racism, many people have criticized Trumps response to the hundreds of protests that continue to be organized throughout the U.S. following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. In the early stages of the nationwide demonstrations, the president told states he would use the United States military to quell protests, though he has since appeared to soften on his threat. Trump has also been lambasted in recent weeks for retweeting a video of one of his supporters yelling, White power!, and for vowing to harshly punish individuals who tear down monuments, as individuals continue to dismantle statues of white supremacists. Related Content: Its time to bust out those summer shorts, as multiple days of above-normal temperatures are expected in Massachusetts later this week. According to the National Weather Service, quite warm and humid weather is forecast, with elevated heat indexes and some of the warmest temperatures of the summer possible. Sizzling temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s should move in Wednesday and last until Thursday. Near-normal temperatures will arrive Friday, though the forecast is subject to change more than 72 hours out. There is a slight chance of thunderstorms and rainfall throughout the week as well, forecasters said. A hazardous weather outlook was issued for Western Massachusetts on Monday, where widely scattered thunderstorms and heavy downpours are possible. Very warm, very humid conditions move in for the late week, the National Weather Service said. Showers/thunderstorms will be possible each day with some heavy downpours. Temperatures will climb to the mid- to low 80s across Western and Central Massachusetts on Monday, while the eastern part of the state should see highs in the 70s. The weather will cool slightly Tuesday before a warm front moves eastward into the state from New York by nighttime, bringing humid air and hot temperatures to southern New England. Wednesday and Thursday will see high levels of humidity. Dew points, which measure the amount of moisture in the air, should reach near 70 degrees. Nearly 90-degree weather is expected on Wednesday, and on Thursday, many Massachusetts communities will see temperatures in the low 90s. A Black Lives Matter Banner, which once hung above two large green doors at the entrance of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Mendon and Uxbridge, was torn in two pieces Friday morning. Mendon Police Department said they are investigating the act of vandalism. This only strengthens our resolve to rehang the banner and voice our support for Black Lives Matter, the church said in a Facebook post. This morning we are disappointed to see that our BLACK LIVES MATTER banner ripped in two. We have reported this to the... Posted by Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Mendon and Uxbridge on Friday, July 3, 2020 The church and police are asking the public to help in the investigation. If anyone has any information, theyre asked to contact the Mendon Police Department at (508) 478-2737. Residents can also submit an anonymous tip online through the departments website at mendonpolice.com/submitatip.html. Police said they are looking for the publics help in identifying any suspicious persons or vehicles that may have been in the area from 7 p.m. on July 2 to 11 a.m on July 3. The church is working to purchase a new Black Lives Matter banner and has started accepting donations, which can be made by visiting https://ucmu.org. Its been an emotional and busy day, the church posted through a Facebook post. Thank you to those that reached out to offer support. A special thank you to those that were at the church and coordinating. We have an amazing community! After a new banner is purchased and arrives at the Unitarian Universalist church, it hopes to have a ceremony where the Mendon, Upton and Uxbridge communities can celebrate it. A date for the banner unveiling will be announced at a later date, the church said. Related Content: Thousands of villagers in Guizhou province in China have swarmed searching for what they assumed was a mysterious creature after loud noises have been heard coming from the mountains that sounded like a growling of a dragon. Recently, trending footage of locals crowding to the top of a mountain located at Xiushui of Guizhou, the southwestern province of China, emerged while the booming noises made by the mystical beast can be heard. Local authorities have secured placing roadblocks to prevent people from gathering while a team of experts was sent to investigate the source of the strange sound. On June 20, after several farmers claimed to hear some strange noises, Xiushui villagers raced towards the mountain hills Daily Express reported. The filmed footage taken by onlookers revealed the gathering of local residents in the spot while intently attending to the low-pitched sound. Some villagers were heard yelling excitedly that they can hear the creature growling. The videos received huge attention on different Chinese social media platforms after some people made claims that the strange sound was coming from a dragon while others disagreed saying that it was a tiger's roar. Some Twitter users commented that the noise could possibly have been produced by fault lines beneath the village, which caused fears that an earthquake could be expected. While some uttered that it could be produced by a wild animal since similar noises have been heard in other areas. After the videos went viral, the officials of Guizhui province sent a team of experts to go through the area and investigate the origin of the strange noise. Read also: Perfectly Preserved Wolf Head from 40,000 Years Ago Discovered in Siberia "Dragon" turned out to be a small bird According to Daily Mail, Zoologists later disclosed that the sound was being produced by a small type of bird that is known as the yellow-legged buttonquail. Throughout the breeding season, the female birds frequently repeat booming hoots that can be heard at most 100 meters or 328 feet from their spot. During courtship, the females offer food to males and leave their eggs to the males for incubation. After 12 days, the eggs hatch and the chicks follow the male after hatching. The conclusion of the experts was verified by several villagers who had seen the animals making the noise. Liu Fuqiong, a teacher in a local primary school, articulated that they have heard the humming twice or three times continually after six or seven minutes. The teacher said the humming that they could be heard from their spot was very deep, adding that he even thought the sound was quite strange. A number of villagers came after the sound to the cornfield and later discovered a yellow bird having a very short tail. Ran Jingcheng, provincial wildlife protection center director, said in an interview that similar strange sounds have been heard before by several residents located in other areas. And added the residents did not think too much of what they have witnessed before. At least four local residents have been detained, said by the authorities, for spreading rumors online and claiming that the sound was being produced by a humming dragon. Related article: Scientists Solve the Mystery of How Flying Snakes Glide in the Air @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. What lies beyond the pandemic? MassForward is MassLives series examining the journey of Massachusetts businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. ________________ The Worcester Art Museum, which has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic since March 13, announced it will reopen to the public in early October. The museum, in an announcement made Monday, said the decision was made in consultation with the Museums Board of Trustees and allows time to make facility improvements prior to reopening and plan the robust exhibitions that will open in the fall. Delaying our reopening until the fall is the most prudent course for the Worcester Art Museum, said Matthias Waschek, the Museums C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director. It gives us an opportunity to address some internal facility needs and prepare for fall exhibitions and programs. Museums were just one of several indoor establishments given the green light to reopen Monday as Massachusetts moved into Phase 3 of the COVID-19 reopening plan. WAM said the October reopening date coincides with the opening of two exhibitions that had been scheduled to run this spring: The Kimono in Print: 300 Years of Japanese Design (Oct. 3) and Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso (Nov. 7). The museum will make improvements to gallery and public spaces and continue the construction of the new Lancaster entrance stairs. The construction of the new stairs began in November 2019 and paused in March at the start of the COVID-19 shutdown. WAM will use Center for Disease Control guidance and follow the health and safety guidelines mandated by Massachusetts officials. The museum is developing reopening protocols for the safety of visitors and staff, including enhanced and increased cleaning schedules, hand sanitizing stations throughout the building, and required masks and social distancing, WAM said in a news release. Fall programming has also been adjusted based on survey data. Studio art classes have been adjusted to online instruction for the summer and fall. Staff members are also working to convert regularly scheduled fall public programming - such as Master Series Art Talks and the Community Day - to virtual experiences. More information about WAMs digital programs, such as virtual tours, art activities for children, and artists talks, can be found at worcesterart.org. Related Content: Today, were looking at a brand of rum, Plantation, that announced last week it is in the process of changing its name because of the words unsavoury connotations. Were shining the spotlight on two particularly interesting bottlings, one from Fiji and the other from Jamaica. Before telling you about the rums that have just arrived at MoM HQ, were going to start with the news that Plantation is in the process of changing its name. 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, says the brands founder Alexandre Gabriel. 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. We will let you know as soon as we learn more. When you think of rum, your mind probably goes to Caribbean and Latin America, but sugar cane spirits are made all over the world. According to Alexandre Gabriel from Plantation rum (as the brand is still called for the time being), sugar cane which is native to Asia would have been planted in Fiji long before it was brought to the Caribbean. The country is made up of over 300 islands which together have a landmass about twice the size of Jamaica and produce about 160,000 tonnes of sugar annually. The variety planted, which Gabriel calls noble cane, was wiped out by disease in the Caribbean in the late 19th century but still thrives in Fiji. Its hard to say how long rum has been made in Fiji though. Gabriel thinks it dates back a long time: You cannot help human beings from making booze, its been happening throughout the world. Its a rule thats never been broken. He has found evidence of distilling from the early 1800s but thinks it goes back further. The distillery that our New Arrival of the Week comes from, however, is more recent. It was built about 50 years ago by the Fijian government at Lautake on Viti Levu, the largest island (which is roughly the same size as Jamaica) to process molasses from the nearby plantations. In 1980, it was bought by a private consortium, the Rum Co. of Fiji. As well as using exclusively Fijian sugar cane, Gabriel said: The yeast you use, how you ferment, how you distill, how you handle it is as important as your raw material. The sense of terroir in a holistic way including the local know-how that perpetuates itself from that one generation to the other. He then filled us in on production methods: The Rum Co. of Fiji uses both wild yeast and cultured yeast, depending on what theyre trying to achieve. Fermentation of the molasses takes around five days depending on the batch. The distillery has two pot stills, both adapted with double retorts to produce rum by John Dore & Sons, and an old column Canadian column still which produces spirit a little over 80% ABV. Gabriel describes the countrys style as combining some of the weight and intensity of Jamaica with the elegance and balance of Barbados. The team at the distillery are all Fijian except head distiller Liam Costello. An Australian, his background is in wine but he married a Fijian woman and moved to the island: And fell in love not only with a wonderful Fijian woman, but also with the country and became the master distiller at the distillery, said Gabriel. Today, the distillery produces two brands Ratu and Bounty (not to be confused with the brand of the same name from St. Lucia) as well as selling bulk rum. Which is where Gabriel stepped in. He explains: I met Liam five or six years ago, I knew about his rums and I really liked them. I said one day: I think we should do something together and he says yes. So we kept on communicating until one day he called me and he says: You know I sold some of the bulk here and there and I was very often disappointed with what they did with my rum. So Gabriel and Costello hatched a plan to bottle some spirits that will show off the Fijian style to the full. Theres a popular blend but Plantation also bottles some special vintage offerings. The latest batch of which comes only from the column still. According to Gabriel, even with just the column, you still get that intensity but, as he puts it in a very elegant way. The rum was aged for 14 years in Fiji in ex-bourbon barrels before being shipped in cask to France: The interaction with the wood and the elements is incredible, he said. This is how rum was shipped in the old days, and Gabriel thinks it really makes a difference and this is apparent not just in taste but through analysis with gas chromatography. I can show you a chromatography before and after youve shipped the rum, he said, the ester elements, the fruit elements are totally boosted, you have wood extractions thats 10% more, just during that journey. Once in France, it is transferred to old Cognac casks and aged a further year. Its bottled at 50.2% ABV with 4 grams per litre of sugar added. The result is something that is elegant and fruity with notes of toffee, mint, apples and creme brulee with spicy ginger and cinnamon. A gorgeous luxurious rum that pays tribute to a rum tradition that deserves to be better known. But todays excitement doesnt stop there: in addition to this exclusive Fijian rarity, weve got something very special from Jamaica. Its a rum from Clarendon distillery distilled in 2003. Its a high classic high ester style (422 g/hl) known as a Monymusk Wedderburn (a designation created in the 19th century by rum blenders) produced from a two week ferment followed by distillation in a Vendome pot still. Its aged for 16 years in Jamaica in American oak before spending a year in Cognac. Its bottled unsweetened at 49.5% ABV. I do a dosage depending on what Im trying to showcase, Gabriel said, Here I wanted to really bring forward this rustic, in a good way, feel. As you would hope, its packed full of high ester goodness like overripe banana and pineapple melded with chocolate and spice cask flavours. So there we have it: two utterly different, unique Plantation rums. Plantation Fiji 2005 and Jamaica 2003 are now available from Master of Malt. Days after authorities arrested Ghislaine Maxwell for her involvement in Epstein's child sex trafficking ring, news started circulating that Maxwell is willing to name Epstein's clients in order to save herself. Spilling the beans Maxwell was Epstein's ex-girlfriend and is said to be the one who recruited children as young as 14 years old to have illegal sexual activities with Epstein in his Manhattan estate, Palm Beach estate, and her London residence. Christopher Mason, a TV host, said that he believes Maxwell had access to videotapes from all of Epstein's properties, but now the footage has gone missing. He said that a lot of powerful people will be very worried if those tapes are given to the authorities. So who are the powerful and famous people in Epstein's black book? According to numerous reports, the top of the list is Former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of the UK, and Alan Dershowitz. All three have been photographed with Epstein through the years, with Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton even posing for a picture just outside Epstein's infamous private plane. Glenn Dubin, a billionaire hedge fund owner and his wife, Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, who founded the Dubin Breast Center of the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Mount Sinai Medical Center are two of the closest people to Epstein. Also Read: Ghislaine Maxwell Posed with Kevin Spacey in Buckingham Palace Throne Dr. Andersson-Dubin briefly dated Epstein before she married Glenn Dubin in 1994. Andersson-Dubin has always been vocal about her support for Epstein after he was convicted on prostitution charges in 2008. She said that she was 100% comfortable with Epstein around her children, who were minors at the time, according to The New York Post. Other names Another is Clare Hazell, the Countess of Iveagh, who is married to Edward Guinness of the famous Guinness beer. Hazell, who is now 44 years old, had worked for Epstein back in the early 1990s and flew on his infamous private plane at least 32 times from 1998 to 2000. She witnessed Epstein with his friends who also rode the "Lolita Express". The billionaire owner of Victoria's Secret, Leslie Wexner, hired Epstein as his financial adviser on Wall Street back in 1987, and he gave him power of attorney over his fortune. According to an insider who talked to New York Magazine, they found the relationship between Wexner and Epstein odd since Wexner just gave his money to Epstein. In 2007, Wexner suddenly cut his ties with Epstein, saying that he could not work with someone as "disgusting and sickening as Epstein." A representative for Wexner talked to The Post after a reporter left messages regarding Wexner's connection to Epstein, but the representative declined to comment on the issue. Former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who is now 72 years old and former US Sen. George Mitchell, who is now 86 years old, is also involved in the sex scandal. Mitchell oversaw the Philadelphia Archdiocese compensation fund for victims of clergy sex abuse back in 2018. The two politicians are now distancing themselves from Epstein, especially after Maxwell's arrest on July 2. Both have denied the claims of the victims who said that Mitchell asked them for a sexual massage at Epstein's mansion in Palm Beach and that their bodies were put on the banquet menu. Richardson was also fast to deny the claims and stated on Fox News that he only had limited interactions with Epstein and that he was never in the presence of children. He also denied having been on the "Lolita Express" and setting foot on Pedophile Island. Related Article: After the Arrest of Jeffrey Epstein's Ex-Girlfriend, Authorities are Now After UK's Prince Andrew @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Shepherd's Men Shepherds Men is an organization comprised of dedicated patriots committed to creating advocacy and opportunity for our nations veteran heroes who have been affected by the hidden injuries of war. The group serves our noble warriors by means of outreach, empowerment and funding of treatment. Victory in combat is achieved on two fronts - on the field and in the mind. The group encourages others to share the burden and lift up our warfighters in need. Shepherds Men is proudly dedicated to raising funds and awareness for SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center in Atlanta. This comprehensive rehabilitation program focuses on assessment and treatment for military veterans who have sustained a mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from service in the post-9/11 wars. To raise awareness and funds, Shepherds Men completes an annual cross-country, which ends on Memorial Day at Shepherd Center. The runners which are made up of active duty service members, veterans and dedicated civilians run 22 kilometers a day while wearing 22-pound flak vests for seven days in a row, symbolizing the 22 veterans a day who commit suicide. Co-founder Travis Ellis, who is also vice president of Marietta-based Mobilized Fuels, was awarded the Citizen Honors Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in 2017 for his work with Shepherds Men. He was the first Georgia native to win the award in Medal of Honor history. For more information, visit shepherdsmen.com 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. A British airline captain killed his infant daughter by smashing her head against the walls and the doors of a five-star hotel suite. According to police reports, he was intoxicated when the murder happened. Drunken range Mohamed Barakat, a 41-year-old pilot of Airbus 330, allegedly beat his wife before he turned his anger on his infant daughter, Sofia, after a drinking session in Kazakhstan. Barakat claims that the case against him was not true and it was made up by police in Almaty, who allegedly committed "gross violations" during the investigation. Barakat was detained after his wife, 22-year-old Madina Abdullayeva, ran into the lobby of the hotel screaming for help early in the morning. The British pilot is accused of punching his wife repeatedly on the head before she escaped into the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel, according to the indictment. The infant awoke because Barakat and Abdullayeva were fighting, he then turned his anger towards his 1-year-old daughter, according to the report of Astana TV. According to police reports, Barakat picked up the baby from the cot, and he hit the baby on the doors and walls with her head. When the baby no longer moved, he put her on the floor by the entrance of the room. According to forensic experts, the baby suffered from multiple injuries, her skull was fractured and her brain was crushed, she had no chance of survival. Also Read: Godmother Charged With Capital Murder for Choking, Killing 5-year-old The incident happened after the pilot returned to the hotel room intoxicated. He reportedly drank until 7 am. His wife then called his airline to report that he was not feeling well, with the intention of letting her husband get some sleep. The wife's call to Hong Kong Airlines angered him, and that was when they began to fight, with him ending up hitting her multiple times before she ran out of the room, as reported by Mirror UK. Barakat's family The pilot's family in England claims that he has faced injustice in Kazakhstan. His lawyers went as far as to say that the whole thing was fabricated. They added that there is no evidence in the criminal case to provide his guilt for the death of his child. Attorney Tair Nazkhanov said that the forensic examination reports showed that there were no fingerprints and DNA from Mohamed on the infant's body, which means that he did not the child that day. He added that the blood sample that they got from the hotel did not belong to the child. The lawyers of Barakat are demanding that the case is sent back to the state prosecutor for examination. They claimed that the police did not accept any other explanation about the incident, as reported by The DailyMail. According to the evidence in the case, the death of the child was from bilateral compression of the skull. His wife is in contact with him but was banned from seeing him. There are no visits allowed to inmates due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pilot has been in police custody since October 2019. According to the lawyers, Barakat's wife has been in contact with him but she has no desire to bail him out. The case is being examined further but there is no new development. Related Article: Ghislaine Maxwell Prepared to Name Epstein's Famous and Powerful Clients, Who Are They? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Specific recommendations regarding the care of Indigenous children and adolescents in Australia and New Zealand with regards to screening and management of T2D. Tighter diabetes control for all children and adolescents. The possibility of using newer medications, currently only approved for adults with T2D, under the guidance of a pediatric endocrinologist. The need to transition adolescents with T2D to a diabetes multidisciplinary care team including an adult endocrinologist for their ongoing care. "The obesity epidemic, particularly in Indigenous young people, has caused the increase in the incidence of T2D especially in children older than 10 years of age."Adolescents develop complications earlier than adults with T2D, and they are more likely to require insulin within a few years of diagnosis."Early identification and management of the condition, which is most prevalent among Indigenous people, is therefore critical to prevent complications and maintain their long-term health."Up until now, there have been no guidelines in Australasia for assessment and management of T2D in children and adolescents and health professionals have had to refer to adult guidelines."These Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group guidelines were developed by a group of expert health care profespediatricom Australia and New Zealand and included paediatric and adult endocrinologists, diabetes nurse educators, dietitians, psychologists and physiotherapists."Recommended changes contained in the new guidelines include:Type 2 diabetes represents 85 to 90 percent of all cases of diabetes and usually develops in middle-aged adults. Many people and even adolescents with T2D display none of the classic symptoms of the disease, such as lethargy, excessive thirst, and the need to pass more urine. It is more likely to occur if a person is overweight, has a family history of the condition, or is from particular ethnic backgrounds."There needs to be increasing awareness among the public that this chronic illness can start early. Children and adolescents need to be tested if they are in high-risk groups," says Dr. Pena."It is critical that early diagnosis is followed family-centered behavioral advice to help them manage their diabetes in a way that promotes family-centred behavioural change."All health care professionals need to be aware of specifics for assessment and management of children with T2D."In some cases, by the time T2D is diagnosed, the complications of diabetes may already be present which is why early diagnosis and assessment followed by effective management is critical."Source: Eurekalert In a step towards diminishing discrimination against the marginalized section, the Indian government has finally taken the decision of recruiting members of the transgender community into its paramilitary forces. A Senior MHA official told TOI, "All border guarding forces are by and large have, in principle, agreed to the proposal and are in the process of finalizing their respective formats to recruit transgender candidates in their ranks at the officer level. Transgenders can soon aspire to lead combat troops in central paramilitary forces as govt is mulling allowing them take annual UPSC exam for recruitment as officers in these forces: Officials Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 2, 2020 The groundbreaking decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a lot of time in actualizing and people across the country celebrated the governments decision. This decision will enable the community to fight again discrimination, violence, and neglect towards the marginalized sections of the society. Actor Akshay Kumar also expressed his thoughts by praising the government decision to induct transgender members into paramilitary forces. Together we stand and together we will come out of this dark phase. Till then stay strong, stay safe #9Baje9Minute pic.twitter.com/9b7AlWCjw7 Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 5, 2020 Akshay Kumar took to his Twitter saying, "Brilliant news! Now thats a progressive move by the government in the right direction. I hope the rest of the occupations in the country follow suit. Brilliant news! Now thats a progressive move by the government in the right direction. I hope rest of the occupations in the country follow suit. https://t.co/r7tEWFR7JD Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) July 5, 2020 The tweet has already garnered around 44K likes and 4.4 K re-tweets and heres what people have to say about the tweet- You are the Best VEER SOORYAVANSHI (@MegastarVeer) July 5, 2020 Such a great step hope other field's will follow the suit. Armaan (@haryyaanvi) July 5, 2020 That's a really bold move May be this will teach our society that transgender are also normal people like us but with few difficulties. Shivam (@ShiviGupta0812) July 5, 2020 That is really a good decision !!!! Madhavi Marathe (@madhavi_ajay) July 5, 2020 Brilliant decision.. great to see you highlighting it..more power to you to endorse positive changes in the country... proud to be an Akkian.. Kishore (@Srini10844388) July 5, 2020 Recently, Akshay Kumar donated Rs. 1.5 crores for building homes for the transgender community while he was shooting for his upcoming film Laxmmi Bomb. Director Raghava Lawrence said, "During Laxmmi Bomb shoot I was talking to Akshay Kumar sir about the trust projects and transgender's home, immediately after hearing this without even me asking he told he will donate Rs 1.5 cores for building transgender's home. His film is now up for an OTT release and he will be seen playing the role of a transgender. Kiara Advani will also be seen alongside Akshay Kumar in the film. Since Kanye West has announced that he is going to run for president in 2020 against Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, people can't stop imagining Kim Kardashian West as First Lady of the US. After this tweet by West, we've seen a flood of memes on the internet on this possibility becoming a reality. We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States ! #2020VISION ye (@kanyewest) July 5, 2020 "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future. I am running for president of the United States," West wrote in a Twitter post, adding an American flag emoji and the hashtag "#2020VISION". But the posts that really hit us hard were Kim K's First lady debut memes. I was too busy just thinking about Kanye as President but imagine Kim as FIRST LADY on top of it all pic.twitter.com/OgWrKO5tEB Ph (@Runawaywith__me) July 5, 2020 People wondered if the journey is going to be up on Keeping Up With The Kardashians as well. If #KanyeWest becomes President of The United States Of America and Kim Kardashian becomes First Lady You all should wait for a US Show "Keeping Up In White House" #Kanye2020 Oyinbo BOY (@eroninidaniel) July 5, 2020 Another one how the cover art for the show might look like: You see Kanye West as president. I see Kim Kardashian as the First Lady. This country is a joke #Kanye2020 pic.twitter.com/0oz7yoWhVH Ayo? (@washedjean) July 5, 2020 Here are some tweets in context to Indian news channels. Twitter However, at the same time, it's hard not to notice that people mocking Kim Kardashian and being more worried about how somehow she would be worse off as a First Lady than Melania Trump highlights how ingrained misogyny builds on social media without reason. What started off as innocent memes soon took shape into in-your-face sexism and even slut-shaming. Some people even highlighted her 2007 porn film with rapper-actor Ray J to show she would clearly be 'unfit' for the role. Kim kardashian after she goes from being famous because of a sex tape to becoming the First Lady thanks to Kanye pic.twitter.com/5XHdGLWmgF X A-12 (@ItsAllens) July 5, 2020 And personal attacks that weren't needed. TBH... what a climb up for Kim Kardashian would that be if Yeezy became President. From sex tapes and Playboy to First Lady and the Oval Office - hey, its 2020, nothing surprises me anymore. #Yeezy2020 #2020 Samantha Long (@SLongNewcastle) July 5, 2020 Here's another one. Cheers for first lady 2020 is going to be fucking amazing#KimKardashian pic.twitter.com/VoJ2e2UWkn Vijay singh (@Vijaysi98013971) July 5, 2020 While Kanye West running for President sure is hilarious, but being more critical of Kim Kardashian as the First Lady and attacking her past rather than focusing on West's candidature is where people are getting things wrong. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a written request has asked the Union Minister for Electronics, Information Technology and Communication, Ravi Shankar Prasad, to prevent Huawei and ZTE from participating in 5G rollout in India. The letter cites concerns for national security and other crimes the two companies have been accused of, such as spying, conspiracy, money laundering, bank and wire fraud. Reuters "We are sure that our above request will be considered by you and necessary decision will be taken to protect not only the security of the country but also the privacy of the people of India through data and as such both Huawei and ZTE Corporation will not be allowed to participate in 5G network rollout in India," CAIT said in the letter to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The United Kingdom has already started working on proposals to prevent the installation of new Huawei equipment in the next six months and phase out any of the already existing hardware. Huawei and other Chinese companies have already been banned from doing business with U.S. companies and U.S. intelligence officials cited Huaweis close ties with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and its military. ZTE, along with Huawei, has been classified as a threat to national security by the Federal Communications Commission. India has been on the offensive this past week and has already banned 59 apps in the country that were found storing data outside of the country. Apps like TikTok, WeChat, CamScanner and others were banned by the Indian Government last week. Reuters US has been accusing Huawei, saying their equipment could be used by China for spying on individuals, corporation and government agencies. The company has also been accused of facilitating intellectual property theft and cyber espionage that has been integrated into their equipment. If true, Huaweis equipment could give China an advantage for cyber-warfare thanks to all the data and sensitive information the company could be collecting. Do you agree with CAITs request for banning Huaweis 5G equipment in India? Let us know in the comments what you think about CAITs request. On Saturday, June 19, 2021, Emmett Colon Mitcham Jr. died at Rush Foundation Hospital. He was a true gentleman; He loved God, his family, his church, and his work. Emmett was kind-hearted and quick-witted, often making up songs to describe his current situation. To him, work was the joy of a About This Property This lovely house is a must see! Light filled, spacious and comfortable, this property has so much to offer. Privately situated on more than four acres in a desirable location close to Sheffield center, the foothills of Northwest Connecticut, and gorgeous hiking trails. A large grassy yard and mature landscaping provide privacy and plenty of space to spread out. Large windows and a sun porch flood the space with natural light, and lead you out onto the large deck overlooking the grounds.A first floor master suite, and two bedrooms with attached sitting rooms and a shared bath with a jacuzzi tub ensure there is enough space for everyone. This home is a move in ready gem! Land Details Community Details Acres Apx: 4.24 Parking Type: Garaged & Off-Street Region: Berkshire - South Elem School: Undermountain Middle School: Mount Everett High School: Mount Everett Exterior Details Interior Details Color: tan Style: Cape Construction: Modular,Wood Frame Exterior: Cement Board Water: Well Sewer: Private Underground Oil Tank: Unk Views: Scenic Garage: Attached,Auto Opener Total Rooms: 6 Total Full Baths: 2 Total Half Baths: 1 Fuel: Propane Hot Water: Propane Electric: 200 Amp Floor: Carpet,Ceramic,Wood Lead Paint: N/A, built after 1978 Heat/Cool: Hot Water Insulation: Unknown Appliances Incl: Dishwasher,Dryer,Microwave,Range/Stove,Refrigerator,Washer,Wtr Treatment-Own Accessibility: 1st Fl Bdrm,1st Flr Bdrm w/Bath,1st Flr Full Bath,1st Flr Half Bath Search More Properties With these Features Deciduous Shade Trees Deck Landscaped Mature Landscaping Privacy Trash Private Bay/Bow Window Fireplace (s) Granite Counter Jet Tub Radon Mitigation System Skylight(s) Sun Room Walk In Closet(s) Come hell or high water, Anthony Gerald shows up. Be it with a cane, a walker or simply limping; he rarely misses a community event because he knows how important it is to be a shining example to his children, often seeks out every opportunity he can to serve as a blessing to someone else. TUSCOLA COUNTY During the countys last meeting, Tuscola County commissioners were expecting to approve reopening of county buildings, but the meeting did not go as planned. Ann Hepfer, who is the health officer for both the Huron County and Tuscola County Health Department, urged against it due to an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Thumb and in the state. The data shows increased cases in the Thumb as well as out-of-state travelers to the area, which is a concern to Hepfer, and commissioners took note of that. The annual influx of migrant workers in the state and Thumb area from Texas, Arizona, and Florida are contributing to the uptick in confirmed cases along with those who are not following social distancing and wearing a face covering, Hepfer said. My concern is that our rates had been flattening, but we have not been to zero yet. Im concerned about the populations that we are just now testing, said Hepfer, who noted that migrant workers are necessary for the farming industry and agriculture depends on them. We need them healthy," she said. "All of us need to remain healthy. Hepfer is working with Great Lakes Bay, which has migrant programs in place and is helping with COVID-19 testing. It is concerning," she said. "If we have more than a handful of positive cases, that means the numbers are going up again. We cannot afford for that to happen. The virus spreads rapidly. There are also concerns about the virus in those who are traveling to the state to vacation, and the Amish communities in the Thumb. Right now, Im kind of nervous, and Ive been watching the national news," Hepfer said. "If we are going to see an increase in infection, we are going to see it in the next 10 to 14 days. My recommendation would be to hold off just a little longer before opening doors. And when doors are opened, we need to be cautious about letting people in who do not wear masks." I know that is not popular," she continued. "You can serve people from a window, but when they come into buildings they should wear a mask. Commissioner Dan Grimshaw questioned why Huron County was allowed to reopen and the recommendation for Tuscola is not to. There are a lot of reasons, Hepfer said. Huron County only has 57 cases, while she pointed out that Tuscola County has over 200 cases of the virus. Our new cases are community acquired," she said. "We have a minimum number of new cases and want to keep it there. We are going in the right direction and we need to maintain that. The goal is to get to zero and keep it there. We are also learning from what is happening in the southern states, she said. Because the cases are increasing in those areas, necessary personal protection equipment is going there and it is in short supply. Getting PPEs is still and issue," Hepfer said. "Dentists are really struggling with this so that they can open. During discussion on reopening county facilities, Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart weighed in, pointing out courts are directed by the Michigan Supreme court, and it has not approved reopening. The building is physically closed to the public, but we have been working remotely doing limited hearings, Gierhart said. Ann has to sign off to allow phase 2 for the Supreme Court to move forward, and she has not. Hepfer will not sign off for the courts at this point. I would err on the side of caution and follow the courts," said county Controller-Administrator Clayette Zechmeister. "Weve been talking about opening up the other county buildings. I wonder if we should follow the courts' guidelines and health officer, who has concerns and not signing off, and hold off until the courts move to phase 2. The commissioners agreed. So although county employees returned to work, have face masks, and protective shields, access to county services will continue by appointment, email or use of drop boxes. For more information or questions, call 989-672-3890. Germany's stimulus is offering policy makers a real-time experiment on how much such national aid helps other countries too, just as the coronavirus forces the region to confront its lack of fiscal integration. European Union leaders are working on their first-ever plan for joint borrowing to help the bloc's more vulnerable countries. But until that's agreed, the boost due to permeate through its biggest economy will remain the biggest single effort available for anyone else to benefit from in the current crisis. With talks between governments on that common fiscal push set to intensify, gauging whether German stimulus is seeping into the rest of the euro area -- a so-called "spillover" -- could underscore how urgent an EU accord might be. It's also a material question for the European Central Bank as it battles an unprecedented shock that has crippled growth and choked cross-border trade. "There will be some knock-on effects," said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin. "There's an argument to be made that spillovers might be lower than they'd otherwise be because the trade links, particularly the service trade links, are limited." As the region's economic motor and its most fiscally powerful member, Germany has the greatest capacity to deliver budget stimulus to its economy. That push is now taking the form of tax giveaways, spending on 5G data networks and railways, and incentives to build electric vehicles. That stimulus is finally delivering what economists at the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the ECB long craved. Since September, ECB officials regularly urged countries "with the fiscal space" -- a label most aptly applied to Germany, which previously pursued balanced budgets -- to spend more. However, evidence on whether such stimulus would help the rest of the region much was always mixed, and the current crisis may prove to be a new testing ground for debate on the matter. According to the work of Yuriy Gorodnichenko, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in fiscal shocks, knock-on effects can be substantial. Moreover, the current downturn is propitious because such spillovers tend to be larger during recessions. Meanwhile Odendahl, who says such effects are normally "quite sizeable," is less sure this time because of the scale of the shutdown. By contrast, researchers at the IMF and the ECB have tended to conclude that such effects are more generally limited. A study by the Washington-based fund in 2017 calculated that on average, fiscal stimulus equivalent to 1% of a large economy's output bumps up that of another country up by just 0.08% in the first year. A report by the central bank in Frankfurt last year came to a similar view, acknowledging that the cross-border effects were "small." Germany's Bundesbank is also skeptical of the big effects of spillovers and estimates that any effects from stimulus there would largely follow industrial trade routes: Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland would get more of a boost in percentage terms than France, Spain and Italy. A more specific issue with the current fiscal easing is that some measures are particularly consumer-focused and domestic in scope, such as payments to families of 300 euros per child, and a sales tax-cut for the next six months, costing the government 20 billion euros. The plan is also due to accelerate 10 billion euros in investment in digital, security and defense projects. But some long-term projects "are still a bit vague," said Angel Talavera, an economist at Oxford Economics. "While some of them might in the end be quite beneficial, some of them might be a bit of a waste." As sizeable as the stimulus is compared to those offered by other countries, it's also not as large as some economists might envisage. Last year, one German research institute called for spending of 450 billion euros on education, transport, infrastructure and climate over a decade to future-proof the economy. The current plan is "not in itself big enough to result in significant higher growth in countries that will export to Germany," said Aline Schuiling, an economist at ABN Amro Bank NV. "European initiatives are much more important." That's where talks in Brussels later this month over a proposed 750 billion-euro plan to jointly finance an economic recovery may prove much more crucial for the continent's growth prospects. With a bloc including the Netherlands frowning at the prospect that a portion of that sum will be given out in grants, officials are seeking a compromise. Whatever happens in those talks, Odendahl says such an agreement is needed to help balance national economic policies with the common good for the region. "We have quite sizable spillovers most of the time," he said. "So this pan-European recovery boost is exactly what Europe needs -- because usually national policy makers don't take these spillovers into account." MIDDLETOWN The Democratic Town Committee has submitted a detailed proposal on police reform, including the formation of a citizens review board. The Democrats plan in part, calls for a ban on ever using choke and strangleholds, no-knock warrants and flashbangs, which are non-lethal explosives used to disorient people. The committee appealed to Mayor Ben Florsheim, police officials, and council members in a two-page letter. We are calling on you ... to review the current police use-of-force policies to eliminate those that are of lethal force, the letter says. Middletown is known as a progressive community in other areas of reform in criminal justice. Our community is crying for reform, justice and faith in you. It also asks to require a warning from officers before shooting and to ban shooting at moving vehicles. The proposal does not include eliminating the guns police officers carry. We are requesting a ban on military weapons but not other guns, DTC Chairwoman Lisa Loomis said It suggests the establishment of a community/citizen review board, mandatory use of police body cameras, and other ideas. To say Black Lives Matter is one thing, but to take steps to prove to the community Black Lives Matter takes more than words to make this happen, according to the letter. Half of the the police chief hiring panel should be made up of members of the community, with priority given to people of color and one Middletown High School student, DTC members said. The local subcommittee formed after the killing of George Floyd with the intention of creating a list of local reforms, according to Loomis. They met throughout June to discuss the matter and completed their work at the beginning of last week. A May 30 rally and procession down Main Street in response to the protests in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., New York and other major cities across the United States also addressed the issue. It finished at the police station. On Juneteenth, a similar event took place, drawing more than twice the number of people. A special meeting Friday resulted in the entire DTC membership endorsing the idea and agreeing to send it to the Public Safety Commission in mid-July. Creating a public safety subcommittee would require a charter revision, Loomis said. I believe there is willingness on the part of people to undertake that. Our membership has voted to support the effort to try to make that a reality in Middletown. State Rep. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, has for years been working on police accountability reform, Loomis said. Also, on June 15, Gov. Ned Lamonts executive order paused such means of subdual. Common Council member Ed McKeon said members will also discuss a proposal from several municipalities in Connecticut to declare racism a public health crisis, and decide if the city should take a similar measure. The council will have the opportunity to mull it over at its August meeting, McKeon said. Emails to Middletown Acting Police Chief Michael Timbro were not returned by late Monday. McKeon said the two-page proposal suggests a long list of considerations. There are a lot of things that need a lot more parsing and discussion. But there are basic things, like the use of choke holds, use of military-style weapons, tear gas and rubber bullets, and all those things which I think, personally, are low-hanging fruit some of which the Middletown Police Department also adheres to, he said. Republican Town Committee Chairman William Wilson said the time to talk about police reform is not while protests and marches are still being held nationwide. I think we all need to take a step back. Theyre asking for an awful lot, said Wilson. Our police force overall is pretty good. Ive never had an issue with them. He plans on taking up the issue with the MRTC, which has a good deal of pro-police members. Im pro-American. I am pro-everyone. Thats how we should be. There should be no division. Everybody is equal in my mind. We should all have the same rights. We should treat people the same no matter what, Wilson said. The meeting will take place on WebEx Monday at 6:30 p.m. Visit middletownct.gov to attend. The event number is 1295841604; password, Middletown; and call-in number is 408-418-9388. The access code is 1295841604. MIDDLETOWN The citys Republican Town Committee leader is asking that residents, not the Common Council, be the ones to decide whether to rename the new $87.35 million middle school in honor of local abolitionists. William Wilson, chairman of the RTC and a 1982 Woodrow Wilson Middle School graduate, said the vote should to referendum. The council isexpected to discuss the longtime controversial measure at Monday nights meeting. The council has sole authority to name all city property, according to the charter. This is the only way to make it a valid decision, Wilson said. He started a change.org petition about a year ago, Keep the Woodrow Wilson Middle School name, which so far has approximately 1,700 signatures. We need to continue to sign and fight to keep our school name, Wilson wrote Saturday as an update to the petition. He said some members of the Board of Educations Middle School Naming Committee have no ties to Middletown, and others joined the debate only in the past decade or so. Institutions across the nation named after the former president have come under fire in recent years because of his segregationist views. He also taught history at Wesleyan University from 1888-90 and lived in Middletown during that time. Because of those facts and the concerns of alumni, the name should remain, the GOP leader said. How many presidents have lived in Middletown? he asked. There has only been one. Common Councilman Ed McKeon said he supports renaming the school for the Beman family. I have said and written for many years that we should not be naming a school after an avowed racist. The Beman family is the perfect family for a lot of reasons. Historically, they have not been recognized in the way they should be, McKeon said. Jehiel Beman (1789-1858), Jesse Baldwin and Benjamin Douglas formed the Middletown Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. Beman was a minister at the AME Zion Church on Cross Street. The family was instrumental in Middletowns participation in the Underground Railroad. The Bemans, an African-American family, had a huge influence in the city and region, McKeon said. It is a moment in our history where we all have the opportunity to stop and reflect on where we should go. It seems the perfect opportunity to move forward in a positive way and to name it after an African-American family, McKeon said. Wilson is seeking a yes-or-no referendum question. It is time to let the public decide the name of our middle school, he said. Thats the easiest way to do it. Dont leave it up to the council. Dont leave it up to 12 people to make this decision. Dont leave it up to a naming committee, Wilson said. Talking to people in Middletown, I dont know one person besides the people on the committee, or who have special interests that want to change the name to the Beman school, Wilson said. But naming committee Chairwoman Lisa Loomis has said, I think this is a fantastic opportunity for Middletown to recognize some of its history and move forward into the next century, and show we value the history and experience of all our students, particularly those who havent been included in traditional curriculum. The new middle school will incorporate Keigwin sixth-graders there into a facility that consists of seventh- and eighth-graders. The future of the Keigwin building is uncertain. As a second choice, Wilson would agree to calling the school Middletown Middle School, an idea proposed early on in the process at the naming panel meeting. Loomis said resident input has been ongoing for more than a year. I think public input on the name of the school is essential, she said. For the sake of unifying the community, and for ensuring the construction of the new school to remain on schedule, it would not be wise to drag this process any further than the councils vote Aug. 3. The meeting will take place on WebEx Monday at 6:30 p.m. Visit middletownct.gov to attend. The event number is 1295841604; password, Middletown; and call-in number is 408-418-9388. The access code is 1295841604. 3 1 of 3 Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 PORTLAND Following in the tracks of most of Connecticuts agricultural events, the Portland Fair has decided to not hold this years event because of the coronavirus Due to COVID-19, we are not able to organize a safe, virus-free event, organizer Joyce Murphy said in a press release. Tom Poland is the author of 12 books and more than 1,000 magazine features. He writes a weekly column for newspapers in Georgia and South Carolina about the South, its people, traditions, lifestyle and changing culture, and speaks often to groups across South Carolina and Georgia, Georgialina. Visit Polands website at tompoland.net or email him at tompol@earthlink.net. I am the great grandson of a slave. I lived through the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the ensuing riots across America. As a congressman, I counseled President George H. W. Bush following the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police and the riots that followed which resulted in the deaths of 68 people. After seeing the video of the horrific killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, I have been searching for solutions Congress and Americans can adopt now to stop the systemic racism problem in America and its institutions. We need the U.S. justice system to work fairly and quickly. For Americans especially the Black community the wait for justice is simply too long. In the case of civil rights charges brought against police, Congress should enact legislation requiring an expedited legal process 90 days from indictment to conclusion. In nearly all of the wrongful deaths of Black people, regardless of the criminal verdict, families have often been able to recover millions of dollars in civil lawsuits. King received almost $4 million in damages. Who pays? The taxpayers, despite having nothing to do with the incident other than being the employer of the police officer. That needs to change. The police officer, however, rarely has the personal resources to fairly compensate a victims family. The police union associated with the incident should be required by law to pay the victims families per a civil case decision. Congress should include this provision as part of any amendment to the Civil Rights Act or as a new policing law only to be used when the death of a Black person or other protected person occurs at the hands of a police officer or law enforcement official. As we have seen, Black Americans are dramatically at risk of dying in police custody. If these events start to affect police revenue or pension funds, it would truly act as a deterrent. The families should receive not only just damages, but taxpayers should no longer pay the price for the wrongdoings of police officers. The federal government should enforce the executive order written by former Nixon Assistant Labor Secretary Arthur Fletcher that requires fair employment practices (hiring, promotion, terminations, compensation) in all levels of employment, from the executive suites and board of directors to the janitors and receptionists, and all levels in between (hourly, clerical, supervisory, manager, director, vice president). We are ignoring the laws already on the books that would help the Black community and make for a more diverse workplace. Hundreds of thousands of Black Americans are being affected daily. In some instances, violations are an affront to existing civil rights laws that prohibit any federal dollars going to companies that discriminate on the basis of race. Evidence in each job classification of disparate treatment in employment practices would be the determining factor. When you control the work of an individual, you control the quality of life and longevity of life for that person. You determine whether they live in a safe neighborhood or one filled with violence and poor schools, you determine their generational wealth and access to quality health care. Every Fortune 1000 company, university, association, firms (of size), etc. should display their reports on race and employment practices prominently on their websites. Where there are problems, they can develop a plan that would include goals and timetables for meaningful progress to be made. No company should be immediately punished, as long as they acknowledge their results and adhere to a defined corrective action. Black Americans do not want favors, just fairness. We need to quickly show the Black community, the nation, and the world that the greatest country in the history of humankind can make adjustments to its system to quickly put the country on a trajectory that would eventually allow America to live up to its creed of liberty and justice for all. America, we can do this. America, we must do this. Gary Franks was the first Black Republican elected to the US House of Representatives in nearly 60 years, first black Member of U.S. House of Representatives from New England, the nations first black conservative member of Congress, and represented Connecticut from 1991 to 1997. Hes the host of the We Speak Frankly podcast. DANBURY Once a hot spot for the coronavirus, Danbury had three straight days without additional reported cases or deaths. One new case was reported Monday. However, no new cases were reported Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Its very gratifying to see this and hopefully it continues to the summer, said Dr. Paul Nee, an infectious disease specialist at Danbury Hospital and New Milford hospitals. The challenge is going to be the fall and the winter. The total number of cases had stayed at 1,970 since Thursday, when one additional resident tested positive, Mayor Mark Boughton said. The number of deaths has stayed at 123 since June 6. Boughton attributed the citys success in quelling new cases to residents obeying measures such as social distancing and mask wearing. Health care workers also followed protocols to keep deaths down at nursing homes, he said. I tip my hat to Danbury residents who have followed the directions and the guidance to a T, so its good to see, he said. The numbers are a marked improvement from the height of the pandemic, when Boughton said the city saw between 50 to 70 new cases a day. The situations in Danbury and Connecticut are vastly different from states like Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, where infection rates are climbing. Thats largely because Connecticut residents have listened to health guidelines, Nee said. All of the citizens wearing the masks, doing what they needed to do to stem the spread of the coronavirus has been amazing, he said. Learning over time Statewide figures from Friday put the city at No. 7 for the highest total number of cases in Connecticut, but Danbury had once been No. 3 on the list. Danbury now trails behind Bridgeport, Stamford, New Haven, Hartford, Norwalk and Waterbury. Those cities all saw increases in cases over the Fourth of July weekend. Boughton has said the states numbers often lag behind the city, which gets its numbers directly from Danbury Hospital and includes residents who tested positive in New York. I definitely think in Connecticut we have hit the bottom of the spread, Boughton said. Danbury was an early hot spot, so were a little ahead of everyone else in the state. Fewer cases, in turn, has led to fewer deaths, Nee said, but medical professionals have also learned more about the virus and how to treat it. At first, patients were hooked up to ventilators early on in the illness, but now health care workers use treatment methods such as Remdesivir, steroids and medications that prevent inflammation and blood clots, Nee said. Since the beginning of May, no one has been intubated directly because of COVID-19 at the hospital, Nee said. He said studies will determine whether or not it was beneficial to intubate patients early. Other states seeing surges can rely on these lessons, Nee said. A lot of people can learn from our experiences on what to do and how to manage this. Risks down the line The rising number of cases in other states are making Boughton nervous. Because there is such an explosive spread going on in some of these other states, its impossible to believe some of these people wont come to Connecticut, he said. The governor has urged travelers coming from 16 states with rising infection rates to quarantine for 14 days, although this is not being strictly enforced. Nee said patients are being screened for travel. Nuvance Health the network that Danbury and New Milford hospitals are a part of is monitoring symptoms and cases throughout the hospitals, he said. He said he is optimistic the state can keep its numbers down this summer if residents continue to follow guidelines. But transmission may rise when the weather gets colder and people stay inside in close quarters, Nee said. Thats going to be a challenge, he said. Thats where testing comes in, symptom monitoring. Thats whats going to be key as we move forward into this and trying to separate people as best we can. It will also be important for people to not grow lax on the precautions, Boughton said. For example, the city will continue to keep its town park closed. It is something you have to keep your eye on because its so darn contagious that youve got to make sure people are not letting their guard down, he said. Nee said one of the biggest challenges will be containing the spread once school reopens, with the governor planning to allow all children to return the classroom full-time, as long as health conditions allow. He said masks, testing and proper infection control measures will be key. Danbury, which is one of the largest school districts in the state and has the biggest high school, plans to ask the state to allow the district to offer a hybrid model. Boughton said he is optimistic the state will be on board. Well keep fighting every way we can to keep these numbers down until there is a vaccine, he said. U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Milford The U.S Coast Guard Auxiliary is partnering with Port Milford Marina for a Vessel Safety Check Day Saturday, July 18, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 164 Rogers Ave. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary will be available at the marina to conduct free U.S. Coast Guard vessel safety checks. Contributed photo Jonathan Law students Nihitha Kothapalli, Rachna Vipparla and Meghana Cheela were honored recently for their ingenuity at the 5th annual Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, presented by Raytheon Technologies. The students were among nearly 500 award-winning K-12 inventors from across the nation who were celebrated at a virtual awards ceremony held July 2. Jonathan Law sophomore Nihitha Kothapalli won 2nd place in her grade category for Sober AI. My invention provides an involuntary and automatic sobriety test for the user, Kothapalli said. It does this by scanning their pupils to test whether or not theyre drunk, using Artificial Intelligence(AI). Based on the pupil diameter and constriction rate, the device will stop the car and alert the users phone; along with their family and friends. SHELTON The city will host its annual fireworks show Wednesday. The Shelton fireworks display is normally held July 3, but the pandemic forced postponement of the annual Fourth of July celebration. I feel there is no reason we couldnt do this for everyone, said Mayor Mark Lauretti, adding that he felt comfortable scheduling the event since coronavirus hospitalizations continue to decline and the state has not experienced huge numbers of positive cases in recent weeks. City officials are urging residents to wear masks and remain socially distant. Lauretti said no spectators will be allowed on the lawn area at the Riverwalk. People will not be allowed on Canal Street or around the Farmers Market building during the fireworks. The fireworks represent the Fourth of July here. Its a celebration, and hopefully this will give people that chance to celebrate, added Lauretti. The fireworks will begin at 9 p.m. at the Riverwalk on Canal Street only hours after the Shelton High School holds its graduation ceremonies in the high school parking lot. The rain date for the fireworks will be Thursday. Public Safety and Emergency Management Director Michael Maglione said residents should continue to follow safety protocols specifically wearing face masks and maintaining social distance protocols. Residents can watch wherever there are sidewalks, and Maglione said there are numerous locations for good viewing. We just want to reinforce the safety protocols, said Maglione. Please protect yourself, and enjoy the show. Emergency services personnel will be distributing face masks at the event. Our crews always have additional surgical masks and offer them to the public if we observe someone in close proximity of people not wearing a mask, said Echo Hose Ambulance Assistant Chief Joe Laucella. We strongly encourage all guests to practice social distancing and come to all community events wearing a mask. If someone forgets, or loses their mask, we will be provide them with one. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com New Jersey governor calls for federal mask requirement to combat rise in new COVID-19 cases WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Sunday called for a federal mask requirement, saying it should be the core of a national strategy to combat a rise in new COVID-19 cases. Speaking on NBC, Murphy said, "We cannot afford to go through hell again." The governor said virus cases are on the upswing again in New Jersey as residents return from vacations in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and areas of Florida. New Jersey suffered mightily in the early days of the pandemic but had seen much improvement in recent weeks, but the numbers are turning higher again, according to Murphy, "If you're leaving your house, put on a mask," Murphy said. "We went through hell, we cannot afford to go through hell again." Kanpur/IBNS: The Uttar Pradesh Police has increased the reward for the arrest of notorious criminal Vikas Dubey, who is absconding since Friday after allegedly killing eight policemen, to Rs 2.5 lakhs. "The cash reward for the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh by UP Director General of Police HC Awasthy," Additional Director General Law and Order Prashant Kumar said on Monday, reported NDTV. Eight policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were gunned down by Dubey and his accomplices in the intervening night of June 2 and June 3, when a police team went to arrest him after a fresh case of attempted murder was filed against him. There are around 60 cases of murder and kidnapping pending against the criminal, including one in which he had killed BJP leader and the then minister Santosh Shukla inside Shibli police station back in 2001. Dubey, said to be in his 50s and with strong political connections, had been arrested several times in the past but had always escaped conviction. The bounty on him was earlier increased from Rs 50,000 to one lakh, which has been raised to Rs 2.5 lakh as he continues to escape police even after three days of killing and injuring a large number of policemen. The Indo-Nepal border areas have been alerted and his pictures with reward money have been put up in different places as police suspects that Dubey may try to escape to Nepal, said the NDTV report. Dubey had been last traced to Auraiya and is believed to have escaped to Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, the report added. Already four policemen suspected to have tipped off Dubey about police teams heading to Bikaru village to arrest him have been suspended, said the report. According to a Hindustan Times report, Dinesh Kumar P, Kanpurs senior superintendent of police, said two sub-inspectors Kunwar Pal and KK Sharma and constable Rajeev of Chaubeypur police station were among those who have been suspended, after investigating their role in leaking the information. Their call records were checked to ascertain their involvement, the report said, adding that the process to terminate their employment would begin soon. Earlier, Vinay Tiwari, Station Officer of Chaubeypur Police Station, under which Vikas Dubey's village falls, has been suspended for tipping off Vikas Dubey, said reports. Dubey's aide Daya Shankar Agnihotri, who was arrested on Sunday and suspected to be a part of the team that laid a trap to kill the policemen, said in a video statement that a caller from a police station informed the gangster about the raid, the HT report said. The criminals had blocked the road to the village using a bulldozer, forcing the police team to get down from their vehicles and enter on foot, which gave Dubey and his men advantage over the cops. The shooters rained bullets from rooftops on policemen who could not see them well and killed eight cops on the spot and injured seven other. According to media reports, Vikas Dubey's uncle was killed soon after the police killings by the cops. SHELTON Dozens of people made the trek to Elizabeth Shelton School to donate food to Spooner House last week as part of a drive sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Kelly and state Reps. Jason Perillo and Ben McGorty and Echo Hose Ambulance. The event followed social distancing guidelines to protect the health of donors and volunteers. Donations were picked up directly from vehicles. Thank you to everyone who came out (July 1) to donate to support the Spooner House, said Kelly. Your generosity will help feed many people in need during this difficult time. Its inspiring to see so many people taking action to help others and support their neighbors, added Perillo. We are so appreciative of Echo Hose going above and beyond to support this food drive, said McGorty. Spooner House does incredible work for our community and it was great to be able to give back and help them help others. To support Spooner House, in-kind contributions of food, cleaning supplies and paper goods can be dropped off at 30 Todd Road, Shelton, at any time. For safety and protection, a bin has been placed in the foyer to limit contact and maintain distance. Ring the bell to the left of the front door, and you will be buzzed in to leave your donations. For a full list of needed items visit: http://www.actspooner.org/Wish_List.html. Financial contributions may be mailed to Spooner House or made online here: http://www.actspooner.org/donations.html. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com 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. A new petition launched by a grassroots group of female troops and veterans is calling on Congress to shut down Fort Hood, Texas and fire its chain of command for how it handled the case of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, the alleged victim of a brutal murder by a fellow male soldier. Launched July 4, the National Women Veterans & Service Women Sign-On Letter -- #JusticeForVanessaGuillen, has so far gathered 2,100 signatures, among them hundreds from active-duty troops. In addition to the base closure and firings, the petition calls for an end to the entrenched culture of sexual assault and sexual harassment that exists throughout the military, Pam Campos-Palma, organizer of the petition, told Military.com. Read Next: Air Force Academy Confirms COVID-19 Cases Among Freshman Class "I have never seen something like this, ever," she said. "I am Latina, my mother is a Honduran immigrant. So I myself am Vanessa Guillen." The petition comes after Guillen's story made national headlines. The 20-year-old 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier, who disappeared on April 22, was allegedly murdered by Army Spc. Aaron Robinson under brutal circumstances, according to a July 2 criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Texas. Fort Hood officials have yet to publicly confirm that theyve identified Guillens remains. Robinson shot and killed himself June 30 when confronted by police. Two days later, federal authorities filed a criminal complaint charging 22-year-old Cecily Aguilar, a civilian and the estranged wife of a Fort Hood soldier, with conspiracy to tamper with evidence in Guillen's case. Robinson told Aguilar that he killed Guillen "by striking her in the head with a hammer" while on-post, and smuggled her body to a remote site in Bell County, according to the complaint. Aguilar allegedly then helped Robinson mutilate and dispose of Guillen's body. Natalie Khawam, an attorney representing Guillen's family, has alleged that Robinson sexually harassed Guillen before he murdered her. Fort Hood and Army Criminal Investigation Command officials said July 2 that there is no credible evidence that Guillen was the victim of sexual harassment. Army officials informed Guillen's family that the human remains found near Fort Hood last week had been identified as Vanessa Guillen's, Khawam told the Associated Press. Fort Hood officials are expected to provide an update on the case Monday evening. Campos-Palma said she was compelled to launch this petition after seeing so many female veterans post stories on the internet about being sexually harassed and feeling helpless in a culture that ignores the behavior. "I saw all of these stories all over the internet that were so triggering, and all I could think about is, how many years are we going to keep ripping our wounds open to believed that this is a problem when we know it's a problem," said Campos-Palma, who testified before Congress last December about her experiences of being sexually harassed and assaulted while serving from 2006 to 2017 in the Air Force. U.S. Navy veteran Stephanie Gattas said she helped Campos-Palma create the petition to "bring justice not just to Vanessa Guillen but to all the women before her that have been murdered or have been raped." "It's very important that we stand in solidarity with Vanessa's family because we all share their pain we share their anger," said Gattas, the founder of The Pink Berets, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting women of the U.S. military veterans afflicted with invisible injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder. "As people read this story, they cannot fathom the agony that this family has had to endure and not just losing their daughter who decided to give her life for this country but in the manner in which she lost it." The petition is calling for an independent congressional investigation "not just into how her disappearance happened, but for those that should have been involved or should have done something about it," Gattas said. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., are also calling for change. This month they signed a letter calling on Pentagon Acting Inspector General Sean O'Donnell to conduct a "a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding SPC Guillen's disappearance." "SPC Guillen's disappearance raises deep, troubling concerns about the Army's ability to prevent sexual harassment and assault, respond to criminal acts, and provide justice for victims and their families," the July 2 letter states. "We worry that these shortcomings are not limited to a single case or installation, and require a decisive response." Campos-Palma said most women who have served in the military have experienced or know someone who has experienced sexual harassment or assault. "It took me years to realize that a fellow airmen at my Christmas party groping me under the table was not normal," she said. "I don't think this is a time to relitigate when women were raped in service. I think that this is a moment to really question why after ... decades of so-called zero-tolerance policies, that our most trusted institutions in this country have done nothing to stop it." The petition demands that "Fort Hood should be shut down, that it is clearly a danger and a threat to soldiers and that is irresponsible to just let it go and continue operations as normal," Campos-Palma said. The petition is also calling for the entire chain of command at Fort Hood be fired and replaced. Military.com reached out to Fort Hood for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The petition is also asking that the Guillen family be given an audience at a congressional hearing. "And the last one is the one I have seen the most energy from young women ... which is if there is not justice served, if there is not an actual intervention by Congress now, then we demand the boycotting of enlistments," Campos-Palma said. "That we should not give our sons and daughters to a military does not keep us safe and does not uphold its promise." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Remains of Missing Soldier Vanessa Guillen Identified, Family Lawyer Says At least four Marine Corps units have cased their colors in recent weeks as part of an aggressive plan to reshape the force to take on future threats. Two combat logistics regiments -- one on the East Coast and one on the West -- were the latest units to deactivate last week as the Marine Corps pushes forward with a years-long reorganization plan. Combat Logistics Regiment 25, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and CLR-15, out of Camp Pendleton, California, were both deactivated in July 1 ceremonies. Read Next: General, Colonel Rebuked After Marine Corps Finds Serious Flaws in Fatal Crash Investigation The units' closures followed the June 22 deactivation of the Pendleton-based Bridge Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, and the May shuttering of CLR-35 in Japan. The three combat logistics regiments were all stood up after the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S. The 7th ESB bridge company dated back to Vietnam. "The commandant's plan is all about being a more mobile, lethal force. For us, that means small teams to get the job done," Col. Denise Mull, CLR-25's commanding officer, said at that unit's deactivation ceremony. "We're excited to see who can step up to fill the role that this regiment filled." The supply and maintenance battalions that fell under the three combat logistics regiments will still exist, but now will be stand-alone units assigned to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Marine logistics groups. Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger announced in March his sweeping plan to modernize the Corps for future fights. The plan calls for shedding about 16,000 Marines from the ranks by 2030. The Marine Corps will no longer operate tanks or bridging companies as part of the plan, which also calls for fewer law enforcement personnel, infantry Marines and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets. The service recently released instructions for the more than 1,300 Marines whose jobs will be affected by the changes. They've been directed to consider moving into other fields within the Marine Corps or even joining other military branches. Cost savings from those changes will be used to pay for equipment for long-range precision fires and other technology the Marine Corps will need to face off against more sophisticated adversaries, such as Russia or China. "We're not saying that a tank or bridging company isn't of value," Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, the head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, said during a recent interview. "... It's just that for the future fight, [those military occupational specialties] are of less value than the things that we need most." The personnel and equipment affected by the deactivations are being distributed across the Marine logistics groups, according to service news releases. Col. Joon Um, CLR-35's commanding officer, said of his unit's deactivation that the move allowed for greater independence and agility so Marine leaders can respond more rapidly to changing conditions. "This deactivation was absolutely necessary as the Marine Corps grows in a new direction to face different challenges," Um said. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Marine Corps to Shut Down, Cut Back 7 MOSs as the Force Prepares for Change The story that a unit of Russian military intelligence (GRU) paid bounties to the Taliban to attack and kill American and allied military personnel in Afghanistan continues to evolve. In the process, it is becoming increasingly implausible. First, there has been a stream of anonymous sources confirming what the other, previous anonymous sources said. I'm not sure that anonymous sources confirming what other anonymous sources said actually proves anything. These sources included former members of the Taliban, as well as intelligence and military personnel, all of whom are unnamed. Given that the knowledge of the Russian bounties was supposedly widespread, its remarkable that not a single person anywhere in the world with direct knowledge of this program is willing to go on record on the story. Related: Is Russia Paying the Taliban a Bounty to Kill US Troops? An Alternative Explanation The tale has grown even more convoluted with the introduction of one Rahmatullah Azizi, an Afghan the New York Times described as a "lowly drug smuggler," who was supposedly the point man for the operation. Azizi, we are told, attracted the attention of authorities because he seemed to have large amounts of money, drove fancy cars and traveled with a security detail, but seemed to have no visible means of support. I suppose that fact would raise suspicion in most countries. In Afghanistan, however, it probably describes a quarter of the population of Kabul, including most high-ranking members of the Afghan government and military. Azizi apparently traveled frequently to Russia where, according to the Times, he "collected the cash." He then used the Hawala system, the Islamic world's informal money transfer network, to get the cash to the jihadists who had earned a bounty. Why exactly did Azizi have to travel to Russia to get the cash? Did his masters at the GRU require him to sign a receipt for funds received? Where did he travel to? Presumably, he went to Moscow. Did he pick up the cash at GRU headquarters on Grizodubova Street and then fly straight back to Kabul? Or maybe he stayed over, took in a performance at the Bolshoi, followed by dinner at Pushkin? Was there time for tea at the Kremlin? The Kremlin has been giving cash to the Taliban for years. It certainly didn't need a failed, lowly Afghan drug smuggler to move the cash for it. Since the money was going into the Hawala network anyway, it would have been far simpler and less conspicuous to do so in Pakistan or one of the "stans," all of which are well represented in the Hawala system. Of course, Azizi could clear all this up. Sadly, he is nowhere to be found. According to the Times' sources, it's believed he has skedaddled back to Russia. If you are reading this, Mr. Azizi, that's probably not a wise decision. You are now officially a "loose end." The usual GRU solution to loose ends is a bullet in the back of the head. "There were 17 U.S. troops killed in combat in Afghanistan. That means that, even if bounties had been paid on all of those deaths, and there is no evidence that any were paid, the total bounties would have amounted to a couple of million dollars. The Taliban generates several billion dollars in revenues from various criminal activities. It has long been believed that they receive between $100 million and $200 million in financial assistance from the Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI. Russia has been actively supporting the Taliban since at least 2014. There is no consensus on the value of Russian aid to the Taliban, and especially on the amount of financial assistance it has rendered. Russia did supply the arms and equipment to the Taliban's Red Unit -- a 1,000-strong force touted as the Taliban's special operations squad. Ostensibly, the group was supposed to focus on combating the Islamic State in Afghanistan, but it has also been used against Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces. Russia has also supplied aid to remnants of the Northern Alliance. These ethnic Tajik groups are ostensibly part of the Afghan government but, with Russian assistance, they keep their options open. Estimates from Western intelligence agencies of Russian financial aid vary widely, from several tens of millions to as much as several hundred million dollars. There is no consensus on how this assistance should be measured; hence, the wide differences in estimates. In some cases, financial assistance takes the form of actual cash transfers. In other cases, they represent subsidies paid to third-party suppliers of arms to the Taliban or Russian military equipment supplied at below-market cost. Iran is also believed to be aiding the Taliban. What is clear is that, given the scope of the Taliban's activities, bounties of several million dollars would not have a material impact on the Taliban's finances. I don't know whether the Taliban produces consolidated financial statements of its activities. It would make fascinating reading if it did. Measured, however, against the billions of dollars it takes in, these bounties wouldn't make much difference. Accountants would call the amounts rounding errors. As this story has evolved, there has been a subtle but important shift in the main actor. Initially, it was the Taliban that was receiving the bounties. Now, according to numerous press reports, it is not the Taliban directly, but "groups and commanders that are with the Taliban but not controlled by the Taliban." According to a Taliban commander quoted anonymously, "These are the people who will do anything for money, and Russia, Iran, Pakistan and other countries will hire them for operations." If these jihadists are groups "that sometimes cooperate with but are not part of the Taliban," then what exactly is the purpose of the bounties? What's the objective that Russia is trying to achieve? This distinction makes the claim more plausible, but it also means that it would be a lot more complicated to determine which of the jihadists or affiliated groups were directly responsible for killing American and coalition soldiers and earning the bounties. There are scores of jihadist organizations operating in Afghanistan. The Taliban is the largest and is responsible for most of the fighting with U.S. and coalition forces. Add to that the Islamic State, al-Qaida, the Haqqani Network and the Fatemiyoun -- the predominantly Shiite, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked group in western Afghanistan. There are scores of smaller groups. In addition, according to the New York Times, "criminal networks, profiteers and terror training experts also freelance their services -- often to several groups at the same time." What is clear, however, is that this story is being carefully stage-managed, with daily revelations of "new facts" and additional "confirmations" from a variety of anonymous sources. What isn't clear is whether the "stage manager" is Russia; American intelligence personnel with an ax to grind with the Trump administration (there are certainly no shortage of those); or someone else. In the meantime, the level of bipartisan outrage continues to mount, as do the charges that the Trump administration is soft on Russia, however implausible this account appears to be. Journalism is not that dissimilar from intelligence analysis. In both cases, the first question that should be asked when presented with new information is: Why is this news being disclosed now and who benefits from its disclosure? Had that policy been followed more judiciously, much of the turmoil surrounding the claim that Russia is paying bounties on American soldiers killed in combat would have been avoided, and the news would have likely been a non-event. Time will tell whether the Russian bounty story is true; a carefully spun repackaging of existing facts; or completely bogus. Whomever is in the background stage managing this story to the international press, however, is doing a brilliant job. -- 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. When Richard Casper left the Marine Corps in 2007, not much was known about traumatic brain injury (TBI) or how it affected the veterans who were suffering from it. Art was his way of coping with it -- and it worked. The music program he designed for veterans was a transformational way for returning combat vets to come to terms with some of their post-traumatic stress issues; to remember those they lost; and to create art in a meaningful way. So far, the program has helped dozens of veterans express through song what they could not say. Read: How Veterans Tell Stories Through Song at the Grand Ole Opry And now, we can hear the songs of the post-9/11 generation of veterans in one album. On July 3, 2020, the independent music label Big Machine released "Veteran Songs," an 11-track album of songs written and performed by combat veterans, with help from longtime country songwriters Heidi Raye and Johnny Bulford. The album features songs about family, relationships, war, trauma and inspiration. "It has been a dream of mine since we launched CreatiVets in 2013 to have our music released to the world," Casper said. "We know our music doesn't just help the veteran who wrote the song; it helps their family, friends and other veterans that feel connected through hearing their story for the first time or through shared experiences." The albums can also be streamed through Amazon Music by saying "Alexa, play music by veterans" with any Echo-enabled device. It all began with a drawing Casper made of himself at his best friend's grave site in Houston. How he colored the drawing allowed him to express himself in a way that words could not. Art was his medium back then. Today, it's music and song, which allows him to express the things he was and is unable to speak about. Casper soon met Mark Irwin, the country songwriter behind hits from Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw. They teamed up to write a song for Casper's best friend Luke, who died in Iraq and at whose grave the former Marine drew himself years before. In three hours, the two wrote Luke's Song. Casper found the experience so profound, he needed to share it with other veterans. It was because of this experience that Casper teamed up with nonprofit advocate Linda Tarrson to found CreatiVets, a nonprofit that takes veterans backstage at Tennessee's Grand Ole Opry, to work with some of the best songwriters in Nashville to tell their own stories and put into words what has been on their minds for so long. "Our big thing is that a veteran can share their experience, the story of their lives, for the first time because it's a song," Casper told Military.com. "It's a powerful thing." Veterans aren't just given help writing their first song. They're given an entire course on country music songwriting backstage at the country music mecca. The idea isn't just to give veterans a song they can play or listen to, but a whole new method of expressing their thoughts and feelings to better cope with their experiences. Afterward, many veterans keep writing, continuing the healing process. To find out more about CreatiVets, sign up for its programs or donate, 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. How many emails have you gotten talking about these "uncertain times?" Probably enough to make you scream. As a military spouse, your entire married life has been uncertain. From waiting for orders and watching them change to extended deployments and hurry up and wait, you're a pro at navigating uncertain times. But now, once again, you're facing something new. If you're preparing for your first deployment as a military spouse, things are looking a bit crazy -- which is normal. For those who have "been there, done that, have too many unit T-shirts," the deployment you're facing now may actually knock you back a few steps. All of your regular plans, your support system and your resources look different. And that is scary. It's enough to make even the most seasoned military spouse throw their hands up and threaten to quit. (Yup, we all do this, even when we know we can't and won't, but we're just done.) Yes, things will look a little different for this next deployment. But there are still resources available, and you can and will make it through. Resources like Military OneSource are still available and, as installations return to "normal," you will find family services opening up and offering some of the same things they have before. In fact, places like Fort Carson, Colorado, and Fort Stewart, Georgia, are reaching even more family members with resources than before, thanks to their quick thinking and ability to move many trainings online. "One benefit with virtual [training] is that we can reach more people than we would have in person, like parents of single soldiers," said Connie Roy, Family Enrichment program manager at Fort Carson. Roy said that they are seeing more participation because it's easier to take part under the current conditions. No one has to find child care or drive on the installation or fit a training into their schedule. Beau Bradley, supervisory Mobilization, Deployment and Support Stability Operations program manager at Fort Stewart, has seen the same increase in attendance for online trainings and events. Bradley organized an online canvas painting event for spouses in May and had a great turnout. He said spouses were excited to participate and have time to themselves, even online. Both Roy and Bradley emphasized that, while they may not be working full-time in the office, most services are still being offered. Phones are being answered and appointments can be made, which means resources are still available. One thing spouses with children rely on during deployments is child care help -- whether it comes from respite care provided by the military, visiting family or by hiring a babysitter. Right now, spouses are concerned about what this looks like. Child care centers are not fully open and are focused on serving families of essential service members only. Child care providers off the installation don't typically offer hourly care or drop-in care, which is what stay-at-home military spouses usually need during deployment. With installations still closed to non-ID card holders, it makes hiring a babysitter more difficult, plus spouses aren't always comfortable with someone else in their home at this point. Visiting family is frowned upon due to mileage restrictions and states requiring quarantine for travelers. All in all, it's a bit intimidating. But here's what hasn't changed: We're still a community. We're still here for each other. We can listen, we can empathize, we can offer suggestions and we can help where we can. Some of the simple things you would normally do for friends during deployment are still available. You can still cut their lawn, grab things from the grocery store for them, and pick up their favorite coffee order for them. Another option is to isolate together, creating a bubble. If you have another spouse who is going through deployment, both of you can spend the appropriate number of days away from everyone else and then commit to being only around each other. This would allow you both to have some help, without compromising your health. Spouses in Europe, who were isolating before the United States started, shared great ideas on how to support each other. Brianna (who asked that her last name not be used) said she prepared Easter Eggs and dropped them off for spouses with deployed service members. When her husband returned from a TDY and was facing possible quarantine, her friend Amelia offered to have Brianna and the kids move in with them. "We were nervous about hanging out, but we knew we weren't around any other people," said Amelia (who also asked that her last name not be used). "We wouldn't have survived without each other." This deployment is going to be different. But when you look back on the past deployments, you'll notice they were all different in one way or another. The duty station may have changed; your family dynamics or number of children may have changed. Most of all, you have changed. You are a strong, determined, independent military spouse. You've conquered a lot, and you will conquer this too. Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox. --Rebecca Alwine can be reached at rebecca.alwine@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebecca_alwine. July 6, 2020 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Owning a classic car is a dream for a lot of car lovers. Whether you own a Ford Mustang 289 HiPo or a Ford Mustang 390 GT, it's helpful to know about proper insurance. As important as it is to maintain the look and function of a classic car, it's equally important to ensure you have protection for your investment. Here's everything you need to know about getting classic car insurance. What's classic car insurance? When you get conventional car insurance, the car is usually covered up to the actual cash value. That equals its replacement cost minus the depreciation. An example of this would be purchasing a Dodge Challenger for $22,000, and getting a cash reimbursement of about $14,000 if you got in an accident and totaled the car. Classic car insurance covers your vehicle for a guaranteed value that you and your car insurance company agree on. The amount is determined either by collectible car valuation guides, a form of documentation, research done by an underwriter, or a professional appraisal. Once you have classic car insurance, if you and a car insurance company came to an agreement that your Ford Mustang 289 HiPo should be valued at $50,000, you'd receive that amount in the event you totaled the car. Unlike modern cars that lose value over time, collectible cars usually increase in value based on how they are restored and taken care of. Collectible car insurance types While different collector car insurance policies tend to be similar, some types of collectible vehicles are excluded from certain coverages. There's variation when it comes to the descriptions and definitions with different insurers and different states. Nonetheless, there are a few common ones that most insurers offer. Classic car insurance generally refers to cars that are 19 to 24 years old, in good working condition, restored, and higher than the average value of other cars that are of the same make and model year. In some cases, insurers will define a car as classic if it's at least greater than ten years old. The Classic Car Club of America's definition of a classic vehicle is one that was manufactured between 1925 and 1948. Companies typically offer antique car insurance for cars that are at least 25 years old and is restored to its original condition. Keep in mind that in a few states, if the car is at least 20 years old, it can qualify for this type of insurance. The Antique Automobile Club of America only views cars as antique if they're 45 years old or older. Modified car insurance is an option if your classic car is significantly altered from its original condition. A lot of insurers won't provide classic car coverage for vehicles altered in this way. An example would be an antique car that runs on nitro fuel. Another common collectible car insurance you might consider is kit cars and replicas. This insurance covers cars that either represent the assembled reproductions of all cars that are at least 25 years old, or are representation automobiles at least 24 years old and have separately manufactured components. What does a collectible car insurance offer? Most classic car insurance offers a term of about 12 months and covers for collision, liability, uninsured and underinsured drivers, and medical payments. State-mandated liability coverages are given to collectible cars and private passenger vehicles. As it relates to optional coverage, there are some unique options given specifically to classic cars. Classic car insurers may offer roadside assistance where towing is only done with a flatbed tow truck to avoid the potential of wear and tear. Traveling coverage can also be offered, which can cover food, a rental vehicle, lodging, and personal items when your collectible car breaks down. Additionally, you might have the possibility of getting an auto show medical reimbursement. This option would cover you if someone were to be injured at an event or exhibit that features your car. It's similar to medical payments of a part of homeowner's insurance policy, where the policy pays medical expenses to the limit, no matter who's at fault. If someone were to slip and fall at your exhibition space, the auto show medical reimbursement option would protect you. You also might be able to get no attendance required coverage and coverage for spare parts. No attendance required covers your vehicle when you're away from it when displayed at a car show. An example would be if a dealership uses your vehicle in an event, and it were to get damaged, it would be covered. Coverage for spare parts would cover backup parts for the car if they were damaged or stolen. You should lastly be aware that you can negotiate the agreed value of your car if you believe the estimate of its worth has risen. An example of it rising would be if you recently restored the car, and you desired to protect how much you've invested in it. Classic car insurance eligibility In general, insurance companies require that you don't use the classic car as your primary vehicle. There are also maximum annual mileage restrictions that are applied. The number varies from state to state, but it usually isn't more than 7,500 miles per year. Many policyholders are limited to only driving the car for pleasure or hobby activities such as car shows, parades, or exhibitions. Most insurers won't cover your claim if you use the classic car for driving to work, shops, or other locations. You also need to be at least 25 years old, have a good driving record, and 5 to 10 years of experience. At most, insurers allow you to have one at-fault accident or moving violation within the last three years. Insurers will expect that the car is safeguarded from the elements by being parked in a fully enclosed garage, storage facility, or other approved structure. You'll also have to own another vehicle as your primary car for regularly driving to school, work, or other frequent locations. You may additionally have to agree not to race with your classic car or drive it on a track. Your classic car needs to be in good shape and intended for normal driving. Insurers can potentially decline to cover you if your classic vehicle is previously damaged, in poor condition, or designed for off-road use. Insurance costs and discounts The coverage for collectible vehicles tends to always be less expensive than conventional car insurance. The reason is that these vehicles are driven much fewer miles every year, and owners are more likely to shelter the vehicle and keep it in good condition. Nonetheless, premiums are still calculated based on similar factors to more common car insurance. You may also be able to receive discounts with the insurer you choose for certain circumstances. Those circumstances can include having multiple policies with the same carrier, insuring multiple classic vehicles, equipping your vehicle with an anti-theft device, or completing a defensive driver class. You might also qualify for a discount if you have no claims or accidents within the last few years, or if you choose to select a comprehensive-only policy, which is beneficial for classic car owners who plan to only restore their car and not drive it. How to shop for classic car insurance Both major insurance companies such as Progressive and specialty carriers such as Hagerty offer coverage for classic vehicles. A good place you can start in your search for a provider is your existing car insurance. As mentioned in the previous section, they may offer you a discount for insuring multiple vehicles with them. Nonetheless, before you decide to choose your existing carrier, it isn't a bad idea to shop around and contact different carriers to compare rates and coverages. There are a few things you should keep in mind with finding the right coverage that fits your needs. First, you should start preparing to substantiate the current value of your classic car. Take photographs, consult industry price resources, and perhaps get your vehicle professional appraised. Figuring out an accurate worth will help you avoid getting shortchanged. Additionally, choose an agent and carrier that's experienced in classic car insurance. Look for a company that has an in-house claims department, which potentially can make it easier if you ever have to file a claim. Be sure to pay close attention to the fine print. Know exactly what's covered and what's restricted. Anything you don't understand, ask the agent to explain it to you. You should review all limited use provisions. Insurers will generally allow travel to auto club meetups and car shows, but some insurers may restrict it. You should check to see if your insurer has any travel restrictions. It can be the dream of a lifetime to own a classic car, but not having classic car insurance can quickly turn that dream into a nightmare. Keeping all of this information in mind will help you choose the right classic car insurance for your vehicle. If you happen to have a classic Mustang and want to know more about parts you could use to restore it, you can learn more at Revology Cars. 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Learn more about posting your articles at http://www.investorideas.com/Advertise/ Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI The Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office has recovered the body of boater from Green Lake. Michael Henry Emaus, 78, of Green Lake Township, was found around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 5. The sheriffs office dive team, along with ROV, side scan sonar, drones had been searching for Emaus since about 10:15 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Police say the man attempted to swim to shore from his disabled boat. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources assisted in the search. DETROIT, MI At least a dozen COVID-19 cases have been tied to a strip club near the Detroit airport. Twelve of the cases linked to the strip club were either patrons or employees of the Playhouse Club in Romulus, according to a news release from the Wayne County Public Health Division. One case involved a worker at a nearby restaurant, called Checkers, the county office said. It wasn't clear how, if at all, that case was connected to the others. Public health officials announced Sunday that they are encouraging anyone who recently visited the venue to contact them, the Associated Press reports. The announcement came as state public health officials reported no new deaths from the virus for the first time since the pandemic began, the Detroit Free Press reported. The state on Sunday reported 343 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 65,876 since the outbreak, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In all, there have been nearly 6,000 COVID-19 deaths in Michigan. Those who visited or worked at the Playhouse Club between June 17 and July 1 were asked to call the health division whether they are feeling ill or not. Carriers of the novel coronavirus sometimes do not show symptoms, which can include fever, a cough and shortness of breath. ANN ARBOR, MI Two Ann Arbor City Council members are calling for a temporary moratorium on new development in some controversial zoning districts. Council Members Anne Bannister, D-1st Ward, and Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, are bringing forward the proposal at the councils virtual meeting Monday night, July 6. If approved, it would pause potential new developments in C1A (campus business) and C1A/R (campus business residential) zoning districts, which have been the subject of a lawsuit against the city and delays in approving a condo project this past year. Theyre calling for a 180-day moratorium, during which time they want the citys Planning Commission to evaluate the viability of the two zoning designations and whether to eliminate them. Developers have requested rezoning property to C1A and C1A/R, which has led to council discussions of the appropriateness of the districts in neighborhoods away from the University of Michigan campus and has raised concerns about what is considered in close proximity to the central area of the city or near the campus business district as stated in the citys development code, Eaton and Bannisters resolution states. That has shown a need for clarifying where or whether the zoning districts should be used in the city and standards for each district so they reflect the appropriate scale and character of surrounding areas, according to the resolution. The city could lose irreplaceable physical, cultural and historical attributes of the citys neighborhoods if there arent changes to the zoning ordinances, the resolution states. The moratorium would apply to new developments in the C1A and C1A/R zoning districts that require site plan approval, special exception uses and other comparable zoning requests, with some exceptions in exceptional circumstances. City Council finds it necessary to impose this temporary moratorium in order to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of city residents, the resolution states, adding the moratorium could be extended for an additional 180 days after the initial 180-day period. C1A and C1A/R zoning districts are in limited use in the city, with the largest concentration of them near the intersection of State and Packard streets, according to the resolution. Traver Street resident Tom Stulberg and a Lower Town neighborhood group called Ann Arbor Neighbors for Responsible Development filed a lawsuit against the city last year, claiming the city improperly rezoned a property off Broadway Street to campus business residential in 2017 to allow a large, mixed-use development. Ann Arbor residents suing city over Lower Town development Allowing campus business residential zoning outside the core campus area sets a dangerous precedent, Stulberg argued. The character of the Lower Town area is unlike the campus business district or the downtown, the lawsuit stated. The application of the C1A/R ordinance in Lower Town is unprecedented and the first rezoning of land to this classification in over 50 years, it stated. The lawsuit was dismissed in January. Council members had similar concerns about a five-story condo development proposed at 325 E. Summit St. in 2018. They were willing to support the project, just not under the campus business zoning designation that was requested. After making the developer spend several months jumping through extra hoops, council voted unanimously to OK the project under a different zoning designation in May. Mondays council meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast by Community Television Network and streamed online. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Ann Arbor condo developer gets OK for project after jumping through extra hoops Susan Pollay retiring after over two decades as Ann Arbor DDA director Ann Arbor police oversight commission seeks stronger role in overseeing AAPD Fired Ann Arbor administrator lands new job in Philadelphia metro area Ann Arbor launches search for new city administrator with ability to be apolitical FLINT, MI A pair of overnight shootings in Flint left two people hospitalized with critical injuries. Flint police responded to Hurley Medical Center around 1 a.m. Monday, July 6, for a shooting incident. A male whod been shot was listed in critical condition at the hospital. The victim told police he was on Forest Hill Avenue at Flushing Road when he was shot, but he was unable to provide any further information. Police have no suspect in connection with the incident. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Victoria Lambaria at 810-237-6971. In the second incident, a teen male is being sought by police in connection with a shooting in the 1700 block of South Dort Highway. The victim arrived at Hurley Medical Center with a gunshot wound. Witnesses told police the shooting happened along Dort Highway. The investigation is ongoing. No additional suspect information was made available by police. Those with information on the incident are asked to call Detective Trooper Keith Bieganski at 810-701-0364. The critical shootings took place the day after a man in his 50s was shot and killed shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday, July 5, in the 600 block of East Stewart Avenue, between Fulton and Saginaw streets. The victim, whose name has not been released, had suffered a gunshot wound. He was transported to Hurley Medical Center and originally listed in critical condition but was later pronounced dead, police said. The investigation into the fatal shooting is ongoing by the Major Case Unit, consisting of Flint police and Michigan State Police detectives. Police are looking for a man in his 30s as a suspect in connection with the incident, but no one is in custody. Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to contact Detective Lambaria. Tips can also be made anonymously on any of the shootings to Crime Stoppers of Flint & Genesee County by phone at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245), on the P3 Tips mobile app, or online at crimestoppersofflint.com. Man dead after early morning shooting in Flint WALKER, MI A Chicago-based seller of new and remanufactured truck parts has opened a store in Walker. General Truck Parts & Equipment opened a new storefront, warehouse and remanufacturing facility at 2686 3 Mile Rd. NW in Walker on June 29. The company sells new and remanufactured truck parts for the industrial, agricultural, construction, mining and logging industries. The company invested more than $500,000 to launch the new store, according to a news release from The Right Place, a Grand Rapids-based economic development group that assisted General Truck Parts & Equipment with its move to Walker. Seven to 10 new jobs are expected to be created over the next three years as a result of the new store. We knew we could improve service and delivery times with a new operation in Michigan, Eric Sjoredsma, the general sales manager for the Walker store, said in a statement. General Truck Parts & Equipment was founded in 1970 and, in addition to Chicago, has locations in Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Nashville, as well as Portland, Maine, and Rochester, New York. The decision to expand in West Michigan reaffirms the region as a place companies can locate to access markets across the entire state, Brent Case, vice president of business attraction for The Right Place, said in a statement. Companies located in Chicago and neighboring states recognize the affordability and many other benefits of expanding in West Michigan and were pleased to assist in projects like these. Walker City Manager Darrel Schmalzel said he was pleased the companys decision to open a store in his community. We are confident their new location will provide them the opportunity to serve their Michigan clients more effectively, he said. Read more: Bars, workplaces, private gatherings fuel Michigans recent increases in coronavirus Alcohol believed to be a factor in fatal Northern Michigan crash, sheriff says Track coronavirus cases in your Michigan county for month of June GRAND RAPIDS, MI As schools are gearing up for an unprecedented academic year, the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids is working to make sure no student gets left behind due to financial struggles from the coronavirus pandemic. The diocese has announced it will give away $1 million in scholarships to Catholic school students who may be unable to afford tuition due to the financial ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis. The tuition assistance will be available to both returning families and new families entering the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Bishop David Walkowiak said at a virtual press conference July 2. As we prepare for a safe return to school, I want to make sure that no student is left behind because of the financial impact that the coronavirus has had on so many families, he said. Superintendent David Faber said the tuition program is a game changer for the school system of 6,340 students. Faber said many families have expressed uncertainty about whether theyll be able to return next year due to financial struggles caused by COVID-19. All those students, truly desiring of Catholic education, will not have that barrier of tuition, he said. This years scholarship program is double the amount that the diocese already gives out in scholarships each year. The $1 million COVID-19 funding will be available in addition to more than $500,000 in need-based scholarships that the diocese already allocates to to more than 1,000 students annually. RELATED: Bishops initiative spurs Catholic schools enrollment growth I, myself, was a student in Catholic schools for many years, Walkowiak said. I became the person who I am because of the education that I received in those Catholic schools, so you can understand that I want as many students as possible to receive the same opportunity that I had. Families can apply for the tuition assistance at CatholicSchools4U.org. Through the application form, families are asked to list their circumstances that make them eligible for the funding, which will be verified by the familys principal or pastor. Our team will be here to serve you to make sure that theres a smooth opportunity for you to avail yourself of these tuition assistance dollars, Faber said. Ultimately, we want to make sure that every family has an opportunity to access this, so well be granting this on a first-come,first-serve basis. The diocese will allocate funds in rounds, starting July 13. Once funds are allocated in the first round, there will be a second round for families to apply two weeks later, Faber said. School is set to start for the diocese Aug. 19, Faber said. More on MLive: Parents want children back in class in Kent County, survey says Grand Rapids school board approves $10.6M budget cut for next year due to coronavirus Ferris State wants students to live alone to slow the coronavirus on campus IONIA, MI - A two-year-old child drowned Sunday evening in a private swimming pool. The toddlers death occurred at a home in the 800 block of East Washington Street, according to a news release from the Ionia County Sheriffs Office. Although foul play is not suspected, the death is being investigated by the sheriffs office and Michigan Child Protective Services in order to determine the exact circumstances of how the child died, the news release states. Officials from local emergency services and the sheriffs office arrived at the home at about 7:30 p.m. July 5 and found the child unresponsive in the pool. The childs name and gender have not been released. They attempted to revive the child at the scene before transporting the child to Sparrow Ionia Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead. Further details will not be released until the office of the Ionia County Prosecutor, Kyle B. Butler, has reviewed the investigation, according to the sheriffs office. Read more on MLive: Organizer of Michigan sandbar party could face charges after hundreds gathered in lake Lansing police use dog license to reunite wandering 2-year-old with parents Body of boater who went missing on Fourth of July recovered from Michigan lake MOSCOW TWP., MI A man was seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash Sunday night. A 63-year-old North Adams man lost control of his car, hit multiple trees and rolled the vehicle in the area of Moscow and E. Sterling roads in Hillsdale County around 8:30, July 5, Michigan State Police said. He was the only person in the car and was airlifted to the Michigan Medicine with life-threatening injuries, police said. The man was driving south on Moscow Road when he lost control of the car, according to a police investigation. Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in the crash, police said. His name is not being released at this time because the crash is still under investigation, police said. Moscow Township Fire Department, Somerset Township Fire Department, North Adams Fire Department and Somerset Township Police Department assisted at the scene. JACKSON, MI Elizabeth Phelps and Colin Glick always have separated themselves from the pack. Phelps, who is headed to Michigan State University, was student council class president for four years at Napoleon High School in Jackson. She graduated at the top of her class with a 4.2 GPA. Glick, a Jackson High School student, is heading to University of Michigan. He was on the Jackson Community Foundation Board of Trustees for two years and the Jackson Community Foundations Youth Advisory Committee for five years. The laundry list of their achievements goes on but both were honored recently by receiving $1,000 scholarships from the Jackson Breakfast Rotary Club that will go towards the expenses they have at their respective universities. Glick, a recent graduate from Jackson High School will be attending University of Michigan to study business.Courtesy of Jackson Breakfast Rotary Club Both of the students were chosen because of their exemplary leadership skills, involvement in school and community service and academics, the Rotary Club said in a release. Glick will head to Michigan to study business and Phelps will study biomedical engineering at MSU. More from the Jackson Citizen Patriot: Theres nothing left, says family of 5 that lost home, dogs to house fire The Cascades, Splash Pad in Jackson close due to electric outage Albion Colleges public health initiative helping students, community members understand COVID-19 Hydroxychloroquine is effective in treating COVID-19, says Henry Ford Health System study Jackson County health officials urge residents to take precautions against mosquito-borne illnesses Brian Stuard stays in the hunt with 5-under-par 68 at Day 2 of Rocket Mortgage Classic There is little denying the fact that Chrome has become a resource hogging browser on all platforms. This is clearly evident on OS X where MacBook owners can get significantly better battery life by switching to Safari. Google has been making improvements to Chrome to make it as power and resource efficient as Safari. One such move from the Chrome team was to automatically pause all flash content in a web page until the user is looking at it. Now, Peter Kasting, one of the developers of Chrome over at Google, has revealed that the team is working to make the browser as battery efficient on OS X as Safari. He has posted some detailed comparisons of the under the hood changes made in Chrome to make it more battery efficient. The improvements made to Chrome put it at the same level as Safari in terms of CPU and battery efficiency in certain scenarios. The team has been working on addressing this; here are some cases that have recently been improved on trunk: http://crbug.com/460102 Before: Renderers for background tabs had the same priority as for foreground tabs. Now: Renderers for background tabs get a lower priority, reducing idle wakeups on various perf test, in some cases by significant amounts (e.g. 50% on one test). http://crbug.com/485371 Before: On a Google search results page, using Safaris user agent to get the same content that Safari would, Chrome incurs ~390 wakes over 30s and 0.3% CPU usage vs. Safaris 120 wakes over 30s and 0.1% CPU usage. Now: 66% reduction in both timer firings and CPU use. Chrome is now incurring ~120 wakes over 30s and 0.1% CPU use, on par with Safari. http://crbug.com/489936 Before: On capitalone.com, Chromium incurs ~1010 wakeups over 30s vs. Safaris ~490 wakes. Now: ~30% reduction in timer firings. Chrome is now incurring ~721 wakeups over 30s. http://crbug.com/493350 Before: On amazon.com, Chromium incurs 768 wakups over 30s and consumes ~0.7% CPU vs. Safaris 312 wakes over 30s and ~0.1% CPU. Now: ~59% reduction in timer firings and ~70% reduction in CPU use. Chrome is now incurring ~316 wakeups over 30s, and 0.2% CPU use, on par with Safari at 312 wakes, and 0.1% CPU use. Kasting also reassures that the Chrome team is working hard on making Chrome more power efficient, and is not sitting idle and letting its users suffer. While these improvements will not bring Chromes battery and power efficiency to the same level as Safari, they will at least lead to some improvement in the battery life department. As a Chrome user, it is at least great to know that the Chrome team over at Google knows about these issues and is working on fixing them. [Via +Peter Kasting MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Muskegon County Sheriff Michael Poulin faces a challenger in the August Democratic primary. Poulin, sheriff since 2016, will face off against Mirelda Sanchez Tokarczyk during the Aug. 4 primary. The winner of the primary will go up against Republican Jason Hall in the Nov. 3 general election. The term of office is four years. 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 Democratic candidates for sheriff: -- Poulin, 54, of North Muskegon is finishing his first term as sheriff. He has 33 years of law enforcement experience, including as SWAT commander, operations captain, jail administrator, investigations supervisor, training sergeant, crash investigator, grant coordinator and road patrol deputy. He also has been a private contractor for the United Nations Development Program in Kuwait and Qatar and has been an adjunct instructor at Grand Valley State University. He has been appointed to the governors Traffic Safety Advisory Commission and the State of Michigan School Safety Committee. He has a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Grand Valley State University as well as advanced training through the FBI National Academy and is certified by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards since 1987. -- Tokarczyk, 42, of Roosevelt Park describes herself as a certified police officer and business owner. She has served as a police officer for Pentwater and Roosevelt Park and as a case manager and surveillance officer for the 60th District Sobriety Court. She also worked court security for the Muskegon County Sheriffs Department, and road patrol for the Mason County Sheriffs Department. She has been a teller for Shoreline Federal Credit Union, an Ottawa County Sheriff cadet and a Roosevelt Park City Council member from 2016-19. She attended the West Shore Police Academy, has an associates degree from Muskegon Community College and has been certified by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards since 2004. The candidates submitted responses to questions posed by the League of Women Voters, which are included in its online voter guide. 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 in your education and experience make you the best qualified candidate for this position? Tokarczyk: I believe and advocate for transparency and treating people with dignity. I have endured discrimination and I understand the importance of equal justice within law enforcement and in everyday life. I also know the importance of trust in law enforcement and I value public participation. For the safety of all people, we must ensure accountability. Muskegon should implement an Accountability Council Team to ensure trust, transparency, and honesty in evaluating situations. As a former elected official, I know the importance of ensuring that police officers are being evaluated and monitored. It is important to enforce good policies and revamp the policies that arent working for the community. I believe in de-escalation training and implicit bias training for police. I have worked with a variety of people and committees. I have worked in a variety of law enforcement setting, including a jail, sobriety court, court security, and road patrol. These experiences make me a well-rounded leader. Poulin: Education: Having the opportunity to attended and graduate from advanced leadership and management programs places me in the best position to serve as Sheriff. While attending Northwestern Universitys Center for Public Safety, Police Staff and Command and Executive Management Programs, I was awarded the Public Safety Executive Leadership Award. As a graduate from the FBI National Academy I received graduate level course work that involved U.S. and International law enforcement managers. Experience: Having the experience as Sheriff, 33 years of service in Muskegon County, makes me the best qualified candidate for the position. I have demonstrated my ability to successfully lead every aspect of the Sheriff's Office. I have worked with community partners and continually built relationships required for success. No other law enforcement entity or law enforcement position is more trusted, more imbedded, and has built a relationship with a community than the Office of Sheriff. What are your goals should you be elected and how will you work to accomplish them with currently limited resources? Poulin: 1. Integrity and accountability: This was my number one priority in 2016 and though we were able to achieve this goal, the maintenance of this as a professional law enforcement agency will continue as a priority. 2. Continue to improve service to our community: During my first term, staff numbers were improved for both the Law Enforcement and the Corrections Division. Our goal was to see that our community was served professionally, with a focus on community needs and customer service. With an increase of calls for service (7.44%) handled by deputies and investigators of the Sheriffs Office, we were able to directly impact our community in a positive way: 20.51% reduction in residential breaking and entering complaints; 15.40% reduction in larcenies; 66.67% reduction in Negligent Homicide; 68.73% increase in residential property checks. 3. Maintain fiscal responsibility while seeking new funding sources: Continue to work with the County Board while maintaining a balanced budget. Tokarczyk: To build trust and ensure accountability, I will incorporate monthly Sheriff Sessions. I will invite Senior Citizens and a wide variety of groups and organizations sit down with me as Sheriff. We set goals; plan; and implement change. Once elected, I will form an Accountability Council Team, a committee where people in the community are involved. I will ensure that trust is built on transparency, honesty, and communication in evaluating situations. I will enforce good policy and revamp policies that arent working for our community. I will open the lines of communication with staff. Valued staff will affect safety, growth, efficiency, and effectiveness for the better. I will actively recruit minorities and women. Representation matters. Muskegon County has a workplace diversity promotion & advancement ordinance (Policy # 2011-265). The intent is to support workplace diversity and advancement. Is it being utilized? How many people of color have been promoted in last 4 years? Do you believe that our police officers are adequately trained to deal fairly with various people they meet on the street? Tokarczyk: To be completely honest, no, we are not. I invite everyone to research this topic. According to the Michigan Commission of Law Enforcement Standards website, the requirements do not mandate training in the various types of situations an officer will deal with, such as mental illness. The MCOLES Active Duty Firearm Standard is a mandate for all Michigan law enforcement agencies. Officers must meet the standard at least once annually. They have advisory standards such as legal updates, subject control, response to persons with mental disorders. Advisory standards are not required. Police officers are not adequately trained to deal with the various people they meet. It is unfair to both the public and the officers. We must have mandatory trainings. If the department or individual can pick and choose, they may never receive the training they need to appropriately respond to various situations. Source: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mcoles/MCOLES_Policies_Procedures _611398_7.p Poulin: Competent officers are not made by accident and they will tell you its more than just training. Its practice, proficiency, and participation. We train on a wide range of topics to create a knowledge base while also creating a skill set. Over the past three years we have revamped our field training process, offering staff to participate in various committees and trainings such as the Muskegon Sexual Assault Response Team, Mental Health Crisis Intervention, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Coalitions, and Systemic Racism in Policing. Staff has participated in specialized Mental Health courses, which allows them to bring the information back to the Sheriffs Office and pass on their knowledge to other members of the department. We continue to build on training opportunities so our staff is equipped with the tools they need to successfully respond to the needs of the community and those we serve. How are our current gun laws affecting law enforcement in our county? What changes in these laws would you like to see? Poulin: During my career I have sat on the Muskegon County Gun Board, and support the current process of required background checks. As an elected Sheriff I support the Constitution and an individuals right of protection. Through my career I have found that legal gun owners do not have a negative affect on law enforcement in our county. Tokarczyk: This is a complicated issue. I do believe in background checks and red flags. I think that those are good. We need a lot of input from all people on all sides of the issue to figure out the best ways to keep our community safe. As a parent, I worry about safety in schools and throughout our community. The best way to identify solutions and compromise for is for people on all sides of the issue to sit at that table together and discuss this issue. They may have a perspective I have not even considered. Any changes will affect many Michiganders, so it will have to be a well-collaborated effort. What measures would you recommend to ensure that the law is enforced in a humane and just manner? Tokarczyk: I support transparency. We must build relationships and trust. The Sheriff Sessions are the beginning. The Department will be involved with community so that the public feels comfortable with officers. Officers need to feel comfortable with the public. In addition to implementing accountability measures outlined above, we need to be open to more training in law enforcement. I believe in regular de-escalation training and implicit bias training for police. The training must be consistent and meaningful. The Sheriff Department is not the military. We are not at war with the public. As Sheriff, I will be responsible for keeping the peace and keeping people safe by enforcing the law. I will have open communication with officers and staff. I will promote positivity within the Sheriff Department. I enforce good policies and revamp those that are not benefiting our community. We need to ensure there are equal opportunities for all in the Department. Good work atmosphere bring great change. Poulin: As outlined as my primary goal, integrity and accountability are a must. Over the past three years I have developed new employment standards which are key in the selection of new staff. As Sheriff it is imperative that all law enforcement representatives are held to a higher standard. We must remain accountable for the outcomes of our services, as it is our duty to respond appropriately and effectively. A new measure of accountability that was introduced this year will be individual body worn cameras for all law enforcement and corrections staff. Their application increases the safety of the public and staff while improving accountability for both law enforcement and our community. Our officers are merely an extension of the community. They are those persons paid to perform the duties incumbent upon every one of us, to contribute to the preservation of safety and public order. Also on MLive: Heres whats on the ballot in Muskegon Countys Aug. 4 primary election Parents want children back in class in Kent County, survey says Grand Rapids school board approves $10.6M budget cut for next year due to coronavirus Ferris State wants students to live alone to slow the coronavirus on campus SAGINAW, MI Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works is hosting a series of outdoor job fairs to give employers and job applicants the opportunity to network while practicing social distancing. The Back 2 Work! Great Lakes Bay Outdoor Job Fair Series takes place Monday, July 13, through Friday, July 17, across the region. Officials announced the upcoming event series via the Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works Facebook page. Job fairs are scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the following days at the these locations: Monday at Dow Diamond parking lot in Midland Tuesday at the SVRC Marketplace pavilion in Saginaw Wednesday at Wenonah Park pavilion in Bay City Thursday at Alma High School in Alma Friday at Island Park West in Mount Pleasant Job seekers should bring multiple copies of their resumes. Read more on MLive: Michigan cut off unemployment for thousands of eligible residents. Its not the first time. 140K Michigan unemployment claims flagged for possible fraud deemed legitimate by state Michigan unemployment claims decline, thousands still filing MIDLAND, MI A woman riding as a passenger on a motorcycle died after a two-vehicle crash in rural Midland County. The incident took place around 1 p.m. Sunday, July 5 on Waldo Road north of Monroe Road in Larkin Township, northeast of Midland. An investigation by the Midland County Sheriffs Office indicates a 2002 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by 30-year-old David Rousseau was headed south on Waldo Road behind a minivan about to turn east onto Monroe Road. Maryellen Walker, 29, of Mills Township, was a passenger on the motorcycle, police said. The motorcycle began to pass the minivan near the intersection when it collided with the driver side of a 2019 Chevy pickup truck driven by an 82-year-old Auburn woman. The truck was headed east on Monroe Road and had stopped at the intersection and then continued east on Monroe Road when the crash took place, police said. Walker was taken to Mid-Michigan Medical Center in Midland where she was later pronounced deceased. Rousseau was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the truck was not injured. The incident remains under investigation. Mid-Michigan EMS and Larkin Township Fire and Rescue assisted Midland County Sheriffs deputies at the scene. A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit backed by Michigan Republicans that attempted to overturn a 2018 ballot measure that changed the process of drawing the states political districts. The Michigan Republican Party and Tony Daunt, executive director of the conservative Michigan Freedom Fund, filed separate lawsuits that were later combined to argue their constitutional rights were violated by rules prohibiting political actors from joining a new, voter-approved redistricting commission. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff ruled in favor of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Monday, July 6, determining the plaintiffs failed to provide plausible evidence for their claims. Neffs ruling referenced another recent decision by a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously upheld a lower court decision deeming the new law constitutional. Neff wrote that the 6th Circuit Court issued a fully considered decision on the legal issues of the case and mirror this Courts own assessment of the legal sufficiency of Plaintiffs claims. The judges decision protects Michigans independent redistricting commission, which has faced attacks from the Republican-led Legislature. The Michigan Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Daunt said he will be reviewing Neffs order and discussing next steps in the near future. We continue to believe that these restrictions unfairly prohibit certain Michigan citizens from serving their state, targeting them for exercising their constitutional rights or, most egregiously, for simply being related to someone who does, he said in a statement. Changes to the Michigan Constitution approved by voters in 2018 gave a new redistricting commission responsibility for drawing Michigans legislative district lines after the 2020 election, shifting that power from the state Legislature. A 13-member body comprised of four Democrats, four Republicans and five independents will be assembled later this year. The previous maps were created in 2011, when Republicans controlled both chambers of the state Legislature and the governors office. A panel of U.S. District Court judges determined the process was a political gerrymander of historic proportions to benefit Republicans in four election cycles spanning eight years. This decision reaffirms exactly what our democracy demands: a fair process for the people of this state, Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. In 2018, Michiganders made it abundantly clear that the integrity of our democracy should not be left up to those in positions of power looking to satisfy their own agenda. Voters Not Politicians, an organization founded to shepherd the 2018 ballot initiative and an intervening party in the case, celebrated the victory in a statement. The courts have vindicated the peoples right to use our political power to take back our redistricting process and unrig our elections, said Executive Director Nancy Wang. We are thrilled to see an end to these wasteful lawsuits brought by the Michigan Republican Party, Tony Daunt of the Michigan Freedom Fund, and other opponents of fair redistricting to thwart the will of the people. Voters Not Politicians received legal assistance from the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit focused on reducing the influence of money in politics and to support unrestricted access to voting, according to its website. It is time for fair maps in Michigan, CLC Vice President Paul Smith said in a statement. Taking partisanship out of drawing electoral maps is critical to advancing the principles of accountability and transparency in government. Republicans argued, according to court documents, that restrictions on who can serve on the commission violate their constitutional rights. Daunt and The Michigan Republican Party also argued their constitutional right to association was violated because political parties are blocked from choosing representatives to serve on the commission. People cannot serve if they have, in the last six years, ran for office, were an elected official, a political party officer, paid political consultant, registered lobbyist, worked for the legislature or were an unclassified state employee. People also cannot serve if they are a parent, stepparent, child, stepchild or spouse of a person who has done any of those things. Daunt and The Michigan Republican Party also argued their constitutional right to association was violated because political parties are blocked from choosing representatives to serve on the commission. Benson and her allies countered that the interests of the state in establishing a fair and impartial redistricting process outweigh any burden on the rights of political actors barred from joining the commission. According to court documents, Benson argued the burden on speech and association rights are minimal and temporary. Benson argued in court documents that the manifest purpose of the amendment is to transfer the power of establishing legislative districts from the legislature and the political parties who dominate it to the hands of citizens without a personal stake in the details of how and where those districts are drawn. Neff and the 6th Circuit Court sided with Benson, ruling that the eligibility criteria does not impose any severe burden on the GOP plaintiffs. Specifically, the Sixth Circuit determined that the burden on Plaintiffs is relatively insignificant, given their ability to serve on the Commission after their six-year period of ineligibility expires, the lack of any direct prohibition or regulation of pure speech, and the absence of any fundamental right to be a member of the Commission, Neff wrote. Plaintiffs also argued against requirements barring commissioners from discussing redistricting matters with members of the public outside of open meetings. Neff ruled that the open meeting requirement is constitutional. Meanwhile, the process of selecting members who will serve on the commission rolls ahead. Two hundred finalists were randomly drawn from a pool of 9,367 voters who submitted applications. Now, Republicans and Democrats from both the House of Representatives and Senate are working to trim the pool even further. In August, each has the opportunity to strike five applicants, for a total of 20, from the selection pool. An independent firm tasked with drawing the initial 200 candidates will randomly select the final 13 commissioners. View the full list of 200 candidates online here. READ MORE: Michigan to live-stream selection of 200 redistricting commission finalists Wednesday Michigan Republican Party loses appeal in attempt to stop redistricting commission Michigan legislature appealing court decision to strike down ballot petition law changes Michigan Republican Party files new federal lawsuit to stop redistricting commission These days, the only way Stacy Doubrava and her siblings can see their elderly parents is through the dining room picture window at Ovid Healthcare Center west of Owosso. So on a recent morning, Doubrava stands on the outdoor patio outside the window as a nursing-home aide wheels Gene and Mary Jane Schoendorf to the glass for a 20-minute visit. It certainly wasnt the same as being in the same room. Gene, 94, has dementia and is confused about why his children cant come inside. Mary Jane, 92, is hard of hearing, which makes it hard to converse through the glass. Her children have given her a tablet for video chats, and on this day, Stacy tries video chatting with her mother so she can hear better, but Mary Jane is confused by the technology. Its frustrating, and Doubrava tears up. I love you so much, Doubrava tells her parents. Its so hard not to be able to hold you and touch you. With that, her mother begins to cry, too. Theres not much more to say. Doubrava and her mother end the visit as they typically do, blowing kisses and making the American Sign Language symbol for I love you. Its hard not to touch, hard not to hug, Doubrava says as her parents are wheeled away. Its heartbreaking. For more than three months, visitors have been banned from Michigan long term care facilities and other congregate residential settings because of the coronavirus crisis. While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer eased the policy a little this week for dying and critically ill residents, the visitation ban for most was extended through July 15. The policy makes sense from a public-health standpoint. Coronavirus is highly contagious and there is no effective treatment or vaccine. It can spread easily in congregate residential facilities, with deadly consequences. More than a third of the states COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes. Look up coronavirus numbers for residents, staff at any Michigan long term care facility But the public-health benefits of limiting visitors is offset by the significant emotional toll of cutting off nursing-home residents from their families. Its devastating, said Edward Norton, a University of Michigan expert in geriatric health. You have nursing-home residents who are cognitively aware and you call tell them whats happening, but its still going to be difficult because they cant see their family, cant hug their grandchildren, Norton said. They dont have the same personal contact with the outside world that they would normally have. Theyre aware of the situation, and its frustrating, and thats depressing. And then you have patients with dementia, he said. You tell them as many times as you want whats happening, but they dont remember. Theyre just confused and they dont understand. Theyre isolated and they have no idea why. Either way, its bad, Norton said. Audrey Mitten has a 92-year-old grandmother in a Detroit-area nursing facility. Before COVID, the grandmothers six children made sure that their mother had a visitor every day. Now there are no visits, and the grandmother, who has some dementia, is frustrated and confused. She can recall what an epidemic is, and weve called it the flu, Mitten said. So every time we call, she asks, Is the flu still going on? When can you come? When will you be here?' And we have explain again about the bad flu. I definitely believe in the good intention of our governor, and I believe in the decisions being made based based on the science and the data, Mitten said. But when youre confronting it from a personal aspect like this, its really hard. Sally Pung, the state ombudsman for long term care, fears the isolation is literally killing people, saying shes hearing from some of the states larger guardianship organizations that nursing-home deaths are up, not just from COVID-19 but because some of the residents have just given up. Some of those could be COVID-related and thats what brought along their demise, Pung said at a May 27 hearing of the state Senate Oversight Committee. But were definitely hearing from individuals that the isolation is having a negative impact. Were hearing from families very concerned, that maybe they helped to feed a resident and assist them, and without that help, the resident is declining. Jill VanderVeen worries that about the impact of isolation on her 90-year-old mother, who lives in an assisted living facility in Kalamazoo County. VanderVeen talks to her mother daily, but cant visit. Ive seen a change come over her, VanderVeen said. Ive seen her crying, and shes frightened and lonely and its all because of this isolation, really. The visitation ban has become a double-edged sword, Vanderveen said. Its kept people alive and safe, but at the same point, people are getting depressed. They want to see their loved ones, and I think some people have gotten to the point where they dont want to live anymore. The policy The ban on visitors to nursing homes was among the first executive orders issued by Whitmer after Michigan confirmed its first coronavirus case on March 10. States handling of COVID in nursing homes worthy of critique, but GOP lawmakers miss mark, experts say Whitmer has extended the order several times. Many hoped it would be lifted in June; instead, the governor extended it to July 15. On Tuesday, she did issue an order allowing visitors into nursing homes in limited circumstances and takes into account compassionate care for Michiganders who have terminal illnesses, a press release said. It allows visitors only with residents who are in serious or critical condition or in hospice care, or visits from family members or friends who assist residents with activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing or dressing, the press release said. The press release acknowledged the hardship on nursing-home residents and their families, quoting Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Its been very difficult for residents of these facilities to be unable to see their loved ones. We are glad Michigan can now allow visits in some circumstances. David Herbel, CEO of LeadingAge Michigan, which represents nonprofit organizations that serve senior citizens, would like the state to loosen up the rules even more. As some point, consumers should be allowed to determine the kind of risks theyre willing to take, he said. If I were living in a nursing home, Id want to see my family. One of the things weve suggested (to state officials) is that they include some gerontologists on their policy team, so that they can understand the impact of whats happening to seniors, he said. Tamara Konetzka, an University of Chicago expert on geriatric health policy, agreed thats important for state policies to take into consideration the psychological toll on nursing-home residents. She pointed to research that shows isolation and loneliness can impact the physical health of elderly persons. Konetzka has a mother-in-law on a long term care facility in Indiana, she said, and theyve started allowing outdoor visits with family members. You can go to an outdoor patio and wear masks and socially distance, but at least physically see the nursing home residents, she said. Paula Cunningham, Michigan director of the AARP, said her organization has been working with the state to push for longer-term solutions as the coronavirus crisis continues. Not just not one answer fits all, and I would hope that people will come up with options and let people age with dignity and and have some options available, Cunningham said. Its just a lot of different things to consider. And its not just family visits that are impacted. Bob Rowe is founder of Renaissance Enterprises, a Kalamazoo-based organization that brings music and the arts into nursing homes -- activities that ground to a halt in recent months. Were used to doing about 120 music programs per year, and now theyre just kind of dwindled down to just about nothing, Rowe said. A lot of nursing-home residents dont have relatives in the area, and our programs are a lifeline to them, he said. They really look forward to our visits and the music, and now theyre just totally cut off from the rest of society. Role of technology One bright spot of the pandemic is getting seniors and families more familiar with technology that allows them to keep in touch. Doubrava and her sister, Sarah Maynard, purchased a tablet for their mother to allow for video chats. Although her mother struggles to use it, nursing-home staff can help her and it allows the sisters to stay in touch on days when they cant visit. Im going to be gone this weekend, and I was feeling bad about not visiting her parents during that time, Doubrava said. Then I realized that I could still video-chat with her from where Im at. We can enlist that technology now, and we hadnt done that prior to this, Maynard said. So thats a positive that I hope that the nursing home will continue for families. Cunningham said the AARP has been working hard to encourage virtual visits with nursing-room residents. One obstacle has been privacy concerns, particularly if a nursing-home resident has roommates. Another issues that not nursing-home residents have access to a device that connects to the Internet, and not all facilities have Internet access, she said. It sounds like a no-brainer, Cunningham said about virtual visits. But its not always as easy as it sounds. It also can be problematic for individual residents, depending on their capabilities with technology. VanderVeen says her 90-year-old mother is not good with a cellphone -- she doesnt always hear it ring, cant always reach it, or she forgets to charge it, and the battery goes dead. Mittens 92-year-old grandmother is blind and hard of hearing. The former condition rules out video visits and the latter can means that conversations are much more difficult over the phone than in person. At that stage of life, you dont have a wealth of activities, so to have those family contacts diminish when it was so central to her days, thats really devastating, Mitten said. Its not about a disruption to her schedule, but from the conversations and quality of time with her children. Quality of life Its not just about conversations with residents, either. Families with loved ones in nursing homes also feel theyre missing out on the conversations theyre used to having with nursing home staff, and the ability to observe how things are going with an elderly parent. Like, they dont really organize your closet, so when Im visiting, Im usually doing that or going through her papers, or bringing her this or that, VanderVeen said. Now Im not there to do any of that. Doubrava and Maynard also worries about their inability to be inside the facility. Its so different when you dont have the face-to-face time, be it with the patient or the staff, Doubrava said. Its little things, like making sure my mom has her hearing aids if were talking to her, because she isnt always of a mindset to put them in, Doubrava said. You dont have someone in person physically to have conversations and just eyeball the situation and assess it for yourself. You may not be able to pick up on little things. Konetzka says physical visits are important, for multiple reasons. There are some really good nursing homes and some not-so-good ones, she said. But whether its really good or not, as a family member, you want to be able to monitor their care and make sure theyre getting what they need. I think its really disconcerting for families right now to know that things are going on (related to COVID) and their parents health might be deteriorating and they cant really see what kind of help their getting, Konetzka said. That takes a toll as well. The lack of physical touch has been the hardest, family members say. Were human, Doubrava said. We need that. We crave that. She said she saw the power of touch in April, when her mother was hospitalized and Doubrava was allowed to visit. It took her a few minutes to realize I was there, and that I was holding her hand and rubbing her hand, Doubrava said. And you could see she was starting to get upbeat, she was smiling. As Doubrava and Maynard talk about their parents, Maynards voice breaks. I have tears running down my face right now, Maynard said. I just want to hug my mom. 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 on MLive: Website allows residents to find free COVID-19 test sites Journey of a coronavirus lab specimen Detroit begins using 15-minute tests Masks, class sizes and busing: 10 ways Michigan schools could look different this fall July 4th in age of COVID: Expert tips for safe holiday travels and celebrations Michigan enacts travel restrictions For the first half of June, Michigan was a model of declining coronavirus numbers. The second half the month? Not so good. After a quarantine of more than two months, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lifted the states stay-at-home order on June 1 and allowed restaurants and bars to reopen on June 8. At the beginning of the month, Michigan was reporting an average of 317 new cases a day. That seven-day rolling average continued to fall for the first part of June, dropping to an average low of 150 cases a day by June 10. Bars, workplaces, private gatherings fuel Michigans recent increases in coronavirus Its been creeping up since, and the seven-day average was up to 361 by July 1. On July 2, the state reported 543 new cases, the highest number since May 29. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Its a worrisome trend -- especially considering whats happening in states such as Florida and Texas. For the first six weeks after those states lifted stay-at-home orders, the case numbers showed a slow, steady increase before exploding into exponential growth. Below is a series of maps and charts with Michigan county-by-county data for the month of June, which allows readers to see where the numbers are growing the fastest, based on data collected by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The numbers reflect when patients first reported symptoms, Mapping June coronavirus cases per capita The map below shows per-capita coronavirus cases from June 1 to July 1. The five counties with the highest per-capita numbers for June: Oceana, St. Joseph, Branch, Oscoda and Kent. The spike in Oceana County is attributed to outbreaks in several workplaces, including farms that use migrant farmers and local manufacturers, according to health department officials. Majority of Oceana County coronavirus cases linked to outbreaks at 5 farms, factories You can put your cursor over any county to see the underlying data. Cant see the map? Click here. There are four counties in Michigan that did not report any coronavirus cases in June: Luce and Schoolcraft in the Upper Peninsula, and Arenac and Montmorency in the northeast Lower Peninsula. June coronavirus cases by raw numbers This map shows coronavirus cases by raw numbers. The top five counties on this measure are also among the states most populated counties: Wayne, Oakland, Kent, Macomb and Genesee. Once again, you can put your cursor over any county to see the underlying data. Of the June coronavirus cases in Wayne County, 40% were Detroit city residents. Cant see map? Click here. Day-by-day trend of coronavirus cases for each county You can look up the trend of coronavirus cases reported in each county for the past 20 days. The dates reflect onset of symptoms for each case, which means numbers for the most recent days are likely to grow, based on the lag time between onset of symptoms and when test results are recorded. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the date. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. June cases per capita, top 10 counties with population over 100,000 You can click on any column heading to rank by that category. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Cant see chart? Click here. June cases per capita, top 10 counties with population under 100,000 You can click on any column heading to rank by that category. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Cant see chart? Click here. Total coronavirus cases to date This shows the total number of coronavirus cases per county since the pandemic began in Michigan in March. Once again, you can click on any county to see the underlying data. 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. Gov. 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. For more information, visit MLives coronavirus data page. More on MLive: Jackson County rejects resolution to deem racism a health crisis Lawmakers want racism declared a public health crisis Coronavirus tailor madeto destroy black communities Whitmer launches racial disparity task force Life in Detroit grinds to halt Listen to article The Jury is still undecided as to who is supposed to be crowned the Oseikrom President in Music. The City has had a lot of Musicians who, though, have moved to the Capital City, Accra, but still honour their root. Some, Include the likes of Sarkodie, Obrafour, Eno Barony and Strongman. The Kumasi based artistes such as Okyeame Kwame, Flowkingstone, Yaa Jackson and Co want to wear the Crown as to who actually is the Oseikrom President. Talented artiste known Musically as Flatelo has certified himself as the Oseikrom President. According to him irrespective of the fact that the City has a lot of big names, he is the President. Speaking on actor Kwaku Manu's Interview dubbed Aggressive, he argued that, Reggie Rockstone and Co are doing nothing to deserve the Oseikrom Presidency, and that he is the certified Oseikrom President. Flatelo has a lot of songs to his credit making waves , amongst them is a popular one titled 'condom ' Watch Video Below Prior to the 2016 general elections, one of the Campaign songs of the now ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) was popular gospel Song Ebedane composed by vibrant Ghanaian gospel songstress, Irene Adu Gyamfi better known as Mamalistic. There were rumours that Mamalistic earned GH 100,000 from H.E Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo Addo for using the Ebedane song as one of the Campaign songs. But speaking in an exclusive interview with Dr. Whohost of Rush Hour Drive show on Accra-based Hot 93.9FM, Mama Listic, who was promoting her latest album Me Boafo Ne Awurade debunked the allegation. According to the Ebedane hitmaker, she only heard Presenters saying on radio that the President had given her GH 100,000 but never received it. Sharing a gist of her success story, Mamalistic who has released three outstanding albums: Gentleman Jesus, Tumi Bi Kyen Tumi Bi and the most recent Me Boafo Ne Awurade disclosed that her life has not been as auspicious as people perceive. She stressed that she has come a long way, and has walked in the consciousness of where she has trekked from and how far the Lord has brought her hence the reason all three albums are inspirational and have outstanding album titles. Listen to article Today marks exactly 6years, that popular Ghanaian hiplife recording artiste and musician, Theophilus Tagoe popularly known as Castro disappeared with Miss Janet Bandu at the Ada Estuary while on holiday with the Gyan brothers and friends. On 6th July 2014, Castro and Miss Janet Bandu were reported to have drowned in a jet ski accident at Ada Estuary while on holiday with the Gyan brothers. The jet ski involved in the accident was recovered on the same day of their disappearance but their bodies has since not been recovered, despite a search by the police. The pair remain missing till date. Recounting events surrounding Castros disappearance, Gyan said: That was the first time they went to Aqua Safari and that in the previous years, they went to Akosombo. That particular year, the yacht at Akosombo was broken down so they decided to go to Ada. A day before we went to Ada, he [Castro] came to my house and said he was on his way to Kumasi and would not join us. But whilst we were on our way to Ada, on the Accra-Tema motorway, we received a phone call that Under [Castro] wants us to wait for him. We parked at a fuel station where a crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of me. I later got the inclination it was destined to happen because he was initially not part of the trip. When we got to Ada, everything went fine. We were to spend three days, but ended up using the Jet Ski on the second day. By the Laws of Ghana, Castro and Miss Janet Bandu can only be officially declared dead by a court after seven years. The Evidence Act of 1975, Section 33, stipulates that a person can only be declared legally dead after seven years by a court, where the person in question has not been seen or heard from in seven years despite diligent and persistent efforts to find him. Castro De Destroyer was born in 1982. His debut album, Sradenam, released in 2003, shot him to public prominence and he followed up with subsequent hit albums including Toffee, Comm Centre and African Girls. He earned the accolade, The Destroyer which was attached to his Showbiz name because most of his songs became instant hits. He was also called 50 Cent by close pals due to his striking resemblance to American rapper and artiste, 50 Cent. Castro endeared himself to many with the release of OdoPa which featured Asamoah Gyan and Kofi Kinaata. In the year 2006, he won the Hiplife Artiste of the Year as well as the Hiplife Album of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards with his song Toffee. At the 2011 Ghana Music Awards, he won the Best Hiplife Song of the Year which featured Asamoah Gyan with the song African Girls. A number of colleague musicians are still hopeful Castro will return but when and how remains a mystery puzzle. The Reverend Kennedy Okosun, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Krif Ghana Limited, has said a well-developed insurance industry is key in efforts to improve the stability of the financial markets. He said the insurance sector must offer packages that would protect individuals and businesses from losses, especially in the COVID-19 challenging times. In one breath, suffice it to say that in these COVID-19 challenging times, Insurance is best described as compulsory". Rev. Okosun, who is also the Editor of the Integrity Magazine, urged insurance companies to do more in building trust with its stakeholders, stressing that the world economy had seen a downward spiral since the outbreak of the pandemic, adding that the Ghanaian insurance industry had not been spared the negative impact. Rev. Okosun was speaking at the 4th Webinar series on the theme: Effects of Covid-19 on Corporate Ghana- the Insurance Industry, which was organized by Krif Ghana Limited, the Publishers of Integrity Magazine in Accra. The virtual event brought on board seasoned insurers across the country, who touched on various angles of the insurance sector, with a clarion call on Ghanaians to "be interested in insurance". The Krif Ghana CEO said there were fears that the COVID-19 situation could create liquidity strains even for insurers. This could just be the catalyst for the insurance industry to cash in as the world is at the mercy of natural disasters and accidents". "It is the view of Integrity Magazine that the insurance industry could wield more money than the banks if the public understood properly and applied the services of insurers especially during the coronavirus pandemic, thus ensuring that they were covered in any eventuality. "This Integrity Magazine Webinar is creating a platform for a discourse on maintaining the fiduciary relationship between the insured public and their insurers. How do we help insurers build back the trust, so we do not keep hearing people say, they were quick to take my money, but now that they have to pay back, they are dragging their feet." Speakers included; Mr. Michael Kofi Andoh, Deputy Commissioner, National Insurance Commission; Madam Ernestina Abeh, Managing Director of Enterprise Insurance Company Limited; Mr. Edward Forkuo Kyei, CEO, GLICO Group; and Mrs. Nancy Ampah, CEO, Nationwide Medical Insurance. Others were: Mr. Adedayo Arowojolu, Managing Director, WAPIC Insurance Ghana; and Mr. Shaibu Ali, Vice President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana who is also the CEO of KEK Reinsurance Brokers (Africa) Limited. On his part, Mr. Edward Forkuo Kyei, CEO, explained that despite the numerous challenges the pandemic had generated, insurance companies could still take advantage of the opportunities amidst the difficulties. He said COVID-19 had opened the doors for the use of various technologies to conduct virtual meetings, which are as effective as face-to-face meetings. "These turbulent times may be the turning point that will drive transformational change across the insurance industry. Those who are able to respond at pace to this changing environment, who take a customer-first attitude, and who see this as an opportunity to reset and fundamentally rethink how they do business, will find themselves emerging from strength when the dust settles," he said. Mr Kyei, who is the CEO of GLICO Group, urged insurance companies to consider diversifying into establishing subsidiary vehicle repairs companies to attend to their policyholders' vehicles. By so doing, they would retain control of the repairs of customers' vehicles and maintain a high level of service delivery come rain or shine. GNA Gunmen killed 11 people including military and local officials in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Sunday, an ambush attributed to a militia accused of a string of massacres. Two vehicles coming from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, were attacked Saturday at the village of Matete, Djugu territory administrator Adel Alingi Mokuba said. "The death toll is 11, including the deputy territorial administrator in charge of economy and finance, three policemen and four soldiers," he told AFP. The convoy was carrying "a former provincial deputy, an accountant, police officers and civilians who were savagely massacred", Ituri governor Jean Bamanisa said in a video posted online. The governor warned the killers: "The army has not given up". The attack was the latest attributed to an ethnic militia called CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo. On Friday, DR Congo's army said it had killed seven of the militia's fighters, which claims to defend the interests of the Lendu ethnic group. The Lendu are predominantly farmers who have historically clashed with the Hema community of traders and herders. Ituri is one of several provinces gripped by militia violence in eastern DR Congo, a country the size of continental western Europe. More than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Ituri since December 2017, including 375 since March, according to the United Nations. "These acts could constitute crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda warned on June 4. 'Slaughtering local residents' The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has accused CODECO and other Lendu fighters of pursuing "a strategy of slaughtering local residents -- mainly the Hema, but also the Alur -- since 2017" to control natural resources in the region. Tens of thousands of people were killed in Hema-Lendu fighting between 1999 and 2003. The fighting resumed in 2017, for reasons that are not clear. Just before Saturday's attack, a delegation of former militia leaders from the 1999-2003 conflict had arrived in Ituri on a peace mission at the request of President Felix Tshisekedi. Among them was Mathieu Ngudjolo, who was prosecuted but acquitted by the ICC in 2015, Ituri governor Bamanisa told AFP. Local media reported that Germain Katanga was also present. Katanga was released in March having served nearly 12 years after being convicted by the ICC of war crimes including attacks on civilians. The European Union ambassador to DR Congo, Jean-Marc Chataigner, condemned attacks in Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu on Twitter, calling for support of the army and the UN mission deployed in DR Congo, MONUSCO, "to prevent (militias) from doing harm". The Navrongo Municipal Police Command has arrested more than 10 suspects following renewed land dispute between the people of Doba and Kandiga on Saturday, July 5. The recent clash, according to the Command occurred when the people of Doba attacked the people of Kandiga because they were jubilating over the release of some suspects who were arrested following an earlier disturbance. Six persons lost their lives as a result of the renewed clash while four others sustained various degrees of injury and are receiving treatment at the War Memorial Hospital. Speaking to Citi News, Navrongo Municipal Police Commander, DSP Francis Agyare said the suspects arrested are assisting in investigations. We have made a lot of arrests, about ten or more who are in police custody. We have also retrieved a lot of weapons. We have retrieved a single barrel shotgun and a pump-action gun from the fighters and a number of live ammunition. We are also on the ground ensuring that peace prevails. After a joint emergency security meeting between the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and Kassena-Nankana District Assemblies in Navrongo, some proposals were put forward in an attempt to end the recurring clashes subject to the approval of the Upper East Regional Security Council. DSP Agyare told Citi News that key among them was for the state to take over the disputed land. We are proposing to the Upper East Regional Security Council that we bring in National Security in the provision of security at the conflict area and if possible, the state should take over the disputed land. Once the state takes over the land, then there will be nothing to fight over. Meanwhile, a joint military-police personnel has been stationed at the feuding communities to restore law and order. The Upper East Regional Security Council, chaired by the Regional Minister, Tangoba Abayage is expected to receive the proposed peace roadmap for deliberations and execution. Chairman of the Navrongo Security Committee and Chief Executive of Kassena-Nankana municipal, William Aduum appealed for peace in the feuding communities and assured that perpetrators of the clash shall be brought to book. He further hinted that a curfew could be placed on the troubled communities if the situation persists. Let me appeal to the Chiefs and people of Doba and Kandiga to allow peace to reign. It is only through peace that we can get development. He continued, This is a farming season and MUSEC will not wish that there is a restriction on movement of people because people have to go to their farms, but if all our persuasions for peace in the two communities fail, then we [MUSEC] will be forced to recommend to REGSEC and government to impose a curfew so that there will be peace in the area. citinewsroom Seven Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and four private citizens, have jointly sued the Government over the exploration and drilling of deep wells in the Atewa Forest Reserve. Mr Martin Kpebu, the counsel for the plaintiffs filed the writ against the Attorney General at the General Jurisdiction Court (High Court) Division. The CSOs are : A Rocha Ghana, Flower Ghana, Concern Citizens of Atewa Landscape, Ghana Youth Movement, Ecocare Ghana, Kasa Initiative Ghana and Save the Frogs Ghana. The private citizens are: Awula Serwah, Oteng Adjei, Boakye Twumasi- Ankrah and Nana Asante. The plaintiffs, in their writ, are seeking an order compelling the Government and its agents to declare the Atewa Range Forest (ARF) as a "Protected Zone" and take steps to protect the forest in accordance with its constitutional obligation, as contained under Article 36 (9) of the 1992 Constitution. They are seeking an order directed at the Government to restore and pay cost for the restoration of damages that have been caused to the ARF. The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that the mining of bauxite in the ARF violates the right to life and dignity, as enshrined in the Constitution. According to them, the right to life and dignity, as enshrined in the Articles 13 and 15 of the Constitution, included the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of the present and future generations. It is, therefore, praying the Court to restrain the Government, its agents, workmen, allotees and guarantees from undertaking mining and its related activities in the forest. In their statement of case, the plaintiffs say they were private citizens and organizations involved in advocacy aimed at protecting the environment and they bore the Constitutional duty under Article 41(k) of the Constitution to protect and safeguard the environment. They also had a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to environmental harm, especially when scientific investigation "has found a plausible risk". "Government has a greater responsibility to protect and safeguard the environment and address Climate Change, as well as secure biodiversity as obligated under two international conventions that it is a signatory to." The plaintiffs said, the Government, however, in 2017 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of China, with the ARF as one of the sources of bauxite. "Based on the MoU, the Government commenced with the prospecting of minerals and in flagrant disregard of Section 9 of the Minerals Act 2006 (Act 703) as amended," the plaintiffs said. They said the Government, through the Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GAIDEC) entered the forest in May 2019 and as at the time of filing the writ, 53 deep wells had been drilled. They were not against the Government's quest to mobilise revenue by exploiting Ghana's natural resources for national development, they pointed out. However, Ghana did not need to exploit the Atewa Forest Bauxite reserve because there were other bauxite reserves, they said. The plaintiffs averred that GIADEC estimated that there were 900-million tonnes of bauxite minerals across Ghana, with Nyinahin alone, holding 700-million tons (77.98 %) while Awaso and Kyebi had 60-million (6.68%) and 160-million (17.8 %) respectively. They hold that only 17.8 % of Ghana's bauxite could be found in Kyebi, the area within which ARF could be found. Hence more than 82% of Ghana's bauxite could be mined without compromising the existence of the ARF. They held that the ARF was also administratively classified as a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA) and protective forest reserve, for which all mining activities were to be excluded. They said persistent efforts to meet the Government and demonstrate the scientific need to exclude the ARF had proved futile. "Government also refused or failed to engage the local communities and environmentalists who maintain that strip mining is not a sustainable approach," the plaintiffs said. The strip mining, which was being used at Awaso in the Western Region and its outcome had been devastating, they said. They had, therefore, petitioned the President to protect the ARF in a letter dated July 6, 2018; but he has no interest in their cause. They hold that considering the critical importance of the ARF to the water supply system and biodiversity among others, it will not be the best to exploit the forest. Some health professionals in the country have written to the Electoral Commission asking the electoral management body to pause the ongoing voter registration exercise until safer ways of conducting the exercise are identified to prevent further spread of the virus According to them, suspending the exercise will help prevent needless Coronavirus deaths in the country. Pause the mass registration, figure out safer ways of carrying it out and prevent Ghana from suffering potentially thousands of deaths or continue with the exercise in this form and be remembered by posterity as a leader who supervised an exercise that allowed for the loss of multiple lives, the group said in its letter to the commission. The health professional comprising doctors, nurses, lab technicians among others, and numbering 221, had earlier petitioned the EC cautioning against the rollout of the mass registration for Voter ID cards over fears of COVID-19 death hikes. According to them, the blatant disregard for the Coronavirus safety protocols in the exercise is inimical to the current public health crisis in the country. In their second open letter to the EC, the health professionals say the Commission must rethink the compilation of the new register for the 2020 polls. We are by this letter appealing to your good self to pause this mass registration exercise until your commission comes up with a safer way of going about this registration. That will prevent the almost inevitable rise in COVID-19 cases, with its attendant increases in morbidity and mortality and will position you firmly on the right side of history, as a public official who chose to prevent needless deaths. We would entreat you to treat this correspondence with a lot of thought and measured reflection, thinking rightly about the primacy of life before any other considerations, the letter said. The Electoral Commission began processes to compile a new voters register for the 2020 general elections on June 30, 2020. The exercise which is being held nationwide will end on August 6, 2020. Few days after the exercise began, there have been concerns over the lack of social distancing and total disregard for COVID-19 safety protocols. Despite calls for the exercise to be halted due to the increasing COVID-19 figures, the EC remains adamant. Here is the full letter: THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA RIDGE-ACCRA GHANA July 6, 2020 ATTN: MRS. JEAN MENSA CHAIRPERSON, THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA Dear Madam, A SECOND OPEN LETTER TO GHANA'S ELECTORAL COMMISSION: CONCERNS ABOUT A SURGE IN NEW COVID-19 CASES AND MORTALITIES RESULTING FROM THE MASS REGISTRATION EXERCISE We have noted with concern, the utter disregard for precautionary protocols intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, in and around registration centers. We wish to reiterate our arguments, made in an open letter to you, dated June 24,2020. In that letter, we provided multiple reasons why massing up people for the purpose of getting onto the electoral roll could lead to an increase in the infection rates and the number of deaths from the much-dreaded COVID-19. The response from officialdom was that all public health protocols and precautions against COVID-19 will be adhered to. Unfortunately, ongoing events across the country have confirmed our worst fears. Considering the increasing number of infections coupled with challenges in testing for early identification of cases, it is disquieting to observe huge numbers of people at and around registration centers mostly ignoring precautionary protocols. Indeed, we are aware of at least one incident of a person in full knowledge of his positive status, visiting registration centers and risking public health and safety. This is inimical to our fight against the pandemic and threatens to eliminate whatever successes we have chalked so far. These and many other reasons make it unconscionable that your commission ignores all caution and still proceeds with this exercise. We will also take this opportunity to caution your good office about the consequences of a continuous rise in COVID- 19 cases on our already-wobbly health system. Reports indicate that the capacity of our isolation and holding centers have been stretched beyond limits by our increasing case count. Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected so far. Data from Ghana Health Service show that up to 25% of our reported COVID-19 cases were detected in the last month alone, a rather worrying indication of our worsening position as a country. The specific impacts of a continuous rise in COVID-19 cases on our already-wobbly health system would include, but are not limited to the following: 1. Intense pressure on all building blocks of all our health system. The sub-effects of this include: a. A significant reduction in the number of effective health workers available to render preventive, curative, and rehabilitative care for patients. This will occur because the already high number of infected health workers is likely to remain on that trajectory, with a concomitant increase in the number of deaths from COVID-19 if care is not taken. In addition, a higher number of specialist staff would be required to take care of the ever-increasing number of sick people with COVID-19 leading to even fewer health workers available to treat non- COVID-19 conditions. b. Increasing pressure on our already inadequate health infrastructure. Already, many facilities are running out of bed space for not only COVID-19 patients, but also people seeking care for other conditions. The resultant effect of this will be that patients would be turned away from health facilities, with accompanying increases in morbidity and mortality. We do not want a worsening of the no bed syndrome in the middle of this pandemic. c. A deterioration of health service delivery, owing to factors such as missed appointments, increasing stigma and self-medication with a decline in health outcomes. Many people we have interacted with have declined to go on their mandated reviews and have resorted to self-medication. This will potentially lead to complications and death, due to non-COVID-19 causes. 2. Increasing morbidity and mortality, with attendant reduction in productivity. We have been informed of precautions your commission intends to take to minimize new infections. We respectfully submit that given the high levels of excitement generated during political activity, these will not be complied with. The first week of the exercise and the recent nationwide NPP primaries are a cautionary tale of what will transpire if our well-intentioned admonition is ignored. Hundreds of people massed up at multiple locations, ostensibly oblivious of the danger of close contact. We are reliably informed that several people who took part in this exercise have tested positive for COVID-19, with at least one death in the Ashanti region of Ghana. We are by this letter appealing to your good self to pause this mass registration exercise until your commission comes up with a safer way of going about this registration. That will prevent the almost inevitable rise in COVID-19 cases, with its attendant increases in morbidity and mortality and will position you firmly on the right side of history, as a public official who chose to prevent needless deaths. We would entreat you to treat this correspondence with a lot of thought and measured reflection, thinking rightly about the primacy of life before any other considerations. At this juncture, two choices lie before you: 1. PAUSE the mass registration, figure out safer ways of carrying it out and prevent Ghana from suffering potentially thousands of deaths or 2. CONTINUE with the exercise in this form and be remembered by posterity as a leader who supervised an exercise that allowed for the loss of multiple lives. (Vetted and confirmed list of health workers who signed this petition, more complete list is available upon request) 1. Dr. William Menson 2. Dr. Gameli Aheto 3. Dr. Enyam Woanyah 4. Dr. Ernest Smith-Aidoo 5. Dr. Dennis Bortey 6. Dr. Eli Boni 7. Dr Nene Vishnu Snr. 8. Dr. Joojo Nyamekye-Baidoo 9. Dr. Rebecca Hosi Abalo 10. Dr. CHRISTOPHER KOMBAT 11. Dr. George Akwetey 12. Dr. Baybuah Bingy 13. Dr. Maamette Appiah 14. Dr. Anthony Eshun 15. Dr. Marie Stella Essilfie 16. Dr. Koma S Jehu-Appiah 17. Dr. Pius Essandoh 18. Dr. Melvin Agbogbatey 19. Dr. Adjoa Ofei 20. Dr. Abena Adjavon 21. Dr. Roma Garner 22. Dr. Akosua Asiedu-Asante 23. Dr. Sylvester Mensah 24. Dr. Alex Vico-Korda 25. Dr. Benjamin Boafor 26. Dr. Michael Sena Akabua 27. Dr. Caleb Odotei 28. Dr. Isaac Aboagye-Marfo 29. Dr. Jacqueline Anita Sowah 30. Dr Daniel Alifoe 31. Dr Anne Interkudzi 32. Dr. Risch Appiah 33. Dr. Bernard Toboh 34. Dr. Caleb Allotey 35. Dr. George Mante 36. Dr Owusu Ralph 37. Dr Philip Sanjok 38. Dr. Albert Agbi 39. Dr Happiness Mikado 40. Dr Emmanuel O Kponor 41. Dr. Godwin Opuni 42. Dr. Kwame Afram 43. Dr. Sheilla Ansah 44. Dr. Michael Yajachie 45. Dr Sarah Braimah 46. Dr Abena Tannor 47. Dr F A Nana Prempeh 48. Dr. Makafui Yigah 49. Dr. Worlanyo Siale 50. Dr. Jonathan Zobi 51. Dr. Mohammed Rabiu Abdulai 52. Dr. Eugene Odoi 53. Dr Benjamin Goka 54. Dr. Zaher Safadi 55. Dr Abigail Mensah 56. Dr Felix Sarpong 57. Dr Esme Siriboe 58. Dr Bernard Petershie 59. Dr Theophilus Amoatey 60. Dr Elorm Daketsey 61. Dr Jemima Alemonai 62. Dr Sefakor Doe 63. Dr Anna Oduro 64. Dr Faustina Amable 65. Dr John-Paul Omuojine 66. Dr Abdallah Yussif 67. Dr Anthony Sallah 68. Dr Ivan Dodd 69. Dr Henry Akakpo 70. Dr Ruth Clottey 71. Dr Nana Agyemang 72. Dr Senanu Kpekpo 73. Dr. Edna Dasoberi Samani 74. Dr. David Gobapen 75. Dr. Tobias Ninnang 76. Dr. Daniel Sottie 77. Dr. Eric Tseklu 78. Dr Anita Nagetey 79. Dr Ransford Asante 80. Dr Dunstan Akolbire 81. Dr Priscilla Kabutey 82. Dr Huberta Ewusie-Mensah 83. Dr. Emmanuel Aleser 84. Dr. Kofi Amoah 85. Dr Baffour Otchere 86. Dr. Dennis Appiah Bolfrey 87. Dr Anthony Avoka 88. Dr Mohammed Kudus 89. Dr Janet Opare 90. Dr Zoe Brew- Riverson 91. Dr Freda Boateng 92. Dr Philemon Andoh 93. Dr Raphael Tufuor 94. Dr. Albert Sedohia 95. Dr. Eugene Martey 96. Dr Kwasi Ofori-Anti 97. Dr Sabina Esi Parry 98. Dr Kwaku Denu 99. Dr Esther Asante 100. Dr Charles Sosu 101. Dr Supriya Wassima 102. Dr James Amoyaw Quashie-Sam 103. Dr. Edinam Lumor 104. Dr. Anastasia Bruce 105. Dr Michelle Korang Ampadu 106. Dr Pearl Obeng 107. Dr Lorraine Baffour-Awuah , 108. Dr. Felix Addo 109. Dr Ewoenam Dekportor 110. Dr. Jeremiah Ankamah-Lomotey 111. Dr Joel Bondorin 112. Dr. Juliana Unicorn 113. Dr. Ike Asiedu 114. Fati Mahmoud Wattigi 115. Florence Oyeh 116. Joseph Agbetsise 117. Yvonne Nutsugah 118. Fuseini Abdul-majeed 119. Festus Azaglo 120. Duut Suuk Dynamic 121. Seyram Lino 122. Cleopatra Maddy 123. Elijah Acquah 124. Alex Tony-Aidoo 125. Jeremiah Adjei 126. Foster Konlan 127. Ekow Kuntu-Blankson 128. Livingstone Dablu 129. Erica Buadii 130. Ishmael Kuka 131. Mary Buxton 132. Lorna Lartey 133. Nana Akua Asante 134. Hafsatu Mohammed Awal 135. Albert Ahli 136. Naa Ayele Hammond 137. Lily Quaynor 138. Khardel Essandoh 139. Wendy Eyiah-Mensah 140. Cassandra Odum 141. Wendolyn Etse 142. Priscilla Mawutor Groponie 143. Martha Ackah-Blay 144. Ayibasa Michael 145. Dina Woode , 146. Yvone Berks 147. Priscilla Ansah-Abedi 148. Wilhelmina Brown 149. Agnes Achana 150. Cynthia Akli-Nartey 151. Barbara Garbrah 152. Cynthia Lamisi Adongo 153. Seidu Kamal 154. Courage Kwame-Kumah 155. Nana Kofi Owusu 156. Theresa Barnes 157. Dorcas Gyesi 158. Perry Nelson 159. Robert Quagraine 160. Michael Abalo 161. Christian Debrah 162. Benjamin Adevu 163. Linda Kedze 164. Grace Etrue Selby 165. William Assan 166. Kwaku Manu 167. Julius Kingslove 168. Joel Anaman 169. Naa Ayele Hammond 170. Eugenia Lewu 171. Hannah Acquah 172. Victor adatsi 173. Dennis Ansah 174. Maryam Yakubu 175. Clara Paintsil 176. Mawuli Adzasoo 177. Kofi Ekuban 178. Henry Akpaloo 179. Joe Delasie 180. Mary Agamah 181. Ben Idun 182. Rukiatu Giwah 183. Adjoa Quaicoe 184. Ali Vaaru Ballu Nuhhu 185. Lawrencia Law 186. Paul Ayiku 187. Daniel Darko 188. Clement Awinbil 189. Laila Babayara 190. Aloysius Ali Angliengmene 191. Maximous Diebieri 192. Enoch Lamptey 193. Mr Issah Sumaila 194. Mr Joshua Kunfah 195. Efua Biney 196. Moses Kofi Woli 197. Nana Bonsu 198. Robert Adedze-Kpodo 199. Grace Armah 200. Henrietta Nettey 201. Janine Vowotor 202. Marian Mensah 203. Nicholas Suglo 204. Josephine Kwaw 205. Francis Sanyare, PhD 206. Herbert Henry Krakue 207. Patrick Bumekpor-Sededzi 208. Josephine Adjepong 209. Timothy Baidoo 210. Leonard Vidogah 211. Alexis Banie 212. Alexander Noi 213. Deborah Munyuhitum 214. Gifty Doe 215. Konadu Kwarteng 216. Samuel Sinkari 217. Stephen Avoka 218. Eugenia Yalevu 219. Joseph Otchere 220. Mohammed Sadat Baba 221. George Taanan Jilignul The Founder of the Progressive People's Party, (PPP) Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has urged the government to prioritise the health of citizens over the need to conduct elections amid the threat of COVID-19. Dr. Nduom noted that the December polls are essential to Ghana's democracy but not at the expense of human lives. An election is something that if necessary, we can do without but we cannot do without the human being in Ghana, he noted in an interview on GN Radio in the UK. What will profit anybody to do well in an election and find out that all the people are sick or the people are not doing well and businesses are collapsing and so on and so forth. So we must first take care of the health of the people, Dr. Nduom stressed ---citinewsroom MOGADISHU, Somalia 05 July, 2020 Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and Somali Media Association (SOMA) jointly call for the protection of the safety of the journalists and freedom of the press amid an increased violence by state actors against independent media and journalists in Somalia and Somaliland. On Sunday 05 July, armed police attacked and blocked journalists from the independent media houses: Universal TV, Radio Kulmiye, Radio Risaala and Dalsan TV, as they were covering an opposition protest at Daljirka area in Mogadishu. The police confiscated equipment from Universal TV journalists and even threatened with shooting. The equipment was later returned, according to Universal TV's editor. On Saturday, police officer slapped journalist Fu'ad Mohamud Mohamed of Radio Risaala forcing him to stop filming on the scene of a car bombing in Hamar Jajab District in Mogadishu. Last week, the Banadir Regional Court issued an order summoning Goobjoog Media journalist, Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye to appear before the Court on Tuesday next week. Gurbiye was arrested on 14 April and was released on bail after he wrote an article alleging that Somali president took a donated ventilator from Covid-19 hospital in Mogadishu. We call for Somali Attorney General and Somali President's Office to drop their charges against Gurbiye. Meanwhile, SJS and SOMA are extremely concerned by the continued arbitrary detention of Radio Hiigsi's editor, Mohamed Abduwahab Nuur (Abuja) who remains imprisoned since March 7 without charges due to his article deemed critical to the security forces. We jointly call the Somali Federal Government to allow Radio Gedo to resume its operations following its closure by officers from the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) on 28 June and establish an independent and honest investigation into shooting against Radio Danan journalist, Abdifatah Abduqadir Sharif who was shot and injured by a police officer on 25 June. We also jointly condemn the recent crackdown on the independent media in Somaliland and call for authorities in Somaliland to allow Universal TV and Star TV to resume their operations without any condition. An ex-officer with the Ghana Armed Forces who is now visually impaired, Christian Humphery Kwaku Agbeviade and 14 others who were arrested in Kpetoe for allegedly crossing from Togo to participate in the Voter Registration exercise illegally have been granted bail. The 15 were picked up after the Hyundai bus they were travelling on was stopped by some known New Patriotic Party (NPP) executives in the Agortime Ziope Constituency. All 15 suspected to be foreigners were handed over to the police for further investigation. They were subsequently granted bail after residents who claim to know the suspects mobbed the police station to demand their release. The situation escalated when some youth started throwing stones on the roof of the police station amidst chanting war songs. It took the interventions of Member of Parliament for the area, Charles Agbeve, the NDCs Deputy Volta Regional chairman and Secretary, George Loh and James Gunu and other NDC MPs to calm the irate youth. The former Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Christian Agbeviade in a Citi News interview said there was no proper explanation on their arrest but the police have asked them to report again on Monday, July 6. The leader of the Volta Caucus in Parliament and MP for Ho West, Emmanuel Bedzrah decried what he said appears to be a form of intimidation from the ruling New Patriotic Party. Mr. Bedzrah warned that such acts of intimidation will not augur well for peaceful coexistence among members of the NDC and the NPP in the Volta Region. Some residents who gathered at the Police station could not hold back their tears as the aged suspects were granted bail. The MP for the area, Charles Agbeve who organized the bus to convey the aged suspects said he was only helping the aged from his own hometown (Honugo) in the Agortime Ziope District to be able to register at the Agortime Ziope District Electoral Office. He expressed disgust at the arrest and called for circumspection in the application of the law in order not to create the impression that the NPP is gagging Voltarians away from the registration centres in an effort to disenfranchise them. ---citinewsroom The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is expected to announce the choice of his running mate at the party's National Executive Committee meeting later this morning, Monday, July 6. Citi News sources indicate that the flagbearer will present the name of former Education Minister, Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman as his preferred choice for the position. Other names that have also come up as likely contenders include former Finance Ministers, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor. The National Executive Committee of the party will per the partys regulations uphold or reject the choice of Mr. Mahama. We're finalizing consultations on my choice of running mate Mr. Mahama recently via a Facebook Live on Thursday, June 18, 2020, said the party structures are currently being consulted on his choice of a running mate. The former President has for some time now been pressurized to disclose his running mate as election 2020 draws near. Following the easing of restrictions, I have requested our functional executive committee to arrange a meeting of the Council of Elders and the National Executive Committee (NEC) to finalize my constitutional obligation to consult these bodies on the choice of my running mate. We have also agreed on our choice of the 2020 campaign team and will announce this shortly. Our manifesto committee is also wrapping up its work and we expect to launch our 2020 manifesto in August. Meanwhile, the NDC presidential candidate at a previous digital conversation said there was no use in naming a running mate to contest with him in the general elections amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana. ---citinewsroom Newly-appointed French Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced his intention to address the ruling party's parliamentary group as soon as the new government is announced later this Monday. Castex, unlike his predecessor Edouard Philippe, has promised hands-on, direct involvement in leading the ruling majority. Jean Castex has his work cut out. The new French prime minister has to see the nation safely through the uncertain future of the Covid-19 epidemic. He will have to ensure that the economic impact of the crisis is not fatal to certain sectors. Castex also inherits the troubled question of retirement reform, source of public and trade union anger and huge disruption last winter. As several of this morning's French daily newspapers point out, he also faces the less visible but no less crucial task of pulling the presidential majority together. In a weekend interview, Castex described his relationship with the parliamentary group as the most important part of his job. His first calls immediately following his nomination were to the various group leaders of the Republic on the Move party and its centrist allies. Jean Castex has described himself as a man of dialogue, a politician who prefers consensus to conflict. He has said his job is to turn the wishes of the president into legislative reality. The prime minister will clarify his position later this month when he makes his general political declaration before the National Assembly, a few days after President Macron's 14 July address to the nation. Fear and loathing on the left All analysts agree on the need to reassure the left wing of the ruling party, especially since Castex is a refugee from the right-wing Les Republicans, and a former close aide of President Nicolas Sarkozy. What impact all of that will have on the list of twenty ministers which we have been promised before 20.00 Monday evening remains to be seen. But a presidential spokesman has confirmed that new top team will include new talents and established heavyweights, with the emphasis on rapid action and with a view to reflecting the political balance of the majority. Few dependable rumours are circulating. Socialist former presidential candidate and ex-minister Segolene Royal claims that she was contacted by the president on Saturday. Only to have that claim denied by the Elysee hours later. Valerie Rabault, who leads the Socialist parliamentary group, says she has turned down the offer of a post. Francois Bayrou, leader of the centrist MoDem party, has expressed the wish that all political viewpoints should be represented in a team which will combine coherence and competence. As part of her numerous efforts to ensure the utmost safety of residents amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Prestea Huni-valley Constituency, Hon. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, on Friday, July 3, presented Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Prestea Huni-valley education Directorate. This is to augment government's contribution to protecting teachers and final year students being admitted back into the various schools within the constituency for their exit examinations. The items included non-contact infrared thermometer guns, nose masks, Veronica buckets, liquid soaps, hand sanitizers and tissue papers. Presenting the items to the education directorate for onward distribution to schools, the MP noted that, government is committed to ensuring the safety of teachers and students as it reopens schools across the country to prepare final year students sit for their final exams hence the need to ensure that, each student, teacher, non-teaching staff and schools are provided with adequate PPEs. The MP who doubles as minister for tourism, arts and culture reiterated a number of proactive measures the government had put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19. She promised that, the government is doing all within its power to ensure the pandemic is controlled to guarantee public safety and protection of lives but it would depend on Ghanaians to strictly adhere to the protocols. The minister tasked management and staff to enforce and ensure students abide by the laid down protocols by wearing of nose mask, practising social distancing, washing of hands regularly with soap under running water, the use of hand sanitizers, avoiding handshakes in other to provide a safe environment for studies and successful graduation. The Municipal Director of Education, Madam Mary Vida Kwofie received the items on behalf of the Education Directorate and expressed gratitude to the MP for the kind gesture and promised to use them for the planned purpose. Investment In Education The legislator who is seeking to be re-elected in the upcoming general elections slated for December 7 this year, believes Education remains one of the most important investments a community can make in its people and its future. Her prioritization of education, in the constituency, since she became MP has led to remarkable investments in the sector. She has seen to the provision of quality and accessible educational infrastructures, logistics and financial support to constituents. These included the construction of ultramodern classroom blocks across the constituency and donation of dual and mono desks to increase the number of intake of students and improve access to education from the early stages to the tertiary levels. Rehabilitation of science laboratory at St. Augustine's senior high school in Bogoso. Provision of scholarship and financial support to over 100 tertiary students as part of her support to the development of education. Other investments include donation of 8 motorbikes to aid in monitoring of the progress of education related activities. Donation of new desktop computers to education directorate. The MP organised free extra classes for students and also provided Mathematical sets to all BECE candidates. She has donated books to the Aboso library to aid learning process and improve literacy among students after she had lobbied with Gold Fields Ghana Limited to renovate the library to a modern one. Some people love to play music when they're working out while some prefer the quiet for concentration and peace of mind. There are a lot of good quality wireless earphones out there that are perfect for your morning jog. Here are some of them as listed by the Women's Health Magazine. Read Also: Top Wireless Earphones/Earbuds For 2016 Some wireless earphones only have a short playing time. But the Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds provides more than 34 hours of extra work out time when charged with the case with a 6-hour active time. Not to mention that this pair of earphones is also IP66 sweat resistant which holds up against sweat and dirt. The ergonomic earhook fits even the smallest ears and stay securely and comfortably in place. Another feature this pair of earphones has is that it can automatically turn itself on after taking it out of the case. The i.am+ Wireless Bluetooth Headset provides users with superior surround sound and deep bass with the freedom of wireless wear. Inspired by vinyl records, this pair of earphones features magnetic discs that clasp around your neck to keep earphones "always on." It's crafted from machined metal and paired with a woven fabric cord. Not only does it support Bluetooth 4.0, but it also has an active battery life of 6+ hours and a stand by time of 120+ hours. Not only does the Urbanista Paris wireless earphones have its own charging case, it can also provide a 5-hour playtime in just an hour and a half. If you charge it up to 3 times, it can give you up to 20 hours total playtime and up to 110 hours standby. Additionally, this pair of earphones also has a built-in microphone and is compatible with both Siri and Google Now using voice assistance and making calls. The Urbanista Paris is also water resistant IPX5 so don't worry when it suddenly starts raining. Unlike the aforementioned earphones, this pair has an active time of 8 hours. In just 10 minutes, you can power your headphones for an hour of use. This pair of earphones is also equipped with an ear hook which automatically turns the power on or off when putting on or taking them off . This is also IPX7 waterproof and has a touch control panel that helps you keep track of your music and your calls. This pair of wireless earbuds can last up to 5 hours on a single charge, and up to 15 hours in total with the included pocket-friendly charging case. The Elite Active 65t are secure fitting earbuds that provide dependable in-ear stability. Read Also: How to Run Comfortably: 3 Best Earphones for Running that Don't Fall Out [2020] Ghana's Ambassador to China, H.E Edward Boateng says Ghana stands tall among countries on the African continent given its 60-year long-standing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. The bilateral partnership between the countries according to the Ambassador is manifested in the massive socioeconomic transformation and huge investments being enjoyed by the two states. Mr. Boateng who was speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle to highlight the existing relationship which dates back as far as 1960 specifically July 5, noted that some of the strides made by Ghana and China in the areas of trade, investments, education, job creation and health, among other things, are as a result of the friendly collaboration between past and current leaders of both countries. Presently, our relationship is at a very high level. Its done very well, especially in the last three years under the leadership of the President [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo]. We have really moved it to another level. In fact, we are the envy of most of the African countries and other diplomatic circles; [because] China spends a lot of money on Ghana. We have achieved a lot and Ghana has a lot to be proud of, he touted. Per the existing and historical relationship between Ghana and China, many developmental projects have been facilitated to inure to each other's benefit. Since the relationship began, it has deepened into strong bonds over the past six decades. Both countries have reciprocated the harmonized diplomatic support for progress. Worth mentioning is the building and expansion of infrastructure projects that increase access to education and health through scholarship opportunities and the provision of medical supplies respectively. Most Chinese foreign direct investments in Ghana have been demonstrated in technical assistance, energy, agriculture, technology, human resource management and development. Notable among them is the bauxite for development barter agreement, popularly known as Sinohydro deal, signed between the Government of Ghana and the People's Republic of China The $2 billion Master Project Support was agreed between Ghana and China in 2018 to address major infrastructure challenges in the country. Under the deal, Sinohydro Group Limited of China is providing the infrastructure of the government's choice in exchange for Ghana's refined bauxite. China has also helped Ghana in some poverty alleviation programs and humanitarian aids to improve the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian. Recently, the outgone Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang described Ghana as the first choice trade partner with a volume of US$7.4 billion, making it the biggest investor in Ghana. The relations have created about 100,000 job opportunities for the local people in Ghana. Prospects of relationship Commenting on the future of the ties in the years ahead, Mr. Boateng who is Ghana's 15th Emissary to China was optimistic of more successes that will be chalked through the strong foundation that has been set for mutual cooperation and benefits. I think for me, [the future] is very positive. We have in the last three years under the leadership of the President; Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo laid a solid foundation for future ambassadors and foreign officersI think my successor will take it to another level. What we can get from China or what China can get from us is for us to decide. Once we decide on what we want, we will get it to run as fast as we want, Edward Boateng said. Appreciation He singled out the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and her staff members for their continuous contributions towards fostering the all-time-high peaceful co-existence. H. E. Boateng expressed similar appreciation to his workers and other Chinese officials whose various forms of assistance have aided in shaping the journey thus far. I will like to take this opportunity and thank my team that I have worked with. I have pushed them very high, but they have responded to achieve a lot in terms of our people to people relations, project delivery. I want to thank my Minister, the two deputies, Chief Director and the able team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Integration in Ghana. Without their support from Accra, we wouldn't have been smiling by now. The entire team has worked very hard to bring the relationship to where it is now. I also want to thank my predecessors. The 14 of them before me and they have all done their best. ---citinewsroom Listen to article Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, a national of the United Republic of Tanzania in East Africa, has been appointed as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. She is a lawyer based in Montreal, Canada, takes on her new role after more than a decade in leadership positions at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) - and at a crucial time. She has published several articles related to international environmental law, compliance, and enforcement of conventions and developed, among others, a number of multilateral environmental agreements negotiation tools, handbooks and guidelines currently used by UNEP in its capacity-building programmes. By her appointment, Elizabeth Mrema becomes the first woman from Africa to lead the intergovernmental body. She will oversee the creation of a global biodiversity agreement for the next decade. It, therefore, means she has a mighty task ahead of her, leading countries as they negotiate new biodiversity targets. The biological diversity was created by a UN treaty, signed into force by nations in 1992, and helps to set global targets to conserve biodiversity. The previous global biodiversity targets, signed in 2010 and called the Aichi targets, are widely agreed to have failed to stop species loss. Some scientists are now renewing calls for a single target to halt species extinction. But others worry that an extinction target would neglect other important goals of the agreements, such as ensuring that benefits from biological resources are shared. One could say that I have been appointed at a bad time for biodiversity, considering that the whole world is just emerging from, or still in, lockdown, she says. But at the same time, I see it as a major opportunity, as biodiversity is being discussed more than ever before. The new coronavirus, which originated in animals before it spread to people, has also brought renewed calls to stop the trading of wildlife, provoking long-simmering tensions between those who want to conserve species, and those pushing for their sustainable use. There is greater awareness of the impact that human activities can have on nature, and of the connection between human health and biodiversity. The interference, through deforestation, agricultural expansion, livestock intensification and habitat fragmentation, has exposed wild animals and brought them into closer contact with people, which has resulted in the spillover of pathogens and zoonotic diseases, human-to-human transmission through trade and tourism, and the explosive pandemic currently in the world, explains Elizabeth Mrema. But the coronavirus pandemic has brought these issues to the fore, and has emphasized discussions about how to prevent future pandemics. Closing wet markets and banning wildlife trading totally would negatively affect communities who depend on wild animals. The consumers and buyers of wild animals are not the poor people; they are the affluent communities in the cities. A total ban would also open the door to illegal trade in wildlife. Instead, we need more hygienic practices in wet markets that continue to operate, and regulated wildlife trade, within the framework of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. We need to ensure the sustainable consumption of species for those communities who rely on this, while also curbing illegal trade. It is a delicate balance. Countries cannot deal with these problems on their own. We need international cooperation, she added. The current biodiversity targets have largely failed. The reasons for those failures are now well-known, and there is need to build on those lessons into the draft global biodiversity framework. Unlike the previous goals, the major difference this time is that all stakeholders, including youth, business, and indigenous groups have contributed to various iterations of the draft. The parties are still the decision-makers who will finally adopt the framework, but they have realized that they need the engagement of other groups during the negotiations and in implementation. It has to involve environmental ministries and departments, and this time, health, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, planning, and finance ministries are getting involved. Three persons are in the grips of the Weija Divisional Police Command for registering foreign nationals in the ongoing voters registration exercise. The three were caught in the act around 8pm on Sunday, registering the foreign nationals at the GiCEL estate in the Weija Gbawe Municipality. Items found on the three individuals include NIA, guarantor and online voter registration forms. Deputy Operations officer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Weija Gbawe constituency, Alicia Ofori Attah told Citi News over eighty people, mostly women were also spotted in the queue waiting for their turn to get registered. We were doing our normal monitoring around 6.oclock when we received a call that some people were being registered in a house so we should come. An informant gave us that information. So my team moved to that area and lo and behold there were about 80 people, most of them were women and three gentlemen involved in the registration process. They managed to register eight people. We started screaming when we saw guarantor and NIA forms. They ran away but I quickly called the Weija District Commander and he gave us the patrol team. They picked the three gentlemen and they are now at the police station. They [those being registered] were non Ghanaians and I suspect EC officials were behind this. Similar offence Similar incidents of non-Ghanaians attempting to register in the ongoing exercise have been recorded. Security officers in the Upper East Region recently arrested a Togoles e man who attempted acquiring a voters' ID card. The suspect, who was identified as Bouguiligue Kouassi Kampe, was picked up at the Bimpelle Primary School registration centre at Woriyanga at the Tempane District upon a tip-off. Voters registration exercise The Electoral Commission is currently registering voters ahead of the 2020 polls. The exercise which started on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 enters its second phase today. This phase will run till Saturday, July 11, 2020, at each of the five registration centres across 6,788 clusters nationwide. ---citinewsroom PublicHealth Promotion Expert at the Head-office of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kwadwo Asante Afari has noted that knowledge or information alone on COVID-19 will not change behaviour of Ghanaiansunless it is done in combination with enforcement, effective Community participation interventions and empowerment through training, workshops, lectures, research, and mass media discussions. Dr. Asante Afari has therefore charged the MMDAs and CSOs/NGOs to ensure effective community involvement in COVID-19 interventions at the local as well as improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices and waste management. He further urged both private and public institutions and companies to display approved health promotion materials on COVID-19 at vantage points at their workplaces to remind people to keep to social distancing protocols, wearing of the masks, regular hand washing, coughing, and sneezing etiquette. Dr. Asante Afari was speaking during the Zonal Orientation of Non-Governmental Organizations on Covid-19 in Kumasi. The days event which was organized by the Ghana Health Service in collaboration with Ghana National Coalition of NGOs in Health brought together 25 participants from Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Ashanti, and Eastern regions. The objective of the orientation was to discuss and establish NGOs support to enhance adherence to safety and infection prevention of COVID-19 in communities. It further aimed at establishing an NGO platform for consistent interaction and provision of up-to-date and reliable information about COVID-19 Dr. Asante Afari urged employers to stop employees with a mild cough or low-grade fever from coming to work and advice that they seek medical care as well as provide a register to take details including phone numbers of all workers and visitors to help make contact tracing easier. The Public Health Promotion Expert said COVID-19 has become highly fertile ground for misinformation and rumours, whether accidental and unintended or deliberate and malicious. He, therefore, stressed the need for all to help to make sense of the mass of information that is being blasted at every one of us and challenged the Ghanaian media and especially social media bloggers to stop feeding the general public with misinformation on covid-19. The Founder/CEO of Global Media Foundation, a media advocacy organization, Raphael Godlove Ahenu in a comment chastised the Ghana government for failing to recognize and utilize CSOs/NGOs skills, experience, and networks in response to the fight against COVID-19. According to him, CSOs/NGOs in Ghana have a long practice of executing vital developmental, philanthropic, and advocacy actions across the four corners of the country frequently under challenging situations. As a result, he noted that there cant be any effective response to COVID-19 without the involvement of CSOs. However, at a time when their contributions are more critical than ever, they are also confronted with the negative impact of the pandemic on their operations and sustainability. This oversight by the government, according to him, has weakened the planning, coordination, and implementation of national responses, as well as the ability of CSOs to expand or sustain their efforts. He has therefore called on the government to support CSOs operations and COVID-19 activities through the national emergency response fund as well as leverage CCOs/NGOs experience and expertise in planning, coordinating, and implementing national responses to COVID-19. The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Coalition of NGOs in Health, Ninsau Darku Alazar, commended the Ghana Health Service for the orientation and recognizing that CSOs/NGOs have much to offer in the fight against COVID-19. According to him, what the coalition members need now is for the government to allocate part of the covid-19 response fund to support their activities. He said even though CSOs/NGOs have done much in the Covid-19 humanitarian response at both local and national levels, they are also confronted with the negative impact of the pandemic on their operations and sustainability. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark is one of the memorable lines in William Shakespeares drama titled Hamlet. The statement was made by an officer of the Palace Guard upon seeing the walking ghost of Hamlets father over the palace walls. Borrowing from this, there is no denying the fact that something is really gone amiss in Ghana, in as far as the management of COVID-19 is concerned. It is all about the exposure of our weak institutions especially enforcement agencies. In my previous article titled Enforcing COVID-19 Safety Protocols If all Africa were Rwanda, I was very candid that Rwanda is noted as a country where every citizen is a vigilante and where discipline is imbibed in the citizenry. In this global pandemic era, it is mandatory for every resident in Rwanda to wear a mask while outside. Non-compliance, I was later informed, is an automatic penal march to the national stadium where big or small violators mark time in the open space. A sight to behold indeed. In the same article, I noted that in Ghana, only 1 out of 10 persons has a nose mask on. However, many of those seen with nose masks only hang them around their chin and thereby expose their mouths and noses which the masks are supposed to cover. I still stand by this assertion and want to reiterate that the situation has gone from bad to worse. As lockdown restrictions are gradually being relaxed, churches have resumed, schools have reopened for final year students, etc., But take a tour to the various medium to big markets centres all over the country and you will have live testimonies of an embrace with death to share. In the midst of these chaotic chaos, only a few social networks and organisations, such as religious gatherings have been unjustifiably selected for monitoring while political activism increases multiple-fold every day. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So why put a radar on church gatherings and neglect enforcement on markets, or political activities? Nothing matters in Ghana anymore. At the time of writing this article, there is an 11.4 million global infections, 6.16 million recoveries and 534,000 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic. Ghana is having its fair share of 20,085 infections, 14,870 recoveries and 122 deaths. These figures have made nonsense the purpose for which the lockdowns (with the attendant anxiety, social and economic costs), were imposed. In the midst of infections with significant public figures falling as victims to the disease, Ghana is going to the polls in December. Examples have been cited of some countries that have gone through the polls as well during this pandemic era. So therefore, based on science and logic, Ghanaians are also ripe to go to the polls to avoid a constitutional crisis! After all, we are being informed that we now live in the new normal and will have to learn to live with the disease. This is a clear case of comparing apples and oranges. Of course, presidential elections were held in Malawi on 23 June 2020, having originally been scheduled for 19 May and later 2 July. And in Burundi, general elections to elect both the President and the National Assembly were held on 20th May, 2020. The incumbent president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who did not seek re-election, succumbed to COVID-19 and died unexpectedly on 8 June 2020 even though the Burundian government covered up his cause of death as a heart attack. Science and logic are telling us that two wrongs dont make a right. Different structures exist in different countries. In Ghana, if open markets are flouting safety protocol rules, should enforcement agencies stand aloof? How long will we, being citizens, not spectators, stand unconcerned while careless residents in the country continue to put the lives of everyone at risk. Currently ongoing is the voter registration exercise, an exercise in which COVID-19 safety protocols are being breached with careless abandon. Yet, we have the Police Service that is charged to enforce law, order and the social and physical distancing protocols. What song will we sing after the voter registration exercise is over? Perhaps the living will be reciting, sarcastically, a known Bible verse: Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? And when some, including those seeking public office positions, have fallen victims before the December 7 polls, let not the dirge be: How are the mighty fallen? This is simply because we dont learn from our mistakes. But until then, we are all deemed sick in Ghana, physically, mentally, psychologically, politically, economically and what have you, and are heading towards the abyss until the right thing is done strict enforcement of safety protocols even if that makes the state unpopular. A healthy people is a healthy nation. SIMON ALLOTEY, Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), is set to retire from the authority on July 31. A news release from the GCAA, which made this known, said Charles Kraikue, Deputy Director General, has been appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to act as Director-General. Prior to his appointment as Director General of GCAA in 2015, Mr. Allotey was Ghana's Representative on the ICAO Council from 2009 to 2010 and served as a member on ICAO's Air Navigation Commission (ANC) from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Allotey, who is a long-standing fellow of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE), also served variously as Deputy Director of Engineering, Director of Engineering, Deputy Director General (Technical) and as Acting Director General of GCAA from1996 to 2007. Following the decoupling of airport operations from aviation regulation and air navigation services provision, Mr. Allotey maintained concurrent oversight of the newly created Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) from January to September 2007, until a substantive managing director was appointed for GACL. Achievements Under his leadership, Ghana's aviation industry has recorded phenomenal growth, with a thriving domestic sector and over 35 international airlines serving Ghana. The country also attained an Effective Implementation (EI) score of 89.89%, the highest by an African country at the time, after ICAO concluded its safety audit in April 2019. In recognition of Ghana's progress in resolving aviation security and safety oversight deficiencies, and the country's commitment to the EI of its Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS), ICAO conferred its prestigious Council President Certificates in Aviation Safety and Security on Ghana at its 40th Triennial Assembly in Montreal, Canada. Owing to his in-depth knowledge and experience in the aviation industry, he was nominated to chair several international high profile meetings including the Technical Commission, ICAO 40th Triennial Assembly in Montreal, Canada, 2019; the Safety Committee at the 13th ICAO Air Navigation Conference, Montreal Canada, 2018; and ICAO's Regional Aviation Safety Group for Africa (RASG-AFI), December 2015 2018, etc. His retirement brings to an end a successful career in the aviation industry spanning over 24 years. Mr Kraikue, the incoming Director General, brings to the role extensive experience, having served as the Deputy Director General (Technical) for the past two years. In this role, he led the transformation of GCAA's air traffic management systems and enhanced safety within the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR). This included the replacement of all ageing communications, navigation and surveillance facilities within the FIR which had been in service for two decades. He also served previously as Electrical Manager and as Director, Air traffic Safety Engineering of the authority between 2007- 2018. ---Daily Guide The acquisition of the new voters' card in the country is a source of easy money in neighbouring countries for those who are able to scale the hurdles. Many have failed to scale through and are currently in the hands of security agents. Not so others whose number we do not know who succeeded. Many foreigners have never been arrested in their attempts to register as Ghanaians as we are witnessing today since the registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) commenced. In the past, such anomalies hardly made it to the media because it was in the interest of those at the helm for the breaches to be perpetuated. Do we need more evidence to buttress the argument that many hold the old voters' cards who do not qualify to do so because they are non-citizens? Of all the countries of West Africa, none surpasses Ghana in the volume of breaches of her nationality documents. Nigerians, Nigeriens, Togolese, Ivorians and Burkinabes all possess Ghanaian passports, the old voters' cards and birth certificates. With these in their possession, they are able to falsely present themselves as bona fide Ghanaians. With the nullification of the old voters' cards, efforts are on to ensure that such persons who acquired the previous identification get the new ones and the cat-and-mouse game between sponsors of the breaches and their assigns on one hand and the security agents on the other continues. Syndicates have been created to assist an interest group in the country to have as many foreigners from nearby countries acquire the voters' cards as possible for electoral leverage when the time is due. Now we understand why so much was done to stop the EC from embarking upon the project of compiling a new voters' roll. Elsewhere in this edition, there is a story about the arrests of persons who were unlucky in their bid to breach our law. The Greater Accra Regional Police Command is also holding another foreigner arrested as he, too, tried to do same. What is it about our voters' card that drives foreigners to risk their freedoms to acquire it? While some have been engaged by a political interest group to get as many foreigners as possible to register because these persons would be directed as to how to vote in December and future, others need the document as proof of citizenship in non-electoral transactions such as opening accounts and others. The number of arrested persons is rising and we shudder to think that some lucky ones could have managed to go through the process without being nabbed. Such persons, as we pointed out in an earlier commentary, could not have done so without the complicity of citizens of this country. Tipping the scale in elections by all means, including such acts of subterfuge, cannot be right and for us constitutes the height of treachery to the Motherland. ---Daily Guide A new book called Fidel in Love reveals the secret love story between Cuba's 'Lider Maximo,' Fidel Castro, and Anna Maria Traglia, the niece of the Cardinal Vicar of Rome. The unlikely affair between the atheist and devout Catholic lasted 40 years. Anna Maria recounts her first meeting with Fidel Castro on 20 May, 1975 in the Cuban capital Havana at the apostolic nunciature, similar to an embassy. I arrived carrying a big bunch of very thorny red roses to place under the painting of the Madonna in the nunciature. Fidel was there, smoking his cigar and appeared visibly bored. I did not have a high opinion of him, also due to the US propaganda against him, and thought he was a small monster, like Stalin, she says. That day Anna Maria's life changed. At the time, she was 27-years-old, already married 10 years and had two young children. When Fidel saw Anna Maria walk in, wearing a silk blue dress, he got up suddenly and went towards her and admiringly exclaimed Botticelli's Spring. That moment would be the beginning of a friendship and love affair that would last forty years. Connecting with Castro The person that had been instrumental to her meeting the Cuban leader was a woman called Margarita Alcalde, related to Fidel Castro, who was the first secretary at the Cuban embassy in Rome. Anna Maria had casually met Margarita in October of the year before and despite a significant age difference, they had become good friends. Margarita spoke enthusiastically about her island-nation and its leadership. For her, Fidel was a hero, who gave back dignity to his people and defended their rights. Anna Maria listened half-heartedly thinking it was Margarita's job to restore Castro's reputation abroad. Margarita spoke endlessly to her Italian friend about Cuba and its leader until she convinced her to visit, just six months after they met. She helped obtain a government invitation for her and her engineer husband Giuliano, on the basis that he could consult for the Cuban government and provide technical solutions for the 'Ocho Vias' motorway that was to be constructed on the island. Anna Maria was not new to travelling but Havana surprised her. She recounts how everything she saw after her arrival immediately attracted her: the well-kept liberty buildings, the lush vegetation and Fidel. Secrets and religion There you breathed a joy of living, she says. The first time Anna Maria visited Cuba she stayed for four months. Everyone in Cuba knew she and Fidel met and spent time with each other but this was kept a secret back in Rome. She said they often spoke about religion and she managed to convince him to open a Catholic church. She said Fidel was very interested in the Vatican and she hoped that one day he would revisit his atheist past. Fidel had given her a beautiful home, La Casa de las Flores, filled with beautiful flowers and would visit her there every evening at 11pm after he was finished with his political commitments. She describes her relationship with Fidel as true and important, very important, she experienced love and passion that I did not know existed and the man himself as strong and determined but with me gentle, affectionate and simply marvellous. Her love story with Castro is the object of the new book "Fidel In Love: The great secret love of Lider Maximo" by journalist and author Paola Sorge published in Italy on 3 July. The leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region is calling on the government to allow it facilitate the return of Ghanaians stranded in Togo to allow them to participate in the ongoing voter registration exercise. The NDCs call comes on the back of the arrest of 15 persons, including a visually impaired ex-military man, suspected to be Togolese crossing to Ghana at a time that Ghanas borders remain close to human traffic. The closure of the border is in a bid to curb the influx of foreigners who may have the Coronavirus disease. As an added measure to curb the importation of Coronavirus, the Ghanaian Government deployed several military personnel to border communities, days ahead of the compilation of a new voters register. Residents along Ghanas borders with Togo raised concerns about the deployment at a time when Ghana has already recorded several community cases of the Coronavirus. They also complained about brutalities being meted out to them by the said personnel, but the government maintained that the personnel were deployed to guard against the Coronavirus. The military personnel on the borderline also, means that border residents cannot continue to live as they use to. Ghanaian pupils who attend french school in Togo, Ghanaians who teach English in Togo and vice versa, and people who have married from Togo cannot continue to live as they used to pre-COVID-19. Over the past weekend, 15 people, including an ex-serviceman were arrested on suspicion that they were Togolese trying to register in Ghana but the NDC thought such arrests were unwarranted. The party was also of the opinion that the NDC should be allowed to facilitate the entry of genuine Ghanaians who live in Togo but who do not have the means to travel through the main borders to come and register for the new voters ID card. The NDCs Deputy Volta Regional Chairman and private legal practitioner, George Loh, who intervened for the 15 people who were arrested upon suspicion of being Togolese told Citi News the governments deployment of security to the borderlines without a proper plan of conveying Ghanaians locked up in Togo to register for the new voters register is problematic. Mr Loh said that so far as there are legitimate Ghanaians in Togo, the NDC will do all within its legitimate rights to facilitate Ghanaian residents in Togo to come and register. Mr Loh, who also alleged that the NPP is bussing in people from China and other parts of the world quizzed why Ghanaians in Togo should not be brought in to register and vote?. The compilation of the new voters register has just entered its second phase with the first phase being relatively smooth. ---citinewsroom Negotiators from Britain and the European Union were to resume talks on their future relationship in London on Monday, after previous discussions wrapped up with little sign of progress less than six months away from defaulting to World Trade Organization rules. Britain's delayed departure from the now-27-member EU on 31 January began a transition period giving London and Brussels until the end of the year to agree to terms of trade in the future, or else default to high tariffs and quotas under World Trade Organization guidelines. London will host EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, a French politician who has assured Brussels' side of the talks since October 2016. Barnier warned of serious divergences as the previous talks ended last Thursday. The EU engages constructively in this week's restricted round of [] negotiations, in line with our mandate, Barnier tweeted last Thursday. We now need equivalent engagement from the UK. Barnier's statement on the most recent talks said the EU expects its positions to be better understood and respected as talks continued before formal negotiations resumed on 20 July. Britain's chief negotiator, David Frost, said the talks were comprehensive and useful but also underlined the significant differences that still remain between us on a number of important issues. British businesses fear WTO rules and are looking for the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to secure a deal as soon as possible, and the haste was reflected in a statement from Frost's office. We remain committed to working hard to find an early understanding on the principles underlying an agreement out of the intensified talks process during July, the statement read. Key Issues EU officials are under less pressure to strike a quick deal though, and have shrugged off Johnson's repeated threats to walk away and accept distant relations. Barnier's statement underlined that the EU wants to ensure any deal ensures fair competition among European and British businesses, a long-term solution for fishing rights and an overarching institutional framework and effective dispute settlement mechanisms. London argues the point of Brexit was to give it more say over its affairs and has insisted that that neither the European Court of Justice nor EU law have a role in the future relationship. While Barnier's statement acknowledged that position, Brussels has also countered that Britain cannot expect a favourable trade deal if it seeks to undercut the bloc with looser labour, environmental and sector-specific aid regulations. Britain also wants a larger part of fishing waters it now shares with the EU. Warnings of no deal The bloc warned it was now up to Britain to make proposals. The ball is in the UK's court, EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan told Irish broadcaster RTE at the weekend. If they want a deal, there is a deal to be done. As Germany assumed the bloc's rotating six-month presidency last Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the EU should prepare for the case that an agreement is not reached. Merkel was to unveil priorities of Germany's presidency of the European Union on Wednesday The team of Barnier and Frost are being held in an intensified format in London. Earlier talks at the height of the coronavirus epidemic in Europe were held via video conference. (with newswires) Uber has reportedly agreed to acquire Postmates in an ultimate all-stock deal worth a whopping $2.65 billion. This is according to Bloomberg that made the announcement on the morning of Monday, July 6. Just like any other travel or even transportation-related business, Uber's very own ride-hailing segment has already been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the whole shelter-in-place orders throughout the United States. The on-demand delivery service business during the pandemic On-demand delivery, on the other hand, has definitely grown, with different people relying on the services of businesses just like Uber Eats to get food without ever having to leave their own homes. According to its very own earnings report, Uber's very own ride-hailing gross bookings still dipped, but its own food delivery service still saw gross sales growing way up to 54% during its own first fiscal quarter. According to the previous reports, Uber already made an offer to purchase Grubhub, this is another on-demand delivery service. The offer was made early this year but shortly after, the deal still fell through. The company then approached Postamtes. Bloomberg reports that both Uber and Postmates have talking on and already for about four long years. However, the negotiations only became way more serious about just a week ago. Grubhub then ended up being acquired by another company known as Just Eat Takeaway in a deal worth $7.3 billion right after its negotiations with Uber were stalled. Read Also: [Net Worth 2020] Jeff Bezos Earns $171.6B While Warren Buffet and Other Billionaires Lost Big Time! Other acquisitions just like Uber and Postmates With a valuation of $2.4 billion, Postmates is a whole similar company than the known Grubhub. The company then filed to go public back in February 2019, but then it decided to hold off just because of the whole "choppy market" conditions. If the whole deal goes through, the final main competitors in the whole American food delivery market would eventually be Uber Eats/Postmates versus the known Grubhub/Takeaway versus the recent DoorDash. In other countries, especially in Asia, there are companies like Grab that have also begun building around their on-demand delivery services to make up for losses from fewer of those ride-hailing bookings. For example, the segment of Grab responded to the whole stay-at-home order over in Indonesia (its main market) and also other Southeast Asian countries just by re-deploying ride-hailing drivers to on-demand deliveries for your own food and essential items. After months of rumors, it has finally been confirmed that Uber is getting a little bit bigger by acquiring Postmates. Despite the whole coronavirus pandemic, it seems like this company is getting bigger through the acquisition. Read Also: Here's How Big the Whole Boycott Facebook Advertising has Become: What Will Mark Zuckerberg do About it? A non-governmental organisation headquartered in the UK, Ghana Diaspora Women (GDW), has called for the immediate suspension of the two doctors and nurses involved in the events that led to the death of the wife of the Director of the Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL). Dr Emmanuel Kuto had said he will seek redress in court as he is being bullied by the hospital so he drops the case of negligence he is pursuing against the management of the facility. According to Dr Kuto, his wife died at GARH after she had been given a wrong prescription by a doctor while she was on admission. GDW, reacting to the incident in a statement released on Monday, 6 July 2020, noted that: There are times when many Ghanaians have raised such concerns about negligence, gross misconduct and malpractices on the part of doctors and nurses in our hospitals in Ghana and no one has taken any actions. According to the GDW, too many lives are lost through gross negligence and enough is now enough. One loss of life, whether rich, middle-class or poor, is one life too many. The group, therefore, called on the Head of Ghana Health Service ... and the Director of Ridge Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Srofenyoh, to immediately suspend the two doctors and nurses involved in this alleged matter, as, we believe, their behaviour was unethical of the medical profession, until investigations are duly completed. GDW continued that it would be supporting Dr Kuto, should he decide to pursue the legal route for some form of reasonable, substantial compensation, as sorry alone, will not be enough in this matter. It added that: This is a matter the Ghanaian Diaspora Community are very interested in seeing through to the end until justice is served for Madam Esther Sosuh, wife of Dr Kuto, the children and the entire family. Also, on behalf of many Ghanaians who have suffered pain at the expense of professionals who were supposed to be concerned for their health. Dr Kuto recalled that he heard a conversation between a doctor rebuking his colleague doctor over the phone for prescribing a wrong medication for his deceased wife. The management of GARH responded by saying that it would conduct an investigation into the events that led to the death of the GIL Directors wife. Following a series of meetings with the management of the hospital, Dr Kuto, in a press statement released on Friday, 3 July 2020, noted that: We were invited by Dr Emmanuel Srofenyoh, the Medical Director of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (also known as Ridge Hospital) to appear before a committee set up to investigate the circumstances leading to the demise of my wife, Esther Sosuh. The parties, after some initial disagreements, agreed that GARH had failed to officially notify the husband and family of the deceased. GARH had also failed to debrief the husband and family per established protocol. As of the time of the meeting, that had still not been done; there was the need to conduct an autopsy on the body of Esther Sosuh in order to establish the cause of death, to make the findings of the proposed autopsy meaningful to the husband and family of the deceased, it was imperative for GARH to make available to them all relevant documents in respect of Esther Sosuh, from pre-surgery consultations to death. Also, to enable the husband of the deceased, give a meaningful testimony before the investigative committee, it was imperative for GARH to make available to him all relevant documents in respect of Esther Sosuh, from pre-surgery consultations till death. It was also agreed that husband of the deceased should put in a formal written request to GARH to enable it to release the documents to, following the release of the documents, Dr Kuto would pick a coroners form and proceed to report the case to the police and would then sign the consent form for the autopsy to proceed. The statement continued that subsequently, the husband of the deceased, submitted the letter requesting the release of the documents to GARH. The Minister of Health, the Director-General of Ghana Health Services and the Regional Director of Ghana Health Services were copied. A few hours later, GARH, through its Medical Director, informed Dr Kuto by phone that they had been advised by their lawyers not to release the documents that GARH had undertaken at the meeting. At the same time, the Medical Director wanted Dr Kuto to sign a consent form authorising the autopsy to proceed to which the latter declined. Explaining what this meant to him in an interview with Class News, Dr Kuto described the action by the management of GARH as incredible. He said: Ill be meeting my lawyers on Monday. I had wanted us to stay out of court because I really didnt want to go this way. My priority was to make sure that things change at Ridge Hospital. I told them that what happened doesnt do them any good at all. Their image has been terribly damaged because the story has gone around the world". He added that: I was willing to help them resolve this thing more or less peacefully but now they are on the offensive, so, I have no choice but also go and seek legal redress. Now, were totally deadlocked. Yesterday, the Medical Director called me trying to pressure me into signing the forms. When I said no, he said: Oh, you, we know what youre doing, you are doing delaying tactics and youre trying to tarnish my reputation. God who is in heaven is watching you. At this time, all my pent-up emotions simply blew up and I just hang up on him. So, that is where we are now. Theyre actually trying to bully me, incredible. ---classfmonline Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader and candidate in Ivory Coast's October presidential election, has been forced into self-imposed exile in France in the face of a long list of legal problems. But in his stronghold of Ferkessedougou, a commercial hub in the north, he has the unwavering support of backers who believe he is destined to lead the west African country. "I don't do politics, but you don't abandon your child," said Kiali Ouattara, a traditional chief. Soro was a leader in a 2002 revolt that sliced the former French colony into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south and triggered years of unrest. He was an ally of President Alassane Ouattara, helping him to power during a post-election crisis in 2010 that claimed several thousand lives. The charges and accusations against Soro have not discouraged his supporters in Ferkessedougou. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP/File) Soro went on to serve as prime minister under Ouattara and then parliamentary speaker. But the two eventually fell out and Soro began to harbour his own presidential ambitions, parting ways with the ruling RHDP party last year. That's when his fortunes turned. in April, Soro was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of embezzling public funds. He also faces charges of plotting an anti-government uprising. As a result, he abandoned an attempt to return to the country in December. Many of his supporters, who have dismissed the charges as politically motivated, have been jailed. Soro is also the subject of a complaint filed in Paris on the grounds of torture, murder and war crimes between 2004 and 2011. Soro has insisted that the accusations are designed to keep him out of the presidential race, which has been seen as a test of stability for Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer. 'Far-fetched verdicts' None of the charges or accusations have discouraged his supporters in Ferke, the common name for this city of 160,000 people 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the village of Diawala where Soro was born. "The RHDP puts (Soro's) supporters in prison and sentences him with far-fetched verdicts," said Ouattara Laragton, a 55-year-old hairdresser -- a reference to what happened to Ouattara under former presidents Henri Konan Bedie and Laurent Gbagbo. Kiali Ouattara, a traditional chief in Ferkessedougou, is among Soro's supporters. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP/File) Some say they would like to see Soro, 48, bring a more modern approach to the post held by 78-year-old Ouattara. "I know that if the kid shows up, he's going to win," Laragton said. Sitting at a major crossroad with direct routes to border crossings into Mali and Burkina Faso, Ferke supplanted the nearby historic city of Kong -- the stronghold of the Ouattara family -- as the north's commercial centre in the 20th century thanks to the passage of a regional railway. Just 50 km west of Ferke is Korhogo, the capital of the north and the city of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the RHDP candidate chosen by Ouattara to succeed him. Soro had long hoped that Ouattara would nominate him as his successor. Sougari Soro, a 45-year-old mechanic in Ferke, said the RHDP has been "ungrateful". "They threw him under a bus after he devoted himself to getting them in power," he said. "There are many of us in Ivory Coast who are silent supporters of him." 'It was Soro who left' But the RHDP is far from having lost its grip in the city. As soon as he came to power, President Ouattara invested in the predominantly Muslim north of the country, which had long been neglected by the political power coming from the south. Ferke, like Korhogo, has benefited greatly from the money that has been poured into schools, mains electricity and roads. "(Soro) is in too much of a hurry to take power. He has to continue his apprenticeship, to learn alongside" the president, said Ismael Ouattara, an electrical appliance salesman. The mayor of Ferkessedougou, Kaweli Ouattara, said he believed Soro would come back to Ivory Coast. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP/File) Soro "can't say that this is his stronghold", said Tilkouete Sansan Dah, a member of parliament for the nearby town Bouna. "Soro would be unable to be elected MP for Ferke today." The RHDP has worked to chip away at his support. "The RHDP was like a house made up of different rooms. There was the pro-Soro room, the pro-Gon Coulibaly, the pro-Hamed Bakayoko (defence minister)," among others, said Sansan Dah. "The activists did not change houses. It was Soro who left the house." New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ekumfi Constituency, Hon. Francis Kingsley Ato Cudjoe has organized a Free Eyes Screening for over 630 people relieving them of their financial burden The people were drawn from Ekumfi Otuam, Kontakore, Etibadu and other communities in the Ekumfi Otuam Electoral Area They were screened for plerygium, cataract, reflective errors, glaucoma, allergic conjunctivitis and other eyes related diseases Over 400 eye drops and 500 sunglasses running into thousands of Ghana Cedis were given free of charge after they went through the screening Dr. Christian Appiah-Eduenu, a Senior Optometrist at Aped Eye Care Center at Mankessim in the Mfantsiman Municipality of the Central Region assisted by an Optician and three nurses conducted the screening. The patients who were between the ages of Four (4) and Eighty- two (82) years commended Hon. Francis Kingsley Ato Cudjoe for the exercise Parents of a Four (4) year old child (name withheld) who could not control their happiness expressed their appreciation to Hon. Ato Cudjoe for relieving them of what they described as 'Financial Burden' " Our child's eyes sickness became a big financial burden to us, we never anticipated that God was going to give a 'financial saviour today's screening is a great relief to us. The entire family is grateful to our Member of Parliament for this God-sent exercise. It is unprecedented. Hon. Ato Cudjoe has shown heavenly love to our child, people of Ekumfi Otuam and its surrounding areas" Dr. Appiah-Eduenu advised Ghanaians to check their eyes regularly or at least once in a year. According to him, it was only through regular eyes screening that could prevent blindness cautioning that most blinding eye conditions usually do not show or present symptoms at its early stages Later in an interview with newsmen, Hon. Fransis Kingsley Ato Cudjoe, who is also the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Acquaculture Development noted that healthy wellbeing of his constituents was his major priority " A Healthy people make a Wealthy Nation. If my constituents are healthy, they would contribute their quota towards the development of Ekumfi and Ghana as a whole" He hinted that plans were far advanced for such exercises to be conducted for people with other health complications in the constituency "While concentrating on Covid-19 pandemic, it is prudent to pay attention to other health conditions affecting the people Ekumfi constituency is made up of mainly Farmers and Fishermen who use a lot of energy in their daily activities While ensuring infrastructure growth and development, it is my duty to ensure my constituents are also healthy and safe" Hon. Ato Cudjoe concluded. Listen to article A student has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Wesley Senior High School at Konongo in the Ashanti Region. Citi News has gathered that a team of health workers and contact tracers have been dispatched to the school following the confirmation of the case. Reports indicate that the student was earlier rushed to the Konongo Government Hospital after showing symptoms of the virus but was diagnosed with malaria and asked to return home. According to an uncle of the student, Osei Kwadwo, his nephew was left on his own to travel from Konongo to Kumasi only to find out that he is COVID-19 positive. He is not happy about the development and says the student has since not been isolated and is living with his mother and other siblings at home. He is also blaming health officials and school authorities for not handling the issue properly. He says the students mother has since taken the COVID-19 test and awaiting her test results. The government has said that no parent should come to the school to visit their ward We are told that you dont have to get close to people with COVID-19 and so I am very concerned that they left the student to journey on his own alone from Konongo to Kumasi. He returned to his mother and siblings and is still living with them. We dont have any place to quarantine him. His mother has also taken the test and her results are not out yet, he said. Meanwhile, sources at the school say health workers are on campus to assess the situation and take any necessary action. ---citinewsroom We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of the C.E.O of the Forestry Commission and a former General Secretary of the great party, Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (AKA, Sir John). By all standards, Sir John contributed immensely to the great party and the nation as a whole. The NPP Japan acknowledges the fact that no one prepares for such loss but yours has come like a swift wind to us. We are blessed and honoured to have had you as a father, C.E.O, former general secretary, and party faithful. As we think about your sudden demise, we think of your kind and selfless nature. May the fond memories of Sir John bring comfort to his family, the NPP and Ghana during this hard time. Looking back on all the good memories you were able to have with us before your passing away, it is still difficult to believe that you are no more with us. It is the prayer of NPP Japan that God will grant all of us the serenity and peace that may be needed to get through this. Sir John, you will forever remain in our thoughts and prayers. Issued and signed on behalf of NPP Japan by Kwaku Adu (Acting Communications Director, NPP Japan) The Western Regional branch of the opposition National Democratic Congress has urged President Akufo-Addo to call his appointees in the region to order. The party in a statement signed by its Regional Communication Officer, Richard Kirk-Mensah, alleged that government appointees in the region are using the National Security Operatives to intimidate and attack eligible persons believed to be supporters of the NDC from registering. The Electoral Commission began the voter registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. But according to the Western Regional NDC, some of their members were beaten on Friday, July 3, 2020, for attempting to register. On Friday 3rd July 2020, these thugs working as national security unleashed their attacks on a group of young men in Sekondi for attempting to register in polling stations in methodist senior high school and Christian Devine church. This Hollywood-style display Of gangsterism in broad daylight occurred in the presence of personnel of the Ghana Police service who eventually became movie watchers, failing to prevent these barbaric actions. This is in direct contradiction of the President touting the vigilantism code of conduct as an achievement. The party thus called on the president to order his appointees to stop such unwarranted attacks or they will also retaliate. We are by this press release urging the president to instruct his appointees immediately rein in their thugs, else we will retaliate in such manner that the Sekondi Takoradi will not be able to contain us all. Below is the full press release Press release 05/07/20 President Nana Addo should order his appointees to call their thugs to order. The western region National Democratic Congress urges the president his excellency Nana addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo to order his appointees in the western region to call their thugs to order with immediate effect. The Sekondi Takoradi for the 1st time since the inception of the 4th republic is polarized with high tension with the possibility of electoral violence. The electoral commission started a nationwide registration of eligible voters last Tuesday with explicit regulations and laws guiding the process. The law permits the agents and any Ghanaian to challenge a potential registrant's eligibility to register at a particular polling station by using the challenge forms provided by the electoral officers. It is therefore an affront to our constitution for anyone to be physically prevented from registering. NPP Hooligans parading as national security operatives have taken the laws into their hands and are moving from one polling stations to another physically attacking eligible Ghanaians believed to supporters of the NDC for joining the queue to register. The party has officially lodged complaints at the Sekondi district police station while individuals who were attacked have also done same. We are by this press release urging the president to instruct his appointees immediately rein in their thugs, else we will retaliate in such manner that the Sekondi Takoradi will not be able to contain us all. We as a party love peace and we want Sekondi Takoradi and the western region as a whole to remain peaceful. This is why we are calling the peace Council and other important stakeholders to add their voice to bring a lasting end to hooliganism and vigilantism in our political landscape. ---citinewsroom Listen to article Former John Dramani Mahama will present former Education Minister Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his preferred choice of running mate for the 2020 general elections. This is despite some resistance from some officials of the NDC. The National Executive Committee meeting of the NDC where former John Mahama is expected to present the running mate is underway at the partys headquarters in Accra. The meeting has a number of NDC bigwigs in attendance, including 16 regional chairmen of the party. Mr. Mahama recently via a Facebook Live on Thursday, June 18, 2020, said the party structures are currently being consulted on his choice of a running mate. The former President has for some time now been pressurized to disclose his running mate as election 2020 draws near. Following the easing of restrictions, I have requested our functional executive committee to arrange a meeting of the Council of Elders and the National Executive Committee (NEC) to finalize my constitutional obligation to consult these bodies on the choice of my running mate. We have also agreed on our choice of the 2020 campaign team and will announce this shortly. Our manifesto committee is also wrapping up its work and we expect to launch our 2020 manifesto in August. Meanwhile, the NDC presidential candidate at a previous digital conversation said there was no use in naming a running mate to contest with him in the general elections amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana. ---citinewsroom The Rebecca Foundation has handed over two libraries to the people of Daffiama Bussei Issah District in the Upper West Region and Wenchi in the Bono Region. The Libraries are part of four libraries constructed by the Rebecca Foundation in parts of the country to inculcate the habit of reading in school children as a means of improving on their learning skills. In a statement read on her behalf, Executive Director of The Rebecca Foundation and First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo acknowledged the contribution of the current NPP administration in prioritising education with various policies such as free SHS and reinstituting allowances for teacher trainees to improve upon the ability of our young Ghanaians to effectively propel national development. She however, bemoaned the ability of many children to read and write as a result of factors including limited access to reading materials, which she said adversely affects the childs ability to learn stating, Literacy is the means by which lifelong learning and a childs ability to learn to the highest levels is made possible. The First Lady thanked development partners of The Rebecca Foundation including the Ministry of Education, Ghana Library Authority, Book Aid International, the District and the Municipal Assemblies, where the libraries are sited for their support in executing the four projects. She also announced the completion of two more libraries in other parts of the country to be commissioned soon. Chief Executive of Ghana Library Authority, Mr Hayford Siaw, expressed gratitude to H.E. the First Lady in helping the agency meet one critical objective in its 2020 Year of Learning which is to increase the network of libraries in the country, stating that since 2017, government through GhLA has increased library network from sixty-one to seventy-four and now seventy-eight with the new libraries by the Rebecca Foundation Present to grace the commissioning were MCEs, Officials of GES, Ghana Library Authority and Chiefs. It will be recalled that in 2018, the Rebecca Foundation launched the Learning to Read and Reading to Learn initiative to help improve literacy levels among Ghanaian children. The initiative involves a reading television show for children shown nationwide on GTV Saturdays at 12pm and repeated on Wednesdays at 5pm, the Ghana Learning TV, Net2, and GN Junior TV, as well as construction of libraries in school clusters that lack access to library facilities. All the 16 Regional Communication Officers of the opposition NDC congratulates Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang on her nomination as the Running Mate to former President John Dramani Mahana on his re-election bid. The former President made the announcement at the partys National Executive Committee today, Monday, July 6. In a statement, the party's communicators stated, "The choice of a woman of valour and substance to the High Office of Running Mate and obviously our next Vice President emboldens the NDC as political lineage that truly believes in egalitarianism as well as appreciating women as critical partners to our nation's development." They believe that this novelty in Ghana's political history shall draw the masses of all females as the party collectively strife to give greater space to women in development discourse. Mahama's choice of Running Mate is unprecedented in the history of NDC as this represent the very first time a female has been selected to run on the partys ticket as Running Mate, breaking the all-male female running mate syndrome. Naana's nomination finally brings to closure months of speculations on who partner the former President to snatch back power from the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP). Read full statement: REGIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICERS OF NDC CONGRATULATES HON. PROFESSOR JANE NAANA OPOKU AGYEMANG ON HER ELEVATION TO THE STATUS OF RUNNING MATE TO HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA With a unanimous accord, we the Sixteen Regional Communication Officers of the Great NDC wish to convey our profound congratulations to the Peerless Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang on this occasion that she has been nominated to the High Office of running mate for the NDC and the next Vice President of Ghana for that matter. Your nomination from a vast range of other equally capable hands epitomises the trust and confidence of the rank and file of our great party for the enviable nitche you have carved for yourself in both public and private life. It is our firm conviction that, at this crucial moment that our nation has lost trust in the non - performing President Akufo Addo - Dr Mahamudu Bawumia ticket of leadership, you shall bring to bear your enviable sphere of knowledge, motherliness and commitment to the prosperity of all our countrymen and women in supporting His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to emancipate our country from the profound leadership paralysis that we are enduring under President Akufo Addo. While we congratulate you for this enviable feat, we wish to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to President Mahama and the Council of Elders of the great NDC for adding another beautiful block to Ghana's cynosure of democracy. The choice of a woman of valour and substance to the High Office of Running Mate and obviously our next Vice President emboldens the NDC as political lineage that truly believes in egalitarianism as well as appreciating women as critical partners to our nation's development. We believe that, this novelty in our nation's political history shall draw the masses of all females as we collectively strife to give greater space to women in our development discourse. Once again, Congratulations Hon. Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang. Signed Cde Kwesi Dawood RCO- Central Cde Puo-Ire Prosper RCO- Upper West Cde Abass Nurudeen RCO- Ashanti Cde Jerry Johnson RCO- Greater Accra Cde Richard Kirk Mensah RCO- Western Cde Sam Jerome RCO- Western North Cde Saeed Naba Tijani RCO- Upper East Cde Darlas Ampomah RCO- Eastern Cde Malik Basintale RCO- Savannah Cde Charles Akowuah RCO- Bono Cde Kafui Agbleze RCO- Volta Cde Agyei Dwomor RCO- Bono East Cde Abdul-Mumin Alhassan RCO- Northern Cde Imoro Abdul-Razak RCO-North East Cde Mubarak Diplomatic RCO-Oti Cde Apraku Lartey RCO-Ahafo Listen to article Finally John Mahama has chosen Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, a grammar lecturer to partner him for the 2020 General Elections. Indeed the Bawumia factor has forced Mahama to boycott economic discussions ahead of the 2020 elections. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang has no economic background and experience, she is only good at grammar considering her background in the English language. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang lacks the Competencies to discuss matters of the economy and definitely she would be unable to chair the Government's Economic Management if unlikely NDC is elected. Mahama-Jane ticket is very empty, hopeless, and uninteresting to the Ghanaian electorates. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, as VC failed to transform the University of Cape Coast. NPP is very grateful to John Mahama for choosing another Incompetent fellow who failed to even pay research and book allowance to her fellow lecturers. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang lacks charisma and has no Political experience to match the brilliant Dr. Bawumia. Post Covid-19 would be about Economic development, not grammatical development, hence Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman is uninspiring. Regardless of her incompetence, we would not treat her with kid gloves just because she is a woman. Corrupt Mahama has gone for Incompetent Jane, a woman without Compassion for Free SHS Policy. ....Signed.... Razak Kojo Opoku CVM Founder And President) 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. Listen to article Mckingtorch Africa, a social enterprise that uses plastic waste for arts & products and does advocacy on plastic pollution has ventured into creating of leather-like materials i.e. sandals, bags etc. from shredded plastic waste. The team at Mckingtorch Africa has a motive to change the narrative. Looking at the situation we find ourselves in, in terms of waste pollution, the team at Mckingtorch Africa has come up with this waste recovery project which seeks to create a revenue generating avenue for households, individuals and organizations. The waste buy-back and churning to sandals program will afford a solution to segregating waste and waste pollution that is evident in our communities. The team Mckingtorch Africa is looking forward to produce over 5000 pairs of sandals in the next 12 months as well as recover over 10 tons of plastic waste bags through the project. In an interview with the founder of Mckingtorch Africa; Makafui Awuku stated that I am launching the products from plastic waste bags and our goal as a team has remained an advocacy for plastic pollution which we want to take a step further with this project. He alluded to President Akufo-Addo's program of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa. "One of our main objectives is to work on an extensive assessment of the presidents Accra Cleanest City 2020 Agenda and this project is one of the ways to explore the sustainable options that we can use to tackle our sanitation problems," Makafui said. The Mckingtorch Footwear comes in designs called; Sankofa, Borlaife, Duafe, Joy, Heritage and Freedom. The footwear is going to be available on their website at www.mckingtorchafrica.org and on their social media handles on Facebook and on Instagram with name Mckingtorch Africa. The project will be launched tomorrow 7th July, 2020. Customers and stakeholders will be afforded the opportunity to pre-order the items especially the sandals however delivery of orders or self-pickup will start on 14th July, 2020. The exhibition will be held at Total Petroleum 37 Service Station for 30 days and self-pick-up or purchase will be available for clients in the Solar Kiosk of the same 37 Service Station. They have also partnered with some reputable logistics and courier services providers for nationwide delivery. The orders can be made on the respective social media handles and website. Former President John Dramani Mahama has described his running mate, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, as a God-fearing, distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant and a role model. The National Executive Committee of the NDC, unanimously endorsed Mr Mahamas nomination of Professor Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the December 2020 election on Monday, 6 July 2020. Mr Mahama later said on Facebook that Professor Opoku-Agyemang, who happened to be his Minister of Education during his presidency, is God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant and a role model. She is the first woman chosen by the NDC as a running mate. ---classfmonline The District Magistrate court in Enchi has granted bail in the sum of GH5,000.00 with two sureties to Ezekiel Kwarteng, for allegedly stealing motorbike spare parts valued at GH1,487.00 and an Infinix X4 mobile phone valued at GH500.00 Kwarteng an auto mechanic aged 18, earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge, but after an audit by an independent body ordered by the court, his family agreed to settle the debt. The case has been adjourned to Tuesday July 7. Prosecuting, Detective Inspector Joseph Kwadwo Agyare told the court presided over by Mr Eric Baah Boateng, that the complainant Kingsley Eze, is a Nigerian and a spare parts dealer living in Kwahu in the Aowin Municipality with the accused. He said on April 3, this year, complainant employed the accused as a sales representative in his shop and gave him assorted motorbike spare parts worth GHC5,540.00 for sale. The Prosecutor said on May 5, at about 0600 hours, the complainant invited the accused to his house to render accounts on the goods sold so far, pending auditing of the entire shop later. He said the accused upon receiving the information left the shop unannounced and went into hiding compelling the complainant to take stock of the goods in the shop without his presence. Inspector Agyare said the complainant then noticed that an amount of GH1,487. 00 worth of goods were unaccounted for from the total stock of GH5,540.00 left in the accused's care. Prosecution said the complainant waited patiently for Kwarteng to report to work so he could ask him of the inconsistencies, but there was no sign of him, so the complainant left his Infinix mobile phone on charge and locked his shop. He said the following day around 0500 hours, the complainant claimed he saw the accused loitering around his shop and later realized his mobile phone and standing fan had been purloined. The complainant quickly confronted the accused who then produced the standing fan, but denied stealing the mobile phone and the goods worth GH1,487.00. Inspector Agyare said a report was made to the police and the accused was arrested and charged. ---GNA Dormaa East District in the Bono Region, has held its first Ordinary Assembly Meeting, with an appeal to Assembly and Unit Committee Members as well as Opinion Leaders to personally devote time, for the regular monitoring of the COVID-19 safety protocols, at the various reopened institutions within their areas, in order to forestall any possible outbreak. This is aside their duties as members of the area/town council anti-COVID-19 taskforce, operational in their jurisdiction. The District Chief Executive Hon Emmanuel Kofi Agyema made the appeal in his sessional address at the meeting held at the Presbyterian Church in Wamfie. This is the first Ordinary General Assembly meeting since the inauguration of the 8th Assembly of the District earlier this year. The DCE who seized the opportunity to congratulate the honorable members for being elected and appointed to the house said, the destiny of the people of the District for the next four years is in their hands. He said even though the District Public Health Emergency Committee (PHEC) as well as the area council COVID -19 taskforce, conducts periodic education on the disease and monitor to check whether the hygienic protocol are duly being observed, the time has also come for personal and deliberate monitoring of the reopened institutions and other social events to ensure a proactive way of winning the fight against the virus. He emphasized that the disease is not just real and devastating, but very costly, since it has the tendency of razing economies and humans from under the sun and that is why government is doing everything possible, through the provision of free water, PPE, financial support, enactment of laws and what have you to stop the disease. He disclose also that the district has among other things through the health directorate trained 218 health personnel to assist in the management of COVID-19 related issues. Hence the need for cooperation from community leaders and the people to match the disease boot for boot. The DCE ceased the opportunity to mention and appreciate individuals, group and institutions who have contributed in diverse ways in fighting the disease in the district. The assembly meeting was used to similarly review and approve the mid-year budget and reports of the Executive Committees of the Assembly. Present at the meeting, were Departmental Heads, Security, Media, Assembly Members, Chairmen of the various Unit Committees and Nananom. The District Chief Executive also touched on other developments on security, health, agriculture, education, social welfare and revenue. He was happy to announce that the Assemblys Internally Generated Fund has seen tremendous improvement. He stated that the Assemblys projected budget for the year was GH451,903.00 and as at May 31st 2020, an actual accrued amount of GH 238,980.88 representing 52% had been collected. This, he said is much better compared to GH82,880.46 collected for the same period in 2017. He however thank his supporting Assembly staff for all their good work and determination. He added that plans are far advance for the commencement of a poultry processing factory in the District under the 1D1F initiative. The factory when ready, is expected to process 30,000 birds a year and the assembly is negotiating for ten pesewas per a bird killed as revenue. The DCE said if everything goes on as planned, the initiative will go a long way to better the Assemblys IGF which will lead to the transformation of the district. He has therefore called on the people of the district to begin raising birds towards the opening and sustenance of factory. Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Listen to article The Womens Wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has congratulated Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman on her nomination as the running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama ahead of the 2020 General Election. The flagbearer of the main opposition party has today settled on the former Minister of Education as his running mate. With official approval from the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NDC, the Partys Womens Wing has expressed their delight while indicating that the decision to choose Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman amplifies Women Participation in political leadership, Governance, and development. The long-awaited History is Pregnant and about to be delivered on December 7th. Whilst we congratulate Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman on her nomination, we urge all women in Ghana, women activists and women groups to openly and publicly support this dream of taking women amplification a notch higher!!, a statement from the group signed by Dr. Hannah Louisa Bisiw who is the NDCs National Women Organizer has said. The Group has given the assurance of their full support to John Dramani Mahama and Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman to ensure they deliver victory at the end of the 2020 General Elections. Read the full statement below: NATIONAL WOMEN'S WING (NDC) CONGRATULATES Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman A while ago, the National Executive Committee of the NDC unanimously approved the nominee for running mate proposed by the Flagbearer His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. We are excited, that His Excellency chose to amplify Women Participation in political leadership, Governance and development by selecting Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman. Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, an accomplished Scholar, has led a number of transformative initiatives as a Vice Chancelor of a Public University and as a Minister for Education. She is an honest, God-fearing, incorruptible achiever and a role model for all. We have made strides as Women and occupied high positions in our governance, such as the Attorney General, Chief of Staff, Speaker of Parliament and Chief Justice. The long awaited History is Pregnant and about to be delivered on December 7th. Whilst we congratulate Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman on her nomination, we urge all women in Ghana, women activists and women groups to openly and publicly support this dream of taking women amplification a notch higher!! The Women's wing assures the running mate the fullest support to deliver victory for another John Mahama presidency that will transform the lives of women and children in Ghana. Dr. Hannah Louisa Bisiw National Women's Organizer NDC 06/07/2020 Listen to article The University of Cape Coast School of Business has organized the 6th and final session of the e-seminar series on the topic, "Coronavirus Pandemic: Global Marketing, Logistics and Supply Chain." The seminar was held on 1st July, 2020 and was chaired by Prof.Francis Amanquandoh, the Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies. The Provost was happy to be part of the seminar series and praised the School of Business for the organization and inviting experienced discussants. He was particularly satisfied with the topics chosen for each session. The Dean of the School of Business, Prof. John Gatsi, in his brief remark thanked all the discussants especially those from other universities in Ghana, Germany, United States of America and South Africa as well as professional bodies. He said the blend of international and national academics on one hand and industry and professional bodiesrepresentation on the other, demonstrates the strength of the School of Business in ensuring diversity and closer affinity with professional bodies in accounting, taxation, marketing, human resource, banking, corporate governance, procurement and supply chain. Prof. Gatsi called on businesses and employers to support the school in delivering its programmes through online learning platforms to be as effective as face to face delivering. He said online teaching and learning requires maximum discipline and congenial learning environment for students even though they are not congregating at a physical learning centre. He therefore appealed to institutions and employers not to deny their workers leave during this sandwich session merely because the programmes are delivered online. He noted that granting leave to employees to participate in the online delivery mode or creating virtual learning spaces in offices to be used during scheduled lecture times is a great contribution to the efforts of the Business School as this will allow the students to fully participate. Prof. Gatsi also appealed to businesses to create innovative engagement with students by creating virtual internship opportunities for those interested to have their internship experience with them. Prof. Dr. Jurgen Bode, a Professor of International Business and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for International Affairs & Diversity at the University of Applied Sciences, Bonn, Germany explained that COVID-19 has led to deglobalization in which many countries are focusing on their strategies within. He said, in some cases, businesses are diversifying and innovating with 100% raw materials and inputs from within their respective countries. Prof. Bode stressed that though the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted global marketing, logistics and supply chain, it has led to massive reduction in air pollution from the aviation and automobile industries. He also explained that in Germany COVID-19 stimulus packages are targeted to promote electric vehicles to sustain a reduction in air pollution and meet climate change expectations. Prof. Bode emphasised that COVID-19 has taught the whole world that, countries multinational companies and other businesses can cut down on travel cost and still be productive and relevant. He posited that Covid-19 has saved a lot of expenditure budgeted for business, conference and other related travels by organizations. Prof. Bode challenged countries and organizations not to forget the core lessons when Coronavirus Pandemic is finally defeated. Prof. Susan Powell Mantel, who is a Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, USA said the global marketing was disrupted severely for some companies but created opportunities for other businesses through adaptation, innovation and diversification. She called on corporate bodies to be bold to review their business portfolio and strategies and ensure a good balance between risk and return during the pendency of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Prof Mantel further advised businesses especially small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to engage in constant communication with their customers and clients. Sharing the American experience, she said America has huge domestic marketing, logistics and supply chain intensity and generates diversity of internally sourced raw materials and suppliers. This she said minimized the level of disruptions. Mr Kwabena Agyekum who is the Executive Director of Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana explained that COVID-19 teaches marketers to engage in constant communication and give continuous assurances to their customers about their risks, products and services as well as their innovations. He indicated that as marketers lessons learnt could still be relevant for future marketing strategies and therefore called on the department of marketing to write business cases involving various experiences of covid-19 for students and future leaders. Prof. Daniel Agyapong, the Head of Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management advised companies to identify and explore their local markets for their raw materials. He asked young businesses to revise their business models and form strategic alliances. Prof. Agyapong asked businesses especially startups to use mass advertisement like social media as it is cheap and effective. Mrs. Nuzurat Aba Sam asked companies to create a diversified portfolio of suppliers and ensure that their suppliers are found within their countries, the sub-region and globally. She explained that companies with only foreign suppliers were hard hit or suffered more than companies with alternative suppliers within their countries. She said many projects have stalled due to supplier challenges because of covid-19 and not because of funds.Mrs. Sam explained that as a country we need to rethink an environment that can incentivize different types of suppliers of raw materials as a good lesson learned. She intimated that when it comes to logistics, procurement and supply chain not everything can be done through online because there must be a time for actual delivery and production hence the severity of the pandemic on the sector. The Greater Accra Youth Wing of the National Democratic Congress congratulates Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang on her nomination as running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 elections. The nomination of Professor Naana Opoku Agyemang comes at a time when Ghanaians are expectant of an honest, credible and selfless leadership to redirect the wheels of the country on the rails of remarkable transformation and unmatched economic recovery at a faster pace. It cannot be gainsaid that the former Education Minister and first female vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast is not only a pleasant and civilised person with a warm and calm disposition but she is also a cerebal academic with a brilliant mind and impeccable credentials. As a bourgeoning Youth Wing in a region that has proven to be the decider of who gets the keys to the seat of government, we wish Prof Naana Opoku Agyemang the very best in her journey to becoming the first female Vice President of Ghana. We are very proud to hold the torch she had lit, particularly when she served as Minister of Education. We want to assure her and His Excellency John Mahama of our unalloyed support to rally the youth in pursuit of recapturing power on December 7. signed Media and Publicity Committee Greater Accra Regional Youth Wing National Democratic Congress 6/07/20 Listen to article The Third Trimester Field Practical Program (TTFPP) is a unique feature of the University for Development Studies which distinguishes it from other Universities. The goal of this academic exercise is to ensure the blend of academic work of the University with that of the community in order to provide constructive interaction between the two for development. Students from UDS are expected to live and carry out studies on developmental issues with the active participation of members of the community. It is from this rich experience that Mulumba Ngmenlabagna Songsore, now Executive Director of Necessary Aid Alliance (NAA), a registered Non-Governmental Organization in Ghana that seeks to canvass educational support for children, skills training for women in rural areas, girl child protection and support for the vulnerable and socially excluded people with the utmost aim of breaking the cycle of dependency through education and entrepreneurial training for people so as to empower and ensure self-reliance. NAA Ghana under the leadership of Mr. Mulumba on Saturday 27th of June led his team for a donation of educational items worth over 3,500 to his community where he undertook his TTFPP program (KUGNANI SABOBA DISTRICT). When contacted the motive for selecting that community, he said that his stay in the community exposed the felt needs of the people when solved can propel them to be better versions of themselves is Education. Educational inequality is obvious there and needs to be bridged. COVID 19 and school closure has further worsened the situation. The project dubbed Read To Lead saw the organization donate a brand new computer set, interestingly the first computer to land in the community with the aim of inculcating computer literacy, reading books, pamphlets, writing pads, notebooks, exercise books, crayons, drawing books, pen, pencils and a whole lot of educational items. A resident teacher and SHS graduate were tasked and temporarily employed to facilitate the inculcation of knowledge leveraging on the items donated. The program was climax with a drama and extensive community stakeholder engagement geared at ameliorating the ascendency of teenage pregnancy and child marriage. The gleaming smiles and unending gratitude from chiefs and community members were evident in the positive impact of the donation cum mentorship exercise by Necessary Aid Alliance. The New Patriotic Party brings warm greetings to the leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress and uses this opportunity to congratulate the party and the flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama on the choice of Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, the former Minister for Education under the previous NDC administration as the running mate to Mr. John Mahama as the 2020 elections inch closer. It has certainly taken a long time for the selection to be done but as the saying goes, better late than never; and we wish to congratulate the NDC and Mr Mahama for finally picking a running mate. We extend our congratulations to the Professor Naana Opoku Agyeman on her selection. Having congratulated her, we believe it is important to remind all of us what Professor Naana Opoku Agyemang brings to the John Mahama ticket. In an ideal world, one of the strongest things going for the selection of the good Professor would be that she is a woman, and this would be met with a lot of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang hardly meets the expectations of someone who has a track record of fighting for women and their welfare. Luckily for all of us, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is not new to Ghana politics, and it is her performance during her period as a political appointee that we refer to. Need we remind anyone that it was during the tenure of Naana Jane that training teachers allowances were scrapped. It was done without paying any heed to the many appeals to reconsider the decision. Indeed, it was one of the things she was proud to have done. Teachers were the hardest hit when Naana Opoku Agyemang was at the helm of affairs at the Education Ministry. Apart from their transportation allowances not being paid, Naana Opoku Agyemang also introduced the practice of teachers working for two years without being paid and being restricted to being paid only three months back pay, no matter how long they had worked. This inhumane treatment meted out to Ghanaian teachers at the time was the brainchild of Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang, the then Minister for Education. The cold hearted manner in which teachers were treated by Naana Opoku Agyemang cannot easily be forgotten. Let it not be forgotten that Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang had been a teacher herself before she came to the position of Minister of Education, and yet it was during her period that classroom teachers were denied common chalk to be able to write on blackboards. We remember the infamous We wont give you chalk today or tomorrow comment by Matilda Amissah-Arthur, and this was under the supervision of Naana Opoku Agyemang. It would be unconscionable on our part not to remind ourselves of the key role played by Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang in the Montie Trio saga. When the Montie Trio threatened death upon some Supreme Court Justices, including the then Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood, this newly appointed running mate to Mahama was one of those who joined the campaign for their release. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemangs ardent anti-feminist posturing was too obvious to ignore when she appended her signature to the petition to have the trio who had then been incarcerated at Nsawam to be freed against sound advice from well-meaning Ghanaians. How can a woman who hates her fellow women to the extent that she advocated the release of the jailed trio so that they could rape and kill her fellow women be given such a responsibility? We wonder what the message is that John Dramani Mahama is sending Ghanaians by picking Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as his vice presidential candidate when her stewardship in the past brought such heartache to teachers and trauma to her colleague women. While we would wish the NDC well in this regard, we also wish to emphasize that we are ready to tell Ghanaians the danger she poses to our growth and development as a country. 2. She superintended over a supposed Progressively Free S.H.S where students were made to pay Gh1500 to GH1700 per student in some schools. It is on record that, monies budgeted for and approved by Parliament to be paid on behalf of students as day students were never paid till date. When she reigned as the Minister for Education: Teachers were paid three months arrears for three years of work, sometimes more than that and sometimes less than that. Yearly incremental jump in salary scales of Teachers was wickedly cancelled. Allowance for Trainee Teachers was cancelled at a time they were paying only 9000 beneficiaries claiming it was huge on governments purse. Today, we have reintroduced the teacher training allowances and we are paying around 46,000 students. Research and Book allowances of our hard working Lecturers were cancelled. Today we have reintroduced Book and research allowance and government has also put together a stand-alone bill to dedicate enough resources for the fund. There were no Teaching and Learning Materials in our schools, Ghanaians were insulted even when they asked for common chalk. She was by the side of Mr. John Mahama when he promised to build 200 Community Day SHSs and it turned out to be a suuliya promise. She was again by the side of Mr. John Mahama when they failed to deliver on their promise of building 10 Colleges of Education. It was during her reign as Minister for Education that Teachers were always harassed by B.N.I. Officials. She presided over the freezing of employment in the Education Sector. And the heightened corrupt practices at the N.S.S. Secretariat. Remember the Secretariat is under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education. She has, recently, advised John Mahama to cancel the Licensure Examination for Teachers when, God forbid, they come to power. Any rational person wouldnt do that because professionalism is anchored on licensing. During her tenure as the Minister for Education, the funding for the Progressively Free S.H.S., School Feeding Program, Capitation Grant-were all in arrears. She presided over the near collapse of the scholarships Secretariat. Students on Foreign Scholarships were always complaining because their fees and other allowances were always in arrears. All these anomalies have since been corrected by the N.P.P. CONCLUSION We can only conclude that the choice of Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman by Mr John Dramani Mahama is a clear indication that he does not take the Ghanaian electorate seriously. But then as our own Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has famously said, it does not matter who the running mate is, if the main man himself is indecisive and incompetent, we still have a problem. It is our view that after having looked so long and wide, the NDC still has a problem. The newly appointed running mate of the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has promised to channel her energies into ensuring her party win the 2020 general elections. Flagbearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama named the former Education Minister as his running mate today, Monday, July 6, 2020. In a statement to accept the position, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang pledged to give off her best. I pledge to diligently apply myself and dedicate all the energy and intellect I can muster to ensure a resounding victory for the NDC and for our country, Ghana. So help me God. Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said was delighted with the nomination and the overwhelming endorsement by the rank and file of the party. It is with deep honour and a high sense of gratitude that I convey my acceptance of the nomination by H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Flagbearer and Leader of the great National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be his Running Mate for the December 7, 2020 election. I am humbled by the overwhelming endorsement my nomination has received from the Founder of the NDC, H.E. Jerry John Rawlings, the Council of Elders, the National Executive Committee and the rank and file of our party, as well as the general public, she added in the statement. She further noted that she considers her nomination as a big win for all women in the country. This historic nomination is not a personal achievement but victory for inclusive and participatory democracy, which enhances the credentials of our country and recognizes the towering role women have played over the ages to achieve the progress we have made. She also eulogized John Mahama, stating that she has worked with HE John Dramani Mahama closely and I know he is a man of vision, a leader you can trust, a public servant of integrity and a courageous leader who makes the right decisions in the national interest at all times. The John Mahama and Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang will be seeking to snatch power from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia in the December polls. Read full statement below: ACCEPTANCE STATEMENT FROM PROFESSOR NAANA JANE OPOKU-AGYEMANG It is with deep honour and a high sense of gratitude that I convey my acceptance of the nomination by H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Flagbearer and Leader of the great National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be his Running Mate for the December 7, 2020 election. I am humbled by the overwhelming endorsement my nomination has received from the Founder of the NDC, H.E. Jerry John Rawlings, the Council of Elders, the National Executive Committee and the rank and file of our party, as well as the general public. This historic nomination is not a personal achievement but victory for inclusive and participatory democracy, which enhances the credentials of our country and recognizes the towering role women have played over the ages to achieve the progress we have made. I wish to salute all those who have come before me and pledge to draw deeply from their inspiration. I have worked with HE John Dramani Mahama closely and I know he is a man of vision, a leader you can trust, a public servant of integrity and a courageous leader who makes the right decisions in the national interest at all times. I pledge to diligently apply myself and dedicate all the energy and intellect I can muster to ensure a resounding victory for the NDC and for our country, Ghana. So help me God. SIGNED Professor Naana Jane OPOKU-AGYEMANG Accra- Ghana July 06, 2020. 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 There was jubilation and funfair at Elmina in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region following the nomination of Professor Jane Naana Opoku -Agyeman by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as its Vice Presidential candidate for election 2020. Scores of women including gender activists, market women, and some males described her nomination as a step towards deepening Ghana's democratic credentials. Speaking to the GNA on the sidelines of the celebration, on Monday afternoon, Madam Hannah Donkoh, one of the jubilant said her nomination presented a unique opportunity to make the future possible and accessible for a woman. "We are ready to go all out to campaign feverishly for her and the party as we pray to God to make our voices to be heard in good faith, "she said. Madam Donkoh was happy that Prof Opoku-Agyemang, regarded by many as a woman of integrity, will become the first female running mate of one of the two leading political parties in the country. According to her, Prof Opoku-Agyemang's nomination also remained key breaking the cycle of male running mate and getting more females into mainstream political decision-making. They indicated that even though Prof Opoku-Agyeman hails from Komenda in the municipality, they were exceedingly glad that her nomination will empower more women to move to the zenith of their lives. Madam Donkoh called for a concerted effort by all women regardless of one's political consideration, ethnicity, and location to galvanise vote and financial resources to support her political bid. "Women should eschew the notion that we are our enemies and work with one accord to put more women in politics to make the right decisions and policies that will engender the course of all women. The women also called on all political parties to emulate the political feat chalked by the NDC and endeavour to disregard the notion that women were incapable of hold big political portfolios. She narrated examples of impressive women across the world who have gone through the political mill to become Presidents and transformational leaders of global business giants. Prof. Opoku-Agyemang is the first female to be selected as a running mate by the NDC and would become the first female Vice-President of the Republic should the Party win the December polls. The mother of three adult children, who is currently the Africa Board Chairperson of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), was in 2013 appointed by the then President Mahama, as the Minister of Education. From 2008 to 2012, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, the first female to hold that position in a state university. GNA The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Central Region has described as a victory choice, the nomination and approval of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate for Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Party's flagbearer. A statement from the Party's Regional Communications outfit said the rank and file of the Party in the Central Region is extremely delighted with the nomination and said the decision is epic, ordained, a game changer, historic and a victory choice that enhances the magnetism and charismatic brand JM represents. It said, This running mate is decent, has integrity, very upright, incorruptible, an achiever, down to earth and would restore dignity and trust to the high office of the Vice President of Ghana. The statement said the nomination of Prof. Opoku-Agyemang had gone down well with women of Ghana, people of the Central Region and motivating many women to go all out in their numbers to participate in the ongoing voters registration exercise towards the Rescue Mission. GNA A teacher at the Accra Girls Senior High School and the spouse have contracted covid-19. The latest confirmation is in addition to the already announced cases of infection among six students of the school. This means the school has recorded eight cases as of today, Monday, July 6. Health officials disclosed this in a joint statement by the Ghana Education Service and Ghana Health Service. The Ghana Education Service (GES) received reports of suspected cases of COVID-19 from some second cycle institutions including Accra Girls Senior High school. The Ghana Health Service was subsequently notified of the situation. As at 6th July 2020, six (6) students, a teacher and spouse have been confirmed as positive for COVID-19 in Accra Girls Senior High School, the release said. GES and GHS have assured the general public and all parents that in accordance with the laid down protocols on the COVID-19 pandemic that have been issued to all schools, the necessary steps have been taken and the six confirmed students, the teacher and Spouse have been taken to a treatment centre for further management and are currently doing well. Other safety measures taken All Contacts of confirmed cases have been identified and separated from non-contacts. Testing of all contacts of confirmed cases has started. The school authorities with the support of the assembly are in the process of disinfecting the affected dormitories. The school has put in measures to ensure strict adherence to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures. Continuous public education sections for staff, students and parents on COVID-19. Over 200 personnel deployed to monitor COVID-19 situation in SHSs he government has deployed some 200 personnel including individuals from the Ghana Education (GES) Service and the Health Services (GHS) to monitor the COVID-19 situation in various Senior High Schools. The GES and GHS in the statement said the personnel have been actively spread out across the country for the task to ensure that the schools do not become hotspots for the spread of the virus. The statement also added that all schools had been matched to various nearby health facilities to ensure immediate attendance to any suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case. A team of 200 personnel, drawn from the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, the Regional and District Directorates of Education are actively spread out all over the country and are monitoring the situation closely. Further, all health institutions to which senior high schools have been mapped with health facilities to ensure that any suspected cases are promptly dealt with in accordance with the laid down protocols, the joint statement noted. AGISS situation Earlier, students of the Accra Girls SHS protested to put pressure on the management of the school to allow them to go home. Students gathered on the school's premises in the hope that their parents will come and take them home. They were demonstrating amidst fears that the virus was spreading amongst them . The infected students were isolated in the school's sickbay on Monday, June 29, 2020, together with some other students who also showed symptoms of COVID-19. Health officials from the Ayawaso North Health directorate on Saturday, July 4, moved the students who tested positive to the Ga East Municipal Hospital for treatment. The students, who gathered outside their classrooms, kept chanting: We'll go home. Parents react Anxious parents also trooped to the school to try and take their wards home . Police officers were deployed to the school to prevent the agitated parents from entering the premises of the school. Speaking to journalists, a parent said: I heard the news last night, so, I rushed here to find out what was happening I'm anxious and scared and, so, we need the school authorities to tell us something. According to some of the parents, no student was tested when schools resumed. They believe this is the cause of the current problem. Final-year Junior and Senior High School students returned to school in June 2020 to prepare for their final examinations. The schools were initially shut down in March because of the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. citinewsroom The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has slapped its biggest ever FEMA show cause notice of Rs 7,220 crore on a Kolkata-based jewellery house for allegedly indulging in illegal foreign exchange abroad, official sources said on Monday. This is linked to a bank loan fraud case, they said. The central probe agency has charged Shree Ganesh Jewellery House (I) Ltd and its promoters by an order issued by the adjudicating authority of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in Kolkata. The authority is a special director rank officer of the ED. The sources said the firm is among the top 100 wilful bank loan defaulters of the country, as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and its three promoter brothers -- Nilesh Parekh, Umesh Parekh and Kamlesh Parekh -- are also being probed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Nilesh Parekh was arrested by the DRI in 2018. The ED had also filed a money laundering case against the firm and its promoters in 2018 for allegedly defrauding a consortium of 25 banks to the tune of Rs 2,672 crore by way of availing credit facilities in terms of working capital loans and discounting of export bills from 20 nationalised banks and five private banks in Kolkata. The FEMA show cause notice has been issued after completion of an over year-long investigation and under various sections of the Forex law, the official sources said. The company and its promoters, as per the ED, have been charged under the FEMA "for resorting to unauthorised foreign exchange dealings, holding of foreign exchange outside India and willful siphoning off a whopping amount of Rs 7,220 crore as export proceeds". This is the highest-ever amount involved in a show cause notice issued till date by the ED under FEMA, the sources said. The ED in its probe found that the company, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House (I) Ltd, "has huge outstanding for foreign bills drawn on Al Marhaba Trading FZC, Sparkle Jewellery LLC, UAE and Astha Jewellery LLC, UAE which are self-promoted companies". "Bank and public funds availed by the company were ostensibly routed in the garb of export to these foreign entities and others and the proceeds against the same were parked outside India," the ED found during investigation. A letter of request against the firm and its promoters issued by the ED is "pending" before the federal enforcement agency of Switzerland, the sources said. The agency had earlier issued a similar show cause notice of Rs 250 crore against another company, identified as Easy Fit Jewellery Pvt Ltd, of the same businessmen. The ED had alleged last year, after attaching Rs 175 crore worth of assets of the company, that the firm "defrauded the consortium of banks by fraudulently floating numerous companies in India and abroad and also wholly-owned subsidiaries in Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong and purportedly made exports of gold jewellery to those related overseas entities from their manufacturing unit in Manikanchan, Kolkata". However, it did not repatriate the sale proceeds of the exports to the bank consortium in India from where the credit facilities were availed, the agency said. Hareesh V As an ultimate store of value, gold has performed well since the start of 2020. Increased demand for safe assets on concerns over economic slowdown after the global outbreak of coronavirus supported the metal. Large scale fiscal stimulus measures taken by various global central banks, weak US dollar and escalating geopolitical tensions also lifted the yellow metal higher. Gold prices in the domestic futures market are currently hovering near record highs. Prices of MCX futures started this year at Rs 39,108 per ten grams. However, it gained considerably by more than 24 percent to hit an all-time peak of Rs 48,982 by the end of June. Though physical market activities were limited, high overseas prices and a weak INR supported the metal's trend in the domestic market. In the meantime, spot gold in the key London market rallied to a near eight-year high. Prices constantly gained from the January levels of $1,516 an ounce to $1,788 in the first half of the year. It surged more than 17 percent during this period. Gold is considered a safe investment during periods of economic and political uncertainty. The negative impact of coronavirus hit the global economy adversely causing investors to park money in gold. There are worries that the global economy may be facing its worst slump since the 1930s recession. Major economic data releases from the United States and other key economies show that the economies are passing through the declining growth phase, to lows last seen during the financial crisis, hinting that the global economy is extremely turbulent. Gold & Silver Rates Jun 20, 2021 Gold Rate in Mumbai Jun 20, 2021 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 Jun 20, 2021 10g silver in Mumbai 740 740 1kg silver in Mumbai 74,000 74,000 View more Show Escalating geopolitical tensions also prompted investors to rush into the safety of the yellow metal. India and China border clashes and chaos between North and South Korea are raising fresh hostilities between countries. Risk aversion due to issues in Hong Kong and worsening relation between US and China shifted investor focus to the yellow metal. As policymakers scramble to support the economic blow caused by the prolonged lockdowns, central banks across the world have initiated several stimulus programs. The Central Banks' economic easing measures have historically lifted investors' appetite for gold. A weak dollar also supports the trend. US dollar has lost considerably from its March highs. As bullion is traditionally priced in dollars, a decline in US currency will push gold rates higher. Looking ahead, gold continues to edge higher as the commodity is considered a safe store of value during times of political and financial instability. The ongoing tensions on the economy and geopolitical worries might not be drawing to an end soon that may further support the metal. Meanwhile a sudden economic turnaround or a rally in the US dollar will cause headwinds to the price. Upbeat trial results for COVID-19 treatment may also aid investor sentiment. On the price front, gold may face initial resistance at $1,800 an ounce, breaking the same would move the target towards $1,880 followed by $2,000 levels. An unexpected drop below $1,665 would extend weakness, but the downside turnaround point is seen at $1,545. In the domestic market, if conditions remain unchanged, prices would look towards the psychological level of Rs 50,000 per ten grams initially. Consistent trades above the same may move the target towards Rs 62,000 or more later. Conversely, a drop below Rs 38,000 is less likely in the present market conditions. The author is Head - Commodity Research at Geojit Financial Services. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Bajaj Autos Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj has confirmed that there are 250 active cases of COVID-19 among persons associated with the automakers Aurangabad facility in Maharashtra. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bajaj said while there had been no salary cut so far, the company would have to lower wages by 50 percent if another hard lockdown was imposed. Bajaj said that it was not correct to presume that people were getting infected and dying at the production facility. He further said that a lot of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 were not coming to work and that many were already locked down in containment zones. Gram Panchayats are also in agreement with the company on keeping the plant open, he added. With over two lakh COVID-19 cases reported so far, Maharashtra remains the most-severely affected state in the country. Besides the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Aurangabad, where the Bajaj Auto plant is located, has also seen high number of cases. As many as five people have died due to the outbreak in the factory. 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 Situation on the ground is contrary to media reports, Bajaj claimed, adding that the management was in touch with union and local administration on daily basis. There is zero social distancing in Aurangabad and 60 percent people not wearing masks, Bajaj claimed even as he reiterated that the safest place to be in Aurangabad is inside the factory. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic Reports had earlier suggested that workers at the Aurangabad plant were demanding temporary closure after a number of employees tested positive for COVID-19. "People are scared to come to work. Some are still coming but some are taking leave," said Thengade Bajirao, president of the Bajaj Auto Workers' Union. For every employee testing positive, four who work close to them have to be quarantined, affecting productivity, he said. With an annual production capacity of over 3.3 million motorbikes and other vehicles, the Waluj plant accounts for more than 50 percent of the manufacturing volume in India for the countrys biggest exporter of motorbikes. eye-on-india Ideas For Profit | Ipca Laboratories' guidance should move investor focus beyond HCQ Watch the video to know why Ipca Laboratories can still stay on investors' radar Its COVID-19 times, and e-delivery is the new way of life. The way XLRI-Xavier School of Management, SP Jain School of Global Management, IIM Calcutta and other business schools are adapting to the changing times is a study in itself. Every year, XLRI-Xavier School of Management starts its academic session in June. This year, COVID-19 delayed it. The classes for the first batch of 590 students in the business school at Jamshedpur (470 candidates) campus and the Delhi-NCR (120 candidates) new campus will start in August virtually. An XLRI spokesperson said that the online classes for second-year students will start from July 10. SP Jain School of Global Management has hit upon what it calls online ELO (Engaged Learning Online). This has many advanced features not possible in physical classrooms, says president Nitish Jain. IIM Calcutta has its beyond-the-blackboard methods. Online advantages Pragyan Rath of The Business Ethics and Communication group, IIM Calcutta, says that one great advantage of the digital mode is that teachers are more alert and available for discussions even after classes through mails, calls, and other mediums. Nitish Jain of SP Jain School of Global Management reassures: As face-to-face workshops and interactive daily lectures move to ELO, only the delivery mode changes, not the curriculum. Jyotsna Bhatnagar, professor and dean-graduate programmes, Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, explains how even teachers are changing with the changing times. The institute, she said, will train the faculty and staff with detailed SOPs, and supporting technological devices like pen tablet and studio options. Google Class, Microsoft Teams-based class, and Zoom are the new-age classrooms. Bhatnagar said that the institute will use AI-based exam proctoring for examinations very soon. How to manage technology disruptions and keep students engaged? At MDI Gurgaon, wireless hotspots are created to avoid sudden electricity outage. Dongles are also provided to manage internet- connectivity issues, and online attendance is monitored. To maintain the rigour of classes, pre-class readings are provided in advance to the cohorts. Smaller and crisper cases are provided, said Bhatnagar. At Great Lakes Institute of Management, both in Chennai and Gurgaon, the facultys focus is different: how to make online sessions more engaging. Online quizzes, polls, and breakout group sessions are some techniques. To ensure that students are well-connected and get individual guidance where required, a faculty mentor has been assigned to each student, the institute spokesperson said. How were students prepared? At Great Lakes, there was an online initiative called Term Zero. This was offered prior to the commencement of the academic programme to help students utilise time for building perspectives and key skills. Term Zero consisted of sessions by Madhav Rajan, Dean, University of Chicago-Booth School of Business; Dr. Ashwath Damodaran of NYU Stern V G Narayanan and Srikant Datar from Harvard Business School among others. There were also sessions by business leaders like Suresh Narayanan, CMD, Nestle India; Ganesan Ramachandran, Managing Director, Accenture Strategy; and, Ananth Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TCS. Anju Seth, professor and director, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, said that the institute has temporarily switched to the digital mode for MBAEx (MBA for Executives) and VLMP (postgraduate programme for visionary leadership in manufacturing) programmes. Our faculty members are using beyond-the-blackboard methods to ensure that students do not miss out on active learning activities such as participation in class discussions, added Seth. What happens to team projects? The essence of business school education is that students are able to interact with fellow students with various levels of work experience and social backgrounds. These interactions culminate into group projects where a team of students get together and solve live projects or simulated situations. After the pandemic, team projects have hit the digital mode. Similar to the summer internship process, live projects are also moving online. At MDI Gurgaon, project evaluation is done online via oral tests and peer-to-peer learning is also happening online. What about schools with multiple campuses? Business schools with multiple campuses offer greater flexibility to students. For instance, SP Jain School of Global Management says its students can study online in any one of the campuses in Mumbai, Dubai or Singapore. Here, students can pick and choose and do a part of the programme online now and a part on campus later. SP Jain has re-trained its faculty to make the best use of hi-tech classrooms. Its ELO offers students a virtual and real-time classroom experience, wherever they are. One can connect with peers and faculty from different countries, collaborate on assignments, discuss and debate, participate in polls, quizzes, and breakout sessions. Jain added that team projects are strengthened as it is very easy to collaborate in online breakout rooms. In fact, because of our collaborations with western universities, there are now global teams, he added. Early movers Some business schools like IIM Sambalpur enjoy an advantage. The institute had implemented digital learning, pre-COVID-19 itself. Director Mahadeo Jaiswal told Moneycontrol that the institute had, in 2019, launched flipped classrooms -- partly physical and partly digital. As opposed to traditional setting, they reverse the learning environment. For this method, the institute uses online platforms such as Moodle Learning Management Systems (MLMS) and Zoom VC. However, owing to COVID-19, the first-term of MBA first year and fourth-term of MBA second year this time will be conducted online. All examinations will also go online, either by using proctoring systems for descriptive exams or by using MLMS for quiz and multiple-choice exams. Apart from this, it will also enhance industry interactions through live projects in the classroom. The 120 XLRI-Xavier School of Management students, though, will miss one thing: the mandatory rural visit programme. Under the programme, students have to visit nearby villages for a couple of days to experience rural life. The programme, a part of the curriculum, has been cancelled this year. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and social media giant Facebook have partnered to provide online certificate programmes for students. "To further their commitment towards digital inclusion and digital empowerment, CBSE and Facebook have partnered to launch curriculum and related training in Augmented Reality, Digital Safety & Online Well-Being and introduce Instagram Toolkit for Teens," said the CBSE brochure. This partnership is led by Facebook for Education, a global initiative by Facebook to build diverse learning communities. With Facebook, there will be an online programme for augmented reality while with Instagram there will be a workshop on the usage time of the photo-sharing platform and how students, teachers can stay safe on these platforms. Both these programmes will be open to both students and teachers and registrations have opened on the Facebook page of CBSE. Also Read: Facebook buys 9.9% in Reliance Jio Facebook is trying to gain a strong foothold in the Indian market across sectors. The company had signed a deal to buy 9.9 percent in Reliance Jio which is the telecom unit of Reliance Industries. The digital well-being workshop, led by training partner Centre for Social Research (CSR), will teach students to understand their digital identity and how they can become responsible digital users. "We will explore the essentials of how to communicate responsibly online, how to identify and respond to threats and harassment, and the tools with which they can empower themselves to stay safe and secure online," said the programme brochure. The Instagram toolkit will look into how time online impacts emotional wellbeing and also share tips on dealing with bullying, hate speech and misinformation. For the digital well-being workshop, interested students can sign up independently and will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis depending on availability of slots in each session. These sessions can accommodate up to 300 participants. Augmented reality (AR) programme The AR course is offered by the School of Innovation from Facebook and it focuses on upskilling participants on the ground breaking technology of the future, Augmented Reality. The course content introduces fundamentals of Augmented Reality and captures ways to utilise Facebook's software, Spark AR Studio, to create augmented reality experiences. The objective of the programme is to give participants an opportunity and platform to learn how to conceptualise, create and brand their own AR experiences. Here, participants will learn how to use Spark AR Studio and publish experiences on Facebook thereby becoming a part of the Spark AR ecosystem. To be part of the programme, one needs have access to a computer/ laptop with Windows 10 and above installed and internet connection. The training will happen in two batches. CBSE and Facebook will provide an online certificate of completion to participants who successfully complete the AR programme by School of Innovation from Facebook. The applications will open on July 6 and end on July 20. The first batch will start on August 10 and conclude on September 7. The government may impose stricter conditions on foreign internet companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. The draft ecommerce policy also proposes appointment of an ecommerce regulator to ensure fair competition in the industry, Bloomberg report has said. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. The draft comes amid the government's push for locally manufactured products and after the government banned 59 Chinese apps, including online retailers ClubFactory and Shein. Also read: E-commerce policy | Cap on pricing and discounts, stricter data norms likely, says report The 15-page draft on ecommerce policy, viewed by Bloomberg, has been drawn up by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT). The suggested norms may mandate that online companies provide the government access to their source codes and algorithms, the report said. The commerce ministry wants to prevent "digitally induced biases" by competitors, the report said. The draft policy also intends to assess whether ecommerce companies have "explainable" artificial intelligence, the report said. "It is in the interest of the Indian consumer and the local ecosystem that there are more service providers" and that "the network effects do not lead to creation of digital monopolies misusing their dominant market position", the draft policy said. The commerce ministry will upload the draft ecommerce policy on a government website and invite comments from stakeholders. Investors need to be very careful while buying mid and smallcap stocks and they should know what they are buying. They should clearly stay away from penny stocks at this juncture, Rusmik Oza, Executive Vice President, Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities, says in an interview to Moneycontrols Kshitij Anand. Edited excerpts: Q) The Nifty50 reclaimed crucial resistance levels in the week gone by and much of it could be because of short-covering. What led to the rally? A) The ongoing rally in the US markets and month-on-month improvement in the economic activity in the country is helping Indian markets to move higher for the last couple of weeks. The Nifty50 decisively remained above the 200-WMA the previous week and closed way above the resistance market of 10,375. This could have led to some kind of short covering. Post the break-out of 200-WMA, we are witnessing more action in the beaten-down stocks that are doing catch-up. A) Since the Nifty50 has crossed the 200-WMA and closed above it for the two consecutive weeks, we can expect it to go and test the 200-DMA placed at around 10,900 levels. Closing above the psychologically (important) mark of 10,500 also supports the thesis of Nfity-50 going to ~10,900 mark shortly. A) Mid and smallcaps are basically playing catch-up as the Nifty crossed the 10,000-mark. From the peak levels, the Nifty50 is still down 15 percent whereas the Nifty Midcap 100 Index is down 31 percent and the BSE Smallcap Index is down 38 percent. Both mid and small caps missed participating in the last two years when the Nifty50 recovered sharply. In the very near future, as the Nifty will attempt to go closer to 11,000-mark, we can expect sharp up moves in the select mid and smallcap stocks. However, one needs to be very careful while buying mid & small caps stocks and they should know what they are buying. One should clearly stay away from penny stocks at this juncture. Since the Nifty50 is trading close to ~22x on a one-year forward basis, valuations are stretched and we dont expect the Nifty to go or sustain above the 11,000-mark. Also, there is hardly any valuation gap between the Nifty-50 and Nifty Midcap 100 Index. This makes us remain cautious on mid and smallcap stocks. A) The March quarter results were significantly below expectations. Net profit of Nifty50 declined by 41 percent, which is 30 percent below our expectations. The net profit of most sectors declined sharply on a YoY basis. A few sectors like banks, healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, and telecom delivered decent YoY growth in earnings. Many companies have not given guidance for FY21 because of the ongoing impact of COVID-19. We expect Q1FY21 results to be a washout and could also be disappointing. We have never come across a situation where almost two months out of three have seen near-zero activity. The maximum downside that has got built-in FY21 estimates will come from Q1 numbers. For example, we have seen a cut of 21 percent in our FY21 revenue estimates and 40 percent cut in our FY21 earnings estimate (between Pre-COVID and now). On similar lines, our FY22 revenue and earnings estimates have gone down by 13 percent, and 23 percent, respectively. A) We have a neutral view of the auto sector at this point in time. Our views and ratings vary across stocks within the sector. For example, we are negative on Maruti Suzuki & TVS Motors but positive on Bajaj Auto and M&M. The MoM figures are positive as there is some pent up demand for the previous two months that is getting fulfilled. Going forward, the increased cost of ownership from the higher cost of vehicles post-implementation of BS-VI norms and higher prices of diesel and petrol will dent demand. For our auto and auto ancillary universe of stocks, we saw a sharp 21 percent cut in revenue and 86 percent cut in earnings estimate for FY21 (i.e. between Pre-COVID and now). We expect a sharp bounce in the net profits of companies in FY22 due to the very low base of FY21. Few ancillaries segments like batteries and tyres which derive more volumes from the replacement market should do well in FY21. Both of these ancillary segments could also benefit from lower raw material costs. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Reliance Industries (RIL) shares breached Rs 11.7 lakh crore market capitalisation-mark on July 6 as the stock climbed 3.57 percent to close at Rs 1,851.40 on BSE. On July 6, the m-cap of the stock stood at Rs 11,73,677.35 crore on BSE. On April 22, when the company announced Facebook's Rs 43,574-crore investment in Jio Platforms for a 9.99 percent stake, the m-cap was Rs 7.83 lakh crore. In just 11 weeks, the stock's m-cap surged by over Rs 3.9 lakh crore. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has hit businesses hard, RIL has remained resilient and became debt-free much ahead of its March 2021 target. Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries is the only Indian company to feature on a list of businesses that prospered during the coronavirus enforced lockdown. A list of top 100 companies by London' Financial Times ranked Mumbai-based RIL at 89. The publication ranked companies based on resilience during the pandemic. The company has raised a combined Rs 117,588.45 crore from some of the worlds leading tech investors led by Facebook for a stake in its digital arm, Jio Platforms. The company's last deal was with chipmaker Intel for a 0.39 percent stake, valued at Rs 1,894.5 crore. This was Jio's twelfth deal in 11 weeks, following investments from Facebook Inc, General Atlantic, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, KKR and Mubadala Investment Company, ADIA, TPG Capital, L Catterton and PIF. The Intel deal took to 25.09 percent the stake that Reliance has sold in Jio Platforms. Read more: Jio Platforms: From Facebook to Intel, here's a fact-box of the 12 deals so far In the last three months, the stock has witnessed healthy traction because of the positive news around several deals and the company being debt-free. On June 19, the company said it was debt-free and had raised over Rs 1.68 lakh crore in just 58 days. In 2020, the stock is up 20 percent against a 12 percent fall in the benchmark Sensex. Sanjiv Bhasin, Director, IIFL Securities, is of the view that a large part of these developments had already played out but for those still looking for outperformance, Reliance was the pick. Most experts believe the stock can touch Rs 2,000-mark by the end of the year and has the potential for re-rating. Stock market expert SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com told CNBC-TV18 that the stock may see a big re-rating. Deven Choksey of KRChoksey Securities, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, said the same, foreseeing the year-end price of the stock over Rs 2,000. The rise of stock will heavily depend on the Jio Platforms. Reliance Industries was no longer an energy play but a technology play and the market cap of Rs 12 lakh crore by the end of the year was on the cards, Bhasin said. "The stock is in a very sweet spot. Data is the new gold and that will continue to play for some time. Our Diwali target for the stock remains at Rs 2,000," he said. Jio Platforms, he said, may get listed outside India to fetch better valuation but that will happen when the market will seem to have accepted it. "Right now, they will wait for stability and will concentrate on garnering more market share and increasing the ARPU. By March 2021, there will be time for a good listing of Jio Platforms," Bhasin said. Shankar Sharma, Vice-Chairman and joint MD of First Global told CNBC-TV18 that the valuation of Jio was low and unjustified and it deserved a valuation of about half-a-trillion dollar. "My personal view is that $60-65 billion for a business of this size and scale that Jio is, and $50-60 billion have been invested in it in the last 9-10 years, a $60-65 billion valuation is nothing at all. Jio should get a valuation that is closer to half-a-trillion," Sharma said. Amar Deo Singh, Head-Advisory of Angel Broking is bullish on Reliance. "With the possibility of the JIO platform getting listed abroad not ruled in the future, the exciting times of Reliance are here to stay. The stock, after making a low of Rs 867.82 on March 23, 2020, has jumped a spectacular 113 percent in three months. Stay invested in Reliance," Singh said. "In the last three months, several deals were struck and the company became debt-free, leading to a significant increase in investor appetite for the stock coupled with re-rating by many brokerage firms. Now, Reliance is no longer an energy play but has become a tech play, with data becoming the new oil. Also, with the breakneck pace of digitalization post-COVID-19, Reliance becomes a major beneficiary, well poised to capture a significant pie of the online business," said Singh. Singh believes the further rise of the stock will depend heavily on the performance of the JIO platform. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. The views and investment tips expressed by investment 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 market gained for the fourth consecutive session and ended at nearly four-month high on July 6, with the Nifty50 getting past its resistance point. The BSE Sensex jumped 465.86 points or 1.29 percent to 36,487.28 while the Nifty50 climbed 156.30 points or 1.47 percent to 10,763.70. The rally saw indices jump 42 percent from their lows on March 23. The broader markets also traded in line with frontline indices amid strong market breadth. The Nifty midcap and smallcap indices over 1.6 percent each and about two shares advanced for every share declining on the National Stock Exchange. Here are five key factors driving the rally: Global cues Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded strong despite rising novel coronavirus infections. China's Shanghai Composite broke its 850-day long-term moving average and climbed 5.7 percent. The lower level of infections in China compared to other nations and hope of further stimulus could be supporting factors. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 3.8 percent while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.83 percent and South Korea's Kospi rose 1.65 percent. Vaccine hope The optimism surrounding vaccine research also lifted market sentiment. Last week, Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology began human trials of Covaxin, India's first indigenous vaccine. Zydus Cadila also received approval from the Indian drug regulator for human clinical trials for its indigenously developed plasmid DNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19 (ZyCoV-D). Last week, European Commission granted conditional approval for Gilead's antiviral drug remdesivir. Hopes of recovery The recent economic data indicated that the worst is over and the economic activity is stabilising on month-on-month basis. Auto sales (especially two-wheeler and tractors) indicated that the rural economy is progressing well while Markit Manufacturing PMI was much above the consensus of 37.5 to 47.2 in June from 30.8 the previous month. Sectoral indices rally All sectoral indices, barring pharma, gained momentum. The Nifty Bank, Auto, Metal, Financial Services, IT, Energy and Realty indices gained over 1-3 percent. FMCG index was up 0.4 percent. Overall, these indices have gained 32-55 percent from their March lows. Technical View The Nifty50 formed a bullish candle on daily charts, same as the previous week. As the index has achieved its technical resistance of 10,700-10,750, experts feel that the market could see some pause in rally now. "The markets might want to take support around the 10,650-10,750 area and then resume its uptrend. If we close below 10,650 in coming sessions, we might fall to levels closer to 10,400. Until then the trend remains positive and we could attempt 11,000 on the Nifty," Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst at Deen Dayal Investments said. No Monday blues on D-Street! Continuing with the previous week's momentum, the bulls pushed the Indian market for the fourth consecutive day to a fresh four-month high on July 6. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied by over 400 points while the Nifty50 had a touch-and-go moment with 10,800. The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day 465 points higher at 36,487 while the Nifty50 rose 156 points to close at 10,763. Experts are of the view that disengagement between India and China in the Galwan Valley and strong macro data on the global front lifted sentiment. "Indian indices ended with gains in sync with solid global cues. Global markets rallied on hopes of a faster Chinese economic revival, which could provide support to the global economy. The positivity regarding the recovery is extending to Indian markets also, in spite of surging infections, along with liquidity," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol. "The first signs of de-escalation of India China border tensions should also calm the markets. We maintain the sell-on-rise strategy and advise investors to trade with caution." The broader markets were in line with benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap index rose 1.2 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index rallied 1.3 percent . Sectorally, the action was seen in energy, realty, auto, metals, and consumer discretionary stocks while profit-taking was visible in FMCG, telecom, and healthcare stocks. The India Volatility index ended at a four-month low, down 2.2 percent to 25.19. Top Sensex gainers included RIL, Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries and Bajaj Finance. Top Sensex losers included HDFC, Wipro, GAIL India, and Bajaj Auto. Stocks & Sectors Sectorally, the S&P BSE Energy index rose 2.9 percent followed by the S&P BSE Realty index, which was up 2.9 percent and the S&P BSE Auto index closed with gains of 2.9 percent. Profit-taking was seen in S&P BSE FMCG index that was down 0.8 percent followed by the telecom index that fell 0.6 percent and the healthcare index ended 0.19 percent lower. Volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like PNB, NCC, Ashok Leyland, Container Corp and SRF. Long Buildup was seen in stocks like SRF, Cummins India and Century Textiles. Short Buildup was seen in stocks like Equitas, IGL and Godrej Consumer Products. More than 100 stocks hit a new 52-week high. These included RIL, Aarti Drugs, Tasty Bite, Balkrishna Industries, Escorts and IOL Chemicals. Stocks in news Power Mech Projects stock jumped 5 percent after the company won projects worth Rs 1,507 crore. HDFC Bank stock added over 2 percent after the private banking major said on July 4 that its advances grew 21 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-June quarter to Rs 10,04,500 crore. Aksh Optifibre share fell almost 5 percent after an independent director of the Delhi-based optic fibre-maker wrote to the board and the finance ministry accusing its promoters of siphoning off at least Rs 600 crore. Prism Johnson stock spiked 10 percent after the board approved divestment of the entire stake in the insurance arm. Sobha share price gained over 5 percent after the company clocked a 70 percent jump in sales volume during Q1 FY21 as compared to Q4 FY20. Ircon International stock jumped over 11 percent after the company inked a pact with NIIFL and Ayana Renewable Power for exploring opportunities in the solar energy sector in June. Technical View The Nifty50 formed a small bull candle on the daily charts. Although profit-taking was visible at higher levels, the trend remains on the upside in the near term. The immediate hurdle for the index is seen near 200-DMA placed at around 10900 levels. A close below 10,695 (intraday low) will lead to some more profit-taking while a close above 10,900 could take the index towards 11,240, say experts. Considering the narrow intraday trading range, we advise traders to remain neutral on the index and they should refrain from creating short positions unless some signs of reversal are visible, Mazhar Mohammad of Chartviewindia.in said. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. 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 Indian stock market is expected to open in the green following positive Asian cues. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 79 points gain. Nifty recorded its third consecutive week of gains with the index closing with gains of 2.1 percent on July 3 while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 2.4 percent for the week. According to pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 10,569.57, followed by 10,531.83. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 10,638.17 and 10,669.03. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms which could impact Indian as well as international markets: Asian Markets Asian shares held near four-month highs on Monday as investors counted on super-cheap liquidity and fiscal stimulus to sustain the global economic recovery even as surging coronavirus cases delayed reopenings across the United States. MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.05%, having hit its highest since February. Eyes were on Chinese blue chips, which surged almost 7% last week to their loftiest level in five years. Japans Nikkei, however, has lagged with its domestic economy and was last up 0.4%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 firmed 0.3%. SGX Nifty Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 79 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 10,667 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:30 hours IST. Oil prices mixed as coronavirus spike casts shadow over US demand Oil prices offered up a mixed market snapshot on Monday, with Brent crude edging higher, supported by tighter supplies, while US benchmark WTI futures dropped on concern that a spike in coronavirus cases could curb oil demand in the United States. Brent crude rose 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $42.91 a barrel by 0109 GMT after a 4.3% gain last week, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $40.35, down 30 cents, or 0.7%, from its previous settlement on Thursday. Govt likely to hike liquidity package for discoms to Rs 1.25 lakh crore The government is likely to enhance the liquidity package for distribution utilities to Rs 1.25 lakh crore from Rs 90,000 crore announced in May, according to a source.The liquidity package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of more than Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus for COVID-19-hit economy, would be extended for payment of outstanding dues by two months till May 2020. "Ministry of Power has firmed up a proposal to hike the Rs 90,000 crore liquidity package for discoms to Rs 1.25 lakh crore," a source privy to the development said. India's forex reserves up by $1.27 billion to $506.84 billion After falling in the previous week, the country's foreign exchange reserves rose $1.27 billion to $506.84 billion in the week ended June 26, according to the latest data from the RBI. In the previous week ended June 19, the reserves had dipped by $2.08 billion to $505.57 billion. The reserves had crossed the half-a-trillion dollar mark for the first time in the week ended June 5 after it had surged by a massive $8.22 billion and reached $501.70 billion. It had touched a life-time high of $507.64 billion in the week ended June 12. In the week ended June 26, the reserves rose due to an increase in foreign currency assets (FCA), which is a major component of the overall reserves. Finance Ministry may review capital requirement of PSU banks after second quarter The finance ministry may assess the capital requirement of public sector banks after the September quarter as there would be greater clarity about a spike in bad loans by that time, sources said. There is widespread fear that non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banks will witness a surge due to the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak and resultant lockdowns. This will need higher provisioning by banks as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. However, there could be a silver lining if RBI accepts request of loan restructuring for sectors hit badly by the coronavirus pandemic, sources said. The pain of NPA will surface only after the extended moratorium ends in August, the sources said, adding it will be appropriate to assess capital requirement only after the second quarter numbers are finalised. Mutual Funds investment in equity markets rises to Rs 39,500 crore in H1 2020 on attractive valuations Mutual funds net invested nearly Rs 39,500 crore in the stock markets in the first six months of 2020, more than four times the amount infused in the year-ago period, as volatility and correction in the broader markets provided a good investment opportunity for investors. Further, consistent SIP (systematic investment plan) inflows into equity funds gave fund managers a healthy stream of capital to keep buying quality companies, experts said. Overall, mutual funds (MFs) have made a net investment of Rs 39,478 crore in stocks during January-June 2020, much higher than the Rs 8,735 crore invested in the first six months of 2019, latest data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed. Economic recovery in India 'major challenge' unless virus is controlled: Moody's The chairman of Moody's Investors Service has warned that economic recovery in India will remain a "major challenge" unless the number of COVID-19 cases starts declining. "The only tool we have right now [to fight coronavirus] is social distancing and that's exceptionally hard to do in India," Henry McKinnell told The Financial Times adding that a vaccine for the deadly virus is still a long way off. "Hopefully we'll have a vaccine, but I think the vaccine is going to take longer than people understand," McKinnell added. Fertiliser sales jump 83% to 111.61 lakh tonnes in April-June: Govt Fertiliser sales jumped 83 percent in April-June to record 111.61 lakh tonnes despite the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government said on Friday. "During April-June 2020, the POS (point of sale) sale of fertilisers to farmers was 111.61 lakh tonnes which is 82.81 percent higher than the last year's sale of 61.05 lakh tonnes during the same period," an official statement said. Urea sales increased by 67 percent to 64.82 lakh tonnes while the demand for DAP jumped two-folds to 22.46 lakh tonnes during the period under review. Sales of complex fertilisers more than doubled to 24.32 lakh tonnes. Results on July 6 NBCC (India), Sadbhav Infrastructure Project, BCL Industries, BMW Industries, Bodal Chemicals, DCW, Dynamic Industries, IFB Agro Industries, IFB Industries, JMD Ventures, Nyssa Corporation, Welcure Drugs & Pharmaceuticals. FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 857.29 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 331.96 crore in the Indian equity market on July 3, provisional data available on the NSE showed. 4 stocks under F&O ban on NSE Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Vodafone Idea and SAIL are under the F&O ban for July 6. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. With inputs from Reuters & other agencies 1 Market Buzz Earnings season and the week ahead The market surprised everyone as benchmark indices rallied for the third consecutive week that ended on July 3 despite rapid rise in COVID-19 cases. Benchmark and broader indices have surged 39-42 percent from their lows on March 23, which points to some exhaustion at the bulls desk. Thus, there could be some consolidation in the coming days. The market will also closely watch June quarter earnings along with COVID-19 cases and global cues, experts feel. About 119 companies will announce their quarterly earnings but most will release their March numbers as Sebi allowed them time till July 31 to declare results. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/market-week-ahead-10-Q-factors-that-will-keep-traders-busy-23-.html5508951 2 Big Story FM may review capital requirements of banks The finance ministry may assess the capital requirement of public sector banks after the September quarter as there would be greater clarity about a spike in bad loans by that time, sources have said. There is a widespread fear that non-performing assets of the banks will witness a surge due to the economic slowdown triggered by the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown. The pain of NPA will surface only after the extended moratorium ends in August, the sources said, adding it will be appropriate to assess capital requirement only after the second-quarter numbers are finalised. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/finance-ministry-may-review-capital-requirement-of-psu-banks-after-second-quarter-5509721.html 3 Your Money Gold prices rise, should you invest? Investors shift to risk-free assets such as government bonds and gold from riskier assets in uncertain times like these. The coronavirus outbreak and its impact on global growth and rising geopolitical tensions between India-China, US-China and US-European Union have increased the demand for gold. MCX Gold has rallied for the seventh consecutive month and hit an all-time high of Rs 48,982. Technical indicators point to a possible correction in prices, but the dip will be short-lived and the metal will bounce back. Read on: 4 Global Watch Kanye for president American rapper Kanye West has announced that he would run for president of the United States in 2020 in an apparent challenge to Donald Trump and his presumptive Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. West, a vocal supporter of Trump, announced his plan on Twitter and found immediate support from Tesla chief Elon Musk. But is he serious, read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/rapper-kanye-west-announces-us-presidential-bid-gets-elon-musks-support-5509141.html 5 Tech Tattle WFH? Secure the router People working remotely can no longer bank on their company's 'IT department' to provide a secure network; that job has defaulted to the 'router'. There are a few simple steps that any layperson can take to significantly reduce the risk of a router being breached. These steps are relatively easy and will require users to access the router's settings, which can typically be done through a web browser or an app on your phone (if your router supports it). You can check the documentation that comes with the router to figure out how to find these settings. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/how-to-secure-your-wifi-router-at-home-to-ensure-safe-remote-working-5508991.html 6 Startup Tales India-China standoff: Zomato loses access to $100 million Indian food delivery start-up Zomato has been unable to access around $100 million from Ant Financial, its biggest Chinese investor, in a first major example of the impact of Indias new foreign investment laws, The Financial Times has said. In January, the online restaurant guide and food ordering platform said that it had raised $150 million from existing investor Alibaba-affiliate Ant Financial, a Chinese financial giant, as a part of a larger funding round. Read on: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/zomato-loses-access-to-100-million-funding-from-chinese-investor-amid-india-china-border-row-report-5509461.html 7 Tailpiece Top 10 in-demand jobs Microsoft and LinkedIn have identified top in-demand jobs and are offering free online training to help job seekers enhance their skills. Our goal is to help those who have become unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis get the skills they need to land their next job. By giving free access to the skills and training that job seekers need to get jobs, we hope to do our part and help connect job seekers around the globe to new opportunities, LinkedIns Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ryan Roslansky said in a blog post. Using data, it has identified 10 specific jobs that are in-demand amid the ongoing economic crisis. What are the jobs and the skills required for them, read it here: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/top-10-in-demand-jobs-with-required-skills-that-can-be-learnt-online-5509271.html Employees provident fund (EPF) deposits are made in Universal Account Number (UAN) accounts. To use the UAN account or check provident fund (PF) balance online one needs to activate it. Irrespective of the number of employers a person changes, their one UAN account number can enlist multple PF account numbers. At the time of job change, you just need to share your UAN with the new employer, in order to get your previous balance transferred to the new account. How to know your UAN number If you don't know your UAN despite working for an organisation for years, you can ask your employer or through the EPFOs UAN portal, you can find out yourself. - For UAN related services, visit EPFOs Unified Member Portal. - Click on Know your UAN status option under the important links section. You will be redirected to another page. - You have to fill your information such as current member ID (printed on your salary slip) or EPF account number, name, date of birth, mobile phone number and email. Steps to activate UAN number: - Visit EPFO portal - Select 'Our Services' and click on 'For Employees' - Click on 'Member UAN/Online Services' - Click on 'Activate your UAN' - Enter your basic details like UAN, date of birth, mobile number and then click on 'Get authorisation pin' - Enter the OTP received on your mobile phone and click on 'I Agree' - Finally, click on 'Validate OTP and activate UAN' Aksh Optifibre share price hit 5 percent lower circuit intraday on July 6 after an independent director of the Delhi-based optic fibre maker wrote to the board and the finance ministry accusing its promoters of siphoning off at least Rs 600 crore through multiple related party transactions, faking investments in a byzantine collection of shell companies, over-invoicing overseas purchases and fudging company accounts over several years. The stock price was up over 77 percent in the last 3 months and was trading at Rs 6.01, down Rs 0.31, or 4.91 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 6.01 and an intraday low of Rs 6.01. There were pending sell orders of 153,468 shares, with no buyers available. The actions of Kailash S Choudhari and co-promoter Popatlal Fulchand Sundesha, the promoters of Aksh Optifibre Ltd, caused losses to shareholders and bankers, according to a series of letters written by independent director Arvind Gupta. Moneycontrol has reviewed a copy of the letters sent by Gupta, on June 26, 2020, in which he has called for a forensic audit of the company. The revelations by Gupta, who is credited with exposing several corporate scams, notably the alleged ICICI-Videocon quid-pro-quo loan deal involving banker Chanda Kochhar, is arguably the first instance in which an independent director has attempted to blow the lid off a financial scam in a listed Indian company. Related party private companies have been indiscriminately used for over invoicing, plant and machinery, procurement of cheap raw material, over billing other inputs and services to Aksh Optifibre in collusion with the chief financial partner, managing director and other directors on the board, Gupta told Moneycontrol. According to Moneycontrol SWOT Analysis powered by Trendlyne, Aksh Optifibre has reported degrowth in revenue and profit with profits declining every quarter for the past 3 quarters. Moneycontrol technical rating is neutral with moving averages being bearish and technical indicators being neutral. : 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. Representative Image Welspun One Logistics Parks has launched its maiden 110 acre Grade A warehousing park with a leasable area of 3.2 million square feet and an estimated investment of Rs 900 crore in Bhiwandi in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The project is located on prime land with clear legal title, fully owned by the promoters of Welspun Group. The 110 acre project in Bhiwandi entails an estimated investment of Rs 900 crore and has a potential leasable area of approximately 3.2 mn sq ft. Welspun One has also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra state government under the Magnetic Maharashtra Initiative. It is in advanced stages of receiving necessary approvals under the states Integrated Logistics Parks (ILP) policy. This development is expected to create upwards of 2,700 multi-level job opportunities. With pre-construction planning and design already in place, the park will be operational by Q4 2021. Commenting on the project, BK Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group, said, This development has further cemented our focus in the warehousing sector. We are optimistic and view this as one of the only asset classes, especially in the current context, which provides both attractive development returns and stable long-term yields. 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 Anshul Singhal, Managing Director, Welspun One, said the park in Bhiwandi is well suited to meet the requirements of a large number of end-users, including e-commerce, 3PL, FMCG/FMCD, modern retail and pharmaceutical industries. He added that the project is seeing significant interest from international and private equity investors. The promoters equity obligations towards the project have been met in the form of land, the market value of which is estimated to be Rs 350 crore. The project is being developed in phases, with the necessary financing already tied-up, alongside a construction loan, which will be converted into a Lease Rental Discounting (LRD) facility on completion of each phase. The park will be built on key sustainability features, such as solar panels for common facilities, to provide tenants with an alternative source of power, landscape strategies to minimise water consumption, rainwater harvesting systems, electrically operated doors and a sewage treatment plant of suitable capacity. Other COVID-19 ready park features include contactless verification for entry/exit of people and vehicles, mandatory health declaration on an app, ultraviolet disinfection, and other automated safety and hygiene checks. The park will rely on software, sensors and digital interfaces to streamline compliances. According to a recent report by property consultant Knight Frank India, there was an 11 percent decline in warehousing demand during FY19 at 41.3 million sq ft across eight major cities due to the economic slowdown. The demand for warehousing, which also includes industrial space for light manufacturing, stood at 46.4 million sq ft in 2018-19 across eight cities -- National Capital Region, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, the report stated. Tech major Wipros new CEO and Managing Director Thierry Delaporte, 53, is set to assume his post from July 6. He was brought in after predecessor Abidali Neemuchwala left on June 1 after resigning in January. Delaporte was previously Chief Operating Officer at Capgemini. He will hold the post as CEO and MD of Wipro for a period of five years till July 5, 2025. His annual package, including stock compensation and other benefits, is estimated at Rs 37.9 crore (4.45 million euro). The appointment is set to also receive shareholder agreement during the companys 74th annual general meeting (AGM), scheduled via video conferencing on July 13. Besides Delaporte, a special resolution to appoint Deepak M Satwalekar as an independent director of the company is also on the cards. Delaportes remuneration will include basic pay in the range of 1.07-1.4 million euro per annum, a target variable pay in the range of 1.7-2.5 million euro per annum and a one-time cash award of $3 million that will be paid in two tranches of $1.5 million each on July 31 and July 31, 2021, the company said in a notice to the exchanges. An expatriate allowance in the range of 428,000-550,000 euro "for assignments outside France and India (principal country of employer) at the per diem rate for each day of travel outside France and India that is determined by the company and based on the actual days of such travel" is also granted. Besides which, Delaporte will also receive restricted stock units (RSUs) in form of annual stock grant and one-time RSU grant among other perquisites and benefits, it added. Delaporte inclusion in Wipro can be viewed as a way to announce the companys intent to become a multi-national company (MNC), analysts told The Hindu. Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO and founder of Everest Group, told the paper that in these 'challenging times', Delaporte biggest challenge would be to get back Wipros 'industry-leading growth trajectory'. Hansa Iyengar, Principal Analyst (Digital Enterprise Services) at Omdia, told the paper that Delaporte would need to ensure the company rebuilds its reputation in the ITeS sector. He has to improve employee morale, strengthen client relationships, reduce tech firm's exposure to at-risk clients, and increase influence in the C-suite by helping clients navigate the disruption caused by COVID-19. He has a tough task ahead to get the company back on the growth track," she said. Subscribe to our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you get podcasts. India has recorded over 6.97 lakh cases of the novel coronavirus and 19,693 deaths, according to the Union Health Ministry's latest update. Of these, 2,53,287 are active cases while 4,24,432 have recovered. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of infections, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Globally, more than 1.14 crore infections and over 5.3 lakh deaths have been reported due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are all the latest updates: COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show >> India surpassed Russia's tally of COVID-19 positive cases, becoming the third worst-hit nation in the world after the United States and Brazil. >> India's national capital, Delhi, meanwhile, added over 1,300 cases, crossing the grim 1 lakh-mark. >> Announcing the start of the fifth phase of Mission Begin Again, the Maharashtra government today eased curbs and allowed hotels, lodges and guest houses to open from July 6 with 33 percent capacity. The state government also released a set of guidelines to be followed by both the hotels as well as guests. Follow our LIVE Updates here. >> West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that shooting for reality shows can start without any audience and with a maximum of 40 crew members. >> The total number of tests for detection of COVID-19 crossed the one-crore mark in India today, an ICMR official said. >> Even as monuments were allowed to re-open, considering the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in Agra, the city administration decided to defer the reopening of Taj Mahal and other monuments until further notice. >> Australia's Victoria said that it will be closing its borders due to the rising cases of COVID-19. This is for first time in 100 years that its borders would be closing the last time this happened was at the time of the Spanish Flu pandemic. >> According to reports, research by over 200 scientists suggested that coronavirus is airborne. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval (Reuters) A day before the Chinese Army removed its tents and started withdrawing troops from Galwan Valley as the first sign of de-escalation of the tension in eastern Ladakh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had a two-hour-long telephonic conversation with Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 5. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on July 6, detailing the conversation that NSA Doval had with the Chinese minister concerning the India-China border dispute and why it is in the best interest to thaw the ongoing tension. The MEA statement read: The two special representatives agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes. Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from Indo-China border areas. India and China have agreed to move their soldiers back 1.5 kilometres from the respective claim lines in Ladakhs Galwan Valley and Hot Springs, reports suggest. This is aimed at creating a buffer zone of sorts and was agreed upon at the Corps Commander-level talks. According to a report by News18, the Chinese side has vacated the structures it had built at patrol point 14 (PP14) in Galwan Valley, where the June 15-16 face-off had taken place. Soldiers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have also moved back from Point 15 and Point 17 in the Hot Springs and Gogra areas where they had intruded several hundred metres beyond what India asserts is the LAC. News18 has reported that some Chinese movement was also seen along Pangong Tso's 'finger areas' which are made up of spurs that rise along the bank of the lake. According to India, the LAC is situated at Finger 8. The large swath of land between Finger 4 and 8 used to be patrolled by both sides before tensions escalated in May. However, news agency ANI has reported that Chinese heavy armoured vehicles are still present in the depth areas along the Galwan River. Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution. Tensions along the LAC were rising since early May amid a stand-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers. However, the tensions escalated to another level after 20 Indian Army soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a violent face-off in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 15-16. There were casualties on the Chinese side too. However, that number is not clear. #NewsAlert China shifts troops from June 15 clash site. PLA troops pull back, buffer zone created: Sources. @praveenswami and Group Capt (R) MJA Vinod with the views. #IndiaChinaFaceOff pic.twitter.com/Rn7vsgPgzA CNNNews18 (@CNNnews18) July 6, 2020 Since then, the Indian Army has already sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border in the last two weeks. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30-MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft and Apache attack helicopters to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar following the clashes. Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a media briefing, has confirmed about some disengagement with Indian forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), reports suggest. The Chinese foreign ministry has noted that progress has been made on the frontline and that soldiers from the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) are taking effective measures to disengage and ease tensions. China and India have made progress coming up with effective measures for frontline troops to disengage and deescalate the border situation at the third Commander-level talks between the two militaries on June 30, Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times quoted the countrys Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian as saying. Some news reports also suggest that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval held talks with the Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi via video call on July 5. The talks were reportedly held in a cordial and forward-looking manner, news agency ANI reported. This comes amid reports that India and China have agreed to move their soldiers back 1.5 kilometres from the respective claim lines in Ladakhs Galwan Valley and Hot Springs. This is aimed at creating a buffer zone of sorts and was agreed upon at the Corps Commander-level talks. According to a report by News18, the Chinese side has vacated the structures it had built at patrol point 14 (PP14) in Galwan Valley, where the June 15-16 face-off had taken place. Soldiers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have also moved back from Point 15 and Point 17 in the Hot Springs and Gogra areas where they had intruded several hundred metres beyond what India asserts is the LAC. News18 has reported that some Chinese movement was also seen along Pangong Tso's 'finger areas' which are made up of spurs that rise along the bank of the lake. According to India, the LAC is situated at Finger 8. The large swath of land between Finger 4 and 8 used to be patrolled by both sides before tensions escalated in May. However, news agency ANI has reported that Chinese heavy armoured vehicles are still present in the depth areas along the Galwan River. Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution. Tensions along the LAC were rising since early May amid a stand-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers. However, the tensions escalated to another level after 20 Indian Army soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a violent face-off in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 15-16. There were casualties on the Chinese side too. However, that number is not clear. (More details awaited. Please check beck for more details) Indian soldiers who died in close combat with Chinese troops last month were unarmed and surrounded by a larger force on a steep ridge, Indian government sources, two soldiers deployed in the area and families of the fallen men said. One of the Indian soldiers had his throat slit with metal nails in the darkness, his father told Reuters, saying he had been told by a fellow soldier who was there. Others fell to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas, relatives have learned from witnesses. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the June 15 clash on the de facto border separating the two armies. The soldiers all belonged to the 16th Bihar Regiment deployed in the Galwan region. No shots were fired, but it was the biggest loss of life in combat between the nuclear-armed neighbours since 1967, when the simmering border dispute flared into deadly battles. Reuters spoke to relatives of 13 of the men who were killed, and in five cases they produced death certificates listing horrific injuries suffered during the six-hour night-time clash at 14,000 ft (4,267 metres) amid remote, barren mountains. Reuters contacted the military hospital in India's Ladakh region where the bodies were brought. The hospital declined to comment on the cause of death and said that the bodies were sent to the families along with the death certificates. Reuters also spoke to two soldiers of the Bihar Regiment deployed in the area, who were among those who accompanied the bodies of fallen colleagues to their homes in the area. They were not directly involved in the melee. The soldiers cannot be named because of military rules and all the families asked for anonymity because they said they were not supposed to speak about military matters. The Indian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the fighting on June 15. In response to a Reuters query, a China foreign ministry spokesperson repeated previous statements blaming the Indian side for crossing the de facto border and provoking the Chinese. "When Chinese officers and soldiers went there to negotiate, they were suddenly and violently attacked by the Indian troops," the spokesperson said. "The rights and wrongs of the incident are very clear. The responsibility absolutely does not lie with the Chinese." China has not provided evidence of Indian aggression. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. 'ARTERIES RUPTURED' Three of the dead men had their "arteries ruptured in the neck" and two sustained head injuries caused by "sharp or pointed objects", the death certificates seen by Reuters said. There were visible marks on the neck and forehead, all five documents said. "It was a free-for-all, they fought with whatever they could lay their hands on - rods, sticks, and even with their bare hands," said a government official in Delhi briefed on the clash. The Indian government has said that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acted in a premeditated manner, but it has not provided a full account of the clash that stunned the country and stoked popular anger against China. China has dismissed an Indian government minister's claim that China had lost 40 soldiers from the PLA's western theatre command deployed in Galwan. Its envoy to Delhi suggested in remarks to local media and posted on the embassy website that there had been losses on both sides. "The Indian army suddenly and violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went for negotiation, causing fierce physical conflicts and casualties between the two sides," Sun Weidong said. Indian government officials have told Reuters that the conflict began when the commanding officer of the Bihar regiment led a small party to Patrol Point 14 to verify whether the Chinese had made good their promise to withdraw from the disputed site and dismantle structures they had built there. But instead they came under attack by Chinese soldiers using iron rods and wooden clubs with nails studded in them on a narrow ledge barely four metres wide overlooking the Galwan river. BODIES FOUND IN RIVER In recent weeks the world's two most populous countries have mobilised more forces along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the renewed hostilities have triggered a diplomatic and commercial spat that threatens to escalate, experts including former Indian military officers say. The possibility that unarmed Indian soldiers were overrun by a larger force could further fuel resentment against China and raise questions about why Indian soldiers were sent to a tense frontline without being armed. "How dare China kill our unarmed soldiers. Why were our soldiers sent unarmed to martyrdom?" Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party wrote in a tweet, demanding the government provide a full account. A relative of one of the soldiers who accompanied Colonel Santosh Babu, the commanding officer, to the site of two tents erected by the Chinese troops told Reuters that members of the Indian patrol were unarmed. They were confronted by a small group of Chinese soldiers and an argument ensued over the tents and a small observation tower the relative said, on the basis of conversations with two other soldiers who were present. Reuters was unable to establish all of the details of what happened, but government officials in New Delhi briefed on the incident said that at some point Indian troops took down the observation post and the tents because they were on India's side of the LAC. Soon after the Indian side came under attack from a large Chinese force that pelted them with stones and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, according to the families of three dead Indian soldiers, based on conversations they had with survivors. Some soldiers retreated to safety on the ridgeline in the darkness, but when they could not find the commanding officer, they re-emerged and came under fresh attack, four family members said. Babu was among those killed in the fighting, the Indian government said. One of the soldiers deployed in the area that Reuters spoke to said the Indian patrol was outnumbered by the PLA. "The Chinese side overwhelmed our people by sheer numbers," said the soldier, who overheard radio messages seeking reinforcements being sent to regional headquarters in Ladakh. Three of the Indian families said they had been told by soldiers who were commissioned to bring the bodies back to them that some combatants pushed each other into the fast-flowing Galwan river. The government official in Delhi also said bodies of some soldiers were fished out of the river the next morning. Some had succumbed to hypothermia, the official added. SpiceJet will operate 25 flights under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) to bring back close to 4,500 Indians stranded in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman, the airline said on July 6. "SpiceJet has operated six flights under VBM from Ras Al-Khaimah, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam so far bringing back over a thousand Indian nationals to Ahmedabad, Goa and Jaipur," SpiceJet said in a press release. The airline will operate another 19 flights this month from Ras Al-Khaimah, Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh and Muscat to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai. Also Read: GoAir operates first Vande Bharat Mission flight In addition to the Centre's Vande Bharat Mission, SpiceJet has operated more than 200 charter flights to repatriate around 30,000 Indian nationals from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Lebanon and Sri Lanka helping We have always been committed to providing our services during a crisis situation and helping our fellow citizens when they need it the most. There wasnt a single day when SpiceJet did not operate during the nation-wide lockdown carrying thousands of tons of medicines and medical equipment and fruits and vegetables to all corners of India and the world, said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet. "SpiceJet has operated 3512 cargo flights since the lockdown began and carried around 20200 tons of cargo," the airline said, adding that it has been regularly deploying its B737 and Q400 passenger aircraft to carry cargo in the passenger cabin. According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, 1,811 repatriation flights were operated under the Vande Bharat Mission till July 4, carrying over 2.37 lakh passengers. Of these, 904 were inbound flights carrying 1,71,978 passengers and 907 were outbound flights with 65,856 fliers. Representative Image In the past two decades or so, the sprawling Chinese cities have matched Hong Kongs affluence. At the same time, the enacting legislation for Hong Kong SAR goes beyond the optics of administration. China used the narrative of Hong Kong beyond symbolism to exercise exquisite contortions. Hong Kong was a dream for Chinese leaders and millions of masses looking for relief from famines, underdevelopment, and purges. Chinese mud-clad bordering villagers with daily wages of one yuan gazed across the Shan Chum at Hong Kongers lifestyle where the daily wages reached several hundred yuan. Well before the Pearl River Delta (PRD) was opened up, in Chinese villages bordering Hong Kong, children were taught to swim from an early age to prepare for crossing the river undetected. Post-reforms of 1978, it took considerable time for these Chinese villages for an economic turnaround. Be it mud, bricks, labour, trucking services, or even accepting waste and refuse from Hong Kong, the booming cluster of businesses soon set the Chinese economy in motion. The trade multiplied, and the fertile PRD transformed from farmland into a metropolis. Dream of Hong Kong persisted until its return to the mainland, Hong Kongs economic output was still unmatchable at a quarter of Chinas entire GDP. After returning to China, the Chinese presence in Hong Kong has grown multi-folds. The one country, two systems model was supposed to be the harbinger of growth for both China and Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong suffered from an acute sense of trepidation. Under the name of economic confluence, Beijing hastened the political and administrative integration of Hong Kong into China. Although on paper, Hong Kong has time until 2047 to enjoy its autonomy, Hong Kongs economy is threatened by slowdown and contractions on all economic fronts. Does Hong Kong remain a dream destination for global capital, manufacturing, and services? Probably the large-scale protests, layoffs, and Sinification of Hong Kong hold the answer. The rising clout of Chinese companies in Hong Kong is more than a match for international players, let alone the Hong Kong domicile. Twenty years after the return to the mainland, a large number of mainland professionals have filled high-end positions in Hong Kongs financial industry. As the Chinese companies increased their presence in Hong Kong, it also led to the largest increase in mainland employees. Hong Kong also remained a gold spot for the initial public offering (IPO) of Chinese companies. According to Thomson Reuters data, Hong Kong was the worlds largest IPO market in 2016, and the proportion of mainland companies IPOs was 80 percent. To illustrate this influence better, one can follow how the rise of Chinese securities firms is inseparable from the changes in the structure of listed companies and investors in the Hong Kong financial market itself. From the perspective of the structure of listed companies, there are more than 1,900 listed companies on the Hong Kong market, of which the number of listed companies in the mainland accounts for 51 percent, and the market value accounts for 64 percent. With the integration, public funds, private equity funds, and insurance institutions from the mainland have become investors in the Hong Kong market. Compared with the growth rate of the mainland, Hong Kongs economic strength has indeed fallen sharply. In 2019, Chinas economy slowed by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kongs economy shrank by 1.2 percent (compared to 2018). Against the backdrop of the hollowing of its economic structure and a decline in innovation, rising instances of governments interventions, and caught up with global volatilities, the rise of mainland cities in the field of trade and finance is significant. This massive proliferation of Chinese business interests in Hong Kong helped the mainland to lower the rate of its dependence over Hong Kong. Rather than playing the role of a unicorn, Hong Kongs role and responsibilities have been brought to a level of mainland cities. Besides, Hong Kongs fate is tied with the construction of the Greater Bay Area (GBA). In the past two decades, the GBA has absorbed a large amount of human and capital from Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is expected to play a significant role in the GBA cities, especially in the financial sector. The protests indicate that the Positive Non-Intervention principle practiced by the Hong Kong SAR government since the late 1970s is now being undermined. The SAR government is accused of representing what the mainland deliberates. Apart from Hong Kongs unique role in the GBA, Beijing wants Hong Kong to play a critical role in leading the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-led schemes. While the GBA is to build capacities serving the national growth, the BRI promotes the cooperation agreements between China and BRI countries. In 2018, the SAR government announced five critical directions for advancement in its policy address, including strengthening policy connectivity, making full use of Hong Kongs advantages, and promoting collaboration with partners in the mainland and the BRI countries and regions. The rising tensions in Hong Kong indicate the period of prolonged slowdown, and the economy hit hard by political matters. Hong Kong is going through a tough spell, and the high level of uncertainty is impacting business confidence regionally and globally. Manoj Joshi On July 1, Hong Kong made the first arrests under its controversial new National Security Law (NSL). According to a tweet by the Hong Kong Police, some 370 people were arrested for protests against the law, and 10 persons were actually arrested for breaching the law. The police tweeted pictures of paraphernalia calling for an independent Hong Kong, and noted that three females had been arrested for breaching the NSLs provision against organising, planning or participating in secessionist activities. In other words, youngsters in Hong Kong who had been used to freedoms of the democratic world must suddenly confront the restrictive measures of a Leninist State. As per the law, some of those who violate it could be extradited to the mainland and be tried and punished there. One small mercy is that it will not be retroactively applied to protestors and activities before the law came into force. The United States and western countries have strongly criticised the move. In a statement on behalf of mainly western and democratic countries, the British Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Julian Braithwaite, told the UN Human Rights Council that the law had clear implications for the human rights of the people in Hong Kong. It was violating of the Joint Declaration of 1992, a legally binding treaty registered with the UN, which promised the city a high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms. On the other hand, China crowed that 53 countries had supported the country at the session triumphing over 27 members that attacked and called for harsh measures against China. 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 Given its own obsession with secession and sedition it was not surprising that India chose to soft-peddle the issue at the meeting, and came up with an anodyne statement saying that it had heard several statements (at the meeting over the Hong Kong developments) and hoped that the relevant parties will take into account these views and address them properly. In China, as in India, concepts such as sedition and subversion are vaguely defined, but can be punished quite severely under the law. The Standing Committee of Chinas National Peoples Congress passed the law on June 30 prohibiting four actions secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces that endanger national security. The law was then added to Annex III of Hong Kongs Basic Law and came into effect later that day. The law has a broad jurisdictional application and can be applied not only to permanent residents and companies in the city, but also to people and activities anywhere that are deemed offences against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Speaking to the media in Beijing, Zhang Xiaoming, executive director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, insisted that the law would not target the pro-democracy camp but focus on a narrow band of crimes against national security. He rejected suggestions that the law was aimed at disqualifying candidates for the Legislative Council (Legco) elections in November. The Chinese authorities in Beijing must be feeling pleased with themselves. Instead of potentially millions taking to the streets, so far they have had to contend with only thousands, and they have been able to contain these protests easily. This must be some relief, given the hostile environment that Beijing has created for itself by simultaneously taking on the US, India, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. So far, besides statements, there has been little reaction to the Chinese move. However, well before the law was actually passed, there was sufficient warning from the US that China would have to face consequences. First, the special status that Hong Kong enjoys under US law will be affected. This relates to the Hong Kong Policy Act (HKPA) of 1992 that recognised the citys special status as a separate legal entity from mainland China. This means that the separate treatment of Hong Kong under export controls, customs and extradition are liable to be terminated. Second, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Law of 2019 that amended the HKPA, mandated an annual review to check if Hong Kong had sufficient autonomy to merit the special treatment it was given by the US. Further, it entailed sanctions on any officials deemed responsible for violating the human rights in the city. In May, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported to the Congress under the amended law that he could no longer certify Hong Kongs autonomy. US President Donald Trump announced that the process of suspending the citys exemptions would be initiated. On May 29, besides a proclamation to block Chinese students involved in the Civil Military Fusion programmes of the PRC, Trump announced that the US would start to end the preferential treatment for Hong Kong in trade and travel in response to the new security law. He attacked China for smothering Hong Kongs freedoms and termed the developments as a tragedy. He said sanctions would be imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who were believed by Washington to be involved in eroding the territorys autonomy. In statements on June 29, Pompeo and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said that they would begin the process of formally ending Hong Kongs special status under US laws. Among those affected will be export control regimes. The license exceptions for exports of dual use items to Hong Kong would be suspended; they would now be treated under the same regime that deals with China. Other changes could see higher tariffs for goods of Hong Kong origin being imported to the US, tougher visa requirements, suspension of obligations on extradition and so on. On July 2, the US Senate approved the draconian Hong Kong Autonomy Act that had passed the US House of Representatives a day earlier. This targets Chinese officials who implement the NSL as well as banks and firms that do business with them. Cumulatively, all these measures could see a quick decline of Hong Kong as a financial pillar of the world and a major entry point for China. However, Beijing seems determined to press on with the belief that nipping the Hong Kong movement in the bud is worth the price it will pay. The main reason was the worry that the Hong Kong protests were morphing into a movement demanding democracy and self-rule, something that could not but have impacted in the mainland. This new security law would have been passed at the March meeting of the NPC, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. That Beijing was planning to crack down was evident from two key personnel changes it made in relation to Hong Kong. In February, Xia Baolong, vice chairman and secretary general of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was appointed director of the Cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau (HKMAO) office while his predecessor Zhang Xiaoming was made executive deputy director. Xia is close to Xi Jinping, being a former party secretary of the Zhejiang province. He was deputy chief to Xi for four years in the mid-2000s. Earlier in January, Luo Huining, former party leader in Shanxi and Qinghai provinces replaced Wang Zhimin as head of the liaison office in Hong Kong. Wang was transferred to the history research unit under the Central Committee. It was clear with these changes that Beijing was planning to take tough line on Hong Kong for some time now. Now it has emerged that the decision to crack down was taken at the fourth Plenum in October 2019. This information was revealed by Chinas Vice Premier Han Zheng to the Hong Kong delegates to the CPCC on May 23. Beijing believed that the US and Taiwan were fanning the flames in Hong Kong and were trying to change the character of the protests into demands for self-government and even independence. In November, the US passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which authorised the US President to impose economic sanctions on the city. (This article first appeared in the ORF) With a total of 6.97 lakh cases India has become the third worst-hit country in the world, surpassing Russia which has 6.81 lakh cases. The US and Brazil are ahead of India with 29 lakh and 15 lakh cases respectively. While the World Health Organization had said that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets, as many as 239 scientists have posted an open letter to the agency showing evidence that the virus is airborne. Google Maps has announced new features to assist people in navigating around cities that are emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. The new feature will provide relevant alerts from local transit agencies when users look up transit direction for a trip that is likely to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Transit alerts will ensure you are prepared if government mandates have an impact on transit services or require you to wear a mask on public transportation. These alerts are already rolling out in India as well as other nations like Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and the US where information from local transit agencies are readily available, with more coming soon. Google Maps will also display alerts reminding users to verify eligibility when navigating to medical facilities or COVID-19 testing centres. The alerts for medical facilities is yet to be made available in India. Through these features, Google Maps will urge you to do some quick research before visiting a medical facility or testing centre so you do not get turned away. Also Read: Google Maps to alert users about COVID-19-related travel restrictions Maps is also making it easier to check crowding at train stations. You will also have the option to see live data on crowdedness. Google Maps Product Director Ramesh Nagarajan wrote in a blog post, Simply search for a station in Google Maps or tap on the station on the map to see the departure board and busyness data, where available. 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 Additionally, Google is introducing driving alerts to notify users about COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions along a route. Youll see an alert on the directions screen and after starting navigation if your route is impacted by these restrictions. A college teacher in China recently sketched 333 graduating students and a counselor to make up for the fact they were unable to pose for a graduation photo or attend their commencement ceremony together due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Luo Li, a teacher at Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, northeast Chinas Liaoning province, spent 22 days drawing the special group photo based on the portrait photos and his memories of the 333 senior students of the Faculty of Vehicle Engineering and Mechanics of Dalian University of Technology. (Photo/Microblog account of Dalian University of Technology) The long scroll became a precious gift for the class of 2020 from the faculty, who said it made their graduation unforgettable. They were deeply impressed by the painting the first time they saw it, according to the students in the picture, explaining that Luo accurately depicted the facial features of every student in his work. Sun Mingbo, one of the students in the picture, said he looked for himself as soon as he saw the painting, and felt surprised, excited, and deeply touched when he eventually found his portrait. Its obvious that Luo drew everyone in the picture very diligently, Sun said. Although he was not able to return to school before graduation, the painting will help me remember my schoolmates, said student Jiang Yingrui. After giving the painting to graduating students, Luo continued to print the portraits he sketched on bookmarks, and now intends to make a customized souvenir for each student. (Photo/cctv.com) Luo had been a counselor to these students for three months before he was transferred to another campus. However, Luo and his students had many memorable moments during this short period of time. Luo only sketched the counselor who succeeded him, and didnt include himself in the painting, as he thought what he did for these students was far from enough. Luo said he doesnt seek any reward for the special graduation gifts, for as long as we care about our students sincerely and they treat us like friends, then its worth it. The validation of Black Joy is just as important as that of Black Grief The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series is arriving sometime in August at a virtual-only Galaxy Unpacked event. Now, a more recent leak suggests a more precise launch date for the Galaxy Note 20 line-up. The upcoming Note 20 series is expected to be unveiled on August 5. August 5, TheNextGalaxy Ice universe (@UniverseIce) July 5, 2020 Predict the price of the Galaxy Note20 series: Note20, $999 Note20 Ultra, $1299 July 4, 2020 The leak comes from known tipster Ice Universe. A report by MSPowerUser also claims that the company will host an online-only unpacked event due to the coronavirus pandemic. The South Korean tech giant could also launch the Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Watch 3 alongside its flagship Galaxy Note 20 series.In a subsequent tweet, Ice Universe also leaked pricing details about Samsungs upcoming flagship Note series. The vanilla Galaxy Note 20 could be priced at $999 (roughly Rs 74,500), while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will be priced at $1,299 (roughly Rs 96,900). For comparison, the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ were first sold at $949 (roughly Rs 70,800) and $1,099 (roughly Rs 82,000), respectively. Last week, rumours surfaced that the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra could be available in a Mystic Bronze colour and a triple-rear camera set up with a 108 MP camera sensor at the helm. Also Read: Samsung 'accidentally' leaks Galaxy Note 20 Ultra TikTok has come under fire amid its recent allegations of snooping. Last week, the app was banned in India with the government suggesting that the app was not secure. Now, the Australian Government is facing a decision on whether to ban the video-sharing platform. According to a report by the Herald Sun, plans are underway to bring TikTok before the Foreign Interference through Social Media senate inquiry amid fears that the platform may be sharing users' data with the Chinese Government and could pose a national security threat to the country. Nationals MP George Christensen has also called for a ban, accusing TikTok of being "used and abused" by the Chinese Communist Party. Christensen said, TikTok "should be banned in Australia as should other online communication networks used and abused by Communist China's intelligence/military apparatus including WeChat". Labor Senator said, "Given that there is credible evidence to suggest that TikTok users' data has been sent back to servers in China where it can then be analysed and used by authorities to identify and build profiles to track users, it would be entirely appropriate for senior representatives from that company to appear before the committee to answer questions on this." Also Read: TikTok's parent company may lose $6 billion following India's ban on Chinese apps: Report Several other MPs and senators have also criticised the ByteDance-owned platform. In January, all Australian Defence Force personnel were barred from using the app over security fears. The ByteDance-owned video-sharing app is used by over 1.6 million Australians, most of them between 16 to 24 years. Lee Hunter, TikTok General Manager Australia, said that it does not share users' data with foreign governments and dismissed similar concerns from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that there are "cells inside the company" as not credible. Hunter said Australians love TikTok because the experience is "safe and fun". He said TikTok data is stored in Singapore and Chief Information Security Officer outlined efforts to minimise data access across regions. Representative Image Browsing online during lockdown, Jessica Friend spotted a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses she liked, but the price tag made the 30-year-old Ohio resident think twice. What persuaded her to click 'buy', Friend said, was the short-term credit offered by Afterpay, which split the $260 payment into four interest-free instalments. Afterpay is among a handful of alternative credit firms which offer small loans, mostly to online shoppers, and make their money by charging merchants a 4%-6% commission. These buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firms have benefited from a shift to online shopping during the coronavirus crisis in countries including the United States, where state aid has also boosted retail sales. "I'm more inclined to use them because they make it easier to afford to get the things I want all at once ... and when I want to splurge on something," Friend said of the loans. Some investors are now betting shoppers will stay away from stores as coronavirus cases rise again in several countries around the world, boosting business for BNPL firms. But swelling subscriber numbers may also increase bad loans, mainly among first-time users who are more likely to default. And as job losses rise and government aid ebbs, the business model will face its first real test in a recession. "Much still hinges on any virus second waves and government wherewithal to keep boosting demand," said Andrew Mitchell of Ophir Asset Management which owns shares in Melbourne-based Afterpay, whose market value has risen to $12.55 billion (10.05 billion pounds) from over $100 million four years ago. While a move to online shopping was underway before the pandemic, the shift has accelerated under lockdown and Afterpay signed up more than a million new active U.S. customers between March and early May, taking its overall base there to 9 million. Meanwhile retailers desperate to move merchandise have also become more receptive to partnerships with BNPL firms, which unlike credit cards or mortgages, make loans instantly. Klarna, Europe's biggest fintech start-up, said that since March enquiries from retailers who may want to partner with it jumped by 20% on average globally. With 7.9 million U.S. subscribers, Sweden's Klarna has since signed up outdoor gearmaker The North Face, Disney's streaming service and cosmetics retailer Sephora. Most of the growth has been in higher-margin discretionary spend categories such as fashion and fitness gear, said Puneet Dikshit, a McKinsey partner in New York, who expects the sector to generate $7 billion to $8 billion in volumes this year in the United States, growing by more than 150% annually. Although fears of credit losses sparked a sector-wide sell-off in March, the entry of big tech investors and rising subscriber numbers have since supported a sharp recovery, with stocks now at record highs. 'TURN OFF THE TAPS' The pandemic forced most companies to tighten their risk settings, which they say may push up loan rejection rates, although Afterpay, Klarna, Zip and Sezzle declined to provide specific numbers. "BNPL operators can turn off the taps and quickly throttle down growth if repayment risks increase," Mitchell said. While Afterpay, with bad loans totalling 1% of its loan book as of March, changed its requirements so that customers had to pay a quarter of their loan upfront, co-founder Nick Molnar said rejection rates were roughly in line with the start of the year. Molnar said an overwhelming majority of Afterpay customers, whose average transaction value is A$150, pay back on time, while loans on new purchases are denied to those who do not. Although some brokerages expect Afterpay to turn a profit by 2022, rising costs to finance expansion and credit losses that eat into receivables are likely to mean BNPLs, which operate on thin margins, remain unprofitable for some time. Klarna saw credit losses more than double in the first three months of the year to about 0.7% of underlying sales as it expanded in Europe and the United States, where regulation of the sector is almost non-existent. Only California has said BNPL firms need a license, and fined some for lending without one. In Australia, where the industry first took off on the back of easy funding, the corporate regulator is set to release a follow-up report this year to one it issued in 2018 raising concerns about users becoming overextended and calling for BNPLs to be regulated in line with other credit services. Companies, investors and analysts agree that young people with stimulus money in their wallets are driving sales and BNPL shoppers that Reuters spoke to were all under 35 and bought household items, as well as skin care products and clothes. "The vast majority of our customers have income levels of under $75,000, so I would say the majority probably have a stimulus check," said Charlie Youakim, CEO of Sezzle, one of the smaller firms. The younger demographic is harder to assess because they lack credit history, meaning most companies use algorithms to run real-time eligibility checks and assess risk of default. "Our internal engine assesses risk taking various parameters into consideration which also will include consumer payment history, what is being purchased and is combined with varying third-party data sources and authentication solutions," Klarna spokeswoman Aoife Houlihan said. Sydney-based Zip, with bad debts of just over 2% of receivables, said it assesses shoppers' public information and credit scores. Around one in 100 customers is late with payments each month, spokesman Matthew Abbott said, adding that Zip recently tightened eligibility rules, leading to higher rejection rates. Even as China's LAC movements and negotiations about a retreat from its stance with India refuse calm down, the country has now made fresh claims over Bhutanese territory. Chinese foreign ministry on Saturday said, "the boundary between China and Bhutan has never been delimited." The Sakteng wildlife sanctuary, located in eastern Bhutan, covers 650 sq km and has not been disputed by China in the past. Beijing objected to Bhutan's request for funds to develop the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary at an online meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) saying "it was disputed territory". At the meeting, Chinese representative Zhongjing Wang claimed the sanctuary was located in an area disputed between Bhutan and China. "The boundary between China and Bhutan has never been delimited. There have been disputes over the eastern, central and western sectors for a long time, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Saturday. In an apparent reference to India, the statement further said, "A third party should not point fingers in the China-Bhutan border issue." According to a Hindustan Times report, Bhutan objected to the Chinese claim, and the GEF council passed the project for funding. "Bhutan totally rejects the claim made by the Council Member of China. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan. At no point during the boundary discussions between Bhutan and China has it featured as a disputed area," Bhutan's representative said. Bhutan also reportedly conveyed its position to China through its embassy in New Delhi. The GEF Council, which had gathered to decide on funding for various environmental projects across the world, refused to record Chinas reason for objection saying that the footnote would only record that China objected to the project. Not long after noon on February 6, President Donald Trump strode into the elegant East Room of the White House. The night before, his impeachment trial had ended with acquittal in the Republican-controlled Senate. It was time to gloat and settle scores. It was evil," Trump said of the attempt to end his presidency. It was corrupt. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars. It was also soon forgotten. On February 6, in California, a 57-year-old woman was found dead in her home of natural causes then unknown. When her autopsy report came out, officials said her death had been the first from COVID-19 in the US. The invisible enemy was on the move. And civil unrest over racial injustice would soon claw at the country. If that were not enough, there came a fresh round of angst over Russia, and America would ask whether Trump had the backs of troops targeted by bounty hunters in Afghanistan. For Trump, the virus has been the most persistent of those problems. But he has not even tried to make a common health crisis the subject of national common ground and serious purpose. He has refused to wear a mask, setting off a culture war in the process as his followers took their cues from him. Instead he spoke about preening with a mask when the cameras were off: I had a mask on," he said this past week. "I sort of liked the way I looked ... like the Lone Ranger. These are times of pain, mass death, fear and deprivation and the Trump show may be losing its allure, exposing the empty space once filled by the empathy and seriousness of presidents leading in a crisis. Bluster isn't beating the virus; belligerence isn't calming a restive nation. Angry and scornful at every turn, Trump used the totems of Mount Rushmore as his backdrop to play on the country's racial divisions, denouncing the bad, evil people behind protests for racial justice. He then made a steamy Fourth of July salute to America on the White House South Lawn his platform to assail the radical left, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters," and, for good measure, people with absolutely no clue. If he could change, he would," said Cal Jillson, a presidential scholar at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "It's not helping him now. It's just nonstop. It is habitual and incurable. He is who he is. Over three and a half years Trump exhausted much of the country, while exhilarating some of it, with his constant brawls, invented realities, outlier ways and pop-up dramas of his own making. Into summer, one could wonder whether Trump had finally exhausted even himself. Vainglorious always, Trump recently let down that front long enough to ponder the possibility that he could lose in November, not from the fabricated voting shenanigans he likes to warn about but simply because the country may not want him after all of this. Some people don't love me, he allowed. Maybe. On February 5 in the White House residence, Trump had watched all the Republican senators, save Mitt Romney of Utah, dutifully vote to acquit, ending the third impeachment trial in US history. His rambling, angry, 62-minute remarks the next day were meant to air out grievances and unofficially launch Trump's reelection bid with the crucible of impeachment behind him, his so-so approval ratings unharmed, Republicans unified and the economy roaring. The president's advisers also watched, relieved that the shadow of impeachment which loomed first due to Russia's US election interference, then his Ukraine machinations was now behind them, letting them focus on the reelection battle ahead. The plan was taking shape: a post-trial barnstorming tour, rallies meant to compete with the Democratic primaries and a chance for the president to dive into the reelection fight that had animated so many of his decisions thus far in his term, according to some of the 10 current and former administration and campaign officials who requested anonymity to speak candidly for this story. A few days earlier, the first coronavirus death outside China had been recorded, in the Philippines. Known cases of the disease in the US were under a dozen. The US had declared a public health emergency and restricted travel to and from China. But this was not something Trump wanted to talk about in the glow of acquittal and fog of grievance, and events had not yet forced his hand. The day was meant to mark a new chapter in Trump's presidency. It did. But not the one the president and his people expected. Trump's whirlwind trip to India was meant to be a celebration and in some ways was. He addressed a rally crowd of 100,000 and visited the Taj Mahal. But in a quick talk to business people at the US ambassador's residence, he felt compelled to address the virus, which had begun rattling the foundation for his argument for another four years in office: the economy. Fighting jet lag and anxiety about a dive in the stock market, Trump was up much of the previous night on the phone with advisers, peppering them with questions about the potential economic fallout of the outbreak, according to the officials who spoke with The Associated Press. We lost almost 1,000 points yesterday on the market, and that's something, Trump told the two dozen or so business leaders. "Things like that happen where and you have it in your business all the time it had nothing to do with you; it's an outside source that nobody would have ever predicted. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Kuwait (Image: Snap/Flickr) The Kuwait governments new anti-expatriate policy may displace up to eight lakh Indians. Notably, of the Gulf countrys three-million-strong expat population, Indians constitute 1.45 million, and around 800,000 of them could reportedly be forced to leave. The Kuwait National Assemblys legal and legislative committee has approved a draft Quota Bill, which aims to expel a significant portion the countrys expat population. Indians being the largest group are facing the biggest impact, and the bill states that no more than 15 percent Indians can be a part of the expat population. The move is also in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabahs statement in June, which proposed to reduce Kuwaits expat population from 70 percent to 30 percent. Lawmakers and government officials have grown increasingly vocal against foreigners in the country after the coronavirus pandemic, the report added. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here Here is all you to know about the 'Quota Bill': 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 Kuwait governments new anti-expatriate policy may displace up to eight lakh Indians. > Known as the Quota Bill, Kuwait National Assemblys legal and legislative committee has on July 2 approved a draft bill which states that no more than 15 percent Indians can be a part of the expat population. > Notably, of the gulf countrys three-million-strong expat population, Indians constitute 1.45 million, and around 800,000 of them could reportedly be forced to leave. > Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah had in June proposed to reduce the Guf state's expat population from 70 percent to 30 percent. > Lawmakers and government officials have grown increasingly vocal against foreigners in the country after the coronavirus pandemic. > Another draft bill by the interior that proposes changes to upgrade the residency law will also be forwarded to the National Assembly, Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh was quoted as saying. > The second draft law calls to encourage only those expats needed in the country and benefit from neighbouring and advanced countries. > Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem had earlier told Kuwait TV that it would be difficult to implement specific percentages for different nationalities. The previous bill, however, assigns specific percentages. > Ghanem told the daily that Kuwait has a real problem in its population structure and 1.3 million of expats are either illiterate or can merely read and write. This is likely to be a jab at 650,000 workers from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, employed as domestic workers in the country. > Ghanem added that the numbers would be decreased gradually, going from a 70 percent (at present) expat population this year, to 65 percent next year and so on. > Recruitment of foreigners will also be restricted to specialised fields. > The new bill is also expected to come down heavily on visa traders and MP and head of the Assemblys manpower resources development committee Khalil Al-Saleh has said the practise which amounts to trafficking in persons will be eradicated and must vanish. > Ghanem added that the Assembly is determined to finish the process before Assembly term ends in October 2020. Notably, elections are scheduled for November. Kim Victory, who has been struggling with emotional and psychological fallout since her hospitalization, with her husband, Wess Victory, at home in Franklin, Tenn., May 5, 2020. Paranoid hallucinations plague many coronavirus patients in ICUs, an experience that can slow recovery and increase risk of depression and cognitive issues. (William DeShazer/The New York Times) Pam Belluck Kim Victory was paralyzed on a bed and being burned alive. Just in time, someone rescued her, but suddenly, she was turned into an ice sculpture on a fancy cruise ship buffet. Next, she was a subject of an experiment in a lab in Japan. Then she was being attacked by cats. Nightmarish visions like these plagued Victory during her hospitalization this spring for severe respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus. They made her so agitated that one night she pulled out her ventilator breathing tube; another time, she fell off a chair and landed on the floor of the intensive care unit. It was so real, and I was so scared, said Victory, 31, now back home in Franklin, Tennessee. 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 To a startling degree, many coronavirus patients are reporting similar experiences. Called hospital delirium, the phenomenon has previously been seen mostly in a subset of older patients, some of whom already had dementia, and in recent years, hospitals adopted measures to reduce it. All of that has been erased by COVID, said Dr. E. Wesley Ely, a director of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center at Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Veterans Administration Hospital, whose team developed guidelines for hospitals to minimize delirium. 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. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here The experiences are not just terrifying and disorienting. Delirium can have detrimental consequences long after it lifts, extending hospital stays, slowing recovery and increasing peoples risk of developing depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Previously healthy older patients with delirium can develop dementia sooner than they otherwise would have and can die earlier, researchers have found. Theres increased risk for temporary or even permanent cognitive deficits, said Dr. Lawrence Kaplan, director of consultation liaison psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. It is actually more devastating than people realize. The ingredients for delirium are pervasive during the pandemic. They include long stints on ventilators, heavy sedatives and poor sleep. Other factors: Patients are mostly immobile, occasionally restrained to keep them from accidentally disconnecting tubes, and receive minimal social interaction because families cannot visit and medical providers wear face-obscuring protective gear and spend limited time in patients rooms. Its like the perfect storm to generate delirium; it really, really is, said Dr. Sharon Inouye, a leading delirium expert who founded the Hospital Elder Life Program, guidelines that have helped to significantly decrease delirium among older patients. Both her program and Elys have devised recommendations for reducing delirium during the pandemic. The virus itself or the bodys response to it may also generate neurological effects, flipping people into more of a delirium state, said Dr. Sajan Patel, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco. The oxygen depletion and inflammation that many seriously ill coronavirus patients experience can affect the brain and other organs besides the lungs. Kidney or liver failure can lead to buildup of delirium-promoting medications. Some patients develop small blood clots that do not cause strokes but spur subtle circulation disruption that might trigger cognitive problems and delirium, Inouye said. Nails in a Rotating Head AK-47, Ron Temko wrote in shaky handwriting from his hospital bed. Then he pointed at his neck to show where the assault rifle should aim. Temko, a 69-year-old mortgage company executive, could not speak because of the breathing tube in his mouth he had been on a ventilator at UCSF Medical Center for about three weeks by then. So, on a Zoom call nurses arranged with his family, he wrote on paper attached to a clipboard. He wants us to kill him, his son gasped, according to Temko and his wife Linda. No, honey, Linda implored, youre going to be OK. At home now in San Francisco after a 60-day hospitalization, Temko said his suggestion that his family shoot him stemmed from a delirium-fueled delusion that he had been abducted. I was in a paranoiac phase where I thought there was some sort of conspiracy against me, he said. When he was first placed on the ventilator, doctors used a lighter sedative, propofol, and dialed it down for hours so he could be awake and know where he was a regimen to try to avoid delirium, said Dr. Daniel Burkhardt, an anesthesiologist and intensivist who treated him. But then Temkos respiratory failure worsened. His blood pressure plummeted, a condition propofol intensifies. To allow the ventilator to completely breathe for him, doctors had him chemically paralyzed, which required heavier sedatives to prevent the trauma of being conscious while unable to move. So Temkos sedation was switched to midazolam, a benzodiazepine, and fentanyl, an opioid drugs that exacerbate delirium. We had no choice, Burkhardt said. If youre very sick and very unstable, basically what happens is we conclude you have bigger problems. You know, I have to get you to live through it first. After about two weeks, the sedative-weaning process began, but other delirium-related quandaries emerged. Temko began experiencing pain and anxiety, compelling doctors to balance treating those conditions with using medications that can worsen delirium, they said. The repeated nursing visits Temko needed interrupted his sleep-wake cycle, so he would often take daytime naps and become sleepless and agitated at night, said Jason Bloomer, an ICU nurse. At home, his wife kept her phone by her pillow so she could hear him via a nurses tablet. He would wake up and was confused and anxious and hed start getting all worked up to where the ventilator couldnt work, said Linda Temko, who would reassure him, Its OK, breathe. His hallucinations included a rotating human head. Every time it came around, someone put a nail in it, and I could see that the person was still alive, he said. He imagined that his wristwatch (which was actually at home) was stolen by a man who turned it into a catheter. The man played a recording of Ben Bernanke, the former Federal Reserve chairman, and told Temko that because he recognized the name, You know too much, youre not leaving the hospital. When Bloomer asked, Do you feel safe?, Temko shook his head no and mouthed around his breathing tube: Help me. Later, he became despairing. I did not know if I wanted to live or die, he said. He met with Kaplan, the psychiatrist, who recognized his symptoms as delirium, partly because Temko bungled tests like naming the months backward and counting down from 100 by sevens. He could only get from 100 to 93, Kaplan said, adding, The cardinal sin of delirium is always impaired attention. Kaplan prescribed Seroquel, which he said helps with perceptual disturbances and anxiety. Temko said another turning point came when Bloomer said that with months of hard work, recovery was likely. An optimistic cognitive sign, said Kaplan, is that Temko can now describe his delirium in much more detail than he could several weeks ago. I Saw the Devil Some coronavirus patients develop delirium even after relatively short ICU stints. Anatolio Jose Rios, 57, was intubated for just four days at Massachusetts General Hospital and did not receive highly delirium-inducing sedatives. Still, as sedation was lifted, he heard booms, and saw flashes of light and people praying for him. Oh my God, that was scary, he said. And when I opened my eyes, I saw the same doctors, the same nurses who were praying for me in my dream. After the ventilator was disconnected, Rios, a normally gregarious man who hosts a radio show, only responded with one- or two-word answers, said Dr. Peggy Lai, who treated him. I saw people lying on the floor like they were dead in the ICU, he said. He imagined a vampirelike woman in his room. He was convinced people in the hall outside were armed with guns, threatening him. Doctor, do you see that? he recalled saying. They want to kill me. He asked if the door was bulletproof and, to calm him, the doctor said yes. Like many delirious patients, Rios warped typical hospital activities into paranoid imaginings. Watching a hospital employee hanging a piece of paper, he said, he thought he saw a noose and feared he would be hanged. His delusions were not helped by one of many seemingly small delirium-fueling factors: His eyeglasses had not yet been returned to him. After 10 days of hospitalization, he spent two months in a rehabilitation center because of foot inflammation, recently returning to his East Boston apartment. In May, his father in Mexico died of COVID-19, Rios said. He reflected on another hallucination in the hospital. I saw the devil, and I asked him, Can you give me another chance? and he said, Yes, but you know the price, Rios recalled. Now I think I know the price was my father. Down a Rabbit Hole Two months after returning home from her three-week hospitalization, Victory said she has been experiencing troubling emotional and psychological symptoms, including depression and insomnia. She has been noticing the smell of cigarettes or wood burning, a figment of her imagination. I feel like Im going down a rabbit hole, and I dont know when I will be back to myself, she said. Dr. Kevin Hageman, one of her physicians at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said she was pretty profoundly delirious. Victory, a Vietnamese immigrant and previously healthy community college student majoring in biochemistry, said she did not remember yanking out her breathing tube, which was reinserted. But she recalled visions blending horror with absurdity. One moment, scientists in Japan were testing chemicals on her; the next, she was telling them, I am an American, and I have a right to eat a cheeseburger and drink Coca-Cola, she recalled, adding: I dont even like cheeseburgers. Along with this agitated hyperactive delirium, she experienced internalized hypoactive delirium. In a recovery room after leaving the ICU, she would stare for 10 to 20 seconds when asked basic questions, said Hageman, adding, Nothing was quite processing. Victory managed to take a picture of herself with nasal oxygen tubes and a forehead scar, post it on Facebook and write Im alive in Vietnamese so her parents in Vietnam would know she had survived. But another day, she called her husband, Wess Victory, 15 or 20 times, repeatedly saying, I give you two hours to come pick me up. It was heartbreaking, said Wess Victory, who patiently told her she could not be released yet. For four or five days, she still couldnt remember what year it was, who the president was. Finally, he said, something clicked. Now, to help overcome the fallout from the experience, she has started taking an antidepressant her doctor prescribed and recently saw a psychologist. People think when the patient got well and out of the hospital, it will be OK, its over, Kim Victory said. I worry if the virus didnt kill me back then, would that have affected my body enough to kill me now? c.2020 The New York Times Company The policies of forest and environment ministry are totally outdated and should be discarded. While sitting in buildings, they forbid the cutting of bamboos for 25 years, lamented Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of roads, transport, shipping and water resources. For the uninitiated, bamboo grown on non-forest land was reclassified as a grass in 2017, after 90 years of legally being a tree. This was meant to allow easier harvests as it got excluded from the mandate of the Indian Forest Act, which requires several permissions for the cutting of a tree. Mr Gadkaris statement reflects that he strictly referred to lack of access to bamboo on forest land which may have hindered the access to livelihoods. This is a wild goose chase! It is pertinent to look at whether the law is the only thing that restricts the development of a vibrant bamboo industry. The short answer is no. Several successive bamboo missions have been initiated to bring bamboo to the forefront, making them the national go-to activity in forestry without ever arriving at the promised land. If law was the only barrier, it would have affected the development of the beedi industry too, as even the tendu leaves, which are used to make beedis, are protected to a certain extent. Hence, there are restrictions on their collection. Then what is it that allows for such a thriving industry despite its tremendous side-effects on the health of millions? The answers are manifold. To begin with, since skills is not an issue, abundant labour is available for making beedis. Secondly, the product is uniform and minor differences in quality do not affect the demand. Thirdly, there are well established supply chains. Lastly, but most importantly, there is a huge demand. The statement of the minister is representative of the myopic vision of the current government, focusing on a magic-wand approach without actually addressing demand side issues, infrastructure, and the gap in skills. Unlocking the potential that lies in the green gold, as bamboo is referred to, will require tackling demand and supply side constraints. A common challenge that runs across handicraft-based industries, where bamboo is currently being used, is finding a system that enables capitalisation on the economies of scale. For handicraft value-chains to generate sustainable margins, they need to reach a market that is willing to pay substantially for them. The size of this market is going to be minuscule (in terms of total consumers as well as repeat purchases) compared to products which have wider utility. Thus, demand-side factors will determine which products are best suited to be made out of bamboo. The value chains will have be devised around the product to ensure that the communities who are growing bamboo and making its artefacts get a higher share in the profits. Apart from this, the industrial demand for bamboo, which has the potential for growth and scale, achieved by the Chinese is not at all being addressed. Currently, we have not explored such markets for bamboo as fabrics, furniture, and construction material, something which our northern neighbour has effectively managed. Moreover, an important point that needs to be highlighted is that the species of bamboo native to India, compared to that of China, present different opportunities. The size, fibre strength, hardness, and flexibility of a species will vary across geographies, especially when harvested from forests. This needs to be accounted for when converting bamboo to a marketable product. Focus should be on creating a holistic and sustainable vision for the National Bamboo Mission, which itself has highlighted shortcomings in market research, stating that "there remains a massive gap to address the needs, requirements and profitability of low and medium value bamboo products that are being made." While recent technological developments have made it possible to use bamboo as a substitute for wood to make furniture, large-scale value chains around it are yet to be built. A key element of this is that it requires moving bamboo out of forest land by enabling agro-forestry practitioners to grow bamboo. Bamboo from the forests can never achieve the standardisation and consistency that a large-scale industry would require. A lot needs to be done before success stories like Bamboo India become a regular feature of the industry. The fact remains that we have not been able to invest in long-term research to develop top-quality, high-end products which would make it a viable cash crop. Do you see bamboo furniture in IKEA? If the answer is no, it means that one, bamboo products in their current form are not aspirational for most people. And two, the kind of robust supply chain required to develop a multibillion-dollar industry does not exist. Until we address these constraints, watching the growth of the industry will be like watching grass grow. Few days ago, the Indian government banned 59 mobile apps originating with developers from China and also asked internet service providers (ISPs) and telecom operators to block access to these apps from the country. The Indian government says it received complaints against these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. The statement from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) states: "The compilation of these data, their 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 apps banned include TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community, among others. However, banning these 59 most prominent apps does not ensure that all your personal data is safe and that there is no invasion on your privacy. On the contrary, almost every app installed on the mobile device demands some or the other permission and access to personal data. Some permissions are necessary, such as a bank's authentic app may need access to your personal information to ascertain that it is indeed you who is accessing the app. However, as security experts have been pointing out, most apps installed on the device try getting permission for some totally irrelevant function or feature of the handset. As I had explained in one of my articles last year , that a simple app like a flashlight (not many uses it due to built-in torch feature of smartphones) was found seeking as many as 25 permissions, on an average. Any mobile app seeking more permissions than it needs is not only dangerous, but has the potential to harm the user either financially or through misusing personal data, thus violating user privacy. However, not many users even think twice before granting blanket permissions while installing an app. One of the common reasons I have come across from such users is "I have nothing to hide so why should I not grant these permissions?" Such 'lazy' reasoning shows the lack of understanding of the interconnected and greedy digital world that observes no boundaries. Apps can request outlandish permissions, but that does not mean that they carry out malicious activities, per se. Unfortunately, permission sought by mobile apps and granted by users is a grey area. Some apps that the user wants will not be installed if even a single permission is denied or some app may not work properly without those permissions. For example, the recently banned SHAREit app does not work without the user granting permission to access location data or contact list on the device. If you are transferring data locally from one device to other, why would you need to access location information and contacts? Here is a small clarification. The app developer may not even require all the permissions sought by the app. Sometimes, the app developers integrate ad software development kits (SDKs) into their code to earn money from advertisers. To allow these SDKs to target users with ads, the apps request countless permissions. The Arrka Privacy Lab from Arrka Infosec Pvt Ltd has explained the relation between app developer, SDK, increasing number of permissions required for an app to function and the risks it pose to users privacy. So far so good. However, in India, and anywhere across the world, people are not only using Chinese apps, they are using mobile devices too from brands with origin in that country. And many of these Chinese phones come bundled with pre-installed apps (known as bloatware) that cannot be uninstalled. At the most, the user can disable the app. But do remember, this is the same case with almost all the mobile phones sold. So either you will have to live with these pre-installed apps or disable them, irrespective of the mobile brand. Since the Indian government has banned 59 apps that come from developers in China, once these apps are removed from app stores, there will be no updates or upgrades. In addition, once ISPs and telcos block access to internet protocol (IP) addresses to these apps, the user will have no option but to stop using them. The question now is, how about other apps installed on your mobile device, its security and permissions? If you are using iPhone, then under privacy in the settings, you can check and decide allowing an app to access any particular service or feature. On Android phones, dangerous permissions sought by apps are categorised into nine groups. This includes, body sensors, calendar, camera, contacts, location, microphone, phone, SMS and storage. You need to go to privacy or permission from the settings. Do a thorough and proper check here and find out if that particular app indeed needs access to the group. As I stated earlier, the flashlight app does not need access to your body sensors, calendar, contacts, location, microphone, phone, SMS or even storage. So, you can safely deny these permissions. If the app works without these permissions, well and good. If it does not, then simply uninstall it as it would be dangerous for you and your personal data. Mainly, do check the phone access sought by all apps. Permission for phone gives an app access to your phone number, cell network information, call status, voicemail, VoIP, and allows it to read and edit calling logs, and even redirect calls to another number. Any malicious app, if given this permission, could spy on your phone usage behaviour and even make calls without your knowledge or approval. So What Should You Do? 1. Before installing any mobile app, make it a habit to read about the app, and its reviews. Notice if reviewers comment on whether or not the app does what it says it will do. 2. Check permissions that the app needs. Granting incorrect permissions can send sensitive data to cybercriminals, including information such as contacts stored on the device, media files and insights into personal chats. 3. Do read the privacy policies and terms and conditions of the app, as mentioned by the developer. 4. Find out more details of the developer from the play store. Also visit the website of the developer and search for more information about the app and its developer. 5. Install a trustworthy anti-virus app, which acts as a safety net, and can identify apps that are infected with adware or malware. 6. Feel like a royal while using your mobile, but be extra alert while granting permission to any app. 7. Be alert and cautious every time you use your mobile devices. It will save your personal data and privacy. Major League Baseball has apparently decided that there are 42 too many minor league baseball cities and, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred, after the 2020 season, that will change. There will be a new agreement between the majors and the minors signed and a lot of cities will lose their "Steel Rain 2: Summit," which was the subject of the new appearances of Jung Woo Sung, Kwak Do Won, and Yang Yu Seok, and director Yang Woo Seok, revealed the still cuts. In this film, Jung Woo Sung and Kwak Do Won have transformed their role of affiliation with North and South Korea. Jung Woo Sung plays the South Korean president and Kwak Do Won plays the director of the North Korean guards who lead the coup. "Steel Rain 2: Summit" is a film about the crisis just before the war after three leaders were abducted by a North Korean nuclear submarine during a North-South American summit. Jung Woo Sung, who plays the role of North Korea's top elite agent Uhm Cheol Woo, showcasing high-level action in "Steel Rain," has changed his role to the Korean President Han Kyung Jae, who distressed day and night about the peace issue of the Korean Peninsula. When Jung Woo Sung played the role of Um Cheol Woo in "Steel Rain." he spoke North Korean. When Gwak Cheol Woo played the role of Gwak Cheol Woo as a South Korean diplomatic, the conservative seat that closely communicates with major bureaucrats in each country, he showed off the intellectual charm who is fluent in three languages, including English and Chinese. However, in "Steel Rain 2: Summit," Kwak Do Won speaks North Korean. As a North Korean escort general who caused a coup and detained the North and South American leaders in the North Korean nuclear submarine, he transformed into a hard-line North Korean militant who didn't hesitate even with his powerful eyes and military reckless actions. He believes that the only way to live in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an alliance with China, which makes him rebel against the regime, leaving a strong impression with another unique presence. In this way, the two people transformed their role by 180 degrees at "Steel Rain 2: Summit." In North Korea's nuclear submarine Baekduho, which runs underneath Dokdo, the sharp opposition between the two who will show the fate of the Korean Peninsula gives expectations. Meanwhile, ''Steel Rain 2: Summit'' will be released on the 29th. Lansdale, PA (19446) Today Rain likely. Thunder possible. High 72F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Tucked away at 4290 Oberlin Ave. in a former Pizza Hut building hides the New York Grill, what owner and operator Steve Karaplis, 70, calls on 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. 2017 was one of those good/bad years for Tribeca Mortgages Fernando Zilli. Deals were flowing and volume was high, but Zilli had less and less time and mental capacity to enjoy the fruits of his labour. My life was completely shattered that year in terms of personal enjoyment, Zilli says. He knew that maintaining 2017s performance would be physically and mentally unsustainable. The tedious and time-consuming aspects of the business were siphoning off his time and energy, leaving him little opportunity to concentrate on his strengths: talking with people, finding what situations theyre in, and formulating solutions for their homebuying challenges. Business, and Zillis love for it, had both plateaued. Something had to give. Zilli powered through the next two years with the help of his Tribeca team, but it wasnt until COVID-19 slowed the economy to a crawl that he had the opportunity to examine his business and realize what needed to change: If the underwriting process could be taken off his plate, 60 to 70 percent of his time would be freed, allowing him to focus on creating new business. Zilli hired two dedicated underwriters, both licensed mortgage brokers, who now handle what he estimates to be about 90 percent of the brokerages communications. Zilli has used the extra time to put himself in front of realtors and their clients, re-evaluate the companys systems, and, critically, to recharge his batteries. In June alone, the new business model and the effect it has had on Zillis mindset resulted in 60 new applications. If the current level of activity keeps up, Zilli anticipates that his current volume could triple within the next two or three years. Im still kind of in shock at how well this is going, he says. Im at the point now where Im thinking, Do I need somebody to help me field how many calls are coming in? Zilli offers his underwriters a 30 percent split on the deals they work on, which means a brokerage will have to bank on a similar increase in business to justify the cost. Brokers running modestly sized businesses may wonder if the investment in an underwriting team is worth it. Zilli says those brokers, while right to fret over numbers, are missing the big picture. When they start a business, everybodys always looking to minimize their cost of doing business, he says. But a lot of times in doing so, you give up a lot of efficiencies and you lose the ability to grow at the rate that you actually could grow because youre so focused on the bottom line. The bottom line for Zilli? Im actually able to do the part of mortgage brokering that makes you money. The people part, he says. Prior to hiring his underwriters, Zilli says he was underwriting between 20 and 25 deals a month on his own. Now he underwrites five while his team underwrites 30 to 40. Zillis time is now spent dealing directly with potential clients or making presentations to real estate brokerages. His phone is ringing off the hook. Theres nothing else Ive done that has changed how I do business or generate revenue more than this one change, he says. Not only has it streamlined business, its actually made my life a lot better and increased the companys revenue forecast exponentially. Zillis story isnt an uncommon one. Every day, brokers from coast to coast work themselves to the point of mental and physical collapse trying to do be every clients everything. And the devil, in this case, really is in the details: Underwriting, critically important as it is, sucks. Its not fun and, aside from possibly helping generate a referral from a happy client at some point in the future, it doesnt drive that much business. But relinquishing a little control over the underwriting process? That changed Zillis life. If you can have 75 percent of your workload taken off your plate, youve got all this extra time to choose what you want to do with it, he says. And if you reinvest that time back into your business, its going to be successful. Moultrie, GA (31768) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 78F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Young Korean activists hold #Boycott Mulan banner during a press conference to boycott Disney's upcoming film "Mulan." Joining the movement initiated by Hong Kong citizens, they protested in front of Disney Korea in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Students accuse 'Mulan' cast of siding with state-sponsored violence' on Hong Kong democracy protestors By Park Ji-won About a dozen university students and others gathered in front of the headquarters of Disney Korea in southern Seoul to announce their joining of the #BoycottMulan movement protest. The Disney film "Mulan" starring Chinese American actress Crystal Liu Yifei, who came under fire for defending the repressive police who are cracking down on Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors, is scheduled to hit local theaters in August. The organization consisting of 12 civic and student groups chanted, "We don't consume violence. We oppose the release of Mulan. Stop the violence" and "We denounce the Hong Kong national security law as it is a violation of human rights." Stressing that the security law is a flagrant dismissal of human rights and the Chinese government has been oppressing Hong Kong's citizens with police brutality, the group criticized the company's lukewarm reaction to remarks from the cast including Liu, who justified the violence by siding with the Xi Jinping government against protesters. They said the actress is not suitable to portray the heroin character. "Disney held an unequivocal position about opinionated actors working for their films. In the past, it has insisted some actors apologize for making misogynistic remarks. But for the remarks of Mulan stars Crystal Liu Yifei and Donnie Yen, who backed the violent Hong Kong police force and the passage of the national security law, it didn't take any measures. It is a double standard and hurts the democratic movement," Park Do-hyoung, co-leader of the Declaration of Global Citizen in Korea, told The Korea Times. "Disney picked Liu Yifei for the lead role of Mulan to depict a woman who overcame discrimination against her. But she just backed the violence imposed against Hong Kong citizens, which is unacceptable," Park added. The Chinese American actress had stirred controversy last year after showing her support for the Hong Kong police on her social media account when the clashes between police and the people of Hong Kong reached its peak. Donnie Yen also backed the Chinese government and the passage of the law. A screen capture from Weibo of Crystal Liu Yifei Korea Times file In August, Liu wrote on her Weibo account that "I support Hong Kong Police. What a shame for Hong Kong" in English and "I also support Hong Kong police" and "You guys can beat me" in Chinese. The democracy protests in Hong Kong divided people in show business. Cantonese pop diva Denise Ho has taken the lead role in the popular protest against the Chinese government. She travelled the world and gave interviews to mainstream media to raise awareness of democracy in Hong Kong in peril. Her active participation in the pro-Hong Kong rallies dealt a blow to her career as she has been effectively banned from the lucrative mainstream Chinese market. But Ho is just one of a very small group of celebrities vocal against China. Most celebrities turned their back on the protestors, supporting the police who brutally cracked down on the protestors. Crystal Liu Yefei is one of the celebrities who sided with the repressive Chinese government. However, the Mulan actress' attitudes have drawn the ire of some groups in Korea. Korean students and activists joined hands to boycott the Disney film starring the controversial actress. They urged a ban on distribution and screening of "Mulan," describing it as a movie that justified state-sponsored violence on democracy protestors. "We demand an apology from Disney for keeping silent about Crystal Liu Yifei and Donnie Yen. We also ask you to cancel the release of Mulan. Otherwise, we will take actions to continue the boycott," Lee Seo-lla, co-leader of the Declaration of Global Citizen in Korea, said during a press conference held on the sidelines of the protest in Seoul, Thursday. The group tried to meet Disney officials to hand over their letter of complaint, but they were blocked at the entrance of the headquarters with security concerns cited by the company. Disney was also not available to further comment on the issue. Solidarity with Hong Kong citizens The protest came only a day after the Hong Kong Security legislation was passed. While the Korean government did not openly back the passage of the law, it insisted on respecting the 1984 declaration between China and Britain. Some considered this stance a form of silent support and in effect complicity on the part of the Korean government. Also, the protest came after a number of Korean people, especially young Koreans, carried out activities to show solidarity with the people of Hong Kong, with the shared understanding that it is important to protect democracy in the region. Since August last year, the hashtag "#BoycottMulan" has been spreading across the internet since Hong Kong was in the middle of the massive pro-democracy protests. Some university students have created "Lennon Walls" in their schools to express support for the movement in Hong Kong. The walls are a place for people to put colorful sticky notes with messages of solidarity. Some civic organizations have also held street rallies urging the Chinese government to stop its oppressive moves. A member from a collective of civic organizations determined to boycott Disney's upcoming film "Mulan" puts a sticky note on a "Lennon Wall" to show solidarity with Hong Kong citizens in front of the animation company's Korea headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk A group of civic organizations hold a press conference to show their determination to boycott Disney's upcoming film "Mulan" and show solidarity with Hong Kong citizens in front of the animation company's Korea headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk The West Texas Blowout, which was scheduled for July 17-18 has been canceled, according to a press release. The city of Midland officials upheld Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order that local government must approve outdoor gatherings in excess of 100 people and is prohibiting the event. The government plans to finalize its capital gains tax scheme by the end of July. / Korea Times file By Anna J. Park Retail investors' disgruntled voices are being raised over the government's planned capital gains tax scheme, which will go into effect in 2023. The government earlier said it plans to introduce a capital gains tax of 20 percent to 25 percent on retail investors' profits earned through the selling of stocks both in the major KOSPI and tech-savvy KOSDAQ markets. The tax will be levied on those who earn more than 20 million won ($16,700) a year in profits by trading stocks, and a 25 percent capital gains tax will be levied on those who earn more than 300 million won ($250,000) a year. Meanwhile, the securities transaction tax will be lowered from 0.25 percent to 0.15 percent, the outline said. Because retail investors here have so far been exempt from the capital gains tax, unlike institutional investors who have been paying a 20 percent corporate tax on profits they earn through stock investment, the government's planned move seems largely in line with the principle of taxation that where there is income, there's tax. Yet, the devil is in the details. Even considering that these "schemes" have yet to be finalized as lots of outstanding issues should be addressed, some of the tax schemes seem quite bizarre and arbitrary at the expense of healthy growth of the capital market. One of the main problems from the outline is that it does not differentiate short-term and long-term investors; whether an investor holds a stock for a few minutes or for years, the investor is subject to the same rate of capital gains tax. In the United States, the capital gain tax differs depending on how long an investor holds stocks before selling them. If an investor holds the stocks for more than a year before selling, then it is considered a long-term gain and will be taxed at a lower rate. From that standpoint, the current tax plan could encourage the act of day trading, while long-term investors will be stripped of incentives to hold valuable stocks for a long time. Furthermore, as long-term investors normally and usually focus on a company's substantial growth potential over a long period of time, they tend to generate bigger amounts of profit, once they decide to sell the shares. Thus, they're more prone to be levied with a 25 percent capital gains tax that is imposed when the profit is more than 300 million won. This means that under the current system, it is more advisable to sell the stocks before the profit hits the 300 million won mark, which could hurt the appetites of investors weighing in on long-term investments. Another central point of debate about the tentative plan is that the capital gains tax is collected every month, and every May excessively imposed taxes will be returned to investors upon their request. Insiders express their bewilderment about the plan, saying monthly collection of the tax reduces investors' compounding interest effect of their investment money. The government takes the money for zero interest for several months before returning the money to investors, when the money could be used for other investments. The finance ministry told lawmakers that such a monthly collection is to serve the convenience of investors. Yet, such a rationale is not convincing at all, given that the government is fully capable of developing a more logical system of annual imposition of the tax, while protecting individual investors' investment motivations. The three-year period of aggregating financial profits is also criticized that the length is too short and arbitrary. According to the plan, an investor's profits or losses from the stock market will be carried forward to following years during a three-year period so that the capital gains tax could be levied appropriately. However, in the cases of the U.S., U.K., and Germany, the aggregating period is unlimited, while France gives a 10-year period. The finance ministry plans to finalize the tax system at the end of this month. However, many discontented retail investors are planning to leave the stock market before the arrival of 2023, and are instead aiming to invest in more systemized stock markets like the U.S. Korea's government should not forget the lesson offered by Taiwan's two failed attempts to introduce a capital gains tax in 1989 and 2013. The country could not help but finally abolish the adoption of the tax at the end of 2015, after severe market crashes and a decline in stock trading volume. The economic pain being inflicted by the pandemic is being felt not only by every business around the globe but by the medical professionals and hospitals treating coronavirus patients. The irony to me is that a medical illness has created a lot of economic struggle within the practice of medicine, said Dr. Tim Benton, with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of the Permian Basin, during a recent webinar dealing with the impact of both low oil prices and the pandemic on rural hospitals. Benton said slowdown in patient volumes led to decreased revenues and increased strain on physicians and their practices. Tom Banning, head of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, called the stay-at-home orders a gut punch to practices around the country, leading to an estimated 60 to 70 percent drop in office visits, which corresponded to a 60 to 70 percent drop in revenues. John Henderson, chief executive officer of Texas Organization for Rural and Community Health, said that rural hospitals classified as those serving counties with a population of 60,000 or less were in financial trouble before the pandemic. About 44 percent reported negative finances and 27 closed since 2010, he said. Rural hospitals during the pandemic have been stretched either because they have struggled with PPE and have trouble with staffing and equipment, he said. Banning also said the pandemic quickly revealed a broken supply chain for critical personal protective equipment. Most primary care physicians -- and I would suggest most rural hospitals -- dont stock up on things theyre not going to use, Banning said. Family physicians, certainly in rural areas, dont need massive amounts of N95 masks or gowns or gloves or other protective gear. It became apparent very quickly our PPE supply chain was broken. We rely heavily on China to bring in supplies and that was the chokepoint because thats where the virus originated. If theres a positive to the situation, Benton said, it has been increased use of telemedicine, as regulations that have hindered telemedicines adoption have been relaxed. I hope looking into the future that relaxation of regulations will stay. We need help from regulatory and legislative bodies to relax restraints on telemedicine, he said. Telemedicine doesnt reimburse as well, so thats another consideration. Mike Miller with the Permian Basin Petroleum Associations New Mexico office said that access to bandwidth in rural communities could be a barrier to increased telemedicine. Theres not the bandwidth to support the functions of telemedicine, he said. Some places have 3G on their phones. Youd run into problems in southern Lea County with access to bandwidth. Were here on Zoom and have the bandwidth to carry it out. There are places in rural southeast New Mexico that dont have electricity. Benton said he has been working with the Permian Strategic Partnership to boost broadband access and is working to develop telemedicine networks across the region. Besides telemedicine, Benton said he hopes the pandemic will highlight the value of public health and population health. The crisis has underscored the need for more primary care and family physicians, who provide the majority of rural healthcare. Midland alone is short 40 such physicians, he said, and he hopes the pandemic will drive efforts to train and retain such physicians. Banning said he hopes that despite the expected revenue shortfall the state is facing, the Texas Legislature next year will continue the grants that send doctors-in-training to rural areas and pay off their student debt. Health care workers are undeniably the heroes in this with their courage and selflessness on display daily even as they struggle to keep safe with gloves and gowns and masks, Henderson said. Even though health care workers have done an admirable job, the system hasnt performed as well, he said. We spend $4 trillion a year on health care. We deserve better. The webinar was presented by Grant Swartzwelder -- president and owner of OTA Compression LLC, OTA Environmental and Kimark -- and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. Police will not seek those residents not following the governors mask mandate but will continue to address matters of public safety through prioritized assessment, according to Midland Mayor Patrick Payton. Payton said Friday he will not be asking our police department to respond to calls reporting individuals in violation of this executive order. The comments made Friday were part of a statement that was the latest in the disagreement Payton has with Gov. Greg Abbott, following the governors latest restrictions and mask mandate. Payton said Abbott should not continue in this pattern of executive fiat over the entire state without legislative checks and balances. The city of Odessa also sent out a press statement Friday, saying its police department will not actively be looking for people not wearing masks. OPD will evaluate violations of the statewide mask mandate, however, they will be prioritized with all other calls for service, according to the city of Odessa. The more serious calls for service will be given priority as is customary, that will not change. When responding to a statewide mask mandate violation, OPD will follow the Governors executive order and start by issuing a verbal or written warning. Paytons statement included that MPD will not be chasing reports of people in violation of the mask requirement as there will be multiple unenforceable scenarios and exceptions and circumstances that make this mask mandate unenforceable throughout the city. I will fully expect our police to pursue any calls related to a threatening or violent situation towards any individual arising out of the application of the governors mask mandate, Payton stated in an email Friday. As always, police will continue to address matters of public safety through prioritized assessment. The Reporter-Telegram attempted to contact the police department on Friday about the mask mandate. Abbotts executive order on Thursday having to do with face-coverings calls for a verbal or written warning for a first-time violator. A persons second violation shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $250. Each subsequent violation shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 per violation. The executive order hereby prohibits confinement in jail as a penalty for the violation of any face-covering order by any jurisdiction. Each and every one of us know what we can, and should, do in this moment of health crisis, and we should do our best to honor the lives and health of all those around us through personal application of masks in public places for the next few weeks, Payton stated in the email. This is not new to us and I have already requested these actions from our great city and her residents. If theres one thing I have learned from my time on the Midland County Hospital District board, it is that health-care management is difficult. One of the most difficult areas is payment for services. Payment comes to the hospital in many ways: private pay, private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid (to name a few). Each of these payors has different rules and different pricing. It is the job of the hospital to provide great care and navigate these ever-changing rules. Midland Memorial Hospital has been blessed with amazing philanthropy from Midland Memorial Foundation and many other funders throughout the community. MCHD also has a predictable stream of income from ad valorem or property taxes, which covers about 10 percent of the budget. As a board member, I am proud of the fact that we have been able to keep property taxes at a low level while caring for our community. We have been able to do so largely because we have secured substantial support from the federal government, through a variety of Medicaid supplemental payment programs. Unfortunately, over the last several years, there have been some significant financial cuts at the federal level. These cuts are forcing hospitals like ours to make decisions on the type of care we can afford to provide. Our team has gone through and made extensive cuts to the budget over the last several years. We have made hard decisions and have delayed expenditures, but even with these measures, we are still looking at another estimated $38 million in annual cuts coming down from the federal government within the next four years. That number is a staggering additional amount for MCHD to absorb. For additional information: http://www.sayyestohealthcare.com/ https://www.co.midland.tx.us/328/Elections-Office See More Collapse If we were to choose to fund this lost revenue from property tax alone, the tax rate would need to almost double over the next couple of years. This does not sit well with me. I do not want to penalize Midlands property owners; however, not having care in the community is also not an option. As this communitys health-care system, this puts us in a tough spot. Enter the idea of the quarter of 1 percent sales tax. This sales tax collection is estimated to bring in around $28 million annually. It spreads the burden among the broader community and those traveling to the community, instead of placing the burden squarely on the shoulders of homeowners. Sales tax is a choice rather than an obligation, as sales tax is not charged on essential goods such as groceries. It shows up when you purchase a TV. To put things into perspective, a $600 TV requires an added expense of only $1.50, an amount that goes directly into caring for our community. The board of directors of Midland County Hospital District has a long history of keeping taxes low while providing the care that our community needs, both within Midland Memorial Hospital and in physician offices and other delivery settings. Our ability to carry out our mission of Leading Healthcare for Greater Midland has been enhanced by significant federal funding, which is now in jeopardy. If we are to continue providing the vital community health-care services utilized by the people of Midland and the surrounding communities, we must secure new sources of funding. The quarter of 1 percent sales and use tax proposed by MCHD is the best vehicle to provide that new local funding, spreading the cost of supporting our health-care infrastructure to everyone who benefits from it, whether they live in Midland County or not. I encourage you to vote for Proposition A. 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! Jamison Jaron Weeden, 28, Okmulgee resident, left us June 5, 2021. Service of Remembrance will be Friday, 11:00 AM, The Chapel of Peace of the Keith D. Biglow Funeral Directors, Inc., of Okmulgee. biglowfunerals.com Courier-Tribunes staff of local journalists bring you the whole story. With in-depth reporting, local perspectives and insightful analysis of news in the Northland. Unlimited Access + eEdition Buy 8 Weeks, Get 4 Weeks FREE Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young speaks to reporters after arriving at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoul, Monday, to prepare for his parliamentary confirmation hearing. / Yonhap Gov't vows to seek inter-Korean projects separately from working group By Kang Seung-woo The government has hinted that it will seek to revamp the beleaguered South Korea-U.S. working group, a forum to coordinate North Korea-related issues, as part of its plan to push for more inter-Korean cooperation. The organization, set up in November 2018, has taken flak for allegedly hindering progress in inter-Korean ties due to its excessively harsh standards adopted on Pyongyang, and there have been growing calls here for restructuring its operation or even dismantling it. Lee In-young, the unification minister nominee, said Monday that he plans to distinguish what the government can do on its own with the North from what it can do under the format of the working group. "If I take office, I will review what the working group has done so far and take additional measures (to promote inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation), based on my ideas regarding inter-Korean affairs," Lee told reporters upon arriving at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue to prepare for his National Assembly confirmation hearing. "We need a creative solution to the stalemated inter-Korean ties. Sanctions should not be pursued for the sake of sanctions but for realizing their ultimate goal of building peace on the Korean Peninsula," the four-term lawmaker added. These remarks are seen as a pledge for a more aggressive and independent push for inter-Korean projects that are not subject to international sanctions such as South Koreans' individual tours to North Korean towns, which President Moon Jae-in has called for since the beginning of the year. His remarks come as the Kim Jong-un regime has harshly criticized the working group, citing it as a key example of "deep-rooted flunkeyism." "Even before the ink on the North-South agreement (in April 2018) was dry, President Moon Jae-in accepted the South Korea-U.S. working group under the coercion of his master and presented all issues related to the North-South ties to the White House. This has all boomeranged," Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader's sister, said last month. Lee is not the only senior government official to mention the government's intent to improve the working group's dialogue operations. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said in a press conference, July 2, that Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, had discussed this matter after the North demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in the border town of Gaeseong. "The foreign ministry assesses and so does the United States that the working group has operated fairly effectively, but we are also aware of domestic concerns about it," Kang said. "I was briefed that at the time of the special representative's visit to the U.S., we shared the perception of such a problem with the U.S. side and discussed how to improve the way it operates so as to dispel such concerns." The North, which has halted criticism of Seoul since Kim Jong-un suspended much-heralded military action, June 23, complained about the working group again, Monday. Citing former South Korean unification ministers, DPRK Today, a North Korean propaganda website, said, "The South Korea-U.S. working group has been a hindrance to cross-border exchanges and cooperation." Amid growing speculation that the South would push its engagement policy toward the North harder by passing over the U.S., Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University, remained cautious about giving any broad meaning to Lee's remarks. "Taking a closer look at the working group, there are few things that South Korea can do independently," he said. "In that respect, Lee's words can be interpreted as his plan to find more things that the two Koreas can do, and aggressively persuade the U.S. to cooperate on such inter-Korean projects." 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: BLUFFS Winchester City Attorney John Paul Coonrod is suggesting the village of Bluffs join Winchester in creating its own municipal court system to enforce city ordinances for such things as unkempt properties. He said the village could save time and money rather than having to take violations through the circuit court process, which can take up to six months and $1,800 in court costs. Properties may quickly become a problem again after the court proceedings are over, according to Coonrod. He said the municipal court process begins with an informal warning from an ordinance enforcement officer about a violation. If the property is not brought to ordinance specifications, the home owner is served with a notice of ordinance violation by the chief of police and must appear for a hearing. The ordinance enforcement officer brings proof in the form of pictures of the property to city council members to decide who will be issued a warning. The judge then decides the fine based on the evidence presented. The city is able to enforce the judgment and collect the fine money by putting a lien against the property or sending a list of unpaid fines to the Illinois Comptroller Office. The state office can take the money from the property owners state tax refund to pay the fine. Bluffs board members said they plan to discuss the idea at a later date. Reg Ankrom, president of the energy consulting group Simec of Quincy, told board members Ameren Illinois now has a lower rate for electricity than Homefield Energy, which is the villages electric provider. He said the company has an ethical obligation to tell people about this rate difference so they can decide whether to switch carriers. The village is going to post the notice. In other business, Chief of Police Dorman Deeder told board members the village is having problems with four-wheelers being driven in the community. Four-wheelers are illegal to drive in the village. Five stuffed bears were donated to the police department to give to children who are victims of domestic violence or in an accident as a form of comfort. GRAFTON City officials say Grafton is recovering and seeing new growth, despite budget challenges brought about by last years historic flooding, the uncertainty of Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding and the states stay-home orders this spring. Businesses have been doing well and I just cant say enough about visitors to our community and how theyve been supporting all of our businesses throughout town, Mayor Rick Eberlin said. Its very heartwarming. Fortunately, weve had some tremendous weekends as far as weather in the last month or so and that bodes well, he said during an economic update last week hosted by the RiverBend Growth Association. Im very excited about our recovery. Even before the pandemic, city employees and officials were struggling with flood-related expenses from last year and the time-consuming application process for disaster relief funding through FEMA. Eberlin, however, said the city is looking to business revenue, grant opportunities and new construction to help address its financial woes while awaiting flood costs reimbursement. Weve been working our tails off to try to get reimbursed for the expenses we put out for the flood of 19 and the cleanup, said Eberlin. Its just been a fight, tooth and nail, with IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA. Once you jump through one hoop and think youre on your way to getting things accomplished and seeing some finality to this whole process, then youre told to jump through another hoop, he said. It seems to be a never-ending ordeal. Eberlin said Grafton has applied for two grants, one to help a new development at the east end of the citys entrance on a piece of property known as the flat rock. Its about a 10-acre property that Ive tried to get purchased by a developer since becoming mayor, said Eberlin. Weve been close a couple of times, but this time, weve got a solid commitment. The potential buyer has an agreement in place with a nationally renowned business to come in and to build, he said, Its a facility that were in desperate need of and I think that once that happens, we will have other businesses follow suit. With a 25/75 split match on the grant and the use of Motor Fuel Tax revenue, Grafton hopes to provide the infrastructure for the project, including a frontage road and utilities. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to receive that award, which is going to help us put in the infrastructure we need for that development, said Eberlin. The sale of that property and development is not contingent upon that. But that sure would expedite the process and it would be a tremendous boom for Grafton. If all goes well, Eberlin said construction could start this fall with at least one business being completed. Thats just a prediction, he said. Its going to happen; its just a matter of when. Theres already been engineering done. In more positive news, the Illinois American water tower will again bear the citys name after it was removed several years ago when repainting the tower caused a public outcry. Thats being done as we speak, said Eberlin. People are very excited. It means a lot to a community to have that identity, so Im very glad thats happening. A turtle sculpture east of the lighthouse also is in the works, with artisans expecting to start as early as next week. With the construction of a new mill in town and addition of a museum on the west end of the existing visitors center, Eberlin said theres a lot of positive things happening in Grafton. All in all, things are going well in Grafton, he said, noting a recent protest in town. From a mayors perspective and town perspective, you couldnt have hoped for a better result. There were multiple people from different communities that wanted to organize counter protests and I implored them not to come to Grafton. They were very respectful and, as a result, we had none. As a mayor, Im very proud of our town, he said. We are a very diverse, inclusive town. And anybody who ever comes to our town will see that. Medical workers test daycare center children and their families at a drive-through center in the southwestern city of Gwangju, Monday, after two children at the center were confirmed to be infected with the virus. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Concern is growing over the safety of young children here as more preschoolers are falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to quarantine officials, Monday. Preschool siblings attending daycare centers in Gwangju were confirmed to have coronavirus infection that day, following a series of confirmed cases among children a day earlier, including elementary school brothers in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The two preschoolers, a girl, 6, and her brother, 4, in Gwangju, were confirmed to have had contact with their 70-year-old grandmother, who is among 110 patients in the region, according to the Gwangju Metropolitan Government. The health authorities will conduct full testing of children and teachers in the daycare center, and their family members. In Seongnam, a first grader at Tancheon Elementary School and his third grader elder brother were also confirmed, to have contracted COVID-19, Sunday. The brothers aged seven and 10 who attend Mukhyeon Elementary School in Jungnang District are the younger brothers of an 11-year-old student who was the first confirmed case at the school. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 48 new infections Sunday 24 local and 24 imported bringing the nation's total to 13,137. The daily tally marked a slight fall from 61 the previous day. One additional fatality was reported, bringing the death toll to 284; with a nationwide rate of 2.16 percent. Among the local infections, seven were newly identified in Gwangju, followed by five each in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, west of Seoul. Two were reported in Seoul, the KCDC said. As of Sunday, seven new cases were reported as linked to Gwangneuk Temple in Gwangju, raising the total of such cases to 87. One infection was traced to Wangsung Church in Gwanak, Seoul, bringing the related cases to 36. One hospital in the central city of Daejeon had a total of 10 patients, up one from the previous day. Daegu, once the hotbed of the country's virus outbreak, added no new infections. Earlier in the day, 239 scientists from 32 countries sent an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming that there was evidence showing the virus lingered in the air indoors, and the smaller particles present could infect people. This contradicts reports that the coronavirus spreads from person to person through small droplets in coughs and sneezes. However, KCDC Chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said at a regular briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong that more study was required on this new mode of transmission. "As far as I understand, it seems they raised the possibility of small droplets floating in the air longer and people becoming infected after breathing them into their respiratory system," Jeong said. "Although the risk of airborne infection has been raised, it is more effective to prevent the virus infection by complying with quarantine practices such as wearing a mask, adhering to coughing etiquette, and ensuring adequate and frequent renewal of ventilation." They werent supposed to say this part out loud. Gov. J.B. Pritzkers top priority is a progressive income tax hike. He is expected to spend millions of dollars on TV advertising to convince voters that scrapping the states flat income tax protection on Nov. 3 wont hurt them. What wont the governor say? That passing the progressive tax would empower state lawmakers to go after seniors retirement income. And state Treasurer Michael Frerichs made the mistake of saying so publicly. One thing a progressive tax would do is make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income, Frerichs said at a June event in Des Plaines, according to the Daily Herald. Kudos to the treasurer for speaking the truth. Illinois constitutional flat income tax is a critical protection for seniors. Heres how it works: Illinois now doesnt charge a tax on retirement income. But if Springfield wanted a slice of that money, the flat tax protection would force lawmakers to tax retirement income at the same rate as regular income. Thats a towering political hurdle. But passing Pritzkers constitutional amendment would allow state lawmakers to tax retirement income at whatever level they want, making the tax easier to impose initially. And Frerichs is far from alone. In 2019, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed taxing all retirement income above $100,000 per year and the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago proposed taxing all retirement income above $15,000 a year. In 2018, second-place Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Biss said he would only consider taxing retirement income once weve amended the Illinois Constitution to allow for a progressive income tax. But the groups backing Pritzkers tax plan know slashing retiree income is a third rail in Illinois politics. Nearly 3 in 4 Illinoisans oppose taxing retirement income, according to a 2019 poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. So, they quickly tried to cover for Frerichs. The AARP and Pritzkers progressive tax ballot committee Vote Yes for Fairness released statements assuring Illinoisans they only want more money from the rich, not from retirees. In fact, the official ballot language in favor of the progressive income tax, which will be published across the state ahead of November, explicitly states the proposal does not tax retirement income. Of course, it doesnt tax retirement income today. The worry is about tomorrow. If Illinois passes a progressive income tax, it would only be a matter of time before seniors see a cut in their retirement checks. Thirty-two states have a progressive income tax system. And all 32 tax some form of retirement income. The only state to pass a progressive income tax in the past 30 years, Connecticut, shows how Illinois retirement exemption serves as one of the only bright spots in an otherwise punishing tax code. Since 2011, Illinois has been able to retain residents above age 65 better than every other age group, according to IRS data. Meanwhile, Connecticut for the past decade has taxed retirement income, including Social Security, above $50,000 for single filers and $60,000 for joint filers. The result? The out-migration rate for residents over age 65 is more than double the rate for prime working-age adults. Taxing retirement income would be the breaking point for scores of seniors who still spend their money in Illinois. Pritzker wants Illinoisans to think wealthy incomes are up for a vote on the Nov. 3 ballot. If he succeeds, retirees are next. Austin Berg is a Chicago-based writer with the Illinois Policy Institute who wrote this column for The Center Square. He can be reached at aberg@illinoispolicy.org. In 1865, Illinois became the first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, banning slavery. But four decades before, the state had taken the slavery issue into its own hands. That was the convention fight of 1823-24, when Illinois voters shot down a call for a new state constitution that would have included legalized slavery. The bruising 18-month battle is one of the defining moments of Illinois history, and forever changed the course of the state. Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, was inaugurated in December 1822 and in his first address vociferously called for abolition and repeal of the Black codes, a set of laws to govern Blacks in the state, which were established in 1819. In 2005, one historian called the codes as odious as any promulgated in the slave-holding South. Coles would have none of it, despite his upbringing. Born to a wealthy slave-holding family in Virginia, he was closely associated with the likes of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, for whom Coles served as private secretary from 1809 to 1815. But Coles abhorred slavery and, realizing that his views were decidedly in the minority in Virginia, came to the old Northwest in the hopes of living in a free society. A week after Coles inaugural address, a committee of the Illinois legislature recommended a constitutional convention to decide the issue. The General Assembly was rife with pro-slavery men who were hardly secret in their desire to rewrite the state constitution to include provisions on black servitude. Emboldened, they embarked on whatever means were necessary to control the outcome. On Feb. 11, 1824, the vote in the Illinois House stood at 23-13 one short of the necessary two-thirds majority. One of the anti-slavery voters was Nicholas Hansen of Pike County, who was burned in effigy by a hostile group of legislators that evening. The legislature then worked to remove Hansen from his seat, despite his legal election. They prevailed and replaced him with John Shaw, a pro-slavery advocate, to reach the two-thirds majority and call for a popular vote. That night, a drunken celebration among the pro-slavery men loudly proclaimed their success just outside Coles boarding house in the new capital of Vandalia. With the battle lines clearly drawn, both sides dug in for the fight. In St. Clair County, a society for the prevention of slavery in the state of Illinois was founded, followed by similar groups in Monroe, Madison and Morgan counties. Clergy statewide generally sided with the anti-slavery faction. Meanwhile, the pro-slavery men adhered to a popular slogan, the convention or death! Fistfights among opposing sides were common across the state, and several killings were blamed on the issue. Coles himself was burned in effigy in Vandalia. Not surprisingly, the four newspapers of the state were equally polarized. Papers in Kaskaskia and Shawneetown became vocal supporters of the convention, while the anti-slavery Illinois Intelligencer of Vandalia had special backing. Coles himself purchased that paper and was a frequent contributor, writing impassioned articles to defeat the convention call. Coles became the face of the anti-slavery movement, and his remarkable efforts to defeat the convention resonate even today. A man of considerable fortune, he spent nearly $4,000 of his own money, four times his annual salary as governor and over $100,000 in todays dollars. Coles also visited each community in Illinois to meet with supporters and deliver speeches. Using his national connections, Coles enlisted the help of Nicholas Biddle, president of the Bank of the United States, who provided funds as well as pamphlets to argue against the convention. Biddle and Coles both appealed to Eastern abolitionist friends who contributed many anti-slavery tracts, which Coles distributed within Illinois at his own expense. On Aug. 2, 1824, the people of Illinois, by a tally of 6,640 to 4,972, defeated the convention call, a seminal moment in the history of the state. Had Illinois chosen slavery, the direction of the state and the nation would have been irretrievably altered. Coles suffered the inevitable backlash after his term ended, and eventually left Illinois, an unsung hero in the fight for freedom in his adopted state. Tom Emery is a writer and historical researcher from Carlinville. He can be reached at ilcivilwar@yahoo.com. Sonora City Hall View Photo Sonora, CA Later today the Sonora City Council will give the oath of office to the council members who won election in March. They include newcomer Ann Segerstrom and incumbents Matt Hawkins and Mark Plummer. The Council will also pick a new Mayor. Hawkins has been serving as Vice Mayor over the past two years, while Jim Garaventa has been the Mayor. Later in the meeting, the council will vote whether to extend a two-week trial allowing the closure of Bradford Street for the Sonora Brewing Company to allow outdoor seating. In addition, the council will discuss having staff draft a resolution about the city condemning racism. Meeting documents note that it is as the request of a pair of council members following protests that have occurred in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Todays meeting starts at 5pm. Participants from Korea and India join a video conference co-organized by the Indian Cultural Centre and the Embassy of India to mark the center's 10th anniversary, July 1. / Captured image from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in the Republic of Korea's Facebook By Yi Whan-woo Seoul's Indian Cultural Centre celebrated its 10th anniversary, July 1, with a video conference jointly organized with the Embassy of India. Also called Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, it showcases India's rich cultural heritage and promotes cultural exchanges between the two countries through the development of various programs. Among them are regular classes for yoga, classical and contemporary dance, musical instruments and languages, with more than 3,300 participants at present. Special programs have also been organized, such as lectures inviting Indian and Korean scholars to share thoughts on diverse aspects of Indian culture, politics and society, as well as exhibitions, cultural performances, film screenings and cooking classes. The annual cultural festival, Sarang, has been held since 2015, starting as a small event and growing into a larger, more colorful one introducing the Korean public in major cities to food, language, art, music, dance, performance and film from all parts of India. To celebrate the International Day of Yoga every June, the center has partnered with the Korean Yoga Association and various municipalities, including Seodaemun-gu in Seoul and South Gyeongsang Province's Gimhae and Miryang. To cope with the COVID-19 crisis and social distancing campaign, the center has been running online activities to keep in touch with participants and Indian cultural enthusiasts in Korea. The participants of the video conference addressed how the center has successfully expanded its cultural outreach since its establishment on July 1, 2010. In her welcoming remarks, Indian Ambassador to Korea Sripriya Ranganathan said the center has become a "cultural hub for the local community." Director Sonu Trivedi of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre expressed her "gratitude to all the individuals and institutions associated with the establishment." She attributed the growth to supporters and partners, saying they helped the center to move forward "in leaps and bounds over the last decade." Joining from New Delhi, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) which serves as the "soft power" arm of the Ministry of External Affairs indicated culture, spirituality, democracy and developmental diplomacy as the four pillars of the countries' bilateral ties. "While cultural and spiritual aspects reinforce our civilizational legacy, democracy and developmental aspects relate to our modern-day ties," he said. "Both India and the Republic of Korea as modern-day democracies can act as building blocks of cooperation between the two countries." Other participants joining from Seoul and New Delhi were Korean scholars and researchers, including the Indian Art Museum's Kim Yang-shik, Korean Cultural Center Director Kim Kum-pyoung and Kim Chan-wan, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies' Graduate School of International and Area Studies. Two men held in a U.S. jail on charges of engineering ex-Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn's escape from Tokyo are trying to use political influence to win bail and avoid extradition to Japan. Lawyers and lobbyists for former Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter have pressed their case before the U.S. Justice Department and State Department, as well as lawmakers in Congress, according to lobbying disclosure forms and four people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive matter. The Taylors have been jailed outside Boston since mid-May, when U.S. authorities arrested them at the request of the Japanese government. While it's unusual for Americans wanted by other countries to wage a wide-ranging lobbying campaign in Washington, the Taylors' effort comes as the Trump administration shows a willingness to depart from standard practice in a handful of high-profile criminal cases. Under previous administrations, lobbying to influence the extradition process would have been "a waste of time and money," said Pamela Stuart, an extradition lawyer in Washington. But although the Taylors' chances of swaying the government remain slim, "all bets are off with respect to the Trump administration," said Stuart, who isn't involved in the case. Prosecutors in Boston have argued that the Taylors pose an "exceptionally high" flight risk because of their skill at executing high-stakes escapes and should remain in custody while a U.S. judge decides whether they are eligible to be extradited to Japan. As the Taylors seek bail in court, their representatives in Washington have asked lawmakers to sign a letter calling on the Justice Department to support their request for release, according to one of the people familiar with the case. And lobbyists hired by Michael Taylor at the law firm K&L Gates have pressed members in the House of Representatives on "issues related to potential U.S. government discussions with Japan," according to lobbying forms filed in April. Meanwhile, the Taylors' lawyers have spoken with Justice Department officials about the bail issue, said one person familiar with the case, and approached the State Department to argue that Japan's extradition request should be denied, according to another. The legal team consists of defense attorneys based in Boston, Maryland and Washington, including Abbe Lowell, who represented Jared Kushner in the Special Counsel probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Lowell, asked about the lobbying, called Japan's extradition request "improper" and "baseless." "One would think that the U.S. officials would have agreed to allow the Taylors, who are far from any risk of flight, to be released," he said in a statement. "The refusal to do so is both heartless and incomprehensible." The State Department referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling in Boston declined to comment. The Taylors' legal troubles began in late January, when the Japanese government issued arrest warrants accusing them of helping Ghosn jump bail while he awaited trial on charges of financial misconduct. The Taylors arranged for Ghosn to flee on a private plane, concealing him in a box that appeared designed for audio equipment, according to prosecutors in the U.S. and Japan. Ghosn flew in December from Japan to Turkey, where he switched planes and traveled to Lebanon. The Japanese government asked the U.S. to hold the Taylors in custody while it prepared a extradition request, which it formally made on Friday. The Taylors were arrested in May, and a federal magistrate in Boston, Donald Cabell, is now weighing their plea for bail. Eventually Cabell will also decide whether there is probable cause to believe the Taylors committed a severe enough offense in Japan to justify extradition under its agreement with the U.S. If Cabell deems the Taylors "extraditable," then State Department lawyers will vet the case and submit a memo to the secretary of state. The decision to extradite rests with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Jeff Denham, a former Republican congressman from California who has described Pompeo as one of his "closest friends," is one of the four lobbyists at K&L Gates who have worked for Michael Taylor, according to the firm's filing. A spokesman for K&L Gates, which has been paid around $20,000, according to the filing, didn't respond to requests for comment. Over the last two months, K&L lobbyists and lawyers for the Taylors have communicated with at least three members of Congress, either directly or through their staffs, according to two of the people familiar with the case. The lawmakers include Representative Lori Trahan, a Democrat who represents the Taylors' congressional district in Massachusetts; Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat; and Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican who has criticized Japan's treatment of another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly. Spokespersons for Markey and Wicker didn't respond to questions about the lobbying. Francis Grubar, a spokesman for Trahan, said she is "monitoring the Taylors' health and safety" while they are in custody but "does not get involved with ongoing legal matters." On Saturday, the Taylors' family called for the release of the two men in a Change.org petition addressed to Wicker and another member of Congress, Representative Michael Waltz, a Republican and former Green Beret. "Michael Taylor is a highly decorated American veteran and hero," the petition states. "But today he and his 27-year-old son are being treated by our government as if they are terrorists." A spokeswoman for Waltz didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The Taylors have not denied that they were involved in Ghosn's flight. But they argue in court filings that aiding a bail jumper is not a crime under Japan's penal code. Prosecutors have disputed the Taylors' interpretation of Japanese law, calling it a "purported loophole" that "simply does not exist." At a bail hearing in June, defense lawyers emphasized that both men had voluntarily returned to the U.S. after Japan issued arrest warrants. If the Taylors had wanted to circumvent the judicial process, the lawyers said, they could have stayed in Lebanon, which does not have an extradition agreement with Japan. "There is no chance that these guys flee," one of the Taylors' lawyers, Paul Kelly, said at the hearing. Samuel Witten, a former State Department lawyer who helped supervise the extradition process from 1996 to 2001, said it would be unusual for the State Department to reject an extradition request that had been vetted by the courts and government lawyers. But he said he has occasionally seen people in the Taylors' situation seek to influence the extradition process by lobbying in Washington. "It's not an everyday thing, but it happens," Witten said. "It sounds like they're being really creative." WELLINGTON, New Zealand - When it became clear that China was pressing ahead with its encroachment on Hong Kong, the "Five Eyes" countries discussed a joint statement condemning the rapid erosion of freedoms in a city that was supposed to have those safeguards until 2047. But when the statement came out, only four of the countries - the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia - had signed it. New Zealand released its own, separate statement, worded almost identically. It was a sign of how, under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand is recalibrating its dealings with both Beijing and Washington - and walking a tightrope. After almost a decade of becoming ever more economically dependent on China, the Pacific nation of 5 million is seeking an elusive middle ground where it can be critical when its values demand, but without hurting its economic interests. This is harder still as China's authoritarian leadership shows increased willingness to mete out economic punishment and take political hostages, sometimes over the slightest perceived criticism. "China has changed under Xi Jinping and we need to adjust the way we respond and work with China," said Rodney Jones, a New Zealand economist who worked in Beijing for years. "It's become about common interests and trade rather than any kind of friendship." Like many Western democracies, New Zealand has come to the realization that China's economic rise has not, as many hoped, led to political liberalization. Beijing's moves on Hong Kong and its human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, both driven by Xi, are evidence of that. New Zealand was the first developed country to sign a free-trade agreement with China, inking a deal in 2008 that helped it dodge the brunt of the financial crisis. Since then, and particularly during the nine years led by a center-right national government, most of them under former investment banker John Key, New Zealand enjoyed booming trade with the Asian giant. Its goods exports to China's 1.4-billion-strong consumer market quadrupled; China now buys one-third of New Zealand's dairy and seafood exports, almost half its meat and wool, and almost 60% of its logs and timber. Migration to New Zealand surged, with students flocking to universities and rich Chinese snapping up investor visas. Before the novel coronavirus hit, China was forecast to overtake Australia as New Zealand's largest source of tourists within the next three years. This period also came with a growing sense, especially among big exporters, that New Zealand could not say anything negative against China for fear of upsetting the apple - and milk and lamb and kiwi fruit - cart. Under Key, New Zealand became the first Western nation to sign on to Beijing's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative, two of Xi's signature policies. But a reappraisal has occurred in the past three years as Xi has led China back toward authoritarianism, and after New Zealanders elected Ardern's center-left coalition in 2017. "I feel things are rebalancing a bit from the previous nine years, which were reasonably uncritical," said Helen Clark, who was prime minister when New Zealand signed the trade deal with China and has a close relationship with Ardern. In tweaking New Zealand's position, however, Ardern is seeking to be less confrontational than the Trump administration and Australia's government - which is viewed here as "deputy sheriff" to the United States - even while often making the same points. Ardern's office declined requests for an interview. New Zealand has also felt less beholden to the United States under President Donald Trump, who on his third day in office withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation bloc championed by New Zealand. This was not only a blow in economic terms, but also seen as a sign of Trump's lack of interest in the region. "There's been no attempt by the U.S. to build a coalition of like-minded countries," said Jones, the economist. In private conversations, U.S. officials say they understand the China predicament for a small, export-oriented country like New Zealand. But it is also true that Beijing has sought to drive wedges between traditional alliances to divide and conquer. Now Ardern's government is trying to walk a fine line. Since the Key years, New Zealand has become "cleareyed" about how China functions as a state, said one government insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Ardern raised the issue of human rights abuses in Xinjiang directly with Xi during her visit to Beijing last year - but behind closed doors. There have been statements on the increasing repression in Hong Kong, and calls for Taiwan to be readmitted to the World Health Assembly, even as Ardern said New Zealand still recognized that Beijing had a "One China" policy. Her government has also framed the decision over whether to allow Huawei gear in New Zealand's 5G network as country-agnostic and one to be made by bureaucrats, not politicians. And there has been a shift in the way New Zealand's government talks about military issues, including Beijing's military buildup in disputed waters. David Capie, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Victoria University, referred to a 2018 white paper that used much more forthright language than previously. "The Strategic Defense Policy Statement broke new language in the way we talked about China in the South China Sea," he said. "It was not hairy-chested Pompeo-style speech, but it's all there," he said, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. While criticizing China in some areas, New Zealand has made sure to find areas where they can cooperate - on climate change and at the World Trade Organization, for instance - to "provide some ballast in the relationship," the government insider said. "We don't want to be seen as supine because of economic dependency," he said. He characterized New Zealand's China policy as "engage but . . . " But Key said it was because of the strong economic relationship that the diplomatic one could evolve. "Now we are more interlinked by trade, so you would hope all parties can find a more mature and better way of dealing with issues," he said in an interview. In talking about how New Zealand can make difficult but necessary decisions, analysts and officials here hark back to New Zealand's 1984 decision to ban nuclear-powered ships from its waters. This effectively barred U.S. Navy vessels and led New Zealand to be frozen out of ANZUS, the military alliance with Australia and the United States. But to this day, New Zealand's nuclear-free policy has overwhelming support here, despite the costs. "We've been known as a country that speaks its own mind," Clark said in an interview. "New Zealand foreign policy is at its best when people think, 'The Kiwis are saying that they've figured that out themselves, they're not acting on behalf of anyone else.' " Tony Browne, New Zealand's ambassador to Beijing until 2009, said the nuclear-free decision gave the country "a lot of latitude to take positions without the constraints of an alliance relationship" - and could be applied to China today. But the challenge now is to chart a path without suffering the same blowback as countries such as Australia and Canada. After Australia called for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, China blocked its barley and beef exports. Ardern waited until a coalition of dozens of countries was ready to seek an inquiry before backing one, and said New Zealand was not interested in a "witch hunt." After Canada arrested Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, China curbed imports of Canadian canola and pork and detained two of the country's citizens. Businesses here are uneasy about the shift to a more nuanced approach toward China. As the coronavirus raged, a group of primary goods exporters wrote to Ardern, urging her not to allow any damage to the relationship. New Zealand has to deal with China "as it presents in the world today," even when that doesn't match New Zealand's hopes for China, said Stephen Jacobi, head of the New Zealand International Business Forum, which represents some of the nation's largest primary exporters, including the milk giant Fonterra and fruit, seafood and meat producers. "New Zealand has a lot at stake in this relationship," Jacobi said. "We have no domestic market to rely on. We cannot replace Chinese consumption anywhere else in the world." But others, such as Browne, the former ambassador to China, say New Zealand can't afford to ignore its values. "The navigation up to this point has been very astute," he said, "but the middle road is a hard one to follow." Bristling at calls for coronavirus inquiry, China cuts Australian beef imports China presses ahead with security law to curtail Hong Kong's political freedoms Escalating Huawei feud, China indicts two Canadians in spying case A "jonghap" or combination pizza / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar By Jon Dunbar South Korean pizza has come a long way over the last decade, but still the best pizza I've ever had in Korea was in Pyongyang in 2010. It was a few days into our one-week visit, and we were scheduled to go to a famous restaurant to try raengmyeon, or cold noodles in the local dialect. But one of the guys in our group, Michael Spavor, had requested we go to a local pizzeria instead. He knew his way around Pyongyang better than anyone, and I trusted that this would be a memorable experience. I recall the ride from the Yanggakdo Hotel, located on an island in the Taedong River in central Pyongyang, took quite a while. It involved a trip down Kwangbok Street, a scenic sunset voyage past some of Pyongyang's most "brutalist" architecture, including the Pyongyang Circus Theater. We saw massive concrete apartment complexes of majestic configurations, interspersed with colorful monuments to the Kim dynasty and connected by a system of trams, plus wide lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. The streets were lined with two-level buildings crammed with shops; one of these was the pizzeria. It was on the south side of the street, as I can remember seeing the Big Dipper when we left after dark, when all the apartments' windows were lit up with glowing lights of various colors. The interior of Pyongyang's pizzeria / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar We entered a drab, plainly decorated room, resembling the kind of pizzeria in other countries that specialized in delivery orders. There were a few other small groups, but looking at my pictures they seemed more focused on drinking. The menu was one large multicolored sheet, offering 11 pizzas plus a calzone, with prices ranging between around 400 won and 1,100 won, presumably based on sizes according to Koryo Tours this was around $3 to $7. Some offered surprising ingredients, such as zucchini, hard-boiled egg and, yes, pineapple. I played it safe and ordered a pizza con salame. Notably, "pizza" was spelled differently in Chosongul from the South's hangeul letters: bbi-jja rather than pi-ja. The menu of Pyongyang's pizzeria is divided into five sections, with the first two columns for Italian food and the others mostly for Korean food. But pizza only took up the first of five columns on the menu. The second column offered other Italian delicacies, including five spaghetti dishes and two "prusctto" dishes and one Spanish option, paella. Column 3 started to look more Korean: sashimi dishes featuring tuna, salmon, beef and cow liver, but also coffee and "premium Eskimo," a North Korean word for ice cream. The column also has another section for five bulgogi dishes, including ostrich bulgogi. Column 4 offered warm meals, mostly various types of "jjim" which we know as dishes that are steamed or boiled and served as a stew. But their version of jjim was radically different, going by the menu pictures. Galbijjim, known in the South as a rib stew originating from Daegu, here more closely resembled some type of mandu. And column 5 contained more recognizable Korean cuisine, including the renowned Pyongyang raengmyeon, stone pot bibimbap, yukgaejang, kimchi-fried rice and curry rice. Let's be honest: it's not a good sign when the Italian restaurant's menu is 2/5 Italian and 3/5 Korean. Who would come to such a unique restaurant and then order plain old Korean food? But the pizza came, and it was unbelievably good. Reportedly the ingredients were imported directly from Italy, and the dough was made on location. My individual pizza was maybe eight inches across, sliced into quarters, each with a big piece of salami. The cheese, sauce and dough came together in sublime combination. I haven't found a pizza that tasted that aggressively good since then, although I've enjoyed the hunt. Others ordered the "jonghap" or combination pizza, which counterintuitively came with different toppings for every slice. And yes, one slice came with a big ring of pineapple. The whole thing looked alarming to me but they all swore it was extremely good. A pizza con salame / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar It was then that I noticed our Korean guides were at a nearby table, slurping down raengmyeon. They always ate separately from us, probably just to relax, and I liked to give them their space. But I reached out and asked if they wanted to try a slice of this amazing pizza I had. "No thanks, too cheesy," one said, and went back to slurping his cold noodles. A cocoa-flavored carbonated beverage / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar Apparently Kim Jong-il, who was still the North's leader at the time, had pushed for offering more foreign foods in the isolated capital. The Guardian in 2009 reported that Kim had invited a team of Italian pizza chefs in the late 1990s to instruct army officers, and in 2008 he sent North Korean chefs to Rome and Naples to learn more. Their hard work paid off, and he authorized the restaurant in 2009, which I believe was the one I visited the following year, one of two active at the time. The food was presented as authentically as possible, with absolutely no attempt to localize it. No pickles, no compromises on the ingredients or quality to cater to local tastes or lower the price. It was great to taste this authentic pizza, preserved like in a time capsule in Pyongyang, but I wish I could have experienced our guides trying it also. Outside the pizzeria on Pyongyang's Kwangbok Street, the lights came on in apartments and the stars came out in the sky. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar Reportedly the same place is still open, but all the attention seems to be directed at a newer pizzeria opened in 2015 on Mirae Scientists Street, basically the Pyongyang version of Seoul's Digital Media City. That pizzeria uses lower-quality ingredients, according to Koryo Tours, and offers novelty options such as fruit pizza, fish pizza and tuna pizza. It's difficult to decide: should North Korea offer authentic pizza and give their people a taste of the outside world? Or develop pizza that's customized for the North Korean palate and budget, so it can be more easily enjoyed by more Pyongyang citizens? If I ever return to North Korea, it would be interesting to visit the same pizzeria again. But now there is so much more foreign and fast food there, and I would have to prioritize trying their version of hamburgers. And there is always the signature Pyongyang raengmyeon which should not be missed but more on that another time. WASHINGTON - A Senate bill introduced Thursday would encourage states to stop suspending the driver's licenses of people with government debt, a reform that advocates say would reduce the number of unnecessary police interactions with drivers and help people return to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Driver's license suspensions for debt have been criticized by anti-poverty advocates at least since 2015, when a federal investigation, focused on Ferguson, Mo., showed that law enforcement used fines to raise revenue for state and local governments. In 2018, a Washington Post analysis found that more than 7 million people across the country may have lost driver's licenses because of traffic debts. Sens. Christopher Coons, D-Del., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a news release that the number now stands at 11 million. The Driving for Opportunity Act, which they co-sponsored, would offer $20 million per year from 2021 to 2025 to states that repeal laws allowing license suspension for unpaid fines and fees. It would also stop the practice of reducing highway funding to states that refuse to suspend licenses for drug offenses. In a statement, Coons said a revoked driver's license "can make it nearly impossible" for people "to hold down a job and therefore pay back their debts," especially as covid-19 cases increase. "The Driving for Opportunity Act would end this practice that traps our most vulnerable populations in a cycle of debt while lifting an unnecessary and counterproductive responsibility from our police departments at a time when they are already carrying too heavy a burden," Coons said. Advocates of the law said 42 states and the District suspend licenses over unpaid fines and fees, while some have already eliminated driver's license suspensions because of debt. Virginia, for example, ended the practice in 2019, as did Maryland in May. Wicker said Mississippi banned the practice in 2018. "Suspending driver's licenses for unpaid fines and fees is a counterproductive penalty for Americans who need a car to earn a living and take care of their family," he said in a statement. Priya Sarathy Jones, national campaign director at the Fines and Fees Justice Center, said in a statement that "taking away people's licenses simply for driving-while-broke is bad for the economy, bad for public safety, and disastrous for so many families." "Policymakers must take urgent action to stop this cycle of poverty and punishment that's fueling mass criminalization, economic inequality and racial injustice," she added. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office will not enforce Gov. Greg Abbott's order to issue citations to residents that aren't wearing face masks, Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer announced on Facebook Sunday. Abbott issued the order on Thursday, requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases. As of Friday, Kerr County has 119 cases and two deaths, according to the county's website. According to the order, first-time violators will be issued a warning, and repeat offenders could be fined up to $250. Hierholzer, who has worked at the Kerr County Sheriff's Office for more than 32 years, told mySA.com on Monday he is not debating the need for face masks, but rather the use of local manpower to enforce a state order. RELATED: Coronavirus updates: San Antonio to test only the symptomatic "I don't have the manpower," he said. "I really don't. Abbott should use his state officers to enforce it. He has more officers at his disposal than I will ever have such as highway patrol, game wardens and TABC officers to name a few." The order also states that law enforcement and other officials "can" and "should" enforce the executive order. However, authorities can not detail, arrest or jail violators. In this Facebook post, Hierholzer takes issue with not being able to detain people who break the law. "In criminal law, detain means to hold a person in custody, often for purposes of questioning," he wrote. "... How can we stop and talk to or write a citation or even give a verbal warning, WITHOUT detaining." Screen Grab In addition, Abbott wrote in his order that the face mask requirement does not apply to all Texans, such as poll workers, anyone actively providing or obtaining access to religious worship, and anyone younger than 10. Hierholzer wrote that the order may be "unconstitutional" because it treats people differently. Hierholzer stated that he will do everything he can to keep his employees and the public safe but will not "intentionally violate his oath." "For the record, I strongly believe we should all be doing everything to stop this virus, but we cannot throw our constitution out the window. We will never get it back," he wrote. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg added a bouquet of white roses to a tribute on the city's South Side in honor of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen on Sunday. She "deserved so much more," he wrote online. RELATED: Investigators: Fort Hood soldier bludgeoned Vanessa Guillen to death on post The remains of Guillen, 20, were positively identified on Sunday, more than two months after she vanished from Fort Hood. The search for the Houston native, as well as her family's allegations of sexual harassment, sparked national attention from activists, lawmakers and celebrities. On June 30, her remains were found in a shallow grave along the Leon River. A manhunt ensued and Army Specialist Aaron David Robinson, the suspect tied to her disappearance, killed himself as officers confronted him. According to court documents filed by the FBI, Robinson bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer on base, then carried her body to the river. Once there, he and his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, dismembered and buried the body, investigators say. Marches, vigils and memorials have been organized in the days since the remains were found, as millions have watched Guillen's mother and sister's impassioned pleas for justice. Stephanie Melchor and Tracy Talavera organized the shrine at Cafe Azteca, at 359 Bustillo Drive over the weekend to give San Antonians the opportunity to pay tribute to the slain soldier. Nirenberg topped the heap of flowers left by mourners with his bouquet. He thanked Melchor and Talavera for arranging the tribute. "When our troops enter into harm's way, it's meant to be much farther than home. Vanessa was ready to devote her life to our country, but instead it was stolen," he wrote online with a pair of photos. "Say her name, pray that her family receives peace and justice, and let's commit to eradicating violence against women in every form." Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye As the temperaturess rise in the Lone Star State, the presence of Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria that can cause life-threatening wound infections, grows at South Texas beaches. In some cases of Vibrio infections can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. READ ALSO: Here are the fecal bacteria levels for Texas beaches heading into the Fourth of July weekend According to the CDC, necrotizing fasciitis is a rare bacterial infection that spreads quickly in the body and can cause death. Early symptoms can include a fever, severe pain and a red, warm or swollen area of skin that spreads quickly. It includes pain beyond the area of the skin that is infected. Last July, a Victoria man died after family members said he contracted a flesh-eating bacteria while partaking in a camping trip at Magnolia Beach, near Port Lavaca. His wife said her husband never swam in the water, but he did have open wounds and cuts that would have allowed the bacteria to enter his body when he was picking up his hat that fell in the water. Gregory Buck, an associate professor of biology and biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, told mySA.com necrotizing fasciitis is growing in coastal waters, but he said the cases are not as common as people may think. In fact, there is only a one in a million chance of getting infected if you take a swim in the Texas ocean waters. Scroll below for 5 facts you should know about flesh-eating bacteria. Lambert here: This classic post from 2013 retains its relevance today; somer readers may have been unlucky enough to recognize the dynamics on this side of the Atlantic. (Also, I mistook the structure of the Fourth of July. I wrote a Water Cooler on Friday, which was actually a holiday; so I will take today off instead. Water Cooler will return tomorrow.) By Mark Fisher, who was the author of Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (2009), The Weird and the Eerie (2017), and contributed to publications such as The Wire, Fact, New Statesman and Sight & Sound. He was also the co-founder of Zero Books, and later Repeater Books. He was Programme Leader of the MA in Aural and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London and a lecturer at the University of East London. Reposted from Open Democracy. Originally published November 24, 2013. We need to learn, or re-learn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capitals work for it by condemning and abusing each other. This doesnt mean, of course, that we must always agree on the contrary, we must create conditions where disagreement can take place without fear of exclusion and excommunication. This summer, I seriously considered withdrawing from any involvement in politics. Exhausted through overwork, incapable of productive activity, I found myself drifting through social networks, feeling my depression and exhaustion increasing. Left-wing Twitter can often be a miserable, dispiriting zone. Earlier this year, there were some high-profile twitterstorms, in which particular left-identifying figures were called out and condemned. What these figures had said was sometimes objectionable; but nevertheless, the way in which they were personally vilified and hounded left a horrible residue: the stench of bad conscience and witch-hunting moralism. The reason I didnt speak out on any of these incidents, Im ashamed to say, was fear. The bullies were in another part of the playground. I didnt want to attract their attention to me. The open savagery of these exchanges was accompanied by something more pervasive, and for that reason perhaps more debilitating: an atmosphere of snarky resentment. The most frequent object of this resentment is Owen Jones, and the attacks on Jones the person most responsible for raising class consciousness in the UK in the last few years were one of the reasons I was so dejected. If this is what happens to a left-winger who is actually succeeding in taking the struggle to the centre ground of British life, why would anyone want to follow him into the mainstream? Is the only way to avoid this drip-feed of abuse to remain in a position of impotent marginality? One of the things that broke me out of this depressive stupor was going to the Peoples Assembly in Ipswich, near where I live. The Peoples Assembly had been greeted with the usual sneers and snarks. This was, we were told, a useless stunt, in which media leftists, including Jones, were aggrandising themselves in yet another display of top-down celebrity culture. What actually happened at the Assembly in Ipswich was very different to this caricature. The first half of the evening culminating in a rousing speech by Owen Jones was certainly led by the top-table speakers. But the second half of the meeting saw working class activists from all over Suffolk talking to each other, supporting one another, sharing experiences and strategies. Far from being another example of hierarchical leftism, the Peoples Assembly was an example of how the vertical can be combined with the horizontal: media power and charisma could draw people who hadnt previously been to a political meeting into the room, where they could talk and strategise with seasoned activists. The atmosphere was anti-racist and anti-sexist, but refreshingly free of the paralysing feeling of guilt and suspicion which hangs over left-wing twitter like an acrid, stifling fog. Then there was Russell Brand. Ive long been an admirer of Brand one of the few big-name comedians on the current scene to come from a working class background. Over the last few years, there has been a gradual but remorseless embourgeoisement of television comedy, with preposterous ultra-posh nincompoop Michael McIntyre and a dreary drizzle of bland graduate chancers dominating the stage. The day before Brands now famous interview with Jeremy Paxman was broadcast on Newsnight, I had seen Brands stand-up show the Messiah Complex in Ipswich. The show was defiantly pro-immigrant, pro-communist, anti-homophobic, saturated with working class intelligence and not afraid to show it, and queer in the way that popular culture used to be (i.e. nothing to do with the sour-faced identitarian piety foisted upon us by moralisers on the post-structuralist left). Malcolm X, Che, politics as a psychedelic dismantling of existing reality: this was communism as something cool, sexy and proletarian, instead of a finger-wagging sermon. The next night, it was clear that Brands appearance had produced a moment of splitting. For some of us, Brands forensic take-down of Paxman was intensely moving, miraculous; I couldnt remember the last time a person from a working class background had been given the space to so consummately destroy a class superior using intelligence and reason. This wasnt Johnny Rotten swearing at Bill Grundy an act of antagonism which confirmed rather than challenged class stereotypes. Brand had outwitted Paxman and the use of humour was what separated Brand from the dourness of so much leftism. Brand makes people feel good about themselves; whereas the moralising left specialises in making people feed bad, and is not happy until their heads are bent in guilt and self-loathing. The moralising left quickly ensured that the story was not about Brands extraordinary breach of the bland conventions of mainstream media debate, nor about his claim that revolution was going to happen. (This last claim could only be heard by the cloth-eared petit-bourgeois narcissistic left as Brand saying that he wanted to lead the revolution something that they responded to with typical resentment: I dont need a jumped-up celebrity to lead me.) For the moralisers, the dominant story was to be about Brands personal conduct specifically his sexism. In the febrile McCarthyite atmosphere fermented by the moralising left, remarks that could be construed as sexist mean that Brand is a sexist, which also meant that he is a misogynist. Cut and dried, finished, condemned. It is right that Brand, like any of us, should answer for his behaviour and the language that he uses. But such questioning should take place in an atmosphere of comradeship and solidarity, and probably not in public in the first instance although when Brand was questioned about sexism by Mehdi Hasan, he displayed exactly the kind of good-humoured humility that was entirely lacking in the stony faces of those who had judged him. I dont think Im sexist, But I remember my grandmother, the loveliest person Ive ever known, but she was racist, but I dont think she knew. I dont know if I have some cultural hangover, I know that I have a great love of proletariat linguistics, like darling and bird, so if women think Im sexist theyre in a better position to judge than I am, so Ill work on that. Brands intervention was not a bid for leadership; it was an inspiration, a call to arms. And I for one was inspired. Where a few months before, I would have stayed silent as the PoshLeft moralisers subjected Brand to their kangaroo courts and character assassinations with evidence usually gleaned from the right-wing press, always available to lend a hand this time I was prepared to take them on. The response to Brand quickly became as significant as the Paxman exchange itself. As Laura Oldfield Ford pointed out, this was a clarifying moment. And one of the things that was clarified for me was the way in which, in recent years, so much of the self-styled left has suppressed the question of class. Class consciousness is fragile and fleeting. The petit bourgeoisie which dominates the academy and the culture industry has all kinds of subtle deflections and pre-emptions which prevent the topic even coming up, and then, if it does come up, they make one think it is a terrible impertinence, a breach of etiquette, to raise it. Ive been speaking now at left-wing, anti-capitalist events for years, but Ive rarely talked or been asked to talk about class in public. But, once class had re-appeared, it was impossible not to see it everywhere in the response to the Brand affair. Brand was quickly judged and-or questioned by at least three ex-private school people on the left. Others told us that Brand couldnt really be working class, because he was a millionaire. Its alarming how many leftists seemed to fundamentally agree with the drift behind Paxmans question: What gives this working class person the authority to speak? Its also alarming, actually distressing, that they seem to think that working class people should remain in poverty, obscurity and impotence lest they lose their authenticity. Someone passed me a post written about Brand on Facebook. I dont know the individual who wrote it, and I wouldnt wish to name them. Whats important is that the post was symptomatic of a set of snobbish and condescending attitudes that it is apparently alright to exhibit while still classifying oneself as left wing. The whole tone was horrifyingly high-handed, as if they were a schoolteacher marking a childs work, or a psychiatrist assessing a patient. Brand, apparently, is clearly extremely unstable one bad relationship or career knockback away from collapsing back into drug addiction or worse. Although the person claims that they really quite like [Brand], it perhaps never occurs to them that one of the reasons that Brand might be unstable is just this sort of patronising faux-transcendent assessment from the left bourgeoisie. Theres also a shocking but revealing aside where the individual casually refers to Brands patchy education [and] the often wince-inducing vocab slips characteristic of the auto-didact which, this individual generously says, I have no problem with at all how very good of them! This isnt some colonial bureaucrat writing about his attempts to teach some natives the English language in the nineteenth century, or a Victorian schoolmaster at some private institution describing a scholarship boy, its a leftist writing a few weeks ago. Where to go from here? It is first of all necessary to identify the features of the discourses and the desires which have led us to this grim and demoralising pass, where class has disappeared, but moralism is everywhere, where solidarity is impossible, but guilt and fear are omnipresent and not because we are terrorised by the right, but because we have allowed bourgeois modes of subjectivity to contaminate our movement. I think there are two libidinal-discursive configurations which have brought this situation about. They call themselves left wing, but as the Brand episode has made clear they are in many ways a sign that the left defined as an agent in a class struggle has all but disappeared. Inside the Vampires Castle The first configuration is what I came to call the Vampires Castle. The Vampires Castle specialises in propagating guilt. It is driven by a priests desire to excommunicate and condemn, an academic-pedants desire to be the first to be seen to spot a mistake, and a hipsters desire to be one of the in-crowd. The danger in attacking the Vampires Castle is that it can look as if and it will do everything it can to reinforce this thought that one is also attacking the struggles against racism, sexism, heterosexism. But, far from being the only legitimate expression of such struggles, the Vampires Castle is best understood as a bourgeois-liberal perversion and appropriation of the energy of these movements. The Vampires Castle was born the moment when the struggle not to be defined by identitarian categories became the quest to have identities recognised by a bourgeois big Other. The privilege I certainly enjoy as a white male consists in part in my not being aware of my ethnicity and my gender, and it is a sobering and revelatory experience to occasionally be made aware of these blind-spots. But, rather than seeking a world in which everyone achieves freedom from identitarian classification, the Vampires Castle seeks to corral people back into identi-camps, where they are forever defined in the terms set by dominant power, crippled by self-consciousness and isolated by a logic of solipsism which insists that we cannot understand one another unless we belong to the same identity group. Ive noticed a fascinating magical inversion projection-disavowal mechanism whereby the sheer mention of class is now automatically treated as if that means one is trying to downgrade the importance of race and gender. In fact, the exact opposite is the case, as the Vampires Castle uses an ultimately liberal understanding of race and gender to obfuscate class. In all of the absurd and traumatic twitterstorms about privilege earlier this year it was noticeable that the discussion of class privilege was entirely absent. The task, as ever, remains the articulation of class, gender and race but the founding move of the Vampires Castle is the dis-articulation of class from other categories. The problem that the Vampires Castle was set up to solve is this: how do you hold immense wealth and power while also appearing as a victim, marginal and oppositional? The solution was already there in the Christian Church. So the VC has recourse to all the infernal strategies, dark pathologies and psychological torture instruments Christianity invented, and which Nietzsche described in The Genealogy of Morals. This priesthood of bad conscience, this nest of pious guilt-mongers, is exactly what Nietzsche predicted when he said that something worse than Christianity was already on the way. Now, here it is The Vampires Castle feeds on the energy and anxieties and vulnerabilities of young students, but most of all it lives by converting the suffering of particular groups the more marginal the better into academic capital. The most lauded figures in the Vampires Castle are those who have spotted a new market in suffering those who can find a group more oppressed and subjugated than any previously exploited will find themselves promoted through the ranks very quickly. The first law of the Vampires Castle is: individualise and privatise everything. While in theory it claims to be in favour of structural critique, in practice it never focuses on anything except individual behaviour. Some of these working class types are not terribly well brought up, and can be very rude at times. Remember: condemning individuals is always more important than paying attention to impersonal structures. The actual ruling class propagates ideologies of individualism, while tending to act as a class. (Many of what we call conspiracies are the ruling class showing class solidarity.) The VC, as dupe-servants of the ruling class, does the opposite: it pays lip service to solidarity and collectivity, while always acting as if the individualist categories imposed by power really hold. Because they are petit-bourgeois to the core, the members of the Vampires Castle are intensely competitive, but this is repressed in the passive aggressive manner typical of the bourgeoisie. What holds them together is not solidarity, but mutual fear the fear that they will be the next one to be outed, exposed, condemned. The second law of the Vampires Castle is: make thought and action appear very, very difficult. There must be no lightness, and certainly no humour. Humour isnt serious, by definition, right? Thought is hard work, for people with posh voices and furrowed brows. Where there is confidence, introduce scepticism. Say: dont be hasty, we have to think more deeply about this. Remember: having convictions is oppressive, and might lead to gulags. The third law of the Vampires Castle is: propagate as much guilt as you can. The more guilt the better. People must feel bad: it is a sign that they understand the gravity of things. Its OK to be class-privileged if you feel guilty about privilege and make others in a subordinate class position to you feel guilty too. You do some good works for the poor, too, right? The fourth law of the Vampires Castle is: essentialize. While fluidity of identity, pluraity and multiplicity are always claimed on behalf of the VC members partly to cover up their own invariably wealthy, privileged or bourgeois-assimilationist background the enemy is always to be essentialized. Since the desires animating the VC are in large part priests desires to excommunicate and condemn, there has to be a strong distinction between Good and Evil, with the latter essentialized. Notice the tactics. X has made a remark/ has behaved in a particular way these remarks/ this behaviour might be construed as transphobic/ sexist etc. So far, OK. But its the next move which is the kicker. X then becomes defined as a transphobe/ sexist etc. Their whole identity becomes defined by one ill-judged remark or behavioural slip. Once the VC has mustered its witch-hunt, the victim (often from a working class background, and not schooled in the passive aggressive etiquette of the bourgeoisie) can reliably be goaded into losing their temper, further securing their position as pariah/ latest to be consumed in feeding frenzy. The fifth law of the Vampires Castle: think like a liberal (because you are one). The VCs work of constantly stoking up reactive outrage consists of endlessly pointing out the screamingly obvious: capital behaves like capital (its not very nice!), repressive state apparatuses are repressive. We must protest! Neo-anarchy in the UK The second libidinal formation is neo-anarchism. By neo-anarchists I definitely do not mean anarchists or syndicalists involved in actual workplace organisation, such as the Solidarity Federation. I mean, rather, those who identify as anarchists but whose involvement in politics extends little beyond student protests and occupations, and commenting on Twitter. Like the denizens of the Vampires Castle, neo-anarchists usually come from a petit-bourgeois background, if not from somewhere even more class-privileged. They are also overwhelmingly young: in their twenties or at most their early thirties, and what informs the neo-anarchist position is a narrow historical horizon. Neo-anarchists have experienced nothing but capitalist realism. By the time the neo-anarchists had come to political consciousness and many of them have come to political consciousness remarkably recently, given the level of bullish swagger they sometimes display the Labour Party had become a Blairite shell, implementing neo-liberalism with a small dose of social justice on the side. But the problem with neo-anarchism is that it unthinkingly reflects this historical moment rather than offering any escape from it. It forgets, or perhaps is genuinely unaware of, the Labour Partys role in nationalising major industries and utilities or founding the National Health Service. Neo-anarchists will assert that parliamentary politics never changed anything, or the Labour Party was always useless while attending protests about the NHS, or retweeting complaints about the dismantling of what remains of the welfare state. Theres a strange implicit rule here: its OK to protest against what parliament has done, but its not alright to enter into parliament or the mass media to attempt to engineer change from there. Mainstream media is to be disdained, but BBC Question Time is to be watched and moaned about on Twitter. Purism shades into fatalism; better not to be in any way tainted by the corruption of the mainstream, better to uselessly resist than to risk getting your hands dirty. Its not surprising, then, that so many neo-anarchists come across as depressed. This depression is no doubt reinforced by the anxieties of postgraduate life, since, like the Vampires Castle, neo-anarchism has its natural home in universities, and is usually propagated by those studying for postgraduate qualifications, or those who have recently graduated from such study. What Is to Be Done? Why have these two configurations come to the fore? The first reason is that they have been allowed to prosper by capital because they serve its interests. Capital subdued the organised working class by decomposing class consciousness, viciously subjugating trade unions while seducing hard working families into identifying with their own narrowly defined interests instead of the interests of the wider class; but why would capital be concerned about a left that replaces class politics with a moralising individualism, and that, far from building solidarity, spreads fear and insecurity? The second reason is what Jodi Dean has called communicative capitalism. It might have been possible to ignore the Vampires Castle and the neo-anarchists if it werent for capitalist cyberspace. The VCs pious moralising has been a feature of a certain left for many years but, if one wasnt a member of this particular church, its sermons could be avoided. Social media means that this is no longer the case, and there is little protection from the psychic pathologies propagated by these discourses. So what can we do now? First of all, it is imperative to reject identitarianism, and to recognise that there are no identities, only desires, interests and identifications. Part of the importance of the British Cultural Studies project as revealed so powerfully and so movingly in John Akomfrahs installation The Unfinished Conversation (currently in Tate Britain) and his film The Stuart Hall Project was to have resisted identitarian essentialism. Instead of freezing people into chains of already-existing equivalences, the point was to treat any articulation as provisional and plastic. New articulations can always be created. No-one is essentially anything. Sadly, the right act on this insight more effectively than the left does. The bourgeois-identitarian left knows how to propagate guilt and conduct a witch hunt, but it doesnt know how to make converts. But that, after all, is not the point. The aim is not to popularise a leftist position, or to win people over to it, but to remain in a position of elite superiority, but now with class superiority redoubled by moral superiority too. How dare you talk its we who speak for those who suffer! But the rejection of identitarianism can only be achieved by the re-assertion of class. A left that does not have class at its core can only be a liberal pressure group. Class consciousness is always double: it involves a simultaneous knowledge of the way in which class frames and shapes all experience, and a knowledge of the particular position that we occupy in the class structure. It must be remembered that the aim of our struggle is not recognition by the bourgeoisie, nor even the destruction of the bourgeoisie itself. It is the class structure a structure that wounds everyone, even those who materially profit from it that must be destroyed. The interests of the working class are the interests of all; the interests of the bourgeoisie are the interests of capital, which are the interests of no-one. Our struggle must be towards the construction of a new and surprising world, not the preservation of identities shaped and distorted by capital. If this seems like a forbidding and daunting task, it is. But we can start to engage in many prefigurative activities right now. Actually, such activities would go beyond pre-figuration they could start a virtuous cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy in which bourgeois modes of subjectivity are dismantled and a new universality starts to build itself. We need to learn, or re-learn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capitals work for it by condemning and abusing each other. This doesnt mean, of course, that we must always agree on the contrary, we must create conditions where disagreement can take place without fear of exclusion and excommunication. We need to think very strategically about how to use social media always remembering that, despite the egalitarianism claimed for social media by capitals libidinal engineers, that this is currently an enemy territory, dedicated to the reproduction of capital. But this doesnt mean that we cant occupy the terrain and start to use it for the purposes of producing class consciousness. We must break out of the debate set up by communicative capitalism, in which capital is endlessly cajoling us to participate, and remember that we are involved in a class struggle. The goal is not to be an activist, but to aid the working class to activate and transform itself. Outside the Vampires Castle, anything is possible. This article was originally published in The North Star on November 22, 2013 and is reposted here with thanks to it and the author. Yves here. Hubert does his usual detailed job of explaining what it would take to save the US airlines and why the approach the US is using instead, of saving their investors, is fundamentally at odds with taking the required operational measures. But the part I find staggering is that anyone with an operating brain cell would buy the airlines effort to depict their frequent flyer programs as an asset separable from the airline proper that can be pledged as collateral. And on top of that, the value of those frequent flyer perks has diminished in the eyes of their main market, business travelers. As the Financial Times pointed out: Frequent flyers grounded by the growing number of corporate travel bans are unable to collect the number of loyalty points they would expect from premium airfares and hotel stays not to mention linked points deals on the credit cards used to pay for these. Access to different tiers of membership depends on how much money is spent within a set period, leading some airlines to reassure customers that they will not lose their coveted perks as a result of coronavirus disruption. However, other US, European and British carriers such as Delta, Lufthansa and British Airways are yet to follow suit, which has angered some business customers who fear their membership to elite flying clubs that offer free upgrades and lounge access will expire in 2020. Note that no US carrier was mentioned as making accommodations. By Hubert Horan, who has 40 years of experience in the management and regulation of transportation companies (primarily airlines). Horan currently has no financial links with any airlines or other industry participants The biggest issue in the airline industry at the moment is how the largest carriers can survive the coronavirus-induced catastrophic collapse in demand. As discussed in last months post[1] there is no apparent way for airlines to shrink their cost structure fast enough to avoid ruinous cash flow drains. The taxpayer subsidies provided in the US ($50 billion to date, through the CARES Act) and certain other countries appeared to be based on the false assumption that the industrys liquidity problems were temporary and that revenue would largely recover by the year end. All of the problems described in last months post have gotten worse. It is now obvious that a V-shaped recovery is not in the cards. The large post-Memorial Day spike in coronavirus dashed previous hopes that international travel could restart, and that domestic traffic would begin a steady rebound. Coronavirus has obliterated most of the corporate business travel that is the most important driver of airline revenue, and a large chunk of this revenue loss may be permanent.[2] Mass layoffs are expected at US carriers once CARES no-layoff rules expire in October.[3] Airlines outside the US have either begun filing for bankruptcy in countries that did not provide CARES-magnitude bailout money (Aeromexico, LATAM, Avianca), propose draconian staffing and service cuts (Air Canada), or partially renationalize their carriers. Due to various combinations of bad luck and bad management, some airlines are much more vulnerable to short-term liquidity problems than others. Coronavirus has especially hurt the carriers (Delta and United in the US) with the greatest focus on international markets, while Southwest, an almost exclusively domestic carrier with strong service in leisure markets is relatively better positioned. United and (especially) American entered the crisis with the greatest debt and the fewest assets that could be used to raise cash. In recent years the large US carriers (again, especially American) had irresponsibly spent $50 billion on stock buybacks, leaving them vulnerable to recessions much smaller than the one they are currently facing. What Are the Goals of Current Airline Bailout Efforts? The moves required to rebalance longer-term capacity and revenue will be painful and enormously expensive. It is critical to understand the objectives of current efforts to save the industry, and how those efforts will distribute the pain and offsetting subsidies. An enormous amount of economic activity depends on having the most economically sustainable airline service possible at the lowest possible prices. If Washingtons objective was to maximize the economy-wide benefits while minimizing the pain and costs, the process would focus on accelerating the needed restructuring and providing direct financial support to affected workers and airports. The restructuring would need to only operate the capacity that the reduced revenue base could support, ensure that industry resources were quickly reallocated to their most efficient uses, and that unsustainable capacity and assets were quickly shed. It would also need to maximize the future the industry competitiveness needed to drive ongoing innovation and efficiency improvements. Instead, all of the actions taken and proposed so far are designed to protect the interests of capital accumulators. A simple one-time bailout of current owners might have been justified if there had been actual evidence that a V-shaped revenue recovery was likely. Even though the evidence is overwhelming that this hope is not materializing and that major restructuring is needed, Washington remains exclusively focused on the needs of capital. Successful past approaches (bankruptcy, federally supervised industry restructuring) are off the table because they would give voice to consumer and broader economic interests and require equity and holders of current financial obligations to take substantial losses. Policies and legislation are based on the fantasy that the best way to solve this catastrophic demand collapse is to let capital markets act without restrictions or supervision. Capital markets have never solved an industry-wide crisis of this magnitude, and capital market participants have no incentive to maximize local service, employment levels or competition, or to share the pain of restructuring. The short-term focus is on protecting current equity holders. If they can maintain control of these companies they could realize most (if not all) of the gains from an eventual profit recovery. But this requires misallocating tens of billions in taxpayer subsidies to funding prior debt obligations and aircraft commitments that are supporting unsustainable capacity. Washington has not made current owners make any of the major sacrifices that other governments imposed (at carriers including Lufthansa) in return for major bailout funding, or made them bear any of the costs of stock repurchases or any other recent management failures. Despite these efforts, the crisis is likely to overwhelm some current equity holders and investments but there will still be a powerful political bias to favor capital over all other interests. Competition in the US industry has been massively reduced in the last 15 years and the especially lucrative international markets have been cartelized.[4] Airline profit improvements in the 21stCentury have overwhelmingly come from reducing competition in order to increase artificial power over prices, suppliers and labor, and these will undoubtedly be the primary way airline owners respond to the current crisis. If one (or more) carriers collapses, the current relative balance between the four large US carriers would also collapse, allowing an overwhelmingly dominant carrier to emerge. Washington might search for a way to restore the vague appearance of competition, but investors would have little incentive to prop up structurally weak airlines unless given even greater power to collude and to limit service levels and wages. Carriers Announce Major New Initiatives to Raise Cash in June In the past two weeks United and American, the two US carriers with the greatest liquidity challenges, announced plans for major new borrowings. United wants to secure its final $4.5 billion CARES loan with aircraft, route rights, airport slots, while separately raising $5.0 billion from capital markets using its Mileage Plus frequent flyer program as collateral. If completed, United would have raised $20 billion in new funding since the crisis began, half via the federal CARES facilities. American announced plans for $3.5 billion in private funding ($2 billion in new shares and $2 billion in junk bonds with an 11.75% coupon) and a $4.7 billion CARES loan using its AAdvantage frequent flyer program as collateral.[5] American will have over $40 billion in debt when these announced transactions are finalized. Without new taxpayer guarantees (or dramatic coronavirus case declines), American and United seem to be very close to the limit of the money they can raise to plug their financial hemorrhaging. Right now, it appears that the markets and Washington will provide the desired funding. US airline stock prices doubled in the three weeks after May 15thand rose 50% in the first week of June alone, even though traffic was 88% below 2019 levels. One explanation is that this is just the latest of many examples that capital markets have lost all ability to evaluate risk or corporate profit potential. Another explanation is that capital markets believe that Washington will continue to provide whatever funding is required to protect current airline equity and debt holders. Investors with an unusually strong appetite for risk might want to take a flyer on paper issued by American and United, even though bankruptcy filings could seriously impair (or totally wipe out) their investment. Perhaps a vaccine will suddenly be found, or perhaps new legislation will authorize unlimited taxpayer funding to protect current airline owners. But the idea that pledging frequent flyer programs as collateral would materially reduce investment risk makes absolutely no sense. United claims a standalone value of $21.9 billion (12X EBITDA) for Mileage Plus while American claims AAdvantage should be valued between $18-30 billion. [6] These claims are economically meaningless. Both programs generate value as an integral part of the airline, but neither has any standalone value. More importantly, if the airlines fail to meet the covenants of these loans, attempts by lenders to seize total control of the collateral (or its cash flows) would accelerate the parent airlines collapse. United has restructured Mileage Plus around what it claims would be a bankruptcy-remote intellectual property special purpose vehicle but it is hard to imagine how these protections could survive an actual bankruptcy filing. These airlines understand the economics of frequent flyer programs. In 2017 American CEO Doug Parker publicly rejected the idea that the frequent flyer program might be worth $30 billion or more as a standalone company. thats greater than the value of the American Airlines in total as we sit here todayI find it odd that simply separating something that is inside the airline today and putting it into a separate entity with the exact same cash flows would somehow generate that much incremental value.[7] These airlines are only pledging their frequent flyer programs as collateral because they understand that they are facing an imminent existential threat. This desperation is also reflected in other recent moves such as the open acknowledgement that they will need to ignore health risks and fill every possible seat, their refusal to refund payments for cancelled flights, and new efforts to gut basic consumer protections.[8] If dumb investors perceive value that doesnt really exist, these executives know they need to exploit those perceptions. Frequent Flyer Credit CardsMore Valuable Than the Rest of the Airline Business? Airline frequent flyer programs were one of the greatest marketing innovations of the 20thCentury. Airline seats were a commodity product when the mileage programs began in 1981, but they gave airlines new ability to establish brand loyalty among frequent business travelers. They also made huge profit contributions since the award tickets issued in those days had close to zero cost. Given 65% load factors most award travel filled otherwise empty seats, and high-volume frequent fliers ignored competitive options and often paid higher fares. The economics of frequent flyer programs were further transformed once the major credit-card issuing banks developed airline affinity cards. The banks suddenly discovered a wealthy, high-spending customer base that would not only ignore competing cards but would pay high annual fees. The banks had tried dozens of customer incentives, but frequent flyer miles were the only one that drove higher fees, higher spend rates and strong loyalty. Cards that were already lucrative for the banks (thanks to Visa/Mastercards enormous market power) now became a license to print money. The airlines developed a massive new revenue stream from charging the banks for the miles accumulated through non-airline purchases. The economic power of frequent flyer credit cards became so great that one can argue that the airline industry had become a secondary appendage to this portion of the banking industry. Margins from these deals (earned mostly by the banks) were not disclosed publicly but they appeared to dwarf the returns the airlines had traditionally earned from transporting passengers and cargo. When 70% of US airline capacity fell into bankruptcy starting in 2004, the reorganization process was effectively controlled by the credit card issuing banks. Since the cards were so profitable, they happily provided all the debtor-in-possession financing needed to sustain operations. Had the Courts and the bankrupt carriers obeyed the bankruptcy laws, these contracts would have been cancelled so that competitive bidding between banks would have produced new, more airline friendly contracts that would have maximized creditor recovery. Instead, the incumbent airline executives (who had driven their companies bankrupt) worked to protect the credit card deals that strongly favored the banks. In return the banks fought to ensure that the incumbent managers maintained full control and would personally profit from the bankruptcy. In Uniteds case, JPMorgan Chase blocked all efforts by other creditors to challenge managements control of the reorganization process, even though they could not produce a credible plan after four years. This allowed United CEO Glen Tilton to personally pocket $30 million. While in Chapter 11, Americans management similarly blew off its legal obligation to provide its creditors with financial information about its Citibank arrangements.[9] Frequent Flyer Cards Had Become Vulnerable Before Coronavirus The airline credit card business had matured prior to coronavirus, and while still extremely profitable, appeared to have begun declining. The market of people who accumulated large numbers of airline miles every year and were willing to pay $100 or more for a credit card that would allow them to earn award travel faster had been saturated years ago. Despite major effort, US banks have had little success expanding reward incentive cards beyond airlines and travel directly tied to airline trips (e.g. hotels). More importantly, changes in ways that airlines managed revenue hugely reduced the value that frequent flyer credit cards originally offered. Airlines that could now fill 85-90% of their seats drastically reduced the seats available for award travel, especially to the destinations frequent flyers were most interested in such as Hawaii. That business class seat to Europe, which once required 50,000 miles, often now requires over 200,000 miles. Airlines could devalue frequent flyer points at will; industry insiders sometimes compare these miles to Zimbabwean dollars. They could sell as many miles to the banks as they wanted, but they never had to provide comparable increases in award seat availability. Using standard industry rules-of-thumb for valuing miles, the (indirect) cost consumers pay for free award tickets is often higher than the price of buying a regular ticket, and redemption fees can make that tradeoff even worse. Airlines also converted from straightforward mileage-based schemes to highly opaque systems based on ticket prices paid. This was entirely rational in terms of maximizing short-term airline revenue but it meant that holders of frequent flyer credit cards hoping to redeem miles for a trip had no way of knowing what it would take to collect the miles, or whether any seats would be available when they were ready to travel. Despite heavily promoting the value of their international frequent flyer partners, the actual availability of international partner award seats has been massively reduced. Frequent flyer credit cards remain popular because the idea that frequent flyer miles are worth collecting has been ingrained into consumers for 40 years. They remained useful to the small percentage of road warriors who fly hundreds of thousands of miles year-in and year-out, but most casual travelers have been getting ripped-off for years. Frequent Flyer Programs Do Not Have Any Independent Standalone Value Somewhat perversely, the airlines worked strenuously to conceal evidence about their most profitable activity. The Wall Street analysts regularly demanded detailed data about the frequent flyer business, arguing it would convince investors to give airlines higher equity values. But until this month, the airlines treated this information as extraordinarily confidential, and there was no way to glean any useful insights from SEC filings. Some of this helped hide failures to negotiate better deals with the big banks. Some of the secrecy was demanded by the banks who wanted to limit public awareness of how incredibly lucrative these credit cards were. To their credit, all of the US airlines and most airlines elsewhere understood that their frequent flyer programs were an integral part of their core business.[10] These programs provided critical customer data, were the most important driver of customer loyalty and were inseparable from their pricing and revenue management functions. These airlines understood that Wall Streets demands for data was so they could pressure them to spin off frequent flyer programs into a separate company and capture big investment banking fees. Air Canada succumbed to Wall Street demands to unleash the shareholder value in frequent flyer programs and raised $250 million when it spun off its Aeroplan program in 2002. The independent company failed to expand the business, but Air Canada needed to pay $450 million to buy it back in 2018 after realizing the folly of surrendering control of their most powerful marketing tool. Aeroplans actual 2018 valuation should also raise serious red flags about 2020 United and American valuation claims that are 45 to 65 times larger. Uniteds 15 June Mileage Plus Investor Presentation [11] was the first major public disclosure of frequent flyer financial data and confirms both their historic strength and current vulnerability. Frequent flyers are only interested in travel rewards; 97% of United Mileage Plus mileage is redeemed on travel, and 80% is redeemed for travel on United Mileage Plus economics are largely artificial. United established an arbitrary internal transfer price that guarantees Mileage Plus a 20% margin on miles awarded directly by United. Price and the availability of rewards can be changed at will, thus historic Mileage Plus economics do not reflect the economics of a standalone business The big money (71% of all Mileage Plus revenue at a 50% margin) comes from the bank credit cards as the banks pay twice the rate United pays for mileage redemptions Mileage Plus (based on these arbitrary economics) accounts for 24% of Uniteds total EBITDAR however Mileage Plus EBITDAR has been flat since 2016 Coronavirus Will Likely Devastate Frequent Flyer Economics Frequent Flyer economics depend on a small but powerful base of frequent business travelers, and the ability of banks to sell especially high-margin credit cards to travelers actively collecting miles. Business travel has been decimated by the virus, especially the international travel where miles are most easily accumulated. Airlines have radically reduced the capacity and network scope that allowed customers to concentrate their travel on a single airline. Airline prices will inevitably increase (perhaps quite steeply) which will force even relatively price-insensitive business travelers to reduce total travel and to increasingly forego mileage collecting itineraries in favor of lower priced alternatives. The greater risk is that these marketplace changes force the broader credit card market to finally recognize that high-fee frequent flyer cards are a terrible value for most people. Even if travel demand somehow completely recovers the broader perception that it is worthwhile for most people on the plane to pay high prices and fees in order to maximize mileage collection miles might totally burst. Why Would Anyone Think That Frequent Flyer Collateralized Investments Make Sense? If airlines like United and American somehow survive the current crisis without facing major bankruptcy risk, then no one will have to address the quality of the collateral backing these loans. But it is hard to imagine how these frequent flyer programs could provide much value to lenders if covenants are violated or the airlines find themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. The collateral should be irrelevant to investors gambling that current owners get unlimited future bailout money. While lenders may have the nominal right to seize control of these programs if airline finances collapse, they could not survive as an independent business, and there are no other loyalty marketing companies that would be interested in buying them.[12] The weaknesses of this collateral reflect serious problems with the core business that the frequent flyer programs support. Overall airline economics depend enormously on the very high yields and margins of corporate business and international travel, which will remain badly depressed even if domestic leisure travel begins to recover. The industry needs to reduce capacity to what the depressed revenue base can support, but no one is doing this. These borrowings reflect the dire straits these airlines are facing, but investors dont seem to notice either the desperation, or how coronavirus has dramatically changed industry economics. _________________ [1] Hubert Horan: What Will it Take to Save the Airlines? Naked Capitalism 3 June 2020. [2] The small recent traffic increases are attributed entirely to pent-up demand from individuals. In 2015 United CEO Scott Kirby (then President of American) pointed out that 87% of all US airline passengers flew only once a year and the other 13% provided 50% of all airline revenue. Dennis Schaal, American Airlines President on the Problem of the Infrequent Flyer, Skift, 23 Oct 2015. [3] Mary Schlangenstein, American Air Says It Will Have 20,000 More Employees Than Needed, Bloomberg 2 July 2020. American has ample incentive to be understating its excess capacity problem at this point. [4] The industry consolidation process is described in detail in my recent four part series at ProMarket (including The Airline Industrys Post-2004 Consolidation Reversed 30 Years of Successful Pro-Consumer Policies and How Alliances Carriers Established a Permanent Cartel promarkethttps://promarket.org/category/reading-list/aviation/) and in Double Marginalization and the Counter-Revolution Against Liberal Airline Competition, Transportation Law Journal, v.37 n.1, Fall 2010. [5] Claire Bushey, US airlines raise $10bn in a week, Financial Times 24 June 2020; Ben Goldstein, U.S. Carriers Seek $10B In New Financing This Week, Aviation Week, 23 June 2020 [6] AAdvantage valuation claimed by American CFO Derek Kerr at the 13th Annual Wolfe Research Global Transportation and Industrials Conference, 19 May 2020. Mileage Plus valuation claimed by United in an 8-K filing on 12 June 2020. [7] Will Horton, AAdvantage Miles Will Soon Be Government Collateral as American Airlines Pledges Frequent Flyer Program for Coronavirus Loan, Forbes 20 May 2020 [8] Matt Stoller, The Plan to Make Post-Pandemic Flying Miserable, Big 16 June 2020 [9] the author worked on behalf of creditors in four US airline bankruptcy cases, including United and American, and helped Northwest, Swissair and Sabena prepare for bankruptcy filings. [10] Doug Parker: Ive never really considered as a particularly good idea to spin out [AAdvantage] is part and parcel of the airline and part of running the airline and part of inventory management. Horton supra note 7 Uniteds Mileage Plus presentation (cited below in note 11) correctly states in multiple places that Mileage Plus is critical to its core business and is critical to customer loyalty and revenue maximization [11] Uniteds presentation is available at https://ir.united.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations. American has not yet published comparable data supporting the use of its AAdvantage program as collateral for a CARES Act loan. [12] Hypothetically, the current credit card banks (JPMorgan Chase at United, Citibank at American) could step in to purchase these programs in a distress scenario. But this would likely be requiring transferring even more of the frequent flyer cash generation from the airline (and its other creditors) to the bank(s). (Natural News) Pastor Dana Coverstone has been shown several prophetic dreams over the last seven months or so, and the visions he saw for the Spring and Summer of this year have already come true. Now, he has gone public with details about his dream visions for the remainder of this year, and if his descriptions are anywhere close to being accurate, the situation doesnt look good. Weve posted his must-see video and partial transcript below. Pastor Dana Coverstone appears to be a very humble pastor and does not claim to be any sort of prophet. He was initially reluctant to share these dreams / visions, but after so much of what he was shown began to come true, he felt a Christian obligation to share his message with the world. He has been shocked and overwhelmed by the response to this video, and he explains that he had no idea this message would resonate with so many people. We send our prayers and blessings to Pastor Coverstone for his courage in sharing this message and having the courage to transmit this message from God to those who will listen. Coming to America: Financial collapse, UN troops in the streets and Washington D.C. burning Some of the more notable passages from his explanation include scenes of a financial collapse, United Nations troops in the streets of America, military round-ups of U.S. citizens, the collapse of U.S. cities and mass death. Many of our readers will note these visions are entirely consistent with other predictions and projections that weve shared based on intelligence sources. Ive personally warned about financial collapse since 2008, and Ive interviewed people like Dave Hodges who have consistently warned about the planned UN military invasion of the United States of America. Heres the partial transcript from Pastor Coverstone, followed by his video so you can watch the full message for yourself: The minute the finger underlined November three times instead of tapping it, I saw a fist ball up and it hit the calendar. And literally, the calendar exploded into the wall, the numbers seem that they were 3d and they were falling everywhere. There was a cloud of chaos that started in there. The next thing I saw was I saw I saw armed protesters. I saw fighting in the streets, I saw people pummeling one another. I saw businesses shuttered and shut up. I saw schools close. I saw school rooms with cobwebs hanging in them and like things like papers falling off the wall and posters like no one had been in them for months. I saw banks. Bank buildings with the roof being taken off. It looked almost that alien abduction because money was flying through the roof into some type of like a vacuum cleaner. It sounds kind of strange, but I was watching wealth, just being taken. I saw politicians in back rooms, making deals with people. Patting people on the back and laughing and smiling and smirking. I saw monuments. I saw Washington DC, burning. I saw Washington DC blazing. I saw fires, everywhere. I saw people being rounded up. I saw Chinese and Russian soldiers on the ground. The Russian soldiers would tell the Chinese soldiers to go pick up these people secure this quadrant. secure this area I saw blue helmets of the UN. I saw a military things taking place. I also saw no sign of President Trump. I saw no sign of leadership in Washington DC. The vultures that I had seen were like gargoyles. They were 10 feet off the ground. 10 to 15 feet off the ground. They were just attacking people mercilessly. I saw people hiding in their homes and garages. I saw churches, being burned, I saw homes, being burned. I saw absolute chaos. The fist punch on the November of 2020 is what got my attention. Then I heard the words again. Brace yourself, Brace yourself. Brace yourself. Were going to see major things with the elections. Were going to see major chaos in our country. Were going to see troops in our cities. Were going to see the protests get even worse, Were going to see buildings burn. Were going to see which can only lead to civil war in this country. Get prepared for total collapse The upshot of this powerful warning message is that every person who wishes to survive the coming chaos must be fully prepared. As Pastor Coverstone says in his video: First of all, you need to be preparing food. Make sure youve got alternative forms of currency like silver or gold or whatever. I believe you need to have an ample supply of both guns and ammunition. Thats not just the Second Amendment fan of me coming out, that is the things that were seeing. They are talking about defunding the police. That means one thing youre on your own a lot of areas. I also believe you need to be praying like you never prayed before. Indeed, we are all praying for America, and that liberty might survive. What intelligence sources tell me will happen Interestingly, these prophetic visions may not indicate the collapse of America. Rather, according to intelligence sources that recently briefed me on key events which will unfold this year, the riots and fires will occur because Trump has already secured victory in the November elections. And the lunatic Left will set off a terror-laced temper tantrum after Trump wins the election. Trumps people have already thwarted the Democrats effort to steal the elections via vote-by-mail, and the DNC is on track to such self-destruction that Im told the DNC will disband in 2021, after the devastating loss to Trump. Yes, the Democrat party will be no more, after having destroyed any last shred of its own credibility by pushing for riots, race wars and violence across U.S. cities. Once Trump wins the election, the radical Left will try its last ditch revolution effort, which will include mass riots, the burning of cities and the bombing of government buildings. Thats what Pastor Coverstone is likely seeing. But those efforts by left-wing terrorists will fail, and America will restore law and order under Trumps second term. A financial collapse is coming, but according to sources that have briefed me, theres actually an effort under way by Trumps people to gut the fiat currency banking system and replace it with an honest money system during a financial reset that will restore the power of real economic mobility (and savings) to the people. In other words, America is about to undergo a tremendous upheaval that will indeed see many cities burning and many people dying, but out of that collapse will come a resurgence of law and order, honest money and the destruction of the deep state traitors who tried to destroy America (but failed). There will also be a huge backlash against Democrats and the radical Left, which will see Antifa, Black Lives Matter and terror-supporting members of Congress like AOC discredited for a generation or more. Between now and the day all that happens, however, expect every insane attack on America that you can imagine, from domestic terrorism, bombs, dirty bombs, cyber hacking and maybe even small tactical nuclear weapons targeting U.S. cities. At this point, anything is possible since the globalists and the deep state traitors know if they dont defeat Trump now, he will completely expose and eliminate them in his second term. Notice that G. Maxwell has already been arrested and charged? Notice how the pedophile rings are being exposed and dismantled, depriving the Democrats of one of their top funding sources? Notice how Big Tech is totally freaking out to the point that YouTube even magically restored my TheHealthRanger account that they banned two years ago? They are doing these things because they know the hammer is coming, and that hammer (a combination of the William Barr DOJ and Trumps people) will soon see the tech giants charged with conspiracies to commit criminal election rigging and fraud. Things are about to change dramatically, folks. We will all get through this, but theres going to be a lot of chaos and destruction by the Democrats and the deranged Leftists before we achieve victory for liberty and our future as Americans. Stay tuned theres much more yet to come. (Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has now infected more than 6.1 million people around the world and has caused over 370,000 deaths. But a top U.S. health official says even more people are already infected by COVID-19 they just dont know it. The chilling statement comes from Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in an interview with NPR in early April. In the interview, he estimated that around 25 percent of people with COVID-19 do not show symptoms. A report by Icelands Directorate of Health echoed Redfields statements. In the report, the researchers found that over 50 percent of those who tested positive for COVID-19 also did not show symptoms. In fact, Natural News has covered a report by the CDC that says people infected with coronavirus can transmit it to others before the onset of symptoms, which the agency refers to as presymptomatic transmission. This report was backed up by a study from China that said a person infected with COVID-19 is most contagious around 18 hours before the initial onset of symptoms. The study, published in Nature Medicine, also revealed that up to 44 percent of COVID-19 cases had been transmitted by people who are either asymptomatic or presymptomatic. In addition, more recent studies have shown that a high percentage of COVID-19 patients are indeed asymptomatic. Of those of us that get symptomatic, it appears that were shedding significant virus in our oropharyngeal compartment [or the part of the throat behind the mouth], probably up to 48 hours before we show symptoms, Redfield said. This helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country because we have asymptomatic transmitters. Protecting against a strange virus For Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, the idea of a virus latching onto an asymptomatic host isnt that strange. Its to the virus benefit because if you have seemingly healthy people moving around spreading the virus, that maximizes the transmission, he added, speaking to Healthline. Once you get sick, you tend to restrict your encounters with others. In addition to being asymptomatic, COVID-19 is also very contagious. The COVID-19 virus, its basic reproductive number appears to be about 4. What that means is that each person who is infected by the virus has the potential to spread it to four other persons in a susceptible population, explained Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, an infectious disease expert at Meharry Medical College. By comparison, the measles virus one of the most contagious viruses known to man has a number between 12 and 18. If you do the math, the number of people infected would double every 6 days or so. But the actual data in some parts of the country is the virus is doubling every 3 days. Given how quickly the virus can spread, breaking the chain of transmission is important, Hildreth added, so people dont inadvertently spread the virus. The case for wearing masks The CDC has shifted its position many times on wearing masks. From saying back in February that only sick people need masks, the agency now calls for people to wear face coverings when going to places where social distancing is difficult to maintain. While the agency says that masks prevent a user from spreading the virus, Schaffner says that it still offers some form of protection. It actually works in both directions, he added. But were more sure that masks inhibit the spread out rather than the acquisition in. He also says that the rise in asymptomatic and presymptomatic cases is another reason to wear masks. It takes a little bit of time for those discussions to go on and for everyone to agree to ask the American public to do something that is culturally alien. Pandemic.news has more stories about the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Sources include: Coronavirus.JHU.edu Healthline.com Edition.CNN.com LATimes.com Nature.com This image captured from YouTube shows the black box footage of a minor fender bender between a taxi and an ambulance that occurred in Seoul's Gangdong-gu, June 8. By Jun Ji-hye Public anger has been boiling up over a taxi driver who stopped an ambulance carrying an emergency patient from going to a hospital while demanding that the ambulance driver deal with a minor fender bender between the two cars first. The minor collision occurred in Seoul's southeastern Gangdong-gu, June 8. According to the son of the patient, the ambulance driver told the cabbie that he would settle the dispute after taking the patient to the hospital, but the cabbie kept demanding that the car accident be handled first and forced the ambulance to stay in the middle of the road. While the two drivers quarreled for about 10 minutes, another ambulance arrived and took the patient, a lung cancer patient in her 80s. In the end, the patient died in the emergency room, five hours after she arrived at the hospital. In a petition the son posted on the website run by the presidential office, he claimed the patient missed the so-called golden time needed for timely treatment due to the taxi driver. "The ambulance driver and my wife tried so hard to persuade the taxi driver so we could take my mother to the hospital first. But the cabbie kept demanding the fender bender be settled first, saying that he will take the heat if the patient dies," the son wrote. The son claimed the taxi driver should be punished firmly for stopping the ambulance at a time when there was not a moment to lose. The petition, which was posted July 3, has been signed by more than 550,000 citizens as of 1 p.m. Monday. Cheong Wa Dae is required to give an official response to petitions that generate more than 200,000 signatures in a month. The son also uploaded the black box footage of the accident on YouTube, where it has generated more than 280,000 views. A police investigation is underway into the accident, according to Gangdong Police Station. Police officials said their investigation is focusing on finding out whether the accident was related to the cause of death of the patient. (Natural News) The Left-wing Marxist cancel culture has claimed another victim, and honestly, this one makes about as much sense as Joe Biden on any given day. As reported by Campus Reform, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Solomont School of Nursing Dean Leslie Neal-Boylan was fired last month after she dared to offer an additional viewpoint to the incessant drumbeat of Black Lives Matter namely, that Everyones life matters. Because as healthcare/nursing instructor, shouldnt she believe that? Dear SSON Community, the June 2 email exclusively provided to Campus Reform begins. I am writing to express my concern and condemnation of the recent (and past) acts of violence against people of color. Recent events recall a tragic history of racism and bias that continue to thrive in this country. I despair for our future as a nation if we do not stand up against violence against anyone. BLACK LIVES MATTER, but also, EVERYONES LIFE MATTERS. The email continued: No one should have to live in fear that they will be targeted for how they look or what they believe. Its utterly mysterious as to why any reasonable, sane person would disagree with that so we offer that someone who isnt reasonable and is of questionable sanity did disagree. A virtue-signaling troll with the Twitter handle haley #BLACKLIVESMATTER posted the email to her/its account with this message: An upsetting statement made by the Dean of Nusing at UMass Lowell, including the statement all lives matter was uncalled for and shows the narrow minded people in lead positions. A sad day to be a nursing student at UML. Dean Leslie Neal-Boylan your words will not be forgotten. An upsetting statement made by the Dean of Nusing at UMass Lowell, including the statement all lives matter was uncalled for and shows the narrow minded people in lead positions. A sad day to be a nursing student at UML. Dean Leslie Neal-Boylan your words will not be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/a9rTd4NGVP haley #BLACKLIVESMATTER (@psychohighrep) June 4, 2020 This lone tweet immediately got the attention of school administrators who no doubt had someone combing social media for any sign of danger the university could be singled out for any BLM wrongthink and shamed into bending a knee, genuflecting before the movements gods, and offering up sacrifices of tens of millions of student and taxpayer dollars in homage. Haley Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The university hears you and we believe black lives matter. See the letter the chancellor sent out Monday. https://t.co/WIrxOSC8o9 umasslowell (@UMassLowell) June 5, 2020 A university faculty source who asked to remain anonymous told Campus Reform that Neal-Boylan wasnt fired for performance issues. In fact, the same source said it was like a ray of sunshine when Neal-Boylan was appointed dean. The sheer injustice that has been done to her is, its just so upsetting In the meetings that weve had in the last week, people feel unsafe for their jobs if they have a differing opinion or they say something the wrong way, the source continued, noting that faculty were absolutely outraged. (Related: BREAKING: Black Lives Matter upgrades Rules of Engagement (ROE) to shoot people in vehicles protester shoots unarmed elderly man in a vehicle; CHAZ security opens fire on black teens in Seattle.) I suspect there are going to be exits, the source said, adding that a couple of additional faculty candidates who were supposed to start in September are now reconsidering because they dont like the climate and were coming because of Neal-Boylan. The real travesty in all of this is the woman who has built a wonderful career 40 years This could ruin her career, and its not right, the source continued. Meanwhile, as noted by constitutional expert and Georgetown University Law School Prof. Jonathan Turley, he reached out to the university for an explanation of the incident and to find out whether Neal-Boylan was actually terminated for the email. He got a non-response response one of those, well, we cant really discuss personnel issues kind of statements. However, the university did note: Although we are not able to discuss specifics of a personnel matter, it would be incorrect to assume any statement by Dr. Neal-Boylan was the cause of that decision. Really? So it was a performance issue and not a politically incorrect email? Turley isnt buying. This suggests that there were other reasons for the termination but, if the letter posted from Dr. Neal-Boylan is accurate, she was not aware of what those reasons might be. If she is unaware of those allegations, this would be a rather Orwellian position where the university protects her privacy by refusing to confirm the basis for her termination even to herself, he wrote. Bottom line: This nursing school wont tolerate any healthcare professional who says every life is worthy of equal treatment. What fascists. Sources include: JonathanTurley.org CampusReform.org NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Just as predicted in the Biblical book of Revelation, an Australian politician has come out with new plans for how to handle people who refuse vaccination for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), including no more access to work, restaurants, childcare or society as a whole. In accordance with John the Revelators vision about the mark of the beast, Raff Ciccone, a federal Labor senator in the Australian state of Victoria, wants people who refuse the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to be cut off from buying and selling, raising families and eating food. Unless you are vaccinated, in other words, then no more participation in society. This pandemic feels like were in the middle of a real-life Hollywood blockbuster, he wrote for The Age, eerily alluding to what many already believe about this fake plandemic production. Like all good movies, this one will leave us fundamentally changed well after its ended. Our world will look and feel very different once the show is over, he added, using the same verbiage to suggest that the whole thing is one big Hollywood production. But not for the better, he went on to write. In Ciccones view, all it will take for society to get back to normal is for people to get vaccinated once a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine becomes available. But as is always the case, a contingent of people and a growing one, we might add will refuse the vaccine, which Ciccone believes can be dealt with by depriving such folks of their lives and livelihoods. We cannot afford, morally or economically, to give any ground to those who choose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, he declared in an opinion piece. Let me be clear. Im not advocating that we vaccinate people against their will. That would be wrong. So, what is Ciccone advocating? Simply put, those who refuse vaccination for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) are to be deprived of participation in everyday life, including no more entry into buildings, even for work purposes, and no more family tax benefits. Restaurants could be allowed the right to refuse entry to those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19, he adds. Businesses, especially those involved in the care or service of vulnerable communities, might be allowed the right to refuse employment to those without a COVID-19 vaccination. Organisers of mass gatherings could deny the sale of tickets on this basis. Here in the United States, many resisters of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination are almost certain to activate their Second Amendment rights. Listen below to The Health Ranger Report with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, to learn more: Is this why Trump said that coronavirus vaccines will not be mandatory because refusing them will result in social ostracization? As many of our readers may recall, President Donald Trump recently announced that Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines will not be mandatory at the federal level, which made many of us lower our guard. But is a similar plan to Ciccones currently in the works here in America that will make vaccination optional with the caveat that not getting jabbed ultimately restricts ones access to society? We are already seeing this with the face mask ordeal as some of the more aggressive mask-loving militants are already telling the public, no masks, no entry. Does this imply that face masks are a type of precursor to vaccination, where one day in the very near future it will suddenly become no jab, no entry instead? More related news about proposed government tyranny in response to Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine resistance is available at Tyranny.news. Sources for this article include: TheAge.com.au NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Independent journalist Michael Tracey recently traveled to Minneapolis to assess the wreckage left behind by Black Lives Matter (BLM) terrorists, and what he discovered was not pretty. Businesses and daycare centers, mostly minority-owned, are still boarded up or destroyed, many with signs on the front of what is left of their windows begging BLM and Antifa terrorists not to target them. An Iranian-owned convenience store, for instance, is still closed and covered in graffiti-splattered plywood. Its owner told Tracey that they took everything, referring to the looters who ransacked the premises during the peak of the riots. There is a good chance that this convenience store may never open up again because of all the damage and financial loss that was incurred, which seems to be a common theme among many of the other minority-owned businesses throughout the area. Right next door to this convenience store is a Vietnamese music shop, also closed with boards covering all windows. This shop appears to be closed for good, according to Tracey. Down the street, a Malaysian restaurant, also boarded up, is actually open for business. Tracey says he grabbed a vegetarian duck sandwich there that he enjoyed, despite the ruined ambiance of its light-restricted interior. Tracey also observed a bridal store, record store and several other businesses on the same block all boarded up and all closed. Unlike the Malaysian restaurant, however, none of these appear to be opening back up any time soon. All of this would seem to debunk the media myth that the George Floyd protests were peaceful. Listen below to The Health Ranger Report with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, to learn more: Minorities to BLM terrorists: Please dont kill us One particularly sad display that Tracey observed was a daycare center with signs all over the window pleading with BLM terrorists to leave the building alone because children play here. Save the kids, the sign went on to say, adding, Please, this is a child care center. Children attend this center. We are all in this together. As Tracey ventured over to where the George Floyd incident occurred, he noticed that the entire thing has been walled off and turned into a memorial zone, with chalk writing on the ground, flower displays and large images of Floyds face painted onto billboards. Wherever Tracey went, he observed nothing but wreckage, destruction and obligatory virtue signaling all across store windows as business owners throughout the area, desperate not to lose their livelihoods, pleaded with rioters and looters to spare them. Like some kind of left-wing passover event, Minneapolis business owners felt compelled to paint the blood of BLM all over their storefronts in an attempt to keep the angel of death terrorists from burning, looting or otherwise destroying them. And sadly, in most cases, it was not successful. Perhaps the most disturbing image was of the Third Precinct police building, which had chain-link fencing and concrete barricades surrounding it on all sides. The nearby health society was burnt to a crisp with similar chain-link fencing wrapped around its exterior. Some businesses also put up laminated GoFundMe flyers with information about how to donate to keep them in business. One of these was the Post Plus store on Lake St., which explained that funding is desperately needed to rebuild the store and get it up and running once again. I wonder how Jews feel about this new public ethnicity-identification practice? asked Tracey in a tweet about all of the black-owned verbiage he saw spray-painted on businesses in an attempt to protect them from the angel of death. More of the latest news about the splintering of America at the hands of BLM communists is available at CivilWar.news. Sources for this article include: BigLeaguePolitics.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) In response to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, China created a smartphone tool to trace and track the movement of potential coronavirus patients. Now, authorities are planning to make this tracking permanent, raising concerns in a country where personal privacy was once said to be an afterthought. Over the weekend, anger spread across Chinese social media sites following an announcement that officials in the eastern city of Hangzhou could create a permanent version of a smartphone-based health-rating system initially developed to help fight the coronavirus. The announcement led some internet users to accuse the city of exploiting the pandemic to expand state monitoring of residents. The controversy comes a few days after Robin Li, CEO of Baidu Inc. and a member of the Chinese political advisory body currently convening in Beijing as part of the countrys annual legislative conclave, proposed new rules to rein in the collection of sensitive personal information as part of efforts to fight the pandemic. (Related: Chinese authorities hid the fact that medical staff in coronavirus-hit city were infected.) Tracking the pandemic through a smartphone app In their efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19, Chinese authorities have aggressively pursued the deployment of digital surveillance. In addition to tracking potential patients with temperature-reading cameras and smartphone location data, officials have also used QR code-based health-rating apps to manage and track the movements of citizens depending on their risk of exposure. A tech hub located south of Shanghai, Hangzhou was among the first cities to roll out a health-rating app. This app was developed by authorities with help from the Alibaba Group, which itself is based in Hangzhou. The app tracks a persons health condition and travel history in order to single out those at a higher risk of carrying the coronavirus. The citys health commission stated on Friday that it was now considering a new, permanent version of the app that would assign each person a colored health badge based on a collation of their medical records, physical examination results and lifestyle habits, such as alcohol consumption and smoking. In addition, residents would also be assigned a health score ranging from zero to 100. Authorities would then use this score to compile health rankings, Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission chief Sun Yongrong said. The plan sparked a wave of criticism on Chinese social media site Weibo. Once power is unleashed, its difficult to retract. Once we give up our rights under special circumstances, its hard to get them back, one user wrote Monday, in a now widely circulated post. Several of the sites users likened the plan to something out of Black Mirror, a popular dystopian science fiction television series about the unexpected results of new technology. When asked for comment by the Wall Street Journal, Hangzhous health commission did not immediately respond. China lacks an overarching personal data protection law Baidu CEO Li submitted a formal but nonbinding proposal to legislators to wind down the data collection measures that had been put in place to try to control the coronavirus. The proposal called for clear rules to manage data already collected to minimize the risk of information leakage and abuse. Li himself is no stranger to controversy in regards to data collection. In 2018, the CEO raised eyebrows when, at a high-level forum in Beijing, he said that the Chinese people are willing to trade privacy for convenience, for safety, for efficiency, though he later said that Baidu only used personal data that users had agreed to provide. Earlier this month, a survey published by the state-linked Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and the Chinese Academy of Sciences found widespread concern over the promotion of enhanced facial recognition technologies that tech companies say can identify people when wearing masks. As Chinese companies and government agencies seek to collect ever-greater amounts of data, concerns about privacy, particularly among residents of wealthy cities, are growing in China. In a recent report delivered at the annual meeting of Chinas parliament, chief lawmaker Li Zhanshu said that the government would push forward with efforts to pass a personal data protection law as part of efforts to improve national security and social governance. Efforts to craft an overarching personal data protection law in China have been underway for well over a decade. Currently, personal security safeguards in China fall under a mishmash of consumer protection, cybersecurity and other regulations. A collection of national security laws supersedes those rules, however, obligating internet companies to grant the government access to a broad swath of data. Sources include: WSJ.com NYTimes.com (Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected over 5.5 million people and caused over 350,000 deaths but not one of them comes from the Cook Islands, a place considered by many as the worlds last perfect island destination. But being one of the few countries without COVID-19 can come with a heavy toll. With the country barring international travel, residents have not been spared from the economic onslaught of the pandemic. Almost all 15 islands comprising the Cooks are wholly dependent on tourism. Without people flying in, business owners are growing increasingly concerned that they may not be able to survive the lockdown. A recent survey by the Private Sector Taskforce revealed that more than 20 percent of businesses in the Cooks are considering shutting down. This crisis has touched every business in some way, from tourism accommodators to growers, retailers and stall holders, who have reported cataclysmic drops in income since the borders closed, said task force chair Fletcher Melvin. He also added that many businesses still burn through cash, paying for electricity, superannuation contributions, insurance, rent, and telecommunications among other things. Melvin also appealed to New Zealand to include the Cooks in any wider travel bubble formed with Australia. Coronavirus upended daily life In Kiikii Inn & Suites, located on Rarotonga, the largest of the 15 Cook Islands, all 16 rooms have been empty since mid-March. According to hotel manager Pa Napa, this wasnt the case at the beginning of the year. Bookings were solid for the first three months, despite it being low season. The hotel was ready to take in visitors, having planted fragrant tropical flowers and vines of passion fruit until the pandemic cleaned out their reservations. While the Cooks were still accepting visitors as late as February, the coronavirus has been a cause for concern among residents of the island nation. When the cruise ship MS Amsterdam landed in Rarotonga, locals stayed at home for fear of being infected. As the number of cases began to spike in New Zealand, a country the Cooks heavily rely on for trade, officials went on high alert. With only 22 doctors, 110 nurses and two ventilators, the Cooks knew their resources werent enough for its more than 17,000-strong population. In response to the threat, Prime Minister Henry Puna ordered a nationwide lockdown in March. In just one weekend, tourism plummeted in the islands: Flights to the capital city of Avarua were canceled, cruise ships were banned, and entry was restricted to locals and residents and New Zealand. (Related: Wealthy Americans are ESCAPING CORONAVIRUS by bugging out to luxury survival bunkers.) There were companies whose income basically went to zero once the last flight left the country, Finance Minister Mark Brown said. Planning to spend with no income In an effort to soften the economic crunch brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the government offered to subsidize wages and drummed up a financial aid package worth $61 million. The stimulus included a one-time 400 NZD welfare payment for pensioners and other at-risk populations and three months of free electricity for all residents. The government also tapped its 56.7 million NZD emergency reserve fund to help pay for the stimulus measures, which Punas government banked when the economy was good. Still, putting together the Cooks national budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year is a challenge that Brown and the government face. With the pandemics impact on the countrys tourism, the finance minister says that making ends meet will require creativity and innovation. It will also need at least 76 million NZD in planned stimulus, and nearly 260 million NZD for the country to recover from the full damage caused by COVID-19, according to ANZ Bank. Currently, the government is in talks with the Asian Development Bank and the New Zealand government to provide loans until the island nation can recoup its losses. Speaking about the islands outlook, Pa Napa says that the Cooks may be facing something worse than a natural disaster. With a cyclone, once it passes, you clean up and you get back to work and move on, he added. With this, its been weeks and weeks of nothing. Pandemic.news has more on the coronavirus outbreak. Sources include: Coronavirus.JHU.edu RNZ.co.nz Bloomberg.com (Natural News) Since he started the popular conservative blog Legal Insurrection, Cornell Universitys William Jacobson has faced multiple calls for his ouster. While the law professor thought that he had gotten used to these petitions, the personal attacks against him have escalated in the wake of the George Floyd protests. On [the Black Lives Matter (BLM)] issue, you cannot deviate one iota or they will try to get you kicked out of the school, they will falsely accuse you of being racist, they will do a name and shame campaign against you, said Jacobson in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon. BLM calls for Jacobson to be fired after op-eds For publicly critiquing their ideology, supporters of the BLM movement, with help from the Black Law Student Association, law school faculty and Cornell alumni are calling on the university to fire Jacobson. There is an effort underway to get me fired at Cornell Law School, where Ive worked since November 2007, or if not fired, at least denounced publicly by the school, Jacobson wrote on his site on June 11. As part of this, he condemned any insinuation that he was a racist. Jacobson wrote that hes been in an awkward relationship with Cornells overwhelmingly liberal atmosphere for years, especially since he started his website in 2008. According to Jacobson, hes tried his best to separate Legal Insurrection from his work at Cornell. He admitted that his website and political views have always felt like an elephant in every room, however, he has been largely successful in keeping his careers separate. For the most part, the people who called on Cornell to sack Jacobson tended to come from off-campus political and ideological opponents, with the Cornell administration defending his right to speak publicly. That all changed when he wrote about the history and tactics of the BLM movement. In early June, Jacobson wrote two articles criticizing the fabricated narrative that emerged after the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri an incident that President Barack Obamas Justice Department determined as justified as well as the riots and looting that followed George Floyds death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Related: Pollak: Black Lives Matter has become Americas own (communist) cultural revolution.) Following the publication of the articles, 21 members of Cornells law faculty penned a letter to the editor at the Cornell Daily Sun. The letter accused Jacobson of being a racist masquerading as an informed commentary writer. These commentators are the defenders of institutionalized racism and violence. They are entitled to their viewpoints. We do not name them, so as to deprive them of a larger platform for their racist speech, the faculty wrote in the letter. As clinical teachers who have spent our lives promoting social justice, combatting discrimination and teaching tolerance, we cannot allow their hateful vitriol to go unchallenged. In response to the letter, Cornell administration summoned Jacobson to a meeting on June 8. According to the latter, the meeting was contentious, with law school dean Eduardo Penalver reading Jacobson the letters from alumni calling for his sacking. Following the meeting, Penalver publicly condemned Jacobson in a statement. He called the posts both offensive and poorly reasoned. According to Jacobson, the dean abused his position when making these statements. Jacobson pointed out that deans do not normally take the same kind of institutional position on faculty speech that Penalver did. He stated that, when speaking on behalf of the university, Penalvers personal opinions should not enter into the discussion. Punishment for ideological reasons hurts intellectual freedom Despite most of the faculty going against him, some Cornell students have expressed support for Jacobson. The professor has been praised by the schools College Republicans for giving students a critical perspective on a contentious issue. According to chapter president Weston Baker, punishing any academic for ideological reasons is counter to the universitys mission. At no point, to our knowledge, has Professor Jacobson ever devalued the lives of black Americans. Instead, he has been critical of a movement which demands radical policy reform, said Barker. Barker said that, when confronted with policy demands that could have implications on the workings of public life, Jacobson has approached and investigated the demands with critical care. Jacobson has since condemned the current political environment, saying that it was a toxic one wherein intellectual diversity and differences of opinion were not tolerated. This is not just about me. Its about the intellectual freedom and vibrancy of Cornell and other higher education institutions, and the society at large, he wrote. Open inquiry and debate are core features of a vibrant intellectual community. Sources include: FreeBeacon.com FoxNews.com LegalInsurrection.com (Natural News) Corporations first formed in America in the 1790s, quickly rising to be the fulcrum of the economy. Corporations grew to play a major role in the political identity of the country, through the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age. Then came World War II, and America would never be the same again. Corporations processed food and coated it with pesticides that cause cancer and dementia. Corporations chemicalized medicine and falsified vaccine research. Now, the most powerful corporations are funding the overthrowing of the U.S. Government and Trump, merging forces with Deep State operatives and the social media tech giants. What are Bill Death Vaccine Gates and evil George Soros writing on the billionaires communist playbook chalkboard at the meeting today? Does it contain the letters B, L and M, and in that order? Will Black Lives Matter and their leaders in Communist China overthrow the country, whether Trump wins or loses in November? Without a President to wage unnecessary wars, sell weapons to terrorists, and fund the military industrial complex, the crooked Democrats have turned to Communists to overthrow their own country and the guy in charge who wont help them launder billions from American taxpayers. So, whether Trump wins or loses in November, there will be a war a big giant war. Thousands upon thousands of Americans, White and Black, have been duped by the Black Lives Matter front, a terrorist organization that George Soros and nearly 300 major U.S. corporations fund in order to recruit petty mercenaries to do their communist bidding. The goal? Disrupt America to the point that most voters believe its all because of Trump. Strategy? Blame Trump for a race war, while using emotional Americans as pawns to lead the charge of destroying America, with Antifa and BLM as their emblems of false-righteousness, claiming slavery reparations are due to them (even though rich white dudes would collect it all anyway). Meanwhile, with the help of covid lock downs and race war propaganda, Socialism has been involuntarily installed in America. Just take a look at the spray painted, looted, burned, toppled, feces-ridden, Democrat-run metropolitan cities. Yes, the billions in funding for all of this domestic terrorism is thrown right in your face by the corporations that sell you most of what you purchase daily Most Americans, if you tell them right now that hundreds of corporations they know well are supporting domestic terrorism, theyll call you a conspiracy theorist. They simply cant believe it. They wont. These are the same people who couldnt possibly fathom the U.S. government spying on their every phone call, email and social media post, that is, until Edward Snowden came along, and completely exposed the NSA spy prism. My oh my, did those conspiracy theorist tables turn on that day. According to a Public Affairs Council survey taken in 2015, two-thirds of all Americans think huge companies and organizations make products that are safe for the environment, good for health, and supportive of communities. Puke. Those food and health-related companies are now openly funding terrorism on U.S. soil, including shootings, murders, rapes, and arson during BLM and Antifa protests (riots). Were talking about companies and corporations that make toxic food and deadly medicine. The utter destruction of cities, lives and businesses is now funded by American corporations that want to eliminate all police and release every convict from every prison in the country, at once. The Democrat Party wants every city in America to look just like the CHOP/CHAZ zone in Seattle, so they can blame Trump for a horrible racist country thats out of work and chaotic. Take a quick look to see if you recognize any of or nearly all the companies on this shortlist from the 270 terrorism-supporting U.S. companies that want to eliminate the Constitution, overthrow the President, turn America into a Socialist hell, then take your guns and force vaccinate you and your children to death: Adidas, American Airlines, Amazon, American Express, Apple Music, Atlantic Records, Booking.com, Burger King, Cadillac, Cartoon Network, Chick-fil-A, Coca Cola, Direct TV, Disney, Doritos, FedEx, Foot Locker, GameSpot, Gatorade, GM, Goldman Sachs, Google, Habitat for Humanity (how ironic!), HBO, Hersheys, Home Depot & Lowes (because you have to rebuild your business after all the BLM/Antifa destruction), Hulu, Marvel, Netflix (because youre on lock down with nothing to do), IBM, IKEA, Lego, McDonalds (of course), Merck (because mandatory vaccines), Met Life & New York Life (because youre likely to die in a riot or from coronavirus in jail), NASCAR, NFL, NHL, Nike, Pfizer, Playstation, PornHub, Reddit, Sony, Starbucks, Taco Bell, TikTok, Twitter, Warner Bros, Wendys, Xbox, and of course, YouTube. Anyone notice a pattern? Its all the corporations that feed the fix for when there are virus lock downs and riots everywhere. Youve got mind-numbing video games, propaganda-laced movies, virtual web-meeting software, toxic childrens food and pornography. Wow. Do you think these corporations are planning to stop funding cancer, idiocy, perversion and terrorism in the USA any time soon? Its time to take control of your mind and your body. Wake up. Defend liberty. Heres a paid terrorist running over protesters on the highway in Seattle: Tune your internet dial to Trump.news for updates on U.S. Governors who are also paid terrorists that support Antifa, BLM, and the Communist China takeover of America. Realize that not one single Democrat politician anywhere in America denounces this violence because its all in the name of overthrowing Trump and turning America into one huge Venezuela, and its all funded by Soros and about 270 evil American Corporations. It aint no conspiracy theory any more, folks. Corporate America is now FUNDING open terrorism across America with money funneling to Black Lives Matter extremists, who are shooting and killing innocent people. Sources for this article include: Trump.news NaturalNews.com Terrorism.news NaturalNews.com Investopedia.com TruthWiki.org Pac.org HalTurnerRadioShow.com (Natural News) Researchers working in the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan have found that out of 141 intensive care unit (ICU) patients that have contracted the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), 80 percent needed mechanical ventilation and around 40 percent passed away within 30 days. Furthermore, around 75 percent of the deceased patients were African Americans. This racial disparity is most likely influenced by socioeconomic factors in Michigan. As of press time, Michigan has 66,269 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,034 deaths. Around a third of these cases are located in Wayne County, which has had 21,793 cases and 2,670 deaths. Majority of fatalities coming from Detroits African American population The study, which was published in JAMA Network Open, was conducted between March 9 to March 27, just as the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan was beginning, and involved 463 coronavirus patients in the Henry Ford Health System. The state announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 10. Only 26.8 percent of the patients had a known exposure to somebody with COVID-19, which speaks to the virus early, rapid and silent spread throughout the state. The average age of the surveyed patients was 58 years old, and the researchers noted that being over the age of 60 sharply increased their chances of needing to be hospitalized and their risk of death. Two-hundred and fifty-nine of the patients were female; 72 percent were of African American descent. Nearly 64 percent of them had high blood pressure, while around 40 percent had either diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Of the 463 patients, 77 percent required hospitalization, 60 percent developed severe shortness of breath and 40 percent required intensive care. Of the patients in the ICU, 80 percent had to be put on ventilators. Sixteen percent of the participants died of COVID-19 within 30 days of being seen by doctors. (Related: Overreliance on ventilators led to coronavirus deaths, study shows.) A majority of the deaths were from male African Americans who were over 60 years old. While the proportion of men and women in the study is around the same (55 percent women), men were still three times more likely to succumb to the disease. The team points out that the racial background of the patients did not affect mortality, but their age, sex and the high presence of comorbidities and severe obesity definitely did. Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the medical industry in the United States is planning to use future COVID-19 vaccines in their plot to mass murder African Americans. Socioeconomic factors heavily affected chances of hospitalization While race may not have been a determining factor in mortality and survival, the authors are quick to point out that socioeconomic factors were heavily involved, and that these factors disproportionately affect African Americans. These factors include employment in essential and lower wage jobs; higher rates of poverty; lack of access to private vehicles and reliance on public transportation to get to and from work; and crowded or unstable housing situations. These factors combined made strategies for preventing exposure to the coronavirus, such as social distancing, difficult to maintain. Detroit bus driver dies from #coronavirus just 11 days after complaining about a passenger coughing without covering their mouth. pic.twitter.com/EifNNnai0G Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 5, 2020 They further mentioned that, in Michigan as of 2019, 27 percent of African Americans living in the state lived in poverty, compared to only 11 percent of white residents. Furthermore, African American people only make up 14 percent of the population of Michigan. However, they represent 33 percent of the states confirmed cases and 40 percent of the COVID-19 deaths. In Detroit alone, 75 percent of all coronavirus fatalities are from people of African American descent, according to the citys Department of Health. These social determinants of health result in lack of health insurance and access to care, which may put patients at a disproportionately greater risk of acquiring infection and higher rates of complications from COVID-19, wrote the researchers. Early in April, the Democratic Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, established a task force to deal with the racial disparity in her state. Its main goal is to examine the inequality in the states healthcare system and to recommend actions to address it. #COVID19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color, so were taking action. The Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, chaired by @LtGovGilchrist, will identify actions we can take to ensure all Michiganders have access to critical care and resources. Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) April 20, 2020 As of press time, the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities is still working and studying the states coronavirus response. Stay on top of the latest news surrounding the coronavirus pandemic at Pandemic.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk FreeP.com Coronavirus.JHU.edu.com ClickOnDetroit.com UPI.com JAMANetwork.com CNBC.com NBCNews.com (Natural News) Weve heard calls for all statues of white men, Jesus included, to be torn down across the country and many other places in the world in recent weeks. Weve seen Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Eskimo Pie change their names to avoid offending overly sensitive people. But those who are making these calls need to take a look at themselves before they point their finger at others New York Times, were looking at you. Writing for News Busters, Jeffrey Lord points out the irony of a recent New York Times editorial entitled, Why Does the U.S. Military Celebrate White Supremacy? Published on May 23, the main point of the editorial is that our countrys military bases should be renamed for American heroes rather than the racist traitors they are currently named after. The piece, which comes from the papers Editorial Board, says that the naming of 10 military bases in the South after Confederate Army officers reflects a federal embrace of white supremacy. Lord then cites a 2017 Daily Caller story about the namesake of New York. The Duke of York, James Stuart, is known for creating the greatest slave empire in Britain, the Royal African Company, which moved between 90,000 and 100,000 African slaves to the American colonies and Caribbean from 1672 to 1689. Slaves who were bought for the Royal African Company of England were branded with the letters DY after the companys president, the Duke of York. That means that anything with the name New York including the New York Times bears the name of one of the worlds most infamous slave traders. When we apply the NYTs standards as espoused in their editorial about the military bases, it would stand to reason that naming the paper after a slave-trading racist reflects their embrace of white supremacy, he adds. Hypocrisy is nothing new for the New York Times Of course, hypocrisy is nothing new for the New York Times, and you dont have to go back very far to find examples of this in action. In fact, it was just yesterday that the New York Post called the paper out for this same type of behavior. In a piece by the Post Editorial Board entitled, The New York Times outrageous, arrogant hypocrisy on who gets to be anonymous, they took the paper to task for insisting on exposing the identity of a psychologist who was blogging under just his first and middle name on topics such as the failings of Marxism as a science. A Times reporter told him the story about him would reveal his full name in accordance with the papers rules, at which point he decided to remove all of his past posts, leaving up only one entitled, NYT is threatening my safety by revealing my real name, so I am deleting the blog. However, when the paper was reporting on a personality in the socialist Chapo Trap House podcast, they allowed him to use only his pseudonym and even gave one of the podcasters girlfriends anonymity as well. In other words, its no problem to give anonymity to a socialist podcaster, but its out of the question for a professional psychologist writing about the failings of Marxism. That sounds about right for the NYT. So no, the New York Times probably isnt going to change its name anytime soon and its interesting to note that the woke crowd isnt calling for them to do so when theyre so quick to judge other things they deem racist, like milk and maple syrup. If the NYT really believed this PC ridiculousness that they expect everyone else to adhere to, they would lead by example by changing their name and issuing an apology for honoring one the biggest slave traders the world has ever seen. Sources for this article include: NewsBusters.org DailyCaller.com NYPost.com (Natural News) Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed a law that protects the unborn as soon as a heartbeat can be detected. Abortion rights activists defended Planned Parenthood by staging a flag-burning protest. A small group of protestors, the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, filmed a skit where they burned the US Constitution and the American flag and lowered them into a dumpster. As disturbing as it is, the scene is right on point with what these people stand for. The Declaration of Independence is clear: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Through their actions, Planned Parenthood is the organization that burns every word of the Declaration of Independence. They dont believe all men are created equal; they believe only some human life is worthy. They believe in reducing the population by weeding out undesirables, while convincing women to make this their choice. This level of coercion and wanton death is in direct contrast to the Declaration of Independence and its ode to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Coercing women to accept abortion as normal, at any gestation, in any form, is a severance of life and liberty, and destroys more than the child and the pursuit of happiness, but also decimates a womans essence. Brutality and racism continue unchecked through Planned Parenthood If you could encapsulate extreme brutality and racism into one bottle, that bottle of poison would be labeled Planned Parenthood. The founder of Planned Parenthood, a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger, was a eugenicist who praised the violence of infanticide, especially when it is used as a means to reduce the population of undesirables and people of color. Infanticide did not go out of fashion with the advance from savagery to barbarism and civilization. Rather, it became, as in Greece and Rome, a recognized custom with advocates among leaders of thought and action, writes Sanger in Woman and the New Race. The feeble-minded are notoriously prolific in reproduction, Sanger wrote, referring to population growth of African Americans, Catholic immigrants, and other immigrant groups that were considered by some to be undesirable in the 1930s. From this mentality, Planned Parenthood took off as a population control weapon. Promising women a choice, the organization quickly became a slaughterhouse, incentivizing the destruction of human life while conscripting medical brutality toward innocents. Planned Parenthood, a corporation that has been thoroughly investigated for trafficking fetal organs, has caused more black deaths than any organization in America. Attempts have been made to protect the life of the unborn, but Planned Parenthood fights any form of accountability in their operations, paving the way for unchecked coercion, brutality and abuse of women and their babies. Because Planned Parenthood operates with unchecked authority, it took over 300 former staff to complain to finally oust Laura McQuade, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. McQuade instituted a revenue-driven, assembly-line approach to PPGNY clinics one that put patients, and in particular Black and other patients of color, at potential risk. Former staff has accused McQuade of abusive behavior, systemic racism, and financial mismanagement. Theres a higher standard for human life and liberty that is not rooted in eugenics, racism, coercion and unchecked brutality toward innocents. As advocates for Planned Parenthood burn the American flag, they are the epitome of Americas demise, the army that deconstructs our values, morals, personal responsibility, life and freedom. Sources include: LifesiteNews.com TheTennesseean.com NationalReview.com NaturalNews.com Chief of staff Noh Young-min walks with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. Noh has been under fire for trying to sell a cheaper home in a provincial area and keeping an expensive one in southern Seoul, while the government is fighting soaring housing prices and speculation. Yonhap By Kim Rahn Political circles are in turmoil over ranking Cheong Wa Dae officials' ownership of multiple homes, which goes against the Moon Jae-in administration's key policy goal to settle the soaring housing prices problem. Opposition politicians are busy attacking such officials, while ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) members are seeking counterattacks. But to many citizens for whom it is almost a dream to own a home in affluent regions such offenses and defenses are like the pot calling the kettle black. The row started last week after the government's June 17 anti-speculation real estate policy failed and housing prices rather jumped. And it was found that many Cheong Wa Dae senior officials owning more than one home have not followed chief of staff Noh Young-min's December recommendation to sell off all their properties, except for their primary residence, to set an example. Cheong Wa Dae said, Thursday, Noh made the recommendation again and he himself put his home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, up for sale. But he kept his other home in affluent Banpo, Seocho-gu, southern Seoul. The market price of the Cheongju home is about 300 million won ($250,000) and the property in Banpo is worth 1.1 billion won. Noh's action brought huge criticism that even a top Cheong Wa Dae official held onto the Seocho home when the administration is battling housing price rises, especially in that area. Rep. Kwak Sang-do of the main opposition United Future Party / Yonhap The Finnish Border Guard will operate the CAMCOPTER S-100 for maritime surveillance purposes. The Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service is offered by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and will also extend to Estonia and Sweden. The Finnish Border Guard will operate the CAMCOPTER S-100 for maritime surveillance purposes. The Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service is offered by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and will also extend to Estonia and Sweden. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link The CAMCOPTER S-100 (Picture source: Schiebel) The CAMCOPTER S-100 will support the Finnish authorities in carrying out Coast Guard functions, such as search and rescue, monitoring and surveillance, ship and port security, vessel traffic, environmental protection and response, ship casualty assistance, as well as accident and disaster response. The S-100 will execute these tasks equipped with an L3 Wescam Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch, a Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver. EMSA awarded the multi-year maritime surveillance contract for a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) RPAS to Schiebel in November 2018. In the execution of this contract, Schiebel provides simultaneous maritime surveillance services to several EU member states and EU bodies. Currently, the CAMCOPTER S-100 is also operational in the Republic of Croatia supporting the Maritime Safety Directorate of the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia. Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, said: The S-100 has extensive experience in the maritime domain. It is the UAS of choice when it comes to sophisticated maritime surveillance. Were proud to be EMSAs chosen RPAS providing vital surveillance services to its member states. About the CAMCOPTER S-100: Schiebels CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is an operationally proven capability for military and civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS requires no prepared area or supporting equipment to enable launch and recovery. It operates by day and by night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km / 108 nm, over land and sea. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provide capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance. Sign up to get breaking news, weather forecasts, and more in your email inbox. Sign Up Now New Canaan Library / Contributed photo The New Canaan Library, and the Town of New Canaans Conservation Commission recently presented a talk that was titled: Lawn Maintenance During Drought, on Friday, July 10, 2020, virtually via Zoom. It began at 11 a.m., and went until noon. Typically, lawns require one to two inches of water per week during the hottest weather. This is a lot of water and equates to over 50,000 gallons per acre. If water is not available, then otherwise healthy lawns, turn brown, according to an announcement prior to the talk. 3 1 of 3 Tara O'Neill / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 File photo / File photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 FAIRFIELD A Pennsylvania woman visiting family in the area was hit and killed by a driver Saturday night, and police are asking for the publics help to find the person responsible. Police said in a statement late Saturday night that the pedestrian was hit and killed in the area of 2000 Redding Road between 7:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. New Castle, PA (16103) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Cooler. High near 65F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low 42F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Rwandan genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Numuhoza has been made an MBE for services to human rights and the community in Thetford. Rwandan genocide survivor Marie-Lyse Numuhoza has been made an MBE for services to human rights and the community in Thetford. YMCA Norfolk Supported Lodgings and Nightstop Hosts YMCA Norfolk is looking for hosts for vulnerable young people and has both paid and volunteer opportunities, from just one night up to two years. Read more Norwich FGB announces first dinner event of year Norwich FGB has announced its first dinner event of 2021, at the Mercure Hotel in Norwich, on Friday September 10 with special guest Kit Brinkley. Read more Dippy the dinosaur Norwich visit details revealed With Dippy the dinosaurs visit to Norwich Cathedral only a few weeks away, more details have been being revealed for what visitors can expect from the exhibition. Read more Youth and Schools Worker needed in South Norfolk Integrate Youth for Christ is looking for kingdom and mission-minded people with a heart for young people to join its team and to work with local churches to run youth cafes and grow its work with local schools in Thetford and surrounding areas. Read more YMCA Norfolk needs Bank Nursery Staff YMCA Norfolk needs Bank Nursery Staff to work ad hoc shifts at its Muddy Puddles Nursery near Norwich city centre. Read more Norfolk church to showcase 1.7m village hub plan Ambitious plans by All Saints Church in Poringland to build a new 1.7m community hub in the South Norfolk village are to go on show to the public next month. Read more Matthew Project needs a Development and Marketing Manager The Matthew Project needs a Development and Marketing Manager, based in Norwich. Read more Matthew Project needs a Workshop Co-ordinator The Matthew Project needs a part-time Workshop Co-ordinator based at the Next Steps centre in Norwich. Read more Why dont we declare the certainty of our faith? Regular columnist James Knight explores why we sometimes hesitate to declare our faith, even when we are confident in our own belief. Read more Watton church needs Families Matter Keyworker Employed by St Marys Church Watton, the Families Matter Keyworker (FMK) part-time post is in partnership with church and community, working with clergy and volunteers to provide positive spiritual and physical wellbeing for families across Watton. Read more SOUL Church in Norwich needs financial manager SOUL Church in Norwich is seeking to employ an enthusiastic full-time Financial Manager to take the lead in the financial management of the Soul Church Group with direction from the Board Finance Director. Read more Rock legend Rick made CBE in Queen's honours Norfolk-based rock star and keyboard legend Rick Wakeman has been awarded a CBE in the Queens honours list. Read more YMCA Norfolk needs SOS Bus Driver YMCA Norfolk is seeking an SOS Bus Driver in King's Lynn to drive the SOS Project Safe Haven vehicle. Read more Two Recovery Workers needed by Matthew Project The Matthew Project is advertising two exciting full time opportunities as Recovery Workers, to support people in the community delivering 1:1 and group work. The roles will be centred in either Great Yarmouth or Kings Lynn and Thetford. Read more Norwich FGB planning to restart dinner events The Norwich FGB branch has announced it is planning to restart its in-person dinner events in September and is holding a social event event near Norwich later in June. Read more Yare Valley Churches now up and running! A running club set up during pandemic restrictions at three churches in the Brundall area has now started running together as a group. Read more 2,000-mile cycle challenge reaches Norwich Pedal power took centre stage outside Norwich Anglican Cathedral this week as the nationwide Cathedrals Cycle Route reached the city. Read more Newburyport, MA (01950) Today Cloudy skies with periods of rain later in the day. Thunder possible. High around 80F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 52F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Forty-six Chinese medical teams sent to assist Africa have worked with local people to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, practicing the concept of building a China-Africa community of common health. Chinese medics assisting Burundi teach local medical workers COVID-19 knowledge and how to wear protective clothing. Photo courtesy of the 19th batch of Chinese medical team assisting Burundi Not long ago, Azida Zahara had a tumor removed from her body by Chinese medics stationed in the city of Taza in northern Morocco. Due to the difficulty of the surgery and the limited medical resources in the city, many local hospitals refused to admit Zahara until the Chinese medical team came to her aid. After the medics from China made a detailed and meticulous treatment plan for her, Zaharas successful surgery gradually improved her situation. A Chinese medic assisting Senegal conducts eye check-up for a local patient. Photo courtesy of the 18th batch of Chinese medical teams assisting Senegal Since China dispatched its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, it has sent a total of 22,000 medical workers to 48 African countries in 993 batches, offering medical services for 220 million people there. Currently, China has 100 medical stations in 45 African countries providing free services for local communities. Since the onset of the pandemic in Africa, Chinese medical teams aiding Africa have conducted nearly 400 training sessions for local medical workers. They also issued guidance and handbooks, renovated intensive care units at local hospitals and donated materials and money to help the local communities cope with the pandemic. Pikine National Hospital in a suburb of Dakar, Senegal, follows strict procedures to prevent the pandemic that have proven effective in China. Xu Wensheng, head of the medical team sent to assist Senegal, said his team had put forward 35 pieces of proposals for the Senegalese side. Chinese medical teams have established nine branches in Morocco, mostly of which are stationed in small and medium-sized cities, as well as remote areas in the country. According to Liu Huachi, head of the Chinese medical team assisting Morocco, taking the suggestions of Chinese medics, many local hospitals have opened fever clinics to test for COVID-19. The hospitals have also strengthened protection of medical workers and built a registration system so that patients are traceable. Aziz, 55, dean of a school in Taza, is an old friend of the Chinese medics assisting Morocco. Every Thursday over the past 12 years, Aziz teaches Chinese doctors French and Arabic for free. The Chinese doctors cured my eye disease and helped me become confident about my life, he said, expressing hope to come to China to visit doctors who have helped him. Rep. Joo Ho-young, left, floor leader of the main opposition United Future Party, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. On the right is Kim Chong-in, a veteran economist and politician who is leading the party's emergency committee for reform. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun Back at Assembly, UFP seeks investigation into ruling party member By Jung Da-min The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) returned to the National Assembly, Monday, ending a month of boycotting the plenary session of the 21st National Assembly. The party started the boycott to protest the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) unilateral organization of standing committees. The return, however, may not mean smooth operation and discussions at the Assembly, as the opposition party is pledging to conduct strong reviews of government policies which they oppose, as well as inspections into corruption allegations involving ruling bloc figures. Among the controversial issues is the alleged misuse of funds by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and its former leader Yoon Mee-hyang, who is a DPK lawmaker. Although the prosecution launched an investigation into the allegations, the UFP is continuing to question the DPK's protection of Yoon, arguing a need for an Assembly investigation citing the growing public call for an inquiry. "A parliamentary investigation may be impossible if the DPK refuses it by taking advantage of its majority position," UFP floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young said in a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday. "But it won't be able to refuse everything we request because of the public's concern about the issue." The UFP is also drawing attention to conflict between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over how to carry out the investigation into an alleged collusion between a TV broadcaster and high-profile prosecutors. The party accused Choo of misusing her power as a minister by ordering Yoon to carry out the investigation. It is seeking to submit a bill for Choo's impeachment, saying her order goes beyond her level of authority and is thus illegal. This "power game" between Choo and Yoon is also related to an independent investigative body to be launched to look into corruption cases involving high-profile officials and their family members. President Moon Jae-in and the ruling bloc have been pushing to launch the investigation on July 15 according to a relevant law, but the UFP is opposing it saying the new organization, the head of which is appointed by the President, will be operated in the ruling bloc's favor. "A Constitutional Court review over the new investigative body is still ongoing," Joo said. "It should not be handled with haste." The UFP is also vowing a thorough review for spy chief nominee Park Jie-won and Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young, whose confirmation hearings will be held soon. Along with looking into their qualifications, the party says it will review the Moon government's North Korea policy. While approval ratings of President Moon and the DPK have been falling for over a month with their policies failing on multiple fronts, the UFP is also trying to divert the public support to the opposition bloc by highlighting the "poor" performance of the government's real estate and labor policies as well as its handling of security and diplomacy issues. The UFP's emergency committee chief Kim Chong-in said, Monday, that the Moon government has carried out policies of "unfairness and injustice," while putting out empty messages of "inclusive growth." "The Moon government is trying to punish those who are trying to buy their houses while not taking responsibility for the failure of their real estate policies," Kim was quoted as saying by UFP spokeswoman Rep. Kim Eun-hye. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: From July 1, the Government of India has imposed a Stamp duty of 0.005 per cent on all transactions carried out by mutual funds, systematic investment plans, and daily stock traders. While experts claim that the move will only largely impact businesses and big investors, there are still a few things it will change for the run-of-the-mill retail participant. For one thing, those who are planning to invest in mutual funds will now be getting a lesser number of units for the same investment. So when you buy units, the stamp duty will be auto-deducted. For example, if you intend to invest Rs 1,000 in a mutual fund at a net asset value (NAV) of Rs 10 then, instead of getting 100 units, you will now only get 99.995 units due to the stamp duty deduction. This will be the case for dividend reinvestment plans too, in which dividend reinvested in buying fresh units will attract stamp duty. The duty will also be applicable for the transfer of mutual fund units, which will be levied at 0.015 per cent. But no such duty is applicable on redemption or sale of units. Experts claim that this amount is too little to make a significant impact for the small investors.According to Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, ClearTax, if the actual amount invested in case of SIP is Rs 10,000 a month, the stamp duty stand at just Rs 0.5 on each monthly investment and Rs 6 for the entire year. Also, for an investor investing Rs 1.5 lakh in an ELSS scheme, the stamp duty they will have to pay will stand at just Rs 7.50. However, this levy is set to have a rather large impact on big investors, businesses and corporates who keep their money in short term liquid instruments, especially for less than 30 days. For example, in the case of a liquid fund which is generating 3.5 per cent returns, with a seven-day holding period, the return will now fall to 3.24 per cent. With a 30-day holding period, returns will stand at 3.44 per cent after accounting for the stamp duty, which will diminish returns for many corporates who park their money in liquid funds. The stamp duty has been imposed through an amendment in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 via Finance Act 2019. It requires the collection of stamp duty on all securities market instruments, including mutual funds. Originally to come into effect from January 9, the government had postponed it due to the pandemic. By ANI NEW DELHI: The World Bank on Monday signed a 750 million dollar (about Rs 5,600 crore) agreement with the government for MSME Emergency Response Programme to support the increased flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. The programme will address immediate liquidity and credit needs of nearly 15 lakh viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time. The agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the government and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director (India) on behalf of the World Bank. Khare said that the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the MSME sector leading to loss of livelihoods and jobs. The government is focused on ensuring that abundant financial sector liquidity available flow to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and that banks which have turned extremely risk-averse continue taking exposures in the economy. "The project will support the government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivise NBFCs and banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis," he said in an official statement. Vidya Iyengar By Express News Service BENGALURU: If all was well, Shivaraju B S, popularly known as Cop Shiva, would have been in Finland, showcasing his photographs at the Helsinki Photo Festival. But three months ago, when he was intimated that he was one among the 40 photographers whose works would be on display, he thought he would wait it out, hoping that things would return to normal. It would have been a big opportunity, especially since Im the only one from India to be selected, he says about the show that is scheduled to start from July 7 where 12 of his images will be on display. The theme of Shivas work is Street As Studio where he captures the life and dreams of migrants. Ironically, Shiva says, these workers who moved to Bengaluru in pursuit of a better livelihood, were always in the background. Its only now that they have come into focus in times of corona, says Shiva, who decided to move back to his village, Bannikuppe, last year, wanting to be closer home. As a police constable and migrant, I related to the struggle of other migrants, struggling to survive in the hope of living the big-city dream. After 22 years, I decided I wanted to come back and spend time with my mother, says Shiva who is now working on a photography project on re-imagining his childhood, and works out of his studio which he recently built at home. Shiva recalls how the citys civic agency wanted to showcase Bengaluru as another Singapore, and commissioned banner painters to make murals across the city in 2008. I had come across this during my duty, and it stuck on with me. While I personally connect with murals, I have also been interested in Indian studio photography tradition. That has almost disappeared in India, but I decided to turn the street into my studio, says the former policeman who has been pursuing photography full time for three years. Shiva identifies with his subjects people chasing a livelihood. It was all a daze, with the morning rush to get to the police station, and evenings busy with my artistic pursuits, says Shiva. His interest in the arts started around 2007 when he was the coordinator of the art space and residency 1Shanthiroad, during which he managed over 100 exhibitions and events. In 2010, he decided he wanted to create his own work, and started juggling his full-time job and then hobby. But that was getting hard, and I decided to choose this life over that, says Shiva who has never looked back since. Over the years, Shiva has documented the complexity of rural and urban India, focusing on people and portraiture, having been fascinated with the idea of masquerade and the roles people play in public and private. My portfolio includes intimate portraits of urban migrants, people of alternative sexuality, street performers and others living in the hinterland of urban and rural conflict. I capture the diversity of humans who live on the edge and represent the spirit of our times, says Shiva whose works have been part of shows such as Chobi Mela in Bangladesh and the Kochi Biennale. He is also the recipient of 2017 grant of Prohelvetia-Switzerland and Swedish Art Council and 2016 finalist for the Harvard University Peabody Museum Robert Gardner Fellowship of Photography. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Five staffers of the fire station on the Jnana Bharathi campus of Bangalore University have tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. Following this, the fire station was sanitised. University Vice-Chancellor K R Venugopal, meanwhile, has directed the non-teaching staff of all departments and divisions in Jnana Bharathi to work from home from July 6-10. In view of the public holidays on July 11 and 12, they will return to the campus on July 13. The teaching staff have holidays till July 15 in line with the government directive. Venugopal said the non-teaching staff too were sent on holidays following a similar circular by the Education Department. The university will remain closed till July 15. Meanwhile, the Under-Secretary, Department of Higher Education (University-1) on Saturday issued an order stating that the heads of universities/colleges can ask their non-teaching staff to work from office as per requirements. While two hostels on the campus have been identified for setting up Covid care centres, Venugopal raised apprehensions about having a 200-bed facility on the premises. Each room, which can accommodate four students, can accommodate only one patient due to the social distancing norms. The government will have to make alternative arrangements for patients, like the 1,000-bed facility in Delhi, he said. The ministry concerned has been apprised about this, he added. Marshal from Soudha secretariat adds to count A marshal attached to Vidhana Soudha assembly secretariat tested positive on Sunday. The matter was brought to speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageris notice and it was decided to sanitise all secretariat offices. All secretariat staff who are 55 years or older have been asked to stay away from work tomorrow. Sources said the Marshal used to spend time with Soudha security officials and the ones in-charge of locking doors and offices. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Despite the steep spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the State, especially in Bengaluru, the government is not considering another complete lockdown. Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday reiterated the governments stance to allay peoples fears of another complete shutdown, at least in Bengaluru, owing to the increasing number of cases. The Chief Minister has clearly stated that there will be no lockdown. There is no need to worry or fret about it. The government has not decided on a lockdown. Bengalurus healthcare facilities are being scaled up and there is no need for any citizen to worry, said Bommai. The statement comes on the first of the re-introduced Sunday lockdowns in the State, owing to the spike in cases. While addressing worries about reverse migration increasing the spread of Covid in rural areas, Bommai appealed to Bengalurus citizens not to return to their hometowns and to remain in the State capital. Despite complaints of citizens not finding beds or ambulances in Bengaluru, the Home Minister insisted that systems have been put in place to streamline Covid-19 care. Sunday curfew: empty streets in Bengaluru The Sunday lockdown was successful in Bengaluru, as a majority of the citizens did not step out of their houses. Apart from a few stray incidents, the police also had a smooth day. While people were out on Saturday evening and shops were crowded with people, on Sunday, it was a different scene. The curfew was supposed to be from 8 am, and roads wore a completely deserted look through the day. It was clear that people strictly followed the lockdown. A police official said awareness created had worked. Without the cooperation of the people, it wouldnt have been this effective. Also, complete closure of all non-essential activities helped, as people had no choice other than staying indoors. However, a few bikers who ventured out in Basaveshwara Nagar and two girls who were roaming in a car in Vijayanagar were warned by the police. Their vehicles were seized as they had come out without convincing reason. Most of the areas were barricaded. C Shivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is mulling an alternative market similar to the one in Koyambedu in Southern Chennai. It is learnt that two pieces of land including one in Potheri and one in Kilambakkam have been recently inspected by top officials as possible sites for the new market. This comes as 60 per cent of vehicles carrying vegetables are entering Koyambedu through Tambaram, said an official. "Rather than congesting the city with these vehicles, we are thinking of alternative avenues like opening up a new market in South Chennai," he added. This would also cater to traders in Tambaram as well as people in South Chennai who are totally dependent on the Koyambedu market thus decongesting it, said the official. He said this is in the planning stage only and no decision has been taken yet. Interestingly, such a plan was mooted by city planners three years ago but it was dropped after the consultant conducted a feasibility study for identifying commercially viable projects, including a market, on land near Nandhiavaram village in Guduvanchery. Meanwhile, the livelihoods of more than 3,500 traders of the Koyambedu wholesale vegetable and fruits market are at stake as the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has failed to find an alternate site to help them resume their business for the last two months. The traders, bitter at being ignored by the Market Management Committee (MMC) on Monday, gathered in front of the MMC building urging the chief administrative officer to either open up the locked Koyambedu wholesale market or provide them with an alternative site. Fretting that the MMC and CMDA catered to only 400 wholesale traders in both fruit and vegetable markets, the traders said that they have been ignored for the last two months with the government hardly bothering about their livelihoods. Kai Kani Malar Angadi Vyabarigal Nala Sangam general secretary and Koyambedu Foodgrains Market President D Manivannan told The New Indian Express that more than two months have passed and the officials are ignoring their plight. "It is time the government intervenes and unlocks the Koyambedu market to resume trade while prescribing standard operating procedures," said Manivannan. He said markets in Delhi and other cities have been opened and the government should take a leaf from that and allow the opening of the Koyambedu wholesale market by placing restrictions. "If they are harping on social distancing, how did they allow 200 shops to function in less than 7 acres of land in Madhavaram," he reasoned. SR Kannan, another fruit trader from the Koyambedu wholesale market, says neither is the government allotting an alternative site as they promised prior to shutting the Koyambedu market nor reopening it. "This has impacted our lives. I don't have money for my daily needs. While others are getting government doles for loss of business, fruit and vegetable traders don't have any support system," he rued. Interestingly, vegetable traders in Thirumazhisai as well as fruit traders in Madhavaram are also not happy with the alternative site being provided to them and have been demanding that the Koyambedu market be opened. "During the rains, the entire site gets inundated and we have difficulty in loading and unloading," says a trader. Traders allege the entire process of shifting the market to other sites was a thoughtless exercise and a waste of money. "Without coming out with a roadmap or taking the traders into confidence, it was done hurriedly," said Kannan. In Madhavaram, CMDA officials accommodated 250 traders in a limited space. After being rapped by the Chief Secretary for not applying their mind in allocating space for traders, now the officials who planned to shift part of them to the first floor are caught in a fix as traders are refusing to move there stating that during the rains, the entire area gets drenched. Sushmitha Ramakrishnan By Express News Service CHENNAI: For many, a visit to Mylapore is synonymous with a pit stop at the iconic "Jannal Kadai" to munch on the famous Bajji. The fritter shop (kadai) that operates out of a tiny blue window (jannal) on Ponnambala Vathiyar Street near the East gate of the Kapaleeshwar Temple has been a landmark in Mylapore for over a decade now. One of two familiar faces behind the window, Sivaramakrishnan, alias Ramesh, is however no more. The 58-year-old man succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday morning, his family members told Express. At the time of his death, the family was unaware of the reason. An unkempt queue, the smell of deep fried food, a crowd of people gobbling the snack and the grilled blue window was the only way to locate the shop. For years, it gained the fondness of Chennai's residents and visitors, picking up the title "Jannal Kadai Bajji." The shop bears no name board. Peek into the window, Ramesh or his brother Chandrashekaran, sits on a slab surrounded by bowls of piping hot Bajjis, Bondas, Vadais and Idlies. All conversations meant business to Ramesh. He spoke firmly and smiled only at a compliment and avoided most attempts at small talks politely. His famous Bajji carried out the conversation most times. Jannal Kadai Bajji near Mylapore's Kapaleeshwar Temple. (Photo| EPS) It was light, crispy, warm and bright orange in colour. It was accompanied by a tomato coconut chutney. "Even as he was famous for his Bajjis, my family and I used to eat the poori, pongal, idly and vadai from the shop twice or thrice a week before the lock down," said Srinivas Parthasarathy, the founder of Thamizh Mozhi Koodam, who was a regular to the shop. Jannal Kadai was also an integral part of most street food trails held in Chennai. There are hundreds of videos food bloggers have posted from the inconspicuous shop. Sridhar Venkataraman, who has been conducting food walks in Mylapore since 2012, said that Jannal Kadai has always been a part of his tour. "The shop was part of growing up for many in Mylapore and I realised that only some people outside had tried it. The walks made the shop more famous than it already was," said Venkataraman adding that Ramesh was stern to the staff but kind to the poor. "I have seen him offer free food to the poor on many occasions. Even those who paid for the food always found the food moderately priced," he said. Baskar Seshadri, a social activist and a resident of Mylapore told Express that he will miss Ramesh dearly. "I have been eating at the shop for the last 15 years. I used to be terrified of eating street food and I made an exception for this place," he said. He added that he visited the shop a mere two or three weeks ago, even during the lockdown, as he felt nostalgic for the food. "I have arthritis and cannot stand for long. Despite this, I used to wait for the Bajji and munch it on the street," he said. Ramesh suffered from diabetes and had been admitted to a private hospital last week after he fell sick. He was later moved to a government hospital where he was being treated until Sunday. After his demise, his COVID-19 tests returned positive. Speaking to Express, a family member said that the shop will however not shut its doors. "Even as many people recognise Shivaraman, the shop is registered under Chandrashekaran - his brother. Give us a month and we will be back to business. The shop will sell food that tastes the same," the family member said. By Jesse Coy Nelson People's attitudes change as they grow older. In the U.S., when it came to Democrats and Republicans, it was said that the idealism of Democrats changes the older that one gets, particularly on the issue of taxes, and when in middle age and beyond one often turns Republican. But this old model is no longer applicable, because the two parties have changed on some key issues. Growing up in the '80s and becoming politically aware in the '90s, I never subscribed to either party. Third party options appealed to me more, not due to contrariness, but rather in hearing what such figures as Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, Ralph Nader, or Ron Paul had to say. Rather than support Republican or Democrat platforms, I've always looked at issues on a case-by-case basis. Two important issues on which the parties have changed are censorship and "adventures abroad," which is a euphemism for U.S. militarism in other countries. In the case of censorship, in the '80s and '90s, the religious right of the Republican Party were very active in banning music, television shows, or movies with which they disagreed. The PMRC (Parent Music Resource Center), headed by the wife of Republican Jim Baker and the wife of Democratic senator, Al Gore, claimed to only want to establish a labeling system for music. But in action they actively harassed record stores and labels. Other right-wing Republicans would go after advertisers on shows and movies that they disliked. Fast-forward to 2020, where politically correct culture has gone to such extremes that it's now cultural Marxism. Supported by Democrat politicians, they amplified the tactics of the Republican religious groups to an extreme. Not only do they relentlessly harass anyone whose views do not fit in their narrow spectrum of views, branding them as "fascist" or "racist," but they're also taking cues from George Orwell's book, "1984," by actively seeking the erasure of history. In the case of America's "adventures abroad," whether a country wants it or not, most Democrats traditionally opposed this. They would want troops pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, no war with Syria, and dialogue as opposed to war threats with countries with whom the U.S. is at odds, such as North Korea. Unfortunately, since Trump is doing these things, most Democrats are opposing it now, not for the sake of principles, but only to disagree with anything that Trump does. The only candidate who spoke sensibly on a foreign policy of avoiding conflict as much as possible and dialogue with nations with whom the U.S. is at odds was Tulsi Gabbard. Her own party suppressed her, dispatching Hillary Clinton to insinuate that Tulsi was "a Russian asset." It's a Red Scare tactic straight out of the Republicans' playbook in the '50s, which seems now a standard of Democrats, claiming Russia is the bogeyman hiding under everyone's bed. By agreeing more these days with many Republican points over Democrat points, I'm not the one changed. It's the Democrats and Republicans that have switched sides. The author (razoripress@yahoo.com), currently teaching at Dongseo University, is also a freelance writer and avid traveler, who has visited 104 countries to date. Harish Murali By Express News Service CHENNAI: With the city under total lockdown on Sundays, people who need to go to work are finding the going tough, especially the Covid-19 monitoring personnel in Corporation zones and sanitary workers. They claim police personnel are stopping them and advising them to stay indoors. As some of them had kept their identity cards with their uniforms in zone offices, corporation workers found it difficult to convince the police before reaching their respective zones. With most of the workers travelling from the outskirts of the city, the journey into Corporation zones has been bumpy. M Ravi, a sanitary worker in Alandur zone, found it hard to commute from his house in Kundrathur. The police along the Thiruneermalai road were particular on not allowing residents outside, despite explaining to them and showing the identity card. The police reasoned that no one is allowed to commute, he added. Another staff from Paddapai on anonymity said he had a tough time reaching Alandur, where he carries out door-to-door screening of residents. The moment I stepped into the main road in my auto, police stopped me. They asked me for permission letters, and I showed them my uniform and the register we maintain of the residents for recording their temperature. After much deliberation, they allowed me to go. He added that with several arterial roads blocked on Sundays, including the subways that lead to respective areas, commuting has become troublesome. A senior corporation staff averred: Each staff is provided with an identity card and they can show it to the police concerned for travelling without any hindrance. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The first female plasma donor in the national capital on Sunday asked more women to donate their antibody rich plasma and contribute towards the fight against coronavirus pandemic. 20-year-old journalism student and resident of Rohini in north-west Delhi, tested positive for coronavirus on May 30. Her brother was diagnosed on May 25. The brother-sister duo donated their plasma at the countrys first plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences here on Saturday. The bank coordinates with patients who have recovered from the disease, and are eligible to donate plasma. We were given pick up and drop option. It was completely hassle-free. A few tests were conducted to ascertain if we were fit to donate plasma. The entire process took only 45 minutes, the brother said. The doctors at the facility are very helpful and listen to you patiently, he said. She was pleasantly surprised when she got to know that she was the first female plasma donor in the national capital. The doctors gave me an appreciation certificate and asked me to record a video message to motivate others, she said. Many women hesitate to participate in such exercises. There is nothing to worry about and there should be no stigma. They should come forward to help the authorities fight the pandemic. They have an important role to play, she said. The 20-year-old also convinced one of her friends, another COVID-19 survivor, to donate her plasma. ALSO WATCH: Siddhanta Mishra By Express News Service With the launch of Indias first plasma bank, Delhi govt appeals to recovered COVID-19 patients to come forward for the cause. But finding donors may remain a daunting task as plasma donations depend on certain conditions. Many are also reluctant to donate fearing a relapse. Vinod Kumar, a cab driver, faced a double whammy of the nationwide lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic in the last three months. First, Kumar had to keep his four-wheeler off the road following the strict movement restrictions for more than two months, and now, his worst fear has come true his 63-year-old mother has tested positive for the coronavirus. For more than a week now, Kumar has been frantically looking for a plasma donor for his mother, who is admitted in a private hospital at north-wests Shalimar Bagh. Yogesh Dhakad, a nursing officer at RML Hospital, donates plasma The Sarita Vihar residents search was yet to be over till Sunday, even four days after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on July 2 inaugurated Indias first plasma bank at state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) for treatment of COVID-19 patients. I have been looking for a plasma donor for my mother. She urgently needs the therapy as the doctors have asked me to arrange the plasma at the earliest. Where should I go, a seemingly exhausted Kumar says. While inaugurating the bank, Kejriwal knew it would not be an easy task to convince donors. The plasma therapy depends on the willingness of recovered patients to donate plasma and finding willing donors has proved a tough prospect on the ground. Plasma therapy, a technique that involves delivering antibodies to a person fighting the infection to increase his immune response, has been on at select hospitals in Delhi since April 22. More than 100 patients have received plasma therapy till last week in the national city. DS Chahar, a retired Colonel in the Indian Army, is among those lucky patients, who have been administered the Convalescent plasma therapy. His son, Ravideep Chahar, a senior officer posted at the DDA, had to run pillar to post before finding a donor. He also expressed gratitude to those who helped him arrange the donor. People helped me a lot in getting the plasma for my father, but there is a need for a robust and easy system for the patients who are looking for plasma. Right now, the process is cumbersome, but people are helpful. There are also rumours that some had complained of health issues after donating their plasma. The government should address this issue, said Ravideep, whose father is admitted in Max Hospital in Saket. 'Its important that we as a society come together to lend a helping hand to others. Plasma therapy is being seen as a ray of hope when there are no vaccines available.' Shivangi Saxena, Global Shaper, New Delhi Hub World Economic Forum With the active cases of coronavirus in the city crossing 25,000 on Sunday, the demand for plasma therapy is also increasing. According to experts, the increasing demands for plasma therapy could be an indication of increasing number of serious patients, who are not recovering through usual treatments. Even Health Minister Satyendar Jain, whose condition had deteriorated after he tested positive, had to be administered plasma therapy. But the latest eligibility criteria leaves little room for plasma donors. Taking advantage Even in a pandemic, crooks find a way to dupe innocent people. Recently, the Delhi Police arrested a 22-year-old man, identified as Abdul Karim Rana, for allegedly cheating people, including Delhi Vidhan Sabha Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, on the pretext of offering plasma for treating COVID-19 patients. The accused pretended to be a doctor and a recovered coronavirus patient cheated people by taking money for expenses such as travel and then switched off his phone when asked to come. Rana reportedly posed as Dr Rahul Thakur working with the medicine department at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the capital. Last week, Kejriwal also warned that some people were taking advantage of the situation of inadequate amount of plasma, and are engaging in wrongdoings. With an unprecedented crisis like this, it is important that we as a society come together to lend a helping hand to others. Convalescent-plasma therapy is being seen as a ray of hope when there are no vaccines available in the market yet. The people, who have recovered from the disease, have to come forward and offer their plasma. The donation must be accessible to all patients irrespective of the socio-economic differences, says Shivangi Saxena, a Global Shaper, New Delhi Hub an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Saxena has been proactively helping out connecting donors with COVID-19 patients for the past few days. Governments fight against COVID-19 Besides opening the plasma bank, the Delhi government has been increasing the number of trials on patients, requesting the central government to allow expansion of the therapy. At present, around 10 government and private hospitals are conducting these trial therapies on serious patients. But, there is a need for creating awareness and killing rumours that might hinder the plans. 'There are a lot of misconceptions, rumours going around. The recovered patients are scared of donating their plasma. I have donated my plasma five times, so far.' Tabrez Khan, first plasma donor of Delhi The government has also set up two helpline numbers for plasma donation. One can call on 1031 or send a WhatsApp message on 8800007722 to register themselves as a donor. According to the procedure, after giving the contact details, the willing donor will receive a call from a Delhi government doctor who will confirm the persons eligibility for plasma donation and obtain other details. If that person is found to be eligible, a suitable time for pick-up will be fixed. The government will send a vehicle to the donor to take him to the plasma bank, or he will be reimbursed for the travel cost if prefers to travel through his vehicle. No patient or their family should call on the helpline numbers or approach the ILBS directly. The plasma shall be provided to the hospitals based on the doctors prescriptions. The usage of plasma is free of cost. Some evidence has shown that the therapy is useful. Since there is no other drug, vaccine or anti-viral available, this can be helpful, says Dr S K Sarin, director of the ILBS, on the launch of plasma bank. Sarin is supervising the entire process of the plasma bank and the therapy trials in the city. 'The Delhi governments pioneering effort to set up the plasma bank is a welcome step and will go a long way in fighting the unending war against the COVID-19.' Himanshu Sikka, lead-health, WASH at IPE Global There are a lot of misconceptions, rumours going around. The recovered patients are scared of donating their plasma. I have donated my plasma five times, so far. Every day, I get more than 20 calls from patients and their families requesting me for plasma donation. I have been trying to convince a few people to donate, but its not an easy job. The government should step in and build confidence in people to donate their plasma, says Tabrez Khan, the first plasma donor of Delhi. Khan tested positive in March, but after recovery, he donated his plasma for the first time on April 5. Khan also lauded the Kejriwal government for the plasma bank. Ajay Prakash Arya at Delhi Plasma Bank in the ILBS. NGOs step in While the Delhi government and Centre have joined hands to fight against the deadly virus in the national capital, some NGOs and civil society groups come up with online platforms and websites that help patients and donors connect with each other on time. The Delhi governments pioneering effort to set up the plasma bank is a welcome step and will go a long way in fighting the unending war against the COVID-19. This will also help ensure that proper testing of plasma is conducted. However, the government should also focus on spreading awareness about the therapy so that more donors come forward and feel safe to re-visit the bank, says Himanshu Sikka, lead-health, Nutrition and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at IPE Global. Yogesh Dhakad, a nursing officer at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, says there is need for proper counseling of patients who have recovered from the virus. I donated my plasma thrice since my recovery in May and will be doing more in the coming days. But when I talk to other patients, they express their apprehensions. From my experience, I can say only 10 out of 100 recovered patients come forward to donate plasma. The ratio should change. The plasma bank is a positive initiative, says Dhakad. 'People helped me a lot in getting the plasma for my father, but there is a need for a robust and easy system for the patients who are looking for plasma. The process is cumbersome right now.' Ravideep Chahar, a senior officer posted at the DDA Who are ineligible? Weight less than 50 kg Females who have ever been pregnant Diabetic on insulin BP more than 140 and diastolic less than 60 or more than 90 Uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension with a change in medication in the last 28 days Cancer survivor Chronic kidney/heart/lung or liver disease Websites helping find donors Dhoondh.com n Plasmayoddha.in n Plasmadonor.in Needplasma.in n Plasmaline.in How will govt facilitate donors? The Delhi government will arrange for the donors transport to the ILBS Hospital in Vasant Kunj, or reimburse the travel cost If the donor has not been tested negative after being tested positive for COVID initially, the government will arrange for him to be tested It will provide refreshments during the donors visit to the plasma bank The donor will receive a plasma donor certificate signed by the chief minister Two helpline numbers for donation CM Arvind Kejriwal issued numbers 1031 and 8800007722 where people can contact for donation of plasma to save the lives of COVID-19 patients. The government has set up the plasma bank at the state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. Plasma therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from coronavirus and transfusing those into a infected patient to help kick-start the immune system to fight the infection. According to experts, the increasing demands for plasma therapy could be an indication of increasing number of serious patients, who are not recovering through usual treatments. Even Health Minister Satyendar Jain had to be administered plasma therapy. By Online Desk The trailer of 'Dil Bechara' starring late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi in lead roles, was released today. The film is set to premier on Disney Plus Hotstar on July 24. The casting director Mukesh Chhabra's directorial debut will leave viewers teary eyed, especially from what we know of the Hollywood adaptation of the John Green book, "The fault in our stars". The film has been much awaited by fans off late who are excited to watch Sushant on screen for one last time. Actor Saif Ali Khan makes a special appearance in the movie. The flick was originally slated for May 8 theatre release but it could not see the light of the day due to the COVID-induced lockdown. Netizens have already showered praise on the trailer. In less than half-an-hour, the trailer has garnered more than two lakh views on YouTube. WATCH HERE Mukesh Chhabra tweeted the trailer with a sweet note, in which he urged people to watch it with "Family, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, loved ones" so that they can "celebrate a life that lived and will forever be in our hearts." The casting director-turned-filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra had earlier revealed that the late actor agreed to be a part of his debut directorial "Dil Bechara" without even reading the script. He added, that the actor would "always help (him) improve the scene.." "He used to read with me and if at any point he felt that creatively the scene could be improved he used to always let me know. We used to sit together and discuss at length." The film will see Saif Ali Khan in a cameo. Composer AR Rahman and lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya have collaborated to create music for the project. Dil Bechara will be the last one from Sushant Singh Rajput who had earlier given us M S Dhoni, Kai Po Che, Chhichhore among other hits. His co-star in the film, Sanjana Sanghi also wrote on Twitter about how much she missed him, "We miss you so much Sushant. Thank you, for your love." Disney Plus Hotstar will screen the movie on its platform for free as a tribute to the late actor. (With inputs from PTI) A Sharadhaa By Express News Service After having made films like Kavaludaari and Maybazar 2016, and upcoming LAW, and French Biriyani PRK Productions, is now looking at a medical thriller. Titled O2, the production, house created by Puneeth Rajkumar and producer Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, is sifting through good content and hunting for fresh talent. Interestingly, Radhakrishna Reddy, who made his directorial debut with Mayabazar, will be joining hands with PRK as a producer. He has taken on board two new directors, Prashanth Raj, and Raghav, who will wield the megaphone. While Raghav is a tattoo artiste, Prashanth, is an architect, but both find common interests in filmmaking. The O2 script is the hard work of these two directors, who have worked on the script over the past four years. When they met me, they came with 20 drafts of their story. When they returned for feedback, I felt it was fresh content that could worked on-screen. So, I decided to be a part of the project. Everything fell in place when I got them to meet Appu (Puneeth Rajkumar), who shared my line of thinking. After all the discussions we brought them on board, explains Radhakrishna. Raghav and Prashanth who met in film school are said to have really focussed on the storyline. Its a rare subject since it is set against the medical backdrop. We had bounced the script to a couple of directors, including Raj B Shetty, who gave valuable feedback, Radhakrishna explains. The makers have completed the auditions which were held online, and found a lot of youngsters interested in being a part of the project. While the team has short-listed a few names, they are now waiting to conduct the final round of auditions before finalising the cast. By PTI SRINAGAR: Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Mir on Monday demanded immediate rollback of the new media policy in Jammu and Kashmir. Mir, a former minister, urged the Union territory administration to review the new media policy in consultation with representatives of the print, online and electronic media outlets in Jammu and Kashmir. The new policy related to media in J&K seems to have been superficially drafted without taking into consideration the fundamental constitutional requirements guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression, Mir said in a statement. He expressed concern over the plight of the media industry in the Union territory which has been battling for survival in the prevailing circumstances. Instead of supporting the media industry including print, online and electronic platforms in its survival in these pressing economic situations, the government has started squeezing the viability of the fourth estate, Mir added. The former minister said the government should facilitate and ensure that the media fulfils its role as an opposition to government policies which are detrimental to the public welfare. Instead of supporting the fourth estate to highlight the miseries of people and point out the lacunas in the governance system, the government seems to be threatening them of dire consequences for playing the role of a watchdog, he said. The party leader said the government should immediately roll back the proposed policy which is disadvantageous to its spirit. A policy that has been apparently drafted without consulting the editors' bodies or association of accredited journalists in J&K is genuinely unacceptable to the media fraternity, Mir observed. Meanwhile, CPM leader and former MLA M Y Tarigami also called for roll back of the media policy. Tarigami said the new media policy was an attempt to throttle the freedom of speech. "The new media policy has spread unease amongst the journalists working in the region as it is aimed at gagging their voice in Jammu and Kashmir," he said in a statement. He said the framers of this policy have given a clear picture that they don't want journalists answerable to their readers and editors, but to bureaucrats and security officials, who will have the powers to decide which news item is fake, unethical, plagiarised or anti-national. "The policy has been framed with an aim to give the government a free hand to muzzle freedom of press," he added. While assuring the journalistic fraternity of his full support over the issue, Tarigami urged the government to immediately roll back the new media policy. By PTI NEW DELHI: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who recovered from COVID-19 last month, donated plasma on Monday. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have given party workers the mantra of 'seva bhav' (service). Inspired by it, I took blessings of our president J P Nadda and donated plasma today. Request all those who suffered from COVID and have regained fitness to donate plasma," Patra tweeted. Plasma therapy aims at transfusing plasma (a component of blood) containing antibodies donated by a recovered COVID-19 patient to the serious coronavirus patients. Many state governments and hospitals have set up plasma banks. Patra also posted pictures of his meeting with Nadda before going to donate plasma at a hospital. The BJP spokesperson had contracted the virus a few weeks back and was hospitalised for some days at a private facility in Gurgaon. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Two days after visiting forward posts in Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday and briefed him on issues of national and international importance, Rashtrapati Bhavan said. The visit came at a time when India is gradually rolling out punitive economic actions aimed at China in the aftermath of the June 14/15 violent clash in the Galwan Valley of East Ladakh. Prime Minister @narendramodi called on President Kovind and briefed him on the issues of national and international importance at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official handle of the President tweeted. The Modi-led NDA government at the Centre completed one year in office on May 30. The meeting also came at a time when India has scaled up military and paramilitary deployments along the troubled Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The PM had last month also called an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of the stand-off with China. This was Modis first one-on-one with President Kovind after the Covid-19 outbreak and the consequent lockdown in phases. He briefed the President on the prevailing situation and the governments responses, said a senior official. The prime minister is also likely to expand his council of ministers. BJP circles have been abuzz for a while about the likely induction of fresh faces along with space for NDA allies. The JD(U) is not yet part of the council of ministers at the Centre. The NDA, incidentally, has begun preparing for the Bihar Assembly elections, which may be held during October-November in multiple phases. Modis visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan has also come at a time when the presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament are exploring ways to hold the Monsoon session. There exists, however, a six-month window till September for summoning the session. Mayank Singh and Pushkar Banakar By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough along the Eastern Ladakh border, partial disengagement of Chinese troops began in the Galwan Valley area along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Monday. The process was set rolling after a video call between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the two special representatives on border issues late on Sunday night. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has been seen removing tents and structures at Patrolling Point 14, government sources said. According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, the two leaders agreed on expeditious and total disengagement. They agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, the statement read. BIG BREAKING: - Disengagement with PLA has started as per agreed terms in Corps Commander's meeting. - PLA seen removing tents & structures at PP14. - Rearward movement of vehicles of PLA seen at General area Galwan, Hotsprings & Gogra. - Distance to be verifid @NewIndianXpress The disengagement began at various locations as per terms agreed in the Corps Commanders meeting on June 30. Rearward movement of PLA vehicles has been seen in general area of Galwan, Hot Springs and Gogra, sources said. How far deep has the PLA pulled back will be determined after due verification, an Army officer said. The Army is understandably wary and will watch the situation for at least 72 hours, since the PLA in the past did not comply with disengagement agreements. However, there is no movement at Finger-4 and the Chinese troops are staying put at the stand-off position at Y-Junction in Depsang bulge, confirmed another source. China acknowledged the limited disengagement, with foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian saying progress had been made by the two militaries to disengage and reduce tensions along the LAC. There is progress made on frontline troops taking effective measures to disengage and ease the tensions. Chinese and Indian troops held a commander-level talk on June 30. The two sides continue to work to implement the consensus reached at the two previous rounds of talks, he said. PLA yet to pull out of Finger-4, Depsang The stand-off locations include Finger-4 along the Northern Flank of Pangong Tso, Gogra Post (Patrolling Point 17A), Patrolling Points 14 and 15 in Galwan Valley and Y-Junction in Depsang. Partial pullback in Galwan and Gogra, not elsewhere. By ANI BHOPAL: Congress leader Govind Singh has requested Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan not to allocate the revenue portfolio to anyone from the "Scindia camp" and alleged that through the Revenue Minister, BJP MP Jyotiradtiya Scindia could get government land allotted to his trust. "The Collector Officer along with the Government Advocates in the Gwalior High Court mentioned the government land in the name of Scindia. He gets government lands named after his trust by the help of Revenue Minister so I have requested the Chief Minister not to choose a Revenue Minister from the Scindia camp," said Singh. The Chief Minister should save government property in the interest of seven and a half crore people, Singh said. ALSO READ | Only one tiger lives in a forest: Digvijaya roars back at Jyotiraditya Scindia At the same time, Singh also alleged that "after independence, government land was encroached by Scindia's family." After the allegations of the Congress leader, Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Vishwas Sarang hit back, stating that Congress leaders have lost their mental balance. "If the same suggestion was given to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath then things would have been better. Scindia has fought for justice, he left Congress as the farmers' loan was not being waived off and when the Congress created chaos in the state. He didn't leave for his own benefit," said Sarang. In the then Kamal Nath-led government, Scindia's close aide Govind Singh was the Revenue Minister. By Agnes Igoye KAMPALA Perhaps the most effective health interventions in the battle against COVID-19 so far have been behavioral: social distancing and improved hygiene, especially hand-washing. For the world's 70 million displaced people especially the millions living in cramped camps and informal settlements such habits can be virtually impossible. Add to that limited access to health-care services, a lack of reliable information about the virus, and governments' focus on protecting their own citizens, and the risks of devastating COVID-19 outbreaks among displaced populations are rising fast. Refugees International recently sounded the alarm about these risks, and offered sensible recommendations to help mitigate them, such as reducing overcrowding and improving hygiene in refugee camps, halting the deportation of asylum-seekers, and improving communication. To achieve these objectives, governments would do well to draw lessons from Uganda, a global leader in refugee protection. Uganda, a landlocked country of 43 million people, has taken in 1.36 million refugees, making it the world's third-largest host country. Most fled from conflicts in neighboring countries, especially in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Asylum-seekers from both countries totaling 985,512 from the former, and 271,967 from the latter so far are granted refugee status in Uganda on a prima facie basis. Asylum-seekers from other countries, including Burundi (36,677 refugees), undergo status-determination interviews. Nearly 71,000 refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan have lived in exile in Uganda for three decades. Despite its large refugee population, none of Uganda's confirmed cases of COVID-19 occurred within refugee settlements. This is a testament to the country's humane, sustainable, and forward-looking refugee policy, which gives displaced people the resources and support they need to make a home and a living. Uganda's success begins with favorable legal and policy frameworks. Its 2006 Refugee Act and the 2010 Refugees Regulations guarantee essential rights to refugees, including the rights to move freely, work and start a business, own property, and access public services like education and health care. The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, launched in 2017, provides a blueprint for upholding those rights globally. From emergency response to ongoing needs and self-reliance, the CRRF covers every step of a refugee's experience from the time of displacement until a durable solution (local integration, resettlement, or voluntary repatriation) is found. It thus aligns its approach with the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2016. A key component in implementing the CRRF is the Refugee and Host Population Empowerment (ReHoPE) Strategic Framework, which focuses on promoting resilience and self-reliance among refugees and host communities through livelihood initiatives, durable institutions, and investment in skills development. To avoid redundancy and ensure adequate funding, ReHoPE emphasizes coordination among strategic actors, including the U.N., the World Bank, and several cross-sectoral partners. In Uganda, refugees have been integrated into the country's development agenda at all levels. Uganda's National Development Plan II, launched in 2015, includes the Settlement Transformation Agenda, which promotes socioeconomic development in areas hosting refugees and provides the basis of a non-encampment policy for refugees. Whereas refugees in Bangladesh, Greece, and Syria typically live in overcrowded camps, which rank among the world's most densely populated areas, refugees in Uganda receive a plot of land for housing and cultivation near local communities. About 92 percent of Uganda's refugees live in settlements alongside native Ugandans, while the remaining 8 percent live in urban centers. At the 2016 Leaders' Summit on Refugees, Uganda committed to upholding its settlement approach, and expanding refugees' access to education, employment, and social services. It has since made significant progress toward fulfilling its promises. Because most refugees are concentrated in 12 of Uganda's 121 districts, total service capacity has been increased in some areas. In 2018, the Ministry of Education launched an Education Response Plan a three-year initiative to ensure sufficient school capacity. Integrated response plans for health, water, and the environment soon followed. Thanks to this long-term planning, refugees and local communities alike already had access to health facilities and clean water when the COVID-19 pandemic began. As a result, even those who live in more densely populated and thus higher-risk settings had the tools they needed to follow hygiene recommendations from the start. Border controls during the pandemic mean that Uganda's open-door policy for asylum-seekers has been suspended. Having spent over a decade as a border guard including on the Kenyan frontier when violence erupted over that country's 2007 election I know how difficult it can be to ensure safety at the border. The government's decision to close Uganda's frontiers reflects its commitment to protecting the entire population, including refugees. To be sure, Uganda's refugee management is not free of controversy, including allegations of corruption and fraud. But the authorities are cooperating with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme to investigate concerns about the accuracy and reliability of data used for refugee programming, fundraising, and assistance. In 2018, Uganda's government began to verify refugees using UNHCR's biometric systems. Displaced populations are often thought to represent a dilemma, with governments forced to choose between protecting their own populations and protecting refugees and asylum-seekers. Uganda has shown that this is a false choice. With long-term planning and a multi-sectoral approach, governments can ensure that refugees and their host communities coexist peacefully, prosperously, and in good health. Agnes Igoye, a senior Aspen New Voices Fellow, is Uganda's deputy national coordinator for the prevention of trafficking in persons and head of the Ugandan Immigration Training Academy. Her article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). By PTI NEW DELHI: As many as 108 personnel from three Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) of the BSF, the ITBP and the CRPF tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, officials said. The Border Security Force, the about 2.5-lakh personnel strong force, reported 36 fresh cases and 33 recoveries over the last 24 hours, officials said quoting the latest data. The force has 1,348 coronavirus cases in total, out of which 526 personnel are under treatment while 816 have recovered. There have been five deaths from the disease in the force, tasked to guard Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh, including the death of a personnel who was killed in a road accident and his COVID-19 positive report came later. The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), tasked to guard the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, reported 18 new infections while one personnel recovered in the last 24 hours, the officials said. It has a total of 421 COVID-19 cases, out of which 151 personnel are under treatment while 270 have recovered from the disease. The 90,000 personnel strength mountain-warfare trained force has had three deaths from the pandemic. A total of 54 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel also tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, while nine personnel were discharged after recovery, the officials said. Out of the total 1,564 cases in the country's largest paramilitary force, 808 personnel are under treatment while 747 have recovered. The about 3.25-lakh personnel strength force has reported nine deaths from the pandemic. The maximum number of fresh COVID-19 cases in the three forces are of those personnel who are joining their units back and are put under mandatory quarantine of 14 days before they resume active duty, a senior official said. A total of 22 CRPF personnel tested coronavirus positive on Sunday in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, around 170 kms from here, an official said. These men had rejoined duty a few days ago and were placed under institutional quarantine, where they were detected with the infection, he said. Around 350-400 CRPF troopers were on leave and began returning to their reporting stations in the last 20-25 days, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde told PTI. "Personnel who return are kept in 14-day institutional quarantine and tested for coronavirus after seven to eight days from the date of their return. A total of 22 CRPF personnel tested positive on Sunday," he said. Gayathri Mani By Express News Service NEW DELHI: A journalist working with a Hindi daily succumbed to his injuries after he died by suicide jumping off the fourth floor of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi where he was admitted after testing positive for Covid-19.He was critically injured and was admitted to the ICU. After testing positive for coronavirus, he was sending depressing messages to his friends and colleagues, sources said. The journalist is survived by his wife and two daughters who live in Bhajanpura area of north-east Delhi. He was admitted to JPNATC, AIIMS on May 26 with Covid-19 symptoms.Due to lockdown and Covid, he feared he would lose his job. He was going through a financial crisis also. He had complained that his boss was mentally torturing him, said one of his friends. Before taking the extreme step, the journalist in one of his messages on WhatsApp reportedly said: Something big is going on inside here, there is no senior doctor here and they are injecting people without any test.Questions are being raised as to how a person admitted in ICU could run out to commit suicide. The AIIMS said, Around 1.55 pm on Monday, the man ran out of TC-I where he was admitted. It said hospital staff tried to stop him. But he ran to the fourth floor, where he broke a window pane and jumped out. He was intubated and resuscitation was tried, but he succumbed to his injuries at 3.35 pm. AIIMS in a statement said, He was making a significant recovery. He was stable and was planned for shifting to the general ward from ICU. The AIIMS also said he had a surgery for frontal lobe meiningioma (a type of brain tumour) at GB Pant Hospital in March. When he was in JPNATAC for Covid treatment, he was having bouts of disorientation for which he was seen by a neurologist and psychiatrist and was put on medication. His family members were counselled about his condition, said an AIIMS spokesperson. Inquiry ordered Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan expressed his condolences over the death of the journalist, who died by suicide at AIIMS and ordered an inquiry into the incident. Deeply shocked & saddened by the death of the young journalist, he tweeted. By Express News Service CHENNAI: India's first social media super application, Elyments, was launched by the Vice President of India, Venkiah Naidu on Sunday. The app allows users to stay in touch through a vibrant feed, free audio/video calls, and private/group chats. Under Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, more than 1,000 IT professionals came together to create the homegrown application. This app is being seen as a massive boost to Indian startups and a major push towards 'Make in India' initiative. Flagging off the app, the Vice President said this is a step towards 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat' and said the youth must be encouraged to come up with Indian alternatives for most of the widely used foreign apps. Elyments is available in eight languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English.Venkiah Naidu suggested that ultimately it must be made available in all the languages, so people from across the country can make use of it. The team members of Elyments said the app has been created with user's privacy as priority. They stressed that the data of users is stored in India and user's data will never be shared with a third party without the user's explicit consent. "The credit goes to the young team that came out with this app. A few months ago when I asked them how long it will take to create such an app, they told me at least two years. When I told them I wanted it by Guru Purnima, they were shocked. But, somehow we have managed to launch it on the day of Guru Purnima. That is the power of youth. They can make the impossible possible," said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the launch. While the app now combines the features of most social media apps, soon the team plans to launch audio/video conference calls, secure payments, regional voice commands and curated commerce platforms to promote Indian brands. Elyments already has over two lakh downloads and is available on both IOS and Android platforms. By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday suspended three more policemen over allegations of being in regular contact with notorious gangster Vikas Dubey, the main accused behind the killings of eight cops in Kanpur last week. As per Kanpur SSP Dinesh Kumar P, those three cops suspended on Monday included two sub-inspectors - Kunwar Pal and KK Sharma - and constable Rajeev of Chaubeypur police station. These three suspensions are in addition to that of Chaubeypur police station in-charge Vinay Tiwari who was suspended on Saturday on suspicion of playing an informer to the criminal on the police action. Meanwhile, the cash reward for the information leading to the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh. Initially, the cash reward announced was Rs 50,000 which was increased to Rs 1 lakh on Sunday, and now it stands at Rs 2.5 lakh. Notably, eight police personnel, including a circle officer in the rank of DSP, three SIs four constables were martyred during the operation against Dubey in Bikru village under Chaubeypur police station area in Kanpur in the midnight of Thursday. Dubey, who is still evading arrest, has around 60 criminal cases lodged against him. The UP police Special Task Force (STF) is investigating the matter along with officers from 40 police stations. Posters of Dubey have been pasted in many areas including Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, and adjoining districts to nab him at the earliest. As per the sources, the role of suspended cops has been confirmed in the in-house investigation conducted by the force on the basis of CDR of the gangster procured by the investigators. Their call records were checked threadbare before they were suspended. The authorities are also contemplating to initiate proceedings for their dismissal. In all, 30 cops are on the radar of investigators for their alleged links with the absconding dreaded criminal. According to Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal, all the policemen found to be the gangster's moles will be terminated and they will face a criminal trial, Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal had said. In a major revelation on Sunday, Dayashankar Agnihotri, an aide of the absconding gangster, had admitted that someone from the police department had called Dubey and alerted him hours in advance about the police action. Consequently, Dubey called in a number of shooters from outside. He had even threatened to deal with the police force and send the cops back in coffins. One Dayashankar, a close aide of the notorious gangster, was arrested by police after being shot at in the leg during an encounter in Kanpur on Saturday. He is one of the 18 aides of Dubey on whom the police had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 each. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Two militants, including a Pakistani national, killed in a gunfight in the Arreh area of Kulgam district on Saturday, tested positive for coronavirus. It is the first instance when militants have tested Covid positive in Jammu and Kashmir after the outbreak of the deadly pandemic. While carrying out the medico-legal formalities of the slain militants, samples were taken and sent for Covid test. Test reports were received from CD Hospital Srinagar and both the killed militants were confirmed as Covid positive, a police spokesperson said. The police spokesman said the bodies shall be buried strictly as per Covid-19 protocol at a graveyard in Baramulla in north Kashmir. The two militants were identified as Ali Bhai alias Hyder from Pakistan and a local named Hilal Ahmad Malik. Three army men including a JCO were also injured in the firefight. Dilbagh Singh, J&K DGP, had on April 23 warned that Pakistan was pushing militants infected with Covid into Kashmir to spread the virus in the Valley. Till now, Pakistan had been supporting militants and now it is exporting coronavirus patients to infect people of Kashmir. This is something on which there is a need to take precaution, he had said. After the outbreak of Covid pandemic in March, authorities are not handing over bodies of slain local militants to their families. They are buried quietly in remote graveyards in Kupwara and Baramulla districts in north Kashmir and Sonamarg area of central Kashmirs Ganderbal district. The burial is carried out at designated places to ensure the safety of people from the inherent risk of contracting the Covid infection. The medico-legal formalities are strictly followed in respect of such killed militants, which includes post-mortem, DNA and Covid tests, he said. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: The NIA on Monday filed a charge sheet against suspended deputy superintendent of the J&K Police Davinder Singh and five others, accusing them of being part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and Pakistani state agencies to wage war against India. The arrested police officer was accused of being in touch with officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information. The agency has filed a charge sheet against six accused persons, including Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu (Hizbul deputy chief), Davinder Singh, Irfan Shafi Mir alias advocate, Rafi Ahmad Rather (Hizbul militant), Tanveer Ahmad Wani (ex-LoC trader) and Syed Irfan Ahmad (brother of Naveed Babu), under different sections of the IPC, UAPA, Arms Act and Explosives Substances Act in the NIA Court at Jammu, an NIA spokesman said. The probe has revealed that Pakistan-based Hizbul leadership, including its chief Syed Salah-ud-Din, deputy chief Amir Khan, operational head Khursheed Alam, financial head Nazar Mehmood and others, along with Pakistani establishment is extending support to the cadres and commanders of the Hizbul based in J&K, states the charge sheet. On January 11, the J&K Police had arrested Singh along with Naveecd Babu, Rafi Ahmad Rathern and Irfan Shafi Mir in Qazigund on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. The NIA took over investigations of the case on January 17. By PTI GWALIOR: Citizens found without mask or not following the COVID-19 prevention guidelines at public places in Gwalior will have to work as volunteers in hospitals and police check-posts for three days, an official said on Monday. Fines would also be imposed on those violating the COVID-19 protocols, he said. An order of this effect was issued by the district administration in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday after Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh held a meeting with officials concerned on the ongoing 'Kill Corona' campaign, he said. FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE The order said those found without mask or not following the coronavirus guidelines at public places will not only have to pay a fine, but they would also have to work as volunteers for three days in hospitals and fever clinics treating COVID-19 patients and at the police check-posts. The collector said in the meeting that those coming from Indore, Bhopal and other states should be strictly screened at the district's borders, the official said. The Madhya Pradesh government has undertaken the 'Kill Corona' campaign across the state for a door-to-door survey to identify COVID-19 patients. On Sunday, Gwalior reported 51 COVID-19 cases, taking the district's tally to 528. Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: Udaipur police are facing a curious situation after a woman arrested under PITA (The Prevention of Immoral Trafficking) Act tested positive for Covid-19. At least 14 police personnel involved in the operation that led to her arrest have been placed in quarantine after the result came out. On the night of July 1, Udaipur police had conducted raids on multiple locations of the city and arrested 17 people including seven women under the PITA Act. One of the teams, led by DSP Chetna Bhati, had raided Hotel Ramlakhan in Sukher police station area arresting four women. All these women were sent to police custody and tested for coronavirus. One of the women was found corona positive on Saturday. After the information came out, the police department swung into action and alerted the team which had arrested the woman from a hotel in the Sukher police station area. The department identified the personnel who may have come in contact with the woman during the raid and placed them in isolation. The team led by DSP Chetna Bhati has been instructed to remain in quarantine. The corona exam of personnel at Sukher and Ghantaghar police station is also being conducted. One DSP, two SHOs, and 11 others have been quarantined, ASP Gopal Swaroop Mewada said. They are expected to be tested twice to ascertain that they are not Corona positive. The woman, who was found positive, is said to have left Udaipur after getting bail. After the report came out, the police are trying to find and inform her about her test. Police are also trying to trace people who had come in contact with her so that they can be quarantined as well. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday sets aside the Delhi High Court order asking the NIA to produce judicial records on transfer of civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi to Mumbai in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said that the Delhi High Court had no jurisdiction in entertaining Navlakha's bail plea and held that courts in Bombay had the jurisdiction in the case. The top court also expunged adverse remarks of the Delhi High Court against the National Investigation Agency (NIA) made in its May 27 order while dealing with the bail plea. The apex court had earlier stayed the May 27 order of the Delhi High Court by which the NIA was pulled up for acting in haste in taking away Navlakha from Tihar Jail to Mumbai. The Delhi High Court on May 27 had pulled up the NIA for acting in unseemly haste in taking away Navlakha from the national capital to Mumbai even when his interim bail plea was pending here. During the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, said that at the time when Navlakha surrendered in pursuance to top court order, Delhi was under lockdown. He said that NIA later moved the Mumbai trial court and requested for issuance of production warrant as Navlakha was in judicial custody at Tihar Jail. He added that Navlakha was produced before the trial judge in Mumbai based on the production warrant and the Delhi High Court was duly informed about it during the hearing. Mehta pointed out that after the lockdown was lifted, Navlkaha was taken to Mumbai and the observations made by the Delhi High Court were totally uncalled for. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Navlakha said, What the HC has done? It has neither granted any bail nor any relief. High Court simply asked the concerned officer to file an affidavit. However, the bench said that Delhi High Court should not have entertained the matter. How any HC could have interfered in the matter like this? the bench told Sibal, adding, You could have come to us (SC) or go to the concerned NIA court in Mumbai. The top court on June 19, had expressed unhappiness and questioned the Delhi High Court's decision to entertain the bail plea of Navlakha, when it had already dismissed his petition for similar relief and asked him to surrender within a specific date. Navlakha was arrested in August 2018 by the Pune Police from his Delhi residence in connection with the violence at Koregaon Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. The transit remand order was, however, set aside by the Delhi High Court. The top court on June 2 had stayed the proceedings before the Delhi High Court till further orders and issued notice to Navlakha on NIA's appeal. The NIA in its plea alleged that the Delhi High Court in its order erroneously continues to entertain the interim bail application of an accused, who is charged by an authority outside its territorial jurisdiction and is in judicial custody vide a valid jurisdictional remand order passed by special judge (NIA) Mumbai (which is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court). It sought setting aside of the May 27 order of the Delhi High Court and claimed that the top court had already adjudicated the issue of medical health of Navlakha and declined him the relief by its order on April 8. It pointed out that the Delhi High Court also lacked the territorial jurisdiction to pass directions as the FIR by NIA pertaining to the Bhima Koregaon case was registered on January 24 at Mumbai. Justice Anup J Bhambhani of the Delhi High Court on May 27 had pulled up the NIA for acting in unseemly haste in taking away Navlakha, from the national capital to Mumbai even when his interim bail plea was pending here. It said there was an evident haste shown by the NIA in moving pleas across Mumbai and Delhi over weekends and Gazetted holidays (Eid) and obtaining orders by e-mail, and whisking away Navlakha to Mumbai, which has rendered these proceedings infructuous. Navlakha, who had surrendered before the NIA on April 14 in pursuance to the apex court's direction and was lodged in Tihar jail, was taken to Mumbai by train on May 26. On April 8, the top court had directed Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde to surrender to jail authorities within a week in the Bhima Koregaon violence case saying the time will not be extended now as the courts are functioning in Maharashtra. The activists, who were directed by the apex court on March 16 to surrender within three weeks, had moved the plea seeking extension of time on the ground that going to jail during ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is "virtually a death sentence". The apex court on March 16 had rejected anticipatory bail pleas of the activists, observing that it cannot be said no prima facie case is made out. It had granted three weeks' time to them to surrender themselves to the jail. Navlakha, Teltumbde and several other activists have been booked by the Pune Police for their alleged Maoist links and several other charges following the violence at Koregaon Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. All the accused have denied the allegations. According to Pune Police, "inflammatory" speeches and "provocative" statements made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 had triggered caste violence at Koregaon Bhima the next day. The police alleged that the conclave was backed by Maoists. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Air India on Sunday announced that it will be operate 36 flights between the US and India from July 11 to 19 July under the Vande Bharat Mission. The national carrier said that tickets may be booked through AI website after 20:00 hours (IST) on July 6, equivalent to New York (EDT 1030 hrs of 6 July 2020), Chicago (CDT 0930 hrs of 6 July 2020) & San Francisco (PDT 0730 hrs of 6 July 2020). Earlier this week, Indias aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had announced that International air travel to and from India will remain suspended till July 31. In its latest guidelines for Unlock 2.0, the MHA said that international air travel for passengers was permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat mission and further opening-up will take place in calibrated manner. On June 22, the US Department of Transportation had announced that Air India was barred from operating chartered flights to the US without its prior approval in the wake of New Delhi not giving permission to American carriers to land in India. The next day, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that it was considering establishing individual bilateral bubbles with the US, the UK, Germany and France allowing their airlines to operate international flights. Under the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, Air India will be operating 170 flights connecting India with Canada, the US, the UK, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and many other countries. By Andrew Hammond The new United States-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA), one of the most comprehensive trade agreements outside the EU, came into force last Wednesday. While the deal remains shrouded in deep political controversy, its achievement underlines the limits to the current de-globalization era that has been fueled by the coronavirus crisis. The USMCA, which is in effect a North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 2.0, will serve as a political cornerstone of economic relations within the continent, including the more than $1 trillion in annual, trilateral trade. Yet amid the celebrations of what even "America first" President Donald Trump has previously called a "wonderful" and "historical transaction," there remains much political angst. NAFTA, originally signed in 1994 during Bill Clinton's presidency, was the first trade major trilateral accord negotiated between a developing country (Mexico) and developed counterparts (United States and Canada). That distinctive era, soon after the end of the Cold War, saw economic globalization largely unchallenged as a political orthodoxy across much of the world. Reflecting the erosion of political support since then for international trade, Trump called NAFTA in 2016 "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere." In the United States, both the political right and left have blamed it for contributing to a hollowing-out of the U.S. manufacturing industry, partly because of increased trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. Hence why Trump has given the pact a branding refresh to the USMCA, ending what he calls the "NAFTA nightmare," despite the major continuities between it and the original 1994 accord. A sign of this troubled political landscape came last Wednesday when, even before the USMCA agreement takes effect, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer threatened Canada and Mexico with potential litigation. Facing into U.S. election-year pressures over international trade, Lighthizer's strongest warning was directed to Mexico. He asserted that the country needs to implement the improved worker rights it agreed to in the deal saying "we will take action early and often when there are problems" so as not to allow a competitive advantage over U.S. workers. Yet, Canada was also in his sights too, including over opening up its domestic dairy market, and he claimed that Ottawa has a history of playing games that effectively shuts out foreign competitors even after a trade deal is reached. This is a key issue for U.S. farmers, another potentially key voter bloc in several swing states in November, and Lighthizer asserted that "if there's any shading of the benefits to American farmers, we're going to bring a case against [Canada]." U.S. election issues aside, what Wednesday's intervention underlines is that, despite Trump's self-proclaimed negotiating genius, the new USMCA will continue to present political challenges in the United States, partly of his own making. To be sure, the deal contains multiple wins for the United States, including the limited (but not full) opening of Canada's dairy markets. Yet, Washington also compromised too, including acceding to Ottawa's request to preserve a trade dispute settlement mechanism while protecting Canada's auto industry from potential further U.S. tariffs. The renegotiation was not therefore the huge political win he asserts and, having "oversold" the extent of the NAFTA makeover, he now therefore needs to avoid political attack before November from Democrats. Yet, the political controversy over USMCA now extends beyond the United States to Canada and Mexico too which were traditionally very enthusiastic about NAFTA. In part, this is because Trump eroded much goodwill with both countries after more than a year of acrimonious negotiations over USMCA that left a sour taste. Take the example of Canada which Trump put under intense pressure, posing an acute dilemma for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration given that NAFTA underpins three quarters of exports Canada sends south of the U.S. border and 2.5 million jobs in the country depend on this trade. Trump's references to Ottawa's "decades of abuse" of Washington alarmed a significant number of legislators in the U.S. Congress who recognize the importance of strong relations with their northern neighbor. The irony, amid this political wrangling within the United States, and trilaterally with Mexico and Canada too, is that the little loved USMCA could now help drive North America's economic recovery from the coronavirus recession. The scale of the downturn in the continent is underlined by data which shows that the value of trans border freight hauled across the United States, Canada and Mexican borders decreased in April by 44 percent compared to April 2019. There is clear acknowledgement in the White House, despite Lighthizer's comments, of the potential importance of USMCA to reigniting the economy. Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow said earlier this month, for instance, that "Canada and Mexico are very important trade partners. The new North American free trade accord is going to add quite a lot to GDP and jobs. This underlines the tightrope that Trump must now walk on during the election campaign as he seeks to stimulate economic growth, while avoiding political attacks over trade issues. It is surely one of the biggest paradoxes of his presidency that his re-election hopes may now rest, in part, upon the success of a reheated NAFTA deal that he previously asserted as the worst trade deal ever negotiated. Andrew Hammond (andrewkorea@outlook.com) is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. By PTI KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Monday urged the Election Commission to revoke the decision to allow people aged above 65 to vote via postal ballot, saying it was "arbitrary and unconstitutional". In a letter to the poll body, the Mamata Banerjee-led party also said the decision, which was taken last month in view of the coronavirus outbreak, poses a "threat" to the Indian democracy. "We consider this move of wanting those above 65 years of age to vote through postal ballots as arbitrary, malafide, unconstitutional, and ex-facie a violation of Right to Secrecy of Vote, Right to Free and Fair Elections, and Right to Health of the Citizens of India," TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi said in the letter. "Our party calls upon the Hon'ble Election Commission of India to revoke the said amendment. We also wish that in future the Election Commission finds in its wisdom to intervene and bar the Centre from usurping the Election Commission of India's powers vested by the Indian Constitution," the letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said. In October 2019, the law ministry amended the Conduct of Election Rules to allow people with disabilities and those aged 80 or above to opt for postal ballot during Lok Sabha and assembly elections. On June 19, the ministry notified a fresh change in the rules, allowing those aged 65 and above to opt for postal ballot. With all the public focus on the LAC in Ladakh, there has hardly been any analysis of the situation in J&K even as the Union Territory approaches the first anniversary of the landmark decisions taken on August 5 last year. The decisions themselves being too well known, any recall of these may be unnecessary. Its the progressive impact that is more important. In fact, except for the period immediately after the decisions, when much was being analysed, most of the 11 months or so have seen events and trends that have diverted public focus from the region. Two months after the early August decisions, the seat of the government of J&K moved to Jammu and a fairly long and cold winter followed. The CAA agitation through much of winter helped divert attention and immediately thereafter, the Covid-19 pandemic followed with the lockdowns and much more. From 5 May 2020, its been Galwan, Pangong Tso and other less familiar landmarks of Ladakh that have ruled the roost and the airwaves. On the security front in J&K, operations against infiltrators began in earnest in early April 2020. Thereafter its been an active summer, particularly in the hinterland, with 129 terrorists neutralised all over J&K in the first half of the year, comparable numbers with those of the last two years. June in particular has been extremely successful with 41 terrorists neutralised, with most operations being conducted in South Kashmir. I can recall this number exceeding 40 in a month in South Kashmir only way back in 1999 when I was coordinating operations in the sub-region and the strength of terrorists was foreboding. At the end of 2019, it was estimated that there were approximately 250 terrorists in Kashmir; that means over half of them have been neutralised by the end of June 2020, although some fresh recruitment has taken place and a few successful infiltrations should be accepted as part of assessment. What does the security situation arising out of these figures indicate? The first observation is that most encounters are at the initiative of the security forces (SF) with very few proactive operations by terrorists. The absence of an effective terrorist leadership is evident from the fact that no counter-strategy on their part has emerged, unlike in previous years when kidnapping and assassination of police personnel and their families was rife to put the SF on the back foot. The tight counter-infiltration grid along the LoC has disallowed the re-induction of fresh leadership or cadres in sufficient numbers to make a serious impact. The resounding success of the SF is largely due to effective intelligence provided by the J&K Police and all of it is coming from the local people. There are contributing factors here such as the lockdown that has severely curtailed the mobility and flexibility of the terrorists. Where a terrorist group would not risk a stay of more than one or two nights in a safe house, the current situation had forced them to remain seven to eight days in the same hideout, thus increasing the chances of pick-up of information. Credit needs to be given also to the partial dismantling of networks that have dominated J&Ks landscape for many years and enabled the bouncing back of anti-national elements each time some areas were cleared of terrorists. Recall how South Kashmir had returned to a peaceful state some years ago and returned to a state of extreme turbulence when the SFs focus shifted to North Kashmir. That is the reason why I am not in agreement with the J&K Police when it announces that Tral or Doda have been declared terrorist-free. Its dangerous and premature to make such announcements. Terrorist neutralisation is achieved by some hard legwork by the SF, but networks are ingrained deeper and need more sustained addressing before they can be weeded out. Yet, that is not to say that overground workers (OGW), arms and ammunition, and financial networks have not been severely dented. It would be prudent to keep at it and bring a degree of permanence there. The achievements of the intelligence agencies and J&K Police can be gauged by the fact that long-standing Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Geelani has resigned in frustration. I ascribe this also to the non-availability of finances, something that kept the separatists going for many years. There is no room for complacency on the assumption that J&K is completely under control with these recent achievements. The situation at the LAC in Ladakh demands a prudent examination of Pakistans potential to rekindle turbulence within. The reading down of Articles 370 and 35A and the more voluble reiteration of Indias commitment towards reintegrating Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK placed Pakistan in quandary, but only temporarily. It has continued to follow a strategy of multiple pressure points. The LoC has been kept alive through frequent engagements and infiltration, initially directly attempted into Kashmir and now shifted more towards south of Pir Panjal. A big-ticket event was aimed through IEDs but was scuttled in time by Indian SF. The Ladakh-based turbulence at the LAC would be considered an opportunity by Pakistan. Northern Commands attention and resources are all focused there and the PLA is seeking Pakistans support to assist in coercing India. Pakistan is bound to invest in this for eventual payback later. After the security-related progressive success India has achieved in J&K, it must now translate the same into political and social success to prevent the Pakistan-backed elements from bouncing back. The Hurriyat is in disarray and also discredited. The best way to keep that situation going is to launch a massive political and social outreach on ground to bring the Kashmiri sentiment back to the mainstream. Ladakh cannot allow us the luxury of shifting disproportionate focus from J&K. Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) Former Commander, Srinagar-based 15 Corps. Now Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir (atahasnain@gmail.com) By Express News Service VISAKHAPATNAM: Director General of Police Gautam Sawang on Sunday said 466 policemen in Andhra Pradesh have tested positive for coronavirus, and one of them passed away. The number of infectees among the police has shot up in the recent past, as till May 3, only 45 policemen were found to be infected, he told the media, adding that a large number of personnel were working to contain the spread of the pandemic. Efforts have been taken to safeguard policemen, he said, pointing out that in the first week of the lockdown it was decided not to deploy personnel above the age of 55 years and those who have comorbidities on frontline Covid-19 duty. Home guards too have been on the job, and medical aid is being provided to those in need, he said. Pointing out that Visakhapatnam recorded only 98 cases in the first three months, and since the lockdown norms were relaxed, the number of cases spiked, the DGP said it was everyones responsibility to wear masks to protect themselves and others. Sawang further said the police took up the Covid-19 situation as a challenge, and effectively implemented the lockdown as per the Central and state government norms. He asserted that the state government, police and administration worked as a team to combat the outbreak of the virus, and said Andhra Pradesh is among the best in India in terms of testing and containment strategies. The strategies have been acknowledged by top officials in Delhi, he said. Sawang said the Andhra Pradesh administration was very cautious with regard to Covid-19, and took several precautions since medical students from Wuhan returned to India in the first week of February. He said that during his visit to Visakhapatnam he held review meetings on the preparedness with regard to the coronavirus situation and extremism in agency areas, and added that Maoists were encouraging the cultivation of ganja in agency areas. The police and excise officials are working together to check this menace, he said, adding that a person involved in a rave party was recently caught in a drugs case, and drugs are being supplied from Bengaluru and Goa. The DGP asserted that there was no truth to the allegations that the police were violating human rights, and said political leaders, while blaming each other, were levelling charges against the police. He said if there were any genuine complaints against the police they would be thoroughly investigated. Sawang further said that after bifurcation of the state, 250 acres of land was given to the Greyhounds in Anandapuram, where a training academy will also be set up. Referring to the LG Polymers issue, the DGP said that after the high-power committee submits its report, action will be taken in the case. On Saturday, the DGP visited IT SEZ in Rishikonda, Panorma Hills area. Later, he visited the district rural headquarters at Kailasagiri. He also visited Kapuluppada, Anandapuram and Sontyam. By Express News Service BENGALURU: A day after Jayanagar MLA and Congress leader Soumya Reddy took to Twitter to narrate her harrowing experience trying to get a critical patient admitted to a hospital, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday paid surprise visits to government hospitals in Jayanagar. Barely hours after Reddy raised concerns, Dr Sudhakar took to his Twitter account to share information on the total number of beds reserved for Covid treatment and how many were available. During his visit to Jayanagar General hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, he interacted with patients in Covid wards, doctors in ICUs and other hospital staff. He also reviewed the quality of PPE kits and availability of equipment for Covid management. Even as he lashed out at the staff for failing to respond to his queries, they briefed him about the challenges they face every day. With doctors and frontline workers, especially those deputed in ICUs, contracting the virus, the staff at two hospitals said that they were concerned about their safety and shortage of staff. The minister told them to rope in resident doctors and also postgraduate students. The visit means nothing unless I as an elected representative and citizens are not given information and timely help. Nobody has an idea of what to do when someone tests positive, said Sowmya Reddy. No information on the review of hospitals was given to her after Dr Sudhakars visit, she added. While the government portal stated that only 27.1 per cent of beds dedicated to Covid are occupied, 4.87 per cent of ventilators being used and 19.72 of ICUs taken up, citizens have been raising concerns over being turned away by multiple hospitals citing lack of beds, ventilators, ICUs etc. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge have slammed the State Government over alleged irregularities in the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other COVID-fighting equipment. Pointing out that the Public Accounts Committee under H K Patil had raised the issue, Kharge said all purchases of PPEs and other equipment to fight the Coronavirus by the government should be investigated. This comes days after Opposition leader Siddaramaiah criticized the government over alleged serious irregularities in the purchases and demanded a white paper on all expenditure incurred. He had also alleged that the government had paid two to three times more for certain equipment like ventilators, where Rs 12 lakh was paid for what costs Rs 4 lakh per unit. The Public Accounts Committee had also raised the issue in the last few meetings and it is scheduled to come up when the committee meets on Tuesday and health authorities will have to answer questions regarding purchases. The Health Department had, during the last meeting, assured that they will submit the details on July 6. Mallikarjun Kharge also stressed on the need for transparency in the India-China border developments and said we need to guard our frontiers and ensure not an inch of our land is lost. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Excise Enforcement Squad on Monday seized hashish oil and ganja worth Rs 1.5 crore in the international market and arrested two men who were smuggling the contraband from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala. The contraband was seized from a national permit lorry at Pothencodu in the rural parts of Thiruvananthapuram district. The men arrested were identified as Eldo Abraham, 28, of Perumani in Ernakulam and Sebin, 29, of Kundara in Kollam. One kilogram hashish oil and 100 kilogram ganja were seized from the lorry. Excise Circle Inspector T Anikumar, who headed the team, said a Perumbavoor-based gang was behind the smuggling. "Those arrested belonged to the Perumbavoor-based gang that supplies drugs to various parts in the state. We have identified the ring leader and efforts are on to track him," he said. Excise sources said the consignment was hidden in the lorry and was heading towards the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram city. "The lorry was empty, but the consignment was neatly stored in packets and concealed inside the vehicle. The drugs were purchased from Andhra and smuggled in through Valayar checkpost," sources said. The hashish oil was meant for international markets, while the ganja was to be sold to retail dealers in Poonthura and Beemapally areas, the sources revealed. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Customs seized around 30 kg gold from a diplomatic consignment bound to the UAE Consulate General, Thiruvananthapuram, the case came knocking at the door of the office of the Chief Minister. A former UAE consulate officer, Swapna Suresh, who is also the marketing liaison officer of the Space Park under the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL), is the main accused in the case. Soon after the case hit headlines, BJP state president K Surendran came up with scathing remarks against the office of the Chief Minister. In a hurriedly convened press conference, he said as soon as she was accused in the case, the office of the Chief Minister and IT secretary exerted pressure on the Customs to release her. Their involvement in the case can be known by checking the phone records of the office of the chief minister and IT secretary, he said. In the meantime, the Customs revealed that the woman is on the run, while a former Consulate PRO Sarith was arraigned by the Customs in the case. He was taken to the Customs office Kochi after he confessed to the crime. It is suspected that though Sarith was expelled from the office, he had been keeping in touch with some officials in the Consulate including Swapna. Since he knew that the diplomatic baggage would not be subjected to detailed scrutiny, he used the diplomatic channel to smuggle large quantities of gold into the state. Swapna, who had been cooperating with Sarith until her tenure in the consulate, continued her cooperation in the smuggling even after she left the office. She has also allegedly used her connections to get things cleared. In the meantime, the UAE consulate made it clear that they have no role in the alleged smuggling and their staff were not involved in any kind of malpractices. The Customs opened the diplomatic consignment in the presence of the Consular Attache following a tip-off on gold smuggling through the diplomatic baggage. As soon as the case grabbed headlines, the state government removed Swapna from her post saying her posting was on contract basis. She was removed after her name was listed as an accused in the gold smuggling, a government source said. The Customs had seized 30.24 kg gold hidden inside the diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate general office on Sunday. They opened the box after securing permission from the Ministry of External Affairs. By Express News Service PATHANAMTHITTA: It all began with a minor quarrel involving a husband and a wife... The town of Pathanamthitta on Monday witnessed high drama when a 47-year-old Non-Resident Keralite, who had returned from Saudi Arabia, broke quarantine and roamed around on his scooter. The Health Department workers along with police had to chase him down after a tense 30-minute stand-off. The incident took place on Monday noon when the police, who were placed at St Peter's Junction in Pathanamthitta as part of the COVID-19 precautionary patrol, noticed a man without mask travelling on a scooter. After stopping him, they learnt that he had landed in Kerala on July 3 from Riyadh, KSA. The police asked him for his home number and talked to his wife, who informed them that her husband had left in a huff after a minor tiff. ALSO READ | Kerala gold smuggling case knocks at the door of CM's office, woman accused on the run The police pulled up the man for violating quarantine norms upon which he got irked. He refused to accompany the cops to the hospital. According to information passed on by the police, four health workers wearing PPE kits then arrived at the spot and insisted the man accompany them. The man tried to escape and ran towards the centre of the road. ALSO WATCH: The health workers chased after him and finally were able to catch him from a nearby shop at St Peter's Jn. Though the locals had also joined in the chase, the health workers asked them to stay away to ensure their safety. The man was later moved to Kozhanchery Hospital. His contact tracing is going on, informed the officers. The entire area was later disinfected by Fire and Rescue service personnel. ALSO SEE: By ANI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the triple lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala Police on Monday issued clarification urging citizens not to call police helpline for grocery and other items as they can purchase the same from local shops. Police clarified that there has been some "confusion" with regards to the press release on the lockdown arrangements in Thiruvananthapuram, where facility was provided to the members of the public requiring emergency items, to contact the police helpline and the police would supply those essential items to the households. However, the service was to be issued only for those who were not in any position to come out of their homes. "Routine and continuous calls are being received on all the police numbers, asking for all types of groceries to be supplied to the homes. The police departments have a very important responsibility of enforcing the lockdown and manage the security of the persons and their property. The intention of the police was to provide emergency medicines/ groceries to people who were in no position to come out," Kerala Police said in a statement. ALSO READ | Thiruvananthapuram triple lockdown: Cops keep vigil, IDs checked at entry points "Police department cannot become an online supply chain company overnight. Thus, all members of the public are directed to visit their nearest local grocery shops and meet their grocery needs from there. They will carry "self-declaration" with them," the statement read. All the online food supply firms have been directed to operate during this period to supply food to those who to whom they are providing food on a daily basis and the only exception will be to provide food to senior citizens staying alone, it added. Moreover, the citizens can call at the helpline number 9497900999 in case of any special medical needs or emergency needs that cannot be met locally, for which suitable arrangements will be made for the supply of the same. By Express News Service MALAPPURAM: The swab samples collected from an 82-year-old man who died at the Government Medical College Hospital, Manjeri, on Saturday, tested positive on Sunday. Muhammad Mookkummel, of Koorad near Wandoor, was suffering from blood cancer. Blood cancer and his age were also factors that caused his death. However, as the swab samples have turned positive, the case will be considered as Covid-related death, said DMO K Sakeena. Muhammad had returned to the district from Riyadh on June 29. After reaching here, he went into home quarantine. On July 1, he consulted the doctors at the MCH following some health problems, including fatigue. He was admitted to the hospital the same day, considering his age, health condition and travel history. His X-ray revealed that he had pneumonia. Hence, we admitted him to pneumonia ICU and gave him treatment as per the Covid protocol. He was put on ventilator support on Friday after he developed breathing problems. He died at 4.30 pm on Saturday, said Dr Shinas Babu, nodal officer of the Covid special treatment centre at the MCH, Manjeri. The body was buried following the Covid protocol. By John Burton Korea and several other nations in the Asia-Pacific region Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam and Thailand have successfully contained the COVID-19 outbreak. The leadership of these middle-sized powers in responding to the pandemic has provoked talk of the "rise of the rest," meaning countries that can play a more influential and independent global role between the superpowers of the United States and China. Whether they will be able to do so will be tested by the growing Sino-American tensions that have resulted from the pandemic. The middle powers will need to strike a balance between the superpowers if they want to maintain an independent voice in global affairs. The difficulty of achieving a middle way between the superpowers is exemplified by the challenges that Korea faces. On the one hand, Seoul is facing increasing pressure from Washington to pay more for the stationing of U.S. troops in the country. In addition, the Trump administration wants Korea to stop supplying computer chips to Huawei, which the U.S. views as a security threat in the emerging 5G sector. The U.S. demands not only threaten to damage Korea's all-important semiconductor industry, but could provoke a harsh response from China if Korea abandons its neutral stance and takes the American side in the dispute. Beijing would likely take retaliatory measures similar to what happened following the deployment of the THAAD missile system several years ago. Korea also needs to avoid antagonizing China, its biggest trading partner, because of the strategic threat it poses due to its close geographical proximity. However, China's coercive tactics, as in the case of THAAD, have increased negative views of China among Koreans. A favorable view of China in Korea has fallen from 61 percent in 2015 to 34 percent at the end of 2019, according to a Pew Research poll. The best option for Korea is to try to play a constructive role as an intermediary between the two superpowers. One way that it could do so is if Korea bands together with other middle powers in East Asia to strengthen their strategic and economic capabilities and resist superpower pressure. One potential ally for Korea in this effort would be the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN faces similar geostrategic challenges as Korea. China is increasing its control over the South China Sea, which has angered several maritime ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia. At the same time, the U.S. is increasing pressure on ASEAN countries to join an Indo-Pacific alliance to contain China. There is growing distrust in ASEAN of both the U.S. and China as a result. ASEAN would prefer to steer a middle course between the two superpowers. The fallout from COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for middle powers, including Korea and ASEAN, to seek a balance of power in East Asia. Both Korea and ASEAN, for example, are committed to rules-based agreements and institutions in key areas such as cyber and environmental policy, which has become a battleground between the U.S. and China. President Moon Jae-in has laid the foundation for closer cooperation with ASEAN with his New Southern Policy (NSP), which he announced in 2017. The NSP's stated goal is to "elevate Korea's relationship with ASEAN to the level of its relations with four major powers around the Korean Peninsula," meaning the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. This represents an unprecedented priority being given to ASEAN in Korea's foreign policy. The focus of the NSP so far has been economic rather than strategic, with Korea increasing trade, investment and development assistance in the region, particularly with Vietnam. ASEAN is already Korea's second largest trading partner, third largest investment destination and most popular tourist destination. Nonetheless, there is a strategic aspect to the NSP. Korea is hoping to increase arms sales to ASEAN countries. In addition, many ASEAN countries have diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, which could allow them to play a mediating role in inter-Korean relations. More importantly, Korea and ASEAN have the shared goal of reducing their dependence on U.S. and Chinese markets. This would not only offer protection from the uncertainties arising from the superpower rivalry, but counter pressure for them to take sides. Korea already enjoys a good reputation in Southeast Asia based on soft power diplomacy in the region, from the popularity of the Korean wave to advice it has provided to governments on how to help contain the COVID-19 outbreak. A more aggressive China and a more unpredictable U.S. threaten to upset the post-Cold War order in East Asia, which makes Korea's outreach to ASEAN even more imperative. President Moon has personally devoted considerable time and energy in pursuing this mission. He should not be distracted by recent inter-Korean tensions in continuing to vigorously tackle this effort. John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant. Vishnuprasad K P By Express News Service MALAPPURAM: Jithin (name changed), an NRK from Kozhikode working as an accountant in Dubai, has not received salary for the past two months because of the COVID crisis. The 34-year-old, desperate to return home, got in touch with a person in Dubai to reserve a seat on a chartered flight to Kerala. After hearing Jithin patiently, the person offered him a free ticket on the condition that he carry some gold to the state. Shocked to hear about gold smuggling, Jithin hung up saying, I may not go to Kerala immediately. Jithin is still in Dubai, unable to find money for a flight ticket. The pandemic and its economic fallout has presented smuggling rackets with a new avenue of finding carriers. They lure desperate people in the Gulf region into gold smuggling, offering them free tickets and incentives. Even Customs officers at the Kozhikode airport admit that rackets have begun using NRKs for their benefit. All the carriers we caught at the airport recently were struggling NRKs who had lost their jobs after the Covid spread in the Gulf region, said a senior Customs officer at the Kozhikode airport. People with no other option to find tickets may accept the job. We can identify them easily because they are not trained by the rackets. If we tell them sternly we know you are a carrier and ask them to take out the gold, they will surrender immediately. Trained carriers will really test our patience. Since June, more than 5.9 kg of gold has been seized from nine people at Kozhikode airport. Customs officers say the racketeers must have smuggled more than the seized gold to ensure profit. But the Customs are bent on preventing smuggling via the airport. Some people think the Covid-19 situation would save them from Customs checks. But neither the crisis situation nor PPE kits will save them. We will screen all passengers and ask them to remove and dispose of PPE kits before Customs checks. But we wont be able to check Covid-19 patients. After antibody testing, patients will be taken to hospitals directly, the officer said. At the same time, criticism has been levelled, albeit without evidence, that charity organisations which chart flights from the Gulf compel people into gold smuggling. The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) said under no circumstance would the organisation ask anyone to indulge in such illegal activities. But we dont know if anyone involved in smuggling has taken advantage of the NRKs plight. Also, we havent received any complaint from NRKs that they were forced to smuggle gold to get flight tickets, said Ibrahim Ottapalam, a working committee member of KMCC, Muscat. Pooja Nair By Express News Service KOZHIKODE: Rahul (name changed) was an IT professional in an MNC in Chennai till April 15 this year. He was among thousands of youngsters who lost their jobs in the IT sector as an immediate impact of COVID-19. As Rahul came back to his native, the only option he picked up to find easy money was joining a drug-peddling gang. In an inspection conducted by the excise sleuths, a total of 10 kilogram of ganja was seized from Rahul, while he was trying to transport it on his bike. During interrogation, excise officials came to know about the sad tale of Rahul, due to which he had to opt for peddling work in order to bring money home for the treatment of his parents and pay EMIs. According to the officials, as youngsters have started losing their jobs, many have turned to drug peddling and illicit brewing of liquor which are considered as a high-profit business as they procure drugs for minimal rates and sell them at high prices. In the last one week, a total of six ganja cases were recorded in addition to 10 cases of illicit brewing of country liquor, from different parts of the district. On Sunday, a 25-year-old youngster was arrested from Kozhikode city for transporting ganja in a lorry that was carrying marble to a work site. Speaking about the scenario, deputy commissioner of excise Anil Kumar said, "Loss of job is considered as the most severe immediate impact of COVID-19 crisis. Hence youngsters with a previous background in peddling or illicit brewing have resumed their activities." He added that the major attraction of drug sales is definitely the huge profit. The number of people getting admitted to de-addiction centres was on the rise in the initial weeks of lockdown, but the numbers have started to come down. In March and April, the total number of people admitted to de-addiction centres was 180, which came down to 117 in May and 106 in June. The deputy commissioner also pointed out that, in several isolated islands, especially those near reservoirs, brewing of country liquor has started, and more than 20,000 litres of wash was seized in a short span of time. The department is taking all its measures to curb the use and sales of these products, he said. By Express News Service BERHAMPUR: Amid the deteriorating Covid- 19 situation in Ganjam, lack of a coordinated effort by the administration and law enforcement agencies has seemingly thrown a spanner in management of the crisis. Till mid-June, the Covid-19 situation was under control due to the relentless efforts of both the administration and police officials. But things started to fall apart after a reported tiff between a policeman and an administrative official over wearing of mask. Last month, a team of officials led by a sub-collector fined a havildar for not wearing mask at Kamapali square. In retaliation, the policemen fined the sub-collectors driver for not using mask. The incident snow-balled into a controversy which was later sorted out with the intervention of senior officials. But it divided the police and administrative staff, thereby affecting the execution of Covid-19 measures in the district. On Friday, the fish market at Kamapali over-bridge was found crowded with people violating the social distancing norm. The photo of the fish market went viral on social media with Ganjam Collector warning to seal shops found violat ing the Covid-19 guidelines. Ironically, Kamapali overbridge is situated in close proximity to Baidyanathpur police station and hardly 500 metre from the police headquarters. Surprisingly, no police personnel reached the spot to disperse the crowd though the gathering continued for hours together. Residents and intellectuals appealed to the district administration to sort out the differences between officials for the larger interest of public. Given the present situation, united efforts are needed to beat the virus, they said. In the last 24 hours, another 116 positive cases were detected in Ganjam, taking the tally to 2,182 including 20 deaths. On Friday, the district had reported its highest single-day spike of 283 cases. In view of the constant spike in Covid-19 cases, it seems the arrangements put in place by the administration to contain the virus spread have proved to be inadequate. Sources said lack of coordination among officials has resulted in such an alarming situation.For smooth management of Covid-19 in the district, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange assigned tasks to various officials in their respective areas. The State Government also deputed several administrative officials to assist the district administration in dealing with the crisis. Officers on deputation are now handling the Covid situation in Ganjam. While sub-divisional magistrate Sweta Kumar Das has been assigned the task to keep a tab on violators and seize narcotics, CID-CB DSP Anadi Sethi is in charge of creating awareness among the public against the deadly virus. On the day, 99 patients also recovered in Ganjam, taking the tally to 1,318 in the district. Antony Fernando By Express News Service NAGAPATTINAM: The family members of a youth who was killed in Malaysia last week has requested the government to bring back his body to Nagapattinam. 21-year-old A Ajith from Karuvelankadai in Nagapattinam district was working as an accountant in a company in Seremban city in Malaysia since 2018. On July 1, his roommates had allegedly demanded money from him in an inebriated state and as he refused had attacked him with sharp objects leaving him dead. Ajith 's father D Amalraj told TNIE, "We last spoke to him on June 30 evening. We learnt that he was murdered within a few hours. We are deeply anguished and we request the government and the district administration to bring back his body." According to Ajith's employers who spoke to the family, Ajith was staying with a few coworkers from Myanmar. The coworkers had allegedly demanded some money from him in an inebriated state around 3 am on July 1. Since Ajith was his company's accountant, he refused. Then, the roommates assaulted Ajith with sharp objects, killed him and took off with the money. Ajith's family believes his remains are kept in a mortuary in a hospital near Kaula Lumpur. Ajith had completed Class 11. His family lives in Melathittacheri village in Nagapattinam district. His father D Amalraj is a farmer and his mother Kannagi is a homemaker. Ajith has a brother named Aravinth and a sister named Abinaya. Ajith had gone to work to Malaysia in September 2018. He was working in a car wash company in Seremban city. The family says he was an accountant in the company. Ajith's uncle D Murugesh said, "Ajith had gone to Malaysia to financially support his family. We request to bring his mortal remains soon." Nagapattinam district administration officials said they communicated with the Ministry of External Affairs through the Tamil Nadu government regarding this. By PTI CHENNAI: The MDMK on Monday alleged that the AIADMK government tried to hide excesses by police personnel that led to the deaths of a father-son duo at Sathankulam in southern Tamil Nadu. The Vaiko-led party said the directives and guidance of the Madras High Court, in this case, have given confidence that the guilty would be punished. The Madurai Bench of the court intervened at the right time and gave directions to uphold justice when the "Tamil Nadu government, which must own up responsibility for the deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks made efforts to conceal their brutal killings (a reference to alleged torture by some police personnel)," a resolution adopted at the distrct secretaries meeting of the MDMK said. READ| Sathankulam custodial deaths: Friends of Police involved had no authorised IDs Rubbishing opposition accusations, both the state government and the AIADMK had all along assured stringent punishment in the case. While Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam has said the government would ensure highest punishment to those responsible for the deaths, the AIADMK top leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami vowed to do justice. The MDMK meet, held via a virtual link was presided by party presidium chairman TIrupur Su Duraisamy and general secretary Vaiko addressed the office-bearers. Further, the party said such court directives brought confidence to the people. "Now, there is confidence that the guilty will be punished in the case under the guidance of the Madras High Court," the party said and lauded the intervention of the judiciary. The MDMK also appreciated the CB-CID for its quick pace of probe and arrest of five police personnel including inspector Sridhar and demanded tough punishment for the perpetrators of the alleged crime. On COVID-19, the party asked the government to further increase testing and urged the Centre to not allow private sector participation in the Railways. DMK leader M K Stalin had alleged that the brutal assault on the two men by police was "a result of the AIADMK government allowing them to take law into their own hands at a time when they have to ensure the safety of the public during the lockdown". Both the AIADMK and main opposition DMK had announced a solatium of Rs 25 lakh each to the family of victims. Bennicks and his father Jeyaraj died on June 22 and 23 respectively in a government hospital in Tuticorin district after alleged torture at Sathankulam police station following their arrest on June 19. Following outrage, Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced a CBI probe. However, the High Court had tasked the CB-CID to handle the case till such time the central agency took over the matter. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management RB Udhayakumar on Sunday slammed DMK propaganda secretary A Raja for his comments against CBI probe into the alleged custodial deaths in Sathankulam. He wondered whether Raja had sought permission from his party high command before his comment. Udhayakumar was speaking to reporters in Madurai after attending a government event. He said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had clearly stated that the case will be handed over to the CBI after getting concurrence from the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court. He recalled various instances when DMK had demanded a CBI probe and why this sudden volte face from Raja. He recalled repeated demands by DMK for a CBI probe into the gutka scam. Udhayakumar said while a government order has been issued for a CBI probe, the CB-CID is investigating the case until CBI takes over to ensure there is no delay in the investigation. He reiterated that the government is acting on 'war footing' in the case. On Friends of Police, Udhayakumar said a policy decision will be taken by the Chief Minister soon. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A recent report based on a survey claims that Covid-19 relief announced under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has not reached several women in Telangana. Inactive bank accounts under the PMJDY, and lack of information on current operational status, are among the main reasons for the women not getting cash relief amid the lockdown, according to the report. Under the Covid-19 relief package, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that all women account holders under PMJDY would receive cash transfers of Rs 500 every month for April, May and June 2020. India has approximately 390 million Jan Dhan account holders, of which around 54 per cent are held by women. The rapid survey of 12,588 female Jan Dhan account holders across 13 states in India was conducted by the National Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, along with Oxfam India, over a span of two weeks between April 28 and May 12, 2020. The report stated that at least 16 per cent women reported that their accounts were either not operational, or that they were unsure about the status of their account. The report added that out of those who held Jan Dhan accounts, 66 per cent claimed the money was credited into their accounts; 20.8 per cent claimed their accounts had not received any cash; 13.1 per cent were not aware whether any amount had been credited. As per the reports findings, in Telangana, 40.2 per cent of the women surveyed had no idea regarding the operational status of their accounts. Due to lack of awareness, it is unlikely that the surveyed women will be able to avail the benefit of this cash transfer (even if it has come to their accounts). This implies they will be effectively filtered out of the social security safety net, the report stated. In Telangana, even for those who had operational accounts, none of the surveyed women had received the cash transfer, stated the report. Express spoke to several people from the city with zero accounts (under PMJDY). While some of them claimed they had received money for only one or two months out of three, others said they had not received any funds. C Syadaiah, a daily wage worker from Ramachandrapuram, said, I had received a message on my phone that I have received Rs 500 in Arpil for the month of April. But when I went to collect the money, officials told me the message was not for my account number, and it might have been a mistake. My wife (S Renuka) has also not received any money, and in her case, officials claim that her account is non-functional." CS Venkat Lakshmi, a resident of Raj Nagar who works as a house help, said she had only received funds for the month of April. After that, she had inquired with the bank a couple of times, but the bank claimed to have not received funds from the government. The survey also covered the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: COVID-19 has dealt a crushing blow to bars and pubs in the State. Upscale areas of Hyderabad, known for their swank bars and pubs, wear a deserted look by the fall of evening as all bars have remained shut since March when the lockdown was imposed. Though exemption was given for wine shops for selling liquor, bars and pubs have been left to languish. The owners describe overheads like fixed power charges, rents for buildings and staff salaries as back-breaking with no cash kicking in after they spent a fortune on licence fees, hoping to earn mega-bucks. Bars and pubs are suffering colossal losses. There are about 1,000 bars in the State of which more than 500 are located in Hyderabad. All of them have remained shut. Some bars have sacked employees while others are making payments to whatever extent possible to the staff, Telangana Wine Dealers Association president D Venkateswara Rao says. Excise Department sources said they do not expect any enthusiastic response for renewal of licences of bars and pubs when the fresh year begins in September. Though there are still two months to go for renewals, we do not expect any encouraging response, a source in the Excise Department said. The bar owners are not gung-ho over renewal of licences since uncertainty looms large over when they would be allowed to resume business. Even if they are allowed to do business, it is highly unlikely that they would have the same kind of patronage which they had before the pandemic. Having paid anywhere between `35 lakh and `70 lakh for bar licences, traders are not ready to burn their fingers once again. Though we are allowed to pay the licence fee in instalments, all of us have paid in full, only about two per cent availed four instalments of which the last one is pending. In Telangana, if one avails the instalment facility, they have to give a bank guarantee. There would be pressure to either pay up towards the last instalment or run the risk of losing the bank guarantee, one trader said. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: In yet another case of delayed test results and ensuing confusion, a 33-year-old IT professional from Kavadiguda received a message from the Arogya Setu app that he is COVID positive but failed to get a call from the Telangana health department confirming it. Instead, health officials told him that as he has not received a call, he is COVID negative. The patient who did not want to reveal his identity stated that he had given his samples for testing on June 18, a week after his elderly father tested positive for COVID. The entire family of five members went to the Amberpet Government School and gave the samples and have not received any status update since. We have been in mental agony as I am a cardiac patient, my mother is aged above 60 and I have two children below five years. The reason why these test results are important to us is because my father who first tested COVID positive has been paralysed for 11 years and but obviously one of us gave him the infection, said the IT professional. Unfortunately, while waiting for their own test results, his father died of COVID at Gandhi Hospital. On July 4, 15 days after submitting the sample, his Arogya Setu app stated he is COVID positive, as the number linked with the app and at the collection centre is the same, sending alarm bells ringing in the family. After this, they reached out to the Health Ministers office on Twitter to get a clarification but were told that as he did not receive a call, he could assume that he is COVID negative. He has now tweeted to the government authorities begging for clarity. Why are there two versions? Why cant we get a COVID negative report? Why is one having to wait for a call and then assume it is negative? There are many questions unanswered, added the patient. Owing to the unclear status of his COVID infection, he has had to face loss of pay and leave cuts. By IANS DHAKA: Biman Bangladesh Airlines has suspended all flights to international destinations, except London, until July 30, the flag carrier announced. On July 1, Biman said it would resume flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi on July 6 adding that the United Arab Emirates would allowed it to fly to these destinations temporarily until July 16, reports bdnews24. But in a notice on its website on Sunday, Biman said it would not operate the Dubai and Abu Dhabi flights "due to unavoidable reasons". It will now make special arrangements to transport the passengers who have booked tickets for the flights. After the coronavirus pandemic began, Bangladesh had suspended international flight operations. Biman resumed the London flights, once a week, on June 21 but could not draw passengers. On Saturday, Biman said all international flights, except London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, will remain suspended. It cancelled flights to Manchester until July 30 and to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore until August 31. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong tries out a VR device for the visually impaired during his visit to the company's startup incubation center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. The VR device is produced by Samsung's in-house startup company Relumino. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By PTI KATHMANDU: Nepal on Monday reopened one of its key border trade routes with China, six months after it was closed following the coronavirus pandemic, according to Nepalese officials. The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point is one of the two main border points for international trade between Nepal and China. Another border point, Tatopani-Zhangmu, reopened in late March, more than two months after its closure. For the time being only one-way goods transport has been resumed between the two countries. Goods stranded at Kerung of Tibet, have started entering Nepal through the border point from Monday, the officials said. ALSO READ | Nepal's ruling communist party meet to decide PM Oli's future deferred till July 8 Rasuwagadhi has been opened to facilitate goods coming from China to enter Nepal. No human transport is allowed in the border point for the time being. Two-way operation and human movement will resume after some time, they said. A total of 120 tonnes of goods will be delivered to Nepal everyday from China, the officials said. Chief of Rasuwa Customs Office, Punya Bikram Khadka said four trucks will be allowed to operate in the beginning and the number will be continuously increased as the service improves, MyRepublica newspaper reported. Out of the many goods imported from China, fruits, readymade goods, electronic gadgets, equipment required by telecom and hydropower projects are among the prominently imported ones, the report said. "The goods will enter Nepal according to their turns," Khadka said. The border point has remained closed since January due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nepal on Sunday reported 293 new coronavirus cases, taking its total count to 15,784, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Till now, 32 people have died due to the disease in the country. The deadly coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city in December. China has reported 83,553 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began. Nepal has submitted the details of 15 drivers and 15 labourers who will be handling the goods and transport them to Nepal. All the labourers and drivers engaged in the process will take care of their works at their designated locations and will work without direct contact, the report added. "The Chinese side will bring the goods and unload them and the Nepali side will take care of the remaining tasks till it reaches Nepal," Khadka said. The Rasuwagadhi border point that officially came into use from 2015, registers more than 250 vehicles carrying goods for import and export on a daily basis, MyRepblica reported. The number of trade, traders and cargo trucks passing by largely increased in Rasuwagadhi after China officially declared this border point as one of its international borders, it added. The Kerung Valley of Tibet is just 24 kilometers away from this border point. Although the border was closed in January, traders from Kerung were still using this thborder to travel back and forth until February. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: The Food and Drug Administration commissioner is declining to back up President Donald Trump's claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are "harmless". Dr Stephen Hahn tells CNN and ABC that he's "not going to get into who is right and who is wrong," but that government data clearly show "this is a serious problem." He adds that "any case is tragic" and that to stem the tide of surging cases people should follow government guidance to practice social distancing and wear a mask. In Fourth of July remarks, Trump said the US was testing too much and falsely asserted that "by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless." The World Health Organisation in fact has said about 20% of those diagnosed with COVID-19 progress to severe disease, including pneumonia and respiratory failure. Those with mild or no symptoms, meanwhile, could spread the virus to others. The mayor of Austin, Texas, where COVID-19 cases are surging, called Trump's remarks "dangerous" and "wrong." Mayor Steve Adler urged people to listen to local officials for public safety guidance rather than the "ambiguous message coming out of Washington." By PTI SINGAPORE: An Indian-origin policewoman in Singapore was sentenced to seven months in jail on Monday for criminal breach of trust for misappropriating two police-issued ipads by pawning them at a shop. Hemavathy Gunasekaran, 37, pawned the two police-issued iPads worth more than SGD 900 (USD 646) at a shop for which she received SGD 300 (USD 215) in return, the court heard. The devices were later resold to other people when she did not redeem them, The Straits Times reported. Following a trial, District Judge Salina Ishak had found her guilty of the offence last month. Gunasekaran, who held the rank of Sergeant 2, joined the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in 2005 and was deployed to the Marina Bay Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) four years later. Her duties included conducting house visits to educate the public on SGSecure, Singapore's community response to the terrorism threat. Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo Shi Hao said in his submissions that at times, such duties involved the use of two SPF-issued iPads, which her colleagues handed to her in November 2016. The DPP added that the policewoman misappropriated the devices on December 8 that year and pawned them for SGD 300 at a Jurong West mobile phone shop. The iPads were later found missing at her workplace and one of her superiors, Assistant Superintendent Tam Chin Kong, repeatedly asked her to look for them in early September 2017, the report said. Tam later filed a police report. For criminal breach of trust as a public servant, Gunasekaran could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined. By PTI KATHMANDU: The political future of Nepal's embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oil will now be decided on Wednesday after the ruling communist party postponed for a third time a crucial meeting, a day after the Chinese ambassador met a senior leader amidst the growing demand for his resignation over his style of functioning and anti-India statements. The meeting of the Nepal Communist Party's 45-member powerful Standing Committee was scheduled to be held on Monday. But it was postponed at the last minute. Prime Minister's press advisor Surya Thapa said the meeting was postponed until Wednesday. The reason for the deferment for a third time was not revealed. The development came as China's ambassador Hou Yanqi met with the senior leader of the NCP and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday. The differences between the two factions of the NCP -- one led by Oli and the other led by party's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on the issue of power-sharing -- intensified after the prime minister unilaterally decided to prorogue the budget session of Parliament on Thursday. The Prachanda faction, backed by senior leaders and former prime ministers Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, has been demanding Oli's resignation. According to a senior NCP leader, the Chinese ambassador Hou met Madhav Nepal at his residence in Koteshwor on Sunday evening and they discussed the current situation. The Chinese envoy also called on Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday, My Republica newspaper reported on Monday. This is not the first time that the Chinese ambassador has intervened in Nepal's internal affairs at a time of crisis. One-and-a-half months ago, when the NCP's intra-party feud reached the climax, Hou held separate meetings with President Bhandari, Prime Minister Oli and other senior leaders including Prachanda and Madhav Nepal. This is for the third time that the Standing Committee meeting of the ruling party was postponed. Last week, the meeting was postponed twice to allow Oli and Prachanda time to iron out their differences over power-sharing. Meanwhile, a fresh meeting between Prachanda and Oli at the Prime Minister's office at Baluwatar in a bid to save the party from being split did not yield any positive outcome, according Thapa, the prime minister's spokesman. The Himalayan Times reported that Oli and Prachanda will meet again on Tuesday for another round of talks. The differences in the ruling party have reached its peak, with both the sides sticking to their respective stands. The Prachanda-led faction has asked Oli to resign from both the posts of the Prime Minister as well as the party chairman, while Oli is not ready to quit any of the two key posts. With Oli being cornered within the party, he met main Opposition Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday in a bid to seek his backing to save his government in case the party splits. Earlier, on Saturday, Oli met President Bhandari and held consultations. There has been a demand from the party's senior leaders and cadres to adhere to the principle of one-man one post in the party since the unification process between CPN-UML and Maoist Centre started two years ago, said Ganesh Shah, the Standing Committee member. If Oli sacrifices one of the two executive posts, a solution to the present crisis could be found, he said. There is a need to operate the party in adherence to the statute, and meetings of the Central Secretariat, Standing Committee and Central Committee should be held on a regular basis to run the party smoothly and not to allow any misunderstanding, he said. There has been turmoil in the NCP for the past few months, but Oli tried to divert the attention of the dissident group by giving a nationalist slogan and updating the Nepalese map incorporating three strategically key Indian territories - Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura -- which served as means to pacify the internal tussle for some time. However, the turmoil again surfaced since last week, after Oli accused the dissident groups led by Prachanda of hatching a conspiracy to remove him with the help of the southern neighbour. Now Oli has become a victim of the trap he himself has laid, according to the political observers here. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: The Spanish-language ads for Joe Biden used the same slogan to contrast him with President Donald Trump los cuentos no pagan las cuentas, a play on words that roughly means telling stories won't pay the bills. But the narrator for the version that aired in Miami had a Cuban accent. In Orlando, the accent was Puerto Rican. And in Phoenix, it was Mexican. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is hoping to capture Florida and other pivotal states by pushing Latino turnout rates higher than when Hillary Clinton was defeated in 2016. A key to doing that is a deeper understanding of Latino voters' backgrounds thanks to new advancements in micro-targeting." That means using data modeling of voter populations to produce ads and customize outreach aimed at individual ethnic groups within the larger Latino community. We now have the capacity to do sub-ethnicity modeling, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, said on a recent conference call with Biden advisers. If you meet someone named Perez, or Alex or Rodriguez in Florida and you want them to vote for Joe Biden one of the most important things you ought to learn about them is, are they Rodriguez, Alex or Perez de Venezuela, de la Republica Dominicana, de Cuba, de Puerto Rico?" he said. De means "from in Spanish. ALSO READ | COVID-19: FDA head rejects Donald Trump's 'harmless' virus claim Campaigns often target voters with individualized messaging. It's why presidential candidates stress one theme while trying to woo Midwest African Americans and another for white, suburban women in the South. Still, top Democrats are betting big that subtle tweaks could pay big dividends. Latino turnout in 2016 fell to 47.6% of eligible voters in that group, down nearly 3 percentage points from 2008, according to U.S. Census surveys. Improving that, they argue, could potentially flip Florida and tighten the race in once steadfastly Republican Arizona. Bidens campaign calls hyper-competitive locales like Florida 1% states, and Perez points to the Democratic Party now being able to micro-target by sub-ethnicity as why the party can be more successful with Latinos than in 2016. It means really understanding that were not a monolith, said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and a senior adviser to Bidens campaign. Its not about taking an English campaign ad and translating it into Spanish and considering that Latino outreach." Biden has ground to make up after strong Latino support lifted rival Bernie Sanders to Democratic primary victories in California and Nevada. Rodriguez said Biden has since hired more Hispanics throughout every level of his campaign, while ensuring they are from different backgrounds. That allows for reaching voters using different cultural nuances and forms of Spanish, which can vary greatly by country. It may yet be a tall order. Trump has used his sizable campaign cash advantage over Biden to bolster his reelection campaign's Latino outreach for more than a year. The Republican Party, meanwhile, has also sought to tailor different messages to voters with roots throughout Latin America. A natural fit are older Cuban Americans, who tend to be more conservative and fervently anti-communist. Similar views can be found among some Venezuelans in the U.S. who ardently oppose that countrys president, Nicolas Maduro. That was part of the reason why Trump, who recently faced backlash after suggesting he might meet with Maduro, quickly backtracked. Bertica Cabrera Morris, a Latinos For Trump advisory board member, said Democrats relying too heavily sub-ethnicity modeling could seem patronizing. What theyre doing is micro-targeting instead of realizing were just like the rest of the population, Cabrera Morris said. How dare you suggest my problems are different from yours? Andrea Mercado, executive director of the voter mobilization organization New Florida Majority, said that when it comes to campaigns better understanding Latinos, any advance is welcome but that simply offering ads modified for different audiences isnt enough. Were looking for the necessary investments to persuade and mobilize Latinos at all levels of elected office, Mercado said. Still, individualized messaging may prove especially vital in Florida, which has a deeply diverse Latino population encompassing people with roots in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, as well as Venezuela and other South American countries, and Nicaragua and throughout Central America. It has more than 3 million eligible Latino voters, about 20% of total eligible voters statewide. Democratic consultant Colin Rogero recalls once producing two versions of a Miami political ad featuring a grandmother talking kitchen table issues that were identical except what she cooked. For Cuban neighborhoods it was black beans and rice. For Puerto Rican areas it was red beans and rice. Youre not going to deliver a tortilla ad to Cubans in South Florida, Rogero said. Theyll go, What the hell is this? The Florida Democratic Party has completed a model of unregistered Puerto Ricans who have moved to the state in recent years and whose numbers swelled following Hurricane Maria's devastation in 2017, said executive director Juan Penalosa. The party used that to send out a mailer featuring a photo of Trump jokingly tossing rolls of paper towels to Puerto Ricans at an aid center after the storm. Penalosa said party staffers and volunteers have created customized talking points to reach different Latino communities, such as Biden opposing Maduro. Those can be used while conducting phone banks, which, along with texting and digital efforts, have become more vial as the coronavirus outbreak has virtually suspended in-person campaigning. In places like Texas and California, Latino populations are mostly Mexican American. Still, targeted messaging can be used to better connect with pockets of Latinos in states that arent traditionally known for having many of them: Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in Pennsylvania, as well as Latinos of many backgrounds in Milwaukees suburbs. Lorella Praeli, Clinton's 2016 director of Latino outreach, said Latinos were long viewed as natural Democratic-leaning voters who simply needed to be mobilized. That often meant waiting until too late before the election to launch simple get out the vote initiatives, rather than organizing long- term, more expensive efforts to ensure voters have personal stakes in voting. It is absolutely an improvement and it is part of an evolution of really working to get it right," Praeli, now president Community Change Action, said of sub-ethnicity modeling. "What you do with the data is how you get it right. By PTI COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will re-open its schools in a phased manner from Monday after keeping them closed for 115 days due to the lockdown imposed in the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Education said on Sunday. The schools were shut mid-March when Sri Lanka detected its first COVID-19 infection. Ranjith Chandrasekera, the additional secretary to the ministry, said students from Grades 5, 11 and 13 will resume schooling on Monday. There will be extended hours for Grade 13 students with school closing time extended until 3.30 PM from usual 1.30 PM closure. In the next phase, students of Grades 12 and 10 will return on July 20. The students of Grades 3,4,6,7,8 and 9 would return on July 27. The final phase would be on August 10 when Grades 1 and 2 would return, the official said. "Parents are strictly advised not to send children to schools if they are having fever, cough and flu," Chandrasekera said. He said students were not expected to wear face masks when in school but must don them when they travel to school and back. They will also be made to follow strict COVID-19 health guidelines. The school principals have been advised not to conduct term tests or to have students participating in extra curricular activities despite the re-opening of schools. The teachers and non-academic staff had returned to schools last week to prepare for students' return while setting in motion health guidelines. Sri Lanka ended its COVID-19 lockdown in stages after it was imposed in May. Last month, the Sri Lankan government completely lifted the curfew imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus after no new case of community infection was recorded for nearly two months in the country. Sri Lanka had been under a continuous lockdown since March 20, a week after the first case of the pandemic was reported. Initially, a nationwide blanket curfew was imposed but it was later eased for about two-thirds of the country and was mostly confined to night time. The island nation recorded over 2,000 COVID-19 positive cases with just 11 deaths. Since April 30, no cases from within the local communities have been reported, according to the health officials. Sri Lanka is set to hold parliamentary election on August 5 which was also postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged the WHO to "play its role" in engaging member states to remove coronavirus-related travel restrictions for Pakistan. During a video call with World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom, Khan said the travel restrictions imposed by developed countries in the wake of COVID-19 can further exacerbate economic difficulties of developing nations struggling to mitigate the adverse economic impact of the pandemic, the prime minister's office said in a statement. Khan urged the global health agency to "play its role in engaging member states to remove COVID-19 related travel restrictions for Pakistan and other developing countries and to work towards a data driven system of non-discriminatory travel rules". According to the statement, Adhanom said the WHO was working on coronavirus-related travel guidelines to help the international community. The WHO chief also appreciated the steps taken by the Pakistan government to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Pakistan's coronavirus cases on Monday reached 231,818 with the detection of 3,344 new infections in the last 24 hours. The virus also claimed 50 more lives, taking the death toll to 4,762, the health ministry said. Pakistan's health minister Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said he was tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the latest senior minister in the country to be hit by the deadly virus. On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he has tested positive for the coronavirus and quarantined himself. Several Pakistani lawmakers contracted the deadly virus and some of them have also died. Prominent political leaders who have contracted the virus so far include National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, PPP leader Saeed Ghani and Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, all of whom have recovered. Former Balochistan governor Syed Fazal Agha, PTI Punjab lawmaker Shaheen Raza, Sindh Minister for Human Settlements Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, lawmaker Munir Khan Orakzai and PTI's Mian Jamshedud Din Kakakhel are among politicians who died after contracting the virus. By PTI UNITED NATIONS: Terror groups such as the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and their regional affiliates must not be allowed to exploit the increasing "fissures and fragilities" due to the psycho-social, economic and political stresses laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. "It is too early to fully assess the implications of COVID-19 on the terrorism landscape. But we know that ISIL, al-Qaeda, their regional affiliates - as well as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups - seek to exploit divisions, local conflicts, governance failures and grievances to advance their objectives," Guterres said. Speaking at the opening of the virtual Counter-Terrorism week, he said the ISIL is continuing its efforts to "reassert" itself in Iraq and Syria, while thousands of foreign terrorist fighters battle in the region, seek to engage in conflict elsewhere, or linger in temporary detention while their family members remain stranded. Guterres voiced concern that the pandemic has also highlighted vulnerabilities to new and emerging forms of terrorism, such as misuse of digital technology, cyberattacks and bioterrorism. "Like the virus, terrorism does not respect national borders. It affects all nations and can only be defeated collectively. So we must harness the power of multilateralism to find practical solutions," he said. ALSO READ| China has caused great damage to US, world: Donald Trump on COVID-19 pandemic Outlining the key priority areas required for action in counter-terrorism, the UN chief said there is need to tackle the spread of terrorist narratives through pandemic-sensitive, holistic approaches. "Psycho-social, economic and political stresses associated with COVID-19 have risen dramatically. Terrorists must not be allowed to exploit those fissures and fragilities," he said. The week-long discussions aim to provide a platform to discuss the strategic and practical challenges of countering terrorism in a global pandemic environment and will see participation from civil society representatives, private sector, women and victims of terrorism. Guterres said the exchange of views and ideas this week will feed into next year's High-Level Counter-Terrorism Week, including the 7th biennial review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the 2nd Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism agencies of Member States, and the inaugural Congress of Victims of Terrorism. The UN chief also stressed on the need for the international community to keep up the momentum in the fight against terrorism, saying this will include continuing to invest in national, regional and global counter-terrorism capabilities, especially for countries most in need of assistance. Nations must also closely monitor evolving terrorist threats and evolving trends and be innovative in their responses. "That means ensuring we have the right technology, tools and concepts to stay ahead of terrorists," he said. He also underscored the importance of ensuring that counter-terrorism responses are always gender sensitive - recognizing the violent misogyny at the heart of so many groups - and protect and promote human rights. "Counter-terrorism laws and security measures cannot be an excuse to shrink civic space, curtail freedom of association and deny other fundamental rights. Full compliance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law is essential," he said. Guterres said nations also have a collective responsibility to facilitate the repatriation of foreign nationals, particularly women and children, from camps in Syria and Iraq, where the risk of COVID-19 is worsening the already dire security and humanitarian conditions. UN Member States also need to strengthen information sharing to learn from the experiences and good practices of others in the COVID-19 security landscape, he said, adding that quality capacity building assistance to Member States will remain an important pillar of the United Nations counter-terrorism work. "We must commit to do more and better. As in every other area of our mission, our work will be assessed by the difference we make in people's lives," he added. Whippany, NJ (07981) Today Periods of rain. Thunder possible. High 74F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 48F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. By Kim Hyun-bin Hyundai Motor has successfully mass-produced what it claims are the world's first hydrogen electric trailer trucks and exported 10 to Switzerland. According to the carmaker, 10 of its hydrogen electric trailer trucks dubbed XCIENT Fuel Cell departed for Switzerland on a ship from Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province, Monday. "In the case of trailer trucks which mostly run on diesel, demand for eco-friendly vehicles has been on the rise starting in Europe," a Hyundai Motor official said. "The hydrogen electric truck shows strength in mileage and long-distance driving with just one charge and it will become a replacement for diesel trucks in the future." Hyundai Motor plans to expand its export base to Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway and the North American market. Last September, Hyundai and Swiss hydrogen solution company H2 Energy signed an agreement to establish a joint venture to deliver the trucks under the regional title "Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility." The Korean car manufacturer is scheduled to export an additional 40 trucks by the end of this year and a total of 1,600 in stages by 2025. The XCIENT Fuel Cells that are distributed to the Swiss market will be rented out and renters will pay according to how much they drive the vehicle. The payment covers all aspects of the operation of the vehicle including maintenance, insurance and inspections. The new "pay-per-use" method is expected to help commercialize and increase operations of the high-end hydrogen electric trucks by reducing the cost burden on clients. Hyundai Motor aims to create a "hydrogen electric trailer truck ecosystem" by partnering with large truck companies as well as with hydrogen production companies to construct hydrogen charging stations. To efficiently construct hydrogen charging stations H2 Energy last year formed the H2 Mobility Switzerland Association consisting of 21 global energy and distribution companies. Hyundai Motor also formed an alliance with hydrogen companies Alpig and Linde to establish Switzerland's first commercial hydrogen production company the Hydrospider for a softer landing in the hydrogen electric truck market. 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. IKEA Giheung Market Manager Anje Heim, left, poses with Save the Children Korea director Jeong Tae-young at the latter's headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, in this photo released Monday. Courtesy of IKEA Korea By Nam Hyun-woo IKEA Korea said Monday it has donated profits it generated by selling consumer-designed soft toys to a nongovernmental organization for children, as part of its commitment to promote children's right to play. According to the home furnishing firm, it has donated 35 million won ($29,230) to the "Save the Playground" campaign run by Save the Children. The amount is the revenue of the company's SAGOSKATT soft toys, a collection that was designed by children who participated in IKEA's soft toy drawing competition last year. Save the Playground is a campaign aimed at improving the environment in which children play and promoting better recognition of children's right to play. IKEA Korea participated in Save the Playground for the third consecutive year. The donation will be used to build a playground at Gongse Elementary School in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and staffers at the IKEA Giheung store will participate in the design process. "It is a great pleasure to contribute to the improvement of children's lives for the third consecutive year," IKEA Giheung Market Manager Anje Heim said. "We will continue to offer support to allow more children to play in a safe environment." As part of IKEA Foundation's campaign of "Let's Play for Change," the home furnishing brand has been holding a soft toy drawing competition every year at its outlets all across the world. IKEA said it is promoting the fact that every child has the right to play as guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the company is working to improve the playing environment for both children and adults. The winning design of the soft toy drawing competition is produced into a SAGOSKATT plush toy collection every year available at all IKEA outlets across the world. IKEA Korea has been donating the profits from sales of the collection to Save the Children since 2018 and has improved the playing facilities at Buheung Elementary School in Incheon and Naengcheon Elementary School in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. 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Statement by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 44th Session of the Human Rights Council Agenda Item 3: Interactive dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health 06 July 2020 Madam President, Sri Lanka welcomes the report presented by the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. We believe this is timely given that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting both the physical and mental health of the peoples around the world in an unprecedented manner. According to WHO statistics, the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 has been identified as suicide and most causes are both preventable and treatable. It is distressing that every 40 seconds, someone is dying of suicide somewhere in the world. It is important to ask what kind of concerns mental health issues cause for humanity and what must be done to address this challenge as we pursue a policy of 'leaving no one behind' in advancing the UN development agenda- 2030, and specially SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being. Mental health has become a major public health concern that needs effective and evidence based policy interventions, and it must be tackled in the most comprehensive way possible. However, all stakeholders should harness their efforts as well as means at their disposal to achieve this goal, with States playing the primary role with encouragement and assistance from society. Society's role is crucial in not just ensuring a supportive environment, but more importantly, to break the stigma surrounding mental health issues which prevents adolescents, women and men from opening up about their psychological issues and seeking support when they cannot cope with them. Sri Lanka has made major achievements in the field of mental health in recent past. The 2005 Mental Health policy has been revised, with the participation of persons affected by mental health disorders, and public comments on the revised draft are being awaited. The current mental health legislation of the country is being revised and amendments are at drafting stage. Sri Lanka has recognized that mental health care and treatment as an integral part of the general health system. Treatment guidelines are in place for managing common mental health disorders including substance abuse, and primary health care providers are being trained using these guidelines. More funds have been allocated for community based rehabilitation and recovery process, including infrastructure. The Government is exploring possibilities to provide social support and housing for persons affected by mental health disorders. Sri Lanka values the importance of psychosocial support during emergencies, and accordingly, trained healthcare professionals are in operation at district level to be deployed whenever necessary while a disaster preparedness package has been put in place. Mental health has been incorporated to the curriculum of medical and non-medical healthcare providers which is an achievement towards incorporating mental health in the primary healthcare system given that all health workers have an important role to play in recognizing, assessing and supporting people who are at risk. When Governments formulate strategies and policies on addressing mental health issues, special focus should be projected on young adults considering that half of all mental health conditions in adulthood start by 14 years of age. To achieve this, a comprehensive programme has been launched with the Ministry of Education to promote mental well-being of children. A negative working environment or work-related stress can lead to mental health problems. It is important therefore, for employers and others responsible in the workplace to put in place measures to promote mental health of employees. In this respect, the Government has allocated funds to train at least one person from each institution to address workplace mental wellbeing of workforce and a work place mental health package is in place. While the Government is in the process of formulating a policy on suicide prevention and has initiated psychological suicide autopsy, it has also made strong policy interventions for suicide prevention such as banning highly lethal pesticides, publishing media guidelines on suicide reporting, mental health promotions in schools, training primary healthcare providers on mental health, programmes on prevention and rehabilitation for alcohol and substance abuse, decriminalization of attempted suicide and operationalization of around the clock helplines by the state and non-state actors. Madam President, We believe Mainstream media could play a pivotal role to strengthen suicide prevention via responsible reporting. It can raise awareness, educate the public, create dialogue and reduce stigma surrounding the mental health. Social media campaigns encouraging public to open up on mental health issues and making the public aware on the need of care, empathy and support for those affected could definitely manifest a positive impact on the society. We would like to learn from the Special Rapporteur on how modern technology could be explored in recognizing people who are at risk of mental health issues. I thank you. View PDF The U.S. EPA announced April 9 how it plans to use an additional $20 million Congress alloca Lakeland Community College Workshop aims to help those 50-plus start a business Law You Can Use LGBTQ+ Rights in Ohio: A changing landscape in the workplace Scientists across the globe are racing to develop an effective and safe vaccine against severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The coronavirus pandemic has marked its 11th million cases, and without a vaccine, cases are expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and one of the scientists leading the vaccine initiative told the U.K.'s Science and Technology Committee last week that their candidate vaccine has progressed to the phase III trial in the United Kingdom. The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The vaccine trial The phase III trial will involve testing the candidate vaccine in approximately 8,000 people in the United Kingdom. The researchers have also given the vaccine to a few hundred people in Brazil, but over the next couple of weeks, the number may increase to about 5,000 people. The team also plans to trial the vaccine for 2,000 people in South Africa. Brazil and South Africa have shown high transmissions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has already reported a staggering 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 64,000 deaths. The vaccine, AZD1222, which is licensed to AstraZeneca, has been shown to trigger an immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Though the scientists believe the results are promising, they cannot give a specific timeframe on when it can be ready for public use. The scientists said that the candidate vaccine was created with the use of the ChAdOx1 vaccine technology, which was based on an adenovirus. This virus causes mild upper respiratory tract infections. They removed some parts of the viral genes to develop it as a vaccine. It is considered safe even in people with a weak immune system. The vaccine was made by adding genetic material - called spike glycoprotein - that is expressed on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 to the ChAdOx1 virus. This spike glycoprotein is usually found on the surface of the novel coronavirus and is what gives the coronavirus its distinct spiky appearance. These spikes play an essential role in laying a path for infection by the coronavirus. The virus that causes Covid-19 uses this spike protein to bind to ACE2 receptors on human cells. ACE2 is a protein on the surface of many cell types. It is an enzyme that generates small proteins that then go on to regulate functions in the cell. In this way, the virus gains entry to the cells in the human body and causes Covid-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 viruses binding to ACE-2 receptors on a human cell. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock Researchers have shown that antibodies produced against sections of the spike protein after natural infection are able to neutralize (kill) the virus when tested in the laboratory. By vaccinating volunteers with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, scientists hope to make the human body recognize and develop an immune response (i.e., develop antibodies) to the spike glycoprotein that will help stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering human cells and causing COVID-19. This technology has been used to produce candidate vaccines against other pathogens, such as those causing flu, Zika infection, Chikungunya, and another coronavirus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). "Vaccines have a different way of engaging with the immune system, and we follow people in our studies using the same type of technology to make the vaccines for several years, and we still see strong immune responses," Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the University of Oxford, said. "It's something we have to test and follow over time we can't know until we have the data but we're optimistic based on earlier studies that we will see a good duration of immunity, for several years at least, and probably better than naturally-acquired immunity," she added. However, some experts fear that vaccines might not offer long-term protection against the novel coronavirus, given that those with other types of coronavirus, such as the common cold, had been re-infected with a year. More neutralizing antibodies in pigs after booster shot A recent paper from the Oxford UK vaccine research group, published on the bioRxiv* preprint server, revealed that a single dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) induces antigen-specific antibody and T cells responses against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and a booster shot additionally enhanced antibody production with an increase in neutralizing titers particularly in pigs. "A single dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 induces antibody responses, but we demonstrate here that antibody responses are significantly enhanced after a homologous boost in one mouse strain and to a greater extent in pigs", further explain study authors. Cases expected to re-intensify during the winter The race to develop a vaccine will intensify as the northern hemisphere nears the winter season when the cases are expected to rise. The Oxford vaccine scientists, however, hope that the vaccine may be ready by early 2021. The team hopes it could be earlier but could not specify the exact timeline since it will rely on the results of the trial. With the promising preliminary results, the team has gained immense focus from across the globe. In June, AstraZeneca announced that it had won a $1.2 billion contract with the United States government to produce about 400 million doses of the candidate vaccine once it becomes ready. Further, the firm also signed a contract with the British government to produce up to 100 million doses, adding that 30 million may be ready for citizens in the U.K. by September. "AstraZeneca continues to build a number of supply chains in parallel across the world, including for Europe. The Company is seeking to expand manufacturing capacity further and is open to collaborating with other companies in order to meet its commitment to support access to the vaccine at no profit during the pandemic," AstraZeneca said in a statement. Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, Cornell University and Stanford University, say their device could mimic any cell type--bacterial, human or even the tough cells walls of plants. Their research recently pivoted to how COVID-19 attacks human cell membranes and, more importantly, how it can be blocked. The devices have been formed on chips while preserving the orientation and functionality of the cell membrane and have been successfully used to monitor the activity of ion channels, a class of protein in human cells which are the target of more than 60% of approved pharmaceuticals. The results are published in two recent papers in Langmuir and ACS Nano. Cell membranes play a central role in biological signalling, controlling everything from pain relief to infection by a virus, acting as the gatekeeper between a cell and the outside world. The team set out to create a sensor that preserves all of the critical aspects of a cell membrane--structure, fluidity, and control over ion movement--without the time-consuming steps needed to keep a cell alive. The device uses an electronic chip to measure any changes in an overlying membrane extracted from a cell, enabling the scientists to safely and easily understand how the cell interacts with the outside world. The device integrates cell membranes with conducting polymer electrodes and transistors. To generate the on-chip membranes, the Cornell team first optimised a process to produce membranes from live cells and then, working with the Cambridge team, coaxed them onto polymeric electrodes in a way that preserved all of their functionality. The hydrated conducting polymers provide a more 'natural' environment for cell membranes and allows robust monitoring of membrane function. The Stanford team optimised the polymeric electrodes for monitoring changes in the membranes. The device no longer relies on live cells that are often technically challenging to keep alive and require significant attention, and measurements can last over an extended time period. Because the membranes are produced from human cells, it's like having a biopsy of that cell's surface - we have all the material that would be present including proteins and lipids, but none of the challenges of using live cells." Susan Daniel, Study Senior Author and Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cornell "This type of screening is typically done by the pharmaceutical industry with live cells, but our device provides an easier alternative," said Dr Roisin Owens from Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and senior author of the ACS Nano paper. "This method is compatible with high-throughput screening and would reduce the number of false positives making it through into the R&D pipeline." "The device can be as small as the size of a human cell and easily fabricated in arrays, which allows us to perform multiple measurements at the same time," said Dr Anna-Maria Pappa, also from Cambridge and joint first author on both papers. To date, the aim of the research, supported by funding from the United States Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been to demonstrate how viruses such as influenza interact with cells. Now, DARPA has provided additional funding to test the device's effectiveness in screening for potential drug candidates for COVID-19 in a safe and effective way. Given the significant risks involved to researchers working on SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, scientists on the project will focus on making virus membranes and fusing those with the chips. The virus membranes are identical to the SARS-CoV-2 membrane but don't contain the viral nucleic acid. This way new drugs or antibodies to neutralise the virus spikes that are used to gain entry into the host cell can be identified. This work is expected to get underway on 1 August. "With this device, we are not exposed to risky working environments for combating SARS-CoV-2. The device will speed up the screening of drug candidates and provide answers to questions about how this virus works," said Dr Han-Yuan Liu, Cornell researcher and joint first author on both papers. Future work will focus on scaling up production of the devices at Stanford and automating the integration of the membranes with the chips, leveraging the fluidics expertise from Stanford PI Juan Santiago who will join the team in August. "This project has merged ideas and concepts from laboratories in the UK, California and New York, and shown a device that works reproducibly in all three sites. It is a great example of the power of integrating biology and materials science in addressing global problems," said Stanford lead PI Professor Alberto Salleo. A popular social media post that's been circulating on Instagram and Facebook since April depicts the degree to which mask-wearing interferes with the transmission of the novel coronavirus. It gives its highest "contagion probability" a very precise 70% to a person who has COVID-19 but interacts with others without wearing a mask. The lowest probability, 1.5%, is when masks are worn by all. The exact percentages assigned to each scenario had no attribution or mention of a source. So we wanted to know if there is any science backing up the message and the numbers especially as mayors, governors and members of Congress increasingly point to mask-wearing as a means to address the surges in coronavirus cases across the country. Doubts about the percentages As with so many things on social media, it's not clear who made this graphic or where they got their information. Since we couldn't start with the source, we reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ask if the agency could point to research that would support the graphic's "contagion probability" percentages. "We have not seen or compiled data that looks at probabilities like the ones represented in the visual you sent," Jason McDonald, a member of CDC's media team, wrote in an email. "Data are limited on the effectiveness of cloth face coverings in this respect and come primarily from laboratory studies." McDonald added that studies are needed to measure how much face coverings reduce transmission of COVID-19, especially from those who have the disease but are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. Other public health experts we consulted agreed: They were not aware of any science that confirmed the numbers in the image. "The data presented is bonkers and does not reflect actual human transmissions that occurred in real life with real people," Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, wrote in an email. It also does not reflect anything simulated in a lab, he added. Andrew Lover, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, agreed. He had seen a similar graphic on Facebook before we interviewed him and done some fact-checking on his own. "We simply don't have data to say this," he wrote in an email. "It would require transmission models in animals or very detailed movement tracking with documented mask use (in large populations)." Because COVID-19 is a relatively new disease, there have been only limited observational studies on mask use, said Lover. The studies were conducted in China and Taiwan, he added, and mostly looked at self-reported mask use. Research regarding other viral diseases, though, indicates masks are effective at reducing the number of viral particles a sick person releases. Inhaling viral particles is often how respiratory diseases are spread. One recent study found that people who had different coronaviruses (not COVID-19) and wore a surgical mask breathed fewer viral particles into their environment, meaning there was less risk of transmitting the disease. And a recent meta-analysis study funded by the World Health Organization found that, for the general public, the risk of infection is reduced if face masks are worn, even if the masks are disposable surgical masks or cotton masks. The sentiment is on target Though the experts said it's clear the percentages presented in this social media image don't hold up to scrutiny, they agreed that the general idea is right. "We get the most protection if both parties wear masks," Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who studies viral air droplet transmission, wrote in an email. She was speaking about transmission of COVID-19 as well as other respiratory illnesses. Chin-Hong went even further. "Bottom line," he wrote in his email, "everyone should wear a mask and stop debating who might have [the virus] and who doesn't." Marr also explained that cloth masks are better at outward protection blocking droplets released by the wearer than inward protection blocking the wearer from breathing in others' exhaled droplets. "The main reason that the masks do better in the outward direction is that the droplets/aerosols released from the wearers nose and mouth havent had a chance to undergo evaporation and shrinkage before they hit the mask," wrote Marr. "Its easier for the fabric to block the droplets/aerosols when theyre larger rather than after they have had a chance to shrink while theyre traveling through the air." So, the image is also right when it implies there is less risk of transmission of the disease if a COVID-positive person wears a mask. "In terms of public health messaging, it's giving the right message. It just might be overly exact in terms of the relative risk," said Lover. "As a rule of thumb, the more people wearing masks, the better it is for population health." Public health experts urge widespread use of masks because those with COVID-19 can often be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic meaning they may be unaware they have the disease, but could still spread it. Wearing a mask could interfere with that spread. Our ruling A viral social media image claims to show "contagion probabilities" in different scenarios depending on whether masks are worn. Experts agreed the image does convey an idea that is right: Wearing a mask is likely to interfere with the spread of COVID-19. But, although this message has a hint of accuracy, the image leaves out important details and context, namely the source for the contagion probabilities it seeks to illustrate. Experts said evidence for the specific probabilities doesn't exist. We rate it Mostly False. For months, Patricia Merryweather-Arges, a health care expert, has fielded questions about the coronavirus pandemic from fellow Rotary Club members in the Midwest. Recently people have wondered "Is it safe for me to go see my doctor? Should I keep that appointment with my dentist? What about that knee replacement I put on hold: Should I go ahead with that?" These are pressing concerns as hospitals, outpatient clinics and physicians' practices have started providing elective medical procedures services that had been suspended for several months. Late last month, KFF reported that 48% of adults had skipped or postponed medical care because of the pandemic. Physicians are deeply concerned about the consequences, especially for people with serious illnesses or chronic medical conditions. To feel comfortable, patients need to take stock of the precautions providers are taking. This is especially true for older adults, who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Here are suggestions that can help people think through concerns and decide whether to seek elective care: Before you go in. Give yourself at least a week to learn about your medical provider's preparations. "You want to know in advance what's expected of you and what you can expect from your providers," said Lisa McGiffert, co-founder of the Patient Safety Action Network. Merryweather-Arges' organization, Project Patient Care, has developed a guide with recommended questions. Among them: Will I be screened for COVID-19 upon arrival? Do I need to wear a mask and gloves? Are there any restrictions on what I can bring (a laptop, books, a change of clothing)? Are the areas I'll visit cleaned and disinfected between patients? Also ask whether patients known to have COVID are treated in the same areas you'll use. Will the medical staffers who interact with you also see these patients? If you're getting care in a hospital, will you be tested for COVID-19 before your procedure? Is the staff being tested and, if so, under what circumstances? 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 system's chief marketing officer. Don't 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 they're afraid to bring their concerns forward." Seeking care. Wendy Hayum-Gross, 57, a counselor who lives in Naperville, Illinois, 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 6 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. DeWert, a learning scientist, came up with a patient safety checklist and distributed it to family and friends. Among her questions: Can necessary forms be completed online before a medical visit? Can I wait in the car outside until called? What kind of personal protective equipment is the staff using? And is the staff being checked for symptoms daily? Bringing a caregiver. Some medical centers are allowing caregivers to accompany patients; others are not. Be sure to ask what policies are in place. If you feel your presence is necessary for instance, if you want to be there for a relative who is frail or cognitively compromised be firm but also respectful, said Ilene Corina, president of the Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy. Be prepared to wear a gown, gloves and mask. "You're not there for yourself: You're there to support the health care team and the patient," said Corina, whose organization offers training to caregivers. In Orland Park, Illinois, debi Ross, an interior designer, and her sister live with her 101-year-old mother. Eight years ago, when her mother had a tumor removed from her colon, Ross and her sister wiped down every electric socket, cord, surface and door handle in her mother's hospital room. "Unless Mom absolutely needs [medical] care, we're not going to take her anywhere," Ross said. "But I assure you, if she does have to go see somebody, we're going to clean that place down from top to bottom, I don't care what anybody says." If you are not allowed into a medical facility, get a phone number for the physician caring for a loved one and make sure they have your number as well, Merryweather-Arges said. Ask that you be contacted immediately if there are any complications. Afterward. Patients leaving hospitals are fearful these days that they may have become infected with COVID-19, unwittingly. Ask your physician or a nurse what equipment you'll need to monitor yourself. Will a pulse oximeter and a thermometer be necessary? Will you need masks and gloves at home if someone is coming in to help you out with the transition? Can someone provide that equipment? "Family caregivers need instructions that are clear," said Martin Hatlie, chief executive of Project Patient Care. "They need to know who to call 24/7 if they have a question. And they need clear guidance about infection control in the home." If home care is being ordered, ask the agency whether they have trained staff to recognize COVID symptoms. And have home care workers been tested for COVID-19 or had symptoms? If follow-up care is being provided via telehealth, make sure the setup works before your loved one comes home. Ask your physician's office what kind of equipment you will need, which service they use (Zoom? Skype?) and whether you can arrange a test in advance. Finally, as you resume activities, help protect others against COVID-19 as well as yourself. When you go out into the world again, "mask up, socially distance and wash your hands," said Kachalia of Johns Hopkins. "And if you're sick or have symptoms, by all means, let your doctor's office know before you come in for a checkup." The coronavirus pandemic first emerged in China in late December 2019. From there, it has spread to 188 countries and territories. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, has infected more than 11.4 million people, killing at least 533,000 as of June 6, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads primarily from person to person via small droplets from the nose or mouth that are expelled when an infected person sneezes, coughs or speaks. The rapid spread of the virus sparked many studies that looked at the length of time these virus-laden aerosols could stay in the air. Now, a team of international scientists, including 239 health experts from 32 countries, has written an open letter to the WHO urging the organization to revise its recommendations for the spread of SARS-CoV-2, due to mounting evidence that the disease is airborne for more extended periods than the WHO advisory. The researchers intend to publish their letter in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases shortly. The letter was reported by the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID Airborne transmission The scientists said that multiple studies demonstrate that aerosols can stay in the air for long periods, traveling long distances. The new information makes poorly ventilated rooms, transport vehicles such as trains, buses, and airplanes, and other confirmed spaces dangerous. Small particles containing the novel coronavirus can infect people upon being inhaled, and they can travel quickly following a sneeze. In the open letter, the scientists outlined the evidence to the WHO. We are 100 percent sure about this, Lidia Morawska, a Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science & Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia, told the Los Angeles Times. Studies by the signatories and other scientists have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are exhaled in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air and pose a risk of exposure beyond 1 to 2m by an infected person, Professor Morawska said. At typical indoor air velocities, a 5-micron droplet will travel tens of meters, much greater than the scale of a typical room while settling from a height of 1.5m above the floor. Expertise in many sciences and engineering areas enables us to understand the characteristics and mechanisms behind the generation of respiratory microdroplets, how viruses survive in these microdroplets, and how airflow patterns carry microdroplets in buildings. The measures that need to be taken to mitigate airborne transmission include: Provide sufficient and adequate ventilation (supply clean outdoor air, minimize recirculating air), particularly in public buildings, workplace environments, schools, hospitals, and aged care homes. Supplement general ventilation with airborne infection controls such as local exhaust, high-efficiency air filtration, and germicidal ultraviolet lights. Avoid overcrowding, particularly in public transport and public buildings. These are practical and can be easily implemented, and many are not costly. For example, simple steps such as opening both doors and windows can dramatically increase airflow rates in many buildings, Morawska said. As various countries reopening the economy and businesses, the novel coronavirus if finding new victims worldwide, mostly tied to bars, restaurants, casinos, and offices, to name a few. These new clusters of infections may confirm what many scientists have been claiming for months the virus can linger in the air indoors, even if people stay six feet apart. The risk of airborne transmission is a significant factor in the pandemic, especially in revising recommendations that have been established months ago. Now, if the virus can hang in the air for long periods, it is essential to wear masks even if indoors. Further, healthcare workers may need to wear N95 masks that filter out even the smallest respiratory droplets, especially since they take care of infected patients. Professor Morawska said several retrospective studies of the SARS epidemic had shown that airborne transmission was the most likely mechanism that explained the spatial pattern of infections. For example, a recent study analyzed the data and video records in a restaurant where three separate groups of diners contracted COVID-19, observed no evidence of direct or indirect contact between the three groups, but modeled how the transmission occurred through the air We are concerned that people may think they are fully protected by following the current recommendations, but in fact, additional airborne precautions are needed to reduce the spread of the virus further. Latest WHO update In April, scientists and health experts on air quality and aerosols urged the WHO to recognize the evidence that airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus is a possibility. The WHO responded and arranged a meeting. The agency emphasized that airborne transmission only happens in certain hospital settings. In the latest update of the health agency on the coronavirus, which was released on June 29, it said that airborne transmission of the virus is only possible after certain medical procedures that produce droplets or aerosols that are smaller than 5 microns, such as intubation. The WHO added that proper ventilation and N95 mask use are only recommended in those circumstances. It added that infection control guidance had promoted handwashing as the primary prevention strategy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Especially in the last couple of months, we have been stating several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence. There is a strong debate on this, Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHOs technical lead on infection control, said. Further, Professor Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia and a member of the WHO infection prevention committee, said that droplet transmission is the primary route of the novel coronavirus spread. Aerosol transmission can occur, but it probably isnt that important in the grand scheme of things. Its all about droplets. Controlling airborne transmission isnt going to do that much to control the spread of Covid-19. Its going to impose unnecessary burdens, particularly in countries where they dont have enough trained staff or resources already, he explained. What can be done Health experts recommend that if the airborne transmission is indeed a SARS-CoV-2 mode of transmission, it is vital to wear masks even if indoors, even in settings where social distancing is enforced. Proper ventilation is also essential, and tighter regulations are needed for ventilation and air condition to reduce recirculating air. Ultraviolet lights in buildings can also help ward off the viruses that linger in the air. The WHO has not yet responded to the letter. Statement by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 44th Session of the Human Rights Council Agenda Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants 06 July 2020 Madam President, Sri Lanka welcomes the report presented by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. The contribution of migrant workers to economic growth and development is increasingly becoming critical not only for their own countries, but also as a catalyst for the upward socio-economic mobility in the region and internationally. We believe that the COVID-19 crisis taught the world that coordinated and concerted efforts are needed to ensure that migrant health is addressed without discrimination throughout the migration cycle. A further consequence of Covid-19 has been the shrinking of the employment market, which could lead to a serious shortfall in the numbers of migrant workers who will leave for work this year and in turn a drop in worker remittances. Madam President, During the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, while approximately 1.5 million migrant workers from Sri Lanka were overseas, the Government of Sri Lanka accorded high priority towards addressing their concerns, providing food and medicines where required, and where possible, working with host countries to obtain legitimization of their status and medical facilities including testing for Covid-19. In addition, with use of a web portal Contact Sri Lanka created to guide and provide information and to assist in emergencies, over 13,000 questions posed by Overseas Sri Lankans (OSLs) were answered by a dedicated team, ensuring the wellbeing of the migrant workers spread over 120 countries. Through intra-governmental coordination utilizing a whole of Government approach we have managed to overcome the challenges and manage the health, quarantine and travel logistics aspects. Notwithstanding the challenges it entailed both in terms of the logistics of movement and on the capacities on quarantine to the GOSL, as of 06 July 2020, of 14,006 Sri Lankans evacuated on repatriation flights over a period of approximately 2 months, 5125 (36.59%) were migrant workers. As we speak, Sri Lanka has sent at least one repatriation flight to almost all the destinations which have a large migrant worker presence, with multiple flights to Male, Dubai, Qatar, Dhaka and Singapore. Sri Lanka is also in the process of expediting the return of a near 40,000 migrant workers who have lost their jobs. Madam President, It must be noted that Sri Lanka has long recognized that the health of migrant workers is vital in the future management of migrant populations. In 2013, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the International Organization on Migration (IOM), launched the National Migration Health Policy, through which the IOM conducts migration health assessments and gives technical assistance in developing standards for health assessments for inbound and outbound migrants. One of the priority areas identified under the key strategic area of inbound migration had been the strengthening of core capacities and quarantine activities at Sri Lankan ports of entry. Sri Lanka also organized the 2nd Global Consultation on Migrant Health in Colombo from 21-23 February in 2017, partnering with the IOM and the WHO, which provided a platform for multi-sectoral dialogue and political commitment to enhance the health of migrants, focused on three thematic areas within a rights-based, people-centered, gender and equity framework. Additionally, Sri Lanka has continued to stress the need to pay due attention to migrant health as Sri Lanka successively chaired the Colombo Process from 2013-2017, and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue from 2016-2018. This provided the opportunity to design crucial regional modalities that could play a greater role in the post-COVID scenario, for the benefit of the migrant workers, as well as the sending and receiving countries. In retrospect, we believe that if the issue of migrant health, which Sri Lanka had championed received greater international attention at the time, there may have been a tangible difference in the management of the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with regard to undocumented workers, stranded in host countries, whose access to medical facilities remains limited. Sri Lanka urges that greater regional and global efforts be channeled to ensure that migrant health becomes a cornerstone in the future management of migrant populations, and the human right to health is secured for all, including migrants and refugees. Thank you. View PDF Barron, WI (54812) Today Sunny along with a few clouds. High 72F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low 51F. Winds light and variable. Air India, the national air carrier designated by Ministry of Civil Aviation to undertake the Mission Vande Bharat to repatriate Indian citizens stuck abroad due to COVID-19 lockdown has silently slashed the prices of its tickets to countries like the US and Canada. Mission Vande Bharat, which is in its fourth phase now is the largest of its kind evacuation drive to repatriate citizens stuck abroad due to ban on scheduled commercial international flights. The fourth phase of Mission Vande Bharat started on July 3 and will go on till July 31. Incidentally, July 31 is also the date till when government has extended the ban on scheduled international airlines. Under the fourth edition of drive, Air India will be operating more than 40 flights to the US and Canada. While the prices for the tickets in the previous editions of Mission Vande Bharat exceeded Rs 1 Lakh, they have now been slashed by upto 40 percent. Our research found that Air India is selling Delhi- Washington flight ticket for Rs 75,422 for a single seat as against Rs 1.03 Lakh in the third phase of repatriation drive, a 25 percent reduction in prices. Delhi to Washington ticket price. Not only this, the tickets to Canada (Toronto) has been reduced drastically to a tune of 45 percent. While Air India was earlier selling the tickets for more than Rs 1.40 Lakh, it is now priced as low as Rs 75,000. However, most of the tickets are already sold and there are only few seats left. Many people voiced their opinion on Twitter regarding the high ticket prices for the evacuation flights. "Some people" have raised concerns about the rates being charged by Air India for the special Vande Bharat flights, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri noted. Replying to their concern, Minister Puri said that the ticket prices set by Air India for special international flights being operated under the Vande Bharat Mission are reasonable. "While rates being charged are not normal commercial rates, they are reasonable when compared to evacuation flights of other countries on the same sectors," said Minister Puri justifying the high prices in Twitter. He also gave examples of fares charged by other countries to show that Air India's rates are reasonable. "Economy fare paid by travellers for evacuation flights organised by the concerned (US) Embassy from India was Rs 3.00 lakhs for Houston. Indians pay 1.03 lakh on India-US sector (flights) under the Vande Bharat mission which is nearly one third," Puri mentioned. Similarly, travellers paid 1.62 lakhs to Toronto and 1.84 lakhs to Vancouver for evacuation flights organised from India by the Canadian High Commission, the minister said. While scheduled domestic passenger flights resumed on May 25 after a gap of two months, scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India till July 31. Bubonic plague, a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots, has been flagged in a northern Chinese city after a suspected case was reported on Saturday. The case was reported by a hospital in Bayannur where local health authorities announced that the warning period will continue until the end of 2020. READ: Bubonic Plague Case Reported in China and the Internet Asks 'What Next, 2020?' 2020 really does seem to be attracting one disaster after another. As if one global pandemic already wreaking havoc across millions of lives wasn't enough. For the unaware, here's some context. Bubonic plague, which is also known as 'The Black Death', is caused by the Yersinia Pestis bacteria. It is characterized by fever, chills and painful swollen nodes known as "buboes." The Black Death was reportedly the second bubonic plague pandemic which wiped out almost 50 million people in Europe in the fourteenth century. According to the World Health Organisation, the disease is easily treatable now owing to antibiotics and remains endemic in some parts of Africa. According to Origins, which traced pandemics throughout history, the Black Death of Europe descended from the ancient plague which affected Rome in 541 to 549 CE. The second outbreak of the plague originated somewhere in Central Asia and it moved to China in the 1200s from there before proceeding to Europe. Soon after news broke about a suspected case of the plague in China, Twitter was flooded with tweets of desperation and frustration with people wondering what else 2020 had in store for the world. Unsurprisingly, there were some tweets that reeked of racism. Some blamed China for every possible disease in the world while others hinted that the Chinese government had a role to play in this. While most conspiracy theories have no weight in evidence, their existence in such sheer volume is proof of racism. Let's look at some instances to prove how pandemics and racism have always gone hand in hand. In 1882, then US President Chester A. Arthur signed an executive order passing the Chinese Exclusion Act and xenophobia and racism had important roles to play here. According to Time magazine, one of the main reasons why the law was quickly approved was because the Chinese were believed to be harbingers of death and disease, especially cholera and smallpox. An Asian professor in the US spoke to The Mercury News where he said that Asians, and especially the Chinese, have always been treated as filthy and dirty and a source of contagion which could kill white Americans. This has deepened discrimination and often encourages harassment on grounds of race. In Honolulu in the late 1800s for example, the Asians were viewed as exotic and romaticized while at the same time, they were thought to be carrying diseases. Their living conditions, often overcrowded, were thought to be the den of deadly diseases, like smallpox and pague. During the 1899 plague outbreak, Chinatown in Honolulu was quarantined first. Interestingly, white Americans who had visited Chinatown were not. Buildings were locked down and burned when plague patients died in them. One such day, one of these fires went out of control and ended up destroying over 5,000 homes in Honolulu. The fire, which became a landmark incident of the times, quickly became a symbol of the impact of racial discrimination based on assumption that a particular race was spreading disease. Not just the Chinese, the same happened during the Spanish Flu. While the name of this particular outbreak suggests it originated in Spain, the reality is somewhat different. The first case of Spanish flu was actually reported in Kansas, United States. In 1918 and 1919, when the influenza was at its peak, most nations around the world censored coverage to keep misinformation from spreading. However, only Spanish media fiercely covered the flu and its latest updates. This led to the misunderstanding that Spain was ground zero for the pandemic. But that did not seem to matter, for discrimination against Spaniards had already begun. More than a century later, history is being repeated once again. US President Donald Trump has left no stone unturned when it comes to blaming China for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In March this year, he repeatedly called the novel coronavirus "Chinese virus" and a few weeks ago, he called it "Kung Flu." The first case of coronavirus was reported in Wuhan, China and has been largely speculated to have originated from a wet-seafood market in the same city. However, as the pandemic spread to other countries, the United States of America has been the most affected - both in highest number of fatalities, as well as the maximum number of positive cases. READ: Donald Trump Blamed China (Again) for Coronavirus, #KungFluvirus Trends on India Twitter It almost seems that blaming China over and over is a ploy by the United States to hide its own inability at containing the coronavirus pandemic. The fact that US continues to be the worst hit during the pandemic. But that reality has ceased to matter, because it has been established over and over again that China must be blamed and penalised for spreading the virus. From nations banning Chinese products to stopping trade with China, the Chinese are being made to stand trial for a virus which, to be honest, does not have a nationality. It could have originated anywhere in the world. In India and abroad, the coronavirus led to bias and discrimination against the Chinese. A report by the Press Trust of India showed how Chinese living in Kolkata's Chinatown, who had never even stepped foot outside the country, were ostracised by people they'd known all their lives. In Italy, racism had reached such an extreme point that the government had to launch a "Hug a Chinese" campaign to break stereotypes. Now with the bubonic plague, anger against China is brimming with all fingers pointed at the Chinese government. Take a look: #bubonicplague China launches new virus in mrkt every month World to China:- pic.twitter.com/SK5nGFiv2g Prakhar (@crazyyanuj) July 6, 2020 Dear China, Could you stop trying to end humanity, FOR FIVE MINUTES!? #bubonicplague #ChineseVirus pic.twitter.com/Ba1dXiBE7E Richard Johnson (@richardj1992) July 6, 2020 Someone please teach Chinese people how to cook aloo de pranthe. #bubonicplague pic.twitter.com/5bXAwtqVLf Aashutosh (@aashutosh20) July 6, 2020 #BubonicPlague trending World asking about this new disease to China. China : pic.twitter.com/k3Q5j4XVzW Akash Shrivastava (@akashshrivastab) July 6, 2020 While the bubonic plague is local at the moment, coronavirus is not. It is a global pandemic and no longer confined to any single region, irrespective of where it may have originated. But the narrative surrounding the outbreaks, fuelled by racist slurs and social media trends, tells a different story. In the last few months, as the Coronavirus pandemic spread across countries, we learned to become familiar with personal protective equipment that acts as a barrier to stop transmission of the disease. Although, there are many who still won't wear a mask! The PPEs look like plastic coverings, resembling hazmat suits. Then there's the N95 masks, gloves, face shields, shoe coverings, and many more added layers. However, during an earlier pandemic, none of these existed. The Bubonic plague which started in October of 1347, is so far the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history. Also called 'Black Death' and 'Pestilence' and 'Great Mortality', it resulted in the deaths of up to 75200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa. The Bubonic plague is back in the news after a city in northern China on Sunday sounded an alert after a suspected case of the same was reported, according to official media. Bayannur, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, announced a level III warning of plague prevention and control, state-run People's Daily Online reported. The local health authority announced that the warning period will continue until the end of 2020. So how did doctors protect themselves from the Bubonic plague that happened in another century? Since PPEs are a modern concept, the most common image of the bubonic plague is the costume of the 'bubonic plague doctor,' which a basic Google search will tell you, looks scary, to say the least. The garb compromises of long dark robes, covering the person from head-to-toe, as well as a round hat, and 'clawed' gloves. The eeriest part, however, was the mask. The mask resembled a bird, complete with a beak on it. Today, we have N95 masks, but back then, the beaked mask was as close as a physician could get to 'warding off the disease,' as it relied on the misconception that the bubonic plague spreads through air. The face-mask wasn't just a scary looking fashion statement, it was intended to protect the doctor from miasma, also commonly called 'bad air.' Physicians believed that the plague spread through 'poisoned air' and could create an imbalance once breathed in. To prevent the poisoned air from entering, incense, smellers, and perfumes were common, and the beak served as a place to store mixture to filter the 'bad air.' The mixture usually was composed of viper flesh powder, cinnamon, myrrh, and honey as well as theriac, a compound of more than 55 herbs. The beak shape of the mask was thought to give the air sufficient time to be purified by the protective herbs before it hit the doctors' nostrils or lungs. This is the 17th-century equivalent to our modern-day 'filters' on masks. The origin of the costume is largely credited to Charles de Lorme, a physician who catered to the medical needs of many European royals during the 17th century. Lorme described an outfit that included a coat covered in scented wax, breeches connected to boots, a tucked-in shirt, and a hat and gloves made of goat leather. Plague doctors also carried a rod that allowed them to poke (or fend off) victims, much like a necessary means to ensure social distancing, today. However, the cause of the plague, which took almost three large-scale pandemics of the plague to discover, was not 'bad air,' but actually a kind of bacteria called Yersinia pestis, and can be caused by flea bites, which was commonly transmitted through rats as carriers. The plague can also be transmitted by coming in contact with contaminated fluid or tissue, and inhalation of infectious droplets from sneezing or coughing people with pneumonic plague. So while the spooky outfit became an instant distinguishing factor - anyone looking at the ensemble now knows it means the bubonic plague doctor, and it has also been adapted as a costume for Halloween and as a festival in Venice, Spain - but ultimately, the outfit did little to protect the doctors from the disease. Elephants share a close bonding with humans with many stories, movies revolving around tusker and their love. One of such elephants getting a lot of love is Sengamalam, for its unique hairstyle. Famous as Bob-Cutting Sengamalam, the elephant lives in the Rajagopalaswamy temple of Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu. Indian Forest Service officer (IFS) Sudha Ramen has posted a few pictures of the tusker. The post was complimented by devotees and tourists sharing their experience with Sengamalam, and got more than 10K likes. She is famously known as "Bob-cut Sengamalam" who has a huge fan club just for her hair style. You can see her at Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, read the caption. She is famously known as "Bob-cut Sengamalam" who has a huge fan club just for her hair style. You can see her at Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi, Tamilnadu.Pics from Internet. pic.twitter.com/KINN8FHOV3 Sudha Ramen IFS (@SudhaRamenIFS) July 5, 2020 The mammals hair is maintained by mahout, S Rajagopal. Its maintenance takes a lot of time and patience. Today, Bob-cutting Sengamalam has become a part of every devotees Instagram account that visited the temple. Former New York State Judge in the United States and Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro unwittingly made a faux pas on Sunday evening when she tweeted an image of herself wearing a face mask. While the mask was on point, an image open on Judge Jeanine's phone caught the eye of American model Chrissy Teigen who seemed to notice something familiar in the photo - her breasts. Pirro, who hosts Fox News Channel's Justice with Judge Jeanine, had been attending a public event when she donned the mask and posted the photo with the caption, "Wearing my mask out east," probably to spread awareness about wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic in the US. Pirro Wearing my mask out east pic.twitter.com/1I56bDQeMs Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) July 6, 2020 While the judge appeared to be in a public place, her phone, which was visible in the photo was kept on the table. It appears that Pirro was in the middle of watching a video that Teigen recently uploaded to flaunt her "new" breasts on her phone. Teigen's video came after she claimed to have her old breast implants removed. Taking to Twitter, Teigen who is also the wife of musician John Legend, said, "Jeanine why are my b**bs up on your phone" jeanine why are my boobs up on your phone https://t.co/69MW72y0YM chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 6, 2020 She went on to prove that the image that could be seen on Pirro's phone was indeed a still from her video. The tweet garnered thousands of hilarious reactions. Many couldn't belive that Teigen actually managed to spot the tiny little detail. Others just made jokes at Judge Pirro's expense. how did u even see that lmaoooooo Tony X (@soIoucity) July 6, 2020 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA lalah hathaway (@lalahhathaway) July 6, 2020 Maybe she wants to be your breast friend? Philly Comic Fan (@philly_comic) July 6, 2020 I mean, theyre very good breasts, Chrissy Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) July 6, 2020 this tweet is my new best friend shauna (@goldengateblond) July 6, 2020 Teigen's breasts have known to spark controversy before. LAst year, the model gave a befitting respone to a troll who asked her to "cover up" in ront of her daughter in response to a photo shared by her on her Instagram page. READ: Chrissy Teigen Slams Troll Who Asked Her to 'Cover Up' Her Breasts Around Her Daughter Late last month, a computer console lit up at a National Technical Research Organisation listening station, recording a stream of zeroes and ones being beamed to a satellite hundreds of kilometres above the earth from the windswept 4,400 metre high Barahoti plain, some 15 kilometres inside the Line of Actual Control as it cuts through Uttarakhand, dividing it from Tibets Ngari Prefecture. Even as the satellite-phone traffic was detected, China and India had begun to defuse the months-long crisis at the LAC. Based on commitments made in military-to-military talks, and revealed by News18 last week, the PLA has dismantled some earthworks along the Galwan River, pulled back troops, and begun thinning out forces. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yithe two countries special representatives on China-India border issuesnow have before them a task even tougher than arriving at a formula that will allow the two armies to complete the disengagement process at more bitterly-contested sites, like the ridges stretching out from the Pangong lake, or the Depsang plains. The crisis in Galwan should have brought home to Beijing the risk that its behaviour on the LAC could spark off a war in the Himalaya, one senior government official familiar with the negotiations told News18. The real question is: are they willing to change it? For Indian communications-intelligence technicians, the satellite-phone blips detected in Barahoti are part of an alarmingly-familiar pattern. In recent weeks, similar satellite-phone traffic has been reported from over ten kilometres on the Indian side of the LAC near the Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradeshs Kinnauran ancient trading post which saw some Rs 9.7 crore in business during the 2019 season. The PLA knows perfectly well that we listen-in to their communications, one senior intelligence official said. These Thuraya satellite phone calls are basically their way of telling us: Look, were here. Intrusions like these have become increasingly common since 2013, when the PLA pitched tents on the Depsang plains near Burtse, asserting that the LAC ran well to the west of Indias claims. The PLAs presence was used to block Indian patrols headed out to an arc of positions along the LAC, code-named Patrolling Point 10, 11, 12 and 13. Even though the 2013 crisis was ended through negotiations, Indian troops and the PLA have periodically faced-off in the regionand patrols have been blocked again as the Galwan crisis has unfolded, military sources said. In 2014 and 2015, face-offs again erupted along the LAC in Ladakh. Then, in 2016, PLA troopsas well as two Zhiba WZ-9 attack helicopterswere reported to have crossed the LAC in the Barahoti area. The summer of 2017 saw the largest showdown until the Galwan crisis, in Doklam. Experts have offered various hypothesis on why China has stepped up pressure on the LAC. For example, the Chinese scholar Yun Sun has suggested the reasons are rooted both in the PLAs tactical concerns over Indias expansion of its border-defence infrastructure, and as a warning against New Delhi taking the United States side in the emerging strategic confrontation between the two superpowers. Irrespective of the truth, both capitals were largely content to let their armies assert their claims along the LAC, believing a series of agreements would prevent border confrontations from escalating into full-blown hostilities. The Border Peace and Tranquillity Agreement, signed in September 1993, was supplemented, in 1996, with a series of military confidence-building measures and a 2005 agreement laying down rules for border patrols. There is a 2012 agreement that sets procedures out to end crisis through consultations; and there is the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement of 2013. Perhaps the one big lesson from this crisis is that those agreements are a band-aid, not a solution, said scholar Manoj Joshi. The best-case scenario now is that the two countries agree to delineate a common LAC, something China has long resisted. Little evidence exists, so far, for hopes the PLA is willing to engage in such an exercise. In military-to-military meetings, government sources said, theres been no indication the PLA is even prepared to pull back from Finger 4 in Pangong. There, the PLA has built earthworks to deny Indian troops their ability to patrol from their forward positions on Finger 3 to Finger 8, which India asserts lies within the LAC. The two armies have agreed on various risk-reduction measures, a senior government official said, like avoiding sending patrols into likely flash-points, thus creating some de-facto buffer zones. But this is, obviously, not a very stable situation. Agreeing on where the China-India frontier actually runs isnt an easy task, given the vagueness of colonial boundaries in the inner Himalaya. In the summer of 1952, the Intelligence Bureau reported that About the end of last century the Tibetans had established a Customs Post at Hoti Plain. To stop this practice, the British Government had to send out a detachment of Gurkhas along with the Deputy Collector in 1890. This had a salutary effect and the Tibetans removed their post. It appears that for some time past the Tibetans have again been establishing a Police-cum-Customs post at Hoti during the trading season, the Intelligence Bureau reported. Those Tibetan posts formed the basis of Chinese claims that Barahoti lies in their territorywhile New Delhi relies on both the British imperial practice, as well as earlier documentation, to assert the plain is in fact part of India. The dispute was to lead, in the summer of 1954, to the first of the PLA incursions into Indian-claimed territory that would explode, eventually, into the war of 1962. Fixing these problems is not impossible with some give-and-take, one intelligence official says, and every sane person realises that this issue is a millstone around the neck of both countries, which were best-off without. The question is, however, whether Beijing is willing to engage in give-and-take, or wants to keep pushing a policy of take-and-take. A 71-year-old COVID-19 patient has gone missing from the newly-commissioned Global Hub Corona Hospital in Thane city, police said on Monday. A Kapurbawdi police station official said a missing person complaint has been filed and teams were out to trace the elderly patient. "The man was first admitted to Kalwa hospital and then shifted to Global Hub Corona Hospital late night on June 29. His family was quarantined at the time. When they came out of isolation and started looking for the man, they could trace him and filed a complaint late Sunday night," the official told PTI. The Global Hub Corona hospital is a temporary facility with 1,024 beds and was inaugurated a couple of weeks ago by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. In another incident, a woman and her three sons, all of whom tested positive for coronavirus, were nabbed on Saturday while trying to flee to their native Uttar Pradesh in violation of medical advice, a Thane civic official said. The woman's husband had died of the infection at a hospital here and the family tried to escape quarantine after being detected with the infection, he added. In Mira Bhayander municipal limits in the district, a woman claimed her husband who tested positive was abandoned in the rains two days ago, and he died of the infection after being admitted later in a hospital in Kandivali in Mumbai. With its infection tally crossing the 1,00,000-mark on Monday, Delhi became the first city in the country to surpass the grim milestone, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said a drop in the number of daily cases and declining positivity rate indicated an improvement in the situation. According to a bulletin issued by the Health Department, 1,359 fresh cases were reported on Monday, in a record drop after 19 days. On June 16, Delhi recorded 1,859 coronavirus cases. However, since then it saw a sharp rise in the number of cases with the daily figures oscillating in the range of 2,000-3,000. On June 23, the national capital had reported its highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases. The total number of coronavirus cases stand at 1,00,823. With 48 fresh fatalities, the death toll has climbed to 3,115. After Delhi, Mumbai has the highest number of coronavirus cases. The total number of cases in Mumbai stood at 85,724 while the death toll was 4,938. Chennai, a distant third, has 70,017 cases and 1,082 deaths. Overall, Maharashtra has recorded 2,11,987 cases and 9,026 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu, which has 1,14,978 with 1,571 fatalities. This is followed by Delhi with 1,00,823 cases. Addressing an online briefing earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the coronavirus recovery rate in Delhi has gone up to 72 per cent, and more and more people are recovering from COVID-19 on a daily basis. There has been a considerable dip in the positivity ratio and the death rate in Delhi, he said. "In the last three months, the total number of corona patients in Delhi has reached approximately 1 lakh. But there is no need to worry or panic because out of these one lakh people, 72,000 cases have recovered. The recovery rate in Delhi has gone up to 72 per cent, which is a huge figure," Kejriwal said. He added that there has been a considerable improvement in the coronavirus situation in Delhi. "In the month of June, around 35 out of 100 people were found to be positive when tests were conducted. Now, only 11 out of 100 people are found to be positive. There has been an improvement in the positivity ratio in Delhi," he added. There are a total of 15,000 beds for coronavirus patients, out of which only 5,100 beds are occupied, which means that there are only 5,100 patients in all the hospitals in Delhi, he pointed out. Last week, there were 6,200 coronavirus patients admitted to the hospitals in Delhi. "The number of patients admitted to the hospitals has gone down and patients are recovering and returning to their homes. They are not facing any hassles in either testing or beds. They can check the availability of beds in the hospitals on the DelhiCorona App," he added. The Union Health Ministry said the average number of samples being tested per day for COVID-19 has gone up in Delhi from 5,481 to 18,766 in about a month and in spite of increased testing, the positivity rate has declined from around 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three weeks. The government also said that the national positivity rate, percentage of samples testing coronavirus positive from the total number of samples, has also reduced and now stands at 6.73 per cent. In Delhi, efforts being made by the Union Territory were significantly bolstered by the central government to ensure an increase in testing, the ministry said. Tests were ramped up through increased RT-PCR testing along with the new Rapid Antigen Point-of-Care (POC) tests which gives results in only about 30 minutes, the Centre said. "As a result of concerted and focused efforts by the government of India to augment efforts, the average number of samples being tested per day which was only 5,481 (June 1-5) has witnessed a huge increase to reach an average of 18,766 samples per day between July 1 to 5," it said. Meanwhile, Kejriwal appealed to hospitals to counsel their COVID-19 patients to donate plasma after 14 days of recovery from the disease, noting that the number of donors is yet to pick pace. Kejriwal said that there has been a major spike in demand for plasma over the past 4-5 days, after the opening of the country's first plasma bank in Delhi. "The number of plasma donors is less, while the number of people demanding plasma is huge. If it continues, the stock of plasma at the plasma bank will finish soon... I request recovered coronavirus patients to come forward and donate their plasma in large numbers," he said. Last week, the government had set up the plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS). Kejriwal said authorised helpline numbers of all COVID hospitals in the city are being reflected in the 'Delhi Corona' mobile application after the city government received many complaints from citizens that the helpline numbers of these medical facilities remained unreachable most of the time. "All these hospitals have come out with 24X7 available authorised helpline numbers and the numbers are available in the Delhi Corona app which was developed and launched by the Delhi government to provide COVID-19 pandemic related information," the statement said. Bengaluru: A video of a private doctor appealing to fellow doctors to join the battle against the coronovirus went viral on Sunday, as the count of positive cases in Karnataka crossed 20,000 mark. The doctor in the video is Taha Mateen, MD at HBS Hospital, in Bengaluru. In the video, Mateen urges doctors and nursing staff to come onboard and work at the hospital by lending a helping hand in the Covid-19 ICU. He speaks about the ordeal of doctors who are putting in 18-hour shifts. He emphasises that there are beds, oxygen cylinders and ventilators available at the hospital but no doctors to treat the patients. The 1-minute 46 seconds video also has him asking doctors to dedicate just six hours of their day to fight the pandemic. He makes a fervent request to medicos to become frontline warriors and to show the world they are doing this for the sake of humanity. Meanwhile, about 507 doctors under the banner of the Karnataka Government Contract Doctors Association have decided to go on a three-day protest. These doctors are protesting against the rule that does away with regularising them under the payroll system after a period of three years. According to a press statement released by the association, the doctors are going to protest from July 6 to 8, with the plan on tendering mass resignations. On July 6, the doctors will attend their duty wearing a black ribbon around their arm as a mark of protest. On July 7, they plan on observing a hunger strike by fasting the whole day. And finally on July 8, if the government doesnt relent, they will all handover their papers as a sign of mass resignation. According to one of the doctors, till 2017 all contract doctors would get absorbed under the government payroll after serving for a period of three years. However, this was done away after the matter had reached the doors of the apex court. Since 2007 till 2017 over 14 batches consisting of over 2,000 doctors were regularised. In a bid to pacify the medicos, the Karnataka government decided to compensate them by increasing their salary from Rs 45,000 currently to Rs 60,000 per month. But the association has decided to go ahead and continue their protest till the government reinstates the old clause of absorbing contract workers under government payroll. CTD Currently, many investors are paying attention to foreign strategic shareholders of Kustocem Pte. Ltd (Kusto), which holds a 17.55% stake in Respect for strategic partners When it comes to the fact that the strategic foreign shareholders actively requested such an anomalous shareholders meeting, the first issue to discuss is how Vietnamese enterprises must respect their strategic partners. When looking for a strategic partner to cooperate with, Vietnamese enterprises only think about attracting investment capital, however the issues of CG are larger. When choosing partners, the enterprise must be responsible for bringing certain benefits to them and enterprises have to give up thinking that a partner is only the one who buys enterprise shares. Because of this concern, investment funds and financial institutions often have binding contracts on terms of commitments and restrictive provisions to manage risks for their investment activities. The case of Ba Huan Enterprise is a typical example which clearly shows weaknesses in the process of seeking partners and understanding partners. CTD has long chosen strategic partners to execute their projects, and not just for financial purposes. Usually, industry partners cannot sit together, because "one forest cannot have two tigers". Therefore, in this case, the enterprise must understand that if it does not bring adequate benefits to its strategic partners, they will one day acquire it. CTD CTD Moreover,has non-canonical issues with its subsidiary Ricons, and its strategic partner Kusto has focused on this issue. The group of large shareholders has pointed out that there is a problem in F2 contracts, meaning that ifhas a large contract then there are many sub-contracts and subcontractors, but who those contractors are is not transparent, and there is no clear pricing. CTD CTD In fact, Ricons is only one case, and there are many partners around because the main contract has many subcontractors.has made partners unhappy with their benefits. Moreover, Ricons is run by the founding shareholders of. Major shareholders are not happy with Ricons on their financial statements but they have no evidence. CTD Therefore, they use the rights of major shareholders to audit the contents of other items, not financial statements. Mr. Nguyen Sy Cong, General Director of, did not explain properly, and said that the financial statements have been audited by well-known companies in the Big 4 group. CTD The story doing the rounds at Eximbank (EIB) recently is similar toat this point. Strategic shareholder Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) submitted a written request to the Board of Directors to convene a separate extraordinary meeting in order to dismiss Mr. Yasuhiro Saitoh and reduce the size of the Board of Directors. CTD EIB chooses a partner for the purpose of supporting those areas that EIB is weak at. However, up to now, EIB shareholders have split apart and are struggling to compete for interests in EIB, leading to conflicts which are affecting their interests. Unlike, EIB shareholder SMBC is unable to acquire the bank because of Vietnamese Law on Credit Institutions, and they also have offices in Vietnam so they cannot take that step. Lack of professionalism CTD At, Mr. Nguyen Sy Cong's explanation counters the opinion of Kusto and shows the weaknesses in professional relations (IR). His explanation contains too many emotions and shows the intention to entice employees to agree with him. In this case, the way he should explain and respond to Kusto's allegations should have been to consider what he had done over the past years, either exceeding the plan or completing the plan, or if after having completed the business plan by what reason can he justify not handing in his resignation. CTD CTD CTD Removing the General Director is the right of the shareholders, but the General Director himself must communicate so that small shareholders can support him and the investment funds must support him too. Such communication also helps the company to establish credibility with its creditors. Forbusiness, creditors are very important. If the creditors do not trust, and when one creditor sends a debt collection letter, the other creditors will be afraid of lending, andprojects will not be carried out. In this case, the founding shareholders will want to regain rights without knowing about IR or communication methods. According to the Enterprise Law of 2014, a shareholder or a group of shareholders with a term of holding shares for six consecutive months has the right to convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting. First, a large group of shareholders send a request to convene the meeting for the BOD to review. After six months, if the content is not reviewed by the Board of Directors, they have the right to convene a General Meeting of Shareholders. Thus, Kusto has followed these rules. Seven months ago, Kusto requested convening an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders which the Board of Directors vetoed and did not approve because the Board had advantage in terms of people. Kusto remained silent but after more than six months proposed to convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting. As stated, they are entitled to convene an AGM, and Kusto sent a dispatch to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VDS) and now VDS must send the list for them to organize the AGM. Things may not go to this step if the current Board of Directors know the law. By law, it is only after six months that a major shareholder has the right to convene an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, during which time the Board of Directors should hold an annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Usually, the extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders aims to do something, such as disqualifying the Board of Directors. This content is hard to find success, but when the meeting is extraordinary, they have the right to dismiss the chairman and then the current Board will lose. At an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, one only needs 80% shareholders to attend, and any group of shareholders holding 40% or 41% if in majority can take all decisions and vote for someone or depose someone easily. This is different from an annual meeting, when the Board of Directors can cancel all status quo because a large group of shareholders cancel the status of the Board without any reason, and the Board of Directors also proposes to cancel all members of the Board of Directors to vote again. CTD CTD Another point is thathas grown very strong, and now has huge financial potential but lacks a long-term advisory legal team. Any well-established business enterprise must have a legal team, so when such cases occur, the enterprise can know how to handle and how to prevent them from being acquired. The budget for this issue is not large compared to what may happen. Volatility caused's stock price to go down, and market capitalization plummeted. More significantly, from the reaction of Mr. Nguyen Sy Cong, the small shareholders who read the explanation were not satisfied, instead, they found these two groups of shareholders in a long conflict, and thought the best way was to sell their shares and withdraw from the company, instead of asking the founding shareholder to protect them. Understanding rules CTD The incidents that happened in the past can be considered as lessons for Vietnamese enterprises in the present as well as in the future. The issue of Corporate Governance is part of the management of a company. The shareholders structure and the interests of shareholders must be in the charters. The's general manager requested to amend the charters, but he did not understand that the company's charter was set up so that no small group of shareholders could edit it freely. In the company's charter, the responsibility of the Board of Directors is immutable. Therefore, the first issue to consider is that the management of the company must be in accordance with the rules, the operating regulations, the functions and duties of some positions, the rights of some strategic shareholders. If the strategic shareholder gives capital but does not have the right over human resources, it is also required to reach an agreement. When equitizing, finding partners, Vietnamese enterprises only focus on money and price, but forget about other agreements. This is an issue that needs to be unanimously made right from the beginning, and must be done so seriously. CTD Shareholders who sign the contract must also be responsible, because when an enterprise sells shares to a strategic partner, it is not simply the General Director who signs the agreement, but there are agreements that shareholders have to comply with later. Through this story of, we can draw good lessons in finding partners, especially in these tough times, so that the market becomes more professional in its approach of businesses. New Delhi: Haryana cabinet on Monday cleared a proposal to reserve 75% private sector jobs for residents of the state. The council of ministers had on January 31 deferred a proposal to approve the draft private sector quota bill and referred it to the law secretary for vetting following prolonged deliberations among the cabinet members. Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the coalition partner of the BJP in the state, had promised to provide 75% quota in private sector jobs to Haryana youth in its election manifesto. However, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had appeared non-committal on its prospect. Before Haryana, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's government in Andhra Pradesh had introduced the reservation for local youth in private sector jobs. The Meghalaya Board of School Education will announce the results of the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) examination on July 9, an official said on Monday. It will not be displayed in any office of the Meghalaya Board of School of Education (MBOSE) but will be available online due to COVID-19 crisis, he said. Over 30,600 candidates had appeared for the examination held in 103 centres across the state in March and June. The class-12 board examination had to be suspended midway due to the coronavirus outbreak. "The MBOSE will declare the HSSLC results on July 9. The results can be downloaded from the website of the board," MBOSE controller of examination T R Laloo told PTI. A total of 24,867 students had appeared in arts, 3,615 in science and 2,203 students in commerce streams from 629 affiliated schools and over 1,124 unaffiliated institutions. Allowing universities and other academic institutions to conduct final term examinations, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that the tests should be held by end of September in "offline (paper and pen)/ online/ blended (online + offline) mode". The Centre said that for those who are unable to take the exam on the given date, a special exam will be conducted by the university "as and when feasible". In a statement, the MHA said it has sent a letter to the Union Higher Education Secretary permitting universities and institutions to conduct examinations. "The final-term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC guidelines on examinations and academic calendar for the universities and as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the statement said. This announcement was made after the University Grants Commission (UGC) accepted a report of the Expert Committee and approved UGC Revised Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar of the Universities in Times of Covid 19 during a meeting in the day. As per the new guidelines The terminal semesters examinations to be conducted by universities by the end of September 2020 in offline (pen paper) online/blended mode. The students of terminal semester/final year having backlog should compulsorily be evaluated by conducting examinations in offline, online, blended mode as per feasibility and suitability, said the UGC statement. In case a student of terminal semester is unable to appear for examinations conducted by the university for whatsoever reason, he/she may be given opportunity to appear for special examinations for such courses/papers which may be conducted by the university as and when feasible, so that the student is not put to any inconvenience and disadvantage, it further said. This is a one-time measure and guidelines for intermediate semester remain unchanged. The decision for the new guidelines for the terminal semester students was taken in view of the emerging situation due to Covid-19 pandemic in India, due to which it is important to safeguard the principles of health, safety, fair and equal opportunity for students. At the same time, it is very crucial to ensure academic credibility, career opportunity and future progress of students globally, said the notification. Union HRD minister said the UGC revisited its earlier guidelines on university examinations in view of the safety, career progression and placements of the students and their larger interests, after consulting the Union Home Ministry. The UGC has revisited its earlier guidelines related to university examinations.In view of the safety, career progression and placements of the students and their larger interests, after consulting @HMOIndia and @MoHFW_INDIA, it has been decided that pic.twitter.com/evKTYPwnIa Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 6, 2020 Various examinations conducted by universities and higher education institutions in the country have been suspended since March during the coronavirus-induced lockdown which first began on March 25. 'DUTA Slams Move' Later in the evening, the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) expressed its disappointment over the UGC guidelines on exams, saying that they show "complete disregard for students". In a statement, DUTA said it "is appalled at the manner in which the government has cleared the way for forcing a sham of an exam on students". "An exam that has no sanctity and is discriminatory towards a large section of students is clearly being pushed with no other motive than to promote big business in education," it said. "The UGC and HRD Ministry have shown a complete disregard for students with the revised guidelines," it added. (With PTI inputs) As fugitive gangster Vikas Dubey remains absconding for the third day after gunning down eight policemen in Kanpur, the reward on him has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh post approval from UP DGP HC Awasthi on Monday. Dubey is the prime accused in killing of eight cops in Uttar Pradesh's Vikru village under Chaubeypur police station, along with his aides. Initially, the reward announced on his arrest was Rs 50,000, however, it was later increased by the police. A Special Task Force (STF) is also investigating the matter along with officers from 40 other police stations. Posters of Dubey have been pasted in many areas including Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao and adjoining districts. Till date, three policemen have been suspended for their alleged involvement in tipping off Dubey ahead of the police raid in which eight cops lost their lives and seven were seriously injured. The suspended police personnel include two sub-inspectors and a constable. In a major revelation on Sunday, an aide of the absconding gangster, Dayashankar Agnihotri, had admitted that someone from the police department had called Dubey and alerted him about the police raid. Dayashankar, a close aide of the notorious gangster, was arrested by police after being shot in the leg during an encounter in Kanpur's Kalyanpur area on Saturday. He was later admitted at a district hospital for treatment. He is one of the 18 aides of Dubey on whom the police had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 each. Dayashankar confirmed that after Dubey received a call from police ahead of the raid, he alerted his gang members who got the time to prepare an ambush for the police personnel coming to arrest him. He further said that during the raid, there was just one weapon in the house which Dubey used to fire at the cops. Dayashankar clarified that during the shootout, he was locked up inside a room and did not fire. Also, he said that he was not sure about the exact number of people involved in firing at the police party. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appealed to hospitals to counsel their COVID-19 patients to donate plasma after 14 days of recovery from the disease. Addressing an online media briefing, the chief minister said that there has been a spike in demand for plasma over the past 4-5 days, after the opening of a plasma bank in Delhi. Our team is calling up people requesting them to donate plasma, if you receive such a call please don't refuse. Hospitals should also give counselling to patients who have recovered and encourage them to donate plasma: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/HFw2tNRUj5 ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 The number of people who need plasma is more than those coming forward to donate it. I urge all those who are eligible to come forward and donate plasma. It will not cause any pain or weakness. Those donating plasma are doing selfless service to society: Delhi CM #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/gbwsBPnKUC ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 But there are not many donors, he said, appealing to hospitals to encourage their recovered patients to donate. He also said that Delhi at present has 15,000 COVID-19 beds of which only 5,100 are occupied. A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan allegedly shot dead his senior officer before killing himself on Monday in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. They said the incident took place late evening at the district court complex where a unit of the 8th battalion of the border guarding force is deployed for security duties. A constable of the force killed his senior in the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector after the two had an altercation in the court complex. The jawan used the same service rifle to shoot himself fatally, a senior official said. Senior officers of the SSB and local police have reached the spot for further investigation, he said. The SSB guards Indian fronts with Nepal and Bhutan and some of its battalions are deployed in J-K for security duties. Lucknow: Donning sunglasses, gun in hand and an evil laughter, Bikru village residents recall "bad man" Vikas Dubey's masquerading Bollywood villains. But, they say, his terror was real. The history-sheeter, whose men gunned down eight police personal in Kanpur's Bikhru village, is said to "highly-influenced" by Bollywood movies. Narrating their harrowing tale, villagers said that he used to recite lines from Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Don', which they said was his "favourite". Speaking to News18, 82-year-old Anantram said, Vikas used to portray himself as a cruel don at the age of 19 and often he used to say 'Don Ko Pakadna Mushkil Hi Nahi, Namumkin Hai (it's not hard to catch Don, it is impossible)'. He used to recite this dialogue with black sunglasses, which were his favourite. He used to walk out of jail within a few days even when he committed serious crimes. As time passed, the crime graph of Dubey soared and so did his nexus with the police due to which he used to easily get bail in most of the cases." "Seeing Dubey walk out of jail even after serious charges, the villagers were scared and no one dared to speak against him. I have seen the history-sheeter put a gun on the head of many villagers and then used to say the dialogue from Bollywood flick 'Don', also he used to laugh out loud to instill fear among locals. The villagers had no option but to turn a blind eye to whatever Dubey was doing, Also, he used to be accompanied by his bodyguards in the village, said Anantram. As the fugitive gangster remains absconding for the third day, the reward on him has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh post approval from UP DGP HC Awasthi on Monday. Dubey is the prime accused in the killing of eight cops in Uttar Pradesh's Vikru village under Chaubeypur police station, along with his aides. Initially, the reward announced on his arrest was Rs 50,000, however, it was later increased by the police. A Special Task Force (STF) is also investigating the matter along with officers from 40 other police stations. Posters of Dubey have been pasted in many areas including Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao and adjoining districts. Till date, three policemen have been suspended for their alleged involvement in tipping off Dubey ahead of the police raid in which eight cops lost their lives and seven were seriously injured. The suspended police personnel include two sub-inspectors and a constable. In a major revelation on Sunday, an aide of the absconding gangster, Dayashankar Agnihotri, had admitted that someone from the police department had called Dubey and alerted him about the police raid. Dayashankar, a close aide of the notorious gangster, was arrested by police after being shot in the leg during an encounter in Kanpur's Kalyanpur area on Saturday. He was later admitted at a district hospital for treatment. He is one of the 18 aides of Dubey on whom the police had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 each. Dayashankar confirmed that after Dubey received a call from police ahead of the raid, he alerted his gang members who got the time to prepare an ambush for the police personnel coming to arrest him. He further said that during the raid, there was just one weapon in the house which Dubey used to fire at the cops. Indias IT city, which successfully managed to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic for the first three months, seems to have lost the plot in the last one week. The rising number of coronavirus cases in the state capital, coupled with the fear of another lockdown and the loss of jobs is forcing thousands of people to flee the megapolis and return to their native places in Karnataka On Sunday, 64% of the total number of Covid-19 infections in the state were from Bengaluru urban district alone. In the last one week, at least two to three lakh people have left the city, triggering panic in government circles and the business community. Pune Bengaluru National Highway, the main arterial road, which dissects the state from the state capital to Belgaum, about 570 kilometres away, is jam-packed with vehicles heading to different parts of Karnataka. Almost all toll gates are witnessing a huge rush of frenzied people who are returning home either for a short duration or permanently. People from the lower-middle class strata and the poor, who were earning their livelihood through odd jobs and small businesses, could be seen heading home in pickup trucks, minivans and even auto-rickshaws with their belongings. Some said they are returning home as they feared their safety amid mounting Covid-19 cases in the city, while the remaining maintained that they were forced to leave as there are no jobs left and small businesses had collapsed completely. Basavaraj, a 40-year-old Uber cab driver has returned to his native place Bidar with his family. He said that he vacated his house and asked the school to issue transfer certificates for his two children. I have been in Bengaluru for the past 20 years. In the last three months, our taxi business has collapsed. It is difficult to earn even Rs 1,000 a day. Future also looks uncertain. Thats why I am returning to my native place Bidar. When the schools reopen, I will admit my children at a government school in my village," Basavaraj told News18. He added that he would try to survive by engaging in some small business there. "We cant live in Bengaluru any longer. Like me, hundreds of others have also left for their native places. Some might return after a few months. Some may not," he said. Tens of thousands of To Let boards greet the people across the city, a reminder of the grim situation. Rajagopal Reddy of Electronic City, who owns over 100 small-sized houses for rent, claims that 75% of his tenants have left for their native places. Earlier, it was difficult to find a vacant house here. In the first two months, outsiders (people from other states) vacated their houses and left. Most of them may not come back. Now, people from different parts of Karnataka are leaving. We did not expect this. It is scary. The real estate business has almost collapsed overnight, he said. An alarmed state government is making repeated requests to the people asking them to not flee Bengaluru. The Home Minister Basavaraj S Bommai said that people are returning to their homes fearing another lockdown. There is no proposal to impose another lockdown. These are just rumours. We are requesting the people to stay back in the city, he said. Even Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa assured the people that there is no need to worry as there would not be any further lockdown. The sudden reverse migration has hit businesses in the city hard as many establishments are facing an acute shortage of workforce. In some places, the milk and newspaper delivery boys have suddenly disappeared. The infrastructure industry which depends heavily on the workers from the north has taken a huge hit as even the local workers have returned to their villages. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against disgraced Jammu and Kashmir Police Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh. In a statement, the NIA said, "The investigation has revealed that accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Pakistani state agencies to commit violent acts and to wage war against the Union of India." NIA officials confirmed to CNN News18 the chargesheet was filed in Jammu court against Singh and his aides. Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Mushtaq alias Babu, his brother Irfan Mushtaq, Rafi Ahmed Rather, former president of Cross Loc Trade Association Tanveer Ahmed and lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). On January 11, 2020, Singh was arrested at a check point near Qazigund in Anantnag district while allegedly ferrying terrorists out of Srinagar to Jammu. During a search of the vehicle they were travelling in, security forces recovered an AK-47 Rifle, three Pistols and a cache of ammunition and explosives. The car was being driven by Mir, who also owned it. Naveed Mushtaq, the district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen (Shopian and Ganderbal) and Rafi Ahmad Rather were the other passengers of the car. Singh, who has since been suspended, was allegedly in constant touch with Pakistan High Commission officials and helped terrorists cross over from Kashmir Valley to Jammu. He also allegedly helped them find shelter outside the valley. Sources said the detailed chargesheet runs into thousands of pages and mentions the role of one Shafaqat, an assistant in the Pakistan High Commission. A probe by NIA revealed that Irfan Mir had played a key role in connecting Singh with Hizbul Mujahideen, while Tanveer Ahmed is accused of passing on Indian currencies to Naveed Mushtaq. The investigation is still ongoing in the case against accused like Tariq Ahmed Mir who was arrested on charges of conspiracy. Officers said Singh and lawyer Irfan Mir arranged safe shelter for terrorists in Jammu. Singh also used his own vehicle for the movement of Hizbul terrorists to shield Naveed Mushtaq from the heightened surveillance of security agencies. He assured them of providing shelter and procuring weapons. The NIA investigation, however, has made no mention of Singh's role in the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed last year. Singh was posted in Pulwama a few months before the attack had taken place and the Opposition had demanded a probe in his alleged role. The NIA statement in the case says probe is underway against other accused. The agency has accused Singh of conspiring with Pakistani agencies and terror organisations to wage war against India. "The investigation has revealed that Pakistan-based leadership of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) namely Sayeed Salahudeen, Amir Khan, deputy chief of HM, Khursheed Alam operational head of HM, Nazar Mehmood, HM financial head, and others along with Pakistani establishment are extending support to the cadre and commanders of HM based in Jammu and Kashmir," the statement said. Further, the NIA said money was given to Irfan Mir by Pakistan High Commission officials to organise anti-India seminars in Kashmir. The agency said Singh was being "groomed by Pakistan high commission to obtain sensitive documents." "The investigation also revealed that accused Irfan Shafi Mir not only met Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leadership in Pakistan, but also met Umar Cheema, Ahshan Chaudhary, Sohail Abbas and others of ISI and he was tasked to identify and activate new hawala channels for transfer of money for sustaining terrorist activities in Kashmir valley. Investigation also revealed that certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were in constant touch with Irfan Shafi Mir who was provided with funds to organise seminars in J&K to mobilise the masses against Government of India. "Irfan Shafi Mir also used to receive instructions and money from Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and also facilitated the visa applications for a number of Kashmiris for their visit to Pakistan. Singh was also in touch with certain officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms," NIA said. Ex-police constable Naveed Babu who had deserted the force and decamped with weapons had killed labourers and truck drivers in Kashmir, the NIA said. Babu and Tanveer Ahmed are said to have obtained weapons and ammunition from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and Singh. These weapons were later used for terrorist activities. The chargesheet has been filed under UAPA sections 18, 19, 20, 38 & 39 which deal with conspiracy, harbouring of a terrorist, membership of a terrorist group and also under certain sections of the Arms Act and Explosive Substance Act. For Prime Minister Narendra Modis 12 May 2020 political slogan of Atmanirbhar Bharat to become a reality, he will have to wage a war. In this war, words and slogans will not do; at best they will be a starting point. This war will challenge an enemy that is deeply and integrally embedded in the political economy of India. It will have to obliterate the vested interests of a corrupt establishment. It will have to destroy carefully-created edifices of an unaccountable, entitled and rent-seeking economic system where the incumbent beneficiaries will fight back. It will have to be led by the Executive, at the Union and in states. It will need to be powered by tools crafted and repurposed in Legislatures, in the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. This will be Indias war on regulatory excesses that have placed barriers to doing business and has slowed if not smothered entrepreneurship. Between the ongoing trade wars on the one side and a potentially contracting global economy on the other, the path ahead was clear. But the tipping point of Atmanirbhar Bharat has been China on the border, the reaction to which has set the public discourse on fire. Business actors have announced their intentions. When the Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin provoked Indias economic nationalism, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra gave a fitting reply. On cue, JSW Cement Managing Director Parth Jindal said that the JSW Group has pledged to bring down $400 million of net imports from China to zero in the next 24 months. Three weeks earlier, the Confederation of All India Traders had launched its #BoycottChineseProducts campaign, with the objective to reduce Chinese imports by Rs 1 lakh crore by December 2021. Others are readying themselves to shun Chinese goods as a rising consumer movement seeks to upend Indias cheap product addiction. The government means business as well. On 29 June 2020, it banned 59 mobile apps that are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. Three days later, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Minister of Shipping, and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari said that no Chinese company will be allowed to bid for any highway project. This should now be extended to all critical infrastructure such as ports, energy, railways, broadband, banking and finance. Critical infrastructure comprises that whose destruction would adversely impact a countrys security, economy or safety. Taking the apps ban forward, the government must ensure no Chinese company, including but not restricted to Huawei, is allowed to offer 5G equipment to Indias telecom operators. But this moment of all of society cohesion on our economic future is only the first step. For a strategic and sustainable journey, India needs to be more hungry and ambitious. For which, the first thing Modi needs to do is to wage the war that all successive governments have been avoiding. This is a war on regulatory cholesterol that has been thickening and slowing the free flow of business, simultaneously weakening and feeding off the economic enthusiasm of entrepreneurs. The inertia is so overwhelming that most feel helpless and hopeless and even scoping what is needed appears futile. This essay hopes to change that narrative. Indias web of compliances Data from Avantis RegTech shows Indias regulatory universe to be a three-tiered complex. First, there is a mega-web of 1,536 laws that govern doing business in India, 678 (or 44%) enacted by Parliament, 858 (56%) by state Legislative Assemblies. From this web emerge mini-webs of 69,233 compliances, 25,537 (37%) at the Union level and 43,696 (63%) in the states. Finally, following the mega- and mini-webs is born a micro-web of 6,618 filings, 2,282 (34%) for the Union government and 4,336 (66%) for state governments. This clear regulatory overreach happens across seven categories labour; finance and taxation; environment, health and safety; secretarial; commercial; industry specific; and general. Further, these can be of 12 types licences, registrations, permissions, consent orders, returns, displays, registers, challans, payments, remittances, renewals and notices. And as if these laws, compliances and filings across categories and types were not enough, they change at the rate of 3,000 a year. In the last quarter alone, there were 1,206 changes, or about 13 a day. These changes are around seven areas dates, frequencies, penalties, new compliances, reduction of compliance items, revisions to forms, and changes in rates. To put these numbers in perspective, a small company with a single plant and up to 500 employees faces 23 licences or registrations, more than 60 laws, more than 750 compliances and needs to make more than 120 filings a year or one every three days. The numbers for a medium sized company with six plants and up to 5,000 employees are respectively 98, 135, 5,500 and 530 (or about three filings every two days). And for a large company of 11 plants and up to 10,000 employees, the numbers are 163, 210, 9,500 and 940 (or about five filings every two days). Indias borders can be protected if Prime Minister Modi can defeat these excesses that have allowed perverse economic dependencies to emerge. He could make a start by getting Chief Ministers of NDA-governed states to join forces with him. While Madhya Pradesh is a prime example, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana could follow. This war will have to use three tactics. Rationalisation First, Modi will need to rationalise these 1,536 laws, 69,233 compliances and 6,618 filings and intimations. This review should identify redundancy and duplication of compliance. For instance, there are different definitions of wages under different labour Acts. He will have to then reduce the other hurdles such as number of licenses or registrations, renewals, returns, and registers. The goods and services tax (GST) is a good model to follow. The GST has subsumed eight Union taxes and nine state taxes into a single indirect taxes structure. As a result, the number of registrations, payments, returns and filings have reduced dramatically. Consolidation of laws is another option. Labour reforms, for instance, under which the government has decided to amalgamate 44 labour laws into four codes code on wages, code on industrial relations, code on social security and safety, and code on health and working conditions. Code on wages has already been approved by Parliament and is awaiting notification. Introduction of labour codes is expected to reduce the number of registers and returns significantly. Simplification Second, he must simplify procedures. Not only is Indias regulatory environment vast, it is equally fluid. It changes more than 3,000 times a year. There are changes to due dates, duty structure, interest and penalty calculations, forms, applicability, threshold values, classifications among others. These changes are published on 2,233 websites across Union, state and local government levels, sometimes in local languages only. India needs a consolidated, central digital repository of all regulatory updates easily searchable by date, ministry, department, Union, state, union territory, or any other jurisdiction. Further, the government should institutionalise a mandatory review of ease of doing business on any regulatory change on enterprises. Every change should pass through a litmus test on whether it improves or reduces the ease of doing business for employers. The framework should have parameters such as increase or decrease in complexity, paper work, cost of external consultants, and amount of time spent on compliances. Going forward, every change needs to help bring down the time and cost of compliance. Digitisation India needs to digitise at the speed of Aarogya Setu app. With Aarogra Setu, India has demonstrated its capability to conceptualise, build, deploy and distribute technology platforms to solve real world problems at an unprecedented pace. Corporate India is ready to embrace digitisation in managing its regulatory and compliance obligations. The government should create an enterprise digital vault along the lines of Digi Locker. This vault should serve as a repository of all government issued documents such as licences, registrations, permissions, consent orders, certificates, and notices. Any other government department that needs to verify original documents should refer to this vault. This single initiative would save millions of sheets of paper a year and thousands of hours of lost productivity in printing, self-attesting, notarising and archiving paper. In addition, the government needs to work towards converting every department that acts as a regulatory body to go cashless, paperless and faceless. They have to go beyond just creating a website and uploading records. They need to create an open digital ecosystem, which offers a secure open architecture for the vendor platform to connect with them and enable filings along the lines of income tax and GST. This will enable automated record reconciliation, identify leakages, detect frauds and flag discrepancies. Strength on the border needs strength within the border A robust border needs a buoyant economy. Such an economy needs to unleash the animal spirits of entrepreneurs and risk-takes such that they can convert ideas into jobs and wealth. And to unleash these animal spirits, India needs to reduce its regulatory cholesterol. China is not going away. Globalisation may take a break for a few years. Economic nationalism is becoming the new currency of short-term discourse. Fixing India from within will protect India from outside physically and economically. If Atmanirbhar Bharat is the political aspiration, this war on regulatory cholesterol is an economic prerequisite. Disclaimer: Gautam Chikermane is Vice President of Observer Research Foundation, and Rishi Agrawal is Co-founder and CEO of Avantis RegTech. Views expressed by the author(s) are personal. This article first appeared in ORF. The death toll in the boiler explosion at NLC India has risen to 12 to with six more men succumbing to burn injuries at a hospital, an official said here on Monday. While six men died when a fire broke out in the boiler area subsequent to an explosion at the fifth unit of the Thermal Power Station-II on July 1, three men-- a worker, a junior engineer and a foreman-- died of injuries today at a hospital in Chennai. A worker and junior engineer died on Sunday and a deputy chief engineer passed away on July 3 and the six were aged between 45 and 53.They were treated at a private hospital in Chennai, an NLC India official said. "The package payable inclusive of statutory and non- statutory payments comprising management's contribution and the voluntary contribution of NLC India employees will not be less than Rs 30 lakh each in the case of deceased and Rs 5 lakh for the injured," he told PTI. Regular employment will also be provided to an eligible member of the family of the deceased, he said. Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to the families of each of the six workers who were killed and an assistance of Rs one lakh and Rs 50,000 to those who suffered serious and mild injuries respectively. The explosion occurred at the TPS-II when workers were in the process of resuming operations which includes maintenance work following a shutdown. To a question, the official said "the TPS-II did not witness any accidents between 2009-10 to 2017-18." Of the 23 men who were working at the plant on that day, six contract workers -aged between 25 and 42- died on the spot, 16 others were rushed to a hospital in Chennai for higher specialty treatment and a man with minor injuries was treated at the NLC hospital. Following this, the unit was shut down for safety audit. An official was suspended and a high level inquiry and an internal probe was also ordered. The government had on Saturday said NLC India's Director, Power has been asked to immediately proceed on leave till the finalisation of the inquiry into the boiler explosion. "Director (Power), NLCIL has been asked to proceed on leave immediately till the finalisation of the enquiry," the coal ministry said in a statement. On May 7, a boiler explosion at the sixth unit of the TPS-II injured eight men and in a span of about 20 days, five of them, who had sustained severe burns and admitted to a hospital in Tiruchirappalli, died. Police on Monday said they are probing into the allegations made in a purported letter that DSP Devendra Mishra wrote weeks before his death, alleging links between the now suspended Chaubeypur station officer and gangster Vikas Dubey. The letter, which has surfaced on social media, alleges that station officer Vinay Tiwari had got a serious charge against Dubey dropped. Billhaur Circle Officer Devendra Mishra was among the eight policemen killed in an ambush by the gangster henchmen at Bikru village near Kanpur early Friday morning. Police suspect that Vinay Tiwari may have tipped off Dubey that a police team was on its way to arrest him. The letter supposedly written by Mishra carries no serial number or date but a senior officer indicated that police are looking into the allegations. Kanpur Range IG Mohit Agarwal said they have sought the file from the SSP office. "We came to know about the seriousness of the allegations through the media. We will verify these and appropriate action will be taken. Let us understand the entire incident and then we will brief you with the action," he told reporters here. Meanwhile in Lucknow, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awnish Awasthi refused to comment on the matter. He said," Speak to the local authorities about the letter. I will not comment on this." According to the letter, the then Billahur Circle Officer Devendra Mishra had supposedly wrote that Dubey was booked on charges of rioting, extortion and criminal intimidation in a case. The dead DSP had instructed Tiwari to take strict action against hardened criminals like Dubey, it said. When no action was taken in the case, the letter says Mishra made an inspection at the police station and found that the investigation officer, Sub-Inspector Azhar Ishrat, had dropped IPC Section 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) against Dubey. The SI said the section was removed on Vinay Tiwari's order, the letter said. The letter as it appeared on social media said, "Showing sympathy to such a notorious criminal in such a way by the station officer and not taking any action brings the integrity of Vinay Tiwari into question." It mentioned that it has come to light from other sources that Tiwari used to visit and had a regular talk with Vikas Dubey. If the station officer does not change his style of working, then a serious incident could happen, Mishra's alleged letter to the SSP said. Hence, it is recommended to take action in connection with the removal of IPC Section 386 and not taking any action till now (in the case), it said. Kriti Sanon feels it is going to be "really hard" for her to watch the late Sushant Singh Rajput's last film Dil Bechara, which releases on a digital platform on July 24. The trailer of Dil Bechara released on Monday. Sharing the trailer on Instagram, Kriti Sanon posted: "#DilBechara. Its gonna be really hard to watch this one.. but how can i not!! #Sush @castingchhabra @sanjanasanghi96." Kriti featured alongside Sushant in the 2017 film Raabta directed by Dinesh Vijan. The two actors were rumoured to be dating ahead of the film's release. Shortly after Sushant's death last month, Kriti had shared an emotional post. "A part of my heart has gone with you... and a part will always keep you alive. Never stopped praying for your happiness and never will," the actress had written in a post dedicated to Sushant. Dil Bechara is the official remake of 2014 Hollywood romantic drama The Fault In Our Stars, based on John Green's popular novel of the same name. It narrates a fairytale love story with a tragic ending. The film follows a young couple in love, as they meet and fall for each other. The tragedy about the story comes with the fact that he has a brush with osteosarcoma, while she is fighting thyroid cancer. The story then takes the audience on an emotional ride as they embark on a bittersweet journey in a bid to live life to the fullest. In the trailer, Sushant comes across as a happy guy, who is in love with life and wants to spread cheer. There is a sequence where he calls himself a fighter, and there is one instance where he says: "We don't decide when we are born or when we will die, but we can decide how we live". The lines seem to get a new meaning after his demise. Last month, Sushant was found hanging in his Bandra residence by his domestic help, which left Bollywood and his fans shocked. He was reportedly battling depression over the past few months and undergoing treatment. The Khilafat Movement (1919-1924) refers to the ferment among Indian Muslims consequent to the threatened dismemberment of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Turkish Caliphate at the end of the World War I. The Khilafat Movement primarily sought the restoration of the Khalifa (lit. successor; religious and temporal head of global Muslims). The movement marks its centenary this year. A hundred years on, it continues to incite debate. The Khilafat Movement was not an isolated historical event. It had definite scriptural sanction and historical antecedents. When it was being played out, it impacted our freedom struggle and fast-tracked Partition. It continues to find resonance today. Khilafat Movement and Non-Cooperation Movement To most Indians, the relation between the Khilafat Movement and the Non-Cooperation Movement is obscure. Generations of Indians have been taught that the Non-Cooperation Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on September 4, 1920, with the aim of self-governance and obtaining full independence as the Indian National Congress (INC) withdrew its support for British reforms following the Rowlatt Act of March 21 1919, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13 1919. This is the information provided by Wikipedia, the repository of wisdom for most modern literates. Party ideologues posing as historians have taught impressionable minds that Gandhiji hoped that by coupling non-cooperation with Khilafat, Indias two major religious communities, Hindus and Muslims could collectively bring an end to colonial rule. These movements certainly unleashed a surge of popular action that was altogether unprecedented in colonial India (Themes in Indian History Part III, Textbook of History for Class XII, published by NCERT, p.350). If one reads the official history of the Congress, one will be misled into thinking that the Non-Cooperation Movement was a brainchild of the Congress, launched to secure Swaraj (The History of the Indian National Congress, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, CWC, Madras, 1935, pp. 334, 335). If truth be the mother of history, the historian needs to be examine if history is being turned on its head. A hard but dispassionate look at the Khilafat Movement is in order. Truth has a way of getting blurred and even buried beneath false discourse. Often, this discourse is politically or ideologically motivated. The Khilafat Movement is no exception. Political discourse The official website of the Indian National Congress carries an article dated October 25, 2018, on the Khilafat Movement. The article states, The Khilafat Movement was one of the significant movements in Indias endeavour to free herself from The British Raj.... The Khilafat Movement saw the combined efforts of the Hindus and the Muslims under the supervision of the Indian National Congress against the British Raj. The success strengthened even more when Mahatma Gandhi decided to bring together his Non-Cooperation movement along with the Khilafat Movement for the combined efforts to vocalize their collective resentment against the colonizers... Mahatma Gandhi saw the Khilafat Movement as a brilliant opportunity to bring together the Hindus and the Muslims and their respective causes against one common authority of exploitation and domination... Mahatma Gandhi linked the proposal of self-government better known as Swaraj with the Khilafat concerns and demands and adopted the non-cooperation plan to accomplish the twin objectives... One of the most important instances in Indias freedom struggle was provided by the Khilafat movement in terms of the unity among the Hindus and the Muslims. This was mostly on account of the intertwining of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and the Khilafat Movement themselves... The scenario of the Hindu-Muslim consonance went in tune with Mahatma Gandhis idea that freedom from the British Raj could only be achieved if the Hindus and the Muslims both worked together and collectively fought for their freedom. Academic discourse Some of the false discourse has been propagated by historians who doubtless had their own baggage. Thus, Scottish historian Sir Hamilton Gibb (1895-1971) portrays the Khilafat Movement as a reaction to rising Hindu nationalism. He writes, Among all the Muslims in the world, those in India alone insisted on the international aspect of Islam, but in this their motive was a defensive attitude in the face of Hindu nationalism (Whither Islam? A survey of the modern movement in the Moslem world, 1932, Routledge, p 73). Sometimes, the narrative of historians degenerates to the ridiculous. In his book Modern Islam in India: A Social Analysis (Minerva Book Shop, Lahore), Canadian Islamicist historian Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1916-2000) writes, The word Khilafat bore a strange meaning in most of the rural areas. People thought it came from khilaf an Urdu word meaning against or opposed to and so they took it to mean opposed to Government. They were conscious of Islam as usual; but they were hardly conscious of Muhammad and the Sublime Porte (p 234). DG Tendulkar repeats this absurdity in his Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (vol 2, p 47). So does The Centenary History of the Indian National Congress 1885-1995 (Academic Foundation, Delhi, 1985, Vol.2, p 66) published by the All India Congress Committee and released by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. No prizes for guessing that the Volume and General editors of this tome were Ravinder Kumar and BN Pande respectively, both doyens of Nehruvian secularism. As an example of academic sophistry, the Khilafat Movement has been painted as a quest for pan-Indian Islam rather than pan-Islam (See The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, Gail Minault, Columbia University Press, 1982). Another eminent historian Professor Bhojanandan Parsad Singh sought to discover Secular Strands of Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement in Bihar: 1920-22 (Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 63, 2002, pp. 615-621). He alleged that deliberate confusion is being caused by stressing on its religious aspects and undermining its secular character. Officially, even a mention of the movement has been conveniently deleted... He goes on to narrate how Rafiq Zakaria protested against this in his article The Truth about the Khilafat Movement (The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 24 August, 1997). According to the eminent historian, the Khilafat Movement was a logical development of the Gandhian strategy of; hold your breath, secular nationalism. Here are a few more gems, Gandhis Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements stand out to be secular National Movements aiming at free and democratic India where people of different faiths would live together like brothers...Non-violence was an essential condition of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements... Denial of history The Khilafat Movement is also presented as a bolt from the blue, bereft of any theological or historical context. Care is taken to divorce it from its Hinduphobic character. Thus, Gargi Chakravarty writes in Mainstream ( Vol. LVIII No 6, New Delhi, 25 January, 2020), Pan-Islamism, an ideology that sought to consolidate Muslims across the world against western imperialism did not become a living force in India until 1911, when a war broke out between Italy and Turkey. Britain formed a secret alliance with Italy. This led to the alienation of the Indian Muslims from the British. They felt that British imperialism was bent on destroying their Islamic culture. The alarm Islam in danger was imbued with fanatical hatred against Christianity and British colonialists, not directed against the Hindus. Chakravartys article was a paper titled Globalistion and Religious Diversity: Issues, Perspectives and the Relevance of Gandhian Philosophy, presented at an International Winter School, organised by the Ambedkar University, Delhi and Aarhus University, Denmark on 8-14 January 2020. Note that pan-Islamism is sought to be painted as a reaction to Western imperialism. If such be the case of self-proclaimed secularists, can unabashed Islamists be left behind? Shaikh Imran Hosein, a Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago gave up his job in 1985 to devote his life to the mission of Islam. He writes the following about the Khilafat Movement, British colonial rule imposed European political secularism at the point of the sword as the alternative to Islam. Both Hindus and Muslims eventually challenged the new European religion of secularism, and sought to restore and to preserve their own indigenous political culture... The Khilafat Movement threatened to topple the entire system of European political secularism and constitutional democracy that the colonial West was forcing upon the non-White world. And so a British strategy was devised, in collaboration with Mustafa Kamals newly emerging secular Republic of Turkey, to abolish the Turkish Caliphate and, in so doing, to sabotage and to bring about the collapse of the Khilafat Movement with its alarming Hindu-Muslim alliance (The Return of the Khilafat). Note how the Khilafat Movement is presented as a struggle to preserve indigenous culture and combat racial hegemony. From past to present A breed of ideologues masquerading as historians is hopeful that the Khilafat Movement of yore will bring a change in Indias present political dispensation that they have been yearning for. Gyan Prakash who teaches History at Princeton University draws parallels between the Khilafat Movement and the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. He writes, Faced with the RSS-inspired assault on their place in India, the Muslims are stoutly asserting that they are Muslims and Indians, not Muslims but Indians. This calls to mind what Mahatma Gandhi attempted in the Khilafat movement, which used a Muslim grievance to launch a nationalist movement against the British. That too was a conjoining of the Muslim and Indian (Why the protests remind us of Gandhis Khilafat movement, Economic Times, 12 Jan, 2020) Current discourse on the Khilafat Movement may be predictably peddled on the following lines: It was a Movement launched by an aggrieved community against their colonial masters, taking along their non-Muslim brothers under the overarching leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Replace the words colonial masters with Hindu majoritarianism and non-Muslim brothers with those downtrodden by an oppressive Hindu hierarchical system and you have a heady concoction for the present moment. There is an urgent need to dispel the manufactured cotton-candy discourse on the Khilafat Movement. Make no mistake; the Khilafat Movement has relevance because the mindset that set it in motion 100 years ago is still at work. This mindset calls for a religiously sanctioned return of civilization to a seventh-century environment. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Equally true, those who falsify history may not live to repeat it. Its time to call the bluff. This is the first article in an 11-part series on the Khilafat Movement. Read the first part here. Churchill was a fanatical advocate of imperialism, and his own words convict him of racism and anti-Semitism. He supported the pseudo-science of eugenics, musing about the idea of sterilizing the unfit. He professed scorn for womens rights and opposed the Suffragettes who sought the vote for women. What he was interested in throughout his career was personal glory and self-promotion, and the British Empire provided him an ideal platform for that. The revolts and struggles across the Empire were nothing more than, in Candice Millards words, an irresistible opportunity for personal glory and advancement. During his finest hour the Second World War, when he had at last become Prime Minister Churchill declared himself in favour of the terror bombing of civilians. He wrote that he wanted absolutely devastating, exterminating attacks by very heavy bombers. Horrors like the firebombing of Dresden were the result: he ordered the policy though he did not pick the targets. Churchill also recommended using chemical warfare against German civilians. I should be prepared to do anything that would hit the enemy in a murderous place, he declared in a 1944 letter: I may certainly have to ask you to support me in using poison gas. We could drench the cities of the Ruhr and many other cities in Germany let us do it one hundred per cent. Another plan, called Operation Vegetarian, called for feeding German cattle anthrax cakes: this would kill the cattle, depriving Germans of milk and beef, but also kill German civilians eating infected cows. The amorality of either course did not unduly trouble Churchill. Amorality rose to the fore again towards the end of the war, when Churchill approved Operation Keelhaul, forcing the involuntary repatriation of two million people to the USSR, many of whom had never been Soviet citizens. The Russian Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was scathing about this, blaming Churchill for turn[ing] over to the Soviet command the Cossack corps of 90,000 men. Along with them he also handed over many wagonloads of old people, women, and children, he explained in The Gulag Archipelago. In Kenya, Churchill either directed or was complicit in policies involving the forced relocation of local people from the fertile highlands to make way for white colonial settlers and the forcing of over 150,000 men, women and children into concentration camps. Similarly the expulsions of Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania were carried out brutally, resulting in great suffering and causing the death or disappearance of over 2.1 million Germans. Churchill was unfazed, telling the House of Commons on 15 December 1944: Expulsion [of people] is the method which, insofar as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble A clean sweep will be made. I am not alarmed by these transferences, which are more possible in modern conditions. Moral scruples were never a great part of the Churchill persona. It has been suggested that while his son, Randolph, was away at the front, he got his daughter-in-law Pamela to intimately entertain the American envoy, Averell Harriman (whom she was later to marry). Churchill was untroubled by effectively condoning his own sons cuckolding, in the larger interests of developing closer relations with the US. But murder appealed to him far more than sex. In Afghanistan, the bumptious Churchill, whose love of war trumped such dreary matters as colonial economics, declared the Pashtuns needed to recognise the superiority of [the British] race and that all who resist will be killed without quarter. He wrote about how We systematically, village by village, destroyed the houses, filled up the wells, blew down the towers, cut down the great shady trees, burned the crops and broke the reservoirs in punitive devastation. Every tribesman caught was speared or cut down at once. In Kenya, Churchill either directed or was complicit in policies involving the forced relocation of local people from the fertile highlands to make way for white colonial settlers and the forcing of over 150,000 men, women and children into concentration camps. Rape, castration, lit cigarettes on tender spots, and electric shocks were all used by the British authorities to torture Kenyans under Churchills rule. The actor Richard Burton, cast as Churchill in a television drama, courageously wrote for the New York Times: In the course of preparing myself, I realized afresh that I hate Churchill and all of his kind. I hate them virulently. They have stalked down the corridors of endless power all through history. What man of sanity would say on hearing of the atrocities committed by the Japanese against British and Anzac prisoners of war, We shall wipe them out, every one of them, men, women, and children. There shall not be a Japanese left on the face of the earth? Such simple-minded cravings for revenge leave me with a horrified but reluctant awe for such single-minded and merciless ferocity. Burton was vilified for his honesty and banned from the BBC, but he had put a finger on the undeniable reality of Churchill his egregious fondness for slaughter in the name of imperial glory. But the principal victims of Winston Churchill were the Indians a beastly people with a beastly religion, as he charmingly called us. Churchills beatification as an apostle of freedom seems all the more preposterous given his explicit declaration in 1941 that the principles of the Atlantic Charter would not apply to India. The principal victims of Winston Churchill were the Indians a beastly people with a beastly religion, as he charmingly called us. Churchills beatification as an apostle of freedom seems all the more preposterous given his explicit declaration in 1941 that the principles of the Atlantic Charter would not apply to India. Churchills notions of freedom and democracy faltered at the frontiers of empire: he was an appalling racialist, one who could not bring himself to see people of colour as entitled to the same rights as himself. Gandhi-ism and all it stands for, declared Churchill, will, sooner or later, have to be grappled with and finally crushed. He spoke luridly of having the Mahatma tied to the ground and trampled upon by elephants. In such matters Churchill was the most reactionary of Englishmen, with views so extreme they cannot be excused as being reflective of their times: in fact Churchills statements appalled most of his contemporaries. His own Secretary of State for War, Leopold Amery, confessed that he could see very little difference between Churchills attitude and Hitlers. Churchills wartime philosophy was simple: he would exterminate the Japanese, bomb the Germans into the ground, and starve the Indians to death. Thanks to Churchills personal decisions, some four million Bengalis died of hunger in a 1943 famine. Churchill deliberately ordered the diversion of food from starving Indian civilians to well-supplied British soldiers and even to top up European stockpiles in Greece and elsewhere. The starvation of anyway underfed Bengalis is less serious than that of sturdy Greeks, he argued. Grain for the Tommies, bread for home consumption in Britain (27 million tons of imported grains, a wildly excessive target), and generous buffer stocks in Europe (for yet-to-be-liberated Greeks and Yugoslavs) were Churchills priorities, not the life or death of his Indian subjects. When reminded of the suffering of his victims his response was typically Churchillian: the famine was the Indians own fault, he said, for breeding like rabbits. As Madhusree Mukerjees richly-documented account of the Bengal Famine, Churchills Secret War, demonstrates, Indias own surplus foodgrains were exported to Ceylon; Australian wheat was sent sailing past the Indian port of Calcutta (where the bodies of those who had died of starvation littered the streets) to storage depots in the Mediterranean and the Balkans to create stockpiles that could ease the pressure on post-war Britain, and offers of American and Canadian food aid were turned down. The colony was not permitted to spend its own sterling reserves, or indeed use its own ships, to import food. Even the laws of supply and demand couldnt help: in order to ensure supplies for its troops elsewhere, the British government paid inflated prices for grain in the Indian open market, thereby making it unaffordable for ordinary Indians. When officers of conscience pointed out in a telegram to the Prime Minister the scale of the tragedy caused by his decisions, Churchills only reaction was peevishly to ask the Viceroy, Lord Wavell: why hasnt Gandhi died yet? In extenuation, Churchill apologists say the deaths were the consequence of difficult wartime decisions, not, as with Hitler or Stalin, a deliberate desire to kill. Adam Jones, editor of the Journal of Genocide Research, begs to disagree. He has called Churchill a genuine genocidaire, who saw Indians as a foul race and urged the British air force chief to send some of his surplus bombers to destroy them. This years Black Lives Matter protests have witnessed renewed attempts to question the hagiology of this odious man and to remind people of his crimes. To the Iraqis whom Churchill gassed, the Greek protestors on the streets of Athens who were moved down on Churchills orders in 1944 (killing 28 and maiming 120), sundry Pashtuns and Irish, or the brave ANZACS who died unnecessary deaths in Gallipoli because of Churchills folly, to Afghans and Kenyans and Welsh miners as well as to Indians like myself, it will always be a mystery why a few bombastic speeches have been enough to wash the bloodstains off Winston Churchills racist hands. The rest of us will remember him as a war criminal and an enemy of decency and humanity, a blinkered imperialist untroubled by the oppression of non-white peoples, a man who fought to deny us freedom. When his statue in Parliament Square was desecrated in the anti-racism protests in England last month, it was not the first time. At the May Day protests in 2000, protestors spray-painted red blood around Churchills mouth, and gave him a mohawk haircut, transforming the iconic war hero into the comic-book super-villain, the Joker. It was an updated contemporary reimagining of all the evil this man represented around the world. Today, twenty years later, it is way past time to rethink the legacy of this repellent figure. The article first appeared in ORF. Some parts of this article have appeared in previous columns by Dr. Shashi Tharoor in Hero or War Criminal? Churchill in Retrospect, Open Magazine, 21 Jun 2018; The Rest of Us Always Knew Churchill Was a Villain, Bloomberg, Feb 16, 2019; and Hollywood Rewards a Mass Murderer, Gulf News , Mar 14, 2018. The Congress on Monday accused the BJP of resorting to "cheap distractions and stunts" to "manage headlines" during the India-China border crisis, after the ruling party attacked Rahul Gandhi for not attending meetings of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. The opposition party also said that had the BJP government spent its energy in fighting China and supporting the armed forces, it would not have to "lie" and "mislead" the country on Chinese transgressions at the border. The Congress' counter came after BJP chief J P Nadda took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi who has been firing salvos at the Modi government daily over the border stand-off. Nadda had said that Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence but continues to demoralise the nation and question the valour of armed forces. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit back at Nadda, saying his "insidious comments" are making him look like a "poorer version of malicious BJP spokespersons". "Had the BJP and the Modi Government spent its energy in fighting China and supporting our Armed Forces, you wouldn't need to lie on Chinese transgressions to mislead the nation," he said on Twitter. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the government has not called any meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence for the last over three months at a time when there has been tension at the border in Ladakh. He claimed that the BJP is "rattled" because its "flimsy" and "individual-centric" foreign policy has failed and is resorting to "cheap diversionary tactics". "Why resort to such cheap distractions. China is making incursions into Indian territory at 6-7 points in Ladakh and the prime minister is giving a clean chit to China, saying 'there has been no incursion and no one has occupied our land or post'," he said. Accusing the BJP of resorting to headline management, the Congress leader said it does not work beyond a point. "These are cheap stunts to manage headlines. Instead of responding to questions asked by Rahul Gandhi, whether on coronavirus, foreign policy, economy or the border standoff, you (the BJP) respond by attacking the one who has asked the question," he said. Asking the BJP government to target China and not Gandhi, Khera said, "China will not go back by attacking Rahul Gandhi, so attack China instead". Khera said the government should respond responsibly and answer questions posed to it. "Your foreign policy has become a victim of event management. Governments do not run on headlines management. How long can you continue doing this?"he asked. He alleged that the government has the habit of attacking the one asking hard questions, be it on the economy, the spread of virus, migrant labourers, foreign policy or the border issue. "How long will you succeed in distractions," he asked. Surjewala also posed several queries to the BJP chief. "Is cutting Rs 11,000 CR of 'Dearness Pay' of 15 Lakh Members of our Armed Forces & 26 Lakh Military Pensioners (from 1/1/2020 to 30/6/2021) Modi Govt's way of encouragement or a Machiavellian hit job?" he tweeted "Did the Estimates Committee of Parliament headed by ex BJP president, Sh. M.M.Joshi submit a report citing that defence expenditure was 'lowest since 1962'-lowest in 56 yrs? Is this Modi Government's way of enhancing the morale of our armed Forces?" He asked if the Modi Government has listened to Standing Committee on Defence headed by Gen BC Khanduri which held that "68 per cent of our 'equipment is vintage' & there are insufficient resources for 'construction of strategic roads on China Border". Surjewala also asked whether the panel held that despite PMO's intervention having been sought on allocation of adequate defence budget, "the PMO chose not to act". "Is this the PM's concern for defence preparedness," he asked. He also asked why the Modi Government shelved the creation of 90,000-strong 'Mountain Strike Corps' to be carved out as a countermeasure to Chinese build up on our borders. "Why did you deny our armed forces this strategic fire power to take on the Chinese forces," he asked. Alleging that China committed 2,264 transgressions on Indian territory since 2015 under the Modi Government, he asked, "Why did the BJP Government not act upon this premeditated Chinese design". Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Nadda had said he "belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees don't matter, only commissions do" "It was my constitutional obligation...bhul bujhben na (don't misunderstand me)," said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, with folded hands, on January 11, 2020. This transformation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, from a firebrand leader to a polite politician, surprised the protesters who asked what forced her to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kolkata's Raj Bhawan despite being one his strongest critics. That day, after meeting PM Modi, Mamata went to Esplanade to attend a public event against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) where she came across a group of Left agitators who accused her of having a secret political understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Please dont get me wrong...it was my constitutional obligation to meet him, she said with folded hands amid slogans of "Go back Didi, go back Modi". Many in the TMC and even some in the opposition camps felt that it was her masterstroke. They said if it would have been the "old angry Didi", then they would have been chased away by the police and that would have been seen as a "strategic blunder" by Mamata. A few days later, she quietly implemented a system-driven assessment plan in the Trinamool Congress to identify non-performing assets, corrupt party leaders, and assess leaders in real time. The TMC also introduced barcoded invitation cards for party leaders, workers, cadres which will work as access cards to attend party meetings and events, especially those which will be addressed/chaired by the party chief herself. The barcoded invitation card was a well-thought move to figure out the number of absentees in a party meet. Invitation cards powered with barcodes were used for the first time at Mamatas mega party meet on municipal polls at Netaji Indoor Stadium on March 2, 2020. While Mamata was silently working on system-driven assessment, her office was already flooded with a number of grievance messages. This was courtesy the Didi Ke Bolo platform (where people can directly take their grievances to the chief ministers office through toll-free numbers) launched by her on July 29, 2019. She publicly warned party leaders to stay away from any malpractices and even asked them to leave the party if they didnt want to serve the people. There is no place for such leaders who are involved in malpractice, she said. Hundreds of party workers, leaders, panchayat pradhans were asked to return cut money, ration dealers were arrested/show-caused for their involvement in rampant corruption. Surprisingly, in the last three months more than 350 party cadres, including 200 from East Midnapores Nandigram were issued show-cause notices, mainly over malpractices during Cyclone Amphan. They were asked to return public money within a few days or the party would lodge police complaints against them. Senior MP and TMC East Midnapore district president Sisir Adhikari said, Some people are actively involved in corruption out of greed. A section of them have started returning peoples welfare money. The party has taken strong action against them. Commenting on allegations of malpractices across the state by some party leaders, TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, Not only in Nandigram, this process is going on across the state. Only show-cause and expulsions will not solve the problem, we are also planning to take punitive measures against them as per law. In the last seven months, there are telltale signs of things changing in the "new TMC" with a definite plan and script considering the crucial upcoming 2021 assembly polls in the state. With no slips of tongue and strikingly missing key leaders (at least in the front rows) when Mamata participated in anti-NRC, CAA rallies with common people instead across Kolkata in recent months before the Covid-19 crisis it drew the attention of political experts. TMC has taken many image makeover initiatives considering the upcoming state polls. Even the state CM has also changed her tone while responding to opposition leaders and the central ministers. It is clear that she (Mamata) has realised that people are angry at the ground level over corruption and cut money issues. Therefore, in recent months hundreds of party cadres were sidelined and were punished. This is a simple image makeover and I think these initiatives are the brainchild of Prashant Kishor, author and political expert Kapil Thakur said. It was learnt that the party MLAs, local leaders, booth presidents and district presidents were asked to submit reports on days they spent in their respective constituencies and what welfare work they have done for the people. They were also told by Mamata to perform or perish as there is no dearth of youngsters and newcomers who are eager to work for the TMC. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, Why is the ruling party reluctant to lodge FIRs against the corrupt TMC leaders? If they know the culprits, why are they delaying in taking serious action against them? CPI(M) legislator Sujan Chakraborty demanded that the name of the accused TMC leaders/workers should be made public for better transparency. It is not hidden to anyone that May 23, 2019 results of the parliamentary polls had proved Mamata's worst fears true. The made massive gains in West Bengal, winning 18 of the states 42 Lok Sabha seats, up from just two in 2014. While the TMC was on the back foot, Mamata worked hard to cleanse the party to get it on track, especially in the backwoods to sweep the 2021 Assembly Polls with full majority. Among many instructions, Mamata asked party leaders/workers/cadres to visibly change their lifestyle, which includes shunning luxury cars, giving contractual jobs to relatives, expensive gadgets, no to violence and hobnobbing with the district administration. Ever since Mamata roped in Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist has given a complete makeover to the TMC supremo. This is a much-needed reform for Trinamool considering the rise of the BJP, and now even the Left Front is working hard on the ground to increase its vote share, said Kapil Thakur. In the 2016 assembly polls, the BJPs vote share was 10.2 per cent and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections it went up to 40.3 per cent. There was an increase of 30.1 percentage point in vote share mainly because of Hindus gravitating towards the BJP. In the last three years, the BJP has managed to cultivate religion-driven politics in Bengal and it was evident with its significant rise in Bengal in terms of its vote share. An analysis from the 2011 and 2016 assembly polls says the Left Front lost its vote share by 9.88 per cent and from 2014 to 2019 Lok Sabha elections its vote share further plummeted to nearly 16 per cent. However, the Congress vote share from 2011 to 2016 assembly polls increased from 8.91 per cent to 12.3 per cent, but it fell drastically in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls (9.6 %) while in 2019 general elections the party managed to secure only 5 per cent votes. It was further noted that these votes (most of them) which were once with the Left Front and Congress went to the BJP as there was no decline in the TMCs vote share. In the 2011 assembly polls, the TMCs vote share was 39 per cent which then increased to 39.56 per cent. Similarly, in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, TMCs vote share was 39.03 per cent which then increased to 43.3 per cent. As per statistics, the only factor which went in favour of the BJP is the Left and the Congress vote. So, considering the present political situation (though its a bit too early), the rise of the Left in Bengal means trouble for BJP, Thakur said. With a series of reforms in the party, the TMC supremo has decided to sound the poll bugle through her virtual address to the people on Shahid Diwas (Martyrs Day) on July 21. On July 3, she already had a virtual meeting with party leaders and sent a strong message that there is no place for non-performers in the party and those who are working must win their assembly seats. The Shiv Sena on Monday said the Kanpur encounter in which eight policemen were killed has exposed the encounter specialist Uttar Pradesh government and raised questions over claims of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about ending goondaism in the state. Noting Uttar Pradesh is often called as 'Uttam Pradesh', an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the 'Uttam Pradesh' now stands soaked in the blood of policemen, which is a shock for the country. Eight police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were gunned down last week at a village near Kanpur by the henchmen of gangster Vikas Dubey. An accomplice of prime accused Dubey has been arrested, while the gangster is still at large. The Shiv Sena said there are reports of Dubey fleeing to Nepal after the incident. India is not enjoying good relations with Nepal at present, the Marathi publication said, hoping Dubey does not turn out to be Dawood in Nepal for India. It was apparently referring to reports of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim residing in Pakistan after fleeing India. "The Kanpur police killings have exposed the encounter specialist government in Uttar Pradesh," the Shiv Sena said. "The Kanpur episode revives the memories of killings of policemen by a gang in Uttar Pradesh's Nathuapur four decades ago, it said, wondering what has changed in Adityanath's regime if security personnel are getting killed even after 40 years (of that incident)." "Uttar Pradesh has faced ignominy for decades due to the gangs of goons there and their crimes. Claims have been made several times that goondaism has ended during the regime of present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But the Kanpur police killings have raised a big question mark on these claims," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. During the three-year tenure of the Adityanath government in the state, more than 113 goons have been encountered, it said, asking how come Dubey's name was left out of it. The Sena said there are more than 60 offences against the gangster, including that of murder and robbery, and wondered how come he got saved for want of evidence. What explanation the Yogi government has if someone alleges that the list of goons to be encountered is prepared as per the convenience of the Uttar Pradesh police and government? the Marathi daily asked. After the Kanpur encounter, the Uttar Pradesh administration razed Dubey's residence, contending it was illegal. Referring to it, the Sena asked, But what about the homes of the martyred policemen? Will the parents (of slain cops) get their sons back and children their fathers back? It was unfortunate that the Uttar Pradesh administration got the "secret knowledge" of Dubey's residence being illegal only after the killings of the eight policemen, it said. The Shiv Sena, without specifying details, said goondaism in Uttar Pradesh has its effects on the national capital Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai and hence, the Kanpur killings is a serious matter. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday mounted an attack on the Centre over the increasing number of coronavirus cases, saying that the government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis would figure in the future case studies of Harvard Business School. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader also tweeted a clip which included segments from the PM's addresses to the nation on the Covid-19 pandemic, including his comments that the Mahabharata war was won in 18 days and the war against coronavirus would take 21 days. Besides this, the clip had a graph depicting the rising coronavirus cases, making India the third worst-affected country in terms of the case count. "Future HBS case studies on failure: 1. Covid19. 2. Demonetisation.3. GST implementation," Gandhi tweeted along with the clip. Future HBS case studies on failure:1. Covid19.2. Demonetisation.3. GST implementation. pic.twitter.com/fkzJ3BlLH4 Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 6, 2020 Notably, Gandhi's attack on the Centre came a day after India surpassed Russia to become the third worst-hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic. Just the US and Brazil are ahead of India in terms of the number of cases. BJP national president JP Nadda, in his scathing reply to Gandhi, said that the Congress leader had not attended a "single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence" and was doing everything that a "responsible opposition leader should not do." "Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do," Nadda wrote on twitter. Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do. Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 6, 2020 Further hitting out at the Congress party, Nadda said: "Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees dont matter, only commissions do. Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad." On Sunday, Gandhi had also said that the government was "wasting" the lockdown by not ramping up health infrastructure and procuring "substandard" ventilators that are vital for critical COVID-19 patients. Gandhi had also alleged "opacity" in the PM Cares Fund is putting lives of Indians at risk. Using the hashtag "BJPfailsCoronaFight", Gandhi tweeted, "PMCares opacity is: 1. Putting Indian lives at risk. 2. Ensuring public money is used to buy sub-standard products." (With inputs from PTI) Competition is tough in the wireless earbuds space. It is not just the wider range of alternatives that users now have at almost every price point, but also the fact that newer earbuds are offering real upgrades in terms of the experience. Jabra has an interesting strategy. They have the Jabra Elite 75t and the Jabra Elite Active 75t, both priced quite close to each other and vying for the same user demographic in a way. But then again, it is fighting the likes of the Apple AirPods at this point. The Jabra Elite Active 75t is currently retailing for around Rs 15,999 on Amazon.in which makes this a tad more expensive than the Jabra Elite 75t which is selling for around Rs 14,999. This also means that the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ (around Rs 11,999) are keeping an eye on how these battles are panning out. But before you say that there is no difference between the Jabra Elite Active 75t and the Jabra Elite 75t so to say, hang on and take a look at the critical differenceadditional ruggedness for your fitness routine. And that is the target demographic within the larger demographic, which Jabra wants to cater to. The Jabra Elite Active 75t is currently retailing for around Rs 15,999 on Amazon.in which makes this a tad more expensive than the Jabra Elite 75t which is selling for around Rs 14,999 Design: The Blue Looks Good This is where the biggest difference is. The Jabra Elite Active 75t, while retaining the same size and design as the Jabra Elite 75t, now gets the IP57 water and dust resistance rating. This means these wireless earbuds are now sweat resistant as well as better insulated in case of a dip in water. That makes these more versatile for gym use as well as outdoors, irrespective of weather. The Elite 75t have the IP55 rating, which makes them water and dust resistant and while they could have very well survived the gym sessions with you, the Active variant just has that added insurance of protection. In fact, each silicon EarGel tip gets the special dry film soft touch grip coating which lets it stay put even if you are sweating. Apart from that, the Jabra Elite Active 75t retain the very good looks of its sibling. That means they are one of the best-looking wireless earbuds you can find. The Navy Blue colour adds a unique charm to the personality too. You have the option of the Copper colour too. The compact charging case remains a highlight and the buds themselves are quite light to wear, each weighing 5.5 grams. The only shortcoming, and that too is subjective, is that the case doesnt offer the wireless charging optionthough a wireless charging case, Jabra says, is coming soon. At this price, one would perhaps have expected that. Nevertheless, it isnt a deal breaker, simply because the rest of the experience is absolutely fantastic. The Jabra Elite Active 75t is very versatile as far as the sound signature is concerned. In each ear are 7mm audio drivers, which though not the largest, are still tuned very well Sound: Versatility And Personalization The Jabra Elite Active 75t is very versatile as far as the sound signature is concerned. In each ear are 7mm audio drivers, which though not the largest, are still tuned very well. I was surprised with how good the Elite 65t were a couple of years ago, and then the brilliance of the Elite 75t which has always remained at the very top of my earbuds recommendations list for anyone who has a budget around the Rs 15,000 price point. The sound of the Jabra Elite Active 75t is vibrant and yet is very flexible whether you are listening to something with vocals or bass. If your playlists are filled to the brim with peppy music, this is the sort of sound signature that you will love. If I may say so, this is very close to the Sennheiser neutrality that I have often praised. At the same time, if your music library is more about bass heavy music, then slightly tweak the EQ in the Sound+ app and you are set for that too. For voice, such as podcasts, leave it at the out-of-the-box setting and clarity is fantastic. You dont have to wait too long to notice the Jabra Elite Active 75ts ability to reproduce the finer details which a lot of other buds miss out oneither because they just cant, or these get drowned out because the ambient noise isolation isnt as good. The consistency of connectivity is good, and I did not notice any dropouts at alleither with any individual bud behaving eccentrically or the pair dropping connectivity. And to be able to reproduce that across the boardiOS, Android, iPadOS and macOS just lends credence to the fact that Jabra has thought this through. What I do miss is any sort of noise cancellation, which a lot of its rivals have. Still, Jabra has integrated into each earbud something called the pressure release vent. When you choose how much HearThrough of the ambient world you want, this vent allows for the nearby sounds to stream in. There is the new MySound profile which you can configure too. Basically, it runs you through a series of tests in which you have to hear for sounds at different frequencies and volume levels and respond in affirmative when you hear a sound Battery: Charge It And Rest Easy These will last you a long time on a single charge. The Jabra Elite Active 75t, with most of my listening at just less than 50% volume on the earbuds, last me close to 8 hours. That, in the world of wireless earbuds, is fantastic. Top up using the charging case, and it works out to a brilliant 28 hours in total before you need to reach for the charger. It is more than what the AirPods offer, with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ giving it competition. Have You Also Read? Sony WF-XB700 Review: Powerful Earbuds That Aren't As Expensive As You May Have Imagined Samsung Galaxy Buds+ Review: Android And iPhone Users Can Love These Brilliant Earbuds, Equally Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 Review: The Premium Wireless Earbuds That You Must Have The App: A Worthy Companion The Jabra Sound+ app for Android and the Apple iPhones is a companion app that really adds to the entire experience. You can tweak sound modes, enable or disable Hear Through, choose from music presets including Bass Boost, Smooth, Energize, Speech and Treble Boost. You can also alter the sound equalizer for when you are on a call, check for firmware updates and set the voice assistant. Most earbuds dont always get a companion app as capable as this, which does leave a bit of a gap in the experience. There is the new MySound profile which you can configure too. Basically, it runs you through a series of tests in which you have to hear for sounds at different frequencies and volume levels and respond in affirmative when you hear a sound. This allows the sound for your Jabra Elite Active 75t to be best set for your ears and listening style. All in all, the Jabra Elite Active 75ts companion app does add a lot to the experience. Sennheiser and Samsung do come close with their respective apps for the Momentum True Wireless 2 and the Galaxy Buds+ respectively, but most other brands still have a long way to come to match with Jabras efforts. The Last Word: You Arent Missing Much A very cool and sophisticated design, rugged enough to be your companion at the gym, versatile sound signature, great battery life and an app that really lets you tweak the sound as you would like itthat is the Jabra Elite Active 75t in a nutshell. Really, what more could you want? Microsoft is now rolling out the Edge web browser as part of the recent Windows 10 updates, for all PCs. That had always been a part of the plan, and it is finally happening with the recent updates for Windows 10 PCs. If you dont already have the new Microsoft Edge web browser installed on your Windows 10 PC, it will now arrive as a part of the Windows 10 updates. The new Chromium based web browser replaces the legacy Edge and is Microsofts attempt to challenge the supremacy of Google Chrome in the web browser space. Pushing Edge to millions of Windows 10 computing devices gives it a solid start as far as a spike in the installed base goes. But it turns out, a lot of users arent impressed with what they are seeing on their Windows 10 PCs. Users are reporting on various platforms that when their PCs and laptops are restarting after installing a Windows 10 update, they are welcomed by a full-screen splash page that welcomes them to the world of the new Microsoft Edge web browser. There is no way to bypass this. You have to set it up before you can proceed, whether you want to at that time or not. You can optionally also sign in with your Microsoft ID and import data from another web browser, such as Google Chrome, to the new Edge and get it working right away. Microsoft on its part has laid this out in the Windows 10 update release details. The new Microsoft Edge will be pinned to the taskbar. If the current version of Microsoft Edge is already pinned, it will be replaced, The new Microsoft Edge will add a shortcut to the desktop and The First Run Experience (FRE) will auto-launch the first time that a device restarts after the new Microsoft Edge is installed are clearly mentioned If you choose not to, then the next time you open web link, you will be asked whether you want to set the new Edge as the default web browser for all future web link interactions, or continue with your current choice, which could be Chrome or Mozillas Firefox, for instance. This in a way overrides any existing preferences that you may have selected and set for web browsers on that computing device, prior to the Windows 10 update. Users are also not liking how Microsoft chose to pin the Edge browser icon in the Windows 10 Taskbar, on its own. Most likely it is to get your attention, but it does spoil a well laid out taskbar for many users. That is not all. There will also be an Edge icon on your desktop. Also, the Edge web browser, once updated via the latest batch of Windows 10 updates, cannot be uninstalled. It is now an integral part of Windows 10, as the legacy Edge browser was all these years. The new Edge web browser is rolling out for Windows 10 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, and 2004 versions. The thing is, we knew all along that Microsoft will roll this out with Windows 10 updates, perhaps with the May and June updates. And that is what has happened. But perhaps, a bit more transparency before the updates were downloaded could have helped prepare users for the new web browser, rather than the seemingly un-skippable fill screen splash welcoming you to the new browser. Users do not like surprises when it comes to their data, and at this point in restarting a Windows 10 machine after an update, they are clearly not very sure how good or bad Edge really is. A Windows 10 update forces a full screen @MicrosoftEdge window, which cannot be closed from the taskbar, or CTRL W, or even ALT F4. You must press "get started," then the X, and even then it pops up a welcome screen. And pins itself to the taskbar. pic.twitter.com/mEhEbqpIc7 Taran Quarantino (@TaranVH) July 2, 2020 Microsoft could argue that the Chromium based Edge is better in terms of performance, security and support, and it is the companys duty to keep a users PC experience up to date. However, at the same time, surprises arent welcome. And whats with the forced icons on the Taskbar and the Desktop? Most users, whatever the pedantic justifications about such a move, will find this intrusive, invasive and downright spooky. Microsoft on its part has laid this out in the Windows 10 update release details. The new Microsoft Edge will be pinned to the taskbar. If the current version of Microsoft Edge is already pinned, it will be replaced, The new Microsoft Edge will add a shortcut to the desktop and The First Run Experience (FRE) will auto-launch the first time that a device restarts after the new Microsoft Edge is installed are clearly mentioned. But the thing is, in an environment such as Windows 10 which is often referred to as a constantly updating software, changelogs and release logs dont really figure in the scheme of things for most usersit is always a reactive glance at what is listed, if at all. Trust us when we say thisMicrosoft Edge, ever since the Chromium adoption, is very good. In fact, it effectively replaces Google Chrome, because everything just transfers seamlessly from Chrome to Edge. Including most extensions. And it is significantly better in terms of resource handling and battery consumption, translating into a better user experience for sure. However, if you are going to spring surprises on users, chances are, theyll be turned off even before they have had a chance to try it out. And that will not help in the long run. Apple has removed at least 4,500 games from China's App Store under the pressure from the Chinese government to comply with its Internet policies. More than 3,000 games were removed from Apple's China App Store in just two days last week, which is one of the biggest game purges on Apple's App Store ever, reports TechNode. New regulations require game developers to gain approval from the Chinese regulators before uploading their apps in China's Apple App store. "We are seeing unprecedented numbers of games dropping off the Apple App Store China daily since Apple implemented this new policy on July 1. "Sadly, because China only approves about 1,500 game licenses a year, and the process itself takes six to 12 months, most of these apps will be waiting a long time before they are allowed back on the store," Todd Kuhns, marketing manager at AppInChina, was quoted as saying. Specifically, 1,571 apps were removed on July 1, 1,805 on July 2, and 1,276 on July 3. It is estimated that over 20,000 apps could be affected in total owing to new China restrictions. China is Apple's biggest App Store market, with sales of $16.4 billion a year, according to data from Sensor Tower. In the US, the figures are $15.4 billion a year. Apple currently hosts roughly 60,000 games in China that are paid for or have in-app purchases. According to market research firm Newzoo, iOS may generate 53 per cent of total mobile game revenue in China which is around $13 billion. The App Store generates more revenue in China than it does in any other country, with the majority of it coming from gaming. A tell-all book by President Donald Trump's niece that has been the subject of a legal battle will be released next week. Publisher Simon & Schuster cited high interest and extraordinary interest in the book by Mary Trump titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man. The book was originally set for release on July 28, but will now arrive on July 14. The revised date, announced Monday, came after a New York appellate court cleared the way for the book's publication following a legal challenge by Trump's brother. The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the release date change. Robert Trump had sued Mary Trump to block publication of a book promoted to contain an insiders perspective of countless holiday meals, family interactions and family events. A judge last week left in place a restraint that blocked Mary Trump and any agent of hers from distributing the book, but the court made clear it was not considering Simon & Schuster to be covered by the ruling. The publisher has said that 75,000 first-run editions had already been sent to bookstores. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr, the presidents elder brother, who died in 1981. She has a doctorate in psychology. Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick, a release about the book said. The book is expected to include a number of allegations about President Trump, including how his upbringing led to his worldview and the derision he showed his father after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The book's back cover opens with a biting critique of the president: Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information." Upset by Chinas claims over the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhutans foreign ministry has issued a demarche to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, saying the sanctuary was an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan. Both China and Bhutan dont have embassies in each others countries and conduct their diplomatic communication through their missions in Delhi. The western and middle sectors of Bhutan have been in dispute with China but the eastern sector has not been part of the boundary talks, India Today reported. China too had not claimed rights over Sakteng wildlife sanctuary located in the easternmost part of Bhutan over an area of 650 sq km-- earlier, until now. Trouble started when China, at the 58th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council, attempted to oppose funding to a project for the sanctuary and called it disputed territory. In light of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in the project ID 10561 is located in the China-Bhutan disputed areas which is on the agenda of China-Bhutan boundary talk, China opposes and does not join the Council decision on this project," it said. This angered Bhutan, which noted that the sanctuary was an integral and sovereign territory. The Council Member for the Constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka requested that the views of Bhutan be reflected as follows: Bhutan totally rejects the claim made by the Council Member of China. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan and at no point during the boundary discussions between Bhutan and China has it featured as a disputed area." China, however, refused to back down and the foreign ministry said there had been disputes over the eastern, central and western sections for a long time. It added that a third party should not point fingers in the China-Bhutan border issue, in an apparent reference to India. Ties between India and China have been strained since the Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and casualties were also reported on the other side. A Chinese company on Monday signed a $ 1.5 billion agreement with Pakistan to set up a hydropower project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the ambitious CPEC project. Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing of the agreement with China Gezhouba for "Azad Pattan Hydropower Project" at a ceremony here. The project is located in Sadhanoti district of PoK on Jhelum river and is expected to be completed in 2026. The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Originally valued at $ 46 billion, the CPEC projects were worth $ 62 billion as of 2017. India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through PoK. The Ministry of External Affairs early this year said that Pakistan was told that entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India and that Islamabad should immediately vacate the areas under its illegal occupation. "A part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with an investment of $ 1.5 Billion, 700.7 MW Azad Pattan will involve no fuel import, thus enabling the country to move towards cheaper & greener power while generating local job opportunities," according to an official statement issued by the Pakistan government. Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Khan said that the project was an investment and would not be a burden on the country. "We have learned a lot from the development of China, and the CPEC project will take Pakistan to the very top," he said. Khan said no attention was paid to cheap electricity in the past and the country paid a heavy price. The project is expected to create 3,000 jobs. A Chinese official last month admitted that the majority of the projects under the BRI are either adversely or partially affected by the coronavirus pandemic. About a fifth of the projects under the BRI, which aims to boost trade and investment across Asia, Africa and Europe to further China''s global influence, had been "seriously affected" by the pandemic, according to Wang Xiaolong, director-general of the foreign ministry''s international economic affairs department. About 40 per cent of the projects were "adversely affected", and a further 30-40 per cent were "somewhat affected" Wang said. The projects which were disrupted included the CPEC. Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have said that it is important that the wrongs of the past are acknowledged, in their role for one of Queen Elizabeth II's Commonwealth organisations. Dialling in from their Los Angeles home last week into the Queen's Commonwealth Trust (QCT) weekly video call, which focused on responding to the Black Lives Matter movement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the only way to move forward is to address past issues. "There is no turning back now, everything is coming to a head," said Prince Harry, who is the President of the QCT. "When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past. So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do. It's not going to be easy and in some cases it's not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits," he said. Markle, as the vice-president of QCT, added that there would need to be some discomfort before the world can come through the other side on issues of human rights. During the call on July 1, she said: "We're going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because it's only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships. "Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing - which is a fundamental human right." Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, have kept their roles with the QCT after stepping down as senior working royals earlier this year. However, Harry did step down from his position as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. A doctor arrested after writing an article about Egypts fragile health system. A pharmacist picked up from work after posting online about a shortage of protective gear. An editor taken from his home after questioning official coronavirus figures. A pregnant doctor arrested after a colleague used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case. As Egyptian authorities fight the swelling coronavirus outbreak, security agencies have tried to stifle criticism about the handling of the health crisis by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. At least 10 doctors and six journalists have been arrested since the virus first hit Egypt in February, according to rights groups. Other health workers say they have been warned by administrators to keep quiet or face punishment. One foreign correspondent has fled the country, fearing arrest, and another two have been summoned for reprimand over professional violations. Coronavirus infections are surging in the country of 100 million, threatening to overwhelm hospitals. As of Monday, the Health Ministry had recorded 76,253 infections, including 3,343 deaths the highest death toll in the Arab world. Every day I go to work, I sacrifice myself and my whole family, said a front-line doctor in greater Cairo, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, like all doctors interviewed for this story. Then they arrest my colleagues to send us a message. I see no light on the horizon. In 2013, el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the militarys removal of Egypts first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, after his brief rule sparked nationwide protests. In years since, el-Sissi has stamped out dissent, jailing Islamist political opponents, secular activists, journalists, even belly dancers. Now the clampdown has extended to doctors who speak publicly about missing protective gear or question the official infection count. A government press officer did not respond to requests for comment on the arrests of doctors and journalists but did send The Associated Press a document entitled Realities defeating evil falsehoods, which details what it says are el-Sissis successes in improving the economy and fighting terrorism. El-Sissi has said the viruss trajectory was reassuring and described critics as enemies of the state. In recent weeks, authorities have marshaled medical supplies to prepare for more patients. The military has set up field hospitals and isolation centers with 4,000 beds and delivered masks to citizens, free of charge, at metro stops, squares and other public places. The government has scaled up testing within all general hospitals and ordered private companies to churn out face masks and gear for front-line health workers. El-Sissi has ordered bonuses for medical workers equivalent to $44-$76 a month. But health personnel are sounding alarm on social media. Doctors say shortages have forced them to purchase surgical masks with their meager salaries. Families plead for intensive care beds. Dentists and pharmacists complain of being forced to handle suspected virus patients with little training. The pandemic has pushed the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, a non-political group of professionals, into a striking new role as the countrys sole advocate for doctors rights. Last month, the union released a letter to the public prosecutor demanding the release of five doctors detained for expressing their views about the government virus response. More syndicate members have been arrested than reported, said one board member, but families have kept quiet. Doctors low morale sank further last week, following the arrest of board member and treasurer Mohamed el-Fawal, who demanded on Facebook that the prime minister apologize for comments that appeared to blame health workers for a spike in coronavirus deaths. In a televised briefing, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly criticized doctors negligence and mismanagement for endangering citizens health. Incensed doctors hit back, saying theyre untrained, underpaid and under-resourced, struggling to save patients at crowded clinics. So far at least 117 doctors, 39 nurses and 32 pharmacists have died from COVID-19, according to syndicate members counts, and thousands have fallen ill. After Madboulys comments, the union scheduled a press conference in late June to raise awareness about doctors sacrifices and discuss staff and supply shortages. But before anyone could speak out, security forces surrounded the syndicate and sent members home, according to former leader Mona Mina. A communications officer who promoted the event was detained and interrogated by security agents for hours, said a board member, before being released. In its latest statement, the syndicate said the accelerating detentions have caused widespread anxiety among health workers. These doctors have no history of activism, they were arrested because they offered criticism of their very specific professional circumstances, said Amr Magdi of Human Rights Watch, which has confirmed the arrests of eight doctors and two pharmacists. Two have been released, he said, while the rest remain in pretrial detention. Last week, Dr. Ahmed Safwat, an intensive care doctor in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City and syndicate board member, disappeared, according to social media posts from fellow doctors. Because he had experienced virus symptoms, many assumed he was self-isolating at home until his family filed a complaint to the syndicate, saying they hadnt heard from him in days. A lawyer representing several detained doctors confirmed that he had been taken by state security and accused of terrorism activities. His last Facebook post also criticized the prime ministers comments, adding, The government says that everything is fine and under control, but you enter hospitals and find the opposite. In another case, security agents burst into the home of Hany Bakr, an ophthalmologist north of Cairo, according to his lawyer and Amnesty International, over his Facebook post that criticized the government for sending coronavirus aid to Italy and China while its own doctors were desperately short of protective equipment. He remains in detention on terrorism charges, his lawyer added. In March, public prosecutors accused 26-year-old Alaa Shaaban Hamida of joining a terrorist group and misusing social media after she allowed a colleague to call the Health Ministrys coronavirus hotline from her phone instead of first reporting the case to her managers, according to Amnesty International. Three months pregnant, she remains in pretrial detention. Doctors in three different provinces say their administrators have threatened to report them to the National Security Agency if they expressed frustration over working conditions, walked off the job or called in sick. In one of several voice recordings obtained by The Associated Press, a health deputy in the Nile Delta province of Beheira can be heard telling workers, Even if a doctor is dying, he must keep working or be subjected to the most severe punishment. In another message sent to staff, a hospital director in the same province describes those who fail to show up to work as traitors," adding, this will be treated as a national security matter ... and you know how that goes in Egypt. A doctor in Cairo shared WhatsApp messages with the AP from his manager, alerting staff that their attendance sheets were monitored by state security. He said two of his colleagues received a pay cut when administrators discovered their complaints on social media. In two other hospitals in the capital, workers retracted letters of collective resignation over working conditions for fear of reprisals. The suppression of criticism in Egypt is hardly unusual, analysts say, but the government has become even more jittery as the pandemic tests its capabilities and slows the economy. Although el-Sissi resisted a total lockdown because of the economic impact, schools, mosques, restaurants, malls and clubs were closed early in the outbreak and a nightly curfew imposed. With borders shut and cruise ships docked, Egypts critical tourism revenue has disappeared, among other sources of income. The country secured a badly needed $5.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in June, on top of a previous $2.8 billion arrangement. Last week, fearing further economic fallout, the government reopened much of society and welcomed hundreds of international tourists back to resorts, even as daily reported deaths exceeded 80. Restaurants and cafes are reopening with some continued restrictions, and masks have been mandated in public. Because of Egypts constant attention to its image as a place open for tourism, open for business, open for investment, authorities appear particularly sensitive to divergent perspectives during the pandemic, said Amy Hawthorne, an Egypt expert at the Project on Middle East Democracy. They want to project an image that everything is fine, theyre in control. Those who spread false news online about the coronavirus could face up to five years imprisonment and steep fines, Egypts top prosecutor warned this spring. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced concern in late March that 15 individuals had been arrested for broadcasting alleged false news about the pandemic. Four Egyptian journalists who reported on the outbreak remain in prison, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has labeled Egypt one of the worlds worst jailers of journalists, along with Turkey and China. Security forces have also taken aggressive action against foreign reporters. In March, Egypt expelled a reporter for The Guardian who cited a scientific report disputing the official virus count. Egypts state information body has summoned The Washington Post and New York Times correspondents over their critical coverage during the pandemic. Despite growing human rights abuses, the international community counts on Egypt as a bulwark against regional instability, said a Middle East-focused rights advocate at the U.N., speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss policy matters. There is no appetite, the advocate said, to address what is going on in Egypt, let alone sanction them in any way for what the government is doing to their own people. The US military "will continue to stand strong in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, a top White House official said on Monday, after the US Navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea to boost its presence in the region. "The message is clear. We're not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it's in that region or over here, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News. And the message is clear. Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it's in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, Meadows said in response to a question. He was told that India banned Chinese apps because Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops last month that asked what's mission of the two aircraft carriers - the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz - and what's America's mission. The troops of India and China are locked in an eight-week standoff in several areas in eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring. The situation deteriorated last month following the Galwan Valley clashes that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. The Chinese military on Monday began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held lengthy talks on Sunday. Doval and Wang are also the special representatives on the India-China boundary talks. The United States has sent two of its aircraft carriers to the South China Sea. Our mission is to make sure that the world knows that we still have the preeminent fighting force on the face of the globe, Meadows said. President Donald Trump has invested more in the US military, more in not only the hardware, but the men and women who serve so sacrificially each and every day, he said. He (Trump) continues to do so, he added. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade. China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area. Appearing on the same Fox News on Monday talk show with host Brian Kilmeade, influential Republican Senator Tom Cotton said that the US aircraft carriers are headed to the South China Sea to thwart off any Chinese misadventure against Taiwan or other countries in the region. "That's one of the reasons why we have those aircraft carrier groups in the South China Sea. I mean, look what China did in the southwest. It's essentially invaded India over the last few weeks and killed Indian soldiers, Cotton said. "No country on China's periphery, right now, is safe from Chinese aggression. All those countries want a close relationship with the United States. We ought to have one, Cotton said. President Donald Trump is understating the danger of the coronavirus to people who get it, as more and more become infected in the U.S. In his latest of many statements playing down the severity of the pandemic, Trump declared that 99% of cases of COVID-19 are harmless. That flies in the face of science and of the reality captured by the U.S. death toll of about 130,000. Trump also sounded a dismissive note about the need for breathing machines. Throughout the pandemic, Trump has declared it under control in the U.S. when it hasn't been. His remarks on that subject and more from the past week: VIRUS THREAT TRUMP: Now we have tested over 40 million people. But by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless. Fourth of July remarks Saturday. THE FACTS: This statement does not reflect the suffering of millions of COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization, for one, has said about 20% of those diagnosed with COVID-19 progress to severe disease, including pneumonia and respiratory failure. Whatever the numbers turn out to be, it's clear that the threat is not limited to the merest sliver of those who get the disease. Aside from that, those with mild or no symptoms also can spread the virus to others who are more vulnerable. Asked Sunday to defend Trump's claim, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn declined to do so. He instead urged Americans not to back off the federal government's public health measures urging social distancing and wearing a mask. What Ill say is that we have data in the White House task force," Hahn told CNNs State of the Union. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously. ___ TRUMP: THE FACTS: Our tremendous Testing success gives the Fake News Media all they want, CASES. In the meantime, Deaths and the all important Mortality Rate goes down. ... Anybody need any Ventilators??? tweet Saturday.No, increased testing does not fully account for the rise in cases. People are also infecting each other more than before as distancing rules recede and community spread picks up. And as cases surge, so has demand for ventilators once again in parts of the U.S. One of the things is an increase in community spread, and thats something that Im really quite concerned about, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, testified Tuesday. Adm. Brett Giroir, the Health and Human Services official overseeing the nations coronavirus testing efforts, told Congress on Thursday that the increases can't be explained by just additional testing. "We do believe this is a real increase in cases because of the percent positivities are going up, he said. In areas of the U.S., the demand for ventilators is approaching the highs seen in April. For instance, the number of patients requiring ventilators in Miami-Dade County has increased from 61 two weeks ago to 158 on Saturday, according to Miami-Dade figures posted by the county online. The highest number of patients on ventilators was 198, on April 9. As for Trumps point about mortality coming down, Fauci said that is not a relevant measure of what is happening in the moment with infections. Deaths always lag considerably behind cases, he said. It is conceivable you may see the deaths going up. ___ TRUMP: Weve made a lot of progress; our strategy is moving along well. ...Weve learned how to put out the flame. Fourth of July remarks Saturday. TRUMP, describing the COVID-19 threat as getting under control: Some (places) were doing very well, and we thought they (the virus) may be gone and they flare up, and were putting out the fires. remarks Thursday on a jobs report. TRUMP: I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that, at some point, thats going to sort of just disappear, I hope. interview Wednesday on Fox Business Network. THE FACTS: The virus is not going to disappear," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert. Nor can it be considered under control and its flame put out as cases have been surging to fresh daily highs. The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. per day has roughly doubled over the past month, hitting over 50,000 this past week, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. That is higher even than what the country experienced from mid-April through early May, when deaths sharply rose. Fauci warned last week that the increase across the South and West puts the entire country at risk and that new infections could reach 100,000 a day if people dont start listening to guidance from public health authorities to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Arizona, California, Florida and Texas have recently been forced to shut down bars and businesses as virus cases surge. The U.S. currently has more than 2.7 million known cases and many more undetected. Fauci has said there certainly will be coronavirus infections in the fall and winter. ___ VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: While were monitoring about 16 states that are seeing outbreaks, it represents about 4% of all the counties in this country. interview with CBS aired on June 28. THE FACTS: Thats a misleading portrayal of the virus threat. More than 20% of Americans actually live in those relatively few counties. The White House provided The Associated Press with the full list of U.S. counties that reported increases in COVID-19 cases as of a week ago, when Pence and other administration officials repeatedly cited the low county tally. The list showed 137 of the 3,142 counties in the U.S. that were under a higher alert indeed, about 4% in that snapshot of time. But measured by population, those counties represent a vastly higher share more than 1 in 5 people in the U.S. Altogether there are 68.3 million people living in those 137 counties, while there is a total U.S. population of 322.9 million. That means 21.1% of U.S. residents actually live in the virus hot spots" identified in the list. ___ TRUMP ON BIDEN TRUMP: Biden was asked questions at his so-called Press Conference yesterday where he read the answers from a teleprompter. That means he was given the questions. tweet Wednesday. THE FACTS: Joe Biden, Trump's Democratic presidential rival, did not read answers off a teleprompter. Nor did the AP, which asked the first question at the briefing, submit questions in advance. Biden used a teleprompter to read prepared remarks that took aim at Trumps handling of the coronavirus, before the questions and answers started, at which point the teleprompter appeared to have been turned off. Biden's campaign gave him a list of news organizations to call on and he answered questions from reporters on that list as well as some he chose spontaneously. Thats not an uncommon practice when officials give news conferences. Video footage shows that during nearly 30 minutes of questions and answers, Biden often looked directly at the reporter, not at the teleprompter. His answers were at times long-winded, without the practiced pauses typically heard in prepared speeches. Biden campaign national press secretary TJ Ducklo called Trumps allegation laughable, ludicrous and a lie. Trumps accusation reflected his tactic of trying to stir doubts about Bidens mental acuity. ___ TRUMP: He wants to defund and abolish police. interview Wednesday on America This Week. THE FACTS: Biden does not join the call of protesters who demanded defund the police after George Floyds killing. I dont support defunding the police, Biden said last month in a CBS interview. But he said he would support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether they meet certain basic standards of decency, honorableness and, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community, everybody in the community. Bidens criminal justice agenda, released long before he became the Democrats presumptive presidential nominee, proposes more federal money for training that is needed to avert tragic, unjustifiable deaths and hiring more officers to ensure that departments are racially and ethnically reflective of the populations they serve. Specifically, he calls for a $300 million infusion into existing federal community policing grant programs. That adds up to more money for police, not defunding law enforcement. Biden also wants the federal government to spend more on education, social services and struggling areas of cities and rural America, to address root causes of crime. ___ WAR IN IRAQ KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House press secretary: You have this President who, when Washington was unanimous in saying, Were going into Iraq, this President said, No, thats not the right decision. news briefing Tuesday. THE FACTS: Thats false. Trump voiced support for going into Iraq, as much as he and now his press secretary insist otherwise. And Washington was not unanimous in supporting the invasion. On Sept. 11, 2002, when radio host Howard Stern asked Trump whether he supported a potential Iraq invasion, Trump said: Yeah, I guess so." On March 21, 2003, just days after the invasion, Trump said it looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint. Later that year, he began expressing reservations. More than 150 members of Congress voted against the 2002 resolution to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq. That is not unanimity. ___ MEMORIALS TRUMP: We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan. ... They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison. tweet Tuesday. TRUMP: Since imposing a very powerful 10 year prison sentence on those that Vandalize Monuments, Statues etc., with many people being arrested all over our Country, the Vandalism has completely stopped. tweet on June 28. THE FACTS: Trump does not have the authority to impose prison sentences a president is not a judge. Nor can he toughen penalties on his own. Trump signed an executive order last week to protect monuments, memorials and statues, calling on the attorney general to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any person or group that destroys or vandalizes a monument, memorial or statue. The order basically instructs the attorney general to enforce laws that already exist. (Newser) Why did the Maya flee the majestic city-state of Tikal? Experts say overpopulation, overexploitation of land, and droughts drove them out in the ninth century AD. Now, another cause: poisoned water. A new study says there's evidence of mercury and toxic algae ruining the drinking water just as residents were battling the dry season in what is now northern Guatemala, the Smithsonian reports. The research hinges on analysis of reservoirs, whichper sediment samples from the mid-800sappear highly polluted. One source is cinnabar, a red mineral pigment used to paint Tikal's palaces and temples. Sadly, it's also mercury sulfide, which poisoned the water supply when it came off walls and flowed into reservoirs. story continues below The reservoirs also turned up DNA traces of blue-green algae, which can create deadly toxins. What's more, the study found high levels of phosphateslikely accrued from centuries of cooking fires, food waste, and feceswhich would have added nutrients that spurred massive blue-green algae blooms, per Ars Technica. In a twist, this only poisoned rich people's reservoirs when mercury flowed off the fancy, cinnabar-coated plazas. But that might have accelerated Tikal's decline if Mayans questioned whether their rulers had failed to satisfy the gods. "These events ... must have resulted in a demoralized populace who, in the face of dwindling water and food supplies, became more willing to abandon their homes," the study says. (Read more Mayans stories.) Magnolia, AR (71754) Today Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. (Newser) Two new names are increasingly getting buzz as possibilities for Joe Biden's running mate: Sen. Tammy Duckworth and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice. As Politico reports, Duckworth, who is of Thai and Chinese descent, ramped up the speculation on Sunday when she declined to say that Biden should choose a black woman for the VP spot. "The Biden campaign have their own process that theyre going through, and Im sure Vice President Biden will pick the right person to be next to him as he digs this country out of the mess that Donald Trump has put us in," she told CNN's State of the Union. Upon being pressed further, she still declined: He "needs to make his own mind and will make his own mind," she said. "I dont think its on any of us to dictate to him." story continues below Three sources tell the Washington Post that the Iraq war veteran is, as the paper puts it, a "serious contender" to share the ticket with Biden, and is one of several people of color being considered. According to sources who spoke to the Hill, another is Rice, who also served as President Obama's national security adviser; she worked closely with Biden. "I know they have a good relationshipperhaps the best relationship of anyone on the list," a source close to the Biden campaign says. Adds another source, "They worked shoulder to shoulder together on a whole range of thingseight years of working together solving problems." Rice herself said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves" when asked about the speculation, Newsweek notes. Sen. Kamala Harris is still seen as the favorite, and others considered to be contenders include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Val Demings, Rep. Karen Bass, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. (Read more Election 2020 stories.) (Newser) A 5-year-old Siberian tiger attacked and killed a zookeeper Saturday at Switzerland's Zurich Zoo as other staff and guests looked on in horror. The BBC reports the attack on the 55-year-old keeper happened just after 1pm local time in the tiger enclosure, where Irina, the female tiger who went after the staff member, and Sayan, a 4-year-old male tiger, are kept. Other staffers managed to lure Irina out of the enclosure and into a holding area, but the zookeeper, who'd reportedly worked at the zoo for a while, couldn't be resuscitated and died at the scene, a police spokeswoman says, per the South China Morning Post. "Sadly, all help came too late," the police rep notes. story continues below Irina was born in a Denmark zoo in 2015 and arrived at her Zurich home a year ago. "This is a young animal that so far has behaved entirely naturally as a tiger does," says Severin Dressen, the zoo's director. While noting that the incident was "highly tragic," the zoo says in a statement that Irina won't be euthanized, per the Sunday Express: "A person in her exhibit is an intruder into her territory. In her reaction she followed her natural instincts exclusively." The zoo, which had only recently reopened after being shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, stayed closed Sunday, and professional counseling was offered to anyone who witnessed the attack. Investigators are trying to figure out why the zookeeper was in the cage at the same time as the tiger. (Read more tiger stories.) (Newser) He was called "The Maestro," which is what happens when you score more than 500 films and leave an indelible mark on what movies sound like. Ennio Morricone, who gained renown for scoring the spaghetti Westerns of director Sergio Leone, has died at age 91 in Rome after falling last week, reports the BBC. One of those Leone films resulted in a soundtrack dubbed "iconic" by NPRthat would be The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood. Two others, also with Eastwood, of the era: A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Decades after those 1960s films, which are credited with making Eastwood a star, the actor would present an honorary Oscar to Morricone in 2007 for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." Morricone also won an Oscar for his score of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight in 2016. story continues below "I understand and I know that a movie kind of belongs to a director," Morricone once told NPR. "So what I do is follow him. What I think I have done is specified, and made clearer, what the characters were feeling." The late Leone once paid him tribute with a similar point: The music is indispensable, because my films could practically be silent movies, the dialogue counts for relatively little, and so the music underlines actions and feelings more than the dialogue. In fact, Ive had him write the music before shooting, really as a part of the screenplay itself," he added. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Morricone was known for his "spare focus on one instrumentlike the trumpet solo in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, or the oboe, which soared over a lushly reverent backdrop in The Mission." (Read more composer stories.) (Newser) "Raw emotions and frustration" is how 11Alive describes Atlanta after more than a dozen people were shot, four fatally, in less than 24 hours over the holiday weekend. Among the most devastating of those shootings: 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was gunned down and killed near the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was killed last month by former police officer Garrett Rolfe. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that after Brooks' shooting, protests sprung up around the city, and on Saturday night around 10pm, "a group of armed individuals" went after a car that tried to turn into a parking lot blocked by illegally placed barriers on Pryor Road, says a police rep. "At some point, someone in that group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and striking the child who was inside," he notes. Secoriea, who was in the car with her mother and an adult friend, was that child. story continues below Secoriea was taken to Atlanta Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, per NBC News. "You shot and killed a baby," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a Sunday presser. "Enough is enough." Cops said they'd taken down barricades that protesters had erected outside the University Avenue Wendy's, but Bottoms said she "received a notice the barriers were back up about 45 minutes before I got the message that Secoriea was killed," per the AJC. She added that while officials had been trying to talk with protesters before the shooting, the time for talk is now done. "It's over," she said. Two suspects are on the radar: one who was said to have been wearing a white T-shirt, the other dressed "like a bounty hunter" in all black, per CNN. Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Secoriea's killers. Anyone with info is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477). (Newser) As a research university with a staff of scientists and engineers, Georgia Tech is an institution that shouldn't ignore the realities of science, faculty members say. More than 800 of themout of a total of 1,100have signed a letter complaining about the university's plans to reopen its classrooms this fall to students without making face masks mandatory. A professor called the policy "such a flagrant violation of the science that it threatens our core identity as a world class research university," NPR reports. "It's a nightmare for faculty," Janet Murray said. Georgia Tech is bound by the rules set by the University System of Georgia, and faculty members want the school to be able to make such decisions on its own. The faculty also wants contact tracing and large-scale testing. Remote classes should be the standard, the letter said, per CNN. The school plans a combination of remote classes, in-person classes, and hybrids. story continues below The state is confirming an average of about 2,600 new cases of the coronavirus per day in the past week. A biology professor who wants a mask requirement for students said that in a class of 50, there's a good chance that one of them will become infected with the coronavirus. "We have a limited time to change course," he said. Murray expects there will be professors and students who will stay away from campus. Faculties elsewhere are equally concerned. More than 1,000 professors at Penn State signed a similar letter opposing in-person classes, and one said he dreads facing a room of "asymptomatic superspreaders." Paul Kellermann wrote in Esquire that he fears "students will do what students have always done: congregate in packs, drink heavily, and comingle. That is the nature of college culture, with campus serving as a petri dish for the spread of the coronavirus." (Read more coronavirus stories.) (Newser) For three years, the Dakota Access pipeline has been bearing oil from a North Dakota shale basin to Illinois, per a 2017 permit granted by President Trump to do so. Now, a federal judge has delivered what Bloomberg calls a "stunning defeat" to the Trump administration and the oil industry, ordering the pipeline shut down by Aug. 5 until an environmental review is completed. (It's the second pipeline surprise in 24 hours.) In a Monday ruling, US District Judge James Boasberg said the permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers that allowed the pipeline to operate while a comprehensive environmental analysis took place didn't meet requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. It's a victory for Native American demonstrators and environmentalists who'd battled the project for years, citing dangers to tribal water supplies and cultural resources. story continues below "Given the seriousness of the Corps' NEPA error, the impossibility of a simple fix, the fact that Dakota Access did assume much of its economic risk knowingly, and the potential harm each day the pipeline operates, the Court is forced to conclude that the flow of oil must cease," wrote Boasberg, siding with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, per CNBC. "Stunning," tweeted Standing Rock attorney Jan Hasselman after the ruling. The AP notes that when the pipeline was being built, it was the site of multiple protests, some violent, near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on the North Dakota-South Dakota border. It's not clear whether the Army Corps, Justice Department, or Energy Transfer will appeal. The Army Corps says it hopes to finish its court-ordered analysis by mid-2021. (Read more Dakota Access Pipeline stories.) (Newser) Parents of preschoolers might want to think about adding a dog to the family. A new study out of Australia suggests that young kids develop better social and emotional skills if they have a dog, reports Yahoo News. The study, which drew on data from a comprehensive survey of Australian families, looked at children ages 2 to 5. Researchers found that kids whose family had a dog were 23% less likely to have trouble with social interactions and emotions than kids from dog-less households, per Medical Xpress. They also were 30% less likely to show antisocial behavior, 40% less likely to have trouble interacting with their peers, and were 34% more likely to show considerate behavior such as sharing. story continues below "While we expected that dog ownership would provide some benefits for young children's well-being, we were surprised that the mere presence of a family dog was associated with many positive behaviors and emotions," said study author Hayley Christian of the Centre for Child Health Research at The University of Western Australia. An assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan who was not involved with the study says it's possible spending time with a dog helps a toddler learn empathy. "You have to work to read what your dog is thinking and respond to their behavior," Dr. Jenny Radesky tells CNN. "That gets kids out of their head space and more thinking about what another being is thinking." (This dog is being hailed as a hero in Tennessee.) (Newser) Nick Cordero was unconscious for most of the more than three months he was hospitalized with COVID-19but the Broadway star was able to send a final message to longtime friend Zach Braff, US Weekly reports. "The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis," Braff said in an Instagram post after the 41-year-old died on Sunday. "I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life. Rest In Peace. Rest in Power." story continues below "I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesnt care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart," Braff said. The Canadian actor was hospitalized in late March at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. After he was diagnosed with COVID-19, he suffered complications including septic shock and had his right leg amputated in April. Hamilton co-creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was among many other stars who praised Cordero and offered condolences to his wife, Amanda Kloots, on Sunday, Page Six reports. "Devastating. What a loss, what a light," Miranda tweeted. "Whole heart with Amanda and his family tonight." (Read more coronavirus stories.) (Newser) Her uncle tried to block the book, but it's coming out early instead. A memoir billed as a tell-all about the Trump family by the president's niece will be released on July 14 instead of July 28, reports USA Today. Publisher Simon & Schuster says it's moving up the date because of "extraordinary interest" in Mary Trump's Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man. The speedier release follows a court ruling that the book could come out despite a legal challenge from President Trump's brother, Robert. story continues below A taste of what the president can expect: The back cover of the book begins, Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information," per the AP. It notes that while a ruling does prevent Mary Trump, a 55-year-old clinical psychologist, from distributing the book, that ruling does not extend to Simon & Schuster. The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviors" by President Trump, says a spokesperson for her, per NBC News. (Read more Mary Trump stories.) (Newser) The world's longest-surviving conjoined twins died July 4 at the age of 68, reports the AP. Ronnie and Donnie Galyon, of Beavercreek, Ohio, were born joined at the abdomen Oct. 28, 1951. In 2014, the brothers earned the distinction of being the world's oldest set of conjoined twins shortly before their 63rd birthday. WHIO reported that the two died in hospice care in Dayton. The Montgomery County coroner said their deaths were due to natural causes. story continues below Starting as children, the brothers appeared in carnivals and circuses as a sideshow attraction. Brother Jim Gaylon told MLive that their income supported their family for years. The brothers retired from entertaining in 1991, and lived alone until 2010 when health problems including arthritis prompted them to move in with family members. TLC aired a documentary about the men that same year. The Dayton Daily News reports the brothers had four arms and four legs, and each had his own heart, lungs and stomach. Their vital organs merged in the digestive tracts, and they shared a lower intestine. (Read more conjoined twins stories.) (Newser) A Minnesota woman serving life in prison for the murder of a Florida woman who resembled her is back in her home state to face another murder charge. Lois Riess was booked Friday on charges of first and second-degree murder in the March 2018 killing of her husband, David Riess, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Investigators say the 58-year-old grandmother went on the run after shooting her husband in their Blooming Prairie home, reports CBS Minnesota. Authorities in Florida cleared the way for her extradition in March. She pleaded guilty in December to killing Pamela Hutchinson. Riess, who stole Hutchinson's credit cards, vehicle, and ID, was arrested at a Texas bar weeks after the murder. (Read more murder stories.) Bready or not here it comes. The Toastie Takeover is here - the competition that scours the country in search of the most mouth-watering toasted sandwich. The toast-off is returning for its third year with entries from the top of Northland to the bottom of Southland. Wellington's Fix and Fogg is one of the keen participants. They're known for their extensive range of peanut butters and have used this to create their signature sandwich. Auckland's Akarana Eatery have also got their creative caps on. Their masterpiece consists of braised beef shin, mozzarella, pickles and homemade gravy sandwiched together by waffle-style bread. "What will make ours shine is the fact that you've got that waffled aspect and then as you pour the gravy over the top it catches all that beautiful flavour," executive chef Nic Watt says. Eighty-three eateries across the country have entered into the competition - from upmarket bars and restaurants to tiny hole-in-the-wall outlets. Great Toastie Takeover organiser Nick Brown says the winning entry will be one that nails the basics and then adds its own spin. "You've got great bread toasted whichever way, beautiful molten cheese in there, the pickles cutting the richness of that and then bring it on anything else you want to add in there," he says. The competition is around for the next week so Kiwis everywhere can hunt down and enjoy every last bite and crumb of a new and improved household staple. Ventilator hoods have proven successful in treating patients overseas, but as lockdown began the Government couldn't get supplies for New Zealand. A call for help from Trade Minister David Parker prompted Hopkins to assemble a team of designers, engineers and clinicians to develop a Kiwi version. "And everyone was working 24/7 through lockdown to try and get prototypes done as quickly as possible," he says. The SouthMed team have created a ventilator hood they believe is even better than those currently available. "You can easily be fed or you can converse with the doctor. You can also fall asleep easily, because your head is free to move," Otago Polytech product design lecturer Andrew Wallace says. It's hoped the hoods will reduce the need for masks or invasive ventilation. Masks can leak, while inserting a tube down a patient's throat can be very uncomfortable. A patient wearing the hood is isolated from the environment, helping contain the virus. "While the patient is within the hood, there is less exposure of the hospital and nursing and medical staff to viral aerosols," says ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr Matthew Leaper. The hoods can be used in treating a range of respiratory illnesses. The first batch of 200 are being assembled this week, bound for hospitals across the country. For her, the job isn't a regular 9 to 5. She's taken people into her home to ensure they're well-cared for. "I made my partner sell our house so I couldn't take anyone else, then we bought a f***ing caravan and I was going to get them living in there," she says. "We got rid of the caravan, we got another house, and now I'm taking them home again. I'm addicted [to helping people], I can't help myself." It's just one example of one woman in one town doing something practical to rid the community of meth addiction. "I look at all these people and I think 'wow'. If I can keep them on the straight and narrow that's exactly what I'll do. To see them now is worth a million dollars." People in her support group say Duncan has helped save their lives. "I know for a fact that I wouldn't be alive today," one says. "I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Robyn and this group," another says. To see the positive results of those in her support group is why she does it, because she knows the cost meth has on the community. "It's a huge cost involved, and yet we've got these people making millions of dollars out of it. And yet groups like this can't get a few bucks to run. How bloody ridiculous is that?" Duncan says. She believes groups similar to hers should be government-funded in every town and city in New Zealand, because they deliver results. "We would achieve seeing some really good results, but it would also slow down the meth dealers. Because the more people we get in here and get clean, the less people that are going to buy it," she says. "We'll never get rid of it, but for everyone in the group, it's one less buying it." A support group of addicts and recovering addicts invited Newshub National Correspondent Patrick Gower in to show the reality of meth, and what it can do in one town. There are more places to buy P in Feilding than to buy cannabis. Jamie-Lee says you can get it in minutes. "If I wanted to get it, I could send a text and it'd take five to ten minutes," she said. NIWA says showers and "damaging wind gusts" are forecast for the upper North Island on Wednesday, with those needing further rain this week still facing "plenty of downpour risks". Weather Watch says weather events could be extreme in the next few days, before clearing up later in the week. "The next few days ahead bring a number of severe weather risks before the weather calms down - from severe gales to heavy snow, thunderstorms and squally showers," it wrote in a press release. But it'll be short-lived, with rainfall "about to drop to below normal again" as dry weather moves in by late this week. "The next big high pressure could linger from late this week, through the weekend and across all of next week, bringing only a few showers here and there otherwise leaning dry," Weather Watch says. In a weather outlook for July released last week, Weather Watch said huge highs from Australia would bring "extended dry spells" to the country - particularly in the north and east. State Services Minister Chris Hipkins says Heron can require documents to be produced, summon witnesses and question people under oath. "The investigation will look at who or what caused the disclosure of the information, identifying what, if anything, might've prevented this from happening, and what, if any, improvements might prevent this from happening again in the future," he said on Monday. "My message to all involved is simple and clear: New Zealanders have an absolute right to expect that their personal information will be held and handled in the strictest of confidence. The public release of this information is wrong." People who have access to the breached information include people who manage isolation facilities, relevant public health officials and those involved in testing, Hipkins says. He's unsure exactly how the breach occurred or whether the data was released in hard or electronic copy, and says that's why there's an investigation. "I'm determined to find out why it happened, how it happened and ensure systems are put in place to prevent it happening again in the future." He says officials have already looked at everyone who has access to this information, all the ways the data was stored and any immediate steps that can be taken to better protect it. "Obviously I'm going to be working very closely with them over the coming week or so to make sure that things are as robust as they can be. But that's why this investigation is being done urgently, because if there are further measures that need to be put in place we want to identify those as quickly as we can." State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes confirmed Hipkins had asked him to undertake the investigation, and he also reiterated how the inquiry may prevent a similar situation from happening again. "This is sensitive personal information that should not be in the public arena," he says. "We've already had one extension of the wage subsidy that was in response to businesses particularly working in areas like tourism that said that little extra time would help to pivot to new parts of the market, particularly the domestic market," Ardern told reporters. "But we've also used that as a time to signal that we will have to move into other forms of support... We've clearly signalled that a wage subsidy is not something that can continue on in the never-never. "It would delay the critical work that businesses may need to pivot in the new COVID environment... Businesses themselves have said they think continuing for too long could run the risk of being harmful for the long-term resilience of some of those businesses." The latest Government figures show $12.3 billion has been paid out for the wage subsidy scheme, with more than $200 million paid back in refunds. In her speech to Labour supporters, Ardern thanked businesses who passed on the wage subsidy. "To all those businesses who passed on that wage subsidy and provided that shelter to others, who worked so hard and gave so much to help over 1.6 million New Zealanders people put food on the table - nga mihi maioha to you." Ardern mentioned the $400 million tourism recovery fund as an example of ongoing support. Unveiled in Budget 2020, it includes a strategic asset protection programme which has so far helped the likes of Discover Waitomo and Whale Watch Kaikoura. But the fund was criticised by National as narrow after Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said only around 60 tourism businesses would be supported by the programme out of an estimated 38,000 tourism businesses in New Zealand. Ardern acknowledged the difficulties facing businesses in the COVID-19 economic slowdown, and said anyone who finds themselves out of work can turn to the Government's Income Relief Payment scheme. Launched in May, the scheme ensures that New Zealand citizens or residents who have lost their job because of COVID-19 can receive tax-free weekly benefit payments - almost $500 for full-time workers and $250 a week for part-timers. But the scheme raised concerns about the fairness of New Zealand's welfare system. The Income Relief Payments is $490 a week tax-free. By comparison, the jobseeker benefit is basically half that after tax - $250 a week. "It shows just how unliveable and low the current benefit rates are," Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said at the time. The scheme, expected to cost the Government half-a-billion dollars, will finish in October, and those people who do not do not manage to find work during the time receiving the payment will have to go onto the Jobseeker benefit. As of June 26, more than 10,500 people were receiving the COVID-19 job loss payment, of which more than 9500 were full-timers and 990 were part-timers. Ardern said the small business loan scheme will keep helping businesses at a time when they can take advantage of operating in one of the most open economies in the world. "What we've heard from businesses is they've drawn it down to not necessarily needing it straight away but being concerned that they wouldn't be able to access it down the track," she said of the extension. "What this does is say if you don't need it you don't have to apply but it will be there and it will be there for several months and it gives that just extra layer of certainty and reassurance in a time that is so uncertain." As at July 3, 90,485 small businesses had applied for more than $1.51 billion of loans since May 12. The average value of each loan is around $16,700. The issue of forestry and carbon credits has been fiercely debated recently, since amendments were made to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) last month. 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 many fear the reforms incentivise the acceleration of productive farmland being converted to pines planted for carbon credits. Kinder says the numbers given by Beef + Lamb are merely adding to that fear. "What they have done and what they've achieved very well is scaring people," Kinder said. "Farmers are scared. I think they've already got enough to be scared about... and the last thing they need is their representative organisation coming out with another thing for them to be scared about." Kinder said the forestry industry considered farmers to be like "brothers" to the sector. "We all work together in land use and we don't see this as being something else to scare people about. "Suddenly forestry is the big bad wolf coming breathing down their neck - now it's just not true." The Government has also disputed the figures given by industry groups, with Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor previously estimating 22,000 hectares of land had gone to new planting in 2019. Last month, O'Connor suggested land conversions may have to be reviewed if they reach 40,000 hectares a year. On Friday, the Labour Party said if it was re-elected in the upcoming general election it would revise the Resource Management Act so that consent from the local district council would be required to plant forestry blocks larger than 50 hectares on "elite soils" - those classified as land use capability (LUC) classes 1-5, which are more suitable for agricultural production. Kinder said the recent debate over farming and forestry was harmful for those living in rural communities. "I understand there's a lot of fear out there in the community and farmers are now becoming really angry and pitting themselves against each other," Kinder said. "And anyone who has trees, anyone who wants to sell their farm for trees is suddenly thrown out of their community, ostracised. I just don't think that in New Zealand currently we need to be making people more fearful for their future and fearful for what they can do with their own property. "In the long run, these divisions in our communities are not going to do us any favours." Kinder said it was "very sad and upsetting" when people who had lived in communities all their lives decided to sell their land when they retired and ended up being shunned by their neighbours. "We should be able to make our choices to sell our land, to produce what we want, and to not have our neighbours turn on us." The conversion of farmland into forestry has been repeatedly criticised for undermining rural communities - something many fear will become even worse with trees planted for carbon credits. But forest owners say forestry actually produces more wealth per hectare for communities than sheep and beef farming. They also say there is less plantation forestry now than a generation ago. The orchards say they have to rely on negotiating existing, smaller water consents to keep their seedlings alive while the process plays out. The Northland Regional Council has rejected claims it is "dragging its heels", saying two commissioners have been appointed, with a hearing likely to take place in late August or early September. Stuart Savill, the council's consents manager, said 113 submissions were received on the applications - "the vast majority in opposition". He said a limited notification period closed on November 1 last year, but an error in the height of the groundwater monitoring was found later that month. "The data from this bore has been used by the applicant in a groundwater model to predict the adverse effects of the takes," Savill told Newshub. "To ensure that the data from this monitoring bore and other council monitoring bores was accurate and fit for purpose, and that the conclusions of the applicant's model were still valid, council re-surveyed its monitoring bores and had the applicant's model re-run using the new re-surveyed bore heights." Data from the resurveying was received by the council in February. It has since been peer-reviewed and the application has been given the greenlight to move forward to the hearing, Savill said. He also pointed out that the country was in lockdown for some of the time in question, which added to the delays. But the group says the drawn-out process isn't good enough and is likely to cost jobs in the region. Whangarei's Lynwood Avocado Nursery says it has already lost orders for 30,000 trees due to delays in the consenting process, which the company's director Stephen Wade says has had a "significant" financial cost. Wade said that loss of orders led to the company being forced to make five employees redundant. "It takes 18 months to propagate avocado seedlings and buyers will pay, and potentially lose, their deposits where they are cancelling or delaying orders," Wade said. Another company, Far North Roading - which works with local growers on construction, earthworks and orchard development - fears it could also have to scale-back its operations if its work with orchard companies dries up. "I can see our revenue from avocado orchard work dropping by more than 80 percent over the next two years unless the water situation is resolved," said Manu Burkhardt-Macrae, the company's managing director. Mike Chapman, chief executive of Horticulture New Zealand, told Newshub the often expensive and drawn-out process of dealing with councils over matters such as gaining water consent "creates uncertainty for growers - even if in this case the outcome looks like it will be positive for growers". "The horticulture industry is really keen and generally in a good position to spearhead New Zealand's post-COVID recovery. However, to maximise the industry's contribution, central and local government red tape needs to be slashed." Chapman said streamlining of the Resource Management Act for priority projects was pleasing to see, but insisted the changes "need to apply across the board". The consequence of excessive regulation, Chapman said, was "uncertainty and extra, unnecessary cost" for growers. "For example, district and regional government plan change processes - including expert witnesses and hearings - cost councils and industry tens of thousands to dollars, and then often end in costly and lengthy appeals." Chapman said the biggest challenge faced by growers in terms of water is capture and storage and called for more investment in major water storage schemes across the country. The Northland Regional Council said 53 submitters wished to be heard at the formal hearing on the matter. The Corona Economic Depression Is Here The US economy entered recession at the end of February, according to the economists who officially define such things. But will it get even worse? In some ways, this is already beyond the 1930s Great Depression. Mass unemployment happened much faster this time and it looks like millions will be jobless for a long time. We can identify recessions statistically, but Depression is fuzzier. Geopolitics expert George Friedman noted recently that recessions are a cyclical financial process. Theyre painful, but the economy recovers. A depression is more than an especially severe recession. It changes the existential reality of daily life. The financial, business, and job consequences are only the beginning. After a depression, life is never the same again. Is that happening now? Is daily life changing? Of course it is. Just look outside. Photo:Wikimedia Continental Divide The novel coronavirus that afflicts us seems to have originated in China. The world watched back in January as authorities locked down entire regions, built new hospitals in days, and still saw thousands of deaths. We now know the virus had already escaped China by that point. Researchers have found it in European blood samples taken in December, and in the US soon after. This worldwide pandemic was brewing long before anyone knew. We couldnt control that part. We could control the response. Countries that quickly stopped public gatherings, kept people home, and performed mass testing seem to have recovered fastest. Consider the US vs. the European Union. They are similar in size, with many different governments controlling local response, and with a mix of cities and rural areas. The pandemic struck the EU a couple of weeks before it took off here, but then grew at a similar pace on both continents. Graph: The Washington Post The number of cases peaked in April on both sides of the Atlantic. But then they diverged. Cases declined much faster in the EU. Here, they fell less and then plateaued before turning higher again. Whats the difference? For one, most EU countries kept their stay-at-home orders in place longer. They waited to make sure the virus was under control before opening up again. In the US, we did the opposite. The White House had a plan to reopen in stages as virus cases fell. But within days, President Trump began encouraging governors to loosen their restrictions anyway. Many did. So the virus is still here and, in some re-opened states, is once again spreading fast. But thats not the only problem. Photo: Wikimedia Two Camps Scientists are learning how this virus spreads. Most cases appear to happen when a large number of people gather indoors for long periods while talking, yelling, or singing, and without wearing masks. In other words, exactly what happens in restaurants, bars, concerts, theaters, sporting events, and some churches. Those are the main hazards. They are manageable if people avoid crowds and wear masks. For whatever reason, that seems to be a problem for many Americans. I noted last month how wearing a mask is a great way to help the economy. John Mauldin said the same last weekend, with a different twist. Near-universal mask usage would help the economy more than another multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package woulda lot more, and faster, too. And without adding a penny to the national debt. I think John is right. If everyone would mask consistently, virus conditions would improve and so would consumer confidence. This would help the economy, and we wouldnt need to rack up so much new debt. Fewer people would get sick and die. Unfortunately, we may be past the point of no return. There are two camps now. Those who see the virus as a real threat, who stay home as much as possible and wear masks when they go out. Those who think the virus threat is gone or exaggerated, and who circulate freely without masks. These split largely, though not exclusively, along political lines, which is strange because viruses dont vote. They just spread whenever given opportunity. To avoid depression, we need everyone working and spending in their normal ways. Can that really happen? I dont expect more government-ordered closures, but that doesnt really matter. That first group will stay home if it doesnt feel safe, whether ordered to or not. The new problem may be that the very things needed to draw out that group will make the other group withdraw. If businesses voluntarily close, or even if they stay open but require customers wear masks, people who dislike masks will resent it. They may not go to bars and theaters. Easier to just stay home. So in any scenario, significant numbers of consumers may stay offline. Thats a big problemmaybe an insurmountable one. Photo: Wikimedia Time Running Out Now, you may say none of this will matter once we have a vaccine. Maybe so, but even the optimists think it will be well into 2021 before that happens, and maybe longer. Were already in recession now. Time is not on our side. Also, I would not assume people will rush to get the vaccine in numbers sufficient to achieve herd immunity. Many Americans oppose all vaccines. Many others will want assurance it is safe, which will be hard if it was made in a hurry. That means all the changes to daily lifestaying home, masks, cleaning, avoiding crowds, minimal travel, etc.will be with us for a long time. They have a cost. Add them up and a depression-like scenario looks increasingly plausible. In fact, I struggle to find reasons not to expect it. Daily reality changed a lot in the last few months. Its going to change even more. The Great Reset: The Collapse of the Biggest Bubble in History New York Times best-seller and renowned financial expert John Mauldin predicts an unprecedented financial crisis that could trigger in the next five years. Most investors seem completely unaware of the relentless pressure thats building right now. Learn more here. By Patrick_Watson 2020 Copyright Patrick_Watson - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. "The systems that we have in place are strong enough and robust enough to ensure that there's minimal risk. We've had discussions with the likes of Air New Zealand [and] Auckland Airport to look at dedicated arrival gates - so there are a number of things that have been discussed and talked about, now we need to put them into action." Ardern said on Monday she intends to speak with Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna again and continue work towards a bubble. New Zealand needed to be sure it wasn't going to create issues for Pacific nations that were free of COVID-19, she said. But Brown said its borders would automatically close again should an outbreak occur. "If there was an outbreak, it would come from New Zealand," he said. "I would expect an outbreak in Auckland before an outbreak in the Cook Islands but it does, we have our measures in place. "We went into lockdown ourselves just a few months ago, so the country is prepared to take what steps are required to firstly; isolate any case that comes up but also, we have in place upgraded our medical facilities at the hospital." School's out for winter and families have been hitting the slopes as they explore our beautiful backyard. But while they're expecting a blockbuster couple of weeks over school holidays, ski fields are missing our snow-loving cousins across the ditch. It was initially hoped that we might get Aussies in for ski season, but the Prime Minister cannot give that assurance. A report from Ernst and Young estimates if we were to open a trans-Tasman bubble today Aussies would spend at least $2 billion - and possibly up to $4 billion in New Zealand over the coming six months. But before you get too excited, here's the rub. The Aussies are shutting down to each other as COVID flares up in Victoria, with 127 cases on Monday and two deaths. So New South Wales is cutting them off - dubbing Melbourne a hotspot and shutting the state border. The Prime Minister still says the ball is in Australia's court - and if they want the whole country to move at once, we're going to be waiting a long time. Watch the video for the full report. The Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna - who put his country into lockdown on March 5 - has said they will soon run out of money. Incoming prime minister Mark Brown tabled a Budget last month that would support the Cook Islands through to September: "After that we will look at borrowing." The current financial situation has hit Rarotonga and the other 14 islands that make up the Cooks harder than any recent cyclone rebuilding programme. It is matching 1996 proportions when the Cooks were on the brink of bankruptcy. Fletcher Melvin, chairman of the recently formed Cook Island Private Sector Taskforce, warns there is a real risk of history repeating. As well as New Zealand, China has supported Rarotonga with infrastructure projects and loans. As the tourism-starved Cooks head towards insolvency, will they be forced to turn to China to bail them out? China is anywhere and everywhere in the Pacific with the money and the resources to take over the South Pacific Islands. The temptation is too great for China and the upside is huge. This could also place New Zealand in an awkward position against China. Aotearoa needs to help the Islands keep the debt to China at bay or at least current. From September onwards Rarotonga, for one, is in a very precarious position. Our Government has floundered with no valid excuse for not addressing this before now. A Reuters report in 2018 said the majority of China's financial support comes in the form of concessional loans, while traditional regional players Australia, New Zealand and the United States tend to provide gifts. Some within the current New Zealand Government fear the Cooks will follow Tonga in their reliance on funding from China. China has already paid the Cooks administration millions of dollars for tuna fisheries licences, loaned many more millions for the massive Te Mato Vai water project and there is talk of Beijing funding the development of a deep-water port on remote Penrhyn Island. Two years ago, Cooks opposition deputy leader James Beer warned about the effect the "soft loans" that accompany Chinese aid were having on the economy. He said if the tourism industry was to fail, the country might not be able to service the loans. Yes, we can send them money - New Zealand currently provides about two-thirds of the Cooks' official development assistance - but they don't want handouts, just tourists. Tourism accounts for nearly 70 percent of the Cook Islands economy and in June, for example, the Cooks would usually host 16,000 visitors, 11,000 of those coming from New Zealand. Instead, Puna says, the resorts are "empty". Two passengers who volunteered to be removed from a flight to Brisbane so that others could get back to their home countries have said they were panicked and scared after being told they'd have to pay to go into quarantine as a result. Desiraye Solomon and daughter Delia Brown were set to depart Auckland on Air NZ flight NZ151 on Saturday after visiting a family member in New Zealand who had recently suffered a heart attack. But the flight's payload was larger and heavier than expected, which meant some passengers had to be offloaded. "We boarded the plane and we were waiting for a while then the captain came on and said they needed to balance the plane," Solomon said. "So they were moving freight and luggage from one side to the other, and then the pilot came back on and said they hadn't been able to balance things and that the plane is too heavy, so they're either going to take luggage off or take passengers off. "At that point we signaled the staff, and offered to get off the plane, we were only going to Brisbane, but other people on the plane were going to Germany." Shamokin, PA (17872) Today Rain ending early. Remaining cloudy. Thunder possible. High 66F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low near 45F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. TDT | Manama The Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed one more life in Bahrain. The deceased was a 52-year-old Bahraini man. His passing brought the overall number of coronavirus-related deaths in the Kingdom to 97. The Health Ministry expressed its condolences to the victims family. Meanwhile, it was announced early this morning that out of 9,801 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday, 510 new cases were detected. From these, 284 were expatriate workers, 223 were contacts of active cases, and three were travel-related. Their detection brought the overall number of confirmed cases in Bahrain to over 29,000 ever since the first case was reported. There were also 690 additional recoveries from the virus yesterday, the Health Ministry said. After confirming that the patients were free of COVID-19, they were released from their respective isolation and treatment centres, bringing the total number of discharged in Bahrain to 24,649. TDT | Manama The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council is fast approaching 500,000 cases, reminding us once again of the need to remain vigilant as policy makers continue to lift restrictions imposed to curtail the spread. A disturbing factor is the prevalent illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes among the population in the Gulf region. Positive news, amidst all the alarming numbers however, is the high rate of recoveries in the GCC, thanks to intense screening, quarantine measures and testing for COVID-19 cases. What makes GCCs fight effective is a series of measures including contact tracing and curfews. The recovery rate in Bahrain is over 83 per cent with a total of over 29,000 cases recorded so far. Of the six GCC nations, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has conducted more than 3.5 million tests till date, especially in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The recovery rate there is 78 per cent, when compared to the total cases. Over the last few months, GCC nations controlled the spread of the virus to a large extent by imposing restrictions at public places. Now the authorities are allowing a gradual easing of curfews at urban centres and even opening air spaces. The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority of the UAE has launched a health and safety advisory outlining all precautionary measures to be followed in hotels and service industries. The manual addresses social distancing measures, cleaning and sanitisation of guest rooms, health checks of hotel staff and guests, hygiene protocols, in addition to regulations on operations of restaurants, cafes, swimming pools, beaches, health clubs and other utilities at these establishments. Meanwhile, Emirates and Etihad, both leading airline companies in the UAE, have already announced that they will operate flights to 49 destinations across Asia, Europe and Australia this month. UAEs aviation ministry has decided to resume transit flights via Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah airports. Saudi Arabia on the other hand, after reviewing the epidemiological situation and the high occupancy levels of the intensive care units, has decided to further tighten health precautions in the city of Jeddah for a period of 15 days starting today. However, domestic travel through air and land will be allowed, and entry into and out of Jeddah will not be restricted outside the curfew hours. TDT | Manama Ministry of Foreign Affairs undersecretary Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa met virtually yesterday Saudi Arabias Ministry of Foreign Affairs General Diplomatic Affairs undersecretary Fahd bin Asaad Abunnasr. Dr. Shaikha Rana congratuled Abunnasr on his new appointment, wishing him continued success. She hailed strong brotherly relations between the two Kingdoms, commending the Saudi stances under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdelaziz Al Saud, in supporting Bahrain. For his part, the Saudi undersecretary hailed growing bilateral relations at all levels, in light of the support given by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. They also discussed a number of issues of common concern. TDT | Manama Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani has reaffirmed Bahrains commitment to all international standards for the protection of human rights with transparency. He also stressed the Ministrys keenness to complete and implement initiatives and programmes that contribute to the continuation of achievements in this field. The Foreign Minister said these as he presided over the meeting of the Higher Coordination Committee for Human Rights through virtual communication, with the participation of the Foreign Affairs assistant and Committee deputy chairman Abdulla bin Faisal bin Jabur Al Doseri. The Foreign Minister praised edict 8/2020 issued by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, adding representatives of the Prime Ministers Court and the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs to the Coordination Committee for Human Rights, including the Courts undersecretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa and the Cabinet Affairs Ministry undersecretary His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, wishing them success in their tasks. The Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that the vision and approach of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the support of HRH the Premier and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, have greatly contributed and continue to strengthening the Kingdoms achievements in the field of human rights at the regional and international levels. He stated that the committee is tasked with the coordination, follow-up and supervision to promote the efforts of the Kingdom in the field of protecting human rights internationally, praising the efforts made by Bahrain in this field in compliance with international covenants and laws, and the agreements that the Kingdom has joined. In this regard, he noted the Kingdoms achievement of Tier One status in the annual report of the US Department of State for Trafficking in Persons for the third year in a row. He commended the efforts of the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons, headed by Labour Market Regulatory Authority CEO Ausamah bin Abdulla Al Absi, which resulted in this achievement. The Committee discussed a number of topics on the agenda, and took a number of decisions. TDT | Manama Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani received a video call from European Union (EU) Mission head to Bahrain and the GCC Michele dUrso. They discussed growing cooperation between the Kingdom and the EU and ways of bolstering relations between both sides to achieve common interests. They also reviewed other issues of mutual concern. Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister received a letter of thanks from UK Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Dominic Raab, in which he expressed thanks and appreciation for the support given to British nationals in Bahrain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The UK Foreign Affairs Secretary of State affirmed that the Kingdoms assistance in facilitating repatriation flights for British nationals reflects close historic relations between the two countries. He also stressed the UKs keenness to enhance joint cooperation and coordination with Bahrain to achieve common interests. He wished the King - doms government and people further progress and prosperity TDT | Manama Police said late on Saturday that they have arrested three Asian men who were part of a group that physically assaulted two Bahraini security guards on the same day. This is related to footage widely circulated on social media platforms showing the group of Bangladeshis beating the men in uniform and chasing them down alleys. The Interior Ministry confirmed a few hours after the video emerged that three of the men involved were arrested and a manhunt has been launched to nab the rest. The Ministry tweeted: Concerning a circulated video on social media of a physical assault between a group of persons and two private security guards, the Capital Police and CID arrested three individuals and search continues for the arrest of the remaining suspects. The video sparked public outrage among citizens and netizens, as it showed the group of around 20 Bangladeshi men beating and chasing the Bahraini guards in a barbaric and vicious manner. Both guards were seen in the beginning of the video while, in what seems to be an argument with the group, at an entrance of a building. The argument quickly turned physical, with both guards being shoved around and yelled at. One of the guards dispersed part of the crowd after he waved a knife at them and threatened them. Seconds after he put the knife back in his pocket, several men suddenly approached him and beat him using wooden boxes. More men began hitting both guards and were seen chasing them down the alley, which is reportedly in central Manama. However, this information could not be verified. Enraged Response! Several MPs and social activists quickly responded to the incident, demanding rapid and tough action against the offenders. MP Ali Ishaqi described the incident as shameful and humiliating, while attributing it to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) as the primary responsible party. We are awaiting the reaction of LMRA to this footage, to take strict measures with the culprits and put an end to these recurring shambles, he said in a press statement yesterday. Prejudicing the dignity of one citizen means prejudicing the dignity of all citizens. Meanwhile, MP Ibrahim Al Nefaei commented on the matter in a tweet saying: The repetition of the disgraceful violations of Asian labourers, such as insulting the national currency and physical assault on Bahraini citizens, reflect moral turmoil and chaos, and an undervaluation of the country and its laws. The necessary controls must be endorsed to prevent the recurrence of such incidents and hold perpetrators accountable. Also on Twitter, MP Khaled Saleh Buenq said: Citizens are not insulted during the prosperous era of HM the King, and the government, under the leadership of HRH the Prime Minister and HRH the Crown Prince, does not accept that the citizens are assaulted. We confirm, as MPs, our total rejection of what a number of expatriates have done to attack the people of the country, and the relevant authorities need to take all measures regarding this. As for social activist Ali Al Sakran, he posted a one-minute video online to comment on the matter. Al Sakran said: This is a result of the leniency towards this community in Bahrain. This is not the first incident in Bahrain and tens of Bahrainis were killed by the same nationality in the past, either by a grinder, a hammer or a machete. No comments were available from the LMRA or the Embassy of Bangladesh. TDT | Manama Records of WhatsApp messages helped convict a Bahraini man who refused to compensate his female European business partner for the money she gave him to invest in commercial exporting. This comes as the Estonian woman provided the judges of the Fourth Minor Civil Court with records of WhatsApp messages and e-mails, proving her claims after the defendant denied it. The Plaintiffs Attorney Mervet Janahi explained that the court ordered the defendant to pay the amount in installments, as well as a 0.5 per cent annual legal interest. The man had earlier appealed against the verdict, but the Court of Appeals upheld the previously announced sentence. According to Janahi, her client had agreed with the defendant, under an oral agreement, to invest a certain amount of money in the field of exporting by issuing a CR (Commercial Registration), in addition to a work permit for her, as she entered Bahrain under a tourist visa. The lawyer said the defendant breached the agreement, lost the money and caused financial losses to her client, who transferred the money to him directly in his bank account. Janahi also clarified that the court reviewed the correspondence between her client and the defendant, as well as a copy of the CR mentioned in it. Additionally, a female witness, a mutual friend, testified in the court that they, the plaintiff and defendant, were business partners. After deliberating the case for the second time and reviewing the presented evidence, the Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant and the plaintiff were business partners in a joint venture, and added that the defendants bank account statement proved that he had received the amount, as claimed by the complainant. TDT | Manama School students from the New Millennium School DPS (NMS-DPS), Bahrain celebrated a very exciting, online science week from 21st to 25th June. Children adorned the hats of budding scientists and researchers as they flaunted their skills at performing simple scientific experiments, with easily available resources at home. With the aim to get students excited about global scientific perspectives, the school organised activities including, model-making, clay modelling, collage making, observation charts and drawing references based on the experiments conducted. The spirit of scientific inquiry and the quest for discovery were celebrated by the students. It was a fun week of online classes with activity-based learning and connecting science to daily life experiences. The week ended with the takeaway that science and technology are beautiful gifts to humanity and hence students should not distort it. NMS-DPS chairman, Dr Ravi Pillai, managing director, Geetha Pillai and the principal, Arun Kumar Sharma praised the teachers, students and parents for their active participation and magnificent efforts. Susan Estrich is an American lawyer, professor, author, political operative, feminist advocate and political commentator for FOX News. She can be reached at sestrich@law.usc.edu. The approval rating of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet stood at 39% in a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun from Friday to Sunday. This is the first time it has been below 40% since Abe came under fire over scandals surrounding school operator Moritomo Gakuen and the Kake Gakuen Educational Institution in April 2018, when the figure was also 39%. In the previous nationwide survey, taken June 6-7, the approval rating was 40%. The disapproval rating this time came in at 52%, up from 50% in the June survey. Asked about the arrest of former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, upper house lawmaker Anri Kawai, on suspicion of bribery surrounding last summer's upper house election, 65% said they thought Abe, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party to which the couple had belonged, is "largely responsible." Regarding the decision to withdraw the planned deployment of the Aegis Ashore ground-based interceptor system, 53% "support" it and 33% "do not support" it. Asked whether Japan should possess the capability to attack enemy bases before being attacked by foreign missiles, 43% "agree" while 49% "disagree." Asked when the House of Representatives should be dissolved for a general election, 40% said "it's not necessary until the term expires," while 27% said "the first half of next year" and 21% said "this year." The approval ratings for political parties were 32% for the Liberal Democratic Party (34% in the June survey) and 5% for the Constitutional Democratic Party (4% in June). Those who do not support any particular party accounted for 46% (45% in June). In the July survey, 57% said they worry "very much" about a second wave of novel coronavirus infections, up from 52% in the June survey. Those who worry "to some extent" accounted for 38%, down from 39% last month, bringing the total percentage of people who are worried to 95%. The government lifted its request to refrain from cross-prefectural travel on June 19. However, when asked about summer trips this year, 12% answered "traveling beyond prefectures," while 15% answered "take a short trip" within their own prefecture and 67% said they would "refrain from traveling." The government plans to launch its Go To Campaign program in early August to help boost tourism by subsidizing half of travel costs. Still, many people seem to remain cautious. On the other hand, when it comes to declaring a state of emergency in the event of a resurgence of infections, the proportion of respondents who answered "It should be carefully considered by taking into account its impact on economy" rose to 49% from 36% in June, while those who answered "It should be issued promptly to protect the health of people" accounted for 47%, down from 61% in June. In response to a government panel of experts calling for an 80% reduction in people-to-people contacts and a new lifestyle, 66% said the panel's reactions "were appropriate." The Yomiuri Shimbun obtained responses from 1,086 people who are 18 or older across Japan, by calling random numbers on fixed and mobile telephones. WATERBURY A 41-year-old Waterbury man was arrested and charged in a hit-and-run crash that killed a six-year-old girl and seriously injured another person on Sunday. Police said Luis Loja, 41, of Waterbury, was driving a van in the area of 1037 Baldwin Street around 9:33 p.m. when he struck a parked vehicle, which was then thrown forward into three pedestrians. St. Lukes on June 3 announced it would acquire Easton Hospital, news that didnt come as a surprise after The Morning Call in February reported the financially troubled Wilson operation was for sale and likely to become part of St. Lukes. The deal, which closed last Wednesday, became more difficult to complete in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. It was disappointing there was no public discussion around the specifics of the budget for the coming year at any City Council meetings. While I am aware of the Governors executive order and understand the need for expediency in the process, decisions of this magnitude should not be made behind closed doors without information being made readily available to the public or an opportunity for the council to discuss specifics publicly. It does not serve the community to withhold information or avoid conversation around what happens with our resources. Voters deserve easy access to information which impacts them, and opportunities to participate. I am particularly concerned about the nominal increase in city funds towards public education. While it is true that there are other sources of funding which will help achieve a baseline operating budget, more than half of the money is made up of one-time funding sources which will disappear after next year, leaving us in an even bigger hole. When you strip away all the other forms of funding (Alliance grants, leftover federal and state grants, city fund balance which is the unspent money the BOE had left over from this past years budget, a $550,000 development fee, CARES Act money), the citys net increase to the 2020-2021 budget is $1.25 million. This is less than the $1.27 million in emergency funding given to the schools in September of last year to handle enrollment issues. That bears repeating: The city is giving us less than its share of last years funding. After a visit from NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) to Danbury High last year, we received notes about not only the crowded nature of the building but also its understaffing (teachers, counselors, support staff). All of this is known. I am struggling to understand why city leadership is not structuring the budget in a way to allot more funding to our education system, knowing that we are falling short of the requirements for accreditation. I understand difficult decisions need to be made. But how did defunding the education system become something that this group is okay with? I will reiterate what I said last budget cycle: This is a steady choice which has been going on for a decade. It has been 10 years of these underfunded budgets. Approximately $65 million not allotted to the schools, which have absorbed nearly 2,000 additional students. This is not a responsible way to care for our school system it is time to make up for those cuts before it is too late. The net result of these decisions means our schools are completely strapped. It means, in this pandemic, we are faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to follow the state recommendations that all students return to school in the fall. Because even though thats what is also recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for the developmental health and well-being of our kids, trying to make our physical spaces safe for everyone is an impossibility when we are already faced with buildings where kids are late to class because there is so much traffic in the hallways, or lunch cycles have to start at 10:30 a.m. to make sure everyone can eat, or classes are regularly held in modified spaces like the stage or the gym because there is no classroom space, or students ride buses which are three-to-a-seat in every seat. In the short term, the value of the real estate in Danbury depends on having strong schools. In the longer term, the schools contribute a viable workforce and leadership to our community. If we do not prioritize our education system, we are choosing to walk away from the future of our city. I am asking for you each to look at what it means to deliberately prioritize other infrastructure needs in Danbury over our schools. I know you are all participating in the leadership of our community because you care about it. I would remind you it is one of the major functions of local government to take care of the public schools, and it is my sincere hope that we begin honoring that responsibility. Kate Conetta is a member of the Danbury Board of Education. She also submitted these comments to the City Council in advance of its July 7 meeting. WELLAND, ON, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and Ontario recognize the different ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected smaller and rural communities across the province. Both governments are making strategic investments in roads and bridges to meet the specific needs of Ontario communities and help them strengthen their local economies. Today, Vance Badawey Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development; Sam Oosterhoff, Sam Oosterhoff, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West, on behalf of the Honourable Laurie Scott, Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure; his Worship Jim Diodati, Mayor of Niagara Falls; his Worship Frank Campion, Mayor of Welland; his Worship Dave Bylsma, Mayor of West Lincoln; and her Worship Kristal Chopp, Mayor of Norfolk County, announced funding for four road and bridge improvement projects in Southern Ontario. The City of Welland will see the construction of a bridge over the Welland Canal at the site of the former Forks Road lift bridge, which was demolished in 2019. The construction of this new bridge will reopen a key transportation link that was used by and estimated 3,500 vehicles daily to access Welland and other parts of the Niagara Region. Other projects include the reconstruction of parts of Drummond Road, Gallinger Street, and Portage Road in the City of Niagara Falls, the replacement of Big Creek Bridge to include a new two-lane structure in Norfolk County, and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of St. Ann's Road and bridge in the Township of West Lincoln. These projects will improve safety for residents and visitors alike, making it easier to get around the region. The Government of Canada is investing more than $9.9 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream (RNIS) of the Investing in Canada plan. The Government of Ontario is also contributing over $6.6 million; and the municipalities involved are contributing over $17.8 million combined to the projects. Quotes "Investments in public infrastructure create good jobs, help build strong communities and improve the quality of life for our local residents. These projects will make travel safer and make it easier for residents, visitors, and local businesses get to where they need to go. We are proud to invest in our communities so that they remain among the best places to live, work and raise a family. Specific to the Forks Road Bridge, this will fill an immediate need for the Dain City community and the surrounding communities of Port Colborne and Wainfleet." Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development "Ontario's investment of more than 6.6 million along with significant contributions from our federal and municipal partners means residents and visitors will get where they need to go more reliably. I can't wait to see shovels in the ground on these vital projects that will improve local infrastructure, create jobs and strengthen our local economy" Sam Oosterhoff, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West, on behalf of the Honourable Laurie Scott, Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure. "The City of Welland appreciates the contribution from the provincial and federal governments which will be used to replace the Forks Road Canal Crossing. This connection is imperative for the citizens of Welland, especially the residents of Dain City connecting the east and west side of the canal. This will enable faster access to highway and other transportation routes. This funding brings us one step closer to replacing the bridge." His Worship Frank Campion, Mayor of Welland. "These infrastructure projects will help upgrade the safety and efficiency of travel throughout our City. We could not be more thrilled about the government's support of critical projects in our community as we continue to move forward with our maintenance and restoration of roadways, bike lanes and sidewalks." His Worship Jim Diodati, Mayor of Niagara Falls "The partnership between all levels of government shows the great level of importance these projects are to our communities. Infrastructure advancement is a key component in our municipality's strategic plan - We couldn't be more pleased." His Worship Dave Bylsma, Mayor of West Lincoln "This funding announcement is without a doubt one of the most significant contributions ever made to Norfolk County for one of our most critical pieces of infrastructure. The challenges associated with reconstructing a bridge through one of Canada's most ecologically diverse areas, home to a UNESCO designated world biosphere, cannot be understated. Not only is the causeway bridge the only access point linking the mainland to the homes of hundreds of residents, it also welcomes more than a hundred thousand visitors annually to the Long Point Provincial Park." Her Worship Kristal Chopp, Mayor of Norfolk County 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. $2 billion of this funding is supporting infrastructure projects that meet the unique needs of rural and northern communities like facilities to support food security, local access roads and enhanced broadband connectivity. Ontario is investing $10.2 billion under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to improve public transit; community, culture and recreation; green, and rural and northern community infrastructure. The Rural Economic Development Strategy leverages ongoing federal investments and provides a vision for the future, identifying practical steps to take in the short term, and serving as a foundation to guide further work. Central to Canada's Connectivity Strategy are historic new investments that are mobilizing up to $6 billion toward universal connectivity. They include a top-up to the Connect to Innovate Program, a new Universal Broadband Fund, and investments from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. On June 3, 2020 , Ontario announced it was investing $150 million to launch the Improving Connectivity in Ontario program to fund broadband infrastructure projects in rural, remote and underserved regions of Ontario . This is part of the province's $315 million initiative Up to Speed: Ontario's Broadband and Cellular Action Plan . Backgrounder Canada and Ontario invest in roads and bridges for Southern Ontario communities Joint federal, provincial, and municipal funding through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan will support four road and bridge projects in Southern Ontario. The Government of Canada is investing over $9.9 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream (RNIS). The Government of Ontario is contributing over $6.6 million, while the cities and townships involved will contribute more than $17.8 million combined to the projects. Project Information: Community Project Name Project Details Federal Funding Provincial Funding Municipal / Other Funding City of Welland Construction of the former Welland Canal crossing Construction of a new, bridge over the Welland Canal that will improve traffic flow for motorists and pedestrians. $2,499,750 $1,666,333 $833,417 City of Niagara Falls Reconstruction of sections of Drummer Road, Gallinger Street and Portage Road Reconstruction of approximately 2.5 kilometres on Drummond Road (Thorold Stone Road to Morrison Street), Gallinger Street and Portage Road (Elizabeth Street to Althea Street). This will include a new road structure and surface; curb and gutter; sidewalks; and dedicated bike lanes. The reconstruction will increase safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, and improve active transportation. $2,500,000 $1,666,500 $6,049,296 County of Norfolk Replacement of Big Creek Bridge on Long Point causeway Removal and replacement of the existing, one-lane Big Creek Bridge with a new 34.1 metre, two-lane structure, that will include two paved shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists. The projects will improve safety for users, increase active transportation, and improve traffic flow. $2,500,000 $1,666,500 $10,028,074 Township of West Lincoln Reconstruction of St. Ann's Road The reconstruction of approximately 1.5 kilometres of St. Ann's Road between Twenty Mile Road and Regional Road 20. Additionally, St. Ann's Bridge will be rehabilitated to improve road safety and reliability for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians; encourage more active transportation; support better traffic; and reduce maintenance costs. $2,490,625 $1,660,251 $980,374 *The federal and provincial governments are each contributing the maximum share of eligible costs for these projects, which are 40% and 33.33% respectively as per the requirements of the Canada-Ontario Integrated Bilateral Agreement. Contributions from municipalities may include both eligible and ineligible costs. Ineligible costs are expenditures that municipalities have chosen not to request reimbursement for or that cannot be reimbursed (e.g., property purchases, overhead costs). Associated links Government of Canada Resources - Coronavirus disease (COVID 19): www.canada.ca/coronavirus Ontario COVID-19 Resources: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/ Investing in Canada Plan Project Map: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/map Federal infrastructure investments in Ontario: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/investments-2002-investissements/on-eng.html Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html Rural Opportunity, National Prosperity: An Economic Development Strategy for Rural Canada: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/rural/strat-eng.html Connecting Ontario: improving broadband and cellular access: https://www.ontario.ca/page/connecting-ontario-improving-broadband-and-cellular-access Ontario Builds Project Map: https://www.ontario.ca/page/building-ontario Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Web: Infrastructure Canada SOURCE Infrastructure Canada For further information: Marie-Pier Baril, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, 613-295-8123, [email protected]; Christine Bujold, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Laurie Scott, Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure, 416-454-1782, [email protected]; Sofia Sousa-Dias, Communications Branch, Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure, 437-991-3391, [email protected]; Bernice Booth, Corporate Communications, City of Welland, [email protected]; Media Relations, Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected] Related Links www.infrastructure.gc.ca Company is seeking to issue a Green Bond to support its green initiatives SURREY, BC, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC's natural gas utility and subsidiary of Fortis Inc. (TSX/NYSE: FTS) announced a plan today to complete a public offering of a Green Bond, a specialized investment targeted to support projects and activities that promote environmental sustainability. Upon successful issuance, the bond is expected to be the first Green Bond for a natural gas provider in Canada. The debt will be issued under FortisBC's Green Bond Framework and will allow the company to finance or refinance, in part or in full, new or existing projects that offer environmental benefits. The framework received a second-party opinion from CICERO Shades of Green, which verified that it aligned with the Green Bond Principles from the International Capital Markets Association. The framework outlines five eligible project categories to which the proceeds of a Green Bond can be allocated: Renewable Energy investing in geothermal, hydrogen, wind and solar projects. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) investing in projects involving RNG, bio-methane and other renewable sources and includes financial incentives provided to customers. Energy Efficiency includes projects that reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, or improve overall energy efficiency as well as supporting research and energy use studies. Pollution Prevention and Control providing financial incentives to customers in the marine and commercial transportation sector to convert their engines to cleaner fuels such as compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Clean Transportation investing in clean energy transportation like electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. By issuing Green Bonds, FortisBC is taking further action to invest in projects that deliver environmental benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These investments may contribute to the achievement of FortisBC's ambitious 30BY30 target to reduce its customers' greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by the year 2030. These investments also demonstrate a long term commitment from FortisBC to support environmentally sustainable projects and a cleaner energy future for British Columbia. To learn more about a FortisBC Green Bond, visit the investor centre section of fortisbc.com. FortisBC Energy Inc. is a regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable energy, including natural gas, propane and thermal energy solutions. FortisBC Energy Inc. employs more than 1,800 British Columbians and serves approximately 1,040,720 customers in 135 B.C. communities. FortisBC Energy Inc. owns and operates approximately 49,000 kilometres of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines. FortisBC Energy Inc. is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. FortisBC uses the FortisBC name and logo under license from Fortis Inc. For further information visit www.fortisinc.com. Forward Looking Information Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada ("forward-looking information"). The forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding FortisBC's intention to issue Green Bonds and its expectation to allocate the net proceeds of such issuance to finance new or existing projects that offer environmental benefits. The forward-looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from results anticipated by the forward-looking information. These factors include risks relating to the offering and closing of the issuance of the Green Bonds and the other risks described in FortisBC's most recent Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion & Analysis and short form base shelf prospectus dated April 9, 2020, including any prospectus supplements filed in connection with an offering of Green Bonds. All forward-looking information in this news release is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement and, except as required by law, FortisBC undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof. SOURCE FortisBC For further information: MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Lea, Corporate Communications Specialist, FortisBC, Phone: 604-312-8158, Email: [email protected], fortisbc.com, @fortisBC, 24-hour media line: 1-855-322-6397 Related Links http://www.fortisbc.com/Pages/default.aspx OTTAWA, ON, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the appointment of the Honourable Bob Rae as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations (UN) in New York. Mr. Rae brings a wealth of experience to the role, most recently serving as Canada's Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues, building on his earlier work as Canada's Special Envoy to Myanmar. In these positions, Mr. Rae closely collaborated with the UN and the international community to help lead Canada's efforts to address pressing humanitarian and refugee issues around the world. Mr. Rae will succeed Marc-Andre Blanchard as Canada's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. Mr. Blanchard, who informed the Prime Minister of his intention to leave his post earlier this year, served as a strong voice for innovation and reform at the UN. He also helped develop Canada's leading role in international discussions on financing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including most recently in the context of the global response to the coronavirus. Mr. Blanchard also sought to better integrate the UN's work on development and security issues, and contributed to Canada's expanded engagement with many regional partners. After more than four years of service, Mr. Blanchard leaves his role having made a significant contribution to both the UN and advancing Canada's place in the world. Mr. Rae will build on the work of the outgoing Ambassador to help advance Canada's interests abroad, including to further sustainable development and address the impacts of climate change. We will continue to engage our international partners and promote the Canadian values of peace, freedom, democracy, and human rights as we move forward in a time of global uncertainty. Quotes "After more than four years of service to our country and the global community, I thank Marc-Andre Blanchard as he leaves his post as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. His dedication played a vital role in advancing global cooperation, and helped Canada re-engage with partners to increase our place in the world and contribute to our efforts to help tackle the most important challenges of our time." The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada "Bob Rae has dedicated his life to serving Canadians and our country, and his experience and thoughtful approach will serve us well in this new role as our Ambassador to the United Nations. Together, we will strengthen our international relationships and continue to fully engage on the world stage to help build a better future that benefits everyone." The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada Quick Facts As a founding member of the UN, Canada is committed to the guidance provided in the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, and achieve cooperation to solve global problems. is committed to the guidance provided in the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, and achieve cooperation to solve global problems. One of Canada's key priorities is protecting and enhancing the rules-based international order by championing values of inclusive and accountable governance, including by promoting human rights, women's empowerment and gender equality, peaceful pluralism, and by fighting inequalities and climate change. key priorities is protecting and enhancing the rules-based international order by championing values of inclusive and accountable governance, including by promoting human rights, women's empowerment and gender equality, peaceful pluralism, and by fighting inequalities and climate change. The Permanent Mission of Canada delivers on Canada's foreign policy priorities at the UN Headquarters in New York City . delivers on foreign policy priorities at the UN Headquarters in . In October 2017 , Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed the Honourable Bob Rae as Canada's Special Envoy to Myanmar to reinforce the urgent need to resolve the humanitarian and security crisis in the country. In March 2020 , he was appointed as Canada's Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues. Biographical Note This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca SOURCE Prime Minister's Office For further information: PMO Media Relations: [email protected] Related Links http://pm.gc.ca/ We know those who love our Pub restaurants will be disappointed to learn that we have made the decision not to reopen our 12 Pubs across the company, Wegmans spokesperson Laura Camera said in a written statement. We are focused on applying our culinary expertise to the increasing demand for fast, casual meal solutions available in our stores, for pickup, and through delivery. AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Sunday wrote a letter to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, urging him to cancel the online examinations of Delhi University (DU). Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Sanjay Singh on Sunday wrote a letter to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, urging him to cancel online examination of Delhi University (DU). In his letter, Singh claimed that a lot of students, who are in far-flung areas of the country, do not have access to the internet to appearing for exams. Amid COVID-19 pandemic, centre and state government have decided not to conduct any examination. But DU administration has taken the decision to conduct an online examination of final year student, leaving lakhs of students future in jeopardy, Singh wrote in his letter to Nishank. Students have gone to their home states due to COVID-19 outbreak. A lot of students, who are in far-flung areas of the country, do not have access to the internet for appearing in exams, he added. Also Read: Students express excitement after JEE Main, JEE Advanced and NEET entrance exams get postponed Also Read: MPBSE 10th Result 2020: Girls outperform boys, 65.87 percent passing percentage Singh further said that DU had conducted mock examination on July 4 in which student faced problems. Students were given the wrong question paper, sites had crashed. Hence, I want you to consider the problems faced by students and cancel the online examination, he wrote in the letter. Earlier in the day, targetting BJP led central government, Singh said, Centre is mocking the future of about 4 lakh students of DU. HRD Minister should intervene in it. Mock test conducted by the administration has failed. The students who are residing in their home states are not able to give examination due to poor internet connectivity. Delhi University has decided to conduct the online examination of final year students of under-graduate and post-graduate course, from July 10. The mock test for the online exams have started on July 4 and will continue till July 8. Also Read: UGC Guidelines 2020: Decision on final year exams awaited, revised academic calendar to release anytime soon For all the latest Education and Jobs News, download NewsX App A young girl from Madhya Pradesh, who cycled 24 km to school daily, has scored 98.5% in her class 10th board examinations. The MP Board had declared the results of Class 10th examinations on Saturday. Setting an example of how hard work pays off, 15-year-old Roshni Bhadauria from Ajnaul village of Bhind district, has secured the eighth rank by scoring 98.5 per cent in the Class 10 board exams conducted by the Madhya Pradesh state board. Roshni used to cycle for 24 kilometres on a daily basis just to attend school. I was given a bicycle by the government which I used well. I used to study around four and a half hours everyday. I want to prepare for IAS in the future, said Roshni. The student said that she never expected to get such a good rank, but had studied diligently for the exams. She also said that due to her fathers constant support she was able to pay full attention to her studies. Also Read: Corona warrior detained for not paying hospital bills in Hyderabad Also Read: AP crosses one million Covid-19 tests Roshnis father Purshottam Bhadoria, a farmer by occupation, said that his daughter had indeed worked very hard and has made everyone in the family proud. Her mother, Sarita Bhadoria, said that she wants to see her daughter excel and achieve her dreams of becoming an IAS officer. The MP Board had declared the results of Class 10th examinations on Saturday. Also Read: Chinas secrecy, deceptions and cover-ups led to Covid-19 spread: Trump For all the latest Education and Jobs News, download NewsX App Sushant Singh Rajput's last film'Dil Bechara's trailer has been released. Fans have welcomed and are celebrating the chance to see him spilling magic with his acting one last time. The trailer for the movie Dil Bechaara has just been released by Fox Star Studios. The trailer has been warmly received by Sushants fans, who are anticipating the release of the movie with utmost patience. The film, to be released on July 24 on Disney+ Hotstar, can be watched by subscribers and non-subscribers alike. The movie is adapted from John Greens bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars, which revolves around a pair of cancer affected teens in love. The novel, published on January 10, 2012, has already had a Hollywood movie released after it with the same title and the exact same story while its Hindi counterpart has several changes to better fit the Indian setting. The trailer shows two characters falling in love with each other. As Manny is in a period of recovery, Kizie tries to put some distance between them to make sure his recovery is not hindered. However, life has something else planned out for them and their relationship deepens as the the two fly off to Paris on an adventure. Along with Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi, Dil Bechara also stars Saif Ali Khan, Sahil Vaid, Saurav Khurana, Javed Jaffrey and Milind Gunaji. It is directed by Mukesh Chhabra, with A.R. Rahman as music director and the script and cast have also been handled by Mukesh Chhabra. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Sanjay Leela Bhansali records his statement at Bandra police station Also read: 8 years of Bol Bachchan: Ajay Devgn shares BTS photos The films trailer on YouTube seems quite appealing, with humour and tragedy both mixed together. The comment section is filled with mourning messages for Sushant Singh Rajput and them eagerly waiting for the films release. Also read: Ranveer Singh turns 35: Anil Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, Nimrat Kaur and others extend birthday wishes For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App The Salian family has released an open letter asking people to stop spreading misinformation and entertaining fake news. Disha was the ex-manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Disha Salian, ex-manager of Sushant Singh Rajput, had died unexpectedly only a week before him. Disha had committed suicide. After the loss of Sushants life, rumours and gossip linking between these two deaths became pervasive. Weeks after the death of their daughter and amidst the allegations and gossip, the Salian family on Monday has issued an open statement requesting fans to stop spreading and entertaining fake news. The statement slammed the baseless rumours flooding on social media sites and expressing that it has been coming in the way of well being of those close to her. Numerous conspiracy theories have been doing the rounds on social media sites suggesting that Disha Salian and Sooraj Pancholi were in an affair and and she was pregnant with his child. Sushant reportedly came to know about this and was pressurised to stay mum about it. Read the full statement here: Even though Pancholi absolutely denied the accusations and claimed he didnt even know who Disha was, this has led debates and more hearsay by fans online. Another angle to the hearsay and speculations say that Disha had been facing issues in her relationship with her boyfriend Rohan Rai and that she was outraged by the allegations that he had been dating young actresses from his show. Dishas parents were reportedly not really happy with her relationship with Rohan, but they had given their approval to a wedding in pursuit of their daughters happiness. The note has been released today by her family ends with the emphasis on empathy and kindness among humans. Disha Salian was working as a celebrity talent manager for many film actors, including Sushant Singh Rajput, Varun Sharma and Saumya Tandon. She ended her life by jumping off the 12th floor of a building in the Malad neighbourhood of Mumbai, the police confirmed. For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has blocked 40 websites in India that were being used by pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), for registering supporters for its cause. In a big blow to pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) the government on Sunday blocked 40 websites being used by it for registering supporters for its cause. The orders to block the websites were issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), which is the nodal authority for monitoring cyberspace in the country, acting upon the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The decision to block the websites has come a day after Haryana Police had registered an FIR against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of banned outfit Sikhs for Justice on charges of sedition and secessionism at Bhondsi Police Station in Gurugram. An FIR has been registered under Section 124-A (sedition), 153 A IPC (promoting enmity between classes) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 10(a) and 13 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. A spokesperson of Haryana Police said that Pannun has been seen running a secessionist campaign through automated phone calls against India from the US and indulging in unlawful activities aimed at threatening the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India. The association had been receiving backing from Pakistans ISI in its conspiracy campaign Sikh Referendum 2020 as part of its secessionist agenda. Last month, the NIA had arrested Pargat Singh, one of the key conspirators and recruiter of radical Sikh youth while working under directions of handlers located abroad to further activities of SFJ (Sikhs For Justice) which has already been declared an unlawful associationThe SFJ had been declared as an unlawful association under provision 3 (1) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 on July 10 last year. Also read:Corona warrior detained for not paying hospital bills in Hyderabad Also read:After Ladakh visit, PM Modi briefs President Kovind The decision to declare SFJ as an unlawful association had been taken after major Sikh bodies raised alarm over the secessionist activities of SFJ and so the government decided to curb the potential threat. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the All India Anti-Terrorists Front (AIATF) had lauded the central government for banning the radical outfit. Singh had said that although the outfit deserved to be treated as a terrorist organisation, the Government of India had at least taken a long-overdue stand against SFJ, which had unleashed a wave of terror in Punjab in recent years following the ban. Also read:AP crosses one million Covid-19 tests For all the latest National News, download NewsX App China has pulled back its troops in the Galwan Valley by 1.5 kms and a buffer zone has been created. This is the first sign of a pullback of the Chinese troops along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Chinese Army has moved back tents, vehicles and troops by 1-2 kilometres from locations where disengagement was agreed upon at Corps Commander-level talks, Indian Army sources said on Monday. Chinese heavy armoured vehicles are still present in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. The Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution, Army sources informed. The third round of Corps Commander-level meeting between armies of India and China went on for 12 hours, said Army sources on July 1. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (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 military commanders from both countries had met initially on June 6 and agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC. 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. Chinese heavy armoured vehicles still present in depth areas in Galwan river area. Indian army monitoring the situation with caution: Indian Army Sources https://t.co/GbGnoAy4K4 ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 The disengagement of Indian & Chinese troops in Galwan, Ladakh has begun. This is a result of intense diplomatic, military engagement & contacts in the past 48 hours. Details are awaited. These meetings followed PM Modi's visit to Leh where a decisive & firm message was sent out. ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 India's responsible stance & message at LAC has been globally recognised.Those invested in India-China relationship in Beijing are also of the opinion that the present stand-off should be resolved. India has sent out a decisive message that national security is paramount: Sources ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2020 Also read: Rahul takes jibe at Centre over Covid-19, demonetization and GST Also read: Triple Lockdown! Thiruvananthapuram announces restrictions due to Covid-19 surge India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions. News of China pulling back its troops comes three days after Prime Ministers supreme visit to Ladakh where he addressed the soldiers and said that the age of expansionism is over and expansionist forces have either lost or were forced to turn back. Also read: First Monday of Sawan 2020: Devotees throng Lord Shivas temples For all the latest National News, download NewsX App The High Power committee instated to probe extensively into unfortunate Vizag gas leak has submitted a comprehensive 4000 page report to the Hon'ble CM , YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The High Power committee instated to probe extensively into unfortunate Vizag gas leak has submitted a comprehensive 4000 ( including annexures ) page report to the Honble CM , YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Members of the committee Neerabh Kumar Prasad , Chairman , Special CS EFS & T , GoAP Karikal Valaven, Special CS Industry and Commerce , GoAP V.Vinay Chand , Collector , Visakhapatnam. The high power company said, The accident occured due to uncontrolled Styrene vapour release from the M6 tank , qualifies as a major accident as per the definition under MSIHC rules. Also Read: Covid-19 cases in Delhi reach one lakh, Kejriwal says no need to panic Also Read: India China stand-off: NSA Doval, Chinese FM discuss restoration of peace Uncontrolled styrene vapor release from the N6 tank of LG polymers Major accident MHIC rules The temperature in the tank rose substantially. The rise in the temperature caused the styrene liquid to eventually vaporize and increase the pressure; it was a tank with small vents. ROOT CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT Poor design of the tank Inadequate refrigeration and faulty cooling system Absence of circulation and mixing systems Inadequate measures and parameters -Poor safety protocol -Poor safety awareness Inadequate risk assessment response -Poor process safety management system Slackness of Management Insufficient knowledge among staff Insufficient knowledge of the chemical properties of styrene, especially during storage conditions Total breakdown of the emergency response of the procedures The safety protocol was not followed by the authorities during the lockdown period Apart from the above mentioned conclusions, the committee has also observed that the alarm system was not used despite there being a total of 36 activation points , including one at the factory gate. Using the alarm couldve alerted the people in the vicinity. The committee also observed that the factory has absolutely no stocks of inhibitors and negligible stocks of terminators which couldve been used to minimise the impact of the accident if not neutralise it. The Honble accepted the report submitted by the Chairman and ordered the following : Report should be placed in public domain for people to access Inform respective authorities to take necessary legal action against those responsible under relevant sections. IMPORTANT : The committee had invited citizens to pose questions. Over 1200 queries , 180 calls and 250 emails were received by the committee. The committed hereby informed the CM that almost all the question which could be answered at this point of time have been answered with an exception of questions which only could be answered in the long run and depend of variables. Also Read: Indias Covid-19 tally nears 7 lakh, ranks 3rd among worst-affected countries For all the latest National News, download NewsX App India has replaced Russia in becoming the 3rd worst-hit country of Covid-19. India has nearly touched the mark of 7 lakh cases with total of 6,97,413 cases. Indias COVID-19 tally neared the 7 lakh mark with 6,97,413 cases after 24,248 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Also, the number of deaths reported in the last 24 hours is 425. India has left Russia behind is now the third worst-hit country by coronavirus. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Tamil, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. Maharashtra has alone reported 6,555 new cases in the last 24-hours. As per the Health Ministry, there are 2,53,287 active cases in the country while 4,24,432 patients have been cured or discharged. While one patient has migrated. 425 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours in the country due to COVID-19, taking the number of patients succumbing to the deadly virus to 19,693. Currently, Indias recovery rate for this deadly disease is 60.85 percent. As per the Health Ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the most impacted state from the infection with 2,06,619 cases and 8,822 fatalities due to the virus. Tamil Nadu in second place has a total of 1,11,151 cases and 1,510 fatalities. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray plans to soon reopen the hotels and restaurants in Maharashtra. The state has already crossed the mark of 2 lakh cases. Maharashtra currently has a total of 2,06,619 cases. Also read: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh visit DRDOs Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid-19 facility in Delhi Also read: After Ladakh visit, PM Modi briefs President Kovind The national capitals COVID-19 cases are also nearing the 1-lakh mark with 99,444 coronavirus cases and 3,067 deaths. The total number of samples tested up to July 5 is 99,69,662 of which 1,80,596 samples were tested yesterday, informed the Indian Council of Medical Research on Monday. Also read: Kanpur encounter: Vikas Dubey knew about raid, reveals close aid to police For all the latest National News, download NewsX App The 2020 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank was convened on June 30, 2020. However, there were only 133 shareholders attending the meeting, representing 215,598,236 shares, accounting for 17.54% of the total number of voting shares and less than 65%. Therefore, the 2020 Annual General Meeting of Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank was not eligible to conduct. The 2020 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank will be convened for the second time and will be announced the meeting time and venue by the Board of Directors. Cannabis industry leaders in Southern California have tried to make inroads with federal and state authorities to come up with a uniform protocol for moving state-legal product through checkpoints. And while they've gotten some sympathetic responses, they are ultimately told that nothing can be done on an official level until the issue is handled in Washington, D.C. Bounty on the arrest of the main accused of Kanpur encounter case, Vikas Dubey, has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs. Vikas Dubey is the main accused in Kanpur encounter case in which eight police personnel lost their lives. The Office of Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police announced on Monday that bounty on the arrest of the main accused of Kanpur encounter case, Vikas Dubey, has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs. Vikas Dubey is the main accused in Kanpur encounter case in which eight police personnel lost their lives. Currently, a search operation is underway for Dubey in Kanpur encounter case, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team which had gone to arrest him. Eight policemen were killed in the incident. Last week, a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered during a search operation from the residence of Vikas Dubey. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier announced Rs 1 crore each ex-gratia for the families of the policemen who were killed in the Bikaru village encounter. Also, a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered during a search operation from the residence of Vikas Dubey, said Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday. The modus operandi of Dubey is similar to that employed by the Naxalites, BK Srivastava, SP Kanpur Rural told media persons here. Acting on information that illegal weapons and huge quantities of explosives were hidden at Vikas Dubeys house, police conducted a search operation and recovered 25 cartridges, 2 kg explosives, and 15 live bombs, the SP said. He said that heavy explosives kept there were powerful enough to blow up the whole house. Dubey has about 12 licensed weapons in his family. Vikas used to issue arms licenses in the name of people living with him and then used them for himself. Dayashankar, who was injured in a police encounter today, is also one of them. Also read: Galwan skirmish: Chinese Army moves back tents, troops by 1-2 km Also read: Covid-19 cases in Delhi reach one lakh, Kejriwal says no need to panic According to sources, Dubeys last location was traced in Auraiya and it is suspected that he might have gone to Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, crossing the Uttar Pradesh border. The Uttar Pradesh Police has contacted the police of both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Even after 60 hours, the UP Police and ATS have not yet discovered anything about the whereabouts of Dubey, sources informed. Dubey is the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team which had gone to arrest him late on Thursday night. Eight policemen were killed in the incident. The district administration had on Saturday demolished the house and visuals showed cars and other vehicles on the premises of the building complex being crushed by machines. Also read: Grand welcome to corona conquerors in Rachakonda Commissionerate of Hyderabad For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Historical monuments like Taj Mahal, Akbar Tomb, and, Agra Fort will remain closed as Agra sees a surge in COVID-19 cases. The reopening date of these monuments has not yet been announced. In the view of current COVID-19 situation in Agra, historical monuments like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbar Tomb, and others to remain closed until further orders as they fall in buffer zone areas, according to District Magistrate of Agra, Prabhu N Singh. Monuments such as the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbar Tomb, and others will remain shut until further notice. These monuments fall under buffer zone areas of COVID-19. These monuments have been closed for months now and that has affected the revenue that the state government generates from tourism. A previous issue by the ministry on July 2 said that the monuments in Agra including the Taj Mahal could be opened for tourists from July 6. A sudden rise in coronavirus cases has led to this decision of keeping the monuments closed for the public. The Culture Ministry had allowed around 820 religious monuments to open in the month of June. The District Magistrate said that 55 new cases reported in the past four days and there are 71 containment zones. He added that there is a threat of coronavirus spread as tourists will come to these places if they are opened. Earlier, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel announced that all monuments can be reopened with complete precautions from July 6 onwards, amid relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown. Also read: AP crosses one million Covid-19 tests Also read: Corona warrior detained for not paying hospital bills in Hyderabad All Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected monuments were closed for around three months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. A document released by the district authorities said on Sunday that The Taj Mahal, which is in the Taj Ganj police station jurisdiction, is a containment zone. The exact date of the reopening of these monuments has not yet been declared. Also read: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh visit DRDOs Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid-19 facility in Delhi For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Thiruvananthapuram will observe a triple lockdown for one week. The high-level meeting called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to analyse the Covid-19 situation has decided to implement Triple lockdown in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation limit. Triple lockdown (enhanced restrictions) will be imposed in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation area from 6 am Monday for a week, said Kerala Chief Ministers Office (CMO). According to Kerala CMO, the high-level meeting called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to analyze the COVID-19 situation has decided to implement Triple lockdown in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation limit. The order in this regard is issued by District Collector Thiruvananthapuram.The order said that complete ockdown will begin from July 6, at 6.00 am and strict measures will be followed. The public exams in all educational institutions within the containment zone of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation stands suspended. The order also said that the Offices of State/Union Territory Governments, their autonomous bodies, Corporations, etc shall remain closed. Exceptions are Police, Home Guards, Civil Defence, Fire and emergency services, Disaster Management, and prisons. Medical facilities will remain functional. Transit through National Highways will be permitted with condition that no one will be permitted to stop anywhere while transiting through Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. People are directed to stay at home. The movement of persons in or out of the containment zones or within the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation will not be permitted except for medical emergencies, maintaining the supply of essential goods and services. The Incident Commander and Tahsildar, concerned Taluks shall ensure strict containment activities are being contemplated as per Government instructions. Also read: Indias Covid-19 tally nears 7 lakh, ranks 3rd among worst affected countries Also read: Taj Mahal, other monuments to remain closed as Agra sees spike in cases The existing Containment zones outside the city corporation limits will continue to be in force until further orders. The police shall ensure the guidelines issued by the Government of India and Government of Kerala regarding the containment zones are complied with in letter and spirit. As many as 225 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Kerala on Sunday, taking the active cases in the state to 2,228. A total of 3,174 patients in the state have recovered from the illness. Also read: Centre bans 40 pro-Khalistan websites For all the latest National News, download NewsX App China has decided that while the world is reeling back from a pandemic, it is the right time to assert its dominance and territorial expansionism. The world although seems to be uniting against it, reports New York Post. Chinese President Xi Jinping has apparently decided that this is the right time to assert dominance and territorial expansionism when the global economies are reeling with the side-effects of a deadly pandemic outbreak, but instead of just rolling over, a growing number of nations are fighting back, the New York Post reported. New Delhi raising of tariffs on Chinese goods, restricting Chinese investments, and banning TikTok as well as 58 other Chinese apps from Indian phones is one of the latest in the bid to demonstrate that India, for one, is clearly not intimidated by Chinas growing hawk policies. Many Indians are also now boycotting Made in China products, a task made easier because online retailers like Amazon have been ordered by New Delhi to tell buyers where products are made. The respective developments from the Indian side came in response to Chinas unprovoked attack against Indian border personnel at Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15, after which India moved some 30,000 troops to the Himalayan border to counter any further provocative actions by the Communist Party regime, according to the New York Post. Meanwhile, the people of the Philippines are up in arms over Chinas expansionism into areas of the South China Sea claimed by Manilla after a Philippine fishing boat sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. When anti-US President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, he initially ignored popular sentiment and announced a pivot to Beijing on the promise of USD 24 billion in Chinese investments. Four years later, all that has changed. Also read: Galwan skirmish: Chinese Army moves back tents, troops by 1-2 km Also read: Rahul takes jibe at Centre over Covid-19, demonetization and GST With the Chinese Navy sailing ever closer to Philippine shores and few Chinese projects in progress, Duterte has reversed his earlier decision to terminate his countrys Visiting Forces Agreement with the US. Given a choice between having American or Chinese naval vessels anchored in Subic Bay, the decision was pretty obvious. Also, the world has seen how the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong were beaten by the citys riot police on Beijings orders after the Asian giant passed the national security law, the New York Post reported. The sight of the 7.3 million free people of Hong Kong being crushed under the heel of the Chinese Communist Party regime is one the world will not easily forget. It has already prompted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to offer British citizenship to three million Hong Kongers, not to mention take a tougher line toward China itself. Huawei, for example, can kiss its 5G business in the UK goodbye. Now the interesting twist in the tale comes after knowing that China has also taken a toll on Australia, an island continent in the far south, and also a part of the Asia Pacific. Australias farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions after Canberra which suggests that the virus, which came out of China, may have come from there. Also, to counter the recent surge in cyberattacks, Canberra has promised to recruit at least 500 cyberwarriors, bolstering the countrys online defences. Meanwhile, an astonishing 94 percent of Australians say they want to begin decoupling their economy from Chinas. The same story is being repeated around the globe. From Sweden to Japan to Czechia, more and more nations are coming to understand Chinas mortal threat to the postwar democratic and capitalist world order. The report said that Xi Jinping and the Communist Party that he leads have so badly overplayed their hand that they have, in a mere six months, accomplished what Donald Trump could not in almost four years: They have unified the world against China. And communist leader Xi has only himself to blame for the brazen move. On Wednesday, the US Congress unanimously voted to sanction China for its new security law that would effectively nullify Hong Kongs legal system and put Beijing in charge. According to the report, America cannot fight China alone. And now, thanks to Xis aggressive policies, the United States wont have to fight the war alone. Also read: Indias Covid-19 tally nears 7 lakh, ranks 3rd among worst-affected countries For all the latest World News, download NewsX App NSA Ajit Doval held a conversation with the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi. They discussed restoration of peace and tranquillity at the Galwan Valley and also discussed about avoiding such incidents in the future. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, sources said. The talks took place over a video call on Sunday. According to sources, talks were held in a cordial and forward-looking manner. The focus was on the full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity and to work together to avoid such incidents in the future, sources added. The talks were held amid reports of mutual disengagement between India and China that have started at friction points along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Ladakh sector. Indian Army sources said that there is mutual disengagement between the two sides on all the four friction points in the Eastern Ladakh sector including Patrolling Point 14 (Galwan valley), PP-15, Hot Springs, and Finger area. The mutual disengagement in Galwan area is about one to two kilometers and is varied at different locations, sources said. The disengagement was agreed upon between both sides during the third Corps Commander-level meeting on July 1 at Chushul. The disengagement is being seen as a result of intense diplomatic, military engagement and contacts in the past 48 hours. These developments followed Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Leh on July 3 where a decisive and firm message was sent out. Also read: Centre bans 40 pro-Khalistan websites Also read: Galwan skirmish: Chinese Army moves back tents, troops by 1-2 km The Prime Ministers strong message on expansionism by some countries has got global attention, sources said, adding that the message on national security has been appreciated. Disengagement of Chinese troops is being monitored by the Indian side at all four friction points including the PP-14 (Galwan river valley), PP-15, Hot Springs and Finger area. The extent of withdrawal is varied at different locations, said sources. Also read: After Ladakh visit, PM Modi briefs President Kovind For all the latest World News, download NewsX App EAST HAVEN The East Haven famers market will return July 19 with a move to the Green and expansion to two days. It will take place this summer and fall on Sundays and Wednesdays beginning July 19, Mayor Joe Carfora said in a release. Hours for both days will be 8:30 a.m. to noon. The farmers market, which formerly took place in the Town Hall parking lot, will continue through Oct. 4. Our residents depend on farmers markets for fresh, local foods, and vendors depend on them as an outlet through which to sell products, Carfora said in the release. Keeping these markets open while maintaining public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic is a priority. Under the guidance of the state Department of Agriculture and East Shore District Health Department, there are special rules of operation that will be followed, and we encourage anyone with an underlying health condition not to attend the market, Carfora said. The following rules will be in effect, he said: Vendor tables will be spaced at least six feet apart to maintain social distancing. Customers may not touch produce before buying and the town willl provide signage to help enforce that. No vendor who shows any obvious signs of illness will be allowed to set up. All tables will be sanitized before the market and appropriately throughout. The town will encourage any vendors and customers with underlying health issues to not attend the market. All vendors will be required to wear protective face coverings and gloves while at the market and customers should wear protective face coverings. The goal is to ensure public safety, promote the purchase of local foods and support local farmers at a challenging moment, Carfora said. For more information, contact Michelle Benivegna, assistant director of administration and management, at 203-468-3371. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com The percentage of people turning out to vote in person on Election Day will probably be historically low for Pennsylvania, Borick said, but people who do go to the polls might appreciate the convenience of voting at whatever time they want, which a day off provides. MILFORD The Devon Rotary has a lot to praise about residents who contribute to the community. The Rotary also new officers and directors for 2020-21. Serving as president of the Devon club will be Albert May, with Tracy Edwards becoming president in 2021-22. Heather Carolan is vice president and will be president in 2022-23, according to the organization. Paula Demirjian is club secretary, Sue Shields finance director, Vincent Lambiase treasurer and Mark Davis sergeant-at-arms. Serving as assistant secretary will be Paul Otzel, with Angela Gallagher serving as assistant sergeant-at-arms, according to the organization. Jason Jenkins, Frank Panzer, Brian Parke, Joseph Rosseau and Erika Shea are member of the Board Directors. All terms will be for one year. Serving as officers of the clubs Foundation Trust are James Secondi (chairman), Raymond Macaluso (chair emeritus) and Paul Otzel (secretary/treasurer). Serving as directors on the Foundation Trusts Board will be former Club Presidents Lee Cooke, Paula Demirjian, Tami Jackson, Henry Jadach, Jason Jenkins, John Kuehnle, James Maroney, Scott Moulton, Erika Shea, Jeffrey Solomon, Michael Zanarini, Daryl Zebrowski and Rick Zwiebel. But at its recent installation ceremony, the club also honored Thomas E. Bach, president of OEM Sources, LLC and board member of the Milford Boys and Girls Club, with its Evio Giovanelly Award, which annually goes to a non-Rotarian in recognition of hcommunity service to the city of Milford. It also recognized club member Mark Krom with its Oliver Andrus Founders/Rotarian of the Year Award, in recognition of his service, and his work for Troop 1 Milford of the Boy Scouts of America, of which he is scoutmaster. Troop 1 partnered with Devon Rotary in its program to distribute meals from two local restaurants, Lasses and Bridge House, to quarantined seniors and families during the coronavirus pandemic. Using its own funds and a grant for District 7980, the club was able to provide more than 700 meals to seniors an families. Also honored was Scott Rohrig, the owner of Lasses Restaurant, for his ongoing support of the clubs once-a-month meal service program at Beth-El Center and his recent participation in the clubs Covid-19-related meal distribution program. Rohrig was presented with one of Rotary Internationals highest honors its Paul Harris Fellow Award, named after the founder of Rotary International. Devon Rotary (devonrotary.org) is comprised of area business professionals who volunteer time to raise money and perform community service, according to the organization. The club is one of the more than 34,000 clubs worldwide, with a total global membership of 1.2 million. Rotary International aims to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world, according to the organization. It is a non-political and non-sectarian, open to all regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or political preference, according to the organization. For more information about Devon Rotary and Rotary International, contact club President Albert May at amay4713@gmail.com. william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com Twitter: @blox354 NEW HAVEN Mayor Justin Elicker has cut 21 more vacant positions from the budget for a total of 101 positions eliminated or reduced to placeholder status to answer the Board of Alders mandate to cut more than $2 million from the operational budget he had recommended. The majority of the cuts are in the Police Department, with a total of 48 positions eliminated or reduced to a $1 placeholder status, an 11 percent reduction in the size of the force and a $4 million reduction in the police budget from last year. There are no layoffs. These cuts will impact city services. They will: reduce our ability to enforce public space violations, increase the likelihood of reassigning district managers in the New Haven Police Department more frequently because of a reduction in positions, reduce services to seniors, reduce some library hours, slow the repair schedule for Parks and Public Works projects, and further reduce support for the arts, the mayor said in a statement. He said it will make it more difficult to have enough officers for walking beats because those positions are more labor-intensive. Police Chief Ontoniel Reyes said the police force now has 341 sworn officers, which includes 18 in the academy. They will not hit the streets until April 2021 after they complete the 12-week field training operation. The chief was asked if the the number of officers will make it impossible to conduct community policing. We are a community policing organization. Community policing is about leveraging partnerships to improve quality of life and safety in our communities. I would submit that will be relying on community policing now more than ever, he said. The city said its goal is to minimize the impact on services to those who are struggling the most. It said cuts to police, fire and some other departments will strain our ability to provide the services residents require, there have been no cuts to youth services and homeless services and only minimal cuts to other areas that provide critical support in this very challenging time. The cuts include: two lieutenant positions; two sergeants; one officer and two record clerks in the police department for a savings of $521,744. The cuts in the Fire Department include: 2 assistant drillmasters; 4 firefighters for a savings of $516,126. The parks and public works department will see 3 equipment operators cut, 1 caretaker and 1 bridge maintenance job for a savings of $276,746. This budget is a reflection of tough financial decisions precipitated by the citys increasing financial obligations. The budget is also a reflection of our values as a city and the challenges we face balancing the tax burden with providing services to residents - many of whom are struggling in our city, Elicker said in a statement. While we will always work to identify more efficiencies, these are real decisions that have a real impact on the services we deliver. Elicker said they are not decisions he wanted to make. The budget adopted by the Board of Alders increased the tax rate by 2.09 percent, or 0.9 mill, for a total of 43.88 mills. Elickers original budget would have boosted taxes by 3.56 percent. The aldermanic budget includes $2.5 million in additional revenue it hopes it will get from Yale University, but there is no agreement on this. It puts $4 million in a reserve fund. The budget total is $567,996,073. The mayor said he and the alders have the same goal to strike the right balance between high taxes and services we provide, but they may not land exactly on the same page as to how to do that. Still, we can acknowledge that these are difficult decisions, and there is no easy answer, Elicker said. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577 Weve been learning history for too long and we know nothing about ourselves, he said to a crowd of more than 100 Black Lives Matter protesters. Im tired of learning only about a bunch of people who did nothing but enslave our people. All they teach us about ourselves is that we were slaves, we were set free and then Martin Luther King came in and ended racism. NEW HAVEN An 18-year-old Naugatuck woman suffered a significant head injury in a shooting early Monday morning. Capt. Anthony Duff, a police spokesperson, said the teenager was the passenger in a moving car when she was shot at by a gunman on foot. The teen was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital just after 1 a.m., and she remain hospitalized in stable condition, Duff said. Police were on scene in the area of Grand Avenue and Lloyd Street, in the Fair Haven neighborhood, searching for evidence from the shooting early Monday, according to Duff. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304. Callers may remain anonymous. The Niagara Beautification Commission (NBC) continues to work with the City of Niagara Falls with beautification projects regular citywide cleanups and other assistance when needed. A Niagara Regional Police officer who punched a man in the face in St. Catharines after the man shoulder-checked another officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing. The provinces Special Investigations Unit said Monday there is no reasonable grounds to believe the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the mans arrest and injury of a broken ankle. The incident happened Dec. 29 just after 11 a.m. when police were called to the Tim Hortons at 212 Welland Ave. for a report of a man spitting on someone else. A 32-year-old man was arrested for assault and placed in a police cruiser. When officers couldnt locate the alleged victim, they decided to release the man. The SIU said when the man was removed from the backseat of the cruiser, he became angry and accused the officers of stealing his property. As one officer walked past him to get his wallet from the cruiser, the man dipped his shoulder and checked the officer. The officer stumbled, regained his footing and pushed the man away from him with his hands. The SIU said at about the same time, another officer delivered a single punch to the mans face and then spun him to the ground, where he was re-handcuffed without further incident. The man was arrested for assaulting an officer and taken to the police station in Niagara Falls. While being booked, he complained about pain to his leg. He was taken to Greater Niagara Falls General Hospital at 2:30 p.m. with a broken ankle. SIU officers obtained closed circuit television footage from the Tim Hortons restaurant and medical information about the complainant from the hospital. The SIU was able to view on video that the 32-year-old spit on and punched the drivers side front window of a car, which turned out to be driven by his mother. Its believed another motorist reported the spitting. The SIU interviewed the man, his mother, the subject police officer and two witness officers. SIU director Joseph Martino wrote in his report, released Monday, there is no question about the lawfulness of the mans apprehension at the Tim Hortons and by all accounts he shoulder-checked an officer and was subject to arrest for assault. He wrote there is also no question about whether the use of force was proper in the mans arrest. Despite being released from police custody, the complainant grew increasingly belligerent in his exchanges with the police and delivered a shoulder-check to WO#1 (witness officer 1). In the circumstances, the officers were entitled to defend themselves with a measure of force of their own, he wrote. WO#1 pushed the complainant back to create some further distance between them while the SO (subject officer) punched the complainant in the face and took him to the ground to deter any further aggression, none of which were unreasonable reactions in my estimation given the complainants unprovoked act of violence. The director wrote while it is possible the man fractured his ankle in the course of his confrontation with the subject officer and witness officer, it is possible he was injured prior to the encounter. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Be that as it may, as I am satisfied that the officers acted lawfully throughout their dealings with the complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with charges in this case and the file is closed. The SIU is an arms-length agency of the province that investigates police interactions that involved a death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. At the June 25 meeting, Chief Clerk Tim Benyo acknowledged witnessing Bickford darkening bubbles, and said he told Bickford that the judge was committing a violation of the elections code and needed to stop. Benyo also said he notified Ashcraft of the violation; Ashcraft said he determined it was not significant enough to inform the board or the district attorney. A new 124-metre-long bridge over the recreational canal in Dain City will reconnect its residents with the rest of the Rose City and beyond Its an important project for our community, said Welland Mayor Frank Campion during a virtual funding announcement Monday morning. This will enable faster access to highway and other transportation routes. The announcement Campion was joined by Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey and Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff will see $9.9 million invested in infrastructure in Welland as well as Niagara Falls, West Lincoln and in Norfolk County. Badawey, chair of the federal governments standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities, said Ottawa is contributing nearly $2.5 million to the bridge project. Welland previously committed $833,000 toward a replacement bridge, while the province set aside $1.67 million for the project. This new bridge is incredibly important to connecting Welland to the surrounding communities and Niagara region, said Badawey. During Mondays announcement, mayors of West Lincoln, Dave Bylsma; Niagara Falls, Jim Diodati; and Norfolk County, Kristal Chopp, spoke about investments in their communities. In Niagara Falls funds will be used for reconstruction of parts of Drummond Road, Gallinger Street and Portage Road, and take them off CAAs annual worst roads list, said Diodati. West Lincolns funding supports reconstruction of St. Anns Road as well as the rehabilitation of St. Anns bridge. And in Norfolk County, Big Creek Bridge will be replaced with a new two-lane structure, said Chopp. The Forks Road Bridge which stood for 88 years was demolished in 2019 after being declared unsafe to vehicle and pedestrian traffic in 2018. Some 3,500 vehicles a day crossed the one-time lift bridge over the former Welland Canal, now the recreational canal. The opportunity to reunite a community is a powerful motivator when pushing our friends in Ottawa to support a project they might only see as infrastructure, said Badawey. He credited the Dain City community for working extremely hard to ensure the replacement of the bridge. Oosterhoff said the infrastructure commitments in the three Niagara cities and Norfolk County will help connect people to jobs and other destinations. This investment is about improving the quality of life for residents in Niagara and Norfolk. Im excited to see shovels in the ground. Oosterhoff said the provincial funding for the four projects is part of a $480-million investment in rural and northern and public transit infrastructure projects, under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. He said the province nominated the four before passing them up to the federal level. Campion said the bridge will be as soon as possible and added there are hurdles with assessments and approvals. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Were pushing hard on those, and with help from Vance well navigate through. The mayor said in addition to various environmental assessments with the city had to consult with Indigenous groups and work with St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. The recreational canal is still a navigable waterway, but no large vessels have passed through the area since the canal bypass opened in 1974. There are a lot of things that are not required for the new bridge, but we still have to go through the process, said Campion, adding the city will discuss those items with various agencies. Another St. Catharines resident can count himself lucky after winning $100,000 on a scratch ticket. George Bingley, a 66-year-old retired grandfather of eight, won after buying a batch of The Big Spin tickets at Avondale on Facer Street. I called my son and he didnt believe me he had to come see for himself, Bingley told officials at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. office while picking up his prize. Bingley said he hadnt made any specific plans yet on what to do with the winnings. I havent got a clue what to do with it. Im retired and satisfied, he said. Residents of the city have been collecting some big wins of late. A 69-year-old retiree and grandmother of four won the $10-million Lotto Max draw for June 19 and collected her winnings last week. Also last week, a retired transit driver and father of two collected $1 million from the April 4 Lotto 6/49 draw. The lottery prize centre in Toronto closed to the public on March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners of lottery prizes of $50,000 or more had to wait to collect in person so the OLG could ensure the integrity of the system. The centre opened its doors at the end of June to jackpot winners by appointment only. The Big Spin is a $5 game that combines scratch play with prizes revealed in-store by an animated spinning wheel on the lottery terminal screen and a possible in-person spin a the OLG Prize Centre. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: As a barley battle brews in the Pacific Rim, Canadian producers are swooping in just in time to take advantage of Chinas peak beer-drinking season. Canadian barley shipments to China rose in May as the Asian nation slapped anti-dumping duties on the grain from Australia, its top supplier. Canada exported 175,500 tons of barley to China in May, up 38 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Canadian Grain Commission. Canada, the second-largest malt-barley exporter to China, had already been trying to win a bigger share of Chinas beer market from Australia. The northern nations barley has higher protein than crops from Australia, and that quality helps in fermentation to give beer more body and foam retention. The number of acres allocated to barley in Canada is set to rise to the highest in more than a decade in 2020, and any additional output could be absorbed by demand from Chinas beer and livestock industries, said Errol Anderson, president of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. Canada is one of the worlds major barley producers and among the top exporters. Unfortunately, whats happening to Australia will benefit Canada, Anderson said by phone. If China comes into the market, really those additional acres will be absorbed easily. Canadian efforts to ship more barley overseas have been successful, even before Chinas tiff with Australia, said Tom Steve, the general manager of Alberta Barley. Production cuts in Australia due to drought in past years have helped Canadians boost shipments to China to about 1.5 million tons a year, he said. The challenge for us is to try and secure those markets longer-term, Steve said. China is the worlds largest beer market, and consumers are increasingly shifting to premium and foreign brews from mass-market brands. Investors are expecting the sectors recovery will continue in July when peak season for beer consumption starts. Inventory levels have been dropping while sales in venues like restaurants have continued to recover in the past few months, CCB International said this week in a report, citing checks with distributors and observations based on third-party data. Its not just Canada thats eyeing Chinas need for barley. Exports from France are poised to benefit from the Australian tariffs, and consultant Strategie Grains boosted its outlook for this seasons European Union barley shipments by 6 per cent in a June report, citing higher projected sales to China. There have been multiple shipments of feed and malting barley loaded from France and destined for China in the past few weeks. Prices in Europe and Canada are firm as a result. Feed barley in Saskatchewan has risen more than 8 per cent since May and is currently at the highest price since July 2019, according to data from Farmco. The potential for increased barley shipments comes at the same time as simmering tensions between Canada and China shrink demand for another major Canadian crop. Last year, China suspended the licenses of two major Canadian canola shippers, citing pest and quarantine concerns though the move was widely interpreted as retaliation over the arrest of a Huawei Technologies Co. executive in Vancouver. Canada is the worlds top grower and exporter of canola, an oilseed used in everything from salad dressings to deep-frying. They havent picked on barley for politics, whereas canola is on the hit list, ProMarkets Anderson said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: Walt Disney Co.s new Disney Plus streaming app was downloaded more than half a million times over the weekend after the services July 3 premiere of a filmed version of the musical Hamilton. The $8.99-a-month Disney Plus generated 513,323 new mobile downloads worldwide from Friday to Sunday, including 266,084 in the U.S., according to the market research firm Apptopia. The global numbers are 47 per cent higher than the average weekend in June, while the domestic results were 72 per cent greater. Disney paid a reported $75 million (U.S.) for the film, which was shot with the original cast in 2016. The musical, based on the life of the nations first Secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, has been a huge hit on Broadway. The company originally planned to release it in theatres next year, but put the film on its streaming service right before the July 4 holiday in the U.S., a time when many people were stuck at home due to the coronavirus. The total number of downloads could be higher. The Apptopia tally represents mobile only, and doesnt include people who acquired the app via the Disney website, Roku or other TV-linked devices. It also doesnt include India and Japan, where Disney Plus was rolled into existing products, Apptopia said. The Disney app was the most downloaded for the week ended July 5. Disney last said the service, launched only in November, had more than 54 million subscribers worldwide. Hamilton was one of the top trending conversations on social media over the weekend, including discussions of the spittle coming out of actor Jonathan Groffs mouth as he sang. Groff played King George. The Hamilton debut follows other stage-to-streaming productions, including Netflix Inc.s airing of Bruce Springsteens Broadway show last year. RadicalMedia, which produced the film version of Hamilton, is already at work on a movie adaptation of David Byrnes American Utopia for HBO Max. OTTAWA - Union leaders who represent thousands of grocery-store workers are telling MPs there is no reason for large chains to cut pandemic-related pay premiums since the COVID-19 pandemic hasnt gone away. Representatives from Teamsters Canada, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada and Unifor point to the dozens of retail and warehouse workers who remain sickened with COVID-19 and a report Monday from CTV News in Windsor, Ont. that two workers had just tested positive in the border city. Some of those previously sickened have returned to work. A few workers have died from the novel coronavirus disease. Speaking to a House of Commons committee Monday, the union leaders recommended stricter labour standards and oversight for the sector, beyond getting to the bottom of why the pay premium was abruptly rolled back by some of the largest grocery chains. Unifor national president Jerry Dias said the fact two more workers now have COVID-19 is probably proof positive that the pandemic premium for hourly workers shouldnt have disappeared. When the pandemic struck Canada in March, major grocery chains said they would boost front-line workers wages on average about $2 per hour. But late last month, one after another, the chains announced they were ending the pandemic pay bump because the pace of business had eased, giving the unions short notice about the decision. MPs on the industry committee agreed to look into the matter and will have a chance to question retail executives at the end of the week. Look, the argument is nonsense and every one of us on this panel understands that and I will argue they understand that as well, Dias said, referring to grocery-chain executives. So this had nothing to do with somehow the pandemic, Oh were seeing a pot at the end of the rainbow, this was a decision made about money. Paul Meinema, national president of the food workers union, said the federal government should play a more active role in boosting wages for workers in the sector. Grocery stores were among the businesses governments deemed essential services that didnt have to close as public health restrictions forced companies to cut operations to slow the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic pay was supposed to recognize that workers were being asked to come in to help feed a population ordered to stay home. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said she wanted to determine how to properly compensate workers who are being put in that situation. Spending on things like gasoline and travel fell but spending on groceries has gone up one of the few areas of the economy where things appeared positive during the lockdowns of April and May. NDP MP Brian Masse, who represents a riding in Windsor, Ont., said the industry needs more oversight, calling the committee probe the first dive at this. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2020. Becton Dickinson & Co. won a U.S. regulators approval for a portable COVID-19 test that delivers results in 15 minutes. The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency-use authorization for the BD Veritor Plus System, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based Becton Dickinson said Monday in a statement. The hand-held product, which is around the size of a mobile phone, is part of a new class of antigen testing technology that promises to bring faster, cheaper testing to doctors offices, urgent-care centres and other medical facilities. The first such test, from Quidel Corp., was cleared for U.S. use in May. Its a breakthrough technology for the battle of COVID, Becton Dickinson chief executive officer Tom Polen said in an interview. The simplicity of the test design and procedure allows it to be run in more routine settings, with less laboratory education and practice. Its the most basic type of test people can run. The U.S. has been struggling with a shortfall of testing supplies and equipment since the coronavirus pandemics early weeks. The shortages have led to long lines for testing in new hot spots like Arizona, Texas and Florida, and threaten to undermine containment efforts as the nation sees record increases in reported cases of COVID-19. Because of high demand for testing, average wait times for test results have swelled to 3 to 5 days for nonpriority cases, commercial lab Quest Diagnostics Inc. said on Monday. High-priority patients receive results after one day. Speedier answers allow those who test positive to quarantine faster, and assist public-health work like contact tracing that stems the viruss spread. Becton Dickinsons new product runs on its Veritor Plus system, which is already used in more than 25,000 U.S. locations to detect strep throat and the flu. Manufacturing has already begun and shipping begins immediately. The company plans to produce up to 10 million tests by the end of September, and is working toward a capacity to manufacture 2 million a week. The new antigen testing equipment is cheaper for medical facilities to buy and to use. Abbott Laboratories rapid ID NOW system, for instance, has a price tag in the thousands of dollars. Becton Dickinsons Veritor Plus System has an average selling price of $250 to $300 (U.S.), and the tests themselves are about $20 each, Polen said. Quidels test could cost as little as $5 to administer, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has said. People keep saying For that, I want to buy one for my house, Polen said. The FDA clearance, however, requires the test be used in facilities that meet certain regulatory requirements. Questions about accuracy, which have dogged even the diagnostic tests that are considered the gold standard for COVID-19, also arise with antigen tests. The Becton Dickinson product surpasses the FDAs requirement for 80 per cent accuracy, Polen said, though he declined to provide further specifics. Antigen tests may not detect all active infections, the FDA said in May. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection. The results may also require another diagnostic test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative, the FDA said. Barkerville Historic Town and Park has issued an apology for an ad that it said could be interpreted as making light of one of the darkest chapters in the history of B.C. Indigenous peoples. The ad Surviving Pandemics Since 1862 by Barkerville caught the attention of several historians, including archeologist and anthropologist Joanne Hammond. A day before Barkerville issued the public apology, Hammond noted on social media that more than 60 per cent of Indigenous people in B.C. were killed by a smallpox epidemic in 1862-63 that was spread by miners bound for the Cariboo. This is a bad ad, she wrote on Twitter. Indigenous death is not a marketing ploy. In the June 4 apology, Barkerville chief executive officer Kate Cox apologized for any hurt and confusion the ad has caused. We did not mean to appear as though we were celebrating disease, nor the devastation caused by historical epidemics, Cox stated. We acknowledge that we have inadvertently done just that, and unequivocally apologize for our error. The recent newspaper ad has been removed from any further campaign communications, Cox added. She said they are in the process of having an open and progressive conversation with Barkervilles Indigenous interpreters and regional partners about the ad, and how they might use their mistake as an opportunity to engage in a broader, more uncomfortable conversation. Regardless of our original intent, we obviously see that we need to expand upon the context of our word choices in any future messaging and promise to do so. The dialogue that has begun as a result of our error is extremely important and welcome, and we hope to be able to continue this conversation in a meaningful way, in the months and years to come. Limited to 200 visitors per day, exhibits, public programming, the campground, accommodations and some shops and eateries reopened at Barkerville on July 3. The site will be holding its seventh annual Indigenous Celebrations on July 18. Clearview AI the U.S. company whose controversial facial recognition technology has been used by Canadian police services and private companies will no longer provide its service in Canada, according to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The announcement comes amid an ongoing joint investigation by Canadian privacy regulators into whether Clearviews artificial intelligence technology, called reckless and invasive by critics, breaks Canadian privacy laws. Clearview AI has advised Canadian privacy protection authorities that, in response to their joint investigation, it will cease offering its facial recognition services in Canada, said a statement from the Office of the Privacy Commission of Canada on Monday. Clearview AIs decision marks the indefinite suspension of its contract with the RCMP, the companys last remaining client in Canada, according to the statement. No timeline for the pullout was given. A spokesperson for Clearview AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Star Monday. Clearview AIs technology came under fire in Canada earlier this year after more than 20 police services confirmed to the Star that they had used the technology, which uses artificial intelligence to match peoples images against a database of billions of photos scraped from the internet, including social media sites. Among the police forces who used the technology were all five in the Greater Toronto Area. In February, Toronto police chief Mark Saunders said his officers had been using the tool for months without his knowledge. All ordered that the testing cease, pending a review by Ontarios privacy commissioner. More than a dozen police services initially told the Star their forces hadnt tested the tool only to later confirm that officers had used trial versions of Clearview AI without the knowledge or authorization of police leadership. Clearviews technology was also used by the Department of National Defence, Via Rail police, Rexall pharmacy and at least one private-sector surveillance company. In an emailed statement to the Star earlier this year, Clearview lawyer Tor Ekeland said the tool only accesses publicly available data from the public internet. According to the statement from the Office of the Privacy Commission of Canada, the investigation into Clearview AI launched by the federal privacy watchdog, alongside privacy protection authorities in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec will continue. The authorities still plan to issue findings in this matter given the importance of the issue for the privacy rights of Canadians, the statement said. An ongoing issue under investigation by the authorities is the deletion of the personal information of Canadians that Clearview has already collected as well as the cessation of Clearviews collection of Canadians personal information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will also continue with its related investigation into the Mounties use of Clearview technology. The RCMP initially refused to confirm whether theyd used the technology, before admitting theyd begun using it in 2019 and employed it to solve online child exploitation cases. Revelations showing cross-Canada testing of Clearview AI were prompted by data obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared exclusively with the Toronto Star earlier this year. Canada has been Clearviews largest market outside of the U.S., according to the data, which showed at least 34 police forces across Canada obtained log-ins and searched Clearview AIs database. With Star files MEXICO CITY - Residents of the town of Sonoyta, across from Lukeville, Arizona, briefly blocked the main road leading south from the U.S. border over the weekend over fears of coronavirus outbreaks. Arizona has seen a major upsurge in infections and there were worries about intensified contagion during the July 4 weekend. The mayor of Sonoyta, Jose Ramos Arzate, issued a statement Saturday inviting U.S. tourists not to visit Mexico. Local residents organized to block the road with their cars on the Mexican side Saturday. Video posted by residents showed several travellers complaining that they had a right to cross because they were Mexican citizens. The road is the quickest route to the seaside resort of Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point. Ramos Arzate wrote that people from the United States should only be allowed in for essential activities, and for that reason, the checkpoint and inspection point a few meters from the Sonoyta-Lukeville AZ crossing will continue operating. We had agreed on this in order to safeguard the health of our community in the face of an accelerated rate of COVID-19 contagion in the neighbouring state of Arizona, Ramos Arzate wrote. It is our duty as municipal authorities to protect the health of our town. Mexico and the United States agreed previously to limit border crossings to essential activities, but up until this week, that had mainly been enforced for people entering the United States, not the other way. Residents of Sonoyta demanded health checks on incoming visitors, better health care facilities and broader testing. There has been some resentment that tourists, but not local residents, had reportedly been allowed into Puerto Penasco, where many banks and other services are located. In view of continued high infection rates and deaths in Mexico, some states are backpedaling on reopening businesses. For example, the Mexico City government said Sunday that more streets in the citys colonial-era downtown would be closed to traffic but open to pedestrians. The city already allows businesses with even-numbered addresses to open one day, and odd-numbered businesses the next. But on Sunday the city proposed a new, voluntary measure to reduce crowds downtown: officials asked people whose last names begin with the letters A to L to shop on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those whose names begin with the letters M to Z would be encouraged to shop Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. There was no proposal to enforce the rule. ROME - Ennio Morricone, the Oscar-winning Italian composer who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and often haunting soundtracks for such classic Hollywood gangster movies as The Untouchables and the epic Once Upon A Time In America, died Monday. He was 91. Morricones longtime lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, said the Maestro, as he was known, died in a Rome hospital of complications following surgery after a recent fall in which he broke a leg bone. Outside the hospital, Assumma read a farewell message from Morricone. I am Ennio Morricone, and I am dead, began the message. In the greeting, the composer went on to explain that the only reason he was saying goodbye this way and had requested a private funeral was: I dont want to bother anyone. During a career that spanned decades and earned him an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2007, Morricone collaborated with some of Hollywoods and Italys top directors, including on The Untouchables by Brian de Palma, The Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino , The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo and Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, a nostalgic ode to the importance of movie houses in Italian small town life, by Giuseppe Tornatore. The Tarantino film would win him the Oscar for best original score in 2016. In accepting that award, Morricone told the audience at the ceremony: There is no great music without a great film that inspires it. In total, he produced more than 400 original scores for feature films. His iconic so-called Spaghetti Western movies saw him work closely with the late Italian film director Sergio Leone, a former classmate. Morricone practically reinvented music for Western genre movies through his partnership with Leone. Their partnership included the Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood as a quick-shooting, lonesome gunman: A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, For a Few Dollars More in 1965 and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly a year later. Morricone was celebrated for crafting just a few notes like those played on a harmonica in Leones 1984 movie Once Upon A Time in America that would instantly become a films highly memorable motif. That movie is a saga about Jewish gangsters in New York that explores themes of friendship, lost love and the passing of time, starring Robert De Niro and James Wood. It is considered by some to be Leones masterpiece, thanks in part to Morricones evocative score, including a lush section played on string instruments. Inspiration does not exist, Morricone said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press. What exists is an idea, a minimal idea that the composer develops at the desk, and that small idea becomes something important. In a later interview, with Italian state TV, Morricone cited study, discipline and curiosity as the keys to his creative genius. Writing music, like all creative arts, comes from a long path along lifes experiences, he said. A great phenomenon of world music was how Italian film director Dario Argento described Morricone, who scored five of his films. In his late 80s, Morricone provided the score for The Hateful Eight, Tarantinos 2015 70-mm epic and the first time in decades that he had composed new music for a Western. It was also the first time Tarantino had used an original score. In accepting Morricones Golden Globe for the music in his place, Tarantino called him his favourite composer. When I say favourite composer, I dont mean movie composer. ... Im talking about Mozart, Im talking about Beethoven, Im talking about Schubert, Tarantino said. Italys head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, in a condolence message to the composers family, wrote: Both a refined and popular musician, he left a deep footprint on the musical history of the second half of the 1900s. Morricones sound tracks, Mattarella said, contributed greatly to spreading and reinforcing the prestige of Italy in the world. Morricones style was sparse, made of memorable tunes and unusual instruments and arrangements, and often stirred deep emotions. His music punctuated the long silences typical of the Spaghetti Westerns, with the characters locked in close-ups, staring at each other and waiting for their next moves. The coyote howl, harmonicas and eerie whistling of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became Morricones trademark and one of the most easily recognizable soundtracks in cinema. Minutes before handing Morricone the Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2007, Eastwood recalled hearing for the first time the score of A Fistful of Dollars and thinking: What actor wouldnt want to ride into town with that kind of music playing behind him? It was a night to remember for Morricone, who had been nominated for Oscars five times (The Hateful Eight was his sixth) but until then had never won. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Born in Rome on Nov. 10, 1928, Morricone was the oldest of the five children. His father was a trumpet player. After studying trumpet and composition at the Conservatory of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in the Italian capital, he started working as a trumpeter and then as an arranger for record companies. I started working on very easy kinds of music pieces for the radio, for television and then for the theatre, and then little by little I started to compose the film scores, he told the AP in 2016. In 1961 he wrote his first score for a movie, a bittersweet comedy set in the final moments of Fascism called Il Federale (known in English as The Fascist). That decade also saw Morricone co-operate with Pontecorvo, first on The Battle of Algiers, the black-and-white classic depicting the Algerian uprising against the French; and later on Queimada, a tale of colonialism starring Marlon Brando. Morricone received his first Oscar nomination for original score with Days Of Heaven, a 1978 movie by U.S. director Terence Malick. Beside The Hateful Eight, the others were for The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991) and Malena (2000). Shortly before his lifetime Oscar, Morricone joked that he would have been happy without the coveted statuette, saying I would have remained in the company of illustrious non-winners. But he also made no secret that he thought The Mission, with its memorably sweet theme of Gabriels Oboe, deserved the Academy Award. That year, he lost to Herbie Hancocks Round Midnight. Morricone had recently composed music to be performed in Genoas Carlo Felice Theater later this summer in honour of the 43 victims of that citys 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse, Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci said. The music will be performed on the eve of a ceremony inaugurating the bridges replacement, the mayor said. Highly versatile, Morricone also orchestrated Italian pop tunes that include enduring classics, like one version of an eternal summer hit, Sapore di Sale (Taste of Salt), which was written by famed Italian troubadour Gino Paoli. Another renowned maestro, Riccardo Muti, cited his friendship and admiration? for Morricone. Muti on Monday recalled that when he directed the composers piece Voci dal Silenzio (Voices from the Silence ) the work elicited true emotion from the audience, both in Chicago, where Muti directs the symphony orchestra, as well as during a performance in Ravenna, Italy. Muti called Morricone an extraordinary composer both for films and in classical music. Asked by Italian state TV a few years ago if there was one director he would have liked to have worked with but didnt, Morricone said Stanley Kubrick had asked him to work on Clockwork Orange. But that collaboration didnt happen because of a commitment to Leone, Morricone recalled. Morricone is survived by his wife Maria Travia, whom he cited when accepting his 2016 Oscar. Married in 1956, the couple had four children, Marco, Alessandra, Andrea and Giovanni. ___ Biographical material for this report was contributed by former AP correspondent Alessandra Rizzo. The zoning, which allows for hospitals and medical offices, prohibits grocery stores as well, but Atiyeh is pressing forward with this latest plan, saying a grocery store by the German chain Lidl would serve a need in the community. He will present a petition to City Council on Tuesday night to get the zoning changed. JERUSALEM - Israel said it successfully launched a new spy satellite into space on Monday as its leaders hinted it was behind a massive fire at an Iranian nuclear site last week potentially ratcheting up a long-running covert war. If Israel was responsible for the fire at the heavily fortified Natanz facility, it would mark another in a series of daring strikes against Irans nuclear program attributed to Israel, while also risking Iranian retaliation on either Israeli or Western targets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the launch of the new Ofek 16 satellite, the latest addition to a fleet deployed over the past two decades. The success of the Ofek 16 satellite very much increases our ability to act against Israels enemies, near and far alike, he told his Cabinet. It greatly expands our ability to act on land, at sea, in the air and also in space. Netanyahu did not mention Iran or last weeks fire. But the Islamic Republic is Israels top security concern and a target of its satellite intelligence-gathering efforts. After initially playing down last Thursdays fire, Iranian officials over the weekend confirmed the blaze was much more powerful than initially indicated and that advanced centrifuges at the top-secret facility had been damaged. Irans nuclear agency said the damage to the centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for both civilian and military purposes, could delay research and development for the medium term. A new satellite photo released Monday by Planet Labs Inc. showed extensive damage to the centrifuge facility. The image, taken Sunday, shows the roof apparently torn away by the blast and debris scattered across the ground. Iran has not directly blamed the fire on Israel or anyone else. Israel, which accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the fire. But a growing pile of evidence is pointing toward Israel one of the few countries with the motivation and capability to pull it off. In a speech on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi noted that it was Israels long-term strategy to prevent Iran from gaining the ability to build a nuclear weapon. He made no mention of the Natanz incident but noted that Israel takes actions that are better left unsaid. A group calling itself the Cheetahs of the Homeland has claimed responsibility for the fire. The fact that Iran experts have never heard of the group, and that Iranian opposition groups denied involvement, has raised questions about possible foreign involvement. The group, claiming its members were dissidents from Iranian security services, referred to the site as Kashan, the home of a one-time Jewish community, instead of the modern name of Natanz. Israel and the U.S. are believed to have created the Stuxnet computer virus, which attacked Irans nuclear program a decade ago. At the time, Ashkenazi was Israels military chief of staff. More recently, Israel uncovered what it called Irans nuclear archive, a collection of thousands of documents seized by Mossad agents from a Tehran warehouse in 2018. Israel says the documents prove that Iran intended to develop nuclear weapons and hid its efforts from the international community. Earlier this year, Israel was suspected of crippling an Iranian port in a hacking attack in response to an alleged Iranian cyber attack that targeted Israels water supply. The Natanz fire came less than a week after an explosion in an area east of Tehran that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites. Iran has long claimed its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.s nuclear watchdog, says Iran has been enriching uranium to about 4.5% purity below weapons grade but higher than the terms of the 2015 U.S.-led international nuclear deal. Workers have also conducted tests on advanced centrifuges, according to the IAEA. Iran says its breaches are a response to President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw the U.S. from the deal and to impose painful economic sanctions. Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies and former Iran specialist on Israels National Security Council, said it was difficult to say for sure whether Israel was involved in the fire, either directly or with Western or Arab partners. He also said that not everything that happens in Iran is necessarily the result of cyberwarfare or sabotage. Having said that, some of the things that happened in Iran in the last week are not coincidence, he said. He said the perpetrators of the fire might have had several goals, most critically to slow Irans nuclear program. They might also have wanted to send a message to Iran that there is a cost for continued nuclear research. There might be pressure to draw Iran back to negotiations. Some international players might even dream of fomenting regime change. Not everything is related to Israel. But I think Israel should be the most concerned about Iran advancing, Guzansky said. Mondays satellite launch did not appear to be directly connected to the developments in Natanz, given the lengthy preparations involved. Beyond the nuclear program, Israel is alarmed by Irans development of long-range missiles, its support for hostile militant groups and Irans ongoing military presence in Syria. Israel believes Iran is trying to help the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to develop a guided-missile program. Israel does not confirm the number of its operational satellites but Amnon Harari, the head of the Defence Ministrys Space and Satellite Administration, mentioned at least two others: the Ofek 5, launched in 2002, and the Ofek 11, launched in 2016. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Foreign threats require constant monitoring, he told reporters. You can assume that once you have more than one satellite in parallel in the sky, you achieve better visit times over the targets of interest. Alex Fishman, the defence analyst of the Yediot Ahronot daily, said the suspicion that Israel was involved in last weeks fire made sense, given Irans economic troubles and coronavirus crisis. Someone decided that a window of opportunity had opened, that Iran was in distress, and that now was the time to strike wherever possible, he wrote. PASADENA, Md. - A large tree toppled onto a detached garage in a Maryland neighbourhood where people attending a childs birthday party sought shelter from a storm, sending 19 people to hospitals Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Russ Davies said one person was critically injured and five others were in serious condition but none of their conditions was life-threatening. Among the 17 adults and two children in the garage at the time, the rest had minor injuries, he added. They were gathered for a childs birthday party. When the storm came through the area they went into the garage to seek shelter and thats when the tree fell on the garage, Davies told local media outlets. This was a detached garage between two homes. Photos from the scene showed a large tree laying across what remained of the splintered garage. Davies said first responders rushed to the area after the first 911 calls Sunday afternoon and found six people still trapped in the garage amid the debris. He said three of those people were quickly freed and the last three were extricated soon after. All were taken out within 45 minutes. It was a very brief storm. It came through very quickly, Davies said. He added that the neighbourhood is in a wooded area and rescuers had to work around broken bits of the fallen tree and the remains of the garage. Authorities did not immediately identify the victims or elaborate on their conditions, including those of the two children. Other trees were down in the area after the storm, along with electric lines, authorities said, causing power outages. As a precaution, Davies said, firefighters and others searched the shattered garage after everyone was out and determined no one else was left in the debris. None of the first responders was hurt. Pasadena is a community about 20 miles (32 kilometres) southeast of Baltimore in the Midatlantic corridor stretching between Baltimore and the nations capital. WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states can require presidential electors to back their states popular vote winner in the Electoral College. The ruling, in cases in Washington state and Colorado just under four months before the 2020 election, leaves in place laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia that bind electors to vote for the popular-vote winner, as electors almost always do anyway. So-called faithless electors have not been critical to the outcome of a presidential election, but that could change in a race decided by just a few electoral votes. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. A state may instruct electors that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her majority opinion that walked through American political history and contained pop culture references to Veep and Hamilton. That direction accords with the Constitution as well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule, Kagan wrote. President Donald Trump has argued both sides of the issue. In 2012, he tweeted, The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. In November 2016 after he won he presidency despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, he tweeted, The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. The justices scheduled arguments for last spring so they could resolve the issue before this years presidential election, rather than amid a potential political crisis after the country votes. Kagan recounted how the Constitutions original rules for presidential electors sowed confusion because there was no distinction between votes for president and vice-president, noting that the results of the 1796 election gave President John Adams his political rival, Thomas Jefferson, as vice-president. Kagan called the situation fodder for a new season of Veep. Things got worse four years later when Jefferson and Aaron Burr finished in an Electoral College tie, sending the election to the House of Representatives. It took 36 ballots and the influence of Alexander Hamilton to elect Jefferson as president, Kagan wrote. Alexander Hamilton secured his place on the Broadway stagebut possibly in the cemetery tooby lobbying Federalists in the House to tip the election to Jefferson, whom he loathed but viewed as less of an existential threat to the Republic, she said. Those two elections led to the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment, which produced the Electoral College rules in use today, with separate ballots for president and vice-president. By then, everyone had had enough of the Electoral Colleges original voting rules, Kagan wrote. The closest Electoral College margin in recent years was in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush received 271 votes to 266 for Democrat Al Gore. One elector from Washington, D.C., left her ballot blank. When the court heard arguments by telephone in May because of the coronavirus outbreak, justices invoked fears of bribery and chaos if electors could cast their ballots regardless of the popular vote outcome in their states. The issue arose in lawsuits filed by three Hillary Clinton electors in Washington state and one in Colorado who refused to vote for her despite her popular vote win in both states in 2016. In so doing, they hoped to persuade enough electors in states won by Trump to choose someone else and deny him the presidency. The federal appeals court in Denver ruled that electors can vote as they please, rejecting arguments that they must choose the popular-vote winner. In Washington, the state Supreme Court upheld $1,000 fines against the three electors and rejected their claims. The Supreme Court affirmed the Washington decision and reversed the ruling from Colorado. In all, there were 10 faithless electors in 2016, including a fourth in Washington, a Democratic elector in Hawaii and two Republican electors in Texas. In addition, Democratic electors who said they would not vote for Clinton were replaced in Maine and Minnesota. The closest Electoral College margin in recent years was in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush received 271 votes to 266 for Democrat Al Gore. One elector from Washington, D.C., left her ballot blank. The Supreme Court played a decisive role in that election, ending a recount in Florida, where Bush held a 537-vote margin out of 6 million ballots cast. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The justices scheduled separate arguments in the Washington and Colorado cases after Justice Sonia Sotomayor belatedly removed herself from the Colorado case because she knows one of the plaintiffs. In asking the Supreme Court to rule that states can require electors to vote for the state winner, Colorado had urged the justices not to wait until the heat of a close presidential election. Reacting to the decision Monday, the lawyer for the electors who challenged the state rules said hes glad the court acted now. Obviously, we dont believe the Court has interpreted the Constitution correctly. But we are happy that we have achieved our primary objective this uncertainty has been removed. That is progress, lawyer Lawrence Lessig said. SPOKANE, Wash. - At least eight people, including three children, were killed when two airplanes collided over a scenic mountain lake in northern Idaho, the Kootenai County Sheriffs Office said Monday. One of the aircraft was a float plane operated by Brooks Seaplane of Coeur dAlene, Idaho, which operates charter flights for tourists over Lake Coeur d Alene, the sheriffs office said. That plane was carrying five passengers, including three children, and a pilot, the sheriffs office said. The second airplane was a Cessna 206 that was carrying at least two people, the sheriffs office said. A sheriffs dive team found the wreckage in about 125 feet (40 metres) of water, and the bodies of three victims have been recovered so far, the sheriffs office said. We dont anticipate any survivors, sheriffs Lt. Ryan Higgins said. We think everyone is deceased. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are headed to the scene and will conduct the investigation into what happened, the sheriffs office said. The planes collided in the air near Powderhorn Bay about 2:30 p.m. Sunday and plunged into the water, Higgins said. The large and popular lake, which is surrounded by vacation homes, was busy with boaters on the Fourth of July weekend. Numerous personal boats went to the scene immediately in search of survivors. The sheriffs marine teams, fire departments and the U.S. Coast Guard also responded. The first two bodies were recovered on the surface by recreational boaters and turned over to the Coast Guard, Higgins said. The three recovered bodies had not been identified, Higgins said. The sheriffs office identified the pilot of the float plane as Neil Lunt, 58, of Liberty Lake, Washington. One passenger was identified as Sean K. Fredrickson, a golf instructor from Lake Oswego, Oregon. Also killed were his children and step child, a 16-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy. Their names were not released. Another man on the plane has not been identified. The second plane was registered in Lewiston, Idaho, but it had departed from Felts Field in nearby Spokane, Washington, Higgins said. Two people on that plane have been identified, but their names were not released pending notification of relatives, the sheriffs office said. Witnesses told news outlets they saw the two airplanes flying towards each other and colliding in mid-air, then plunging a few hundred feet into the lake. You could just see debris falling with it and can tell it was obviously an airplane in the sky, witness Angie Bishop told KREM-TV. The float plane was a de Havilland DHC2 that was built in 1956 and was owned by Brooks Seaplane, according to a Federal Aviation Administration data base. The plane was a fixture on the city of Coeur dAlene waterfront, where Brooks is based. A makeshift memorial to the victims was set up at the Brooks site on Monday. The other plane was a Cessna 206G registered to Echo Rental Co. of Lewiston, Idaho, according to the database. Officials are pretty sure only two people were aboard that plane, Higgins said. The airplanes sank fairly quickly after colliding, he said. The sheriffs dive team cannot operate at the depth of the bottom of the lake, so a small remote-controlled robot submarine was sent down late Sunday and recovered the third victim, Higgins said. The bodies of two additional victims have been located at the lake bottom, but not yet recovered, Higgins said. The search continued for the other three victims, he said. Diving at that depth is very dangerous, Higgins said. The air space over the lake did not appear to be any more crowded than usual on Sunday, he said. We dont have any clue what happened, Higgins said, other than the planes collided. Justin Trudeau wont be getting together with Donald Trump this week to celebrate North American free trade or anything, really. The Prime Ministers Office formally notified the White House on Sunday that Trudeau would be sitting out a get-together on Wednesday between Trump and Mexican president Manuel Lopez Obrador. Scheduling conflicts were offered as the main explanation for Canadas no-show, but there are all kinds of other good reasons for Trudeau to keep some distance from Trump right now. Most obvious is the alarming resurgence of COVID-19 in Trumps America, not to mention the lingering threat of another round of aluminum tariffs. Here is what the Prime Ministers Office is saying formally about why Trudeau is taking a pass on Wednesdays strangely timed summit gathering in Washington. We wish the United States and Mexico well at Wednesdays meeting, the PMO statement reads. While there were recent discussions about the possible participation of Canada, the prime minister will be in Ottawa this week for scheduled cabinet meetings and the long-planned sitting of Parliament. The statement also noted that Canada has high hopes for new free trade deal between the three countries, which came into force last week the stated reason for the Wednesday celebration. The entry-into-force of the new NAFTA is good for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It will help ensure that North America emerges stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. PMO sources said that Canada was notified about two weeks ago about the plans for the Trump meeting with Lopez Obrador, and Trudeau was asked to consider joining in. But this is a busy week for the prime minister an economic statement is coming on Wednesday and hes holding a two day cabinet retreat beforehand. Still, as late as Friday, Trudeau hadnt ruled it out, though he did tell reporters about the factors weighing against his attendance. Were obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently, Trudeau said. Were also concerned about the health situation and the coronavirus reality that is still hitting all three of our countries. That health situation is markedly worse now in the United States than it is in Canada and this was no small consideration. For Canadas prime minister to jet off to the United States while the border remains officially closed to many Canada-U.S. travellers would be bad optics, to say the least. Even the mask issue would have been awkward: Trudeau wears one in public; Trump does not. Mask or not, Trudeau does not need to be seen standing at Trumps side right now. It was only a few weeks ago that the prime minister let 21 seconds of silence elapse when asked about how Trump was handling the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the U.S. This no-show in Washington this week carries along in that same spirit of nonengagement: to gauge the Trudeau-Trump relationship in this intense time, its what the PM doesnt say or do that tells a lot. Whether its with deeds or words or without words Trudeau has spent the past few months being as different as possible from Trump in the handling of these two big forces rocking North America: the pandemic and the anti-racism protests. Trudeau also was one of the leaders throwing cold water on Trumps suggestions back in the spring about going ahead with the G-7 summit that was supposed to happen in the U.S. in June. Thats now postponed to September, at least, which may present its own problems down the road. By September, the U.S. presidential campaign will be ramping up and Trudeau wont be wanting to get anywhere near the fray between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Trudeau will say all the usual things that Canada can work with whomever turns out to be the winner in November but his ties to Biden are no secret. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The former vice-president to Barack Obama paid Canada a visit two years ago in which he pretty much declared Canadas prime minister to be the carrier of Obamas legacy in the world. Bidens campaign chief, Jen OMalley Dillon, has given advice to Trudeaus Liberals and late last year, Biden put Trudeau in one of his anti-Trump campaign ads. (The ad featured Trudeau and other world leaders laughing at Trump at a NATO summit.) A recent piece in The Economist said that the Biden camp was taking a dim view of Lopez Obradors planned visit to Washington this week, believing it is intended to help Trumps re-election. Trudeau would never say publicly that this is one of the factors that weighed against his attendance this week. He didnt need to, anyway. By any measure, Trudeau standing with Trump this week would have been a very bad idea. 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: Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives want to fast-track construction of thousands of homes including affordable housing at more than a dozen new transit stations to help Ontario rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Star has learned. The Tories on Tuesday will introduce sweeping legislation designed to make it easier to build transit-oriented communities atop or adjacent to stations on the forthcoming Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway, and the proposed Eglinton West LRT and Yonge North subway extensions. This would just apply to new stations, not existing TTC stations, said a senior government official, who, like others interviewed Sunday, spoke on background in order to discuss internal deliberations about Fords $28.5-billion transit expansion plan. The thinking is that we take the lands that wed be purchasing for the transit stations and use these same lands for the construction of housing, including affordable housing, a second official confirmed. Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Associate Transportation Minister Kinga Surma are expected to unveil the initiative on Monday before legislation is tabled the following day. One potentially controversial aspect of the bill is a proposal to give transit projects an exemption from the hearing of necessity process. Such hearings, which are non-binding, can create red tape that leads to 12 months of construction delays. That complements measures Mulroney announced in Februarys Better Transit Faster Act that expanded the provinces power to expropriate land and reduce the need for environmental approvals. A third government official says Tuesdays legislation would also give the province more flexibility to enter into joint ventures with developers and landowners. We would have individual agreements with each station project, said the third official. As you can imagine, some sites are going to have more potential than others. There are 15 proposed stations on the new Ontario Line, running from Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre; seven on the proposed LRT extension of the Eglinton Crosstown, the initial phase of which was supposed to be finished in September 2021, but has been delayed until 2022; three on the Scarborough subway; and a still-to-be-determined number on the Yonge North extension to Richmond Hill. The province insists it will work with municipalities and not run roughshod over local planning in order to expedite construction. A priority for us is to get a collaborative approach operationalized with municipalities. We know affordable housing is very important to Mayor (John) Tory and others and this is a program that can help deliver that, said the first official. We know people want the opportunity to work, play, and live near transit so they dont have to rely upon having a car, the official said. We really want the benefits of maximizing our investment in transit. The hope, said the third official, is that the legislation will clear past roadblocks that hemmed in governments. This is really about getting the most from our transit investment. This is a major change from the way Toronto has built transit before. Throughout the pandemic, which has left Ontario in a state of emergency since March 17, Ford has insisted it is full steam ahead with new transit projects, even though ridership has plummeted as more people work from home. With Ontario having lost 1.15 million jobs since the beginning of the outbreak, the premier is hopeful that big infrastructure investments can get many people back to work. These projects are mega-projects and will contribute to our economic recovery as we emerge from COVID-19, said the second official Sunday. The Tories hope their initiative will allow for the development of more housing around transit in an integrated manner and put more job opportunities within the reach of more people. And it would also save taxpayers money by having industry make direct, significant contributions to the cost of building transit for the benefit of communities, all transit riders, and Ontario taxpayers, the official said. In February, the government also announced a separate regulatory change to let Metrolinx, the arms-length provincial transit agency, move ahead with initial work on a project before an environmental assessment process is complete. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Those amendments, like the upcoming legislation, applied only to the Ontario Line and the other three priority projects. At the time, Mulroney insisted the new powers would not be abused, and claimed the Eglinton Crosstown would have been completed in 2019 if such measures had been in place. Were still going to respect property rights, negotiate in good faith, and treat people fairly. But were not going to spend 12 months getting permission to remove a tree, she told reporters at the time. The opposition New Democrats have said they approve of clearing barriers to building transit and affordable housing, but have expressed concern about the province overriding local planning. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: Japan Data A new record was set in April 2020 with women accounting for 36.8% of Japanese civil service hires. In May, the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs reported that of 8,461 civil servants hired in career-track, general, and specialized positions in fiscal 2020, 3,117 were women. This was a rise of 1.4 points from the previous year to a rate of 36.8%. By position, 35.4% of those hired in career-track positions were women, 39.1% in general positions, and 33.8% in specialist work. All these rates showed an increase compared to the rates in 2019. The percentage of women overall and among those recruited to career-track positions stayed in the 2025% range up to 2014. However, in 2015, this rose to 30% and from 2017 onward the overall rate has risen continuously, while the rate for career-track positions has risen since 2018. The increase from 2015 is the result of the Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality, which was approved by the cabinet in December of that year. As part of this plan, the government set a goal to increase the annual ratio of women recruited through the exams for national public service positions and the national public service career-track positions to more than 30% every year. Some organizations actually recruited more than 50% women with the Personal Information Protection Commission having the highest percentage at 66.7%, as four of their total six new hires were women. This was followed by the Cabinet Secretariat (total 17 hires) with 58.8%, the Consumer Affairs Agency (total 7 hires) with 57.1%, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (total 18 hires) at 55.6%, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (total 145 hires) at 52.4%, and the Board of Audit of Japan (total 32 hires) at 53.1%. Organizations with Womens Recruitment Rates Above 50% (2020) Ministry/Government Office Ratio of Women Personal Information Protection Commission 66.7% Cabinet Secretariat 58.8% Consumer Affairs Agency 57.1% Japan Fair Trade Commission 55.6% Ministry of Foreign Affairs 52.4% Board of Audit of Japan 53.1% Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs. The organization with the lowest rate of female hires was the Cabinet Legislation Bureau (total 1 new hire) with 0.0%. Also ranking low were the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (total 1,756 hires) with 26.1% and the National Public Safety Commission (total 221 hires), which administers the National Police Agency, with 33.0%. (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: A woman Self Defense official (left) teaches how to wear and remove protective clothing as part of a COVID-19 infection prevention course for Osaka government personnel and private accommodation employees in April 2020. Image provided by The Ministry of Defense. Jiji.) Struggling New Jersey residents seeking rental relief can apply for the states $100 million rental assistance program beginning 9 a.m. Monday. The Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program will provide up to six months of emergency rental assistance to low- and moderate-income households that have been affected by coronavirus, which has left more than 1 in 4 New Jerseyans unemployed and thousands unable to pay their rent. Largely funded by federal stimulus money, the program will be available to New Jersey renters who have been unable to pay as far back as March due to a loss in income because of Covid-19, according to the Department of Community Affairs, which is overseeing the program. Applicants must have an annual income below the maximum income limits in their county, and will be selected through an online lottery pool. The website is here. Paper applications will not be accepted, and those without internet can call to apply. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The application period is from 9 a.m. Monday and has been extended to July 17 at 5 p.m. Residents should check if they were approved around July 21. Pre-applications can be submitted online at https://www.waitlistcheck.com/NJ559-2809. If selected, tenants must contribute 30% of their income to rent, while the state covers the other 70%. The DCA will make the payments directly to the landlord. And households will be reviewed in October to determine if theyre still eligible. From the moment this emergency took hold, we have made it clear that no family should fear losing their home as a result of financial hardship due to COVID-19, Gov. Phil Murphy said when he announced the program at the May 29 press briefing. Residents can also apply for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for help with utility costs. The program recently received $29 million through the CARES Act. In April, Murphy also suspended rent increases for 36,000 low- and moderate-income homes, and some cities, including Hoboken and Newark, have independently imposed rent freezes. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Princeton University announced Monday that undergraduates will be able to return to campus for one semester during the 2020-21 academic year freshman and juniors in the fall and sophomores and seniors in the spring though most instruction will remain online due to ongoing coronavirus concerns. The plan will limit how many students can live in dormitories, require social distancing in classrooms and public spaces and prohibit large in-person gatherings, the university said in the announcement. All undergraduates will have the option to complete the entire year remotely, the school said. COVID-19 is still a very new disease, and much remains unknown about it, President Christopher L. Eisgruber said in a statement. Several points have, however, become clear. Based on the information now available to us, we believe Princeton will be able to offer all of our undergraduate students at least one semester of on-campus education this academic year, but we will need to do much of our teaching online and remotely. The decision was announced the same day that Rutgers University announced that it would offer mostly remote learning in the fall and offer only limited access to on-campus housing for students. Other high-profile universities, such as Harvard, have announced similar plans to reduce capacity of students on campus, with priority going to freshmen. Princeton came to its decision after more than 40 faculty and staff working groups studied the various concerns of re-opening the New Jersey university amidst a global pandemic. Because of the guidelines, tuition will be discounted by 10% for all students, the university announced. As coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country, the re-opening of schools in the fall has remained a pressing question surrounded with uncertainty of how officials should proceed. Princetons plan is centered around reducing density on campus and includes robust cleaning protocols and appropriate health monitoring, including regular COVID-19 testing of students on campus, the university announced. Students will be tested for COVID-19 when they arrive on campus and regularly thereafter, according to the guidelines. Those who tested positive for the virus will be required to isolate, while those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 but are not showing symptoms will be required to self-quarantine, the university said. The plan also requires every person on campus, including visitors, to wear a mask at all times while indoors, except when they are alone or in their living space. Masks are not required outdoors on campus as long as proper social distancing protocols are being followed, the university said. The university is requiring every undergraduate student who plans to return to campus to sign a social contract that articulates their commitment to following health and safety protocols and to observing behavioral expectations designed to promote the well-being of everyone at the school. Students may be removed from campus if their conduct violates any of the health and safety rules that have been established in response to the pandemic. Students who are unwilling or unable to comply with the restrictions in the social contract should not come to campus, the university said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. At the Banana Factorys Around the World summer art camp, which shifted to a completely virtual space, families can pick up a take-home art kit through a contactless process, said Lisa Harms, ArtsQuests senior director of visual arts and education. Each week, campers take a virtual arts trip to another part of the world from Europe to the Caribbean all from the comfort and safety of a computer. UPDATE, July 8, 2020: Defiant Linden gym gets shut down, but owner vows to fight back The coronavirus pandemic isnt keeping the people from their workouts at Powerhouse Gym in Linden the gym has been open since the end of June, defying Governor Phil Murphys orders, and has so far received 13 summonses from Linden Police. The gym, on South Park Avenue in Linden, was busy Monday with a full parking lot and a steady stream of people in and out around 1 p.m., despite signs on the door stating it was open by appointment only. When an NJ Advance Media reporter asked to speak to the owner, Anthony Rottino of Franklin Lakes, an employee said the owner was not there and declined to comment. A call to Rottinos home was not returned. Rottino ran as a Republican candidate for Bergen County freeholder in 2012. Rottino has been charged with six counts of maintaining a nuisance and seven counts of violating the executive order. Police issue summonses but did not shut the gym down, Linden Police Spokesman Lt. Christopher Guenther said. After the first round of summonses, the gym closed for three days, but reopened again on July 2. The matter has been referred to the NJ Attorney Generals Office for review, and additional enforcement actions may be taken if warranted, Guenther said. The Attorney Generals office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A man leaving the gym wearing a mask confirmed the gym has been open for the last two weeks. As long as I have a mask on Im good, he said, when asked if he feels safe working out inside during the pandemic. He declined to give his name. The governor has mandated that gym and fitness centers remain closed except for one-on-one personal training. If a gym or fitness center is offering multiple simultaneous instructions at the same facility, these instructions must take place in separate rooms or, if they take place in the same room, must be separated by a floor-to-ceiling barrier that complies with all fire code requirements, Murphys order says. New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan mentioned that a Linden gym was in violation of the executive orders during the governors press briefing on Friday. A man leaves Powerhouse Gym in Linden, which has been open despite Gov. Murphy's orders. (Rebecca Panico | NJ Advance Media) Gym-goers have posted videos of their workouts on Instagram, showing many people inside the space and very few, if any, wearing masks. The South Jersey gym that made headlines for attempting to reopen in May is continuing its fight with the state. On June 20, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler denied the request of the owners of Atilis Gym of Bellmawr to open. The gym owners attorney told Law360 he plans to appeal. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. New Jersey police departments received $11.8 million of surplus military equipment since 2018 including two heavily armored vehicles under a Pentagon program that is facing renewed scrutiny amid calls for police reform, federal records show. In Washington Township, Gloucester County, police tapped military hand-me-downs last year to acquire a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle that was designed more for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq than the streets of a sprawling suburban South Jersey community. So did the city of Passaic, which also received an MRAP, as the mammoth armored vehicles are typically called. Those were among thousands of pieces of castoff military equipment that New Jersey police departments got over the past 2 years from a longtime Defense Department program that provides excess military gear to them for free, other than the cost of shipping and maintenance. The program sent more than 100 vehicles to local departments, ranging from Humvees and cargo trucks to ATVs, fork lifts and motorized carts. It provided tactical gear that included 242 night-vision goggles, viewers and other illumination devices, and 379 gun sights -- including high-tech laser, thermal and holographic sights. Supporters call the federal Law Enforcement Support Office program a boon for local taxpayers and public safety, saying it has distributed $7.4 billion in needed equipment nationwide since its inception in the 1990s. They say most of the gear looks more like the aisles of Office Depot or Lowes than the corridors of Fallujah: Furniture, vacuums, exercise equipment and power tools ranked among the scores of mundane items that New Jersey departments recently received. But critics charge the program has contributed to the militarization of local police departments, an issue that has captured the national conversation following protests after the May death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. The protests have spurred demands for changes in the way police interact with their communities, including calls for resources to be shifted from law enforcement to the social services network. Washington Township and Passaic are among 18 New Jersey police departments that have received mine resistant vehicles since 2013, according to the federal Law Enforcement Support Office, which runs the surplus program. These weapons and this military equipment is better served for a war zone and not policing, said state Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, who spearheaded a 2015 law that added transparency to the acquisitions. This equipment was made for war. It was not made for policing communities. In February, Gill reintroduced a bill calling for the Attorney Generals Office to exercise greater oversight over the transfers. The Attorney Generals Office says acquisitions are already rigorously vetted, with departments required to justify requests for equipment such as armored vehicles, firearms or riot gear. The office is committed to ensuring that any military surplus is used only for necessary and appropriate law enforcement and rescue purposes, spokesman Peter Aseltine said in a prepared statement. Washington Township was shipped its MRAP valued at $767,360 when it was new in July 2019, federal records show. The township has also received two Humvees, one of them armored, since applying to the program three years ago, according to Jason Gonter, the senior deputy director of the townships office of emergency management. Gonter defended the acquisitions, saying the township is home to a public school system, a large New Jersey Transit bus depot and a campus of Jefferson Hospital, all of which could be potential targets of terrorism. The vehicles could also be useful in floods, snowstorms and other severe weather emergencies, he said. The primary responsibility of government is to promote public safety and protect its citizens, especially our children, Gonter said in a statement. You no doubt recall the terrible school and mass shootings around the country in the last 10 years or so. Passaics request for its MRAP valued at $300,000 new cited SWAT operations such as active shooters, barricaded suspects and hostage rescues, according to federal records. But Deputy Chief Jonathan Schaer said that while the vehicle would be used in such a crisis, it was more toward an eye for Superstorm Sandy-esque floods that it was acquired, given the citys location along the Passaic River. The MRAP can hold 10 to 20 people, sits 5 to 6 feet off the ground and could be used to ford flooded areas, Schaer said. And the price was right, considering it was free, he said. If someone had approached us and said, Hey, we have this giant truck for $300,000, Schaer said, the town likely wouldnt have acquired it. As it is, the MRAP has yet to be used. In fact, it is in the repair shop, Schaer said, with a broken air conditioning unit. Even once it is fixed, Schaer said he anticipates the vehicle will rarely be utilized. It served our purposes as a rescue vehicle. This happens to be what the federal government was offering and we took advantage of the program, Schaer said. He said Passaic has also received two Humvees, one of which is inoperable and being used for spare parts. Military surplus equipment has long proven controversial in New Jersey, where until recent years, the program operated with little oversight. A 2014 investigation by NJ Advance Media found departments had received M16 and M14 assault rifles, helicopters and even a grenade launcher, prompting legislative efforts to rein the acquisitions in. Despite the negative attention, much of the equipment local departments are receiving is useful and uncontroversial, said Brian Higgins, a former Bergen County public safety director who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Still, Higgins said he believes MRAPs are questionable for local police departments, and that the times are calling for greater scrutiny over military acquisitions in general. Higgins said there needs to be more transparency on the equipment police are amassing, and why it is justified in their community. Theres obviously a movement and the focus is police reform, police-community relations, race relations, Higgins said. I think we need to focus on that and building those relationships. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@njadvancemedia.com. Recent Delsea Regional High School graduates Sarah and Elizabeth Nicell were born a minute apart from each other and were only two places away from each other at the top of their class. Sarah graduated as the schools valedictorian and Elizabeth came in just two slots behind her, as the schools third honors. Both twins spoke at their schools virtual graduation two weeks ago. Earning valedictorian was kinda unexpected, Sarah, 18, told NJ Advance Media. Like as a kid, it was always my goal to do as well as I could and finish close to the top. In the middle of the pandemic and all these social issues, it became less of an issue, she said. But to have it, Im grateful. Similarly, Elizabeth said the honor was really cool because all three of the top members of the class, including John Yonkauske, the salutatorian, came from the same small community of Elks Township. The graduating class included roughly 260 students, the sisters said. I never had the same goal as being at the top as my sister, Elizabeth, 18, said, adding that she still felt obligated to to be in competition with her because were related. But its cool and Im really grateful to have the academic opportunities I have for college, she added. The sisters both spoke at the high schools virtual graduation on June 20, but theyre unsure if they are expected to speak at the in-person graduation on July 25. The virtual one was filmed in advance. As for next steps, Sarah plans to major in government at Franklin & Marshall College, a liberal arts school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She said shed like to someday go to law school and wants to work in civil rights and government reform. Elizabeth plans to major in English education at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and hopes to complete the five-year program, earning both her undergraduate and Masters degree. Both sisters said theyd been largely influenced by the recent protests against police brutality and the other social issues that have recently received more attention. Theyve attended about six protests so far, Sarah said. That and also, Im gay so my coming out experience, seeing my minority friends having to go through what they do in their school, she added, explaining her desire for government reform. And attending some of the protests have been really nice, she said. I dont want to be a white person and not doing anything, she said. The year didnt finish like either sister expected, but both said they were grateful for the honors theyve been awarded. Its been a major privilege to be in the place that we are and graduate in the place that we are, Sarah said. Obviously its unfortunate circumstances with a global pandemic happening in the middle of it but its been a good ride. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. A number of Mercer County residents had their mail-in ballots returned to their mailboxes after they were improperly scanned by the post office. Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello told NJ Advance Media her office received about 20 calls about returned ballots. The ballots were sent back to the senders when postal workers scanned the return address instead of the very large print address in the middle of the envelope, Sollami Covello said. The returned ballots were first reported by New Jersey Globe. Sollami Covello said she called South Jersey Regional Postmaster as soon as her office became aware of the issue, and the post office took immediate action, including re-educating workers on how to correctly scan the ballots. The post office approved the design, so we are holding them to the fire on this, making sure they fix and correct any issues we encounter, she said. Fred Levinton and Elizabeth Phillips, both Lawrence residents, told NJ Advance Media they were among those who had their ballots sent back to them. We mailed them originally at the same time and received back at the same time. I ripped mine open, wondering why they were sending me another ballot, before realizing that this was the ballot I had just sent in, Phillips said. They called the clerks office, which explained the scanning issue to them, the couple said. Anyone who had their ballot sent back to them could re-send it in the mail, but was advised to drop it off in one of five ballot boxes in Mercer County, or deliver it to the county Board of Elections in Trenton, Sollami Covello said. Because Phillips had ripped her ballot open when it was mailed back to her, the couple decided to avoid mailing them again, and dropped their ballots off in a ballot box in Princeton, she said. This is the first year the office has seen this issue more than once or twice, Sollami Covello said, adding that it was likely due to the increased volume of mail-in ballots. Tuesdays primary election will be mostly conducted through mail-in ballots, due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. All registered Democrats or Republicans received a ballot to vote by mail, and all registered unaffiliated voters received an application to do so. During a June 26 press conference, Gov. Phil Murphy said his office was aware some ballots were being sent back to voters, which also happened in a number of other counties, Chief Counsel Matt Platkin said. Were trying to get the balance right, as I mentioned many times, between what is right for the principles of democracy and the access to vote, but also protecting public health, Murphy said of the mail-in election. All ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, or dropped off in a county ballot boxes. Mailed in ballots will be counted if they are received up to ten days after the election. A limited number of polling locations will be open, but all in-person ballots will be provisional. Only those with special needs will have access to a polling booth. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. A 23-year-old man drowned Saturday at a sprawling former mining property in Ocean County, authorities said. Emergency crews on Sunday morning recovered the body of Edwin Caballero from water known as Crystal Lake at the privately-owned 7,000-acre Heritage Mineral property in Manchester, according to township police. Officers were called around 10 p.m. Saturday to the former mine to investigate a report that Caballero went missing between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., police said. Family members initially were not sure if the Plainfield resident was in the water or walked to a nearby wooded-area. Police and firefighters, assisted by a Brick police drone and a State Police helicopter, were unable to find Caballero, according to authorities. Shortly after daybreak Sunday, state troopers using advanced marine sonar located Caballero submerged in about 16 feet of water, police said. A preliminary investigation found that he accidentally drowned. While operating, the land was mined so deeply that bodies of water formed and became commonly known as lakes. In some part of southern New Jersey, such bodies of water are also called, blue holes. Seemingly unassuming, these bodies of water offer many dangers, police spokesman Capt. Todd Malland said. Because the lakes were formed as a result of the mining operation, they do not have stable bottoms or shore lines, the way naturally occurring lakes do. The banks are very unpredictable and dangerously unstable. The so-called lakes feature quick drop-offs after entering the mineral-laden spring water, which is often colder and provides less buoyancy. Police said the area is closed to the public and trespassers could face criminal charges. Anyone with information on the drowning was asked to call local police Detective Christian Nazario at 732-657-2009 ext. 4221 or Detective John Carroll, of the Ocean County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 732-929-2027. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. By Tamara Lee Police unions and their proponents deny systemic racism, defend excessive force and racialized brutality by their members, and fight against accountability, transparency and substantial criminal justice reform. Big Labors #AllUnionsMatter response is a knee on the neck of the #BlackLivesMatter cries of its membership. The top leadership of the AFL-CIO, whose D.C. headquarters were targeted during the protests, refuses to denounce the International Union of Police Associations. President Richard Trumka said in a recent interview that he prefers to engage with our police affiliates rather than expel them. And while the Writers Guild of America East, Workers United Upstate New York, and a handful of other unions are calling for disaffiliation, scores of top unions and their leaders are declining comment on police unions or just evading the point. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the issue of collective bargaining and police misconduct a false choice. She suggested we focus on demilitarizing the police. Such tepid responses are in stark comparison to the unaffiliated SEIU, whose top leadership has publicly committed to alignment with the goals of the Movement for Black Lives, despite directly representing police and correctional employees. The AFL-CIOs blind defenses of collective bargaining fail to address a fundamental truth of collective power. Renowned labor law scholar Benjamin Sachs summed it up when he wrote, Unions have used collective bargaining to protect their members from accountability for racist killing. And, in doing so, they may well have made such killing more likely and more frequent. What the biggest labor federation in the United States fails to see is that this is not just about a few militarized, killer apples. Systemic anti-Black racism is about the institutional abuse of power against Black Americans, and that potential also exists in well-intentioned good unions. Its time for labor leaders to re-examine the false choice narrative and scrutinize structural biases within their organizations. They should radically reimagine how unions can use collective bargaining power to address the long-running and unremedied systemic racial and economic abuse of Black union members. The structural, identity-based injustices that are normalized in collective bargaining agreements are especially apparent in the persistent economic disparities facing those workers whom the labor movement historically and traditionally opposed: Black, non-white, immigrant, women, etc., and those falling in the intersections. Lets consider a few stats on racial inequities. Despite being twice as likely to unionize, Black workers continue to suffer twice the unemployment rate of white workers. And while unionization significantly narrows the wage gap for Black workers, it does not eliminate it. Economist Christian Weller wrote in a 2018 Forbes column, Among union members, whites had a little over five times the median wealth of African Americans between 2010 and 2016. This is a large difference, but a far cry from the overall gap of 10-to-one. And it is a lot better than the wealth gap among non-union members, where whites had 37 times as much as African Americans did. Although unionization benefits all workers, these statistics reveal that unions have not done enough through collective bargaining to erase systemic white supremacy and racial inequities such as wage disparities. But there is cause for optimism. There is great hope in the new labor energy present in a reimagined contemporary labor movement that is led increasingly by women and people of color. It has shown real innovation with whole squid organizing approaches and successful campaigns to bargain for the common good. The teachers unions in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis exemplified this by standing up for their students and communities, not just their members, in recent negotiations. To play a bigger part in rooting out the overarching racial inequities embedded deep in the U.S. political economy, the obvious next step for the labor movement should be to lead the national discussion on reparations and reparative justice not only in policing, but in a broader fight against racial capitalism. This would require more than mere support for H.R. 40. Yes, unions should continue to prioritize and support legislative efforts for reparations for the institutions of slavery and Jim Crow segregation. But they, like their police brethren, must also fight implicit racial abuse of their collective power. Unions must acknowledge and intentionally target internal systemic abuse hidden in traditional colorblind collective bargaining agreements. Resting on a distinction between the collective power of Big Labor and the darker collective action of police unions sets up a false extraction of economic injustice from policing injustice. For Black workers, those oppressions are inextricably linked. Tamara Lee, Esq., is an assistant professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. In a CNN opinion piece last month, columnist Aunjanue Ellis quoted Malcolm X speaking in Harlem in 1964: "What has Mississippi got to do with Harlem? ... It's America. America is Mississippi. If one room in your house is dirty, you've got a dirty house." Those words rang true again last week as Mississippis legislature and governor were shamed into finally retiring and calling for a redesign of their state flag, which incorporates the Confederate battle flag. The issue became local to Hudson County and New Jersey just over a year ago when Gov. Murphy, at the urging of state Sen. Sandra Cunningham of Jersey City, refused to allow the Mississippi flag to be flown with the other state flags on Freedom Way in Liberty State Park. Obviously, there is much cleaning still to be done in Americas house. But we see reason for hope that the uprisings we are experiencing in the wake of George Floyds murder will foster change. Friends of Liberty State Park President Sam Pesin confirms that Mississippis hateful flag is still in storage and not hanging on Freedom Way. Maybe next year a redesigned flag will make its debut there. Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com. In the first major ruling on abortion since President Trump appointed his conservative majority, the U.S. Supreme Court just struck down a Louisiana law that would it have made harder for women to get the procedure, in a 5-4 decision. Yet for abortion rights advocates like Dr. Leslie Kantor of the Rutgers School of Public Health, a department chair who formerly worked for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, this was no big sigh of relief. She spoke to editorial writer Julie OConnor about what it might mean for the future of Roe v. Wade. Q. The court just ruled against requiring doctors who supply abortions in Louisiana to have admitting privileges, a sort of business relationship between a doctor and hospital. How reassuring is this, given the other abortion cases still in the pipeline? A. I think we can feel good about this decision, because it preserves access for women in Louisiana. Now there are three health centers there that provide abortion, rather than the one that would have remained if the case had gone the other way. And I dont think we will see a continued set of Supreme Court cases related to this ridiculous issue of hospital admitting privileges, which has now been widely shown to be unimportant in terms of womens care. Hopefully this one tactic has been stopped. Q. What other abortion issues will the court take up soon? A. There are three categories that Im aware of. One is these almost outright bans on abortion theyre often called 6-week bans. Thats essentially a complete ban on abortion, because so many women dont find out theyre pregnant until past 6 weeks, several days after a missed period. This could potentially be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, which established the right to an abortion. Other cases deal with bans on particular procedures, a long-time strategy of anti-abortion folks. Like a ban on dilation and evacuation, which is used a little later in pregnancy. Telling doctors how they can practice medicine is something most people dont think Legislatures should be doing. But many are. There are also attempts to ban people from being able to get abortion for particular reasons for example, because of a diagnosis of Down Syndrome. These kinds of tactics are particularly disturbing; none of us wants to be splitting with the disability rights movement. Its very tactical politically, aimed at making it difficult for people to understand what the underlying issues are. The strategy of those who dont believe people should have right to the full range of reproductive health care is to chip away at it and try everything they can to make it more challenging. Q. Is there room for a middle ground here, in which the court backs abortion rights in some cases and not others? A. Neither Justices Neil Gorsuch nor Brett Kavanaugh have a long track record on abortion rulings. This gave us a kind of first glimpse. Not surprisingly, they came down on the side they were put on the court to come down on. I dont think theres much hope that somehow there are reasonable approaches coming up though the court system, and the Supreme Court will be able to reason some kind of moderate stance. The truth is, abortion is really difficult to get in many areas of this country already. Women have done a great job preventing unintended pregnancy, which is at its lowest level since we started measuring it. To say we should put a whole bunch of restrictions on a medical procedure that is necessary to people in a bunch of states its almost like saying, maybe we could influence obesity rates by limiting heart surgery. If you have two clogs in an artery, well save you, but three, youve behaved badly. There is no other medical procedure that we treat the way we treat abortion. I think people are realizing this is really about sexism and misogyny, not health care. Q. Why did the majority on the court see this Louisiana law as a fake protection a way to restrict abortion, rather than make it safer for women? A. The four justices who actually decided the case on the merits are the same folks who ruled four years ago against a Texas law that also required hospital admitting privileges. What we know is, abortion is about the safest surgical procedure that exists. Its extremely rare for women to have to be hospitalized for any reason following an abortion. The reasons why outpatient clinicians have a hard time getting inpatient privileges have nothing to do with clinical skills. One reason is that theyre not going to admit a lot of patients. Abortion is very low risk. This is a group of people who are not going to bring hospitals a lot of business, so hospitals dont necessarily want to provide privileges. If you dont know a lot about medical care, requiring admitting privileges can sound very reasonable. But in fact, its not. Even when doctors tried to get them, they were not able to, for reasons that had nothing to do with their clinical skills. Q. What would have happened if the court had gone the other way and upheld the law? A. In Louisiana itself, two clinics would have immediately closed because they didnt have any physician with admitting privileges. And in about 15 other states, Legislatures have similar bills ready to go. We would have seen a proliferation of these undue burdens across the country. Q. Chief Justice Roberts voted with the courts liberals, saying he was bound to uphold precedent in this case. Does that indicate hes likely to support the precedent of Roe v. Wade? A. Not necessarily. Justice Roberts had thought it was ok to have admitting privileges when it came to the Texas law. And even if that case was decided wrongly, he was basically saying, we have to stick with it. It really was a very narrow vote. Thats why people dont just say, Oh terrific, Justice Roberts seems to now care about reproductive health and rights. His record would suggest that on some of these other cases, he might not stick with the liberals. Q. The Trump administration denounced this ruling. Polls show most Americans support the right to an abortion, but in 2016, Trump had more success into making this an election issue. Could that change this time around? A. I think what we know is that Trump is incredibly unpopular with most groups of voters. The gender gap is large and increasing. Theres about an 18-point gender gap already, and its only July. Trump is unpopular for so many reasons that Im not sure even a very galvanized anti-abortion movement is going to be of much help to him. ....Federal Judges (many more to come), two great new Supreme Court Justices, the Mexico City Policy, and a whole new & positive attitude about the Right to Life. The Radical Left, with late term abortion (and worse), is imploding on this issue. We must stick together and Win.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. A state appeals court on Monday dismissed arguments by George E. Norcross III and several business entities tied to the powerful South Jersey Democrat that they were the targets of an unlawful public investigation by Gov. Phil Murphy and a task force he appointed to investigate alleged abuses at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. In its ruling, an Appellate Court panel said case records showed the governor had legitimate concerns about a state entitys administration of tax-incentive programs, supporting his creation of the task force formed to take a critical look into how billions in public dollars were spent. The court also rejected allegations raised by Norcross and others that the task force was illegal, finding the arguments insufficient to show that the task force improperly investigated private entities. It added that the fact the task force did not portray plaintiffs in a positive light does not cast doubt on the lawfulness of its investigation. Attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr., who represented the governor and the task force, said the opinion completely vindicates Gov. Murphys power to form the task force and the conduct of the task force. A spokesman for the governor said the investigation was never about one geographic area or one person. It was always about ensuring that every dollar of taxpayer money is spent wisely and that any company applying for a tax incentive is vetted to ensure the information provided is accurate and the need for incentives is legitimate, said Darryl Isherwood. A spokesman for Norcross did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At issue was a lawsuit filed by Norcross and others in June 2019 that sought to shut down the special governors task force that has been investigating the awarding by the EDA of state tax incentives intended to lure business to the state. Murphy has long been an outspoken critic of the program, which he has maintained wasted far too much taxpayer money and created far too few jobs. However, attorneys for Norcross and others with ties to him argued that despite the wide-ranging inquiry, it soon become evident that the task force had zeroed in on the city of Camden, and specifically to Norcross-connected companies benefitting from the state incentives, calling it a political hit job. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Norcross; his insurance company, Conner Strong & Buckelew, LLC; NFI, L.P.; The Michaels Organization, LLC; Cooper University Health Care, where Norcross serves as chairman; and Parker McKay, a law firm headed by a Norcross brother. It claimed that they had been falsely and publicly accused of misconduct regarding the tax incentives and that they were denied a fair opportunity to refute those accusations. Attorneys for Norcross said the task force had improperly wielded the authority conferred by state statute to investigate companies and individuals who were all private parties. But Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson last July dismissed the allegations, as attorneys for the governor argued that the lawsuit was only intended to stop the task force from doing its work. She concluded that the claim the task force exceeded its authority and targeted these individuals and [that] it was a sham and not bona fide were unsupported. In arguments appealing the dismissal of the lawsuit, attorneys for Norcross and others maintained that the governor had no statutory authority to investigate anyone not actually involved in the management or affairs of any department of state government. The Constitution of New Jerseyrestricts the allowable targets of the governors investigatory powers to public officer[s] or employees, they wrote, complaining that Jacobson prevented them from showing that Norcross was singled out as part of the task force investigation. The task force, headed by former state Public Advocate Ronald Chen, was formed by Murphy in January 2019 following a critical audit by the New Jersey comptroller, who concluded the EDA may have improperly awarded, miscalculated, overstated and overpaid tax credits to a number of unidentified companies. The report also said the EDA, which is responsible for directing New Jerseys economic development efforts, could not evaluate whether its inventive programs generated any economic benefits to the state, and had certified projects and released tax credits even when projects did not meet the requirements, in violation of the law. The governors task force and its chief counsel, Jim Walden, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor, later charged that legislation meant to spur economic development in the state had been re-written in part to benefit Norcross interests in Camden, and that shortcomings in how the state Economic Development Authority evaluated tax incentive applications may have resulted in improper awards to those and other companies. It charged that the EDA had failed to accurately determine whether applicants were actually at risk of locating jobs outside of New Jersey if denied incentives. The appellate panel in its ruling on Monday cited the report by the comptroller and a separate report by the State Auditor in rejecting the Norcross claims that he had been targeted. Both the State Auditors report and the State Comptrollers report enhance the narrative and provide necessary context to understand the task forces actions, wrote Superior Court Judges Scott Moynihan and Stephanie Ann Mitterhoff in a 28-page ruling. They reveal the governors legitimate concerns about a state entitys administration of tax-incentive programs, thereby supporting his creation of the task force. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. David Wildstein who was fined $10,000 and paid another $14,314.04 in restitution after pleading guilty in the Bridgegate case will get his money returned, after the charges against him were dismissed by a federal judge last month. At the same time, a state court separately has lifted a permanent prohibition against Wildstein and former Bridgegate defendants Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni, that had banned them from ever again holding a public position. In a filing before U.S. District Court Susan Wigenton in Newark, Wildsteins attorney argued that it is now appropriate for the government to return the fines, restitution and special assessment previously paid in connection with his guilty plea. The judge, who presided over the Bridgegate trial, signed the order on Monday without comment. Wildstein was the admitted mastermind of the September 2013 scheme of political retribution that shifted toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge to create massive gridlock in Fort Lee, aimed at punishing a mayor who had backed away from an endorsement in Gov. Chris Christies campaign for re-election that year. The case became widely known as Bridgegate. A former high-ranking political appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Wildstein later pleaded guilty and testified at trial against Kelly and Baroni the former Christie Administration insiders who were found guilty in November 2016 of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the bizarre scheme. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Kelly, 47, who served as deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Baroni, 48, a former GOP state senator the governor named to become the deputy executive director of the Port Authority. While the court said the two had used deception to reduce Fort Lees access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, and thereby jeopardized the safety of the towns residents, it found that their actions were not a crime under the statute used to convict them. With the dismissal, the charges against Wildstein were also tossed out, after his attorney asserted that he was legally innocent of the offenses to which he had pled guilty because of the Supreme Court ruling. Along with a $200 court-ordered assessment, he will get back $24,514.04. Wildstein on Monday declined comment, referring to a statement he issued after the Supreme Court decision in which he said: The conduct by me and others was still wrong. This is not a vindication. My apologies stand, my remorse continues, and I fully accept responsibility for my role. He is now the editor of New Jersey Globe, a political news site. Meanwhile, Wildstein, Baroni and Kelly will now all able to again work for the state or other public office, with the lifting of a ban that was put in place in the wake of the Bridgegate charges. Court filings show that a Middlesex County Superior Court judge in June set aside orders signed in 2018 that permanently disqualified the three from holding any public office or position. In a filing by the state Attorney Generals office, the order was set aside and vacated by Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Police have identified two people killed in a crash early Sunday morning at a Salem County intersection. Ronald Lane, 61, of Millville, was driving an Infiniti I-30 sedan east on Route 56/Landis Avenue in Pittsgrove Township just before 12:30 a.m. when his car collided with a Dodge Ram pickup truck traveling south on County Road 638/Gershal Avenue, according to a New Jersey State Police spokesman. Lane and his passenger, Vivian Church, 71, of Millville, were pronounced dead at the scene. The Dodge driver, a 34-year-old Franklinville man, was taken to a hospital for injuries and later released. The accident remains under investigation and no charges have been filed. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Cloudy. Cooler. High 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 46F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer, left, and County Manager Ryan Piche wore their masks during a news conference on Thursday about the new COVID-19 community testing program and to remind people of the urgency to wear masks. They removed their masks only to speak in order to be understood through the microphones provided by news outlets. Julie Abbass/Watertown Daily Times Aiji Daste and Indigo Soul Martin are proud to wear their politics on their plates. This month marks what would have been the 80th birthday of Paul Prudhomme, the superstar chef and restaurateur who brought new life to Cajun cuisine and popularized it around the world. Prudhomme was born on July 13, 1940, the youngest of 13 children who grew up on a farm near Opelousas, Louisiana. He developed a love for cooking while helping prepare family meals. Prudhomme came to New Orleans in the 1960s and became executive chef at Commanders Palace in 1975. There, under the supervision of Ella and Dick Brennan, Prudhomme earned local and national praise for his cooking. In 1979, he and his wife Kay opened K-Pauls Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter. The tiny Chartres Street eatery was a near-overnight sensation, earning the attention of food writers nationwide. Described by The New York Times as a bear of a man who once weighed 500 pounds, Prudhommes joyful personality also made him a walking advertisement for the joys of Cajun cuisine, the newspaper wrote. He became a national celebrity, making TV appearances, writing nine cookbooks and hosting five PBS cooking series, produced locally by WYES-TV. At K-Pauls, Prudhomme introduced blackened redfish, setting off a nationwide craze which made the fish so popular it threatened the species. Prudhomme also is credited with introducing the turducken, now a mainstay. French Quarter Staycation: The Historic New Orleans Collections' French Quarter museums and buildings We conclude our French Quarter summer staycation series by highlighting the museums and research centers of The Historic New Orleans Collectio After requests from diners for samples of the spices used in his cooking, Prudhomme established Magic Seasoning Blends in 1982. The company manufactures and distributes a line of spice blends in all 50 states and 37 countries. Prudhomme died in 2015. His restaurant remains a French Quarter fixture and his spice products are popular sellers. A Pennsylvania State University research project conducted in 2018 found that internet speeds in the state were dismal. Counties such as Sullivan and Wyoming in the northeast, along with vast areas in and near the Allegheny National Forest in the northwest, had the slowest speeds. Some were as dismal as 0-3 megabits per second, far below the FCCs 25 mbps benchmark for high speed. A 2016 Federal Communications Commission report estimated that 39% of rural Americans, about 23 million people, had no access to 25 mbps. In Pennsylvania, the number of people without access to high-speed internet is 803,645, about 6% of the states total population. Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. Dr. Dabney M. Ewin, a surgeon who became a proponent of medical hypnosis and taught it at New Orleans medical schools, died June 24 at his New Orleans home. He was 94. Ewin, a World War II veteran, started exploring medical hypnosis in his mid-30s. He taught the subject for 40 years and was the first president of the New Orleans Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He was also, late in life, a dancer. At 86, Ewin took up tap dancing, starting at an age when most hoofers had long since doffed their tap shoes for the last time. Ewin, who could be seen about town sporting his trademark fedora, joined the ranks of tap dancers because they were happy people, his son Dabney Ewin Jr. said. It just shows the kind of energy as well as the fun kind of spirit that he had, said D. Corydon Hammond, a psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and a longtime friend. Dabney Minor Ewin was born in New Orleans on Dec. 7, 1925, to James Perkins Ewin and Lucille Havard Scott Ewin. He graduated from Isidore Newman School in 1943 and entered Tulane Univeristy, where he majored in engineering. World War II was raging, and Ewin was in Navy ROTC. In 1945, before his graduation, he was commissioned in the Navy. He served as an anti-aircraft gunnery officer aboard the cruiser Columbia in the Atlantic Ocean. When the young officer returned from the war, he enrolled in Tulanes School of Medicine, even though he didnt have an undergraduate degree. For 35 years, Ewin was a partner in the medical group Houston Roy Faust & Ewin, an occupational health center. Working with burn patients at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Chalmette turned Ewin on to the medical possibilities of hypnosis, Hammond said. 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 He would use hypnosis to cope with the pain and promote healing, said Hammond. Dabney Ewin Jr. watched the power of suggestion at work when his father touched someone with a pencil but said it was a match. He could create a blister with a match, Ewin Jr. said, but his father was loath to sensationalize what he had done because he was fighting for a responsible place for it in medicine. One of Ewins more memorable patients had fallen up to his knees in molten aluminum, Dabney Ewin Jr. said. Dad gave him a suggestion that his legs were cool and comfortable...He was out of the hospital in six weeks. Ewin pushed for recognition of hypnosiss medical benefits and convinced local medical schools to allow him to teach classes. He taught hypnosis at both the Tulane and LSU medical schools and led workshops on the subject. Tulanes medical school honored Ewin in 2015 by establishing an annual lectureship in hypnosis bearing his name. He was a past president of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and the American Board of Medical Hypnosis. In addition to awards from hypnosis-related groups, Ewin in 1994 was named a distinguished visiting professor by the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Among Ewins publications was the book 101 Things I Wish Id Known When I Started Using Hypnosis. Ewin never retired. At 93, he delivered the keynote address at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in San Antonio. He was married twice. His first wife, Ethelyn Alexander Sherrouse Ewin, with whom he had four children, died in 2010. Marilyn Allison Ewin died in 2013. Survivors include two sons, Dabney Minor Ewin Jr. of New Orleans and Dr. Christopher Scott Ewin of Fort Worth; two daughters, Constance Ewin Commette of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Leila Ewin Conner of New Orleans; four grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. The funeral and burial will be private. Ernst & Young said Monday it will more than double its workforce in downtown New Orleans, adding another floor to the space it is leasing in the Hancock Whitney Center at 701 Poydras St. to house the additional 200 white collar workers. EY, one of the "Big Four" accounting firms, with its headquarters in London, in the United Kingdom, said 175 of the new jobs will be part of its "National Executive Assistance Team," which will make it one of five such centers in the country that provide back office support for the firm's functional lines of business, such as audit and transaction advice. The other 25 jobs will be in EY's "risk services" division, adding to the firm's 180 jobs already located in the Hancock Whitney Center. New Orleans was tapped for the new back office center, which will require lease of an additional 41,000 square feet of space, because of "the citys exceptional pool of qualified and diverse talent, its strong sense of community, and its attractive economic conditions," EY said in a statement. The firm's senior partner in Louisiana, Brian Rotolo, added that "the opening of our NEAT center, as well as the renovation of our office space, underscores our firms commitment to this market and to our people. The EY expansion did not come with any specific tax incentive package, such as was negotiated for the location of DXC's "technology center" in the Central Business District last year, according to state officials. They will be eligible for job-creating tax breaks under Enterprise Zone and similar programs, which are widely available. The news will come as a relief to some real estate analysts, including Corporate Realty, which had expressed worry that the Central Business District's big office developments maybe running out of momentum, after being supported by a number of upgrades by companies including Hancock Whitney Bank into the bigger downtown offices from smaller premises that are earmarked for conversion to hotels and condominiums. 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 The move was welcomed by state and local politicians and business leaders as a sign that the local economy continues to diversify. Im proud to see a global powerhouse like EY investing in New Orleans this way, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, adding that placing the NEAT center here and more than doubling the workforce is a vote of confidence in the city. Governor John Bel Edwards also praised the move and said he expects further expansion of the professional services sector after the EY decision. Louisiana Economic Development, the state's business support agency, estimates that the additional EY expansion will create 97 indirect jobs. EY already has closed its entry-level administrative assistant recruitment drive for the NEAT center, which it advertised two weeks ago. The company was looking for people with a bachelor's degree and one year of experience and described the work of the executive assistant as providing "diversified administrative support to a variety of client-serving and 'core business services professionals.' " Specific tasks would include managing calendars, setting up calls and meetings, processing expense reports and fielding clients' requests, all in a remote, digital environment. "These investments will encourage our people to grow as professionals and to produce their best work," creating opportunities for advancement, said Rotolo. We are pleased to work with EY as they continue to expand in the New Orleans market, providing even more professional opportunities for greater New Orleans residents, said President and CEO Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Inc., which coordinated the talks with EY. The firms growth and commitment to the city is another example of the excellent environment that New Orleans provides for businesses, including its skilled workforce, low operating costs and outstanding quality of life. Two Northshore High School seniors have received Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps Scholarships worth $180,000 each. Georgianna Fatic and Noah Plunket, both of the Class of 2020, were presented their scholarship checks during Northshore High's commencement on June 20. Each student applied for the Marine Option College Program, which is the part of Navy ROTC specifically designed to mold aspiring college students into Marine Corps officers. Each scholarship covers the cost of tuition, textbooks, fees and uniforms. Fatic will attend Auburn University, and Plunkett will attend The Citadel in South Carolina. St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up During the four-year program, Fatic and Plunket will gain professional military education and the leadership experience that is expected from a Marine 2nd lieutenant. Only the individuals of the highest caliber are selected for the NROTC program, the military said. Each applicant was required to submit a package and meet several requirements to even be considered. The winners were then selected by Marine officers to become future leaders in the Corps. For more information, visit www.MarineOfficer.com. Shortly after a New Orleans coronavirus testing center ran out of its allotted 150 tests within minutes of opening, local health officials addressed the issue in a Monday afternoon news conference. New Orleans Health Department Director Jennifer Avegno said the issue is with labs' shortage of supplies. At least 150 people were standing in line when the site at Dillard University in Gentilly opened at 8 a.m. Monday, causing the city to hit its newly lowered daily capacity of 150 tests by 8:02 a.m., according to a social media post by the city. The city had to turn people away on the first day that testing capacity was lowered to 250 tests per day, a move aimed at helping the city's testing providers preserve test trays, droppers and the chemicals used in test processing. New Orleans coronavirus test site runs out of tests minutes after opening; others turned away New Orleans' city-run coronavirus testing site ran out of tests within minutes of opening on Monday, showcasing the high testing demand in the During the news conference Monday, Avegno said a testing facility that initially said it could meet any testing capacity can no longer keep up, which is part of a larger issue nationally. 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 "We have plenty of materials that take the test from you," Avegno said. "What the issue is the big machines that are being used to run a lot of our community-based testing sites, they need supplies and materials as well to run the machines." Can't see video below? Click here. Avegno said she's not surprised with the demand for testing. Statewide, there have been 66,327 confirmed cases and 3,188 deaths as of noon Monday. Numbers have continued to tick upward in recent weeks across the country as states move into stages of reopening. On Monday, the city saw 36 new cases and no new deaths, bringing its totals to 8,143 and 534, respectively. The city's rolling average of new cases crossed above its threshold of 50 for the first time since April 5 on Thursday. Officials have said that cases above 50 per day over an average of at least three days is cause for concern. New Orleans' city-run coronavirus testing site ran out of tests within minutes of opening on Monday, showcasing the high testing demand in the city as cases rise amid a national shortage in testing supplies. More than 150 people were standing in line when the site at Dillard University in Gentilly opened at 8 a.m., which meant the city hit its daily testing capacity of 150 by 8:02 a.m., according to city officials. Monday marked the first day of testing after New Orleans officials lowered daily capacity from 250 tests per day, a move aimed at helping the city's testing providers preserve test trays, droppers and the chemicals used in test processing. With cases soaring in Texas, Florida and other states, public-health officials are scrambling to ramp up test programs. That has left many of the required testing materials in short supply. The supply shortage, meanwhile, has in many cases created longer turnaround times for residents awaiting their results. "This is obviously something thats incredibly concerning to us," said New Orleans Health Department Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno. "One of the reasons New Orleans was able to flatten the curve so quickly and so well is because we were always testing at a high level." +2 New Orleans residents urged to avoid large July 4 crowds amid coronavirus resurgence Citing troubling signs of a coronavirus resurgence and a local testing supply plagued by national shortages, New Orleans officials urged resid New Orleans was identified as an early haven for the virus in March and April, and city and state officials in partnership with the federal government were able to ramp up testing capacity to address the outbreak. The city quickly began a drive-thru testing program that had tested roughly 13,000 people by late April; by early June, it had pivoted to a walk-up program that focused on hard-hit neighborhoods. Since then, the city has tested around 850 people per day at public and private facilities under a model that now focuses in part on places where the disease is likely to spread, such as nursing homes and other "congregate" living areas. Aside from those sites, which are not open to everyone, at least one site is open to the general public every day, City Hall spokeswoman LaTonya Norton said. People can still be tested at Crescent Care in the St. Roch neighborhood and at various other private locations in the New Orleans area. The Crescent Care tests, like those in the city's program, are free, but there are delays in getting results. Crescent Care CEO Noel Twilbeck Jr. said LabCorp, which partnered with Crescent Care for testing, has moved more slowly to process tests under current conditions. Infections fell in May and June to levels where Mayor LaToya Cantrell felt comfortable opening up businesses and reducing other restrictions aimed at slowed the spread of the virus. But in recent days, cases across Louisiana are surging. On Monday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 1,101 newly confirmed cases across the state. The tally of new infections has risen by more than a thousand a day in seven of the last 10 days, after holding mostly below 500 a day through much of May and early June. And while the numbers haven't jumped quite as high in Orleans Parish, officials are still concerned about a recent rise. On Monday, the city saw 36 new cases and no new deaths, bringing its totals to 8,143 and 534, respectively. The city's rolling average of new cases crossed above 50 for the first time since April 5 on Thursday. Officials have said that cases averaging above 50 per day is cause for concern. +2 Will New Orleans public school students be in class in fall? 'Roadmap to reopening' released Unless a spike in coronavirus cases prompts another citywide shutdown, parents can expect New Orleans public schools to offer a mix of distanc 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 Avegno has said numbers are rising because more people are gathering in large numbers and not wearing masks. Cantrell has not tightened restrictions in New Orleans has a result of the uptick, but has said that children may not be allowed to attend school in the fall if it continues. Coronavirus infections have also risen in recent days in Jefferson Parish. With 10,097 cases since the pandemic began, the parish is now home to roughly one out of every six cases identified in the state. The parish's Alario Center testing site, which opened at 8 a.m., had reached its capacity just before 1 p.m. Immaculate Conception in Marrero was also preparing to test residents from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. It was unclear if the parish also planned to change what had been a 250 test per day limit. Federal officials advise that cities need to test between 4% to 5% of their population daily to best track the disease, a benchmark New Orleans is hitting even under reduced daily capacity. But Avegno said a prolonged shortage of testing materials could hamper efforts to determine how many people have been infected with the virus and whether more restrictions are necessary. "If you don't test, you don't know," Avegno said. The problem stems from a shortage of the types of plastic used to make droppers, also called pipettes, that are used to transport liquid from one place to another in labs, Avegno said last week. The reagent that is used to process the tests is also short supply, as are the trays used in the testing machines that the city relies on, she added on Monday. The shortages reflect higher use across the country. Twilbeck, of Crescent Care, added tests that used to only take two or three days to process are now are taking up to five days, as LabCorp can't keep up with everyone seeking a test. Crescent Care had offered tests free of charge from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but more recent weeks has closed at 2 p.m. each day. "We only have so much capacity," Twilbeck said. Avegno said the city is working with its federal delegation to try to beef up local supplies, but she did not provide a timeline for any increased testing capacity. The city's Gentilly site closes each day at 1:30 p.m. or whenever tests run out. The site will offer another 150 tests on Tuesday at 8 a.m. The New Orleans coroner's office released the names of three people fatally shot last week. All three have been ruled homicides. Jeffery Darensbourg, 34, was fatally shot in the 2200 block of Westbend Pkwy. He died at the scene. Around 3:30 p.m. Friday, Brian Hayes, 41, died after he was shot in the 8400 block of I-10 Service Road in the West Lake Forest neighborhood of New Orleans East. Officers arrived at the Rodeway Inn & Suites to find Hayes suffering from a gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. NOPD spokeswoman Paris Holmes said shooting happened in the motel's parking lot. She said two other people were wounded identifying them only as a man and a woman and they both went to University Medical Center in privately owned vehicle and are now in stable condition. A woman working the front desk of the motel, who would identify herself only as Diana, said she heard three gunshots and called police and an ambulance around 3:30 p.m., but did not know what had precipitated the shooting. On Friday, Kevin Thomas Jr., 35, died after he was shot in front of a Dollar General in the 2800 block of South Claiborne Avenue in Central City. Police were called to the scene for an aggravated battery by shooting and found a 36-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to UMC for treatment but died from his injuries. A new study of individuals treated for Parkinsons disease in Louisiana found a clear correlation between the disease and the use of two types of herbicide and one pesticide in rural areas dominated by forestry, woodlands and pastures. The study also found that Parkinsons disease has become less common in areas of the state where cotton, corn and soybean farmers have switched to the use of the herbicide glyphosate, sold under the brand name of Roundup although that product has recently been linked to some forms of cancer, which the study did not examine. Roundup is manufactured in Luling by the Bayer subsidiary Monsanto. The peer-reviewed, open-access study by three LSU researchers was published online in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on Feb. 29. Parkinsons disease involves the progressive degeneration of the nervous system, and its symptoms include tremors, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movements. It mostly affects middle-aged and elderly people, and its onset can take six to 10 years before symptoms are recognized. The study found that in the seven-year period ending in 2012, the areas at greatest risk included large portions of Allen and Evangeline parishes, where between 35 and 46 individuals per 10,000 residents were treated for Parkinsons in hospitals. That band of high risk stretched across the lower middle of the state from Beauregard Parish to Iberville Parish, where farm pastures and timberland are dominant. The second greatest risk area for that time period runs in a band from Sabine Parish on the Sabine River along the Texas border northeast to West Carroll Parish. Again, much of the area is dominated by timber and pastureland, with the exception of West Carroll, where cotton, soybeans and sorghum are grown. Two smaller areas of higher risk are in the New Orleans region. In the eastern Florida Parishes on the north shore, more cases were found in central Tangipahoa Parish, where strawberries are grown, and in St. Tammany and Washington parishes, where pastures and woodland dominate. But the researchers said there is less connection to agriculture exposure in a higher-risk area that includes Kenner and parts of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes. The study points out that those cases occur in an area dominated by petrochemical manufacturing, and suggests the high rate in Kenner may be because of its role as a dormitory suburb for the workers in the two petrochemical parishes. However, the study also found that other areas along the Mississippi River that are also dominated by petrochemical manufacturing had much lower risk for Parkinson's. It's not clear why. A similar map of Parkinsons risk for the 1999-2005 period shows the risk of the disease was much greater in parishes in the northeast corner of the state, where cotton and other crops dominate. The study concludes the higher risk during that time period was because farmers were using 2,4-D, paraquat and other herbicides with links to the disease, rather than glyphosate, sold as Roundup. Monsanto began selling genetically modified Roundup Ready soybean seed in 1996, followed by the release of similarly modified corn, cotton and other crops in the next few years. The plants grown from those seeds were resistant to damage when glyphosate-based weed killers were used, and their use was widely adopted by farmers in the northeastern part of the state. The result was that the use of herbicides linked to Parkinsons dropped dramatically in that area. But because of the lengthy time between the onset of the disease and when its effects caused a first hospital stay, the effects of the change didnt become clear until the 2006-2012 time frame. The second time period of the study also found a much lower risk of Parkinsons in the area west of Alexandria that includes Fort Polk, where its younger population of soldiers would not be likely to be showing symptoms of the disease, if they were hospitalized. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keeps track of studies like this one on Parkinson's disease, and is reviewing the rules for the use of both paraquat and 2,4-D. The agency is required to review the use of previously approved pesticides at least every 15 years. According to its website, as of July 2017, more than 700 reviews were underway. The state Departments of Health and Hospitals and Environmental Quality and did not respond to requests for comments on the study. A spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said the agency follows the lead of the EPA, "but does not supersede it." "Our role is to make sure that pesticides used in Louisiana are registered with the EPA and correctly applied by certified applicators," said Veronica Mosgrove. The researchers used a database of patients admitted to 95 Louisiana hospitals between 1999 and 2012 to identify the ZIP code areas where 23,224 individuals diagnosed with Parkinsons disease lived. The database was provided by the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Data after 2012 has not been made available by the health department for this study, said Martin Hugh-Jones, lead author of the study and an emeritus professor of veterinary epidemiology at LSU. Hugh-Jones is better known as a world-renowned expert on the use of anthrax in bioterrorism. The other study authors were Hampton Peele, a researcher with the Louisiana Geological Survey at LSU, and Vincent Wilson, an environmental sciences professor at LSU. Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The patient information was divided into seven-year periods and used to map the risk in cases per 10,000 people of having the disease for each 7-year period. The risk estimates were then compared with maps identifying where land was used for agriculture or timber-growing operations, and then to information from four-year U.S. Geological Survey estimates of the use of herbicides and insecticides on farmland and timberland in Louisiana parishes between 1992 and 2004. The estimates are based on chemical use reported by farmers. The study points out that the relationship between Parkinsons disease and exposure to pesticides has been known since the 1980s. Herbicides linked to the disease include paraquat, trifluralin, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-TP, and better known as the main ingredient in Agent Orange). The latter has been banned for most uses in this country. The disease has not been linked to more modern herbicides, including atrazine, dicambra, glyphosate and triazine. Specific insecticides linked to the disease that have been used in Louisiana include chlorpyrifos, dieldrin and rotenone. The use of dieldrin is now banned by the EPA. The disease has not been associated with a number of other commonly used insecticides, including carbamates, pyrethroids, diazinon, malathion and parathion. The USGS data shows that in Allen Parish, as much as 15,818 pounds of 2,4-D herbicide, 130 pounds of paraquat herbicide and 149 pounds of chlorpyrifos insecticide were used in 1992, which could have exposed people who were later hospitalized. Individuals could have been exposed to the chemicals in a variety of ways, including direct exposure through work, exposure through the air, or exposure through drinking water, especially from groundwater sources. A separate map in the study outlines recharge areas for underground aquifers, where rainfall seeps into the soil often through fields treated with herbicides and pesticides and then into the aquifers, or where small streams or bayous that collect rainwater running off those fields connect with aquifers. According to the study, areas with the highest risk of the disease occur where the potential for aquifer recharge is considered moderate or high. The report points out that there have been several studies in other states linking herbicide and pesticide contamination of aquifers used for drinking water and Parkinsons disease. It also points out that state regulations require sampling of groundwater only on a single day once every three years, with repeat sampling conducted only when a pesticide is detected at a level of at least half the federal maximum content level allowed. A review of state test data for both groundwater and surface water supplies from 1993 through 2016 found only a handful that were contaminated. But the study pointed out that tests that occur on one day every three years are unlikely to find such contamination, as any agricultural pesticide contamination is likely to be short (2 weeks). The study points to several issues involving the data. First, about 3% of Parkinsons cases result from family genetic causes, rather than environmental exposures. The hospital records also would not have captured individuals who were treated as outpatients, and since hospitalizations specifically for Parkinsons typically occur only 10 to 15 years after onset, early-onset cases likely were missed unless the disease was spotted while patients were hospitalized for other reasons, like cancer or heart disease. The statistics also likely capture more women than men because women are more likely to seek healthcare, the study said. Thus, these hospital records are not necessarily a measure of the true extent of PD in Louisiana, but currently, it is all that is available, the study said. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality says the Denka Performance Elastomer chemical plant in LaPlace has reached its goal of reducing its emissions of a likely carcinogen by 85% from 2014 levels. But the milestone is unlikely to quell the controversy around the plant. Not only are neighbors suspicious about the calculations used to reach the goal, they regard the 85% reduction in chloroprene levels as an empty metric. Instead, they believe Denka should bring its emissions to an average level of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, a level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed safe. The Denka plant releases chloroprene into the air in the process of manufacturing neoprene, a synthetic rubber used in wetsuits and hoses. In 2010, the EPA identified chloroprene as a likely carcinogen, and five years later, it published a study that modeled cancer risks from toxic air emissions around the U.S. The study found that the five census tracts with the highest cancer risk were in the vicinity of the Denka plant. That spurred Denka to enter into a voluntary agreement with the DEQ in 2017 that called for the company to reduce chloroprene emissions by 85% compared to 2014. The deal made no reference to the level that the EPA had deemed safe. The state sent a letter to Denka last month verifying that it had met the goal of an 85% reduction, based on Denka's assertion that it emitted 218,000 fewer pounds of chloroprene in 2019 than it did in 2014. The DEQ's signoff comes a year after the agency asked for more evidence that the reduction had been achieved. Denka and DEQ tangled over the numbers: The company argued that its 2014 emissions had been underreported and sought to raise that figure, which would have made it easier to achieve the goal. Ultimately, the company used the original number reported in 2014 to calculate its emissions reductions, and it used 2019 emissions numbers instead of 2018 figures. The original agreement did not set a deadline for the emissions reduction. But the company's efforts to manipulate the numbers have left many questioning the validity of the reported reduction. Denka spent $35 million on several new, large pieces of equipment to reduce its chloroprene emissions, according to the company. Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Our company is focused on being a good neighbor in St. John the Baptist Parish, the LaPlace plant manager, Jorge Lavastida, said. Our voluntary efforts in this program with LDEQ are just one example of the many ways we remain committed to our community. Robert Taylor, who founded Concerned Citizens of St. John, is dubious that Denka has really reduced its chloroprene emissions by 85%. But even if it did, it's not good enough, he said. His organization wants to see Denka meet the threshold for chloroprene that the EPA has deemed safe: 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The reductions don't achieve that level, according to monthly air monitoring data, but the threshold also lacks any legal enforceability. "What difference does it make if theyre not going to go to what the EPA says is a safe level?" Taylor said. "Theyre not reducing it to what the EPA says is a safe level for us to live and survive." A Denka spokesman said that annual emissions totals cannot be compared with data from air monitors, which measure the concentration of a chemical in the ambient air at a specific time. Taylor is among thousands of St. John the Baptist Parish residents who have sued Denka for exposing them to unsafe levels of chloroprene. In May, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman dismissed Juanea Butler's case against Denka. Butler claimed exposure to the plant's chloroprene emissions resulted in her needing medical attention for acute bronchitis, coughing, sinusitis, cardiac problems, vomiting and headaches, among other maladies. In a previous ruling, Feldman called the suit "inartfully drafted." Butler's lawyer, Danny Russell, did not return requests for comment. Hugh "Skip" Lambert, who is representing Taylor and many of the other plaintiffs, said the dismissal of Butler's suit is unlikely to affect the cases he has filed in state court. Plaintiffs in the state cases are not seeking more $50,000, a strategy to keep them in local courts. Denka representatives would not comment on ongoing litigation. 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. We were colored. The New York Times, the United States Census and others agreed. There was discussion and consternation, and we became negroes. Once we left being colored behind and became negroes, W.E.B. DuBois said that wasnt enough. Capitalize that n, he said. He made it a big deal. There was a letter-writing campaign. He held the powerful accountable. The Times, and the government, heard him. The change was made about 100 years ago. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most prominent people who used negro regularly, including in a famous speech. King was our man. But some of us were done with that negro thing. Malcolm X was direct. He demanded that we stop allowing people to call us negro, a word he associated with enslaved people. Lets be black, he said. As the civil rights movement gained steam, we became, in the 1968 words of philosopher and cultural affairs commentator James Brown, black and proud. Bunches of us researched our ancestries. Some of us got kente cloth and dashikis. Some of us observed Kwanzaa. We became more connected to Africa, our Mother Continent. We wanted more of a connection. In 1988, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, of Gary, Indiana, and others held a news conference to announce what their constituencies had told them: We want to be called African Americans, with or without a hyphen. We didnt leave black behind. We added African American. It's a source of pride, and it provides a positive ancestral connection. We got so focused on what we were called that not a lot of us focused on lowercase and capitalization of black as we moved to the capitalized African American. Black, or black, we watched some weekly and monthly black publications add African American. Yeah ya right. Just recently, theres been a big capital B move. In June, The New York Times, the Associated Press and quite a number of other local, regional and national journalism and media outlets made the decision to capitalize the b in Black. This news organization made the change, too. Wikipedia has addressed the change, noting The term "black" may be capitalized, but it was more commonly written in lowercase until 2020. One national Black publication, Ebony, has used a capital b for decades. We got Ebony at home. I dont remember anything different. We were always Black, with a capital B. The famous magazine chronicled the lives of Black folks for decades, starting in 1945. Lynn Norment, a columnist with the Commercial-Appeal in Memphis, started at Ebony in the late 1970s as an assistant editor. She rose in the ranks, becoming associate editor, senior associate editor, senior editor and managing editor before retiring in 2009. Ebony had long been uppercasing Black when I joined the staff, said Norment. I assumed the historic publication had done so from the beginning. The same for Jet magazine, our sister publication that was founded a few years after Ebony. Norment said the magazines publisher, John H. Johnson, moved from rural Arkansas to Chicago during the Jim Crow era and he got little respect, he was called boy and the N-word. That's why he insisted on being called Mr. Johnson, said Norment. It was a matter of respect that many Black men never experience. And that is why we upper-cased Black. It was a matter of respect. I was always very proud that we did. I felt that we were a step ahead. The Associated Press Stylebook is pretty much our journalism style Bible. Across the decades and years, the AP has made some important cultural shifts. Just last year, AP changed its style by eliminating hyphens for African American, Asian American. AP even strongly discouraged the use of racially charged, a phrase some diplomatic folks like to use rather than calling it what it is racism. AP announced its style change last month, going with Black. Making style changes like this are important, and we appreciate it. But lets be clear: Its not enough. Its simple respect. Its not a substantive and systematic overhaul. Journalism is a noble calling, and its a business like no other. The product has real, consequential impact. Capitalize Black AND WHAT? Change the business. Change journalism. Change coverage. How? More Black journalism business leaders. More Black journalists. More Black business partners. James Brown urged us to Say it loud. Im Black and Im proud. Two years later he added, I don't want nobody/To give me nothing/Open up the door/I'll get it myself. Will Sutton, a New Orleans native, has been a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) since 1977. He served as NABJ president, 1999-2001. He's been an advocate for Black journalists, journalists of color and diversity for decades. Natural gas drillers paid 20% less impact fees this year, Pa. Public Utility Commission data show. Revenues are projected to drop again next year due to a mild 2020 winter and decreased demand for natural gas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Independent Fiscal Office projected. Payments by natural gas drillers statewide dropped by $51.4 million compared to last year, mostly due to cheap natural gas prices, PUC data show. "Without significant recovery in national and regional prices, impact fee collections will remain at CY 2019 levels or move lower," the IFO's Jesse Bushman and Rachel Flaugh wrote. When the average price of gas drops below $3.00 per MMBtu, impact fees collected drop by $5,000 per well. The average annual price of natural gas dropped to $2.63 per MMBtu on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 2019, the IFO said. Gas prices of haven't been that low since 2016. "These market conditions have discouraged new drilling activity, and Pennsylvania production growth has been decelerating for the last several quarters," Bushman and Flaugh said. Bradford County saw the region's most dramatic drop in impact fee revenue, down 22% from last year. The county received $4.8 million for 2019 compared to $6.2 million in 2019. The county hosted 1,375 wells subject to the fee. Lycoming County's distribution fell 20%, from $4.2 million in 2018 to $3.4 million in 2019. The county hosted 964 wells subject to the fee. Tioga's impact fee distribution fell 19%, from $3.4 million in 2018 to $2.7 million in 2019. The county hosted 986 subject wells. The number of wells spudded in 2019 decreased but there were enough new wells to offset reduced collections from older wells, the IFO said. "We just have to tighten our belts," State Representative Jeff Wheeland (R-83) said about the smaller disbursements. "When you don't have the demand for energy, prices are going to go down and exploration will slow up," Wheeland explained. "We have to get through this pandemic." State Representative Garth Everett (R-84) did not respond to a request for comment on the shrinking impact fee collections. Instead Everett painted a rosy picture in a press release on June 24, praising this year's impact "tax" collection. If impact fees were a tax - which they're not - this year would be the state's lowest levy yet. Drillers paid an implied effective tax rate of just 2.1%, according to the IFO. Texas taxes their natural gas producers at a 7.5% rate. There is no severance tax on natural gas in Pennsylvania - the only major gas-producing state without one, according to a StateImpact report. COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania The PA Dept. of Health COVID-19 Dashboard reports 87,705 cases as of July 6, 2020. The state reports 2,599 probable cases, 743,020 negative cases, and 6,754 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. The website also offers a weekly report for deaths attributed to COVID-19. Looking for all statistics on the state's COVID-19 situation? Visit the Department of Health website. Related reading: Gov. Wolf: Sec. of Health Signs Expanded Mask-Wearing Order 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. Wear a mask in any public space. Calhoun, GA (30701) Today Rain early. A mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Clear. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing. Rome, GA (30161) Today Showers in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 81F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. A new feature update coming to Chrome 86 looks set to make serious reductions in its resource usage. The experimental feature could extend battery life considerably on laptops by shutting down certain background tasks in open tabs. Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Especially English native speakers welcome! English-Chinese-Translator - Details here Googles Chrome browser is the most popular browser in the world with current figures showing it has a market share of 65 percent. That doesnt mean it is perfect, however, with users often complaining about it being a resource hog. Things could be set to change with an incoming feature update to Chrome 86 that should reduce CPU cycles that are otherwise offering little in terms of functionality to the end user. According to the folks at TheWindowsClub, the experimental feature being introduced to Chrome 86 will limit Javascript timer wake ups in background webpages/open tabs to 1 wake up per minute. This is similar to a feature already built into Apples Safari browser and will be available in all versions of Chrome 86 across Android, Chrome OS, Mac, Linux and Windows. Currently, the number of wake up calls in Chromes Javascript times doesnt offer any benefit to users. According to Googles internal testing, switching to just one Javascript timer wake up per minute with 36 random tabs open in the background yielded a massive 28 percent improvement in laptop battery life when the foreground tab is about:blank. With foreground activity like running YouTube in fullscreen mode along with some other tweaks, the same reduction in Javscript calls resulted in a 13 percent improvement in battery life. Google hasnt confirmed if it will take the feature mainstream, but even with it enabled, Safari still leads it in efficiency by some margin according to Googles own data. Faith Dellinger, 17, works with her steer named Radar inside the family farm barn near Edinburg on Thursday. Dellinger was recently selected as state FFA reporter for a one-year term and will forego enrolling in college to complete her duties. Search Keywords: Short link: Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will begin operating direct flights from the Emirati capital to Egypts Alexandria and Sohag starting 14 July, it said on Monday.The inaugural flight will take off from Abu Dhabi and land in Alexandria on July 14, followed by a flight from the same Emirati airport to Sohag on July 15.The flights, by Airbus A320 aircraft, will operate three times weekly to Alexandrias Borg Al Arab International Airport (HBE), on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.The flights to Sohag International Airport will depart Abu Dhabi International Airport every Wednesday.Tickets are available to book now, the airline said in its statement.The low-cost carrier is a joint venture between state-owned Etihad Airways and Air Arabia, with Abu Dhabi International Airport as its hub.Emirates restarted passenger flights to Cairo and Tunis on 1 July, and offers flights to a total destinations to 52 in July.Egypt opened its airports to regular international flights starting July 1, following a three-month suspension in the wake of the coronavirus. AMVETS Post 18 Commander Ralph Hensley, center, cuts a ribbon to signify the opening of Post 18's new outreach center at 851 Green St. in Stephens City on Wednesday. This week we are focusing on softball. We will rotate through each of the varsity sports going on during the current season. We will post the nominations online, and you get to pick the winner. The winner will have a short feature printed in this week's edition of The N'West Iowa REVIEW. POLL CLOSES 9 A.M. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23. You voted: Johnson said he also collected hundreds of used glasses frames that will be provided to those who cant afford to purchase new frames. Giving back to the community has always been a focus for Troop 53, one of the oldest African American scouting troops, as well as its associated groups, which are Pack 53 and the STEEL City Venture Crew, Mack said. Its all about life lessons, she said. The scouts in the groups have provided a variety of services locally, including donating to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana and visiting nursing homes. Mack said the STEEL City Venture Crew, which is open to those 14 to 20 years old, focuses on service, travel, education, entrepreneurship and leadership. Each year the group travels to a different area to provide various services. The group has visited Flint, Michigan, to deliver supplies. The members also volunteered at the Second Harvest Food Rescue in Canada and assisted at a childrens home in Detroit. Mack said the STEEL City Venture Crew planned to travel to Puerto Rico this year to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity, but that trip was rescheduled for next year because of COVID-19. One year after the donation, Seles can contact Be The Match and ask if the patient would be willing to communicate with him. I just want to send him a letter and say, Hey, this is who I am. I want to come see you, Seles said. If he says no, then thats it. Thats fine. But if he says yes, thats even better. 'I'm there to help people' Seles was among the first two recruits to join the Hammond Police Department after completing the citys Academy Bound program. Hes been with the department for about two years and previously worked for the Indiana Department of Correction at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. I wanted to be a police officer my whole life, he said. Seles recently received a kind note from a family, after he responded to a home where a man with terminal cancer had just died, Lt. Steve Kellogg said. Seles said the family appreciated that he stayed with them until funeral home staff arrived. I always encourage the couples to have these hard conversations about race away from therapy, when theyre at home, because the point of therapy isnt what you do in the office, its what you do all the time in between in your real life, Dr. Henry said. Having these talks will make them aware of what comes up for each of them individually. You know, if the white partner feels like theyre always trying to defend themselves, what does that say about their partner to them? What does it mean to them to accept the fact that they may have been offensive and ignorant, and theyll never truly understand being in Black skin and what that might mean for when they have children or go out to buy a home or go out in the world together. Dr. Henry said it is equally important for the Black partner to think about their own possible internalized racism and maybe some of the ways in which being with someone who is not Black is a source of shame or guilt for them. This feeling, she said, could stem from messages they may have gotten from childhood or their family, or even friends who indicate theyre doing something wrong or something nonprogressive by being with someone who is white. Even younger couples face the same issues. Sharon Nealy, 21, met her fiance, Buck Barfield, 22, when she was 16 and has seen tremendous changes and challenges over the course of their five years together. Ms. Nealy, who is Black, is attending the Medical University of South Carolina next fall, while Mr. Barfield, who is white, works as a welder, a job that Ms. Neeley says has gotten some negative responses from mostly Black people in her social circle where they live in Lancaster, S.C. I get a lot of this white guy, whos not really even doing that great, comes in and takes the best of our Black women. Theres Black men out here that are doing great that would be a better partner for you and easier to be with, Ms. Nealy said. In moments like these, Ms. Nealy defends their relationship. And while Mr. Barfields strongly Republican family has caused an ongoing wedge in their relationship, support from each other and being able to discuss race openly remains their top priority. Its always been important for me to make sure that I have a partner that supports me and tries to make an effort to understand the best they can. Its something I could not compromise on, Ms. Nealy said. Weve always talked about race, but its heightened with all this going on. We went to a protest together the other day and hes learning, hes listening and hes trying to be supportive without trying to take my voice either. Dr. Henry said that being open about differences is the only way to reach some level of understanding in how couples will handle them when they arise. Race is never going to go away. Its always going to be present and its just going to be compounded when you do things like move in together, have children, move or take new jobs, she said. Walter Cortina, a 17-year-old high school student in St. Paul, Minn., said he had worked for several years at a carwash, part time during the school year and full time in the summer. He used the money to help support his younger brother as well as his mother and aunt. When he lost his job in March because of the pandemic, he said, he was rejected for jobless benefits. He was eventually able to find a paid internship, but said others in his position might not be so lucky. Some students in Minnesota were initially sent unemployment checks, only to be told that they had been approved in error and must return the money. Cole Stevens, 18, who graduated this spring, said he had applied repeatedly for benefits after the coffee shop where he worked in Bloomington, Minn., cut his hours and then shut down during the pandemic. He eventually received a lump sum of about $3,700, and spent about half to help his father pay bills and living expenses. I really didnt spend it on anything frivolous, he said. Then, a letter arrived from the state, telling him he had to return the money. He is appealing the finding. I think its a gross injustice, he said. He has since found work cleaning and disinfecting buildings, he said, but his hours vary. The commissioner of Minnesotas employment department said in a recent blog post that he and the states governor, Tim Walz, supported a change in the law that would allow students to qualify temporarily, and were working with state legislators on a fix. Some students have successfully claimed the benefits. Don La Fronz, an investment adviser in New York, said his college-age son had successfully filed for benefits after a summer job fell through because of the virus, and is receiving more than $700 a week. Some of his sons friends in similar situations have claimed benefits as well, Mr. La Fronz said. Here are some questions and answers about unemployment insurance for students: How do I apply for unemployment insurance benefits if Im a student? You can typically apply online, through your states unemployment office. Check the website of your states labor or employment department for details. Each state has its own process; some may require separate applications for regular benefits and pandemic relief benefits. What if Im unsure if I qualify for the expanded jobless benefits? Theres no harm in applying for benefits to see if you qualify, as long as you are truthful on the application, said Victorine Froehlich, a lawyer who participates in the New York State Bar Associations volunteer unemployment insurance initiative. The program offers free help to New Yorkers seeking jobless benefits during the pandemic. : xjbjcd (), : USANews : : BBS (Sun Jul 5 15:40:42 2020, ) "Don't Let Them Vaccinate You": Farrakhan Warns Africans That Dr. Fauci Is Trying To Kill Them It is bad enough when you become a political rally cry for the right as a man trying to destroy our economy or instill fear into the nation. Now, Dr. Anthony Fauci is being called a mass murderer who, with the cabal of Bill and Melinda Gates, are seeking to depopulate the Earth. That is hardly the most deranged thing that Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, 87, has uttered, but it may be the most dangerous. Farrakhan is encouraging people to refuse vaccinations, a problem that is already causing world health leaders concerns in Africa. This is viewed as the new epicenter for the pandemic with Africans facing a threat with the need to protect hundreds of millions of Africans. Health officials will need their cooperation but they have now heard from Farrakhan who has declared that, if they want to live, Do not take their medication. https://jonathanturley.org/2020/07/05/dont-let-them-vaccinate-you-farrakhan- warns-africans-that-dr-fauci-is-trying-to-kill-them/ -- :WWW mitbbs.com [FROM: 70.] These may seem like frivolous things in the context of a global health emergency, but they are not at all frivolous in the context of fear and isolation. Its an awful lot to ask of performers to give up performing, and it is an awful lot to ask of fans to skip their shows. Expecting people to do the right thing when the right thing flies in the face of human nature is never a good bet. Until its safe to sing along in public again, the only answer is for leaders to show some backbone and lock down the concert halls and the bars. Last week Nashvilles mayor John Cooper did just that. If we ever hope to experience the transcendence of live performance again, were going to have to support the artists we love until the pandemic passes. Were going to have to put some money in the tip jar at virtual concerts. Buy the T-shirts and the ball caps with the band logos on them. Above all, were going to have to start buying records again. The LPs and CDs that musicians would have on their merchandise tables at shows across the country are there to be had on their website stores right now, the Nashville music journalist Craig Havighurst told me in a recent email. Buying the merch is the most potent way fans can help artists survive this crisis. If people can get in the habit of buying records again, it would go a long way toward helping musicians and songwriters survive the pandemic and beyond. This is the best possible time to rethink our consumption habits as fans for the short and long term, Mr. Havighurst pointed out. We should strive for an ethos where we stream to discover and purchase what we love. Margaret Renkl is a contributing opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South. She is the author of the book Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. In fact, many of the protesters are simply pointing out the hypocrisy of these men, including many of the founders, who fought for freedom and liberty from the British while simultaneously enslaving Africans and slaughtering the Indigenous. But, Trump, like white supremacy itself, rejects the inclusion of this context. As Trump put it: Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition. In fact, the record is not being disfigured but corrected. According to Trump: This movement is openly attacking the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore. They defile the memory of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Is it a defilement to point out that George Washington was an enslaver who signed a fugitive slave act and only freed his slaves in his will, after he was dead and no longer had earthly use for them? Is it a defilement to point out that Thomas Jefferson enslaved over 600 human beings during his life, many when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, and that he had sex with a child whom he enslaved I call it rape and even enslaved the children she bore for him? Is it a defilement to recall that during the Lincoln-Douglas debates Abraham Lincoln said: I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the Black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which in my judgment will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the superior position. Is it defilement to recall that Theodore Roosevelt was a white supremacist, supporter of eugenics and an imperialist? As Gary Gerstle, a professor of American history at the University of Cambridge, once put it, He would have had no patience with the Indigenous and original inhabitants of a sacred American space interfering with his conception of the American sublime. For decades, American workers have seen their power erode and their wages stagnate. The current crises have only made things worse. But Congress has a chance to begin the reversal of these trends and to accelerate the economic recovery by enacting a fair wage guarantee, which makes sense economically and could be a win for both major parties. Such a guarantee would function by turning the recently increased unemployment insurance benefits, which expire later this month, into a permanent wage increase for millions of Americans. The temporary unemployment insurance supplement came from the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed in March. There is now a stalemate between Democrats and Republicans over how to update the federal response. Broadly speaking, Democrats support extending the benefit increase for the unemployed while Republicans support eliminating or modifying it on the assumption that it will induce people to return to work. Congress would do well to extend these benefits before they expire as a bill that already passed the House of Representatives does but an extension alone misses the opportunity to translate this short-term boost in income into a longer-term increase in wages. By making a few simple changes to the current unemployment insurance expansion, the stated goals of both major parties leaders can be achieved. Lets start with an evaluation of the current landscape. Standard unemployment insurance provides fired workers with a fraction of their former income, but the March relief package increased benefits by $600 per week for all recipients, regardless of their previous income. In a typical state where a fired worker would normally get half their former wages in unemployment insurance someone who had been making $480 a week (or $12 an hour for a 40-hour workweek), would receive $840 in weekly unemployment insurance benefits (or the equivalent of $21 an hour for a 40-hour week) instead of $240. One of two people who were seriously injured on Saturday after a car drove into a protest on a closed section of Interstate 5 in Seattle has died, the authorities said. Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle died Saturday night at Harborview Medical Center, a UW Medicine spokeswoman said. The other injured protester, Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Ore., was hospitalized in serious condition, the spokeswoman said. Both had livestreamed the protest before they were injured, The Seattle Times reported. During the early hours of Saturday morning, a small group of protesters gathered on a section of Interstate 5 that had been blocked off by the authorities, said Trooper Chase Van Cleave of the Washington State Patrol. It was one of many protests that have been organized in Seattle and across the country since the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in May. The protesters had been on the highway for a little over an hour when a white car drove southbound through a blockade and toward the protesters at a high rate of speed, striking both victims, Trooper Van Cleave said. The driver continued southbound for over a mile before stopping, he said. For years, there has been a simmering debate over what to do with a New Deal-era mural at the University of Kentucky that students have denounced as a racist sanitizing of history and a painful reminder of slavery in a public setting. The wall-length mural, a 1934 fresco by Ann Rice OHanlon, is covered with vignettes that are intended to illustrate Kentuckys history. At the center of the mural is an image of enslaved people tending to tobacco plants, and at the bottom, there is a Native American man holding a tomahawk and peering out from behind a tree at a white woman as if poised for attack. Since 2015, university administrators have tried to find a resolution that doesnt involve removing the mural. But last month, as many predominantly white institutions in the United States were being forced to answer for their history of racism in the wake of George Floyds killing, the University of Kentucky, in Lexington, decided that it was time for the mural to come down. Its a familiar conflict at a time of intense conversations about racial injustice across the country. Some want to see the mural removed, asserting that its depiction of violence against Black people has no place in a space where students attend class or celebratory events, while others counter that hiding it would amount to artistic censorship and an obscuring of the states history of slavery and racism. LONDON Britains arts sector, largely shuttered since March because of the pandemic and warning of an imminent collapse, is being given a lifeline through what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a world-leading rescue package for cultural and heritage institutions. The organizations will be handed 1.57 billion pounds, about $2 billion, the culture ministry said on Sunday evening. Mr. Johnson said in a statement that the money would help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring art groups and venues across the U.K. can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down. The money will go to a variety of recipients, including Britains local basement music venues and museums, he added, although he did not provide details. Museums in England were allowed to reopen on Saturday, but it is unclear when theaters and music venues will be permitted to. Now, the pandemic has exacerbated those dangers. Many families will not let their housekeepers leave the house, fearing they will bring back the virus, while requiring them to work more since entire families are staying home, workers advocates say. Other workers have been laid off, deprived of wages and left stranded far from home with nowhere to turn for help. Women are the most vulnerable. Details: After nine Kenyan and Ugandan women lost their jobs as housekeepers in Saudi Arabia, the agency that recruited them locked them in a room. The women receive food once a day and their passports have been withheld. Voices: Everybody is fearing, one of the women, Apisaki, from Kenya, said via WhatsApp. The environment here is not good. No one will listen to our voice. Hedge-fund ownership of publications like The Denver Post has led to steep layoffs in newsrooms, making it more difficult for those papers to keep readers informed. With anything thats subject to the market, said Sree Sreenivasan, professor of digital innovation at Stony Brook Universitys School of Journalism, their way of rewarding and judging the quality of anything is based on metrics and numbers that may not be synced with the reality on the ground and what is even possible, and they may judge newspapers the way they judge widgets, and find them lacking. The Great Recession dealt a blow to the industry when readers were already giving up print, a longtime home of lucrative retail ads and classified notices, in favor of digital devices. Google and Facebook came to dominate the online ad market, hampering publishers attempts to generate the necessary revenue from digital advertising. From 2004 to 2019, roughly half of all newspaper jobs in the United States were eliminated as the cumulative weekday circulation of print papers fell to 73 million from 122 million, according to a University of North Carolina study. Wall Street became a player in the industry more than a decade ago. The New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital now a media heavyweight through a subsidiary, MediaNews Group, a chain with roughly 200 newspapers saw opportunities in distressed media properties. With a strategy that led to deep layoffs at The Denver Post and other MediaNews Group publications, Alden has wrung profits from a business that seemed well past its heyday. In the fall, Alden announced that it had taken a 32 percent stake in Tribune Publishing, the owner of The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and papers in nine other major metropolitan areas. Last week, Alden secured a third seat out of seven on the Tribune Publishing board as it seemed to inch closer to taking control. It also has a 7.1 percent stake in another chain, Lee Enterprises, the publisher of The Buffalo News and dozens of other papers. The profession is still stacked with older aviators, but the pilots most at risk as airlines make deep cuts in the coming months are those who are just starting out. To prepare for an uncertain future, the nations largest airlines are stockpiling billions of dollars in cash. If ticket sales do not recover soon, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have said they could resort to job cuts as soon as Oct. 1, the first day when airlines are free to eliminate jobs and reduce hours under a stimulus law that Congress approved in March. Airlines could lay off, furlough or reduce the hours of tens of thousands of pilots, cuts that would disproportionately fall on those who have less union seniority and training. Major airlines have already stopped hiring pilots after posting hundreds of openings in the first quarter of the year, according to Future & Active Pilot Advisors, a consulting firm. Several companies are offering buyout packages to avoid deeper cuts later. Southwest has acknowledged in discussions with its pilots union that the airline is most likely overstaffed by more than a thousand pilots. The company is offering several years of partial pay and benefits to those who agree to leave the company temporarily or permanently. Delta warned last week that it could furlough nearly 2,600 pilots and is offering early-retirement packages. Some pilots said the turmoil was nerve-racking, but those who have been in the profession for a while have come to expect it. You kind of know going in that aviation has high highs and low lows, said Lisa Archibald, 41, a Delta pilot who entered the industry days before the 2001 terrorist attacks. You do it because you love what you do. Niraj Chokshi By the end of the year the International Culinary Center, formerly the French Culinary Institute, will close its doors in SoHo and will become part of the Institute of Culinary Education in the Brookfield Place complex in Battery Park City. The two largest private professional cooking schools in New York City have planned to collaborate for some time; the pandemic caused them to join forces, and an agreement was signed today. For now, both schools are closed because of Covid-19 restrictions. The International Culinary Center, I.C.C., plans to reopen once the city enters Phase 4 of its reopening, and it will continue to operate until late this year so the students who are currently enrolled can complete their work. The Institute of Culinary Education, or I.C.E., has closed its New York location, except for some virtual management training classes; its Pasadena, Calif., facilities reopened June 30. There are no current agreements with I.C.C.s marquee instructors Jacques Pepin, Jacques Torres, Andre Soltner and Alain Sailhac but Rick Smilow, the president and the chief executive of I.C.E., hopes to have their involvement with I.C.E. programming. There will not be any specific I.C.C. courses added to the I.C.E. program, but Mr. Smilow said in a statement that he expects to bring aspects of their expertise, unique offerings and heritage to ICE. The institute was started in 1975 by Peter Kump, and this is not the first time it has absorbed another cooking school. Last year it took over the holistic programming at Natural Gourmet Institute. The International Culinary Center was founded in 1984 by Dorothy Cann Hamilton as the French Culinary Institute, inspired by the French culinary school for professionals called Ferrandi and now the Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi. Eventually, with the addition of instruction in Italian cooking and other cuisines by experts like Cesare Casella, it was renamed the International Culinary Center. Bruce McCann, the chief executive, said he expects the schools mission to continue: We cannot imagine a better institution to entrust with our legacy. Researchers are attempting to streamline every part of the diagnostic pipeline. One timesaving tactic thats already been rolled out nationwide involves sampling areas other than the nasopharynx, such as swabbing the nostrils or throat, or collecting gobs of saliva. These tests are painless, and avoid putting health care workers in harms way. But they arent always accurate. Unfortunately, this virus doesnt hang around in the nose or throat so much, said Dr. Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge. To avoid mistakenly declaring infected people virus-free, Dr. Gupta and his colleagues are developing a point-of-care test that can simultaneously screen patients for the coronavirus and antibodies that recognize it. Antibodies often start to appear by the second week of infection. At the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Ma., another team of researchers is tackling the next plodding step in the work flow: amplifying the sample. In the lab, the scientists use a technique that, unlike PCR, can copy genetic material at a single temperature. If the virus is present, a gene-editing tool called Crispr will make the tubes contents glow at a wavelength detectable by a smartphone. The entire procedure takes less than an hour, and correctly identifies active infections about 90 percent of the time. Laboratory experiments that use Crispr are thought to be very precise, potentially giving these tests a low rate of false positives, said Catherine Freije, one of the scientists developing the Crispr test. The molecular machinery in the test is specific to the new coronavirus, and doesnt react to its close viral relatives. The test cooked up by Columbia Universitys Dr. Williams and his colleagues might be simpler still: Spit is added to a premixed slew of chemicals, which then gets incubated at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour. If the tube turns yellow, the test is positive; if its red, negative. The test can detect even tiny amounts of virus, making it more sensitive than similar tests, and gives false negatives less than 5 percent of the time, according to a study that has not yet been published in a scientific journal. Dr. Williams and his team are seeking authorization from the F.D.A. On Friday, the director Ava DuVernay tweeted her appreciation for Mirandas artistry, along with a blast at the real-life A.Ham, who was not the progressive paragon of multicultural democracy some who watch the show may assume. Believed in manumission, not abolition, she wrote. Wrote violent filth about Native people. Believed in only elites holding political power and no term limits. And the banking innovation has troubled roots. Historians, many of whom took part in a Twitter watch party under the hashtag #HATM (Historians at the Movies), took a generally milder tone, even as they reiterated some of their earlier caveats. Heres what some of them have been saying about Hamilton and Hamilton since Mirandas take on the ten-dollar founding father took America by storm. Hamilton wasnt an abolitionist? Im confused. Early in the show, Hamilton calls himself and his friends revolutionary manumission abolitionists, a line that raised a lot of eyebrows among scholars. Hamilton was genuinely antislavery, even if some scholars say the intensity of his opposition has been overstated. He was a founding member of the New York Manumission Society, created in 1785, which among other things, pushed for a gradual emancipation law in New York State. (Such a law was passed in 1799.) Ms. Cooper could not be reached for comment on Monday, but her lawyer, Robert Barnes, said in a statement that she would be found not guilty and he criticized what he called a cancel culture epidemic for a rush to judgment. She lost her job, her home, and her public life, Mr. Barnes said. Now some demand her freedom? How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media? Mr. Cooper, who has expressed deep ambivalence about the severity of the public response to Ms. Coopers actions, said on Monday that he had zero involvement in the district attorneys case against her. Asked to comment on the pending charge, he said, I have no reaction. People are rarely charged with filing a false police report, legal experts said, because the authorities do not want to discourage the reporting of crimes and because it can be difficult to prove that a person made a false report knowingly. But experts said that the evidence in the case against Ms. Cooper was strong and that it could have broader implications in other instances of white people making false police reports against Black people. To the extent that this woman was arguably deploying racial stereotypes and weaponizing them, it will make people think twice, said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor and a retired federal judge. It is a big deal. Lucy Lang, a former Manhattan prosecutor and the director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that filing a false report was a very troubling crime. [Confused? Want to brush up on New Yorks path to recovery? Check out our guide on what each phase means.] Whats left out New York Citys Phase 3, however, isnt a neat success story. The continued pause of indoor dining shows that the path to normalcy will not be as linear as the sequence of phases might suggest. New Yorkers were supposed to be able to enjoy indoor dining starting today, with some capacity restrictions in restaurants and bars. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week decided to delay indoor dining indefinitely. They cited the danger of having people gather close together indoors, and said people frequenting bars and restaurants were most likely contributing to the huge increases in coronavirus cases seen in other states. It is not the time to forge ahead with indoor dining, Mr. de Blasio said on Wednesday. Whats next Still, it feels as if the city is moving in the right direction. The 9/11 Memorial reopened to the public on Sunday, with hand sanitizer, face mask requirements and regular deep cleanings. But even as Mr. Cuomo announced on Sunday that Phase 3 would go forward, he urged caution, saying residents should wear masks and stay distanced from one another lest New York give up the progress it has made in curbing the virus. The city must also contend with drastic budget cuts, aging buildings and anxious educators. The district serves vast numbers of poor students, children with disabilities and homeless students. And the citys status, until recently, as the virus outbreaks U.S. epicenter has left many families and teachers fearful about returning to school. As we put the worst of this crisis behind us, we know most families want to have their students back in school buildings come September, and we are working to do as much as we can safely, said Jane Meyer, a spokeswoman for the mayor. Health and safety continues to guide everything we do, she added. And the Department of Education is working through an exhaustive set of potential reopening plans to ensure our students have the strongest restart possible. The logistics that parents are desperately waiting to hear about will largely be determined by principals, who will make decisions based each schools physical limits and staff size. Its impossible to dictate any model that will be good for all the schools, said Mark Cannizzaro, the president of the citys principals union. The de Blasio administration, he said, has to just accept that, and come up with something. The city is planning for fall using current federal recommendations that students be kept six feet apart. Social distancing will vary significantly between schools. An extremely overcrowded school in Queens, for example, could have three or more groups of students who cycle in and out of the building on alternating days or weeks, while students at a Bronx school with lower enrollment could be broken into two groups. The coronavirus has hit the poorest the hardest, but until recently, they have mostly been in wealthy countries. Now, even as the pandemic continues to claim lives in high-income countries and especially the United States its spreading with ferocity in lower- and middle-income countries. The virus has infected at least 1.5 million people in Brazil and claimed more than 60,000 lives there. India ended June with around 600,000 cases; it started the month with just under 200,000. With limited health resources, widespread poverty, large debt burdens and, in some cases, political instability and conflict, developing countries are the new front line in the pandemic. For countries like the United States and Britain, helping the developing world fight the virus and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe is a moral imperative. Those who have benefited from globalization should help pay when it ails. But it is not just cruel to ignore the rest of the world, its also against wealthy countries self-interest. No country is reliably insulated from a highly contagious virus as long as it persists anywhere. Just as the virus can spread rapidly across borders, so can economic ills. Many emerging market countries have strong economic links to developed economies. Imagine a future of rolling outbreaks throughout the developing world. One month, factories in Mexico that supply auto parts, health equipment and other goods to the United States might have to close, as already happened this spring. The next month, South Africa might need to suspend mining operations and curtail exports of vital minerals, halting production of phones and computers. And so on through many regions and sectors. When did America start losing its war against the coronavirus? How did we find ourselves international pariahs, not even allowed to travel to Europe? Id suggest that the turning point was way back on April 17, the day that Donald Trump tweeted LIBERATE MINNESOTA, followed by LIBERATE MICHIGAN and LIBERATE VIRGINIA. In so doing, he effectively declared White House support for protesters demanding an end to the lockdowns governors had instituted to bring Covid-19 under control. As it happens, the Democratic governors Trump was targeting in those tweets stood firm. But Republican governors in Arizona, Florida, Texas and elsewhere soon lifted stay-at-home orders and ended many restrictions on business operations. They also, following Trumps lead, refused to require that people wear masks, and Texas and Arizona denied local governments the right to impose such requirements. They waved away warnings from health experts that premature and careless reopening could lead to a new wave of infections. And the virus came. The initial outbreak of Covid-19, centered on New York, should have taught us to be wary. Rising rates of infection can seem like a minor concern at first, especially if you dont have adequate testing, until they explode with terrifying speed. Its still enough. In fact, as a memorial to Jefferson himself, its almost perfect. And that is why his memorial in Washington should be taken down and replaced. Described by the National Park Service as a shrine to freedom, it is anything but. The memorial is a shrine to a man who during his lifetime owned more than 600 slaves and had at least six children with one of them, Sally Hemings. Its a shrine to a man who famously wrote that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence that founded this nation and yet never did much to make those words come true. Upon his death, he did not free the people he enslaved, other than those in the Hemings family, some of whom were his own children. He sold everyone else to pay off his debts. In fact, some of his white descendants, including his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, my great-great-great-great grandfather, fought in the Civil War in defense of slavery. My great-grandmother lived with him at Edgehill after she was born there in 1866. That is how close we are not only to Jefferson but also to slavery. When we visited her as children, there was only one dead man between my brother and me and Thomas Jefferson. I am the sixth-generation great-grandson of a slave owner. My cousins from the Sally Hemings family are also the great-grandchildren of a slave owner. But the difference is that our great-grandfather owned their great-grandmother. My family owned their family. That is the American history you will not learn when you visit the Jefferson Memorial. But you will learn it when you visit Monticello: Theres now an exhibit of Sally Hemingss bedroom in her cavelike living quarters in the south wing, a room my brother and I used to play in when we were boys. On May 25, conservationists were flying over Botswanas Okavango Panhandle when they counted something disturbing: 169 dead elephants. A second flight in June revealed more carcasses, bringing the total to 356. Some of the animals appeared to have died suddenly, collapsing chest-first while walking or running. No tusks were removed, suggesting that poaching for ivory may not be to blame. But experts are left with few clues as to whether the cause is something sinister, such as poisonings, or a naturally occurring disease from which the areas elephants will bounce back. As elephant populations grow, it is more likely that you will get mass die-offs, probably on a bigger scale than this, said Chris Thouless, the head of research at Save the Elephants, a Kenya-based conservation organization. Death is no fun, but it comes to all living things. But other conservationists expressed more concern. In Botswana, there is a huge crisis for elephants unfolding, said Mark Hiley, the director of rescue operations at National Park Rescue, a nonprofit organization based in Britain that combats poaching in Africa. The most important thing now is for an independent team to visit the area sample multiple carcasses, the soil and waterways and identify what is causing the deaths. 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. Quarantine has been more like a failing heating system. Some days its extremely cold, almost unbearable. No amount of sweaters, comfort food or escapism can save you from your hurt and bitter thoughts. Other days, its neutral. Its balanced out to a lukewarm atmosphere. These are the more hopeful days that feel like you have more control. Days like this fly by like summer nights; they are alluring and full of wishful whispers seeping faith into the rusty corners inside. Inevitably, the polar of your coldest days come, and youre sweating uncomfortably before you know it. Yeimy Gamez Castillo. I decided to make my moms favorite cake, tres leches, on my own. We ordered balloons for her, a fluffy teddy bear, and simply dedicated the day to allow my mom to rest as we roamed around the house and kept everything clean and in order. But at the end of the night, I found her crying as she held her pillow. I didnt know why I first. Then, I remembered that my mother didnt have the same opportunity to say happy Mothers Day to her mother. I cant wait to go to sleep tonight because I know that Ill dream about her, she said. That was when I knew that I have been taking this quarantine for granted. Yes, my life has changed so drastically. But at least I have the chance to hold my mother now more than ever. Ashley Mendoza. My godfather delivered news that my godmother had been on life support, because of Covid-19, for a couple of days. She worked as an immigration lawyer, helping people attain U.S. citizenship, and led a Latino choir at St. Stephen church in Paterson, N.J. She had a manner of bringing cheer and joy into any situation. The last time I talked to her, I was confused about a lot of things. I didnt know what classes to take, nor what I wanted to do with my life. And she told me that, so long as I made time for God, so long as I continued to follow him, the paths would continue to open for me. My godmothers passing filled me with sadness. I lost motivation to do anything. I took a break from everything. Days went on. But again, I found solace in prayer and in talking to the people around me. I realized that my godmother wouldnt want me to be sad. Jacob Amaro. Hope For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic erupted, Actors Equity is agreeing to allow a few of its members to perform onstage. The union, which represents 51,000 actors and stage managers around the country, said it had given the green light to two summer shows in the Berkshires region of Western Massachusetts: an outdoor production of the musical Godspell, and an indoor production of the solo show Harry Clarke. In recent weeks, multiple theaters featuring nonunion actors have begun resuming performances in some cases outdoors, and in almost all cases with social distancing and a group of Equity actors collectively developed an outdoor performance piece in New Yorks Hudson Valley. And, of course, many actors have been performing online. But Godspell and Harry Clarke, both scheduled to begin in early August in Pittsfield, Mass., are now likely to be the first productions in which union actors will perform in person before paying audiences in the United States since the threat of infection prompted Broadway and the nations regional theaters to shut down in mid-March. Citing safety concerns, Equity had barred its members from in-person auditions, rehearsals and performances. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with travel restrictions in place worldwide, we launched a new series The World Through a Lens in which photojournalists help transport you, virtually, to some of our planets most beautiful and intriguing places. This week, Chloe Ellingson shares a collection of photos from a remote railway in Canada. In 2015, as I drove through my hometown, Toronto, a radio documentary came on the air describing a remote railway, the Tshiuetin line, that runs through rural Quebec. ATLANTA Activists with Black Lives Matter had a vision for what the scorched remains of a Wendys restaurant could become: the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center, a gathering place in Atlanta with job training, counseling and youth programs that would be a living memorial named for the man whose fatal encounter with the police transformed the fast-food eatery into the heart of the citys turmoil. But the lofty aspirations have been clouded by continuing violence. On Saturday, an 8-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, was gunned down, the authorities said, after an armed group stopped her familys car nearby. You killed your own you killed your own this time, her father, Secoriya Williamson, said at a news conference on Sunday night. You killed a child. She didnt do nothing to nobody. The Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil route from North Dakota to Illinois that has inspired intense protests and legal battles, must shut down pending an environmental review and be emptied of oil by Aug. 5, a district court ruled on Monday. The decision, which could be subject to appeal, is a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other Native American and environmental groups who have fought the project for years, and a significant defeat for President Trump, who has sought to keep the Dakota Access Pipeline alive. Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline, Mike Faith, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said in a statement. This pipeline should have never been built here, he added. We told them that from the beginning. The parties had asked the court to put the cases on a fast track to ensure that they were decided outside of the white-hot scrutiny of a contested presidential election, as the petition in the Washington case said. The court granted review in January, and the cases were the last ones argued this term, on May 13. And while the justices are often closely divided in major cases, and particularly in ones concerning election law, they managed to find common ground on Monday. There have been no elections in which the votes of faithless electors changed the result, but a swing of only 10 electors would have altered the outcomes in five presidential elections. In the 2000 election, George W. Bush beat Al Gore by five electoral votes. The courts decision strikes a blow for legal and political stability and sanity, said Richard H. Pildes, a law professor at New York University. All Americans understand themselves to be voting for the persons running for president, not for members of the Electoral College, and it is now clear that states can enforce that understanding. Members of the Electoral College cast the actual votes for president four weeks after Election Day. Among the states and the District of Columbia that have laws requiring electors to vote as they had promised, 15 states back up their requirements by either removing rogue electors or subjecting them to financial penalties. The fatal shooting of a man in a parked car by Phoenix police officers over the weekend, captured on video in gruesome detail, is fueling a new round of protests against violent policing tactics. The video showed several uniformed officers surrounding a parked car while pointing their guns at the man inside the vehicle. One of the officers shouted at the man, threatening to shoot him. The Phoenix Police Department identified the man as James Porter Garcia, 28. Then, in front of witnesses who were recording the episode, the officers unleashed a volley of gunfire. The victim was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement by the Phoenix Police Department. The shooting in the citys Maryvale neighborhood comes at a time when cities around the United States are grappling with anger over the deaths of African-Americans and Latinos at the hands of the police. Elsewhere in Arizona, the police in Tucson came under scrutiny in June over the killing, also captured on video, of Carlos Ingram Lopez. WASHINGTON From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, progressive climate advocates viewed Joseph R. Biden Jr. with deep skepticism. He declined to fully endorse the Green New Deal. He opposed a total ban on fracking. Young activists were scathing in their criticism of him, and he was at times openly dismissive of their concerns. But now, less than four months before Election Day, Mr. Biden is moving urgently to unite and energize his party around his candidacy, aware of the need to engage younger, more liberal voters and to ensure that they turn out in November. On climate issues, there are signs that Mr. Bidens allies and some of the partys leading progressives have quietly started to forge new common ground. In recent weeks, supporters of Mr. Biden and of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, his chief rival in the Democratic presidential primary race, have met privately over Zoom, part of several joint task forces that the two contenders established to generate policy recommendations on core domestic priorities, and to facilitate party unity. After two months of those conversations, task force members representing both camps say they have finalized a set of ambitious, near-term climate targets that they hope Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will incorporate in his platform. I do believe we were able to make meaningful progress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, who headed the climate panel with former Secretary of State John Kerry, said in an interview last week. Representative Donald McEachin of Virginia, a Biden ally who was also on the task force, called it a collaborative process that developed wide-ranging policies. Charles J. Harder, a lawyer for Robert Trump, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Last week, a judge in Dutchess County, N.Y., temporarily halted the release, even though the book has already been printed and is a prepublication best seller on Amazon. The next day the appeals court judge decided that Simon & Schuster could go ahead with publication but did not address the question of whether Ms. Trump had violated a confidentiality agreement with her family, as Robert Trump has alleged. That agreement was put in place nearly 20 years ago, when Ms. Trump settled a lawsuit with her family concerning the contested will of the presidents father, Fred Trump Sr. But in an affidavit filed in New York last week, Ms. Trump claimed she had consented to the secrecy pact and signed away her interests in several family properties without knowing that President Trump and his siblings had lied to her about how much they were worth. Because the settlement agreement was based on and induced by fraud, Ms. Trumps lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., wrote in a court filing, it cannot be enforced and cannot bar publication of Ms. Trumps book. In his court papers, Mr. Boutrous claimed that the Trump family significantly and deliberately undervalued the appraisals of the properties, causing Ms. Trump and her brother to agree to a buyout in which they were cheated out of millions of dollars. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow construction of parts of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that had been blocked by a federal judge in Montana. But the court temporarily revived a permit program that would let other oil and gas pipelines cross waterways after only modest scrutiny from regulators. The courts brief, unsigned order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications, and it said it would last while appeals moved forward. There were no noted dissents. Environmental groups had challenged the permit program, called for by the Clean Water Act, saying it posed a threat to endangered species. In April, Judge Brian M. Morris of the Federal District Court in Montana suspended the program, which is administered by the Army Corps of Engineers, saying that it had been improperly reauthorized in 2017. The government, he wrote, had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to adequately consult with federal wildlife agencies President Trump mounted an explicit defense of the Confederate flag on Monday, suggesting that NASCAR had made a mistake in banning it from its auto racing events, while falsely accusing a top Black driver, Darrell Wallace Jr., of perpetrating a hoax involving a noose found in his garage. The remarks are part of a pattern. Almost every day in the last two weeks, Mr. Trump has sought to stoke white fear and resentment, portraying himself as a protector of an old order that polls show much of America believes perpetuates entrenched racism and wants to move beyond. Two weeks ago, the president retweeted a video of a supporter shouting white power at a retirement community filled with older people whom he wants to win over. Last week, he wrote that he was reviewing a fair housing regulation that is aimed at eliminating racial housing disparities in the suburbs, but that he said would have a devastating impact on those communities a play to white suburbanites whose votes would be crucial to his re-election. On Monday, he also tweeted his displeasure with sports teams that are reviewing the appropriateness of nicknames that are offensive to Native Americans, seeking to curry favor with Americans who believe political correctness has gone too far. He has invoked fear of crime with tweets about sanctuary cities and crime rates in New York and Chicago, and has spoken of preserving our heritage, picking up the language of those who want to honor the Confederacy. The meeting was requested by Mr. Urban more than two weeks before the State Department issued an emergency waiver in May 2019 that circumvented the congressional hold on the arms deals, allowing billions of dollars in Raytheon missiles and bombs to be sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The meeting took place in June several weeks after the issuance of the waiver, the State Department said. It is not known what Mr. Pompeo and the Raytheon executive discussed. The department did not deny that Mr. Urban arranged the meeting but said the emergency waiver now the subject of congressional and inspector general investigations was consistent with American national security objectives. The story behind Mr. Pompeos meeting with Raytheon, which has not been previously reported, is emblematic of the outsize influence wielded in Washington by Mr. Urban and a small group of other lobbyists and operatives who backed Mr. Trump when most of the K Street establishment was keeping its distance. Those relationships became lucrative after Mr. Trump won a surprise victory on Election Day and rewarded early loyalists with key posts, continued access or both. With Mr. Trump lagging in the polls, the lobbyists are seeking to protect that mutually beneficial relationship by working to re-elect him, underscoring the mix of politics and policy that has served them and their clients so well over the last three and a half years. Consider the examples of eight lobbyists and operatives with ties to lobbying firms, including Mr. Urban, who are now assisting Mr. Trumps campaign in various paid and unpaid capacities, like fund-raising and strategy. A New York shipping business owned by the family of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, received at least $350,000, according to the data. A person familiar with the company, Foremost Group, said that the loan was for less than $500,000 and that no employees had been laid off during the pandemic. Ms. Chao has no formal affiliation or stake in the business. In 2008, she and Mr. McConnell received millions of dollars in gifts from her father, James, who ran the company until 2018. Many of the biggest and most influential lobbying and political consulting firms received money despite prohibitions intended to restrict access most likely qualifying by highlighting lines of business that fell outside the restrictions. Wiley Rein, which has a large lobbying practice focusing on trade issues, received between $5 million and $10 million, according to the data. Van Ness Feldman and Beveridge & Diamond, two law firms that focus on helping energy industry clients push their agendas in Washington, received loans between $2 million and $5 million, according to the administration. A firm that raises money for Mr. Trumps re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee received a loan of more than $1 million, according to the data set, while a company that produces Mr. Trumps political advertisements received between $350,000 and $1 million. So did a consulting firm started by President Barack Obamas former campaign manager Jim Messina and one that Hillary Clintons 2008 campaign paid for communications consulting. Several firms that advise companies on how to deal with the government, but are not officially registered to lobby, were also said to have received loans. They include companies run by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who served in the Clinton administration. The administration listed loans worth between $350,000 and $1 million to a consulting firm started by former Senator William S. Cohen, a Maine Republican who also served in the Clinton administration as the secretary of defense, and one run by a homeland security secretary in the Bush administration, Michael Chertoff. And DCI Group AZ, a prominent political and corporate consulting firm, collected as much as $5 million. An affiliate of Americans for Tax Reform, the influential conservative group that has been a vocal critic of government spending, received between $150,000 and $350,000, according to the governments data. In a statement, the group said the foundation was badly hurt by the government shutdown and does not engage in lobbying. LOS ANGELES A federal appeals court on Monday struck down President Trumps policy that barred most migrants from seeking asylum in the United States if they had passed through another country, concluding that the government did virtually nothing to make sure that another country is a safe option for those fleeing persecution. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco affirmed the decision of a federal judge who ruled last year that the so-called third-country transit rule was unlawful, with one judge calling it perhaps the most significant change to American asylum in a generation. The ruling was an interim but important step. In September, the Supreme Court had allowed the Trump administrations rule forbidding most Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the United States to take effect while the appeals courts deliberated its legality. That stay remains in place until the Supreme Court takes up the case or the Trump administration abandons the policy. In the meantime, nearly all asylum seekers have been temporarily blocked from entering the country under a separate administration directive, issued as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, that closed the border to all but United States citizens and lawful permanent residents. TORONTO He sent his regrets. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed on Monday he wont attend a meeting in Washington this week with President Donald Trump and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico. The meeting was meant to celebrate the official start of the new trade deal between the three countries the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (U.S.M.C.A.). Mr. Trudeaus reason for not attending? Scheduling conflicts, he said. He has virtual cabinet meetings and a long-planned session in Parliament on Wednesday, when the Washington summit is scheduled to begin. That Mr. Trudeau would choose not to fly to Washington to celebrate what many consider one of his most important accomplishments to date securing the pact with his countrys biggest, and in recent times, most temperamental, trading partner was striking. He and his team spent more than a year feverishly working on closing the deal, often dropping everything to rush to Washington. But the pressure evaporated in November 2018, when it was officially signed. The Chinese law professor had stored a few pairs of underwear and a toothbrush in a small bag, close at hand for the day when the police detained him for his unsparing criticism of the Communist Party under Xi Jinping. That day appears to have arrived. On Monday morning, the police showed up in force at the home of the scholar, Xu Zhangrun, in northern Beijing and took him away, according to three friends. He was detained on an accusation of consorting with prostitutes, according to Geng Xiaonan, a friend who said she had spoken to the scholars wife and students. Its just the kind of vile slander that they use against someone they want to silence, said Ms. Geng, a businesswoman involved in film and publishing. He foresaw this day, she said. He kept some clothes in a bag hanging inside his front door, so he wouldnt have to go without a change when they took him away. Uighur exiles urged the International Criminal Court on Monday to investigate Beijing for genocide and crimes against humanity, the first-ever attempt to use international law to hold Chinas ruling Communist Party accountable for its draconian crackdown on the Muslim minority. A team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups has filed a complaint against Beijing for pursuing the repatriation of thousands of Uighurs through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. The case could bring greater international scrutiny of the Chinese states power to impose its will beyond its borders. The lawyers 80-page filing includes a list of more than 30 Chinese officials they said were responsible for the campaign, including Xi Jinping, the Communist Party leader. Mr. Xis policies over recent years have put Muslim minorities in Chinas western region of Xinjiang under a pervasive net of surveillance, detention and social re-engineering. As many as one million ethnic Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities have been held in internment camps in the region, drawing growing global condemnation. SEOUL, South Korea A South Korean court on Monday rejected an extradition request by the United States for a South Korean citizen convicted of running one of the worlds biggest child pornography websites on the dark web. The South Korean, Son Jong-woo, 24, completed an 18-month sentence in April for operating a child pornography site called Welcome to Video, which was inaccessible by regular web browsers and for which he collected fees paid in Bitcoin from the sites users, officials said. The United States Justice Department wanted him extradited to face money-laundering and other charges in an American court. But in a widely monitored ruling, the Seoul High Court said that keeping him in South Korea would help the country in its efforts to track down the users of his site for possible indictment. The courts decision on Monday was a huge letdown for anti-child pornography groups in South Korea that had hoped that Mr. Sons extradition to the United States would help deter sexual crimes in South Korea. Some of the men in the United States who received child pornography through Welcome to Video have been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. LONDON Britain, seeking to carve out a post-Brexit role as a human-rights defender, said on Monday it had blacklisted dozens of people from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar for abuses ranging from a carefully-plotted execution to jailhouse beatings and the persecution of Rohingya refugees. It was the first time since leaving the European Union in January that Britain imposed its own sanctions for human-rights violations. British officials cast the move as proof that the country can play an influential global role on its own, with some noting that the European Union has yet to adopt similar sanctions. Among the 47 people who face travel bans and frozen assets in Britain are 25 Russians accused of aiding and abetting in the death of Sergei L. Magnitsky and 20 Saudis accused in the assassination of the dissident Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi. It also sanctioned two high-ranking generals from Myanmar and two North Korean organizations responsible for the isolated countrys brutal prison system. Mr. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer, died after brutal treatment while in detention on false charges in 2009, and is the namesake for the Magnitsky Act, under which the United States blacklists human rights abusers. Mr. Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, at the hands of Saudi agents. LONDON Saja Shaheen is walking the aisles of Nour Cash & Carry, explaining the eclectic inventory of the popular grocery store her family has owned inside Brixton Market for more than 20 years. As new immigrant communities arrive in the diverse area of south London, she said, foods are added to match their tastes. Bags of rice are piled six feet high near the entrance, next to 15-liter jugs of various cooking oils. Spiced plantain chips and eight varieties of jerk sauce are imported from the Caribbean. There are bags of egusi, ground prawns and dried crayfish used for African dishes. Date syrups, tahini and okra cater to Middle Eastern customers. Nour has the crammed charm of a classic New York bodega, but with a standout food selection that has made it popular with local restaurant chefs. (Its Whole Foods without the eye-watering prices, for real people, said a local blog.) The store is not designed for comfort or social distancing. Elbowing someone aside to reach a bag of beans or cornmeal is acceptable. There are no discernible checkout lines. The staff is savvy at defusing arguments. ROME The economic repercussions of Italys lockdown to contain the coronavirus nearly wiped Anita Paris out. Her son, a car mechanic whom she depended on for financial support, couldnt work. Her small pension didnt suffice. The welfare checks she had hoped would pour in from the government didnt materialize. And so Ms. Paris, a 75-year-old widow, turned to a shadow safety net that Italians have relied on for centuries, through plagues and sieges, wars and downturns. She rummaged through her home for rings, necklaces, bracelets, everything I had around and turned to the pawnshops that constitute an official, if anachronistic, part of the Italian banking system. I have bills to pay, Ms. Paris said after pawning off her things under a vaulted ceiling in the Valuables Appraisal hall of a baroque palace that has housed a pawnshop and the pawn departments of major banks for more than 400 years. I have to get to the end of the month. The economic picture for Italy, and for Italians in need of cash, does not look good. Banks, laden with debt and wary of taking on toxic loans, are unlikely to extend credit. The governments aid packages and job security measures that have delivered billions of euros to struggling Italians are set to expire at the end of the summer, though the government is considering extending benefits. The Italian economy is estimated to contract by nearly 13 percent this year. MOSCOW Further tightening the screws on free speech in Russia just days after a national plebiscite effectively entrenched Vladimir V. Putin as president for life, a Russian military court on Monday convicted a freelance journalist on charges of justifying terrorism in a 2018 text critical of the security services. The court in Pskov, an ancient city near Russias border with Estonia, sentenced the journalist, Svetlana Prokopyeva, to a fine of about $7,000 and ordered the confiscation of her computer and cellphone. Prosecutors had asked for a six-year jail sentence, so the punishment was less severe than the journalist and her supporters had feared, but the guilty verdict nonetheless sent a chilling message. Lev Shlosberg, the Pskov region leader of Yabloko, a liberal opposition party, and a supporter of the journalist, described the verdict as an achievement for civil society but not a victory. My father tried to hold it in. But all he could think of was Gomer Pyle, at least until he felt the brim of the drill sergeants hat pop him in the forehead, and he became acquainted with the most vicious pair of bulging eyes hed ever seen. Instantly, my father took up right where the other recruit left off: YES SIR! YES SIR! For eight weeks, my father understood this was no laughing matter, especially when the female drill sergeant took over and made it her mission to make every push-up, sit-up, rope climb, obstacle course and heart-pounding hike even more strenuous. She hated men. There was no doubt. Snarling in disgust, she never let the recruits forget they all smelled like a bunch of goats. Eight long weeks. After basic training, my father spent a few months learning the fine art of auto mechanics. However, rather than repair vehicles, he found himself behind the wheels of flatbed trucks once the Gulf War got underway in 1990. Being handed the truck keys didnt surprise my father at all. Since high school, he knew his destiny would roll along life paths on 18 wheels. So it was only a matter of time until the Army recognized his special talent. And put it to good use. It wasnt until the fire was put out that Nashs body was found with multiple gunshot wounds, on the property near the end of the driveway of the Creative Habitats landscaping business. Her vehicle was stolen, Kloepper said. Investigators put out an alert for the vehicle. It was found later in Birmingham. Police were then able to identify Hill as a suspect due to someone stating that they saw her in Nashs stolen vehicle, Kloepper testified. Police arrested and charged Hill in Birmingham and interviewed her before bringing her back to Lee County, where she gave a second statement to police, Kloepper testified. The investigation Hill told investigators that she met Hightower in Columbus. Kloepper said he was unsure of the pairs relationship. The pair was traveling from Columbus to Birmingham on April 17. Hill said that while they were traveling to Birmingham on Highway 280 East, they turned into the driveway of Creative Habitats and got their truck stuck, Kloepper testified. Hill then went and walked down 280 and knocked on a door to get someone to help get their truck unstuck, but no one answered. When she returned, Hightower was trying to get the truck unstuck, Kloepper said. >Attempted burglary occurred in the 2000 block of South Long Street. >Shooting into an occupied vehicle occurred in the 1400 block of Karley Drive. >A burglary and theft occurred in the 2300 block of Star Street. >Shooting into an occupied building occurred at Circle K, 511 Second Ave. >Two shootings into an occupied dwelling incidents occurred in the 1500 block of Frederick Road. >Shooting into an unoccupied building occurred in the 3500 block of Marvyn Parkway. >A robbery occurred at Metro PCS, 3310 Pepperell Pkwy., at about 6:45 p.m. Sunday. The suspect is only described as a black male with all black clothing armed with a handgun. No injuries were reported. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Opelika Police Department Detective Division at 334-705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at 334-745-8665. You may remain anonymous. >Zackery Thomas Howze, 24, of Valley, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Valley Police Department >First-degree theft of property was reported in the 5800 block of 19th Avenue. Saag said that as cases rise, so do the number of patients in the Intensive Care Unit. Hospitals are starting to fill up, he said. Not only are they filling up but clinics are changing how theyre operating. People who already had trouble getting access to care are having even more access issues. Additionally, elective procedures are being postponed again. Saag took a question from the audience: I hear so many people saying, I think I already had COVID-19, so I do not have to wear a mask? Is that accurate? I had COVID, for sure, in early March, Saag said. I wear masks everyday, I wear masks when I see patients, because why? I dont know if having it produces protective immunity. We dont know that. Everyone has to remember, this virus has only been in the human species for less than six months. JournalismHarress spoke about how COVID-19 changed the world of journalism. I think some of the main challenges that we face are around ethics and kind of deciding what our role would be in this pandemic and how much on-the-ground reporting should we do, how close we can get to people, what is safe, he said. On a list of worst yet most original ways to strike up a conversation with the opposite sex, slashing their tires just so you could then come and offer assistance has to rank pretty high A 32-year-old man from Aichi Prefecture, Japan, was recently arrested after allegedly slashing a womans tire just so he could follow her and offer assistance when she eventually pulled over to check the wheel. On June 11, an unnamed 43-year-old woman walked out of the supermarket in Higashiura, went to her car and drove away. She didnt get very far before noticing that her drivers side front tire was almost completely flat, so she pulled over to check it out. Thats when a friendly man stopped his car next to hers and offered to help fix her flat. Its not every day that you get to meet such kind souls, the only problem was that the woman quickly realized that the same thing had happened to her just a year before, and the knight in shining armor looked suspiciously familiar too Photo: Frank Albrecht/Unsplash Troubled by this bizarre case of deja vu, the woman notified the police, explaining to them that the exact same accident had happened to her just a year before. After checking the surveillance camera in the supermarket parking lot, police quickly discovered that the man who had helped the woman fix her flat tire had slashed it only minutes before she walked out of the supermarket. The culprit was identified as 32-year-old Yoshito Harada, and he immediately admitted to the crime, telling police that he had only done it as an excuse to get to know the woman. Thats a weird way to break the ice with someone you like, but the strangest thing about this story is that this wasnt just a one-time thing for Harada. He had done it quite a few times in the past Photo: leo2104/Pixabay When lat months incident made national news, a few people commented about a strangely similar case dating back to 2013 involving a man also named Harada, who was 25 at the time, cam from the same town and slashed womens tires as a way to approach them. Back then, his lawyer claimed that Harada had slashed womens tires at least 1,000 times. SoraNews24 recently reported that back in 2013 Yoshito Harada managed to avoid jail time for his repeated tire slashing by compensating the few victims that came forward with 30,000 yen ($279) each. He also agreed to wear a GPS tracking bracelet so his parents could monitor his whereabouts and ensure that he stayed out of trouble. But dodging the bullet once wasnt enough for Harada to change his ways. In 2016, he was once again taken into police custody after one of his victims called an acquaintance who had also suffered the same accident and had received assistance from the very same 28-year-old man, just a few month prior. Interestingly, the same kind of coincidence had led to his original arrest in 2013. Although the exact number of times Yoshito Harada slashed womens tires is still unknown, he was believed to have done it over 1,000 times by his lawyer in 2013, and it happened often enough that he actually targeted the same woman twice in one year, and two women who knew each other on at least two occasions. The saddest thing is that despite all his efforts, he was still unable to hit it off with at least one of his victims Ronn Torossian It was inevitable that, at some point, returning to full flights would become a reality. As the airline industry looks for ways to dig itself out of the massive hole left by COVID-19, it appears this is a step many airlines are now ready to make. Given consumers are currently less than enthusiastic about the notion of full flights, however, how are major U.S. airlines responding in order to encourage travelers to book those flights especially in the middle seat? American Airlines, the worlds largest airline, opted for a subtle, indirect approach with this announcement: Customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1 Conversely, Americans competitor, United, said it has been willing to sell every possible seat even as travel demand plummeted after the pandemic landed in America. However, one message both major carriers agreed on was a policy of communicating with passengers when more than 70 percent of the seats on a flight were booked. This message was intended to offer consumers the option of switching to a less-crowded flight if theyre concerned about the potential risk of contracting the virus. Now, though, most airlines have reached the point where they need to entice travelers in larger numbers. Otherwise, the biggest brandsand the industry as a wholewill face bleak fall and winter travel seasons. According to media reports, a recent survey of people passing through TSA checkpoints compared to the same time last year was about one-quarter. These are worrying numbers during whats traditionally a peak summer travel period for airlines. However, the same survey noted that the number of airline passengers is steadily rising, up dramatically since the lowest point in April. That said, there are still fewer planes in the air and that means any increase in the number of passengers means fewer empty seats between passengers who may still be concerned about the pandemic. Hoping to appeal to fliers who are still uneasy, airlines including JetBlue have said they plan to keep the middle seat open a while longer. JetBlue committed to the end of July, while larger airlineslike Southwest and Deltahave committed to keeping that seat empty at least through September. That could give these airlines a distinct public relations advantage, if they choose to leverage that selling point. CNN reported that Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the policy to keep the seat open would remain until fall, and that consumer demand could potentially extend that as the business starts to return, as demand starts to grow, and if people have more confidence in their travel experience, we will decide later in this year when we start to ease up on (the restricted number of passengers). Other airlines are pushing messages that include information regarding enhanced cleaning practices and making masks compulsory. However, with many other businesses across various industries touting the same policies, these enhancements are starting to read less like benefits and more like business as usual. Over the next few months, well see which narratives influence consumer confidence most. *** Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency. Niel Golightly Boeing communications chief Niel Golightly has quit because of an employee complaint about an article that he wrote in 1987 as a Navy pilot questioning the ability of women to serve in combat. CFO Greg Smith will assume the duties of Golightly, who was senior VP-communications, on an interim basis until a successor is found Golightly joined Boeing Jan. 1 after serving as global chief communications officer at Fiat Chrysler At FCA, he was in charge of PR strategy, media relations and employee/executive communications. Earlier, he held communications jobs at Royal Dutch Shell and Ford Motor after serving as a fighter pilot in the US Navy. In announcing Goilightly's departure, Boeing emphasized that it did not agree with his article written 33 years ago. I want to emphasize our Companys unrelenting commitment to diversity and inclusion in all its dimensions, and to ensuring that all of our employees have an equal opportunity to contribute and excel," said CEO David Calhoun in his statement. Golightly said his statement was one from a 29-year-old speaking about a debate that was life at that time. "My argument was embarrassingly wrong and offensive. The dialogue that followed its publication 33 years ago quickly opened my eyes, indelibly changed my mind, and shaped the principles of fairness, inclusion, respect and diversity that have guided my professional life since," he said. Kevin Foley The Lincoln Project, an outfit made up of Republican communications and campaign strategists including George Conway, the husband of senior adviser to president Trump Kellyanne, have dropped some pretty tough broadcast and digital ads on Trump. One released recently was pretty devastating. It featured Dr. Dan Barkhuff, a Naval Academy graduate, former Navy SEAL, combat veteran, Harvard Medical School grad and an emergency medicine physician and professor at the University of Vermont who said hes also pro-life and a gun owner. Any commander-in-chief with a spine would be stomping the living s*** out of some Russians right now, diplomatically, economically or if necessary with the sort of asymmetric warfare they're using to send our kids home in body bags, declared Barkhuff in the ad. Mr. Trump, you're either a coward who can't stand up to an ex-KGB goon or you're complicit. Which is it? Theres no good answer, of course. Like most of us, Barkhuff read multiple credible news reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin paid cash bounties to the Taliban for killing American servicemen and women, the money reportedly doled out by a shady Afghan middleman. Trump was briefed on Putins blood money payoffs in February and former national security adviser John Bolton said he told Trump about the murderous scheme last year. The president did nothing, as Barkhuff charges, while again demonstrating all roads lead from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Kremlin. Trump first called the stories a hoax, then he claimed he was never briefed, but intelligence officials confirm he was. I have no doubt that when Trump is finally out of office, we will know the full extent of the reasons this president has been so solicitous of Putin. Its only a matter of time, but its time those servicemen and women killed as a result of the bounties no longer have to live their lives. Erik Hendriks told NBC News his son, Marine Cpl. Robert Hendriks, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last year. He said hed be heartbroken to learn his son was killed for Putins bounty. "Why hasn't anybody called me or my ex-wife to settle us? he asked. Isn't it enough the hell we're going through that no one has come forward with anything at all?" Asked about the bounties on Fox News, Trump toady Sen. Lindsay Graham responded with a whataboutism, rehashing the Benghazi tragedy in which four Americans were killed by insurgents at a U.S. outpost in Libya. It has been established by military leaders that everything they could do to get aid to the Americans was done. It just didnt get there in time. Dr. Barkhuff leads Veterans for Responsible Leadership and has been critical of Trump in the past, saying on a podcast in 2018, the president is someone you cant trustThere is a saying in the military: you can delegate authority, you cant delegate responsibility. That is true and the current commander in chiefis quick to point fingers at other people when something doesnt go his way and regularly engages in demonstrably untrue falsehoods. A day of reckoning is coming, November 3 to be exact, and a variety of polls, including those in a half dozen key swing states, show Trump losing bigly. The novelty act that got him elected has grown tiresome for voters including many Republicans, who are rejecting Trumps politics of white grievance and his gross incompetence in handling the COVID 19 outbreak and its economic fallout. Dr. Barkhuff is spot on. We need a president with a spine. *** Kevin Foley owns KEF Media in Atlanta. DPA, Leads, PMI Products; Investors Ruminate on Employment Data Heres a blunt reminder of what can go dramatically wrong in a fireworks stand. And heres a blunt email that I received over the weekend. Rob, what dont people understand? If someone is threatened with a potentially fatal illness, the last thing on their mind is buying the latest Apple phone, a new car, a suit, a new computer, whatever. They will focus entirely on food, housing, transportation, healthcare, and insurance. (Housing alone accounts for almost a third of spending.) Until this virus is taken care of, we can expect a slow economy, and low rates a double-edged sword for our industry. End of story. Maybe some are more focused on ridding the United States of its Star Spangled Banner since Francis Scott Key appears to have come from a slave-owning family. And those focused on mortgage legal matters learned that in the G-Rate non-solicitation case (Cook County Case No. 2020 L 371, Guaranteed Rate as Plaintiff and Harry Richter as Defendant) the judge reversed her decision, refusing to find Guaranteed Rates employee non-solicit overbroad. The defendant, Harry Rick Richer, was ordered to answer Guaranteed Rates complaint seeking relief for Richters violation of the non-solicit by July 17. (The judge had previously ordered Richter to answer Guaranteed Rates claim for breach of fiduciary duty by July 17.) Broker and Lender Products Every loan officer wants an edge on the competition. Some rely on relationships and others rely on state-of-the-art tools. PMI Rate Pro was created by loan officers that recognized the value of quoting all 6 private mortgage insurance providers to save time and increase conversions. With PMI Rate Pro, home buyers can save an average of $35 on monthly premiums and over $2,000 on single premiums. With the average loan officer shopping only 2-to-3 MI providers, PMI Rate Pro provides its customers a significant competitive advantage at an affordable price. Seeing is believing. Try us free for 30 days and get back to doing what you do best - close deals. Record sales and 50% lower cost per loan! How Steven J. Sless and his PRMI Reverse Division rocked their best months ever using direct mail: You know, PRMI is just a powerhouse in the mortgage industry now. And Monster Lead Group has been an unbelievable partner. Monster knows what they're doing, they know how to make the phones ring, they know how to generate business, but they also know how important it is to help us grow a brand at the same time. It's a real marketing system. It's not just sending mail. I think the consistency of the campaigns is what we rely on Our cost per funded loan is about 50% of the industry average So that story should be told. We're able to grow and scale our operation because of the predictability of the Monster campaigns. That is what's allowed us to get to this point. Want BETTER direct mail? Contact Monster Lead Group. Join Golden State Finance Authority for an in-depth look at the new GSFA OpenDoors down payment assistance program! OpenDoors is a game-changer when it comes to helping homebuyers in California purchase a primary residence with little-to-no money out of pocket. The GSFA OpenDoors Program features homebuyer assistance up to 7% of the loan amount, FICO requirements as low as 620, flexible DTI requirements and enhanced pricing. FHA, VA, USDA, and Conventional loan financing is available. Plus, GSFA delegates the loan process to the Participating Lender so no additional compliance review from GSFA is necessary, making the process simple and easy for both borrower and Lender. Ready to start closing more loans?? Join us for a Lender Training Webinar and view Program guidelines at www.gsfahome.org. You dont want to miss out on this EXCITING new Program! Capital Markets Any economic data from April, May, or June will reflect a tremendous amount of churn occurring in the U.S. economy. States have been reopening, and now closing, at different speeds. Some businesses are coming back to life while many are still struggling, which means many employees are coming back to work as others are still getting furloughed. Additionally, there has been a massive amount of fiscal and monetary policy stimulus. While June figures are expected to be improvements from April and May, the trajectory of the coronavirus through the U.S. and elsewhere is an ongoing concern, as the economy in different geographic locations may be shut down again as caseloads accelerate. What is certain is that the amount of uncertainty around any particular economic forecast is large right now. Hopefully, everybody enjoyed the long weekend, and your mind was on what to grill, where to watch fireworks, and how to be a better civil rights advocate, rather than the risk-on trade Friday that saw a slight rally in Treasuries and Agency MBS. U.S. economic data released over the last week may have been better received if not for the surging spread of Covid-19 in several states that has resulted in a rollback of reopening plans. Nonfarm employment increased by a record 4.8 million net new jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1 percent. As good as the month-over-month increase was, employment is 9.6 percent below Februarys peak and analysts are looking ahead to the potential re-shuttering of some businesses and a return to home for employees who just got back to work. Additionally if the rapid spread of Covid-19 is prolonged, demand for many non-essential items may once again plummet, leaving many businesses with reduced payrolls as they are forced to adapt. New claims for unemployment continued to fall for the week ending June 27 but the rate of decline is falling as well. Manufacturing returned to expansion territory in June as the ISM Manufacturing Index increased from 43.1 to 52.6 with half of the sub-indexes in positive territory and thirteen of eighteen industries reporting growth. As noted above, last week closed with better-than-expected jobs data, though gains were tempered over angst from the economic impact of rising coronavirus infections. June saw a historic increase in payroll employment: whats not to cheer about? Despite the positive news, the level of employment in June was still 14.7 million jobs, or 9.6 percent, below the peak from February. Additionally, the report is based on a survey done in the middle of June, before the latest virus surge. And the misclassifying out-of-work Americans as employed has skewed the jobless rate, distorting month-on-month comparisons. So investors are taking those June figures with a grain of salt. The recent flare ups of COVID-19 cases in several states (U.S. daily cases officially topped 50,000 for the first time last week) have resulted in a new round of layoffs for some workers. Also, the expiration of the PPP loan layoff restrictions for many firms will allow them to shed workers in July. Further complicating the analysis, roughly 19 million workers who remain unemployed are benefitting from enhanced unemployment benefit supplied by the CARES Act. The extra $600 per week, which has encouraged some workers to stay off their jobs, is now scheduled to expire on July 31. There will likely be a new stimulus bill in July that will again modify unemployment insurance benefits. Following the long weekend, the economic calendar for this first full week in July begins with the final June reading for Markit services PMI, and will be followed by ISM nonmanufacturing PMI for June, shortly thereafter, and the June employment trends index. Releases are scant as well tomorrow, with just May Job Openings, before Wednesday sees the usual Weekly MBA Mortgage Index. Thursday brings weekly jobless claims and May Wholesale Inventories before the week closes with June PPI and Core PPI. The MBS market will digest June prepayments, released after tomorrows close. The NY Fed will conduct two FedTrade MBS purchase operations today, totaling up to $4.665 billion and starting with up to $1.768 billion GNII 2.5 percent and 3 percent followed by up to $2.897 billion UMBS30 2 percent through 3 percent. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices down/worse a few 32nds and the 10-year yielding .70 after closing last week at 0.67 percent. Employment Caliber Home Loans is excited to announce its first chartered Employee Resource Group, DREAM, supporting women in business. DREAM stands for Developing, Recruiting, Empowering, Advocating for, and Mentoring women. Membership is open to all Caliber team members, male or female. DREAM program activities will include panel discussions, workshops, social outings, and volunteerism. Our goal is to deliver programs and activities that resonate with the current life stage of all Caliber employees. We will strive to break down barriers, whether perceived or real, that impact women. It is DREAMs vision to inspire women to stay curious, drive change, and motivate members to achieve or exceed their goals. Join Caliber, where your DREAM is your success! If you have an interest in one of our posted job opportunities, please contact Jonathan Stanley for consideration. If you are interested in a sales opportunity at Caliber, please contact Brian Miller for immediate consideration. Visit the Caliber Careers website for opportunities across the organization! A leading multinational corporation is growing its operations and is looking for seasoned underwriters. This is a ground floor opportunity for critical team members here in the US. Serving more than 65 mortgage lenders, including 5 of the top 20 IMBs, the company offers a competitive salary and benefits package for this work-from-home position. With more than 60,000 file touches per month and supporting $200B+ in mortgage lending per year, our continued growth provides for unlimited advancement potential. Experience with due-diligence underwriting is a plus. Interested candidates may send their resume to Anjelica Nixt. Evergreen Home Loans believes in the WOW and creating positive change in our communities. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognized a greater need than ever to fight hunger. Through the Evergreen Cares Foundation, we donated $250,000 to non-profit organizations providing hunger relief. A total of 60 organizations in the states we serve received funds as part of our WOW Giving for Hunger 2020 initiative. Evergreen is also a sponsor for Rock the Harvest benefiting Northwest Harvest, the leading hunger relief agency in Washington and Oregon. At Evergreen, we believe in helping customers find home and supporting the communities we serve. If you believe in that too, check out our Careers page or contact Chuck Iverson. TruLoan Mortgage, home of The Lending Experience Youll Love, in Charlotte, NC is expanding. Founded by retail branching industry veterans Daniel Jacobs and partners, TruLoan Mortgage is a boutique lender providing incredible support to help successful producers double their business. Leave the corporate red tape and status quo behind; experience action, support, innovation, and growth now! Be a part of a team with impactful millennial homebuying seminars (last virtual event attracted 60 attendees and 18 highly qualified applicants!), closings loans in 8-21 days, 5-star reviews and a lot of fun doing it. TruLoan Mortgage is delivering on its promise for a lending experience youll love. If youre a successful producer or team of producers in the Charlotte market or in the Southeastern US, want the support you deserve and an environment to grow, earn more, and have fun, contact us now at Grow at TruLoan. American Mortgage Network: Join us and be an employee-owner. American Mortgage Network is a 100% employee owned company (ESOP) created for the benefit of all employees. Unlike traditional mortgage banking, this was an effective way to build a strong team and provide fair compensation for employees contributions. Joseph Restivo, Dave Wallace and Sherry Chappell, the leadership team, supplied the initial equity for the company but pledged their ownership shares to the ESOP. The ESOP structure brings needed balance between compensation levels such as those between sales and operations. In a little over a year, our employees are now owners, actively participating in decision-making. Theyve received their first distribution of shares and operate in a bureaucracy-free environment that gives them the freedom to work for the companys success every day. If you are interested in becoming an owner and a member of the AmNet team, please click here. Mr. Cooper is excited to announce new developments for our Correspondent channel! As a leader in the industry, weve enhanced our eNote acquisitions with the addition of Remote Online Notarizations (RONs)! Our clients can now experience an end-to-end, virtual loan process. We believe RONs are the way of the future, and were excited to provide this offering! Additionally, weve broadened our FHA Program (Purchase & Rate Term) by reducing the minimum FICO to 600. Co-Issue is back! Let our Co-issue experts help you across both Agency and Government. One of Mr. Coopers core values is Champions for our Clients, and we deliver through efficient turn times, robust delivery options, and access to liquidity. Ready to become a Mr. Cooper client? Please contact the Regional Sales Team. If youre interested in joining our growing Delegated and Non-Delegated teams, contact Pamela Peak. Mr. Cooper is a leading Correspondent investor and the largest non-bank servicer with a servicing portfolio of $600B+. Finance of America Mortgage has continued to shatter our own monthly records in 2020. Our retail branches are up significantly over last year almost doubling their usual volume, and considerably above the national average increase. Now were looking to share that success with you and your organization. If you are a mortgage company interested in becoming part of the Finance of America Mortgage family, contact us today. Why not join an organization that continues to succeed month after month? Let our past victories become a part of your organizations continued growth and success. If you are part of the executive management team of a mortgage company and are interested in your company becoming part of the Finance of America Mortgage family, please contact Jerry Ray today. Yes. I would be the first in line. No. I don't trust that a vaccine will be safe. I plan to, but I want to wait to see effects of first doses. Not sure. Vote View Results 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. "This might be the trend for quite a few companies, especially as the pandemic sort of drags on without any end in site," said Bethany Saxton, vice president of people operations at ServerCentral. "People are really starting to not wait to go back to normal, but start looking at what is the new normal." Job postings that used to say the position was based at ServerCentral's Chicago headquarters now note that the position can be remote. But there are new costs involved in hiring employees from outside of Illinois, and letting them stay put. In all 14 states where ServerCentral employs someone outside of Illinois, it must pay taxes, contribute to the unemployment fund, and make sure it is up-todate on local employment laws. The additional cost to ServerCentral can be as little as $7,000 per year in some states, but in other states it "can bemuch, much more," she said. But Saxton said it's worth it. "It's something we were willing to embrace in order to kind of keep building our talent pool," she said. Katherine Graff has worked as a service desk technician at ServerCentral for about a month. Graff, who lives just north of Salt Lake City, Utah, said she would never have thought to apply for a job at a Chicago company if not for the pandemic. Lincoln police on Monday identified a 20-year-old man who died after being shot during a gathering at his residence near Lincoln Southeast High School. Officers responded to a residence in the 2700 block of South 40th Street in Lincoln just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Gavin Hall was pronounced dead at the scene. Hall's roommate, Zachariah A. Serna, 18, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. He was booked into the Lancaster County Jail. An autopsy performed Sunday found that Hall died from a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses said Serna and Hall were "bantering back and forth" during a small gathering before Serna retrieved a shotgun from his bedroom and walked toward Hall. Serna discharged the gun, striking Hall in the head. Police are continuing to interview witnesses and the shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Lincoln police at 402-441-6000 or Lincoln Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600. 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. Omaha-area hospitals reported about 60 fireworks-related injuries in late June and early July. In one incident Friday night, a 34-year-old man was lighting fireworks on the sidewalk in front of a house near 43rd and Corby Streets. A witness told Omaha police that a fireworks device didnt go off, so the man picked it up and relit the short fuse. The device ignited, severely injuring the mans hand. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center. In an incident Saturday night, a 14-year-old boy was injured near 60th and Pinkney Streets when he went to light an M-80 firecracker. As he was moving away, he told officers, he accidentally kicked it over. The explosive went off and hit his leg. The boy was taken to Immanuel Medical Center with injuries to both legs. He also complained of ringing in his ears. Nine people were treated for fireworks-related injuries in the emergency room at Childrens Hospital & Medical Center between June 29 and Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday. Childrens treated burns and eye injuries, the spokeswoman said, and sparklers seemed to be a top culprit. The Nebraska Medical Center treated 13 people for fireworks-related injuries on Friday and Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Whatever resources we need, we are on the phone with the DNC (Democratic National Committee), and were getting it, Kleeb said. That is very different than in 2018. Ryan Hamilton, executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, said he had zero concerns about Trumps ability to keep the 2nd District in GOP hands. Trump won the 2nd District in 2016 by 6,534 votes. Hamilton said he never has seen energy like Trump Republicans have for their president. He said polling about Trumps support has proven unreliable in the past and will again. Trump trails Biden in many national and state polls. Theyre outworking the Biden campaign in Omaha and Sarpy County, and the results will show it, Hamilton said of the Trump Victory campaign, a joint effort with the Republican National Committee. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, both presidential campaigns have done the bulk of their local outreach online and by phone. Those on the Trump team said they are just starting to knock on voters doors again. Cotten said the Trump group is working to energize as many voters as possible to help him across the line of 270 electoral votes he needs to be reelected. Omahas vote is one they need, she said. International China rebukes UK for its gross interference over Hong Kong LONDON, JUL 6 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 7/6/2020 10:31:23 AM IST Chinas ambassador to London accused Britain on Monday of gross interference and making irresponsible remarks over Beijings imposition of new security legislation in Hong Kong that he said could damage future Chinese investment. Britain has described the security law as a clear and serious violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration under which it handed back its colony to China 13 years later and said that London would offer around 3 million residents a path to British citizenship. The UK government keeps making irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told reporters in the strongest rebuke Beijing has issued to London since Britain criticised the security law. On the British offer to give British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport holders in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship, he said: This move constitutes gross interference in Chinas internal affairs and openly tramples on the basic norms governing international relations. He said China would decide on its response after seeing how Britain proceeded with its passport offer. Although Prime Minister Boris Johnson describes himself as a Sinophile, he has also spoken of the need to stick up for our friends in Hong Kong, straining relations with Beijing. He has also toughened his language on a provisional decision to allow Chinas Huawei to be involved in the development of Britains 5G infrastructure, saying he would protect critical infrastructure from hostile state vendors. Johnson has faced intense pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds and Britains media minister said on Monday the Huawei decision was not set in stone. Liu said that, although China wanted friendly relations with Britain, there might be many consequences if Britain treated Beijing as an enemy or with suspicion. We want to be your friend. We want to be your partner. But if you want to make China a hostile country, you will have to bear the consequences, he said. He said a U-turn on its Huawei decision would damage Britains image as an open, business-friendly environment and it meant London was having to bounce to the tune of the other countries. The China business community are all watching how you handle Huawei. If you get rid of Huawei it sends out a very bad message to other Chinese businesses, Liu said. In 2015, former British prime minister David Cameron heralded a golden era in bilateral relations with Beijing but these have soured amid growing dissent in Hong Kong. Liu said he hoped it was not over but Britain had to be careful how it characterised China. Whether it is over or not is not up to the Chinese side, he said. We have every reason to have good relations with the UK. Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997, under a one country, two systems formula guaranteeing wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary. WASHINGTON When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill later this month, they will have to determine how much additional stimulus is needed in response to the ongoing pandemic. Last weeks economic numbers showed a June rebound that included about 5 million jobs. Despite that good news, however, unemployment remains in the double digits, and coronavirus spikes in some states are threatening more closings and layoffs that could drive it even higher. One big question will be whether to extend the $600-a-week federal unemployment bonuses beyond the end of the month. Some Democrats have proposed an extension tied to unemployment rates. But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says an extension is a bad idea. Weve reached the point where were paying people more not to work than to work, Grassley told reporters last week. And guess what, if you pay them more not to work, whats going to happen? People arent going to work. So youve got to get people back to their jobs if you want to really have a robust economy. Virus precautions such as wearing masks have become politically contentious, with skepticism about the wisdom of masks particularly noticeable among some die-hard fans of Trump. Speaking generally about the effort to contain the virus, Grassley said the federal government could do more to get out a message that emphasizes the best public health recommendations. Even though theres some debate about wearing masks, how valuable it is, we shouldnt be taking any chances and (should) do it anyway, he said. I know it violates some peoples freedom, but they need to do it. Keep your distance, things of that nature. Grassley said those kinds of precautions are how outbreaks have been brought under control in the past. While he wont attend, Grassley expressed support for going forward with the convention in Florida with the proper precautions. I think we should have a convention, but I think you should do whatever you can to make it safe as possible, so that would be with face masks and with social distancing, he said. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The real issues we are facing today stem from deep within the hearts of people, both black and white. For centuries we have failed to deal effectively with the problem of racism inherited from our forefathers. The Confederate Constitution of 1861, drafted by Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens, stated that the white race was the superior race and all other races were subservient and inferior. This false ideology had taught and practiced as an acceptable truth for centuries. This erroneous mentality would never allow fairness and equality to all people. The truth of the matter is, God in his infinite wisdom made man in his image and after his own likeness (Genesis 1:26). This scripture doesnt say anything about the race of man, but only uses the word man, which denotes human beings. God loves all of his creation. He is a God of diversity, and everything that God made he said was good. If we decide to say that one race is superior and other races are not equal and deserve to be treated inhumanely or less than human beings, then we have misused and discredited Gods creation that he calls good. Many of us know a couple or two who have had to postpone their wedding because of COVID-19. And, make no mistake, the decision was not easy. Sadness, depression, fear and worry have all been felt. Several people have reached out to me for ideas to help make these couples feel celebrated and special during a challenging time. An aunt of one of my clients had a wooden recipe holder engraved with the wedding couples names, then reached out to guests with a request to send the couple favorite recipes to fill it. The couple loved going to their mailbox to see what the days mail held. Here are other fun, creative ideas. Handcrafted cutting board Urban Bark Nebraska offers versions with the couples name, monogram or other inscription hand-burned into the wood. The newlyweds can use the handcrafted board for a beautiful charcuterie or fruit display, or display it in their kitchen as an art piece. Vows booklets A friendly competition between the bridesmaids and groomsmen made for the funniest moment of the day. Instead of a dollar dance, they dollar dashed to retrieve bills from guests in a race to collect the most money during a song. Other favorite details of the day included the best mans chemistry-themed speech, a choreographed father-daughter dance to Footloose, a late-night reception snack of Chick-fil-A nuggets, and driving away from the church in a 1975 Corvette Stingray complete with cans and a just married sign tied to the bumper. Guests were sent home with honey sticks from the Cornhusker Marriotts rooftop beehives. In the sweetest moment, Emily received a penny that her late grandfather had given her mom on her wedding day 25 years earlier. When planning your wedding, dont procrastinate, the bride recommends. Knock out the big details early and hire a wedding planner. This makes for less stress as the day approaches. She also enjoyed spending the night before the wedding with her bridesmaids. This was such a fun way to reflect on our relationship over the years. Plus, who doesnt want to wake up to her besties to start off the best day ever? Egypts House of Representatives approved in a plenary session on Monday morning a legislative amendment that prohibits army officers from running in general elections (presidential, parliamentary, and municipal) without acquiring the approval of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The bill, an amendment to the law regulating the terms of service and promotion regarding army officers (Law 232/1959), states that the current law, drafted in 1959, was just prohibiting army officers from joining political parties, declaring their political viewpoints in public, or exercising any political activities in the form of joining political associations or organisations or participating in political rallies. "But due to the technological development of the performance of the Armed Forces in order to go in line with the nature of modern wars, it became a necessity that army officers, be they still in service or on retirement or in reserve, don't run in general elections without SCAF's prior approval," said the draft law, adding that "army officers can appeal SCAF's decision before a military judicial committee within 30 days, and if rejected, it would be a final decision." Parliament also approved an amendment to the law regulating the performance of the National Security Council (Law 19/2014). The amendment states that SCAF and the National Security Council (NSC) shall meet whenever the state, its civilian nature, its constitution, its security, the republican system, or national unity face an impending threat in order to take the measures necessary to stand up to this threat. Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said the amendment is in line with Article 200 of the 2019 amended constitution, which entrusted the Armed Forces with two new responsibilities: preserving the state's civilian nature and its constitution and standing up to threats facing the republican system or the country's national unity. "In this case, the SCAF and NSC will hold a meeting upon the president's request to take the measures necessary to face the threats," said Abdel-Aal, adding that "the amendment also opens the door for the president to invite the vice president, chairman of the Senate, and a former president, to attend the meeting in line with constitutional amendments passed in April 2019." Parliament also approved the amendment of the law regulating the performance of Popular Defence Organisations (Law 55/1968), and the provision of military education in secondary schools and higher education institutions (Law 46/1973). The amendment of the 1968 law adds two new articles, the first will require that each governorate has a military advisor and an adequate number of assistants to be named by the minister of defence. The second article states that a governorate's military advisor will participate in conducting a periodical field follow-up of the services offered to citizens in each governorate in a way that shall observe the comprehensive concept of national security and preservation of the constitution in collaboration with educational departments at the governorate levels. Military advisors will also make sure that military education in secondary schools and universities are taught in a way that will help students get enough information on military culture, medical service, crisis management and national projects and the role of the Armed Forces in preserving the constitution and democracy. Abdel-Aal said it is necessary military education be taught in schools in a much better way. Other MPs, such as head of the local administration committee Ahmed El-Sigini, said the amendments are in line with the constitution and aim to inform students of the new roles of the army in public life in Egypt. "Egypt is no exception as many countries are keen that students in secondary schools have good, correct and adequate information about the roles of the armed forces of their countries," said El-Sigini. Mamdouh Shahin, assistant to the minister of defence for legal and constitutional affairs, told MPs that the new legislative amendments related to the laws regulating the performance of the Armed Forces and national security council only aim to translate some of the constitution's articles into facts. "We see that all agree that the role of the Armed Forces is very important for preserving the homeland and safeguarding it against all forms of dangers," said Shahin. Short link: Infotainment Orlando-starrer Retaliation likely to release in India July 6 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 7/6/2020 10:29:36 AM IST The Orlando Bloom-starrer Retaliation is likely to have a theatrical release in India rather than go for a direct-to-OTT launch, the makers have confirmed. The film is set to open in United States on July 24. Sheetal Vinod Talwar, one of the producers of the Hollywood thriller, said: We are waiting to see when theatres open here in India and a decision about the release would be taken post that. In an ideal scenario, we would like a theatrical release. Retaliation, dealing with the subject of sexual abuse within the church, is directed by Ludwig Shammasian and Paul Shammasian. It is a revenge drama featuring Bloom with Janet Montgomery, Charlie Creed-Miles and Anna Reed. The film marks a collaboration with Zee Studios International as co-producers. (IANS) Muddy water flows through a residential area near Kuma river, after unprecedented torrential rains threatened floods and landslides, in Ashikita, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan on July 4, 2020 (Reuters Connect). (Photo : Reuters Connect ) Thirty-five people were confirmed or presumed dead due to flooding and landslides caused by unprecedented torrential rains in southern Japan on Saturday. Rescue operations were delayed due to high levels of floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides. Power and communication lines were disrupted due to the flooding, further delaying the search and rescue operations. More than 33,000 phone lines were disconnected, as per the report of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corp. Outages in Japan's top three mobile carriers were reported, and internet services are also interrupted. Among the victims are 14 patients in one nursing home, which flooded heavily after the nearby river overflowed its banks. Fifty (50) more residents and 30 caregivers were rescued on Sunday by boats. Approximately 2,000 households remained isolated in eight municipalities as more than a dozen people are missing as of Sunday. Areas along Kuma River were inundated with waters, submerging houses, buildings, and vehicles up to resident's roofs. Mudslides damaged some homes, prompting residents to climb rooftops and waving at rescuers for help. One bridge along the river was washed away. The words "rice, water, SOS" spelled on the ground were seen as a helicopter flew over Kyodo. Japan Times reported of Naruma Kawano, 78, who lived with her disabled husband in Kuma who dove out into a window to escape as floodwaters reached up to their necks on the second floor of their homes. "I saw large trees and parts of houses being washed away and heard them crashing into something. The air is filled with the smell of leaking gas and sewage", according to Haruka Yamada, a resident of Ashikita in Kumamoto prefecture. In Kumamoto prefecture, more than 4,650 homes had no power as of Sunday afternoon, Kyushu Electric Power Co. reported. The prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima were hit the most, as Japan Meteorological Agency reported that such rainfall has never happened in the region before, with rainfall measuring 4 inches an hour occurred at one time. Residents, estimated to be more than 200,000 of these worst-hit prefectures were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Authorities deployed 10,000 soldiers to help rescue the residents. Aljazeera reported that many people opted to stay in their homes for fear of contracting coronavirus in shelters as evacuation is not mandatory. The official, however, assured evacuees that shelters were equipped with safety measures such as the installation of partitions to curb the spread of coronavirus. The Meteorological Agency reported that Kumamoto had a total of 20 inches of heavy rainfall from Friday to Saturday. Sixteen (16) inches were recorded in Kuma, Yunomae, and Amakusa. The heavy rainfall is due to a normal frontal boundary called the Mei-yu (or Baiu) front. Meiyu front brings the moisture northeastward through eastern India from the Indian Monsoon. The front hits Southern Japan every June and July, bringing with heavy rains and mudslides. Heavy flooding and typhoons have battered Japan in recent years, leaving the mountainous areas prone to mudslides and flooding. Over the years, hundreds of lives have been taken by storms, and climatologists point out that global warming has exacerbated the problem. WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 1991 law that bars robocalls to cellphones. The case, argued by telephone in May because of the coronavirus pandemic, only arose after Congress in 2015 created an exception in the law that allows the automated calls for collection of government debt. Political consultants and pollsters were among those asking the Supreme Court to strike down the 1991 law that bars them from making robocalls to cellphones as a violation of their free speech rights under the Constitution. The issue was whether, by allowing one kind of speech but not others, the exception made the whole law unconstitutional. The court threw out the exception for government-debt collection and preserved the broader prohibition. During arguments, Justice Stephen Breyer got cut off when someone tried calling him. Breyer said after he rejoined the courts arguments: The telephone started to ring, and it cut me off the call and I dont think it was a robocall. Gabrielle along with several other stars like Lili Reinhart, Hailey Baldwin, and Madonna has taken to the social media to call out the hypocrisy of Independence Day to mark July 4. In case you missed it, here is a recap of the devastating extreme weather events around the globe this week: Russia: Arctic Temperature Reached 100.4F, the Hottest Ever Recorded Arctic temperatures just reached 100.4 degrees F last Saturday (Jun e 20, 2020), the hottest reading so far recorded in history. The temperature was taken at a small town in Siberia, Verkhoyansk, north from the Arctic Circle, and the record-breaking 100.4 degrees F that registered last Saturday is something that has not been experienced in the region since records started to be kept in the year 1885. According to the Guardian, these freak Siberian temperatures were previously linked to a major oil spill, a plague involving tree-eating moths, and wildfires. Its report indicated that Russian towns that are located within the Arctic Circle recorded such extraordinarily high temperatures, such as Nizhnyaya Pesha, a town in Russia's northwest fringes, which has reached 30 C last June 9. The rural town of Khatanga, whose average daytime temperature of roughly 0C during this time, now has 25C last May 22. Its previous record reached 12 C. China: Torrential Rains and Flooding Claims 106 lives, More are Missing as Residents Fear of Looming Dam Collapse A month of heavy rainfall has brought devastating havoc across 26 provinces, affecting 19 million residents in Southern and Central China. As of July 3, 106 people are confirmed dead or missing. Since early June of this year, over 9,300 homes have been destroyed, and 171,000 more have been damaged. According to the local authorities, the financial toll has already reached beyond 3.4 billion dollars or 24.1 billion yuan. The possibility of a landslide that would compromise the safety of Three Gorges Dam has sparked fears among residents as an earthquake struck Sichuan early Thursday (July 2) morning. An expert in hydrology is warning of the collapse of the Three Gorges Dam due to increased water pressure, which will endanger the millions of people living in nearby areas. Hydrologist Wang Weiluo said that a lot of regions are below the dam's reservoir, which places them directly under the currents of the water during flooding. The Yangtze River reaches 11 regions and provinces in western and central China, which include Sichuan, Shanghai, Tibet, Hubei, and Chongqing. The dam's structural integrity is also in danger of breaking. Wang urges those living nearby to have emergency kits ready for protection. Heavy rains leading to swelling of China's rivers are frequent at this time of the year. However, People's Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper admitted that for this year, activities to address the coronavirus pandemic limited the flood preparations. Dealing with this year's flooding, which is hounded by an epidemic and extreme rain, made it a "very formidable task." Myanmar: Collapse of Jade Mine Claims Lives of 162 Miners In Northern Myanmar, a collapsing jade mine claimed the lives of at least 170 freelance jade miners on Thursday (July 2, 2020). Authorities said the landslide likely killed more. A heap of waste from a mine cascaded towards a lake, burying workers in water and mud. Last Thursday's landslide was the deadliest within the previous half-decade. Landslides, among other accidents, routinely cause accidents at the Hpakant mines. These mines are poorly regulated and attract poor and hungry workers from all over the country to find jade and gems that are mostly exported to mainland China. In 2015, around 100 people died from a collapse that spurred louder calls for regulating the jade mining industry. In 2019, another accident claimed 50. Japan: Unprecedented Heavy Rains and Flooding Claims 35 Lives, a Dozen Missing Thirty-five ( 35) people were confirmed or presumed dead due to flooding and landslides caused by unprecedented torrential rains in southern Japan on Saturday (July 4). The prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima were hit the most, as Japan Meteorological Agency reported that such rainfall has never happened in the region before, with rainfall measuring 4 inches an hour that occurred at one time. Residents, estimated to be more than 200,000 of these worst-hit prefectures were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Authorities deployed 10,000 soldiers to help rescue the residents. Rescue operations were delayed due to high levels of floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides. Power and communication lines were disrupted due to the flooding, further delaying the search and rescue operations. Australian authorities have announced they will close the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria due to an uptick in coronavirus infections. Police said they will use drones to monitor the border. 2008-2021 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. The NSW-Victoria border will remain closed until the rising number of cases in Melbourne is brought under control. Political groups wanted the original law declared unconstitutional, while the government wanted both the ban and the government-debt exception upheld. Facebook is temporarily suspending the process by which it hands over users' data to the government in Hong Kong following China's move to enforce a new national security law in the city, a spokesperson said. WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook, is also pausing the review of government requests for user data in... SmartBrief 15 Jun 2021 Attorneys for the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes have asked US District Judge James Boasberg to order pipeline company.. ETCanada 06 Jul 2020 The bright lights of Broadway lost one of its brightest stars, Nick Cordero, at the age of 41 after his lengthy battle with.. Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Swedish alternative investment firm EQT AB said it would target 12.5 billion ($14 billion) for its fifth infrastructure fund which would be the firm's largest such vehicle to date. The target for EQT Infrastructure V is larger than the 9.1 billion raised for its fourth fund, which the Stockholm-based firm began marketing in 2018. The vehicle will follow the same strategy as its predecessor, which is used to invest between 100 million and 600 million into companies primarily in Europe and North America. In a press statement, EQT said it expects the fifth fund's terms to be "materially in line with" those of the fourth. "To ensure continuity between two fund generations, EQT's capital raisings usually follow a cycle with successor funds generally targeted to be in a position to commence investment activities when the predecessor fund is close to being fully invested," said the release. This means that the commitment period of the predecessor fund typically ends when approximately 80 to 90 percent of its total commitments are invested, with remaining commitments used primarily for add-on acquisitions and strategic capital injections as well as for ongoing expenses. Management fees for the successor fund will be charged from the earlier of (i) the date of closing of the first investment by the successor fund, or (ii) the date of termination of the commitment period of the predecessor fund. Management fees on the p...................... To view our full article Click here Asian Development Bank estimated $1.5 Trn of requested Trade Finance was rejected last year a figure that could rise to $2.5 Trn by 2025, according to World Economic Forum. Digitization is happening in pockets but Trade Finance is highly interconnected & an interdependent system. Standardization initiatives are already underway by ICCs Digital Trade Standards Initiative announced earlier this year. Today, with the global pandemic elevating the pressures, there may be more incentive The Neuman Hotel Group saw a distinct uptick in reservations at its five Southern Oregon properties when Jackson County moved into Phase 2 of Gov. Kate Browns reopening plan last month. One site, Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites, now tops 60% occupancy on weekends as locals book rooms for a change of scenery and tourists drive in from neighboring states or other parts of Oregon to enjoy the regions hiking trails and wine scene. But occupancy is considerably lower during the week across Neumans five hotels. Even weekend occupancy rates are down roughly 35 percentage points from this time last year, said Karolina Wyszynska Lavagnino, the hotel groups sales and marketing director. The group has rehired fewer than half the 320 staff it laid off at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March. It would be kind of silly to say, Oh, we will get through this and everything will be fine, Wyszynska said. We dont know what the future holds. Hotel demand ticked up over the last month and a half as Oregon started to reopen and the summer travel season began. But interest in travel and tourism has been slow to rebound as the United States has struggled to contain the coronavirus outbreak, and industry experts anticipate a long recovery for the hotel sector. Oregon hotels were charging one-third less per night in mid-June and occupancy rates across the state were down by nearly half compared to the same time last year, according to data from STR, a research company that tracks the hotel industry. Occupancy rates were down just 24% in central Oregon and 27% on the coast, but remained down 65% in Portland, according to the data. Those occupancy rates overstate the number of rooms actually filled, because they are based on available rooms and dont account for hotels that have yet to reopen amid the coronavirus crisis. While Oregons lodging sector added 1,600 jobs in May, those additions account for only 10% of the jobs the industry lost over the first two months of the pandemic. At the end of May, the employment level within the industry remained below half of what it was a year earlier. The numbers are favorable compared to where we were, but this is an industry thats really been bleeding for months and all that were doing at this point is slowing the bleeding, said Jason Brandt, the president of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, which advocates for more than 2,000 lodging establishments. We havent figured out a way to get back onto a sustainable path that allows the industry to be viable in the way it was before the pandemic hit. Industry groups say that the slow recovery of the hotel industry could have far-reaching impacts on local economies, which generate revenue through lodging and other taxes. The American Hotel and Lodging Association, a trade association for the industry, estimates that Oregons state and local governments will lose more than $170 million in tax revenue this year due to the decline in hotel operations and occupancy. Brandt wants help from state and local governments to weather the storm. The recovery has been especially slow in Portland. Hotel revenue was down 88% compared to last year for the week of June 14-20, according to STR data. There were about 3,000 fewer available rooms in Portland that week compared to last year, an indication that many hotels had not yet reopened. Steve Halasz, director of research at Travel Portland, attributed the low demand in part to Multnomah Countys late entry into Phase 1 of the governors reopening plan. The county didnt enter Phase 1 until June 19, weeks behind other parts of the state. But Halasz also said that demand wont pick up substantially until consumer confidence improves. While he expects the industry will recover in the long term, he said that hotel demand in the short term could drop again as coronavirus cases spike in Oregon and across the country. Not everyone feels safe traveling at the moment and its going to take that confidence before people really start to get out, Halasz said. Nick Pearson, general manager at the Jupiter Hotel and Jupiter Next in Portland, said that business has been slow to rebound since the start of the pandemic. As occupancy plummeted under 10% in March, the hotel decided to partner with Multnomah County to convert the Jupiter into a shelter for homeless people to protect them from contracting COVID-19. Pearson said that it was the right move to convert the space into a much-needed shelter, rather than let it sit empty. The rent that Multnomah County is paying to operate the building has also helped the Jupiter navigate the crisis. Across the street, the companys other property, the Jupiter Next, has continued to operate as a regular hotel and has slowly seen occupancy increase. Pearson said its highest average occupancy rate since the start of the pandemic came late last month when 30% of rooms were filled. Im honestly not really sure if that trend is going to continue, just with whats going on nationwide with COVID-19, Pearson said. We might see it continue to increase slowly for a couple of weeks before it plummets again. There is really just a high amount of uncertainty still. Despite that uncertainty, hotels across Oregon that shuttered due to the coronavirus crisis have begun to reopen with increased safety measures, and some developers even have plans to open new hotels within the next year. Cedartree Hotels announced this week that it had purchased six acres of land in Hillsboro for $2.4 million and plans to develop the property into a Japanese-style, 120-room hotel to open in early 2021. The landmark Northwest hotel and brewpub chain McMenamins, which operates 56 whimsically adorned hotels, movie theaters, restaurants and bars in Oregon and Washington, has reopened all but one of its locations and rehired more than 1,000 employees since laying off nearly its entire staff and shuttering nearly all its locations in March. Co-owner Shannon McMenamin said business has been slow since the company reopened all 12 of its hotels, but said that the company felt it was still the right call to reopen, rehire staff and generate income. I think it was the expectation that it was going to be slow, McMenamin said. The alternative is not being open and not having any income. I think its a difficult position to be put in as a business owner. The Ace Hotel in downtown Portland announced last Wednesday that it is once again open for business. Provenance Hotels, which operates six properties in downtown Portland, reopened Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland last Thursday, and plans to reopen the Heathman, Sentinel and Dossier hotels in August. Katherine Durant, President and CEO of Provenance Hotels, said the company wanted to reopen the Lucia now so it could bring employees back on and help spur neighboring restaurants, stores and other businesses to reopen and begin to restore the vibrant environment downtown. Durant said the company was pleasantly surprised to see occupancy rates at the Hotel Lucia jump to 30% upon reopening. At this level, the hotel does lose money, Durant said. But we need to open sometime, we need to start building the demand and we really feel like we need to move the momentum in our city and downtown in the right direction. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. The surge of new coronavirus cases in the United States continues, with a majority of states setting a new cases record almost daily. COVID-19 began to spread rapidly after governors and city mayors re-opened businesses in many states, but those same states and cities are in now retreat. Governors and mayors are ordering restaurants, bars, gyms and other businesses to close in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Some governors, after resistance, are also mandating citizens wear facial coverings. Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs said the rapid spread of the virus around the country has also been aided by many Americans belief that they personally wont get infected by a virus, despite knowing - or not knowing - the United States has nearly 2.9 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 130,000 deaths resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The United States leads the world in cases and deaths. As a country, as a whole, I feel like were just a cocky country that feels like were invincible, but we have the most cases in the world. At some point, we need to take that cockiness down, and I think we need to get humbled a little bit and let people know that, Hey, continue to wear your mask. I feel like the mask mandate should have been in effect the whole time, Diggs told si.com. If you were going to open up stuff, at least make the mask mandated when people are going to have to go out so you cant spread it. But when you make it a choice, then you give people the choice not to wear it, then of course the choice is going to be like, Oh, I forgot my mask at home, but I dont need it.' Its just one of those things. Diggs added he thinks the reason some Americans refuse to wear a mask is they dont like being ordered to wear one, saying a mandate restricts their freedom of choice. Its cockiness. Its the absolute cockiness of America, of Americans, to think, I dont need a mask. I dont understand it, theres nobody taking away your freedom, youre still able to go walk a street, youre still able to go into the store - just put a freaking mask on, its not that serious, Diggs told si.com. If you were sick in the first place, wouldnt you want to keep a mask on so you dont get anybody else sick? If you have the flu or you had a fever or you had something else, you would want to wear it or you wouldnt be out in public, you know what I mean? -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold After police declared multiple riots over the weekend, the president of Portlands police union on Monday called on local and state elected officials to stand up and defend Portland, saying the violence and property destruction occurring nightly in the city is no longer about George Floyd, social justice, or police reform. It is time for our elected officials to stand up and defend Portland. Condemn the violence and the burning, looting and destruction of property,' Officer Daryl Turner wrote in a statement issued Monday by the Portland Police Association. This cannot continue.' He won support from former state Sen. Avel Gordly, a Portland resident who was the first Black woman elected to Oregons Senate. I agree wholeheartedly with what hes saying,' Gordly said Monday afternoon. Turner, who is Black, wrote that people throwing fireworks or rocks at officers and breaking windows at the Justice Center and federal courthouse downtown have drawn attention away from an important message about social and racial equality that needs to be heard. Their destructive and chaotic behavior defines the meaning of white privilege; their total disregard for people, property, and the law embodies entitlement, he said in the statement. Sunday marked the 39th consecutive day of protests in Portland since the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who a Minneapolis officer pinned to the ground with a knee to his neck as he lay handcuffed and cried out that he couldnt breathe. Hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of people have protested in Portland in rallies and demonstrations against police violence and systemic racism. The marches and protests during the day have been peaceful but late at night and into the early morning hours, officers have declared unlawful assemblies or riots after some in the crowd have thrown fireworks, rocks and bottles at officers outside the Justice Center and federal courthouse. Turner wrote that hes angered by statements from elected officials, such as House Speaker Tina Kotek and Gov. Kate Brown defending these criminal actions while in the same breath demonizing and vilifying the officers on the front lines protecting our communities, our safety, our livelihood and our rights. Brown last week urged Portland police to deescalate tensions with protesters and said she asked the Oregon State Police superintendent to reevaluate'' the criteria that state police use when responding to requests for support from Portland Police Bureau, including whether other agencies might be available to help out instead. State police assisted Portland police last Tuesday night in North Portland when people rallied outside the police union office on North Lombard Street and were forced back with tear gas and physical force. According to the governor, state police officers when helping Portland police work at the direction of and under the command control of the Portland Police Bureau. Kotek, D-Portland, called police actions in North Portland completely unacceptable in an email to Mayor Ted Wheeler. She argued that there was no risk to the public or to officers until police declared an unlawful assembly and fired tear gas and other crowd control devices in the residential neighborhood. Police said some demonstrators threw baseball-size rocks, frozen bottles and fireworks at officers. Some people complained that peaceful demonstrators were knocked to the ground in the police response and others were overcome by the tear gas, while at least one veteran Black civil rights activist, Ron Herndon, praised police for what he termed their restraint. Gordly said shes concerned that the collective voices of the governor and Kotek are being heard as permission'' by protesters who are tearing up our city. She called on elected and civic leaders to echo Turners concerns and call out those who are involved in violence, describing Turner as a correcting influence. The behavior were witnessing is an example of white privilege coopting the Black Lives Matter movement, she said, and Im concerned that the elected officials really need to pay attention to what Daryl Turner is saying. His words are correct. She later sent an email to Portlands mayor and left a phone message with the governor. Gordly said she believes Wheeler has taken the proper position and urged him to continue to denounce violent protesters behavior. However, Gordly said it was clear that Wheeler doesnt have a majority of council willing to absolutely condemn the behavior of the violent element in the protest crowd. It is deeply troubling to me that we have elected officials whose voices are now heard collectively to support the anti-police narrative and agenda,' Gordly wrote. The elected official voice(s) gives permission to the violent element to continue to act irresponsibly. This is not the Portland I want to live in.' Wheeler last week said he remains deeply concerned ... by groups who continue to perpetrate violence and vandalism on our streets. This has been going on for more than a month now. Violence and vandalism detract from the importance of the larger movement for justice. The targeted attacks against the Justice Center, police precincts and businesses downtown harm the very people and businesses we need to be lifting up, he said in a statement. Wheeler also said hes asked for a full and thorough'' review of all use of force tactics by Portland police. Under what circumstances, if any, should tear gas be used? When, specifically, can a gathering be declared unlawful? Who should make those calls? These are all legitimate questions, he wrote. Wheeler didnt immediately specify who should do the review, but spokeswoman Eileen Park later said the mayor has asked the leadership of the Police Bureau to do it. Over the weekend, federal marshals and officers also responded to late-night gatherings downtown, firing tear gas to try to disperse people. A federal judges temporary restraining order, which runs through July 24, currently bars Portland police from using tear gas and certain less-lethal weapons, except to protect lives or safety of the public or the police. Demonstrators have voiced concern that U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandezs orders, resulting from a suit filed by the nonprofit Dont Shoot Portland against the city of Portland, doesnt bar federal officers, such as the marshals, from firing tear gas at demonstrators. Read Turners full statement here: After weekend of riots declared in Portland, the police union leader issues statement calling on elected officials to decry the violence. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter Portland police are investigating gunfire in North Portland that flew through a room with two children and an adult sleeping inside early Sunday. Police said a person in a moving vehicle fired a gun at a home in the 6600 block of North Columbia Boulevard at around 12:42 a.m. on Sunday. A bullet went through two walls of the home, but no one was hurt. Investigators have not identified a suspect. Police ask anyone with information to call the non-emergency line at 503-823-3333. Ryan Nguyen; rnguyen@oregonian.com; @ryanjjnguyen DALLAS Army investigators have identified the body of a soldier who vanished more than two months ago from a base in Texas, according to a lawyer for the soldiers family. Remains found last week buried near Fort Hood belong to Spc. Vanessa Guillen and Army officials informed her family in Houston Sunday, attorney Natalie Khawam told The Associated Press. Guillen, who had been missing since April, was killed and dismembered by a fellow soldier who took his own life last week, federal and military investigators have said. Human remains were found Tuesday near the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles east of Fort Hood, during a the search for Guillen. An Army spokesman said earlier Sunday that they were still waiting for positive identification of the remains. Investigators were unable to use dental records to identify Guillen because of the state of her remains and instead used DNA from bone and hair samples, Khawam said. Guillen's family received the information in the company of their priest, she said. Army officials identified the soldier suspected in Guillens disappearance as Aaron David Robinson. Cecily Aguilar, a 22-year-old civilian from a community near near Fort Hood, was arrested and charged with one count for allegedly helping hide the body of 20-year-old solider, according to a criminal complaint. Guillen's family has said that they believe she was sexually harassed by Robinson and is calling for a congressional investigation. Mayra Guillen said last week that her sister had spoken with their mother about experiencing sexual harassment, but that her mother has been too devastated to talk about it. From their text conversations, Mayra Guillen said she believed her sister was afraid during her time at Fort Hood. Khawam said Sunday that military sexual harassment is epidemic and demands attention from Congress. You cant turn a blind eye anymore, she said. -- The Associated Press Police are asking for help identifying a man suspected of starting a fire early June 26 on the north side of the building that houses the Portland Police Bureaus North Precinct during protests. Police said a group started the fire just before 2 a.m. at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Killingsworth Street. Some protesters that night caused damage with fires set in dumpsters, windows being smashed and graffiti. Protests have occurred nightly throughout Portland after the May death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. Damage from fires set June 26 didnt affect the precinct, but it did burn the side of Mid-K Beauty Supplies. Police didnt identify the suspect but released photos. They said the man is suspected of being part of the group that started the fire. Crime Stoppers of Oregon are offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information relating to the arson. --Alex Hardgrave | ahardgrave@oregonian.com | @a_hardgrave Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. A driver from Portland died after crashing into a tree Saturday morning south of Pacific City, troopers say. Christopher Parks was going north on U.S. 101 in a rental truck when he crossed the southbound lane, went off the highway and hit a tree, the Oregon State Police said, citing a preliminary investigation. Troopers dont know why Parks, 31, crashed. No other vehicles were involved, troopers said. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Protests in Portland against police violence and systemic racism continued Sunday after a tumultuous Fourth of July. Sunday marked the 39th consecutive day of protests in Portland since the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of people have protested in Portland in nightly rallies and demonstrations. Protesters gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland just before 10 p.m., as construction workers boarded up the ground floor windows of the federal courthouse, videos from the demonstration showed. A line of police and U.S. Marshals were separating a small group of protesters from the building. Authorities cleared demonstrators from the area multiple times. Demonstrators lit fireworks, and a couch was burned. Standoffs downtown have been a nightly occurrence as protesters gather to listen to speakers and call for the defunding of Portland police. The scene in the crowd often turns violent at night as police deploy crowd-control weapons in response to thrown objects that sometimes include fireworks. Police twice declared a riot on Saturday, once at 4 a.m. and another later just after 11 p.m. In both cases, police said protesters launched fireworks at buildings including the Justice Center and the nearby Federal Courthouse. In the later clash, police told protesters to leave the downtown area, using tear gas on the crowd. Other demonstrations during the day remained mostly peaceful. Police have been under legal and political pressure to take a more measured posture in responding to the protests. Under a June court order, Portland police cannot use tear gas unless they believe theres a life or safety risk. Police said they used tear gas because protesters aimed fireworks, threw bricks and shined lasers at officers. On Friday, Gov. Kate Brown urged Portland police to de-escalate tensions with protesters during nightly protests, noting that the difference between large, peaceful statewide protests and the small group of protesters who have repeatedly taken to the streets with the intent to destroy property. Officers arrested 15 people that night on various accusations, police said, including illegally carrying a firearm, reckless endangerment, second-degree disorderly conduct and riot. Ryan Nguyen; rnguyen@oregonian.com; @ryanjjnguyen Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Oskaloosa, IA (52577) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 82F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening. Partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Ottumwa, IA (52501) Today Partly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 80F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. 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. An aerial photography survey of the land near Sanford and Wixom lakes is one of several topics up for approval at a county board meeting this week. The Midland County Board of Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the County Services Building. The meeting will begin with a "special program" in the form of a presentation by attorney Mike Behm regarding the potential recovery of damages incurred as a result of the recent dam failures. Matt Lind, of Hope, is one of many mid-Michigan residents still living in a tent a month after the flooding of the Tittabawassee River in May devastated his house, pole barn, garage and belongings. Lind, like others, is asking and waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help. FEMA, that would be nice, said James Wright, of Midland, who is helping Lind pick up the pieces and reconstruct a new house. Lind doesnt have a lot of faith in getting help from FEMA. They dont seem to be doing anything in Midland. I dont know what they will do for Gladwin, Lind said. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's three-week-old request to Pres. Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration is awaiting an answer. On June 15, Whitmer emailed a 16-page letter and 34 pages of supporting documents, including maps and photos, to the White House. "Without significant assistance from the federal government, residents will suffer financial hardships for years as they attempt to repair and restore their damaged homes to pre-flood condition, repair or replace mechanical and electrical systems, take measures to ensure their homes are free of mold and other health hazards, and replace personal belongings," stated Whitmer's letter. A major disaster declaration would make Michigan eligible for financial assistance from FEMA. Midland, Saginaw, Gladwin, Arenac and Iosco counties, which all suffered destructive flooding in May and were all declared to be in states of emergency at the time, would be eligible for those funds. U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, was among many legislators who endorsed Whitmer's request. "The devastation caused by this historic flooding destroyed homes and upended the lives of so many residents," Moolenaar said on June 15. "These residents need assistance that goes beyond what local and state government can provide, and I hope that the federal government will quickly approve the request so additional resources will be available for those in need. I have been communicating with federal officials throughout this process and I am encouraged by what I have heard from FEMA." On June 18, State Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, wrote on her legislative Facebook page that she had talked with Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to Sterling Heights that day. "He assured me the request is on President Trump's desk, they are reviewing it currently, and will have a decision in the coming days!" Glenn wrote. On Monday, FEMA Assistant External Affairs Officer Michael Wade told the Daily News that "there is no timeline" for a decision to be made and it is "still in process." The Daily News on Monday also spoke with Hilton Beckham, White House advisor for regional communications, who said she would be working to find out more information about the status of Whitmer's request. Meanwhile, Lind's wife and 9-year-old son are staying with a relative while he tries to rebuild. But on Saturday, the doctor told him he has a blood clot in his leg, blocking 50% of the artery. He isnt supposed to be lifting or staying in one place for two hours. For now, Lind lives in a tent with limited power. There is no septic system, which he is also trying to establish. We lost it all, Lind said. Every penny I had and help from friends and family has gone into rebuilding. Lind said 45 inches of water came flooding through three buildings on his property from the Tittabawassee River, wiping out and destroying everything in a matter of minutes. Gladwin County Emergency Management Director Bob North said he has no idea when FEMA might step in if Trump declares a major disaster. North has speculated it could be possibly three months. This is an unprecedented situation covering miles and miles of river and property, North said, noting is he grateful there were no lives lost. There was extensive damage and were seeing a massive undertaking, he added. Jeff Helms, of Royal Oak, is helping his grandmother in Whiskey Beach. He came for a scheduled visit days before the flooding and stayed to help her. We lived in a borrowed pontoon for two weeks before we could go back into the house, Helms said, noting the two-bedroom house had to be basically gutted. It was hard, Helms said. It is still hard. But we are going through this together. He said neighbors are helping neighbors. One might have a chainsaw; another might have something else. Lind agrees that its been about helping each other. Still, it is difficult. Hes had to take everything he, his wife and son owned and throw it in the trash. In one day alone, they made 27 trips to the landfill. Its been traumatizing, catastrophic, Lind said. There is no one word to describe this. North said everyone has done a great job of helping each other out. There is no rapid way to fix this, North said, noting it is all a process. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Ministers and officials from the 54 Commonwealth countries will meet on 23 July to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the sport sector, the organisations London-based secretariat has announced Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A cell belonging to the Organization of the Islamic State (Daech) has been dismantled after control and monitoring operations, the Libyan Interior Ministry announced on Monday Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Four civilians were killed, another wounded and four missing on Sunday in an attack on a transport minibus by unidentified gunmen in the commune of Pignari Bana, 25 km from the town of Bandiagara, in the Mopti region, PANA learned from a security source CHIEFS Council president Chief Fortune Charumbira has said they were forced to stay with a suspected Covid-19 patient for two days after health officials failed to respond on time when reached through the national hotline number 2019. Chief Charumbira and his subjects in Masvingo apprehended the suspect soon after arrival in his area from South Africa, allegedly through an illegal crossing point. The Chief told the Senate last week that he was disappointed that he failed to get help after calling the 2019 hotline. He said they took the suspect to a local police station but they were turned away. From the police, Chief Charumbira said he hired a vehicle that took the suspect to Masvingo Provincial Hospital where he was then quarantined. We did capture a person who illegally escaped from South Africa in Masvingo and we wanted him to go and be tested. We dialed 2019 and there was no response. At first, they used to respond but now they no longer answer. I once used this number and they came and took the suspected persons twice. This weekend we tried the number and Harare answered and referred us to Masvingo, we did not get any response from Masvingo, he said. Chief Charumbira said they took the person to a police station in Masvingo where the police allegedly refused to assist them. We took the patient to the police station and the police refused to accept that person, they said dzokerai naye, dzokerai naye (go back with him, go back with him). We phoned the police for two days they did not come. We then hired a car and took that person to the hospital where he was admitted. I hired a car, where do I go to claim my money? My question is who do we call for help in situations like this?,he said. The Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Dr John Mangwiro said if people fail to access the Covid-19 rapid response teams, they must seek the assistance of the police or visit their nearest health institution. I apologise for what you encountered. I would like to appreciate the action that you took. However, the police denied to help you and you ended up taking the person to hospital. Yes, there are numbers that you can use but if you fail to get through those numbers, you can take the person to the nearest hospital, he said. Deputy Minister Mangwiro said police officers who refuse to assist people should be reported to their superiors. BLOOMINGTON Out-of-state travel accounts for some of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in McLean and Tazewell counties, officials said Monday. McLean County confirmed seven new COVID cases on Monday, and Tazewell County confirmed nine additional cases. "We continue to see cases in McLean County related to out-of-state travel, including travel to or from states that have been experiencing recent surges of COVID-19," McLean County Health Department Administrator Jessica McKnight said in a statement. Travel increases the chances of getting and spreading COVID. The new cases in McLean County follow seven additional cases also reported between Friday and Sunday. Two were confirmed by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday, and five more cases were confirmed by the county health department on Sunday. That brings to 279 the number of county residents who have had confirmed cases of the novel virus since March 19. Of those, 244 are recovered (five more than Sunday), 22 are at home in isolation (three more than Sunday), and no one was hospitalized, the health department reported. One person had been hospitalized on Sunday. Thirteen McLean County residents have died of the novel virus since March. No new deaths have been reported since May 29. In Tazewell County, a total of 148 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed since March, said Tazewell County Health Department Communications Manager Sara Sparkman. Of those, 107 have recovered, 30 are isolated at home, three are hospitalized and eight have died. In Tazewell County, the recent increase is mainly because of travel and community spread, Sparkman said. "With less restrictions, there will be more exposure, which in turn means more cases," Sparkman said. McKnight said it is not known whether one type of travel is safer than others. "However, airports, bus stations, train stations and rest stops are all places travelers can be exposed to the virus in the air and on surfaces," McKnight said. "These are also places where it can be hard to social distance (keep six feet apart from other people)." 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}} "If you are thinking about traveling away from your community, be aware of whether COVID-19 is spreading where you're going," McKnight said. "To help control the spread of COVID-19, remember to wash your hands, watch your distance (from others) and wear a face covering." More than 14,500 McLean County residents have been tested for COVID. The rate of those testing positive is 2.8% and the county's rolling seven-day positivity rate through July 5 is 1.2%, McKnight said. LaSalle County Health Department announced two new cases, bringing that county's total to 228, with 169 of those people recovered. Ford County Health Department confirmed three new cases, bringing that county's total to 40 cases, with 31 people recovered. Statewide, IDPH on Monday announced 614 new cases with six additional deaths, including deaths in Champaign County of a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s. Since March, 147,865 Illinoisans have had confirmed cases of the virus and 7,026 people have died. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 testing site, operated by Reditus Laboratories, at the McLean County Fairgrounds, 1106 Interstate Drive, Bloomington, was busy Monday after being closed Saturday and Sunday for the Independence Day holiday, said Reditus CEO Dr. Aaron Rossi. Rossi estimated that more than 300 people would be tested on Monday after 178 were tested on Friday. Numbers of people tested at that site in the past two weeks have been increasing, Rossi said. McLean County Emergency Management Agency recommended Monday that people who gathered for Independence Day celebrations should be tested five to seven days after the get-together. The incubation period for the virus (the time between exposure to showing symptoms) is, on average, five to six days. HOW TO GET TESTED WHERE: McLean County Fairgrounds, 1106 Interstate Drive, Bloomington WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except holidays WHAT YOU NEED: To be able to complete a nasal self-swab test. There is no charge to the person being tested but insurance information is collected if applicable. The latest Crime Stoppers of McLean County cases Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. La Paz County Health officials are saying the main reason for the increase for coronavirus cases in the county is people are not following the guidelines for preventing the spread of the virus. A secondary reason is more people are being tested. This was part of the 'testing blitz' held May 30 in the parking lot of the La Paz County complex off Kofa Avenue. Patna: Fans of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput in Patna on Sunday took out a rally demanding a CBI probe in the alleged suicide death of the rising Bollywood star who was found hanging from the ceiling at his apartment in Mumbai last month. Protesting under the banner of 'Justice for Sushant', his admirers took out a candle light rally between the JP Golumbar at the southwestern end of Gandhi Maidan and Kargil Chowk at the opposite end of the sprawling field where they reinstated their demand for justice for the actor who, they believe, was murdered by the so-called 'Bollywood Mafia' due to his meteoric rise in the Hindi film world. "Sushant is a victim of those in Bollywood with power and money. All signs indicate he did not kill himself but was killed by those who were jealous of his success. These people must be brought to justice and until the central government orders a full CBI probe into it, we will continue to organize protest across the state," said Vishal Singh, a key member of the 'Justice for Sushant' committee. The rally also got the support of the caste-based Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, Bihar unit, that also reiterated the demand for a CBI probe saying Sushant was the pride of Bihar and the Sena will not sit idle until the real killers of the actor were brought to justice. As reported, Sushant, a native of Patna who appeared in several television shows and films earning accolades from people from all quarters, was found dead at his home in Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. A team of Mumbai Police that visited his residence had allegedly found medication meant to treat depression. No suicide note, however, was found from his room. Reports said he was being treated for depression by doctors at the Hinduja Hospital. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging. Sushant's fans and family members, however, allege the autopsy was done in haste because of the police-politician-powerful Bollywood figures nexus, also known as Bollywood mafia, to shield the real killers of the actor. Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders in Patna on Sunday observed the 24th anniversary of the party by taking out a cycle rally that was attended by party leader Tejaswi Yadav, his older brother Tej Pratap Yadav and other young members of the party. The cycle rally was held to protest against the rising cost of petroleum products. The five-kilometer rally began at the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Mrs. Rabri Devi on 10 Circular Road and ended up at the party headquarters on Birchand Patel Marg. Speaking at the party office, the former Deputy Chief Minister said that before coming into power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders used to describe price rise of essential items as a 'witch' but now, after coming into power, treat rising cost as their 'bhauji' (sister-in-law). "The same Sushil Kumar Modi who used to sit on dharna to protest against rising cost of essential items during Congress regime now says the public did not care about cost of living skyrocketing under the Narendra Modi regime. With this kind of attitude, it is clear that this administration does not care about the poor and the downtrodden," Yadav said. The leader of the opposition, later at a function, said that more than ever before, the nation needed a leader like his father Lalu Prasad Yadav who would have eradicated unemployment from Bihar by now. "Had Laluji been an MP today, our country wouldn't be facing as much problem as it is today. The entire nation feels his absence. If he had been in power in Bihar, not a single individual would be unemployed in the state," Yadav said. The authority of Heads of State and Government of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have jointly endorsed the candidature of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In its communique signed by ECOWAS Chairman, President Mahamadou Issofou of Niger, called on other African countries as well as non-African members to endorse her candidature. Ambassador David Walker, Chairman of the General Council of WTO, has announced the commencement of processes for the appointment of a new D-G with opening and closing dates of nomination set for June 8 to July 8, 2020, respectively. The Federal Government of Nigeria has formally nominated Dr Okonjo-Iweala for the D-G position for the period 2021-2025. It noted that since the creation of WTO on January 1, 1995, which is a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and established on January 1, 1948, no African has ever assumed the position of D-G of WTO. The communique acknowledges the strong academic and professional background of the nominee and her very long experience in national affairs as Nigerias Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and Nigerias Foreign Affairs Minister briefly in 2006. It said her long years of managerial experience at the top echelon of multilateral institutions, her established reputation as a fearless reformer, her excellent negotiation and political skills, her experience over 30 years as development economist with a long standing interest in trade, her excellent academic qualification, her position as Managing Director of the World Bank and currently the Board Chair of GAVI and the African Union Special Envoy to mobilise financial resources for the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. It said these attributes made the nominee a strong contender and urged all to rally support for her. 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 1992 year Group of Swedru School of Business Old Students Association (SOSA) has donated items worth GH4,000.00 to the management and the students of the school to help in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The items included; seven boxes of liquid soap, six boxes of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, six plastic buckets, six veronica buckets, 40 pieces of tissue paper. Mrs. Gladys Clarke, President of the 1992 year group, who made the presentation, said the donation was to complement the efforts of government and stakeholders to curb the spread of the virus. She said COVID-19 cases were on the rise and taking the lives of high profile personalities, friends, and closed relations. She said that the only reason why this was happening is that most of us are trusting our instincts more than common sense and science. Mrs. Clarke said, if we all insist not to talk to anyone not wearing face masks outside the home, classrooms, and campuses, we will not only help in curbing the spread of the virus but also save lives. Mr. Ebenezer Joe Prah, Assistant Headmaster, Administration, who received the items thanked the 1992 year group for the kind gesture and asked stakeholders to support the development of the school. Mr. Prah urged the Association to support the school to solve some of its many challenges, including; the construction of an Assembly hall, dining hall, and classrooms to speed up the schools development. He said the work on new bungalows for tutors had stalled since 2016 and the contractor had abandoned the project due to lack of funds. He appealed to government and old students association to assist the school. On the COVID-19 protocols, Mr Prah said the authorities had decongested classrooms, distributed nose masks, and veronica buckets placed at vantage points on campus in line with the Ghana Health Service directives. He assured parents that the school authorities would never flout COVID-19 pandemic protocols, but would ensure the safety of the students to write their examinations. 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 Some traders, believing anything they read on social media, started rejecting some notes while others, believing the categorical assurances by both fiscal and monetary authorities that all notes were good cash, are increasing sales as stashes of notes appear out of trunks belonging to the gullible and are hurriedly spent. The Accra Girls Senior High School has recorded six coronavirus cases. The patients, all students of the school, were isolated at the schools sickbay on Monday, June 29, 2020, together with some other students who also showed symptoms of COVID-19. According to a Citi news report, six out of eleven students who were tested for the virus tested positive. Health officials from the Ayawaso East Health directorate on Saturday, July 4, moved the students who tested positive to the Ga East Municipal Hospital for treatment. Calm has been restored to the school after a little agitation from some students over COVID-19 fears. Final year Senior High School students returned to school on Monday, June 22 to prepare for their final exams after President Akufo-Addo directed all schools in the country to be closed from March 16. Final year students in tertiary institutions, as well as Junior High Schools, have also returned to school to prepare for their final exams. 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 Millersville university is a 4year public university in Pennsylvania USA that offers 100+ programs of study. On their quest to boost their marketing and recruitment efforts to increase and diversify the multicultural numbers at the university, they have appointed Ms. Caroline Esinam Adzogble as an ambassador Ms. Caroline Esinam Adzogble is a 28year old Ghanaian born inspirational and multi-award-winning Educationist, Entrepreneur, and Philanthropist. She is the founder & CEO of the major Education conglomerate in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, UK, and USA. Caroline Group of Companies with Potters international college, Caroline University, International university services, international boarding school services, mercy heart foundation and everyday travels and tours as subsidiary companies. Caroline believes that Education is the most affordable and accessible commodity on the planet and shes mostly noted as the face of education in Africa. I am super excited to represent Millersville University in Africa because of the student-centered programs they have to offer. Not forgetting the great tuition discounts they offer to first-time students and the fact that their graduate is 100% employable on a global front - Caroline stated Patriece N. Campbell Ed.D the Director for the Office of International Programs and Services stated Millersville University hopes that partnering with Caroline will make our institution a "first choice" school for many students in Ghana and beyond. Her reach, as it relates to educating students and their families regarding their international educational options is matchless in the region. Ms. Caroline is known for redefining education across Africa. With this new appointment as the Ambassador, she willing to go a long way in ensuring the best for the university. Source: peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Alhaji Yacoub A.B. Abubakari, has advised distressed parents to abolish their mission of withdrawing their wards from the Accra Girls SHS following six recorded cases of COVID-19 in the school. Students from Accra Girls Senior High School, who have been stricken with fear, demonstrated on their school campus calling management to allow them to go home on Monday, June 6, 2020. Upon GhanaWebs arrival at the school, the news team witnessed a growing number of worried parents who had picketed at the school's entrance with the hope of withdrawing their wards from the boarding house after receiving news of the situation via the media. Addressing the issue, the National CHASS President in an interview with GhanaWeb advised parents to reconsider their decision. He said, they should not be allowed immediately to go home. They should allow the authorities to handle the situation. We are very sure that they will be able to address it adequately. Adding, What I want to assure parents is that the schools have formed COVID-19 teams in our respective school. They have received training on how to handle such cases should they arrive. So now what is required of us is to exercise some patience and let the school authorities handle the casewho knows the status of each ward? If your ward has it and you are carrying them home, you are going to contaminate the whole house. Alhaji Abubakari also stressed the need for students who might have come in contact with the victims to be isolated, screened and tested for the virus. He advised other school authorities to take a cue from the Accra Girls incident and manage information well in such cases to prevent creating fear and panic among students and parents. If information like these are just put in the air for parents to be aware that this is happening in this school, they will rush to the school out of confusion just to solve the problem and they may worsen the situationif this should happen in any other Senior High School, they should find an appropriate way of informing the authorities (GES management) to allow proper testing to be conducted and then we will be able to manage it better than what is going on. Source: ghanaweb Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tanzania has closed most centres designated to handle Covid-19 patients. The government said that a significant drop in the number of coronavirus infections led to closure of the treatment centres across the country. On Friday, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said there are now only 11 centres, including private health centres, that are open. These are from the 85 centres that had initially been set up across the country to isolate Covid-19 patients. The health minister said We thank God that Coronavirus is heading towards an end in Tanzania. She went on to caution that people should not relax, as there could be a second wave of infection. The minister said residents could now continue visiting the centres for general treatment, as they are no longer used for isolation of Covid-19 patients The current rate of infection, number of patients, and deaths in Tanzania is not known, as the government does not regularly give updates. The last update was given in June, when Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told parliament that there were only 66 active coronavirus cases in the country. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has paid more than GH784 million in claims and withholding taxes to service providers. The payments were effected between January 01 and July 01, 2020, with National Health Insurance Scheme (|NHIS) service providers in the public sector receiving GH422, 809,355.80 million, representing 53.9 per cent. Those in the private sector got GH217,984,168.59 million, representing 27.8 per cent, while service providers in mission health facilities have also been paid GH128,239,257.08 million, representing 16.4 per cent. Additionally, quasi-government hospitals service providers also received GH14,947,222.81 million, representing 1.9 per cent of the total payment of 784, 809,164.70. These were contained in a release issued by the Corporate Affairs Directorate of the Authority and copied to the Ghana News Agency. It said, The constant claims payment schedule and updates reaffirms the Authoritys Chief Executive, Dr. Lydia Dsane-Selbys firm pledge to deepen accountability, transparency and social auditing. The statement said the Governments timely release of funds to the Authority had made it possible for the punctual payments of service providers Claims. It said recently the Medical Superintendents Group of Ghana (MSG), an umbrella body of all heads of government hospitals at the regional and district levels as well as Christian Health Association of Ghana and Quasi- Government facilities in a statement confirmed that the Government had settled a substantial amount of its indebtedness, one that had been described as, unprecedented since 2009. The statement said, The MSG President, Dr. Joseph Tambil at a media briefing in Takoradi after a Council Meeting, emphatically said outstanding debt owed by government currently is for just about six months. This is the best that any government has done since 2009 and we want to urge the NHIA and MOF to keep this up, and also ensure that it is also improved. It said the MSG President commended the Government for being proactive with the payment, adding that it had eased the burden of health facilities and administrators across the country. The statement said as Ghanas lead vehicle to attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030, the NHIA held in high regard service providers efforts to improve the health needs of the Schemes cherished members. It, however, urged healthcare facilities to promptly settle their debts to the pharmaceutical companies to avoid disruptions in the medicine supply chain. The statement advised NHIS members to renew their membership by dialling *929# using any mobile network with a mobile wallet to enjoy uninterrupted healthcare services for convenience and strict adherence to practicing of social distancing protocols. 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 Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom, His Majesty Nayiri Nabohagu Mahami Sheriga, has heaped praises on Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for supporting the development efforts of the north since the assumption of office. He said Dr Bawumia is a true son of his kingdom, who has never denied them their fair share of the national cake, and, thus, commended him for the various interventions initiated in the area. Nayiri Sheriga made the remarks when the Vice President paid a courtesy call on him, to inform him of his selection as the running mate to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the December 2020 elections. The King enumerated some of the development interventions rolled out by the current government, saying; "The residents of the area will forever be grateful to you and the New Patriotic Party." You have performed so well as a Vice President for the entire nation and we're proud of you. "We pray for you to continue to stand behind the President and to do more for the nation and the north. You and the President are working to make Ghana prosperous, and we are all beneficiaries of policies such as Free SHS, One-Village, One-dam, One-constituency, One-District, One-Ambulance, Planting for Food and Jobs, road infrastructure, school buildings, recruitment of NaBCo personnel, and the ongoing construction of the Pwalugu Dam. "To do all this in just your first term of office is remarkable. You have honoured your promises to us. "May God guide and protect you and may machinations by your detractors fail and backfire", the King prayed for the Vice President. On his part, Dr Bawumia conveyed the gratitude of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the King and his Council of Elders for their support during the three and half-years in government, reassured them that, it would continue pursuing developmental agenda. We are three and half years in government. President Nana Akufo Addo went into government with a promise for transformation of Mamprugu, the North and Ghana as a whole. It is evident that the transformation is being witnessed in Mamprugu, the north and Ghana. But we still have more to do and we ask for your prayers and support for four more years for President Nana Akufo-Addo to do more for you," he stated. Dr Bawumia listed other important projects being embarked by government which attested to the fact that the Akufo-Addo government had surpassed any other government in the history of the Fourth Republic. 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 renewed land dispute between the people of Doba and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nanakana West District of the Upper East region has resulted in the death of six people. Twelve houses were also set ablaze during the clash and two people are receiving treatment at the War Memorial Hospital after sustaining various degrees of injury during the clash. There was a clash between the people of Doba and Kandiga. We have lost six lives and among even those killed is an old man who is over 100 years. They set about 12 houses ablaze and two people were seriously injured. They sustained gunshot wounds and have been rushed to the War Memorial Hospital and we are praying that they survive, the Navrongo Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Francis Agyare, stated in a Citi News report. He further revealed that a joint military-police team have been deployed to the communities to maintain law and order whilst the police continues its investigations. According to the police, some individuals from Kandiga who had been arrested over a previous disturbance in the area were granted bail by the Bolgatanga high court. The suspects were celebrated as heroes upon their return home and this didnt go down well with the people of Doba, resulting in the reprisal attack. Supt. Agyare noted that the conflict has gotten so bad that people of Kandiga are killing their own, believed to be supporting the people of Doba. Some residents have been forced to seek refuge in neighbouring communities. The Navrongo Municipal Security Committee is expected to hold an emergency security meeting later Sunday, July 5, 2020, to decide the fate of the two communities. Source: Ghanaweb Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The transitional government in Sudan has fired the police chief and his deputy, days after large protests across the country as people called for greater political reforms. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok relieved Adel Mohamed Bashaer, the director-general of Sudans Police Force of his duties, replacing him with Ezz Eldin Sheikh Ali. Sudan's cabinet later said in a statement that Othman Mohamed Younes, Mr Bashaers deputy, was also dismissed. No reasons have been given for firing both officials. But last week Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok promised changes were on the way in a speech that was meant to reassure tens of thousands of protesters who have a long list of demands. There has been growing frustration at the slow pace of change in the country since President Omar al Bashir was overthrown by the military last year following months of protests. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Bongo District Assembly in the Upper East Region has so far received an amount of GH70, 000 from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Relief Fund to support the fight against the pandemic. The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Bongo and leader of the COVID-19 Team of the District, Mr Peter Ayimbisa disclosed this during a public sensitisation forum in Bongo on Saturday. The forum highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of the Annual Action Plan (AAP) of the Assembly and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was broadcast on the Bongo Community radio giving listeners the opportunity to call in and asked questions and also make contributions. Organised and facilitated by the Bongo District Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Platform on SDGs with support of Water Aid Ghana it sought to contribute towards deepening participatory local governance for increased responsiveness, transparency and accountability of local government authorities. The DCE who revealed that the district had recorded its first case of COVID-19, said the Assembly had stepped up public sensitisation on the pandemic and urged residents in the area to adhere strictly to the safety protocols. He further pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected resource mobilisation of the Assembly as the closure of borders was impacting negatively on businesses in the district. This, according to the DCE, had created a huge budget deficit thereby posing a serious challenge to effectively finance a number of planned pro-poor activities in agriculture, education, water, sanitation and hygiene and hunger aimed at meeting the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mr Ayimbisa stated that the planning and implementation processes of the assemblys plans required active participation of all citizens. The DCE expressed regret that the COVID-19 restrictions on public and social gatherings had impacted negatively on the assemblys efforts to mobilise and facilitate citizens participation in the formulation and implementation of the assemblys plans. He said it was against this backdrop that the assembly resorted to the use of the Bongo Community Radio platform to reach the broader spectrum of the communities in the district. The District Planning Officer of the Assembly, Mr Thomas Kugoriba and the Local Government Inspector of the assembly, Mr Alfred Nyaaba took the public through the annual action plan of the assembly and provided details of COVID-19 responsive projects in each of the community, market and schools in the district. According to the Planning Officer, the assembly had scheduled to review its medium term development plan taking into consideration the impact of COVID-19 on the plan. The assembly recognised and acknowledged the support of Water Aid Ghana and UNICEF for a number of interventions that contributed significantly to improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in the district, he stressed. The Convener of the Bongo District CSOs Platform on SDGs, Mr Bismark Adongo Ayorogo explained that facilitating citizens-government engagement through community radio was one of the innovative ways of reaching out to hundreds of community members in the wake of the pandemic. He said similar activity had taken place in the Kasena-Nankana West District and urged the two assemblies to continue engaging with the people after the intervention of the District CSOs Platforms on SDGs. Community members who participated in the programme through phone -in calls, complained of limited WASH facilities in some communities and therefore demanded an increased supply of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in every part of the district to promote hand washing; proper waste management and end open defecation. 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 Prudential Bank Limited has supported the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) with GH100,000.00as part of the Banks ongoing support forthe fight against Covid-19. The NMIMR is the leading institution in Ghana mandated to carry out testing, contact tracing and diagnostic confirmation of COVID-19. At a short ceremony held at the Institutes premises to present the cheque, Mr. John Addo, Managing Director of the Bank said that the donation is in recognition of NMIMRs frontline role in the fight against the pandemic and to support the institute to discharge its mandate effectively. He stated that in addition to the donation to Noguchi, the Bank has made donationsto the Ghana Bankers Association, COVID Trust Fund, and some other relevant institutions combating the spread of the disease. He further added that the Bank hasto date spent over GH 1 million on the fight against the pandemic. Mr. Theodore Ahuno, Administrator, NMIMR receiving the cheque expressed appreciation to the Bank for the support. He said the Institution needed such support in the fight against the disease. The NMIMR, he said was set up in 1979 as a semi autonomous institute of the University and is the leading biomedical research facility in Ghana. The Institute was built by the Government of Japan and donated to the Government and people of Ghana in honour of the distinguished Japanese researcher, Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, who researched into yellow fever in Ghana and died from the disease in the country in 1928. 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 At around 9PM the same day we were told that Senzeni had been rushed to the same hospital where Thabisile had been admitted. She was admitted around 11PM and died around 3AM the following day. The two didnt meet in hospital as Thabisile had been moved to another ward where she spent the whole day and died a day after Zenzenis death, said a distraught Mrs Ncube. The border between Australia's two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) is to close after a spike in Covid-19 cases in Melbourne. The outbreak in Victoria's capital has seen hundreds of cases in the past two weeks - more than 95% of new Australian infections. Until now, the two states had maintained open borders even when others had shut them. The closure, beginning on Wednesday, will restrict travel to permit holders. Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said it was a joint decision with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. "This is one of those precautionary measures - it is one of those things that I think will help us in broader terms contain the spread of the virus," Mr Andrews told reporters on Monday. He gave no indication of when the border might re-open. Flying between Sydney and Melbourne - the state capitals - is ordinarily among the world's busiest routes. What's caused this? The three leaders had previously said border closures weren't necessary, but the surge in locally spread cases has caused alarm. Previously, most cases had involved returning overseas travellers in quarantine - now over 80% are coming from within the community. "This is unprecedented in Australia. We have not seen anything like this," said Ms Berejiklian. Victoria has traced many recent infections to quarantine hotels where security guards reportedly broke the rules by interacting with guests and each other. In early June, when no cases were reported on two days, state officials had hoped they were nearing having the virus contained. But Victoria recorded 127 new infections on Monday - its highest daily increase since the pandemic began. What does the border closure mean? Mr Andrews said those who had "unavoidable travel" could apply for permits to cross the border, including for work. NSW authorities will be in charge of guarding border crossings, and flights will be cancelled. Mr Andrews acknowledged the decision would be difficult for many people but said it was necessary given "the significant challenges we face in containing this virus". 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 Kenyas National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi downplayed fears over Covid-19 infections in parliament, saying only two legislators had tested positive for the virus. But the confirmation of the two cases in parliament has put public health protocols at Kenyas seats of power in the spotlight, after infections were also reported in State House last month. On June 15, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena Mararo said that four State House staff had tested positive for the virus in a routine check-up, prompting enhancement of alert levels that included the cancellation of all face-to-face meetings for President Uhuru Kenyatta. Mr Muturi, in a letter to the House on Tuesday, dismissed media reports that up to six MPs had contracted the virus as sensational, and sought to reassure the public that lawmakers and parliamentary staff were observing strict hygiene and social distancing rules. However, the issue is that public health guidelines are being flouted by the people who should be living by them. Because parliament still has to conduct business to keep the country running, under the guidelines introduced in April, only 70 of the 349 members are allowed into the debating chamber where seats are frequently disinfected; those aged above 58 are encouraged to work from home, while entry to the public gallery is restricted to a handful technical staff. Public health guidelines introduced in March to contain the spread of the coronavirus include banned political gatherings and restricted emergency social gatherings, such as burials, to no more than 15. Additional measures are a dusk-to-dawn curfew and cessation of movement in and out of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area and Mombasa, after they were mapped as hotspots. The areas are still under lockdown. But politicians, including the president, have tended to flout the new public health rules, holding meetings, some with hundreds of people in attendance, or moving in and out of restricted areas. To mitigate the situation, public health officials have used the infections in the State House and parliament to reinforce the message that no one is safe from the virus. Health officials have also been at pains to explain incidents where the political elite breach the rules. On June 22, President Kenyatta chaired the ruling partys parliamentary group meeting at the Kenya International Convention Centre in Nairobi, weeks after hosting a similar one attended by more than 200 MPs at State House. In April, opposition leader Raila Odinga was criticized for leaving the Nairobi Metropolitan Area to Kajiado County, to the home of Francis Atwoli, the secretary-general of Kenyas trade unions umbrella body Cotu. In western Kenya, police officers dispersed meetings convened by politicians loyal to DP Ruto. Source: theeastafrican.co.ke Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The mounting number of arrests of foreigners, particularly Togolese infiltrating the country to partake in the ongoing voter registration exercise in the past few days, points at an unfolding project to breach the border shutdown as orderedby the President. Coupled with this anomaly are reports of instances of foiled attempts at breaching existing registration regulations for which a number of suspects are being held by the police. In the latest foiled attempts by Togolese and Nigerien nationals to register as voters in the country, six persons have been arrested. The Togolese were picked up at Tabor Todzi Polling Station in the Kadjebi District of the Oti Region. The four were said to be using Ghanaian names to outwit the system in order to get Ghana voters ID cards. They include Tayibu Kadel, 22; Boateng Innocent, 38; Mensah Oklu, 25 and Roger Oklu, 26, who during interrogation claimed that they were contracted by a syndicate operating under the Akan Constituency Chairman of the NDC, one Yusif Yakubu, to recruit Togolese to cross over into Ghana and register. They indicated that in the last Togolese elections, the NDC chairman and the assembly member for Sabram-Manida Electoral Area, who is also a constituency executive of the NDC, Aliru Suleman, together with some of their boys moved into Togo to register and subsequently vote during the Togolese general elections. They said it was their turn to reciprocate that gesture. Later, one Elolo Akpolu and an accomplice operating as part of the syndicate under the NDC Akan Constituency chairman were arrested at Tsortomer D.A. Primary Polling Station after they had allegedly organized and led a group of thugs to beat up the NPP polling station agent stationed there for challenging all Togolese who tried to register for the voters ID. Exhibiting an outstanding boldness, they are able to use their knowledge of the many footpaths dotting the frontier to execute their projectthe motive being moneysderivable from their sponsors. In another development, a certain Francis Agorson was allegedly attacked by Togolese thugs, apparently for making it difficult for them to infiltrate into the country to register to vote. Upper East In the Upper East Region, another Togolese by name Bouuiigue Kouassi was arrested as he attempted to register. He was arrested at the Pulimakom border post at the Bimpelle Primary School by a joint immigration/police team following a tipoff. He had attempted using a different name to register in the Tempane District when he was pounced upon and whisked away as he waited in a queue. He told interrogators that he entered through an unapproved route and was supported by two Ghanaians guarantors. The police are on the heels of the said two persons who vouched for his Ghanaian citizenship. Nigerien Arrests The Accra Regional Police Command over the weekend arrested two men suspected to be Nigeriens and a political party agent for causing confusion at the Fire Service Regional registration centre at Makola, Accra. The three suspects, whose identities have been withheld by the police, allegedly caused a fight and disrupted the registration process for close to one hour. According to sources, one of the Nigeriens who had registered attempted to vouch for his compatriot to also register for the voters card when the political party agent who suspected them not to be Ghanaians confronted them. The source said the confrontation later generated into a fight, thus disrupting the registration process. The Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP ) EfiaTenge, when contacted said the incident occurred around 1:30pm Saturday, saying they will be taken to court for prosecution on the charge levelled against them. Foiled Breaches In the Sunyani West Constituency, a certain Felix Boahen is being held by the Municipal Police for illegally possessing completed EC guarantors forms. The suspect (said to be an NDC activist) was said to have been spotted by Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye, the Bono Regional NPP Chairman, and his team during a visit to the Dumasua Polling Station last Friday and was handed over to the police. The police are said to be interested in where the suspect got the hundreds of completed and thumb-printed guarantors forms. Borders Closed Although shut, the countrys frontiers, especially the Togo side, is scene of underground activities as attempts are made to ferry in foreigners to come and register in the ongoing exercise, NDC agents prominent in the illegality. The pronounced security presence along the frontiers with soldiers supporting has thwarted somewhat the activities of the willing Togolese and their local party persons in Ghana in whose interest such illegal registrations are. That notwithstanding, some Togolese have managed to come and register as well as other ECOWAS citizens. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the President ordered the closure of the countrys frontiers and with the ongoing registration exercise, many Ghanaians have called for the continued closure so non-citizens do not partake in it as they did in the past. Many foreigners are in possession of the now invalid voters cards. It was instructive that the NDC insisted that it be accepted as proof of citizenship and for the purpose of acquiring the replacement. The Supreme Court upheld the contents of the CI 126 which outlawed the old voters card as a requirement for the ongoing registration exercise. With the registration just a week old, security agents and willing Ghanaians along the frontiers must be vigilant as the acquisition of the voters card is brisk business with monetary value to it and therefore attractive to foreigners, especially Togolese. The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), in its response to the invasion, announced a reshuffle of its top hierarchy. 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 Ghana and China are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. Sunday, July 5, marked exactly 60 years of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries. President Nana Akufo-Addo in a statement, to Chinese President, Xi Jinping, says the 5th of July, marks 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our nations, one of the first of such relationships in Africa. May I at the outset, extend my warmest congratulations to the Governments and peoples of our two countries on this auspicious occasion. Your Excellency, 60 years in the life of an individual, and particularly relationships between States, is a great milestone worthy of celebration, he wrote. As we commemorate this significant milestone in our relations, it is important to pay tribute to our forebears, President Kwame Nkrumah, Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai who established a firm and lasting foundation for the beneficial relations and cooperation between our peoples and countries, he recounted. More importantly, these relations have been natured and strengthened by successive Ghanaian and Chinese leaders, as well as the ordinary people of both countries. In taking stock of our relations over the last six decades, I am pleased to note that they have been excellent, and have evolved overtime to encompass areas of cooperation such as diplomatic, political, economic, trade, investment, technology, security, cultural, education and people-to-people exchanges. During the period, we have achieved a great number of successes both at the bilateral and multilateral levels. High-level visits, intensive interactions, and exchanges between Ghanaian and Chinese leaders have become frequent and fruitful. Similarly, trade relations between our two countries have seen a remarkable increase, resulting in China being the largest trading partner of Ghana whilst Ghana is the 7th largest trading partner of China in Africa. At the multilateral level, our countries continue to cooperate to ensure the creation of a peaceful, just and equitable international order. The achievements we have chalked over the years must serve as a motivation for our countries and peoples to continue to consolidate, deepen, broaden and elevate our relations in the coming years. ?Your Excellency, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries comes at a time when the world is confronted with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged economies and brought the world to a standstill. COVID-19 is a global problem and it has no respect for physical boundaries or social status. It is a threat to our collective existence. That is why we require a collective response to mitigate and eventually eradicate its devastating impact. I am, therefore, encouraged by Chinas commitment in the fight against the pandemic, the president stated. Ghanas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, in a statement to Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China, recounted that Ghana was one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China in July 1960. Since then, she explained, Sino-Ghana friendship and cooperation have grown from strength to strength as exemplified by high-level visits, economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and cultural partnerships. Apart from our longstanding and exemplary relations, our two nations continue to cooperate at the multilateral level and within the framework of the FOCAC and the One Belt and One Road initiative, she said. More recently, we have collaborated and offered each other support and solidarity in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Let me take this opportunity to thank China for the invaluable support and supply of medical items to Ghana during these challenging times. Ghana is equally grateful for the assistance provided by China in support of its developmental agenda over the years. President Xi Jinping also exchanged a congratulatory message with President Akufo-Addo, as did Wang Yi. 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 Amnesty International has applauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for decongesting the countrys prisons by granting amnesty to 794 more prisoners as announced by the Ghana Prisons Service in their 30th June 2020 Press Release. This is the second amnesty the President has granted this year since he granted amnesty to 808 prisoners earlier in the year. Statistics obtained by Amnesty International Ghana shows that Ghanas Prisons were overcrowded by 55.5% in 2019. The carceral population was 15,463 instead of 9,945 standard capacity. Mr. Robert Akoto Amoafo, Director of Amnesty International Ghana had mentioned that having the President grant amnesty to prisoners at this time of a pandemic is not only a good thing but a critical step to ensuring the limited spread of COVID-19 in the prisons. It also shows Ghanas commitment to work towards decongesting our already overcrowded prisons. While commending the President for the move, Amnesty International Ghana cautioned the government to desist from putting in place laws that promote custodial sentencing like the EI 164 which prescribes as one of its sanctions a custodial sentence of 4-10 years for a person found without a facemask. As a petty offence, we do not believe it will help the already dire situation of overcrowding in our prisons, Amnesty International Ghana said in a statement. The human rights group also called on the government to provide a dedicated health facility to the Ghana Prisons Service to attend to prisoners who may be infected with COVID-19 to ensure they are able to control the security situation of the prisoners. They further encouraged the government to put human rights at the centre of measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Source: Ghanaweb Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Electoral Commission (EC) has asked its officials not to reject online registration forms at the various registration centres. According to deputy EC Chairpersons, Dr. Bossman Asare, the online forms are a part of the registration process. He said in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme and encouraged registrants to download the online forms so as to reduce overcrowding at the centres. Addressing the challenges confronting those who opt for the online forms, he explained that although the forms are to be accepted, they are without serial numbers to validate the applicants for a voter ID card; so what the electoral officials are obliged to do is to attach the online forms to the original forms which contains serial numbers before they register the applicant. They also added that, to avoid apathy with downloading the online forms, there should be an arrangement for the applicants to be in a separate queue to undergo the registration process. "So, that is the process that every registration officer at every registration centre should do. Nobody can say he or she won't accept the downloaded form. This is the process for every registration officer. When somebody comes holding the downloaded form, you shouldn't fill it out on the original form 1A but rather let the person thumbprint the downloaded form which has no serial number and attach it to the original form 1A; then put it down for the applicant," he explained. 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 Electoral Commission (EC) is encouraging every Ghanaian of eligible voting age to register their names at registration centers where they will vote during the general elections. This is because there will be limited opportunities to transfer votes this year. "Vote transfer this year will be for a designated category of people and not all Ghanaians, hence any person who registers at different centers will have to go there and cast their votes or else forfeit his/her right to vote on December 7th," according to the electoral body. Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Eric Bossman Asare, and Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations at the EC, Mr Samuel Tettey, disclosed this during an exclusive interview on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Monday morning. According to the EC, the "constitutional instrument that gives right for vote transfer indicates it can only be possible a year before elections" but considering the "timing of the ongoing registration exercise," it will be unconstitutional to allow the transfer of votes. However, there is hope for final year students in various schools and security service personnel comprising the Armed Forces, Police, Prisons and other persons providing essential services to the country. The EC Chairpersons told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that the Constitutional Instrument (C.I) 94 that makes provision for vote transfer has been placed before Parliament for amendment. When amended, the people who will be allowed to transfer their votes are the students and security services. ''We'll do the vote transfer but the little explanation is that when you look at the existing law C.I 94, the twelve months requirement doesn't permit people to do the transfer because, when you check the time we're doing the registration, the twelve months requirements will disqualify people'' ''What the Commission is doing is that we will amend the C.I 94. It is currently before Parliament. So, the C.I 94 will give some people the opportunity to effect their transfer and this category of people comprises the students and the security services. These are the two categories of officials that we are amending the C.I 94 to give them the opportunity to transfer their votes but it's not for every person'', Mr. Tettey said. Mr. Bossman Asare therefore advised the section of Ghanaians not permitted to transfer their votes to ensure they register their names ''at where you believe you will be on December 7th because you won't have the oppportunity to transfer your votes. If you are not a student or a security personnel, you can't do the transfer; so you thhave to do your own evaluation to know where you'll be on December 7th''. 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 Mr Dogbey Adukpo Selormey, Volta Regional Director of Electoral Commission (EC) has said the Commission would descend heavily on any of its officials who flouted laid-down rules of the new voter registration exercise. He said the Commission will come hard on any official, who failed to work within a set of rules. Mr Selormey stated these claims in response to allegations levelled against him by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Adaklu District of him attempting to slow down the voter registration exercise, which was copied to the Ghana News Agency. The NDC statement signed by Mr Charles Agbesi, Adaklu Constituency Secretary complained of a deliberate attempt to slow down the exercise, which led to the withdrawal of two Registration Officers (ROs) at the Adaklu Kpodzi E. P. Primary centre. Mr Selormey said it cannot be right for all ROs to be engaged in the writing of names of registrants at the same time as one is expected to be on standby for any eventuality and partnering with the Police and health agent to maintain sanity and observance of the safety protocols. He said their attitude compromised the social distancing protocols as people massed up at the data entry area throwing the exercise into disarray. He said cautions could not assuage the ROs to do the right things hence their replacement. Mr Selormey explained that it is not in the interest of the EC to undertake measures to disenfranchise any citizen that is qualified to register to vote or favour a side of the political divide. This cannot be a contest, where the referee is compromised, at best we are on the middle line and remain neutral as always. He commended the fruitful collaboration between the EC, State Police and the community, which had improved on the observance of health protocols towards the safety of the population against COVID-19. The Regional Director said the Commission was committed to registering all prospective registrants with genuine documents and would not countenance on social distancing measures as that had serious repercussions to spike on infection of the pandemic. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Following Thursdays attack on a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service helicopter by insurgent group, Boko Haram, President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a statement on the issue. His reaction however, has sparked outrage on the internet. President Buhari condemns Boko Haram attack on UN helicopter in Borno https://t.co/ckSLRgFH3Y Nigeria Newsdesk (@NigeriaNewsdesk) July 6, 2020 After the Chadian army decimated Boko Haram, we heard Shekau wanted to surrender because he had suffered too many casualties and lost dozens of ammunitions. Did the COAS take fresh supplies to him when he moved to Maiduguri? Cos I don't understand his new found strength. As a Boss..! (@JC_Jokes) July 6, 2020 After the Chadian army decimated Boko Haram, we heard Shekau wanted to surrender because he had suffered too many casualties and lost dozens of ammunitions. Did the COAS take fresh supplies to him when he moved to Maiduguri? Cos I don't understand his new found strength. As a Boss..! (@JC_Jokes) July 6, 2020 @EjioforBar Buhari expesses shock over Boko Haram attack @UN Helicopter. My question is simple, When will '"BUHARI" or better still "PRESIDENCY"' stop expressing shock, over daily unabated bloody onslaught of Boko haram terrorist, bloody sucking Bandits,...+2 bar ifeanyi ejiofor (@EjioforBar) July 5, 2020 Lol... That rule of law never existed when Buhari was in opposition right.....secondly, have you heard about Halliburton scandal, do you at least make enquiries to n why Atiku can't visit America, except packaged as an aide to Saeaki cos of immunity? Hujjah. (@Hujjah_) July 6, 2020 STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT BUHARI CONDEMNS BOKO HARAMS COWARDLY ATTACK ON UN IN THE NORTHEAST President Buhari has condemned what he called "the dastardly attack on UN aid helicopter in the Northeast on Saturday by the Boko Haram terrorists." Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) July 5, 2020 While addressing the issue, the President noted that the actions of the terrorist group would not go without consequences, leading Nigerians to react to his response.Boko Haram bandits had attacked a UN helicopter using surface-to-air missiles on Thursday in Damasak, Borno State, reportedly killing two individuals; including a five-year-old child. While the story itself sparked a huge reaction on Nigerians, the presidential address on the issue has got Nigerians stored up after many flagged the presidents address as a broken record over the issue.Many Twitter users, who expressed interest in this issue, also pointed out that the current administration has not only failed in protecting Nigerians and foreigners on Nigerian soil, but has also failed in many other sectors of the country. Others also criticised him for not being proactive on the matter of security as it concerns Nigeria even as some were of the opinion that the federal government is secretly sponsoring the terrorist group.As many talked about the presidents shortcomings, others went further to compare his administration with that of former President, Goodluck Jonathan citing that President Buhari had faulted Jonathans handling of the insurgency during his time in power but has not been able to provide a near-permanent solution to the issue having been elected for two terms.Nigerians on this trend are calling on the president to be more active in the fight against the terrorist group and stressed that the countrys security is about the most important duty of the President. 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 Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has announced the suspension of non-emergency surgical cases for the next two weeks. According to the Hospital, the move has been necessitated by the fact that some staff of the hospital have been infected with Covid-19, and the two-week suspension is to protect clients and the rest of staff who are still at post and providing care to patients. The suspension will also enable us reorganize ourselves for the resumption of regular services. Only dire emergencies will be attended to within this period, a statement issued by Mustapha Salifu, Head of Public Relations at Korle Bu said. The statement asked other health facilities to refer only dire surgiacla emergencies (Surgery, ENT, Maxillofacial and Obstetrics) to Korle Bu during the suspension period. Graphic Online understands that there has been a recent surge of Covid-19 infections among staff of the hospital engaged in surgicals, which situation has also forced the self-isolation of majority of the staff. Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) wants a review of the countrys strategy for combating the COVID-19 in order to arrest the alarming rate at which the disease is spreading in the country. According to the Association, the increasing numbers was having a heavy toll on its already overstretched members. The GMA has so far lost three of its members to the Coronavirus disease, namely; Dr Richard Kisser, a Consultant Surgeon at the Trust Hospital; Professor Jacob Plange-Rhule, the Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons; and Dr Harry Owusu Boateng, the Medical Director of the Kwadaso SDA Hospital. According to the GMA, 150 doctors have so far been infected. 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 INFIGHTING has erupted in the MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe a few months after the faction found new life following a Supreme Court ruling that reinstated the former deputy prime minister as leader of the party founded by Morgan Tsvangirai. Khupes party is preparing for its July 31 congress where a substantive leader for the party will be elected. The former Makokoba MP is likely to face acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, acting chairman Morgen Komichi, former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri and ex-legislator Gift Chimanikire in the contest for the partys top leadership position. Three camps have since emerged in the party with two supporting either Mwonzora or Khupe for the presidency while another wants MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa to be roped in. Khupe and Mwonzora, have however, emerged as the major contenders so far. The intense jockeying has divided the party and the divisions came to the fore recently when Khupe and Mwonzora clashed over the recall of MDC Alliance senators. Khupe last week recalled eight MDC Alliance senators for refusing to ditch Chamisa, bringing the number of legislators that have lost their seats due to the infighting to 21. A few days later Mwonzora wrote to the partys national council accusing it of providing him with false information that led to the recalling of Matabeleland North senator Phyllis Ndlovu. He indicated that he would be reversing the recall. The national standing committee ordered me to file a notice of recall of various members of Senate, Mwonzora said in the letter obtained by The Standard. I duly submitted the list to the Senate. Unfortunately regarding senator Phyllis Ndlovu there was certain information that was not brought to my attention. A crucial procedure had been omitted regarding her recall. Mwonzoras backers now accuse Khupe of using the recalls to settle personal scores. They cited the expulsion of Bulawayo senator Gideon Shoko, who has a child with Khupe, and former proportional representation MP Thabita Khumalo. Khupe, Shoko and Khumalo are said to have personal differences that started during their time at the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Khupe is wreaking havoc in Matabeleland and there is no stopping her, the vengeance is a ruthless objective, which has left Mwonzora in a Catch-22 situation, said a source. Either way, he is damned. If he recalls more legislators, his image is soiled; and if he refuses to act on Khupes orders, he might face disciplinary action. Khupe has also positioned her allies in strategic positions to checkmate Mwonzora, the insiders said. The former deputy prime minister brought in Khaliphani Phugeni as the partys deputy spokesperson, while her long-time ally Chief Ndlovu was coopted into the standing committee. Khupe is replacing people who remained with the party with those she was with when she formed a new party, said a senior MDC-T official. Her allies have been given top positions in the party. It is cruel and careless. Mwonzoras supporters, including one Fungai Chiposi who lost in MDC Alliance primary elections for a Harare council seat, have been openly campaigning for him on social media for the partys presidency. The Manicaland senator has declared his interest in the top position. It is up to the delegates who are supposed to do a nomination, then after that a normal election, Mwonzora said. If they are to give me honour, I will be able to serve in that office, it is because I have always been fighting for democracy. Abedingo Bhebhe, the partys organising secretary, warned that the recalling of legislators could derail the MDC-T congress. Bhebhe told the latest MDC-T standing committee meeting that over 2 000 delegates eligible to vote at the congress were backing Chamisa. He said the ongoing purges could make it difficult for the congress to get a quorum. It is believed that some of Khupes backers now even believe that they are better off working with Chamisa than Mwonzora, whom they accuse of using Machiavellian tactics to position himself ahead of the congress. The group is said to be pushing for dialogue with the MDC Alliance leader, who has so far refused to take part in the MDC-T processes. MDC-T claims there are 1 050 delegates aligned to Chamisa who are plotting to disrupt the congress and plans are afoot to block them from attending the event. Khupes backers accuse Mwonzora of recruiting 15 people that are stationed at Harvest House to allegedly manipulate records for delegates that will vote at the congress. We have about 15 men in the building and most of them have never gone out since we took over our headquarters, a senior party official claimed. There was an incident recently when one of our senior officials walked into a room where two of the unidentified men panicked and immediately shut down their machines, hiding whatever they were working on. The official added: This has raised suspicions within the party about the real identity of these men. The strongest suspicion is that there is someone controlling them. Phugeni, however, said he was not aware of the 15 people or their mission at the party headquarters. The accusation is grave if it is to be proven, he said. There are a lot of young people doing a lot of security work there, as you know, because of the contestations. The court has since resolved that matter, but you have to know that a lot of young people are strategically stationed there. Khupes group was accused of seizing the party headquarters in Harare with the help of the military last month. Phungeni also refuted allegations of divisions between Khupe and Mwonzora triggered by the recalling of MDC Alliance legislators. The party does the recalls, not individuals, and, therefore, it is unfair and untrue that the acting president is targeting anyone, he said. The other issue of bringing our children into our political discourse is a new low, which I wouldnt dignify with a comment, Phugeni added, referring to Shoko and Khupe. He said there were people that were trying to tarnish Mwonzoras image by potraying him as a violent and power-hungry politician. Fadzayi Mahere, the MDC Alliance spokesperson, said her party had nothing to do with the alleged divisions in Khupes faction. The recalls of MDC Alliance senators, proportional representation legislators, constituency MPs and councillors are unlawful, irregular and criminal, Mahere said. It is a desperate act of showboating by Zanu PF and Mwonzora designed to distract attention from the national crisis and entrench a one-party state. It has nothing to do with improving the lives of the people and everything to do with their personal political ambitions. The MDC Alliance remains focused on fighting for better livelihoods for Zimbabweans who are suffering at the hands of a looting, corrupt government. The Electoral Commission (EC) has registered 71,853 persons in the Upper East Region at the end of the first batch of phase one of the new voters registration exercise, provisional statistics from the Regional Office has revealed. The provisional figures indicated that out of the total number of persons registered 32,905 were males while 38,948 were females spanning across all the 15 Municipalities and Districts in the region within the first six days of the exercise. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, Mr William Obeng Adarkwa, the Regional Director of the EC, explained that the Commission was able to register 12,334 and 15,431 persons on the first and second day of the exercise respectively. He said on the third and fourth days of the exercise, 15,271 and 12,855 persons were captured respectively, the EC was able to register 8,785 and 7,177 persons on the fifth and sixth days of the exercise respectively. The Regional Director noted that the first batch of phase one of the voter registration exercise which covered about 168 centres including mobile registration teams had been smooth devoid of any technical or physical challenges. He said there was absolute cooperation among the EC, the applicants, and all other stakeholders in the electoral process during the first six days of the exercise. As a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the EC had put in place several recommended precautionary and safety protocols to ensure public health and safety. He said Veronica buckets with and soap and tissue paper, as well as alcohol-based sanitizers, were provided at all the centres for applicants to wash and sanitize their hands before being attended to by the EC officials. He said the registration officers were also provided with the necessary COVID-19 preventive items to ensure that they were safe while discharging their duties. While commending both the security particularly the Ghana Police Service and the health professionals for their cooperation and support so far, the Regional Director urged members of the public who are of voting age and of sound mind to take part in the exercise. Mr Adarkwa gave the assurance that the exercise was fast and strict COVID-19 measures would protect people from being infected with the Coronavirus. 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 Many Churches in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis (STMA) and the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality (EKMA) have resumed religious congregational services after putting in place adequate measures to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some churches visited by the Ghana News Agency demonstrated their readiness to save lives and comply with the guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Veronica buckets were placed at main entry points with liquid soaps and paper tissues for hand washing, while infographic materials depicting messages on COVID-19 were posted at vantage points of the premises to inform members on what to do. Infrared thermometer and alcohol-based hand sanitizers were readily available for temperature checking and hand sanitizing respectively. Churches with large congregation were having two services, while small congregational churches had one or two services to maintain the prescribed number of not more than hundred. The GNA learnt that most of the churches were disinfected with certificates embossed on the buildings, COVID-19 teams and desks have been created, church hours did not exceed the stipulated one hour, no crowd dancing was entertained. Some of the churches visited included; Church of Christ (Spiritual Movement), Bethel Methodist Church, Takoradi Central Assemblies of God Church, Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral Takoradi, House of Favour Chapel, Perez Chapel International and the Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC). At the Pentecost International Worship Center (PIWC) in Effia, Veronica buckets with liquid soaps and tissue papers were placed at the entry points, while thermometer guns were used to check the temperature of congregants before entry. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers were fixed on the walls and chairs arranged to meet the social distancing protocol with a biometric registration for contact taking. Reverend Daniel Okyei Boakye, Resident Pastor of the Church, speaking on the theme, "The Paradox of the Cross" said the Cross was noted for rejection, criminality, hatred, agony, Pain, disgrace and death. He said nobody and no family hitherto would want to associate with the Cross, but through Christ's ascendance to the Cross, it was an icon of redemption. Rev Boakye mentioned that "the Cross also changed our destination from hell to heaven and served as a bridge, leading us to heaven which hitherto we were disinfected lost to it". According to him, "by nature, we were born to wrath but in Christ through the finished work on the Cross we have been brought home and accepted as children of the Father and heirs of the Father's Kingdom". 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 Several houses at Avenorpedo, a farming community in the Akatsi South District of the Volta region have been flooded following a downpour that hit the community Saturday morning. The rains, which set in around 0720 hours and lasted over five hours wrecked severe havoc with many struggling to leave their homes. More than 10 houses and over 70 residents were displaced by the floods, leaving many roads linking the community cut off, resulting in inaccessibility. Cmmunities affected are; Apegame-Avenorpedo and Gborbidzikpornu, suburbs of Avenorpedo. Mr Raphael Ahiable, the Assembly member for the area, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), disclosed that "this was the first time we experienced such havoc." He said the farming community produced several crops including; maize and cassava used in the local production of "tapiorka" which is produced in large quantities for export. Meanwhile, Mr. Mawuli Ocloo Agos, Akatsi South District Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and his District Chief Executive, Mr Leo Nelson Adzidogah have visited the area to assess the extent of damage. Mr Ocloo described the disaster as heartbreaking " after counting farm crops and property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis lost in the Disaster and called for calm as his outfit facilitated measures for relief items. Mr.Dziegbor Torgbenya, a 70-year old victim expressed worry about the loss of property to the disaster. "It was the mercy of God that l survived together with my visually impaired wife and our granddaughter," Mr Dziegbor said. Mr. Leo Nelson Adzidogah promised to provide some relief items to the affected victims. 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 Member of Parliament for Okere constituency, Dan Botwe has been discharged after being hospitalised at the University of Ghana Medical Centre for covid-19 treatment. A Press Statement issued by the District Chief Executive for Okere District Assembly, Daniel Kenneth on his behalf dismissed rumours that the lawmaker has succumbed to the virus. It has come to our notice the rumour circulating that Hon. Daniel Botwe, MP for Okere Constituency is dead. I wish to inform the general public that this news is false and should be treated with all the contempt it deserves. Hon Daniel Botwe is fine by Gods Grace and was discharged Saturday, 4th July, 2020 around 1pm. An earlier press statement signed by the MP himself weeks ago said he is on admission upon feeling unwell. I have undertaken several tests including tests for Covid-19 and await results, he said, promising to relay the test results to the public when due. Meanwhile, President Akufo Addo effective, July 4, 2020, has taken a fourteen(14) day precautionary self-isolation measure in compliance with COVID-19 protocols, upon advice from his doctors. A statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information said the President elected to do so after at least one person within his close circle tested positive for Covid-19. He has, as at today, tested negative, but has elected to take this measure out of the abundance of caution. The President will during this precautionary self-quarantine period, be working from the Presidential Villa at the Jubilee House, Accra, the statement added. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video This years International Day of the African Child has been held in Tamale, the Northern Region capital, with a call on African heads of state to implement child-friendly laws in order to improve childrens access to justice. Despite the fact that child-rights have been recognised in many of African states, their implementation requires more effort. The team leader of Childrens Christian Fund of Canada (CCFC), a child-centred international development organisation, William Anim-Darkwa who spoke on behalf of the CCFC Regional Director for West Africa made the appeal at the Day of the African Child 2020 commemoration. According to him, there have been many inconsistent legal approaches in dealing with children in the domestic child justice systems of some countries, while others have legislations which provide mechanisms for dealing with children in times of conflict. This years event, on the theme Access to Child-Friendly Justice in Africa, brought together non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders working in the space of childrens rights like Department of Children, World Vision, Right to Play, Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS), and Plan Ghana to celebrate the children of Africa and call for serious introspection and commitment toward addressing the challenges children face in Africa. It aims to examine the elements of a child-friendly justice system, including the application of a child rights-based approach and use of the four principles of child-rights as a tool for realising access to a child-friendly justice system in Africa. According to him, a safe environment is an asset for children to grow and live their dreams, so that when their time comes they will be ready to manage affairs of the country. Let us keep the children, our future leaders, in mind in all that we do before, during and after the general election, Mr. Anim-Darkwa said, adding: We encourage political parties to desist from using children to their advantage during this period of COVID-19 pandemic. There are inadequate child justice laws which do not adequately deal with children and have led to children being dealt with like adults. This is exacerbated where there is the existence of humanitarian crises, armed conflicts, tension and strife, he added. He stressed that adequate access to justice for children is also an important strategy for protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, and thus for fighting poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Northern Region Director for Department of Children, Iddrisu Sanday, appealed for a juvenile court and cells in the northern part of the country. He also appealed for Domestic, Violence and Victim Support Units (DOVVSU) in various police stations at the district level. The Northern Region Acting Operations Manager for World Vision, Felix Apeti, stressed the need to prioritise children in decision-making, adding that over 3.4 million children go through various forms of abuse in Ghana according to research by his outfit. If it is true that children are the future leaders of the country and we continue to expose them to all forms of danger, then we are not doing them any good, he said. Source: B&FT online Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video An electrician's apprentice was electrocuted to death on a high voltage pole in Sakumono, Tema West last Saturday. The 22-year-old man was later identified as Kofi Owusu by some onlookers who thronged the Chapel Square area of the community. He wore blue overalls with no hand gloves on and his corpse dangled for over four hours with a few of his tools lying beneath the pole. The onlookers, mostly from Sakumono Village where the deceased lived with his family, wailed uncontrollably as they waited for the Police. His body was later brought down with the help of police personnel and officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) after they cut power to the area. Some residents who were spotted earlier said he had been invited to fix an electrical fault a few hours after the rains subsided Saturday afternoon. It is, however, unclear he was a certified electrician and authorized by the ECG to climb such electrical poles. Corroborating the incident, Chief Inspector Collins Antwi Kweku Amankwah, Station Officer, Sakumono Police Station, said the deceased was an electrician apprentice who inadvertently slipped whiles working on a faulty line and in the process held onto a live wire leading to his death. The body of the deceased, he added, had been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue. 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 Nominations for the third edition of the Ghana Outstanding Women Awards (GOWA) will officially open on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The awards gala set for October celebrates outstanding women devoted to the welfare of humanity and the development of society and has positively impacted the country and beyond. Mrs. Afua Asantewaa Aduonum, Chief Executive Officer of ASKOF Productions, organizers of the awards, says they look to acknowledge game-changers in their respective fields of endeavors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly has prompted the majority of people to reach out to the needy, vulnerable, frontline workers, among others. "It is important to reward some women who are doing their best in the fight against the deadly virus and making an impact in various fields. "Our team has put in place measures to ensure that all the Coronavirus protocols are strictly observed to ensure a successful awards ceremony,'' she said in an interview. Meanwhile entries can be sent via GOWA official email [email protected] and www.askofproduction.com and GOWA social media platforms @gowaawards on Instagram and Facebook. Nominations are scheduled to end on August 20, 2020, with the official announcement of nominees set for September 1, 2020. This year's awards are sponsored by Tasty Tom, Twellium Industries, Ceejay Multimedia, Rwanda Air etc. 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 Mr Nuhu Gibri, Oti Regional Director, Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has said human resource development has become a cardinal component in the successful implementation of Service organisational policies. He said the Service is therefore determined to enhance the capacity of its personnel to reflect its mandate as a professional fire fighting and management institution charged to effectively protect life and property. Mr Gibril made the remarks at an in-service training for personnel of GNFS in its Municipal and Districts in the Oti Region. The training was to ensure that personnel were abreast with best practices in road traffic collision strategies, security intelligence, and discipline in the core mandate and jurisdiction of the service. He said it was also to equip the personnel with the requisite knowledge and skills that would enable them apply the transformed skills to their operations to modernise the value of service delivery to the public in the protection of life and property. The Commander said with the training, personnel operations would be enhanced in the areas such as fire safety, emergency response, rural fire, maintenance culture, collaboration with stakeholders, sustenance of cooperate image branding, security alertness and performance of other special assignments in the interest of the social well-being of society. The personnel were taken through joint counter-terrorism interoperability, road traffic collision (RTC), and operations of fire police brigade. Participants lauded the in-service training and requested it be regular towards raising standards and their efficiency. 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 Small Scale Mining Groups at the Gbane Community in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region have appealed to the mining regulatory bodies in the country not grant permit to the Shaanxi Mining Company to venture into large scale mining in the area. They said it would be prudent on the part of the mining regulatory bodies, including the Mineral Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mining Inspectorate Division to do thorough consultations to inform them of the merits and demerits of such a possibility. The Small Scale Mining groups, which include the Unique Mining Group and the Nalamtaaba Mining Group, made the call when a Consultant engaged them about the interest expressed by the Shaanxi Mining Company Limited to go into large scale mining in the area. The Shaanxi Mining Company Limited, a Chinese Mining Company, entered into partnership with the Yenyaya Mining Group and Pubortaaba Mining Group, two small scale mining groups who had legally acquired their concessions, to provide mining support services to the two small scale mining groups. In 2008, Mr Charlse Nadanbon, the Chief Executive Officer of Yenyaya Mining Group, who was selected among small scale mining groups by government to go to China and learn on sustainable mining activities, persuaded and brought the Chinese Mining Company to Ghana, specifically the Gbane community. Since then it had been providing mining support services to Yenyaya Mining Group and Pubortaaba Mining Group, until now that it started seeking for a permit to go into large scale mining in the area where the small scale miners are operating. Mr Polo Boyark, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nalamtaaba Mining Group, who made the call on behalf of the Small Scale Mining Groups after the engagement with the Consultant, stated that until proper consultation and proper agreement are reached between the Shanxi Mining Company Limited and the Small Scale Mining Groups, the mining regulatory bodies should not grant them permit to mine on their acquired concessions. According to the Small Scale Mining Groups, they have all acquired all the necessary mining permits and documents and therefore would not succumb to any powers that would want to circumvent the laws to allow the Shanxi Mining Company Limited to mine on their concessions without the proper engagement and agreement. We will not sit down and allow a foreign mining Company to threaten us on our very livelihoods, which we have been depending on for many years. Unless the proper thing is done by bringing all of us the Small Scale Mining groups to sit down and dialogue with the Shanxi Mining Company Limited, he said. The group who threatened that they would resist any attempt if their demand and interest were not met, called on the Mining regulatory bodies to ensure that their request was followed before the consideration of granting the Shanxi Mining Company Limited to go into large scale mining. 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 gun thermometer deployed at the Ho SSNIT Flats registration centre malfunctioned three days into the registration exercise, causing that segment of health protocol to be abandoned. Other aspects of health protocols such as the washing of hands, use of sanitizers and wearing of masks were however upheld. Madam Martha Lagble, Assemblywoman for the area, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that their complaints to the Electoral Commission (EC) for replacement remained unheeded to. The malfunctioned thermometer gun serves two centres as it is strategically positioned to screen registrants trouping in to register. The gun thermometer has been off for three days now and it's like the EC is not ready to conduct the exercise," she said. "We are not in normal times. All logistics must be ready and everything must be organized. We are only washing hands, no temperature checks. If someone has the virus, how do we know?, the Assemblywoman stated. Health assistants confirmed to the GNA that throughout the last three days of the exercise, health workers had no way of determining body temperatures, and could only enforce hand washing, masking and social distancing. Mrs Lagble also said communication on upcoming centres was not effective and caused people from yet to be served areas massing up at the centres. The Assemblywoman, however, commended the hardworking registration officials, and said the exercise was peaceful. Nana Oduro, Ho Municipal Electoral Officer said the office's attention was brought to the malfunctioned thermometer and the Commission is working to address the challenge. Mr Wisdom Nudo, New Patriotic Party area coordinator for the Loboli Electoral Area, told GNA the exercise was fantastic, but also expressed concern over the thermometer. All temperatures must be checked before getting seated, he said, calling hope that the EC would address the challenge going forward. One woman, who was among the last applicants before the exercise ended at the centre, and who had spent three hours in the queue, told GNA the process was not fast enough." 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 GrassRoots Hub in partnership with the Ghana Technology Lab have organised a consultative stakeholders meeting on web technology on the theme: "The Role of Web Development for Digital Transformation Of The Local Economy For Job Creation And Economic Development. The consultative meeting held in Sunyani in the Bono region drew participants from sectors of the entrepreneurship ecosystem to outline the challenges, gaps and opportunities in the existing market that will serve as guidelines to develop strategic policy to transform the local economy. The participants were grouped under six pillars namely; human capital, market, government and legislation, finance, media, and culture. Mr. Emmanuel Marfo, the Chief Executive Officer for GrassRoots Hub said, it was Ghanas first lab and Social Impact incubator that supported social entrepreneurs and philanthropic organisations to achieve social good. He said, the meeting was also to help gather consensus on how best to take advantage of the web training programme to transform the economy to achieve sustainable development with digital skills. The web development training programme will take place in Sunyani at GrassRoot Hub behind GNAT Hall, on 20th July - 28th August, 2020 without any cost for trainee entrepreneurs. Madam Fatima Bamba the Bono Regional Director for the National Youth Authority (NYA) has provided 40 laptops to GrassRoots Hub for participants to use during the training period. Speaking on behalf of the Bono Regional Minister, Madam Prisca Andaye the Director at the Regional Coordinating Council said, Ghana was gradually digitizing the economy in the areas of processing clearing goods at the port, National Digital Address System, digitalisation of passport processing and the rest to promote sustainable development so the use of web technology was very important. I therefore pledge my support to the Web Development Training programme and I know that, the initiative is on the right path for a Ghana Beyond Aid" the Bono Regional Director noted. Mr. Julius Asante the Chief Executive Officer for Pesewa Web - soft, Ghana added that, with the help of web technology, communication and sharing of information have improved especially in this period of COVID-19 pandemic. The web technology initiative is under the Pathway to Sustainable Employment (PaSE) programme with partners including, Master card foundation, the World Bank and the Ministry of Communication, Ghana. 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 Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the opposition Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Mr Horace Grant is blaming the Akufo-Addo Government for failing to let the general public see the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana. According to him, the government's failure has paved a way for unnecessary speculations that the disease is not real but mere propaganda as some even hold the belief that their faith in God makes them immune against the novel coronavirus. In a press release copied to Peacefmonline.com, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman for LPG indicated that Ghanaians are downplaying the reality of the disease as they have blatantly ignored the COVID-19 safety protocols due to the failure of government to make the disease real to them as they have not seen anyone suffering from the disease or being killed by it. This has made room for unnecessary speculations that the disease is not real but mere propaganda. Some even believe that their faith in God or a supernatural being gives them immunity against the Coronavirus. It is so unfortunate that people are downplaying the reality of the disease and have blatantly ignored the Covid-19 safety protocols. They argue that they have not seen anyone suffering from the disease or been killed by it, hence the disease does not exist, he said. He commended the Akufo-Addo government for managing the pandemic well in the country by instituting some policies and programmes to control the spread, treat the infected people and also alleviate the burden of the pandemic on the finances of the citizenry but feared that the government has not been able to convince Ghanaians that the disease is real, militating the collective fight against the disease. Government has done well in managing the pandemic in Ghana by instituting some policies and programmes to control the spread, treat the infected people and also alleviate the burden of the pandemic on the finances of the citizenry. However, the inability of the government to convince the people that Covid-19 is real is militating against our collective fight against the disease. The lack of fear for new coronavirus by the citizenry is evident in how social distance and personal safety protocols are grossly disregarded in the ongoing voter registration exercise. To him, President Akufo-Addos assertion in one of his address to the nation that majority of those who have died had other underlining health conditions has created a room for people to think that the disease is not deadly. Government as a matter of urgency must produce Covid-19 documentaries on people in isolation centres, intensive care unit and the burial protocols of dead victims to show on television as evidence of the disease. The fear-arousal communication strategy has proven to be effective in causing behavioural change. Also, public education against the stigmatization of Covid-19 patience must be intensified, he suggested to the government. 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 The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, is expected to officially unveil his running mate for the 2020 presidential elections today [July 6, 2020]. When the National Executive Committee (NEC) meets today at 11 am, Mr Mahama is expected to present either former Education Minister, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, a former Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Isaac Bannerman Nii Moi Thompson, a former Minister of Health and Deputy Campaign Manager for the 2020 elections, Mr Alex Segbefia or a former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor as his choice of a running mate. The names of Mr Segbefia and Dr Nii Moi Thompson may surprise many followers because their names have so far not appeared in the list of speculations. But Graphic Online can confirm that among the shortlisted candidates, Prof Opoku-Agyemang stands tall with Mr Segbefia and Dr Nii Moi Thompson as the outsiders. Prof Opoku-Agyemang Party sources tell Graphic Online that Mr Mahama is likely to settle on Prof Opoku-Agyemang and also break the cycle of male running mate and getting more females into mainstream political decision-making in line with the partys policy. If confirmed by the NEC, Prof Opoku-Agyemang, who is regarded as a woman of integrity, will become the first female running mate of the two leading political parties in the country [NDC and NPP]. Prof Opoku-Agyemang, appears to be in a pole position among all with her gender, record as the first female Vice-Chancellor of a university; the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and a trained journalist. The source said Professor Opoku-Agyemang's association with the NDC began as far back as 1996 when, as the hostess of the popular Radio Gold programme, 'Platform', she interviewed then-President Jerry John Rawlings in the build-up to the 1996 presidential election. The interview was so effective that many believe it was a major contributory factor to the landslide victory that President Rawlings won over Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor in that year's election. She also co-hosted the 2012 Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) sponsored presidential debates. A gender activist told Graphic Online that although presidential candidates often talk about the important role of women in all spheres of national life and about the need for greater gender equality in Ghanaian politics, it all whittles away when elected. When it comes right down to it all our candidates have found excuses not to act. They all trot out the stereotypical wisdom that Ghanaians are not ready for a female president and even women will not vote for another woman and that their Parties will rebel. In short, their gender commitment takes second place to electoral opportunity, a party source said in support of Prof Opoku-Agyemangs choice. Mahama for change The source said Mr Mahama looks forward to changing that and demonstrate his commitment to naming a woman as his running mate. That, the source said, which had also been confirmed by multiple sources within the NDC, made Mr Mahama to take time in naming his running mate as he (Mahama) had to sell and get the buy-in of the movers and shakers in the Party. JM firmly believes that the time has come to make real change. And he is confident that there are many women in the Party who have what it takes to lead the country forward, another source stated. Female potentials The source said the difficulty that Mr Mahama had was choosing among NDCs many accomplished female leaders who would best complement him as a candidate and then as a President. It said names such as Ms Hanny Sherry Ayitey, former Minister for Environment and Vice Chairman of the NDC, Ms Hannah Tetteh, former MP, Trade Minister, and Foreign Minister; Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong; former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice; Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu (also a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Vice-Chair of the NDC; Nana Oye Lithur, former Minister of Gender and Social Protection; Ambassador Edith Hazel; former Ambassador to Denmark and Dr. Valerie Sawyer, former Deputy Chief of Staff, have all come up. Mahama meets Rawlings On Saturday, July 4, 2020, former President Mahama met the founder of the party, former President Jerry John Rawlings to discuss issues. Although the details of the meeting remain a secret, Graphic Online believes the issue of the choice of running mate was also discussed. Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is the current Africa Board Chairperson of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). She has been a FAWE member since 2014. She is a former Minister of Education in Ghana.Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in 2008, the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public university in Ghana.Before heading the university, she had since 1986 served as head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dean of the Board of Graduate Studies and Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research.She was also the Academic Director of the African Diaspora Studies programme of School for International Training Study Abroad.In October 2009, she was elected Ghanas representative to UNESCOs Executive Board. She has been re-elected for a second time to UNESCO Executive Board.She obtained her Diplome Superieure dEtudes Francaises from the University of Dakar, Senegal in 1976, a B. A. (Hons) with a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.Naana has chaired more than twenty Boards and Committees, among them: the Council of the University College of Education, Winneba 1998-2002; Academic Committee of the Ghana Council for Tertiary Education; and was Joint Co-coordinator of the Specialist Program in English Language and Ghanaian Culture for Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers 1991-1993.She has also chaired the Adjudication Committee, VALCO Literary Awards, Ghana 1993-1998; Board of Governors, Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana) since its founding in 1998; and, Board of Governors, Wesley Girls High School 1994-1998.In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of quality education in Ghana, the Ghana Women of Excellence Award was conferred her.She is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences; University Teachers Association of Ghana; English Studies Association; African Studies Association, USA; African Literature Association, USA; and the International Fulbright Scholars Association.She is the recipient of four honorary doctoral degrees; the Global Leadership Award; many national and international awards; she serves on several councils, boards, and committees and has published many books and articles. She is also a two-time Fulbright scholar and is currently a Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).She is from Cape Coast in the Central Region. Segbefia Mr Segbefia, who is a lawyer called to the bar, both in Ghana and the United Kingdom, is a former Deputy Chief of Staff, a former Deputy Minister of Defence and a former Minister of Health. A former Chairman of the UK & Ireland Branch of the NDC, Mr Segbefia is currently the Director of International Relations of the NDC and Deputy Campaign Manager for the 2020 NDC Campaign Team. Duffuor Although Dr Duffuors name has been on the cards, many insiders believe that with a court case hanging around his neck, he would be a detraction to the partys agenda of recapturing power on December 7, 2020. Moreover, he is said not to have been active on party matters ever since he left the position of Minister of Finance. Nii Moi Thompson A fine candidate by all standards, party sources tell Graphic Online that Dr Nii Moi Thompson is yet to warm himself into the party although he works on policy issues but publicly acknowledges to be a member of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP). Other candidates The names of possible candidates such as ex-Finance Minister, Prof. Kwesi Botchway, the former boss of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), Mr Kwame Awuah Darko, former Interior and Agriculture Minister, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) as well as the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Alex Mould, were also on the list. READ FULL DETAILS OF BEHIND THE SCENE MOVES IN THE DAILY GRAPHIC ON TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020. #GhanaVotes2020 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 Report reaching DGN Online indicates that the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has turned down the choice of running mate selected by the partys flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama. At a hurriedly arranged meeting of regional chairpersons of the party at the NDC regional office in Accra on Sunday evening, ahead of NEC meeting on Monday, the Chairmen flatly turned down former Education Minister, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate to Mr Mahama. The former president was said to have personally called some of the Chairmen to sell his choice to them ahead of the meeting but they were swayed by superior arguments against the former Education Minister. Sources close to the meeting indicate the some of the Chairmen rooted for former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor while Ade Coker was championing for Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko. Report says Awuah-Darkos name was not among the shortlist. Dr Duffuor was the front runner until he was slapped with charges of fraud and money laundering over the collapsed of Unibank which he owned. He is not a known political platform speaker. Mr Mahama had earlier offered the slot to former Finance Minister under Jerry John Rawlings, Dr Kwesi Botchwey who rejected the offer on grounds of trust and principle telling the NDC flagbearer his fear of retiring from politics with a defeat in apparent reference to Mahamas inability to win the 2020 polls. NDC National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah had earlier protested the choice of Naana Opoku Agyemang who appears to enjoy the support of the moribund Fante Confederacy headed by the Patriarch of the Ahwoi family, Ato. The regional Chairman after the meeting quickly drove straight to Chain Homes residence of Mahama to tell him that his choice will not resonate with Ghanaians. Prof Opoku Agyemang was not known to be a card bearing member of the party having said it openly that she was not a registered member of the NDC. She was the architect of the scrapping of the Trainee Teachers allowance when she was Education Minister. There are strong indications the scheduled NEC meeting for Monday may be called off to allow for more consultations if the disagreement is not resolved ahead of time. 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 National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCSALW) has urged political actors to guard against utterances and actions that can trigger gun violence before, during and after the voter registration exercise. It noted that although in a democratic dispensation, differences in opinions and divergent views were core pillars, the diversity should not challenge the peace and security of the country. Our divergence and differing opinions should also not lead the country into conflict, abuse and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons with its attendant disastrous consequences, especially in communities known to be election hotspots where armed conflict is easily triggered, it said in a statement issued in Accra by Reverend Professor Paul Frimpong Manso, the Board Chairman of the Commission. The Electoral Commission (EC) on June 30, 2020 began registering eligible voters for the compilation of a new voters register ahead of the December polls after the Supreme Court on June 24, 2020 gave the commission the green light which has been the subject of controversy since last year. According to the statement, pursuant to the Supreme Courts unanimous decision, individuals and groups had spoken publicly, expressing divergent views on the ruling while identifiable groups, including political parties had also taken strong positions on the ruling. The clouds and storms that raged before the decision of the Supreme Court have to be buried because as a people we have weathered these kinds of storms before in the 4th Republic because we have remained faithful to the ideals of this country which is Freedom and Justice and this should not be any different, it said. It admonished the key actors, especially the political parties to exercise restraint and not resort to the use of intemperate language that inflame passion and eventually lead to the use of guns and for that matter violence before, during and after the voters registration exercise. As a young democracy we should emphasize the things that unite us rather than those that divide us, we call on the political parties to encourage their teeming supporters to go and register in a peaceful manner whilst observing all the necessary COVID-19 protocols in the interest of Mother Ghana, the statement 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 Scores of supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress besieged the Kpetoe police station in the Agotime-Ziope district of the Volta region last night following the arrest and detention of some suspected 15 foreign nationals attempting to register in Ghana. The suspects travelling from Ziope to Kpetoe onboard a Hyundai bus with registration number GR-3234-M were intercepted at about 2pm on Sunday 5 July 2020 by some members of the New Patriotic Party before being handed over to the District Police Command in Kpetoe. The suspects who are between the ages of 60 years to 80 years include a visually impaired, 68-year-old man, Christian Agbeviade a resident of Hornugo, who is said to be a retired military officer and another physically challenged person. Speaking to Starr Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu, some of the agitated protesters explained that the detainees are known Ghanaians resident in the constituency. The people in there are people we know and so, we feel this is an attack on us and so we are here to demand for their release, Matilda, one of the protesters said. Madam Alice Gorni also said, Among us here are relatives of the suspects who have come to demand for the release of their people. It feels so sad that in our own land, people have the gut to question our nationality because of electrons. A 52-year-old Tina Adri Agbeve, also told our journalists that one of the suspects, the visually impaired old man is her uncle, whom she had come to join the protest in demand of his release. The scenes at the Kpetoe police turned a bit dramatic when the protesters began chanting war songs and pelting the officers while asking for the immediate release of the suspects amidst curses upon the NPP and the police. Speaking to the media, MP for Agotime-Ziope, Charles Agbeve said the arrest of these persons was unfortunate and uncalled for while adding that the suspects are natives of his hometown -Hornugo, a suburb of Ziope. He explained that the suspects were being transported to the District EC office in Kpetoe to take part in the registration exercise since they are old and vulnerable. He said, As you all know, the EC offices are supposed to register the aged, the disabled, lactating mothers and pregnant women and as a Constituency, we decided to aid the aged so they can get the card and not go through the hustle by the time it gets to their pollen stations. Number two, most of them do not have Ghana card so we also saw that it was a strategic way to get people from those areas to get the ID cards, so that by the time the registration gets to their end, they will in turn guarantee for those without the Ghana cards. So these are my own uncles and cousins who I have decided to help by organizing a bus to convey them to Kpetoe for the registration. Today in Ghana, I dont know that people being carried in a car can be called Togolese to be brought to a police station to be intimidated and be harassed. I do not think it fair, reasonable and in my opinion, its unfortunate abd uncalled for, he emphasised. When the suspects were finally granted bail, our checks revealed that majority of them have either the Ghana card or a passport which are primary documents for the registration exercise. The driver of the Hundai bus, Kofi Gatsi -a native of Ziope recounted the incident. I was only contracted to pick these people from Ziope to Kpetoe to take part in the registration exercise. They are not people I picked from Togo; these people, some of whom I know personally from Hornugo. Upon entering the town, I drove straight towards my brothers home to pick a car part I had bought so I could head to Ho for repair works after offloading my passengers but I was intercepted by some NPP guys who accused me of carrying Togolese and upon several exchanges, the police commander arrived at the scene and asked I drive the car to the police where we have been put the counter back, he told journalists. Mr. George Loh, a legal team member and a Regional Vice Chairman of the NDC expressed shock and anger over what he called a humiliation of our own. Mr. Loh, however, told journalists that the police did not proffer any charges against all 15 persons before granting them bail but have demanded that they report to the police station again, today Monday 6 July, 2020. While the second phase of the nationwide registration exercise begins today, the Volta region would remain a battle ground for the two major political parties ahead of the 2020 general elections. Source: starrfmonline.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 Overlord of Mamprugu, Naa Bohagu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga, has expressed the heartfelt appreciation of the people of Mamprugu and the entire nation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for appointing, for the fourth time, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate ahead of the 2020 general elections. The Nayiri has also congratulated the Vice President, who hails from Kperiga in the Mamprugu kingdom, for chalking the unprecedented feat of being selected four times in a row as running mate, and making the sons and daughters of Mamprugu and the entire northern Ghana proud. Just about a week ago, I had the information that H.E. President Akufo-Addo had appointed you (Dr Bawumia) to partner with him for the 2020 election as running mate for the fourth time. I wish on my own behalf and on behalf of Mamprugu, to congratulate you for this feat. You have indeed made Mamprugu proud. We in Mamprugu cannot but wish you Gods guidance, protection, and above all success in this endeavour, the Nayiri stated on Friday, July 3, 2020 when the Vice President called on him at his palace in Nalerigu after registering for the new Voter ID card earlier in the day. Let me pay glowing tribute to the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for endorsing my own son of this great kingdom the fourth time as his running mate. The people of Mamprugu are very grateful to you and your party, Naa Bohogu Mahami II stated. The Mamprugu overlord commended the Akufo-Addo government for its stellar performance, which has led to major transformations in the lives of Ghanaians. From where I sit, I observe with great admiration, the stellar performance of the NPP government which has won the hearts of many Ghanaians and the world at large I would like to talk about a few of your projects and pro-poor social interventions that have been carried out in my jurisdiction and Ghana at large. The tarring of the Nalerigu, Gambaga and Walewale town roads, Nalerigu to Gbintiri road which is still under construction, the water project within Nalerigu, Gambaga and Chereponi all within the North East Region has all been completed and the people of these communities can now boast of good and potable drinking water in their homes. The Free SHS policy, the School Feeding programme, the Planting for Food and Jobs, One Village One dam initiative, one constituency one ambulance, the creation of of jobs are all evidence of your great performance. On behalf of the chiefs and people of Mamprugu, I wish to once again register our sincere appreciation and gratitude to you and your government for the good work. Source: presidency.gov.gh 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 Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former President, John Dramani Mahama has selected Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his Running Mate for the 2020 Presidential elections. The party's National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi announced this following a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. He disclosed that Prof Opoku-Agyemang's endorsement was by a unanimous decision of the party's Council of Elders and the NEC. "I can tell you that the Running Mate of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 general election is Professor Jane Naana Agyemang. That choice has been approved unanimously by the Council'' Sammy Gyamfi stated. "We are certain in our minds that this is a winning ticket. His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, ably supported by the competent, trustworthy, honest, sincere, matured Professor Naana Jane Agyemang will deliver victory for the NDC in the coming elections'', he added. Profile Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the current Africa Board Chairperson of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and has been a FAWE member since 2014. She was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in 2008 and adjudged the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public University in Ghana. Before heading the University, she had since 1986 served as Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dean of the Board of Graduate Studies and Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research. She was also the Academic Director of the African Diaspora Studies programme of School for International Training Study Abroad. In October 2009, she was elected Ghanas representative to UNESCOs Executive Board and has been re-elected for a second time to UNESCO Executive Board. She obtained her Diplome Superieure dEtudes Francaises from the University of Dakar, Senegal in 1976, a B. A. (Hons) with a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively. Naana has chaired more than twenty Boards and Committees, among them: the Council of the University College of Education, Winneba 1998-2002; Academic Committee of the Ghana Council for Tertiary Education; and was Joint Co-coordinator of the Specialist Program in English Language and Ghanaian Culture for Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers 1991-1993. She has also chaired the Adjudication Committee, VALCO Literary Awards, Ghana 1993-1998; Board of Governors, Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana) since its founding in 1998; and, Board of Governors, Wesley Girls High School 1994-1998. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of quality education in Ghana, the Ghana Women of Excellence Award was conferred on her. She is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences; University Teachers Association of Ghana; English Studies Association; African Studies Association, USA; African Literature Association, USA; and the International Fulbright Scholars Association. Furthermore, she is a recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees, attained a Global Leadership Award among many national and international awards. She serves on several councils, boards, and committees and has published many books and articles. She is also a two-time Fulbright scholar and is currently a Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang is also a former Minister of Education in Ghana and hails from Cape Coast in the Central Region. Source: 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 Former President and National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama has eulogized his running mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, describing her as a distinguished scholar and a role model. Mr. Mahama, took to his Facebook immediately after the massive endorsement for Prof. Opoku-Agyemang by the NDC National Executive Committee (NEC), saying "...our great party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) this afternoon, unanimously, endorsed my nomination of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as my Running Mate for the December 2020 election." Naana Jane is God-fearing, a distinguished scholar, a conscientious public servant, and a role model'', he further said. Read the full post below: The National Executive Committee of our great party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) this afternoon, unanimously,... Posted by John Dramani Mahama on Monday, July 6, 2020 Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the current Africa Board Chairperson of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and has been a FAWE member since 2014.She was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in 2008 and adjudged the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public University in Ghana.Before heading the University, she had since 1986 served as Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dean of the Board of Graduate Studies and Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research.She was also the Academic Director of the African Diaspora Studies programme of School for International Training Study Abroad.In October 2009, she was elected Ghanas representative to UNESCOs Executive Board and has been re-elected for a second time to UNESCO Executive Board.She obtained her Diplome Superieure dEtudes Francaises from the University of Dakar, Senegal in 1976, a B. A. (Hons) with a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.Naana has chaired more than twenty Boards and Committees, among them: the Council of the University College of Education, Winneba 1998-2002; Academic Committee of the Ghana Council for Tertiary Education; and was Joint Co-coordinator of the Specialist Program in English Language and Ghanaian Culture for Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers 1991-1993.She has also chaired the Adjudication Committee, VALCO Literary Awards, Ghana 1993-1998; Board of Governors, Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana) since its founding in 1998; and, Board of Governors, Wesley Girls High School 1994-1998.In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of quality education in Ghana, the Ghana Women of Excellence Award was conferred on her.She is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences; University Teachers Association of Ghana; English Studies Association; African Studies Association, USA; African Literature Association, USA; and the International Fulbright Scholars Association.Furthermore, she is a recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees, attained a Global Leadership Award among many national and international awards.She serves on several councils, boards, and committees and has published many books and articles.She is also a two-time Fulbright scholar and is currently a Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang is also a former Minister of Education in Ghana and hails from Cape Coast in the Central Region. Source: 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 Mr Kwadwo Afari Yeboah, aspiring General Secretary of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) on Monday said the party should use Election 2020 to rally support and charter a good path in rebuilding and rebranding the party. He said: To ensure we have representation in the next Parliament. Our Presidential Candidate shall be the utmost advocate for rebuilding upon the foundation of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Mr Afari Yeboah told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra said, the building of the foundations of Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah through the CPP must begin from the human resources. He said having a good account of party membership and building their capacity to deliver the objective of national agenda. We need to recruit over 700,000 active members and train them to facilitate the needed ground mobilization to win us power. Our votes over the last two elections added together do not give us this figure. So realistically we have a huge human resource deficit. There are over 30 million Ghanaians and 15 million voters and yet we are unable to account for 700,000 members. This is work within The CPP Aspiring GS said as part of the process to win political power, the party must also reinvigorate its material resources: Each of the current 275 constituencies would require a functional office. Mr Afari Yeboah, who is a Management and Marketing Communication Consultant said the CPP must go through the rebranding to make it a force to capture political power. I believe political parties are like any other corporate establishments that ought to be managed professionally. Its branches and offices ought to function day-to-day in the business of political advocacy, social research, and policy engagement. These are supposed to be the cardinal functions of the Party Administration and must emanate from the Office of the General Secretary, which I stand for, Mr Afari Yeboah stated. He comes to the post with several years of providing services for ministries and agencies and worked on various social projects including; child trafficking, child labour, Labour and employment, youth leadership and governance as well as the promotion and advocacy for science education and acculturation. The CPP General Secretary Aspirant explained that the party must go through a professional transformation based on strong teamwork through efficient corporate management practices. He said as a General Secretary, I seek to work with all elected and appointed leaders from constituency to national levels focusing on a four-year strategic framework for the rebuilding and restructuring of the Party. Mr Afari Yeboah who is campaigning on the theme: Rebuilding CPP, Rebuilding Ghana, explained that being able to provide communication services to some government agencies including; the Forestry and natural resources sector have also strengthened his ability to manage complex issues to a logical conclusion, a skills CPP needed to move to the next stage. The CPP General Secretary Aspirant who is the Chief Executive Officer of Threshold Africa Logistics Limited and Media Concepts Oriented believed that the CPP must be built on corporate management principles, I will therefore in consultation with other leaders initiate a six-month operational framework to ensure CPP wins Parliamentary seats in the December polls. Mr Afari Yeboah said effective communication within the Party system, setting up of functional Administration from Constituency, Regional and the National Secretariat, inject innovation and information, communication, and technology-based system to enhance information and data system management is key for a party to operate. He said effective party organisation hinges also on funding, as a General Secretary, I will institute effective fundraising and Financial Administration for the Party to ensure sustainability and develop strong study groups for policy studies and stakeholder engagement with civil society organisations and other organisations. Mr Afari Yeboah who is a former CPP Deputy Regional Secretary, Greater Accra Region said the CPP needed to engage the general populace and our members as cherished consumers and shareholders respectively. Our Officers across the country will have the opportunity of frequent and tailored training to be able to deliver on dispensing and policy objectives of the Party, which in turn will be a major determinant for our political mobilization and activism. 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 Hong Kong: Tai O flood drill held The Islands District Office conducted a rescue and evacuation drill with other government departments in Tai O today to enhance flood preparedness in the village. According to the emergency response plan, when the Hong Kong Observatory forecasts very high sea levels at Tai O it will alert government agencies, and resident and fishing representatives by text message. After receiving the alert, the office will activate an emergency co-ordination centre at the Tai Po Rural Committee Office to organise evacuation, rescue and emergency relief efforts for the affected area. Participating departments include the observatory, the Fire Services Department, Police, the Drainage Services Department, the Social Welfare Department and the Housing Department. Resident and fishing representatives will help disseminate information so that residents they can take shelter in safe locations. This story has been published on: 2020-07-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. For the first time since late May, Egypt's daily coronavirus tally fell below the 1,000 mark, stated the health ministry on Monday. Figures show 969 people nationwide have tested positive for the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours while 79 others lost their lives. Monday's figures bring the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in mid-February to 76,222 and the death toll to 3,422. Egypt first recorded more than 1,000 cases a day on 28 May (1,127 cases) along with 29 fatalities. Throughout March, April and May the number of daily cases had ranged between 16 and 900. The health ministry said on Monday that 512 patients were discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 21,238. Since June, Egypt has moved towards a gradual reopening of its economy as part of a plan to coexist with the virus. The reopening comes amid expectations of recording lower numbers of cases by the second half of July. Egypt's higher education and scientific research minister had earlier said the pandemic is expected to subside as of the third week of July. Egypts first coronavrius case was detected in mid-February while it took 50 days to reach 1,000 cases on 4 April, 38 days to hit the 10,000 mark on 12 May, and 16 days to hit 20,000 cases on 28 May. As of June, the figures started to increase swiftly, moving to 30,000 cases by 5 June, and then hitting the 40,000-case mark seven days later on 13 June. Five days later, on 18 June, the country reached 50,000 cases, and seven days later it reached 60,000 cases. Short link: Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. A total of 417 registrants in the Ashanti Region, have been challenged in relation to their eligibility in the ongoing voter registration exercise, according to the Electoral Commission (EC). Mr. Benjamin Bano-Bio, Regional Director of the Commission, said the figure represented what the officials received for the first phase of the exercise, meant to compile a new voters register for the December General Election. The challenge forms, he stressed, would go through the necessary processes as they worked to verify the eligibility or otherwise of the registrants to have their names entered in the new album. Mr. Bano-Bio told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, that the first session of the exercise had more than 360,000 people being registered. Of the figure, the EC recorded 72.3 per cent registering with the Ghana Card, while 1.1 per cent came with passports, and the rest relying on guarantors to facilitate their registration processes. The Commission, for the purposes of the five-phased exercise, has zoned the 5,890 polling stations in the Region into 1,196 clusters. A special centre has also been set up to take care of persons with disability and the aged. Mr. Bano-Bio advised the public to continue to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols while at the registration centres, as the second phase of registration commenced across the Region on Monday, July 06. The EC has recruited about 800 officials for the exercise, which ends in August, this year. 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 member of the NDC Communication Team, Peter Akwasi Mensah as described as woefully pathetic, the Akufo-Addo led government's commitment to the fight against bribery and corruption in the country. According to him, the proceed on leave directive issued the Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo by President Akufo-Addo is the first step of a calculated plan to oust him from office to protect his corrupt officials. Speaking on NEAT FMs political talk show Asem Yideka, Peter Akwasi Mensah said that the Presidents decision to force the Auditor-General to go on leave at a time he was investigating the Senior Minister is wrong. He also alleged that Domelevo is being haunted by the government after he declined to be a party to the mismanagement and corrupt actions of some officials. Ghana is leading corruption in the world because of President Nana Addo. Its so embarrassing. He told host Mac Jerry Osei Agyeman 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 Actress and social media star, Rosemond Alade Brown popularly known as Akuapem Poloo has been arrested by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers of the Ghana Police over her controversial nude photo with her son. According to Nana Yaa Konadu of Peace FM who confirmed Poloos arrest on her late afternoon show, Asomdwee Nkomo, Akuapem Poloo was picked up at about 3pm and has been sent to the headquarters of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit around the Ministries in Accra. Akuapem Poloo posed naked in front of her son while her son was wearing only underpants and posted it on her instagram page on Tuesday June 30, 2020 to celebrate her son birthday. The photo went viral instantly and sparked outrage on social media and leading to a debate as to whether she had done the right thing. After the post went viral, it was reported that Child Rights International petitioned the CID to act over the matter since Akuapem Poloo had violated some laws and also breached some Child Acts. Based on the report by Child Rights International, the Police CID invited Akuapim Poloo for questioning and according the Police, she agreed to report herself on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 but she refused to honor the Police invitation until her arrest today Monday July 6, 2020. Rosemond Brown took down the post and apologized to the general public over the post. After she celebrated her sons birthday, she made a self-recorded video with her son in which they both apologized to the public over the issue. However, the authorities would have none of that as she has been taken to DOVVSUs headquarters in Accra for questioning. The reason for her arrest is still not clear and no official charges has been leveled against her yet. Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/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 Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday that an expanded mask-wearing order signed by his Health Secretary last week could be in place until there is a coronavirus vaccine. Speaking at an event at the PSECU Child Care Center Playground where new means of funding and support for child care centers was discussed, Wolf later fielded a question regarding how long the mask-wearing order would be in place and if there were any indicators that he was watching for regarding possibly ending it sooner rather than later. Im sort of thinking this is until we get a vaccine, but I dont have any real formal goal there, Wolf said on a video of the news conference. There are some places where people just wear masks, as a matter of, just people wear them. I think it might be a good idea. This is something that actually does make you safer. When Im wearing a mask makes me safer when youre wearing a mask, and if we cant practice social distancing thats a really important thing. Models out there suggest that states, areas where people wear masks, the infection rate is actually lower. This is something that, as we get into infectious disease, and knows when this is going to end, we probably ought to be thinking about this [a mask] just to keep each other safe. The order from Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine requires Pennsylvania citizens or those visiting the state to wear a mask in all outdoor public spaces if they cant socially distance and also while inside of businesses. There are some exceptions, including for safety and health reasons, and while the Health Department has said its not asking police to enforce the order, it applies to anyone over the age of 2. In other news, Wolf also said that he is concerned about new breakouts of positive coronavirus cases occurring in the state. Mondays total of 450 new confirmed coronavirus cases was the lowest one-day total since June 18, but its expected that other areas of the state could see a spike in positive tests in the days to come following the July Fourth holiday like the one Allegheny County is experiencing. There, bars and restaurants can not serve alcohol to dine-in customers. We have seen breakouts in certain areas, Wolf said. Allegheny County is the big area of concern at this point. There have been others, more modest [outbreaks] in the past, but right now, Allegheny Countys is the area and were working closely with them. Pennsylvania has shown as a state an increase in the number of cases but keep in mind thats from a pretty low base. We were, and had been fairly successful I think; states were talking 10,000 new cases a day. Were now at 500 over the weekend, new cases. Thats up, because we were down between three and 400 before, so that that is up and thats a concern. Its up in localized places and I think what were doing is focused on those areas and the specific things that seem to cause them in those areas so I remain concerned. More coverage: Summer vacation isnt what it used to be. The summer months traditionally were for going on elaborate and long vacations while kids were out of school. But the coronavirus pandemic, and its subsequent restrictions, has meant many are choosing to stay home during summer 2020. Thats bad news for every aspect of the travel industry, from the airlines to the hotels to the museums and restaurants. Everyone is taking a hit. Its no different in Pennsylvania. The state has already lost an estimated $9 billion in traveler spending because of the pandemic, according to Carrie Fischer Lepore, deputy secretary of marketing, tourism and film with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Its an unprecedented drop in travel spending and has been, in Lepores words, devastating to the industry. She estimates that it will take years for the industry to recover. Nationwide, AAA is reporting a nearly 15 percent decrease in planned trips, the first decline in summer travel since 2009. Of those traveling, only 44 percent are planning to stay somewhere overnight, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Expect more traffic, as more and more Americans take to the road. AAA is reporting that cars are the new favored method of travel, with road trips are expected to be 97 percent of all vacations this year. People arent going far, either. What our travel agents are telling us is that many people are looking to venture out at first relatively close to home, said Jana Tidwell, manager of public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic. Theyll do a day trip, an overnight visit or a tourist-in-your-hometown kind of extended weekend. Pennsylvania is well suited for the surge in both road trips and staycations, being just a few hours drive from multiple major cities. The push towards outdoor activities, where social distancing is easier, also bodes well for the state. The Keystone State boasts 121 state parks and more than 83,000 miles of rivers and streams, after all. With the focus being on what you can discover in your own backyard, the state and its Visit Pennsylvania initiative is shifting its focus away from luring international and national audiences to Pennsylvania, and instead focusing on Pennsylvanians themselves. We want to present them with different opportunities, whether its at a state park just down the road from their house or camping in the Pennsylvania wilds, a road trip to the Pocono Mountains, visiting battlefields in Gettysburg and the Laurel Highlands -- even something as simple as going to a drive-in movie theater, Lepore said. Theres definitely interest in our greater than great outdoors, she said. Pennsylvania is literally Penns Woods and we have some of the most spectacular outdoor experiences around. Already Pennsylvanians are flocking to local campgrounds, with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reporting a massive increase in demand for campsites and cabins. Pennsylvania can only hold its residents for so long, however. As people take more and more trips, they start feeling more and more comfortable with going farther away. But where they go is different, according to Joshua Bush, CEO of Avenue Two Travel in Villanova. Florida, Arizona and California remain hot spots, but so are Montana, Wyoming and Utah. People are opting for dude ranches and glamping experiences over more traditional resorts. I think people, after being trapped inside for so long, are wanting to get in touch with nature, Bush said. Going to places where theres plenty of space has its own appeal too. The majority of the stuff were seeing is out to the middle of nowhere, Bush said. People that are traveling now, unless its a beach resort, theyre looking for something like Paws Up [a resort ranch in Montana] and Blackberry Farm [a rural resort in Tennessee]. The other trend is in last-minute vacations. A lot of our bookings have been for I want to go away tomorrow trips, Bush said. Thats partly because coronavirus restrictions and the number of cases are changing all the time, so some dont want to schedule a trip a week ahead of time only to find out they cant go because of quarantine orders or shutdowns. The more traditional, long-term summer vacations are still being planned, however theyre just being planned for 2021 rather than 2020, according to Bush. Thats kept him and his team at Avenue Two Travel busy. Hes also seen an influx in new clients, who are eager to have a travel agent help them navigate the new COVID-19 world. Clients want to know which hotels have worked with Johns Hopkins [on coronavirus policies]. They want to know what the cleanliness policies are, what the cancellation policies are and how flexible they are. So much is changing on a daily basis and thats where our team comes into play, Bush said. Were those experts and we can answer those individual questions and allow travelers to make an informed decision of whats right for them. Thats also been the case at AAA, where travel agents have been helping people with understanding cancellation policies, change fees and the other reservation issues that arise from COVID-19. Our travel agents are going to be there for travelers for perhaps what could be the next round of cancellations, postponements and re-bookings, Tidwell said. This is going to continue, unfortunately, until we have a grasp on this virus and how its going to be mitigated and ultimately vaccinated against. Anybody who is planning to travel, booking through and with a travel agent is really the greatest peace of mind. But for Lepore, shes hoping that those travel agents are keeping people in the state. Were really hopeful that Pennsylvanians will use this as an opportunity to support Pennsylvanias tourism industry: to stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, visit our main streets and the wonderful unique stores, she said. All done, of course in a safe, socially distant and masked manner. READ MORE: Camping at Pennsylvania state parks going through the roof as coronavirus restrictions ease Day trip ideas: Fun places you can get to in a short time from central Pa. 35 of the best Pa. small towns for the perfect fall day trip 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. His last meal was two cups of coffee and two slices of cheese pizza. He had no last words. A few minutes after he was executed, a witness said, Thank you, Jesus. Former Gov. Tom Ridge, in a statement around 10:45 p.m. July 6, 1999 said, "So horrible were [Heidnik's] deeds, a jury of 12 Pennsylvanians determined unanimously that he must forfeit his life. Tonight, he paid that price. In doing so, he suffered far less than the women he tortured and killed. Our thoughts and prayers tonight are with them." Gary Heidnik was dead, more than a dozen years after he had started kidnapping women and holding them captive in his basement where he tortured and raped them. Heidnik was the last person to be executed in Pennsylvania when he died by lethal injection on July 6, 1999, at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview in Bellefonte, just after 10 p.m. Heidnik had been convicted of murdering two women - Deborah Dudley and Sandra Lindsay. They were two of six women he abducted, raped and tortured. He was called the House of Horrors killer because he kept the half-naked and starved women chained in a pit in the basement of his Philadelphia home in 1986 and 1987. Survivors said he subjected them to electric shock and stabbed them in their ears with a screwdriver. Lindsay was dismembered. He put parts of her body in the freezer marked dog food. He cooked her ribs and boiled her head in a pot. Neighbors had complained about a bad smell coming from his house but when police responded he told them he simply had been cooking and fell asleep. His last victim, kidnapped in March 1987, was able to escape when she asked to be allowed to go see her family. She immediately called 911. Heidnik was arrested the same day. Heidnik was discovered to be a competent investor and had accumulated more than half a million dollars in his bank account by the time he was arrested. He also was a licensed nurse. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, aggravated assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse on July 1, 1988. He was sentenced to death on March 2, 1989. His death warrant was signed on March 20, 1997 by Gov. Tom Ridge. Legal wrangling and appeals followed. A suspect identified as Gary Heidnik, 43, is led from the Philadelphia Police Department's sex crimes unit, March 25, 1987, following his arrest outside a rowhouse where three naked women were found chained to a sewer pipe. A fourth woman escaped from the house where police reported also finding a human arm in a refrigerator. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)ASSOCIATED PRESS In April 1997, The Patriot-News reported that Heidnik had claimed attorney William C. Costopoulos was representing him. Although that was not the case, Costopoulos did agree to see Heidnik. But when he did, Heidnik claimed Costopoulos was an imposter. Patriot-News writer, the late Pete Shellem, reported this: When he arrived, Costopoulos said, he could hear Heidnik telling the guards that he would see only Costopoulos and the FBI. In an interview yesterday, Costopoulos said Heidnik believes authorities are keeping Costopoulos away from him because he believes Costopoulos could get him off. He said, Youre too stupid to be Costopoulos. The fact that youre here is proof youre not him, ' Costopoulos said. Costopoulos told Heidnik he was real and showed him his picture on a book he had written, but Heidnik refused to look at it and threw the book away, insisting the only way he could prove his identity was to bring in the FBI to verify it. When I asked him, What could the real Costopoulos do to prove to you that he was Costopoulos? Mr. Heidnik said, So, you admit you are not the real Costopoulos, ' Costopoulos said in his affidavit. Heidniks victims were: Josefina Rivera, 25, kidnapped on Nov. 25, 1986. Sandra Lindsay, 24, kidnapped on Dec. 3, 1986, murdered in February 1987. Lisa Thomas, 19, kidnapped on Dec. 23, 1986. Deborah Dudley, 23, kidnapped on Jan. 2, 1987, murdered on March 19, 1987. Jacqueline Askins, 18, kidnapped on Jan. 18, 1987. Agnes Adams, 24, kidnapped on March 23, 1987 (rescued the same day). Prior to Heidnik there were two executions in 1995. In May 1995, Keith Zettlemoyer, 39, of Selinsgrove, was executed for the fatal shooting of a man who was scheduled to testify against him in another criminal matter. After killing the man, Zettlemoyer dumped the body in a secluded area near the State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. He was convicted in 1981. In September 1995, triple-murderer Leon Moser, 52, of Montgomery County, was put to death. He had admitted killing his ex-wife and two daughters on March 31, 1985. The three men were the first executions carried out in Pennsylvania since April 2, 1962, when Elmo Smith was executed in the electric chair for raping and killing a 17-year-old girl in Montgomery County. The electric chair was dismantled and put into storage in 1971 by Gov. Milton J. Shapps administration, just before the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1972. It was reassembled in 1985. In 1990 it was replaced with death by lethal injection. The electric chair, nicknamed Old Smokey, is in storage at the State Museum. The execution chamber at Rockview is in a building separate from the main facility. It has three cells. A viewing area for executions has two rooms separated by a partition one side for victim witnesses and the other for the public and media witnesses. This allows victim witnesses to remain anonymous. In 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf instituted a moratorium on executions. The death chamber after the method of execution was changed to lethal injection, at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview, 2000. (Photo from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections) 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. Even as people around the world battle a pandemic caused by a novel virus, old threats remain. According to a New York Times report, health officials reported that a herdsman in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia was confirmed to be infected with bubonic plague, the disease that caused the Black Death pandemic in the Middle Ages. The Bayannur city health commission said the plague was diagnosed in the herdsman on Sunday, the report said, and that he was in stable condition undergoing treatment at a hospital. The report said a third-level alert, the second lowest in a four-level system, was issued by the commission, warning people against hunting, eating or transporting potentially infected animals, particularly marmots, and to report any dead or diseased rodents. Plague-prevention measures, that would remain in force for the rest of the year, were put in place by the city government, the report said. What causes the plague? Bubonic plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, the report said. It is transmitted by fleas that become infected by rodents, and in Inner Mongolia, the host is often marmots that live in rural areas. According to the report, Beijing officials said in November two people from Inner Mongolia were found to have pneumonic plague, which is another form of plague caused by the same bacterium, and the only form that can be transmitted person to person, through respiratory droplets. The World Health Organization says pneumonic plague is always fatal if not treated, while bubonic plague is fatal in about 30 percent to 60 percent of untreated cases: antibiotics can cure the disease if delivered early, the report cited. According to the report, on Monday, the neighboring country of Mongolia also announced that it had lifted restrictions in Khovd Province after two cases of bubonic plague linked to the consumption of marmot meat were reported a week ago. The Ikon.mn news site reported that health officials said the patients conditions had improved, the report noted. How common are plague cases? According to the report, plague cases are found in limited numbers across much of the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about seven cases, usually the bubonic form, are reported on average each year in the United States, most often in rural areas of western states. READ MORE: Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. A new affordable housing community is coming to York County. Kellinger Greene will be located on Kellinger Road in Fairview Township. The new 56-unit townhome development is being developed by Woda Cooper Companies Inc. The company announced on Monday afternoon it had closed on financing and is commencing construction. The new community will offer one, two, and three-bedroom apartments for workforce families, singles, and seniors who earn up to 60 percent of area median income. It will consist of seven two-story buildings. Six apartments will be designed with full accessibility features for residents with mobility, hearing, and vision impairments, plus three more units will offer features for hearing or vision impairments only. The townhome apartments will feature fully-equipped kitchens with appliances as well as washer/dryer hookups; individual electric HVAC and hot water heaters; carpeting and tile flooring; and walk-in closets. There will be two off-street parking spaces per unit. The community will be include a community room with a kitchen, on-site rental management and resident services office, computer room, and outdoor common spaces including a playground. The development was awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency last year and is being financed with a construction loan from Park National Bank, permanent financing from PHFA and the York County Home Loan Program. The total development cost is $14.5 million. Architectural Concepts PC is the architect. McCarthy Engineering Associates is the civil engineer, and Woda Construction Inc. is the general contractor. Woda Cooper Companies is based in Ohio and has operations in 15 states and with around 350 communities and more than 14,000 units. This will be the companys 20th development in Pennsylvania. --Business Buzz --Sign up for PennLives newsletters Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like PennLives business page on Facebook at @PennLiveBusiness The careless use of fireworks resulted in at least $100,000 worth of damage from a fire in Lancaster. Thats what the Lancaster Bureau of Fire officials said today after a building fire was reported late at night on the Fourth of July. Fire Chief Scott R. Little said in a press release that a fire at the 200 block of New Dorwart Street was caused by fireworks being discharged within 50 feet of a building. Five neighboring properties were damaged on the exterior due to the blaze, as well. Neighboring fire departments had to be called in to get the fire under control. Two firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and were treated at the scene. The fire bureau says Pennsylvania law and an city ordinance place these restrictions on fireworks: They cannot be ignited or discharged on a public or private property without express permission of the property owner. They cannot be discharged from or within a motor vehicle or building. They cannot be discharged toward a motor vehicle or building. They cannot be discharged within 150 feet of an occupied structure, whether a person is actually present. They cannot be discharged while the person is under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or another drug. 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. Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday his administration is directing $53 million in federal aid to help support child care providers during the coronavirus pandemic, and he said more help is on the way. Another $116 million from the federal government will be distributed in the coming months. The state previously released $51 million in CARES Act Child Care Development Funds in June. Altogether, the state is directing $220 million to help keep child care centers afloat. All of that money is from the federal government, Wolf said. Wolf said 65 centers have closed statewide due to the pandemic, and more than 100 others have declined aid, indicating they do not intend to reopen. Wolf talked about the importance of the aid during a visit to the child care center at PSECU headquarters in Harrisburg. This funding will help child care providers bridge the gap until their clientele returns, Wolf said in a statement. In addition, the money can help child care providers purchase more cleaning supplies and other items required during the pandemic, Wolf said. The funding is distributed through the Department of Human Services Office of Child Development and Early Learning, which licenses the states 7,000 child care centers. Those centers serve 386,000 children across Pennsylvania. The human services department has teamed with Penn State Harrisburg on a study to gauge the pandemics impact on child care providers. The results of the study will help determine how more aid will be distributed, said Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. While we do not know how this pandemic will look in a week, a month, or a year, we know that a healthy, robust child care system will be critical to weather the economic recovery ahead, Miller said in a statement. Miller praised the commitment of the employees at child care centers, who earn modest wages and have returned to work at no small risk to their health. George Rudolph, president and CEO of PSECU, noted that his organizations child care center has managed to stay open. This is so important because many of the parents who use this service are essential workers, Rudolph said in a statement. By keeping the doors open, weve been able to provide a valuable service to our local heroes that has allowed them to continue working. More from PennLive Hershey Co. to build 1-million-square-foot warehouse in central Pennsylvania Meet Pa. House Speaker Bryan Cutler: A farmer, a triathlete, a leader who never forgets his mistakes Pa. coronavirus cases surpass 90,000; 450 new cases reported A 6-year-old boy and a 15-year-old are among at least six people who were killed in a violent Fourth of July weekend in Philadelphia. There were at least 16 separate shootings in Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday, NBC 10 is reporting. As the numbers are still being tallied, Action News 6 ABC is reporting that the number of deaths is at least 7 with at least 27 injured in the shootings. This weekend is a stark reminder that COVID-19 isnt our only crisis, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement released on Twitter. Gun violence continues to traumatize our communities and cut lives short. Today we lost an innocent 6-year-old child, a woman in Kensington, and a man in South Philadelphia, and others were critically wounded. My heart breaks for their loved ones. I extend my deepest sympathies as they process this unimaginable loss. According to reports, the fatal shootings in a 48-hour period include: A 6-year-old boy was shot in the chest around 1 p.m. Sunday at a home on the 4600 block of Kendrick Street in the Upper Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia. A family member rushed him to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. What led to the shooting was not immediately clear. Just over an hour later, a gunman opened fire on a 37-year-old woman on the 1900 block of Clarence Street in the Kensington neighborhood, striking her 12 times in the torso. She was pronounced dead at the Temple University Hospital. There was an arrest, but the suspects name has not yet been released. Then around 3:20 p.m., a man in his early 20s was shot several times in the head on the 1300 block of South 17th St. in Point Breeze. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A 43-year-old man was found shot in the back of the head on the 2300 block of N. Croskey St. in North Philadelphia and was pronounced dead at the scene. Around 6:28 p.m., someone shot a man in his early 20s and a second man on the 2100 block of E. Ann St. in Kensington. The man in his 20s was hit multiple times and was pronounced dead later at the hospital. A gunman opened fire on three people, who included a 15-year-old boy, on the 6100 block of Nassau Road. The teen was shot in the head and died at the Lankenau Medical Center. According to reports, Philadelphia has now seen 202 homicides in 2020, the highest number at this point of the year since 2007. 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 shelter-in-place order that had been issued for part of York County Monday morning has been lifted. York County Dispatch confirmed earlier the warning had been issued in West Manchester Township for a half-mile radius around the 2100 block of Monroe Street due to hazardous vapors released into the air from a fire. A phone alert when out around 9:30 a.m. lifting the shelter-in-place order. The cause of the order was a shed fire broke that out at Brickers French Fries, and residents are being advised to stay inside and close their windows and doors, WGAL is reporting. 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. Chronic violent acts by a Pennsylvania man who was 17 when he committed a murder 26 years ago show he is far too dangerous to ever be released from prison, a sharply divided state Superior Court panel ruled Monday. The majority decision by President Judge Emeritus Correale F. Stevens means Jose DeJesus will remain one of the rare juvenile killers considered so irredeemable that they deserve life prison terms with no possibility of parole. Stevens opinion overrode a minority argument by Judge Judith Ference Olson, who contended DeJesus life sentence is illegal under an 8-year-old directive from the U.S. Supreme Court that banned the imposition of life without parole sentences on all but the most chronically dangerous juvenile murderers. DeJesus trip to perpetual imprisonment began when he shot a man during a May 1994 robbery in Chester. The shooting occurred amid a drug deal, police said. The victim, who was shot in the neck, remained a quadriplegic for two and a half years before dying from complications of his wounds in 1997. In 1998, a Delaware County jury convicted DeJesus on charges including second-degree murder and robbery and he received a life sentence. His case was revisited after the 2012 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, but a county judge let the life sentence stand. Thats when DeJesus appealed to the state court. The county judge found, and Stevens agreed, that violence continually committed by DeJesus behind bars shows the risk of releasing him back into society is too great. As Stevens noted, in 2012 DeJesus stabbed a fellow inmate in the face with a toothbrush that had been sharpened into a shiv. DeJesus told investigators that he was trying to kill the other man because that prisoner was a child molester. He then promised to make another attempt to kill the man when he got the chance. Three other times, DeJesus used shampoo bottles to spray a mixture of urine and feces on other prisoners and corrections officers, Stevens noted. He also cited DeJesus history of refusing to obey orders and prison rules. DeJesus has been disciplined repeatedly for fighting and for masturbating in front of female guards, the state judge wrote. While in prison (DeJesus) has continued to violate prison rules and to engage in abhorrent and violent behavior that has been documented over 50 times, Stevens noted. One evaluator described DeJesus as manipulative, spiteful, and vengeful person Stevens said. He noted that DeJesus has stolidly refused to undergo recommended mental health treatment. There is a standing order that DeJesus not be housed with any other inmate. The fact that (DeJesus') abhorrent behavior has reoccurred throughout the years reveals he has made no real progress toward demonstrating maturity and rehabilitation, Stevens wrote. DeJesus failure, over a period of decades, to take responsibility for his own brutal actions taken when he was only four months shy of 18 and to avail himself of the treatment and medication afforded to him while in prison supports theconclusion that he is incorrigible. In disagreeing, Olson argued the evidence only shows DeJesus is not yet rehabilitated, not that he will forever be a violent lost cause. If he would undergo mental health treatment, he might eventually become a viable candidate for release, she contended. This is not a case where all possible forms of treatment were attempted on (DeJesus) and (he) continued to engage in aggressive and antisocial behavior, she wrote. There is no evidence that DeJesus rehabilitation is impossible, Olson argued. She cited medical testimony that it is likely DeJesus violent behavior will subside as he enters his 50s. DeJesus currently is 43. WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states can require presidential electors to back their states popular vote winner in the Electoral College. The ruling, just under four months before the 2020 election, leaves in place laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia that bind electors to vote for the popular-vote winner, and electors almost always do so anyway. So-called faithless electors have not been critical to the outcome of a presidential election, but that could change in a race decided by just a few electoral votes. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. Pennsylvania does not require electors to support the winner of the states popular vote. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that a state may instruct "electors that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens. That direction accords with the Constitution as well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule." The justices had scheduled arguments for the spring so they could resolve the issue before the election, rather than amid a potential political crisis after the country votes. When the court heard arguments by telephone in May because of the coronavirus outbreak, justices invoked fears of bribery and chaos if electors could cast their ballots regardless of the popular vote outcome in their states. The issue arose in lawsuits filed by three Hillary Clinton electors in Washington state and one in Colorado who refused to vote for her despite her popular vote win in both states. In so doing, they hoped to persuade enough electors in states won by Donald Trump to choose someone else and deny Trump the presidency. The federal appeals court in Denver ruled that electors can vote as they please, rejecting arguments that they must choose the popular-vote winner. In Washington, the state Supreme Court upheld a $1,000 fine against the three electors and rejected their claims. In all, there were 10 faithless electors in 2016, including a fourth in Washington, a Democratic elector in Hawaii and two Republican electors in Texas. In addition, Democratic electors who said they would not vote for Clinton were replaced in Maine and Minnesota. The closest Electoral College margin in recent years was in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush received 271 votes to 266 for Democrat Al Gore. One elector from Washington, D.C., left her ballot blank. The Supreme Court played a decisive role in that election, ending a recount in Florida, where Bush held a 537-vote margin out of 6 million ballots cast. The justices scheduled separate arguments in the Washington and Colorado cases after Justice Sonia Sotomayor belatedly removed herself from the Colorado case because she knows one of the plaintiffs. In asking the Supreme Court to rule that states can require electors to vote for the state winner, Colorado had urged the justices not to wait until the heat of a close presidential election. By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press More from PennLive Meet Pa. House Speaker Bryan Cutler: A farmer, a triathlete, a leader who never forgets his mistakes What will summer 2020 be like? Staycations and road trips, thanks to coronavirus Vice President Mike Pence will take a bus tour through eastern Pennsylvania on Thursday, according to multiple media reports. LancasterOnline first reported that Pence will take a bus trip that starts in Lancaster and ends in Philadelphia, with a few stops along the way. The vice presidents office sent a news release Monday night confirming he would appear in Lancaster as he travels to the Philadelphia area. He will attend a fundraiser in Manheim, said Bob Asher, Pennsylvanias Republican national committeeman. Asher said he expects to meet the fundraisers $1 million goal to benefit President Donald Trumps reelection campaign, The Associated Press reported. Pence also will hold a roundtable on reopening the economy in Chester County Thursday afternoon, according to a release. He will finish his day in Pennsylvania by speaking with law enforcement officers and their families at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 in Philadelphia, the outlet reported. Pence will return to Washington, D.C. Thursday night, his office said. Pence was last in the state in June when he was in the Pittsburgh area talking to faith leaders and touring a manufacturing plant, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The vice president has visited Pennsylvania repeatedly. He appeared in Camp Hill at a Women for Trump event in February. Less than two weeks ago, former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, visited Lancaster and spoke with families about the Affordable Care Act. He delivered a speech vowing to provide quality health care for all. Pennsylvania is widely viewed as one of the most critical battlegrounds in the presidential election this fall. President Donald Trump won the Keystone State on the way to the White House in 2016. Biden, a Scranton native and former U.S. senator from Delaware, has held several events in Pennsylvania in recent months, even as he has bypassed more traditional campaign events during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more on PennLive: Steve Foley (231) 439-9397 With the Fourth of July holiday over and busy summer months still ahead, the Health Department of Northwest Michigan wants to remind residents of important health and safety precautions as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues. On Thursday, the health department released a public health alert after concerning trends surrounding COVID-19 at the local, state and national level arose. Since June 1, the health department in its four-county jurisdiction (Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties) has reported 21 cases (data through July 3), with 60 percent reported as being asymptomatic. The department has also noted a large percentage of recent cases are related to travel. Lisa Peacock, health officer with the health department, last week urged the public to take important safety precautions over the July 4 holiday weekend and continue with them throughout the busy summer months ahead. Over the past week, we have noted concerning trends surrounding the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the local, state and national level, Peacock said. There is no one safety measure that will fully protect us from COVID-19. Especially during the popular summer holidays, we must do our part to Stay Safe to Stay Open. According to the health departments COVID-19 data dashboard, on June 1 there were 12 confirmed coronavirus cases in Antrim County, 15 in Charlevoix County, 21 in Emmet County and 102 in Otsego County. On Friday, Antrim County showed 19 cases, Charlevoix County 23, Emmet County 24 and Otsego County 105. As of Monday, another data source the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was reporting 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Antrim County, 26 in Charlevoix County, 26 in Emmet County and 106 in Otsego County. The state health department reported last week there are COVID-19 cases increasing in every region in Michigan, and both the Lansing and Grand Rapids regions have moved into a higher risk category because of rapid and significant increases in cases. This global pandemic remains a significant risk to health and even economic well-being, should additional restrictive measures have to be taken, the health department said in its public health alert. In Northern Michigan, hospitals are already experiencing their typical seasonal rise in census which means they function much closer to capacity than at other times of the year, so health officials note the risk of a surge in cases is of particular concern to communities. The health department noted characteristics of recent cases include multiple contacts because of interactions at gatherings such as weddings, funerals and parties, with many cases related to travel either into or our of the area. While we occasionally release information about the public exposure sites when we cant effectively identify all close contacts, everyone needs to remember that the majority of COVID-19 cases appear to be asymptomatic, the health department said in its public health alert. Asymptomatic cases are especially difficult because they are not sick and therefore not staying home. These individuals are in the communities in which we live, work and play with no idea they are spreading a dangerous virus. In June, the health department investigated each of those new cases within 24 hours and traced more than 80 of their close contacts. In addition, the agency also assisted with case investigation on several cases for individuals not residing in its jurisdiction. The high number of contacts associated with recent cases reflects a shift to more frequent close interactions between people, the health department said. The health department also has received multiple complaints of community members who are not following required safety measures, especially wearing facial protection or masks. Officials there urge the public to maintain a heightened level of awareness of the rapidly rising number of cases and associated risks. Area residents and businesses are urged to comply with orders and recommendations in place, such as Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive order 2020-115 which requires anyone in an indoor public place to wear a facial covering unless the person is unable to medically tolerate it. Also, executive order 2020-114 requires employees who cannot maintain six feet of distance to wear a facial covering and the employer to provide them if needed. Other recommendations the health department recommends to help combat the spread of COVID-19 include: Monitor the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell. Stay home when you are sick. Also, individuals at risk of severe illness, including seniors and people with heart, lung and immune disorders should consider staying home to avoid others who are sick. Avoid congregating with large numbers of people on beaches, boats, trails and other popular destinations Assess risk of travel for yourself and your visitors. Consider canceling travel which involves unnecessary risk to yourself or the community you plan to visit. Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones and light switches. Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes. Be sure to maintain a supply of medications, food and other essentials in your house and use delivery and curbside services if you are vulnerable or quarantining. For more information, visit www.nwhealth.org/covid19 or contact the public health information line at (800) 386-5959. Paul Welitzkin (989) 732-1111 GAYLORD The trajectory of the coronavirus outbreak will determine how the economy in Northern Michigan and the state will perform in the second half of the year, observers said. They also believe that tourism will remain a major factor in the regions economy despite its reduced scale resulting from the pandemic. Matt McCauley, CEO of the Networks Northwest regional planning and workforce services organization in Traverse City, believes the virus disproportionately affected Northern Michigan compared to other areas of the state and the country. (The) reasons include we have a higher percentage of the workforce that was unable to work remotely during the shutdown period; the makeup of businesses in our region is smaller, generally owner-operated and thus had less cash reserves to weather the shutdown; broadband access is lacking for remote work and learning in our most rural areas; and, lastly, we have a more considerable reliance on tourism than other parts of the state, he said. Andy Hayes, president of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance in Boyne City, said business is starting to gain some momentum. The companies and businesses we work with are now up and running and starting to see sales growth again. Based on what we are hearing from the manufacturing sector, although business is increasing it wont be until first or second quarter (of) 2021 at the earliest that sales will be close to (what they were) before COVID-19, he said. Because Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula are now in Phase 5 of the six included in Gov. Gretchen Whitmers reengagement plan, tourism continues to be a vital segment of the economy. Steven Miller of the Center for Economic Analysis at Michigan State University said that while this years tourism economy will be disappointing, there is a lot of pent-up demand for recreation. Those that do venture will be more apt to seek outdoor recreation. A key Michigan attribute is the trail systems for biking, hiking and horseback riding. Much of this also doubles up for winter recreation as well. I see Michigan well-poised to benefit from those seeking safe outdoor recreation options, he said. We have been meeting weekly with all our local business organization partners (chambers of commerce, downtown development authorities and Main Street programs) in our area. What we are hearing from them is that as tourism-related business is opening back up, surprisingly there are several that have reported better sales in June than last year. That said, we still have not seen the full extent of tourism-related business closure, said Hayes. MSUs Miller believes that in the second half of the year, a lot hinges on whether a vaccine or treatment against the coronavirus is available. It is the fear of contracting the coronavirus that keeps consumers from shopping and traveling. As consumers prolong traditional brick and mortar stores avoidance, our shopping habits evolve. We are becoming more prone to reduce the number of shopping trips, we increasingly prefer shopping at familiar venues and online and many are getting used to purchasing through local delivery services. If these habits become ingrained, it has the potential to be a disruptive force in retail markets, he said. McCauley added, I think underestimated components of recovery will be in the realm of consumer confidence and labor confidence. Policy has put Northern Michigan back on the path of economic expansion, but for a dramatic rebound to occur, consumers need to feel safe, health-wise and financially, to return to pre-COVID spending patterns, he said. Moreover, the labor force must see safety in workplace conditions and the appropriate financial incentives to transition from unemployment back to employment. Both consumer confidence and labor confidence are proving to be slower than policy confidence. NLEAs Hayes sees a slow growth path ahead for employment. Employment will begin to grow slowly as business ramps up and the extra $600 a week unemployment stipend ends (at the end of July, as currently scheduled), he said. Companies are hesitant (to hire) as no one is certain about the extent of the first wave and/or the onset of a second wave. Obviously when we have a vaccine will help. Companies are learning (out of necessity) to work with less employees. Paul Welitzkin (989) 732-1111 GAYLORD For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan reported a day Sunday, July 5 passing with no new coronavirus-related deaths. However, the state added 343 cases and now has 65,876 confirmed cases with 5,972 deaths, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The first two confirmed COVID-19 cases in Michigan were reported on March 10 and the first death was reported March 19. Otsego County has 105 cases, 18 deaths and 18 probable cases as of July 5, according to MDHHS data. Crawford County has 65 cases, five deaths and five probable cases while Cheboygan County has 22 cases, two deaths and two probable cases. As of July 2, Munson Healthcare said it had tested 10,356 patients for the coronavirus with 363 testing positive. Munson said 305 patients are awaiting test results and the Traverse City-based system said it has nine COVID-19 patients in its facilities. Munsons Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord has performed 1,360 tests with 93 patients testing positive and 14 awaiting test results. The systems Grayling Hospital has conducted 1,147 tests that produced 96 positive results and has 25 patients with pending results. The Health Department of Northwest Michigan released a Public Health Alert on July 2 reminding residents of important health and safety precautions for the summer. Since June 1 in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties, the department has reported 20 new cases with 60 percent reported as asymptomatic. The protective measures recommended for visiting public spaces wearing a mask, regularly washing your hands, and keeping a distance from others work best when practiced together, the agency said. We are urging the public to take important safety precautions over the Fourth of July weekend, and continuing throughout the busy summer months, Lisa Peacock, department health officer said in a statement last week. Over the past week, we have noted concerning trends surrounding the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the local, state, and national level. There is no one safety measure that will fully protect us from COVID-19. Especially during the popular summer holidays, we all must do our part to stay safe to stay open, she added. John Wisely - Detroit Free Press The Petoskey News-Review Michigan educators have a lengthy to-do list before reopening classrooms this fall amid a global pandemic. Included on the list: Beef up the pool of substitute teachers. "Without a question, that's going to be a challenge for us," said Randy Liepa, superintendent of the Wayne County Regional Educational Services Agency, which supports schools across Wayne County. "Remember, schools are vying for the same substitute teachers. If there is a need for additional substitute teachers, there are only so many that are out there." Michigan schools and others across the nation struggle during normal times to find enough substitute teachers to fill classrooms when the assigned teacher calls in sick or must attend a training session. With increased teacher absences expected due to COVID-19, the need for subs is even greater. "It is a mathematical certainty that we are not going to have enough teachers to reopen schools," said Nicola Soares, president of Kelly Education, the school staffing division of Troy-based Kelly Services. Soares said that her company filled almost 4 million assignments last year at schools in 41 states. About 20% of those subs worked in classrooms where the school was unable to find a full-time teacher. Many of those spots still must be filled again this year as will other spots left vacant by teachers who are ill, quarantined, immune-compromised or caring for a loved one at home who is at high risk of infection, Soares said. "I like to think that our substitute teachers, or rather any employees working within our school buildings, are going to be the next line of essential workers," Soares said. Subs are paid, on average, $95 a day, Soares said, though that figure varies by location. In some places, they are paid as little as $65 a day, while in states with higher costs of living, they can get as must as $175. Clark Galloway runs Grand Rapids-based EduStaff, which provides substitute teachers to almost 500 school districts in Michigan. He said his firm has been surveying its entire pool of subs to gauge concerns about returning to classrooms amid COVID-19. It also plans beefed up training for subs on things like personal protective equipment, social distancing and recognizing symptoms of COVID-19, which may appear in students. "We are going to do everything we can to train subs on the basic needs of understanding of how to handle an environment," he said. Other training is needed for subs to teach online, as all teachers were forced to do this spring when the pandemic forced the closure of school buildings. "Im mentally preparing for the unknown, but thats what subs do every day," said Mya Fullmer, who has subbed in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills schools for the past two years. "I think substitute teachers are actually well-suited for this pandemic. We start most workdays walking into a room full of unknowns: unknown lesson plan, unknown kids, unknown class behaviors. COVID-19 is just another unknown, but on a much larger scale." In January, Kelly Education commissioned the EdWeek Research Center to survey more than 2,000 education leaders from across the country about the need for substitute help. The survey found 60% of respondents said they were increasingly using substitutes to fill vacancies caused by a nationwide teacher shortage and 71% expected the need for subs to rise in coming years. Almost two-thirds of the educators who responded to the survey said higher pay and more professional training were needed to maintain and grow the pool of subs. In Michigan, subs must have at least 60 hours of college credit, though some districts require more. They also must undergo background checks. Soares, a former school teacher herself, said subs are the "quintessential gig workers." She expects it to be difficult to fill all the available spots, but she said there is a potential pool of applicants among people who have never subbed before but may have lost their jobs during COVID-19. "We do have obviously, a surplus supply of talented people who are displaced or find themselves unemployed," she said, adding she would encourage people with subject matter expertise in their own fields to consider subbing. "First and foremost, your country needs you," she said. "I would also say this is probably the best, the most noble profession that anybody can do." Fullmer said the work is rewarding. "The best subs have patience, enjoy being around kids and teens, and feel energized facing something new every day," she said. "Sometimes the work is babysitting, sometimes its performance art, but on the best days you feel like a special guest speaker with the right experience and information to get kids excited about learning." Did you know you can save your preferences across all your digital devices and platforms simply by creating a profile? Would you like to get started? Yes, I'd like to register/log in Not right now No, never ask again 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. Vermillion, SD (57069) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. GABORONE In preparation of COVID-19 restrictions in Botswana, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the governments Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Central Medical Stores did an audit on the availability of medicine such as antiretrovirals (ARVs). According to UNAIDS, Botswana needed to acquire 2.3 million doses of ARVs for adults living with HIV to meet the demand for the following nine months1. With a 20.3% prevalence of adults living with HIV in Botswana, it is one of the countries where the pandemic is the most prevalent. Botswana was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to distribute universal free ARVs to people living with HIV2. The Uganda-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, CiplaQCIL, was able to meet the countrys demand of the fixed-dose combination of tenofovir, lamivudine, dolutegravir (TLD) the countrys first-line ARV. CiplaQCIL has two-thirds of the 1 million packs of TLD (37 tons) to Botswana and the consignment was transported by chartered Boeing 727 cargo freight planes. The balance of the order will be delivered later in July. CEO of CiplaQCIL, Nevin Bradford, said: Botswana faced a potentially critical situation in terms of shortages of essential medicine. We are proud that CiplaQCIL was able to rise to the challenge and ensure that people have access to lifesaving medicine, while also delivering on our Africa for Africa commitment. CiplaQCIL recently also dispatched 300 000 packs of ARVs (a combination of tenofovir, emtricatabine, efavirenz) to South Africa, and will shortly deliver 1.5 million malaria treatments to Kenya. Comments KAMPALA The Ministry of Health has confirmed 14 new cases from 3,103 samples tested on Sunday July 5. The cumulative cases of Uganda have since increased to 953. Of the 14 new cases, the ministry of health indicates that, 11 are truck drivers while three are contacts and alerts from Luwero, Kyotera and Amuru Districts. Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the Director General of Health Services explains that nine of the truck drivers arrived from Kenya via Malaba, one arrived from South Sudan via Elegu and one from Tanzania via Mutukula. Additionally, he says, 43 foreign truck drivers including 39 Kenyans and 4 Tanzanians tested positive for the coronavirus and their entry into Uganda was not permitted. Hr says there 206 active cases on admission, 177 are Ugandans, 24 foreigners and 5 refugees. He adds that foreigners nationals and refugees are not captured in the countrys cumulative confirmed cases. To date, Dr. Mwebesa notes that Uganda registered 892 recoveries including nationals and foreigners, and no COVID-19 related death recorded. A total of 3103 tests were carried out on Sunday bringing the cumulative total to 210,446. Comments Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains. As coronavirus cases continue to climb in South Carolina, the number of places issuing warnings about travel to and from the state has also grown. Travel advisories that specifically name South Carolina have been adopted by at least six states in less than two weeks. The city of Chicago created a quarantine requirement that names the Palmetto State, too. It took effect Monday. All of the orders, which mandate a 14-day quarantine period for travelers coming from South Carolina and other areas with rapidly rising coronavirus case numbers, apply to out-of-state visitors and residents returning from vacations. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote on Twitter last Thursday that the emergency travel order, which lists 15 states seeing a "surge in new COVID-19 cases" was put in place to "preserve the gains" Chicago has made in containing the virus. The orders mark a clear shift from just a few months ago, when Gov. Henry McMaster was ordering travelers from the northeast to quarantine. Hotels were told to not let New Yorkers rent rooms. Now, the same "hot spots" that South Carolina called out in its quarantine order have named the Palmetto State on their lists of "restricted states." The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a joint travel advisory that went into effect June 25. At that time, South Carolina and seven other states were named. Last week, the list doubled to include 16 states. Gov. Andrew Cuomo took that advisory a step further when he signed an order blocking New Yorkers who willingly traveled to South Carolina and other states on the list from getting paid COVID-19 sick benefits upon their return. Prior to that order, employers would have been required to pay for workers' post-vacation lockdown periods. Then last Monday, Kansas's health department added South Carolina and Florida to its list of states whose visitors had to quarantine for 14 days. Rhode Island's quarantine requirement started the next day. Any state with a COVID-19 test positivity rate of 5 percent or higher was included, totaling 23 states plus Puerto Rico. South Carolina's test positivity rate has been well above that threshold. The rate reported Monday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control was 18.8 percent. Pennsylvania and Chicago listed the same 15 states for quarantine policies announced last Thursday. Most of the states on the list are in the south, including South Carolina and nearby North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. 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! Other states' policies don't name South Carolina specifically but require all or nearly all out-of-state travelers to observe a two-week lockdown. Travelers are only exempted from the mandatory quarantine in Maine, for example, if they can prove they recently tested negative for COVID-19 or if they're visiting from a state with a "similar or better COVID-19 experience than Maine." Only five states, all in the northeast, are listed as exempted. Massachusetts has a similar policy and is allowing residents of New England states, plus New Jersey and New York to travel there without restrictions. New Mexico and Hawaii are telling all out-of-state travelers to quarantine. Vermont is identifying leisure travelers who don't have to quarantine using county-level data from a select number of states. So far, none of the places requiring travelers coming from South Carolina to quarantine are in the state's "drive market," the region within a 350-mile radius, plus Ohio. The state's tourism leaders are banking on travelers from those areas to revive the struggling industry, which has already lost more than $3 billion this year, according to estimates from the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. But health departments in several states within driving distance have called out South Carolina's most popular tourist destination, Myrtle Beach, as the source of COVID-19 outbreaks among their residents. Kentucky public health commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said during a recent press conference that "numerous people" in his state tested positive for coronavirus after vacations to the Grand Strand. Officials in West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia have also reported coronavirus clusters linked to Myrtle Beach trips. State tourism director Duane Parrish said last week that destinations are seeing some cancellations as a result of the rise in coronavirus cases. But, so far, new reservations seem to be well outpacing lost bookings. Explore Charleston CEO Helen Hill predicted the July 4 weekend would be the region's busiest yet since the pandemic took hold. She estimated hotel occupancy for the weekend would be in the low 70s. Actual hotel figures for the weekend will be released in a couple of days. The percentage of the population that's willing to travel seems to be growing, Parrish said, and the Palmetto State is still hoping to attract "more than (its) fair share" of the summer's smaller pool of tourists. Nobody in the restaurant business has experience with anything exactly like the coronavirus pandemic. Countless restaurants owners have dealt with shattered economies, state-mandated closures, political upheaval, public health crises, employee shortages and supply-chain failures. Having to deal with them all at the same time, though, is a new development. Still, even if the landscape is unique, its contours are recognizable, at least to those who have spent decades in the food-and-beverage business. Far removed from the trenches, where current restaurant owners are fighting off landlords and creditors, these longtime hospitality professionals can take stock of the entire scene and perhaps look beyond the bend in the distance. For that reason, The Post and Courier recently checked in with five of them. These conversations have been condensed and edited for clarity. Dick Elliott is the founder of Maverick Southern Kitchens, which in 2015 sold its restaurant properties to Hall Management Group, including SNOB, High Cotton and Old Village Post House. Elliott in 2016 ran to succeed Joe Riley as mayor; he soon thereafter relocated to the Upstate. P&C: How have you been? DE: Just to give you a quick thumbnail sketch, I ended up buying a business in the food-service equipment world. It was something I knew a bit about, but over the course of three and a half years, I determined it was impossible to make any money, so the last week or so, Ive been closing it down. (My wife) Dayna is giving me one more chance to retire: She gave me a failing grade the first time around. P&C: So to put yourself back in the restaurant business for just a minute, what would you be thinking about now if you were still running restaurants? DE: Even before COVID came along, it was a struggle finding capable people. As 2019 progressed, virtually every restaurant in the fine dining world was having real trouble: You had to pay three to four dollars more an hour than you did four years ago for a line cook. Restaurant operators were already struggling because margins arent what people think they are; youre fortunate if you can make a decent living. P&C: Right. At the start of this crisis, Tom Colicchio predicted 80 percent of restaurants wouldnt survive. Were about four months into it, and most restaurants are still around. How much longer do you think theyll last? DE: The answer depends on who you are and what you are. My sense is the multi-unit people The Indigo Road, the Hall Management Group, the Rick Erwin group theyre larger and have a different kind of access to funding. When you take financing, you have to pay it back, but the point of that theyre going to be around to see it turn. The onesies and twosies, I dont see how theyre going to survive another six months. Some are getting help from landlords, some are getting help from lenders, but that all has an end to it. My best answer is I would look into learning another trade. P&C: You said you just shut down your company because the numbers werent working out. Is that what restaurant owners should do now? DE: I dont know any restaurants right now that have their eye on how much their profit is. Their sole eye is on how much their accounts payable are and whether they can pay them, and most people cannot. Its a total vicious cycle. I am not optimistic. Ive got grandchildren coming along now who are in their 20s. Theyve all taken a look at being in the restaurant world and they all decided theyre going to do something else. I dont see how it gets turned around in the near term. Im somewhat stumbling because I dont want to talk about politics, but I dont know how you write a scenario more heartbreaking. It could have been different. Roosevelt Brownlee, a native of Savannah, is a Vietnam War veteran who cooked on the front lines. After serving as a chef on the European jazz circuit, he returned to his hometown to work in its best restaurants; he retired from the Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island to sell deviled crabs. P&C: Have you ever seen anything like these past few months for restaurants? RB: Oh wow, man, there is much going on. I like some of the things I see, but I feel for a lot of the employees, you know. Especially at the restaurants that are high-volume: They might suffer more than medium or small. When I was in Vietnam, cooking in the field, dealing with C-Rations, the guys used to say, Wow, Brownlee, you got that ingenuity to make something out of hardly nothing. And thats how its been throughout my career, where you have to come up with something right on the spot, the way a lot of the restaurants, especially chef-owned restaurants, stepped up and changed the format. Normally, in good times, you wont find things like that, but its harder times. When I started off, you know, people would come to the house and say, Oh, Roosevelt can cook. Then theyd go in the kitchen and open the cupboard and theres hardly anything at all, but Id create something. A long time ago, back in Europe, when we didnt have cash, the guys would go and buy a big cabbage and a piece of bacon and some rice. Five or six of us would eat and were full. P&C: Have you been going out to restaurants much? RB: I havent ventured out to any yet except for The Grey: I was invited to a private get-together on the outside. It was a just a little Juneteenth crab crack. It was really socially distant; people with masks on until it was time to eat. Other than that, Ive ordered a few little things, but Im halfway skeptical about sitting down to eat. When (social distancing) becomes mandatory, maybe Ill venture to sit down and eat. At The Grey, she had it set up nicely with the tables. I mean, the person that was across from me was at least 5 feet away on the opposite side and only I think three of us on each side. Everybody had space. Back in the day, there was some place on the waterfront in Tybee we used to go and eat the crabs and you were really bunched up, shoulder to shoulder, and they threw all the crabs on the table. I think were going to find some better ways. P&C: You talked about how ingenuity and creativity is so important at a time like this. What other skills would be helpful to restaurants now? RB: You know, it makes me so happy when someone says that they like your stuff because its consistent. I worked downtown at Soho; it specialized in lunch. I was at the counter because we had just got this new coffee stuff from New York. I was bent down and heard two ladies talking, and one of them said, I love eating at Soho because in six months that quiche is going to taste the same way. I popped my head up! We stressed you have to keep on point. If you have a business, youre going to want consistency. Robert Stehling started his restaurant career in the dish pit of Chapel Hills legendary Crooks Corner. He cooked in New York City before opening Hominy Grill in 1996. Stehling last spring closed the beloved restaurant. P&C: It seems like you may have closed at the right time. 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! RS: Thank goodness Im not still in it, or at least not carrying Hominy through it. Its tough going, obviously, and its hard without real guidance. Restaurants arent funded well enough to just sit it out, which would feel like the wise thing to do, but thats not an option. I was in New York in the '80s when the AIDS epidemic was there. It was difficult to work on a staff and know people were going to get sick and not be around. There doesnt seem to be that feeling yet, but I worry. Everyone likes to refer to the staff as a family: Thats really hard youre putting people in harms way. P&C: What would you have done if you were still running Hominy? RS: Assuming I couldnt stay closed, you would be trying to make all this work, but you cant control employees beyond your doors, so thats difficult. And you cant control the customers. Its not clear what your liability is going to end up being. I dont know how Id be dealing with Hominy. From what I understand, I would have to hire extra people: a safety manager checking everybody off and two sets of staff so if someone gets sick you can continue to operate, you know, the A-team, the B-team. These small businesses are putting everything they have into getting going, but Charleston is built on tourists, and if thats not happening, youre not making the revenue, so theres going to be a lot of shakeout. On the other hand, restaurants have always been risky businesses. How many of those 80 percent were not going to make it anyhow? Do we blame the pandemic or do we blame the businesses? P&C: Have you been going to restaurants? RS: No, not at all. I dont feel that comfortable with it. I long to fly to New Orleans and disappear for 10 days and crawl back fat and happy, but Im not willing to do that in this situation. Even common sense has gotten so muddled. Charlotte Jenkins was the owner of the hugely popular Gullah Cuisine, which in 2014 closed after operating in Mount Pleasant for 17 years. Formerly a student in Johnson & Wales Universitys culinary program, Jenkins is the author of Gullah Cuisine: By Land and By Sea. P&C: Ive been thinking about you, because one of the last events on my calendar before everything was canceled was your talk at the Historic Charleston Foundation. CJ: Yes, my book is back out. Its been selling. We had a lot of things scheduled, but with the pandemic, everything stops. I did do a virtual with the Charleston library last Thursday and it went very well. P&C: If you were still in the restaurant business, how would you have handled the pandemic? CJ: Well, I would have done the takeouts and the catering, like a weekly meal, you know. Food for families, I would promote that. P&C: How do you think its going to work out for restaurants? CJ: I think its really kind of risky for the restaurant owners. Number one, youve got different categories. You got owners who have investors and good capital: Theyll make it. Theyll do OK. But with me being in business, I would not have made it. Im a black female and you know Im not going to be able to get no loan, because they dont really give loans to restaurants. Other small restaurants, especially if the rent is high, theyre not going to make it. P&C: Do you think those places ought to close right away? CJ: I would suggest they do whatever they can to make money. You really have to think about, How can I take this restaurant and make money with the door closed? P&C: Have you been going to restaurants? CJ: No. I went once. I was invited by my younger brother: He invited me and my sister to a place in Mount Pleasant. We sat out in the yard and we practiced social distancing. I didnt go inside. A lifelong South Carolinian, Philip Bardin in the late-1980s earned national acclaim as chef of The Old Post Office on Edisto Island. He was most recently involved with the opening of Ella & Ollies. P&C: When you look at whats happening with restaurants now, where does your mind go first? PB: Well, first of all, Im surprised they didnt think anything like this would happen sooner. We deal with hurricanes, and I remember the SARS thing. People should have had plans in place. ... Everyones going through the same thing, and its a bad thing, and I feel for them, but they need to get imaginative. There are some people that are doing it that are amazing. Look at that crazy Adam Randall, (owner of The CODFather.) Hes not a good friend of mine, but the owners are going to have to be more like him. (He) built his own bar! Owners are going to have to do more these days. Those monthlong vacations, theyre gone. This could go on for two years, so you have to make adjustments. P&C: What kind of adjustments? PB: Home delivery. Its easy: Theyve all got sous vide, and chances are theyre on a first name basis with UPS. I begged a couple of people to do that and they looked at me like I was crazy. They might be right, but not for that reason. I called three people yesterday and I said, If l gave you any amount of money in the current environment, how would you spend it? They were so confused. The obvious move is to be a big fish in a small pond: The bigger staff you have, youre going to have more problems. Whats really hard to find right now is a romantic table: You can get that at a smaller place. A more bizarre thing I could mention: In the 80s, with the hurricanes, I had other places (picked out). I found two post offices, one in Apalachicola and one in the mountains. Every 30-40 days, I would check in with Realtors. P&C: Youd just relocate the restaurant to another town? PB: Well, yeah, you got to. Another thing is to keep a journal of what goes on every day. A handwritten journal: Dont put it on the computer. Take time to sit down and write. Nobody does that anymore. George H Seago Jr. a champion for local public libraries has died at the age of 101. He was a veteran of World War II, an entrepreneur, a husband and a father. He was also largely responsible for the creation of Summervilles first local public library. +3 Obituary: George H Seago, 101 George H Seago Jr., of Summerville, husband of the late JoNelle Nichols Seago, died Wednesda Seago died on July 1 at his home. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date for friends, community and family. The Dorchester County Public Librarys George H. Seago Jr. branch on Trolley Road is the namesake of the man who advocated for its inception in the 1970s. Prior to the county opening the public library on Trolley Road, Summerville residents had access to books only through small, private establishments. Although the library branch was named after Seago, he remained humble and told the Journal Scene in 2018 that he was merely a little cog in a big wheel, regarding the work it took to generate community support for the local public library. He helped establish the Friends of The Summerville Library group, which later contacted all of the registered voters in the county by mail, asking for support on their cause to build a local public library. In addition, Seago connected with each Dorchester County Council member to gently persuade each one to see the many benefits of a local public library. His effort did not stop at local government leaders; for 25 years Seago advocated for Summervilles library services at the state and national level. In 2018, Dorchester County Councilman Bill Hearn told the Journal Scene that he and Seago were first introduced in the 1990s when Seago was championing for the Summerville library services. Hearn said anyone would have been impressed by Seagos energy, enthusiasm, and level of caring for Summerville and Dorchester County Library. Hearn said that Seago made the community better simply by being a part of it. Dr. Ed West, a local historian, said Seago reminded him of other influential Summerville residents who were not born in the town yet contributed to it in very big ways. He said Seago realized that public libraries provide an opportunity to advance literacy for everyone. He had a continuing interest in the promotion of our local culture and he wanted the people of Summerville to become aware of what they have and to advance our understanding and our unity, West said. A native of Augusta, Georgia, Seago served as an Army officer during World War II, joining the military after earning a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of Georgia in 1939. For most of his time in the service he was in North Africa with the British 8th Army, training soldiers to use American-made military replacement equipment. While stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, Seago married JoNelle Grace Nichols of Leesville. The couple later moved to Summerville where Seago became manager of the CC Royal Lumber Co (later Flack-Jones Lumber Co, then Westvaco Lumber). In 1983 Seago retired and started his own import and export company called Seago Forest Products. He exchanged specialty woods from all around the world. Seago and JoNelle raised two children in Summerville. They were faithful members of St. Lukes Lutheran Church. South Carolina environmentalists praised Sunday's cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a proposed 600-mile transmission line for fracked natural gas that had been in the works since 2014. The pipeline's route from West Virginia was slated to stop in Lumberton, N.C., 21 miles from the South Carolina border. Many green groups suspected the path could one day extend into the Palmetto State and potentially link to coastal ports in Georgetown or Charleston. "We were definitely surprised," said Greg Buppert, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center who helped to file eight lawsuits opposing the transmission line. "I did not expect on a Sunday afternoon to learn that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was canceled," he added, "but it is the right decision and it is a tremendous relief for all of our clients that have worked for six years to oppose (it)." While the companies behind the pipeline never officially moved to lengthen the route past Lumberton, Dominion CEO Tom Farrell II said in 2018 it was a possibility. "We would like to bring the pipeline to South Carolina if the demand is there," he said at the time. Virginia-based Dominion Energy and North Carolina-based Duke Energy said that legal uncertainties of defending the gas transmission line had grown too great to continue the project. Originally pegged at $4.5 billion, estimates for the total bill had ballooned to $8 billion, and the timeline for the project was running on a 3 year delay. "This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States," Farrell and Duke Energy CEO Lynn J. Good said in a joint statement. "Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the countrys energy needs will be significantly challenged," the statement added. The utilities had argued the pipeline would meet growing energy demand in several states and provide cleaner power than coal-fired plants. Brian Tucker, the economic development coordinator for Georgetown County, said he didn't see the demand for natural gas in the Southeast going away any time soon. He said he'd heard rumors that the pipeline could head toward the city of Georgetown, home to a mostly unused port on Winyah Bay. "A lot of that speculation on the pipeline coming into South Carolina was based on the demand, and the demand is still there," Tucker said. "I would like to think at some point that decision (to cancel the pipeline) will be revisited and we will have that infrastructure energy source." Environmentalists like Peg Howell, however, were concerned the pipeline's owners could leverage Georgetown's port to create a liquefied natural gas facility and ship excess product to overseas markets. Howell is a member of Stop Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic, which has opposed oil exploration in the Atlantic. She said she also worried about onshore gas infrastructure along the cost. "I am hopeful because this provides a window, this whole market downturn provides a window of opportunity for the expansion of renewables," she said. Florence-based activist the Rev. Leo Woodberry said he was "ecstatic" about the cancellation, and said arguments for natural gas as a cleaner energy source amount to "green-washing." He also said the decision was a win for places that can face an outsized burden from industrial projects, like Union Hill, Va., a historic Black community near the route of the gas line. "We're very, very concerned that these sources of energy which would still pump greenhouse gases in the air were detrimental not only to environmental justice communities but also would not help us at all with climate change," Woodberry said. The carbon dioxide and methane emissions from burning fossil fuels make the Earth warmer when they escape into the atmosphere, scientists agree, leading to sea level rise and other aspects of climate change. Not long ago, however, those opposing the line were dealt what appeared to be a significant blow to halting the gas line's move east and south. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the utilities in a court case over whether the pipeline could cross under the Appalachian Trail. The decision cleared the way for the U.S. Forest Service to issue a permit allowing the crossing. Separately, many other legal challenges were pending, Buppert said, because the gas line was still missing multiple permits for other areas of the route, notwithstanding the high court's decision. A separate legal case across the country in Montana, related to the Keystone KL Pipeline, also served to invalidate an Army Corps of Engineers permitting program for oil and gas pipelines, Buppert said. Dominion and Duke specifically cited that case as a reason for abandoning their pipeline through the Southeast. "We have just written the book on how to oppose a risky and unnecessary project like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline," Buppert said. Beyond just the pipeline, Dominion announced it would move out of other aspects of the natural gas business by selling its gas transmission and storage assets to an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in a roughly $10 billion deal. That includes the 1,500-mile interstate gas pipeline that runs mostly through South Carolina and partly through Georgia. Dominion acquired that system from the former SCANA in 2015. That sale happened more than three years before Dominion completed an eventual merger with what was once South Carolina's largest investor-owned utility. In a statement, Farrell said the sale was part of a narrowing focus on greener power generation for Dominion. The company announced earlier this year it would aim for net zero carbon emissions in its energy generation by 2050. COLUMBIA A small group gathered on the SC Statehouse grounds on Sunday, demanding lawmakers allow the removal of markers to men of the state's racist past, including Benjamin Tillman and J. Marion Sims. "It's like a reminder of a part of history that we're trying to forget," said Columbia resident Tobias Walker, who joined with about 20 others for a demonstration calling for the statues to be removed. Tillman, who was governor from 1890 through 1894 and then spent 23 years in the U.S. Senate, tried to deny Blacks access to the ballot box and once proclaimed that he "shot negroes and stuffed ballot boxes" during the 1876 Hamburg Massacre. Sims, born in Lancaster County and known as the "father of modern gynecology," achieved medical breakthroughs by experimenting on slave women without anesthesia. Both have sculptures on the Capitol complex. Grace Harling, a University of South Carolina student who carried a handmade sign calling for their dismantling, said letting the statues remain sends a disturbing message. "That would be like Germany putting up Nazi statues to commemorate that part of their history. To me, it's the equivalent of a hate symbol," Harling said. The 80-year-old Tillman statue was the subject of an attempted vandalism earlier this week, police said. Two Columbia residents were charged with arson and threatening to use destructive force after an incendiary device was found at its base. Tillman's controversial past was enough for trustees at Clemson and Winthrop universities last month to seek permission for his name to be scrubbed from on-campus buildings, while the University of South Carolina's governing board wants approval to take Sims' name off a women's residence hall. Such changes are prohibited by the state's Heritage Act, which forbids removing or changing the names of any building or memorial on public property that honors a historic figure, unless the Legislature approves it by a supermajority vote. Kamison Burgess, 20, said he's spent the past several weeks learning about Tillman and Sims particularly, and believes they aren't deserving of honor. "A lot of stuff goes comes to my mind when I see them. Before the protests, I didn't have a clue about any of them. But it's kind of heartbreaking," he said. "I'm just ready for them to go." Charleston, SC (29403) Today Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. The June 28 front-page article by Jennifer Berry Hawes headlined Into the belly of the beast should be required reading for Gov. Henry McMaster and everyone refusing to wear masks. It follows a Charleston nurses encounter with COVID-19 as he volunteered for a six-week stint in a hospital in New York state in April. To read the account is to fully grasp what death at the hands of COVID-19 really is. It is desperate and harrowing and comes quickly with no way for loved ones to say goodbye in person. Shame on the governor for not understanding the psychological and behavioral effects of mandating face masks across the state, in spite of sporadic enforcement. We dont catch everyone who drinks and drives, but we still have DUI laws on the books. Shame on him for not appreciating the voice and weight of his position. Shame on those who put others at risk, callously and selfishly. They will infect ones they love or, more likely, contract the virus themselves. Thanks to Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and City Council for not shirking the responsibility to mandate mask-wearing, which will save lives. TISH LYNN Ashley Avenue Charleston No drilling in SC President Donald Trump continues to ignore South Carolinas opposition to offshore drilling and is moving ahead with plans to search for oil in federal waters off our pristine coast. We cant let this happen. This is not a partisan issue but one in which we should stand united. Further, every coastal community has voiced strong opposition to oil exploration. Its time to hold our politicians accountable for taking up Rep. Joe Cunninghams bill, HR 1941, to ensure federal protections are in place. Offshore oil and gas have absolutely no place along our coast. I ask that Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott do their job to protect it. DAVID DURDEN Goodwater Street Mount Pleasant Dont hide from past Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! Ten years or so from now, when every relic, monument, name and statue are removed from public view, people will have no ready access to what happened and how we helped lead and inspire by example. What would differentiate Charleston from any other American city if not its monuments, marking men and society in their conflicted moments of civil evolution? Would millions visit an old Southern town without the history that comes with it? If handsome architecture and mansions are our calling card, many cities in America could easily match or exceed our claims. What makes our old homes, plantations and markets so alluring isnt rationalized sentiment, or that we pine to devolved whimsy and rebellion against the perceived common good. Its just the opposite. These touchstones are spiritual and generational therapy necessitating insight, recognition and ownership of the dark, painful parts of our lives along with the conquests and achievements. Context is both reasonable and wise. Charleston is so attractive not because of good food and hospitality. The so-called Holy City attracts people from all over because its where they can enjoy a renaissance and reconciliation of humanity that has never hidden the facts and fury of how it came to be. Anyone seeking perfection can search high and low and never find it. When we find a place where time is preserved for the sake of education, introspection and grace by humility, it is like visiting an old family cemetery. Admitting the dark through displays heals and assures us that we can do better. Its to embrace the beauty and power of accountability and truth; not hide from it. MARY H. YARBOROUGH Roosevelt Drive Eutaw Springs Statue of children A recent Post and Courier letter to the editor suggested a replacement for the Calhoun statue. I agree that something needs to be erected that will inspire people to come together, but it must be an idea free from bias, hate and bigotry. Racism and bigotry are ugly words. No one is born a racist. It comes from the influences of others and what we see and hear as a child. Children arent tainted. They dont see color when they look at another child. They see a playmate, a friend they can hug. Why not a sculpture of a group of children of all colors? This is where racism and bigotry end: educating the children, not influencing them with ugly words. This is where we need to start. JOHN JACUMIN Blue Jasmine Lane Charleston Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 83F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. 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. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. 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Todays Wall Street Journal lead editorial picks up where we left off over the weekend in our reviews of President Trumps July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore. The Journal editorial begins with the uniform voice of the Democrat media blob condemning the speech in whacked-out headlines and dishonest stories: At Mt. Rushmore, Trump uses Fourth of July celebration to stoke a culture war Los Angeles Times Trump Uses Mount Rushmore Speech to Deliver Divisive Culture War Message New York Times Trump pushes racial division, flouts virus rules at Rushmore Associated Press At Mount Rushmore, Trump exploits social divisions, warns of left-wing cultural revolution in dark speech ahead of Independence Day Washington Post The Journal editors render their own judgment on the speech: President Trump delivered one of the best speeches of his Presidency Friday evening at Mount Rushmore, and for evidence consider the echo-chamber headlines above. The chorus of independent media voices understands that Mr. Trump is trying to rally the country in defense of traditional American principles that are now under radical and unprecedented assault. Dark? In most respects Mr. Trumps speech was a familiar Fourth of July ode to liberty and U.S. achievement that any President might have delivered in front of an American landmark. No nation has done more to advance the human condition than the United States of America. And no people have done more to promote human progress than the citizens of our great nation, he said. Contrary to the media reporting, the America Mr. Trump described is one of genuine racial equality and diversity. He highlighted the central ideal of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. As he rightly put it, these immortal words set in motion the unstoppable march of freedom that included the abolition of slavery more than a half century later. Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. also believed this to be true, and Mr. Trump cited them both, as he did other American notables black and white, historic and more recent. There was not a hint of racial division in his words except for those who want to distort their meaning for their own political purposes. In any other time this paean to American exceptionalism would have been unexceptional. But this year even Mr. Trumps speech backdrop, Mount Rushmore with its four presidential faces, is politically charged. Each of those PresidentsWashington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore Rooseveltis under assault for ancient sins against modern values, as progressives seek to expunge their statues and even their names from American life. Mr. Trumps great offense against the culturally ascendant progressives was to defend these presidential legacies. Divisive? Mr. Trumps speech was certainly direct, in his typical style. But it was only divisive if you havent been paying attention to the divisions now being stoked on the political left across American institutions. Mr. Trump had the temerity to point out that the last few weeks have seen an explosion of cancel culturedriving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. Describing this statement of fact as divisive proves his point. Newspaper editors are being fired over headlines and op-eds after millennial staff revolts. Boeing CEO David Calhoun last week welcomed the resignation of a communications executive for opposing33 years ago when he was in the militarywomen in combat. The Washington Post ran an op-ed this weekend urging that the name of Americas first President be struck from Washington and Lee University. Any one of these events would be remarkable, but together with literally thousands of others around the country they represent precisely what Mr. Trump describesa left-wing cultural revolution against traditional American values of free speech and political tolerance. And he called for Americans not to cower but to oppose this assault ADVERTISEMENT Fidelity Bank Plc has announced that two of its board members, Ernest Ebi and Seni Adeetu will be stepping down from the Board. Mr Ebo has been serving as Chairman, Board of Directors and Mr Adetu served as an Independent Non-Executive Director. A statement from Fidelity Bank said the two top officials successfully completed their tenure in accordance with the banks internal governance policy. Under the chairmanship of Mr. Ebi, Fidelity Bank recorded significant growth across key financial metrics with both Messrs. Ebi and Adetu playing significant roles, complementing management effort in the delivery of these milestones; in service of the long term vision of the Bank, a bank spokesperson said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. The Banks market share position has also been materially strengthened over this period. The Board is also pleased to announce that the retiring Chairman will be succeeded by Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi who is currently the Executive Vice Chairman at Alpha African Advisory. He has over 40 years of experience in investment banking and the financial services sector, working with reputable global investment banking and asset management firms. He provides overall leadership at Alpha African Advisory and has direct oversight over the capital raising division. Prior to joining Alpha African Advisory, he was the inaugural CEO, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), a Federal Government backed institution, established to resolve the problem of non-performing loan assets of Nigerian banks after the 2008 global financial crisis. Mr Chike-Obi was Founding President at Madison Advisors, a financial services advisory and consulting firm in New Jersey, specializing in hedge funds and private equity investment advice. He holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of Lagos (First Class Honors) and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr Ebi will however continue in the role until the in-coming chairman assumes office, as part of the process of ensuring a smooth and successful transition. The changes being announced further attest to Fidelity Banks high governance standards and best practices in compliance with internal succession policies. The outgoing chairman expressed pride in the results Fidelity Bank achieved during his time as Chairman. I feel that the management team has consolidated on our plans to become one of the fastest-growing banks in the country strongly rooted in technology only comparable with the best in the world. I am confident that my successor will continue on that path to take the Bank to its next stage of growth and advancement. I wish my successor, the management team, and the entire staff of Fidelity Bank the very best for continued success, he said. Mr Adetu, the outgoing Independent Non-Executive Director, said, It has been an honor to be part of the Board over the last few years. Throughout this time, I have been humbled by the commitment and hard work of the Board and Management, and their passion for creating a truly global bank. I am very grateful to them, as I am to Fidelity Banks many other stakeholders, with whom we have worked to build a long-term, sustainable business. The Managing Director/CEO, Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi John Okonkwo, commended the contributions of the outgoing Board members, saying that the Board and indeed the bank has benefited immensely from their experiences and looks forward to continuing the Banks upward growth trajectory with the incoming Chairman Designate. ADVERTISEMENT Border closures have proven to be a practical means to contain and limit the spread of the coronavirus in most countries. However, the restricted movement that results from state and national border closures hinders the effective flow of supply chains and distribution channels. This is especially relevant in the agricultural sector where market linkages have been broken, leading to higher levels of waste on farms, food shortages and price hikes in the urban markets. National border closures have also reinforced the importance of local production and food security. But how can we ensure that smallholder farmers are able to operate efficiently and effectively to ensure our nations food security? The agriculture industry is as reliant on changing weather patterns and seasons, as it is on free movement of farmers, inputs and produce. When Oriyomi plants his yams on his farm in Akure in November, he travels from his hometown in Oyo; it often takes him a few weeks to complete the planting. But once this is done, he returns to his family in Oyo. Approximately six months later, the time comes for the harvest, and Oriyomi must return to Akure. Ordinarily, this process would require nothing more than transport fare, and a few days. This straightforward activity is now hindered by closed state borders, police checkpoints, and the increased requirement for Oriyomi to prove that he is a farmer. There is no doubt that the smallholder farmer like food suppliers and distributors is an essential worker. But without any formal form of identification to prove this, many smallholder farmers are unable to get to and from their farms or markets to distribute their food produce. These breaks in supply chains and their continued operations could be detrimental to our sustained welfare across the country. The difficulties experienced by the smallholder farmer show the far-reaching impact of Nigerias lack of progress with regards to identification strategies. The National Identification System in Nigeria has experienced its fair share of complexities. The challenges stemmed from not having a singular agreed approach to establishing a clear image of our citizens. This resulted in multiple systems and offices providing valid forms of identification with varied identification metrics and databases from telecommunications service providers to electricity distributors to the National Immigration Service, and then the financial institutions. Ultimately, the system becomes strained by the inability to determine the foundational metric through which to assess identity; and more so, through which to gain access to all the other aspects of an individuals identity. Thus, the role of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as the harmoniser of all existing identification information, from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, is an invaluable asset. The 2017 regulations released by NIMC introduced the National Identification Number (NIN) as acceptable identification for a broad base of activities across sectors and industries, including for registration, purchase, applications, licensing and obtaining passports. Two years later, the Director-General of NIMC further reiterated the commissions plans to provide lifelong unique identification to all Nigerians, at home and in the diaspora, leveraging the advancements in digital technology to improve coverage and enhance the sustainability of the approach. The progress has been slow. In May 2019, NIMC reported that it had achieved approximately 31per cent of the harmonisation of the Bank Verification Database (BVN) with the National Identity Database. Beyond the delayed rate at which these developments are being made, there is the greater challenge of prioritisation. Most marginalised populations struggle with engaging with formal structures and institutions due to the requirement for valid forms of identification; as a result, they remain marginalised and excluded. The national identity system in India, called the Aadhar, was introduced in 2009, and rolled out in 2010 and was implemented at a far faster pace than in Nigeria. The system leverages biometric information in combination with the harmonisation of previously existing data and is used to reach marginalized populations as part of social welfare programs. This created a major incentive for the enrollees, as those who sought to receive their welfare disbursements were now required to provide valid identification. The strength of Indias system lies in the countrys ability to leverage technology to track various biometric aspects of user identity, from fingerprint identification to iris scanning. This provides some flexibility for data capturing, without restricting every single citizen to the same requirements. In 2019, the Identity Management Authority announced that 1.25 billion residents of the country (90% of the total population) had received their national identity card. There are clear lessons to learn from Indias successful implementation which stemmed from a clear understanding of the needs and motivations of their populace, as well as a holistic adoption of technology. Ghana utilised a vast array of municipalities and district offices to manage its own identification onboarding process, allowing it to leverage existing resources and increase its accessibility to more than 25 per cent of its population in under a year. How can Nigeria capitalise on the learnings from India and Ghana? Can we leverage existing social programmes to incentivise uptake like we saw in India or use existing infrastructure and capacity across government agencies and offices like in Ghana? The current pandemic has highlighted the failings in our national identity strategy and results like never before. Millions of farmers like Oriyomi are stranded and unable to get to the business of feeding the nation, and their families. The power of identity cannot be understated, especially in a country like ours where so many people are vulnerable. Identity management, with its ability to include broad segments of the population, is critical for nation-building, and consequently, the enhancement of socio-economic transformation and growth. For those at the bottom of the pyramid, with limited access to the necessary collateral to have formed a part of any existing database thus far, the challenge and the need is much greater. For basic social service providers to reach these underserved populations, knowing who they are is the critical first step: it affirms their existence, and in so doing, their potential access. For smallholder farmers in particular, who are instrumental to our nations food security efforts and ambitions, movement is critical to feeding the populace, which means that their inclusion is critical and deserves immediate action. Ndidi Nwuneli is the Managing Partner at Sahel Consulting. Langbasa in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State is a paradox. While it provides a safe haven for some notable personalities, it is equally a community filled with many Nigerians battling for survival, even before the outbreak of coronavirus. Afsat Agbomabini, a 55-years-old widow and mother of two children, is one of the latter. When PREMIUM TIMES visited the community around 5 p.m. on June 24, she sat dejectedly, in front of her rented face me and face you apartment, which was badly in need of improvement. Its dingy bricks were streaked by the constant dripping of water from the gutter. Dressed in a faded ankara wrapper and an old T-shirt, she shared her situation with our correspondent. Her immediate problem was how she would feed her daughter that evening. Mrs Agbomabini is a hairdresser who had been able to sustain her family but the pandemic has rendered her despondent. After I lost my husband three years ago, my hair-dressing job helped me to cater for our basic needs; even my daughter was attending one of the privately owned primary schools in the community. Even though I dont have a shop, I was able to pay my daughters school fees but since the outbreak of the virus, we have been suffering. She told PREMIUM TIMES that since the outbreak of coronavirus, her business has been greatly affected, leaving her to go through hell to feed herself and Suliat her 10-year-old primary five daughter. Her 16-year-old son, Yusuf, had been adopted by his boss where he is currently learning to become a bricklayer, she said. Her son appears to be luckier than the many children seen by this correspondent, who roamed aimlessly. Referring to the children, Mrs Agbomabini said things were bad enough before but the pandemic made life more terrible for the community especially the children and widows. Battle for survival For Mrs Agbomabini and other widows the reporters spoke with, their major problem is survival. Afsat Agbomabini She narrates: My husband died three years ago in an auto accident and since then I have been made to carry my cross but things became worse during this coronavirus period. Before my husbands death, he was working as a driver to a man in Chevron. He had an accident and died alongside his boss. I was driven out of our former house because I could not pay the house rent of our two-bedroom flat in Jakande. My elder brother gathered small money to rent a room for me here. He has been paying the rent. Asked if she was able to get any government palliative during lockdown, she responded: you know the type of government we have in Nigeria. The influential few got it when they brought the palliatives to Langbasa Primary School. Some people even fell down when they tried to lobby for their own share of the two congos of rice distributed. The reason why I am sitting here is to find a familiar face that I can call to help me with N200 so that I can get akara (bean cake) and bread for dinner. Life is not fair to us and the authorities are also not fair to us. It cannot be this bad if my husband were to be alive. I hope Corona would go soon so that I would be going to customers houses to make hair for them because I dont have a shop. Abike Sani, another widow, also narrated her ordeal. In her late 40s and a mother of three, starvation is kept at bay by the benevolence of friends. Having lost her job as a cleaner in a private school at Sangotedo, she now does petty domestic chores for people to make ends meet. I used to work as a cleaner in a school at Sangotedo. The first problem I had was transportation, she said. The Keke napep guys hiked transportation fees. Before coronavirus, I used to spend N400 on transportation daily but it became N800 because of coronavirus. I could not cope because I was receiving N20,000 as salary. I later lost the job. ADVERTISEMENT After Mrs Sani was dismissed because of the closure of schools due to the lockdown, she had challenges feeding her family before she got another cleaning job. Now she visits homes to help people wash clothes. When PREMIUM TIMES enquired whether or not she had benefited from the palliatives, her response was not encouraging. I have been sacked from work. Authorities are not considering us at this period. I got palliatives once. Thanks to those that are giving me the opportunity to wash their clothes, I feed my three children with that. I lost my husband long ago. They should not allow us to die. We eat just once in a day. This is not the best time for the poor, especially for widows with children to cater for. Abbass Oyeyemi the founder of Reaching Minds Foundation, an initiative that deals with the minorities, outlines the hardship poor widows now go through. Abass Oyeyemi He said: In Nigeria, widowhood signals poverty. In most cases, once the breadwinner is dead, the house foundation becomes weakened, poverty scatters the home and the members of the family give in to destitution. Speaking further to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Oyeyemi explained that coronavirus has exposed numerous deficiencies in our society but none is as deadly as poverty amongst widows. While these widows should have been given priority during the sharing of palliatives for the vulnerable, they were sidelined on the basis of which political party they belong to. Marginalised group Another vulnerable group in Nigeria, which has equally been burdened by the fallout of COVID-19, is the physically challenged. According to United Nations, about 80 per cent of people living with disabilities live in abject poverty. This situation has, however, been worsened since the onset of the pandemic. PREMIUM TIMES spoke with Adebukola Adebayo, Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities in Lagos. Dr. Adebukola Adebayo Mr Adebayo, who spoke on behalf of his members, explained how they are being adversely affected by COVID19. We are among those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and its various implications. The isolation centres put in place, are not designed to help the minorities. In view of the lockdown, many of us living with disabilities could not access our various medical services and some people who needed regular therapy for survival, could not get it. They died during this period. As I speak to you, weve lost some of our members to death, not because they contracted COVID-19 but because they could not get access to necessary medical services. Lamenting further, he said. Beside the health implications, there are social and economic implications. So many of us are poor. We cannot afford very expensive means of transportation. Many of us have been psychologically down and lost means of livelihood. The real issue is hunger, most especially for many that rely on begging for money. Even our organisation cannot function to help them. On palliatives, he said: Truly, Lagos government shared about 3000 packs of food palliatives to persons with disabilities but there is no COVID-19 programmes in place to help us. As a matter of fact, Lagos State government office for people living with disabilities is not given the necessary support to function. We need strategic intervention. We are not happy. We are suffering without meaningful support. No one is representing the interest of persons with disabilities. This is sad because we are not allowed to speak for ourselves. Way forward For Mr Adebayo, all is not lost, even in these challenging times, if government makes more effort to establish and strengthen its intervention agencies. At the composition of the COVID-19 response team, the authorities ought to have selected one of us. We should be included in the taskforce so we can tackle the various challenges we face, he said. When we are not there, we are easily forgotten. Lets take care of the institution problem. If we have functional agencies and laws in place, there wont be any problem. The disabilities blueprint should be everywhere. Without this, we will continue to be marginalised. Speaking on post-COVID-19 era, Mr Oyeyemi, said: Theres a need for the government to take proactive steps to have a good database which would be used in empowering widows to set up Small Medium Enterprises as a means of sustainable development. We are doing our best When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the minister of women affairs and social development, Pauline Tallen, her assistant, Jummai Idonije, said the ministry is doing its best to address the issues. The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen. [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram page of Pauline Tallen] We have asked them (widows) to register at their state ministries so that we can capture them on our database. The minister is trying all she can to help widows. Even on International Widows day, she used her personal funds to cater for some. She said the ministry of humanitarian affairs is handling the distribution of palliatives and I can tell you that those that are captured in our database are being taken care of. To further confirm measures put in place by the Lagos State Government, this newspaper reached out to the commissioner for women affairs and poverty alleviation, Bolaji Dada. However, efforts by this correspondent to speak with her were unsuccessful as she did not respond to several calls and text messages put across to her as of the time of filing report. This report was facilitated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its COVID-19 Reality Check project. The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, says the federal government has proposed N2.3 trillion to boost the mining and other sectors of the economy in post COVID-19 rescue operations. Mr Adegbite said this on Monday during an interactive session with journalists on the federal governments post COVID-19 plans for the solid mineral sector. He said the ministry would get N6 billion from the total sum at the end of the day. He said the ministry had lofty plans before the COVID-19 pandemic, which he has adversely affected the solid mineral sector considering its operations. Mr Adegbite said the development was not peculiar to the solid mineral sector as other sectors of the economy were equally affected by the pandemic. The pandemic for instance, has limited our ability to go forward on the Ajaokuta Steel project, we are four to five months behind schedule according to the governments plans to resuscitate the complex before the pandemic, he said. This, he said, was specifically so because Russian experts who were supposed to come for the technical audit of the complex could not come because of the pandemic and the ban on flight operations. He added that the idea was for the experts to come into the country and be hosted for 12 weeks within which they were expected to do a proper audit of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex. He said this had been put on hold until the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ban on air travel was lifted. When this is lifted and we think it is safe enough, these experts will come into the country and we will continue where we stopped. He added that the Ajaokuta Project Presidential Implementation Team (APPIT) was, however, still working but that the audit was very important to it. He said the technical audit report is necessary to enable the APPIT to know the cost implication. He added that because of the complexity of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, online audit was not possible as people had to be physically present. The minister added that the government was, however, making efforts to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector. Now, the government needs to come up with a response because the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected our sector, as a lot of miners could not go to work for obvious reasons. The consequence of this is that the output is zero and a lot of miners had been impoverished, this, however, is not peculiar to the sector, because it goes all round. What the President Mohammadu Buhari-led administration has decided to do is to face this head-on, and that is why we have come up with post COVID-19 rescue operations. In this, the government proposes to spend N2.3 trillion, this is what the government intends to inject into the economy to counter the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. ADVERTISEMENT READ ALSO: The minister said that the money had been allotted to different sectors of the economy, including the solid mineral sector. A large chunk of the money had been allotted to the sector to help counter the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. We intend to spend this fund and some other funds that are available to us to improve artisanal mining in the country and deepen our explorative projects, Mr Adegbite said. He further said that the ministry was determined to take its road shows round the world to attract foreign investors into the country post COVD-19. He gave assurance that the government was working and putting measures in place to ensure that the country came up ahead of the COVID-19 curve to ensure that its effects are minimal. (NAN) The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has developed and launched a new guideline for the conduct of elections during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the country. The Director-General, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, made the launch on Monday in Abuja, during the Presidential Task Force (PTF), on COVID-19 briefing. Mr Ihekweazu said the guidelines would support the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties and most especially Nigerians who would be voting in these critical times. The director-general called on politicians and political leaders to take responsibility and lead by example. He however stated that leadership would be critical in this era. Think about the lives of your electorate first; your electorate staying alive is far more important than any votes you might win, he said. The director-general also announced the Launch of COVID-19 Online Course on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), for health workers to reduce risk of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), infection transmission in healthcare settings. He said the online course would be available to the general public but its targeted at health care workers, to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases while administering healthcare in the country. Mr Ihekweazu said the national strategy in response to COVID-19 had been multifaceted. In the absence of a vaccine or cure, compliance with IPC measures remains one of the most effective interventions to control the ongoing outbreak. He announced that the NCDC had made efforts to rapidly strengthen the capacity of frontline healthcare workers in infection prevention and control wherever healthcare was provided. Since the first case in Nigeria was confirmed in February, NCDC has supported the training of about 17,436 health workers in IPC and works in collaboration with the Departments of Hospital Services, and Food and Drugs of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), to ensure that health workers are provided with the required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to reduce the risk of health workers infection. To ensure that IPC training, knowledge and information is easily accessible to all who need it, the Infection Prevention and Control Unit of the NCDC, with technical assistance from eHealth Africa, has developed a COVID-19 IPC online course. The course features modules on standard and transmission-based precautions, use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential aspects of infection control in healthcare. A certificate of participation will also be awarded at the end of the course by NCDC, he stated. READ ALSO: The director-general said the online course was also designed to document vital information to monitor IPC compliance across health facilities at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, both in public, private and faith-based facilities in Nigeria. He stated that infection prevention and control measures cut across all other components of the COVID-19 response in Nigeria and are critical for strengthening national health security. Registration for the free online course on infection prevention and control can be done using the link here https://elearning.ncdc.gov.ng/courses/infection-prevention-and- control-for-covid-19/. ADVERTISEMENT The NCDC, under the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Health and her other agencies, remains strongly committed to protect the health of Nigerians. We urge the public to remain aware of the risks of COVID-19 and to adhere to the preventive measures advised by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the Federal Ministry of Health. Visit covid19.ncdc.gov.ng for real-time updates and guidelines on the COVID-19 outbreak, he urged. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT Less than a week before Polands second round of presidential elections, incumbent Andrzej Duda presented a draft amendment to the constitution that would ban gay couples from adopting children. On Monday, the president signed his legislative proposal, which will now be sent to parliament. The provision should allow for better care of childrens safety and well-being, Mr Duda said. In order to take effect, the proposal would have to secure a two-third majority in the lower house and an absolute majority in the Senate. These conditions may be difficult to meet in the current political landscape. Mr Duda is seeking a second five-year presidential term on a campaign of social spending and conservatism in lifestyle issues. He has portrayed himself as a defender of family values and spoken out against the right of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to marry or form civil unions with each other. Mr Dudas liberal challenger in the run-off, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, also said he was opposed to adoption by gay couples, though in the past he has voiced his support for gay marriage. On Sunday, Messrs Duda and Trzaskowski will compete in the run-off election. Opinion polls show the two politicians going head to head, with a slight advantage for the incumbent in averages of recent polls. (dpa/NAN) About 34 people are either confirmed or feared dead -- including 14 at a nursing home -- after torrential rain in Japan triggered massive floods and mudslides, authorities said Sunday. Rescuers were searching for 14 others still missing after floods hit the Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu, destroying houses, sweeping away vehicles and causing bridges to collapse. The regional government confirmed 18 people had died, while another 16 were declared in a state of "cardio-respiratory arrest" -- a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death. Fourteen of those feared dead were at a nursing home inundated when local rivers broke their banks. Emergency services rescued 50 people from the facility. "Tables and sofas were floating around and you could not move," an official, who helped lead rescue efforts at the home where his wheelchair-bound elderly mother was among the victims, told private TV network JNN. Japan almost always suffers from flooding during its rainy season but rescue and evacuation efforts this year have been further complicated by the coronavirus outbreak. Authorities at emergency shelters made evacuees wash their hands, wear masks and maintain social distance to avoid the virus adding to the problems. "We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of the infection and make the lives of those who had to flee their home as comfortable as possible," Disaster Management Minister Ryota Takeda told reporters after visiting a gymnasium in Hitoyoshi city where 600 residents are sheltering. At a cabinet-level meeting in Tokyo on the disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged financial support, while warning residents in Kumamoto to brace for more rain. The Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, has narrated how he and some officials were barred from entering the venue of the eighth day Islamic prayer for the immediate past governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi. PREMIUM TIMES reported how a delegation of the Oyo State Government led by Mr Olaniyan, including the commissioner for land, Abiodun Abdul-Raheem, and his energy counterpart, Seun Ashamu, were turned back from entering the venue of the prayer at the Oluyole residence of late Mr Ajimobi on Sunday. Security officials at the venue resisted Mr Olaniyans efforts to enter and almost engaged in open confrontation with security details attached to him. Mr Olaniyan and the two commissioners left the venue after making frantic calls to people believed to close to the family. Mr Ajimobis spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji, has since released a statement saying the Oyo State delegation arrived late, the event was a family affair, and the family was not told Mr Olaniyan was coming. But, Mr Olaniyan in a statement made available to journalists by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Omolere Omoetan, narrated his version of the event. He said the decision to bar him from entering the venue was premeditated. He also frowned at what he called the unprofessional conduct of some police officers at the venue of the prayer. Read the statement from the Oyo deputy governor below. Again, some members and aides of the former Oyo State governor Abiola Ajimobi continues to rebuff the hand of fellowship extended to the family of the late Governor by the government of Oyo State led by His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde. Today at the 8th day Fidau Prayers of the former Governor Oyo State Isaika Ajimobi, the Deputy Governor, Engr Rauf Olaniyan, was denied access to the venue of the event. The Deputy governor who led the government delegation comprising himself and some commissioners, on the approval of the governor, was kept waiting at the gate for over 15 minutes. Even when security men at the gate went in to tell them he was at the gate, no directive came back to grant his Excellency access. At a point, the security personnel in uniform and mufti at the gates became very hostile and the ADC to the Deputy Governor was manhandled by men of the police force. It was at this point that the Deputy Governor decided to leave the scene that was becoming tense and wait in his car. Makindes deputy, 2 commissioners bar from attending Ajimobis Fidau prayer Having waited for a while to see if the situation would change to no avail, he proceeded to take his leave. It should be noted that the Deputy Governor put a call through to Alhaji Kunle Sanni, Chairman of Oyo State Muslim Council, who was among the officiating ministers, that he was at the gate and was being denied entrance. Alhaji Sanni responded that his hands were tied. This is clear indication that what transpired was premeditated. There was no truth in the family saying they were not aware that the state government delegation was at the gate because Mr Bolaji Tunji was severally called by men of Civil defence at the gate. Even if the Deputy Governor arrived when the prayers had started, it is a well known fact in Islam that when prayers are on-going and a male walks in, its an indication that the prayers have received Allahs acceptance. However, Engr Raufu Olaniyan wishes to re-iterate that the visit of the government delegation to the 8th day Fidau Prayers of His Excellency Senator Isaika Ajimobi was a clear demonstration on the part of His Excellency, Engr Seyi Makinde, that the late Governor is held in high regard. He stated that it was only fitting for the state government to show respect to the late governor at the Fidau prayers held in his honour. ADVERTISEMENT Seyi Makinde, Oyo State Governor [PHOTO CREDIT: @seyiamakinde] The Deputy Governor also wishes to put it on record that despite the way he was treated by the Ajimobi family, which he refuses to hold personal, has displayed maturity is prerequisite of the public office at this level. He holds no grudges and he will continue to pray that Allah grants the departed former Governor Al-Jana Firdaus. Engr. Raufu Olaniyan will also like to draw the attention of the Oyo state Commissioner of Police to the highly unprofessional and unruly conduct of the police personnel at the premises. Five days after doctors in the service of the Ekiti State Government embarked on an indefinite strike action, other healthcare workers in the state under the Joint Associations and Unions of Ekiti State Healthcare Workers are set to commence a three-day warning strike beginning from today The union comprises the state chapters of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals which comprises pharmacists, among others. In a letter dated July 3, and addressed to Governor Kayode Fayemi, the union notified the government of the commencement of the industrial action and why the decision became inevitable. In the letter, titled, Notification of 3 Day Warning Strike in Respect of Failure to Meet the Request of Healthcare Workers in the Public Health Sector, the union said series of ultimatums issued to the government and dated June 3, 8, and 24, were ignored by the administration. Reasons for strike In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the chairman of the union, Femi Ajoloko, accused the government of subjecting the healthcare workers to untold hardship, saying their sacrifices for the state have been taken for granted. According to Mr Ajoloko, for the past 10 years, healthcare workers in the state have not been receiving statutory hazard allowance and other allowances including those for uniforms, skipping, among others. He said; We have arrears of unpaid salaries and the government has consistently been making deductions from our salaries without remitting the same to appropriate purses such as cooperative societies. We had been managing and enduring these challenges but even at this critical time, the state has refused to consider us by paying the covid-19 special hazard allowance. After a series of letters, when we met with government representatives on Monday, we were told the state does not have money. The unions chairman said his members were distraught by the development and felt they were being taken for granted. He said the Monday meeting was attended by the head of service, senior special assistant on labour matters, commissioner for finance, and permanent secretary, ministry of health, among others. But the same government that is claiming that there is no money has been busy announcing political appointments as if the appointees will work for free. They now seem to have shifted focus on the isolation centres forgetting the fact that those of us at the primary healthcare facilities and general hospitals are more exposed to hazards. In the letter, the union said if within the three days the government failed to meet the workers demands, there would be no hesitation to embark on an indefinite strike. The letter reads in part; The leadership of the Joint Associations and Unions of Ekiti State Healthcare Workers frowned at the lukewarm attitude of the state government towards our request which has not been acceded to by the state government. Having exhausted all the necessary means and procedures to avert this impending strike to no avail, the leadership of above named associations and unions, therefore, painstakingly resolved and declared a three-day warning strike with effect from 12midnight on Monday, July 6, 2020, to press home our demands. Meanwhile a nurse with one of the general hospitals in the state, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, has lamented what she described as an unfriendly working atmosphere in the state. According to the source, as a level 12 officer on Step 3, she has been receiving the same salary as when she was on Level 9 Step 7. I have been promoted twice without financial benefits. I moved from level 9 to 10, and then to 12, yet I kept receiving the same salary and deductions are still not remitted. What kind of government is that? It is a sad development, the nurse said. Govt reacts ADVERTISEMENT The state government has said it would soon respond formally to the development. In a short message shared with our reporter on WhatsApp, the commissioner for health, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, said she would soon issue an official statement. Mrs Yaya-Kolades tarse response simply reads; A statement will be issued. This is the same response the commissioner gave when a similar inquiry was made on the ongoing doctors strike in the state. But the statement is yet to be issued more than 72 hours after. The doctors strike It would be recalled that the medical doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) covering more than 100 primary healthcare centres, 19 general hospitals and three specialist hospitals, have since Wednesday commenced indefinite strike in the state. The doctors accused the government of subjecting them to what they described as unnecessary hardships through shortage of manpower, poor pay and arrears of unpaid allowances. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the government has insisted that it would only engage the workers when they call off the strike and return to their duty posts. The management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, approved the controversial N3.4 billion for the training of staff. It also said all training, contracts and rehabilitation it carried out received the approvals of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the National Assembly. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on July 2, approved the immediate and indefinite suspension of the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Adebayo Somefun, and some members of his executive for allegedly lavishing N3.4bn on non-existent staff training split into about 196 different consultancy contracts in order to evade the Ministerial Tenders Board and Federal Executive Council approvals. This comes over a month after the Secretary to the Government of the Federations (SGF) restrained cabinet ministers from removing heads of agencies and parastatals they supervise. The SGF, in the circular, outlined what he said was the process approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for removing or punishing agency heads accused of wrongdoing. While his action is contrary to that directive, Mr Ngige said President Muhammadu Buhari approved his announcement. NSITF reacts According to the Punch Newspaper, the NSITF management, in a statement on Sunday, said the training referred to by the minister was budgeted for in 2017, 2018 and 2019 appropriations for over 5,000 staff nationwide. There was no contract splitting, as claimed by the minister. The training referred to were budgeted for in the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 appropriations for over 5,000 staff nationwide, and Procurement Planning Committee Meetings were held for the procurement of goods, works and services to commence the procurement activities, the statement reads. All these details were included in the budget for these years, taken for budget defence in the supervising ministry, officially endorsed by the minister himself, approved and transmitted to the National Assembly for necessary approval during the budget defences for these years, the Punch Newspaper quoted the NSITF management as saying . The suspended management members also faulted the allegations that they carried out the construction of 14 zonal offices running into billions of naira without board or ministerial approval. We hereby seek that due process be followed and the suspended staff should be allowed to return to their offices to prepare their defence to all allegations against them, the statement reads. The management alleged that there were reports that some of the documents needed to defend the allegations are being carted away from the office. Consequently, it would be appreciated if the minister would comply with the SGF Circular Ref No. SGF/OP/I.S.3/T/163 dated 19th May 2020. However, the labour minister, in his response, directed the management team to tender their evidence before the Joint Board and Audit Investigative Panel set up to look into the financial and procurement breaches as well as gross misconduct in the NSITF for periods of 2016 to date. They should go to the panel and show all those things, and if they are correct, the panel will exonerate them, the minister said. NECA reacts Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association has said the board of the NSITF did not make any recommendations to the Ministry of Labour and Employment on the allegations of financial infractions levelled against the funds management. READ ALSO: The Director-General of NECA, Timothy Olawale, in a separate statement on Sunday, asked the labour minister not to mislead the public, saying due process was not followed before the directors and workers of the NSITF were suspended. ADVERTISEMENT He said that NECA was not against the investigation of the management of the fund. We wish to clarify that there was no deliberation at any time at the board on matters bordering on alleged financial infractions by the management, he said. He said these issues were never brought up, referred to the board or tabled for consideration, not to talk of any correspondence from the board to the honourable minister for actions. The records are there for verification and members of the board including representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Central Bank of Nigeria on the board are also alive to verify the truth, he said. Mr Olawale said representatives of NECA, who were alleged by the minister to be complicit to financial infractions, were currently a subject of litigation in the courts. ADVERTISEMENT Security agents have arrested Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency, EFCC. Mr Magu was arrested at the Wuse II office of the EFCC in Abuja Monday afternoon. His convoy was stopped by armed security agents and he was taken away after about 30 minutes of arguments between the various security officials present including those of Mr Magu. He was promptly driven to the Aso Villa where it is suspected he would appear before a panel set up by the president to review allegations against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. Mr Malami reportedly accused Mr Magu of insubordination and re-looting of recovered funds. READ ALSO: Sources at the EFCC told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Magu has since been joined at the presidential villa by Rotimi Oyedepo, a counsel to the EFCC. Neither the EFCC nor the SSS has spoken about the incident. The spokespersons of both agencies refused to respond to calls and messages sent to their phones. Details later ADVERTISEMENT The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has addressed the controversy surrounding the planned employment of 774,000 Nigerians by the federal government as well as the clash between the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and the National Assembly joint committee on Labour. Both the minister and members of the panel were involved in a war of words at a meeting aimed at discussing the progress of the planned employment. 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. My Keyamo had accused the lawmakers of attempting to sabotage the recruitment process despite receiving 15 per cent jobs slots. Speaking with journalists on Monday, however, Mr Lawan said the committee was right to ask questions regarding the recruitment process. He said the National Assembly was conscious that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) would be the agency to implement the programme. We know NDE has the capacity to implement the programme. So that programme is an NDE programme approved by the National Assembly. It is within the purview of our committees to demand an explanation on the process and procedure through which the programme would be implemented. So our joint committee was right. The committee was right to ask the questions. We are meant to interrogate the processes through which such programmes will be implemented, he said. Just like the committee, the lawmaker insisted that the programme be suspended until such explanations are provided on how the programme will be implemented. We stand by that. The National Assembly is saying that until the executive arm of government comes to explain how they will implement that programme; we passed the budget for NDE to go and implement because it has the capacity. Our purpose is not just to approve money. Only NDE will implement this programme. The NDE led by the ministry of labour will have to come and explain. He added that it will be unfair to say that the legislature and executive are not on the same page because of an action by someone in the executive. The committee in a joint statement demanded that the programme be suspended until the modalities for the exercise have been explained to the lawmakers. It also mandated its Committees on Labour and Employment to immediately invite the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, and any other relevant officials of the ministry to brief the joint committee on the modalities for the implementation of the programme. ADVERTISEMENT The anti-corruption agency, EFCC, has spoken on the arrest of its acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, by security agents. PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Magus arrest on Monday afternoon at the Wuse II office of the EFCC in Abuja. Sources told this newspaper that the security agents who arrested Mr Magu took him directly to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he is to appear before a presidential panel sitting at the Banquet Hall of the villa. The panel is investigating allegations of corruption and insubordination levelled against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation. Abubakar Malami. In a statement on Monday, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, denied that Mr Magu was arrested but confirmed that the EFCC boss is at the Presidential Villa to appear before a panel set up by the president to review activities of the EFCC at the villa. Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu on Monday, July 6, 2020, honoured an invitation by a Presidential Panel reviewing the activities of the EFCC, at the Banquet Hall wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Mr Oyewale said. He was served the invitation to the Panel, while on his way to the Force Headquarters, Abuja for a meeting. READ ALSO: The EFCCs boss was neither arrested nor forced to honour the invitation. A member of a legal team from the EFCC is also with him on the Panel, Mr Oyewale said. Mr Magu was still at the villa at the time of this report where he was joined by an EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo. Journalists covering the State House were barred from access to the banquel hall where the presidential panel is interviewing the EFCC chief. Security officials, mostly officials of the SSS, told journalists they had instructions not to let anyone in. ADVERTISEMENT The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will now hold from August 4 to September 5, 2020. This was announced by the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajuiba, on Monday during the daily COVID-19 Presidential Task Force briefing. As soon as we conclude WAEC, we will take NABTEB and NECO, he said. The federal government last week approved what it called safe reopening of schools nationwide. The government said the reopening of schools was meant to allow students in graduating classes (Primary 6, JSS 3, SS3) resume preparation for examinations. The federal government had earlier announced that final year students, including those to take the WAEC examinations, would resume schools. Schools across Nigeria have been shut since March 19 to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, the minister said local timing for the WAEC examination will be published soon. The idea is we have a month from now till August 4, so the states who are willing should make their schools available for their children to revise, he said. According to him, the new WAEC date is part of our discussion with stakeholders which includes National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) and Nigeria Union of Teachers tomorrow. READ ALSO: He appealed to candidates to prepare for their examinations. He said registration for the National Examination Council (NECO) continues. We are continuing registration for NECO, for those who have not concluded registration, please try to complete your registration. Crisis The federal government ordered the closure of all tertiary, secondary and primary schools nationwide over the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country on March 19. The spread of the disease has also led to countries locking in millions of their citizens, closing social spaces, locking down entire regions and shutting their doors against travellers from other countries. However, the closure of the schools stalled all examinations that should have taken place especially WAEC which holds in English-speaking West African countries at the same time. Others are NECO and NABTEB. At least one of these three examinations is needed before a candidate is admitted into tertiary institution in Nigeria. ADVERTISEMENT The Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has approved the establishment of a US$50 million Nigerian Content Research & Development Fund (NCR&DF). According to a statement made available by NCDMB on Monday, the decision was reached at the Governing Council meeting which was held on June 16, 2020 under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva. The Council approved the deployment of $50million Research Fund for sustainable funding of NCDMBs mandate on Research & Development as enshrined in Sections 37 to 39 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, which empowers NCDMB to superintend over R&D activities in the oil and gas industry. The statement added that NCDMB is implementing the Research and Development Roadmap to institutionalize a robust R&D ecosystem that will lead to continuous development of technology, materials and processes for industry application from indigenous research efforts. A major success pillar is closing systemic weakness of inadequate funding architecture for R&D activities in the Oil and Gas industry. Nigeria spends about 0.2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development and this indicates a poor commitment to the subsector, resulting in over-dependence on foreign technology for critical economic development activities, including oil and gas operations. The NCDMB research and development Fund is expected to close this gap and will be applied in four broad Intervention areas, namely-Research (basic and applied), establishment of Centers of Excellence in Academic and Research Institutes, Sponsorship of commercialization of Research and Sponsorship of endowment of professorial chair. The operating model has been designed to ensure transparent and well-focused application of the Fund and it includes a Governance structure to leverage experienced researchers and industry experts in the decision-making process of selecting activities to be funded from the NCDMB research and development Fund. The Fund will be domiciled in a TSA Sub-Account in CBN. The NCDMB will put in place an outcome focused performance metrics that will measure success in the application of the Fund and form part of the reporting template to the Governing Council on an ongoing basis. Following the Governing Councils approval, the Nigerian Content Research and Development Council (NCRDC) held a meeting on June 25 and revalidated the identified focus areas for the utilization of the Fund. The council also decided that the Fund would also be deployed in developing and implementing a Communication strategy for effective dissemination of NCDMB R&D interventions as part of stakeholder management process. The NCRDC also approved the institution of a Performance management strategy to track progress and ensure application of the R&D fund in line with the key performance indicators (KPI) approved by the Governance Council. It also approved the list for distribution of the smart gas leak and smoke detector alarm device for field trial. The product which was conceptualised by Amal Technologies is a research prototype sponsored by NCDMB. The scope of NCDMBs R&D regulatory role includes development of capabilities for Research and Innovation in Nigeria including facilities, equipment, personnel and processes, review and approve R&D plans of operating companies, monitor implementation of R&D projects to ensure the execution of Nigerian content requirements of domiciliation within Nigerian R&D Centers. Other roles include tying R&D spend to addressing industry technology, material, and process challenges and facilitating commercialization of research breakthroughs and Facilitating the deployment of successful products of research in industry Operations. To achieve its R&D mandate NCDMB developed the R&D framework anchored on seven (7) policy thrust, including focus on market driven research, establishment of world class Research and Development (R&D) Centers of Excellence, establishment of Research and Development Council and provision of sustainable funding to support Research and Development. Other areas of focus include development of stakeholder collaboration matrix for Research and Development (R&D), provision of enablers for commercialisation of research breakthroughs and facilitation of acceptance and utilization of products of research by end users. A former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, has denied allegations by Italian prosecutors that he received N200 million as a kickback from the $1.3 billion controversial Malabu OPL 245 deal in 2011. Sergio Spadaro, the public prosecutor of Milan, had told a Milan court on Thursday that Mr Adoke allegedly bought a property valued at N700 million from a controversial businessman Aliyu Abubakar, owner of Carlin International Nigeria Ltd for N500 million from proceeds of crime. Mr Spadaro also said that the embattled former AGF only paid N300 Million while the N200 million difference was a gift to the former minister from the OPL 245 deal. Mr Adoke is currently facing multiple corruption charges in two separate courts by a Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC part of the charges before the Federal High Court (FCT). The commission accused Mr Adoke of accepting N300 million from Mr Aliyu, to facilitate and negotiate the OPL 245 resolution agreement with Shell, Eni and their Nigerian subsidiaries sometime in September 2013, in Abuja. However, in a statement issued on Sunday by the former AGF lawyer, Femi Oboro, of UK-based Gromyko Amedu Solicitor denied ownership of the properties traced to Mr Adoke. The lawyers also accused the Milan prosecutors of twisting material facts from the courts. Mr Oboro added that Our Client has instructed us as his lawyers to report them to the Italian bar for Professional Misconduct. In the statement, the solicitors said the N300 million traced to Mr Adokes account was a mortgage from Unity Bank and were confirmed by the prosecution witness, Ferri Alessandro, in the Milan court. It further explained that Mr Adoke could not come up with the N200 million difference because he had to pay interests and penalties on the mortgage, which the properties were later sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). And he refunded the N300 million mortgage to Unity Bank. The Italian prosecutors said our client paid only N300 million with a mortgage from Unity Bank for the property. He said the difference of N200 million was a gift to our client, suggesting that it was a proceed of crime. It is our clients contention that these allegations are completely false. The facts have been twisted and material facts have been hidden from the court in the most unprofessional manner. However, as the Italian prosecutors also discovered in their forensic investigation, our client could not come up with the N200 million equity contribution to Carlin International Nigeria Ltd. Indeed, he had to pay interests and penalties on the mortgage because it was not performing. With our clients inability to pay, Carlin International Nigeria Ltd sold the property to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and refunded the N300 million mortgage to Unity Bank. READ ALSO: Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar then retrieved the Certificate of Occupancy from Unity Bank and our clients mortgage account was closed. Most of the facts were confirmed by the prosecution witness, Mr Ferri Alessandro, in the Milan court. To our clients surprise, the Italian prosecutors, led by Dr Fabio De Pasquale, continue to create the false impression that the property belongs to him, thereby concealing the material fact that he never took possession of the house. This lie has now been repeated by Spadaro, the statement partly reads. According to the lawyers, the documentary evidence with the Italians corroborated the following that (1), the property was offered to our client for N500 million (2), Unity Bank gave him a mortgage of N300 million towards it (3), He couldnt make his equity contribution of N200 million. Others are: (4), The property was then sold to the CBN as far back as 2013 (5) The N300 million mortgage was returned to Unity Bank by Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar in 2013 (6) He never took possession of the property. All these are indisputable facts. It is our clients position that to the glory of God, nobody has traced any private jet or Phantom to him. No property, home or abroad, has been traced to him. No bank account has been frozen. The Italians have searched everywhere and they cannot find anything incriminating. ADVERTISEMENT That is why they keep making up stories. Money trail is the easiest thing to uncover in the world. You cannot collect $801 million bribe and hide it. You cannot hide N300 million. If indeed he was involved in money laundering, they will have stumbled on the evidence in the last five years when this persecution started. It is our clients instruction that we serve notice to the Italian prosecutors that he will meet them in court at some point because he will not allow these despicable and evil lies go unchallenged, the statement adds. Trial The EFCC has been after Mr Adoke for his role in the controversial Malabu oil scandal regarding the controversial sale of Nigerias OPL 245 oil field. PREMIUM TIMES reported how almost half of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni in a controversial OPL 245 deal brokered by the government at the time ended in accounts controlled by Mr Aliyu. The oil multinationals paid the money through the Nigerian government to Malabu, a company then controlled by Dan Etete, a former petroleum minister who is on the run. Malabu, which was illegally awarded OPL 245 when Mr Etete was a minister in 1998, then transferred about half of the money into accounts partly controlled by Mr Aliyu. Mr Aliyu is believed to have shared the money to top officials of Shell and Eni as well as officials of the Jonathan administration. Shell, Eni and their officials are already being prosecuted in Italy for the scandal. The EFCC last week denied dropping charges of money laundering against Mr Adoke in the controversial $1.1 Malabu Oil deal. This newspaper however established that the former ministers name was removed and charges were dropped in one of the three cases filed against him. Mr Adoke has always denied any wrongdoing. He said he acted professionally on the instructions of the former president, Goodluck Jonathan. ADVERTISEMENT The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, on Monday, interfaced with the Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, to foster Executive/Legislative. Mohammad Abdulkadri, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said this was to foster cooperation necessary to address the nations security challenges. Mr Abdulkadri said the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, had in attendance some members of the committee. The minister, at the end of the meeting, disclosed that his visit to the National Assembly was to discuss issues concerning the needs of the ministry, assessment and commitment towards improved national security architecture. Mr Magashi, a retired major general, also disclosed that the meeting was to also explore the intervention by the National Assembly in the ministry. He added that the meeting had set a new agenda for the ministry and the National Assembly to remain united and committed to the task of combating insecurity for peace to reign in all the troubled spots. READ ALSO: On his part, Mr Benson said the meeting provided a platform to compare notes and had a smooth stock taking on the nations security challenges and the way forward. He said the committee members and the minister examined other matters relating to monitoring performance index of the military in operational zones and funding of the various military campaigns across the country. The chairman also disclosed that they also examined the need for seamless performance of the oversight functions of the legislators. (NAN) Suspect simply canat stop attempting to meet women in the worst possible way. On 11 June, a 43-year-old woman exited a supermarket in Higashiura, Aichi Prefecture and drove away in her car. However, she didnat get far before noticing that her driveras side rear tire had gone completely flat. While examining the flat another car drove up. The driver, 32-year-old Yoshito Harada, offered to replace her damaged tire. While a kind gesture from an apparently total stranger, the woman was struck with a sudden case of dAjA vu. This is because the exact same thing had happened to her in June of the previous year. Unsettled by the coincidence, she decided to report the encounter to the police who investigated the matter and found through surveillance camera footage that Harada had slashed her tire in the parking lot of the supermarket. He then followed her car until it pulled over so that he could be the first on the scene to offer help. According to police, Harada admitted to the crime, saying that he did it in order to meet the woman. Now, hereas where the plot thickens. As the news of this strange attempt at courtship came out some netizens were reminded of an eerily similar case in 2013. The suspect then was also a man named Yoshito Harada who was 25 at the time and hailed from the same city as this Harada. Assuming this isnat a remarkable coincidence, this man was picked up seven years earlier for the exact same misdeed. In fact, during that arrest Haradaas lawyer remarked that he had probably done it about 1,000 times. Harada avoided prison by compensating the few victims who came forward 30,000 yen (US$279) each. He also agreed to certain monitoring measures such as a GPS tracker that his parents could use to make sure he was staying out of trouble. It didnat seem to work, however, and he was picked up again in 2016 after a victim told an acquaintance who also had her tire afixeda by a 28-year-old man in the same way in 2015. This was the exact same situation that led to his 2013 arrest. ADVERTISEMENT A non-governmental organisation has cautioned the federal government against re-opening of schools even for final year students, while COVID-19 continues to spread. Anap Foundation in a statement said its advice was necessary to avoid community-level transmission of COVID-19 among pupils and to avoid exposing the population to large-scale Infections. Schools were shut across Nigeria on March 19 due to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving some school authorities to adopt alternative modes of learning for students at all levels. However, the federal government on June 29 approved what it called safe reopening of schools nationwide. The government, through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) said only students in graduating classes primary six, JSS 3 and SSS 3 are allowed to receive classes in preparation for examinations. Anap Foundations position In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night, the chairman of Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, and its Vice-Chairman, Abubakar Mohammed, said the science and data of COVID-19 revealed that the pandemic is currently at the community transmission phase and is still approaching its peak. They said having school children from different homes gather in enclosed classrooms and interacting closely for long hours at this stage portends great danger for the pupils, their teachers and their immediate families. Though the PTF has specified appropriate protocols as safeguards, we are aware that most schools, especially the public ones, will not have the required resources to put these in place, nor the wherewithal to moderate childrens behaviour, they said. They urged the government to delay the opening of schools for a few more weeks to see Nigerias COVID-19 curve reach its peak and begin to reverse, before embarking on any school reopening plans, even for graduating classes. This is the current global best practice. Let us not find ourselves in the situation of countries like Israel and South Africa that have had to reverse their premature school reopening, due to severe spikes in infection amongst the pupils, staff and their families, they said. They said graduating students will get back on track with their future careers by taking their examinations just ahead of general school reopening, when the epidemic curve might have flattened, and it is much safer to resume classes. The Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think Tank was established on March 22 2020, to respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and has 18 members drawn from across the six geopolitical zones and the diaspora (Germany & USA). PREMIUM TIMES reported how Nigerias new coronavirus cases increased for six consecutive weeks before reducing last week. Nigeria has, so far, recorded over 28,000 cases of the virus and over 600 deaths. The federal government has approved 60 per cent debt forgiveness for broadcast stations owing it in Nigeria, to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on the industry. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced this on Monday in Abuja at a media briefing on the governments efforts to institute financial sustainability among broadcast stations in the country. Mr Mohammed noted that the broadcast industry had been particularly hard-hit due to falling revenues occasioned by the dwindling adverts and sponsored programmes in the wake of the pandemic. He disclosed that many Nigerian radio and television stations remained indebted to the government to the tune of N7. 8 billion while many of them were faced with the reality that their licenses would not be renewed in view of their indebtedness. Against this background, the management of the NBC has recommended, and the federal government has accepted 60 per cent debt forgiveness for all debtor broadcast stations in the country, he said. Mr Mohammed, however, said the criterion for enjoying the debt forgiveness was for debtor stations to pay 40 per cent of their existing debt within the next three months According to him, any station that is unable to pay the balance of 40 percent indebtedness within the three months window shall forfeit the opportunity to enjoy the stated debt forgiveness. The minister said the government also approved that the existing license fee of the broadcast stations be further discounted by 30 per cent for all Open Terrestrial Radio and Television services effective July 10. He said the debt forgiveness would apply to functional licensed Terrestrial Radio and Television stations only The debt forgiveness and discount shall not apply to pay TV service operators in Nigeria. The effective date of the debt forgiveness shall be July 10 to October 6th, 2020, he said. Mr Mohammed said the measures were in addition to the two-month licence-fee waiver granted to terrestrial broadcast stations in the country by the NBC, as part of efforts to ease the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. He gave an assurance that the measures taken by the government would give lifeline and revamp the Industry as well as help reposition it for the challenges of business in the post-COVID-19 era. READ ALSO: The federal government has made these interventions with a view to re-positioning the broadcast industry to play its critical role of promoting democracy and good governance in Nigeria. It is our expectation that the sector will cash in on this unique opportunity to make itself an effective catalyst for national development, he said. Speaking on efforts to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the creative sector in general, the minister recalled that government set up the Post-Covid-19 Initiatives Committee for the creative industry, He said the committee had submitted its report, which contained recommendations that would benefit all component parts of the larger creative industry. Fielding questions from journalists, the minister said similar measures would be extended to the print industry by the government. ADVERTISEMENT The Acting Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Armstrong Idachaba, said the commission is carrying out a holistic review of the broadcast sector as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Idachaba, who was also at the briefing, said the government would enforce the Pay as You Go directive to the Pay-Tv because it was in the interest of all. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Police Service Commission (PSC) has dismissed ten senior police officers and reduced the ranks of eight others over various cases of misconduct in the line of duty. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the PSC approved the promotion of 6,618 senior officers, including one Assistant Inspector General (AIG), four Commissioners and three Deputy Commissioners. PSC spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani, said the approval was one of the highpoints of the 8th Plenary meeting of the commission that ended on Wednesday, after three weeks of deliberations. In another statement on Monday, Mr Ani said the commission took the decision to dismiss and demote the officers at the same 8th Plenary Meeting which spanned three weeks and ended on July 1, 2020. The dismissed officers were one superintendent of police (SP), five deputy superintendents of police (DSP) and four assistant superintendents of Police, Mr Ani said. READ ALSO: A deputy commissioner of police (DCP) and a chief superintendent of police (CSP) were reduced in rank, a decision which also affected four superintendents of police (SP), one deputy superintendent and assistant superintendent of police. The commission also approved severe reprimand for 16 officers, reprimand for 13 and letters of warning to four others. Two officers are to receive letters of advice while 11 were exonerated. The Commission in Plenary looked into eighty-three disciplinary cases which included eighteen appeals and petitions. The Commission had also at the Plenary approved the promotions of 6,618 senior Police Officers including one AIG to DIG, four CPs to AIG and three DCPs to CPs, Mr Ani said in the statement. ADVERTISEMENT Kano State Magistrates Court on Monday reopened for normal activities sequel to the total ease of COVID-19 lockdown imposed to stem further spread of the pandemic in the state. The News Agency of Nigeria NAN) reports that the states Chief Judge, Justice Nura Sagir, on Sunday, directed the courts to resume proceedings following the total easing of restrictions by the state government. A NAN Correspondent, who monitored the development at the Magistrates Court Nomans Land and Gidan Murtala in the metropolis, reports that court officials, lawyers and litigants were seen taking dates for hearing of their cases. Some of the people at the courts premises were seen wearing face marks and observing social distancing, in compliance with COVID-19 protocols. Sunusi Abbas, the Registrar, Magistrate Court, Nomans Land, said that litigants were taking dates for the cases in preparation for full commencement of court proceedings. NAN recalled that the Chief Judge, Justice Sagir, on March 25, suspended court sittings in the state, in compliance with the COVID-19 lockdown. (NAN) The Defence Headquarters says the troops of Operations Accord and Hadarin Daji have continued to annihilate bandits in Katsina and Zamfara forcing many of them to surrender. The Co-ordinator, Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, a major general, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Mr Enenche said the troops have continued to conduct intensive clearance operations to identify bandits enclaves in the North- West, with attendant successes against the criminal elements. He said the troops had on July 3, stormed a bandits camp at Sanu village in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara sequel to actionable Human and technical intelligence on the heavy bandits presence in the vicinity. He said the bandits fled with gunshot wounds, adding that the troops pursued the bandits, engaged them and overwhelmed them with heavy volume of fire. According to him, exploitation of the general area led to the recovery of one AK47 rifle and one SMG rifle. It was also revealed that several bandits suffered heavy injuries and most likely died, as evident in the vast pools of blood along their withdrawal route. In a related development, troops made contact with bandits at Bawan Daji village and neutralised one bandit while many others were fatally wounded. Troops further raided bandits enclave at Gidan Zamfarawa about 10km from Mashanyin Zaki. The bandits fled on sighting troops from afar but were pursued by the determined troops who engaged them with aggressive firing. READ ALSO: Troops exploited the general area and destroyed seven major bandit camps while one AK47 rifle, and two motorcycles, among others were equally recovered, he said. Mr Enenche further disclosed that troops had on July 5, stormed an identified bandits camp at Salihawa village in Batsari area of Katsina State following credible intelligence on their activities in the village. He said the troops overwhelmed the bandits with superior firepower and neutralised one of the criminals while several others escaped with fatal gunshot wounds. He said troops also apprehended a suspected bandits logistics supplier, Mohammed Illela, at Illela village on July 4, following a tip-off. He explained that the suspect was arrested while attempting to convey 13 jerry cans of 30 litres of PMS concealed in an ash-coloured Volkswagen wagon car, to suspected bandits. The co-ordinator also revealed that a bandit was also eliminated during a cordon and search operation by the troops at Bawar-Daji village on July 5. He added that one AK 47 rifle, five rounds of 7.62 mm special ammunition and one magazine, among others were recovered during the operation. He said owing to intensified operations, projected by aggressive presence and posture of troops in the theatre, three notable bandits have surrendered to troops along with their weapons. ADVERTISEMENT The repentant bandits submitted one Light Machine Gun and two AK 47 rifles. The Military High Command commends troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI for their dedication, dexterity and professionalism in the conduct of ongoing operations. It equally urges them to intensify operations against the bandits and all other criminal elements threatening the peace and security of our beloved country, he said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has lifted the ban on campaigns by political parties ahead of the September 19 governorship election in Edo State. INEC Head of Voter Education in Edo, Timidi Wariowei, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin that the campaigns officially commenced on June 21. Mr Wariowei said: Campaigns have officially started in the state. Campaigns start 90 days to election and it started on June 21. Mr Wariowei also disclosed that the office had taken delivery of some non-sensitive materials and distributed the same to the 18 local government areas of the state. The reason we distributed materials early is because the office we are occupying now has a small storage capacity. The storage facility cannot accommodate all the materials, so as the materials come we dispatch to our local government offices. The non-sensitive materials we have received so far are not complete so as they come in batches we distribute because of lack of space to keep them, he said. According to Mr Wariowei, the total registered voters as at 2019 is 2,210,534, while uncollected PVCs stands at 483,868. NAN reports that INEC has cleared and displayed the list of candidates of 14 registered political parties, including the All Progressives Party and Peoples Democratic Party being the major contenders, ahead of the polls. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Edo State Government has reaffirmed its commitment towards the protection and welfare of the states health workforce, especially frontline workers who are putting their lives on the line to support the governments efforts at containing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the state. Speaking to journalists in Benin City, Commissioner for Health, Patrick Okundia, commended the resilience, sacrifice and commitment of health workers in Edo State, noting that they have shown uncommon resolve in curtailing the spread of the virus and protecting other citizens during the outbreak. The commissioner disclosed that a total of 201 health workers have tested positive to the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state, urging the frontline staff to ensure safety precautions are taken when treating any patient. Mr Okundia, who reassured that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration will not relent in ensuring the welfare of the states health workforce, said the government will continue to intensify efforts to contain the pandemic across communities in the state and protect Edo people. He, however, harped on the need to protect the elderly and persons with underlying ailments who are vulnerable and most affected by the disease in the state. READ ALSO: While noting that persons who are aged 60 and above make up only five per cent of the states population, he added that over 50 per cent of the deaths recorded so far fall within the age category of the population. Mr Okundia said the state has discharged 87 more COVID-19 patients who have now tested negative to the virus following their treatment at the state isolation facilities, noting: Edo has now recorded a total of 805 discharged persons, 6,470 suspected cases, 1,383 confirmed cases and 47 deaths. The commissioner added: We urge residents to support the governments efforts at containing the pandemic by complying with all guidelines. Stay at home and observe all precautionary measures against the spread of the infectious disease, including regular handwashing with soap under running water and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers. Cover your mouth and nose properly when sneezing and/or coughing. ADVERTISEMENT The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday fixed July 8 to hear an appeal filed by a former chairman, caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Isaac Ogbobula. The appeal, which ought to be heard in the state but transferred to Abuja last week, is challenging the judgement of the High Court in Rivers State that declared Igo Aguma the acting chairman of the party in the state. During the court session on Monday, the appellants lawyer, Tuduru Ede, told the court that there were two applications pending and that both were filed on June 26. Mr Ede said the first application is for abreachment of time for departure from the rule to enable him compile records of the court and the other is an application for a retaining order against Mr Aguma pending the determination of the appeal. On his part, Mr Agumas lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, raised an objection that the application is not ripe for hearing . But the three member panel of appellate court led by Justice Stephen Adah, upheld the objection and fixed July 8 for hearing. Tussle Mr Aguma belongs to a faction of the APC in Rivers that is loyal to Magnus Abe, a former governorship aspirant in the state. Mr Ogbobula belongs to a faction loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. Mr Amaechi is a former governor of Rivers and one of APCs most influential leaders, but he has been having it tough getting the APC in Rivers to unite in the partys quest to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the oil-rich state. The protracted crisis in the party prompted the court to declare that the APC did not have a governorship candidate in Rivers in 2019, paving the way for Governor Nyesom Wike of the PDP to have an easy second term victory. READ ALSO: Mr Aguma, a former member of the House of Representatives and former political ally to Mr Amaechi, parted ways with him over his (Amaechi) insistence that Mr Abe would not be the APC governorship candidate in the 2015 and the 2019 elections. Mr Aguma filed a lawsuit in December 2019 against the APC, including its former national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for setting up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party in Rivers. He had told the court that the setting up of the caretaker committee contravened the APC rules. Delivering judgement in the suit, Justice George Omereji held that Mr Aguma suffered injustice and his civil rights violated when the APC set up the caretaker committee. Justice Omereji then declared Mr Aguma, the acting chairman of the party in the state. ADVERTISEMENT The former governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, applied for and was offered admission for a doctorate programme in Sustainable Development Practice by the Postgraduate College, University of Ibadan. Idowu Olayinka, the vice-chancellor of the university, said in a tribute last weekend that the senator had already paid the requisite acceptance fee before he passed away. The topics identified for his thesis included Executive Performance, Governance and Quality of Democracy at the State level: Perception of the Electorate and Public Opinion and Accountability in Political Governance of State Governments in Nigeria. His transition has now prevented the Distinguished Senator Ajimobi the opportunity of embarking on his doctoral research at the University of Ibadan, Mr Olayinka said. We pray for the repose of his soul. May the good God forgive his sins and comfort his widow, children, grandchildren, friends and associates. Mr Ajimobi, 70, who was the governor of Oyo State between 2011 and 2019, died last month in Lagos from coronavirus complications, according to Akin Alabi, a federal lawmaker and his political associate. He also served as a senator representing Oyo South between 2003 and 2007. Mr Olayinka said he first crossed paths with the deceased governor in 2004 at a private event hosted by a senior colleague and Mr Ajimobis long-standing friend, Ademola Ariyo, in Ibadan. He was then a Senator of the Federal Republic representing the good people of Oyo South. In our brief encounter that beautiful evening the distinguished senator came across as an amiable, suave, cerebral, intelligent, witty and quick- witted individual. I even broached the idea of inviting him to deliver a Postgraduate School Interdisciplinary Discourse but we never got to working out the details till I left as Dean of the Postgraduate School in 2006. We started seeing him more frequently when he became our State Governor after the 2011 General Elections. He attended many events at the University of Ibadan and even delivered a Convocation lecture during the tenure of my predecessor as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole. He was always claiming, and rightly too, that Ibadan is the intellectual capital of Nigeria. On a lighter note, he would joke that he had many friends and associates at the University of Ibadan and he deserved to be appointed an Associate Professor. Some of us his audience would just murmur Just like that? Where I come from, there is a popular saying that the King during whose reign there was peace and tranquillity, his name would never be forgotten. Governor Ajimobi restored peace during his reign here in Oyo State. Mr Olayinka commended the late governors achievement in the field of education, noting there were four universities in the state when he assumed office in 2011 and ten by the time he left eight years later. He himself founded the First Technical University in 2012 although the effective take off took another few years and he appointed an accomplished academic and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Professor Ayobami Salami the pioneer Vice-Chancellor in 2017, he said. I once asked Governor Ajimobi why he abandoned some aspects of his urban renewal programme through which he cleared all the roadside markets on the not so wide roads that had the tendency to slow down vehicular traffic in the metropolis. He replied that it was because there was a lot of resistance to that policy by majority of the residents. ADVERTISEMENT The Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, has resigned his appointment from the Rotimi Akeredolu administration. PREMIUM TIMES obtained his resignation letter on Monday. He also confirmed the resignation in a telephone interview. According to him, the resignation is personal. He thanked Mr Akeredolu for the opportunity to serve the state. When asked if he would also resign his membership from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abegunde declined to comment. PREMIUM TIMES understands that Mr Akeredolu and Mr Abegunde had been at loggerhead for over a month over issues surrounding the second term ambition of the governor. Sources in the government told our correspondent that the SSG had shunned series of government activities in the past few weeks. This development is also coming weeks after Mr Akeredolus deputy, Agboola Ajayi, left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). READ ALSO: Mr Ajayi has recently been screened to contest for the PDPs primary. On Sunday, he asked Mr Akeredolu to hand over to him having tested positive for coronavirus. Resignation letter of Ondo SSG, Ifedayo Abegunde, ahead of governorship election. Mr Akeredolu is yet to react to the resignation of the SSG. The Ondo governorship election is scheduled to hold in October. Local governments fretted over the coronavirus spread as they opened shelters for evacuees from the torrential rain in southwestern Japan on Saturday, aiming to ensure social distancing and take proper sanitary measures. Around 203,200 residents were asked to take shelter in Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. At least 871 people evacuated to 109 shelters in Kumamoto. In Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, the municipal government opened around 10 shelters housing more than 200 evacuees at one point after it instructed over 20,000 residents to evacuate early Saturday. Officials took body temperatures to check the evacuees' health conditions and secured space between them to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections. At a fire department office located on high ground, 69 took shelter. "We had capacity for 60 evacuees here in the past. But considering social distancing, 30 are appropriate this time. We had to ask some evacuees to move to another shelter," said Toshihiko Nakamura, an official of the fire department. The pace of increase in virus infections had slowed in Japan but it is picking up after a nationwide state of emergency was lifted in late May. The total number of infections topped 20,000 on Saturday with cases in Tokyo accounting for a third of the tally. In Kumamoto, 48 cases have been reported. Some evacuees opted to take refuge in cars in fear of being infected with the virus at shelters. Municipal governments handed out leaflets that warned of economy class syndrome, which occurs when people remain in the same position for a long period. ADVERTISEMENT A Chief Magistrates Court in Iyaganku, Oyo State, on Monday ordered a 20-year-old bricklayer, Sodiq Raifu, who allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl, remanded in police custody, pending legal advice. Mr Raifu, who resides in Olorunda Aba area, Akobo, Ibadan, is charged with one count of defilement. Magistrate Titilayo Oyekanmi did not take Mr Raifus plea but ordered him remanded pending legal advice from the Oyo State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP). Ms Oyekanmi adjourned the matter until October 5, for mention. Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Sunday Ojeleye, told the court that Mr Raifu committed the offence on June 23, at about 7 p.m. Mr Ojeleye alleged that Mr Rafiu ambushed the victim who was heading home after hawking and raped her. He said that the victims father reported the matter at the Akobo Police Station, Ibadan and was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku. The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of Section 357 and is punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 , Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State 2000 (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, on Monday sued the House of Assembly over alleged plans to remove him from office. He said the decision is to halt plans by the assembly to begin his impeachment process for leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Ajayi through his lawyer, I. Olatoke, filed a suit seeking to halt the impeachment proceeding and enforce his fundamental right of association at the Federal High Court, Abuja. Aside the House of Assembly, the suit filed by his lawyer has the Inspector General of Police, State Commissioner Of Police, State Security Service (SSS) and the Speaker of the Assembly, David Oleyeloogun as defendants. It is not clear if the suit has been assigned to a judge. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Ajayi resigned his membership of the APC and moved out of his official residence. He joined the PDP and was formally welcomed to the party by its national chairman, Uche Secondus. According to him, the APC has become a poisoned space with one man kneeling on its neck. He has been screened by PDP and is expected to contest in the partys primary ahead of the October gubernatorial election. I wish Frank well. Hes an asset for any organization hes in, said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. He certainly has made a difference here. Levinson said there is no problem with him doing consulting work for companies or governments, as long as he recuses himself from voting on any contracts or other decisions the freeholder board may make that may benefit a company with whom he works. In Salmon Ventures government services, its clients include Cape May and Salem counties and several municipalities in Cape and Cumberland counties as well as the city of Camden. We are thrilled to have Frank join Salmon Ventures. His experience in South Jersey will be highly beneficial to the future of Salmon Ventures, said company President and CEO Kim Downes. Formica joins Salmon Ventures with over 30 years of private company and public government expertise, Salmon said. Formica owned and operated his familys Formica Bros. Bakery from 1987 to 2019 and before that was executive administrator at Resorts International from 1979 to 1987, Salmon said. "We're not going to be jumping the gun on a whole lot more opening up steps right now," Murphy said. "We're at where we are now and my guess is we're going to be there for a bit. "We need to be smarter and work harder," he added. "I do not want to have to hit another pause on our restart because a small number of New Jerseyans are being irresponsible and spreading COVID-19 while the rest of us continue to work hard to stop it. We all need to wear face coverings, even when its a hot day like today. COVID-19 doesnt care about the weather. It only cares about finding another person to infect." The governor reported 216 new positive test results, pushing the statewide total to 173,611 cases since March 4. On Sunday, there were 861 patients in New Jersey hospitals, 187 patients in critical care and 152 patients on ventilators. All of those numbers decreased across the weekend, Murphy said. There are also 20 new deaths related to the virus, bringing the statewide total to 13,373. "This thing is brutal folks," Murphy said. "You cannot take this for granted. In some cases it hits you and passes and you never knew you had it, and for other people...it crushes you. Yes it crushes older folks more frequently...but it takes out younger folks as well." There was talk of protest happening and people throwing stuff off the bridges at us, but that did not happen, Rich said. People were flying American flags, Trump flags. On the water it was bigger than the airshow, bigger than any fireworks show. It was an unreal event, Ive lived here my whole life, Ive never seen anything like it. Not everyone was as excited. Leah Sinderbrand, 27, of Margate, took issue with the disruption caused by the closing of bridges on the Intracoastal Waterway to allow boats to pass. Imagine if you were an emergency vehicle trying to cross the causeway bridge and you cant pass through and yet seven protesters were arrested yesterday in Atlantic City for using their bodies to block the expressway, Sinderbrand said. She was referencing the arrest of Steve Young, a member of the Black Men United Coalition, who was arrested along with six others at the end of Saturdays Black Lives Matter protest for blocking the Atlantic City Expressway. I want to know why its OK for hundreds of boats to obstruct safety, but its not OK for protesters to walk in a street, she said. I dont want this to be depicted as a fun parade. Kelly Rich visited Ocean City for the first time last year based on recommendations from friends. She only stayed a weekend during the second weekend in July. It was everything her friends told her it was, so she booked a week this year, starting Sunday. It exceeded our expectations. It was clean and family friendly. We just wanted to come back. When considering choices of things to do, considering life as we know right how, we thought we felt safe coming here, said Rich, who added her family would be spending the week at the beach. We thought the larger crowds would be leaving by now. +16 Ocean City Boardwalk businesses make best of a 'different' Memorial Day OCEAN CITY Visitors bought souvenirs from Boardwalk stores that arranged their wares and c While tourists and locals were happy, Boardwalk business owners and managers had their enthusiasm dampened by having to operate with COVID-19 restrictions and with some people still wary of the virus. Skip Boesch, 65, the manager of 7th Street Beach Arcade, said some people, who would normally come to the arcade, are choosing not to this year because of the belief that it is easier to catch the new coronavirus indoors. We are probably doing 30% of what we did last year. Week-by-week, we will see what is going to happen, Boesch, who raised the possibility that arcades might get shut down at some point. We didnt buy any new equipment. We are just kind of waiting to see what happens. Some casinos reopened Thursday, but at 25% capacity and without the ability to serve food or drinks indoors after Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday reversed his decision to allow indoor dining to restart. It remains to be seen how many casino workers will be able to work consistently under such restrictions. +12 Health, safety reign supreme across Caesars empire in Atlantic City ATLANTIC CITY With less than 24 hours to go before Seven Stars Total Rewards members arriv Perniciaro is in Florida now, he said, where restaurants and even beaches are being closed due to strong resurgence of the new coronavirus. It is not out of the question that beaches may have to close again in New Jersey, he said. There are also warnings that the nations economic picture may not be as rosy as Thursdays report suggests. The number of jobs in the U.S. is still almost 15 million below the February level, according to a Thursday news release by the Conference Board, a nonpartisan think tank. The increase in jobs is simply due to the reopening of many states economies. The big question is whether the increase in employment will continue. But as 35 states are seeing a rise in new COVID-19 cases, momentum is likely to slow or reverse as many states tighten restrictions again. In sum, the grim reality is that the unemployment rate may remain in the 11%-15% range for the foreseeable future, the Conference Board concluded. Weve had a day here and there, weve even gone two or three days in a row. However, the stickiest run of days in a row will come to South Jersey this week. Monday through Friday all will cross the muggy 70-degree threshold, marking the dog days of summer. The hottest and most sultry day of the week will be Monday. Temperatures during the morning will start at or just above 70, pretty common for early July. High temperatures, though, will not be common. Well be about 80 by 9 a.m., and the mainland should be 90 by noon. Well have a mostly sunny day, with the strong early July sun beating down on the region. Carrying water when outside, avoiding exercise between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and keeping your pets off the blacktop are all great ways to combat the heat. Watch where you walk your pets during a heat wave There's nothing worse than stepping on your blacktop driveway on a hot summer day, right? We High temperatures will reach the mid-90s for much of the mainland. The shore will get a little relief, but toes will be burning on the sand with upper 80s on a southwest wind. Once you are on the beach, though, the water will be lovely. Then you have to figure in the heat index, which will be in the upper 90s. The dew point will hover around 70 for the day, the driest day of the week. 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. At restaurants, only pre-packaged meals would be available as well as single-use bottles filled with water from the holy Zamzam well. On a recent weekday, she and fellow resident Nancy Longenecker sat in the shade waiting for family members. I had surgery at Penn, and then my kids put me here, said Longenecker, 91 of Yardley, Pennsylvania. I am so grateful that I am here for this, because they have really taken care of us. Both women wore masks outside. Longenecker said she worked in health care, but still hates wearing the masks. She has been at the facility for almost four years. Ensuring all wear masks is one of the requirements of accepting visitors, according to Michele Musto, the volunteer service coordinator at The Shores. The outside visiting area was a recent initiative, she said, starting June 21. Visitors get their temperature checked, must wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet from the resident, something that seemed difficult for family members who longed to embrace their parents or grandparents. Musto said she is able to keep everyone cooperating. Were saying to them that we need your help to keep everyone safe, she said. Without their help, we may shut it down. We want to keep outdoor visitation open. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal last month ordered law enforcement agencies in the state to begin naming officers who commit serious disciplinary violations. New Jersey had been among 23 states that kept police disciplinary records confidential under its Open Public Records Act. The identities of disciplined officers werent made public in this state unless they faced criminal charges. Grewals order puts New Jersey among 15 other states with limited availability of police disciplinary records. State officials need to finish the job and make the records generally available to the public, as a dozen other states have done. Sen. Loretta Weinberg, majority leader of the state Senate, introduced a bill last week to do that. Her proposal would go beyond disciplinary records for regular state and local law enforcers to include cases involving special and temporary police officers, school police, correctional officers and investigators, and parole officers. Importantly, her bill would require disclosure of any complaints, allegations and charges pertaining to an officer. FRANCONIA [mdash] Donald "Don" Swift was born in Montreal, Quebec, on March 3, 1954, and passed peacefully from his battle with cancer on June 13, 2021, with some family by his side. He is formerly of Scarborough, Ontario, and Beaconsfield, Quebec. He is survived by his two daughters: Katie Police arrest two Karela fans over attack on Medeama players Police have arrested two persons believed to be Karela United fans who attacked Court adjourns #FixTheCountry case to June 25 The Accra High Court has adjourned the #FixTheCountry case to June 25. 3 players shortlisted for NASCO Player of the Month Award Three players have been shortlisted for the NASCO Player of the Month Award for Sperm count not harmed by Covid-19 vaccine, study says If you are a man who has hesitated to get the Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns Euro 2020: Denmark crush Russia to join Belgium in round 16 Denmark produced a scintillating performance to book a spot in the last 16 of 3 players shortlisted for NASCO Player of the Month Award Three players have been shortlisted for the NASCO Player of the Month Award for Ghana to establish cocoa processing plant in Rwanda Ghana is collaborating to establish a chocolate production plant in Rwanda to Tokyo Olympics: Ugandan tests positive for Covid in Japan A member of Uganda's Olympic squad has become the first to test positive for Zero Hedge July 6, 2020 A private jet allegedly packed with drugs was intercepted by the Mexican Federal Police near the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Municipality in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. La Jornada, one of Mexico Citys leading daily newspapers, reports the jet landed on a highway in flames after being attacked by a Mexican Federal Police gunnery helicopter. A gunnery helicopter from the armed forces opened fire this morning against a small plane, which had to make an emergency landing on the Chunhuhub-Jose Maria Morelos highway section, in the central-western region of Quintana Roo, the head of the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) of the state, Alberto Capella Ibarra. The official said on his Twitter account that the registration of the aircraft is apparently XB-RCM and could be related to illegal activities. Federal authorities attending to the investigation. Initial reports indicate that around 7:30 am this Sunday an Army helicopter that was flying over the area opened fire on the aircraft. The plane began to emit smoke and later landed on the highway and caught fire, according to unofficial reports. Witnesses who broadcast videos on Twitter report that the aircraft landed smoothly and was set on fire by its crew, who fled the scene. Other versions indicate that, upon landing, the crew of the ship unloaded a shipment of drugs they had on board and placed it inside a van in which they fled, which they abandoned kilometers later. Capella asked motorists to avoid the affected stretch of highway. Federal authorities had come to the area to carry out the corresponding investigation. La Jornada A bunch of videos of the private jet burning on the highway has surfaced on social media in the last hour. #almomento a Private Jet allegedly linked to organAn alleged attack from the air would have shot down a small plane at kilometer 61, on the Chunhuhub road section, municipality of Jose Maria Morelos. #QuintanaRoo . The aircraft could have been used to transport drugsized crime landed in an emergency on the section of the Morelos highway #QuintanaRoo supposedly after a confrontation he had to land and the aircraft was completely consumed, tweeted LectorMx. This article was posted: Monday, July 6, 2020 at 3:20 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: - The sun is out and the pollen count is soaring which means Hayfever Hell for 14 million people in the UK LONDON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With one in five people suffering from the annual attack of itchy red eyes and constant sneezing, and with the pollen count set for HIGH, on-demand laundry app, Laundrapp, shares its top five tips from bedding to intimacy for protecting against pollen this summer. 1. Wash your bedding The average person washes their bed sheets once every two weeks but that's not enough to keep the allergens away. James Porter at Laundrapp oversees laundry facilities and recommends a weekly wash to keep sheets pollen free and to tackle the dust and other particles that might make symptoms worse. A hot wash of 40C or above is best and duvets and pillows should be dry cleaned once or twice a year. 2. Have more sex Scientists in Iran claim to have found a link between the nasal and reproductive systems. Neurologist Sina Zarrintan of the Tabriz Medical University in Iran said male orgasms could help ease a blocked nose and clear streaming eyes but didn't mention if there was a similar benefit for women. 3. Take more showers Pollen is almost indestructible unless it is wet. It is so easy to bring pollen indoors on your skin and hair. So jump in the shower more often and also try showering at night to help rid the body of the day's pollen build up and help aid sleep. 4. Avoid drying laundry outside Pollen is more likely to land on washing in the early morning or late evening so try and dry your washing inside. If you don't have the space, try an on-demand laundry service, such as Laundrapp, to collect, clean and dry your clothes. 5. Apply Vaseline But not to your lips. Instead, rub a small amount around your nostrils. The Vaseline forms a protective layer around your nose that pollen will stick to. Laundrapp's James Porter said: "Suffering with hayfever is one of the biggest downsides to summer. Doing the laundry more regularly will help tackle that pollen and using Laundrapp banishes that daily chore. Our service is contactless, and we pick up from your doorstep. Together let's bust hayfever this summer!" For more information visit Laundrapp.com. Related Links https://laundrapp.com SOURCE Laundrapp Chang's hiring demonstrates Infoblox's commitment to expanding its regional footprint. He brings over 30 years of experience in international executive management across the technology and cybersecurity industries. He joins Infoblox after serving as an advisor to the board and senior partner at Axcelerate Consulting Group and as Vice President of Sales at Forcepoint in the Asia-Pacific region. "Financial services, government, telecommunications, and education have fueled our growth in APJ as they embraced digital transformation, which continues to drive demand for our cloud-managed networking and security solutions," said Cherif Sleiman, Senior Vice President of International Business at Infoblox. "George brings decades of experience helping customers in these sectors navigate the challenges of an increasingly complex technology landscape." "Enterprise infrastructure is going hybrid and multi-cloud with more remote devices connecting to the corporate network than ever before," said Chang. "Businesses that seek to take advantage of the benefits of digital transformation will need solutions that work for them now and in the future. I am excited to be joining Infoblox, the leader in next-level networking, to help customers build borderless organizations with enhanced security, reliability, and automation." About Infoblox Infoblox delivers the next level network experience with its Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services. As the pioneer in providing the world's most reliable, secure and automated networks, we are relentless in our pursuit of next level network simplicity. A recognized industry leader, Infoblox has more than 50 percent market share in the DDI networking market and more than 8,000 customers, including 350 of the Fortune 500. Learn more at https://www.infoblox.com . Media Contact: Lise Feng [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1200162/Infoblox_George_Chang.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/545556/Infoblox_Logo__1_Logo.jpg Related Links https://www.infoblox.com SOURCE Infoblox Inc. MEXICO CITY, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) ASUR, a leading international airport group with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia, today announced that total passenger traffic for June 2020 decreased 89.7% when compared to June 2019. Passenger traffic decreased 90.4% in Mexico, 75.9% in Puerto Rico and 99.8% in Colombia, impacted by severe downturns in business and leisure travel stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement reflects comparisons between June 1 through June 30, 2020 and from June 1 through June 30, 2019. Transit and general aviation passengers are excluded for Mexico and Colombia. Passenger Traffic Summary June % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Mexico 2,887,405 278,443 (90.4) 17,450,634 8,524,880 (51.1) Domestic Traffic 1,419,994 229,108 (83.9) 7,897,876 3,974,470 (49.7) International Traffic 1,467,411 49,335 (96.6) 9,552,758 4,550,410 (52.4) San Juan, Puerto Rico 888,007 214,008 (75.9) 4,717,808 2,542,116 (46.1) Domestic Traffic 779,040 211,203 (72.9) 4,216,167 2,332,728 (44.7) International Traffic 108,967 2,805 (97.4) 501,641 209,388 (58.3) Colombia 1,036,748 2,544 (99.8) 5,614,966 2,675,050 (52.4) Domestic Traffic 859,643 1,292 (99.8) 4,757,830 2,274,472 (52.2) International Traffic 177,105 1,252 (99.3) 857,136 400,578 (53.3) Total Traffic 4,812,160 494,995 (89.7) 27,783,408 13,742,046 (50.5) Domestic Traffic 3,058,677 441,603 (85.6) 16,871,873 8,581,670 (49.1) International Traffic 1,753,483 53,392 (97.0) 10,911,535 5,160,376 (52.7) As announced on March 23, 2020, neither Mexico nor Puerto Rico have issued flight restrictions, to date. In Puerto Rico, the FAA has accepted a request from the Governor of Puerto Rico that all flights bound to Puerto Rico land at LMM Airport, which is operated by ASUR's subsidiary Aerostar, and that all passengers be screened by representatives of the Puerto Rico Health Department. As a result, the LMM airport remains open and operating, albeit with substantially reduced flight and passenger volumes. Mexico and/or the United States may issue flight restrictions similar to those issued in other parts of the world, which would cause a significant further reduction in ASUR's operations. In addition, Decree 439, issued by the Government of Colombia on March 20, 2020, suspended all incoming international flights, including connecting flights in Colombia, for 30 days, starting March 23, 2020. Moreover, Decree 457, issued on March 22, 2020, mandated preventive isolation as well as the suspension of domestic air travel in Colombia from March 25 to April 13, 2020. On April 8, 2020, Decree 531 suspended domestic air travel starting April 13 until April 27, 2020. This order was subsequently extended in several instances through July 1, 2020, with the exception of humanitarian emergencies, transportation of cargo and goods, and fortuitous events or force majeure. The Colombian Government resumed domestic flights in July, 2020, starting with pilot tests for domestic routes between cities with a low level of contagion. The government also delegated to the municipal administrations the power to request to the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transport and the Aerocivil (aeronautical authority in Colombia), the approval to resume domestic flights, with both municipalities required to agree in order to restart such flights. As of today, the Rionegro (MDE) and Medellin (EOH) airports have not yet resumed domestic flights. Recently, the government also announced that Colombia's airports will reopen to international flights on September 1, 2020. Mexico Passenger Traffic June % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Domestic Traffic 1,419,994 229,108 (83.9) 7,897,876 3,974,470 (49.7) CUN Cancun 781,998 131,001 (83.2) 4,219,050 2,033,084 (51.8) CZM Cozumel 18,770 387 (97.9) 98,229 38,287 (61.0) HUX Huatulco 67,364 2,568 (96.2) 369,708 151,212 (59.1) MID Merida 210,980 30,645 (85.5) 1,228,490 646,982 (47.3) MTT Minatitlan 12,122 2,037 (83.2) 70,619 33,684 (52.3) OAX Oaxaca 81,471 13,206 (83.8) 467,244 288,964 (38.2) TAP Tapachula 30,743 10,433 (66.1) 180,920 120,804 (33.2) VER Veracruz 116,455 19,501 (83.3) 671,981 348,226 (48.2) VSA Villahermosa 100,091 19,330 (80.7) 591,635 313,227 (47.1) International Traffic 1,467,411 49,335 (96.6) 9,552,758 4,550,410 (52.4) CUN Cancun 1,400,407 44,418 (96.8) 8,995,343 4,209,900 (53.2) CZM Cozumel 26,475 1,812 (93.2) 229,186 130,601 (43.0) HUX Huatulco 3,374 95 (97.2) 101,068 77,397 (23.4) MID Merida 16,394 1,393 (91.5) 106,672 62,754 (41.2) MTT Minatitlan 690 12 (98.3) 3,725 1,955 (47.5) OAX Oaxaca 11,570 178 (98.5) 68,157 40,433 (40.7) TAP Tapachula 1,214 134 (89.0) 6,370 3,680 (42.2) VER Veracruz 5,622 197 (96.5) 32,406 15,965 (50.7) VSA Villahermosa 1,665 1,096 (34.2) 9,831 7,725 (21.4) Traffic Total Mexico 2,887,405 278,443 (90.4) 17,450,634 8,524,880 (51.1) CUN Cancun 2,182,405 175,419 (92.0) 13,214,393 6,242,984 (52.8) CZM Cozumel 45,245 2,199 (95.1) 327,415 168,888 (48.4) HUX Huatulco 70,738 2,663 (96.2) 470,776 228,609 (51.4) MID Merida 227,374 32,038 (85.9) 1,335,162 709,736 (46.8) MTT Minatitlan 12,812 2,049 (84.0) 74,344 35,639 (52.1) OAX Oaxaca 93,041 13,384 (85.6) 535,401 329,397 (38.5) TAP Tapachula 31,957 10,567 (66.9) 187,290 124,484 (33.5) VER Veracruz 122,077 19,698 (83.9) 704,387 364,191 (48.3) VSA Villahermosa 101,756 20,426 (79.9) 601,466 320,952 (46.6) US Passenger Traffic, San Juan Airport (LMM) June % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 SJU Total 888,007 214,008 (75.9) 4,717,808 2,542,116 (46.1) Domestic Traffic 779,040 211,203 (72.9) 4,216,167 2,332,728 (44.7) International Traffic 108,967 2,805 (97.4) 501,641 209,388 (58.3) Colombia Passenger Traffic Airplan June % Chg Year to date % Chg 2019 2020 2019 2020 Domestic Traffic 859,643 1,292 (99.8) 4,757,830 2,274,472 (52.2) MDE Rionegro 627,764 345 (99.9) 3,445,225 1,623,659 (52.9) EOH Medellin 90,404 536 (99.4) 509,668 243,648 (52.2) MTR Monteria 81,985 155 (99.8) 472,767 259,634 (45.1) APO Carepa 18,862 72 (99.6) 104,357 50,493 (51.6) UIB Quibdo 32,905 178 (99.5) 180,079 83,763 (53.5) CZU Corozal 7,723 6 (99.9) 45,734 13,275 (71.0) International Traffic 177,105 1,252 (99.3) 857,136 400,578 (53.3) MDE Rionegro 177,105 1,252 (99.3) 857,136 400,578 (53.3) EOH Medellin - - - - MTR Monteria - - - - APO Carepa - - - - UIB Quibdo - - - - CZU Corozal - - - - Traffic Total Colombia 1,036,748 2,544 (99.8) 5,614,966 2,675,050 (52.4) MDE Rionegro 804,869 1,597 (99.8) 4,302,361 2,024,237 (53.0) EOH Medellin 90,404 536 (99.4) 509,668 243,648 (52.2) MTR Monteria 81,985 155 (99.8) 472,767 259,634 (45.1) APO Carepa 18,862 72 (99.6) 104,357 50,493 (51.6) UIB Quibdo 32,905 178 (99.5) 180,079 83,763 (53.5) CZU Corozal 7,723 6 (99.9) 45,734 13,275 (71.0) About ASUR Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rio Negro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares. For more information, visit www.asur.com.mx SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. Related Links http://www.asur.com.mx Egypt said on Monday fundamental technical and legal differences over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) still exist. Egypt made the announcement on the fourth consecutive day of the new online round of talks between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia held under the aegis of the African Union (AU) in the attendance of 11 observers representing the EU, United States, AU Commission, South Africa and the AU's legal and technical experts. The Monday meeting commenced with reference to Sunday's talks held between each country and observers, during which each country presented its point of view in both the technical and legal aspects, Egypts irrigation ministry said. The ministry added that the points of disagreement between Egypt and Ethiopia were presented during the meeting while offering alternatives and formulations to reach consensus, but the differences are still substantial in both tracks. The statement added that the three countries agreed to resume talks on Tuesday while holding two parallel meetings for the technical and legal teams before holding bilateral meetings between each country separately with the observers. Talks resumed last Friday between the three countries in response to a call from South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chairperson of the AU. The previous round of negotiations between the three countries, held from 9 to 17 June, failed to produce an accord due to Ethiopia's refusal to enter into a legally binding agreement and its announcement that it will begin filling the dam in July with or without the approval of the two downstream countries. In response Egypt appealed to the UN Security Council to intervene to preserve international peace and stability. The Security Council held an open online session last week during which members of the international body agreed that talks between the countries involved in the GERD dispute should be conducted on the basis of mutual understanding. The council urged Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, engaged in a decade-long dispute over the hydropower project, against adopting unilateral actions. Short link: Akeredolu didnt win the election in 2016 but we made it possible for him to become governor. We were the pillars behind him and we will not support him again. He will lose this time around. ALABASTER, Alabama, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. ("Avanti" or the "Company") today announces it has agreed to be acquired by Croda International Plc ("Croda"). The combination of two life science leaders brings together Avanti's expertise in lipid-based drug delivery solutions through its research products and pharmaceutical services and Croda's range of life science products and cGMP manufacturing capabilities to expand their respective breadth of products and services for biotechnology businesses, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies globally. Avanti was founded in 1967 by Dr. Walter and Rowena Shaw and is a leader in the development and manufacturing of high-purity lipids that are increasingly utilized as drug delivery solutions for complex therapeutic drugs and next generation mRNA vaccines. The Company operates from its campus in Alabama with its skilled workforce of approximately 150 employees, including over 100 scientists. Throughout Avanti's history it has been an innovator in lipid based products and applications for the life sciences markets and currently serves thousands of leading biopharmaceutical companies and researchers around the world. The Company has two primary revenue streams in research products and pharmaceutical services. Since the Company's founding it has been a leader in developing lipids for life science research and currently offers over 2,000 lipid and adjuvant products serving over 3,000 customers globally. The Company also offers pharmaceutical services where it leverages its lipid based expertise to develop and supply drug delivery solutions for complex therapeutics. Avanti provides a comprehensive range of services from formulation and analytical services through cGMP manufacturing of synthetic lipids and adjuvants for clinical and commercial applications. Avanti's know-how and technologies are highly complementary to Croda's capabilities in drug delivery systems, vaccine adjuvants and immunotherapy. Avanti will be able to combine its leading position in pharmaceutical lipid-based applications with Croda's access to global markets, greater manufacturing capacity and a broader set of capabilities to expand the range of products and services for the combined customer base. Avanti will continue to operate under the Avanti brand and be led by the current management team. It will be part of Croda's Life Sciences sector and sit within its Health Care business. Dr. Walter Shaw, CEO of Avanti, commented: "We are delighted to join Croda, which shares a common vision of innovation to deliver products and services to solve pressing healthcare needs around the world. Avanti has been my life's work, I am extremely proud of what the Avanti family has accomplished to date and I could not think of a better partner to continue to support our customers and talented employees in their pursuit of solving complex drug delivery challenges in the future." Steve Foots, CEO of Croda, commented: "We have long admired the Avanti team for their deep scientific know-how and are already working together on high-potential commercial opportunities. With their exciting drug delivery technologies, Avanti is a market leader in a high growth niche of the health care market, serving over 3,000 customers globally. Bringing Avanti's best-in-class expertise into Croda also significantly enhances our presence across the pharma product lifecycle, including early stage R&D, clinical trials, analysis and formulation. I am confident that Avanti will prove transformative to the capabilities and performance of our Life Sciences sector." BlackArch Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Avanti. Maynard Cooper & Gale served as legal advisor to Avanti. About Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc.: More at: www.avantilipids.com Avanti specializes in the development and production of high-purity polar lipids that are increasingly being used in next-generation drug delivery technology and vaccines. It has two primary revenue streams: Research Products: sales of a wide range of high-purity lipid products for pharmaceutical research and development Pharmaceutical Services: comprehensive liposomal drug delivery development and production solutions. In addition to its formulation and analytical capabilities, Avanti provides a production capability, to the highest quality and regulatory standards (known as Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP), to support customers' drug development, clinical trials and commercial supply of novel drug delivery systems. With its extensive portfolio, Avanti serves biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies around the world. About Croda: More at www.croda.com Established in 1925, Croda is the name behind sustainable, high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the world's most successful brands: creating, making and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere. Croda is a FTSE100 company with over 4,500 passionate and innovative employees, working across manufacturing sites and offices around the world with a shared Purpose to use Smart Science to Improve Lives. As part of this Purpose, and with around two thirds of its organic raw materials already from bio-based sources, Croda has committed to be the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients, becoming Climate, Land and People Positive by 2030. SOURCE Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. Related Links http://www.avantilipids.com LONE TREE, Colo., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cochlear Limited (ASX:COH), the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of three new products to its suite of hearing technology solutions. The approval of the Cochlear Nucleus Kanso 2 Sound Processor, Nucleus 7 Sound Processor for Nucleus 22 Implant recipients and Custom Sound Pro fitting software reflects Cochlear's ongoing commitment to innovation in hearing technology, providing access to smartphone connectivity and helping to improve hearing performance, and enhancing the cochlear implant fitting experience for hearing health professionals. FDA approves Cochlears Kanso 2 Sound Processor, first off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor with direct smartphone connectivity. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor is the worlds smallest off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor features a simple, durable all-in-one design that makes it easy to use with button-free control and an automatic on/off function. The Cochlear Nucleus Implant System now offers two sound processor wearing options with direct smartphone connectivity on compatible Apple and Android devices: the Kanso 2 and the Nucleus 7. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor features direct streaming from compatible Apple and Android devices; it is also compatible with the Nucleus Smart App. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor features the highest possible water resistance rating for any off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor, giving users the freedom to live an active lifestyle. Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8670551-cochlear-obtains-fda-approval-of-kanso-2-sound-processor/ "Cochlear continues to develop and introduce products to support the best lifelong hearing experience for our recipients and their care team," said Tony Manna, President, Cochlear Americas. "Our new technology can better meet the individual needs and lifestyles of our recipients and is the result of persistent efforts to improve hearing outcomes." Newly approved products include: Kanso 2 Sound Processor The Kanso 2 Sound Processor is the world's smallest1 off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor, and it is the first and only off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor to offer direct streaming from compatible Apple or Android devices.* It is also compatible with the Nucleus Smart App, enabling control of device settings, hearing functions and information.* The Kanso 2 Sound Processor features new charging options, including the sound processor's built-in rechargeable battery2; all-in-one Home Charger, allowing charging, drying and storing of the sound processor at the same time; and a small, optional portable charger for on-the-go use. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor also features the highest possible water resistance rating for any off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor, giving users the freedom to live an active lifestyle. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor features a simple, durable all-in-one design that makes it easy to use. Unique button-free control with an automatic on/off function helps to simplify the experience particularly for children or people with poor dexterity. To help users hear more of what they want to listen to, the Kanso 2 Sound Processor includes Cochlear's proven hearing performance technologies3-6 of dual microphones, ForwardFocus and SmartSound IQ with SCAN**. At commercial availability, the Kanso 2 Sound Processor is compatible with Cochlear N24, CI24RE, CI500, Profile and Profile Plus Series Implants. Nucleus 7 Sound Processor for Nucleus 22 Implant recipients The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is now compatible with a Nucleus 22 Implant. This means that Nucleus 22 Implant recipients can now upgrade to Cochlear's latest behind-the-ear sound processor, and for the first time, benefit from the smallest and lightest behind-the-ear sound processor1 with direct smartphone connectivity and streaming. The Nucleus 22 Implant was Cochlear's first commercial implant, first implanted in 1982 in Australia; it is the first FDA-approved cochlear implant in the United States, obtaining approval in 1985. There are more than 17,000 people around the world with a Nucleus 22 Implant; this upgrade means that for the first time the first people to hear with a cochlear implant, almost 40 years ago, can access direct smartphone connectivity. "The experience and feedback from our hearing implant recipients during the pandemic reminds us that staying connected has never been more important," said Patricia Trautwein, MA, AuD, Vice President, Product Management & Marketing, Cochlear Americas. "All our recipients, especially the pioneers who trusted in cochlear implant technology first, now will have access to smartphone connectivity in the smallest and lightest devices they've ever experienced. We work to deliver innovative new products, so our recipients can have a lifetime of hearing and features that enrich every moment they wish to be part of." Custom Sound Pro fitting software Cochlear has released Custom Sound Pro fitting software to support clinicians programming Cochlear Nucleus Implant sound processors. The software harnesses almost 40 years of experience and input from thousands of clinicians worldwide7. The Custom Sound Pro fitting software keeps the patient at the center of care with a new patient dashboard and goal setting feature, promoting engagement and facilitating more effective tracking of progress between appointments8. With an intuitive new layout and increased patient on-air time during fitting, the software is designed to enhance the programming experience for clinicians and their patients. The new products will be commercially available in the U.S. and Canada later this year. For more information on these products, visit Cochlear.us/Kanso2. For Cochlear recipients interested in accessing new products, visit Cochlear.us/Kanso2Upgrade. About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. The company has a global workforce of more than 4,000 people and invests more than AUD$180 million each year in research and development. Products include cochlear implants, bone conduction implants and acoustic implants, which healthcare professionals use to treat a range of moderate to profound types of hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has provided more than 600,000 implantable devices, helping people of all ages, in more than 180 countries, to hear. www.cochlear.com/us References Cochlear Ltd. D1190805 Sound Processor Size Comparison. 2020; March. Data on file. Cochlear Ltd. D1710313 CP1150 Battery Life Coverage Technical Report. 2020; Mar. Data on file. Mauger SJ, et al. Clinical evaluation of the Nucleus 6 cochlear implant system: performance improvements with SmartSound iQ. International Journey of Audiology. (2014 Aug); 53(8): 564-576. [Sponsored by Cochlear]. Mauger SJ, et al. Clinical outcomes with the Kanso off-the-ear cochlear implant sound processor. Int J Audiol. (2017 Jan); DOI:10.1080/14992027.2016.1265156. Wolfe J, et al. Benefits of Adaptive Signal Processing in a Commercially Available Cochlear Implant Sound Processor. Otol Neurotol. (2015 Aug); 36(7):1181-90. Cochlear Limited. D1660797. CP1150 Sound Processor Interim Clinical Investigation Report. January 2020 Cochlear Limited. D1619303 Software History Timeline. Data on file. Dillon H, James A, Ginis J. Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) and its relationship to several other measures of benefit and satisfaction provided by hearing aids. J Am Acad Audiol. 1997, Feb (1)8:27-43. 2. * For a full list of smartphone and app compatible devices, visit: www.cochlear.com/compatibility. ** SNR-NR, WNR and SCAN are FDA approved for use with any recipient ages 6 years and older, who is able to: 1) complete objective speech perception testing in quiet and in noise in order to determine and document performance; and 2) report a preference for different program settings. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor is dust and water resistant to level of IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529. The Kanso 2 Sound Processor with Aqua+ is dust and water resistant to level of IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529. Aqua+ can be continuously submerged under water to a depth of up to 3 meters for up to 2 hours. ForwardFocus is a clinician-enabled, user-controlled feature within Custom Sound Pro Fitting Software. Apple, the Apple logo, FaceTime, Made for iPad logo, Made for iPhone logo, Made for iPod logo, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google LLC. The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License. Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could affect your outcome. Always read the instructions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information. Cochlear Limited 2020. All rights reserved. Hear now. And always and other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of Cochlear Limited or Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB. SOURCE Cochlear Limited Related Links http://www.Cochlear.com/US VANCOUVER, BC, July 6, 2020 Entree Resources Ltd. (TSX: ETG) (OTCQB: ERLFF) the "Company" or "Entree") reports that on July 2, 2020, Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. ("Turquoise Hill") announced the completion of an updated Oyu Tolgoi Feasibility Study ("OTFS20") that incorporates the new mine design for Hugo North Lift 1 Panel 0. The Company's joint venture partner Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC") is in the process of submitting OTFS20 with the Government of Mongolia in order to comply with local regulatory requirements. Stephen Scott, Entree's President & CEO commented, "We look forward to reviewing OTFS20 and to completion of the previously announced definitive estimate review and Panel 1 design optimization studies by OTLLC, Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto. While Turquoise Hill has reported a reduction in its mineral reserve estimate for the overall Hugo North underground mine due to the inclusion of two structural pillars, it is encouraging to see that the ore tonnes and contained copper, gold and silver for the Probable mineral reserve that Turquoise Hill reported for the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property have all increased. In addition, we are excited to hear that drilling is underway at Panel 1 and look forward to seeing the results. We are pleased with our partners' efforts to remain within the guidance ranges on cost and schedule previously announced by Turquoise Hill and believe that the steps that our partners are taking to optimize the mine plan for Panels 1 and 2 will be of great benefit to all stakeholders, including Entree." In its July 2, 2020 news release, Turquoise Hill noted the Hugo North (including Hugo North Extension) Lift 1 mine plan incorporates the development of three panels and in order to reach the full sustainable production rate of 95,000 tonnes per day from the underground operations, all three panels need to be in production. The Hugo North Extension deposit on the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property ("Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property") is located at the northern portion of Panel 1. According to Turquoise Hill, the block cave design incorporated in OTFS20 provides for 120 metre structural pillars included to the north and south of Panel 0, protecting ore handling infrastructure (which will be moved into the structural pillars) and increasing the optionality of sequencing Panel 1 and Panel 2. The structural pillars are planned to be located on the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence. Turquoise Hill believes the existing feasibility study designs for Panel 1 and Panel 2 remain executable based on the current orebody understanding. However, with the introduction of structural pillars, Panels 1 and 2 become independent, allowing for much greater operational flexibility. According to Turquoise Hill this provides opportunities to: Optimise the extraction level elevation for each panel independently; Evaluate the potential to convert Measured and Indicated mineral resources below the current Lift 1 extraction level to Probable mineral reserves; Complete additional confirmatory drilling and data collection in support of potential Panel 1 and Panel 2 design refinements; and Include structural pillar recovery level(s) in the integrated Hugo North Lift 1 mine design. Turquoise Hill noted that Panel 1 and Panel 2 design optimization studies have been initiated to explore these opportunities. The studies are not expected to delay the ramp up of Panel 1 or Panel 2. Drilling work is underway and the resulting updates to geotechnical modelling and mine design review are expected by Turquoise Hill to continue into 2021. Turquoise Hill also announced its updated Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and CIM definition standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2014). Turquoise Hill noted that OTFS20 does not reflect the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which are ongoing and continue to be assessed. A number of work fronts are directly impacted including Shafts 3 and 4 being put on care and maintenance and work on Primary crusher 1 being slowed due to the lack of availability of critical resources and restrictions on site workforce numbers. Entree's 2018 Technical Report completed on its interest in the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property discusses two development scenarios, a reserve case (the "2018 Reserve Case") and a Life-of-Mine Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "2018 PEA"). The 2018 Reserve Case is based only on mineral reserves attributable to the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV from Lift 1 of the Hugo North Extension underground block cave. Both the 2018 Reserve Case and the 2018 PEA are based on information reported within the 2016 Oyu Tolgoi Feasibility Study ("OTFS16"). Rio Tinto is managing the construction and eventual operation of Lift 1 as well as any future development of deposits included in the 2018 PEA. In 2019, subsequent to the completion of OTFS16 and the 2018 Technical Report, Rio Tinto advised that more detailed geotechnical information and different ground conditions have required a review of the mine design and the development schedule reflected in OTFS16 and the 2018 Technical Report. Once the definitive estimate of cost and schedule and the Panel 1 optimization studies have been completed and delivered to Entree with OTFS20, the Company will be able to assess the potential impact on Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property production and financial assumptions and outputs from the two alternative cases, the 2018 Reserve Case and the 2018 PEA. Readers are cautioned that the Company has not yet been provided with OTFS20 or any of the data or assumptions underlying OTFS20, the block cave designs in OTFS20 or Turquoise Hill's updated Mineral Resources and Reserves and the Company is therefore unable to verify such data or the scientific and technical disclosures made by Turquoise Hill at this time. For information on the Company's interest in Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property, see the Company's current Technical Report, titled "Entree/Oyu Tolgoi Joint Venture Project, Mongolia, NI 43-101 Technical Report", with an effective date of January 15, 2018, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. QUALIFIED PERSON Robert Cinits, P.Geo., consultant to Entree and the Company's former Vice President, Corporate Development, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has approved the technical information in this release. ABOUT ENTREE RESOURCES LTD. Entree Resources Ltd. is a well-funded Canadian mining company with a unique carried joint venture interest on a significant portion of one of the world's largest copper-gold projects the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. Entree has a 20% or 30% carried participating interest in the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture, depending on the depth of mineralization. Sandstorm Gold Ltd., Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill are major shareholders of Entree, holding approximately 21%, 9% and 8% of the shares of the Company, respectively. More information about Entree can be found at www.EntreeResourcesLtd.com. This News Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws with respect to the expectations set out in OTFS20; timing and status of Oyu Tolgoi underground development; the mine design for Hugo North Lift 1 and the related cost and production schedule implications; the re-design studies for Panels 1 and 2 of Hugo North (including Hugo North Extension) Lift 1 and the possible outcomes and timing thereof; timing of completion of the definitive estimate review and the scope thereof; timing and amount of production from Lift 1 of the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property, potential production delays and the impact of any delays on the Company's cash flows, expected copper and gold grades, liquidity, funding requirements and planning; the potential impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus) on Oyu Tolgoi underground development and the business, operations and financial condition of the parties to the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture; the estimation of mineral reserves and resources; estimates of capital and operating costs, mill throughput, cash flows and mine life; capital, financing and project development risk; mining dilution; discussions with the Government of Mongolia, Rio Tinto, OTLLC and Turquoise Hill on a range of issues including Entree's interest in the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property, the Shivee Tolgoi and Javhlant mining licences and certain material agreements; permitting time lines; corporate strategies and plans; uses of funds and projected expenditures; anticipated business activities; and future financial performance. In certain cases, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budgeted", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of Entree's future performance and are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, the correct interpretation of agreements, laws and regulations, local and global economic conditions and negotiations and the environment in which Entree will operate in the future, including commodity prices, projected grades, projected dilution, anticipated capital and operating costs, anticipated future production and cash flows, the anticipated location of certain infrastructure and sequence of mining within and across panel boundaries, the construction and continued development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine and the status of Entree's relationship and interaction with the Government of Mongolia, OTLLC, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill. With respect to the construction and continued development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine, important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, the timing and cost of the construction and expansion of mining and processing facilities; the timing and availability of a long term domestic power source for Oyu Tolgoi (or the availability of financing for OTLLC or the Government of Mongolia to construct such a source); the potential impact of Covid-19; the ability of OTLLC to secure and draw down on the supplemental debt under the Oyu Tolgoi project finance facility and the availability of additional financing on terms reasonably acceptable to OTLLC, Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto to further develop Oyu Tolgoi; the impact of changes in, changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practises in Mongolia; delays, and the costs which would result from delays, in the development of the underground mine; the status of the relationship and interaction between OTLLC, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill with the Government of Mongolia on the continued operation and development of Oyu Tolgoi and OTLLC internal governance; projected copper, gold and silver prices and their market demand; and production estimates and the anticipated yearly production of copper, gold and silver at the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine. Other risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results, performance or achievements of Entree to differ materially from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, unanticipated costs, expenses or liabilities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; development plans for processing resources; the outcome of the definitive estimate review; matters relating to proposed exploration or expansion; mining operational and development risks, including geotechnical risks and ground conditions; regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability); risks related to international operations, including legal and political risk in Mongolia; risks associated with changes in the attitudes of governments to foreign investment; risks associated with the conduct of joint ventures; risks related to the potential impact of global or national health concerns, including the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic; inability to upgrade Inferred mineral resources to Indicated or Measured mineral resources; inability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; conclusions of economic evaluations; fluctuations in commodity prices and demand; changing foreign exchange rates; the speculative nature of mineral exploration; the global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; activities, actions or assessments by Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill or OTLLC and by government authorities including the Government of Mongolia; the availability of funding on reasonable terms; the impact of changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of laws, regulations and government practices, including laws, regulations and government practices with respect to mining, foreign investment, royalties and taxation; the terms and timing of obtaining necessary environmental and other government approvals, consents and permits; the availability and cost of necessary items such as water, skilled labour, transportation and appropriate smelting and refining arrangements; unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes to assumptions as to the availability of electrical power, and the power rates used in operating cost estimates and financial analyses; changes to assumptions as to salvage values; ability to maintain the social licence to operate; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; global climate change; title disputes; limitations on insurance coverage; competition; loss of key employees; cyber security incidents; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; as well as those factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed MD&A and in the Company's Annual Information Form for the financial year ended December 31, 2019, dated March 13, 2020 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. SOURCE Entree Resources Related Links http://www.entreegold.com WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Montana leveraged $410.4 million in federal funds to advance $468.6 million in highway improvements during fiscal year (FY) 2018, according to an interactive tool that for the first time provides the public and elected officials a clear look at how and where the state invests its transportation tax dollars. Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) "Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment" displays information on more than 451 Montana projects that moved forward in FY 2018. Based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, the dashboard provides the same information for all states. The top five projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included: RARUS/ SILVER BOW CR STRUCTURES (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing roadway and the necessary structure work CR STRUCTURES (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing roadway and the necessary structure work BROADUS INTCHG- MILES CITY (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing Broadus Interchange INTCHG- (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing Broadus Interchange ROSEBUD CO LINE-EAST (CN & CE) Reconstruction and/or seal and cover of the existing roadway and structure work HARDIN-NORTH NORTH SECTION (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing roadway (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing roadway GALATA -E & W (CN & CE) Reconstruction of the existing roadway and the necessary structure work "This dashboard helps shift the conversation from how much each state gets to specific outcomes and benefits," ARTBA President Dave Bauer says. "Such transparency and accountability will help residents better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments." The current federal FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. As Congress continues working on a new long-term bill, the dashboard will help members of Congress and their staffs to learn more about projects and how federal funds are being utilized in their respective states, ARTBA says. In FY 2018, 65 percent of projects costs were for reconstruction or repair work on existing highways, according to the ARTBA analysis. Planning, design and construction engineering (14 percent of funds), added capacity (6 percent) and right of way purchases (1 percent), are among 12 ways the state spent its transportation dollars. Compiled by ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA Highway Dashboard features the top projects dating back to 1950. This data is submitted by states as part of FHWA's Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS). The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation's need for safe and efficient travel. ARTBA also offers value-added programs and services providing its members with a competitive edge. Learn more: artbahighwaydashboard.org. SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association LONDON and NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marex Spectron, the global commodities specialist, today announced the appointment of Ram Vittal as Chief Executive Officer, Marex Spectron North America, reporting to Ian Lowitt, Group Chief Executive. Ram will be based in New York. In his role, Ram will oversee Chicago-based Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG) and other Marex Spectron North America metals, energy and agricultural brokerage teams in New York, Houston, Connecticut and Calgary. Today, Marex Spectron North America accounts for approximately a third of the Group's gross revenues. Ram joins from JPMorgan Chase, where he was Managing Director and Head of Treasury Services Franchise Client Management spearheading innovative client solutions leveraging data analytics and digital technologies. Previously, he was Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, holding several leadership roles in the Investment Management and Investment Banking divisions. Whilst at Goldman, he led the establishment of Goldman's asset management business in India. Ram holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Chairman of the Board of Overseers for Columbia University's School of Professional Studies. Ian Lowitt commented: "Ram is an impressive addition to our firm. His track record in investment banking, acquiring and growing businesses, coupled with his understanding of digital solutions and data analytics will be invaluable as we develop our North American business. This is our fastest growing region and our intention is to continue building our presence in the Americas to around half of our total revenues through organic expansion, new product development and acquiring businesses where we see growth opportunities." Ram Vittal added: "I am excited to join Marex Spectron as it enters the next phase of its global growth story and look forward to working with the leadership team to build market share and expand the business further in the US." About Marex Spectron Group Limited Marex Spectron is a leading global commodities specialist providing clients with extensive access to financial and physical markets across Metals, Agriculture and Energy. The firm provides comprehensive breadth and depth of coverage across four core services: Market Making, Commercial Hedging (both on exchange execution and clearing, and OTC derivatives), Price Discovery and Data/Advisory. It has the dominant franchise in many major Metals, Energy and Agricultural products, executing around 31 million trades a year and clearing over 183 million contracts. The firm provides access to every major commodity market in the world, covering a broad range of clients that include the largest commodity producers, consumers and traders, banks, hedge funds and asset managers. Marex Spectron was formed in May 2011, following the integration of Marex Financial and Spectron Group but boasts a long history in commodities that spans almost 100 years. Headquartered in London, Marex Spectron has 14 offices worldwide, with over 700 employees across Europe, Asia and America. For more information visit www.marexspectron.com SOURCE Marex Spectron Related Links http://www.marexspectron.com/ HOUSTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- McDermott International Ltd. today announced CB&I Storage Solutions has been awarded a large* contract by a major EPC contractor for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPFC) of 14 tanks in Burnaby, British Columbia. The tanks are part of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, which will increase the nominal capacity of the Trans Mountain Pipeline System from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of oil per day. The scope of the contract includes 14 flat-bottom atmospheric storage tanks of various sizes up to 185 feet (56.4 meters) in diameter. The engineering and installation of the tanks will be performed by Canadian workers. "This award demonstrates the confidence major international contractors place in our world-class storage and EPFC solutions," said Cesar Canals, Senior Vice President of CB&I Storage Solutions. "For more than a century, CB&I Storage Solutions has maintained a strong track record of execution excellence in Canada." The award will be reflected in McDermott's second quarter 2020 backlog. *McDermott defines a sizeable contract as between USD $50 million and $250 million. CB&I Storage Solutions is the world's leading designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks and terminals. With more than 59,000 structures completed throughout its 130-year history, CB&I Storage Solutions has the global expertise and strategically-located operations to provide its customers world-class storage solutions for even the most complex energy infrastructure projects. About McDermott McDermott is a premier, fully-integrated provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. Our customers trust our technology-driven approach to design and build infrastructure solutions to responsibly transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. From concept to commissioning, our expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 40,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world. To learn more, visit www.mcdermott.com. Forward-Looking Statements In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, McDermott cautions that statements in this press release which are forward-looking, and provide other than historical information, involve risks, contingencies and uncertainties that may impact McDermott's actual results of operations. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about backlog, to the extent backlog may be viewed as an indicator of future revenues or profitability, and about the expected scope of the project discussed in this press release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous risks, contingencies and uncertainties, including, among others: adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or credit markets, our inability to successfully execute on contracts in backlog, changes in project design or schedules, the availability of qualified personnel, changes in the terms, scope or timing of contracts, contract cancellations, change orders and other modifications and actions by our customers and other business counterparties, changes in industry norms and adverse outcomes in legal or other dispute resolution proceedings. If one or more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see McDermott's annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. This press release reflects management's views as of the date hereof. Except to the extent required by applicable law, McDermott undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Contacts: Investor Relations Kevin Hargrove Vice President and Treasurer +1 281 870 5569 [email protected] Global Media Relations Gentry Brann Senior Vice President, Communications, Marketing and Administration +1 281 870 5269 [email protected] Local Area Media Relations Kallise Clayton Communications and Marketing, CB&I Storage Solutions +1 281 870 5274 [email protected] SOURCE McDermott International Ltd. Related Links https://www.mcdermott.com LANSING, Mich., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michigan Chamber is concerned the Governor will veto bills that will provide necessary relief for businesses across the state. Last week, two bills (HB 5761 and HB 5810) sponsored by Representative James Lower passed the Michigan House unanimously and with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate that would provide almost $1 billion in property tax relief to individuals and businesses negatively impacted by state mandated, coronavirus shut down orders. It is unclear, however, whether the Governor will sign these bills into law. "It should not come as a surprise to anyone that businesses forced to close or extremely limit their operations for over an entire calendar quarter have been unable to earn the necessary revenue to pay their summer property tax bill which, for some businesses, is their largest annual expense," says Dan Papineau, Director of Tax Policy and Regulatory Affairs. The legislation gives some negatively impacted businesses and individuals an extension to pay their property tax bill without incurring penalty and interest. All the while it protects local governments, schools and state government from cashflow issues of their own. "If these bills are not enacted into law, we know that many businesses will simply not be able to pay their property tax bill and/or likely close. If this happens, local governments, schools and state government will incur significant cash flow problems," says Papineau. "Schools alone could be facing a $600-$700 million-dollar cash crunch unless these bills are enacted". While offering an estimated $1 billion in relief, the program would cost the state little to nothing to run. "Some businesses are still closed, and many are operating under limited capacity. In order to ensure the quickest economic recovery possible, avoid cash flow issues for our local governments and schools, and to help individuals who have fallen on hard times, the Governor must enact this program into law. This is the common sense, win-win-win for businesses and individuals need right now", closed Papineau. The Michigan Chamber is a statewide business organization that represents approximately 5,000 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Chamber represents businesses of every size and type in all 83 counties of the state. It was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan job providers in the legislative, political and legal process. www.michamber.com SOURCE Michigan Chamber of Commerce Related Links http://www.michamber.com WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, today announced it was releasing detailed loan-level data regarding the loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This disclosure covers each of the 4.9 million PPP loans that have been made. "The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. "We are particularly pleased that 27% of the program's reach in low and moderate income communities which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas. The average loan size is approximately $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses," he continued. "Today's release of loan data strikes the appropriate balance of providing the American people with transparency, while protecting sensitive payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors." "The PPP is an indisputable success for small businesses, especially to the communities in which these employers serve as the main job creators," said Administrator Jovita Carranza. "In three months, this Administration was able to act quickly to get funding into the hands of those who faced enormous obstacles as a result of the pandemic. Today's data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program. The jobs numbers released last week reinforce that PPP is working by keeping employees on payroll and sustaining millions of small businesses through this time." Today's release includes loan-level data, including business names, addresses, NAICS codes, zip codes, business type, demographic data, non-profit information, name of lender, jobs supported, and loan amount ranges as follows: $150,000 -350,000 -350,000 $350,000 -1 million -1 million $1 -2 million -2 million $2 -5 million -5 million $5 -10 million These categories account for nearly 75 percent of the loan dollars approved. For all loans below $150,000, SBA is releasing all of the above information except for business names and addresses. The data release also includes overall statistics regarding dollars lent per state, loan amounts, top lenders, and distribution by industry. The loans have reached diverse communities proportionally, across all income levels and demographics. In addition, the data provides information regarding the sizes of participating lenders and participation by community development financial institutions, minority depository institutions, Farm Credit System institutions, fintechs and other nonbanks, and other types of lenders. It further contains data showing the reach of the program in underserved communities, rural communities, historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones), and participation by religious, grantmaking, civil, professional, and other similar organizations. Click here to view the data. 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) 205-7036 Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Blogs & Instagram Release Number: 20-54 SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration will hold a virtual roundtable session on Thursday, July 16, to train organizations in Mississippi on best practices regarding the Women's Business Center (WBC) grant application process. The date and link to RSVP for the roundtable are as follows: Thursday, July 16, 10 a.m. noon CST To register, RSVP to the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-business-center-applicant-roundtable-tickets-112021994802 The roundtable will explain how to apply for SBA Women's Business Center grants and get the funding needed to reach more women business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Organizations interested in learning more should contact SBA Mississippi District Director [email protected] (601) 672-4436 or Mississippi District Office Public Information Officer Bridget Johnson-Fells [email protected] (228) 863-4449. The SBA's WBC program is a national network of more than 100 locations that offer one-on-one counseling and training to women seeking to start businesses, grow their markets, or expand through federal contracting opportunities or international trade. Eligible applicants for the WBC grant must be private, nonprofit organizations with 501(c) tax-exempt status from the U.S. Treasury/Internal Revenue Service in Mississippi. This may include universities, foundations, chambers of commerce, or economic development institutions. The SBA recognizes the importance of Minority Serving Institutions (e.g. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Institutions) and encourages their participation in the roundtable. In addition, religious organizations are encouraged to apply. Generally, such organizations are not required to alter their religious character to participate in a government program, nor to cease engaging in explicitly religious activities outside the program, nor effectively to relinquish their federal statutory protections for religious hiring decisions. Likewise, other organizations meeting the WBC program eligibility criteria and serving socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs are also encouraged to apply. As part of the grant application process, interested applicants must register and receive a certificate from www.sam.gov . The SAM.gov certification process for the SBA's Women's Business Centers can take up to 45 days. It is recommended that organizations begin the registration process immediately. Questions about the WBC funding opportunity can be directed to the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO) at [email protected] . 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: 20-55 SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov LINCOLN, Neb., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FR8Star, a trusted online marketplace specializing in oversize heavy equipment hauling, announces 269% growth from September 2019 to June 2020. This increase is due in part to substantial new developments introduced on the FR8Star platform throughout that period. More than $5.5 million in freight loads have been billed through FR8Star so far in 2020, and with an increasing number of loads generated each week, there has never been a better time for brokers and carriers to join the FR8Star network and start bidding on loads. Sandhills Global is the technology company behind FR8Star, and the FR8Star platform is fully integrated with Sandhills' numerous trade sites across the construction, agricultural, and commercial trucking industries, as well as Sandhills' auction platforms AuctionTime.com, Equipmentfacts.com, and HiBid.com. Whenever a buyer purchases an item through a Sandhills site, it can be automatically posted to a FR8Star load board, giving brokers and carriers an opportunity to enter bids and ensure customers obtain the best possible shipping rates. Customer seeking haulage estimates receive them in as little as 30 seconds. New FR8Star Developments The FR8Star platform is continually updated. Recent additions include a Broker Tier System, which designates Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond tiers to brokers based on shipper reviews and ratings, SAFER government data, and internal FR8Star audits. There is also the new Automated Broker and Carrier Quality Control system, which ensures that only brokers and carriers with valid operating status, insurance, and bonds are permitted to bid on loads. Other updates include email and text notification enhancements to help shippers track loads, a simplified process for entering information about assets requiring shipping, and new broker and carrier tools enabling fast and accurate all-in bids. 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 trucking, agriculture, construction, heavy equipment, aviation, and technology industries. MachineryTrader.com, TractorHouse.com, and TruckPaper.com are among Sandhills' many industry trade platforms. 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 FR8Star www.FR8Star.com 888-281-2269 SOURCE FR8Star.com Related Links http://www.FR8Star.com The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a social media influencer, Adedamola Adewale Rukayat (aka Adeherself... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a social media influencer, Adedamola Adewale Rukayat (aka Adeherself). She was arraigned before Justice Sherifat Solebo of the Special Offence Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on one-count charge of possession of fraudulent documents. Adeherself was arrested following intelligence received on the activities of some alleged internet fraudsters in Lekki, Lagos. The count read: That you, Adewale Adedamola Rukayat, on or about the 15th day of June, 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, had in your possession documents entitled WhatsAPP, which representations you knew or ought to have known, was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 (8) (b) and 1 (3) (d) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. Prosecution counsel, S. O. Daji, asked the court for a trial date. He prayed that Adeherself be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCS. Defence counsel informed the court of an application for his client and also prayed for a short date to enable its hearing. Justice Solebo adjourned the matter to July 13, 2020 for hearing of the bail application. She ordered the defendant to be remanded in the EFCC custody. LOS ANGELES, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) in conjunction with five regional charity organizations today launched the "Fueling Our Communities" program to provide free meals to individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, which is funded by a $500,000 donation from SoCalGas, will provide close to 140,000 meals to 40,000 individuals from underserved communities in Tulare, Kern, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties. The program will span over the summer season in 44 cities and will feed seniors, students, families and migrant farm workers while stimulating local small businesses. "As the summer season is approaching and more areas are reopening, we must keep in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and there are many vulnerable populations in need," said Andy Carrasco, vice president of strategy and engagement, and chief environmental officer at SoCalGas. "Through the 'Fueling Our Communities' initiative, SoCalGas hopes to help fill an essential need by providing meals while helping local businesses as well. We are thankful for all the amazing organizations and community leaders who have stepped up and joined us to give back to those who need it the most." The program will also partner with small businesses to help stimulate the local economy. Participating charitable partners include: Family Service Association (FSA) Banning , Cabazon , Calimesa , Hemet , Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley , Perris , Riverside , Corona and San Jacinto in Riverside County and Chino , Colton , Fontana , Grand Terrace , Joshua Tree , Loma Linda , Ontario , Rancho Cucamonga , Redlands , Rialto , San Bernardino , Upland , Yucaipa and Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County , , , , Jurupa Valley, , , , and in and , , , , , , , , , , , , and in The American Legion Brawley , Calexico , Calipatria , El Centro , Holtville , Imperial and Westmorland in Imperial County , , , , , and in Food Share Oxnard and Santa Paula in Ventura County and in Ventura County Kern Economic Development Foundation Arvin , Bakersfield, California City, Delano , McFarland , Shafter , Taft , Tehachapi , Wasco in Kern County , City, , , , , , in Sequoia Regional Economic Development Foundation Dinuba , Exeter , Farmersville , Lindsay , Porterville , Tulare , Visalia , and Woodlake in Tulare County "We're thrilled to partner with SoCalGas this Summer to provide nutritious meals to the senior population in the Inland Empire. This program will provide meals to seniors in 24 cities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties many which are in rural and underserved areas," said Shannon Gonzalez, chief program officer at FSA. "In addition to distributing meals to senior residents weekly with our city partners, FSA will also purchase gift certificates from local restaurants which will allow recipients to visit their favorite food spots and contribute to the local economy." "Kern Economic Development Foundation is pleased to have been selected by SoCalGas for this fantastic program to support our local economy by supporting local restaurants, while also feeding those in need," said Richard Chapman, executive director for Kern Economic Development Foundation. "We are thrilled to have Community Action Partnership of Kern working alongside us to implement this program which will provide thousands of meals to Kern County residents over the next few months." SoCalGas is dedicated to supporting the health, safety, and wellness of our community. In addition to supporting the 'Fueling Our Communities' events, the utility has donated more than $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations to support the region's workforce, feed the hungry, provide bill assistance to customers, and more as part of their COVID-19 recovery efforts. Together, the Sempra Energy family of companies including SoCalGas' sister California utility San Diego Gas and Electric, and the Sempra Energy Foundation have donated more than $12.5 million to those in need during this crisis. For more information about SoCalGas' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit www.socalgas.com/coronavirus. About SoCalGas Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants. SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook. SOURCE Southern California Gas Company Related Links http://www.socalgas.com WATERBURY, Conn., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Webster Bank today became one of the first financial services companies nationwide to introduce Frontline Heroes, a program for essential healthcare workers and first responders that enhances the financial well-being of those who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a thank you for their selfless service, Webster's new Frontline Heroes program offers a range of financial benefits, including checking accounts free of a monthly maintenance fee and free checking withdrawals at any ATM through December 2021. The program provides new customers with the ability to earn a cash incentive, as well as additional discounts and benefits. "Our Frontline Heroes deserve to receive financial benefits for all of the sacrifices they have made during this extraordinary time of need," said Nitin Mhatre, Webster Executive Vice President and Head of Community Banking. "This program is just one small way Webster is saying thank you. Our communities are forever indebted to these heroes and their families." Frontline Heroes includes any full-time or part-time employee currently in essential healthcare, including hospitals, nursing homes, medical and dental practices, and home healthcare. The program is also available to first responders. For every new Frontline Heroes customer, Webster will also donate $250 to United Way COVID-19 Response Funds, making a minimum donation of $100,000. The Frontline Heroes' commitment to the United Way COVID-19 Response Funds is Webster's second contribution to these important community resources, created to assist agencies and families facing financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the bank donated $100,000 to support Funds in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin, home to Webster's HSA Bank division. "Many families and individuals who have never needed assistance before find themselves in need today due to these unprecedented times," said Kristen Jacoby, President of United Way of Greater Waterbury. "Our continued partnership with Webster is critical to our ability to serve and provide for the basic needs of our neighbors in these communities." For more information on Webster's Frontline Heroes program, including Terms & Conditions visit Websterbank.com/heroes. About Webster Webster Financial Corporation is the holding company for Webster Bank, National Association and its HSA Bank division. With $31.7 billion in assets, Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, financial planning, trust, and investment services through 157 banking centers and 308 ATMs. Webster also provides mobile and online banking. Webster Bank owns the asset-based lending firm Webster Business Credit Corporation; the equipment finance firm Webster Capital Finance Corporation; and HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank, which provides health savings account trustee and administrative services. Webster Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit the Webster website at www.websterbank.com. About United Way United Way of Greater Waterbury's mission is to mobilize our 10-town region, amplify its resources, and invest in approaches that advance equity and measurable community outcomes. The Greater Waterbury area includes Bethlehem, Cheshire, Middlebury, Prospect, Southbury, Thomaston, Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott and Woodbury, Connecticut. United Way Worldwide advances the common good in communities across the world. Our focus is on education, financial stability and healththe building blocks for a good quality of life. SOURCE Webster Bank Related Links http://websterbank.com/heroes CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse announced today it has been awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM) for nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning and Removal (DD&R) services, along with other companies. "Our inclusion on this list of awardees is a testimony to Westinghouse's substantial capabilities in DD&R," said David Durham, Westinghouse president of Plant Solutions. "This is an important first step for our future accomplishments on these critical tasks." EM will issue task orders under these contracts to conduct DD&R of excess, legacy facilities across the Department of Energy's EM, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Naval Reactors (NR) and Office of Science (SC) complexes. Under the contract, other DOE Offices or other Federal Agencies may request EM assistance in accomplishing their DD&R requirements. This multiple award IDIQ contract has a 10-year ordering period, and a maximum ordering value (ceiling) of $3 billion. Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. For more information, please visit www.westinghousenuclear.com Contact: Sarah Cassella Director, External Communications Westinghouse Electric Company Telephone: +1 412-374-4744 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company Related Links www.westinghousenuclear.com CHICAGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft has appointed Americaneagle.com's Chief Technology Evangelist and Training Lead, Lino Tadros as one of its 2020 Regional Directors. With rigorous standards, the program pays tribute to the world's top technology visionaries across Microsoft platforms and beyond. Members are considered experts in their field when it comes to technology and they gain exclusive access to Microsoft's executive teams. With over 30 years of success in the technology industry, Lino Tadros has extensive experience with Microsoft's platforms and features. He has been awarded Microsoft MVP 15 times and leads Americaneagle.com's Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Internet of Things (IoT) consulting services in the Microsoft Azure cloud space. Now as Regional Director, Tadros hopes to build upon his past experience to help shape the future of Microsoft and leverage his valuable access to better serve Americaneagle.com's client needs. He has been recognized specifically for his AI, ML, and IoT expertise. "I am extremely honored to receive this prestigious award and work even closer with Microsoft, "Lino Tadros said. "I look forward to positively influencing the continuous success of Microsoft and bring that experience to our customers and partners at Americaneagle.com." The Regional Director Program was founded in 1993 and members are hand-picked by Microsoft across a number of strict standards to serve as leading consultants and advisors. On an ongoing basis, these individuals participate in strategic sessions with Microsoft's senior leadership teams and use their influence to provide vital feedback directly to Microsoft engineers. Regional Directors typically serve for two years and contribute knowledge and expertise that can truly make an impact. Americaneagle.com CEO Tony Svanacini said: "We are very proud to see Lino receive such a high honor from Microsoft. Americaneagle.com has had a longstanding relationship with Microsoft for over two decades and we are looking forward to diving even deeper into Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and IoT with this great opportunity." For more information about the Microsoft Regional Director Program, click here. About Americaneagle.com Americaneagle.com is a full-service, global digital agency based in Des Plaines, Illinois that provides best-in-class web design, development, hosting, post-launch support, and digital marketing services. Currently, Americaneagle.com employs 500+ professionals in offices around the world including Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Washington DC, Switzerland, and Bulgaria. Some of their 2,000+ clients include Dairy Queen, FASTSIGNS, Soletrader, Stuart Weitzman, WeatherTech, and the American Management Association. For additional information, visit www.americaneagle.com SOURCE Americaneagle.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE: ASC) ("Ardmore," the "Company" or "we") today confirmed that on June 19, 2020 it received an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Hafnia Limited ("Hafnia" OSE ticker code "HAFNIA") to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ardmore in an all-stock transaction. Under the terms of Hafnia's proposal, each Ardmore share would be exchanged for 2.4 shares of Hafnia common stock ("the proposed exchange ratio"). Ardmore's Board of Directors thoroughly reviewed the proposal, including consulting with independent legal and financial advisors, and unanimously determined that the proposal was highly opportunistic, substantially undervalued Ardmore and its future prospects, and did not constitute a basis for engaging in discussions with Hafnia. In making its determination, the Ardmore Board considered, among other things, that: The proposed exchange ratio implied an offer price to Ardmore shareholders of $3.87 per share, which represented a discount of approximately 18% to the Ardmore share price on June 19, 2020 and a discount of more than 28% to the volume weighted average share price of Ardmore over the 30 days prior to the proposal. per share, which represented a discount of approximately 18% to the Ardmore share price on and a discount of more than 28% to the volume weighted average share price of Ardmore over the 30 days prior to the proposal. The proposed exchange ratio was materially below the implied exchange ratio of the closing share prices of each company on June 19, 2020 of 2.925. It was also materially below the implied exchange ratios between the two companies of 3.346 when looking at the volume weighted average share price for each company for the 30 days prior to the proposal. Ardmore has a proven track record of executing on its strategic priorities and financial objectives. Since its founding ten years ago, Ardmore has developed into a best-in-class owner and operator of MR (medium-range) product and chemical tankers, with industry-leading corporate governance, prudent capital allocation, and an operating platform with TCE (time-charter equivalent) performance, operating expenses, corporate overhead, and finance costs on par with much larger competitors. As one of the few truly independent public tanker companies, Ardmore is focused on delivering significant value to its shareholders. About Ardmore Shipping Corporation Ardmore owns and operates a fleet of MR product and chemical tankers ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 deadweight tonnes. Ardmore provides seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide to oil majors, national oil companies, oil and chemical traders, and chemical companies, with its modern, fuel-efficient fleet of mid-size tankers. Ardmore's core strategy is to continue to develop a modern, high-quality fleet of product and chemical tankers, build key long-term commercial relationships and maintain its cost advantage in assets, operations and overhead, while creating synergies and economies of scale as the Company grows. Ardmore provides its services to customers through voyage charters, commercial pools, and time charters, and enjoys close working relationships with key commercial and technical management partners. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. The words "believe," "expect," "estimate," "could," "should," "intend," "may," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "project" and similar expressions, among others, generally identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made and are not guarantees of future performance. Where, in any forward-looking statement, an expectation or belief as to future results or events is expressed, such expectation or belief is based on the current plans and expectations of our management and expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that the expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. Whether or not any such forward-looking statements are in fact achieved will depend on future events, some of which are beyond our control. The matters discussed in these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, trends, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements, including the matters described under the heading "Risk Factors" and "Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" in the company's annual report on Form 20-F for fiscal year 2019 and in the company's other SEC filings. Investor Relations Enquiries: Leon Berman / Bryan Degnan The IGB Group Tel: 212-477-8438 / 646-673-9701 Email: [email protected] / [email protected] SOURCE Ardmore Shipping Corporation Related Links http://www.ardmoreshipping.com WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from across the nation will pose questions about NASA's Artemis program to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The educational event will air live at 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 9, on NASA Television and the agency's website. Robert Behnken will answer prerecorded questions from high school, undergraduate, and graduate students participating in NASA's Artemis Student Challenges. The students have an opportunity to interact with astronauts and learn more about future missions to explore the lunar surface and send the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024. Kenneth Bowersox, deputy associate administrator for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and a former astronaut, will provide opening remarks. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance, and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). For nearly 20 years, astronauts have been continuously living and working on the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA's Artemis program, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, leading to human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers the Artemis Generation ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery. Follow America's Moon to Mars exploration at: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars Follow NASA astronauts on social media at: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov As businesses bring employees back to work, COVID-19 data for touchpoints and air are essential to protect workers and the public. "Since March, we have been running samples for local municipalities and for New York City essential businesses in the financial district," explained Dr. Edward A. Sobek, President of Assured Bio Labs, LLC. In April, the lab began providing COVID-19 surface and air testing to healthcare facilities in the northeast as they convert COVID-19 patient rooms into standard rooms. "We were detecting COVID in the air and surfaces both in and outside of patient rooms," Sobek said. "We also recently started testing long-term care facilities to provide management with data needed to protect our most vulnerable group of Americans." When asked his thoughts on controlling the spread of COVID-19 in buildings, Sobek said, "Engineering solutions focused on air circulation, coupled with knowledge of viral loads in the air and on surfaces, are required to confront that problem. Stagnate air plus COVID is a significant risk to occupants." Assured Bio's web site recently added COVID counts from its positive air and surface samples. "I am extremely proud of the quantification technique Team Assured Bio developed for COVID. Our technology counts the virus concentration in a sample," explained Sobek. "Other labs only report positive or negative results. Our professional clients require viral counts to implement the proper control measures. Quantification also reduces false negative and false positive reporting." For more information, contact Assured Bio Labs toll-free at 866-546-1727 or at [email protected]. The lab's web site is https://assuredbio.com. About Assured Bio Labs Assured Bio Labs, LLC, has a 5,000-square-foot laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN, the heart of the Tennessee Valley Corridor. The Lab's mission is to protect occupants from microbial threats in the built-environment. The lab provides cutting edge molecular diagnostic tools to industrial professionals and the residential market. SOURCE Assured Bio Labs, LLC Related Links https://assuredbio.com/ PORTLAND, Oregon, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Automotive HVAC System Market by Technology (Automatic and Manual), Vehicle Type (Passenger Car, Commercial Vehicle, and Electric Vehicle), and Component (Evaporator, Compressor, Condenser, Receiver-drier, Expansion Valve, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027". According to the report, the global automotive HVAC system industry was pegged at $43.37 billion in 2019, and is projected to $68.18 billion, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2020 to 2027. Download Report Sample (275 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Figures) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/115 Chief motivators for market growth Rise in demand for thermal system and automatic climate control features in automobiles, increase in safety & comfort due to adoption of HVAC systems, and surge in vehicle production have boosted the growth of the global automotive HVAC systems market. However, high maintenance cost hampers the market growth. On the contrary, adoption of eco-friendly refrigerants and production of cheaper HVAC systems are expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future. Automatic segment held the largest share The automatic segment dominated the market in 2019, accounting for more than half of the global automotive HVAC systems market, owing to increase in adoption of luxurious vehicle segment and technology shift from semi-automatic to fully automated HVAC systems and high technological advancements in North America, Europe, and some countries of Asia-Pacific. Moreover, the segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period. Get Detailed Pre & Post COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the Automotive HVAC System @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/115?reqfor=covid Electric vehicle segment to portray the highest CAGR through 2027 The electric vehicle segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period, owing to rise in urbanization, an increase in attractive offers on electric vehicles from various governments, and growing inclination of the consumers toward e-motors. However, the passenger car segment held the largest share in 2019, contributing to nearly three-fourths of the global automotive HVAC systems market, due to rise in disposable income in countries such as India and China, higher adoption of strategies and increase in sales across the globe. Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, held the largest share The global automotive HVAC systems market across Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, held the largest share in 2019, accounting for more than one-third of the market. Moreover, the region is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period. This is due to rise in disposable income in Asian countries and the focus of manufacturers on developing new products to meet customer demands. Interested to Procure The Data? Inquire here @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/115 Major market players Denso Corporation Hanon Systems (HVCC) Valeo services Sanden Holdings Corporation Calsonic Kansei Corporation Johnson Electric Mahle GmbH Keihin Corporation Sensata Technologies, Inc. Air International Thermal Systems Schedule a Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/115 Similar Reports: (10% Discount) India Automotive HVAC Market 2020-2026: The India automotive HVAC market size generated revenue worth $821.8 million in 2018 and is projected to reach $2,033.1 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period. Passenger Car Accessories Maintenance, After Sales Services Market 2020-2026: The passenger car accessories aftermarket was valued at $128.97 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $248.41 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 8.5% from 2019 to 2026. Automotive Microcontroller Market 2020-2026: The global automotive microcontroller market was valued at $9.06 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $15.77 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast year 2019-2026. Vehicle Ignition Coil Market 2020-2026: The global vehicle ignition coil market was valued at $5.59 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $7.55 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.9% from 2019 to 2026. Pre-book Offer 12% Discount: HVAC Insulation Market 2020-2030: The HVAC market is segmented into glass wool, stone wool, phenolic foam, elastomeric foam and others. Automotive Repair and Service Market 2020-2030: The global Automotive Repair and Service Market is segmented based on part, service providers, vehicle type, and region. Automotive Seat Climate Systems Market 2020-2023: Global Automotive Seat Climate Systems Market was valued at $9,207 million in 2016, and is projected to reach at $14,048 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2017 to 2023. About Allied Market Research: 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 (USA/Canada): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022, 1-503-446-1141 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 [email protected] Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow us on: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allied-market-research Allied Market Research Blog: blog.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | SOURCE Allied Market Research DALLAS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall , the leading provider of next generation broker services, today announces the hiring of John T. Wiesler as the head of general agency sales. Prior to joining BenefitMall, Wiesler worked for Humana Inc. as the vice president of sales distribution. Throughout his career at Humana, he also held other positions including vice president of sales, broker and general agency channel leader, vice president-national practice leader, and other sales leadership roles. "John brings more than 30 years of experience in sales and sales leadership roles. We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished benefits professional to our team," said Bob Love, president of the benefits division for BenefitMall. "We look forward to utilizing his fresh perspective to enhance our general agency sales and service model to further support our brokers nationwide." As the head of general agency sales, Wiesler will be responsible for the sales strategy and growth of the general agency business. Additionally, he will work to drive the adoption of BenefitMall's digital technology including Agency Workspace, Client Ready Quote System and Online Enrollment tools. He will also help to establish opportunities for digital interfaces with carrier partners, while spending time with brokers in various markets. "BenefitMall has an excellent reputation in the benefits industry, and I am honored to have been selected for this position," said Wiesler. "I have spent much of my career working to deliver benefits solutions to employers, and I am excited to work for the leading general agency in the U.S. and to make the move to Texas." Wiesler will relocate to Dallas and start his new position on July 6. About BenefitMall Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall partners with a network of 20,000 Brokers to deliver employee benefits to more than 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses. With a dedicated focus on the broker community, BenefitMall leverages innovative technology backed by human expertise to provide the very best in broker services nationwide. Through a network of brokers and carriers, BenefitMall delivers efficient, secure, digital benefits solutions. Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for health care reform and compliance. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com . SOURCE BenefitMall Related Links http://www.benefitmall.com The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)... The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). His arrest comes a few days after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), accused the anti-graft czar of gross infractions. TheCable reports that the EFCC chief travelled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates without the authorisation of the president during the COVID-19 lockdown. And when he was queried, he said he went for an investigation. He is also alleged to be living above his means. Sahara Reporters say he was arrested over allegations that he owns four properties. He is also alleged to have transferred funds abroad through a third party. In 2016, DSS accused the EFCC boss of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore. EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, did not take calls. The DSS report said on December 2010, the Police Service Commission (PSC) found Magu guilty of action prejudicial to state security withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer, and awarded him severe reprimand as punishment. It noted that Magu is currently occupying a residence rented for N40m at N20m per annum. This accommodation was not paid [for] from the commissions finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired, a questionable businessman who has subsequently been arrested by the secret service. DSS stated that Magu enlisted the Federal Capital Development Authority to award a contract to Africa Energy, a company owned by the same Mohammed, to furnish the residence at the cost of N43m In one of such trips, the report added that Magu flew to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed with a bank MD who was being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by the immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Furthermore, the EFCC boss has so far maintained a high-profile lifestyle. This is exemplified by his preference for first-class air travels. On 24 June 2016, he flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m. This is in spite of Mr Presidents directive to all public servants to fly economy class. NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SEB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AB, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. SYMANTEC CORPORATION and GREGORY S. CLARK, Defendants Case No. 3:18-cv-02902-WHA SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION To: All persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly-traded common stock of Symantec Corporation ("Symantec") during the period from May 11, 2017, to August 2, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period"), and who were damaged thereby (the "Class"). YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California that the above-captioned action (the "Action") has been certified to proceed as a class action on behalf of the Class as defined above. In the Action, Lead Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Symantec Corporation (now known as NortonLifeLock Inc.) and Gregory S. Clark defrauded shareholders by manipulating Symantec's financial reports to create the illusion of stronger-than-actual financial performance and outlook for fiscal years 2017 and 2018, and that Defendant Clark engaged in insider trading by selling shares of Symantec common stock during the Class Period while in possession of material, non-public information in violation of federal securities laws. Defendants deny all of Lead Plaintiff's allegations, and deny any wrongdoing or violation of law. Please note : at this time, there is no judgment, settlement, or monetary recovery. Trial in this Action is currently scheduled for June 14, 2021. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION. A full printed Notice of Pendency of Class Action (the "Notice") is currently being mailed to persons who have been identified as potential Class Members. If you have not yet received the full printed Notice, you may obtain a copy of the Notice by downloading it from www.SymantecSecuritiesLitigation.com or by contacting the Notice Administrator at: Symantec Securities Litigation c/o A.B. Data, Ltd. P.O. Box 173106 Milwaukee, WI 53217 1-800-949-0206 Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice, may be made to the following representatives of Class Counsel: Jeremy P. Robinson, Esq. Rebecca E. Boon, Esq. BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP 1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 1-800-380-8496 If you are a Class Member, you have the right to decide whether to remain a member of the Class. If you want to remain a member of the Class, you do not need to do anything at this time other than to retain your documentation reflecting your transactions and holdings in Symantec common stock. If you are a Class Member and do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will be bound by the proceedings in this Action, including all past, present, and future orders and judgments of the Court, whether favorable or unfavorable. If you move, or if the Notice was mailed to an old or incorrect address, please send the Notice Administrator written notification of your new address. If you ask to be excluded from the Class, you will not be bound by any order or judgment of this Court in this Action, however you will not be eligible to receive a share of any money which might be recovered for the benefit of the Class. To exclude yourself from the Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion postmarked no later than August 25, 2020, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the full printed Notice. Further information regarding this notice may be obtained by writing to the Notice Administrator at the address provided above. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT REGARDING THIS NOTICE. BY ORDER OF THE COURT: United States District Court for the Northern District of California DATED: July 6, 2020 SOURCE Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP "We are happy to announce our new partnership between Better Family Inc., The Beebo, and The Selling Bros.," stated Miguel Antonio Vargas, partner. "We're excited to be a recognized distributor for The Beebo to our premier network of recognized retailers in our region." "We are looking forward to the start of this new opportunity," stated Carman Cook, President, Better Family. "We are extremely pleased to welcome the Sellings Bros. as our newest distributors for the Territory of Costa Rica and Panama. Miguel Vargas and his partner Andre' Sevilla Gazo assisted Monster Energy/s introduction to the region and I believe that their past success will benefit Better Family's brands in the short and long term." MORE ABOUT THE SELLING BROS. The Selling Bros. Is a Central American business that markets unique products thru exclusive distribution rights for the region. Business partners Adre' Sevilla Gazo and Miguel Antonio Vargas, Senior partners of ThirdWorldCR, an integral advertising, marketing and audiovisual production agency, created The Selling Bros. Their highly skilled sales team creates exclusive marketing platforms for distribution of unique and interesting products. The Selling Bros. apply their logistics and distribution experience over the last 25 years through Grupo Versatil. This is the perfect platform for the products entering the region to position themselves. The business, with a warehouse in Miami, and the ability to import products to the region from any part of the world, is one of the two pillars supporting The Selling Bros., alongside ThirdWorldCR agency. Both supporting companies have a long list of accomplishments, recently selected by the World's best selling rum to open the Costa Rican market for expansion to the region. They also assisted Monster Energy's launch in Costa Rica, it was Groupo Versatil who managed and coordinated documentation, importation and distribution of Monster Energy by the Arenas Stores Consortium. Grupo Versatil handeled the logistics and distribution for many years, until the brand was purchased by Coca Cola. Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Better Family Inc. NORWICH, England, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bizclik Media Group, announced today the global launch of InsurTech Digital. As part of the strategic growth of BizClik Media Group's Digital Content and publishing portfolio, the company has launched InsurTech Digital as the Digital Community for the global Insurance Technology industry. InsurTech Digital Magazine will discuss insurance technology, regtech, life & pensions, digital strategy as well as AI at an executive level. The brand will deliver thought leadership, news, interviews, digital magazine, video and podcast content to Insurance executives globally along with hosting the latest and most informative whitepapers, webinars and more to the sector. As the thirteenth addition to the digital media company's growing portfolio, InsurTech Digital promises to disrupt the B2B digital content space and become a leading platform within the Insurance Technology industry. Follow InsurTech Digital HERE Read the Launch edition of InsurTech Digital HERE . Watch the InsurTech Digital Promo Video HERE About Bizclik Media Group https://www.bizclikmedia.com/ BizClik Media Group is a UK-based media company with a global portfolio of leading industry, business and lifestyle digital communities. BizClik Media is fast becoming the trusted authority in Digital Media with a portfolio of brands across Technology & AI, Finance & Insurance, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Energy & Mining, Construction, Healthcare, Wireless Communications & Data Centres. BizClik Media also publishes the 'highly acclaimed' Business Chief Magazine community which features a global website portfolio plus individual business magazine editions for North America, APAC & EMEA. Contact details: Shirin Sadr [email protected] +44-208-054-2069 SOURCE BizClik Media Calgary, AB, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust - TSX: BEI.UN Boardwalk REIT ("Boardwalk", "the Trust", "We") today provided a brief update highlighting collection and occupancy rates through the months of April, May and June of 2020 as we continue to focus on our essential service of providing safe homes to Boardwalk's Resident Members through this COVID-19 pandemic. Rental Revenue Collection and Occupancy Update Boardwalk Portfolio - Month Rental Revenue Collection 1 Stabilized Portfolio Occupancy 2 Apr-20 97.5% 96.6% May-20 97.9% 96.7% Jun-20 98.0% 97.1% 1: % of rental revenue collected for the month as of the last day of each respective month 2: Occupancy as of the first day of each month Sam Kolias; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Boardwalk REIT commented: "Boardwalk's focus on providing safe and affordable homes has resulted in strong rental collection rates, while our approach of delivering the best product quality, service and experience has resulted in continued improvement in portfolio occupancy. Our Boardwalk team continues to utilize our lessons learned from the re-engineering of our peak performance culture through the economic volatility experienced in 2016 and 2017 to outperform in an all stages of the rental market as demonstrated by our industry leading growth over the past several quarters, and more recently, the gaining of market share through this current COVID pandemic. As our local markets begin their economic relaunch, Boardwalk will continue to work with any of our Resident Members who are experiencing financial hardship, and remain committed to ensuring safe homes across our entire portfolio of low-rise, townhome, (approximately 60% of our communities) and mid, high-rise communities (approximately 40% of our communities.) Multi-decade record affordability, and Boardwalk's brand and product diversification provide an exceptional value proposition for our Resident Members who continue to call Boardwalk home which in turn reward all our stakeholders with high-retention rates and new rentals, positioning the Trust to continue delivering on solid results. Thank you to our entire peak performance team of Associates who continue to serve our Resident Members with our safe and affordable homes, inspiring us all how to love always. We look forward to sharing full details of our second quarter financial results in mid-August." Timing of Boardwalk REIT's Second Quarter Financial Results Boardwalk REIT's financial results for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2020 will be released after the market closes on Thursday August 13, 2020. We invite you to participate in the teleconference to be held to discuss these results the following morning (Friday August 14, 2020) at 9:00 am (Mountain),11:00 am (Eastern). Senior Management will speak to the results and provide a financial and operational update. Presentation and supplemental materials will be made available on our website prior to the call (please visit: www.bwalk.com/investors). Teleconference: The telephone numbers for the conference are toll-free 1-888-664-6383 (within North America) and 416-764-8650 (International). Note: Please provide the operator with the below Conference Call ID or Topic when dialing in to the call. Conference ID: 84873695 Topic: Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust, 2020 Second Quarter Results. Webcast: Investors will also be able to listen to the call and view the slide presentation by visiting www.bwalk.com/investors on the morning of the call. An information page will be provided for any software and system requirements. The live webcast will also be available by clicking below: Boardwalk REIT Second Quarter Results Webcast Link Corporate Profile: Boardwalk REIT strives to provide Canada's friendliest communities, where love always livesTM, and currently owns and operates more than 200 communities with over 33,000 residential units totaling over 28 million net rentable square feet. Boardwalk's principal objectives are to provide its Residents with the best quality communities and superior customer service, while providing Unitholders with enhanced returns by increasing the value of its Trust Units through selective acquisitions, dispositions, development, and effective management of its residential multi-family communities. Boardwalk REIT is vertically integrated and is Canada's leading owner/operator of multi-family communities bringing Residents home to properties located in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. Boardwalk REIT's Trust Units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol BEI.UN. Additional information about Boardwalk REIT can be found on the Trust's website at www.bwalk.com/investors SOURCE Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust Related Links www.bwalk.com Continued progress in fortifying aging power delivery infrastructure and the ever-advancing transition of power generation assets toward renewable sources of energy propelled the firm's retention of its No. 1 ranking in Power for the fifth consecutive year. Along with remaining No. 1 in electrical Transmission and Distribution , the firm placed among the top five in four other Power sectors. Ranking among the top 10 firms in 18 industry sectors, the firm's continued service specialty diversification grew largely to meet steady demand for major capital infrastructure investment. "Our nation's electrical infrastructure both in power delivery and generation has been a big part of our services for more than a century and the need for that reliability is even greater in these times," says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. "In addition, our diversity of services in all 16 defined critical infrastructure categories helped fuel our growth and help solve our customers' challenges with that diversified set of skills from many industries. Moving forward together, we are committed to designing and building projects that fortify the nation's critical infrastructure that keeps our economy rolling." For the second time in the last three years, Burns & McDonnell ranked No. 9 overall among ENR's Top 500 Design Firms. Based on engineering and architectural design revenue earned in the prior fiscal year, the annual survey of the 500 largest U.S.-based design firms serves as an initial preview of the publication's comprehensive sourcebook rankings. In tandem with its strong recognition for design, the firm also jumped 12 spots on the 2020 Top 400 Contractors list reflecting the firm's strong strides in construction throughout 2019. Burns & McDonnell now ranks among the top 10% of the U.S.-based construction firms on ENR's list for the first time in the firm's 122-year history. In total, Burns & McDonnell saw rankings climb in 12 sectors within this year's ENR Top Design Firms Sourcebook, including: No. 2 in Wind Power No. 2 in Food and Beverage No. 5 in Chemical Plants No. 6 in Refineries and Petrochemical Plants No. 7 in Data Centers No. 7 in Pipelines No. 8 in Clean Air Compliance No. 9 in Water Treatment No. 11 in Chemical and Soil Remediation No. 11 in Sanitary and Storm Sewers No. 11 in Site Assessment and Compliance No. 12 in Wastewater Treatment For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune's 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all. Contact: Mary Young, Burns & McDonnell 816-822-4369 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & McDonnell Related Links http://www.burnsmcd.com COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP (CPM) is making the initial contribution to develop the Racial Justice Work Group (RJWG), a joint effort by the Legal Aid Society of Columbus (LASC) and the Ohio State Legal Services Association (OSLSA). With a goal of raising $75,000, the Racial Justice Challenge calls on other law firms, businesses and individuals to join CPM in supporting the RJWG and its mission to advance racial equity by providing crucial legal services to local black and minority community members. "Though our day-to-day work has always advanced racial justice causes, it wasn't until CPM approached us here at LASC and OSLSA that we developed the Racial Justice Work Group initiative," said Kate McGarvey, Executive Director of the Ohio State Legal Services Association. "We see racial injustices in the systems where we work, and we can and need to do more to combat those injustices. The RJWG will help us do exactly that." The RJWG will be a team of lawyers from LASC and OSLSA who challenge discrimination in education, housing, fair lending, abusive debt collection, environmental justice and public education. With a member from each substantive law firm and leadership from a senior attorney with community lawyering experience, the RJWG will address issues that disproportionately and negatively impact minorities, including issues of police misconduct. Through their extensive community law experience, an expanded community engagement plan, and connections with local partners and advocates, the LASC and OSLSA will guide the RJWG to help black and minority community members in meaningful and responsive ways. "We're grateful to be able to partner with the LASC and OSLSA on this important effort," said Jane Higgins Marx, Administrative Partner at Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP. "Our firm has a history of volunteering legal expertise to the impoverished in our community. Especially at this moment in time, the CPM team wants to advance racial equity by helping the RJWG deliver excellent legal services that make a real difference. We challenge our legal colleagues and other concerned partners across Columbus to join us in this cause." Donations to the Racial Justice Challenge can be made via check payable to the Ohio State Legal Services Association at 1108 City Park Avenue, Suite 200, Columbus, Ohio 43206. Online gifts may also be made at https://www.oslsa.org/donate/. CPM has been providing legal excellence to businesses, families and individuals for over 50 years. The attorneys at CPM provide skilled guidance in the areas of Banking, Business Law, Employment, Family Wealth & Estate Planning, Insurance Law, Litigation, Real Estate, Securities and Taxation. CONTACT: [email protected] SOURCE Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP Related Links http://cpmlaw.com CHICAGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters today announced another victory in the union's ongoing fight against wage theft in the building trades. As a result of the efforts of the Chicago Regional Council's fraud department, the Illinois Department of Labor is requiring the developer of a child learning center in Brighton Park to pay $225,000 in penalties and back wages owed for violations of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. The Department of Labor ordered Brighton Park Learning Center general contractor Griggs, Mitchell & Alma of IL, LLC, to pay $187,081 to satisfy back wages owed to workers and $37,416 in penalties. The case is now closed. The Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers, workers and mechanics employed on Public Works construction projects no less than the general prevailing rate of wages (consisting of hourly cash wages plus fringe benefits) for work of a similar character in the county where the work is performed. The Chicago Regional Council recently started a full-time fraud department to investigate Prevailing Wage Act violations to keep developers honest and fight for fairness for both workers and Illinois taxpayers. "For too long, scofflaw contractors have been able to cheat the system and pay workers less than what they are entitled to," said Chicago Regional Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Gary Perinar. "This affects us all. It takes away tax dollars from our communities, which during this global pandemic are needed more than ever, and it puts our signatory union contractors at a disadvantage for competitively bid projects. Our union says enough is enough. We will continue our fight on behalf of the working class and are committed to holding tax cheats accountable." About the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters represents over 30,000 working men and women from 19 local unions across Illinois and Eastern Iowa. The Chicago Regional Council provides the construction and maintenance industries with productive, competitive and certified professionals, encompassing a wide variety of crafts and skills. SOURCE Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters Related Links www.carpentersunion.org NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarity Benefit Solutions, a leading provider of consumer benefit technology, today announced it has been named to The Silicon Review's 30 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies of 2020. "The Silicon Review's 30 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies 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 Silicon Review is a monthly online and print publication and community dedicated to providing high-tech news and information for business and technology professionals. The publication has selected Clarity Benefit Solutions based on its industry-dominating financial services, team of highly qualified individuals, brand reputation in the global market, openness to innovation, and ability to understand the market and its customers at a deeper level. "We know benefits can be confusing and managing multiple HR platforms can be overwhelming and time-consuming for HR professionals," said Bill Catuzzi, founder and chief executive officer, Clarity Benefit Solutions. "That's why we focus on a simply smarter approach combining ingenuity and technology to create solutions that provide a seamless experience for our customers." Clarity Benefit Solutions' technology platform is highly configurable and designed to automate the entire HR, benefits and payroll process. Its automated communication, decision support tools, and compliance support makes benefit administration, enrollment and education simple. The June Issue of the Silicon Review includes a feature of the company titled, "Manage your employee benefits package with innovative solutions: Clarity Benefits Solutions." Read the full article here. About Clarity Benefit Solutions Clarity Benefit Solutions combines ingenuity and technology to create thoughtful new ways for consumers to get the most from their benefits. New ways to save time and money. New ways to provide peace of mind. New ways to be Ready for Life. At Clarity, we are Simply Smarter. Contact Clarity Benefit Solutions Krista Woolley, 214-477-5600 VP, Marketing [email protected] SOURCE Clarity Benefit Solutions CHICAGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Common , the nation's leading residential brand that designs, leases and operates community-oriented multifamily properties, today announced the opening of its new Chicago 223-bed flagship property Common Addams in partnership with Chicago coliving pioneers City Pads . Located at 1401-1431 W 15th Street with 59 apartments, Common Addams is the company's largest multifamily property under management in Chicago and its fourth with City Pads. Common Addams offers an attainable all-inclusive residential option for the often underserved workforce in the Illinois Medical District, competitively priced starting at under $900/month. "Now more than ever, Chicago residents need affordability and reliability in the places they call home. As the world changes, Common is committed to continuing to meet the needs of renters, and the beautiful apartments and thoughtful amenities in Common Addams do just that," said Common founder and CEO Brad Hargreaves. "We're so lucky to have found such a complimentary partner as City Pads to bring Common Addams to life and increase the housing stock for a neighborhood that truly needs it-- the Illinois Medical District." Common Addams tops out at four stories, 59 suites and 223 beds, with over 4,000 square feet of amenity spaces and on-site parking garage. This includes 300 square feet of furnished lounge space on each floor, a fully-equipped gym, meditation room, and remote work spaces. Last but not least, Common Addams features a fully-furnished roofdeck with couches, tables, lounge chairs, grills, and 360-degree city views, perfect for spending a day in the sun, or getting fresh air while you work. Typical of Common properties, Common Addams' rent includes all utilities, high-speed wi-fi, furniture, weekly cleanings, shared supplies, free laundry, and pre-stocked household essentials. Residents will also get access to Connect by Common, Common's proprietary technology that makes payments, roommate communication, and virtual events easily available online. "We are proud to see Common Addams open its doors and deliver on our promise to provide Chicago with its first large-scale coliving development," said Andy Ahitow, Founder of City Pads. "Bringing new housing to a city in desperate need of alternative and accessible residential options is core to our mission, and I love seeing Chicago's medical community benefit from this living experience." Common Addams is ideally located in Little Italy between the Illinois Medical District, home to the state's largest concentration of hospitals, a tech hub, and two universities, and Pilsen, one of the cultural centers of Chicago. Renters can walk to work and class, and spend their free time at Addams-Medill Park across the street. For those working in the medical field, Common Addams is conveniently located only a 15 minute walk away from Stroger Hospital and The University of Illinois Hospital, or a 7 minute drive from Mount Sinai and Saint Anthony Hospital. Common opened its first Chicago home in 2017 its current Chicago portfolio includes Common Simonds , Common Maplewood , and Common Racine also in partnership with City Pads as well as Common Briar and Common Damen . Common is offering virtual tours of Common Addams and all of its properties across the country. Visit the Common Addams website to arrange a personal, virtual tour. For more information about Common, visit www.common.com . About Common Common is the nation's leading residential brand that designs, leases, and manages multifamily properties to appeal to today's renters. Through smart design and tech-enabled operations, Common offers convenience and community to members through coliving, microstudio, and traditional apartment layouts. With over 2,600 residents in eight markets, Common is the preferred choice for city-dwellers looking for a stress-free and all-inclusive living environment from a trusted brand. Launched in October 2015, Common operates homes in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. and receives over 15,000 new member applications per month. Common is also a platform that includes the real estate brands Kin , for urban families, and Noah , for workforce housing. To work with us visit Common.com/partners or follow us on instagram at @common.living . About City Pads City Pads is a multifamily real estate investment and development firm founded under the belief that housing in Chicago needs to do better. They did not start with a building, but with a philosophy. They endeavor to make city living something special. Everything City Pads does, from how they design their lobbies, to how they engage tenants, is seen through that lens. With a portfolio of 15 buildings and $35 million of properties under development, City Pads is passionate about removing the things that make city living a challenge, so that the things that make it great can shine that much brighter. A pioneer in Chicago coliving, they are committed to bringing high-quality housing to city renters, at prices they can actually afford. Contact: Molly Graizzaro, [email protected] SOURCE Common Related Links http://www.common.com "This shipment comes at a very critical time and will have immediate impact," Dr. Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, Yemen's ambassador to the United States, told Direct Relief. For the people of Yemen, "it is a clear message to them that they don't stand alone." In countries across the developing world, the equipment to deliver oxygen to Covid-19 patients is in critically short supply. Oxygen is among the most important needs of severely ill Covid-19 patients, who often arrive at hospitals with extremely low blood-oxygen levels. "Many countries are now experiencing difficulties in obtaining oxygen concentrators," World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a June 24 speech. Oxygen availability, he said, "has been an area of intense focus for WHO since the beginning of the pandemic." Torn by a civil war that since 2015 has displaced more than 800,000 people, Yemen by last year was already the world's worst humanitarian crisis, the United Nations warned. Authorities estimate that fewer than half the country's health facilities are currently fully operational. "The worst-case scenariowhich is the one we're facing nowmeans that the death toll from the virus could exceed the combined toll of war, disease and hunger over the last five years" in Yemen, said Lise Grande, the head of the UN's humanitarian operations in Yemen, in an interview with CNN last month. The shipment for Yemen departed Direct Relief's Santa Barbara warehouse last week and is scheduled to arrive this week in Dubai. From Dubai, it will be flown into Aden, Yemen via the World Food Programme Logistics Cluster. Direct Relief partner Yemen Aid will deliver the emergency supplies to Covid-19 treatment centers in Aden, Taiz, Lahij, and Abyan. About Direct Relief A humanitarian organization committed to improving the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies, Direct Relief delivers lifesaving medical resources throughout the world to communities in needwithout regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. For more information, please visit https://www.DirectRelief.org. SOURCE Direct Relief Related Links http://www.directrelief.org The idea here is that we have a whole month from now till then. Those who can and those who are willing the states who are willing should make their schools available for their children to revise. ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) announces the following event: What: Domino's Q2 2020 Earnings Webcast When: Thursday, July 16 at 10 a.m. EST Where: biz.dominos.com How: Live webcast (web address above) Contact: Chris Brandon, director of investor relations 734-323-7932 This event will be archived on the Domino's website for replay. About Domino's Pizza Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world based on retail sales, with a significant business in both delivery and carryout pizza. It ranks among the world's top public restaurant brands with a global enterprise of more than 17,000 stores in over 90 markets. Domino's had global retail sales of over $14.3 billion in 2019, with over $7.0 billion in the U.S. and nearly $7.3 billion internationally. In the first quarter of 2020, Domino's had global retail sales of over $3.4 billion, with over $1.7 billion in the U.S. and over $1.7 billion internationally. Its system is comprised of independent franchise owners who accounted for 98% of Domino's stores as of the end of the first quarter of 2020. Emphasis on technology innovation helped Domino's achieve more than half of all global retail sales in 2019 from digital channels, primarily online ordering and mobile applications. In the U.S., Domino's generates over 65% of sales via digital channels and has developed several innovative ordering platforms, including those developed for Google Home, Facebook Messenger, Apple Watch, Amazon Echo and Twitter as well as Domino's Hotspots, an ordering platform featuring over 200,000 unique, non-traditional delivery locations. In June 2019, through an announced partnership with Nuro, Domino's furthered its exploration and testing of autonomous pizza delivery. In late 2019, Domino's opened the Domino's Innovation Garage adjacent to its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan to fuel continued technology and operational innovation while also launching its GPS technology, allowing customers to follow the progress of the delivery driver from store to doorstep. Order dominos.com AnyWare Ordering anyware.dominos.com Company Info biz.dominos.com Twitter twitter.com/dominos Facebook facebook.com/dominos Instagram instagram.com/dominos YouTube youtube.com/dominos Please visit our Investor Relations website at biz.dominos.com to view news, announcements, investor presentations, earnings releases and conference webcasts. SOURCE Domino's Pizza, Inc. ROYAL OAK, Mich., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Murray Rebner is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Distinguished Medical Professional in the field of Radiology and acknowledgment of his dedication and commitment as a Diagnostic Radiologist at Beaumont Health. Beaumont Health is a leading healthcare system known for providing individualized, patient-centered care. Since its opening in 1955, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak has continuously grown into a major academic and referral center with Level I adult trauma and Level II pediatric trauma status. A major teaching facility, Beaumont has 55 accredited residency and fellowship programs with 454 residents and fellows at Royal Oak. Located at 3601 W. 13 Mile Rd., the hospital provides the highest standard of healthcare for its community. Board-Certified Diagnostic Radiologist Dr. Rebner has led a distinguished career having accrued more than thirty-seven years of vast expertise and professional experience in his specialty. He has garnered a deserving reputation for his repertoire of expertise, especially in the area of breast imaging. In his current capacity, Dr. Rebner offers comprehensive nuclear medicine services at the Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. An academic scholar, Dr. Rebner's distinguished career began in 1980 after he earned a Doctorate of Medicine degree at McGill University Faculty of Medicine. Soon thereafter in 1981, he went on to train as an intern at the University. Following the completion of his diagnostic radiology internship, he completed a residency in 1984 with the University of Michigan Health System and a fellowship with the same institution. He concluded his training in 1985. He is board-certified in Diagnostic Radiology by the American Board of Radiology. A noted humanitarian, Dr. Rebner donates to the Jewish Foundation and his local community. As a testament to his success, Best Doctor in America has recognized him for the last twelve years. When he is not working, he enjoys the choir, the traveling, and spending time with his wife Susan and mother Dorothy. Dr. Rebner dedicates this recognition in the loving memory of his father Dr. Isaac Rebner. For further information, please visit https://www.beaumont.org/. Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com WAYNE, Pa., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Renovus Capital Partners, a Philadelphia-area investment firm focused on investing in the Knowledge and Talent sectors, announced today that its portfolio company, EDIC College, a Caguas Puerto Rico based health sciences college has merged with Columbia Central University ("CCU"). The combined institution will operate under the Columbia Central University brand and will continue to serve over 2,000 students from its four physical campuses and online platform. The merger transaction was consummated following the approvals from appropriate regulatory and accrediting bodies including the U.S. Department of Education, the Board of Postsecondary Institutions of Puerto Rico and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. "This merger reaffirms our commitment to higher education in Puerto Rico commitment that we have always maintained with our students, graduates, employees and faculty," said Jose A. Cordova, now CEO of the combined institution. "With this merger and change of ownership, the legacy of Mr. Alex A. De Jorge and his contributions to quality education will continue to be cultivated as they have for the past 54 years," commented Daritza Mulero, president of CCU. "As experienced investors in Puerto Rico and believers in the student value proposition offered by the proprietary schools there, we are delighted to bring two exceptional and complementary institutions under one platform. The combined institution will have the academic resources and infrastructure to offer quality and affordable healthcare programs such as Nursing both on campus and online," commented Atif Gilani, Founding Partner of Renovus Capital Partners. About Columbia Central University Columbia Central University was founded in 1966, as Caguas City College. It is a non-sectarian, proprietary institution of higher education committed to an environment of academic excellence and quality services. CCU is a highly regarded provider of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in health sciences in Puerto Rico and after the merger, will be one of the largest private operators on the island. CCU will serve its diverse student body at 4 campuses located in Caguas, Carolina, Bayamon and Yauco, and online through synchronous and asynchronous offerings. Further details on the merger can be found at https://www.juntedelmomento.com. About Renovus Capital Partners Founded in 2010, Renovus Capital Partners is a private equity firm specializing in the Knowledge and Talent industries. Renovus, from its base in the Philadelphia area, manages $600 million across several investment vehicles. The firm's current portfolio includes over twenty U.S. based businesses specializing in educational technology and content, higher education, corporate learning and development, healthcare services and technology services. Renovus typically partners with founder led businesses, leveraging its industry expertise and access to debt and equity capital to make operational improvements, pursue tuck-in acquisitions and oversee strategic growth initiatives. More information can be found at www.renovuscapital.com. SOURCE Renovus Capital Partners Related Links renovuscapital.com NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Elliott Management Corporation ("Elliott"), which manages funds that collectively own an economic interest of $1 billion of Crown Castle International Corp. ("Crown Castle" or the "Company"), today released a letter and presentation outlining a path to greater strategic focus and value appreciation. The materials highlight the uniquely compelling value opportunity represented by Crown Castle's U.S. tower portfolio and the substantial improvement available in the Company's fiber business. Elliott has been engaged in a private dialogue with the Company for over a month, according to the letter, which it said was made public in order to facilitate a broader discussion of the best path forward for Crown Castle. According to the materials, Crown Castle has benefited from its ownership of one of the largest portfolios of domestic tower assets but has underperformed its potential and comparable peers by a wide margin for more than a decade. Elliott believes this consistent underperformance is directly attributed to the Company's fiber strategy, which has yielded disappointing returns despite $16 billion of investment. In the materials, Elliott recommended the Reclaiming The Crown ("RTC") Plan, a series of initiatives to improve Crown Castle's performance and better align corporate governance and management incentives with shareholders: ROI-Focused Fiber Capex: Crown Castle's return on investment (ROI) in fiber is well below industry benchmarks. The Company should refocus on its highest return opportunities and target a fiber capex revenue ROI of at least 40%. Optimized Incentive Plan: Crown Castle's current incentive program is not aligned with the capital-intensity of its fiber strategy. Crown Castle should incorporate return-on-invested-capital (ROIC) to appropriately align capital allocation decisions with compensation. Enhanced Returns: The RTC Plan will increase free cash flow by 35% while still allowing for $600 million per year of discretionary fiber capex, providing capacity to increase the dividend by 46% to $7.00 per share in 2021 and growing 7-8% thereafter ($8.00+ per share in 2023). Improved Oversight: Crown Castle should address its extraordinarily long-tenured Board to improve oversight of its capital allocation approach and ensure Crown Castle's underperforming fiber business has the appropriate management skillset to deliver improved results. Additionally, Crown Castle's Board would meaningfully benefit from greater diversity to improve its performance, culture and value for all stakeholders. Elliott stated that it believes the implementation of these steps will highlight the value of its U.S. tower portfolio and lead to a refined fiber investment strategy with greater investment returns, higher cash flow and, ultimately, more value for Crown Castle and its shareholders. The letter and presentation can be downloaded at www.reclaimingthecrown.com. The full text of the letter follows: July 6, 2020 Crown Castle International Corp. 1220 Augusta Drive Suite 600 Houston, TX 77057 Dear Members of the Board: We are writing to you again on behalf of Elliott Associates, L.P. and Elliott International, L.P. (together, "Elliott" or "we"), which collectively own an economic interest of $1 billion of Crown Castle International Corp. (the "Company" or "Crown Castle"). We have strong conviction in this investment and believe that Crown Castle's premier wireless infrastructure in the United States is highly valuable and well positioned to benefit from the upcoming wave of 5G deployment. Over the past month, we have been engaged in a private dialogue principally with Crown Castle management about ways to maximize value for Crown Castle's shareholders. We appreciate your time and participation in this private dialogue and, while we currently appear to have differing views on the right path forward, we are hopeful that this discussion can continue. The purpose of today's letter and accompanying presentation which we are making public in order to facilitate a broader discussion on the best path forward for Crown Castle is to outline a comprehensive plan to remedy the Company's chronic underperformance, unlock significant, sustainable value for its shareholders and improve its businesses for the long-term. While we admire Crown Castle's investments in the wireless tower industry, we believe that the Company's expansion away from its core and into fiber infrastructure has detracted from shareholder returns and will continue to detract from shareholder returns unless significant changes are made. Fiber infrastructure businesses can be attractive investments, but it is our considered view that Crown Castle's fiber strategy has not been successful and that the return on these investments has significantly underperformed. Fortunately, we are confident that these problems can be remedied, and that the solution includes a refined fiber investment strategy with greater investment returns and higher cash flow. The result would be a better Crown Castle with enhanced strategic flexibility. A detailed analysis of Crown Castle's strategy to date, resulting underperformance and solutions to unlock value can be found in the accompanying presentation, which is also available at www.reclaimingthecrown.com . However, we thought it would be helpful to use the balance of this letter to briefly summarize these issues and lay out the key elements of our plan to help Crown Castle "reclaim the crown" and realize its full potential. Crown Castle's Long-Term Underperformance There is no debating that investing in wireless towers as an asset class has created enormous equity value over the last two decades. Like its peers, Crown Castle has prospered over the years from strong industry tailwinds and the industry-wide increase in tower valuation multiples. However, in evaluating any company's track record, it is necessary to compare its performance to comparable peers on a relative basis as a better way to assess how a company has performed within its industry. This perspective helps identify potential issues in company strategy, operational execution, capital allocation and management and board oversight. Such relative comparisons are especially relevant in the tower industry, and they are easy to make given that Crown Castle and its peers, American Tower and SBA (the "Big Three"), are highly comparable. While there are certainly differences in tower portfolios, Crown Castle sells the same "product" to the same group of customers as American Tower and SBA. As of 10 years ago, the Big Three all derived ~100% of revenue from wireless towers. Since then, Crown Castle has diverged from American Tower and SBA by investing $16 billion in a strategic pivot away from its core and into the fiber industry, while American Tower and SBA have remained exclusively focused on tower ownership and have instead invested excess capital in building international tower portfolios. Crown Castle's decision to enter the fiber industry at scale has been its most important capital allocation decision in the last decade. Today, looking back, it is fair for shareholders to ask: How has it worked? The table below illustrates the impact of Crown Castle's pivot to fiber on shareholder returns. Relative to its close industry peers, Crown Castle has underperformed on a consistent basis for more than a decade. The level of underperformance is profound, and the power of compounding has resulted in a staggering gap between Crown Castle and its comparable peers. For example, Crown Castle has underperformed American Tower and SBA by 125% and 313%, respectively, over the last 10 years. These same metrics increase to more than 400% and more than 1,000%, respectively, when we compare Crown Castle to American Tower and SBA over the last 15 years. Crown Castle's TSR Relative to: 1-Year 2-Year 3-Year 4-Year 5-Year 6-Year 7-Year 8-Year 9-Year 10-Year 15-Year American Tower 2 % (21)% (22)% (55)% (58)% (46)% (112)% (70)% (64)% (125)% (415)% SBA Communcations (1)% (15)% (36)% (83)% (8)% (13)% (110)% (161)% (257)% (313)% (1,074)% Tower Peer Average 1 % (18)% (29)% (69)% (33)% (30)% (111)% (115)% (161)% (219)% (744)% Source: Market data per Bloomberg as of June 29, 2020 (unaffected price prior to significant purchases by Elliott). Long-term stock-price performance accurately serves as a verdict on a company's aggregate decisions and its execution of those decisions over a multi-year timeframe. In this case, the verdict is clear: Crown Castle's performance can be significantly improved. Crown Castle's Fiber Strategy Has Driven Its Underperformance We are strong believers in the fundamental value of fiber infrastructure as the core foundation of telecommunications and a major beneficiary of exponential data growth as a megatrend. Owners of facilities-based fiber infrastructure can generate attractive returns through prudent capital deployment and the network-effect benefits of an expanding fiber footprint. We believe metro fiber networks with unique routes, high density and large fiber counts are especially good investments. The relevant question for Crown Castle is not whether fiber is an attractive asset class. Rather, the critical question is whether Crown Castle's fiber investment and the rate of return on this investment is an effective use of the Company's capital and whether this strategy, as currently implemented, is beneficial to the Company and its long-term value. Crown Castle has spent $11.2 billion on fiber acquisitions, highlighted by the $7.1 billion acquisition of Lightower in 2017. In addition to its acquisitions, Crown Castle has spent $4.6 billion of capex on fiber and small cells. This level of capex exceeds its tower capex of $2.5 billion by a factor of ~2x during the same period. In total, the Company has deployed $15.8 billion of capital to build its fiber business. We believe the empirical evidence demonstrates that the implementation of Crown Castle's fiber strategy has not been effective and has significantly detracted from shareholder returns. The market is penalizing Crown Castle with a lower valuation multiple than its peers : Today, Crown Castle trades at an average AFFO multiple discount of 15% to American Tower and SBA. By contrast, before the major investments in fiber, Crown Castle traded at an average discount of only 3% five years ago. This growing discount reflects investors' skepticism regarding the Company's undisciplined investment in fiber. : Today, Crown Castle trades at an average AFFO multiple discount of 15% to American Tower and SBA. By contrast, before the major investments in fiber, Crown Castle traded at an average discount of only 3% five years ago. This growing discount reflects investors' skepticism regarding the Company's undisciplined investment in fiber. Crown Castle's fiber investment weighs down its return on invested capital (ROIC) : Since Crown Castle embarked on its fiber strategy, the gap between its ROIC and those of its peers has widened dramatically. Today, every dollar of capital invested at American Tower and SBA generates 65% and 55% more profit than Crown Castle, respectively. Over many years, this difference in ROIC has had profound implications, as evidenced by the shareholder return comparisons. : Since Crown Castle embarked on its fiber strategy, the gap between its ROIC and those of its peers has widened dramatically. Today, every dollar of capital invested at American Tower and SBA generates 65% and 55% more profit than Crown Castle, respectively. Over many years, this difference in ROIC has had profound implications, as evidenced by the shareholder return comparisons. Crown Castle has deeply underperformed through the lens of adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) : Crown Castle's CEO has previously stated, "We evaluate the decisions that we make in the business based on the long-term impact to cash flow per share, and AFFO is the best proxy for this." However, over the past five years, American Tower and SBA have grown AFFO per share 41% and 21% faster than Crown Castle, respectively. : Crown Castle's CEO has previously stated, "We evaluate the decisions that we make in the business based on the long-term impact to cash flow per share, and AFFO is the best proxy for this." However, over the past five years, American Tower and SBA have grown AFFO per share 41% and 21% faster than Crown Castle, respectively. The valuation of Crown Castle's fiber business suggests significant value-destruction and opportunity cost : As laid out in the accompanying presentation, the implied value of Crown Castle's fiber business is only $11 billion . This implied valuation compares to the $16 billion spent to build the fiber business, resulting in $5 billion of value destruction. Had Crown Castle invested its capital in other areas, especially additional tower assets, shareholders would have been significantly better off. : As laid out in the accompanying presentation, the implied value of Crown Castle's fiber business is only . This implied valuation compares to the spent to build the fiber business, resulting in of value destruction. Had Crown Castle invested its capital in other areas, especially additional tower assets, shareholders would have been significantly better off. Crown Castle's low return on investment (ROI) in fiber capex is dilutive to shareholders : As explained in detail in the accompanying presentation, Crown Castle's fiber capex of $4.6 billion over the last five years has generated only $135 million of organic EBITDA growth, representing a yield of 3%, well below the cost of capital required for fiber investments. This yield on fiber capex is also far lower than the yields generated by American Tower and SBA on their international tower investments. Unless Crown Castle improves the return threshold for its fiber capex, continued investment will perpetuate its stock-price underperformance relative to peers. The Board should consider this conclusion: Crown Castle is deploying more capital into fiber than towers even though the fiber business dilutes the Company's ROIC and the public market values fiber at a significantly lower multiple. This is a bad formula for the Company, its strategic priorities and its shareholders. Reclaiming The Crown: A Path Forward for Crown Castle Crown Castle enjoys an enviable position with the premier portfolio of tower assets in the United States. Based on our analysis, the tower portfolio is superior to the domestic towers of American Tower and SBA across multiple parameters. Given the attractive locations of these tower assets in the top 100 MSAs, the Company will benefit from continued tower activity as 5G deployments ramp over the next several years, especially from T-Mobile and potentially DISH. Given our large investment, we have strong conviction in the opportunity represented by Crown Castle's tower business. It is clear, however, that Crown Castle's fiber investment strategy is in need of significant changes. The question is how to fix the present issues. One potential solution is to sell or spin off the fiber business. While we do not believe Crown Castle is the right owner of these assets, extricating itself from fiber would likely be disruptive and more costly than the value created. Especially in this market environment, we believe a separation will involve unnecessary execution risk for shareholders. In addition, while we are critical of Crown Castle's investment approach, we believe fiber infrastructure is an attractive asset class and, if operated properly, can compound strong investment returns. Fortunately, we believe the problems in the fiber business today can be addressed and the Company's results in this business can be improved. To Crown Castle's credit, the Company has assembled a network of high-quality fiber properties located in large metro markets. The demand for fiber is healthy. However, the fiber business needs optimization. We outline our recommendations as follows: ROI-Focused Fiber Capex: Crown Castle's return on investment (ROI) in fiber is well below industry benchmarks. The Company should refocus on its highest return opportunities and target a fiber capex revenue ROI of at least 40%. Optimized Incentive Plan: Crown Castle's current incentive program is not aligned with the capital-intensity of its fiber strategy. Crown Castle should incorporate return-on-invested-capital (ROIC) to appropriately align capital allocation decisions with compensation. Enhanced Returns: The RTC Plan will increase free cash flow by 35% while still allowing for $600 million per year of discretionary fiber capex, providing capacity to increase the dividend by 46% to $7.00 per share in 2021 and growing 7-8% thereafter ($8.00+ per share in 2023). Improved Oversight: Crown Castle should address its extraordinarily long-tenured Board to improve oversight of its capital allocation approach and ensure Crown Castle's underperforming fiber business has the appropriate management skillset to deliver improved results. Additionally, Crown Castle's Board would meaningfully benefit from greater diversity to improve its performance, culture and value for all stakeholders. Working Together We have high conviction regarding our investment in Crown Castle and see significant opportunity ahead for the tower business as 5G deployments accelerate and ongoing densification continues. We also share your optimism for the fiber business, but we strongly believe that the changes described in this letter are necessary. We hope you agree. Finally, we want to emphasize our continuing desire to work together. We have deep experience in these types of investments and have a long track record of thoughtful, constructive engagement with companies in which we invest. In making our views public today, we are hopeful that you can benefit from the perspectives of other stakeholders regarding these ideas as we continue our discussions. We have great admiration for Crown Castle and appreciate your consideration of our perspectives. As a next step, we look forward to maintaining our dialogue and hope to meet with you again in the near term to discuss our presentation and its findings. Best regards, Jesse Cohn Partner Jason Genrich Portfolio Manager About Elliott Elliott Management Corporation manages two multi-strategy investment funds which combined have approximately $40.2 billion of assets under management. Its flagship fund, Elliott Associates, L.P., was founded in 1977, making it one of the oldest funds under continuous management. The Elliott funds' investors include pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, funds-of-funds, high net worth individuals and families, and employees of the firm. SOURCE Elliott Management Corporation STOCKHOLM, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Itiviti, a leading technology and service provider to financial institutions worldwide, today announced that Elly Hardwick had been appointed to its board of directors to further growth and technology-driven innovation plans for the company. Elly has 25 years' experience within Fintech, serving as Head of Innovation at Deutsche Bank, and, most recently, Chief Digital Officer of UBS. She commenced her career at the UK Department of Trade and Industry, focusing on Communications and Information Industries policy and subsequently held roles with Booz. Allen & Hamilton's Tech, Media & Telco practice, and in the Institutional Equity Division of Morgan Stanley. Elly also previously held positions as Global Head of Professional Publishing and later Global Head of Strategy, Investment, and Advisory at Thomson Reuters (now Refinitiv), and served as the founding CEO of Fintech startup Credit Benchmark. Elly continues to serve as a Non-Executive Director with Axis Capital and Alpha Bank. "I am delighted to have Elly join the board of directors at Itiviti," said Rob Mackay, CEO, Itiviti. "Elly's extensive experience and knowledge within financial services technology innovation will be invaluable in helping us achieve both our aggressive growth plans and ambitions in continuing to be the vendor partner of choice for capital market firms'. "Elly's skills and experience in digitalization and innovation are a perfect fit for us at Itiviti," said Per E. Larsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "Delivering innovative thinking and customer benefits in both product and interface is high on our priority list. I am looking very much forward to working with Elly, who will add tremendous value to the continuous growth of Itiviti."The financial services industry is seeing a significant increase both in opportunities for digitization and in demand for digitized services." Said Elly Hardwick. "I'm delighted to be joining a company so perfectly positioned to support clients with opportunities in this space." For further information, please contact: Rob Mackay, CEO, Itiviti, Tel: +44-2079420946, Email: [email protected] Amal Ahmed, Head of Content Marketing, PR & Communications, Itiviti, Tel: +44-7796936316, Email: [email protected] About Itiviti Itiviti enables financial institutions worldwide to evolve their trading and capture tomorrow. With innovative technology, deep expertise, and a dedication to service, we help customers seize market opportunities and guide them through regulatory change. Top-tier banks, brokers, trading firms, and institutional investors rely on Itiviti's solutions to service their clients, connect to markets, and trade smarter in all asset classes by consolidating trading platforms and leveraging automation to move faster. A global technology and service provider, we offer the most innovative, consistent, and reliable connectivity and trading solutions available. With a presence in all major financial centers and serving around 2,000 customers in over 50 countries, Itiviti delivers on a global scale. For more information, please visit www.itiviti.com Itiviti is owned by Nordic Capital. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/itiviti-group-ab/r/elly-hardwick-appointed-to-the-board-of-directors-for-itiviti,c3148505 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/13830/3148505/1274532.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/itiviti-group-ab/i/elly-hardwick-photo,c2803813 Elly Hardwick Photo SOURCE Itiviti Group AB SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The former chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), the state agency responsible for employee health and safety standards, announced today that some provisions of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' proposed "healthy buildings" ordinance are ill-defined and may actually increase exposure risks to COVID-19 for hotel workers who follow its mandates. The ordinance, which is scheduled for the Supervisors' vote Tuesday (July 7), imposes arbitrary cleaning standards, mandating, for example, the repeated cleaning of low-touch hotel walls and chandeliers, exceeding Center for Disease Control and Prevention and California's Department of Public Health recommendations. It also demands that hotel workers clean occupied rooms when a guest stays multiple days, unless the occupant refuses daily cleaning , dramatically increasing potential exposure risks for employees. "There is no need to increase the number of times a hotel employee must enter and clean a guest room when it is not changing occupants, risking exposure to the coronavirus should it be present," said Len Welsh, who led Cal/OSHA for eight years. "This ordinance appears well-intentioned, but some of its provisions could be thought out more carefully." The ordinance, Cleaning and Disease Prevention Standards in Tourist Hotels and Large Commercial Office Buildings, was proposed by Supervisor Aaron Peskin on behalf of his supporters at labor union UniteHere Local 2. It was approved, 3-0, on June 29 by the Land Use and Transportation Committee, which made amendments before sending it to the full Board for Tuesday's vote. The ordinance requires cleaning of some surfaces without justification from expert guidance, which concerns San Francisco hotels and many of the 25,000 hotel workers. Should this ordinance pass, because of the Supervisors' decision, San Francisco hotel employees could increase their exposure to COVID-19. San Francisco hotels and the California Hotel and Lodging Association worked closely with CDC recommendations, Gov. Newsom, the California Department of Public Health, Cal/OSHA and San Francisco's public health office to develop health safety standards that exceed any other industry, short of hospitals. Those Clean + Safe guidelines were issued April 30, more than two months before Peskin introduced his ordinance, which came almost three weeks after Gov. Newsom allowed counties to reopen hotels. The CHLA standards include: Customized COVID-19 plans for hotels Employee safety trainings in English & Spanish Clear and appropriate social distancing signage Delivery and use of personal protective equipment for employees Cleaning directions that keep employees and guests safe The CHLA standards follow the California Department of Public Health, Cal/OSHA and the Center for Disease Control recommendations that have been utilized as guidance by 54 of 58 counties in California. About the California Hotel & Lodging Association Recognized as one of the most influential state lodging associations throughout the country, the California Hotel & Lodging Association's mission is to protect the rights and interests of owners and operators and be their indispensable business resource. Established in 1893, CHLA serves the unique interests of each segment of California's diverse lodging industry. Inquiries: Pete Hillan 831-227-5984 [email protected] SOURCE California Hotel & Lodging Association All three schools cite the importance of finding a comfortable, wearable solution for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that provides an effective barrier while also fostering face-to-face connections between teachers and students. The ZShield's transparent, plastic visors allow for clear verbal and nonverbal communication. They also help prevent the direct transfer of respiratory droplets from the shield wearer's mouth or nose onto persons, food or other surfaces. "Here at Hammond School, we recognize the value of a smile, something we see on a daily basis," said Chris Angel, Headmaster of Hammond School. "The ZShield will afford us a greater level of safety and more flexibility as we begin the exciting task of re-opening in August. Since announcing our plans last week, we've received great feedback from teachers and parents, especially those with students who have special needs or are hard of hearing." Hammond School, a pre-K through 12 college preparatory day school in Columbia, South Carolina, is buying ZShields for its students, teachers and staff to wear throughout the school day. According to Angel, ZShields will help the school to accomplish three interdependent goals: they will help safeguard the health of its school community; help Hammond to safely reopen its classrooms and playing fields; and re-establish the ever important face-to-face instructional time that is difficult to replace. ZShields are unique from other face shields because they attach around the neck, like a necklace, allowing for comfortable, all-day wear. ZShields also have the ability to flex downward without touching the face, allowing for lunch breaks, snack breaks, coffee breaks, etc. ZShields are made in the USA, recyclable and reusable, and the plastic visors can be easily cleaned with soap and water. The company is offering discounted pricing to educational institutions. Columbia Arts Academy has provided ZShields to all teachers and staff. All students ages 11 and up are required to wear a face covering, with the option of wearing a mask or face shield. The Academy also will continue to offer online lessons for those who wish to participate virtually. "As a music educator for 35 years, it's vitally important that our music students are able to 'see' our faces and mouths for their music lesson experience," said Marty Fort, director of Columbia Arts Academy. "ZShields are a lifesaver for our industry. During those long teaching days, this is by far the most practical and safest solution for our academy." Northside Christian Academy (NCA), a K4 through 12 private school in Lexington, South Carolina, will return to normal school days, five days a week beginning Sept. 1, 2020. Teachers and school staff will wear ZShields and parents are required to purchase ZShields for their students. NCA Pastor Scott Crede said, "We have tried the shields and they are comfortable, less restrictive for breathing and we can see our students' beautiful, smiling faces. The shields seem very durable and require only soap and water to clean. The shields should last for the entire school year." The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a statement noting that schools are fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being. The statement supported students being physically present in the classroom, noting that a failure to return could further contribute to social isolation and loss of learning. "With kids of my own, I know firsthand how hard this pandemic has been on educators, school children and their families," said ZVerse CEO and Founder John Carrington. "ZShields provide options for students and teachers to return to school and maintain valuable facetime. We are on the phone with school boards daily, talking through various scenarios that would allow schools to reopen safely this fall. We are honored to be part of these discussions and to provide requested options for face coverings as schools make difficult decisions. We will continue to work hard to deliver as many shields as possible before the school year begins." ZVerse, the digital manufacturing company that designed and is producing ZShields, is providing ZShields to hundreds of schools across the country as school systems, seeking to protect students and educators, invest in an array of safety equipment to meet a variety of educational needs, including masks and face shields. In early March, ZVerse leveraged its ecosystem of designers, materials and manufacturers to become one of the largest producers of face shields in the U.S. The company initially focused on providing shields to the healthcare community, with its ZShield Health product. It has since launched ZShield Flex, ZShield Wrap and ZShield Youth, which cater to the education and service industries, including restaurants, salons and elective medical offices. For more information about ZShield products and pricing, visit http://zshields.zverse.com/collections/available-products . For more information about the medical effectiveness of face shields, visit webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/face-shields-a-more-effective-deterrent-to-covid#1 . About ZVerse: ZVerse is a digital manufacturing ecosystem that brings together makers with the designers, materials and manufacturers they need to bring their products to life. The Columbia, South Carolina-based company is the developer of the only CAD as a Service (CADaaS) platform for digital manufacturing. This proprietary technology is the driving force behind ZVerse's effort to produce millions of face shields to support the COVID-19 response. For more information, visit zverse.com and follow the company on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook to learn more about its #BeTheShield campaign. Media Contact: Liana Moran The Wilbert Group [email protected] SOURCE ZVerse SAN DIEGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A mandatory step in the divorce process when children are involved is the party's participation in Family Court Services, and Board Certified Family Law Specialist and Founder of The Law Offices of Steven M. Bishop in San Diego shares important information regarding changes to this process in San Diego County amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. In cases involving children where the parents have been unable to agree on a child sharing arrangement, this mandatory process requires that both parents meet with a court-designated staff therapist. Due to COVID-19, these Family Court meetings are currently being held over the phone, rather than in-person, in San Diego County. Not only are there confidentiality issues with this change, but parents must now learn how to "sell" themselves over the phone as compared to in person. "It is a whole different dynamic and since cases are being considered based on these 'phone' interviews, it is imperative you meet with an experienced family attorney and understand how this step can affect your case," says Attorney Steven M. Bishop. When Is A Family Court Services Appointment Required by Law? One of the parties files a motion (known as a Request for Order) with the Family Court asking for child custody and/or visitation orders to be issued; or Domestic violence is alleged, and a minor child is identified as a "protected party." It is important to note information provided to the Family Court Services counselor is not confidential. If no agreement is reached between the parties, the mediator makes written recommendations to the court. The session typically lasts 1.5-2 hours. If you are uncomfortable with participating in the Family Court Service process, they can mutually agree to private mediation instead. It is important to discuss your options with your lawyer to better understand the pros and cons of each alternative. Prior to COVID-19, many lawyers, including Steven would help their clients prepare for this in-person counseling/mediation. Since nothing is confidential during the session, the results could seriously affect a parties' interests. Recommendations will be made by the counselor if an agreement cannot be reached during that session. There are multiple studies which show that in-person communication is more effective than phone conversations. Since these appointments are now being done via telephone, the importance of being prepared and ready to present your side of the story as effectively as possible is paramount. It is essential to speak with your lawyer and understand what to expect to ensure you are fully prepared. Should you have any questions or need to reach a family law attorney regarding these matters, Steven M. Bishop is available by phone at 619-299-9780 or online anytime. Related Links San Diego Family Law Resources Child Support Modifications and COVID-19 SOURCE The Law Offices of Steven M. Bishop, Attorney at Law Related Links https://www.stevenmbishop.com WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado leveraged $135.7 million in federal funds to advance $1,260.5 million in highway improvements during fiscal year (FY) 2018, according to an interactive tool that for the first time provides the public and elected officials a clear look at how and where the state invests its transportation tax dollars. Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) "Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment" displays information on more than 191 Colorado projects that moved forward in FY 2018. Based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, the dashboard provides the same information for all states. The top five projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included: BOULDER COUNTY -PARTAIL RECONSTRUCTION -PARTAIL RECONSTRUCTION US 34 BIG THOMPSON CANYON-ROADWAY/RIVER RECONSTRUCTION SH-7 SOUTH OF ESTES PARK -RESURFACING AND ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENTS -RESURFACING AND ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENTS SH 144 E AND W OF GOODRICH-PERMANENT FLOOD REPAIRS FEDERAL BLVD: 6TH TO HOWARD -RECONSTRUCT AND WIDEN FEDERAL BOULEVARD "This dashboard helps shift the conversation from how much each state gets to specific outcomes and benefits," ARTBA President Dave Bauer says. "Such transparency and accountability will help residents better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments." The current federal FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. As Congress continues working on a new long-term bill, the dashboard will help members of Congress and their staffs to learn more about projects and how federal funds are being utilized in their respective states, ARTBA says. In FY 2018, 73 percent of projects costs were for added capacity, according to the ARTBA analysis. Reconstruction or repair work on existing highways (20 percent of funds), planning, design and construction engineering (3 percent) and right of way purchases (1 percent), are among 12 ways the state spent its transportation dollars. Compiled by ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA Highway Dashboard features the top projects dating back to 1950. This data is submitted by states as part of FHWA's Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS). The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation's need for safe and efficient travel. ARTBA also offers value-added programs and services providing its members with a competitive edge. Learn more: artbahighwaydashboard.org. SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association Related Links https://www.artba.org WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- South Dakota leveraged $282.4 million in federal funds to advance $395 million in highway improvements during fiscal year (FY) 2018, according to an interactive tool that for the first time provides the public and elected officials a clear look at how and where the state invests its transportation tax dollars. Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) "Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment" displays information on more than 204 South Dakota projects that moved forward in FY 2018. Based on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, the dashboard provides the same information for all states. The top five projects receiving federal funding in the state during 2018 included: Hutchinson and Turner Counties; Grading, Structures and Surfacing; On the following routes: 018 and Counties; Grading, Structures and Surfacing; On the following routes: 018 County of Todd ; Shoulder Widening, Spot Grading and Surfacing, On the following routes: 083 ; Shoulder Widening, Spot Grading and Surfacing, On the following routes: 083 County of Deuel ; Mill and PCCP Overlay, Pipe Work; Replace Structure (RCBC) and Approach Grading; On the following routes: 212 ; Mill and PCCP Overlay, Pipe Work; Replace Structure (RCBC) and Approach Grading; On the following routes: 212 Lyman County ; AC Resurfacing, Structure Rehabilitation; On the following routes: 090 E, 090 ; AC Resurfacing, Structure Rehabilitation; On the following routes: 090 E, 090 County of Minnehaha ; Rest Area and Port of Entry Reconstruction "This dashboard helps shift the conversation from how much each state gets to specific outcomes and benefits," ARTBA President Dave Bauer says. "Such transparency and accountability will help residents better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments." The current federal FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. As Congress continues working on a new long-term bill, the dashboard will help members of Congress and their staffs to learn more about projects and how federal funds are being utilized in their respective states, ARTBA says. In FY 2018, 69 percent of projects costs were for reconstruction or repair work on existing highways, according to the ARTBA analysis. Added capacity (8 percent of funds), planning, design and construction engineering (7 percent) and right of way purchases (2 percent), are among 12 ways the state spent its transportation dollars. Compiled by ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA Highway Dashboard features the top projects dating back to 1950. This data is submitted by states as part of FHWA's Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS). The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation's need for safe and efficient travel. ARTBA also offers value-added programs and services providing its members with a competitive edge. Learn more: artbahighwaydashboard.org. SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says a general court-martial does not have the competence to try the soldiers who alleg... Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says a general court-martial does not have the competence to try the soldiers who allegedly freed Bala Hamisu, suspected kidnap kingpin better known as Wadume. attacked policemen who had come from Abuja to arrest Wadume. In August, some soldiers attached to the armys 93 battalion Ibbi-Takum road, Taraba, hadattacked policemen who had come from Abuja to arrest Wadume. Three policemen and two civilians were killed in the process as Wadume was set free. The soldiers led by Tijjani Balarabe, a captain, soldiers had not been taken to a civil court because they were still being court-martialed in line with the rules of the military. But Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), whose office took over the case said thesoldiers had not been taken to a civil court because they were still being court-martialed in line with the rules of the military. A court-martial is a military court where members of the armed forces are tried using military laws. Reacting to Malamis claim on Sunday, Falana said the soldiers were charged with terrorism and only the federal high court is empowered by the law to handle such matter. With respect, the offence of terrorism allegedly committed by the indicted soldiers are not provided for in the Armed Forces Act. To that extent, a general court-martial or special court-martial lacks the jurisdictional competence to try the offence of terrorism committed against police personnel and other members of the public by soldiers who are subject to service law, he said. For the avoidance of doubt, Section 32 of the terrorism prevention act 2011 as amended by the terrorism prevention amendment Act 2013 provides that The federal high court located in any part of Nigeria, regardless of the location where the offence is committed, shall have jurisdiction to (a) try offences under this act or any other related enactment; (b) hear and determine proceedings arising under this act. Hence, the indicted soldiers were properly charged with terrorism along with other suspects in the only competent court in the land. However, since the military authorities did not release the suspects to the police for the purpose of arraigning them in court the learned trial judge, the Honourable Justice Binta Nyako rightly ordered the chief of army staff to produce them to answer to the heinous charge of terrorism and allied offences. Even though the attorney-general withdrew the charges against the indicted soldiers the order that they be produced in court for arraignment has not been vacated or quashed either by the trial court or the court of appeal. He added that the AGF is duty bound to ensure full and unconditional compliance with the valid and subsisting order of the federal high court in accordance with section 287 (3) of the constitution. LONDON, 6 July, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new documentary by the Financial Times publication PWM, explains why St Kitts and Nevis rejects certain individuals applying to its famous Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. Les Khan, the Head of the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) suggests that denying an applicant is linked primarily with passing due diligence or the ability to carry out security checks properly. There are several independent due diligence layers that a CBI applicant must pass before proceeding to the next phase making a qualifying investment. St Kitts and Nevis has restrictions on certain countries of origin of applicants. Previous visa refusals with countries that the Federation has agreements with are also grounds for denial. Mr Khan says that the Federation draws a clear red line where security concerns of the country and its partners always come first. "I will be very frank security concerns coming out of international law enforcement is a no-no for us we will deny that individual," say Mr Khan. "So if the due diligence is clear from our due diligence company, but it gets a red flag from our international law enforcement group, we will deny [granting citizenship by investment to that applicant]." Asked what the Federation's attitude towards sanctioned countries is, Mr Khan admits St Kitts and Nevis is strict. Referring to relatively recent regulations, he explained that Iran and Afghanistan are two countries that it cannot accept CBI applications from. In July 2013, St Kitts and Nevis suspended all Iranian nationals and all Afghani nationals, with immediate effect, from participation in the Programme "regardless of their countries of residence." The same happened for North Korean nationals in June 2017. Moreover, citizens of Iraq, Nigeria, and Yemen are not eligible for Accelerated Application Process an optional feature that expedites processing to 60 days or less. There are also more restrictions when it comes to the transfer of funds to the bank in St Kitts and Nevis. "We will offer citizenship to any applicant from any other country around the world as long as we can do proper due diligence on the individual who is being processed by us," Mr Khan commented for FT's PWM. "Having said that, correspondent banking now plays a part in this and the correspondent banks may have further restrictions based on sanctions by the US or otherwise." St Kitts and Nevis runs the oldest CBI programme in the world, established in 1984. Applicants that successfully pass its due diligence checks can make a contribution worth at least US$150,000 to the fund option. This remains the fastest and most secure route to second citizenship from St Kitts and Nevis. On July 3rd, the CIU announced that it has temporarily reduced the required investment for families of four to US$150,000. This offer aims to create and economic safety net in light of COVID-19, although health-wise, the country had no related fatalities and only 15 cases. For further information, please contact: [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners TAIPEI, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- General Biologicals Corporation (GBC), a Taiwanese medical device company has developed the GB SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time RT-PCR ("PCR Kit"): a reliable molecular testing kit for the detection of the novel coronavirus in humans. This comes amid the continued global battle against COVID-19 and demand for accurate testing remains at an all-time high, particularly in affected countries such as the US. The PCR Kit is an in-vitro nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) for the qualitative detection of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the respiratory tract specimens such as sputum, as well as serum or plasma. Utilizing Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and TaqMan probe technology. GB SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time RT-PCR GBC's PCR Kit allows one-step real-time testing with results available within 1.5-2 hours. All serial dilutions of in-vitro transcription RNA of the target gene can be detected (102, 104, 106, 108 copies/ml < 37 Ct). The testing kit also features internal control (IC) as an indicator of the RT-PCR performance, which can reduce the results of false-negatives. Each kit contains sufficient reagents to perform 100 tests. "With an increased need for reliable COVID-19 testing solutions worldwide, we are hoping our new kits will play a vital role in containing the global spread of the virus. Our PCR testing kit will produce results in as fast as 90 minutes with over 95 percent accuracy, which allows countries to rapidly detect and contain the virus," said Frank, President at GBC. GBC's PCR kit is CE marked and has been approved by government health organizations worldwide, including the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in India, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), and Australia registration. A review is also underway for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the U.S. The kit is currently being exported to hard-hit countries such as India, Mexico and Indonesia. GBC's Antigen Rapid and Elisa Total Ab Test In addition to its PCR Kit, GBC is currently developing other COVID-19 testing solutions including a SARS-CoV-2 antigen test and antibody test. Molecular tests, such as the PCR Kit, are considered the industry standard for the detection of an active COVID-19 infection in patients but, depending on the test, it can take anywhere from one day to one week to receive the results. The antigen test is a rapid diagnostic test that detects specific proteins on the surface of the virus via a nasal or throat swab. Results are available in 10 to 15 minutes. GBC is also developing a total antibody ELISA test, a serological test that detects Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patients. Antibody tests can reveal if a patient has had COVID-19 and has built up an immune response but cannot be used to diagnose an active infection. The development of both testing solutions will be completed by July. The tests will then be exported to Europe, South Asia and South Africa before GBC applies for FDA and EUA approval for distribution in the US. About General Biologicals Corporation Founded in 1984, General Biologicals Corporation (GBC) is a developer and manufacturer of diagnostics and pharmaceutical products headquartered in Taiwan. GBC develops high-quality in-vitro diagnostics for doctors to make clinical decisions in the areas of hepatitis, tumor markers, retrovirus, fertility, thyroid, and steroids. The company also provides anti-bacterial peptides (US FDA Clinical Trial Phase IIb) in the areas of pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and oral products. SOURCE General Biologicals Corporation Related Links https://www.gbc.com.tw/ DUBLIN, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Ring Main Unit Market by Type (Gas, Air, Oil, and Solid Dielectric), Installation (Outdoor, and Indoor), Application (Distribution Utilities, Industries, and Infrastructure & Transportation), Voltage Rating, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global ring main unit market is estimated to be USD 1.6 billion in 2020 and projected to reach USD 2.5 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 9.3%. The modernization of infrastructure in the US and the growing adoption of renewable energy in China are the major driving factors for the overall ring main unit market growth. Furthermore, According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), nearly 60% of the distribution poles in the US are 30-50 years old, and 70% transformers are 25 years old and approaching the end of their useful life. Aging infrastructure is resulting in power blackouts in the region, leading to economic losses. Replacement of old power infrastructure is expected to provide growth opportunities for the ring main unit market. The outdoor segment is the largest and fastest-growing ring main unit market during the forecast period The outdoor segment is anticipated to constitute the majority of the ring main unit market share. Outdoor ring main units are installed outdoors and suitable for harsh environmental conditions and temperatures. Outdoor ring main units are demanded where there are no particular space constraints for the installation of ring main units. Increasing investments in distribution networks due do the rise in urbanization in developing countries is expected to drive the market for outdoor ring main units. The distribution utilities segment is projected to dominate the ring main unit market during the forecast period The distribution utilities segment is predicted to dominate the ring main unit market. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing demand for power, which leads to the installation of new substations, resulting in an increase in the demand for ring main units. However, due to COVID-19, there will be a delay in the ongoing projects, which will have a negative impact on the demand for ring main units in the next 2 years. The gas-insulated segment is projected to dominate the ring main unit market during the forecast period The gas-insulated segment is expected to dominate the ring main unit market during the forecast period. Gas-insulated ring main units use SF6 gas and occupy less space than air and oil insulated ring main units. Hence, they are more demanded across utilities. Also, gas-insulated ring main units are easy to maintain and operate. With the growing power consumption in China, the US, and India, gas-insulated ring main units are expected to witness remarkable growth in the future. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025 Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, followed by Africa & Middle East. Power generation capacity expansion and shift toward renewable energy sources in countries like China, India, and Japan are increasing the ring main unit demand in Asia Pacific. According to IEA, the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa requires an additional investment of about USD 450 billion by 2040, leading to an increase in the demand for ring main units. The COVID-19 outbreak is profoundly affecting both the service and manufacturing sectors alike. With more and more countries restoring to nationwide lockdown to prevent a further spike in the spread of the disease, the African economy has slowed down due to a high number of COVID-19 cases in countries such as South Africa and Egypt. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Ring Main Unit Market During the Forecast Period 4.2 Ring Main Unit Market, by Region 4.3 Ring Main Unit Market, by Type 4.4 Ring Main Unit Market, by Installation 4.5 Ring Main Unit Market, by Application 4.6 Ring Main Unit Market, by Voltage Rating 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Covid-19 Health Assessment 5.3 Market Dynamics 5.3.1 Drivers 5.3.1.1 Increasing Capacity Additions and Enhancement Plans for Distribution Networks 5.3.1.2 Modernization of Existing Power Infrastructure by Integrating It With Smart Capabilities 5.3.2 Restraints 5.3.2.1 Reduced Profit Margins of Utilities Due to Declining Energy Cost 5.3.2.2 High Cost as Compared to Conventional Switchgears 5.3.3 Opportunities 5.3.3.1 Growing Renewable Energy Sector 5.3.4 Challenges 5.3.4.1 Presence of Low-Quality Counterfeits and Gray Market 5.3.4.2 Increasing Product Cost Due to Shortage of Components/Parts Due to Covid-19 5.4 Value Chain Analysis 5.4.1 Raw Material Suppliers 5.4.2 Component Manufacturing 5.4.3 Hardware Assembly 5.4.4 Distribution & Post-Sales Services 5.5 Case Study Analysis 5.5.1 Ring Main Units for Utilities 5.5.1.1 Sc Coburg Used Eco-Friendly Ring Main Units from Abb Which Helped in Increasing Reliability of Power Supply 5.5.1.2 Tenega Naisonal Berhad Used Sabre Ring Main Units from Lucy Electric to Develop Electrical Distribution Infrastructure 6 Scenario Analysis 6.1 Scenario Analysis 6.1.1 Optimistic Scenario 6.1.2 Realistic Scenario 6.1.3 Pessimistic Scenario 7 Ring Main Unit Market, by Type 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Gas Insulated 7.2.1 Advantage of Compactness to Drive the Segment 7.3 Air Insulated 7.3.1 Modernization of Electricity Distribution in Developing Countries Wil Drive the Segment 7.4 Oil Insulated 7.4.1 Growing Industrial Sector in Asia-Pacific and Middle East Wil Drive the Segment 7.5 Solid Dielectric 7.5.1 Benefits Like Operational Safety and Low Carbon Emissions to Drive the Segment 8 Ring Main Unit Market, by Installation 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Outdoor 8.2.1 Increasing Installation of Solar and Wind Power Plants Will Drive the Segment 8.3 Indoor 8.3.1 Growing Industrial & Commercial Sectors in Developing Countries Will Drive the Segment 9 Ring Main Unit Market, by Application 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Distribution Utilities 9.2.1 Increasing T&D Investments to Meet the Growing Power Demand Will Drive the Segment 9.3 Industries 9.3.1 Advantages Such as Uninterrupted Power Supply and Fault Protection Will Drive the Segment 9.4 Infrastructure & Transportation 9.4.1 Growing Demand for Using Smart Distribution Networks to Drive the Segment 10 Ring Main Unit Market, by Voltage Rating 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Up to 15 kv 10.2.1 Increasing Commercial Establishments to Drive the Segment 10.3 16-25 Kv 10.3.1 Increasing Investments in Railways and Growing Usage in Small-Scale Industries to Drive the Segment 10.4 Above 25 kv 10.4.1 Growing Usage in Large-Scale Industries Will Drive Demand 11 Ring Main Unit Market, by Region 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Impact of Covid-19 on Global Ring Main Unit Market 11.3 North America 11.3.1 Impact of Covid-19 on North America 11.3.1.1 US 11.3.1.1.1 Modernization of Aging Infrastructure is Expected to Boost the Ring Main Unit Demand in the US 11.3.1.2 Canada 11.3.1.2.1 Increasing Investments in Wind Energy to Foster the Ring Main Unit Demand in Canada 11.3.1.3 Mexico 11.3.1.3.1 Increasing Investments in Electric Power Infrastructure and Focus on Renewable Power Generatio to Boost the Demand in Mexico 11.4 Europe 11.4.1 Impact of Covid-19 on Europe 11.4.1.1 Germany 11.4.1.1.1 Growth in Economy and Sustainable Growth in the Renewable Sector to Boost the Market in Germany 11.4.1.2 France 11.4.1.2.1 Growth in Renewable Energy Consumption to Drive the Ring Main Unit Market in France 11.4.1.3 UK 11.4.1.3.1 Increase in T&D Investments and Clean Energy Targets Drive the Market in the UK 11.4.1.4 Rest of Europe 11.5 Asia-Pacific 11.5.1 Impact of Covid-19 on Asia-Pacific 11.5.1.1 India 11.5.1.1.1 Renovating Existing Power Plants and Expanding Power Capacity Might Fuel the Demand for Ring Main Units in India 11.5.1.2 Japan 11.5.1.2.1 Focus on the Rebuilding of Power Grids and Substations Might Drive the Ring Main Unit Demand in the Country 11.5.1.3 China 11.5.1.3.1 Shift Toward Unconventional Resources of Energy to the Renewables Likely to Create Growth Opportunities in the Country 11.5.1.4 Malaysia 11.5.1.4.1 Efforts to Reduce Co2 Emissions by Diversifying Electricity Fuel Mix to Drive the Market in Malaysia 11.5.1.5 South Korea 11.5.1.5.1 Government Initiative Toward Power Generation Through Renewable Energy Sources Might Drive the South Korean Ring Main Unit Market 11.5.1.6 Rest of Asia-Pacific 11.6 Middle East 11.6.1 Impact of Covid-19 on the Middle East 11.6.1.1 Saudi Arabia 11.6.1.1.1 Investment in Power Projects is Expected to Drive the Market in Saudi Arabia 11.6.1.2 Uae 11.6.1.2.1 Growth in Infrastructure and Shift Toward Renewable Energy to Fuel the Demand in the Uae 11.6.1.3 Kuwait 11.6.1.3.1 Rise in Demand for Electricity to Boost the Demand in Kuwait 11.6.1.4 Qatar 11.6.1.4.1 Growth in Investments in the Renewable Sector is Likely to Drive Qatar'S Market 11.6.1.5 Rest of the Middle East 11.7 Africa 11.7.1 Impact of Covid-19 on Africa 11.7.1.1 South Africa 11.7.1.1.1 Increasing Electricity Demand & Investments in the Power Sector to Drive the South African Market 11.7.1.2 Egypt 11.7.1.2.1 Government Initiative to Expand Power Generation Capacity is Likely to Bring Ring Main Unit Demand in the Country 11.7.1.2.2 Rest of Africa 11.8 South America 11.8.1 Impact of Covid-19 on South America 11.8.1.1 Brazil 11.8.1.1.1 Modernization of Existing Power Infrastructure and High Electricity Demand in the Country to Increase Demand for Ring Main Units 11.8.1.2 Argentina 11.8.1.2.1 Increasing Renewable Energy Capacity to Foster the Demand in Argentina 11.8.1.3 Rest of South America 12 Competitive Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Revenue Analysis of Top 5 Market Players 12.3 Market Evaluation Framework 12.4 Key Market Developments 12.4.1 New Product Launches 12.4.2 Investments & Expansions 12.4.3 Contracts & Agreements 12.4.4 Mergers & Acquisitions 13 Company Evaluation Matrix and Company Profiles 13.1 Company Evaluation Matrix Definitions and Methodology 13.1.1 Star 13.1.2 Innovators 13.1.3 Pervasive 13.1.4 Emerging Companies 13.2 Company Profile 13.2.1 Abb 13.2.2 Siemens 13.2.3 Eaton 13.2.4 Schneider Electric 13.2.5 Larsen & Toubro 13.2.6 Ls Electric 13.2.7 Lucy Electric 13.2.8 C&S Electric 13.2.9 Tiepco 13.2.10 Entec Electric & Electronic 13.2.11 Orecco Electric 13.2.12 Ormazabal 13.2.13 Natus 13.2.14 Alfanar 13.2.15 Wenzhou Rockwell Transformer 13.2.16 Yueqing Liyond Electric 13.2.17 China Transpowers Electric 13.2.18 Indkom Engineering 13.2.19 Hunan Electric Union 13.2.20 Swati Switchgears For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1jdpa1 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DUBLIN, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Smart Sensor Market Report: Trends, Forecast and Competitive Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global smart sensor market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 18% from 2019 to 2024. The future of the smart sensor market looks promising with opportunities in the automotive, consumer electronics, industrial, infrastructure, medical equipment, avionics, and food & beverage industries. The major drivers for this market are increasing vehicle production, growth in demand for smartphones, and development of smart cities. The study includes the smart sensor market size and forecast for the global smart sensor market through 2024, segmented by sensor type, technology, network connectivity, end-use industry and the region. Some of the smart sensor companies profiled in this report include ABB Ltd., Analog Devices, Eaton Corp, Emerson Process Management, Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V., Renesas Electronics, Siemens AG, STMicroelectronics N.V, Yokogawa Electric Corp. Some of the features of the report include: Market size estimates: Smart sensor market size estimation in terms of value ($M) shipment. Smart sensor market size estimation in terms of value ($M) shipment. Trend and forecast analysis: Market trend (2013-2018) and forecast (2019-2024) by end use industry. Market trend (2013-2018) and forecast (2019-2024) by end use industry. Segmentation analysis: Market size by various segments such as by sensor type, technology, network connectivity, end use industry, and region. Market size by various segments such as by sensor type, technology, network connectivity, end use industry, and region. Regional analysis: Smart sensor market breakdown by North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , and the Rest of the World. Smart sensor market breakdown by , , , and the Rest of the World. Growth opportunities: Analysis on growth opportunities in different applications and regions for smart sensor in the smart sensor market. Analysis on growth opportunities in different applications and regions for smart sensor in the smart sensor market. Strategic analysis: This includes M&A, new product development, and competitive landscape for, smart sensor in the smart sensor market. This includes M&A, new product development, and competitive landscape for, smart sensor in the smart sensor market. Analysis of the competitive intensity of the industry based on Porter's Five Forces model. This report answers the following 11 key questions: Q.1 What are some of the most promising potential, high-growth opportunities for the global smart sensor market by sensor type (image sensors, smart motion sensors, smart position sensors, smart pressure sensors, smart temperature sensors and touch sensor, and others. ), technology (MEMS, CMOS, and others.), network connectivity (wired and wireless), end use industry (automotive industry, consumer electronics, industrial, infrastructure, medical equipment, and others.) and region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World)? Q.2. Which segments will grow at a faster pace and why? Q.3. Which region will grow at a faster pace and why? Q.4. What are the key factors affecting market dynamics? What are the key challenges and business risks in this market? Q.5. What are the business risks and competitive threats in this market? Q.6. What are the emerging trends in this market and the reasons behind them? Q.7. What are some of the changing demands of customers in the market? Q.8. What are the new developments in the market? Which companies are leading these developments? Q.9. Who are the major players in this market? What strategic initiatives are key players pursuing for business growth? Q.10. What are some of the competing products in this market and how big of a threat do they pose for loss of market share by material or product substitution? Q.11. What M&A activity has occurred in the last 5 years and what has its impact been on the industry? Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary 2. Market Trends and Forecast Analysis from 2013 to 2024 2.1: Introduction, Background and Classification 2.2: Supply Chain 2.3: Industry Drivers and Challenges 3. Market Trends and Forecast Analysis from 2013 to 2024 3.1: Macroeconomic Trends and Forecast 3.2: Global Smart Sensor Market:Trends and Forecast 3.3: Global Smart Sensor Market by Sensor Type 3.3.1: Image Sensor 3.3.2: Smart Temperature Sensor 3.3.3: Smart Pressure Sensor 3.3.4: Smart Motion Sensor 3.3.5: Touch Sensor 3.3.6: Others 3.4: Global Smart Sensor Market by Technology 3.4.1: CMOS 3.4.2: MEMS 3.4.3: others 3.5: Global Smart Sensor Market by Network Connectivity 3.5.1: Wired 3.5.2: Wireless (Bluetooth, Enocean, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Others) 3.6: Global Smart Sensor Market by End-use Industry 3.6.1: Automotive Industry 3.6.2: Consumer Electronic 3.6.3: Infrastructure 3.6.4: Medical Equipment 3.6.5: Others 4. Market Trends and Forecast Analysis by Region 4.1: Global Smart Sensor Market by Region 4.2: North American Smart Sensor Market 4.2.1: Market by End-use Industry: Automotive Industry, Consumer Electronics, Industrial, Infrastructure, and Medical Equipment 4.2.2: Market by Sensor Type: Image Sensors, Smart Motion Sensors, Smart Position Sensors, Smart Pressure Sensors, Smart Temperature Sensors, and Touch Sensor 4.2.3: United States Smart Sensor Market 4.2.4: Canadian Smart Sensor Market 4.2.5: Mexican Smart Sensor Market 4.3: European Smart Sensor Market 4.4: APAC Smart Sensor Market 4.5: RoW Smart Sensor Market 5. Competitor Analysis 5.1: Product Portfolio Analysis 5.2: Market Share Analysis 5.3: Operational Integration 5.4: Regional Reach 5.5: Porter's Five Forces Analysis 6. Growth Opportunities and Strategic Analysis 6.1: Growth Opportunity Analysis 6.1.1: Growth Opportunities for Global Smart Sensor Market by Sensor Type 6.1.2: Growth Opportunities for Global Smart Sensor Market by Technology 6.1.3: Growth Opportunities for Global Smart Sensor Market by Network Connectivity 6.1.3: Growth Opportunities for Global Smart Sensor Market by End-use Industry 6.1.4: Growth Opportunities for Global Smart Sensor Market by Region 6.2: Emerging Trends in Global Smart Sensor Market 6.3: Strategic Analysis 6.3.1: New Product Development 6.3.2: Capacity Expansion of Global Smart Sensor Market 6.3.3: Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures in the Global Market 6.3.4: Certification and Licensing 7. Company Profiles of Leading Players 7.1: ABB Ltd. 7.2: Analog Devices 7.3: Eaton Corp. 7.4: Infineon Technologies AG 7.5: NXP Semiconductors N.V. 7.6: Renesas Electronics 7.7: Siemens AG 7.8: STMicroelectronics N.V. 7.9: Yokogawa Electric Corp. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bh8nz8 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 Chris Taylor, President and CEO of Great Bear said, "The most recent drilling along 650 metres of strike length of the multi-kilometre LP Fault gold system has shown mineralization typically expands at depth . As the system broadens, we generally observe an increasing number of high-grade gold intervals within broader halos of moderate gold grades . Gold mineralization continues to show excellent continuity within and between drill sections in all locations tested to date. A new gold zone adjacent to the LP Fault zone was also discovered at approximately 750 metres vertical depth, consistent with our model of a greater than one kilometre wide structural zone at Dixie that has the potential to host additional new gold discoveries." The Company has completed 120 of approximately 300 planned drill holes into the LP Fault target, as part of its 5 kilometre long by 500 metre deep grid drill program. Current drill hole locations and results are provided in Figure 1 , and in Table 1 , respectively. Deeper Drilling on Section 20000: New drill hole BR-129 is the deepest drill hole on section 20000. It intersected multiple mineralized intervals along 173.10 metres of core length, highlights of which include: 559.00 g/t gold over 0.50 metres , within a broader interval of 10.06 g/t gold over 31.25 metres . The total mineralized interval is 4.07 g/t gold over 80.50 metres . Figure 2 . , within a broader interval of . The total mineralized interval is . The 10+ g/t gold interval over more than 30 metres is the widest high-grade gold interval drilled at the LP Fault to date. Results suggest the mineralized zone is expanding at depth. Results suggest the mineralized zone is expanding at depth. BR-129 extends known mineralization on this section from bedrock surface to approximately 400 metres vertical depth. This is one of the deepest drill holes intersecting the LP Fault to date. Continuity of gold mineralization is demonstrated by shallower drilling on the same section as BR-129: New drill hole BR-139 intersected the same mineralized zone 100 metres vertically above BR-129. Assays include 32.41 g/t gold over 3.75 metres, within a broader interval of 13.18 g/t gold over 9.75 metres. intersected the same mineralized zone 100 metres vertically above BR-129. Assays include within a broader interval of Previously reported drill hole BR-137 ( June 8, 2020 ) intersected the same zone 100 metres vertically above BR-139, assaying 31.33 g/t gold over 20.55 metres . ) intersected the same zone 100 metres vertically above BR-139, assaying 31.33 g/t gold over 20.55 metres All four of the drill holes on section 20000 contain mineralized intervals of approximately 100 g/t gold over at least 0.50 metres, with two of the drill holes having intervals of greater than 500 g/t gold over at least 0.50 metres width. The mineralized zone projects to the bedrock surface and remains open at depth. Increased Zone Thickness on Section 20600: A significant increase in apparent thickness of the LP Fault gold mineralized zone was drilled 600 metres to the northwest of BR-129 on drill section 20600: New drill hole BR-142 was completed in a 240 vertical metre gap in drill section 20600. Figure 3 . was completed in a 240 vertical metre gap in drill section 20600. . BR-142 intersected multiple gold intervals along 454.45 metres of core length. of core length. Together with previously reported drill hole BR-067 ( February 13, 2020 ; also see Figure 3), drilling suggests a significant apparent thickening of the LP Fault gold system on this section at increasing depth. ; also see Figure 3), drilling suggests a Highlight intervals include: 32.39 g/t gold over 4.25 metres, which included 112.00 g/t gold over 0.50 metres, and which included and 26.49 g/t gold over 8.85 metres, which included 197.00 g/t gold over 1.00 metre. which included Both intervals above occur within a broader interval of 7.26 g/t gold over 53.50 metres. Additional gold intervals include 1.41 g/t gold over 26.00 metres , which includes 4.22 g/t gold over 4.50 metres, and 1.54 g/t gold over 37.50 metres , which includes 4.85 g/t gold over 4.55 metres , which includes and , which includes Previously reported drill hole BR-037 is located on the same section 100 metres vertically above BR-142. It contained multiple gold intervals along 366.95 metres of core length, including 16.60 g/t gold over 6.0 metres, 35.96 g/t gold over 1.73 metres within a broader interval of 2.01 g/t gold over 66.06 metres, and 59.05 g/t gold over 1.60 metres within a broader interval of 5.60 g/t gold over 25.25 metres ( October 30, 2019 ). ). All four drill holes on section 20600 intersected similar gold mineralization. Results suggest strong apparent continuity of gold mineralization along approximately 500 vertical metres which remains open at depth. New Gold Zone on Section 20650: The deepest drilling completed to date at the LP Fault has intersected increased apparent thicknesses of gold mineralization at greater depths, and discovered a new gold zone in the hanging wall of the LP Fault: New drill hole BR-140 intersected multiple gold intervals along 725.00 metres of core length . Figure 4 . intersected multiple gold intervals along . . Highlights include 15.45 g/t gold over 3.50 metres , within a broader interval of 2.09 g/t gold over 66.00 metres, and 6.61 g/t gold over 4.50 metres , within a broader interval of 1.61 g/t gold over 36.00 metres . , within a broader interval of and , within a broader interval of . At 867.00 to 877.00 metres down hole, corresponding to a vertical depth of approximately 750 metres, drill hole BR-140 intersected a new gold zone within the mafic hanging wall rocks immediately adjacent to the LP Fault zone , assaying 7.20 g/t gold over 1.50 metres , within a broader interval of 1.15 g/t gold over 10.00 metres. , assaying , within a broader interval of 1.15 g/t gold over 10.00 metres. Future drilling of the LP Fault will include similar drill holes that penetrate into the LP Fault hanging wall at depth, in order to test for extensions to this new zone, and potential additional parallel zones. New drill hole BR-141 intersected the LP Fault zone 100 metres vertically below BR-140 and returned multiple gold intervals along 482.90 metres of core length . Highlight intervals include (also refer to Table 1 ): intersected the LP Fault zone 100 metres vertically below BR-140 and returned multiple gold intervals along . Highlight intervals include (also refer to ): 28.60 g/t gold over 2.00 metres , within a broader interval of 3.58 g/t gold over 22.00 metres; and , within a broader interval of and 61.91 g/t gold over 1.00 metre , within a broader interval of 2.47 g/t gold over 77.70 metres ; and , within a broader interval of ; and 5.29 g/t gold over 7.50 metres. Drill section 20650 also includes previously reported drill hole BR-118 which returned 18.57 g/t gold over 13.00 metres , including 132.00 g/t gold over 0.50 metres , within a broader interval of 2.67 g/t over 104.15 metres ( May 4, 2020 ). , including , within a broader interval of ( ). All three drill holes on section 20650 intersected similar gold mineralization. Results suggest strong apparent continuity of gold mineralization along approximately 400 vertical metres which remains open at depth. Approximately 180 drill holes remain to be completed as part of the Company's ongoing fully funded 2020 LP Fault drill program. Additional drill holes are also planned into the Dixie Limb, Hinge and Arrow zones, in addition to other regional targets. The Company remains fully funded for this work. Figure 1: Location of drill sections provided as figures in this release. Table 1: Current drill results. Drill sections are arranged from southeast (top of Table) to northwest (bottom of Table), corresponding to the map provided in Figure 1. Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Width* (m) Gold (g/t) Drill Section BR-129 231.90 259.00 27.10 2.01 20000 including 244.70 249.50 4.80 8.00 and including 248.50 249.50 1.00 25.63 and including 257.00 257.50 0.50 20.70 and 346.50 427.00 80.50 4.07 including 388.75 420.00 31.25 10.06 and including 403.00 405.00 2.00 143.63 and including 404.50 405.00 0.50 559.00 BR-139 185.50 193.00 7.50 12.77 20000 including 186.75 188.25 1.50 63.17 and including 187.25 187.75 0.50 134.00 and 284.50 306.75 22.25 2.44 including 293.25 304.00 10.75 4.22 and including 298.50 304.00 5.50 6.22 and 310.50 320.25 9.75 13.18 including 314.25 319.75 5.50 22.81 and including 316.00 319.75 3.75 32.41 and including 317.70 318.20 0.50 96.50 and including 316.00 317.00 1.00 52.10 BR-142 126.00 179.50 53.50 7.26 20600 including 136.75 141.00 4.25 32.39 and including 136.75 137.25 0.50 112.00 and including 140.00 141.00 1.00 51.27 and including 164.50 173.35 8.85 26.49 and including 169.40 173.35 3.95 57.32 and including 172.35 173.35 1.00 197.00 and 183.00 209.00 26.00 1.41 including 184.00 188.50 4.50 4.22 and 213.00 250.50 37.50 1.54 including 213.70 218.25 4.55 4.85 and including 231.00 237.50 6.50 2.67 and 274.00 321.50 47.50 0.42 and 497.00 498.00 1.00 3.46 and 504.00 505.00 1.00 3.77 and 532.80 580.45 47.65 0.42 BR-140 151.00 187.00 36.00 1.61 20650 including 162.00 181.70 19.70 2.42 and including 164.00 168.50 4.50 6.61 and 199.00 265.00 66.00 2.09 including 219.00 257.70 38.70 3.31 and including 219.00 231.00 12.00 6.04 and including 227.50 231.00 3.50 15.45 and including 253.00 257.70 4.70 6.88 and including 257.20 257.70 0.50 40.10 and 867.00 877.00 10.00 1.15 including 874.50 876.00 1.50 7.20 BR-141 194.00 216.00 22.00 3.58 20650 including 199.50 208.00 8.50 8.70 and including 206.00 208.00 2.00 28.60 and including 207.00 208.00 1.00 52.90 and 219.50 333.70 114.20 1.80 including 239.00 316.70 77.70 2.47 and including 271.00 312.60 41.60 3.87 and including 273.50 274.50 1.00 61.91 and including 273.50 274.00 0.50 120.00 and including 297.00 304.50 7.50 5.29 and 675.90 676.90 1.00 3.83 *Widths are drill indicated core length, as insufficient drilling has been undertaken to determine true widths at this time. Average grades are calculated with un-capped gold assays, as insufficient drilling has been completed to determine capping levels for higher grade gold intercepts. Average widths are calculated using a 0.10 g/t gold cut-off grade with up to 3 m of internal dilution of zero grade. Figure 2: Cross section 20000. BR-129 contains the widest high-grade gold interval drilled along the LP Fault to date. All drill holes on this section contain intercepts of greater than 100 g/t gold, and apparent continuity of mineralization for approximately 400 vertical metres. Figure 3: Drill section 20600 showing BR-142 and adjacent drill holes suggesting vertical continuity of approximately 400 metres from surface which remains open to extension and is generally widening with depth. Figure 4: Drill section 20650 showing BR-140 and BR-141. The new hanging wall zone hosted by mafic rocks is shown at depth adjacent to the LP Fault zone. Updated drill collar locations, azimuths and dips, together with an updated complete assay table for the LP Fault drilling to-date will be posted to the Company's web site at www.greatbearresources.ca. Drill collar locations, azimuths and dips for the drill holes included in this release are provided in the table below: Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Depth Dip Azimuth BR-129 457633 5634143 360 705 -62 209 BR-139 457599 5634085 358 468 -60 208 BR-140 456955 5634239 356 958 -68 214 BR-141 456985 5634286 356 864 -68 213 BR-142 457041 5634242 357 645 -60 213 About the Dixie Project The Dixie Project is 100% owned, comprised of 9,140 hectares of contiguous claims that extend over 22 kilometres, and is located approximately 25 kilometres southeast of the town of Red Lake, Ontario. The project is accessible year-round via a 15 minute drive on a paved highway which runs the length of the northern claim boundary and a network of well-maintained logging roads. The Dixie Project hosts two principle styles of gold mineralization: High-grade gold in quartz veins and silica-sulphide replacement zones (Dixie Limb, Hinge and Arrow zones) . Hosted by mafic volcanic rocks and localized near regional-scale D2 fold axes. These mineralization styles are also typical of the significant mined deposits of the Red Lake district. . Hosted by mafic volcanic rocks and localized near regional-scale D2 fold axes. These mineralization styles are also typical of the significant mined deposits of the district. High-grade disseminated gold with broad moderate to lower grade envelopes (LP Fault). The LP Fault is a significant gold-hosting structure which has been seismically imaged to extend to 14 kilometres depth (Zeng and Calvert , 2006), and has been interpreted by Great Bear to have up to 18 kilometres of strike length on the Dixie property. High-grade gold mineralization is controlled by structural and geological contacts, and moderate to lower-grade disseminated gold surrounds and flanks the high-grade intervals. The dominant gold-hosting stratigraphy consists of felsic sediments and volcanic units. About Great Bear Great Bear Resources Ltd. is a well-financed gold exploration company managed by a team with a track record of success in mineral exploration. Great Bear is focused in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwest Ontario, where the company controls over 300 km2 of highly prospective tenure across 4 projects: the flagship Dixie Project (100% owned), the Pakwash Property (earning a 100% interest), the Dedee Property (earning a 100% interest), and the Sobel Property (earning a 100% interest), all of which are accessible year-round through existing roads. QA/QC and Core Sampling Protocols Drill core is logged and sampled in a secure core storage facility located in Red Lake Ontario. Core samples from the program are cut in half, using a diamond cutting saw, and are sent to Activation Laboratories in Ontario, an accredited mineral analysis laboratory, for analysis. All samples are analysed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning over 10.0 g/t gold are analysed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. Pulps from approximately 5% of the gold mineralized samples are submitted for check analysis to a second lab. Selected samples are also chosen for duplicate assay from the coarse reject of the original sample. Selected samples with visible gold are also analyzed with a standard 1 kg metallic screen fire assay. Certified gold reference standards, blanks and field duplicates are routinely inserted into the sample stream, as part of Great Bear's quality control/quality assurance program (QAQC). No QAQC issues were noted with the results reported herein. Qualified Person and NI 43-101 Disclosure Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Director and VP Exploration, and Ms. Andrea Diakow P.Geo, Exploration Manager for Great Bear are the Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the accuracy of technical information contained in this news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Chris Taylor" Chris Taylor, President and CEO Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. The forward-looking information contained herein is provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information are based on management of the parties' reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on such management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Great Bear undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. 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. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. SOURCE Great Bear Resources Ltd. NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer opens its new season as the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests continue to ripple across the globe, while the U.S. approaches a deeply polarizing presidential election. Season 3 of the award-winning weekly global affairs series launches nationwide on public television beginning Friday, July 10 (check local listings) . Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and embattled Filipina journalist Maria Ressa are among the program's first guests this season. In New York, GZERO WORLD airs on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. on THIRTEEN and is available to stream at thirteen.org/gzeroworld . Host Ian Bremmer provides insightful commentary and analysis as the "new normal" emerges, and in-depth interviews with the world leaders and thought leaders shaping our future. Some themes and topics explored this season include the increasingly contentious relationship between the U.S. and China and what it means for the rest of the world; voting and election security in the U.S.; vaccine development and virus eradication; the developing world and international relief efforts; inequality in the U.S. and around the globe; and the future of work, cities and higher education in a post-pandemic reality. In its previous season, GZERO WORLD hosted news-making interviews with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Colombian President Ivan Duque, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Khar and renowned epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, among many others. The series also visited an American living in Wuhan, China at the height of the pandemic; an international school in Tokyo closed by COVID-19; and a Syrian refugee beginning a new life in Munich, Germany. Select episodes conclude with "Puppet Regime," a political satire series that features puppet versions of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Kim Jong-un, Mark Zuckerberg, Boris Johnson, host Ian Bremmer and many others, for an irreverent take on the stories of the moment. Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. He is also president and founder of GZERO Media, a Eurasia Group company, dedicated to providing the public with intelligent and engaging coverage of global affairs. Bremmer is a thought leader, best-selling author and noted lecturer, regularly expressing his views on political issues in public speeches, television appearances and top publications, including TIME, where he is a foreign affairs columnist and editor at large. GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer is executive produced by Alexsandra Sanford, Tony Maciulis, and Ian Bremmer for GZERO Media. Alex Gibson is senior producer, Anabela da Silva is Senior Video Editor and Adam Powers is Video Editor. David Ariosto is Senior Producer at Large. Alexander Kliment is director, writer and performer for the "Puppet Regime" feature. The series is presented by Creative News Group LLC for WNET. Neal Shapiro and Stephen Segaller are executives in charge for WNET. Distributed nationally by American Public Television. The founding funder of GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer is First Republic. Additional support is provided by Prologis, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Harold J. Newman, Margot and Tom Pritzker, and James and Merryl Tisch. About GZERO Media GZERO Media is a company dedicated to providing the public with intelligent and engaging coverage of global affairs. It was created in 2017 as a subsidiary of Eurasia Group, the world's leading political risk analysis firm. In addition to producing the national public television program GZERO World with Ian Bremmer and its companion podcast, GZERO Media publishes the regular newsletter Signal, and daily text and video stories at gzeromedia.com and across social media channels. About WNET WNET is America's flagship PBS station: parent company of New York's THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere. About APT American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation's public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and more than one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT's diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children's series and news and current affairs programs. Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated, AfroPoP, Rick Steves' Europe, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television, Front and Center, Lidia's Kitchen, Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, James Patterson's Kid Stew and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT's programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes CreateTV featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming and WORLD, public television's premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org. SOURCE THIRTEEN/WNET New York Related Links http://www.thirteen.org WASHINGTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- i-Ready Personalized Instruction (i-Ready) for Reading and Mathematics has earned the Research-Based Design Product Certification from Digital Promise. The new product certification is intended to serve as a rigorous, reliable signal for consumers, including school administrators, educators, and families, who are looking for evidence of research-based educational technology (edtech) products. Curriculum Associates submitted evidence to Digital Promise confirming a link between research on how students learn and the design of i-Ready for Reading and Mathematics. "i-Ready, like all of our programs, is grounded in extensive and timely educational research," said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. "This third-party review and certification by Digital Promise further underscores our commitment to high-quality research, including foundational research, to continuously improve the overall power of i-Ready in helping to support success for all students." "Schools and families want to know which edtech products can actually help students learn," said Karen Cator, president and CEO of Digital Promise. "Digital Promise's Product Certifications are designed to help strengthen consumers' confidence in choosing research-based products, while recognizing product developers doing the important work of incorporating valid research into their designs." After nearly a decade of edtech marketplace research, Digital Promise recognized that while consumers want to know whether a product will improve learning, there is a strong distrust of product-authored studies. Additionally, edtech efficacy or pilot studies conducted once products were already chosen were found to be largely impacted by contextual factors like educator buy-in or a school's technology infrastructure. Through Product Certifications, consumers can narrow their options as they select products by identifying edtech that is truly based in research about learning before trying it out in their classrooms. The Research-Based Design Product Certification uses a competency-based learning framework, developed in consultation with Digital Promise's Learner Variability Project advisory board, expert researchers in the Learning Sciences field, and dozens of educators across the United States. Further detail about its development can be found in Digital Promise's new report, "Designing Edtech That Matters for Learning: Research-Based Design Product Certifications." All developers, educators, edtech investors, and families are also encouraged to sign the Research-Based Product Promise and demand high-quality, research-driven products that support each unique learner. More information on Digital Promise's Product Certifications can be found at ProductCertifications.DigitalPromise.org. About Curriculum Associates Founded in 1969, Curriculum Associates, LLC designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company's products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students. About Digital Promise Digital Promise is a nonprofit organization that builds powerful networks and takes on grand challenges by working at the intersection of researchers, entrepreneurs, and educators. Our vision is that all people, at every stage of their lives, have access to learning experiences that help them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to thrive and continuously learn in an ever-changing world. For more information, visit the Digital Promise website and follow @DigitalPromise for updates. SOURCE Curriculum Associates BOSTON, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In July 2020, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology announced a standardised UK system for detecting coronavirus in wastewater, to provide an early warning of future outbreaks, reducing the reliance of testing large populations. Sewage surveillance is one of the most promising methods to identify hotspots. The virus can be detected in the sewerage and wastewater supplies and indicate the potential for a major outbreak. Using sensors to detect pollutants in wastewater is not a new concept. Currently, facilities require checks of pollution levels such as COD, BOD, and trace metals. Instant identification of viruses in the wastewater can narrow locations to a potential outbreak, preventing further harm before the virus has had a chance to take hold. This type of sensor network will have a lasting positive impact on many communities. The UK detection system is being orchestrated by the UK government, consulting with universities, water companies and public research bodies. It aims to act in a similar way to that used in the Netherlands, run by the RIVM (the national institute for public health). This type of research will be beneficial as it will provide the funding for developing new and creative sensor solutions to monitoring wastewater from residential and industrial locations. But why are new sensors useful? The methods by which waste-water companies have their supplies monitored for pollution incident identification have not changed in many years. These tried and tested processes require a worker to physically remove a sample, store it, and then take it to a lab where it is analysed. For some pollution identifying contaminants, this process from start-to-finish can take up to 10 days. As a result, it is common to log pollution incidents after it has had an impact on the community and environment. This raises the question - why the sensors cannot operate remotely? If they could, they would provide continuous monitoring levels, and give the waste-water companies a chance to identify pollution incidents earlier. The main barriers to adoption are simple: a lack of funding and a lack of desire to change. However, the plight of COVID will likely be the match to start this change. IDTechEx predicts that the monitoring of the water and waste-water industry will be over 2Bn by 2030. These monitoring sensors will be beneficial to the population and their surrounding environments. Overall, although there are sizeable start-up costs, research by IDTechEx predicts that the benefits will outweigh these costs. Continuous monitoring of waste-water systems occurs in other industries (such as semi-conductor manufacturing), to monitor trace metals. These sensors and technologies could be used in potable water and waste-water supplies for similar monitoring. Not only this, but waste-water plants which closely monitor their processes can also increase their power efficiency. Pumps and blowers, for example, can be run at higher power levels only when they are required, based off monitoring measurements. The introduction of sensors into these industries can lead to increases in efficiency for the plants, reduction in pollution from contaminants or waste materials, and more. The plight of COVID has highlighted this is a market which can benefit from the collaboration between technology companies and water and waste-water providers. For a complete overview of the sensors used in waste-water, please refer to the IDTechEx report, "Sensors in the Water and Wastewater Treatment Industries 2020-2030" by visiting www.IDTechEx.com/DigitalWater. This report falls within the Agtech portfolio. This report includes market forecasts, player profiles, investments, and comprehensive company lists. This report is an essential read for those looking for a deep understanding of the use of sensors in the water and waste-water industries. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com. IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. Media Contact: Natalie Moreton Digital Marketing Manager [email protected] +44-(0)-1223-812-300 SOURCE IDTechEx DENVER, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As government and corporations across the world develop post-COVID-19 action plans for responsibly reopening, some businesses are scrambling to keep up with the demand for thermal cameras, which many believe can help identify novel coronavirus cases via elevated temperature detection. These devices are also known as NCIT or non-contact infrared thermometers. We have seen many RFPs from governmental agencies for temperature and thermal sensing devices. Federal such FEMA and the Veterans Administration among them. Temperature Check Kiosk Advisory There are several pitfalls and challenges with this technology when it comes to detecting somebody with elevated body temperature. The solutions range from sub-$1000 to over $30K depending on accuracy, regulatory certification and more. The KMA reminds the public that declared compliance is only a form of self-regulation. Self-declared UL or EMV compliance is not the same as UL-certified for example. Some thermal imagers may even incorporate components from Chinese companies that have been officially blacklisted for security reasons recently. There is a rush, in China, to replicate many of the IR array sensors manufactured in the UK and Germany. IR array sensors generally have a very low pixel count (and resolution) but they are the "inexpensive" choice de jour. You can think of it in terms of color resolution with 65K, or 256K, or 64K or 32K image resolution. The KMA recommends understanding exactly what level solution is being offered. Generally speaking, inexpensive solutions will use inexpensive components. KMA companies serve self-service kiosk markets all over the world with members from Germany, the United Kingdom and the Philippines for example. Regulatory standards such as ADA, HIPAA, PCI/EMV, UL and FDA/medical are understood and applied. KMA members can provide any level of EBT solution you need. To help educate and provide factual data the KMA has several resources available: Thanks to our sponsors - Olea Kiosks, KioWare, Nanonation, Pyramid, Kiosk Group, Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. , Vispero, Zebra, Honeywell, 22Miles Media Contact- Craig Keefner 720-324-1837 [email protected] SOURCE Kiosk Manufacturer Association In the first five months of 2020 Gotcha has driven industry-leading and month-by-month improved single vehicle unit economics. With an average profit of $2.45 per trip, Gotcha's results year-to-date represent a nearly 93% premium when compared to the latest publicly available data for its peers 1 . Excluding depreciation, cash contribution per ride of $3.70 represents a 39% contribution margin. On a total revenue per trip basis, Gotcha's $9.42 average represents a positive differential of 121% according to the same data source. For further comparison purposes, Gotcha's performance was recorded over a five-month period to begin 2020, which included metrics from historically slower winter months such as January and February, compared to the leading competitor's reporting period which catalogued a four-week stretch, including the 2019 Fourth of July holiday, one of the highest traffic periods of the year. Year to date, Gotcha has also seen drastic increases in profitability across its various end markets, driven primarily by increases of 53% and 208% in riders per month and minutes ridden per month, respectively2. "Our thoughtful strategy of negotiating exclusive contracts in key markets is responsible for both our resiliency in the face of current conditions and the record ridership we've recorded for nearly the first half of the year," said MILE CEO Max Smith. "Another benefit of our conscious approach to growth has been the superior unit economics we've driven compared to the rest of the industry. Gotcha is a cost-efficient operator across our 32 active markets. Moreover, we've been able to drive these results while accounting for additional costs associated with increased cleaning procedures and spend related to additional safety messaging to ensure that our riders are protected and informed when using our vehicles. "While we are encouraged by our performance through May, we are even more motivated by our current revenue and contribution outlook, which indicates that these metrics are continuing to trend upward from this five-month average. As we continue increasing engagement within our ridership as well as expanding into new markets, we expect to grow this leadership position." Footnotes: For more information on Last Mile Holdings, visit lastmile-holdings.com. About Last Mile Holdings Last Mile Holdings (TSXV: MILE), formerly OjO Electric, is one of the largest micro-mobility companies in the U.S., offering the broadest product suite in the industry. Last Mile has 30 university and 50 municipal contracted shared mobility systems under the OjO and Gotcha brands. The acquisition of Gotcha in the first quarter of 2020 provides an expansive growth pipeline and a portfolio of products including electric bikes, trikes, scooters, and cruisers. For more information, visit lastmile-holdings.com. Follow us on social: LinkedIn: Last Mile Holdings About Gotcha Mobility Gotcha, a subsidiary of Last Mile Holdings, is a shared electric mobility company dedicated to providing innovative products and technologies that get people out of single-occupancy cars and safely onto efficient, sustainable micro-transit products. The company operates electric bikes, trikes, scooters, and cruisers as transportation solutions tailored to cities and universities across the US. Gotcha empowers communities to lead happier, more productive lives through the transformative power of affordable, accessible micro-transit. For more information, visit ridegotcha.com. Follow us on social: Instagram: @RideGotcha Facebook: @RideGotcha Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: Last Mile Holdings and Gotcha's business and prospects and the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, including the planned deployment of its mobility units; and the business, operations, expected future costs and revenues for and management of the Company. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the ability of Company to meet its deployment targets, access to sufficient mobility units, usage of mobility units, meeting the requirements of the permits granted to Company including insurance, general business, economic and social uncertainties including the impact of COVID-19; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; and other discussed in this news release. Accordingly, the forward-looking statements discussed in this release, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of these known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the companies. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Alternative Performance Measures (Non-IFRS Measures) Unit economics, including revenue, costs, cash contribution margin and contribution margin, on a per trip basis, presented in this news release are alternative performance measures. Alternative performance measures are furnished to provide additional information. These non-IFRS performance measures are included in this news release because the Company believes these statistics are key performance measures that provide investors, analysts and other stakeholders with additional information to understand the Company's operations. These performance measures do not have a standard meaning within IFRS and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar data presented by other companies. These performance measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with IFRS. The Company notes that numerous factors can impact revenues and costs of the Company's operations and that historical results are not necessarily indicative of future operations. Unit-based measures on a per trip basis, including contribution margin and cash contribution margin, are non-IFRS measures reported by the Company on a per trip ridden basis that includes all the revenues earned during the period and the direct fixed and variable costs, including labour, parts and maintenance, processing and technology fees, insurance, facilities and depreciation, divided by the total number of successfully completed rides in the period. Cash contribution margin is calculated by taking the total revenues earned less direct cash costs for the same period, while contribution margin also deducts depreciation, divided by the number of successfully completed rides. Reader Advisory Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility of the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Last Mile Holdings Ltd. Matawalle applied the peace accord as a means of honest solution to the of constant banditry and kidnappings problems in Zamfara State and the peace accord has yielded tremendous result that has never been experienced in the last one year, he said. PORTLAND, Maine, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Longroad Energy, a US-based renewable energy developer, owner and operator, and Unity College announced a partnership today through which Longroad's Three Corners Solar project will provide $100,000 to fund faculty and student research at Unity. The College's Unity property is located approximately five miles from the project site. A memorandum of understanding was recently signed by Three Corners Solar and Unity College, under which the project will provide $10,000 per year for the first 10 years of the project's operation to fund research opportunities to faculty and students in environmental science, natural resources and other related programs. Known as America's Environmental College, Unity's educational mission emphasizes the environment and natural resources. "We are really pleased to be partnering with Unity College," said Paul Gaynor, CEO of Longroad Energy. "This is a great opportunity for us to provide, through the Three Corners Solar project we're developing, meaningful support to Unity's educational program and its mission of sustainability. We are delighted that Three Corners Solar will power opportunities for Unity students; one of the many ways this project delivers significant local benefits." "As America's Environmental College, we educate the next generation of environmental leaders, who will go out into the world to change it for the better," said Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury. "Being part of such a high-profile solar project like this will not only give students real-world experience with one of the most important sustainability developments of the future, it will also open doors and give them insight into what their career paths might look like." Longroad is developing the 109 megawatt (ac) Three Corners Solar project in Benton, Clinton and Unity Townships in Kennebec County, Maine. The $190 million project is currently on track to start construction in 2021 with commercial operation beginning by 2022. Longroad has been in discussions with various power buyers and most recently submitted a bid to sell the output of the project through a long-term contract with Central Maine Power. Most of the project will be located on property owned by the Bessey family, which manages it for commercial timber production and will continue to do so on the majority of the site. "Our family has sustainably managed timberland in central Maine for more than five generations," said Ethan Bessey, president of E D Bessey Lumber Products. "Our philosophy has always been to operate with future generations in mind, and bringing clean, renewable energy to our communities with this solar farm is in keeping with that philosophy. We are impressed with the team at Longroad and their commitment to making sure that this project has wide-reaching and direct benefits to our community." Using widely accepted metrics, Longroad has calculated that by reducing reliance on pollution from fossil fuel power, Three Corners Solar will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 140,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent each year over 20 years. This avoided CO2 emissions is equivalent to taking approximately 30,000 cars per year off the road for as long as the project operates. In addition to generating new property taxes for host communities and the State of Maine, Three Corners Solar has also committed to contributing $100,000 ($5,000 per year) to local programs and charitable organizations during the 20-year operating term of the project. Upon operation, the project will also make a one-time donation of $25,000 to the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust to support funding of their land conservation and stewardship projects. The construction of Three Corners Solar is expected to support 125 jobs and generate $20 million in direct purchases of goods and services in Maine. Once in service, it will be operated by Longroad's operations team based in the company's Portland office. To date, the Longroad team has developed approximately 5,000 MW of wind and solar energy nationally, including nine wind projects in Maine totaling approximately 700 MW. The Portland office is comprised of 12 employees, most of whom are part of the company's operations team responsible for 24/7 monitoring and management of hundreds of solar and wind projects. A majority of Longroad's Portland employees are either Maine Maritime Academy graduates or military veterans. About Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC is focused on renewable energy project development, operating assets, and services. Today, Longroad owns 1.1 GW of operational and under construction wind and solar projects across the United States. Its services affiliate, Longroad Energy Services, operates and manages 2.6 GW in total comprised of these projects plus 1.5 GW of wind and solar projects on behalf of third parties. Longroad is owned by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Infratil Limited, and Longroad's management team. Web: http://www.longroadenergy.com/ Twitter: @LongroadTweet LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/longroad-energy-partners About Unity College The first institution of higher education in the nation to divest from fossil fuel investments, Unity College is changing the face of higher education. Sustainability science lies at the heart of its educational mission, offering environmentally-focused degrees on campus and online. For more information, visit unity.edu. SOURCE Longroad Energy Related Links www.longroadenergy.com The dealerships were formerly Haydocy Buick GMC and Haydocy Airstream & RV and are located right across the street from Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet at 3895 Broad Street. The Buick GMC dealership has been family-owned and operated by the Haydocys since 1954. In addition to being business partners in the three dealerships, Jay and Mark have been friends for several years and are partners in several Wahlburgers restaurants. "Columbus has been so welcoming and it just made sense to grow our automotive platform here," said Wahlberg. "The Haydocy family has been wonderful to work with during this transition and Jay and I are looking forward to doing big things here on the West Side." The three dealerships adds to Wahlberg's portfolio of business interests that includes a movie production company, a health and wellness company, a water line and a Wahlburgers restaurant chain that is currently franchised throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. "The Wahlberg brand is so well respected," said Feldman. "We are anxious to do even more things in the near future together in the Columbus area. Stay tuned." The dealership acquisitions were represented by Tim Lamb at the Tim Lamb Group in Columbus. The three dealerships are hiring for several key sales and service positions in Columbus. For information, visit www.markwahlbergbuickgmc.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Colleen Robar, 313-207-5960, [email protected] SOURCE Mark Wahlberg Buick GMC SAN DIEGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA) (the "Company"), the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States that launched the world's first-ever cannabis-derived nutraceutical products, brands and supply chain, announced today that its subsidiary HempMeds Mexico had its largest-ever sales bookings month in the Company's history in June 2020. "Raul Elizalde, who was just promoted from President of Latin American operations to co-CEO of our global operations, has done a tremendous job growing our sales and operations in Latin America as proven by June's success," said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. "We are fortunate and thankful to have many loyal customers who continue to purchase our high-quality hemp CBD products." In addition to the Company's sales booking success in June, its co-CEO Raul Elizalde was invited to speak on Endeavor's expert panel entitled " Cannabis in Mexico: The Debate and Opportunities for an Emerging Industry " where he discussed the legislative process required to legalize cannabis in Mexico, the agricultural and business opportunities the industry could bring to the country's economy, and the potential economic and social transformation that may follow. "The HempMeds Mexico team has tremendous talent and perseverance -- it's inspiring to witness their success," said HempMeds co-CEO Raul Elizalde. "The cannabis industry is resilient and this great financial update showcases that our portfolio of companies is well-positioned for continued growth despite the many challenges the world is facing today." Accomplishments also include the Company obtaining positive news coverage in several national and international news outlets including El Economista , Hora Cero , Fundacion Loto Rojo and several others. About HempMeds Mexico HempMeds Mexico is a Mexico-based company that made history by being the first company to receive a COFEPRIS federal government import permit for the cannabis product RSHO-X for a medical indication. HempMeds Mexico plans to work directly with the Mexican government to safely and legally provide access to CBD hemp oil products. For more information, please review the company's website at http://www.hempmeds.mx . About Medical Marijuana, Inc. We are a company of firsts . Medical Marijuana, Inc. ( MJNA ) is a cannabis company with three distinct business units in the non-psychoactive cannabinoid space: a global portfolio of cannabinoid-based nutraceutical brands led by Kannaway and HempMeds ; a pioneer in sourcing the highest-quality legal non-psychoactive cannabis products derived from industrial hemp; and a cannabinoid-based clinical research and botanical drug development sector led by its pharmaceutical investment companies and partners including AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. and Kannalife, Inc . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was named a top CBD producer by CNBC . Medical Marijuana, Inc. was also the first company to receive historic import permits for CBD products from the governments of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Paraguay and is a leader in the development of international markets. The company's flagship product Real Scientific Hemp Oil has been used in several successful clinical studies throughout Mexico and Brazil to understand its safety and efficacy. Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s headquarters is in San Diego, California, and additional information is available at OTCMarkets.com or by visiting www.medicalmarijuanainc.com . To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s corporate video, click here . Shareholders and consumers are also encouraged to buy CBD oil and other products at Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s shop. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Medical Marijuana, Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact: Andrew Hard Chief Executive Officer CMW Media P. 858-264-6600 [email protected] www.cmwmedia.com Investor Relations Contact: P. (858) 283-4016 [email protected] SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc. Related Links http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com MISSOULA, Mont., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fighting Chance New England IPA was developed in partnership between Coaster Cycles and Imagine Nation Brewing Co. to celebrate their collaboration of assembling nearly 2,000,000 face shields in Missoula and deploying them for hospital workers on the front lines around the country during the COVID-19 crisis. Fighting Chance NEIPA In response to the pandemic shortage of PPE, in mid-March Coaster Cycles shifted from manufacturing bikes and last-mile mobility solutions to utilizing their factory and re-hiring their team members to assemble face shields for first responders. A new endeavor under the CC Face Shields brand that began with an order from a large hospital group for 500,000 shields and a 12,000 per day production soon grew to 45,000 per day. Due to high demand, Coaster Cycles decided to enlist the help from a few local businesses to increase their production and keep more Missoulans employed during these uncertain times. "Imagine Nation Brewing was one of those invited to join forces because of their commitment to community and service," stated Coaster Cycles COO, Justin Bruce. In addition to Imagine Nation, Kettlehouse Brewing, Catalyst Cafe, Alcom and Bravo Catering also participated. After a couple of months of partnership, the companies decided to make a beer to celebrate the collaboration that has resulted in almost 2 million shields made, 45+ states benefited, 115+ employees earning a living wage, and 16,000+ human hours invested. "Ultimately, our hope with this project is that millions of people affected by COVID-19 will have a Fighting Chance," said Robert Rivers, Imagine Nation Brewing's Co-Founder who named the beer. For every four-pack sold, one face shield will be donated to one of the following organizations: Ag Worker Health & Services, The Montana Racial Equity Project, Missoula County Public Schools, The Poverello Center, and All Nations Health Center. Media Contacts: Coaster Cycles: Ben Morris Phone: 415-580-6144 Email: [email protected] Imagine Nation Brewing: Fernanda M.B. Krum Phone: 406-303-0521 Robert Rivers Phone: 406-303-0526 Related Images fighting-chance-neipa.jpeg Fighting Chance NEIPA Beer Can Label Related Links Video Story SOURCE Coaster Cycles INDIANAPOLIS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Police Association (NPA), a 501c3 nonprofit, has been granted leave to participate as a friend of the court in an ACLU lawsuit against Portland police officers. Permission was granted over the objection of the City of Portland, after the NPA argued Portland City Hall is too anti-cop to be the sole voice defending the Portland police officers in this lawsuit. Downtown Portland National Police Association It is widely known that Portland's policies of no bail and low bail releases are permitting rioters to return to engage in unlawful conduct again and again. Amidst the nightly property destruction and anti-police violence in Portland, City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, exemplifying the City's attitude, went so far as to Tweet: "Nightly, peaceful protestors are met with police officers in full riot gear. I ask what message we are sending to our community and to our officers ourselves when this is the norm?" Instead of acting to address the severe understaffing of their police department which exacerbates the inability of the police to defend the City or themselves, Portland has instead voted to defund 15 million dollars from the police budget as an appeasement to the rioters and their City Hall protectors. Portland has further gutted the SWAT team and eliminated the Gun Violence Reduction Team presumably because those units were too effective in combatting criminals. Various proposals by the City to further debilitate police officers are being advanced. The suit claims self-described journalists embedded with rioters are being targeted by Portland police officers and should be immune from arrest for participating in criminal acts. The NPA believes that the relief sought here goes far beyond limiting any targeting of journalists and is in substance a component of a larger effort to destroy law and order in Portland (and Nationwide) through restrictions on local police action essential to regain order and to protect police officers. As Antifa and their fellow protestors in Portland rip down statues, damage business, deface buildings and set fires, egged on by the City's non-enforcement policies and political support, the NPA's brief to the Court will provide a perspective unfiltered by City officials hostile to the most fundamental values the Court is sworn to protect. The National Police Association is represented by James L. Buchal of Murphy & Buchal LLP. The case is 3:20-cv-01035-SI Woodstock et al v. City of Portland et al, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The NPA's motion for leave to participate can be read here: https://nationalpolice.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NPA-Motion-for-Leave-to-Participate-as-Amicus-7-2-20.pdf NationalPolice.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission of educating supporters of law enforcement in how to help police departments accomplish their goals. Media Contact: Ed Hutchison 302-469-1765 [email protected] SOURCE National Police Association Related Links https://nationalpolice.org MOSCOW, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrey Guryev, the CEO of PhosAgro and President of the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association, today attended the opening ceremony of the Summer School on Green Chemistry hosted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). PhosAgro, one of the world's leading producers of phosphate-based fertilizers, has traditionally been the general partner for the Summer School, which this year will host a record number of participants: more than 200 graduate students and young scientists developing innovations based on the principles of sustainable development, as well as some 40 leading professors and instructors from 45 countries. In his welcoming remarks, Dr Pietro Tundo, the Chairman of the IUPAC Summer School and the UNESCO Chair in Green Chemistry at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, noted that hosting such a large-scale event online the result of the ongoing pandemic was a complex but vital undertaking. "During this time of crisis brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic, the subject of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important by the day. The scientific community should urge politicians to find solutions to environmental problems as soon as possible; this is exactly what societies are waiting for. We must remember that sustainable development is impossible without green chemistry," said Dr Tundo in explaining the urgency of the subject matter covered by the Summer School. Dr Tundo added that about half of the Summer School participants were researchers from developing countries; he also thanked PhosAgro and its CEO Andrey Guryev personally for supporting young scientists from around the world. Professor Christopher Brett, IUPAC's President, stressed that with the world facing the problems of environmental pollution and climate change, there was an urgent need to transition to sustainable development as soon as possible, adding that sustainable production in the chemical and energy industries was an important factor in doing so. In this respect, IUPAC is implementing a number of scientific programmes. "First of all, I would like to note our joint programme with PhosAgro and UNESCO, Green Chemistry for Life, which was launched in 2013," said Professor Brett. According to the professor, the enthusiasm, innovation and creativity of the Summer School participants were essential to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. "I am certain that [the Summer School] will be successful and will provide an impetus for new ideas and cooperation in the area of green chemistry," said Professor Brett. Natalia Tarasova, Director of the Institute of Chemistry and Problems of Sustainable Development at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia and a Board member of the International Science Council (ISC), agreed that green chemistry is an important tool for achieving sustainable development. "On behalf of the ISC, I would like to express my gratitude to all the organisers of the Summer School, without whom it would not be possible to promote this idea around the world," said Ms Tarasova. PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev noted that, just as green chemistry is the driver of sustainable technological progress, quality education and science will help people transition to a mindset that is more focused on sustainability and awareness. "At PhosAgro, we understand that supporting science and education is a long-term investment in our planet's future. It is the key to learning together, the key to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. That's why we have been working with UNESCO and IUPAC on the Green Chemistry for Life project for a long time, and that's why we consider the Summer Schools on Green Chemistry to be of vital importance," said Mr Guryev. According to the PhosAgro CEO, the Summer School on Green Chemistry offers an excellent opportunity for young scientists to gather together in one forum to discuss their projects and scientific ideas. "Take advantage of this chance to find a team of like-minded people to work with, to exchange experience in the area of green chemistry and to find joint solutions to global challenges such as climate change, waste management and threats to biodiversity conservation," said Mr Guryev. About PhosAgro PhosAgro is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and higher. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, a top-three producer of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 50 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 102 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru. SOURCE PhosAgro SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global prescription lens market size is expected to reach USD 51.4 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 4.5%, according to a report conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Uncorrected refractive error cases are majorly contributing in the rapidly growing cases of visual impairment. Therefore, various organizations are focusing on increasing awareness regarding the conditions related to refractive errors and their corrective options. These organizations are also incorporating services to treat refractive errors. Initiatives taken to enhance vision care, identify cases at early stage, and to provide efficient lens for treating different vision problems are some of the factors expected to boost market growth. Myopia and astigmatism are the two refractive errors with highest prevalence. Therefore, to provide better treatment for these refractive errors market players are coming up with different type of prescription lens with advanced coating options. Furthermore, to increase the reach of these advanced lens, companies are being developed to enhance the accessibility of vision test through online platform. These online vision tests will enhance early diagnosis of refractive errors and hence are expected to positively impact the market. Key suggestions from the report: The single vision held the largest share in 2019 mainly due to its effectiveness in enhancing peripheral vision The progressive segment are expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period due to effective functionality and youthful appearance The workspace progressive segment expected to grow at a significant rate due to increasing number of working professionals and exposure to electronic display screens Myopia held the largest share in the market in 2019 due to the increasing prevalence of disease in the forecast period Presbyopia is expected to experience the fastest growth rate during forecast period. Increasing ageing population is contributing towards the growing prevalence of the disease and is driving the market Anti-reflective coating dominated the market in 2019 due to its advantage of providing clear image by reducing reflections The Ultraviolet (UV) treatment application segment is expected to witness the fastest growth rate over the forecast period owing to its ability to avoid the development of UV related eye disorders such as cataracts and macular degeneration North America held the largest share in 2019 owing to the increasing product launches in U.S. and enhanced distribution network for prescription lens in the region Asia Pacific is expected to experience fastest growth rate during the forecast period largely due to the growing prevalence of myopia in China , Japan , Singapore , and Korea and growing adoption of advanced eye care products in the region. Read 140 page research report with ToC on "Prescription Lens Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Single Vision, Progressive Lens, Workspace Progressives), By Application, By Coating (Anti-reflective, Ultraviolet Treatment), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/prescription-lens-market Prescription lens are available with various coating options to provide patients with enhanced vision in different environments. Anti-reflective coating prescription lens are widely preferred due to their advantage of eliminating reflection and reducing contrast. On the other hand, UV coating prescription lens are experiencing growth mainly due to its growing demand to avoid penetration of harmful UV radiations. These UV radiations later can result into various eye related disorders, thus, increasing the demand for UV coated product. Market players are focusing on forming alliances to expand the reach of their products. In December 2016, the HOYA Vision Care announced an agreement to acquire safety prescription eyewear business of 3M to expand its prescription lens product portfolio. Similarly, non-profit organizations are initiating programmes focusing on resolving visual impairment due to refractive errors. Grand View Research has segmented the global prescription lens market based on type, application, coating, and region: Prescription Lens Type Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Single vision Convex Concave Cylindrical Bifocal Trifocal Progressive Workspace progressives Others Prescription Lens Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Myopia Hyperopia/Hypermetropia Astigmatism Presbyopia Prescription Lens Coating Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) Anti-reflective Scratch resistant coating Anti-fog coating Ultraviolet treatment Prescription Lens Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Russia The Netherlands Switzerland Turkey Poland Asia Pacific China Japan India Thailand South Korea Indonesia Taiwan Hong Kong Philippines Malaysia Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Chile Middle East & Africa & South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE Kuwait Qatar List of Key Players of Prescription Lens Market: Essilor ZEISS International HOYA VISION CARE COMPANY VISION EASE SEIKO OPTICAL PRODUCTS CO.,LTD PRIVE REVAUX Vision Rx Lab Find more research reports on Medical Devices Industry, by Grand View Research: Transcatheter Devices Market The increasing demand for Minimally Invasive Procedures/Surgeries (MIS) is one of the key factors propelling the market growth. The increasing demand for Minimally Invasive Procedures/Surgeries (MIS) is one of the key factors propelling the market growth. Retinal Imaging Devices Market The growing prevalence of ophthalmic disorders and increasing demand for early diagnostic measures are the factors expected to drive the overall market growth. The growing prevalence of ophthalmic disorders and increasing demand for early diagnostic measures are the factors expected to drive the overall market growth. Wound Closure Devices Market Rising incidence of chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers are anticipated to spur the demand for wound closure devices over the forecast period. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. SAN DIEGO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income,NYSE: O), The Monthly Dividend Company, today announced the pricing of a public offering of $350 million of 3.25% senior unsecured notes due January 15, 2031. The public offering price for the notes was 108.241% of the principal amount for an effective yield to maturity of 2.341%. The net proceeds from this offering will be used to increase the company's liquidity by repaying borrowings outstanding under its $3.0 billion revolving credit facility and, to the extent not used for that purpose, to fund potential investment opportunities and for other general corporate purposes. The notes offered will constitute a further issuance of the company's 3.25% Notes due 2031, of which $600 million aggregate principal amount was issued on May 8, 2020. This offering is expected to close on July 16, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The active joint book-running managers for the offering are Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC. A copy of the prospectus supplement and prospectus, when available, related to this offering may be obtained by contacting: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: (866) 471-2526 or facsimile: (212) 902-9316 or email: [email protected]; Barclays, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (888) 603-5847 or email: [email protected]; or . Credit Suisse, Attention: Prospectus Department, 6933 Louis Stephens Drive, Morrisville, NC 27560, telephone: (800) 221-1037 or email: [email protected]. These securities are offered pursuant to a Registration Statement that has become effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities are only offered by means of the prospectus included in the Registration Statement and the prospectus supplement related to the offering. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any offer or sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction where, or to any person to whom, the offer, solicitation, or sale of these securities would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause the company's actual future results to differ materially from expected results. These risks include, among others, general economic conditions, domestic and foreign real estate conditions, tenant financial health, the availability of capital to finance planned growth, volatility and uncertainty in the credit markets and broader financial markets, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, property acquisitions and the timing of these acquisitions, charges for property impairments, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to limit its impact, the effects of pandemics or global outbreaks of contagious diseases or fear of such outbreaks, the company's tenants' ability to adequately manage its properties and fulfill their respective lease obligations to the company, and the outcome of any legal proceedings to which the company is a party, as described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as reflections of the company's current operating plans and estimates. Actual operating results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in this press release. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date these statements were made. SOURCE Realty Income Corporation Related Links http://www.realtyincome.com BANGALORE, India, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Remote patient monitoring (RPM) uses digital technologies to collect medical and other forms of health data from individuals in one location and securely transmit that information to health care providers in a different location for assessment and recommendations. The global Remote Patient Monitoring Devices market size is projected to reach USD 1688 Million by 2026, from USD 920 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 10.64% during 2020-2026. This type of service allows a provider to continue to track healthcare data for a patient once released to home or a care facility, reducing readmission rates. Get Detailed Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-17186/global_remote_patient_monitoring_devices_market TRENDS INFLUENCING THE REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING DEVICES MARKET SIZE: The increase in the occurrence of chronic diseases, the rise in the aging population, and the need for home-based surveillance devices are all main factors driving the growth of remote patient monitoring devices market size. Improving healthcare infrastructure, post-acute care management, and focusing on emerging economies by key market players are also expected to fuel the growth of remote patient monitoring devices market size. Due to its ability to monitor various chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, the remote patient monitoring devices market size is expected to grow substantially during the forecast period. Growth in remote patient monitoring devices market size is attributed to the supporting government programs and innovation. Using remote patient monitoring devices in post-acute treatment improves the patients' position in self-health management. This ability to augment self-health management skills is expected to drive the remote patient monitoring devices market size. Despite significant factors driving the wider adoption of remote patient monitoring systems, the market's challenges are resistance from healthcare professionals towards the adoption of the patient monitoring system, lack of proper reimbursement policies, and a strict regulatory framework. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-17186/global-remote-patient-monitoring-devices REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING DEVICES MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS Based on the product, the market is segmented into vital sign monitors and special monitors. The vital sign monitors are widely used and are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. The increase in the number of heart disorders in individuals has led to increased use of these monitors. Based on the region, North America is expected to hold the largest remote patient monitoring market share during the forecast period. Patients in this region prefer home healthcare due to its cost-effectiveness, privacy, and convenience, thus, boosting the Remote patient monitoring devices market size. Thanks to the emergence of untapped opportunities in India and China's markets, Asia Pacific is expected to experience the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. Growing medical tourism and continuously expanding healthcare services in these markets are expected to further fuel regional expansion in the years ahead. Inquire for Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-17186/Global_Remote_Patient_Monitoring_Devices_Market THE FOLLOWING MANUFACTURERS ARE COVERED IN THIS REPORT, WITH SALES, REVENUE, MARKET SHARE FOR EACH COMPANY: Biotronik Boston Scientific Corporation CAS Medical Systems CONTEC MEDICAL Dragerwerk GE Healthcare Guangdong Biolight Meditech Medtronic Mindray Medical Nihon Kohden Philips Healthcare Spacelabs Healthcare St. Jude Medical Others. MARKET SIZE BY PRODUCT Vital Sign Monitors Blood Pressure Monitor Pulse Oximeters Heart Rate Monitor (ECG) Temperature Monitor Respiratory Rate Monitor Brain Monitor (EEG) Others. MARKET SIZE BY END USER Cancer Treatment Cardiovascular Diseases Treatment Diabetes Treatment Sleep Disorder Treatment Weight Management and Fitness Monitoring Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-17186&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise License: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-17186&lic=enterprise-user SIMILAR REPORTS : Remote Patient Monitoring Services Market Report Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a technology that enables the monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings, which could increase access to care and decrease healthcare delivery costs. Remote Patient Monitoring Services Market size is expected to grow at a substantial rate due to factors such as trend analysis of physiological parameters, enabling early detection of deterioration; thereby, reducing the number of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and duration of hospital stays. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-1K316/remote-patient-monitoring-services Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions Market Report Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions market is segmented based on Type and Application. Based on type, it is further broken down into Vital Sign Monitors, Blood Pressure Monitor, Pulse Oximeters Heart Rate Monitor (ECG), Temperature Monitor, Respiratory Rate Monitor, and Brain Monitor (EEG). View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-0J261/remote-patient-monitoring-solutions Remote Patient Monitoring Software Market Report The Remote Patient Monitoring Software Market size was expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period due to factors such as rapid technological advancements in different industries like artificial intelligence and convenience associated with the use of Remote Patient Monitoring Software. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-3R270/remote-patient-monitoring-software Vital Signs Monitors Market Report The global Vital Signs Monitors market size is valued at 3740 Million USD in 2018 and will reach 4890 Million USD by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% during 2019-2025 Vital Signs Monitors Market's major growth drivers are, increasing demand for home healthcare services, rising number of healthcare settings primarily hospitals, and rising prevalence of chronic disorders are key drivers responsible for the lucrative growth of the market. North America is the largest consumer in the Vital Signs Monitors Market, with a revenue market share of nearly 40.3% in 2017. Following North America, Europe is the second-largest consumption place, with a revenue market share of 21.8% in 2017. Asia-Pacific is also an important sales area, especially in China. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-2136/global-vital-signs-monitors Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market Report The global continuous glucose monitoring systems (GCMS) market size was valued at USD 1,774.2 Million in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 8,844.9 Million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 22.0% during the forecast period. The major factors that drive the Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market size are the surge in the geriatric population and the high prevalence of the population suffering from diabetes. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1S262/continuous-glucose-monitoring-systems Heart Rate Monitors Market Report The global Heart Rate Monitors market is valued at 11300 Million USD in 2018 and will reach 16200 Million USD by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.7% during 2019-2025 North America has the largest global export quantity and manufacturers in the Heart Rate Monitors market. North America is closely followed by the Asia-Pacific region in terms of sales volume. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-39E44/global-heart-rate-monitors ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. CONTACT US: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp : +91 9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports SOURCE Valuates Reports INDIANAPOLIS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite financial advisors, has extended its Midwestern reach with the addition of the first Kansas partner firm, Bowersock Capital Partners, based in Lawrence. Led by Emily Bowersock Hill and Kaylin Dillon, the entire six-woman team was previously with Morgan Stanley, where they were known as The Hill Group, and managed approximately $500 million in client assets. "Every year we see more and more of the most successful advisor teams being led by women. It's a trend that is reshaping our industry and Bowersock Capital Partners is an outstanding example of that. That they've chosen to join Sanctuary Wealth as a partner firm is humbling, but also a testament to how much our network has to offer entrepreneurial-minded advisors who want the freedom and flexibility to grow their businesses," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "It has been our mission from day one to liberate advisors from the constraints imposed by the wirehouse environment and Bowersock is the just latest high-profile team to choose our partnered independence platform so they can make better choices for their clients and their future." Both of the firm's founders, who both hold CFP credentials, came to financial services from academic backgrounds, where they both developed extensive analytical skills. Although she spent 18 years with Morgan Stanley where her titles included Executive Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Family Wealth Director, Emily Bowersock Hill began her career as an academic. She holds a Ph.D. in History/Political Science from Yale University, where she worked for several years as a Research Associate in International Security Studies while also consulting for the RAND Corporation. "The profession has evolved considerably since I joined in 2002, and advisors today have many more options available for how to best serve their clients. We spent a lot of time investigating different business models and possible alliances, and ultimately concluded that the best choice for our clients was to partner with Sanctuary Wealth," says Emily Bowersock Hill, CFP, Founding Partner, Bowersock Capital Partners. "With Sanctuary, we feel we have the freedom to give our clients truly valuable advice." "As a Sanctuary partner, we have access to independent research and are able to present clients with a much wider array of investment choices, both public and private, than we could before," adds Kaylin Dillon, Founding Partner, Bowersock Capital Partners. "Another consideration is how much financial technology has evolved in the last few years. As a smaller firm, backed by a partner with extensive resources, we are able to be nimbler and adopt new tools and technology that will benefit our clients as they become available." Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2012, where she was Portfolio Manager and Financial Advisor, Kaylin Dillon was also trained in non-financial academic disciplines. She holds MA and BA degrees in East Asian Studies as well as a BA in French Language and Literature from The University of Kansas and has compared working in the financial world to learning another language. Other key members of the Bowersock team are Director of Operations Amy Clark, Client Operations Specialist Kristine Flynn, Research Analyst Catherine Prestoy and Senior Registered Operations Specialist Kathy Olds. "Bowersock Capital Partners is entirely made up of women, which is unique in our industry, particularly coming from the wirehouse environment. They are the latest example of a larger exodus of the best advisor teams from the biggest financial firms turning to partnered independence," said Vince Fertitta, President, Wealth Management, Sanctuary Wealth. "Coming from such strong academic backgrounds, it's no surprise that Emily and Kaylin did their homework in researching the best partner for their business and the broadest range of solutions for their clients. We're honored that they chose Sanctuary Wealth and look forward to working with them to grow the business they've always envisioned." About Sanctuary Wealth Sanctuary Wealth (sanctuarywealth.com/) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite, top-performing advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices, and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service each client deserves. Creating an ecosystem of partnered independence, Sanctuary provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses all designed to empower each partner firm to achieve their full potential. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network covers 14 states and includes more than 36 partner firms with approximately $10 billion in assets under advisement. The Sanctuary Wealth Group includes the fully owned subsidiaries Sanctuary Advisors, a registered investment adviser, and the broker-dealer Sanctuary Securities, as well as Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Capital Markets, and Sanctuary Global Family Office. CONTACT: Michaela Morales JConnelly 973 224 7152 [email protected] SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth Ajayi had accused his boss of doling out N10 million to entice each of the lawmakers in a bid to meet the requirement of two-third majority, that is about 18 out of the 26 lawmakers in the state in order for the impeachment to scale through. These supplies have enabled 11 central power stations in Al-Mahra Governorate to function properly and constantly, ensuring electricity reaches 82 rural communities and powering 24 projects providing basic services such as water supply and distribution facilities, hospitals and health centers. Al-Mahra Governor Mohammed Ali Yasser who received the fuel vessel alongside SDRPY Al-Mahra Director Eng. Abdullah Basulaiman, Al-Mahra Oil Company Manager Muhsen Ali and others affirmed the importance of the grant in helping hospitals and other essential service facilities to operate. He announced that SDRPY would soon launch projects to construct a 40-megawatt power station and a road through King Salman Medical and Educational City, to complement its support for services and development in the energy, education, health, water, agriculture, fisheries and transportation sectors. The grant has made a significant impact on stabilizing electrical currents and improving access to water in all areas of Al-Mahra Governorate, as well as alleviating the financial burden on local authorities in purchasing diesel. Continuous power cuts were a fact of daily life for the people of the province prior to the grant, and work was only possible for a few hours a day for most. Electricity in Al-Mahra is now readily available for both longtime residents and the displaced. "SDRPY's efforts are living manifestations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's seriousness in helping Yemen and building a better future for its citizens," said Eng. Basulaiman. "We are working to provide all that the Yemeni citizen needs in Al-Mahra and across Yemen's governorates," he explained, adding that the grant was intended to ensure the "permanence of electricity services, stability of electrical currents, improvement of the economy and living standards, and increased job opportunities." SDRPY organizes distribution of the oil derivatives grant in Al-Mahra Governorate through a receipt and delivery committee, in cooperation with the Al-Mahra Oil Company, the General Electricity Corporation, government authorities and civic organizations. SOURCE Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen DUBLIN, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Smart Speaker Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by IVA (Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, DuerOS, Ali Genie), Component (Hardware (Speaker Driver, Connectivity IC, Processor, Audio IC, Memory, Power IC, Microphone) and Software), Application, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global smart speaker market size is expected to grow from USD 7.1 billion in 2020 to USD 15.6 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 17.1%. The growth of the market can be attributed to the growing demand for smart speaker display, increasing number of smart homes, rising disposable income, and rapid proliferation of multifunctional devices. However, high-security risk and availability of substitutes could pose challenges for the smart speaker market growth. DuerOS to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Baidu's current smart devices and new additions all use the company's DuerOS assistant. DuerOS can support a wide range of hardware devices, such as mobile phones, televisions, speakers, household appliances, automobiles, and robots. The DuerOS smart speaker solution is a customized voice solution for audio output devices with or without a screen. Hardware to hold the largest share of the smart speaker market throughout the forecast period Hardware constitutes a major portion of the smart speaker. Currently, smart speakers process a small volume of data, which requires a hardware platform with computing capabilities to support basic functions, such as streaming music, surfing for information, making phone calls, and controlling smart devices. The smart speaker market in APAC expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period The increasing penetration of smart devices in APAC countries, along with the growing market share of Chinese players such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Xiaomi, who have launched smart speakers with local language support, is expected to fuel the demand for smart speakers in the region. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Brief Overview of the Smart Speaker Market during the Forecast Period 4.2 Smart Speaker Market for Alexa, by Application 4.3 Market for Consumer Application, by Region 4.4 Market for Smart Home Application, by Intelligent Virtual Assistant 4.5 Market for Hardware, by Component 4.6 Apac Market, by Country and Application 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Increasing Number of Smart Homes 5.2.1.2 Growing Trend of Smart Speakers with Display 5.2.1.3 Rising Disposable Income 5.2.1.4 Rapid Proliferation of Multifunctional Devices 5.2.1.5 Growing Trend of Personalization 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Issues Related to Connectivity Range, Compatibility, and Power 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Increasing Consumer Preference for Technologically Advanced Products 5.2.3.2 Increasing Focus of Companies on Enhancing Customer Experience 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 High-Security Risk 5.2.4.2 Availability of Substitutes 5.3 Value Chain Analysis 5.4 Impact of COVID-19 on the Smart Speaker Market 6 Smart Speaker Market, by Intelligent Virtual Assistant 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Alexa 6.2.1 Offers more Features than Other Iva Platforms 6.3 Google Assistant 6.3.1 Google Assistant is Supported by the Data Generated from Its Web Search Engine 6.4 Siri 6.4.1 Increasing Demand for the Homekit Platform in Home Automation Products Creates a Demand for Siri-Enabled Smart Speakers 6.5 DuerOS 6.5.1 Dueros' Installation Base Passed 400 Million As Voice Queries Topped 3.6 Billion 6.6 Aligenie 6.6.1 Aligenie is Integrated with more than 660 IoT Platforms 6.7 Xiao Ai 6.7.1 Xiao Ai Powering Xiaomi Smart Speakers, Smartphones, and Smart Home Products for the Chinese Market 6.8 Others 7 Smart Speaker Market, by Component 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Hardware 7.2.1 Hardware Constitutes a Major Portion of a Smart Speaker 7.2.2 Processor 7.2.3 Memory 7.2.4 Power Ic 7.2.5 Connectivity Ic 7.2.6 Microphone 7.2.7 Speaker Driver 7.2.8 Audio Ic 7.2.9 Others 7.3 Software 7.3.1 Software Expected to Grow at a Higher CAGR during the Forecast Period 8 Smart Speaker Market, by Application 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Smart Home 8.2.1 Smart Speaker Market for Smart Home will Continue to Hold the Largest Market Size during the Forecast Period 8.3 Consumer 8.3.1 Technology Companies are Collaborating with Third-Party Voice App Developers to Increase the Adoption of Voice-Enabled Smart Devices in Consumer Applications 8.4 Smart Office 8.4.1 Convenience is the Key Factor for the Increasing Demand for Smart Speakers in Office Automation 8.5 Others 9 Geographic Analysis 9.1 Introduction 9.2 North America 9.2.1 US 9.2.1.1 High Adoption of Smart Devices with Advanced Technologies, Such As Iot and Ai, Has Pushed Sales Figures for Smart Speakers in the Us 9.2.2 Canada 9.2.2.1 Smart Office Application Presents Opportunities for Smart Speakers 9.2.3 Mexico 9.2.3.1 Smart Home and Automotive Applications Present Opportunities for the Growth of the Smart Speaker Market 9.3 Europe 9.3.1 UK 9.3.1.1 Smart Home Applications Drive the Demand for Smart Speakers 9.3.2 Germany 9.3.2.1 High Penetration of Smart Devices in the Residential Market 9.3.3 France 9.3.3.1 Increasing Demand for Smart Audio Products Driving the Smart Speaker Market 9.3.4 Rest of Europe 9.4 APAC 9.4.1 China 9.4.1.1 Increasing Penetration of Chinese Players in the Smart Speaker Industry 9.4.2 Japan 9.4.2.1 Huge Demand for Consumer Electronics Has Boosted the Demand for Smart Speakers 9.4.3 South Korea 9.4.3.1 Continued Innovation Across Different Korean Ai Assistant Platforms 9.4.4 India 9.4.4.1 Increasing Internet Penetration and Consumer Spending Power will Likely Drive the Market 9.4.5 Rest of APAC 9.5 Rest of the World 9.5.1 Middle East & Africa 9.5.1.1 Increasing Penetration of Smart Devices in the Middle Eastern Countries is Expected to Fuel the Demand for Smart Speakers in the Region 9.5.2 South America 9.5.2.1 Smart Home and Consumer Applications will Propel the Growth of Smart Speakers in South America 10 Competitive Landscape 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Smart Speaker Market Ranking Analysis 10.3 Competitive Scenario 10.3.1 Product Launches and New Product Developments 10.3.2 Partnerships, Agreements, and Collaborations 10.3.3 Expansions 10.4 Competitive Leadership Mapping 10.4.1 Visionary Leaders 10.4.2 Innovators 10.4.3 Dynamic Differentiators 10.4.4 Emerging Companies 11 Company Profiles 11.1 Key Players 11.1.1 Amazon 11.1.2 Alphabet 11.1.3 Baidu 11.1.4 Alibaba 11.1.5 Xiaomi 11.1.6 Harman International 11.1.7 Apple 11.1.8 Sonos 11.1.9 Bose 11.1.10 Lenovo 11.2 Other Key Players 11.2.1 Facebook 11.2.2 Samsung 11.2.3 Sony 11.2.4 Onkyo Corporation 11.2.5 SK Telecom 11.2.6 LG Electronics 11.2.7 Panasonic 11.2.8 Altec Lansing 11.2.9 Libratone 11.2.10 Mobvoi For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dpyd54 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 SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the midst of the unprecedented health and economic crisis when politicians should be listening more than talking, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is set to vote into law a redundant and dangerous piece of legislation that will cost hotels and commercial buildings tens of millions of dollars while at the same time exempting those same buildings in which they pass such legislation. The so-called "Healthy Buildings" ordinance is slated to be voted on by the full San Francisco Board of Supervisors tomorrow, July 7, during their regular session. Pushed by organized labor, the ordinance mandates additional hiring during a time when all such employees are already out of work due to the COVID-forced economic shutdown. At present, hotels in San Francisco will not reopen to tourism until mid-August and many office buildings in downtown San Francisco are at less than 10% occupancy. "The ordinance imposes significant financial burdens to implement, puts our employees at greater health risks by demanding they enter rooms more frequently and further delays hotels' ability to reopen for tourism," said Kevin Carroll, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. "No industry is more capable of implementing health, hygiene and safety protocols than the hospitality industry." California's Employment Development Department reported July 1 that 10,484 San Francisco hotel workers were laid off or furloughed from 54 hotels. San Francisco has delayed reopening of hotels until mid-August at the earliest. Complying with the proposed ordinance will increase costs for hotels delaying further their re-openings, already an uncertainty as guests are slow to resume travel. The so-called "Healthy Buildings" ordinance was written by and pushed by members of San Francisco's Union Local # 2 and would mandate additional cleaning of rooms and public spaces in hotels even though new COVID-19 protocols from the Hotel Council of San Francisco, working in concert with multiple health and safety experts, already exceed CDC guidelines. "The well-being of our employees is paramount for the well-being of our guests,'' Carroll added. "The guidelines our hotels have implemented follow the recommendations from national and state infectious disease experts to ensure our employees safety." Additionally, the proposed ordinance will adversely impact office buildings. "The ordinance is plainly redundant when we have guidance from agencies such as Cal/OSHA and the California Department of Public Health covering the same topics," said Marc Intermaggio, Executive Vice President for the Business Owners & Managers Association (BOMA). "Having multiple authorities issuing guidance and standards is confusing and accomplishes little. The other agencies are the ones tasked by law with issuing this type of guidance and they have done so and the City should be aligned with these health authorities." If put into law, the ordinance would add hundreds of thousands of dollars per month to business owners in downtown San Francisco. The cost on an annual basis would be in the tens of millions of dollars, all at a time when due to COVID roughly 90% of all commercial buildings are now empty. According to BOMA, the increased costs would likely force further layoffs as the reduced occupancy of buildings continues across 2020 and into 2021. "This is not the year and now is not the time for un-needed and redundant legislation that will keep our hotel community and tourism based economy from recovering," said Rodney Fong, President & CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. "We urge the Board of Supervisors re-think this misguided ordinance." Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc/David Perry (415) 676-7007 / [email protected] SOURCE Hotel Council of San Francisco NEW ORLEANS, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopris Capital together with Adaptation Health, and The Idea Village have partnered to launch a company application for The Southeast Health Innovation Tour . This opportunity seeks to connect emerging healthcare entrepreneurs who are focused on addressing needs among vulnerable populations directly with access to capital, contacts in Medicaid, and opportunities to scale. Sopris Capital, Adaptation Health, and The Idea Village recognize that innovation is not only happening in coastal cities and this project hopes to connect with innovators outside major markets to better understand new and emerging startups. Founders interested in participating in this opportunity can apply here now. Connecting founders in the South directly with access to capital, contacts in Medicaid, and opportunities to scale. The Tour has three main goals for potential impact: Founders meet with a VC in hopes of a future early-stage financing deal or term sheet. Create connections and contacts for future opportunities to contract within Medicaid. Discover opportunities to help scale the startup through The Idea Village's accelerator program. Companies that are selected to participate, will meet with representatives from the project team in small, semi-private investor meetings (subject to change given evolving public health regulations). The Tour is accepting applications to meet with companies in the following cities: Birmingham Chattanooga Little Rock Memphis New Orleans Tallahassee The final meeting locations will be determined by the number of qualifying applicants per location. All dates for the meetings are currently TBA, and the Tour will closely monitor and follow all public health recommendations and best practices throughout the planning. THE IDEAL APPLICANT PROFILE The Southeast Health Innovation Tour looks to connect with scalable healthcare and health technology startups and will favor applicants who are addressing needs among vulnerable populations. All companies that apply should be interested in raising venture-backed financing. Applicants should have a combination of a strong team, early signs of traction, a product or service already in the market, and raising a Seed+ or Series A round of financing. For those interested in applying the applications are now open and will close on August 7, 2020. About Sopris Capital: Sopris Capital is a New York based venture capital investment firm that provides equity capital to high-growth tech-enabled business services, healthcare IT, and healthcare services sectors. Sopris is typically a companies first institutional round of capital with an initial equity check size of $2M-$5M and also supports companies with follow-on rounds of financing if needed. Sopris works closely with its portfolio companies to shape strategy, build management organizations, attract customers, and develop critical industry relationships. About Adaptation Health: Adaptation Health is a buyer-side incubator program developing and building thought leadership and value on behalf of state Medicaid programs and Managed Care Organizations. We connect state Medicaid agencies, Managed Care Organizations, and innovative ventures to solve deep-rooted problems in Medicaid service delivery. About The Idea Village: Founded in 2000, The Idea Village is a New Orleans based 501(c)3 nonprofit founded on the principle of supporting regional startups and the big thinkers that power them. VILLAGEx is our flagship, industry-leading GAN accelerator focused on catalyzing rapid growth for ventures with highly scalable, technology-enabled business models. Over 261 entrepreneurs have gone through this accelerator program and 73% of those alumni companies are still in business today, having created a $178 million/year annual economic impact for the regional economy. Media Contact: David Kulick Adaptation HealthCo-Founder [email protected] (716) 864-5070 SOURCE Adaptation Health Related Links https://www.adaptationhealth.org BANGALORE, India, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global supply chain management market size was valued at USD 15.85 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 37.41 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2020 to 2027. Supply chain management software provides a real-time analytical platform, which manages the flow of product and information across the supply chain network The demand for SCM is driven by factors such as growing awareness among companies globally about cloud SCM and reducing ownership costs. Organizations' increasing need for an efficient method to build and manage supply chain processes and activities is driving the growth of the SCM market size during the forecast period. The need for mass production and connected supply chains to cater to the growing population, are expected to fuel the growth of the supply chain management market size. Get Free Sample Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Manu-0W17/Supply_Chain_Management FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MARKET SIZE Factors such as low deployment cost, increasing use of industrial automation in processing industries, growing regulatory compliance are expected to increase the SCM market size. By integrating emerging digital business innovations such as mobile, machine learning, in-memory technologies, multi-enterprise visibility, and the Internet of Things (IoT), SCM providers are already differentiating themselves from rivals and driving revenue growth. The growing impact of digital commerce will drive greater investment in supply chain analytics, smart machines, IoT and associated SCM software to accelerate decision-making and eradicate inefficiencies. Thus, growing technological advancements are expected to increase the SCM market size. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-0W17/supply-chain-management SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MARKET SHARE The cloud-based segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR in the Supply Chain Management market, due to its numerous benefits to industry verticals, such as reliability, scalability, integrated design, cost-effectiveness and immediacy over the traditional SCM model. Based on the region, North America is expected to hold the largest SCM market share during the forecast period. The growth of the market is driven by the rise in spending on transportation & logistics, which is boosting the implementation of automation technologies in logistics and supply chain. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MARKET SEGMENTATION By Region North America Europe Asia-Pacific LAMEA Inquire for Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/ALLI-Manu-0W17/Supply_Chain_Management By Component Solution Services By Solution Type Transportation Management System Warehouse Management System Sourcing & Procurement Supply Chain Planning Manufacturing Execution System By User Type Small & Medium Sized Enterprises Large Enterprises By Application Retail & Consumer Goods Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Food & Beverages Transportation & Logistics Automotive Other Key Companies SAP SE Oracle Corporation JDA Software Group, Inc. Infor Manhattan Associates Epicor Software Corporation The Descartes Systems Group Inc. HighJump Kinaxis Inc. IBM Corporation Others. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-0W17&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-0W17&lic=enterprise-license SIMILAR REPORTS Cloud Supply Chain Management Market Report This report provides a complete quantitative data and qualitative analysis on the global market for Cloud Supply Chain Management. Market size is analyzed by country, product type, application, and competitors. Expanded coverage includes additional end-user industry breakdowns and in-depth producer profiles. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-12I2276/global-cloud-supply-chain-management Supply Chain Management Software (SCMS) Market Report North America dominated the overall market in 2017, due to the presence of a large transportation industry. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecasted period. This report studies the global Supply Chain Management Software (SCMS) Market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors, and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-5T2411/global-supply-chain-management-software Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market Report The global Healthcare Supply Chain Management market size is projected to reach USD 2267.5 Million by 2026, from USD 2060.6 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 9.3%% during 2021-2026. Companies determined to curb the rising healthcare costs have played a vital role in driving market growth. Furthermore, the demand for a quality inventory management system, better patient care as well as compliance with government regulations has helped the growth of Healthcare Supply Chain Management Market size. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-1O428/global-healthcare-supply-chain-managements Supply Chain Management Solutions Market Report (Segmentation by On-premise and Cloud based deployments) In 2018, the global Supply Chain Management Solutions market size was USD 14080 Million and it is expected to reach USD 29040 Million by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 10.9% between 2019 and 2025. The Supply Chain Management Solutions Market is classified based on type and application. Based on the type, the market is further segmented into Cloud-Based and On-Premise. The on-premise segment is expected to hold the largest Supply Chain Management Solutions Market share, which accounted for 83.82% in 2019. On the other hand, the cloud-based segment accounted for a 16.18% market share in 2019. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-278/global-supply-chain-management-solutions Supply Chain Planning Software Market Report This report focuses on the global Supply Chain Planning Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market, and key players. The study objectives are to present the Supply Chain Planning Software development in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-21O948/global-supply-chain-planning-software Logistics and Supply Chain Management Software Market Report The report offers an exhaustive geographical analysis of the global Logistics and Supply Chain Management Software market, covering important regions, viz, North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America. The report includes a country-wise and region-wise market size for the period 2015-2026. It also includes market size and forecast by each application segment in terms of revenue for the period 2015-2026. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-1L1387/global-logistics-and-supply-chain-management-software ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. CONTACT US: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp : +91 9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports SOURCE Valuates Reports BORDEAUX, France, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Synapse Medicine has announced that it has raised 8 million dollars, spearheaded by the MACSF, a leading insurance provider for healthcare professionals, and with the support of XAnge, BNP Paribas, BPI, and Nicolas Dessaigne, co-founder of Algolia. The purpose of this move is to continue the development of its leading-edge medication intelligence platform, which is already being used by thousands of healthcare professionals and patients daily. The company has now raised 11 million dollars over a 14-month period and tripled the size of its staff. Making knowledge about correct drug use widely available to prevent hospitalizations and deaths Taking medication comes with certain risks: the recent controversy surrounding hydroxychloroquine has made this clear once again. More generally, drugs are responsible for 130,000 hospitalizations and 30,000 deaths annually in countries such as France. That is the equivalent to the death toll and hospitalization numbers of the COVID-19 epidemic occurring every year in the country. Via its SaaS platform, Synapse Medicine offers healthcare professionals such as doctors and pharmacists an easy way to look up reliable, up-to-date information about medications, to analyze prescriptions in real-time, and to ensure the safety of drug therapies. Key benefits include a guarantee that the information provided is free of fake news, as well as increased safety and time savings for healthcare professionals. The company, which has set itself the mission to provide reliable and up-to-date medical information to everyone who needs it, has also developed a dedicated version of its offering for the general public. This solution has already been directly integrated into other services such as telemedicine platforms. Confirming Synapse Medicine's leadership in prescription aids for telemedicine platforms The telemedicine sector is growing fast. According to a recent study by the consultancy McKinsey & Company, 20% of healthcare services will be provided virtually in the United States in 2020 which is expected to reach 250 billion dollars. These figures show that telemedicine is being widely adopted everywhere in the world, which means that the ability for those stakeholders to warrant the safety of prescriptions has now become essential. With this new funding round, Synapse Medicine intends to strengthen its leadership position in the field of prescription aids for telemedicine platforms globally. Its solution allows telemedicine companies to enhance their platforms with the integration of a turnkey prescription solution that ensures the safety of prescriptions, thereby helping them to attract and retain both physicians and patients. "As an insurance provider for healthcare professionals, MACSF believes the innovations offered by Synapse Medicine are of the utmost importance in terms of preventing the risks linked to medication intake. Founded by two doctors and supported by a strong multidisciplinary team with international ambitions, with a leadership position and highly innovative technology on the dynamic telemedicine and prescription tool markets, Synapse Medicine has everything it takes to become a global health tech champion in the next few years. That is why MACSF has been very happy to lead this funding round alongside XAnge and BNP Paribas, and to support the further development of this start-up company that uses artificial intelligence to enable better healthcare," said Stanislas Subra, head of venture capital investments at MACSF. "Since the creation of Synapse Medicine, our mission has always been to provide everyone, everywhere in the world, with easy access to reliable and up-to-date medical information. This new funding round will allow us to move faster going forward and to bring Synapse within reach of anyone who needs it. 2020 has been marked by an unprecedented health crisis. However, hundreds of millions of people need our technology not just now, but every year that goes by. Time is of the essence here," commented Dr. Clement Goehrs, CEO and co-founder of Synapse Medicine. About Synapse Medicine: Founded by two medical doctors and an engineer, Synapse Medicine is on a mission to provide everyone who needs it with easy access to reliable and up-to-date medical information. The company, which works together with several major university hospitals, has developed the first medication intelligence platform dedicated to correct drug use. Setting benchmarks in this category, its fully independent solution is currently being used by thousands of healthcare professionals, medical students, and the general public. About MACSF: The leading insurance provider for healthcare professionals, MACSF has for over 80 years been at the service of all healthcare sector workers. It employs 1,500 people and earns an annual revenue of 2 billion euros. True to its calling as an insurance association, MACSF insures over 1 million members and customers against personal and professional risks. About XAnge: Europe's venture capital leader, the company XAnge has offices in Paris and Munich and invests in innovative startups operating in the digital, corporate data, fintech, and deeptech segments. Since our creation in 2003, we have had the privilege of working alongside exceptional teams with strong values who can be credited with initiatives such as Ledger, Lydia, and many more. XAnge belongs to Siparex, an independent private investment fund that manages a portfolio of over 2 billion euros. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1198589/synapse_medicine_Logo.jpg Contact: [email protected] +33 (0)5 56 35 50 87 SOURCE Synapse Medicine Related Links https://synapse-medicine.com/ WASHINGTON, July 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pan-American Prosperity Institute (PPI) is a non-profit organization that seeks to foster a closer relationship among countries in the American continent. With this intent, PPI would like to publish a letter from Mr. Luiz Philippe Braganca about the dire conditions Brazil is currently facing. Mr. Braganca is a Brazilian citizen-elected Congressmen to the Brazilian House of Representatives. He holds a master's degree in political science from Stanford University. It is with concern that this letter is published regarding the unprecedented political challenges that many free nations are facing at this moment in history. The forces that seek to subvert the social and political order are the same in every western democratic country. Should anyone doubt this danger, history is unequivocal regarding the certainty of the outcome, from Bolshevik Russia to Chavez's Venezuela, the list is long. But even lesser-known examples, such as Brazil, should serve as a stark reminder of the cloaked threats posed by the modern left, and why educated observers throughout the world quietly pray that America rejects their false narrative. The Brazilian 2018 general elections ushered in a new popular conservative government in opposition to the social, political and economic failure of progressive/socialist policies, and accompanying widespread corruption scandals that dominated Brazil for the previous 30 years. However, the transition to the new political agenda has been challenging. Brazilian government suffers constant overreach from an activist far-left judiciary bent on impeding the advancement of the duly-elected government's agenda. And, unfortunately, unlike in the USA, Brazil's constitution does not protect the executive or legislative branches from this abuse of power. Brazil's current body of judicial ministers is predominantly socialist. Most of them were nominated by past left-wing presidents. Unchecked, the Brazilian judiciary has abused its power by interpreting laws so broadly as to defy our written constitution. A chilling example of this judicial abuse of power is the recent rash of illegal searches, seizures and arrests conducted by direct order of the judiciary, without cause or due process, against various conservative members of congress, political activists and journalists. The elected government can do little to protect citizens against these actions as the federal police, by law, are required to obey orders from the judiciary even if they have been issued without appropriate checks and balances. Much of what the socialist movement in America demands, we in Brazil have been suffering under for decades. Regardless of the nirvana that is promised, the resulting reality is corruption, high taxes, inefficient public services, restrictions on individual rights, economic instability and the creation of bureaucratic elites that concentrate power and resources, making it almost impossible to rid of their abuse once in power. May this letter heighten the awareness of US citizens as to what is at stake. The United States' Constitution is a blessing to its citizens allowing them to stand free and protected from the tyranny of any sort of government overreach. Americans successfully defending against these challenges will inspire citizens around the world to continue to hope that one day they might achieve the same for themselves. Respectfully, a concerned Brazilian Citizen, Luiz Philippe Braganca Related Files PPI_LPOB_July4_Letter__20200704.pdf SOURCE Pan-American Prosperity Institute NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) today announced that the school has signed an agreement with the International Culinary Center (ICC) to join two historic forces in culinary education on one strong and dynamic national platform at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and Los Angeles. The agreement will create the preeminent, private culinary school in the country with a collective 30,000+ alumni worldwide. "ICC is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in culinary education, and we are proud and excited to bring aspects of the school's expertise, unique offerings and heritage to ICE," said Rick Smilow, ICE's president and CEO. "The ICC ethos will live on at ICE, and I'm delighted to welcome ICC's community to our campuses." When New York City enters Phase 4 of the reopening, ICC will resume its operations, subject to regulatory approval, to safely complete on-campus instruction of all active students' programs through the end of the year and thereafter close the doors to its famed Soho campus in New York City. ICE will incorporate the best of ICC into its award-winning educational offerings. "Through ICE, ICC's mission will continue, and we cannot imagine a better institution to entrust with our legacy," said Bruce McCann, ICC's CEO. "Since our inception, we've endured the fallout from economic crises, natural disasters, 9/11 and more, but nothing could have prepared us for COVID-19. ICE is a powerhouse in culinary education, and we are honored that the foundation built by Dorothy Cann Hamilton more than three decades ago will have a new home at the school." Hamilton founded ICC, formerly The French Culinary Institute (FCI), in 1984. Throughout three decades, the school educated some of the biggest names in food, including Bobby Flay (who was a member of the school's first graduating class), Dan Barber, David Chang, Angie Mar and Christina Tosi. Hamilton became a force in the food world, authoring award-winning books, hosting the chef-based television and radio show "Chef's Story," and in 2015, becoming one of only four Americans to receive the Legion of Honor from the French government for promoting French cuisine in the United States. The school's founding deans include culinary legends Jacques Pepin, Alain Sailhac, Andre Soltner and Jacques Torres. ICE prides itself on a tradition of innovating in the culinary arts and looks forward to integrating elements of ICC. "We're intrigued by ICC's sommelier training program and the farm-to-classroom experience that the school has offered with Chef Dan Barber from Blue Hill at Stone Barns," said Richard Simpson, ICE's vice president of education. "Likewise, I'm excited about the prospects of inviting ICC's Dean Jacques Torres into the ICE Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Lab with Michael Laiskonis or extending their relationship with Ron Ben-Israel to collaborate with Toba Garrett on cake decorating. These potential enhancements could add layers of flavor to the ICE experience." "I am proud of the work my dear friends Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Andre Soltner, Alain Sailhac, Jacques Torres and myself have accomplished over the years to create a timeless hands-on curriculum for generations of FCI/ICC students," said Jacques Pepin, ICC's dean of special programs. "I'm pleased that the school's heritage and legacy will live on for future culinary professionals at ICE." For more information, visit https://www.ice.edu/ICC. About the Institute of Culinary Education The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is one of the largest and most diverse culinary schools in the world with campuses in New York and Los Angeles. Established in 1975, ICE offers award-winning six to 13-month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Health-Supportive Culinary Arts, Restaurant & Culinary Management, and Hospitality & Hotel Management, in addition to professional development in Artisan Bread Baking and The Art of Cake Decorating with more than 14,000 alumni, many of whom are leaders in the industry. ICE also offers continuing education for culinary professionals, hosts 400 special events each year and is home to one of the world's largest recreational cooking, baking and beverage programs with 26,000 students annually. ICE's 74,000-square-foot, cutting-edge campus in New York City and its 38,000-square-foot Los Angeles campus were designed for inspiration, creativity and community. ICE continues to grow and evolve with the launch of its LA campus in 2018, the addition of the Natural Gourmet Center in 2019 and the agreement with the International Culinary Center in 2020. Visit us at ice.edu or join us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at @iceculinary to find your culinary voice. About the International Culinary Center Founded by the late Dorothy Cann Hamilton as The French Culinary InstituteTM in 1984, the International Culinary Center (ICC) is a global leader in professional culinary, pastry and wine education in New York City with graduates from more than 90 countries. The renowned six-month Total ImmersionSM program has produced such talents as Bobby Flay, David Chang, Dan Barber, Joshua Skenes, Christina Tosi and 15,000 more under the guidance of deans including Jacques Pepin and Jacques Torres. ICC's mission is to train the next generation of culinary leaders and innovators, providing students with the credentials, confidence and connections to chart a successful career anywhere in the world. CONTACT: Stephanie Fraiman Public Relations Director Institute of Culinary Education (212) 847-0703 [email protected] SOURCE The Institute of Culinary Education Related Links http://www.ice.edu NEW YORK, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK IN RE HENRY SCHEIN, INC. DERIVATIVE LITIGATION Lead Case No. 1:19-cv-06485-LDH-JO This Document Relates to: ALL ACTIONS NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE ACTION AND OF HEARING TO: ALL PERSONS OR ENTITIES WHO HOLD OR BENEFICIALLY OWN, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, COMMON STOCK OR SECURITIES OF HENRY SCHEIN, INC. AS OF JUNE 26, 2020 THIS NOTICE CONCERNS A PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF THE ABOVE-CAPTIONED SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE LAWSUIT AND CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS CONCERNING THE LAWSUIT. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT EXPRESS THE COURT'S OPINION ABOUT THE MERITS OF ANY CLAIMS OR DEFENSES IN THE LAWSUIT. THE STATEMENTS IN THIS NOTICE ARE NOT FINDINGS OF THE COURT. THIS ACTION IS NOT A "CLASS ACTION." THUS, THERE IS NO COMMON FUND UPON WHICH YOU CAN MAKE A CLAIM FOR A MONETARY PAYMENT. All securities holders of Henry Schein, Inc. ("Schein") are hereby notified that a settlement (the "Settlement") has been reached as to claims asserted in the above-captioned shareholder derivative action pending in a federal court in New York (the "Derivative Lawsuit") on behalf of Schein against certain current or former directors and officers of Schein. The terms of the proposed Settlement are set out in a Settlement Agreement that has been filed with the Court. If the Settlement is approved (and the approval becomes final and no longer subject to appeal), it will release all of the claims in this lawsuit. A hearing on the Settlement has been scheduled for September 22, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. ET (the "Fairness Hearing"), before U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201. At the Fairness Hearing, the Court will determine (i) whether to approve the proposed Settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate and in the best interests of Schein and its shareholders and (ii) whether to dismiss the Derivative Lawsuit on the merits and with prejudice, enjoin the prosecution of all related claims, and release the defendants and their related individuals and entities (as defined in the Settlement Agreement as "Releasees") from all claims of the type asserted in the Derivative Lawsuit. The Court may, in its discretion, change the date and/or time of the Fairness Hearing without further notice to you. The Court also has reserved the right to hold the Fairness Hearing telephonically without further notice to you. If you intend to attend the Fairness Hearing, please consult the Court's calendar and/or the websites of plaintiffs' counsel (www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html) for any change in date, time, or format of the Fairness Hearing. SUMMARY OF THE LITIGATION The Derivative Lawsuit alleges breaches of fiduciary duty and other misconduct by Schein officers and directors arising out of (i) alleged anticompetitive conduct by Schein in its dental supply business, (ii) Schein's public statements about competition in the dental supply business, and (iii) a spin-off of Schein's Animal Health Business and the merger of that business with Direct Vet Marketing, Inc. (d/b/a Vets First Choice) to create Covetrus, Inc. The Derivative Lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of Schein against Stanley J. Bergman, Steven Paladino, Timothy J. Sullivan, Barry J. Alperin, Lawrence S. Bacow, Gerald A. Benjamin, James P. Breslawski, Paul Brons, Shira Goodman, Joseph L. Herring, Donald J. Kabat, Kurt Kuehn, Philip A. Laskawy, Anne H. Margulies, Karyn Mashima, Norman S. Matthews, Mark E. Mlotek, Carol Raphael, E. Dianne Rekow, Bradley T. Sheares, and Louis W. Sullivan (collectively, the "Derivative Defendants"). The Derivative Defendants deny that the claims made in the Derivative Lawsuit have any merit. This notice is intended to provide only a summary of the plaintiffs' claims in two lawsuits that have now been consolidated into the Derivative Lawsuit. If you hold or held, or beneficially own or owned, directly or indirectly, common stock or other equity securities of Schein, you should review the complaints for their full content. Both complaints can be found at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. REASONS FOR SETTLEMENT Subject to the completion of confirmatory discovery, Derivative Plaintiffs and their counsel believe that the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and in the best interests of Schein and its shareholders. They reached this conclusion after considering: (i) the claims asserted against the Derivative Defendants and the potential defenses to those claims, (ii) the substantial benefits that Schein would receive from the Settlement and (iii) documents and other information concerning the facts and circumstances that gave rise to the claims. Derivative Defendants expressly deny that plaintiffs' claims have any merit or that pursuit of such claims would be in the best interests of Schein or its shareholders. They expressly deny all assertions of wrongdoing or liability arising out of any of the conduct, statements, acts, or omissions that were, could have been, or could be asserted against them in the Derivative Lawsuit. Schein considers the terms of the proposed Settlement to be in the best interests of Schein and its shareholders. As discussed below, the proposed Settlement confers substantial benefits on Schein. PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENT TERMS Settlement Relief Subject to the terms and conditions discussed in the Settlement Agreement, Schein will adopt, implement, and maintain (i) antitrust enhancements and (ii) merger and acquisition guidelines (collectively, the "Settlement Relief"). The Settlement Relief includes, subject to the terms and conditions in the Settlement Agreement, (i) creation and appointment of an antitrust compliance officer, (ii) enhanced policies, practices, procedures, and documentation regarding antitrust risk assessment and training, and (iii) creation and documentation of merger and acquisition guidelines. The Settlement Relief, which is set out in Exhibits E and F of the Settlement Agreement, can be reviewed at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. If the settlement receives final approval by the Court, the Settlement Relief will confer substantial benefits on Schein and its shareholders, which benefits were directly and proximately caused by the filing of the complaints by Derivative Plaintiffs and the Settlement. Release The Settlement Agreement, if approved and no longer subject to appeal, will result in a release of all claims that (i) arise directly or indirectly from the operative facts and were, could have been, or could be asserted by or on behalf of Schein and/or (ii) all claims that were, could have been, or could be asserted in the Derivative Lawsuit through the date of final approval of the settlement against the Derivative Defendants (and related persons and entities defined in the Settlement Agreement as "Releasees"). Court approval of the settlement will also result in an injunction and order barring the prosecution of any such claims against any of the Releasees. The full release (including all of its relevant definitions) is set out in the Settlement Agreement, which is available at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. STATUS OF SETTLEMENT The Court issued a preliminary approval order regarding the Settlement on June 10, 2020, in which the Court found that the proposed Settlement is within the range of possible approval and that notifying Schein's shareholders and scheduling a hearing for approval of the proposed Settlement were warranted. The Court's preliminary approval order is available at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. The Court has not made (and will not make in connection with its consideration of the proposed Settlement) any determination as to the merits of any of the claims or defenses in the Derivative Lawsuit. This notice does not imply that any Derivative Defendant (or any other Releasee) would be found liable or that relief would be awarded if the Derivative Lawsuit were not being settled. ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES In consideration of the substantial benefits conferred upon Schein and its shareholders, and subject to the Court's approval, Schein has agreed to pay or cause to be paid $1,850,000 in attorneys' fees and expenses to counsel for the Derivative Plaintiffs, out of which sum $5,000 will be paid to each of the two Derivative Plaintiffs. YOUR RIGHT TO OBJECT AND TO APPEAR AT THE FAIRNESS HEARING If you agree that the proposed Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate and in the best interests of Schein and its shareholders, you do not need to do anything. However, if you wish to object to any aspects of the proposed Settlement, you may submit a written objection on your own (or through an attorney you hire at your own expense), and you (or your attorney, if you have hired one) may appear at the Fairness Hearing. YOUR OBJECTION MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE COURT AND THE COUNSEL IN THE CASE BY NO LATER THAN AUGUST 25, 2020, AS FOLLOWS. File with the Court: Clerk of Court United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201 Serve on Counsel for Derivative Plaintiffs: Laurence Rosen Phillip Kim The Rosen Law Firm 275 Madison Ave., 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Telephone: (212) 686-1060 Facsimile: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] [email protected] Serve on Counsel for Schein and Derivative Defendants: Peter D. Doyle Jonathan E. Richma Proskauer Rose LLP 11 Times Square New York, NY 10036 Telephone: (212) 969-3000 Facsimile: (212) 969-2900 [email protected] [email protected] The Preliminary Approval Order sets out the procedures that you must follow if you want to object and if you want to appear at the hearing. It is available at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION Pending final determination of whether to approve the Settlement Agreement, the Court has preliminarily barred and enjoined holders of Schein's common stock and other equity securities and individuals and entities related to them (including anyone purporting to act on behalf of or derivatively for any of them) from filing, commencing, prosecuting, intervening in, participating in, or receiving any benefits or other relief from, any other lawsuit, arbitration or administrative, regulatory or other proceeding against any Releasees in any forum based on or relating to claims that will be released or barred by the Settlement Agreement if the Court approves it (including all claims that may be brought in a derivative capacity on behalf of Schein). The full terms of the preliminary injunction are in the Preliminary Approval Order, which is available at plaintiffs' counsel's websites www.thebrownlawfirm.net/news/ and www.rosenlegal.com/newsroom.html. QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT Please do not write or telephone the Court about the proposed Settlement Agreement. If you have any questions, you should contact the Derivative Plaintiffs' counsel Phillip Kim at The Rosen Law Firm P.A., 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor, New York, NY 10016; Telephone: (212) 686-1060 or Timothy Brown at The Brown Law Firm, P.C., 240 Townsend Square, Oyster Bay, NY 11771; Telephone: (516) 922-5427. Dated: June 26, 2020 BY ORDER OF THE COURT: _________________________________________ THE HONORABLE LASHANN DEARCY HALL SOURCE The Rosen Law Firm P.A. and The Brown Law Firm, P.C. Related Links http://www.rosenlegal.com KELOWNA, BC, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - The Valens Company Inc. (formerly Valens GroWorks Corp.) (TSX: VLNS) (OTCQX: VLNCF) (the "Company," "The Valens Company" or "Valens"), a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products, is pleased to announce it will issue its second quarter 2020 financial results, for the period ended May 31, 2020, on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, after markets close. CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS The Company will host a conference call the following day, Thursday, July 16, 2020, at 11:00 am Eastern Time / 8:00 am Pacific Time to discuss the financial results and business outlook. Participant Dial-In Numbers: Toll-Free: 1-877-407-0792 Toll / International: 1-201-689-8263 *Participants should request The Valens Company Earnings Call or provide confirmation code 13706344 The call will be available via webcast on the Valens investor page of the Company website at https://thevalenscompany.com/investors/ or at this link. Please visit the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download, and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will be available on the Valens investor page approximately two hours after the conference call has ended. Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer, Chris Buysen, Chief Financial Officer, Jeffrey Fallows, President, and Everett Knight, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Capital Markets, will be conducting a question and answer session following the prepared remarks. About The Valens Company The Valens Company is a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products. The Valens Company is focused on being the partner of choice for leading Canadian and international cannabis brands by providing best-in-class, proprietary services including CO2, ethanol, hydrocarbon, solvent-less and terpene extraction, analytical testing, formulation and product development and custom manufacturing. Valens is the largest third-party extraction company in Canada with an annual capacity of 425,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp biomass at our purpose-built facility in Kelowna, British Columbia which is in the process of becoming European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant. The Valens Company currently offers a wide range of product formats, including tinctures, two-piece caps, soft gels, oral sprays and vape pens as well as beverages, concentrates, topicals, edibles, injectables, natural health products and has a strong pipeline of next-generation products in development for future release. Finally, The Valens Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Valens Labs is a Health Canada licensed ISO 17025 accredited cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical services and has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Science. For more information, please visit http://thevalenscompany.com. The Valens Company's investor deck can be found specifically at http://thevalenscompany.com/investors/. Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements All information included in this press release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance and other statements of The Valens Company that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "trends", "indications", "potential", "estimates", "predicts", "anticipate", "to establish", "believe", "intend", "ability to", or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", or are "likely" to be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of these words or other variations thereof, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding future results of operations, economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, regulatory risk, United States border crossing and travel bans, reliance on licenses, expansion of facilities, competition, dependence on supply of cannabis and reliance on other key inputs, dependence on senior management and key personnel, general business risk and liability, regulation of the cannabis industry, change in laws, regulations and guidelines, compliance with laws, reliance on a single facility, limited operating history, vulnerability to rising energy costs, unfavourable publicity or consumer perception, product liability, risks related to intellectual property, product recalls, difficulties with forecasts, management of growth and litigation, many of which are beyond the control of The Valens Company. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by The Valens Company, and which may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of The Valens Company to be materially different from estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, please refer to The Valens Company's latest Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com or on The Valens Company's website at www.thevalenscompany.com. The risks described in such Annual Information Form are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Although the forward-looking statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and reasonable assumptions based upon information available to management as of the date hereof, The Valens Company cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. The Valens Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Valens Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Nothing herein should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell securities of The Valens Company. SOURCE The Valens Company Inc. Related Links https://www.valensgroworks.com/ DUBLIN, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Blockchain in the Aerospace and Defense Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The blockchain technology in the aerospace and defense market is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 35% during the forecast period. Due to the presence of large and complex supply chains in the aerospace and defense industry, blockchain technology can help in maintaining a well-connected and transparent supply chain. This is one of the major driving factors for the use of blockchain technology in the aerospace and defense industry. In the growing aviation industry, the blockchain platform providers, like Hyperledger Fabric, Accenture PLC, Microsoft, and Loyyal Corporation, among others, along with aviation industry players, like airports and airlines, are investing in developing and incorporating this technology into the aviation industry. Currently, defense growth is slower, in comparison with the aerospace segment, with a lot of investments in R&D for protection against cyber warfare, tracing defense-related shipments and contracts, and creating secure government portals and efficient battlefield messaging services, among others applications. Key Market Trends Aerospace Segment to Experience the Highest Growth During the Forecast Period The aerospace segment of the market studied is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is primarily driven by the increase in investments on R&D of blockchain technology into commercial aviation. Airlines, like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, and Air France KLM, among others, have invested and are evaluating this technology for incorporating it into their business models, including retail, cargo, and baggage tracking, distribution, and loyalty program, to increase their profitability. Singapore Airlines officially launched its blockchain-based loyalty program for frequent customers in July 2018 after conducting a proof-of-concept trial with KPMG and Microsoft from February. Similarly, companies, like SITA, are working closely with the airport authorities and are partnering with each other to integrate blockchain technology and update the industry players about the emerging technologies. SITA Labs partnered with British Airways, Heathrow, Geneva Airport, and Miami International Airport to validate FlightChain platform that demonstrates how flight information can be stored on the blockchain to deliver a single source of truth and shared control of data by airlines and airports. Lufthansa and Air France KLM are also working toward the use of blockchain for managing replacement parts on in-service airplanes. Such advancements are aiding the growth of the segment during the forecast period. North America to Experience the Highest Growth During the Forecast Period The North American region is anticipated to have the highest growth during the forecast period. This is due to the investments by companies based in the United States. Honeywell launched a new e-commerce initiative GoDirect Trade, a blockchain initiative for aircraft parts. Similarly, Boeing partnered with SparkCognition to form a new company called SkyGrid to develop software for aerial mobility in urban areas for autonomous cargo and passenger air vehicles. SkyGrid technology uses both blockchain technology and artificial intelligence for dynamic traffic routing (unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) traffic management). Additionally, on the other hand, the government has plans to use this technology in military applications. In the past years, the government mandated the blockchain cybersecurity research study. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) partnered with Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO) to use blockchain technology for a connected and transparent supply chain. Such initiatives by the government and the companies on the technology are anticipated to support the growth of this market in this region. Competitive Landscape The prominent players in the blockchain technology in the aerospace and defense market are Winding Tree, Loyyal Corporation, Accenture PLC, Microsoft, and Aeron Labs. The market studied is highly fragmented, due to presence of many local players. However, consolidation of the market is expected to take place with the well-established companies acquiring the startups in the field of blockchain technology. Since, the market is still is in its initial stages, the partnerships and joint ventures between the blockchain platform providers and aerospace and defense players are expected to strengthen the growth of the market studied during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Market Drivers 4.3 Market Restraints 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 End User 5.1.1 Aerospace 5.1.2 Defense 5.2 Geography 5.2.1 North America 5.2.2 Europe 5.2.3 Asia-Pacific 5.2.4 Rest of World 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Vendor Market Share 6.2 Company Profiles 6.2.1 SIMBA Chain Inc. 6.2.2 Accenture PLC 6.2.3 Loyyal Corporation 6.2.4 Aeron Labs 6.2.5 Winding Tree 6.2.6 Microsoft 6.2.7 Ozone 6.2.8 BRUcloud 6.2.9 IBM 6.2.10 Guardtime 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pcclpq 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 WALTHAM, Mass., July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, today announced that, based on currently available information, it estimates that both reported and organic revenue1 growth will be approximately 10% for the second quarter ended June 27, 2020. The better-than-expected organic revenue growth was primarily driven by strong global sales of PCR-based tests and other products and services supporting the COVID-19 response, which contributed more than $1.4 billion of revenue in the second quarter and reflects the scale of the company's role in helping customers battle the pandemic. Thermo Fisher will release its financial results for the second quarter on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, before the market opens, and will hold a conference call to discuss those results and provide a business update on the same day at 8:30 a.m. ET. To listen, call (833) 714-0931 within the U.S. or (778) 560-2662 outside the U.S. The conference ID is 1239877. You may also listen to the call live on the "Investors" section of our website, www.thermofisher.com. The earnings press release and related information can be found in that section of our website under "Financial Results." A replay of the call will be available under "Webcasts and Presentations" through Friday, July 31, 2020. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. Forward-Looking Statements The following constitutes a "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements about expected revenue growth and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; the need to develop new products and adapt to significant technological change; implementation of strategies for improving growth; general economic conditions and related uncertainties; dependence on customers' capital spending policies and government funding policies; the effect of economic and political conditions and exchange rate fluctuations on international operations; use and protection of intellectual property; the effect of changes in governmental regulations; and the effect of laws and regulations governing government contracts, as well as the possibility that expected benefits related to recent or pending acquisitions, including our pending acquisition of QIAGEN N.V., may not materialize as expected. Additional important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 28, 2020, which is on file with the SEC and available in the "Investors" section of our website under the heading "SEC Filings." While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if estimates change and, therefore, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to today. 1 Organic revenue is reported revenue excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures and foreign currency translation. Media Contact Information: Karen Kirkwood: Phone: 781-622-1306 E-mail: [email protected] Investor Contact Information: Ken Apicerno Phone: 781-622-1294 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com ALBANY, New York, July 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- From 2019 to 2027, growth in global refurbished medical equipment market would be robust. It would reach a valuation of about USD 24 billion by the end of this period, creating rewarding opportunities of growth. And, it is quite pertinent to note here that a number of trends and drivers will underscore it. The on-going pandemic of COVID-19 is a particularly strong factor as hospitals across the world prepare themselves for tackling the ever-growing human and humanitarian challenge by stocking up on inventories of these cost-effective medical equipment. Transparency Market Research notes, "Use of heart-lung machines is increasing owing to factors such as ageing population, growing prevalence of chronic illnesses and increase in cases of COVID-19 infections. However, since these imaging and critical care equipment are expensive, demand for refurbished medical equipment would grow." Download a PDF Brochure of Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=858 Key Findings of Global Refurbished Medical Equipment Market Study: On the basis of end-user, the segment for hospitals will contribute notably to growth Cardiology segment under the applications category will expand at a high growth rate In the product category, sizeable share will be accounted for by the medical imaging equipment segment For a detailed analysis of global refurbished medical equipment market by product, application, end-use, and region, visit TOC https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/858 Key Drivers of Growth in Global Refurbished Medical Equipment Market: Population across the world is ageing rapidly, particularly in regions of North America and Europe and Prevalence of chronic diseases is high due to poor lifestyle choices and increase in risk factors Distribution channels across the globe are strengthening due to proactive measures taken by market players to plug in demand and supply gaps 2 billion people will mark the age group of 65 and above by 2050; the demographic will fuel growth in the market Six in ten people in the developed region of U.S. currently suffer from one chronic illness and the ratio is set to increase, this will propel market onto a high growth trajectory About 11 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported across the world so far leading hospitals to stock up on low-cost equipment Regional Analysis of Global Refurbished Medical Equipment Market: North America has topped the charts over the last few years and is expected to continue its dominance into the forecast period has topped the charts over the last few years and is expected to continue its dominance into the forecast period High prevalence of chronic diseases, rapidly ageing population, and a robust healthcare infrastructure will lead the market to this covetable position United States and Canada are anticipated to be at the forefront of growth owing to a strong base of top companies in medical device field and are anticipated to be at the forefront of growth owing to a strong base of top companies in medical device field Privatization in the industry and presence of top-tier distributors is also set to propel regional market on to a high trajectory Analyze global refurbished medical equipment market growth in 30+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Benelux, Nordic, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Request a sample of the study https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=858 Competitive Analysis of Global Refurbished Medical Equipment Market: A number of major players operate in the global refurbished medical equipment market, making the vendor landscape quite competitive. In fact, several organic and inorganic strategies are deployed by prominent players to improve their market position. Some of these are expansion of geographic footprint, adapting to established guidelines, and improving upon channels of distribution. Transparency Market Research has covered top players in a comprehensive manner. Profiling include company and financial overview, strategies and way forward, and product information. Some of the renowned names include Siemens Healthineers AG, GE Healthcare, Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Atlantis Worldwide, LLC, Block Imaging International, Inc., Shimadzu Corporation, and Hitachi, Ltd. Purchase the Refurbished Medical Equipment Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=858